CWC 2015 LIVE - 2 Quick Wickets Pegs Australia Back v NZ

#Aus v #NZ, #Auckland
28th Feb 2015

#DanielVettori has brought the Kiwis back in the game brilliantly.
Brought in to bowl in the opening #Powerplay to curb the rampaging #Aussies, he has produced a dream spell of control, guile and produced the much needed breakthrough. He had #ShaneWatson caught in the deep by Tim Southee.

Immediately after that, Southee trapped the very dangerous #DavidWarner #legbefore.
Warner and Clarke reviewed it but #hawkeye went with the umpire and out was the decision.

Two new batsmen at the crease
#MichaelClarke playing an international after almost 3 months
#StevenSmith

#LIVE #Score - 94 for 3 from 16 overs.

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CWC 2015 LIVE - Feeling the Buzz Already - Aus v NZ

#Aus v #NZ , #EdenPark, #Auckland
28th Feb 2015

The Australia v NewZealand game looks to be living to its reputation.
The game has just started but you can feel the buzz ... an intensity at a different level.
Hope it remains that way and match lives up to its huge billing.

Australia have won the toss and elected to bat first.

After 11 overs, they are 70 for 1.
#DavidWarner and #ShaneWatson at the crease just getting their eyes in.

#AaronFinch bowled by #TimSouthee.

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CWC 2015 - Bowl Tracking Technology

#CWC15

Bowl Tracking Technology at this World Cup is yet another fascinating innovation.
Used to track how the ball leaves the bowler's hands, pitches and reaches the batsman to determine areas of strengths/weaknesses of batsmen, projected trajectory of deliveries and bounce variations, this technology is really wowing the fans and cricketers alike.

Teams are using it to study opposition batsmen (strong and weak areas, lengths to bowl on different pitches, etc) while batsmen are using them to plot their aggression/defence against fast, seam and spin bowlers.

This is one piece of technology that will stay for while in cricket for sure.

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CWC 2015 - NZ v Aus - Biggest Game In Pool A

#NewZealand v #Australia , #Auckland
28th Feb 2015

In whats the biggest game of the tournament probably, New Zealand take on Australia at Auckland in high voltage Pool A match. Australia were and are always firm favorites to win the cup based on their overall ability and form. The Black Caps probably have the best chance to win the trophy owing to home conditions and form of some of their key players. 

Its going to be a battle of nerves and the team that takes an initiative and innovates will come up trumps. So, whats is favor of each team then?

New Zealand
 - Home ground in Auckland. Australia will travel to New Zealand after a long time and need to adapt quickly
 - Home crowd support and conditions to suit the Kiwis more
 - Big chance to set the record straight against their neighbors (Aus have always been the better team)
 - Bowling and Batting clicking at the same time. The only worry is some of their middle and lower order players havent got a decent hit in yet. Same with the Aussies who have played on the opening day of the tournament and nothing after that. Thats 14 days ago. That should make them a bit rusty?
 - The fielding is at par but Kiwis seem to just have an edge there

Australia
 - Home or away, the Aussies are massively adaptive and aggressive in all environments. This is the reason why they have been so dominant over the years.
 - Man to man - skill wise - they are the better team no doubt. Kiwis don't have the superstar batting or bowling prowess but they are performing brilliantly as a unit.
 - All round ability is better and even under pressure they can stand up tall unlike most other teams who generally crumble, NZ being one of them.

Our judgment says its Aus 60 - 40 NZ.
We may be wrong and if we are, this World Cup is alive and kicking. 
Imagine Australia stuck on 3 points after 3 games battling it out with other teams in the group to qualify for the quarter finals! That would dent their pride big time.   

Players to watch?

Aus - David Warner, Steven Smith, Michael Clarke (well finally he gets to play after a long injury layoff), Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc

NZ - Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson, Corey Anderson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Daniel Vettori

May the better team win.
We just hope this is the first "heavyweights" game of this #CWC15 that goes down to the wire. Many of these games so far have been one-sided while the minnows have produced some cracking and thrilling results!  

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CWC 2015 LIVE - Windies Lose Steam Chasing Massive 408 v SA

#SA v #WI, #LIVE at the #SCG
27th Feb 2015

Stunned and Blown away by a batting masterclass from ABcD of cricket (#ABDevilliers), Windies have floundered miserably in their run chase of 408.

#KyleAbbott removed their biggest threat #ChrisGayle in his first over, crashing his middle stumps.
The celebrations by SA after that wicket just showed how much that meant to them.

He then induced #Marlon Samuels to hit one down DeKock's throat for nought.

#MorneMorkel had #JamesCarter caught by #ABD for 10 (can you keep AB out the game for long?)

#ImranTahir, then induced a double breakthrough, claiming #DwayneSmith for 31 and trapping #LendlSimmons for nought.

West Indies 63 for 5.
#DeneshRamdin and #DarrenSammy at the crease.
End doesn't seem far away.

Windies left to lick their wounds.  

As it stands (assuming a SA victory),
Pool B - 4 teams at 4 points each now. This is getting exciting. 

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CWC 2015 LIVE - SA Off To A Cautious Start at SCG

#SA v #WI at the #SCG

SA off to a cautious start
90 for 2 in 21 overs.

#HashimAmla and #FafduPlessis at the crease steadily building an innings.
#QuintonDeKock is out for 12 off #JeromeTaylor.

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CWC 2015 LIVE - Battle Of Nerves - SA v WI

#SouthAfrica v #WestIndies, #SCG
27th Feb 2015

In an exciting Pool A match, South Africa will take on West Indies at the classical Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in a short while. 

This game has attained far more importance than anticipated before start of the tournament.
The Proteas had a nightmare outing against India on Sunday at the MCG where they lost by a whopping 130 runs. Their first game win against minnows #Zimbabwe wasn't very convincing either. Being tagged as frontrunners for the world cup crown, their performance has been far from expected and hence they are under tremendous pressure to win this game and get their confidence back. Ireland's emergence as a #darkhorse in this group has made it even more interesting in this pool. 

West Indies on the other hand are on a upswing. #ChrisGayle's storm against Zimbabwe a couple of days ago will have brought renewed enthusiasm and vigour in the Windies camp. They also won comprehensively against #Pakistan before that. These two wins have overshadowed their shock defeat to #Ireland in their opening game.

The match promises to be a real big one and we should now start seeing the big teams pull out some thrillers in a bid to reach the next stages of the world cup. Coupled to that, the venue, SCG, is just right to deliver a cracker of a game.

All the best to both teams

Players to Watch
South Africa
 - A B Devilliers
 - Faf Du Plessis
 - David Miller
 - Dale Steyn
 - Imran Tahir

West Indies
 - Chris Gayle
 - Marlon Samuels
 - Darren Bravo
 - Jerome Taylor
 - Suleiman Benn

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CWC 2015 - Lions v Tigers - Crucial Tie in Pool A

#SriLanka v #Bangladesh, #MCG
26th Feb 2015

In a very critical match, the two #Asian teams will battle it out at the legendary #MCG in Pool A.
The game has gained significance on account of Bangladesh stealing a point off #Australia in their abandoned match at the #GABBA few days ago. As a result, they are sitting undefeated in the pool with 3 points from 2 games.

Sri Lanka on the other hand have loads of problems to worry about. They were run over by the #Kiwis in the tournament opener and run very close by minnows #Afghanistan in their second game. They have 2 points from 2 games and look dodgy overall. Their batting hasnt clicked overall, bowling remains a worry and fielding isnt electric anyway.

Bangladesh on the other hand will feel buoyed by that Gabba result and will look to upset the Asian Lions to make Pool A very interesting. Bangladesh can progress to the next round at the expense of either Sri Lanka or #England.

All eyes on #MCG.

Players to watch

Sri Lanka
 - Angelo Matthews
 - Kumar Sangakarra
 - Mahela Jayawardene
 - Lasith Malinga
 - Nuwan Kulasekhara

Bangladesh
 - Shakib Ul Hasan
 - Mashrafe Murtaza
 - Mushfiqur Rahim
 - Tamim Iqbal
 - Mahmudullah

CWC 2015 - Ireland Beat UAE - Thriller At GABBA

#Ireland v #UAE, #GABBA, #Brisbane
25th Feb 2015

In a Pool B match of the #minnows (well Ireleand arent certainly minnows anymore based on their recent performances), Ireland defeated UAE in a thrilling finish at the GABBA today.

Set to chase 279, the Irish stuttered and stumbled all along before cross the finish line as winners. #GaryWilsom and #KevinObrien were stars of that run chase after they were reduced to 97 for 4 at one stage and UAE seemed to have gained hopes of a win. Cusack and Dockrell kept their heads in the tense dying moments of the game to seal a well deserved win for the team in green over the Arab country.

Earlier, UAE, put into bat by Ireland (a decision that surprised many but probably a move to chase the score quickly and up their net run rate in the Pool standings), started even worse being reduced to 131 for 6 around 35 over mark. It was then that young #ShaimanAnwar took over and showed his class and quality of batting. He stroked a majestic 106 (the first UAE batsman to do so). In company of #AmjadJaved (a good 42), he catapulted the score to a very respectable and fightable 278 for 9 in their alloted 50 overs.

The overall quality of Ireland showed in this evenly matched contest as they won all key moments in the game leaving UAE licking their wounds. UAE can be proud of their performance though.

Man of the Match: #GaryWilson

So what does this Ireland mean for the group positions?
Well, its made the picture really exciting now..

India - 2 games - 4 points
West Indies - 3 games - 4 points
Ireland - 2 games - 4 points
South Africa - 2 games - 2 points
Zimbabwe - 3 games - 2 points
UAE - 3 games - 0 points
Pakistan - 2 games - 0 points

Ireland at three is a huge danger signal for #Pakistan. They really need to pull up their socks and start winning some games quickly. They are yet to play #SouthAfrica as well. Ireland's game against Pakistan will gain a lot of importance for defining final standings in this Pool.

CWC 2015 - Highlights from First 10 Days At the Cup

#CWC15 

Boy! What a start to this cricket world cup.
Its exploded big time.... especially with some big gun games right at the start of the world cup!

It all started with #Aus v #Eng match, an all time classic rivalry in all forms of the game
Venue: #MCG
A fatal mistake at the toss to bowl first and then a dropped chance in the very first over cost England the game really. Man of the match #AaronFinch dropped for nought went on to score a superb hundred to setup a mammoth 342 target. England never got going really and were bundled out for 231.

In the other game of the day, #NZ steamrolled #SriLanka by 98 runs to announce their candidature as potential world champs. 

Day 2 was huge!
Arch rivals and cricket freak nations - #India and #Pakistan clashed in the match of matches at #AdelaideOval. Billed as the match of the tournament, it didnt live up to its expectations really. India clearly dominating the game to win by 76 runs. #ViratKohli with a superb century stole the show.

Interestingly, the other game of the day #SA v #Zim provided some real excitement. Zimbabwe ran the #Proteas real close in their chase of 340. They were in the hunt for a long time and the #Sprinboks were visibly worried. But, the overall class and quality of their game ensured no upset and they came through. #DavidMiller and #JPDuminy with superb hundreds for #SA, #HamiltonMasakadza and #SeanErvine fought hard for the Zimbabweans.

Day 3 saw the first real upset of the tournament with #Ireland trouncing #WestIndies by 4 wickets. They showed superb all-round ability to chase a 300+ target with ease and sent a serious warning to all other teams in Pool B. 

The next game saw #NZ make heavy weather of a small run chase against #Scotland.
Chasing 142, the #Kiwis lost 7 wickets to accomplish the target. Some chinks there...

Days 5 and 6 was for matches of the minnows 
Zimbabwe beat #UAE by 4 wickets
Bangladesh beat #Afghanistan by 105 runs (avenged their defeat the Asia Cup qualifiers)

Feb 20th saw the most destructive and one sided game of the tournament till date when #NZ took on #England at #Wellington. #TimSouthee ran through England batting with a 7-For (a record for NZ) and #BrendonMccullum smashed Enland bowling into oblivion with a whirlwind 77 off 25 deliveries. Match over just after lunch with another 25 overs to go.

Day 8 saw #WI take on #Pak in a battle of teams that looked lost and devastated from their earlier games. WI took that game easily by 150 runs. At one stage Pak were 1 for 4 wickets. #JeromeTaylor with a great spell of bowling built on a superb late flourish by #AndreRussell to setup a score of 310 for the Windies.

One the same day, we also witnessed the first washout of the tournament. 
Australia's game against Bangladesh at the GABBA was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Day 9 had Pool B heavyweights India and South Africa go at each other. Another lopsided affair again with India demolishing SA by 130 runs. #ShikharDhawan with a fluent 137.

The other game of the day saw #SriLanka just crossing the line against #Afghanistan. Again a case of overall ability and skill that allowed the Asian Lions to win the match.

Day 10, finally, finally ... England opened their account with a win over Scotland. MooenAli with a superb all-round performance.

Summary of points:

Pool A
NZ - 6 points
Aus - 3 points 
Ban - 3 points
SL - 2 points
Eng - 2 points

Pool B
Ind - 4 points
Irl - 2 points
WI - 2 points
Zim - 2 points
SA - 2 points 

Expecting a cracking next 10 days with some heavy duty games coming up including
Aus v NZ
Pak v SA
Eng v SL

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CWC 2015 - Englands Easy Win Against Scotland

#England v #Scotland, #HagleyOval, #Christchurch
23rd Feb 2015

England finally opened their account with 2 points against minnows and neighbors Scotland at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch today.

After two demoralizing and devastating losses to Australia (by 100+ runs) and NewZealand (by 8 wickets and 25 overs to spare) in their opening two games, England did themselves and their confidence some good by winning their game today.

Looking at their form, it was expected that Scotland would put up a fight and look to upset the Englishmen. But, the England team looked like they were on a mission to shrug off those two defeats and start afresh.

Riding on wonderful #allround performance by #MoeenAli (century and two wickets), England won the match by 119 runs and lot of respect kept intact. If they had allowed Scotland to get any closer, they would have been badly hurt further.

To be fait to them, they ran into two dominant sides in their first two games. Both Aus and NZ and clear favorites to win the world cup and England came a cropper against them. They needed a minnow like Scotland to register their first win, but this should give them some confidence going into another crucial match against #SriLanka on 1st Mar 2015 at #Wellington. Very important game in that group.

The abandoned tie between #Ban v #Aus at the #GABBA has already thrown this group split wide open. 

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CWC 2015 - Technology - Fire Bails and Stumps

#CWC15 - #Cricket #Technology

Anyone watching this cricket world cup will have seen some amazing technology innovations being used. Be it the #Spidercam or the #Bowling Comparison meter. But, the #Fire #Bails and #Stumps seem to be hogging the highest attention of them all.

Its definitely a sight to behold.
Stumps being broken by express deliveries, #runouts, #stumpings, etc.
Everytime these stumps illuminate giving an awesome feel to the action.
This technology is to aid umpires in making decisions in close shaves, ideally runouts and stumpings. The results are encouraging already.

There is one problem though.
They are helluva expensive.
One set of 6 stumps and 4 bails costs a whopping AUD 7000. Whoa!
A supplier from #NewZealand has the contract to supply these "limited edition" stumps and bails for the World cup. Umpires have been strictly advised to prevent players from taking stumps away after winning matches. Some notable examples of this issue was during the #Irish victory over #WestIndies when players were stopped halfway and asked to leave stumps on the ground.

#ShikharDhawan wanted a piece for his showcase after his man of the match winning perfomance against #SA at the #MCG but umpires didn't allow him to take the stump away.

All in all ... a fabulous innovation and here to stay for years to come I guess!! 

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CWC 2015 LIVE - India Steamroll South Africa at MCG

#India v #SouthAfrica , #MCG
22^nd Feb 2015

India beat South Africa by 130 runs at the MCG.
Huge win considering this was the biggest game in the pool and expected to go down the wire.

Highlights:

India 307 for 7
#ShikharDhawan - 137
#AjinkyaRahane - 79
#ViratKohli - 46

#MorneMorkel - 2 wickets
#DaleSteyn - 1 wicket
#ABDevilliers - 2 direct hit runouts

South Africa 177 all out
#FafduPlessis - 55
#ABdevilliers - 28

#RavichandranAshwin - 3 wickets
#RavindraJadeja - 2 wickets
#MohitSharma - 2 wickets

Man of the Match: #ShikharDhawan

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CWC 2015 - Sri Lanka Scrape Through Against Afghanistan

#SriLanka v #Afghanistan , #Dunedin
22nd Feb 2015

A brilliant #century by #MahelaJayawardene ensured #SL scraped through to a close win against the minnows in a Pool A game at Dunedin.

Sri Lanka made heavy weather of the modest 232 target set by Afghanistan.
At one stage, an upset was on the cards and things got really uncomfortable for the 1996 world champs but #ThisaraPerera and #JeevanMendis kept their cool and used experience to guide SL to a win in Dunedin.

Afghanistan's inexperience in such situations showed as they couldn't press for a win but a very commendable performance from them for sure.

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CWC 2015 LIVE - Ind v SA - AB Devilliers Run Out

#India v #SouthAfrica , #MCG
22^nd Feb 2015

 

#ABDevilliers is brilliantly run out by #MohitSharma

It was definitely an error of judgment from #ABD and trusted himself to beat the throw from the deep. MSD was his usual self whipping the bails off in a flash. Match nicely poised at 133-3 after 28 overs. 

 

#DavidMiller has joined #FafDuPlessis at the crease...

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CWC 2015 LIVE - Ind v SA - Drinks - SA - 63 For 2

#India v #SouthAfrica , #MCG
22^nd Feb 2015

South Africa have made a cautious start in their run chase of 307

#QuintonDeKock and #HashimAmla lost their wickets playing rather loose shots.
The Indian bowlers have bowled with discipline and control.

SA need a push on now....
#ABDevilliers and #FafDuPlessis at the crease!

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CWC 2015 LIVE - Ind v SA - India Score 307 For 7

#Ind v #SA, #CWC15 at #MCG
22nd Feb 2015

India have huffed-puffed their way to 307 for 7 in their allotted 50 overs.

After #ShikharDhawan's scintillating 137, #AjinkyaRahane's gem of 79 and #ViratKohli's watchful 46, India would have expected more in the end.

However, once again the later middle order wasn't able to provide impetus and the innings kind of imploded but overall a good score for SA to chase.

#DaleSteyn and #MorneMorkel pulled the match back towards the end, but #WayneParnell got the biggest tap and went for plenty. Surprisingly, the SA spinners #ImranTahir and #JPDuminy did remarkably well throughout.

All set for the big chase in some time...

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CWC 2015 LIVE - Ind v SA - Superb Century by Dhawan

#India v #SouthAfrica , #MCG
22^nd Feb 2015

Shikhar Dhawan completes his superb century against SA.
Once again mixing caution and aggression .. he's been absolutely stunning in this innings.
He spent some nervous time on 99 but eventually got there in style!
Well done man!!

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CWC 2015 LIVE - SL v Afg - Getting Close In Dunedin

#SriLanka v #Afghanistan, #Dunedin
22nd Feb 2015

Its getting close in Dunedin!!
Sri Lanka being pushed to the limit by minnows Afghanistan

Need 40 runs at more than run a ball with just 4 wickets in hand.
#ThisaraPerera and #JeevanMendis at the crease.
Good going Afghanistan for making a match of it.
Do they have it to pull in an upset?

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CWC 2015 LIVE - India Off To A Cautious Start

#India v #SouthAfrica , #MCG, #LIVE #Score
22nd Feb 2015

India have made a cautious start to their innings against SA.
After 20 Overs, they are 83 for 1.

Looks like their strategy is to hold wickets and make a late charge.
Considering their batting woes over the last few months, this seems to their strategy for the World Cup.

#ShikharDhawan - not out 55
#ViratKohli - not out 26

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