Cricket Tournaments

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.

The Irish were confident of putting up a tough fight against the South Africans on Tuesday. In fact there were even thoughts of upsetting the South African applecart. And while Ireland were exceptional with the ball and in the field, their limitations with the bat were clearly exposed against high quality bowling. In fact, they failed to win the big moments with both the bat and ball and therein lay their undoing. After putting the South African batting under tremendous pressure thanks to some excellent bowling and claiming half their side for just over 100, Ireland had a great chance to restrict the South Africans to a below par total. However, they weren’t good enough to finish off the good work as the Proteas fought back and regained control. Still, there were in with a chance when they came out to bat. However, the partnerships never came for Ireland as they kept losing one wicket after the other and soon the match as well. In short, the South Africans were too good for the fighting Irish.

The turning point of the game came when Jean-Paul Duminy and Colin Ingram joined forces in a solid, counter attacking alliance that not only resurrected South Africa, but also put them on top. Till that point, Ireland held the upper hand distinctly. The bowlers maintained a tight line right from the start and were rewarded deservedly. Boyd Rankin, Trent Johnston and John Mooney kept things extremely tight at the start, frustrating the South African top and middle order. Even George Dockrell and Paul Stirling supported them exceedingly well as Ireland built up the pressure with some excellent fielding as well. Soon, the results were there for all too see. Even the South Africans panicked as their main men skipper Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis felt to brilliant pieces of fielding courtesy run outs. Even the persistent Hashim Amla struggled in the wake of the Irish challenge and succumbed. And, if not for the Duminy-Ingram partnership, Ireland might well have managed to pull off the upset they so desperately wanted to.

The feature of the association between Duminy and Ingram was their positive intent. No, they did not slog their way out of trouble, but ensured that the free flow of runs never stopped. They were severe on all the bowlers as they went about their rescue act. Impressively, unlike the previous batsmen, none of the two looked in any sort of trouble during their counter attacking partnership. And, they never looked like getting out as well at any point of time. By the time that they were dismissed, the South Africans had wrested back the advantage conceded earlier in the day. Former skipper Johan Botha too played his part with a pleasing cameo. The only bitter part about it all was that Duminy missed his well deserved century by just a solitary run. But, all credit to the left-hander, who went for the big shot and sacrificed his wicket for the team’s cause, leaving aside personal glory.

Once South Africa had posted a challenging total, they were always going to have the upper hand. However, Ireland still had a slim chance to surprise them if someone could come up with a Kevin O’Brien type magical knock. Unfortunately, nothing of that sort was on offer as the penetrative South African bowlers stream rolled past the Irish batting line up and, in the process, progressed into the quarter finals. If Dale Steyn made all the difference against India, it was his partner Morne Morkel turn to shine against Ireland. He claimed both the openers in quick succession with his pacy deliveries and not soon after it began, the Irish challenged had derailed.

The South Africans would also have been mighty pleased with the fact that Kallis got among the wickets. He was due for some and it came against Ireland. In the spin department, left-armer Robin Peterson impressed yet again. He is turning out to be a real asset to this South African outfit and has even managed to replace Botha as the first choice spinner thanks to his better batting abilities. Having said that, Botha too has been doing a commendable job whenever given the opportunity. In short, all seems well in the South African bowling machinery and all they need to do now is to get their act completely right with a bat. They have a faltered on a couple of occasions, but someone or the other has thankfully put their hands up and rescued them from trouble. Smith, first and foremost, needs to get among the runs. And Morne Van Wyk, while he has looked impressive, needs to register bigger scores if he going is bat up the order. The good thing is that they still have one match left against Bangladesh to put things in order. Rest all seems fine for the South Africans as they now wait to know who they play in the quarter finals.

For the Irishmen, the tournament has been a clear cut case of what might have been. In every game they had opportunities to create an upset, but they only managed to pull it off in one game, with that superb chase against England. That said, the fact that they have managed to compete in each and every game in the tournament so far is that good thing in itself. Irish cricket is at a stage where they are learning new things with every passing match. And with the kind of ability and determination they possess, they can pull off the odd upset like the one against England at Bangalore. In hindsight, the win against Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup was no fluke. Irish cricket has a long way to go, but there are no two ways about it that they are on the right track. With experience and exposure they will only get better if they keep performing with the same spirit and enthusiasm. The good news for Ireland fans is that they have one more game left to make an impression.

South Africa had no difficulty in crushing Ireland by 131 runs in the 34^th game of the ICC World Cup 2011 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Chasing 272 for a win, Ireland were bowled out for 141 and JP Duminy was declared the man of the match for his superb resurrection.

273 was going to be tough cookie to crack and when both openers, William Porterfield and Paul Stirling departed for 19, the task became only stiffer. There were starts from all the batsmen in the top-order but only one – Gary Wilson – managed to get to more than 20 as the rest of the side capitulated to the spin of Robin Peterson. Morkel picked up three wickets as well to end the Irish hopes.

Robin Peterson was clearly the pick of the bowlers with a three-wicket haul that also included the wicket of Kevin O’Brien.

Earlier South Africa were off to a flying start thanks to the decision by Hashim Amla to take the attack to the opposition. Amla cracked a boundary and a six and looked good for much more before he cut the ball to the third-man where the fielder took it cleanly to send him back.

Graeme Smith added 28 for the second wicket with Morne van Wyk and at 52/1 the side looked good. Van Wyk looked every bit the batsman that one had come to associate him with in 2007 as he slammed seven fours and a six in his 42 but his dismissal led to a mini collapse that saw the side capitulate to 117/5.

Jacques Kallis was run-out and as was captain Smith, while Faf du Plessis edged one to the slips.

However, any hopes that the Irish have of stunning the South Africans, evaporated pretty soon when the JP Duminy piled on a good-looking 99 with Colin Ingram (46). This was Ingram’s first ever World Cup game and he looked very good for the time he was at the crease. The boundaries were easily found his knock came off only 43 balls.

In the end, Duminy fell short of his century by a run but in partnership with first Ingram and then Johan Botha, had done enough to take the score to 271/7 in their 50 overs.

The win ensured that the South Africans became the first side from their group to make it to the quarter-finals. They now play Bangladesh in the last group game of the tournament in a bid to ensure that they finish atop of the points table. On the other hand, Ireland have now been knocked out of the tournament despite having one more game to be played against Netherlands.

If South Africa beat Bangladesh, they will end the group with ten points from their six games and unless West Indies can beat both, England and India, they will be at the top of the table. This will mean that South Africa will take on the number four placed side in the other group, which could still be any one of New Zealand, Sri Lanka or Pakistan. Assuming that Australia should easily beat Canada in tomorrow’s game, they will not end in the fourth position and that could mean that South Africa will not meet Australia in the quarter-finals.

Following Ireland’s historic win against England, it was almost a given that Indians wouldn’t be in for a cakewalk on Sunday. And even as the Irish men went down, they made sure that they kept their pride in tact courtesy of an excellent fighting effort with the ball. In spite of the fact that India were chasing an extremely small total, the Ireland bowlers kept India in check throughout the chase. And it was only towards the end of the innings, thanks to some massive hits by Yusuf Pathan and a sedate knock by Yuvraj Singh, that India managed to breathe easily. Irrespective of the result, both teams came out with plenty of positives and would go into the future games high on confidence.

From the Indian perspective, the biggest plus was undoubtedly the all-round performance of Yuvraj. It was he who brought India back into the game with both bat and ball. Following the early loss of wickets courtesy a magnificent opening spell by speedster Zaheer Khan, Ireland had made a solid comeback via a fruitful and sensible alliance between skipper William Porterfield and the experienced Niall O’Brien. The two seemed to be cruising and building solid platform for the Irish innings, until a brilliant piece of fielding brought an end to the dangerous partnership. From there onwards, it was all Yuvraj.

The part-time left-arm spinner’s deliveries often look innocuous. But, there are times when he gets it right and could be extremely frustrating for the opponent. On Sunday, not only did he maintain a tight leash on the Ireland batsmen, but also undid them with some smart bowling on a pitch that had some help to offer. Ireland aren’t known to be great players of spin. Still they wouldn’t have seen Yuvraj as their major threat. But, as things panned out, he ended up plucking out half of their side. The Irish batsmen just had no answer how to deal with his spinning deliveries. They often ended up playing the wrong way and fell prey to Yuvraj’s guile one after the other. Okay, it was only Ireland, but this performance should egg Yuvraj on to greater things with the ball in the future. His captain MS Dhoni has always maintained that the lad from Punjab is a vital cog in the bowling machinery even if he wasn’t performing with the willow. And, on Sunday, Dhoni stood vindicated.

Buoyed by his bowling effort, Yuvraj came up with the goods while having the bat in hand too. Even as the other experienced guys like Sachin Tendulkar and Dhoni led the job half done, Yuvraj stayed till the very end and saw the team through. It was a mature effort that saw his hit only three fours in his 75-ball unbeaten stay at the crease, also a tribute to Ireland’s plucky effort. This knock should do a world of good for his confidence and India would be desperately hoping that he can now replicate this effort against the bigger teams.

While Yuvraj was undoubtedly the architect of India’s victory on Sunday, there were a couple of other noteworthy contributions that cannot be underestimated. Firstly, it was Zaheer Khan’s opening spell with the ball that gave India the much sought after early breakthroughs, something which they had struggled to get in the initial two games. The Indian left-arm pacer bowled two beauties to see the back of Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce. With the ball moving, the duo were totally at ill-ease against Zaheer and were easy meat for India’s numero uno bowler. The other heartening aspect was the big-hitting of Yusuf Pathan. He hadn’t had much to in the tournament so far apart from dropping catches, which doesn’t say much. But, on Sunday, it was his belligerent cameo that helped India sail through somewhat troubled waters. Even if it was against Ireland it was a crucial effort which will give Pathan some assurance going into the bigger tests.

The fact that Ireland managed to push India so hard reiterates that they still aren’t at their best and a lot of areas still need sorting out. First and foremost, Piyush Chawla’s place in the XI should be put under the scanner considering yet another unimpressive effort. Apart from the warm up game against Australia, he hasn’t looked threatening at all. Even against a team like Ireland, which has a reputation of not playing wrist spinners well, Chawla lacked penetration. And it is about time R. Ashwin gets his deserved chance, putting the theory of not playing two off-spinners together on the back burner for a while. One strong rationale behind this is that even the other part-time off spinner in the side, Pathan, has been least impressive. Against Ireland, Yuvraj bailed India out. But, everyday can’t be a Sunday. And hence the need to test Ashwin early in the tournament is essential. Though Dhoni has maintained that nothing much can be done about the fielding, the Indians at least need to hold their catches. If they keep dropping catches, a time will soon come when they will have to pay dearly for it.

Despite the loss, Ireland only won more hearts. This is one team that no cricket lover can hate for they give every game their hundred per cent. Even after losing two early wickets, Porterfield and Niall O’Brien batted with the poise of veterans as Ireland went about rebuilding their innings. It was a credible partnership that laid a solid platform for the team. The manner in which they handled the spin of Harbhajan Singh and Chawla was highly commendable. And if not for Yuvraj and Zaheer, might well have been facing a much tougher task.

Even with the ball in hand Ireland kept fighting. Former captain Trent Johnston did exceptionally well to get rid of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir with some intelligent bowling. The other bowlers and fielders also chipped in to frustrate India. In the end, India managed to stave off the challenge, but Ireland undoubtedly won over a few more fans.

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.

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

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.