Bench strength - did anyone say?

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The No.2 team in ODI cricket was supposed to be so strong that everyone considered them the team in form and expected them to have a strong bench as well. Earlier, everyone (including me) used to think that the average Ranji team (Mumbai or Tamil Nadu) would easily beat a Zimbabwe team in ODI. No longer.

All myths have been broken, thanks to a spirited effort from the Zimbabwe team, determined to prove their mark.

The first match of the Tri-series saw a team that was woeful in running between the wickets, nervous in their stroke-play, tentative in bowling and average overall. Whether the young guns were interested to make their mark is a question. The Indian cap was given to them a bit sooner and hence, one feels that they did not want it so much as the others. Suresh Raina did not have the Power Presence of a MSD and his limited bowling options did not offer him any respite.

Among the bowlers, only Vinay Kumar showed some glimpses of his talent, thanks to his slower ball (that got Coventry). The others are not in the same league as the other also-rans (Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh). Of course, it is not to say that they should not be given a chance - but, quite evidently the debutants did not grab the chances. Rohit Sharma and to an extent, Ravinder Jadeja did well in the batting department while Amit Mishra shone in the bowling.

The Indian team would do well to settle their nerves (if any) for the next match since they are against the much more powerful Lankans in the next match. Of course, there will be no complacency (for they are the underdogs now). There needs to be more determination in the batting and desperation on the field. Bowling will remain the weak link, that can be worked around by electing to chase.

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India leave for another tri-series

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India, led by new captain Suresh Raina, leave for another tri-series (for a change, it is a ODI tournament & of course, with a new-look side). This is a great opportunity for the Indian team to prove that their domestic (including IPL) performances were not a flash in the pan. Raina, of course, has given the right statements about being excited about his new role.

The youngsters in the team are raring to go and prove their wares in the international arena. The new bowlers included in the team are Pankaj Singh, Ashok Dinda and offspinner R Ashwin. Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar are the others who form the pace quartet - both also young guns, who will be making their debut. The captain expects that the seamers will play a leading role in the series - hope to see the prediction coming true. Wicketkeeper Naman Ojha plays the role of reserve, one that the main keeper Dinesh Karthik plays regularly.

Sri Lanka has taken a cue from the Indian team and announced a new-look side. Hence, the tournament itself  takes a B-team look. The expectations from the Indian team are not great but of course, any result other than a tournament win will result in heads rolling. So, it is a good situation for Suresh Raina to go with an open mind.

The fielding can be expected to be better than the recent performances we have seen. The bowling will be a completely inexperienced team while the batsmen have a good sense of international cricket.

Here is wishing the team all the best for the series and hope that there are few young turks (for a long-term perspective) identified from this series.

Why are the Oz targeted?

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First it was Harbhajan calling Symonds a monkey (even though it might be interpreted differently as a different phrase in punjabi)

Now, it is Asif calling Shane Watson a "bloody white" (considering the lack of English language finesse of the Pakistan players, I don't know if he was aware of any other gaali to mouth)

Why is it that the Aussies are always at the receiving end, especially from teams of the sub-continent? Do they not realize that what goes around, comes around.

Of course, one cannot compare the choice of words used by the Oz players vis-a-vis the other teams.

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What is the game-plan of BCCI?

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Today’s article on Rediff was interesting to read - BCCI needs to rethink county ban on players

Piyush Chawla (Sussex), Irfan Pathan (Essex and Yorkshire), S Sreesanth (Warwickshire), Ishant Sharma (Kent and Hampshire), Amit Mishra (Worcestershire) and Virender Sehwag (Northamptonshire) evoked interest from the counties, but were forced to turn down offers.

First, BCCI makes all the Indian players (international or not) play all the matches in the hectic IPL. A player can be rested in IPL only if he is dropped or injured – unwritten rule. I am not even going to talk about the parties here. Once the team is on its way out of the T20 World Cup, it realizes that the team is tired and rests the ‘senior’ players. Among the first-choice players who are either rested or injured are MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Praveen Kumar.

The team that is selected to play for India in Zimbabwe is M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suresh Raina (capt), Virat Kohli (vice-capt), Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Pankaj Singh, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Naman Ojha.

Piyush Chawla will join the squad for the Twenty20s (scheduled on 12^th and 13^th June) – don’t know why when Amit Mishra is available, Piyush has to come down to Zimbabwe only for the T20 matches (an appearance of 2 days for 3 hours each on the match-day).

On the same day, another team is selected, albeit India ‘A’ for England - Cheteshwar Pujara (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (vice-capt/wk), Abhinav Mukund, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Saurabh Tiwary, Iqbal Abdulla, Sudeep Tyagi, Dhaval Kulkarni, Abhimanyu Mithun, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Jaskaran Singh, Bipul Sharma, Jayadev Unadkat.

"We want our players to use their time in training and fitness. That is why we have said no to all our contracted players. "There is lot of pressure on overseas players in county cricket. And the fringe players will not get enough rest," BCCI Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty had told The Indian Express earlier this month.

What pressure (or rest) are you talking about, Mr.Shetty? Of the players who had offers from the county, only Amit Mishra has been selected for the ODI tournament. Piyush Chawla will make a couple of appearances on the tour, if selected. Even from the first-choice players, the strategy of resting MSD, SRT and to an extent Sehwag can be agreed. Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth were two bowlers who made a big difference to the Indian bowling attack thanks to their swing – what better place for them to hone their skills than the swing-helpful pitches of UK? It looks like these players are no longer in the radar of BCCI.

Where are the others going? What will they do till the next series? Do they not need any match practice? Everyone who has been involved in cricket knows that there is nothing more beneficial to cricketers than hard match practice. Will there be a criteria of selection that the BCCI will apply for the next international series (whenever that is going to be arranged)?

How will you ensure that Yuvraj and Zaheer are going to reduce their extra kilos on their frame? How are you going to ensure that Harbhajan will finally spin a cricket ball? Are you taking the advise of your favourite cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar, to send the batsmen to NCA – will we be assured that Gautam Gambhir will be able to continue his batting career on bouncing wickets?

Is it asking for too much, BCCI?

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After IPL and KPL, here comes MPL

Yes, Maharashtra Premier League. Wonder if the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Rohit Sharma will be forced to play in this. What will BCCI's approach to this be? The players are being rested for international cricket in Zimbabwe but will they participate in the Local IPL?

No wonder, Aakash Chopra reacts this way !!!

Maharashtra Premier League...hmmm!!!!less than a minute ago via webAakash Chopra
cricketaakash

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T20 World Cup - England win convincingly

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The creators of the T20 version, England, finally won an ICC title thanks to their bowlers in the first innings and the batsmen in the chase.

Australia did not change their batting order and hence, their in-form batsmen did not have enough time to play more balls. What this meant was that their score was mediocre at the end of 20 overs. Good bowling, fielding and captaincy from England was key in restricting the Oz batsmen.

On the field, England were guided by their T20 specialist Craig Keiswetter in the chase and finished by their best batsmen in all cricket, Kevin Pietersen.

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T20 World Cup Finalists England, Australia at IPL

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As per Cricinfo, the teams for the T20 World Cup final will be from

Australia squad -

MJ Clarke*, DT Christian, BJ Haddin†, RJ Harris, NM Hauritz, DJ Hussey, MEK Hussey, MG Johnson, DP Nannes, TD Paine†, SPD Smith, SW Tait, DA Warner, SR Watson, CL White

England squad -  PD Collingwood*, JM Anderson, RS Bopara, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, C Kieswetter†, MJ Lumb, EJG Morgan, KP Pietersen, A Shahzad, RJ Sidebottom, GP Swann, JC Tredwell, LJ Wright, MH Yardy

Which of these players participated in the IPL?

From the Australian team, it was Harris, Hussey brothers, Nannes, Tait, Warner, Watson and White whereas Collingwood, Bopara, Lumb, Morgan, KP participated in the IPL3.

All these players did not participate in all the matches - the Oz team was playing in NewZealand before they embarked for the 2nd half of the tournament.

The Aussies did fairly well in the tournament, especially Nannes. In fact, Bollinger played better than the bowlers who are participating in the World Cup. Michael Hussey played in few games for CSK but did not play in latter matches of the tournament. David Warner played well in short stints for Delhi while Watson excelled in his few matches for Rajasthan Royals.

The English were busy playing in Bangladesh before their players came over to India. Lumb, in fact, came into prominence after playing for RR. Collingwood did well for Delhi Daredevils while Morgan couldn't get going for RCB before KP made his appearance. Bopara could do little to justify his presence for Kings XI Punjab.

Did they feel the tiredness from IPL? No, as Mr. Gavaskar says so. But, not all the 14-15 players of the squad did play and neither did the ones who played, did in all the matches. It is not fair to compare the two. Of course, the local Indian players would have been a greater draw at the after-match parties rather than the foreigners, don't you agree? The Board and Gavaskar/Shastri will not say anything against the IPL for obvious reasons but no one can deny the fact that IPL was a factor for the failure of the Indian team.

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T20 World Cup - Ashes rivals clash in finals

Australia and England reach the finals in contrasting fashions to ensure a T20 World Cup final that does not have any Asian team for the first time since inception.

Sri Lanka opted to bat first and were caught out on a pitch that favored the English pacers. When the Lankans came on the field, there was no adequate help for their spinners.

Pakistan started well in their innings to launch a huge total on the board. Consistent strikes by the Oz bowlers ensured that the score was not very high but gettable. The Oz team clinched a win in the last over thanks to solid hitting by Michael Hussey. Mr. Cricket ensured that his nerves were with him even though the run-rate was more than 15 in the last 3 overs and 18 in the last over.

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T20 World Cup - Australia crush West Indies

Australia served a warning to their semi-final opponents with a clinical win over the Windies.

T20 World Cup - India crash out

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So, it had to happen. The Indian team, after its clean slate in the Group stage (just like the previous edition), went blank in the Super Eights. Not a game won, even against the so-called minnows (West Indies) in international cricket. How did the Indians win the inaugural version of T20 World Cup then? Million-dollar question. Probably the low expectations helped the Indians then, as the regulars at that time (SRT, Dravid, Ganguly) were rested. Maybe, it is time to do a similar exercise now.

A player like Joginder Sharma (who is nowhere on the horizon) who is nowhere on the horizon bowled the last over of the tournament without nerves and had the presence of mind to capture the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq. Compare this with the last over bowled by an experienced bowler like Ashish Nehra to the Lankans. The burden of expectations are surely playing on the minds of the cricketers. Add to it, the loss of form of players like Yuvraj and Gambhir; the absence of stars like Sehwag and Sachin; the inabilities of Jadeja and Pathan - you have the complete picture.

Of course, the immediate pointers from everyone involved will be the IPL and its related schedule, late nights, travel, etc. Even though, it is partially true, that alone was probably not the critical reason of failure. Everyone will conveniently forget the technique challenge that all the batsmen (with the exception of MS Dhoni) faced throughout the Super 8s. The fact that the next T20 World Cup is in Sri Lanka and ODI World Cup is also in the sub-continent means that this issue will not haunt the Indian think-tank for the next 1-2 years.

MSD and Gary Kirsten have faced this setback after the highs of the Test team performances. They are experienced enough to plan on the next steps required. The Board is planning on a two-test series (yet again) against the Aussies in India - that might be the next international cricket that the full-strength team will play. If the Indians can get some serious practice against the short-balls, it will do a whole world of good. The players can still try for short stints at the English county circuit - whether the Board will approve it is another concern.

Very interesting to read today that the BCCI will do a review on the performance of the T20 squad. There was similar one done after the previous version - what were the action-items at the end of the review is anyone's guess. Similarly, the fact that the 'Seniors' have been rested for the forthcoming tri-series clearly shows the priorities of the BCCI. None of these players (barring Ravindra Jadeja who tried to play with Don Modi) were rested in any of the IPL matches but come international engagements, there is a break imposed on the players. Maybe the BCCI did not get their usual 'cut' from the organisers of this tournament.

Where does India go from here? The team has not played to its potential in the last 3 ICC tournaments (2 T20 World Cups and ICC Champions Trophy) and the next tournament sees a second-string team under a stand-by captain against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. The major worry will be the next set of batsmen who will replace the Fab Four in test matches. Their technique needs to be tested in various conditions and the best way to do it is to test them on the 'A' tours. While it is a good sign to see the re-initiation of the 'A' tour concept, the squad selected is mostly a third-string team. It would have been good if the team selected for the tri-series had gone on the England tour but BCCI does not care for the long-term growth for the Indian team anyway, does it.

The focus now is on how to catch hold of the golden egg-laying IPL, out of the hold of Lalit Modi. Everything else can wait.

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T20 World Cup - England eliminate New Zealand

New Zealand bowed out after their match against England, allowing Pakistan to sneak through.

T20 World Cup - South Africa choke themselves again

South Africa played true to their reputation against Pakistan to get eliminated from the competition.

T20 World Cup - Australia thump the Lankans

Australia recovered from the early fall of wickets to thump the Lankans.

T20 World Cup - India find the Windies too hot to handle

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MS Dhoni has proved so far to be an astute captain. He has always given his team members fair chances to prove themselves. But, very quickly into the game against the Windies, he must have been wondering if the choice to continue with Jadeja was worth it. Another chance was let down by the left-arm spinner who seems to be selected more for his bowling rather than all-round skills (proof was that Harbhajan was sent in earlier while batting). If Jadeja had shown better skills while bowling, it would have brought back the confidence to himself and his captain - but, it was not to be.

The other question on everyone's mind was the reasoning of MSD to go with the spin-oriented attack. If that was the intention, why not go with a specialist like Piyush Chawla? Does it mean that the think-tank has no trust on the backup pace bowler, Vinay Kumar? If so, why is he there in the squad at all?

Of course, many more questions come to one's mind - why is Zaheer Khan's intensity more while playing for Mumbai Indians than for his country? The leading bowler was giving away runs as though he was a newcomer, not like the seasoned bowler he is. Why was Rohit Sharma not given a bowl, especially when he had performed decently in the recent IPL.

West Indies played with more hunger and that sealed the game for the Indians. The batsmen again did not know how to deal with the bouncing ball. This was known at the last edition of the T20 World Cup but nothing has happened so far that has tried to find a remedy to the problem. Given the lesser capabilities of the Windies bowlers, the match became close but not good enough to win.

Of course, the BCCI must be blamed for the Indian batsmen's showing as well. By making them play on pitches without life, the batsmen are in no position to practice the horizontal shots. Without time between the engagements, there is no way they can practice these shots. Yusuf Pathan is struggling with the short ball and I dont think he has any time to work on this, in the near future.

The Aussies have thrown a lifeline to the Indian team by scoring a thumping win over the Sri Lankans. But, in my frank assessment, the Indians do not deserve to qualify for the next round by its showing in the Super 8s. The next match is in St. Lucia - favorable ground for the Indians but they need to win by a large margin to go through (provided Australia defeat the Windies - which looks very definitely on the cards).

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T20 World Cup - SAF continue to struggle against England

England won their warm-up match against South Africa before the World Cup started. They repeated their act again yesterday to prove it was no fluke.

T20 World Cup - NZ hold their nerves against Pak

New Zealand kept their nerves against Pakistan and won a last-ball match, thanks to good bowling by Ian Butler.

T20 World Cup - Sri Lanka teach Windies a lesson

Mahela Jayawardene led Sri Lanka to a score that the Windies had no chance of getting close.

T20 World Cup - Australia give India a good hiding

India was shown where their technique stands in international cricket. More than their competence of handling the short ball, it was more a mental issue. Batsmen had seen the bounce the pitch was helping, while India bowled and had made up their mind that the Oz pacers will get good purchase. The quiet period put pressure on the batsmen in such a way that the shot-selection was getting confusing. This is not to belittle the performance of the Aussies either on the field or with the ball.

More than 50 dot-balls tell the story - if at least half the dot-balls were scored off, the deficit would have been much shorter. Add to this, the 14 balls that were not utilized by the batsmen at the end of the innings. The competition got hotter when Rohit Sharma started playing his shots - the Oz bowlers started worrying once the partnerships started going.

This was just half the story. The eleven that was selected for the match was packed with batsmen to compensate for the bowlers. MS Dhoni and the team management probably thought that the part-timers could manage the quota required. Ravindra Jadeja would be the fall guy of this match but that may not be his fault. Six sixes of 6 balls (even though of different overs) made a huge difference in the match. Not only him, the other bowlers were also guilty of bowling short. Maybe MSD had to bowl Rohit or Raina in Jadeja's place.

The tournament is still not over for the Indians - the Windies slumped to a similar defeat against the Lankans. If the Indians can put their act together and defeat the other 2 teams, they can still make it to the next round. Australia dont look like losing any match. Hence, it would be a tie-up between the other 3 teams for the other slot - Sri Lanka has taken a lead over the others in the race. Will India catch up? If they can get their heads sorted out in the next 2 days, they can.

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T20 World Cup - South Africa start strongly in Super8

South Africa ease past New Zealand in their first Super Eight match.

T20 World Cup - England get past Pakistan

England chased down a mediocre total posted by Pakistan comfortably.

T20 World Cup - Australia and South Africa win easy

South Africa raced past Afghanistan thanks to their superior bowlers, covering up their batting lapses.

Australia, similarly, defeated Bangladesh very convincingly.

T20 World Cup - Australia race past Pakistan

Australia defeat Pakistan in their Group match thanks to the large score they had put up. Pakistan were in the hunt till around 13th over after which the R-B started increasing once again.

T20 World Cup - India goes past the Proteans

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MS Dhoni tried to up the ante (as though it was required in the first place) at the beginning of the match against South Africa today - resting one of his strike bowlers (Zaheer Khan) even though he know that his regular opening batsman, Gautam Gambhir was suffering from diarrhea. It was as though he was asking his team to raise their game by multiple notches as compared to the previous game against Afghanistan.

His team responded and how - Suresh Raina took it as a personal challenge and scored a century against the Proteans, who had erred by leaving out Johan Botha (who had in fact bowled better than the Indians in the similar face-off in the last T20 World Cup). Bowling short-pitched balls at the batsmen, the bowlers thought that they could make the batsmen dance to their tunes but the pitches were not as responsive as the English ones, which meant that the Indian batsmen could take their time to settle down before launching their assault.

Another good outcome of the match was the form of Yuvraj. He is slowly but surely returning back to form, auguring well for the next round. MS Dhoni once again finished well - showing that he had figured out the way to play in T20 matches (maybe not the same way as ODI matches). The IPL tryst has definitely 'cleared' his mind - probably the last-over win against Punjab XI really helped.

About the bowling, given the number of spinners he had, MSD relied on them to dry up the run-rate and the Proteans crashed. I feel that the next match will see Zaheer coming in place of Praveen Kumar.

Albie Morkel was waiting in the dressing room but the batsmen in the middle were not getting out !! In fact, I feel that Jacques Kallis is posing quite a strange problem to the team management (just like he did for RCB). His all-round value is of no doubt but he is probably choking in the middle overs needing a lot to be done for the latter batsmen. The task was done by a Robin Uthappa in IPL but who will it be for SAF in this World Cup? Unless they figure out how they tackle this 'problem', things will be a bit difficult for them.

For the Indians, they are in the next round high on confidence. They did a right thing (on hindsight obviously) by not playing the warm-up matches in the World Cup. Most probably, they will once again, like last World Cup, play West Indies, Australia and then Sri Lanka in the next round (all things being equal). With the matches now being played on a different surface, the Indians will have to learn how the pitch behaves (of course, there are couple of matches before theirs on the same ground) and then tackle the opposition accordingly. 2 pace bowlers and 3 spinners + Yusuf Pathan will be the strategy in the next few games, especially against Australia and West Indies. The Indians look hot favorites, complacency being guarded against.

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T20 World Cup - Pakistan get past Bangla

Bangladesh batsmen tried their best to keep up with the required rate but fall of wickets (especially that of their captain) increased the R-B, making the Pakistan team eventual winners.

T20 World Cup - India cross the Afghan hurdle

The Indians came up with a clinical performance to defeat the Afghanistan team, though the newcomers did not disappoint the viewers with their performance. The typical dismal shows put up by the Qualifiers in earlier World Cups was not on view with the Afghan putting up a good fight given their constraints.

The World Cup is different from the IPL in many ways more than the obvious ones. The larger grounds, slower out-fields and pitches make the scoring more difficult. Boundaries are no longer assumed to be the case when the ball crosses the inner ring. Batsmen are expected to run twos and threes, which they might have forgotten during the IPL. The target scores will be also less than the average of 180 seen in the IPL. Spin bowlers have made a comeback in this years IPL and this World Cup is also no different. Off the field, the commentary is much better than what we have noticed - no longer the Maximums or the Kamals - we are back to sixes and catches!!

MS Dhoni opted to bowl first because of the early start (catering to the Asian audience for a larger advertising pie) and the fact that he was not aware of what to expect from his opponents. Very soon in the match, Nehra and Zaheer realized that the Afghans were not so comfortable with the short-pitched ball. This led to early wickets but a good partnership in the middle prevented a complete wash-out. All the Indian bowlers had a decent bowl with economic returns, except Yusuf Pathan probably. This match must have given the bowlers a good practice for the next big match.

Afghanistan tried their best which was, as mentioned earlier, much better than what other teams have done previously. In the bowling department, apart from the first over, the Afghans pegged the Indians with their line and length. Some obvious deficiencies were visible in their effort but that will be overcome with more exposure.

The chase was very easy for the Indians thanks to the required run-rate. Gambhir and Raina got out early but Vijay took this opportunity to make a good start in his T20 career - of course, who would not mind a free-hit as the first ball? Yuvraj scratched around and does not seem to be in any form of substance - hopefully, the time spent at the crease will help him against the Proteans. Of course, the Indians will be happy getting into the next round (unless a spectacular turn of events happen. They need to win the match tomorrow against SA to get into a good confident mould as a team.

Well played against your heroes though, Afghanistan. Good job.

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T20 World Cup - easy for Windies

Though the bowlers made it hard for Windies, the batsmen gave everything away on a platter.

T20 World Cup - Tight finish for New Zealand

NewZealand put it across Sri Lanka in the first match of the World Cup. After a good start, it looks like NZ were pulled back by the middle-overs. Again, the latter batsmen have managed to reach the shores with their last-over heroics.