PUTTING THIS TWENTY20 WIN IN PERSPECTIVE

India's win over Australia at the MCG in the second Twenty20 International was the first away win in an international match for India since 23rd June 2011, which was the 4th day of the First Test on the tour of West Indies. That is a gap of a whopping 225 days!

Since the turn of the millennium, this was just the 4th occasion when India has had to wait for more than 200 days for an away (including neutral matches) win. The earlier three occasions were:

• From 13th November 2000 (Test win over Bangladesh at Dhaka) to 10th June 2001 (Test win over Zimbabwe at Harare) - 209 days.
• From 16th April 2003 (ODI win over Bangladesh at Dhaka) to 16th December 2003 (Test win over Australia at Adelaide) - 244 days.
• From 27th December 2004 (ODI win over Bangladesh at Dhaka) to 30th July 2005 (ODI win over West Indies at Dambulla) - 216 days.

But while these numbers of over 200 days may look very large at first, none of those droughts were half as bad as the recently-ended one! In the 209-day gap of 2000-01, there was no away match played by India. That gap was a result of scheduling, not performances! In the 244-day gap of 2003, India played just 2 neutral ODIs against South Africa at Bangladesh (1 lost and 1 no result) and 1 Test against Australia (draw) at Brisbane. And in the 216-day gap of 2004-05, India played and lost just one ODI against Sri Lanka at Dambulla.

However, in this recently-ended drought of 225 days, India played 10 Tests (losing 8, drawing 2), 2 Twenty20 Internationals (lost both), and 5 ODIs (3 lost, 1 tied and 1 no result). That is a run of 17 win-less away internationals!

The most staggering fact is this - after the first ever away win against New Zealand at Dunedin Test of February 1968, India has never had a win-less streak of away international matches as big as this 17-match one! India played 43 away Test matches from June 1932 to January 1968 without a win, which remains India's longest win-less streak in away international matches, but since then, the largest one was the one that ended a few hours ago!

(P.S.: And since we are talking numbers, this is the 400th post on CRIC - SIS.)

THE WORLD CUP REMEMBERED

Just a few hours remain for 2011 to end in my part of the world, and as I looks back at it, the biggest and the most lasting memory remains that of the World Cup 2011 hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from 19th February to 2nd April.

I was planning to write a post on my sporting memories of 2011... but since so many of them were coming from this one particular event, I thought I should first compile my World Cup memories, and then proceed to the sporting memories of 2011. So here are my top 10 memories from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011:

1. Six And The Celebrations

The obvious first - the six that finished the World Cup! MS Dhoni's strike to win the World Cup finals and the celebrations that followed that hit shall remain memories to last a lifetime... and not just till the end of the year! Those images were magical and I can still recall them vividly - Yuvraj Singh was sobbing uncontrollably, Sachin Tendulkar was being carried around the ground on his teammates' shoulders, Virat Kohli's quote, and the celebrations once MS Dhoni received the trophy from ICC President Sharad Pawar! Cricket had never before been so emotional!

2. Ponting's Last Masterpiece

It was an eagerly anticipated match - the 2nd Quarterfinal between India and Australia at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad. And though it came for a losing cause, Ricky Ponting played an innings befitting his calibre! It was virtually a risk-free masterclass century that guided Australia to a competitive first innings score of 259. There were other moments in this match that still remain fresh in my memory - the winning hit by Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina's first major contribution in the World Cup, Zaheer Khan's knuckle ball to bowl Michael Hussey, et cetera. But it was that Ponting hundred, eventually his last innings as the captain of Australia, that stands out... for it could scarcely have been any better!

3. Purple-Headed Destroyer

Yes, that is what he did - he destroyed them! Kevin O'Brien came to the crease in Ireland's match against England when his team was 106 for 4 in the 23rd over, and then saw them slump to 111 for 5 in the 25th over. Chasing a target of 328 to win at Bangalore, Ireland had no chance. But no one told this to Kevin O'Brien! He needed just 50 balls to reach his 100... the fastest ever in World Cup history! From the time he came to bat till the time he reached his 100, Ireland scored more than 6 runs in all but 3 overs. And when he got out on a 63-ball 113 with 6 sixes and 13 fours, they were well on their way to cause what was the biggest upset of the event. The Irish veteran Trent Johnston came at the fall of O'Brien's wicket and was present at the end when the win was sealed... just as he'd been there to hit the winning runs against Pakistan four years ago to cause their other big upset in World Cups!

4. #MOAG - Mother Of All Games

When India beat West Indies in the last league match, everyone knew that there was a chance of an India-Pakistan semi-finals at Mohali. And when India beat Australia at Ahmedabad, it was confirmed... a good 6 days before the match! A scramble for tickets, an excited build-up, cricket diplomacy in action, and the day finally arrived! The quality of cricket was not the best, but the occasion and the crowd more than made up for it. Virender Sehwag's attack on Umar Gul, the chances to Sachin Tendulkar en route to 85, Wahab Roaz's ball to get Yuvraj Singh for a golden duck, Suresh Raina's finish, Umar Akmal's attack before getting bowled out to Harbhajan Singh, and then the finish when Misbah-ul-Haq skied a catch to Virat Kohli off Zaheer Khan - some of the moments that still linger from the Mother Of All Games.

5. Muralitharan's Last Match In Sri Lanka

He was carried on his teammates' shoulders around the ground after the semi-finals had been won by Sri Lanka against New Zealand. Arguably Sri Lanka's greatest cricketer ever, Muttiah Muralitharan played his part in the World Cup for Sri Lanka. His final over in international cricket in Sri Lanka was a treat to watch too. Starting from around the wicket, he switched to over the wicket for the last few balls... and on his very last delivery, trapped Scott Styris plumb in front with a massively-turning off-break to finish off his home career in style. What a cricketer!

6. Tied At 338

The match should have been held at Kolkata, but had to be shifted to Bangalore. After a scramble for tickets where a few fans got hurt, the match began and the crowd loved it. Sachin Tendulkar hit a sublime century, which included 5 sixes - 2 of those came off consecutive Graeme Swann deliveries as he started a new spell. It was a message to the English skipper Andrew Strauss that his best bowler means nothing to him! Strauss took that message to heart as he produced his own masterclass innings of 158 after Tim Bresnan had cleaned the Indian tail with a 5-for. It took a beauty from Zaheer Khan to remove Strauss and bring India back into the match with 2 other wickets. Apart from the last ball single that resulted in a tie, there was another moment to remember from this World Cup - Munaf Patel's blinder (no pun intended) to remove Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell's LBW that wasn't! The infamous 2.50 meter rule denied Yuvraj Singh the wicket of Ian Bell after the field umpire Billy Bowden decided not to overturn his original not out call.

7. Ross Taylor Massacre

He was reprieved - twice! Both times by Kamran Akmal off Shoaib Akhtar's bowling. He made them pay! Ross Taylor, who was not in the best of form, capitalised on those errors by Kamran Akmal (which earned him a lot of jokes on Twitter) and smashed a brilliant century against Pakistan that included some violent hitting at the end. His ferocious hitting resulted in 28 runs being leaked off Shoaib Akhtar's last over and 30 runs off Abdul Razzaq's. Helped by Jacob Oram at the other end, Taylor was ferocious as they compiled an 80-odd run partnership at the speed of light! When Kamran Akmal's turn came to bat, he edged one to Ross Taylor at slip... and the Kiwi was in no mood to return Akmal's favours earlier that day! He grabbed the ball in his hands and the Black Caps celebrated.

8. The Whirlwind Start

It was arguably the best bowling line-up of the World Cup they were facing. The best fast bowler of the present era was to start the proceedings. None of that mattered! Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar began in a hurry... sprinting away to a 100 in just the 12th over. Tendulkar pulled South Africa's best bowler Dale Steyn for a six behind square leg after Sehwag had typically started the innings with a first-ball boundary. Sehwag scored a 73, Tendulkar 111 and Gautam Gambhir too compiled a 69 before the middle and lower order just gave away, as 9 wickets fell for 29 runs. The fact that India did not even manage to bat the entire 50 overs, falling short by 8 balls, eventually proved to be decisive as South Africa managed to seal a win thanks to Robin Peterson's cameo at the end!

9. Pakistan End Australia's Streak

Pakistan was the last team that had beaten Australia in a World Cup match. That had happened way back in 1999. Since then Australia had been triple World Champions and were looking to continue that streak when they faced Pakistan in their Group A match at Colombo. Umar Gul bowled beautifully and Kamran Akmal managed 3 catches as Australia was bowled out for 176. Then a young Pakistani batsman Asad Shafiq played a mature hand aided by the veteran Younis Khan, followed by another youngster Umar Akmal providing the finishing touches. A big performance was needed to finish off Australia's big unbeaten run in the World Cup... and that is just what Pakistan delivered!

10. England Keep Us Entertained

First, they almost goofed up against the Netherlands. Then they did the inconceivable against India as the match ended in a tie. Then they actually goofed up against the Irish, followed by snatching a win from the jaws of defeat against South Africa. Not satisfied, they then snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Bangladesh before winning their most convincing win against West Indies - by 18 big runs! Lots of flashes of memory come to mind from England's World Cup campaign - Ryan ten Doeschate's magnificent hundred at Nagpur, some stuff already mentioned above from the India and Ireland matches at Bangalore, Robin Peterson's opening over and Stuart Broad's finish at Chennai, and of course the celebrations after Mahmudullah's and Shafiul Islam's rescue act at Chittagong... England single-handedly kept Group B alive!


There were lots of other moments to remember... Sehwag deciding to bat through the innings and almost doing so in his 175 at the World Cup opener, Chris Mpofu's rocket throw to run out Ricky Ponting that infuriated him to break a TV, Pakistan's tight win over Sri Lanka, Kemar Roach's and Lasith Malinga's hat-tricks against the Netherlands and Kenya respectively, West Indies skittle out Bangladesh for 58, an unknown Canadian teenager Hiral Patel's attack on the Australian pace trio as Canada scored 62 in their first 6 overs, Zimbabweans applauding and shaking hands with Steve Tikolo after the Kenyan legend was dismissed in his final match, and South Africa's choke against New Zealand amongst others.

RETURNING AHEAD OF A HECTIC SEASON

It's been a long time since I wrote here... more than 2 months. The break was partly forced and partly self-imposed. But now that I get back to this blog, I realise how much I missed it... the blogging, commenting, tweeting, the entire package!

Since I last posted, a lot has happened in the world of cricket and other sports. In India, the IPL started, dragged along, and then finished, taking up almost 2 months of the calender. Yet, the champions remain unchanged as do the teams that qualify for the Champions League. After that, a youthful Indian side went to a Gayle-less West Indies, and won the Twenty20 and ODI series. On the administrative front, the BCCI v. DRS standoff continues. I will be writing a detailed post combining all my previous opinions on DRS soon.

The Sri Lankan cricket team is in England, fighting hard to gain something out of the Test series, while their Board is trying to convince the BCCI to send the Indian players to the SLPL. The English cricket team is, in the meanwhile, looking well-oiled and ominous for Indian fans. But there are certain chinks, as are bound to be in the best of teams!

The West Indies Cricket Board and Cricket Australia are involved in two different, yet similar standoffs. Chris Gayle and Simon Katich. "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys" - that's the case in Cricket Australia. "If you have monkeys, you cannot expect much wisdom" - that's the case with the West Indies Cricket Board.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board continues to head the peanuts-monkeys scenario, with Ijaz Butt clearly the leader. The removal of Shahid Afridi and his temporary retirement, before fighting for his right to play cricket elsewhere in the Twenty20 format also made big news.

In South Africa, Gary Kirsten is the new coach and AB de Villiers the limited-overs captain. In New Zealand, cost-cutting is the word! The only Test-playing nation that has been relatively quiet with their cricket news over the last two months is Bangladesh... but then, that is how they have always been!

In football, the Champions League finals were played at the New Wembley, with Barcelona prevailing convincingly over the English champions, Manchester United. Though a Man-U follower myself, there is no denying that Barcelona is currently the best club in Europe, and it will take a super-human effort to beat them in their current form in a big match.

The Formula One news is all Sebastian Vettel! In 7 races, that boy has 5 wins and 2 second-place finishes! To think that it could have been 6-1 had it not been a final lap error at Montreal is just amazing! But Montreal did show that he does feel the pressure. And he is prone to making mistakes too. As the bandwagon moves to the European continent, McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari will take heart from that Jenson Button victory in their efforts to fight back and close in the gap!

In Tennis, the Djoko-streak was broken by Federer, who was in turn broken by Nadal, who clinched his 6th French Open title. As the Wimbledon kicks off today with Rafael Nadal opening the proceedings on the Centre Court, the Gentlemen's Singles offers the most mouth-watering prospect of quality tennis, as the top-4 seeds look in great touch. The Indian presence too is quite strong in the Men's Doubles and to an extent, in the Women's Doubles.

Back to Cricket...

As the England - Sri Lanka Test series comes to an end today with England trying hard to press for a 2-0 win, the West Indies - India Tests will begin on the other side of the Atlantic. India's next 7 international matches will be Tests... and that is partly why I chose precisely this moment to get back to the blogosphere.

Though a Zaheer-less India may struggle a bit against West Indies, my mind goes back to a similar Zaheer-less India that won the Third Test in Sri Lanka not too long ago. I wonder if Praveen Kumar will get a chance to make his Test debut... it would be nice if that happens! And even though Virat Kohli is more or less certain to make his debut, which is a very promising development in India, my heart also goes out to Cheteshwar Pujara, who misses this tour because of an injury suffered during the IPL.

A hectic sporting season awaits... and I am delighted to be back!

CRICKET - THE FUTURE

Over the last 4 weeks, the Group stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was contested across 13 cities in 3 South Asian countries. The top-8 Test teams have eventually managed to make it to the quarterfinals, a prediction made by a lot of people well in advance. While for 4 of these teams, the ride was easy and straightforward; for 4 others, it was an up-and-down adventure!

Two teams, by general consensus, have been the most exciting teams to watch in this World Cup… and to no one’s surprise really, they are both from Group B – England and Ireland! There were a total of 11 matches involving these 2 teams, and 10 of them were definitely worth a watch. The only one-sided match where either of these teams was involved was the Ireland v. South Africa match at Eden Gardens, where South Africa won comfortably by 131 runs.

The Difference

However, the similarities between these two teams end here. The path ahead for England is very clear – win 3 straight matches and lift the World Cup, or lose in the interim and return home for some rest after a hectic few months of non-stop cricket! The path for Ireland is not quite so clear though. They have an ODI scheduled against Sri Lanka in a couple of months’ time, when the latter go on a tour of England, and they have a few fixture scheduled in ICC’s Associate tournament structure. But what next?

England host Sri Lanka followed by India in the coming months. Then they will visit India for their cricket tour in October. As for Ireland, I doubt if they will get to play this much cricket over the next 4 years, by the time the next World Cup comes calling in 2015.

So when the time comes for them to play in the Qualifying round for World Cup 2015 against the lowest-ranked teams amongst the Full Member countries, there is a good chance that they may be found wanting. Ireland did not get a lot of cricket to play over the 4 years separating their impressive performances in 2007 and 2011, yet they managed to put up a fine effort in the latter edition. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT IF THEY DO NOT PLAY MUCH CRICKET OVER THE NECT 4 YEARS, THEY WILL AGAIN MANAGE TO PUT UP A FINE SHOW AGAIN IN 2015! Far from it, in fact!

Ireland in World Cup 2011

Cricket Ireland did a tremendous job in these four years from 2007 and 2011. They must be applauded for that. But in their achievement, they have pointed out to the ICC a mistake made by it. With their performances, they have clearly made a statement to the ICC telling them that had they been allowed to or made to play more top-level competitive games in this intervening period, they might well have been able to close out the games against Bangladesh and West Indies, where they were in a winning position, but lost out partly due to inexperience. They could have easily won those 2 games and finished 3rd in the Group B – the Group of Death – have would now have been in Colombo awaiting their Quarterfinal clash against Sri Lanka, while England would have had to be in Dhaka ready for South Africa, and West Indies on the flight home!

I believe that most cricket followers would opine that Ireland performed better in this World Cup than Bangladesh. The latter may have had more points, but one look at the NRRs of both these teams will give you an idea of the level of competitiveness that they played with. Bangladesh lost 3 matches in the World Cup – in one, they allowed the opposition to score 370 runs (the highest score of the tournament thus far), and in the other two, they were bowled out for paltry scores of 58 and 78 (two of the three lowest scores in this tournament thus far). A lot more was expected from a Test nation playing in conditions that were ideal for their brand of cricket.

Ireland, a minnow and an Associate, won only 2 matches – in one, they stole a win from England when all hopes seemed just about extinguished, and in another, they comfortably chased down a target in excess of 300 (with more than 2 overs to spare) against another Associate, the Netherlands, showing them in no uncertain terms, that they are ‘the best amongst the rest’. In the four matches they lost, they put up a hard fight in three, and were in winning positions in two of those three before losing out as much to inexperience as to the opponents.

However, the biggest difference between Bangladesh and Ireland in this World Cup, in my opinion, was not in the performances, but in the mindset. I recall one incident that I would like to bring to everyone’s notice. During the pre-match cricket program for the Bangaldesh v. West Indies game, the broadcaster aired an interview of Bangladesh’s bowling coach Ian Pont who made a remark that did not go down well with me, and even one of the studio experts. When asked about their chances of winning that match against West Indies and getting into the race for Quarterfinals qualification, Pont said that the team management had indentified that match as one of the four that they would target a victory in – the other three being against Ireland (already won at that stage), England and the Netherlands. Compare this to the Irish coach Phil Simmons’ comments where he said that the team was there to win. The Irish captain William Porterfield too stated on numerous occasions that the team would go for a win in all games that they play, regardless of the opposition, and given the way he captained the side and placed his fields, he certainly stuck to his promise.

The Problem for ICC

Numerous people have said during this World Cup that the Associate nations need more exposure against the top sides so that they may improve. Most of them were those associated with the Associates – Jimmy Kamande, Steve Tikolo, William Porterfield, Phil Simmons, Peter Borren, Ryan ten Doeschate, Ashish Bagai and others, but there have been a lot of other people, amongst the average cricket followers too.

I know that it will be difficult for ICC to do so. It makes little commercial sense to have a series, howsoever small, between a team like India or South Africa or Australia or England and Ireland or the Netherlands or even Scotland or Afghanistan. Moreover, these matches may not be contests as well… they may just end up being massacres that will force the ICC to stop this practice. So I have tried to think of a solution or two for the ICC, and how it can go about maximising the growth of cricket in these centres.

Possible Solutions

One of the most commonly suggested steps, which I would wholly support, is to organise frequent tours of ‘A’ teams of the stronger countries to the Associate countries. More exposure to good quality cricket in home conditions followed by more exposure to good quality cricket in alien conditions when they themselves will tour these countries for ‘A’ team matches should definitely show improvement.

There are also people who are suggesting that when major nations go on Test tours, they should play their warm-up matches against the Associate nations in that region. While Sri Lanka will just be playing an ODI match each against Ireland and the Netherlands during their tour of England later this year, I would also like to see more First Class matches involving Associate teams and Test teams. This again poses a commercial problem because the Home Boards lose out on revenue if Associate nations play the practice matches, instead of a team registered under that Home Board. For example, the BCCI would lose out on revenue if England plays their practice matches on tour to India against Afghanistan, instead of the Board President’s XI team. It also deprives the young home cricketers of a chance to impress the selectors ahead of the main series. But in my opinion, these two problems are not grave enough that they should stall the potential progress of cricket as a sport.

Over the last few days, I have had another couple of ideas in my mind. One of them is to organise a few big-team tournaments in the smaller countries, e.g. ICC Knock Out Tournament of 2000, which was held at Nairobi, Kenya. I would love to see every alternate Champions Trophy and every alternate World Twenty20 Championships held at smaller cricketing countries. There are a number of benefits of this. One, this will definitely help in improvement of infrastructure at those places and allow better facilities to that country’s cricket team in future. Two, the best way to popularise a sport in a new territory, in my opinion, is to take the best practitioners of the sport to that territory, and allow them to showcase the sport in the best of lights over there.

The other idea that I have had is a two-tier Test Championship. The ICC has already shown interest in the concept of Test Championships to lend more meaning to the game of Test cricket. My solution would just involve adding another tier to that Test Championship to help the game grow. In the ICC Inter Continental Cup, where the Associate nations play First Class cricket, 7 teams took part in 2009-10, including a Zimbabwe XI that wanted to get a bit experience before their return to Test cricket this year. The winner of this tournament was Afghanistan, with Scotland, Zimbabwe and the three-time defending champions Ireland taking the next three spots. So, apart from Ireland, there are a few other Associates as well, who look very promising for the future of our sport, and can be included in the two-tier Test Championships.

Test Cricket

My last solution involves integration of ICC’s current plan of a Test Championship as well as the ICC Inter Continental Championships. There are 105 members recognised by the ICC – 10 Full Members, 35 Associate Members and 60 Affiliate Members. A further 24 non-members are under constant ICC scanner to be enrolled as Affiliate Members. If this plan of Two-tier Test Championships is planned, organised, and executed properly, in a few years’ time, we could have at least 35-40 of these member countries (including all of the Associates and a few Affiliates) play First Class cricket at various levels, with a real chance of breaking into the top-level by the process of promotion and relegation.

As it stands today, 15 Associate / Affiliate members have already had a chance to participate in the Inter Continental Cups over its various seasons, which even includes territories where you wouldn’t know cricket existed, like Cayman Islands!

The Need to Dream

The reason why I think a Two-Tier Test Championship (and Multi-Tiered in future) is necessary for the game is to give the lesser Associates and Affiliates a chance to dream big about competing at the biggest stage called Test Cricket. Afghanistan was once in Division 5 of ICC’s World Cricket League. But they knew that they could still qualify for the World Cup 2011 if they won or ended up as Runners-up in all the subsequent league matches they play. And thus, they had a dream! This dream was possible only because they could see a way of fulfilling it. And they almost accomplished their dream, missing out by a very small margin during the World Cup Qualifiers, having zoomed up through the lower leagues.

How will cricket see sustained development in these places if youngsters do not dream of becoming cricketers? I come from India, a country that stands at about the 140th rank in FIFA’s team rankings. As a 10-year old, I only played cricket and dreamt of becoming a cricketer. Football never crossed my mind as a serious sporting career because of my country’s low profile in that sport. In my country, as things stand, an average footballer will never achieve anything big, and football as a career is feasible for only those who are extraordinarily talented and have a decent chance of making it to the European Leagues.

A lot of countries have a low profile in cricket too, which the ICC must better. When the profiles of these Associate countries in cricket increase, and they see a realistic chance of playing at the highest level of our sport, the youngsters there will be bold enough to think and dream of a career in cricket. There will be more number of cricket professionals, as there are in Ireland today.

The performance of Ireland in the World Cup 2011 has given ICC a chance to work on developing the sport further and taking it to new shores. It has made ICC see beyond its traditional big-powers and gauge the level of development amongst its smaller members. I dearly hope and pray that ICC does not let go of this chance, and for once, takes a step that would benefit our sport rather than just its coffers!

(Note: I have purposely not made any reference to development of cricket through ODIs and Twenty20s in this post. The reason is this - I believe that these two formats of the game, particularly the smallest one, are the best vehicles to spread the game in far corners of the earth.

Soulberry from The Cricket Watcher's Journal puts it well when he says "T20 is the best vehicle for it provides a pleasure factor with the least debate in a new recipient's mind. The process of acculturization employs what is available to create a context - the desire for fun outing that doesn't consume or encroach upon existing vitals and the clarity of simplicity which helps acceptability because there are no tedious debates they have to understake in their minds over Cricket. And all you need is a park and a TV camera cabled up to an OB van to get started with T20."

However, my dream extends beyond the growth of merely the shorter formats of the game in these lands. I, as already stated, would love to see Test cricket take wings and spread just as much. That is why the solutions offered in this post are all related to Test cricket and First Class cricket. The Twenty20 format is bound to grow without a lot of effort from the ICC. Test cricket's growth will require effort.

There is a good chance that ICC may rest on it laurels of having spread cricket wide just on the basis of popularising Twenty20 cricket everywhere. However, that is not what I want to see ICC stop at. Hence, this post makes no reference to Limited Overs Cricket of any form.)

QUARTER FINALS PROBABILITIES - AFTER SL v. NZ

Sri Lanka's huge win over New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai has now made calculations for the Quarterfinals lineup a lot easier. Group A has only one meaningful match remaining - Australia v. Pakistan. Group B has two - Bangladesh v. South Africa and India v. West Indies.

The table below shows the possibilities of Group standings taking into consideration the effects of Net Run Rate as well.

In the Group A standings, I have deliberately included a third option where points will be shared between the teams because of this:

So there you go... from the table above, the following statements can be conclusively made:

1. Sri Lanka will finish 2nd in Group A, irrespective of what happens between Australia v. Pakistan tomorrow at Colombo.

2. If the most likely scenario of SA beating BD, Aus beating Pak, and Ind beating WI, the Quarterfinals will be - South Africa v. Pakistan (Mirpur), India v. New Zealand (Ahmedabad), Sri Lanka v. England (Colombo), Australia v. West Indies (Mirpur).

3. Sri Lanka will contest their QF at home in Colombo unless SA beat BD (likely) AND WI beat Ind (unlikely).

4. South Africa will not play against Sri Lanka in the Quarterfinals... and so, their Quarterfinals will be held in Mirpur, Dhaka.

5. The last conclusion is not a result of the table above, but just a general one. Because of England's fantastic fluctuations in performances and results, the team managers of all teams (except India and South Africa) are facing a lot of logistical problems as they are unsure about where their Quarterfinals are likely to be held!

QUARTER FINALS PROBABILITIES - AFTER ENG v. WI

This post is in the updated version of my previous one regarding the Quarterfinals fixtures and their probabilities.

NOTES:

1. Out of the 6 remaining matches, 2 will have no impact on the Quarterfinals lineup - Ireland v. Netherlands and Kenya v. Zimbabwe.

2. I have assumed none of the matches will be washed out, even though the weather forecasts state that there will be scattered thunderstorms over Colombo on the day of Australia v. Pakistan match.

3. In all the matches, equal probabilities have been given for each side to emerge as the winner (even though, in my opinion, South Africa should be given a higher probability of winning against Bangladesh).

4. Lastly, I have assumed that the NRR of the teams will not change significantly over the remaining matches, and therefore, in case of a tie of points, the team with the higher NRR as of present has been ranked higher.

RESULTS:

Let us look at the probability of individual teams and their Quarter-final opponents.

GROUP A:

Australia -

Chances of playing Bangladesh in QFs: 12.5% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing England in QFs: 25% (earlier 12.5%)
Chances of playing India in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing South Africa in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing West Indies in QFs: 12.5% (earlier 12.5%)

New Zealand -

Chances of playing Bangladesh in QFs: 18.75% (earlier 21.875%)
Chances of playing England in QFs: 12.5% (ealier 6.25%)
Chances of playing India in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing South Africa in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing West Indies in QFs: 18.75% (earlier 21.875%)

Pakistan -

Chances of playing Bangladesh in QFs: 18.75% (earlier 21.875%)
Chances of playing England in QFs: 12.5% (ealier 6.25%)
Chances of playing India in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing South Africa in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing West Indies in QFs: 18.75% (earlier 21.875%)
Sri Lanka -

Chances of playing Bangladesh in QFs: 25% (earlier 18.75%)
Chances of playing England in QFs: 0% (earlier 0%)
Chances of playing India in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing South Africa in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing West Indies in QFs: 25% (earlier 31.25%)

GROUP B:

Bangladesh -

Chances of playing Australia in QFs: 12.5% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing New Zealand in QFs: 18.75% (earlier 21.875%)
Chances of playing Pakistan in QFs: 18.75% (earlier 21.875%)
Chances of playing Sri Lanka in QFs: 25% (earlier 18.75%)
Chances of not qualifying for QFs: 25% (earlier 12.5%)

England -

Chances of playing Australia in QFs: 25% (earlier 12.5%)
Chances of playing New Zealand in QFs: 12.5% (earlier 6.25%)
Chances of playing Pakistan in QFs: 12.5% (earlier 6.25%)
Chances of playing Sri Lanka in QFs: 0% (earlier 0%)
Chances of not qualifying for QFs: 50% (earlier 75%)

India -

Chances of playing Australia in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing New Zealand in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing Pakistan in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing Sri Lanka in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of not qualifying for QFs: 0% (earlier 0%)

South Africa -

Chances of playing Australia in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing New Zealand in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing Pakistan in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of playing Sri Lanka in QFs: 25% (earlier 25%)
Chances of not qualifying for QFs: 0% (earlier 0%)

West Indies -

Chances of playing Australia in QFs: 12.5% (earlier 12.5%)
Chances of playing New Zealand in QFs: 18.75% (earlier 21.875%)
Chances of playing Pakistan in QFs: 18.75% (earlier 21.875%)
Chances of playing Sri Lanka in QFs: 25% (earlier 31.25%)
Chances of not qualifying for QFs: 25% (earlier 12.5%)

However, like I have already said, I think these percentages above do not reflect a true picture because I have assumed equal chances of winning for both South Africa and Bangladesh in their match as well as the fact that I have assumed that the NRR will remain pretty much the same till the group stages finish. The worst affected due to these two assumptions is England.

I will keep updating the changes in these percentages above after the end of every match from hereon (except the ones that have no effect on these probabilities as mentioned in Note 1 above).

QUARTER FINALS PROBABILITIES

Another 8 matches remain before the Group stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 comes to an end. Amidst all the speculation of Quarter final lineups, I have decided to use the good old method of probability to find out the most probable QF lineup.

NOTES:

1. Out of the 8 remaining matches, 2 will have no impact on the Quarterfinals lineup - Ireland v. Netherlands and Kenya v. Zimbabwe

2. I have assumed that Australia will beat Canada in their match on 16th March 2011 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

3. I have also assumed none of the matches will be washed out, even though the weather forecasts state that there will be scattered thunderstorms over Colombo on the day of Australia v. Pakistan match.

4. In all the matches, equal probabilities have been given for each side to emerge as the winner (even though, in my opinion, South Africa should be given a higher probability of winning against Bangladesh).

5. Lastly, I have assumed that the NRR of the teams will not change significantly over the remaining matches, and therefore, in case of a tie of points, the team with the higher NRR as of present has been ranked higher.

RESULTS:

The following 8 Quarter-finals combinations have the highest probability (6.25% each):

A. SL v. WI; Pak v. SA; NZ v. Bang; Aus v. Ind
B. SL v. WI; Aus v. SA; Pak v. Bang; NZ v. Ind
C. Pak v. WI; NZ v. SA; SL v. Bang; Aus v. Ind
D. NZ v. WI; Aus v. SA; SL v. Bang; Pak v. Ind
E. SL v. SA; Pak v. Ind; NZ v. WI; Aus v. Bang
F. SL v. SA; Aus v. Ind; Pak v. WI; NZ v. Bang
G. Pak v. SA; NZ v. Ind; SL v. WI; Aus v. Bang
H. NZ v. SA; Aus v. Ind; SL v. WI; Pak v. Bang

There are 16 other Quarter-finals combinations that have a probability of 3.125% each.

However, to get a clearer picture, let us look at the probability of individual teams and their Quarter-final opponents.

GROUP A:

Australia -

Chances of playing Bangladesh in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing England in QFs: 12.5%
Chances of playing India in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing South Africa in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing West Indies in QFs: 12.5%

New Zealand -

Chances of playing Bangladesh in QFs: 21.875%
Chances of playing England in QFs: 6.25%
Chances of playing India in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing South Africa in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing West Indies in QFs: 21.875%

Pakistan -

Chances of playing Bangladesh in QFs: 21.875%
Chances of playing England in QFs: 6.25%
Chances of playing India in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing South Africa in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing West Indies in QFs: 21.875%

Sri Lanka -

Chances of playing Bangladesh in QFs: 18.75%
Chances of playing England in QFs: 0%
Chances of playing India in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing South Africa in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing West Indies in QFs: 31.25%

GROUP B:

Bangladesh -

Chances of playing Australia in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing New Zealand in QFs: 21.875%
Chances of playing Pakistan in QFs: 21.875%
Chances of playing Sri Lanka in QFs: 18.75%
Chances of not qualifying for QFs: 12.5%

England -

Chances of playing Australia in QFs: 12.5%
Chances of playing New Zealand in QFs: 6.25%
Chances of playing Pakistan in QFs: 6.25%
Chances of playing Sri Lanka in QFs: 0%
Chances of not qualifying for QFs: 75%

India -

Chances of playing Australia in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing New Zealand in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing Pakistan in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing Sri Lanka in QFs: 25%
Chances of not qualifying for QFs: 0% (because of NRR better than that of England)

South Africa -

Chances of playing Australia in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing New Zealand in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing Pakistan in QFs: 25%
Chances of playing Sri Lanka in QFs: 25%
Chances of not qualifying for QFs: 0%

West Indies -

Chances of playing Australia in QFs: 12.5%
Chances of playing New Zealand in QFs: 21.875%
Chances of playing Pakistan in QFs: 21.875%
Chances of playing Sri Lanka in QFs: 31.25%
Chances of not qualifying for QFs: 12.5%

However, like I have already said, I think these percentages above do not reflect a true picture because I have assumed equal chances of winning for both South Africa and Bangladesh in their match as well as the fact that I have assumed that the NRR will remain pretty much the same till the group stages finish. The worst affected due to these two assumptions is England.

I will keep updating the changes in these percentages above after the end of every match from hereon (except the ones that have no effect on these probabilities as mentioned in Notes 1 and 2 above).

SAVE THE MINNOW CAMPAIGN

I have written an article in support of the participation of the Associate teams in the ICC Cricket World Cups, in light of the recent decision by the ICC to have a 10-team World Cup in 2015. That article has been published on the wonderful FreehitCricket website, and you can read my article here.

ABSURDITY IN SCHEDULING

I have been hearing a lot of criticism from various quarters regarding how ICC has scheduled the matches during the 10th Cricket World Cup, currently being played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. I have compiled below a list of the things that I found absurd in the schedule of this event:

1. OPENING WEEKEND

The first match of the World Cup, held on a Saturday, was a good one - Bangladesh v India. The two co-hosts facing each other, with a bit of history with regard to their previous World Cup encounter, at a place where people love cricket, was bound to be a blockbuster opening.

What bemuses me is that the ICC had no intention of sustaining this blockbuster opening over the entire weekend. Sunday saw two matches... and both were potentially one-sided affairs, as they indeed turned out to be. The one remaining co-host (Sri Lanka) should have played on Sunday, and they did. But was Canada the best opponent for them? I wonder why they did not schedule Pakistan or New Zealand as their opponents on the opening Sunday.

Imagine this... Saturday: Bangladesh v India (in Bangladesh); Sunday: Sri Lanka v Pakistan (in Sri Lanka), and Australia v New Zealand (in India).

All three hosting nations would have had a match to host on the opening weekend. All the four sub-continental teams would have opened their campaign over the opening weekend. The defending champions would also have opened their campaign over the opening weekend against an opponent with a bit of a history. Wouldn't this have been a much better prospect than the other two matches that we saw on Sunday!

2. TWO MATCHES ON WEEKDAYS

February 25, 2011 is a Friday, which is a weekday in the sub-continent (unlike Dubai, which is where ICC's headquarters are located... they have Friday - Saturday as a weekend). ICC seem to have forgotten that Friday is a weekday and scheduled 2 matches (1 Day and 1 D/N) on that day.

It would still have been alright had it not been followed by this - the next 2 days (Saturday and Sunday, which is a weekend) host just 1 match each. As if this were not foolish enough, on Monday (February 28, 2011), we shall again see 2 matches (1 Day and 1 D/N) being played.

Can someone from the ICC please explain to me the logic behind allocating 2 matches on a Friday and on a Monday, whereas leaving the weekend in the middle to host just 1 match each? This is totally insane!

3. A GOOD MATCH TO SEE LESS ATTENDANCE

On March 6, 2011, India is scheduled to play against Ireland at Bangalore. On the same day, not too far away, South Africa will play against England at Chennai. Now South Africa v England is one of the better neutral clashes of the tournament, that has the potential to generate good attendance and gate revenues.

However, if the ICC is going to schedule such good matches on the day where the people in the host city will be more interested in watching their own country's match (even if it is against Ireland), then there aren't going to be a lot of revenues around. If the attendance is not good for this clash, ICC should not blame the Chennai crowd... but point the finger back at themselves.

4. WEEKEND SCHEDULING

Whenever there are two matches scheduled on a particular day, ICC has taken care to ensure that one of them is a Day match and the other is a Day / Night Match. But I wonder why ICC could not take care to schedule such Day Matches on weekends... so that there is the best possible chance to see a good crowd attendance.

Feb 26, Mar 5 and Mar 12 are Saturdays and Feb 27 is a Sunday... these 4 days have just 1 match each scheduled to be played. Whereas Feb 25 (Wed), Feb 28 (Mon), Mar 3 (Thu), Mar 4 (Fri), Mar 11 (Fri), Mar 14 (Mon) and Mar 18 (Fri) are all weekdays that have 2 matches each scheduled to be played.

Does ICC really expect any kind of crowd attendance for a neutral matches to be held during day time on a weekday? I wonder if they can themselves find any sense in this!

REVENGE IS SWEET!

Finally, the ghosts of 2007 have been buried!

IT'S REVENGE TIME, FOLKS!

It's time to wipe those smiles off!

Virender Sehwag has already called it. The rest of the Indian team must be quietly admitting it. The opening match for India in their World Cup 2011 campaign against Bangladesh is no ordinary match... it is a 'revenge' match.

There was a time when such 'revenge' matches existed during the World Cup itself. During the 1983 and 1987 World Cups, each team played the others in their group twice. So if you were upset the first time round, you could seek revenge in the next match. In fact, in 1983, on the very first day of the World Cup campaign (June 9, 1983), West Indies and Australia were upset by India and Zimbabwe respectively.

But a week later, West Indies had their revenge on India on June 15... and Australia had their revenge on Zimbabwe on June 16. Eventually, this West Indian victory was lost in time because India managed to stun the defending champions in the finals at Lord's on June 25, 1983. It was a revenge for the revenge match!

Now at Mirpur, almost 28 years after that stunning victory, India seek to begin another World Cup campaign on a victorious note... against the hosts Bangladesh. While Bangladesh may be quietly confident of pulling off another win over their more-fancied neighbours to make in 2 out of 2 in World Cups, the Indians will be in no mood to let it happen.

A lot of members of the current Indian line up were also a part of that bitter defeat in their opening game of the previous World Cup... a defeat that threw their World Cup campaign completely off track! The other members, who were not a part of that team, must have certainly seen that match or followed it in some way or the other. All of them must have definitely felt the pain of that loss... either as players or as supporters!

The pain of a supporter is something I felt to a great degree. I was watching that match in a hostel... with a crowd of what must have been another 50 people. And what had started as a raucous day came to a very meek and silent end! I can still remember the people holding on to shreds of hope despite India being bundled out for a below-200 score. I can still remember the prayers that started getting louder and more desperate as Tamim Iqbal got Bangladesh off to a flying start. I can still remember those profanities that were being shouted at both the batsmen and the bowlers after every hit that reached the fence in the second innings.

Oh man, it was a heartbreak! There was anger in the eyes of whoever you met for a week after that loss and the loss later to Sri Lanka. Over time, in these intervening four years, that anger has subsided. Indian team won the Test Series in England, World Twenty20 Championship, the CB Series in Australia... then followed an unbeaten run in Test series' played at home and other wins as well like the Asia Cup and the Compaq Cup. There was also the rise to the World No. 1 in Tests and now, coming to the World Cup as genuine title contenders, the memories of that defeat against Bangladesh have subsided to a great extent.

But the feeling of hurt and humiliation that rose as a result of that loss always remained hidden at the back of everyone's heads. Now that the time has come to begin another World Cup campaign with a match against Bangladesh, the Indian team is expected to do nothing short of annihilate their neighbours. The expectations are huge and the pressure is enormous... but not without reason. The performances of the Indian team during these last 4 years have given the people a reason to expect... and a victory over Bangladesh in the opening encounter will be the beginning!

Sehwag termed Bangladesh as an "ordinary Test side" a little over a year ago... and now, he has termed this match as a "revenge match". I now hope that he does all he can as a part of his effort in this revenge (for more reasons than one - you see, he is also the captain of my Cricinfo Fantasy League team)! Come on now boys, ATTACK!

THOUGHTS ON DAY 3 OF WARM UP MATCHES

Zim 244 - 8 in 50 overs, Ire 245 - 6 in 49.3 overs - Ire win by 4 wickets

Ireland had put up a tremendous fight while chasing New Zealand's 300+ score in their first warm up match. This time, they went one better... they chased down Zimbabwe's score with 3 balls to spare.

Ireland got on top early (Zim was 12 - 3 in 8th over)... but Zimbabwe fought back first with Taibu's 45 and then with Chigumbura's 103* in just 81 balls. Irish skipper Trent Johnston bowled a superb first spell of 5-2-9-2. While batting, Ireland had partnership stands of 40s for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th wicket. But the 5th wicket stand of 99 between Andre Botha (79) and Kevin O'Brien (62*) was the decisive stand for the match. As they say, a set batsman should see the team through till the end in a run chase... and Kevin O'Brien did that by guiding Ireland to a win with 3 balls to spare. They have issued a warning bell for their Group B opponents!

Ken 263 - 5 in 50 overs, Neth 264 - 8 in 49.1 overs - Neth win by 2 wickets

Kenya batted quite well... with their young 20-year old opener Seren Waters making an unbeaten 126. Rakep Patel scored a 59-ball 64 at the end in a 129-run stand with Waters to see Kenya to a formidable total. But they did not know that the ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year Ryan ten Doeschate had something special in store.

ten Doeschate had done his bit with the ball (10-0-47-2)... but decided to do more. He came in at 87 for to in the 16th over, when the Dutch were starting to lose their early momentum (they had raced to 67 for 0 in 10 overs). Soon with Steve Tikolo running amok, Netherlands slumped to 130 for 7 in 30 overs. Tikolo's gentle off-spin had almost sealed the game then. But the Dutch still had Ryan ten Doeschate at the crease.

In a display that would have pleased even the King-Rescuer VVS Laxman, ten Doeschate upped his scoring rate and though he lost his steady partner Buurman for 29 after an 82 run stand, he remained till the end with an unbeaten 92-ball 98 (3 fours, 4 sixes) to see his team through. The No. 10 Mudassar Bukhari played a small cameo of 20* (15 balls, 2 fours, 1 six) that proved crucial in the end, because when he came in, his side still needed 53 runs of 34 balls. But the man of the moment was definitely Ryan ten Doeschate. Fantasy Team players... are you reading this?

Aus 217 all out in 47.1 overs, SA 218 - 3 in 44.2 overs - SA win by 7 wickets

Don't be fooled by that 218 for 3 from South Africa. Two of those three (Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla) retired themselves after a 100+ opening stand so that the other batters could have some batting practice. The third wicket, that of Faf du Plessis, was a run out!

Australia got off to a miserable start. Their best form batsman, Shane Watson, was out for a 4th ball duck... lbw to Dale Steyn. Brad Haddin (who did not play the 1st warm up against India) got run out for a duck in the 4th over... Australia was 6 for 2. A 122-run stand between captain Ricky Ponting (55) and vice captain Michael Clarke (79) followed. That would prove to be the only substantial contribution from the Aussie bats for the day... and if I may dare to call it so, their saving grace!

Dale Steyn was the top bowler with 3 wickets for South Africa. In what was a surprise to me, Robin Peterson also managed 3 wickets though he was a tad expensive at over 5.50 an over. Australia really need to brush up their spin-tackling skills!

Smith (65) and Amla (60) put on 131 runs and then retired in that order within 3 overs of each other. Faf Du Plessis was sent at No. 3 to get a bit of practice, but was run out for 12 with South Africa on 157! JP Duminy used this time in the middle to stroke a 47* on his favourite Indian ground at Bangalore. South Africa eased home to a very comfortable win at the end.

WARNING NOTE: Do not count Australia out. They entered the 2007 World Cup in a 5-match losing streak. They won every game in that tournament.

WI 281 all out in 50 overs, SL 282 - 6 in 47.3 overs - SL win by 4 wickets

West Indies put up a very decent batting performance to post a competitive 281. But they would know that the score should have been a lot bigger. Chris Gayle provided a fiery start with a 38-ball 58, and Darren Bravo's 54 was a perfect foil. However, they was no one to play a big knock and no substantial contributions from the middle order and the lower middle order, where the highest score was 39 by Sarwan. Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath (3 wickets each) were impressive for Sri Lanka with the ball.

Sri Lanka's chase was built on the back of three main contributors... their three of the four most important batsmen! A ballistic 50-ball 62 from Dilshan followed by calculating knocks of 71 and 55 respectively from Sangakkara and Samaraweera. Despite a minor flutter at the end, where they lost 3 wickets for 28 runs, they reached the target comfortably. Sulieman Benn, with his 3 wickets, was the only West Indian bowler to have numbers worth noticing.

Pak 285 - 9 in 50 overs, Ban 196 all out in 41.4 overs - Pak win by 89 runs

Even though Pakistan put up a very formidable total, it was built on the back of just one big partnership - 152 runs for the 4th wicket between opener Ahmed Shehzad (103) and Misbah-ul-Haq (100). The rest of the batting did not fire as Rubel Hossain and the irrepressible captain Shakib Al Hasan picked 3 wickets each.

When the star Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal fell for a golden duck on the first ball of the innings, their chase was all but over. Imrul Kayes and Junaid Siddique got 39 and 38 respectively, but no one could do more than that. Kayes plays a perfect foil for Tamim when Tamim clicks... but Bangladesh really need to find a solution for Kayes' slow batting when Tamim does not fire. It can have an effect of completely stalling the progress of their innings. For Pakistan, the evergreen Abdul Razzaq picked 3 wickets (including Tamim), while Mohammed Hafeez and Abdur Rehman chipped in with 2 each.

THOUGHTS ON DAY 1 OF WARM UP MATCHES

So the countdown to the start of Cricket World Cup 2011 is on its last stretch... less than a week to go now. The warm up matches have begun, and on the first day, we had 5 of them. Here are a few random thoughts on those matches:

WI 253 - 8 in 50 overs, Ken 192 all out in 45.3 overs - WI win by 61 runs

Ramnaresh Sarwan scored a 125-ball 123 to guide West Indies to a 250+ score, aided by Dwayne Bravo's 56-ball 54 towards the end of their innings. While West Indies will be delighted with Sarwan and Bravo, they need to be wary of the fact that their top order misfired once again. 65 for 4 in the 20th over against Kenya is not a good score... and it was surprising to see that they did not send Kieron Pollard for a hit. He could have done with some practice ahead of the main tournament. But the biggest surprise was that Chris Gayle did not figure in the 12-man team that took part in the warm-up game.

As for Kenya, the veterans Thomas Odoyo and Steve Tikolo were good with the ball. While batting, Collins Obuya made a composed half-century and had he gotten a little more support after his 70-run second wicket stand with Seren Waters, Kenya could have made a serious push towards the target. Though Roach and Russell combined well with the ball, they could not get breakthroughs with the new ball. Kenya has shown promise on the land where they first rose to prominence way back in 1996!

SL 351 - 5 in 50 overs, Neth 195 all out in 47.3 overs - SL win by 156 runs

It was a typical Sri Lankan performance against a minnow, especially on the home ground. The Dutch were soundly thrashed, first by the Sri Lankan batting unit where everyone got starts and then by the bowling performances of Fernando, Perera and Herath. Sri Lanka, however, should be concerned by the fact that none of their batsmen could score a big hundred in batting friendly home conditions, with a run-a-ball 78 from TM Dilshan being their highest score.

Though Tom De Grooth and Bas Zuiderent showed a bit of a fight, Netherlands were never expected to, nor did they, get anywhere close to the target. The only thing that they did well was playing Ajantha Mendis, who had figures of 1 for 40 in 8 overs, that 1 wicket being the 9th to fall... not the figures you'd normally associate with a mystery bowler against a minnow on his home conditions.

Can 112 all out in 37.3 overs, Ban 113 - 1 in 19.2 overs - Ban win by 9 wickets

Bangladesh put in a thoroughly efficient performance to dismantle Canada completely... so efficient it was that they may now be regretting the fact that their batters did not really get a good hit in match conditions before the World Cup. Though Razzaq went wicketless, the other spinners led by skipper Shakib Al Hasan grabbed 6 wickets in a good bowling performance. Except for the skipper Ashish Bagai, no Canadian could muster a solid performance.

While chasing, Tamim Iqbal got the hosts to a flyer... and the match was over within a few blinks. 7 fours and 3 sixes in a 50-ball 69 meant that other than the openers, no one else got any decent batting practice. This was a new Bangladesh side... way different from the one that lost to Canada by 60 runs in the group stages of 2003 World Cup! They have come a long way!

NZ 311 - 6 in 50 overs, Ire 279 all out in 48.2 overs - NZ win by 32 runs

New Zealand must have had a comfortable win in the end, but all credit must go to Ireland for the fight that they put in into their chase. The Kiwis relied on a 134-ball 130 from Martin Guptill and then cameos from Ryder, Taylor, Franklin and Styris to set up a good total... the perfect example of how a batting unit should function! If the Kiwis can manage it against tougher oppositions, they could be well on their way to another good World Cup performance.

While they didn't find much cheer while bowling, the Irish chase was well built. A brilliant and fast opening stand, followed by more good top-order partnerships kept them in the hunt for quite a while. Unfortunately for them, their middle order and lower middle order could not keep up with the challende and they folded in the 49th over. While Porterfield, Stirling, Joyce, Niall O'Brien and Johnston did well with the bat, the bowling performer of the day was the wily Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori... 4 for 42 in 10 overs, and good support from Kyle Mills. The Kiwis should be overall happy with this performance, especially given the run of performances they have had of late!

Zim 152 all out in 41.5 overs, SA 153 - 2 in 23.3 overs - SA win by 8 wickets

Though Zimbabwe was dismissed for 153 only, it was as unlike a South African bowling performance as you are ever likely to see. I say this because 6 of the wickets were picked by spinners, though Morne Morkel was extremely brilliant and threatening in his 6 overs, 3 for 16. Imran Tahir got a game and got 3 wickets... which makes it interesting to see whether he'll make the cut for the first XI above Johan Botha and Robin Peterson.

Taylor's 40 was the only bright spot for Zimbabwe during the whole day... where they were later carted around by Amla, Smith and Kallis. That Kallis hit 3 sixes during his unbeaten 39-ball 49 should tell you something about his injury status! However, like Bangladesh, even South African batsmen (except these 3) missed a golden chance to get some batting practice under their belt!

EDEN GARDENS - THE UNLUCKY 13TH?

I don't know how many of you believe in numerology and how many of you consider the number 13 unlucky. If you do, then I must let you know that there are a total of 13 cricket grounds across the sub-continent that are scheduled to host the World Cup matches.

1. Mirpur (Dhaka), Bangladesh - Shere Bangla National Stadium
2. Chittagong, Bangladesh - Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium
3. Ahmedabad, India - Sardar Patel Stadium (Motera)
4. Bangalore, India - M. Chinnaswamy Stadium
5. Chennai, India - MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk)
6. Kolkata, India - Eden Gardens
7. Mohali, India - PCA Stadium
8. Mumbai, India - Wankhede Stadium
9. Nagpur, India - VCA Stadium (Jamtha)
10. New Delhi, India - Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium
11. Colombo, Sri Lanka - R. Premadasa Stadium
12. Hambantota, Sri Lanka - Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium
13. Pallekele (Kandy), Sri Lanka - Pallekele International Cricket Stadium

If you believe that 13 is unlucky, then be prepared to see Eden Gardens lose its right to host the remaining matches as well in a few days' time.

15 YEARS ON - WHAT HAS NOT CHANGED?

The sub-continent is getting ready to host the 10th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup from 19th February 2011... a spectacle eagerly awaited! All the 15-member squads have been announced by the respective boards of the participating teams and I am sure most of the 210 players selected to be a part of this extravaganza are aiming for glory!

This World Cup will be held in the sub-continent for the first time in 15 years. The last time that it was held in 1996, it marked the first occasion when a co-host (Sri Lanka) walked away as the winners. Will it be the same this time round?

12 teams took part in the World Cup 1996... and 11 of those return to be a part of the 2011 event. The only one to miss out from the 1996 group is the United Arab Emirates... and the 3 new teams who will be making their sub-continental World Cup debuts will be Canada, Ireland and the co-hosts Bangladesh themselves.

Interestingly, 8 of the 210 players selected for this World Cup were also a part of their teams' set-up 15 years ago in the 1996 World Cup. And amusingly, the team that has the most number of players today from the 1996 era is... Kenya! They have 2, whereas Australia, India, Netherlands, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies have 1 each.

These men are:

Australia - Ricky Ponting
India - Sachin Tendulkar
Kenya - Thomas Odoyo
Kenya - Steve Tikolo
Netherlands - Bas Zuiderent
South Africa - Jacques Kallis
Sri Lanka - Muttiah Muralitharan
West Indies - Shivnarine Chanderpaul

For Odoyo, Tikolo and Zuiderent, it marked the start of their international careers. For Ponting, Kallis, Muralitharan and Chanderpaul, it marked their World Cup debuts. Tendulkar had already played in the 1992 World Cup.

Interestingly, four of these eight men figured in the semi-finals in 1996. If we were to replace Chanderpaul's West Indies with Kallis' South Africa, we might well have the semi-final line-up for 2011... though I can already hear the English cricket fans vehemently disagreeing.

The youngest of these 8 is the Dutchman Bastiaan Zuiderent, who is a little short of his 34th birthday. And if he remains fit enough and Netherlands competitive enough, he may well go on to play the 11th World Cup in 2015 in Australia and New Zealand! But unless Tendulkar continues to play till then, I will not be able to do such a blog comparing 2015 to 1992!