The ICC T20 World Cup has been one of cricket’s most successful tournaments, producing five champions in five editions so far. The tournament has been unpredictable; few could have predicted the finalists at the start of the tournament. Shiamak Unwalla lists out the 10 most thrilling matches from ICC World T20 so far, in a two-part article. Here is part 2, from ICC World T20 2010 to ICC World T20 2014. ICC T20 World Cup: Most thrilling matches from first 5 editions; Part 1 of 2
6. Australia vs Pakistan, ICC World T20 2010, 2nd semi-final at St Lucia: Pakistan had made it to the final in 2007 and won the tournament in 2009. For the first 35 overs of their semi-final against Australia, it looked like they would make it to their third straight final. After the Akmal Brothers Kamran (50) and Umar (56) took Pakistan to 191 for 6, their bowling attack reduced Australia to 62 for 4 and then 105 for 5.
Michael Hussey, inexplicably held back to No. 7, then walked out to play arguably the finest innings of the tournament. Australia needed 87 to win off 45 balls when Hussey came in to bat. The equation became 70 off 30 balls when Shahid Afridi came on to bowl. Hussey slammed him for two sixes in the over to bring it down to 56 runs from 24 balls. Hussey managed to keep going even as wickets tumbled at the other end. It finally came down to 18 runs needed off the final over, to be bowled by a red-hot Saeed Ajmal.
Mitchell Johnson managed to take a single to give Hussey the strike. Now 17 runs were needed off 5. What followed was a Hussey master class; 6, 6, 4, and 6 to help Australia reach their first — and till date only — final.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 191 for 6 in 20 overs (Kamran Akmal 50, Umar Akmal 56*; Steven Smith 1 for 23) lost to Australia 197 for 7 in 19.5 overs (Michael Hussey 60*; Mohammad Aamer 3 for 35) by 3 wickets with 1 ball remaining.
7. India vs South Africa, ICC World T20 2012, Match 24 at Colombo (RPS): India batted first, and got to 152 for 6 thanks to contributions from the middle order. Rohit Sharma (25) was slow to get going, but Yuvraj Singh (21), Suresh Raina (45) and MS Dhoni (23*) made up for it as India scored 152 for 6.
India started off well, reducing the Proteas to 16 for 2 and later 46 for 3. Faf du Plessis once again held fort to score a sizzling 65 off 38 balls, but India kept striking at the other end. It finally came down to 14 runs needed off the final over. L Balaji was hit for six by Albie Morkel off the first ball, but took a wicket off the next one. Albie’s younger brother Morne Morkel waslked in at No. 11 and failed to make contact with the first ball. He then hit the next one for six. It was down to 2 runs needed off 2 balls when Balaji slipped in a yorker. Morkel swung and missed, and India won by 1 run with 1 ball remaining.
Brief scores:
India 152 for 6 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 45; Robin Peterson 2 for 25) beat South Africa 151 in 19.5 overs (Faf du Plessis 65; Zaheer Khan 3 for 22) by 1 run.
8. Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, ICC World T20 2012, Match 13 at Pallekele: Rob Nicol (58), Martin Guptill (38), Brendon McCullum (25), and Ross Taylor (23) helped New Zealand reach 154 for 4 in the 18th over, but the Black Caps could only reach 174 for 7.
Mahela Jayawardene (44) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (76) batted wonderfully to put on 80 in less than 8 overs. Kumar Sangakkara (21) kept the ball rolling, but New Zealand managed to keep striking at regular intervals. With 8 runs to win off the final over, Tim Southee managed to keep Sri Lanka down to 7, taking the match into a Super Over.
Sri Lanka batted first in the Super Over, and though they did not manage to get a single boundary they scored 13. Sri Lanka had Lasith Malinga though, and he did what he does best. New Zealand could only make 7 as Sri Lanka won the Super Over.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 174 for 7 in 20 overs (Rob Nicol 58; Nuwan Kulasekara 2 for 33, Akila Dhananjaya 2 for 32) tied with Sri Lanka 174 for 6 in 20 overs (Tillakaratne Dilshan 76; James Franklin 2 for 34).
Super Over:
Sri Lanka 13 for 1 in 1 over beat New Zealand 7 for 1 in 1 over.
9. New Zealand vs South Arica, ICC World T20 2014, Match 18 at Chittagong: South Africa batted first after McCullum won the toss. Hashim Amla scored 41 off 40 balls, but South Africa’s innings was going nowhere till JP Duminy came in and played a masterful innings of 86 not out off 43 balls. South Africa finished at a respectable 170 for 6.
Kane Williamson, opening batting for New Zealand, scored a fluent 51 but the rest of the batting fell apart. Ross Taylor then put his hand up and scored an excellent 62. The Black Caps needed 7 runs to win off the final over, with Luke Ronchi and Taylor in the middle. Steyn responded with arguably the over of the tournament. He had Ronchi out off the first ball. The next two deliveries were dots to Nathan McCullum. The next ball was a boundary, but Steyn followed up by getting McCullum to hole out to Faf du Plessis. With 3 needed off the last ball and Taylor on strike, Steyn bowled a full-length ball on off which Taylor could only hit back to him. Taylor was run out, and the Proteas won by 2 runs. Steyn’s final over read W, 0, 0, 4, W, W.
Brief scores:
South Africa 170 for 6 in 20 overs (JP Duminy 86*; Corey Anderson 2 for 28) beat New Zealand 168 for 8 in 20 overs (Kane Williamson 51, Ross Taylor 62; Dale Steyn 4 for 17) by 2 runs.
10. Australia vs West Indies, ICC World T20 2014, Match 23 at Mirpur: This match had a bit of context to it. James Faulkner had said before the match, “I don’t particularly like them [West Indies].” Darren Sammy responded to it by saying, “The Australians normally have a lot to say. We are here to play cricket. I think probably James is the only cricketer that does not love West Indians.”
With that background in mind, Australia elected to bat first after winning the toss. Glenn Maxwell scored a belligerent 45 and the other batsmen got starts as well. Australia posted 178 for 8. Chris Gayle got West Indies off to a flier in response, hammering 53 off 35 balls, but Australia clawed back to reduce West Indies to 130 for 4 in the 17th over.
With 49 runs needed off 21 balls, Darren Sammy walked out to join Dwayne Bravo. What followed was clean hitting from the two Caribbean all-rounders. Faulkner came on to bowl the final over, with 11 runs to defend. Sammy was unable to score off either of the first two balls. The third was sent over long-off for six; the fourth over long-on for the same result. West Indies won with 2 balls to spare. Bravo was unbeaten on 27 off 12, while Sammy had made 34 not out off 13. The trio of Gayle, Sammy, and Bravo brought out their most stylish dance moves in a typical Caribbean celebration, as Faulkner’s plan backfired miserably.
Brief scores:
Australia 178 for 8 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 45; Sunil Narine 2 for 19) lost to West Indies 179 for 4 in 19.4 overs (Chris Gayle 53; Mitchell Starc 2 for 50) by 6 wickets.
(Shiamak Unwalla is a proud Whovian and all-round geek who also dabbles in cricket writing as a reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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