THE WORLD PORTAL

There are few things that can match an accustomed Christmas back home with the friends and family. But after however many years of broadly the same thing, people are starting to want to branch out; some fly out to sunny Australia or to a ten-thousand strong party in Thailand. Yet more however seek the picturesque, storybook Christmas rooted in historical tradition of the sort that can only be found in Europe.

But when there are so many fantastic places to consider for a European Christmas, and not just in the famous capital cities but even in the smallest of towns and villages, it can be impossible to hone in on just one destination. However, although there are hundreds of places that do it well, few can evoke the magic of Christmas time in the Austrian capital, Vienna.

This is a time when the markets come out in full force, and the experience of a true Viennese Christmas market is second to none; the smells of spices, baked apples and a variety of delicious grilled meats permeate the air. Fairy lights and decorations are ubiquitous and enchanting in equal measure.

The joy of Christmas markets is the freedom in walking around with the delicious glühwein or even a nice hefty glass of beer (carrying around a full litre is always an interesting experience!) and picking various delicious places to eat. You’re spoilt for choice.

The most stunning attraction though is St. Stephen’s Cathedral at night, when it is lit up in full profile like a Disney castle, dominating the typically low buildings which are typical products of Viennese architecture and creating an unparalleled vista.

So, although there are plenty of places to go in Europe for the perfect Christmas atmosphere, there is one you should consider above all others. Vienna is different because it effuses the magic of the Christmas spirit so effortlessly, and is well capable of reducing even the most weary adult to the status of a child.

ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2010 WINNERS - ENGLAND

At last England cricket team gained World Cup title. They gained their first T20 World Cup title by defeating their Ashes rival Australia by 7 wickets at Bridgetown. England team appeared in many World cup finals, but they were failed to lift the World Cup title. In 1979 world cup final, they were defeated by India and in 1987 world cup final, Australia defeated England. Pakistan ended their hopes of gaining 1992 world cup title in the final match and in 2004 mini World cup final, West Indies defeated England. However in ‘2010 T20 World cup’ final, England team showed their outstanding bowling as well as batting display against Australia. In this final match, England won the toss and selected to field. In the early overs of this match, England showed terrific bowling performance against Australia. At the end of 3rd over, they reduced Australia to 8/3. However, with the help of Cameron White and Hussey brothers, Australia gained 147 runs by lossing six wickets in 20 overs. Cameron White scored 30 runs from 19 balls, M.Hussey gained 17 runs from 10 balls and David Hussey took 59 runs from 54 balls. The English players gained the target score of 148 runs very easily with the help of Kieswetter’s 63 runs and and Kevin Pietersen’s 47 runs. Kieswetter was declared ‘Player of the Match’ and Kevin Pietersen was declared ‘Player of the Tournament’ for his 248 runs in the tournament.

England Squad : Paul Collingwood (c), James Anderson, Ravinder Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Ajmal Shahzad, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy

HISTORY

The England Cricket team is one of the best leading cricket teams in the world. England is the home of cricket, and it was the nation that introduced the sport to the world. England’s cricket team represents England and Wales, and it is controlled by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). This team played their first ODI in 1971 against Australia and got the test status in 1877 along with Australia. Furthermore, got the ICC membership in 1909 along with Australia. Australia and England were at the time the two leading cricket playing nations in the world and England played many cricket matches with them. England’s cricket team holds the position of 6th in Test and ODI in ICC rank listing. They played their first Twenty20 match on 2005. England’s cricket team gained many achievements in cricket. They have won 307 of the 885 Test matches they have played and have also finished runners-up in 1979, 1987 and 1992 Cricket World Cups. In the 1975 World Cup held in England itself, the hosts did reasonably well to reach the semifinals where they were defeated by their arch rivals Australia. In the 1979 world cup also held in England, and they had a runner up in that World Cup. In the 1987 world cup, they performed very well to reach the finals, and they lost by just 7 runs to Australia. In 1992 World Cup, they finished runners up for the third time. In the 1996 World Cup, England lost to Sri Lanka in the quarter finals. However, in the 1999,2003 World Cup, this team was failed in the first round. It is the wonderful news that England has never won the World Cup. This team produced many star players including Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Tony Greig, Graham Gooch, Allan Lamb, Nasser Hussain etc. Current squad of this team also contains many powerful players such as Michael Vaughn, Kevin Pietersen, Steve Harmison, Andrew Strauss, Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad etc. In the inagural T20 World Cup, Engalnd team was defeated by South Africa and New Zealand in Super eight round. So they did not qualify for the semi final. England is again out from the semi final of second T20 World Cup. In super eight round, they were defeated by South Africa and West Indies. However, the England team gained the third T20 World cup title by defeating Australia by seven wickets. In this world cup, England was in Group D along with West Indies and Ireland. In the group round match, England was defeated by West Indies according to the Duckworth–Lewis method and match between Ireland was abandoned due to rain. Then according to run rate, England was qualified for super eight match. In super eight match, England defeated Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand and qualified for semi final. In the semi final, they defeated Sri Lanka and entered in the final. In the final, they defeated their Ashes rival Australia by 7 wickets.