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Ayaz Memon

Suresh Raina's incandescent century against South Africa was the highlight of the first week-end of the T20 World Championships. For sheer sustained clean-hitting and range of strokes this might rank as perhaps the best T20 innings by an Indian, Yuvraj Singh's 6x6 laden half century against England in 2007 not excepted.

Left-handed Raina has been touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket for almost five years (remember Greg Chappell gushing over him?) and there was growing cynicism whether this was going to be another case of promise unfulfilled. The century quells such doubts, if not permanently, at least for the duration of this tournament.

Batting at number 3, Raina holds a pivotal position. A batsman slotted here has to have the ability to bat through the innings as well as provide the tempo for rapid run-making. Not till this innings, I believe, was a batsman identified as fitting this role best because in the past, Yuvraj, Rohit, Dhoni have also batted number 3. Now Raina will be difficult to dislodge.

A good run in the IPL this season has obviously helped Raina go into the World Championships in a happy frame of mind. Such mental comfort translates rapidly into greater ambition and better performances on the field. Raina's body language, and the freedom with which he has batted over the past few months suggests that he is finally reaching the stage where he can justify the high rating he has received from several judges of form and class.

Thanks to Raina's brilliance and support from several batters and bowlers, India's passage into the Super 8 was clean and clinical, yet with enough hardship to prime the players for the sterner tests ahead. Afghanistan were never likely to seriously challenge Dhoni's side, but were no pushovers either.

Indeed, Afghanistan's journey to this stage in international cricket is a saga worthy of a tome, not just an article, but that is digressing. They fought well enough to help Dhoni assess his bowling resources adequately for the pitches and competition in the Caribbean. The inclusion of a second third spinner in Piyush Chawla in place of Zaheer Khan for the game against South Africa was indication of this.

The victory over South Africa was, of course, the more laudable. Having lost the toss, India had to do something spectacular while batting to remain ahead in the game against Graeme Smith's side which bats deep. Raina's sizzling century upset the South African captain's calculations completely. Smith may have been expecting to chase 160-170 at lost. The margin of victory - 14 runs - shows how little the difference was between the two sides in this high scoring game, and what the impact of Raina's innings was.

I was also most impressed with Australia's performance against Pakistan. Despite a crazy last over in which five wickets were lost without a run being scored (has there been anything like this in any format of the game?), this was a tour de force show by a side which has been seeded a lowly 9 in this tournament. Michael Clarke and Co will want to correct this anomaly.

That said, T20 remains the most unpredictable form of the game. Australia and Pakistan were both beaten by Zimbabwe in the warm-up to the tournament, and only somebody with a strong penchant for putting his/her foot in the mouth will predict the winner of this tournament. What one can say with certainty is that on May 16, the best team will be the winner.