Gayle's innings was fantastic - only McCullum is as destructive on form (and sadly he's not at the WC). But England bowled badly at him. Topley just bowled wider and wider. I know there's a big fear factor, but you've got to stick to your plans. I'd give Gayle balls he can hit, but vary pace and length in the hope he'll misjudge one and get caught. You've got to get him out. If he bats 20 overs, no target is defendable. Jordan did bowl well - he bowls good yorkers and balls into the midriff/hips, which tuck batsmen up and are hard to swing the bat at. But the rest just seemed to be resigned to being hit out of the ground.
Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan by six wickets in Kolkata Sri Lanka 155 for 4 (Dilshan 83*, Mathews 21*) - Afghanistan 153 for 7 (Stanikzai 62, Shenwari 31, Thisara 3-33)
Yes and as you implied before the first game - likely to be runs England beat South Africa by two wickets in Mumbai England 230 for 8 (Root 83, Roy 43, Abbott 3-41) - South Africa 229 for 4 (Amla 58, Duminy 54*, de Kock 52) England completed the second-highest successful chase in T20 internationals and the highest in World T20 history to keep their campaign alive. They held their nerve chasing 230, thanks to a blistering start from Jason Roy and a clinical innings from Joe Root that ripped South Africa's attack apart and undid their batsmen's efforts.
New Zealand beat Australia by eight runs in Dharamsala New Zealand 142 for 8 (Guptill 39, Elliott 27, Faulkner 2-18) - Australia 134 for 9 (Khawaja 38, Marsh 24, McClenaghan 3-17) NZ top group 2 after 2 straight wins
Lasith Malinga has been ruled out of the World Twenty20 with injury, dealing a substantial blow to Sri Lanka's campaign. Having flown to India earlier this week hopeful of playing some part in the tournament, Malinga has aggravated the bone bruise in his left knee that has plagued him since November. He has returned to Sri Lanka, and the selectors are expected to name a replacement over the next 72 hours, following practice games in Colombo on Friday.
it's encouraging that England can chase down 230. T20 is a batsman's game and however ropey the bowling has looked so far, the batting looks extremely strong. Joe Root appears to have put on a bit of timber for this tournament - no doubt to help him clear those boundary ropes more often! New Zealand look very strong (even without McCullum B), but there are six or so sides capable of winning this. It only takes one batsman to hit top form and any total is possible. Every side has at least one batsman with that ability.
The thing about T20 is on the day anyone can beat anyone - only takes one player to go ballistic and it wins the game
India beat Pakistan by six wickets in Kolkata India 119 for 4 (Kohli 55*) - Pakistan 118 for 5 (Malik 26) Virat Kohli averages an incredible 53.55 from 40 T20 Internationals - he tops the all-time list. To put it into perspective, second is Aaron Finch on 39.22
South Africa beat Afghanistan by 37 runs in Mumbai South Africa 209 for 5 (De Villiers 64, De Kock 45, Hamza 1-25) - Afghanistan 172 (Shahzad 44, Morris 4-27)
West Indies beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in Bangalore West Indies 127 for 3 (Fletcher 84*, Siriwardana 2-33) - Sri Lanka 122 for 9 (Thisara 40, Badree 3-12)
Australia beat Bangladesh by three wickets in Bangalore Australia 157 for 7 (Khawaja 58, Shakib 3-27) - Bangladesh 156 for 5 (Mahmudullah 49*, Zampa 3-23)
New Zealand beat Pakistan by 22 runs in Mohali New Zealand 180 for 5 (Guptill 80, Sami 2-23) - Pakistan 158 for 5 (Sharjeel 47, Milne 2-26, Santner 2-29)
England beat Afghanistan by 15 runs in Delhi England 142 for 7 (Moeen 41*) - Afghanistan 127 for 9 (Shafiqullah 35*) Will need to play much better against the stronger sides
India beat Bangladesh by one run in Bangalore India 146 for 7 (Raina 30, Mustafizur 2-34) - Bangladesh 145 for 9 (Tamim 35, Ashwin 2-20) India took 3 wickets off last 3 balls as Bangladesh implode
We won because Afghanistan aren't used to playing pace bowlers who swing or seam the ball. It was a generally poor performance.
I can't believe Bangladesh blew it from that position. Shows how much top level sport is played between the ears.
