All posts by n8rngtd.top

The youngsters need to recapture the fearlessness and clear-headedness that drove India to an impressive one-day record over the past two years

Sidharth Monga12-Nov-2009The honeymoon is over, MS Dhoni now has some home improvement to do. Not only for himself but for his merry boys who went around playing merry cricket for more than two years. Fearless, for they knew no fear. Clear-minded, for they knew no confusion. Cue two first-round exits in world events and a home series loss to a severely depleted Australia and they are not so sure of themselves. The fear of the bouncer is evident, the fear of missing the length against big hitters is bringing the bowlers down, there is confusion when chasing and consternation when Yuvraj Singh is missing. It is time now for the same youngsters to overcome that fear, to sort out the confusion.The World Twenty20 and Champions Trophy failures weren’t catastrophic; they could be put down to injuries, to a stray off day. Against Australia, in home conditions, in front of fanatical crowds and with one opposition player leaving the country almost every day, with ample opportunity to come back in a series, they lost even before Cyclone Phyan could intervene. It ought to hurt them, a unit wanting to become the best team in the world.Because it’s not merely the losses but the manner in which they lost that will worry them. At 2-1, after winning in Nagpur and Delhi, India went to Mohali with the momentum, Australia with Murphy’s Law running the rule in their camp. To add to it, India finally bowled and fielded well, restricting Australia to 250. At that point, even a 6-1 scoreline in India’s favour seemed plausible – more so when Virender Sehwag got them off to a flying start and it was all a matter of batting out 50 overs on a flat pitch. Under pressure, the Aussies lifted their game, India’s youngsters faltered and they were bowled out with 24 runs and 20 balls to go.The critics sharpened their knives – Ravi Shastri wrote of mental strength and Sunil Gavaskar saw a lack of application in how India didn’t last 50 overs while the run-rate and the pitch were both manageable. Both are generally thrifty when it comes to criticising the Indian team so their words carried greater resonance. And if Mohali was partially India 1990s redux, Hyderabad was the full Monty.Big, improbable chase. Tick. Sachin Tendulkar plays a solo masterpiece yet makes the chase look easy. Tick. Tendulkar falls with a handful required. Tick. The rest fold tamely. Tick. “This column has lately been questioning the mental strength of this Indian team. It has now received a fresh coat of scepticism,” wrote Shastri.Dhoni, to his credit, didn’t hide behind words after Hyderabad. “I don’t think it was the talent part,” he said. “I think it was the mental part, where you know you can play a big shot and you back yourself to do that. At times you just go through the motions, you don’t know if such a shot is needed or no. I think we lost the mental part more than the cricketing aspect.”Dhoni has himself to blame for it too. Over the past two years he has talked about letting his batting line-up play its “natural game”. There hasn’t been visible pressure on the youngsters to learn how to build an innings, because perhaps they know if they fail Dhoni is there. And Dhoni usually is there. Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma have had a cushy initiation to international cricket. Bouncers in South Africa? No problem, we’ll send for Rahul Dravid. Flat pitches? Have fun, you won’t be pushed in at No. 3. Result: The fighting, unglamorous innings are missing. Both Raina and Rohit are considered future middle-order mainstays – though Rohit is out of the team right now – and they need to show they don’t shy away from gritty efforts.Ishant Sharma continues to remain a cause for concern•Associated PressSourav Ganguly, who was supposed to be suspect facing the short ball all his career, had specific advice for Raina. He feels the issue is more mental than technical. In Hyderabad Raina top-edged a bouncer, in Guwahati he played back to a full delivery. Ganguly’s advice: He just needs to be clear with what he wants to do when a bowler is running in to bowl at 90 miles an hour, and there are bouncers involved.India will also rue that Sehwag’s longest innings in six efforts lasted 31 balls. In a seven-match series, you expect him to win at least one on his own but it was not to be. It is easy to say that what he played was his natural game but what he plays in Tests is also his natural game. What he played in this series would suit Twenty20 more and, apart from Hyderabad, he was never under pressure to go out seeking adventure.Ashish Nehra brought a sense of purpose to the bowling and was Dhoni’s go-to man in the Powerplays but lacked support. Harbhajan Singh slowly turned around a poor start from Mohali, moving off-wards and slowing down his pace. As a unit, going at 5.3 an over through the series was par for the course but Ishant Sharma continues to be a worry.Through all the high-decibel chatter that is Indian television, one channel stumbled upon something close to the truth. Running a loop of the shots from the Guwahati collapse, it proclaimed that it was not the bowlers who lost the series. The voiceover was stinging in criticism: “Mr Sehwag, will you keep hitting wide ones for sixes, and leave the gate open for incoming deliveries?” “Look, he [Yuvraj] has no shame, he is laughing on his way back.” Yuvraj rightfully had a bemused expression on his face after being dismissed in freak manner. Every batsman was panned, some unfairly so, but when it came to Tendulkar, the anchor said, “So after Hyderabad did the other batsmen expect the Little Master to score all the runs again?”Lazy stuff, yes, but also pointing to the nineties when, more often than not, one man used to be the team. Dhoni’s team has worked hard for the last two years to not become such a unit, instead be one that gets the job done, that finishes off matches. He wouldn’t want three ordinary series to undo that effort.

Plays of the day from the first day of the first Test between India and Australia in Mohali

Sidharth Monga in Mohali01-Oct-2010The reprieve(s)
You don’t expect to be so lucky on second ball of the day after the opposition has won the toss. Perhaps Virender Sehwag wasn’t expecting to when he dropped a simplish overhead catch from Shane Watson at gully. MS Dhoni, too, did Watson a favour, when on 37, dropping a thin edge off Pragyan Ojha. The beneficiary is yet to get out.The sixth sense
When Simon Katich shuffled too far across, and was hit in front by a Zaheer Khan delivery that swung in towards middle, Katich must have known he was adjacent. For, he didn’t even look up at the umpire. He just looked down, moved a bit towards leg, heard the happy noise from the small crowd, and walked off.The plan that almost worked
In the 10th over, Dhoni moved Sachin Tendulkar to a three-fourths deep square leg presumably for the Ricky Ponting pull. In the same over, Ponting fell over while clipping one off the pads, and ended up hitting the ball squarer and in the air. Tendulkar could have risked a boundary going for it, but he chose to play it safe. Silence all around. Not a single angry or questioning look from any of the team-mates.The Sami tribute over
Mohammad Sami, the holder of the record for the longest over in international cricket, would have watched in hope when Ishant Sharma started the 13th over of the day with two no-balls, and didn’t quite seem to be able to get around the problem. Later in the same over, to rub it in, Ricky Ponting nicked one of those no-balls down the leg side. If that wasn’t slat enough already, Watson hit him for back-to-back boundaries. Sadly, though, for Sami the over finished with 10 deliveries, seven short of his record. Better luck next time.The misjudgement
On a pitch with low bounce, and with the ball reversing madly, you need to be very brave to leave alone a delivery, no matter how wide or how short. Marcus North tempted fate when he did so in the 85th over, and almost lived to tell the tale. The ball swung back viciously, but managed to stealthily kiss the top of off on its way to Dhoni. The touch was so soft the ball hardly deviated, and accordingly Zaheer had hands on his head… until Dhoni pointed to the bail that belatedly came out of its groove. Joy to the reverse-swing bowlers.

As befits a city of thinkers and artists, the finest Test played there was a long, slow, examination of skill and character

Mark Ray19-Nov-2010Australia’s series against India in 2001 was Test cricket at its best. High-quality, varied, dramatic. And the middle match, the second Test in Kolkata, was as different from the first as Kolkata is different from Mumbai.Mumbai had been a blast – on and off the field. The city is famously flash and fast and the first Test was played at a frantic pace. It was
all over in three exciting exciting days, the highlight of which was the hitting onslaught by the two left-handers, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, in Australia’s first innings.After a quiet week in Delhi – if there can be such a thing – for a tour game, we arrived in Kolkata in time for Holi. It was my first
visit to the city, and as I always did on tours, I spent my spare time wandering the streets with my camera. But with limited time and
knowledge of the city, I saw only the central part.I wandered bustling streets and the busy bookshop area before I ended up on the Hooghly’s shore. On one side of the road, opposite small temples where priests and holy men watched the passing parade, I saw the entrance to an impressive set of buildings. Young men were playing cricket in the driveway and as I watched a man came up to me and said: “That is Tagore’s school.” Back then I knew only a little of the great writer.On Holi day, the other spare day before the Test began, the Australian media and a few of the players drove in a long convoy of police cars, private vehicles and minibuses to Barrackpore, to the Udayan home for children of lepers. By that stage Steve Waugh had been raising funds for the school for a few years. It was a long drive but there was little traffic. People were preparing for Holi. A few hundred delighted children welcomed us to their home. I can still see Mark Waugh reuniting with the girl he sponsored; Justin Langer, the father of young children back home in Perth, spending most of the day hand in hand with a boy of about five who had latched onto him when we first walked into the school.At one point, children performed for us and the highlight was a dance by a group of girls. One girl caught my eye – and, as it turned out,
the eyes of all of us. She danced beautifully and her eyes and smile glowed brightly. When the performance ended and the press
photographers asked to set up a picture, they all asked if that little girl could be in the photo. She was delighted to oblige, posing in
front of a plaque marking Steve Waugh’s major contribution – a new wing for girls.On the drive back to the hotel we saw groups of people heading out to celebrate Holi. We passed an open truck with about 20 adults in the back. All were painted in silver – clothes, faces, hair. I couldn’t stop the convoy, so I missed getting a photo of them.As we reached the centre of the city, we asked our minibus driver to let us off. Half a dozen Australian journalists landed in the middle
of Holi day. The city was buzzing, mainly with somewhat inebriated young people, and we attracted quite a lot of attention. It was an
insight into a special day in a special place.One of the inmates of the Udayan home stands before the plaque acknowledging Steve Waugh’s role in the setting up of the wing for girls•Mark Ray/Mark RayThe Test match was completely different from Mumbai’s. There is something about Eden Gardens that is familiar to Australians. It and
the MCG are cricket’s only true stadiums, grounds that can hold 100,000 people. The size makes them special. I first looked in awe at
the MCG when I was a ten-year-old. My parents and I had driven down from Sydney on holiday and we went to the MCG to watch Ted Dexter’s Englishmen practise before the Boxing Day Test in 1962. Eden Gardens was just as impressive on that first visit.Still, getting into the ground was no mean achievement. After negotiating the massive crowds that curled around the huge next to the ground in snaking ticket queues, you had to have all the appropriate passes to get into the stadium. These passes had to be authorised by the Kolkata police, who were very strict. Channel Nine’s Australian news crew had failed to get one of the passes and spent the first two days of the match broadcasting from the street.I ended up with five passes: one to get into the ground, one to get into the press box, one to get out of the press box and into the outer
grandstands, one to get lunch in the press box, and a fifth to get afternoon tea there. A record in my cricket-writing career.Inside the ground the noise was phenomenal. Not as frenetic as Mumbai, nor as constant as it would be in Chennai in a week’s time. At Eden Gardens it was deeper and more powerful, no doubt because of the size of the crowd and because this Test match ebbed and flowed at its own stately pace. This famous match went for five days, turned this way and that and will always be remembered for India’s magnificent fightback, thanks to a great partnership of 376 between VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. Not to be outdone, Harbhajan Singh whirled his way to 13 wickets in a thrilling and decisive performance.This match had a style that reflected the city’s, just as the first Test had reflected Mumbai’s personality. Kolkata was played at a
totally different pace. It was a slower match, more classical, more thoughtful, emotions running deeply rather racing across the surface.
In Kolkata, the city of artists and writers and thinkers, this was a classical Test – a long, profound examination of skill and character.Outside the stadium the great city went about its varied and complicated daily life. So it was after the match, when both teams and
the travelling media drove straight from Eden Gardens to the airport to catch a plane to Chennai for the third Test, which would start three days later. It had been an enriching and exhausting week in Kolkata.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the day from Bangladesh’s must-win match against South Africa

Firdose Moonda in Mirpur19-Mar-2011The perfect placement
Jacques Kallis had played his way cautiously to 30, rotating the strike with Hashim Amla and managing two boundaries. Then, he rolled out a vintage stroke. Shafiul Islam bowled a regular, on-a-good-length ball and Kallis just presented his bat. He made contact that had better timing than all the clocks in the world. The ball snuck in between Faf du Plessis’ legs, evaded a diving Tamim Iqbal, escaped the exasperated Mahmadullah at mid-on too and eased it way to the boundary. Effortless.The mind-the-gap moment
Bangladesh cost themselves in the field with some sloppy work but this was the most careless. Abdur Razzak was at point when Kallis cut the ball to him, off the bowling of Shakib Al Hasan. Razzak kneeled down and should have picked it up immediately, giving away no runs in the process, but he somehow allowed the ball into the gap between his left knee and right leg. As it was teasing him, his hands couldn’t get around the ball in time and it rolled away for four.The un-noticed 50
Jacques Kallis was playing a low-key innings but he must have expected someone to clap when he reached his half-century. It wasn’t brought up in a flashy fashion – a small flick to fine leg, an ambled single. But nobody seemed to notice. As Kallis stood, bat in the air, acknowledging the crowd, there was minimal sounds beyond the constant burble. A section of the crowd must have realised what was going on and offered small applause but most didn’t seem too aware that South Africa’s greatest all-rounder had reached another milestone.The catch that stuck

After a solid display of butter fingers, Shakib Al Hasan finally gave Bangladesh their moment in the field. Jacques Kallis wanted to use the batting Powerplay to capitalise and decided to start from the get-go. He rocked on the back foot and smacked the third ball of the over back to Shakib. It wasn’t a clean catch at first, as the captain juggled it on the first attempt but held on it on the second.The tragedy
It was only the 8th over of the Bangladesh chase but at 21 for 4, the dream was crashing fast. Lonwabo Tsotsobe had exposed too many weaknesses and what lay before the fans, a raw batting line-up, was too painful for them to see. Rows of seats became empty and dozens of people were making their way to the exit. The dream was dying and they weren’t hanging around to see it splutter and struggle its way to the inevitable end.The giant catch
Graeme Smith and agile are not two concepts that marry easily, but he showed his nimble side while fielding at slip. Robin Peterson had tempted Mushfiqur Rahim to go onto his front foot and drive and the push from the Bangladeshi batsman resulted in nothing more than an edge. It flew to the right of Smith at first slip and was dipping fast but Smith lunged with his full reach and took the catch.The lowest is over
When Shakib Al Hasan gently took a single off Johan Botha on the leg side, in the 21st over, the crowd began to cheer louder than had for the entire Bangladesh innings. Not because they were applauding their captain supreme who had to be a one-man team for much of the match, with the bat and ball, but because the worst they’d seen of this World Cup would not come back to haunt them. That single was the 58th, the same amount that Bangladesh had been bowled out for against the West Indies and they still had five wickets in hand. Even though Mahmadullah was run out on that score, the same ignominy was avoided, but not by much.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the IPL game between Kings XI Punjab and Deccan Chargers in Dharamsala

Siddhartha Talya21-May-2011The reprieve Part I

He went on to make 95, when he should have been run-out first ball. Shikhar Dhawan rushed for a single, Ryan McLaren picked up, dived and didn’t miss the stumps at the non-striker’s end by much. Dhawan was miles out of his crease. As it turned out, he won the game for Deccan Chargers.The reprieve Part II
D Ravi Teja should have been out for a duck too; instead he made 60 and had plenty of luck on the way. He swung hard at his third delivery, got a top edge and Paul Valthaty, running in from the deep on the leg side, got to it, spilled it and then dived. A complete mess.Asad Rauf does his bit
Umpires these days rarely decide against a referral when the appeal for a run-out is a close one. McLaren had done a splendid job trying to prevent a single off his bowling, running forward, sliding and aiming accurately at the non-striker’s end. Ravi Teja appeared to have made his ground, except that replays showed his bat had popped up as he tried to slide it in on the dive. Asad Rauf didn’t refer it to the third umpire, much to the surprise of the fielders, and there was more frustration in store when the next two deliveries were edged for boundaries.Harris’ nightmare

A horrible day for Ryan Harris. Forget that he conceded 35 in four overs. He twice dropped Ravi Teja while at long-on, the first off a miscue and the second struck cleanly at him. The first drop cost 21 runs, as Ravi Teja smacked Piyush Chawla for two sixes and a four. The second cost just two as Abhishek Nayar held his nerve the next ball to break the trend. It wasn’t over for Harris, though. Facing a hat-trick ball from Amit Mishra in the chase, he couldn’t resist the temptation to slash at a googly and edge straight to second slip.Christian shows how it’s done
Mishra’s first victim was McLaren, who slog-swept one cleanly only to find Daniel Christian prowling at deep midwicket. He reacted quickly, running to his right and diving forward to pluck the catch inches from the ground. It summed up Deccan’s performance on the field – they caught everything that came their way – and reminded Punjab of their sloppiness.

Stats highlights from India’s five-wicket win in Delhi, which puts them 1-0 up in the three-Test series

S Rajesh09-Nov-2011

• India’s win continues their excellent home record in recent years. Since the beginning of 2008, India have won 11 Tests and lost only two out of 20 home matches. No team has a better record at home. It was also India’s 11th Test win at the Feroz Shah Kotla – their win-loss record at this ground is 11-6, which makes it India’s fifth-best among venues where they’ve played at least ten Tests.
• India’s total of 276 is their third-highest in a successful fourth-innings run-chase in Tests, and their tenth such score in excess of 200. Six of those scores have come in the last four years. It’s also the joint second-highest in Delhi, and quite coincidentally, it’s exactly the score that West Indies had achieved to win at the same venue 24 years ago.
• This is the 18th occasion that India have won a Test after conceding a lead at the end of the teams’ first innings. Thirteen of those instances have been at home. The last time they achieved it was against Australia in Mohali in 2010 when they won a nailbiter, chasing down 216 with one wicket in hand. VVS Laxman was unbeaten on that occasion too. (Click here for a list of matches where India won after batting first and here for a list of matches when India fielded first.)
• R Ashwin became only the third India player to win the Man of the Match award on debut. The previous one had been RP Singh, for match figures of 5 for 164 in a high-scoring draw in Faisalabad in 2006. (Click here for the full list. Before 1990, this award wasn’t declared for all matches.)
• Sachin Tendulkar missed out on his 100th international century yet again, but during the course of his 76 he became the highest run-getter in fourth innings of Test matches, going past Rahul Dravid. Tendulkar, though, averages 39.86 in fourth innings, compared to Dravid’s 41.86. Tendulkar also became the highest run-getter at the Feroz Shah Kotla, going past Dilip Vengsarkar. Vengsarkar, though, averages almost 22 runs more than Tendulkar at this ground.
• Laxman, meanwhile, continued his fine run in fourth innings. Since the beginning of 2010, his fourth-innings scores read thus: 103*, 73*, 32*, 3*, 56, 4, and 58*.

Australia and Sri Lanka, who fought out a closely contested best-of-three finals, were streets ahead of India on the batting and bowling fronts

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan09-Mar-2012At the end of a long and gruelling summer, Australia, faced with multiple injury problems, appeared jaded as the CB Series went on. However, as has usually been the case, they were able to pick themselves up for the crucial contest and managed to put it past a spirited Sri Lankan team in the finals. Despite losing to Sri Lanka in four out of six matches before the third final, Australia produced an impressive bowling performance to defend a modest target of 232. Sri Lanka, who had also reached the finals in 2005-06, were a far improved team this time around. They twice beat Australia comprehensively, and were unlucky to lose three games by narrow margins and tie another against India earlier in the tournament.Their batsmen were by far the best among the three teams. India, on the other hand, were highly inconsistent and their run of big losses against Australia left them with too much to do in the end to qualify for the final.Throughout the tournament, Sri Lanka proved to be the best batting team and their top order was the most consistent. Even on the occasions when the top order failed to perform, the middle-order batsmen were up for the challenge. In the first final, faced with a massive target of 322, Sri Lanka collapsed to 144 for 6 before staging a remarkable recovery to reach 306. On the other hand, India’s batting was very ordinary throughout the series except for their final game when they completed an extraordinary chase of 321 in just 36.4 overs. Their batting display against Australia, however, was well below par and they ended up conceding a bonus point on three occasions in four matches against them. The average difference (difference between batting and bowling averages) and run-rate difference (difference between run-rate and economy rate) are clear indicators of the gulf between the finalists and India. While Australia have an average difference of 4.05 an run-rate difference of 0.13, the corresponding figures for Sri Lanka are 3.56 and 0.06. India, however, are way behind Australia and Sri Lanka, with corresponding values of -10.93 and -0.24 respectively.

In the end, Australia ended with a 6-5 win-loss record in the tournament after the triumph in the third final. Sri Lanka though, were marginally behind, finishing with an even win-loss record (5-5) with one tied game. However, Sri Lanka were the better team in clashes against Australia, winning three of the four group matches and one more in the finals. They had an average difference of 6.06 and run-rate difference of 0.44 in the group stages against Australia. India, who finished with a 2-1 record against Sri Lanka, had an inferior batting average (36.75 to 39.92) but a positive run-rate difference of 0.37 by virtue of the superb chase in their final group game. The Australia-India contests were, however, extremely one-sided. Following their dominance of India in the Test series when they won 4-0, Australia extended their hold in the tri-series by winning three of the four matches while gaining a bonus point on each occasion. The extent of Australia’s domination is reflected in the high value of the average difference (16.74) and run-rate difference (0.97). In the best-of-three finals, Australia and Sri Lanka were closely matched across the three games with Australia finishing with the higher batting average and Sri Lanka ending with a slightly higher run-rate.

The biggest reason for Sri Lanka’s success in the tri-series was the excellent form of their top-order batsmen. Tillakaratne Dilshan, the highest run-getter in the series with 513, was consistent throughout and scored centuries against India and Australia. Both Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka’s most experienced batsmen, were also in great touch and ended with more than 400 runs. With the exception of David Warner, who became the first batsman to score two centuries in the finals, Australia’s top-order batsmen were surprisingly inconsistent in home conditions. And in a tournament where India’s batting hardly had an impact, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir stood out. All three teams were evenly matched when it came to the performance of the middle-order (Nos.4-7) batsmen. David Hussey, in particular, was outstanding throughout and scored five half-centuries. Sri Lanka were slightly ahead of the fray in the lower-order batting stats with timely contributions from Nuwan Kulasekara and Lahiru Thirimanne.

A comparison of the teams’ performances across the Powerplay overs reveals some interesting numbers. In the mandatory Powerplay (overs 1-10), Sri Lanka and India were ahead of the hosts, losing fewer wickets and scoring at a higher rate. In the bowling Powerplay, however, Australia scored at a higher run-rate but averaged lesser than Sri Lanka. In the same period, India had a slightly higher scoring rate than Sri Lanka, but averaged less than 30. All three teams finished with fairly even run-rates in the batting Powerplay. The hosts, however, were far ahead on the average front finishing with an average of 80.00 while India and Sri Lanka ended with averages of 32.42 and 27.00 respectively.

Given the success of the top-order batsmen, Sri Lanka’s dominance of the partnership stats is not surprising. They averaged nearly fifty for the top three partnerships and were involved in three century stands including the highest of the tournament (200 between Dilshan and Sangakkara against India). In contrast, both Australia and India struggled to stitch solid partnerships for the first two wickets but almost finished on par with Sri Lanka for the third wicket. Australia had the most consistent middle order and their partnership averages for wickets 4-6 were the best among the three teams. They also finished with 11 fifty-plus stands, the highest among the three teams (Sri Lanka and India had four each).

In the first few matches of the tournament, there were very few high scores and the bowlers had a significant impact. However, in the latter stages of the tournament, the batsmen dominated the proceedings and there were four 300-plus scores in the last five matches. Even the experienced Lasith Malinga and Brett Lee proved expensive in most matches with Malinga conceding over nine runs per over on two occasions. Malinga ended the series with an economy rate of 6.21, his highest for a series of four or more matches. Clint Mckay, who was man of the match in the third final for his 5 for 28, was by far the best pace bowler in the tournament finishing with 15 wickets at an average of 19.40 and economy rate of 4.60. Overall, Australian pace bowlers finished with the most wickets and had the best stats among the fast bowlers from the three teams. The spinners were quite effective in curbing the run-rate but were hardly among the wickets. Not only did the pace bowlers disappoint for India, the spinners were also below par and finished with 17 wickets at an economy rate of 5.31 and a high average of 44.65.

In the first ten-over period of the innings, India’s pace bowlers were the most economical (economy rate of 4.27) while the pace bowlers from the other two teams finished with corresponding numbers greater than five. In the middle overs (11-40), the Australian pace bowlers finished with the best average (29.17) and economy rate (5.01) while the Indian fast bowlers had the worst numbers (average of 45.18 and economy rate of 5.58). David Hussey and Xavier Doherty bowled consistent lines in the middle overs and ensured that Australia’s spin-bowling stats in the period were highly competitive. In the final ten-over phase (overs 41-50), the Australian and Sri Lankan fast bowlers finished with much better averages and economy rates than their Indian counterparts. In the end overs, the Indian spinners outperformed the Australian spinners, but finished with a higher average and economy rate than the Sri Lankan spinners.

Missile-firing in Delhi! Head for cover

Nikhil Jha20-Apr-2012Choice of game
For me, more often than not, watching a match live is dictated by ticket availability rather than a keen interest to watch an exciting contest. That said, every match scheduled in my 100km vicinity is an invitation to visit the stadium. I decided to kickstart my IPL-watching season with a relative low-key affair between Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers. An afternoon match on a weekday eased any ticketing issues that could have cropped up.It was a match between a team that had lost just one game and another that had not won a single one. There wasn’t much to predict – Daredevils were the favorites.Team supported
My team loyalty in the IPL is a highly complicated and confusing mess of conflicting allegiances. I have stayed in Gurgaon (which qualifies as Delhi, for outsiders) for five years so one part automatically supports Daredevils. I studied in Mumbai for four years, and those excellent four years present a case to support Mumbai Indians. My hometown is Jamshedpur, and two lads from there – Varun Aaron and Saurabh Tiwary – attract me to their respective teams. But, being from Jharkhand, the biggest influence is Indian captain MS Dhoni, who is the reason I have supported Chennai Super Kings in the past few IPL seasons.Realistically, I think Rajasthan Royals and Daredevils have excellent batting line-ups that have been firing this season. I would like Rahul Dravid to lift the trophy this year as one for the good old times.Key performer
Just two letters – KP. He walked in with Daredevils in a spot of bother, having lost three wickets under 30 runs. His style of play hardly reflected the situation as he displayed supreme confidence in walking out to the fast bowlers and treating the spinners with disdain.Once the dust settled on the carnage, KP had raced away to a century, having scored more than 60% of the runs in the chase. Bruce Willis and other muscle men of his ilk would have been proud of this one-man demolition job.One thing you’d have changed about the day
This game had the makings of a close finish before KP stepped up. I wish Chargers had a few more runs on the board, which would have meant an exciting last-over dash.Face-off I relished
I was really excited about watching Dale Steyn in action, and looked forward to his face-off with Pietersen. I wasn’t disappointed; KP faced quite a few Steyn deliveries, and did not treat them with the disdain he reserved for other bowlers. He quietly played out Steyn’s quota while launching into the others.Wow moment
Parthiv Patel was looking good in the middle and needed to stay there to boost the total. He hit a shot that seemed like it would easily clear the fence, only for Mahela Jayawardene take a well-judged catch right at the boundary’s edge. Made it all look so easy!Shot of the day
On a day when India was testing nuclear missiles in one part of the country, KP was testing his own versions, making the crowd scatter quite a few times with his scorchers. One that stood out was in the 14th over, against Amit Mishra. He launched it straight and high, and it hit the highest part of the third tier of the stadium, still in ascent! Any longer and it would have qualified as an IRBM (Intermediate-range ballistic missile).Crowd meter
Considering it was a weekday and an afternoon start, the stadium was a respectable 70% full. There was no doubt to which team they were all supporting, with Daredevils flags, jerseys, face paints visible throughout the stands. The biggest cheer was reserved for the home boy and captain Virender Sehwag, with chants of “Viru, Viru” ringing across the stadium.Those chants soon modified to “KP, KP” as the man went berserk in one JP Duminy over, hitting three sixes in a row. From there, the crowd egged him on to reach his century and exploded when he did with a six, the final hit of the game.One thing I cannot quite comprehend is people using their mobile phones to take videos of the match; I mean do they expect to sell the rights to TV channels? I am pretty sure the 18-19 cameras present on ground do a marginally better job.Hardship factor
The traffic and parking were a nightmare. Once we got out, we were stuck at the same place for a good 30 minutes before being able to move an inch. All of it was understandable though.Entertainment
I know I cannot expect Grateful Dead to be played over the PA, but the same old mix of Bollywood and “party” numbers is a bit irksome. Someone should seriously work on the playlists before the match.Twenty20 v ODI
Twenty20s have made ODIs seem a bit boring. ODIs are now stuck in purgatory between Tests and T20s. For the sake of entertainment, I prefer T20s to ODIs.Star-spotting
Nargis Fakhri, of Rockstar fame (or infamy, depending on the way you look at it) could be seen smiling on the big screen, so we presume she must have been somewhere in the stadium. Thankfully, there was no Akshay Kumar, a constant feature in Daredevils’ matches during the past seasons.TV v stadium
Considering I have an unfulfilled dream of watching a match in every cricket stadium, I prefer a visit to the stadium to sitting on the couch, any day.Overall
The weather was pleasant in the evening. The harsh summers have not crept in yet. The match was interesting to a certain extent and the KP innings was one of the best you will see. An enjoyable experience overall.Marks on 10
9. One point deducted for Sehwag not firing in front of his eager home crowd.

Kemar Roach has been the stand-out quick bowler in Port-of-Spain and he was full of pride on a significant day

Daniel Brettig in Port-of-Spain18-Apr-2012Within the space of eight months in 1988 and 1989, Malcolm Marshall turned in two of the most outstanding displays of fast bowling ever delivered on spinner’s pitches: 7 for 22 from 15.4 overs against England at Old Trafford, and 5 for 29 from 31 overs against Australia at the SCG. In each match, a spinner took the new ball for the opposition, and in Sydney Marshall had to overcome the scepticism of his captain Viv Richards, who gave him only seven of the first 94 overs.In Port-of-Spain in 2012, Kemar Roach has done his best to emulate Marshall, harrying Australia’s second innings in the second Test at Queen’s Park Oval. Roach has an awful long way to go before he gets anywhere near Marshall’s level of mastery, but he has studied his forebear’s ways, and could not hide his sense of warmth at performing well on a slow, spinning surface on what would have been Marshall’s 54th birthday.”I’ve watched a lot of clips of him and he was just such a great great, great bowler, he was the best bowler in the world at the time [he was playing],” Roach said of Marshall after rain curtailed the fourth day of the second Test. “I’m just glad, I can’t really explain it, it’s a good feeling to know that I got some wickets on his birthday today and it makes me feel warm as a West Indian to know I can go out here and perform for the West Indies like he did.”Like Roach, Marshall was not a tall man, but used his lower release point to advantage by skidding the ball down towards the batsmen while moving it both ways. Roach made a fair attempt at imitating these methods against the Australians, swerving the ball a little each way in the air, while also using his fingers and the seam to cut it off the pitch.It was one such cutter that deceived Ed Cowan and found him lbw from around the wicket, while David Warner was confounded by a delivery that zipped away from him and touched the outside edge on the way to the slips cordon. The most spectacular moment of all, though, was reserved for Shane Watson, who left enough of a gap between bat and pad to allow a fast, seaming delivery to slide through low and send the off stump cartwheeling.”It was a good sight. I really enjoyed that one obviously. Shane Watson’s also a great batsman as well, I rate him a lot and to get him, on that wicket, is a good achievement,” Roach said. “The lower the wicket is you obviously want to challenge the stumps a bit more. Keep your pace up and be as accurate as possible. That’s what got my wickets today and I’m proud of myself for that.”Roach’s career has had some peaks and troughs already in its brief journey, and he reflected on the fact that in 2011 he had found himself out of the West Indies Test XI while his senior fast bowling partner Fidel Edwards enjoyed a stronger year. However Roach has a certain knack of bowling well against Australia, having made his name down under in 2009. He is building his reputation again in 2012, and now has 13 wickets at 19.15 for the series, by a distance the most on either side.”I don’t think I’m doing anything better [than Edwards],” Roach said. “I still think Fidel’s a great bowler, he’s just a bit unlucky this game, and I know that if he plays the next Test match he will obviously perform. I know he’s a guy who likes to be in the middle of everything. He’s okay right now.”Roach’s success against Cowan and Warner has challenged the capabilities of Australia’s nascent opening combination, and he said he had schemed effectively with the coach Ottis Gibson to Test Warner in particular outside off stump.”I will say that’s one of our plans, to challenge the batsmen’s techniques, and obviously bowl according to how the wicket is playing,” Roach said. “There was always a plan to get him out early playing forward, and that has happened in every game.”[Gibson] really is a good bowling coach, I enjoy working with him a lot. I’ve been working hard with him and I want to thank him for the success I’ve been getting so far and I’m going to keep working with him in the rest of my career hopefully.”With a third wicket for the innings, Roach took his match tally to eight, and he is now within two of not only honouring the departed Marshall but becoming the first West Indies bowler to claim 10 for the match against Australia since Curtly Ambrose did it in the Adelaide Test match won by a solitary run in 1993. At 23, Roach is still learning his trade, but Marshall would have approved of how he went about his work this day.

With victory at Lord’s, South Africa became the No. 1 Test team in the world. ESPNcricinfo looks back at the years that led to them reaching that goal

Firdose Moonda22-Aug-2012It took Gary Kirsten only a year to take South Africa to No.1 in the world, a time period that speaks to the strength of his unorthodox coaching methods and the swiftness with which he has brought change in the dressing room. It is also serves as an indication that maybe all this group of nearly men needed was someone to point show them which way to go to cross the finish line.Since the rankings started, South Africa have occupied the No.2 spot more than any other team. They were there when the system as first introduced in 2003 and although they had a fluctuating start have always gravitated back there. Since 2008, they have been in that position for 45 out of a possible 56 months, part of the reason their status as cricket’s bridesmaids stuck. They have always been widely acknowledged as having players who could achieve more but lacked the x-factor until now.Here is how they got to the top:2003
A new era of South African cricket was born. It emerged out of the ashes of the Hansie Cronje saga and its aftermath, which included crashing out of the World Cup at home. The administrators opted for total change and appointed 22-year-old rookie Graeme Smith as captain. Kirsten, who would later coach the side, was also part of the squad. Key players at the time included Herschelle Gibbs at the top of the order and Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini as the premier seamers. Nicky Boje was the lone spinner and the middle order was a barely recognisable with Boeta Dippenaar and Neil McKenzie. Smith’s tenure started with a whitewash of Bangladesh away, the drawn Test series against England, during which he scored the double hundred at Lord’s and Ntini took 10 wickets, and a loss to Pakistan away. South Africa lost the series in Lahore, after Shoaib Malik and Danish Kaneria had ensured they were bowled out cheaply twice.2004
A difficult travelling year for the team. After sweeping aside a declining West Indies 3-0 at home, they struggled on three away trips. They drew to New Zealand after coming back from a heavy defeat in Auckland to win in Wellington. The next two were series defeats which illustrated South Africa’s main worry at the time – a continued battle to get a grip of subcontinental conditions. Their loss in Galle was caused by both spin – Sanath Jayasuriya took five wickets in the first innings and seam – Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga shared nine between them in the second. It cost them the series. Batting also let them down in India where Harbhajan Singh’s seven-for in Kolkata secured the series for India. Hashim Amla debuted in that series as did Thami Tsolekile who was tasked with keeping after Mark Boucher was dropped to try and trim his ego. The year ended with a loss and a draw to England in the home series.2005
A continuation of the problems against England mounted. A young AB de Villiers made his international debut in the series and opened for a period of time. Dale Steyn also made his first appearance for South Africa. Even victory in Cape Town and the return of Boucher could not keep South Africa afloat. They lost again in Johannesburg, against inspired Matthew Hoggard, and conceded the series 2-1. The rest of the year was easier, with Zimbabwe presenting little challenge and a fairly straightforward trip to West Indies. South Africa drew two matches and won two, with Ntini taking 13 wickets in Trinidad. Ray Jennings period as interim coach ended after his sixth month contract came to an end. Team changes were taking place: Andre Nel and his alter ego Gunter began to play alongside Ntini and Ashwell Prince was included in the middle order. Mickey Arthur was appointed ahead of the trip to Australia, which started with a draw in Perth.Jacques Kallis continued to the mainstay of South Africa’s batting but the team kept hitting problems•AFP 2006
Arthur’s tenure started in the worst possible way. Two series defeats to Australia in year that began with five losses in succession. South Africa were blanked 3-0 at home in a series where not even their best players could hold their own. They salvaged some pride when they beat New Zealand 2-0 in a three Test series played on the brink of winter but then set sail for a difficult trip to Sri Lanka. South Africa lost 2-0 with both matches played in Colombo. The first was remembered for the 624-run partnership Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara put on, something Steyn was reminded of recently and joked, “I’ve moved on from that in my life.” Muttiah Muralitharan had South Africa in a spin in the second match, in which he claimed 12 wickets. It would be the last series away from home that South Africa lost as things began to change. 2007
After being stunned by India in Johannesburg, when they were bowled out for 84 in late 2006, South Africa came back to win the series 2-1. Paul Harris, the left-arm spinner, made his debut in Cape Town, from where he became a permanent fixture in the national side. Pakistan visited next and escaped with one win but were also eventually defeated. The major turning point came when South Africa travelled for the return leg. Jacques Kallis scored twin centuries in the match in Karachi to win it for South Africa. They returned 1-0 series winners. A crushing defeat of New Zealand later in the year, in which Dale Steyn took 20 wickets in the series and broke Craig Cumming’s cheekbone. It was his major breakthrough. The year ended with a shock defeat to West Indies in the Boxing Day Test.2008
South Africa rallied to win the New Year’s Test in Cape Town and the following one in Durban and take the series against West Indies 2-1. The middle order of Prince and de Villiers solidified and Steyn continued to shine. Another sweeping of Bangladesh helped build up to a series in India, from where South Africa walked away with a 1-1 draw. Amla’s century in the first Test in Chennai was overshadowed by Virender Sehwag’s triple but de Villiers gave South Africa the lead with his double hundred in Ahmedabad. South Africa’s seam attack of Steyn, Morne Morkel and Ntini dismantled India for 76 runs in the first innings. Harbhajan had the better of South Africa in the third game but Smith credits the series result as what set South Africa up for big things later in England.A first series win in England since readmission came after a hard-fought draw at Lord’s, a win at Headingley after centuries from Prince and de Villiers and another win at Edgbaston, through a Smith century. South Africa had ticked off a major box on their list. By the time the Boxing Day Test at the MCG at happened, South Africa had slayed another giant. Wins in Perth, through Smith and de Villiers hundreds, chasing a record 414, and Melbourne, after JP Duminy scored a scintillating hundred having made his debut the game before, gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.South Africa had a brief taste of No. 1 in 2009 but it only lasted a few months•PA Photos2009
Not much Test cricket was played in this year but it started with a crash down to earth. Smith batted heroically at the SCG with a broken hand but could not save the match. South Africa were made to sober up after Australia defeated them 2-1 but de Villiers scored a hundred at Newland to save South Africa from total embarrassment. McKenzie, who had helped secure the win in England, paid the price for the losses and was left out mid-series. Nine months passed between that and South Africa’s next Test assignment, against England at home. That series is one still remembered as one South Africa should have won. England got away with two draws at Centurion and Cape Town when they were nine wickets down. Ntini celebrated his 100th Test at Centurion but was dropped soon after with his age and lack of pace costing him. South Africa’s defeat in Durban was the start of a run in which they lost their next two Boxing Day Tests at Kingsmead. Occupied 2nd place until August when they summited to No.1 for four months. By December, South Africa were back down to 2nd2010
South Africa’s first real chance of earning No.1 by themselves, and not relying on other results to get there, came when they toured India. At Nagpur, Amla scored 253 and Steyn took 7 for 59 to inflict a crushing innings-and-59-run defeat on India. Alviro Petersen debuted in the next Test in Kolkata and scored a century but South Africa lost and left with another draw and without the accolade they had gone there for. During the football World Cup in South Africa, the team were in the West Indies and eased to a 2-0 win. It was a forgotten tour because of the activity happening at home. Later in the year, they played Pakistan in the UAE. Flat, dead pitches were tailor-made for draws. de Villiers scored 278 in the second match in Abu Dhabi to break the record for the highest individual score by a South African. India arrived mid-December and the chance to contest for No.1 presented itself again. On a green Centurion pitch, South Africa beat India comprehensively and the power shift was believed to have started but in Durban, Sreesanth culled them and India were safe.2011
Kallis played in two monumental innings at Newlands, scoring a century in both with a side strain so painful the team doctor said it was akin to knife stabbing in the side constantly. The series against the Kirsten-led India was drawn and South Africa got a taste of what it took to be No.1. Another big break followed, during which they crashed out of the World Cup at quarter-final stage, a defeat that went on to have significant effects on the team. It was a loss that changed Smith because he became public enemy No.1 in its wake. He returned more humble than before to captain South Africa against Australia after their longest winter in 14 years. For South Africa to become No.1, they would have to win all five of their home Tests, three against Sri Lanka.It started well for them. The first Test – Cape Town’s first in November since the early 1900s – was a freak affair. After Michael Clarke’s hundred, South Africa were bundled out for 96, before Australia were felled for a remarkable 47. Smith and Amla scored centuries in the chase. Two debutants were on show for South Africa, Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir, the Pakistani-born legspinner who had become eligible for the country at the beginning of the year. Australia came back to win a thriller at the Wanderers by two wickets and the chance to go top had passed. South Africa defeated Sri Lanka in Centurion on another seam friendly surface prepared with sub-continental batmen in mind but lost in Durban, again. Another debutant Marchant de Lange took 7 for 84 in the first innings of that match.For the second time in his career Graeme Smith led South Africa to top spot with victory against at Lord’s•Getty Images2012
South Africa claimed their first series win at home in four years, since beating Bangladesh in 2008, with victory over Sri Lanka in Cape Town. A new ruthless streak emerged. South Africa went to New Zealand in March with the chance of becoming No.1 again but they would need to win all three Tests in a place they had not visited for eight years. Dunedin was the first stop and wintry weather prevented South Africa from completing a win despite centuries from Kallis, Smith and Jacques Rudolph. They triumphed in Hamilton, thanks to another Philander showing and then ran into Kane Williamson and Kruger van Wyk in Wellington. A 1-0 win kept their unbeaten streak on the road though and laid the platform for what was to come a few months later in England.The Kirsten way came full circle. South Africa set off for a bonding trip in Switzerland with adventurer Mike Horn before the tour to learn how to be a community rather than just a team. That community was rocked on its first active day on tour when Boucher lost his left eye after being hit by a bail in Taunton. The bond grew ever stronger and South Africa went on to complete a 2-0 series win over England, which they dedicated to Boucher and the entire nation.It came with Amla passing 300 and becoming the first South African to do so, with Steyn proving why he is the world’s No.1 ranked fast bowler, with Philander climbing the rankings to No.2 and with Smith emerging and cricket’s leading current captain. He even remembered to mention the 34 miners killed at the Marikana mine back home as part of his victory speech. He called the team “the best group of men,” he had ever worked with and after they claimed the No.1 ranking, few would disagree.