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Monthly Archives: September 2009
England Throws Group B Into a Spin
So much for conventional wisdom. The only team I had given England a chance against was New Zealand, but England really outdid themselves today, beating one of the tournament favorites Sri Lanka. And that too comfortably without the usual collapse dramatics along the way.
With this loss, Sri Lanka’s semifinal chances have become tenuous. If they lose the next match against New Zealand, they are out of the tournament. And even if they win, they have to depend on net run rate. Unfortunately, the problem is that South Africa and England will know exactly what they need to do to overtake Sri Lanka in the run rate because the Lankans finish their matches on Sunday.
Sri Lanka do deserve some credit from coming back from a terrible collapse. Their middle order had received criticism earlier for not stepping up to the job when the chips were down. But 212 was nowhere near enough. And that coupled with Murali’s lack of form today (1/60 off 10 overs) provided England an easy path to victory.
England could have made it even worse for Sri Lanka, but they are still suffering from lack of confidence in punishing their opposition. A win by the 40th over or more penetrative bowling could have put England way ahead on NRR. But a win in hand is better than an ignominious collapse when trying to accelerate. Losing only one wicket to the spinners was commendable.
What next? It is an elimination match for both Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Whoever loses is out. If Sri Lanka wins, then South Africa has to beat England, and hope England loses to the Kiwis. If New Zealand wins, and South Africa beat England, the England v NZ match will determine the second semifinalist from the group.
What a delicious result to make this all very interesting.
Pakistan Manage Not to Embarrass Themselves
I didn’t give much chance for West Indies to pose a challenge to Pakistan, considering that their main players are not in the team because of the contract dispute. In fact, this was the team that was beaten by Bangladesh in the home Tests a few weeks ago. So, a team weaker than Bangladesh and seemingly just as hopeless.
And once they were reduced to 47/7, I wondered if Bangladesh or Ireland would have been a better choice. But they somehow managed to add 80-odd runs with No.8 Miller hitting an almost run-a-ball fifty. The funniest part of the match was when West Indies took the batting Powerplay when eight down and then proceeded to add 32 runs in four overs. What could have been a crushing performance by the Pakistani bowlers ended in an anti-climax.
Worse was to come with Pakistan losing wickets to reach 76/5. If they had lost a couple of more wickets soon after that, it would be a stunning upset and essentially curtains for Pakistan in this tournament. They were spared that embarrassment by the “new” guy Umar Akmal and now-responsible Afridi.
Pakistan fans should not feel too bad. If history is any clue, Pakistan starting poorly in a tournament means that they will probably end up with the Cup (1992, 2009 T20). On the other hand, poor form may just be poor form. Pakistan still has tall mountains to scale in the form of Australia and arch-nemesis India.
The West Indies situation is a little more convoluted. Miller and Tonge had a nice day out there, but I wonder what will happen to all these players when and if the contract dispute will be resolved. I cannot understand why when the cricket coffers are overflowing with money, these issues cannot be easily sorted out. It is amazing how many of the Test nations are facing problems:
- Pakistan: The terrorist attacks against Sri Lankan team
- Zimbabwe: Mugabe
- West Indies: Contract issue and sharp decline in form
- New Zealand: Sharp decline in form
- Bangladesh: Never been able to achieve form
- England: Continuing loss of popularity to soccer
The good news has been the LTTE defeat in Sri Lanka, but that is negated by the stupid pitches in their stadiums.
Rainy Start to the Champions Trophy
The first match of the Champions Trophy between Sri Lanka and South Africa did not turn out to be a great advertisement for the beleaguered ODI format. It started off well, though, with Sri Lanka making 181/2 after 29 overs, only to end up with 319/8 after the full 50 overs. South Africa were well positioned at 90/1 after 14 overs, but kept losing wickets and then rain ended their misery.
This is a good win for Sri Lanka whose recent home victories have been tainted by the skewed results of the Premadasa Stadium. This was also their toughest match in the group and should be good enough to get them into the semifinals. Of course, they still have to beat New Zealand and England, but I don’t think either team poses a threat.
Also hats off to Dilshan. I am amazed at his transition. He made his ODI debut in December 1999 and this was only his third century. And his second of the year. While his career average is at a pitiful 31.56, his average for this year is a remarkable 54.90. Now, if he can make amends for his silly shot in the World Twenty20 final and lead Sri Lanka to the Trophy, this would definitely be his year.
South Africa shouldn’t panic yet. I felt that they lost the game in the first quarter when the Sri Lankan batsmen were going at an incredible pace. They pulled it back a bit, but it was not enough. 30-40 fewer runs to chase, they may have achieved the target. They should get to the semis, but given South Africa’s track record at these competitions, nothing can be taken for granted.
Poll: Who Will Win 2009 Champions Trophy
2009 ICC Champions Trophy Predictions
One-dayers are more predictable than Twenty20 matches, given the fact that most teams have figured out the formula and what matters is execution and skill. Twenty20, in contrast, is still confusing in terms of tactics and so weaker teams can spring surprises. Not so in ODIs. So I feel that the Champions Trophy will be rather straightforward with few upsets.
Going by conventional wisdom, it looks likely that Australia, India, South Africa and Sri Lanka will make the semis. I would also give New Zealand a strong chance to make the semis, because they have the ability to beat both South Africa and Sri Lanka, but in recent times, they haven’t performed to their potential. Australia remain the favorites to win the Cup.
I do wish someone would come up with an innovative strategy that turns the tournament upside down. Dhoni’s sole tactic seems to be messing with the batting order or rather, coming at No. 3 when things are going well. And the other teams are the same too.
But perhaps the Champions Trophy is not the right time and place, given the short nature of the tournament. It is also difficult to expect innovation from the top teams. The teams that brought new thinking to cricket were the underdogs New Zealand (in 1992) and Sri Lanka (in 1996). After that, we went backwards with Australia dominating the world stage.
But perhaps a team like no-hopers West Indies could try something unusual to upset the rhythm of the opposition. Strange fielding positions and unusual bowling methods. Unconventional batting styles. They are not going to win anything playing normally. Why not try something different and get marks for it.
Don’t Pay Attention to the Warmup Games
The teams for the ICC Champions Trophy have been playing a few warmup matches. The results have ranged from the expected (South Africa crushing West Indies) to the surprising (Pakistan beating Sri Lanka) and the strange (New Zealand losing to a non-international team). Regardless, it is simply a waste of time to pay attention to any of these results.
One is that the warmup matches are simply that: warmup matches for teams and players, some of whom have not played international cricket or ODIs for sometime. The players themselves are trying to work themselves into match condition, and so, by definition, are not in good form. The outcome of the matches do not matter.
But even more importantly, the format of the Champions Trophy is such that even one loss can be enough to knock a team out of the tournament. Even if a team has won several matches going into the tournament (as Australia would probably be doing after they finish thrashing England 7-0), they can exit it very quickly by a poor day in the ground.
We saw something similar in the Twenty20 Cup where Sri Lanka performed well throughout the tournament only to be brought down by Pakistan when it really mattered. The short span of the tournament ensures that no team can afford to rest on its laurels.
ICC Champions Trophy 2009 Schedule
So we move onto the last big tournament of the year, after the IPL and ICC Twenty20 World Cup.
First the groups:
Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies
Group B: South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England
The schedule for the matches
| Date | Group A | Group B |
|---|---|---|
| Sept 22 | - | SAF v SRL |
| Sept 23 | PAK v WIN | - |
| Sept 24 | - | SAF v NZL (day) |
| Sept 25 | - | ENG v SRL |
| Sept 26 | AUS v WIN (day) IND v PAK |
- |
| Sept 27 | - | NZL v SRL (day) SAF v ENG |
| Sept 28 | AUS v IND | |
| Sept 29 | - | ENG v NZL |
| Sept 30 | AUS v PAK (day) IND v WIN |
- |
| Oct 1 | - | |
| Oct 2 | 1st Semi: A1 v B2 | |
| Oct 3 | 2nd Semi: B1 v A2 | |
| Oct 4 | - | |
| Oct 5 | Final | |
The day-night matches will start at 12:30 GMT and the day matches (four of them) will start at 07:30 GMT
Interesting schedule for India. If they are out before the semis, their matches will only span 5 calendar days.
Cricket Blogging Dynasty
Or perhaps more accurately, the Blogging Cousins: Samir Chopra (Eye on Cricket) and Megha (Silly M(a)id-on). Both excellent cricket commentators in their own style.
I liked Samir’s article on how his uncle inspired him to become a greater cricket fan. The Boxing Day match that Samir mentions should go into the Annals of Shame for Indian cricket. Set a target of 126 runs, India reached 59/2 after 25 overs. Here is what the top order did:
Sunil Gavaskar: 8 (54)
K Srikkanth: 38 (61)
M Amarnath: 3 (27)
DB Vengsarkar: 1 (12)
They didn’t even try. I suppose you could make an argument that things were different back in the ’80s. But this was one of the worst teams in Australian history and surely, surely India could have at least attempted to make a flying start and see where the chips fall. 8 runs from 54 runs is criminal, to say the least.
There are people older than me who have great respect for Sunny Gavaskar having seen him in action for several years. But apart from his debut in West Indies, I cannot understand what he achieved that makes him so great. He made a lot of runs, but so did lots of people. His captaincy record was also not very successful. In my book, Kapil Dev from the same era seems a much bigger figure, match-winner and inspiration than Gavaskar could ever be.
But with less first-hand experience of that era, I may be entirely mistaken. Will someone who knows this stuff explain why Gavaskar deserves the respect he is getting, especially when you see scorecards like this? And that infamous black mark of 36 not out from 60 overs.
Be an Indian Fan, Not Indian Fanatic
I was happy to see India beat Sri Lanka yesterday. But two things are indisputable. One is that Sri Lanka did a good job of the chase, but just ran out of gas. They started explosively and if they had wickets in the hand, they may very well have won it. Second is that India did not do well on the field, missing catches, run-outs and stumpings. And they knew it too.
So imagine my surprise when I look up the reactions to the final and see some people write about “sweet revenge”.
Do people seriously believe that if Sri Lanka had batted first, India would have won? I don’t think India would have even chased down 273 (the score that the Sri Lankans made) or even 200 for that matter. The third match is proof enough.
The whole Cup has been a losing proposition, like the Bangladesh vs Gutted West Indies Test series. The only thing that could be proved from that series was if Bangladesh were even worse than we thought. But since Bangladesh beat the unofficial West Indies, nothing was resolved. We know that they are better than second-and-third-stringers, but are they capable of beating a Test nation? Don’t even ask.
In the same way, the only way India or Sri Lanka could have established themselves as the real champs were if they chased down the total. In this case, Sri Lanka failed. So we don’t really have an answer as to who the better team is. Each team won batting first. So the only difference was the toss.
Let’s wait till the Champions Trophy to figure out who the better ODI nation is. Until then, people really ought to quit screaming, “India is No. 1″ until we have more evidence, else there is no credibility left when India actually wins something.