Australia outplay Pakistan

Gros Islet (St Lucia) May 2: Shane Watson once again reminded Pakistan the torrid time they had in the tour down-under late last year as his innings of 81 off 49 balls completely outplayed their opponents in their opening match of the Twenty-20 World Cup here on Sunday.
The Queenslander smashed seven fours and four sixes in the 34-run victory. He was well supported by David Hussey (53 off 29), who hit five massive sixes in his quick fire fifty and took the side to a monster-like total of 191 after Michael Clarke won the toss and chose to set the target for the opponents.
Al the Pakistan bowlers proved ineffective against the confident Australian side and went for plenty whenever they came to bowl. Their fielding was equally faulty, dropping both Watson and Hussey at the crucial juncture of the game.
Mohammad Sami, the hero with the ball in the game against Bangladesh yesterday, went for 54 in his four overs. Only Saeed Ajmal picked up three wickets with his crafty off spin.
The last over of Mohammad Aamer produced five wickets, including two run-outs, without conceding a single run.
It was mystifying that why Shahid Afridi allowed four overs of Mohammad Hafeez (47 in four over) inside the first 10 overs, especially when he proved expensive from the beginning.
In reply, the 47-run partnership of Shahid Afridi (33 off 24) and Misbah-ul-Haq (41 off 31)tried to take the match to the last few overs but once the skipper went no batsmen could show enough resistance against the disciplined Australian bowling, which was spearheaded by Dirk Nannes and Shaun Tait with three wickets each.
Earlier, David Warner and Shane Watson put on a fifty-run stand for the opening wicket.
Australia were quick to adopt with the slow and sluggish nature of Beausejour Stadium pitch and ran quick between the wickets from the start.
Shane Watson penalized Hafeez in his next over with two fours and a six and collected 17 runs with Warner in that over.
Sami drew the first blood for his side by taking the wicket of Warner at square-leg but Watson carried on, scoring on every bowler.
Hafeez, who was proving expensive till that point did his team a favor by sending Michael Clarke (2 off 3) back in the hut.
David Hussey joined the party with Watson and started clobbering Pakistan bowlers from ball one. His four sixes off Sami summed up the day for Pakistan in the field. The Victorian went passed his fifty in just 27 balls but holed out to Fawad Alam off Saeed Ajmal.
The off spinner then got the price wicket of Watson, who paid the price of hitting across the line and found himself in front of the wickets. Cameron White, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson came and went quickly at the end.

Watson-Hussey take Aussie past 190

Gros Islet (St Lucia) May 2: Shane Watson once again reminded Pakistan of the torrid time they had in the tour down-under late last year as the strong Aussie all-rounder clubbed 81 off 49 balls to take his side to a monster-like score of 191 in their opening match of the Twenty-20 World Cup here on Sunday.
The Queenslander smashed seven fours and four sixes in his fast-paced innings. He was well supported by David Hussey (53 off 29), who hit five massive sixes in his quick fire fifty after Michael Clarke won the toss and chose to set the target for the opponents.
Al the Pakistan bowlers proved ineffective against the confident Australian side and went for plenty whenever they came to bowl. Their fielding was equally faulty, dropping both Watson and Hussey at the crucial juncture of the game.
Mohammad Sami, the hero with the ball in the game against Bangladesh yesterday, went for 54 in his four overs. Only Saeed Ajmal picked up three with his crafty off spin.
The last over of Mohammad Aamer produced five wickets, including two run-outs, without conceding a single run.
It was mystifying that why Shahid Afridi allowed four overs of Mohammad Hafeez (47 in four overs) inside the first 10 overs, especially when he proved expensive right from the beginning.
Earlier, David Warner started Aussie innings with Shane Watson and hit the first boundary by flicking Aamer in the first over and followed it up with a big six off Hafeez in the next over.
Australia were quick to adopt with the slow and sluggish nature of Beausejour Stadium pitch and ran quick between the wickets from the start.
Shane Watson penalized Hafeez in his next over with two fours and a six and collected 17 runs with Warner in that over.
Sami drew the first blood for his side by taking the wicket of Warner at square-leg but Watson carried on, scoring on every bowler.
Hafeez, who was proving expensive till that point did his team a favor by sending Michael Clarke (2 off 3) back in the hut.
David Hussey joined the party with Watson and started clobbering Pakistan bowlers from ball one. His four sixes off Sami summed up the day for Pakistan in the field. The Victorian went passed his fifty in just 27 balls but holed out to Fawad Alam off Saeed Ajmal.
The off-spinner then got the priced wicket of Watson, who paid the price of hitting across the line and found himself in front of the wickets. Cameron White, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson came and went quickly at the end.

India outshine Afghanistan by 7 wickets

Gros Islet, St Lucia, May 1: India accomplished the target of 116 in a professional manner in their opening match in the World Twenty-20 against Afghanistan at Beausejour Stadium here on Saturday.
Murali Vijay (48 off 46) provided the solid start for his side, while Yuvraj Singh (23 off 22) tried to get back in form by remaining unbeaten till the end. M S Dhoni (15 off 6) completed the victory with two huge sixes in the 15th over.
Earlier, a fifty by Noor Ali showed the glimpse of Afghanistan’s capability at the highest level as his knock took his side to a respectable total of 115.
The right-handed batsman stood at the wicket while wickets were tumbling at the other end and hit four boundaries. He was well supported by Asghar Stanikzai with his knock of 30 off 33 balls, including three huge sixes.
Ashish Nehra was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking three wickets. Praveen Kumar too contributed with two wickets while Ravindra Jadeja and Zaheer Khan chipped in with a wicket each after M S Dhoni won the toss and asked the opposition to bat first.
In reply, Vijay got himself going with a four and a six in the first over while his opening partner Gautam Gambhir (4 off 6) perished in the third over of the innings after giving a straight chance to Mohammad Nabi at cover point off Dawlat Ahmadzai.
Suresh Raina, who replaced Gambhir, started off with two well-timed strokes in the off side.
Raina continued his good form of the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) and hit a four and six against off spinner Nabi in the fifth over. But he was completely foxed by the straight delivery of Samiullah Shenwari and the leg spinner got him out LBW.
Yuvraj Singh took his time in the beginning but did not take much time to send Sadiq into the stands off a free hit.
Vijay got a life in the 11th over as he was dropped at long-off but he made full use of that let off and hit two straight six off Nabi.He was dismissed two short of his half-century off Hamid Hassan but Dhoni completed the proceeding.

India to chase 116 against Afghanistan

Gros Islet, St Lucia, May 1: A fifty by Noor Ali showed the glimpse of Afghanistan’s capability at the highest level as his knock took his side to a respectable total of 115 against India in their World Twenty-20 game at Beausejour Stadium here on Saturday.
The right handed batsman stood at the wicket while wickets were tumbling at the other end and hit four boundaries. He was well supported by Asghar Stanikzai with his knock of 30 off 33 balls, including three huge sixes.
Ashish Nehra was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking three wickets. Praveen Kumar too contributed with two wickets while Ravindra Jadeja and Zaheer Khan chipped in with a wicket each after M S Dhoni won the toss and asked the opposition to bat first.
Earlier, Nehra provided the first breakthrough for his side by taking Karin Sadiq behind the wickets.
Afghan’s first boundary came from the bat of Noor Ali, who glanced Praveen Kumar off his pads and followed it up with a square drive in the same over.
Nehra got the wicket of Mohammad Shahzad, who got out exactly in the same manner as Sadiq, giving a simple catch to MS Dhoni on a bouncer.
Indian skipper brought Ravindra Jadeja in the fourth over and the ploy worked immediately, as the slow left-arm spinner got rid of Nowroz Mangal, Afghan captain at mid-off.
Spinners were introduced one after the other and all of them bowled with an extremely tight line and length.
Noor Ali broke the shackles by hitting Jadeja over the covers for a boundary.
Some good strikes by Noor Ali gave confidence to Stanikzai, who was batting at the other end rather tentatively till that point. He hit Yusuf Pathan for a long six over the deep mid-wicket fence and sent Harbhajan Singh out of the park in the same region.
Noor Ali got his fifty in the 17th over off 47 balls but got out immediately after that, giving Dhoni his third catch of the match.
Praveen Kumar then provided two wickets on the consecutive deliveries in the 18th over. A run-out and a wicket by Zaheer Khan in the last over folded the Afghan innings at 115.

New Zealand clinch thriller by two wickets (beat Sri Lanka in the Opening game of T-20 WC)

Guyana, Apr 30: A cameo by Nathan McCullum helped his side to overcome Sri Lanka’s challenge by two wickets in the opening encounter of the World Twenty-20 here on Friday.
The right-hander batsman finished the match with a six while chasing the target of 136.
Another 15-run cameo by Jacob Oram ignited the hope of New Zealand's comeback which was perfectly executed by McCullum at the end.
Earlier, a gutsy effort by Mahela Jayawardene helped his side set a defendable score.
The seasoned batsman from the island nation adjusted well with the slowness of the wicket and hit eight fours and two sixes in his innings of 81 off 51 after Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and decided to set a target for the opposition.
Debutant Dinesh Chandimal too contributed with 29 off 23 and shared an invaluable 58-run partnership for the third wicket with the former skipper who took their innings to 135.
In reply, slow-bowlers almost did the trick for the Lankans by sharing 4 wickets between them.
Jesse Ryder (42 off 27) was the highest run getter for the Kiwis while the other batsmen fixed in the spin tangle of their opponents.
Earlier, Shane Bond picked up two wickets in the last over of the innings for the Black Caps while Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris and Tim Southee chipped in with a wicket each.
New Zealand got the worst possible start after Brendon McCullum was caught at mid-wicket by Lasith Malinga off Angela Mathews, who bowled a maiden first over. The right-handed batsman could not open his account.
Ryder, who was making a comeback after a long injury lay-off, timed the ball well from the beginning. He hit a 91-meter six off Mathews in the third over.
Martin Guptil welcomed Malinga with a straight six after being let-off in the previous over by Dilshan in the covers off Ajantha Mendis.
Both the batsmen maintained the run-rate needed in their 62-run stand for the second wicket. Ryder was bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan after hitting him for a six earlier in the over.
Guptil was surprised by the quicker delivery of Sanath Jayasuriya and bowled after scoring 19 off 24.
He was followed by Ross Taylor (9 off 15), who was holed out by Mathews at deep mid-wicket off Muralitharan.
Styris (17 off 21) tried hard to take his side home but was bowled by Mendis in the 17th over.
Welegedara hold his nerve to knock out Oram in the penultimate over but the Man-of-the-match effort by McCullum was enough to seal the victory for the Black Caps.

Jayawardene powers Lanka to 135

Guyana, Apr 30: A gutsy effort by Mahela Jayawardene helped Sri Lanka set a defendable score of 135 in the opening encounter of the World Twenty-20 against New Zealand here on Friday.
The seasoned batsman from the island nation adjusted well with the slowness of the wicket and hit eight fours and two sixes in his innings of 81 off 51 after Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and decided to set a target for the opposition.
Debutant Dinesh Chandimal contributed with 29 off 23 and shared an invaluable 58-run partnership for the third wicket with the former skipper.
For the Kiwis Shane Bond picked up two wickets in the last over of the innings while Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris and Tim Southee chipped in with a wicket each.
Earlier, Jayawardene continued his good form he showed in the IPL by hitting a six off Bond over the square-leg boundary and followed it up with a crisp shot in the off side off Nathan McCullum.
Tillakaratne Dilshan started sensibly, giving the strike to his in-form opening partner Jayawardene, who hit two more fours off Bond.
But Kiwi bowlers got the reward for bowling in the right areas when Dilshan finally gave in after scoring 3 off 19 deliveries. He was cleaned up by Oram in the sixth over.
With score 40/1 after seven overs, the experienced pair of Sangakkara and Jayawardene seemed to have gauged the slowness of the wicket and set a target in the range of 140 for the Black Caps to chase.
Styris gave another blow to the Lankan side, hitting the stumps of Sangakkara (4 off 11).
Chandimal, the highest run-getter in Sri-Lankan domestic circuit, broke free by hitting a six off Styris over long-on but holed out to Ross Taylor while trying the same shot off McCullum. Taylor took a brilliant catch with a well-timed jump to send the 20-year-old back in the hut.
Jayawardene got out trying to clear the boundary off Southee. And with the wicket of Chamara Kapugedara (11 off 10), Lankan innings finished at 135/6.