World Cup 2012 Highlights

source: Getty Images

The World Cup is done and dusted for 2012 and the West Indies have taken home the major prize and their fourth major international title. They are also the fourth different champion the tournament has had since its inception in 2007, which says a lot about the excitement and unpredictability of Twenty20 cricket.

As a way to round off the tournament, we'll take a look back at some of our highlights of the Twenty20 World Cup, both on and off the field (or alternatively have a listen to the podcast, which I assure you is incredibly visual):

• The Super Eight stage was where the tournament really got going, with cricket's heavyweights going head to head on a daily basis.

• Pakistan's great escape against South Africa, while helped them qualify for the semi-finals, while conjuring horrible feelings of deja-vu for South African fans.

• Whether you are an Australian fan or not (or even a Watson fan or not!) you have to be impressed by Shane Watson's tournament. Leading run scorer, second most wickets, he pretty much did it all carrying Australia further than the team's form probably deserved.

• The match winning performances of the spin bowlers, who for most of the tournament kept batsmen under their thumbs.

• When batsmen got off the leash though, they went big:

These are some but not all of the many highlights from this crazy three week festival of cricket, if you feel we have missed any, or have your own, feel free to leave a comment below.

Final preview: Sri Lanka vs West Indies

Captains Mahela Jayawardene (left) and Darren Sammy (right) with the T20 World Cup trophy.

                                   
After three weeks and 26 matches, featuring twelve the world's best T20 cricket teams, we are down to just two: host nation Sri Lanka and the West Indies, the entertainers of world cricket. But will it be Sri Lanka who shake off their bridesmaids tag to win in front of their home crowd, or will we see Chris Gayle again leading Gangnam-style celebrations for the West Indies? We break down the two teams to try to find out:

Semi final preview: Australia vs West Indies

Host nation Sri Lanka has qualified for Sunday's final, but who will they face in Colombo? We take an in-depth look at tonight's semi-final to find out.

World Cup format is damaging T20 cricket

Source: Herald Sun

One of the biggest criticisms of Twenty20 cricket is that it is essentially meaningless, a hit-and-giggle game without the meaning attached to one-day internationals and especially Test cricket. With this criticism in mind, the International Cricket Council (ICC) should view the Twenty20 World Cup as an opportunity to debunk this idea by providing three weeks of exciting cricket packed full of important matches.  But unfortunately what we have got so far in this tournament has been a week of mis-matches with predictable results.

Super Eights preview (part 2)

GROUP 2:

By an odd quirk of the draw, the second Super Eight group features two past winners, the 2010 runner-up and the current No.1 ranked team. It also contains the four unbeaten teams in the tournament, none of whom were overly troubled during the group stage. India did what it had to do against Afghanistan before pummelling England, while Australia have been carried by some impressive performances from Shane Watson. Pakistan's top order has been firing in the group stage and South Africa has underlined it's number one ranking with two disciplined and clinical performances, even in farcical situations.

Who Progresses?

Pakistan looms as a real danger now that its top order, potentially a weak link, is up and running as they have a bowling line-up well suited to T20 cricket in the sub-continent. South Africa has been the most impressive team so far and would be favoured to go through, although it's getting close to the period when traditionally they struggle with a few mental demons. Australia needs it's top order to continue in the form that it showed in the group matches, as their middle order is potentially vulnerable, while India would hope for more of the conditions dished up against England, as their pace stocks look a little thin.

Super Eights preview

The end of the group stages has seen, somewhat predictably, the weakest four teams exit the tournament without threatening to upset the tournament heavyweights.
From here on in though the competition gets much tougher, with the remaining teams split into two groups, with the top two in each progressing to the knock-out semi finals.

GROUP 1:

This must be seen as the weaker group, both in terms of reputation and form. Defending champions England bullied Afghanistan in its opening game before being getting thrashed by India. New Zealand opened impressively against Bangladesh before going down to Pakistan, while both the West Indies and Sri Lanka have been hampered by the weather. The Lankan's could only take to the field for 14 overs in total in their loss to South Africa, while the West Indies second group match was washed out. This creates the curious scenario where the Windies have advanced to the Super Eights without winning a match.

Who progresses?

On form you would hesitantly pick hosts Sri Lanka and the under-rated New Zealand. Sri Lanka have the advantage of home support and conditions and have a good record in big tournaments. New Zealand have been more competitive and consistent then the other two teams in the group and have a good chance to spring a surprise to make it to the semi-finals. To progress from this group, England needs to show that its horrendous effort against spin was a one-off, while the West Indies' unpredictability could shape the outcome of this group.