The Weekend Matches at WC 2015 and Yeah India keep their Pride up

The first four matches of the WC 2015 went as per the script book . The two home teams Australia and NZ took on potential predators – England and Srilanka ( SL ).

Batting first both home teams put up such challenging totals that it was a mammoth task to chase. End result was both England and SL fell comfortably short.

Aussies did show their fire power in both batting and bowling .. So did our dark horse NZ…. It will be a real difficult task to beat these two nations at their home soil

The next match was South Africa ( SA) versus the minnows Zimbabwe – it was no cake walk for the SA team which was to overpower the minnows. The Zimbabwe team  stood tall in terms of their performance and  gave a big scare and wake up call to the South Africans. No wonder Dav Whatmore is regarded very highly as a Coach and he seems to have really worked hard with the Zimbabwe team , At certain points of the game , the worried look on the faces of the SA team bench said it all.

The next one was the Mother of all matches – A hyped game and rightly so –  with so many travelling from all over and especially from the sub-continent to watch this great contest alive. Colours of Blue and Green were visible in all places at the stands .

 MSD for once called the coin correctly and in the end that proved decisive.  A flat wicket with no great assistance for the bowlers awaited the batsman but there was bounce in it . India started slowly and Rohit missed yet another chance to score ( he  gave away his wicket cheaply – Playing a pull shot off the front foot is poor shot selection  ) However Dhawan played beyond his form and with Virat getting his stride in , India kept the scoreboard ticking at a healthy rate. Dhawan finally got a good score against his name . With Raina coming ahead to keep the Left – right Combo India got itself to a great position that they could have taken the game away by posting a score of 325 or even close to 340 .  Virat went on to complete his Century and just when the team  was getting away, Pakistan bounced back and restricted India to 300 .

Chasing that target did not seem difficult with the form that the Indian bowlers were in . However , the Indian bowlers improved their performance and with  the Pakistan batsman always under pressure to score runs every over at six or more , they succumbed and a flurry of wickets just gave them no chance of winning the match. Misbah threatened but  I think it is impossible for him to win the game single handedly. Indian ran out winners quite easily in the end.

India did keep its record intact.. Six wins on the trot in World Cup matches against Pakistan. The whole of India was glued to the Television set through the day-- explained , low or nil traffic on the roads and some smart shopkeepers downing their shutters and enjoying the day off. I was glued as well and kept sitting at places where it worked for India ( in our living room @  Rasiyana Idam – Do not move from that seat  ) .We sang the “ Dettol” jingle every time our team  hit a four or a Pak wicket fell ! ( Check the Dettol Jingle – it is fun and  it was played so many times during the breaks )

A great result for India and this would a great moral boost to the team that did not do well in the recent one day matches in Australia. The team has to go from strength from here on and should qualify from the group easily.

Ireland did the expected Surprise – defeated West Indies quite easily and this now throws the group open.   Waiting for Afghanistan to give some shocks as well !