CWC15 LIVE - SL Win Toss Elect To Bat vs SA

#SriLanka vs #SouthAfrica
#SCG
18th Mar 2015

Sri Lankan captain #AngeloMathews has won the toss and elected to bat first.
A very good toss to win in a big game.

Two changes for Sri Lanka
#KusalPerera comes in for #DineshChandimal
#Kaushal comes in for #RanganaHerath (he's their mystery spinner waiting to be unleashed against SA)

South Africa have made two changes as well.
#KyleAbbott replaces #VernonPhilander
#FafDuPlessis comes back in place of  #FarhadBehardien

Let the game begin ...

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CWC15 - Will SA Choke Or Prevail vs Sri Lanka - QF1

#SriLanka vs #SouthAfrica
#SCG
18th Mar 2015

As Sri Lanka and South Africa open the quarterfinal stages of this exciting #CWC15, all eyes are set on battles within battles

#Sanga vs #Steyn
#Malinga vs #ABDevilliers and #HashimAmla
#Tahir vs #Mathews

Some superb contests within the main one will add super spice to this match. While Sanga vs Steyn duel is going to take the cake and effectively determine outcome of this match probably, would love to see how Devilliers tackles the Lankan spin battery!

The "C" tag continues to haunt South Africa and this is a big pressure game tomorrow. They have dug a hole for themselves at critical junctures in world cups and luck has deserted them at times too.

1992 - lost to England by the farcial rain rule in semifinals (ironically at SCG i.e venue for tomorrow's game)

1996 - ran into a rampaging Brian Lara and his innings outclassed the Proteas

1999 - in the greatest ODI of all time, they tripped at the last moment when Kluesner and Donald couldnt communicate and complete the winning run vs Australia in a semifinal at Birmingham.

2003 - poor calculation of the D/L numbers meant they allowed Sri Lanka to qualify for the next stage by tying that game at Port Elizabeth. Boucher actually played a defensive shot when all they needed was one run to win that game on D/L system

2007 - ran into a rampaging Aussie side and Matthew Hayden's blistering century blew them away.

2011 - one of the clear favorites, they literally choked against the Kiwis in their quarterfinal.  

2015 - Such has been their CWC history. Will tomorrow be different?

Sri Lanka seem to have mastered the art of reaching final rounds of top cricket tournaments so they can handle pressure but have not won anything in the 50 over CWC for some time. 

1992 - Minnows of the game but beat South Africa in a stunning game

1996 - World Champs led by inspirational Arjuna Ranatunga

1999 - Blown away in England in league stage

2003 - Semi finalists but lost to Australia in a keen contest

2007 - Finalists, but again ran into a rampaging Australian side and Gilchrist's stunner century blew them away.

2011 - Finalists yet again and best chance to win the cup, but MS Dhoni's inspirational innings and captaincy snatched victory from their grasp.

Going by this history, SL seem to have a better chance in this contest, although on paper, South Africa is much stronger of the two teams man to man.

Tomorrow will tell. Stay tuned....

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CWC 2015 LIVE - SA pummel Ireland - Post Huge Win

#CWC15 #LIVE #Cricket #Score
South Africa v Ireland

After a pasting at the hands of the SA batsmen, the Irish batsmen have floundered completely. Am sure, they were clueless at the merciless annihilation of their bowlers in the first innings.

SA amassed 411/4 in 50 overs (Amla - 159, duPlessis - 109, Rossouw - 61, Miller - 41, ABdeVilliers - 24) with all Irish bowlers taken to the cleaners.

Planning to chasing that mammoth total was a task in itself, let along execution.
The inexperience and quality of Ireland showed against the heavy weights.

#DaleSteyn, #PaulAbbott and #MorneMorkel have ripped through their batting lineup. A lesson in cricket for the men in Green-White i.e. Ireland. This is a massive win for the Proteas.

Score:
SA: 411/4
Ireland: 210 all out
Abbott - 4 wickets, Steyn - 2 wickets, Morkel - 3 wickets

Man of the Match: #HashimAmla

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CWC 2015 LIVE - Where Are My Shoes? Amla

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

A funny incident happened at the SCG during the SA batting innings.

#HashimAmla flicked one of the pads to midwicket and set off for a run.
In the process, he stepped on one of his shoe and it came off. He limped over to the other end since it was a comfortable single.

#FafDuPlessis at the other end saw the funny side of it, smiled, picked up the shoe and handed it over to him. Some fun ...

 

Will South Africa Bury Ghosts Of Previous Cricket World Cups in 2015?

Will #SA break the #CricketWorldCup jinx this time?

The eternal "chokers" of cricket enter yet another world cup carrying ghosts of previous editions. The dreadful #Rainrule in 1992, the #Lara magnum opus in 1996, the ultimate #KluesnerChoke in the greatest one dayer of all time in 1999, the silly miscalculation against  #SriLanka in 2003, complete annihilation by #Australia in 2007 and the #NewZeland choke of 2011.

What are their chances this time around then?

Almost every world cup has thrown a situation that has pushed them out of the cup. Ironically, on most occasions they are the team to beat. Wessels' team in 1992 was their re-entry into world cup after the apartheid era but they did tremendously well to reach the semis only to be cruelly thrown out due to the ridiculous rain rule that was being applied to rain curtailed games. The #DuckworthLewis rule came in later to even out a contest.

In 1996 and 1999, under #HansieCronje, they were arguably the best side to win both tournaments on form and man-to-man strengths. Bowling, Batting, Fielding, All round ability .. they had it all. And some of the best names at that. However in 1996, they ran into a rampaging #BrianLara in the quarterfinal to be blown under his assault. In 1999, the greatest one day match of all time (a tied semi final against Australia) saw them bow out on account of losing to the Aussies in the group stage. An eternal #choke (that went on to become a sobriquet associated with them for years to come).

In 2003, under #GraemeSmith and being hosts, was another golden opportunity. And what did they do? Fluff up a Duckworth-Lewis calculation and failed to take an extra run that would see them in the next round. Instead Sri Lanka went through. What a mega blunder!

2007 World Cup was dominated by Australia throughout and they blew away everyone along the way including SA in the semifinals. Fair and square. No bad luck involved here.

Come 2011, and again tragedy struck in the quarterfinals against New Zealand. From what seemed like a easy win, they wasted another opportunity...

Any luck this time around?

Well, they seem a bit inexperienced and a lot of fresh faces.
However their key strength is their bowling, especially #DaleSteyn and #MorneMorkel. They will hold key on the fast Australian pitches and seams NZ tracks.

Batting is in safe hands of #ABDevilliers, #HashimAmla and #FafDuPlessis.

Solid all round strength and fielding is extra-ordinary right from the #JontyRhodes era.

With SA its all going to be about self belief.
Can they conquer their mental demons this time around?

SA Team for Cricket World Cup 2015
A B Devilliers
Hashim Amla
Kyle Abbott
Farhan Behardien
Quinton De Kock
Jean Paul Duminy
Faf Du Plessis
Imran Tahir
David Miller
Morne Morkel
Wayne Parnell
Aaron Phangiso
Vernon Philander
Rilee Rossauw
Dale Steyn