Editor's Pick

Editorial

Twenty20 cricket championship

England win in style
17 May 2010, 18:00 PM
EDITORIAL
FOR Paul Collingwood and his men, it has been a truly great triumph. England never won any world championship before this convincing victory against the mighty Australians at Bridgetown. Yes, the 'ashes' are theirs! They outplayed their old foes in every department. There was disciplined bowling and good fielding led by skipper Collinwood himself. He took a spectacular catch at short midwicket that dealt a lethal blow to the struggling Australian batting. The bowlers never looked like giving anything away. The Australian top order could not accelerate the rate of scoring after they lost some early wickets. Predicting anything in cricket is a hazardous proposition, particularly in this Twenty20 version, but it is still not clear why the in-form Michael Hussey, the hero of the match against Pakistan, was sent so late. He got very few deliveries to show his class once more. On a wicket where good batsmen had nothing to fear, the English victory was never in doubt. Kevin Pietersen and Craig Kieswetter made it look easy with some lusty hitting. The Australians are a truly professional side, but the paltry 147 was not good enough to put up a real fight. England must be doubly happy to win the final of the ICC World Twenty20 trophy, since the moment of glory came against the formidable Australia superpower in international cricket for over a century. The teams from the subcontinent could not live up to the fans' expectations. We missed a chance to score an upset victory against the Australians after our bowlers did an excellent job to restrict their strong opponents to a modest score, but the batsmen failed. The Indians could not reach the last four after some lacklustre performance by the team as a whole. The Sri Lankans did better, but were eliminated in a one-sided match by the ultimate winners. The match of the tournament was the cliffhanger between Pakistan and Australia. The exuberance of a rather unpredictable Pakistan was finally subdued by Australian professionalism, with Michael Hussey playing some unbelievable cricket. The match has elevated the shortest version of the game to a new height. It has been entertaining cricket with the hosts West Indies doing a great job. Twenty20 cricket has got a new champion. Our congratulations to team England.

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