You'd think they were out to prove me wrong, but let's get a couple of things straight. Bangladesh are no minnows, and Ireland showed in their first outing that they were not going to be disgraced.
In truth, today's results were not surprising to anyone who watched the cricket on display. Bangladesh wholly outplayed India in every department. Some of the batting may well have been a little agricultural, but that was a step up from what the Indians showed. Mashrafe Mortaza was again brilliant with the new ball, and the tone was set at that point.
Also telling was the fact that the three half-century makers for Bangladesh were aged 17 (Tamim Iqbal), 18 (Mushfiqur Rahim) and 19 (Saqibul Hasan) respectively. I say this not to draw attention to their batting performance, but to politely wonder whether the fact that India's batting depends on three 34-year olds also is a factor in their pathetic fielding. After the display in the field today, it is possibly only Bermuda who are a weaker or less athletic side than the Indians. What's more, one side was out there playing to win, and the other was just waiting for their opponents to lose. No prizes for guessing which was which.
India now have a lot of work to do to get through to the Super 8s. Bangladesh will beat Bermuda and get to 4 points. India therefore not only need to win their remaining games, but will need to do so with a superior net run rate, unless Bangladesh can topple the Lankans as well. Don't bet the house on it, but watch out for some attempts at explosive batting against Bermuda. Bangladesh play Bermuda to round out the group, so they have the advantage.
Of course, Pakistan would give anything to be in that position right now. It will be a long flight home for Inzamam and his boys, but despite the best efforts of Umpire Jerling, they were soundly and deservedly beaten by Ireland. Better yet, it was a true Irishman who led the way with a composed innings of 72. The Irish could even afford to bowl 23 wides, as their fielding efforts more than compensated.
The best part of this, of course, is what happens to those who had tickets to the India-Pakistan Super 8 game. I'm not even entirely sure, other than I expect to see a lot for sale on eBay tomorrow morning. The obvious conclusion is that they will now see Ireland take on Bangladesh, but as the Super 8 schedule is allegedly based on seeding, it should technically result in them seeing Bangladesh vs. West Indies. But we can't have that, as that would mess with the expected West Indian schedule as well. I wonder what the organisers will do.
Showing posts with label pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pakistan. Show all posts
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
How about some real cricket?
It's not been the best of starts to the World Cup. A thoroughly uninspiring opening ceremony has been followed by a lot of mediocre cricket, watched in the stadiums by crowds smaller than those that gather in the rain to watch traditional bowling in Cork.
We've seen pretty much what I, and most others, expected. The minnows were able to maintain a modicum of respect in the field, clearly helped by the fact that none of the pitches have allowed for free strokeplay thus far. When they have batted, however, the true gulf in class has been clearly illustrated. Perhaps the only surprise in this respect was that Pakistan played only marginally better than the minnows, largely thanks to a typically pugnacious knock by Shoaib Malik down the order.
The West Indies and Pakistan were possibly playing off for 8th place, and as it turned out, the Pakistanis grasped their chance to finish last amongst the 'big' countries with both hands. Of course, it's hard to forget that in 1992, Pakistan opened their tournament by being hammered by 10 wickets. Against the West Indies. Ominous or irrelevant? You decide.
Australia hammered Scotland without breaking a sweat, the only point of interest in that game perhaps being that Shaun Tait was simply too fast for the Scots at times. Ricky Ponting's century was predictable the moment he was dropped, and his team really just picked up where they left off 4 years ago.
Kenya finished off Canada quite clinically, but I don't think that game told us a thing. Seeing the Canadian opening bowler, Umar Bhatti, struggle to reach 70mph told us plenty about the gulf in class that the associate nations have little hope of overcoming in the Caribbean.
The Sri Lankans didn't even have to switch on against Bermuda, for whom Dwayne Leverock failed to impress, thus removing any hope of spectator interest in the contest. As I suspected, Lasith Malinga's showed that his touch of pace may just prove a handful on these sluggish pitches, although I am not yet convinced by Ranjit Fernando's assertion that the Lankans have the best bowling attack in the tournament.
Thank the heavens then, for the last over of the Zimbabwe vs. Ireland game today - which frankly was the only part of the contest you really needed to watch. A tie was perhaps a fitting result, simply because neither side apparently had quite enough to win it, and yet neither deserved to lose. Martin Williamson at CricInfo has called this "one of the greatest World Cup games ever," and one can only assume that this is his first World Cup if that is truly the opinion he holds. It says much about the modern spectator and journalist that, in all sports to be fair, we apparently judge the greatness of a contest by the result and score, rather than the performance on display.
At the end of it all, the conclusion is simple - what we have here is the same format as the 1992 World Cup, except this time there is a 4 group exhibition tournament preceding it, in which we will be reminded how lucky we are that the cricket beamed to our TV sets is usually played between two major cricketing nations.
I admire the desire to provide the associate member countries with exposure and learning - unfortunately the signature tournament of the cricketing world is just not the right place for it. Not on this scale.
We've seen pretty much what I, and most others, expected. The minnows were able to maintain a modicum of respect in the field, clearly helped by the fact that none of the pitches have allowed for free strokeplay thus far. When they have batted, however, the true gulf in class has been clearly illustrated. Perhaps the only surprise in this respect was that Pakistan played only marginally better than the minnows, largely thanks to a typically pugnacious knock by Shoaib Malik down the order.
The West Indies and Pakistan were possibly playing off for 8th place, and as it turned out, the Pakistanis grasped their chance to finish last amongst the 'big' countries with both hands. Of course, it's hard to forget that in 1992, Pakistan opened their tournament by being hammered by 10 wickets. Against the West Indies. Ominous or irrelevant? You decide.
Australia hammered Scotland without breaking a sweat, the only point of interest in that game perhaps being that Shaun Tait was simply too fast for the Scots at times. Ricky Ponting's century was predictable the moment he was dropped, and his team really just picked up where they left off 4 years ago.
Kenya finished off Canada quite clinically, but I don't think that game told us a thing. Seeing the Canadian opening bowler, Umar Bhatti, struggle to reach 70mph told us plenty about the gulf in class that the associate nations have little hope of overcoming in the Caribbean.
The Sri Lankans didn't even have to switch on against Bermuda, for whom Dwayne Leverock failed to impress, thus removing any hope of spectator interest in the contest. As I suspected, Lasith Malinga's showed that his touch of pace may just prove a handful on these sluggish pitches, although I am not yet convinced by Ranjit Fernando's assertion that the Lankans have the best bowling attack in the tournament.
Thank the heavens then, for the last over of the Zimbabwe vs. Ireland game today - which frankly was the only part of the contest you really needed to watch. A tie was perhaps a fitting result, simply because neither side apparently had quite enough to win it, and yet neither deserved to lose. Martin Williamson at CricInfo has called this "one of the greatest World Cup games ever," and one can only assume that this is his first World Cup if that is truly the opinion he holds. It says much about the modern spectator and journalist that, in all sports to be fair, we apparently judge the greatness of a contest by the result and score, rather than the performance on display.
At the end of it all, the conclusion is simple - what we have here is the same format as the 1992 World Cup, except this time there is a 4 group exhibition tournament preceding it, in which we will be reminded how lucky we are that the cricket beamed to our TV sets is usually played between two major cricketing nations.
I admire the desire to provide the associate member countries with exposure and learning - unfortunately the signature tournament of the cricketing world is just not the right place for it. Not on this scale.
Monday, March 12, 2007
World Cup Preview - Group D
West Indies
- Opinion: As someone who grew up in an era of West Indian dominance, it is simply painful to watch them on the field these days. The inclusion of Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons (yes, he's related to Phil, he's a nephew) smack of a desperate gamble, rather than calculated prescience. Like all the big name teams, they'll make it to the Super 8s, but that is likely to be by default than by dint of performance.
- Ones to Watch: I'm not a fan of Lara, but you can never discount the man, and he's likely to make his last World Cup a big one. The ones who will make the difference though, are probably Ramnaresh Sarwan, who will hopefully do full justice to his talent at last, and Dwayne Bravo, who has an uncanny ability to pick up key wickets when it counts with the ball. If Gayle and Samuels fire as well, things might start to look up.
- Prediction: The hosts never win, and that won't be changing this time. If it does, I'll do a Steve the Bajan (of rec.sport.cricket fame from many years ago) and eat my hat. The hosts could in fact finish last in the Super 8 if they don't improve very very quickly.
- Opinion: Now that they've been banned from speaking English, the tournament has been robbed of some of it's most reliable entertainment. I'm not sure that winning this matters to them in the way it mattered to Imran in 1992. That said, this is a team that you should never take your eyes off - they could entertain us by bowling the West Indians out for 50, or by being bowled out for 75 by Canada. Pay attention.
- Ones to Watch: I think the late inclusion, Azhar Mahmood, could be a fortuitous selection for Inzy and his merry men. Here's a player with talent, who will be out to prove that he should have been part of this teams core, rather than a journeyman on the county circuit. If he struts his stuff with bat and ball, he will be fun to watch, and could make a mockery of my prediction.
- Prediction: They will walk away with Group D, and then wonder what went wrong after that when they come up against some teams that are actually in the mix.
- Opinion: They have a few players with first class experience in their squad, including the captain, who hails from Australia, but fundamentally they just seem to be out of their depth. Their big game is of course against Zimbabwe, and they are a chance to claim a test-nation scalp there. I suppose though, that this is the group that any minnow would have wanted to be in - WI, Pak and Zim are the three countries who are surely the most likely to throw (no match-fixing implication implied) it away against a lesser opponent.
- Ones to Watch: Eoin Morgan is just 20, and is already hailed as a future England batsman, and the next Ed Joyce. Fellow lefty Will Porterfield appears to be a raging talent as well, and he has a great chance to show that he can lift it up a level against the big boys. Completing the southpaw triumverate is South African Andre Botha, who had a great run out against the boks recently, and will be looking to carry that form through.
- Prediction: I'll go out on a limb, purely to be different, and say that Ireland will upset Zimbabwe and sneak 3rd place in the group.
- Opinion: I've paid very little attention to Zimbabwe cricket in recent years, but I'm pretty certain that without even the plucky Taitenda Taibu to keep them going, they are going to struggle to make any sort of impression on this tournament. The bowling and fielding are athletic and energetic, but I just don't see where the runs are going to come from. They are here for the experience, and will be hoping their young side return in 2011 as a force to be reckoned with.
- Ones to Watch: I really have no idea. I'll be watching to see if Matsikinyeri finally shows some glimpses of his underlying talent, but other than that, I'm just not excited.
- Prediction: Last place in the group after a narrow loss to Ireland.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)