West Indies Win The WORLD CUP ! CELEBRATIONS

Triumph For The Determined West Indies

"This is for the Caribbean people" says Sammy.

They had clapped in the Premadasa media room after Darren Sammy finished his pre-final press conference on Saturday. They clapped in the Premadasa press box on Sunday after West Indies took the last Sri Lankan wicket to win the World Twenty20 2012. They clapped in the Premadasa media room after Sammy finished his post-final press conference. So rare have such occasions been for West Indies cricket after their decline that Sammy called this victory "the best moment for me".

The West Indies captain sauntered into the media room draped in the maroon West Indies cricket flag. He kept the World Twenty20 trophy proudly in front of him on the table. "My trophy is so big I can't see you," he joked with the first questioner.

He spoke about treasuring the achievement for the rest of his life. He was asked whether his performance with both bat and ball in the final was an answer to the critics who had questioned his place in the side all along. He said when even Christ was crucified without fault, he himself was nothing. It was a much-criticised, large-hearted man speaking from his heart, and Sammy didn't hold back tonight.

"We will definitely cherish this moment. I will for sure," Sammy said. "We're going to relive it every day of our lives. This is the best moment for me in any cricket. This here (the trophy) is for the Caribbean people. West Indies fans all over the world have been craving success. I know they're partying from Jamaica down to Guyana. And we know how to party. I think they'll need a lot of bartenders."

Sammy said while the critics had a job to do, he had always believed in playing for the Caribbean people. "The commentators get paid to speak. The media get paid to write stories. I get paid to play cricket," Sammy said. "Critics will always be there. Someone might find something wrong I did today even though we won. That does not worry me. The most important thing is that the team did well.

"And I always say I live my life one way. Christ came to this earth, did nothing wrong and yet was crucified. I'm nowhere close to that man.

"Anybody could have an opinion about me. I like it. My shoulders are broad enough. It's been like that from the time I started cricket. Once I wear this [West Indies] crest (pointing to his shirt), I wear it on my heart. That's what matters. If I turn up and don't have a good day, I suck, I'll come the next day and try and put in a better performance. I don't play for glory. I play for the Caribbean people."

Sammy was asked what had won the game for West Indies, after they had been 32 for 2 at the halfway stage of their innings. He spoke about belief, and he spoke about God. "We have a strong belief in God. He works in mysterious ways. He performs wonders," Sammy said. "Like I kept saying in every press conference, there's a belief we had in the team. Yes, we expected them (Sri Lanka) to give us a good fight and they did.

"Throughout the last year or so, we've been showing that never-say-die attitude, but we've not been winning games. In this tournament, we've won games. Every man believed that whoever was out there could do the job. Today, it was Marlon Samuels and (Dwayne) Bravo steadying the ship. In the end, every run counts. The bowling discipline was just brilliant, and the fielding. I said we needed our A-plus game, this here is proof of it."

After Marlon Samuels' 78 had carried them to 137, Sammy said West Indies believed they had a chance. "The coach was saying that if we get the score we got in Pallekele (129 for 5 against Sri Lanka) on this wicket, we'll win the match," Sammy said. "The momentum we had from our batting carried through to our bowling. It was Dwayne Bravo's birthday, so in the huddle, I gave him the chance to say the last words before we went on the field. He said, 'let's go out there and give it our all. If we do that and play how we can play, these runs are going to be a fighting total'. Ravi (Rampaul) started it off with his first ball, and we never looked back from there.

"We have some of the most experienced Twenty20 players. Once we play the way we can, we'll always be a force to reckon with. We didn't brag about it but we believed we could go out there and take it one game at a time. I said hurdle by hurdle, and today was the final one. The coach said we're climbing to the top of a mountain, and that's where the prize is. We've got to go and take it. Today, we did that. We had different persons coming up with performances in different matches. The team has gelled well in this tournament. Signs of progress have been there, but this is the icing on the cake."

There have been questions raised about the unity of the squad in the past, and the board and the players have had numerous disputes, but Sammy hoped this victory could be the start of something new for West Indies cricket. "This is the moment here," he said. "Issues done and buried. Twenty20 World Cup, 2012, Sri Lanka - West Indies champion."

And Sammy held the trophy up. And there was another round of applause.

Sri Lanka Vs West Indies WT20 FINAL MATCH !!

Samuels, Sammy Give WI First World 

Title After 33 Years

West Indies' first World Twenty20 win was more digging in, refusing to give up, running and fielding like their life depended on this match, stunning the home crowd, and pulling off one of the most amazing turnarounds in Twenty20 history, especially given the stage. The due share of flair came from one of the most eye-pleasing batsmen going around. There's no need to add "one of the" here, because Marlon Samuels played simply the best Twenty20 international innings ever seen when West Indies were down and the count had reached about eight. A feedbacker to ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball commentary asked if Samuels' 78 was the 281 of Twenty20 cricket.

Samuels was not just shouting for help from the burning deck. He danced on that burning deck. He danced so well the burning deck became attractive. And Sri Lanka were singed. So singed that arguably the best Twenty20 bowler in the world went for 0 for 54. So singed that Ajantha Mendis' figures of 4 for 12 in the final meant nothing to the result. West Indies had been 14 for 2 after Powerplays and 32 for 2 after 10 overs, the fourth-worst and fifth-worst scores at these points in the history of Twenty20 internationals. They even took 17 balls to score their first run off the bat. Yet so breathtaking was Samuels' assault, never mind the wickets falling around him, that Sri Lanka were too stunned to respond.

It is also fair, in a way, that captain Darren Sammy contributed big to the win. That the man who has led the team through times when others had deserted it, despite obvious question marks over his skills, played a crucial role on the big night of a tournament that had threatened to make him almost superfluous ... When Samuels got out, West Indies were still 108 in the 18th over. They needed a strong finish to keep fighting. And fight Sammy did. He swung and ran like hell, turning three ones into twos in the last over, hitting two fours around those scrambles.

It was perhaps a little easy to carry on after Samuels had struck. Samuels struck when Malinga had come back to try to deliver the knockout blow. Samuels counterattacked sensationally. All Malinga had to do was miss his yorker by a few inches in the 13th over, and Samuels stunned him with three of the finest sixes: a flick over deep midwicket, a loft over long-on, and a beautiful drive over extra cover. Still only 69 for 2 after 13, but it helped West Indies show fight.

Jayawardene wanted to nip that fight in the bud. He brought back Ajantha, who responded with three wickets in his last two overs: Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard out of the way. Surely Jayawardene had snubbed it all out?

Not quite. In between those two overs, Samuels continued his assault, taking apart Jeevan Mendis. Then was the turn of the man widely acknowledged as the best bowler in Twenty20 cricket. After hitting Malinga for a four and a six, Samuels got a length ball, which he sent onto the roof of the stadium - the biggest six of the tournament at 108 metres.

Angelo Mathews said during the break that West Indies were still 15-20 short. Perhaps they were, but the momentum of that onslaught - 105 in last 10 - was huge. If Sri Lanka were not already in their shells, a superb first ball from Ravi Rampaul sent Tillakaratne Dilshan's off stump cartwheeling. His finger went to his lips. The crowd, though, had already been stunned into silence.

Two of Sri Lanka's greatest cricketers were now in the middle, but like the West Indies openers they were under pressure too. And would they have thought of three previous World Cup finals that they had lost? Jayawardene was too early into a sweep - a shot he plays better than anybody else in today's cricket - and nearly gave Samuels a wicket in his first over. Kumar Sangakkara kept hitting even poor deliveries straight to fielders. West Indies kept squeezing harder and harder.

Such is the pace of Twenty20 that suddenly Sri Lanka were 39 after eight overs, and while they had wickets in hand, they don't matter as much in T20 as they do in more traditional formats. Most importantly, Sunil Narine had shown in one over that he was going to turn the ball a long way. Sri Lanka were running out of time, and needed to target somebody.

Sangakkara targeted Samuel Badree, and even though he hit a four, he also deposited a long hop with deep midwicket. Sammy now put in another squeeze. Mathews was finding that he had spoken too early. Three dots later, he moved across and the stumps were laid prone. Sammy hit them with a slower ball. Now it began to drizzle. Sri Lanka were well behind D/L now, and Jayawardene had to take risks. Never really flowing in his effort, Jayawardene mistimed a reverse shot, and holed out to point.

After that Nuwan Kulasekara was just a minor irritant to celebrations the world had been waiting to watch. Gayle, who might have failed with just 3 off 16, was the man dancing the hardest with every falling wicket. He was also the first with his arm around Rampaul, who bowled an over late in the piece that was as ordinary as his first wicket was extraordinary.

After that 22-run over, Sri Lanka needed 44 from four overs, not unheard of in T20. Sammy, though, had kept the trump card back. On cue, Narine delivered Kulasekara's wicket. The birthday boy, Bravo, who had got a shocker from the umpire when he batted, was the man at the end of the two catches that finished the match.

The time had finally arrived to party, and West Indies partied as well as they had played.

Match Result

West Indies grab the victory by 36 runs.

Man Of The Match

Man of the match was given to MN Samuels for his fabolous knock of 78 off 56 balls and took 1 wicket for 15 runs in his 4 overs.

Pakistan-India Cricket Rivalry

 In A Nutshell

The India–Pakistan cricket rivalry is one of the most intense sports rivalries in the world. An India-Pakistan cricket match has been estimated to attract up to three hundred million television viewers according to TV ratings firm initiative, and defeat is usually unacceptable to fans of both teams.

The arch rival realation betweem  the two states, resulting from the extensive communal violence and conflict that marked the partition of India in 1947 and the independence of Pakistan, laid the foundations for the emergence of an intense sporting rivalry between the two nations who had erstwhile shared a common cricketing heritage. The first Test series took place in 1951-52, when Pakistan toured India. India toured Pakistan for the first time in 1954-55. Between 1962–77, no cricket was played between the two countries owing totwo major wars in 1965 and 1977. The 1999 Kargil Dispute and 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack have led to as yet shorter breaks in cricketing ties.

The growth of large expatriate populations from India and Pakistan across the world led to neutral states like the United Arab Emirates and Canada hosting several bilateral and multi-lateral ODI series involving the two teams. Players in both teams routinely face intense pressure to win.Extreme fan reactions to defeats in key matches such as in the ICC Cricket World Cup have been recorded, with a limited degree of violence and public disturbances. At the same time, India-Pakistan cricket matches have also offered opportunities for cricket diplomacy as a means to improve relations between the two countries by allowing heads of state to exchange visits and cricket followers from either country to travel to the other to watch the matches. The cricketing rivalry, after suspension of bilateral cricketing ties some five years back, is again to commence in December 2012 with the BCCI hosting three ODIs in India.Pakistan wants BCCI agree to sharing of revenue generated from the matches. The stand of BCCI on revenue sharing is not clear yet. Pakistan Cricket Team's ex-captain, Moin Khan, said that cricket has always reduced the bilateral tensions between the two countries.

Matches

The first ever test match between India and Pakistan was played at Delhi from 16–19 October 1952. It was a four day test, India required just three days to beat Pakistan by an inning and 70 runs. India won the 5-match series 2–1 and then, the following 10 tests were draws. Pakistan's first series win against India came after 26 years, in the 1978–79 series.

In the late 1980s & 90s, the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams played each other in non-Test-playing nations venues such as Canada (Toronto) and the United Arab Emirates (Sharjah). The series between the teams in Canada in the 1990s and early 2000s were officially known as the "Friendship Cup".

Pakistan leads India in the number of wins in Tests (12–9) and One Day Internationals (69–47). Although India has won on every occasion the two teams have met in a world cup and has unbeaten record against Pakistan in the T20 world cup Internationals (1–0) and in cricket world Cup matches (5–0). Pakistan has an unbeaten record against India in Champions Trophy matches (2-0). Furthermore Pakistan has an unbeaten record against India in Asian test championship matches (1-0).

In early 2009, India was scheduled to begin a tour of Pakistan from 13 January to 19 February 2009, but was cancelled because of the tension existing between the two countries after the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, in November 2008.

The cricketing ice finally broke down in July 2012 when BCCI invited the Pakistan national team to tour India for 3 ODIs and 2 T20s in December 2012. The three ODIs will be held in New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai with Ahmedabad and Bangalore getting to host the two Twenty20 fixtures.

Cricketing History

Overall

	Tests	ODIs[	T20Is[
Matches played	59	121	2
Won by India	9	48	1
Won by Pakistan	12	69	0
Draw/Tie/No result	38	4	1

Tournaments

Main Championship Titles	India	Pakistan
World Cup	2	1
ICC Champions Trophy	1*	0
ICC World Twenty20	1	1
Asia Cup†	5	2

ODI Series

Series	Years	Host	First match	ODIs	IND	PAK	Tie/No Result	Winner
1	1978–79	Pakistan	1 October 1978	3	1	2	0	Pakistan
2	1982–83	Pakistan	3 December 1982	4	1	3	0	Pakistan
3	1983–84	India	10 September 1983	2	2	0	0	India
4	1984–85	Pakistan	12 October 1984	2	0	1	1	Pakistan
5	1986–87	India	27 January 1987	6	1	5	0	Pakistan
6	1989–90	Pakistan	16 December 1989	3	0	2	1	Pakistan
7	1996	Canada	16 September 1996	5	2	3	0	Pakistan
8	1997	Canada	13 September 1997	5	4	1	0	India
9	1997–98	Pakistan	28 September 1997	3	1	2	0	Pakistan
10	1998	Canada	12 September 1998	5	1	4	0	Pakistan
11	2003–04	Pakistan	13 March 2004	5	3	2	0	India
12	2004–05	India	13 November 2004	1	0	1	0	Pakistan
13	2004–05	India	2 April 2005	6	2	4	0	Pakistan
14	2005–06	Pakistan	6 February 2006	5	4	1	0	India
15	2005–06	UAE	18 April 2006	2	1	1	0	Drawn
16	2007–08	India	5 November 2007	5	3	2	0	India
17	2012–13	India	December 2012	3	-	-	-	-
Total		India: 6 Pakistan: 7 Canada: 3 UAE: 1		65	26	34	2	India: 5 Pakistan: 10 Draw: 1

TEST Series

Series	Years	Host	First match	Tests	IND	PAK	Drawn/No Result	Winner
1	1952–53	India	16 October 1952	5	2	1	2	India
2	1954–55	Pakistan	1 January 1955	5	0	0	5	Drawn
3	1960–61	India	2 December 1960	5	0	0	5	Drawn
4	1978–79	Pakistan	16 October 1978	3	0	2	1	Pakistan
5	1979–80	India	21 November 1979	6	2	0	4	India
6	1982–83	Pakistan	10 December 1982	6	0	3	3	Pakistan
7	1983–84	India	14 September 1983	3	0	0	3	Drawn
8	1984–85	Pakistan	17 October 1984	2	0	0	2	Drawn
9	1986–87	India	3 February 1987	5	0	1	4	Pakistan
10	1989–90	Pakistan	15 November 1989	4	0	0	4	Drawn
11	1998–99	India	28 January 1999	2	1	1	0	Drawn
12	2003–04	Pakistan	28 March 2004	3	2	1	0	India
13	2004–05	India	8 March 2005	3	1	1	1	Draw
14	2005–06	Pakistan	13 January 2006	3	0	1	2	Pakistan
15	2007–08	India	22 November 2007	3	1	0	2	India
Total		India: 8 Pakistan: 7		58	9	11	38	India: 4 Pakistan: 4 Draw: 7

Sri Lanka Vs West Indies WT20 2012 Super8 Match Review

Sri Lanka Hammers West Indies In Super 8's

A delightfully unorthodox Sri Lankan attack working at close to its best handcuffed a power-packed West Indies line-up, conceding just 129 runs even though they took only five wickets in the 20 overs. The Sri Lankan top three made light work of the target, the lowest-ever challenge in Pallekele, taking a big step towards the semi-final courtesy of a hefty net run-rate bonus from the win with 28 balls to spare.

Between Ajantha Mendis' different bamboozlements, Nuwan Kulasekara's mix of inswingers and huge slower balls and Jeevan Mendis' skiddy legrollers, Lasith Malinga could afford to have an off half-day, even though he too came back with two superb overs in the end to stifle any ambitions West Indies might have had after the innings was rebuilt by half-centurion Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo, who scored 40 off 34 balls.

Kulasekara got big man Chris Gayle out with a slower delivery about 25kmph slower than his usual delivery. Ajantha began with a wicket-maiden, toying around with Johnson Charles, and ended with one run and Kieron Pollard's wicket in the 16th over. Jeevan played his part in slowing down and eventually getting rid of Bravo, who looked threatening. Jeevan even managed to slip in a jig to match Gayle's wicket celebrations.

Sri Lanka were on for this game from the moment Tillakaratne Dilshan dived at short point to keep the first ball of the match down to a dot; their fielding hardly ever let up throughout the rest of the innings, except for a half-chance missed by Kumar Sangakkara. There was tension and anticipation around with the way West Indies had played out four quiet overs without the loss of a wicket. Usually one of two things happen at such tmes: either Gayle launches or his team slips after his wicket.

Mahela Jayawardene wanted the wickets. He brought on Ajantha well in earnestness. Charles had no clue which way Mendis turned it, and he finally jumped out of the crease more in hope than anything. He was beaten by the googly, and stumped easily. Mendis conceded only leg-byes in that over: take out his middle match and his figures in the tournament now read 5-3-8-7. In the next over Kulasekara produced the massive slower ball. Gayle waited and waited, but all he could manage was an edge, which Sangakkara accepted with a forward dive. With Gayle's first failure of the tournament, the celebrations suggested the match had been won.

Bravo and Marlon Samuels, though, were not to oblige that soon. Samuels, with his deft touches, and Bravo, with his power, rebuilt the innings with a partnership of 65 in 9.2 overs. The strike-rate may not have been great, but the approach made for good viewing. Bravo's extra-cover drives matched Samuels' late-cuts for aesthetics. They preferred the pace that Angelo Mathews and Malinga provided, but Jeevan put the brakes on, conceding just two in his first over, and getting Bravo to pull to long-on in the second.

Mendis came back to finish off Pollard, but Andre Russell, the new man in, broke the maiden. He and Samuels took 21 off Kulasekara's comeback over, but Malinga pulled them back with a mix of yorkers and slower balls in the 19th. An underwhelming 10 runs came in the last two overs, and Sri Lanka took all the momentum into the chase.

Dilshan got the chase off to a start similar to the one he had provided in the field. The first three balls he faced he smacked for fours. Fidel Edwards was the culprit providing him width. Replacing Samuel Badree who went for 20 in his quota in the last match, Edwards had gone for 12 off the first three balls. Ravi Rampaul followed it up with a superb over, removing Dilshan, but Jayawardene and Sangakkara were too good against an attack comprising three specialist bowlers and defending just 129.

The two showed respect to Sunil Narine, if only because they could afford to, taking just 23 off his four overs, but others weren't accorded such nicety. Sangakkara reached 1000 international runs along the way, and Jayawardene a seventh fifty. Once Narine was done, they launched an attack in a bid to increase the net run-rate. They did so without playing funky Twenty20 shots. The last 43 runs came off just 20 balls, and ticket to Colombo was all but booked.

Match Result

Sri Lanka won the match by 9 wickets with 28 balls remaining.

Man Of The Match

Man of the match is was given to Mahela Jayawardene for his brilliant knock of 65 off 49 balls.

England Vs New Zealand WT20 2012 Match Review

Wright takes England To Victory

England sustained their hopes of retaining the world T20 title with a six-wicket win over New Zealand in Pallekele. Luke Wright,who made 99 against Afghanistan in the group stages, struck 76 off 43 balls to take them to victory with seven deliveries remaining.

Whle England may still need to win theirfinal super 8 game against Sri Lanka on Monday, they could have been eliminated on saturday had results gone against them. By contrast a second successive defeat for New Zealand leaves them requiring a win in their final game and a series of results elsewhere to go their way if they are to progress.For England atleast their fate is in their own hands.

England were on top for most of this match. While a late innings assault from James Franklin provided New Zealand with a defendable total, they never fully recovered from the impact of Steven Finn's excellent early spell and some miserly bowling from Graeme Swann.

In reply England's opening partnership again failed to shine, but a stand of 89 in 10 overs between Wright and Eoin Morgan took them to the brink of victory.

Wright, in particular, was impressive. Having given himself some time to become accustomed to the pitch - it took him four deliveries to score a run - he put away the loose ball nicely before accelerating decisively having reached 25. From then on he attacked, hitting the ball straight and cleanly and, at one stage, hitting four sixes in seven deliveries. In all he struck five sixes and five fours.

England were grateful for his contribution. While England survived the first over of their innings without losing a wicket for the first time in the tournament, Craig Kieswetter was unable to rotate the strike and, by the time he was bowled missing a sweep, had occupied 14 balls for his four runs.

Alex Hales, who hit three boundaries in the second over, the first of them a beautifully timed back foot drive through cover, looked in better touch but when he advanced down the pitch and missed a straight one, it left England precariously placed at 38 for 2 in the seventh over.

Morgan and Wright proceeded with caution initially, not striking their first boundary until 18 balls into their partnership. But that calm approach began to reap rewards as Wright slogged Nathan McCullum for six before, in the next over, Morgan hit a low full toss from Franklin over long-on for another and then cut a wide ball for four.

England contented themselves with ones and twos for the next couple of overs as the spinners maintained control but, when Tim Southee came back into the attack, Wright drove him for a six back over his head before planting another one far over wide long-on.

From then on, England were barely challenged. Wright slog-swept and then drove Rob Nicol for two more sixes and drove Kyle Mills for successive fours in the next over. Morgan was caught at long-on and Doug Bracewell, introduced into the attack in the 19th over and playing instead of the unwell Jacob Oram, had Wright caught at cover, but by then only seven were required and, when Jonny Bairstow pulled his first delivery for four there was never going to be any late nerves.

A late charge from Franklin helped New Zealand recover from a poor start having won first use of the pitch as 68 runs came from the last six overs. England's bowlers looked to have taken a firm grip on the game after Finn, bowling with excellent pace and control, claimed the best figures by an England bowler in World T20 cricket and England's spinners enjoyed the assistance provided by an unusually dry pitch.

It was Danny Briggs, preferred to Samit Patel and playing just his second T20I, who delivered the first over - conceding just six - but Finn made the early breakthroughs. Martin Guptill was trapped in front as he attempted to play across a decidedly brisk full ball, before Brendon McCullum, who had twice skipped down the pitch in Briggs' second over to drive him for fours, was caught at third man as he edged an attempted drive over extra-cover off Finn.

Graeme Swann, brought into the attack for the seventh over, increased the pressure by conceding only three runs and taking the wicket of Nicol who was caught slog-sweeping.

New Zealand only managed two boundaries from the end of the Powerplay to the end of the 14th over and could muster just 41 runs in those eight overs. Had Morgan produced a better throw, Williamson would have been run out for 16 as he responded to a sharp call for s single from Taylor.

It hardly mattered, though. The return of Briggs in the 12th over saw Williamson fall, caught behind as he edged an attempted cut and, at the end of the 14th over, New Zealand were struggling.

Franklin signalled the acceleration in the 15th over. He hit the first six of the innings - launching Briggs over midwicket - and followed it up with a straight drive back past the bowler that went for four. While England's spinners conceded just 40 runs from their first seven overs, Briggs' figures were damaged by his final over costing 16.

Finn, returning for the 17th over, claimed his third wicket when Taylor mistimed a slog top midwicket to finish with his best T20 figures of 3 for 16. Franklin could feel somewhat hard done by, however, as he drove Finn through extra-cover to the boundary only to see the umpire call dead-ball as Finn had dislodged the bails in his delivery stride.

Nathan McCullum sustained the momentum by striking Broad for two sixes in the penultimate over of the innings and Broad contributed to his own problems by over-stepping and donating not just a free-hit but an extra delivery with the seventh ball going for six. But in the end it was to prove too little, too late for New Zealand.

Match Result

England beat New Zealand by 6 wickets with 7 balls remaining.

Man Of The Match

Luke Wright,as expected, was given man of the match for his spectacular innings of 76 of 43 balls.

India Vs Australia WT20 2012 Super 8's Review

Watson And Warner Shatter Indian Dreams

Australia's captain George Bailey doesn't think his side is over-dependent on Shane Watson. Who'd be able to tell? Watson has hardly given any of his team-mates a chance so far in this tournament, and that continued in Australia's first Super Eights match as they crushed India by nine wickets in Colombo. To be fair, David Warner was also outstanding and Pat Cummins played a key role with the ball. But Watson was again the stand-out performer, as he has been in all of Australia's matches in the World Twenty20.

Chasing 141, the Australians reached their target with 31 balls to spare. India's decision to pick three spinners - Virender Sehwag was left out to accommodate a fifth bowler - did not work, although there was little distinction between the slow bowlers and the fast men. They were all monstered by Watson and Warner. Yuvraj Singh picked up the only wicket, when Watson drove to cover with eight runs still needed and it meant India narrowly avoided their first ten-wicket defeat in a T20.

Watson had made 72 from 42 deliveries with two fours and seven sixes. He cleared the boundary straight down the ground, over midwicket and over square leg. A pair of enormous consecutive sixes pulled over midwicket off Irfan Pathan showed Watson's power, but also highlighted India's poor bowling. Short balls on the leg side to Watson made about as much sense as dropping Sehwag.

In slightly slippery conditions the spinners also failed to have any impact and were routinely dispatched by both Watson and Warner, whose 133-run partnership was their second century stand in a T20 international this month, and the Australian record for any wicket. Warner muscled three sixes of his own, including two in a row off Harbhajan Singh, whose two overs cost 20 runs. Rare though it may be, Warner was the quiet partner.

He still managed 63 not out from 41 deliveries, striking seven fours and playing a key role in demoralising India early in the chase. They remained disheartened throughout the innings, and the comprehensive nature of the result will make it hard for them to drag themselves back into form for their next match. But they must do so to have any chance of progressing to the semi-finals. And to do that, they need not only to bowl much better, but to bat with more conviction as well.

heir batsmen struggled for firepower and stammered to 140 for 7, which seemed like just a moderately competitive total. That India managed only two sixes said a lot about their performance. Cummins was especially difficult for the batsmen to score from and his pace and accuracy brought him 2 for 16 from his four overs, while Watson picked up 3 for 34 and jumped to the top of the wicket tally for the tournament, with eight from three games.

A few late boundaries from R Ashwin and Suresh Raina helped India push their total up but at no point did their batsmen dominate. Gautam Gambhir picked up a few early boundaries before he was run out for 17 from 12 deliveries, the victim of a fine piece of footwork from the bowler Cummins, who soccered the ball onto the stumps at the striker's end in his follow through.

Pathan and Virat Kohli added 35 for the second wicket before Kohli top-edged Cummins and was caught for 15, and Yuvraj Singh (8) also succumbed to a top-edge when he was taken at deep midwicket off Watson's bowling. Watson struck again in the same over when Pathan (31) chipped to midwicket and things didn't get better for India any time soon.

Rohit Sharma was done in by the angle from around the wicket of the left-armer Mitchell Starc, who bowled him for 1, and at 74 for 5 India were in trouble. Dhoni and Raina steadied with a 30-run partnership but neither man really went on the attack and a build-up of pressure from the Australians eventually brought the end for Dhoni, who drove Cummins to cover for 15.

Ashwin clubbed Starc over midwicket for six and Raina found the boundary twice in the last over from Watson before he holed out to long-off. They at least gave India's bowlers something to defend, but the way India bowled and the way Watson and Warner batted, Australia could have chased down 200. Australia will now enter their second Super Eights match against South Africa full of confidence. And maybe someone other than Watson will get a go next time.

Match Result

Australia beat India by 9 wickets and 31 balls to spare.

Man Of The Match

Man of the match was given to Shane Watson for his spectacular 72 off 42 Balls which included 7 sixes and 2 fours.