Team India dethroned Aussies from the World Cup, Kiwis face Proteas challenge

Its been one evening which every Indian cricket lover waiting desperately and finally it arrived, when Team India dethroned Aussies  from the Cricket World Cup and ended their 12 years regime. Team India also broke Aussie arrogance. It was India who started process of diminishing Aussie regime from 2001 with turnaround in that Eden Garden test match and from that series onwards Australian cricket  started declining and yesterday India put final nail in the coffin. India moved to semi-finals where they will play Pakistan, indeed a mouth-watering contest in prospect and Australia already left for the home where Ponting & Co. have to face lot criticism. Its end of an era in Australian Cricket.

Dhoni once again remained unlucky with the toss yesterday and Australia decided to bat first after winning the toss on a wicket which had something in it for the spinners. I think India did everything right except winning the toss. They fielded like leopards and I have not seen such a brilliant fielding in long time from Indian side. It was really heartening to see. It was good to see Dhoni attacked the batsmen and he reaped the fruits of attacking, by picking up wickets at regular interval which jolted Australian batting. Yuvraj Singh has found sublime form in this World Cup with the bat and ball. Indian bowling was also terrific but it became more terrific because fielders supported the bowlers however Munaf Patel was disappointing. Ashwin is the unsung hero of this team so far, he bowled brilliantly in whatever opportunities he got. 

Indian batting also delivered as Tendulkar, Gambhir and Yuvraj got half-centuries under their belt. Raina also re-discovered himself in this match by playing a small cameo. It was big call from Dhoni to drop Yusuf and replace him with Raina. It could have backfired but to Dhoni's credit it worked and its good for Team India that they found their proper playing eleven before semi-final.However there are areas of concern as well for India. Running between the wickets looked ordinary. Bowling of Munaf Patel was not upto the mark. Throwing of wickets by batsmen after settling in, Dhoni's poor form with the bat.etc. and Indian team have to sort out these problems before semis. Overall good performance by Team India and they will go to Mohali with lot of confidence, where they will take on arch-rivals Pakistan on next Wednedsay.

For Australia, everything went wrong in this match except Ponting's century. This Australian side was not the same which we watched over the years. It had the same old aggressive attitude but quality was completely missing. If we talk about averages of the batsmen, then most of the batsmen averages in mid-thirties which clearly indicates the quality. They were dependent heavily on rejuvenated Brett Lee in this tournament but one bowler can't win you matches and that bowler can also have off-day, so needed 3 to4 quality bowlers to win the game. They did alright by reaching the score of 260 which was par score under the conditions prevailed but they did not had the bowlers who take advantage of the conditions. They clearly missed two quality spinners on a wicket which had something in it especially for the spinners. Krezja was the only spinner in that side but he also bowled wrong line and length. So he struggled badly. David Hussey picked up wicket but not because he bowled good balls, he got the wicket because of the mistake from the batsmen. I think with this game Australian dominance in the World cricket is over and after 12 long years we will see new champion emerging. Its good for cricket. For Aussies and Ponting, it is a time of soul searching. Ponting era is also ended with this game and we will see change in Australian leadership in coming days. Sad end for the great captain and great batsmen who dominated the World Cricket for more than a decade.

Kiwis face Proteas challenge at Mirpur.

Kiwis will take on Proteas today at Mirpur in Dhaka. Its the fight for third semi-finalist spot. Kiwis have shown in the tournament that, if they play to their potential they can beat any team. I think Kiwis need little bit of luck also to go with their performance. They have class and talent in their batting but that batting has to click together if Kiwis wants to advance into the semis. Brendon McCullum, Guptill, Taylor are capable enough player to win the games on their own. Who can forget that league match against Pakistan in this World Cup where Ross Taylor alone ruined the Pakistani bowling and won the match for the New Zealand. Although they were lucky also in that match and that much luck is always on your side when you perform well. Kiwis beat Pakistan, Kenya, Canada and Zimbabwe during their journey towards quarter-finals. Kiwis won all these matches convincingly and none of the matches went to the wire. They lost to Australia and Sri Lanka but they beat the best team of their Group. So you cannot count Kiwis out of the contest today. They are bit handicapped because of captain Vettori's knee injury but they still have good bowling line-up and Tim Southee is their stand out bowler so far in the tournament. I think if Vettori play today and entire Kiwi team put collective effort then it will not be difficult for the Kiwis to beat Proteas.and seal the berth of semis.

Talking about Proteas they are best side in the tournament alongwith Pakistan. They have quality 4 pacers and 3 quality spinners to choose from and they are the most balanced side among all the teams. Their batting line-up is excellent which consists players like Amla, Kallis, DeVilliers, Smith. Remember they are the best fielding side of the World Cup. Dale Steyn is No.1 bowler in ICC ranking and Hashim Amla is No.1 batsmen in the ICC ranking. They possess lethal spin bowling combination which will come good against the side like New Zealand which is not used to playing spin. Imran Tahir will be the key for South Africa. South Africa don't have many weakness except their mentality of choking under pressure which often hampered their progress in the big tournament. Amla, Kallis and DeVilliers are in good form and capable of taking on any bowling line-up in the World. They are also lucky in a sense that Australia is out of the tournament and they stands with very good chance of winning this World Cup, all they required is mental toughness under-pressure. If they will be able to do so then they will definitely emerge as winners.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: From Group Stage to Quarter-Finals

After 31 days of intense hard-fought cricket 8 teams reached to the Quarter-Finals of the ICC World Cup 2011.  Now Quarter-Final scenario is as under:

Date	Matches	Venue	Time
23/03/2011	Pakistan v/s West Indies	Mirpur	IST 14.00
24/03/2011	India v/s  Australia	Ahmedabad	IST 14.30
25/03/2011	South Africa v/s New Zealand	Mirpur	IST 14.00
26/03/2011	Sri Lanka v/s England	Colombo	IST 14.30

Now let’s go through the journey of these 8 teams from Group Stage to Quarter Finals and find out what advantages and disadvantages they carry with them from Group Stage to Quarter-Finals.

Group A:



Pakistan: Team that topped its Group against all expectations. Before the start of tournament Pakistan was written off by many experts and nobody given them chance because of the controversies related with this team, like match-fixing, delay in name of captain, ban on 3 best players,etc. but  Pakistan once again proved their unpredictability by topping the group and beating two of the top teams in the World Cricket who are strong contenders of the title as well. They beat Australia, Sri Lanka, Canada, Kenya and Zimbabwe. They lost to New Zealand which was also not expected.

They played as a unit under the captaincy of Shahid Afridi who lead them from the front and emerged as leading wicket-taker from Group Stage with 17 wickets. Lot of eyebrows raised when Afridi was announced captain of the team but this guy proved every cricket pundit wrong. Shahid Afridi was considered weakest link of this team before the start of tournament but at the end of Group Stage he emerged as Pakistan’s major strength.  Pakistan’s bowling was always considered their asset and tournament so far has also confirmed that. 

Pakistan’s weakest link is their batting and their top order failed miserably in the Group Stage. Their experienced batsmen in Younis Khan and Misbah Ul Haq performed but in patches. So batting is not at all consistent. Umar  Akmal showed his talent but he also failed to do full justice to his talent. Pakistan were lucky enough that their bowling came good and saved them but batting is very big concern ahead of the knockout stages I think Afridi and Razzak have to consider themselves  all-rounders and shoulder more responsibility with the bat. Wicket–Keeper Kamran Akmal’s performance with bat and gloves was also not good during the group stages as he dropped too many catches and didn’t score runs either. So Pakistan have to rectify these problems because now  one mistake will throw them out of the tournament. Its good that they will be playing depleted West Indies side in quarter-finals.

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Sri Lanka: Considered strong contenders for the title before the tournament. Advantage of playing in  home conditions. But Sri Lanka had tarnished their reputation a bit during the group stage and no longer looks strong favourites especially after their defeat against Pakistan. They were not tested enough during group stage as match against Australia got washed out. But against Pakistan they faltered badly which nobody expected. they are also responsible for giving hopes to Pakistan. They beat, Kenya, Canada, Zimbabwe and  New Zealand. They lost to Pakistan and match against Australia got washed out.

They are one of the most balanced side after South Africa. But somehow their batting did not remain consistent during the tournament except captain Sangakkara who is leading run-scorer in the tournament so far. Jayawardene, Dilshan, Tharanga all  performed in patches but did not remain consistent enough to give confidence to the team management. So Sri Lanka have to work out their batting problem before their match against England and they have plenty of time to do so. Although they are favourites to win against England but they can’t take that for granted. Lankan fielding was always considered their strong point but somehow they did not live upto the expectations, so they have to improve in that area as well if they want to go far in the tournament.

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Australia: 4 time champions and defending champions since 1999. Playing the tournament to defend the title. They were unbeaten for 34 matches in World Cup since 1999 and finally Pakistan broke their winning streak which left them with lot of unanswered questions.Remember this is not the team which possess greats like Hayden, Gilchrist, McGrath, Shane Warne, Damien Martyn, Michael Bevan who were part of their earlier successful World Cup campaigns. But still they are good enough team to beat anybody and they are No.1 ranked team in ICC rankings. Their bowling looked good in patches and with Lee firing from the top they looks to pick up early wickets but they don’t have good spinner in their ranks which is needed badly in the suub-continent conditions. Tait and Johnson also failed to impress. Spinners in Krezja and Smith are also very ordinary. So with one bowler you can’t win tournaments.

During the Group Stage they beat Kenya, Canada, New Zealand and Zimbabwe, lost to Pakistan and match against Lanka was washed out. They would have  lost the match against Lanka looking at the conditions in that match but to their good fortunes match washed out. Form of captain Ricky Ponting is also major concern. Ponting’s poor form is continuing since last six months and that is very big concern for Aussies. If captain don’t fire then team looks down and out even before entering the field and that is what happening with the Australia, so Ponting have to hit the form at any cost because his batting form is very important in terms of Australia’s performance in knockout stages. If  Ponting forget about strike-rate, quick singles.strokes,etc. and concentrate only on spending time in the middle till the 45th over then he will definitely hit the form. Fielding is their asset.

They ended with 3rd spot in their group which was not expected from them and they must be disappointed over this.

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New Zealand: Completely written-off by cricket pundits after their losses against Bangladesh, India and Pakistan prior to the World Cup. They beat Kenya, Canada, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Lost to Sri Lanka and Australia and made it to the QFs. They have talent but that talent is not turning into the performances but the match against Pakistan showed what Kiwi team is capable of . They completely outplayed Pakistan team in Group Stage. New Zealand is very talented side and have to perform as a unit.  Batsmen like Guptill, McCullum, Taylor have to shoulder responsibility of getting team to the good total which their bowlers can defend. They have very good coach in John Wright which is an asset. They performed well in patches but consistency still lacks and have to work hard to achieve that.

New Zealand is always considered as a very good fielding unit. At the moment they are not considered favourites to reach the semis but they are good enough side to reach the semis but remember they have to beat giants like South Africa in order to reach the semis.

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Group B:

South Africa: Played like a champion throughout the group stage. They won against India, Netherlands, Ireland, Bangladesh and West Indies. Lost to England but that was also very close match. Strong contenders of the title simply because of the balance of their side. They have every variation in their bowling and their top-order batting also looks good. However form of captain Greame Smith is a matter of concern for them.They rely heavily on Amla, Kallis and DeViliers to give them good score. They have two lethal bowlers in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel who can run through any side with their sheer pace and accuracy. Their bench strength is also very good. Imran Tahir, the leg-spinner is the find of tournament and bowled superbly so far.

South Africa don’t have any weakness except their tendency of choking under-pressure but that also has been rectified too an extent during the match against India where they won the game from hopeless position. Fielding is their biggest asset and they bat deep. South Africa is the strong contender of winning the title.

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India: Considered as strongest contender of the tournament, failed to live upto the expectations. They failed to play their entire quota of 50 overs in all the matches they played during the group stage. Captain MS Dhoni turned the World Cup in laboratory and experimented with new combination in every match and never allowed the team to settle down. Some of his decision were completely brainless including shuffling of batting-order. India won against Ireland, Bangladesh, Netherlands and West Indies but none of these victories were convincing enough. Team lost to South Africa after getting into strong position and tied the match with England after scoring 338 runs.

India’s batting considered as one of the best in World but they failed to live upto the expectations so far. Yuvraj, Sehwag and Tendulkar were consistent but apart from these three everybody else looked patchy. Virat Kohli looked in good touch with century under his belt in the first game against Bangladesh but constant shuffling in his batting order affected his batting. Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni are the big disappointment of the tournament so far.

Bowling is the weak link of India and except Zaheer Khan none of the bowlers looked impressive. Harbhajan Singh emphasised heavily on containing the batsmen so his economy looks good but he failed to pick up wickets according to the expectations. India is no more favourites for the title and their journey will end after the match against Australia. So all  the fans who are hoping of India winning the trophy have to erase those hopes from their minds and heart because this team is good for nothing and man who is responsible for this situation is MS Dhoni, The Captain. Team which lose 7 wickets for 33 runs, 9 wickets for 29 runs and 7 wickets for 50 runs are not expected to win the trophy and many cricket pundits has already written off Team India.

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England: This team was almost out of the tournament but came back strongly in their last match and saved their place of quarter-finals. They beat, Netherlands, West Indies, South Africa and tied with India. They lost to Ireland and Bangladesh. England is the only team which involved in four unexpected results during the Group Stage. They were expected to lose against India, they tied. There were expected to lose against South Africa they won. The were expected to win against Ireland and Bangladesh they lost. It was  up and down tournament for England so far. They also plagued with injuries to their major players which hampered their performance. But somehow they managed to reach the quarter-finals and they are dark horse in the knockout stages.

England had its moments in the tournament. They played like champions in few matches and played like novices in few. They have big problems in every department and they are not clicking as a unit which is biggest problem for them. Sometime their batting comes good, sometimes their bowling but both are not clicking together and thats where England’s problem lies. They have to play Sri Lanka next in QFs and that too in Sri Lanka which is very uphill task but they can take clue from Pakistan’s victory over Sri Lanka. Their biggest asset is their captain Andrew Strauss who is leading from the front.

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West Indies: Very vulnerable team. They lost to India, South Africa and England. Reached the quarter-final on the basis of better run-rate as Bangladesh was also having same points. West Indies although can pull out surprise because they will be playing Pakistan  which is very mercurial side but I think West Indies don’t have the team which can make much impact. Gayle spent more time in dressing room than ground because of fitness issue. Roach also got injured before the match against India. So West Indies have their issues. Sarwan and Darren Bravo looked completely out of sorts. Form of Sulieman Benn is also big worry as he failed to make any impression in the spin friendly conditions. They also failed to utilse the full batting potential of Keiron Pollard by keeping him in lower-order.

West Indies is in hopeless position but they have few match-winners who can turn things around. Ravi Rampaul’s performance and Bishoo’s form will certainly give them some some confidence going into the next match.

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 Team which didn't qualify for the quarter-finals are Canada, Kenya and Zimbabwe from Group A and Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands from Group B.

Invincible Aussies take on jubilant Pakistan. India will fight to regain their favourites tag at Chepauk.

Its big battle ahead of the knockout stage in the tournament in which mighty Pakis will take on invincible Aussies. This battle will decide who will top the Group A. There is no suspense in Group A as all the top teams who were expected to go into quarter-finals has already made it. If Australia wins they will lead the Group A. If Pakistan win then they will lead the Group A. So it will be interesting to see who ends up on top from Group A.

Looking at the venue, Premdasa Stadium I think Pakistan is favourite to win the contest because they have the team which suits more to the conditions and pitch as compare to Australia. Shahid Afridi captain of Pakistan team is  the leading wicket-taker in the tournament so far and he holds the key to Pakistan bowling. Its interesting to see whom Pakistan play as second spinner. They have Ahmad, Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Razzak to choose from. So far Afridi bamboozled opposition batsmen with his leg-spin bowling and without much support from other spinners, so it becomes more interesting as Aussies are vulnerable to spin. They have good pace bowlers in Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzak but I think Shoaib Akhtar is doubtful for this match due to the little niggle which he is carrying from the beginning of the tournament. Although Shoaib Akhtar will definitely love to play this game as he has announced his retirement after this World Cup. So he will try to play as many matches as possible before the World Cup gets over.If Pakistan reach the finals then Akhtar will play big role in Pakistan's scheme of things.

As far as Pakistan batting is concerned, they have all kind of issues in the top-order and batting is the weakest link of Pakistan. Misbah and Younis fired in few matches but they are not consistent and Umar Akmal's injury don't help Pakistan either. So Pakistan have to settle few batting issues before the knockout stage and this is the match where they have the chance to do so. Ahmed Shehjad has given some hopes to Afridi at top of the order but it will be interesting to see how he handles the pace of Lee, Tait and Johnson. I believe Afridi have to shoulder more responsibility with bat as well if Pakistan wants to win this match and the World Cup.

Talking about Australia, well they are invincible in World Cup since 1999 World Cup finals but remember Pakistan is the team which defeated them last time in World Cup 1999. So they have to be careful against their unpredictable opposition. Form of Ponting is big concern for Aussies as Ponting failed miserably with the bat in last 4 months and captain's poor form definitely affects the team performance. Aussies will go into match with the intention of winning it and try to keep their unbeaten record intact with the win but things will not going to be that easy on the slow and turning pitch of Premdasa. Watson and Haddin have to provide them best of the starts, so that middle-order comes in and capitalise on the platform give by their openers. Form of Michael Clarke is heartening from the Aussie perspective. They have one of the best bowling line-up in the world as two of the fastest bowlers in the world cricket in Lee and Tait opens the bowling and they are backed with bowler like Mitchell Johnson. They have handy spinner in Jason Krezja who can do wonders on the turning pitch. 

So, exciting contest in the offering as both teams fight for the glory today and try to gain momentum ahead of knockout stage.

 India will fight to regain their favourites tag at Chepauk.

India will go into the match against West Indies with the intention to win it comprehensively after all the cricticism they faced in the past week after their loss to South Africa at Orange City which really hanged sword on their chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals. I also think this is last chance for Dr. Dhoni to experiment with the combination because after this match he will not get any chance of experiment and if he tries to experiment in kncokout stage and if that fails then his ass will going to be pissed off by the BCCI and public. That will also impact the viewership of IPL. I think this year's IPL viewership will also depends largely on India's World Cup performance because there is only 6 day gap between end of World Cup and commencement of IPL and BCCI don't want to fail in organising IPL especially after the termination of Mr. Lalit Modi.So Team  India's performance in the World Cup campaign will directly affect the IPL. So Dhoni have to be careful and have to win the trophy for the IPL and BCCI instead of public and Sachin Tendulkar.

As much as the wicket holds up, the constant getting more and more prominent is the advantage of winning the toss. Bar flies at the Madras Cricket Club have now calculated that winning the toss - and batting first - is like adding 75 to the total, even before a ball has been bowled. The problem may well be that ODIs haven't been played in Chennai during the month of March for the last 15 years. The last one was the 1996 World Cup quarter-final, between two teams who will be glued to Sunday's game, Australia and New Zealand.

On Sunday, for India to find their mojo and West Indies to give themselves a chance to hang on in the Cup, prayers around the toss must be abandoned. For all its trials, the Chepauk track must be made immaterial. Between the two teams, India have the best of all options, other than fielding of course. The team turned up at Chepauk on Friday for the first time in the lead-up to the match. There was an energetic game of football and the first two batsmen in the nets were Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, and the first bowler wheeling his arm over was local offspinner R Ashwin.

While Ashwin's inclusion in the XI is as good as a foregone conclusion and far removed from Piyush Chawla's absence from the nets on Friday, there is every chance that Suresh Raina may make his way into the squad as well. The reasons are several: the confidence of his batting in Indian conditions, his ability to quickly churn out a few part-time overs and the speed and energy of his legs. Yusuf Pathan may well look like the easiest candidate to be replaced, but Raina's inclusion in place of Pathan will not be a case of like replacing like. The left-hander may be a purely attacking middle-order batsman, but a power hitter he is not. The choice of India 11 will be a dilemma because, on Sunday, they would like to field the squad that can move ahead in the tournament. Any switches, other than due to injury, between their last group game and their first quarter-final is flirting with hazard. The Indians may live in a silent bubble, but the rumblings about their Nagpur performance are being felt. Bowlers, who always consider themselves the footsoldiers, grumble that once again they are copping the flak for India's flashy cavalry of batsmen. It may not make sense for Pathan and Ashish Nehra to be made the easy scapegoats for the middle-order batting failure in Nagpur, but the maths of Indian cricket sometimes works in mysterious ways.

A media storm rose on Thursday evening about a meeting between captain MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, chairman of selectors Krish Srikkanth, coach Gary Kirsten and bowling coach Eric Simons. It was a pre-planned meeting centred around giving Simons at the very least an interim role as India coach, following Kirsten's departure after the Cup, until a permanent solution to the vacancy is found. 

As far as West Indies is concerned they have only defeated minnows so far in the World Cup and lost to South Africa and England, so it will be interesting to see how they play against India. Toss will also play crucial role for them and they would love to win the toss and bat first. I think they must promote Keiron Pollard to No.4 because he is impact player and have to be utilised in a best possible manner. Russell, Sammy, Roach, Benn and Bishoo the debutant of last game forms very good bowling combination and i think West Indies keep their head balanced on their shoulder they beat any team but till now they did not play like a unit and they will certainly work out on this.

West have very good batsmen in Gayle, Drren Bravo, Sarwan and Chanderpaul but all these guys have to play to their potential if they wants to win against India. Gayle provided them very good starts so far in the tournament but couldn't capitalise on those starts. So one or two batsmen who gets the starts must convert those starts into big scores so that West Indies bowlers get something to defend. 

India and West Indies will lock horn tomorrow to establish supremacy and contest will going to offer lot of thrill, drama and suspense to the spectators.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 This Week(5/03/2011–11/03/2011)

10th ICC Cricket World Cup started on 19th Feb, 2011 and since then lot of action happened on-field and off-field. Here is the summary of all the action happened during 3rd week of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

1.	West Indies team attacked by local fans in Bangladesh after their victory over Bangladesh.
2.	Stones pelted by the fans on the homes of Bangladeshi cricketers for losing the match poorly against West Indies
3.	ICC tweaked controversial 2.5 cm rule after criticism from the experts. New guidelines: the 40cm (the distance covered by the ball between pitching and hitting the pads) and the 2.5metre graphic appear for the same delivery, the batsman will have to be given not out. And if “more than 2.5m” graphic appears without the 40cm graphic, the third umpire will be informed by Hawk-Eye about the exact distance of impact from the stumps. If this distance is greater than 3.5m, the batsman will remain not out.
4.	Ross Taylor scored 62 runs in just 16 balls in a match against Pakistan which included 7 towering sixes and went on to complete his century.
5.	New Zealand scored 92 runs in last 4 overs against Pakistan.
6.	Sachin Tendulkar crossed one more milestone. He completed 2000 runs in World Cup and became the first batsmen to do so with a healthy average of 57.09.
7.	Yuvraj Singh became first player to pick up 5 wicket haul and scoring half-century in  the same match in World Cup.
8.	Yuvraj Singh’s 5-31 against Ireland is the best bowling figures for any left-arm spinner in a World Cup.
9.	Casaulty list increased for England this weak as star batsmen Kevin Pietersen and fast bowler Stuart Broad ruled out of the World Cup due to poor health and inury reasons. Pietersen has been replaced by Eoin Morgan and Chris Tremlett replaced Stuart Broad.
10.	Asutrlia replaced  injured Doug Bollinger  with Michael Hussey.
11.	Imran Tahir, one of the finds of the tournament broke his left thumb in the Proteas' World Cup defeat to England. This is big blow to the South Africa as he is their most successful bowler in this World Cup so far.
12.	Niall O’Brien of Netherlands lost his bag which was containing six Gary Nicollas bat but lost bag found soon from Indian team’s luggage.
13.	Harbhajan Singh’s bowling woes continued as he failed to pick up even one wicket this week.
14.	Shaihd Afridi is the leading the bowlers in this World Cup with 15 wickets under his belt which includes two 5 wicket hauls after 3rd Week.
15.	Andrew Strauss of England emerged as highest run scorer after 3rd Week with total of 298 runs.
16	Match between Sri Lanka and Australia was abandoned due to  rain Australia did not get the chance to bat in the World Cup since Feb.25.
17	Eoin Morgan became 3rd cricketer to represent two different countries in the World Cup as he represented Ireland in the last World Cup and representing England in this World Cup.
18	As many as 332 Boundaries and 42 Sixes hit in the World Cup in 9 matches played so far in 3rd week.

ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP THIS WEEK

10th ICC Cricket World Cup started on 19th Feb, 2011 and since then lot of action happened on-field and off-field. Here is the summary of all the events happened during first week of the World Cup.

1.	No upset happened in first week of the World Cup and results were as per expectations
2.	Netherlands gave hard time to the Englishmen but failed to win the match.
3.	Ireland also fought hard but failed to cross the final barrier.
4.	Australian Captain Ricky Ponting once again created news with his bad behaviour as he broke the LCD TV at Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera after getting run-out against Zimabawe. Ponting was penalised with deduction of 50% match fees by the ICC.
5.	Sehwag created news for not wearing numbered Jersey in the match against Bangladesh due to superstition. ICC raised the objection but finally allowed Sehwag to play without number in rest of the matches.
6.	Australia and West Indies further suffered due to an injury to its key players.  Doug Bollinger and Dwayne Bravo returned home due to injuries and they will be certainly missed by their teams. Both Bravo and Bollinger have been ruled out of the remaining matches in the World Cup
7.	Sachin, Sehwag and Yuvraj were also in news due to injury scare during practice session in Bengaluru ahead of all important England match.
8.	As many as 311 Boundaries and 40 Sixes hit in the World Cup this week in 10 matches played so far.
9.	Fans were lathi-charged outside Chinnaswamy Stadium  in Bengaluru where they gathered for getting tickets of India-England match. Anil Kumble is heading the KSCA and it is really shameful that such incident happened in the presence of legend like Anil Kumble.
10.	ICC questioned its own President Mr. Sharad Pawar for not handling the ticket distribution  system properly
11.	Australia emerged as the strongest team and Kenya emerged as weakest team of  Week-1
12.	Virender Sehwag of India emerged as highest run-getter with 175 runs under his belt and Mitchell Johnson of Australia emerged as leading wicket-taker with 8 wickets in Week-1.
13.	90% of the decision of on-field umpires proved right after using UDRS.
14.	Virender Sehwag scored first century of the 2011 World Cup.
15.	Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi picked up first five wicket haul of the 2011 World Cup.

Agony continues for Kiwis as Kangaroos scored emphatic victory

Kiwi minds must be full of thoughts about whats going wrong with them in last few months as they are losing series and matches like novices. Kiwis faced huge loss at the hands of Aussies at Jamtha, Nagpur. If talk about resources and talent then Kiwi team is no less to anybody in this tournament. They have class players in McCullum, Guptill, Taylor, Vettori and Southee but somehow they are losing the plot and their agony continuing. Today also top-order of Kiwis falter badly and I must say if  Vettori had not scored those valuable 40 odd runs in the end then Kiwis had been bundled out for less than 150. I think they have to believe in their abilities and play sensibly to their strengths.

Now on every match becomes crucial for them, it will  going to be a difficult task for them to come-back in the tournament because they have to face Sri Lanka and Pakistan who are very tough opposition in sub-continent conditions. Kiwis can make it to the quarter-finals somehow even if they lose to Sri Lanka and Pakistan but one or two upset happens in their group then it will become difficult for the Kiwis so its important that they win atleast 4 matches to go smoothly into the quarter-finals. Their top-order is not at all clicking and hence their bowler fails to make any impression in absence of good runs on the scoreboard, so its important that top-order get among the runs and give something to their bowlers.

Australia chased down the score of 206 in just 34 overs at the loss of 7 wickets reflects the pathetic situation of Kiwi team. I feel John Wright and Daniel Vettori have to make some changes in batting-order. I think they have to open with Ryder and Guptill and ask Brendon McCullum to bat one-down. New Zealand must play Jacob Oram in all the matches. I don't understand the reason of leaving him out today for Jamie How who is struggling with his batting at the moment. Oram also gives the option of bowling. Its important for New Zealand players to bring some smiles on the face of earth-quake victims back home by winning few matches.

As far as Australia is concerned they are playing like invincibles at the moment. They are bowling well, fielding well and today their top-order also got some runs under their belt but worry for them is the  form of captain Ricky Ponting who is clearly struggling with the bat. He has to score few runs just to set example for the fellow players. Ponting  have lost his confidence and looks completely out of sorts. I think his finger injury is worrying him too much and he does not look like the Ponting whom we know. There is no flow in his footwork and strokes. Australian team is winning at the moment so nobody is questioning about Ponting's batting but moment Australia start losing I think Ponting will become first victim of the loss if he continues to fail with the bat.

Good thing for Australia is their bowling. Lee, Tait and Johnson bowled very well today and restricted New Zealand by picking up regular wickets and bowling them out in just 45 overs. Right through this tournament their bowling is their main ammunition and doing very well for them. I think return of Brett Lee has done wonders to their bowling and under Lee's leadership all the bowlers are doing very well. At the moment Australians not giving an inch to the opposition batsmen and looks like going into the quarter-finals unbeaten. Brilliant performance today must have bolstered their confidence for coming matches.

So everything went perfect for Australia today except Ponting's batting and for Kiwis it was horrible match and they have to come out all guns blazing in their next match if they want to advance in the tournament.

Kangaroos take on KIwis and Bangla Tigers face Ireland

2 matches will be played tomorrow. First encounter will between  old neighbours Australia and New Zealand. If we talk about these two countries on the basis of form then I believe Australia will have upper-hand in this encounter and looks good to register easy win over New Zealand. In ICC ODI  Rankings, Australia is currently No.1 team and New Zealand is sitting at No.7 spot. So difference between the two teams is huge. In fact recent performances of both the teams also justify their positions as Australia coming to this tournament with comprehensive ODI series win over England at home while New Zealand lost their home-series against Pakistan. But one thing is common between both the teams, both teams have defeated their opponents in their respective opening matches. Australia defeated Zimbabwe and New Zealand defeated Kenya.

Australia looks far more dangerous than New Zealand at the moment and favourites to win the contest as they possess two deadly fast bowlers in Lee and Tait while their other bowlers in Johnson and Bollinger also bowling well and bowling with reasonable pace and accuracy. Australia is lacking in spin department as they have only Jason Krejza to survive with. If talking about Australian batting then I must say except Shane Watson none of their top batsmen are in good form. Haddin, Ponting, Clarke, Fergusson, White, David Hussey,  all struggling for runs and they are badly missing services of Mike Hussey who was their mainstay in middle-order but unfortunately out of the World Cup because of injury. But make no mistake Australia can beat any team in the world even with the half team.

Squad:

Ricky Ponting(Captain), Michael Clarke(Vice-Captain), Shane Watson, Steve Smith, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Cameroon White, Brad Haddin(WK), Tim Paine(WK), Nathan Hauritz, Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, John Hastings. Tim Nielsen(Coach)

New Zealand's situation is very bad at the moment. They lost last 3 ODI series in a row and looks completely out of sorts. Although they won their opening match against Kenya convincingly but that cannot hide their weak links. They are clearly struggling but good thing for them is their bowling. Southee, Bennett and Vettori makes formidable bowling attack and if their batsmen score few runs then I feel they can win any game and can advance to semis as well. Form of Ross Taylor is big worry for New Zealand. He is their star batsmen and its important that he hits the form if New Zealand have to make some impact in the tournament. At the moment Taylor is having few technical flaws against spin which he needs to rectify immediately if he wants to do well on sub-continent pitches. He has to play on front -foot and have to use his feet if he wants to hit the sub-lime form.  Overall Kiwi batting is bit dodgy and they rely heavily on Guptill and McCullum to give them good start, if both openers will give them good start then I feel Kiwis can post or chase any total.

Squad:

Daniel Vettori(Captain), Hamish Bennett, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Brendon McCullum(WK), Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson, Luke Woodcock, Kyle Mills. John Wright(Coach)

Another encounter will be between Bangla Tigers and minnows Ireland. Here I think Bangladesh will have upper hand because they are playing at home and nowadays they are very capable team atleast at home. They did very well in their opening match against India where they almost chased the huge Indian total. Situation will be different against Ireland and I believe Bangla spinners will not allow Ireland's batting to score too many runs. 

Bangla batting is in great form as Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes have become more than reliable openers for them in the shorter version of the format. As far as Ireland is concerned I must say they will gain good experience of playing in sub-continent but cannot win many matches but one cannot deny upsets. So important match for Bangladesh to stay in hunt for quarter-finals.

Squad:

Shakib Al Hasan(Captain), Tamim Iqbal(Vice-Captain), Mushfiqur Rahim(WK), Abdur Razzak, Naeem Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Imrul Kayes, Raqibul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Junaid Siddique, Mahmuddulah, Mohammad Ashraful, Shafiul Islam, Shahriar Nafees, Suhrawadi Shuvo. Jamie Siddons(Coach)

Squad:

William Porterfield(Captain), Niall O'Brien(WK), Gary Wilson(WK), Kevin O'Brien John Mooney, Ed Joyce, Nigel Jones, Andrew White, Albert Van Der Merwe, TrentJohnston, George Dockrell, Paul Stirling, Alex Cusack, Boyd Rankin, Andre Botha. Phil Simmons(Coach)