CWC 2019 Match 46 – 1st Semi Final – New Zealand upset India, reach world cup finals

Everyone thought that it would be a favorable final for team India as they had created a chance to play New Zealand, the fourth placed, most underrated team, the dark horse of the tournament. This was favored by team Australia when they lost to South Africa in their last league, creating a scenario of playing England in the second semifinal against England instead of a pre-designed first semifinal which they would play against the Kiwis.

India was one of the favorites for the world cup title, and they played as per expectations in the entire tournament, except that lost match against England. The cricket lovers of the world would have predicted an India – Australia final, it is easy to predict isn’t it? Australia too had played strong in this world cup and was looking as contenders for the title. I, in fact had predicted an India – England final fixture. Everyone has their own ideologies and logics. But destiny doesn’t go as per logic and magic; it has a different tale to tell.

Indian fans might be equally heartbroken just like me, when India lost the semifinal against New Zealand at Old Trafford and were knocked out of the world cup.

The scenarios behind this match were strange. Only one of the India’s matches was washed out in the league matches, which was against New Zealand. New Zealand struggled to qualify to the semi finals as they were stuck with the mathematics, permutations, and chemistry of other teams including Pakistan if they were to qualify to the top four. But strangely New Zealand was favored by all mathematics. They were the first team to qualify into the semis and sealed the fourth place once Pakistan was put out of equation of the contention. New Zealand was to play their first semifinal against Australia had the later team won over South Africa in their last league match. But India entered into the equation after being the top placed team following their win against Sri Lanka in their last league. India would have been happy to play New Zealand at this stage instead of a strong England team which they had to place had they been at second place. India’s Thursday semifinal which was predicted to be against England turned out to be a Tuesday semifinal against New Zealand. India was playing the same team which they missed out to play due to rain. To make matters worse, the semifinal too saw the rain pouring and the match went to Wednesday, the reserved day. When the day changes, your fortune too might change! On the cards, the first placed team was playing against the fourth placed team. But the ranks won’t matter when you play good and when the stars favor you on the decisive day. New Zealand was not only lucky, but also played good cricket, better than India and qualified to the finals.

New Zealand won the toss and as expected elected to bat first. They had to face tight bowling spells by team India and couldn’t score freely. After they lost Martin Guptill in the 4^th over when the score board read 1/1 and Henry Nicholas in the 19^th over when the score was 69 for 2, New Zealand went into the shell. Kane Williamson (67 runs) and Ross Taylor (74 runs) stuck form suddenly and steadied the ship for Kiwis. At a stage, Kiwis had not even reached 100 in 30 overs. The scoring rate was pretty slow. India was on the top of their game. New Zealand never crossed the run rate of 4 runs per over until 42 overs, this shows the dominance of Indian bowlers. The exception was Chahal. It was horrible to bring in Chahal replacing Kuldeep was looking good in the previous match. It was also horrible on the part of Indian think tank for not brining Shami in an important match. I just would avoid discussing the pathetic part of this selection fearing deviation of my write up. One of Chahal’s over fetched 19 runs in a single over which happened to be the difference when India lost at the end. At the end of the first session it rained! Rain drenched and killed the Indian fortunes. But no one would have expected that the rain was more than a spoilsport for India. It was a knock-out rain. The rain never stopped. The match went to reserve day with New Zealand at 211 for 5 with 23 balls to be bowled. New Zealand came back on the reserved day, scored 28 runs in those 23 balls, lost 3 more wickets and finished with 239 for 8 setting a target of 240 to win for India. The way Ross Taylor carried his bat almost till the end, with a patient knock scripted a good score for New Zealand. India would have prayed that Kane and Ross shouldn’t play good in this important match and that just reversed. Both batsmen came into this semifinal with offbeat form and showed their true character, showed how good they were on their given day. Kane and Ross had read the pitch. When everyone commented that New Zealand never accelerated the score board and kept a turtle pace in scoring those runs and when it was predicted that 240 would be a cake-walk for strong Indian batting line up, I feel New Zealand was contended with what they scored on a tricky track. Only half the story was over and the second half was yet to come. India had to play against a disciplined Kiwi attack on this unpredictable pitch. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar picked 3 wickets. Hasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja bowled tight and unplayable spells and choked the Kiwi scoring rate.

When India came to bat, it became a fairy tale for Kiwis while a nightmare start for India when India lost Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and K.L. Rahul with score board reading 5 for 3 in the 4^th over, each of the batsmen getting 1 run to their credit. Trent Boult and Matt Henry were spilling havoc on Indian Batsmen. The fortune and result of the match was clear. It needed the Indian middle order to flourish in these conditions. Rishabh Pant who was looking confident the most by any Indian batsman and Hardik Pandya who was playing an unusual knock, scoring slowly in an uncharacteristic way, poured hopes into the Indian dressing room. But they decided to throw their wickets at crucial junctures of the match. Scuffle in the Indian batting order, panic in Indian dressing room with Captain Virat Kohli coming out in rage and disappointment and having serious discussions with coach Shastri, India holding back M.S. Dhoni and sending him late, Dinesh Karthik who was promoted ahead of Dhoni playing 20 dots upfront and showing demons in the pitch, all these showed that New Zealand had created panic in the Indian team. In between, Ravindra Jadeja was bent upon doing the entire heroics single handedly. His 77 in 59 balls and a century partnership with Dhoni (50 runs) almost took away the match from the New Zealand’s hold. India looked like winning the match. Then, following a few dot balls, the pressure increased and Ravindra Jadeja succumbed, leaving Dhoni to do the finishing act with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and the rest of the tail. The final nail in India’s coffin was hit by Martin Guptill when he ran Dhoni out with a smart throw at the timber. Guptill, who hasn’t contributed almost anything for Kiwis in this world cup suddenly did it for them with one throw. New Zealand jumped in joy as they upset India by 18 runs. They really deserved to be there. Fortunes favor the brave. Fortune also favors those who are brainy. On this day it favored the New Zealand team, as they were courageous and brainy. Matt Henry (3 for 37) was the pick of Kiwi bowlers. Trent Boult (2 for 42) and Mitchell Santner (2 for 34) were not far enough from troubling Indian batsmen.

India will have to wait for another 4 years. I wish they make some sense to pick up a good team at least for World Cup and not favored, flavored and seasoned players. That is good in the favor of the country. Luck and rankings do not help you always!

But having said that, whatever team India had (chose???) they had a good campaign and was looking to win the world cup until semifinal happened. Cheers to Kohli and his team!

Hearty congratulations for New Zealand. Wish they win the world cup and prove that they are worth it!

CWC 2019 Match 44 – Rahul-Rohit smash tons as India defeat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets

It has become a habit for Hitman Rohit Sharma to smash tons at will. This hundred against Sri Lanka is his fifth in this world cup. Now he holds the world record for most number of hundreds by a single batsman in one season of world cup format. Hats off Hitman, take a bow! As if this was not enough for Sri Lanka, yet another century came their way from the blade of K.L. Rahul. It was pleasant to see Rahul get to his ton after having seen him get good starts, couple of 70+ scores and not reaching to his tons, missing them in inches, but this was awesome!

India had to chase down 265 runs to win. Sri Lanka has defended small totals and they are unpredictable on their given day. It looked like India may get resistance from Sri Lankan bowlers but that never happened. India was in total command of the chase. India had nothing to lose even if they happened to lose this match. Anyways it was predicted that being 2^nd placed team in the chart, India would play the 3^rd placed team i.e. England. But if India happened to win this match and if Australia were to lose to South Africa, then India would move to 1^st place in the table and would play the 4^th placed team, i.e. New Zealand in the semi final leaving Australia to play against England in the other semifinal.

When the openers put on 189 runs for the first wicket in 30 overs, the match is almost over. Sri Lanka had no answers for the Indian openers. At one point it looked as if India would score those runs without losing a wicket. India lost 3 wickets before they could snatch the victory with 6 and half overs remaining.

This was Lasith Malinga’s last match and what a player he has been for Sri Lanka! Take a bow champ, Cricket will miss your services and entertainment!

Earlier, Sri Lanka managed to get to 264 runs which at one time looked unlikely when Sri Lanka was struggling at 55 for 4 in 11.4 overs. Then a 124 run partnership between Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne for the 5^th wicket helped Sri Lanka to post a decent total on board. Angelo Mathews scored a superb ton while Thirimanne scored half ton. With figures of 3/37, Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of Indian bowlers.

India are presently sitting at 1^st place in the table after this win and would wait to see who would catch them up in the semis, England or New Zealand!!

Until we catch up with the next match…it is goodbye folks!

Keep watching the world cup matches and have fun!!

CWC 2019 Match 40 – Rohit Sharma registers his fourth ton as India upset Bangladesh, India enter semifinals

India became the second team to enter the semifinals of the world cup cricket 2019 after Australia as they defeated Bangladesh by 28 runs. Chasing 315 runs to win, Bangladesh shed their sweat and blood in a tight chase but faltered by 28 runs in the end. I really loved the way Bangladesh played in this entire tournament. They have chased huge totals and lost by meager margins, like West Indies. They were not fortunate enough to be on winning side on couple of occasions. Bangladesh cricket is at its flourishing best and they are playing really good cricket right at this moment. And India was not different for them. There was always a threat of Bangladesh giving a tight chase and go at the 300 + runs set by India and they had almost done it had India not pulled it off in a thrilling climax. Jasprit Bumrah was clinical with the ball and dismissed 4 of Bangladeshi batsmen while Hardik Pandya took 3 wickets in spite of giving away many runs. Right from the beginning Indian bowlers were in command of the situation. Even as the Bangladeshi batsmen tried to dominate and score at a brisk phase, the bowling changes worked for Indian bowlers. They kept taking wickets and did not allow any batsman or partnerships flourish so as to take away the match from their control. While the wily veteran Shakib Al Hasan was the top scorer for Bangladesh with 66 runs, Mohammad Saifuddin became the thorn in India’s flesh. Saifuddin played a gritty innings with a quick fire fifty and was looking in menacing mood. If he would have some senior batsman giving him company and had Bangladesh got 2-3 more wickets, he would have won the match for Bangladesh. After doing all the hard work with the ball, India had no answers for Mohammad Saifuddin. It happened to be Jasprit Bumrah who dismissed the last two batsmen in the 48^th over keeping Saifuddin at the non striking end which won the match for India. Bangladesh still had 2 overs in hand when they lost the match. Saifuddin would have fancied his chances of getting the required runs if his company would have survived the last two balls. His decision to take a single on the fourth ball of Bumrah’s over cost them the match. Now Bangladesh too are almost out of contention of the semi final berth, but they played superbly and really had deserved better result and couple more wins than this!

Earlier, India who was looking good enough to get 380+ totals, even a 400 at a point played pathetically in the last 10 overs, as they have been doing throughout the tournament, to put 314 runs on board. The runs would be enough but seeing the way the Indian bowlers had bowled in most of their matches and seeing the way Bangladesh had given a tight chase to big totals, the score was gettable by Bangladesh. Bangladesh bowlers really bowled well towards the end and were successful in restricting India below 320. It was complimented by an equally pathetic batting display by the Indian lower order.

To begin with, Rohit Sharma continuing his scintillating form stuck a superb ton, his forth in this world cup and put on 180 runs partnership with K.L.Rahul for the first wicket in 29 overs. Rahul was looking good and made 77 runs. He was looking good enough to get to his ton. India lost Virat Kohli early and Hardik Pandya did not offer anything to the total. M.S. Dhoni continued his pathetic batting just like in his other matches while the lower order were clueless against disciplined Bangladeshi bowling attack. But the best part of the match was a superb batting display by Rishabh Pant who contributed 48 runs in 41 balls. Pant is a batsman to look for as far as Indian team is concerned. He is real talent and promising. If he breaks the shells of some of the negativities he has, he would be an asset for India. His obsession to attack every ball, immaterial of the bowler and condition will be damaging to him and his team. He needs to work over this. Mustafizur Rahman caused demolition of Indian batting order with his five wicket haul.

If India continues giving away their wickets at crucial part of the match and if their bowlers do not get tight and straight, India would definitely face trouble in the business end of the tournament. As of now, India qualifies for the semifinals and will be happy to do that. Indian fans too are would be glad to see their favorite team in the semis, so do I!

Hearty congratulations to team India. I would wish India win their last league match against Sri Lanka before playing their semifinal.

Until we catch up with more action from the next match, it is goodbye from me!

Keep enjoying your world cup matches and have fun!!

CWC 2019 Match 38 – India throw their match into England’s lap at the verge of win!

Though it was a big total India was chasing, India was in command for most of the match. They just threw it away. Chasing 338 runs to win, India lost K.L.Rahul for naught. It was not a start India would have loved to have. A 138 run partnership between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the second wicket showed the command of team India over this match. English bowlers imparted pressure on these two batsmen in the earlier part of the match. Rohit and Virat slowly picked up gears and accelerated the score, trying to keep in pace with the run rate. After the dismissal of Virat Kohli, debutant Rishabh Pant walked into his first world cup match. And boy…how confidently he played! He looked better than his predecessors, Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav who had showed no promise in the world cup. When the partnership between Rohit Sharma and Pant reached the brim of 200 runs, India were fancying pulling gears and accelerating the score at any moment.

Rohit Sharma continuing his superb form in this outing of the world cup smashed yet another world cup ton to his name taking the tally to 3. Hardik Pandya got out at the wrong time after briskly scoring 45 runs in 33 balls. M.S.Dhoni once again played without any intent and so did Kedar Jadhav. Though Dhoni finished with 31 ball 42, it did not serve the purpose of the match as far as India winning the encounter was concerned. I was really unhappy seeing the way India played the last 10 overs. It clearly showed that India was playing this match with different mathematics and had no intent to win. They just wanted to throw away this match. In the final 10 overs India scored just 60 runs and lost 1 wicket. They never accelerated the score. Even in the last 3-4 overs, Dhoni and Jadhav were luxuriously leaving out the shot balls and playing dots. They were mercilessly defending. Even at the beginning of the match everyone had predicted that India would lose this and they did just that! Being a cricket fan, it was painful for me to see the attitude of Indian team, the reasons were clearly available which I would not discuss in this instance. Being a supporter of Indian team, I wish that this tactic doesn’t hit back at India in their last two matches. India is not yet in the semis and they have to win at least one of the next two matches to enter into the elite four stage.

Earlier a quick fire 160 runs partnership for the first wicket in just 22.1 overs between Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow laid the foundation for an England win. Roy scored 66 runs while Bairstow smashed a scintillating 111. A late assault by Ben Stokes who smashed 79 runs in just 54 balls took away the match from India. Indian bowlers bowled pathetically and without any attitude or intent. Even Mohammed Shami who took 5 wickets, gave away 69 runs in his spell of 10 overs. Only Jasprit Bumrah was disciplined as ever with the ball. At a stage it looked as if England would score in excess of 380 runs, even a 400 was possible seeing the way England was belting India and Indian bowlers bowling without clue. Indians pulled it back but England had already posted a mammoth 337 on board. India would have chased it…should have…but they had different plans…!

England stay in the world cup and they need to win their next encounter against New Zealand to make it to the Semis. It looks they would!

Until we catch up with more action from the next match, it is goodbye folks!

Keep viewing and enjoying your world cup matches…!!

CWC 2019 Match 34 – Kohli-Shami excel as India beat West Indies by huge difference

India defeat West Indies by 125 runs at Old Trafford after they won the toss and elected to bat first. Chasing 268 runs to win, Windies made a mess of their chase and were bundled out for 143 runs with more than 15 overs remaining. Nicholas Pooran scored 28 runs in 50 balls and he happened to be the highest scorer in the match. The West Indies seemed to be lost in their intent and were batting like school boys. Indian bowlers were clinical in their approach seeing that they did not have a great total to defend on board. India had sent half of West Indies team packing in the 24^th over itself with just 98 on board for the Windies. They never recovered from there and lost the next 5 wickets for 45 runs in next 11 overs. Mohammad Shami with 4 for 16 in his 6.2 overs was the most successful bowler for India and pioneered the bowling attack. He looked unplayable. While Jasprit Bumrah took 2 wickets giving away just 9 runs in his tight spell of 6 overs, all other bowlers were of great support to these key bowlers.

Earlier India had a slow start. Following early dismissal of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (72 runs) and K L Rahul (48 runs) put on 69 runs for the 2^nd wicket and laid the foundation for India to make a decent total. Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav once again proved to be waste selections for India as they almost contributed anything to the total. In fact they gave away their wickets cheaply and created pressure. MS Dhoni played a turtle knock yet again and scored a 50 while Hardik Pandya’s 38 ball 46 helped India to put 268 runs on board.

India is 1 point or 1 match away from getting their semifinal berth while it looks like the endpoint for West Indies.

Until we catch up for more action from the next match, it is goodbye from me folks!

Enjoy seeing your world cup matches!

CWC 2019 Match 28 – India survive Afghanistan scare, clinch a thrilling win

It wouldn’t be wrong if I tell that India won the match but Afghanistan won the hearts of millions. I have kept telling that Afghanistan did not show their potential in this cricket world cup 2019 and they look just like an inclusion to finish the format. I have also said that I would love to see them upsetting a team or two. But today it seriously looked like they are all set to upset team India!

When Indian Captain, Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat, Indian fans would have rejoiced, me too! Everyone would have thought that India would bat Afghanistan out of the match and set up a mammoth total on board. But that was not to be. Virat Kohli said at the toss that Afghanistan is a dangerous team and they would not take them lightly. The entire Indian team took this statement seriously and played as if they had to make every word of it true.

Afghanistan totally exposed the weaker side of Indian team. It would be a wakeup call for team India who at time look pathetic in comparison to what appears on paper. If the top 3 Indian batsmen fail to deliver, it is over for team India. The next part looks so sluggish and unpredictable. All teams know this, and Afghanistan showed it clearly. India’s struggle to get runs on board was like thirsty people searching for oasis in the desert. Rohit Sharma had scored 1 run in 10 balls when Mohammad Nabi showed him the pavilion. India would not have got a worse start than this! They hadn’t even scored 10 runs in the first 5 overs. Virat Kohli looked great and scored a 63 ball 67. In the entire match, he was the only confident batsman who hit the ball as it needed to be hit. The pitch was playing its part. K.L.Rahul continued his obsession of getting out to wrong and fancy shots. He threw his wicket when he was looking good at a steady 30. Vijay Shankar showed promise but was not in a good nick. Kedar Jadhav held one end and scored a slow fifty, which proved to be important from the perspective of Indian side at the end of the match. M.S. Dhoni once again came under the scanner when he played a pathetic innings as if he was training himself for coming back to the test squad. It was one of the most irresponsible and immature innings I have seen from MSD, a player I always loved to see. He was just ridiculous. Even Afghanistan bowlers would have got frustrated bowling at him. Dhoni and Jadhav were painful thorns in Indian innings and hurt the most. They played defense at will and never tried to take the attack to the opposition. The pitch was bad but not that tough for the likes of Dhoni and Jadhav. They made Shane Warnes, Muralitharans and Kumbles off Afghanistan bowlers. Afghanistan would have loved to play a series against India instead of playing in the world cup! India could manage only 224 runs on board. 300 or in worst case, a 260 or 270 was looking good when Kohli was playing. It was a pity that they couldn’t even reach 250. Afghanistan bowlers were clinical and gave away nothing. There were so many overs which conceded 1 or 2 runs. While Nabi picked 2 wickets, Mujeeb Ur Rahman bowled tidy spell of 1 for 26 in his 10 overs.

Afghanistan had a chance of making a cake walk of this match, but they messed it up! In spite of losing regular wickets, Afghanistan was in the hunt for winning the match. Initially Indian bowlers bowled to a plan. They kept it straight and tight. They created pressure without giving away too many runs, though Afghanistan bowlers targeted Hardik Pandya and Shami to grab some runs. Jasprit Bumrah got two quick breaks for India by dismissing set batsmen Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi in space of 2 balls in 29^th over. At this stage, Afghanistan was 106 for 4 in 29 overs. The target was still achievable. They just needed partnerships going so that they could take the risk at the end. But Indian bowlers showed great character and choked runs. This kept the graph of asking run rate constantly ascending. In between Indian bowlers kept taking wickets. Mohammad Nabi was the thorn in India’s flesh. He was playing sensibly. Though he was not scoring at a brisk rate, he was accumulating runs even as wickets tumbled around him. Afghanistan needed 21 runs off last 2 overs. Bumrah gave away just 5 runs in the penultimate over. Mohammad Shami claimed a hat trick in the last over and guided India to an 11 run win. Nabi was one of Shami’s victims. He made a good 52 in 55 balls. On his given day, Nabi would have won the match for his team, he had almost done it. Nabi needs applause for his all round efforts. He would be the unsung hero of the match! Shami picked up 4 wickets while Yuzvedra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya took 2 wickets each.

I just wondered, everyone would have, why Vijay Shankar and Kedhar Jadhav were never given the ball? When every spinner of Afghani camp could bowl tight spells and frustrate Indians, Shankar and Jadhav would definitely come in handy. The adamancy of sticking to bowling five bowlers, continuing Hardik Pandya in spite of him leaking runs looked weird and horrible, especially when India’s greatest think tanks, Kohli and Dhoni were on field! If you are not using the services of these two bowlers, why play them? You can increase your batting strength by playing Pant or all round strength by playing Jadeja! This would definitely bring trouble to India, especially seeing the batting line up! I am sure that Kohli would tell that he would play the same team even in the next match and not give a chance to Pant or Jadeja. I never understood the role of Jadhav and Shankar in the team? First of all I have an objection of them being in the team in place of many others who deserve their places!

Indian team will be two steps ahead if favorism and politics are kept away and if Indian think tank thinks of importance of winning matches rather than giving importance to characters!

I wish India come to senses quickly and play sensibly in the coming matches. They are looking sure to play a semi final, but you never know!

On the other hand, I would clap for Afghanistan, I would have clapped twice if they would beat India, in spite of being an Indian fan! But I would congratulate team India for pulling the win out of the jaws of defeat. Just the last two overs belonged to India even as Afghanistan dominated the other 98 overs of the day. That makes the difference between the two teams. And was there a luck factor involved?

Until we catch up the next time, it is goodbye from me folks!

Keep enjoying your world cup matches and have fun!

CWC 2019 Match 22 – Rohit-Kohli bat Pakistan out of the match, Indian bowlers excel in rain affected game

A world cup match!

A Sunday!

And….

An ‘India – Pakistan’ Match…!

What would cricket lovers from all over the world wish for, more than this..!

It is a perfect recipe for blasting entertainment.

It was Indo-Pak encounter this time to be played at Old Trafford Cricket Ground and India were going into the match with confidence of winning 2 matches and a little disappointment after their game against New Zealand got washed out! One more important thing was that India had never lost to Pakistan in their last 6 encounters in the previous world cup cricket matches.

Pakistan Captain, Sarfaraz called it wrong when he put India into bat after having won the crucial toss. The match would be played in an overcast condition as there was threat of rain.

India opened with K.L.Rahul and Rohit Sharma, a new opening pair. These two had never opened together for India. With Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan who scored a ton against Australia and found form and also was injured in the same match being rested, it was an experiment as long as India was concerned. Vijay Shankar was given a chance due to his possible all-round capabilities which he himself and also team India had to explore!

India played in three gears. Slow gear at the beginning, medium gear in the middle where they picked up the pace and accelerated the game and rampage gear at the end.

India started cautiously. Credits should be given to Rahul, who took time to find his rhythm and slowly accumulated runs. He gave a good start with Rohit Sharma wherein they put on 136 runs for the first wicket in 23.5 overs before Rahul got out for a well made 57. On the other hand, the hitman Rohit Sharma was at the top of his game. While comforting his new, young partner, Rahul and allowing him to discover himself, Rohit, being a senior partner played as a champion and took the responsibility of accelerating the score. His 113 ball 140 almost sealed the match in India’s favor. I seriously felt bad when he mistimed Hasan Ali for a catch to be held by Wahab Riaz when he was seriously meaning business at 140. We know, if Rohit hits a hundred, he is obviously looking for a big score or even a 200. I was waiting for his double ton, so as many Indian fans. But he missed the big one because when he got out, there were more than 11 overs remaining and Rohit was playing a destructive innings, in his top gear! But he had done his job.

Rohit also added 98 runs for the second wicket with Virat Kohli. The team India captain too was looking in top notch. He too missed a hundred when he got out on his personal score of 77 made in just 65 balls. Hardik Pandya’s breezy 26 added to the woes for Pakistan. Mohammad Amir, as expected was the thorn in the flesh for India, but Indian batsmen had other bowlers to target. Amir picked 3 Indian wickets to his credit.

If Pandya would come a little late in the innings or if Rohit or Kohli carried their bat till the end, the score would have gone well past 370 runs for sure. But India finished with a mammoth 336 losing 5 wickets in the proceedings. This meant that Pakistan had to bat sensibly and also with good grit and intention, composure and brains to get to this total, it wasn’t tough either. It also meant that India had to bowl decently not allowing Pakistan batsmen to settle down and build partnerships. It wasn’t easy for Indian bowlers as well, especially with rain on cards!

When it rained in between the Pakistan innings it looked like another wash out was on cards, especially when India had posted such a total and had played superbly! The rain did come in between and interrupted the match for long periods. But India had bowled 20 overs, needed for a result to be declared. At all junctures, Pakistan was way behind the DL par score! India was fancying a win, big win too!!

Indian opening bowlers Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah gave a dream start for India. They were hard to score. And then Bhuvaneshwar had to walk out due to his injury after having bowled just 2.4 overs. This was advantage point for Pakistan because they can now pick the part time bowlers to score runs. Vijay Shankar completed Bhuvaneshwar’s incomplete over and got his first wicket in the first ball he bowled in the world cup in the form of Imam-ul-Haq. Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam were looking lethal as they had settled down to put a century partnership for the second wicket. But the required run rate was always increasing. Fakhar and Babar tried to pull gears and were in attacking mood.

Kuldeep Yadav pulled the math in India’s favor when he dismissed both settled batsmen in quick time, within a span of 2 overs. Pakistan was on the back foot. Indian bowlers were applying pressure on the Pakistan batsmen and Pakistan batsmen found it difficult to score runs. Required run rate was slowly going out of reach. Surprisingly Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah couldn’t come to the part and were also targeted by Pakistan batsmen.

Hardik Pandya gave a double blow to Pakistan when he dismissed Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik in quick successions, in 2 consecutive balls in the 26^th over of the second innings. Pakistan was 129/5 at this stage and needed more than 200 runs in 23 overs which was an uphill task. There was no logic that Pakistan would win from here and even magic was a mirage! Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan tried to smash runs when a difficult chase was on cards following rain and application of DL rule. At 40 overs, Pakistan could manage 212 runs losing 6 wickets. Even if it wouldn’t have rained and if the match would go to full length, India would have won by more than 100 runs for sure. Chasing 336 was always a difficult equation and Pakistan showed no intent in doing it after a particular point of the match. Indian bowlers were clinical and superb after Indian batsmen had almost batted Pakistan team out of the match. Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav were the heroes with the ball; they took 2 wickets each and did not allow Indian captain worry about missing Bhuvaneshwar’s services.

By DL method, India won the match by 89 runs. Fakhar Zaman was the top scorer for Pakistan with 62 runs to his credit.

Pakistan has just won 1 out of their 5 matches, with 3 defeats and 1 match being washed out. Their campaign in the world cup looks difficult. They have to win all the other 4 matches and hope that it doesn’t rain in any of their games. This is expecting too much, but they have to! One more loss, it is end of road to Pakistan!

On the other hand India would take this win, especially when it is against Pakistan, the so called arch-rivals. It was sad to see a one sided match, but Indian fans will take it, any day! India is the only team apart from New Zealand which had not lost any match until now in this season of world cup. India has won 3 out of four games and has an undesired washout to their credit. With 5 more games to go, India will fancy their chances for a semi-final berth!

Until we catch up with more action from the next match, it is goodbye from me friends!

Keep watching and enjoying your world cup matches!

CWC 2019 Match 18 – Rain halts India’s encounter with New Zealand, both teams share points

One more important match of the world cup cricket 2019 went begging as it got washed out by the English rain without a ball being bowled.

The encounter between India and New Zealand was important not only from ‘points table’ perspective but also that it would be a game worthy to watch. This is because both these teams have started their world cup campaign this season in a superb way. Before this match, India had won both their matches that they played while New Zealand led the table with 3 wins out of the three that they played. This match would put one team ahead of the other and in strong contention to the semi-final berth, though already these two teams are discussed as two most fancied contenders for the final four.

Both teams would be extremely disappointed but they now need to focus on their upcoming matches. They both will be relieved teams that they are yet to concede in this tournament. On the other hand, the threat of rain spoiling the equations of the table and being judgmental in deciding the final four cannot be ignored!

While the Kiwis have lot of time before they play South Africa next Wednesday, India will be playing their arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday.

We will catch up with more action from the next match hoping that the rain wouldn’t curtail our discussion.

Until then, pray that it doesn’t rain and enjoy your world cup viewing!

CWC 2019 Match14 – Shikhar Dhawan smashes a superb ton as Indian top order bat the mighty Aussies out of the match

In what was counted as a neck throat encounter, India took a clean edge on the mighty Australians in The Oval and won the match by 36 runs. With Australian batting order going to immense depth as showed by Coulter Nile in the previous match, India couldn’t have taken them lightly. Moreover the Australian team were looking in good touch, menacing and were meaning business. When Kohli decided to bat first, he clearly knew the game plan, put a big total on the board and apply pressure on the Aussie batsmen. That exactly happened.

This match clearly showed the importance of your openers giving a good start and the middle order backing up, not leaving much to the tail, when it comes to batting.

A superb 127 run partnership between openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan for the first wicket in just over 22 overs was nothing short of a great start for India. Even when it was looking like the Aussie bowlers are having a tough time with Indian openers looking in great knick, not showing any signs of getting out, Rohit, the hitman, who had got a match winning century in his previous outing against South Africa edged a catch to Carey off Nile for 57. India was driving hard at this stage. Gabbar Dhawan was attacking at the other end. Shikhar Dhawan in the company of Rohit and Virat had virtually batted Australia out of the match. Another almost century stand with Virat Kohli, Dhawan made sure that India did not lose the grip on the match. Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed by Mitchell Starc in 37^th over when the score was 220. Virat Kohli was looking in great form as he was smashing the ball at will. But the surprise package of the match came in the form of Hardik Pandya who was promoted up in the order. He made good use of the opportunity and smacked a 27 ball 48. He showed how lethal he can be when he is at the top of his game. The decision to send him early clicked as India piled up a mammoth 352 on board. MS Dhoni and KL Rahul came up with quick-fire contributions. Virat Kohli played a superb innings and was looking like getting a hundred but decided to play second fiddle to the hard hitting Pandya and Dhoni. Kohli was dismissed in the penultimate ball as he made a 77 ball 82.

Australia was lucky to be chasing at least another 30 runs short. The way India had started; it was looking like they would end up at a score closer to 380 or 385 but Australian bowlers tightened things in between. Australia too had a good start at the beginning of the chase, but they were playing very slowly, especially David Warner. The way Warner played, I have never seen him playing so pathetically within a shell. It gave an impression to the other Australian batsmen that there were devils in the pitch. And I would not take away the credit from Indian seamers Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah for putting an attacking batsman like Warner on the defensive. I feel this was actually the turning point of the match seeing that Australia lost the match by just 36 runs, it always looks that Australia would have fancied their chances to win the game. Had things speeded up right at the beginning of the match, had Warner played the way he would have played, had couple of batsmen in the middle took the responsibility to build up partnerships and get big runs, 352 would have looked like a negligible total for the strong Australian batsmen. Again the credit goes to the Indian bowlers for the way they applied themselves and held their nerves even as few Aussie batsmen were blazing runs.

Australia played methodically and to a plan. In the slowness of the game, no one would have observed that Australia was planning to have wickets in hand to counterattack at the end. Australia’s run-rate was healthy if not good. But India always made sure that they had their opponents on the back foot, in spite of Australia having wickets in their hand. Steve Smith looked like having a plan and was standing stubborn at one end. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar dismissed Smith and Stoinis in space of two balls in the 40^th over. This was another turning point in the match. Australia was 244 for 6 at this stage. They needed just over hundred runs in 60 balls. Australia would have wished to have couple more wickets at this stage. It isn’t difficult to get 100 runs in 10 overs in modern cricket. To add to the worries of Indian bowlers, Alex Carey, who is showing promises with his gloves and bat in this world cup started counter-attacking. His 35 ball 55 couldn’t help Australia as the tail kept collapsing around him. Australia was bundled out for 316 runs in the last ball of the match. India had won the match.

Steve Smith top scored for Australia with 69 runs while Warner made a slow 56 in 84 balls. Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja and Glenn Maxwell also made useful contributions with the bat. Bhuvaneshwar and Bumrah took 3 wickets each. Yuzvendra Chahal too played a key role in India’s win as he dismissed Warner and Maxwell at crucial junctures of the match.

After South Africa, India would be happy to get rid of another tough team, Australia in their first two outings. Of course winning against top two teams in the competition is a morale booster. India would go into their third encounter against New Zealand with the same mind frame. The islanders on the other hand are looking a dangerous team. They have won all three matches they have played and are topping the charts.  On the other hand, Australia will not take any wounds or humiliations from this match. They are playing good. They would like to settle the scores against Pakistan, their next encounter, and grab two points there to make for their loss.

From my perspective, I felt I missed seeing Kohli’s ton and a probable double ton from Dhawan, seeing the way he was batting. With Dhawan’s mindset, I feel 200 is always a distant dream. While Dhawan won the man of the match for his scintillating hundred, he also gave some woes to India. He got his thumb injured in this match and the injury is not looking good. He was in no form and got to play all matches all these days. He stuck form in this match, that too against Australia and was looking in good touch and then he got injured! I wish he recovers fast.

Until we catch up with the discussions from the next match, it is goodbye from me folks…!

Keep watching world cup cricket…and have fun!

CWC 2019 Match 8 – Hitman Rohit Sharma steers India to a win against South Africa with his scintillating ton

Team India had their batting worries even before they played their first match in the cricket world cup, with both their openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan being in terribly poor form. No team would be blessed to have extremely talented openers as that of Rohit-Dhawan pair but when your best batsmen at the top of the order are in bad form, especially when you are into the world cup with people behind you, the entire nation and fans have high expectations from you due to your legends and ranking, it would hurt you, mainly if you are the captain of the team or the think tank in the dugout.

But legends rise to the occasion.

If not both, at least one of this pair rose to the occasion and in such a great way that all appreciations flowed his way. Yes, I am speaking about India’s Hitman, Rohit Sharma and the great innings he played to take India home with their first win in their first encounter of the world cup against South Africa.

India was playing their first match in the world cup against South Africa who had already lost their first two matches. If it was important for India to start with a confidence boosting win, it was equally important for South Africa to make a win out of this match to keep their hopes alive in this tournament.

South Africa, winning the toss and batting first never looked like they were playing in their comfort zone. They looked like playing defensive, on the back foot, especially after they had lost the first two matches, to make sure that they win this one against India. It is quite understandable. But I will not take away the credit from the Indian bowlers who bowled with such discipline that they crafted the way for Indian win in the first half of the match itself. It was Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian superman with the ball, who has been producing wonderful spells in every match he plays off late and has been a bad dream for every batsman, who gave a superb start for India. He broke havoc in the South African camp as he dismissed Hashim Amla who was returning after an injury and Quinton de Kock in quick succession keeping the Proteas at 24/2 in 6 overs. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar tightened the things and choked the run flow from the other end. To add to the woes of South Africa, Yuzvendra Chahal proved lethal. He dismissed 4 South African batsmen and made sure that the opponents did not settle down to make a big total. Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav provided the essential support from the other end. At 89/5 in 23 overs with all known batsmen back in the pavilion India would have wished to chase a target close to 160 or 170 runs even if the lower order resisted. But India messed it up in the last 10 overs and let things loose as South Africa finished 227 for 9 in 50 overs. At a point, they were never looking to play out the entire allotted overs. Thanks to late assault and counter-attack by the lower order Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada who came up with useful contributions. India were chasing 50 runs more than what they had expected to do. And whatever South Africa had scored was not less, seeing the depth of their bowling. But the bad news was that Dale Steyn was ruled out of the world cup due to injury and Ngidi was down and out for the same reason. So they bowled with deficit strength.

India always fancied their chances to chase this total down in quick time. But Kagiso Rabada spelt menace to the Indian Batting order. Both openers Shikhar and Rohit played defensive because they could not make big shots. The South African bowling was tight, straight, disciplined and up to the mark. Rabada and Morris dried up the Indian scoring. After early loss of Dhawan’s wicket, India was struggling at 14 runs on board in 7 overs. Even the versatile Virat Kohli was taken back and had no clue where to gather the runs from. When India lost Kohli who atypically played in his shell, almost scoring nothing, it looked like getting to the winning runs was an uphill task for Indian batsmen. 227 now looked like 350. Then the hitman opened up. He slowly started taking the attack to the opposition. He just needed good support from the other end and that was ably provided by useful contributions from K.L.Rahul and M.S.Dhoni.

Two big partnerships between Rohit and Rahul and later between Rohit and Dhoni made sure that India were cruising along towards the winning lane. South Africa bowlers too did not have any weapons left to attack once they had a clue that the Indian Batsmen were batting sensibly and not throwing their wickets. They were waiting for Indian batsmen to make mistakes but India played sensibly and with utmost caution. After all the hard work, they are not going to throw away this match. Rohit Sharma was the pioneer of this Indian win. Though it was not a typically hitman innings it was a super mature innings which came at the right time when India needed the most. To see Rohit bat with grit, like a saint was fascinating. Rohit guided India home with his superb ton. He remained unbeaten on 122 while Hardik Pandya gave the finishing touches in the way in which only he can bat. India won the match with 2 and half overs to spare.

What could have been an easy match for India was made difficult by the South African tail batsmen. What could have proved to be difficult was well sorted out by the hitman.

Chahal would have been easily the man of the match had India limited South Africa to 160 runs and easily chased it down. But those extra 50-60 runs that India chased in the difficult conditions to chase on a tricky wicket, the up-rise of hitman, and that important ton made Rohit Sharma the hero of the match. One needs to see that Rohit had scored more than half of the chase. And he dominated every partnership. The others stood and watched, just he played, and just he won the match for India.

India is considered as one of the contenders for winning this world cup and people have high expectations from Kohli and his boys. Kohli said that the expectations on his team are for the entire year and not just for the world cup and they have learnt to manage this pressure for years, during his pre-match interview. It is a statement of confidence. I wish that this does not open up the gates of being over-confidence for him or his team. But as starters, India will take this match and tick off a win column against one of the strongest teams in the competitions.

On the other side, team South Africa has lost three matches in a row. This will surely hurt them. Now they need to win almost every match they play and that would definitely be an acid test for their team. But strong teams and good teams will sort out their tough moments. I wish South Africa plan and execute everything they need to do to win their next match. I just hate seeing them being knocked out of contention tight in the mid-way of the tournament. They are not that bad side isn’t it?

Until we catch up with more talk on the next match, it is good bye from now!

Keep enjoying the world cup matches…!!