Sports
How the ICC T20 World Cups have been won
Memory Lane
The ICC T-20 World Cup gets underway in Australia next week when Sri Lanka take on Namibia at Geelong. The former champions and Namibia are grouped alongside UAE and Netherlands while Group ‘B’ comprises another former champion West Indies, Scotland, Ireland and Zimbabwe. Two teams from each group progress to the Super 12 stage. Here we take a look at how the previous seven editions have been won since the ICC launched the T-20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007.
2007 – India become inaugural winners
The first ICC T20 World Cup may have only lasted 13 days but there was no shortage of unforgettable moments. The opening fixture set the tone, Chris Gayle smashing ten sixes at the Wanderers to become the first player to make a T20I hundred. But that still was not enough for victory, with the Herschelle Gibbs-inspired hosts chasing down 205 with 14 balls to spare.
In a high-scoring tournament, Yuvraj Singh claimed headlines when he struck six sixes in an over, with England’s Stuart Broad on the receiving end. Yuvraj’s India had already made history when they beat Pakistan via a bowl-out in the group stage and when the fierce rivals met again in the final, the outcome was the same – though no less dramatic.Joginder Sharma was the man of the moment, holding his nerve with the ball when Pakistan required just six runs off four balls to steer his side to a five-run victory.
2009 – Afridi special lights up Lord’s
From agony to ecstasy, Pakistan became champions after beating Sri Lanka at Lord’s thanks to a Player of the Match performance from Shahid Afridi.The star of the show in the semi-final with a 34-ball 50 and figures of two for 16, Afridi top-scored again at the home of cricket, his unbeaten 54 guiding Pakistan to an eight-wicket win. Lord’s was a sea of green that afternoon but it had earlier turned orange for one of the tournament’s greatest shocks.Netherlands chased down 162 to beat England in the last ball of the tournament’s opening fixture.
Arguably the best individual display of the tournament came at The Oval, where Umar Gul’s five-for, the first in T20Is, saw Pakistan pip the Black Caps to a semi-final spot and they later returned to the capital for a first major tournament win in 17 years.
2010 – England down Australia
Paul Collingwood’s England turned around a disappointing start to their campaign in remarkable fashion before securing the trophy in Bridgetown. They opened up with an eight-wicket loss against the hosts and were restricted to 120 batting first against Ireland.
Rain intervened, which saw England progress on net run rate at Ireland’s expense, and they then clicked into gear and advanced into the final where they met old rivals Australia.Fittingly, it was Collingwood who hit the winning run with three overs to spare while Kevin Pietersen, who scored 47 in the final, was named Player of the Tournament.
2012 – West Indies upset Sri Lanka’s party
A match-winning 78 from Marlon Samuels carried West Indies to their first ICC T20 World Cup crown in Colombo.The team’s path to the final was eerily similar to that taken by England two years earlier. After losing their opener to Australia, a clash with Ireland was washed out leaving the Windies second in the group on net run rate.
They were soundly beaten by Sri Lanka in the Super 8 stage but a Super Over win over New Zealand secured progression to the last four.Then came revenge against the hosts in the final, Samuels shining with the bat and Sunil Narine claiming three for nine as the Windies strolled to a 36-run victory.
2014 – Sangakkara seals Sri Lankan success
Spurred on by the disappointment of missing out on home soil, Sri Lanka went one better in Bangladesh two years later.The Lions topped Group 1, dismissing the Netherlands for 39 and New Zealand for 60 as their bowling attack proved irresistible.
The semi-final, a repeat of the final two years earlier, saw Sri Lanka defeat West Indies to set up a clash with India which saw two icons bow out in style in their last ever T20Is.Mahela Jayawardene became the first batter to reach 1000 ICC T20 World Cup runs before Kumar Sangakkara saw his side home with an unbeaten half-century, ensuring 77 from the tournament’s leading run-scorer Virat Kohli turned out to be in vain.
2016 – Brathwaite blitz secures dramatic triumph
Carlos Brathwaite, remember the name. Ian Bishop’s iconic commentary provided the backdrop to a stunning performance by the Bajan, whose four successive sixes from the last over of the final led West Indies to their second ICC Men’s T20 World Cup crown.West Indies needed 19 from the final six balls against England and Brathwaite – who had earlier taken three wickets with the ball – made light work of the challenge, Ben Stokes the unfortunate bowler.
Samuels again proved himself a man for the big occasion, named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 85, while several Windies batters stepped up at various times across the tournament.Gayle blasted a 47-ball century in the group stage clash with England, Andre Fletcher’s unbeaten 84 inspired a seven-wicket win over reigning champions Sri Lanka and Lendl Simmons smashed 82 not out from 51 balls in the semi-final victory over India.
2021 – Australia off the mark in style
No country has enjoyed more ICC Cricket World Cup success than Australia but they arrived in the UAE still waiting to make their mark in the shortest format.Having progressed through the group stage, however, Aaron Finch’s side saved their best for the knockouts and dumped out Pakistan, who came into the semi-finals unbeaten, in the last four.
The final pitted Australia against neighbours New Zealand, for whom Kane Williamson’s 85 was the standout innings in a total of 172 for four. It did not prove enough against an in-form batting line-up, Mitchell Marsh’s unbeaten 77 from 50 balls guiding Australia to an eight-wicket success which sees them head into this year’s tournament eyeing an unprecedented title defence.
Three more members of the Iranian women’s football delegation – who were given humanitarian visas to stay in Australia – have changed their mind and will return home.
The trio have been named by human rights activists in the Iranian diaspora as Zahra Soltan Meshkehkar, Mona Hamoudi, and Zahra Sarbali.
Concerns grew for the Iranian team after they were silent for the country’s anthem in their opening Asian Cup match against South Korea on 2 March – which led to them being branded “war traitors” in Iran.
Confirming the decisions, Australia’s home affairs minister said his government had done everything it could to ensure the women were given the chance to have a safe future in the country.
“Australians should be proud that it was in our country that these women experienced a nation presenting them with genuine choices and interacted with authorities seeking to help them,” Tony Burke said in a statement.
“While the Australian government can ensure that opportunities are provided and communicated, we cannot remove the context in which the players are making these incredibly difficult decisions.”
Iran’s sports ministry also earlier confirmed the news, first reported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked Tasnim News Agency, in a statement.
“The national spirit and patriotism of the Iranian women’s national football team defeated the enemy’s plans against this team,” the statement says, also accusing Australia’s government of “playing in Trump’s field”.
Tasnim said the three were on their way to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to join the rest of the squad and were “returning to the warm embrace of their families and homeland after withdrawing their asylum application in Australia”.
It said they had resisted “psychological warfare, extensive propaganda and seductive offers”.
It means that, of the seven who initially said they wanted to stay in Australia, only three now remain as defectors. One of the players made the same decision to return to Iran on Wednesday.
Hamoudi and Sarbali were among the original five who refused, after giving minders the slip at the team’s hotel on the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane, last Monday and being taken to a safe house by Australian Federal Police.
Zahra Soltan Meshkehkar, a member of the team’s technical staff, was one of two more women from the group to seek asylum the next day. The other – Mohaddeseh Zolfi – changed her mind hours after being given the right to stay. She is understood to have already rejoined the team.
There was concern in Australia that members of the team and their families might face repercussions in Iran after the players refused to sing the national anthem.
One conservative commentator on Iranian state media accused them of being “wartime traitors” and called for a harsh punishment.
The team did sing the anthem in their last two games before they were eliminated on Sunday, leading critics to believe they had been told to sing by government officials accompanying them during the tournament.
The remaining Iranian players left Australia on Tuesday night local time – two days after they were knocked out of the Asian Cup.
[BBC]
Our cricket bosses didn’t earn many admirers for their choice of chairman of selectors, but they have certainly struck a chord with students of the game like us, and more importantly with the fans, in their appointment of the national team’s head coach. In Gary Kirsten, Sri Lanka have brought in a man with a proven pedigree and it looks like a step in the right direction.
As an opening batsman for South Africa, Kirsten never quite possessed the charm, elegance or textbook technique of his older brother Peter Kirsten. Gary’s success was forged the hard way. He thrived on grit, discipline and a stubborn refusal to give in, the sort of qualities that don’t always make headlines but win you matches. Once asked to follow on by England, he dug in for more than 14 hours at the crease and churned out 275, the highest score of his career. That innings summed up the man perfectly. When the going got tough, Gary simply rolled up his sleeves and got going.
Those very traits travelled with him into coaching, where he carved out an enviable reputation. Managing a star-studded Indian dressing room featuring Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni is no walk in the park. Handling so many big personalities requires more than tactical nous; it demands man management. Kirsten passed that test with flying colours. Under his watch India climbed to the No.1 ranking in Test cricket and, of course, lifted the 2011 World Cup, breaking 21 million Sri Lankan hearts in the final in Bombay.
Kirsten was hugely popular with Indian supporters. Many wanted him to stay on, but he knew better than to overstay his welcome and bowed out gracefully.
Soon after, South Africa came calling and true to form he went about the job methodically, guiding the Proteas to the top of the world rankings. Wherever he has gone, results have tended to follow.
That said, simply because Kirsten has joined our ranks does not mean Sri Lanka will suddenly start knocking over the top sides week in, week out. Kirsten carries no magic wand. A coach, after all, can only take the horse to water; it is the players who must drink.
For a cricket team to flourish, the entire system needs to be rock solid. It starts with the players themselves, their hunger to improve, their willingness to leave their comfort zones and put in the hard yards. The next crucial cog in the wheel is selection. In years gone by, men like Michael Tissera and Sidath Wettimuny had the foresight to look beyond the obvious and the courage to make unpopular calls when necessary. A selection panel that continues to back Dasun Shanaka as captain, however, is asking for trouble. It’s a bit like appointing Sagala Ratnayake as National Security Adviser.
Sri Lanka Cricket deserves credit for trimming down the number of teams competing in the First Class tournament, but the worrying reality is that the number of international games Sri Lanka play each year has shrunk alarmingly. Last year the country played a grand total of four Test matches, hardly enough cricket for a side hoping to stay relevant in the longest format. The Test calendar needs beefing up and the Lanka Premier League must return to the fold if Sri Lanka are to stay competitive in white-ball cricket.
For a team to succeed consistently, cricket has to run like a well-oiled machine. In Sri Lanka’s case, however, the wheels tend to wobble. Ahead of almost every major tournament our leading bowler seems to be nursing an injury. That is hardly the hallmark of a smooth operation.
Kirsten, to his credit, has struck all the right notes since being appointed. He has spoken about improving Sri Lanka’s rankings, winning overseas and developing a strong bench, the sort of forward thinking the game desperately needs here.
Just look at India for an example of depth. Sanju Samson walks in as their back-up wicketkeeper and ends up as Player of the Tournament in a World Cup. They can hand the gloves to Ishan Kishan, while players of the calibre of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul struggle to find a place in the squad. Any one of those four would walk into most international sides as the first-choice keeper. Such is the luxury of India’s bench strength.
There’s no point envying them. The smarter move is to learn from them.
Kirsten, therefore, has plenty on his plate. And if he is looking for a place to begin, he might start with a rather pressing issue, figuring out how Sri Lanka’s batters plan to play spin, a challenge that has been turning our innings into a procession far too often in recent times.
by Rex Clementine ✍️
Salman Ali Agha said that he would have done things ‘differently”, after Mehidy Hasan Miraz ran him out in controversial circumstances in the second ODI in Dhaka.
Agha, who made 64 from 62 balls, had been backing up at the non-striker’s end when Mohammad Rizwan drove the ball back towards him. He was still out of his ground as Mehidy swooped round behind him in an attempt to gather, and Agha had appeared ready to pass the ball back to the bowler before Mehidy reached down to grab it first and throw down the stumps.
Agha reacted furiously to the dismissal, throwing his gloves and helmet down in disgust at the decision. However, he later came to the post-match press conference, ahead of captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and player of the match Maaz Sadaqat, to clear the air.
“I think sportsman spirit has to be there,” Agha said. “What he [Mehidy] has done is in the law. I think if he thinks it’s right, it’s right, but if you ask me my perspective, I would have done differently. I would have gone for sportsman spirit. We haven’t done this [type of thing] previously, we would never do that in the future as well.”
Agha explained that he had been trying to pick up the ball to give to Miraz, thinking it was likely to have been called dead. “Actually, the ball hit on my pad and then my bat,” he said. “So I thought he can’t get me run-out now, because the ball already hit on my pad and my bat.
“I was just trying to give him the ball back. I was not looking for the run or anything like that, but he already decided [to make the run-out].”
Agha however regretted his angry reaction. “It was just heat-of-the-moment kind of stuff,” he said. “If you ask me what would I have done, I would have done things differently. But it was everything, whatever happened after that, it was in the moment.”
He was also involved in a robust exchange with Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das, though he didn’t divulge many of the details.
“I can’t remember what I was saying and I can’t remember what he was saying,” he said. “I’m sure I wasn’t saying nice things, and I’m sure he wasn’t saying nice stuff as well. But it was just heat of the moment, so we are fine.
Asked if he had patched things up with Mehidy, Agha said: “I haven’t yet, but don’t worry, I’ll find him.”
Pakistan won the match by 128 runs via the DLS method.
[Cricinfo]
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