Monthly Archives: February 2015

Bangladesh’s wasted potential.

28 Saturday Feb 2015

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It was a day of missed opportunities for Bangladesh. This was the second game they were playing after their match against Australia was washed out. It was probably their best chance to push ahead in the tables after the points for the Australia game were split. However once again, Bangladesh missed out.

The MCG was less than half full for the 18th match on Thursday the 26th of February. The game was Sri Lanka vs. Bangladesh. It was not expected to be a high profile game but by no means did that make it a dull one. The true and hardcore Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi fans were out in full force and they made up for their small numbers in heart and soul. Sri Lanka were batting first with Lahiru Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the batting. Both batsmen had gotten out for ducks against Afghanistan and Bangladesh would have been thinking ‘if they can do it so can we!’.

Bangladesh, the team with the youngest average age in the World Cup genuinely looked competitive in their bowling and batting department. Nowhere near strong enough to win a major tournament just yet, but strong enough to make the top six sweat and work for their place. As always though, it was the fielding that let them down. Considering they’re a fresh young team they should have been all over their fielding. Whether it was the size of the MCG or the pressure of the tournament, Bangladesh broke down. They conceded too many runs through misfields, missed run out chances and they dropped far too many catches.

In the first over, Thirimanne was dropped by Anamul Haque at slip. He was then given another life through a missed stumpings. Had Bangladesh taken either of these chances they could have dug into the lower order much earlier in the innings when they were fresher and full-spirited. Thirimanne went on to score 52 before he chipped one out to third man. At 122 runs this was the only Sri Lankan wicket to fall for the rest of the innings. Kumar Sangakkara (who was playing his 400th ODI) went on to score a masterful century and along with Dilshan put on a 210 run partnership in 25.3 overs. Sangakkara’s century was full of high class shots but he mishit two. Bangladesh could have had him out on both 23 runs and 60 runs had they not dropped another two catches in the field. Bangladesh even had a chance to remove Dilshan as he was left stranded from a mix up but there was no one at the stumps to back up the fielder. An almost rookie mistake that an international side should not be making. As much as it was a poor fielding performance from Bangladesh, their bowlers bowled well. Both the fastest balls of the day came from the Bangladesh team. They were able to create chances and though they did not capitalise on those chances it was a very positive sign.

Credit of course must be given to the Sri Lankan batsmen, in particular to Dilshan who scored his highest ODI score. He played brilliantly and except for the mix-up, he played very safely. It was a hard earned 161, Dilshan faced cramp but stuck around to ensure Sangakkara was able to reach his 22nd ODI century. As the openers had already created a base Sangakkara had some freedom to play, a luxury not often given to him. He hit his fastest ODI century and played some beautifully powerful shots. Sri Lanka ended their innings on 332-1. They finally hit the form they needed to be competitive in the World Cup.

As expected, Bangladesh’s chase was in vain. They were all out for 240 runs. Had they taken their opportunities, they could have been chasing a much smaller total.

Six of the 11 players for Bangladesh made a start with each getting a minimum of 25 runs. However none of them could cash in and go on to make a big score. Soumya Sarkar began a fearless counter-attack smashing 25 from 15 balls giving the fans something to cheer about but his run also ended quickly. Only Sabbir Rahman (Bangladesh’s no.8 batsman) went on to score a half century. Sri Lanka took most of their chances, only dropping only one catch. They were able to break partnerships at vital times unlike Bangladesh. At 100-5 Bangladesh left too much pressure on their main batsmen Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan. Having lost five wickets, neither could play with ease. However with some help from Sabbir and the captain they were able to guide Bangladesh to 240, but no further.

Bangladesh could be a highly competitive team, they have some real potential but to be a top team they must learn to work on their fielding. South Africa have some of the best batsmen and bowlers in the world but they still field as though each opportunity will be their last. Bangladesh need that mindset should they wish to grow as a side.

#ClingOnToTheCup

24 Tuesday Feb 2015

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India’s pursuit to protect their World Cup title began remarkably well as they beat Pakistan by 76 runs in their opening game of the tournament. The Indian team appeared to be well settled and though it wasn’t the most experienced team the World Cup has seen; it still looked highly competitive and ready to take on the world.

After the hype of the India vs. Pakistan match finally sizzled out, it was down to business. The next team India were to face was South Africa, a very unpredictable and dangerous World Cup team. South Africa were coming off a high, they had been playing extremely well in the lead up to the tournament and were expected to be very competitive. However South Africa and World Cups do not go well together. They had already had a shakey start against Zimbabwe losing their top four wickets for 83 runs. It was only thanks to David Miller and JP Duminy were they able to reach 300+ runs.

Regardless of South Africa’s World Cup antics, they had never lost a game against India in a World Cup. This game was to be their fouth against each other, with South Africa having chased down every total set by India in the three previous head-to-heads.

MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. A fairly strange decision considering India’s chasing record and the fact that all three loses to South Africa have been where India batted first. However India’s bowling unit have appeared a lot more consistent recently and if Indian batsmen could set a large total and then put pressure on the South African top order, they could be in with a chance.

It all began quite badly for India as a huge mix-up between the openers left Rohit Sharma well short of his crease in the third over. The wicket brought in the the man of the match against Pakistan and everyone already seemed to have forgotten that a wicket had just fallen. The cheers from the crowd as Virat Kohli walked onto the pitch were deafening. Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli toiled away and put on a great patnership of 125. They began very slowly and the run rate didn’t hit four until the 14th over. The pair batted well, they took very few risks after the first wicket fell and gave away only a few chances.

South Africa on the other hand fielded terribly. Considering they are one of the sharpest fielding teams around, it was amazing how many misfields there were. Dhawan was dropped by Hashim Amla on 53 and JP Duminy missed a runout chance; had either of these chances been taken, South Africa could have been facing a much smaller total to chase. Not only that, a lot of runs were given away through poor ground fielding. Imran Tahir removed Kohli on 46 but it was a bad ball and a poor shot that got him as he smacked it straight into the hands of Faf du Plessis. The next man in was Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane played a great innings and ran very well between the wickets with Dhawan. He showed true class hitting seven fours and three sixes. Dale Steyn looked almost like an ordinary bowler against these two and after South Africa lost Vernon Philander to a hamstring injury, their bowling department looked weak. Wayne Parnell ended up bowling the extra overs and was the most expensive South African bowler in the history of the World Cup, he conceded 85 runs in his nine overs.

Dhawan went on to make an incredible 137 to anchor the Indian innings. Once he got out it began to resemble their’s against Pakistan but with seven overs to go and 261 runs on the board, all the batsmen had to do were come out and swing. Had Raina or Dhoni been able to connect from the first ball, India could have been looking at 320+. They still ended on a highly respectable 307, the highest target India have set out of the four games.

307 might be a decent target against most teams, but not against South Africa if they settle in. India still had their work cut out for them and unless they were able to take early wickets, they would be in some serious trouble. Dhoni stuck with the same bowling attack that played against Pakistan, it appeared to be a good mix of bowlers that complimented each other well and once again they did not disappoint. India’s bowlers were able to do what South Africa’s could not. They picked off the batsmen at crucial intervals. Just when partnerships were beginning to look dangerous, another wicket fell. Both Quinton de Cock and Hashim Amla fell early. At 40-2 from 11 overs, South Africa needed to consolidate and gather themselves just as Kohli and Dhawan had done. It was not as though they were in any trouble with Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers at the crease. In fact, South Africa were still well in the game. The pair looked like they were on the right track as they added 68 to the total but at a crucial time, AB de Villers was run out going for the second run. There was no need to take the extra risk so early on in the innings. Faf du Plessis top scored with 55, he initially looked like he might go on to make a big score but once again, the Indians broke through.  From there it was only downhill for South Africa, they went from 133-4 to 158-8 in less than 10 overs. The South African innings ended 130 runs short of India’s total.

It was an anti-climactic game considering how competitive both teams are and how each game of the three previous World Cup head-to-heads have gone. It did however prove just how capable and hungry the Indian’s are to retain their World Cup title. They may well be in with a shot if they can keep up their momentum.

The holy grail of cricket matches

19 Thursday Feb 2015

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15th of February, probably the most anticipated day of the past four years for most Indians. Everyone forgot about Valentine’s Day in all the excitement for the 15th of Feb. India vs. Pakistan.

It was an incredibly hot afternoon in Adelaide and all the Indian and Pakistani fans had swarmed into the city for the day. The streets were bathed in blues and greens and the air filled with drumming and chanting. The Adelaide Oval saw over 40,000 fans gather in the stadium for the match in wigs and costimes with flags and drums, it was an incredible sight. The match was set to be the most watched game in the history of cricket. It was expected that over a billion viewers would tune in to watch India vs Pakistan.

It was MS Dhoni who won the toss and decided to bat first, the crowd noise when he won the toss was as though India had already won the game.

The match began well for Pakistan when they removed Rohit Sharma early on in the eighth over, but that was their only significant breakthrough until the 46th over. Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan put on a great partnership of 127 runs and Virat Kohli went on to once again impress the cricketing world and score an incredible century. The young star smashed through more records as he became the first Indian to score a century in a World Cup against Pakistan. He also became the first Indian to score a century in an World Cup hosted by Australia. Kohli hadn’t had the best time in the Carlton tri-series against England and Australia even though he had played beautifully in the Test matches but as always,  when it really mattered, Kohli stepped up to the challenge. It could have ended very differently for Pakistan though had they taken all of their chances. Kohli was dropped on three and 76 and once he was dismissed, India faced some real trouble with five wickets falling in the space of 24 runs. Had Pakistan dismissed him earlier they may have been chasing a much more reachable total.

Misbah Ul Haq ran out Shikhar Dhawan on 73 when India were on 163 but that only brought in Suresh Raina. A very strange decision as Ajinkya Rahane was yet to bat. Whatever Dhoni’s reasoning was to push Raina up the order, it appeared to be a good one. Raina hit three sixes and five fours in his innings and scored at better than a run a ball. He took some of the pressure of Kohli which likely helped the vice-captain reach his century. India didn’t lose another wicket until 273 runs when Kohli edged the ball to Umar Akmal in the 46th over. It looked as though they would easily reach 320+ runs considering they were only three wickets down even without Kohli, especially with Dhoni ‘the finisher’ to come. However, India stuttered. As soon as Kohli got out, Raina followed suit along with Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane who got out for three and a duck respectively. Dhoni contributed to the total but only 27 runs were scored in the final four overs and it almost looked like India would not reach 300. Sohail Khan dragged back the Indians as he went on to pick up five wickets. Understandably the Indian batsmen were going in to swing for the ball considering their total already and the fact that they had wickets in hand. Though with four overs to go and two set batsmen just being dismissed, it was not an ideal situation. India could have ended on a much higher total had Raina become slightly more careful once Kohli was dismissed.

Regardless of India’s ending, 300 runs was going to be a difficult chase for Pakistan. They lost their first wicket fairly early but slowly built back up. Haris Sohail along with Ahmed Shehzad put on a 68 run partnership for the second wicket. Once again though, India broke through the partnership as it was beginning to look good. Misbah Ul Haq, the captain, was the next man in who had rescued Pakistan on more than one occasion. Once again his team needed him to perform but they could not provide the support to back him up. The next three wickets fell in the space of two runs leaving Pakistan 103-5. Shahid Afridi came in and made a start, he hit a six but never looked completely comfortable. Had Afridi been having a good day, Pakistan might have gotten much closer to the 300 target. However he was removed by another great spell from Mohammed Shami and from there on it was clear that India had the game. Misbah went on to score 76 but Pakistan still fell 76 runs short of the total.

The Indian bowlers did not look like their usual uncompetitive selves, Dhoni coaxed fiery spells out of his fast bowlers and used them very effectively. Shami picked up five wickets and both Mohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav picked up two each. The fast bowlers were well backed up by Ravindra Jadeja who took a wicket and Ravi Ashwin who bowled three maiden overs and also picked up a wicket. It was an all-round strong opening performance by India and a positive start in their quest to retain the World Cup title.

The warm up warnings

13 Friday Feb 2015

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Over the past week the warm-up matches have shown exactly why this world cup is going to be an exciting one. Of the last 14 pre tournament games there have been some expected wins but more importantly there have been some surprising wins and some very close games! The World Cup title is very much still up for grabs.

The warm-up games began with Australia beating the 2011 World Cup champions. As expected, India’s bowling attack were not up to scratch. They conceded too many runs and did not seem to challenge the Australian batsmen at all. Both David Warner and Glen Maxwell (who performed incredibly with the bat in the 2014 IPL) scored centuries and led Australia to a score of 371 runs. In response India were only able to muster 265 all out. However it was a great start for Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu and especially for Shikhar Dhawan (who had been out of form) as they all scored half centuries. Luckily for India the only really troublesome pace attack they will face through the group stages is South Africa’s and so they have a chance to improve before facing the hosts.

The next match went down as expected with South Africa beating Sri Lanka, however they only won through D/L and were five wickets down for 188 chasing 279, it could have gone either way. Match four however was where the interesting things really began. England bowled out the West Indies team for 122 runs, and then went on to beat them with nine wickets and 163 balls to spare. Despite this crushing win, England then went on to lose their second warm-up game to Pakistan.

The biggest surprise of the warm-up though, came from Scotland. Not only did they crush Ireland by a margin of 179 runs, but they went on to score 310 runs chasing West Indies’ score of 313 in their second game, an incredible start from an associate nation. Though they have done extremely well in the warm up games, Scotland will find it extremely difficult to qualify. Being in pool A they will face both host nations who are in great nick along with England and Sri Lanka. Expectations of Ireland were not diminished fully even after their crushing loss to Scotland though. They went on to bowl Bangladesh out for less than 200 and chased down the runs in 47 overs. With the pools in favour of Ireland, we could still see them in the quarter finals.

Unfortunately once again South Africa’s World Cup antics continue as they lost their warm up game against New Zealand, they very much missed the pace and aggression of Dale Steyn and the stability of Hashim Amla. New Zealand who seem to have peaked at the perfect time piled on the runs scoring a total of 331 runs. South Africa then went on to score a total of 197 all out with only JP Duminy making a significant contribution to the batting. Regardless of two key players being rested, considering the quality of the rest of the team and their recent form it was extremely surprising they ended up 62-6 from 14 overs. If South Africa rely so heavily on these two players they will have a serious problem if one of them gets injured during the tournament.

Once again, Australia appear to be on top and ready to take the title but it could well end up being an epic clash of the hosts in the finals.

World Cup 2015: Predictions

01 Sunday Feb 2015

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After the controversial exclusion of key players by boards, the removal of some prominent spinners for their bowling action, fielding changes to make life even harder for the bowlers, removal of the super overs, the reinstatement of super over for the final, the blocking of associate nations and the reinstatement of them, the ICC 2015 World Cup is finally ready to begin.

A few new associate members will be joining the 14 in this year’s World Cup. Of those in the 2011 World Cup, only Ireland remains to fight another day. Hopefully they will cause a few more upsets this year to make the group stages just that little bit more tantalising. Ireland will be fired up especially after they weren’t even given the chance to qualify even though they had scored more runs than England in ODIs when the squads were announced. As unlikely as it might be, Ireland could make it past group stages if they play well and have a little luck, especially with West Indies missing three key players including Sunil Narine and Pakistan missing their top ranked bowler Saeed Ajmal. Also with the associates in question for the 2019 World Cup, Ireland have nothing to lose.

Bar the small possibility of Ireland qualifying, there is no room to question the other nations. Australia and New Zealand both have home advantage and are coming into the tournament on a high. South Africa have been smashing more and more records and as usual are expected to fly through the group stages with ease. India will need to work a lot harder than they did for the 2011 World Cup, their bowlers lack the pace required in Australia and with the new fielding rules their front line bowlers will have a much harder task. Dhoni’s men will be relying heavily on their batsmen who though are all match winners, will need to step up if they want to retain the Cup. Especially Shikhar Dhawan who appears to be completely out of sorts. However it is never so easy to rule India out when it comes to a World Cup. Sri Lanka have the experience and skill to get through the group stages but if Lasith Malinga’s fitness keeps him out, they are not likely to make it through the quarter finals unless Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara can work some magic. England under the leadership of Eoin Morgan look fresher than they have looked in a while. Their bowling side looks invigorated and they have had a chance to get a feel for the Aussie conditions. Though overall this year there appear to be three main contenders for the title.

The 2015 World Cup is probably the best shot New Zealand have ever had of winning. Led by the vastly skilled and experienced Brendon McCullum, the black caps could easily be heading to the MCG on the 29th of March. For the first time in a long time, New Zealand look like a competitive team. For once, when talking about the squad there is more than one name worth mentioning in both bowling and batting, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson are both at the top of their game and the side has been blessed with a solid middle order who could each take New Zealand over the line. However, they haven’t had the easiest of rides, nerves have played a huge part in the past and if the team don’t start fresh and push those memories out of their minds, the may end up on the same path again.

Australia under the leadership of Michael Clarke most definitely have what it takes to win the Cup. With David Warner in full form and explosive players like James Faulkner they wont have much to worry about, especially with bowlers like Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood to back them up. With the home side advantage, it would have been easy to say this would be Australia’s year. However, there is one major problem Australia face, Michael Clarke’s hamstring. The entire outcome of the tournament could well change from this one muscle of this one man. In his absence, Steve Smith who played superbly during the India series would captain the side. Smith captained Australia through the Test series against India and has shown his skill as a batsman but under tight pressure situations, he showed cracks and became agitated more than once. With the pressure on through the series and the fiery nature of the Aussie side, Clarke’s calming presence might be necessary for Australia to win.

Last but by no means least, possibly the most entertaining World Cup side who have missed out on so many occasions due to dropped catches, run outs and rain rules. South Africa, the top ranked Test team, with some of the best batsmen and bowlers in the world right now will always on paper look competitive. However, that is just not enough, South Africa have made a habit of getting themselves into situations where one minor slip knocks them out of the tournament. It is surprising that haven’t ever won an ICC World Cup especially with batsmen like Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers who just recently broke roughly four records in one match and bowlers like Dale Steyn. Though this time round, South Africa look much more settled with their side even through the middle order. If they can hold onto their catches and if de Villiers can avoid any run outs, South Africa may have more than a chance of claiming their first title.

Overall, Australia seem to have a slight upper hand though. Even without Michael Clarke the hosts appear to have found a well balanced team with a lot of fire and they could well pull it off.