Pakistan cricket team pulled off an excellent 8-wicket victory over Sri Lanka, and thus, winning the second edition of the twenty20 world cup on Sunday. No doubt, the triumph in the twenty20 world cup would boost up Pakistan cricket which has been struggling for the tumultuous security condition of the country. Batting first, Sri Lanka scored 138 run losing 6 wickets, while Pakistan won the match with 8 balls left in the hand losing only 2 wickets.
The star of the match is definitely all rounder Shahid Afridi who conceded only 20 runs in his 4 overs with a wicket. Then the hard hitter smashed 54 runs off just 40 balls. In Sri Lankan innings, Captain Kumar Sangakkara played anunbeaten innings of 64 off just 52 runs. In the end, Mathews contributed with 35 runs from just 24 balls. Abdul Razzaq picked up 3 wickets for Pakistan.
Sri Lanka tried their best using their bowlers, but in the end, Pakistan emerged winners. Mindis was not impressive at all today, while Muralitharan was not as much authoritative as he had been in throughout the tournament. Lasith Malinga conceded only 14 runs in his 3.4 overs, but that was not enough as Pakistani batsmen showed excellent resistance, power and dominance over a strong Sri Lankan bowling side.
Dilshan was awarded the man of the series award for his 317 runs in the tournament, even though the opener got out for a duck today. Shahid Afridi got the man of the match award for his match winning performance.
It has been more than a week twenty20 world cup 2009 has been kicked off and the tournament has already reached at Super Eight round where best 8 of the 12 participating teams are now fighting for the four semi-final spots. So, you can see that some of the exciting matches of the tournament are currently going on with some of the top teams of world cricket are facing each other.
The tournament has already seen two upsets as Ireland knocked out Bangladesh and Australia failed to make it to the last eight of the competition after losing to West Indies and South Africa. However, it does not mean that Super Eight round has so far been less competitive. All the teams are trying their best to win one of the four semi final places.
There are two groups in Super Eight round: Group E, comprising of India, South Africa, West Indies and England, and Group F, consisting of New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Ireland. Here, I am giving you the point table of Super Eight stage of Twenty20 world cup 2009:
**The Point table is updated till the match between South Africa and West Indies on 13 June 2009.
Group E
Teams
M
W
L
T
P
NRR
South Africa
2
2
0
0
4
+3.275
West
Indies
2
1
1
0
2
-0.150
England
1
0
1
0
0
-0.668
India
1
0
1
0
0
-0.707
Group F
Teams
M
W
L
T
P
NRR
New Zealand
1
1
0
0
2
+4.150
Sri
Lanka
1
1
0
0
2
+0.950
Pakistan
1
0
1
0
0
-0.950
Ireland
1
0
1
0
0
-4.150
**M- Match, W- Won, L- Lost, T- Tied, P- Points, NRR- Net Run Rate
ICC Twenty20 world cup 2009 kicks off from 5 June 2009 in England. The 12-team tournament will have 27 matches in the space of 17 days. After the successful staging of the inaugural twenty20 world cup, cricket fans are expecting another highly entertaining tournament in England this time. Twenty20 is the shortest version of the game, and it is full of excitement because of its duration. This is a format where the condition of a match can change after every few overs and that is why, twenty20 matches are complete entertainers. Now that, another world cup of the latest version of the game approaches, it seems that cricket fans are ready to enjoy another highly competitive tournament.
There are 12 tams who will be divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each. Two teams from each group will progress to the Super Eight stage. From Super Eight, four teams will reach the semi final in terms of points achieved.
It is not possible for all of you to visit England to enjoy the matches and naturally, television will be the main source of enjoying the tournament. Here, I am giving a list of television channels which will telecast the matches of twenty20 world cup 2009 live in different parts of the world:
ESPN (English Commentary)
ESPN Star Sports television channel holds the official TV rights of twenty20 world cup 2009 by which ESPN will telecast all the 27 matches live for the cricket fans of South Asian countries including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka etc. ESPN is one of the most popular sports channels in the world. The channel will show the exciting matches of the world twenty20 live with English commentary. The channel has a team of cricket experts who will be providing pre and post match analysis. So, if you are currently in India or other South Asian countries, then you can enjoy the T20 world cup matches live on ESPN. You can see the programming page of ESPN here.
Star Cricket (Hindi Commentary)
All the matches of ICC World Twenty20 2009 will be shown live on Star Cricket television channel with Hindi commentary for the Indian cricket fans. Some other neighboring countries of India might also watch the matches live on Star Cricket and enjoy the Hindi commentary. However, I am not sure if cricket fans from any other countries except India will be able to watch the matches on Star Cricket television channel which is dedicated to Indian cricket only. Star TV is the owner of the channel and Star Cricket is also a part of ESPN-Star network. You can get the schedule of Star Cricket in the tv programming page of ESPN.
Doordarshan
Doordarshan (DD) is the national television network in India. According to Prasar Bharati law, any sports channels telecasting important Indian matches must feed share with Doordarshan (DD) which will telecast the matches live on DD Sports. The same thing will happen in twenty20 world cup 2009 as well. ESPN will have to share the feed of India’s matches and semi final and final matches of the tournament with Doordarshan. So, Doordarshan will telecast India’s matches as well as semi finals and final matches live for the cricket fans in India.
Sky Sports
Cricket fans in UK and its neighboring countries including Ireland will be able to watch the match of twenty20 world cup 2009 live on Sky Sports. In fact, the matches will be telecast live on Sky Sports 1 television channel. You can get the TV schedule here. Operated by British Sky Broadcasting, Sky Sports is television network that consists of a number of sports channels. This is a pay tv channel and you have to subscribe to Sky Sports, if you want to watch the matches live on Sky Sports television channel.
BBC
English cricket fans can watch the highlights of the matches of ICC World Twenty20 2009. BBC is a terrestrial channel and that is why, you do not need to pay to watch the highlights of the matches on BCC.
DirecTV
Cricket fans from USA, Caribbean and some Latin American countries will be able to watch the twenty20 world cup matches live on DirecTV. Owned by the DirecTV Group, DirecTV provides direct broadcast satellite service by transmitting digital satellite television and audio to its subscribers. That means DirecTV provides its services directly to the households i.e. direct-to-home signals. It is a pay-per-view service- meaning you have to subscribe for their services for a certain amount, if you want to enjoy the matches of world twenty20 2009 live. In order to watch all of the 27 matches, you have to pay $125. You can see the list of prices for different tournaments here.
Fox Sports TV Channel (Australia)
Australia’s first pay-channel, Fox Sports will telecast all the matches of twenty20 world cup 2009 live for the Australian cricket fans who are eagerly waiting to enjoy the exciting matches of the tournament. Owned by News Corporation, and Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, Fox Sports tv channel is one of the most popular sports channels in the world. As it is a pay-tv you must have the subscription of Fox Sports to enjoy the matches live. You can get the schedule and timing of the matches here. I could see that the matches of t20 world cup will be shown live on Fox Sports 2 tv channel.
Eurosport 2
Eurosport 2 will telecast the twenty20 world cup 2009 matches live for the cricket fans from European countries including Denmark, Sweden, Russia, France, Monaco, Finland, Algeria, Austria and Cyprus. It is true that cricket is not very popular in this part of the world, but still there are people of South Asian origin who would like to have live access to the matches of t20 world cup. Eurosport 2 is one of the four channels of Eurosport which is a satellite and cable television network dedicated to European sports. You can check the schedule and the timing of Eurosport 2 tv channel here.
BTV (Bangladesh Television)
The only terrestrial TV channel in Bangladesh, I am not sure whether, BTV will telecast all the matches of the tournament, but one thing is for sure that the channel will matches involving Bangladesh and some other important games including semi finals and final live for the Bangladesh cricket fans. I did not find the schedule and timing in the official website of BTV.
ATN (Asian Television Network)
Canadian cricket fans will be able to watch the whole t20 world cup tournament live on ATN tv channel. ATN or Asian Television Network is a Canada based television network which currently operates 14 television channels in a number of South Asian languages. The network has broadcasting deals with many popular South Asian tv channels including Zee TV, STAR Plus, B4U, Sony Entertainment Television Asia etc. ATN, one of the 14 channels of the network, will telecast the tournament for the cricket fans in Canada. You can get the schedule and timing of the matches here.
SKY Network Television
SKY Network Television is one of the most popular pay tv channels in New Zealand. The channel will bring the twenty20 world cup 2009 matches live for New Zealand cricket fans. SKY Sport 1, one of the several channels of the network, will cover the tournament for the New Zealand cricket fans. However, people need to subscribe to enjoy the matches live on SKY Network Television for a certain amount. You can get the program schedule of SKY Network Television here.
Nine Network
This is another television channel in Australia which will also telecast the twenty20 matches live for Australian cricket fans. Nine Network or Channel Nine is a one of most popular free-to-air television channels in Australia. So, Australian cricket fans can watch the twenty20 world cup 2009 matches live for free.
Supersport (South Africa)
One of the most popular sports television channels in Africa, Supersport will bring all the 27 matches of twenty20 world cup 2009 live for the cricket fans across African countries including South Africa. Supersport has a number of television channels dedicated to several sports. To know the schedule of the tournament, you should visit the TV schedule page of supersport official website.
Arab Digital Distribution (ADD)
This is a satellite television service provider and its services are available through Middle East, North Africa and Europe. It has three major packages including Al Awael/ART (Premium Arabic Entertainment), Pehla (Premium Asian Entertainment) and Firstnet (Premium International Entertainment). ADD will telecast the twenty20 world cup 2009 matches live for the cricket fans across Middle East countries. Visit the official website of ADD to know more about the broadcasting of the tournament on this pay television service provider.
Sri Lanka Rupavahini (TV) Corporation
This is the national television network of Sri Lanka and. Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation will bring the twenty20 world cup matches live on two of its television channels: Nethra TV and Channel Eye. Nethra TV will show the matches live with Tamil commentary, while Channel Eye will telecast the matches live with English commentary. You can get the television schedule of the tournament here.
Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV)
PTV is the national television channel which provides television services on free-to-air basis. PTV will show all the matches of twenty20 world cup 2009 live for the Pakistani cricket fans. You can get the schedule of the tournament in PTV official website. As it is a terrestrial channel, people of Pakistan will have free access to the live matches of twenty20 world cup.
Humtum TV will telecast the twenty20 matches for the cricket fans currently residing in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. I know that these three countries do not have huge cricket fans, but still there are some South Asian cricket fans who are currently residing in these countries and they will be very happy to be able to watch the matches live on Humtum TV. However, the channel will provides you the services through internet. So, if you have to have an internet connection with good speed in order to watch the matches live on Humtum TV.
Eight teams have already ensured their progress to Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup 2009. The tournament, which kicked off on 5 June 2009, has already seen a number of upsets being taken place so far, no body knows what is still waiting for the cricket fans in the remainder of the tournament. The tournament started with an upset when Netherlands defeated England in the opening match of the tournament at Lord’s cricket ground. Later on, Australia got eliminated from the tournament, having defeated by West Indies and Australia. Bangladesh followed Australia’s footstep to get out of the tournament from the group stage, having lost to India and Ireland. The Irish victory over Bangladesh has been the latest of a series of upsets in the tournament.
The 12-team tournament now has 8 teams who will be competing for the four semi final spots in the Super Eight round. These 8 teams are: India, England, West Indies, South Africa, Ireland, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. The teams will be divided into two groups of 4 teams each and the two groups are: Group E and Group F.
Here, I think, it is noteworthy that the grouping of the teams is not based on their performance in the group stage. Rather, it is based on the seeding of the teams. Let me explain it briefly. Each of the four groups of preliminary stage includes two seeded teams alongside a non-seeded team. The seeding is based on the performance of the teams in the twenty20 world cup 2007. For example, India was the champion of inaugural twenty20 world cup, while Pakistan was the runners up, and thus, India becoming seeded no. 1 and Pakistan seeded no. 2. According to tournament rules, if any seeded team gets eliminated from the group stage, the non-seeded team will take up the seed of the eliminated team.
For example, Group A includes India (seeded 1), Bangladesh (seeded 2) and Ireland (non-seeded). However, Bangladesh got out of the tournament, and thus, Ireland becoming the 2 seeded team from Group A; no matter whether they finished first or second in the group.
Super Eight Group E
Group E includes A1, B2, C1 and D2. That means the group comprises of India (A1), England (B2), West Indies (C1) and South Africa (D2). The C1 was initially attached to Australia, but as Australia got out of the tournament, West Indies, the non-seeded team in Group C, took the seed of Australia.
Super Eight Group F
The group incorporates A2, B1, C2 and D1- meaning Group F includes Ireland (A2), Pakistan (B1), Sri Lanka (C2) and New Zealand (D1). A2 was the seeding of Bangladesh. However, Bangladesh got out of the tournament losing both the games, and thus, Ireland is given the A2 seed.
This system was applied in ICC World Cup 2007 in West Indies. The main objective of this system is to help the cricket fans who would like to go to stadium to see the matches of their favorite teams. In this system, the cricket fans do not face any problem of buying the match ticket of a particular day during Super Eight round because they know the match dates of their favorite teams beforehand. This system also allows fans to book their air tickets, make hotel reservation for particular period of time and fix many other things for enjoying the Super Eight matches of their favorite teams.
Each of the 8 teams of Super Eight round will play once against three other teams of their group. For example, India will play against all the other teams of Group E: England, South Africa and West Indies. Here, I am giving you the schedule of Super Eight round:
