Watson stars as Aussie beat Pakistan by 34 runs

[Feed]

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has insisted revenge will not be on his mind when his side face Australia in the World Twenty20 here on Sunday. More... Afridi relaxed over settling Australia score By Julian Guyer (AFP) – 8 hours ago GROS ISLET, Saint Lucia — Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has insisted revenge will not be on his mind when his side face Australia in the World Twenty20 here on Sunday. Defending champions Pakistan began their title defence with a 21-run win over Bangladesh at the Beausejour Stadium on Saturday. But they are a much changed side from the one that beat Sri Lanka in last year's World Twenty20 final at Lord's. That is mainly because of the fall-out from their recent tour of Australia where Pakistan failed to win in three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20. Even by Pakistani standards, the fall-out was dramatic with former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan receiving indefinite bans for infighting. Meanwhile Shoaib Malik and Naved-ul-Hasan were both suspended for a year while Afridi and the Akmal brothers, Kamran and Umar, were fined and put on probation for six months each. In Australia, Afridi received a two-match Twenty20 ban for ball-tampering, caused by bizarrely chewing on the ball, in a one-day international in Perth. But Afridi insisted he was in no mood to put one over the Aussies on Sunday, saying: "Winning and losing is something different but I want my team to play good cricket. "The guys here are feeling good and are very united. These guys here are my big players." Afridi hailed opener Salman Butt's performance against Bangladesh. Saturday's success was built on an opening stand of 142 between Kamran Akmal and Butt, who both made 73 But it was left-hander Butt who won the man-of-the-match award after a 46-ball innings featuring two sixes and eight fours. His stylish knock was full of genuine cricket shots and he rarely resorted to crude slogging. "When we had our camp back home, I saw him in the practice games and he played very well," Afridi said. "I thought maybe he was going to the West Indies with me but I don't think he will get a chance. But when I saw him he was batting very well, especially in the first six overs, and I told Salman Butt 'you are my main guy.' "He was playing proper shots as well. In the six overs, you don't need two (Sanath) Jayasuriyas, two (Virender) Sehwags or two Afridis," added the Pakistan captain as he listed some of the biggest hitters in world cricket. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan was disappointed not to be playing Australia at Beausejour rather than in Barbados, where the expected livelier pitch is set to be in favour of the Aussies' pace attack. "Pakistan have a very important game tomorrow and mathematically there's still a possibility (that Bangladesh can qualify for the Super Eights)," all-rounder Shakib said. "In Barbados there will be bounce and carry. We would have loved to have played Australia here."

[vvvslaxman]

In other words 1 T20 win = 3 test losses + 5 ODI losses + 1 T20 loss :cantstop:

[Feed]

Pakistan skipper backs Hauritz, but selectors have doubts AUSTRALIA would be taking a huge gamble by leaving off-spinner Nathan Hauritz out of the side for its World Twenty20 opener, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has warned. More... Pakistan ace backs Hauritz, but selectors have doubts JAMIE PANDARAM, ST LUCIA May 1, 2010 AUSTRALIA would be taking a huge gamble by leaving off-spinner Nathan Hauritz out of the side for its World Twenty20 opener, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has warned. Hauritz did not take a wicket in two practice games at Beausejour Cricket Ground, where the pitch is slow and favourable to spinners, and looks likely to miss out for the crucial match against Pakistan. Hauritz believes he can play a match-winning role, but chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch indicated that all-rounder Steve Smith and part-time spinners Michael Clarke and David Hussey could give the side adequate cover. Hauritz played against his Australian teammates for the Windward Islands side on Thursday, returning figures of 0-34 from three overs, and failing to make the case he had hoped. But Afridi, who took 4-24 in a masterful display of spin bowling in a practice match against Zimbabwe on the same ground a few hours later, said specialist spinners would be a must in St Lucia. ''I think you should go with regular spinners on this track,'' he said. ''I'm not saying it's totally a spinning track, if you've got a good, experienced spinner, they know how to bowl and where to bowl. ''I think he's [Hauritz] been doing well from the last couple of months, and I think on this type of track he will be very difficult for the opposition.'' Hilditch hinted that the team that played against Windward would also take the field against defending Twenty20 champion Pakistan, which means a three-man pace attack of Mitchell Johnson, Dirk Nannes and Shaun Tait. ''This is pretty close to the balance of the side we wanted,'' Hilditch said. While the wicket is slow, it is not offering much turn, so length and changes of pace are key factors for taking wickets. ''We've obviously got a good pace attack and we're going to use that in these conditions, and in Barbados as well,'' Hilditch said. ''We think we're pretty well placed with spin bowling. Steve Smith did a really good job [on Thursday], we got good spin out of Michael Clarke and David Hussey as well, and of course Nathan Hauritz, and when the conditions are spin-friendly we've got the opportunity to play more spinners.'' Pakistan will field at least two specialist spinners and two part-timers, while Bangladesh, the other team in Australia's group, will also rely on tweakers to win through to the Super Eight stage. ''We have got some very good spinners in our team and hopefully they will do the job,'' Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hassan said. ''The Caribbean wickets suit us because we've got so many spinners in our team. These wickets are a bit slow and there will be some turn, so hopefully the spinners will capitalise on that.'' Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja said the tendency of subcontinent teams to produce lots of spinners worked in their favour. ''When it comes down to Twenty20, then certainly Pakistani and Indian players have adapted better compared to the Australians, English or South African players,'' he said. But Australian speedster Tait is not looking to make excuses for the conditions. ''There's no good whingeing and whining about wickets and stuff,'' he said. ''Whatever the wicket is you have to adapt to the conditions. ''We showed that we can run in and still bowl pretty quick on flat wickets. Our pace attack is pretty lethal at times if we all get it right. ''It's going to play a big part for us because of the players we've got. Myself, Mitchell Johnson, Dirk Nannes, Ryan Harris coming in and Shane Watson also bowls pace. Dan Christian's handy and then we've got our two spinners to choose from as well. Our bowling stocks are pretty good.'' Smith took two wickets against Windward and Tait backed the youngster to provide Australia with the quality of slow bowling required. ''Smithy's a good young player. He's only played a couple of games but it feels like he has played 20 or 30,'' Tait said, adding that Pakistan would be worried about the Australian attack. ''Their line-up is totally different to ours. We played them in Australia and we all got pretty revved up for that game at the MCG and we bowled quite well at them. ''I think they will definitely be wary of our bowling.''

[Mamu]

His mathematical calculations here are somewhat similar to his Calculation Of Age

[Roshanrocks]

as of now aussies are at 118/2 : 13.2 so does look like a spanking is in the offing

[Serani]

Winning a WC can never be considered a "fluke", generally the best team wins hence Aus winning the last 3 50 over World Cups.

[jhakati]

oh my god where's my 1st post he heB->

[Sachinism]

Errm they're ranked number 1 in T20's

[vvvslaxman]

Winning a WC can never be considered a "fluke"' date=' generally the best team wins hence Aus winning the last 3 50 over World Cups.[/quote'] For T20 they have to make some alterations considering the short nature of the game. Every team must play every other team in the 2nd round not just one set of teams.

[jhakati]

poyzzzzzzzz got hammeredB->

[Pak_Forever]

:haha: are some of you guys really empty up there? We made it to two T20 WC finals...fluke ya right. Winning losing is all part of the game. :winky: We are through to next round for sure so there's no worry.

[ViruRulez]

Errm they're ranked number 1 in T20's

where is it mentioned :hmmm:

[Laaloo]

:haha: are some of you guys really empty up there? We made it to two T20 WC finals...fluke ya right. Winning losing is all part of the game. :winky: We are through to next round for sure so there's no worry.

I wouldn't say for sure

[vvvslaxman]

where is it mentioned :hmmm:

There is no official ranking from ICC if i am right.

[ViruRulez]

There is no official ranking from ICC if i am right.

exactly ... that is why I asked

[CSK Fan]

Is it settled now?

[The Outsider]

I was looking at the scorecard while settling the SBL bets and noticed that Razzaq and Alam batted at number 7 and 8 and did not bowl a single delivery. What kind of lunacy is it to have specialist batsmen at numbers 7 and 8!

[vvvslaxman]

I was looking at the scorecard while settling the SBL bets and noticed that Razzaq and Alam batted at number 7 and 8 and did not bowl a single delivery. What kind of lunacy is it to have specialist batsmen at numbers 7 and 8!

:hysterical: They just like to brag they have 10 bowlers and 10 batsmen

[Feed]

Watson stars as Aussie beat Pakistan by 34 runs Australia have punished Pakistan for their poor fielding at the Twenty20 tournament in St Lucia. More...

[bsriharsha]

the talunt damnit , the talunt :hehe: