Cricket Tournaments

Cricket is one of the most beautiful games to watch as well as play and I don’t think being from India, where people consider it as a religion, anyone here will have a doubt about it.  With over more than 100 years since the first ever match was played between England and Australia, this game went on beautifying itself with the way it was played.

Playing in true spirits, I’ve always admired some players. But what hurts my sentiment for this game is the way the beautifying effect has been just torn apart by certain players lacking basic sportsman spirit, money and the politics.

Rest aside, getting politics into cricket, just doesn’t seem to be a good idea. Despite being a ‘gentlemen’s game’, cricket and controversies always go hand in hand. Cricketers and their boards are constantly getting engaged in the mind games and the politics of the game.

Spats between cricketers and their respective boards have been going on since a long while. Right from Greg Chappell-Sourav Ganguly which gave rise to the fact that cricketers are mere employees for the board and nothing more. Chappell’s spat with Ganguly not only saw the worst spat ever occurred between a coach and a player but also showed how a player of caliber like Ganguly was treated in India. BCCI, being the most powerful and financially well-off cricket boards, has its own set of rules and treats players basically like slaves. But what weakens BCCI’s power is the fan base in India. Cricket being considered as a religion, the fans would just protest against BCCI if there’s anything going against a high-profile cricketer. Though media can always turn out to be the culprit.

Nevertheless what people fail to understand, is that politics is everywhere and to think that it’s only in India is just naïve. WICB-Chris Gayle, CA-Simon Katich, PCB-Shahid Afridi and it goes on and on to prove the fact that other boards do get engaged in politics too and it’s just that it hasn’t been openly talked about.

Axing senior players like Chris Gayle, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, what kind of team were they ever going to make? Others kept aside, Chris Gayle was on a mission to prove the board officials what they were missing on. And what he does is in style! Smashing sixes all over the ground in the just-concluded IPL, he was like a tornado coming towards the other teams. And this obviously infuriated WICB officials that he chose to play for IPL, instead of waiting for WICB officials to respond. Keeping him out of the current squad against India made the matters worse with WIPA supporting Gayle too. As the war of words goes on, who would axe senior players like them without even disclosing it in front of them? Politics plays its role.

Being in India, would you ever think of removing Sachin Tendulkar or for that matter any player who’s in his prime form with just the matter of fact that age is not by his side? That’s what exactly Australian cricket board has done! Scoring with an average of around 50 after his return to international cricket, no-one had ever thought of him being axed. Being in as many as 17 century partnership at the top after his return, Australia’s opening partnership was the most stable and effective. And the reason been given, ‘We want to forge a better opening partnership for Ashes 2013’. Is this a reason to give, when Katich has better averages than anyone else in the team after his return to international cricket? Why would you want to get rid of one of your best players? Just a bit baffled!

Even Stuart Clark was treated in a very much similar way, though he didn’t protest as such. And if two players are talking about this, there has to be some problems on the other side. And i’m sure there will be more players, just going against CA will make life worse for them.

Though PCB-Shahid Afridi tussle has been two-sided, where just because of stripping him from captaincy, Shahid Afridi decided to quit international cricket. Later again he was in a war of words with PCB and coach Waqar Younis which made the matters worse. Pakistan already at a point where their cricket doesn’t look like being stable any-time soon, with his retirement it looks even more awful. Being a two-sided mistake, you cannot just comment on what is it all about.

But what surprises me is that the board officials consider their players as mere contracted players and basically slaves who are supposed to do whatever the board wants when under contract. The politics played is intense and can’t get through it. Though the entire thing isn’t out, but what matters is all this is just affecting the game.

On top of that, with match-fixers and bookies all around, it makes worse. Even the fact that players favoring club over country hurts, but then it’s their own decisions though.

Cricket is to get back to the way it was, when there were no tussles, when every-one played their heart-out to represent their country, when match-fixing was never even a word in dictionary.

In a scintillating chase which swayed all through, South Africa snuck through, holding their nerve as they beat India in a close tie at Nagpur. Group B gets increasingly interesting with each match making it harder to predict the 3rd and the 4th spots leading into the knock outs. After a thwarting defeat against the West Indies at home, the Bangladeshis looked all but out. But, a fabulous turn around against the English has ensured they too are in with a chance for the quarters. England looked scathy in that encounter and Strauss and co need another “comeback” to stand a chance of going any further this World cup.  
Despite India’s loss to South Africa last evening, nothing has really changed as far as those two teams are concerned and they should make it through to the quarters comfortably. West Indies meanwhile are on an uphill, a solitary win against England or India would see them through as well. Even if they go on to lose both their remaining fixtures, a high NRR (Net Run Rate) serves them in good stead as they look likely to progress to the next round.

India, are currently leading the pack and are cruising their way into the knockouts. Netherlands, despite an impressive start stand no chance this World cup and must improve considerably if they want to make another World cup appearance. Ireland on the other hand, have played laudable cricket but still find themselves in a precarious position. However, they still do stand the tiniest of chances of going through. For that to happen, the Irish have to win and win with huge margins against both South Africa and Netherlands. Despite this, England and West Indies’s results need to go in their favour too. Highly unlikely, I would say.
The real race is between England and Bangladesh. England are a point ahead but are a match short and a win for England still may not do the trick for them, theoretically at least.
Theoretically speaking, even India, West Indies and South Africa may miss out. Here’s how:

How can India be eliminated?
Albeit only in theory, this indeed is a possibility. For this to happen, WI must down India, England must beat WI (with a big margin), Bangladesh must beat RSA, RSA must beat Ireland and Bangladesh must beat the Netherlands.
With this, the WI will top the group with 8 points followed by Bangladesh and South Africa with 8 each and England with 7 (Higher NRR than India).
Only in theory, nevertheless, cricket’s a funny game.

How can West Indies be eliminated?
Not many would have even thought that the West Indies would progress to the 2nd round of the World cup but an impressive couple of weeks and a few star performances has made this happen.
The WI should qualify to the next round but again, could be eliminated. For this to happen, India must beat WI, England must beat WI, Bangladesh must down South Africa and Bangladesh must beat Netherlands.
With this, India will top the group with 9 points, followed by South Africa and Bangladesh at 8 points each and England with 7 points.
The way WI cricket has gone over the past decade, this sure is a possibility.

How can South Africa be eliminated?
One of the favourites to lift the trophy, South Africa too might find themselves out before the knockouts.
For this to happen, WI must beat India, England must beat WI, Bangladesh must beat South Africa, Ireland too must beat South Africa and Bangladesh must beat the Netherlands.
With this, the Windies and Bangladesh will end up with 8 points, closely followed by India and England at 7.
This seems highly unlikely as South Africa must lose to Ireland. Nevertheless, K O’Brien may just have different ideas.

How can England be eliminated?
England after a huge Ashes win have failed to discover form in the One day format. A loss to WI might spell doom for the English
However, a win would not guarantee them a spot either as if India may end up with a better NRR or more points if they beat WI.
Spots are up for grabs. All the action is happening in Group B. The quarter finalists from Group A is a no brainer. I would still have my money on England making the last 4 (from B) with India, RSA and Windies filling up the rest.
Nevertheless, an interesting week lies ahead and England and Ireland will be hoping a lot of other results go their way too.

It was a game West Indies should have won and, with it, secured their place in the quarter finals. However, as they have often done in the past, the Caribbeans once again succumbed to the pressure and allowed the English team to stay alive in the competition. They had all but got through to victory, but the last four wickets could not get them even 20 oddd runs, as a result of which they were shamed. On the other hand, England while struggling for most parts with the bat in hand, managed to get some crucial runs towards the end of their innings, courtesy a wonderful counter attacking knock by Luke Wright and some good support by Tim Bresnan. In hindsight, it were those extra runs allowed England skipper Andrew Strauss to attack the West Indies lower order batsmen, which eventually made all the difference.

West Indies had everything going their way as they got off to an incredible start thanks to a brutal partnership between skipper Darren Sammy and former skipper Chris Gayle. To their credit, England fought back extremely well, but the wonderful knock by Andre Russell under pressure put their ahead. It was all going according to plan for the Caribbean nation until it all fell apart the West Indies way. The Calypso collapse has kept the intrigue alive in the Group B of the tournament for now as England live to fight another day.

England made a number of changes going into the do or die match and a two of them turned out to be match changing efforts. Luke Wright’s knock towards the end of the England innings kept his side in the hunt. And, James Tredwell bowled with a great heart and guile. His four-wicket haul hurt the West Indies badly and it was only fair that he ended up with the man of the match award. The other change, Chris Tremlett coming in for James Anderson did not work well, but it can be said that at least his inclusion changed the luck of the side around. Also, it wouldn’t be fair to expect someone to come in and perform straightaway after waiting in the wings for nearly a month. Coming back to England’s positives, while Tredwell was exceptional so was Graeme Swann. He picked up key wickets towards the end to spin the game England’s way. Ravi Bopara’s contribution too should not be ignored. Not only did he pick up wickets, but also kept the runs at a minimal when the regular bowlers were being thrashed.

Though the West Indies would be extremely disappointed with the loss, they too can take out some positives going into the game against India, none bigger than the performance of debutant leg spinner Devendra Bishoo. He was exceptional with the ball, picking up the major scalps of Jonathan Trott, Eoin Morgan and Wright to derail England’s innings. All his wickets game thanks to some sensible bowling and he exposed the Englishmen’s weakness against the leg spinners yet again. And while Russell played hero with the bat, he was sensational with the ball too earlier in the day, picking up four scalps. With some support from the others, he could well have walked away with the man of the match trophy and his side a place in the quarters. Fingers will be raised at Ramnaresh Sarwan, who did not accelerate despite getting his even in and even as wickets kept falling at the other end. However, while a part of the blame can be apportioned to Sarwan, it was yet again the fragile mindset of West Indies cricket that we have all grown to see over the last two decades that did them in, one more time.

England team celebrates after win against West Indies in ICC World Cup Cricket 2011

England won their must-win game against the West Indies to remain alive in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at Chennai. The side won a close game by 18 runs thanks to 4/48 spell from James Trewell, who won the man of the match award as well.

Chasing 244 for a win, West Indies were off to a flying start when they got to 58 in the seventh over for no loss. Chris Gayle was the wrecker in chief but once he departed, there was no slowing down. Darren Sammy came in and slapped a 29-ball 41 which meant that the side was looking good at 91/2 in the 13^th over.

A couple of quick wickets put the spanner in the works and not before long the side had lost half its side for 118. Kieron Pollard made 24, but good out to leave the side 94 short of the win with four wickets remaining.

Andre Russell then joined Ramnaresh Sarwan and was involved in a near match-winning stand of 72 runs. However, once Russell left for a well-made 49, the rest of the side capitulated to fall short of the target.

England made first use of the wicket and one thought that the manner in which they batted, they should have got to a much bigger score than they eventually did. There was a 48-run stand for the first wicket between Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior but even after the latter’s dismissal, Jonathon Trott did enough to get the English side into a strong position.

Trott smashed six boundaries in a space of nine balls and despite Strauss’ quick wicket soon after, the side was 79/2 in the 12^th over and looking good for a 275-plus score.

Unfortunately for the English side, as has often been the case with them in this World Cup, the middle-order caved in like an old building. There was a 27 from Ian Bell but once Trott went for 47, there were no contributions from the likes of Morgan and Bopara and the side were staring at another low total at 151/6.

New-comer James Tredwell then held out along with Luke Wright to get the team to 191 while there was some lusty hitting by Tim Bresnan in the end, which ensured that the side would get closer to 250. England were bowled out for 243, but what was criminal about it was that they did not bat their entire 50 overs.

This win means that England now have seven points from their engagement of six games and should qualify unless a motley of results go against them. This will include Bangladesh beating South Africa and West Indies defeating India, which will then mean that India and England will be tied at seven points each and will go down to the net run-rate.

On the other hand, West Indies now have six points from five games and have one left against India. If they win that game, they will be through to the quarter-finals. However, a loss in that match will mean that they will tie with Bangladesh on points. Fortunately for the West Indian side, they have had some really big wins and that will mean that their net run-rate is far superior to Bangladesh’s.

Either way, it seems curtains for Bangladesh.

What can one of make of England’s performance in the World Cup so far? Try and comprehend this… they laboured to beat Netherlands, tied with India, lost of Ireland, came from behind to defeat South Africa and went down to Bangladesh in yet another thriller on Friday. All one conclude is that the Englishmen have been consistently inconsistent. And such performances will not take them too far in the tournament. As it is, they will now have to beat West Indies and hope Bangladesh lose one of their games to ensure the qualification into the quarter finals. In short, they find themselves in a highly precarious situation and will have to play out of their skins from here on.

Against Bangladesh, England flattered to deceive with both the bat and ball, which eventually ended in another shocking defeat for the battered Englishmen. After Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and surprisingly asked Andrew Strauss’ men to take first strike, England had a great chance to bat Bangladesh out of the game. But, they never looked it command during their innings. They cannot be faulted for adopting a cautious approach at the start. But, the problem was that no one kicked off after getting their eye in. Strauss, Matthew Prior and Ravi Bopara all got into double figures, but no one went on to make a substantial contribution. The only partnership of note was between Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan, who has replaced the injured Kevin Pietersen. Trott and Morgan batted with a lot of sense and purpose and looked on course to reviving the England innings. Unfortunately for the batting unit, both fell just when it seemed that the innings was on the upswing. At least one of the two needed to carry on. Instead, England lost the momentum and it was all downhill for them from there onwards. In hindsight, it was an utterly disappointing batting effort.

For England to make a comeback from there, they needed to put in an extremely disciplined and hard-hitting effort. But, the Bangladesh openers had totally different plans. Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes came out all guns blazing as Bangladesh looked set to pull off yet another upset. Until the pair was at the crease, England looked down and out for the count. But, England fought back well courtesy some disciplined bowling and fielding and an excellent spell by Ajmal Shahzad. The quickie’s three-wicket burst brought them right back into the game, and with Graeme Swann also supporting him ably, England seemed in firm control of the game. But, when it’s England expect the unexpected.

Just as the game seamed all but sealed, Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam combined forces to leave England shell shocked. Importantly, it wasn’t a ‘slog all’ partnership and both the batsmen picked and chose their shots. England were clearly not prepared for this unexpected onslaught and were found wanting at the end. As the boundaries started coming, the England heads began to drop. In the end, Bangladesh cruised to victory in a sense as England yet again let their guard down when a pressure cooker situation arose.

The win will boost Bangladesh’s confidence no end. Following the disaster against West Indies, they needed a win like this to raise their sagging morale. The latest win means they are still alive in the competition and could pip England to sneak a place into the quarter finals. Of course, it will not be an easy task, but they will be buoyed nonetheless. The performance of the opening batsmen will give them a degree of assurance as they look ahead to the remaining to clashes. Bowling wise too they have been performing reasonably well. But, it is the middle-order batting that is Bangladesh’s biggest concern. They need to set things right over there. In spite of his inconsistency, the experience of Mohammad Ashraful should be given a chance yet again since the others haven’t done any better.

For the record, Bangladesh’s remaining two games in the league phase will be against Netherlands and South Africa. They should be able to overcome the former test, but the Proteas will be the big challenge for them. That said, they had, in fact, got the better of South Africa four years ago in the Caribbean. The win came on a sluggish pitch that assisted Bangladesh’s spinners and the South Africans succumbed to the pressure as their frailties on slower surfaces were exposed. In that context, Bangladesh would hold a distinct advantage as they are playing the South Africans at home this time. Home environs should give them a lot of confidence to come good on the big day. But, before that, they need to see off Netherlands. True, the Dutch have been going downhill ever since running the Englishmen close in the opening game. However, they showed marked improvements against India and hence cannot be underestimated.

Shifting focus to England, all they can do now is play out of their skins and beat West Indies. They need to also ensure that they improve their run-rate as much as possible in case that comes into the equation. Most importantly though, they need to get their mindset right. Somebody needs to come up with something magical or inspirational to get England’s thinking back on track. After all, beating West Indies will not be an easy task for them considering that the Caribbeans managed to crush the Irishmen, who had successfully chased down a mammoth England total and rewritten history.

A lot needs to go right for England in the game against the West Indies. Also, they need some degree of luck to boost their confidence, which has taken a definite battering. Strauss and coach Andy Flower need to put on their thinking caps on and assess the areas where England can show marked improvements. After all, they cannot afford any mistakes against the Windies else it would be all over for England. In short, it’s time for the think-tank to head to the drawing table and start from scratch all over again.

England's Team Celebrate after defeating South Africa in ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

Even as India were battling Ireland on one hand, England pulled off nothing short of a major upset against South Africa, considering their shocking defeat against the Irish. And what the Englishmen’s victory over the Proteas has ensured is that the battle for top spot in Group B remains wide open. It wasn’t a convincing performance from England by any stretch of the imagination. However, a crumbling pitch and below par batting effort combined by some good under pressure bowling from England saw the game tilt in the bowling side’s favour. It is a win that will give England some much-needed confidence following two winless games.

Things did not look great for England at the start of the game when they kept losing wickets on a difficult pitch. But to their credit, they fought back well with the ball to resurrect their World Cup hopes. England’s win can basically to credit to a few hard-fought performances under pressure. With the bat it was Jonathan Trott and Ravi Bopara, who played saviours for the Englishmen. Had it not been for the duo, England wouldn’t have been in with a chance at all irrespective of the nature of the pitch. In hindsight, both Trott and Bopara assessed the conditions perfectly as they went about rebuilding the innings in the perfect manner. Not going for the big shots, Trott and Bopara steadied the England innings by rotating the strike and picking up all the runs on offer. It was their effort that England at least had an outside chance of going for victory. However, one shouldn’t forget Graeme Swann’s effort with the bat as well. Getting away some crucial boundaries in the final power play overs proved to be highly decisive for England as they ended by winning by a mere five runs. The off-spinner’s contribution with the bat has often been underestimated, but on this occasion he deserves credit for his handy knock.

If Swann played his part with the bat, he did a commendable job with the ball as well, getting the better of opposition skipper Graeme Smith with a wonderful delivery that did enough to take the gloves of Smith and land into a safe hand behind the wickets. Even as Swann bowled, it were Stuart Broad and James Anderson who did the bulk of the damage. England needed Anderson to get among the wickets sooner rather than later. And thankfully for them, he found his bearings as he managed to find some reverse swing midway through the innings and gave his team the crucial breakthroughs that kept them in the game. From England’s perspective, hopefully Anderson will bowl with a renewed vigour in the future games ahead.

If Anderson gave England a foot in the door, it was Broad to broke open the door to victory. Like Anderson, he also used the moving ball to great effect as the Proteas crumbled under the ever growing pressure. Not only did Broad keep getting wickets at regular intervals, but also maintained a tight line and length, maintaining the pressure throughout. This was an absolutely essential aspect of his bowling as England weren’t defending a huge score and hence needed to keep the runs down to the minimum.

Even though the bowlers took England to victory, it was apt that the man of the match award went to Bopara. On a bowling pitch, his effort was a definite standout. Coming in as a last minute replacement for Eoin Morgan, Bopara has performed credibly for his team in the World Cup. Against Netherlands, it was his cameo that took away the pressure they were placed under. And, against South Africa too, he stood amidst the ruins. Speaking of Morgan, there is further good news for England as he himself will now be flown in as a replacement for the injured Kevin Pietersen, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament. While Pietersen’s injury is not the best piece of news to come out of the English camp, it might well be a silent blessing in disguise for them as Morgan is just the kind of player England need to shore up their eleven. And if they can show further improvement in their bowling and fielding, the English will still be a force to reckon with, the disaster against Ireland notwithstanding.

If the win did a lot of good for England, the loss should serve as a timely wake-up call for South Africa who, until then, were firmly entrenched on top of the table. The defeat has pushed them right down to number four. Of course they will not stay down there for long and should make it to the quarter finals. However, it was their inability to chase down a moderate total against a team low on confidence that should worry them. True, the conditions were extremely difficult and the bowlers were on top once they got through the cream of the batting. However, this is where top teams are adept at battling adversity.

To win the World Cup should be able to perform and overcome the worst of conditions. This is where Australia were so good at their peak. South Africa, unfortunately, have often crumbled in such situations, which explains why they are yet to lay their hand on the coveted trophy. Four years back they succumbed to Bangladesh on a pitch that assisted their spinners, and here again they faltered to battle the tough conditions. It is not so much their so called choking habit but the inability to perform in challenging conditions despite having all the talent in the world that has proved to be the bane of South African cricket. And that needs to change if they want to be crowned as the number one team in the world.

The upcoming games will give us clear idea of how far South Africa have progressed in the abovementioned aspect over the years. And, it was also play a major role in determining how far the Proteas progress in this tournament.

Following Ireland’s shock upset of England, they would be high on confidence heading into the game against India at Bangalore – the venue that has produced the best matches in the tournament so far. And while now India cannot take the Irish lightly at all, they will still need to be on top of their game. The good news for Ireland is that apart from worrying about the opposition, India have some problems of their own, especially in the bowling and fielding department which they will need to try and sort out going into Sunday’s match.

Expect some changes in the bowling department. India have two options in the kitty, both come with an element of risk. Firstly, they could replace leg spinner Piyush Chawla with Ravichandran Ashwin. The problem here is that in Harbhajan Singh India already have an off-spinner, which means there will be a sameness to the attack. Having said that, Ashwin has done exceptionally well for India in the power play overs something which has been India’s bane, in fact most teams’, in recent times. But, how he performs under pressure in a World Cup scenario remains to be seen. Still, for now, he seems like a much safer option than Chawla.

The second alternative for India is to try out Ashish Nehra (if he is fit) ahead of Munaf Patel. The latter hasn’t done all that bad a job. In fact, he was India’s star performer with the ball in the opening game against Bangladesh. But, MS Dhoni seems to have a lot of faith in the left-arm seamer in spite of the fact that Nehra hasn’t been all that consistent. Also, even if fit, Nehra has always had a history of picking up injuries midway during a game. And that would be the last thing India would be need so early in the tournament. There is also a third, that of getting S.Sreesanth in, but after his wayward effort against Bangladesh that is as good as a non-existent possibility. Of the three choices, Ashwin’s seems the most sensible one and also the safest one. However, like we all know, Dhoni is prone to come up with surprises.

Whoever is selected, India will need Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, their chief bowling weapons, to be on top of their game, and they would also hope that their part-time bowlers can chip in well enough. This is because, as the Indian skipper admitted, nothing much can change about their fielding since they have too many slow movers in the field. If anything, they can better their catch and ground fielding to a certain extent. Certainly, the shoddy effort that they came up with against England last week won’t help.

The good news for India is that their batting unit is in great form. Everyone from Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir to Sachin Tendulkar is among the runs. Further, Virat Kohli and more importantly, Yuvraj Singh, have also got good scores to their credit. The Indian skipper Dhoni too has looked good. In short, the Indian batting unit will be expected to come out all guns blazing especially against a weak Ireland bowling attack. Whichever team bowls better might well end up having the upper hand.

Big test of England

Earlier in the day on Sunday, the Englishmen will take on the so far indomitable South Africans. Following the reverse against Ireland, England must beat the Proteas to keep their hopes of progressing in the World Cup alive. It will not be an easy task at all considering that South Africa at the top of their game and England have hit rock-bottom. But England will have to raise their game if they need to progress further in the tournament. A lot of things need to go right for England for them to upset South Africa.

Like India, even England have problems of plenty with their bowling and fielding. They really need James Anderson, or whoever replaces him, if that is the case, to fire if the Englishmen want to do well. Importantly, they need to hold their catches else the South Africans would really take the game away from them. Unlike England, the Proteas have everything going for them. And for England to get the better of them they would need to play out of the skins. If the Englishmen do, indeed, manage to put off a win, it would be nothing short of an upset.

Many considered Ireland’s upset triumph over the unpredictable Pakistan in the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup as an aberration. However, the same cannot be said about their unprecedented triumph over England on Wednesday. Chasing a mammoth target, at one point it seemed that we were in for another disappointingly one-sided affair. But, this was Bangalore and it clearly couldn’t disappoint after delivering a tie on Sunday. Ireland clearly had their task cut out. However, a wonderful, fighting partnership between Kevin O’Brien and Alex Cusack kept them in the hunt till the very end and John Mooney too contributed with a wonderful cameo to see Ireland home.

Kevin’s knock was outstanding to say the least and his confidence amazing. Coming in when it seemed all was lost, he played a blitzkrieg, typical of a rare genius. And that too against a first-class Test bowling outfit. Everyone was aware of his big hitting skills, some of which were evident in the 2007 edition. However, no one expected him to come up with such an exceptional effort. Yes, and this is not an exaggeration. Consider this: the fastest century in the World Cup prior to this game was by Matthew Hayden, which came off 66 balls against South Africa in the 2007 edition of the World Cup. And Kevin has bruised the record by some distance, getting there in 50 balls. It was a brutal effort, which not only sunk the Englishmen in this match, but might have further repercussions as the tournament progresses.

Kevin’s innings was one of the best exhibitions of clean power hitting in recent times. All credit to him and the other Irishmen for achieving what, at one stage, clearly looked the unreachable. The Irish, under Trent Johnston, who was at the crease when the winning runs were hit, were highly impressive in the last edition too. But their win against Pakistan got overshadowed by the sad Bob Woolmer incident. No such thing can deny them credit this time. They ran Bangladesh extremely close in the opening game and their performance against England would give them serious confidence and hopes of progressing into the knockout round. India, who will be taking on the Irish next on Sunday at, where else but Bangalore, better watch out. Ireland, unlike some of the other non-Test playing nations, aren’t here to make up the numbers. They mean serious business.

Even as Ireland celebrate the greatest moment in their cricketing history, England would be battered and bruised to say the very least. The forlorn expression on the faces of players when Kevin, Cusack and Mooney were scripting history, said it all. There were brief moments of joy when inexperience led to two of the three running themselves out. And England celebrated with such valour as if they were the ones on the verge of achieving the unthinkable. But, their joy did not last long as Ireland held their nerves and sealed the game to leave England with egg on their face.

As I have mentioned in one of my previous write-ups, a weak bowling department could hamper England’s progress in the tournament, which seemed all but assured in the beginning. And the prophecy has come true. With this shock loss and the tie against India, which earned them only a solitary point, the Englishmen could be faced with an embarrassingly early exit from the showpiece event of cricket. This is because they still have to face South Africa, Bangladesh and West Indies. And all of they are going to be stern tests for them if their performance in the tournament till date is taken into consideration.

It’s difficult to believe that this was pretty much the same bowling line-up that rattled the Aussies in the Ashes series a few months back. However, their recent one-day form only stands testimony to the fact that the five-day games and one-day internationals are a totally different cup of tea. England’s main worry has to be the form of their strike bowler James Anderson. Andrew Strauss’ go to man in the Ashes, Anderson is struggling so badly that England might even have to contemplate dropping him. But the problem for them is that they never visualised about such a scenario. Their plans were always built around Anderson as the wicket-taker. Unfortunately, the pacer hasn’t managed to do the job for his team. If there has been one criticism of Anderson over the years, it has been that he hasn’t delivered in conditions not conducive to his type of bowling. He should have improved with the amount of experience he has gained over the years. But that hasn’t been the case. So whom to England look up to now? They have Chris Tremlett waiting in the wings. But, will the Englishmen will have the confidence to back him over Anderson in such a crucial tournament and now with things so tight for them.

The only positive for England in all the three games has been their batting. But if their bowling remains below par, no matter how much they put up on the board, they will be run close by most teams. Anderson apart, even Stuart Broad went for plenty, which should also cause a lot of worries to Strauss and co. Among the carnage, only Graeme Swann has stood up to the challenge. But, that can hardly be taken as a positive as he is officially the best-ranked spinner in the world today. Tim Bresnan and Michael Yardy did well against India, but whether they can maintain the same consistency against other sides remains to be seen. If one takes the Irish game into the equation, the signs are far from healthy.

As of now, there are plenty of headaches for Strauss as there doesn’t seem too much going right for his side. To make matters worse, they next face the dangerous South Africans. Apart from putting behind the Irish disaster, England would look to some of their experienced players for inspiration.