Aussies crush English by 9 wkts, moves into CT 2009 final

CENTURION: Australia cricket team has defeated England convincingly by 9 wickets with 49 balls to spare in the first semi-final of ICC Champions Trophy, thus qualifying for the final to be played on Monday with the winning team of today’s semi-final which is between Pakistan and New Zealand cricket team at Wanderers park.

MAN OF THE MATCH: SHANE WATSON

Toss or pitch, which will be more crucial in the outcome of match against Kiwis?

As Pakistan prepare to make their first ever Champions Trophy final, captain Younis Khan admitted the toss would go on to play an important role in the outcome of the match against New Zealand on Saturday (tomorrow).

The Wanderers pitch has proved to be a nightmare for teams batting first. "I think if the wicket plays the way it has been behaving so far, the toss could play an important role in the outcome of the semi, said Younis. It all depends on who wins the toss and what type of pitch we get for the match. The pitch provides assistance to bowlers and even facing the part-timers becomes all the more difficult," Younis said. "So it all depends on luck. Whichever team wins the toss would turn out favourite to win the semis. However, we are adamant not to leave everything to luck. We would fight to the end even if we lose on the spin of the coin," he said. He reiterated that his team is here to win the Trophy and would not be content with anything short of title. "We are just two wins away from winning the event and as such every player is fully geared up to perform to his best."

Victory against Australia in the last pool match would have given Pakistan top spot in Pool A and a chance of playing in the first semi against England at Centurion. On the contrary, it is Australia that would go on to play in the first semi. "There is very little difference in the strengths of all the four teams. In spite of resting some players, we were almost there against Australia in the last match. I think any team can beat the other in the semis and the one that holds on to their nerves better is expected to go ahead."

On the other hand, Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam was optimistic about the behaviour of the pitch prepared for their semifinal against New Zealand, saying it would be a good track. The organisers have decided to prepare the same track for the semifinal clash at Wanderers that had been used during the match between India and West Indies on Wednesday.

"The semifinals will be played on the same pitch that was used for the match between West Indies and India. The track is void of grass and would be a sporting one provided the sky stays clear and weather remains bright." "I think it would be much better surface than on what we have witnessed during the last week. Those pitches, where we saw teams scoring less than 150, were a bit wet. Now when there is enough time for the curators to roll the surface, it would be a much improved surface."

Regarding New Zealand's strength, he said they had a balanced side. "They have got some good batsmen up front and it is their fast bowling that could be considered as their strongest point. They have got all the ingredients to give a tough time to Pakistan." Intikhab called on the Pakistan supporters to storm the Wanderers on Saturday as their presence would be of great help for the players.

Bresnan, Wright save England from collapse

CENTURION: England made remarkable recovery from 101-6 to 257 all out, thanks to a marvelous seventh wicket partnership between Luke Wright and Tim Bresnan, against Australia in the first semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy here at the Super Sport Park on Friday.

Bresnan, playing his first match in the tournament, made 80 from 76 balls with eleven fours while Wright scored 48 with two fours and two sixes. Both added 107 runs for the seventh wicket which enabled England to give Australia a fighting target of 258.

Paul Collingwood also played an impressive innings, striking five fours and a six in a brisk 34 before being caught behind by Paine off the bowling of Mitchell Johnson.

For Australia, Peter Siddle claimed three wickets for 55 while Shane Watson and Brett Lee grabbed two each and Mitchell Johnson took one wicket.

Earlier, England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat.

England, rebounding from a 6-1 series loss at home to Australia last month, made three changes to their team.

Fast bowler Stuart Broad has a sprained buttock and his place has been taken by Tim Bresnan.

England have chosen a specialist wicketkeeper in Steve Davies, making his one-day international debut, with Eoin Morgan returning to the outfield after standing in for the injured Matt Prior in their two previous matches.

Batsman Ravi Bopara has been dropped, along with left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom, who has been replaced by Graham Onions.

Australia, who are unbeaten in the competition, named an unchanged starting eleven.

Teams
England - Andrew Strauss, Joe Denly, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Steve Davies, Luke Wright, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Graham Onions.
Australia - Shane Watson, Tim Paine, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Cameron White, Callum Ferguson, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle.

6th ICC Awards ceremony tonight

JOHANNESBURG: The sixth LG ICC Awards 2009 will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. The function will start at 10:30 pm (PST) while the guests will start arriving at 09:30 pm (PST).

India's good form over the past year will be recognised on Thursday night at the ICC awards ceremony. Four Indians have been nominated for cricket's top honour.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and opener Gautam Gambhir have got twin nominations, while Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag have been shortlisted for the ODI Player of the Year category of the annual awards.

Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan have been nominated for three International Cricket Council (ICC) awards. Dilshan has also been nominated for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year Award.

Based on the period between August 13, 2008 and August, 24, 2009, the LG ICC Awards 2009 presented in association with FICA take into account performances by players and officials.

That period includes such high-profile events as the ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England, the ICC Women's World Cup 2009 in Australia and the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009 in South Africa, as well as several bilateral Test and ODI series.

The nominations were made by a five-member selection panel headed by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd.

The panel also included former cricketers Anil Kumble of India, Mudassar Nazar of Pakistan, Bob Taylor of England and New Zealand's Stephen Fleming.

The previous LG ICC Awards ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007) and Dubai (2008).

Australia to clash with England Friday in CT semi-final

CENTURION: Australia will take on England in the first semi-final of ICC Champions Trophy to be played here on Friday.

Australia clinched top spot in Group A with a last-ball two-wicket win over Pakistan.

Australia and England will face each other for the first time in the Champions Trophy event.

The match will be played at 6:00 PM (Pakistan Standard Time).

The match toss will be of key significance between the two teams.

Forecast of rain has been made during tomorrow’s critical match.

Pakistan Through to Semi final after beating India

Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf shared a record fourth-wicket stand to help Pakistan beat India by 54 runs on Saturday to reach the Champions Trophy semi-finals. Pakistan compiled 302 for nine after winning the toss and batting before restricting their archrivals to 248 all out.

The victory led Pakistan to the top of Group A with four points from two matches ahead of Australia on two. India and West Indies have no points.

Shoaib (128) and Yousuf (87) put on 206 in 193 balls, the biggest stand for any wicket in the Champions Trophy and a fourth-wicket record for Pakistan. The previous record in the competition was 192 for the first wicket, shared by Indians Virender Sehwag and Saurav Ganguly against England in Colombo in 2002 and Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds for West Indies against Bangladesh in Southampton in 2004. Pakistan's previous best for the fourth wicket was an unbroken stand of 198 between Kamran Akmal and Misbah ul-Haq against Australia in Abu Dhabi earlier this year.

Shoaib cracked 128 in 126 deliveries, with 16 fours, to record his seventh ODI century. The 27-year-old really hit form in the latter stages of his innings, needing just 27 deliveries for his second 50. Yousuf's 87 featured seven fours in a classy display of wristy stroke making.

Left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra struck twice with the new ball for India and finished with four for 55. However he had little support, with only Ishant Sharma pegging back the Pakistan batsmen with two for 39. Rahul Dravid top-scored for India with 76 before being runout in the 42nd over, Umar Gul's fine throw from the cover boundary beating him after Harbhajan Singh had called for a third run.
India were given a powerful start by Gautam Gambhir, who lashed 57 off 46 balls, while Suresh Raina added 46 in 41deliveries.

Pakistan, though, eventually cruised to victory after claiming the last five wickets for 43 runs. Naved ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal all picked up two wickets. Seventeen-year-old fast bowler Mohammad Aamer also grabbed two for 46 including Sachin Tendulkar for eight.