Australia bulldoze hosts in march to the semis

KARACHI: Australia continued their unbeaten run in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 with yet another comprehensive win over the West Indies.

Michael Clarke’s men not only defeated the hosts but knocked them out of the tournament to make way for Sri Lanka in the last-four. West Indies captain Chris Gayle, who closely followed the India-Sri Lanka match to see exactly what his team needed to qualify, apologised to fans following the elimination and the terrible way they lost to Australia.

“First let me apologise to the fans,” said Gayle. “To get knocked out of the World Twenty20 is a tough one. The display was absolutely terrible. It’s a pressure situation, losing early wickets [and] the guys kind of crumbled in the middle. Nobody built a partnership and I’m very disappointed.” But Gayle also maintained that he felt the pressure of being the mainstay of the batting line-up, being the only one to score a half-century for the West Indies in the entire tournament.

“It’s severe pressure and a lot is on my shoulders and I was hoping to get someone to take some of that pressure in the batting department but it didn’t happen. We’ve worked really hard and hopefully in the series coming up we can give you something to smile about.” His opposite number and Australian captain Michael Clarke, whose team was criticised for not doing well enough in this format of the game, was absolutely thrilled.

“For the people at home who have doubted us in this form of the game, we’re thrilled to make it this far.” But he was not being complacent and eagerly awaits the semi-final against Pakistan on Friday. “Pakistan are very strong in any form of the game but especially Twenty20. They’ve shown that to obviously make the semi-finals once again.”

Published in the Express Tribune, May 13th, 2010.