The Super 12 of the Cricket World Cup officially started this weekend on Saturday morning after a nail-biting group stage qualifiers which saw Zimbabwe make it through for the first time in the nation’s history.
Super 12 T20 (13 of 45)
The first match of the Super 12 was between host nation and current T20 world cup title holders Australia and one of the favourites to win this year’s tournament New Zealand. The first match took place at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground where Australia won the toss and decided to send in New Zealand to bat.
Opening batsmen Finn Allen and man of the match Devon Conway (92 of 58 balls, not out) played a terrific innings together, with New Zealand losing their first wicket after a 56 runs partnership in the fourth over.
New Zealand went on to set a tough target of 200 for Australia to chase. The New Zealand attack didn’t waste any time, getting an early first wicket and kept applying pressure on the Aussies batting order.
Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner both got 3 wickets which led to Black Caps getting Australia all out for 111 and comfortably winning the match with 89 runs. The win sends the Black Cups to the top of the Team 1.
Naseem Shah bowled 74 dot balls in T20 world cup 2022. Most by any bowler in super 12's stage! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/2IRXS2NmKh
— muskan 🇵🇰 (@Musskey) November 18, 2022
Super 12 T20 (14 of 45)
The second match of Saturday’s play saw England vs Afghanistan match taking place at the Perth Stadium. England is poised as one of the 3 teams to win this year’s T20 Cricket World Cup.
Afghanistan was sent to the crease after England won the toss and elected to bowl. Afghanistan lost two early wickets with the highest scores coming from Ibrahim Zadran and Usman Ghani both scoring in the low 30s.
The last wicked of Afghanistan’s batting order fell in the last over giving them a score of 112 all out. Sensational bowling from Sam Curran (5 wickets for 10 runs) scored him the title of man of the match.
None of the English batsmen scored over 30 runs in the match and Captain Ben Stokes was bowled out by Mohammed Nabi only adding 2 points to the tally. England won the match in the 18th over and by so sending them to the top 3 teams of Team 1.
Most runs in T20 World Cup 2022 Super-12 stage:
— 𝙇𝙀𝙊 𝙍𝘿𝙆 ᵇˡᵒᵒᵈʸ ˢʷᵉᵉᵗ (@champvirat_18) November 6, 2022
246 - Virat Kohli
225 - Suryakumar Yadav pic.twitter.com/BGD2XUepNh
Super 12 T20 (15 of 45)
Sunday brought the most exciting day of the ICC Cricket world cup so far. The first match of the day two saw two teams (Sri Lanka and Ireland) that made it through to the Super 12 by qualifying in the group stage compete against each other at the Bellerive Oval.
The crease looked good for Ireland who won the coin toss and went in to bat first. They struggled to get bat on ball and only scored 128/8 after 20 overs, their best batting came from middle-order batsman Harry Tector who scored 45 from 42 balls.
A superb batting performance came from man of the match Kusal Mendis, who got 68 runs with 3 sixes and not out which helped Sri Lanka to easily obtain the needed runs and finishing the match with losing only one wicket. This win placed Sri Lanka second on the log in Team 1.
South Africa go top of Super 12 group after T20 World Cup win over India https://t.co/dS1I1LbJdv
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) October 30, 2022
Super 12 T20 (16 of 45)
The second match that followed on Sunday is one that will not soon be forgotten as India which many sees as the team to beat this year played their rivals Pakistan.
A packed Melbourne Cricket Ground with 90 293 spectators played host to this epic match where India won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat. Shan Masood and Iftikar Ahmed came to Pakistan’s rescue after losing the two opening batsman in quick succession, they both scored over 50 points which help put a defendable total of 159 points on the scoreboard.
Hardik Pandya was India’s best bowler on the day getting 3 wickets for 32 runs. India made the same mistake and lost two batsmen early on in their innings. Man of the match Virat Kohli scored a massive 82 from 53 balls hitting 4 sixes.
It was the last over that got the crowd going and was almost too tense to watch but India managed to pull through winning the match with 4 wickets to spare. Pakistan’s best bowling came from Haris Rauf who took 2 wickets for 36 runs.