Summary of the Caribbean Premier League 2019
The 7th season of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) ended on a high note, which saw Barbados Tridents outplaying undefeated Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Final on October 12, 2019.
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| #CPL19: As it happened |
Showing posts with label Analysis. Show all posts
The 7th season of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) ended on a high note, which saw Barbados Tridents outplaying undefeated Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Final on October 12, 2019.
Statistical analysis of Virat Kohli's 20,000-plus runs in a decade
In the ongoing series between West Indies and India, #TeamIndia's captain Virat Kohli achieved a rare feat - became the first player to score 20,000-plus runs in a decade.
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| Virat Kohli's 20k-plus runs in a decade, decoded! |
Summary of the Cricket World Cup 2019
The 12th edition of Men's ODI World Cup has come to an end. 45 days of top quality cricket contest kept everyone interested, and ended with an epic final.
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| #CWC19: As it happened |
#CWC19: India-Pakistan rivalry in the World Cups
The arch-rivals India and Pakistan are set to lock horns in a mega Sunday cricket World Cup match at the Old Trafford, Manchester.
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| ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Indo-Pak rivalry, decoded! |
#CWC19: Meet the Captains
The ICC Cricket World Cup is the international championship of ODI cricket. It is organised by cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council, every four years.
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| ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Meet the Captains of the participating teams |
ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Team Introductions
The 12th edition of ICC Cricket World Cup will be hosted by England and Wales Cricket Board. The marquee tournament is set to kick off on May 30 onwards.
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| #CWC19: An introduction to participating teams |
Summary of the Indian Premier League 2019
Another season of IPL concluded on a high note. 45 days of non-stop Cricket action kept everyone glued to their TV sets.
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| #IPL2019: As it happened |
Review: My 5 memorable moments of the 2014 ICC World T20
Like the format of the game, T20 World Cup – in its 7 year history – has witnessed five different nations emerged as the champion with only five teams managed to get into the final showdown; out of which three belongs to sub-continent.
In the meantime, not only the T20 format is widely acknowledged by the masses, but also the induction of innovative technology garnered pretty eyeballs. Those LED stumps, Spider Cams, Cheerleaders, etc. have ensured wide possibilities in the future of T20 cricket itself! Leave alone its collective impact on Tests and One-dayers for a while.
Right from the start – back in the year 2007 – in South Africa to the Bangladesh in 2014, there have been a lot of moments for cricketing minds to cherish for long. Be it Yuvraj Singh’s 6-sixes in an over or that final over by Joginder Sharma in the 2007 T20 WC, Pakistan’s characteristic victory against Sri Lanka in the 2009 Finals, England’s historic trophy celebrations in the following year v Australia, or the West Indies’ calypso rhyme in the year 2012: one can find his/her own favorite to relate with.
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| Review: Five best moments of the ICC World T20 Bangladesh 2014 |
5. England v New Zealand, Chittagong: NZ started their campaign in a style.
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| Stuart Broad was unhappy with the umpires with lightning in the area |
Ask Stuart Broad and he would describe as being deceived, but to no extent. On the other hand, Kiwis were seen as happy as they have been from a while now.
After sensing the possibility of rain due to huge crack of lightening, Brendon McCullum hit those important but unfair sixes which obviously gave them a go-ahead in a fairly poised match. In some way, the match set the tone for both sides with New Zealand as a more competent side to watch out for compared to the less-confident English side.
4. New Zealand v South Africa, Chittagong: Kiwis nailed by Steyn in the final over.
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| Dale Steyn effects the winning run-out |
The same happened during a group match in Chittagong where South Africa not only managed to win the match by just 2 runs, but also kept their chances to remain alive in the tournament.
Chasing a modest total of 171, the way New Zealand lost the match is rather more disheartening. Their in-form batsman Ross Taylor was on-strike till the last ball, yet Steyn made sure “it will not be a cakewalk either”!
And rest one could assume the consequences followed. Ross Taylor was made run-out by the bowler himself and oh! How pretty that celebration was to watch for. Steyn’s no-one-is-allowed-to-score approach in the final overs executed well, once again. Thus, complemented the quality of bowling he possesses.
And rest one could assume the consequences followed. Ross Taylor was made run-out by the bowler himself and oh! How pretty that celebration was to watch for. Steyn’s no-one-is-allowed-to-score approach in the final overs executed well, once again. Thus, complemented the quality of bowling he possesses.
3. West Indies v Australia, Dhaka: Sammy humbled Faulkner off two sixes in an over.
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| James Faulkner reacts after Darren Sammy finishes the match with a six |
Darren Sammy’ heroics off James Faulkner probably muttered the same. The two back-to-back sixes certainly echoed much of the ‘talk’ back right into the face of babbling Australian all-rounder.
Later, pictures confirmed the intensity of the match with the way Chris Gayle danced; Sammy rejoiced the Windies win followed by Dwayne Bravo’ presser, said: “Respect game and fellow cricketers”.
Just like putting mirrors in front of an ugly face won’t change its fate anyway. Apparently, the boomerang returned with severe injuries; resulted in opening the send-off doors for the Australians. Lost an almost in-controlled match due to poor bowling, Australian team was left bamboozled the way opposition finished it.
2. Sri Lanka v New Zealand, Chittagong: Herath produced spell of the tournament.
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| Rangana Herath had figures of 5 for 3 |
Before the match, both Sri Lanka and New Zealand had the equal opportunity to make the cut for SFs. While at the end, Sri Lanka stepped up confidently in a one-sided match: thanks to the phenomenal bowling by Rangana Herath, who took 5 wickets in 3.3 overs with two-maidens and conceded just three-runs.
New Zealand, earlier, did bowl neatly and set the target to 120 on board for themselves. For which only Kane Williamson stood strong as a lone fighter among all his teammates. He was not supported well and left alone in the middle to watch the other end fails as wickets fell continuously at regular intervals.
1. India v Sri Lanka, Dhaka: Sangakkara takes SL home in the final.
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| Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka hits the ball past MS Dhoni of India |
Restricted India to 130/4 after winning the toss – the final over by the Lankan captain redefined the definition of slog-overs in a big match like this.
In reply, India did manage to get an early breakthrough but it was probably not their day.
Kumar Sangakkara, who remained off-colour for most of the tournament, then, found it the best opportunity to get some runs underneath him. And in such a way he scored a flashy half-century that comfortably drove Sri Lanka for a much awaited luxurious victory!
Kumar Sangakkara, who remained off-colour for most of the tournament, then, found it the best opportunity to get some runs underneath him. And in such a way he scored a flashy half-century that comfortably drove Sri Lanka for a much awaited luxurious victory!
Infographic: ICC World T20 2014 - An analysis of spin vs pace bowling
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| Rangana Herath bowled the spell of the tournament against New Zealand |
Though the pitch of Dhaka suited spinners as compared to the one at Chittagong, seamers managed to scalp 67 batsmen there against the 73 wickets taken by spin bowling.
Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka bowled the tournament’s best spell in an innings: his 5 for 3 in 3.3 overs against New Zealand opened the semi-final doors for the Lankan team. Whereas Mashrafe Mortaza of Bangladesh conceded 63 runs against Pakistan in a group match – most by any bowler in an innings.
In hindsight, although spinners affected a major part of the tournament, seamers dominated equally well. Not only did they manage to grab more wickets (153 overall) but were also more efficient in the 1st innings (82 wickets).
For more detailed analysis on spin vs pace bowling at the World T20, look into the infographic below:
ICC World T20: Good days are coming back for Team India
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| Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli celebrate India’s win against Pakistan at Mirpur |
Talk about the problems India have had during those dubious results: resilience of batting harmed more rather than our ‘famous’ bowling. On the contrary, almost on all those occasions – including the away series in England and Australia – it was more of an individual opponent who paved the way for the respective team performances that ensued. Rewind back and ponder thoughts over Ian Bell, Michael Clarke, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers and Brendon McCullum.
On the other hand, the ones who gritted for India amidst those not-so-familiar circumstances were not supported by any of the other team members. Remember the heroics of Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma. Apparently, all those four away tours reflect the same verdict, but when you have a closer look, slight improvements can be observed.
And it was not just the case of Test matches alone. Be it T20s or the One-dayers, India found it hard to settle the dirt on most away tours. Though, amidst all these, came the Champions Trophy moments, much to the relief of desolated Indian fans. Of course, the conditions weren’t typical English conditions, yet it was a complete performance where every department complemented each other to perfection. That’s how we fans tasted the luxury of an away-made pie, true delicacy to a sour mouth!
It seems that the Indian team, through to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, is all set to do an encore of the Champions Trophy triumph last year in England. There have been lots of similarities to consider between these tour tournaments: while Ravindra Jadeja was instrumental in England, here, at Bangladesh, Amit Mishra has been producing the same magic.
At times, nowhere-to-be-seen, Mishra set the tone during the Zimbabwe tour last year. Under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, he made history by picking up 18 wickets: equaling the world record for most wickets in a bilateral ODI series, previously made by Javagal Srinath in 2002-03 vs. New Zealand.
More than the quality that Mishra brings to the table, it has been his selection that has kept him in the headlines. Though it’s evident that he has delivered whenever he has been given the opportunity.
Suresh Raina’s second coming has added to the team’s strength, as well. Adding to that the strike-bowling pair of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami have not let the team down, too. Bhuvneshwar has rediscovered his ability to swing the new ball, which was feared to be long gone after an extended stretch of poor results following his sensational first few months. It has made it even more easy for the spinners to keep the run-rate under check and stifle the opposition, restricting oppositions to scores of under 140 in all their four matches, so far.
Regardless of three successful run-chases, Shikhar Dhawan’s form continues to remain an area of concern. With respect to death bowling, Dhoni’s experiments with Jadeja turned out to be a disaster against the West Indies, where Lendl Simmons carted him all around the park. So the Indian captain might go according to the demands of the situation and form of the bowlers on that particular day.
With Yuvraj coming good against Australia, it will ease the pressure on Kohli. So, all and all, India, with their mind-blowing performances, have made sure fans remain unfazed; specifically when a lot has been happening around the BCCI in relation to IPL spot-fixing allegations.
Hopefully, Indian team would be able to keep the good run intact, and fans will once again be on roads to celebrate like we did on April 2, 2011.
ICC World T20: India v Pakistan – 5 lessons to learn from Pakistan’s defeat
Like it’s a tradition since the inception of ICC World Cups – be it the 50-over format or the Twenty20 – India tend to clinch the competition against Pakistan. And it doesn’t really matter how differently they do it as long as it’s comes the same way around: in form of a victory!
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| India’s Amit Mishra celebrating wicket of Ahmed Shehzad as Pakistan lost the match by 7 wickets |
How would this defeat hamper Pakistan’s chances only time will tell. Before that, let’s look at the mistakes that may save former champions’ campaign in the remaining Group matches:
1. Work on your weaknesses. Consistently.
Pakistan is famous for their unpredictability. They can win you matches from nowhere and are equally capable of losing a match after some dominant performances. No matter what, batting has never been Pakistan’ forte as a unit. Except the fact that their bowlers have the ability to hit lofty strokes at-par or above boundary line. Though, that is not the case either.
What happened yesterday was, though, another easy batting collapse. Pakistan was never in the game right after the Kamran Akmal’s unnecessary run-out in the 2nd over. Whilst Ahmed Shehzad’ classic leg-spin dismissal off Amit Mishra did the remaining harm; leaving Pakistan 50/3 after 10 overs that extended to 130 from 20-legitimate overs.
Wasim Akram had made a point in saying: “Even a club cricketer knows how to make calls (for singles) between wickets.” Clearly, there were basic mistakes made during batting. And, further, practice sessions have a way-to-go for!
2. Don’t always rely on your strength.
Pakistan has world-class bowling attack features Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul as main weapons in the bowling department. And saying so, it, automatically, demands a decent score to defend on when you are bowling second. Moreover, situation becomes tragic when it comes to T20s since each bowler holds a quota of 4-overs.
Therefore, opposition batsman has more choices to target upon like Suresh Raina mentioned after the match: “Kohli and I discussed to target seamers as ball was coming nicely on bat. We decided to rotate strikes for Ajmal and not even to target Hafeez as he was getting good turn from the wicket.”
Enough said. Your key players will not win matches for you every now and then. There must be contributions from other departments as well. In order to fetch opposition' wickets early on, there must have been competitive-total to target for.
3. There is nothing like ‘being involved’ in the game.
Anticipation is important in team games. And even more in T20s given the nature of the game where every ball, every run counts to a great extent.
Look at these examples to prove it better:
In first scene, Mohd Hafeez (33) was dropped by Yuvraj Singh on the first ball of 6th over which later cost Shami with 2-fours off Hafeez – producing 12 runs in the over – boasting the RR to 5.66 RPO: their most conceding Powerplay over of the match. Had this been a wicket Pakistan would be in massive trouble since Hafeez was then playing on the score of 5. One can assume the tainted Pak scoreboard after deducting his further contribution from team total.
On contrary, as it happened in the 2nd inning, Suresh Raina (35*) survived from his then individual score of 7 when Afridi dropped him in the first slip off Hafeez. Pakistan would have added some pressure there had that catch been taken as India was, then, playing on 80/3. Although, Dhoni and Jadeja were left to bat and chances were meagre. Still a chance is a chance worth having! Period!
4. Keeping ‘Plan B’ can fancy your chances.
Cricket is a funny game. More than playing conditions and the format, toss, at times, adjudges match result precisely! Keeping in mind, a team has to have backup plan or alternative strategies if they were to face the flip side.
And guess what, same was the case with Pakistan in the yesterday’ match.
After losing the toss, they were invited to bat first. Further, facing the early setback in name of Kamran Akmal there seemed no strategy as to who will keep the one-end tight to anchor the inning.
In turn, Pakistani players kept marching towards pavilion on regular intervals, missed to capitalize some gifted fielding mistakes of Indian players and completely gave-up to stand a bit long. Be it a hole in team strategy or the mounting pressure to keep the scoreboard going: either ways Pakistan lost the match with both hands.
5. Let it ‘Cricket’s Enthusiasm’ and not the ‘Indo-Pak match pressure’ to play with.
Traditional rivalry – either it is of historic or dominating reasons – has its own share even in sports. Players have to deal with it. Somehow, anyhow. In these circumstances, captain and coach play an important role. Nevertheless, an individual’s own ability sums it better at last.
Both India and Pakistan are quite matured teams and thus, understand ‘the term’ equally. And often it is said “the one who hold the nerves better, would win this contest” about Indo-Pak matches. But Wasim Akram concluded this defeat with Pak’ inability to cope with match-pressure. Though, I believe ‘Under-pressure’ would be an understatement here. Simply because it clicked for one and a better team won on a match-day.
Infographic: Statistical analysis of ICC U19 World Cup 2014
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| South Africa U19s team poses for a group photo after winning the final v Pakistan in Dubai |
South Africa U19s dominated the tournament in every department of the game.
Clyde Fortuin, the wicket-keeper, made 20 dismissals with the gloves: an absolute impossible figure to match for his counterparts in this edition.
On the other hand, pacer Kagiso Rabada's 6-wicket haul vs. Australia in the semis brought up tournament's best bowling figure in an innings. He remained the second highest wicket-taker this year, whilst captain Aiden Markram was adjudged as the player of the tournament.
For more stats and analysis, look out the infographic below:
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