Super Eight set for lift-off on super Sunday

The ICC World Twenty20 South Africa 2007 enters its second stage, the Super Eight, on Sunday 16 September with eight sides still in contention to lift the trophy

Brian Murgatroyd

15-Sep-2007

The ICC World Twenty20 South Africa 2007 enters its second stage, the Super Eight, on Sunday 16 September with eight sides still in contention to lift the trophy.

Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and hosts South Africa have been divided into two groups and the winners and runners-up of those two groups will go forward to the semi-finals.

Already in the ICC W T20 the crowds at the three venues - Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg - watching on television thanks to the ICC's new broadcast partner ESPN STAR Sports and following via radio coverage or through the internet via the tournament's official website https://worldtwenty20.yahoo.com/ have been party to some fantastic entertainment.

Among the highlights so far have been:

The highest total in T20I history, Sri Lanka's 260-6 against Kenya at The Wanderers, Johannesburg

The first individual hundred in T20Is, Chris Gayle's 117 from 57 balls for the West Indies against South Africa, also at The Wanderers

The highest aggregate for a T20I match - 413 in the South Africa v West Indies match; the clash, also saw the highest winning total by a side batting second, the host's 208-2

Zimbabwe's victory over ODI world champions Australia at Newlands, Cape Town

The thrilling tie between India and Pakistan at Kingsmead, Durban followed by only the second bowl-out in T20I history, won 3-0 by India

The fastest fifty in T20I history, Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful reaching the mark from just 20 balls against the West Indies at The Wanderers

Six bowlers taking four wickets in an innings with the best analysis to Mark Gillespie of New Zealand who took 4-7 against Kenya at Kingsmead

Only two sides have secured two wins so far - hosts South Africa and Sri Lanka

Meanwhile, on and off the field the players and officials have thrown their support behind the first ICC Diversity Day, held on Friday 14 September, and the ongoing campaign to raise awareness of the issues surrounding HIV and AIDS.

And UNAIDS and loveLife have provided education sessions for all 500 volunteers working at the event on HIV and AIDS on the volunteer training days.

The remaining teams are divided up as follows:

Group E
South Africa
England
New Zealand
India

Group F
Bangladesh
Australia
Sri Lanka
Pakistan

Note all sides start the Super Eight stage of the tournament with zero points. No points are carried forward from the initial group stage.

The top two sides from each Super Eight group will progress to the semi-finals that will take place at Newlands, Cape Town and Kingsmead Durban on Saturday 22 September.

Cape Town will host the match between the runner-up in Group E and the winner of Group F.

Durban will stage the match involving the winners of Group E and the runner-up of Group F.

The schedule for the Super Eight stage is as follows (start times in brackets):

Sunday 16 September
New Zealand v India - The Wanderers, Johannesburg (1000)
Australia v Bangladesh - Newlands, Cape Town (1400)
South Africa v England - Newlands, Cape Town (1800)

Monday 17 September
Pakistan v Sri Lanka - The Wanderers, Johannesburg (1800)

Tuesday 18 September
New Zealand v England - Kingsmead, Durban (1000)
Australia v Pakistan - The Wanderers, Johannesburg (1400)
Bangladesh v Sri Lanka - The Wanderers, Johannesburg (1800)

Wednesday 19 September
South Africa v New Zealand - Kingsmead, Durban (1400)
England v India - Kingsmead, Durban (1800)

Thursday 20 September
Australia v Sri Lanka - Newlands, Cape Town (1000)
Bangladesh v Pakistan - Newlands, Cape Town (1400)
South Africa v India - Kingsmead, Durban (1800)

The winning side in each Super Eight match collects US$60,000, part of a total prize pool for the tournament of US$1.9m.

Tickets for selected matches are still available and can be purchased through Computicket on +27 11 340 8600 or by visiting www.computicket.com

The ICC World Twenty20 involves 27 matches at three venues over 14 days with the final set to take place in Johannesburg on 24 September.

Brian Murgatroyd is ICC Manager - Media and Communications