England defeat Australia to become World Twenty20 champions.
Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen guided England to their first ICC trophy with a seven-wicket victory over Australia in the final of the World Twenty20.
The 111-run second-wicket partnership between the pair was the backbone of England’s innings, with Kieswetter’s 63 from 49 earning him man-of-the-match honours.
“This is right up there, with the best [victories]," England captain Paul Collingwood declared as his team’s post-match celebrations began. "To be the first [England] team to win an ICC Trophy is very special. We knew it was a monkey on our back.”
While Kieswetter and new dad Pietersen shone with the bat, England can also thank Ryan Sidebottom (2-26) and his two early wickets for getting them off to such a strong start in the final and Graeme Swann (1-17) for putting the squeeze on the Australian batsmen in the middle overs.
While Australia had shown throughout the Caribbean tournament that they shouldn’t be written off until the final ball had been bowled against England they were unable to recover from the loss of early wickets after openers Shane Watson (two) and David Warner (two) as well as Brad Haddin (one) were dismissed in the first 13 balls of the match.
With arguably the most dangerous opening pair in the World Twenty20 dismissed with barely a whimper, Australia’s famously deep batting line-up was, in the biggest match of the tournament, unable to fight their way into a winning position after their poor start in the match that counted most.
Michael Clarke (27 from 27 deliveries) and David Hussey (59 from 54) steadied the Australian innings after a disastrous start, but even with Cameron White’s 30 from 19 and Michael Hussey’s unbeaten 17 from 10 Australia could only manage a total of 147-6 to leave their bowlers with the tough task of containing this much-improved England side.
After making an early breakthrough of their own when Shaun Tait snaffled Michael Lumb’s wicket for just two, Australia were unable to break the partnership between Kieswetter and Pietersen (47 from 31) until the match had been wrested from their grasp.
The Barbados wicket that had proved such a fertile ground for wickets and intimidation for Australia’s quicks against India and Sri Lanka in the Super Eight stage offered little joy in the final, as Tait was dispatched for 28 runs from three overs at an economy rate of 9.33 runs per over. All –rounder Shane Watson, after failing with the bat, found no solace with the ball as he conceded 42 runs from three overs (at an average of 14.00 runs per over).
England ultimately secured victory with three overs in hand to claim their first ICC tournament trophy and ensure Australia will remain a trophy short of the set until at least the next World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in 2012.
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