T-20 World Cup 2010

South Africa 139 for 7 (Kallis 34, Hamid 3-21) beat Afghanistan 80 (M Morkel 4-20, Langeveldt 3-12) by 59 runs

Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn delivered Afghanistan a harsh lesson by demolishing them for 80 to end their World Twenty20 dream and hand South Africa a safe path to the Super Eights. There was no mercy from Morkel and Steyn, whose speed and bounce was simply of a standard that Afghanistan had never faced before, and Charl Langeveldt chipped in with three wickets to confirm the result.

The 59-run victory showed the newcomers that, for all their incredible progress over the past couple of years, there is a long way still to go. Afghanistan's spirits were high after their bowling effort, having restricted South Africa to a respectable 139 for 7, but the chase was quickly and comprehensively derailed.

Steyn (2 for 6) beat the bat with his outswing and had Noor Ali caught behind for a duck in the first over, before Morkel ran through the middle order to finish with 4 for 20. The batsmen struggled to react to the quality bowling and especially the short deliveries, and six of the ten dismissals were caught behind the wicket.

That they avoided recording the a feat in itself lowest ever Twenty20 Internation cricket after they were 14 for 6, but the change bowlers proved more to their liking. Mirwais Ashraf gave Afghanistan's fans a few happy moments when he clobbered a monstrous six off Albie Morkel, before Hamid Hassan made a quick 22 from 21 balls, as the lower order cleared the boundary a combined five times.

England 120 for 8 (Morgan 45) v Ireland 14 for 1 - match abandoned

England inched their way into the Super Eights after a tense washed-out contest at Providence, as the same Guyana weather that had contributed to their downfall against West Indies came to their aid in a fraught and low-scoring contest against the underdogs of Ireland.

After being limited to a mediocre 120 for 8 following a superb bowling display led by Trent Johnston, England had restricted Ireland to 14 for 1 after 3.3 overs of their reply, but persistent bad weather denied them the chance to complete their run-chase, and so England went through by virtue of a superior run-rate.

It was a cruel way for Ireland's campaign to come to an end, because on a slow and cracked surface, their battery of medium-pacers had forced England to scrap for each and every single. And, in an ironic twist, the only man who came close to mastering the requirements was none other than the former Irishman, Eoin Morgan, who stood firm with a determined 45 from 37 balls.

The scenario was much as it had been when the teams last met in an international fixture, on a sticky surface at breakfast back in August, and then as now, the veteran Trent Johnston led the line impeccably. With lateral movement from a tight and full length, he claimed 1 for 14 in his four-over spell, with just a solitary boundary in his 24 deliveries, as Michael Lumb pulled a fractional short ball through midwicket for four.

Whereas Lumb and Craig Kieswetter had started like the clappers against West Indies on Monday, this time they found the shackles hard to break. Boyd Rankin spoiled his figures with a brace of leg-stump long-hops that Lumb clipped round the corner for two welcome boundaries, but that same shot soon proved to be his downfall, as Boyd Rankin stooped at short backward square to cling onto a sharp chance from the first ball of Kevin O'Brien's spell.

New Zealand 36 for 1 beat Zimbabwe 84 (McCullum 3-16, Styris 3-5) by seven runs by D/L method

Zimbabwe came into the tournament as one of the form teams after shocking Pakistan and Australia in the warm-ups, but they subsided to one of the lowest Twenty20 totals against New Zealand to become the first team to bow out of the competition. After making a sprightly start, they collapsed spectacularly - losing eight wickets for sixteen runs - to ease New Zealand's path to the Super Eights.

With rain hampering play in Guyana for the second day in a row, Zimbabwe's entire campaign in the West Indies lasted only 48.2 overs. Though the end was not as farcical as the near-darkness climax to the 2007 World Cup final, they was plenty of confusion before the match ended: after play was initially halted 8.1 overs into the chase, the teams came back onto the field an hour and a half later, expecting to play a couple of overs and complete the game. The players stood around for a few minutes before officials decided no more play was possible, declaring New Zealand winners.

On the field, Nathan McCullum was the hero for New Zealand again. After his all-round heroics against Sri Lanka on Friday, he swept through the Zimbabwe middle-order to collect his second successive Man-of-the-Match award. The quick offspinners of Scott Styris also scooped up three wickets in an over to hasten the end of the innings.

Such a limp finish didn't seem likely after Zimbabwe's openers defied New Zealand on a Providence pitch offering plenty of turn. At 57 for 1 in the seventh over, things were looking good for Zimbabwe, but a sharp bit of fielding from Jacob Oram and Gareth Hopkins started the slide. Hamilton Masakadza, one of the biggest-hitters in the Zimbabwe line-up, swung the ball towards deep square leg, where Oram moved quickly to his left and fired in a slightly wayward throw; Hopkins collected yards in front of the stumps and under-armed it to catch a diving Masakadza short.

Sri Lanka 173 for 7 (Jayawardene 100) beat Zimbabwe 29 for 1 in five overs by 14 runs (D/L method)

Batting was expected to be difficult on a slow and low pitch in Providence but the touch artist Mahela Jayawardene sparkled with a delightful ton, only the fourth batsman to hit a Twenty20 hundred, to charge Sri Lanka to 173. A heavy downpour after one over into the chase left Zimbabwe needing 104 from 11 initially, but it rained again to terminate the match after five overs were completed. Sri Lanka won on the D\L method as Zimbabwe only reached 29 for 1 when the par score was 43.

The rains stayed away, however, until Jayawardene treated the sparse crowd to a charming knock. Only one other batsman in Sri Lanka's top six touched double digits; it said much about the pitch and the form of the other batsmen but most importantly it highlighted Jayawardene's mastery.

There wasn't a single shot in violence from Jayawardene. Not one looked ugly. Not for a moment did he look hurried. And yet, his strike-rate was over 150. It was such a graceful knock that it stood out amid the violence that this format usually brings in batsmen. Perhaps it's his economy of movement and the languid flow of his bat that catches the eye. The experts reckoned the pitch would make hitting on the up a difficult task, that the ball would stop on the batsmen, that timing would be difficult to find. And it appeared so when the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and the rest batted. Not when Jayawardene took strike.

There was a delicious six hit on the up over extra cover that was a perfect advertisement for Jayawardene's skill. He was walking down the track to the medium pace of Elton Chigumbura but kept his head still and balance perfect. Chigumbura shortened his length to try and upset the balance but Jayawardene wafted his wand through the line and the ball soared over the extra-cover boundary.

Jayawardene flowed right from the start today, collecting three boundaries in the first over from Chris Mpofu: A cut, a gorgeous on-the-up six over long off and a whiplash on-drive. He repeatedly drove the seamers through the off side and there was even a deft upper cut to a slow bouncer from Chigumbura, but he treated the spinners with more respect. He looked for opportunities to unfurl his cuts and sweeps against the slow men and rotated the strike with wristy nudges. In between, he slog-swept and pulled Price for boundaries, slog swept Graeme Cremer for a six, late cut and swatted Greg Lamb to the boundary.

West Indies 60 for 2 (Gayle 25) beat England 191 for 5 (Morgan 55, Wright 45*) - D/L method

West Indies booked their place in the Super Eights with a controversial rain-assisted victory over England at Providence, as Chris Gayle justified his decision to bowl first with a fiery but shortlived 25 from 12 balls - an innings that proved sufficient, under the provisions of Duckworth-Lewis, to carry West Indies to a revised target of 60 in six overs, after England had produced arguably their finest batting display in the format's history to post an imposing 191 for 5.

England's defeat should not prove costly in the long run, so long as they overcome Ireland in their second group match on Tuesday, but it was nevertheless an unfortunate way for a beautifully poised contest to unravel - and for England it was a case of history repeating itself, after West Indies eliminated them from the last World Twenty20 in a similar scenario at The Oval in June.

The result was more or less a foregone conclusion from the moment that the D/L calculators were brought into play. While the method is unrivalled as a means of resolving rain interruptions in 50-over cricket, it is not so well suited to the hustle and bustle of the 20-over format. It just so happened that the match did come down to the wire - Andre Fletcher eventually sealed it with a pulled four through midwicket with one ball to spare - but it had been a nervy denouement. In a full-length contest, West Indies' challenge might well have petered out as soon as Gayle pulled Michael Yardy to short midwicket in the fourth over.

Instead, Gayle's brief intercession proved sufficient to puncture England's spirits after a hugely impressive performance with the bat. Eoin Morgan top-scored with 55 from 35 balls, and was joined in an 95-run stand for the fifth wicket by Luke Wright, who made 45 from 27, to close the innings with the same positive intent shown by their rookie opening pairing of Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter, who showcased their boundary-clearing abilities with scores of 28 from 18 balls and 26 from 14 respectively.

Nevertheless, with rain in the air, Gayle knew exactly how to pace his reply, and turned on the afterburner. Ryan Sidebottom was dispatched for 15 in an opening over in which he beat the bat three times and found the edge once, only to ruin his good work with a leg-side wide and two half-volleys that were belted over the covers for four and six. And at the other end, Shivnarine Chanderpaul turned his stance inside-out to sweep Graeme Swann over point for another six, as England conceded 30 runs in 2.2 overs, and with it, the contest.

Collingwood was understandably frustrated after the match, but England had plenty reason to be proud of their performance. Their total of 11 sixes was a national record for the format, and though neither of the new boys, Kieswetter or Lumb, was able to build on their starts, their alliance was an undoubted success, as demonstrated by England's Powerplay total of 60 for 1, the highest six-over score of the tournament (until West Indies trumped it in their brief reply).

ndia 116 for 3 (Vijay 48) beat Afghanistan 115 for 8 (Noor 50, Nehra 3-19) by seven wickets

Afghanistan certainly weren't overawed, but struggled against short-pitched deliveries, losing five out of their eight wickets to bouncers. As promised India played as they would against a top team, setting up an easy chase and finishing it solidly - without flair and major hiccups. Noor Ali, compact against the quicks and happy to use his feet against spinners, was Afghanistan's best batsman by a fair distance, helping them recover from 29 for 3 with a near run-a-ball fifty. As a fielding unit, they looked like they belonged: tall left-armer Shapoor Zadran's pace impressed, as did the spin of Mohammabi Nabi and Samiullah Shenwari.

The Afghans have learnt most of their cricket in Pakistan, and Noor and Asghar Stanikzai, who scored 80 of the 115 runs, may well have been rescuing a Pakistan innings after a collapse. On the either end of their 68-run partnership, though, the Indian quicks used the bouncers well enough to secure two easy points.

Karim Sadiq, the other opener, showed early signs of nerves, playing and missing thrice before gloving Ashish Nehra down the leg side. Mohammad Shahzad, the bulky wicketkeeper-batsman, too tried big unwieldy shots and was caught down the leg side while the replays suggested that the ball might have gone off the helmet grille. The decision notwithstanding, it was clear the short ball was troubling them.

akistan 172 for 3 (Butt 73, Akmal 73) beat Bangladesh 151 for 7 (Ashraful 65, Sami 3-29) by 21 runs

Pakistan survived a Mohammad Ashraful scare to begin the defence of their world title at St Lucia with a 21-run win over Bangladesh. Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt had laid the foundations with a 142-run stand that should've put the game beyond Bangladesh. But Ashraful, with Shakib Al Hasan for company, took a real pop at an imposing 173-run target, before Mohammad Sami swung a slow-burning game decisively Pakistan's way.

Bangladesh had been poor for vast chunks of the game, first with the ball, and then in starting the chase. But Ashraful's forceful 91-run stand with Shakib brought them close enough to get Pakistan jittery with five overs to go. Sami, on his T20I debut, ensured it wasn't to be with a fine two-wicket over to effectively end the game.

Mohammad Aamer had throttled Bangladesh's start and Ashraful arrived with trouble brewing. Having typically tried all manner of unnecessary improvisation initially, Ashraful settled down to playing normal strokes. It's asked often why he doesn't play those more, and let this be another time. He quickly deposited Abdul Razzaq for a wonderful six over midwicket, but really cranked up the heat when he took on Pakistan's captain next.

The first ball of Shahid Afridi's spell, the 11th over, was driven exquisitely over extra cover but it was in his next over that he really shook Pakistan up. Again he lofted Afridi, but with such grace and timing that the ball fairly sailed over long-off. A couple of balls later, he went squarer and soon after brought up his fifty.

Shakib meanwhile was showing the world once again why he is such a special young man. He never panicked, which can't often be said of Ashraful, and went about choosing his spots almost at will. Saeed Ajmal was heaved for one and Mohammad Hafeez was slog-swept for two maximums and suddenly Bangladesh had recovered from 36 for 2 to 115 for two after 14.

As so often, however, it wasn't to be and the surprise was that it was Shakib who perished first. Afridi took a gamble in bringing back an uncertain Sami, but it paid off as Shakib fell and Mahmudullah followed a few balls later. Ashraful still went on, dishing out some serious stick to Afridi, before falling, inevitably, to an improvised paddle, signaling a brave end.

Pakistan's big bonus, alongside Sami's effort, was Butt's earlier contribution. He has appeared ill-suited to the format, unable to work gaps and not blessed with the power that gets poorer batsmen more runs. But he has a good ODI record and the intent was there from the start with a first-ball boundary. From thereon, at regular intervals he would dance down, move away, find gaps or go aerial and went about as quietly as you can in reaching fifty off 29 balls. There was no violence, just clear-headed intent and faith in his regular strokes.