Will Eng Steamroll Ind at WACA Today? (30 Jan 15)

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.

Eng v SA (Semifinal, Sydney, World Cup 1992)

Venue: SCG, Sydney (D/N match)

In what has to be termed as the biggest "joke" in history of one day cricket, the funny rain rule applied to matches then, turned an absolute cliff hanger into a farce! That's the best way to describe this incredible semi final between Eng and SA.

Both teams had it fairly easy enroute the semifinals, #England winning 6 of their 8 games while SA winning 5. #SA had just been readmitted to cricket after the #apartheid ban on them for 20 odd years. Hence, there were no expectations from them as such. However, under #KeplerWessels, this team rewrote history by appearing in the semis of a Cricket World Cup on debut!

On a gloomy SCG afternoon, SA won the toss and inserted England into bat. Considering forecast of showers later in the day, the #Proteas wanted to know their targets and revisions just in case (little did they imagine about the cruel realty that was about to strike them later that evening).

SA broke through the openers very  cheaply. #Gooch edged behind off #AllanDonald for 2 and #IanBotham was castled by Meryck Pringle for 17.

Eng 39 for 2.

#GraemeHick joined #AlecStewart and both of them started repair work of the English innings. Steadily they reached 100 before deciding to open up and take charge. #BrianMcMillan snapped their partnership claiming Stewart for 33 but Hick had settled down by then and he unleashed a barrage of strokes to push the England scoring ahead briskly.

Middle order support from #NeilFairbrother (28), #AllanLamb (19) and #ChrisLewis (18) ensured England breezed past 200 through small but quick partnerships. Hick was dismissed for a solid 83. But, it was #DermotReeve who stole the late order show for the #Poms. His quickfire 25 of 14 (including 3 consecutive boundaries in one over) ensured England reached a respectable 252 at the end of their 45 overs. (Match had to be shortened due to rain interruptions at the top leading to time overrun of the first innings cut off of 6:10 pm) 

At 5+ runs per over (in the 90s this was a big deal!!), the target was definitely stiff and everyone felt England would nail the game swiftly.  SA had different ideas though. Wessels and #Andrew Hudson made a breezy start before Wessels was claimed by Botham. #PeterKirsten, their best technical batsman, didnt last too long either and was out for 11.

SA 61 for 2.

Hudson was in fine nick though and he was just appearing to open up when he was trapped leg before by #RichardIllingworth for a well compiled 46.

SA 90 for 3.

It was now left to the younger generation of SA cricket to steer their ship. And boy did they march? #AdrianKuiper struck a super 36, #HansieCronje 24 and #JontyRhodes a breezy 43 to inch close to their target. A victory was in sight. Although all these youngsters eventually got out, the score was reading ..

SA 206 for 6

Very even contest.

#DaveRichardson and McMillan then put a very steady partnership of 29 to reach 231 in 42.5 overs. 
Victory in sight. 23 to win in 13 balls. You'd put your money on SA the way these two were batting. Gooch looking clueless and desperate for a breakthrough.

And then it happened... the heavens opened up.
Play had to be stopped due to the showers.
When play resumed, the rain rule was applied to adjust the time lost in the break.

The scoreboard read 22 runs to win in 7 balls.

Bah! the target was revised by just 1 run but 6 balls were taken off the batting team.

Then more drama .... 

The officials had actually made a mistake displaying 7 balls. They corrected the scoreboard again.
Now it read ....

22 runs to win in 1 ball

What? What the $#%@? 

Speechless.. there was a dead silence in the crowd. 

How on earth was that possible?

But, it was a rain rule being applied those days and had to be put into force.

What a shame! The game was tantalizingly poised for a humdinger of a finish and then this farcical rain rule spoilt it all.

Chris Lewis sent down the one delivery and McMillan tapped it down to long on for a single. The match had ended, technically.

No one was happy. The Englishmen knew victory was handed over to them by the rain rule. The Proteas knew it was pure divine intervention that didnt want them to win the game.

England qualified for the final against Pakistan at the #MCG.

SA returned home, bruised but not humiliated. They had put up an amazing performance throughout the tournament and were only robbed of a possible finals berth by rain gods. 

MOM: Graeme Hick

Watch the game highlights here...

Top Matches in Feb 2015 atthe #ICCWorldCup2015

Here are some of the best matches to look out for in Feb 2015 at the #ICCWorldCup2015

14th Feb - NZ v SL, #Christchurch
14th Feb - Aus v Eng, #MCG
15th Feb - Ind v Pak, #AdelaideOval
20th Feb - NZ v Eng, #Wellington...
22nd Feb - Ind v SA, MCG
28th Feb - NZ v Aus, #Auckland

Huge games upfront to decide positions in their group.
Bigger excitement awaits in Mar 2015 but book your schedules for these games. They're gonna be one hella exciting stuff, especially the Aus/Eng and Ind/Pak games are massive from viewership and rivalry based!

Eng v Aus is legendary although Aus have always had an upper hand most of the time. In the current context too, the Aussies look too powerful for the Englishmen. Its just that being #MCG and timeless rivalry will make the atmosphere quick electrifying.

Punches will be exchanged but mostly it seems that the Aussies will end up on top in that game!

Ind v Pak is for the generations!

Traditional rivals all these years and players' careers depend on outcome of these games. Such is the intensity!

Surprisingly, all all world cup meetings till date, India have been victorius. That's an amazing stat considering Pak won the cup in 1992 (but lost comfortably to India in a league match). Same in 1999 when they reached semifinals at the world cup but lost to India. They were comprehensively beaten in 1996 quarter finals (another electric game though) and 2011 semi finals. The two teams did not meet each other in the 1975, 1979 and 2007 (both teams were ousted in the first round itself).

Whatever the results, the needle and pressure in an Ind v Pak game is amazing.

Promises to be another mouth watering clash at the Adelaide Oval on 15th Feb 2015. Cant wait to see that match...

Herschelle Gibbs - "You just dropped the World Cup Son"

"You just dropped the World Cup son..." Did Steve Waugh say that? Yes or No .. the debate will go on but it was undoubtedly the defining moment in the 1999 world cup. IF Steve Waugh would have gone at that stage, Australia would have never qualified for the semi finals and SA would have had the best chance to win the world cup. As luck would have it, the best fielder in the side (alongside Jonty Rhodes) had to drop this sitter.

The score card should have read like this
Steve Waugh caught and dropped Gibbs b Kluesner 52

Waugh went to score his typical gritty century and bail Australia out of this game to set up semifinals against? You guessed right... SA again. What happened at Birmingham in the semis? ... is part of cricketing legend!

Sri Lanka Official 2015 World Cup Song - Wonderful!

#SriLanka - Official Cricket World Cup 2015 Song

Simply awesome!!
Just like their team and culture .. its vibrant and colorful!

Always a balanced and powerful side although they are never talked about or rated high as some of the others (India and England are you listening?) who seem to be more media friendly... Probably they need a good PR or a captain like Ranatunga to announce themselves on world stage. 

Great respect for this side. All the best for the world cup!

Australia Day and Republic Day Cricket Clash 2015

#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

Will England Be Fourth Time Lucky?

#England teams have been enigmatic over the years.

They reached 3 Finals in the first 5 editions of the Cricket World Cup, losing on all three occasions

(to West Indies in 1979, to Australia in 1987 and to Pakistan in 1992). Until then, they were a very powerful force to reckon with in one dayers.

The advent of modern day cricket (pinch hitting, powerplays, etc) seemed to derail them completely from the format. Add to that key retirements including Ian Botham, Graham Gooch. Mike Gatting, Robin Smith, etc and their downfall happened pretty sharply over the years.

1996 saw them blown away by a rampaging Jayasuriya in the quarter finals

In 1999, they couldnt reach the #SuperSixes stage (in their home World Cup)

Repeat poor performances in 2003 (South Africa), 2007 (West Indies) and 2011 (India) indicated a big down-slide of this side.

However, with fresh new talent coming in, they have slowly crept up the ladder to top of the tree by 2012. Excellent combination of batting. bowling and all round ability led them to dominate both test and one day cricket for a while.

So, how does it look for them at the 2015 Cricket World Cup?

The team looks settled but low on pure skills. 

Batting:

Morgan, Bell will need to lead talented youngsters in tough situations and crunch moments in tight matches. 

Bowling:

Definitely their biggest strength especially with Anderson and Finn leading that attack. Spin is a worry since retirement of Graeme Swann.

All Round Ability:

Broad, Ali, Bopara should do well to contribute with either bat or ball.

All in all, they need to play well above their potential and ability to win this world cup.

All the best #Poms!

Team England for the Cricket World Cup 2015 

Eoin Morgan

Moeen Ali

Garry Ballance

Ian Bell

Ravi Bopara

Jos Butler

Stuart Broad

Alex Hales

Joe Root

Chris Jordan

James Tredwell

James Taylor

Chris Woakes

James Anderson

Steven Finn

Sri Lanka - The Asian Lions Deserve To Be 50 Over World Champs

#SriLanka: No one other than #TeamAustralia has been as consistent over the last 15 years (since the new millennium). Winners of the previous #ICCT20WorldCup after being on the losing side in finals of all major tournaments including two World Cups, Champions Trophy and T20 Championships.

Sri Lankan sides just look very well organized every time they participate in any tournament. Agreed, they don't have big names to boast of (apart from #Jayawardhane, #Sangakara, #Malinga and to some extent #AngeloMatthews) but they are very compact side. There is no fuss about this team. They go about doing their job professionally and the results are for everyone to see.

From minnows in earlier world cup editions to world champs in 1996 under the legendary #ArjunaRantunga, they have come a long way since. Outplayed in the 1999 edition in England, they bounced back in 2003 to reach the semi finals (where they had Australia in trouble at a stage but eventually lost the game). They went a step ahead in 2007 reaching the finals (again to lose to Australia) and in 2011 (lost to India). Shows their consistency on all types of wickets and conditions. Just that they lack the killer genius of #AravindaDeSilva and #SanathJayasuriya of 1996 to take that one step further.

Personally, I think the Sri Lankans are highly under-rated players. They have not really gotten their due on world stage like the power/rich Indian players, superstar Aussies ad Pakistanis or the media powerful England and SA players have. Maybe their lifestyle, demeanor and laid back approach could be the reason. But their skills are amazing and they should demand their own value by winning this #ICCWorldCup2015. Its about time...

Batting looks solid with Dilshan, Jayawardena, Sanga will guide their youngsters well. Probably the last cup for Sanga-Jaya. Therefore, they'd like to bow out on a high! (just like they did in the T20 final two years ago)

Bowling seems to be a slightly weak area although Malinga and Kulasekhara will bring in all their experience and guile into the fast bowling attack. The Australian and Kiwi pitches will support both bounce and swing. Hence, seamers will rule the roost and they are looking forward to young seamers in Prasad, Lakmal and Perera to come up with the goods.

Spin department is in the able hands of the veteran Rangana Herath. He along with Jeevan Mendis and Senanayake will bring variety to their potent bowling attack.

All rounders will be led by Angelo Matthews. Awesomely talented and fit-for-all situations in a match, he will be a key cog in the Sri Lankan armour if they are to win the cup. Will they?

Team Sri Lanka for ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Angelo Matthews
Lahiru Thirimanne
Dinesh Chandimal
Tilakatne Dilshan
Mahela Jayawardena
Kumar Sangakarra
Dimuth Karunaratne
Lasith Malinga
Nuwan Kulasekara
Thisara Perera
Dhammika Prasad
Suranga Lakmal
Rangana Herath
Sachithra Senanayake
Jeevan Mendis