In
the previous post all must have read about what happened in the Antipodes over
the first fortnight of the World Cup 2015. As always the second fortnight also
brought some high voltage clashes and thrillers to keep us updated with the
tournament daily. If it was Gayle’s 215 that was the highlight of the first 2
weeks then the man of the moment in the second 2 weeks is Sangakkara without
any doubt. Not to say the bowlers have also decided matches just like the
previous fortnight. Starc’s death bowling and a spirited Pakistani comeback
were all instances where the Bowlers shared the lime-light.
NEW ZEALAND:
The
co-hosts were simply superb in the first half and maintained that in the second
half also by maintaining a clean sweep of 6-0 wins in the group. Having played
against all the big boys in the first half itself the second fortnight was just
like gearing up for the quarters for them. Trent Boult and Dan Vettori
continued to beat batsmen and the middle order was also put into the test and
they also performed well showing that there are hardly less problems for the
Kiwi’s. McCullum as always continues to be the aggressor no matter what and his
opening partner, Guptill also joined the party scoring a century in the last
match.
AUSTRALIA:
The other co-hosts came into
the 2nd fortnight with 3 points from as many games but collected the
full bounty from the next 3 outings and finished second best to New Zealand.
Coming into their performances, all players are in form and Mitchell Starc is
arguably the best death bowler of the tournament. Not to forget the solidity of
Clarke and Smith and the blitz from Warner, Finch and Maxwell. At the end they
finished second in the group with 9 points.
SRI LANKA:
The
Asian Champions, came into the 2nd half with 4 points from 3 matches
and also got the same from the next 3 games. Sangakkara continues to just score
centuries at will and their bowlers are backed up with huge totals to defend,
which was seen against Bangladesh and Scotland and against England, though the
bowlers failed, the batsmen scored the target without any problem. Lasith
Malinga is on track to be full fitness and this was evident that toe-crushing
Yorker that rattled Clarke’s stumps. Others contributing with the bat were
Dilshan, Thiramanne who scored centuries and Mathews who has scored the fastest
Sri-Lankan 50.
BANGLADESH:
The tigers, surprised
everyone and were favoured as one of the teams outside the top 8 to qualify for
the knock-outs. Led by Mortaza, their batting was ably supported by Soumya
Sarkar and Mahmadullah Riyadh and Shakib came in with some fine all-round performances.
The bowlers on the other hand were not at their best against New Zealand but in
the all-important match against England, they fired down perfect and sent the
Poms Packing. Mahmudullah became the first Bangladeshi to score a world cup
century and doubled it in the next match and is looking in fine form.
ENGLAND:
What
Newton is to gravity is what England is to cricket. But what they showed here
was some dismal performances and led to their early exit from the cup. They
were not unified on the day. When the batsmen racked up 300 on the board, the
bowlers failed to apply pressure and when the bowlers restricted the opposition
to under 280, the batsmen lost the plot. As many of the experts said what they
lacked was imagination and creativity, the batsmen knew that once they
withstand Anderson and Broad in the initial overs, there are no problems after.
They managed to defeat Afghanistan but the damage was already done.
AFGHANISTAN:
Probably the second best
associate nations as they never lost the match before putting up a fight.
Against New Zealand, they were the first team to restrict the Kiwis to under 5
runs an over. Against Australia, they were totally outclassed by the Kangaroos
and against England in a dead-rubber they failed register a win which if they
had done would have just dented England’s campaign further. But with the
provided background and the amount of match practice they got, they put up a
good fight for that.
SCOTLAND:
The Scott’s, are still in search of a maiden
world cup win and will continue to be in search of that having clean washout of
0-6 in this campaign. Josh Davey put up some performances and not to forget
Coetzer’s 156 that almost won the match against Bangladesh. But apart from that
they were totally in a disarray and might as well improve their strengths the
next time they qualify.
INDIA:
The Defending Champions were
just like Pool B’s New Zealand. Collecting the full bounty in all the 6 matches
and also all 60 wickets, they look like a formidable line-up and when questions
were raised over form of middle order, they responded with match winning
contributions. The Pace trio of Shami, Yaadav and Mohit continued to ask
questions to the batsmen and Ashwin was bowling miserly spells apart from the
outing against ZIM. Raina too chipped in with some off-spinners and Jadeja
continues to fill in the spot of the 5th bowler in the team.
SOUTH AFRICA:
The Proteas, entered this fortnight with 4
points from 3 games and were expected to take full bounty from the remaining
matches, but they lost against a quality Pakistan attack but went on to
dominate the other 2 matches against the UAE and Ireland. De Kock continues to
raise doubts over his place in the squad whereas Amla and du Plessis scored
centuries and de Villiers just meant business. The South African Pace attack
was not just a single man show but a combined attack of Steyn, Abott, Morkel
and Philander ably supported by the spin of Imran Tahir.
PAKISTAN:
The Men in green, the antipodes defending
champion, started their first leg on a silent note and then were resilient as
they shrugged of the staring blues as they collected all the 8 points from the
remainder 4 games. Fielding an all-pace attack was finally its strength and the
Pakistan bowlers dictated victories against the opponents. Their batsmen were
coming back to form as one player some bits and pieces knock in one game or the
another with Misbah alone performing in all those matches. Shezhad had a
magnificent outing against UAE, Sarfraz had a good outing with the bat and the
glove bagging 2 times the player of the match award. Apart from them Younis, Harris
have also scored some runs in their bags. Fans are yet to witness BOOM BOOM
Afridi magic.
IRELAND:
Probably the best Associate
nation of the 4 teams that played in the World Cup. Having 4 points from 2
games in the first half, they started off with a hammering blow from South
Africa, and then managed to win over Zimbabwe to keep their hopes alive and
then lost to India and in the final do-or-die game against Pakistan, barring
Porterfield’s century other failed and they managed only 237 on the board which
wasn’t enough. Their bowlers are all medium pace bowlers who bowl in the 130s
and they do not have a 140s+ bowler who could have made the difference in the
team.
WEST INDIES:
The Caribbean
boys. Having played 4 games already in the first 2 weeks they had more rest
than other teams and they played only 2 games winning one and losing one. Their
first match against India was a thriller as they managed to bring down the
Indian batting order with some quality bowling and that continued to run through
the UAE line up. Their batting doesn’t revolve around anyone with all players
making useful contributions with the bat.
ZIMBABWE:
The
Zimbabweans almost pulled out a narrow win against Ireland which would have
seen them in contention for the quarters and hopefully have some pride as their
board in under debt for having to pay salaries to players for months. As a
result of those incidents, their prolific run-getter Brendon Taylor signed a
Kolpak deal with a county sacrificing his national duties. Sean Williams put up
and all-round show and the bowlers who held the plot in the initial overs seem
to be nowhere in the successive overs and it cost them as all the matches they
lost were by close margins and also their fielding was below par.
UAE:
The Emiratis.
They came to the World cup surprising all associate nations and provided some
quality cricket with Shaiman Anwar their stand-out performer and some bits and
pieces performaces from the others, unlike the first half of the tournament
where they played some good cricket, the second half was a big test and against
Pakistan, and South Africa they conceded 300+ totals and against West Indies, their
top order totally surrendered. But like Afghanistan, they also take some
positives from the tournament and hope to do better the next time.
So with
the group stages over, it is up to the 8 best teams that qualified to provide
some cricket over the next 2 weeks and who takes the World Cup???? Wait and Watch………
-S.T. Guha Karthikeyan
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