ICC World Twenty20 2009 - Team Profiles
AUSTRALIA
FINAL SQUAD
Australia went into the ICC World Twenty20 2007 with the same line-up that had seen them effortlessly claim the ICC Cricket World Cup earlier in the year with a bowling attack bolstered by the addition of Brett Lee who had been injured for the Caribbean event. However, despite a side boasting Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting, they struggled to carry their ODI form into the T20 format.
They got off to the worst possible start in the 2007 event, losing out in a nail-biting last ball thriller to Zimbabwe in what was undoubtedly in the biggest upset in the short history of Twenty20 Internationals. Rusty and underdone Australia was embarrassed by the so-called minnows by five wickets. The hero of the night, Brendon Taylor effected one stumping, took two catches, effected a run-out and scored an unbeaten 60 to guide his team to victory.
Taken aback by the defeat, the Australians had to scramble their way back into the tournament with victory over England. Nathan Bracken and Mitchell Johnson picked up three wickets apiece, which was followed by a hammering delivered to the English bowlers by Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist. Australia won with conviction by eight wickets and sailed through to the next round.
Bangladesh was treated to some top quality Aussie fast bowling. Brett Lee was immaculate, peppering the inexperienced Bangladeshi batsmen with short pitch stuff and was rewarded with the first ever hat-trick in T20 Internationals setting the base from which his side was able to romp home with seven overs to spare.
The next Super Eights match saw Australia lose out to Pakistan whose stars on the day were young left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir who took 3 for 31 from his four overs and Misbah-ul-Haq and captain Shoaib Malik who both scored unbeaten half-centuries to ensure Pakistan clinched a convincing six-wicket victory.
Australia had to defeat Sri Lanka in the next match to ensure a place in the semi-final and comfortably rose to the occasion restricting their opponents to 101 all out before Gilchrist and Hayden knocked off the runs in 10.2 overs.
But the good form from the Sri Lanka match deserted Australia in the semi-final as an India side bolstered by 70 off 30 balls from Yuvraj Singh set them a target of 189 and with none of the Australian bastmen able to make a match-winning contribution in reply they fell 15 runs short.
Australia had gone into the 2007 event as the holders of both the ICC Cricket World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy and were hoping to make it a hattrick in the ICC World Twenty20.
The disappointment of defeat to India and India's subsequent victory hurt Ponting and his side and they will be fired up for success when the next event takes place in England in 2009.
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BANGLADESH
FINAL SQUAD
India and South Africa will never forget the stunning defeats at the hands of the Test minnows in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. Young captain Mohammad Ashraful remains the star batsman and his wide variety of stroke play suits the shortest version of the game. Mohammad Nazimuddin is an exciting batsman while Mashrafe Mortaza is the team's bowling kingpin.
The side produced one of the shocks of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in beating the West Indies in the group stage by six wickets. The heroes that day were Aftab Ahmed and the skipper Ashraful who both produced half-centuries and Shakib Al Hasan who claimed four wickets.
They failed to continue this form into subsequent matches, losing by seven wickets to South Africa in their second group game and getting thumped by Australia and Sri Lanka in the Super Eights.
The match against Australia was most memorable for Brett Lee's impressive bowling which was rewarded with the first ever hat-trick in T20 Internationals. Lee's impressive display helped restrict Bangladesh to only 123 which the Australians knocked off with seven overs to spare.
Sri Lanka further increased Bangladesh's miseries with a win by 64 runs which put Bangladesh out of contention and although they also lost their final match against Pakistan they went down fighting with Zunaed Siddique firing an impressive 71 in 49 balls.
Bangladesh will go into the 2009 event as outsiders but always have the potential to spring a surprise, particularly in Twenty20 cricket.
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ENGLAND
FINAL SQUAD
England's players had played more Twenty20 cricket than any of their rivals ahead of the first ICC World Twenty20 but they were not able to turn this experience into success in South Africa.
They began well enough with a comfortable 50-run victory over Zimbabwe with Kevin Pietersen hitting a typically flamboyant 79 from 37 balls.
Against Australia in their next match though, England were restricted to 135 all out in their 20 overs and the opposition had no trouble knocking off the runs.
The victory over Zimbabwe had been enough to secure qualification to the Super Eights but there were to be no further victories. First South Africa beat them by 19 runs with Albie Morkel's 43 runs in 20 balls changing the match and the veteran Shaun Pollock putting in a vintage performance with the ball.
They went on to lose a tight match against New Zealand by five runs before falling 18 runs short against India.
The game against India is one which the side would like to forget. Yuvraj Singh set the Kingsmead Cricket Ground alight with an amazing show of power hitting, becoming the first man in the history of Twenty20 cricket to hit six sixes in an over. England fast bowler Stuart Broad was at the receiving end of man of the match Yuvraj Singh's whiplash blade.
England will be expecting to do better than their solitary victory over Zimbabwe when they host the tournament in 2009. Kevin Pietersen will be pivotal and there will be many fingers crossed that Andrew Flintoff can find his best form with both bat and ball before the event.
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INDIA
FINAL SQUAD
Four years after Sourav Ganguly's Team India had been blown away by Australia in the ICC Cricket World Cup final at the Wanderers, their Twenty20 side returned to the same venue and this time emerged victorious to claim the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 crown.
In a truly nail-biting finish, India lifted the trophy with a narrow five-run win over Pakistan.
Gautam Gambhir (75) and Rohit Sharma (30 not out) managed the Indian innings at either end of the 20 overs and helped their side to 157. Rudra Pratap Singh and Man of the Match Irfan Pathan took three wickets each to keep India in the hunt.
The fortunes kept fluctuating until the last over in which Pakistan needed 13 with the last wicket-pair at the crease. Bowler Joginder Sharma gave a wide in the first ball and was tonked over his head for a straight six by Misbah-ul-Haq off the second. Off the next ball, Misbah was ambitious and tried a paddle over the fine-leg fielder in the circle but he failed in his execution and the ball fell into the grateful hands of Sreesanth and India had won the title.
Earlier in the group matches, heavy showers halted the match against Scotland and both sides were awarded a point. The next match saw a unique bowl-out, which India won against old foes Pakistan by a 3-0 margin. Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa all hit the set of stumps while Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi missed it for Pakistan.
In their first Super Eight match, India was stunned by New Zealand by 10 runs to script their only defeat in the tournament.
They bounced back well in the next match. Yuvraj Singh, in an exhibition of raw power assorted with sheer class, hit six consecutive sixes and took the English bowlers, the fans, commentators, and his teammates by storm. India set a daunting target of 219 for England to chase and won comfortably by 18 runs.
They defeated South Africa by 37 runs in their final Super Eight match with Rohit Sharma being declared man-of-the-match for his match-winning innings of 50 not out. The match also saw spirited bowling from RP Singh (4/13), Sreesanth (2/23) and Harbhajan Singh (2/30) to book the side's berth in the semi-finals.
In a nerve-racking semi-final, Yuvraj smashed a 30-ball 70 before Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh and Joginder Sharma displayed some fantastic bowling to limit Australia to 173, 15 runs short.
The rest is history and India's victory in the final was greeted with an outpouring of joy back home. The 2007 triumph means they will carry huge expectations on their shoulders in 2009 and anything less than a victory will be a disappointment for over a billion followers.
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IRELAND
FINAL SQUAD
Ireland heads to the ICC World Twenty20 2009 hoping to repeat its famous exploits at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, when it defeated Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Captained by William Porterfield, who has built an excellent reputation in county cricket with Gloucestershire, the side qualified for the event after some solid performances on the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier on home soil.
Although rain ruined its opportunity to win the Qualifier event, as the final against Netherlands was abandoned without a ball being bowled, it was named the top Associate seed for the event on the basis of its Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Ranking.
However, it came close to being eliminated from the tournament after Bermuda failed to chase a target of only 46 in nine overs in the group stages of the qualifier.
Ireland missed out on the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 2007 event as it came fifth in the six-team qualifying event in Nairobi so it will be determined to have an impact on the event this time in a group which sees them face India and Bangladesh.
Ireland has only ever played India on one occasion, crashing to a nine-wicket ODI defeat in a rain affected match in June 2007, despite Niall O'Brien making a fifty.
Since overcoming Bangladesh at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, it suffered three heavy defeats fielding an under strength team in March 2008.
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NETHERLANDS
FINAL SQUAD
The surprise package of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, it achieved qualification after defeating Scotland by five wickets in the semi-finals.
And its victory set up one of the biggest moments in the history of Dutch cricket, as it will play the opening match at the ICC World Twenty20 2009 against England at Lord's.
They will also face Pakistan at Lord's, the home of cricket, in what could be a decisive match if the hosts win its opening two games.
One of the key players in the tournament for the Dutch will be Ryan ten Doeschate, an excellent all-rounder who has starred for Essex and Western Province in domestic cricket, and who was instrumental in his side's qualification for the ICC World Twenty20 2009.
Alex Kervezee has already established himself as one of the most exciting young talents in Associate cricket and has a county contract with Worcestershire, while skipper Peter Borren is also very experienced.
At the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, it recorded a victory over Scotland, although most fans will remember the campaign for Daan van Bunge conceding six sixes in an over off Herschelle Gibbs from South Africa.
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NEW ZEALAND
FINAL SQUAD
Placed with minnows Kenya and minnow-bashers Sri Lanka in Group C of the 2007 event, New Zealand trounced Kenya by nine wickets as Mark Gillespie and Shane Bond ripped apart the Kenyan attack. Between them, they took six wickets.
However, the next match saw them lose to Sri Lanka by seven wickets after the Kiwi openers failed to provide any momentum.
They bounced straight back in the Super Eight stage, beating India by 10 runs in a close contest. The key contributions coming from Craig McMillan (44 runs from 23 balls) and Jacob Oram (35 from 15 balls) with the bat and skipper Daniel Vettori - who claimed four wickets, effected a run-out and took two catches - in the field.
Against England it looked like a defeat was on the cards until the experience of Bond and Vettori helped rein in the England batsmen and steer New Zealand to a five run victory.
Their final group game was a six wicket defeat to South Africa but by then their semi-final berth had been secured.
But as has so often been the case, they stumbled at the semi-final stage as Pakistan cruised to a six-wicket win after limiting the Kiwis to 143. Ross Taylor provided the only bright moment with 37 in 23 balls, otherwise it was an easy victory for Pakistan, which included a half century by Imran Nazir.
With Taylor developing all the time, Brendon McCullum renowned as one of the most destructive T20 batsmen and the guile of Vettori with the ball, New Zealand could be a contender in 2009.
PAKISTAN
FINAL SQUAD
Imran Khan Niazi won Pakistan the World Cup in 1992. Fifteen years later, Misbah-ul Haq Niazi came close to doing a similar feat in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20. But, only close.
Boasting a young side that most observers wrote off even before the event began, Pakistan proved their doubters wrong to make it all the way to the final.
They began by beating Scotland by 51 runs and then tied with India after a fantastic display by Misbah-ul-Haq. The India match was resolved by a bowl-out with India emerging on top by a 3-0 margin. It was the first time that a bowl out was needed in the ICC World Twenty20 but both teams still went through to the Super Eights.
A 101-run partnership between Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik and some inspired bowling from Shahid Afridi proved to be the key to Pakistan's first victory of the Super Eight stage, by 33 runs against Sri Lanka. Their winning streak continued as they defeated Australia by six wickets and Bangladesh by four wickets. With these victories, Pakistan confirmed a semi-final berth.
In the semi-final against New Zealand, captain Shoaib Malik stroked a fabulous six to take his team to victory in majestic style. Imran Nazir scored 59 runs from 41 balls and Mohammad Hafeez scored 32 from 21 chasing a total of 144. Umar Gul generated awkward bounce for the New Zealand batsmen, mixed it up with yorkers and slower deliveries and picked up the Man-of-the-Match award for his impeccable figures of 3 for 15 from four overs.
In the final against arch-rivals India, there was no time to chew finger-nails or even think of thumping hearts as India's bowlers dug deep in their self-belief in successfully defending a low total of 157 for five with an emotional five-run victory at the magnificent Wanderers Cricket Stadium. Pakistani fans were in tears when Misbah-ul-Haq took the side so close to victory and could not seal the win to claim the trophy.
The Indians, restricted to 157-5 after electing to take first strike in good batting conditions, fought back to bowl out valiant Pakistan for 152 before a sell-out crowd of 32,000. Pakistan appeared out for the count when they were reduced to 104-7 after 16 overs, but Misbah-ul Haq gave the Indians a scare with a late charge of 43 off 38 balls.
Misbah and his tail-end partners took 19 runs in the 17th over bowled by spinner Harbhajan Singh, 13 in the 18th of Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and seven runs in the 19th from Rudra Pratap Singh, leaving 13 to get off the final over. Seamer Joginder Sharma bowled a wide off the first ball and was hammered for a six by Misbah with the second legitimate ball, but gave India victory with his next delivery as the batsman holed out to fine-leg. With this loss, Pakistan's jinx of never having beaten India in a World Cup or world championship match continued.
Pakistan will be looking to break that sequence in England in 2009 but, most importantly, they will be hoping to go one better and claim their first global event title since Imran Khan lifted the World Cup in 1992.
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SCOTLAND
FINAL SQUAD
Scotland qualified for the event after coming third in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, taking the place of Zimbabwe after it withdrew from the tournament.
It thrashed one of the favourites for the qualifying tournament, beating Kenya by nine wickets in the third/fourth play-off, with a fifty from skipper Ryan Watson.
This followed on from a five-wicket defeat by Ireland in the group stages, although Scotland coasted to an easy eight-wicket win over Bermuda.
Scotland, who will rely on the experience of the likes of Gavin Hamilton and John Blain, will face a challenge if it wishes to qualify for the latter stages of the ICC World Twenty20 2009 as it will play group matches against New Zealand and South Africa.
It played in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 event and lost to Pakistan by 51 runs, despite 46 from Fraser Watts.
The game against India was abandoned due to rain.
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SRI LANKA
FINAL SQUAD
Placed in Group C along with New Zealand and Kenya, Sri Lanka's first match in the 2007 event saw them thrash Kenya by 172 runs at the Wanderers. Sanath Jayasuriya batted with characteristic freedom scoring a 44-ball 88 and Jehan Mubarak's late fireworks lifted Sri Lanka to a record team score of 260 for 6, a target way out of reach for the opposition as Kenya managed just 88. Sri Lanka won by a record margin of 172 runs.
Against New Zealand, Jayasuriya displayed fireworks once again with a 44-ball 61 to win by seven wickets. A delightful cameo of 37 at the end from Mahela Jayawardene was enough to punish New Zealand as Sri Lanka maintained their perfect record in the competition.
However, the Super Eight League saw them lose out to Pakistan as they were choked by 33 runs. Lasith Malinga picked up three wickets including that of Man of the Match Younis Khan but it was not sufficient to rescue them from defeat. Chasing a total 189, the openers failed to deliver and the team was bundled out for 156 runs.
Close after this defeat, Sri Lanka stormed to a 64-run win against Bangladesh. The victory pushed Bangladesh out of contention for a semi-final place, and left Sri Lanka needing to beat Australia to progress to the final four.
But the Australians produced one of the displays of the tournament to deliver a 10-wicket knockout punch to the Lankans.
It was a day Sri Lanka would like to forget. After being dismissed for only 101, they could not stop the Australian run-chase as they achieved the target in half the time with all wickets intact.
Even if Jayasuriya doesn't make it to England in 2009 Sri Lanka will still have one of the strongest batting line-ups with the experienced Mahela Jayawardena and Kumara Sangakkara likely to comprise a formidable middle-order while Lasith Malinga's sling-arm action is capable of destroying the best line-ups.
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SOUTH AFRICA
FINAL SQUAD
The hosts in 2007 helped ensure the tournament got off to a memorable start. They looked like being the victims in the opening game when Chris Gayle became the first Twenty20 International centurion. But Gayle's century was in vain as the West Indies bowlers could not contain Herschelle Gibbs and Justin Kemp. Gibbs, not to be outdone by Gayle's performance, smashed a 55-ball 90 to win the match by eight wickets.
South Africa followed this victory with a seven-wicket win against Bangladesh in the other Group match. Chasing a target of 145, the hosts made 146 for three in 18.5 overs to thump Bangladesh by seven wickets and finish top of the group.
England provided an early scare in the first Super eight match as Stuart Broad picked up three wickets to limit South Africa to 154. Despite some high quality batting from batsman Owais Shah, England fell short by 19 runs thanks in no small part to the swing and guile of veteran Shaun Pollock.
South Africa continued their winning streak as they romped home with six wickets in hand in the next game against New Zealand with Justin Kemp hitting 89 runs in 56 balls - an innings that included six boundaries and sixes.
With eyes firmly set on a semi-final berth, South Africa looked forward to continuing their winning run against India but their first defeat of the tournament was also enough to knock them out of the event.
A sensational spell of 4 for 13 from Rudra Pratap Singh dumped South Africa out of their own Twenty20 party as India romped to a comprehensive 37-run victory.
It was a disappointing end for a side that boasted some of the best-performing players of the tournament. Both Herschelle Gibbs (90) and Justin Kemp (89) featured in the top five highest individual scores in the event. Kemp also found a place on the most number of sixes list with 10 sixes in five matches. Morne Morkel was the third best bowler for his figures of 4 for 17 against New Zealand.
In the fielding lists, AB de Villiers was rated as the best fielder for his six catches in four matches and Graeme Smith featured at number five with four catches.
Though they failed to make the semi-finals in the event in 2007, South Africa showed they have the potential to be a strong contender in 2009 and if the skipper Smith can hit a rich vein of form at the top of the order and Dale Steyn is at his destructive best with the ball they will be difficult to stop.
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WEST INDIES
FINAL SQUAD
The first match of the 2007 tournament between South Africa and the West Indies saw history being written when Chris Gayle became the first Twenty20 International centurion. Unfortuntely for Gayle and his side they went on to lose the match by eight wickets as Herschelle Gibbs and Justin Kemp matched Gayle's fireworks.
Having scored over 200 in the defeat to South Africa, the West Indies were expected to comfortably dispatch Bangladesh in their second group match but they were in for a surprise.
Many people said before the tournament started that the ICC World Twenty20 2007 could provide the lower-ranked sides the chance to shine. And having beaten both India and South Africa at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies, Bangladesh pulled off another shock in Johannesburg.
Gayle failed to put a run on the board and only a half century by Devon Smith helped West Indies reach 164 as Shakib Al Hasan claimed four wickets.
A spirited Bangladesh then galloped to the target thanks to two brilliant half centuries from Aftab Ahmed and captain Mohammad Ashraful to win the match by six wickets and send the West Indies packing.
Though many of the West Indies players had taken part in the Stanford Twenty20 they had never hosted a T20 International match in the Caribbean before this competition. That has now been rectified and with more experience under their belts and Gayle still likely to be a prominent threat at the top of the order they will expect to progress from the group stage in 2009.
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