PS: I am in the process of customizing the site, the process has taken longer than I anticipated, this new look is temporary I have been going back and forth while running some tests, which might have caused some inconvenience to the visitors. I sincerely apologize for that. Please bear with me for a few more days.
India batting first posted a decent total of 296 on a wicket which was suppose to cause some problems for the batsmen in the second innings. They could have posted a mammoth total had they not collapsed from 267/1 in the 40th over to 296 all out. Excellent fielding and some good pace bowling by Steyn held India back.
India have done well to not allow SA to get to a flying start, Zaheer Khan nailed Smith for the 12th time, and HarBhajan got rid of the dangerous Amla.
Pressure is building on South Africa they need boundaries which are not coming. the required run rate is approaching 8rpo.Very soon they will have to take extra risks which and they might loose wicktets during this time.
A lot has been said about Indian bowling before the world cup, at times they look a bowler short and at times their bowlers look like club level cricketers, but world cup is a long tournament, India might get a few extremely flat tracks where there spin heavy bowling attack will get a mauling but for majority of the tracks in subcontinent their bowling is ideal. In my opinion 50% of India’s chances rest on their luck, if they got unfavorable conditions which are not suitable for their spinners in the knock out stage of the tournament India will be in trouble.
Right now they are favorites to win this match.
@ Stani
SA made a great tactical move by taking the Batting power play early, Weak bowling sides will face this problem, they will be forced to make a tough call whether to bowl out their best bowlers during the power plays or save their overs for the end.
The default plan of bowling won’t work in this world cup as their is no favorite to win this world cup.
Also I am surprised at Dhoni why is he not playing an extra bowler.
Wasim,
Sure, you should keep it clean and simple though as much as possible.
Yes, you’re right, Dhoni made a mistake and I think he knew it. No way was Nehra looking any good in that game and to choose him of Harbhajan to take the final over was crazy.
Maybe that bookie was in Dhoni’s ear!
PCB
Thats very interesting lets see what ACSU has to say about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua2wbjTabkA
Hi Wasim,
I’m writing on behalf of the Managing Editor of CricketCountry, which is a joint venture portal of the Zee Group and an American media giant. Our cricket vertical has lots of cricketers writing for us, besides established writers. However, we are also giving space for bloggers and others who would like to share their views and/or blog on cricket.
Would you be interested in posting your cartoons/articles on our website? If you do wish to share, kindly let me know. We are not paying fan bloggers for non-exclusive articles, but what we would undoubtedly give them is instant recognition on a big platform alongside big names – something that is not possible as a stand-alone blogger or merely commenting on social media like Facebook and Twitter. Moreover, we intend leverage the written stuff across social media platforms. And that means getting your writings across to much bigger audience and
thus getting new readers to your blog – if you are a blogger.
If we find that any blogger is writing insightfully and is drawing a huge following, we could then commission him/her to write exclusive articles for which they would be paid.
Do let me know your thoughts.
Cheers,
Devarchit Varma
Last updated: 8 hours ago
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YesterdayPakistan’s strengths in the tournament so far have been its spin bowlers and its lower-middle order with an average of 28 and a strike rate of 94.2. -Photo by AP
NAGPUR: With 28 league games completed, we are exactly two-thirds into the World Cup qualifying stages. We take a look here at how the nine test-playing nations are shaping up, primarily on their tournament form displayed so far (see also notes below).
Terms:
Economy or run rate = Runs per over
Average = Runs per dismissal
Strike rate (batting) = Runs per 100 balls
Strike rate (bowling) = Balls per wicket
Australia
Strengths:
Batting: Preserving wickets (average of 52.1 runs per dismissal and 182.0 runs per dismissal during powerplays)
High run rate overall (5.6 runs per over)
Bowling: 4.2 runs per over and 16.7 balls per wicket in powerplays
Fast bowling: 3.9 runs per over and 22.8 balls per wicket
Highest number of catches per innings: 5
Weaknesses:
5.2 runs per over scored during powerplays
Bowling: 32.4 balls per wicket
Spin bowling: 85.7 balls per wicket – -
Bangladesh
Strengths:
First (mandatory) powerplay: 5.8 runs per over
Only 6% of runs conceded as extras
Weaknesses:
Batting: average opening partnership (43.0 runs per dismissal); poor run rate overall (4.6)
Powerplay while batting: Poor runs per dismissal (21.9); poor run rate (5.4)
Powerplay while bowling: Poor average (42.9 runs per wicket); poor economy (5.3)
Most number of run outs so far (5)
Bowling: Poor strike rate (37.7 balls per wicket); poor economy (5.3)
Fast bowling: Poor economy (5.6) and strike rate (40.9)
Spin bowling: Poor economy (5.0)
England
Strengths:
Openers: Good strike rate (97.6)
Only 1 run out conceded so far
Weaknesses:
Lower middle order: Poor average (10.8)
Losing too many wickets during the batting (third) powerplay (13.2 runs per dismissal) with poor run rate (6.40)
Bowling: Poor economy (5.5); poor strike rate (36.0)
Powerplay while bowling: Poor economy (5.7)
Fast bowling: Poor economy (5.5) and strike rate (37.3)
Backup bowlers: Poor economy (5.1), average (184.0) and strike rate (216.0)
Extras: Highly profligate (98 runs) with the highest extras (33) in any innings twice
India
Strengths:
Batting: High run rate (6.1); high average runs per dismissal (46.2), High openers’ strike rate (112.0)
High powerplay run rate (6.2)
Strike rate: Fast bowlers (22.3); backup bowlers (42.8)
Fielding: Catches (16) and run outs (4)
Weaknesses:
Bowling: Poor economy (5.2) and average (27.5)
Poor powerplay economy rate (5.5)
Spin bowling: Poor economy (5.0), average (55.5) and strike rate (67.0)
High number of run outs conceded (4)
New Zealand
Strengths:
Openers: High average runs per dismissal (79.0); high partnership average (66.5)
No run outs conceded so far
Bowling: Very good average (19.1) and strike rate (26.5), powered by fast bowling and backup bowlers
Best spin bowling economy (2.3)
Weaknesses:
Middle order: Poor average (33.6)
Poor spin bowling strike rate (90.0)
High percentage of extras conceded (9.4%) – -
Pakistan
Strengths:
Lower middle order: High average (28.0) and strike rate (94.2)
Spin bowling: Good economy (4.1) and average (16.7)
Weaknesses:
Batting: Poor average (28.5) and run rate (5.3)
Openers: Poor average score each (11.6), strike rate (62.4) and partnership average (15 runs)
Middle order: Poor strike rate (74.6)
Powerplay while batting: Poor average runs per dismissal (27.3)
Powerplay while bowling: Poor average runs per wicket taken (28.4)
Backup bowlers: Poor economy (5.1) and strike rate (57.0)
High extras as a percentage of runs scored (11%)
Low number of catches per innings (2.3)
South Africa
Strengths:
Middle order: Good average (60.7) and strike rate (93.1)
Overall bowling: Good economy (4.0) and strike rate (25.6), especially during powerplays
Fast bowling: Very economical (3.7)
Spin bowling: Good strike rate (19.2)
High number of catches (4.7) per innings
Weaknesses:
Openers: Poor opening stand average (43.0) and strike rate (73.8)
Poor run rate while batting (5.3), especially during powerplays (5.2)
Poor fast bowler strike rate (36.4)
Sri Lanka
Strengths:
Batting: Good run rate (6.0) and average (46.8) from openers, middle order and lower middle order#
Powerplay while batting: Good run rate (6.4), predominantly due to mandatory powerplay
Spin bowling: Good economy (3.8), average (13.6) and strike rate (21.3)
Backup bowling: High average (19.1) and strike rate (27.8)
Weaknesses:
Economy rate of fast bowlers (4.8)
West Indies
Strengths:
High middle order strike rate (101.4)
Powerplay while batting: Good run rate (5.7)
Bowling: Good average of runs per wicket (19.0) and strike rate (26.0), led by powerplay bowling
Fast bowlers: Good economy (4.1) and average (15.6)
Spinners: Good strike rate (23.4)
Least extras conceded as a percentage of runs scored (3.7%)
Weaknesses:
Batting: Poor average (30.6), due to lower middle order (9.7)
Backup bowling: Poor strike rate (137.2) and average (102.0)
Notes:
* Batting performance has been classified into openers, middle order (numbers 3, 4 and 5) and lower middle order (6, 7, and performance during the powerplays have also been taken into account.
* Bowling performance has been classified into how the fast bowlers, spinners and backup bowlers have performed, again taking powerplays into account.
* The analysis is based on a relative comparison of the batting, bowling and fielding performance by the teams as compared to other test-playing nations.
@ Stani
This one is a temporary one.
Actually they were doing it uptill the 40th over and then they had a spectecular collapse in the end.
India could have won this game if Dhoni had given the last over to Harbhajan. Nehra was a big mistake.
Wasim,
Site’s beginning to come together nicely!
As for India, I had a few Gujrati mates showing off on facebook in India’s innings about how they’re teaching SA lesson in cricket! They spoke too soon!
We may just end up playing them in the quarters. It will be the biggest game between the two for some time.
SA the only team to take all 10 wickets in each of their games I read somewhere. Today they did it without Tahir.
Big mistake by Dhoni the last over should have gone to Harbhajan. Great fight back by SA they never lost their nerves and made the chase with professionalism.
13 required off last over. Nehra will bowl the last over is it a mistake by Dhoni?
End of an excellent spell by Zaheer.
SA need 17 off 12 balls, with the last two over to be bowled by Zaheer and Harbhajan the odds are in favor off India. SA need two big hits.
Naser
Well this was expected of him.
Naser three wickets in three balls is a Hatrick whether it is done in two innings or two matches but when it is done against two teams then it is called a Split Hatrick.
Oh ! shit ! Umar Akmal again pretent as injured to save his brother.
Hi Wasim !
Thanks for your comment in your previous thread. But please clarify what is split hattrick ? Will it be consider as a hat trick of Styen ?
Run rate has climbed back to 8 with no power play left this can go either way. Harbhajan has four overs left SA will look to score the most off Yuvraj.
Gone! Dhoni’s move to bring HarBhajan has paid off ABD is gone. Good Captaincy.
What a shot from De Villiers, just reverse
pulled Harbhajan.
Poor over from Zaheer, can’t understand why he was bowling the slower ones when he can bowl excellent yorkers, gave away 16 runs.
India are losing grip on the match the second spell of Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan will hold the key for India. Zaheer is bowling his 9th over and won’t have much role to play in the end.