**Why South Africa should consider losing to Bangladesh**

   World cup is almost coming alive, final few days before the business end of the tournament kick starts. Yet, we don't know which teams are likely to face each other in the knock-out phase of the world cup. South Africa are sitting pretty on top of Group B. But rest of the crew is looking to kill each other for the quarterfinals berth. England are playing West Indies at the moment in Chennai. More like a game to the death, if they lose they'll join their national football team, to leave the world cup in a hurry. A win doesn't guarantee them a spot either. So, they might win and still end up losers. After all one South African team is enough in the final eight line up. Or will they send the West Indies far far away into the... ummm west. Or a very good chance that host India will be remembered to playing perfect hosts off the field and even on it. After all "Athiti devo bhava" (Guest is God).
   To experience this exciting race to the quarters, the Proteas need to do one thing right. Yes, lose to Bangladesh in the last league game for both the teams. Here, are the top excuses South Africa can use if they "manage" to lose to Bangladesh.

• If anything the "Chockers" tag could never have come this handy before.
• Lose one for the "fans" (and avoid the fear of being belted with stones.)
• They cannot possible win 3 consecutive games without "Imran Tahir" in the side.
• Blame your bowling, fielding, batting, umpires, DRS, pitch conditions, weather conditions, "Law of Averages", bench strength, mental strength or take a new leaf out of MSD's book of complaints.
• Shakib has been practising hard. See video if you are that naïve :

p.s. - There have got to be bigger/better reasons to tempt the Chockers Proteas to lose the game with all due respect. Let us know your ideas in the comments section, best ones to be added to the post. Cheers!

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.

Quick Updates: Kiwis Vs Tigers T20

The wounded tigers fly all the way to the Kiwiland and start their tour in the most forgettable way . This should have been like rubbing salt in the wounds after being pounded by the Indians in the Tests and ODIs. The entire match itself is like a summary . Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat . It was all going well until Aftab Ahmed fell with the score at 41/2. Then they fell like 9 pins managing to score a mere 78 runs.Vettori and McCullum Jr. ran through the middle order getting 3 wickets each.It was just a question of how many overs will NZ take to wrap up the match and they finished it off in style in jus 8.2 overs losing no wickets. McCullum Sr. blazed his way to an unbeaten 56(27) while the debutant,P.Ingram was happy to watch it from the non - strikers end . Dan 'The Man' Vettori was the MOM for his 3/6.

Interestingly , NZ hold the distinction of winning a T20 with a large margin( balls remaining),twice . Previously against Kenya and now Bangladesh! Good Going Kiwis!



P.S - As I am writing this post Saffers are sailing smooth(read getting batting practise) at 283/3 and West Zone crumbling at 215/8. Yusuf Pathan hit 108(76) after brother Irfan took 5 with the ball. Ahem..

B.B.O.T.D. - Similar starts

Today, happens to be the birthday of two cricketers from the sub-continent who have quite a few things in common. Shout out for Upul Tharanga from the "Emrald Island" – Sri Lanka and Aminul Islam from Bangladesh. Yes, Aminul Islam did exist! He is for real people.. not just another fictional cricketer in the back of your minds. So, apart from being from the sub-continent and sharing their birthday today they both made their test debuts against *drum roll please* INDIA! Yes, and both the games resulted in loss for the boys, ahem… another similarity that. Aminul Islam obviously disappeared from the cricket scene long back, Tharanga however seems to have re-invented his game and made some impact during the Sri Lankan tour of India. It seems he will play the shorter form of cricket, in tests however his place is still uncertain. Its just a matter of time as we believe the lad has the talent to play tests as well. So, ahoy! Enjoy your day gentlemen, you are the bday bums of the day!!! Happy Birthday.

First-Aid

Due to some unpredictable circumstances the forthcoming test championship battle between the top two test playing nations South Africa and India (read in order) now seems more like a battle of chimps. Yes, first the saffers monkey around sack the coach and then the entire selection committee. Mean while self appreciating team India go to Bangladesh for a two test series, the toughest there could ever be and result in injuries. It started with captain MS Dhoni, Bhajji, and then spread like wild fire to Sreesanth, VVS, Dravid, Yuvraj and some bits of Sachin to add. Although MSD and Bhajji have recovered since and Sachin looks okay it raises the basic question whether the two teams are ready to play for the top position. The Proteas don’t seem to be bothered with Mickey and the rest of the Disney gang changing but, India need some serious replacements if they are to retain the no.1 spot in the ICC (mindless morons inc.) test ratings. So, who are capable to replace the likes of Dravid, VVS and Yuvi in such short notice let us see.

Mock’s pick:
Well, with Dravid out with the jaw fracture, I just can’t see a better replacement than S Badrinath. He has got what it takes to be a 1 down batsman. Skill, technique, good hand eye coordination etc. He has been the backbone for Tamilnadu in the Ranji Trophy for years now.
Vijay is sure to hang on to his place since Laxman isn’t playing against the Chokers... Oops Saffers. Though Vijay did not score much in this test, his technique did stand out. Confident and elegant.
An aggressor replacing another aggressor, a lefty replacing another lefty. Yes, it’s none other than the one who sends the ball screaming to the cow corner, Suresh Raina. Though he hasn’t played an Intl test yet, he has proved himself time and again in the county circuit. He has come of age and has proved he’s matured enough to play at the test level. Can be a handy part time bowler too and about his fielding…you know it .

Quite a coincidence that all the 3 replacement players are from Chennai Super Kings… HAIL CSK!

Steam’s angle:
There’s no point in pondering about who will when it’s the matter of who can. There is no question in the ability of Murali Vijay so, regardless whether Gauti plays at the crucial no.3 or opens with Sehwag, Vijay can play either ways. Considering Sachin is fully fit he bats at no.4, otherwise a whole new slot opens another debate. No.5 spot presently belongs to VVS playing his twilight years of cricket. Now that he is injured he should be replaced by Badrinath who has been in and out of the side for quite some time. But going on current form and the Pied Pipers tune I am tempted to opt the not so forgotten and lucky monkey of 2010 Md. Kaif. Kaif has the experience and the caliber to play the long game. His high bid in the IPL auctions and recent burst in the zonals have only helped him appear once again in the selector’s radar. Whether or not he is chosen is another case. (Remember he dint attract a single bid in the 1st round of auctions. But, what happened last lasts longer.) So, good for the chap. MSD will have to now bat at no.6 in place of Yuvi and someone can take his place batting with the lower order tail. Raina would be one contender but, recent form again points towards Virat Kohli. The boy is now a man so why not test him. Raina is in good form himself but, honestly Kohli looks more solid (tried and tested down under) and Raina’s history with the short pitched stuff will only bring smiles to Saffers. So, Badri and Raina could make the squad but not the playing eleven.

One’s who closely missed out: Pujara – he’s still got time till there are permanent openings. One opportunity and you don’t want to end up ruining your chances forever. Manish Pandey – good season of domestic cricket, still have time. Probably play some ‘A’ tours abroad. Rahane – all izz well! But not tested against international attacks. Rohit Sharma – no.

W.W.W.S. -While Wah were Sloshed...

• Pak lost to Aus again.


• Ind bowl out Bangers for 233.


• Saf announced their test and ODI squad for Indian tour.


• SL resume the romance with Ind.


• Pak u-19 reach u-19 WC finals.


• GG does a Viv, in search of the Don.

The second ODI between Australia and Pakistan played at Sydney, resulted in the Aussies thrashing the Stanis by a mere 140 runs margin. Opting to bowl first, Stani’s fast bowlers were not effective enough. Aussie openers, Twatto & Marshy put up a hundred run stand and set the drums rolling. The spinners though brought them back in the game. White once again played well, his fifty helped Australia post 267. Not a mighty but, a competitive total keeping both the teams interested in the match. The second innings however, faired very poorly for the Stanis. Bollinger started strongly claiming 2 early wickets, Pak – 2/7. Clint McKay continued the Aussie onslaught reducing Pak to 7/71. Peter Sizzle was sizzling as well.. Not long before Pak were all out for 127 falling short by a mere 140 runs. Aus now 2-0 up in the 5 match ODI series.

The other Pakistani team though was just proving to be unbeatable. The u-19 boys beat the Windies and moved into the finals of the u-19 world cup. Sri Lanka face Australia in the other semis match.

Saffers announced their test and ODI squad for the Indian tour starting in February. Botha gets into the test squad. Gibbs in the ODI squad. Peterson in both. Albie Morkel still missing. I hope Prince is not going to Open the batting with Smith again. It’s clearly not his game. I’d prefer to see Amla-Smith opening, followed by Kallis, AB Devil, Prince then Doominy. Let’s see wats in store for us ahead.

Sri Lankans though don’t seem to be interested in sitting idle. They got the time, they got the deal. Yet another Ind-SL tournament now featuring Kiwis. The Ind-SL romance just can’t be kept under wraps for the moment.

Gautam Gambhir who hit his 5th consecutive ton in tests against the Bangers at Cheetah-gong, was very much in line to achieve sir Don’s record of 6 consecutive test tons in the 2nd test at Dhaka before he got out on 68. Awwww… u just can stop feeling for the man. Gauti however did manage to equal sir Viv Richards record of 11 consecutive 50+ scores in as many tests. Wow!! I dint see that coming..

India earlier bowled out the Bangers for 233 in the 1st inn at Dhaka. Ishant claimed 4 wkts, Zaks took 3. Mysteriously, Mishra-ji was dropped in this test. Pragyan Ojha and Bhajji made their return. Also, Murali Vijay replaced the injured VVS Laxman. MSD resumed duty behind wickets. Mahmudullah once again played well for his 96.