Be it Yuvraj’s Singh’s six sixes off Stuart Broad, an animated bowl-out, minnows toppling the biggies’ apple-cart or an equally charged title clash between the famed foes (India and Pakistan), the two weeks of unadulterated power-show on the Proteas pitches was more than enough to satisfy every cricket connoisseur’s appetite.
It started with Chris Gayle and Davon Smith demolishing the South African attack in Johannesburg and the hosts paying back the West Indians with the same currency through Herschelle Gibbs and Justin Kemp. With the tone set for the tournament, Zimbabwe only upped the ante by pulling one of the biggest surprises, blanking out Australia.
The reigning ICC Cricket World Cup champions and ICC Champions Trophy holders must have entered the arena almost assured of adding the T20 grail to their cabinet, but if cricket is a game of uncertainties, T20 happens to be one-up on that. While Zimbabwe had overtaken the mighty Oz at the finish line of the match, Bangladesh bettered it a day later. The Indian sub-continent side taught the Calypso Kings a thing or two about the trade by chasing down a formidable target with two overs still in their kitty.
But it was the 10th fixture which turned lovers into staunch loyalists. When the match list reads India vs Pakistan, the spectators’ expectations soar.
And like so many times in history, the two neighbours did not disappoint. It was time to make the world sit and up and take note of the bowl-out.
While India skipper MS Dhoni picked his cards intelligently, his Pakistani counterpart Shoaib Mallik’s choices didn’t do him any good. Robin Uthappa’s adorable bowing to the crowd and Shahid Afridi’s following miss just provided a perfect ending to the thriller and a 3-0 scoreline in India’s favour.
Towards the end of the group stage clashes, Yuvraj suddenly decided to entertain the crowds to the hilt. Unfortunate for Stuart Broad that the Indian swashbuckler chose him to be the one at the receiving end. Yuvi hit all six deliveries from the young English pacer to the other side of the rope in the penultimate over of the innings.
Pakistan got rid of New Zealand in the first semi-final and India settled scores with Australia. The two finalists played some wonderful cricket to take the spectators to . Pakistani middle order batsman Misbah-ul Haq came to India’s rescue just when Pakistan looked like taking the game away. After having failed to wrap up the earlier encounter in his side’s favour, this time too Misbah could not provide the knock-out punch. And as he slumped to the ground after playing Joginder Sharma’s delivery into Sreesanth’s hands, every Indian in every corner of the world had starting jumping with joy. Dhoni’s brigade had become the first Twenty20 World Champions.
With the first edition going script-perfect, the second one in England is expected to better it substantially.
It started with Chris Gayle and Davon Smith demolishing the South African attack in Johannesburg and the hosts paying back the West Indians with the same currency through Herschelle Gibbs and Justin Kemp. With the tone set for the tournament, Zimbabwe only upped the ante by pulling one of the biggest surprises, blanking out Australia.
The reigning ICC Cricket World Cup champions and ICC Champions Trophy holders must have entered the arena almost assured of adding the T20 grail to their cabinet, but if cricket is a game of uncertainties, T20 happens to be one-up on that. While Zimbabwe had overtaken the mighty Oz at the finish line of the match, Bangladesh bettered it a day later. The Indian sub-continent side taught the Calypso Kings a thing or two about the trade by chasing down a formidable target with two overs still in their kitty.
But it was the 10th fixture which turned lovers into staunch loyalists. When the match list reads India vs Pakistan, the spectators’ expectations soar.
And like so many times in history, the two neighbours did not disappoint. It was time to make the world sit and up and take note of the bowl-out.
While India skipper MS Dhoni picked his cards intelligently, his Pakistani counterpart Shoaib Mallik’s choices didn’t do him any good. Robin Uthappa’s adorable bowing to the crowd and Shahid Afridi’s following miss just provided a perfect ending to the thriller and a 3-0 scoreline in India’s favour.
Towards the end of the group stage clashes, Yuvraj suddenly decided to entertain the crowds to the hilt. Unfortunate for Stuart Broad that the Indian swashbuckler chose him to be the one at the receiving end. Yuvi hit all six deliveries from the young English pacer to the other side of the rope in the penultimate over of the innings.
Pakistan got rid of New Zealand in the first semi-final and India settled scores with Australia. The two finalists played some wonderful cricket to take the spectators to . Pakistani middle order batsman Misbah-ul Haq came to India’s rescue just when Pakistan looked like taking the game away. After having failed to wrap up the earlier encounter in his side’s favour, this time too Misbah could not provide the knock-out punch. And as he slumped to the ground after playing Joginder Sharma’s delivery into Sreesanth’s hands, every Indian in every corner of the world had starting jumping with joy. Dhoni’s brigade had become the first Twenty20 World Champions.
With the first edition going script-perfect, the second one in England is expected to better it substantially.
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