Well winning is of utmost importance for the West Indies especially after the first test ended in a draw and in that test match, the player of the match was given to the Bangladeshi bowler Elias Sunny who scalped 6 wickets in the first innings. More than that, Bangladesh had a first innings lead of 106 runs which definitely draws in a lot of criticisms from all over. On the whole, the West Indies had nothing to take home in that match that lasted for five days. Now, though West Indies have taken a 1st innings lead, the game still lies in a balance.
In the ongoing second test, outlook suggests that everything is going on right for the West Indies after they had a lead of 231 runs by the end of the third day's play. But, with two more days still to go, a draw can well be expected to be on the cards. Had it been India or South Africa, may be a total of 231 would have solved matters. But, with the opposition being West Indies, nothing can be said surely. Things that are to be confirmed for the West Indies to ensure a win are first, they should put up a more decent total on the board.
And, secondly, they will have to bowl out Bangladesh for the second time in the game which requires a lot of thinking and planning. An ideal approach would be to leave the Bangladeshi batsmen with enough time, batting which requires a lot of hard work and at the same time winning the same needs effort. With little time left for the hosts to bat, the best approach for them would be to stand and see to it that the game gets drawn. And, in case West Indies are to see to it that Bangladesh don't snatch a draw, then a considerable time needs to be given for them to bat.
For that to happen, there needs to be a quickfire batting display from Bravo and co, ensuring the touring nation that they leave Bangladesh with no other option but to either go for the kill or else surrender. The ideal total looking at the third day's play would be somewhere close to 500. In case the match ends in a draw, it is as though Bangladesh have retained the trophy with them whitewashing the West Indies on their previous tour couple of years back. So, that is why winning is important for the West Indies. Still, all is not lost when you can make money online.
Showing posts with label Dwayne Bravo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dwayne Bravo. Show all posts
Tuesday, 1 November 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, 25 February 2011
Smooth sail for South Africa
In the beginning of the tournament itself, looking at the schedule and the grouping of teams it was well understood that the teams who would make it to the quarter-finals of the world cup would be India, West Indies, South Africa and England from group B and Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand from group A. But, the next guess that is more important would be the semi-finals and unfortunately, even that work has been greatly simplified. Thanks to the below par performance from England and West Indies who would no doubt be on the losing side in the quarter-finals.
Yesterday, the West Indies played as though they were no match for the Proteas when the South African ship sailed so smoothly en route to their successful chase of 223 runs set by West Indies. Had this been the total some ten years back, then may be a see-saw sort of match would have been in front of our eyes. But, i a day when even a total in excess of 300 does not guarantee a victory, a total of 222 stands nowhere. The West Indies bowlers showed no signs of spirit that they were facing a strong nation and played as though they were facing Ireland.
There was only one batsman from the West Indian side who scored a half century and despite batsmen like Dwayne Bravo and Devon Smith and Shivnarine Chanderapaul getting the momentum right, they could not convert their innings into match winning partnerships. It would be wrong to say that the West Indies are not equipped with match wining players which is responsible for their debacle. There are the likes of Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo etc who can do miracles with the bat. There is also a rare all-rounder in Kieron Pollard who can smash bowlers and take wickets as well.
But, the thing which the West Indian players lack is the team work which makes them one of the most vulnerable outfits in world cricket. Any team can beat the West Indies including Bangladesh and may be to an extent. In the last world cup, despite playing at home and with Brian Lara out there, they had losses against England, Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand. Their only success was against Pakistan in the pool match. No doubt that West Indies will make it to the quarter-finals but, it is sad that the competition will be stripped off its caliber when teams don't perform upto their expectations.
Yesterday, the West Indies played as though they were no match for the Proteas when the South African ship sailed so smoothly en route to their successful chase of 223 runs set by West Indies. Had this been the total some ten years back, then may be a see-saw sort of match would have been in front of our eyes. But, i a day when even a total in excess of 300 does not guarantee a victory, a total of 222 stands nowhere. The West Indies bowlers showed no signs of spirit that they were facing a strong nation and played as though they were facing Ireland.
There was only one batsman from the West Indian side who scored a half century and despite batsmen like Dwayne Bravo and Devon Smith and Shivnarine Chanderapaul getting the momentum right, they could not convert their innings into match winning partnerships. It would be wrong to say that the West Indies are not equipped with match wining players which is responsible for their debacle. There are the likes of Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo etc who can do miracles with the bat. There is also a rare all-rounder in Kieron Pollard who can smash bowlers and take wickets as well.
But, the thing which the West Indian players lack is the team work which makes them one of the most vulnerable outfits in world cricket. Any team can beat the West Indies including Bangladesh and may be to an extent. In the last world cup, despite playing at home and with Brian Lara out there, they had losses against England, Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand. Their only success was against Pakistan in the pool match. No doubt that West Indies will make it to the quarter-finals but, it is sad that the competition will be stripped off its caliber when teams don't perform upto their expectations.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
The fate of a depleted KKR
Well it has been the trademark of the Kolkata Knight Riders to reserve wickets and go in for a final assault which is yet to become a reality. Even in yesterday's game between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians, the Kolkata Knight Riders lost just 3 wickets in the 20 overs that they played only to pile up a mere 155 runs on the board and eventually end up on the losing side. If not for his captaincy, Sourav Ganguly should stand nowhere when it comes to rescuing his team which was evident when he scored just 31 runs from 34 deliveries at a strike of less than 100.
This strike can be appreciated had it been in a one day international. But, this is not the time to remind anyone that Ganguly was playing a T20 game where his experience is less than some Piyush Chawla who is at present half his age. But, if common sense speaks, Ganguly should have taken the decision to take charge of his team by going for big shots rather than steadily increasing the pace after ducking in the initial part of his batting. No one would account Ganguly for hitting 5 boundaries but would surely point their fingers for not hitting even a single ball out of the ground.
If the other side of the coin is also given a close look at, it would be quite evident when the KKR team hardly had any hard hitting batsmen with only Chris Gayle and to some extent Ganguly being an exception. Had I been in place of Ganguly, I would have opted to choose Brad Hodge instead of Angelo Mathews and Shukla over Saha or Harpreet Singh. One has to wonder from where did this Harpreet Singh come from when the KKR squad doesn't mention his name. On the other side, even the bowlers from KKR had no momentum in them to trouble the Mumbai Indians' batsmen.
One cannot cite the presence of Sachin Tendulkar to have increased pressure on the KKR side for, Sachin is as good as anybody else as far as T20 cricket is considered though there might be a lot of contradictions to this. Shane Bond and Ishanth Sharma should have shown their caliber for the money what they were paid and the expectations they had drawn from their fans. But, they were the bowlers who ended up with the highest economy rate when both of them returned with a run rate of over 10 runs an over. Shane Bond was not even made to bowl his full quota of 4 overs. The only area where KKR can boast over MI is that they hit 2 sixes compared to only one from the MI side.
This strike can be appreciated had it been in a one day international. But, this is not the time to remind anyone that Ganguly was playing a T20 game where his experience is less than some Piyush Chawla who is at present half his age. But, if common sense speaks, Ganguly should have taken the decision to take charge of his team by going for big shots rather than steadily increasing the pace after ducking in the initial part of his batting. No one would account Ganguly for hitting 5 boundaries but would surely point their fingers for not hitting even a single ball out of the ground.
If the other side of the coin is also given a close look at, it would be quite evident when the KKR team hardly had any hard hitting batsmen with only Chris Gayle and to some extent Ganguly being an exception. Had I been in place of Ganguly, I would have opted to choose Brad Hodge instead of Angelo Mathews and Shukla over Saha or Harpreet Singh. One has to wonder from where did this Harpreet Singh come from when the KKR squad doesn't mention his name. On the other side, even the bowlers from KKR had no momentum in them to trouble the Mumbai Indians' batsmen.
One cannot cite the presence of Sachin Tendulkar to have increased pressure on the KKR side for, Sachin is as good as anybody else as far as T20 cricket is considered though there might be a lot of contradictions to this. Shane Bond and Ishanth Sharma should have shown their caliber for the money what they were paid and the expectations they had drawn from their fans. But, they were the bowlers who ended up with the highest economy rate when both of them returned with a run rate of over 10 runs an over. Shane Bond was not even made to bowl his full quota of 4 overs. The only area where KKR can boast over MI is that they hit 2 sixes compared to only one from the MI side.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
No one can be a threat to Aussies from WI
Well I wonder as to whether one has to cite so specially that medium pacers from the West Indies can never trouble Australia in the on going 5 match one day series between the two countries? All that the West Indian pace attack at present in the series could boast about was the presence of Darren Sammy and Dwayne Smith, both of whom stand nowhere when it comes to the recent list of all time fast bowling greats. Now, the lone addition to the armory of the West Indian fast bowling line up is Kemar Roach who is thought to be available for the series decider at Gabba.
Even Kemar Roach is yet to make a name for himself in the list of fast bowlers. May be that at present, in this series or even worse, only in the upcoming 4th one day scheduled at Gabba, Kemar Roach can consider himself to be ahead of all other fast bowlers of his team. However, the lone fast bowler who could have been of a little bit of trouble for the Australian team would have been Dwayne Bravo, who is found battling injuries off late and has been replaced by a batsman in Wavell Hinds. This has been the strength of the West Indies fast bowling line up.
Forget about winning aseries match against Australia, the West Indies team at present can't even think of losing after giving a tough fight to the hosts. And all that the West Indian fast bowling line up is found to have medium pace bowlers and no fast bowlers of the caliber of say Ambrose or Bishop. The lone bowler who could and up with a 4 wicket haul until now has been Ravi Rampaul who ended up with figures of 4/61 from his 10 overs giving away runs at the rate of 6.1 an over as compared to the below 5 an over run rate that Australia maintained in that game.
On the otherhand, Australia have more batsmen than the bowlers that the West Indies team can boast. West Indies bowling line up at present also includes the likes of Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds who are rather considered as batsmen than bowlers. Australia have in them batsmen of the caliber of Shane Watson, Mike Hussey, Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke who can rip out any opposition let alone West Indies. By the way, the West Indies bowling line up can, with good fortune rock only non test playing nations with a doubt whether they can do the same regarding even Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Even Kemar Roach is yet to make a name for himself in the list of fast bowlers. May be that at present, in this series or even worse, only in the upcoming 4th one day scheduled at Gabba, Kemar Roach can consider himself to be ahead of all other fast bowlers of his team. However, the lone fast bowler who could have been of a little bit of trouble for the Australian team would have been Dwayne Bravo, who is found battling injuries off late and has been replaced by a batsman in Wavell Hinds. This has been the strength of the West Indies fast bowling line up.
Forget about winning a
On the otherhand, Australia have more batsmen than the bowlers that the West Indies team can boast. West Indies bowling line up at present also includes the likes of Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds who are rather considered as batsmen than bowlers. Australia have in them batsmen of the caliber of Shane Watson, Mike Hussey, Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke who can rip out any opposition let alone West Indies. By the way, the West Indies bowling line up can, with good fortune rock only non test playing nations with a doubt whether they can do the same regarding even Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Friday, 12 June 2009
A Tough Task For India
Until yesterday, I never knew that the bond between India and Pakistan was so strong indeed. If Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka earlier in the day yesterday, later the same night, its rival India also lost their first match of the super eight of the ICC T20 world cup against the West Indies. If the previous edition of the ICC T20 world cup is to be taken, both the teams entered the finals of the same by losing just one game in the series until India snatched a 5 run win over Pakistan in the finals. India had lot a match against by 5 runs in their super eight opener and Pakistan to India in a bowl out which is needless to be said.
In the 2007 world cup in the West Indies, Pakistan was eliminated from the world cup after their loss to West Indies and then to Ireland. This was followed by the exit of team India who on the other hand lost to Bangladesh and then to Sri Lanka. In 1987, both India and Pakistan lost in the semis of the Reliance world cup. Pakistan lost their match against Australia and India to England. Anyway let us chuck this topic for the moment. Coming to the game between India and the West Indies, I could rather say that it was a good show put up by team India but it fell short of luck that Sri Lanka had earlier in the day in their match against Pakistan.
If not for the initial hiccups, the Indian team did well to contain the West Indian bowlers by scoring a decent 153 on the board. May be if the trio viz Gautam Gambhir, Rohith Sharma and Suresh Raina had gone in for some matured thinking, the total could have had a 20-30 extra runs. This showed the reckless shots that the so called stars of the Indian batting line up displayed the last night. Of course, the catch of Suresh Raina by the wicket keeper-DineshRamdin was just superb and so was the catch of Gautam Gambhir by Simmons in the deep. Perhaps! Had the stunning catch of Yuvraj been taken, there would have been a different mindset in the camp if not for a different result.
And at last, the three consecutive fours by Harbhajan in the last 3 balls showed that India were no less of batting talent. Even last time, India started their super eight campaign with a loss to New Zealand and were eventually termed the world champions of the T20. Perhaps! This time the task is a little bit more difficult especially for India after their loss to West Indies. This was the first major encounter for India this season after they had beaten minnows-Ireland and Bangladesh thanks to the bad scheduling of the event. This time as well, South Africa are on a roll after having been unbeaten so far. Oh! Yes..how can one forget the way Indians tamed the Proteas last season when the odds were against them?
This time England cannot be taken for granted despite being the underdogs for, they host the tournament and have a home team advantage. However, it would not be a wrong guess to call the shots favoring India. But, there are West Indies who are in no mood to compromise either. Unlike the other pool that has Ireland, this pool has a contest between three teams viz India, South Africa & West Indies and a little bit of England. The other pool has a contest between only Pakistan & New Zealand.
In the 2007 world cup in the West Indies, Pakistan was eliminated from the world cup after their loss to West Indies and then to Ireland. This was followed by the exit of team India who on the other hand lost to Bangladesh and then to Sri Lanka. In 1987, both India and Pakistan lost in the semis of the Reliance world cup. Pakistan lost their match against Australia and India to England. Anyway let us chuck this topic for the moment. Coming to the game between India and the West Indies, I could rather say that it was a good show put up by team India but it fell short of luck that Sri Lanka had earlier in the day in their match against Pakistan.
If not for the initial hiccups, the Indian team did well to contain the West Indian bowlers by scoring a decent 153 on the board. May be if the trio viz Gautam Gambhir, Rohith Sharma and Suresh Raina had gone in for some matured thinking, the total could have had a 20-30 extra runs. This showed the reckless shots that the so called stars of the Indian batting line up displayed the last night. Of course, the catch of Suresh Raina by the wicket keeper-DineshRamdin was just superb and so was the catch of Gautam Gambhir by Simmons in the deep. Perhaps! Had the stunning catch of Yuvraj been taken, there would have been a different mindset in the camp if not for a different result.
And at last, the three consecutive fours by Harbhajan in the last 3 balls showed that India were no less of batting talent. Even last time, India started their super eight campaign with a loss to New Zealand and were eventually termed the world champions of the T20. Perhaps! This time the task is a little bit more difficult especially for India after their loss to West Indies. This was the first major encounter for India this season after they had beaten minnows-Ireland and Bangladesh thanks to the bad scheduling of the event. This time as well, South Africa are on a roll after having been unbeaten so far. Oh! Yes..how can one forget the way Indians tamed the Proteas last season when the odds were against them?
This time England cannot be taken for granted despite being the underdogs for, they host the tournament and have a home team advantage. However, it would not be a wrong guess to call the shots favoring India. But, there are West Indies who are in no mood to compromise either. Unlike the other pool that has Ireland, this pool has a contest between three teams viz India, South Africa & West Indies and a little bit of England. The other pool has a contest between only Pakistan & New Zealand.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Same Score But A Different Approach
Approaches are the stepping atones of results one can say. A bad approach would definitely lead to a very bad result and a good one ensures a good result provided good luck prevails or bad luck doesn't overpower. The example for the same was given by the Mumbai Indians in their second encounter against the Kings XI Punjab at Centurion. The Kings XI Punjab team ended their batting innings by scoring exactly the same score that they did in the first encounter against the Mumbai Indians. But, the result was not the same for either teams out there whatsoever. And that too this was not the close encounter that it was on the other day.
The fifth over of the second innings when the Mumbai Indians' side was batting can never be forgotten especially by Sreesanth who once again proved that he is known only for wrong reasons on and off the field and not when the ball is given into his hands. The fifth over of the innings went for 21 runs with Bravo belting Sreesanth for two sixes and a boundary followed with 2 couple and a single. May be this was the over that bought confidence in the Mumbai Indians' batsmen who until then had scored just 14 runs from the first 4 overs. It is a comeback for Sreesanth that the Kings XI team have started going from bad to worse since his introduction.
A hint was given by Sreesanth when he played the first match of the series and giving away 23 runs in the 19th over of the Rajasthan Royals' innings which helped them go past the 200 run mark for the first time ever in the series. There was no Sreesanth in the earlier encounter between these two teams, which the Kings XI team won in a close affair. And another thing that turned out to be costly for the Kings XI team was the dropping of Yousuf Abdullah who was the architect in the Punjab team's victory in the first encounter returning with figures of 2/19 off the allotted 4 overs.
Yuvraj Singh going in for Brett Lee and Sreesanth made things worse for his team. This showed the consequence of disturbing the winning combination and Yuvraj Singh did that exactly at a time when his team required desperately to win incase his team had some chance of making it to the semis. But, even the Mumbai Indians' side have their last chances of making it to the last four of the Indian Premier League and why will, and why should they compromise? In addition to the bowlers' debacle, the batsmen never seemed to provide any sort of support to their bowlers. If not for Sohal's 43 runs at the top, none of the batsmen really stood to the challenge. Yuvraj Singh is still of the mindset that he is a batsman and will probably take time to realize that he is a captain too and would be responsible for his team's progress.
The fifth over of the second innings when the Mumbai Indians' side was batting can never be forgotten especially by Sreesanth who once again proved that he is known only for wrong reasons on and off the field and not when the ball is given into his hands. The fifth over of the innings went for 21 runs with Bravo belting Sreesanth for two sixes and a boundary followed with 2 couple and a single. May be this was the over that bought confidence in the Mumbai Indians' batsmen who until then had scored just 14 runs from the first 4 overs. It is a comeback for Sreesanth that the Kings XI team have started going from bad to worse since his introduction.
A hint was given by Sreesanth when he played the first match of the series and giving away 23 runs in the 19th over of the Rajasthan Royals' innings which helped them go past the 200 run mark for the first time ever in the series. There was no Sreesanth in the earlier encounter between these two teams, which the Kings XI team won in a close affair. And another thing that turned out to be costly for the Kings XI team was the dropping of Yousuf Abdullah who was the architect in the Punjab team's victory in the first encounter returning with figures of 2/19 off the allotted 4 overs.
Yuvraj Singh going in for Brett Lee and Sreesanth made things worse for his team. This showed the consequence of disturbing the winning combination and Yuvraj Singh did that exactly at a time when his team required desperately to win incase his team had some chance of making it to the semis. But, even the Mumbai Indians' side have their last chances of making it to the last four of the Indian Premier League and why will, and why should they compromise? In addition to the bowlers' debacle, the batsmen never seemed to provide any sort of support to their bowlers. If not for Sohal's 43 runs at the top, none of the batsmen really stood to the challenge. Yuvraj Singh is still of the mindset that he is a batsman and will probably take time to realize that he is a captain too and would be responsible for his team's progress.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)