Cricket Tournaments

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.

The Ireland versus West Indies clash was a classic case of raw talent overpowering single-minded determination and dedication. For 35 overs, Ireland bowlers kept the West Indies batsmen on a tight leash and frustrated them with some incise bowling combined with exceptional fielding. But, one counter punch by the big-hitting Kieron Pollard and an anchoring ton by Devon Smith enabled them to rise above the ordinary and quash the Irish challenge.

Pollard’s clean hitting has always been a big talking point in the 20-over version. However, he has not quite translated that potential into performance at the one-day level. On a manic Friday, when tsunami and quake swept away Japan, Pollard destroyed Ireland’s resilience en route to a wonderful exhibition of power hitting. For a change, Pollard did not go after the bowling right from the word go, which has often been his undoing in the past. On the contrary, he bided his time and got his eye in. However, once he went on the attack, there was no looking back. Eight fours and five sixes in his 55-ball knock stood testimony to the brutality of the knock. Until Pollard came to the crease, Ireland were in command. This was because even though Devon Smith was holding up one end, the pressure wasn’t building on the Irish bowlers. It was only once Pollard and Smith joined forces that the tide turned for the Windies.

Pollard was exceptional in the manner in which he went after the Irish bowlers. His clean hitting augurs well for the future games for West Indies. However, Pollard needs to repeat such performances against bigger teams so that he doesn’t get branded as a minnow basher. Ditto for Devon Smith. He has been around for quite a while now, but has performed with the consistency that has been expected of him. This century should give Smith tons of confidence for the future games. What Smith needs to do now is to take the game to another level else he will remain a mediocre player. Chris Gayle has been looking out for an opening partner for a long while now and hopefully he would have found one in Smith finally.

Once Smith and Pollard put West Indies on top, their bowlers must have been confident of defending the total. Ireland did not get off to the greatest of starts, losing Paul Stirling and skipper William Porterfield very early on in the piece. However, a stabilizing partnership between Ed Joyce and Niall O’Brien and then Joyce and Gary Wilson kept Ireland in the hunt. It was an excellent, mature innings by the experienced Joyce, who was due for a big score given his hi-profile stature in the team. And, he did not disappoint this time round. Joyce held his nerve and went about rebuilding the innings sensibly in the company of Wilson, the latter playing the aggressor to perfection. Till the time Joyce and Wilson were at the crease, Ireland looked in command despite the fact that they were behind the run-rate.

The ploy by Ireland was obviously to keep wickets in hand and hope Kevin O’Brien comes good once again. Unfortunately for Ireland, Joyce and Wilson fell just when Ireland were about to kick-off to bigger things and O’Brien too couldn’t repeat his heroics. The dismissal of Wilson was bizarre, with the URDS once again coming into question. The umpire Asoka De Silva had given him out lbw and did not change his decision even after the big-screen replay showed that the ball had pitched outside the off stump. Certainly, the UDRS isn’t serving its purpose and only creating unnecessary controversies. Having said that, the Windies bowlers also need to be credited for the way they came back to break the partnership and maintain the pressure thereafter to clinch the game.

Sulieman Benn and skipper Darren Sammy were especially impressive with the ball. Both kept things extremely tight and were suitably rewarded with plenty of wickets. No doubt, it was an impressive performance overall by West Indies. But one can’t but feel bad for Ireland, who gave it their everything, but were undone by one special knock by a man named Pollard.

Kemar Roach claiming a hat-trick against Dutch

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

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

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

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

What can one say about the West Indies but for the fact that they keep flattering to deceive again and again. And their opening encounter against South Africa was no different. Despite making an impressive start with the bat against the Proteas they capitulated miserably and allowed the South Africans to walk away with an easy victory. It was a highly disappointing effort by the Windies given that this was tagged as the first big clash of the tournament following a week of clashes between the bigwigs and the minnows. Not only that, the West Indies possessed an impressive record against the South Africans in World Cups having beaten them in recent times – 1996 and 2003 to be specific. All that came to naught on Thursday as the Windies batsmen succumbed under pressure and gave away the advantage on a platter.

At the start of the game, there were a lot of uncomfortable questions raised regarding the inclusion of the third spinner in the South African side at the expense of a genuine batsman. However, that did not prove to be much of an impediment as the Windies failed to exploit this possible weakness. They were very good at the start though in spite of the early loss of the dangerous Chris Gayle. Darren Bravo, in particular, was impressive soaking in the pressure and taking on the task of rebuilding the innings. Considering this was his debut World Cup knock, it was nothing short of a fantastic effort. He never looked uncomfortable against either pace or spin — a tribute to his obvious talent. And even though West Indies did not run away with the game during his stay at the crease, Darren ensured that he kept picking the gaps and stroking the boundaries at will whenever the opportunity came along. As long as he was in the middle, the Windies had a genuine chance of upsetting the South African applecart. But, yet again they managed to plunge deeper into darkness.

Bravo was well supported by Devon Smith at the start of the innings, following Gayle dismissal. Even as Darren maintained the steady flow of runs, Smith made sure his attacking partner got the majority of the strike during their partnership. And when the two were together the West Indies looked well in command to register a challenging total. However, once the duo was separated, the rest fell over inexplicably, exposing their mental aptitude or lack of it. There is no dearth of talent in the West Indies middle order. In fact in Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo they have three of the most talented batsmen in Windies cricket. Yet, they could not manage to resurrect their side. Being so, it clearly has to be something wrong in the mental aspect of West Indies cricket. Obviously, all the chopping and changing with captains and players has helped the least. Every team is not a Pakistan that can rise above the worst of controversies off the field and still manage to inspire themselves while on a cricket ground. Unless these things are set straight Windies cricket will continue to be down in the mire with only sporadic flashes of individual brilliance coming through, like the innings by Darren on Thursday.

Shifting focus to South Africa, they kept their act together like the thoroughly professional unit we have come to know them of since the Hansie Cronje days. While there was some criticism over the selection of three spinners, no such thing can be said their innovative approach. A Dipak Patel-inspired decision to open the innings with off spinner Johan Botha worked perfectly well. A clearly surprised Chris Gayle got tentative and found himself back in the pavilion within minutes of the game getting underway. And even though the second wicket partnership kept the Proteas at bay for a long duration, to their credit, they did not allow the batting side to run away with the game. And once Botha came back to break the partnership, the Proteas were soon all over the Windies bastmen.

Even as the former South African skipper Botha impressed with his tight line and length, opening the bowling and being rewarded aptly, there were others to whom the West Indies middle and lower order had on answer at all. Leg break bowler Imran Tahir lived up to all the hype that had been surrounding him. Three of his four wickets were the big fishes, as even the experienced Windies perceptibly struggled against him. Not only did Tahir keep it tight but he was equally adept at foxing the batsmen, providing he had plenty of tricks in his repertoire. It might be a bit too early to say this, but considered his first-class record and also how highly he is rated in South African cricket, the Proteas, at last, might have discovered a quality spinner since Pat Symcox. Tahir’s biggest challenge though will come against the Asian team. How he performs against them will determine his standing in World cricket.

Even as the South African bowlers impressed, the batting led by AB de Villiers was not far behind either. Losing Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis early to some good Windies pace bowling early in the innings was a definite setback. However, with a mediocre total to chase, there was never any pressure on the South Africans. This was evident in the settled manner in which they went about rebuilding the innings courtesy their captain Graeme Smith and de Villiers. Once the two were set, there was no trouble at all for the South Africans in the chase. de Villiers, in fact, batted just like he has been doing for the last two summers, looking in no trouble at all, stroking the ball with ease en route to his match-winning hundred. His form has been one of the reasons why the Proteas are among the favourites to clinch the crown this time. And de Villiers did no harm to his team’s chances with his charming effort on Thursday.

The African campaign got underway just in the manner Smith had hoped for. West Indies, contrastingly, will need to further polish their game to make a mark in this World Cup.

AB de Villiers

It was, in a way, an inaugural for the CWC 2011 as two majors of cricket were head to head at Ferozahshah Kotla, Delhi. It was Proteas against the mighty West Indies. On paper Proteas were a stronger team and they proved it on field as well, as SA beat West Indies by a comfortable 7 wickets with more than 7 overs to spare. The cricket prodigy of AB de Villiers got him the man of the match award for his 107 of just 105 balls.

The ever changing West Indies cricket, at least in terms of changing their captain, under the leadership Darren Sammy as the new captain were sent in by the South Africans.  The dangerous, Chris Gayle opened the innings alongside Devon Smith as the non-striker. South African experimented, in order to adapt to the subcontinent pitches, with Johan Botha to start with the new ball and it paid dividends in the very first over as Gayle walked back after getting caught by Jack Kallis for just 2. Then came Darren Bravo to the crease and gave a strong foundation to the WI innings with a stand of 111 before Bravo was caught napping in front of the stumps on the bowling of Botha for 73 in the 24^th over. Wickets started to flutter as Smith got out to Tahir as he favoured him a return catch, Sarwan didn’t help the WI cause much and left office after scoring just 2 of 10 balls in the 27^th over. With two new batsmen on the crease, it was required to resurrect the innings which Dwayne Bravo and Devon Thomas achieved to an extent with a 58 run stand before Bravo ran himself out. Steyn then didn’t allow WI to come out of shackles and wrapped 3 quick wickets including powerful Kieron Pollard with a skidding in swinger and claiming an lbw. WI finished at a mediocre 222 all out with 15 balls to spare.

Hashim Amla took charge of innings and scored 14 out of 15 runs before holding out to D Thomas of the bowling of Roach. WI soon got rid of, the most capped South African, Jack Kallis with scoreboard reading 20 in the 5^th over. It was prodigy of AB de Villiers, which then sailed SA to a comfortable 7 wicket win as he scored an unbeaten 107, better than run a ball while he was duly supported by captain Graeme Smith and J P Duminy, who remained not out at 42. WI bowling was mediocre with almost all the bowlers hovering around 5 runs per over. WI also faced a setback as Dwayne Bravo hurt his knee which ended the game for him and was sent for medical check-up and scans.

A small rain outburst, which is a part of South African history and their downfall in major tournaments, didn’t hamper SA pace of runs this time and duly helped by the star AB de Villiers. Imran Tahir, the debutant, was on a dream debut as he got 4 crucial wickets and at important junctures of the match.

The 2009 Ashes series between England and Australia will start this morning as cricket looks to once again capture the imagination of the British public. Four years ago the two teams met to give us the greatest Ashes series of all time in a sporting contest that personified just why these two sides have such a long and respectable sporting history.

England come off the back of some impressive performances against a West Indies team and the Aussies start off in England having beaten South Africa in their own country. Despite the gap in quality between these two victories this could turn out to be a repeat of the 2005 series with every single match going right down to the wire.

The teams are very evenly matched and it appears that the side that bowls the better will win the series and the Ashes urn. Australia obviously do not have Glen McGrath and Shane Warne in their side any more, who between them bowled out in England five times by themselves in the last series to be held in England.

This is not easy to over come and is being put down as the main reason by many experts on the game as the factor that actually gives England a chance. England’s own bowling attack has the virtue of having now played together for a long period of time. There is no question that England have the better bowling options as they carry two world class spinners as well as players that can reverse swing the ball at great pace.

The batting line-ups of each side are very even and a lot will rest on the more experienced players in each side. Both England and Australia have four big names in their top six that can all go on and make big hundreds. If they do then every match should go down to the last day and will place all of the pressure on the bowlers to get everything right and earn their money.

A lot has been made of the fact that the first test match is being played in Cardiff and not at Lords as this is traditionally the case. There are two advantages already for England in this respect. Firstly, the Cardiff pitch should turn, this will allow England the freedom to name Monty Panesar and Graham Swann in their side whereas the Australians will probably only play Nathan Hauritz, a defensively minded off spinner.

Secondly, it has to be considered that whenever an Ashes series does start at Lords, England do tend to lose. It is important to get off to a good start in such a long series because it can give you vital momentum that you can carry forwards into the next match. Cardiff could work in England’s favour and it could give them a boost they need to believe that they can push on and win the series.

England should have thumped the West Indies when they played in the Caribbean but on too many occasions, seemingly certain wins were turned in to frustrating draws. If England can get their noses on front then it could be a long two months in this country for the Australians.

Team news is good for England who look set to name their strongest possible eleven. It has not been kept a secret that the pitch will turn and therefore Graham Onions could make way for Swann with Andrew Flintoff stepping back into the middle of the side. This will give England a nice balance and allow them to strengthen in more than one area. It also adds the important dimension of even more aggression that will be needed as there are no doubts over the fact that the Aussies are going to chirp away at all the English batsman that get to the crease.

For the Aussies they will be missing fast bowler Brett Lee. England will be more than happy about this. Lee has the ability to swing the ball at over 90mph and can cause all sorts of problems. Ask any Englishman in the side if they would rather he wasn’t playing and they’d all say yes.

Otherwise the Australian selection is hard to guess. Ricky Ponting has been keeping the cards close to his chest before the first game and it is expected that they will go in with three or four quicks and a spinner. However, you can never second guess the Aussies and it could well be the case that they have the next Shane Warne up their sleeve ready to bring out, a player who nobody would have heard of.

This would be a huge gamble though and it will probably be the case that the Aussies go in with only four bowlers and play an extra batsman. This would not be a stupid thing to do but it would automatically give a slight advantage to England who would fancy their chances of not being bowled out by a relatively one dimensional attack without Lee.

The toss is also crucial to England’s chances of winning the first game. As the pitch is expected to turn, it can also be expected that it will rapidly deteriorate, meaning that whoever wins the toss will bat first. You do not want to be batting on the last day in the last innings on a pitch that has unpredictable bounce and is turning square. From England’s point of view if they can get a good score on the board first up and then set the Aussies a massive target, it will allow Swann and Panesar to go mad and try to wreak some havoc in the later stages of the game.

It’s nice just to have the series back and it’s good that there is so much positive thinking surrounding the first test. A lot of people have already forgotten about the 5-0 thumping that was given to England in the last Ashes series and if the build up is any thing like the actual matches then we could all be on our way to buy box sets of the 2009 series as well.

At St Lucia on 3rd July, constant interruptions came as a bane for the Indies and boon for India. In the 3rd ODI of Degicel series India won the rain reduced match according to Duckworth-Lewis method against West Indies leading the series by 2-1. Dhoni holding the nerve firm knocked unbeaten 46 runs guiding India to the victory.

West Indies came to bat first, it was much to their ill fate the constant rain interruptions often lead to discontinuation and regular reduction of overs and runs. Decision was taken by India to put the Indies to bat; decision came as determining factor of the match result and as India anticipated Indies innings were adversely affected by rain.

With the rain interruption of more the 2 hours the game was reduced to 41 overs. Indies powerful opener Chris Gayle came to bat and with his fastidious spree of runs knocked 27 runs off 14 balls which was Indies score also. But as Gayle faced 13 ball rain again interrupted and match has to be put at stop. After a while reducing the overs further to 39 overs, Gayle returned to the pitch, just  on the 14th ball he succumbed to Ashish Nehra(5-21-3wk) delivery being caught behind.

During the Indies innings match was twice again has to be suspended for a while reducing it further to 36 overs then eventual to 27 overs. Despite constant rain intervention Ramnaresh Sarwan on the second wicket blasted 63 runs off 59 balls with 5 boundaries and 1 maximum. Rest onwards Runak Morton (22), Shiv Chanderpaul (15), Dwayne Bravo (19), Darren Bravo (15), Jerome Talyor (2) and not out Denesh Ramdin (14) contributed to the scoreboard aggregating to 186 runs off 27 overs.

Ashish Nehra bowling was the most impressive he was able to beat important batsmen (Gayle, Chanderpaul, Bravo)of Indies. Harbhajan Singh swept away 2 wickets with spin damaging more to Indies; Yusuf Pathan took 1 wicket and rest the Indian bowlers performance was average.

India came to bat to pursue 186 runs target off 27 overs. India score found solid base with the ferocious knocks by Dinesh Karthink (47 runs off 43 balls) and Gautam Gambhir (44 runs off 38 balls) in the top order. Due to fifth rain intervention for indefinite period in the 14th over made it more easier for the India to chase.  After the resumption runs were reduced to 159 runs according to Duckworth-Lewis method and runs left were 64 runs off 51 balls still having 9 wickets in hand it came as a clear advantage to India. Yuvraj Singh (2) and Rohit Sharma (11) were inexpensive even though Indian innings were smooth because of Dhoni’s firm hold of his nerve and aggression leaded India to victory.

West Indies bowlers were not able to put the impressive show as in last match. Bravo, Bernard and Benn took 1-1 wickets.

In the penultimate over when victory seemed far for India, Dhoni ravaged in the last over leading the India in series with 2-1.