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Showing posts with label Pool A. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pool A. Show all posts

Monday 9 March 2015

CWC 2015 LIVE - Rubel Double Blow Seals It For Bangladesh vs England

#England vs #Bangladesh,

What a phenomenal game! Probably game of the tournament (although the NZ v Aus game comes very close). 

After 98 overs, we didn't have answer to our question WHO WILL BLINK FIRST?
England answered it by blinking against #RubelHossain who castled both #StuartBroad and #JamesAnderson with peach deliveries to deliver a famous win for Bangladesh at the #AdelaideOval. #ChrisWoakes, the star batsman and looking extremely well placed to sail England through, was stranded at the other end for a superb 42* (in vain though)

#LIVE #SCORE
Bangladesh: 275 for 7
England: 260 all out
Bangladesh win by 15 runs.

Man of the Match: #Mahmudullah

With both sides needing to win this game to keep their hopes alive in the tournament, the battle went down to the wire. The tug of war continued until the very end but the Bangladeshis held their nerve and a Rubel Hossain special sealed their win in style.

With this win, #Bangladesh have qualified for the quarter final stages of #CWC15. Currently in third position, they should end up 4th since Sri Lanka's last game against Scotland should see them seated in third spot.

Current Pool A Standings
New Zealand - 10 points (5 matches)
Australia - 7 points (5 matches)
Bangladesh - 7 points (6 matches)
Sri Lanka - 6 points (5 matches)

Extraordinary scenes here at #AdelaideOval as Bangla fans go berserk in their celebrations.
But, do spare a thought for #England, especially Buttler and Woakes who really challenged that total from a hopeless position.

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Sunday 1 March 2015

CWC 2015 - Rest Day For All Teams

#CWC15
 
2nd Mar 2015 is rest day at the World Cup 2015.
No matches are scheduled on this day.
A good break/holiday for all teams battling it out over the last two weeks.
 
There have been stunning performances - both individual and teams.
Matches have been lopsided and close but overall this has been very entertaining so far.
 
Most refreshingly, the minnows/associates have given a great account of themselves.
None of the minnows' games have been boring or just-another-match type. In fact, some of the most thrilling encounters have involved these teams. e.g. Ireland beating West Indies chasing 307, Afghanistan running Sri Lanka really close or Scotland troubling New Zealand in a small run chase.
 
Afghanistan's astonishing win against Scotland or Ireland's close shave against UAE are classic examples and proof that these teams need more exposure at world level. This has also sent a signal to #ICC to rethink number of participating teams at the next world cup from 14 to 10?
 
The New Zealand v Australia is arguably the best match of the tournament so far with that stunning Australian fight-back defending only 151.
 
India has surprised one and all with their dream run in the tournament beating two favorites, Pakistan and South Africa, pretty easily and topping Pool B easily.
 
West Indies have played the most games so far, 4.
They have been a mixed bag so far. Shocking defeat at the hands of Ireland, Stunning win against Pakistan, Gayle's brutal annihilation of Zimbabwe and getting equally annihilated by AB deVilliers' South Africa. They run into red hot India next followed by UAE. They need to win both games to stay afloat for qualification to next round.
 
New Zealand has been the team to beat with their audacious opener and captain Brendon McCullum showing ingenuine abilities to experiment and surprise the opponents. Sri Lanka, England and Australian batsmen have found that out facing the Kiwi quicks and spinners. They don't have heavy weight superstars in that side but boy do they click as a unit! simply outstanding.
 
Australia have been a bit unlucky thus far. They whipped England in their opening game and then had to wait 15 days before they could play another ball! (their game against Bangladesh was abandoned due to rain). No wonder their batting looked jaded against Kiwis.
 
All teams, with the exception of Ireland, have played already played 3 games atleast going into this break tomorrow. So, we are like at the middle stage of the tournament. Some teams are clear favorites to move ahead (NZ and Ind), some teams are peaking at the right time (Sri Lanka), some teams are stuck inspite of good performances (Aus and SA) while some have disappointed outright inspite of promise (Pak and Eng).  
 
The second stage of the league stage starts on 3rd Mar 2015 when South Africa take on Ireland, another spicy encounter important for both sides.
 
Look forward ....
 
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Thursday 26 February 2015

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



Tuesday 24 February 2015

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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