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Fearless Cricket

19 Tuesday Jan 2021

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I hear this phrase “fearless cricket” thrown around a lot these days. It’s been associated quite frequently with England’s brand of one day cricket these past few years… but this series and in particular these past five days, the Indian Cricket Team have given the phrase a whole new meaning.

Winning a Test match at the Australian fortress of Brisbane (the first team to beat Australia at the Gabba since 1988) with what was basically a 2nd XI team showed something few thought India were capable of. WinViz had India’s chances of winning at 1% before the first over of Day 5 had even been bowled with 0 wickets down. So what was the deciding factor in the game?

How was it that after losing the first test, being 36 a/o, losing their captain, having been plagued with injury after injury, losing the toss and fielding a team with 2 debutants and a grand total of four Test matches worth of experience in their bowling attack (if you discount Rohit Sharma’s ball), India pulled off one of the greatest wins in Test match history to secure the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the second time in a row?

As Sachin Tendulkar so eloquantly put it: “Every session we discovered a new hero. Everytime we got hit, we stayed put & stood taller. We pushed boundaries of belief to play fearless but not careless cricket.”

They weren’t overconfident but neither were they afraid. They played with clarity, grit, purpose and most importantly courage. At no point did India look resigned to whatever ‘fate’ was in store for them. They played a brand of cricket that was unbridled by expectation and uninhibited by fear and by doing so pulled off an incredible feat.

Each and every one of those those players who took to the field for the 4th Test gave their all.

Each and every bowler shouldered their responsibility including an injured Navdeep Saini (who was fielding very gingerly) came on to bowl in the 3rd innings to support his teammates. And through their combined four Test experience managed to extract 20 Australian wickets.

Each and every one of those batters showcased why they had made it into the international side. From Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar’s valiant assault in the second innings that rescued India from 6-186 to 7-309 to Cheteshwar Pujara’s impregnable defence and Shubman Gill’s elegant drives that set the platform up perfectly for Rishabh Pant & Co. to storm the castle in the fourth innings.

It was in the final hour of play we saw this new brand of cricket come to fruition, after a series of partnerships had taken India to within 63 runs of victory, they lost Mayank Agarwal. The burden of either pushing for a win or closing off fell on Pant and debutant Washington Sundar.

The two left-handers chose to be fearless and go for the win.. but in all honesty was it really a choice? Had they even considered it a dare to take on the challenge and risk the loss? Did it even cross their mind? Nothing we saw in that final hour was out of character for Pant and we had seen that same drive in Sundar during the second innings.

So how do you beat a man that just plays the way he plays?

How do you beat a team unburdened by consequence and fear?

It seemed Australia just couldn’t find an answer as India won by 3 wickets and recorded the highest ever run chase at the Gabba to take the series 2-1. A testament to this new brand of cricket. The beginning of a new era.

Can Cricket Save The World?

30 Thursday Mar 2017

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It’s been a while since I uploaded a blog, I’ve been having a bit of writers block. I wanted to write something about India and Australia but whilst I gather my thoughts on that, I wanted to upload this. A slightly late video of our coaching day in South Africa and talk a bit about – as the MCC like to call it – ‘the spirit of cricket’

I was lucky enough to be given the chance to go on tour and play cricket in South Africa and on top of that I was even MORE lucky to be given the opportunity to coach some really talented young kids cricket in a Township in Cape Town. Created during apartheid as a dormitory area for migratory workers, today it is the biggest and youngest black township on the Cape Flats.

 

It was so inspiring to see these young kids running around (playing better cricket than myself to be honest) and bursting with energy. Working alongside Sporting Chance who work tirelessly with the kids and do amazing work we were able to deliver some bowling, batting and fielding coaching sessions and donate some kit and £700 to the charity. It’s nothing in the grand scheme of things but every little helps and the day had such a profound impact on everyone who participated, we established a crowdfunding page to help raise money and develop a sustainable relationship with the charity and the kids.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/khayelitsha <if you have a few pounds to spare!

It got me thinking about the impact cricket has in the world and in particular on women and young girls. From Cricket Without Boundaries who work in sub-Saharan African countries to deliver cricket development alongside health and social education messages from HIV to FGM two of the most prevalent health issues faced by some of these countries…

(http://www.cricketwithoutboundaries.com/volunteer < you can read more about volunteering if you’re interested!)

… to Opening Boundaries who  just recently teamed up with the White Ribbon campaign to promote the role of men in the prevention of male violence against women and girls through sport and have done incredible work to promote gender equality and empower women and young girls through cricket.

Even at the elite level, cricket is making progress. the MCC have in recent years started running development and legacy tours to coach and train up coaches in countries such as Nepal, Suriname, Bermuda and Uganda. Countries that don’t enjoy the benefits of larger Test playing nations or even associate nations but giving the chance to these other nations to play against an elite team is invaluable experience and will help grow the game in more ways than one.

 

 

To be honest, I have no idea where this blog was going and I could go on forever about the number of charities doing amazing work from Chance to Shine to Street Child United and don’t get me wrong there’s still a long way to go but I just wanted to show everyone the incredible projects that are running all around us and most importantly, that my obsession with the sport is well founded…

The Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde of cricket

29 Sunday Mar 2015

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The semi finals of the World Cup 2015 showed the world both faces of cricket. The ugliest side and the most beautiful.

South Africa were facing New Zealand on the 24th of March in Auckland. Neither team had ever made it to a World Cup final and they were here facing each other in an attempt to make it their first. Both teams knew they could not both make it through to the finals and that this would be a fight to the last second. Considering the pressure on both teams to make it through to the finals, it was possibly the cleanest and purest game of cricket ever. It was also the most heart-breaking.

Both teams were coming into the semi-final from unbelievable wins. South Africa had smashed through Sri Lanka and beaten them with nine wickets in hand. New Zealand with an unbelievable performance from Martin Guptill had beaten the West Indies by 143 runs. South Africa were batting first at the Eden Park ground. They got off to a fairly slow start and Trent Boult who has been New Zealand’s key this tournament picked off the openers cheaply. Rilee Rossouw and Faf du Plessis slowly built back up. At 114 it was Corey Anderson who got the break through and removed Rossouw. Next in was AB de Villers. The man who could completely take the game away from New Zealand. It was a wonderful partnership from du Plessis and de Villiers. They ran well between the wicket and picked up the run rate. The two built up a 100 run partnership before the rain came to New Zealand’s aid. It wasn’t the first time rain had interfered with a South African World Cup knock-out game and it had never ended well for them especially when Duckworth-Lewis came into play. The game was reduced to 43 overs and South Africa needed to push on quickly with roughly six overs to go. Unfortunately du Plessis was removed almost immediately after play restarted and de Villiers found it hard to get going straight away. However David Miller came to their rescue as he smashed 49 off 18 balls and pushed South Africa up to 281.

Duckworth Lewis changed New Zealand’s target to 298 from 43 overs. It wasn’t an easy target but it was easier than the one South Africa were heading for before the rain. McCullum set off in true McCullum style, without any inhibitions he bludgeoned 59 from 26 off South Africa’s World Class fast bowlers. It was just the start that New Zealand needed to begin the chase. He brought down the required rate to a mere six per over. South Africa however continued to pick off wickets and pushed ahead. Kane Williamson was removed early and just as partnerships began to build up, Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor got out. It was looking as though New Zealand might finally crumble under the pressure but a brilliant partnership between Corey Anderson and Grant Elliott kept the game alive. They put on a 103 run partnership before Anderson was removed. The game was still in the balance, both teams fighting with all their might. New Zealand still needed 46 from the last five overs.

The final over came and New Zealand needed 12 runs off the last 6 balls. It was not an easy ask with Dale Steyn bowling. Both teams were still well in the game. The intensity grew and New Zealand needed five from two when Elliott smashed a six out of the ground. As the ball crashed down it brought the dreams of the South African’s down with it. Dale Steyn fell to the floor and Grant Elliott went over to give him a hand before going to celebrate. There was an unbelievable amount of respect shown by both teams and it was possibly the most bitter-sweet ending to any cricket game.

The second semi final however was all but that. It was however, a game of sheer aggression in the wrong way. Both teams had faced issues with each other in the past and India’s new and younger side were much more ready to give what they got from Australia. The crowd atmosphere was almost mucky in places and tainted with bitterness of Bangladeshi supporters who had come specifically to boycott the Indians. This was India’s biggest test of the tournament. They hadn’t faced a significant challenge in the group matches or the quarter-finals.

It all began well with India removing David Warner early. Bowling Australia out was always going to be their biggest issue. In particular Steve Smith who had played so brilliantly against India over the summer. Smith and Aaron Finch put on an incredible 182 run partnership. India looked like they were back in the test series, unable to pick up a wicket. Smith was finally removed and Glenn Maxwell was sent in early to keep the momentum going and as always he got off to a flyer before he was removed by Ravi Ashwin. Two quick wickets fell as Finch and captain Michael Clarke fell leaving Australia 248-5 at 43. It wasn’t a great start but India had pulled it back from what could have been a 350+ run total. The game still got away from India however as James Faulkner and Mitchell Johnson put on great cameos to bring Australia up to 328. An incredibly tough ask.

As the game went on it just got more sullied. India got off to a flyer with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. The pair put on a great first wicket partnership of 76 runs from 13 overs. There were some loose shots and some lucky misses but the openers had taken some pressure off. Once the Australian’s broke through that first partnership, India could just not get another one to stick. Virat Kohli got out for one. Had Kohli stuck around he was likely to be the man to get the brunt of it. However it all fell on the in-form Suresh Raina who had pulled India through on more than one occassion this World Cup. Mitchell Starc attacked Raina and on one occasion threw the ball at the stumps to hit Raina before appealing for obstruction. The atmosphere changed from there. The Indian fans had gone silent. There was no fight left. No one put up a fight except the captain MS Dhoni but he could not finish the game by himself. India fell 94 runs short of the total. It was a weak fight from them that left everyone disappointed. They had the ability to win, or at least make Australia really sweat but their run finally came to an end.

Australia had bowled beautifully to restrict India but it was a bitter end to the game.

Semi-finals Preview: India v Australia

25 Wednesday Mar 2015

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Two of the strongest teams coming into the World Cup, the game on Thursday the 26th of March is going to one of pure intensity. India, unbeaten in the group stages are coming in strong with contributions from each of their players. Virat Kohli kicked off the season smashing a century against Pakistan. Shikhar Dhawan pulled off two centuries with Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma also jumping in on the century bandwagon. Batting was never the big question for India, it’s their bowling that has let them down in the past. However with a fit Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami they have pulled out 70 wickets from seven games. The spinners have also contributed massively towards India’s success with Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja also taking wickets.

Australia have had a more interesting run up to the semi-final. They had lost their game against New Zealand as their batting line-up crumbled. It was only an incredible bowling performance from Mitchell Starc that helped them save face. The quarter-final against Pakistan also highlighted the chinks in Australia’s armour. Wahab Riaz bowled as if he was reading from a manual of how to pick off the Australian batsmen. He should have had four wickets had Pakistan taken their catches.

The fact that the game is being played at the SCG is a huge factor. It is almost a dream pitch for India, as good a pitch as they could ask for in Australia. Ravi Ashwin will be key in India’s bowling attack. Imran Tahir bowled phenomenally against Sri Lanka at the quarter final and backed up by JP Duminy they picked seven out of the ten wickets. A number that may unnerve the hosts. They have so far only used a specialist spinner once in Xavier Doherty and if they choose to change their team dynamic again to suit the pitch it may work against them. India have used the same 11 throughout the tournament, with Shami resting for one game only. They have settled as a unit and they compliment each other well.

Australia are likely to continue with their brand of aggressive cricket in an attempt to wind up the Indians, in particular Virat Kohli. They will look to throw him off his game from the start. However as with Riaz, Kohli can change the game in an instant. If he gets fired up and gets into the game, India will be flying back to the MCG for the finals against New Zealand.

143 run win gives New Zealand a spot in the Semi-finals

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

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The spectators at the Wellington Regional were given the show of a lifetime. It was the fourth quarter-final, New Zealand vs. West Indies. It was never going to be a dull match, not with the likes of Chris Gayle and Bredon McCullum playing.

It was however Martin Guptill who made the day so memorable. It was Martin Guptil who smashed the highest individual World Cup score to score an unbelievable 237 runs from 163 balls. He led New Zealand to a record breaking knock-out game score of 393-6 and got them a place in the semi-finals against South Africa. Guptill’s innings began steadily with some beautiful strokes, he was playing the perfect anchoring innings. That however changed once Guptil reached his 100 from 111 balls. He used 23 balls to reach his 150 and only 18 to reach his 200. He then smashed his final 37 from 11 balls. It was an unbelievable innings of incredible power. 24 fours and 11 sixes came from the man who was making the Wellington ground look smaller than a tennis court. It didn’t matter what the other batsmen were doing all eyes were on Guptill even when he was at the non-strikers end.

The West Indies came out to bat and to their credit they gave it everything. They came out all guns blazing and made New Zealand sweat. As always the West Indies team dealt in boundaries. Chris Gayle who had injured his back could barely run looked his normal self as he slammed eight sixes and two fours to score 61. Marlon Samuels, Jonathan Carter and all of the lower order joined in on the boundary action to keep the West Indies going at a run rate of 8.19 an over. The West Indies captain Jason Holder smashed 42 off 26 balls and it was 31 overs of pure entertainment for the Wellington crowd.

West Indies fell 143 runs short of their imposing target but they could hold their heads up they had given it a real shot. They had a lot to take away from the 2015 World Cup tournament, including the possibility of a new rule to not play against South Africa so long as AB de Villiers remains in the team.

Wahab Riaz vs. Australia

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

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Pakistan had made it into the quarter finals after more than just a rough start. They had been crushed by their arch rivals India and then fell to an embarassing 1-4 facing the West Indies before collapsing for 160. It was not unexpected that Pakistan would suffer with three of their front-line bowlers being injured or barred from the competition but their performance had been well below par. However they came back to beat South Africa who had just posted back-to-back 400+ totals. It was a low scoring game where Pakistan defended 222. They bowled South Africa out for 202 and the game brought back painful memories of the 2011 quarter final between New Zealand and South Africa. In doing so, Pakistan scraped into the quarter finals and pushed Ireland out.

Even though Pakistan were missing some key players, they still had a decent bowling attack. It was their batting had let them down on more than one occassion and this day was no different. Had they been able to reach 250-260+ they would have been in with a real chance.

Both openers were removed cheaply once again. Haris Sohail and Pakistan’s saviour Misbah Ul Haq came together at the crease and put on a decent partnership. The pair batted well and built up the innings again. However on 97 Misbah was caught in the deep. From then on, the innings began to collapse. The Pakistani batsmen got out to rash shots and bad placement of the ball. Umar Akmal smashed the ball straight down Finch’s throat. A few metres either side and it would have been a boundary. Four of the Pakistani batsmen were caught out in the field. They used the batting powerplay poorly and even though a small cameo from Shahid Afridi kept the spirit of the fans up it was not enough to push the team up to a defendable total.

The Australians lived up to their name as the aggressors. They taunted the tail-enders, in particular Wahab Riaz. Mitchell Starc and Shane Watson mockingly explained what a cricket ball was and that he should try and hit it. They fired up Riaz, a decision Watson would later come to regret. Had someone put a thermometer anywhere near Riaz it would have burst. The hosts finally plowed through the tail end and Pakistan finished on 213 runs.

The fact that Australia won by six wickets does not do the match justice. Pakistan bowled masterfully. The opening bowlers pulled off great lines and lengths and Sohail Khan had Finch lbw early on. However that wasn’t going to be enough. Pakistan needed a big breakthrough. They needed a gamechanger, and that’s just what they got. At the first bowling change, Wahab Riaz was brought in. Still fired up from his encounter with Starc and Watson he was ready to take on the entire Australian team single handedly. Riaz bowled with the aggression of Dale Steyn and Mitchell Johnson togehter in every single delivery. He took down David Warner with his 3rd delivery and bounced out Michael Clarke with his 10th. Australia were 59-3 and Riaz was not finished. He peppered Watson with the short ball and Watson could not get away. The tension between the two was explosive. Steve Smith was playing well at the other end but nothing else was relevant when Riaz came steaming in to bowl at Watson. He finally cracked under the pressure playing a release shot straight to Rahat Ali. Australia were about to be 83-4. Then Rahat Ali dropped the catch. There are no second chances when you’re defending 213, each chance and half chance needs to be taken. Even at 83-4 it would have been difficult to win but it was a knock-out game and Watson’s return to the dressing room could have thoroughly rattled the hosts.

With the dropped catch it was as though the fight had been drained from the team. Riaz bowled one too many overs in the hope to recreate Watson’s mistake but he began to tire and Watson finally got away. Along with Smith they breezed through to 148 before Smith was caught out lbw by Ehsan Adil. As the partnership broke Riaz was brought back for one final fight. Another catch off his bowling went down, luckily for Glenn Maxwell, which could have left Australia 154-5. It was not meant to be. It appeared only Riaz was in the fight against Australia. Watson and Maxwell finished off the innings and with it pushed Australia into the semi-finals.

No matter the result, the game will be rememebered for Wahab Riaz’s unyielding spell. A spell that would go down in history as one of the greatest.

India continue unbeaten run.

23 Monday Mar 2015

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Seven matches and 70 wickets later, India are still in the running to for title. Many fans had booked their holidays around the group stage matches with no expectations for the team to make it any further. They had not accounted for Shikhar Dhawan’s return to form, or for Mohammed Shami to be sitting third on the wicket takers list.

The 19th of March marked the day MS Dhoni took his team to an unbeaten streak of 10 spectacular wins. India were playing Bangladesh in the quarterfinals of the 2015 World Cup. Bangladesh had a great run in the lead up to the game, they had beaten England and given New Zealand a real run for their money in the group stages. However they were playing in the big leagues now. A format they were not used to, a format where one misfield could knock them out of the running. They were also playing at the intimidating ground of the MCG. On the same ground that they had played poorly against Sri Lanka in the group stages. They were also playing the current champions who were more fired up than ever.

It was expected that India would win and go on to play the semi-final in Sydney but this was a day of belief for the Bangladesh team and their fans. They had beaten England and made it into the knock-outs. Could they go all the way?

The might of the MCG and the pressure of the game appeared to be too much for Bangladesh. They started the day off bowling great lines and lengths and constantly questioning the Indian batsmen. They were able to remove Shikhar Dhawan who was closely followed by Virat Kohli and then Ajinkya Rahane. At 115-3 from 28 overs, it was looking like they could limit India to under 270 runs. However Suresh Raina was next in and along with Rohit Sharma who was still at the crease, they accelerated. It was the partnership that broke Bangladesh. Raina had been such a key player in so many of the World Cup matches and once again he performed beautifully. A lot of powerful hitting, some misfields and some unfortunate decisions allowed India to push past 300 runs. Sharma ended on a match winning 137 which was well backed up by Raina’s 65.

Bangladesh had almost given up hope, they looked unfocused. There was no diving for the ball to stop the boundaries, there was no support for the bowlers and there was no team spirit left on the field by the end of the innings. They had been defeated.

Bangladesh went on to lose the match by 109 runs. India were in control of the game from the start and constantly picked off wickets as partnerships began to build up. Bangladesh’s key performer in the previous two matches, Mohammad Mahmadullah, was removed for 21 and Nasir Hossain top scored with 35.

It was as though the team had given up on themselves before their fans. They had done well to get where they had and they will have a lot to take home and build on in preparation for the 2019 World Cup.

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.