the year that was

2009 was an eventful year for many reasons.

ICC Champions trophy held after a long gap.
ICC T20 world cup second edition.
The "death" of ODI or the prediction of it.
Rise of India
Fall of Australia
Windies Fiasco
ASHES

The year started of with back to back SA-AUS series. SA won the edition in Australia and Australia won in SA.. 6 matches stood 3-3 at the end. Rather than saying Australia won in SA, it would not be incorrect if we say Mitchell Johnson won in SA.. He was the lone performer with ball and bat in the series and announced himself as the next all-rounder. Dale Steyn's performance with the bat will also be remembered for a long time..

There was a back to back ENG vs WI series too. Windies winning the home series and England in their home series. Windies showed no interest in the England tour that prompted the greats to withdraw them from the T20 world cup that was to follow their English summer.

Pakistan played back to back series against Lankans.. The home series in Pakistan saw the worst ever terrorist attack on the visiting Lankan team that injured many players. A torrid time to go through for those involved.. The return tour after the attacks, went Lanka's way..

New Zealand showcased an one-man show- Daniel Vettori.. He scored a test 100 in Sri Lankan soil and showed great determination. They came close to winning but never won a single match in the series.

A year of back to back series- Bangladesh and Zimbabwe competed fiercely in 5 ODI series.. The series saw Hamilton Mazakadza score heavily and create a record for highest aggregate in a 5 match series. Charles Coventry almost broke the record for the highest individual score in ODIs. 194* is rated higher than 194 out, so officially Coventry is the highest run scorer.

India won a series in Newzealand after ages.. 1-0 was the result and India completed the tour with some amazing play in the ODIs as well...

Windies lost to Bangladesh handing the latter their first ever test series win.. Windies lost a majority of their players to a ongoing contract crisis.. A 2nd string Windies side was captained by a hopeless player and they dint even look like posing a threat to Bangladesh who gleefully went away with a win..


ICC T20 was a bitter experience for India, who were bounced out.. Windies showed remarkable enthusiasm and courage and went all the way to semis.. They lost the semis- a total team effort... Lanka went to finals on the back of Dilshan's amazing knocks and good bowling.. Pakistan was immensely impressive, a dynamic leader in Younus Khan stepped up and Pak lifted the T20 world cup much deservedly..

ICC Champions trophy revived the concept of ODIs.. High TV ratings proved that if the quality of cricket is good then people do tune into ODI cricket.. Quite a lot of matches went to the wire.. The catch Younus Khan dropped made a big news and the dirty match fixing came into picture again.. Pakistan in the wrong side of things once again, unfortunately.. An exhibition of reverse swing from Rana Naved saw Aussie struggle to win and that made India exit from the Champions trophy too..

ASHES was the next big highlight this year, England won it.. Monty Panesar and James Anderson dug it out in Cardiff, the 1st match. ENG never looked back.. Johnson was not in good form and that hurt them a lot. Though, statistically Aussies were far better yet bizarre thing was they never capitulated on the big moments and Ponting had lost the Ashes twice on England soil..

40 odd tests and 250 ODIs and quite a few T20s made up this year..

Wait !! something is missing..

IPL and CL T20 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Modi never makes anything without creating sufficient noise. (sufficient??!!) General elections in India meant that IPL had to be rescheduled and revised but the govt did not seem to agree with Modi. And what does Modi do? Shift INDIAN premier league to SA.. "SA have embraced the concept of IPL and its a huge success", this was a signature statement that either prefixed or was a post fix to any answer that Modi gave to a question that did not even require him to say that. A dull IPL..

CL T20 opened avenues. Many fringe players get noticed but the response wasn't encouraging enough.. The people being unaware of the players and teams was a major reason. It meant that they couldn't associate themselves with a team apart from the IPL ones.. Trinidad and Tobago showed that cricket is still alive in Windies and it needs a professional management to improve standards..

world cup 2011 fixtures

Group A -                Group B -

Australia,                    India,

Pakistan,                    South Africa,

New Zealand,            England,

Sri Lanka,                  West Indies,

Zimbabwe,                 Bangladesh,

Canada,                     Ireland,

Kenya.                       Netherlands.

FIXTURES - 

INDIA

Feb 19     1st match -   India v Bangladesh    Mirpur

Feb 27     11th match - India v England          Kolkata  

Mar 6      21st match - India v Ireland            Bangalore 

Mar 9      25th match - India v Netherlands   Delhi 

Mar 12    29th match - India v South Africa   Nagpur

Mar 20    42nd match -India v West Indies    Chennai

SRI LANKA

Feb 20      3rd match -   Sri Lanka v Canada (Hambantota)

Feb 26      10th match - Pakistan v Sri Lanka (Colombo)

Mar 1       14th match - Kenya v Sri Lanka (Colombo) 

Mar 5       20th match - Australia v Sri Lanka (Colombo)

Mar 10     26th match - Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe (Pallekele)

Mar 18     37th match - New Zealand v Sri Lanka Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

NEW ZEALAND

Feb 20   2nd match -   Kenya v New Zealand          ,Chennai 

Feb 25   8th match -    Australia v New Zealand      ,Nagpur

Mar 4    18th match -  New Zealand v Zimbabwe    ,Ahmedabad 

Mar 8    24th match -  New Zealand v Pakistan (Pallekele) 

Mar 13  30th match -  Canada v New Zealand ,Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Mar 18  37th match -  New Zealand v Sri Lanka ,Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

AUSTRALIA

Feb 21   4th match -   Australia v Zimbabwe           Ahmedabad   

Feb 25   8th match -   Australia v New Zealand      Nagpur

Mar 5   20th match -  Australia v Sri Lanka           Colombo
Mar 13  31st match - Australia v Kenya                 Bangalore 

Mar 16  35th match - Australia v Canada               Bangalore 

Mar 19 39th match -  Australia v Pakistan             Colombo

ENGLAND

Feb 22    5th match -   England v Netherlands    Nagpur 

Feb 27    11th match - India v England                Kolkata 

Mar 2     15th match - England v Ireland            Bangalore 

Mar 6     22nd match -England v South Africa   Chennai

Mar 11   28th match - Bangladesh v England    Chittagong  

Mar 17   36th match - England v West Indies   Chennai 

PAKISTAN

Feb 23    6th match -   Kenya v Pakistan                (Hambantota)
Feb 26   10th match -  Pakistan v Sri Lanka         (Colombo)
Mar 3    17th match -  Canada v Pakistan             (Colombo)
Mar 8    24th match -  New Zealand v Pakistan    (Pallekele)
Mar 14  32nd match - Pakistan v Zimbabwe       (Pallekele)
Mar 19  39th match -  Australia v Pakistan         (Colombo)

WEST INDIES

Feb 24   7th match -    South Africa v West Indies     Delhi  

Feb 28   12th match -  Netherlands v West Indies     Delhi

Mar 4    19th match -  Bangladesh v West Indies      Mirpur 

Mar 11  27th match -  Ireland v West Indies,            Chandigarh  

Mar 17  36th match -  England v West Indies            Chennai

Mar 20  42nd match - India v West Indies                 Chennai

SOUTH AFRICA 

Feb 24   7th match -    South Africa v West Indies ,     Delhi 

Mar 3    16th match -  Netherlands v South Africa      Chandigarh

Mar 6    22nd match - England v South Africa             Chennai

Mar 12  29th match -  India v South Africa  ,               Nagpur

Mar 15  34th match -  Ireland v South Africa,              Kolkata

Mar 19  40th match -  Bangladesh v South Africa,       Mirpur 

BANGLADESH

Feb 19   1st match -   Bangladesh v India                     Mirpur

Feb 25   9th match   - Bangladesh v Ireland                 Mirpur  

Mar 4    19th match - Bangladesh v West Indies         Mirpur  

Mar 11  28th match - Bangladesh v England               Chittagong  

Mar 14  33rd match - Bangladesh v Netherlands        Chittagong  

Mar 19  40th match - Bangladesh v South Africa,       Mirpur

Feb 28    13th match -  Canada v Zimbabwe,                 Nagpur  

Mar 7     23rd match - Canada v Kenya,                       Delhi

Mar 18   38th match -  Ireland v Netherlands,              Kolkata

Mar 20   41st match -  Kenya v Zimbabwe,                   Kolkata

Mar 23	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,    Mirpur
Mar 24	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC    (Colombo)
Mar 25	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,    Mirpur
Mar 26	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,   Ahmedabad

Tue Mar 29	Semi Final - TBC v TBC      (Colombo)
Wed Mar 30	Semi Final - TBC v TBC      Chandigarh

Apr 2

Final - TBC v TBC Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Top cricketers

List of top cricketers in my point of view... Numbers do NOT indicate ranks.. I am not going back to the old era, staying with the 90s and 2000s

GREATEST CRICKETERS:( nos. do not indicate ranking but when you ask yourself the question, the order in which you remember the names are the below. That is how I made this list )

01) Sachin Tendulkar
02) Brian Lara
03) Shane Warne
04) Muttiah Muralitharan
05) Wasim Akram
06) Glenn McGrath
07) Ricky Ponting
08) Jacques Kallis
09) Curtly Ambrose
10) Waqar Younis
11) Adam Gilchrist
12) Courtney Walsh
13) Steve Waugh
14) Inzamam-ul-Haq
15) Rahul Dravid
16) Sourav Ganguly
17) Mohammad Yousuf
18) Allan Donald
19) Andy Flower
20) Shaun Pollock
21) Matthew Hayden
22) Aravinda de Silva
23) Anil Kumble
24) Sanath Jayasuriya
25) Michael Bevan
26)Arjuna Ranatunga
27)Hansie Cronje
28)Saqlain Mushtaq
29)Mark Taylor
30)Gary Kirsten
31)Kevin Pieterson

Few other impact players who miss out on making it to the greatest list

01) Chaminda Vaas
02) Chris Cairns
03) Alec Stewart
04) Mohammed Azharuddin
05) Saeed Anwar
06) Stephen Fleming
07) Nathan Astle
08) Jonty Rhodes
09) Imran Khan
10) Marvan Atapattu
11) Mark Waugh
12)Nick Knight
13)Navjot Sidhu
14)Nasser Hussain
15)Michael Vaughan


GREATEST CRICKETERS (individually):

• Greatest Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar
• Greatest ODI Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar
• Greatest Test Batsman: Brian Lara
• Greatest Bowler: Muttiah Muralitharan
• Greatest ODI Bowler: Wasim Akram
• Greatest Test Bowler: Ambrose and/or Kumble
• Greatest Fielder: Jonty Rhodes
• Greatest All-Rounder: Jacques Kallis
• Greatest ODI Captain: MSD and/or Ganguly
• Greatest Test Captain: Steve Waugh and/or Mark Taylor
• Greatest ODI Batting Pair: Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly
• Greatest Test Batting Pair:Dravid-Laxman, Steve Waugh with tail enders, one single innings of Ranatunga with tail enders
• Greatest ODI Bowling Pair: Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis
• Greatest Test Bowling Pair: Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh/Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne 

Individuals who have played well for their team:

• Australia: Shane Warne
• Bangladesh: Mohammed Rafique  
• England: KP, Nasser Hussain
• India: Sachin Tendulkar
• New Zealand: Chris Cairns
• Pakistan: Wasim Akram
• South Africa: Jacques Kallis
• Sri Lanka: Muttiah Muralidaran  
• West Indies: Brian Lara
• Zimbabwe: Andy Flower
  

This is my view, if you have any other name in mind please do leave a comment..

ICC Champions Trophy 2002 - look back

This was the first time the mini-world cup was played in a round robin format.. The previous editions were of knock out type..

This edition was held in Sri-Lanka with 10 test playing nations + Netherlands and Kenya divided into 4 groups of 3 each..

Pool 1	Pool 2	Pool 3	Pool 4
Australia	England	Kenya	Netherlands
Bangladesh	India	South Africa	Pakistan
New Zealand	Zimbabwe	West Indies	Sri Lanka

SQUADS

Australia Squad
Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain),Michael Bevan, Andrew Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne , Shane Watson

Bangladesh Squad
Khaled Mashud (Captain), Al-Sahariar, Alok Kapali, Fahim Muntasir, Habibul Bashar, Javed Omar, Khaled Mahmud, Manjural Islam, Mazharul Haque, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique, Talha Jubair, Tapash Baisya, Tushar Imran

England Squad

Nasser Hussain(Captain), Ian Blackwell, Andrew Caddick, Rikki Clarke, Dominic Cork, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Ronnie Irani, James Kirtley, Nick Knight, Owais Shah, Jeremy Snape, Alec Stewart, Marcus Trescothick

Indian Squad
S Ganguly (Captain), R Dravid, SR Tendulkar, V Sehwag, D Mongia, M Kaif, A Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, AB Agarkar, Yuvraj Singh, JP Yadav, A Nehra, VVS Laxman, Javagal Srinath

Kenya Squad
Steve Tikolo (Captain), Thomas Odoyo (Vice-captain), Joseph Angara, Jimmy Kamande, Brijal Patel, Collins Obuya, David Obuya, Maurice Odumbe, Peter Ongondo, Lameck Onyango, Kennedy Otieno, Ravindu Shah, Tony Suji, Martin Suji

Netherlands Squad

RP Lefebvre(Captain), LP van Troost, Dan van Bunge, JJ Esmeijer, VD Grandia, JF Kloppenburg, TBM de Leede, HJC MolRF, van Oosterom, Adeel Raja, E Schiferli, RH Scholte, NA Statham, B Zuiderent  

New Zealand Squad
Stephen Fleming (Captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Harris, Paul Hitchcock, Kyle Mills, Chris Nevin, Jacob Oram, Matthew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Glenn Sulzberge, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent  

 
Pakistan Squad
Waqar Younis (Captain), Inzamam-ul-Haq (Vice-Captain), Abdur Razzaq , Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Sami, Rashid Latif, Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Wasim Akram, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana

South African Squad
Shaun Pollock (Captain), Dale Benkenstein, Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher, Alan Dawson, Boeta Dippenaar, Allan Donald, Hershelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Jonty Rhodes, Graeme Smith, Robin Peterson

Sri Lankan Squad

Sanath Jayasuriya (Captain), Russel Arnold, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Aravinda de Silva, Upul Chandana, Kumar Sangakkara, Kumar Dharmasena, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Hasantha Fernando, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pulasthi Gunaratne

West Indies Squad

Carl Hooper (Captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Brian Lara, Runako Morton, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ramnaresh Sarwan

Zimbabwe Squad
Heath Streak (Captain), Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle, Dion Ebrahim, Sean Ervine, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Travis Friend, Douglas T. Hondo, Douglas Marillier, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Raymond Price, Tatenda Taibu, Guy Whittall
 
Points per win: 4

Group Pool 1	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
Australia	2	2	-	8	+3.461
New Zealand	2	1	1	4	+0.030
Bangladesh	2	-	2	0	-3.275

Group Pool 2	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
India	2	2	-	8	+0.816
England	2	1	1	4	+0.401
Zimbabwe	2	-	2	0	-1.125

Group Pool 3	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
South Africa	2	2	-	8	+1.856
West Indies	2	1	1	4	+0.202
Kenya	2	-	2	0	-2.050

Group Pool 4	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
Sri Lanka	2	2	-	8	+2.861
Pakistan	2	1	1	4	+1.245
Netherlands	2	-	2	0	-4.323

Pakistan  200 (49.4 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 201/2 (36.1 overs)	Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets Man of the Match: Sanath Jayasuriya
Saeed Anwar 52 (82) Muttiah Muralitharan 3/29 (10 overs)		Sanath Jayasuriya 102* (120) Wasim Akram 1/42 (8 overs)

West Indies  238/8 (50 overs)	v	South Africa 242/8 (49 overs)	South Africa won by 2 wickets Man of the Match: Jonty Rhodes
Chris Gayle 49 (55) Jacques Kallis 2/41 (9 overs)		Jonty Rhodes 61 (70) Mervyn Dillon 4/60 (10 overs)

India  288/6 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 274/8 (50 overs)	India won by 14 runs Man of the Match: Mohammad Kaif
Mohammad Kaif 111 (112) Douglas Hondo 4/62 (9 overs)		Andy Flower 145 (164) Zaheer Khan 4/45 (10 overs)

Australia  296/7 (50 overs)	v	New Zealand 132 (26.2 overs)	Australia won by 164 runs Man of the Match: Glenn McGrath
Damien Martyn 73 (87) Jacob Oram 2/60 (10 overs)		Shane Bond 26 (22) Glenn McGrath 5/37 (7 overs)

Sri Lanka  292/6 (50 overs)	v	Netherlands 86 (29.3 overs)	Sri Lanka won by 206 runs Man of the Match: Marvan Atapattu
Marvan Atapattu 101 (118) Adeel Raja 2/50 (10 overs)		Tim de Leede 31 (43) Muttiah Muralitharan 4/15 (5.3 overs)

West Indies  261/6 (50 overs)	v	Kenya 232 (49.1 overs)	West Indies won by 29 runs Man of the Match: Brian Lara
Brian Lara 111 (120) Steve Tikolo 2/49 (7 overs)		Steve Tikolo 93 (91) Pedro Collins 3/18 (9.1 overs)

England  298/8 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 190/9 (48 overs)	England won by 108 runs Man of the Match: Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Trescothick 119 (102) Douglas Hondo 4/45 (6 overs)		Heath Streak 50* (58) Ronnie Irani 4/37 (10 overs)

Bangladesh  129 (45.2 overs)	v	Australia 133/1 (20.4 overs)	Australia won by 9 wickets Man of the Match: Jason Gillespie
Alok Kapali 45 (75) Jason Gillespie 3/20 (10 overs)		Matthew Hayden 67* (70) Mohammad Rafique 1/32 (5 overs)

South Africa  316/5 (50 overs)	v	Kenya 140 (46.5 overs)	South Africa won by 176 runs Man of the Match: Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Gibbs 116 (126) Collins Obuya 2/77 (10 overs)		Steve Tikolo 69 (97) Dale Benkenstein 3/5 (3.5 overs)

Netherlands  136 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 142/1 (16.2 overs)	Pakistan won by 9 wickets Man of the Match: Shahid Afridi
Roland Lefebvre 32 (70) Shahid Afridi 3/18 (10 overs)		Imran Nazir 59 (40) Feiko Kloppenburg 1/23 (2 overs)

England  269/7 (50 overs)	v	India 271/2 (39.3 overs)	India won by 8 wickets Man of the Match: Virender Sehwag
Ian Blackwell 82 (68) Ashish Nehra 2/49 (10 overs)		Virender Sehwag 126 (124) Ian Blackwell 1/46 (8 overs)

New Zealand  244/9 (50 overs)	v	Bangladesh 77 (19.3 overs)	New Zealand won by 167 runs Man of the Match: Shane Bond
Mathew Sinclair 70 (122) Mohammad Ashraful 3/26 (5 overs)		Tushar Imran 20 (16) Shane Bond 4/21 (5 overs)

Semi- Finals

• IND vs RSA - India pulled off a stunning 10-run win over South Africa at Premadasa Stadium and entered the final of the Champions Trophy. By retiring hurt on 116 (119 balls, 16 fours) with his side still needing 70 runs for victory and 9 wickets in hand, Gibbs gave India the tiniest window of opportunity. SA did not play spin well and IND won a thrilling match. Virender Sehwag took 3 wickets in no-time and SA were found wanting..

IND- 261-9 Yuvi 62, Viru 59 Pollock 3-43
SA-  251-6  Gibbs 116, Kallis 97 Viru 3-25
Player of the match V Sehwag (India)

• AUS vs SRL - crushing semi-final victory over Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy SF. All out for 162 in 48.4 overs with 2 wickets to Dharmasena, 3 to Murali.. The top 3 were enough to finish the match..

Finals- marred with rain.

Two days the finals was played, the first day SRL scored 244 and when IND batted rain poured down after 7 overs.. The second day SRL again won the toss and batted and managed only 222.. Rain poured down when IND had batted 8 overs.. Poor management, the game could have continued on the reserve dAy rather than playing it all over again..

India and SriLanka shared the trophy..
While Murali topped the wicket takers list, Sehwag topped run charts.

Surprisingly, Man of the series was not awarded..

Champions Trophy 2000 - part 2

Click here for PART 1

 

PRE QFs - 

• India vs Kenya, 
• England vs Bangladesh, 
• West Indies vs Sri Lanka...

India won the toss and chose to bowl first. Batting first, Kenya were restricted to 208 for nine in 50 overs. The total was never going to be one to pose any problems for the Indians and thanks to skipper Sourav Ganguly's 66 and Rahul Dravid's unbeaten 68, they romped home with eight wickets and 7.3 overs to spare.. Kumble received MoM for 2-22 in 10 overs..

Similarly, England faced little opposition from Bangladesh emerging winners by eight wickets with 6.1 overs to spare. Bangladesh did well in getting 232 for eight in 50 overs but against ordinary bowling, Alec Stewart (87 not out) and skipper Nasser Hussain (95) had little difficulty in negotiating some ordinary bowling during their second wicket partnership of 175 runs. 

A stroke-filled 132 by opener Avishka Gunawardene and his third wicket stand of 160 runs with Mahela Jayawardene (72) saw Sri Lanka post 287 for six in 50 overs, a total that proved to be too formidable for the West Indies who were dismissed for 179 in 46.4 overs.

This meant that the Quarter Finals line up stood like-

• India vs Australia

• Pakistan vs Sri Lanka

• New Zealand vs Zimbabwe

• England vs South Africa

The quarterfinals were marked by three one-sided results but the pulsating Australia-India game made up for this. Australia were firm favorites but this was a rejuvenated Indian side, under the captaincy of Ganguly and including three potentially fine players in newcomers Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Vijay Dahiya. After Australia made the early inroads, a breath-taking innings from Yuvraj saw India wrest the initiative and the advantage thereafter stayed with India.

The left-hander hit 84 off 80 balls treating the pace of McGrath, Lee and Gillespie with utter disdain. India ultimately posted a challenging total of 265 for nine in 50 overs. Then it was the turn of another youngster to strike. Bowling with hostility, Zaheer Khan removed Adam Gilchrist and Steve Waugh and some fine work by the varied attack, backed up by some superb work in the field in which Yuvraj was outstanding saw Australia bowled out for 245 in the 47th over. 

SriLanka's batting was dismal, Wasim Akram and Azhar Mahmood took 3wickets each to topple Lanka who were bowled out for 194.. Pakistan reached the target in 43.5 overs on the back of a century from Saeed Anwar.. 

After the initial loss of 4 wickets for 120, 85 from Twose and 52 from Craig McMillan enabled NZ to reach 265.. ZIM did not have the experience to post a win after being in a similar situation, 108-4, to post a win.. 4 wickets from Paul Wiseman sealed a win for NZ.. ZIM all out for 201..

Similarly, England were no match for South Africa's professional allround skills. Graeme Hick top-scored with a 65 but England's total of 182 in 44.1 overs was always going to be inadequate. South Africa with Jacques Kallis (78 not out) and Boeta Dippenaar (65) figuring in an unbroken third wicket partnership of 132 runs romped home with 11.5 overs to spare.

SEMI-FINALS
India vs South Africa
Pakistan vs New Zealand

Anwar hit a second successive hundred (104), after a mini collapse Akram and Razzaq helped Pakistan score 252 in 49.2 overs against New Zealand. Azhar Mahmood, then, reduced the Kiwis to 15 for two but Nathan Astle (49) and Roger Twose (87) initiated a recovery process by adding 135 runs for the third wicket. Pakistan came back strongly and had a distinct edge when New Zealand were 187 for six. However, Craig McMillan (51) and Scott Styris (26) figured in an unbroken seventh wicket stand of 66 runs to steer New Zealand home amidst much excitement with one over to spare. Shane O' Connor's 5 wicket haul earned him the MoM..

The 2nd SF which many thought would go South Africa's way had some surprises.. Ganguly posted a run a ball 141 which had 11 fours and 6 sixes against an attack that comprised of Pollock, Donald, Kallis, Telemachus, Klusener.. Though Donald and Pollock were economical, Kallis and Telemachus were torn apart and as Ganguly was at the crease, SA captain was even reluctant to bowl his spinner Boje who duly got hit for 26 in 2 overs.. Result a mamoth total of 295.. SA innings suffered an early jolt as Zak removed Hall ( the famous in swinging yorker, swinging into the legs and uprooted the stumps), and then went reeling to 50-4.. India took wickets consistently and that put an end to SA's journey in the tournament..

FINALS
India locked horns with NZ for the title clash..

Cairns, returning bravely from a knee injury, won the match with an inspirational century that resuscitated a failing run-chase and carried New Zealand to one of their proudest moments. They certainly had to win this one the hard way, after Ganguly and Tendulkar had opened with 141 in just 26.3 overs. However, Tendulkar was stranded by a bad call and, while Ganguly carried on to his second successive hundred, 135 from the final 25 overs represented diminishing returns. 264 for six in 50 overs.  Trusting in their deep batting order, New Zealand were aggressive from the start. 37 for two and later132 for five - New Zealand were gasping for breath.. It was now that Harris joined Cairns for a cool-headed partnership of 122. Though the required run-rate continued to climb, Cairns refused to be fazed. He hit two sixes, one a glorious straight drive off Kumble into the red clay of the car park in the 47th over, and ultimately the winning run with just two balls remaining.

 

  

 

Record (ed) 194 - Charles Coventry

Coventry, with his unbeaten 194 off 156 balls against Bangladesh at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo on Sunday, has posted the joint highest individual score in the history of ODIs.  Coventry's outstanding knock is his career-best score - his maiden ODI hundred, bettering the 74 off 99 balls against India at Harare..
Unfortunately, Coventry finished on the losing side, thus creating an unwanted world record in ODIs, surpassing Matthew Hayden's unbeaten 181 against New Zealand at Hamilton on February 20, 2007.

Coventry's outstanding innings has contained 106 runs from boundaries (seven sixes and 17 fours) - which is also a record for most runs through boundaries for Zimbabwe in ODIs. It is also a record for most runs through boundaries against Bangladesh in an ODI innings.

Craig Wishart's unbeaten 172 off 151 balls against Namibia at Harare on February 10, 2003 was the previous highest individual score for Zimbabwe in ODIs.

The highest individual innings for losing cause in ODIs are:

Runs	Balls	Batsman	For	Vs.	Venue	Date
194*	156	Charles Coventry	Zim	Ban	Bulawayo	16.8.2009
181*	166	Matthew Hayden	Aus	NZ	Hamilton	20.2.2007
167*	163	Robin Smith	Eng	Aus	Birmingham	21.5.1993
164	105	Ricky Ponting	Aus	SA	Johannesburg	12.3.2006
152*	153	Chris Gayle	WI	SA	Johannesburg	4.2.2004

The elusive double hundred.. 

The players seem to miss the elusive 200, either because of bad luck, a poor shot or over enthusiasm and eagerness to get to that double hundred mark..

Several batsmen have neared the mark but fallen agonizingly short: Saeed Anwar ( prev post on Independence Day special records Anwar's 194)  probably had the best chance but was undone by the brutal May heat of Chennai, Sanath Jayasuriya's one-man demolition job in Sharjah ended 11 runs adrift, (both against India) and Herschelle Gibbs had raced to 175 as early as the 32nd over before holing out to long-on in the famous 438 game at the Wanderers.. In an unglamorous series in Bulawayo, Charles Coventry, joined that illustrious list.

Saeed  Anwar


Saeed Anwar had a runner from the 19th over itself as the heat at Chennai took toll on the players.. Saeed Anwar broke the record for the highest individual innings in a one-day international by scoring 194, from 146 balls, with 22 fours and five sixes, three in succession in one over from Kumble, which went for 2-2-6-6-6-4. He might have reached a double-hundred had he not top-edged a sweep to be caught at fine leg off Sachin in the 47th over. It was a remarkable exhibition of controlled aggression, even if he was helped by a runner, Shahid Afridi, for most of the innings (he was suffering from heat exhaustion and loss of fluid).

The mighty SIR Viv Richards

What is hitting in the air ? Century in an ODI !! I wouldn't say these were unheard of at 1984.. There were enough centuries and enough big ones by then.. Kapil Dev's untaped 175 against Zimbabwe could be cited as an example.. But the might of Viv is stamped on this innings, the greatest player of all time..

Almost single-handed he won the match for West Indies after they had been in deep trouble. Having won the toss and chosen to bat, they were 102 for seven in the 26th over of a 55-over match at Old Trafford on the last day of May in the 1st match of the Texaco trophy.. In a memorable display Richards received 170 balls and hit 21 fours and five sixes, one of these, a straight drive, going out of the ground at the Warwick Road end. In 14 overs for the last wicket Richards and Holding added 106, Richards's share being 93. He batted with daring and immense power..



The Matara Mauler


Sri Lanka defeated India by 254 in one of their most intimidating performances in the history of Sri Lankan cricket, in the finals of Coca Cola trophy at Sharjah 2000. The architect was, Sanath Jayasuriya, who rescued an innings that was dipping into the doldrums, with a breathtaking 189 from just 161 balls, the second equal highest score in the history of one-day international cricket.



At the start of the 49th over during the Sri Lankan innings, both the captains reached a stage where they couldn't care less, but for different reasons. While Jayasuriya was intent on throwing his bat at anything and everything without bothering about the results, Ganguly decided to bring himself on to bowl, as he must have thought that it could not get worse. Jayasuriya despatched the first ball for a four but got out the very next delivery. It was the only triumph for Ganguly on a day which otherwise was something short of a torture.


Gary Kirsten - 188* vs UAE at Rawalpindi in the world cup 1996.. G Kirsten 188* off 159 balls, 4 sixes, 13 fours. Highest ever individual score in World Cup matches, surpassing IVA Richards' 181* v SL at Karachi in 1987. 2nd highest ODI score of all time, needing 3 off last ball to equal Viv Richards' all time ODI record score of 189.

NOW, Charles Coventry.. 



How did he lose out ?

• Coventry was on 191, three short of equalling the record, when the final over started.
  49.1 Syed Rasel to Coventry, 1 run, full outside off, driven straight to deep cover, just the single
  Mupariwa needs to get a single now
  49.2 Syed Rasel to Mupariwa, OUT lbw Coventry will have to wait
  Utseya, the captain, walks in
  49.3 Syed Rasel to Utseya, FOUR, a boundary! They were on their way to get a single, picks the slower one wide of long-on, the fielder overruns it to concede a boundary, Coventry will have to wait again
  49.4 Syed Rasel to Utseya, 2 runs, short on leg stump, pulled away wide of fine leg.. why two? His partner's on the verge of a major landmark here, a single should have been fine
  49.5 Syed Rasel to Utseya, 1 run.
  Coventry has one ball to break the record. Three to get.
  The keeper comes up
  49.6 Syed Rasel to Coventry, 2 runs, full toss outside off, slaps it back past the bowler wide of long-off for a couple to equal the world record!!
   

Champions Trophy Classic -2000 (1)

The 2000 event was held at Nairobi, Kenya with 11 teams participating in the knock out format of the tournament..

Since there were 11 teams, 6 teams competed for 3 spots.. Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand and Zimbabwe were confirmed of their participation and the remaining three spots was to be filled by a play off between India, Kenya, Bangladesh, England, Sri Lanka and West Indies..


 Schedule :

Pre Quarter Finals	Match
Match1 :Oct 3	India vs Kenya
Match2: Oct 4	Sri Lanka vs West Indies
Match3: Oct 5	Bangladesh vs England
Quarter finals
Match4: Oct 7	AUS vs Winners of Match1
Match5: Oct 8	PAK vs Match2 winners
Match6: Oct 9	NZ vs ZIM
Match7: Oct 10	SA vs Match3 winners
Semi Finals
SF1 : Oct 11	Match5 v Match6 winners
SF2 : Oct 13	Match4 vs Match7 winners
Finals
Oct 15	SF1 vs SF2 winners
16th October	Reserve day for Final (not required)

 Squads: 


Australia : Steve Waugh(capt), Adam Gilchrist, Michael Bevan, Mark Higgs, Jason Gillespie, Ian          Harvey,  Brett Lee, Shane Lee, Damien Martyn ,Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting ,Andrew Symonds, Mark Waugh,  Brad Young..
  Shane Warne and Collin Miller withdrew due to injuries..

Bangladesh: Naimur Rahman(capt), Khaled Mashud, Javed Omar,  Shahriar hossain, Habibul Bashar, Akram Khan, Aminul Islam, Enamul Hoque, Al Sahariar Rokon, Hasibul Hossain, Mohammed Rafique, Manjural Islam, Mushfique Rahman, Ranjan Das..

England: Nasser Hussain(capt), Alec Stewart, Mark Alleyne, Andy Caddick, Mark Ealham, Ashley Giles, Andrew Flintoff, Darren Gough, Mathew Hoggard, Vikram Solanki, Graeme Hick, Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe, Paul Grayson, Craig White..
     Allan Mullaly and Nick Knight originally in the squad missed out due to injury replaced by Hoggard and Solanki..

India: Sourav Ganguly(capt), Vijay Dahiya, Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Rahul Dravid,Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Sridharan Sriram, Anil Kumble ,Sunil Joshi, Ajit Agarkar, Hemang Badani, Venkatesh Prasad, Robin Singh..

Kenya: Maurice Odumbe(capt), Steve Tikolo, K.Otieno, Thomas Odoya, Ravindu Shah, C. Otieno, A.Suji, M.Suji, HS Modi, M Sheikh, LN.Onyango, P.Ochieng, J.Ababu, Jimmy Kamande..

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming(capt), Geoff Allot, Nathan Astle, Paul Wiseman, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Craig McMillan , Roger Twose, Dion Nash, Adam Parore, Chris Nevin, Craig Spearman, Scott Styris, Glen Sulzberger..
Daniel Vettori was injured and left out..

Pakistan: Moin Khan(capt), Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar, Imran Nazir, Saleem Elahi, Yousuf Youhana, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Faisal Iqbal, Arshad Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Abdur Razzaq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Ijaz Ahmed..

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya(capt), Marvan Atapattu, M.Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Wickramasinghe, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Russel Arnold, Avishka Gunawardene, Upul Chandana, Muthiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Upashantha, Nuwan Zoysa..

South Africa: Shaun Pollock(capt), Mark Boucher, Nicky Boje, Allan Donald, Jaques Kallis, Andrew Hall, Shafeik Abrahams, Lance Klusener, Gary Kirsten, Neil McKenzie, Boeta Dippenaar, Makhaya Ntini, Roger Telemachus, Jony Rhodes..

West Indies: Jimmy Adams(capt), Sherwin Campbell, Brian Lara, Wavell Hinds, Sylvester Joseph, A.Haniff, Marlon Samuels, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Courtney Browne, Nixon Mclean, Colin Stuart, Mervin Dillon, LR.Williams, K.Jeremy..

Zimbabwe: Heath Streak(capt), Guy Whittal, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle,
Mpumelo Mbangwa, Mleleki Nkala, Gavin Rennie, Henry Olanga, Paul Strang, Mark Vermuluen, Dirk Viljoen,Craig Wishart..

Zimbabwe take on Bangla tigers

 

Can bet on this series being closely fought over the second string Windies and Bangladeshis.. 

For Zimbabwe :: 

• Tatenta Taibu has been handed a 10 match ban after having been found guilty of assaulting a Zimbabwe Cricket's (ZC) finance manager.. 
• Mark Vermeulen comes back to the team after 5 years..

Mark Vermeulen had been charged by the police in connection with two arson attacks which destroyed buildings at the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy and damaged an office at the headquarters of Zimbabwe Cricket.
(Arson is the crime of deliberately and maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas.)
Vermeulen, had admitted setting fire to the two buildings in 2006 but pleaded not guilty to arson on psychiatric grounds, adding that he suffered from partial complex epilepsy and impulsive behaviour disorder after he was hit and injured by a cricket ball during a match in Australia.

Zimbabwe Squad: Prosper Utseya (capt), Hamilton Masakadza, Ray Price, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Mark Vermeulen, Charles Coventry (wk), Vusi Sibanda, Sean Williams, Elton Chigumbura, Chamu Chibhabha, Forster Mutizwa, Keith Dabengwa, Timycen Maruma, Graeme Cremer, Chris Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Ed Rainsford, Admire Manyumwa, Trevor Garwe ..

For Bangladesh :: 

• Abdur Razzak has been ruled out due to hamstring injury..
• Enamul Haque Jr replaces Razzak..
• Mushfiqur Rahim named VC to Shakib..

Bangladesh squad is expected to be same as that of Windies tour except that Mortaza and Razzak miss out due to injuries..

Itienerary : 

Date and Time	Match
Fri Aug 7 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	TBC v Bangladeshis(tour match) Bulawayo Athletic Club
Sun Aug 9 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	1st ODI - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Tue Aug 11 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	2nd ODI - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Fri Aug 14 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Sun Aug 16 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	4th ODI - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Tue Aug 18 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	5th ODI - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo

Champions Trophy - 1998

ICC Champions trophy was earlier the ICC Knock out tournament in 1998 and 2000, played amongst the test playing nations..

1998 edition was played in Bangladesh.. 9 test playing nations were there, so it had to be reduced to 8 with a decider played between one test nation and Zimbabwe.. New Zealand won that match and was the 8th team to participate in that event..

This edition was organized at the 11th hour as floods threatened to pull the tournament out of Bangladesh..

Read earlier post on the team squads and the fixtures..

 

1st QF: England v South Africa

South Africa won by 6 wickets (with 20 balls remaining)

England 281/7 (50 ov); South Africa 283/4 (46.4 ov)

• Hollioke coming at no.7 scored 83* after Symcox opened the bowling..
• Cullinan, Cronje and Rhodes' half centuries sealed the match.. 
• Cullinan was Man of the match..
• Benkenstein and Alan Dawson made their debuts for their respective sides..

2nd QF: New Zealand v Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets (with 51 balls remaining)

New Zealand 188 (49.5 ov); Sri Lanka 191/5 (41.3 ov)

• 3 run outs and 5 wickets to the spinners ended the NZ innings.. 
• Sri Lanka were in a spot of bother losing 3 wickets for 5 runs to be rescued by Kaluwitharana and Ranatunga.. 
• Ranatunga was Man of the match for a knock of 90*..
  

3rd QF: Australia v India

India won by 44 runs

India 307/8 (50 ov); Australia 263 (48.1 ov)

 

•  Ganguly and Azharuddin went early.. Dravid scored 48, Jadeja ended the innings with a brilliant 71 off 65 runs..
• Not to forget the innings of Sachin, 141 off 128. He got run out in the 46th over.. Truly amazing innings.. 
• Aussie had good contribution from Mark Waugh but Tendulkar's 4 wickets meant that India had to win..
• And no prizes for guessing that Sachin was Man of the match..
  

4th QF: Pakistan v West Indies

West Indies won by 30 runs

West Indies 289/9 (50 ov); Pakistan 259/9 (50 ov)

• Phillo Wallace scored more than a run a ball 79..
• Wasim's bowling at the death restricted Windies to 289..
• Ijaz Ahmed and Saleem Elahi were the lone performers and Keith Athurton's 4-for ended Pak's tournament..
• Keith Athurton had earlier in the day scored 33 runs earning him the Man of the match award..
  

1st SF: South Africa v Sri Lanka

South Africa won by 92 runs (D/L method)

South Africa 240/7 (39/39 ov); Sri Lanka 132 (23.4/34 ov)

• Rain curtailed match- 39 overs.. 
• South Africa rode to 240 for 7 on the back of a brilliant century from Kallis
• Sri Lanka were given a revised target of 224 in 34 overs but they were all out for 132 with Symcox and Elworthy taking 3 each..
• Kallis was MoM..
  

2nd SF: India v West Indies

West Indies won by 6 wickets (with 18 balls remaining)

India 242/6 (50 ov); West Indies 245/4 (47 ov)

• Much expected match as India looked to win to reach the finals..
• Tendulkar got out early that jolted India.. 
• Ganguly scored 83 and Robin Singh 73* but a slow inings from Dravid and a strike rate of 77 from Ganguly meant that India reached only 242..
• Windies reached the target with 3 overs to spare on the back of 60 from Lara and 74 from Shiv Chanderpaul..
• India knocked out and Dillon was adjudged MoM for his 3 for..
  

Final: South Africa v West Indies

South Africa won by 4 wickets (with 18 balls remaining)

West Indies 245 (49.3 ov); South Africa 248/6 (47 ov)

• Big stage- Windies into a final after a long time.. and South Africa had to prove a point winning at a big stage after their come back into international arena..
• 100 from Wallace, 49 from Hooper and 5-for from Kallis ended Windies'innings at 245..
• Gritty knock from Cronje after a great start made SA win the trophy with 3 overs to spare..
• Player of the match and series was Kallis..
  

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	25 October
	England	281/7
					30 October
	South Africa	283/4
					South Africa	240/7
	26 October
					Sri Lanka	132/10
	New Zealand	188/10
									1 November
	Sri Lanka	191/5
									South Africa	248/6
	28 October
									West Indies	245/10
	India	307/8
					31 October
	Australia	263/10
					India	242/6
	29 October
					West Indies	245/4
	West Indies	289/9
	Pakistan	259/9

Highest team total - 

India 307 vs AUS..

WI 289 vs PAK 

Highest run getter- 

Philo Wallace -221 

Jaques Kallis -164 

Winner

South Africa

Player of the Series

Jaques Kallis