Twenty20 World Cup Thread

[DomainK]

Not quite Nostro......remarkable come back by India. SA fell short of the semi final berth by just 10 runs. Will there be an India-Pakistan final? I hope so.

[sittingduck]

South Africa must be spewing, they've only lost one game and their out, my kiwis sneak in teh back door set for a show-down with Pakistan. India will play Aus in the other semi.

There's no way to predict who will make the finals but I hope its either a Aus/Nz or Ind/Pak final cause of the rivalries between the teams.

[Nostromo]

I cannot believe what I saw this evening. Deleriously happy that India are through of course, but I was also shocked at the way South Africa choked themselves out of the Semi-final berth. With the exception of Boucher, the players looked so tense and rigid that it is amazing that they even lasted as long as they did. Did you see Van der Wath's dismissal? He was not even looking at the ball as he came forwards!

I was prepared to give them the benefit of doubt before the regular World Cup, but this is becoming too much of a pattern. Sorry Gibbs Fan, but unless the whole team changes their mindset, South Africa will find it hard to cross that final hurdle.

[Speedboy Salesman]

I think it will be a Pakistan and Australia final, with Australia winning. I know that's predictable and boring, unless someone like the opening Pakistani bowlers can dig into the Australian top order, they are very strong. Even without Ponting.

[gibbs_fan]

Originally Posted by Nostromo

I was prepared to give them the benefit of doubt before the regular World Cup, but this is becoming too much of a pattern. Sorry Gibbs Fan, but unless the whole team changes their mindset, South Africa will find it hard to cross that final hurdle.

I agree Nostromo. Of course I am very disappointed but I will be the first to admit they we were totally outplayed. What a disgusting performance. If I were Gibbs and Polly, I would retire as SA will never ever win a tournament of note. Graeme and the coach should be fired. Smith for me just never leads from the front. The only problem is that we dont have any natural successor's for Smith. I do not know why SA players cannot play under pressure. I guess we deserved to be called chokers. The future is not looking good and I can only see many more disappointments ahead.

Nasser Hussein just had to rub it in yesterday. Asking Smith if Kallis could have made a difference. Good luck to India and lets hope the semi finals are exciting and competitive.

[greg]

No surprise that South Africa blew it again,they always do when the pressure is on.

Well played India,good luck to both India and New Zealand in the semis.

[Nostromo]

South Africa are undoubtedly talented, hardworking and supportive of each other, but this might be a case to too much teamsmanship, if there is such a thing. While it is undoubtedly necessary for team members to play for each other, there is always room for individual brilliance when the occasion demands it. The problem with the SA team as I see it is that in their efforts to become one cricketing unit in post-apartheid times, they have gone too far the other way and become almost like lemmings in their approach. This can occasionally lead to heroic performances like in the 438 game against OZ; but more often than not, one mini collapse leads to rest of the team tightening up and folding over. Look at the pattern with Smith & DeVilliers; if one starts clicking, the other does too - like the demolition job that they did against England in the regular World Cup - but if one gets out cheaply, the chances are that the other (and more) will follow. This is in sharp contrast to a team like Oz, where even when things get tricky, someone will hold up his hand and bat or bowl them out of trouble on most occasions.

[batoutofhell]

WELL DONE INDIA
bad luck for proteas after a pretty good run they had in the earlier part of the tournament to have this kind of exit was very sad ( reminding the 1996 world cup quarters against windies)
i never expected india to go this far thanx to the bowlers as well as rohit sharma and dhoni for keeping the indian hopes alive
i dont know what happen to my favt dinesh karthik he consistently failing since english odis(come on dhinnu score some runs)
hope there will be an even contest in semis(bit too much to expect from india against oz but i am an optimist)

[Nostromo]

Originally Posted by Speedboy Salesman

I think it will be a Pakistan and Australia final, with Australia winning. I know that's predictable and boring.

Is it? So what do you expect the Aussies to do - throw a match to make themselves less "boring" and acceptable? If other teams want to win, all they have to do is play well enough for it and not whinge and complain about the set pattern.

I can understand and accept the concept of supporting the underdog, but the current trend of promoting dislike of a persistent winner simply because one cannot measure-up is more than pathetic.

[batoutofhell]

wow what a game by indians
i am more than happy to see an India pakistan final
once again india started the tournamnet as underdogs with most cricket experts (and even fans like me) having no hope on them reaching for the semifinals
but everything changed so drastically all the favt teams are out and two underdog(pak too were not the first choice on bet for most) teams are in for the exciting final
thanx india once again for giving us some form of confidence on you