Brilliant batting from Rohit Sharma saw defending champion India to a crushing nine-wicket win over arch-rival Pakistan in their ICC World Twenty20 warm-up match at the Oval here on Tuesday. Sharma made 80 and shared a huge first-wicket stand of 140 with left-hander Gautam Gambhir (52 not out) that got India to the brink of its 159 target. It needed a fine catch in the deep by Ahmed Shehzad off Mohammad Amir, one of seven bowlers used, to end Sharma's innings of 93 balls with two sixes and nine fours. But India still won with three overs to spare. India, who lost to New Zealand by nine runs in its previous warm-up match, were again without star batsman Virender Sehwag because of a shoulder injury. This match was a repeat of the 2007 final which India won by five runs in a thrilling contest in Johannesburg. Earlier, fast bowler Ishant Sharma led the attack with one for 18 in three overs as India restricted Pakistan to 158 for six in 20 overs. Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first. Pakistan lost three wickets on 45 and it needed an unbroken stand of 45 between Misbahul Haq (37 not out) and Yasir Arafat (25 not out) to give it some hope of staying in the game. Pakistan captain Younis Khan played a captain's innings of 32. India begins the tournament proper against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge on Saturday while Pakistan face host England at The Oval 24 hours later. This game had been designated by the ICC as a ‘Catch the Spirit' match, a fundraiser to help support families of the victims of the attack on the Sri Lanka team and match officials in Lahore. England finds solution England looked to have found the solution to its opening problems at the ICC World Twenty20 as Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara led it to a nine-wicket warm-up thrashing of the West Indies at Lord's. Chasing 145 for victory, England got home with more than five overs to spare after a first-wicket stand of 119 between Wright (75 not out) and Bopara, who made 60. West Indies made 144 for six with Ramnaresh Sarwan top-scoring with 46 in an innings where England leg-spinner Adil Rashid took one for 20. South Africa downs Lanka Herschelle Gibbs top-scored with 48 to steer South Africa to a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their World Twenty20 warm-up at Lord's. Sri Lanka had struggled to 109-9 after being reduced to 44 for 7 at one stage with Angelo Mathews (28) and Nuwan Kulasekera (24) rallying in the closing over with valuable late runs. South Africa reached the target with five balls to spare thanks to Gibbs and AB de Villiers (32) who put on 70 for the third wicket. Netherlands beats Scotland Left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar took three wickets as the Netherlands beat Scotland by seven wickets in their ICC World Twenty20 warm-up match at the Oval. Seelaar, who took two wickets in two balls, finished with figures of three for 25 from his four overs as Scotland was held to 128 for nine. Alexei Kervezee then made 62, his a run-a-ball fifty featuring a six and five fours, as the Dutch reached the victory target of 129.
