Payback Series: Game 3 - Thoughts

The Payback Series moved on to Mohali after a crushing win in Delhi. And though the margin was much closer, the end result was still the same. here are the thoughts  for the day.

• Team selections. I am bored of saying it. Bell should be playing. Given Kieswetter's Kamran Akmalese  performance today behind the stumps, it would be wise to give the gloves to Bairstow and bring Bell in as the opener.
• Team wins toss. Bats first. Bats well. Posts a big total. Total gets chased down easily due to some unimaginative bowling and shoddy fielding. This was the basic template for India's ODI losses in England (except for the toss part). Today it was just the other way round.
• The Indian bowling lineup with Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar & Virat Kohli looks straight out of the Kiwi dibbly-dobbly-wibbly-wobbly template
• The game was close. But somehow the result wasn't ever in doubt. Maybe its the T20 effect. Any total seems chaseable with 2 decent batsman in the crease.
• The fist pump by Ravindra Jadeja after edging a boundary as a gesture must be unparalleled.
• Dhoni's lost luck seems to have been found (:D) as he provides the finishing touch to an almost perfect team chase. 
• Rahane & Trott missed out on well deserved 100s, as Mr. Gavaskar would have said. maybe it was this obsession with centuries that made Sunil Gavaskar one of the greatest run accumulators of all time.

The series has been won. But the Payback is not done yet. 

World Cup Quarter-final Predictions

Its Prediction Time

The quarter-final line-up has been finally settled. The matches in the league did not exactly fit into any pattern. But they did show that the unpredictable can happen in a matter of overs. New Zealand's 92 run blast in 4 overs against Pakistan, India's 29/9 collapse against South Africa or West Indies fading away against England. All showed that games can turn around in a matter of few balls. There are enough players who can take the game away from any opposition at any time. Someone like Zaheer Khan can turn it in just one magical ball (Andrew Strauss & Devon Smith will certainly vouch for this). All this just shows that predicting the winners on a given day isn't an easy task. So here are my predictions for the 4 Quarter-Finals.

QF1 - Pakistan vs West Indies

Predicting a Pakistan game is like predicting the unpredictable. On the plus side, they have a well rounded bowling attack with all kinds of bowlers available to them and a deep batting lineup with Razzaq coming in at No. 8. On the minus, they have Kamran Akmal behind the stumps (enough said). Add general pathetic fielding and a top order which does not provide any confidence. Against them are the West Indies, who have collapsed from eminently winnable positions against England & India. Roach and Gayle can change the game on their own though.

Prediction - Pakistan should win. (or Kamran Akmal drops a catch of Gayle who the unleashes mayhem,  then any result can happen)

QF2 - India vs Australia

Australia are the enemy No. 1 in the eyes of the Indian cricket fan. They have a real FAST bowling attack and Shane Watson. Apart from that they have Ponting's tantrums and a hopeless spin attack. India on the other hand have a much vaunted batting lineup, which tends to collapse after the 40th over, and Zaheer Khan.  India have done every thing they could to make sure that they are not considered as favorites by anyone. But they are still the bookies favored ones to win the Cup. 

Prediction - India to win. (I am an Indian, what else would I say?)

QF3 - New Zealand vs South Africa

Seemingly the easiest of the lot to predict. South Africa to stroll to a win. They have better batsman, better fast bowlers, and surprisingly even better spinners than New Zealand. But this is a knock out stage and they have a tendency to, umm... choke (:P) (On the other hand they might have taken care of that choke against England). And if something like 92 runs in 4 overs happens, then who knows.

Prediction - South Africa

QF4 - Sri Lanka vs England

Sri Lanka playing in Sri Lanka. They should win.  But they are up against England who have proved to be the real jokers of the tournament. Had 6 close games when quite a few others barely had 1. The teams they lost to did not qualify for the knock-out while having an unbeaten record against those which did. And they have provided 6 entertaining games on the trot. 

Prediction - Sri Lanka (though want England to win for the sheer entertainment they have provided)

Disclaimer: I am no octopus, just a mere mortal human being. So I could be wrong :)

World Cup Thoughts - March 14th

4 consecutive one-sided matches in a row. Someone somewhere has really goofed up with the scheduling. Here are some thoughts after that.

• Group A situation is clear. The minnows (Kenya, Canada & Zimbabwe) are out. The Big boys are through to the quarters. Only relative positioning to be decided. But given the murky situation in Group B, its still pure luck whom they draw in the Quarters.
• In Group B, Netherlands are out of contention, while all the other 6 are in line for a quarter final place as well as losing out on a berth. Almost every game will have a bearing. And England are the first ones to face a Do or Die situation against the West Indies. The permutations and combinations are covered pretty well here)
• Nothing much to write on about the cricketing action which went on.
• Collins Obuya's missed century reminded me of the century missed by Kennedy Otieno against the Aussies in the 1996 World Cup.
• Zimbabwe have a good fielding side, a good wicketkeeper batsman, a handy group of spinners. Batting and pace bowling still dodgy though.

Now to round off with a Kamran Akmal joke (his keeping was decent today though) 

A for Akmal, B for Ball, Ca for Catch, D for Drop (via a comment on cricinfo)

P.S. In other news, there is Jharkhand Premier League going on and it is being telecast live on Ten Cricket (Is the Indian viewers' appetite for cricket insatiable?)

World Cup Thoughts - March 9th

It was an India match day, so a post has to come. Missed most of the game due to being at work. Only saw the end bits. Here are the thoughts for the day.

• First, Piyush Chawla - From the reactions on the internet, he is fast replacing Ravindra Jadeja as the most abused Indian cricketer.
• It seems to be a new strategy. Zaheer opens the innings, the other pacer opens from the other and after one over Yusuf starts over. Not a bad move given that except Praveen Kumar (and he is not playing), the other Indian pacers seem to prefer bowling with the older ball.
• 4 in 4 for Sehwag. 4th innings in the World Cup and he starts with a boundary of the first ball. Thats a nice little habit to have. Had read somewhere that Sir Jack Hobbs (the greatest run accumulator in 1st Class cricket) liked to take a single off the first ball he faced. So Sehwag should be doing well.
• Yuvraj Singh had another good day in the office. But the rest of the team seemed to be taking it easy. Still the Seven Samurai managed to get the job done in the end.
• I thought India had made it to the Quarters by now. But it seems I was wrong. There is an odd chance that we have not. If WI beat Eng, Eng beat Ban, WI beat Ind, Ire beat WI, SA beat Ind, Ire beat SA, SA beat Ban & Ire beat Neth, Ind could still miss out. (Source - @espncricinfo)
• And to end with some new titles for Kamran Akmal - Here is what he has been described as by the master of Awesome cricket writing Andy Zaltzman -  the Maharajah of Missed Chances, the Don Corleone of Dropped Catches, the Earl of Err, the Pharaoh of Fumble, Lance Corporal Granite Hands

World Cup Thoughts - March 8th

Wasn't really sure of posting a blog today. But there was one hell of an innings by Luteru Ross Poutua Lote Taylor which forced me to.

• Apparently Kenya & Canada played a World Cup match yesterday. Who won? And it was a waste of electricity playing the game under lights.
• New Zealand - Pakistan was interesting for a total of 13 overs. The last 6 from the Kiwi innings and the first 7 of Pakistan's. A picture of the Kiwi Manhattan tells all the story. (Picture from Cricinfo)

• How does Kamran Akmal get to keep wickets for a Test playing country? Today was even lower than his normally pathetic levels of keeping. The Pakistanis must be really wishing that ICC had prevented him from being selected in the squad.
• Ross Taylor was given a birthday gift by Kamran Akmal on 0. A catch let go for 4, and then another one dropped two balls later. Taylor went on to hammer the bowlers in the end. 
• I don't think I have seen a faster team 100 than those scored at the end of the New Zealand innings.
• Conspiracy theorists might like to believe this match to be fixed. But to me this was just a case of Pakistan being Pakistan, at their inconsistent best. And all of a sudden, they are not looking the favorites anymore.
• New Zealand, I had almost written off. But the way that they demolished Zimbabwe and now beaten Pakistan, it must have done them a world of good. Vettori's injury would be a concern though.
• Kenya have become the first team to be officially out of running for the cup. Now the World Cup 2011 is a 13 horse race.
• In other news, its become more and more difficult keeping track of the injured list. Broad & Pietersen are also out of the World Cup for now (some of the injured have come back, so can't say that they will not return)

India takes on the Dutch tomorrow. Should be an easy win for us. But funny things have been happening here.