Prior to the start of the ICC World Twenty20 I noted that England would be one of the form teams in the tournament, and boy have they delivered. England beat the Proteas in a warm up match, and then went on to beat Ireland, they lost to the West Indies on the Duckworth-Lewis method after posting 191 runs in their innings.

In the Super Eights stage England beat Pakistan and more significantly for us they beat the Proteas by 39 runs in Barbados. England have secured their place in the semi-final and will most probably play Sri Lanka. This leaves South Africa and New Zealand fighting it out for the other semi-final position in group E.

Currently New Zealand are in second place and have a better net run rate, by 0.350. South Africa will play Pakistan on Monday 10^th May, it’s a must win game. Not only will we need to beat Pakistan, we’ll have to do it convincingly. If New Zealand beat England in a game that will be played directly after the Proteas game, then it will come down to net run rate. We really need England to beat New Zealand.

The Proteas have played some poor cricket in this ICC World Twenty20, we’ve lost to India and England and have only beaten Afganistan. We’re going to have to pick up our game in a big way if we are to stand any chance of reaching the semi-finals.

At the moment, the form books will have the Australians up against England in the final.

The tournament will be contested by 12 teams, which have been split into four groups of three. There are two seeded teams in each group.

Each group will be played on a round-robin basis with the top two sides progressing to the Super Eight stages.

In the Super Eight stages the groups will be made up of the following teams:

Fixture list:

Fri Apr 30
17:00 GMT | 13:00 local
1st Match, Group B – New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Providence Stadium, Guyana

Fri Apr 30
21:00 GMT | 17:00 local
2nd Match, Group D – West Indies v Ireland
Providence Stadium, Guyana

Sat May 1
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local
3rd Match, Group C – Afghanistan v India
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Sat May 1
17:30 GMT | 13:30 local
4th Match, Group A – Bangladesh v Pakistan
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Sun May 2
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local
5th Match, Group C – India v South Africa
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Sun May 2
17:30 GMT | 13:30 local
6th Match, Group A – Australia v Pakistan
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Mon May 3
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local
7th Match, Group B – Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe
Providence Stadium, Guyana

Mon May 3
17:30 GMT | 13:30 local
8th Match, Group D – West Indies v England
Providence Stadium, Guyana

Tue May 4
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local
9th Match, Group B – New Zealand v Zimbabwe
Providence Stadium, Guyana

Tue May 4
17:30 GMT | 13:30 local
10th Match, Group D – England v Ireland
Providence Stadium, Guyana

Wed May 5
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local
11th Match, Group A – Australia v Bangladesh
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Wed May 5
17:30 GMT | 13:30 local
12th Match, Group C – Afghanistan v South Africa
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Thu May 6
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local
13th Match – TBC v TBC (A1 v D2)
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Thu May 6
17:30 GMT | 13:30 local
14th Match – TBC v TBC (C1 v B2)
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Fri May 7
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local
15th Match – TBC v TBC (A2 v C2)
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Fri May 7
17:30 GMT | 13:30 local
16th Match – TBC v TBC (B1 v D1)
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Sat May 8
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local
17th Match – TBC v TBC (A1 v B2)
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Sat May 8
17:30 GMT | 13:30 local
18th Match – TBC v TBC (D2 v C1)
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Sun May 9
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local
19th Match – TBC v TBC (C2 v D1)
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Sun May 9
17:30 GMT | 13:30 local
20th Match – TBC v TBC (B1 v A2)
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Mon May 10
13:30 GMT | 09:30 local
21st Match – TBC v TBC (A1 v C1)
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Mon May 10
17:30 GMT | 13:30 local
22nd Match – TBC v TBC (B2 v D2)
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Tue May 11
17:00 GMT | 13:00 local
23rd Match – TBC v TBC (B1 v C2)
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Tue May 11
21:00 GMT | 17:00 local
24th Match – TBC v TBC (D1 v A2)
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Thu May 13
15:30 GMT | 11:30 local
1st Semi-Final – TBC v TBC
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Fri May 14
15:30 GMT | 11:30 local
2nd Semi-Final – TBC v TBC
Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Sun May 16
15:30 GMT | 11:30 local
Final – TBC v TBC
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

I’ve watched almost every game that has been played in the ICC World Twenty20 and have noticed a few things.

Don’t break the flow of the game

The IPL can learn from this competition, the introduction of the ‘strategic break’ in IPL 2 was absolutely ridiculous. The break did exactly that “break” the flow of the game; the commentators started talking about the effects of the eleventh over in the IPL.

In this ICC World Twenty20 there have been no breaks, the game has flowed and the scores have been much higher, which the cricket fans love.

There is still place for an elegant cover drive in Twenty20 cricket

My second observation that I’d like to discuss is that batsmen can still play a cover drive in Twenty20 cricket. Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis in particular have played good cricket strokes in this ICC World Twenty20, and it’s worked.  Jacques is currently the leading run scorer in the competition with 147 runs in four innings with a strike rate of 129.85.

It hasn’t been often that you’ve seen Jacques play a shot in anger over the past few weeks. And when he has played the big shot it’s been with control. The same can be said about AB de Villiers, this man is pure class and he’s managed to bring that class and batting elegance from test cricket into the Twenty20.

The players who have struggled have been the guys trying to smash the ball out the park from ball one, Albie Morkel, Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher.

Taking the pace off the ball

Having the ability to take the pace off the ball without being hit out the park, is possibly the greatest asset any team can have. Seven of the ten most economical bowlers in the competition are spin bowlers.

If you have a decent pace attack that can be backed up by your spinners then you’re going to do very well in Twenty20 cricket. Look at the South African team, we have great opening bowlers in Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell, as soon as they come off we have Johan Botha and Roelof van der Merwe to build the pressure on the batsmen which then allows for the part timers to take wicket as the batsmen now need to up the run rate.

My last observation: if you have Wayne Parnell in your team, you are going to win the ICC World Twenty20

Statistic were taken from CricInfo, as of Monday June 15 @ 15H50

Poor planning or the blooding of a youngster? That’s my question. Graeme Smith left the final over to Wayne Parnell, in the nail biter last ball finish against New Zealand on Tuesday night. Needing 15 runs from the last over Graeme Smith called up Wayne Parnell (19) to bowl, but as he called him up he seemed to check with Parnell that he had one more left to bowl.

That couldn’t have been much of a confidence boost ahead of a pressure over for Parnell, nor the previous over by his senior Dale Steyn which went for 12 runs. The pressure seemed to get the better of Steyn; his last over was filled with wides and bye’s . Perhaps Graeme Smith wanted to give Parnell some exposure to death bowling, whatever Smith’s reckoning Parnell delivered. Bowling to Jacob Oram and Scott Styris he managed to keep the runs below the required 15.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man

My boy Roelof van der Merwe who so many people wrote off before his international career even got started delivered when needed. Van der Merwe stepped up and bowled his four overs for just fourteen runs, taking two wickets, including the wicket of Brendon McCullum stumped for 57 off 56 balls in the 17th over. In the end it was another quality bowling and fielding performance from the Proteas, great to see the boys respond when they were under pressure.

Image Source: Flickr

So, the phoney war of the first group stage of the Twenty20 World Cup is over and the real business of the tournament is about to start. Despite the efforts of the organisers to remove the element of surprise from the Super 8s there have been a couple of shocks. Firstly, the fall of Australia at the first hurdle and secondly Ireland usurping Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, South Africa managed to negotiate their opening fixtures successfully, trouncing Scotland before squeezing past the Kiwis. I doubt if Graeme Smith will want too many of his side’s matches to go down to the last ball, but having survived the scare and defended a small total there will be plenty of positives for the Proteas.

The danger of an easy win over Scotland followed by a match against New Zealand that didn’t mean anything to either side was that South Africa would be severely undercooked going into the Super 8s.

The batsmen were able to fill their boots against Scotland they were made to work a lot harder for their runs against the Kiwis. The bowling and fielding has really shone though dismissing Scotland for 81 and restricting New Zealand to 127.

Moreover all the reasons that caused the bookmakers to have South Africa amongst the favourites at the outset of this World Cup still apply.

Many of the team have excelled in the recent IPL, which is where the finest Twenty20 exponents have been sharpening their skills for the last two seasons. AB deVilliers, Herschelle Gibbs, JP Duminy and Jacques Kallis were all in the IPL’s Top 12 run scorers while left-armer Yusuf Abdulla was in the Top 10 bowlers with 14 wickets.

Smith will continue to lead from the front and can has a full range of bowling options including the pace of Dale Steyn or the spin of Johan Botha. And it has been spin that has been crucial in bringing down run rates so far in this tournament.

South Africa line up in the tougher of the Super 8 groups alongside England, India and the West Indies. For my money it looks like three teams fighting over two places and net run rates could turn out to be the key if everyone else beats the West Indies and then each other.

First up for SA in the Super 8s will be the host nation. The two teams should know each other well after last summer and although it was the Proteas who came out on top in the Tests it was England who fared better in the shorter forms of the game.

After the disaster of the opening game against the Netherlands came a fine performance in the must-win game against Pakistan. The comprehensive victory hinted that England might finally be finding their feet at Twenty20.

But which England will show up?

Australia’s place in the Super 8s was taken by the West Indies after Chris Gayle put them to the sword. And it is Gayle on who the West indies hopes rest upon. As he showed at his best he can flay any attack in the world, but if he fails to fire there is serious doubt over where the other match winners in the side are.

Even if Gayle and the batting line-up fire there is the danger that their good work will be undone by profligate bowling and woeful fielding.

Both South Africa and India will be hoping to have secured their semi-final places before meeting next Tuesday in a possible dress rehearsal for the final. If that is the case it could be a case of how to approach the game?

Do you rest key players and try and deny the opposition a glimpse of your main men. The risks are obvious, loss of momentum if the match is lost and a missed opportunity to scout the opposition.

The alternative is to pick your strongest side and send a message to India, as well as the other remaining teams. It will be an interesting conundrum for Mickey Arthur to wrestle with, but only if his team take it one game at a time to that point.

By: Tim Evershed
Twenty20Blog

During the ICC World Twenty20 match between South Africa and Scotland, Kyle Coetzer pulled off a magnificent catch on the boundary to dismiss Mark Boucher:

South Africa stamped their authority on the ICC World Twenty20 on Sunday beating Scotland by a whopping 130 runs, in their first outing in Group D at the Oval in London. Winning the toss and electing to bat South Africa went out and scored their highest International Twenty20 total of 211 runs. Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith opening the innings, surprisingly it was Kallis who got off to a quick start, at one point he hit three fours in a row.

Kallis was later out for 48 from just 31 deliveries. Only two balls later Graeme Smith (38) skied a ball trying to play one too many shots onto the leg side.

With a solid platform in place Herchelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers came together, both played their natural games from ball one. Herschelle Gibbs pushed to keep the scoreboard ticking but was a little too ambitious charging down the wicket without a care in the world. This aggressive tactic cost him his wicket as he missed one and was stumped by the Scotland wicket keeper.

AB de Villiers played with total control, scoring an unbeaten 79 from 34 balls. de Villiers innings included five fours and six sixes, he brought up his half-century off only 25 balls. The only moment of glory for Scotland came from Kyle Coetzer taking a world class catch diving backwards on the boundary to dismiss Mark Boucher.

Needing more than ten runs per over from the first over, Scotland were always going to be struggle with their inexperienced batsmen. All the South African bowlers contributed to the regular fall of wickets, Scotland eventually gave into the pressure managing only 81 runs from 15.4 overs.

With Australia and England suffering early defeats South Africa will be confident going into their clash with New Zealand on Tuesday evening.

The Netherlands Twenty20 team exploded with excitement as their team mate ran their second run from the last ball of their innings to beat the ICC World Twenty20 hosts England by 4 wickets at Lords. Needing two runs off the last ball the Dutch batsmen played the ball not far from the bowler Stuart Broad; they were always going to run the single. Broad fielded the ball and had a shy at the wickets; missing and allowing the batsmen to return for a second run from the over throw handing victory to the Netherlands.

England played poorly scoring only 162 from their 20 overs, England were 102/1 after 11.2 overs but couldn’t push on to achieve a greater total. The fall of the first wicket seemed to lift the Dutch side and they began their fight back in the field.

England should have defended their total, opening the bowling England’s James Anderson took the wicket of the Netherlands opening batsman, all seemed to be on track. All the other Netherlands batsmen contributed to take the game to the last over needing 7 runs.

Going into the last over England still should have won; but Stuart Broad simply folded under the pressure. He attempted and Jonty Rhodes type diving run out, only to land on the ball and hit the stumps with his hand as the ball popped out. He then put down a catch off his own bowling, and topped it all off with the second missed run out resulting in an over throw, and victory for the Netherlands.

The result leaves England in serious trouble; they play Pakistan next in a must win game on Sunday.

image source: Flickr

Being a proud Proteas supporter I’ll always back South Africa to win, but this time around I’m armed with some facts and figures to backup my blind faith. The recent success of the Proteas has given the team a great deal of momentum; we’ve had historic test and ODI victories in England, India and Australia.

In addition to those recent heroics South Africa recently hosted IPL2 with many South African players included in the tournament. The Batsmen have performed extremely well in the IPL, below are some stats from the top performing South African Batsmen:

If you consider that the top three runs scores in the IPL were Mathew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and AB de Villiers then you start to get a sense that SA are up there as both Hayden and Gilchrist will watch the ICC World Twenty20 from their living rooms. Add Herschell Gibbs and JP Duminy to the mix and you have to back the Proteas.

We’ve come to accept that spin bowling plays a major role in the Twenty20 game;

Having said all that Twenty20 cricket is unpredictable, you need to get into the top four and hope for the best from there.

Proteas’ Standard Bank Pro20 International squad:

Graeme Smith , Johan Botha, Yusuf Abdulla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs , Jacques, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel (, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robbie Peterson, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe.