In a crunch game at Oval both West Indies and Pakistan holds their nerves to qualify for the Semi Finals of ICC World twenty20 by beating England and Ireland respectively. West Indies v England- Srawan and Chanderpaul star in a thrilling battle West Indies experienced player Ramnaresh Shrawan (19 runs of 9 balls) and S.Chanderpaul (17 runs of 10 balls) hold their nerves in the thrilling encounter against England to guide their team home by 5 Wickets. In a rain reduced target West Indies needed 80 runs in 9 overs. But West Indies started their run chase in dramatic fashion as they lost three top order batsman for just 16 runs on the board in the third over. D.Bravo (18 runs of 13 balls) and big hitter K.Polard (9 runs of 6 balls) did tried hard to steady the West Indian innings but both batsman dismissed in quick succession to leave West Indies in critical situation. Needing 39 runs of 26 balls with two new batsman at the crease. However S.Chanderpaul and R.Srawan used their all experience and didn’t panic as West Indies achieved the target with four balls to spare. Earlier after winning the toss Paul Collingwoood decided to bat first and his team posted a decent total of 161/6 on the boards with help of Ravi Bopara (55 runs of 47 balls), K.Pietersen (31 runs of 19 balls) and S.Broad (10 runs of 2 balls). But 162 runs target on Oval wicket was always tough task to defend. As the England inning ended rain started to came down heavily and West Indies was presented with revised target of 80 runs in 9 overs which was very simple equation for them. Ramnaresh Shrawan was declared Player-of-the-Match for his inning of 19 runs of 9 balls. Match Summary (West Indies won by 5 Wickets) England – 161/6 in 20 Overs Ravi Bopara- 55 K.Pietersen– 31 D.Bravo– 4-0-30-2 C.Gayle- 4-0-25-1 West Indies– 82/5 in 8.2 Overs (Target 80 runs in 9 Overs D/L method) R.Srawan- 19* S.Chanderpaul– 17* G.Swann– 2-0-16-1 R.Sidebottom- 1.2-0-15-1 Pakistan v Ireland- Ajmal and Akmal star in Pakistan win over Ireland Pakistan performed exceptionally well in their last match of Super Eights to qualify for the Semi Final of World twenty20. Electing to bat first Pakistan posted a decent total 159/7 on the boards in their 20 overs and in reply Ireland fell short by 39 runs to give Pakistan an easy win in the end. Kamran Akmal was the star of the day for Pakistan with bat as he hold the Pakistan inning together with a solid knock of 57 runs of 51 deliveries. Other major contribution came from hard-hitting batsman Shahid Afridi who made 24 runs of just 13 balls. Requiring a win to move into the semi-finals, Pakistan accomplished just that with an efficient performance, easing past Ireland by 39 runs at The Oval. Pakistan bowling once again looked as solid as was in the last game. Saeed Ajmal picked up 4 wickets to destroy the Ireland batting line-up, while Umar Gul continued from where he had left off against New Zealand, knocking over the stumps thrice, including once off a free-hit ball, and then scoring a direct hit to run out West. Ireland never looked in the game in the run chase as they kept loosing wickets at regular intervals and finally they manage just 120/9 against strong Pakistan bowling attack. Kamran Akmal was declared Player-of-the-Match for his inning of 57 runs of 51 balls. Match Summary (Pakistan won by 39 Runs) Pakistan – 159/7 in 20 Overs Kamran Akmal- 57 S.Afridi– 24 W.McCallan– 4-0-26-3 R.West- 4-0-33-1 Ireland– 150/5 in 20 Overs W.Portefield- 40 K.O’Brien– 26 Saeed Ajmal– 4-0-19-4 U.Gul- 4-0-19-2 |
