I can't believe it! After storming through our early matches South Africa got tripped up by the Pakistani's in the semi-finals of 2009 T20 World Cup.
Honestly I thought we had this tournament in the bag and personally I still believe that we are the best T20 side in the world.... Unfortunately the record book are going to say something very different when the world looks back on this tournament.
I have to tip my hat to Pakistan - they have once again come out of nowhere and are suddenly competing for a handy piece of silverware. Been an intriguing tournament without question.
Umar Gul and those last two overs he bowled were brilliant and I think he has given many international quick bowlers and answer to the question - "How the hell do you bowl in T20 cricket?!"
Great performance from Pakistan!
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I think SA played really well throughout the tournament. There is no harm in losing the way they did. It is heartbreaking no doubt but they can take away alot of positives from it, Parnell, being one of them. Great tournament for such a young guy.
Whether they are the best T20 side at the moment? umm I would disagree. The results are infront of you. I had a feeling they would give it away in the semis, simply because they have done it in the past. I think they are one of the top T20 sides, that is for sure. They have a top side with top personnel, all they need now is a psychologist, who can help them get through these high pressure situations. One thing missing from their overall game, is the one last "UMMPH!" to get through to the finish line.
@Jawad - fair enough - but which side is consistently better??
I can understand where you are coming from. Similarly, Sri Lanka has won all their games in this ICC tournament and has performed consistently. They are in the finals, one game more then SA. Are they the BEST T20 side in the world?? I don't think so. I just feel like there is not ONE team that can rule consistently in T20 format. I just feel any team can win anytime in this format. did you think that Netherlands would beat England? or Australia would be kicked out by WI?? no.
who knows, maybe in the future, there will be a team that can rule as consistently as Australia has in the other two formats, but for now, T20 is a developing game and things can and might change in the future.
Congrats to Pakistan!. The way they started off, they definitely were the underdogs. They have performed when the chips were down. Pakistan gave one final "Ummph!" that I keep talking. about.
A few words for SA, not geared towards T20, but generally, they are definitely one of the stronger sides in world cricket but they still have a long way to go to create a good legacy for themselves. They might be number one in one of the formats but they need to perform consistently to defend that ranking and make a good record for themselves. As mentioned before, they don't perform when they should. They had a great series in Australia but gave it away in their own home grounds.
Australians have lost champions in Warne, Langer, haydos, gilchrist and a few others. It might not be good for the Aussie fans but it is great for world cricket because the gap between some of these big teams have closed up. You will see, teams like India, SA, Sri lanka, Pakistan and even WI sneaking in a few wins here and there. It is open now to some extent and I hope it stays that way for a while.
My attention shifts towards the Ashes now. If it would be going towards a 5 - 0 event, I won't be watching it.
@Jawad - some nice comments there and fair enough re Sri Lanka - they seemed to come in under the radar.
It's true what you said about teams not being able to dominate T20 simply because it is a lottery but I think South Africa, Sri Lanka and I guess Pakistan and India seemed to have get their heads around workable game plans at the moment.
Do you really believe that England will be competitive in the upcoming Ashes?? I just can't see it happening.
I think consistency is something that needs to be taken into consideration when you look at the big name teams and very few have actually managed consistent results over a rolling 24 month period apart from SA and Australia. India have been there or thereabouts but never quite got the touring thing right
well England has announced their "pre-Ashes" squad. They have left out the wayward Harmison and Vaughan. I was looking through the squad and it seems like they have focused more on the bowling department, and apart from a few batsmen, the rest look very inexperienced. Judging by how the recent T20 ended, with spin bowlers dominating most of the tournament, England made a good decision to add three spinners.
If they want to be atleast competitive in this series, they should really strengthen that batting line up and need to SWING the ball. Quality swing is needed, because Australia is still terrible at playing the moving ball.
Oh GOD! please let it be competitive!
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