In the second semi-final game in the Twenty20 World Cup tournament taking place in Sri Lanka right now, West Indies easily beat Australia, setting up a contest with Sri Lanka in the final on Sunday.
This shows the unpredictability of the ultra-short format. West Indies has been in a slump for some years while Australia has been one of the most dominant teams in international cricket. Of all cricket playing nations, I think it is safe to say that Australia are the best at rising to the big occasion. But they are experiencing a changing of the guard with many of their seasoned players retiring in the last few years and being replaced by younger players who have yet to gain the needed experience.
The West Indian batsmen were absolutely brutal in their treatment of the bowlers, hitting them all over the field with abandon. They scored an incredible 205 runs in their 20 overs, led by the mercurial Chris Gayle who scored a majestic 75. To get a sense of how large that score is, recall that Sri Lanka scored just 139 against Pakistan in the other semi-final and that proved to be sufficient to win, with Pakistan able to muster only 123 in response.
When it came to their turn at bat. Australia got off to a very rocky start and although George Bailey made a valiant effort, it was too much of an uphill climb and they were dismissed for 131 runs in the 17th over.
The final on Sunday, October 7 at 13:30 UTC/GMT (9:30 am US Eastern time) should be well worth watching. The match can be seen live-streamed at Cricinfo.
Cricket is played here in Rhode Island. There are enough Indians, Pakistanis, West Indians, and assorted others (Brits, South Africans and the odd Australian [I know him, he’s very odd]) to field four teams
NOOOOO!!!!!
{upset Australian goes off to sulk}
Eh, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Windies.
Bah, we must have had more important things to do, we probably left the iron on or something
Saw that game. Well, most of it, fell asleep towards the very end since it was on very late at night /early morning here in Oz.
Fantastic batting by the Windies meant we were never really in with much chance -- especially after losing Watson and Warner so early and for so little. 🙁
The Aussie selectors should’ve chosen all-rounder Dan Christian to play instead of Maxwell. But since he’s a South Aussie and our state’s batsmen never seen to get a fair go .. Sigh.
Do agree it’d be good for cricket to see the Windies come back into form and become a force again.