Let the ICC T20 World Cup battles begin!
JUDGING from their performances in the warm-up matches, cricket fans around the Caribbean are in for a treat when action in the 2010 International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Twenty20 cricket tournament gets under way at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, today. Sri Lanka will oppose New Zealand in the opening match from 13:00 h, while host team West Indies face Ireland in the first-ever day/night International T20 at the fastest drying cricket venue in the Caribbean.
Undoubtedly, New Zealand will start the encounter as strong favourites over their Asian counterparts, having won both of their warm-up matches, with the better of the two being a come-from-behind victory over the West Indies after being 36-5 at one stage of their innings.
But thanks to the batting of Ross Taylor and Jacob Oram, they reached an imposing 124-8 from their 20 overs, to which the West Indies were bowled out for 117 in reply, and even though Sri Lanka are not on the same page as the West Indies, Daniel Vettori and his charges would not be looking at complacency against a much sturdier opponent.
The pugnacious Brendon McCullum is the only player to have appeared in all 33 of New Zealand’s T20 internationals, which also makes him the lone individual with the most T20 matches under his belt and added to that, only West Indies talismanic skipper and opening batsman Christopher Gayle has recorded a T20 ton (117) other than McCullum.
His wicket-keeping ability is certainly a plus for the Black Caps, which leaves them the option of going for the extra batsman or bowler, especially in such an encounter against a much stronger opponent than both the West Indies and Ireland, the two teams they defeated in their warm-up matches.
Apart from Taylor, McCullum and Oram, New Zealand can also look to Martin Guptil, Jesse Ryder who made an entertaining half-century against Ireland, Gareth Hopkins, Rob Nicol, Aaron Redmond and their talismanic all-rounder Scott Styris, who broke the back of the West Indies batting line-up in his team’s second warm- up win.
The bowling will be taken care of by Vettori, Styris, Oram, Shane Bond, Kyle Mills, Ian Butler, Timothy Southee and Nathan McCullum, the younger brother of Brendon McCullum.
While both India who are the inaugural champions and Pakistan (the defending champions) have won this championship, Sri Lanka, led by wicketkeeper/batsman Kumar Sangakkara, would be looking to emulate their Asian counterparts, by taking the 2010 title.
Veterans Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene, who are both feared batsmen in world cricket today, are in the lineup with the former becoming the first player to score over 12 000 runs and taken 300 wickets in limited overs cricket.
Jayawardene scored 159 runs at a strike rate of 152.88 at the last T20 World Cup in South Africa which was preceded by his 548 runs in the 2007 World Cup held right here in the Caribbean and in which Sri Lanka lost to Australia in the finals at the Kensington Oval.
With Sangakkara, 2009 T20 man-of-the-tournament Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Chandimal and Chamara Kapugedara adding support with the bat, Sri Lanka can be expected to chase down or even set the Black Caps a formidable total.
The venue is a perfect hunting ground for their bowlers, led by the lively Lasith Malinga who took a helmet trick against South Africa in the 2007 CWC and with amicable support from the feared Muttiah Muralitharan, Angelo Matthews, Ajantha Mendis, Chanaka Welegedera and Jayasuriya who bowls a tidy left-arm orthodox spin, New Zealand would be expected to turn up with their ‘A’ game if they intend to come out victorious.
The West Indies/Ireland match-up would have been a walk in the park for the host team, but taking into consideration their proud ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, even when their opponents have thrown all caution to the wind, Ireland can fancy their chances in this encounter.
Apart from Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul who posted 68 for the first wicket, only Andre Fletcher was able to get into double figures, as the Windies middle and lower order catapulted against New Zealand at a rate faster than a hurricane measuring 8 on the Richter scale.
The total number of runs for Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Narsingh Deonarine, Dinesh Ramdin and all-rounder Darren Sammy in the lone warm-up match was eight and they needlessly threw their wickets away at a time when there was no pressure on the home team.
Coach Otis Gibson must be complimented for the extra work he has put in, with regards to the bowling and fielding of the team, as was evident against New Zealand where the wily Sulieman Benn who opened the bowling with his left-arm spin, kept the opposition in check with his remarkable figures of 4-1-12-2.
Valuable support came from Ravi Rampaul and Nikita Miller while Sammy was the most expensive bowler for the Windies and with Kemar Roach, Wavell Hinds and Kieron Pollard in the lineup, the bowlers will have their work cut out against the lesser known Irish men.
Skipper William Porterfield will be looking to erase from his memory the two second-ball dismissals of his team in their practice matches which they lost, for today’s match.
The Phil Simmons-coached Ireland unit arrived in the Caribbean brimming with confidence and even though they lost both practice matches to New Zealand and Afghanistan respectively, a combined effort against the West Indies can be expected today.
Porterfield, Paul Sterling, brothers Niall and Kevin O’Brien, Alex Cusack, Nigel Jones and Andrew White can all take refuge in history, knowing that their country had bowled out the West Indies for a meagre 25 back in 1969 in Ireland.
George Dockrell was a handful in the warm-up matches and along with Boyd Rankin, John Mooney, Gary Kidd and Ireland’s most successful fast bowler Trent Johnson will share the bowling with support from Kevin O’Brien.
With a 90-minute show preceding the first official delivery of the 2010 ICC T20 here in the West Indies, a near packed to capacity venue will be treated to what can be tagged a day of exciting cricket here in Guyana.
Gentlemen, Let the Battle Begin!
Teams will be chosen from:
New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Shane Bond, Ian Butler, Martin Guptil, Gareth Hopkins, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Aaron Redmond, Jesse Ryder, Timothy Southee, Scott Styris and Ross Taylor.
Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Ajantha Mendis, Angelo Matthews, Chamara Kapugedara, Chanaka Welegedera, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Dinesh Chandimal, Lasith Malinga, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Suraj Randiv, Thissara Perera and Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Ireland: William Porterfield (captain), Andre Botha, Peter Connell, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnson, Nigel Jones, Gary Kidd, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Nial O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Sterling, Andrew White and Gary Wilson.
West Indies: Christopher Gayle (captain), Sulieman Benn, Dwayne bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Andre Fletcher, Wavell Hinds, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Dinesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy and Ramnaresh Sarwan.