The End of Super Eights as well as the end of a legend:

The last match of the Super Eights(West Indies vs England) finally provided a thriller. The match saw the openers of both sides coming back to form. Chris Gayle finally fired scoring 79 runs off just 58 balls while his counterpart Vaughan too scored 79 off just 68 balls.

On a good batting track, West Indies were sent into bat and they got off to a cracking start as Gayle(79 runs, 10 fours, 3 sixes) and Devon Smith (61 runs, 6 fours) put on a 131 runs stand. The biggest moment of the match came when the KING, BRIAN CHARLES LARA, walked out to bat for the final time. He was given a standing ovation as he walked to the crease, Lara smashed 3 glorious boundaries, and just when he was just looking in great touch, he was run-out by Kevin Pietersen. Marlon Samuels was the culprit as he hit the ball to mid-on and called for a run, but failed to respond as Lara was run-out.

The Legend walked away in tears escorted by England team members and his own mates. The crowd got up and gave a standing ovation to the great lefthander. Some clapped, while the others cried, some held banners , some just stood up, but all of them respected the man . It was an awesome sight and a fitting mark or respect to such a great man.

Samuels made some amends for his mistake by hitting a brilliant51(off just 39 balls).When he and Chanderpaul were batting, W.Indies were in sight of a target of 320+. But as usual they collapsed losing their last 5 wickets scoring just 42 runs and ended up with s till imposing 300.


England's response: Knowing England's batting form, very few would have given England a chance of winning this match. But Vaughan rose to the occasion as he hit a brilliant 79 off just 68 balls(6 fours and 2 sixes). Pietersen set up the chase scoring 100 off just 91 balls before he was bowled by Jerome Taylor. At 7/269, a West Indian win was on the cards, but Paul Nixon played a cameo of 38 as he got out on the second ball of the 50 over with just 3 runs to win.

4Balls remaining, and 3 runs to score with just 1 wicket in hand. Broad was batting and Bravo delivered the penultimate delivery of the match and was hit for the winning runs.
A rare and thrilling 1 wicket Win for England and Dissappointment for West Indies yet again. A not-so-fitting finale for Brian Charles Lara, who will be always remembered as a great batsman and a great entertainer.

Highlights: Gayle's whirlwind knock of 79.
Lara short, yet entertaining, innings of 18.
The standing ovation given by the crowd when Lara got out.
The farewell speech by Brian Lara. Lara asked the crowd during the after match ceremony , “ Did I Entertain You guys”. The reply from the crowd was a resounding, “ YES”. Lara thanked the crowd and his friends for their support and left the podium as a player for perhaps the last time.
Kevin Pietersen's run-out of Brian Lara and his matchwinning 100 that spoilt Lara's farewell party.
Vaughan's 79 off 68 balls that set up the England victory.
Well it was not only the last match of the Super Eight stage, but also the end of an era, we must all thank Brian Lara for his amazing contributions to the game.

Although he would be best remembered for his world records 375 and 400(The Highest individual score in Test Cricket) against England and his 502 not out scored off just 473 balls laden with 62 fours and 12 sixes (the highest first class score), i would rate his two innings of 213 and 153 not out against Australia in 1999 as one of the very best i have ever seen.

No player has won many matches single-handedly than Lara, unfortunately he scored heavily even when his team got thrashed. Lara would be forever remembered for the West Indies vs Srilanka series where he scored 660+ runs and yet finished on the losing side.

I don't know whether you all remember, his best oneday innings came against Pakistan when Lara scored a brilliant 94 to win a West Indian victory during the 1996 tri-series in Australia. What made that innings so special was that Lara won the match despite the fact the 60 runs were required off the last 5 overs. West Indies won with 3 balls to spare. In the same series, Lara smashed another brilliant hundred as West Indies knocked Australia out of the tournament.

We would no more witness the Highbacklift, that magical slash on the offside, the delicate latecuts, the punishing hook and pull shots, those drives that mesmerized even the greatest off fast bowlers and mostly that man who had the heart of a lion and on his day, smashed even the best to smithereens on any track.

Brian Charles Lara! Three Cheers to you and your batsmanship, you have been one of a kind batsman and you deserved more.

Ireland face Reality

Ireland finished their World Cup campaign on a sad note. When they entered World Cup 2007, many would have expected them to be mere pushovers, but Ireland shocked the world by knocking Pakistan out of the World Cup and then entering the Quarters to register a solitary, but emphatic, win over Bangladesh. But yesterday they were thrashed by Srilanka, who had valuable match practice.

There is nothing great to write about the match. Ireland batted first and once they lost their opener Bray(20 runs), wickets started tumbling like 9 pins. Maharoof was the chief wrecker as he demolished the top order and dismissed Bray(20), Porterfield(17), Botha(0), and Morgan(0) to finish with 4/25 off his 10 overs. To add to 4 wickets, he inflicted a brilliant run out of Trent Johnson. Ireland were reeling at 48/6, and things got worser as Murali came into the attack.

If the first half belonged to Maharoof, the second one was hogged by Murali, who spun a web around the Irish batsman. He dismissed Neil “o” Brien and Carroll in his first over and then took the wickets of Kevin “o” Brien and Mccallan to end up with 4/19 off his 5 overs. Vaas wrapped up the Irish innings when he dismissed Langford Smith for 18. Ireland scored just a meagre 77 and a thrashing was on the cards.

Srilanka should have won this match by 10 wickets, but the wickets of Tharanga(0) and Sangakkara(10) proved to be a blip on the Radar as the Srilankan batsman stuck to their guns and chased the target easily. Jayasuriya(24 off 20 balls, a six and 3 fours), and captain Jayawardane(39 off 27 balls, a six and 6 fours) finished off the match in 10 overs. Thus Srilanka thrashed yet another minnow.


Note for the statisticians: During the last three World Cup matches(Aus vs SL, SA vs ENG, and SL vs IRE), the winning runs have been hit by the respective captains. Ponting finished off the match against Srilanka with a Six; Smith hit a Four against England; and Jayawardane hit a four against Ireland to seal off an 8 wicket victory. Interestingly this World Cup has been good for the captains mainly Fleming, Ponting, Smith, and Jayawardane. Even Ireland's captain, Trent Johnson, has had his moments(he hit a six to register a thrilling 3 wicket win over Pakistan, took the wicket of Adam Gilchrist,and scored 30 runs in the match against Bangladesh).

The Flavor of World Cup 2007: One Sided Matches

World Cup 2007 is turning out to be a boring humdinger. It has wielded too many one sided matches where sides have been beaten emphatically by colossal marigins. Many records have been shattered and many have been rewritten. If the primary aim of the World Cup was to increase the popularity of the game, it has not been achieved.

A cricket fan comes to a match expecting to see both sides play good, quality, cricket. But when matches consistently turn out to be one-sided, the fans get irritated and they lose interest in the game. To add insult to injury, Australia have been consistently thrashing their opponents and have just added their victories to the tally of one sided matches.

Australia have been the Juggernaut of this World Cup. No side, not even South Africa, has come close to beating them. They have consistently beaten their opponents by colossal marigins. Although we all love to see a side play positive, cricket, we get bored when we see that the same side win again and again and again... I fear that if Australia's superior vein of form continues, Cricket may stand to be the ultimate loser.
Every game needs atleast two great powers that are evenly matched. But Cricket has just Australia and the rest of the teams are lagging Faaaaaar behind.

The other teams are also to blame, they have never performed well against Australia. I am sorry to say this, “ At present, no team is playing well enough to beat Australia. Considering that Australia are just a bunch of well performing professionals, i suspect that the quality of cricket played by other teams is very pathetic”.
As i say this, Australia have thrashed yet another opponent (Srilanka) by 7 wickets. Srilanka batted first and lost ten wickets for 224 runs. Australia, as usual, chased the target easily and won yet another match by an emphatic marigin(7 wickets). Ponting and Symonds scored great half centuries and finished off the match easily.

Oh! I forgot to say that Srilanka had rested Malinga, Muralitharan, and Vaas stating fitness reasons.(But we all know it was a tactic to make Australia Complacent, only time will tell whether this tactic was worth it.)

If the trend continues, Australia will easily win it's Third Consecutive World Cup. If Australia does win this cup, it means that they are the only ones, i mean the only ones, who are playing good quality cricket. What a shame for the game?
I would rather watch Football, or Hockey because atleast they have evenly matched contests and no team can dominate for more than four years as their opponents constantly innovate and come back stronger.

NewZealand register convincing win

A match which was supposed to be a thrilling contest, between two great teams, turned out to be a dull contest.
South Africa yet again proved why they deserved the tag of chokers, they are a brilliant team, but when it comes to big matches, they always tend to choke. New Zealand used this match brilliantly to prove South Africa's fallacy against spinners on slow tracks.

Fleming cleverly brought off Spinner Jeetan Patel into the side to boost his spin options . South Africa went into bat and were choked by Bond (2/26 off 10 overs)and Franklin(1/16 off 7 overs). Bond dismissed Smith(1) and Franklin got rid of AB De Villiers(0) and they both bowled tightly as South Africa scored just 14 runs in their first 11 overs. Gibbs(60 runs off 100 balls), Kallis(22 runs of 54 balls), Prince(37 off 57 balls) consolidated SA'a position, but they scored too slowly and failed to rotate the strike.
The spinners Daniel Vettori(1/50) and Jeetan Patel(0/36) seldom conceded bounadries and they dried up the runs as South Africa choked.

McMillan's rich haul: When Gibbs and Prince had built a steady 76 run partnership, Fleming took a big risk as he introduced Mcmillan into the attack. The gamble paid rich dividends as Mcmillan took the wickets of Gibbs, Prince, and Boucher to end up with 3/23 in his 5 overs. South Africa never recovered as they managed to score just 75 runs in their last 14 overs ending up with a meagre 193/7.

New Zealand chased the target succesfully and won with 5 wickets and 10 balls to spare.
Fleming (50 off 84 balls), and Styris(56 off 84 balls) set up the chase as Mcmillan(38 not out) finished the formalities.The South African's never looked like winning as their bowling attack was impenetrative. The lack of a potential spinner hurt them the most. I feel that Nicky Boje should have been brought out of retirement and included in this SA squad. Boje could have been vital as he is decent spinner and a good batsman too. SouthAfrica have to sort their problems out or else they will yet again lose the World Cup and gain back the shamefull tag of CHOKERS.

NewZealand register convincing win

A match which was supposed to be a thrilling contest, between two great teams, turned out to be a dull contest.
South Africa yet again proved why they deserved the tag of chokers, they are a brilliant team, but when it comes to big matches, they always tend to choke. New Zealand used this match brilliantly to prove South Africa's fallacy against spinners on slow tracks.

Fleming cleverly brought off Spinner Jeetan Patel into the side to boost his spin options . South Africa went into bat and were choked by Bond (2/26 off 10 overs)and Franklin(1/16 off 7 overs). Bond dismissed Smith(1) and Franklin got rid of AB De Villiers(0) and they both bowled tightly as South Africa scored just 14 runs in their first 11 overs. Gibbs(60 runs off 100 balls), Kallis(22 runs of 54 balls), Prince(37 off 57 balls) consolidated SA'a position, but they scored too slowly and failed to rotate the strike.
The spinners Daniel Vettori(1/50) and Jeetan Patel(0/36) seldom conceded bounadries and they dried up the runs as South Africa choked.

McMillan's rich haul: When Gibbs and Prince had built a steady 76 run partnership, Fleming took a big risk as he introduced Mcmillan into the attack. The gamble paid rich dividends as Mcmillan took the wickets of Gibbs, Prince, and Boucher to end up with 3/23 in his 5 overs. South Africa never recovered as they managed to score just 75 runs in their last 14 overs ending up with a meagre 193/7.

New Zealand chased the target succesfully and won with 5 wickets and 10 balls to spare.
Fleming (50 off 84 balls), and Styris(56 off 84 balls) set up the chase as Mcmillan(38 not out) finished the formalities.The South African's never looked like winning as their bowling attack was impenetrative. The lack of a potential spinner hurt them the most. I feel that Nicky Boje should have been brought out of retirement and included in this SA squad. Boje could have been vital as he is decent spinner and a good batsman too. SouthAfrica have to sort their problems out or else they will yet again lose the World Cup and gain back the shamefull tag of CHOKERS.

Srilanka pull off a Morale-Boosting Victory:

Srilanka have sent a warning message to all other semifinalists by registering a convincing 4 wicket victory over New Zealand.

NewZealand batted first on a very tricky pitch and started disastrously losing Fleming(0) and Taylor(0) to Chaminda Vaas, who bowled brilliantly. New Zealand, who were 4/2 in the 3rd over, never seemed to dominate as the Srilankan bowlers bowled tighly and took regular breakthroughs. Scott Styris scored a brilliant 111not out and stood tall among the ruins. Apart from him, Fulton(28 runs), Oram(31 runs), and Franklin(25 not out) were the only batsmen to cross double figures.Srilanka exploited New Zealand's inability to play spinners as Muralitharan(3/32), Jayasuriya(0/44), and Dilshan(1/44) gave away just 120 runs in their 28 overs. New Zealand scored 219/7 in their 50 overs . Vaas was the star performer as he took 3 wickets for just 33 runs.

A target of 220 was never going to be enough provided Srilanka got off to a flying start. Srilanka started steadily losing Tharanga(11) in the 5th over, thanks a superb catch by Shane Bond in the deep. However Fleming dropped two difficult catches(Tharanga and Jayasuriya) and thus gave away the initial advantage to Srilanka, who accepted it gleefully. SriLanka were never put under pressure as Jayasuriya(64 runs) and Sangakkara put on a 100 run partnership. By the time, Jayasuriya got out in the 26th over, Srilanka were already cruising along. Sangakkara played patiently for his 69 not out, rotated the strike beautifully, hit some lovely boundaries, and led his side to victory. Srilanka romped home with 4 wickets and 29 balls to spare.
New Zealand must now win atleast one game in order to reach the semi-finals.


Highlights: Styris's Knock of 111 not out.
Jayasuriya's unusually controlled knock of 64(80 balls 5 fours and a six).
Chaminda Vaas's match haul of 3/33(9 overs). He took the first three New Zealand wickets, and thus swung the match in Srilanka's favor.

West Indies lose yet another match, exit World Cup

The World Cup has been a cup of woes for the West Indies Team. They came into the match needing a victory over South Africa, but instead got defeated convincingly yet again.

The Match: Lara won the toss and took a disastrous decision by sending South Africa into bat. When SouthAfrica were 36/1 after the 10 over mark, West Indies would have had high hopes of restricting SouthAfrica to a score of 250-260 runs, but it was just the calm before the storm.

Powerplays cost West Indies dearly: Lara took the 2nd powerplay in the 11th over. It backfired as Kallis and AB De Villiers plundered 50 runs off the second powerplay. De Villers(141 runs) and Kallis(81 runs)built a run-a-ball 170 run partnership. Kallis played an unusually aggressive innings as he hit six fours and a six to score 81(86 balls). Ab De Villiers, on the other hand, scored a blazing knock of 141 runs(130 balls). Although he started off slowly, he shifted gears after the 11th over and hit 5 sixes and 12 boundaries before getting out in the 43rd over.

None of the West Indian bowlers, except Corey COlleymore(2/41), seemed to contain SouthAfrica. To make things worse, Lara took a disastrous decision when he postponed the last powerplay till the 44th over. It backfired disastrously as Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher smashed the West Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground. The last powerplay cost West Indies a massive 77 runs(8 sixes )as 26 runs were hit in the last over of the powerplay. Boucher scored a dynamic 52 off just 23 balls. He slogged 5 mighty sixes, mostly over midwicket.Boucher's blazing innings completely overshadowed Gibbs, who scored a superb 61(off just 40 balls). The last 10 overs cost West Indies a whopping 134 runs. West Indies were set an improbable target of 357 to chase.

West Indies disappoint again: West Indies started disastrously losing Chanderpaul(5) in the 3rd over. Dwayne Smith made a belligerent 33(27balls) before he was superbly caught by a diving De Villers off Nel's bowling. Gayle(32runs) promised to fire, but was run out by a direct hit from Prince. West Indian hopes were shattered totally when Lara(21) charged Kallis down the pitch only to chop one onto the stumps. When Bravo got out in the 25th overs, West Indies were down and out at 142/5.

Sarwan and Powell shine: Sarwan was the saving grace for West Indies as he scored a brilliant 92 off just 75 balls(10 fours and 1 six). He was well supported by Ian Bradshaw who made a patient 20(45 balls). But when Sarwan got out in the 39th over, SouthAfrica were staring at a big win. But Daren Powell hit a powerfull 48 off just 36 balls(3 sixes)and Corey Colleymore hit a six off the last ball to reduce the victory marigin to just 67 runs.


Highlights: The 170 run partnership between Jacque Kallis and Ab De Villers.
Boucher's innings of 52(23 balls, 5 sixes;2 fours). Gibb's innings of 60(40 balls)
Sarwan's knock of 92(75 balls)
Lara's wicket(Remember Lara was South Africa's nemesis as he had hit 2 centuries against them in the previous world cups.)

The World Cup Debacle: Blessing in Disguise

Continuing from my previous post, i have stated the incidents that have taken place after the Chappell incident.

The BCCI arranged for a meeting on April 6th and 7th to take crucial decisions regarding the future of Indian Cricket. Many former Indian captains and former players such as Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Krish Srikkanth etc attended the meeting and gave their opinions and suggestions.
The agenda of the meeting was supposedly to analyze the reasons behind the team's pathetic world cup performance, and the future of Indian cricket.Meanwhile Greg Chappell resigned from his position as Indian coach stating personal reasons?????


After 2 days of intense discussions and brainstorming sessions(That's what the media said???), BCCI came up with the following decisions:
1) All player contracts will be cancelled and new contracts would be signed.
2) The players would be now payed 1 lakh per match and 2 lakh per test match. The reserve players would be paid 50% of the match fee.
3) Each Indian win would reward the Indian players with handsome rewards(5,00,000+) and each series win would also fetch (1 million per player).
4) A Player can sign only a maximum of 3 Endorsements(Advertisements)(Although the BCCI and the players are still negotiating on this issue)and each Endorsement shall not star more than 2 players.
5) Each player endorsement should be approved by the BCCI.
6) The Zonal selection system would be scrapped and there would be a centralized system of selection headed by a committee of former players.
7) A group of new selectors were appointed on a full-time basis.
8) Dravid would be the captain for the forthcoming tours and he would lead a team of youngsters.
9) Ravi Shastri would be the TEAM MANAGER for the Bangladesh tour. There would be no coach for the Bangladesh tour.
10) Former players Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh would be bowling and fielding coaches respectively.(GREAT DECISION)
11) A spin coach would also be appointed.
12) Each Indian player must play a minimum number of domestic matches.
13) Sporting(????) Pitches would be laid across the country.
14) Only the captain had the right to address press conferences regarding the team.

Merits and Demerits:
Merits:
1)The players would be now paid only based on their performances.
2)Having Robin Singh as our fielding coach would help our team to a great extent.
3) The Zonal Selection system has now been scrapped. This would increase the chances of finding real genuine talent.
4) Full-time selectors should be able to do a better job.
5) If BCCI prepares bouncy pitches across the country, it would improve our quality of cricket.
6) Domestic cricketers would now be given more exposure and be suitably rewarded(I Hope so).
Demerits:
The Indian players would be very unhappy since they can sign only 3-5 endorsements and also because their match fees has been reduced(They deserve this).
BCCI is yet to reduce the amount of international cricket matches played per year.
The Corporates who have signed up the players to endorse their products would certainly try to bribe BCCI and get their job done.



Note: I have written these points based on what i have read in the papers, pardon me if Am wrong.

The World Cup Debacle: A blessing in Disguise for Indian Cricket-I

Since the world cup debacle, Indian Cricket has been going through a severe crisis. Their coach, Greg Chappell, has been hinting to the media that there was a rift in the Indian team between the senior and junior players and that the Seniors prevented the inclusion of juniors into the team, fearing competition. The whole incident was supposedly brought to light due to an SMS sent by Chappell to senior sports journalist Rajan Bala.

The Sms states the following:
I am not happy with the team selection. I wanted Raina to be a part of the team, but the selectors ignored him stating his inexperience.
Dravid wanted me to include some senior players (Read Sehwag) instead of younger players(Read Raina, and Kaif).
Karthick is a good lad, he has immense leadership potential.
Yuvraj has an aura of overconfidence around him, he has started behaving like a star although he is just a rising talent.

This Sms broke out into a huge controversy as it questioned the attitude of the senior players. To add Fuel to the Fire, Chappell had questioned Sachin's commitment to the team and is believed to have said that Sachin should make way for talented youngsters.Sachin surprisingly responded to the media stating that he was hurt immensely by Greg's comment and that he had given his Life and Soul to Indian Cricker for the past 17 years and that he was hurt as his attitude and commitment was never questioned by anybody over the years..

Yuvraj made things worse when he, along with other players, complained that Greg has an authoratarian way of handling the players and followed the divide and rule policy to demotivate the players and create insecurity.

Now , a lot of question arose due to Chappell's reactions:
1)If his comments were true, why didn't he mention this to BCCI earlier? Did he fear losing his job?
2)If Greg's comments are true, who were the Senior players?
3)If it is found that the seniors had actually prevented the entry of juniors; would the board be brave enough to sack them.
4)Does BCCI have the guts to take brave decisions such as chucking out Sachin, and Sehwag out of the team
5)Why the hell did Dravid persist with a pathetic player like Sehwag inspite his persistent poor form?
6)Why did Chappell send this SMS to the media? Shouldn't he have consulted BCCI first and gone to the media only if the BCCI had failed to take evasive action.


My views: I fear that Chappell was not a great coach although he was a great player. He lacked the man-management qualities needed for a coach. He always leaked out news to the media(Which is very unprofesssional). He always played the blame game when the situation demanded a clear analysis of the team's mistakes. Although Chappell's idea of having a young team for the World Cup was a good idea; he failed to find the right youngsters(Karthick was an exception).

Our players have to share the major of the blame for the following reasons:
1)They never played like a team. Our team needs Motivation, and Killer Instinct.
2)Sachin, Sehwag, and Ganguly should have played their natural game, but instead they played defensive and pathetic cricket.
3)Dravid's captaincy was always unimaginative, and very submissive. Dravid needs to be aggressive and inspire his team to victory. Else he should resign.
4)Younsters like Yuvraj should stop acting like superstars and perform for their country, they should play many matchwinning knocks or should be kicked out.
5)Agarkar should either mend his erratic bowling ways and bowl ten great overs or should stop playing(You can''t bowl four or five great balls and spoil it by bowling a bad ball that goes for a 4 or a 6)
6)Players should dedicate their time more on playing cricket rather than for endorsing products.
7)The BCCI should stop making false promises. It should now revamp the domestic tournaments, relay pitches, and select players based on their consistent performances rather than reputation.
8)Sachin should either play his natural game or retire. It is sad to see him getting out pathetically to average bowlers.

Australia crush England hopes, Continue Dominance

The Aussie juggernaut continued its victorious venture when it registered a convincing victory over their arch rivals England by 7 wickets.England failed to live up to their expectations as their batting let them down misereably when needed the most.

England won the toss and decided to bat. As usual,the top order crumbled as England lost Vaughan and Strauss before the 6th over. Pietersen then joined Bell as they built a delightful 140 run partnership.

A Great Partnership: Pietersen and Bell put on a great 140 run partnership for the 3rd wicket. The two batsman had absolutely contrasting batting styles. Bell was less aggressive, waited for the loose ball, and played the ball late behind square.
Pietersen, on the other hand was Aggressive and looked to smash everything.
Bell scored a solid 77 off 90 balls before he holed out to Hussey, off McGrath .
At 164/3 in the 30th over, England were looking at a total of 300+. But their batting let them down once again as the Aussie bowlers seldom gave runs and picked crucial wickets.
Pieterson loses the plot:Pietersen slowed down after reaching his 50.His approach seemed to be sedate as his last 52 runs came off a painstaking 72 balls. It appeared as if he was batting just for his 100.

After Bell's wicket, England lost its way as they lost 7 wickets for just 86 runs off their last 20 overs.Bracken(3/33), Shaun Tait(3/41), and McGrath(3/63) shared the honors.A total of 246 may have been challenging, but it was never going to be enough for a win over the mighty Aussies.

Aussies win convincingly: 246 was always going to be reachable if Australia got off to a flyer and they did that exactly as Gilchrist(27 runs) and Hayden(41 runs) put on a 57 run partnership. England had some hopes when Hayden fell for 41 runs, with the score reading 89/2 in the 20th over. But Ponting(86), and Michael Clarke(55 not out)put on a match winning 112 run partnership. Symonds joined the party by scoring a run-a-ball 28 to guide Australia to a deserving 7 wicket victory.
Australia have now qualified for the semis.

Bangladesh pull off another surprise

Bangladesh have pulled out yet another rabbit from the hat as they beat South Africa by 67 runs. South Africa won the toss and chose to field in overcast conditions. The South African bowlers ,barring Pollock and Nel, were not upto the mark. They had earlier restricted Bangladesh to 84/4 in the 24th over, but failed to maintain their grip as Bangladesh recovered to post a challenging total of 252.

Opener Iqbal scored a patient 39, while the ever-reliable Mohammed Ashraful scored a scintillating 87 off just 83 balls against a strong South African attack. Aftab Ahmed provided the support and firepower as he hit two big sixes off Andre nel to score 35. Thanks to Ashraful and Aftab, Bangladesh recovered from a tottering 84/4 to post a challenging 251/8. Andre Nel(5 wickets for 45 runs) was the pick of SA bowling attack.

South Africa crumble: Since South Africa had a lengthy batting lineup and a reputation of chasing targets, nobody gave Bangladeshis a chance of winning this match, but they proved otherwise.
Bangladesh began well, as Mortaza and Rasel bowled a tight line and length seldom providing room outside the off stump for Smith or De Villiers. With the keeper standing near the stumps, Smith was pressurized as he got out bowled by Rasel.
Kallis came in next and scored a brisk 32 before losing his wicket to Syed Rasel.

The pitch was offering assistance to spin, and it was perfectly exploited by Razzaq, Rafique, and Saqibal Hasan. These three left arm spinners slowed down the South Africans by sticking on to a OFF-STUMP line(South Africa scored just 96 runs off their 29.3 overs). Due to the pitch offering great assistance to spinners, and with Bangladesh bowlers maintaining a tigh line and length, supported by their fielders, South Africa choked as their batsman played too many dot balls and got out to bad shots. Ab De Villers(15), Kemp(7, Prince(1), Boucher(12), and Pollock(13) got out cheaply. Gibbs, who scored a brilliant 56 off 59 balls, ran out of partners.

Abdur Razzaq was the star performer as he took 3/25. Rafique was very economical as he gave away just 22 runs in his ten overs and took a wicket. But the real key wickets(Smith, Kallis, Boucher, and Kemp) were taken by Saqibul Hasan(2/49) and Syed Rasal(2/41). Thus Bangladesh pulled off yet another upset win and South Africa, for the first time, have lost to a minnow.

Highlights: Aftab Ahmed's twin sixes off Andre Nel.
Andre Nel's match haul of 5/45.
Mohammad Ashraful's match winning knock of 87(83 balls, 12 fours.)

Srilanka Win Thriller

IF the South Africa vs Srilanka match turned out to be a thrilling contest thanks mainly to Malinga's exploits, this match(England vs Srilanka) went a step further as the momentum swung like a Pendulum during each stage of the match.

Srilanka held their nerve in the end to cling on to a 2 run victory. England, on the other side, have gained a great moral advantage despite losing their match. They have now identified two potential match winners in Ravi Bopara, and Paul Nixon.

The Match: England won the toss and sent Srilanka to bat. Prior to the match, England's captain Michael Vaughan had stated, ” Our real World Cup Campaign begins now”. His team proved their captain right by putting a great performance on the field and later on with the bat.

First innings:Srilanka had a steady start till Jayasuriya(25 runs) was bowled by Sajid Mahmood in the 8th over. The Srilankan batsman surprisingly batted in a sedate manner allowing Flintoff, Mahmood, & Co to settle. Tharanga made a slow, but steady, 62 runs, Mahela Jayawardane batted well as he scored a brisk 56 runs off 62 balls, as they put ton a crucial 91 run partnership for the third wicket.

Flintoff and Mahmood deliver: Flintoff(3/35) and Mahmood(4/50) bowled tightly and took 7 wickets between them. Flintoff produced crucial breakthroughs such as the wickets of Tharanga(62), and Chamara Silva(24). Mahmood on the other end, proved costly, took crucial wickets of Sanath Jayasuriya, Sangakkara(17), Arnold(20), and Malinga(2). Apart from Tharanga and Jayawardane, no Srilankan batsman scored above 30 as England got wickets at regular intervals thanks to the pressure built by the England Fielders especially Collingwood.
The Srilankan batsman failed to score off the slog overs as they scored just 75 runs off their last 15 overs ending up to score 235 in 50 overs.


England's Reply: England began disastrously losing openers Vaughan(0) and Joyce(10) before the 7th over. Ian Bell joined Kevin Pietersen as the duo put on a crucial 90 run partnership. Jayawardane made some smart moves by taking the second and third powerplays at unexpected intervals. Bell(47 runs) was run-out by Jaysuriya in the 26th over. This triggered a batting collapse as England lost Pietersen((58 runs)caught and bowled ,off a superb DOOSRA, by Muralitharan), Flintoff(2), and Collingwood(14 runs) for 32 runs. At the 34th over mark, England were staring down the barrel at 133/6.

The Partnership of the match: Critics would have written off England to go down tamely, but Nixon and Bopara thought otherwise. They came in with the score reading a precarious 133/6, and the duo were seperated only when the score read 220. Nixon made a sizzling 42, he ran well, hit two good boundaries and he even REVERSE-SWEPT Murali into the stands for a great SIX. The 22 year Old Bopara on the other hand was cool and calm. He rotated the strikewell, placed the ball in the gaps and scored a brilliant 52 off just 53 balls on a pitch which seldom supported stroke making. The Duo put on a fabulous 87 run partnership, which nearly carried England to victory.

Nixon got out in the penultimate(49th) over leaving England to score 13 off the last 7 balls. Fernando bowled the last over. Bopara hit the second ball for a four, and singles were scored off the other two deliveries. 3 were required off the last ball, Fernando held his nerve, as he bowled Bopara off the final ball to bring a 2 run Srilankan Win.

Highlights: Nixon reverse sweeping Murali for Six.
Bopara's brave innings of 52 which earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.
The last ball of the match bowled by Fernando, that got rid of Bopara.

New Zealand hammer Hapless Bangladesh

New Zealand hammered Bangladesh to win the match by 9 wickets.
Bangladesh batted first and their openers found it very tough to score off Bond and Oram. Hence the openers set up a sedate 55 run partnership until Oram got rid of both openers(Omar(22 runs) & Iqbal(29 runs).

Although the first four top-order batsman got off to decent starts, Kiwi bowlers bowled tightly and got crucial break throughs at regular intervals. None of the Bangladesh batsman showed the will to play a great innings. To add to their hapless batting(sheerly due to lack of exposure to great bowling attacks),they lost the wicket of Bashar due to careless running. Bashar was run-out by a direct hit from Oram as he was too slow going for the second run and didn't even bother to dive in order to reach his crease.This triggered a collapse as Bangladesh lost their last six wickets for just 52 runs. Only Mohammed Rafique (30 not out) helped Bangladesh to reach 174.
Styris (4/43), Oram (3/30), and Bond (2/15) were the main contributors with the ball.

Fleming Shines: Fleming scored a scintillating 102 not out (10 fours and 3 sixes) and he was well assisted by Hamish Marshall (50 not out 2 fours and 1 Six). New Zealand reached the target with 9 wickets and more than 20 overs to spare. The wicket of Peter Fulton(15) was the only wicket to fall.

By winning against Bangladesh, New Zealand have now virtually assured themselves of a place in the semis.
Bangladesh, in my opinion, would be lucky to win even two matches in the quarters. Bangladesh coach, Whatmore, needs to realise that although his team is talented, they still lack the exposure and firepower to win against teams like Australia, New Zealand, Srilanka etc. The need of the hour for Bangladesh is exposure against great bowling attacks.

"Superb Sanath" scripts Lankan Win

Sanath Jayasuriya smashed a brilliant century and took three crucial wickets that paved the way for an easy Lankan victory. West Indies won the toss and chose to field. The move seemed to be justified as Powell bowled Tharanga(8 runs) and Bradshaw got rid of Sangakkara(7 runs). At the end of the 9th over, the score read 36/2. But thanks to a great 183 run partnership between Jayasuriya(113) and Mahela Jayawardane(82) and a late blistering innings from T.Dilshan(39 off 22 balls), Srilanka set West Indies a daunting target of 304 to win.

West Indies crumble: W.Indies were never really in the chase as they lost early wickets of Gayle(10 runs) and Powell(21 runs). Srilanka bowled very tightly courtesy Vaas, Fernando, and Co. West Indies struggled right through as the required right kept peaking consistently. Lara(2) was stumped brilliantly by Sangakkara off Vaas, leaving WI reeling at 42/3. The Writing was clearly on the wall for West Indies. Only Chanderpaul (76 runs, 5 sixes and 1 four), and Sarwan (44 runs, One Six and a Four) led W.Indies to a respectable 190. The Tail crumbled like 9 pins as Jayasuriya(3/38), and Muralitharan(2/59) spun a web around them.

West Indies are now virtually out of the World Cup. They have lost 3 games and even if they win the remaining games, their chances would depend on the performance of the other qualifying teams.

Highlights: Jayasuriya proved yet again why he was still a threat to bowlers despite his age. His first 13 runs came off 33 balls, but he stayed there and took his chances hitting 10 fours and 4 sixes to notch up his 25th ODI Century. Jayasuriya has now scored 11,816 runs in One Day Internationals,only Tendulkar (14, 500+ runs)has scored more. Jayasuriya has also hit 25 centuries, 16 behind Tendulkar's tally of 41 ODI centuries.

With 11,816 runs at a strike rate of 90.76, and also 290 ODI wickets to his credit, he is perhaps the most valuable player in ODI Cricket. If he continues to fire consistently against Australia, New Zealand , England, and South Africa, Srilanka will win this World Cup. I am hoping to see Sanath fire against Australia, he is the only player who can annihilate the Aussie bowling attack and perhaps their dominance.

Davids find the going tough:

When Bangladesh and Ireland slayed the sub-continent Goliaths India and Pakistan in their preliminary games, they would have entered the quarters hoping to upset a few more teams to boost their morale.

But they must have realised by now that all teams are aware of the minnows and that Bangladesh or Ireland need to put their best ever performance even if they need to secure two wins in the Quarters. Well they are the proverbial David, but the only difference is that they need to fight six Goliaths and they just don't possess the firepower to beat them .

England vs Ireland:
England beat Ireland, without sweating much, by 48 runs.
England scored scored 266/7 after batting first. Collingwood (90), Pietersen(48), and Flintoff(43) were the main contributors.
Ireland were never in the chase after losing two wickets in the first five overs. Although Neil 'O' Brien(63 runs) scored yet another valuable fifty,and Trent Johnson(27 runs), AR White(38 runs) provided some fireworks in the final overs, it was just not enough as Ireland succumbed by 48 runs. Flintoff starred for England as he took 4 crucial wickets. COllingwood was declared as Man-of-the-Match.

Australia vs Bangladesh:
If England did well, Australia went two steps further as they thrashed Bangladesh by 10 wickets with 8 overs to spare. THe match was shortened to 22 overs per side as the outfield was wet due to overnight rain.
Bangladesh went into bat and they managed to score a decent 104/6.
With such a small total, Bangladesh never had even the slightest chance. They might have aspired to take atleast 3 australian wickets, but that was not to be.
Aussie openers Hayden(47) and Gilchrist(59) launched yet another assault on the hapless Bangladesh bowlers and reached the target with 8 overs to spare.
The match clearly indicated the approach of a Champion side from that of a minnow. Bangladeshis were lucky that it was not a 50 over match, else they would have been thrashed by a even bigger marigin.

Highlight: Mcgrath took 3 wickets,in the process overtook Wasim Akram(Pakistan), to become the highest wicket taker in World Cup history
After seeing the progress of the World CUp so far, i would nominate Australia, South Africa and New Zealand to be the contenders for the World Cup. However Srilanka may just pull one out of the hat to win this one.