Tag Archives: t20

No Prizes for Guessing the Crowd Favorites for Champions League Final

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Trinidad and Tobago continued their unbeaten run in the Champions League with another comprehensive victory over the Cape Cobras.

With the exit of all the Indian teams, the fans seem to have turned towards supporting T&T. What better than supporting a West Indies team against one from Australia!

But New South Wales are pretty good at what they do. If it weren’t for Pollard’s stunner, NSW would have won their previous tie against T&T. And T&T reached the finals today via some extraordinarily sloppy fielding by the Cobras.

Anyway, the best two teams will fight it out for the Cup. In that sense, the Champions League is vindicated.

Champions League So Far

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The Champions League reminds me of some courses I took for my Masters. Instead of easing into the subject like most courses, you get swamped with assignments, papers, tests and more tests. It was hardly a couple of days after the Champions Trophy ended that we got this spectacle of the Champions League starting. Within a blink of an eye, five matches have been completed, one team already into the second round, and we don’t even know the names of all the teams yet.

The IPL teams have all lost in the first match and must win their next matches. Only Bangalore are assured of a spot if they win. The others have to wait for the results of the other match in their group and see if they can qualify on points or have to rely on NRR. It will be strange if all three got out in the first round as the matches are taking place in India. And perhaps a shock to the tournament organizers.

I really wish there were more time to understand the teams and the players. Right now, by the team you get to know the teams, the tournament will be over. Yes, it is that short – the tournament ends in another 12 days. I actually like the short duration, but not the small gap between it and the Champions Trophy.

So this is what I understand. We have 12 teams playing in 4 groups. The top two from each group advance to the next round. They have pre-fixed seedings (ala T20 World Cup style) for these teams – so venues are already set. This is what has happened so far:

Group A: Just got started

  • Deccan Chargers (India) 153/9 (20 ov) lost by 1 wicket to Somerset (England) 157/9 (20 ov)

Group B: Just got started too!

  • New South Wales (Australia) 144/6 (20 ov) win by 53 runs against Eagles (South Africa) 91/9 (20 ov)

Group C: Now we are talking! Cape Cobras (South Africa) qualify for the next round. BRC (India) and Otago (NZ) to fight out for the remaining spot

  • Royal Challengers Bangalore (India) 180/4 (20 ov) lost by 5 wickets to Cape Cobras (South Africa) 185/5 (19.4 ov)
  • Cape Cobras (South Africa) 193/4 (20 ov) win by 54 runs against Otago (New Zealand) 139 (17.1 ov)

Group D: Back to getting started

  • Delhi Daredevils (India) 98/8 (20 ov) lost by 7 wickets to Victoria (Australia) 100/3 (16.4 ov)

So the remaining teams are

Group A: Trindad and Tobago (West Indies)
Group B: Sussex (England)
Group D: Wayamba (Sri Lanka)

Pakistan is the major nation without an entry in this competition.

The Ashes as the Prelude

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Frankly, it is disgusting to see the spectacle of England and Australia battling out over petty Twenty20 and ODI matches after the completion of the Ashes. I cannot understand the mindless psychology of the tour schedulers. One would think that the Ashes was the primary attraction and that the rest of the matches should act as a buildup to the Test series.

Maybe I am different from other people, so I cannot imagine how people would have the energy to continue to follow the fortunes of the teams over the next six (6!) matches. If the Ashes is the main attraction of the summer, then people would build up to the final conclusion upon which they would let themselves go.

The bigger point is how absolutely silly ODIs seem nowadays. After the Twenty20 World Cups and the IPL, one-dayers seem so tedious in comparison. They are the marathon in comparison to the 100m sprint that T20 matches are. Maybe the last few minutes of the match builds up to a thriller, like it did today, but generally it is a big wash.

You may say that the same argument could be made for Tests, but I think Tests are fundamentally different. There are too many differences between ODIs and Tests, but ODIs are so similar to T20s that you can find little justification for ODIs other than the money angle.

Just to be clear, I was a huge fan of ODIs, but my thinking changed after the rise of Twenty20. Like many people, I thought T20 was a gimmick, but when I realized that ODI was also a gimmick that ate up a full day that I changed my mind about it. India winning the first T20 Cup didn’t hurt, either.

South Africa’s Insignificant T20 Series Victory

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Charles Michell Painting

South Africa beat Australia once again to claim the T20 series against the Australians at home. Cricinfo reporter Alex Brown exhibits a profound short memory by proclaiming, “The South Africans continue to dominate the limited-overs formats.” Apparently, he forgot that the Aussies had routed the South Africans by the same margin back in Australia.

Even accounting for that, this was by no means a comprehensive victory for South Africa. In the first match, chasing 167, they were 83/5 needing 84 runs off 47 balls before Morkel and Boucher took them to victory with just 4 balls to spare. If it weren’t for a 21-run over conceded by Hopes, Australia may have won that match.

As for today, the South Africans posted an average score of 156 courtesy some wild hits by van der Merwe which somehow landed over the boundary. Roelof van der Merwe made his debut in the match, but still found the audacity to say, “It’s how you drive, but how you arrive.”

Let us not read too much into these matches. The nature of the Twenty20 game reduces the enormous disparities between the skill level of teams. In 20 overs, a sudden wicket or a big over fundamentally changes the complexion of the game. That is how Zimbabwe beat Australia in Twenty20, something that they cannot even dream of doing in Test matches.

Whatever South Africa or Australia do today, you can bet that it will have nothing to do with their future results, just as how Australia’s previous series victory could not prevent South Africa’s sweep of this matchup. The ODI format is a different issue altogether. If South Africa wins that, they will have a better claim on being the No. 1 team. It remains to be seen if they will squander their Australian victory like they did with the Test series.

The IPL Conundrum

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So the Indians join the Pakistanis and the Bangladeshis in stopping cricket matches out of security fears. Can Sri Lanka be far behind? The terrorists have truly won in this battle and all the sub-continent governments have succumbed to fear instead of sending a message that violent tactics will not be tolerated. I cannot imagine this scenario happening in any Western nation.

Needless to say, the cricket fans in India can do nothing about this and have to get their daily dose of IPL cricket through the telly tube. I suppose the matches would be played at the same Indian Standard Time previously scheduled, which means that matches would start earlier in the day in England or South Africa. The 4pm IST matches would be played in broad daylight, and only the 2nd part of the 8 pm IST matches would be under lights.

It is difficult to imagine fans filling the stadiums and cheering on a “home” team passionately. The IPL consists of teams named after a city or state, and they had “home” and “away” matches. As last year’s IPL progressed, the home support for the teams only increased as most fans started associating themselves with their home teams. We cannot envision English or South African cricket fans cheering on Deccan Chargers or Delhi Daredevils the same way.

The pitches and weather may also play a different part. At this current moment, it looks like South Africa is the favorite for hosting the tournament. It will get increasingly cold in April and May as South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere. South Africa already has experience hosting a T20 tournament – the biggest one of them all – the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup.

The upcoming Indian general election is cited as the reason for this move, but in the light of events, we can easily discount that. Much more to the point is that the IPL could be a big target for terrorists and any successful attack could harm the ruling government in its effort to win the election. No IPL in India, no risk. The political risk outweighs any reward for politicians who would, in a better situation, would like to be seen with the popular teams and players.

Hopefully, this is a one-time change and the IPL will return to India next year. We also hope that this is not part of a greater trend that sends international cricket outside of India. That would be truly catastrophic for cricket.

Ewan Chatfield and Money in Cricket

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Ewen Chatfield played 43 Tests and over 100 one-dayers for New Zealand, forming a lethal opening bowler combination with Richard Hadlee. He gained fame in the most painful way, hit in the head by a deflected ball from Peter Lever. I was sad to read about his present situation, earning his living by driving a cab around Wellington, NZ.

And that is just one story. There are literally tens of thousands of cricketers playing professional cricket across the world who are not making any money worth talking about. If it weren’t for the love of the game, cricket would have been dead today.

That is why the rise of Twenty20 and the efforts (however poor) of the ICC in  promoting cricket around the globe should be applauded. The increasing popularity of cricket and the influx of money is not just good for the superstars, but also for the cricketers at the bottom of the food chain.

In this context, the BCCI’s attempts to destroy the ICL is contemptible. What we want is not just more cricket sanctioned by the governing bodies, but simply more cricket everywhere. Has anyone thought about why the ICL exists at all? If cricketers could make enough money playing “official” cricket, the ICL would have no supporters today.

It is an affront to justice that a cricketer can play for his country or state for years bringing joy to millions of viewers and finally have to live in poverty. They are not looking for a handout. All they ask is that they be allowed to participate in opportunities when they have the health and capability to do so.

IPL Schedule and Calendar for 2009

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Here is the IPL schedule in a convenient calendar format. Here is the key

  • BAN = Bangalore Royal Challengers
  • KOL = Kolkata Knight Riders
  • PUN = Kings XI Punjab
  • CHE = Chennai Super Kings
  • DEC = Deccan Chargers
  • MUM = Mumbai Indians
  • DEL = Delhi Daredevils
  • RAJ = Rajasthan Royals

Since the matches are taking place in South Africa, there is no home team or away team with respect to the venues. The final will take place at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

All matches are at 4 pm and 8 pm Indian Standard Time (10:30 am GMT and 4:30 pm GMT respectively). If there are two matches on a day, the first one is at 4 pm IST and the second at 8 pm IST. If there is only a single match on a day, it takes place at 8 pm. To make that clearer, I have put a placeholder for the “missing” day match on a particular date.

April to May 2009
S M T W T F S
 
 
 		  
 
 		  
 
 		  
 
 		  
 
 		  
 
 		 18
CHE v MUM
BAN v RAJ
19
DEL v PUN
DEC v KOL
 20
-
BAN v CHE		 21
PUN v KOL
RAJ v MUM		 22
-
BAN v DEC		 23
CHE v DEL
KOL v RAJ		 24
-
BAN v PUN		 25
DEC v MUM
CHE v KOL
26
BAN v DEL
PUN v RAJ		 27
DEC v CHE
KOL v MUM		 28
-
DEL v RAJ		 29
BAN v KOL
PUN v MUM		 30
DEL v DEC
CHE v RAJ		 May 1
KOL v MUM
BAN v PUN		 2
DEC v RAJ
CHE v DEL
3
PUN v KOL
BAN v MUM		 4
-
CHE v DEC		 5
PUN v RAJ
DEL v KOL		 6
-
DEC v MUM		 7
BAN v RAJ
CHE v PUN		 8
-
DEL v MUM		 9
DEC v PUN
CHE v RAJ
10
BAN v MUM
DEL v KOL		 11
-
DEC v RAJ		 12
BAN v KOL
PUN v MUM		 13
-
DEC v DEL		 14
BAN v CHE
MUM v RAJ		 15
-
DEL v PUN		 16
CHE v MUM
DEC v KOL
17
DEC v PUN
DEL v RAJ		 18
-
CHE v KOL		 19
-
DEL v BAN		 20
KOL v RAJ
CHE v PUN		 21
DEL v MUM
BAN v DEC		 22
-
1st Semi		 23
-
2nd Semi
24
-
Final