Cricket Tournaments

West Indies have been beaten 0-5 by South Africa in the 5 match ODI series at home. They were also beaten 0-2 in 2 T-20 internationals earlier. So where is the team going wrong? After the IPL 2010, West Indies cricket has faced much tougher times.
It was expected that West Indies would come in the Top 4 of the World T-20 following good performances in the IPL by the captain Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard.

However they disappointed in the World T-20, following defeats to Australia and Sri Lanka in the Super 8s round. The pressure on Gayle in particular was enormous and with a demoralized team that he had, West Indies were of ‘limited edition’ when they were ready to play South Africa in the T-20 internationals.

Matters became worse after defeats in both the matches. However West Indies didn’t seem to be interested in winning and getting things back on track as they lost the first match of the series itself by a huge margin. A bad start meant that South Africa had won half the battle. Although the hosts did put up a fight courtesy Darren Sammy’s 24-ball 58, West Indies lost the second match also by 17 runs. The usually cheerful Chris Gayle also looked helpless with the bat and as captain on the field.

He hasn’t been able to devise a winning formula for the team alongside former England bowling coach Ottis Gibson. Gayle tried to play at his aggressive best, but only got starts to then get out by playing some silly and immature shots.

As captain, Gayle was at his tactical best as South Africa was bowled out for 224 in the third ODI. However, South Africa won the battle of the mind as West Indies batted terribly to have been bowled out for 167. A 0-3 deficit drew harsh criticism from Gayle, coach Gibson and experts such as Tony Cozier who believed that the team gave up easily.

The worst statement being of the honest Gayle, ‘Losing has become a habit’. Obviously then, how will the team win when the captain doesn’t have faith in the playing XI and can’t motivate his team? As a result, going into the fourth game with West Indies having nothing to lose, West Indies batsmen batted like free birds to score a good 303 in 50 overs, batting first. However, it was a last-ball defeat for the hosts as an in-form Hashim Amla made life much more difficult for them with another hundred.

During the match, the division between the West Indies players was evident when Sulieman Benn, the reliable left-arm spinner in an embarrassing moment was sent off the field by Chris Gayle for not obeying his instructions. This also made the West Indies cricket board (WICB) chairman Julian Hunte say that there will be more embarrassment for West Indies cricket to face at least for the next three years.

South Africa seemed to enjoying their victories and the increasing criticism that the hosts were finishing in their own country and by their own media. The pressure only grew stronger for the West Indies to win at least one game as consolation for a poor series. And it looked like it was going to happen when West Indies were in a winning position with 2 overs to go in the South African innings in the 5th ODI, when they were chasing 253 runs to win in 50 overs. But again, the West Indies in excitement lost the plot as Roelof van der Merwe and L Tsotsobe hit the winning runs with 2 balls to spare.

Though in hindsight, West Indies lost many close games which they should have won, this didn’t make Gayle happy. Losing all matches doesn’t make any captain happy with his team. And rightly so, instead of appreciating his team’s fighting efforts, he just said that ‘We don’t know how to finish them off’. So it is evident that Gayle knows the problem but then why can’t the team find a solution to solve it.

Graeme Smith, his counterpart and South Africa’s skipper would agree his team gave it their 100% to win the series after a dismal World T-20. But he would beg to differ with the fact that it was West Indies who lost it rather than South Africa who won it.
West Indies are minnows not just due to the fact that the team doesn’t trust itself to win, but also because of relying on individual performances.

One day, it is Bravo who does well and the others follow him by playing a supporting role. Another day, it will be Gayle who will come up with a cracker and the others keep watching and just do what is told to them. I think the solution for West Indies’ revival would be making all the players believe in giving their best and not rely on the stars to perform on a given day.

And for that, the players’ skills need to be taken care off. Perhaps, the opening of a high-performance centre in Trinidad has come at the right time for West Indies cricket to get back on track.

South Africa vs West Indies

The highly anticipated ODI series between West Indies and South Africa got under way on a Saturday morning at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

The match was monumental for the stadium’s future as it had last hosted a Test match between West Indies and England in 2009, which was abandoned with only 10 balls being bowled. So, North Sound was indeed a happy place to be in, even as South Africa won both the T-20 internationals against the hosts.

And yet again, South Africa didn’t disappoint at all. A comprehensive win by 66 runs was a fitting reply to those critics who questioned Graeme Smith’s captaincy, which was said to be ruining South African cricket. The match began with Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, having won the toss and elected to field first on a damp wicket due to rain before the start of the game. South Africa lost two huge wickets of their captain and Jacques Kallis in a span of 10 overs.

However, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers had some other ideas. The pair put up a 129-run partnership for the third wicket, in the process registering identical scores of 102. West Indies bowled well in bits and pieces, picking seven wickets with Dwayne Bravo picking 3/40 in 10 overs.

But South Africa was in the driver’s seat after posting 280 runs in 48 overs of batting. During their chase, West Indies didn’t look like a team on a mission to prove that their performance in the World T-20 was a few bad days in the office. They didn’t bat with their hearts out with the team losing Andre Fletcher early.

The captain, Chris Gayle and Bravo, batting at No.3, were on course of winning the match for the hosts until Bravo fell in the 8th over itself, falling to a rash shot rather than good bowling by Ryan McLaren. And worse, Gayle’s dismissal followed in the 13th over, after playing an impatient shot of Morne Morkel.

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Narsingh Deonarine put up a 4th wicket partnership, which was slow enough to allow the rest of the batting line-up to crumble under pressure in the last over. Charismatic all-rounder Kieron Pollard hit a quick-fire 44, but the team succumbed to some good South African bowling as they were bundled out for 215 in a mere 44.1 overs, with Morne Morkel picking up 3/40 in 8 overs which included the wicket of the West Indian captain.

Hashim Amla was the man-of-the match for his fine 102 which led the foundation of a big total to post for the South Africa.

It was the same old story again in the 2nd ODI at the same venue. This time, South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first. Captain Graeme Smith was looking to finally get back into form, until he was bowled by West Indies spinner Nikita Miller.

However, that didn’t demoralize the South Africans as it was once again, the wall of South Africa, Hashim Amla who played well for his 92 at an impressive strike-rate of 96.84. South Africa had good, quick partnerships to get exactly 300 runs in 50 overs. Kallis, also with a half-century alongside AB de Villiers and David Miller took advantage of Amla’s foundation innings to put South Africa in a winning position at the innings break.

West Indies didn’t learn from their poor chase in the last match and faltered again. It was a slow start from the West Indies with Gayle getting out first in the 11th over. And it looked like it was all over at 236/7 in 44 overs, when Bravo fell for a well-deserved 74. However, Darren Sammy put up a brave fight which made even the critics of the West Indies believe that they could win from a precarious position, with just 6 overs to go!

A flurry of outstandingly-struck sixes helped Sammy score 58 runs of only 24 balls. This is the only positive that West Indies can take from this match which they narrowly lost by 17 runs, and as a result 0-2 down in a 5 match series, which means that they have to win all of the next 3 matches to win the series.

Hashim Amla was yet again the man-of-the-match, but West Indies have certainly found a third all-rounder in the team in Darren Sammy who scored the fastest fifty for the West Indies in ODI cricket, ahead of greats such as Brian Lara, Vivian Richards and his captain, Chris Gayle! No matter whether the first 2 ODIS have been bad for the hosts, yet the increasing quality of cricket played in this series makes the last three matches a lot more exciting.

West Indies fans enjoys in the stadium

Right after a successful World Twenty-20 Championship, West Indies will be hosts to the touring South Africans. To kick off the tour, South Africa plays West Indies in 2 Twenty-20 internationals.

Both teams have few things in common. Firstly, both are in the T-20 mode following the IPL and World T-20. Secondly, both the teams were knocked out unceremoniously from the World Championship in the Super 8s round. Thirdly, both have a point to prove as they look to get back to their winning ways.

North Sound in Antigua has been decided to host both the T-20 internationals. The first T-20 has had a huge hype following criticism in South Africa over the team’s recent performance, including calls for Graeme Smith to quit as captain.

The surprising exclusion of Mark Boucher, making AB de Villiers the wicketkeeper, was also not received well by many of their fans and critics. On the other hand, West Indies too were feeling the heat with their knock-out in the world championship, being the hosts of the tournament.

Some of the selections were baffling and as a result, losses must have put Chris Gayle, the captain under pressure ahead of the first T-20 international.

However, Gayle had some luck at the toss when he had a choice and decided to bowl first on a slow surface. After the early loss of opener Loots Bosman, South Africa tried to gain some momentum with a 73-run second wicket partnership between the experienced duo of the captain Smith and Jacques Kallis.

However, the team suffered after the fall of Kallis in the 16th over. None of the batsmen were able to stay at the crease, and score at a fast rate. This allowed the hosts to come back into the match in the last five overs as South Africa finished at 136/7 in 20 overs. Kemar Roach and Kieron Pollard picked two wickets each for the West Indies.

However, South Africa had an unsung hero in Ryan McLaren. McLaren, best known for playing a crucial role in helping the Mumbai Indians enter the final of the IPL this year, picked a staggering 5 wickets for just 19 runs in 3.5 overs which included the wicket of his teammate in the Mumbai team, Kieron Pollard.

Apart from the dangerous Pollard, none of the West Indies batsmen tried to attack. As a result, South Africa prevailed easily by 13 runs, which did lead to some cooling down of the temperament of the South African fans who had nearly lost hope in their team. On the other hand, West Indies had some work to do before the second T-20 international at the same ground, the next day.

The next match turned out to be a cracker! Again, West Indies won the toss and had a bowl in similar conditions the day before. South Africa batted poorly, in fact much worse than the last game, putting up a mere 120/7 in 20 overs. The score could have been lower had the debutant David Miller not fired and off-spinner Johan Botha not contributed down the order.

Jerome Taylor made a comeback for the West Indies and did a splendid job by picking 3 wickets for 16 runs in 4 overs. However, what the West Indies might have not realized is that South Africa has not just a good pace attack but also a spin attack.

And Botha had not finished. He picked 3 important wickets with the ball, those of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieron Pollard and Ramnaresh Sarwan. West Indies, and not South Africa was choked in the end as South Africa held their nerve to win by the narrowest of margins batting first.

By a mere 1 run. South Africa played reasonably well in both the matches, considering the pressure that they were facing. On the other hand, West Indies only became more weakened and demoralized ahead of the one-day series, which could have a huge impact on the entire tour.

Graeme Smith’s statement that, with a little bit of luck and better application, they could have won the Test series against England 3-1 is a fair assessment. However, it wouldn’t also be wrong to say that the visitors battled mighty hard to save the two Tests and as such the end result 1-1 can be seen as a rather just one.

The series will, in particular, be remembered for Graham Onions’ two-match saving efforts with the bat, wherein he played out the final over of the game in a composed manner to peeve the Proteas. It epitomized the English fightback, though they collapsed in the final Test.

South Africa had just one atrocious innings with the bat, and it pretty much cost them a series victory. However, one still has to credit them for the way they fought back in the final Test and demolished the Englishmen. Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn bowled splendidly and the batting was led admirably by skipper Smith. Even with an in-form batting line-up, England could do little and Andrew Strauss had to end up sharing the series trophy with Graeme Smith.

Throughout the four Tests, there were exceptional performances from either sides. Graeme Swann was without an iota of doubt the star of the series from the English point of view. Rarely have spinners done well in South Africa and rarely have England produced quality spinners in recent years.

But, Swann is different and his success story on this tour is ample proof of it. An off-spinner in the traditional mould, his capability of beating the batsman in the flight was a sight for cricket lovers, who are fans of the aesthetic components of the game.

Add to it, the valuable contributions he made with the willow throughout the series, which benefited England in a major way and you have a sureshot match-winner. If the visitors still struggled in the bowling department, it was because the others like James Anderson and Graeme Swann weren’t as consistently effective.

England did rediscover a few batting heroes though, none bigger that Paul Collingwood. He was the man who stood between South Africa and victory in thorn and flesh. Not the most artistic of players. Collingwood did his job of staying at the crease for long durations, blocking deliveries using all his batting resources.

It was his undying efforts that went a long way in ensuring that England saved two Tests. Ian Bell was another grafter who rose to the occasion, with a match-winning hundred and a match-saving half-century in consecutive Tests. Opener Alastair Cook also made vital contributions at different points in the series.

South Africa, on the other hand, owe a lot to Steyn and Morkel, who won them the final Test. That said, the contributions of Mark Boucher as both keeper and batsman as well as those of Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis cannot be overlooked. The captain Smith himself showed the team the way forward in crunch situations. At the end of the day, it was only just that the teams shared the spoils.

After a disappointing outing at Durban, South Africa have a lot of thinking to do as they go into the deciding Test at Cape Town. England, on the other hand, will be buoyed by their sensational effort in the second Test and will look to carry on in the same vein.

However, they have a tendency of blowing away great opportunities and that should inspire the South Africans coupled with the fact that they have an excellent record at Newlands. So it is only fair that we expect a tight contest for the decider.

Most of the pre-match discussions surrounded the poor form of veteran Makhaya Ntini and his possible exclusion. Of course, it will be an extremely tough decision.

But, now that it is clear Friedel de Wet’s omission despite his noteworthy debut at Centurion was a mistake, the decision might be easier. Still, don’t expect de Wet to repeat his debut act. This will be a bigger Test for him as the Proteas will be under greater pressure.

Pace spearhead Dale Steyn too needs to get his act right. He hasn’t had a great time against England. As such a lot will depend on how Morne Morkel performs. He has been the most consistent and threatening of the pacers for South Africa. Meanwhile, Paul Harris has been doing a commendable job as a spinner with good support from JP Duminy.

While the bowling wasn’t at its best at Durban, South Africa also suffered big time due to their uncharacteristically toothless batting effort. Only Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis made valuable contributions before the tail helped the home side get close to 350 in the first innings.

However, in the second innings, the batting was a complete disaster and South Africa crumbed to an ungracious defeat. The batters will have to put the disappointment of last week behind them and start afresh.

England, on the other hand, would look to consolidate on their magnificent effort at Durban. They would be hoping for the in-form Paul Collingwood to be fit else Michael Carberry might have to be drafted it.

That apart, most of their problems seemed sorted out in the second Test. Alastair Cook and Ian Bell struck centuries, which would have delighted the England management no end.

If the seniors like Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen can come up with similar efforts at Cape Town, the visitors would be in with a great chance of achieving a series victory considering their potent bowling attack.

Spinner Graeme Swann has been South Africa’s biggest nemesis in the series so far. His match 9-wicket haul at Durban was a richly-deserved one. Add to it, he has been more than useful with the bat lower down the order.

A decade since his tumultuous exit from international cricket, Swann has truly come of age. The pace trio of Anderson, Onions and Broad has been doing a good job at the start, getting the early breakthroughs. If they can maintain the same intensity and discipline at Cape Town, there is no reason why England can’t pull off another victory.

In Nottingham, at Trent Bridge Stadium on 18th of June, ICC World T20 semifinal was played between the unpredictable Pakistan, and invincible South Africa. Star player Shahid Afridi with his indefatigable efforts with bat and bowl snatched the victory out the South Africa who had been on winning streak up till. In this exciting semifinal, the Trent Bridge was howling with screaming and overwhelming Pakistani supporters for the Pakistan. Shahid Afridi blasted with bat 51 runs off 33 balls giving the Pakistan head start and again with his magical spell of leg-spin caught the South Africa with awe by taking 2 wickets of 16 runs. Eventually being the significant factor for the Pakistan unpredictable and unprecedented entry into the ICC World T20 finals, making it the strongest contender.

South Africa after losing to Pakistan, yet again consolidated the notion that South Africa being perennial chokers. South Africa chasing 150 fall short of 7 runs and proved to be succumbing to the pressure.

Pakistan got blasting start by Kamran Akmal (23) with the initial hiccup of falling duck wicket of the opening batsman Shahizab Hasan (0) by Wayne Parnell. Then Akmal wicket fall on 28 by Dale Steyn, Afridi came to bat and knocked 51runs off 33 balls, taking the score to the 95 with the stabilized support from Shoaib Malik (34) end. But sooner the Afridi and Shoaib Malik were returned to pavilion by Duminy and Merwe respectively at 95 for 3 and 124 for 4. Pakistani middle order was sluggish and no boundaries were knocked in last 5 overs and Younis Khan (24) and Abdul Rassaq (12) finished innings with 149 runs.

South Africa was expected to easily achieve 150 runs target, but sooner it was realized that it’s going to be tough though. Jacques Kallis stronger innings of 64 off 54 balls, strengthened the South Africa innings. But on the other end the falling of wickets continued with Graeme Smith (10), Herschelle Gibbs (5) and AB de Villers (1) by Aamer and Afridi respectively at 46 for 2, 50 for 3 and 111 for 4. Lethargy and increasing Run Rate proved to be fatal to South Africa and in a fit to break the idleness Kallis took the uncalculated shoot by Shoaib Malik and was caught. Gul with outstanding leg cutters and Yorkers in the crucial 17th and 19th over was able to confine South Africa to 6 runs only. Hence forth despite JP Duminy (44) endeavor South Africa felled short of 7 runs and lost the semifinal.

As the 10 runs on last ball left, the Pakistani supporters were swayed by exhilaration and deafening scream. As it was predicted South Africa lost to Pakistan for just 7 runs, and Pakistani supporters were just jubilant. South Africa nerves took a toll of them and Pakistan unnerving and unflinching confidence led them to finals and making them stronger contender for ICC World T20.

Women’s ICC World T20:

Watkins Led New Zealand In The Finals By Crushing India

Indian cricket women’s team made it to the semifinals, as there opposite sex Indian cricket men’s team lost all their matches in the super 8. Hope rose higher for Indian cricket women’s team even though they previously lost to England crushingly. India stood with higher expectations in front of stronger New Zealand, but as they clashed in first semifinal on 18th of June, India couldn’t sustain a bit and lost to the New Zealand by 52 runs. New Zealand powerful team played like winner and came out eventually with pre-ordained victory.

Nottingham, at Trent Bridge, New Zealand faced India; Aimee Watkins contributed solely to the huge total of 145 runs for 5 by her stunning 89 runs of just 58 balls. Aimee Watkins brilliancy with bat and captaincy gave no vent for India to make a slightest of modifications to the precedence over match. New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first and with the greater contribution of Aimee Watkins, New Zealand aggregated 145 runs off 5 wickets.

Kiwis came to bat, but initially kiwis stumbled by losing Suzie Bates (10) to a ferocious catch by Harmanpreet Kaur on bowling of Amita Sharma. With initial dent, Aimee Watkins came to bat and trampled the hopes of Indians and played sustainable and stunning innings of unbeatable 89 runs of 58 balls on here other end the wickets kept on falling with Lucy Doolan (3), Amy Satterthwaite (10), Nicola Browne (5) and Sara McGlashan (4). Amita Sharma with her bowling figure was impressive, by taking 2 significant wickets and just giving 21 runs. Rumeli Dhar and Priyanka Roy were out of other 7 bowler who took 1-1 wickets. Indian bowling was impressive still it was not able to confine Aimee Watkins.

New Zealand aggregated 145 runs off 5 wickets after them India came to bat to chase 146 runs target. India was expected to put up some entertaining show like Aimee did, but Indian batting order felled like playing cards palace. Anjum Chopra (15), Mithali Raj (20) and Amita Sharma (24) were only to bat double figures and still they were not able to contribute and none sustained on the pitch. Wickets kept falling one by one and not a single player was able to stay on the pitch. New Zealand fielding and bowling under the captaincy of Aimee Watkins was too tight and beautiful that it gave not a single opportunity to the India. Sophie Devine, Kate Pulford, Suzie Bates took 1-1 wickets and Sian Ruck and Suzie Bates took 2-2 wickets, showing off the stronger and stable bowling line up of New Zealand.

India toddling at 93 runs for 9 wickets, New Zealand winded up with the last match with great margin of 52 runs victory over India. First semifinal of New Zealand Vs India was lop sided, and New Zealand winning the match made it into the ICC Women’s World T20 finals.

South Africa has finally got rid of their reputation as chokers. They now face Pakistan in an intriguing semifinal encounter of the Men’s T20 World Cup. Pakistan did not start the campaign on a good note as they went down to England in their first match of the tournament. Since then Pakistan has not looked back. They have shown their class and regained the form that has brought them this far in the tournament. The Proteas on the other hand has not lost a single match in the tournament and got the better of teams like New Zealand, India, England, and West Indies during their journey to the semifinals. Therefore, it will not be fair to take a call as to, which team holds the upper hand in this semifinal encounter.

Pakistan may have lost to Sri Lanka in their first Super 8 match, but it is important to understand that the Lankan lion’s are playing the best cricket of their life since the 1996 world cup. Pakistan did give them a good fight in that match but could not manage to reach the final total. However, Pakistan now looks like a team on a mission to regain their lost title. Players like Afridi, Mallik, Ajmal, Gul, and Razaq have put in superlative performances whenever the team required their services. Under the captaincy of a very relaxed Younis Khan, the Pakistani team looks very dangerous and hungry to regain the title.

South Africa has played Pakistan just once in the T20 format of the game. A great innings from their skipper Graeme Smith ensured that they got the better of Pakistan that time. However, past performances will not matter as the location is new, the match is an all-important semifinal clash, and both teams are looking forward to win the title for the first time. Therefore, things are completely different as compared to their last encounter.

The Proteas are unperturbed by the chokers tag, which had cost them dearly in the past. In 2009, they want to prove to cricket audiences worldwide that things have drastically changed in their approach to the game. With five consecutive victories in the tournament and players like Kallis, Smith, Botha, De Villiers, Gibbs, Parnell, Morkel, and Steyn showing good form, the South Africans are the hot favorites to win the tournament this time round. Only one thing is certain from this match and that is high intensity and non-stop entertainment as the two titans of cricket clash to regain their lost glory.

India suffered their third consecutive defeat in the Super 8 round of the Men’s T20 World Cup competition, after they lost by 12-runs to South Africa. It was a disastrous campaign for the Men in Blue, as they could not win a single match in the second phase of the tournament. The defending champions India looked out of sorts throughout the tournament, and matches against minnows Ireland and Bangladesh did not help their cause towards gearing up for the next round. The IPL fatigue for the Indian players might have also been the reason that forced the players to come up with this kind of lackluster performance.

The South African batting got of to a sedate start before RP Singh got the better of Gibbs. This did not stop AB de Villiers from piling up the runs as he looked in supreme control throughout his innings. South African’s were looking to post a challenging total, when Indian captain MS Dhoni introduced spin into the attack. The Indian spinners especially Jadeja bowled magnificently on a slow spinning track to restrict the South Africans to a low total.

The main contributions for South Africa came from AB de Villiers, who scored 63 runs and Graeme Smith, who scored 26 runs. The rest of the South African batting line up looked fragile on the slow turning wicket. Albie Morkel, hit two boundaries in the final over as South Africa posted a score of 130, a challenging one on this slow turning track.

The Indians started the run chase in a confident manner as both Gambhir and Sharma took charge of the innings and hammered the South African pacers to all parts of the ground. India was well placed at 47 runs without the loss of any wicket after the fifth over of the innings. Things were looking in control and Indian fans expecting their team to win comfortably. However, this was short lived as South Africa introduced spin in the sixth over itself. Johan Botha then got the better of Gambhir to open up the Indian batting lineup. Botha struck a further blow to India as he removed Raina, and Duminy completed the assault by getting rid of Sharma in quick succession.

The Indian innings headed for a disaster with the dismissals of Dhoni and Pathan, as the South African spinners started to outclass the Indian batsman. The only resistance was provided by Yuvraj Singh as he scored 24 runs to keep the Indian hopes alive in the match. However, India was left to do too much in the end as they lost by 12 runs to the Proteas. The only other notable contributions were from the openers Gambhir, who scored 21 runs and Sharma, who scored 29 runs. The otherwise shaky Indian batting line up lived up to its reputation once again as they went down tamely to the South Africans. The best bowler for South Africa was J Botha as he picked up three crucial Indian wickets to turn the match in South Africa’s favor.

With this win, the Proteas remain unbeaten in the tournament. They would now be hoping to take their tally to six consecutive victories, when they take on the in form Pakistan in the First Semi Final clash. Pakistan, last year’s losing finalist will not spare an inch as they look to head for an interesting battle against South Africa.