The Great Game Called Cricket...

Before this tournament started there were two Twenty20 international hundreds. In the last 48 hours that tally has been doubled and Mahela Jayawardene's even 100 will rank among the finest innings played in the format. It proved, beyond doubt, that there is still a place for elegance and grace in the smash-and-grab world of Twenty20.

For a while it looked like rain would scupper Sri Lanka, but they managed to race to five overs in Zimbabwe's chase before another downpour. Now they are likely to progress to the Super Eights, and Jayawardene is going to take some catching as the tournament's leading scorer if his form continues, having begun with 81 off 51 balls against New Zealand three days ago.

On early form it is shaping as a race between him, Suresh Raina and possibly Shane Watson. Raina and Watson made their mark yesterday against South Africa and Pakistan respectively, but they were both innings more akin to this format. That isn't for one minute suggesting they weren't worthy knocks, far from it as Raina produced a glorious 60-ball 101 and Watson pulverised Pakistan with a 49-ball 81.

But watching Watson, and to a lesser extent, Raina hammer the bowling attack wasn't nearly as fulfilling an experience as watching Jayawardene toy with the Zimbabwe attack. The bowlers he faced weren't of the class of South Africa or Pakistan, but Jaywardene was in complete control from the moment he struck the second delivery of the match for four and the third for six as 14 came off the first over. It was a faultless innings.

"I'm relieved and happy we managed to play a game out there but I thought the day belonged to Mahela who batted absolutely brilliantly," said Kumar Sangakkara. "To score a hundred in Twenty20 isn't easy but the way he is batting I think he'll keep on doing things that are incredible."

It is a complete justification of his elevation to opening, which has led to Sanath Jayasuriya coming in at No. 8. Only twice in his previous 579 internationals has Jayasuriya batted so low and they were back in 1990 and 1991. Before Jayawardene moved, he had an underwhelming average of 22.05 from 23 Twenty20s and the task of launching the innings was left to Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Now Sri Lanka have found the way to make the most of Jayawardene in Twenty20, especially with Jayasuriya coming towards the end of his career.

"It wasn't that I was disappointed batting lower down, I had a different role, it's whatever fits in but I knew I could be a lot more free and express myself a bit better batting higher up the order," Jayawardene said. "I started in provincial cricket back home and it went well and continued at the IPL, then I had a chat to my skipper. When you are in form you have to make best use of it, and in Twenty20, you need guys to control the innings so the big hitters can bat around you."

Jaywardene has always been one of the most pleasing batsmen on the eye and it is testament to his skill that he has been able to translate that into Twenty20, where the temptation is to leather the cover off the ball. However, regardless of how quickly runs need to be scored, there is no point swinging blindly because the net result is unlikely to be as successful as retaining the basics that make for successful run-scoring in any format. However, Jayawardene could probably make slogging looking graceful.

"I had to challenge myself to be a bit different in Twenty20 cricket as well as all the other aspects of the game," he said. "So you keep pushing yourself to try and be a better cricketer every day."

His impressive IPL form has no doubt played a part in his prolific start to this event, as have pitch conditions in Guyana, which are akin to those in Colombo and Galle. Still, batsmen normally like to take a little time to get their eye in but Jayawardene drove his third delivery over long off to signal his intent. It wasn't even a half volley, yet the back-of-a-length ball from Chris Mpofu was lofted on the up; in a Test match, or even an ODI, it would have been left or defended with a high left elbow.

Against New Zealand he had dominated the scoring - after six overs he had 30 of Sri Lanka's 36 - and was at it again here, when Dilshan's poor run continued as he miscued a lofted drive for 2. This time after six overs, Jayawardene had 48 (off 25 balls) out of Sri Lanka's 59 for 1 and his fifty off 27 balls was the fastest of the tournament to date. Because there was so little outlandish swinging by Jayawardene, the opportunity of the hundred almost crept up, and when he nudged a single into the leg side he celebrated with an understated lift of the bat to the dug-out and the crowd.

There has also been a role reversal with his opening partner Dilshan, who led Sri Lanka's batting at last year's World Twenty20 but can't buy a run this time. However, you couldn't get two more contrasting players and there isn't a Dilscoop in sight when Jayawardene has his bat in hand. There is no need for such extravagance when the tried and tested methods work so well.

Batting was expected to be difficult on a slow and low pitch in Providence but the touch artist Mahela Jayawardene sparkled with a delightful ton, only the fourth batsman to hit a Twenty20 hundred, to charge Sri Lanka to 173. A heavy downpour after one over into the chase left Zimbabwe needing 104 from 11 initially, but it rained again to terminate the match after five overs were completed. Sri Lanka won on the D\L method as Zimbabwe only reached 29 for 1 when the par score was 43.

The rains stayed away, however, until Jayawardene treated the sparse crowd to a charming knock. Only one other batsman in Sri Lanka's top six touched double digits; it said much about the pitch and the form of the other batsmen but most importantly it highlighted Jayawardene's mastery.

There wasn't a single shot in violence from Jayawardene. Not one looked ugly. Not for a moment did he look hurried. And yet, his strike-rate was over 150. It was such a graceful knock that it stood out amid the violence that this format usually brings in batsmen. Perhaps it's his economy of movement and the languid flow of his bat that catches the eye. The experts reckoned the pitch would make hitting on the up a difficult task, that the ball would stop on the batsmen, that timing would be difficult to find. And it appeared so when the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and the rest batted. Not when Jayawardene took strike.

There was a delicious six hit on the up over extra cover that was a perfect advertisement for Jayawardene's skill. He was walking down the track to the medium pace of Elton Chigumbura but kept his head still and balance perfect. Chigumbura shortened his length to try and upset the balance but Jayawardene wafted his wand through the line and the ball soared over the extra-cover boundary.

Jayawardene flowed right from the start today, collecting three boundaries in the first over from Chris Mpofu: A cut, a gorgeous on-the-up six over long off and a whiplash on-drive. He repeatedly drove the seamers through the off side and there was even a deft upper cut to a slow bouncer from Chigumbura, but he treated the spinners with more respect. He looked for opportunities to unfurl his cuts and sweeps against the slow men and rotated the strike with wristy nudges. In between, he slog-swept and pulled Price for boundaries, slog swept Graeme Cremer for a six, late cut and swatted Greg Lamb to the boundary.

Zimbabwe perhaps erred by not starting with two spinners. Prosper Utseya, who has often bowled with Price in the Powerplays, chose to give Mpofu and Chigumbura three overs with the new ball. Those three overs leaked 35 runs and allowed Jayawardene to cut loose. And he went on to play an innings of style and substance.


Match Meter

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Sri Lanka
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First over assault: Mahela Jayawardene collects three boundaries in the first over bowled by Chris Mpofu: a cut shot and a whipped on drive, either side of a six over long-off. It set the tone for the innings

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Sri Lanka
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Zim refuse to spin early: Prosper Utseya uses three overs from the seamers in the first five and they go for 35 runs. The momentum swings completely to Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka
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A costly miss: Jayawardene, on 35, goes for a risky single after Thissara Perera dabbed straight to point. A direct hit would have found him a yard shot, but the throw missed the mark.

Advantage Honours even

West Indies booked their place in the Super Eights with a controversial rain-assisted victory over England at Providence, as Chris Gayle justified his decision to bowl first with a fiery but shortlived 25 from 12 balls - an innings that proved sufficient, under the provisions of Duckworth-Lewis, to carry West Indies to a revised target of 60 in six overs, after England had produced arguably their finest batting display in the format's history to post an imposing 191 for 5.

England's defeat should not prove costly in the long run, so long as they overcome Ireland in their second group match on Tuesday, but it was nevertheless an unfortunate way for a beautifully poised contest to unravel - and for England it was a case of history repeating itself, after West Indies eliminated them from the last World Twenty20 in a similar scenario at The Oval in June.

The result was more or less a foregone conclusion from the moment that the D/L calculators were brought into play. While the method is unrivalled as a means of resolving rain interruptions in 50-over cricket, it is not so well suited to the hustle and bustle of the 20-over format. It just so happened that the match did come down to the wire - Andre Fletcher eventually sealed it with a pulled four through midwicket with one ball to spare - but it had been a nervy denouement. In a full-length contest, West Indies' challenge might well have petered out as soon as Gayle pulled Michael Yardy to short midwicket in the fourth over.

Instead, Gayle's brief intercession proved sufficient to puncture England's spirits after a hugely impressive performance with the bat. Eoin Morgan top-scored with 55 from 35 balls, and was joined in an 95-run stand for the fifth wicket by Luke Wright, who made 45 from 27, to close the innings with the same positive intent shown by their rookie opening pairing of Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter, who showcased their boundary-clearing abilities with scores of 28 from 18 balls and 26 from 14 respectively.

Nevertheless, with rain in the air, Gayle knew exactly how to pace his reply, and turned on the afterburner. Ryan Sidebottom was dispatched for 15 in an opening over in which he beat the bat three times and found the edge once, only to ruin his good work with a leg-side wide and two half-volleys that were belted over the covers for four and six. And at the other end, Shivnarine Chanderpaul turned his stance inside-out to sweep Graeme Swann over point for another six, as England conceded 30 runs in 2.2 overs, and with it, the contest.

Collingwood was understandably frustrated after the match, but England had plenty reason to be proud of their performance. Their total of 11 sixes was a national record for the format, and though neither of the new boys, Kieswetter or Lumb, was able to build on their starts, their alliance was an undoubted success, as demonstrated by England's Powerplay total of 60 for 1, the highest six-over score of the tournament (until West Indies trumped it in their brief reply).

Once they were gone, however, the older guard of Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen struggled to maintain the dominance, as Miller and Darren Sammy found a tidy rhythm to stymie the flow of runs, but when Morgan and Wright came together at 88 for 4 after 10 overs, they did so with the ideal blend of watchfulness and aggression. It wasn't until both men had their eyes in with five overs remaining that they really cut loose.

Kieron Pollard's first over was clobbered for 16 by Wright, including two sixes - one flat over Sulieman Benn's head at long-on, the other high over the midwicket scoreboard. Morgan then drilled Dwayne Bravo for four straight back down the ground, before sweeping him wristily over backward square leg for six, as the fifty partnership was brought up in 6.5 overs.

Ravi Rampaul, who had conceded 25 in his first two overs, was then clobbered for 27 in his third and final over, including three sixes in three legitimate balls - two for Wright and one, from a free hit, for Morgan, who followed up with a cheeky backhanded dink for four that left Collingwood chuckling at his audacity. He brought up his half-century from 32 balls before picking out Pollard in the deep with four balls of the innings remaining. It ought to have been enough for the contest at hand, but instead England will hope it is a marker for the tournament.

has credited the India captain MS Dhoni for helping him develop to become the third player to score a Twenty20 international century. Raina's 101 against South Africa elevated him to elite company with only Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum having previously made hundreds.

The innings ensured victory for India, who have progressed to the Super Eights, and surpassed Gautam Gambhir's 75 three years ago as the highest score by an India player in an international. Raina said playing with Dhoni in the Chennai Super Kings' triumphant IPL campaign had been a major bonus.

"Mahi [Dhoni] helped me a lot in the IPL," Raina told reporters in St Lucia. "The senior players, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, have also supported me throughout. I've played five or six years of international cricket, it's important to fulfil the dreams they've had for me."

He brought up his milestone with a six off Albie Morkel and in doing so, made the most of an early life after he was caught off a Morne Morkel no-ball on 5. Raina said he didn't feel at his best early in the innings but found his touch as the day wore on.

"I was not hitting the ball when I came in," he said. "I was thinking 'just rotate the strike' and when I get a loose ball just go for it."

The 14-run result has left South Africa needing to beat Afghanistan in Barbados on Wednesday to move past the group stage. It is a game that South Africa should win but they have left themselves vulnerable after failing to restrict Raina's output.

"We started well with the ball, 160 was par and we were on track for that until Raina got hold of us at the back end," the captain Graeme Smith said. "It was a terrific knock, he held the innings together.

"He played with great accuracy and power and he was able to exploit our lack of accuracy towards the back end, which played into his hands. I spoke before the game about little things and that no-ball proved to be costly for us in the end."

Smith conceded that South Africa's chase wasn't helped by a slow start from himself and Jacques Kallis. Both men made reasonable scores but they didn't move fast enough and when they fell within an over of each other, they had left the team still needing 59 from 22 balls with seven wickets in hand.

"Myself and Jacques probably left it a bit late for the other guys," Smith said. "It was disappointing, when you are chasing a total and you end up 15 runs short of whatever it is and not all your guys get a chance to have a whack. We've definitely got to sharpen up before we play Afghanistan. We've got some things to work on and to think about."

Suresh Raina struggled at first, then he sizzled. He overcame a jittery period of mis-hits and short-pitched bowling, scoring 82 off the last 38 balls he faced, en route to only the third century in Twenty20 internationals. Yuvraj Singh came back to form, Graeme Smith's reluctance to attack with Dale Steyn confounded, and India's 186 was always going to be too much on a difficult pitch and a slow and big outfield.

South Africa's reply, in the face of a four-spinner Indian attack - without using Yuvraj - was even more confounding. Jacques Kallis and Smith struggled to flow, and hesitated to take risks. Their run-rate crossed six an over for the first time in the 11th over, and it was too late by then, despite some late hitting from Kallis.

India had got off to a similar start, albeit against seamers, but unlike South Africa they threw away the caution at a more appropriate time. With two early wickets gone and both Raina and Yuvraj struggling to present the middle of the bat, India were 43 after eight overs. There was no mucking around after that. Although the odd mis-hit remained a feature of the partnership, the sweet shots grew in frequency and India got 143 in the next 12 overs. It worked for them that the mis-hits kept bouncing in front of deep fielders, and the sweet ones cleared them easily.

From the time he came to bat in the first over, Raina was given a fair share of back-of-a-length deliveries. By the time India's both irregular openers, in absence of Gautam Gambhir (down with diarrhoea), ended their struggle, Raina had survived a catch off a Morne Morkel no-ball. He would go on to survive run-out attempts from Smith and AB de Villiers, when on 37 and 47.

The introduction of spin, when Raina was 19 off 22 and Yuvraj 5 off 9, was what turned it around. In the ninth over, Roelof van der Merwe's first and only, Raina played two lovely inside-out drives to get six off two deliveries, and Yuvraj slog-swept to get six off one. That was trigger enough to shed away inhibitions. The first ball of the next over, Raina guessed a back-of-a-length delivery, backed away and slogged Kallis for six. His best shot was when he made room against a near yorker from Albie Morkel in the next over and squeezed it wide of point for four.

Yuvraj, meanwhile, had found his timing back, and took the lead in scoring, playing the effortless pick-ups, short-arm pulls, and the inside-out shots. By the time he skied one to hand, Raina, having put in the struggle, the ugly moments, was there in a position to cash in. Steyn, underused in the first half of the innings, came back well, but he was now limiting damage as opposed to causing it.

Rory Kleinveldt, who got M Vijay in the first over and Yuvraj later, was the one who suffered the most. And he was asking for it too, bowling either length or full tosses in the 18th over, and was hit to such varied areas as midwicket, cow corner, extra cover, straight over his head, and over long-off. Twenty-five came off that over, during which Raina moved from 75 to 93. He reached his century with a slogged six in the final over, which went for 19.

Raina will cherish this knock all the more because the pitch interested a variety of bowlers. South Africa had managed to assume a strong position with their hit-the-deck bowlers, India were about to do so with the spinners. Harbhajan Singh bowled the first over, Yusuf Pathan was introduced inside the Powerplay, and Loots Bosman was out of his depth on the slow pitch.

With both Kallis and Smith struggling, by the time the first piece of enterprise came, a slog-swept six from Smith in the 11th over, the required run-rate had reached 13. By the time Kallis reached his fifty, off 45 balls, they were needing 15.5 in each of the six overs to come.

Suddenly Kallis exploded, hitting three sixes in the next two overs. It seemed for the second time in 40 overs a batsman was about to put behind him the struggles and play a decisive knock. Yet, there were just too many risks required, and one of them claimed Kallis, leaving 59 to get off 21. The requirement was comfortable enough for India to be able to experiment: Praveen Kumar bowled just one over, for three runs. With two straight wins, India stormed to the second round as the table leaders.

Match Meter

SASeamers start well: South Africa trouble India with seam movement and back-of-a-length bowling, taking out both irregular openers by the sixth over, for 32.India SA Spin brings India back: Raina and Yuvraj get stuck into first signs of spin, taking 13 off the ninth over, van der Merwe's only attempt at bowling.
IndiaRaina steps up a gear: The Raina-Yuvraj partnership gets India 88 runs and more importantly momentum. When Yuvraj gets out in the 16th over, that momentum only grows: Raina hits a six the next ball, and scores 38 off the next 12 balls he faces.
IndiaKallis, Smith play strangely: While they struggle against spinners, South Africa's two senior-most batsmen don't take enough risks to break free, and by the end of the 10th over, the required run-rate has jumped to 13.
IndiaKallis explodes, then burns: Upon reaching a slow fifty, Kallis opens up, hitting three sixes in two overs, but his fourth attempt ends down long-on's lap, leaving South Africa an unmanageable equation. Advantage Honours even

Australia's captain Michael Clarke was pleased with the rounded nature of his team's big win over Pakistan to give them a bright start to the ICC World Twenty20. Australia posted 191, the best total in the tournament so far, before their fast men combined for eight wickets to confirm the 34-run victory.

The triumph should be enough to see Australia through to the Super Eights, barring a disastrous loss to Bangladesh, and that would be a step in the right direction after they crashed out in the first round last year. Clarke said this year's new-look squad was keen to prove itself in the shortest format.

"There's extra motivation from within the squad, we want to perform better in Twenty20 cricket then we have in general," Clarke told reporters after the win. "I think our form has improved over the last 12 months and we've started really well. The key is going to be adapting to conditions and I think we've got a really good squad to do that.

"It was a very good start from the boys. Obviously our batting sets the game up there, getting 191 runs. The bowlers did a great job as well in the first six overs up front and we caught really well as well."

The success of the pace trio of Shaun Tait, Dirk Nannes and Mitchell Johnson went against the expected trend of the tournament, with the pitches having proved slow and low so far. Nathan Hauritz did not play against Pakistan and Clarke used the spin of David Hussey and Steven Smith instead, but he is happy with the options in his group.

"All four fast bowlers in our squad are not just four fast bowlers who just run in and bowl at the same pace, and bowl the same ball every ball," Clarke said. "They've got great variation, great pace and the key for those guys is their execution which they did really well today.

"We've got two really good spinners in our squad, a couple of all-rounders and there's a couple of us average part-timers who will bowl a couple of overs here and there. I think the strength of this squad is that we have a plan B, which a lot of other teams don't have."

Pakistan defeated Bangladesh on Saturday, which means that only a healthy Bangladesh win over Australia in Barbados on Wednesday will prevent Pakistan and Australia from progressing. But after Australia's warm-up loss to Zimbabwe, Clarke said the team would be taking no chances against Bangladesh.

"Any team in this competition has a great opportunity," he said. "We got beaten by Zimbabwe a couple of days ago. It just shows in this form of the game, you have to be at your best, it doesn't matter who you are playing against. We certainly won't be taking Bangladesh lightly. They've got some wonderful Twenty20 players who are very aggressive with the bat."

Australia began to right previous wrongs in this format with an emphatic dismantling of the defending champions at St Lucia, a 34-run win serving serious notice to one and all of their intentions in this tournament. They wear a fresh look about them in this tournament, under a new captain in Michael Clarke at a global event for the first time since 1999 and with some very handy specialists in the squad.

They went about their opening game in merciless fashion, echoing their dominance over Pakistan months earlier. Brutal half-centuries from Shane Watson and David Hussey set them up, before equally brutal pace shoved aside Pakistan's batsmen. That the loss was Pakistan's tenth international in a row to Australia is neither here nor there; more relevant, Australia were very hot and Pakistan very cold.

It was that way from the start. Watson feasted hungrily in the summer at Pakistan's expense and his love affair continued in more romantic surroundings. A little luck initially helped him, two tough chances put down. More help came from the bulldozing ways of David Warner, the pair giving Australia a brisk start.

Pakistan very rarely open the bowling with a spinner and very quickly, Shahid Afridi's experiment with Mohammad Hafeez looked an unquestioned failure. Warner lofted him for an effortless six over long-off to end the second over and in his next, the game was blown open as the pair took 17.

Warner fell soon after, as did Michael Clarke, but like a right-handed Matthew Hayden, Watson simply bullied his way forth. The brutality of his batting has grown but so has, slyly, his handling of spin. Hafeez was heaved for three sixes, the last of which brought up his fifty in the 10th over.

He was intelligent against Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, not always picking them, but picking away each bad ball. A couple of full tosses were driven and pulled and one cut was a cross-format shot. Then, Hussey interrupted.

Pakistan's fielding was slowly unraveling and Salman Butt's drop when Hussey was 18 was particularly unnecessary; the reprieve unleashed a violent celebration. To rub it in, he took it out on Mohammad Sami, the unlucky bowler. He had bowled well until the 16th over, when his length and head went, allowing Hussey to loft and pull his way to four sixes and a 28-run over. Amid the mess, Watson's innings briefly forgotten, Hussey's own fifty came up.

Pakistan were schizophrenic with the ball; Afridi was again poor and the decision to bowl Hafeez even poorer. Hafeez and Sami went for 101 runs between them. But Mohammad Aamer and Ajmal were exemplary, pulling back some respect at the very end as seven wickets fell in the last four overs, including a remarkable five-wicket maiden last over.

That was to matter little as Australia's intent carried on through in their bowling. Spin, spin, spin has been the chatter, but Australia believe in pace and with some justification. Shaun Tait, Dirk Nannes and Mitchell Johnson will trouble all but the very best on any surface. Tait and Nannes were too much for Pakistan's top order and the trio picked up a wicket each in their first spells; Tait in particular was sharp.

Any time the pacemen weren't on, in fact, Pakistan's batsmen looked good. Fourteen came off a Michael Clarke over, 17 off a Steve Smith one. Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq - a little more 2007 than 2009 - kept hope with a 47-run stand but the return of pace extinguished it. Afridi was bowled by Tait, Misbah and Abdul Razzaq slogged out to Nannes and the pace trio ended with eight wickets between them.

Match Meter

AusWarner, Watson put Pakistan in a spin: Shahid Afridi decides to open with spin but in only his second over, Hafeez is taken for 17 and the momentum is with Australia
AusPakistan let Watson off: Just before he is settled, Watson is dropped twice by Misbah-ul-Haq in the 4th and 5th overs
AusHussey cuts loose: Having been dropped in the 14th over off Mohammad Sami, David Hussey smashes four sixes and 28 runs from his next over to take the innings away from Pakistan
AusPace strikes early: Kamran Akmal falls to Dirk Nannes off the first legitimate ball of the chase
AusPace again: Afridi and Misbah are keeping Pakistan afloat with a handy 47-run stand, but the return of Shaun Tait in the 14th over ends the partnership, as he rattles Afridi's stumps and effectively ends the chase Advantage Honours even