Preview to the Semi Finals of the Champions Trophy

Austalia vs New Zealand and West Indies vs South Africa

The Group Stage of the Champions Trophy is over, and we have witnessed a very interesting competition so far. It has been a mixture of one-sided games, nail-biters, disappointments and successes. This has been mainly due to the unpredictable and non-traditional Indian pitches that have been laid out. Some have had uneven bounce, a couple had good pace (that bowlers like Ntini utilized to the maximum) and the last pitch was really good for batting, though India didn't make it seem to be.

Biggest disappointment - No Asian side in the Semis

What went wrong for the three Asian sides? So many thought that Sri Lanka were one of the hot favorites for the title, but like i said in a previous post, I thought that there was just too much praise on them. They had won 11 games before their first loss to Pakistan, but they were all against relatively weaker teams, and I knew that the real test would come when they meet a stronger nation. Plus, even though some critics said that they had a very balanced side, I would disagree on that too, because they had 4 fast bowlers which I thought was too much and unnecessary. Dilhara Fernando was a big disappointment and didn't bowl well at all during the tournament and they should have had an extra batsman in the line-up against South Africa instead. Rather, I would like to see an all rounder instead, and someone who is really established unlike Mahroof who still needs to prove that he can be a consistent and good allrounder.

The Indian fans will be deeply disappointed. The Indian batsmen haven't shown any good performances, and neither has the bowling. Serious changes have to be made to their overall line-up, and I think that bringing back Zaheer Khan and Kumble into the squad that will be playin South Africa soon is a good step. I feel for Ashish Nehra and Ganguly too, who I think should be given another chance as well.

As for Pakistan, probably they would have done better if Inzamam, Akthar and Asif were there, but nonetheless theor batsmen mainly haven't played well in the last two games esp. They succumbed to the bouncy pitches, and in the end they lived up to their status as one of the most unpredictable teams in the world. They are a good outfit, and on their day they can achieve the impossible, but "that day" has to become a consistency if they want to win the World Cup and so on.

Greatest Success - Unpredictable matches

After the West Indies fell for just 80 in the preliminary stage match against Sri Lanka, who would have thought they would go through to the semis? There have been a few shockers, the main one being India not going through. The unpredictable pitches have helped, and the teams that utilized them the best have gone through. The semis are going to be very interesting and hard fought without a doubt, even though we won't be seeing any Asian team in action.

Critics may say that it will be a final between Australia and South Africa, but the West Indies and New Zealand have taught us all a lesson - don't make any predictions. I would say that a West Indies vs New Zealand final would be more interesting. Anyway, let's hope that we get two amazing semi-finals to watch.

Players to watch out for:

Australia

Damien Martyn has been in good form, and he has kicked this form at the perfect time, because their was alot of criticism building up on him saying that he hasn't been performing. He is a classy batsman, and watching his performance along with the rest of the strong Australian line-up will be worth buying a ticket for.

Glen McGrath bowled beautifully against India with the new ball, and the greatest challenge the Kiwi top order batsmen will have is to see him off first. If they fail, then we it will be very tough for the Kiwis to go through to the next round.

Shane Watson get's my award for the best upcoming cricketer. He seems to be a very good allrounder, and his performances in the next game (or two) will be crucial for him to cement his place in the one-day line up.

South Africa

Ntini and Pollock have been simply amazing, and if they continue in this form, then we might see South Africa clinch the title for a second time.

Mark Boucher has shown that he is a very dependable and important batsman, and his stunning catch to get rid of Malik will stick in the mind for ages to come. If their top order fails again, don't go away, because Boucher will definitely not go away that fast.

New Zealand

Stephen Fleming - great captain, great batsman. He is in good form, and the fate of the Kiwis lies heavily on his shoulders.

Vettori has shown in this tournament that he is a very capable batsman. We are yet to see him trouble batsmen with the ball though, but he still has another chance to show it to us. Or maybe even two.

West Indies

The top order has shown us over the years that they can tear apart any attack. Watch out for Chris Gayle, Bravo Chanderpaul, Morton, Brian Lara and last but not least - Sarwan. All are in good form, and if all click - don't move your eyes away from the game!

And don't forget Taylor. There has been alot of praise for him. He is yet to become as lethal as Ambrose, Walsh, Marshall etc. But there is one thing he has that the rest don't - a one day hat-trick.

The tournament has been entertaining so far. It's going to be a very interesting finale.

Two unofficial quarter finals coming up...

New Zealand and the West Indies have recorded wins in their latest games and have therefore booked their places in the semis. This has left two of the remaining Group-stage games: South Africa vs Pakistan and India vs Australia as virtual quarter finals, since all of them have recorded a win each and these two games will be their final in the Group stage of this tournament.

All of the above mentioned teams have had their hands on the Trophy except Pakistan and Australia - two of the more dominant teams in One day cricket in recent times. The game between India and Australia will be more interesting because it involves a battle between the World Champions and the hosts., and great expectations are on them. The outcome of this battle may see the Aussies yet again lose their chance to win a Champions trophy tournament, or it may leave the Indian fans really, deeply dissatisfied and distraught - something that may not bring about desirable consequences. This match was tipped to be one that will attract most attention, and probably the most entertaining and nerve wrecking, and with the state these two teams are in now, the wait is getting more and more impatient.

The other game should not be forgotten meanwhile. Pakistan would want to prove a point that they can perform even with all the problems that have surrounded them in recent times, and South Africa will want to prove many other points - mainly that they are indeed a top contender for the title, as Greame Smith mentioned before the tournament started. Both teams are very strong on paper, have a good seam attack, and are unpredictable as well. It's a 50-50 chance for both teams I would say, and the same can be said for the other 'quarter final'.

It's going to be two interesting matches. I hope that they don't turn out to be one-sided games.

Coming back to the two teams who have already qualified for the next round, the West Indies and New Zealand have done very well in their first round of games, with the West Indies yet to play one more game. With the way England have been playing, it may seem like the West Indies will be the only team to win all their games in the Group stage. Their performance has been very commendable, esp after the thumping against the Sri Lankans. Their middle order hasn't been brittle in the last two games and their seam attack, maybe not as lethal as past West Indian attacks, but they have delivered the goods when required. Taylor's feat against Australia will be remembered for a long, long time. New Zealand on the other hand, have indeed shown us that they are the most underrated team and are capable of walking out with the title for the second time.

Buckle up. Two good matches are on the way. And there is little doubt that the next few will be as good as well.

England's One day nightmare continues.

ICC Champions Trophy 2006 England vs Australia

I really don't know what's happening to England. They are really underporming in the One day scene esp lately. They have some big names like Flintoff, Pieterson, Harmison, but none of them are performing. Less fancied players like Dalrymple and Anderson are the ones who have impressed in the first two games, with Collingwood always coming out on top. This is something of serious concern, and before you know it, they may go through what the West Indies went through recently and maybe even become the minnows of modern cricket

This match was said to be the unofficial prelude to the Ashes. Last year, England beat the Aussies in the Natwest challenge in their first game together and then tied the Final with them. The year before that they beat the Aussies in their Champions Trophy clash. If the past wants to repeat itself, then it looks like England are up for one hell of a beating. But then again, they will be playin in different conditions, in a totally different format of the game. Cricket is a funny game, but i still wouldn't place a cent on England's chances, because the Aussies are going to be fired up to get the earn back again, and they're going to be real tough to beat on their own soil. England's latest form hasn't helped them at all too. Even in the test matches, they only had one series victory with Pakistan, at home.

Australia meanwhile, need to beat India compreensively to get through to the next round. It also depends on how the Windies and the Indians do in their next matches. It is going to be interesting.

My Man of the Match
Well played Martyn. After a rather lean run, filled with criticism, he came up with a great performance. That too on his birthday - couldn't find a better time.
But once again, i thought that the Award should have gone to someone else. The target was an easy one, and that was possible due to the good bowling performance by the Aussies. Shane Watson came up with awesome bowling figures of 3 for 17. To me, he should have been the Man of the Match.
I must congratulate Martyn though. Guys, he is back!

My final Say:
England have to really improve themselves, somehow, or the earn is going down under.

Sniffing glue

ICC Champions Trophy 2006
Sri Lanka vs New Zealand

A convincing win for Sri Lanka, and yet another one-sided game. New Zealand didn't play well at all, and i think it was because they didn't read the pitch at all. They played it as if it was the same pitch that they played when they beat the South Africans, and they dissappointed everyone who thought that this was going to be a tough game esp after Sri Lanka were looking for a win following their loss to Pakistan.

I personally think that nothing should have been done to the pitch by applying the PVA glue to stick the cracks together:

1. Previous teams would be complaining that nothing was done to the pitch when they played on it (notably Graeme Smith, who came up with alot of criticism).
2. If this pitch was going to get special treatment in order to make it a better batting surface, then why not make all the pitches in the world as such? True that there was a fear that the cracks would have widened even more, but something else should have been done instead of creating an "artificial surface", like a change of venue. If they were planning to do that for the final, why not for this game?

In the end, New Zealand didn't make use of the pitch at all to put up a challenging total. The only bright sparks in the match were Vettori's innings, and Patels bowling that troubled the Lankan batsmen for a while.

I mentioned in my previous column that Lanka needed an extra batsman and had to drop Dilhara. That's what they did, but there are still a few areas they need to improve on:

1. Extras. Too many of them today, even without Dilhara. This is an area that seriously needs to be worked on. Surprising to see Vaas bowl most of the extras today.
2. A commentator at the match mentioned that Lanka never really accelerate during the latter part of their innings after their openers provide a rapid start. This happened today when they took ages to reach the target in the end, and also in the Pakistan game, when they managed just over 250 after it seemed like they were going to make 3o0 comfortably. The same scenario was seen against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, when higher scores were expected from them.
3. Not only the batting failed to provide the appropriate finishing touches, the bowling did too. The last wicket partnership survived 11 long overs today, and even in the game against Bangladesh only 9 wickets fell.

Nonetheless, Lanka came up with a very professional approach to win the game and now anyone from Group B has a chance to go through to the next round. This tournament is getting more and more interesting, but I hope to see less one-sided matches as well.

My final say:

Today's game probably showed that it doesn't help creating an "artificial pitch". Plus it isn't fair on all teams taking part. Let's see whether they continue to use this new approach or not. And whether we will see more boring one sided games in this tournament.

It was also nice to see Murali back in his wicket-taking ways. The was he bamboozled the batsmen, esp Oram, was really refreshing and entertaining. I hope he continues this awesome form. The spin wizard is back!

The most unpredictable team, and Aussie's Champions trophy blues....

ICC Champions Trophy 2006
Australia vs West Indies

When I came back home from University, I logged into www.cricinfo.com, expecting the match between Australia and the West Indies to be already over, with Australia winning by a large margin. But it wasn't to be. Jerome Taylor had just bowled Mike Hussey, and I was surprised that the match was going to be this close.

Two more wickets for Taylor followed in consecutive balls, and it all seemed like a dream. Once again Australia lost a game in the Champions Trophy, and the West Indies, out of all teams, were the winners. A fantastic win, and the Champions Trophy is getting more and more interesting with thrilling games and unexpected victories.

Turning point:
Hussey's wicket. That was a rash shot he played, but Taylor bowled it in the right place and that started the hat-trick. Hussey is known to be a world-class finisher. Getting him out meant that the game was more in favor for the West Indians.

My Man of the Match:
I really thought that Taylor should have walked away with the Man of the Match award, for his hat-trick really stole the game away from the Australians. They had lost wickets regularly at the start, but the partnership between Gilchrist and Clarke seemed to put Australia back on track. Then it looked like Australia were going to go home comfortably, with Hussey to come in soon. But then, the hat-trick changed it all. True that Morton's innings was priceless, and his partnership with Lara ensured that a respectable total was put up, but the hat-trick just changed the course of the game in a flash and its a rare feat to achieve as well. Plus, Taylor had also taken Ponting which is one of the most valuable wicket anyone could get in cricket, I would say. Nonetheless, hats off to Morton, who put up a terrific show.

My final say:
Australia's nightmare in the Champions Trophy continues. Before the tournament, everyone thought that Australia and India were going to go to the Semis without a problem. Now, everyone's chances are equally possible. England are hoping that this is a sign that they can still keep the Ashes, and everyone is becoming more and more impatient to see the game between the Aussies and the Indians.

Plus, this shows that the title of the most unpredictable team goes to the West Indies. One day, they collapse for 80. Another day, on the same ground, they beat the World Champions. You can't get more unpredictable, if not only inconsistent.

Hats off to the Windies. Hope that they continue to surprise more opponents. The tournament has just started.

Sri Lanka have met their match

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
Group B Match - Champions Trophy


I couldn't chose a better time to start off my blog than with the Champions Trophy. Yesterday's game between Sri Lanka and Pakistan was an awesome one, and a game the critics and fans have been finally waiting for, after a series of low-scoring and one-sided affairs.

Personally, I felt that it was always going to be a tough one for Lanka. Even though they have won ten games on the trot before this one, reaping heaps of praise, they were against relatively weaker oppositions: England (having a terrible time in the one day scene), Holland, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and West Indies (very inconsistent). I knew it that once Lanka were going to face a tough team will it be a test of their true potential. After this loss, there are some problems Lanka will have to look at:

1. Why have 4 fast bowlers in the team when the pitches are more suited to spinners? Also I felt that we had too many bowlers, resulting in us only having 6 specialist batsmen. Pakistan had batsmen all the way till number 8. That was what made a huge difference for sure. We needed one more batsman, or an all rounder, preferably one who can bowl spin, like Chandana or Arnold. Mahroof and Vaas are termed as all rounders, but Vaas hasn't really delivered lately in the One day format, and Mahroof had just one good game against the English when he made a 5o on our recent tour there. Thus, i say that we either need one more batsman or all-rounder who can bowl spin. And I would drop Dilhara from the team, because he is just too expensive and really needs to do something about his "no ball" problems.
   
2. Why did we bat first? It is well known that the dew factor was going to be tough on the bowlers during the second innings. True that batting second has been tough on these pitches in earlier games, but I still think that we should have batted second, because it wasn't like we wouldn't have been able to bat well in the second innings, considering that the pitch was like the ones we find in Colombo.
   
3. We didn't bat well at all during the latter half of our innings. The first 5 batsmen all made starts but never went on to make a big score. In earlier games, a batsman always made a hundred to post a decent total on the board. Yesterday wasn't our day with the bat.
   

With all these factors, it must be said that we did very well when we bowled, to apply that much pressure on the Pakistanis. At the end however, the partnership between Shoaib Malik and Razzak made the ultimate difference.

Hats off to Pakistan, who put all the controversies and problems that have surrounded them in the last few weeks behind them successfully. It looks like they are back in action, and if they keep playing like this they will definitely be a tough contender in this tournament, after having started off as underdogs, especially after their two fast bowlers were sent off, in addition to the absence of Inzi.

The Pakistani celebrations in the end said it all. For the Lankans however, we need to re-think on out line-up and bowling options. To me, that's the main glitch we need to repair, because I think that we had finally met our match.

Turning point of the match:
To me, it was the drop catch of Razzak. Had Dilshan taken that, then the tail was coming in and we would have had the match in the bag. I don't know how Dilshan, one of the top fielders in the world, dropped it, but that was definitely one catch that was badly needed.

My Man of the Match:
Razzak played his part, but i thought that Shaoib Malik should have got the award. He took two mid-order wickets, while three of Razzak's were tailenders. And Malik's innings was so composed and he stayed till the end to ensure that Pakistan would go home with a win. True that razzak blasted his way out in the end, but if Malik hadn't stayed there the whole while, Pakistan may have lost the battle. His performance was over-shadowed by Razzak's and I felt that he deserved recognition for it.

My final Say:
Sri Lanka need to win the next two matches to have a chance to go to the next stage. Pakistan needed this win to keep them back on track, but they are very inconsistent, so it will be interesting to see how they fare in the next two games.