Week 2 of the Cricket World Cup
England were in the thick of action and become famous for both right and wrong reasons.
First the right reason --
They defended a small total against a team that is known to "Choke" -- you are right against South Africa . SA were sailing at 124 for three at one stage , chasing 172 for a win and lost four wickets -- three on the same score of 124 and one at 127 and then England realised that they were playing against the "chokers" and nailed it in . Broad bowled dead straight and was promptly rewarded . Now South Africa have to redeem themselves.. And their next match is against India .South Africa normally play well in the round robin but not in the knock out and so this should be a big wake call for Graeme Smith and his men.
England for the wrong reasons
England played Ireland and they put a total that they thought was a winning one and then had Ireland on the mat at 111for five chasing 328 for a win. And it all became messy for England after that. Kevin O'Brien walked in and dispatched the ball to all parts of the ground. The batting power play worked for Ireland as 62 runs were scored in five overs and from then on England lost the plot. The harder they tried the harder Kevin O'Brien hit the ball. It was a amazing display of consistent big hitting by the lad . Ireland had some anxious moments before they reached the target. Strauss captained the team poorly during this stage. He was exasperated , had a very bad body language ( throwing his hands around in the air ) , a unhappy face and not giving the right confidence to his bowlers. Had England slowed the game down , taken some deep breaths and re organised themselves , it could have well disturbed Kevin's rhythm. Not to be .. Ireland proved a big point by beating their big brother…
West Indies put Bangladesh in their place. Spineless batting and reckless shot selection with some great fast bowling by Kemar Roach who took a hat trick pushed Bangladesh to brink and they posted the lowest score by a official team of the ICC. The local crowd went after the West Indies team bus in frustration at the local team's batting.. Not sure how that will help Bangladesh improve their performance !!
One more match that would have gone to the wire was washed off by the rains.. Australia versus Srilanka was a keen match that did not go the full distance.
India saw of the Ireland threat --- There was some tension but they were eased by return to form of Yuvaraj ( that is a good sign for India ) .. i still think that Yuvi although he is making runs is tentative and i do not see his batswing in full flow .. Yusuf cleaned up any ideas that Ireland had when they got Dhoni with some lovely big hitting that he alone can do irrespective of the state of the game !!
Some close matches in the week but the heat will be on once the matches cross the group stage and get in to knock out..
EPL Football
With Cricket hogging all the limelight , football has taken a backseat but the league is moving in a narrow range with chance for ManU , Arsenal and Chelsea to clinch the title. ManU were sitting pretty before three losses in the last four matches allowed Arsenal a shot to be level on equal points from equal matches played. Chelsea still have some catching to do but they cannot be removed from the race to the title. Playing away matches have been ManU's biggest concern. Over the week end , they played poorly against Liverpool to loose 1-3. ManU were hampered in defence by the suspension of their captain Vidic and Ferdinanand… and Sir Alex did not choose the right combination to marshal his defence. Added to that was goalkeeping errors from veteran Edwin Van Da Sar -- ManU needs to buck up big time if they want to reclaim the title from Chelsea..
First the right reason --
They defended a small total against a team that is known to "Choke" -- you are right against South Africa . SA were sailing at 124 for three at one stage , chasing 172 for a win and lost four wickets -- three on the same score of 124 and one at 127 and then England realised that they were playing against the "chokers" and nailed it in . Broad bowled dead straight and was promptly rewarded . Now South Africa have to redeem themselves.. And their next match is against India .South Africa normally play well in the round robin but not in the knock out and so this should be a big wake call for Graeme Smith and his men.
England for the wrong reasons
England played Ireland and they put a total that they thought was a winning one and then had Ireland on the mat at 111for five chasing 328 for a win. And it all became messy for England after that. Kevin O'Brien walked in and dispatched the ball to all parts of the ground. The batting power play worked for Ireland as 62 runs were scored in five overs and from then on England lost the plot. The harder they tried the harder Kevin O'Brien hit the ball. It was a amazing display of consistent big hitting by the lad . Ireland had some anxious moments before they reached the target. Strauss captained the team poorly during this stage. He was exasperated , had a very bad body language ( throwing his hands around in the air ) , a unhappy face and not giving the right confidence to his bowlers. Had England slowed the game down , taken some deep breaths and re organised themselves , it could have well disturbed Kevin's rhythm. Not to be .. Ireland proved a big point by beating their big brother…
West Indies put Bangladesh in their place. Spineless batting and reckless shot selection with some great fast bowling by Kemar Roach who took a hat trick pushed Bangladesh to brink and they posted the lowest score by a official team of the ICC. The local crowd went after the West Indies team bus in frustration at the local team's batting.. Not sure how that will help Bangladesh improve their performance !!
One more match that would have gone to the wire was washed off by the rains.. Australia versus Srilanka was a keen match that did not go the full distance.
India saw of the Ireland threat --- There was some tension but they were eased by return to form of Yuvaraj ( that is a good sign for India ) .. i still think that Yuvi although he is making runs is tentative and i do not see his batswing in full flow .. Yusuf cleaned up any ideas that Ireland had when they got Dhoni with some lovely big hitting that he alone can do irrespective of the state of the game !!
Some close matches in the week but the heat will be on once the matches cross the group stage and get in to knock out..
EPL Football
With Cricket hogging all the limelight , football has taken a backseat but the league is moving in a narrow range with chance for ManU , Arsenal and Chelsea to clinch the title. ManU were sitting pretty before three losses in the last four matches allowed Arsenal a shot to be level on equal points from equal matches played. Chelsea still have some catching to do but they cannot be removed from the race to the title. Playing away matches have been ManU's biggest concern. Over the week end , they played poorly against Liverpool to loose 1-3. ManU were hampered in defence by the suspension of their captain Vidic and Ferdinanand… and Sir Alex did not choose the right combination to marshal his defence. Added to that was goalkeeping errors from veteran Edwin Van Da Sar -- ManU needs to buck up big time if they want to reclaim the title from Chelsea..
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