No surprises as T20 heads into Super Eights

September 26, 2012

top_eight_team

There were no jitters for the big teams in the first round of the World Twenty20, as all eight of them cruised into the Super Eights starting from Thursday.

Afghanistan, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh failed to spring a surprise before bowing out in the group stage.

With the Super Eights split into two groups, Group 2 looks marginally more challenging, with South Africa, Australia and former champions India and Pakistan in the chase for semifinal berths.

All four Group 2 teams won their first round matches while West Indies is the only team to progress without a victory, doing so on superior run-rate after its matches against Australia (loss) and Ireland (abandoned) were affected by rain.

The three subcontinent teams India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be relying heavily on their spinners.

Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis broke his own world record with staggering figures of 6-8 against Zimbabwe.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh returned after a year out with an impressive four-wicket haul against England, as India shot out the defending champ for only 80 after posting 170-4.

Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal also took four wickets against New Zealand and denied the Black Caps a victory with two wickets in the last over.

The Asian teams’ pacemen struggled to curtail the flow of runs, but there was no such headache for South Africa, New Zealand and England.

South Africa’s Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel bowled with lot of verve and Sri Lanka lost its rain-curtailed seven-overs-a-side match against the Proteas by 32 runs.

New Zealand’s Kyle Mills and Tim Southee knocked over Bangladesh’s top-order with six wickets between them after Brendon McCullum smashed a best-ever T20 innings of 123 off 72 balls.

New Zealand has the advantage of knowing the conditions well at Pallekele as it played both of its first round matches there.

Kiwis skipper Ross Taylor hoped his batsmen will also show as much aggression against the Sri Lanka spinners as they did against Bangladesh.

“The main message is to be aggressive and not let them settle,” Taylor said. “The two games that we’ve had against Pakistan and Bangladesh, there was one short boundary and one big boundary ... if there is a short boundary then we need to attack that.”

A host team has yet to win the World Twenty20, but Sri Lanka hopes to end that jinx thanks to Mendis, Lasith Malinga, captain Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara.

Mendis missed the rain-shortened game against South Africa due to a side strain during his record-breaking performance against Zimbabwe. Coach Graham Ford said it would be a setback if Mendis could not recover for Thursday’s match.

“With the way he bowled and the x-factor he brings, it would be a big blow,” Ford said. “In T20 cricket you want guys who can win matches on their own and he’s one of those guys.”

Led by Luke Wright’s brilliant 99, England’s top-order flourished against the mediocre bowling attack of Afghanistan before it hit rock bottom against Indian spinners at Colombo.

There will be no letup for them in the Super Eights, where they will face the likes of Mendis and West Indies’ off-spinner Sunil Narine.

“I think it’s important for the batsmen to get back into the nets and feel hitting the ball again. It’s all a state of mind, getting yourself back into a positive frame,” England captain Stuart Broad said.

West Indies’ batting reputation precedes it, so much of its hopes rest on Narine helping to restrict opponents.

“Sunil is our trump card, he has done well for us in this format and hopefully he could have a big impact on the English batting line-up,” captain Darren Sammy said. “We definitely look to bowl spin against them, but we have quality seam bowlers up front in Fidel (Edwards) and (Ravi) Rampaul.”

Pakistan has problems with its pacemen, but its top-order batsmen all have showed decent form, with Imran Nazir smashing 72 against Bangladesh and Nasir Jamshed scoring 56 against New Zealand. Captain Mohammad Hafeez also played useful knocks of 43 and 45.

Pakistan struggles when chasing a target. Although it successfully chased down 176 on Tuesday against Bangladesh for the loss of only two wickets, the competition is much stronger from here on.

“In the pace bowling department there’s probably a bit of an issue with the implementation of the basics,” Hafeez said. “Mohammad Akram (the bowling coach) is working hard at this, but sometimes things just don’t work out.”



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
January 26,2020

Chennai, Jan 26: Former India cricketer Kapil Dev on Saturday said that it will be a big loss for the Indian side when MS Dhoni decides to hang up his boots.

"I think he has served the country so well and nobody has done it like him. Everyone has to retire sooner or later. He is not playing matches currently. So I don't know when he will come out one day and say -- I have had enough. I think it will be our loss because he is such a fabulous cricketer," Dev told reporters here.

In the recently released BCCI contracts list, Dhoni did not find a place for himself. The former World Cup winning captain Dev said that it is unfortunate that Dhoni was not included in the contract list.

"I feel sorry that they have not included him. 

Tendulkar, Gavaskar had to witness the same. It's not my job and I am not there to give the contract to anyone. It is the job of the cricket board. So, I don't know. You can ask this question to the cricket board. They will be able to answer this question," Dev said.

The 38-year-old Dhoni is 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 tournament. 

Especially in the games against England and New Zealand (semi-final), he had to bear the brunt of netizens, who deemed him as the reason for the Men in Blue's loss.

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

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
July 24,2020

Dubai, Jul 24: The eagerly-awaited Indian Premier League will start on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the final slated on November 8, IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel told PTI on Friday.

While the event's Governing Council will meet next week to chalk out the final details and approve the schedule, it is understood that the BCCI has informally intimated the franchises about the plan.

"The GC will meet shortly but we have finalised the schedule. It will run from September 19 to November 8. We expect the government approval to come through. It is a full 51-day IPL," Patel confirmed the development after PTI reported the dates on Thursday.

The IPL has been made possible by the ICC's decision to postpone the October-November T20 World Cup in Australia owing to the COVID-19 pandemic due to which the host country expressed its inability to conduct the event.

Patel said that the Standard Operating Procedure to combat the COVID-19 threat is being prepared and the BCCI will formally write to the Emirates Cricket Board.

"We are making the SOP and it will be ready in a few days. To allow crowd or not depends on the UAE government. Anyway social distancing has to be maintained. We have left it for their government to decide on that. Will also be writing to the UAE board formally," Patel said.

There are three grounds available in the UAE -- Dubai International Stadium, Sheikh Zayed Stadium (Abu Dhabi) and the Sharjah ground.

It is learnt that the BCCI will be renting the grounds of the ICC Academy for training of the teams.

The ICC Academy has two full-sized cricket grounds along with 38 turf pitches, 6 indoor pitches, a 5700 square foot outdoor conditioning area along with physiotherapy and medicine centre.

As per the current health protocol in Dubai, there is no need to be in quarantine if people are carrying a negative COVID-19 test report, but if they are not, they will have to undergo a test.

While there was speculation that the IPL will start from September 26, the BCCI decided to advance it by a week in order to ensure that the Indian team's tour of Australia is not jeopardised.

"The Indian team will have a mandatory quarantine of 14 days as per the Australian government rules. A delay would have sent the plans haywire," a BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

"The best part is that 51 days is not at all a curtailed period and broadcasters will be happy with full seven-week window," he added.

While the original schedule had five double-headers, Patel said the new one will feature around 12 double-headers which means two matches each on both Saturdays and Sundays.

The Indians are set to play a four-match Test series against Australia starting December 3 in Brisbane after the IPL.

It is expected that with each and every team needing at least a month's time to train, the IPL franchises will be leaving base by August 20 which gives them exactly four weeks time to prepare.

The cash-rich event was originally scheduled to start at the end of March but the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions that were put in place to contain the virus, led to an indefinite postponement.

However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had always maintained that the event will be held some time this year.

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
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

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.