Well, the Cricket World Cup is rolling on, and I must admit, I am enjoying it! Seen a few games on the ol' t'interweb, and have liked what I have seen.
This World Cup has not been without controversy, what with the initial hosts Being India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, only for terrorism to see Pakistan stripped of the right to be one of the hosts. THEN, issues to strike India similar to what befell the Commonwealth Games. Delayed construction, corruption, etc.
For example, Kolcatta's Eden Gardens. An amazing venue for cricket. A home for very, very passionate fans, and one of the mecca's of cricket in the world.
Which lost its biggest game at the World Cup. Eden Gardens was due to host the India v England game, which we later went on to see was an awesome game! But due to the stadium simply not being ready, the ICC had to move the game.
And to make it worse, the officials who where charged with the stadiums re-development seemed totally uninformed about how much work needed to be done, and the moving of the game seemed to come as a big surprise!
And many people came out and claimed politics had played a role in stripping Eden Gardens of its right to host one of the biggest fixtures at the World Cup. My answer is simple. You had many YEARS to get ready! Cant leave it to the last minute! Look at the fiasco at the Commonwealth Games! Surely the hint there would have been to step up the pace!
Sheesh.
Ticketing has also been a concern, with crushes of people waiting to buy tickets for later rounds, and getting beaten by the police. In India, they say that this is normal, but it has still led the ICC to change its ticketing policy for the later stages.
Still, the World Cup itself has been quite interesting. IT has had its share of processional victories with the bigger names of cricket thumping some of the smaller nations. New Zealand beating Kenya by 10 wickets (That means they got the same score, but had fewer people "out" to do so). And Sri Lanka defeating Canada by 210 runs (this is just thumping the other side.) The West Indies defeating the Netherlands by 215 runs, who where also beaten by South Africa by 230+!
However, there has been quite a few absorbing encounters. Take the afore-mentioned India v England game. At the start of the game, India where confident. Their batters got into the groove, and scored steadily, including yet another century for Sachin Tendulkar. Something of a folk-hero in India! India eventually went on to score a hugely impressive 338 all out. A score in the one day game that is tough to catch!
And, England set about doing just that! The lead batters went after the Indian bowling attack, and set England up for the win. Indeed, Strauss and Bell looked likely to carry England over the line! Strauss put on a hugely impressive 158, before being trapped LBW.
With Strauss gone, England then had a slump, with Bell following next ball. England went from bad to worse, and the momentum swung India's way, with Collinwood, Prior, Yardy, and Bresnan all heading back to the pavilion soon after.
The game then majestically swung away from India with Swann and Shahzad at the crease. Both Swann and Shahzad dug in and refused to crumble. Giving England a fighting chance. By this point, the number of runs needed was too large given how many balls where left. However, Swann and Shahzad thumped a few for 4, and a few for 6.
So, the game came down to the last ball. After facing 299 balls, India scored 338. After 299 balls, England stood at 337. It all came down to 1 ball. a wicket, India win. A big slog, England win. In the end, improbably, England's tail order managed to scramble 1 run, resulting in a tie! A truly remarkable.
England also featured an another amazing match. Against the minnows Ireland. England set the stage for their victory, with a commanding batting display that saw them give Ireland a daunting target of 327. And the stage looked good for England to win, with wickets falling steadily leaving Ireland on 111-5.
Then up came Kevin O'Brien. Who was not Kevin O'Brien, but some kind of superman. He set about England's attack like no-one could believe. He got his century in the fastest time in World Cup history! His heroics single-handedly gave Ireland the biggest scalp of their cricketing history, defeating England by 3 wickets.
Against South Africa, a tough encounter that was "Cricket" rather than a simple slog-fest, saw South Africa bowl England stubborn batters for an tempting 171.
And in THIS match, it was not England's batting that led England to glory. But its so-far underwhelming fielding. They defended a fairly low score of 171, by forcing South Africa to once again choke, and get skittled out for 165.
There have been other performances of note, New Zealands demolition of Pakistan, Canada and the Netherlands both running some of the bog boys close, Australia doing for New Zealand, and India defeating Ireland, who ran India close.
So, who can win the World Cup?
Who knows!
You have India, currently ranked as the best in the world. South Africa, the number 1 one-day nation. These two are probably the favourites. But then you also have Australia, whilst slipping in the test arena, are still a power to be reckoned with. Sri Lanka is a nation that has won a World Cup, and are always dangerous. New Zealand are beginning to fire at the right time
AND you have the likes of the West Indies, and Pakistan who should never be ruled out. After all, at a World Cup, it is all about 1 game. Not a series. After all, look at what Ireland did to England! And finally, England. Finally, England have begun to roll in the Test arena (see the dismantling of Australia in the Ashes), but after the Ashes, it all went wrong. However, maybe, just maybe, England are getting their game rolling, a titanic battle against India, and a loss to Ireland was followed by England maybe by getting things going properly with a ground-pounding victory against South Africa.
In the end, it will most likely be the likes of India who wins. BUT you cannot rule out anyone from a field of 7 others who are capable of defeating anyone in a one-off sudden-death format.
Good luck to all!
(But mostly England!)
No comments:
Post a Comment