CRICKET WORLD CUP PART 1

The 11^th edition of the cricket world cup in Australia and New Zealand is just more than 2 weeks old and what we have witnessed was some high quality cricket. If you said that cricket was a batsmen’s game then, Tim Southee just showed that bowlers also script victories with figures of 7-33 and the co-hosts producing a entertaining low-scoring thriller whereas Gayle just smashed the first World Cup double hundred. Before the tournament, India was given outside chances of winning the cup and now having winning 3 out of 3 on the trot, there is no doubt that they are the defending champions for no reason. A glance at how the teams fared over the fortnight of the World Cup:

AUSTRALIA:

                          

                        The 4 time champions, they had their skipper Clarke racing against time to be fit to play in the cup and they started off with a magnificent win over their Ashes rivals England before the encounter against Bangladesh which would have probably given 2 points was washed out and they had to settle with a point. And then in the Trans-Tasmanian clash they almost clinched victory before Williamson sent the ball for a 6. With Scotland, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka to play they seem to have only little problems given that they play in their home.

NEW ZEALAND:

           

   

                     The other co-hosts New Zealand are just showing their authority here in the tournament. With crushing wins over Sri Lanka and England, a convincing win over Scotland, and a nail-biting thriller against the Aussies they have now won all 4 wins out of 4 and have virtually made it to the last 8 and the encounters against Bangladesh and Afghanistan should be just formalities.

ENGLAND:

            

                        The inventors of the game are now finding tough to rule it. If their bowling let them down in the tournament opener against Australia, their batting let them down against the other co-hosts, New Zealand. And it was against Scotland they put their first points on the board with a 119-run victory. With Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan up next, the road to quarter-finals is tough given the quality of cricket the Bangladesh and Afghanistan are playing.

SRILANKA:

            

                        The Asian champions, lost their first match against New Zealand by 98 runs, had some hiccups en route in their win against Afghans and then smashed their way back to form by defeating Bangladesh. With England, Australia and Scotland next they should feel a bit easy to go on to the quarters having won 2 games.

BANGLADESH:

         

                        The Bengal tigers are no more a squeaky country to play cricket. With the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, the No.1 all-rounder in their ranks, given the conditions and play assist them they can script wins just like the big teams do. With 3 points from as many matches, they are in contention for the 4^th quarter finalist spot.

AFGHANISTAN:

           

                        The new faces at the World Cup just showed that what the Associate Nations can do at the big stage. Though they failed to win against Bangladesh in the opener, they de-railed the Lankan top order and pulled off a superb win against Scotland to register their first win in the World Cups. With Australia, New Zealand and England next no one knows what amount of entertainment they would bring.

SCOTLAND:

              

                        The 13^th team to qualify for the tournament are finding it tough to play in the antipodes having lost all three matches with Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh still to play, chances for them to register their maiden world cup victory remain dim.

INDIA:

                        

                         The Men in Blue, the defending champions what a way they have started the tournament... Scripted off early with the form of their players in the Antipodes for the past 2 months, they bounced back and showed at the big stage they have a different temperament. They upstaged Pakistan by 76 runs and went on to beat South Africa by 130 runs and had an easy outing against the UAE with a 9 wicket win. With all players in good form, they are now one of the favourites to win the cup and defend the crown.

SOUTH AFRICA:

                                                      

               

         Arguably the best team in the cup, are one of the firm favourites to win the cup. Started off with a victory against Zimbabwe and then lost the plot in the middle overs against India and corrected their mistakes against West Indies by smashing them for 257-run victory the best involving 2 teams from the BIG 8. With UAE, Pakistan and Ireland on the schedule, they should easily go past the group stage and have an easier opponent for the quarters in the hope of breaking the jinx of the ‘Chokers’ tag.

PAKISTAN:

                  

                        The champions of the Antipodes World Cup are now just the shadow of their former team. With Ajmal (at the time of squad announcement) and Hafeez banned from bowling, and Juniad Khan out with an injury, they hoped their campaign does not get any worse than this but with humiliating losses against arch-rivals India and a 150-run crushing defeat against the West Indies, they find themselves at the bottom of the table with a NRR of -2.26. With 4 matches remaining they need to up the tempo and improve their NRR if they need to play the quarter-finals.

WESTINDIES:

         

   

                     The men from the Caribbean, the advertisers of the game had a shaky start to the tournament with losing against Ireland and then convincingly winning over Pakistan by 150 runs. Add to that they tore apart the Zimbabwe bowling to break records and then came against South Africa, when they totally lost on all departments. With matches only against India and UAE, they need to fight it out for the spot in the last 4 with the Irish and Zimbabweans also fancying their chances.

ZIMBABWE:

                        

                         The country hit by money issues are not for a case have issues in batting, having scored 250+ runs in all the 3 matches. Against South Africa, they had the plot initially before a record partnership for the 5^th wicket and was totally taken to the cleaners against West Indies with a record 372 runs for the 2^nd wicket. The bowlers need to find their rhythm and they could fancy a spot in the last 8.

IRELAND:

           

                        The men in black & green, arguably if you had the World Cup for the Associates, Ireland would be victorious hands down. They have started off with a positive note, beating West Indies and the UAE. With 4 points from 2 games they are in the race for the last 8 spot and they could further seal that if they pull-off a victory over India or South Africa or Pakistan.

UAE:

          

                        The Gulf country rich in oil resources are also now having cricketing talents from various countries who despite their normal work take time to represent the country of work despite not having UAE visas. Examples would be Indians Swapnil Patil, Krishnachandran Karate and the Pakistani Shaiman Anwar. Losing all their three matches and getting into the cut after 1996, they are after a second WC win this season. Shown the ICC what Associates can do at the big stage by having some high-voltage encounters with Ireland and Zimbabwe before collapsing to India.

With only half of the round-robin matches over, who knows what the next fortnight might bring and who would go and play in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Wellington and go further more and get their hands on the trophy…..Only Time has the answer…So Stay tuned!!!!!

-S.T. Guha Karthikeyan