#IPL2016 Final #RCBvsSRH M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru With all Odds stacked against them, (underdogs tag, lesser firepower than their fancied opponents, etc) the Sunrisers Hyderbad #SRH ambushed Royal Challengers Bangalore #RCB in a thrilling IPL final at the latter's den (another remarkable feat) to lift the IPL 2016 Cup and honors. It all began with a bold decision at the toss that took everyone (experts were baffled and there were mixed reactions about it) when David Warner won the toss and elected to bat first. Huge move. His explanation? he would play to his strength of bowling second and defending a score in a big final. Since RCB was trouncing every team along the way by chasing down targets easily, experts felt this decision could backfire but their conviction seemed in place. Dhawan and Warner got off to a slowish start scoring 21 in 3 overs but then Warner began to open his arms and soon they were 60 in 6 overs, an ideal start to the final. The fall of Dhawan's wicket followed shortly by Henriques evened things up and RCB started garnering hopes of restricting the SRH total. In walked Yuvraj and unleashed a barrage of hits. Warner on the other end was blitzing his way as well. The two added a quickfire half-century stand before Warner fell to Aravind, a sliced edge to short third man. Deepak Hooda never looked in and holed out to long on. Once Yuvraj holed out to long off as well, the SRH were in serious trouble of being restricted to under 175. This is when Ben Cutting took centrestage. He first steadied the innings and then unleashed his fury in the last over on Shane Watson. He smashed 3 sixes and 1 four in the over (one of the sixes being a massive 117 metre hit that went out of the stadium) to not only cross the 200 run mark but lending a very good buffer to their initial goal of around 175-180 as par score. But, was 208 enough to defend against the firebrand RCB line up of Gayle, Kohli, AB, Watson, Rahul? Not enough surely, especially considering their batting form in the second leg of the tournament. Gayle and Kohli started in same fashion as SRH, but exploded in the same fashion too. Gayle looked to hit the groove first and smashed a couple of sixes off Sran to increase their momentum. Kohli was happy to play second fiddle. Gayle then thrashed Henriques, Cutting and Bipul to post his fifty off 28 deliveries. Kohli then joined the party and the 100 came up in 10 overs! Perfectly on course ... It was Cutting again who turned it around for SRH but inducing a top-edge from Gayle down to third man. In walked whom? AB ... it was like the storm was gone but fire would break in soon. Sran then prized out the other opener, Kohli, for a superb 54 and the game began to veer. AB holed out to extra cover off Bipul, Rahul was castled by Cutting and Watson holed one again to covers off Mustafizur to tilt the game in SRH favour. Chris Jordan was runt soon after. Stuart Binny played some lusty blows but was run out owing to silly basic mistake of looking at the ball when running between wickets. With Bhuvi and Mustafizur to ball the last 4 overs, with 47 needed and SachinBaby and Abdulla at the crease, the task was almost impossible. From 114 for no loss in 11 overs, they had slumped to 162 for 7 in 16 overs. The writing was on the wall and with all their efforts, they finally ended on 200 for 7 in 20 overs. SRH had won by 8 runs. History was made. SRH champions for the first time. RCB three final losses would be gut-wrenching for them (earlier losses in 2009 and 2011 will hurt too). A terrific tournament was capped by a terrific final. Warner's Davids had conquered the Royal Goliaths. Man of the Match: Ben Cutting for his all-round performance Player of the Tournament: Virat Kohli Orange Cap: Virat Kohli Purple Cap: Bhivaneshwar Kumar Fairplay Award: Sunrisers Hyderabad (it has been observed since beginning of the IPL that teams that conduct themselves well on the ground are ones that do well in the tournament. This year was no exception) Emerging Player of Tournament: Mustafizur Rehman All round Player: A B Devilliers Almost all top honors shared by SRH and RCB players clearing showing they were the two best teams in the tournament. Powered by: http://www.whowillwinthecup.com
#IPL2016 #IPLFinal #RCBvsSRH Bengaluru, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium After a two months of heavy action and hustle-bustle between 8 teams, the two best performing teams have reached the finals. I wont say they are the best teams of the tournament though. #RCB had a horrible start and they were precariously placed until the #Virat-AB show saved them the blushes. Their biggest weaklink, their bowling came good at the right moment too and they are now the team to beat on current form. #SRH on the other hand, started brilliantly. Their bowling, arguably the best bowling side of the tournament, pushed them top of table early in the tourney but reversals down the line meant they had to huff-puff their way to the qualifiers. Its only in the Eliminator and Qualifier2 that they seem to build an intensity to win the title. So, WHO WILL WIN THE CUP?? Batting RCB have a clear edge here. Virat, AB, Gayle, Watson, KL Rahul, Baby, Binny are better than their SRH counterparts head to head. Virat beats Dhawan, AB negates Warner, Gayle negates Yuvraj, Watson beats Henriques on experience, Rahul, Baby and Binny seem better off than Dwivedi, Ojha and Hooda. Mind you SRH batting can explode anytime. Yuvi is due and has shown he can take the bowlers to the cleaners. Bipul Sharma's cameos in both previous games tilted victory towards SRH from tricky situations. Look out for him and Dwivedi. Dhawan is over due. RCB will expect the law of averages has hit Virat just in that Qualifier1 game. If he scores his first 10 runs with confidence today, he will close the game. So will AB or Gayle. Thats why they are a more formidable batting lineup than SRH. Bowling The scenario changes by 180 degrees here. SRH has been the bowling side of the tournament and that too without too many spinners! Bhuvaneshwar and Mustafizur have led that attack brilliantly. Henriques, Boult, Sran and Cutting have played their support role very well too. RCB on the other hand, have some issues with their bowling. Although Watson with all his experience and Jordan with his wily death over bowling skills, can do damage they have shown propensity to go for a lot of runs too. An off day would be mean chasing 20-25 runs extra with added pressure. Chahal has been their trump of the season though.His leggies have baffled teams and in rush of scoring against him, they have perished to his guile. Aaron, Richardson haven't done much to instill confidence of their skipper. Abdulla is a good spinning option alongside Chahal. Experience of IPL Finals? #RCB have experienced IPL finals before in 2009 and 2011 but lost both of them while #SRH are straddling unknown territory. Who will feel better? Guess, SRH because they have nothing to lose, they will treat it as a new fresh game but RCB with those two losses in their bag will carry bad memories with them. Home ground Advantage? Yes, very much with RCB. They will have the home crowd rooting for them big time and put pressure on visiting SRH. Also, Eliminator and Qualifier1 were played in New Delhi. The conditions, pitch were dramatically different than Chinnaswamy. X-Factors For RCB, it would be undoubtedly Chahal's bowling alongside #Virat-AB batting combination. For SRH, it would be their key bowlers - Bhuvi, Mustafizur (if fit) and #Warner's batting. Weather? Rain is forecast for match day and this will make things interesting especially at the toss. Monday is reserve day for the finals though. Preparations? RCB qualified for the final on Tuesday (4 days ago) and already camped in Bengaluru since. They will have rested their players well, tackled niggling injuries and adjusted to the conditions better. SRH on the other hand had to sweat it out in Eliminator on Wed, Qualifier1 on Friday and then fly down from NewDelhi to Begaluru late last evening (owing to a flight delay). This has given them very less, if at all, time to recuperate and prepare for this game at the venue. All in all looks like a SRH Bowling vs RCB Batting contest this. Can't wait for the game to get started. Let the best team win!!! Powered by: http://www.whowillwinthecup.com
#KKR needing a MUST WIN match to progress toward #IPL2016 playoffs, played out of their skin to defeat (an already qualified) #SRH by 22 runs at #EdenGardens. On a tacky wicket that offered spin and bounce, they first posted a very competitive 171 (20 runs above par) and then their spinners strangled the SRH batsmen restricting them to 149 for 8.
Yusuf Pathan was undoubtedly the star of the show with his stoic innings. His role (as explained by #Gambhir in the match presentation) has been changed from brisk finisher to cool finisher. He takes his time, builds his innings and then explodes towards the end to guide his team through. He has done that a few times this season and this augurs well for #KKR as they head to the playoffs.
For #SRH, there are warning bells at the business end of the season. Their bowling (undoubtedly their better strength) looked jaded throughout, although they pulled it back in the last five overs. #Mustafizir is looking good, #Bhuvaneshwar and co. looked just OK and that's the area they need to watch out for. Batting remains a worry. Too much dependence on #Warner although #Dhawan did play a good knock today. Consistency seems to be lacking. #KaneWilliamson cannot explode but plays the holding game well. #Yuvraj has been on-off .. so bit of worry for #SRH and they need to really tighten up.
For #KKR, their #Spinners are coming good especially #SunilNarine who finished a fine spell today (3 for 26, his best this season so far). Others in #Piyush, #Yusuf playing their part well. Big loss in #Russell having to retire due to injury but all in all, they look in shape as they move to the qualifiers.
#India v #Australia 5th ODI, #SCG Finally, India pulled one back against Australia in the current ODI series after being thumped on four occasions. Manish Pandey along with Rohit Sharma steered India's run chase beautifully to see their first win in the last ODI at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Set a massive target of 330, Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan started solidly putting on a century stand. Quick wickets of Dhawan and Virat Kohli meant India were on the backfoot yet again in this series. Manish stepped on to... the scene and in Rohit's company blossomed India's innings. Just when Rohit looked like getting a 3rd hundred of the series, tragedy struck. He edged one behind on 99!
The woefully out of form, M.S.Dhoni joined Manish and India started to fall behind the required run-rate but Manish's aggression and Dhoni's composure set the game up for a thrilling finish. In the final over with 13 to win, Dhoni slammed a six over long off but was out the very next ball. However, Manish kept his cool and smashed the winning runs alongside completing his maiden ODI century. He was adjudged Man of the Match. Earlier in the day, riding on David Warner and @MitchelMarsh tons, Australia piled on the agony for India yet again. Although their bowlers did better by capturing 4 early wickets, the same old story of inexperience surfaced. Debutatnt Jasprit Bumrah impressed with a two wicket haul and excellent death bowling. We now move to the 3 match #T20 series starting early next week and India will take a lot of confidence from this win although ODI series has been pocketd by Australia 4-1. Powered by: Who Will Win The Cup?
#Australia v #Afghanistan, #WACA, #Perth 4th Mar 2015 Australia have finally got hold off a team to really showcase their batting prowess they possess! They literally trampled all over Afghanistan to set up a mammoth 417 for 6. Afghanistan are all but out of this contest half way through the match. The best they can is put up some resilience and allow some of their batsmen to get a hit in the middle against a world class bowling attack. This experience will do them a lot of good in the remaining games as well for their growth as a cricketing nation. #DavidWarner smashed a typical belligerent 178 off 133 balls and looked well to score many more before he was out. #SteveSmith provided the anchor with a patient 95 while #GlennMaxwell once again went ballistic for a 39 ball 88. At no stage did Afghanistan look to threaten the Aussies. Probably they were just overawed by the oppostion, the WACA setup and #CWC15 stage. #LIVE Score: Australia: 417 for 6 in 50 overs
#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
#DavidWarner is at it ... with the touring Indian team. He was seen getting into a verbal duel with Indian batsmen #RohitSharma and #SureshRaina in an ugly incident during their #CarltonMidTriSeries tournament at Adelaide Oval. It so happened that during India's batting innings, Sharma and Raina were rebuilding the India innings pretty well. They seemed to be on course to post a good score. In one of #JamesFaulkner's overs (23rd of the innings), they ran for an overthrow. The Aussies believed that the ball had ricocheted off Rohit's body and batsmen shouldn't have taken the run. (unwritten but widely followed cricket protocol). Replays showed otherwise. Nothing seemed to touch Rohit and hence the run was pretty valid and within rules of sportsmanship. However during the change of overs, Warner decided to speak up his mind to Rohit about it. What followed was ugly exchange of words between the two and Warner was repeatedly heard saying "Speak English" to the Indian duo. The umpires and other team members intervened at the right time to sort things out and got on with the game. Australia went to win the match by 4 wickets (although they suffered a lot of hiccups late in their innings and just about managed to get over the line) David Warner was fined 50% of his match fee for his behavior and it instantly sparked a raging discussion whether the game has remained a #GentlemansGame? and aggressive play is being mistaken as a verbal slugfest or gibberish talk on the field? #MartinCrowe even suggested a card system (like in #Soccer) to bring this in check. The big question remains. Who will "bell" Warner off his ways to deal with on field situations. Hope the Australian captain is listening?
Obviously the firm favorites to win the cup. No.1 ranked in ODI, hosts and well-balanced side. This Australian side looks equipped to go the distance!
It must be said that this team is a pale shadow of the great Aussis teams of 90s and 2000s. They don't have a legendary batting lineup including Gilchrist, Ponting, Waugh, Hayden, Bevan nor do they possess arguably the best balanced bowling attacks of all time (Warne, Mcgrath, Gillespie, Lee). This is a team reinventing itself through new talent. However, the Australian cricket structure is such that it ensures new talent comes up all the time. Take the case of #GeorgeBailey who is also their current #T20 captain. With limited experience, he has catapulted to great heights in the shorter formats of the game. Many other names including Doherty, Cummins, Hazlewood are already being termed as the #RisingCricketStars of the world ! Batting Looks solid all the way through with low or no chinks in that armoury. They have the firepower in Warner, Watson, Maxwell, Finch. Consistent and steady middle order in Clarke, Bailey, Smith, Marsh More than useful tail - Haddin, Faulkner, Johnson Bowling If at all, this seems to be their weak link. New seamers in Hazlewood, Cummins, Faulkner and Starc are not experienced enough. Seasoned campaigners like Johnson will have to guide them smartly especially as the tournament moves in the elimination stages. Spinning dept lacks depth too. Doherty, Clarke and other part timers may not be very impactful although its going to be about the seamers in the Australian-NZ summer! All Rounders This is their big strength. Great combination of batsmen who can bowl and vice versa. Watson, Clarke, Smith, Faulkner can turn matches on their batting or bowling skills alone. All in all, this Aussie side looks well set to dethrone India and regain the World Cup crown, unless they fluff up in important games or some match winning innings/performances snatches a game or two away from them! The Final 15 in the Australian squad for #ICCWorldCup2015 #Michael Clarke #George Bailey #Pat Cummins #Xavier Doherty #James Faulkner #Aaron Finch #Brad Haddin #Josh Hazlewood #Mitchell Johnson #Mitchell Marsh #Glenn Maxwell #Steve Smith #Mitchell Starc #David Warner #Shane Watson
