The Black Caps are here...

The Black Caps have never been as confident in the previous editions of the World Cup as they are now. The Chapell-Hadlee resounding victory against the Aussies has done them a World of good. To me, they are one among two teams potent enough to beat the Aussies, the other being Sri Lanka. So I excitedly await the virtual World Cup finals showdown between the Black caps and the Lankans on April 12th in the Super eights. The March 29th encounter between West Indies and New Zealand re-affirmed my abilities on New Zealand. Stephen Fleming, one of the longest reigning successful Captains does deserve a World Cup Title to his resume to make justice for his skills.
On their opening match in the Super eights, the New Zealand was put up against the West Indies who appeared to be drained by 2 continuous days of action. They appeared to be dispirited and without energy and were in no mood to put up a fight. On the other hand, New Zealand showed boldness and attitude that suggested that this World Cup was theirs and no opposition dare stop them. West Indies had a bad start despite Gayle’s resistance and they kept losing wickets regularly. Inspite of Lara’s vain efforts at holding his batting unit together, the West Indies barely were able to produce a fighting total. New Zealand’s bowling attack had done its homework and the batsmen had to just complete the formalities, which they did with utmost ease.
With 2 consecutive losses, West Indies face virtual elimination. It will be tough for them to make a comeback. But ultimately, this is Cricket and anything can happen, you can never discount anyone.

India is going to win the World Cup.Here is Why :)

I received a forward from my friend, a die hard Indian cricket fan. In that forward there is a certain reasoning(weird though!) which predicts an Indian win this World Cup.

Here it goes:

There are 2 solid(solid as claimed by my friend) reasons why India will win the World Cup this time:

REASON 1:

Year 1981
1. Prince Charles got married
2. Liverpool crowned Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes
4. Pope Died
5. 2 years later India won the world Cup!!!

Year 2005
1. Prince Charles got married
2. Liverpool crowned Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes
4. Pope Died
5. 2 years later India will win the world Cup

REASON 2:

1982 Football World Cup won by Italy
1983 Cricket World Cup won by India

2006 Football World Cup won by Italy
2007 Cricket World Cup: INDIA


Predictions apart,today's match between India and Srilanka will decide if the Indians will proceed to the next round,leave alone win the World cup.

Indian Cricket Couples

Sachin
Ganguly
Agarkar
Sehwag

Dravid

Is it going to be the Deshis or the Lankans?

Bangladesh Vs Srilanka and Zimbabwe Vs Pakistan…These 2 matches assume significance for certain teams as a win will mean that they are through to the next round.
Srilanka has to win this match to keep their hopes alive. After the Deshis had overcome the Indians, Srilanka cannot take them lightly. The key to the match lies in the team fielding first. Predictions were made before the tournament started that the team batting second will have more probability of winning in the Carribean which has proven to be true so far in the tournament. A few wickets will give Bangladesh the breakthrough and they can beat the air out of the Lankans, the same way they did to the Indians..
The Pakistanis will hope to forget this tournament as early as possible- there were plenty of haunting moments- their early exit from World Cup, their worst show in recent history, their coach,Woolmer’s death under suspicious circumstances adding salt to their already excruciating pain. One thing they will not wish for is a complete wash in the tournament- they will be desperately hoping to win their last match and salvage some pride. Zimbabwe on the other hand will hope some remaining charm from St.Patrick’s day rubs on them as well
The Lanka-Bangla duel attains significance to the Indians as well. They will hope that either Bangladesh beats the Lankans and give the Indians a fair chance to move to the next round or Lanka drubs the Deshis to a big win so that the net run-rate will be favourable to the Indians. All this takes precedence only after assuming the Indians will win in the make-or–break encounter with Sri-Lanka on March23rd.

Back to Winning Ways...

Finally, a not so copper bottomed Sehwag has regained touch for the good of the team and himself......His 114 off 87 balls steadied the ship after the minor turbulence at the start of the innings after Uthappa’s dismissal.
Although the victory against Bermuda woudn’t wipe away the agonizing defeat against Bangladesh a few days back, India would have re-discovered the ways and means of winning through this victory….An Indian victory against Bermuda was in the offing, but what was needed was a victory by a huge margin to let their WC hopes live…..and what could have been better than the record 257 runs victory….Ganguly,Tendulkar and Yuvraj demolished Bermuda’s bowling attack into bits and pieces leaving them high and dry….

Sehwag was offered support by Saurav Ganguly who scored 89 off 114 balls, anchoring the Indian innings. After both Sehwag and Ganguly were dimissed India were 205 for 2. Indians well placed at this stage needed one more partnership to reach a mammoth total. Yuvraj and Sachin joined party scoring runs more than 100 runs in the last 10 overs and amassing a record Indian total of 413.
Indian bowlers started off brilliantly - Zaheer Khan blazing the trail with 2 early dismissals.
After a bit of resistance by the Bermuda batters, Munaf Patel struck, removing Delyone Borden. He was hit high on the pad, but Munaf was fortunate enough to bag his wicket. Kumble and Agarkar took 3 wickets each.Kumble coming in place of Harbhajan into the team removed Romaine, Tucker and Jones. Agarkar claimed the wickets of Cann and Hurdle both sent back without contributing to the score.

The fun and celebrations will pass on a positive energy into the Indian team and help them hopefully win against the Sri Lankan team on Friday. This will be one of the most important matches at this stage of the World cup. Let’s see whether India bites the bullet or the dust.

Related Links:

Scorecard

Records set

Woolmer's death shrouded in mystery.....

Geo TV reports that Bob Woolmer’s untimely mysterious death may actually be a murder. Initial suspicion was on natural causes like heart attack and stress supposed to be the first major factor. After the autopsy’s inconclusive report and the officials being tight-lipped about the circumstances of the death, murder is not being ruled out.
Jamaican police will announce the update on the investigations on March 22nd.

Sources:

NDTV

GEO TV

Who do U Call a minnow !!!

March 17th, 2007 marked a day where the so-called giants in the cricketing arena were brought to face reality. India and Pakistan lost matches which were considered to be mere cake-walks; rather they slipped and ended humiliating only themselves.

Upsets of the World Cup

traces the list of world cup upsets in the history of the game. The game of cricket is very unpredictable where a team which looks extremely superior on paper losing in a manner, so humiliating. Bangladesh and Ireland have made a bold statement of their arrival to International cricket sending strong signals to other nations to take cue from them.
This takes significance as the top teams that had lost on March 17th were from cricket crazy nations of India and Pakistan. The pressure was always going to be on these teams as no-one expected the ‘minnows’ to win. The manner in which the 2 teams lost had lot in common.India and Pakistan were batting first in a pitch that was as listless as these teams. Both the teams faced a very energetic opposition who outclassed the opponent in every department, in particular fielding. The Indian team will hope that the similarity ends there and that they will not be joining Pakistan out of the World cup. The average 'unselfish' Indian fan will now end up praying for other teams as well,so that the equations are in India's favour.
Both India and Pakistan are definitely a better side but they paid the price for not taking the opposition seriously. Thanks to these neighbours from the Indian- sub continent and largely to their attitude, the underdogs had a field day and will probably move to the next round of competitive cricket.

Its all within the neighbourhood....

India, Bangladesh encounter will bring to close the inauguration round of matches for all participating teams. March17th will showcase the Bangladeshi neighbors take on India first time outside the sub-continent. Bangladesh is not close to the ‘minnows’ bunch as acknowledged by the Indian captain, Dravid. It will be a different outing for the Indians as they take on a very young Bangladesh team, which will be overpowered by the Superstar effect showcased by the Indians’ armory.
On paper, Indians are a far superior side compared to Bangladesh. They have only lost one out of the 14 contests between the 2 teams. Indians have batsmen like Saurav and Sachin who will be raring to go against Bangladesh with averages of 56 and 49 respectively. Adding to this will be the fact that Sachin enjoys an average of 80 in all the opening encounters of India’s World Cup clashes plus he has not scored a century so far against Bangladesh, the only test playing nation against which he has not done. He will be waiting to better his record in this match. So Indian fans will expect ‘runs feast’ from Sachin. No wonder the stadium is already booked to its full capacity.
Despite all these odds in India’s favour, Bangladesh has the ability to outclass their opposition. Their captain, Habibul Bashar has 3 fifties to his credit against India. He will add solidity to the batting department which already has batsmen who can shock any opposition. Moreover they have capable new ball bowlers like Mortaza and Hossain and spinners like Rafique, Razzak and Saqibul who can make the best out of the slow and low Carribean pitches. Moreover, Indians have an aging team as against the young brash of Bangladesh.
A couple of unexpected wickets and agile fielding could boost the confidence of this Bangladesh team and who knows might even win them the match. But the Indians will surely not take them lightly and will try to win and that too in a manner which is convincing.

Teasing Appetiser to the World Cup!!

The opening match of the Cricket - 2007 World Cup definitely was a teasing appetiser to the start of the tournament - it ignited huge expectations for the tournament. At the end of the match, it appeared to be a good toss to lose in return for a win in the match in a pitch where a good score remained unpredictable. In a perfect setting for the World Cup, the Windies won by a comfortable margin of 54 runs. They will just hope to sustain this victory all through the series. Pakis will now have more to worry about - the way they lost than their deficit margin. Nothing seemed to go their way with their fielding easily topping the list of concerns.

West Indies had a poor start with Gayle falling cheaply. Then the resurrection started with the cameo from Sarwan flirting with his wicket, continuously living on the edge. Samuels and Lara maintained a responsible partnership with quite a healthy run-rate. Towards the end, the Blitzkrieg from Smith boosted the Windies total,which always looked attainable.

Pakistan in return bettered the West Indies with an even miserable start. Then they were sustained by Yousuf and Inzi reviving hope for a victory but once Inzi was out, nothing was in order and Pakistan never gave a fight and meekly surrendered. But credit has to be given for the 54 ball 62 run contribution from Shoaib Malik, the lone warrior amongst the ruins. They have to heal the lower middle order and tail's batting woes.

It will be interesting to watch how these 2 teams progress from here. Whether they will remain to be inherently mercurial throughout the tournament or will they try to shed that tag, we all have to wait and watch……

WestIndies Vs Pakistan-The Opening Encounter

Everything is set for the opening match of the 9th edition of the Men’s Cricket World Cup. The erratic nature of the cup cannot be best portrayed than the start-off between the Windies and the Pakis. Both teams are so unpredictable and can overrun any formidable opposition on their day. It sure is going to be a great start towards a really long tournament.
So who is going to pull this off ? The windies have won 5 out of their 7 encounters in the world cup encounters between these teams. Pakistan will be trying hard to change the equation. Out of 109 ODIs between them, west Indies have won 66 and 2 were tied. Windies appear to be clear favourites. Yes..they only appear to be. Despite their good record against Pakistan, the windies’ recent form against Pakistan appears to be nothing short of being called ‘pathetic’ with 8 results against their credit.
Much talk is around the pitch with even the experts themselves not knowing what score is a respectable target. With work done on the pitch, the toss will be a good one to lose. With both teams equally balanced with a talented list of batsmen, the onus is now on the bowlers especially during the middle overs. The spinners will hold the key as is predicted all through the tournament.
Being the opening match of this world cup, whoever wins will gain psychological advantage and confidence to perform better. Non-favourites have a lot to prove. A handicapped Pakistan side and lacklustre West indies side have nothing to lose.
Windies will be bending upon their home advantage while Pakistan will settle on their recent record. One thing is sure that it is going to be full of fireworks to an otherwise lengthy tournament.In any game nerve steel is indispensable. Let’s sit back and see who will have the last laugh.

Let The Games Begin!!!

The opening ceremony of cricket 2007 world cup