South Africa v Australia, 2nd Semi Final, World Cup 2007……. The Story of the Match..

Todays game reminded me of this famous bit of sledging by Andrew Flintoff. The first part of it is quite true as Flintoff himself will agree today. However, South Africa today seem to have told themselves “Mind the windows” and the Australians probably can’t believe their luck as they gather for dinner this evening..

This is Cricinfo’s description of the first 5 South African wickets:

2.3	Bracken to Smith, OUT, Smith again walks down the pitch to meet the ball, shapes to hit over the top and a sniff of swing takes the ball past the bat and into the off stump
	GC Smith b Bracken 2 (10m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 40.00
South Africa 7/1 AB de Villiers 4* (10b 1×4) NW Bracken 1.3-0-5-1
5.3	McGrath to Kallis, OUT, Kallis again gives himself room and advances to meet the ball, but McGrath fires in a yorker which clatters into the off stump
	JH Kallis b McGrath 5 (12m 9b 1×4 0x6) SR: 55.55
South Africa 12/2 AB de Villiers 4* (19b 1×4) GD McGrath 2.3-1-6-1
8.5	Tait to de Villiers, OUT, full, de Villiers drives with no foot movement, and a thick kick carries straight to Gilchrist. A fourth delivery over 90mph, a good mixture of length, and now South Africa are up against it
	AB de Villiers c Gilchrist b Tait 15 (39m 34b 3×4 0x6) SR: 44.11
South Africa 26/3 HH Gibbs 3* (5b) SW Tait 0.5-0-4-1
9.4	McGrath to Prince, OUT, And that might be it … about the worst ball McGrath has bowled, wide and angled away from the left-hander, but Prince slashes, gets a thin edge, and Gilchrist does the rest
	AG Prince c Gilchrist b McGrath 0 (4m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
South Africa 27/4 HH Gibbs 4* (8b) GD McGrath 4.4-1-13-2
9.5	McGrath to Boucher, OUT, McGrath on a hat-trick … much better ball, a stock McGrath delivery, Boucher plays a nothing prod and the ball is held low down by Matthew Hayden at first slip
	MV Boucher c Hayden b McGrath 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
South Africa 27/5 HH Gibbs 4* (8b) GD McGrath 4.5-1-13-3

As Graeme Smith sheepishly admitted, the South African’s tried to be “nice and positive”. At 5/27, it was over.

Australia v South Africa, World Cup Semi Final. Match Preview

The Sri Lankan batting delivered, and while Jayawardene produced a century (of which 84 runs came in the last 13 overs of the innings) and Sri Lanka made 289, one felt that Upul Tharanga’s run-a-ball 73 against the Kiwi new ball was telling, especially after Jayasurya had been dismissed early. He effectively nullified the Kiwi advantage of getting past the great man early in the piece and ensured that Sri Lanka had a decent beginning. Indeed, when Tharanga was dismissed for 73(74 balls, 9 fours, 1 six), Sri Lanka had made 111/3 in 25.2 overs. The other batsmen upto that point had contributed 1(11) – Jayasurya, 18(42) – Sangakkara and 9(33) – Jayawardene.

The Sri Lankan bowling proved too much New Zealand and a middle order collapse triggered by an opportunistic claim of caught & bowled by the great Muralitharan meant that the first semi-final joined 43 out of the 48 games so far as one sided affairs. The thing about one sided affairs is that supporters of the winning side think they’re very exciting, while everyone else thinks they are a waste of time.

Stephen Fleming retired as New Zealand ODI captain after 218 games in which he came away with a 96-108 win-loss record. 2004 was his best year – New Zealand produced a 16-4 record in 22 games that year. If you consider only this decade, then Fleming’s New Zealand came away with a 78-78 record. Thats surprisingly poor considering Flemings reputation as a “great” captain. It only underlines the fact that a captain is only as good as his team – something which makes Graeme Smith and Ricky Ponting very fine captains. In fact, it makes Ponting the finest ODI captain in history – better than Clive Lloyd, Steve Waugh or Hansie Cronje.

What can we look forward to tomorrow? A batting slog fest where Bradley Hogg will emerge as Australia’s match-winning trump card? Or will Makhaya Ntini make a triumphant return and demolish the Australian top order? What kind of game would you prefer to watch? A tense 525-550 run game where 5 good overs for either team will not end the other teams chances but will dent them considerably, or an outrageous 750-800 run slog fest? I would prefer the former. However, with the prodigious six hitting prowess on either side and the small boundaries at Beausejour Stadium, i wouldn’t be surprised if we had the latter – or worse, if we have one side racing away to 350 and the other crashing to 225.

Both South Africa and Australia have beaten Sri Lanka in this World Cup. However, the final promises to be a great game, irrespective of which of these two sides qualifies.

My prediction – South Africa to win – with Makhaya Ntini producing a sterling spell and Jacques Kallis scoring some responsible runs. I have to be right this time! 🙂

Captain Fantastic delivers for Sri Lanka….

In my preview of the first semi final predicted that New Zealand would win in a tense run chase. After the Sri Lankan captains magnificient hand, the Sri Lankan’s are well on track to deliver their A game today. Win the toss, bat first, bat big, and then, hold Murali back as long as possible in the defense of the score, so that he can come in and kill the run chase.

After 37 overs, Sri Lanka were 164/4 with Jayawardene 31(64). They ended 289/5 with Jayawardene 115(109). Mahela Jayawardene made 84(45) in the last 13 overs of the innings. At the end of 50 overs, you would have to say that it was a “brilliantly” paced innings. However, had Jayawardene made one mistake in say the 38th over and been dismissed, you can rest assured that he would have been nailed for holding the innings back. As it happened, he ended up planning it just right – played watchfully, got his eye in, and im sure he will say at the end of the day, that he aimed to “stay till the end”.

Sri Lanka have made 102 runs in the last 10 overs. If New Zealand face the same equation chasing, it would be considered nearly impossible. Even though there are reports that the wicket might afford some turn later in the day, i am intrigued by the fact that anybody who got going scored at a run a ball – which indicates fast scoring playing conditions.

New Zealand will have to play very well to win….

Finals Week at the World Cup….

New Zealand v Sri Lanka, April 24, Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Australia v South Africa, April 25, Beausejour Stadium, St. Lucia
World Cup Final, April 28, Kensington Oval, Bridgetown Barbados

This is what it all comes down to six weeks into the World Cup. All the upsets, all the one sided games and all the minnow bashing later, the four best teams in the World at the moment meet in the final knock out phase. This World Cup could yet see a revival in fortunes.

The mind games have already begun. Shane Bond is aiming for Sanath Jayasurya, New Zealand aim to exploit the extra bounce on offer on Michael Holding’s home pitch, and the Australians want everyone to believe they are all over the South Africans like a rash. Matthew Hayden believes his team intimidates the South Africans, while Ricky Ponting aims to get the “slow” Jacques Kallis in early. Some Australian fans believe there is a thin line between confidence and hubris which has already been crossed. Others think that come Sunday morning, Australia will be World Champions irrespective of what anybody says.

That none of these sides can consider it an achievement to have reached the World Cup semi finals is a telling comment on the state of World Cricket. Would India have felt they had achieved anything significant by qualifying for the last 4? Qualification for the semi-finals is akin to making the pass grade in the world cup. The teams that didn’t qualify “failed” in a sense.

These two matches have already taken place once in this World Cup – Australia and New Zealand emerged winners on those occasions. With all the history associated with Australia v South Africa contests, only a brave man would pick a winner. The Australians go in as favorites of course, but then again, how much meaning does that have anymore? Have they gone into any contest in the last 8-9 years as anything less than firm favorites? The South Africans have a reputation for choking in big games – an uncharitable accusation in my view, especially given their sterling world record run chase in a must win game against the Australians last year. Im must confess here that i find myself squarely in the South African corner for this game. The man to watch out for – Makhaya Ntini. That the World Cup Semifinal is going to be a repeat of the Group game on March 24th, at the same venue as the group game is in itself interesting. If it ends up being a batting v batting shoot out, then given the pressure of the occasion, one would expect the side batting first to have the advantage. Why? Because, as the South Africans showed against the West Indies, the side batting first, with wickets in hand can hammer almost any amount of runs in the last 10 overs of their innings – such as making 152 in the last 11 overs like the South Africans did against West Indies. Chasing down 152 in the last 11 overs, even with wickets in hand, is that much more difficult. The Australia had the advantage of batting first the last time.

In the other semi-final (thats exactly what it is…… the “other” semi-final), the battle is between the classical orthodoxy of the New Zealand attack and the unorthodox variety of the Sri Lankan attack. Scott Styris seems to play spin bowling the best amongst all the New Zealand batsmen, while Kumar Sangakkara is Sri Lanka’s best player on quicker tracks. In 1999, New Zealand were demolished in the semi-final by the elegant blade of Saeed Anwar. Kumar Sangakkara has had a quiet World Cup so far, and with the spotlight squarely upon Jayasuriya and the Sri Lankan Captain, Sangakkara and his left handed compatriot Russell Arnold will play an important role – especially against Daniel Vettori who is in the form of his life in One Day Cricket. For New Zealand, they will hope that Stephen Fleming produces one of his specials – like he did against the South Africans in the 2003 edition. Ross Taylor and Peter Fulton will be tested in the big game, while Craig McMillan may just be the joker in the pack for New Zealand. Chamara Silva demolished New Zealand in the Test match earlier this year, but a World Cup semi-final will test his mettle.

Unless New Zealand under perform with the bat if they bat first, i don’t see Sri Lanka chasing too well. New Zealand on the other hand possess the versatility and depth in batting to win chasing as well as batting first. Hence, i would have to put New Zealand as slight favorites in the first semi-final.

In the second one, Australia go in as favorites, but if a Australia – South Africa world cup semi-final does not produce drama, then we will know for sure than the 2007 World Cup is well and truly jinxed.

Its hard to resist making predictions for these games. So let me go ahead and make mine for this great week…..

1. New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in a tense run chase after winning the toss and fielding first.

I’ll make a prediction about the Australia v SA game tomorrow.

For now, it will be Shane Bond taking the field on the holy Sabina Park turf which once belonged to the mighty West Indian pace quartet.