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.