Gayle, Pollard help West Indies crush Australia

West Indies 205 for 4 (Gayle 75*, Pollard 38) beat Australia 131 (Bailey 63, Rampaul 3-16) by 74 runs                       So lopsided was West Indies' obliteration of Australia in the second semi-final of the World Twenty20, the victors had near enough to 13 overs to bask in their looming progress to the final against Sri Lanka.

Matthew Wade's departure in the eighth over of Australia's reply to 205 for 4 left George Bailey's team at a forlorn 43 for 6, their campaign collapsing in a few fevered minutes. Bailey was left to offer his team's last gesture of defiance, a breathless 63 from 29 balls, but it served only to narrow the margin.

That they were chasing such a tall tally was down to Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard. Gayle was starved of the strike early and later battled an apparent muscle strain, but in between produced an innings of controlled aggression that helped foster a trio of partnerships with Pollard, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo. Pollard clumped three of four sixes to be brutalised from Xavier Doherty's final over of the innings, a sequence that broke Australian spirits.

This much was clear in the early overs of the chase, the only blow landed by any batsman other than Bailey were the verbal ones delivered by David Warner before the innings had even begun. Australia entered the tournament resolved to fight with Test match zeal for the T20 trophy, but they have ultimately exited the event at an earlier stage than Michael Clarke's team had done at the 2010 tournament in the Caribbean.

Darren Sammy's team have some concerns over Gayle's fitness, and will be a little perturbed to have lost focus momentarily during Bailey's rearguard, but will otherwise enter the final with the confidence earned from a thumping result. West Indies' bowlers showed plenty of wit and variation on a dry surface, Ravi Rampaul catching the eye by using the short ball to make Australia's belatedly included David Hussey look nobody's idea of a saviour.

Warner and Shane Watson - until a few days ago the prohibitive favourite to be the Player of the Tournament - were both winkled out by the flat leg spin of Samuel Badree. Warner's dismissal required video evidence to confirm that the stumps had been flicked after the batsman missed a cut shot, but there was no room for doubt about Watson's exit, losing his leg stump as he tried to pull a skidder. What followed would confirm the suspicion, maintained all tournament, that Australia's batting fell away beneath them.

Michael Hussey had performed a miracle to get Australia through their semi-final against Pakistan in 2010, but this time skied Samuels having made just 18. Cameron White glanced Rampaul into the gloves of Denesh Ramdin, and David Hussey's two deliveries in the tournament provided a reminder that his technique against the short ball is some way short of international standard, irrespective of a handsome record in all domestic formats.

Bailey's subsequent counter-attack seemed driven by frustration as much as anything, and may serve at least to shore up his place as a batsman in Australia's limited-overs plans for the future. But the final margin will stick uncomfortably in the gullet of Bailey and his entire squad, as their tournament ended with a disheartening whimper.

Such a scenario had seemed remote when West Indies made a sedate start on a fair surface. Gayle began carefully, wary of the new ball swing on offer for Mitchell Starc, and watched from the other end as Johnson Charles heaved without foot movement and edged behind.

The non-striker's end was the vantage point from which Gayle watched an inordinate amount of deliveries, as Australia's bowlers and fielders did their best to keep him away from the batting crease. His brief encounters with Doherty were satisfying enough, but Brad Hogg was a little more successful in keeping the runs down with his indecipherable googlies.

By the time 10 overs had elapsed Gayle had faced only 18 balls, while Samuels and Dwayne Bravo, chosen ahead of his brother Darren, took a greater share. Samuels managed a quartet of clean blows before being outsmarted by Pat Cummins and bowled by a slower ball. Bravo soaked up plenty of dot balls but summoned a six whenever he was becalmed.

Australian sloppiness also helped West Indies keep momentum. Wade missed a full toss to allow four byes, Starc swung one delivery down the legside for five wides, and both Hussey brothers allowed bouncing shots to burst through their hands on the boundary.

The innings still required a supercharge, and it arrived in the 15th over, delivered by Hussey. Gayle sent one delivery into the stratosphere, and pinched another two boundaries for the over to be worth 19. In the next, Bravo crunched a steepling six but perished to a flatter hit next ball, the partnership ending at 83 from 51 balls.

Pollard offered sound support in the closing overs as Gayle finally enjoyed a greater share of the strike, though he was by this time clearly hampered by an apparent abdominal strain. It mattered little in the final over, however, as Gayle slammed a full toss for six first ball then left Pollard to collar three more. Pollard's dismissal from the final ball of the innings was scant consolation for Doherty, and Bailey will wonder at length whether he might have handed the ball to someone else.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s Powerplay 16-20 NB/Wides West Indies 42 13 14 46/1 73/2 0/8 Australia 42 12 4 42/3 10/1(15.1-16.4) 0/2

Steady India thrash anxious Pakistan

India 129 for 2 (Kohli 78, Sehwag 29) beat Pakistan 128 (Malik 28, Balaji 3-22, Ashwin 2-16, Yuvraj 2-16) by eight wickets                                                                                                                                          India-Pakistan matches - never mind the tournament context - often tend to be a contest as much of nerves as of cricketing skills. Keeping in with recent times, where India have tended to come out the mentally stronger side, Pakistan's batsmen tried too hard and imploded to waste a dream start and post the lowest total of the Super Eights stage of this World Twenty20. Virat Kohli, who had scored 183 in his previous match against Pakistan, then steered the chase of 129 with his eighth fifty-plus score in his last 11 international innings.

This was a game where one of two jinxes would be broken. It was India, needing to win this to stay alive, who posted their first Super Eights win in World Twenty20s since 2007. Pakistan were still without a win over India in any World Cup match. Pakistan were every bit a team with a bogey attached to them. They tried flamboyance with the bat and failed, and didn't show heart to back up their talented bowling and attack. India, on the other hand, did the small things well after a nervous start, and were there to accept every opportunity that Pakistan presented.Anxious more than enthusiastic, Pakistan began with 26 runs and five boundaries in the first two overs, but regressed in the coming overs. Some of their batsmen just froze, including captain Mohammad Hafeez who scored 15 off 28, and they took 6.5 overs to score the next 26. Pakistan played 53 dot balls against bowling that was steady at best. Add to that two balls they didn't even make India bowl.

It might look like a canter looking at the scorecard, but the match had got off to an edgy start. India even looked a little meek and Pakistan tried to intimidate them. Zaheer Khan brought back memories of his first over in the 2003 World Cup final, bowling three wides in his first over here. One of them, nearly a regulation take for the keeper, found its way to the boundary. The first ball Imran Nazeer faced he smoked away to the cover-point boundary. The first ball he faced from the other end, he inside-edged Irfan Pathan for four, but the bowler came back with a trademark lbw in the same over.

In the second over, out came the six-or-nothing Shahid Afridi. It was a pair of Pathans opening for India against one of the more celebrated Pathan cricketers, who was full of intent. The first ball: whacked away to long-on, the fourth: thrashed through covers. Even against Zaheer, Afridi kept swinging at everything. MS Dhoni went to the surprise pick, L Balaji, in the fifth over. Balaji began with a slower bouncer that Afridi didn't pick, and then got him caught in the deep with the regulation bouncer in the same over.

If this was a pressure match, it showed the most on Pakistan captain Hafeez, playing his 100th consecutive international for Pakistan. He would have had a perfect day had he gone to a shooting range. Almost every shot he played went straight to a fielder. As the dot balls piled on, it seemed the perfect time to introduce Yuvraj Singh, whose fitness has recently been questioned.

Yuvraj had set the tone for the day early when he dived full length to save four runs off the first legitimate delivery of the match. Now he teased the Pakistan batsmen with his slow tossed-up non-turners. With pressure mounting thanks to Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed was the first to fall, trying to slog-sweep Yuvraj. Dhoni showed he had recovered from his earlier slip as he caught the underside edge cleanly. Kamran Akmal, too, edged Yuvraj in his next over, Dhoni again pouching the sharp chance. Yuvraj would fill in with a direct-hit run-out from point later.

Shoaib Malik continued his love of playing India, and added 47 with Umar Akmal, but that was the last bit of fight Pakistan put up. When the time came to step up, R Ashwin's three remaining overs came in handy, and he got them both caught at deep midwicket. The pressure of the dot balls earlier was too much.

All India's pre-match moves were working. The part-timers went for a combined 3 for 37 in their six overs, which justified playing only four bowlers. Balaji returned figures of 3 for 22. For a moment in the chase, though, it seemed it wasn't going to be all easy. Pakistan's new spinner Raza Hasan removed Gautam Gambhir for a duck, but they ran into a Kohli-sized brick wall.

Making his comeback, Virender Sehwag played a useful hand too, adding 74 for the second wicket, but it was his partner at the wicket who was the star of the show. It helped that it was Pakistan who were meek now. Attacking men were conspicuous in their absence, and when Kohli edged Afridi through the vacant slip in the ninth over, with the run rate still about a run a ball, the match had completely slipped out of Pakistan's hands.

Kohli remained calm even after Sehwag's fall, summing up India's calmness on the big night.

Watson carries Australia to victory again

Australia 147 for 2 (Watson 70) beat South Africa 146 for 5 (Peterson 32*, Doherty 3-20) by 8 wickets                  Shane watson has carried Australia in every match of this tournament and has now all but muscled them into the semi-finals with another outstanding all-round performance against South Africa. Watson picked up two wickets to help restrict South Africa and then crunched 70 from 47 balls to set up their successful chase of 147, as the Australians cruised to victory with 14 balls to spare.

The South Africans were lacklustre with the bat and sloppy in the field, and while the result has not yet knocked them out of the tournament, they will need other results to fall their way if they are to progress to the semi-finals. For that to happen, Pakistan would need to lose to both India and Australia, and South Africa would need to beat India and then hope their net run-rate was good enough to sneak them ahead of Pakistan and India.

By the same token, the win has not technically confirmed Australia's place in the semi-finals, but their very strong net run-rate meant that for them to miss out, not only would India need to beat both Pakistan and South Africa but Australia would also need a disaster in their last match against Pakistan. The way Watson is playing, such an outcome seems about as likely as Simon Taufel being drafted in to Australia's XI.For the fourth time from Australia's four games in this World T20, Watson was Man of the Match. He ended the game on top of the tournament run tally and wicket list. It didn't all go the way of the Australians early in their innings this time around. David Warner was kept quiet and then on 5 had his middle stump knocked back by Morne Morkel when he backed away and tried to release the pressure. Australia were 10 for 1 in the fourth over, and South Africa had a sniff.

But Watson batted precisely as he had to. He picked up the first boundary of the innings in the fifth over when he cut viciously for four off Jacques Kallis' first ball, and then plundered three boundaries off the next over from Morkel. Watson was away, and it didn't take long before he was really heaving, lifting Robin Peterson over midwicket for six and pulling Wayne Parnell for six to bring up his half-century.

By that stage, South Africa could not afford a single mistake, and they made one when Watson, on 52, skied Peterson and was put down by Parnell running in from long-off. Eventually Watson fell - caught by Parnell at long-off from the bowling of Peterson, oddly enough - but by then he had added another 18 runs and put Australia within sight of victory.

Michael Hussey kept the runs coming - a lofted six over wide long-on from the bowling of Parnell was especially impressive - and South Africa couldn't find a way to pick up the wickets they needed to slow Australia's run-rate. They could have had one when Hussey advanced to Peterson and the ball skidded through, but AB de Villiers fumbled what should have been a straightforward stumping.There were no more chances and Cameron White brought up the win with six over midwicket off Johan Botha. It was the fifth six of Australia's innings; South Africa had managed only two in their disappointing batting display. That they reached 146 for 5 was only through a late flurry from Peterson; they had threatened a much lower score earlier in the innings as the batsmen struggled to find the boundary.

The first six of the innings came in the third over when Hashim Amla drove Xavier Doherty over cover and the second - and last - six didn't arrive until the 19th over when Farhaan Behardien clubbed Pat Cummins over long on. But it was Behardien's partner Peterson who gave the Australians a slight scare, finding six boundaries during his 32 not out from 19 balls.

He was especially creative against Brad Hogg, reverse-sweeping and reverse-pulling for boundaries, and he even produced a reverse off-drive. In fairness, the way the South Africans had batted up until then reversing everything probably wasn't a bad ploy. Peterson also picked up three boundaries in the final over, including a lap over his shoulder and away to fine leg off Mitchell Starc as 28 runs came from the last two overs.

Behardien finished on 31 not out but he was surprisingly unwilling to go for big strokes, given South Africa still had five wickets in hand. Perhaps he was still being over-cautious after South Africa's poor start.

Australia's decision to include Doherty for his first match of the tournament at the expense of the allrounder Daniel Christian, and then to open the bowling with him, paid off immediately after George Bailey sent South Africa in. Richard Levi was bowled from the third ball of the game when he backed away and tried to force Doherty through the off side and the ball skidded through.

Doherty struck again in his second over when he tossed the ball up and found some turn off the pitch and Jacques Kallis (6) edged behind. Amla departed for 17 when he tried to hook Watson and gloved behind, and at 33 for 3 the South Africans were in trouble. JP Duminy and de Villiers steadied somewhat, though without really taking the bowlers on, as they chipped a few runs here and there.

But when Bailey brought Doherty back on for another spell he immediately broke the partnership. From the first ball of Doherty's third over, Duminy (30) advanced down the pitch and Doherty (3 for 20) sent the ball between his legs to allow an easy stumping from Matthew Wade. That was followed by the wicket of de Villiers, who drove to cover off Watson for 21, and again South Africa were in a spot of bother.

They were in much more trouble when Watson was batting. And South Africa left the field knowing that by the end of the day they could be knocked out of the tournament. For now, their fate was in the hands of Pakistan and India.

West Indies survive Morgan blast

West Indies 179 for 5 (Charles 84, Gayle 58) beat England 162 for 4 (Morgan 71*, Hales 68) by 15 runs           A century opening stand between Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles powered West Indies to their first win of the 2012 World Twenty20 with a 16-run victory against England in their opening Super Eights match. Their top-order batsmen setting a daunting total of 179 for 5 and their quartet of slow bowlers suffocated the England batsmen as they started their reply.

A remarkable fourth-wicket stand of 107 in 58 balls between Alex Hales, who scored 68 from 51 balls, andEoin Morgan, who made a brilliant, unbeaten 71 from 36 balls, gave England an outside chance of victory, but the pair were left too much to do by another lacklustre performance from their top-order colleagues.

This was England's second successive defeat following the 90-run thrashing India inflicted in their final group game and leaves their hopes of retaining the World T20 trophy hanging by a thread. England will probably need to win both their remaining Super Eights matches, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively, to progress to the semi-finals.

England were always behind in their run chase. Set a demading 180 to win - they have never chased more than 173 to win a T20I - they knew they required a good start. But, while they were expecting a challenge from the spinners, it was the seam of Ravi Rampaul that provided the killer punch.

After three balls of England's reply, Rampaul was on a hat-trick after Craig Kieswetter, attempting to pull a delivery too full for the shot, top-edged to point and Luke Wright, attempting to withdraw his bat from a short delivery, guided the ball off the bat face to slip. A double-wicket maiden never represents a good start for a batting side; when they are chasing nine an over it is likely to prove fatal.

Hales took legspinner Samuel Badree, in the side instead of the pace of Fidel Edwards, for consecutive boundaries - skipping down the pitch to drill a drive through mid-off before cutting the next ball for four when the bowler compensated - and cut Sunil Narine for another. But, at the end of their six Powerplay overs, England had scored just 29 for 2. West Indies, by comparison, had been 47 without loss. It was a gap that England could never completely close.

Hales pulled Darren Sammy for one six and then drove and pulled Samuels for a four followed by a six. But though Jonny Bairstow helped Hales add 55 in 9.3 overs for the third-wicket, Bairstow's struggles against the spin bowling - he made just 18 in 29 balls - put England even further behind the rate and left Morgan a vast amount of ground to make up.

West Indies' selection policy was certainly vindicated. Not only did Charles, the 23-year-old from St Lucia who has little obvious pedigree as an opening batsman, fully justify his position, but the control offered by the quartet of spin bowlers - Badree, Gayle and Narine, in particular - ensured that England were always behind the run-rate and, despite Morgan slogging a Gayle full toss for six over square leg, driving Narine for another and then top-edging another off Rampaul, West Indies always had breathing space.They produced some outstanding fielding, too. Andre Russell, catching the ball in the air over the midwicket boundary and throwing it back into play before he landed, limited Morgan to two when he must have thought he had a six and Sammy, having picked himself up having dived to parry a clip from Hales, raced after the ball and dived full length to turn a four into a three.

With three overs remaining, England required 46; with two remaining they required 39. Even though Morgan drove two sixes off Rampaul from the first four balls of the penultimate over, the last over, entrusted to Marlon Samuels, began with England still requiring 23 to win. Morgan drove the first delivery for four, but could manage only a single from the next two deliveries and, when Hales was stumped from the fourth ball, dragged wide as Hales advanced down the pitch, England's hopes were extinguished.

Earlier a career-best performance from Charles hastened West Indies towards their total. Charles, overcoming an uncertain start, scored 84 from 56 deliveries and shared in an opening stand of 103 in 11 overs with Gayle to allow West Indies to seize the initiative they never really relinquished.

While Steven Finn, bowling with sharp pace, produced a tight first over with Charles' first boundary coming when he top-edged an attempted pull over slip, Gayle was soon into his stride. Having patted back his first two deliverires from Jade Dernbach, he then crashed three fours from the rest of the over: two pulls and a fierce drive.

Gayle dealt with the pace of Finn comfortably, giving himself room to cut a short ball over point, and greeted the introduction of Stuart Broad, also bowling at a sharp pace and with good control, with a thick-edged over third man and then a flick over mid-wicket.

But it was Samit Patel's introduction for the eighth over that marked a sharp acceleration from West Indies. Patel's third delivery, something of a long-hop, was pulled over mid-on, the fifth was slog-swept over square leg and the final delivery, a quicker ball, was driven over mid-on as Gayle thrashed three sixes from the over.

Johnson followed suit in the following over from Graeme Swann. Having seized on to a poor ball down the leg side with a sweep for four, he followed it with two sixes over the long-on boundary to complete a period of five sixes in 10 balls for West Indies.

Gayle reached his 50 in just 29 deliveries and brought up the 100 stand from 63 balls with another six driven over extra cover. So when Finn, running in from long-off, put down a simple chance offered by Charles on 39 off Swann, it seemed there would be no respite for England. But it turned out to be a moment of fortune for England. The next delivery, Gayle mistimed a thump over long-on and, this time, Finn made no mistake with the catch.

Broad clawed back a little control with a wicket maiden in the 14th over when he had Samuels taken at point as he attempted to slash over the off side, but Charles, who reached his half-century from 36 balls, was back on strike for the next over and skipped down the wicket to drive Patel for another six then latched onto both Finn and Dernbach

Clearly showing the effects of weariness he then drove a full toss to mid-on to depart 16 short of a century. His work was done, though, and despite Morgan's heroics, West Indies were always just one step ahead.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s Powerplay 16-20 NB/Wides West Indies 50 20 7 47/0 51/3 0/1 England 41 11 7 29/2 54/1 0/4

Sri Lanka prevail in Super Over

New Zealand 174 for 6 (Nicol 58, Guptill 38) tied with Sri Lanka 174 for 6 (Dilshan 76, Jayawardene 44)
Sri Lanka won the Super Over                                                                                                                Tillakaratne Dilshan, who had scored 76 off 53 in regulation time, set himself under the ball at long-off, turning side ways to make sure he knew where the boundary cushions were - they were six inches from his toenails - and took the catch after the ball had passed his body and had almost entered the air space beyond the boundary. Had Dilshan missed that, this Martin Guptill hit off Lasith Malinga would have left New Zealand needing two off the last ball of the Super Over. The catch sealed Sri Lanka's win. Such were the margins of a freak match that was tied with a freak run-out off the last ball.

About 40 minutes ago, Sri Lanka were 143 for 3 after 16.3 overs, the same score that New Zealand had after 16.3. New Zealand would have been disappointed with the 31 they got after that, considering the start given to them by Rob Nicol, in association with Guptill and Brendon McCullum. With the ball, though, Southee and James Franklin pulled things back against the faltering hosts, who lost two batsmen to run-outs.Only 30 runs had come in 5.3 overs leading to that even point, which had put Sri Lanka under some pressure. Southee added to it with an over of yorkers to leave them needing 21 off the last two. Ross Taylor risked bowling Franklin, who had helped them win a similar chase recently against India. Dilshan slog-swept the first ball for a six. On the next ball, though, he took an ill-advised second and even a desperate dive couldn't save him.

Thisara Perera scooped Franklin for a four later in the over. At eight required from seven balls, Perera was one delivery from making Southee's last over irrelevant, but Franklin's slower ball arrived after he had finished his swing, and it had enough legs to tickle the bail out of its groove. Southee went back to bowling full and straight from round the stumps. Angelo Mathews took a single first ball, and it was time for Lahiru Thirimanne to test weak hearts.The first ball he faced, Thirimanne moved well across to the off side in an attempt to beat short fine leg. Southee stayed in the block hole, and Thirimanne managed just the single. Another yorker, another single for Mathews: five off three. Southee remained full, Thirmanne drove and was beaten. Advantage New Zealand.

Thirimanne now dug Sri Lanka out of a hole he had partly dug. Again he took the incredible risk of aiming over short fine leg, Southee missed his yorker by six inches, and Thirimanne got under it. Fists were pumped both in the middle and in the dugout as soon as the ball cleared the fielder. The best New Zealand could get now was a tie. Earlier in the afternoon, Nicol had hit debutant mystery bowler Akila Dananjaya smack on the face with a straight drive, but he and McCullum did not run off the ricochet. Would things have been different had they not been such sports?

That would have been the last thing on their minds when New Zealand pulled the field in to try to save that single. Southee surprised Thirimanne with a short ball, he bat-padded it to point, where Franklin kept a cool head and returned a gentle throw on a comfortable bounce to Taylor at the non-striker's end. Taylor fumbled the take. He missed a dolly. Sri Lanka began to celebrate, and a disappointed Taylor shook hands with the umpires, who - just to be sure - asked for the third umpire's help. The stumps had somehow been broken.

The replays showed the ball had hit Taylor's hand and bounced on to the stumps. In real time it seemed as though Taylor had broken the wicket without the ball in his hands. Technology surprised everyone, and the game went into the Super Over. Southee continued his good work in the tiebreaker, but two of his yorkers were wides. Even so, he had conceded just 10 off the first five balls, but Perera scooped the last delivery over short fine leg to register three crucial runs.

Malinga, who had an average tournament until then, decided this was a moment as good as any to make an impact. He hardly missed his length with the first four balls: two, one, two byes, one. Malinga then missed his yorker by about a foot, Guptill got under it, but this was Dilshan's night.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s PP 16-20 NB/Wides New Zealand 38 13 6 43-0 41-5 0/5 Sri Lanka 29 15 6 68-0 41-3 0/2

Nazir takes Pakistan to Super Eights with super chase

Pakistan 178 for 2 (Nazir 72, Hafeez 45, Jamshed 29*) beat Bangladesh 175 for 6 (Shakib 84, Tamim 24, Arafat 3-25) by eight wickets                                                                                                                      Pakistan's celebrated bowling unit's rare off day put a latch on it, but their batsmen smashed through the qualification door by chasing down 176 - their highest successful chase - with eight balls to spare.

To progress in the tournament, Bangladesh needed to not only post their first win over Pakistan in 13 years, but win by at least 36 runs. On a true pitch, Shakib Al Hasan posted the highest score by a Bangladesh batsman to facilitate their second-highest total, but Imran Nazir whacked his way to the fastest fifty in this World T20 to calm down any nerves there might have been after the effort in the field.

It was also a night that will be remembered for shoddy short bowling on a flat track and shoddier catching by both sides. Sohail Tanvir put down one of the simplest catches ever put down in international cricket, Kamran Akmal let through a regulation take, but it was the drop by Abul Hasan, brought in to replace Elias Sunny, that proved decisive in the end. Had he held on, Nazir would have been gone on 1 and Shafiul Islam would have got off to a confident start with a first-ball wicket. Nazir ended up with 72.

It didn't help that the chance had come off a short delivery, which encouraged them to keep bowling short, and Nazir, often good with the horizontal bat, took full toll. In his second over, Shafiul kept bowling short and was carter for four, four and six. Another short ball that went for five wides made it 20 off the over, and Pakistan had had a head start at 43 for 0 after four overs. Clearly they were not going for just the qualification. The win was on their mind.Mohammad Hafeez remained the calm man at other end, chipping and pushing runs as Nazir kept up his power hitting while getting at least one short ball every over. After Shakib put the brakes on with just four in the seventh over, Nazir stepped out of the crease to hit Abdur Razzak over mid-off to break the rhythm. That four took him to 42 off 18, and the fifty came when Shakib provided him with a long hop for six in the 10th over.

That even Shakib was making mistakes was sign enough. Relief arrived for Bangladesh when Nazir and Hafeez fell in one Hasan over, after which came a quiet five-run over, bringing the equation down to 45 needed off five overs. For the first time it seemed Pakistan might be conscious of that qualification mark - now nine runs away - but Nasir Jamshed quashed those thoughts with two of the finest shots, four through point and a flicked six over square leg, off the next two balls.

That was cue enough for Kamran to open up too, and the rest was just a stroll. Had you mentioned the word stroll in the first innings, though, Pakistan's coach Dav Whatmore would have given you a piece of his mind. For the most part, it was a stroll for Shakib, who capitalised on the brisk start provided by Mohammad Ashraful and Tamim Iqbal.

Shakib had the extra responsibility after playing a significant role in Tamim's run-out at 61 for 2 in the sixth over. He had himself raced away to 16 off 11 by then, took it easy for the next three overs, and then resumed the charge with two fours off Saeed Ajmal in the 10th over. When Tanvir dropped a dolly from Mushfiqur Rahim in the 13th over, Shakib had reached 42 off 30. He introduced a second wind to that innings now, hitting short deliveries from Yasir Arafat for four and six to bring up his fifty.

Another period of calm followed when Arafat and Shahid Afridi managed two wickets in five deliveries, but Kamran failed to make it three in eight when he dropped a sitter from Nasir Hossain. At 133 for 4 in the 16th over Shakib remained the main threat. He moved around the crease in the 18th over to pay with Umar Gul's length, scoping, flicking and cover-driving for fours. With 33 coming off the last three overs, Pakistan's travel agent might have had a look at Karachi fares, but Nazir put them back on their way to Colombo.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s Powerplay 16-20 overs NB/Wides Bangladesh 53 22 3 61-2 39-2 1/8 Pakistan 41 21 5 64-0 28-0 (18.4) 0/7

Rain pain for Ireland again

Ireland 129 for 6 (Gayle 2-21) v West Indies match abandoned                                                                   West Indies qualified for the Super Eights of the World T20 after rain prevented a second innings in their key Group B game against Ireland in Colombo. It meant Ireland exited on the back of a no-result for the second World T20 running, after they were denied the chance to beat England by the weather in Guyana in 2010.

With both teams having lost their first game in the tournament, this was a must-win encounter. But while Ireland will feel understandably aggrieved at the manner of their elimination, they will also reflect that they produced two under-par displays with the bat and that, had the rain that started to fall heavily straight after their innings stayed away, West Indies would have been strong favourites to overhaul a target of 130 in 19 overs. They qualified through virtue of a superior run-rate to Ireland.

The unsatisfactory manner of Ireland's exit will do nothing to improve the reputation of this event, though. Staging such a high-profile tournament during the monsoon season in Sri Lanka was always likely to prove a high-risk strategy and there was something almost inevitable about rain ruining one of the few games in the event so far where the result actually mattered. Tellingly, spectators once again stayed away from this game in their droves.

The result also underlined the importance of winning the toss in this World T20. With the limitations of the Duckworth-Lewis method becoming increasingly apparent in this format, the opportunity to bat second and benefit from D/L is an obvious advantage. Had the rain relented, West Indies could have been set a target of just 44 in five overs with all of their wickets intact.

Ireland will reflect, however, that they never really found much fluency with the bat. William Porterfield, for the second game in succession, was dismissed by the first ball of the match. Perhaps anticipating a repeat of the bouncer that he hooked down the throat of fine leg against Australia, Porterfield was this time beaten by a fine, inswinging yorker from Fidel Edwards.

Perhaps the rain that interrupted their innings after only five overs was also crucial. Before the delay, Ireland were well placed at 33 for 1, with Ed Joyce having guided his first ball to third man and inside edged another boundary later in the over and Paul Stirling looking increasingly fluent. While Ravi Rampaul's first over cost just two, Stirling top-edged a pull to the boundary off Edwards and then greeted Darren Sammy's introduction into the attack in the fifth over by giving himself a little room and crashing a pair of fours through the covers.

Sunil Narine came into the attack after a rain delay of about an hour, with the game reduced to 19 over per side. He soon showed the value of his spin bowling, beating Joyce's outside edge with his first two deliveries and then bowling him as the batsmen attempted a sweep with his third. At the end of the power-play, Ireland were 35 for 2.

Sammy dismissed Stirling, top-edging an attempted pull, in the seventh over, and almost has Gary Wilson in similar fashion later in the same over. On this occasion, however, Wilson gloved the ball over the keeper's head and capitalised by sweeping Narine for one boundary and cover driving Russell for another. The introduction of Chris Gayle accounted for Wilson, though, when he edged an arm-ball to the keeper to leave on 70 for 4 in the 12th over.

A partnership of 26 between Kevin and Niall O'Brien gave the Ireland innings some impetus. Niall pulled one six off Andre Russell, while Kevin drove another off Edwards, but when Gayle beat Niall O'Brien with a quicker ball and Kevin O'Brien, in moving across his stumps to glance, was bowled by a yorker, Ireland's last recognised batsmen had gone.

Narine, perhaps unsettled by Nigel Jones carting him for six over long-on, donated a free-hit to the Irish cause by over-stepping in the penultimate over and Trent Johnston thrashed one six over long-on off Gayle, but their total of 129 for 6 was still likely to prove some way short of par.

West Indies had made two changes to their side for the game. Russell came in for Dwayne Bravo, who had a groin strain, while Darren Bravo replaced Dwayne Smith.

Ireland were without Boyd Rankin. He had not recovered from the illness that has swept through the Irish camp in recent days, so Max Sorensen was drafted into the side in his place. It means that Rankin, who a few weeks ago announced his decision to retire from international cricket with Ireland in order to concentrate on playing Test cricket for England, has probably played his last match for the country of his birth.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s PP 16-19 NB/Wides Ireland 47 9 4 35/2 33/2 1/2 West Indies