Apparently there are a couple of international cricket tournaments going on at present in India. An England are doing rather well in both! I haven’t seen much of either, bar the occasional 4-minute taster courtesy of CricInfo’s post-match online highlights packages which consist almost entirely of sixes and wickets. However, what’s interesting about the Men’s World T20 competition in particular is the performances of the leading contenders, good and bad.
Being the host nation, India would have been expected to emerge unscathed from the group stages. However, having lost the opener to New Zealand in somewhat embarrassing fashion, it took a special Virat Kohli innings to see dismiss the Australian challenge in the final Group 2 match at Mohali and see them through. Steve Smith’s side must have fancied their chances of making the semi-finals but, despite some useful all-round cameos from James Faulkner and the retiring Shane Watson, they managed to beat only Pakistan and Bangladesh.
In Group A, England have experienced a typical rolleroaster ride. Initially smashed by Chris Gayle and given an almighty scare by Afghanistan, they were rescued by Joe Root in an amazing run chase against South Africa, then Jos Buttler and fine death bowling by Willey, Jordan and Stokes to thwart Sri Lanka in Delhi.
West Indies had already wrapped up qualification by the time they fell short of Afghanistan’s meagre total of 123 at Nagpur, so this result, memorable as it was for the minnows, probably counts for nothing in the semi-finals.
For all the media coverage of Kohli’s match-winning 82 not out, Pakistan’s miserable campaign and Sri Lanka’s unhealthy reliance on Angelo Mathews and a few spinners, the real stars of the World Cup so far have been New Zealand. The only team with a 100% record, the Black Caps have looked typically ruthless in the group stage. And all their victories have come batting first!
Yet instead of the expected foundation built of Williamson, Taylor, Southee and Boult, their success so far has owed much to the reading of the pitches and the bold selection of spinners at the expense of the experienced seam and swing brigade. Will Sodhi, Milne and Santner strangle the England batsmen in the same way? Will the West Indian leggie Samuel Badree, along with Russell and the wily Dwayne Bravo pose a similar threat to India? The next few days will give us the answers. This is T20 so anything can happen, but I predict an England-India final.
In the Women’s tournament, New Zealand also won four out of four, even beating red-hot favourites Australia thanks to Leigh Kasparek’s three early wickets and Morna Nielsen’s impressive stats of 4-0-4-0! England skipper Charlotte Edwards has been leading from the front and now meet old rivals Australia in the semis. I enjoyed their Ashes contest at Cardiff last summer and so I’ll probably pay more attention to this fixture than either of the men’s knockouts. I reckon Meg Lanning’s team will gain revenge for that defeat in Wales and proceed to meet the West Indies in the climax.
