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

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)

Quick Update: Aus Pak T20 match

It was a nail-biting finish to what should have been an easy affair. Aussies elected to bat after winning the toss. They lost Twatto early, guess his muscles were still stiff. “Lloyd” Warner and Capt. Pup gave a solid start and they were 50/1 after 6 overs. Then wickets tumbled with White doing his massacre in style. DJ Hussey(40*) was the mainstay of the batting and steered them to a miserable score of 127. Pakistan bowling and fielding was top-notch and showed why they simply love this format of the game and why they are the T20 World Champions at the moment. Right from the wicket of Watson, the fielders were charged up. Wickets of White , Pup and Nannes can prove it. Bowling, after 6 overs was right on the money. Shoaib“I’m the Capt. Haha”Malik, Umer“I luv T20”Gul and Saeed“Side 2 Side”Ajmal tightened the screws.

Then came Pakistan batting. The openers were erratic and were out cheaply. It was nice to see Shaun"Sloon"Tait back in the side. His opening spell was just breathtaking. The line, length, pace everything was excellent. He was well supported by Dirty Dirk Nannes from the other end who was also pacy. Then came in Kamran"Butterfingers"Akmal and counter-attacked really well. Kamran stuck onto Johnson in his first over and then he came back nicely. It was a swashbuckling innings of 64 from just 34 deliveries. He almost led Pakistan to victory. He was dropped on 64 and unfortunately he was out the next ball. Wickets started tumbling from then on. The Australian bowling was just fantastic... Watson was useful too. The young lad, Steven Peter Devereux Smith was pretty impressive with his leggies. MOM was Sloon Tait for his 3/13 from 4 breathtaking overs.

Turning Point: Many may say that the turning point was the wicket of Kamran Akmal, but according to me, the 17th over bowled by Mitch Johnson, was the turning point. Rana Naved ate all the balls and got out the next over.

So, it’s been a " DEFINETELY FORGETTABLE TOUR " for the visitors. They must feel like eating cricket balls right now (If you know what I mean..) White washed !!

• 3-0 in Tests


• 5-0 in ODIs


• 1-0 in T20

W.W.W.S. – AGAIN

• Once again Pakistan respectfully turned up at the Adelaide Oval and let Australia resume business as usual. This time Shaun Marsh got the opportunity to hit 83, Pup Clarke also fired 80 off 90 and later Mike Huss blasted a quick-fire 49 off just 28 resulting in Aus posting 286 in their 50 overs. Ryan Harris who got a chance in this game, dint miss the opportunity to send a note to the selectors with luv. In just his
  2nd ODI he took a 5fer. Pakistan’s top order faired miserably again. But, a lot of middle order batters got starts. None of them though continued to make an impact. This resulted in Pak getting all out for 246 in 47.4 overs. So, the series is now over at 3-0 Aussies looking for another clean sweep. But, you and I both know how they fair in dead rubbers!!



• The Aussie colts too meant business in the semi-final match of the u-19 WC against islanders Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka batting 1st were bundled out for 205. Josh Hazlewood taking 4 wickets, Alister McDermott, Luke Doran and Nick Buchanan picked up 2 each. Australia too started very tentatively losing early wickets. But, skipper Mitchell Marsh and keeper Tom Triffitt took the game away from the islanders. Marsh got out on 97(110) and Triffitt scored 50(70). Australia now faces Pakistan in the finals of the u-19 world cup. But, this time Pakistan seemed to be having the upper hand.



• Brad Hodge’s 139(136), David Hussey’s 93(85), Andrew McDonald’s 41(30) helped Victoria put up 326 in 50 ovrs in the Ford Ranger Cup. Victoria Bushrangers beat Tasmanian Tigers by just 20 runs. Travis Birt scored 97(77) for the Tigers. Nice Bryce gave away just 45 in his 10 overs. Most economical bowler of the day.
  
  
• Elsewhere, New South Wales Blues put up 294 in their 50 overs courtesy David Warner, Thornely and Smith’s efforts. It wasn’t enough as South Australia chased it down with Klinger scoring a superb 124(133) and helped by Christian for his 90(73).



• In Duleep trophy semi-finals West zone help their strong grip pver North zone. West zone ended the 1st innings on 769. Abhishek Nayar with a brilliant 259. Romesh Powar scored 109. Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan left North zone struggling at 36/3 at stumps.



• The other semi-finals saw Central zone take on South zone. Central zone’s 1st innings ended on 333 with fine contributions from Kaif and Piyush Chawla scoring 112 and 90 respectively. Vinay Kumar taking 5 wickets for the South zone. The South zone batsmen struggled throughout despite getting starts now at 254/8. Praveen Kumar earning 5 scalps.
  

Aus-Pak 1st ODI : White-wash

To easily describe the 1st ODI between Australia and Pakistan, it was "White-washed". Battig first Pakistan put up 274 thanks to some big hitting in the end by Shahid bOom boOm Afridi, who scored 48 off 26. Butt batted well for his 72 but, it was Younis Khan who scored 46 off 74 balls scoring jus one boundary in the 74 balls' innning. Wreckers in chief were Shane (Twat) Watson 4 wkts , Clint (eastwood) McKay 3 wkts and Douggie (brown) Bollinger 2 wkts. 274 looked very competent total considering Pakistan has a better bowling attack than Australia at the moment.

Presumably, Asif & Aamer kept things quiet and tight. They were rewarded with the wickets of the openers. Picky Ponting & Pup Clarke then started the building phase. Ponting fell to Afridi, entered Cameron White. From here White took the game away from the Pakistanis. His ton came off just 80 deliveries. Clarke made a working-class 50 and then got out. Pakistan needed a break through when these two were at the crease. The wicket came a little late, Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin helped put the final pieces of the puzzle in place. Yet, another Aussie victory! Aamer bowled well, Asif looked good too. One expensive over from Afridi (21 runs) turned the game on its head. Stay tuned for more "Wah".

IPL contenders – Part Deux

The list of contenders for the auctions is just getting stronger day by day. Especially now with the Pakistani players getting their visas approved from the Indian high commission and Lalit Modi enforcing that they have to go through the players’ auction once again. But, it remains to be seen which teams go aggressive during the bidding process. Today, we will discuss a few prospects for the Indian Premier League.

Mohammad Aamer


Ideally, he must be one of the top picks in this format of the game. After the success of Sohail Tanvir with the Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural IPL, many teams would be tempted to get their hands on the current sensation Mohammad Aamer. His consistency, discipline and charge that he carries are all plus points in his game. This lad can only get better from here and shud not be a very pricy deal. Whichever franchise get hold of him, have made a point.

Steam’s shot: HOT (worth if you get him cheap)

Michael Clarke


Now that Pup has been named the captain of the Aussie national T20 side, he seems to find the need for competitive T20 games a lot more and has announced his availability for the 3rd season of the IPL. But, it remains to be seen if any of the franchisee owners will spend big bucks for this star player, keeping in mind the limited budget and his contract will be valid only for this season, as fresh auctions will take place for the 2011 season onwards.

Steam’s shot: HOT pick but NOT likely (2011 perhaps)