Saturday, 22 September 2007

And so, after the cut and thrust of the last ten days, a tournament that began with 12 teams has been whittled down to four. The ICC Twenty20 World Cup reaches the semi-final stage today with1st Semi Final: New Zealand v Pakistan at Cape Town.

This is a clash of Pakistan flair versus Kiwi functionality. Although New Zealand have again more than held their own, they owe their passage to the semi-finals to India, whose 37-run win against South Africa dumped the home side out on net run-rate and allowed Daniel Vettori's side to sneak in.

Pakistan has reached the last four despite a stuttering display against Bangladesh, playing their typically aggressive cricket under the new coach, Geoff Lawson. Now Saturday's matches offer various mouth-watering permutations for the final: a Trans-Tasman clash, a replay of the 1999 World Cup final or, the ultimate match-up, an India-Pakistan showdown.

Meanwhile the 2nd Semi Final Australia v India at Durban is also to be head today.

India, riding high after two top-class performances against England and South Africa, take on Australia, world champions in all forms of the game, but showing unusual signs of susceptibility in the Twenty20 format.

Australia's ten-wicket thrashing of Sri Lanka in a virtual quarter-final on Thursday indicated, though, that they are peaking in time for the big games, a trait the Australians have almost perfected. They'll miss the presence of Ricky Ponting, while Shane Watson has flown home after hurting his hamstring again, but there is firepower in their ranks to make light of those absences.

The advantage for the Indians is familiarity with the conditions. They have played three times under the Kingsmead lights - twice over the last three days - and will know, to a large extent, what to expect from the pitch and the conditions. Australia, on the other hand, has never played in Durban during this tournament, and only one of their five games has been a 6pm start.

Final match for the coveted trophy will be held at Johannesburg on Sep 24, 2007