Tag: India

Cricket World Cup: Day 28 Recap and Day 29 Preview

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Day 28 Results

1. India v Zimbabwe

Brendon Taylor’s final game for Zimbabwe almost followed the script.  The final innings hundred was there – an incredible collection of reverse sweeps, powerful lofts, and cheeky ramps – and at 93/4 the victory looked a possibility too.  Unfortunately, India’s powerful middle order covered over the top order cracks and completed victory by 6 wickets and 8 balls remaining.  The crux of the chase was an unbeaten 196 run partnership between Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni.  The pair rescuing a dire situation for the unbeaten Indian side, after the top order had collapsed to 93/4.

Earlier, Taylor had thrilled a large Auckland crowd with a final international innings of the highest quality. He scored 138, including 70 from his final 29 balls.  He was supported by Sean Williams in the most significant partnership of the innings, before Sikandar Raza added a quickfire 28 just as the momentum threatened to collapse.

Eden Park is always a difficult ground to defend totals on, and it proved too tricky for the Zimbabwe bowlers as Raina and Dhoni maturely saw India to their sixth World Cup win.

India 288 for 4 (Raina 110, Dhoni 85) beat Zimbabwe 287 (Taylor 138, Williams 50, Yadav 3-43, Mohit 3-48, Shami 3-48) by 6 wickets

 

2. Australia v Scotland

Australia comfortably beat Scotland and the rain to wrap up second spot in Pool A.

Opting to bowl first to beat the rain, Australia quickly gained the ascendancy with quick wickets to all of the bowlers.  In fairness, the Scottish batsman, who have struggled all tournament, contributed to their own demise with a host of rash shots and an unusually aggressive mindset.  In all, Scotland made just 130, with a brief break in the play for weather not able to save them from somewhat of a humiliation.

Mitchell Starc took 4 wickets to leap to the top of the wickettaker charts, Cummins had three, and Watson, Johnson and Maxwell all got in on the action.

Australia then used the chase to give Michael Clarke an extended bat.  He opened and made 47, and Finch, Watson, Faulkner and Warner all pitched in with handy efforts at better than a run a ball.  The win sets up a quarterfinal against the winner of todays Ireland v Pakistan match.

Australia 133 for 3 (Clarke 47) beat Scotland 130 (Machan 40, Starc 4-14, Cummins 3-42) by seven wickets

 

Day 29 Matches

1. West Indies v UAE, McLean Park (Napier – cloudy, windy, chance of rain), starts 11:00am local time

West Indies – $1.04

UAE – $11.00

West Indies must beat the UAE today and then await the result of the Pakistan / Ireland game from Adelaide.  Task number one will be tricky given the cyclone from Vanuatu threatening to bring adverse conditions to the East Coast of New Zealand.  It might also be tough if Chris Gayle is passed unfit to compete; his back still a big worry.

The final chance for UAE to register a win comes at the familiar location of Napier where they have based themselves for much of the tournament.  They’re coming off a relatively poor showing against South Africa, so they’ll need to improve if they are to crash the West Indies party.

2. Pakistan v Ireland, Adelaide Oval (Adelaide – partly cloudy), starts 2:00pm local time

Pakistan – $1.27

Ireland – $3.82

Ireland’s most important Cricket World Cup game in history will settle a tense Pool B.  Ireland need a win to make it through to the knockout stages for the first time (they have previously made the Super 8’s in 2007).  They could also hope for an abandoned game in Napier, but they would much prefer to be the masters of their own destiny.

Irelands’s poor net run rate is their major issue heading into the final match.  They’ve done commendably to beat UAE, West Indies and Zimbabwe but need to muster every ounce of skill and self-belief to do the unthinkable.

 

Day 29 Multi

The “Gayle Force Upset” Multi

Chris Gayle loves McLean Park, a test 197* springs to mind as evidence of his love of the small ground, but he’s also doubtful with a bad back.  If he plays we’re backing him to perform amongst the cyclone.

Gale To Top Score at $2.88 + Ireland winning Head-to-Head at $3.82 = $11.00

Odds courtesy of Sportsbet Australia.

Cricket World Cup: Day 24 Recap

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India won the battle of the ‘I’ nations with a one-sided victory over Ireland in Hamilton on day 24 of the Cricket World Cup.  India’s ninth win in a row made possible because of a fine opening partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.  See more on the action below:

Day 24 Results

India v Ireland

Ireland made it nine World Cup wins on the bounce with a comfortable eight wicket win over Ireland.

The defending World Cup champions made light work of Ireland’s 259, requiring just four of their batsman to pad up and 36.5 overs to get there.  Ireland’s 259 always looked 50 short on a pristine Hamilton surface, and that proved to be the case when Dhawan and Rohit combined to knock off 174 of them in the opening stand.  The win means India top Pool B, and keep their incredible run of victories from the 2011 tournament going.

Ireland had earlier started the day in exceptionally positive fashion.  Openers, William Portefield (67) and Paul Stirling (42) set Ireland on their way to a big total by adding 89 for the first wicket and seeing off India’s surprisingly effective seam bowlers.  However, the introduction of spin through Ashwin, Raina, and Jadeja slowed the European Champions momentum and cause more than a few rash strokes.  The wickets tended to arrive in clumps, and despite the best efforts of Niall O’Brien (75), the regular wickets meant Ireland fell well short of the 300 they were on track for earlier.  In fact, it took a giggly last wicket partnership to get to 259.

India will be grateful they could sneak in a full 10 overs from Raina – that shouldn’t happen in international cricket, but it did, and he took a bonus 1-40.

India’s run chase was a canter. Dhawan’s second hundred of the tournament flung him to second on the run scoring charts, and further outlined just how dangerous the Indian team are from 1-11.  He was dropped twice and the punishment went on to become a record opening stand for India at World Cups.  Rohit Sharma also made light work of the chase with a quick 64, before Kohli and Rahane finished off the win in style.  The Irish bowlers have always been the weak link in the side, and unfortunately they were too unthreatening on a docile Seddon Park pitch.

One more game each, India against Zimbabwe; Ireland a crunch potential qualifier against Pakistan.

India 260 for 2 (Dhawan 100, Rohit 64) beat Ireland 259 (N O’Brien 75, Porterfield 67, Shami 3-41) by 8 wickets

Cricket World Cup: Day 24 Preview

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Just when the World Cup was starting to follow script England go ahead and put in their worst performance of the tournament to gift the writer ammunition for today’s important World Cup questions.  We’ll also review today’s game featuring Ireland and India.

The Three Big Questions

Why were England so bad?

Where do we start.  We didn’t agree with their team selection for much of the Cricket World Cup, we don’t like their mindset, and their best two bowlers had bad tournaments.  Then there’s the focus on ‘data’ and the domestic competition featuring 18 counties which is simply too big.  Looking at the points individually, the team selection and game plan were the glaring errors.  England’s cautious approach is in stark contrast to the way the tournament frontrunners are playing.  Watch McCullum, de Villiers or Maxwell bat.  No one goes close to playing with that sort of freedom in the English set up (Ali and Buttler are the two closest), therefore they are always going to be behind the 8-ball in modern cricket.  You saw the ease their 309 was chased down by Sri Lanka.  Those scores don’t win games anymore.  They needed to give Hales more cricket, get him at the top and get Buttler up the order too.  It also would have helped if Stuart Broad didn’t go 35 overs without a wicket in the middle of the Cricket World Cup.

Where do they go now?

Moores and Morgan both have to go.  Moore showed just how dreadfully out of touch he is when he claimed he would “analyse the data” to determine where they went wrong.  And Morgan just can’t hold his place in the team as a batsman, so has to go.  Downton should probably join them on the heap; possibly James Whitaker (chairman of selectors) too.

They could turn to players like James Vince, Jason Roy and Ben Stokes are good enough to build a squad around.  Not KP though.

Any more upsets?

Still could be plenty, including today’s match previewed below. The quarterfinals are also the perfect chance for Pakistan, Bangladesh, West Indies, Sri Lanka or Ireland (depending on who gets there) to provide a shock.  If you love a cheeky outsider punt this could be your tournament.

Today’s Matchup

India v Ireland, Seddon Park (Hamilton – fine), starts 2:00pm local time.

India – $1.20

Ireland – $4.00

The stunning Seddon Park hosts unbeaten India against surprise packages Ireland in today’s only game.

Both sides are arguably stronger with the willow than with the leather, so today’s match could be a high scorer.  Having said that, India have surprised some with the improvement in their bowling since their time in Australia, and no teams have got away on them.

Ireland have had just one bad performance form their lot so far.  They should still be feeling pretty good about themselves and will take comfort from the fact that England’s exit makes them European Champions.

We’re sniffing an upset…

Today’s Bet

The upsets continue bet.  Ireland haven’t beaten India in a one-day international before but back them to do it today on a head to head bet at $4.00.

Odds taken from Unibet Australia.

Cricket World Cup: Day 20 Recap

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Day 20 of the Cricket World Cup outlined again that low scoring matches can be just as entertaining as teams piling on 350+.  Perth witnessed a nervy chase of 183 by India in the only game of the day.  Check out our review of the bowler dominated match below:

Day 20 Results

India v West Indies

India made it to eight consecutive wins in Cricket World Cups by narrowly seeing off the West Indies in the closest thing to a scare they have experienced thus far.  Chasing a paltry 183, India were flailing at 78 for 4 and 134 for 6, and facing an embarrassing defeat to a lazy and uninterested West Indies side.  Enter MS Dhoni, captain cool, who steered his side to a 4 wicket win with an unbeaten 45* with the help of Ravi Ashwin (16*).

West Indies had earlier started their chase in the most bizarre fashion.  Chris Gayle looked unfit and unable (or unwilling) to run singles, making it hard fro Dwayne Smith to get off strike, and hard for his side to build any momentum.  When Smith nicked out, the running only got worse as Marlon Samuels joined Gayle, causing a ridiculous run-out and starting the rot which saw the West Indies limp to 85/7.  Their thrown in the deep end captain, Jason Holder, made his second consecutive half century to add some respectability to the total, however, 182 never looked another.

Until India made hard work of their chase that is.  Dhawan pushed at a widish ball from Jermone Taylor to provide the first glimmer of hope for the West Indies, and when Rohit Sharma received a quality outswinger from the same bowler the match looked alive.

Virat Kohli threatened to take the game away from the West Indies until he hooked Russell straight to long leg.  Rahane, who we picked to take the man of the match honours fell to a controversial decision for the hundredth time on this Australia trip, but Dhoni was on hand to guide his side home and well on their way to the top qualification spot.

India still looking very strong and their perceived weakness, the bowling, has now won them three games in a row.

India 185 for 6 (Dhoni 45*) beat West Indies 182 (Holder 57, Shami 3-35) by 4 wickets

Cricket World Cup: Day 20 Preview

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The Three Big Questions

Any merit to Tendulkar’s 25 team World Cup or Martin Crowe’s 18 team idea?

Batting masters Crowe and Tendulkar have both shared their views recently on the changes needed to the World Cup format.  Both agree that expansion rather than rationalisation are the keys to growing the global game and reducing the gap between associates and their test playing rivals.  The thinking of both deserve merit, and both were tremendous students of the game.  The expansion will take time but it is completely necessary to prevent the one sided wallopings occurring at this stage of the World Cup.  It’s like comparing the exam results of kid who never goes to school with a kid who never misses a class.  Bigger format and short games (40 overs) works.

Is Australia’s new lineup risky? 

We’re presuming that yesterdays team is the team they’ll use in the rest of the competition, save for injuries.   That means Shane Watson misses out, Smith bats 3 and Maxwell at 5.  The move significantly increases the firepower.  Maxwell, Marsh, and Faulkner are an ominous trio to have coming in at the death.  The flip-side is of course the risk of early wickets and relying on the same three to hold an innings together, against their natural games.

How does this World Cup rank with past editions?

Probably one of the best so far.  The associates are competing well at times, the crowds are excellent, and the weather has played its part too.  Some World Cups have been farcical – I’m looking at you 2007, so it’s a refreshing change to see a well run machine with three favourites all playing well and on a collision course.

Today’s Matchup

India v West Indies, WACA (Perth – sunny all day), starts 2:30pm local time

India – $1.41

West Indies – $2.85

A stern cricketing test is exactly what India need to measure their World Cup chances.  Whether they’ll get it from an unpredictable West Indies team, however, is anyones guess.  After making their way through the competition unscathed, and returning to some of their best form, India will be keen to test their game with the different challenges a West Indies team will throw at them.  They’re likely to be: an opening assault on their seam bowlers by Chris Gayle; followed by an even bigger assault on their death bowlers by Darren Sammy and Andre Russell; and steep bounce from the bowling of Jason Holder on the most conducive surface in Australia.

How they cope with the challenges will give everyone a better indication of how competitive India will be in the closing stages of the tournament.  Especially given the interesting quarterfinal position jostling between Australia, Sri Lanka and England.

Today’s Bet

The “probably won’t get a bat but if he does he’ll score a hundred” bet

Ajinkya Rahane hasn’t had much chance in the World Cup so far, but he’s a quality player and just look at the price offered on him for Man of the Match ($19).  We’ll take it.

Odds from Palmerbet.

Cricket World Cup: Day 15 Recap

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A match between two top tier sides finally went down to the wire in the Cricket World Cup yesterday.  Kane Williamson’s maximum ensuring New Zealand shocked the world best Australians by one wicket in a low scoring but highly entertaining affair at Eden Park.

Keep reading for more details on New Zealand’s one wicket win.

Day 15 Results

1. Australia v New Zealand

The talk of theoretical three hundred strong totals was quickly cast aside as New Zealand and Australia collectively struggled to score 300 runs between them.  The sub par batting performances from both sides, however, didn’t detract from the incredible spectacle that left everyone in attendance satisfied, if a little surprised their day had ended two hours ahead of schedule.  New Zealand got by by one wicket thanks to a nerveless Kane Williamson six off Pat Cummins, despite the bowling heroics of Mitchell Starc at the other end.

Australia’s fast start against a nervous Tim Southee gave no indication of the inept display that was to follow.  At 30-0 off just 2.1 overs, Australia looked destined for a sizeable total.  Even after Aaron Finch was  removed the next ball, they still managed to get to 80-1 with Shane Watson and David Warner going along nicely.  Southee had proven expensive in his opening spell in a display that highlighted the small margin for error at Auckland’s concrete jungle.  But as Australia looked to heap more misery on the Kiwi bowlers, Brendon McCullum pulled a masterstroke by introducing the left arm spin of Daniel Vettori in just the seventh over.  His introduction stifled the scoring rate and caused Shane Watson to err and throw away his wicket, pulling him straight to deep square leg for 23.

Tim Southee removed Davey Warney (as he is affectionately known by all Australian commentators) next ball, an then Trent Boult returned the remarkable second spell bowling figures of 5/1 to see Australia slump to 106/9.  While the bowling was accurate, the batting was horrendous.  Four players getting bowled is disappointing at international level (FYI, New Zealand had the same number later in the night).  Brad Haddin and Pat Cummins managed to add some respect to the total; Haddin made 43 and if he had eked out a few more might have done enough to get his side home.

New Zealand’s pursuit of the small total started off without a hitch.  A Mitchell Johnson no-ball resulted in a free-hit six to Martin Nuptial and the Black Caps were on their way.  McCullum continued his free scoring approach to small targets.  The swing from the hip mentality served him well only until Mitchell Johnson landed a nasty blow on his forearm that upset some of his momentum, but he still managed a 24 ball fifty.  From there New Zealand lost wickets in clumps to accurate, fast insignia of Mitchell Starc.  Starc took the wickets of Taylor and Elliot either side of the lunch interval, and then another two in two when he dismissed Milne and Southee to set-up the thrilling finish.  Australia needed one wicket for a famous comeback victory.  New Zealand needed six runs to win the Chappell-Hadley Trophy.  Mitchell Starc had two balls at number 11 Trent Boult.  Boult survived and Williamson deposited Cummins into the stand to seal a famous win and all but ensure New Zealand a home quarterfinal.

New Zealand 152 for 9 (McCullum 50, Williamson 45*, Starc 6-28) beat Australia 151 (Haddin 43, Boult 5-27, Southee 2-65, Vettori 2-41) by one wicket

2. India v UAE

The second match of the day was a disappointing dull affair as the UAE failed to match their more experienced opponents in all aspects of the game.  Betting first the minnows only mustered 103.  All out in 31.3 overs, without any threat of putting together a useful total.  India’s bowling is on the improve, but it shouldn’t strike any fear into teams, and certainly not all out for 103 type fear.  Nevertheless, that is what transpired.  Ravi Ashwin the star of the show, picking up four cheap wickets and providing the perfect support to Yadava and Kumar who had earlier taken wickets in their opening spells.

The target was knocked off with consulate ease.  Rohit Sharma made an unbeaten half century and Virat Kohli added 33 unbeaten runs to wrap things up with little fuss, little energy exhausted, and no injuries.  The perfect result for the Indians who appear to be getting stronger and stronger.

India 104 for 1 (Rohit 57*) beat UAE 102 (Anwar 35, Ashwin 4-25) by 9 wickets