Finally, yesterday New Zealand becomes the third team to be defeated by Australia in all three formats of the game when they formally lost the second test by 176 runs after the Kiwis were bowled out for 302 runs on the board. An expected result was delayed by just another day when the test match which should have been lost on day 4 itself happened to go on until the end of the 5th day. Similar to the Aussies, even the Kiwis followed suit when almost every known batsman fro the New Zealand side contributed his little bit to his side.
There were 20+ scored from the blades of Walting, Tim Macintosh, Mathew Sinclair, Vettori, Guptill, McCullum and Southee. Earlier in the test match, even the Aussies had shown a similar type of team work when there were 40+ scores from the blades of as many as 7 Aussie players on the 4th day's play. This is the difference between both the sides where Aussie batsmen scored 40+ regular scores which was twice of what each batsman from the New Zealand side could contribute to his side. After Australia had amassed 511 runs on the board, the Kiwis had lost half of their side for less than 200.
New Zealand's defeat came after Pakistan and West Indies had their turn when they had faced the Aussies some three months back. The only difference this time was the unlike in the previous two occasions where both Pakistan and West Indies lost a test series in Australia, New Zealand lost their test series at home and not on their tour to Australia. However, the NZC may not follow the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt by banning players from playing international cricket or impose hefty fines on their players. May be the NZC will not even take the loss against Australia seriously with most of the teams' fate being almost same when they face OZ.
This was Australia's 7th test match victory out of the 8 games that it has played since December last year. At the same time, this was New Zealand's 3rd loss at home with the other one being against Pakistan. New Zealand have repeatedly shown the world that they are hardly interested in playing test cricket when they can show some decent performances in the remaining two formats of the game. New Zealand won two out of the 5 one dayers against Australia and one T20 game out of the scheduled 2 matches. But, the Kiwis were nowhere when it came to playing tests.
Showing posts with label Simon Katich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Simon Katich. Show all posts
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Aussies - A perfect example for team work
Well what a team work this has been from the Australian team, who can still bring the cricket fans out of the IPL mood that is catching up high on the other side of the globe? If one goes through the scorecard of the second innings of Australia's bating chart, almost all the Aussie batsmen have done their bit towards the team total of 511 for the loss of 8 wickets. If not for the captain Ricky Ponting who returned back scoring just 6 runs that all included was a full-toss hit out of the boundary line, the rest of the Aussies batsmen gave in everything they could to their team.
Much to the surprise, there were decent knocks from the blades of Ryan Harris and Nathan Hauritz - both of whom are more known for their bowling skills and less when it comes to playing a similar delivery. Ryan Harris scored an unbeaten 18 runs and Hauritz scored 41 that included 2 sixes as well. But, I give it all to the opening batsman - Simon Katich who not only top scored with 106 but also held the Australian innings firmly after their first innings lag of 33 runs. This is evident from the fact that he stood at the crease for 279 deliveries having crucial partnerships with Shane Watson and Mike Hussey.
Simon Katich not only bought in all his experience when he did that but also showed a non-selfish motive when he gripped the Aussie innings as mentioned. It was Katich who was responsible for his team to put up such a mammoth total after their initial hiccup. All batsmen who followed Katich came up with increasing strike rates with Hussey, Clarke, North and Haddin returning with strike rates of 41.87, 57.79, 66.66 and 120 respectively. All these were steadily increasing after Katich's 37.99. One bad decision that Ponting was found doing was when he declared the innings at 511 with 2 wickets in hand.
It is neither an insufficient total at which Ponting should not have declared nor the two wickets that Australia had that could have added few more runs to their mammoth total of 511. But, the fact is that, had Ponting chosen to declare a bit later, may be Nathan Hauritz might have scored a half century who had to end his innings at 41*. An interesting fact is the, it was only Mitchell Johnson who could not contribute with the bat for his team but did everything to compensate with the bat when he took three of the five wickets that fell from the Kiwi side.
Much to the surprise, there were decent knocks from the blades of Ryan Harris and Nathan Hauritz - both of whom are more known for their bowling skills and less when it comes to playing a similar delivery. Ryan Harris scored an unbeaten 18 runs and Hauritz scored 41 that included 2 sixes as well. But, I give it all to the opening batsman - Simon Katich who not only top scored with 106 but also held the Australian innings firmly after their first innings lag of 33 runs. This is evident from the fact that he stood at the crease for 279 deliveries having crucial partnerships with Shane Watson and Mike Hussey.
Simon Katich not only bought in all his experience when he did that but also showed a non-selfish motive when he gripped the Aussie innings as mentioned. It was Katich who was responsible for his team to put up such a mammoth total after their initial hiccup. All batsmen who followed Katich came up with increasing strike rates with Hussey, Clarke, North and Haddin returning with strike rates of 41.87, 57.79, 66.66 and 120 respectively. All these were steadily increasing after Katich's 37.99. One bad decision that Ponting was found doing was when he declared the innings at 511 with 2 wickets in hand.
It is neither an insufficient total at which Ponting should not have declared nor the two wickets that Australia had that could have added few more runs to their mammoth total of 511. But, the fact is that, had Ponting chosen to declare a bit later, may be Nathan Hauritz might have scored a half century who had to end his innings at 41*. An interesting fact is the, it was only Mitchell Johnson who could not contribute with the bat for his team but did everything to compensate with the bat when he took three of the five wickets that fell from the Kiwi side.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
New Zealand out of the race
As it has been the case whenever Australia faces most of the teams, no matter whether the Aussies take a first innings lead or not but they end up on the safer side towards the end of the match. And, this time as well the situation was no different when Simon Katich continued from where he had left in the first innings of the test match where he scored a valuable 88 runs with the entire team getting bowled out for a mere 231 runs on the boards, which was - needless to be said far behind the standards of Aussie cricket.
This was more so when the opposition - New Zealand surpassed the Aussie total by 33 runs, which is more than enough for the Kiwis to rejoice. However, that could in no way trouble the Aussies who were pretty confident of their comeback to the game which has seen them doing o since the past decade or so. But, with New Zealand being the hosts, a lot more was expected from them and not just a lead of 33 runs and that too in the second test after surrendering the first one without atough decent fight. New Zealand has been the worst hosts in the recent past.
It is really surprising that Simon Katich who shone with the bat took 137 balls to score his first boundary when he was found driving the 100 test man - Daniel Vettori through cover. However, at the end of his innings, he had 12 hits to the fence to his credit. Katich was also involved in an 85 run first wicket partnership with Shane Watson and a 155 run partnership with Mike Hussey despite having a bad strike rate of a run from every 3 balls. As expected, the entire Australian team batted with utmost cautiousness to take the game away from New Zealand.
Simon Katich stood for 279 balls which was close to 47 overs and 4 sessions before getting out. Katich's score was close to 33% of the entire Australian team total on the 3rd day's play. The entire Australian side was out on the first day's play and so was the case when New Zealand batted on day 2. Such games are quite rare in today's test cricket. Today's test cricket either has both the teams scoring huge amount of runs with just 2 out of the 4 innings being possible. Or else, there would be one high scoring team with the other team crashing out even before its play has been started.
This was more so when the opposition - New Zealand surpassed the Aussie total by 33 runs, which is more than enough for the Kiwis to rejoice. However, that could in no way trouble the Aussies who were pretty confident of their comeback to the game which has seen them doing o since the past decade or so. But, with New Zealand being the hosts, a lot more was expected from them and not just a lead of 33 runs and that too in the second test after surrendering the first one without a
It is really surprising that Simon Katich who shone with the bat took 137 balls to score his first boundary when he was found driving the 100 test man - Daniel Vettori through cover. However, at the end of his innings, he had 12 hits to the fence to his credit. Katich was also involved in an 85 run first wicket partnership with Shane Watson and a 155 run partnership with Mike Hussey despite having a bad strike rate of a run from every 3 balls. As expected, the entire Australian team batted with utmost cautiousness to take the game away from New Zealand.
Simon Katich stood for 279 balls which was close to 47 overs and 4 sessions before getting out. Katich's score was close to 33% of the entire Australian team total on the 3rd day's play. The entire Australian side was out on the first day's play and so was the case when New Zealand batted on day 2. Such games are quite rare in today's test cricket. Today's test cricket either has both the teams scoring huge amount of runs with just 2 out of the 4 innings being possible. Or else, there would be one high scoring team with the other team crashing out even before its play has been started.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Vettori's gift for NZ on his 100th test appearence
Well this is the New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori's 100th test match and has been a good performance both as a captain and as a player. With Daniel Vettori trying to prove a point in his 100th test, one has to see the positives in the ongoing test match against Australia. New Zealand have successfully bowled Australia for a mere total of just 231 on the board which would have otherwise been close to somewhere around 500+ like it happened in the earlier test where Australia put up a total in excess of 400 and defeated New Zealand till the death.
Because this is Daniel Vetttori's 100th test match, New Zealand can think of a decent loss unlike it happened in the earlier test where Australia had a lead in excess of 302 runs. Australia had lost half the number of wickets that New Zealand lost towards the end of their innings and as mentioned earlier scored 302 runs less than what the Aussies could manage. However, now if the first day's play is considered, New Zealand are found enjoying a slight upperhand when it comes to the test match. May be the loss that New Zealand would have anticipated to incur be now reduced by an innings to a few runs.
No matter how low the team total of Australia is, victory can never be snatched from them. The best example being the Sydney test between Pakistan and Australia where Australia lost all their 10 wickets for a score of 127 with hopes of an Aussie win being nowhere. But, much to everyone's surprise Australia won the match by 36 runs needless to be said. Now, if Australia have lost all their 10 wickets on the 1st day's play itself, it would not come as a surprise to anyone if Australia manage to reduce New Zealand to a lesser total than what Ponting's men could.
And, in case New Zealand manage to take a small lead in the first innings, the Aussies have always shown that they get back to the game by not repeating the mistake they did in their first innings for which once again the Sydney test against Pakistan stands as an example. A hint regarding the same is already available from the 1st day's play when the first New Zealand wicket fell with the scoreboard reading 19 runs at the end of the day's play. It would not be a tough task for the Aussies to get the remaining 9 New Zealand wickets in the next day they play.
Because this is Daniel Vetttori's 100th test match, New Zealand can think of a decent loss unlike it happened in the earlier test where Australia had a lead in excess of 302 runs. Australia had lost half the number of wickets that New Zealand lost towards the end of their innings and as mentioned earlier scored 302 runs less than what the Aussies could manage. However, now if the first day's play is considered, New Zealand are found enjoying a slight upperhand when it comes to the test match. May be the loss that New Zealand would have anticipated to incur be now reduced by an innings to a few runs.
No matter how low the team total of Australia is, victory can never be snatched from them. The best example being the Sydney test between Pakistan and Australia where Australia lost all their 10 wickets for a score of 127 with hopes of an Aussie win being nowhere. But, much to everyone's surprise Australia won the match by 36 runs needless to be said. Now, if Australia have lost all their 10 wickets on the 1st day's play itself, it would not come as a surprise to anyone if Australia manage to reduce New Zealand to a lesser total than what Ponting's men could.
And, in case New Zealand manage to take a small lead in the first innings, the Aussies have always shown that they get back to the game by not repeating the mistake they did in their first innings for which once again the Sydney test against Pakistan stands as an example. A hint regarding the same is already available from the 1st day's play when the first New Zealand wicket fell with the scoreboard reading 19 runs at the end of the day's play. It would not be a tough task for the Aussies to get the remaining 9 New Zealand wickets in the next day they play.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Clarke's performance not surprising
From the past one month or so, all news that Michael Clarke was able to make was regarding his break up with some female whose relation with Michael Clarke is needless at the moment and at the same time not clear as well. Clarke returned to the Australian cricket with a bang when he scored an unbeaten 100 runs in the first test at Wellington against New Zealand. It was not Bangladesh or the West Indies whom Clarke was facing to say that the weak opposition helped Clarke nor it was Brisbane or Sydney where Australia were playing to say that Clarke had the home team advantage.
In addition to Michael Clarke, there were other Australian players like Simon Katich and Marcus North who aided Australia in putting up a mammoth total of 316 on the board on day 1. This was achieved at a run rate of less than 4 which once again points towards Australia's losing momentum after the retirement of big guns a couple of years ago. However, this was more than enough for and against teams like New Zealand who are best suited for teams like Pakistan and may be England and that too under home conditions. The bowlers from New Zealand could get the wicket of just three Australian batsmen, with the other one being run out.
If not for Mike Hussey on a rare occasion, the rest of the Australian batsmen showed no signs of fear towards the New Zealand bowlers. There could have been only one bowler who could put pressure of some sort on the Aussie batsmen and that was Shane Bond who bid adieu to test cricket. If that is to be kept apart, the lone bowler who could do that job to some extent would be Daniel Vettori not because of his extraordinary bowling skills but due to the fact that Australians are bad players of spin bowling. But the other side of the coin is that so is New Zealand.
Even New Zealand fear spin bowling more than Australia due to the fact that atleast Australia have a decent batting run up which is not the same when it comes to New Zealand. It would not come as a surprise to anyone in case the same Michael Clarke who id much of the damage to the Kiwi bowlers turns up to do the same with the ball as well. Clarke would have two advantages, one owing to the fact of New Zealand's approach to spin bowling as stated earlier and two for having a mammoth total on the board which would persuade him to try and do different things. In case he fails in that, there is Ryan Harris and co who can settle things for Aussies.
In addition to Michael Clarke, there were other Australian players like Simon Katich and Marcus North who aided Australia in putting up a mammoth total of 316 on the board on day 1. This was achieved at a run rate of less than 4 which once again points towards Australia's losing momentum after the retirement of big guns a couple of years ago. However, this was more than enough for and against teams like New Zealand who are best suited for teams like Pakistan and may be England and that too under home conditions. The bowlers from New Zealand could get the wicket of just three Australian batsmen, with the other one being run out.
If not for Mike Hussey on a rare occasion, the rest of the Australian batsmen showed no signs of fear towards the New Zealand bowlers. There could have been only one bowler who could put pressure of some sort on the Aussie batsmen and that was Shane Bond who bid adieu to test cricket. If that is to be kept apart, the lone bowler who could do that job to some extent would be Daniel Vettori not because of his extraordinary bowling skills but due to the fact that Australians are bad players of spin bowling. But the other side of the coin is that so is New Zealand.
Even New Zealand fear spin bowling more than Australia due to the fact that atleast Australia have a decent batting run up which is not the same when it comes to New Zealand. It would not come as a surprise to anyone in case the same Michael Clarke who id much of the damage to the Kiwi bowlers turns up to do the same with the ball as well. Clarke would have two advantages, one owing to the fact of New Zealand's approach to spin bowling as stated earlier and two for having a mammoth total on the board which would persuade him to try and do different things. In case he fails in that, there is Ryan Harris and co who can settle things for Aussies.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)