As I mentioned in one of my previous posts that England are at present the only team not to have lost a game to any of the non test playing nation and also against Bangladesh. But, with every encounter against a minnow like Bangladesh, England are found coming up with a performance that is just slightly better than a defeat. None of the remaining 8 nations would have as many close encounters against minnow teams as England might have had. May be West Indies could well be excluded from the list. This is the 2nd time in a row that England are facing such a drought in one day cricket against Bangladesh.
England won the 2nd one dayer against Bangladesh by just 2 wickets which speaks for itself regarding the caliber of the English team. And the victory was possible due to the fact that there was a batsman in Morgan on side who held the nerves firm for England despite wickets falling from the other end. Without a batsman on one end, victory would have been far from question for the English team. There were five batsmen from the English side who returned back to the pavilion after scoring single digit scores. The English side lost 8 wickets compared to 6 from the Bangladeshi side.
Such a scenario occurs in games where there are two strong teams battling it out there. Like it happened in the match between Australia and Pakistan in the group stage of the ICC Champions trophy last year. This is in a way worse than a defeat when a team that is expected to win in a one sided manner gasps for the same though I have cited this as 2nd best to defeat earlier here. One has to question whether it was England indeed who made it to the semi finals of the ICC Champions trophy last year and were they the ones who beat the Proteas 2-1 on their home ground.
Had it been the Bangladesh who had won the match in this fashion, the world of cricket would have been in full praise for Bangladesh but this may not be the case with England. The only positives for England lied in the area where the man of the match award went to Eoin Morgan who belonged to the England side unlike in the last game where the man of the match was a Bangladeshi batsmen in Tamim Iqbal. And some mature decision from Alistair Cook meant in going in for 3 bowlers who bowled 10 overs each unlike the lone bowler who bowed 10 over in the first encounter.
Showing posts with label ICC Champions Trophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ICC Champions Trophy. Show all posts
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
South Africa Too Bad A Hosts
Well it was the same Sri Lanka way back in 2003 that spoilt all hopes of South Africa making it to the second round of the ICC World Cup in South Africa. There it was Marvan Atapattu who blasted 124 that was aided with 18 hits to the fence off 129 balls, that was well supported by Aravinda De Silva who added another 73 runs, that too aided with the help of 6 fours and 2 huge sixes. That match was a real nerve tester for the Proteas after their initial loss at the hands of West Indies and New Zealand. South Africa were just 1 run short of the victory target which was 230 and a wrong signal from the dressing room ended up in such debacle.
Otherwise, there was good work done in by Herschelle Gibbs who scored 73 (88 balls) and an unbeaten 45 from Mark Boucher. I guess, from then onwards, the South African team, in addition to 15 players, a coach and a manager would have included an abacus or a calculator to avoid such disasters. That was also a rain hit match like yesterday's which imposed a Duckworth Lewis total of 262 runs from 37.2 overs. Not a bad target or an unachievable one for South Africa but, Sri Lanka was too strong for the Proteas to overcome. Sri Lanka's efforts shouldn't go unrewarded?
One has to indeed pity the South African captain Greame Smith who along with ace batsman Jacques Kallis put up a strong foundation for the South African chase. As the Duckworth Lewis method always does, this time as well the run rate shot up from the previous one at 6.4 to just below 7 runs an over for South Africa. And what better can South Africa do with no recognized batsmen in the side to lead the batting? More than pointing fingers towards South Africa, one has to really appreciate Sri Lanka for outplaying South Africa in all departments of the game.
This was the first ime that Sri Lanka beat South Africa in an ICC Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka had lost to South Africa in the inaugural edition of the ICC Champions Trophy in a league stage match which in that tournament was a knock out one, meaning a team that loses its first match will have to wind up from the tournament which is not the case in these days. Sri Lanka lost their match to the proteas under Hansie Cronje when they were all out for 198. South Africa went on to win the series. Then in 2006, Sri Lanka yet again lost to South Africa in the league stages of the tournament held at India.
Otherwise, there was good work done in by Herschelle Gibbs who scored 73 (88 balls) and an unbeaten 45 from Mark Boucher. I guess, from then onwards, the South African team, in addition to 15 players, a coach and a manager would have included an abacus or a calculator to avoid such disasters. That was also a rain hit match like yesterday's which imposed a Duckworth Lewis total of 262 runs from 37.2 overs. Not a bad target or an unachievable one for South Africa but, Sri Lanka was too strong for the Proteas to overcome. Sri Lanka's efforts shouldn't go unrewarded?
One has to indeed pity the South African captain Greame Smith who along with ace batsman Jacques Kallis put up a strong foundation for the South African chase. As the Duckworth Lewis method always does, this time as well the run rate shot up from the previous one at 6.4 to just below 7 runs an over for South Africa. And what better can South Africa do with no recognized batsmen in the side to lead the batting? More than pointing fingers towards South Africa, one has to really appreciate Sri Lanka for outplaying South Africa in all departments of the game.
This was the first ime that Sri Lanka beat South Africa in an ICC Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka had lost to South Africa in the inaugural edition of the ICC Champions Trophy in a league stage match which in that tournament was a knock out one, meaning a team that loses its first match will have to wind up from the tournament which is not the case in these days. Sri Lanka lost their match to the proteas under Hansie Cronje when they were all out for 198. South Africa went on to win the series. Then in 2006, Sri Lanka yet again lost to South Africa in the league stages of the tournament held at India.
Saturday, 19 September 2009
South Africa Got To Improve A Lot
Well last night, South Africa thrashed the West Indies by a mammoth 188 runs in the warm up game just before the Champions Trophy at Potchefstroom. Not only was the margin that set the tone but it was also the mammoth score of 388 that South Africa put up on board for the under rated West Indian batsmen to chase. This shows how inhuman are the Proteas to expect such a thing from a minnow like team in West Indies. May be this is the reason as to why the Proteas go home upset when it comes to the crucial stages of a tournament. Anyway, I was just kidding.
However, some thing regarding both South Africa and the West Indies need some special attention whatsoever. South Africans have a habit of making hay while the sun shines. Good! But, succumb at situations when it really matters, which is evident from their on field performance i mega tournaments in three world cups since 1992, 1 ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 and the 2 T20 world cups that have been played, that has earned the proteas' the chokers tag. And the South Africans do deserve it. In the 2007 world cup, South Africans thrashed minnows Holland & Scotland, in the former by a mile when Herschelle Gibbs blasted 36 runs from 1 over and in the end, could not even win all matches in the first stage.
The South Africans just managed a win against Sri Lanka in the super eights of the same, following by thrashing weaker teams like England and the West Indies and they were no match for either Australia or New Zealand. Not to forget their loss to Bangladesh. It was India & Pakistan's early exit that led South Africa through to the semis of the same. And this time i their warm up match, South Africa thrashed the West Indies by posting 388 first and then following it up with by bowling them for 200 with almost 9 overs to spare. Is this all what the South Africans are capable of doing?
No doubt that all teams make this, whenever they get a chance to take the opposition for a ride. I even remember India thrashing Sri Lanka and Kenya in the league stages of the 1999 world cup only to lose to Australia and New Zealand in the super sixes that followed. With the home side advantage still with the Proteas, West Indies should not have been their target whatsoever. In most of the cases, teams that have ended up victorious in the warm up games crash land in crucial stages and the team that loses become more cautious. This might not be the case with the West Indies atleast in this tournament. But, in case the Proteas get carried away by their splendid performance against the West Indies they are simply bound for yet another shocking experience.
However, some thing regarding both South Africa and the West Indies need some special attention whatsoever. South Africans have a habit of making hay while the sun shines. Good! But, succumb at situations when it really matters, which is evident from their on field performance i mega tournaments in three world cups since 1992, 1 ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 and the 2 T20 world cups that have been played, that has earned the proteas' the chokers tag. And the South Africans do deserve it. In the 2007 world cup, South Africans thrashed minnows Holland & Scotland, in the former by a mile when Herschelle Gibbs blasted 36 runs from 1 over and in the end, could not even win all matches in the first stage.
The South Africans just managed a win against Sri Lanka in the super eights of the same, following by thrashing weaker teams like England and the West Indies and they were no match for either Australia or New Zealand. Not to forget their loss to Bangladesh. It was India & Pakistan's early exit that led South Africa through to the semis of the same. And this time i their warm up match, South Africa thrashed the West Indies by posting 388 first and then following it up with by bowling them for 200 with almost 9 overs to spare. Is this all what the South Africans are capable of doing?
No doubt that all teams make this, whenever they get a chance to take the opposition for a ride. I even remember India thrashing Sri Lanka and Kenya in the league stages of the 1999 world cup only to lose to Australia and New Zealand in the super sixes that followed. With the home side advantage still with the Proteas, West Indies should not have been their target whatsoever. In most of the cases, teams that have ended up victorious in the warm up games crash land in crucial stages and the team that loses become more cautious. This might not be the case with the West Indies atleast in this tournament. But, in case the Proteas get carried away by their splendid performance against the West Indies they are simply bound for yet another shocking experience.
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