Before I talk about the game that has just finished, a hearty congratulations to Kevin Pietersen on becoming a proud father of a baby boy. And some cheer for the Indian supporters as well: the women's team defeated Sri Lanka today by 71 runs to seal a place in the 1st semi-final against Australian women's side at Gros Islet on 13th May.
Now, England have beaten New Zealand by 3 wickets with 5 balls to spare to eliminate them from the World Twenty20 Championship 2010, and allow Pakistan a chance to defend the title that they won last year.
New Zealand, to their credit, put up a very good fight even when England looked like they would get to the target of 150 comfortably. They kept on picking wickets, took the good catches (especially Daniel Vettori), and exerted pressure even when England had the game all but won.
In the end, the onslaught from Tim Bresnan after a calm innings from Eoin Morgan (again) proved too hot for them to handle. The English win will now be celebrated right across from London to Lahore and Manchester to Multan.
For England, the best part of the win will be the fact that they have topped the group and thus, will not need to face Australia in the semi-finals (I guess it is pretty safe to assume that Australia will be topping the other group). Pakistan, despite being glad of a chance to play in the semis, will be wary of facing Australia in the semis. The Australian team has dented Pakistan's confidence in a big way over the summer... and Pakistan will face a big test of their mental strength when they take guard against the men from Down Under.
The interesting aspect of the result is that the team that had not won a single Super Eight game when the day began has now ended up in the semi-finals. India will be hoping for a similar fate tomorrow! Or else, it will be the second straight ICC event where the women's team will have outperformed the men's team from India!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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