As we write this, Australia is cruising along at 78-0 after 10 overs. South Africa won the toss and put Australia in to bat. Australia is off to the races. Will they hit 500 today? and more importantly, can they defend whatever runs they make.
Nice calling and running between the wickets. Great shot from Gilchrist, but Langeveldt gets his boot on it and saves 4 runs. Gilchrist is pissed with Langy's temerity, so the next ball is deposited over the ground for a huge 6. What a shot. Score now 84-0, 11 overs.
Andrew Hall into the attack now. What a shot!!! Great shot! came down the pitch and blasted the ball through extra covers. Great timing. What a way to get to his fifty. The village idiot playing really well. Nice comeback from Hall.
The Australian running between the wickets is top notch. We have an idea, they should hire Ganguly, who is the BEST runner between the wickets, to help their running get to the next level. Meanwhile, Haydos is going berserk. He just hit a flat six over mid-off. The trick to getting Hayden out is simple: The wicket-keeper needs to ask him math questions. Due to his double digit IQ, math questions are hard for Hayden. He gets confused easily. If the wicket-keeper can irritate Hayden enough, Hayden will get out.
Gilly is gone! Nice catch by Gibbs - easy catch at backward point. Gilly was surprised by the bounce of the slower ball and was not able to keep it down. Australia now 106 for 1 after 15 overs. Monkey boy will walk in. Oh Joy. Monkey boy and the Idiot batting together.
Update 1:
What a shot! 4. Nice shot between cover and mid-off. Hayden is middling everything and when he is not hitting boundaries, he is running sharp singles. Australia don't know what they are missing - they need Ganguly as their running coach. As an act of kindness, maybe we can send Ganguly over - free of cost. We just heard a very important tidbit: Gibbs doesn't like throwing up the ball after he takes a catch. He gets rid of it quickly.
Will South Africa save itself a little bit by getting rid of Ponting quickly? We will see, meanwhile, Hayden hits a boundary over cover. Hayden is batting beautifully. Another nice shot over mid-on. He is in great form. He is on 81 and Australia crusing along at 123-1 after 17 overs.
Update 2:
Holy cow! Hayden could be making the fasest 100 of the world cup. This is terrible news. Where is Ganguly when you need him? We are, of course, rooting against Hayden getting to that hundred. It's bad enough that another aussie form Canada has the record. One dot ball.
Meanwhile, Ponting is rotating the strike. Coward. If you are brave, show us by batting instead of rotating the strike to your in-form partner. Indian batsmen are brave. Spanking shot by Hayden for 4 and then he takes a single. He is on 90 of 59 balls. Australia now 140-1 after 19 overs.
Update 3:
Hayden 91 off 60 balls. 9 runs from 6 deliveries to get to the fastest hundred. WOW!!! Ponting just hit a massive six. What a batsman! what a shot! Now a straight drive over the bowlers head for a 4. Oh boy. He is looking dangerous. Thank God the power plays are over. It's time to stanch the flow of runs.
Hayden 92 of 62 balls. 93 of 63 balls. 94 of 64 balls. This should be interesting: the greatest spinner in the entire galaxy (GSEG) Graeme Smith is on. Can Hayden get to his 100 against the GSEG? Yes, he can! Hayden now 100 of 66 balls. What a shot! great six. Well done Haydos. Nice 100. Fastest 100 in the world cup. So, we lose this small battle too. Never mind. We will prevail in the end. Australia now 166-1 after 23 overs.
Update 4:
Kallis is on now. OUT!!! Hayden gone for 101, great batting. Easy catch to Gibbs. Clarke is in to bat. Fastest 100 in the world cup history. Good batting Hayden, Now keep your mouth shut and we will be fine.
There, we couldn't have said it better. Alec Stewart just gave a 5 minute discourse on why singles are important and why Australians are so good at taking singles. Wish Ganguly could have heard Alec Stewart. Great running between the wickets. Australia now 177-2 after 26 overs.
Update 5:
Nice shot from Ponting. Easy 4. Just chipped it over mid-wicket.
What an effort by the third man. The ball was racing away and Pollock dived to make a great stop.
Not much happening except for a run-out chance, a hard catch, and a inside edge to the boundary. Australia now 203-2 after 31 overs.
Update 6:
Clarke is cutting loose. A boundary followed by a six. The six was very well hit. Hit over between the bowler and mid-off. Nice shot. Australia at 214-2 after 32 overs.
Ntini into the attack. Ponting is scared of him. Coward. Just takes off for a quick single. Clarke is terrified of Ntini. He doesn't want to face him either. He wants a quick single which wasn't on.
AB de Villiers (AB from now on) is a great fielder. Trust us. Clarke going for everything now. Australians have obviously decided to go after Kallis. 2 balls-2 fours. Kallis is very angry and this ofcourse terrifies Clarke who gets off strike by taking a single. Coward. Face him if you have the courage.
Ponting got lucky. Andrew Hall just couldn't reach that ball. Four.
Great shot by Ponting. jumped down the pitch and smacked it for a 4. This brings up his 50. Nice innings. It would have been perfect if he hadn't taken all those singles and still made the 50. Australia 239-2 after 35 overs. Australia on their way to 400 here.
Update 7:
Clarke plunders 10 runs from Langy including 2 fours. Pollock back in to the attack. Clarke is looking to take on Pollock. This will be fun. This is a batsman's paradise. SIX. Clarke gets to his 50 in style. Another six. This time Ponting. Beautiful shot. This man can time the cricket ball. These batsman are making Pollock look like a Nets bowler. Maybe it's time for GSEG to come back into the attack. Change of pace and all that.
Everything going Australia's way so far. 284-2 after 39 overs. What else can go wrong for the Saffies? Gibbs can drop a catch. Get out of here! Gibbs never drops a catch.
Well, he does just that. It's an easy catch too. Clarke lucky to be still batting. 288-2 after 40 overs. 400 is on. If the Saffies can put up a fight, this will be a good match.
Nothing in the pitch for the bowlers. Bowlers like Ntini and Pollock are being treated with contempt and disdain. Sucks.
Update 8:
300 up for Australia in 40.2 overs. Beautiful shot. Square driven for a lovely 4 by Clarke. Monkey boy just lost his bat. He came down the pitch to hit Kallis out of the ground and the bat slipped from his hands. Looked like an idiot running to the non-strikers end. Nearly killed Clarke too.
Clarke is swishing at everything now and so is Ponting. The difference is Ponting's slogs are placed into the gap giving him a boundary while Clarke is smashing balls directly to the fielders. 318-2 after 44 overs.
Clarke hit a great sixer and then Ponting tries to do the same and he is gone. Out! Out for a very well made 91. Great effort. That's what captains are supposed to do. Lead from the front and play great innings. Great batting by Ponting. Australia 341-3 for 46 overs.
Update 9:
Clarke is gone for 92. Runout. All that running finally caught up with him. If he had followed Ganguly's tenet of not running singles he would not be gone without his century. Serves him right! Hussey now in.
While we were talking to a friend, a lot happened (couple of boundaries and some manic running) and then Hussey holed out to deep cover. Australia 357-5 after 48 overs. Saffies have done a decent job in the last few overs.
We shouldn' have said that since Symonds smashed a four. Now, it's Shane Watson's turn. He moves to the off stump and places the ball to deep fine leg for a four. Nice shot. Watson does it again! moves to the off stump and hits the ball this time over mid-wicket. Another 4. Australia 373-5 after 49 overs.
Last over coming up. Nice ball from Andrew Hall. Dot ball. Barry Richards says: Dot ball is like gold. Another dot ball. 3 balls left. Can Shane Watson finish things off in style? no. 2 runs off 4 balls. Last two balls coming up. Symo gets 2. Great running between the wickets. Symo is great. Got him the last ball of the game. Nice ball. Just 4 runs of the last over. Australia 377-6 in 50 overs.
Can the Saffies do it? They have the batting line-up. The question is if anyone can do a Hayden for the Saffies.
Update 10:
Great start from SA. A four and a six in the first over. 10 of the first over. Great shot by AB. Rocked back on the back foot and hit the short ball over mid wicket for a 6.
Tait (of the"I am not at full pace" fame) on now. Fast-around 91 mph. AB on fire. Great on drive. 4 runs. SA now 18-0 after 2 overs.
Things have slowed down a little. But SA taking a lot of singles. Looks like they need Ganguly's help too. When will these teams learn that taking singles is not the answer. Tait is all over the place. He still isn't at full pace though, that might be the problem. SA 30-0 after 4 overs.
What a shot! Smith charges down the wicket and strikes a mighty blow. 4 runs. Tait will be out of the attack soon. He is proving ineffective. My spider sense is tingling that can mean only one thing - we will see McGrath soon. Nice shot again. Smith straight drives Bracken down the ground for another 4. SA 40-0 after 5 overs.
Update 11:
My spider sense was right. McGrath into the attack and is being given a warm welcome by AB. 2 fours from 2 balls. Nice shots. Make that 3 fours in 3 balls. WOW! This is very soothing after India's loss yesterday. 12 runs from the over. SA 52-0 after 6 overs. What a great sight - McGrath is already shaking his head.
Amid the mayhem, Bracken bowls a good, tight over. Just 2 runs of the over. Great come back from McGrath. Just one run from his over. SA 55-0 after 8 overs.
Shane Watson into the attack now. Ponting is moving his bowlers around. Great fielding. Hayden stopped a sure 4. That really pisses off Smith. He swings his bat and gets a 4. 63-0 after 9 overs. Sweet shot. Smith punches McGraths ball straight down. Nothing wrong with the ball just good batting. Another four, this time it is AB who pulls McGrath over square-leg. SA 73-0 after 10 overs.
Ponting takes the second power play. Maybe Ponting shouldn't have. Huge shout for catch behind. Bucknor says no. AB still there. AB hits a 4 to celebrate Bucknor's decision. 79-0 after 11 overs. Ponting misses a run out chance. Did he just drop the world cup? Smith mis hits a pull shot but it still goes to the boundary. Super shot!!! Smith dances down the pitch and smacks it over Watson's head. Watson is getting hammered. AB gets to his 50. Good innings. SA 96-0 after 13 overs.
Update 12:
AB hits another 4. This is a battng paradise. Great commitment from the Australians. They are throwing themselves at everything and great running from the Saffies. Ponting is trying to think. We can spot Ponting trying to think from a mile away - the hand starts pulling on his chin. McGrath is shaking his head. This is lovely. SA 106-0 after 14 overs.
Tait is back into the attack. Even McGrath is thowing himself at the ball. Why can't the Indian team do the same? Hogg is into the attack now. What can he do? Smith sweeps Hogg for a four. Smith's 50 is up with that. Good innings. SA 118-0 after 16 overs.
SA is doing a good job of getting a boundary every over. Great running between the wickets from AB and Smith. They get 2 runs where India would not have attempted a single. SA doesn't get a boundary this over because AB hit a big six. 134-0 after 18 overs.
Symonds into the attack and bowls three good balls. This angers AB who then smacks three fours from the next three balls. AB is on fire. Hogg continuing at the other end. Another pull shot for 4 and then great running between the wickets get SA a brace. Ponting looks worried.
SA 154-0 after 20 overs.
Update 13:
Direct throw from the boundary and AB is run out for a brilliant 92. What a throw!! Shane Watson threw down the stumps from the boundary. Great fielding. Will this change the match? Kallis in. This is a very entertaining match. Ponting takes his third power play in over 23.
Good over from Tait. Just 5 runs from that over. SA 171-1 after 23 overs. Watson bowled a bizzare over: 5 wides and then Gilchrist moved up to the stumps, the next ball hit the cap behing Gilchrist (5 runs). It was good over but it still cost Australia 11 runs. Smith has a case of cramps and AB comes back into the field as Smith's runner. SA 184-1 after 25 overs. Smith walks off the field. SA is in a spot of bother now. Gibbs is in. If he fires, this match is over.
With Smith out of the field this game is slowly meandering. Two new batsmen at the crease. Kallis needs to start opening his shoulders. Good bowling from Tait and an unlucky over from Hogg. SA get to their 200 in the 29th over. Asking rate is climbing up and it's around 8.3. SA needs some boundaries. 203-1 after 29 overs.
Update 14:
Great shot by Kallis. Late cut Hogg to the boundary. Beautiful shot. The game is moving slowly right now. One of the batsmen needs to get going. SA 213-1 after 31 overs. Australia's game to lose at this point.
Gibbs is six and out. Brilliant bowling from Hogg. The wrong 'un does Gibbs in. Hogg on fire. Australia is on top here. Great entertaining match. McGrath, the coward, is bowling to the newly arrived batsman and gets Ashwell Prince. Bowls a slow bouncer and Prince hits straight into Hayden at backward square leg. SA 223-3. SA is missing Smith. They lost momentum after he left the field. Boucher is in.
Australians have really tightened up their bowling. It also doesn't hurt when the best fielders in the world are backing up the bowling. Hope the Indians are watching this game. Not that they would take away anything from this because fielding well is an alien concept for the Indian team. 231-3 after 35 overs. Kallis needs to start hitting. NOW.
Tait cleans up Boucher. Fast in-swinging yorker cleans up Boucher. SA in trouble. Justin Kemp is the new man in and SA is 256-4 after 39 overs.
Update 15:
Great shot from Kallis. In the slot and Kallis does no mistake in putting it away. SA needs 12 runs an over from now on. Tait strikes again. Kemp is gone LBW. Great bowling. Fast and straight. Smith comes back to bat. Australia will be really disappointed if they lose now. Smith is gone. Hogg gets him. Great bowling from Hogg and Tait. SA 267-6 in 41.3 overs.
The SA batting shows no urgency. Kallis is batting like he has all the time in the world. What is going on? Tait is bowling with venom and fire. Has he reached his top speed? Nice bowling. Great yorker. Kallis does well to keep his wicket intact. Another yorker. Great bowling from Tait. Finally, Pollock get Tait away for a boundary. SA 277-6 after 43 overs.
Out!! Kallis gone. Tried to hit Hogg out of the ground and Clarke holds on to an easy catch. This game is over but since it's not India playing we will hang around for the final rites.
Update 16:
Andrew Hall comes in for Kallis. Hogg and Tait have been a revelation. Brilliant bowling from them in the last 8 overs or so.
Watson comes on and cleans up Shaun Pollock. SA is collapsing under the weight of the required run rate. Maiden wicket for Watson. He doesn't deserve that. Hogg or Tait do. SA 279-8 after 45 overs. Another wicket falls. Langeveldt is cleaned up by Bracken. Nice bowling.
Australia wins by 83 runs. SA all out for 294. Great effort. Nathan Bracken cleans up Ntini with another yorker.
Final Thoughts:
The delight on Ponting's face as SA's last wicket fell made him seem almost human. Australia won emphatically over SA. Australia was the better team in this match and outclassed SA.
SA started well in response to the target set by Australia. Hayden set up the total with the fastest century ever made in a world cup. Hayden was fantastic but this was not the greatest ODI knock ever, like the commentators seemed to suggest. South Africa's reply stuttered with the loss of AB de Villiers (run out to some fantastic fielding and throwing). Smith was great too but had to leave the field at a critical phase (cramps) of the game.
Australia availed themselves of the opportunity given by SA and applied pressure with some tight bowling and fantastic fielding. Hogg and Tait bowled brilliantly. Australia is looking good for a third championship.
SA's lack of bowling options hurt them. They don't have a quality spin bowler to bother anyone and their bowling attack has no variation. SA can beat any team except Australia.
At this point in time, SL and New Zealand are the only teams that can beat Australia and we will be rooting for them actively.
A very entertaining match with some great batting. No help for the bowlers though even though the Australian bowlers did a lot better than the South African bowlers.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
West Indies Vs Ireland, Group D
We didn't see this match. We were too wrapped up in the India-Sri Lanka match. The scorecard shows that the Windies didn't have too many problems going into the Super 8's with 2 bonus points. Ireland is through too - thanks to their upset win against Pakistan. Good for them.
Either Bangladesh or Ireland will take the 8th spot in the Super 8's. No, that's not true. England can lose to anybody on their off day. Now that India and Pakistan are not in, it is England's responsibility to play tension filled matches against the underdogs.
Either Bangladesh or Ireland will take the 8th spot in the Super 8's. No, that's not true. England can lose to anybody on their off day. Now that India and Pakistan are not in, it is England's responsibility to play tension filled matches against the underdogs.
India Vs Sri Lanka, Group B
Match Summary:
India is out of the world cup. They were soundly beaten by Sri Lanka. We were not surprised that India lost. Saddened, yes; surprised, no. Sri Lanka was the better team today and they outplayed India in all departments.
India won the toss and opted to field. The first half of the first innings went India's way with Sri Lanka struggling at 96 for 3 after 25 overs. The rest of the match went Sri Lanka's way. India's much vaunted batting line-up failed yet again and it was doubly disconcerting since India sidestepped the problems of not having 5 specialist bowlers with both Ganguly and Tendulkar doing a tidy job for their 10 overs (45 runs and 2 wickets).
Dravid's captaincy left much to be desired. Instead of bringing on the specialist bowlers as soon as the 5th bowler's quota was completed, Dravid tossed the ball to Tendulkar again. Tendulkar erred in line and gave away valuable runs (2 overs and 17 runs). The runs he gave away might not seem like a big deal after looking at the margin of our defeat but they did make a difference in the amount of pressure the batsmen felt. If India could have kept SL to about 220, batting would have been much easier. To rub salt into the wounds, as soon as Munaf and Zaheer were brought in, they took wickets. Part time bowlers bowl part time for a reason - they are not very consistent.
There was a marked improvement in the fielding - for a while. Indians fielded well for the first 25 overs and then their fitness (or lack of it) affected their fielding. Where the Lankans threw themselves at the ball to create catches, we saw Indian fielders pull up short. The Captain led the way in this and misfielded a shot as he was overcome by cramps and a few deliveries later pulled up short of a skier instead of trying to catch it.
Before the world cup, Dravid had said that fielding was India's weakness but that they would make up for that by scoring 30 to 40 runs more. We now know that this strategy is flawed. Not that we didn't know it before but now we KNOW. Fielding wins matches. Everyone knows that. Indians know that too. But, we always pay lip service to it and never give it the respect it deserves. This lesson - that fielding is important - has been struck home several times in the past. However, we somehow manage to forget it or at least, pretend to forget it.
We have said before and will say it again: why does a "great" batting side which includes Ganguly, Sehwag, Tendulkar, and Dravid need 7 batsmen in the side? We will never understand this. Bowlers win close matches. Strike that. Bowlers and good fielders win close matches. Our fascination and insistence on packing a side with batsmen almost always comes a cropper in important games.
There is strength in numbers. When a good bowling side backed up with good fielding is in the field, they feed of off each other. They gang up on the 2 lonely batsmen out on the field. The pressure is almost always on the batsmen and Indian batsman do not perform well under pressure. That happended today. Except for Sehwag, no one looked good. Do not be deceived by Dravid's score. His last 5 boundaries came when everything was almost lost. It was desperation and it was never going to work.
In marked contrast, Sri Lanka looked awesome. We loved how they turned the singles to 2 runs and 2 runs to 3 runs. They had contempt for Indian fielding and almost always ran an extra run during the throw. Indian fielding is not sharp enough. If India's fielding continues to be at this level, India will never win any important matches against the good teams. Too many super stars and not enough hard working journey men - that is "Team India's" problem. When it was Sri Lanka's turn to bowl, they did not allow easy singles (not that the Indians were trying hard). The bowlers bowled to their field and Dilshan at backward point was electric.
We now believe that Jayawardene is the best captain out there. He knows his bowlers and fielders and is not afraid to back them up. His bowling changes are fantastic and he uses the wisdom of Jayasuriya and Murali really well. Rahul Dravid is not even half the captain Jayawardene is.
How badly did India lose? Here.
Danger, Will Robinson, Danger (Read at your own peril):
As we write this, Sri Lanka is at 78 runs for 2 wickets after 20 overs. India won the toss and opted to field. Powerplays are done and over with. The bowling has been tidy so far. However, the lack of 5th bowler is going to come and bite India in the rear soon.
India made just one change to the team that played against Bermuda: Anil Kumble making way for Harbhajan Singh. India have decided that they are going to play to their strength - batting. Bad idea, in our opinion. Let's see what happens from overs 20 to 40. If Sri Lanka makes around 250, they will be happy.
Update 1:
Ganguly into the attack in the 22nd over. First ball, cut for 4. Oh boy. This could get ugly. Not too bad: 6 runs of the over. SL putting together a decent partnership. Things are a little slow out there and SL will be pretty happy about it. They will be looking to focus on India's 5th bowler/s.
Holy crap!!! Ganguly picks up a wicket!!! Sangakkara tries to hit Ganguly out of the ground and holes out to long-on and miracle of miracles, Munaf Patel holds on to the catch. SL is now 92 for 3 in the 24th over.
Update 2:
If looks could kill, Sangakkara would have killed whoever he was staring at while walking back to the pavilion. Sangakkara's loss brings in the real danger man - Chamara Silva - who has been great form recently. Not only that, he is very fond of the Indian bowling attack. Got to get him out cheaply. Bhajji into his 4th over. Tidy without looking threatening. We take that back. Bhajji's 4th over was fantastic. Lots of turn and lots of bounce. This is scaring us. If Bhajji can do this, what about Murali?
Tharanga gets his 50 with a nice cut shot. Who else, Ganguly the bowler. Bowl fuller, Saurav. You don't have the pace to bounce a batsman. Not so good over from Ganguly. He did his job. He should be removed from the attack. But knowing India, that won't happen anytime soon.
Brilliant! We remove Bhajji from the attack just when he is making things happen and bring in Munaf Patel. Why? maybe Indians think that Munaf can get Silva out. We are guessing that Ganguly will be taken off from the other end and a second part-timer will come in. SL is 111 for 3 in 27 overs. 'Nelson's' says the commentators.
Update 3:
Ganguly is still on. Mis-field by Zaheer: 4 runs. Silva flashes hard and the ball took the edge and ran to the third man. Zaheer does his best and lets it go for a boundary. Dravid and Ganguly not happy. Got to get Silva out. He is dangerous. SL: 116 for 3 in 28 overs.
Munaf still on. SL is picking up singles easily. Silva is one busy batsman, always running. He should emulate Ganguly. It will improve his batting. Silva: listen to us, go for the boundaries that way you don't have to run these pesky singles. Meanwhile, Tharanga is batting on 58.
Ganguly out of the attack and Bhajji comes back in and immediately bowls at wide. Yuvraj will be up next or Sehwag or Tendulkar. One of those three, for sure. SL is 124 for 3 in 30 overs.
India needs a wicket.
Update 4:
Tendulkar into the attack. What is he going to bowl today? Seamers. Hmmm. The game is drifting along nicely for SL. India needs a wicket. Did we say that already?
WICKET!!! Tendulkar gets Tharanga. Tharanga gone for 64. Good solid innings. Nothing spectacular. John Wright says: 'Sachin not only knows how to bowl but knows how to think'. Wow. Thinking? We are very impressed. SL 137 for 4 in 33 overs.
Update 5:
Dilshan the new man in. Got to get Chamara Silva out. Bhajji is bowling a lot of doosras. Maybe we should start calling Bhajji a legspinner from now on and when he occasionally bowls a5 off-spinner, we can call it a googly. Sachin is bowling awfully well. SL is 147 for 4 after 35 overs.
Zaheer back into the attack and bowls a wide. L. Siva says: 'Sehwag still looking for wickets in the 36 over'. Brilliant. Meanwhile, Dilshan hits a nice boundary and then an inside edge to the boundary. Crap. SL is 157 for 4 after 36 overs.
Another inside edge for 4. SL's running between the wickets has been brilliant. 173 for 4 after 39 overs. Things moving along for SL. India needs a wicket desperately. Bhajji back into the attack. Indian bowling has been tidy but slowly the pendulam is swinging SL's way. Big shout for LBW. Hawkeye says out. India very unlucky with LBW appeals today. Boy, SL's running is really good. SL is 179 for 4 after 40 overs. SL well on their way to 250. A very good score.
Update 6:
India's 5th bowler combination of 10 overs cost them 45 runs for 2 wickets. Not bad. Will Dravid continue to use Tendulkar? SL is cruising along nicely. They are running well and are now opening their shoulders. A good over from Bhajji. Dravid continues to use Tendulkar. We don't know what to think of that. Tendulkar has looked pretty good so far but why not use the specialist bowlers? Silva and Dilshan are getting 6 runs an over easily. India needs a wicket.
Silva makes a very good 50. Very good batting. Bhajji bowling his 10th over. Why? Especially since Tendulkar and Ganguly combined to bowl 11 overs. SL's 200 is up. 201 for 4 after 44 overs. Bhajji finishes his 10 overs for 53 runs and no wickets. Not good.
Update 7:
Tendulkar is still bowling. Why??? Get the specialist bowlers in there. A very expensive over from Tendulkar - 2 fours so far. The over cost 11 runs. Need some wickets. India is losing its way here.
Munaf is back into the attack. Wicket!!!!! couple of balls after Dilshan hit a spanking cover drive for a 4. Dilshan takes a big swipe and gets an edge to the wicket-keeper. He walks. Good man. Good batting from Dilshan. SL now 216 for 5 after 46 overs. Good over.
Update 8:
OUT!!!!!! Zaheer gets rid of Silva. Brilliant. What the hell was Tendulkar doing bowling 2 extra overs? Chamara Silva out for 69. A very good innings. Great running between the wickets. SL now 216 for 6. Then, Vaas comes in and edges one to the boundary. What a let down. SL is 222 for 6 after 47 overs.
Bad fielding by Dravid. Lets one go to the boundary and Dravid is down - with cramps? says David Lloyd.
Update 9:
Huge 6! Vaas clobbers one over Munaf's head. Vaas on fire. 16 runs in this over. SL now 238 for 6 after 48 overs. SL must now be aiming for 260. India losing the plot a little bit here. Good over from Zaheer. SL now 244 for 6 in 49 overs. Last over coming up.
Agarkar bowling the last over. First ball strays down the legside and the batsman helps it along to the boundary. Moron. Agarkar's last over cost 10 runs. SL makes 254 for 6 in 50 overs. A good score and enough for SL to defend.
India, as usual, lost the plot in the middle overs. Some very sensible batting from Dilshan and Chamara set up a very nice platform for them. Vaas came in at the end and finished things off in style. SL ran extremely well. A very solid performance from SL. Now their bowling has enough runs on the board to defend. Are they up to the task? We will find out soon.
Update 10:
Ganguly and Uthappa are the Indian openers. Will Ganguly run singles? That is a mystery no one know except Ganguly knows the answer to that question. Vaas to Uthappa and we are off. It's a maiden over.
Uthappa looks very nervous and finally got off the mark. Ranjit fernando and Athar Ali Khan have to be the most boring commentators we've heard. Vaas has been very good so far bowling his 2 overs for 1 run.
Great shot by Uthappa. Four. Timed very well through cover. Much needed boundary. India is 10 for no loss after 4 overs. Slow start. Ganguly just tried his best to get out.
Update 11:
Uthappa very lucky to be still there. Tried to hit Vaas over midwicket and was lucky that the ball fell short of Murali. Vaas is bowling brilliantly. Great Shot. Four. Uthappa hits a cracking cover drive. Boy, this guy can hit the cricket ball. Another great shot. Straight drive for 4. India are at 18 for no wicket after 5 overs.
Uthappa is looking streaky. Tried to hit over the top and luckily for him, it was out f rech for Murali. These commentators are sucking the life out of us. Ranjit Fernando is talking like he wants to get on the field and play for SL. GONE! Robin Uthappa is out c&b Vaas. Brilliant catch. Great reflex catch. Sehwag coming onto the field. India in familiar territory after losing their first wicket. India 25 for 1 after 7 overs. Robin out for 18. Looked streaky right from the start and got a mouthful from Vaas as he left the field. He deserves that. Bugger.
Update 12:
Sri Lankan fielding has been top notch. SHOT! Sehwag drives on the up for a nice boundary. Another nice shot! hit over the bowlers head for another great four. Huge shot for LBW. Vaas finally brings the balls into Sehwag and right away Sehwag was in trouble. India 36 for 1 after 9 overs.
Fernando into the attack and bowls a wide. He is in to bring the ball into Sehwag. This will be interesting. Streaky edge for 4 for Sehwag. Thick outside edge. Settle down bud. There, deep breaths, deep breaths. Much better. Sehwag ducked nicely under a fast bouncer. India 42 for 1 after 10 overs.
Update 13:
OUT! Ganguly is gone. Tried to hit Vaas over the top and this time Murali takes a brilliant catch. India in trouble. 43 for 2 after 11 overs. India have to not lose any wickets and keep the scoreboard ticking. Can they avoid getting bogged down like they did against Bangladesh? Sachin Tendulkar walks in.
Update 14:
GONE! Sachin out for a duck. India in deep trouble. Sachin gets an inside edge and the ball crashes into his stumps. Deep deep trouble. India 44 for 3. Rahul Dravid walks in. We will state the very obvious because the commentators are not: India needs a BIG partnership.
Update 15:
Nice shot by Sehwag. Four. Sangakkara is chatting to Sehwag. Lot of chatter. 'Let him go for the big shot' says Sangakkara. Sehwag obliges. Sweetly cover driven.
Nasty shot. Sehwag is going back to his cross-batted shots. Lucky that the ball did not crash into the stumps from the inside edge. Fernando is bowling fast - around 92 mph. Nice on-drive from Dravid. 4. Can't bowl on the legs to Dravid. Even if you are bowling at 90 mph. India 56 for 3 after 14 overs.
Update 16:
SIX! Nice shot. Sehwag hits Vaas out of the ground. Brilliant shot. 9 runs of the over. India 65 for 3 after 15 overs.
ooh, Murali into the attack. It was quiet for a while and in Murali's 5th ball, Sehwag reads the doosra and cuts it handsomely for a 4. India 75 for 3 after 1 overs. WOW!! Sehwag edged a really fast ball and Sangakkara makes a brilliant effort. Would have been an easy catch for a slip. Lucky. Sehwag, buddy, deep breaths deep breaths. Calm down. Fernando pitches one on the legs for Dravid and Dravid says thank you. Nice 4. Fernando is bowling really well. India 80 for 3 after 18 overs. Malinga replaces Murali. Nice running between the wickets by Dravid and Sehwag. Power plays are done and over with and India is 89 for 3 after 20 overs.
Update 17:
Murali is bowling around the wicket. Nice bowling. Sehwag lucky not be given out LBW. 1 run from the over. Beautiful bowling. India 90 for 3 after 21 overs. Jayasuriya into the attack now.
Murali strikes! Great bowling! Sehwag OUT for 48. India is well on its way to losing this match. One more wicket and it's all over. India now 99 for 4 after 23 overs. Advantage Sri Lanka.
Update 18:
It is all over, folks! Yuvraj runout. India is 112 for 5 after 28 overs. We are going out for a walk and will be back after this is all over. Well, Dhoni is gone too. Brilliant bowling by Murali. Great match played by Sri Lanka. We are closing shop for now and will be back later to wrap things up. India 112 for 6. Done like a dinner.
India is out of the world cup. They were soundly beaten by Sri Lanka. We were not surprised that India lost. Saddened, yes; surprised, no. Sri Lanka was the better team today and they outplayed India in all departments.
India won the toss and opted to field. The first half of the first innings went India's way with Sri Lanka struggling at 96 for 3 after 25 overs. The rest of the match went Sri Lanka's way. India's much vaunted batting line-up failed yet again and it was doubly disconcerting since India sidestepped the problems of not having 5 specialist bowlers with both Ganguly and Tendulkar doing a tidy job for their 10 overs (45 runs and 2 wickets).
Dravid's captaincy left much to be desired. Instead of bringing on the specialist bowlers as soon as the 5th bowler's quota was completed, Dravid tossed the ball to Tendulkar again. Tendulkar erred in line and gave away valuable runs (2 overs and 17 runs). The runs he gave away might not seem like a big deal after looking at the margin of our defeat but they did make a difference in the amount of pressure the batsmen felt. If India could have kept SL to about 220, batting would have been much easier. To rub salt into the wounds, as soon as Munaf and Zaheer were brought in, they took wickets. Part time bowlers bowl part time for a reason - they are not very consistent.
There was a marked improvement in the fielding - for a while. Indians fielded well for the first 25 overs and then their fitness (or lack of it) affected their fielding. Where the Lankans threw themselves at the ball to create catches, we saw Indian fielders pull up short. The Captain led the way in this and misfielded a shot as he was overcome by cramps and a few deliveries later pulled up short of a skier instead of trying to catch it.
Before the world cup, Dravid had said that fielding was India's weakness but that they would make up for that by scoring 30 to 40 runs more. We now know that this strategy is flawed. Not that we didn't know it before but now we KNOW. Fielding wins matches. Everyone knows that. Indians know that too. But, we always pay lip service to it and never give it the respect it deserves. This lesson - that fielding is important - has been struck home several times in the past. However, we somehow manage to forget it or at least, pretend to forget it.
We have said before and will say it again: why does a "great" batting side which includes Ganguly, Sehwag, Tendulkar, and Dravid need 7 batsmen in the side? We will never understand this. Bowlers win close matches. Strike that. Bowlers and good fielders win close matches. Our fascination and insistence on packing a side with batsmen almost always comes a cropper in important games.
There is strength in numbers. When a good bowling side backed up with good fielding is in the field, they feed of off each other. They gang up on the 2 lonely batsmen out on the field. The pressure is almost always on the batsmen and Indian batsman do not perform well under pressure. That happended today. Except for Sehwag, no one looked good. Do not be deceived by Dravid's score. His last 5 boundaries came when everything was almost lost. It was desperation and it was never going to work.
In marked contrast, Sri Lanka looked awesome. We loved how they turned the singles to 2 runs and 2 runs to 3 runs. They had contempt for Indian fielding and almost always ran an extra run during the throw. Indian fielding is not sharp enough. If India's fielding continues to be at this level, India will never win any important matches against the good teams. Too many super stars and not enough hard working journey men - that is "Team India's" problem. When it was Sri Lanka's turn to bowl, they did not allow easy singles (not that the Indians were trying hard). The bowlers bowled to their field and Dilshan at backward point was electric.
We now believe that Jayawardene is the best captain out there. He knows his bowlers and fielders and is not afraid to back them up. His bowling changes are fantastic and he uses the wisdom of Jayasuriya and Murali really well. Rahul Dravid is not even half the captain Jayawardene is.
How badly did India lose? Here.
Danger, Will Robinson, Danger (Read at your own peril):
As we write this, Sri Lanka is at 78 runs for 2 wickets after 20 overs. India won the toss and opted to field. Powerplays are done and over with. The bowling has been tidy so far. However, the lack of 5th bowler is going to come and bite India in the rear soon.
India made just one change to the team that played against Bermuda: Anil Kumble making way for Harbhajan Singh. India have decided that they are going to play to their strength - batting. Bad idea, in our opinion. Let's see what happens from overs 20 to 40. If Sri Lanka makes around 250, they will be happy.
Update 1:
Ganguly into the attack in the 22nd over. First ball, cut for 4. Oh boy. This could get ugly. Not too bad: 6 runs of the over. SL putting together a decent partnership. Things are a little slow out there and SL will be pretty happy about it. They will be looking to focus on India's 5th bowler/s.
Holy crap!!! Ganguly picks up a wicket!!! Sangakkara tries to hit Ganguly out of the ground and holes out to long-on and miracle of miracles, Munaf Patel holds on to the catch. SL is now 92 for 3 in the 24th over.
Update 2:
If looks could kill, Sangakkara would have killed whoever he was staring at while walking back to the pavilion. Sangakkara's loss brings in the real danger man - Chamara Silva - who has been great form recently. Not only that, he is very fond of the Indian bowling attack. Got to get him out cheaply. Bhajji into his 4th over. Tidy without looking threatening. We take that back. Bhajji's 4th over was fantastic. Lots of turn and lots of bounce. This is scaring us. If Bhajji can do this, what about Murali?
Tharanga gets his 50 with a nice cut shot. Who else, Ganguly the bowler. Bowl fuller, Saurav. You don't have the pace to bounce a batsman. Not so good over from Ganguly. He did his job. He should be removed from the attack. But knowing India, that won't happen anytime soon.
Brilliant! We remove Bhajji from the attack just when he is making things happen and bring in Munaf Patel. Why? maybe Indians think that Munaf can get Silva out. We are guessing that Ganguly will be taken off from the other end and a second part-timer will come in. SL is 111 for 3 in 27 overs. 'Nelson's' says the commentators.
Update 3:
Ganguly is still on. Mis-field by Zaheer: 4 runs. Silva flashes hard and the ball took the edge and ran to the third man. Zaheer does his best and lets it go for a boundary. Dravid and Ganguly not happy. Got to get Silva out. He is dangerous. SL: 116 for 3 in 28 overs.
Munaf still on. SL is picking up singles easily. Silva is one busy batsman, always running. He should emulate Ganguly. It will improve his batting. Silva: listen to us, go for the boundaries that way you don't have to run these pesky singles. Meanwhile, Tharanga is batting on 58.
Ganguly out of the attack and Bhajji comes back in and immediately bowls at wide. Yuvraj will be up next or Sehwag or Tendulkar. One of those three, for sure. SL is 124 for 3 in 30 overs.
India needs a wicket.
Update 4:
Tendulkar into the attack. What is he going to bowl today? Seamers. Hmmm. The game is drifting along nicely for SL. India needs a wicket. Did we say that already?
WICKET!!! Tendulkar gets Tharanga. Tharanga gone for 64. Good solid innings. Nothing spectacular. John Wright says: 'Sachin not only knows how to bowl but knows how to think'. Wow. Thinking? We are very impressed. SL 137 for 4 in 33 overs.
Update 5:
Dilshan the new man in. Got to get Chamara Silva out. Bhajji is bowling a lot of doosras. Maybe we should start calling Bhajji a legspinner from now on and when he occasionally bowls a5 off-spinner, we can call it a googly. Sachin is bowling awfully well. SL is 147 for 4 after 35 overs.
Zaheer back into the attack and bowls a wide. L. Siva says: 'Sehwag still looking for wickets in the 36 over'. Brilliant. Meanwhile, Dilshan hits a nice boundary and then an inside edge to the boundary. Crap. SL is 157 for 4 after 36 overs.
Another inside edge for 4. SL's running between the wickets has been brilliant. 173 for 4 after 39 overs. Things moving along for SL. India needs a wicket desperately. Bhajji back into the attack. Indian bowling has been tidy but slowly the pendulam is swinging SL's way. Big shout for LBW. Hawkeye says out. India very unlucky with LBW appeals today. Boy, SL's running is really good. SL is 179 for 4 after 40 overs. SL well on their way to 250. A very good score.
Update 6:
India's 5th bowler combination of 10 overs cost them 45 runs for 2 wickets. Not bad. Will Dravid continue to use Tendulkar? SL is cruising along nicely. They are running well and are now opening their shoulders. A good over from Bhajji. Dravid continues to use Tendulkar. We don't know what to think of that. Tendulkar has looked pretty good so far but why not use the specialist bowlers? Silva and Dilshan are getting 6 runs an over easily. India needs a wicket.
Silva makes a very good 50. Very good batting. Bhajji bowling his 10th over. Why? Especially since Tendulkar and Ganguly combined to bowl 11 overs. SL's 200 is up. 201 for 4 after 44 overs. Bhajji finishes his 10 overs for 53 runs and no wickets. Not good.
Update 7:
Tendulkar is still bowling. Why??? Get the specialist bowlers in there. A very expensive over from Tendulkar - 2 fours so far. The over cost 11 runs. Need some wickets. India is losing its way here.
Munaf is back into the attack. Wicket!!!!! couple of balls after Dilshan hit a spanking cover drive for a 4. Dilshan takes a big swipe and gets an edge to the wicket-keeper. He walks. Good man. Good batting from Dilshan. SL now 216 for 5 after 46 overs. Good over.
Update 8:
OUT!!!!!! Zaheer gets rid of Silva. Brilliant. What the hell was Tendulkar doing bowling 2 extra overs? Chamara Silva out for 69. A very good innings. Great running between the wickets. SL now 216 for 6. Then, Vaas comes in and edges one to the boundary. What a let down. SL is 222 for 6 after 47 overs.
Bad fielding by Dravid. Lets one go to the boundary and Dravid is down - with cramps? says David Lloyd.
Update 9:
Huge 6! Vaas clobbers one over Munaf's head. Vaas on fire. 16 runs in this over. SL now 238 for 6 after 48 overs. SL must now be aiming for 260. India losing the plot a little bit here. Good over from Zaheer. SL now 244 for 6 in 49 overs. Last over coming up.
Agarkar bowling the last over. First ball strays down the legside and the batsman helps it along to the boundary. Moron. Agarkar's last over cost 10 runs. SL makes 254 for 6 in 50 overs. A good score and enough for SL to defend.
India, as usual, lost the plot in the middle overs. Some very sensible batting from Dilshan and Chamara set up a very nice platform for them. Vaas came in at the end and finished things off in style. SL ran extremely well. A very solid performance from SL. Now their bowling has enough runs on the board to defend. Are they up to the task? We will find out soon.
Update 10:
Ganguly and Uthappa are the Indian openers. Will Ganguly run singles? That is a mystery no one know except Ganguly knows the answer to that question. Vaas to Uthappa and we are off. It's a maiden over.
Uthappa looks very nervous and finally got off the mark. Ranjit fernando and Athar Ali Khan have to be the most boring commentators we've heard. Vaas has been very good so far bowling his 2 overs for 1 run.
Great shot by Uthappa. Four. Timed very well through cover. Much needed boundary. India is 10 for no loss after 4 overs. Slow start. Ganguly just tried his best to get out.
Update 11:
Uthappa very lucky to be still there. Tried to hit Vaas over midwicket and was lucky that the ball fell short of Murali. Vaas is bowling brilliantly. Great Shot. Four. Uthappa hits a cracking cover drive. Boy, this guy can hit the cricket ball. Another great shot. Straight drive for 4. India are at 18 for no wicket after 5 overs.
Uthappa is looking streaky. Tried to hit over the top and luckily for him, it was out f rech for Murali. These commentators are sucking the life out of us. Ranjit Fernando is talking like he wants to get on the field and play for SL. GONE! Robin Uthappa is out c&b Vaas. Brilliant catch. Great reflex catch. Sehwag coming onto the field. India in familiar territory after losing their first wicket. India 25 for 1 after 7 overs. Robin out for 18. Looked streaky right from the start and got a mouthful from Vaas as he left the field. He deserves that. Bugger.
Update 12:
Sri Lankan fielding has been top notch. SHOT! Sehwag drives on the up for a nice boundary. Another nice shot! hit over the bowlers head for another great four. Huge shot for LBW. Vaas finally brings the balls into Sehwag and right away Sehwag was in trouble. India 36 for 1 after 9 overs.
Fernando into the attack and bowls a wide. He is in to bring the ball into Sehwag. This will be interesting. Streaky edge for 4 for Sehwag. Thick outside edge. Settle down bud. There, deep breaths, deep breaths. Much better. Sehwag ducked nicely under a fast bouncer. India 42 for 1 after 10 overs.
Update 13:
OUT! Ganguly is gone. Tried to hit Vaas over the top and this time Murali takes a brilliant catch. India in trouble. 43 for 2 after 11 overs. India have to not lose any wickets and keep the scoreboard ticking. Can they avoid getting bogged down like they did against Bangladesh? Sachin Tendulkar walks in.
Update 14:
GONE! Sachin out for a duck. India in deep trouble. Sachin gets an inside edge and the ball crashes into his stumps. Deep deep trouble. India 44 for 3. Rahul Dravid walks in. We will state the very obvious because the commentators are not: India needs a BIG partnership.
Update 15:
Nice shot by Sehwag. Four. Sangakkara is chatting to Sehwag. Lot of chatter. 'Let him go for the big shot' says Sangakkara. Sehwag obliges. Sweetly cover driven.
Nasty shot. Sehwag is going back to his cross-batted shots. Lucky that the ball did not crash into the stumps from the inside edge. Fernando is bowling fast - around 92 mph. Nice on-drive from Dravid. 4. Can't bowl on the legs to Dravid. Even if you are bowling at 90 mph. India 56 for 3 after 14 overs.
Update 16:
SIX! Nice shot. Sehwag hits Vaas out of the ground. Brilliant shot. 9 runs of the over. India 65 for 3 after 15 overs.
ooh, Murali into the attack. It was quiet for a while and in Murali's 5th ball, Sehwag reads the doosra and cuts it handsomely for a 4. India 75 for 3 after 1 overs. WOW!! Sehwag edged a really fast ball and Sangakkara makes a brilliant effort. Would have been an easy catch for a slip. Lucky. Sehwag, buddy, deep breaths deep breaths. Calm down. Fernando pitches one on the legs for Dravid and Dravid says thank you. Nice 4. Fernando is bowling really well. India 80 for 3 after 18 overs. Malinga replaces Murali. Nice running between the wickets by Dravid and Sehwag. Power plays are done and over with and India is 89 for 3 after 20 overs.
Update 17:
Murali is bowling around the wicket. Nice bowling. Sehwag lucky not be given out LBW. 1 run from the over. Beautiful bowling. India 90 for 3 after 21 overs. Jayasuriya into the attack now.
Murali strikes! Great bowling! Sehwag OUT for 48. India is well on its way to losing this match. One more wicket and it's all over. India now 99 for 4 after 23 overs. Advantage Sri Lanka.
Update 18:
It is all over, folks! Yuvraj runout. India is 112 for 5 after 28 overs. We are going out for a walk and will be back after this is all over. Well, Dhoni is gone too. Brilliant bowling by Murali. Great match played by Sri Lanka. We are closing shop for now and will be back later to wrap things up. India 112 for 6. Done like a dinner.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Probable Team Against Sri Lanka
We don't think India can beat Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka looks a lot better, field better than the Indians and have too many play makers. They are a cohesive unit working towards a common goal. India on the other hand does not look cohesive in the field, have been sloppy while fielding and don't seem a like a cohesive unit.
In a way, we are rooting against India. The Indian team has a lot of shortcomings to make an impact in this tournament. The only way India can surmount their problems is by playing out their skins. We don't think they can do it for more than 2 or 3 matches. So, better to lose now, get knocked out of the tournament and start afresh for the busy cricket season ahead.
Anyway, the following is the team we think India will pick for tomorrow's game:
1. Saurav Ganguly
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. M.S.Dhoni
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Zaheer Khan
9. Sreesanth
10. Harbhajan Singh
11. Munaf Patel
In a way, we are rooting against India. The Indian team has a lot of shortcomings to make an impact in this tournament. The only way India can surmount their problems is by playing out their skins. We don't think they can do it for more than 2 or 3 matches. So, better to lose now, get knocked out of the tournament and start afresh for the busy cricket season ahead.
Anyway, the following is the team we think India will pick for tomorrow's game:
1. Saurav Ganguly
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. M.S.Dhoni
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Zaheer Khan
9. Sreesanth
10. Harbhajan Singh
11. Munaf Patel
Bob Woolmer
The circumstances surrounding Bob Woolmer's death have been becoming stranger by the day. Today, we finally found out what we were all dreading from the start: Bob Woolmer was murdered. This world cup is now being played under a cloud of suspicion and mistrust. As Donald Rumsfeld, the world's greatest cricketing expert, said:
We still don't know who killed him, we don't know why they killed him and till today we didn't even know he was murdered. Needless to say, speculation in the last few days had been rife about the cause of death and who, if any, was responsible for it. Media blamed the crazy fans and then media blamed the media. That done, people suddenly realized that cricket was just a game and that there are a lot of fans who don't/can't appreciate the intricacies of the game. All correct to a certain extent.
Too much bloviating and very little insight has been achieved to date. Unfortunately, we don't have any insight to provide you, my dear readers. We are just the court jester pointing out the absurdities. A better person will come along to explain this. Trust us. We know things. Any time now. She/He is right around the corner.
And while you are waiting, you might as well watch Inzi's last walk back to the pavilion.
As we know,We are well and truly in the "unknown unknowns" part of this saga and there seems to be no end in sight. This saga will have a profound effect on cricket in general and Pakistan cricket in particular.
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
We still don't know who killed him, we don't know why they killed him and till today we didn't even know he was murdered. Needless to say, speculation in the last few days had been rife about the cause of death and who, if any, was responsible for it. Media blamed the crazy fans and then media blamed the media. That done, people suddenly realized that cricket was just a game and that there are a lot of fans who don't/can't appreciate the intricacies of the game. All correct to a certain extent.
Too much bloviating and very little insight has been achieved to date. Unfortunately, we don't have any insight to provide you, my dear readers. We are just the court jester pointing out the absurdities. A better person will come along to explain this. Trust us. We know things. Any time now. She/He is right around the corner.
And while you are waiting, you might as well watch Inzi's last walk back to the pavilion.
Canada Vs New Zealand, Group C
Was there ever a doubt about what would happen in this match? Agreed that cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties but some games are just lopsided. This was one of them. Davison struck some form and while he was his destructive self, there was never any doubt about the result. Anyway, click here for the scorecard.
Netherlands Vs Scotland, Group A
Netherlands upset Scotland in their last match of this world cup. Scotland was considered the favorite by no less personage than Graeme Smith. On an aside, if South Africa loses to Australia it will be Graeme Smith's fault. Why? Because he was predicting winners in a match he shouldn't have been concerned with instead of focusing on straightening out Andre Nel.
Thanks to Graeme Smith, Netherlands was motivated and played with an intent to prove the greatest spinner in the world, Graeme Smith, wrong. Couple of noteworthy things:
1. The captain of the Netherlands, Luuk van Troost, dropped himself. We kid you not. He dropped himself because he was not performing well. What a guy! The force is strong with Luuk. His midichlorian count must be off the charts. On an another aside, where the hell did Lucas come up with this "midichlorian" crap? The "Force" was so much cooler till Lucas started explaining it.
2. South Africa beat Scotland by 7 wickets while Netherlands beat Scotland by 8 wickets. Eat that, Andre Nel.
Thanks to Graeme Smith, Netherlands was motivated and played with an intent to prove the greatest spinner in the world, Graeme Smith, wrong. Couple of noteworthy things:
1. The captain of the Netherlands, Luuk van Troost, dropped himself. We kid you not. He dropped himself because he was not performing well. What a guy! The force is strong with Luuk. His midichlorian count must be off the charts. On an another aside, where the hell did Lucas come up with this "midichlorian" crap? The "Force" was so much cooler till Lucas started explaining it.
2. South Africa beat Scotland by 7 wickets while Netherlands beat Scotland by 8 wickets. Eat that, Andre Nel.
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