2009 ICC Twenty20 World Cup - A Review

After a successful 2007 ICC World Twenty20 World Cup tournament in South Africa, cricket fans were looking forward to the 2009 ICC World Twenty 20 World Cup in England. However, the build-up to the 2009 tournament was rather underwhelming. England, as hosts, were apparently preoccupied with the iconic Ashes series starting the following month (July). Once the tournament began, it turned out a lot better than the hosts' apathy suggested.

Seeding and Groups

Long before the tournament commenced, the ICC seeded teams based on their performance in the 2007 edition of the T20 World Cup or Affiliate ranking (in the case of Ireland, Scotland and Netherlands). The groups were constituted according to their seeding as follows:

Group A: India, Bangladesh, Ireland
Group B: Pakistan, England, Netherlands
Group C: Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies
Group D: South Africa, New Zealand, Scotland

Group C was by far the toughest group because the West Indies, though a competitive unit, failed to advance from the Group Stage in the 2007 edition. The Associate teams-Scotland, Ireland and Netherlands qualified by virtue of their performance in the ICC One-day tournament held months before the T20 World Cup. India, Sri Lanka and South Africa were pre-tournament favourites. Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia took the label of "hot contenders."

Tournament format

Teams in each group played matches in a round-robin format. The top two from each group advanced to the second round (Super Eights) based on their seeding. If an unseeded team knocked out a seeded team, then the unseeded team would adopt the seeded team's ranking. For example, if C3 knocked out C1, then C3 became C1.

Each match in the tournament required a result. If a match ended in a tie, then the match would have an additional Super Over eliminator. An abandoned match/ no-result required a split in points (1 point each), while a win was worth 2 points.

The Super Eights consisted of two groups of four teams each- Group E and F. The ICC determined the placement of teams that qualify from the groups in advance. The top two from the Super Eights group advanced to the semi-finals. The semi-final matches had the winners of each Super Eights Group facing the runner-up from the other group. The winners of the semi-finals advanced to the final.

Group B

Group B opened the 2009 T20 World Cup with the Netherlands team pulling off a last-ball to register the first upset of the tournament. England recovered from that loss to beat Pakistan comprehensively in their second match. Pakistan, in turn, whipped Netherlands in a must-win match to leave all three teams on 2 points. England and Pakistan qualified by virtue of their superior Net Run Rate.

Group C

The day after the opening night upset, Group C got into action. Australia set a decent target for the West Indies, only to fall a West Indian batting assault. In their second match, Australia failed to conquer Sri Lanka's spin machine as well. The final Group C match was a mere formality as West Indies and Sri Lanka had already qualified. For good measure, Sri Lanka won that match and topped the group.

Group D

Scotland and New Zealand got group B off to a flyer. The Scots pasted New Zealand's bowling in an abbreviated match. However, New Zealand returned the favour to win that match comfortably. Following South Africa's perfunctory win over Scotland, South Africa and New Zealand advanced to the Super Eights. New Zealand and South Africa played a low-scoring thriller to round off the group, which South Africa won.

Group A

India and Bangladesh were clear favourites in Group A, with India the runaway favourites as defending ICC World T20 champions. Ireland upset Bangladesh to take their spot as A2 but fell to group-winners India in the final match of the group.

Super Eights

From the results of the group phase, Group E and F of the Super Eights were settled as follows:

Group E: New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ireland
Group F: South Africa, India, England, West Indies

Group E

Group E had few surprises and was very straightforward. Ireland lost all of their Group E matches, although they played competitive cricket throughout. A resurgent Pakistan side beat Ireland and New Zealand but lost to Sri Lanka. The results made the final match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka a group decider- as three teams could have finished on 4 points. Sri Lanka prevented any drama by beating New Zealand to top Group E.

Group F

South Africa won all their Group E matches, reinforcing their position as pre-tournament favourites. India, to the surprise of many cricket fans did the opposite- losing all three matches. The penultimate match in this group was a virtual quarter-final, with England facing the West Indies for the 17th time in 2009. In a tight, rain-affected contest, the West Indies won to earn a semi-final spot.

Semi finals

In the first semi-final, unbeaten South Africa faced twice-beaten Pakistan. Pakistan rendered history irrelevant as they inflicted defeat on South Africa's to advance to the final. The second semi-final had unbeaten Sri Lanka play an unpredictable West Indies side. Sri Lanka got the better of the West Indies, thanks to enterprising batting by T. Dilshan.

Final

Pakistan's bowling stifled Sri Lanka in the final. However, Sri Lanka posted a defendable total with their vaunted bowling attack. The erratic Pakistanis turned in a professional performance to win the final by 8 wickets.

The 2009 ICC World Twenty 20 cricket tournament was well supported by expatriates living in the UK and some English fans. Although it lacked the fizzle of the 2007 tournament, it provided enough excitement on the field to compensate for the English media's indifference toward a significant world event.

Darrell Victor is a freelance writer and cricket enthusiast from the Caribbean. For articles on West Indies cricket, read: Reasons for the decline of West Indies cricket:http://www.helium.com/items/1264594-west-indies-cricket. A West Indian Perspective on Test cricket:http://www.helium.com/items/1258936-test-cricket.

T20 World Cup 2009 Analysis

Today I am going to write on my favorite sport cricket. As you all may know that from the 5th of June 2009 the T20 Cricket World Cup is going to be start.

I am a big fan of cricket and to tell you how big fan I was I will share some of my life experiences. When I was in school I only escaped from school whenever Pakistan had cricket match, the world cup 1992 came at the time of my exams but I prepare myself for watching match not for exams but by the grace of Allah I have cleared my exams.

I have a very emotional and deep connection with cricket and I feel I am an expert of cricket so I did some analysis and come to some results that I am sharing with you.

As we know T20 world cup is happening in UK and according to my analysis three teams have the best chance to win this cup.

1. India
2. South Africa
3. Pakistan

Why these teams are good?

India because they have good batting and some how good medium fast and spin bowling and a good captain as well as they are defending champion.

South Africa is in my opinion the best team right now and they have good batting bowling plus fielding side and captain I think he is one of the best captain in the world these days.

Pakistan have good bowling attack and some how a manageable batting lineup with players like Shahid Afridi who is best for T20 cricket. and now Pakistan have a good captain that can help Pakistan to reach victory stand. But new land and west Indies are under dogs they can do upsets and I am expecting upsets from them.

Now Sri Lanka is a good team but now they are not good T20 team in my opinion and Australia is also not a team that will win this T20 world cup in my opinion. So this is my analysis and now I am waiting for your comments on this.

And at the end last but not the least England Host of 2009 T20 world cup is not favorite in my opinion because they have a serious problem with captaincy if they could solve that problem and Peterson become the captain of the team then I feel they have chance to win this cup otherwise I don't think so.

Virendar Sehwag to Miss T20 World Cup 2010

Virendar Sehwag, the opening batsman for India, has reportedly suffered a shoulder injury and will miss the T20 World Cup 2010. He has been advised rest for 4 weeks, which means he has next to no chance of playing in the T20 World Cup 2010, which is starting on the 30'th of April in the Carribean, with India having their first match on the first of May.

Virendar Sehwag, opener for both the Indian team and the Delhi DareDevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has been replaced by Murali Vijay in the Indian team, who otherwise plays for the Chennai Superkings in the IPL. Vijay will take on the role of opener, though whether Gautam Gambhir opens with him or someone else, its still not very clear. Gambhir opening with him can be a nice combo, considering the kind of aggression and form Murali Vijay has shown in IPL 2010. On the other hand, Gambhir might be pushed down the order to provide more stability to the middle order.

Sehwag sustained a similar injury prior to the 2009 T20 World Cup as well, and he missed that tournament as well. The Indian team was knocked out in the second round, in which they didn't win a single game, however it can be attributed to the fact that Sehwag wasn't the only one who was injured at that time and many other key players were unable to participate.

With the kind of explosive batting Sehwag packs, he can put pressure on the bowling side and turn the game around even in the tightest of spots. He'll be definitely missed in the Indian team, and we hope Murali Vijay will try and perform, if not more than, than at least equal to the level Sehwag has set for the opener's spot.

T20 World Cup 2010

April 30 2010 will be eagerly awaited by all Cricket Lovers. ICC World Twenty20, popularly known as T20 World Cup will kick start on this day. The third edition to be held in West Indies, is organized by International Cricket Council (ICC). Twelve teams will clash with each other to win the coveted trophy. The tournament has three stages viz., Group Stage, Super Eight Stage and Knock Out Stage.

In the group stage twelve teams, divided into four groups as given below, will clash with each other. Group A - Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh. Group B - Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. Group C - South Africa, India and Afghanistan. Group D - West Indies, England and Ireland

The top two teams in each group will qualify for Super Eight Stage. In this stage the eight teams are further divided into two groups. Each team will play three matches in this stage. The top four teams will qualify for the knock out stage viz., Semi Finals and Final.

On the whole 27 matches will be held in this event across three stadiums viz a) Kensington Oval, Barbados b) Providence Stadium, Guyana c) Beausejour Cricket Ground, St. Lucia. The final is scheduled on May 16 2010.

It will be tough to predict the results, as the course of game can easily change either way at any point of time. The general overview of each team is given below.

India, the 2007 Champion, lead by Captain Cool M S Dhoni, is among the list of favorites to lift the trophy. Indian Team has some big hitters like Yuvraj Singh, Sehwag, M S Dhoni, Yousuf Pathan. The bowling department has the experienced Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. India will try to repeat its 2007 performance.

The defending Champion, Pakistan after its disastrous Australia Tour, is now lead by Shahid Afridi. They will look to repeat their last years performance. Sri Lanka last years runners up will look to lift the trophy which they missed last year.

Australia which was knocked out in the group stage last year will look to perform better this year. The team is led by Michael Clarke and has a mix of young and experienced players. Brett Lee who recently retired from Test Cricket is included in the side.

West Indies will have the advantage of playing in their home ground. South Africa, a tough side to beat, will look to win the trophy. New Zealand and England are expected to reach the Super Eight Stage and has the ability to win the trophy if they perform well on their day.

Zimbabwe and Bangladesh though not expected to reach Group Eight stage can surprise the opponents on their day and hence should not be taken lightly. Afghanistan and Ireland are the qualifiers for this event and it will be great experience for them to play against the top teams. It will be a miracle if they reach the Super Eight Stage.

As said earlier Cricket can be any body's game if they perform well on their day. So expect a great tournament with close finishes.

For schedule and other details see the linkshttp://vaartaahaa.blogspot.com/2010/03/icc-twenty20-t20-world-cup-2010.html and http://vaartaahaa.blogspot.com/2010/03/icc-twenty20-t20-world-cup-2010-live.html

T20 World Cup Cricket

What will the status of the winners be when they emerge victorious from the tournament this month? It might sound an odd question, but think about how absurd it would be in any other sport. Imagine that six months after the FIFA World Cup, another tournament, also called the World Cup, was played with pretty much the same teams fielding pretty much the same players in a pretty similar tournament format with pretty similar viewing figures (both at the grounds and on the telly), but with 45-minute matches rather than the full 90.

I'm not questioning the existence of T20, because I love cricket, and I understand that this ultra-intense, short format of the game means people can watch a whole game in an evening after work; it gives the game more appeal, more coverage, more peak-time advertising opportunity and hence, more money. It's also a great spectacle.

I just think its going to be weird when there are two world champions of cricket.

Test cricket is, of course, an altogether different kettle of fish; tactics and gameplay are wholly different from the one day game. The length of time matches take, and the massive possibility of draws, means that a ranking system is the only way to produce a 'world number one team', whereas 50 overs-a-side lends itself to definite results in the finite time of a tournament. 20-20 is very much like 50-50 in its style and ethos: score as many runs as you can as quickly as you can; restrict as many runs as stingily as you can. It, too, can be played in a tournament, which is why we have this second 'World Cup'.

The winners will, therefore, claim to be world champions of cricket, and the best in the shortened version of the game. But the Australia team that lifted the World Cup in the West Indies a few months ago already claim that title. And 'Twenty20 world champions' doesn't really mean anything, at least yet: so few T20s are played internationally (England have played the most in history with a grand total of 6; India have played just 2) that no-one will really care. Also, the games are so short that a second-rate international team could conceivably lift the trophy. The flaws in a Zimbabwe side could perhaps be papered over for three hours at a time that would undoubtedly cause a collapse over a whole day or more. What if a 'minnow' wins the whole thing? They are played so infrequently by the test-playing nations that the 'world champion' label will be redundant until they play the tournament again.

One solution would be to have an annual or biennial T20 tournament, outside of which international T20 is not played. Then it would be clear that T20, while popular and important, is not of the same caliber and class as the official cricket world cup, in the same way that the Six Nations is keenly contested every year, but with the winning side not making any pretensions to overall global superiority. Maybe the difficulties will disappear as T20 establishes its niche. But the simplest solution this time round, to avoid any argument or confusion, would be if Australia won the danged thing. Doubtless they will oblige.

By Paul Bowers, I write about designer lingerie, corsets, robes, pajamas and high end swimwear I also write articles about mastectomy bras and mastectomy bra designers and specialist luxury corset designers such as Cupeesh and Velda Lauder.