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It was good to see Gautam Gambhir back in the runs with a big century... the icing on the cake was that he did this as a captain!
After a record-breaking season and a half for Gambhir, he has struggled this year for his runs. He has also not been helped by regular occurrence of injuries and some shoddy umpiring (remember Billy Bowden's howler!?). But in the Tests against New Zealand, he showed that he is slowly getting his form back... and now in the 2nd ODI, he hit a wonderful 138* to send out a string message to those who were thinking of handing his spot over to Murali Vijay.
I am delighted for Gambhir. I have mentioned earlier that it took me time to warm up to Gautam Gambhir, but over his purple patch (particularly that marathon match-saving century at Napier) I saw that he's a changed man from the one I had seen make his debut in 2004. He had improved beyond recognition.
When he was going through that purple patch, I knew that a bad patch would come. Runs will dry up. It happens to everyone, just as it may soon happen to Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag (though I always hope not!). But having had a changed opinion of Gambhir now, I was confidently hoping that he'll find his way out of th mire.
His 138* today was not the perfect innings. There were a couple of streaky inside edges that went either side of the stumps... and there was a bit of impatience at the start. But once all those start-of-an-innings-jitters were out of the way, his innings was as good as they get in One Day International cricket. No doubt his counterpart Daniel Vettori describe it as "one of the best one-day innings I have ever seen"!
There was the 5th ball of the 33rd over bowled by Kyle Mills, when Gambhir shimmied down the track looking to create room but got cramped up as Mills followed him. Yet he had so much time even after coming a couple of paces down to a pacer that he comfortably guided the ball to the right of point, wide of the third man, to pick up an easy 2 and move from 91 to 93. It almost looked as if Gambhir paused and decided that this was the place he wanted to play the ball to, and then played it. It looked so comfortable that I immediately felt that yes, this man has returned to form.
It was a great knock by the Indian captain and as I end this blog, I must also mention a special word for the young Virat Kohli. He's been quite a bit like Gambhir for me... took a bit of time to warm up to him... but he's impressed with his maturity at the crease. Though there is still a lot that he needs to prove, there is no doubt that he's taking all the right steps.
I am free at last... and it's good to be back at the blogosphere a few hours before the start of what promises to be a very close tussle for the Ashes. I have been looking forward to the Test cricket on offer this December for quite a few months now...
Two BIG tours in the southern hemisphere (England in Australia and India in South Africa) sounds a heartily enthralling prospect... especially for someone like me who had to sacrifice almost all cricket played in November for examinations. Now that they are over, it's just going to be cricket, cricket and more cricket till the results are out in January.
I did catch bits and pieces of the Indo-NZ series (a bit of Harbhajan's batting, Martin's devastating spell, a part of Dravid's 191 and finally saw an able spinner bowling in India after a long time in the form of Daniel Vettori). Then there were also a few overs that I caught up with during Chris Gayle's triple... and I thought he was once bored of Test cricket!
But all that's done and over now. In just a little over 3 hours, Ponting and Strauss will be watched by millions as they walk out for the toss... and will thereby mark the start of 2010-11 Ashes. Can't wait!
Before I talk about the game that has just finished, a hearty congratulations to Kevin Pietersen on becoming a proud father of a baby boy. And some cheer for the Indian supporters as well: the women's team defeated Sri Lanka today by 71 runs to seal a place in the 1st semi-final against Australian women's side at Gros Islet on 13th May.
Now, England have beaten New Zealand by 3 wickets with 5 balls to spare to eliminate them from the World Twenty20 Championship 2010, and allow Pakistan a chance to defend the title that they won last year.
New Zealand, to their credit, put up a very good fight even when England looked like they would get to the target of 150 comfortably. They kept on picking wickets, took the good catches (especially Daniel Vettori), and exerted pressure even when England had the game all but won.
In the end, the onslaught from Tim Bresnan after a calm innings from Eoin Morgan (again) proved too hot for them to handle. The English win will now be celebrated right across from London to Lahore and Manchester to Multan.
For England, the best part of the win will be the fact that they have topped the group and thus, will not need to face Australia in the semi-finals (I guess it is pretty safe to assume that Australia will be topping the other group). Pakistan, despite being glad of a chance to play in the semis, will be wary of facing Australia in the semis. The Australian team has dented Pakistan's confidence in a big way over the summer... and Pakistan will face a big test of their mental strength when they take guard against the men from Down Under.
The interesting aspect of the result is that the team that had not won a single Super Eight game when the day began has now ended up in the semi-finals. India will be hoping for a similar fate tomorrow! Or else, it will be the second straight ICC event where the women's team will have outperformed the men's team from India!
Rajasthan Royals have just beaten the defending champions Deccan Chargers comfortably to throw open the league table completely. Yusuf Pathan blasted 8 sixes in his Man-of-the-Match performance, but for me, it still does not erase a question mark over him because of his inconsistency, especially when he plays for India. If anything, this innings highlights it even more.
But that's enough of IPL. Amidst all the frenzy, most Indian cricket lovers seem to have forgotten that New Zealand and Australia are currently battling in a Test series in New Zealand (who are trailing 0-1, expectedly!).
Later today, when Daniel Vettori tosses the coin at his home ground (Seddon Park, Hamilton), he will be playing his 100th Test (99th for NZ and 1 six-day Test for World XI in the ill-fated Super Series in 2005). In the process, he will become just the second Kiwi to achieve this landmark after his captaincy predecessor, Stephen Fleming.
When Sachin Tendulkar reached 200 against South Africa at Gwalior in 24th February 2010, Ravi Shastri called him 'Superman from India' on air during commentary. If I am asked who is the first cricketer who comes to my mind when I hear someone say 'Superman', my answer will be Daniel Vettori.
Daniel Luca Vettori made his Test debut as a slow left arm spinner in February 1997. Today, 13 years later, 31 years of age, on the eve of his 100th Test, he has been the captain, coach, selector, strike bowler, most consistent batsman and one of the most inspirational Kiwi cricketer ever. It wouldn't be surprising if he runs for the Prime Ministership next!
On a more serious note, Daniel Vettori has done almost everything he could have for cricket in New Zealand... and he's just 31. He can easily play for 5 more years. And 5 years means that I have a wish for him...
Just like I want to see Sachin Tendulkar win the 2011 World Cup for India at home, I would also like to see Daniel Vettori lead his team to their maiden World Cup win in 2015 when Australia and New Zealand are going to jointly host the spectacle. New Zealand have for long been a competitive limited-over outfit without getting enough silverware to show for it. Not only are they due for a big win, Daniel Vettori also deserves such an honour.
I know that I am thinking too far ahead right now. That World Cup is half a decade away. Some might even be wondering if One Day cricket will survive till then. But that will not stop me! I will continue hoping for worthy reward for a champion cricketer... a true Superman!
New Zealand 43 / 3 in 8.4 overs. The heavens open up. Mr. Duckworth and Mr. Lewis are invited to use their mathematics.
Before rain: 231 runs required from 248 balls at 5.59 runs per over.
After rain: 223 runs required from 218 balls at 6.14 runs per over.
The required run rate went up by 0.55 runs per over AND the Kiwis were denied the use of 12 Powerplay balls. Why? Just because the Aussies had managed to grab 3 wickets before the heavens opened up.
Vettori aptly said it: "There are a lot of things I don't understand about cricket, and that (D/L Method) is one of them. To lose two Powerplay overs and only have eight runs taken off, I don't know how that works. It makes things incredibly tough. It would have been better had the game gone the full 50 overs, it would have been a lot better for us."
So I decided to do a bit of research about this D/L Method. Using the official D/L Website, and the tables provided there, I found that I manually calculated the revised target at 265, which was 1 less than the actual target for the Kiwis today. So I made assumed that my calculations are sufficiently accurate, and I can proceed with my research. Here are my computations.
After 8.4 overs, having scored 43, had New Zealand lost fewer wickets, they would have had the following targets:
2 wickets down - Target 262.
1 wicket down - Target 259.
0 wickets down - Target 256.
So, here you go. Even if New Zealand had lost no wicket at the time of interruption, the target would have reduced by just 18 runs in 30 balls. The logic behind putting the 2nd Batting team in a numerically disadvantageous position is sound. In simple terms, the team batting 2nd has a target ahead and can pace the innings accordingly. The team batting 1st did not have any idea that there might be interruption in play later and therefore, their lack of such knowledge need to be compensated numerically.
However, such a reduction in target did not compensate New Zealand for their loss of 2 Powerplay overs. And that is where Daniel Vettori has a problem.
There are many issues that Duckworth Lewis method fails to consider:
1. In some cases, both the teams are aware that there might be an interruption in play later in the game, given the overhead conditions. In such a case, is there a need to compensate the team batting 1st?
There might be a case for using the weather forecasts and percentage chances of rain as numerical variables in calculations.
2. The method of dealing with the Powerplay overs also remains a concern, especially now when there is a Batting Powerplay and a Bowling Powerplay. There is also an added factor of only 2 fielders allowed outside the circle in the first 10 overs and 3 allowed in the other 2 Powerplays. As if this was not enough, we also have a rule of 2 compulsary catchers required in the first 10 overs.
If we assume that the catchers are used to take wickets (in normal cricket, they are!), then we might have to consider the number of wickets that could have gone down in the overs lost from the compulsary first 10-overs Powerplay.
There are various other factors that cannot be stated numerically, so I'll just count them: Pitch, Slower outfield after rain, Length of boundaries, Ball change after 34 overs, et cetera. You can help me with more of such shortcomings of the D/L Method.
I agree that all factors cannot be considered in setting revised targets. There will always be shortcomings, be it in the Duckworth-Lewis Method or the Jayadevan's Method (adopted by ICL in their competition). However, some of these concerns can be addressed because they can be quantified. And once we have some numbers, mathematicians simply love playing with them.
I do not have the intelligence of Mr. Frank Duckworth or Mr. Tony Lewis, both mathematicians par excellence. But I do believe that with their brains, they can address the concerns faced by a lot of cricket followers like me and indeed, captains like Dan.
Finally, after 123 days, Australia have finally lost something! The defeat to New Zealand in the 2nd Twenty20 match would statistically still be counted as a 'Tie'. I don't know why do they play the One Over Eliminator if they still want to count the match as a tie. All the previous cases of Bowl Outs are also listed as ties in the Cricinfo's archives.
In any case, Australia's last defeat in an international cricket match came on October 31, 2009 at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi against India. Since then, Australia's sequence has been:
ODIs v India: Win 3, NR 1
Tests v West Indies: Win 2, Draw 1
Tests v Pakistan: Win 3
ODIs v Pakistan: Win 5
Twenty20 v Pakistan: Win 1
ODIs v West Indies: Win 4, NR 1
Twenty20s v West Indies: Win 2
Twenty20s v New Zealand: Win 1, Tie 1 (Lost via One Over Eliminator)
In a space of 2 days, we have had two ODIs won by mid-table teams by 2 wickets with 7 or less balls to spare. One of the losing sides was the top of the table Australia, and the other one was at the opposite end of the spectrum, Bangladesh.
One match was finished off by a young 23-year old, already-played-for-two-countries, waiting-for-the-IPL Eoin Morgan. The other one was seen till the end by a 34-year old veteran, almost-12th-man, also-waiting-for-the-IPL Scott Styris. Both the winning captains were standing in due to the unavailability of their regular captains - one resting, the other recuperating. Both the 'finishers' have or have had been a part of Middlesex.
That's it. I couldn't find any more links between the 2 matches. But both have been good ODIs. Bangladesh gave England a good run for their money. Alistair Cook knows that despite the relatively easy assignment for his first stint at the helm of English cricket, things can get tricky if his batsmen continue to throw their wickets away in the 3rd ODI. A loss to Bangladesh would not only be embarassing, but also put his future as a captain of England cricket team in jeopardy. And going by what we have seen so far, that is a distinct possibility.
On the other hand, Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori will know that Australia will bounce back hard. They have not lost an ODI series for about a year now, and will want to continue this streak for atleast 12 more months till the end of the World Cup next year. But they also know that their boys are capable of withstanding the Aussie attack. Kiwis have always been a fighting ODI unit, and with a chance to go up to as high as the No. 2 spot in the ODI Team Rankings, the Kiwis will not be budging to give an inch willingly.
So we have 9 more ODIs to look forward to (including the WI-Zim ones) before the IPL begins on the 13th March and then 1 more on the 14th. However, other than West Indies and Zimbabwe, these teams will still not be available to play due to their Test fixtures. Looking ahead to some exciting cricket on cards.
