Kevin Pietersen should be back in time for England's semi-final showdown

Nothing is ever dull where Pakistan are concerned and there is a feeling that we haven’t yet seen the best of them. They will need to pick up where they left off in their victory over South Africa yesterday though. For England it is just a case of maintaining their current form. Kevin Pietersen will hopefully return for them in time for their semi-final. This certainly represents one of the better chances that they have had to break their international tournament duck.

The batting has clicked and the bowling is giving little away needlessly. The fielding too, has been excellent from Paul Collingwood’s men. With Michael Yardy coming in at number eight and Graeme Swann at nine, England bat deep. Tim Bresnan came to the fore too, in England’s latest triumph with an economic spell of one for 20 followed by a blistering 23 not out from 11 balls to carry England past the winning post.

Whilst it is unclear what the semi-final fixtures are at the time of writing, winless India take on Sri Lanka and Australia take on the hosts West Indies today, it seems likely that England will face Sri Lanka and Pakistan Australia. If England can keep up their current form then they will fancy their chances of reaching an unexpected final. As for Pakistan, will they finally show up? They are still anyone’s guess.

By Miles Reucroft

Welcome to the gun show - Brendon McCullum sits comfortably in the pantheon of top Twenty20 International batsmen

In the first World Twenty20 Chris Gayle smashed the hosts South Africa, for 117 runs at Johannesburg. The fact it was for a losing cause mattered not for the cricket world had witnessed something that had seemed so elusive on the international stage. The best attempts up to this point had come from two Aussies. Ponting’s 98* in the first ever Twenty20 international secured an unbreakable hat-trick for Australian cricket; they had won the first ever Test match, the first ever One Day International and now the first ever Twenty20 international.

11 months later and Damien Martyn had flirted with the three-figure barrier with a plucky 96 against South Africa at Brisbane. Just when would the first international Twenty20 ton come? Enter Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain on September 11th 2007 – hardly an appropriate day for such explosive scenes.

And so it was back to the waiting. We’d seen a Twenty20 century at the highest level, when would we see another? Would we ever see another? Tillakaratne Dilshan scored 96* at the following World Twenty20 in England at The Oval. 2008 and 2009, however, passed without seeing another century. Nobody was up to the task of matching Gayle, not even Gayle himself, despite the fact that he managed to stun anyone with even a passing interest in the game with an innings of such sheer brutality, again at The Oval, against Australia in 2009.

Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman also threatened to break into the exclusive three-figure group at Centurion last November against England. It wasn’t to be, with Bosman topping out on 94. Then along came 2010…

More specifically, February 28th 2010. At Christchurch, against Australia, Twenty20’s best-friend Brendon McCullum re-surfaced to face 56 balls. He scored 116* runs. The strike-rate barrier of 200 had now been brought down. The big-hitting good times were back! Not even the anticipated bowler-friendly wickets of the Caribbean have been able to stop the party. Already we have seen two centuries at the tournament from Suresh Raina against South Africa (101) and from Mahela Jayawardene against Zimbabwe (100). Jayawardene came painfully close to an unthinkable second World Twnety20 century with 98* against the hosts in the Super Eights. Are the floodgates now open?

A Twenty20 century really is something to savour. As is a bowler claiming a five-fer in this format. Whilst there have been four Twenty20 centuries, there have only been three Twenty20 five-fers, the pick of which was Umar Gul’s scarcely believable return of five wickets for six runs against New Zealand at The Oval last year. It is widely accepted that this is a batsman’s game, so perhaps we should reserve our greatest reverence for the stunning bowling displays that destroy the opposition. Gul gave New Zealand nothing on June 13th 2009. He won Pakistan the game.

Whatever the most striking element of the game, it would appear that the standard of Twenty20 is improving. Such is the short nature of the game, however, that individual performances will always stand out head and shoulders above the rest. We reserve our greatest reverence for those who stun us into it. Gayle, McCullum, Raina and Jayawardene have all done that.

By Miles Reucroft

I’ll publish my predictions on this page as I make them:

England v Pakistan: England by 21 RUNS or 4 WICKETS

This is a very tough one to call, particularly as England have hardly bowled in the competitin so far. Pakistan look a little out of sorts though, and if one of Craig Kieswetter, Kevin Pietersen or Paul Collingwood can put a decent score together to complement Eoin Morgan, they should be able to put on a reasonable total.

South Africa v New Zealand: South Africa by 27 RUNS or 6 WICKETS

I wasn’t hugely convinced by South Africa’s batting against Afghanistan, particularly Graeme Smith who looked out of touch. However, on a faster pitch than the ones the Kiwis have played on so far, their spin will be less effective, and the South Africans could smash them all over the park.

Australia v India: Australia by 13 RUNS or 6 WICKETS

I believe this is the hardest match to predict of the tournament so far, and both sides are currently unbeaten. I’m backing the Aussies to come through a close game, with their extraordinarily fast bowlers to thank. Suresh Raina is the key danger man in my view, and if they get him early, they should go on to win the game.

Game 16: West Indies v Sri Lanka: West Indies by 17 RUNS or 5 WICKETS

I’m backing the home side in this game, on a fast pitch with a supportive crowd. The Sri Lankans have looked very much below par, with several of their top players struggling – particularly Dilshan at the top of the order. I’ve gone for a narrow run margin, or a 5-wicket victory if they choose to bring Keiron Pollard in as late as usual.

Eoin Morgan has been the pick of England's players so far

It was all change from the terrifically timed charge that saw England plunder 191 runs on Monday. The wicket here in Guyana was an altogether different surface from the one that enabled Eoin Morgan and Luke Wright to cut lose so magnificently barely 24 hours previously. The seam movement and carry through to the wicket keeper must have had Lalit Modi turning in his recently dug Twenty20 grave. This didn’t fit in with the blazing vision of sixes, sixes and more sixes.

The new ball nipped around and the spinners were nigh on impossible to get away. There was never any danger of a big score being amassed here. The only man who looked at ease on this surface was an Irishman. Unfortunately for the men in green he was scoring his runs for the Three Lions. But for the efforts of Eoin Morgan England’s total could well have been an altogether more miserable affair. Should England somehow claw their way into the semi-finals the Middlesex man will be crucial to their efforts.

Paul Collingwood’s men will now face up against South Africa (assuming they see off Afghanistan), New Zealand and defending champions Pakistan in the Super Eights Group E. They will need more batting performances like that produced on Monday if they are to carry on in this tournament, although this side of the draw is arguably more favourable than Group F which will include India, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Australia (assuming they beat Bangladesh).

The English bowlers have yet to get a proper run out so far in this tournament due to the weather and confusion appears to be reigning in this department. A less than happy James Anderson was omitted from the starting XI here against Ireland in favour of Ryan Sidebottom and it will be interesting to see how England settle on their bowling attack. Indications so far are that spin and medium pace will be the order of the day on these Caribbean tracks, although the tournament will not be returning to Guyana again.

At this stage the tournament is still anybody’s. We’ve yet to see a major upset so perhaps today could be the day with South Africa and Australia taking on Afghanistan and Bangladesh respectively. The Super Eights commence on tomorrow with England and Pakistan kicking things off.

By Miles Reucroft

I have not made any hugely controversial predictions, although I’ve gone for a narrow win by the hosts over Ireland – the Irish have one or two reasonable players, and I expect them to come out firing in their opening game. The West Indies should prevail, but I don’t think it will be a walkover.

Elsewhere, I’ve predicted victories for India in both of their group matches, and one victory and one defeat for reigning champions Pakistan.

Here are my SportGuru predictions for Round 1 of the World T20:

New Zealand v Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka by 18 RUNS or 5 WICKETS
West Indies v Ireland: West Indies by 13 RUNS or 4 WICKETS
Afghanistan v India: India by 53 RUNS or 8 WICKETS
Bangladesh v Pakistan: Pakistan by 27 RUNS or 6 WICKETS
India v South Africa: India by 21 RUNS or 6 WICKETS
Australia v Pakistan: Australia by 21 RUNS or 6 WICKETS

The great thing about the World Twenty20 (for fans and those who loathe it) is that it is not a long, drawn out competition. The ICC must have learnt from the debacle that was the most recent 50 over World Cup, also played in the Caribbean, and they should be applauded for this. The Indian Premier League should take note; less can, in fact, be more.

The one thing that the World Twenty20 and the IPL have in common, however, is that they are both money spinning operations. The ICC is clearly cashing in on its new favourite son by hosting the third World Cup in this format less than a year after the second that came a year after the first. For purposes of longevity and sporting relevance, this sequence cannot continue – a biennial tournament would surely be the most workable scenario.

When it comes to the action, it has been the sub-continent sides that have dominated the Twenty20 format. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have competed in previous finals, India winning the inaugural bash in South Africa at Pakistan’s expense before Pakistan went one better at Sri Lanka’s expense in England last summer. The cricketing world could well be in for more of the same during the first two weeks of May.

Here on The Cricket Blog, we take a closer look at the eight main competitors in the Caribbean to asses their hopes ahead of the tournament.

West Indies
The hosts are more than a match for anyone on their day and will be desperate to impress in front of their home crowds after a tumultuous 2009. They will need captain Chris Gayle to be in the destructive form that he displayed at The Oval last year against Australia and Kieron Pollard to explode as he did for Mumbai Indians in the recent IPL.

Prediction: Should qualify for the Super Eights at the expense of Ireland in Group D. Hard to see them being consistent enough to progress from there though.

Australia
The Aussies haven’t quite taken to Twenty20 as most expected. Disappointing results last year led to an early exit and a humiliating defeat to Zimbabwe lingers long in the memory from the inaugural event. Don’t question their hunger, though – this is the only tournament that has eluded Ricky Ponting’s men. Much will depend on their skipper, as well as Michael Clarke and IPL sensation Doug Bollinger, particularly now that Brett Lee has been ruled out through injury.

Prediction: Will top group A ahead of Pakistan and march on into the semi-finals, where their tournament will come to an abrupt end.

England
Where to begin? A poor man’s version of Pakistan at times, they could be brilliant, could be woeful. With Kevin Pietersen expected to miss at least part of the tournament due to the imminent birth of his first child – poor forward planning there on behalf of the Pietersens, although would it be too much to observe that the birth wasn’t pencilled in during the IPL? (It would be, yes) – it is hard to see anyone with the character to drag England onwards.

Yet another opening partnership highlights a lack of consistency and Paul Collingwood and Graeme Swann will need to the prop the side up, again. If it all goes a little awry as expected, they could always point to the volcanic ash cloud that enveloped Europe for disrupting their preparation in arriving for the tournament.

Prediction: Could lose both group games to West Indies and Ireland. Could make the Super Eights. Could make the semi-finals. Could win it. Who Knows? Super Eights exit most likely.

India
The adopted homeland of Twenty20 will fancy its chances of winning back the World Twenty20 crown. They will, however, be a significantly weaker side for the loss of Virender Sehwag and all his talent and experience, although Murali Vijay is a pretty handy replacement. MS Dhoni is arguably the best captain at the tournament in terms of tactical guile and his own powerful performances, whilst a strong bowling unit supports the explosive batting line-up.

Prediction: It’s difficult to look beyond them as favourites. No Sachin Tendulkar in this format and no Sehwag, but there is enough strength in depth. Finalists.

New Zealand
A steady outfit in limited overs cricket, they will be heavily reliant upon captain and star performer Daniel Vettori, who often looks like a man amongst boys in a New Zealand shirt. Brendon McCullum has displayed his pyrotechnics in this format but the squad looks thin elsewhere with an emphasis on experience. If this is a young man’s game, no one has told New Zealand.

Prediction: Super Eights. Not much expected here and the side usually seems to enjoy its cricket together. Unlikely, however, that they will spring enough surprises to mix it with the ‘big boys’.

Pakistan
It would take a man of the ilk of Nostradamus to predict what on earth will happen here. With the tournament not starting until Friday there is plenty of time for controversy and perhaps another round of international bans to be meted out by the inept PCB. Shahid Afridi, Kamran and Umar Akmal (weren’t they banned by the PCB?! Must only be for Tests…) will be crucial to their chances.

Prediction: Tough group with Australia and Bangladesh could see the defending champions eliminated first up. They are equally as likely to win the whole thing. A semi-final birth, however, is within their reach.

South Africa
The eternal ‘chokers’. Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn will undoubtedly be the go-to men and there is plenty of experience within the ranks; most of it of under-achieving or losing semi-finals. With attention back home predominantly on this year’s hosting of the FIFA football World Cup, however, the Proteas may be slightly less burdened with expectation and optimism than in previous years.

Prediction: Another semi-final elimination at best, Super Eights at worst. They could find themselves in a very tough Super Eights group should they fail to beat India in Group C. It is here that the tournament will end for South Africa.

Sri Lanka
Beaten finalists last time and surely no worse a side for that experience. The leading lights of Jayawardene, Sangakkara and Malinga are seasoned performers and will prove more than a match for most competitors. Then there’s the small matter of Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis. And Angelo Matthews…

Prediction: Should sail past New Zealand and Zimbabwe in Group B before storming through the Super Eights and into the knock-out stages. Our tip for the title.

The next two weeks should provide plenty of entertainment for all cricket fans and there will be no shortage of quality cricket on offer. Do you agree with our thoughts? Let us know.

By Miles Reucroft

Join our World T20 Predictions League on SportGuru – click here for the details

It’s hard to comprehend that the youngest player ever to have represented New Zealand in Test cricket has just turned 31 and is still hungry for more.

Vettori has been on the international scene for so long it seems surreal knowing he could easily continue for another five years and, possibly, become his country’s greatest ever player.

The man who made his debut aged 18 is the eighth player in Test history to take 300 wickets and score 3,000 runs and with time on his side, he has an outside chance of bettering his fellow countrymen Richard Hadlee’s 431 Test wickets.

Since first donning the whites in 1996-97, Vettori has developed into a world class all-rounder. He has never been a massive spinner of the ball but what makes him dangerous is his flight and guile, while his batting at number eight is hugely underrated – he averages close to 30.

Prior to becoming captain in a permanent capacity in 2007, Vettori had captained the Black Caps in ODI when regular skipper Stephen Fleming was unavailable. His record was superb; in 2006 he led NZ in 11 matches, winning eight of them.

When Fleming stepped down from the limited-overs captaincy, Vettori took the reins for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. His leadership style notably contrasts with his predecessor’s more laid back approach, as was demonstrated when Vettori refused to shake hands with England players following his outburst regarding a controversial run out at The Oval.

Vettori’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. He was recognised alongside Muttiah Muralitharan as one of the top spinners outside Australia for the Super Series in 2005-06, and was one of six players to represent the World XI in the Test and all three one-dayers. And in 2008 he was ranked the number one bowler in the world for ODI’s.
Despite technological advances, Vettori remains one of the few international sportsmen to wear prescription glasses while performing. If his vision is not impaired he will be a dangerous customer in the West Indies.

The series started badly for the Kiwis as they lost Tim McIntosh first ball to the teen sensation Mohammad Aamer. They also found returning seam bowler Mohammad Asif in cracking form as well. Asif, who has had two years out of the game through injury and drugs controversies, took 3-76 to make a mark on his return. New Zealand had Ross Taylor to thank, as they reached a respectable 276/6 at the close of play, after he hit a fine 94, backed up well by opener Martin Guptill who made 60 before becoming Aamer’s second victim.

It was a completely different story in Kanpur as India followed on from the run fest in Ahmedabad by hitting the most runs they’ve ever made in a day. After playing in quite a subdued fashion against the seamers, openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag attacked the spin trio of Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath. By lunch the pair had made 130 runs and soon after both reached deserved centuries, Gambhir for the fourth Test in a row with Sehwag’s coming off just 97 balls. Both fell to Muralitharan, for 167 and 131 respectively, but the damage had already been done. With the total at 417/2 and Dravid (85) and Tendulkar (20) at the crease tomorrow morning any total is achievable.

It is still to recover from the disaster that was the 2007 World Cup which, besides Freddie Flintoff losing a feisty battle with a pedalo, possessed barely a single encounter which lived in the memory beyond the second round of post-match drinks.

However, there has been some good cricket played over the past week and some real excitement. Australia have mercifully abandoned their tired 3-team format which generally yielded at least 4 largely meaningless games and had become a test of endurance which was beyond most fans. Bangladesh have provided another of their occasional reminders that they may become competitive sometime before the turn of the next century and West Indies and New Zealand fought a well-matched series.

New Zealand came from behind to claim the series 2-1 with two games rained off. Notable performances came from Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill who scored an unbeaten 122 on debut only for the game to be rained off. Daniel Vettori was consistent with the ball, supported ably by Mark Gillespie. For the West Indies, Darren Powell did some damage to the NZ top order and Chris Gayle scored a terrific century in defeat in the final game. His runs took him to the top of the ODI rankings meaning that bizarrely, despite being ranked 7th in tests and 8th in ODIs, the West Indies possess the top-ranked batsman in both formats (Chanderpaul and Gayle respectively).

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka played an extraordinary final of their triangular tournament. When Bangladesh were bowled out for 152 the result seemed a formality but they promptly reduced Sri Lanka to 6-5, not a score you see very often. Sri Lanka still won thanks to the cool head of Kumar Sangakkara and the lower-order slogging of Muttiah Muralitharan.

The first two matches in Australia’s 5 match series against South Africa have been highly entertaining, closely fought affairs with each team taking a game apiece. Shaun Marsh has led the Australian batting with a pair of 70-odds but Australia’s batting has been unconvincing. In the first game though, they looked set for a win until SA took the batting powerplay and Albie Morkel went beserk in Klusener-esque fashion to club 40 from 18 balls and win the game. This was after yet another fine knock from J-P Duminy. Morkel was unable to repeat his heroics in the second game as SA fell 6 runs short.

The batting powerplay has really enhanced this series and added some interest to the previously pretty dull middle overs. It could be a move which really rejuvenates the 50 over game.