Live Updates: West Indies post 129-5 against brilliant Sri Lanka

20th over: West Indies 129 for 5 Angelo Mathews to bowl the last over. Russell is off the strike off the first ball and Samuels departs off the next. Pulls it really hard but finds Dilshan who runs from long-on towards his right to take a stunner on the boundary. 7 off the over.

19th over: West Indies 122 for 4 Malinga continues. Fifty for Samuels. His fourth T20 fifty. It came off 34 balls. Meanwhile, Malinga has bowled an excellent over, just two off the first five balls. Let's see what happens off the last. Russell gets a single. Just three off the over.

18th over: West Indies 119 for 4 Kulasekara returns and Andre Russell launches him into the stands at long-on. Sheer power. Now Marlon Samuels gets in on the act. Hits it straight back over the bowler's head. Another demonstration of power. It travelled 102 metres, the biggest so far in this tournament. The previous best was Shane Watson's 98 metres. Gets a four. Muscles it past the covers. Another four. Hits it straight back. Sheer power-hitting. 21 off the over. Just the over West Indies needed.

17th over: West Indies 98 for 4 Malinga returns. Five singles and a double. Tight over. The Windies need some big shots to get up a decent score against the hosts. Remember, the average first innings total here is 173.

16th over: West Indies 91 for 4 Now Ajantha Mendis comes on to bowl and he gets rid of the woefully out-of-form Kieron Pollard. The big batsman fails to read the line of the ball and gets cleaned up. Great stuff by the Sri Lankan mystery spinner. Andre Russell is the new batsman in. Just one run in the over with a wicket.

Pollard b BAW Mendis 1 (6)

15th over: West Indies 90 for 3 Jeevan Mendis comes back on and gets rid of Dwayne Bravo. The ball is a bit short and Bravo bludgeons it but finds Tillakaratne Dilshan at long-on. Pollard up next. Meanwhile, Samuels gets a six over mid-wicket. It's 93 metres.

Bravo c Dilshan b BMAJ Mendis 40 (34)

14th over: West Indies 80 for 2 Angelo Mathews returns. The lowest defended total at Pallekele is 155. To get there both these batsmen have got to up the ante. Bravo is listening to me, I guess. Gets a four off the fifth ball. Nicely timed shot that goes past point in a flash. Two off the last. This is the highest third wicket stand for the Windies in this tournament. 64 runs.

13th over: West Indies 71 for 2 Lasith Malinga returns and Samuels takes a four off the second, just guides it past the wicketkeeper Sangakkara. With that comes up a fifty-run partnership. This is the highest 3rd wicket partnership in the Sri Lanka-West Indies T20s. Eight runs come off the over.

12th over: West Indies 63 for 2 Now Ajantha Mendis. Samuels is having a hard time against him but that's not the case with Bravo, who hit a big six. It was a long hop and Bravo was onto it in a flash. A sight to sore eyes.

11th over: West Indies 55 for 2 Jeevan Mendis comes on. Bowls a tight over. Just two off it.

10th over: West Indies 53 for 2 Herath continues. Bravo goes inside out for a big six over the covers. What timing. That was 200th six for the team in T20s. The average first innings total at Pallekele is 173. WI need to up the ante to get there from here. 11 runs off the over.

9th over: West Indies 42 for 2 Mendis replaces Mathews. Samuels picks up a two off the fist. Both batsmen are having a hard time against the mystery spinner. He is the leading wicket-taker in this tournament with eight scalps. The end of another good over. Just four off it.

8th over: West Indies 38 for 2 Rangana Herath comes into bowl. He is Dananjaya's replacement for this match. Bravo fetches another boundary, off the third ball. It's a half-volley and the allrounder is onto it in a flash. It races to the boundary in the blink of an eye. Three dot balls finish the over.

7th over: West Indies 33 for 2 Angelo Mathews comes on to bowl. Marlon Samuels spring into action with a four off the second ball. The edge off his bat goes past wicketkeeper Sangakkara. Mahela now brings a slip in. Now Bravo gets in on the act. His four is more convincing. The ball is a bit full and wide. He makes the most of it, the fielders at the covers could do nothing. Good over for the Caribbean team. 13 off it.

6th over: West Indies 20 for 2 Gayle also goes. The Kulasekara delivery is too wide for a cut but Gayle still goes for it. Pays the penalty as Kumar Sangakkara takes an easy catch behind the wickets. A big blow to the Caribbean team. Dwayne Bravo comes in and opens his account with a four off the first ball he plays.

Gayle c †Sangakkara b Kulasekara 2 (9)

5th over: West Indies 16 for 1 Ajantha Mendis comes into bowl. He took six wickets against Zimbabwe in a group match. He is a dangerous man. A huge appeal against Johnson Charles off the second ball. It pitched a bit outside the offstump. Johnson out!

Charles st †Sangakkara b BAW Mendis 12 (21)

4th over: West Indies 14 for 0 Kulasekara continues. Another good over. Just two off it.

3rd over: West Indies 12 for 0 Here comes Lasith Malinga and gets treated with a four by Johnson Charles. The ball was way down the leg side and all Charles had to was just flick off his pads. Another four off the fourth ball. Charles again. Hits it straight back, a short arm jab. Eight off the over.

2nd over: West Indies 4 for 0 Nuwan Kulasekara to bowl. Accuracy is his middle name and that stands him in good stead. Great over. Just one over. Superb stuff. It's not easy to do that against the likes of Gayle and Charles.

1st over: West Indies 3 for 0 Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles walk out to the middle. Both batsmen are in form. Charles scored 84 in the last match against Engalnd, while Gayle chipped in with 58. Angelo Mathews begins the proceedings for Sri Lanka. Tight over. Concedes just three.

7.OO pm: West Indies win the toss, will bat first. Darren Sammy says Fidel Edwards returns and Samuel Badree goes out, while for Sri Lanka young injured offspinner Akila Dananjaya misses out and Rangana Herath comes in. Here are the teams.

West Indies: Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy(c), Andre Russell, Denesh Ramdin(w), Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Fidel Edwards

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene(c), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara(w), Jeevan Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis

6.45 pm: Hello and welcome to the World T20 Super 8 tie between Sri Lanka and West Indies at Pallekele. West Indies and Sri Lanka both won their first matches in Group 1, against England and New Zealand respectively. A victory today for either team will push their case for a semifinal berth not a little. Stay tuned, we'll soon be back with the toss.

World T20: Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle down England

Pallekele: A brilliant allround performance by Chris Gayle led West Indies to a 15-run win over defending champion England in the Super Eights of the World Twenty20 on Thursday.

Gayle smashed 58 off 35 balls and featured in a century stand with Johnson Charles, who made 84 off 56 deliveries in a West Indies total of 179 for 5.

West Indies' four-pronged spin attack then exposed England top order's vulnerability to spinners on subcontinent wickets, restricting the reply to 164 for 4. Eoin Morgan hit an unbeaten 71 off 36 balls and Alex Hales scored 68.

Gayle bowled an impressive spell of four overs for 27 and took the wicket of Jonny Bairstow.

Ravi Rampaul had earlier derailed the run chase with two wickets off successive balls with England yet to score.

World T20: Super Eights means serious cricket

With Pakistan having thrashed Bangladesh in their last encounter in the ICC World Twenty20 group stage, the tournament takes proper shape as the best teams line up for the Super Eights. Many, in fact, will tell you that the tournament begins on Thursday when Sri Lanka play New Zealand.

After nine lukewarm days of cricket, fans of Twenty20 cricket are in line for some mouth-watering cricket now that Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Ireland and Bangladesh have been ousted from the World Twenty20. Four groups have been narrowed down two: West Indies, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and defending champions make up the first and in the next are India, Pakistan, Australia and South Africa. That second one is a very tight one, with India up against arguably the best three sides in the tournament.

Let’s have a look at the two groups. 

Group 1: West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, England

West Indies and Sri Lanka will start off as favourites for the semi-finals but England and New Zealand will definitely give them a tough fight. West Indies have yet to win a game – they progressed due to a rain-hit match against Ireland – but are being seen as contenders for the title due to the presence of Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, skipper Darren Sammy, Fidel Edwards and Sunil Narine.

At home, Sri Lanka remain a formidable side. Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara lend solidity and plenty of experience to the batting, and in Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis and Nuwan Kulasekara the hosts have three match-winning bowlers. Add in allrounders such as Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera, and Sri Lanka stand to pose a threat to all opposing teams.

New Zealand are highly dependent on Brendon McCullum, who is the leading run-scorer in Twenty20 internationals and the only batsman to score two centuries in the format, one of them being the fastest ever. After McCullum, the main man is captain Ross Taylor who can be equally destructive on his day. After that, the batting line-up is weighed down by inexperience and inconsistency. With the ball, the biggest asset is Daniel Vettori. Kyle Mills and Tim Southee are the leading fast men, followed by the allrounders Jacob Oram and James Franklin. Not a very strong team, but a capable one.

Defending champions England are not looking as strong as they were last time around. The

absence of Kevin Pirtersen and Paul Collingwood has weakened the batting, and as displayed in their 90-run thrashing by India the younger crop of batsmen have plenty of issues against spin. Their bowling, however, is one of the best in the tournament.

Group 2: India, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa

South Africa look the strongest in this group owing to an amazingly balanced side. In both the main departments they have a number of match-winners. With Richard Levi and Hashim Amla opening the innings you can always expect a blistering start and in Jacques Kallis at No. 3 South Africa have a batsman capable of holding an innings together. AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis and Albie Morkel after that makes for a very formidable batting order. Leading the bowling attack is Dale Steyn, ranked No. 1, followed by Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Robin Peterson, Albie Morkel and Kallis. Definitely the team to beat.

India are highly dependent on their batting since the bowling is a area of concern, regardless of the way Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla had England in a spin. The lack of form of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir at the top is causing India trouble, and leaving too much on Virat Kohli’s shoulders. Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni are all Twenty20 match-winners, but their efforts must be backed up by good bowling. Zaheer Khan is finding it tough to get his rhythm correct, Irfan Pathan is too inconsistent and L Balaji is making a comeback so that leaves Dhoni to rely on R Ashwin – especially at the death. Whether India go in with five bowlers against Australia is a matter of huge interest at the moment.

That leaves Australia and Pakistan, both of whom have an edge over India in the bowling. For Pakistan, spin is the strength with Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul carrying the attack. Umar Gul adds control and Sohail Tanvir unpredictability, but currently the fast-bowling is pair is a bit off-key. Australia have a pace battery comprising Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Shane Watson and Daniel Christian which has contributed to victory in two matches. The concern is in the spin department, where a 41-year-old Brad Hogg and a rookie in Glenn Maxwell have to do anything of note.

The Super Eights stand to offer much more action than the group stage, so fans can sit back and enjoy the action at last.

ICC WT20 LIVE: PAK vs BAN

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan in the final group stage match ICC World Twenty20 in Pallekele on Tuesday. Catch it LIVE!

Pitch: Great grass coverage on this strip but good amout of moisture in it. Side winning the toss will be tempted to bowl first, says Simon Doull.
Teams
Bangladesh
Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Ashraful, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (c & wk), Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Abul Hasan, Ziaur Rahman, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam
Pakistan
Mohammad Hafeez (c), Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal (wk), Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal
Brief preview
Shoaib Malik said Bangladesh have some dangerous players in the side so Pakistan will not take the neighbours lightly in their next group engagement in the ICC World Twenty20.

Pakistan have beaten New Zealand and need a victory to qualify for the Super Eights stage.

"We are not even taking Bangladesh lightly for Tuesday's match as they are a much improved side and have some dangerous players," Malik said ahead of the Group D match.

Malik said in the Twenty20 format results change in four to five overs and any team was capable of causing an upset.

"In this tournament I feel even 50 to 60 runs are hard to defend in the final four to five overs - the standards of competition are high," he said.

Malik, who captained Pakistan between 2007 and 2009, said he was enjoying his comeback to the national team.

"I am playing well and hitting the ball well so I am pretty confident of doing well in the Super Eights which will pit the strongest teams against each other," he said.

He pointed out that Pakistan's bowling was their main strength as it had lot of variety and options.

"Saeed Ajmal has been bowling outstandingly well and he is someone who every team is looking at closely."

2nd T20: India lose to New Zealand by 1 run

Chennai: India lost to New Zealand by one run in the second and final Twenty20 International at the MA. Chidambaram Stadium here Tuesday.

India, needing 13 off the last over, ended at 166 for four in 20 overs against New Zealand's 167 for five.

Virat Kohli made an outstanding 70 while Yuvraj Singh scored 34 off 26 balls in his comeback match.

Earlier put into bat, New Zealand made an imposing 167 for five. Brendon McCullum blasted 91 runs off 55 balls while Kane Williamson (28), Jacob Oram (18 not out) and Ross Taylor (25 not out) made valuable contributions to the Kiwi total.

Irfan Pathan was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking three wickets for 31 runs in four overs.

Dhoni's decision to bowl raised eyebrows in Kiwi camp

New Zealand all-rounder James Franklin feels Mahendra Singh Dhoni erred in his decision after winning the toss, and said the entire Kiwi outfit was surprised when the Indian skipper decided to bowl first in the second Twenty20 game at a relatively slow Chepauk pitch.

"Honestly, India's decision to field raised a few eyebrows in our camp. Having had the experience of playing IPL here, we always knew it was a win the toss and bat first pitch," Franklin said after stealing a one-win win at the M Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk on Tuesday.

Sent into bat, New Zealand rode on Brendon McCullum's blistering 91 to post a competitive 167 for five on the board and then restricted India to 166 for four.

India, however, looked at ease till Virat Kohli's (70) dismissal, but their chase fell apart when comeback man Yuvraj Singh (34) departed in the final over. Even though Dhoni remained unbeaten on 22, it was not enough to see the Men in Blue home.

"Our plan after Virat's dismissal was to not let the new batsman settle in and get the required run-rate up and try to induce mistakes from them," Franklin said.

"Dhoni is a big hitter, but the ball was gripping and stopping a bit on the batsmen. It was about bowling cleverly."

Franklin also feels that Tuesday's narrow win over India will act as a morale booster for the Kiwis ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup to be played in Sri Lanka from September 18 to October 7.

"It has been a tough tour for us. We did badly in the Tests, but this (win) is definitely something we'll celebrate. It is good to end on a winning note ahead of the (T20) World Cup where we are heading from here," he told reporters at the post-match press conference.

"We've certainly got a tough challenge in Sri Lanka, especially since we're grouped with two sub-continent sides.

"But, we've to focus on our game and get better at what we've been doing and back ourselves to come good," added Franklin, who starred with the ball for the visitors in yesterday's game with figures of two for 26, which includes the crucial wickets of Kohli and Yuvraj.

New Zealand have been placed in a tough Group D in the T20 World Cup along side former champions Pakistan and unpredictable Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka aim to ditch choker tag in World Twenty20

Sri Lanka, beaten in three ICC limited overs finals since triumphing in the 1996 World Cup and 2002 Champions Trophy they hosted, hope being back on home soil will help them avoid the chokers tag in the World Twenty20 starting on Tuesday.

Mahela Jayawardene's side play the opening match of the tournament against Zimbabwe in Hambantota aiming to go one better than in the 2009 edition and the last two 50-over World Cups.

"The people will back us and I've told the boys to try and enjoy the occasion. It's great to have a World Cup playing in your home territory," Jayawardene told reporters.

"If we enjoy the atmosphere we'll express ourselves much better out there."

The hosts are among a raft of teams who could easily win the tournament, which concludes on October7 in Colombo.

Holders England beat Australia by nine runs in a warmup on Monday while South Africa defeated New Zealand by the same score and Pakistan hammered India by five wickets.

Sri Lanka's buildup has been mixed, beating West Indies but losing to India.

"A lot of people have asked us why we have choked in the finals (in recent years)," added Jayawardene.

"I'd rather be in that situation than get knocked out in the first or second round. It means we are doing something pretty good in big tournaments and we are handling pressure pretty well and getting to those situations where we can win tournaments."

The captain dispelled any fears about an uneven wicket for the Group C opener against minnows Zimbabwe.

"The wicket looks really good and fresh and I am pretty confident it...should have enough runs on it," he said.