2015 World Cup - end of League stage

The eight quarter-finalists have been identified after the lengthy league stages. Though not many surprises in the eight, the league stages did show up some teams in terms of their big-match temperament and endurance in the BIG tournaments. Ireland came close to qualification but fell at the last hurdle. Pakistan took the format as an advantage to become better and finalize their top-selections (non-choice Sarfraz was the MoM in their eventual match). Injuries have hampered all teams but by the time the matches start, everyone should be ready to fire.

How do you then identify the players who did well? Let us look at the bowlers and batsmen - not just the highest run-scorer but also players who performed on all parameters. What are the parameters?

1. In batting, the most important in this format is the strike rate and average. One more parameter that I feel critical is the Rotation-Rate. Check this link for my rationale for the Rotation Rate and how it works.
2. In bowling, the key parameters are Economy Rate, Strike Rate and Average. 

Using these, I have tried to list the players who have scored minimum of 250 runs and taken at least eight wickets. What do the results show?

Batting

1. No surprises to see Glen Maxwell at the top of this list. With a strike-rate close to 200 and rotation-rate more than 85%, he is the clear-cut favorite for the best batsman in this World Cup. He has not scored much because of limited opportunities (other players in the Aussie lineup are to blame). 
2. Sangakkara occupies second place because of the volume of runs at a decent strike rate and rotation rate
3. AB De Villiers and David Miller are the other players to note in terms of these aspects - no surprises there.
4. What should be of concern to the Indian team is Mushfiqur Rahim's presence quite high in this list. His strike rotation seems to be quite good (within the overall Top 10). 
5. On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan seems to be inclined more on boundaries rather than rotation. 

Bowling

1. Mitchell Starc tops this list due to his wicket-haul as well as low economy rate - clearly the front-runner for the Best Bowler award
2. The Black Caps have four bowlers in the Top 15 while four Indians also appear in this list - main reason for their six victories. The other seven include two Proteas, one West Indian, one Scot, two Australians, one Pakistani.
3. No Bangladesh bowler in this list at all. Is it a show of batting for the Banglas where there is representation from Afghanistan, UAE and Zimbabwe too?
4. Sri Lanka has just one bowler in the top 15 - they must be keen for Herath to come back.

What are your thoughts on these numbers?

Second ODI - Sri Lanka equalize series in style

The Lankan bowling was not threatening in terms of pace but incisive enough. The Indian batting resembled a cat on hot tin roof. The catching from Sangakkara was phenomenal. The result was a one-sided win for the Lankans.


The Indian batsmen other than Gambhir, could not handle the swing and accuracy of Perera and Matthews when they batted. When it was the turn of the Lankans, there was no trace of the wind or help from the pitch to trouble the batsmen. The Lankans cantered home for the loss of Dilshan.


Gambhir showed that he was one batsmen who was good enough to handle the conditions and hold up one end  till the last ball of the innings. Kohli and Dhoni had a rare off-day at the office while Rohit's slump continued. It is very surprising to see why Rohit usually fails in a full-fledged Indian outfit but sparkles with a second-string side! Is it the weight of expectations that is pulling him down? Whatever it is, Rohit cannot blame the management for lack of opportunities. Time to give Rahane an opportunity in the middle-order.


The Indian bowling then looked uninterested to continue. They had already lost the match in their mind - on the field was just a formality. Representative of this was the efforts of Zaheer Khan with the number of wides and loose balls he offered. The Indian team was ready to throw in the towel if the umpire had asked them to - such was the intensity on show.


The Indian team would do well to put this out of their mind and when they start the next match in a new location, the mindset should be new. It is now a three-match series and one should strike very soon to take early lead.

IPL4 Match 32 - Ishant flattens Kochi

What looked like a decent target to chase was made to look like a mountain for Kochi Tuskers by the incisive bowling by Ishant Sharma. Ishant, after a long time, delivered a spell that highlighted his potential - he is really enjoying the opportunity to bowl alongside Dale Steyn. Sangakkara had in the first innings, held the innings together and pieced a score that looked par for the course. In the final count, it was 55 more.

IPL4 Week 2 - Malinga reigns supreme

Lasith Malinga was in the news the last week for having retired from test cricket. His reasoning was that his knee injury could not withstand the rigors of cricket where he had to bowl 15 overs or more in a day. In this context, the T20 format of four overs per bowler fits in ideally in his case. The fact that his ex-captains, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, supported his decision lends creditability to his decision. No one has been criticizing the decision like they do of others.

Not just off the field, Malinga continues to don the headlines on the ground as well. Look at his exploits for Mumbai Indians in 6 matches so far. 16 wickets at an average of 9 runs per wicket, economy rate hovering around 6 runs per over and more importantly a strike rate of a wicket every 9 balls approximately. This literally means that his average bowling figures this season have been 4 overs for 24 runs while taking at least 2 wickets. What a performer!

Similarly, on the batting front, Sachin Tendulkar has led the way (again, another Mumbaikar) with a strike-rate that is decent in T20 and a staggering average for this format. His performance dipped a bit, more due to the demise of his spiritual guru rather than any cricketing reason. Ably supported by Ambati Rayudu, SRT has dominated the batting most of the times. When he does not, the rival teams have to put up with Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds - imagine the plight of the bowling attacks! And we are not even talking about Pollard. This shows why Mumbai are the favorites to make it a successful season for Sachin - an IPL tournament win will be the icing on the cake for this season.

Shaun Marsh and David Warner are two Oz who must be wondering why they are not part of their national team more often. They are making statements regularly and this must be a good platform to showcase their form to the national selectors. Shane Warne, though, must be showing the same set of people what the current team is missing by his exploits. What a legend he has been!

Related articles

• Malinga retires from test cricket (cbc.ca)

IPL4 Match 27 - Mumbai eases past Deccan

First it was the Rohit (Sharma) and Roy (Andrew Symonds) show. Then, Malinga took over with the ball and reduced Deccan Chargers to a chase that never was.

IPL4 Match 11 - Deccan have a home win at last

Deccan Chargers, thanks to Bharat Chipli and Sunny Sohal, put up a large score on the board against RCB. Facing Dale Steyn and co, RCB were always behind the asking rate - the worm below will show that. An easy win for DC - first win at Hyderabad ever.

World Cup 2011 - Sri Lanka stands before 83 repeat - Part I

After the Mini Grand-Final and Mother of all battles, comes the Grand-Final itself.

Consider these statistics of how India and Sri Lanka fare against each other?

• After their last match in 2007 World Cup, both the teams have met in 33 matches. India holds the advantage 18-13.
• At home, India's advantage over Sri Lanka is even more obvious but the matches played (since the last World Cup) has been far less - 3-1
• Overall, at home, India has a big advantage over Sri Lanka - 28-11 
• India vs Sri Lanka in competitions that have more than 5 teams - Sri Lanka heads the count 8-7. A very close statistic that does not convey much. 
• India vs Sri Lanka in World Cup - India have won their contests against Sri Lanka in 1999 (England) and 2003 (Sri Lanka) but lost their battles in 1979, 1996 (twice), 2007. One match was washed out (1992). 4-2 for Sri Lanka once again. 
• Simon Taufel and Aleem Dar, the best umpires in world cricket, will officiate in the World Cup final. How has India fared when Taufel officiated? 21-24 - not so favorable, though the Indians won the last match he stood in. How has India fared when Aleem Dar officiated? 11-9. The only match both officiated was in Johannesburg when India played West Indies. Verdict - India won.

Geoff Boycott in his article mentions that India have to handle Malinga and Murali well in the final to take advantage. How have the duo fared against India? Not so great - check the stats below.

• Record of Lasith Malinga against India is not so great - 18 wickets in 18 matches with an average of 45+, Economy of 5.6+ and a strike rate of 47 balls per wicket.
• Record of Muralitharan against India is the worst compared to his numbers against all other nations - average of 31+ and a strike rate of 44 balls per wicket. His best in ODI though came against India in Sharjah.

In the current edition, what has been the performance of the two teams in batting and bowling?

• India have five players in the Top-50 batsmen - Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli while Sri Lanka have four - Tilakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene. 5 hundreds and 11 fifties for India while Sri Lankans have scored 6 hundreds and 7 fifties.
• In the bowling department, Sri Lanka have six in the Top-50 bowlers in the tournament - Muralitharan, Malinga, Dilshan, Ajantha Mendis, Perera, Angelo Mathews. India have four in the Top-50 - Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Munaf Patel and Harbhajan Singh. 1 five-wicket haul for both teams while Sri Lanka have one more four-wicket haul than India's one.

Gary Kirsten and Trevor Bayliss are stepping down from their current positions after the final match. How has India and Sri Lanka performed under these coaches?

• India's record from December 2007 after Gary Kirsten became coach - 61-32. Impressive.
• Sri Lanka's record from June 2007 when Bayliss became coach - 54-35. Not bad but not so impressive as that of Kirsten.

World Cup 2011 - SL favorites to repeat win over NZ

177-154 says Castrol Index in favor of Sri Lanka against New Zealand for the first semi-final in the 2011 World Cup. The advantage goes much more than what the numbers say. The teams have faced each other in the League stage and Sri Lanka won the match convincingly. The spinners have spun webs around the batsmen of Black Caps so much that the match result looks decided already.

Once again, Muralitharan is doubtful for tomorrow's match and with confidence on his other spinners, Sangakkara will probably not risk him tomorrow. Herath and Mendis, along with Dilshan, will more than a handful for the NZ batsmen. The team composition contained Malinga and Matthews as the only non-spinners against England - there is no reason why this strategy should change against New Zealand. The opening batsmen have showed that if they settle down, they can notch up large partnerships at the top. Their success has ensured that the fragile middle order is not exposed. Sangakkara and Jayawardene were not given any match practice in the last game - they must be itching to contribute heavily.

The only Protean who was happy when they choked once again was Alan Donald, currently bowling coach of New Zealand. He has teamed up very well with John Wright to bring NZ to the stage that they are in. NZ was the best planned team in the entire tournament, having visited the host countries in the last few months. Though the results were not favorable to them, the experience is handy in the World Cup. They have also gone with three spinners along with Southee and Oram. Ross Taylor, McCullum and Scott Styris will be expected to lead the front on the batting side - playing in a test-like mode before going into the T20-mode in the slog overs. If they can get going, the strength of the Lankans (spin) can become their enemy very soon.

The Lankans start as overwhelming favorites for the match but one cannot rule out the eternal braids-maid of World Cup. Over-confidence is one aspect the Lankans will do well to avoid.  

Related articles

• World Cup 2011 - Sri Lanka favorites vs England (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• World Cup 2011 - Will South Africa choke vs NZ in QF? (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

World Cup 2011 - Sri Lanka favorites vs England

    Key Player 
179-153 says Castrol Index, reflecting the difference between England and Sri Lanka. Quite a big difference, one can say, that has been justified by the inconsistent performances by the English team during this tournament. The Quarter-final match is being held in the backyard of the Sri Lankans, which will boost their confidence further.

Murali has been declared fit by his team - knowing him, he would have played if he was even 50% fit. Further, if he was not in the team also, the other spinners would be a handful  for the English team. It is a fact that England have played well against the test-playing nations, faltering against the minnows - the inconsistency of the batting lineup must be haunting both the Andys.

Strauss must stay as the anchor of the lineup so that the others can bat around him. Swann and Tredwell proved their prowess last match - will they do it again this match? The Sri Lankans are much better batsmen of spin and can negate the threat easily. Anderson will make a comeback but again, he is not much of a threat on these pitches.

Muralidharan, Mendis and Herath will play in all likelihood with Dilshan providing the part-time option. Malinga and Matthews can open the bowling with the new ball. Sangakkara and Jayawardene will be the key batsmen for the Lankans who will be expected to provide the strength. It has been a while that Dilshan has put up a big score - if he and Tharanga can put up a solid base, the others can take on from there. The middler order is suspect and might come apart just like the Proteas did against the Black Caps in their quarter-final.

The Emerald Isle team have the ability to put it across the English team easily, if they play as per their reputation. Will the English finally regain their Ashes-winning form?

There is a world outside England, Ted

I have enjoyed the writing of Ted Corbett, senior English writer, in the cricketing field for quite a while now. His humor is very evident in the articles he writes for Sportstar, almost every week when the English cricket team is playing. Maybe he took his humor a bit too much in his recent article

Kevin Pietersen is now the most intimidating cricketer in the world. There is no one else, since Brian Lara laid down his bat for the last time, who can destroy an attack, reduce the morale of a team to zero and boost his side's run rate so much that the bowlers have all the time they need to complete victory

Ted, agreed that England won the second test match against Australia very convincingly and KP played a major role in the victory. But, to hail him as the most intimidating cricketer in the world? Please. And why Brian Lara? Because he scored those record-breaking triple centuries against your team? You might have apologised to Sachin Tendulkar & Ricky Ponting (and Kumar Sangakkara) in your article but havent you heard of the exploits of a Virender Sehwag, if not Sachin or Ricky?

There is no one else, since Brian Lara laid down his bat for the last time, who can destroy an attack, reduce the morale of a team to zero and boost his side's run rate so much that the bowlers have all the time they need to complete victory.

If this statement was given as a Quiz question to any contestant, the first name that appears to everyone will be the Nawab of Najafgarh, not the English recruit from South Africa.

Related articles

• Brian Lara in praise of Sachin (topinews.com)
• Warne: England have treated Kevin Pietersen like an outcast (ashesupdates.wordpress.com)
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Should MSD follow McCullum and Sangakkara

Wikipedia
MS Dhoni has mentioned today that he will request the BCCI for rest before the series against South Africa overseas. He has mentioned Suresh Raina along with him. He says:

We will put in a request to the board but we have to see whether senior players are available or not

This statement means that he is still not sure of the rest. The squad will be announced probably during the last day of the test match.



If one remembers, few days back, the BCCI had agreed to send few Indian players early to South Africa to acclimatise. It is too early to say who will be rested from the Indian team for the ODI series. The selectors have a tough job on hand - they need to balance the squad for ODIs as well as the travel to South Africa. Both are equally important for the Indian team and this request by MSD will put them in a quandry. Of course, this does not mean that his request is not necessary - he has been one of the busiest person in the entire team.



While on this, one feels for the person. He has been donning the role of a captain, keeping wickets and shoring up the lower order in all the three formats. Is it asking too much of him? Add to this, the similar responsibilities for his IPL team. His keeping has gone down a notch - dropping vital catches in test matches. His batting in test matches has gone down quite a bit, though in ODIs he is still the Number 1 batsman. There are other keepers in the country who can do a good job with the gloves - ones like Dinesh Karthick or Parthiv Patel.

Should he follow the example of Brendon McCullum and Kumar Sangakkara in test matches? They have given up the gloves and handed over the duties to another person. This will ensure that he retains his freshness for the prime role of captaincy while making him still invaluable to the team.

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• Brendon McCullum makes 225 to steer New Zealand to safety against India (guardian.co.uk)

PSS Colombo Test - anybody's game

Mendis & Randiv

The final test of the series between India and Sri Lanka stands tantalizingly poised after the end of 4 days. Sri Lanka holds the edge mainly because of the runs scored already. India have to get close to 200 runs with 3 of their front-line batsmen dismissed.

In the morning, one thought that India might be chasing a score of less than 100 when the 7th wicket fell. But, partnerships between Samaraweera and Malinga, Mendis ensured that the final target for the Indians was more than 250. The field-placing was not upto Dhoni's level - having got rid of the more dangerous Sangakkara and Jayawardene, he was allowing Thilan to take the singles and retain strike. What this meant that the tailenders could hit out against the spinners.

Repeated changes of bowlers didnt help - Sehwag's golden arm couldnt break the partnerships - India missed the Zaheer Khan for his experience and mentoring (the bowlers). Harbhajan, being not in form, was not so much missed - Ojha and Mishra bowled within their limitations and took the wickets. The tail, as is usual in all Indian matches, wagged and got valuable runs for the Indian team.

The Indian innings started with a heart-break - Sehwag getting out on a duck (11th such dismissal on 0). His average in 4th innings is almost half of his career average - of late, he had been batting better but today was a repeat of his old failing. Vijay had a good chance to stake his claim in the absence of Gambhir - he failed after promising much. Rahul Dravid failed once again - he has averaged 19 in this test series - cause for concern since he has not had much practice before the series. Hopefully, by the time the Oz team is in for the test series, he would have picked up his form.

Tomorrow, the Indian team would depend on Sachin Tendulkar to do his act against England again, this time with VVS and Raina. The Indian team missed an opportunity to close the match today but tomorrow they will have to play well to win the match and square the series. The onus is on the Legend to take India to the shores. The team that will win one session more than the other tomorrow will decide the conclusion of the match and series.

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• Randiv rocks India (skysports.com)
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Galle Test - India let Sri Lanka get away further

Image via Wikipedia

India, thanks to the exploits of their pace bowlers, made a comeback in the first session of the 3rd days play. Ishant Sharma, in fact, gave Jayawardane the same treatment that he had given Ricky Ponting in Perth before taking his wicket. Mithun gave him good support at the other end, not only restricting the run scoring but also taking wickets.

In fact, they were the only ones who looked like taking wickets from the Indian attack. They started the bowling in the morning, took a brief rest and then come back to take the second new ball, restricting to around 340 for 6.

Herath and Malinga then took the attack by its scruff, scoring their highest first-class scores. Prasanna Jayawardene was the one who started attacking the bowlers and strengthening India's position. This is where the Indian bowlers gave away the match - now, only a draw could be the favorable result for the Indians.

The Indians started their innings after the declaration at tea. Gambhir was dismissed cheaply by Malinga - his batting has been going downhill, even though slightly, for few matches now. Probably, his rich vein has gone the other direction now - whatever reason it may be, he needs to re-align his radar back to his high-scoring ways. Sehwag had no such problems - he was away, putting away the bad balls while controlling the ones that threatened his body and head.

Rahul Dravid - he must have now gone ahead of Inzamam-ul-Haq in the number of run-outs - lost his wicket after settling down. Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed by the magician, trying to attempt a sweep. Sehwag continued to prosper and it is very likely that he will add to his tally of centuries tomorrow. Laxman has been promising so far - hope he can go on to score a big one.

3 days gone and India still is not in dire straits. They can still make a match out of it, at least think they can. 320 is the first target that the Indian team has to scale (interesting rule for follow-on here). The Indian team needs to show their batting strength and combat the Lankans on the last 2 days. Will the rain-gods help India also?

Session Dashboard - The Lankans still lead the Indians by 4.5 - 1.5. The first session was all India's while the Lankans came back in the second. The third session was dominated by the Indians though the Lankans took 3 vital wickets. With 6 more sessions remaining, Sri Lanka needs to win more than 3 sessions in the next 2 days to win the match. What will India's response be?

Related articles by Zemanta

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• Sri Lanka batsmen dominate India (news.bbc.co.uk)

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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• ICC World Twenty20 2010: Australia v Pakistan match preview (telegraph.co.uk)

India and Sri Lanka to meet in the Tri-nation finals - any surprises?

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India and Sri Lanka have met so frequently in the last few months that probably the captains thought that they would change the composition of the team and see how the competition would fare. Sangakkara also wanted to give his bowlers a chance to try their hand at a situation which is not suitable for them. Good thoughts in a tournament that had a 3rd team who did not come to the party.

India bowled and more importantly, fielded well in this match. Sri Lanka also were thinking at the back of their mind about the final match - this one was not so significant as they had qualified for the finals. Dilshan was dismissed thanks to some good planning by the Indians - hopefully, the Indians have the lid on him from now on. Amit Mishra proved that he has regained some of his lost form - good signs again. He must be included in the team more often like this.

Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir played their customary innings and ensured that the small total was chased easily. Kohli seems to be getting consistent and this is good news for the team - he gives an impression similar to Yuvraj (on the field) - hopefully he will emulate the Singh in his exploits also. Sudeep Tyagi was also decent in his spell.

Hope the Indians experiment again tomorrow - maybe MS Dhoni should be given a rest against Bangladesh and Sehwag given the reins. I would also like to see Ravinder Jadeja be given a stint higher in the order - to test his mettle against the Bangladesh team.

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• Gambhir and Kohli step up for India at Kolkata (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

Gambhir and Kohli step up for India at Kolkata

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Whole-sale changes to the Sri Lanka squad was the talking point - 4 players were drafted to the squad. The Indians had the forced change of Kohli in place of Yuvraj. This was the first time after 5 years that India were playing without MSD and Yuvraj.

The start of the innings was unusually slow what with the first maiden bowled by an Indian bowler (Ashish Nehra) in this series. But, slowly, Tharanga and Sangakkara started a partnership which played out the seamers and then started milking the spinners (after the initial pressure) for singles. The final-overs climax was good for the Lankans which meant that the Indians were asked to chase the biggest total on the ground.

It was up to the first three batsmen on the Indian team - Sachin, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir - who had to step up to the challenge. Once Sachin and Sehwag got out, the hopes were on Gambhir to take the Indians to the victory line. Agreed that the Sri Lankan bowlers were not so experienced but the task was a huge total to chase. Gautam and Virat absorbed the pressure and took the Indian run-chase by the horns. Sri Lanka must feel happy that they were able to try out their young guns and all of them must have learnt quite a bit in this series.

The Indian team showed that there was some talent in the bench strength (Kohli, Karthik, Pathan brothers) that can be honed for the World Cup 2011.

Sri Lanka thrash India in Nagpur T20

India lost to Sri Lanka in the first T20 match at Nagpur.

Sangakkara played a brilliant innings to take the team to a massive total. The catching was terrible and the Indians had no clue on how to stop the Lankans. The Indians started off on a good note with Gambhir thrashing the bowlers to all sides. Once he was dismissed, India went on a free-fall that could not be stopped.

The R-B dashboard is shown below



The comments from the captains -
Kumar Sangakkara : "The wicket was pretty good to bat on. What set us up was that the two openers saw through the six overs, even though they didn't get off to a flying start. We were outstanding in the first 16 overs, we need to a bit more ruthless and finish them off. Great all-round performance, everyone fought hard and showed hunger to win."

MS Dhoni : "At least we were not missing catches before. We are not a brilliant fielding side, but we are not known to dropping catches. It's getting difficult for us to get into T20 groove. Most of us treat them as warm-up for ODIs."