High demand for Twenty20 at International level

Chris Dhambarage reporting

CRICKET: The large crowds, number of gripping matches and some outstanding individual performances have proved that there is a huge demand for Twenty20 cricket on the international stage.

And cricket should be excited that it can now have a third format of the game to offer its spectators alongside the more traditional Test and One day International versions of the game.

In fact Cricket South Africa has played an exciting role in ensuring the success of the inaugural tournament as the event host. The players themselves have played a vital role in entertaining spectators with some wonderful displays of batting, bowling and fielding with a new generation of stars emerging onto the world stage alongside some more established players.

For Pakistan, Shahid Afridi, Misbah Ul Haq, Younus Khan and Shoaib Malik have all had a magnificent tournament while India's Yuvraj Singh's six hitting has been one of the talking points of the event.

It was West Indian opening batsman Chris Gayle who took the tournament off to a flying start by becoming the first player to hit a Twenty20 International century. He achieved this feat from just 50 deliveries and remains the only player to have scored a hundred at this level.

In addition Gayle's partnership of 145 with Devon Smith for the first wicket in this game is a record partnership for all wickets in a Twenty20 International. The 18 sixes in the opening match between South Africa and West Indies equaled the record for most sixes in a Twenty20 International match while South Africa's 208 for 2 was the highest winning score by a team batting second.

New Zealander Mark Gillespie's figures of 4 for 7 against Kenya who achieved the lowest team total in Twenty20 Internationals were the best in history - no player has taken five wickets at international level so far.

There were two major upsets in the group stages of the tournament - Zimbabwe defeating Australia by five wickets and Bangladesh defeating West Indies by six wickets.

Adam Gilchrist's four dismissal's in an innings against Zimbabwe were a Twenty20 international record with Matt Prior of England equaling this feat against South Africa in the Super Eight stage of the competition.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka's total of 260 for 6 against Kenya is the highest score in a Twenty20 international and their 30 fours in the match are also the most boundaries achieved in an innings. Their overall 172 run victory margin was also a record.

Jehan Mubarak's 46 not out off just 13 balls in this match which included five sixes is the highest score by a number seven batsman in Twenty20 international matches.

The tie between India and Pakistan was only the second tie in Twenty20 international history and saw the first bowl out at an ICC World Twenty20 event. The 40 fours in the match between India and New Zealand at Johannesburg during the Super Eight stage was a record high for Twenty20 international cricket.

Daniel Vettori's man of the match performance of 4 for 20 was also one of the best bowling spells in the tournament. Brett Lee became the first player to take a hat-trick in Twenty20 international history against Bangladesh and his victims were Shakib Al Hassan, Mashrafe Mortaza and Alok Kapali.

Sanath Jayasuriya's 0 for 64 against Pakistan in the Super Eight game was the worst figures in Twenty20 international history. Yuvraj Singh became only the fourth player in top level cricket history to hit six sixes in one over when he struck 36 off an over against England and is the only player to achieve this feat in Twenty20 international cricket.

Singh's half century in that match came off just 12 deliveries which is also a record beating Mohammed Ashraful's 20 ball fifty against the West Indies at Johannesburg.

Singh continued his good form in the semi final reaching his half century off 20 balls on the way to a score of 70 off 30. He had a strike rate of 235 the highest of any batsmen to have faced over 30 balls in Twenty20 internationals.

Meanwhile Mathew Hayden is the only player to have scored four fifties in Twenty20 internationals. Graham Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya have both struck three fifties. Hayden was also the tournament's leading run scorer with 265 runs.

New Zealand's Craig McMillan has hit more sixes in the event than any other bowler - (13). Two of the top three wicket takers in the event are spinners - Shahid Afridi (12 wickets) and Daniel Vettori (11 wickets). Australia's Stuart Clark was the leading fast bowler with 12 wickets to his credit.

However Pakistan seamer Umar Gul (13 wickets) overtook Clark as the leading wicket taker of the tournament by returning outstanding figures of 3 for 28 in the final against India.

JOHANNESBURG, Tuesday