Live T20 world cup warm up matches today

Teams have started arriving at Sri Lanka now and many of those are playing practice matches already. Today in an interesting T20 world cup practice match Sri Lanka defeated West Indies team comfortably. However interestingly for the both the team star players for T20 were missing from the fields. For West Indies batting opened without Chris Gayle and for Sri Lanka bowling opened without Lasith Malinga.

Perhaps both the teams don’t want to risk their match winner players to get any kind of injuries and save them for the actual matches. Also these are the kind of players that don’t need any kind of match practice they already have that experience in T20, one is the batsmen with top strike rate another is the most economical bowlers with highest number of wickets in this format of cricket.  Still from the warm up match played today I was little concerned about performance of West Indies team they are being considered at potential winners of the T20 world cup 2012 but they gave a below average performance in the field.

In another warm up match played today Ireland defeated Zimbabwe comfortable. First the Irish batsmen batted strongly giving Zimbabwe the target of more than 8runs per over to win the match and then restricting them reaching the target. Ireland is one of the non-test playing team that’s looking for a test status. A good performance in Sri Lanka at T20 world cup will enhance the chances of this team producing some world class cricketers.   Let’s see if any of the associate members of ICC will make it to the next round of the world cup T20. Since there is nothing certain of T20 game we can see some surprises for sure.

If you want to see how your country team is perfrming in the warm up matches then you can catch al the live action here at http://icccricket.blogspot.com/ . In case you aren’t aware of the T20 world cup warm up matches schedule please take a look at the list below:

• 13 Sep 2012 9:30AM  Ireland  vs Zimbabwe  
• 13 Sep 2012 9:30AM  Sri Lanka vs West Indies 
• 15 Sep 2012 9:30AM  Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka 
• 15 Sep 2012 9:30AM  Australia  vs New Zealand 
• 15 Sep 2012 9:30AM  Bangladesh vs  Zimbabwe 
• 15 Sep 2012 9:30AM  India  vs Sri Lanka 
• 17 Sep 2012 9:30AM  Australia vs England 
• 17 Sep 2012 9:30AM  Bangladesh vs Ireland 
• 17 Sep 2012 9:30AM  New Zealand vs South Africa 
• 17 Sep 2012 2:00PM  Afghanistan  vs  West Indies 
• 17 Sep 2012 2:00PM  India  vs  Pakistan 
• 19 Sep 2012 9:30AM  England vs Pakistan

T20 World Cup Tickets go for Sale – ICC World T20 2012 Sri Lanka

It’s around three weeks left for the ICC T20 world cup to start and queries for the sale of tickets are going all around among people. This posts is to update you all that sale of tickets for the mega even is on and one can easily purchase the tickets well in advance so as to make they don’t miss the match of the favorite team due to unavailability of tickets later.

Please note that you can purchase tickets online or people who are in Sri Lanka presently can purchase tickets from various box offices in different parts of the host country.  If you are not sure when the match of the country you support is, please take a look at the ICC World T20 Match Details.  Plan your day and book match tickets accordingly.  Our team would be there at Oct7, for the final match to support both the teams in the finals ;). See you there.

In Sri Lanka the matches will be played at three venues i.e. Hambantota, Colombo and Pallekele. All these three locations are not very far from each other , thus if you are planning a holiday and enjoy cricket together then you can easily afford to watch different matches while exploring different places in Sri Lanka.  Even the women’s T2o world cup is being played in the same duration so if you and a fan of your country’s women cricket team you can support them in the stadium too.  Fixtures for the ICC women’s T20 world cup are posted here.

ICC World T20 Sri Lanka 2012 updates

Now its less that a month for the T20 world to start and nearby all the participating teams has announced there teams. Its no surprise that many of the teams has given preference to young and uncapped players ahead of the some experienced and mature players.  Twenty twenty is one such format where you have to choose a team very carefully as you need a team that sprints not only while fielding but very quick in running between the wickets as well. The more young the player better he fits the team unless you are some extraordinary talent like J. Kallis, D. Vettory etc or if you have some extraordinary performances in the domestic T20 leagues like IPL, BBL, SLPL etc. E.g. L. Balaji of India was picked for the T20 team for his great performance in the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders team who won this year.

Lets given some latest updates related to the ICC T20 world cup to be help in Sri Lanka this September.  Here are the most recent news:

• Kevin Pietersen  may have missed being selected for the England T2o team but he got selected as the part of TV crew so we might see him doing commentary or post match discussions etc.Please note that KP was player of the tournament last time when England won the T20 world cup. Thus it might be bad for the defending champions to lose a player of his caliber.
• Sri Lanka cricket team has given opportunity to a teenager named Akila Dananjaya, who still haven;t played any kind of competitive cricket except the ongoing SLPL. Dananjaya was neither the part of U-19 team but his performance in the ongoin T20 tournament in Sri Lanka has earned him confidence of the Sri Lankas captain Mahela Jayawardene who recommended his name for the list of 30 probables. 
• There is still no news about injured Kumara Sangakara about being match fit by the time tournament starts. No doubt he will be in the team if he is fit. 
• D. Bravo and A. Russel make their comeback in the T20 team for West Indies. Most important thing for the West Indies squad is that they have the T2o super star, C. Galye back in the team after a long gap. He along can take the tgeam to victory as we have seen in many of his performances in the IPL, BBL  etc. 

More updates to follow soon, please don't forget to bookmark this page and you can get all the updated and live scores etc here throughout the T20 world cup. 

ICC World Twenty20 2012 Opening match

The opening match of ICC World Twenty20 2012 will be played between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe on 18th September 2012 at  around 7:30 pm IST. If you are still unaware of the T20 world cup 2012 schedule you can take a look at 2012 T20 world cup fixtures. Please  note that the women's twenty twenty world cup will also be played during the same time at Sri Lanka and if you are interested in Women's cricket then you may take at the schedule of ICC women's T20 world cup as well.

Now lets discuss the opening match of ICC T20 world cup 2012. If we go by the standards and stats definitely the Sri Lankan team has upper hand in the tournament. Not only they enjoy the home conditions but also the Sri Lankan T20 squad will have a good match practice following the SLPL the IPL version of Sri Lanka.

Zimbabwe team on the otter hand is improving day by day and they have won matches against some teams that are above them in ICC T20 rankings. Zimbabwe team has a chance to show the world their potential and also let the game flourish in the country by performing above the potential.

Its around one month and some days for the match and the tournament begin, but I can see the eagerness for the opening match. You all can bookmark this page and see the live score of world cup matches here at ICC Cricket blog. Keep visiting for more updates.

ICC Women's World Twenty20 2012

 ICC Women's World Twenty20 2012 will also be held in Sri Lanka and will be played almost during the same time as the  ICC World Twenty20 2012 (men)  will be played. There is difference of just 8 days between the opening matches of both the tournament. ICC World T20 will start on Sept 18, where as  ICC Women's World Twenty20 2012 will being on Sept 26. As is the tradition the opening match will include the host country thus in the men's T20 world cup opening match will be played between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, on the other hand the women's T20 opening match will be played between Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Details for the men's crcikets twenty twenty world cup is posted already and you can take a look at details of all the matches at http://icccricket.blogspot.com/2012/07/icc-world-t20-match-details-t20-world.html   And for the details of women's T20 are as written below:

Wed Sep 26 04:00 GMT | 09:30 local 09:30 IST	1st Match, Group B - Sri Lanka Women v South Africa Women Galle International Stadium
Wed Sep 26 08:00 GMT | 13:30 local 13:30 IST	2nd Match, Group B - New Zealand Women v West Indies Women Galle International Stadium
Thu Sep 27 04:00 GMT | 09:30 local 09:30 IST	3rd Match, Group A - England Women v Pakistan Women Galle International Stadium
Thu Sep 27 08:00 GMT | 13:30 local 13:30 IST	4th Match, Group A - Australia Women v India Women Galle International Stadium
Fri Sep 28 04:00 GMT | 09:30 local 09:30 IST	5th Match, Group B - New Zealand Women v South Africa Women Galle International Stadium
Fri Sep 28 08:00 GMT | 13:30 local 13:30 IST	6th Match, Group B - Sri Lanka Women v West Indies Women Galle International Stadium
Sat Sep 29 04:00 GMT | 09:30 local 09:30 IST	7th Match, Group A - Australia Women v Pakistan Women Galle International Stadium
Sat Sep 29 08:00 GMT | 13:30 local 13:30 IST	8th Match, Group A - England Women v India Women Galle International Stadium
Sun Sep 30 04:00 GMT | 09:30 local 09:30 IST	9th Match, Group B - South Africa Women v West Indies Women Galle International Stadium
Sun Sep 30 08:00 GMT | 13:30 local 13:30 IST	10th Match, Group B - Sri Lanka Women v New Zealand Women Galle International Stadium
Mon Oct 1 04:00 GMT | 09:30 local 09:30 IST	11th Match, Group A - India Women v Pakistan Women Galle International Stadium
Mon Oct 1 08:00 GMT | 13:30 local 13:30 IST	12th Match, Group A - Australia Women v England Women Galle International Stadium
Thu Oct 4 12:30 GMT | 18:00 local 18:00 IST	1st Semi-Final - TBC v TBC (A1 v B2) R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Fri Oct 5 12:30 GMT | 18:00 local 18:00 IST	2nd Semi-Final - TBC v TBC (A2 v B1) R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Sun Oct 7 12:30 GMT | 18:00 local	Final - TBC v TBC R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Hope you enjoy both the tournaments equally.

Cricket Boards start announcing list of probables for ICC World T20

As the mega twenty twenty cricket tournament the ICC World T20 is approaching near, different cricket boards has started announcing the list of 30 probables for the mega event. Surprisingly many known faces in cricket are expected to make comebacks in this years T20 world cup. Yuvraj Singh, Jacques Kallis, Greame Smith,  Roelof van der Merwe, Sulieman Ben.  However the controversial Kevin Pietersen of the defending champions England has been ruled our from the list of 30 probables thus making his way back to the England team for ODI and Twenty twenty matches almost impossible. Kevin has recently announced retirement from shorter versions of the game but few time later announced that he is willing to play the T20 and one day international matches given his schedule be lessened.

Recently West Indies, England, South Africa and India announced list of thirty probables. Here is the list:

South Africa List of probable 30: 
Johan Botha, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Rory Kleinveldt, Albie Morkel, Rusty Theron, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Colin Ingram, Chris Morris, Justin Ontong, Robin Peterson, Aaron Phangiso, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Richard Levi, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Roelof van der Merwe, Morne van Wyk, Dane Vilas,  Marchant de Lange, JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Faf du Plessis


West Indies probable squad: Samuel Badree, Christopher Barnwell, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Carlton Baugh, Sulieman Benn, Tino Best, , Nkrumah Bonner, Dwayne Smith, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Danza Hyatt,  Nikita Miller, , Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Garey Mathurin, Marlon Samuels, Krishmar Santokie, Shane Shillingford, Lendl Simmons, Devon Thomas, Devendra Bishoo

England Cricket Team Provisional squad:
Stuart Broad (capt), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Steven Croft, Steven Davies, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Stuart Meaker, Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions, Samit Patel, Matt Prior, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Graeme Swann, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes, Luke Wright 

Team India list of 30 probables:
MS Dhoni,  Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Mandeep Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Virat Kohli, Naman Ojha, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, L Balaji, Virender Sehwag

ICC World T20 Match Details – T20 World Cup 2012

Sri Lanka is going to host the 4th ICC World T20 championship.  The inaugural match will be played between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe on September 18 at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota. The tournament will last 20 days and final will be played on Oct 7 at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

List of participating nations in ICC World T20 – 21012:
Apart from the ten ICC test playing nations two ICC associate members who played the finals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2012 qualifying tournament finals i.e. Afghanistan and Ireland will also play in this year T20 tournament. Here is the complete list of nations competing in the ICC World T20 2012:

1.       India
2.       Pakistan
3.       England
4.       Sri Lanka
5.        Zimbabwe
6.        Australia
7.       South Africa
8.        New Zealand
9.        Bangladesh
10.    West Indies
11.   Ireland
12.    Afghanistan

India, Pakistan and England were the winners of the first three seasons of World T20 championship and hopefully we’ll see a new champion this time as well.  Pakistan team were the finalist for the first 2 season and first time they were unlucky to be defeated  by India but they got it better next season.

Here is the details of ICC World T20 Matches:
Tue Sep 18
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Group C : 1st T20 - Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota

Wed Sep 19
15:30 local | 10:00 GMT Group B : 2nd T20 - Australia vs Ireland
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Wed Sep 19
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Group A : 3rd T20 - India vs Afghanistan
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Thu Sep 20
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Group C : 4th T20 - South Africa vs Zimbabwe
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota


Fri Sep 21
15:30 local | 10:00 GMT Group D : 5th T20 - New Zealand vs Bangladesh
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy

Fri Sep 21
9:30 local | 14:00 GMT Group A : 6th T20 - England vs Afghanistan
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Sat Sep 22
15:30 local | 10:00 GMT Group C : 7th T20 - Sri Lanka vs South Africa
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota


Sat Sep 22
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Group B : 8th T20 - Australia vs West Indies
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Sun Sep 23
15:30 local | 10:00 GMT Group D : 9th T20 - New Zealand vs Pakistan
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy

Sun Sep 23
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Group A : 10th T20 - England vs India
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Mon Sep 24
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Group B : 11th T20 - West Indies vs Ireland
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

 Tue Sep 25
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Group D : 12th T20 - Bangladesh vs Pakistan
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy

Thu Sep 27
15:30 local | 10:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 1 : 13th T20 - TBC vs TBC
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy

Thu Sep 27
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 1 : 14th T20 - TBC vs TBC
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy

Fri Sep 28
15:30 local | 10:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 2 : 15th T20 - TBC vs TBC
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Fri Sep 28
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 2 : 16th T20 - TBC vs TBC
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Sat Sep 29
15:30 local | 10:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 1 : 17th T20 - TBC vs TBC
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy

Sat Sep 29
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 1 : 18th T20 - TBC vs TBC
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy

 Sun Sep 30
15:30 local | 10:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 2 : 19th T20 - TBC vs TBC
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Sun Sep 30
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 2 : 20th T20 - TBC vs TBC
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Mon Oct 1
15:30 local | 10:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 1 : 21st T20 - TBC vs TBC
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy

Mon Oct 1
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 1 : 22nd T20 - TBC vs TBC
Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy

Tue Oct 2
15:30 local | 10:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 2 : 23rd T20 - TBC vs TBC
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Tue Oct 2
19:30 local | 14:00 GMT Super Eights, Group 2 : 24th T20 - TBC vs TBC
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

 Thu Oct 4
19:00 local | 13:30 GMT 1st Semi Final T20 - TBC vs TBC
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Fri Oct 5
19:00 local | 13:30 GMT 2nd Semi Final T20 - TBC vs TBC
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Sun Oct 7
19:00 local | 13:30 GMT Final T20 - TBC vs TBC
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo