DEFENDING CHAMPIONS - ONE OUT, THE OTHER ON THEIR WAY

A couple of days ago, I mentioned on this blog that the Australian women beat the English women in the Women's version of World Twenty20 Championship on the rule of sixes countback. Now, that ridiculous rule has resulted into the end of the road for the defending champions, England Women, in this tournament.

England lost by 2 runs to the hosts, West Indies... and they deserved the loss. They were sitting comfortably at 65 for 0, chasing 123 for a win and a chance to stay alive in the tournament. But somehow inexplicably, they collapsed and stuttered to 120 for 9 in their 20 overs, falling short by 2 runs.

So England, the defending champions and the favourites to win this event as well, who have made just 2 runs less than their opponents thus far in this tournament (an ill-fated tie with Australia earlier), have already been knocked out.

I knew that the rule of sixes countback in the event of a tie in the Super Over was ridiculous... but I had no clue that it would result in such an unfair situation. And since this happens to be Women's cricket, I doubt ICC is going to give much thought into this rule. Had a men's team been knocked out in such a circumstance, ICC would have immediately taken note of its unfairness.

Moving on, after the Indian men surrendered meekly to Australia, the women brought some cheer by streamrolling arch rivals Pakistan by 9 wickets. Their next match against Sri Lanka is a virtual quarter-final, with the winner to advance to the semi-finals, to take on either Australia or West Indies. In the event of a no result, Indian women would advance due to their higher NRR.

And lastly, New Zealand's 1-run win over Pakistan has virtually knocked the defending champions out (they still have a mathematical chance due to the English win later over the South Africans). Though the Kiwis are yet to gain a semi-final spot, they are looking a strong and a formidable unit... especially now with the return of Kyle Mills to the team. They will gain enormous confidence from having beaten Pakistan - an opponent that has traditionally been a thorn for the Kiwis in major ICC tournaments. In fact, since their first ever meeting in the 1983 World Cup where the Kiwis prevailed by 52 runs, they had never managed to beat Pakistan in a World Cup match (One Day or Twenty20). These matches included three semi-final defeats in ODI World Cups of 1992 and 1999, and the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007.

Now, the Kiwis will need to beat the Poms, who will be without the services of Kevin Pietersen (he will be flying home to be with his wife on their first child birth). If the Kiwis do manage to win and qualify for the semis, they should invite Mrs. Pietersen and Baby Pietersen at a Thank-You-Lunch for their exceptional timing!