Sri Lanka got off to a great start with Tharanga and Dilshan laying a solid platform before two quick wickets left them at 116/2 after 24 with COW of 48%. Tharanga then continued in Sangakarra’s company and lead Sri Lanka to a position to launch a final assault when rain interruption meant that Sri Lanka ended with 213/3 in 41.1 overs with COW of 48%. However D/L method revised Australia’s target to 240 from 39 overs. Australia lost Haddin early and then Ponting too before Watson and Clarke took them to 71/2 before two quick wickets left them at 80/4 after 16 overs with a COW of 42%. No batsman converted his start in to a match winning knock as Australia ended at 210 all out to hand Sri Lanka their first ever series win in Australia.

After the lopsided T20 people expected Australia to come back strongly. Batting first, Aussies lost Watson early but Clarke and Haddin batted sensibly to take them to 79/1 after 16 with COW of 49% before 3 quick wickets had them tottering at 88-4 with COW of 44%. Hussey and Marsh stage a mini recovery but despite Hussey’s fighting fifty, he got little support and Australia reached 239/8 in 50 with COW of 47%. This should have been a cakewalk for Sri Lanka and for sometime it did seem so. After two early wickets Mahela and Sangakarra were cruising along before Mahela fell leaving with score at 76. 3 more wickets fell as Lanka collapsed to 87/6 after 19 with COW of 37%. Mathews are Randiv brought some sanity back but a double strike left Lanka in deep trouble at 111/8 after 26 with COW of 19%. While everyone was busy writing them off Mathews first helped Malinga settle and then they took Powerplay to blast themselves closer to the finishing line and what happened next was an unbelievable partnership as they both recorded fifties to get within sniffing distance. There was more drama as Malinga was run out but they managed to sneak home to win by 1 wicket.

After the miracle witnessed in last match there were no favourites. South Africa, with Kallis back in the side, batted first. Shoaib removed Kallis and Ingram early to leave them at 16/2 after 5 with COW down to 47%. AB stuck around unconvincingly with Amla before Duminy gave him some support. Amla was the only one to pay heed to Coach as he notched up yet another century but wickets fell regularly to leave them at 228/9 with COW of 46%. Likewise Pakistan was reeling at 13/2 after 7 with COW of 45% before Farhan and Asad took them to 93/2 after 27 with COW of36%. Then wickets kept falling while Fawad held up one end as they stumbled to 195/7 after 46 with COW of 34%. Wahab Riaz connected few swings and suddenly match was on even keel but South Africa managed to squeeze through by 2 runs.

When Australia chose to bat first, we all expected a high scoring encounter. But that was not to be. On a hard, fast and bouncy pitch the Lankan seamers made instant mark and by the end of 7 overs they were 31/3 with a COW down from 51% to 45%. Haddin and Smith staged recovery with a 6th wicket partnership to take them 103/5 after 17 with COW of 45% before late flourish saw them reach 133 with COW of 43%. Sri Lanka got off to a great start before 2 quick wickets had them at 45/2 after 5 with COW of 59%. Dilshan and Sangakarra put the result beyond doubt as they took them to 112/2 in 14 overs with COW of 75% before Perera’s cameo took them home in 16.3 overs.

South Africa were the clear favorites even without Smith and Kallis. Batting first, they lost Petersen early but Amla and Ingram steadied the innings. Amla continued to play like a dream while Ingram was uncharacteristically circumspect as they took South Africa to 100/1 in 20 overs with COW of 51% before Amla fell. AB helped Ingram take the further before he fell to Afridi. Duminy and Ingram flourished together as has become a norm lately and some lusty hitting at the end saw SA reach 286/8 with a COW of 57%. With most batsmen answering Coach’s call he would be reasonably happy. Pakistan’s tryst with disastrous starts continued. And with the top 4 batsmen unable to get going they were 72/3 after 19 with a COW of just 27%. Afridi came in and played as if this was a featherbed and fell just short of a fifty and out walked Razzak. Razzak and strangely subdued Alam took Pakistan to 211/5 in 41 overs with COW of 25%. All looked lost when Alam also fell, but Razzak blasted 7 fours and 10 sixes, while wickets kept tumbling at the other end, to score and unforgettable century and take Pakistan to victory by 1 wicket with just one ball to spare.

South Africans were slight favourites to win the match based on recent form of both the teams. Pakistan opted to bat first. In the face of some tight bowling South Africa, Pakistan struggled to score initially and lost Asad as they crawled to 26/1 in 8 overs with a COW of 44%. Old-horse Younis Khan joined Hafeez at crease and they took Pakistan to 140/1 after 30 with a COW of 49%. However once Hafeez fell, Pakistan collapsed like 9 pins as none of the batsmen answered Coach’s call. 9 wickets fell for 63 runs as Pakistan were bowled out for 203 with COW of 37%. South Africa got off to a brisk start but a Shoaib special forced Smith off the field. Amla continued in rich vein of form and in the company of Kallis and when he fell, SA were on their way with 75 runs in 13 overs with COW of 30%. AB joined JK and they both scored fifties before one retired and other got out. Ingram and Duminy followed Coach’s advice as South Africa cantered home in less than 40 overs.

Pakistan had a disastrous start once again and reduced to 41/5 in 8 overs with a COW of 40%. Mishbah then put together partnership with Razzak and then with Haider to take Pakistan to 120/9 with a COW of 33%. Just like in previous match, Misbah started off very slowly and by the time he accelerated it was too late but he did prevent them from collapsing for a small total. South Africa got a off to a decent start with Akhtar and Gul bowling a tight spell. Once Bosman was out, Smith and AB made slow but steady progress till both fell in quick succession to leave them at 72/3 after 14 overs with a COW of 54%. But Duminy and Ingram blitzed through the Pakistan bowling to end the match in 18.4 overs and win the series 2-0.

Pakistan got off to a decent start and then followed it with small partnerships but no one steadied the ship as they stumbled to 53/3 at the end of 8 with a COW of 45%. Afridi played a cameo of 25 off 7 to life the spirits a little but a circumspect knock by Misbah coupled with zero support at other end saw them falter to 119 all out with a COW of just 32%. South Africa didn’t start too well and were soon reduced to 29/3 after 6 with a COW down to 57%. But Duminy and Ingram put together 66 runs before late flourish from Ingram and Miller finished the game off with 10 balls to spare.

After two big victories, South Africa were the firm favorites for their 3rd ODI against Zimbabwe. SA got off to an electric start and were over fifty before Smith fell. Another quick wicket meant that they were 59/2 in 7 but their COW was already at 57%. The double century stand between Duminy and AB took them to 276/2 in 38 overs with a COW of 70% before late hitting propelled them to 399 runs with COW of 80%. Chasing 400 is never easy, but it got worse as Zimbabwe were 32/3 after 7 with COW down to just 15%. Taibu and Ervine tried to stabilize the innings but the task was too much and they eventually folded up for 127 in 29 overs to lose the series 3-0.

Australia got off to a disastrous start with two early wickets lost and struggled to score as they laboured to 57/2 in 17 overs as their COW fell to 40%. Hussey and Clarke set about reviving the inning with a century partnership and by the time Hussey got out Australia were 160/2 in 37 with a COW of 43%. Oz took advantage of powerplay and Clarke’s century plus White’s whirlwind fifty took them to 289/3 with a COW of 56%. Indian inning mirrored Australia’s with two early wickets and a slow start that saw them reach 51/2 in 13 with COW of 36%. But Yuvraj and Virat put together a century partnership before Yuvraj fell after scoring a fifty with India at 172/3 in 34 overs with a COW of 33%. Raina and Virat then raised the tempo and even though Virat and Dhoni fell quickly, Raina’s quickfire fifty ensured India won with 7 balls remaining.

Zimbabwe got off to a decent start before 3 quick wickets, including that of last match’s hero Taylor, left them at 60/3 in 13 with COW of 45%. Taibu set about recovery in partnership with old horses Grant Flower and Ervine but both couldn’t convert their starts in to big scores. Once Taibu fell it took some late hitting by Dabengwa and Utseya to take them to 268 all out with a COW of 44%. South Africa were off the blocks quick in pursuit and by the time Smith was out they reached 84/1 in 13 with a COW of 60%. At this point AB joined Amla and they both went about the chase as If the target was 350+. Amla departed after yet another century but by then they were 224/2 in 34 with COW of 69%. AB continued his onslaught as he hit 5 sixes, the last one bringing up his century and finishing the match in 39 overs.

3-0 down in the series we expected the Kiwis to come out all guns blazing to win this one and save their face. And for a while it did look like that. They knocked off 4 Bangladeshi wickets to leave them at 79/4 in 17 overs with COW of 42%. But Shakib yet again waged a fight back in company of Mushfiqur and it looked like déjà-vu all over before Shakib fell in 29th over as Bangladesh were 133/5 with COW of 43%. After that it was just a formality as Mills and Mckay wrapped up for 174 in 45th over with COW of 31%. New Zealand couldn’t have asked for a worse start as Rubel reduced them to 20/5 in 7 overs with a COW down to 50%. But Vettori was determined to fight and along with Elliot he took Kiwis back to a commanding position at 106/5 in 30 with COW still at 50%. However Vettori and N. McCullum fell in quick succession before Mills and Elliot took them to the verge of victory. But Rubel came back to finish what he had started as Kiwis fell short by 3 runs to give Bangladesh a 4-0 series win.

South Africa got off to a flier before Smith fell but with Amla in the form of his life, boundaries didn’t cease. By the time Amla was out the total was 201 in 32 overs and the COW was 61%. Ingram continued in company for AB first and Duminy later to record his maiden century and take South Africa to 351 with a COW of 74%. Zimbabwe got off a much needed good start but Taylor was fighting a lone battle as wickets fell at regular intervals. Their COW dipped below 20% after 23rd over as they reached 123/3. Even the brilliant 145* by Taylor was never going to be enough when the target was so big and in the end Zimbabwe scored 287/6 to lose by 64 runs.

After losing 2 matches, New Zealand were expected to show some fightback and they knocked off 3 Bangldeshi wickets early to take charge but 4th wicket stand between imrul and Shakib took them to 97 in 18 with a COW of 47%. Shakib continued to be their lone ranger putting together stands with Mushfiqur and Mahmadullah, as he scored a century. But a late collapse saw them end up at 241 with a COW of 43%. Bangladesh took three quick wickets and the spinner choked the run rate just like in previous matches. Kane Williamson chose the occasion to finally play like a batsman and scored a brilliant century and his stand with Nathan McCullum looked to swing the match their way, but the required rate was too high and wickets fell as they tried to accelerate as they stumbled to a 9 run defeat.

Everyone expected NZ to bounce back in this match with better bating performance. But the things didn’t go as per plan as McCullum fell for a duck. Ryder and Watling batter slowly and sensibly to take them to 54/1 in 13 with COW of 49% before great spells by Shakib and Shuvo saw them stumble to 100/6 in 32 overs with a COW of 36%. Taylor and Mills revived the innings with a hard hitting stand but once Mills fell, Mahmadullah cleaned up the tail and NZ ended at 173 runs with a COW of 34%. Any hopes Kiwis might have had were snuffed out as Imrul and Shahriar put together 127 runs for the first wicket as Bangladesh’s COW went up to 82%. After that it was just academic as Bangladesh cruised home with 10 overs to spare to claim their first ever series win over another test playing nation.

After being demolished in the 1st T20 Zimbabwe had another chance to prove their worthiness. SA went in to bat first this time and for some time it looked like Zim had their measure as the lost 2 early wickets but Smith and Duminy combined to take them to 82/3 in 10 with a COW of 53%. Duminy once again destroyed Zim bowling attack with an unbeaten 96 as SA reached 194/6 in 20 with a COW of 60%. No one gave Zimbabwe any chance of getting near this one but Taylor and Chibhabha nearly proved them wrong. They took Zim to 113/1 in 13 with COW of 40% and suddenly it looked feasible but once they got out Chigumbura got no support and they fell short by 8 runs.

Zimbabwe were clearly nobody’s favourites and it showed as they lost Taylor early and struggled to 22/1 in 5 overs with COW of 43% before Masakadza and Chibhabha surprised the South Africans and perhaps themselves to as they displayed aggressive intent and took them to 96/1 in 13 with COW of 52% before Chibhabha fell and then remaining batsmen built on that to take them to an impressive 168/4 with a COW of 58%. South Africa received a rude awakening and that showed as they raced away to 78/0 in 6 over with a COW of 54% and Smith and Bosman took the Zimbabwe attack to the cleaners. Zimbabwe fought back with 3 quick wickets but Duminy and Miller continued the onslaught to wrap up the match in 15.5 overs.

New Zealand arrived on this tour expecting easy wins. Bangladesh had a point to prove to those who questioned their ODI team status. First ODI kicked off with Bangladesh without their best batsmen, Tamim Iqbal, who was out with injury. Bangladesh got off to a very slow start before picking up some momentum but a fall of wicket got them to just 61/1 in 15 overs with COW of 45% and 100/2 in 25 with COW of 42%. It took a fighting fifty from their go to guy, Shakib Al Hasan, seemed to put them back on track but another collapse saw them stumble to 228 in 49.3 overs with a COW of 41%. New Zealand got off to a flyer with McCullum and Ryder matching shot for shot as they raced to 49/0 in 6 overs with a COW of 67%. Ryder fell but McCullum continued and by the time Bangladesh got McCullum out in a double strike Kiwis were 85/4 in 15 overs with COW of 64%. But rains there after meant that Kiwis had to chase 210 runs in 37 overs. Seemed simple but the Bangladeshi spinners claimed 7 wickets between and never really let Kiwis get a stronghold as they restricted them too 200/8 to win by 9 runs.

NZ were slight underdogs in the opening T20 match of this 2 match series with Sri Lanka. Their batmen’s inability to stay at the crease for long didn’t help their cause. Apart from Taylor, Vettori and to some extent McCullum, no one paid heed to Coach’s instructions and their innings never gathered any real momentum. Kiwis ended their innings with 120 runs and a COW of 36%. Sri Lankans were firm favourites to chase this down but they also struggled with the bat reaching 50/3 in 10 allowing Kiwis to raise their COW to 48%. With the required run rate going up they succumbed under tight bowling and fielding. Angela Mathews was the lone ranger but there was little he could do as Sri Lankan innings folded up for just 92 runs.

In the 5th match West Indies’ innings was typical stop-start innings with almost every batsman getting a start and throwing it away. Only Chanderpaul and Deonarine showed some mettle with gritty fifties as West Indies struggled to meet last match’s exploits and scored 252 runs for a COW of 51%. The total was not huge but there was little something in the pitch for the bowlers. South Africa’s story was similar, however Amla, Kallis and Duminy scored fifties to ensure that COW never got too low. However a late fight back by West Indies bowlers saw the match go down to the wire with South Africans scampering through in the last over to win the match by 1 wicket and the series 5-0.

CSK took on Warriors in the CLT20 final with a COW of 53%. Batting first, Warriors went off on a flier but a Bollinger full toss got rid of Prince. Soon Jacobs’ enterprising knock also ended as Warriors reached 47/2 at the end of 6 overs with a COW of 47%. CSK spinners once again strangled the Warriors middle order and picked regular wickets and it took some wild hits from Thyssen to take them to 128/7 with a COW of 36%. CSK got off to a slow and steady start before Hussey and Vijay opened up and soon CSK were 70/0 in 11 with COW of 83%. Vijay and Raina fell trying to end match quickly but Hussey and Dhoni saw CSK home in 19 overs and CSK became the CLT20 champions.

Warriors went up against the only unbeaten team in CLT20, South Australia Redbacks, in the 2nd Semifinal. Tait removed Prince early but Jacobs and Ingram absolutely hammered their bowling in a stand that took them to 105 in 12 overs before Jacobs fell. Their COW at that point was 55%. A tight spell from Harris saw them restrict Warriors till Boje opened up towards the end to take them to 175/6 in 20 with a COW of 55%. Redbacks lost their heroes Klinger and Harris early on and after that it was purely a struggle as they reached 60/4 in 10 with COW of 35%. Late charge by Ferguson raised some hopes but the target was too big and they eventually ended at 145/7 as Warriors reached the finals.

CSK took on RCB in the Semifinal with both teams having equal COW. CSK got off to slow start before rains interrupted. By the time match was resumed it was reduced to 17 overs. CSK lost a wicket straight away but RCB lost a lot more as Steyn got injured taking the catch. CSK exploited this by manhandling the 5th bowler. Raina and Vijay took them to 97/1 in 11 with COW of 49% before Vijay got out. But Raina continued his big hitting and smote 6 sixes in his 94 run inning as CSK scored 174 runs in 17 overs to end with a COW of 58%. RCB kept losing wickets at regular interval and seemed to be out of contest as they reached 57/4 in 10 with COW of just 14%. A fighting 50 from Manish Pandey and few blows from P Kumar were never going to be enough as they were bowled out for 123 in 16.2 overs as CSK reached their first CLT20 final.

West Indies tried to change the script by batting first and got off to a good start too with Richards and Chanderpaul scoring fifties. By the time they were separated the score was 115/2 in 23rd over and the COW was at 50%. Then Bravo brothers and Pollard combined push the score with big hitting as West Indies ended their 50 overs with 303 runs and a COW of 59%. South Africa were up for the chase with Amla once again they lynchpin as he partnered Smith, Kallis and AB in succession while scoring another century to take the score to 224/3 in 38th over and raised the COW to 65%. AB and Duminy batted sensibly to take the team home off the last ball for a 4-0 lead.

Despite regular wickets South Africa were off to a decent start and reached 113/3 in 22nd with a COW of 49%. AB held up one end with a fighting fifty as others caved in. South Africa’s innings was never really in top gear and they were all out for 224 in 48 over with a COW of 41%. But West Indies team has a reputation for getting things wrong. Langeveldt and Morkel destroyed their batting lineup with 7 wickets between them. Not a single batsman crossed 30 as West Indies collapsed to 157 all out in 38 overs to lose the series 3-0.

Once again South Africa got off to a good start with 89 runs partnership for the first wicket. After Smith got out Kallis built the innings first with Amla and then with AB to reach 239/3 in 43rd over. With top 4 bastsmen answering Coach’s call it was no surprise that they ended up with 300 runs and a COW of 54%. West Indies were surprisingly circumspect chasing a big total and trundled to 45/1 in 11th with a COW of 33%.They needed one big partnership to recover but that never happened. Apart from Richards’ and Bravo’s fifties no one really contributed till Sammy scored an explosive fifty to turn the match around but eventually ran out of partners as West indies were all out for 283.

RCB lost the last match narrowly and went in to this match knowing that nothing but a win would do. After a double jolt Lions roared back and by the time 3rd wicket fell they were going strong at 74/3 in 8 with COW of 48%. Petersen continued the good work in company of McKenzie ad some late fireworks from Frylinck saw them post a competitive 159/6 with COW of 47%. RCB got off to a slow but steady start that saw them reach 48/0 in 7 with COW of 50%. After Dravid’s dismissal Pandey and Kohli raised the scoring rate that saw them reach 89/2 in 12 with COW of 48%. Few more wickets fell leaving them struggling at 117/4 in 16 with a COW of just 40% but Kohli and White smashed the bowlers around and finished off the match with a whole over to spare.

Redbacks went in to this match unbeaten and Guyana had not even come close to winning any of theirs so we knew who the favourite was. But Guyana showed glimpses of why they are the Caribbean champions as the Redbacks struggled to 43/3 off 6 with a COW of 50%. But Guyana were unable to keep the standard of their game up and poor bowling plus sub standard fielding let Redbacks right back in. Ferguson and Borgas took the opportunity to take them to 130/4 in 16 with COW of 52% and lusty blows at the end saw then notch the tournament’s highest score of 191/6 with COW of 59%. Dowling fell early but then Ramdeen and Jacobs helped Sarwan put up a fight as they reached 108/3 in 13 with COW of 40%. But as time came to accelerate and grab victory wickets kept falling and even Sarwan’s inning of 70 was not enough as they ended up at 176/7 and exited the tournament without a win.

At 2-2 the series was evenly poised with both Eng and Pak having same CWO of 50%. England decided to bat first but lost 2 quick wickets to be down to 46/2 in 10 overs with COW of 49%. More struggle was in store as Bell and Morgan steadied the innings to take them to 96/3 in 25 overs with a COW of 41%. However it was the 4 wicket partnership between Morgan and Collingwood that gave them a base as they reached 199/4 in 44 overs with a COW of 42%. Morgan proved his finishing capabilities as he notched up a century and England ended up with 255/6 and a COW of 44%. Pakistan got off to a good start and after 10 overs were 57/0 with a COW of 60%. But there after England chipped away with wickets at regular intervals as Pakistan reached 113/6 after 30 with a COW of 35%. There were no heroics this time as Broad and Swann picked up 3 each as Pakistan collapsed to 135 all out in 37 overs to lose the series 3-2.

Having thoroughly outclassed England in the 3rd ODI, Pakistan were slight favourites for this one. Once again Pakistan got off to a slow but steady start and reached 62/1 in 14 overs with COW of 50%. Wickets fell at regular interval but Hafeez compiled a sedate half century. But no one could convert their starts in to useful contribution till Abdul Razzak plundered the attack in last 4 overs as Pakistan ended at 265/7 with a COW of 45%. England got off to a similar start and in fact their openers took them to 113 in 20 overs with COW of 43% as their run rate struggled. But there after wickets fell at regular intervals as English players struggled to keep the RRR in check and another inspired spell of bowling by Umar Gul proved to be the proverbial last straw and England collapsed to 227 all out to tie the series at 2-2.