Cricket Tournaments

Kemar Roach claiming a hat-trick against Dutch

West Indies met the Dutch in the league match of Group B at Delhi. As expected, it was the slow and low wicket at Ferozahshah Kotla which produced low scoring games with sides having to battle out with turn and the balls keeping low. Interestingly, and contrary to general analysis, both captains wanted to bowl first. Peter Borren won the toss and sent the boys of Darren Sammy in. It was a must win for West Indies to not get caught into run rate and qualifying headaches. West Indies scored 330 for 8 in 50 overs and bowled out Dutch for 115 in the 32nd over achieving a massive 215 runs win. Kemar Roach got man of the match for his first, and sixth overall in the world cup, hat-trick of the world cup.

West Indies got off to a steady start, Chris Gayle took 24 balls to hit his first boundary which is a rarity in his case. Devon Smith on the other hand was scoring better than run a ball and was sending Dutch to fetch the white leather from all parts of the park.  WI got a stand of exactly a 100 when Smith handed a catch to Barresi of Loots. Darren Bravo got a start but couldn’t really manage to convert it into a bigger one. Sarwan, pleasingly for WI, came into form at the right time and scored 49 of 42 balls while being given three lives in his brief innings. Gayle on the other hand was finding his touch back but couldn’t resist lofting ten Doeschate straight down the throat of long on for a well compiled 80. Then came the man, who is amongst the wealthiest of price tag in international cricket at the moment, Kieron Pollard. Pollard fed the crowd with some monster sixes and deft touches on a slow Delhi wicket. He was creaming the bowlers for sixes with just sweet nudges. West Indies scored 55 of their last power play and ended their effort at 330 for 8 in their 50 overs. Netherland bowling was ordinary except Seelar who picked up 3 wickets for just 45 of his 10 overs.

Dutch had a poor start  losing Barresi in the second over of the chase. Kervezee did not last long either and both the openers were back with score at 26 in seventh over. The one man army Dutch needed to have, the hero against England, ten Doeschate come good. But as they, everyday is not a Sunday and so wasn’t this for den Doeschate today. He was adjudged lbw of Benn who bowled beautiful line throughout the match. A review was called considering the weight of his wicket but the inevitable stayed and Netherlands were in a lot of trouble. The flood gates opened as spearhead Roach was difficult to pick up with his straight darts at 90 miles per hour. After Benn’s opening wickets, it was the turn of the paceman to rattle some of the Dutch wickets. Roach stole the show away when he struck a hat-trick with only 3 wickets to spare and ended the game in style claiming his first ever world cup hat-trick.

Netherland is down and out but need to pick up their game again and they undoubtedly need someone to share the responsibility with ten Doeschate. WI will feel relived with a comprehensive all round performance and their key batsmen coming to the fore just at the right time.

Tatenda Taibu scoring 98 against Canada

It was a battle between the two minnows Zimbabwe and the associates, Canada. It was expected to be a predictable encounter and a tepid crowd gathering vindicated the assumption. The only interesting thing in the match was the colour of the outfit both teams had, as both of them were in red. Zimbabwe scored a massive 298 for 9 of their 50 overs and knocked Canada out for 123 with almost 8 overs to spare. The wicket keeper batsman, Tatenda Taibu was awarded man of the match for his exemplary 98 of just 99 balls.

It was the city of oranges, Nagpur with wonderful pitch and a fast outfield as most of the grounds in India. The battle was open for a run feast. Zimbabwe won the toss and rightly, elected to bat first. Zimbabwe received severe blows from Canada as both openers, Brendon Taylor and Charles Coventry, were back in the pavilion with the score at seven in the fourth over. Taibu and Ervine took command from thereon and managed a mountain stand of 181 of 161 deliveries. Ervine departed to Rao when the ball bounced a little more than expected while he was all set to convert into a ton. Taibu placed some elegant drives, cuts and sweep shots but was unfortunate to run out of gas when he was at 98 and got out to Rao sweeping the ball and top edging it. Chigabura was sent back by Cheema and the man of the moment, Balaji Rao, soon helped his side by picking up Gregory Lamb and Sean Williams before Williams could have converted his start to a big score. Zimbabwe lost momentum amidst wickets falling at regular intervals. Zimbabwe closed shop at 298 for the loss of 9 wickets in their allotted 50 overs. Balaji Rao was pick of the bowlers while Chohan and Baidwan shared two wickets a piece.

Canada had to bank heavily on veteran, Davison and Rizwan Cheema if they had to come anywhere close to what the opposition had forth for them to chase. The oldest and youngest player of the tournament in John Davison, 40 and Nitish Kumar, 16 came out to open the innings for Canada. Davison’s early departure in the second over didn’t do any good the Canadian confidence. Kumar soon departed chipping one straight down the throat of Ray Price who is having a gala time opening the bowling for Zimbabwe this season. Price soon got his third scalp as captain Bagai swept one straight in the hands of square leg. Canada was tottering at 14 for 3 after 10 overs. Gunasekra and Hansara tried to steady the ship but were always playing the catching up game, they both departed in consecutive overs leaving Canada at 50 for 5 in 22^nd over. Cheema was cheaply dismissed by Utseya. It was then a formality for Zimbabwe to wrap up the Canada innings and their spin attack didn’t let them down as they shared all the wickets amongst them.

Although the result of the match wouldn’t affect the standing too much but will certainly give Zimbabwe zeal to make amongst the best four who will crossover for the quarter-finals.

Andrew Strauss

The tied game at Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Staudim on Sunday between India and England left both teams with more questions than answers. Like in their opening encounter, both India and England struggled with the ball as well as in the field. And if not for their superlative batting efforts, neither team would have had much to take away from this game. And so, it was probably fair that two teams struggling to ball and field well were involved in a tied encounter. It was really difficult to figure out who was worse. What this game has done is make both teams realise that it won’t be enough to put up a mammoth score on the board and relax. MS Dhoni, at the post match conference, said that he was confident they would defend the big score their batsmen had put up. However, following this shoddy performance it is clear that will far from be the case.

If not for Zaheer Khan, India might well have been left licking their wounds. And had that happened it would have been extremely difficult for India to recover from the setback as the game would have drained them mentally more than physically. They could have recovered in the latter aspect considering the long gap between matches. However, the scars of that defeat would have remained in the minds. This is why the Indian left-arm seamer’s inspirational spell was so very crucial. This is not the first time Zaheer has pulled India out of trouble and won’t be the last. But to do so when all seemed lost and that too on the biggest scale only reiterates his standing as one of the great Indian bowlers. Following Zaheer’s spell India were back as favourites to clinch the game. However, all credit to England’s lower order batsmen, whose big hits ensured the match ended even-stevens. In the end, it was a fair result.

As with a match so closely contested, there were a number of memorable performances. But, on a pitch where bowlers were being butchered left right and centre, it was England medium pacer Tim Bresnan’s five-wicket spell that stood out. Not only did Bresnan bowl straight, but he also mixed up deliveries cleverly, making it extremely difficult to get him away. True, his wickets were aided by the fact that the batsmen were going on an all out attack. Yet, he deserves all the credit for the manner in which he bowled, and that too at a time when there was no pressure at all on the Indian midde-order, following the excellent start they were off too. At the end of the day, it was Bresnan’s effort that ensured England had the momentum going into the second innings of the match. And even though India had managed to put up a mammoth score, Bresnan’s bowling gave them confidence that they could compete with India. Until then, they were clearly on the back foot. But post Bresnan’s magic, the Englishmen’s belief had changed, and it was evident in the way they came out to chase.

Andrew Strauss was absolutely immaculate in the way he planned the chase. Not only did he find the gaps with ease, but ensured that there was at least a boundary every over while he was at the crease. This meant that India never managed to build any pressure on the batsmen at all. Dhoni looked totally clueless as Strauss went about his merry ways. The most striking aspect of his ‘best’ knock, which he himself acknowledged, was that the England captain kept his side up with the required rate without taking any risks. And this something which should worry Dhoni no end. As the Indian skipper himself admitted at the end of the game, if they can’t defend Sunday’s score they soon they will find themselves in a highly precarious situation. And while Strauss was flawless, he got excellent support from a couple of others. Kevin Pietersen once again came good opening the innings which augurs very well for England as the tournament progresses. Pietersen looked in no trouble at all as he and Strauss got England off to a flyer. They were finding the gaps with such ease that Dhoni’s field placings went for a toss very early in the innings.

If the opening stand gave England a solid foot start, it was Strauss’ partnership with Ian Bell that gave England the confidence and, more importantly, the platform that they could achieve what seemed the undoable. While Strauss kept a cool head throughout the chase, Bell took off any pressure there would have been on the England skipper following the early exit of Johanthan Trott. Among the best players of spin in the England team, Bell made sure that the side did not miss the services of Eoin Morgan. Bell handled Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh exceedingly well. Some of the strokes he played against the leg spinner were, in particular, a treat to watch. Bell’s innings nullified whatever advantage India were supposed to have, playing the additional spinner against England, who traditionally have struggled against leg-spinners. If India managed to save some face in spite of this it was only due to Zaheer’s extraordinary comeback.

A tie would have been the last things on India’s mind (only an Australian – Shane Warne could have predicted that) when they were off to another flier courtesy Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. While the former was edgy, the latter took his time to get set. Yet, India recovered well thanks to steady partnerships between Sachin and Gautam Gambhir and later Sachin and Yuvraj Singh. Even as Sachin’s ton was the highlight of the innings — his hitting against Graeme Swann reminded one of his assault on Warne in 1998 – it was Yuvraj’s return to form with a hard-fought half-century that would have gladdened the Indian camp. However, they still have plenty to work upon. Gambhir falling to similar strokes in both matches is something that needs to be looked at closely. Further, the running between the wickets can improve, if only marginally, considering the number of slow movers in the playing eleven. Also, the lower-order batting wasn’t smart at all despite the fact that they had the license to thrill.

Both teams would be relieved in a sense not to have ended up on the losing side. However, the real challenge for them would be to figure out how to join the missing dots.

Zaheer Khan appealing for an LBW

It was India versus England. The passion for the 50-over game is back. It was a nail biter, a teeth clincher; it had blown 1.2 billion in India and billions around the world off their seats. It had the stars of the games performing to take the game to a higher level. It was a spectacle and slap on face of those who said 50 over cricket is dying. It ended with best possible result and both teams though would have wanted it in their favour but also be contented with what happened. It took them 100 overs and still no one could win, it was the first tie of the Cricket World Cup 2011.  Andrew Strauss was man of the match for his 158 of 145 balls.

Earlier in the day, India won the toss and did what they do best. India chose to bat and the fire power of Sehwag and Sachin opened the innings. Sehwag in his own uninhibited style cracked some lusty blows to the English pacemen but soon got out at 36 to Bresnan. Sachin took time to settle down and played at a very slow pace; once he got in he smashed Brits to all parts of the ground and added another crown to his Himalaya of records. Sachin eventually got out at 120 in a process to up the ante. All Indian batsmen showed their class today and is a pleasing take away for the men in blue. Gambhir and Yuvraj both got half centuries while Dhoni and Pathan chipped in with cameos. India lost momentum in the batting power play as they lost too many wickets. Once they were looking to cross 350 but had to contend with 338 all out with one ball to spare. English bowling was lacklustre to say least but Bresnan was pick of their bowlers and got a five wicket haul and gave less than five an over of his 10.

At the start of English innings, very few would have placed their money on them but the confident captain in Strauss lead from the front and played risk free, sensible cricket and played out his skin. Strauss almost literally scored one four of every over throughout the innings keeping his side close to the asking rate. Petersen started firing all cylinders from the start before he unfortunately got out to an uppish straight drive of Munaf Patel, who took a splendid catch of his own bowling. Jonathan Trott came and went quickly but Strauss never allowed Indians to build the pressure and kept the asking rate in control. Ian Bell started creaming the bowlers stylishly without taking risk but playing conventional cricket shots, he was lucky to sustain a review for an lbw which looked like a dead duck in front of the stumps. Both of them carried the ship to the 42^nd over before Strauss took a debatable decision to call the batting power play and brining the downfall of 4 wickets and arising hope for India. Zaheer Khan clinched 3 important wickets in 2 overs by sending Bell, Strauss, with a power Yorker, and Collingwood back in the pavilion. Swann, Bresnan and Sehzad hit a maximum each a piece resulting the match to tie of the last ball. Indian bowling effort was ordinary and so was the fielding.

It was a victory for the 50 over cricket and initial success script for CWC 2011. Watch out for some more fun in the matches to come.

Nathan McCullum has done a good job for New Zealand up front with the new ball

Ever since Deepak Patel first opened the bowling for New Zealand under Martin Crowe, opening with spinners seems to have become a bit of a trend. They did it right through the 90’s with the Windies taking it through to the turn of the century.

With flatter tracks in the sub continent, it is New Zealand again who are definite on opening their bowling with a spinner. Nathan McCullum is the one who is given the job and has done it pretty well in the recent past.

Zimbabwe, West Indies and South Africa are the other teams who are looking to use this strategy.

West Indies and South Africa are the astonishing ones, couple of decades back, you would never have imagined a spinner opening the bowling with these two teams. Indeed, in Harsha Bhogle’s words, the cricketing equivalent of the el- nino. Seems a worth while strategy as the ball does not come onto the bat and the harder newer ball offers the spinners with greater bounce.

Most teams rich in spin will look to use them right up front especially against foreign teams like Australia and England as they are not known to handle the spinners well.

An interesting move to say the least and is pretty much a safe bet against teams like Australia and England.

Shahid Afridi claimed 4 for 34 against SL

It was the re-laid pitch at Premedasa Stadium in Colombo with cracks suggesting the pitch will go slower and lower in the second innings. The highest successful chase was 271/2 by India way back in the last decade. Pakistan won the important toss and elected to pile a total for the Sri Lankans to chase. Captain Afridi mentioned 280 to be a winning total and his boys managed to score three less and closed the innings for 277 for 7 in their 50 overs. Sri Lanka in reply could only manage 266 for 9 as Pakistan edged victory by 11 runs.  Afridi got man of the match for his 4 for 34 of 10 overs.

Pakistan got a decent start and managed 65 of their first 10 overs with only one wicket down. Hafeez and Akmal were going according to the plan before an uncalled mishap resulted in Hafeez getting run out. Akmal soon departed and the old horses, Younus Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq came to the rescue. Both of them managed to pile up a stand of 108 before Yunus was caught by Jayawardene of Herath. Captain Shahid Afridi played away some blistering shots showing his boom boom style of batting while Misbah scored a pleasing 83 even after an injury.  Sri Lankan pacemen were on the expensive side while the spin attack curbed the run flow lead by the wily old fox, Muttiah Murlidaran, who gave away just 35 of his 10 overs and bowled two superb overs during the batting power play.

Sri Lanka in response was slow but steady in the first power play as they did not lose any wickets. Dilshan started showering his charisma in the second power play and played some elegant cuts to match the asking rate. Tharanga played sensibly for his 33 while Dilshan got unlucky and got out to an inside edge for 41 of Afridi. Sangakara resurrected the Sri Lankan innings with Chamara Silva, who was finding it hard to score and was at 6 of 31 balls at one stage. The slow pace of Silva in the middle overs did it for the Lankans as the pressure kept piling up and wickets started to flurry at the other end to up the ante. Jayawardene and Samarveera got out, in single figures, to the duo Akhtar and Afridi. Mathews departed in an effort to clear the boundary. Silva did pick up his strike rate in the later overs but it had become a daunting task by then. Nuwan Kulasekara did give Lankans an outside chance as he played a cameo of 24 of just 14 balls and at one stage it looked like Sri Lanka might snatch the win out of the jaws of defeat. Shoaib Akthar started off his fiery spell and caused some jitters to Sri Lankan openers, Afridi was the hero with the ball and took four crucial wickets, and Samarweera was the best of them all as the ball deviated almost 10 degrees from its original line.

It was the first competitive and nail biting encounter in CWC 2011 and spectators had their money worth. Pakistan have taken a step ahead to book a berth in the Quarter-finals beating Sri Lanka at home. Sri Lanka still has few matches and a well balanced side to make it to the knock out stage.

Final Score:

PAK                277/7 (50)

SL                   266/9 (50)

MOM               Shahid Afridi

Virender Sehwag

It’s the big Sunday at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 as hosts India take on England at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. There has been a lot of hype as well as controversy surrounding the game. How can one forget the last game India played here in the 1996 World Cup quarter final against Pakistan? Undoubtedly, the fans would be hoping for an encore on Sunday. However, the ticket fiasco, which led to the lathi charge on fans a couple of days back, was the last thing that the already under fire tournament needed. And if things need to be set straight then the two teams will have to put up a really solid showing, better than all the previous games in the tournament so far. In short, the game needs to live up to the hype.

Sehwag scare

For India to do well in the clash, they will need Virender Sehwag to be in fine form. Unfortunately, the Indian opener was hit in the ribcage during practice. And though, he is expected to be take the field for Sunday’s clash against England, India will only hope that he is cent per cent fit for the match. The kind of form he has been in, India will be mightily handicapped if he is unable to play his natural game in the match against the Englishmen.

Key Clashes

Indian top three vs England pacers

In the last two T20 World Cups, the Indian batsmen were massively bruised by the short-pitched stuff delivered by the opposition pacers. And England were one of the teams that exploited this predictable weakness to the hilt. Of course, those tournaments were held on foreign soil, where the bounce is much more pronounced. Even so, the English medium pacers would make a conscious effort to bounce out the Indian batsmen yet again. This is where the performances of Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir would be extremely essential. If they can unsettle the English pacers early on, it would give them a great advantage over their opponents. Both the Indian openers would fancy their chances considering that both Stuart Broad and James Anderson struggled against the so-called minnows Netherlands. It was an extremely inexplicable performance by the hapless pace duo, who not so long ago, were at the top of their game in the Ashes, more so from Broad, who picked up five-fors in both the warm-up games. Both Broad and Anderson will need to pick up their game by quite a few notches if they need to upset the Indian applecart at home.

Yuvraj Singh vs Graeme Swann

This clash might well decide which way the game heads. Swann is undoubtedly the best off spinner in the world today. And, even as India are rated amongst the best against the slow bowlers, the current reality is not all that healthy. Yuvraj Singh, in particular, has often struggled against spinners, and he would have it really tough against Swann. To add to his woes, he hasn’t been in the best of form either and his fitness too has been a great concern. India will need Yuvraj to rise above all his problems and perform like the man we have come to know of him over the years. When on song, the lanky left-hander can upset any opposition calculations. Even while he has been performing below par with the bat, Yuvraj has been extremely handy with the ball which means that if he can lift his game with the bat, he will be nothing short of an all-rounder for India. But with Swann in such great form, it will be a real challenge for Yuvraj.

The slog overs

England were miserable in the final overs against Netherlands and were penalised in an abysmal manner. They still managed to get home thanks to some inexperience among the Dutch bowlers in crunch situations. However, if they get it wrong against India, irreparable damage could be done. This is because in Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni, India have two of the most dangerous hitters in world cricket. And, on their day, they could tear apart any opposition in the world. Thus, England will have to be extremely smart in the way they handle the slog-over situation.

Pietersen vs Zaheer

The flamboyant Kevin Pietersen, shouldering the new responsibility of opening the innings, will be expected to get the team off to a flyer. However, in Zaheer Khan India have a vastly experienced bowler, who can pin him down. Depending on who wins the battle, the momentum will switch to the respective side. And in a crucial game such as this, both sides would want it to swing their way. It is extremely tough to predict a winner in this contest since both are class acts and marvel under challenging situations. Better to just wait and watch on this.

Harbhajan vs England middle-order

In recent years, Harbhajan Singh hasn’t been the match-winning Turbanator that took flight in 2001. Even so, he has adapted to his new role, that of strangulating the opposition, very smartly. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that, over the years, the Englishmen haven’t been the best players of spin bowling. And while they have improved by leaps and bounds, playing against the likes of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann on the domestic circuit, Harbhajan would still fancy his chances of succeeding against England. The fact that Eoin Morgan, one if their better players, isn’t here would be a definite handicap for England. But the rest will need to rise up to the occasion and make up for it. In Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior, they have two very smart cricketers and, if they get settled, they can pose problems to the Indian spinners.

The final word

The analysis and recent history (India beat England in 1999 and 2003) point towards an Indian victory. However, games are not decided on numbers. India will need to back them with a solid performance while England must focus on getting their basics right and take things from there onwards.

Team Bangladesh celebrating an Irish wicket

Bangladesh faced off an underrated Ireland in a low scoring match at their home ground in Mirpur. Bangladesh chose to bat after winning the toss. It was another show piece by two minnows which gave some excitement to the tepid world cup fever. Bangladesh rattled Ireland by 27 runs bowling Ireland out for 178 in a reply to Bangladesh’s 205 all out in the final over of the first innings. Tamim Iqbal earned man of the match award for his better than run a ball 43 in a low scoring encounter.

After scoring 70 against India at a contrasting strike rate to the asking rate, Tamim Iqbal came back to his fearless ways of dominating the bowling upfront and creamed the Irish bowlers to all sides of the park. Imrun Kayes was expertly stumped on the leg side by Niall O’Brien and became the first to depart as a victim to Mooney, who kept a steady line and length while giving away just 25 of his 7 overs. Bangladesh took 67 runs in their first power play but quick tumbling of wickets put breaks on the scoring and they could manage only 19 runs in the next five. Raqibul Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim shared the highest stand of the innings of 61 runs which gave Bangladeshi bowlers to have something to bowl at as they were reduced to 205 all out on the second ball of the last over of their innings. Andre Botha was pick of the bowlers as he claimed 3 wickets for 32 in his 9 overs at an economical rate. The teenager Dockrell showed good promise and kept the slow pace and made it difficult for the Bangladeshi batsmen to hit him away as they could only manage 23 of his 10 overs with two scalps to his name.

The Irish captain, William Poterfield had a confident start alongside Paul Stirling who could only be his companion till the 6^th over as he was stumped by Rahim of the bowling of wily Razzak. Poterfield was next to depart of Shakib al Hasan’s bowling as he tried to flick him through mid wicket and handing a simple catch in the process. Bangladeshi crowd was dancing in the aisle as Ashraful, unsuccessful with the bat, dashed out a caught and bowled from Ed Joyce. Irish hopes were still on the younger of O’Brien brothers, who was their saviour in their famous win against Pakistan in the 2007 world cup. As Ashraful uprooted the stumps of Andrew White, Irish were stunned by Shakib al Hasan snatching the heavily priced wicket of Niall O’Brien. Ireland were in a slump but the elder O’Brien showed courage as he guided them to 151  before holding out for an individual score of 37 of 40 deliveries including the one and only maximum of the match. The last hope for Ireland kneeled with the wicket of Andre Botha of slinging Shafiul Islam, who was reversing and skidding the cricket ball. Shafiul changed the game on his head and took four important wickets and became the hero for Bangladeshi supporters.

Bangladesh now needs to work on their batting and raise the bar as they did against India. They now meet West Indies and will be demystifying quite a few sceptics about the fourth berth, to the quarter-final, in Group B.

Final Score

BAN                205 all out (49.2)

IRE                 178 all out (45)

MOM               Tamim Iqbal