In a few hours from now, the biggest game of the competition (in terms of traditional rivalry and passion) gets underway at the Adelaide Oval in a Day/Night fixture.
#INDIA v #PAKISTAN
The sub continent giants collide very early in the tournament and am sure that will ignite, rather explode into a gala event!
India has never lost to Pakistan in a #CWC game.
See stats here...
On form Pakistan look a better side than India.
But, the occasion is such that its more about mental skills than cricketing ones that would decide the eventual winner. #MSDhoni holds an edge over his counterpart #MisbahUlHaq in that department.
All in all an exciting prospect and look forward to a great game of cricket.
Best of luck to both teams
After getting thrashed all over the park, the #England bowlers had something to cheer about in their opening world cup game against #Australia at the #MCG.
#StevenFinn registered a #hattrick on the last three balls of the Aussie innings.
Wicket #1 - 49.4 overs - Brad Haddin c. Broad b.Finn 31 (14) Wicket #2 - 49.5 overs - Glenn Maxwell c. Root b.Finn 66 (40) Wicket #3 - 49.6 overs - Mitchell Johnson c. Anderson b.Finn 0 (1)
Finn finished his spell with 5 for 71 but not before being carted all over the place by the Australian batsman, especially Maxwell.
Defining Moments at #ICCWorldCup Miandad vs More and the kangaroo jumps!
This amazing incident from the 1992 World Cup marquee game between India and Pakistan is permanently etched in hearts of millions of cricket fans.
Miandad known for his antiques to provoke opposition players said something that riled up More.
He started mouthing from behind the stumps. This continued for a while until Miandad stopped the bowler (Sachin Tendulkar) and decided to have a word with More about it.
Both exchanged words before complaining to the umpire about each other.
The very next ball ... Miandad plaeyed towards mid on, ran a bit but came back since Sachin had fielded and thrown the ball back to More. He was well inside but More still flicked the bails and appeared to appeal. This got Miandad annoyed and he did the now legendary "Kangaroo" jumps in kangaroo land (venue: Sydney Cricket Ground)
Absolutely hilarious to see but raised tension between the two teams on the night.
India went on to win the game comfortably. Miandad bowled by Javagal Srinath.
After a small hiccup upfront, the Englishmen have shown India the door in the CarltonMid Triseries tournament. Having bowled India out for just 200, the game was setup for an easy win. But surprisingly, India was up for a fight today and reduced Eng to 66 for 5 in no time. As always though (and that clearly indicates the bowling class of India -- utterly miserable) No 4 (#JamesTaylor) and No 7 (Jos Butler) collaborated beautifully for a century stand to clear away any thoughts of an upset loss for England. By the time both were dismissed, England needed less than 10 runs to win the game with over 4 overs to spare. Broad and Woakes comfortably crossed the finish line. Eng 201 for 7, through to the final against Australia at the #MCG on 1st Feb 2015. What does this mean for #TeamIndia? - Elimination from the current Tri series - An extra couple of "rest days" before the World Cup (Remember MS Dhoni had complained of fatigue for their poor performance a few days ago?) - Time for introspection whether they have any realistic chance to qualify for the knockout stages at the world cup? Am sure Ireland, Zimbabwe and UAE are already plotting an upset win against them while the others Windies, South Africa and Pakistan are already smiling at their fortune of playing an out of form and disorganized #TeamIndia - Batting is in woeful form although they seem to have the talent. Bowling is at best club class and will not trouble world class batsmen the least (#AB can easily plan to break his fastest ODI century record when the two teams meet at the #MCG in their World Cup group encounter in Feb) - Need to plan/hope to bat second as that seems to be their best chance of winning some games at the moment. - If this performance continues at the World Cup, it could well be curtains for Dhoni from all forms of the game. His sour ties with Virat are already showing up and VK has a great chance to grab the captaincy position with both hands. - Can they think of calling #AnilKumble back from retirement to bowl at opposition tails or bowl containing overs?
What the batsmen didn't deliver, the bowlers are trying to!
#StuartBinny seems to be the man in action plucking 3 of those 5 wickets.
Getting very interesting now with James Taylor and Jos Butler at the crease.
They have added 26 runs so far.
The only worry for India now is that they find it very difficult to bowl opposition lower order out of a game. So, its not all that a good news for Indian fans. The recently concluded test series against Australia is big testimony to that.
Who do you think can claim maximum of the lower order wickets remaining in the English camp?
A. Stuart Binny
B. Ravindra Jadeja
C. Any other
OR will Taylor/Butler sail Eng through to the final against Australia?
We're nearing the end of the first innings of the virtual semi final between England and India at #WACA, Perth in the on going CarltonMid TriSeries. India have batted poorly yet again and may be closing in on a meagre score of about 200 (it reads 194 for 9 in 47.4 overs as I write this blog piece) #StevenFinn once again the damager-in-chief with 3 wickets supported well by Anderson, Moeen Ali and Woakes. For a change ... the Indian openers gave a solid start :) (Rahane and Dhawan) 80 odd in 20 overs. Cautious but solid. With wickets in hand, the charge would definitely on. However, it seems the other batsman had decided to undo all the good work by collapsing like nine pins once the initial partnership was broken. Kohli still playing at 3 (inspite of all the hoo-hah about him moving to 4 to add stability in the frail middle order) isn't doing much (he hasn't been able to carry his test form to one dayers unlike Steven Smith for Aus) Raina, Rayudu, Jadeja, Binny - will they be able to do much on these Australian pitches in the world cup? nothing on show today suggested that's going to happen. Other teams in Pool B are merrily watching this Indian team disintegrate. More so the Pakistanis who are their first opponent in the WC Pool B opener at Adelaide Oval on 15th Feb. MSD looks painfully out of sorts - batting wise (well ...) and mind wise (this was supposedly his best strength until a few months ago). Unless he really has some ace up his sleeve, he can safely pass on the World Cup to another team in two months time. Will be back shortly with the Eng reply. Batsmen have failed miserably. The bowlers haven't even started showing any fight yet on this tour. Tough days ahead for Team India. A conspiracy theory could be - England were deliberately scheduled to play India at Brisbane and Perth (two of the fastest and bounciest tracks in Australia) to deflate their confidence going into the World Cup. Another theory is that MSD is practicing batting first in all these games to test his bowlers defending a total. LOL ... bowlers will be the perfect scapegoats and batsmen will hide the ignominy of elimination from the cup under that pretext.
#AustraliaDay and #RepublicDay on 26th Jan. #India v #Australia at the #SCG on 26th Jan 2015
India's last chance really to beat Australia and higher their morale before the #ICCWorldCup2015. Need to really pull up their socks and beat the Aussies.
Australia sitting pretty with 3 wins out of 3 and can experiment. However, given the big occasion they would definitely want to win this one too! #Chakde India
#ABDevilliers has done it.... Century in 31 balls ... OMG ... unbelievable batting from the most valuable player in cricket today. #SouthAfrica vs #WestIndies Venue: Wanderers, Johannesburg Date: 18th Jan 2015 Batting first and riding well on #HashimAmla and #RileeRossouw hundreds, South Africa looked to build momentum for a big score through some quick runs from their middle order. #AB decided scoring quick was not good enough. He decided to take the bullet train route. And boy, did he explode? Absolute carnage followed. The hapless #Windies could do nothing but see the bowls flowing over their heads into the crowds in what has been one of the most audacious batting display in cricket history. Scoops, Sweeps, Paddle shots, Flicks, the runs flowed from everywhere... and AB the magician provided them all .. in just 31 balls.. And that didn't end there. He carried on and piled up 149 in 49 deliveries (including 16 sixes, a SA record) Records set 50 runs - 16 balls - World record #ABDevilliers 100 runs - 31 balls - World record #ABDevilliers 16 sixes - South African record #ABDevilliers Total score 439 - just four short of that magical 443 SA scored against Australia (again at Wanderers in that classic massive scoring game few years ago) West Indies were so blown away by that onslaught, that their reply ended before it actually started. Although #DeneshRamdin and #DwayneSmith got half centuries, they lost the game by 148 runs. Had they plucked AB early in his innings, they could have made a game of it. Not to be. AB take a bow!
The most unpredictable team of all time! by a distance. Amazing talent, extraordinary performances on one day and even minnows feel proud on others. Such has been Pakistan's journey over the last 40 years of World Cup one day cricket. From being arguably the best bowling unit (talent wise) ever to some of the most abject defeats in the World cup (notably - loss to Bangladesh in 1999 and to Ireland in 2007). You cannot predict which Pakistan side will land up on the field on a given day.
Boy, but if you give them a sniff and they are in the zone ... they can really nail you into submission with their audacious batting strokeplay or deadly bowling spells (as Australia found out in their league game in 1999 and NZ in that heartbreaking semifinal of 1992). So how does this 2015 Pakistan World Cup squad look like? Does it have the firepower to go all the way? Batting A lot inexperience in their batting ranks. A lot of youngsters roped in Ehsan Adil, Shehzad, Sohail, Maqsood. This could be their weakest link since conditions in Australia and NZ would favor seamers and teams from sub continent generally struggle here. Having said that, the "unseen" packages may just turn out to be surprise packages for other teams (India will their first opponent .. what a mouth watering clash scheduled for 15th Feb 15 at the Adelaide Oval) A lot will depend on the experience of Misbah and Younis Khan to carry these youngsters when settting or chasing targets. Bowling The traditional powerhouse of this team. Emergence of Riaz and Irfan is a good sign but still lack of experience could spell their doom. Just don't see anyone to guide these seamers in tight situations. Spinners will be lead by Hafeez and Afridi and they should do well. All rounders Plenty but its just that they may or they may not. You may see a blinder from nowhere (remember Inzamam's 60 from 37 from nowhere in 1992 against NZ to snatch victory in the end-game of that match?) but you will also see timid failures along the way (like the World Cup final 1999 against Australia) All in all, a very inexperienced side and definitely not the favorites by a long way. May be that could be a boon in disguise. Who thought Imran Khan's team would win that 1992 in Australia world cup after an atrocious start to their campaign then. The venue this time? ... ... Australia again! Do NOT count them out. Team Pakistan for ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 #Misbah-ul-Haq #AhmedShehzad #EhsanAdil #HarisSohail #JunaidKhan #MohammadHafeez #MohammadIrfan #SarfrazAhmed #ShahidAfridi #SohaibMaqsood #SohailKhan #UmarAkmal #WahabRiaz #YasirShah
Venue: Edgbaston, Birmingham Arguably the greatest one dayer of all time. There have been many classics over the years but for sheer drama, importance of the game and world cup stage, this game stands out from the rest. The great rivals of the 1990s clashed in this high voltage drama on the back of another classic in their last league match in the same tournament. Needing to win at all cost to stay alive in the tournament #SteveWaugh single handedly won that game for the Aussies against SA. That game had the famous altercation between him and #HerschelleGibbs when the later dropped his catch. Steve's words "Son, you just dropped the world cup" are part of cricketing folklore! We've covered that game on this blog as well. Back to the semi-final. South Africa the clear favorites on form and domination displayed throughout the tournament. On a lively wicket, #HansieCronje, the SA captain, won the toss and elected to field. Vindicating his decision, #ShaunPollock got #MarkWaugh to nick behind in the first over. 3 for 1. #RickyPonting and #AdamGilchrist steadied the ship for a while before #AllanDonald broke through the top order to reduce the Aussies to 68 for 4 in 17 overs. Australia in trouble. This brought the two battle veterans to the crease (Steve Waugh and #MichaelBevan). Both, not the classically elegant stroke makers, saw the need of the hour to perfection. Slowly but steadily they pushed the score towards a decent total. Steve completed his fifty and Australia braced past 150 around the 36th over. Enter Shaun Pollock. First Steve Waugh. In the same over, #TomMoody. Superb over. 2 wickets. Australia reeling again at 158 for 6. Shane Warne in company of Michael Bevan carried on gainly to cross the psychological 200 run mark in the 46th over. They now had a great launch pad to cut loose and post a decent total on board. But, everytime Australia seemed to pull away, the #Proteas seemed to claw back. Pollock had Warne caught at mid on with superb slower delivery. Then Donald produced to absolute beauties to knock back #PaulReiffel and #DamienFleming's stumps off consecutive deliveries. Australia were rocked from 207 for 6 to 207 for 9. None for 3 in two overs! It was left to Bevan to strike some late blows to get them to 213 before he was out caught behind to hand Pollock and much deserved 5-for. Donald was superb for his 4 wickets. Brilliant performance from South Africa to restrict Australia to that score. Going by their form and battting strength, it looked like a cake walk. Or was it? With the Aussies, you never relax as the SA were about to find out. High on confidence and chasing a really modest total, SA openers #GaryKirsten and #HerschelleGibbs started in cautious fashion to ensure no quick wickets were lost to Aussie pacers. In 12 overs, 48 for no loss. Great start .. and target looks pretty easy. Anyone heard of someone called #ShaneWarne? What a magician he is with the ball in hand. Steve Waugh brought him on and boy did he strike? First Gibbs bowled round the legs .. a peach of a delivery. Then Kirsten, trying to sweep from outside off misses the line and bowled through the gates. In walks captain #HansieCronje, promoted to up the ante and throw Australia off guard. However with Warne in such hot form and tasted blood, he pounced on Cronje too. He had his edge behind to slips for 0. A decision that still rings controversy. The ball had clearly clipped Cronje's shoe toes. No where near the bat but the umpire thought otherwise and gave it out. Cronje is most unhappy. From 48 for 0, suddenly SA were 53 for 3 and the game in balance. #DarrylCullinan, already struggling against Warne was run out needlessly reducing them to 61 for 4. Australia on top now. But the game was such that everytime a team pulled away, the other came back strongly. SA did too. Through #JacquesKallis and #JontyRhodes doing the same job as Waugh-Bevan partnership had done earlier in the day. Mixing caution (Kallis) with some aggression (Rhodes), both not only steadied the ship but also laid a great foundation to push SA to victory. After 40 overs and around 140+ on board, SA were clear favorites? or there was another twist in the tale? There was! Jonthy literally threw his wicket away pulling a Reiffel delivery to deep square leg where Bevan gleefully accepted it. Even steven yet again!! Another surprise move. Pollock promoted ahead of #LanceKluesner! (Remember Klusener was the butcher finisher in this world cup killing all teams with his power hitting in the end game to clinch vitory for SA almost every time). The move almost paid off. Pollock launched Warne into the stands for a huge six, followed with a boundary. At the other end, Warne claimed Kallis for a well made 53 leaving around 40 odd for his teammates to get. In walks the crusader Klusener wielding his heavy bat and ready to throw his bat around to take away another victory. However, in haste, Pollocak gifted his wicket to Fleming. Match back on even keel. SA 183 for 7. In comes #MarkBoucher. #GlennMcgrath keeps him check and Kluesner away from strike. In a rush of blood, Boucher loses his head and cleaned up by Mcgrath. 196 for 8. 18 runs to win from 10 balls. Australia need two tail-end wickets. Its that close and anyones game. To add to SA's woes, #SteveElworthy is run out in the 49th over trying to keep Kluesner on strike. 16 from 8 balls. The next delivery from Mcgrath is smashed by Kluesner towards long on where Paul Reiffel completely messes it up. First he drops the catch, then in all that mess-up, he parries the bowl over the fence for a 6. Wow !! Kluesner steals a run on the last ball to keep strike. 9 from 6 balls. Steve Waugh throws the ball to Damien Fleming, his trusted death bowler. Facing him is red hot Kluesner who's ready to finish the game. First ball. Crunnccch.... the bowl zooms long on for a four. Mark Waugh has no chance to stop it. Second ball. Swoooooosh ... the bowl creams through extra cover. Another boundary. No fielder moves an inch. No need to. Thats perfection. 1 from 4 balls with Kluesner on strike. Game over you'd say. But, never discount an Aussie side. That day watching these tense moments with my mother (from whom I inherited this passion for sports) and she said, "This is Australia, just one wicket to go son. I am backing them". I was obviously rooting for SA. Third ball. All fielders brought in ofcourse to stop the single. Kluesner mistimes it to mid on. Crazily, his non striker #AllanDonald had backed out too far. #DarrenLehmann back flicked his throw at the non-stikers end. The ball passes the stumps by inches and Donald is stranded out of his crease. Oooohs and Aaaahhs all around. Hands on heads for Aussies who certainly may have thought, this is not their day! Discussion between Donald and Kluesner to take it easy. 1 from 3 balls. Still pretty easy with Kluesner on strike. The commentators on air #BillLawry (Australia) and #MikeProcter (SA) kept going at each other in jest and tension seemed to be getting to them as well. Fleming delivers a good yorker, Kluesner doesnt connect well and ball rolls straight down the pitch where mid-on intercepts. Kluesner is already way down the pitch to complete the run. Donald seems clueless as there is no communication whatsover. He starts when Kluesner is almost at his end. The flick from mid-on misses the non-stiker stumps. Fleming sees Donald way out of his ground and rolls the ball to Gilchrist. He cooly collects and whips off the stumps, Donald way out of his crease!! Scores tied. Match tied. The Aussies celebrate because they qualify for the final (owing to their win against SA in the group stage). Kluesner walks back a dejected man. What a choke for SA. They seem to be hold that tag even till date especially with World Cups. Cronje is distraught. Waugh is excited. Cronje keeps claiming that he was not out. In response, another of Steve Waugh's now famous responses "Yes Hansie you are out. Read the newspaper tomorrow" What an amazing game. No team deserved to lose (or win either) and it did end a tie. But Aussies walked away with all the accolades. SA had all the wounds to carry. My mom was over the moon .. as if she was an Aussie! MOM: Shane Warne Watch some of the terrific highlights of this game here:
Venue: Mohali, India Can it get better? The traditional arch rivals, sub-continent giants clashing in a World Cup semi final !! WOW. The stage was set for a magnificent showdown and the teams didn't disappoint. Prime ministers of both countries greeted and wished players from either teams before the game. Dignitaries, bureaucrats, film stars, top corporate biggies and who's who from both countries made the game even more electrifying!
#MSDhoni won the toss and elected to bat. #Sehwag and #Tendulkar provided a stunning start for the Indians. Sehwag smashed #UmarGul for 20 runs in an over. Tendulkar opened from the other end too. 50 struck in no time.
A bowling change did the trick for Pakistan. #WahabRiaz, the lanky left hander trapped Sehwag leg before for 38. #GautamGambhir joined in and run-rate slowed down. #Hafeez flummoxed him in the air and he was stumped for 27. When #ViratKohli and #YuvrajSingh got out of consecutive delivers by Riaz, India were in a spot of bother at 141 for 4. In the meanwhile, Sachin had quietly crept past 50 (thanks to butterfingers by Pakis on 4 occasions) and holding fort. By the time he departed on 85, Pakistan had staged a comeback and were hoping to keep India under a manageable total. Some late flurry by Dhoni, #SureshRaina and #Harbhajan helped India reach 260 in their 50 overs, way below par considering the start they had. Wahab Riaz's 5-for a fitting reward for gutsy and disciplined bowling. But, as they say in big games runs on the board are crucial. Is 260 enough or Pakistan will easily chase it down considering the superfast Mohali outfield? Pakistan started their run chase steadily through #KamranAkmal and #MohdHafeez. #ZaheerKhan broke through their partnership with score on 44. Young #AsadShafiq joined Hafeez to take the innings forward. A moment of madness from Hafeez led to his downfall, Yuvraj claimed Shafiq and the ever reliable #YounisKhan and suddenly Pakistan were 106 for 4. #UmarAkmal and #MisbahUlHaq then put on a partnership and started rebuilding. Umar upped the tempo with some lusty blows. Harbhajan struck at a timely moment for India clean bowling Akmal. #MunafPatel followed suit to get the very dangerous #AbdurRazzaq. #ShahidAfridi started throwing his bat around while Misbah concentrated on holding his end. The required run rate was creeping up all the time. Something had to give way... India knocked Afridi, Riaz and Gul to snatch the game away from Pak. Misbah's late heroics only delayed the inevitable. India won the game by 29 runs. Although the margin for victory was comfortable, a India-Pak game is always tense, combative and electrifying. India moved ahead to the final of the World Cup to play #SriLanka. MOM: Sachin Tendulkar
(ICC 50 overs a side ODI - World Cup) Mumbai, 2nd Apr 2011
The two most powerful teams of the tournament (considering the sub continent conditions) met in the final of World Cup.
Some confusion at the toss, coin spun twice .. Sri Lanka won it and elected to bat.
After a stuttering start (#ZaheerKhan bowled three straight maidens at #UpulTharanga before claiming his wicket), Sri Lanka steadied through #Dilshan and captain #KumarSangakkara.
Dilshan was bowled by #Harbhajan with team score on 60, bringing in #MahelaJayawardhane.
He went on to play one of the most memorable knocks in one day cricket that day with a scintillating 103*. Pure elegance, class and his counter attacking at end of their innings was awesome!
With due support from Sanga, Saamrweera, Kulsekhara and Perera, Mahela posted a very formidable 274 runs on the board for India to chase. Remember, as a thumb rule in finals, runs on the board are best. Chasing means pressure especially with the stakes so high.
India began disastrously. #VirenderSehwag was trapped leg before by #LasithMalinga second ball. #SachinTendulkar playing his last world cup followed soon after edging one behind again off Malinga. Mumbai was dumbstruck. At 31 for 2, and the opening blaster pair out, India were in trouble.
The young brigade of #GautamGambhir and #ViratKohli steadied the ship with useful partnership of 83 runs before Kohli fell to Dilshan.
In walked #MSDhoni, ahead of the in-form #YuvrajSingh. A move that surprised experts, crowd and most probably SriLanka too. He along with Gambhir pulled the game away from Sri Lanka to a position of certainty and authority. By the time Gambhir fell for a superb 98, the writing was on the wall.
Befittingly, it was Dhoni who hit the winning shot (a massive six over long on) to lift the cup for India. His stunning and authoritative 91* ensured a facile win for India. Their 2nd world cup!! The cup was dedicated to the #LittleMaster of course who had played 6 world cups without any success!
MOM: M.S. Dhoni, India
Watch highlights of this game on the video link in this post.
