Well as I have written in most of my earlier posts related to India's recent tour of South Africa which South Africa win with a lot of ups and downs, South Africa have only managed to take home the series and emerge as official winners of the bilateral series. But, as most of them have out it, it was India who took home more benefits from the tour compared to South Africa if not the series. A series that South Africa should have won 5-0 was won by a 3-2 margin. Had this been a 3 match bilateral series, India would have won 2-1.
There should have been no reason for South Africa to have lost both the second as well as the third one dayer with the expectations being so low. Chasing down a mere total of 191 on the board should have been no big task and, with 8 wickets in hand that too obtained at crucial moments of the match, defending 220 in the 3rd One dayer was also not acceptable at any cost. Things are worse for the feat happened to be achieved by South Africa at home. So, one can imagine what might happen when South Africa tour for the world cup with India being one of the hosts.
This has been realized earlier by Dale Steyn prior to other members of the South African team. South Africa, as said above will be heading towards the sub continent shortly for the mega event and unluckily, they are grouped with none other than India, the team which tested its guts on home soil. But, once again, luck stays in favor of South Africa this time with Nagpur being set to host the India - South Africa match, the venue where South Africa claimed an innings win in the first test in early 2010. And adding to that, though South Africa have been unlucky in world cups, they are not as unlucky in the pool stages.
South Africa have managed 5/5 in the group stage of the 1996 world cup, 4/5 in the 1999 world cup. However, though RSA won just 1/2 in 2007, Australia was a better team than RSA. So was the case in 2003 where New Zealand and West Indies both beat RSA before they tied with Sri Lanka. And, in case South Africa lose to India, they have matches against England and West Indies, against which winning can be considered to be easy for South Africa. But, Dale Steyn has to be careful about his team's performance with Smith having decided to quit as captain after the world cup.
Showing posts with label Greame Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greame Smith. Show all posts
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Hattrick For South Africa
Finally the series has been yet again been captured by South Africa this time as well. This might have been expected by most but of course not by me. I had expected the ongoing one day series to be a reverse of the earlier series between the same two countries where Australia hosted South Africa. But, not anymore after the fourth one day match which unexpectedly the Proteas made it theirs. And much to my excitement, the Proteas deserved it. As it has been the mantra of the South Africans off late, slow and steady approach did the trick for the Proteas here at Port Elizabeth as well.
This time the performance of the South African players was even more better as compared to the third one day international. This time the South African hardly lost wickets. It was at the end of the 40th over that the fourth wicket fell for South Africa. This shows the dignity that the South African players maintained throughout the series after losing the test series 2-1. It was spectacular for South Africa to have won the T20 matches as well against despite their poor track record in this particular format. By doing this, the South Africans have yet again proved to be the toughest team in world cricket today.
The last time when the two teams met each other, and wherein South Africa beat Australia 4-1 in Australia, the Aussies, who were the number1 team until then had to slip to the second position. Now, with the loss to the same opponent yet again, Australia have dropped further in the latest one day rankings to the third position. Thanks to the series domination by Mahendra Singh Dhoni led team India that thrashed New Zealand 3-1 on their tour to the same. The only satisfaction for the Australian team at the moment is that they still continue to dominate in the test rankings, after South Africa lost 1-2 & missed the opportunity to make it theirs.
Another fact regarding South Africa's series win in the one day series is that the Proteas have won a one day international series against Australia for the third time in succession. If our memories are well enough, South Africa had beaten Australia 3-2 when Australia toured South Africa in march 2006, which witnessed the greatest one day international match in the history of the game. After that comes the 4-1 series win for South Africa during their tour of Australia. And now, South Africa have taken an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the series, thus making it a hattrick one day wins against Australia. Such a feat in the recent past has not taken place according to the best of my knowledge.
This time the performance of the South African players was even more better as compared to the third one day international. This time the South African hardly lost wickets. It was at the end of the 40th over that the fourth wicket fell for South Africa. This shows the dignity that the South African players maintained throughout the series after losing the test series 2-1. It was spectacular for South Africa to have won the T20 matches as well against despite their poor track record in this particular format. By doing this, the South Africans have yet again proved to be the toughest team in world cricket today.
The last time when the two teams met each other, and wherein South Africa beat Australia 4-1 in Australia, the Aussies, who were the number1 team until then had to slip to the second position. Now, with the loss to the same opponent yet again, Australia have dropped further in the latest one day rankings to the third position. Thanks to the series domination by Mahendra Singh Dhoni led team India that thrashed New Zealand 3-1 on their tour to the same. The only satisfaction for the Australian team at the moment is that they still continue to dominate in the test rankings, after South Africa lost 1-2 & missed the opportunity to make it theirs.
Another fact regarding South Africa's series win in the one day series is that the Proteas have won a one day international series against Australia for the third time in succession. If our memories are well enough, South Africa had beaten Australia 3-2 when Australia toured South Africa in march 2006, which witnessed the greatest one day international match in the history of the game. After that comes the 4-1 series win for South Africa during their tour of Australia. And now, South Africa have taken an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the series, thus making it a hattrick one day wins against Australia. Such a feat in the recent past has not taken place according to the best of my knowledge.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Something Is Lost For South Africa
Well it was really frustrating when the news that South Africa has lost the third test to Australia broke out in the afternoon. This shattered the dreams of not only most of the South African players, but also all the Aussie haters and Protea fans over the world. It is inevitable but to accept that Australia still head the ICC test rankings and are even now the most powerful cricketing nation in the world. A chance to overthrow the Aussies from the throne was eventually lost by South Africa. Such opportunities do not arise every now and then. How, stupid were the South Africans to let that go off their hands!
A little bit of game planning would have seen South Africa achieve the most expected one. But, what could be said of a team that makes a mess and gets itself into self destructive mode? Forget about a win at Sydney, even a draw would have had some smiles on the faces of the fans. But, no. South Africa looked as though they never ever wanted to come out of that festive mood, that was achieved when they had won the second test. Why should one ever think of winning the third, when it hardly makes any difference regarding the series? This was the way Smith might have thought before entering the third test.
A similar thing was witnessed in the round robin stage of the world cup 2007, when South Africa faced the same Australia at St Kitts where Australia, batting first made a stiff 377. South Africa, afresh from their memories of having chased down 434 successfully were expected to do the same here as well. And it looked as though another Johannesburg was in store that day. But no. It all started with the run out of AB De Villiars. South Africa, who had until then had put up 160 runs on board at the end of the 21st over were eventually all out for 294. Thus rendering all dreams shattered. And the third test was no different.
And look as who the match winner for Australia was! A three match old player, who made his debut in Mohali against India in the Border-Gavaskar trophy in October last year. And how could South Africa manage to give the charge to the tail enders like Mitchell Johnson and Hauritz, who scored a handy 64 and 41 respectively? At the end of the day, South Afric amissed out on a golden opportunity to whitewash a team that had last time whitewashed them some three years ago. With this at stake for us at the moment, the only thing left for us would be to watch out for another exciting encounter between these two gaints of cricket, when Australia will be touring South Africa two months from now.
A little bit of game planning would have seen South Africa achieve the most expected one. But, what could be said of a team that makes a mess and gets itself into self destructive mode? Forget about a win at Sydney, even a draw would have had some smiles on the faces of the fans. But, no. South Africa looked as though they never ever wanted to come out of that festive mood, that was achieved when they had won the second test. Why should one ever think of winning the third, when it hardly makes any difference regarding the series? This was the way Smith might have thought before entering the third test.
A similar thing was witnessed in the round robin stage of the world cup 2007, when South Africa faced the same Australia at St Kitts where Australia, batting first made a stiff 377. South Africa, afresh from their memories of having chased down 434 successfully were expected to do the same here as well. And it looked as though another Johannesburg was in store that day. But no. It all started with the run out of AB De Villiars. South Africa, who had until then had put up 160 runs on board at the end of the 21st over were eventually all out for 294. Thus rendering all dreams shattered. And the third test was no different.
And look as who the match winner for Australia was! A three match old player, who made his debut in Mohali against India in the Border-Gavaskar trophy in October last year. And how could South Africa manage to give the charge to the tail enders like Mitchell Johnson and Hauritz, who scored a handy 64 and 41 respectively? At the end of the day, South Afric amissed out on a golden opportunity to whitewash a team that had last time whitewashed them some three years ago. With this at stake for us at the moment, the only thing left for us would be to watch out for another exciting encounter between these two gaints of cricket, when Australia will be touring South Africa two months from now.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
A South African Debacle
Well one could not ever believe if the team that is being placed second in the ICC one day rankings let alone winning a match against a team that is placed third from the last in England,but,could not even put up a formidable batting nor play its allotted 50 overs.Sorry,not even half of it.The South African tem was all out for a mere score of 83 in just 23 overs.Can any one of you believe it!And the man who was responsible for such a devastating spell being the one who got belted for 6 sixes in an over by Yuvraj Singh in the inaugural T20 championship.And six catches to a keeper who is not known to be one among the world's best?
Well..I suspect some foul play being involved in the game.For,even when the going was really found to be tough for the South Africans who were batting out there,the incoming batsmen showed no signs of seriousness absolutely whatsoever.Only three of the South African batsmen were found to cross the double digit mark.Despite losing the first ODI by 20 runs,the visitors showed no signs of improvement in the second one dayer.And when it came to the batting of the England side,they never had problems of any sort,for they never lost a wicket and successfully chased down the target in less than 15 overs with a run rate of 6.00 per over.
How come so much difference in performance and that too when the team which has lost is above par with the team that has won.All these happening despite no injury woes to any of the South African players.Did the captaincy of Kevin Pietersen influence to that extent on the South African team?Its really confusing to see the South African team succumb to England bowling so badly even in a pitch that was favoring the batsmen.How?
Has the England team really become so tough to out play or has the South African team lost its balance to out perform the England team.Not once but twice this has hapenned.The last time when the South African team toured England,the result was 5-1 favoring South Africa.Well..the point is not that the same history has to repeat itself.But,atleast some fighting reply would have cooled down things.With as many as 27 overs left to bat in the South African side,the lower order could have done a lot better.But?Well this is only an illusion,but,the suspicion is justified.Sorry to say this.
Well..I suspect some foul play being involved in the game.For,even when the going was really found to be tough for the South Africans who were batting out there,the incoming batsmen showed no signs of seriousness absolutely whatsoever.Only three of the South African batsmen were found to cross the double digit mark.Despite losing the first ODI by 20 runs,the visitors showed no signs of improvement in the second one dayer.And when it came to the batting of the England side,they never had problems of any sort,for they never lost a wicket and successfully chased down the target in less than 15 overs with a run rate of 6.00 per over.
How come so much difference in performance and that too when the team which has lost is above par with the team that has won.All these happening despite no injury woes to any of the South African players.Did the captaincy of Kevin Pietersen influence to that extent on the South African team?Its really confusing to see the South African team succumb to England bowling so badly even in a pitch that was favoring the batsmen.How?
Has the England team really become so tough to out play or has the South African team lost its balance to out perform the England team.Not once but twice this has hapenned.The last time when the South African team toured England,the result was 5-1 favoring South Africa.Well..the point is not that the same history has to repeat itself.But,atleast some fighting reply would have cooled down things.With as many as 27 overs left to bat in the South African side,the lower order could have done a lot better.But?Well this is only an illusion,but,the suspicion is justified.Sorry to say this.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Sun Starts Rising In Englend Atlast
High hopes of the England cricket team winning the test series was shattered when they lost the first two of the four test match series.Well,this was not expected though from the England team.And when most of us (if not all) thought it would be South Africa who would walk away with the one day series as well.this was only to be deceived.And what a captain the team has chosen!A captain who was found to play his captain's knock in the beginning of his career as captain.The captain also forced Steve Harmison against retiring from one day internationals.Looks like the words of the former England captain Michael Vaughan which said "I want 11 captains on the field" is turning out to be reality.
Pietersen's knock of 90 off just 82 balls in addition to his unbeaten 158 run partnership with Andrew Flintoff in just 21 overs at a run rate of just below an over was one of the finest way to start off his career as a captain.The question at the moment is "how long will he continue to do the good work?".If this continues atleast till the end of the series against South Africa,it would be worth the praise.The trump card of the day for England's batting was that they never lost wickets at regular intervals and batted patiently until it was really time to call the shots.Thus by blasting 94 runs from the last 10 overs.
And if this wasn't enough,the duo also had something to offer with the bat as well.For,both the batsmen who put up a huge partnership of 158,shared 4 wickets between them.Two each to both Pietersen and Flintoff.This coming at a time when the England team just needed.In other words,the England bowlers got crucial wickets whenever they wanted.Whenever the South African batsmen were found to cut loose,even the England bowlers were found cutting.All South African batsmen were found putting up the same performance.Hats off to the team effort.
Every batsman who took to the crease tried his best to over power the England bowlers.The going was easy in the beginning when Smith and Gibbs put up a score of 50 in the first 8 overs and when the second wicket fell, the scoreboard reading 93/2 after 15.4 overs.It was then only that the batting debacle started happening.But,South Africa did what England didn't.Lost wickets at regular intervals and also the match at the end of the day.
It looks like South Africa is the best opponent Pietersen.May be because this is his motherland for,he played the series of his life also against the same team amassing 500+ runs in 2005.
Pietersen's knock of 90 off just 82 balls in addition to his unbeaten 158 run partnership with Andrew Flintoff in just 21 overs at a run rate of just below an over was one of the finest way to start off his career as a captain.The question at the moment is "how long will he continue to do the good work?".If this continues atleast till the end of the series against South Africa,it would be worth the praise.The trump card of the day for England's batting was that they never lost wickets at regular intervals and batted patiently until it was really time to call the shots.Thus by blasting 94 runs from the last 10 overs.
And if this wasn't enough,the duo also had something to offer with the bat as well.For,both the batsmen who put up a huge partnership of 158,shared 4 wickets between them.Two each to both Pietersen and Flintoff.This coming at a time when the England team just needed.In other words,the England bowlers got crucial wickets whenever they wanted.Whenever the South African batsmen were found to cut loose,even the England bowlers were found cutting.All South African batsmen were found putting up the same performance.Hats off to the team effort.
Every batsman who took to the crease tried his best to over power the England bowlers.The going was easy in the beginning when Smith and Gibbs put up a score of 50 in the first 8 overs and when the second wicket fell, the scoreboard reading 93/2 after 15.4 overs.It was then only that the batting debacle started happening.But,South Africa did what England didn't.Lost wickets at regular intervals and also the match at the end of the day.
It looks like South Africa is the best opponent Pietersen.May be because this is his motherland for,he played the series of his life also against the same team amassing 500+ runs in 2005.
Monday, April 7, 2008
The Famous Indian Cricket Tradition Continues AT Motera
I guess everyone would have been upset over team India's hopeless performance against South Africa at Sardar Patel Stadium-Motera.Well the result was worth the disappointment.Well thats always the case with the Indian cricket team.It would be good to spot some stupidity in Indian cricket,when there was a pat on the back for Irfan Pathan for being the top scorer in the first innings where India were bundled out for 76 runs,rather than screwing the batsmen for not having done well.And also some consolation for not getting into the record books for the wrong reasons by settling for a score of less than 75 (India's previous best total,when seen from the bottom).All these were highlighted by the commentary team out there.Its a real frustration that the team is congratulated even on such debacles.
There's a saying "Some things never Change,what-so-ever".And one such thing is the team India in cricket.One good performance shadows the entire series,owing which,the rest of the series is rather forfeited without any good tough fight.The team which saw a batsmen scoring the fastest triple hundred was also found to witness one of the fastest batting collapse-losing all 10 wickets for a score of 76 and in just 20 overs.The scores of the Indian batsmen resembled telephone numbers,except for Irfan Pathan & M S Dhoni.
If all of you fans were delighted over watching the batting display in the first test at Chepauk,I wish one even take a look at the South African innings which was also full of delight from the blades of Hashim Amla,A B DeViliars and so.That was the only kind of pitches where someone like Wassim Jaffer likes to bat on.
And one more point is that,when everything was blamed regarding the pitch for India's batting debacle,it is a pity that the Indians had no bowlers in them to exploit the same like the South Africans.And when it comes to praising Sehwag for his wonderful batting display in the first test,no pitch was considered.Does the pitch change every three hours?And especially if it is India who is at the receiving end?
Finally,weather India wins or loses is a different issue altogether.But,it would be a positive sign if the team(coach & captain in particular) stop blaming each and everything that comes their way rather than putting a better performance in the next.
Monday, March 3, 2008
A World Record-By Hook or Crook
After the late realisation by the Proteas in the first test match against Bangladesh at Dhaka,the South Africans were never in a forgiving mood what so ever.It looked as though their emotions were shown on the field by captain Greame Smith and Neil McKenzie-who put on a world record partnership of 415,surpassing the previous record held by Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad who had held the record of having put up 413 runs for the first wicket against New Zealand way back in 1956.
Well the record however came against a lesser rated team like Bangladesh.Though not rated high by fans and spectators over the world,some things have to be made clear.This test is the 49th appearence by Bangladesh (not to forget South Africa's 328 test appearences) as compared to New Zealand's test no 41 in which the fellow Indians Vinoo mankad and Pankaj Roy achieved their feat.The test was also the test no 49 for India.With both teams being hardly experienced the feat achieved by India has a slight upper hand.
And,in those days cricket was not this commercialised as it is being done now.With lots of big bucks being involved in today's cricket,that itself provides the motivation required for younger players.One more thing that has gone unnoticed is the bats that are used by today's batsmen-which can send the ball to the fence with a little bit or no effort at all.And the same thing applies to the ball as well.
And comming to the pitches,out of which most of them being tailor made.With all these points put foreward,one more question needs to be answered is that:Like South Africa why didn't other teams do the same?
For the readers' sake,the world record put by Matthew Hayden came against a weaker side in Zimbabwe.The 438 run partnership between Attapattu and Sangakkara came against Zimbabwe.Thus,one can now think as to why Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy were disappointed when their 50+ year old feat was broken!!
Anyway South Africa..."CONGRATS"
Well the record however came against a lesser rated team like Bangladesh.Though not rated high by fans and spectators over the world,some things have to be made clear.This test is the 49th appearence by Bangladesh (not to forget South Africa's 328 test appearences) as compared to New Zealand's test no 41 in which the fellow Indians Vinoo mankad and Pankaj Roy achieved their feat.The test was also the test no 49 for India.With both teams being hardly experienced the feat achieved by India has a slight upper hand.
And,in those days cricket was not this commercialised as it is being done now.With lots of big bucks being involved in today's cricket,that itself provides the motivation required for younger players.One more thing that has gone unnoticed is the bats that are used by today's batsmen-which can send the ball to the fence with a little bit or no effort at all.And the same thing applies to the ball as well.
And comming to the pitches,out of which most of them being tailor made.With all these points put foreward,one more question needs to be answered is that:Like South Africa why didn't other teams do the same?
For the readers' sake,the world record put by Matthew Hayden came against a weaker side in Zimbabwe.The 438 run partnership between Attapattu and Sangakkara came against Zimbabwe.Thus,one can now think as to why Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy were disappointed when their 50+ year old feat was broken!!
Anyway South Africa..."CONGRATS"
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