To the winners the spoils, to the losers...

Congratulations to Pakistan. I really thought that Sri Lanka were the nailed on favourites to walk away with the Twenty20 World Cup, but some extremely clever bowling (the wicket of Dilshan was inspired) put pressure on Sri Lanka from the off, and it was only due to a captain’s innings by Sangakarra that Sri Lanka posted a semi-decent total. Afridi was imperious with the bat for Pakistan and always in control, though a couple of tight overs at the end, especially by Malinga, meant that a couple of wickets could have made it very difficult for Pakistan. So, not the run-fest that many would have expected, but the final showed that nuance and momentum can play a role in Twenty20. And hats off to players from both countries in respect to the situations surrounding the teams and their countries. The Sri Lankan team were hideously attacked by gunmen while touring in Pakistan a few months back, and their country has recently had to endure more flare-ups in the war between government forces and the Tamil rebels, though this seems to have come to an end. Pakistan, meanwhile, have been dealing with their own internal troubles and a situation that threatens to put the country, and the entire region, into a highly unstable situation. Hopefully sport can do a small amount of good by uniting disparate groups in their support of a band of cricketers.

In addition, well done to the England Women's team for their convincing win over the Kiwis in the Women's Twenty20 World Cup. As with the men, not a run-fest, but it showed that the England team is comfortably the best in the world at all formats of the game. Not often we get to say that about any British side.