The second semi-final was expected to be a high scoring match as the two teams, Australia and West Indies, had some power hitters in their sides. The match went down on expected lines in the first innings but the scenario changed completely in the second innings.
West Indies batting first posted a mammoth total of 205 runs and never allowed Australian batsmen to get near the target. As a result, West Indies is the team that will join Sri Lanka in the final of the on-going ICC T20 World Cup.
The match saw some scintillating batting and 18 sixes were hit in the match, with most of them coming from the bats of the Caribbeans.
Let’s have a look at some of the hits and flops from both innings.
West Indies:
Hits:
Chris Gayle: Before the match started, Chris Gayle wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter that West Indies will be the team that Sri Lanka will have to face in the finals and he made sure that it was not just a mere comment. Gayle carried his bat through and scored 75 runs. He only got to face 41 of the total of 120 deliveries and made the most of them.
Kieron Pollard: Pollard was struggling with the bat before this match but on Friday he was outstanding. Pollard faced 15 deliveries and smashed 38 runs. He hit three sixes in the last over.
Samuel Badree: He is the most economical bowler of the tournament and he was outstanding in this match. Australia needed Watson and Warner to fire if they had to get close to the West Indies total and Badree ensured that it doesn’t happen. He rattled the stumps of both the
openers.
Ravi Rampaul: He has been good for West Indies in the past few matches and was brilliant against the Aussies. He bowled an awkward length and troubled all the batsmen. He ended up with figures of 3-16.
Australia:
Hits:
George Bailey: Bailey played a brilliant knock and Australia had little chance till the time he was on the crease. Apart from him all the other batsmen failed miserably. Bailey took only 29 runs to hit 63 runs, he also hit four sixes and six boundaries.
Flops:
Watson-Warner: The stage was set for the hard hitting openers from Australia but both of them got out early. Australia needed a big contribution from the two W’s but that didn’t happen. Warner could only score one run while Watson made seven.
Cameron White: He has a huge reputation back in Australia but he disappointed in the entire tournament. White can hit a long ball but looked out of sorts. He could only manage five runs before getting out.
Xavier Doherty: It was always a gamble to play a slow left-armer against Gayle and the move simply did not work for the Australians. Doherty went for 48 runs in his three overs. He was hit for four sixes in his final over.
By Indian Sports News Network