And It's a Subcontinent Finale

          So there we are. Two teams from South-East Asia, the Indian subcontinent of which one is India itself, will face-off on Saturday to lift the coveted trophy which has evaded all but Australia since 1996. Both sides will be playing their third finals, the first of which both won, the second both lost, incidentally to Australia in consecutive World Cups. And the third...I just can't wait to find out.
          My, did India make it in style. Turning a game around against a side which has not been beaten so far after being restricted to 260. Sounds familiar? A great start and an exodus? That seems to be the name India have made for themselves. And for a change no longer, the bowling bailed them out. Each man in blue who ever bowled a ball yesterday picked up two green shirted neighbours. Dhoni's decision to go for a 7-4, with erstwhile part-timer Yuvraj being the fifth bowler all on his own, without the helpful support of Yusuf Pathan and fellow part-timers Raina and Sachin if need be was not too shocking, but his idea to dump Ashwin and go for Ashish Nehra, whom most Indians hold a grudge against for that appalling last over against South Africa, was not something that made me too happy. Dhoni takes gambles like this, and at least we'll have someone to blame when we lose and Nehra's ten overs go for seventy runs.
          Far from it. As I mentioned above, he picked up two, perhaps redeeming himself. It was a team effort. Sachin Tendulkar came close to his 100th hundred, but after many catches dropped and an lbw proven wrong, he was finally caught by the skipper on 85. In spite of his flawed and uncharacteristically not very smooth innings, he walked away with the Man of the Match award.
          In the second innings, at points it looked like it could go either way but when India began to steadily remove batsmen, the match looked more or less in India's hands. Misbah played inexplicably slowly till the end. He began to supply the boundaries once the other batsmen like Afridi and the potentially dangerous Umar Akmal departed, but it was too late. Blue had won over green, and our very honourable PM's very honourable guest was upset, not without reason. How the Pakistanis who crossed over to come to Mohali with big hopes only to see the side mess up a chase felt, I don't know.
          Due to Sri Lanka's hiccuppy win over New Zealand earlier, we'll be seeing an across-the-strait final in Mumbai on Saturday. Incidentally, India met Sri Lanka many thousands of years ago, and the 1.2 billion people here will be hoping for the same result, only that Sri Lanka is fielding a much more likable team, so if we lose it'll not be to rakshasas.
          In the poll on the right, not a soul has voted for Sri Lanka. Why? They are one of the two teams left! Whereas India has got around 17 votes! We seem rather confident. This shouldn't become complacency.
          I can't wait for Saturday!

Subcontinent #3's Through

          So there we are. Three of the four semifinalists are from the subcontinent; two are hosts and both will play their semis at home. Sri Lanka went through to the last four after a resounding ten-wicket win over fellow island nation England. You can't score 230 against a team like that and expect to get away with it.
England won the toss and opted to bat. Strauss fell for just 5 early on. Jonathan trott scored 86, while Eoin Morgan, having been dropped thrice and an lbw not given, exhausted his five lives after being caught off Malinga. The Europeans scored an unimpressive 229-8 and needed Sri Lanka to go at under 5 rins an over to get the target.
          A team like England's and a score like 229 cannot hold a side with longstanding openers, experienced middle-order men and tail-enders who will put on runs before ultimately departing. The aforementioned openers Dilshan and Tharanga needed no help at all to chase down the target, punishing even successful bowlers like Swann and Bresnan and not showing any mercy to the less renowned ones. They shot down the not-so-intimidating target with a good 63 balls to spare, even as the keeper-captain Sangakkara padded up, wondering when he would go in and when he realised he didn't need to, stood up and applauded the openers' inevitable centuries, the second of which was clubbed with the win.
          Sri Lanka's semifinal tie is also at home, as is the anticipated India-Pakistan one at Mohali. All the teams need to do is win two consecutive games and they will lift the Cup that Counts.

Oh My God!

           The way is clear.
           India are now the hot favourites. Never mind that their batting collapsed twice consecutively in the league stage. Or that their bowling and fielding are supposedly not up to the mark. The co-host stormed into the semifinals after a spirited game and five-wicket win. They will play unpredictable neighbour Pakistan on Wednesday for a place in the final.
          New Zealand, on the other hand, may not be the kind of side which falls explicitly under the category of teams which 'can win', but when a team beats what was declared as the favourite by Steve Waugh, not to mention the author, one can't help but conclude that they could pull off an unlikely but possible first World Cup victory.
          Today, Sri Lanka and England clash in the last quarterfinal for a semifinal spot, and I'm going for a Sri Lanka victory. If England have a good day, like they did twice in Chennai, then they could go through, but inconsistency is not respected in the knockouts. Murali will also be hoping to get closer to Glenn McGrath's record 71 World Cup wickets.
          All the previous paragraphs are sans any mention of the words 'Australia' and 'South Africa', which have been uttered in the same breath as 'favourite' because the two sides have gone home in their respective directions owing to them going down in thrilling losing causes. I will have to eat my words about the 'chokers' tag, because South Africa are the rightful owners. One more heartbreak was added to their long list, after falling short of New Zealand's unimpressive 221 by 49 runs.
          Earlier, there was an upset of sorts as India beat Australia in Ahmedabad. Australia went at a similar pace throughout the innings, save for some hitting in the end, and posted 260. Such a target is not too hard to defend when you have bowlers of Brett Lee and Shaun Tait's quality. They succeeded in one aspect of bowling, picking up wickets, but the other important aspect, containing runs, was ignored once the fifth wicket fell. Yuvraj Singh, again impressing with an all-round performance, and Suresh Raina successfully brought down the required run rate within easy reach and snapped it up with 14 balls to spare. The last ball was a stylish boundary, and Yuvraj Singh exulted in front of an exhilarated Ahmedabad crowd.
          Of the five teams left, I think only India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are of World Cup-winning calibre. There can still be upsets.
          Today will be exciting - the revealing of the identity of the fourth semifinalist and the green light shown for the awaited F1 season 2011. Have fun!

West Indies are deservingly OUT

          I wonder how the fans at Mirpur would have felt. Many were supporting Pakistan, but did they turn up at the stadium expecting such a lopsided quarterfinal which involved one team getting out for their third lowest total in World Cups and another chasing it down in a few overs?
          West Indies were packed off for a very unimpressive 112 all out in an again unimpressive 43.3 overs. The only survivor and top scorer was Shivnarine Chanderpaul who scored a depressingly slow 44 off 106 balls (caught in the wrong format?) and ran out of partners to at least get a fifty. Explosive hitter Pollard was once again dismissed for only one run. Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal contributed to the Windies' dismal collapse.
          Pakistan had absolutely no trouble in shooting down that humble score. West Indies is not renowned for their bowling attack and failed to pick up even one wicket. Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez scored 47 and 61 each, both unbeaten, and chased down the target effortlessly in just under 21 overs. The Man of the Match award was given to Hafeez for his all-round performance. And West Indies exited the Cricket World Cup yet again.
          Tomorrow, India plays Australia in a mouth-watering second quarterfinal. One team will go through and one will exit. What will be the outcome?

Aussome winning run ends, India finish 2nd

The atmosphere at the MAC was charged. After all, it was a World Cup match featuring India. And West Indies and India are not exactly friendly. The match would decide who will play Pakistan and who will play Australia (the winner, ironically, would play the reigning champs). India were looking to sign off the league stage with a win.
It seemed like half the city was there. There was utter noise outside the stadium, with people cashing on on the extreme support for the home nation by selling various commodities including flags, banners, wristbands and painted faces.
The Indian innings started auspiciously with a wide four. Early in the innings, however, Sachin Tendulkar, a Chennai favourite, walked for a caught behind that was neither called by the umpire, nor easily spotted from the replay. The other opener, Gambhir, too fell not long after. Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli put on a good partnership, but the conclusion began a saddening series of wickets. Yuvraj braved the heat and a bad stomach to complete his hundred - his first in World Cups. India put on the board a not-very-inspiring total of 268, which the West Indies could have easily chased down even without the bombarding Chris Gayle. Ravi Rampaul picked up five.
The West Indies started off fairly okay, but when home boy Ravichandran Ashwin picked up his and the team's first wicket in his first World Cup match, the crowd erupted. Ten overs later, Darren Bravo, Lara lookalike, fell off a Raina delivery. When opener Dwayne Smith fell in the first over of Zaheer Khan's spell, the collapse was triggered. The Caribbean side crashed from 154 for two to 188 all out, the wickets of Pollard, Thomas, Sammy, Russell, Benn, Sarwan and Rampaul each set off a crowd explosion of increasing magnitude as the Boys in Blue inched closer to a win. Pollard's wicket was particularly dramatic because, as a man who on his day could have shot down that target by himself in ten overs, the expectations were set high and when a figure like that falls for just one run, the joy for the opponent and its supporters is unparallelled. The last time he was dismissed so crucially was that memorable wicket in the IPL final when Dhoni placed a man in an unusual fielding position near the bowler and caught the MI hitter. For a change, the much-worshipped Indian batting order collapsed and the bowling attack which many had dismissed had bailed them out.
Earlier, the amazing Australian winning run of 34 World Cup matches was ended by the very team which had beaten it last, in 1999. Ponting was disappointed, not without reason. This meant that World No. 1 Aussies finished third in the group behind Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The QF line up features games between Pakistan and West Indies, Sri Lanka and England, Australia and India and New Zealand and SA, the third of which is mouthwatering. I can't imagine that one of those two will be eliminated on Thursday for good.
Eight teams left. Next week, four. And two. And it boils down to one winner whose name will be etched in history.

Chokers Tag Shifts, 'Minnows' Thrill, Sangakkara and Murali Shine

I think the 'chokers' tag may have changed places. South Africa looked distinctly un-chokish in their last game against India, while West Indies lost from a seemingly winning position to England, who seem to have a penchant for games with interesting endings. England scored a rather mediocre 243 all out in 48.4 overs. Russell, Bishoo and Roach were responsible for dismantling the island nation's line-up. West Indies started off very well, scoring fifty runs in under five overs, but after Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith and his namesake Bravo were dismissed, the side from the Caribbean slowed down. Wickets did not fall continuously till the end. The final four blows were taken for just three runs. West Indies had messed up a chase where a win would have seemed default in the beginning of their innings.
Ireland chased down the what would be in normal circumstances intimidating target of 307 set by the Netherlands with a mere 14 balls to spare. Ryan ten Doeschate's century coupled with Peter Borren's 84 set up the score for Ireland to chase, but Ireland's spirit was amazing. They went at over six runs an over and Paul Stirling scored the second century of the game. He bagged the Man of the Match award, and the Oranje exited the World Cup without having won a single game, which is a shame considering they have some world-class players in their ranks.
Sri Lanka registered a big 112-run win yesterday. Sangakkara sparkled his way to a century, whick frankly is nothing new. They scored a decent 265 runs, and you really can't expect a team like New Zealand to chase that down too easily. Wickets fell like ninepins, four of them and slowing of run-rate thanks to the evergreen Muralitharan. The Kiwis were bowled out for a not-very-respectable 153 in 35 overs. The Man of the Match went to Sangakkara, but I feel it should have gone to Murali.
There are only two league games left, incidentally one of which I will be watching live. Then comes the knockouts, the true test.

India vs SA

This was an anticipated match in many ways. One, they are two teams tipped to win the quadrennial event and landed up in the same group. Two, they just played each other in a five-match one-day series which went down to the wire, SA coming out on top. The crowds were drawn simply because the encounter featured the host.
India won the toss and opted to bat. The start was sublime, setting a new mandatory powerplay best and making the hopes of a nation soar. The large opening partnership of 142 was finally broken when the timber rattled behind Sehwag off a du Plessis delivery. Tendulkar went on to complete his 99th international century, to huge applause. Gambhir arrived, put 69 on the board before departing. India still looked poised to go well past 300 when Dhoni inexplicably sent Yusuf in early. The latter came and left without scoring, triggering a collapse behind him. India, after the good start and all that, was bowled out for 297.
It is never good to score something like that and believe you're safe. Especially when there are men like Amla and Kallis in the opposite team's line-up. The aforementioned hitters scored 61 and 69 respectively, setting the tone. Some of the Indians bowled sensibly, but it wasn't enough. AB de Villiers too scored a half-century. SA were favourites throughout the chase. When wickets began to fall towards the end, the match looked like it was delicately poised and the Indians could have made it, but the Men in Blue left it too late. It boiled down to a very gettable but also very defendable 13 runs off the last over. Dhoni sent the inconsistent Ashish Nehra over Harbhajan Singh for the last over, and the former promply gave away the amount in four balls, of which three were boundaries. Dale Steyn was Man of the Match.
India would like to win their final encounter against WI at Chepauk, beacuse this is a format which requires a team to finish as high in the table as possible. I'm wishing them luck.

Weekend Dhamaka - Quoting ESPN-Star

Wow, this weekend was exciting, though a part of the excitement was washed out. Australia took on Sri Lanka in a replay of last edition's final, which too was marred by the conditions. Sri Lanka batted first, and recovered from the early loss of Dilshan and Tharanga. Sangakkara scored an unbeaten 73, but never got to complete his innings as the heavens opened and the poor Sri Lankan fans in Colombo got to see only 32.5 of the 100 overs they had paid for.
South Africa failed to shake off the 'chokers' tag as they made a mess of what should have been an easy target of 172. England made their humble score after Tahir and Peterson ripped through the batting line-up, with only Bopara and Trott making any attempt to steady the inflow of runs. The African side started their chase well, but some good bowling by the Englishmen meant that SA lost seven wickets for just 21 runs and finished a mere six runs short of their target. The English hopes of a first ever World Cup win, dented after a tie and a loss, were revived!
There was a lot of hype around the India match. True, it's an Associate nation they were playing, but a talented one at that. And an India match is an India match.
India opted to field, and a surprising five-wicket haul by Yuvraj Singh, a part-time spinner included the wicket of record-setter Kevin O'Brien for just 9. Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel also pitched in and got the visitors for 207, a target which a team with a batting line-up like India's should have got in around 35 overs. However, the fiery Sehwag was removed early, which I guess slowed it down considerably. They ambled along the middle overs, losing the occasional wicket. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh brought the Men in Blue close to the target, and after the skipper's departure, Yusuf Pathan finished the game in his inimitable style. The man of the match was expectedly Yuvi, being the first man to score a fifty and get a five-for in the same match in World Cups.
More dhamaka expected over the next few weeks!

England is Very Upset

       That elusive upset emerged yesterday, in the form of a thrilling three-wicket Ireland win over England. The Englishmen batted decently, as it is very easy to do that at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, but the same can't be said about their bowling. Kevin O'Brien scored the fastest hundred in World Cup cricket, off a neat fifty balls and a nice round strike rate of 200, shattering the previous record of Matthew Hayden's ton off sixty in the previous edition in the Caribbean. Only Graeme Swann bowled remotely well, and his overs were used up early.
An Associate team will not be able to chase down a target of 328 unless the opposing team plays really badly, and that could describe England pretty well. O'Brien and Alex Cusack built up a good partnership, before Cusack sacrificed himself after a misunderstanding over a single. John Mooney came in, and played with a general pattern of many dot balls before a boundary, the fours coming in strange places where neither the bowler not Mooney meant them to go. O'Brien's historic innings came to an end after a convincing run-out. There were only tail-enders left, but the damage was done. The Irish men won with five balls to spare.
England's hopes of winning their first ever World Cup are now dented, after being stretched by the Netherlands, tying a thriller with India and now losing to their European rivals. They will ahve to step up.
Ireland, on the other hand, are high on confidence. They will be playing India next, and will be looking to exploit the hosts' below-par bowling. However, the captain says the top order should improve. They could beat Bangladesh, and if they pull off another upset, over India, South Africa or Windies, then a quarterfinal berth is more or less assured.
The weekend menu is quite interesting, with an Australia - Sri Lanka final replay, South Africa meeting a battered England and India playing Ireland, which, being Indian, I have to watch. A certain TV is going to be on for a long time!
More upsets will be fun, but NOT against India.
That's it for now!

So Who Won? No One!

The India-England match was shifted from the country's most famous cricket ground, the Eden Gardens, to the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore, inviting unhappy remarks from a lot of people. Crowds of people thronged the stadium for the tickets, even as it threatened to rain.
If the match was washed out by rain, one point each would have been awarded.
It wasn't. India started off well, Tendulkar scoring a century, his 98th, in his typical style. The others made some partnerships. Suddenly, towards the end of the innings, there was a flurry of wickets, most of them by Tim Bresnan. India never got to finish the innings, the tenth wicket falling off the last ball.
England paced their chase very well. They kept up the run rate and exploited the poor bowling by hitting frequent boundaries. Strauss scored a brilliant 158. However, in the end Zaheer Khan picked up some valuable wickets that gave the hosts a glimmer of hope. They slowed the visitors down a little, and it boiled down to two runs required off the last ball - and England took a characteristic single. The match was tied.
A tie also means a point apiece.
All that nail-biting for nothing?
I don't think so really, because we saw some good cricket. And it's good to speed up the heartbeats once in a while (my ideal).
Shane Warne in fact was the only one who predicted a tie before the match. He was regarded a genius by English captain Andrew Strauss.
India need to get their act together in bowling and fielding if they don't want to embarrass themselves against Ireland next week.
We still need an upset. Pakistan beating Sri Lanka was not all that unexpected, and the islanders are proving themselves favoutrites right now. I'm in fact looking forward to the time a minnow team surprises one of the big guns.
May the most deserving team win! Not necessarily best!
Cheers!