Mushfiqur hopes for a better tomorrow

Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain, has been the team's mouthpiece for much of their slump, turning up after pretty much every defeat to sum up how badly they have done, defending a selection or two, and appealing to the fans to stay with the team. He has used the word "alarming" a number of times and expressed exasperation at the dropped catches. Even more worryingly, he has been frank on a few occasions about being a bit lost in trying to find out a way to improve his team.

After yet another insipid performance, one wondered just what else could he say.

Against India, Bangladesh made 40 runs more than they did in the last game (98 all out against West Indies). Anamul Haque made 44, Mahmudullah returned to some form with an unbeaten 33 and Mashrafe Mortaza finished his quota of overs without getting injured. But to post 138 for 7 against India's batting line-up was never enough. The team's senior batsmen Mushfiqur, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal once again failed to contribute significantly. It has been six games now that the No 3 batting position has hardly put a dent to the team's score.

Bangladesh are virtually out of their home World T20 tournament but Mushfiqur, as he has done since the Sri Lanka ODI series, hoped for a better tomorrow.

"We wanted to start well, but we didn't do it in these two games," Mushfiqur said. "There was a bit of improvement today, but we still have lots of areas to work on. We are playing against top teams, we need to play smarter cricket. Hopefully we will come up with good plans tonight and do better in the next two matches."

Given the lack of good starts from the openers and the continued struggle of the middle-order, Mushfiqur said that there is going to be a shuffling of the batting order in the next match. "Our plan was for Shakib to play at three, and myself at four," he said. "But because Nasir [Hossain] and [Mahmudullah] Riyad were not in good form and Sabbir is a new guy, we didn't want to risk Shakib going in very early and expose the middle and lower-order. Shakib plays his shots and could get out early too. The same could have happened with me. But we are going to think about it again."

On March 26, the BCB president had said the team could undergo changes after the World T20. He didn't elaborate on which areas, but Mushfiqur has made it clear that he won't be leaving the job of captain.

"No one wants to leave the captaincy at a bad time, leaving your responsibility," he said. "I enjoy captaincy, it is a big honour. If we do well, nobody thinks of us. But when we do badly, you have to work and come back to good form. The change is up to the administrators. If they make 20 changes and it helps the team, it is going to be good for the team."

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Dhoni credits team environment for success

Cullinan: Bangladesh more confident, but not good enough

The World T20 is increasingly shaping up like the Champions Trophy did as far as India are concerned. They had travelled to England in 2013 amid IPL controversy and won the ODI tournament with an unbeaten campaign. They have travelled to Bangladesh amid controversy again and have become the first side to qualify for the semi-finals, by winning three games out of three.

It is often India's Man of the Match who meets the press after a victory, but because of clamour from some sections of the media at home that MS Dhoni had been avoiding reporters, the captain walked in to take questions but answered only those related to the World T20. He declined to answer whether he had offered to resign as captain, as some reports had suggested.

Dhoni was asked how his side had managed to perform so well in both the Champions Trophy and the World T20 with such grave off-field issues in the background. The captain put it down to the environment within the squad.

"A good dressing-room atmosphere and having belief in yourself and enjoying each other's success," he said. "A lot of things happen around cricket but you have to be focused when you are representing your country. That is one thing that this team has done really well.

"And of course accepting the challenges, enjoying the challenges, trying to prove that you are one of the best when it comes to international cricketers. Once you are in as a batsman you want to take the team through, if you are bowling well on that particular day you want to take wickets for the team, if you are a part-timer the same things applies. It is all about the dressing-room atmosphere and we have kept it really nice."

India haven't had a good time in World T20s since winning the inaugural one in 2007, and this is the first time they have made the semis since that tournament. When asked if the team had talked about reaching this stage in the build-up, Dhoni said they had not thought about anything but had only come in with the knowledge that they would be playing in familiar conditions.

"We do not really discuss all that because one of the facts is you are supposed to play well. That is what the criteria is. If the consideration was just getting into the semi-finals, then what do you do once you reach the semi-finals? You should be happy and just stay there and say okay, we have reached the semi-finals, we don't really want to play it.

"I feel what we did was, we came in with nothing really in mind. Knew the conditions quite well. We play in the subcontinent quite a few games, especially the IPL, so we had the right kind of exposure. We knew the kind of problems we could face when it comes to bowling and batting and we had to work on that. So again we were concentrating on the process irrespective of what format we are playing. I feel it is always the process that is very important. Once you know the problem area, you can work on it and in a tournament like this it is very important you do not expose yourself, your weak link, to the opposition too much."

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KP plans 5,000-mile T20 commute (if he's lucky)

Kevin Pietersen plans to play simultaneously in two Twenty20 competitions in England and the Caribbean as he becomes the ultimate jet-set commuter in his attempts to keep his career alive after his exclusion from the England side.

The age of the itinerant T20 cricketer has been upon us for a few years, but Pietersen has taken it a stage further by seeking to play in England's relaunched NatWest Blast tournament and the Caribbean Premier League at the same time.

‏@KP24 - the Twitter handle which has now carries Pietersen's pronouncements, official and unofficial, on life, the universe and everything - promised: "I will be fulfilling ALL my @surreycricket commitments and just flying into the Caribbean to honour this opportunity."

It remains to be seen, though, if this regular 4000-miles-plus commute has a beneficial effect on his ability to hit a cricket ball in the area to which it is intended, especially as his regular diet of in-flight meals would not be countenanced by the England cookbook. Just think, some people can become disorientated by a daily commute from Paddington to East Croydon.

And, at least if the Kia Oval and the Caribbean are more than 4,000 miles apart that is nothing compared to the distance between England and Pietersen when it came to a meeting of minds.

If Pietersen is fortunate when the draft is finalised in a bar owned by Chris Gayle in Jamaica on Thursday, he will at least have a direct flight. As he indulged in a spot of repartee on Twitter with Gayle about whether they would be team-mates or opponents, it was a decent bet that he had not considered the possibility that he might yet be signed by Guyana Amazon Warriors: now that would add a few hours to the journey time.

Surrey, who are heavily promoting their T20 campaign around Pietersen's involvement, were quick to confirm that his ambitious plans have their full blessing.

Richard Gould, the chief executive, said: "Kevin is available for all our T20 fixtures once he gets back from the IPL in late May or early June. There are a couple of windows within our T20 season which coincides with the CPL where he can go out for the CPL, play some games there and still be available for all our games. We thought it was a good grown-up decision.

Everybody knows that grown-ups like flying. Children grow up wanting to be engine drivers.

His journey will be nearly three times as long as the match - although that distinction might lessen if over-rates keep sinking.

Pietersen initially chose Surrey - and the NatWest Blast - ahead of the CPL as he rebuilt his career following England's unparalleled decision to terminate his contract so publically after their 5-0 whitewash in Australia.

He first broached the possibility of playing both tournaments, according to Gould, "two or three weeks ago." He held discussions with Surrey's new head coach, Graham Ford, an early mentor in South Africa, and their director of cricket Alec Stewart.

Although factual enough, that is slightly misleading. He will play in the CPL on a "secondment clause" in his Surrey contract which allows a temporary change or relocation of position and duties. The clause was in there for a reason. It remains unconfirmed whether Surrey will also benefit from the arrangement.

"He is contracted for all the T20 fixtures," Gould said. "His contract allows him to play championship cricket and 50-overs cricket subject to his availability and we will see how that goes during the season."

The CPL is scheduled to run from July 5 to August 10. In that time, Surrey play their final five group matches in the space of a fortnight - all of which Pietersen has vowed to play.

They have a home match against Glamorgan on Friday, July 11, the day after CPL launches (pads strapped on at Heathrow?), further matches on the Wednesday and Friday of the following week and then two games in 24 hours - a derby against Middlesex on Thursday, July 24, and a short trip to Canterbury (a mere bagatelle for a hardened traveller like Pietersen) to play Kent the following day.

Before all this, Pietersen has agreed to captain the Delhi Daredevils in the upcoming Indian Premier League.

It would be difficult to travel further afield to ply his trade. The Times recorded the discovery of a new planet far beyond Pluto today - temporarily answering to the name of 2012 VP113 - but nobody is entirely sure whether the Inner Oort Cloud has yet to catch on to Twenty20.

"I'm delighted to be involved in this year's Caribbean Premier League," Pietersen said. "As soon as I was approached, I knew it was something I wanted to take part in. I have fantastic memories of playing T20 cricket in the Caribbean -- especially when we won the 2010 ICC World T20 tournament -- so I can't wait to play in front of the magnificent Caribbean fans who create a truly unique and thrilling atmosphere."

Pietersen's rejection by England has encouraged such open displays of affection. The love is spread upon all-comers. It remains to be seen whether it will be spread too thinly. If he pulls it off, there will be a few people envious of his air miles.

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Australia fail to walk the talk

Croft: Faulkner woke a sleeping giant

This is not the first Australian team to put down a few catches. Nor is it the first one to struggle against spin. Australian teams, however, do not usually lose a Twenty20 when they need 66 from 51 with eight wickets in hand. Having done that, they then don't end up losing a close game where they have had a go at the opposition with typical pre-match banter. That too in a world tournament.

Against both Pakistan and West Indies, Australia were arguably in winning positions, more so against the former. When it came to the decisive stages of both matches, however, their personnel let them down. Against Pakistan, it was the batsmen who choked, collapsing from a strong position. Against West Indies, it was the bowlers who lost their lines and lengths under pressure from Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo. With 42 needed off the final three overs, and 31 off the last two, there would have had to be equal, if not more, pressure on the batting side specially in a must-win situation for both teams. The way Mitchell Starc crumbled in the penultimate over certainly did not exert any pressure on the West Indies pair.

George Bailey, however, did not think their bowling tonight was the major cause for pushing Australia to the brink of an exit from the tournament. The Australia captain said that the side had not cut it in all three disciplines.

"Your mind tends to track back to the most recent thing, the bowling. But once again I don't think we batted particularly well," Bailey said. "All of the top six probably played pretty ordinary shots or shots at inappropriate times, so I think [the fact] that we scraped to 178 was pleasing given that we didn't bat particularly well.

"And again we probably let ourselves down in the field with some chances and that comes back to bite harder in T20 than in any other format; the repercussions are so immediate. I am sure there are things we would like to do differently in bowling and the guys would like to have their overs again and do something different. But you cannot lay the blame just on the bowlers. All three disciplines were not up to the standards that we set."

Bailey did not think there were any issues with the balance of the team combination, and said it wasn't that Australia had suffered heavy defeats.

"We have lost two games, but it's not like we have been knocked over for 120 in each game," he said. "We haven't batted very well, and we have scored a 180 and whatever we scored the other night. It's not a glaring weakness. It's the same with bowling and I'd say the same about our fielding. We have just lost two close games in a tournament where you cannot afford to do that."

You can say that as much as it was about Australia succumbing at the climax, it was also about Pakistan and West Indies doing the exact opposite. They thrived at the death and outplayed Australia. That is what is glaring about these two losses. Australia knew they could not afford to go down, they had their chances, but they failed to take them. The West Indies loss will hurt them more, for what James Faulkner said before the game, and for how West Indies responded to it - by winning a sharp contest and with their in-your-face celebrations targeted at the Australians.

"Talk is cheap," Sammy said. "Cricket is a game of action, you can talk all you want, but it is the action that matters. West Indies acted today."

The Australians talk a lot, of course, but it is only rarely that they fail to walk it. Bailey and his men will be smarting, but unfortunately for them, their chances of hitting back in this tournament are all but over.

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USACA chief Darren Beazley resigns

USA Cricket Association chief executive Darren Beazley has resigned after just 14 months in the role. USACA announced in a press release on Tuesday that Beazley was stepping down in order to return to his native Australia where he will take up a position as the chief executive of Swimming Western Australia.

Beazley's initial contract was for three years, but his tenure was six months shorter than his predecessor Don Lockerbie, who lasted 20 months before being fired in November 2010 for reasons USACA has never stated.

"I wish all involved with US cricket the very best for the future and look forward to watching the progress of the sport in the coming years at all levels," Beazley said.

Sources have indicated that the lack of support from the USACA board of directors to implement sweeping governance changes to USACA's administrative structure played a role in his seeking to leave USACA and return to Australia. Beazley went on a nationwide tour in October 2013 along with ICC global development manager Tim Anderson to campaign for support to back recommendations from an independent governance review by TSE Consulting.

Key recommendations from the review were to reduce the size of the current USACA board, cut their power in half and give that 50% to independent directors. There were also recommendations for establishing term limits for board members, redefine membership categories and introduce athlete representation on the board.

However, a decision was taken at USACA's AGM in November to postpone any move to implement the changes. Instead, a governance implementation committee was announced with any changes being delayed until at least the summer of 2014.

Beazley's resignation also comes in the wake of damning financial data made public last month that USACA was more than $3 million in debt at the end of the 2012 tax year. The returns showed a 47% decline in membership revenue from 2011 as member leagues revolted after the controversial 2012 USACA elections in which 32 out of 47 member leagues were disenfranchised.

USACA is also under increasing pressure from the American Cricket Federationn (ACF), which was formed in the wake of the 2012 election. Many member leagues have defected for the ACF including the largest league in America, New York's Commonwealth Cricket League.

Beazley had strong ties with Anderson and ICC top brass in Dubai but his departure may be the last straw for USACA in a series of administrative missteps. USA now faces the very real threat of a third administrative suspension by the ICC in the last decade.

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England discover map through uncharted waters

Having tossed away opportunities in the field with reckless abandon and slumping into negative territory at the start of their chase, England found the courage to make amends

Crowe: Hales innings best of the tournament

It wasn't quite the shot heard around the world but Alex Hales' bludgeoned six high over midwicket to seal victory for England against Sri Lanka should reverberate round the World T20. How a team that had seemed stricken by bad form and low confidence at the halfway point managed to perform such a volte face, pulling off their highest run chase with six wickets and four balls in hand, is a question only the T20 gods can answer.

Just when it appeared England had lost their way irretrievably after stumbling in circles for months, they discovered a map to guide them safely, resplendently through unchartered waters. T20 is about the outsized, the extraordinary, the odds-defying and the synapse-shredding. Hales provided plenty of that in his soaring crescendo of an innings but, like his partner Eoin Morgan during a record third-wicket stand, the calmness inside was just as important.

Sri Lanka had accepted England's generous largesse and gambolled their way to another new high score on the ground. England had dropped four simple chances in the field and missed a run-out too. Shoulders had slumped, eyes appeared hollow. Few had high expectations of the team's World T20 chances but this had the look of a tired farce. Indignation at an early decision not to award a catch that looked to have been clearly taken was gradually eroded by dismay at each successive, basic error.

What to do? Perhaps, during the ten minutes the teams were off the pitch at the interval, Ashley Giles and Stuart Broad merely passed around a photocopy of the serenity prayer:

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference."

Michael Lumb's supreme effort to remove Mahela Jayawardene first ball had gone unrewarded. England's poor catching had gifted an advantage graciously received by a formidable opponent. So inauspicious was the start of their reply that they effectively moved into negative territory after the first over, a double-wicket maiden. None of these things could be changed but Hales and Morgan showed the courage required to make amends.

The required rate rose above 12 an over even before the halfway stage. In the tenth, Morgan hit the first six of the innings. The crowd's response to a steady, if initially unthreatening, flow of boundaries was a mixture of curiosity and wonder; as the tempo increased and outrageous possibility coalesced around the two batsmen in the middle, the cheering became more fevered. By the end, as Hales finished off Sri Lanka with a barrage of sixes, the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury was rapturously receiving the 2014 tournament's first centurion.

Hales, who had previously been dismissed on 99 and 94 in T20 internationals, punched the air and removed his helmet upon reaching three figures, the first England player to do so. He finished the job in the next over, raising his hands aloft as the ball sailed towards the stands again. He may never crack first-class cricket but he is first-class at T20.

Victory not only changed the complexion of the group and revived England's chances of reaching the semi-finals but it allowed them to make some significant gains after the slow regression of recent times. At the last World T20, Sri Lanka ended their participation at the Super 8 stage, with Lasith Malinga filleting them for a five-wicket haul. On this occasion, he was blunted and Ravi Bopara, who had talked of his plans to deflect Malinga's yorker, demonstrated the extent of England's learning by twice doing just that to pick up consecutive fours at the start of the 18th over.

Morgan played his first significant knock in more than a year, passing fifty for the first time since England's failed World T20 defence in Sri Lanka two years ago. These two teams have met at each of the last two tournaments and the winner has gone on to the final. England will exceed expectations if they make the knockouts but, having beaten the No. 1-ranked side, may now feel that circumstances favour them for a Dhaka rally.

For almost the entirety of Sri Lanka's innings, it seemed as if England's malaise would continue. They have talked stoically about pulling through but looked most likely to be rolling out of Chittagong on a gurney after a wretched performance in the field. "Whatever it is, it's not catching," as Richie Benaud used to say. England feel like they have been trying to catch a break for weeks but they did not show any proficiency at the skill during Sri Lanka's innings, tossing away opportunities with reckless abandon.

Ironically, the most difficult take of the night was the spark for what followed, as England disintegrated in the wake of Jayawardene's non-dismissal quicker than you could said "foreshortening". There was irony, too, in Jayawardene's drop of Hales. Jayawardene was the chief beneficiary of England's litany of mistakes but by the end his isolated gaffe had proved to be more costly. Wisdom in T20 can be as simple as knowing what you can and can't affect. Taking catches is a good place to start.

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Hales 'buzzing' after England's first T20 ton

Gardner: Scintillating display by Hales

Alex Hales had no doubt that his match-winning hundred against Sri Lanka, the first time an England batsman had reached three figures in a T20 international, was the most important contribution of his international career to date. Hales' stunning innings led England to their highest chase in the format to reignite a smouldering World T20 campaign.

"It's an amazing feeling. It still hasn't sunk in what's happened," Hales said afterwards, looking remarkably cool despite having just launched an enormous six to win the match with four balls to spare. Twice out in the 90s previously, Hales broke the three-figure barrier by clearing the boundary off Nuwan Kulasekara's penultimate over, from which 16 runs came in total to bring England's target of 190 within reach.

"I always had the confidence I would get the chance again," he said. "Hundreds don't come around very often in the short format so I'm buzzing I got it today and in a huge fixture for our country."

After a shambolic performance in the field, when England dropped four catches and missed a run-out, they flopped out of the blocks at the start of the chase, Kulasekara removing Michael Lumb and Moeen Ali in a double-wicket maiden. Hales and Eoin Morgan, slowly at first and then with increasing assurance, rebuilt the innings and by the time their 152-run partnership was broken, the pendulum was beginning to swing England's way.

"It wasn't an ideal start but we saw by the way they batted it was an excellent wicket and the way Morgy came in straight away and took the game back to them made my job a lot easier," Hales said. "We had plans to stay in the game as long as we could, get a partnership and reassess at the halfway stage. It paid off."

Morgan and Jos Buttler fell in the same over but Ravi Bopara deftly glided his first two balls from Lasith Malinga for four to keep England up with the asking rate. Although they had needed to score two runs a ball for around half the innings, Hales said that he began to feel the victory was possible "with six or seven overs left".

"We needed about 12 an over so we always knew it would be a tough ask," he said. "But Morgy played brilliantly and then Ravi came in against the danger man Malinga and hit the first two balls for four. It was brilliant to see."

The win, against the No. 1-ranked side and one of the favourites for the competition, pushes England back into contention into what is turning into a close-fought group. A difficult winter in Australia has been followed by stop-start limited-overs form, a young and experimental squad disrupted by injuries while uncertainty remains about the currently vacant head coach's position. Reaching the knockout stages in Bangladesh would an unexpected, and welcome, success

"It would be massive for us, we are underdogs in this tournament, playing in the subcontinent historically we haven't gone too well," Hales said. "This win will help us build momentum for the next two games, we've still got to play Holland and SA. I think if we perform to the best of our ability we'll get two wins."

Hales was dropped by Mahela Jayawardene on 55, small change after England donated four similar straightforward misses during the Sri Lanka innings but ultimately of great importance. Two overs later, Hales targeted Ajantha Mendis repeatedly through the leg side, hitting three sixes in an over that cost 25. In 2014, Hales had previously made 125 runs in seven innings for England; he almost equalled that in one dramatic fusillade here. A celebratory glass of wine has been well earned.

"It hasn't been a great winter personally, I probably didn't do as well in the Big Bash as I'd have liked," Hales said. "But I've still felt confident, I've been hitting the ball well in the nets and felt a big score was close. I'm pleased it came today in a winning side."

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BCCI points to IPL players' plight

The Supreme Court's googly, as it were, to the BCCI in the form of three proposals has thrown the board into a state of "uncertainty", with the mooted suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals causing the most concern. While there has been no indication of a coordinated meeting of senior officials, it is understood that the board's response to the court on Friday will be to point out that suspending two IPL teams will most affect the players.

It is also expected to oppose the proposal of an "outsider" to head the BCCI - the court suggested the name of Sunil Gavaskar - by pointing to the number of former players in the board hierarchy.

"No one anticipated the court's proposal to suspend the two teams," a senior board official said. "The court has given the BCCI very little time to respond. I don't think the BCCI members can meet for certain in one place before tomorrow morning, so the only way is to set up a teleconference."

The biggest setback for the IPL, he said, was not BCCI president N Srinivasan's status or possible replacement but a curtailed IPL with fewer teams. The BCCI's arguments in court on Friday are therefore likely to centre on its belief that it would be "virtually impossible" to conduct the IPL with just six teams. That, it is felt, would affect logistics and, more importantly, the players.

"It would be really difficult to redraw plans, especially considering that the tournament is supposed to start within three weeks. The logistical and financial problems can, however, be solved, but what can be done about the players? It would be unfair on almost all of the 50-odd players from these two teams to be deprived, for no fault of theirs, of the opportunity to play the tournament and earn their livelihood," the board member said.

A six-team IPL, with its existing home-and-away format followed by four games in the knockout stage, will bring the number of matches down to 34 from 60. That will have a knock-on effect on broadcasters and sponsors, and the BCCI's concern will be how to compensate them, given that the long-term contracts are based on 60-match seasons. Neither PepsiCo India, the league's title sponsors, nor Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd, parent company of host broadcaster Max, were willing to comment.

On the issue of an interim or replacement president, the board is likely to seek a change in the court's stated criterion - a "seasoned or respected cricketer" - to one more aligned to its own eligibility rules. "For Gavaskar to be appointed as the board chief, as per the Supreme Court directive, we will require an amendment to the BCCI constitution. We may request the court to appoint a candidate who fulfills the eligibility criteria set for the post of the president [by the constitution]."

The BCCI's rules state that anyone acceding to the president's post must have been a past or present office-bearer and vice-president, and have attended at least two BCCI AGMs.

In any case, the board has not accepted that Srinivasan will be ousted; rather, they feel he is best placed to decide on his future. "It is tough call," an official said. "It all depends on Srinivasan now: if he wants to go himself or if he wants to stick to his decision of telling the court that he is willing to step aside pending a time-bound probe. The BCCI on its own cannot force Srinivasan to resign. But we will have to wait for the judges to take a final decision tomorrow."

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Wine, pizza keep Steyn pumped up

Dale Steyn is as light-hearted off the field as he is intense with ball in hand. For a man whose furrowed brow at the top of his mark can make batsmen involuntarily feel for the ball outside off, he is endearingly goofy in person, laughing at himself, deflecting praise and letting his thoughts tumble out. He even uses the word "rad".

Steyn is also the leading bowler among the teams to have entered the World T20 at the Super 10 stage, with six wickets from two games. Asked about his feat on Monday, when he won the match with seven runs needed off the final over against New Zealand - the lowest number defended in T20s and only the third time it had been done- he said: "I didn't think I could win it but we did, so bonus!"

Contrast that with the fire in Steyn's eyes as he collected the final delivery of the match, broke the wicket at the non-striker's end and propelled his wiry frame on a giddy victory dance looking like the world's angriest policeman.

It is perhaps no wonder that such a fidgety, high-energy player does not like being confined to a hotel for long periods. Players are generally not allowed out for security reasons - though on Wednesday he tweeted a video of himself and Paddy Upton skateboarding along a closed road and waving at grinning locals. You can imagine Steyn donning a disguise to sneak past the guards and post pictures of his adventure on Instagram, if he had to.

But while Steyn is an outdoors type whose fitness levels can encompass takeaway pizza or the odd McFlurry, he revealed that some of the players have a slightly more refined way of passing the time in Bangladesh.

"It's been so difficult. We have a wine club, we meet every now and then and have one or two glasses of vino," he said, without divulging who was most likely to become a sommelier as a second career. "We've got a movie club, we have a big team room at the hotel, so we get in there, whether playing poker or watching movies or things like that. We're not really allowed to leave the hotel much. There's a Pizza Hut across the road. I've never eaten so much pizza in my life."

He also chuckled at the suggestion he is now the team's "Special One", after Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, having prevented South Africa from suffering a second group defeat. That title should naturally go to the coach, Russell Domingo, he said.

Still, the importance of that win was not lost on Steyn, speaking ahead of South Africa's third Group 1 match, against Netherlands. He chose to emphasise the contribution of others, in particular his bowling partner Morne Morkel, who conceded 14 off the penultimate over but managed two dots from his last three balls. In T20, those are the margins between getting your aeroplane tickets home and the chance to taste another Shiraz or two before the trip is over.

"The mood in the camp could have been completely different if we'd lost that game," he said, "I think it would have been tickets for us. In this tournament it is kind of tickets if you don't win all your games. It's difficult, the little one percenters. If you go back to the game, Morne went for a lot of runs, which is an odd thing but it happens. People might criticise him but, his last three balls, he bowled three death yorkers and the last one went for four. If he had gone for two and one in those previous balls it would have been down to three or four off the last over and that would have been almost impossible.

"The little one percenters really count in this game. Just those little things, he might have walked away from the game feeling hard done by from not getting what he wanted but he finished off exactly how he was supposed to and ultimately we won the game."

Steyn suggested South Africa are in a "win-everything" situation, although it is still possible for a team to go through on four points. Sri Lanka have set the pace with two wins already and Steyn had some sympathy with the Netherlands, after they were gutted for 39 on Monday evening. "If you're not facing those type of guys all the time it can be quite difficult," he said, referring to the challenge of playing mystery spin or Lasith Malinga's sui generis yorkers. As Netherlands will find out, Steyn is also in a bracket all of his own.

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Shrubsole, Gunn steamroll India Women

England Women 98 for 5 (Taylor 28, Dabir 2-21) beat India Women 95 for 9 (Raj 57, Shrubsole 3-6, Gunn 3-15) by five wickets
Scorecard

India's campaign in the Women's World T20 slipped further off course as they suffered a heavy five-wicket loss to England in Sylhet. Anya Shrubsole and Jenny Gunn wrecked the batting line-up, which if not for Mithali Raj's half-century might have presented a grimmer sight than the eventual 98 for 9.

The two England seamers were remarkably effective, accounting for six batsmen and costing only 21 runs from their full quota. The fielders backed them up too, with Lydia Greenway picking up a sharp catch and effecting a difficult run-out early on. Shrubsole was judged Player of the Match for figures of 4-1-6-3.

India seemed to have exhausted their stock of good luck after winning the toss as they slumped to 31 for 5 in the ninth over, with all those dismissed failing to reach double-figures. At the other end, the captain Raj struck a doughty 56-ball 57, including eight fours to keep her side afloat. Her dismissal in the 17th over ended all hopes for late acceleration, but India managed to last the 20 overs.

Seamer Soniya Dabir orchestrated a minor top-order stutter during England's chase, but England knew they had enough time to overhaul the target. Opener Sarah Taylor had afforded her side some momentum at the top with a 29-ball 28 and Greenway came in at No. 4 to hold one end up. There was a bit of excitement at the back end when Natalie Sciver was run-out off a direct hit, but by that time England only had 11 more runs left to pocket their first victory of the tournament.

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