England Wins The Only T20 Against West-Indies

Alex Hales Scored 99, Highest By An English Player In T20.

England Has Defeated West-Indies In The Only T20 At Nottingham.Alex Hales fell one run short of England's first Twenty20 international hundred but his 99, in a record 159-run partnership with Ravi Bopara, powered the home side to a convincing seven-wicket victory against West Indies at Trent Bridge, with their highest successful T20I chase.Hales' matchwinning innings, on his home ground, overtook Eoin Morgan's unbeaten 85 against South Africa at Johannesburg as England's best in this format and secured his place for the World Twenty20 title defence in Sri Lanka later this year. He fell to the last ball of penultimate over, bowled trying to work Ravi Rampaul to leg, and neither could Ravi Bopara stay to the end as he found long-off for 59 off 44 balls, but Eoin Morgan collected the winning runs (with the help of a misfield at mid-off) with two deliveries remaining.The second-wicket partnership - England's highest in T20Is and the third-highest by any team - was a superbly constructed stand by two batsmen still trying to find their place in international cricket. Although Hales struck four sixes, smart placement and quick running were key ingredients to their success as they exploited a large playing area. West Indies had earlier gone down a more brutal route with the final eight overs of their innings bringing 107 runs as Dwayne Bravo sparkled and in all they hit 10 sixes.As in the one-day series, West Indies' bowling disappointed and there were a number of fumbles in the field which aided England's progress. Sunil Narine went wicketless in the format that has made his name, although did not have much luck. In the 13th over - his third - he watched a Bopara shot fall between two fielders then Hales got a bottom edge between the keeper's legs. With 22 needed off 17 balls Bopara was dropped at midwicket by Darren Sammy off Narine, which was West Indies last chance to try and exert some pressure on a new batsman.As with Ian Bell's success at the top of the order in 50-over cricket, Hales' performance is a significant moment as England aim to fill the vacancy left by Kevin Pietersen's enforced retirement from Twenty20. Hales had a brief taste in the team last year - against India and West Indies - but missed out against Pakistan in the UAE, when Pietersen opened alongside Craig Kieswetter.Three of Hales' sixes came from hooks and pulls, after some discussion last year that he struggled against short bowling. He favoured the leg side early in his innings, but picked up more runs through the off side the longer he stayed, including a couple of expertly placed late cuts. A feature of England's chase was each time a boundary was needed to release some pressure either Hales or Bopara found the rope. The five overs from 13 to 17 all went for double figures to keep them ahead of the rate.It was an equally important innings for Bopara who is still trying to find his home in both limited-overs formats. His chances in the 50-over series were limited but this was an opportunity to shape a match at a crucial stage and his 59 was also a career-best. With 46 needed off 30 balls he took two important boundaries off Marlon Samuels then latched on to a poor penultimate over by Rampaul with two leg-side fours. It did not appear West Indies would post such a testing target when they slipped to 30 for 3. Steven Finn had set a good tone for England with a tight, rapid, opening over. There was a clear plan to bowl short at Chris Gayle and it did not take long for the ploy to work when he top-edged a well-directed bouncer from Finn to fine leg where Jonny Bairstow held a well-judged catch.Bairstow showed his prowess in the outfield again when he sprinted in from the boundary edge to dive and slide to get underneath Lendl Simmons' pull at deep midwicket. One area where this England Twenty20 side should not suffer is in the field with Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Morgan all outstanding.The six-over Powerplay brought just 29 runs for West Indies. Graeme Swann then struck with his second delivery with one that gripped to take Samuels' glove and bobble through to Kieswetter. Smith started to locate the boundary again in the ninth over with consecutive blows off Swann and also drove Samit Patel straight drive down the ground, a shot he repeated with even greater distance in Swann's final over. It was superbly controlled striking - not hot-headed slogging - and his third six took him to fifty off 46 balls.Following Smith's departure Kieron Pollard had five overs to make an impression and saw Patel's final over as an opportunity cut loose, as it went for 14. It meant England's eight combined overs of spin - which will be important in Sri Lanka - had cost 66 while Jade Dernbach's last spell was expensive. Bravo, having worked his way to 22 off 24 balls, finished the innings in style as 32 came off his final 12 deliveries but he was not the batsman being talked about when the game finished.


West Indies Score:  172 for 4 (Smith 70*, Bravo 54) 
England Score: 173 for 3 (Hales 99, Bopara 59) 

Zimbabwe Wins Tri-Series T20 Final Against South-Africa

Half-centuries from Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza led Zimbabwe to a stunning nine-wicket victory over South Africa

Zimbabwe Has Defeated South-Africa In the Final Of T20 Tri-Series As, Half-centuries from Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza led Zimbabwe to a stunning nine-wicket victory over South Africa at Harare Sports Club. Faced with the tricky prospect of chasing South Africa's 146 for 6, both batsmen showed remarkable poise and confidence to race to the win with 17 balls to spare. Their efforts capped a superb day for Zimbabwe, who kept South Africa under pressure with the ball throughout. The visitors had been carried by Faf du Plessis' fighting fifty but his efforts went in vain, and the South African bowling attack had no answers to a flawless batting display.Masakadza had been fortunate to survive what seemed to be an adjacent lbw call against Lonwabo Tsotsobe off the very first delivery and Zimbabwe lost an adventurous Vusi Sibanda to a stunning catch by Farhaan Behardien at cover point in the fourth over. Taylor and Masakadza, however, kept control of the chase from that point on with a chanceless partnership that stretched to an unbeaten 118.Where Zimbabwe's efforts with the new ball had been full of vim and vigour, South Africa's response was not nearly as intense and the match turned decisively in the sixth over of the innings, bowled by Robin Peterson. Peterson had been South Africa's bowler of the tournament before this match, giving away less than six runs an over in his previous games, but he fell victim to a stunning assault in his first over. Taylor led the charge with a slog-swept six and a brace of offside boundaries before Masakadza stepped out to smear a towering blow over wide long on, 21 runs coming off the over.These matches were not classed as internationals, the games falling outside the ICC's Future Tours Programme and having originally been set up as simple practice matches, but that mattered not a jot to a packed Sports Club crowd. An all-singing, all-dancing multitude of several thousand cheered every run as Taylor moved swiftly through the 20s with a trademark deft, ramped uppercut and Masakadza extended Peterson's pain by shellacking a second six over deep midwicket.The runs continued to flow and South Africa looked increasingly desperate in the field as the required rate dipped below six runs an over. Taylor was first to his fifty, reaching the mark from just 32 deliveries courtesy of a sloppy overthrow in the 15th over. Usually a somewhat reticent presence on the field, Masakadza celebrated his own half-century two overs later with joyful emotion, pumping his fist and embracing his captain before saluting all corners of a packed stadium. After reaching his fourth fifty of the tournament - an achievement that rightfully earned him the Man-of-the-Series award - Masakadza took Zimbabwe to the brink of a famous victory with a flurry of powerful boundaries off a listless Tsotsobe, before Taylor ended the match with a crunching pull.This tournament had been billed as a chance for the teams involved to get some valuable practice ahead of the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September and Jason Gillespie, who spent some time in Zimbabwe coaching the Mid West Rhinos, suggested on Twitter last week that Zimbabwe had the raw materials to do well at that event. All that was missing for them, he suggested, was a little confidence in their batting. That wasn't a problem today, as both Taylor and Masakadza seamlessly mixed watchful accumulation with decisive bouts of attack.It was a different story for a South African side shorn of their best players. After a strong start against Bangladesh, they stumbled on multiple occasions and were under pressure early once again this afternoon when Kyle Jarvis removed Richard Levi with the first delivery of the day. An over later Amla fell for Chris Mpofu's short-ball trap, lapping a pull straight to Malcolm Waller at deep square leg, and the Zimbabwean attack had its tails up.The visitors lost Colin Ingram, Justin Ontong and Dane Vilas cheaply to the Zimbabwean spinners and were looking decidedly wobbly at 67 for 5 in the 12th over before du Plessis marshalled the middle order. Fleet footwork, especially to the slow bowlers, was the hallmark of his innings. He also batted with remarkable control and had struck just three fours when he brought up a 48-ball fifty in the 16th over.He found an able partner in Albie Morkel, and together they added 60 for the sixth wicket to rebuild the innings. The South African bowlers could not match their persistence, however, and never looked like running through the Zimbabweans.Prior to this tournament Zimbabwe had beaten South Africa just twice in a pair of ODIs in 1999 and 2000-01. They have now gone past them twice in a week, a result that will give them oodles of confidence when they face the full South African side at the World Twenty20 in three month's time. Zimbabwe earned prize money of US$3500 today, but a historic victory will taste even sweeter.


South Africa's Score:  146 for 6 (Du Plessis 66)
Zimbabwe Score: 150 for 1 (Taylor 59*, Masakadza 58*)

3rd Quarter Final: Spain beat France 2-0 at Euro 2012 and are in Semi Finals

Xabi Alonso Send Spains Through Semi Finals.

Spain beat France 2-0 at Euro 2012 Xabi Alonso's header and late penalty gave defending champions Spain a comfortable win against France that sets them up for a semi-final with rivals PortugalAlonso's rare headed goal put Spain in control after 19 minutes and the former Liverpool midfielder wrapped up the victory with a last-minute penalty. France were distinctly off colour all night and barely tested Spain, who will put their European crown on the line against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in Donetsk on Wednesday night.Spain coach Vicente del Bosque reverted to his strikerless starting formation, replacing Fernando Torres with Cesc Fabregas in his only change from the win against Croatia. France made four changes and started with two right-backs in Anthony Reveillere and Mathieu Debuchy, although neither could prevent Jordi Alba supplying Alonso with a telling cross.Spain set out their stall early, with Xavi and Andres Iniesta combining magnificently in midfield and they almost succeeded in picking out.Fabregas.France were struggling to keep possession, which is not a problem Spain'smidfield artists suffer from too often and certainly not tonight.The French formation was affording Alvaro Arbeloa and David Silva plenty of space in which to attack down the Spanish right - but the opening after 19 minutes came down their left flank. Iniesta burst forward and while left-back Alba got the better of Debuchy, Alonso had escaped the attentions of Florent Malouda wide on the right.When Debuchy stood up his cross at the far post, Alonso came racing in unmarked to beat Hugo Lloris with a downward header directed back across goal. Silva twisted his way into the box, ran at Manchester City team-mate Gael Clichy and almost picked out Fabregas when he cut the ball back.France had barely tested the Spanish defence and Karim Benzema wasted a 25-yard free-kick by lofting it so high over the bar that Yohan Cabaye took over for the next one. The Newcastle midfielder did much better, forcing Iker Casillas into a smart one-handed save just under his crossbar.Casillas caused just a brief moment of panic in the Spanish defence when he dropped the subsequent corner but the Real Madrid goalkeeper recovered quickly.Meanwhile, Spain continued trying to pick Les Bleus apart and Laurent Koscielny had to be alert to intercept Fabregas' delightful lofted pass towards Iniesta.France inexplicably left Gerard Pique unmarked in their own box from a corner and were fortunate the Barcelona defender missed the target with his header. There was greater energy and urgency about France after the interval, with Benzema almost finding Debuchy in the Spanish box.Debuchy was then picked out by Ribery but planted his firm header over the bar and Benzema then ran at the Spanish defence before unleashing a shot even worse than his earlier free-kick.Clichy and Ribery combined neatly down the French left but the ball would not come down for Malouda and Pique cleared Spain's lines. Spain broke with Xavi trying to release Fabregas but Lloris read the pass well and raced out to the edge of his box to smother the danger in a well-timed challenge.While France sent on Samir Nasri and Jeremy Menez, Spain introduced Pedro and Torres, who would have combined to double the lead after another beautifully-crafted attack had Koscielny not been on hand with another timely interception.France were finding some joy down the left flank and Ribery worked his way to the byline before driving a low cross towards Menez, which Casillas just about dealt with. But a Spanish victory never seemed in doubt from the moment Alonso opened the scoring and it was confirmed in the last minute.Pedro's quick feet got him into the box, he went down under pressure from Anthony Reveillere and Alonso despatched the spot-kick.