COLOMBO — Spinners helped India and Pakistan score comfortable wins over England and New Zealand, respectively, in their Twenty20 World Cup matches in Sri Lanka Sunday. Indian spinners Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla ripped through the England batting to lead their side to a crushing 90-run win in a one-sided match. Rohit Sharma's unbeaten 55 off 33 balls fired India to an imposing total of 170 for four. Harbhajan took four for 12 and Chawla two for 13 as England crumbled to 80 all out on the way to its heaviest ever Twenty20 loss. Both sides had already qualified for the Super Eight stage by beating Afghanistan, but England's feeble capitulation will be a major concern for the defending champion heading into the next phase of the tournament. India's Gautham Gambir made 45 and Virat Kohli 40. Craig Kieswetter top-scored for England with 35 off 25 balls, with only two other batsmen reaching double figures in an innings lasting fewer than 15 overs. Scores: India 170-4 (Rohit Sharma 55 not out, Gautam Gambhir 45, Virat Kohli 40; Steven Finn 2-33) def. England 80 (Craig Kieswetter 35; Harbhajan Singh 4-12, Piyush Chawla 2-13, Irfan Pathan 2-17). In Pallekele, earlier, Mohammed Hafeez led by example and Saeed Ajmal bamboozled the batsmen as 2009 champion Pakistan beat New Zealand by 13 runs in their Group D encounter Sunday. Electing to bat first, Hafeez (43) forged a 76-run second wicket partnership with Nasir Jamshed (56), cashing in on New Zealand's uncharacteristically sloppy fielding, to help his team post 177 for six at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. Returning to defend the total, Pakistani slow bowlers did not allow the New Zealand top order to accelerate and off-spinner Ajmal (4-30) denied them the late burst as well to restrict them to 164 for nine wickets. Shahid Afridi got one wicket for 30 runs and even though Hafeez did not get a wicket, the Pakistan skipper sent down four tidy overs conceding only 15 runs to stifle the opponents. Despite the defeat, New Zealand has booked a place in the Super Eight stage because of its healthy net run-rate. Pakistan needs to avoid a heavy defeat against Bangladesh in its remaining group match Tuesday to join it in the next stage. The most successful Twenty20 team, which has made semifinals in all three previous editions of the tournament, Pakistan top order clicked Sunday, aided by the poor catching of its opponent. “I have improved my game and today I showed those skills in the match,” Jamshed told reporters. “We just wanted to stick to our plans despite the loss of wickets. I wanted to control the game because I was the set batsman at the time. I wanted to take as much of the strike as possible and score as much as I can.” “Anytime you're chasing more than 10 runs an over for a period of 8-9 overs, it's going to be a tough ask,” Taylor lamented. Scores: Pakistan 177-6 in 20 overs (Nasir Jamshed 56); New Zealand 164-9 in 20 overs (Saeed Ajmal 4-30). On Saturday, Australia qualified for the Super Eights round and South Africa earned bragging points as rain ruined two key matches in the World Twenty20. Australia beat the West Indies by 17 runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis method after rain cut short the group B game that appeared headed for keen finish in Colombo. South Africa outplayed host Sri Lanka by 32 runs in a Group C match reduced to seven-overs-a-side in Hambantota due to rain. — Agencies
