Chris Gayle smashed an unbeaten 75 off 41 balls as the West Indies stormed into the World Twenty20 final with a record 74-run demolition of Australia here on Friday.The left-hander pounded six sixes and five fours as the Windies piled up the tournament's highest total of 205-4 after electing to bat on what was regarded as a slow pitch unsuited to aggressive batting.The Australians found the huge target too hot to handle and folded up for 131 in 16.4 overs at the Premadasa stadium in front of 28,000 awe-struck spectators still reeling from the West Indies innings.Skipper George Bailey played a lone hand for the Aussies, making 63 off 29 balls with four sixes and six boundaries after adding 68 for the seventh wicket with Pat Cummins.Darren Sammy's men take on hosts Sri Lanka in Sunday's final with both sides looking for their first World Twenty20 title.The biggest Twenty20 win for the West Indies, surpassing their 70-run victory over Ireland in 2010, was celebrated by the entire team performing an energetic version of global hit "Gangnam Style" in the middle.Gayle, who lost his opening partner Johnson Charles in the third over, plodded for nine balls to make four before swinging Shane Watson for a six over long-off.That opened the floodgates for an onslaught as Marlon Samuels and Gayle smashed left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty for a six each in one over and Brad Hogg was greeted into the attack with another six from Samuels.Samuels contributed 26 in a second-wicket stand of 41 with Gayle when he was bowled by Cummins attempting another big hit.Gayle, who faced just 18 balls in the first 10 overs, still managed to bring up his half-century off 29 deliveries with the help of four sixes and three boundaries.All-rounder Dwayne Bravo (37) helped Gayle add 83 for the third wicket from just 51 deliveries to propel the innings at a brisk pace.Kieron Pollard hit 38 off 15 balls as the West Indies plundered 55 runs in the final three overs, including 25 off the last six deliveries by Doherty.Doherty was the most expensive Australian bowler with 1-48 from three overs, while Watson went for 35 runs in four unsuccessful overs.Australia never recovered after opener David Warner was bowled by spinner Samuel Badree with the sixth delivery and crashed to 43-6 by the eighth over.Badree took two of those wickets and seamer Ravi Rampaul chipped in by removing Cameron White and the recalled David Hussey in the space of three balls.Pollard dismissed Bailey and Cummins off successive deliveries in the 14th over to end Australia's resistance.
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Saturday, 6 October 2012
Friday, 5 October 2012
ICC T20 2012 Semi Final: Sri Lanka Beat Pakistan in Thrilling Game
In front of a delirious packed stadium Mahela Jayawardene, already a national hero, led his side to the final of the World T20. Sri Lanka won on a tired pitch at the R Premadasa Stadium, which is fast becoming batsman-hostile.Suddenly sixes have become a rarity again. There was only one in this game but the wining score, 139-4 – an odd one in a Twenty20 match – was enough to defeat Pakistan.Jayawardene does not miss many tricks. Here he selected his experienced left-arm spinner, Rangana Herath, for just the third time in the tournament. Herath repaid this faith by taking three wickets, including the Pakistan captain, Mohammad Hafeez, who proved the greatest threat. He turned the ball, not prodigiously, but enough.When defending such a modest target nothing can be taken for granted. Pakistan needed 32 from their final three overs but Jayawardene's other spinner, Ajantha Mendis, stayed cool and despite the presence at the crease of Umar Akmal and Umar Gul, the heroes in Pakistan's defeat of South Africa, the home side prevailed without too much bother.But there were signs of nerves even among the veterans of the Sri Lankan side. Lasith Malinga bowled well enough, delivering a succession of devious slower balls, but he has seldom been so butterfingered, dropping a simple catch and spurning the chance of a run-out. Semi-finals do that to the most gnarled of cricketers.So Sri Lanka will face either Australia or West Indies in Sunday's final. And they will not be at all disappointed that the pitch at the Premadasa is showing inevitable signs of wear and tear. Sri Lankan batsmen tend to know what to do when the ball is turning and stopping. So do their bowlers.It was obvious after the women's semi-final that batting might be a hazardous occupation but this was unlikely to intimidate the likes of Jayawardene. The Sri Lankan captain – yes, he did toss up this time – innovated cleverly from the start having decided to bat first. But there were far more reverse sweeps and reverse hits from Jayawardenethan normal, a hint that this surface would not encourage silky strokeplay. Sri Lanka were determined not to be too greedy. There were moments when they did not even seem hungry. While Jayawardene prospered Tillakaratne Dilshan, so fluent earlier in the tournament, struggled. No wicket was lost until the 11th over when Jayawardene was caught trying to paddle a delivery from Shahid Afridi, by which time there were 63 runs on the board.Kumar Sangakkara was skittish by his standards but unusually Dilshan never was. Sri Lanka kept waiting for the acceleration but they could not find it, despite Saeed Ajmal not being at his best. Eventually Dilshan might have been relieved to be given out lbw in the 18th over for 35 from 43 balls. The home side needed a fruitful final over, from which they scored sixteen runs courtesy of Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera to bring anything approaching a smile to their captain. A couple of hours later just about everyone in the stadium was beaming.
Sri Lanka 139-4; Pakistan 123-7
Sri Lanka win by 16 runs
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
Barclays Premier League Current Standings:
Barclays Premier League Current League Table At The Moment:
| POS | LP | CLUB | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (1) | Chelsea | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 16 | |
| 2 | (2) | Everton | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 13 | |
| 3 | (3) | Manchester United | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 12 | |
| 4 | (4) | Manchester City | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 12 | |
| 5 | (5) | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 11 | |
| 6 | (6) | West Bromwich Albion | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 11 | |
| 7 | (10) | West Ham United | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 11 | |
| 8 | (7) | Arsenal | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 9 | |
| 9 | (8) | Fulham | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 9 | |
| 10 | (9) | Newcastle United | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 9 | |
| 11 | (11) | Swansea City | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 7 | |
| 12 | (12) | Stoke City | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 7 | |
| 13 | (13) | Sunderland | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 7 | |
| 14 | (14) | Liverpool | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 5 | |
| 15 | (15) | Aston Villa | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | -4 | 5 | |
| 16 | (16) | Wigan Athletic | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 4 | |
| 17 | (17) | Southampton | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 18 | -8 | 3 | |
| 18 | (18) | Norwich City | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 13 | -9 | 3 | |
| 19 | (19) | Reading | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | -5 | 2 | |
| 20 | (20) | Queens Park Rangers | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 13 | -9 | 2 | |
| POS | LP | CLUB | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
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