It's Over! ICC 20/20 World Cup Tournament

The ICC 20/20 Cricket World Cup is all over for another year and it couldn't have ended any better than the two Finals matches played out at Kensington Oval Barbados on Sunday May 16th.

The first final, for the Mens trophy, took place between England and Australia. I think many people would be lying if they did not agree that Australia were the odds on favourites to win this one. But there was something about the determination of this England team that made them a force to be reckoned with and when they had taken three quick wickets before the first three overs were out the glimmer of hope shone even brighter. The Australians seemed unusually nervous, making some uncharacteristic errors running between the wickets.

The Australian team is never one to be underestimated and in true style they recovered their form with the Hussey brothers (David and Mike) along with Cameron White leading them to a respectable 147/6.

England had their uneasy moments but with the Australians being uncharacteristically erratic in the field soon stamped their domination on the match with Kieswater and Pieterson putting on a partnership of 111 runs, and England went on to win in fine style with three overs to spare.

It was the type of final that cricket fans enjoy and the fans at Kensington Oval who remained to see the final of the womens competition between Australia and New Zealand were treated to another fine sample.

Again the Australians were considered to be the favorites, but the New Zealand White Ferns had the Australian Northern Stars pinned down early and they could only manage 105 runs in their 20 overs.

However the Australian women showed their grit and determination in defending their total. They were sharp in the field and the bowling of Ellyse Perry in particular forced the Kiwis into the situation of having to score six runs from the last ball of the 20th over to win the match. They could only get one run and the Australian women were duly crowned the 2010 champions.

Two of the best catches in the whole tournament (mane and women) were taken in this final in each innings and by each of the Captains. The final ball of the Australian innings ended in a brilliant one handed catch by the New Zealand Captain

Day 2 ICC 20/20 Cricket World Cup

The games got on the way today in St. Lucia. First up was Afghanistan against India. It's the first appearance for Afghanistan in an international tournament of this stature and they have been well received both on the field of play and by the crowd. Their first match was against India. Batting first they showed courage in the face of the pace attack and did reasonably well to make 115 runs.

The pressure was really on India to make sure that they were not upstaged by the minows of cricket and they did so in fine style with captain Dhoni knocking home the winning runs in fine style.

Like the other associate teams that have been show cased in the past, (Ireland and Kenya in particular) Afghanistan shows promise as a future team to be reckoned with