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/ 12 September 2007

Twenty20 world thrills the fans

The inaugural Twenty20 World Championship is taking South Africa by storm, thrilling fans who are drawn to the exhilarating speed of the high-octane game where anything can happen. The dazzling opening of the 12-nation tournament in Johannesburg on Tuesday saw the 33 000 capacity Wanderers stadium overflowing as fans ”rocked the house, T20 style”.

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/ 11 September 2007

Ponting named ICC’s cricketer of the year

Australia captain Ricky Ponting capped another excellent year by picking up the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) cricketer of the year award for the second successive year on Monday. ”I am the first player to win this award twice in a row and it’s a great thrill for me and something I am very proud of,” said Ponting.

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/ 8 September 2007

Disgruntled Akhtar returns home after expulsion

Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar returned home on Saturday after being expelled from the inaugural Twenty20 championship following a spat with teammate Mohammad Asif in South Africa. The 32-year-old struck his new-ball partner Asif with a bat during a practice session in Johannesburg on Thursday, prompting the team’s management to send him back.

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/ 7 September 2007

Generators to banish ‘lights out’ at Twenty20

The three venues for the Twenty20 World Championship — Wanderers, Kingsmead and Newlands — have all decided to use generators as the preferred source of energy to light the games. And this has raised questions about Eskom’s and local municipalities’ ability to handle the much bigger event, the Soccer World Cup, in about 1 000 days.

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/ 3 September 2007

Conditions key for bowlers at Twenty20 Cup

South African captain Graeme Smith believes bowlers could play as big a role as batsmen at the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup his nation is hosting from September 11. ”I’m unsure whether batsmen are going to totally dominate. No one really knows what conditions are going to be like at this time of year,” Smith said.

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/ 28 August 2007

Ponting dominates ICC award nominations

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting leads the nominations for this year’s International Cricket Council (ICC) annual awards, figuring in as many as four individual categories. The 32-year-old Ponting, who led Australia to an unprecedented hat-trick of World Cup titles in West Indies in April, is in the race to retain both the Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year awards.