Clarke concedes Twenty20 place in jeopardy
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Australia Twenty20 captain Michael Clarke admitted his place was under threat after a poor run of form continued in a seven-wicket World Twenty20 final loss to England.
Clarke, batting at No 3, was involved in the run out of hard-hitting opener David Warner as Australia collapsed to eight for three at the Kensington Oval here on Sunday,
He himself made just 27 --- but that was still his best score of the tournament -- in a total of 147 for six and Clarke ended the event with 92 runs at a meagre average of 15.33.
More powerful hitters in Australia's top order were largely able to cover for Clarke's lack of runs and with remarkable frankness, he told reporters: "There's no doubt the selectors will need to have a look at my performances.
"I certainly know they haven't been up to scratch through this whole tournament and probably in Twenty20 cricket in general.
"I'm sure the selectors will sit down and have a look and if I'm not the right guy for No 3 and the captaincy then they'll make that decision," added the 29-year-old.
Clarke, the Test and one-day vice-captain, was the natural choice to inherit the leadership when regular skipper Ricky Ponting retired from Twenty20 international cricket.
Up until the final, Australia had been unbeaten at this World Twenty20, having been knocked out in the first round in England last year.
But in left-arm quick Dirk Nannes, fast bowler Shaun Tait and the Hussey brothers, Michael and David, they appear to have the nucleus of a fine Twenty20 line-up.
Clarke certainly relished leading his side to what was a first World Twenty20 final for both Australia and England.
"I've enjoyed every minute it," Clarke said. "Captaining your country is a wonderful thing and I've been very lucky to get that chance.
"I'm stoked to have been given this opportunity to lead the Twenty20 team. There are no guarantees in this world and it's about getting back and preparing for the next tournament.
"I'll be back as vice-captain (in the Test side) which I really enjoy and we have a wonderful leader (Ponting) back in Australia."
England cruised to victory, with three overs to spare, following a second-wicket stand of 111 between South Africa born duo Craig Kieswetter (63) and Kevin Pietersen (47).
The win gave England another triumph over Australia to put alongside last year's home Ashes win and set the scene for the return series 'Down Under', which gets underway in November.
"I've seen them (England) celebrate twice in a short space of time now but they deserved it," Clarke said.
"We knew England were going to be tough, and losing those three wickets early didn't help. It put a lot of pressure on our middle order.
"I thought we did well to scrape our way to 140-odd, although we were probably about 30 runs short, or 50 runs short the way England batted. We got beaten by the better team today."
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
have defeated  in the final of the  to win the tournament. England won by 7 wickets at the , , Barbados to lift the World Cup. A 111 run partnership between , the man of the match and , the man of the tournament, helped them in chasing down the target of 148 runs set by Australia.

England won the toss and opted to . Australia scored 147 runs, losing 6 wickets in their twenty overs.  was the top scorer, getting 59 runs. Australia scored only 47 runs for 4 wickets in their first ten overs. David Hussey and  added 22 runs in the thirteenth over, thus helping their team to get to 147 for 6 in their innings. For England, Ryan Sidebottom took two wickets for 26 runs in four overs.

Early in England's innings,  of Australia took the wicket of  of England, when the latter was caught by David Hussey at mid-wicket.  of England came when Lumb got out, and helped England to reach 44 runs in the six  overs. The partnership between Pietersen and Kieswetter helped their team to reach the target of 148 runs in seventeen overs, with three overs in hand.

England captain  told the media  that he thought "belief had been the key." "As soon as we got the squad together, seeing how much power we have in the squad, I know that is all on paper but we could tell that we had a lot of potential," he commented.

"I think a lot of credit goes to every single player in the dressing room to have the confidence to go out there and really give it their best shots and have no regrets. I think we have done that throughout the tournament and it has certainly paid off," he noted.

For England, this is the first victory in a  as they had never won a single one-day or T20 World Cup or the  tournament till this victory. In this connection,  Collingwood said: "this is right up there, with the best," adding "to be the first England team to win a 'World Cup' is very special. We knew it was a ."

Meanwhile, Australian captain  admitted his disappointment at the result. He conceded that his performance was poor, saying, "There's no doubt the selectors will need to have a look at my performances. I certainly know they haven't been up to scratch through this whole tournament and probably in Twenty20 cricket in general. I'm sure the selectors will sit down and have a look and if I'm not the right guy for No 3 and the captaincy then they'll make that decision"

Newly elected UK  David Cameron praised the English team. "Congratulations to Paul Collingwood and the England Twenty20 team on becoming world champions for the first time with a magnificent victory over Australia. Let's hope this marks the start of a great summer of sport for England," he said. 

The   commented: "I'm absolutely delighted England have won the World Twenty20. They have played exciting and intelligent cricket and are worthy winners."

=== Scorecard ===
'''Toss:''' England won, and chose to field first.














'''Fall of wickets:''' 1-2 (Watson, 0.3 ov), 2-7 (Warner, 1.5 ov), 3-8 (Haddin, 2.1 ov), 4-45 (Clarke, 9.2 ov), 5-95 (White, 15.4 ov), 6-142 (DJ Hussey, 19.2 ov)

'''Did not bat:''' Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait, Dirk Nannes




















'''Fall of wickets:'''1-7 (Lumb, 1.5 ov), 2-118 (Pietersen, 13.1 ov), 3-121 (Kieswetter, 14.1 ov)

'''Did not bat:''' Luke Wright, Tim Bresnan, Michael Yardy, Greamme Swann, Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom









'''England:''' , , , , , , , , , , , 

'''Australia:''' , , , , , , , , , , 

'''Man of the match:'''  (England)

'''Umpires:'''  (Pakistan) and  (West Indies)
'''TV Umpire:'''  (New Zealand)
'''Match Referee:'''  (Sri Lanka)
'''Reserve Umpire:'''  (South Africa)