Australia Favorite Against West Indies

A determined last year runner-up Australian outfit will be aiming to eliminate the 'Chris Gayle factor' when they meet a rejuvenated West Indies in the semifinal of the ICC World Twenty20 on Friday.
For Australia, it will be a chance to get into the final for the second time in succession after the 2010 edition and once again stamp their class as world's premier cricketing outfit.
For West Indies, it's more about the identity and trying to fight the inner demons which have affected their cricket since late 80's.
A berth in the final of a global event can be a big boost for the Caribbean nation where basketball, athletics and soccer have captured the imagination of the masses.
On Friday when the two teams lock horns, it will also be a battle between Shane Watson and Chris Gayle.
If Watson, who has won four man-of-the-match awards in five matches will play a key role in Australian set-up, Gayle can change the complexion of the match at any point of time with his ferocious power-hitting.
By sheer statistics, Watson is miles ahead of Gayle having scored 242 runs in five matches along with 11 wickets which makes him the favourite to win the 'Player of the Tournament' award.
However, Gayle who has so far hit 10 sixes in five matches, has scored two 50's and on his day can tear apart any bowling attack in the world.
The law of averages did catch up with Watson in the last match against Pakistan but that means that he will be hungrier than ever to take Aussies to the summit clash.
While Gayle and Watson will hold fort as the main protagonists for their respective sides, there will still be a few competent cricketers who will try to play the supporting roles to the best of their abilities.
Marlon Samuels has beautifully complemented Gayle. He might not look as destructive as Gayle from the onset but once set, can be as devastating as anybody.
For Australia, the main supporting role has been played by Mike Hussey whose responsible innings ensured smooth passage into the semi-finals.
Fidel Edwards has the pace and Ravi Rampaul can be skiddy but Watson has more variations up his sleeve while Mitchell Starc has always been incisive in his first spells.

Teams from

Australia: George Bailey (captain), David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, Cameron White, Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hogg, David Hussey, Clint McKay, Mitchell Starc.

West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith.

Match facts
Friday October 5, 2012 (day/night)
Start time 19:00 local (13:30 GMT)

ICC World T20, Super Eight: South Africa vs Pakistan

Colombo: They have so far maintained a clean slate and there is very little to separate the two teams as South Africa lock horns with Pakistan in what is expected to be a battle of attrition in their ICC World Twenty20 Super Eight match on Friday.
Both teams will be equally confident after their emphatic showings in the group stage of the tournament, and it will be interesting to see who emerges winner at the R Premadasa Stadium stadium.
Pakistan, winner of the 2009 edition, won both their group league matches with ease.
If skipper Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed shone in their win over New Zealand, Imran Nazir led the way with an onslaught that left the Bangladesh bowlers shell-shocked in their last game.
Hafeez deserves mention as he led admirably with both bat and ball, his canny off-spinners often proving to be a perfect foil for Saeed Ajmal, who has become a sort of a headache for batsmen the world over.
Flashy wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has also shown glimpses of his brilliance and looked in good nick against their South Asian rivals.
Pacers Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir haven`t really fired, but Yasir Arafat made an impact with three Bangladeshi wickets, and Pakistan are unlikely to make any changes to the squad that played in the last game.
The match assumes more significance for Pakistan as a win against the Proteas will put them in the perfect frame of mind ahead of the big-ticket encounter with arch-rival India on Sunday.
South Africa have been their consistent self in the group stage, but the real tournament starts now, and more so for the Proteas.
The shocking 2011 World Cup quarterfinal defeat to New Zealand still fresh in mind, South Africa would once again would look to shed the tag of perennial chokers in ICC tournament, and a win tomorrow will be a positive step in that direction.
A look at their performance in the group stage will only add to South Africa`s confidence going into the competitive round.
Led by the explosive A B de Villiers, the team hammered neighbours Zimbabwe by 10 wickets to start the tournament in the best possible manner.
In the rain-reduced seven-over hit against hosts Sri Lanka, the Proteas were well served by the skipper, who helped them to a 32-run win in Hambantota.
There is no dearth of strokemakers in the SA line-up and right from the in-form Hashim Amla to the great Jacques Kallis, each one of them is capable of single-handedly turning a match on its head.
The presence of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and his brother Albie make for an effective pace battery.

Teams (from):

Pakistan: Mohammed Hafeez (c), Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq, Imran Nazir, Kamram Akmal, Mohammed Sami, Nasir Jamshed, Raza Hasan, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat.

South Africa: AB de Villiers (c), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Johan Botha, JP Duminy, Francois du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, Richard Levi, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe. 

Nazir Takes Pakistan into Super 8

Imran Nazir played a cracker of an innings to help Pakistan qualify for the Super Eights stage of T20 World Cup after 8-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's Abul Hasan struck twice in one over to remove Imran Nazir and Mohammad Hafeez.
Imran Nazir hammered Bangladesh bowlers all over the park to slam 25-ball fifty and lead the Pakistan chase. He played a rollicking knock as he scored 36-ball 72 with the help of nine fours and three sixes.
Chasing 176-run target, Mohammad Hafeez and Nazir gave Pakistan blistering as they took team's fifty in just 29 balls to set the foundation. Nazir started dealing with fours and sixes to put Bangladesh bowlers on the backfoot.
Earlier, Shakib Al Hasan led from the front as he notched up 84 off 54 balls to help Bangladesh post the stiff 176-run target for Pakistan.
Shakib smacked 11 fours and two sixes in his flamboyant knock to power Bangladesh to 175/6 in 20 overs.
Bangladesh lost Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah in quick succession after Shakib Al Hasan's brisk fifty. Yasir Arafat and Shahid Afridi struck to scalp Rahim and Mahmudullah respectively in quick succession to dent Bangladesh's run charge.
Shakib and Mushfiqur added 68 runs for the third wicket to consolidate Bangladesh. Shakib slammed a quickfire 33-ball fifty that included seven fours and two sixes. Shakib reached his fifty in style after sending the ball over the ropes.
Tamim Iqbal got run-out in an unlucky manner when he lost his balance after being sent back by Shakib Al Hasan. Iqbal played a fine cameo with his 24 off just 12 balls that included five boundaries.
Bangladesh made the maximum use of the mandatory powerplay as they collected 61 runs in six overs with the loss of their openers.
Bangladesh lost Mohammad Ashraful after their openers gave blistering start against Pakistan. Ashraful and Tamim Iqbal added 34-run stand in just 20 balls to set the pace for Bangladesh after skipper Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and decided to bat against Pakistan.
Sohail Tanvir dismissed Ashraful to give Pakistan crucial breakthrough after the batsman hammered three boundaries in his 13 balls stay at the crease.

Brief scores
Bangladesh 175 for 6 (Shakib Al Hasan 84, Yasir Arafat 3-25)
Pakistan 178 for 2 (Nazir 72, Hafeez 45, Abul Hasan 2-33)
Result Pakistan won by 8 wickets
Points Pakistan 2, Bangladesh 0
MOM Imran Nazir (Pakistan)

Pakistan Super8 MAtches

Pakistan Super8 MAtches

(1) Pakistan vs South Africa ( Fri Sep 28)

(2) PAkistan vs India (Sun Sep 30)

(3) Pakistan vs Australia (Tue Oct 2 )

India Thrash England

Harbhajan Singh picked up 4/12, the best ever figures by an Indian bowler in T20Is, while Piyush Chawla and Irfan Pathan picked up two wickets. England were bowled out for 80, chasing 171 against India in their final group league encounter in the ICC World Twenty20 on Sunday.
India's spin duo of Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla shared six wickets in quick succession to wreck havoc to the English middle-order batsmen. The defending champions lost six wickets for 21 runs as they were reduced to 60/8 in 11.4 overs from 39/2 in 5.1 overs.
England lost Graeme Swann (0), Jos Buttler (11), Tim Bresnan (1), Craig Kieswetter (35), Jonathan Bairstow (1), and Eoin Morgan (2) quickly to Harbhajan and Chawla.
Pacer Irfan Pathan gave India an early breakthrough when he dismissed Alex Hales (0) in the very first over.
Pathan struck again soon as he dismissed Luke Wright (6) in his second over to jolt England's run chase as they were reduced to 18/2 in 2.4 overs.
Sent in to bat, fine batting by Rohit Sharma (55 not out), Gautam Gambhir (45) and Virat Kohli (40) guided India to a fighting total of 170/4.
Rohit was the pick of the Indian batsmen as he remained unbeaten on 55 off just 33 balls, which included a huge six and five hits to the fence.
The right-hander stitched two useful partnerships of 47 and 38 with skipper MS Dhoni (9) and Gambhir for the fourth and third wickets respectively.
Gambhir also played a useful knock of 45 off 38 as the southpaw smashed five boundaries in his innings.
Graeme Swann gave England a crucial breakthrough in the eleventh over when he dismissed in-form Kohli to halt Indian run charge.
Kohli, who is in the form of his life, played another useful knock as he hit six boundaries in his 32-ball 40.
After losing Irfan Pathan (8) early, Kohli and Gambhir put on quick 57-run stand for the second wicket to lead the India innings.
India lost opener Pathan (8) in the third over after a quick start.
Paceman Steven Finn struck early to get rid of Pathan after the Indian openers added 24 runs in 2.4 overs.
Pathan, who was sent in to open in the absence of Virender Sehwag, failed to capitalise the opportunity as he hit just one boundary in his run-a-ball innings.

Brief scores
India 170 for 4 (Sharma 55*, Gambhir 45, Kolhi 40)
England 80 (Kieswetter 38, Harbhajan Singh 4-12)
Result India won by 90 runs
Points India 2, England 0
MOM Harbhajan Singh (India)

Pakistan Thrash New Zealand

New Zealand's late fightback went in vain as Pakistan beat the Kiwis by 13 runs in a thrilling encounter in their World T20 match in Pallekele on Sunday.
The Kiwis were left stranded requiring a high run rate when they lost Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum in quick succession before Saeed Ajmal struck for the second time to dismiss Jacob Oram.
McCullum was left completely bemused when Umar Gul's swinging delivery trickled back slowly to knock off the leg stump bail.
After a steady start to the innings, the Kiwis lost both their openers when Kane Williamson (15) was run out immediately after Shahid Afridi struck to dismiss Rob Nicol (33).
Afridi gave Pakistan an important breakthrough in his first over as he dismissed Kiwi opener Nicol for 33 runs, which included three 4s and a single six.
A beautiful Afridi swinger, which depicts his natural style of bowling, was instrumental in knocking Nicol's off stump out of the ground.
Williamson on the other hand failed to capitalize on his impressive start as a splendid effort in the field led to him falling short of reaching the crease.
Chasing a target of 178, openers Nicol and Kane Williamson gave the New Zealand innings a steady start by putting up a speedy 50-run partnership in just 38 balls.
Earlier, after being spearheaded by Nasir Jamshed (56), Pakistan set up a formidable target of 178 for New Zealand.
Daniel Vettori scalped the dangerous Jamshed after he scored a quick 27-ball fifty that included two 4s and four 6s to lead the Pakistan attack.
Jamshed put up a blistering partnership with Pakistan skipper Mohammad Hafeez (43) before Hafeez lost his wicket to James Franklin.
A perfect delivery by Franklin was able to find the off stump of Hafeez, who was earlier dropped by Kiwi skipper Ross Taylor on the third ball of the innings.
Jamshed while trying to make room on the offside hit a slower Vettori delivery towards the boundary where Nathan McCullum made no mistake in catching a simple catch.
Earlier, Jacob Oram was able to get the better of Kamran Akmal when the Pakistan wicketkeeper was caught comfortably on the cover boundary by Rob Nicol.
The Pakistan duo of Jamshed and Hafeez added quickfire 50 runs for the second wicket after losing opener Imran Nazir, which helped Pakistan scored 100 runs in just 10.5 overs.
The first Pakistan wicket fell when seamer Tim Southee gave New Zealand crucial breakthrough as he got rid of dangerous Pakistani opener Nazir.
Nazir and skipper Hafeez gave Pakistan terrific start as the duo added 47 runs for the opening wicket. Pakistan just lost only one wicket while added 51 runs during the first six overs of powerplay.
Nazir was hitting well before being caught and bowled by paceman Southee, who held up a fine catch on his follow through. Nazir scored a quickfire 16-ball 25 with the help of five boundaries.

Brief scores
Pakistan 177 for 6 (Jamshed 56, Hafeez 43)
New Zealand 164 for 9 (Nicol 33, B McCullum 32, Ajmal 4-30)
Result Pakistan won by 13 runs
Points Pakistan 2, New Zealand 0
MOM Nasir Jamshed (Pakistan)

Australia Aim Super 8s Against West Indies

Having registered a comprehensive win in their World Twenty20 opener, Australia would aim to seal a Super Eight berth when they take on the flamboyant West Indies in a Group B encounter at the R Premadasa Stadium on Saturday.
However, it won't be an easy task for George Bailey's boys as they are up against a formidable Caribbean side which boasts of big-hitting Chris Gayle and mystery spinner Sunil Narine in their ranks.
Led by Shane Watson's heroics, with both bat and ball, Australia made easy work of an unpredictable Ireland as they cruised to an easy win in the campaign-opener. But come Saturday, the contest is definitely going to be more intense.
The Darren Sammy-led West Indian side has got enough arsenal in its armoury to derail any side.
However, the West Indian batsmen had failed to impress during their first warm-up game against Sri Lanka, in the absence of Gayle, and were scratchy in the second warm-up match against a resilient Afghan side, barring the Jamaican giant.
West Indies' prowess in the shortest format of the game is well known and Australia would undermine them at their own peril.
The Australian batting looked good against Ireland and with Cameron White spending some time in the middle, they can boast of a formidable middle-order.
However, they will certainly come under scanner against Narine, who was recently adjudged the ICC Emerging Player of the year for 2012.
Although the spinner has been ineffective against the Aussies on previous two meetings but that doesn't lessen his aura.
Australia will also have to be on guard against speedster Fidel Edwards who can surprise the batsman with his pace and has the ability to bowl in the block hole with some consistency.
With the likes of Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell, apart from Marlon Samuels and Ravi Rampaul expected to take the command against Australia, West Indies can certainly look to live upto the favourites tag.

Teams from

West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Dwayne Bravo, Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith

Australia: George Bailey (captain), Shane Watson, David Warner, Cameron White, Daniel Christian, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hogg, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Clint McKay, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade (wk)

Kiwis Take on Bangladesh at Pallekele

Two giant-killers who have a reputation of disturbing set calculations will be up against each other when New Zealand and Bangladesh clash in their opening Group D match of the World Twenty20 on Friday.
Both Bangladesh and New Zealand are known to raise the bar when it comes to performing at major ICC events and it would be interesting to see which of the two manages to go a notch higher in the one-on-one battle.
New Zealand's build up to the event has been far from ideal as three of their key players, including inspirational former skipper Daniel Vettori and pacer Tim Southee, have been laid low by gastroenteritis.
The Kiwis' warm-up campaign was also disappointing as they lost both their matches. It has been a far from ideal stay in the island nation so far for them but New Zealand's cricketers are well known for fighting through the odds and put up creditable performances.
Led by an in-form and explosive Ross Taylor, the Kiwis seem a decent Twenty20 side with hard-hitting stars such Brendon McCullum and veteran all-rounder Jacob Oram.
In Kane Williamson, they have discovered a top-order batsman who can provide steady starts. But their major problem remains inconsistency and the failure to click as a unit.
Despite a seemingly balanced line-up on paper, the Kiwis have more often than not been guilty of throwing it away from strong positions.
Their bowling department is faced with similar problems but Vettori could prove to be their trump card on the turning tracks here.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, are a sprightly mix which lost one and won one practice game heading into the big event.
Most of the team's players are in their early 20s and what could work to their advantage is the comfort of the playing in home-like conditions.
The likes of Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim hold the key to their batting fortunes while Mashrafe Mortaza and Abdur Razzak will be leading the bowling department.
What the Tigers would be banking on is the element of surprise they bring in. Diminutive they might be in physical appearance but their lion-hearted approach to the game has won Bangladesh's cricketers many an applause.
Given their similar fearless approach, it seems to be an interesting clash of the underdogs.

Teams from

Bangladesh: Abdur Razzak, Abul Hasan, Al-Amin Hossain, Alauddin Babu, Alok Kapali, Anamul Haque, Elias Sunny, Enamul Haque Jnr, Farhad Reza, Imrul Kayes, Jahurul Islam, Junaid Siddique, Kazi Kamrul Islam, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Ashraful, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (captain & wk), Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Nazmul Hossain, Raqibul Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Shuvagata Hom, Sohag Gazi, Tamim Iqbal, Ziaur Rahman.

New Zealand: Ross Taylor (captain), Doug Bracewell, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Daniel Vettori, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.

Pitch and conditions
The weather, however, could ruin the contest, as there is forecast of rain in the area at noon on Friday.