Usually, whenever there is a test match involving Bangladesh, one can guess that Bangladesh would be hoping for the rains to drop down so that they can end the match with a draw convincing fools that they would have won the game had there been no interruption by rain or bad weather. But, that might not be the case in case Bangladesh are facing Zimbabwe with their chances being high against that trouble torn team. And, speaking present, the latest entry into Bangladesh's wish list would be the West Indies against whom, at least at home Bangladesh can hope to win.
Yesterday in the first day of the first test match against West Indies at Chittagong, until rain interrupted in between, Bangladesh was doing well by not losing wickets at regular intervals and scoring at just less than 3.0 runs an over, which would not have been the case had West Indies been batting. It would not be wrong to say that the pitch also assisted the Bangladeshi batsmen which on the other hand makes the Bangladeshi captain's decision to bat first a mistake. But, it is always good in test matches to opt to bat first no matter what the pitch has got to say.
With repeated bounce, it is more of a certainty that the pitch will start giving troubles to the batsmen who bat in the days to come irrespective of whether a roller has been used or not. Bangladesh were able to cross the 250 run mark on the first day itself without losing too many wickets. If the other side of the cricketing world is considered, Sri Lanka in their first test against Pakistan were bowled out for 197 on day 1 itself. But, Sri Lanka were not playing at home and neither were Pakistan. Moreover, Sri Lanka are considered to be better outfit than Bangladesh.
At the same time, Pakistan are a far better outfit than West Indies. Coming to the first day's play, there were two batsmen from Bangladesh who notched up half centuries when Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal scored 68* and 52 respectively. Despite varying the fielding, Darren Sammy couldn't stop 136 runs in running between wickets not to forget the 23 boundaries scored to keep the ball boys on their toes. Whatever the Bangladeshis do, every effort gets applauded unlike their opponents who take home nothing despite winning and on the other hand get criticized in case they lose. Check out for the latest on Stock Market.
Showing posts with label Darren Sammy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Darren Sammy. Show all posts
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Sunday, 5 June 2011
Depleted India show West Indies the gates
Well, some two years down the lane, the West Indies had been whitewashed by the Bangladesh with most of the big names missing from the West Indies squad. Now, a team deceived from its key players is found to thrash the same country on its home ground. Recently, the case was the same when they had Pakistan in the delivering end in the only T20 game they played. India were without the services of Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh etc who have pulled out of the tournament citing one or the other reasons. The team was captained by Suresh Raina.
The necessary action that a T20 game is expected to give happened to come towards the fag end of the innings with Yousuf Pathan blasting two sixes and Harbhajan Singh hitting one. Of course, even Rohith Sharma had two hits out of the ground but that was preceded by a series of ducking the ball.Rohith Sharma took 23 balls to score his 26 at a rate of 113.04 runs for every 100 balls he faced. However, neither of the teams were found to show any sort of experimenting with their bowling with India sticking to 5 bowler theory and West indies using 4 bowlers to bowl their full quota.
Being the home team, the West Indies showed all sorts of confidence when they started their run chase with a 66 run third wicket partnership between Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo. This though couldn't fetch them a victory could however save some face for the hosts. The match was of little or of no consequence with hardly any takers irrespective of who wins or who loses. The target should have been chased down by the West Indies with players like Christopher Barnwell's late show with the bat that saw 3 sixes which was more than anybody else's in the game.
I was just wondering when Samuels was mentioned in the team. Samuels' last game for the West Indies was against Sri Lanka in 2008. After that, we hear Samuels was suspended by the ICC for having a suspect bowling action. If one can go through the scorecard, you can see Darren Sammy with four wickets at a rate of 4.00 runs an over. That was a match figure one of its kind with a bowler bowling 4 overs, taking 4 wickets and giving away runs at a rate of 4.00 runs an over. But, destiny was too harsh upon him when he missed the man of the match award for being in the side that lost the match.
The necessary action that a T20 game is expected to give happened to come towards the fag end of the innings with Yousuf Pathan blasting two sixes and Harbhajan Singh hitting one. Of course, even Rohith Sharma had two hits out of the ground but that was preceded by a series of ducking the ball.Rohith Sharma took 23 balls to score his 26 at a rate of 113.04 runs for every 100 balls he faced. However, neither of the teams were found to show any sort of experimenting with their bowling with India sticking to 5 bowler theory and West indies using 4 bowlers to bowl their full quota.
Being the home team, the West Indies showed all sorts of confidence when they started their run chase with a 66 run third wicket partnership between Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo. This though couldn't fetch them a victory could however save some face for the hosts. The match was of little or of no consequence with hardly any takers irrespective of who wins or who loses. The target should have been chased down by the West Indies with players like Christopher Barnwell's late show with the bat that saw 3 sixes which was more than anybody else's in the game.
I was just wondering when Samuels was mentioned in the team. Samuels' last game for the West Indies was against Sri Lanka in 2008. After that, we hear Samuels was suspended by the ICC for having a suspect bowling action. If one can go through the scorecard, you can see Darren Sammy with four wickets at a rate of 4.00 runs an over. That was a match figure one of its kind with a bowler bowling 4 overs, taking 4 wickets and giving away runs at a rate of 4.00 runs an over. But, destiny was too harsh upon him when he missed the man of the match award for being in the side that lost the match.
Friday, 18 March 2011
When there exists losers
Well in case a match that can be won happens to be lost, who is to be blamed becomes the toughest question of all. And that was what the West Indies were to face after their close and yet so far from victory against England at Chennai yesterday. A total of 244 on the board put up by the Englishmen should not have been a tough chase for a team that started off well blasting off 58 runs from the first 7 overs at a run-rate of over 8 runs an over. Chris Gayle and Darren Sammy were supposed to make life miserable for the Englishmen which eventually didn't happen.
Chris Gayle blasted 43 runs from just 21 balls scoring over 2 runs every ball he faced while Darren Sammy massacred the English bowling by scoring just less than one and a half runs every ball he faced when he too fell 9 runs short of scoring a well deserved half century. I just couldn't stop cursing the West Indian batsmen who undid the good work which the bowlers did. If one can go through the scorecard, the West Indies team is hardly gifted with decent bowlers though Kemer Roach and Dwayne Smith can boast of some splendid feats occasionally.
At the end, if Chris Gayle and Darren Sammy fell short of a well deserved half century, the West Indies team fell short of a well deserved victory. Compared to the bowlers like Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann, the West Indies' bowlers fall way short though there is Kemer Roach who has had a hat-trick against Holland earlier in the tournament. Similarly, in the batting department, England fall short of a hard hitting batsman of the caliber of Chris Gayle though the tournament's highest individual run scorer has been Andrew Struass when he blasted the Indian bowlers for a 50X1.5.
But, the scorecard suggests otherwise when bowlers do the job for the West Indies team by restricting the English batsmen for a score less than 250 and at the same time getting the opposition all-out. Getting a team that has so far holds the record for the highest team total batting second should come in for some praise until the unexpected happened. England scored 339 batting second in the game against the co-hosts India at Bangalore. West Indies' unsuccessful run-chase started from 58/1 at 6.5 over to 150/6 at the end of the 27th over. This brings 92 runs from 21 overs which is just less than 5 an over but still gettable.
Chris Gayle blasted 43 runs from just 21 balls scoring over 2 runs every ball he faced while Darren Sammy massacred the English bowling by scoring just less than one and a half runs every ball he faced when he too fell 9 runs short of scoring a well deserved half century. I just couldn't stop cursing the West Indian batsmen who undid the good work which the bowlers did. If one can go through the scorecard, the West Indies team is hardly gifted with decent bowlers though Kemer Roach and Dwayne Smith can boast of some splendid feats occasionally.
At the end, if Chris Gayle and Darren Sammy fell short of a well deserved half century, the West Indies team fell short of a well deserved victory. Compared to the bowlers like Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann, the West Indies' bowlers fall way short though there is Kemer Roach who has had a hat-trick against Holland earlier in the tournament. Similarly, in the batting department, England fall short of a hard hitting batsman of the caliber of Chris Gayle though the tournament's highest individual run scorer has been Andrew Struass when he blasted the Indian bowlers for a 50X1.5.
But, the scorecard suggests otherwise when bowlers do the job for the West Indies team by restricting the English batsmen for a score less than 250 and at the same time getting the opposition all-out. Getting a team that has so far holds the record for the highest team total batting second should come in for some praise until the unexpected happened. England scored 339 batting second in the game against the co-hosts India at Bangalore. West Indies' unsuccessful run-chase started from 58/1 at 6.5 over to 150/6 at the end of the 27th over. This brings 92 runs from 21 overs which is just less than 5 an over but still gettable.
Thursday, 11 March 2010
So, even the West Indies can dominate
The world was all set to forget that at one point of time most of the international records in both the tests ans one day internationals belonged, starting from the fact that they were the first team to win two world cups till Brian Lara scored an unbeaten 400 against England at St Antigua to not only become the highest individual run scorer but also became the only player to score a quadruple hundred. And, if heir recent past is considered, they have lost most of their fan following who are now a days found betting against them be it against any opposition.
And, the West Indies in most of the occasions were in support of that. They have a recent history of faring so badly in all the three formats of the game that whenever West Indies even goes in for a draw, that used to raise eyebrows. This was the case against Australia when the West Indies drew a test match at Adelaide. And, whenever the West Indies were able to snatch, it was at the cost of their opposition who at times underestimated the same. And, this was evident in the second match against Zimbabwe where the West Indies won by 4 wickets chasing just 207 runs.
However, things improved a lot in the third one dayer played at Kingstown where the West Indies took the game away from Zimbabwe in a one sided manner. The West Indies once again showed Zimbabwe that they have been stripped off their test status some five years back. West Indies once again reminded the Zimbabweans that they could not qualify for either the ICC champions trophy or the world T20 last year. In the third one dayer, Zimbabwe were nowhere in the game and the West Indies also showed the fans that atleast at home they can come out victorious.
This time the West Indies team didn't leave any stone unturned when they excelled in all three departments of the game. This was not really evident when the entire West Indies team could not even go past 250 on board when in today's cricket, 300+ also is an average score. And, like always, the West Indies needed the contribution of Shivnarine Chanderapaul to lead the batting though others followed suit. It was then it was realized that the pitch had nothing to offer for the batsmen when there was only one Zimbabwean batsman who was comparatively better than the rest. There was just 1 six in the entire Zimbabwean innings, with the highest individual score being 35.
Once again, the man of the match was awarded to the wrong person who could all do was to extract something which the pitch assisted. The real challenge was to stand and deliver which was possible from Chanderapaul. But, once again the mistake has to be regretted by all.
And, the West Indies in most of the occasions were in support of that. They have a recent history of faring so badly in all the three formats of the game that whenever West Indies even goes in for a draw, that used to raise eyebrows. This was the case against Australia when the West Indies drew a test match at Adelaide. And, whenever the West Indies were able to snatch, it was at the cost of their opposition who at times underestimated the same. And, this was evident in the second match against Zimbabwe where the West Indies won by 4 wickets chasing just 207 runs.
However, things improved a lot in the third one dayer played at Kingstown where the West Indies took the game away from Zimbabwe in a one sided manner. The West Indies once again showed Zimbabwe that they have been stripped off their test status some five years back. West Indies once again reminded the Zimbabweans that they could not qualify for either the ICC champions trophy or the world T20 last year. In the third one dayer, Zimbabwe were nowhere in the game and the West Indies also showed the fans that atleast at home they can come out victorious.
This time the West Indies team didn't leave any stone unturned when they excelled in all three departments of the game. This was not really evident when the entire West Indies team could not even go past 250 on board when in today's cricket, 300+ also is an average score. And, like always, the West Indies needed the contribution of Shivnarine Chanderapaul to lead the batting though others followed suit. It was then it was realized that the pitch had nothing to offer for the batsmen when there was only one Zimbabwean batsman who was comparatively better than the rest. There was just 1 six in the entire Zimbabwean innings, with the highest individual score being 35.
Once again, the man of the match was awarded to the wrong person who could all do was to extract something which the pitch assisted. The real challenge was to stand and deliver which was possible from Chanderapaul. But, once again the mistake has to be regretted by all.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Darren Sammy must stop speaking nonsense
These days, the players from thee Caribbean have started speaking meaningless, which was evident when the West Indian captain Chris Gayle predicted a 4-1 victory for his team a couple of days back. And now, Darren Sammy has followed suit. This I guess that the only thing that the West Indian players can do. Darren Sammy expects his team to continue the good work his team was found doing. One has to go through all leading cricket sites to see what good West Indies team has been upto since a decade. If the recent past is considered, West Indies have lost the 3 match test series to Australia 2-0.
West Indies were even worse than the Pakistan team which lost all three test matches against Australia in the latter part of the series. Pakistan was able to bowl the Aussies for a score of 127 in the first innings of the second test at Sydney. But, it was the batting that never went along with their bowling which saw them lose the match by 36 runs. In the entire year of 2009, West Indies were able to win just one test match against which fortunately happened to be their only test series win. They have been whitewashed by Bangladesh for reasons which are not that important.
All that the West Indies could afford in the year 2009 was beating Australia in the T20 world cup and then enter the semi finals of the same. Then, in the ICC Champions' trophy they could not even win a single match when they faced Pakistan, Australia and finally India. Prior to that West Indies lost a home series to India 1-2 when India was fresh from the whitewash they suffered in the T20 world cup played at England. All that the West Indies could afford in the entire 2009 was one victory against India as mentioned, 2 ODI victory against England not without losing 3 other games to lose the series 2-3 to England.
Then comes the only victory against New Zealand when West Indies toured the same in the 5 match ODI series by a margin of 1-2. Then, Sammy speaks about the achievements of his batsmen citing the number of centuries each one has in international cricket. Sammy's statement in regard was
As a matter of fact, Ponting has 28 hundreds against his name. And batsmen like Shane Watson, Clarke and others have more number of hundreds compared to the entire West Indies' batsmen put together minus Gayle.
West Indies were even worse than the Pakistan team which lost all three test matches against Australia in the latter part of the series. Pakistan was able to bowl the Aussies for a score of 127 in the first innings of the second test at Sydney. But, it was the batting that never went along with their bowling which saw them lose the match by 36 runs. In the entire year of 2009, West Indies were able to win just one test match against which fortunately happened to be their only test series win. They have been whitewashed by Bangladesh for reasons which are not that important.
All that the West Indies could afford in the year 2009 was beating Australia in the T20 world cup and then enter the semi finals of the same. Then, in the ICC Champions' trophy they could not even win a single match when they faced Pakistan, Australia and finally India. Prior to that West Indies lost a home series to India 1-2 when India was fresh from the whitewash they suffered in the T20 world cup played at England. All that the West Indies could afford in the entire 2009 was one victory against India as mentioned, 2 ODI victory against England not without losing 3 other games to lose the series 2-3 to England.
Then comes the only victory against New Zealand when West Indies toured the same in the 5 match ODI series by a margin of 1-2. Then, Sammy speaks about the achievements of his batsmen citing the number of centuries each one has in international cricket. Sammy's statement in regard was
"I think most of the batsmen have been scoring runs, [Denesh] Ramdin has two hundreds Narsingh [Deonarine] one, [Brendan] Nash has some good scores and everybody should be happy with their game," Sammy said. "But like we know, Australia are always tough to beat but we just have to go out there and believe and execute properly. I love that word, I think execution will be our most important word there in Australia."
As a matter of fact, Ponting has 28 hundreds against his name. And batsmen like Shane Watson, Clarke and others have more number of hundreds compared to the entire West Indies' batsmen put together minus Gayle.
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