Brendon McCullum ride on T20 ranked one

McCullum pummelled 123 off 58 balls vs Bangladesh

New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum and Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal have taken over as the leading batsman and bowler in the latest Reliance ICC Twenty20 Player Rankings.
The latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings that were released on Thursday incorporate the Pakistan-Australia, India-New Zealand and England-South Africa Twenty20 series that were forerunners to the ICC World Twenty20 2012, which begins on 18 September when host Sri Lanka takes on Zimbabwe in Hambantota.

McCullum's 55-ball 91 against India in Chennai helped move him to the top of the rankings table, while David Warner's 59 for Australia against Pakistan in the third and final match at Dubai, which included six sixes, has seen him leap six places up the rankings to fourth.
Yuvraj Singh re-entered the rankings after his comeback to action following his battle against cancer. He comes into the rankings in the 15th spot and marked his return with 34 against New Zealand in Chennai. The batsman losing the most ground was England's Eoin Morgan who has fallen from the number one spot to ninth, losing eight places.
 

Last week, Saeed Ajmal became the number one ranked bowler in Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, and his six wickets in the three-match series against Australia in Dubai has helped him to take the number one spot in the world in Twenty20 cricket - overtaking England's Graeme Swann, who picked up three wickets in the three-match series against South Africa.

Saeed's overall rating of 782 points is also a career best. Meanwhile, Shane Watson moved up eight places to seventh in the bowler' table with his highest ever rating of 650. Watson also holds the number-one rank in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders with his highest-ever rating of 475, achieved in the series against Pakistan.

Pakistan's Umar Gul has moved back into the top 20 in the bowlers' table with a four place rise to sit in 18th position.

Meanwhile, England heads into the ICC World Twenty20 2012 as the number-one ranked team on the Reliance ICC T20 Championship table. England leveled the three-match series against South Africa 1-1 with a win in the third and final match to reclaim the number one spot. South Africa, now second, however trails England by just one ratings point.
Pakistan's 2-1 series win over Australia has ensured that it retains its pre-series position of sixth, while George Bailey's team continues to be ninth in the rankings.India has slipped to seventh from fourth position after its loss to New Zealand in the only game possible in the two-match series, while Ross Taylor's side is now ranked fifth.

World cup T20: (INDIA vs AFGANISTAN) Spirited Afganistan defeted by India

They had nothing to lose, says Kohli

Sapoor Zardan (92/33)

India overcame a spirited Afghanistan side and came out victorious in their opening match of the T20 World Cup at the Premadasa in Colombo. Chasing India's 159, thanks to a splendid 50 by Kohli, the Afghans went down fighting by 23 runs but not before they gave India some heart-stopping moments along the way. 

Virat Kohli put Afghanistan’s spirited performance against India on Wednesday down to the fact that it had ‘nothing to lose’, but admitted that India had to pull up its bowling socks ahead of the tougher challenges at the ICC World Twenty20 2012.

India defeated Afghanistan by 23 runs in its Group A opener, with Kohli named the man of the match for his 39-ball 50. “It was a good wicket and they had nothing to lose,” he said. “That is also a big factor which isn’t discussed much. A team ranked lower has nothing to lose. It will bowl its heart out, have no doubts and second thoughts, no problems with the situation. In batting too, such teams come out playing their shots. If they come off, then it becomes a problem for the bowling side. These are factors too, but overall I feel we could have done better as far as the bowling unit is concerned. We could have won by a bigger margin.”

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field. India left out Harbhajan Singh and went in with their tried and trusted 7 batsmen and 4 bowler combination.

The wicket was true and had a bit of pace and bounce. The Afghanistan bowlers began well getting a bit of purchase from the wicket. The Zadran brothers, Shapoor and Dawlat were steaming in keeping the Indian openers on the backfoot. Gambhir's misery and poor form continued and he finally played on to a Shapoor delivery, poking outside the off-stump, for just 10. The tall left-armer soon struck a double blow and sent shivers down the Indian dressing room when he got rid of the dangerous Sehwag for 8. India were under pressure. Afghanistan's batting coach Umesh Patwal had said that they would love to be giant-killers. Kohli and Yuvraj took charge. They slowly but surely built the innings. Yuvraj showed everyone that he meant business when he slapped Shapoor Zardan for a six straight over his head. Virat Kohli then smacked Gulbodin Naib for the maximum - the ball crashing into the sightscreen.

The pair added 46 runs for the 3rd wicket in just 36 balls before Karim Sadiq got Yuvraj caught at backward point. Afghanistan were maintaining the pressure. Suresh Raina was dropped on 2 by Nabi - an easy caught and bowled! Kohli decided to take the initiative and danced down the track to Karim Sadiq. Sami at deep mid-wicket dropped a relatively simple chance and pushed the ball across the line for a six. Raina and Kohli made the most of the reprieves. They went after the bowling and kept getting the regular boundaries. Their cause was aided by the poor Afghanistan catching. Virat Kohli reached yet another half-century in international cricket - his fifty came off 38 balls. The Afghanistan fielders finally held onto a catch - Nabi took a skier off Kohli off the bowling of Dawlat Zardan to end a fantastic innings. Raina and Dhoni added a quickfire 34 off 22 balls. The southpaw fell in the final over for a well made 38 off 33 balls. Dhoni hit a six of the last ball to end the innings with a flourish. India ended at 159 for 5 after 20 overs.

Afghanistan made their intentions clear. Mohammad Shahzad went after Zaheer Khan. He tried to hit the first ball out of the park, but only managed a couple over wide long-off.

The openers were going after everything. They wanted to strike the Indians early and they wanted to strike them hard. Shahzad, then, as promised, did a 'Dhoni Helicopter'. He whipped Zaheer Khan over mid wicket for a boundary. Afghanistan meant business but Shahzad was taking a risk too many. Balaji was introduced into the attack and he struck in his first over getting rid of the erratic Shahzad, chancing his arm on one too many an occasion. The captain Nawroz Mangal took the initiative and swept Balaji for a towering six over mid wicket off the last ball of the powerplay. Afghanistan had moved to 52 for 1 after 7 overs and Dhoni was a worried man. He had introduced Rohit Sharma before Ashwin, preserving his leading spinner for the middle-overs. He brought in Yuvraj Singh from the other end and the comeback man struck in his first over - getting one to dart in and striking the Afghanistan captain on the pads. At the half-way mark, Afghanistan had moved to 69 for 2 requiring another 91 from the remaining 10 overs. The situation got to Karim Sadiq and he held out to Gambhir at deep square leg to give Yuvraj his 2nd wicket. His comeback got even better as he got Stanikzai caught by Dhoni off the next ball - two in two for Yuvraj!

Ashwin got rid of Shenwari in the next over and the Afghanistan house was falling like a pack of cards. In the last 5 overs, they had scored 24 runs and lost 3 wickets. Shafiqullah and Nabi added a quickfire 24 before Pathan got the former lbw. Nabi was not going to bow down though - at least not without a fight. He hit Zaheer Khan for a blistering six over extra cover. He had raced to 29 off 14 deliveries. Zaheer went for 16 in the 16th over. Afghanistan required 44 off the last 4. Mohammad Nabi finally held out to Sharma at the long-on boundary and that put an end to Afghanistan's hopes of a miraculous victory. He had made a splendid 31 off 17 deliveries. The Afghanistan innings finally folded up at 136 in 19.3 overs with Balaji picking up 2 wickets in 2 balls. India won by 23 runs but credit must be given to the Afghans for their spirit and the fight they showed. India was given a few scares. Balaji and Yuvraj picked up 3 wickets each. However, Ashwin was the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 2 for 20 off his 4 overs. Virat Kohli was adjudged the man of the match for his fantastic half-century with 4 fours and 2 sixes. He displayed a wide array of shots and looked confident and a man possessed at the crease. The Indians will have to sort out their opening issues though, with both Gambhir and Sehwag not getting the starts they once produced on a canter. The bowling needs some firepower as even the strong Indian batting line-up won't be able to produce a score in excess of 180 each time they go out to bat. Afghanistan take on England on the 21st while India play them on the 23rd. 

India vs Afghanistan, 3rd Match, Group A, Colombo

Afghanistan: 136-all out (19.3 Ovs)

India: 159/5 (20.0 Ovs)

India won by 23 runs

 

ICC World T20 2012

R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka

September 19, 2012

Afghanistan won the toss, and elected to field

MOM: Virat Kohli 50(39 balls)