Tag: Recap

Cricket World Cup: Day 14 Recap

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Followers of Betcirca were rewarded with only the third winning bet of the Cricket World Cup as AB de Villiers registered a half century against the West Indies overnight.  He didn’t just score a half century mind you, he scored a hundred, and a hundred and fifty in all the same go as he powered to a miraculous 162* from just 66 balls.

Read more about the action below:

Day 14 Results

South Africa v West Indies

South Africa were in desperate need of some form after plummeting to a loss against India and being written off as potential winners, and they duly delivered with an exclamation mark performance worthy of joining the pack of favourites again.

A complete batting performance saw the first 400+ total of the tournament, with the undoubted star of the show being de Villiers.  The old adage of doubling your score after 30 overs was ridiculed by de Villiers and the gang who near on tripled their 30 over score to post a massive 408 in the allotted fifty overs.  Kicking on from a solid platform laid by Hashim Amla (65) and Faf du Plessis (62), first Rilee Rossouw and then AB dominated the West Indies attack in a breathtaking display.  AB de Villiers’ knock was eerily similar to his fastest ever ODI hundred against the same opposition only a matter of weeks ago.  He was slightly circumspect to begin with, taking some time as Rossouw provided the early power play impetus, then he exploded.

AB de Villiers now has the fastest fifty, hundred and 150 in ODI cricket – all against West Indies.

The West Indies were never up for the task of chasing the 400 down.  They were eventually bundled out for less than de Villers.  Their disappointing performance returns them from possible semi-finalists to World Cup also-rans in form that is impossible to keep up with.  So much of their play relies on Gayle, and when he was dismissed for just 3 in the second over, it was all over.  West Indies captain Jason Holder was the best of their batsman, he made 56 and offset a portion of the 104 runs he gave away when bowling, but without support it was always going to be a big loss.

Imran Tahir took five wickets.  He now has 9 in the tournament and is behind just Tim Southee in the top wicket taker charts.

South Africa 408 for 5 (AB de Villiers 162*, Amla 65, du Plessis 62, Rossouw 61, Holder 1-104) beat West Indies 151 (Holder 56, Tahir 5-45) by 257 runs

Cricket World Cup: Day 13 Recap

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No upsets on Day 13 of the Cricket World Cup, but for the second day in a row and associate nation matchup made for compelling cricket.  The Afghanistan / Scotland nail biter was in stark contrast to the one-sided matchup across the Tasman between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Check out our take on the two games:

Day 13 Results

1. Afghanistan v Scotland

Afghanistan justified their favourites tag and created World Cup history when they beat Scotland by one wicket.  Their first ever World Cup win was a nervous affair that had more twists and turns than an NRL cocaine scandal.  A fine 96 from Samiullah Shenwari saw them bounce back from a precarious 97/7 to deliver an emotional win that justified their involvement in world cricket.

Earlier, Scotland had again struggled with the bat on a zesty Dunedin surface.  Happy to throw the bat at any width, but reluctant to tighten their games in accordance with the movement on offer, the Scots just got to 200 for the first time in a World Cup.  The innings featured plenty of 20’s and 30’s on the scorecard but no standouts.  In fairness, 210 could have been much worse when they were 132/6, but Alasdair Evans and Majid Haq hung around to see out the overs.  The Afghanistan quicks, who are in actuality a formidable opening pair shared seven wickets between them in a Boult / Southee like performance.

In response Afghanistan almost made an alright hash of their run chase.  Starting aggressively, perhaps in the pursuit of a net run rate improvement, they raced to 40 in just 7 overs, mainly thanks to Javed Ahmadi, before their first lost wicket derailed their momentum.  Royally so too.  They lost 7/55 to leave their pursuit of a first win nigh on impossible.  Shenwari finally found some support in Hassan and Zadran to get them home.  His three consecutive sixes of Haq broke the back of the chase and although he couldn’t see them all the way home, was the obvious man of the match.

Afghanistan 211 for 9 (Shenwari 96, Ahmadi 51, Berrington 4-40) beat Scotland 210 (Shapoor 4-38, Dawlat 3-29) by one wicket

2. Sri Lanka v Bangladesh

Big second wicket partnerships are all the rage in 2015 Cricket World Cup and Sri Lanka didn’t want to be left behind.  Hence Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara combined for a baby mammoth 210 run stand to end Bangladesh’s hopes of causing an upset.  We say baby mammoth, because Gayle and Samuels have redefined the levels of mammoth.

Dilshan and Sangakkara used all of their experience to manoeuvre their side to a competitive total and register personal milestones of their own.  Sangakkara celebrated his 400th ODI with another ODI century, and Dilshan recorded his 21st.  In posting the challenging target, they took advantage of sloppy fielding and catching from the Tigers, something their captain, Mashrafe Mortaza, said was the losing of the game.

Bangladesh were 92 short of the target when they were bowled out in the 47th over.  At 100/5 the match was essentially over, however Shakib, Mushfiqur and Sabbir were able to get some late batting practice in.

Sri Lanka couldn’t afford a loss and didn’t.  It may have been nice to get Matthews, Karunaratne and Chandimal some batting practice to ease the reliance on their big three.  But a win is a win.

Sri Lanka 332 for 1 (Dilshan 161*, Sangakkara 105*) beat Bangladesh 240 (Sabbir 53, Shakib 46, Malinga 3-35) by 92 runs

Cricket World Cup: Day 12 Recap

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Ireland and the UAE unexpectedly combined for the most exciting match of the Cricket World Cup so far; an absorbing contest that was ultimately decided in Ireland’s favour by just two wickets, and with four balls to spare.

Check out our quick review of the game below:

Day 12 Results

Ireland v UAE

One of the defining characteristics of the best test playing cricket nations is that they always find a way to win despite not playing their best cricket.  It happens time and time again when associate nations (a la Afghanistan against Sri Lanka) give the better teams an almighty scare before eventually losing composure and confidence or letting nerves get the better of them.  It has happened to Ireland in the past too, but last night they were able to get one over UAE in similar circumstances; displaying the winning mentality of a top 8 side that allowed them to scrape home against an excellent UAE effort.

UAE capitalised on a solid start to post 278 from their 50 overs and set Ireland a tricky chase.  The innings featured their first World Cup hundred to batsman Shaiman Anwar, and their first hundred run partnership in World Cup cricket too, between Anwar and Amjad Javed.  They were helped by some ordinary death bowling (theme of the tournament), and some strange tactics from Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien.

Ireland managed the tricky chase relatively comfortably despite a clump of wickets at the beginning and the end of the innings.  The key to Ireland overhauling the 278 was the partnership between Gary Wilson and Kevin O’Brien.  The pair put together 72 in no time, to guide Ireland from a position of uncertainty at 171/5 to a position of dominance that was never relinquished.  The tense scenes were tailor-made for the hard hitting O’Brien, but not so for the UAE fielders who went down like cramping flies (with cramp) and put down catches with the same regularity.

Ultimately, Ireland did the things the great teams do.  Win, when perhaps they shouldn’t.

Ireland 279 for 8 (Wilson 80, K O’Brien 50, Javed 3-60) beat UAE 278 for 9 (Anwar 106) by 2 wickets

 

Cricket World Cup: Day 11 Recap

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Chris Gayle survived a close LBW call first ball and then went on a six hitting rampage; breaking numerous records on the way to a massive 215 that set his side up for a big win against Zimbabwe in Canberra in Day 11 of the Cricket World Cup.

Read more about Gayle (and the game) below:

Day 11 Results

West Indies v Zimbabwe

A wicket second ball of the innings for the Zimbabweans did not give any indication to the brutality that was to follow.  From the joy of Dwayne Smith’s opening wicket (which was literally celebrated with dancing), the game quickly went pear shaped for the African side as Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels combined in world record partnership of 372.  Former South African quick turned commentator Shaun Pollock put it best when he pointed out that the game got to the stage where “the fielders were becoming the spectators, and the spectators were becoming the fielders”.

Gayle hit 16 sixes on his way to becoming the first Cricket World Cup double centurion, and in the process became the first batsman to score a T20 100, an ODI 200, and a Test 300.  His record breaking blitzkrieg was even more remarkable given the pressure place on him by the public and the president of the WICB who had earlier given Gayle an underhanded slap via Twitter.

This was Gayle’s first ODI hundred since 2013, and despite being predicted by us,  still shocked plenty in the manner it was achieved.  Gayle set the record for number of 6’s in an ODI innings and broke the record for fastest ODI double hundred.  Mention should go to Marlon Samuels too.  He grafted (in comparison to Gayle) an unbeaten 133 to share in the fireworks from the best seat in the house.  Samuels was slower in comparison; a point that remained largely irrelevant on account of the unlikeliness of Zimbabwe chasing 373.

Zimbabwe did play well however.  Sean Willians and Criag Ervine compiled accomplished half centuries, but the chase lacked a big hundred to be able to compete.  They finished well short on 289, however in each of their games thus far they have managed to cross 270 which indicates their ability with the willow.  Jerome Taylor picked up 3 wickets to add to his 6 previous tournament records to be the best West Indies bowler.

West Indies back on course then.  Chris Gayle back in form.  Every team in the competition now hoping to avoid them in the quarter-finals.

West Indies 372 for 2 (Gayle 215, Samuels 133*) beat Zimbabwe 289 (Williams 76, Ervine 52, Taylor 3-38) by 73 runs

Cricket World Cup: Day 10 Recap

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England finally got out of the World Cup dungeon but plenty of cobwebs remain after a comfortable win over Scotland in Christchurch on Day 10.  Facing the embarrassing indignity of bowing out before the knockout round after two opening defeats (including a remarkably one sided one to New Zealand on Friday), England just about managed to turn their campaign around thanks to Moeen Ali’s powerful hundred.  England are now all but assured a quarter-final spot if they can get passed Afghanistan and Bangladesh.  Here’s what transpired:

Day 10 Results

England v Scotland

The overcast Hagely Oval conditions encouraged Scotland to bowl first, but they were soon made to regret that decision as England’s openers Ian Bell and Ali piled on a rapid partnership of 172.  The partnership was completely dominated by Ali, who had brought up his second one day hundred just one ball after Bell had fifty to his name.  Ali’s leg side dominant masterclass outlined just how free his mind is compared to those of his colleagues.  He played with confidence, belief and a lack of fear that resulted in quick scoring domination of the opposition attack.  The difference in approach was on display a short time later, after Bell and Ali had both been removed.  Root, Ballance, Morgan and Taylor all struggled for momentum in the powerplay – presumably, fear of being subject to media scrutiny again getting in the way of their natural games (as did the cobwebs).  England did manage to get to 300, Jos Buttler, who should have been promoted once Bell was out, was crucial in helping them get there.

The bowlers did what they needed to.  They didn’t bowl particularly well, but Scotland’s batting efforts have been the most disappointing of the associate nations in this World Cup so far given their strong warm up form. Scotland were all out for 184.  The wickets were share amongst all of the bowlers, with Moeen Ali showing off his all round prowess with a useful two wickets to complete his man of the match display.

Steven Finn’s display will probably ease some concerns over his form.  His three wickets will help block the memories of the two overs he bowled to Brendon McCullum (0-49 if you need reminding).

England 303 for 8 (Moeen 128, Bell 54, Davey 4-68) beat Scotland 184 (Coetzer 71, Finn 3-26, Moeen 2-47) by 119 runs

Cricket World Cup: Weekend Recap

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A bumper weekend of quality cricket has seen a number of teams rip up the form book and reemerge as genuine World Cup threats.  India and the West Indies both scored unexpected wins to again confuse punters as to who will make up the crucial semi-final spots of the lucrative tournament.

Although Cyclone Marcia prevented the favourites Australia from playing, New Zealand and Melbourne stayed dry to allow some cricket.  Check out the weekend results below:

Day 8 Results

1. West Indies v Pakistan

The enigma that is West Indies cricket got the better the woefulness that is Pakistan cricket in a one-sided encounter in Christchurch.  Fans wanting a more interesting World Cup will hope that the win will prompt a change in fortune for the men from the Caribbean, whereas fans supporting Pakistan will be drastically worried.  The West Indies posted 300 batting first for the second game in succession.  Handy contributions from most of their men precluded a dazzling Andre Russell finish who slammed 42 from just 13 balls.  Earlier, Dinesh Ramdin and Lendl Simmons both scored fifties in a crucial middle over partnership that solidified a precious position of 152/3, which could have initiated a wobble.

A middle order wobble may not have mattered anyway as Pakistan crumbled to just 160 in reply.  Jerome Taylor’s fast start reduced Pakistan to a remarkable 1/4.  Just to be clear, that is, 4 wickets down for a solitary run.  There was no way back.  Pakistan did get to 160 – Umar Akmal scored an overdue half centre as did Maqsood, but there was never a contest.  Andre Russell also picked up three wickets to take man of the match honours.

The West Indies will be satisfied with their day’s work but await anxiously news on Darren Bravo’s injured hamstring.

West Indies 310 for 6 (Ramdin 51, Simmons 50, Russell 42) beat Pakistan 160 (Akmal 59, Maqsood 50, Taylor 3-15, Russell 3-33) by 150 runs

2. Australia v Bangladesh

Day 9 Results

1. Afghanistan v Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka overcame another minnow led scare in the Cricket World Cup on Sunday.  Not for the first time, an associate nation looked to be getting the better of test playing nation before class, luck and composure got the Sri Lankans (in this case) home.

Afghanistan were at one stage 128/2 and looking good for a handsome first innings total.  But before they could build any real momentum, Matthews, Malinga and Lakmal removed their key men before they could make the big scores that win games.  Mohammad Stanikzai was Afghanistan’s best with a well made 54, but his wicket was the catalyst of the slide.

Sri Lanka made very hard work of the gettable total.  At 18/3, with Dilshan, Thirimanne and Sangakkara all back in the pavilion, an upset looked possible.  It looked likely even when Karunaratne also fell, in a wicket that had the Afghan’s doing cartwheels (literally).  The fairytale wasn’t forthcoming mind you.  The guile of Mahlea Jayawardene and the power of Thisara Perera steering Sri Lanka home to win by 4 wickets.  Jayawardene scored an even hundred, while Perara made a brutal unbeaten 47 to wrap things up with 10 balls to spare.

Sri Lanka 236 for 6 (Jayawardene 100, Perera 47*, Hamid 3-45) beat Afghanistan 232 (Stanikzai 54) by four wickets

2. India v South Africa

Wow! We didn’t see this one coming.  India gave a huge MCG crowd every reason to cheer by knocking over a strong South Africa in emphatic fashion.  Cast aside at the start of the tournament after a disappointing tour down under, the Indians are now emerging as genuine title contenders after a pair of excellent wins.  Led by Shikhar Dhawan, who scored a well-paced 137, full of hooks and pulls, India cruised along to 307.  Virat Kohli contributed too, he scored 46, but Ajinkya Rahane’s 60 ball 79 was the real supporting act gem at the tail the innings.

South Africa struggled; they’ll be talk of the dreaded ‘choke’ term entering their minds / becoming a possibility.  The case never really got going, and surprisingly, none of their big game players Amla, du Plessis or de Villiers have managed to score the expected big runs.  Certainly not on the Dhawan scale.  The scale that put bowlers under pressures and becomes the difference between 200 scores and 300 scores.  Dhawan was the difference, and South Africa need confidence.  (They’ll also monitor an injury to Vernon Philander.)

South Africa have gone out to $5.00 to win the World Cup at Bet365.

India 307 for 7 (Dhawan 137, Rahane 79) beat South Africa 177 (Du Plessis 55, Ashwin 3-41) by 130 runs