David Leggat: Twenty20 expectations turned on head

For an indicator of the wonky world of Twenty20, look no further than England. Or Australia. Or Pakistan. Or New Zealand.

Preconceived ideas of who would dictate terms have been given a good kicking, reinforcing sport's capacity to delight by plonking expectations on their head.

England seemed to be toast after being humiliated by the Netherlands at Lord's in the tournament opener. It smacked of a team thinking ahead to a greater challenge, in their case the Ashes series starting next month, than the business at hand. But then they eliminated defending champions India yesterday, at least looking as if they'd discovered some desire and purpose.

Australia began among the fancied title contenders. Yet first up they were mortally wounded by the West Indies, whose captain, Chris Gayle, dropped his disinterested demeanour long enough to flog 88 in 50 balls. Their bid was then snuffed out by the gifted Sri Lankans.

That day opener Tillekaratne Dilshan unveiled the shot of the tournament - his version of the ramp shot, in which he knelt down as if to head-butt the ball, only to scoop it over his helmet, and the wicketkeeper, to the one boundary no captain defends. He repeated it a few days later as if to prove it was no fluke.

Against fast-medium bowlers, that takes some nerve, attempting a shot which carries short odds of flattening the batsman's nose.(And brings to mind former England captain Mike Gatting edging a bouncer from the great West Indian speedster Malcolm Marshall onto his nose, smearing it across his face. When Gatting returned to Heathrow Airport, his face black and blue, a reporter asked him: "So tell us, Mike, where exactly did the ball hit you?")

Pakistan? With so little cricket to lean on in the last year for strictly non-cricketing reasons, they looked off the pace early. Then they plastered New Zealand all across the Oval on Sunday. They bowled expertly, and fielded tenaciously to roll New Zealand for 99, winning by a mile.

A win for Pakistan over Ireland early today will mean New Zealand must beat Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge early tomorrow, or they're heading home. Their net run rate was superior to both rivals' as of last night. New Zealand's campaign thus far has been ordinary.

They beat Scotland in a seven-over bash to make the Super Eight, and should have beaten South Africa in their second group match, losing by one run in a chase for just 129.

That they had five wickets in hand at the finish told its own story. Even though a win wasn't needed to ensure their advance to the next stage, it would have injected momentum, not to mention providing a confidence-booster against one of the favourites.

Ireland were swept aside but the batting against Pakistan was poor, but it illustrated one of the points about Twenty20 cricket: provided two batsmen get going, a team can put up a defendable total, with others chipping in around them. That has been the template for many innings at the tournament.

If everyone drops like a row of dominoes, there's no chance.

The first eight New Zealand batsmen all fell to attacking shots.

Once wickets had started falling - and, frankly, some were tossed away - they should have tailored their work to push towards a target which would have given the bowlers something to work with, however meagre.

One of the keys to that is making sure every available ball is used and they squeezed out what they could. Instead they went down flailing, leaving nine balls unfaced.

Pakistan, when the force is with them, can be as difficult opponents as any to subdue, but New Zealand didn't help themselves.

Which leaves them having to beat Sri Lanka, armed with two clever twirly men, Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, and the awkward, whippy, low-slinging Lasith Malinga, plus quality batting power, to advance to the last four.

You can bet that wasn't part of the pre-tournament strategy.