Ambati Rayudu @ Mumbai Indians

13 Apr

I have seen one of the best innings yet by Ambati Rayudu in the most recent IPL match. I am glad I went home late and ate my dinner while watching Mumbai Indians’ innings. His first boundary, a pull off a short ball that is well outside the offstump that eventually reached the legside boundary, spoke a lot about the aggression with which he batted for his next 60 runs. While the Master on the other side scored with precision, this guy remained the real Blaster of the day.

For whom the cup hangs

02 Apr

Writing this post an hour before the cricket world cup final match between India and Sri Lanka starts. During the month long battle between several teams that are eligible, two teams finally bubbled up to play the final. Both teams are strong in batting and spin lineups; they fare almost equal in pace and captaincy. Sri Lanka may have an edge when it comes to fielding. So it is all left to the advantage that the toss may give to a team and to those who keep the nerve if the match happens to be a tight one.

So it will be an anxiously watched match and best wishes to India team in the final!

 

SA’s exit

26 Mar

South Africa’s exit form world cup is stunning, but not unusual. Right from 1992, we have been seeing this as a pattern. They emerge as a strong team and one fine day, they crash out of the tournament. And New Zealand’s commendable efforts to stay put paid off.

India Beats Australia

24 Mar

Great game of cricket today in quarter-finals. India beats Australia by 5 wickets and is going to play Pakistan in semi-finals.

It is an interesting situation for Australia. The team that stood top of the world cup cricket for almost 12 years, has lost just two games in this one week’s span and is forced out of the tourney, not even making it to the last four. The sibling countries of India and Pakistan have beaten them in quick succession during this week to leave Australia’s record 34 consecutive wins with a rough ending.

Interesting equations in Cricket World Cup

21 Mar

Quite a few interesting equations after the completion of league matches.

  • Three teams from the subcontinent (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) are playing in the last eight
  • None of these teams from the subcontinent are playing against each other in the quarterfinals. So we have a potential to have all these three teams in Semi-finals
  • All the four classic test nations (England, Australia, West Indies and South Africa) are playing in the last eight.

One team’s narrow loss is another team’s gain

17 Mar

West Indies’ narrow loss against England almost ensured a quarter final berth for India, irrespective of a win/loss in India’s next game with West Indies. All they need to do is to make sure that they don’t get to a huge defeat in that match. For example:

  • India should not lose by more than 150 runs, when bowling first
  • India should not lose within 23 overs, when batting first

And the knockout stage is still open for Windies, England and Bangladesh.