Quick Updates: Oz Vs Kiwis T20 #2

As expected, Kiwis did bounce back in this match. It was one the spine chilling,nail biting,high in adrenalin kinda finish. I am yet to get over it. Kiwis won the toss and elected to bat ,again! It was a one man show for Kiwis. Baz McScoop, oops McCullum was hitting the ball to only one place, over Haddin's head!!! wonder if he was aiming for his face!He scored more than 70 of his 116 behind the wicket.He has probably changed Dilscoop to McScoop today . It was an aggressive, fearless, swashbuckling etc .. innings from the Kiwi opener. He went behind the bowlers right from the word GO! Wickets kept tumbling needlessly at the other end. Hopkins played a cameo and thats when Kiwis started feasting on the Kangaroos. 137 runs came of the last 10 overs. The ball got a severe thrashing as it went screaming all over the ground, mainly over Haddin. Kiwis ended their innings with a mammoth 214/6. Mind-blowing innings by Baz. The target was always going to be more than a daunting task. Warner and Haddin opened the innings for Aus and Warner jet-rocketed again to 20 off just 10 balls until Bond struck again! Haddin and Pup then, played sensibly and always had the run rate under control. After Haddin departed, the White-Bear took strike. This was one of his best innings for Aus. He was not timing, but muscling the ball. Finally it boiled down to 36 of 3 overs. Southee bowled one the best overs one can ever imagine. White and Pup did bounce back in the last 2 overs. Three runs required from 1 ball. It was all drama out there. Pup slogged it to the cow corner , where N.McCull saved a certain boundary and ran out Clarke during his 3rd run. OMG! It was a TIE! How many times will Aus tie with NZ?? White finished with 64 of just 26 balls and Pup scored 67. It was time for a tie breaker, i.e the Super Over. As expected , Southee bowled for NZ and White ,Warner and Haddin were the batsmen for Aus . It was indeed a "Super" over by Tim Southee indeed, giving away just 6 runs and dismissed Warner too. It was an easy task for the Kiwis now. It was a surprise, when Tait(Nannes would the best choice) was given the ball. With Tait bowled as if he was spreading jam all over his bread. 2 wides in a super over prove costly! McCullum and Guptill reached the target with ease and squared the series in style.
McCullum was the Man of the Match,but according to me ,it was Tim Southee.
Wonder, if Baz and MSD will join hands and write a book on the UNORTHODOX CRICKET :P

Proteas WIN but who cares now?

The Proteas went into the final of the 3 match ODI series facing a different looking Indian side they faced during the whole tour. So, with no one giving any importance to this dead-rubber game and new kids on the block playing the game, it was clear there was just one team that was going to win. Saffers helped themselves out.. First they posted a mammoth total. With their top-order running through the naïve Indian bowlers. Mithun who was the highest wkt taker in the domestic season, had a rude reality check. Bosman & Amla put on 113 for the opening stand and then AB DeVil came on and helped himself to another ton, Kallis the man-in-charge got one under his belt or tummy or whatever..

The 2nd innings was a no show, poor fight, effortless ok.. not to be too harsh as they weren full strength or even half strength but, it was an One day International fixture and no respite, for a loss is a loss! It wont be remembered that India lost a dead-rubber game at home but perhaps won the 3 match ODI series 2-1 at home against the visiting Proteas. Vijay had a short stint but looked stylish as ever. Rohit Sharma looked like he was playing a completely different game and not helping India chase 366. Capt MSD missed out when he was most needed in the absence of Sachin, Viu, Gauti, Yuvi.... So the Indians were all out for 275 losing by 90 runs. But, winning the ODI series, secured 2nd spot in the ICC ODI ratings and of course got the bling ride. Clearly then no one cared abt the Saffers pulling one back. *hahaha*

Sachin - How it all began..

Got this from a friend at TCWJ. You gotta hate him when he speaks stuff like "I see ball, I hit ball." but, thats not him. That's Virender's Sehwagology! Right? See this video and ask yourself if u begin to hate him, he's not scared of Kapil heck he's not even afraid of the Windies. Who does he think he is ? "GOD"?? Oh, no! So, thats how it all began...

Quick Updates: Oz Vs Kiwis T20 #1

After beating Windies ruthlessly, the Ozzies landed in Kiwi-land. There weren't any changes in both the teams. NZ won the toss and elected to bat(LOL!).
Things didn't start the way the Kiwis expected. Tait spit fire again. Nannes's bowling was tight . Mitchell 'Notch'Johnson was the hero with the ball as he picked up 3 wickets and giving away just 19 runs of his 4 overs. Twatto picked up 2 as well. James'I-am-not-a-bowler-anymore'Franklin top-scored with 43 runs.Kiwis succumbed to the raw pace and were bowled out for 118. It was never a tough ask for the OZ. Warner and Watto continued to belt the bowling . They got off to a flier, scoring 38 of 3 overs. 81 runs were required of 17 overs. DJ and Pup steered the team to an easy victory. DJ top-scored with a quick-fire 46(36), missed on a well deserved half-ton. Ithchy-Mitchell Johnson was the obvious choice for the M.O.M.
It was a one sided affair. Aussies continue their unbeaten streak this summer. I hope Kiwis bounce back in the next game(If they turn up that is)

Sachin, Sehwag and other guys

After clinching the 3 match ODI series at Gwalior and safe-keeping the #2 position in ODI's India will now tease the Saffers in the 3rd ODI at Ahmedabad. They are going in well prepared to lose at the looks of it. Remember Yuvi, Gauti, Zak are injured now Sachin & Sehwag have been rested quite expectedly. But, look at their replacements.. Rohit the no-hit Sharma is back! and an opening in the team means "Tamilian" festivals yes, you guessed it Murali Vijay is also in the squad Abhishek Nayar ruined his chances by fielding well and making his presence felt 'cos he's been axed mercilessly. Mithun my boy has come in for P.K. that was the only relief. so, whether Saffers play well or not get prepared to lose either ways..

30 Probables announced for the T20 WC

Squad: M.S. Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, S. Sreesanth, Sudeep Tyagi, Rohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, Piyush Chawla, Abhimanyu Mithun, Manish Pandey, R.P. Singh, Munaf Patel, Murali Vijay, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Virat Kohli and R. Ashwin

The Jokers at B.C.C.I. are at it again.. News comes in with the 30-man probables list announced for the T20 World Cup in West Indies. I'm not aware what the cut-off dates are to announce the 30 probables but, as always the selectors have left us unsatisfied. Good to see Pandey and Mithun get their neck in. Nayar too has made it, very positive indeed. Saha and Naman Ojha spell disaster in every scale of measurement. Clearly someone was caught napping. The other Ojha is back and Mishra-ji dint have to pay for it. In fact, Piyush "Fuze" Chawla, R Ashwin, add Jadeja to that list.. how many spinners do we need? Durby is the 1st choice in any case!!

P.K., Sree, Munaf, Nehra birds of the same feather... and Ishant is not far behind. Pradeep Sangwan might have been unlucky. But, where is Irfan? Pujara still not finding space in the selector's radar surprises me. Goswami is a talent over-looked as well. Rahane missed the bus. Perhaps the IPL 3.0 will raise more eyebrows in this 30 member squad. Hopefully, the final squad is not a mockery.

Quick Updates : India Vs South Africa ODI#2

It was an important match for the Proteas as they had to win it to stay alive in the series. SAF had 3 changes .. Amla , JP and ROFL were in. Indians went with the winning combo (hilarious). MSD ,surprisingly, WON the toss.. Phew finally! and decided to bat and then on it was .. SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN
SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHINSACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN
SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN
SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN

SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN SACHIN . Well, was there anything else happening??? I don think so ! I may be biased , but I don't care. As Shaz said, only man on the planet to score a double ton in ODIs and its none other than the SUPERMAN of INDIA. KKD scored 79, Yusuf scored 36 and MSD scored a quick-fire 68
. India amassed 401. South Africa, as expected lost. They can't keep boasting of the 434 every time. DeVil scored a well complied century and I feel its time out for Doom-iny, falling prey to an off spinner again. India won by a huge 153 runs margin and undoubtedly the Man Of the Match went to GOD! *AMEN*

When Sachin came to the Party. 200 times the joy!

It's true when someone said, "Cricket is religion, Sachin is God." And atheism tags along. But, no regrets, no words to describe the feeling at the moment. Hopefully, I can gather some, till then...
"Wah! Sachin".

Quick Updates : India Vs South Africa ODI#1

After the much hyped test series , it was time for both the teams to battle it out in the ODIs. Indians were missing the service of Gauti, UV and Zaks and Graeme Smith was on the SAF injury list .The Sawai Mansingh stadium was tightly packed with the buzzing crowd. Kallis won the toss and chose to field. Sachin was run out cheaply . But after that Indians kept the scoreboard ticking steadily. Everyone chipped in with 30s and 40s but none of them could convert it to a big score. Raina was the top scorer for India with an almost run -a-ball 56 .
The partnership between Nehra and Pk produced 18 very important runs. It was fun to see them running between the wickets, typical tailender's running . India ended up scoring 298. Gibbs and Bosman opened the innings for SAF and got off to a good start scoring 58 until PK cleaned up Bosman. From then, the Proteas kept losing wickets continuously and they were 180/7 after 35 overs.

Kallis and Parnell put in a useful partnership of 45 runs . Kallis was sent to the pavilion after Sree bowled him. Well, I am sure 95% of the people would have thought that the match was over and would 've switched off their TV sets or changed channels . But .. hold on.. Match had just started . 74 was required of 7 overs when Steyn took strike. Well, I guess the Indian bowlers became a touch over confident and Parnell and Steyn took advantage of this and sent the ball sailing to all parts of the stadium. Both of them were showing No Mercy .
Indian players heart rate was rising exponentially with each ball. The equation of runs to balls kept narrowing after each over and finally it was down to 10 runs of 1 over. Well, considering the way the duo were smashing , it looked an easy SAF victory . Pk was given the ball for the last over . He held his nerves and cleaned up Steyn.
Commendable effort by Steyn , scoring 35(19). It was down to 3 reqd of 1 ball and Parnell's desperate attempt to at least tie the match went in vain as he was run out in the final ball for an awesome 49(47). Parnell's innings was just mindblowing . This reminded me of the match when India played against Oz and Pk and Bhajji almost won the match for us .
Plays of the day 1) Raina's well compiled 56(63)
2) Jacques ' Mr. Dependable ' Kallis's 89(97) which ensured that the runs kept ticking even when the wickets were tumbling at the other end .
3)Terrific bowling by Jaddu . He varied his pace , line and length nicely giving only 29 of his 10 overs and bagged 2 wickets too.
3) Last but not the least , the 'almost' match winning partnership from Parnell and Steyn.
Turning Point - Some may say Sachin's effort to save the boundary or Jadeja's bowling but according to me, it was Abhishek Nayar's effort to save the boundary was the turning point. He saved 2 runs, which cost South Africa pretty heavily in the end .
Indian's almost pulled out a defeat from the jaws of victory. But that's typical Indian Ishtyle.

Quick Updates: Pakistan Vs England T20 #1

After losing to their respective 'A' teams , it was time for the battle of losers, I mean, Pakistan Vs England at the newly constructed cricket stadium at Dubai. There were hardly any spectators at the ground. In fact,even a gully cricket in India would fetch more spectators. So, Malik won the toss and without any hesitations,opted to bat .
The attacking,aggressive pair(its a joke :)) for Pak, Imran Nazir and Imran Farhat opened the innings. Nazir was in his own world, wonder what was going on his mind then. He perished after scoring a mammoth 2(15). Pakistan were 20 odd for the loss of 2 wickets at the end of powerplay . Quite a score. Wickets kept falling regularly . Malik and Razzaq tried to resurrect the innings but in vain. Pakis managed to score a mere 129 runs . Malik top scored with 33 runs.
England opened with Denly and Trott who got out cheaply . Colly gave company to them in the pavilion after 5 mins. Morgan and KP( finally!!) steered Poms to an easy victory.
Peitersen was finding his lost touch , whereas Morgan sent all guns blazing. Am sure, VJ Mallya was watching him . Eoin Morgan is proving to be an awesome find for the Poms with his aggressive batting down the order and excellent fielding. Looks like KP found his form. Good for Bengalooru Royal Challengers. Morgan was, undoubtedly , the man of the match for his aggressive 67(51).












P.S - Boom Boom returns next match :)

Ind Saf 2nd Test in Pics

Day 1 - SAF win toss, dominate play



After tea: Ind's spinners rise to the occasion



Day2 - Indian batsman come to the PARTY!




Day3 - Laxman, MSD continue the act as Saffers begin to feel kinky.





Day4 - Rain, Bad lights just 39 overs of play, SAF still have 7 wickets in hand.



Day5 - Final day, SAF lose wickets initially, though Amla continues to frustrate the Indians.



In the end it was race against time for the Indians, Amla kept his cool but, Bhajji struck just moments before close of play taking Morkel's wicket and with that the match. India level series 1-1. Top spot in the ICC World test championship secure.



Excellent exhibition of cricket from both teams.

Shockers...NOT!

While theres lots of stuff happening in the intl arena like Bang fightback and the Indian fightback ... theres lot more happening at the domestic arena. The World Champs were blasted by the Pakistan A team. Razzaq's quick-fire 39(17) at the end ensured Pakis a decent score of 143. Pakistan A had no problems in chasing. They chased it with no hiccups, eventually winning by 7 wickets. Way to go Champs!


Something similar happened at Dubai in moments after the Pak game... Poms were thrashed by Poms A (Lions). Poms were really struggling at 109-6 when Wright and Prior joined hands and hit some lusty blows and they finished with a score of 157/6. Not a bad score to defend ..is it ? Considering the recent form of Sidebottom,Swanny and Broad... but not to be... Lumb 58*(35) and Keiswetter 81(66){ prospective Poms keeper , maybe} got off to a flyer. But then, since they are English players, there was a slight screw up at the end. 14 reqd of the last 5 balls . Lumb's meaty blows at the end ensured that they just cross the line in time.


With the ICC World T20 coming up in a couple of months... this should be a wake up alarm for the respective teams and the boards.
P.SMock feels: Pakistan don't deserve to be T20 champs. Its not that i am against them, its just that they don't deserve to be ..

Indian Squad for 1st two ODI's

Just when no one seemed to be bothered the national selectors have announced the ODI squad for the 1st two ODI's against South Africa. Yuvi remains injured and is ruled out but joining him is Gauti in that injury list. Bhajji wants to share some brother love so he's missing the ODI series as well to attend his sister's marriage. So, lots of seats up for grabs one might think. Here's how they faired.

• IN

Sachin(yes, as he missed the ODI tri-series in B'desh)
Yusuf P (some mad monkey hitting gets him a berth)
Abhishek Nayar (Finally!)
R Ashwin (spinner & Tamil)
PK (Praveen Kumar)




• OUT

Yuvraj (waiting for IPL)
Gambhir (new delicate dolly of the team)
Bhajji (family comes first, country goto H***)
Ishant (picked, dropped, picked again, dropped again...)
Sree (manages to puzzle everyone)
Ojha (ahem.. who? why?)




• Lucky

DK (still there.. backup wk??)
Jadeja (In the news lately for all the wrong reasons, very very lucky indeed)
Tyagi (dint play much, doubtful that will change anytime soon)
Mishra-ji (now the spin leader, No Bhajji, no Ojha PARTY!! :D)




• Unlucky

Pandey (With 2 batting slots open he should have made it purely on merit)
Mithun (If he was chosen in the Test squad, he deserved a chance here.)

So, the team: M S Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Sudeep Tyagi, Praveen Kumar, Abhishek Nayar, Yusuf Pathan and Amit Mishra.

• 1st ODI - 21.Feb - Jaipur
• 2nd ODI - 24.Feb - Gwalior

B.B.O.T.D. - DeVil

Believe it or not, today is the very day 26 years ago DEVIL was born. Daredevil by heart, Abraham Benjamin de Villiers is the bday bum of the day. Half human pure evil, AB is young and a strong prospect for South African cricket. He's already a first choice player in any format of the game. His adaptability, maturity and aggression are quite stunning for his age. No surprise why he is already seen as someone who will take South African cricket to new heights. Be it T20, ODI or Test cricket AB has been there done that.. Add to that his alien, ambidextrous fielding skills makes him one of the highly reputed fielders in world cricket, getting him comparisons from none other than "Jonty" himself. Already he has produced some memorable performances like his double hundred against Ind, 174 against Eng or 178 against the Windies or even his 102* for the Daredevils against Chennai Super Kings in the IPL(mind-blowing that!!). He has set his standards high, and it is only exciting to see what he can do to beat that. So, what's next?



p.s: Also is Adil Rashid's birthday. Cheers

DLF IPL 3.0 - Shane Warne, Royals & Vastu Shastra

Warney has a simple funda to win the IPL, every time they play in India they win.. Did he just relate to Vastu shastra??? Wow.. Only issue is that that has happened just once and we need more proof for that. Royals are glad they'r back in India and they are ready to win what's theirs.

DLF IPL 3.0 - Dada gets senti

Dada gets emotional and blames racism in SAF for their poor show in IPL's 2nd season. Nice one Dada.. Good one.. Excellent. (Buchanan would be very proud of you and the 5 ex-captains he had wanted last season) But, this means you cant escape losing at home. It's Back!!!

DLF IPL 3.0 - Jumbo jet lands

We find out how "Jumbo" feels to be back in India. Like we dont have anything better to do... but, still the "Losers" last year hv a lot to express.. so, hear him out. He missed more than meets the eye.

DLF IPL 3.0 - South Indian HOT!!

CSK captain tells us why he missed India. Follow MSD as he enjoys his idli,vada, sambar. It's back!!!

B.B.O.T.D.- Pinocchio's Curse

William Morris "Bill" Lawry, one of my favorite cricketers and cricket commentators celebrates his birthday on this very day. Very well known and easily identified by the size of his "nose", Bill was a superb opening batsman. With an almost dead-man stance the strokes he could hit were nothing less than elegant. Ian Wooldridge, the English journalist, called him "a corpse with pads on". Quite as a cricketer Bill Lawry was quite a surprise in the commentary box. He would rarely shut up and had the viewers/listeners glued to the game. With him on entertainment was guaranteed.

Ian Chappell gave him the nickname 'Phantom', a rip-roaringly hilarious and appropriate nickname which happened upon finding Phantom comics in his kitbag. Any references to his nose or even its size is considered as a crime in Australia. More so, that some of the pics here are not legally viewable down under. So, have a piece of cake and celebrate cos' tis all happening here at Wah! Cricket.

Yours Royally

Rajasthan Royals once again became the first IPL franchise to embark upon new territories with their business plans. The Royals are set to unveil a groundbreaking global alliance with Hampshire and other Twenty20 teams from around the world. Together forming a global franchise entitled Royals 2020. Seems, just the right way forward as per the financial aspects are concerned. Apart from Hampshire, Cape Cobras from South Africa and Trinidad & Tobago from the West Indies have been in talks for the same. Victoria Bushrangers are yet to give their nod after being approached by the Royals. All teams that come under the “Royals” umbrella will have to incorporate ‘Royals’ into the name of their T20 sides. So, Hampshire Hawks become Hampshire Royals or any other with Royals being a part of their side’s name. The Royals have also proposed a “Royals Festival” a T20 cricket festival featuring all the royals’ teams in England later this year.

Surprisingly, B.C.C.I. have not erupted into the scene and done the usual hara-kiri. But, all’s not well with the ECB objecting to the Royals Festival as it will collide in dates with their T20 domestic competition and divert attention (really?).

Other English county teams are in pursuit of possible mergers with IPL franchises. Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders are thought to be keen on partnerships in England. This only takes the sport to interestingly new highs.

Ton & Out

The 1st test at Nagpur saw the world no.1 test team go down tamely without a fight to the no.2 team. So, what was it that they did differently here..

India started the match on the backfoot with injuries to some big names like Rahul-the-wall-Dravid, Very-very-special-Laxman, Yuvraj-cant-sing-Singh and also Rohit-no-hit-Sharma. MSD then pciked a weak team thinking I dunno what. So, Badri, VJ after having carried drinks for over a year finally playing together for the national team. WOW!! and... Wriddhiman-the-buddhiman-Saha got to make his debut due to the inauspicious circumstances. Clearly MSD missed a chance to play 5 genuine bowlers. And he needed that as he picked 2 genuine spinners (yes, Bhajji is one). So, just 2 seam bowlers playing a 5 day game is ridiculous these days. What MSD needed was a 3rd seamer or even someone like Abhishek Nayar who can do a bit of both. With Sehwag in the team he could use his bowling as well.

Now with VJ who bowls slow spinners and Badri who is the same (none with quality) and Saha who cant throw past 15 yards none of the replacements were more than 1 dimensional. Add to that Sachin-I'm-getting-Old-Tendulkar seems reluctant to bowl and Gauti cant pick a wicket even in his wildest dream. This was particularly well timed as Saffers won the toss and elected to bat and after the initial hiccup they were on the highway to victory. Credit to Amla and Kallis who negotiated the tough period with care and then never turned back. Together they help SAF put up a mammoth total. AB Devil and Boucher were handy partners.

When it came to India's chance to bat the Saf seam bowlers were spicy hot. Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn were making batsmen hop & dance. Sehwag was the lone batsmen who played confidently in the 1st innings. But, another irresponsible shot after having done all the hard work meant Sehwag walked back where he could have made the opponent sorry. Badri stuck around for a while and then Steyn cut through the line-up. During the second innings batsmen again never seemed settled and wickets continued to fall only Sachin showing what needs to be done. He brought up his 46th ton in the process and then threw it away. The shot he played was just unacceptable let alone the negative line Harris was bowling throughout the match. I'm sure Sachin would not attempt such a stroke when on "0" or on "99" then why should he try once he's reached his ton. Indian bowlers played aggressively with the bat but could not avoid the end result. Proteas going up 1-nil in the 2-match test series.

Battle resumes at Eden gardens, Kolkata for the 2nd test.

B.B.O.T.D. - BBQ Pigeon

Today happens to be the sad day when a bowling machine was developed. It was so perfect that batsmen around the world criticized the science & technology invading the cricket grounds. He was capable of hitting any line & length or any particular spot on the mat and do it continuously for hours. Impeccable was a word derived hence forth. He silenced all critics who believed fast bowlers needed more brawn than brain and speed was the only weapon to be feared. Glen McGrath went on to break several records with his cliché style bowling. Also, famous for picking bunnies prior to every series McGrath was respected by batsmen and retired cricketers equally.

In 2007 the McGraths founded the McGrath Foundation, a charitable organisation dedicated to raising money to fund more Breast Care Nurses in rural and regional Australia and educate young women to become 'breast aware'.



Today is also Jim Laker's birthday, fondly remembered to be the first to pick 10 wickets in an innings and 19 wickets in that match against Australia at Old Trafford. To such great bowlers we tribute the Bday bum of the day honour.

Quick Updates : Tigers Vs Kiwis ODI #2

Its a clean sweep for Kiwis in the ODIs. The Tigers are just not able to pounce on any team at the moment. Kiwis won the toss and chose to field. Bangers got off to a disastrous start scoring 46 /6 after 23 overs. Phew! that's quite a start with a run rate of just 2/ over. Then Naeem Islam and Mushfiqur Rahim (Centurion in the tests against India) chipped in with a useful partnership of 101 runs and they steadied the ship to some extent. Naeem scored 43(81) and Mushfiqur scored a well complied 86(107) and late cameo by Shahadat 16(7) took Bangladesh to 183 which seemed impossible after 25 overs. Butler ended up with 3/43 in his 10 overs and surprisingly Dan the Man went wicketless.In reply to 183, NZ got off to a steady start. They never lost control over the game . McCullum departed early. Ingram and Guptill were slowly ticking away. The main highlight of the match was 'Rosco', who blew away the opposition with a swashbuckling innings of 78(52) with 6 4's and 5 6's. Needless to say he was the Man Of the Match.