Whether there are any takers for the match between Ireland and Kenya or not, the ICC looks to be keen in taking both the aforementioned teams for a ride. There have hardly been any sponsors for the above stated match but, some serious issues have popped over regarding the caliber of the game whatsoever. Don't you guys ever ask as to who would benefit from the match that involves solely minnows but just think that the ICC does things just for the cause of the game no matter who would take home what from be it the match or the series at the end.
Anyway, coming to the third and the final one day international between Kenya and Ireland, Ireland were seen whitewashing the Kenyans 3-0 in the recently concluded three match one day series. However, not a news was made in any format be it by the ICC or the news channels. Neither could one see the scorecard of the match that is ought to be a stepping stone for both the teams. Forget about the cricket fans who would have otherwise rushed to the stadiums to cheer for either of the teams or atleast come to see some cricketing action on the field.
It would not be a surprise even if the concerned persons didn't show any sort of interest in marketing the tickets for the match, for the result is well anticipated. I just recall the ICC Champions trophy 2000 that was held in Nairobi (Kenya) where people rushed to the stadiums to watch their favourite team battle it out there. Anyway, some things can never be expected. Still, the third ODI was worth the time spent in watching the same, for there was indeed some blistering stroke play from the blades of the Irish batsmen Paul Stirling who scored a decent 84 runs from 92 balls.
And on the other hand, though not a professional one, the 61 runs scored by Kenya's opening batsmen Maurice Ouma could keep the scorecard ticking each and every moment. Finally, as the rules of the game goes, there could be only one winner and that came out to be Ireland yet again. So, it would not be wrong to say that the Irish have grown harsh enough not only to punch the opposition but also whitewash the same. Else, the third one day international was thought to be Kenya's piece of cake which was finally stole by Ireland. Ireland never went in to give the opposition a consolation win like it happens most of the time when a team takes an unbeatable lead.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Something Ireland Would Be Proud Of
There can be at the most one and only one winner in a cricket match and at times, there could be no winner at all. Such is the case when it comes to the game called cricket. Anyway, coming to the second one day match between Ireland and Kenya held at Dublin, the Kenyan team that are contained with tongue twisting names could hardly prove their myth in international cricket. If at all a team like Kenya can boast of a victory, it should and can be only against teams like Ireland. Well no doubt that they have had wins against India and West Indies, in which case it was India's loss rather than Kenya's win. So is the case for the other team Ireland as well.
In case Ireland can boast of a decent and deserving victory, it has to be a team of the same caliber. And Kenya is one among them. When the match between the aforementioned teams as is is hardly watched by anyone in the world and is on the other side hardly telecast by any channel that boasts of a decent viewership, one can imagine the fate of such matches when the same is hit by bad weather. As usual, the Duckworth Lewis was bought into play that declared the team Ireland who were batting second as winners by 54 runs. Needless to be said, Kenya lost all their wickets for a paltry score of just 175 and should have Ireland chased the total of 175, it would have been a satisfactory victory for Ireland.
However, the match was no less when it came to some cricket action on the field, when the Irish captain William Poterfield got his team off to a flier when he struck three boundaries off one over bowled by Kenya's Thomas Odaya. The same batsman took four boundaries from another over bowled by Kenya's Odhiambo which is a rare feat given the caliber of both the teams battling it out there. There was also a bowler who ended up with figures of 3/40 from 9 overs. In addition, there was a Kenyan batsman who had the Irish bowlers well under his control that saw Kenya raise from 66/4 at one stage to 175 at the end of the innings.
Alex Obanda fought with a 78 ball 59 in the above mentioned situation. Whatever, the only disappointment of the match was that it was reduced owing to the introduction of Duckworth Lewis which at most of the times takes away the thrill of the game. The reason for the ICC to conduct such tournaments was to help the minnows get up and dance to the tunes of stronger teams so that the game of cricket gets globalised with more nations battling it out on the field. But, with the current speed at which Ireland are going, the target is not bound to be achieved in the near future whatsoever.
In case Ireland can boast of a decent and deserving victory, it has to be a team of the same caliber. And Kenya is one among them. When the match between the aforementioned teams as is is hardly watched by anyone in the world and is on the other side hardly telecast by any channel that boasts of a decent viewership, one can imagine the fate of such matches when the same is hit by bad weather. As usual, the Duckworth Lewis was bought into play that declared the team Ireland who were batting second as winners by 54 runs. Needless to be said, Kenya lost all their wickets for a paltry score of just 175 and should have Ireland chased the total of 175, it would have been a satisfactory victory for Ireland.
However, the match was no less when it came to some cricket action on the field, when the Irish captain William Poterfield got his team off to a flier when he struck three boundaries off one over bowled by Kenya's Thomas Odaya. The same batsman took four boundaries from another over bowled by Kenya's Odhiambo which is a rare feat given the caliber of both the teams battling it out there. There was also a bowler who ended up with figures of 3/40 from 9 overs. In addition, there was a Kenyan batsman who had the Irish bowlers well under his control that saw Kenya raise from 66/4 at one stage to 175 at the end of the innings.
Alex Obanda fought with a 78 ball 59 in the above mentioned situation. Whatever, the only disappointment of the match was that it was reduced owing to the introduction of Duckworth Lewis which at most of the times takes away the thrill of the game. The reason for the ICC to conduct such tournaments was to help the minnows get up and dance to the tunes of stronger teams so that the game of cricket gets globalised with more nations battling it out on the field. But, with the current speed at which Ireland are going, the target is not bound to be achieved in the near future whatsoever.
Ireland On Fire
Well the first one day international match between Ireland and Kenya reminded me the way Ireland way back in 2007 beat Pakistan to move further to the super eights of the same. Well, that can be said a Pakistan loss rather than an Ireland win for, underestimation at times could prove too costly like we have seen in most of the major cricketing tournaments. However, some reason for teams like Ireland and Kenya to feel proud and relaxed is a win against another minnow like be it against Bermuda or Holland. Recently, there was a two match tournament involving Scotland and Canada in which both the teams took home a victory each.
Now, after a very short duration, a bilateral series involving Kenya and Ireland is being held. This time, the ICC being more cautioned when they decided to hold a three match one day series involving the teams mentioned above. So, in addition to encouraging lesser known teams like Canada and Scotland, it looks like even the ICC is scrutinizing itself as to how to conduct tournaments and series'. Recently and very often, series' involving even number of games are held like, recently there was India's tour to the West Indies featuring four games. In case both the teams win two out of four with the other team winning the remaining two, there can be no question of disappointment for both the teams.
May be that in addition to conducting cricket matches as a competition, the ICC also wants to avoid the respective cricket boards from slamming their players over poor shows. Anyway, coming to the first one dayer between Kenya and Ireland, of course, hardly any Kenyan citizen would have shed tears over their nation's cricket loss. For, not all cricket fans resemble their counterparts in India. If the past of both the teams under consideration is taken, Kenya should have held a comparatively upper hand for, they have been playing cricket since 1996 seriously unlike Ireland who made it some 4 years back to the international arena.
Of course, even Ireland is no way less when it comes to playing decent cricket for, they made it to the super eights of a world cup on two occassions. The first instance being in 2007 after their win against Pakistan and then in the T20 world cup 2009 this time beating a much lesser opponent in Bangladesh. But, tongue twisting names like Kennedy Otieno, Obanda, Steve Tikolo and Collins Obuya are being heard since the maiden world cup 1996 which featured Kenya. But, despite their experience, they ended up on the losing side. On the other hand, Ireland's William Poterfield with just 34 matches old set up a win against Kenya for their team. With two more matches to go, deciding a winner would be nothing but stupidity.
Now, after a very short duration, a bilateral series involving Kenya and Ireland is being held. This time, the ICC being more cautioned when they decided to hold a three match one day series involving the teams mentioned above. So, in addition to encouraging lesser known teams like Canada and Scotland, it looks like even the ICC is scrutinizing itself as to how to conduct tournaments and series'. Recently and very often, series' involving even number of games are held like, recently there was India's tour to the West Indies featuring four games. In case both the teams win two out of four with the other team winning the remaining two, there can be no question of disappointment for both the teams.
May be that in addition to conducting cricket matches as a competition, the ICC also wants to avoid the respective cricket boards from slamming their players over poor shows. Anyway, coming to the first one dayer between Kenya and Ireland, of course, hardly any Kenyan citizen would have shed tears over their nation's cricket loss. For, not all cricket fans resemble their counterparts in India. If the past of both the teams under consideration is taken, Kenya should have held a comparatively upper hand for, they have been playing cricket since 1996 seriously unlike Ireland who made it some 4 years back to the international arena.
Of course, even Ireland is no way less when it comes to playing decent cricket for, they made it to the super eights of a world cup on two occassions. The first instance being in 2007 after their win against Pakistan and then in the T20 world cup 2009 this time beating a much lesser opponent in Bangladesh. But, tongue twisting names like Kennedy Otieno, Obanda, Steve Tikolo and Collins Obuya are being heard since the maiden world cup 1996 which featured Kenya. But, despite their experience, they ended up on the losing side. On the other hand, Ireland's William Poterfield with just 34 matches old set up a win against Kenya for their team. With two more matches to go, deciding a winner would be nothing but stupidity.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Scotland Pull One Back
For a team that is yet to win a match in a world cup, it is a delight to win even a single game, be it against any opposition. This is regarding the way Scotland beat Canada in the second one day match held at Aberdeen. After losing the first one day match to Canada a couple of days back, it looked as though the Scottish players have taken the game of cricket damn seriously. If one goes back to the past of the Scotland's performance in international cricket, they are one of the team who are yet to win a match in ICC world cup or the Champions Trophy.
Scotland got a chance to make it to the world cup in 1999 and 2007, where they lost 5 games in 1999 followed by 3 in 2007. They should have won the games against Holland in the 2007 world cup at Caribbean and against Bangladesh in 1999 world cup. Of course, Bangladesh were a better bunch of playing XI in 1999 when it comes to playing Scotland. Not only did Scotland win the second one day match against Canada, but in addition to that, they chased down a decent total (as far as the standard of cricket in Scotland goes) of 250 with 5 wickets in hand.
Unlike last time where Canada won the toss and showed some mature thinking when they could read the batsmen friendly nature of the pitch and chose to field, this time Canada once again won the toss, but made a bad call when they went in to bat first thus allowing the Scottish batsmen to cut loose. This shows the lack of consistence not only in winning matches but even in making the right call after winning the toss. Despite the first over wicket in the Scottish innings when Watts was run out without facing a delivery, there were 3 other Scottish batsmen who posted half centuries.
As usual, the Canadian captain Ashish Bagai bought on all eight of his bowlers to bowl. Fun was that only one bowler out of eight was found bowling out his quota of 10 overs. Something strange was that there was an over that contained just five deliveries. The second over bowled by Evans in the first innings contained. And one more thing that is rare with the Scottish players was a hattrick ball in the 42nd over bowled by Baidwan which unfortunately couldn't be a hattrick. When such things happen, it raises a question that even the umpires were new to the game. This can be evident from the fact that one of the umpires viz. Enamul Haque was from Bangladesh and the other was a South African in Jerling. But, wasn't there any man of the match?
Scotland got a chance to make it to the world cup in 1999 and 2007, where they lost 5 games in 1999 followed by 3 in 2007. They should have won the games against Holland in the 2007 world cup at Caribbean and against Bangladesh in 1999 world cup. Of course, Bangladesh were a better bunch of playing XI in 1999 when it comes to playing Scotland. Not only did Scotland win the second one day match against Canada, but in addition to that, they chased down a decent total (as far as the standard of cricket in Scotland goes) of 250 with 5 wickets in hand.
Unlike last time where Canada won the toss and showed some mature thinking when they could read the batsmen friendly nature of the pitch and chose to field, this time Canada once again won the toss, but made a bad call when they went in to bat first thus allowing the Scottish batsmen to cut loose. This shows the lack of consistence not only in winning matches but even in making the right call after winning the toss. Despite the first over wicket in the Scottish innings when Watts was run out without facing a delivery, there were 3 other Scottish batsmen who posted half centuries.
As usual, the Canadian captain Ashish Bagai bought on all eight of his bowlers to bowl. Fun was that only one bowler out of eight was found bowling out his quota of 10 overs. Something strange was that there was an over that contained just five deliveries. The second over bowled by Evans in the first innings contained. And one more thing that is rare with the Scottish players was a hattrick ball in the 42nd over bowled by Baidwan which unfortunately couldn't be a hattrick. When such things happen, it raises a question that even the umpires were new to the game. This can be evident from the fact that one of the umpires viz. Enamul Haque was from Bangladesh and the other was a South African in Jerling. But, wasn't there any man of the match?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Something There In Scotland & Canada As Well
Rarely do one cast their eyes on the cricket matches that involve lesser known nations like Bermuda, Scotland, Canada, Kenya etc to name a few. Of course, teams like Kenya have involved themselves in one day tournaments like, there was a tournament being played in Sharjah that involved Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Zimbabwe & Kenya which was the result of South Africa pulling out of the same owing to terror threat in the aftermath of the U.S invasion over Iraq way back in 2003. Another instance that I can cite is the tri series involving India, Bangladesh and Kenya in 1998.
Last, I remember a quadrangular tournament involving the Proteas, Kenya, Zimbabwe and India in October 1999. If not for these tournaments that are held once in a bluemoon, the other times where these teams are found playing international cricket would always be in mega tournaments like the ICC world cup and the ICC Champions Trophy. However, off late, the ICC looks to be damn serious in globalising the game of cricket by involving as many nations in the world as possible who would one fine day be playing decent cricket. As a result of the same, there are series' involving Canada, Scotland, Bermuda, Holland, Ireland so on to name a few.
There is an advantage in this as well for, one can watch the players from these nations as well notching up a century as it happened in the match between Canada and Scotland where Watts and Hamilton scored centuries against Canada in the first one dayer only to see Scotland lose the match by 6 wickets against Canada-which saw yet another century scored by the 35 year old Sandeep Jyothi when he notched up 117. Sad that Ashish Bagai couldn't do the same when he remained not out on 92 when Canada had won the match by 6 wickets. This is not a task that any of the teams mentioned above could do in case they were playing test playing nations barring Bangladesh.
It was good to see the Canadaian bowlers do each and everything to stop the Scottish batsmen from scoring runs at will which never happened. The Canadian captain bought to bowl all his eight bowlers but, eventually the task was done by the batsmen. The match gave us an idea that not only could these teams put up huge totals but also chase down the same when the opportunity arises. I wonder as to who on earth trained the Canadian captain to go in for a good toss when he elected to bowl, with the fact that the pitch was favoring the batsmen and chasing down a decent total on this track would not be a tough task! Oh! yeah..it was a Canadian batsman who held the record for the fastest WC 100 for 4 years.
But, at the end of the match, who was the man of the match?
Last, I remember a quadrangular tournament involving the Proteas, Kenya, Zimbabwe and India in October 1999. If not for these tournaments that are held once in a bluemoon, the other times where these teams are found playing international cricket would always be in mega tournaments like the ICC world cup and the ICC Champions Trophy. However, off late, the ICC looks to be damn serious in globalising the game of cricket by involving as many nations in the world as possible who would one fine day be playing decent cricket. As a result of the same, there are series' involving Canada, Scotland, Bermuda, Holland, Ireland so on to name a few.
There is an advantage in this as well for, one can watch the players from these nations as well notching up a century as it happened in the match between Canada and Scotland where Watts and Hamilton scored centuries against Canada in the first one dayer only to see Scotland lose the match by 6 wickets against Canada-which saw yet another century scored by the 35 year old Sandeep Jyothi when he notched up 117. Sad that Ashish Bagai couldn't do the same when he remained not out on 92 when Canada had won the match by 6 wickets. This is not a task that any of the teams mentioned above could do in case they were playing test playing nations barring Bangladesh.
It was good to see the Canadaian bowlers do each and everything to stop the Scottish batsmen from scoring runs at will which never happened. The Canadian captain bought to bowl all his eight bowlers but, eventually the task was done by the batsmen. The match gave us an idea that not only could these teams put up huge totals but also chase down the same when the opportunity arises. I wonder as to who on earth trained the Canadian captain to go in for a good toss when he elected to bowl, with the fact that the pitch was favoring the batsmen and chasing down a decent total on this track would not be a tough task! Oh! yeah..it was a Canadian batsman who held the record for the fastest WC 100 for 4 years.
But, at the end of the match, who was the man of the match?
Monday, July 6, 2009
Rajasthan Royals Do It One More Time
The Rajasthan Royals entered the second edition of the Indian Premier League as the defending champions and also had a decent run in the tournament if not for some ups and downs, one of them being the collapse of their batting line up for the lowest total of the tournament when they were bowled out for a partly score of just 58 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Entering the tournament as the defending champions, as the tournament progressed, they were not even the team to beat and likewise didn't even make it to the last four of the series. However, yesterday's win over Middlesex team in the British Asian cup at Lord's.
It was indeed a good show by Shane Warne and his team that included the likes of Sohail Tanvir who was not available for the second edition of the Indian Premier League held at South Africa earlier this year. In the T20 format 0f the game of cricket, it is evident from most of the matches that there can be one good or bad over that can change the fortunes of the match. And this match was no exception either. It was the 32 runs that Dimitri Mascarenhas scored towards the end of the Rajasthan Royals' innings at a strike rate of 200.0 that made a difference for the Royals.
It was as good as that the Rajasthan Royals who were equipped with star international players like Shane Warne, Sohail Tanvir, Justin Langer and others were facing the minnow team in Middlesex who were having just a bunch of eleven players, majority of whom have an experience of playing just domestic tournaments. With most of the English international players playing for the coming Ashes, hardly any international player could be seen in the Middlesex squad and some relief for the Middlesex team was in the form of Murali Karthik and Owasis Shah who atleast could be of some international standards.
However, if the scorecard is given a look, Murali Karthik had a decent run when he returned up with figures of 1/18 from his allotted 4 overs. But, with regards to Shah's performance, there was nothing different from other domestic cricketers who could do just that. This I guess should be a welcome victory for the Rajasthan Royals who had upset their fans by not even making it to the semi finals of the second edition of the Indian Premier League. One must consoder the Rajasthan Royals to be lucky enough for having a series eith just one match to go, winning which would see them emerge as champions irrespective of anything else.
It was indeed a good show by Shane Warne and his team that included the likes of Sohail Tanvir who was not available for the second edition of the Indian Premier League held at South Africa earlier this year. In the T20 format 0f the game of cricket, it is evident from most of the matches that there can be one good or bad over that can change the fortunes of the match. And this match was no exception either. It was the 32 runs that Dimitri Mascarenhas scored towards the end of the Rajasthan Royals' innings at a strike rate of 200.0 that made a difference for the Royals.
It was as good as that the Rajasthan Royals who were equipped with star international players like Shane Warne, Sohail Tanvir, Justin Langer and others were facing the minnow team in Middlesex who were having just a bunch of eleven players, majority of whom have an experience of playing just domestic tournaments. With most of the English international players playing for the coming Ashes, hardly any international player could be seen in the Middlesex squad and some relief for the Middlesex team was in the form of Murali Karthik and Owasis Shah who atleast could be of some international standards.
However, if the scorecard is given a look, Murali Karthik had a decent run when he returned up with figures of 1/18 from his allotted 4 overs. But, with regards to Shah's performance, there was nothing different from other domestic cricketers who could do just that. This I guess should be a welcome victory for the Rajasthan Royals who had upset their fans by not even making it to the semi finals of the second edition of the Indian Premier League. One must consoder the Rajasthan Royals to be lucky enough for having a series eith just one match to go, winning which would see them emerge as champions irrespective of anything else.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
West In-Dies
There was a time when the West Indies were the team to beat by all oppositions.The then West Indies team included the like of hard hitting batsmen in Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd and deadly fast bowling Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall that could rip out any opposition apart. That was once upon a time. Then, the next generation players for the West Indies saw the Batting great Brian Lara, with some decent performers like Richie Richardson, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper and the next generation deadly fast bowlers in Ian Bishop, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh who carried the good work done by Andy Roberts and co.
Even though the West Indies could not make it to even the semis after the 1983 world cup until the next generation players as said above made it in 1996 after beating the Proteas. However, despite the presence of Courtney Walsh, Brian Lara, Ambrose and Chanderpaul, they could not make it to the second round of the 1999 world cup after collapsing at 110 in the crucial match against Steve Waugh's Australia after having an early loss to Pakistan. It was as though that, the standard of the West Indies cricket had completely gone out of the way since then. Of course, West Indies never dominated the cricket world like they did in the 70s.
But, they were considered to be a decent opposition by all teams. However, their test performance after this can never be taken into consideration. Now, in the recently concluded one day series against England, even their one day performance is found to follow suit. Whatever be the case, West Indies until now was a major challenge for only teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe when it comes to playing test cricket. But, now, after their 2-0 loss to England in the Natwest series, it looks like they are suited only for minnows even in their ODI. Perhaps! This can be evident from the fact that they lost to Bangladesh in the inaugural edition of the ICC world T20.
For that matter, even England are way behind in one day cricket compared to other teams barring Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the West Indies offlate. When it was not possible for the West Indies to pull even one out of the two one dayers played, one can imagine the capability of the West Indies team. No doubt that the West Indies put up a decent 270 on the board in comparison to England's 328. But, can the 58 run defeat that the West Indies sufferred be forgiven? If not for Owais Shah, none of the England batsmen showed any signs of pressure while facing the West Indian bowlers. If not for 2 bowlers who bowled 10 overs, rest of the bowlers ended up with a run rate of 6+, with 5 others going in for 7+.
Even though the West Indies could not make it to even the semis after the 1983 world cup until the next generation players as said above made it in 1996 after beating the Proteas. However, despite the presence of Courtney Walsh, Brian Lara, Ambrose and Chanderpaul, they could not make it to the second round of the 1999 world cup after collapsing at 110 in the crucial match against Steve Waugh's Australia after having an early loss to Pakistan. It was as though that, the standard of the West Indies cricket had completely gone out of the way since then. Of course, West Indies never dominated the cricket world like they did in the 70s.
But, they were considered to be a decent opposition by all teams. However, their test performance after this can never be taken into consideration. Now, in the recently concluded one day series against England, even their one day performance is found to follow suit. Whatever be the case, West Indies until now was a major challenge for only teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe when it comes to playing test cricket. But, now, after their 2-0 loss to England in the Natwest series, it looks like they are suited only for minnows even in their ODI. Perhaps! This can be evident from the fact that they lost to Bangladesh in the inaugural edition of the ICC world T20.
For that matter, even England are way behind in one day cricket compared to other teams barring Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the West Indies offlate. When it was not possible for the West Indies to pull even one out of the two one dayers played, one can imagine the capability of the West Indies team. No doubt that the West Indies put up a decent 270 on the board in comparison to England's 328. But, can the 58 run defeat that the West Indies sufferred be forgiven? If not for Owais Shah, none of the England batsmen showed any signs of pressure while facing the West Indian bowlers. If not for 2 bowlers who bowled 10 overs, rest of the bowlers ended up with a run rate of 6+, with 5 others going in for 7+.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Something Interesting On Facial & Body Proceedures
There are so many thing in this world that you have never heard about. That is quite obvious for, there is something new that happens everyday in every field that we come across in day-to-day life. Most of the women would have gone in for somethings like implants, plastic surgeries, facial rejuvenation and lots more just to name a few. However, as I said earlier, something new keeps on popping up every now and then, the aforementioned areas are no exception.
One thing what I could get despite not being my area of interest was something regarding Breast Implants out of which the two most preferred by women over the world are the saline breast implants and silicone breast implants. However, my idea regarding the same being limited, all I can assure you people is that the site has made a name for itself in the areas specified and is on the lips of every women who have gone in for breast & facial implants. Do give it a try.
One thing what I could get despite not being my area of interest was something regarding Breast Implants out of which the two most preferred by women over the world are the saline breast implants and silicone breast implants. However, my idea regarding the same being limited, all I can assure you people is that the site has made a name for itself in the areas specified and is on the lips of every women who have gone in for breast & facial implants. Do give it a try.
Start of The West Indies' ODI Debacle
Until recently, the West Indies had trouble only when it came to test cricket but now, the West Indies have started extending their dismal performance even in the one day international matches as well. After getting whitewashed in the recently concluded 2 test match series against England by a 2-0 margin, now, it looks as though it is the turn of the ODIs to follow suit. Last time in 2004-2005, when the West Indies had played England on two occasions successively, they had lost 7 out of the 8 test matches played but, they had a better run in the one dayers.
First, the West Indies leveled the 5 match one day series with both the West Indies and England winning two matches. And then in the return series, in the Natwest series involving West Indies, England and New Zealand, England failed to make it to the finals of the tri series then. Not to mentioned that West Indies lost the finals to New Zealand without giving the Kiwis a tough time on the field. But, this time, the West Indies have shown signs of collapsing in the one day matches as well. Out of three matches, with the first one being abandoned owing to rain, the second one was a one sided affair with the game being completely dominated by England.
West Indies were nowhere in the game from the beginning of the match. First, they not only lost all their wickets for a partly score of 160, but also could not bat their complete quota of 50 overs. The West Indian batsmen were bowled out for 160 in just 38.3 overs. And in the second, no attempt was found to be made by the West Indian bowlers to make things difficult for the English batsmen either. The English batsmen were able to reach the target of 161 in just 36 overs, with as many as 14 overs remaining. I wonder as to how come players like Chandrapaul, Ramdin and Sarwan couldn't cut lose despite being known for their big hitting ablities!
It was fascinating to see Paul Collingwood do the trick with both the bat as well as with the ball. Collingwood ended up with figures of 3/16 from his alloted 6 overs and then scored a 50 ball 47 that included 4 hits to the fence and one huge six. A glance at the scorecard of the match would suggest that it was a shortened game with each team being allowed to play just 39 over, when the West Indies' batting chart reading 160 in 38.3 overs from the allotted 39 overs and the England chart reading 161/4 in 36 overs. But, that was not the case. It was as though that England were playing some minnow team and not the team that has had 2 world cup wins in the past.
First, the West Indies leveled the 5 match one day series with both the West Indies and England winning two matches. And then in the return series, in the Natwest series involving West Indies, England and New Zealand, England failed to make it to the finals of the tri series then. Not to mentioned that West Indies lost the finals to New Zealand without giving the Kiwis a tough time on the field. But, this time, the West Indies have shown signs of collapsing in the one day matches as well. Out of three matches, with the first one being abandoned owing to rain, the second one was a one sided affair with the game being completely dominated by England.
West Indies were nowhere in the game from the beginning of the match. First, they not only lost all their wickets for a partly score of 160, but also could not bat their complete quota of 50 overs. The West Indian batsmen were bowled out for 160 in just 38.3 overs. And in the second, no attempt was found to be made by the West Indian bowlers to make things difficult for the English batsmen either. The English batsmen were able to reach the target of 161 in just 36 overs, with as many as 14 overs remaining. I wonder as to how come players like Chandrapaul, Ramdin and Sarwan couldn't cut lose despite being known for their big hitting ablities!
It was fascinating to see Paul Collingwood do the trick with both the bat as well as with the ball. Collingwood ended up with figures of 3/16 from his alloted 6 overs and then scored a 50 ball 47 that included 4 hits to the fence and one huge six. A glance at the scorecard of the match would suggest that it was a shortened game with each team being allowed to play just 39 over, when the West Indies' batting chart reading 160 in 38.3 overs from the allotted 39 overs and the England chart reading 161/4 in 36 overs. But, that was not the case. It was as though that England were playing some minnow team and not the team that has had 2 world cup wins in the past.
A Reason For Pakistan To Smile
In the recently concluded one day series between Pakistan and Australia, if our memories are long, Australia won the series by a margin 3-2 Pakistan won the first one day match only to lose the second and third followed by a consolation win in the fifth one day when at one time in the match they gave a hint that the result would be 4-1 favoring Australia. Anyway, Pakistan finally ended up victorious after beating the Aussies by 7 wickets despite losing three quick wickets. And in the only T20 match that was a part of the series, Pakistan had almost everything theirs for, on one side they were champions of the game compared to Australia and on the other side, Australia were not playing T20 the way they play either ODI or test cricket.
As expected, Australia crumbled for a partly total of just 108 which is as good as a 3.0 per over run rate in an ODI match. It was fascinating to see Australia have just three players who could manage to score a double digit score. The top scorer in the Australian side was opener Shane Watson who scored 33 runs. This was good only in comparison with the rest of the batsmen and not as far as the game of T20 cricket is concerned. I wonder as to how come Australia could sink so low in T20 cricket that players like Andrew Symonds, Hopes and Hussey could not lead the Aussie batting despite having made names for big hitting in international arena.
On the other hand, Pakistan could win the match without the services of the big hitting Shahid Afridi and captain Younus Khan who opted out of the match and Misbah takes over the captaincy for yet another time. For a change, Shahid Afridi was found striking with the ball bowling his regular leg spin when he is known for his big hitting that can rather be called a slog instead. Shahid Afridi is always found hitting the ball blindly irrespective of the position at which he is batting and the position his team is in. Sometimes, the ball that gets hit covers the distance and during other times, just finds the fielder.
However, off late, Shahid Afridi is found to bowl his leg spin with a wide variety that often makes the batsmen think twice before selecting a shot. Perhaps! Shahid Afridi can now think about a role as a bowler in cricket for, his blind slogging of the ball often disappoints his team rather than be of some service to the same. Until now, Afridi's varying spin bowling was limited only to minnow like Kenya and Zimbabwe. Now, he has got even the decent opposition like Australia under control with his varying leg brakes. For the first time, I can see two bowlers belonging to the same team being given the man of the match award. Probably, this has happened for the first time I guess. I remember Gibbs (RSA) & Ponting (Aus) being awarded the man of the match in the historical match where RSA chased down 434 imposed by Australia.
As expected, Australia crumbled for a partly total of just 108 which is as good as a 3.0 per over run rate in an ODI match. It was fascinating to see Australia have just three players who could manage to score a double digit score. The top scorer in the Australian side was opener Shane Watson who scored 33 runs. This was good only in comparison with the rest of the batsmen and not as far as the game of T20 cricket is concerned. I wonder as to how come Australia could sink so low in T20 cricket that players like Andrew Symonds, Hopes and Hussey could not lead the Aussie batting despite having made names for big hitting in international arena.
On the other hand, Pakistan could win the match without the services of the big hitting Shahid Afridi and captain Younus Khan who opted out of the match and Misbah takes over the captaincy for yet another time. For a change, Shahid Afridi was found striking with the ball bowling his regular leg spin when he is known for his big hitting that can rather be called a slog instead. Shahid Afridi is always found hitting the ball blindly irrespective of the position at which he is batting and the position his team is in. Sometimes, the ball that gets hit covers the distance and during other times, just finds the fielder.
However, off late, Shahid Afridi is found to bowl his leg spin with a wide variety that often makes the batsmen think twice before selecting a shot. Perhaps! Shahid Afridi can now think about a role as a bowler in cricket for, his blind slogging of the ball often disappoints his team rather than be of some service to the same. Until now, Afridi's varying spin bowling was limited only to minnow like Kenya and Zimbabwe. Now, he has got even the decent opposition like Australia under control with his varying leg brakes. For the first time, I can see two bowlers belonging to the same team being given the man of the match award. Probably, this has happened for the first time I guess. I remember Gibbs (RSA) & Ponting (Aus) being awarded the man of the match in the historical match where RSA chased down 434 imposed by Australia.
England Strikes The Target This Time
Finally, Andrew Strauss is able to do what his predecessors like Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain could do. Thrash the opposition when the opportunity arises. This is what Andrew Strauss did in the return series against the West Indies not only by defeating them in the first as well as in the second test but also win the second test by an innings. Andrew Strauss lost out an opportunity to come out with an innings win in the first test when he imposed a follow on after having a 223 run lead in the first innings of the first test. Finally, Strauss has silenced all his critics over his captaincy and has also avoided the fingers from pointing towards him.
England have once again whitewashed the West Indies after they had done under Michael Vaughan way back in 2005 where England won all four matches against West Indies. West Indies never deserve to win against any decent opposition in the world if their performance in the past decade is taken a close look at. A draw against a decent opposition meant a day of celebration for the West Indies team. All I can consider being done by the West Indies team if not for their wins against minnows Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, is the drawn test against Australia last year, a win against South Africa in late 2007 and a win against England off late a couple of months back.
And if the series results involving West Indies are considered, they have hardly won against any decent opposition in the recent past. The 1-0 series win against England a couple of months back as said would be remembered for long by the West Indies captain. Hah! Not to forget their 1-1 leveled series against Pakistan in 2005. Other that this, they had lost a home series to India 1-0 way back in 2006 where they should have lost by a 0-4 margin. It was good to see all the eight batsmen from the England team to have put up a decent show with the bat by scoring a mommoth 569. The England players showed the West Indies what they were capable of and so did the West Indies.
West Indies did what best they could do. Just crumble to a rather indecent bowling. Oh! yes..the bowling from the English bowlers were pretty decent. The better performance in the second innings of the first test by the West Indies' batsmen could not be seen in the second innings of the second test. In the second innings of the first test, West Indies scored a total of 256 as against 152 in the first innings. This helped them to avoid being defeated by an innings. However, in the second test at Chester-le-Street, the West Indies scored just 176 runs as agsinst the total of 310 put up in the first innings of the seocnd test. Proving that they can go from bad to worse. Not to worry for, the worst is yet to come.
England have once again whitewashed the West Indies after they had done under Michael Vaughan way back in 2005 where England won all four matches against West Indies. West Indies never deserve to win against any decent opposition in the world if their performance in the past decade is taken a close look at. A draw against a decent opposition meant a day of celebration for the West Indies team. All I can consider being done by the West Indies team if not for their wins against minnows Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, is the drawn test against Australia last year, a win against South Africa in late 2007 and a win against England off late a couple of months back.
And if the series results involving West Indies are considered, they have hardly won against any decent opposition in the recent past. The 1-0 series win against England a couple of months back as said would be remembered for long by the West Indies captain. Hah! Not to forget their 1-1 leveled series against Pakistan in 2005. Other that this, they had lost a home series to India 1-0 way back in 2006 where they should have lost by a 0-4 margin. It was good to see all the eight batsmen from the England team to have put up a decent show with the bat by scoring a mommoth 569. The England players showed the West Indies what they were capable of and so did the West Indies.
West Indies did what best they could do. Just crumble to a rather indecent bowling. Oh! yes..the bowling from the English bowlers were pretty decent. The better performance in the second innings of the first test by the West Indies' batsmen could not be seen in the second innings of the second test. In the second innings of the first test, West Indies scored a total of 256 as against 152 in the first innings. This helped them to avoid being defeated by an innings. However, in the second test at Chester-le-Street, the West Indies scored just 176 runs as agsinst the total of 310 put up in the first innings of the seocnd test. Proving that they can go from bad to worse. Not to worry for, the worst is yet to come.
England Realize What To Do
It was just two months ago that England suffered a 0-1 defeat at the hands of West Indies after losing the first test by an innings and following it up with three drawn test matches. However, after facing this debacle, the England captain Andrew Strauss might have taken the opposition too seriously and never let off any chance of spoiling their party in the return series against the West Indies. This time, in the first test between the two nations, Andrew Strauss made up some mind to impose follow on and see the West Indies' batsmen crumble to the English bowling. Sad that England couldn't take home an innings win.
One can recall the 4-0 and 3-0 whitewashes by England over the West Indies exactly four years back when the West Indian team was led by Brian Lara. Anyway, that is a forgotten story altogether. This time, luck was not in favor of the West Indies team like last time where West Indies were lucky to win the first one any followed it up with three drawn test matches. No doubt that the West Indies team had scored 600+ when England put up a mammoth total for the West Indies to lead in the third test. And the only luck what the West Indies had was that they were left with ample time to chase down a 200+ target in the fifth.
West Indies were supposed to chase down some 200+ target in just about two sessions. Then, the day ended with the West Indies' score reading 113/8. However, no risk on the part of Andrew Strauss was expected whatsoever. Strauss' team just blasted the West Indies out of the tournament. The West Indies were nowhere in the game. First, England scored a decent if not a huge 377 on the board for which the West Indies' reply was some 223 runs lag. Then the West Indies showed some comparatively good batting by scoring 256 which just enough for the West Indies to avoid an innings defeat.
Finally, the west Indies were shown the way where they originally belonged to. Number 8 position just behind Bangladesh. The absence of Zimbabwe has taken a toll on the West Indies team for, they have lost out on an opportunity to win against any other team barring Bangladesh. The risk of imposing a follow on by the England captain indeed requires a pat on a back for, not all captains in the cricketing world do it especially against teams barring Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. With still one more test to go, the West Indies team can look out to level the series and retain the trophy it won just two months back.
One can recall the 4-0 and 3-0 whitewashes by England over the West Indies exactly four years back when the West Indian team was led by Brian Lara. Anyway, that is a forgotten story altogether. This time, luck was not in favor of the West Indies team like last time where West Indies were lucky to win the first one any followed it up with three drawn test matches. No doubt that the West Indies team had scored 600+ when England put up a mammoth total for the West Indies to lead in the third test. And the only luck what the West Indies had was that they were left with ample time to chase down a 200+ target in the fifth.
West Indies were supposed to chase down some 200+ target in just about two sessions. Then, the day ended with the West Indies' score reading 113/8. However, no risk on the part of Andrew Strauss was expected whatsoever. Strauss' team just blasted the West Indies out of the tournament. The West Indies were nowhere in the game. First, England scored a decent if not a huge 377 on the board for which the West Indies' reply was some 223 runs lag. Then the West Indies showed some comparatively good batting by scoring 256 which just enough for the West Indies to avoid an innings defeat.
Finally, the west Indies were shown the way where they originally belonged to. Number 8 position just behind Bangladesh. The absence of Zimbabwe has taken a toll on the West Indies team for, they have lost out on an opportunity to win against any other team barring Bangladesh. The risk of imposing a follow on by the England captain indeed requires a pat on a back for, not all captains in the cricketing world do it especially against teams barring Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. With still one more test to go, the West Indies team can look out to level the series and retain the trophy it won just two months back.
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