Cricket

Brendon McCullum lifted New Zealand from 2 for 2 with a calculated 91 that highlighted his importance to his side, especially in Twenty20s. McCullum had support from Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, but he was almost single-handedly responsible for New Zealand reaching a competitive score with a knock that began watchfully, and then exploded into a frenzy of powerful hits over extra cover, down the ground and over midwicket. McCullum often begins a Test innings with a charge down the track and it was probably the two early wickets that made him play with some caution initially. Rob Nicol and Martin Guptill came out swinging but were bowled by incoming deliveries from Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan, and New Zealand were 2 for 2 in the second over. McCullum broke free in the fifth over, flicking and cutting Zaheer for boundaries. L Balaji, making his T20I debut and playing his first game for India since February 2009, was inside-edged past short fine leg and sliced over point ...

Australia crush Pakistan by 94 runs Australia began the series with one of their worst Twenty20 losses but they finished it with their second-best win in the format, crushing Pakistan by 94 runs in the dead rubber in Dubai. David Warner and Shane Watson set up the victory with an Australian-record opening partnership before Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc ran through Pakistan, who suffered their worst defeat in a T20 international and were all out for 74, their lowest total in the format. Pakistan still won the series 2-1 but if the old sporting cliché that you're only as good as your last performance can be trusted, the Australians will be reasonably happy when they arrive in Sri Lanka in the next few days for the ICC World Twenty20. The fact that Warner and Watson both fired and found their six-hitting rhythm would be especially pleasing for the captain George Bailey, although some more runs from the middle order would have been preferable. Cummins was outstanding with...

West Indies captain Darren Sammy has said his team has the self-belief to go all the way and lift the ICC World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka, starting later this month. Sammy said he was touched by the support from the fans and urged them to continue showing faith in the team. "This is a huge tournament for the team and the fans as well, so we will go to Sri Lanka and give it all we've got," Sammy said before the team's departure for Sri Lanka. "We believe we can win, but it will be hard, tough work. Once we play together and continue to get the backing of the fans, we know we can lift the title." The squad had been training at the High Performance Centre in Barbados for nine days. The World T20 will be the team's first international assignment after the home series against New Zealand. "The camp went very well and we are all in the right frame of mind," Sammy said. "We will head off to Sri Lanka believing in ourselves and belie...

James Franklin believes the upcoming World Twenty20 could be the final time some of the New Zealand players take part in a world event together and feels the experience in the side could take it to the latter stages of the tournament. "Probably it is the last World Cup for this group of players playing together," Franklin said after the first of two Twenty20 internationals between India and New Zealand was washed out in Visakhapatnam. Franklin, Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Brendon and Nathan McCullum, and Kyle Mills - part of the New Zealand squad for the World T20 - are all well over 30 years. "It is a pretty experienced T20 team. A lot of guys have played T20 all over the world so if individuals get in form then I think we have got a real chance of going fairly deep in this tournament." Franklin skipped New Zealand's recent tour of West Indies and focused on playing T20 cricket for Essex with an eye on the World T20 but said he wanted to play for ...

Australia may have already lost the Twenty20 series against Pakistan, but their middle-order batsman Cameron White has said the series is "fantastic preparation" for the upcoming World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. Australia collapsed to 89 all out in the first T20 but turned in an improved performance in the second, going down on the last delivery of the Super Over. "We'd like to be winning, we made great steps from the first game to the second," White said, a day ahead of the third T20 in Dubai. "We are heading in the right direction, and from a prep point of view this is fantastic." The conditions in Dubai have been helping spinners, with Pakistan packing the side with three/four slow bowlers. White said the testing series would hold Australia in good stead in the World T20. "I don't think you can ask any more than what we are experiencing at the moment (in terms of preparations)," he said. "I know we are experiencing very to...