Retro Yakking

It’s been a rollercoaster ride, a Jekyll and Hyde tournament throwing up results both predictable and wholly unexpected. Now the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 is over, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the ups and downs, the peaks and troughs of a truly exciting feast of cricket.

Retro Yakking has been there to document the upsets, the absolute slaughterings and the humorously insignificant from day one, and today takes a moment to reflect on the big stories of the past two and a half weeks of world class willow wielding.

First, how how did the three associate nations fare at this competition?

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England’s bowling attack scythed through New Zealand to lift the inaugural ICC women’s World Twenty20 trophy in front of their home fans at Lord’s.

The White Ferns got off to a bad start, reduced to 31-5 from a little over ten overs, with Katherine Brunt and Laura Marsh claiming wickets. They never really recovered, stumbling to just 85 all out from their twenty overs, Amy Satterthwaite top-scoring with 19.

Though New Zealand managed to restrict England to 41-2 from their first ten overs, and removed Beth Morgan and Lydia Greenway towards the end, it was always going to be a difficult task to defend 85 on a decent batting strip. England reached their target with relative ease, captain Claire Taylor once again guiding her team to victory.

It was all rather boring, however, as none of the shirt lettering was defective. It is hoped that more frivolous and insignificant little humorous events will take place during this afternoon’s men’s final.

We’ve seen some magnificent individual pieces of fielding at this competition, but there’s no doubt in my mind that, on the whole, Sri Lanka have been the most entertaining.

In an attempt to emulate his team-mate Angelo Mathews to some extent, Sri Lanka’s Chamara Silva made an acrobatic mid-air retrieval of the ball from outside the boundary rope.

Whilst ultimately unsuccessful — the umpires awarded a four due to the fact the ball rested where the boundary rope would have been had it not been moved — it’s still pretty impressive and inventive.

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England’s women struck an early Ashes blow today, beating Australia by eight wickets and progressing through the final of the women’s World Twenty20 against New Zealand on Sunday afternoon.

Chasing a total of 164, they looked to be struggling until Beth Morgan and Wisden Player of the Year Claire Taylor came together at 43-2 to put on a third wicket partnership of 122.

Earlier, Australia had got off to a quick start in their innings but were curtailed slightly by the loss of two quick wickets with the score on 78. Nitschke, Poulton, Sthlekar and Rolton made significant contributions as their total of 163, just one short of the tournament’s highest score, looked to be enough.

But, aided by the world’s #1 batter, England reached the Aussie total with three balls remaining.

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We’re now down to the business end of the tournament, and the question on everybody’s lips is… will Angelo Mathews finally have a properly printed name on the back of his shirt?

Much more pressing is the question of whether the semi-finals will be affected by the British weather. Forecasters predict showers for most of the UK this week, and officials will be crossing their fingers that Nottingham and London will remain relatively dry allowing the fixtures to take place.

Three matches remain and four teams are left, each of which is in with a fighting chance. South Africa and Sri Lanka have looked very strong in the tournament so far, and are my predictions to progress through to the final.

In Twenty20, however, it really is a case of who turns up on the day, who has that crucial bit of luck or drops that all-important catch. It may not be worth $20,000,000, but Sunday’s final will decide who claims the much more coveted title of World Twenty20 champions.

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