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*Official* ICC World Twenty20 Discussion and Results

Magrat Garlick

Rather Mad Witch
Semi-final 1: West Indies vs South Africa
at The Oval

Code:
[b]West Indies		South Africa[/b]
XM Marshall		GC Smith (c)
MN Samuels		LL Bosman
RR Sarwan (c)		HH Gibbs
S Chanderpaul		JH Kallis
DJ Bravo		AB de Villiers
KA Pollard		JP Duminy
SE Findlay		MV Boucher (wk)
D Ramdin (wk)		JA Morkel
SJ Benn			J Botha
JE Taylor		M Morkel
DBL Powell		DW Steyn
Having the semi-final at The Oval hardly helped, as another dodgy wicket resulted in a substandard match. Barely 16 overs were completed, and despite the 38-run stand between Boucher and Morkel, an injury-hit West Indies made it into the final.

The top order batting was disgraceful, even accounting for a spitting wicket due to yesterday's torrential rain. Smith was caught behind early, but Herschelle Gibbs' attempted reverse off Gibbs was ridiculous, as were the strokes by Bosman and Kallis off Sulieman Benn, possibly the most consistent spinner at this tournament. With de Villiers and Duminy both caught in the slips, South Africa were 27 for six, and a familiar scenario played out.

A tired Bravo asked to be relieved of some bowling duties, and Pollard took over the bowling duties. He allowed Albie Morkel and boucher to get away with some lovely strikes, but again Benncame to the rescue, bowling Morkel with the even straighter one. A collective brain collapse followed, and South Africa lost four wickets for no response, crashing to 65.

West Indies smashed out, with a four and a six from Xavier Marshall the first two balls. The third was missed, the fourth was nicked behind, and Sarwan tucked bat and pad together and was caught off the fifth - game on. Samuels, injury replacement for Fletcher, got strike in the next over, and after hitting Morkel for six he too perished - followed by Bravo and Pollard in Morkel's next over.

Before that, however, Chanderpaul had taken the younger Morkel to pieces. Two sixes and two fours boosted the total to 20 for the player, unfairly lambasted for his lack of Twenty20 skills, and cut the target to well within managable levels. The only thing that remained was to keep wickets intact - thus, Smith brought on his least wicket-taking threat, Kallis, in the sixth over, and he was duly milked for ten runs by Chanderpaul to secure the victory.

South Africa 65 all out (10)
MV Boucher 22; SJ Benn 4/15, DBL Powell 3/11, KA Pollard 2/20

West Indies 67 for five (6)
S Chanderpaul 36*, XM Marshall 10; JA Morkel 3/18, DW Steyn 2/10

West Indies won by five wickets
Man of the Match: S. J. Benn (WI)
 

Attachments

Magrat Garlick

Rather Mad Witch
Semi-final 2: Australia vs Cricket Web XI
at The Oval

First Innings: Australia 166/8

Code:
[b]Australia		Cricket Web XI[/b]
SE Marsh		JE Stedman
L Ronchi (wk)		AP Chaulk
RT Ponting (c)		DP Smith
MJ Clarke		SE Fuller
MEK Hussey		CR Butler
SR Watson		DA Kearsley
A Symonds		H Mørk (wk)
CL White		KR Clapham
B Lee			XPA Rose
MG Johnson		KJ Gough
NW Bracken		NS Pickup
Australia lost three wickets to Xavier Rose, but still came back to post a more than challenging total at the Oval, especially considering previous scores in the tournament. Poor fielding against Gough and Clapham allowed Andrew Symonds to steal the game away, and it does seem like Cricket Web have a mountain to climb.

Ricky Ponting chose to bat, and Sean Marsh took early advantage by taking ten runs off Gough's first over. At the other end, Rose took some pace off the ball against Ronchi, and was rewarded as the other West Australian launched one high to Butler. Ponting struggled with Rose's outswing and was caught in the slips, while a straighter one trapped Clarke lbw, giving Rose three wickets with five balls and Cricket Web the ascendancy.

The Webheads should have taken advantage from here on, and with wickets from Clapham, Pickup and Fuller, it seemed Australia would struggle from 72 for six in the middle of the eleventh over. From there, however, Cricket Web let themselves down. Symonds had put on a fine partnership with Watson, and now continued with fine strokes off Pickup, Kearsley and Clapham. In typical fashion, he slashed two sixes to go with six other boundaries, though lethargic fielding was to blame for at least two.

At the other end, Cricket Web failed to get out the weaker batsmen - Cameron White joined in with Symonds' six-hitting, grabbing two in seventeen deliveries, and though he was bowled by Kearsley with five overs remaining, Australia struck 36 largely due to Brett Lee. Symonds also reached his fifty with a four off Rose, before the veteran completed a four-for by holding a difficult return catch with the final ball of the innings.

Australia 166 for eight (20)
A Symonds 52*, CL White 29, B Lee 24; XPA Rose 4/14
 

Magrat Garlick

Rather Mad Witch
Second innings

Cricket Web XI provided a much better batting performance to make an entertaining final chase at The Oval, though much of the credit must go to Sean Fuller for keeping the match alive. In a see-saw affair, Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken struggled with line early on, before Mitchell Johnson bowled Australia back into contention.

Brett Lee was taken for eleven in his first over, and but for a freakish catch by Hussey, it should have been seventeen. Hussey plucked out Chaulk's first attempt at a maximum, ensuring that this time the opener would not even get a start. Smith and Stedman pushed on well, however, and with the score 29 for one at the end of the third over, Ponting brought on Johnson.

This brought immediate success, as Stedman played at an awkward ball and was given out somewhat dubiously. Smith was then blinded by Watson's good looks and could only dab behind to Ronchi - three down for 43.

Despite the success, Ponting decided to take the pace off, bringing in Symonds to bowl in tandem with Watson. This let CW off the hook, as Fuller struck a six off Watson and a couple of fours off Symonds, and Johnson was brought back in the eleventh over. A short, widish ball was naturally driven to Hussey for his second spectacular catch, and it was time for David Kearsley to show why he was preferred to Andrew Cloete. Instead, the Red batsman played a feeble shot too reminiscent of his other appearances at international level, and Johnson had three wickets.

He completed the maiden by bowling three deliveries to Mørk, who then struggled to take off from a Fuller call at the end of the thirteenth over - the silliest of run outs, and Cricket Web were six down. Clapham scored at a decent clip, but with ten an over required, much of the responsibility fell to Fuller - who had done his striking for the day. Clapham's 13 was over when he attempted the big shot, but Rose got away with two large ones, giving little hope to the grey contingent. However, they required twenty an over at this point, and when the reverse sweep off Bracken's cutter brought another lbw, Cricket Web were forced to admit defeat.

Watson bowled the last over, a travesty that was hit for 18 by Fuller, but it mattered little. Cricket Web lost by ten runs and yet again miss out on the big one.

Cricket Web 156 for eight (20)
SE Fuller 55*; MG Johnson 4/12, B Lee 2/34

Australia won by ten runs
Man of the Match: M. G. Johnson (Aus)
 

Attachments

Johnners

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Disappointing finish to the tournament. I guess there's no shame in pushing the best in the world though.
 

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