Tag: Cricket World Cup

Cricket: Powerful Pakistan slam New Zealand

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Pakistan scored 221 from the last 25 overs; 125 off the last 10; 65 from the last five and amassed a total that was far too strong for the Black Caps in Sharjah today.  The imposing total of 364 was built around a superb century from opener Ahmed Shehzad (113), and a quick fire blast from captain Shahid Afridi (55).  Shehzad was the initial architect, picking up on a series of loose New Zealand overs to pull and slash his way to a sixth ODI hundred.  His innings was nicely orchestrated with an abundance of singles – 41 of them in total – and a4 neatly timed boundaries.  He was helped no end by New Zealand’s inconsistent bowling effort by their back-up seamers and friendly paced allrounders.  Of the New Zealand attack only Nathan McCullum went for under six runs-per-over, whereas most of the others went for plenty; Corey Anderson went for 96 from his ten – the third worst figure in one day cricket by a New Zealander.

Afridi’s blitz was something special.  He has found a level of consistency he rarely displays in this series and his contribution with bat, ball and in the field was an impressive example for his players to follow.  His response, along with most of the Pakistan line-up, to the short pitched bowling that had worked so well in the series thus far was combative.  The midwicket region was as productive as any as Pakistan admirably stood up to the barrage of short bowling.

New Zealand’s unlikely attempt at Pakistan’s third highest total in ODI cricket got off to a typically disappointing start.  On his return from injury Martin Guptill only succeeded in mistiming two pull shots, one of which was caught.  Devcich failed, and the Black Caps best players were asked to do it all, again.  Earlier in the week Brendon McCullum had explained to media that he would not swap his numbers 3 and 4 for any others in World cricket, and for a brief time it seemed entirely plausible that Taylor and Williamson could get NZ close.  But shortly after Ross Taylor had struck three 6’s in eight balls, he missed an attempted cut off Afridi to be bowled for 31, and New Zealand limped to 217 all out.

Williamson played nicely again for 46 before falling to indecision while Ronchi added 41 late runs to further outline his value down the order.  The big concern for New Zealand will be the double failing of all-round duo Jimmy Neesham and Anderson who continue to struggle in both skills.

The series heads back to Abu Dhabi where New Zealand need to win both to take out the series.  Sportsbet Australia don’t think they can; they have listed NZ at $4.50 to win the series.  They also have Series Score markets of: Pakistan 3-2 @ $1.91, and Pakistan 4-1 @ $2.50.

Pakistan 364 for 7 (Shehzad 113, Afridi 55, Henry 3-63) beat New Zealand 217 (Williamson 46, Afridi 3-37, Sohail 3-45) by 147 runs

Cricket: Sangakkara too good for awful England

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If Kumar Sangakkara’s scores in the four prior matches against England were anything to go by he was destined to eventually reach three figures in the series.  Scores of 67*, 63, 86 and 91 were just the precursor to a breathtaking hundred, scored at a rapid pace in game six of the seven match series.  His innings was at all times controlled, allowing him to effortlessly toyed with the England field and captain.  That he was dropped by the England captain in the midst of the manipulation when on 41 was as fitting as it was cruel.     His run a ball 112 the backbone of his sides impressive total of 292.  With an uncharacteristically controlled support hand from  Tillakaratne Dilshan (68) and a late contribution from the returning Dinesh Chandimal (35), Sri Lanka were able to register a total that asked England to be at their very best if the wanted to take the series to a Colombo decider.

England were not at their best.  Their chase never really threatened Sri Lanka’s total and none of their players could match Sangakkara’s heroics.  The chase started in the worst possible fashion when out of sorts and under-pressure captain Alastair Cook played around a straight one in the third over.  James Taylor arrival at the crease gave reason for England to be hopeful given his strong performances in the series thus far, but he too fell to the impressive Sachithra Senanayake after walking past one.  When Moeen Ali fell to a Dilshan ripper the series was all but over at 50/3.  Joe Root got some time in the middle with a circumspect 55, Chris Woakes blazed 41 – outlining his improving credentials as a handy limited overs cricketer – and Sangakkara also grabbed four catches behind the sticks.

Despite suffering his fourth successive defeat at the helm of the ODI team Alastair Cook remained staunch when his ability to lead the side was questioned.  While there are chorus’ for the man to give up the captaincy, it seems unlikely give the proximity to the World Cup, but coach Peter Moores offered less support than he usually does by suggesting, “It would be wrong of me as a selector and coach not to review things at the end of this series”.

Sri Lanka 292 for 7 (Sangakkara 112, Dilshan 68) beat England 202 (Root 55, Woakes 41, Lakmal 4-30, Senanayake 3-33) by 90 runs

Cricket: Confident England seek unlikely series decider

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Close to being written off after three games in the series England surprised everyone by winning game five easily.  The surprise win means they can take the series to a deciding game with a follow up win in game six.  That is a strong possibility given the form of the care bear kids, Joe Root and James Taylor.

Sri Lanka are still tinkering with their World Cup lineup and have introduced new players for this one.  While they do want to give exposure to a wide range of players and allow others time to get into World Cup form, they’ll be annoyed if they can’t close this one out.

Pallekele again should favour the English side.

The Last Time These Two Met

Game five saw England close the series gap to just one game.  Joe Root’s cool head saw England home in a chase that was delayed by an entire day due to wet weather.  The match was also significant for Sachithra Senanayake who returned superbly from an international bowling ban.

The Teams

Sri Lanka (likely): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wkt), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Sachithra Senanayake, 10 Suranga Lakmal 11 Lakshan Sandakan

Kusal Perera and Ajantha Mendis have been dropped.  Perera is to be replaced by Dimuth Karunaratne, whereas Suranga Lakmal Lakshan Sandakan should be given a chance at Mendis and Prasad’s expense.

England (likely): 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Moeen Ali, 3 James Taylor, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Jos Buttler (wkt), 7 Ravi Bopara, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 James Tredwell, 11 Steven Finn

No changes expected to their winning side.

The Key Players

Steven Finn – The obvious key player to spotlight would be Alastair Cook.  But he’s getting enough light from every other fan and critic of English cricket.  Therefore, we’ll leave him alone and focus on Steven Finn.  Finn is slowly regaining his form after overcoming a long held groin injury.  The quick achieved figures of 1-28 in his best bowling effort of the series.  Finn will be hoping to regain top form in game six and take early wickets.

Lahiru Thirimanne – Averages a whopping 116 in this series because of three not outs from four innings.  Equally impressive is the strike rate of 106 which seems to outline that the left hander is much more comfortable as a lower order closer than he is / was at the top of the order.  Thirimanne was in sublime form leading into this series too.  In the emergency games against India he posted back to back fifties.

The Odds*

Sri Lanka – $1.57

England – $2.40

*International Cricket odds courtesy of Unibet.

The Prediction

The cynic in all of us thinks this will go to a deciding game.  More money, more television viewers and more interest.  So England to win this one for us.  Jump on Unibet to take advantage of the generous price on England.

Cricket: Seamers and Williamson help NZ level series

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New Zealand broke their Sharjah duck overnight after defeating Pakistan by 4 wickets to square the one day international series.  Having lost their previous ten matches in Sharjah, the Black Caps needed a calm Kane Williamson – who scored his sixth half century in his last seven matches – to see them over the line.  Chasing 253 for victory the pursuit got off to the best possible start when Anton Devcich (58) and Dean Brownlie (47) eased the concerns hanging over the openers to put on 103 for the first wicket.  Despite the start, New Zealand still needed their captain Williamson’s nous to get them hoe in the 46th over.  Amongst a middle order collapse that saw Ross Taylor miss out on a fourth consecutive hundred, Williamson held firm and after watching several middle order colleagues throw wickets away, found able support from Luke Ronchi (36).  Ronchi’s rapid cameo helped to ease any lingering doubt in the New Zealand camp and quickly put the result beyond doubt as the gap between us needed and balls remaining widened.

Williamson shouldn’t take all the praise however.  The Black Cap’s seamers also played their part taking all ten wickets in Pakistan’s innings.  Matt Henry and Mitchell McClenaghan were the chief destroyers albeit in different circumstances.  Henry (4-45) took the bulk of his wickets at the top of the order helping dismiss four of the top six and reducing Pakistan to 20/3 at one stage.  McClenaghan, notwithstanding the early wickets of Younis Khan (he got him twice, once off a no-ball) took his wickets at the end of the innings to finish with 3-56.

Pakistan will rue their inability to kick on from handy starts.  Of their batsmen to cross 14 (there were 7 of them) only Mohammad Hafeez (76) passed 50.  That left Shahid Afridi (27 from 14) with too much to do, and while he made a decent fist of it striking big blows off both Henry and Milne, he couldn’t sustain the attack and joined the others in failing to see out the allotted overs.

Haris Sohail was once again a big plus for the number four ranked ODI team with wickets and runs.  He made 33 and took 3-48 in another fine all-round display.  His efforts superseded Corey Anderson’s efforts as New Zealand’s all-rounder worries worsened, and helped mitigate the impact from Hafeez’s bowling ban.

A quick turnaround sees Sharjah host game three on Sunday.  Of particular note are the potential injuries to Umar Gul and Misbah-ul-Haq.

New Zealand 255 for 6 (Williamson 70, Devcich 58, Haris 3-48) beat Pakistan 252 (Hafeez 76, Misbah 47, Henry 4-45) by four wickets

Cricket: Openers and all-rounders the concerns for Black Caps

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The Black Caps are in familiar territory.  After losing the opening the one-dayer they find themselves behind for the third time in the tour.  That’s not the only familiarity of the NZ situation either.  The Black Caps also face dilemmas over their openers and their all-rounders.  Both are of equal concern; causing headaches for the selectors as the look to settle on their best lineup for a World Cup that some (Kevin Pieterson included) are expecting them to do very well at.

The Black Cap’s average ODI opening partnership over the last two years is the worst of test playing nations at 18.36 with a run rate of 4.17 and highest stand of 66.  Next worst is the West Indies average partnership of 29.57.   That’s because they have tried a whole host of different names. Players like Rob Nicol, Jesse Ryder, Luke Ronchi, Hamish Rutherford, Tom Latham and BJ Watling have all had a go, with limited success.  While Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill look set to be the openers for the Black Caps at the World Cup both are unavailable for this match and there’s some serious concern for the form of Anton Devcich and Dean Brownlie.

Also suffering from massive a form slump is Jimmy Neesham.  The military medium paced Dunedin all-rounder hasn’t scored over 18 runs in any of his last 11 innings’, in all formats.  With Corey Anderson out concussed, Neesham needs to do much more to cement a spot in the top Black Caps XI.  Especially considering Kane Williamson can return to the bowling crease.

Pakistan have less worries but will be looking for runs from their top order.

The Last Time These Two Met

Pakistan won a nail-biter that they never should have.  The Black Caps struggled (with a soft ball) to dislodge the well-set pair of Haris Sohail and Shahid Afridi.  The pair’s partnership ensuring a 1-0 series lead.

The Teams

Pakistan (likely): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Haris Sohail, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Shahid Afridi, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Mohammad Irfan

New Zealand (likely): 1 Anton Devcich, 2 Dean Brownlie, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham, 6 Jimmy Neesham, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Adam Milne/Matt Henry

The Key Players

Haris Sohail – The maturity shown in his match-winning knock in game one was a pleasure to watch.  He paced his innings s o nicely it was surprising that he had made his way to 85* by the end of it, without a shot in anger.  For a player that makes so many first class runs perhaps the first ODI knock will be the catalyst for further International success.

Daniel Vettori – Vettori did it all in game one.  He made runs, took wickets and also chimed in with a stunning catch.  Proving that age is no barrier, the left armer turned, sprinted, and clung on to an epic catch to dismiss Misbah, a catch that should have set NZ on their way to victory.  Look for Vettori to be treated more cautiously in game two.  Most teams prefer to see out his ten overs for 30 runs and score big of the others – Pakistan will catch on to this too.

The Odds*

Pakistan – $1.57

New Zealand – $2.40

*International Cricket odds courtesy of Tom Waterhouse.

The Prediction

We have one eye on the result here and one eye on whether Ross Taylor can score four consecutive ODI hundreds.   Tom Waterhouse has him at just $4.25 to top score, but we don’t think he’ll get there.  We also don’t think the Black Caps have the game winners to get them over the line either.  Pakistan by 4 wickets or 40 runs.

Cricket: Root sees England home after false start

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Joe Root overcome a long overnight wait to guide England home in their pursuit of Sri Lanka’s 239 in the fifth match of the ODI series.  England’s chase was initially delayed by a mid game downpour as the game entered a second day; planned with the World Cup in mind and utilising the rarely used reserve day.  When the teams returned, Root superbly guided his side to 240/5 and a win with five balls to spare.  His 104* came from just 117 balls and is his third ODI century of the year.  He was aptly supported by James Taylor, who backed up his last effort of 90 with a patient 68.  That was after England had fallen to 35/2 when Alastair Cook and Moeen Ali were dismissed cheaply by the returning Senanayake.  We thought the returning bowler might go alright on his return from international suspension and he delivered an economical spell of 2-35 from his ten overs.

Other than his impact however, the rest of the Sri Lankan attack struggled and the four pronged spin attack lacked the requisite threat to take regular wickets.  With wickets in hand England were always favourites and Root’s six to bring up his century was the final nail in the coffin.  Ravi Bopara (28) offered another useful contribution, sharing in a partnership of 86 with England’s match-winner.

Before the unusually long rain delay Sri Lanka had stuttered to a below par 239; suffering at the hands of Chris Woakes who returned his best internality cricket figures of 6-47.  Sri Lanka got off to the worst possible start when the ‘duck-prone’ Kusal Perera nibbled one to slip third ball of the match.  Perera’s last international scores read 0 4 0 59 9 0 31 0.  Kumar Sangakkara scored well again, the classy left hander contributed 91 of the local’s total, but he lacked support from his fellow senior players.  That may well be due to the fine bowling efforts of Woakes, Chris Jordan (2-56), and James Tredwell (1-35).  The trio never allowed the run-rate to get away from them, illustrated by the fact that Sangakkara scored at a strike rate of only 73 and Matthews at only 52.

The win means England stay alive in the seven match series.  Luxbet still have them as outsiders to win the series though.  They are at $2.30 to pull off an unlikely series win.

England 240 for 5 (Root 104*, Taylor 68) beat Sri Lanka 239 (Sangakkara 91, Woakes 6-47) by five wickets