World Of T20 Cricket

Delhi Daredevils enter the third IPL with the same label as they did the past two – as the team to beat. That is, however, until they reach the semi-finals. Two seasons, two semi-final games, two poor performances. The Delhi juggernaut is a formidable one at normal times, but when the stakes get higher, they have failed to bring out a facet that is only the preserve of champions. Simply put, in two semi-finals they failed to lift their game to an even higher level.

Boasting the best batting order of the tournament, a very reliable wicketkeeper-batsman, the best Twenty20 spinner with an economical Indian ally, and an enviable new-ball attack, Delhi have everything going for them three days before the IPL starts. If Virender Sehwag and David Warner provide sheer belligerence with the bat, Tillakaratne Dilshan and AB de Villiers bring a mix of calculated big-hitting and superb running between the wickets. Gautam Gambhir can score at a clip without being half as audacious as these four names, while Dinesh Karthik holds up an unassuming lower middle order with his brand of Twenty20 batting.

Dirk Nannes and Ashish Nehra proved a highly successful pair in South Africa and later in the Champions League Twenty20 in India and are fitting prelude to what follows. Daniel Vettori, when he links up with the team in the second half of the tournament, brings talent and experience and Rajat Bhatia, Pradeep Sangwan and Aavishkar Salvi are more than capable medium-pace options.

The buzz
The pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla, which was severely criticised following the abandonment of the India-Sri Lanka ODI on December 27, has passed the scrutiny of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, chairman of the IPL cricket committee. However, the surface remains an unknown quantity after it first came under scrutiny during the Champions League Twenty20 in October when the pitch was slow and offered uneven bounce. The venue has been banned from hosting internationals for 12 month but IPL games have been passed.

Last week Delhi signed up Eric Simons, India’s bowling coach for the home series against South Africa, as an assistant coach. Simons, who will assist Greg Shipperd, fills the position left vacant by Australia’s David Saker, and will focus on working with the large bunch of young bowlers in the Delhi squad.

New faces
Delhi jumped at Wayne Parnell in this year’s auction and netted the young fast bowler for $610,000. That amount surprised Parnell, and has increased the pressure on him. Parnell fills the slot left vacant after Delhi bought out the contract of Glenn McGrath. The other acquisition is the New South Wales allrounder Moises Henriques, who was transferred from Kolkata Knight Riders, the former India offspinner Sarandep Singh, and the Punjab legspinner Sarabjit Ladda. These three are unlikely to see much playing time given the overseas player cap and Amit Mishra’s success as the prime spinner.

Watch out for
David Warner has been in brutal touch against New Zealand and West Indies during Australia’s successful summer, and his accomplishments for NSW during the Champions League Twenty20 in India last year prove he likes the conditions. Warner is wicked when at his left-handed best but also likes to change it up every now and then. Tellingly, Warner does not want to abandon the switch-hit, which he believes gives him the advantage of being able to hit with the turn regardless of whether an offspinner or a legspinner is operating.

Missing in action
Daniel Vettori will not be available until the end of New Zealand’s Test series against Australia ends on March 31, but franchises have a 48-hour window to name a swap so expect them to usher him back. Apart from that, each of their first-choice players is available for the entire tournament.

X factor

Dinesh Karthik. After a very powerful top five, Karthik settles into the middle order as a major asset for Delhi. A very skilled limited-overs player, Karthik is an asset in Twenty20 because of his ability to hit a long ball and lead a recovery at a brisk pace from down the order. He has never looked bogged down in Twenty20 and has most always been able to find the gaps even when wickets have been lost. Certain to play all Delhi’s matches due to his role as wicketkeeper, this is one player the opposition may happen to overlook because of the far more accomplished names the squad. But they do so at a big risk.

Strength

When the first five names on your team list are Sehwag, Gambhir, Dilshan, de Villiers, and Warner, sufficed to say batting is your strongest asset.

Weakness

Delhi are fast earning the unwanted tag of being club cricket’s South Africa in that they have a tendency to choke when it most matters. They made the semi-finals of both IPL seasons and failed to get that far in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 held in India last year. The batting, fielding and bowling are top notch but it’s in the head and gut that this outfit needs to toughen up.

IPL 2009 – the key figures:

Final position: Semi-finalists
Top scorer: AB de Villiers with 465 runs at 51.66
Top wicket-taker: Ashish Nehra with 19 wickets at 18.21 and economy rate of 6.78
Best result: Ten-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab
Worst result: six-wicket loss with 14 balls remaining to eventual winners Deccan Chargers in the semi-finals
Highest team score: 189 v Chennai Super Kings
Lowest team score: 120 for 9 v Punjab

Prediction for 2010

Put your money on them making the semi-finals – and they could get third time lucky.

written by Swapnil \\ tags: Delhi Daredevils, IPL

They are owned by the richest Indian in the world. They are led by the best cricketer of this generation. They have one of the best fast bowlers in their ranks. But Mumbai Indians, despite their high profile, failed to reach the knockout phase in the IPL’s two editions thus far.

An array of reasons can be cited behind for their struggle: In the first season, Mumbai did well to hold together after the Harbhajan Singh slapping incident. But what hurt them the most was the absence of Sachin Tendulkar from the first half of the tournament due to injury. There was also plenty of chopping and changing of the line-ups, and the inexperience of the domestic players was apparent on more than one occasion despite Tendulkar and Shaun Pollock’s best efforts to inspire the team through their leadership.

In 2009, Zaheer Khan was bought from Royal Challengers Bangalore, adding strength to the bowling department. Zaheer also filled the spot vacated by Pollock, who took up the role of mentor. Jonty Rhodes added vitality to the training sessions with his agility and reflexes. JP Duminy was signed up for a whopping US$950,000 after his heroics in Australia, but, on home soil, was unable to finish off games or give that final thrust to innings when left on his own. It did not help that Zaheer injured himself in the field midway through the tournament, and Sanath Jayasuriya failed to provide the usual fireworks in the beginning. Mumbai ended on the second rung from the bottom.

But things look more positive the third time around. Tendulkar is in tremendous form with the bat and even if he is yet not a formidable batsman in Twenty20 cricket, the defining innings doesn’t seem far. Mumbai’s middle order is bolstered by the presence of the Trinidad pair of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, both supremely athletic allrounders having the ability to win games on their own. Zaheer is currently among the most consistent fast bowlers and if he is well backed-up by Lasith Malinga, with Jayasuriya firing at the top with Tendulkar, Mumbai can bounce back.

The buzz

The blue on the jersey has been shaded to a darker tone. The inspiration behind the new design was the state-of-the-art Bandra-Worli sea-link, which connects the northern suburbs to south of Mumbai. The idea was to create a design that would not only be new, but also resemble the enterprise and growth of Mumbai – the golden stripes across the bust of the shirt depicts the two pillars of the sea-link and the blue is the shade of the Arabian sea. The team has also found support from sponsors, whose count has increased to 14, five more than last year.

Another first is the sale of wrist bands in the Mumbai colours, autographed by Tendulkar, the proceeds of which will be passed over to provide education for underprivileged kids supported by five NGOs.

New faces

Mumbai stamped their authority as the richest franchise in the League, bagging Kieron Pollard in the silent tie-breaker for an undisclosed sum, rumoured to be as high as that of the richest players in the IPL. Robin Singh leads a new coaching set-up, with Paras Mhambrey as his deputy. The pair did not waste time in picking few of the best players from the unofficial Indian Cricket League – Ambati Rayudu and R Sateesh, Rahul Shukla, Ishan Malhotra, Ali Murtaza, and Aditya Tare have been fast-tracked into the primary squad.

Watch out for

Sachin Tendulkar. He is in stupendous form and will be hungry to prove his worth in a format he hasn’t dominated.

Missing in action

The Caribbean pair of Bravo and Pollard would be absent in the opener against Rajasthan Royals, for they will be wrapping up the ODI series against Zimbabwe, which ends on March 14.

X-factor

Pollard can provide the firepower lower down the order, something Mumbai expected from Duminy last year

Strength

A formidable batting order: Tendulkar, Jayasuriya, Shikar Dhawan, Bravo, Pollard and Abhishek Nayar.

Weakness

Barring Zaheer , the rest of the fast bowling department, including Malinga, have been inconsistent. But Zaheer, who has been the Indian bowling captain for the last two years, has the ability to hold the attack together, and along with Harbhajan in the middle overs, can lead the rest of the pack in the right direction.

IPL 2009 – the key figures

Final position: Seventh

Top scorer: JP Duminy with 372 runs at 41.33 and strike-rate of 114.46

Top wicket-taker: Lasith Malinga with 18 wickets at 17.33 and economy-rate of 6.33

Best result: Eight-wicket win over Punjab

Worst result: Nine-wicket defeat to Bangalore

Highest team score: 187 for 6 v Kolkata

Lowest team score: 116 v Delhi

Prediction for 2010

Mumbai have the ability to make the semi-finals, but a return to the spot they ended at in 2008 is more realistic.

written by Swapnil \\ tags: IPL, Mumbai Indians

A superb match needed a Super Over to split the teams and New Zealand prevailed to repay Brendon McCullum for his amazing century. McCullum became the second-highest scorer in a Twenty20 international with an unbeaten 116, but after Michael Clarke and Cameron White exploded in the reply the scores were tied at 214 after 40 overs.

A six-ball tiebreaker was required and the calm Tim Southee delivered another tight over to allow only six runs for White, David Warner and Brad Haddin. Shaun Tait’s waywardness, including two wides, assisted the locals and Martin Guptill finished the game with a four over point from the third legitimate delivery.

The hosts were upset by a meek performance in Friday’s one-sided defeat, but McCullum showed his might with an unforgettable 56-ball demolition on a small ground that was rocking at the start and the end. Things were much quieter as Clarke organised the chase with 67 from 45 and White provided some much-needed muscle with 64 off 26 in a pursuit that was almost perfectly timed. However, Clarke and White could only scurry two from the final ball when three were required, with Clarke run out well short of his ground.

Needing two off almost every delivery throughout the second innings, the Australians managed to stay on track after Warner departed for a McCullum-style 20 off 10. Haddin (47 off 37) and Clarke, who was travelling much quicker than his usual pace, were able to stay close to the rate so they required 125 from the final 60 balls.

James Franklin slowed things down briefly with the wickets of Haddin and David Hussey (10) before White’s brute force arrived. White warmed up with a six over cover off Daniel Vettori, then caressed an inside-out clearance in the same area and was dropped on the boundary attempting a third.

He then powered two fours and a six off Franklin before flicking Shane Bond into the spectators at square leg. The 13 that came from Bond’s final over left Australia wanting 36 off 18 deliveries, but the first of three magically controlled Southee efforts made it 30 from 12.

White survived a run-out and found two boundaries and a six down the ground off Jacob Oram to cut the margin to 12. In Southee’s final over the bowler showed the maturity of a 30-year-old, not a boy who is 21, by delivering more pin-point yorkers to keep his side in the game.

And he proved it wasn’t a fluke by doing it again in the Super Over. The result levelled the series and delivered Australia their first loss of their summer while setting up an intriguing five-match one-day contest beginning on Wednesday.

Despite the flurry of absorbing action at the end, it was McCullum’s fireworks over the first half of the match that were the highlight. He showered boundaries around the tiny stadium and the change in attitude left the Australians, who had rested Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson, wondering if there was any way to stop the run avalanche. They were able to slow it a couple of times, but McCullum carried his team through the loss of six wickets and achieved the side’s highest total.

His hundred came up in 50 balls, equalling the record of Chris Gayle, the only other century-maker in this format. It was achieved with a single to deep cover, at which point the batsman ripped off his helmet to take in the applause, but he was not finished and carried his bat. Nathan McCullum joined his brother at the end, getting 14 in a 50-run stand in 3.2 overs on an afternoon that stunned everyone.

The big crowd of 26,148 was sprinkled by McCullum’s eight sixes and he backed up with a dozen fours during the barrage. Four of the boundaries came with “McScoops” past or over the wicketkeeper, but that was nothing compared to the two sixes he managed to shovel behind himself off Tait. It was brave and brutal – one of the clearances off Tait came from a 155kph thunderbolt.

McCullum proved he wouldn’t be intimidated by Australia’s quick bowlers when he charged the third ball of the day from Tait (2 for 40) and bashed him for four through cover. There were 10 runs from the eventful over, which also contained the ugly bowled of the out-classed Peter Ingram for 0 and Tait sending a finger signal to McCullum.

In the second over McCullum planted a six through cover off Dirk Nannes’ opening delivery, was almost caught next ball top edging a pull, and quickly flicked him to fine leg for a boundary. The new-ball bowlers couldn’t match Friday’s performance as they gave up 42 in the first four overs.

McCullum ended up on his back after his first attempt to scoop Nannes over the wicketkeeper, but he managed it the second time, with the ball just missing Haddin on the way to the boundary. He followed up by unleashing a huge six to midwicket to show he could mix the unorthodox and the traditional. Nannes returned for the 16th over and McCullum enjoyed swinging him twice into the stands on the legside as the bowler went for 51 off four.

After losing the strike in the middle stages when some of his team-mates disappeared, McCullum focused by blasting a fierce straight four off Steven Smith and brought up his half-century in the same over when he pulled to midwicket. He dusted off the scoop to surprise Daniel Christian and then pulled him for six behind square – 57 of his runs came in that segment.

Gareth Hopkins (36 off 17) was the perfect ally for McCullum as they put on 68 in five overs to regain their explosive momentum. McCullum kept going till the end and had a chance to seal the game in the Super Over, but he was as happy as every other local when Guptill squared the series.

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written by Swapnil \\ tags: New Zealand v Australia

It was a different country but the same result for Australia as they breezed to a six-wicket win over an out-classed New Zealand in the first Twenty20 in Wellington. After an unbeaten home summer the visitors started their tour with another convincing display built on very fast bowling and powerful opening batting.

New Zealand were knocked over for 118 by the speed of Shaun Tait, Dirk Nannes and Mitchell Johnson and their chances of defending the small total were basically extinguished as soon as David Warner and Shane Watson blasted 28 from the first two overs. The openers were dismissed quickly and Johnson’s promotion to No. 4 failed, dropping the visitors to 39 for 3, but the small target allowed them to take their time and the win came with 24 balls to spare.

David Hussey, who hit Nathan McCullum for three fours in a row, was the aggressor in the 67-run partnership with Michael Clarke, who accumulated calmly for 18 off 26. Hussey finished with 46 from 36 balls and left shortly before the end when he drove McCullum to cover. Cameron White ended the game with a four and a straight six off Martin Guptill in a strong sign-off.

Warner didn’t have a chance to try batting right handed, but he made an impact with his usual stance by introducing himself to Shane Bond with a lofted straight four and a six to square leg in the first six balls. The situation was worse in the next over for Daryl Tuffey, who was taken for 18 by Watson’s four fours and a two.

They both left with 19 – and strike-rates of more than 150 – after Warner was bowled trying to slog another six from Bond and Watson was lbw to Daniel Vettori, who brought himself on in the fourth over. Vettori is always a threat against Australia and they got a sign of what life will be like over the next month as he allowed 1 for 13 from four. Bond touched 150kph in his opening spell to join the pace party and finished with 2 for 32.

Johnson’s three early wickets left New Zealand at an uncomfortable 54 for 4 and the intervention of James Franklin, who collected a composed 43 off 42, was required to get them past 100. Only two other batsmen, Guptill (30) and Gareth Hopkins (21), reached double figures as the hosts were over-run.

Johnson, who finished with 3 for 19, joined in a frightening partnership with Tait and Nannes as the trio operated around 150kph. Tait and Nannes collected two wickets while Watson also chipped in with a couple of victims in a comprehensive performance from the attack.

Brad Haddin began the day in spectacular style when he dived to his right for a one-handed catch to remove the dangerous Brendon McCullum from the fourth ball. Johnson, the first-change, bowled Peter Ingram with his opening delivery to have the hosts 13 for 2 in the fifth over and he was also involved when Ross Taylor (9) was unlucky to be given out lbw by Billy Bowden. Taylor, a player who is so important to his side, was hit on the foot well outside off stump and departed at 3 for 33.

Finding the boundary was the hard thing for the home side and Australia’s tight bowling prevented a quick start and a competitive score. Guptill broke free a handful of times but was taken by Johnson after Watson ran back to claim a top edge at midwicket.

A quick stand of 50 in 5.1 overs between Franklin and Hopkins was crucial in gaining some momentum for the hosts, but they quickly fell back and were dismissed on the final ball of the 20th over. They will need to improve dramatically for the second match in Christchurch on Sunday if they are going to end Australia’s winning streak.

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written by Swapnil \\ tags: New Zealand v Australia

written by Swapnil \\ tags: IPL