We are not chokers, insists Smith

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South African captain Graeme Smith will not let his team be branded chokers anymore despite failing to make the final of the World Twenty20 here.

South Africa, overwhelming favourites after five straight wins in the tournament, were knocked out by Pakistan in a seven-run defeat in Thursday's semi-final.

Shahid Afridi smashed 51 from 34 balls and then grabbed 2-16 with his leg-spin as Pakistan successfully defended 149-4 to restrict the Proteas to 142-5 before a sell-out crowd at Trent Bridge.

"Every time we lose an important game, that word, chokers, is thrown around," a disappointed Smith said after the match.

"But we have played great cricket and I am proud of the way the guys have performed.

"During the last couple of years we have been on an upward curve and the team will improve and get stronger and stronger."

South Africa have faltered in most major multi-nation tournaments like the World Cup and Champions Trophy despite being one of the leading sides in the modern game.

Smith said the semi-final loss hurt, but conceded Pakistan were the better team and deserved to win.

"It is obviously disappointing and sad to be leaving the tournament now," he said.

"We have played some great cricket in this tournament and played some great cricket in the semi-final.

"But Pakistan brought their 'A' game to this match and every cog worked well for them.

"Afridi was the difference. His four overs brought Pakistan back into the game. We lost our way and never got back into it.

"I think we deserved to be in the final with the way we performed during this tournament, but that is not how it works. Pakistan played better than us."

Pakistan, runners-up to India in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago, will play either Sri Lanka or the West Indies in Sunday's final at Lord's.

Afridi plundered eight boundaries, including four in succession off Johan Botha, after Pakistan elected to bat on a wicket that slowed down as the evening progressed.

Veteran Jacques Kallis made a brave attempt to take the South Africans home, striking seven fours and a six in 64 from 54 balls, but the other batsmen faltered against the spot-on attack.

Smith failed to make use of an early chance when he was dropped by Umar Gul as he skied a return catch to seamer Mohammad Aamir after making 10.

Afridi, coming on to bowl in the seventh over, struck twice in four deliveries when he bowled Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers to make South Africa 50-3 in 8.3 overs.

Afridi and fellow-spinner Saeed Ajmal made runs hard to come by, and when the dangerous Gul came on to bowl in the 14th over, South Africa needed a further 77 from 42 balls.

Kallis and JP Duminy raised South Africa's hopes by adding 61 from 53 balls for the fourth wicket, but Ajmal broke the threatening stand by having Kallis caught in the deep in the 18th over.

Duminy remained unbeaten on 44 from 39 balls but the task of needing 23 runs in the last over bowled by Aamir proved too much for him and Mark Boucher.

It did not matter at the end that Pakistan, who were 120-3 after 15 overs, failed to build on the early advantage and managed just 29 runs in the final five overs.

India coach blames IPL for early exit

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India's coach Gary Kirsten pointed fingers at the cash-rich Indian Premier League for his team's ouster from the World Twenty20, saying it had left the players tired.

India, who won the inaugural T20 Worlds in South Africa two years ago, lost both their Super Eight matches to the West Indies and hosts England to be knocked out before the semi-finals.

Kirsten, the former South African opener, said his team was physically and mentally unprepared to defend the title because the cricketers were involved in the IPL.

He also did not rule out asking his main players to withdraw from next year's edition of the IPL in March so that they will be fresh for the next World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in April.

"We had a lot of players with niggles coming into this tournament. A lot of those niggles were picked up during the IPL," said Kirsten ahead of the last Super Eights match against South Africa at Trent Bridge later on Tuesday.

"We lose contact with our players during the IPL because they are connected to and responsible to their franchises.

"The players take a lot of pride in playing for their franchises, but the bottom line is the amount of cricket did not play into our hands.

"The next World Twenty20 is only something like nine months away and we are keen to start setting up our plans and strategies.

"We got it wrong in this tournament and we need to go forward from that."

Kirsten said ordering his players out of next year's IPL was an option he will consider.

"I've seen that happen in other sports, I know in South Africa they do that in rugby union," he said. "Maybe that is something to think of in the future.

"Whether it is possible, we don't know."

The Indian cricket board-backed IPL was held in South Africa in April-May after the Indian government expressed inability to provide security because the tournament clashed with parliamentary elections.

The five-week IPL is contested by eight franchises, owned by tycoons and Bollywood stars, who bought the world's leading cricketers for huge amounts.

Kirsten said Indian players should consider resting from the IPL, which he described as a "club competition" whose standards were lower than the T20 Worlds.

"That is a domestic competition, a club competition in many respects," he said. "While you have got international players playing in the teams, you have got first-class cricketers making up the rest.

"I sense there is a reasonably big gap between what is happening at the IPL level and what is happening internationally (like the World Twenty20)."

The IPL had left the Indian players exhausted, Kirsten added.

"The one thing that did not play into our hands here is that we had a bunch of cricketers who were quite tired when they arrived in England," he said.

"That is not an excuse because we were aware we had a demanding schedule, but we never got to the level of intensity you need to in the international game.

"The standard of cricket and the quality of cricket has been higher at the World Twenty20 than what we experienced in the IPL."

India, who have been on the road since February, are scheduled to tour the West Indies from next week for four one-day internationals.

There was no immediate reaction from the Indian board on Kirsten's outburst against the IPL.

No decision yet on Pak's WC venues: ICC

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The International Cricket Council said on Monday no agreement had been reached on where Pakistan will hold its World Cup matches in February-March 2011.

"No decision has been made yet," ICC president David Morgan told a media briefing after a meeting with officials from the four co-hosts nations, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Pakistan had served legal notices on the ICC after being stripped of hosting rights in the wake of the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore on March 3 and the deteriorating security situation in the volatile nation.

Morgan clarified that while Pakistan were removed as a host location, the Pakistan Cricket Board remained a co-host and expected a final decision to be made "in the next two weeks."

The ICC clarification was viewed as an attempt to open doors to a negotiated settlement, but that appeared to have failed at Monday's meeting on the sidelines of the World Twenty20.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt told reporters as he left the three-hour meeting that he wanted Pakistan's share of 14 matches to be held on home soil.

Morgan and ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said that while the PCB had put the legal proceedings on hold, it had already been decided that World Cup matches will not be played in Pakistan.

"This meeting was the first occasion to settle misunderstandings," Lorgat told reporters.

"All we did today was to clarify to the PCB that there will be no matches in Pakistan."

Morgan added: "We want to ensure Pakistan remains a host nation and we stress the importance of Pakistan as a cricketing nation."

The ICC officials did not rule out the possibility of Pakistan holding its matches in the United Arab Emirates, where it hosted a one-day series against Australia in May-June in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

"There are already four host nations," said Morgan. "There could be a fifth country hosting matches."

Morgan declined to comment on the response of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to the current impasse.

Morgan, however, ruled out switching the 2011 World Cup to Australia and New Zealand, the designated hosts of the 2015 event.

"We did discuss the possibility of giving the 2011 World Cup to Australia and New Zealand, but that is not an option," he said. "Those two countries will hold the tournament in 2015."

Morgan said in a statement that he was "pleased we were able to come together today in a spirit of co-operation to further the process of finding a resolution to the matter.

"We had constructive discussions and I will look to follow them through with Mr Pawar (ICC vice president Sharad Pawar of India) and Mr Butt in the coming days so we can identify the best means of coming up with a recommendation on where the matches originally scheduled to take place in Pakistan can be held.

"What we need to do is settle this matter as quicky as possible within the ICC family as we need to press on with our preparations for the World Cup whcih is less than two years away."

I feel sorry for Dhoni: Graeme Smith

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South Africa captain Graeme Smith offered his support to under-fire India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday after the defending champions crashed out of the World Twenty20.

India's three-run defeat to England at Lord's on Sunday sparked an avalanche of criticism aimed at Dhoni with his tactical thinking coming under fire from the country's demanding fans.

"Mahendra is a very composed person but a few tactical decisions of theirs have come under scrutiny and that's always difficult to deal with as a leader," said Smith whose team face India in their final Super Eights match at Trent Bridge here on Tuesday.

"If you've captained for long enough, you've been through those phases of your career. As a leader, when things aren't going to plan, they will turn on you. How you handle yourself and handle those situations is a sign of the type of character you are and where you're going in your career.

"I certainly had a few moments like that but hopefully we won't be facing that in this competition. Maybe it's someone else's turn."

Smith added: "We all know India, on paper, are a supremely talented team with lots of options so it was a surprise to see them not perform to that standard in Super Eights."

South Africa have already sealed their place in the semi-finals are almost certain to play their last-four match here on Thursday as Group E winners.

"(Tuesday's match) is not important to the competition but we still want to go out and play well," said Smith.

"In terms of the levels which you are playing and in terms of your combinations it is important for our semi-final.

"It is about challenging ourselves to play at the levels we have been. The challenge for us is to maintain our level of play; it's a very difficult competition if you don't do that.

"It's important, no matter what the result, that we play at the level we are comfortable with.

"Twenty20 is all about adapting to situations, committing to your skills and being well-prepared tactically."

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