Last week turned out to be surprisingly busy at work. Found myself in the middle of a couple of new projects. The kind of projects that seem innocuous at first, but later snowball into a monster with a life of its own. Juggling work and the world cup matches has been tough, but the committed fan has managed it well. India crashing out of the world cup will definitely help matters though with the focus shifting back to work.
The most awaited match of the WC’07 so far turned out to be a non-contest. Sri Lanka raised their game when it mattered most and beat India comprehensively. What bothers me is not that India lost, but the way they lost. The fielding was mediocre at best, bowling was decent and captaincy conventional. Faced with the task of scoring 255 on a good batting strip, if the Indians had an appetite for a fight, they did well to conceal it and readily almost eagerly succumbed to the guile of a certain Murlitharan who showed the world exactly why he is touted as the world’s best spinner.
The few hopefuls (like yours truly) who had their sights trained on the Bangladesh-Bermuda match hoping for a Bermuda victory to grant India a backdoor entry into the super eights were disappointed yet again as Bangladesh made short work of Bermuda in a rain affected 21 over match.
The Aus v SA game was awesome. You had to see this game to realize that teams like India and Pakistan were never contenders. The level at which these teams play is way ahead of the rest of the pack. The Aussies scored heavily thanks to Gilchrist and a belligerent century by Hayden (which also happened to be the fastest century in a WC ever). Ponting missed out on a hundred which is not a big deal since he seems to score in hundreds every time he walks in to bat. Clarke played some terrific shots and showed clever use of the crease to slog his way to 92. Facing an uphill task of scoring 378 in 50 overs, the proteas went down all guns blazing. The opening stand of 160 in a mere 21 overs set the pace of this match. However, a phenomenal piece of fielding from Watson got rid of De Villiers, while the heat and cramps forced Smith into retirement. Kallis – South Africa’s best and my personal favorite – couldn’t quite up the tempo and Gibbs succumbed trying to his way out. When Tait’s swinging yorker wrecked the dangerous Boucher’s stumps, SA were definitely out of the chase. However, the best part was the way the SA fought and their attitude towards the game. This is separates these 2 teams from the herd. Logic would suggest that these teams would meet again in the grand finale. However cricket is a funny game and no one can predict what will happen in the knock out stages.
