Well the one-off T20 match between India and England was just another instance of one team over estimating itself and in the process taking the opposition or granted. This time, it was not a hare-tortoise story that was the case with India but this was a result of the wrong selection of the playing XI which proved costly for India. The match definitely was a costly one for India where the loss was not restricted to one match alone but was as good as a series loss where India lost all the T20 games it played. Loss record for India is 100% in the T20 tournament against England this series.
Though only one T20 game was played, a loss in that means India lost 100% of its matches. Coming to the game, it was not a good decision to include someone like Robin Uttappa in the playing XI when one has to take a long route to trace back when exactly did Uttappa last play an international T20 match. That was not a bad decision as well when Uttappa has been a player on the to be included lists but, yesterday's scorecard says it all. All that Uttappa could score was a single before Kieswetter caught him behind the stumps.
There have been matches in this bilateral series where huge totals have been chased down but there have been no games where small totals have been defended successfully. And, with that fact in front of us, it should come in as no surprise that a total of 120 stood nowhere when it comes to chasing and England did exactly that. Though Suresh Raina was successful to a little extent, the batsman with the highest strike-rate happened to be Ashwin who scored 17 runs at a strike rate of 154.54 runs. The generosity of the Indian batsmen was evident when they gave away 2 overs maiden.
There was surprisingly nothing much to complain about the English batsmen when they had the match well in their chance. Thanks to the total of 120 set up by the Indian batsmen which didn't make any of the English batsmen to fear for. Though here were initial strikes of Hales and Kieswetter, the batsmen who came in later had little to do with most of the damage being done by the bowlers. One can go through the scorecard to see who the major wicket-takers were. If not for Jadeja, the rest of the players who returned with a wicket were part-time bowlers.
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
England had come to lose
It is nothing but a well sought after loss to England when they couldn't even come close to the target of 272 despite at one stage of the game being in a comfortable position at 129-0. With such a start, most of the teams in the ICC's list would have played a spoilsport to a team that had plans to whitewash their opposition rather than support the same. Keeping that initial grip apart, England could manage only 47 runs from 15 overs at a run-rate of just over 3.00 runs an over. One has to doubt whether it was the same England who whitewashed India on their previous tour.
With such a dismal performance, it is difficult to say where the problem lies with England. Was it because of the fact that the powerplay got over which was responsible for their batting debacle or was it that the Indian bowlers got their rhythm only after the 21st over or last but not the least, if not for their openers, no one had come prepared for the game? One can understand the problem the English batsmen have playing spin bowling under sub-continent conditions. But, if someone like Ashwin and Jadeja can tackle players with a decade old experience, there can be little said about such team.
There were the likes of Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara who could have done a bit to save some face for their team. Earlier as well, things didn't go on as smoothly for the Indian batsmen when Gautam Gambhir and Rahane had to be patient when facing the new ball. In the end, it was Dhoni's quickfire 75* runs that saw the Indian total cross the 250 run mark. In my opinion, Mahendra Singh Dhoni should have been the man of the match along with Ravindra Jadeja. But, Jadeja was also not a bad choice for the award.
First of all, it was a wrong decision to allow the hosts to bat on a pitch that was tough for the batsmen which was evident when hard hitting batsmen like Dhoni and Gambhir had to fight with patience initially until the could settle down. Due to that mistake from Alistair Cook, Dhoni and with that India got the advantage of slog overs towards the end of the innings which Dhoni efficiently used. But still, losing 9 wickets for 47 runs speaks it all for England to have got used to losing or donated the match to India. With a T20 game left, one has to see whether India can make it 6-0.
With such a dismal performance, it is difficult to say where the problem lies with England. Was it because of the fact that the powerplay got over which was responsible for their batting debacle or was it that the Indian bowlers got their rhythm only after the 21st over or last but not the least, if not for their openers, no one had come prepared for the game? One can understand the problem the English batsmen have playing spin bowling under sub-continent conditions. But, if someone like Ashwin and Jadeja can tackle players with a decade old experience, there can be little said about such team.
There were the likes of Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara who could have done a bit to save some face for their team. Earlier as well, things didn't go on as smoothly for the Indian batsmen when Gautam Gambhir and Rahane had to be patient when facing the new ball. In the end, it was Dhoni's quickfire 75* runs that saw the Indian total cross the 250 run mark. In my opinion, Mahendra Singh Dhoni should have been the man of the match along with Ravindra Jadeja. But, Jadeja was also not a bad choice for the award.
First of all, it was a wrong decision to allow the hosts to bat on a pitch that was tough for the batsmen which was evident when hard hitting batsmen like Dhoni and Gambhir had to fight with patience initially until the could settle down. Due to that mistake from Alistair Cook, Dhoni and with that India got the advantage of slog overs towards the end of the innings which Dhoni efficiently used. But still, losing 9 wickets for 47 runs speaks it all for England to have got used to losing or donated the match to India. With a T20 game left, one has to see whether India can make it 6-0.
Monday, October 24, 2011
A totally clueless England
Looking at yesterday's game between India and England, one has to pinch himself to see whether it was a dream that he was witnessing when India crushed England yet another time despite winning the series for the fourth consecutive time to return the favor back to the touring nation. That was not the Indian team with the likes of Sehwag and Yuvraj doing the trick with the bat but some Varun Aaron whose name was felt only yesterday when he grabbed 3 wickets returning with a spell that read 6.1-1-24-3. As an Indian cricket fan I wish there were more than 5 games.
Had the series been a 7 match one, India would have made history when they would have become the first ever team to have won all their matches in a 7 match one day series. Players like Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin make their names felt only once in a blue moon. But, against a team like England and especially yesterday, they had their ball do the talking. Though Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar proved comparatively costly with the ball, they had a wicket against their names and an over maiden. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were the most successful bowlers with 3 and 2 wickets respectively.
It was confusing whether the pitch aided the bowlers or the batsmen when India were on the top in both the departments while England were at the receiving end in both. Had the pitch aided the batsmen, England, with the likes of Pietersen, Cook and Bopara should have made it count. But, all England could manage was 220 on the board finishing their innings with 4 more overs still to go. And, had the pitch been a bowler's paradise, then still the Indian batsmen should not have seen the match end with 10 more overs still to go. Does England have an answer?
India had three quick wickets falling when Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane and Parthiv Patel fell early. Thanks to Greame Swann who grabbed three wickets out of the four that fell to see at least one English bowler returning successful. With that initial success, though a win was far from reach, the match should not have ended so early when there were ten more overs left. May be the English captain wanted to prove that England batsmen played more than the Indian batsmen could manage. To put an end to the sweet revenge, all India now require is a win in the fifth ODI and a win in the one-off T20 match.
Had the series been a 7 match one, India would have made history when they would have become the first ever team to have won all their matches in a 7 match one day series. Players like Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin make their names felt only once in a blue moon. But, against a team like England and especially yesterday, they had their ball do the talking. Though Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar proved comparatively costly with the ball, they had a wicket against their names and an over maiden. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were the most successful bowlers with 3 and 2 wickets respectively.
It was confusing whether the pitch aided the bowlers or the batsmen when India were on the top in both the departments while England were at the receiving end in both. Had the pitch aided the batsmen, England, with the likes of Pietersen, Cook and Bopara should have made it count. But, all England could manage was 220 on the board finishing their innings with 4 more overs still to go. And, had the pitch been a bowler's paradise, then still the Indian batsmen should not have seen the match end with 10 more overs still to go. Does England have an answer?
India had three quick wickets falling when Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane and Parthiv Patel fell early. Thanks to Greame Swann who grabbed three wickets out of the four that fell to see at least one English bowler returning successful. With that initial success, though a win was far from reach, the match should not have ended so early when there were ten more overs left. May be the English captain wanted to prove that England batsmen played more than the Indian batsmen could manage. To put an end to the sweet revenge, all India now require is a win in the fifth ODI and a win in the one-off T20 match.
Friday, October 21, 2011
No total is big for Dhoni's men
It is now a matter of past that India have won the series after won the third ODI at Mohali yesterday when they were the favorites to not only win the series but also to whitewash the England team that is touring the sub-continent nation. Yesterday, needless to be said, India beat England after chasing a total in excess of 300 for yet another time. It is non countable the number of times India have successfully chased down a 300+ total in one dayers. The only difference between the third ODI and the previous two one dayers was that this time England put up a better performance with the bat.
For a change, Alistair Cook who did the damage to a little extent with the bat was found to crash when he fell with the scoreboard reading just 8 runs with his contribution being 3. However, the incoming batsmen did a fab job by bringing up a total of 298 which may was the maximum the English batsmen could manage at least in this series. But, needless to be said, that total was too less for the likes of Dhoni, Jadeja and co when they had the target with four balls to go and with 5 wickets still in hand.
It is obvious for someone like Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli to inflict a damage on the opposition bowlers. But,for a change, even some Ajinkya Rahane was able to do the same along with a decent support given by Parthiv Patel from the other end. Rahane scored 91 which was his maiden effort that won a match for India and was awarded the man of the match. Earlier in the day, it is not sure whether Dhoni was experimenting with his bowlers when he repeatedly tossed the ball to Umesh Yadav who went in for over 7.00 runs an over.
Luckily, for Dhoni and India, all those bowlers who did not bowl their full quota of 10 overs had a wicket against their name when Kohli, Vinay Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja returned with a wicket each. The England captain was never found taking any sort of risk when he didn't hand the ball to Ravi Bopara despite going for just 4.00 runs an over. Four bowlers from England completed their quota of 10 overs which proved costly for them. Everything apart, if someone like Rahane, Parthiv Patel etc start scoring quick runs, the caliber of the England has to come under scrutiny.
For a change, Alistair Cook who did the damage to a little extent with the bat was found to crash when he fell with the scoreboard reading just 8 runs with his contribution being 3. However, the incoming batsmen did a fab job by bringing up a total of 298 which may was the maximum the English batsmen could manage at least in this series. But, needless to be said, that total was too less for the likes of Dhoni, Jadeja and co when they had the target with four balls to go and with 5 wickets still in hand.
It is obvious for someone like Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli to inflict a damage on the opposition bowlers. But,for a change, even some Ajinkya Rahane was able to do the same along with a decent support given by Parthiv Patel from the other end. Rahane scored 91 which was his maiden effort that won a match for India and was awarded the man of the match. Earlier in the day, it is not sure whether Dhoni was experimenting with his bowlers when he repeatedly tossed the ball to Umesh Yadav who went in for over 7.00 runs an over.
Luckily, for Dhoni and India, all those bowlers who did not bowl their full quota of 10 overs had a wicket against their name when Kohli, Vinay Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja returned with a wicket each. The England captain was never found taking any sort of risk when he didn't hand the ball to Ravi Bopara despite going for just 4.00 runs an over. Four bowlers from England completed their quota of 10 overs which proved costly for them. Everything apart, if someone like Rahane, Parthiv Patel etc start scoring quick runs, the caliber of the England has to come under scrutiny.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Sweet revenge 1 for India
It is needless to be said about the way Indians will take on the English team on their return series to India where they are scheduled to play 5 one dayers and one T20 game. Luckily for England, there will be no test matches to worry about. Had this been something similar to the Ashes, they would have retained the title for a mere 2 months before surrendering the same to India. Yesterday, at Hyderabad India registered a first win against England by 126 runs which was more than any margin of victory for both teams in the last two series played against each other.
The English bowlers had absolutely no answers to the helicopter shot by Mahendra Singh Dhoni who top scored with 87 and was awarded the man of the match. There were contributions from other batsmen as well that included Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Gautam Gambhir to a greater extent. The only bowler from England who tasted success a little bit was Graeme Swann who had an over maiden and a wicket to his name. Of course, even Steven Finn and Jade Dernbach also returned with a wicket but were at the same time belted for more than 6.0 runs an over.
If the batsmen did their work by scoring runs and keeping the scoreboard ticking, even the bowlers were not short of performing their duty when no bowler bowled his complete quota of 10 overs and still saw all 10 wickets from England tumbling as though it was a day 5 of a test match. If not for Alistair Cook, no other batsmen had a worthy contribution with the bat though Jonathan Trott stayed there at the crease for a decent amount of time. 6 out of the eleven English batsmen who made it to the crease (obviously) returned back scoring single digit scores.
England's innings got over with close to 15 overs of their game still to go. Scorecard suggests that only Praveen Kumar had an over maiden under his name though other bowlers were no short in tackling their opposition. Umesh Yadav was the most expensive bowler who gave away runs at a rate of 6.40 runs an over which can be forgiven, given India's victory over the trouble torn team and with Umesh Yadav being in his early cricketing days. The first six in the English innings came from the blades of the number 10 batsman - Steven Finn who luckily remained unbeaten.
The English bowlers had absolutely no answers to the helicopter shot by Mahendra Singh Dhoni who top scored with 87 and was awarded the man of the match. There were contributions from other batsmen as well that included Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Gautam Gambhir to a greater extent. The only bowler from England who tasted success a little bit was Graeme Swann who had an over maiden and a wicket to his name. Of course, even Steven Finn and Jade Dernbach also returned with a wicket but were at the same time belted for more than 6.0 runs an over.
If the batsmen did their work by scoring runs and keeping the scoreboard ticking, even the bowlers were not short of performing their duty when no bowler bowled his complete quota of 10 overs and still saw all 10 wickets from England tumbling as though it was a day 5 of a test match. If not for Alistair Cook, no other batsmen had a worthy contribution with the bat though Jonathan Trott stayed there at the crease for a decent amount of time. 6 out of the eleven English batsmen who made it to the crease (obviously) returned back scoring single digit scores.
England's innings got over with close to 15 overs of their game still to go. Scorecard suggests that only Praveen Kumar had an over maiden under his name though other bowlers were no short in tackling their opposition. Umesh Yadav was the most expensive bowler who gave away runs at a rate of 6.40 runs an over which can be forgiven, given India's victory over the trouble torn team and with Umesh Yadav being in his early cricketing days. The first six in the English innings came from the blades of the number 10 batsman - Steven Finn who luckily remained unbeaten.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
A last smile on English faces
I have written in my last post regarding the way Western teams struggle on their tour to the sub-continent and England being one among them, their days of misery will soon start with the first ODI scheduled on 14th of this month at the same venue where England have won two games on the trot against Hyderabad Associations XI with the second match having a huge margin of 253 runs. Needless to be said, there are no teasers for the team who have lost and I personally congratulate the Hyderabad Associations XI for sacrificing for a good cause by losing both the games.
There was absolutely no chance of the domestic team winning over an international team but, had England beaten Hyderabad Associations' XI without the services of Pietersen and co, one might have considered their guts before facing the real threat. There are hardly any chances of England grabbing even one game away from the Indians which will see the likes of Gambhir and Zaheer Khan making a comeback after they were ruled out of their previous tour to England. The match that happened yesterday would no doubt be cheered by the tourists who would be thinking of achieving a milestone here.
England have in the past done it against the West Indies when they won both series, one at home and the other away without losing a single test. But, India is no West Indies and no matter how bad the team has been, hardly any team from the West has been able to trouble India on their home soil. The only team that has been able to do so has been Pakistan and no one else. Of course, South Africa have tasted victory on Indian soil in the 90s when they were the favorites under the leadership of late Hansie Cronje.
Jonny Bairstow scored a quickfire 104 from just 53 balls which would have been a bowler's nightmare had it been in an international match. 7 bowlers from Hyderabad were looking helpless with most of the hits going out of the fence in one way or the other. With all that at stake, there was one bowler in Medhi Hassan who scalped 3 wickets out of the four that fell. In the end, England put up a better performance compared to their previous one and Hyderabad put up a more dismal performance by playing one over less than what they could manage in the previous game.
There was absolutely no chance of the domestic team winning over an international team but, had England beaten Hyderabad Associations' XI without the services of Pietersen and co, one might have considered their guts before facing the real threat. There are hardly any chances of England grabbing even one game away from the Indians which will see the likes of Gambhir and Zaheer Khan making a comeback after they were ruled out of their previous tour to England. The match that happened yesterday would no doubt be cheered by the tourists who would be thinking of achieving a milestone here.
England have in the past done it against the West Indies when they won both series, one at home and the other away without losing a single test. But, India is no West Indies and no matter how bad the team has been, hardly any team from the West has been able to trouble India on their home soil. The only team that has been able to do so has been Pakistan and no one else. Of course, South Africa have tasted victory on Indian soil in the 90s when they were the favorites under the leadership of late Hansie Cronje.
Jonny Bairstow scored a quickfire 104 from just 53 balls which would have been a bowler's nightmare had it been in an international match. 7 bowlers from Hyderabad were looking helpless with most of the hits going out of the fence in one way or the other. With all that at stake, there was one bowler in Medhi Hassan who scalped 3 wickets out of the four that fell. In the end, England put up a better performance compared to their previous one and Hyderabad put up a more dismal performance by playing one over less than what they could manage in the previous game.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
England yet to face the heat
Beating any sub-continent team especially India on their home soil definitely needs a lot of talent and effort regarding which Steve Waugh would be the best man to tell you. And, keeping in mind England's whitewash over India just a couple of months back and their most recent 56 run victory over Hyderabad Cricket Association XI might just make them take the Indian players for granted which does not happen to be the case more often. Despite India being an ordinary team in the 90s, Aussies had it tough to even win a single test match in India. And, the caliber of England team need not be cited specially.
Yesterday at Hyderabad, England won the match by 56 runs as mentioned above. That was a state team with none of the players having making it to the Indian team whatsoever. Winning against such a outplayed team needs no effort of any sort which is needless to be said. There were no bowlers of the caliber of Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra to bowl the English batsmen and no Harbhajan Singh to confuse the same. At the same time, the likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar were found missing from the playing XI. This was a decent way of welcoming England who are guests here.
With all those advantages going England's way, they could not post a decent total when all they could score was just 219 on the board. This was included with 5 wickets falling even before the scoreboard reading 100 runs for England. Scoring for England started from the number 5 batsmen when Ravi Bopara top scored with 73. Added to that, the English batsmen were bowled out in the 48th over which is another drawback for the guests. Looking at the scorecard, it is evident that none of the players' names have been heard before by Indian cricket fans who are followers of the game.
Let alone any international match, the names of those players who welcomed the England team didn't even make their presence felt in domestic tournaments also like the IPL. There was no point in highlighting the Hyderabad's closure of their innings in the 37th over itself with Hyderabad winding their innings scoring just 163 runs to fall short by 56 runs. However, I don't find any point in Hyderabad winning the game with there being no man of the match award in the match. None of the teams would have gained anything by winning or losing the match. In the end, England should think twice before taking Indians for granted.
Yesterday at Hyderabad, England won the match by 56 runs as mentioned above. That was a state team with none of the players having making it to the Indian team whatsoever. Winning against such a outplayed team needs no effort of any sort which is needless to be said. There were no bowlers of the caliber of Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra to bowl the English batsmen and no Harbhajan Singh to confuse the same. At the same time, the likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar were found missing from the playing XI. This was a decent way of welcoming England who are guests here.
With all those advantages going England's way, they could not post a decent total when all they could score was just 219 on the board. This was included with 5 wickets falling even before the scoreboard reading 100 runs for England. Scoring for England started from the number 5 batsmen when Ravi Bopara top scored with 73. Added to that, the English batsmen were bowled out in the 48th over which is another drawback for the guests. Looking at the scorecard, it is evident that none of the players' names have been heard before by Indian cricket fans who are followers of the game.
Let alone any international match, the names of those players who welcomed the England team didn't even make their presence felt in domestic tournaments also like the IPL. There was no point in highlighting the Hyderabad's closure of their innings in the 37th over itself with Hyderabad winding their innings scoring just 163 runs to fall short by 56 runs. However, I don't find any point in Hyderabad winning the game with there being no man of the match award in the match. None of the teams would have gained anything by winning or losing the match. In the end, England should think twice before taking Indians for granted.
Friday, May 6, 2011
How does it matter who leads England
Well the breaking news is that England have named two different captains for two limited overs format of the game with Stuart Broad having to lead the side for T20 games while Alistair Cook will henceforth take care of England's one day games. Though this news hardly sparks of any sort of debate, people keeping their fingers crossed are just countable. At least as a cricket blogger, I have no other option but to shed some words regarding the selection or appointment. The tag "No Police State Girls blog" just doesn't seem to go too well with me whatsoever at this moment.
The result of the latest development in England cricket was due to the fact that their then captain Andrew Strauss wants to focus completely on his test career while Paul Collingwood has nothing to say about his T20 career. And, Paul Collingwood has every reason to justify himself when he bought home the country's first glory since decades of cricket that included failures, just misses and chokes. Collingwood's feat was achieved after England had three workld cup finals without a win along with an ICC champion's trophy that too ending up as runners-up. If South Africans would be reading this, they'd just breathe free.
The chokers tag is not totally restricted to South Africa alone and England also have an equal share in it. Coming to the point, one has to rather concentrate on the entire team of England which are in doldrums at present with their latest such thing evident in the world cup. England failed to win matches against Bangladesh and Ireland despite posting a stiff target of 327 on the board against the latter and having the opposition reeling at 111/5 at one stage. Of course, England were able to rarely regain and defend the Ashes on the previous two occasions but that is regarding their test cricket.
Right now, it has to be the entire England team and not just the captain alone whom the ECB needs to focus on. If not for their T20 win last year, England have gone back to their old ways of leaving things half way when they had just one T20 tournament against Pakistan and test series' against the same though which England won convincingly, their body language didn't speak for them. They beat both Pakistan and Australia with destiny favoring them by not having matches against other teams like Sri Lanka and India against whom their real myth is evaluated.
The result of the latest development in England cricket was due to the fact that their then captain Andrew Strauss wants to focus completely on his test career while Paul Collingwood has nothing to say about his T20 career. And, Paul Collingwood has every reason to justify himself when he bought home the country's first glory since decades of cricket that included failures, just misses and chokes. Collingwood's feat was achieved after England had three workld cup finals without a win along with an ICC champion's trophy that too ending up as runners-up. If South Africans would be reading this, they'd just breathe free.
The chokers tag is not totally restricted to South Africa alone and England also have an equal share in it. Coming to the point, one has to rather concentrate on the entire team of England which are in doldrums at present with their latest such thing evident in the world cup. England failed to win matches against Bangladesh and Ireland despite posting a stiff target of 327 on the board against the latter and having the opposition reeling at 111/5 at one stage. Of course, England were able to rarely regain and defend the Ashes on the previous two occasions but that is regarding their test cricket.
Right now, it has to be the entire England team and not just the captain alone whom the ECB needs to focus on. If not for their T20 win last year, England have gone back to their old ways of leaving things half way when they had just one T20 tournament against Pakistan and test series' against the same though which England won convincingly, their body language didn't speak for them. They beat both Pakistan and Australia with destiny favoring them by not having matches against other teams like Sri Lanka and India against whom their real myth is evaluated.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
200+ partnerships & Sri Lanka
After the West Indies, the next best thing that could happen in the ongoing world cup would be the elimination of England who can only play a spoilsport with lack of talent and hard work. And this was very much evident when England became the 2nd team after the mighty losers-West Indies to be the team to hand over a 10 wicket win to a sub-continent nation. But, if England has lost to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets with over 200 on board, questions will definitely be raised regarding their caliber in international cricket. England is not that bad a team to lose so badly in the crucial stages of a tournament.
I think I have just got to Enjoy what's fun and funny with the English language keeping in mind the way the English campaign is going on. An effortless win for Sri Lanka yesterday seemed as though the Sri Lankans were playing some Netherlands and not England and the game was not a quarter-final but just another game in the league stage or some stupid friendly match. Though England have not been favorites to win the cup or make it to the semi-finals, such a bad thrashing was not at all expected by anyone. Sri Lanka never needed Muralitharan to do the damage.
An ordinary Herath and Mendis were enough to restrict the Englishmen from posting a demanding total. In fact, Muralitharan didn't even bowl his full quota of 10 overs and instead settled with 9 overs despite being the most successful bowler with two wickets to his credit. Let alone taking a wicket, there was not even dropped catches to say that England missed a chance. In the 1st match between Pakistan and West Indies, West Indies posted just 112 on the board and a 10 wicket win for Pakistan was almost expected. But things would not have been the case had they got a decent 200+ on board.
After the 4th quarter-finals between the teams mentioned above, one has to notice the Sri Lankans having two 200+ partnerships, with the 1st one coming against Zimbabwe and the second yesterday. They just fell short of breaking their record for the highest 1st wicket partnership when they lost their first wicket for 282. Yesterday, had this been known beforehand, may be the Sri Lankans would have conceded another 40 runs which would have seen them into the record books. As a matter of fact, Sri Lanka hold the record for the highest 1st wicket record against England in ODIs when they made 286.
I think I have just got to Enjoy what's fun and funny with the English language keeping in mind the way the English campaign is going on. An effortless win for Sri Lanka yesterday seemed as though the Sri Lankans were playing some Netherlands and not England and the game was not a quarter-final but just another game in the league stage or some stupid friendly match. Though England have not been favorites to win the cup or make it to the semi-finals, such a bad thrashing was not at all expected by anyone. Sri Lanka never needed Muralitharan to do the damage.
An ordinary Herath and Mendis were enough to restrict the Englishmen from posting a demanding total. In fact, Muralitharan didn't even bowl his full quota of 10 overs and instead settled with 9 overs despite being the most successful bowler with two wickets to his credit. Let alone taking a wicket, there was not even dropped catches to say that England missed a chance. In the 1st match between Pakistan and West Indies, West Indies posted just 112 on the board and a 10 wicket win for Pakistan was almost expected. But things would not have been the case had they got a decent 200+ on board.
After the 4th quarter-finals between the teams mentioned above, one has to notice the Sri Lankans having two 200+ partnerships, with the 1st one coming against Zimbabwe and the second yesterday. They just fell short of breaking their record for the highest 1st wicket partnership when they lost their first wicket for 282. Yesterday, had this been known beforehand, may be the Sri Lankans would have conceded another 40 runs which would have seen them into the record books. As a matter of fact, Sri Lanka hold the record for the highest 1st wicket record against England in ODIs when they made 286.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Bangladesh would have been a better opposition
Bringing all my frustrations in, I totally reject the West Indies team that not only fared so badly but also made the competition so boring. If not the Pakistani players, there would be no 2nd player who would be happy with the way the West Indies team played in the 1st quarter finals of the world cup yesterday. Had I been the person in charge, I would have stripped the West Indies team of its test status. Not even the Bangladesh team made me go mad with their bad performance. This I fear is the worst defeat for any team in the world cup knock out stage.
It has to be some bloody miracle that bought the West Indies team into the 2nd round of the competition with Bangladesh standing an equal chance of making it there. If one can go through the points table, it would be evident that both Bangladesh and West Indies had three wins against them. West Indies had wins against Bangladesh, Holland and Ireland while Bangladesh had a win against Ireland in addition to wins against Netherlands and Ireland. But, it was the net run rate that all made the difference for both the teams. At least Bangladesh had a win against England.
But, the West Indies didn't manage even one victory against a major opposition. They could have won their games against India and England after the former lost all their ten wickets and the latter piling up only 243 on the board. Any team that can better this record can be only a non test playing nation like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ireland etc in case by chance they manage to do so. With such a daring start against England if the West Indians could not win, a thorough scrutiny of their test status is necessary I suppose. Despite India losing 7 wickets for 41 runs, a target of 270 proved too much for the West Indies.
I can't just recall when last West Indies put up a decent performance in world cups. In 2007, the only match worth mentioning for West Indies was against Pakistan which was the 1st match of the tournament. That was followed by losses against Australia, Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand and South Africa. In 2003, they won against South Africa by 3 runs with the South African innings reduced to 49 overs owing to slow over rate. That was followed by losses to Sri Lanka and New Zealand but was somewhat bearable compared to their present post-Lara era. Had Bangladesh qualified, there would have been 4 sub-continent teams in the quarter-finals.
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It has to be some bloody miracle that bought the West Indies team into the 2nd round of the competition with Bangladesh standing an equal chance of making it there. If one can go through the points table, it would be evident that both Bangladesh and West Indies had three wins against them. West Indies had wins against Bangladesh, Holland and Ireland while Bangladesh had a win against Ireland in addition to wins against Netherlands and Ireland. But, it was the net run rate that all made the difference for both the teams. At least Bangladesh had a win against England.
But, the West Indies didn't manage even one victory against a major opposition. They could have won their games against India and England after the former lost all their ten wickets and the latter piling up only 243 on the board. Any team that can better this record can be only a non test playing nation like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ireland etc in case by chance they manage to do so. With such a daring start against England if the West Indians could not win, a thorough scrutiny of their test status is necessary I suppose. Despite India losing 7 wickets for 41 runs, a target of 270 proved too much for the West Indies.
I can't just recall when last West Indies put up a decent performance in world cups. In 2007, the only match worth mentioning for West Indies was against Pakistan which was the 1st match of the tournament. That was followed by losses against Australia, Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand and South Africa. In 2003, they won against South Africa by 3 runs with the South African innings reduced to 49 overs owing to slow over rate. That was followed by losses to Sri Lanka and New Zealand but was somewhat bearable compared to their present post-Lara era. Had Bangladesh qualified, there would have been 4 sub-continent teams in the quarter-finals.
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Friday, March 18, 2011
God saved this world cup
Well yesterday England as expected defeated the West Indies by 18 runs which not only kept England's hopes alive in the world cup but also avoided another mismatch awaiting with Bangladesh having a chance to go through to the quarter finals of the tournament in case England had lost the match to the West Indies. That in turn would have seen four teams from the sub-continent make it to the 2nd round of a world cup which has so far not happened in any of the world tournaments. And, with Bangladesh making it to the quarters would have spoiled all spirits of the mega event.
This is the 1st time since the 1996 world cup that all eight test playing teams have advanced to the second stage of the world cup. One can take a look at the 1999 edition where Zimbabwe made it to the super sixes at the cost of England (to the super sixes), India (to the semi-finals). As a result, Pakistan had a walkover to the semi-finals after they had lost to India and the Proteas in the super sixes. The result was no different four years later when Kenya and Zimbabwe emerged to the super sixes with four teams namely Pakistan, West Indies, England and South Africa losing the plot midway.
In 2007, in the first week of the tournament, India and Pakistan-arch rivals made an early exit which saw a dumb Ireland and Bangladesh making it to the super eights. India and Pakistan were much better teams compared to England and the West Indies which made the mega event a failure. Viewers had to watch helplessly the Ireland-Bangladesh when overpriced tickets were bought anticipating an India-Pakistan match. However, things have returned to normalcy this time with a lot of compromises mentioned in my earlier posts. I instead went in for Personal, Golf, Travel, Golf, Foods rather than seeing a tasteless match out there.
There was threat everywhere in the initial stages of the tournament wherein Ireland and Bangladesh both beat England making England's chances slim in making it to the quarter-finals of the world cup. But, just have a look at what Andrew Struass is all upto when he miraculously beat the Proteas in a low scoring thriller and tied with India when all odds were against them. The presence of West Indies made life easier for the Englishmen for, had it been some New Zealand or Sri Lanka instead of West Indies, may be we would have seen Bangladesh playing the 1st quarter-finals.
This is the 1st time since the 1996 world cup that all eight test playing teams have advanced to the second stage of the world cup. One can take a look at the 1999 edition where Zimbabwe made it to the super sixes at the cost of England (to the super sixes), India (to the semi-finals). As a result, Pakistan had a walkover to the semi-finals after they had lost to India and the Proteas in the super sixes. The result was no different four years later when Kenya and Zimbabwe emerged to the super sixes with four teams namely Pakistan, West Indies, England and South Africa losing the plot midway.
In 2007, in the first week of the tournament, India and Pakistan-arch rivals made an early exit which saw a dumb Ireland and Bangladesh making it to the super eights. India and Pakistan were much better teams compared to England and the West Indies which made the mega event a failure. Viewers had to watch helplessly the Ireland-Bangladesh when overpriced tickets were bought anticipating an India-Pakistan match. However, things have returned to normalcy this time with a lot of compromises mentioned in my earlier posts. I instead went in for Personal, Golf, Travel, Golf, Foods rather than seeing a tasteless match out there.
There was threat everywhere in the initial stages of the tournament wherein Ireland and Bangladesh both beat England making England's chances slim in making it to the quarter-finals of the world cup. But, just have a look at what Andrew Struass is all upto when he miraculously beat the Proteas in a low scoring thriller and tied with India when all odds were against them. The presence of West Indies made life easier for the Englishmen for, had it been some New Zealand or Sri Lanka instead of West Indies, may be we would have seen Bangladesh playing the 1st quarter-finals.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Why is the ICC disgusting at times?
Well yesterday there were two matches of the world cup being held, one of them being between Australia and Kenya and the other one involving Canada and New Zealand. As expected Australia and New Zealand notched up their wins against the minnows. This is no something to complain about. But, one thing that is not worth tolerating is that these matches are held on weekends rather than conducting on weekdays where there are little takers for the match. Unable to tolerate this boredom, I had to go through brain blogs, areman, areman's brain blogs to satisfy myself rather than go through the same.
If one can take a look at the entire schedule of the world cup, it is interesting to see that there have been 4 Sundays and an equal number of Saturdays starting from 19th February. The matches held are as follows: 19th Feb saw the only match between India and Bangladesh while on 20th there were two games, both of which were involving minnows Kenya and Canada. Though 26th February saw a tough fight between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, on 27th Feb things once again took a backseat with there being only one match between India and England played at Bangalore.
Coming further in this regard, next on the list is the matches between England and South Africa on one side with India battling Ireland on the other. One of them were worth watching while the other was not really. Owing to bad luck and rains, the match between Sri Lanka and Australia had to be called off which left another Saturday with viewers cursing. That was the first match to be washed away by rains and one has to no doubt curse the rain Gods for choosing an odd day and an odd match to play a spoilsport in Sri Lanka.
Traveling still further on the schedule, there was Australia playing Kenya and New Zealand playing Canada. Even if the next couple of weekends are considered, the matches scheduled hardly evoke any sort of interest. Luckily, Pakistan plays Australia and India plays West Indies the coming Saturday and Sunday respectively. With the Pakistan-Australia match scheduled in Colombo, one has to pray God that rain doesn't do another Sri Lanka-Australia there. Following that, only one out of four quarter finals are scheduled on weekends and the final. As a matter of suggestion, England-WI and Pakistan-NZ could have been held on weekends with India-Ireland and Australia-Kenya held on weekdays.
Can anyone tell this to the ICC?
If one can take a look at the entire schedule of the world cup, it is interesting to see that there have been 4 Sundays and an equal number of Saturdays starting from 19th February. The matches held are as follows: 19th Feb saw the only match between India and Bangladesh while on 20th there were two games, both of which were involving minnows Kenya and Canada. Though 26th February saw a tough fight between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, on 27th Feb things once again took a backseat with there being only one match between India and England played at Bangalore.
Coming further in this regard, next on the list is the matches between England and South Africa on one side with India battling Ireland on the other. One of them were worth watching while the other was not really. Owing to bad luck and rains, the match between Sri Lanka and Australia had to be called off which left another Saturday with viewers cursing. That was the first match to be washed away by rains and one has to no doubt curse the rain Gods for choosing an odd day and an odd match to play a spoilsport in Sri Lanka.
Traveling still further on the schedule, there was Australia playing Kenya and New Zealand playing Canada. Even if the next couple of weekends are considered, the matches scheduled hardly evoke any sort of interest. Luckily, Pakistan plays Australia and India plays West Indies the coming Saturday and Sunday respectively. With the Pakistan-Australia match scheduled in Colombo, one has to pray God that rain doesn't do another Sri Lanka-Australia there. Following that, only one out of four quarter finals are scheduled on weekends and the final. As a matter of suggestion, England-WI and Pakistan-NZ could have been held on weekends with India-Ireland and Australia-Kenya held on weekdays.
Can anyone tell this to the ICC?
Saturday, March 12, 2011
England play a spoilsport
Any random blog can now tel you where the English team now stands in the ongoing ICC world cup after losing to first Ireland and then yesterday to Bangladesh. I just had a bet that the West Indies might just flatter against Bangladesh for they were facing Bangladesh on their home soil and then the team is an outdated one after Brian Lara retired 4 years earlier. No one needs to feel sorry for England not being able to make it to the quarter finals in case they fail to do so. One can realize the fate of the team in earlier matches as well.
If one can take pains to go through the 2007 world cup, England's major win was only against the West Indies where they chased down 302 in the super eights. England failed in the games against Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa. A win against Bangladesh and Ireland cannot be given such a preference which I suppose you will agree to. Of course, even West Indies' major triumph was against Pakistan in the league stages which was followed by a series of losses against Sri Lanka, Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa. Now, England has a game only against West Indies to prove their myth.
I just cannot believe that England has secured a win against South Africa and a tie against India after seeing their performances against Ireland and Bangladesh. If Ireland comes in for all praises for coming back from being 111/5 at one stage to chasing down successfully 326, other finger points to the reckless bowling of the English bowlers who couldn't make the match theirs. If one could go through the match against Holland, England narrowly missed a defeat first after allowing them to pile up close to 300 runs and then failing initially during the chase. Did South Africa and India fare badly or did England play better cricket?
This has never been the case in the past where a team fares well against strong oppositions and goes for selfdestruction in the games against weaker teams. It would not come as a surprise if England fail to reach the quarter finals in case they lose to the West Indies because, West Indies is a weaker opposition like say Bangladesh and Ireland. A match against will always be considered a tie and not a win for England. Bangladesh now has three wins against England, Netherlands and Ireland which makes them eligible to qualify for the quarter finals. England on the other hand have only two wins and at a lesser run rate.
If one can take pains to go through the 2007 world cup, England's major win was only against the West Indies where they chased down 302 in the super eights. England failed in the games against Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa. A win against Bangladesh and Ireland cannot be given such a preference which I suppose you will agree to. Of course, even West Indies' major triumph was against Pakistan in the league stages which was followed by a series of losses against Sri Lanka, Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa. Now, England has a game only against West Indies to prove their myth.
I just cannot believe that England has secured a win against South Africa and a tie against India after seeing their performances against Ireland and Bangladesh. If Ireland comes in for all praises for coming back from being 111/5 at one stage to chasing down successfully 326, other finger points to the reckless bowling of the English bowlers who couldn't make the match theirs. If one could go through the match against Holland, England narrowly missed a defeat first after allowing them to pile up close to 300 runs and then failing initially during the chase. Did South Africa and India fare badly or did England play better cricket?
This has never been the case in the past where a team fares well against strong oppositions and goes for selfdestruction in the games against weaker teams. It would not come as a surprise if England fail to reach the quarter finals in case they lose to the West Indies because, West Indies is a weaker opposition like say Bangladesh and Ireland. A match against will always be considered a tie and not a win for England. Bangladesh now has three wins against England, Netherlands and Ireland which makes them eligible to qualify for the quarter finals. England on the other hand have only two wins and at a lesser run rate.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Holland a nightmare for England?
The Netherlands have always known to be a nightmare for England since the two teams first met in the league stages of the world cup in 1996 held in the sub continent. That was the match where England won the match by just 49 runs as against the expectation of more than a 100 run margin. In that particular match, England scored just 279 runs which was way behind keeping in mind the opposition they were facing and what was expected out of them. Though the total of 279 was a decent in those days, as mentioned above the opposition also matters a lot.
Netherlands winded up with 230 on the board losing just 6 wickets en route to the same when demands asked England to get all ten wickets from the Netherlands' side. At the end, as the saying goes "all is well that ends well", England got away with Graeme Hick being awarded the man of the match award unlike what happened yesterday against the same opposition when the man of the match was awarded to RN ten Doeschate for his contribution with both the bat as well as with the ball. That match saw two batsmen from Holland score half centuries.
Their next meeting was in the 2003 world cup which England did win but once again it was the margin that mattered and England once again lacked that when they lost 4 wickets en route to their successful run chase of 144. That can be considered a decent run but something that can never be forgiven would be their next meeting in the world T20 2009 played in England where England enjoyed being the hosts. England became the first test playing nation to have lost to a non test playing nation in a T20 world cup. Of course, if Bangladesh is considered as a test playing nation, they have lost to Ireland.
That was the 1st match of the tournament and what a start it was for the big event! Now, coming to yesterday's match, England had almost lost its way before they realized what to do and undid what India failed four years back in the game against Bangladesh. It would have been another disappointment had Holland won that match for, that would make England's chances of entering the quarter finals considering they lose to India and South Africa. One has to indeed appreciate the efforts of RN ten Doeschate who shone with the bat first scoring a hundred and topping the bowling charts by scalping 2 wickets.
Let us meet tomorrow and yes, if you want to Copy Ipod Music wait for the world cup to get over so that you don't do what England has seen doing yesterday.
Netherlands winded up with 230 on the board losing just 6 wickets en route to the same when demands asked England to get all ten wickets from the Netherlands' side. At the end, as the saying goes "all is well that ends well", England got away with Graeme Hick being awarded the man of the match award unlike what happened yesterday against the same opposition when the man of the match was awarded to RN ten Doeschate for his contribution with both the bat as well as with the ball. That match saw two batsmen from Holland score half centuries.
Their next meeting was in the 2003 world cup which England did win but once again it was the margin that mattered and England once again lacked that when they lost 4 wickets en route to their successful run chase of 144. That can be considered a decent run but something that can never be forgiven would be their next meeting in the world T20 2009 played in England where England enjoyed being the hosts. England became the first test playing nation to have lost to a non test playing nation in a T20 world cup. Of course, if Bangladesh is considered as a test playing nation, they have lost to Ireland.
That was the 1st match of the tournament and what a start it was for the big event! Now, coming to yesterday's match, England had almost lost its way before they realized what to do and undid what India failed four years back in the game against Bangladesh. It would have been another disappointment had Holland won that match for, that would make England's chances of entering the quarter finals considering they lose to India and South Africa. One has to indeed appreciate the efforts of RN ten Doeschate who shone with the bat first scoring a hundred and topping the bowling charts by scalping 2 wickets.
Let us meet tomorrow and yes, if you want to Copy Ipod Music wait for the world cup to get over so that you don't do what England has seen doing yesterday.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
A bad format
I should have written this post long before the world cup began and my sincere apologies for not having done that earlier. I was just going through the fixtures of the world cup when something else struck my mind. Of course, it was nothing related to Balitang Kalye but was all related to the world cup itself and more precisely speaking the time table of the same. It is no doubt that the world cup has started well on time with the season being perfect for the mega event with chances of rain being comparatively less. But the same is not true regarding its fixtures.
As it has been the case since the 1996 edition (barring the 2007 edition), this time as well the teams have been divided into two groups with 7 countries in each group. Needless to be said, four from each group will advance to the quarter finals of the tournament. And that is where the problem starts which shows that the format is a lot unfair like it happened in the 1996 world cup. Unlike in the last three editions of the world cup, this time there are three knock out stages unlike it being two in the last three editions.
One can imagine the world cup held in the sub continent with the quarter finals in place. All teams from one group namely India, Sri Lanka, Australia and the West Indies qualified to the semi finals with none from group B advancing. Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and England had to end their world cup dreams there itself. Despite winning all five matches in the league stages, South Africa were forced to return home after losing to the West Indies who were outplayed by Kenya a couple of weeks earlier. So was the case with Pakistan who had lost only one game to South Africa before India shattered their dreams.
Finally the world cup was won by a team who didn't lose a single match en route to the finals. But, at the same time, Sri Lanka didn't play matches against the West Indies, Australia (in the league stage), Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand. Doubts definitely would arise whether Sri Lanka would have emerged victorious had they played the aforementioned teams. The only major victories for Sri Lanka in that trophy was twice against India- one in the league stages and the other in the semis and the quarter finals against England and the finals against Australia. This also reduces the number of matches with most of the major encounters missing out.
As it has been the case since the 1996 edition (barring the 2007 edition), this time as well the teams have been divided into two groups with 7 countries in each group. Needless to be said, four from each group will advance to the quarter finals of the tournament. And that is where the problem starts which shows that the format is a lot unfair like it happened in the 1996 world cup. Unlike in the last three editions of the world cup, this time there are three knock out stages unlike it being two in the last three editions.
One can imagine the world cup held in the sub continent with the quarter finals in place. All teams from one group namely India, Sri Lanka, Australia and the West Indies qualified to the semi finals with none from group B advancing. Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and England had to end their world cup dreams there itself. Despite winning all five matches in the league stages, South Africa were forced to return home after losing to the West Indies who were outplayed by Kenya a couple of weeks earlier. So was the case with Pakistan who had lost only one game to South Africa before India shattered their dreams.
Finally the world cup was won by a team who didn't lose a single match en route to the finals. But, at the same time, Sri Lanka didn't play matches against the West Indies, Australia (in the league stage), Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand. Doubts definitely would arise whether Sri Lanka would have emerged victorious had they played the aforementioned teams. The only major victories for Sri Lanka in that trophy was twice against India- one in the league stages and the other in the semis and the quarter finals against England and the finals against Australia. This also reduces the number of matches with most of the major encounters missing out.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Clarke's one sided statement
I was a bit fascinated when I came to know that Google announced the Knol but, the very next moment I had to turn my attention back to writing this post for, that was the time my mood was well set for the game. However, my post has got to do with the Australian captain Michael Clarke who cites his team's successful run chase of 334 against England as a preparation for the upcoming world cup. This no doubt has to be true, given Australia's chances in the big stage considering their days even after the 2007 world cup after which they lost close to 10 players from all departments of the game.
Australia not only made it to the finals of the world T20 tournament in West Indies last year but also did it in style by not losing a single match until the one that counted. The semi finals between Australia and Pakistan will go down as one of the most memorable one for Australia where they successfully chased down a mammoth total of 192 despite at one stage of the match reeling at 105/5 at the end of the 16th over. They won the ICC Champions trophy in 2009 after beating teams like Pakistan, England and New Zealand which once again saw them go undefeated in a world tournament.
However, coming to Michael Clarke's words, regarding his team's big chase, it must be noted that Australia had lost 5 matches consecutively before they headed to that year's world cup in the Caribbean. They were whitewashed by the Kiwis with the 1st match seeing Australia lose all ten wickets for a score less than 200 and in the remaining two encounters, New Zealand successfully chased down 337 and 347 in the 2nd and 3rd ODIs respectively. Almost a year before that, South Africa had successfully chased down 435 against Australia. But, both South Africa and New Zealand came nowhere in matches against Australia on the big stage.
Now, Australia have recorded their most successful chase beating their previous best of 327 against South Africa in 2002. But this stands nowhere in today's cricket, with the current chase of 334 standing in the 4th position and with 9 cases of 320+ totals being chased down successfully. This no matter will boost Australia's confidence before they go to the world cup but, even India has similar stories to its credit when they snatched a victory from nowhere in the 2nd and 3rd one dayers in their recently concluded bilateral series. Australia's feat was achieved on their home soil while India's was away from it.
Australia not only made it to the finals of the world T20 tournament in West Indies last year but also did it in style by not losing a single match until the one that counted. The semi finals between Australia and Pakistan will go down as one of the most memorable one for Australia where they successfully chased down a mammoth total of 192 despite at one stage of the match reeling at 105/5 at the end of the 16th over. They won the ICC Champions trophy in 2009 after beating teams like Pakistan, England and New Zealand which once again saw them go undefeated in a world tournament.
However, coming to Michael Clarke's words, regarding his team's big chase, it must be noted that Australia had lost 5 matches consecutively before they headed to that year's world cup in the Caribbean. They were whitewashed by the Kiwis with the 1st match seeing Australia lose all ten wickets for a score less than 200 and in the remaining two encounters, New Zealand successfully chased down 337 and 347 in the 2nd and 3rd ODIs respectively. Almost a year before that, South Africa had successfully chased down 435 against Australia. But, both South Africa and New Zealand came nowhere in matches against Australia on the big stage.
Now, Australia have recorded their most successful chase beating their previous best of 327 against South Africa in 2002. But this stands nowhere in today's cricket, with the current chase of 334 standing in the 4th position and with 9 cases of 320+ totals being chased down successfully. This no matter will boost Australia's confidence before they go to the world cup but, even India has similar stories to its credit when they snatched a victory from nowhere in the 2nd and 3rd one dayers in their recently concluded bilateral series. Australia's feat was achieved on their home soil while India's was away from it.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Stewart has a point
Well though the world of cricket hasn't heard much from the former England wicketkeeper - Alec Stewart, whenever Stewart has made it a point to shell out his voice, it seems to count. Stewart, we hear considers the injuries to few of the English players who are currently under the tour of Australia for a 7 match one day series are a boon in disguise for, there is the mega event coming up in the next month for which England has a keen role to play. Players like Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann for the 7 match ODI series.
As a matter of fact, this has been the case regarding most of the key players, some of whom are rested for the fear of their non availability for the world cup and others battling injuries, be it minor or major. Players with minor injuries are rested for the fear of the minor injury turning into a major one and regarding the major injury, nothing needs to be said in particular. And, despite the presence of the aforementioned players in the England squad, England is likely to lose the 7 match ODI series against Australia and nothing needs to be worried.
But, if the players are not fit for the world cup, may be England might have 50-50 chances against teams like Bangladesh and West Indies, who can come up with surprises at times. England should well be aware of their loss to Netherlands in the 2nd world T20 in 2009 and their should-have-been defeat against Ireland earlier this year. With the presence of the current injured players, England may atleast reach the quarter finals of the world cup if not anything else. England is grouped with teams like India and South Africa, who seem to seal the 1st and the 2nd position in the charts table at the end of the first stage's play.
One can remember the 1996 world cup where England had losses against all three major teams namely Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa with which it was grouped and had won matches against Holland and UAE, where victory for England was granted and guaranteed. By default, England finished in the 4th position and had to enter the quarter finals of that world cup. This time, things look slightly better, with England hoping to win against West Indies in addition to winning against Bangladesh and Ireland provided players are in form and fit at the same time. So was the case in the 2007 WC where England joined hands with Ireland, Bangladesh and South Africa who had wins against only minnows.
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As a matter of fact, this has been the case regarding most of the key players, some of whom are rested for the fear of their non availability for the world cup and others battling injuries, be it minor or major. Players with minor injuries are rested for the fear of the minor injury turning into a major one and regarding the major injury, nothing needs to be said in particular. And, despite the presence of the aforementioned players in the England squad, England is likely to lose the 7 match ODI series against Australia and nothing needs to be worried.
But, if the players are not fit for the world cup, may be England might have 50-50 chances against teams like Bangladesh and West Indies, who can come up with surprises at times. England should well be aware of their loss to Netherlands in the 2nd world T20 in 2009 and their should-have-been defeat against Ireland earlier this year. With the presence of the current injured players, England may atleast reach the quarter finals of the world cup if not anything else. England is grouped with teams like India and South Africa, who seem to seal the 1st and the 2nd position in the charts table at the end of the first stage's play.
One can remember the 1996 world cup where England had losses against all three major teams namely Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa with which it was grouped and had won matches against Holland and UAE, where victory for England was granted and guaranteed. By default, England finished in the 4th position and had to enter the quarter finals of that world cup. This time, things look slightly better, with England hoping to win against West Indies in addition to winning against Bangladesh and Ireland provided players are in form and fit at the same time. So was the case in the 2007 WC where England joined hands with Ireland, Bangladesh and South Africa who had wins against only minnows.
By the way do you know what chloedreamland touge is? Well, I'd be checking about it in a moment
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
How can cricket in Ireland flourish?
Well in today's cricketing world, almost every country is into controversies with doubts being raised whether it is regarding the idea to make headlines in major cricket or sports websites or to just be in the news no matter whether it is for the good or the bad reasons. And, Ireland has proven not to be an exception as well. Well, though the post doesn't take into consideration about Ireland's intention, one has to question the integrity of the sport called cricket in Ireland which at present is showing signs of upraise. They have shown decent improvement in cricket the day since they made entry into the big stage.
Needless to be said, they beat Pakistan in the pool stage of the 2007 world cup at the Caribbean after ending up with a tie in their another league stage encounter with Zimbabwe. And to make it better, they beat Bangladesh in the super eights of the tournament, which saw to it that they never returned with empty hands from the super eights. They once again beat Bangladesh in the 2nd world T20 held at England which saw them make it to the super eights of a world cup for yet another time. Though this fact may not go well with cricket enthusiasts, they could manage what India could in the super eights.
Precisely speaking, India came down to the level where Ireland were placed by the end of the super eights, when they lost all the three matches they played in the super eights. Luckily, Ireland could manage what even world champions - Australia couldn't in the 2009 edition of the world T20 when they made it to the super eights while the Aussies couldn't. If you are bored with cricket, then Movies reviews here after read and you can watch the movie at theater . Anyways, coming back, despite all these interesting facts about Ireland, the way things are going on thereafter is just disappointing.
News has its say that two players namely Hamish Marshall from New Zealand and Ed Joyce from England will be playing for Ireland in the coming ICC major world cup. The reasons for this might be quite obvious that they have little chance of not making their re-entry back to their national squad and they are a better bargain for an upcoming team like Ireland. They are better than any Irish born cricketer atleast in today's cricket. One can imagine if this continues to make rounds with every foreign cricketer trying to find a place in a non-test playing team, what might happen to the cricket in its own soil?
Needless to be said, they beat Pakistan in the pool stage of the 2007 world cup at the Caribbean after ending up with a tie in their another league stage encounter with Zimbabwe. And to make it better, they beat Bangladesh in the super eights of the tournament, which saw to it that they never returned with empty hands from the super eights. They once again beat Bangladesh in the 2nd world T20 held at England which saw them make it to the super eights of a world cup for yet another time. Though this fact may not go well with cricket enthusiasts, they could manage what India could in the super eights.
Precisely speaking, India came down to the level where Ireland were placed by the end of the super eights, when they lost all the three matches they played in the super eights. Luckily, Ireland could manage what even world champions - Australia couldn't in the 2009 edition of the world T20 when they made it to the super eights while the Aussies couldn't. If you are bored with cricket, then Movies reviews here after read and you can watch the movie at theater . Anyways, coming back, despite all these interesting facts about Ireland, the way things are going on thereafter is just disappointing.
News has its say that two players namely Hamish Marshall from New Zealand and Ed Joyce from England will be playing for Ireland in the coming ICC major world cup. The reasons for this might be quite obvious that they have little chance of not making their re-entry back to their national squad and they are a better bargain for an upcoming team like Ireland. They are better than any Irish born cricketer atleast in today's cricket. One can imagine if this continues to make rounds with every foreign cricketer trying to find a place in a non-test playing team, what might happen to the cricket in its own soil?
Monday, September 6, 2010
Victory despite all odds for England
Well it was a match between the current world T20 champions and the former world T20 champions - Pakistan who fought it out yesterday at Cardiff and the result can be more clearly told you by none other than the scorecard of the match. However, it need not be specially sited that this blog in particular does not deal with the scorecard or the winners and losers of a match but does deal with the way things have happened regarding both the teams out there. At this point, I don't recommend Shannon's Introspections . However, needless to be said, the onus was on Pakistan to do well.
Until the 1st T20 match between the teams mentioned above, it was only the bad performance by Pakistan in the past 8 months or so which was haunting them. But now, there is the new devil called match/spot fixing which is turning its head towards Pakistan mostly. Though there have been teams like India, England, Australia and Sri Lanka off late mentioned, Pakistan no doubt has a greater in it. And, losing yet another match to some team will just add fuel to the fire and Pakistan have done just that. Scorecard suggests that Pakistan lost only 4 wickets in the first innings.
The entire Pakistan innings never had even a single hit out of the ground. Not even from the blades of Shahid Afridi. In fact, Shahid Afridi came in at number six position when he should have made it to the crease in the top order. Nevermind that even the present position was also not bad though. Should this be considered as a bad performance by Pakistan or a decent one from England with the news speaking about match fixing most of the time? Such matches have happened in the past as well not only for those involving Pakistan but also other teams.
Being known for his hard hitting abilities, Shahid Afridi should have been seen striking the bowlers at will but, instead of that Shahid Afridi was found taking two out of the five wickets that fell during England's batting innings. Another interesting fact from the match is that both teams bowled just 2 extras and what is more! Both the teams gave away one run in the form of wide and another run in the form of leg bye. Well, this may not be owing to some fixing thing and is agreed to be purely coincidental. But, why did even the England innings also didn't contain a single hit out of the ground? Don't worry, even that is not fixed.
Until the 1st T20 match between the teams mentioned above, it was only the bad performance by Pakistan in the past 8 months or so which was haunting them. But now, there is the new devil called match/spot fixing which is turning its head towards Pakistan mostly. Though there have been teams like India, England, Australia and Sri Lanka off late mentioned, Pakistan no doubt has a greater in it. And, losing yet another match to some team will just add fuel to the fire and Pakistan have done just that. Scorecard suggests that Pakistan lost only 4 wickets in the first innings.
The entire Pakistan innings never had even a single hit out of the ground. Not even from the blades of Shahid Afridi. In fact, Shahid Afridi came in at number six position when he should have made it to the crease in the top order. Nevermind that even the present position was also not bad though. Should this be considered as a bad performance by Pakistan or a decent one from England with the news speaking about match fixing most of the time? Such matches have happened in the past as well not only for those involving Pakistan but also other teams.
Being known for his hard hitting abilities, Shahid Afridi should have been seen striking the bowlers at will but, instead of that Shahid Afridi was found taking two out of the five wickets that fell during England's batting innings. Another interesting fact from the match is that both teams bowled just 2 extras and what is more! Both the teams gave away one run in the form of wide and another run in the form of leg bye. Well, this may not be owing to some fixing thing and is agreed to be purely coincidental. But, why did even the England innings also didn't contain a single hit out of the ground? Don't worry, even that is not fixed.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Mohd Aamir just 18
Well, not much cricketers would have achieved the name and fame what the 18 year old Pakistani cricketer could manage in the beginning of his international cricketing career. This was just his 14th test match and see what he has been able to do in just one year of his cricketing life. Well before coming to his exclusion from ICC awards list, one has to acknowledge his inclusion for the list before his exclusion. It is a dream come true for many aspiring cricketers to emerge as the award winner of the one mentioned at such an early age and early life as well.
Of course, it would be a new comer who would be the winner of the award for the most emerging player of the year and but need not be at such an early age as is the case with Mohammed Amir. moreover, the player who might just win the award for the test cricketer of the year need not be at an early age and for Mohammed Amir to have been one of the contestants for that award is a pride in itself. However, the world has to feel sorry for this young leg for not making it to the elite list and being expelled from the same.
Whether the allegations against Mohammed Aamir are true or not being a different question, for now, if the decision taken upon by the ICC in Aamir is considered, it definitely gives the world an impression that there is a hand of Amir in the ongoing spot fixing controversy involving Pakistani cricketers mainly. Keeping in mind his age and his performance, this might not be the case also. Mohammed Aamir was awarded the man of the series jointly with England's Ian Trott in the recently concluded Pakistan - England test series despite Pakistan not only ending as losers but also losing all their ten wickets for a score less than 100 on 3 occasions.
Had there been a hand of Amir in spot fixing, he wouldn't have emerged a success in that series if one side of the coin is considered. There too, Amir made news but that time for the right reasons when he became one of the few cricketers to have been awarded the man of the series at such an early stage and also for ending as a losing team player. However, if any one wants to know How To Make Money? here it is and one need not go in for any unfair means like it is seen by the ongoing controversy called spot fixing.
And not at an early age of 18 with so much cricket left on you. Take guidelines from Azharuddin who ended his career by making money by unethical means.
Of course, it would be a new comer who would be the winner of the award for the most emerging player of the year and but need not be at such an early age as is the case with Mohammed Amir. moreover, the player who might just win the award for the test cricketer of the year need not be at an early age and for Mohammed Amir to have been one of the contestants for that award is a pride in itself. However, the world has to feel sorry for this young leg for not making it to the elite list and being expelled from the same.
Whether the allegations against Mohammed Aamir are true or not being a different question, for now, if the decision taken upon by the ICC in Aamir is considered, it definitely gives the world an impression that there is a hand of Amir in the ongoing spot fixing controversy involving Pakistani cricketers mainly. Keeping in mind his age and his performance, this might not be the case also. Mohammed Aamir was awarded the man of the series jointly with England's Ian Trott in the recently concluded Pakistan - England test series despite Pakistan not only ending as losers but also losing all their ten wickets for a score less than 100 on 3 occasions.
Had there been a hand of Amir in spot fixing, he wouldn't have emerged a success in that series if one side of the coin is considered. There too, Amir made news but that time for the right reasons when he became one of the few cricketers to have been awarded the man of the series at such an early stage and also for ending as a losing team player. However, if any one wants to know How To Make Money? here it is and one need not go in for any unfair means like it is seen by the ongoing controversy called spot fixing.
And not at an early age of 18 with so much cricket left on you. Take guidelines from Azharuddin who ended his career by making money by unethical means.
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