A resounding win of little value

September 21, 2012
Zimb_Win

If South Africa were hoping to ease their way into the tournament, they couldn't have wished for a better surface to open their campaign on than the pitch they encountered on Thursday night in Hambantota. The South Africa seamers might have started paying attention when Dale Steyn's first delivery zipped off the surface and carried well to the keeper, but when Morne Morkel bowled Vusi Sibanda with a vicious indipper, they would have known they would enjoy the evening. Eight wickets for 66 between the four of them, all 16 overs bowled, should have them well satisfied.

But that is partly why this 10-wicket victory means little in the context of the competition. It would be easy to dress it up as a dire warning to the other teams. Of the four wins over minnows so far, this was, after all, the most resounding. South Africa made no major errors in any department; they were ruthless with ball in hand and clinical in their run chase. Still, given the conditions, the result seems a little hollow.

South Africa are now guaranteed a place in the Super Eights, but all of their games in that phase are in Colombo - traditionally the least juicy pitch of the three being used for the World Twenty20. The Premadasa wicket had bounce and carry on its first evening of use, but given the venue will host 16 more matches in the next few weeks, including the women's knockout matches, the square is unlikely to retain that spice for the duration of the tournament. South Africa didn't bowl out either of their spinners against Zimbabwe, but if they are to go deep into the tournament, Robin Peterson and Johan Botha will likely have to play a bigger role.

"It wasn't a typical subcontinent wicket. There was a bit of pace and bounce and quite a bit of seam movement up front with the new ball," Richard Levi said following the match, with AB de Villiers echoing his surprise at the conditions.

It didn't help that Zimbabwe were abysmal either. In captain Brendan Taylor's own words they "were sloppy in the field, leaked runs with the ball and didn't score many runs with the bat". South Africa assessed the conditions well and bullied Zimbabwe into timidity with bursts of short bowling punctuated by mettle-testing fuller deliveries, but they can hardly expect better teams to simply miss unremarkable straight balls, like Elton Chigumbura did in Jacques Kallis' first over. It might appear from their first win that South Africa have no weaknesses, but Zimbabwe were woefully equipped to test them in any department.

To compound matters for both South Africa and Sri Lanka, their match on Saturday now becomes a dead rubber. Both sides will talk up the match as opportunity to gain momentum and build confidence ahead of the Super Eights, but with essentially nothing riding on the encounter, there is little incentive to lift performance, nor can the players prepare themselves for the big-game pressure that is to come. The teams will also be tempted to experiment with new combinations. If the strongest XI doesn't take the field, they have a ready-made excuse for losing, and neither team will take much away from the match.

There is, however, little South Africa could have done better on Thursday. Though the spinners didn't feature, the fast men are humming nicely and have proved they haven't lost their venom on the plane trip from England. Levi too, will be glad of the time in the middle, given the questions over his technique. Zimbabwe's bowling was almost as lackadaisical as their batting, but sometimes an easy opposition can help a batsman play himself into form.

"If there's a bit of liveliness in the pitch, with that sort of South African bowling attack, they're going to be very hard to beat," Taylor said. "Their batsmen are world class too. I see both them and Sri Lanka getting to the semi-finals at least."

If the Premadasa does provide fast surfaces early in the Super Eights, South Africa's attack will make them formidable. But as the tournament progresses, the better teams will ask much tougher questions than Zimbabwe did, and if the pitches change, interrogations will be in a different language as well.




Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 11,2020

New Delhi, Jun 11: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has indicated that this year's IPL could be conducted in empty stadiums, insisting that all possible options are being explored to ensure that the suspended event does take place despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to all the affiliated units sent late on Wednesday after the ICC Board meeting, Ganguly seemed confident of an IPL this year despite its current status of being indefinitely suspended because of the raging pandemic, which has claimed more than 8,000 lives in India.

"The BCCI is working on all possible options to ensure that we are able to stage IPL this year, even if it means playing the tournament in empty stadiums," Ganguly wrote.

"The fans, franchises, players, broadcasters, sponsors and all other stakeholders are keenly looking forward to the possibility of IPL being hosted this year.

"Recently, a lot of players both from India and other countries, participating in the IPL have shown keenness on being part of this year's IPL. We are optimistic and the BCCI will shortly decide on the future course of action on this," the former India captain said.

It is widely speculated that the IPL is eyeing the October event if the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia at that time is postponed. The ICC has deferred a decision on the World Cup's fate until next month.

Ganguly also said that the BCCI is working on the domestic schedule while exploring various formats which would make tournaments like Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Vijay Hazare "competitive and feasible".

"Moving ahead, the BCCI is in process of planning the domestic competitions for the next cricketing season. We are working on various options and formats in our endeavour to ensure that various domestic tournaments are held, they stay competitive and participation feasible," said the former India captain.

"The BCCI will come up with more details in next couple of weeks," he added.

He also informed that BCCI is preparing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for resumption of cricket in all state units to ensure medical safety of those involved.

The president also informed that the BCCI has made "all efforts to release funds/grants to its various members."

"Associations which have made proper submission of their accounts and funds utilization certificates have already received their grants," he said.

The other units will also receive their grants once they submit relevant documents, the president assured while informing that vendors have also been paid.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has said that wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and is one of the easiest guys to interact with.

Bravo was doing an Instagram live chat with former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa and it was then that the all-rounder was asked to talk about his stint with Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

"I think a lot of credit for CSK's success has to be given to Dhoni and Fleming, obviously the owners, they trust both Fleming and Dhoni, so there is no outside interference when it comes to decision making, both are very big students of the game, players love MS and it's an environment and franchise that allows you to be you," Bravo told Mbangwa during the chat.

"MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and in our team. He was one of the easiest people to interact with, outside of the cricket field, he is like playing video games, his door is open at all times, whenever you talk about the biggest superstar and then you think a person like Dhoni is the most humble of them all. CSK is a special team and we have the most loyal fans," he added.

Bravo has been with the CSK since 2011. He has played a total of 104 matches for the franchise, picking up 121 wickets.

The all-rounder has also managed to win the Purple Cap (most wickets in IPL) two times (2013 and 2015).

CSK has won the IPL thrice (2010, 2011 and 2018) and all the titles have come under the leadership of MS Dhoni.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the high-profile game.

This year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI's centrally contracted players list.

The board had released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

Dhoni is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).

Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He would have been leading the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29.

However, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.