World Of T20 Cricket

Dimitri Mascarenhas’ all-round effort overwhelmed the Middlesex Panthers in front of a large, enthusiastic crowd at Lord’s. He blasted 32 of Rajasthan Royal’s final 37 runs at a strike-rate of 200 to haul them to a competitive score, and then took two wickets, including the big one of Owais Shah, with the new ball.

Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan then showed off some unconventional strokes but they weren’t too effective, as Middlesex could only cobble together 24 runs in a seven-over period, leaving them at 47 for 3 after 10. Nearly two runs were needed off each ball after that, a task which proved well beyond Middlesex, especially against the likes of Shane Warne and a rejuvenated Sohail Tanvir.

It was Warne’s final competitive game at Lord’s and the legspinner had flown in from Las Vegas, where he’s playing poker, on Sunday evening to play the match today. He bowled impressively for someone who admitted to being out of practice, taking 1 for 24 off four overs, and is due to fly out to Las Vegas again on Tuesday morning. He came on to bowl in the 10th over of the Middlesex innings, and received a massive cheer from the substantial crowd.

At the start of the match, though, typically British weather, swinging between heavy showers and bright sunshine, had the festive crowd wondering whether there would be much play but a full game was squeezed in. With Rajasthan’s anthem of ‘Halla Bol’ ringing around Lord’s, the spectators were chanting and dancing right through.

In both seasons of the IPL, Warne has relied on the performances of youngsters and two of them, Swapnil Asnodkar and Faiz Fazal, provided Rajasthan with a solid start when they were sent in. They guided Rajasthan to 55 in the seventh over before Murali Kartik had Fazal caught at sweeper cover, bringing in Moahmmad Kaif, who had been left out of the Rajasthan’s squad to South Africa for the IPL earlier this year.

Though there were no further breakthroughs for a while, Kartik kept the brakes on Rajasthan. Just as Asnodkar started to open out, swinging a full toss over square leg in the 15th over, he was dismissed by Malan. There were a couple more quick wickets, Naman Ojha and Justin Langer, before Mascarenhas came in.

He started with a four to third man and a savage pull over midwicket providing the required impetus. Kaif had little of the strike towards the end and helped Mascarenhas steal a flurry of twos to lift Rajasthan to a total which the misfiring Middlesex batting never looked like chasing down.

written by Swapnil \\ tags: England, India, Middlesex, Rajasthan Royals

John Gloster, the former India physio, has suggested that the Indian players skip the IPL ahead of the major ICC tournaments and tours to avoid mental fatigue. Gloster said the players must be feeling the strain of playing away from home for lengthy periods, which puts additional pressure on their family life.

All the Indian players who participated in the five-week IPL in South Africa also played in the ICC World Twenty20 in England shortly afterwards. However, the defending champions couldn’t get further than the Super Eights and their coach Gary Kirsten had said fatigue levels and minor injuries from the IPL led to their exit.

“Although the IPL has helped bring an revolution in world cricket, it’s still wiser to avoid it if it’s close to any important series because it involves too much of travelling and stress,” Gloster told the Times of India. “The cricketers who played in the IPL in South Africa may be mentally tired and were not ready for the huge pressure of the ICC World T20. A hectic schedule may rock the family lives of players. Perhaps no other country has as strong family bonds as the Indians.”

The BCCI has said in the past that the players have the option of opting out of tours to rest and recuperate but Gloster felt the BCCI should play a more active role in monitoring injuries closely.

“I feel the BCCI should have a medical board because questions of fitness and injury sometimes create confusion, especially if it comes from the team management,” Gloster said.

MS Dhoni, the captain, set an example when he skipped the Test leg of the tour of Sri Lanka after being on the road for several months without a break. His decision raised eyebrows but Gloster felt the public should understand the situation from the player’s point of view.

“Dhoni is a class cricketer. But sometimes the burden of expectations weigh the players down,” he said. “And when they fail to perform, they are criticised from all quarters.”

While working with the Indian team, Gloster observed that the players often missed their families and that home sickness is a factor that cannot be ignored.

“I spent much time in India and have an Indian wife. So I know what are the emotional needs of Indians, who have been away from their homes for months,” he said. “For a player like Sachin Tendulkar, it’s difficult to keep away from the family for longer periods. Sachin loves his family and I believe he is not happy spending much time away from home.”
Source: Cricinfo.com

written by Swapnil \\ tags: India, IPL

India’s wretched run the Super Eight Group E in the ICC World Twenty20 came to a bitter end at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Tuesday, the defending champions failing to reach the modest target set by South Africa. India had  a great chance to treat the packed ground to a consolation victory but the fans were let down again by the team’s batsmen.

And it was evident how wrong coach Gary Kirsten had been in suggesting that he had not been able to connect to the players because of the Indian Premier League – the South African team management did not seem to have any such issues, even if many of their players were also busy with their respective franchises.

For all that, India head home after another batting failure even though their slow bowlers turned in a heart-warming show in bowling 14 overs to give the team a chance to score a consolation win. The Indian batsmen lost their way against South Africa’s spinners whose nine overs saw them concede just 32 runs and take five wickets.

Riding on a well constructed 63 by AB de Villiers (51 balls, seven fours), South Africa made 130 for five in 20 overs, struggling through 14 overs of spin. The Indian slow bowlers – as many as five of them – conceded just 75 runs and took three wickets to keep the South African total down to manageable levels.

Despite getting off to a sound start of 48 runs by Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma in the first six overs, India crumbled when spin was introduced. Johan Botha claimed the wickets of Gambhir and Suresh Raina in successive overs while fellow off-spinner Jean-Paul Duminy scalped Rohit Sharma in his only over to push India’s challenge back.

Yet again, it was down to whether Yuvraj Singh would be able to pull the chestnuts out of the fire but with Mahendra Singh Dhoni getting run out, his task became that much more difficult. Yuvraj and Harbhajan Singh tried hard to match the mounting asking rate, it was clear that South Africa’s allround bowling had the men to stop India.

South Africa had been stopped at 128 by New Zealand at Lord’s but the side succeeded in eking out a one-run win over the Black Caps earlier in the tournament, relying on their faster bowlers but on Tuesday, it was their spinners who delivered the knockout punch. It is hard to overlook the fact that left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe bowled 14 dot balls in his four over spell.

South Africa have not been beaten in the ICC World Twenty20 and will meet Pakistan in the semifinal in Trent Bridge on Thursday while Sri Lanka will take on the West Indies in the other semifinal at the Oval on Friday.

As for India, it will not be surprising if some players choose to stay back in England for a few days, given the heat that is being generated by three successive losses in the Super Eight. The defeat on Tuesday was reminiscent of a lacklusture show by another Indian team against New Zealand at the same venue in the farewell Super Sixes game at the 1999 ICC World Cup.

Scorecard:

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written by Swapnil \\ tags: ICC T20 2009 World Cup, India, South Africa

A sad end to the world Champions of T20 cricket. India out of the race to become the World champions once again as it was thrashed by West Indies earlier and now by England. by just three runs.

England held nerve to restrict India just three runs from staying in the tournament. A close finish at the end with MS Dhoni and Yousuf Pathan at the crease didn’t have enough firepower to out score the required run. Swann and Sidebottom hampered India chance with great control on the ball scalping two wickets each to do the damage that stopped India’s campaign to defend the championship title. India indeed mised Virendra Sehwag as the highlight of the success of India was a strong opening pair of Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.

Match summary:
England 153 for 7 (Pietersen 46, Harbhajan 3-30, Jadeja 2-26) beat India 150 for 5 (Pathan 33*, Sidebottom 2-31, Swann 2-28) by three runs

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written by Swapnil \\ tags: England, ICC T20 2009 World Cup, India

Three matches in a day must be an joy for ICC Cricket fans, like I said – The under performing cricketing nations have played extremely well – Netherlands won against England and Scotland gave a fight to Kiwis, West Indies Won against Australia but this wasn’t the same case with India VS Bangladesh ICC Match.

India played well and scored an 180 runs but Bangladesh played extremely well, until the tumbling of wickets begun and they lost the match against India.

Here is the scorecardMatch Result – India registered there first ICC Victory and won easily against Bangladesh. Thanks to big hitting of Yuvraj Singh at the end.

Here is the full match highlights right from the ICC T20 Worldcup for those who have missed watching the match!

[youtube gp_pKYWNOyc]

Source: http://crickethood.com

written by Swapnil \\ tags: Bangladesh, India