Well I just cannot recall a finals between two teams captained by played who also keep wickets for their side. This time I saw it when Kumara Sangakkara for Sri Lanka and Mahendra Singh Dhoni did it for India in the finals. On one side, being an Indian I was rejoicing the Indian victory which came home after 28 years surpassing a silver jubilee in between and on the other hand, I had complete pity for Mahela Jayawardane to have ended on the losing side despite scoring a century. No one scored a century for India despite them being victorious.
This was a rare finals not only because it was India who won the trophy but for the fact that both teams fought it out hard to win the trophy which was eventually awarded to one team that played a slight better cricket. Sri Lanka did well to pileup 274 runs on the board which should have been a winning total for sure. But, needless to be said, Dhoni and team had different plans. I just cannot forget the presence of Sachin Tendulkar in the team for the sixth world cup. Someone like Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Inzamam Ul Haq never enjoyed this.
Despite being extraordinary players of their era, they never got to lift the world cup. One can look into the last three world cup finals which were all won by Australia and were one sided games. It would not have been a prized prediction for anyone who would have bet on Australia after Pakistan were bowled out for 132 in 1999. And then in 2003, a total of 359 would have never be chased even with ten Sachin Tendulkars in the side against a team with McGrath and co bowling. If McGrath stuck to his line and length, Lee did the damage.
Exactly four years later in the Caribbean, India was replaced by Sri Lanka and Ricky Ponting was replaced by Adam Gilchrist. Every world cup final set up a new record for Australia. In 1999, Pakistan were bowled out for the lowest total in a world cup final. Then in 2003, Indian bowlers were belted for the highest total, the largest margin of victory and the fastest hundred in a world cup final. Four years later, Adam Gilchrist blasted the fastest hundred in a world cup finals bettering Ponting's record by 2 balls and the highest individual score in a world cup final.
Showing posts with label Ricky Ponting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ricky Ponting. Show all posts
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Friday, 25 March 2011
Luck strikes India at the right time
Well there have been two games in this tournament where India should have won and eventually lost. Those are the game against England and South Africa where India lost the plot mid-way defending a decent total. Despite those two huge losses, the Indian players in every department were no short of their body language and guts. They did everything well till yesterday's game against the Aussies which was their win against the team after 24 years. Had the even took place a year later, may be India would have celebrated a silver-jubilee of their win over the four-time world champions.
India had last won a game against Australia in world cups in the 1987 edition where the Mahammed Azharuddin-led team India beat the to-be world champions by 59 runs though they lost their other encounter against the Aussies by 1 run in the same tournament. Since then, India has been at the receiving end of the Aussies as many as 5 times. Coming to the tournament, in that match against England, India did very well to get to 338 powered with a hundred by Sachin Tendulkar but eventually not only lost all their ten wickets but an opportunity to win as well.
Though India lost 9 wickets for less than 30 runs and failed to play their complete quota of 50 overs, a score of 297 was not a bad one at all. The score was more than enough for the Proteas to shed their sweat. Had the Proteas been that tough to face, they should not have lost 7 wickets and played until the last over en-route to their successful run chase. That was the second bad luck that struck team India. One need not consider their win against West Indies to be a luck favoring India for West Indies are a team that only Holland can fear.
You can see from the scorecard about the panic that the Aussies had with not even a single bowler happening to bowl his complete quota of ten overs. The Aussies could extract only 1 over maiden when Brett Lee happened to be the lucky guy this time. Likewise, there were four bowlers from India to have completed their full quota of ten overs that included the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin. There were three bowlers from India to have been better than the four from Australia. Concluding the post, did the Aussies take the Indians for granted or was Dhoni lucky to have this his?
India had last won a game against Australia in world cups in the 1987 edition where the Mahammed Azharuddin-led team India beat the to-be world champions by 59 runs though they lost their other encounter against the Aussies by 1 run in the same tournament. Since then, India has been at the receiving end of the Aussies as many as 5 times. Coming to the tournament, in that match against England, India did very well to get to 338 powered with a hundred by Sachin Tendulkar but eventually not only lost all their ten wickets but an opportunity to win as well.
Though India lost 9 wickets for less than 30 runs and failed to play their complete quota of 50 overs, a score of 297 was not a bad one at all. The score was more than enough for the Proteas to shed their sweat. Had the Proteas been that tough to face, they should not have lost 7 wickets and played until the last over en-route to their successful run chase. That was the second bad luck that struck team India. One need not consider their win against West Indies to be a luck favoring India for West Indies are a team that only Holland can fear.
You can see from the scorecard about the panic that the Aussies had with not even a single bowler happening to bowl his complete quota of ten overs. The Aussies could extract only 1 over maiden when Brett Lee happened to be the lucky guy this time. Likewise, there were four bowlers from India to have completed their full quota of ten overs that included the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin. There were three bowlers from India to have been better than the four from Australia. Concluding the post, did the Aussies take the Indians for granted or was Dhoni lucky to have this his?
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Aussies still on top
One has to decide himself whether it is the bad timing of the games or is it the wrong schedule of the tournament or finally is it luck that is seeing Australia victorious throughout even in this world cup despite them not being at their very best. Yesterday, as expected Australia won their pool A match against Canada by 7 wickets. Of course, one might not have been shocked for Australia winning the game but, they are yet to get into games involving decent teams like Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, the game against Sri Lanka got washed out in Colombo.
The three teams that would have given Australia a tough time were Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand. With New Zealand being a team that Australia would be most fascinated facing, the remaining two teams are indeed a threat to Australia for reasons too many. First, they are the co-hosts of the world cup and second, they have a spin bowling squad facing whom is the last thing the Aussies would ever want. Though Muralitharan is not at his bowling best, Aussies no doubt fear him the most. Muralitharan has made the Aussie batsmen concentrate like never before and never again.
However, a hint of an Aussie collapse is evident from the earlier games they have played in this tournament. They no doubt crashed New Zealand by finishing the game in just 34 overs and thrashing being handed out to Zimbabwe, Kenya and Canada. Against Canada, Aussies take the blame for allowing the minnow nation to cross the 200 run mark and they had to bowl 45 overs. Well, that is not a big issue but, having the same Shane Watson and Brad Haddin do the job for Australia needs a reconsideration. Ricky Ponting like Graeme Smith has been a total failure.
The Canadian batsmen were able to maintain a run-rate of 5.0 an over and end the innings at over 4.62 runs an over. Well, with the wait game seeming to come to an end, Australia will be facing Pakistan in their next encounter scheduled after finishing with all the minnows, New Zealand and escaping partly against Sri Lanka when rain played a spoilsport (though an Aussie victory cannot be ruled out completely). Had the Aussies been teamed in group B, they might have had a tough time with the Proteas and India still with England and the West Indies being an easy prey. But, it is not the time for ifs and buts.
The three teams that would have given Australia a tough time were Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand. With New Zealand being a team that Australia would be most fascinated facing, the remaining two teams are indeed a threat to Australia for reasons too many. First, they are the co-hosts of the world cup and second, they have a spin bowling squad facing whom is the last thing the Aussies would ever want. Though Muralitharan is not at his bowling best, Aussies no doubt fear him the most. Muralitharan has made the Aussie batsmen concentrate like never before and never again.
However, a hint of an Aussie collapse is evident from the earlier games they have played in this tournament. They no doubt crashed New Zealand by finishing the game in just 34 overs and thrashing being handed out to Zimbabwe, Kenya and Canada. Against Canada, Aussies take the blame for allowing the minnow nation to cross the 200 run mark and they had to bowl 45 overs. Well, that is not a big issue but, having the same Shane Watson and Brad Haddin do the job for Australia needs a reconsideration. Ricky Ponting like Graeme Smith has been a total failure.
The Canadian batsmen were able to maintain a run-rate of 5.0 an over and end the innings at over 4.62 runs an over. Well, with the wait game seeming to come to an end, Australia will be facing Pakistan in their next encounter scheduled after finishing with all the minnows, New Zealand and escaping partly against Sri Lanka when rain played a spoilsport (though an Aussie victory cannot be ruled out completely). Had the Aussies been teamed in group B, they might have had a tough time with the Proteas and India still with England and the West Indies being an easy prey. But, it is not the time for ifs and buts.
Monday, 8 March 2010
Ponting backs a 60% fine payer
It is not something unusual for an Australian to say some nonsense to the opposition player be it at home or outside. And, this time as well the situation is no exception when the Australian current spearhead Mitchell Johnson was found to have an unhealthy chat with the man of the match Scott Styris in the first one day international at Auckland. However, this has seen no condemnation from the Australian captain Ricky Ponting. For this great deed of Johnson, he was fined 60% of the match fees. But, still, Ponting looks convinced and doesn't even speak a word regarding the issue.
This may have hardly been expected from anyone for, this is not the first time that an Australian player has been involved in a spat with a player from the opposition. Likewise, this has been the trademark of Aussie cricket now a days whatsoever. The deeds of the Australian players have reached such heights that no one cares to have a word about the issue. This is not restricted to only the Australian players on the field but also by the crowd. Perhaps! had this happened in Australia, may be New Zealand would have had to rethink about whether to continue with the tour or not.
One has to pity Scott Styris who had to cope up with a fine of 15% of his match fee for hardly any fault of his. Videos suggest that Scott Styris was just being at the receiving end of Johnson's frustration. From an Australian's point of view, Styris should not have hit the two boundaries off Johnson's last two deliveries prior to the incident and neither should have seen New Zealand through that match. It was because of Scott Styris that Australia's consecutive winning streak in one dayers stood broken. It was solely because of Styris that people's tongue's started doubting about Australia's run in cricket outside.
Whatever, this was not the way Ricky Ponting was found to react when India's Harbhajan Singh was accused of showering unwanted words on Andrew Symonds in the Sydney test a couple of years back. The moment Hayden saw Harbhajan Singh moving his lips, he made no further delay in coming and blowing up the issue. Forget about condemning the incident, instead Ricky Ponting comes out saying it was he was having fun with the crowd when Johnson had to be escorted by the two security guards to the dressing room off the field. C'mon..why should one seek special security for having fun with someone?
This may have hardly been expected from anyone for, this is not the first time that an Australian player has been involved in a spat with a player from the opposition. Likewise, this has been the trademark of Aussie cricket now a days whatsoever. The deeds of the Australian players have reached such heights that no one cares to have a word about the issue. This is not restricted to only the Australian players on the field but also by the crowd. Perhaps! had this happened in Australia, may be New Zealand would have had to rethink about whether to continue with the tour or not.
One has to pity Scott Styris who had to cope up with a fine of 15% of his match fee for hardly any fault of his. Videos suggest that Scott Styris was just being at the receiving end of Johnson's frustration. From an Australian's point of view, Styris should not have hit the two boundaries off Johnson's last two deliveries prior to the incident and neither should have seen New Zealand through that match. It was because of Scott Styris that Australia's consecutive winning streak in one dayers stood broken. It was solely because of Styris that people's tongue's started doubting about Australia's run in cricket outside.
Whatever, this was not the way Ricky Ponting was found to react when India's Harbhajan Singh was accused of showering unwanted words on Andrew Symonds in the Sydney test a couple of years back. The moment Hayden saw Harbhajan Singh moving his lips, he made no further delay in coming and blowing up the issue. Forget about condemning the incident, instead Ricky Ponting comes out saying it was he was having fun with the crowd when Johnson had to be escorted by the two security guards to the dressing room off the field. C'mon..why should one seek special security for having fun with someone?
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Why is Ponting not concerned about tests?
The Australian captain Ricky Ponting is always found to be in the news for some or the other reasons. This might be for suggesting something new that sometimes might favor the cricketing world and at most of the times definitely favors the Australian cricket. It was Ponting who has a share in the worry that was found to haunt the ICC which feared that the advent of the T20 cricket may be the end of the road as far as the one dayers are considered. The other side of the coin also suggests that the T20 format of the game of cricket is not Australia's cup of tea.
Relax! This might not be the reason for Ricky Ponting to throw out such a comment. However, now Ponting has come out saying that "It is the number of one day games being played that is responsible for reduced crowd strength in Australian stadiums." Australia were found playing 10 one day internationals against Pakistan and West Indies in the past couple of months or so. Added to these were 6 test matches, with three games each against Pakistan and West Indies respectively. These 6 test matches took as much as 30 days compared to the 10 days taken away by ODIs.
Moreover, be it anywhere in the world, test cricket has hardly been able to draw people to the stadiums and Ponting is not found commenting on the issue. Ricky Ponting wants the number of one dayers to be reduced from 10 to 5 in the Australian summer. So, does Ponting insists that one series has 3 one day internationals and the other series has just 2 games? If one has to go by Ponting's words, there should have been 3 ODIs played against Pakistan and 2 ODIs against West Indies this summer. And it is not a big issue if test cricket is not able to draw crowds to the stadiums according to Ponting.
Next interesting fact is that Australia have been playing 10 one day internationals every summer. Like, there were 10 ODIs involving Australia with New Zealand and South Africa last year. And prior to that, there was the Commonwealth Bank series that hosted 14 ODIs minimum. This was the case even prior to that as well. And no one was found taking to the issue then. But, now Ponting comes out saying that the number of ODIs be reduced. Ponting suggests that due to the end of the summer vacations after which kids will have to return back to school, the number of spectators have reduced.
So, if Ponting's words are to be followed, ODIs have to be held only during vacations and nowhere in Australia otherwise.
Relax! This might not be the reason for Ricky Ponting to throw out such a comment. However, now Ponting has come out saying that "It is the number of one day games being played that is responsible for reduced crowd strength in Australian stadiums." Australia were found playing 10 one day internationals against Pakistan and West Indies in the past couple of months or so. Added to these were 6 test matches, with three games each against Pakistan and West Indies respectively. These 6 test matches took as much as 30 days compared to the 10 days taken away by ODIs.
Moreover, be it anywhere in the world, test cricket has hardly been able to draw people to the stadiums and Ponting is not found commenting on the issue. Ricky Ponting wants the number of one dayers to be reduced from 10 to 5 in the Australian summer. So, does Ponting insists that one series has 3 one day internationals and the other series has just 2 games? If one has to go by Ponting's words, there should have been 3 ODIs played against Pakistan and 2 ODIs against West Indies this summer. And it is not a big issue if test cricket is not able to draw crowds to the stadiums according to Ponting.
Next interesting fact is that Australia have been playing 10 one day internationals every summer. Like, there were 10 ODIs involving Australia with New Zealand and South Africa last year. And prior to that, there was the Commonwealth Bank series that hosted 14 ODIs minimum. This was the case even prior to that as well. And no one was found taking to the issue then. But, now Ponting comes out saying that the number of ODIs be reduced. Ponting suggests that due to the end of the summer vacations after which kids will have to return back to school, the number of spectators have reduced.
So, if Ponting's words are to be followed, ODIs have to be held only during vacations and nowhere in Australia otherwise.
Saturday, 20 February 2010
What could Gayle alone do?
Well in the beginning of the 5th one day match between West Indies and Australia, it was as though Chris Gayle was going to win the game single handed for his team only to be out a couple of balls later owing to a bad shot selection when Gayle hit the ball towards shot cover only to see the safe hands of Clarke after striking two sixes from the first two balls off Bollinger he faced. The only satisfaction for Gayle was that he could take home a strike rate of 200+. And, one cannot blame Gayle for such lackluster performance and a kid's take on the ball, when the entire West Indies team has totally forgotten what winning in cricket is all about.
Australia needed just half of their side to put up a score of 324 on the board and the entire West Indies team put together in addition to the extras could not see them cross the 200 run mark. And this is not the first time that this has been the fate of West Indies cricket. Australia were just wasting their energy by scoring runs and running between wickets and putting up a mammoth total of 324 on board when West Indies could not even think of scoring half the score had there been no extras, powerplays and free hits.
What Australia did was as good as displaying a diamond necklace in front of a beggar thinking he would buy it. There was no need to have someone like James Hopes, Shane Watson, Clarke and others to have taken the ground when lesser known ones like Daniel Christian who could have had a match practice. Or else, it would have been a good chance for the Australian captain Ricky Ponting to have had tail end batsmen like McKay, Bollinger etc who could have done a nightwatchman in one day cricket. It was Ponting who set up a record when he sent in Gillispie as a nightwatchman in a test against Bangladesh who in turn hit a double hundred.
Similarly, one could have seen McKay notching up a hundred and had Ponting himself bowled, he could have had a dream run when he could have had five West Indian batsmen out against his name. Just Kidding! But, one thing that could be seen and is worth highlighting would be the number of fours hit by the Australian batsmen from the top. The series is 1-3-0-3-1-3-10, that contains nothing but ones, threes and zeros which can rarely happen. But, the West Indies' run rate happened to be five all because they restricted themselves only to above 36 overs. This was all that was possible from the West Indies' side.
Australia needed just half of their side to put up a score of 324 on the board and the entire West Indies team put together in addition to the extras could not see them cross the 200 run mark. And this is not the first time that this has been the fate of West Indies cricket. Australia were just wasting their energy by scoring runs and running between wickets and putting up a mammoth total of 324 on board when West Indies could not even think of scoring half the score had there been no extras, powerplays and free hits.
What Australia did was as good as displaying a diamond necklace in front of a beggar thinking he would buy it. There was no need to have someone like James Hopes, Shane Watson, Clarke and others to have taken the ground when lesser known ones like Daniel Christian who could have had a match practice. Or else, it would have been a good chance for the Australian captain Ricky Ponting to have had tail end batsmen like McKay, Bollinger etc who could have done a nightwatchman in one day cricket. It was Ponting who set up a record when he sent in Gillispie as a nightwatchman in a test against Bangladesh who in turn hit a double hundred.
Similarly, one could have seen McKay notching up a hundred and had Ponting himself bowled, he could have had a dream run when he could have had five West Indian batsmen out against his name. Just Kidding! But, one thing that could be seen and is worth highlighting would be the number of fours hit by the Australian batsmen from the top. The series is 1-3-0-3-1-3-10, that contains nothing but ones, threes and zeros which can rarely happen. But, the West Indies' run rate happened to be five all because they restricted themselves only to above 36 overs. This was all that was possible from the West Indies' side.
Sunday, 17 January 2010
A Courageless Aussies captain
Well it was nice to see the Australians not compromising upon anything in the third test against Pakistan especially after the Aussies had to pay the price for taking the opposition lightly which saw Australia losing all ten wickets for a partly total of 127 on day 1 at Sydney. This was evident for the first day's play at Hobart where Australia declared at 519 for the loss of 7 wickets. This was followed by Pakistan getting all out for 301 runs that gave the Aussies a lead of more than 200 runs. Though the Aussies dominance is to be appreciated, some things need a rethinking.
Ricky Ponting, in addition to posting a mammoth total of 519 on the board, it looks like Ponting never has or had the courage to impose follow on. It would have been a better move by the Aussie captain had he imposed a follow on not only for Pakistan has proved to be an under rated team in test cricket but also owing to the fact that Australia lead the series 2-0 and a series loss for Australia is totally out of question. Moreover, as I mentioned, Pakistan have proved to be no match for Australia when they couldn't draw a win after bowling out the Aussies for 127 in the 1st innings of the Sydney test.
It has been almost a decade since Pakistan has last won a test match let alone a test series against Australia. And a loss in this test would mean a third consecutive whitewash for Pakistan against Australia. Previously, Australia was a world conquering side with the likes of Shane Warne, McGrath, Gilchrish, Hayden and others who could single handed tear apart any opposition. But, this time, it is not the case with Australia that is playing Pakistan. May be even Pakistan is not the team that it was a couple of years back when Australia canceled their tour to the country.
So, keeping the aforementioned factors in mind, it would not have been a wrong decision had Ricky Ponting gone in to impose a follow on on the Pakistani batsmen. Worst come, Australia might end up losing the match. But, what has the series got to do regarding the Aussies? In case Australia manage to bowl the opposition, it would be winning by an innings or settling for something less, Australia will have to bat again and chase a small total which is highly unlikely. Even on earlier tours, Australia have hardly imposed follow on against Pakistan, which finally saw Australia winning the match by 491 runs.
So, courage lies in taking such decisions rather than just sweep the series as though it is a mere formality.
Ricky Ponting, in addition to posting a mammoth total of 519 on the board, it looks like Ponting never has or had the courage to impose follow on. It would have been a better move by the Aussie captain had he imposed a follow on not only for Pakistan has proved to be an under rated team in test cricket but also owing to the fact that Australia lead the series 2-0 and a series loss for Australia is totally out of question. Moreover, as I mentioned, Pakistan have proved to be no match for Australia when they couldn't draw a win after bowling out the Aussies for 127 in the 1st innings of the Sydney test.
It has been almost a decade since Pakistan has last won a test match let alone a test series against Australia. And a loss in this test would mean a third consecutive whitewash for Pakistan against Australia. Previously, Australia was a world conquering side with the likes of Shane Warne, McGrath, Gilchrish, Hayden and others who could single handed tear apart any opposition. But, this time, it is not the case with Australia that is playing Pakistan. May be even Pakistan is not the team that it was a couple of years back when Australia canceled their tour to the country.
So, keeping the aforementioned factors in mind, it would not have been a wrong decision had Ricky Ponting gone in to impose a follow on on the Pakistani batsmen. Worst come, Australia might end up losing the match. But, what has the series got to do regarding the Aussies? In case Australia manage to bowl the opposition, it would be winning by an innings or settling for something less, Australia will have to bat again and chase a small total which is highly unlikely. Even on earlier tours, Australia have hardly imposed follow on against Pakistan, which finally saw Australia winning the match by 491 runs.
So, courage lies in taking such decisions rather than just sweep the series as though it is a mere formality.
Friday, 15 January 2010
It is always trouble with Australian cricketers
Well the news this time has its say that Australian players may have to boycott this year's edition of the Indian Premier League which would get underway from March 12th onwards. But, once again as usual, there has been problems regarding players not being satisfied with the security arrangements in India. This became more serious when they were threatened not to play in Maharashtra state by shivsainiks, who are citing the recent attacks on Indian students in Australia since the past one year or so. Otherwise, no other players from any other country had any sorts of problems till now.
However, one has to ask himself regarding the worst place for any player to tour other than Pakistan in today's world. And the answer to this question would be obviously Australia and no other country. It is no terror threat from any terror outfit that is targeting players in Australia. But, the crowds have so far been the worst in the world. But still, one has to wonder as to how come no player from any country has had a problem touring Australia when Australia can seriously make statements blow out of proportion? This has been the case with almost all nations.
One has to recall the egg throwing incident where Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan was greeted with an egg prior to the start of the Commonwealth bank series in 2007-08. And then what happened to India during the Border-Gavaskar trophy prior to that is well afresh in people's minds when Harbhajan Singh had a spat with Symonds on the field which was in no way justified by any Australian player. Then, in the finals of the Commonwealth Bank series between India and Australia, there was a streaker who made way into the ground. Perhaps! This in no way troubled any of the cricketers. But, does the ACA approve of such incidents?
And whatever, despite their interest to participate in the IPL, they have their tour of New Zealand in progress which will keep most of the players from Australia busy until the end of this month. However, that should mean that the players from Australia are not welcome to India. A couple of years back, there was a serial blast in Jaipur which had shook the Rajasthan Royals' captain. But, at the same time he had nothing to lose and only to gain when he lifted the trophy. Australians are just creating a mess by taking such issue that far which is needless to be said.
However, one has to ask himself regarding the worst place for any player to tour other than Pakistan in today's world. And the answer to this question would be obviously Australia and no other country. It is no terror threat from any terror outfit that is targeting players in Australia. But, the crowds have so far been the worst in the world. But still, one has to wonder as to how come no player from any country has had a problem touring Australia when Australia can seriously make statements blow out of proportion? This has been the case with almost all nations.
One has to recall the egg throwing incident where Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan was greeted with an egg prior to the start of the Commonwealth bank series in 2007-08. And then what happened to India during the Border-Gavaskar trophy prior to that is well afresh in people's minds when Harbhajan Singh had a spat with Symonds on the field which was in no way justified by any Australian player. Then, in the finals of the Commonwealth Bank series between India and Australia, there was a streaker who made way into the ground. Perhaps! This in no way troubled any of the cricketers. But, does the ACA approve of such incidents?
And whatever, despite their interest to participate in the IPL, they have their tour of New Zealand in progress which will keep most of the players from Australia busy until the end of this month. However, that should mean that the players from Australia are not welcome to India. A couple of years back, there was a serial blast in Jaipur which had shook the Rajasthan Royals' captain. But, at the same time he had nothing to lose and only to gain when he lifted the trophy. Australians are just creating a mess by taking such issue that far which is needless to be said.
Monday, 21 September 2009
Australia As Good As India
If at all there can be any team in the world who can win five out of five tests, it has to be either Australia or England for, it has been only these two teams who play a five match test series. While the remaining teams play at the most 4 tests like India played the West Indies in 2006 and the Border Gavaskar trophy played between India and Australia. However, there have been many 7 match one day international series involving all major teams barring Bangladesh and Zimbabwe (as far as my knowledge goes). And, I guess only Australia have been able to achieve 5 out of 5 test victories.
However, coming to the 7 match ODI series involving Australia and England in the recently concluded one day series in the Nat West Trophy 2009, Australia needless to be said had all chances of whitewashing England yet another time by winning all the 7 ODIs to be the first team in the world to do so, which was not the case whatsoever. I remember India winning 6 out of seven one day matches against Sri Lanka in 2005 when Sri Lanka had visited India for a 7 match one day series. Then, India had won 5 out of 5 matches in yet another 7 match ODI series against England in November last year.
However, things were not in favour of India and more so against a team that had all chances of making it 7-0. It is all owing to the dreadful terror attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 which restricted the 7 match ODI series to just 5. So, the challenge of winning a 7 match series 7-0 still needs to be achieved. Let alone winning the match by Australia, the Aussies never behaved as though they have had the earlier 6 matches in their pockets. A total of mere 176, which England overtook with as many as 60 balls or 10 overs to spare really asks for more evidence of Australia's dominance of the Nat West series.
One should never forget that until their defeat at the hands of England in the 7th one dayer, they had been enjoying the number 1 position in one day cricket along with South Africa. And after their debacle in this match, Australia slump to the third position behind India and obviously South Africa. This was also the case with India in the recently concluded tri nation tournament involving Sri Lanka and New Zealand. India became the number 1 team in one day cricket after their win against New Zealand, only to lose the plot after their loss at the hands of Sri Lanka. However, even their win against the same in the finals could not get India back to number 1. So was the case with Australia as well.
However, coming to the 7 match ODI series involving Australia and England in the recently concluded one day series in the Nat West Trophy 2009, Australia needless to be said had all chances of whitewashing England yet another time by winning all the 7 ODIs to be the first team in the world to do so, which was not the case whatsoever. I remember India winning 6 out of seven one day matches against Sri Lanka in 2005 when Sri Lanka had visited India for a 7 match one day series. Then, India had won 5 out of 5 matches in yet another 7 match ODI series against England in November last year.
However, things were not in favour of India and more so against a team that had all chances of making it 7-0. It is all owing to the dreadful terror attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 which restricted the 7 match ODI series to just 5. So, the challenge of winning a 7 match series 7-0 still needs to be achieved. Let alone winning the match by Australia, the Aussies never behaved as though they have had the earlier 6 matches in their pockets. A total of mere 176, which England overtook with as many as 60 balls or 10 overs to spare really asks for more evidence of Australia's dominance of the Nat West series.
One should never forget that until their defeat at the hands of England in the 7th one dayer, they had been enjoying the number 1 position in one day cricket along with South Africa. And after their debacle in this match, Australia slump to the third position behind India and obviously South Africa. This was also the case with India in the recently concluded tri nation tournament involving Sri Lanka and New Zealand. India became the number 1 team in one day cricket after their win against New Zealand, only to lose the plot after their loss at the hands of Sri Lanka. However, even their win against the same in the finals could not get India back to number 1. So was the case with Australia as well.
Monday, 13 July 2009
Not Enough Courage From Aussie Bowlers
With most ups and downs in the five days that was seen in the first Ashes test between England and Australia, the match was finally declared a draw. Both England and Australia equally dominated the play during their batting. And in addition to that, the performance of both the teams was pretty decent like a tug of war. But, all this could only deceive the fans who would have bet on either team and ended up getting nothing. It was nice to watch 10 out of the 11 English batsmen post double digit figures if not for the number 11 batsman Monty Panesar who got out at the score of 4.
Finally, at the end of the first innings, England ended by losing all their 10 wickets at 425. This was and should have been a respectable total which actually was not the case whatsoever. One would have thought the Australian batsmen to flutter owing to them being on tour and not the host and the other fact that they are not the same world dominating team that they were a couple of years back. But to one's surprise, even the Australian batsmen fought fire with fire. The Australian batsmen put up a score of 674 reminding the English players the way they whitewashed England on their earlier Ashes tour.
After this feat by the Australian batsmen, the fans would have changed their minds which until then had favoured England now turned towards Australia. The Australian score would have well crossed 674 had they not gone in for a declare. Anyway that is a different issue altogether. This should have been a match winning one with some decent bowlers in the Aussie ranks like Mitchell Johnson, Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and Nathan Hauritz. And the Australian bowlers did just that. They found England reeling at 70-5 which became 126-7. It was the 7th wicket partnership that proved too tough for the Australian bowlers that stood for as long as 17 overs somewhere approximately 2 hrs or a session.
This was more than enough to fetch a draw and escape from the jaws of defeat for England. Weather to win or lose or take home a draw was in the hands of the Australian bowlers. For, even had England not succumbed in their second innings, they would have batted on may be until the fourth day leaving little or no time for the Australian batsmen to chase down the total imposed by them, thus ending the match in a draw. If at all there could have been a result, it should have been an Australian triumph or a draw. The only was a result would have been possible was Australia bowling the English batsmen out for a score less that 239 which didn't happen. It shows a rather dismal performance from Australians not only in their bowling but also as a team.
It was not a great task by the Aussie batsmen to have posted 674 on a pitch that favoured batsmen. But, courage meant in bowling England in a track that was deteriorating and difficult to bat. Had Australia batted first, things would have surely been difficult for Australia. All that Australia could boast was the man of the match given to Ponting.
Finally, at the end of the first innings, England ended by losing all their 10 wickets at 425. This was and should have been a respectable total which actually was not the case whatsoever. One would have thought the Australian batsmen to flutter owing to them being on tour and not the host and the other fact that they are not the same world dominating team that they were a couple of years back. But to one's surprise, even the Australian batsmen fought fire with fire. The Australian batsmen put up a score of 674 reminding the English players the way they whitewashed England on their earlier Ashes tour.
After this feat by the Australian batsmen, the fans would have changed their minds which until then had favoured England now turned towards Australia. The Australian score would have well crossed 674 had they not gone in for a declare. Anyway that is a different issue altogether. This should have been a match winning one with some decent bowlers in the Aussie ranks like Mitchell Johnson, Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and Nathan Hauritz. And the Australian bowlers did just that. They found England reeling at 70-5 which became 126-7. It was the 7th wicket partnership that proved too tough for the Australian bowlers that stood for as long as 17 overs somewhere approximately 2 hrs or a session.
This was more than enough to fetch a draw and escape from the jaws of defeat for England. Weather to win or lose or take home a draw was in the hands of the Australian bowlers. For, even had England not succumbed in their second innings, they would have batted on may be until the fourth day leaving little or no time for the Australian batsmen to chase down the total imposed by them, thus ending the match in a draw. If at all there could have been a result, it should have been an Australian triumph or a draw. The only was a result would have been possible was Australia bowling the English batsmen out for a score less that 239 which didn't happen. It shows a rather dismal performance from Australians not only in their bowling but also as a team.
It was not a great task by the Aussie batsmen to have posted 674 on a pitch that favoured batsmen. But, courage meant in bowling England in a track that was deteriorating and difficult to bat. Had Australia batted first, things would have surely been difficult for Australia. All that Australia could boast was the man of the match given to Ponting.
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