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Download PDF Australia confirmed their place in the next round after crushing England by eight wickets at Newlands in Durban while at Johannesburg, Sri Lanka started their ICC Twenty20 World Championships campaign with a gigantic 172 runs win over Kenya yesterday.
Desperate for a win, the mighty Australians produced an emphatic performance, bowling out England for 135 and then racing to victory in only 14.5 overs. The victory meant that both team qualify but Zimbabwe, the other side in Group D, were eliminated by virtue of inferior neat run-rate.
Sri Lanka posted 260-6 for the highest score in this format and then dismantled Kenya for only 88.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh are bubbling with confidence as they face hosts South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town today with the glorious memory of their victory against West Indies on their mind.
The match will begin at 10pm Bangladesh Time (6pm local time) with ESPN beaming live coverage.
Rival captain Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs are making progress following the injuries they picked up in their opening day victory against West Indies, but Gibbs may not be risked.
Left-arm seamers Nathan Bracken and Mitchell Johnson took three wickets each as Australia kept it tight on the England batsmen.
Australian opening batsmen Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden were back in their dominant form as they shared a stroke-filled opening stand of 78 in 8.1 overs before Gilchrist was caught at long-on off leg-spinner Chris Schofield.
Gilchrist made 45 off 27 balls. Hayden went on to make an unbeaten 67 off 43 balls.
Earlier, Bracken was taken out of the attack after conceding eight runs in his first over but came back strongly to finish with three for 16 off four overs, earning the man-of-the-match award.
Andrew Flintoff was England’s top scorer with 31 off 19 balls but England were unable to put together any significant partnerships.
At the Wanderers, power-packed Sri Lanka’s victory margin was a whopping 72 runs more than England’s 100-run romp over Australia at Southampton in 2005 and firmly established them as a strong title contender.
Veteran Sanath Jayasuriya led the way with 88 off 44 balls and captain Mahela Jayawardene blasted 65 off 28 before Jehan Mubarak took away the limelight, smashing an unbeaten 46 from 13 balls at the end.
Left-handed Mubarak took 29 runs off the 19th over bowled by seamer Lameck Ngoche.
Mubarak, who came to bat in the 19th over at 215-6, pounded Ngoche for 6,6,6,4,6 with the first five balls he faced before ending the over with a single.
The heavy defeat sent Kenya home from the tournament after they had lost their first match against New Zealand.
Sri Lanka play the Kiwis here on Saturday with both teams assured of a place in the Super Eights round.
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