Sunday, July 19, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
t20 world cup final 2009
Pakistan is facing Sri Lanka in the final, who have got all the firepower in the world both in bowling and batting. With Jayasuriya, Dilshan, Sangakkarra, Jehan, and Jayawardena firing in batting, Lankans have got Muralitharan, Mendis, and Malinga in the bowling to blow any time off. Fielding of the Sri Lankans is also considered better as compared to other Asian teams.
Quite unexpectedly, as usual, the Pakistan Cricket Team has shocked and amused everybody at home and abroad. They have managed to reach to the final of the T20 world cup in England after beating South Africa, which was going unbeaten in the tournament and was the hot favorite. Pakistan did same to the New Zealand in 92 world cup.
Pakistan, well you cannot predict about Pakistan. They can be a disaster or they can be a total masters at any given day. You cannot even guess about any specific player. Can you predict about Afridi? Boom Boom Afridi could carry a golden duck, or he could struggle or he could be a smasher. Same goes for Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and the skipper himself, Younus Khan. Bowling of the Pakistan is also wishywashy with Umer Gul and Saeed Ajmal and Muhammad Amir. But they can all be heroes or zeroes any day.
So don’t get hyper emotional and take game as a game.
Quite unexpectedly, as usual, the Pakistan Cricket Team has shocked and amused everybody at home and abroad. They have managed to reach to the final of the T20 world cup in England after beating South Africa, which was going unbeaten in the tournament and was the hot favorite. Pakistan did same to the New Zealand in 92 world cup.
Pakistan, well you cannot predict about Pakistan. They can be a disaster or they can be a total masters at any given day. You cannot even guess about any specific player. Can you predict about Afridi? Boom Boom Afridi could carry a golden duck, or he could struggle or he could be a smasher. Same goes for Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and the skipper himself, Younus Khan. Bowling of the Pakistan is also wishywashy with Umer Gul and Saeed Ajmal and Muhammad Amir. But they can all be heroes or zeroes any day.
So don’t get hyper emotional and take game as a game.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
We can be champions: Pakistan
Pakistan believe they will be crowned World Twenty20 champions after easing towards the semi-finals with a 39-run win over Ireland at the Oval on Monday. Pakistan were runners-up to bitter rivals India at the 2007 tournament, but insist they now have the right mixture of experience and youth to see them through. "All our boys are very focussed - they want to win this tournament," said captain Younus Khan.
"We have some good youngsters, the spinners did a great job and the fielding was very good. We would have liked to have made 170-180 today, but the bowlers did very well." Man of the match Kamram Akmal, who hit 57 in his team's 159-5, and pulled off two smart stumpings, is also confident of final victory.
"We are doing very well. We can be champions," said Akmal. "I like the Oval. It's always good for batting if you just play your natural game." Ireland captain William Porterfield, whose team lost all three of their Super Eights matches, believes they can learn from their experiences. "They put up a decent total and it was never easy to chase," he said. "We will take a lot out of this tournament. "We can do better especially with the bat. But we are playing top sides and things are looking up."
"We have some good youngsters, the spinners did a great job and the fielding was very good. We would have liked to have made 170-180 today, but the bowlers did very well." Man of the match Kamram Akmal, who hit 57 in his team's 159-5, and pulled off two smart stumpings, is also confident of final victory.
"We are doing very well. We can be champions," said Akmal. "I like the Oval. It's always good for batting if you just play your natural game." Ireland captain William Porterfield, whose team lost all three of their Super Eights matches, believes they can learn from their experiences. "They put up a decent total and it was never easy to chase," he said. "We will take a lot out of this tournament. "We can do better especially with the bat. But we are playing top sides and things are looking up."
Saturday, June 13, 2009
South Africa rout England in Super Eights
The hosts England were given a royal spanking in front of a capacity Trent Bridge crowd, as they lost to South Africa by even wickets and with ten balls to spare. England won the toss and decided to bat first on a dry wicket, essentially meaning that it couldn’t have got better to bat on in the second innings. Yet, the English batting line-up could not stand up to the deadly Proteas’ bowling and collapsed to their lowest ever T20I total of 111 all out. Both the men in form, Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright fell within the first couple of overs to Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell respectively. Kevin Pietersen, who is certainly not fully fit for the tournament, was joined in the Owais Shah, and the duo stalled the fall of any further wickets to the quick bowlers, but Shah was barely able to put the ball out of the circle. Albie Morkel was called into the attack and immediately stuck, when Reold van der Merwe caught a stupendous catch at mid-on to send Pietersen walking. At the other end, Shah continued to struggle with his timing and had scored only nine runs off 19 balls as the crowds began to boo his effort. It all changed for him when a full-toss by Johan Botha was smacked to the mid-wicket fence for six, after which he smashed another maximum of van der Merwe and blazed a couple of successive boundaries after that.
Won the man-of-the-matchThings looked to be improving for England after that as they reached 73/3 in 12 overs, but the wicket of Collingwood changed that. A Jacques Kallis yorker put paid to the captain’s hopes, while Jamie Foster and Dimitri Mascarhenhas departed in the same over by van der Merwe. Shah was England’s last hope and when he was claimed by Jacques Kallis off an outside edge to the wicket-keeper, there was no looking back. England collapsed to 111 all out, with Shah being the top scorer with a 33-ball 38.
The Vanquished!South Africa did have a few heart-stopping moments in reply, especially when Graeme Smith left early, and the asking rate looked like it would touch 6.5 runs per over as the run-scoring became a trifle difficult on a slow pitch. But Kallis manoeuvred around his way to a match-winning half-century, and Herschelle Gibbs scored a run-a-ball 30 to guide the South Africans to an easy win in the end.Kallis’ two wickets and the unbeaten half century won him the man-of-the-match award.
Won the man-of-the-matchThings looked to be improving for England after that as they reached 73/3 in 12 overs, but the wicket of Collingwood changed that. A Jacques Kallis yorker put paid to the captain’s hopes, while Jamie Foster and Dimitri Mascarhenhas departed in the same over by van der Merwe. Shah was England’s last hope and when he was claimed by Jacques Kallis off an outside edge to the wicket-keeper, there was no looking back. England collapsed to 111 all out, with Shah being the top scorer with a 33-ball 38.
The Vanquished!South Africa did have a few heart-stopping moments in reply, especially when Graeme Smith left early, and the asking rate looked like it would touch 6.5 runs per over as the run-scoring became a trifle difficult on a slow pitch. But Kallis manoeuvred around his way to a match-winning half-century, and Herschelle Gibbs scored a run-a-ball 30 to guide the South Africans to an easy win in the end.Kallis’ two wickets and the unbeaten half century won him the man-of-the-match award.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Fantasy Preview to Super 8s - II
Continuing from the previous fantasy preview to group F in the Super Eights, this one will preview the Group E, that consists of India, South Africa, England and the West Indies. Between the two groups, this is definitely the tougher one, and though India and South Africa will be favourites to get into the semi-finals from here, it will only be marginally. India has had to give up on Virender Sehwag due to his shoulder injury, which has also resulted in a war-of-words between the team management – more specifically M.S.Dhoni – and the media. This hadn’t looked affecting the team psyche in their game against Ireland, but then, against a tougher opposition the chinks, if any may come out. Team India will bank on Rohit Sharma to give them the starts, but for Sports Pundit Fantasy experts, Gautam Gambhir could be a better option given that he likes to play longer innings, at a slower run-rate. Dhoni may drop down the order to give the number three slot back to its rightful owner, Suresh Raina which should give him the opportunity to help the experts garner many a points.Zaheer Khan’s four wicket haul has meant that his injury woes are behind him and he should be the bowler to look out, though, Pragyan Ojha will be the more difficult of the spinners to face.
Should be there in the teamSouth Africa won a convincing game against Scotland, but were tested by the Kiwis in a game that went down to the last delivery. Their batting looks strong, so much so that the Sports Pundit Fantasy experts may have their problems choosing the best of the players from this side, and the list includes Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers and J.P.Duminy. My personal favourite may be Duminy, but he has been batting far too low for him to a sufficient impact on the fantasy scorers.
Will he overcome his injury?West Indies heavily rely on two players, Chris Gayle and Bravo and while I will be tempted to have at least one of them in my side, it must be said that Gayle had injured his leg in the Australia game and missed the Sri Lanka one. Similarly, the law of averages could play a part and one of two, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul or Ramnaresh Sarwan could hold the key in the next stage of the tournament.England had their hearts in their mouth when they lost their first game to Netherlands but came back well to dispose off Pakistan. The chief architects of their win have been Luke Wright and Kevin Pietersen to an extent. Graeme Swann played a part in the Pakistan defeat, but whether he will earn a lot of points for the Sports Pundit Fantasy experts remains to be seen. Instead, James Anderson looks more likely to pick up wickets, despite conceding a lot more runs. Ravi Bopara may have had an off day, but his overall form is too good to be ignored either!
Should be there in the teamSouth Africa won a convincing game against Scotland, but were tested by the Kiwis in a game that went down to the last delivery. Their batting looks strong, so much so that the Sports Pundit Fantasy experts may have their problems choosing the best of the players from this side, and the list includes Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers and J.P.Duminy. My personal favourite may be Duminy, but he has been batting far too low for him to a sufficient impact on the fantasy scorers.
Will he overcome his injury?West Indies heavily rely on two players, Chris Gayle and Bravo and while I will be tempted to have at least one of them in my side, it must be said that Gayle had injured his leg in the Australia game and missed the Sri Lanka one. Similarly, the law of averages could play a part and one of two, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul or Ramnaresh Sarwan could hold the key in the next stage of the tournament.England had their hearts in their mouth when they lost their first game to Netherlands but came back well to dispose off Pakistan. The chief architects of their win have been Luke Wright and Kevin Pietersen to an extent. Graeme Swann played a part in the Pakistan defeat, but whether he will earn a lot of points for the Sports Pundit Fantasy experts remains to be seen. Instead, James Anderson looks more likely to pick up wickets, despite conceding a lot more runs. Ravi Bopara may have had an off day, but his overall form is too good to be ignored either!
Fantasy Preview to Super 8s - I
The Super Eights phase begins from the 11th of June and the Sports Pundit Fantasy experts may have some shuffling to be done. For starters, the eight teams are now divided into two groups of four each; India, South Africa, England and West Indies will belong to Group E, whereas Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ireland would be in Group F. Preview to Group F:The most obvious conclusion that can come out of the above groupings is that in general terms, it will be favourable to have batsmen from the group F, as they will have one game against the slightly weaker bowling of Ireland. That said, a bowler of the calibre of Ajantha Mendis will also have the Irish in front of him, making it easier for him to capture some of his wickets, and I would be very surprised if he does not make it to the starting eleven of most of Fantasy experts. I am not too sure if too many Sports Pundit fantasy experts will pick Sanath Jayasuriya in their teams, as currently, T.Dilshan’s batting looks to be in a far superior touch than the veteran stalwart. The Kiwis are looking at a long list of injuries as well, and one cannot be sure of who will end up playing for them in their first game against Ireland. Daniel Vettori’s shoulder is a struggle, Ross Taylor has a hamstring trouble, Iain O’Brien was out of the last game due to his share of injury and Jesse Ryder may have played his last game in the tournament. Brendon McCullum could continue to captain the side in his absence, and that will put extra pressure on his batting for sure.
Bad, bad shoulder!Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad was dropped in the game against Netherlands, and Kamran Akmal had opened the innings instead and it wouldn’t be too off the mark to see him do the same again. However, the one injury worry that the Pakistanis have is with Sohail Tanvir, who looked as fit as an eighty years old man on his death bed in the Holland game. In all probabilities, he will be subbed by an Anjum Rao Iftikhar, but to me, it is their spinners who will have a greater role to play; Shahid Afridi had a four-wicket haul against the Dutch and it could just be the turn of Saeed Ajmal to repeat the magic.
Should hold key in middle oversIreland have their own injury woes, what with their main man, Niall O’Brien having hurt his leg and he may not be fit enough to play against India. However, it has been said that the injury isn’t serious and he could be back as early as in the game against New Zealand. He will be a definite batsman to watch out for in the second round.
Bad, bad shoulder!Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad was dropped in the game against Netherlands, and Kamran Akmal had opened the innings instead and it wouldn’t be too off the mark to see him do the same again. However, the one injury worry that the Pakistanis have is with Sohail Tanvir, who looked as fit as an eighty years old man on his death bed in the Holland game. In all probabilities, he will be subbed by an Anjum Rao Iftikhar, but to me, it is their spinners who will have a greater role to play; Shahid Afridi had a four-wicket haul against the Dutch and it could just be the turn of Saeed Ajmal to repeat the magic.
Should hold key in middle oversIreland have their own injury woes, what with their main man, Niall O’Brien having hurt his leg and he may not be fit enough to play against India. However, it has been said that the injury isn’t serious and he could be back as early as in the game against New Zealand. He will be a definite batsman to watch out for in the second round.
t20 world cup group(B)
Pakistan, England and Netherlands make up the Group B in the ICC World T20, with the hosts taking on the Dutch in the first game of the tournament. It is difficult for one to visualise an upset in this group, so to say, Netherlands beating either of the more fancied opponents. The reason for this is that not only the Dutch haven’t been able to put one across any of their international opponents in the warm-up games, but also lost two of their three games to Bangladesh and New Zealand by a proverbial mile. Peter Borren, the lower-middle order all-rounder has been the only batsman to hold a semblance of a fight to the opponents, and even he hasn’t been out of the ordinary.On the other hand, the Pakistani side should be an interesting one to watch, especially against the hosts, who have problems of their own. With barely any cricket in the last one year, the Pakistanis have had to rely heavily on the domestic games back home, the RBS T20 cup as the frontrunner. However, even there, the top run-getter was Imran Nazir, while the top scalper was Abdul Razzaq, both whom haven’t been picked because of their ‘illicit’ ties with the ICL!
Needs to get back his formAs has been the norm through the last two or decades, Pakistan will depend heavily on the seam bowling attack, but the encouraging part is that their spinners have the spine to back them up. If Sohail Tanvir can get his bearing right, and the new-comer, Mohammad Aamer can live up to his billing, Umar Gul’s task as a slog-over bowler will become much easier than usual. Shahid Afridi’s ability to run through his overs without the opposition realising what’s hit them will be a huge asset and so will his hard-hitting form that had resurfaced in Dubai against Australia.For England to have their home advantage, they will need the conditions to be as they would be expected them to be, because if the warm-up games are anything to go by, then spin will play a key part. England seem to be one of those few teams who have a pace bowling attack who can hit the straps, but only Graeme Swann as a frontline – or even a part-time – spinner. In contrast, most of the part-timers are medium pacers; captain Collingwood himself, to be followed by the likes of Luke Wright and Graham Napier. Ravi Bopara could be the key to their success – or lack of it – as he has been a man on form as was evident during the IPL and the series against West Indies that followed. On the other hand, Kevin Pietersen looked a little confused on whether he is a good enough player at the T20 level or no, but he will definitely need to bat like the Pietersen that we have all grown up to watch.
Will he shed his moodiness?Owais Shah’s batting in the shortest format may not have impressed Virender Sehwag for the Delhi Daredevils, but he sure is a batsman to watch out for in the lower-middle order. My personal feel is that Shah could hold the key to turn games on its head.Between Pakistan and England, it is a close call, but I think Pakistan should just scrape through against the hosts!
Needs to get back his formAs has been the norm through the last two or decades, Pakistan will depend heavily on the seam bowling attack, but the encouraging part is that their spinners have the spine to back them up. If Sohail Tanvir can get his bearing right, and the new-comer, Mohammad Aamer can live up to his billing, Umar Gul’s task as a slog-over bowler will become much easier than usual. Shahid Afridi’s ability to run through his overs without the opposition realising what’s hit them will be a huge asset and so will his hard-hitting form that had resurfaced in Dubai against Australia.For England to have their home advantage, they will need the conditions to be as they would be expected them to be, because if the warm-up games are anything to go by, then spin will play a key part. England seem to be one of those few teams who have a pace bowling attack who can hit the straps, but only Graeme Swann as a frontline – or even a part-time – spinner. In contrast, most of the part-timers are medium pacers; captain Collingwood himself, to be followed by the likes of Luke Wright and Graham Napier. Ravi Bopara could be the key to their success – or lack of it – as he has been a man on form as was evident during the IPL and the series against West Indies that followed. On the other hand, Kevin Pietersen looked a little confused on whether he is a good enough player at the T20 level or no, but he will definitely need to bat like the Pietersen that we have all grown up to watch.
Will he shed his moodiness?Owais Shah’s batting in the shortest format may not have impressed Virender Sehwag for the Delhi Daredevils, but he sure is a batsman to watch out for in the lower-middle order. My personal feel is that Shah could hold the key to turn games on its head.Between Pakistan and England, it is a close call, but I think Pakistan should just scrape through against the hosts!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
