Craig Kieswetter scored a wonderful half century to steer England to a comprehensive 7 wicket victory over Australia to secure the Twenty20 World Cup title thanks to a wonderful innings from Kieswetter.
Having built up some momentum at the end of their innings; Australia started off brighter with the ball and their aggressive start produced an early break through with Shaun Tait picking up the wicket of Michael Lumb (2) at the end of the second over.
After enjoying successful opening partnerships throughout the tournament with Lumb, Craig Kieswetter looked on edge but a 10 minute daily in proceedings because of a broken sight screen seemed to steady his nerves.
Kieswetter smashed the first ball he faced from Dirk Nannes after the delay through the covers for a well placed boundary.
With Australia’s main target; Kevin Pietersen at the crease early in the innings the Aussies knew another wicket would swing the balance of the game in their favor after England’s shaky start.
To their credit through; Kieswetter and Pietersen didn’t panic, when ever the pressure was increasing they found the boundary as they laid the foundations of a partnership that reached 50 in the 8th over.
With the runs starting to flow England targeted the bowling of Shane Watson who conceded 28 runs from just 2 overs as Australia were put onto the back foot thanks to some aggressive batting from England.
After failing to capitalise on a number of good starts throughout the tournament Kieswetter brought up his half century to leave England needing just 46 runs from 50 balls.
With the pressure growing Nannes conceded 10 runs from the first two balls of the 12th over to put England in the box seat with the Aussies enable to stem the flow of runs.
With England on the verge of victory Australia brought Steve Smith back into the attack and he struck with his first ball to remove Pietersen (47) who attempted to smash the leg spinner out of the ground.
Kieswetter (63) quickly followed after he left a straight delivery from Mitchell Johnson which clattered into the middle stump to leave England needing 27 runs from 35 balls.
With Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan at the crease the tables were turned with Australia increasing the pressure with the runs drying up after the partnership of Kieswetter and Pietersen.
The tension was mounting with light rain falling in the distance but Morgan relived England’s worries with a six off the bowling of Smith to leave them needing just 15 runs.
Collingwood smashed Watson for a six in the next over as England completed their run chase to claim their first ever ICC title.
Having won the toss Collingwood decided to bat first and England who got off to a fantastic start picking up 3 early wickets to leave the Aussies on the back foot.
David Hussey (59) and Cameron White (30) played a vital role in allowing the Aussies to defend such a high total after a vital partnership of 50 runs in just 6.2 overs.
Having won the toss England got off to a dream start by picking up the wicket of Shane Watson (2) in the first over after the opening flashed at a wide delivery from Ryan Sidebottom and although Craig Kieswetter couldn’t hold onto the catch Graeme Swann was on hand to take a fine reaction catch at 1st slip.
Having suffered a disappointing tournament so far with the bat Aussie skipper Michael Clarke moved himself up the order and came in at number 3 but his first involvement in the game was the running out of big hitting David Warner.
Clarke pushed away a good-length ball from Tim Bresnan into the covers and after hesitating he set off for a single which left Warner running at the strikers end. Michael Lumb picked the ball up and fired in a throw which hit the stumps to leave the Aussies in trouble.
Brad Haddin (1) came in at number 4 but the wicket keeper barely had time to play himself in before he was walking back to the dugout after he was brilliantly caught by Kieswetter to give Sidebottom his second wicket of the game.
Although TV replies showed Haddin didn’t make any contact with the ball; umpire Billy Doctrove didn’t hesitate in giving the wicket keeper out to leave the Aussies 8-3 after just 2.1 overs.
Clarke and David Hussey steadied the ship but England kept the pressure on the batsman restricting them to a score of just 24-3 during the power play overs.
Although the pair built a vital partnership of 37; Clarke sill struggled, with his batting letting him down once against as he scored a scratchy 27 from 27 balls before he was caught by Collingwood to leave the Aussies 45-4 thanks to another brilliant spell of bowling from Swann.
Together with Michael Yardy the pair bowled 7 overs of spin as England increased the pressure on the Aussies despite Yardy conceding 21 runs in the 12th over.
With Clarke gone Hussey was joined at the crease by Cameron White and the pair put on a vital partnership of 50 runs before Luke Wright struck in the 15th over to end White’s (30) innings.
With the batsman starting to get the better of the bowlers the Hussey brothers performed a re-guard action building a vital partnership of 47 as the Aussies brought themselves back into the game.
Having built up some momentum at the end of their innings; Australia started off brighter with the ball and their aggressive start produced an early break through with Shaun Tait picking up the wicket of Michael Lumb (2) at the end of the second over.
After enjoying successful opening partnerships throughout the tournament with Lumb, Craig Kieswetter looked on edge but a 10 minute daily in proceedings because of a broken sight screen seemed to steady his nerves.
Kieswetter smashed the first ball he faced from Dirk Nannes after the delay through the covers for a well placed boundary.
With Australia’s main target; Kevin Pietersen at the crease early in the innings the Aussies knew another wicket would swing the balance of the game in their favor after England’s shaky start.
To their credit through; Kieswetter and Pietersen didn’t panic, when ever the pressure was increasing they found the boundary as they laid the foundations of a partnership that reached 50 in the 8th over.
With the runs starting to flow England targeted the bowling of Shane Watson who conceded 28 runs from just 2 overs as Australia were put onto the back foot thanks to some aggressive batting from England.
After failing to capitalise on a number of good starts throughout the tournament Kieswetter brought up his half century to leave England needing just 46 runs from 50 balls.
With the pressure growing Nannes conceded 10 runs from the first two balls of the 12th over to put England in the box seat with the Aussies enable to stem the flow of runs.
With England on the verge of victory Australia brought Steve Smith back into the attack and he struck with his first ball to remove Pietersen (47) who attempted to smash the leg spinner out of the ground.
Kieswetter (63) quickly followed after he left a straight delivery from Mitchell Johnson which clattered into the middle stump to leave England needing 27 runs from 35 balls.
With Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan at the crease the tables were turned with Australia increasing the pressure with the runs drying up after the partnership of Kieswetter and Pietersen.
The tension was mounting with light rain falling in the distance but Morgan relived England’s worries with a six off the bowling of Smith to leave them needing just 15 runs.
Collingwood smashed Watson for a six in the next over as England completed their run chase to claim their first ever ICC title.
Having won the toss Collingwood decided to bat first and England who got off to a fantastic start picking up 3 early wickets to leave the Aussies on the back foot.
David Hussey (59) and Cameron White (30) played a vital role in allowing the Aussies to defend such a high total after a vital partnership of 50 runs in just 6.2 overs.
Having won the toss England got off to a dream start by picking up the wicket of Shane Watson (2) in the first over after the opening flashed at a wide delivery from Ryan Sidebottom and although Craig Kieswetter couldn’t hold onto the catch Graeme Swann was on hand to take a fine reaction catch at 1st slip.
Having suffered a disappointing tournament so far with the bat Aussie skipper Michael Clarke moved himself up the order and came in at number 3 but his first involvement in the game was the running out of big hitting David Warner.
Clarke pushed away a good-length ball from Tim Bresnan into the covers and after hesitating he set off for a single which left Warner running at the strikers end. Michael Lumb picked the ball up and fired in a throw which hit the stumps to leave the Aussies in trouble.
Brad Haddin (1) came in at number 4 but the wicket keeper barely had time to play himself in before he was walking back to the dugout after he was brilliantly caught by Kieswetter to give Sidebottom his second wicket of the game.
Although TV replies showed Haddin didn’t make any contact with the ball; umpire Billy Doctrove didn’t hesitate in giving the wicket keeper out to leave the Aussies 8-3 after just 2.1 overs.
Clarke and David Hussey steadied the ship but England kept the pressure on the batsman restricting them to a score of just 24-3 during the power play overs.
Although the pair built a vital partnership of 37; Clarke sill struggled, with his batting letting him down once against as he scored a scratchy 27 from 27 balls before he was caught by Collingwood to leave the Aussies 45-4 thanks to another brilliant spell of bowling from Swann.
Together with Michael Yardy the pair bowled 7 overs of spin as England increased the pressure on the Aussies despite Yardy conceding 21 runs in the 12th over.
With Clarke gone Hussey was joined at the crease by Cameron White and the pair put on a vital partnership of 50 runs before Luke Wright struck in the 15th over to end White’s (30) innings.
With the batsman starting to get the better of the bowlers the Hussey brothers performed a re-guard action building a vital partnership of 47 as the Aussies brought themselves back into the game.
The author of this blog is now ghostwriting for several Huffington Post bloggers (his work regularly hit page 1), aside from concentrating on his own ventures. He can be hired for writing projects, large and small. He can be reached at theeffectivewriter(at)gmail(dot)com.
Tell The World What You Think:
Post a Comment