All posts by h716a5.icu

Despite his achievements over the last six years, Karnataka seamer R Vinay Kumar remains unfamiliar to most Indian fans

Siddarth Ravindran in Mysore11-Jan-2010He has 179 Ranji Trophy wickets at 22.15 over six seasons, in each ofwhich he has scalped more than 20. He was the domestic bowler of the year in 2007-08after dismissing 47 batsmen in nine matches. Despite these achievements,Karnataka seamer R Vinay Kumar remains unfamiliar to most Indian fans, andhe didn’t even find a place on the BCCI’s 41-man list of contractedplayers last November.”It’s a real big surprise for me why he’s not made the next level,” hisstate coach Sanath Kumar says. “He bowls at about 130kmh, which is prettydecent, moves the ball both ways and is very accurate.”This season has been Vinay’s finest yet. With the added responsibility ofgrooming two young, talented quick bowlers in Abhimanyu Mithun and SAravind, he has been at the forefront of Karnataka’s charge to the final.His 43 wickets put him on top of the Ranji charts this season, including a personal-besteight-wicket burst against Delhi, and on the big occasion of the final, hecalmed the team nerves by slicing through the Mumbai top order.Vinay debuted for the Karnataka Ranji side as a 20-year-old in 2004-05,when the team was looking for the next generation of fast bowling talentafter the retirement of David Johnson and with another stalwart, DoddaGanesh, fading. He was an instant success, getting the wickets of SouravGanguly and Rohan Gavaskar on debut, and has played in nearly everyKarnataka match since.He is deeply disappointed at not making it to the national team so far. “Ifeel bad that no one is recognising me. Everyone knows that I’ve been doing wellfor the last six years,” Vinay says. He turned to Anil Kumble and RahulDravid for advice, and their guidance kept him focused. “They would saythat your day will come. Don’t get desperate. If you are, thenyour bowling will suffer and you may start doing new things that will spoilyour bowling.”He also sought the counsel of one of his first coaches, LM Prakash, fromhis hometown of Davanagere. “I keep telling him to concentrate on bowlingwell and not to bother about the results,” Prakash says, “to keepenjoying himself, keep performing for the team to win, and wait for his time to come.”

I’m making him realise that he has to get into the national team as an allrounderKarnataka coach Sanath Kumar

Now 25, Vinay is at an age by which most Indian cricketers havealready made the breakthrough – several competitors for a nationalpace-bowling spot like Sreesanth, RP Singh and Munaf Patel are roughly asold as him, while Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and Sudeep Tyagi areyounger. Perhaps there is a different route to the top?”I’m making him realise that he has to get into the national team as anallrounder,” Sanath says. “Probably the place which hasbeen left vacant by Irfan Pathan. I’m telling him all the time he has gottremendous potential as a batsman.”Vinay started out for his first club, United Cricketers, as a batsman,idolising Dravid and wanting to copy his batting style. “He wasconcentrating more on his batting initially,” Prakash says, “There was abowling coach Prakash Powar, a fast bowler for Goa, who thought there wastalent in Vinay as a medium-pacer. He made him bowl at the nets and Vinaystarted playing as an allrounder. Gradually, as he progressed to thehigher levels, his bowling started getting more recognition, but even upto the zonal under-19s he was scoring plenty of runs.”Two seasons ago, during former India allrounder Vijay Bharadwaj’s tenureas Karnataka coach, Vinay was tried as a pinch-hitter for the Vijay HazareTrophy. The experiment was a partial success: he made a quickfire 32 and acouple of half-centuries in six innings. “All my coaches tell me I havea good technique in batting, and want me to concentrate on that,” Vinay says. “After getting so many wickets, I’m not getting enough recognition. I have to score. Now, slowly, I’m concentrating on my batting as well.”

Thilain Samaraweera’s innings wasn’t captivating, but he handled the spinners effectively and carried the batting after the stars departed after starts

Sidharth Monga at the P Sara Oval04-Aug-2010Thilan Samaraweera’s record, his average of 53.34, is often seen with an asterisk next to it. Only one of his 12 centuries has been scored out of the subcontinent. He usually seems to be one of three or four centurions in an innings. Except for the centuries in Faisalabad when he came in at 9 for 3, and at Queen’s Park Oval when he scored a second-innings 125 from 35 for 4, Samaraweera is usually perceived to be one who capitalises on bowlers tired down by Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene or blasted by Tillakaratne Dilshan.Some even call Samaraweera a boring batsman. While it is unfair to call Samaraweera boring, that defining innings is indeed missing. This unbeaten 137 was that innings, but it was halfway there. And despite a strike-rate of 47.56, which is considered slow in today’s cricket, this wasn’t boring. The way he handled the spinners on a responsive pitch was anything but.This wasn’t an easy century. It came when, for the first time on this tour, no Sri Lankan batsman had dominated the Indian bowlers enough. Sangakkara had, but he threw it away without finishing the job. The pitch was taking turn when Samaraweera came in at 157 for 3, Pragyan Ojha was bowling a good spell, and Jayawardene wasn’t exactly comfortable. So he had to contend with bowlers who had their best first day of the tour, bowlers who for the first time sensed they could keep an innings century-less.Jayawardene soon got out, and Samaraweera, almost unnoticed, reached his fifty by stumps. Ojha said after the day’s play that he was getting appreciable turn, and if the batsmen pushed forward blindly he thought he had a chance. Samaraweera doesn’t push forward blindly. Although his first movement is forward, but he is adept at moving back swiftly or reaching the pitch of the ball to play either a defensive or a forceful stroke.Samaraweera hardly ever misjudged the length, and when he did his soft hands ensured the edge didn’t carry. His comfort at the crease contrasted with that shown by Angelo Mathews and Prasanna Jayawardene.Ojha was difficult to negotiate in a 13-over spell of 19 runs and two wickets before lunch. The tail was in. Samaraweera shielded them after Suraj Randiv got out slog-sweeping and Lasith Malinga didn’t stay long enough to be shielded. With Mendis, who is not one who can be expected to hold one end up, Samaraweera’s partnership lasted 13.4 overs, adding 35 crucial runs, out of which Mendis scored 3.”The thought process then was that I had to bat through Ojha,” Samaraweera said. “Mendis told me he was a little difficult to handle, that was the reason [for refusing singles].”While Samaraweera kept refusing singles, his lack of power showed. He was buying time, but not actually hurting India. Gaps existed, but for across-the-line shots. Samaraweera, though, relied on the more orthodox ones, making room and cutting late, and exploiting the square field. He punished any slight error in length. He managed a slog-sweep off Amit Mishra, and couple of chips over extra cover off Ojha, but immediately after Mendis and Chanaka Welegedara got out in the same over.By then Samaraweera had taken Sri Lanka to a healthy total. “I have got some hundreds at crucial moments,” Samaraweera said. “When top order has not scored runs. Against Pakistan we were 9 for 3, I got a hundred and against Bangladesh we were 20 for 4. I don’t think I have got [all the] runs when the top order has scored runs. I have scored runs when they were important for the team. But this is a special one because this is a real Test wicket. Your skills are tested here unlike in SSC. I am happy to get a hundred here.”It wasn’t an innings that grabbed you by the throat and asked you to watch. It wasn’t one that came in a dire situation. But it came at a time when it could have all gone wrong for Sri Lanka. It came on a pitch where it wasn’t difficult to look unattractive. Neither happened. Sri Lanka can thank Samaraweera for that.

Great teams have bowlers who can wrench a handful of breakthroughs on extremely tough days, but “Johnson’s attack” is not at that level

Peter English at the Gabba28-Nov-2010If you want to know how Mitchell Johnson is feeling look at him after he’s let the ball go. He’s in good shape if his eyes sparkle when he peers at the batsman, and his bowling is on the rise if he’s confident enough for follow-up words in his follow-through.When his head drops as he turns silently to return to his mark, he’s in the early stages of serious torment. After four days in Brisbane his only extended period of relief came when he wasn’t required to do anything on Friday.Australia now understand the traditional experience of touring teams in Brisbane after they managed only one wicket in three sessions – and it went to the part-timer Marcus North. Johnson was a key contributor to the group malaise in a worrying contribution for this Test and beyond.The Gabba used to be Johnson’s full-time home and it was on a flat surface like this in a Sheffield Shield final that he claimed 10 victims for the match and started heading towards the Test team. Now it is a foreign field, like the ones in Mohali and Bangalore on which he struggled for long periods last month.In this incarnation Johnson is the attack’s front man who can’t lead. He has no wickets for the game while giving away 131 runs in 33 overs. The lack of faith in Johnson’s bowling, and himself in his action, even seems to be seeping slowly into Ricky Ponting’s mind.Ponting has been a huge supporter of Johnson but gave him only eight overs in the first 69 of the second innings when Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook were chipping off the deficit. Australia were desperate for wickets but Johnson, and also Shane Watson, were used mostly as fielders.As the new ball approached Johnson was given a decent spell without delivering anything particularly menacing. His best moments came with a couple of scary bouncers to Strauss in the morning, but by the afternoon he was being pulled without fear by Cook. The speed gun said he was operating around 140kph, but he was being treated like a medium-pacer.Johnson scored a century and captured a five-wicket haul for Western Australia last week, but has shown no semblance of serious form this week. He hasn’t been awful, like he was at Lord’s last year, just consistently below par. There is always the threat of a sudden turnaround for Johnson, but the stage that was most reflective of his mood arrived before tea.After Jonathan Trott cut him over gully, Johnson kicked the ground in frustration. In his next over it was Cook’s cut for three that sent Johnson’s hands to his hips before his right hand rested on his forehead like the first tingles of a migraine. When Trott drove through cover Johnson waved his arm away and turned around without a mutter.Every bowler loses their way, but at the moment Johnson doesn’t even know how to return to solid ground. And when Johnson is suffering with the ball, his other skills down tools in sympathy. He dropped a tough chance off Strauss on 69, which followed an 18-ball duck yesterday.The Australian cordon, in which Ponting stands, tried to lift him, clapping loudly when he delivered three balls outside off for Trott to leave. Johnson is a man who needs support and there were was little else to cheer. He knows Doug Bollinger wants a Test spot and that his place is vulnerable. Johnson has never been dropped from the five-day side and the days before Friday’s start in Adelaide will go slowly.These are different times for the Australians, who are used to flicking away challengers at the Gabba. It has been seven years since they drew a Test here and 22 since they lost one. They began the day with a massive advantage but will face some testing hours on the final day, most probably to save a match they have been in charge of.Australia have been unable to finish off games over the past two years, which is a sign of a moderate team. The bowlers’ performance in the first innings increased expectations for the second, but there were no similarities. Peter Siddle remained energetic but didn’t add to his six wickets on the opening day and hurt his arm attempting a difficult catch at fine leg.Ben Hilfenhaus’ shoulders had started to sag even before he bowled an offside wide with the new ball after tea, and Watson was loose at times in his eight overs. Xavier Doherty, the debutant spinner, was only dangerous when the left-handers attempted to sweep, and they were mostly happy to wait for him to drop short and be cut.Doherty was picked instead of Nathan Hauritz because of the right-handers in England’s middle order, but he is still waiting to see the No.4 Kevin Pietersen. In Hauritz’s absence, North was given more work and his offspin was responsible for the stumping of Strauss. And that was it. Great teams have bowlers who can wrench a handful of breakthroughs on extremely tough days, but “Johnson’s attack” is not at that level.

An India-crazy fan finds divine intervention of the canine and bilious kind in Chennai

Nandita Jayaraj22-Mar-2011Choice of game
India are playing, and that’s pretty much the only criterion for me to want to go watch a match live. Also, it was in my city, and on a Sunday. So I guess you could say it was pretty much meant to be. I’m the sort of person who’s exasperatingly cautious, but as much as I didn’t want to jinx our performance by assuming we would win, I couldn’t help it. However, I do have immense belief in the fact that our team is known to make things difficult for themselves, and so I also had the tingling feeling that West Indies weren’t going to hand us victory on a platter.Team supported
I wish I could say I’m a fan of the game, but when India are playing, I want India to win, every single time. And the fact that we’re so unpredictable makes me love our team even more. The imperfections are what make Indian cricket so gloriously entertaining. I was quite resigned to the fact that if we lost, it would weaken my will to live… at least for a week.World Cup prediction
Tough one. I want it to be India, real bad. But I think in a normal, miracle-less world we’ll be semi-finalists. In a world with the right balance of realism and miracles, we would be in the final. In a sucky, unlucky world, Australia will dismiss us in the quarter-finals. If we actually win the Cup, it would be a fantastic miracle, yet not an undeserved one.As you can see, for now I am unable to think beyond India’s chances. As long as Australia don’t win again I’ll be okay. And by okay I mean I won’t jump off the Chetpet Bridge into the foul Cooum River.Key performer
Yuvraj Singh played a patient, practical and painful innings. His fatigue-caused antics were weirdly endearing to me. Also, all the bowlers were amazing.One thing I’d have changed
MS Dhoni’s innings. I’m an intense Dhoni fan but I think he should have played a little differently. Of course, it’s very easy for us to sit in the gallery and judge. I guess I’m just a little miffed we didn’t get to see as many fancy shots as we would’ve liked.Accessories
My granddad’s Nikon binoculars were a godsend. I saw a lot of things I wouldn’t have otherwise, like Stumpy getting stuck at a gate. And other not-as-pleasant sights, like Ramnaresh Sarwan pulling his pants down to adjust something, and Yuvraj throwing up.I just hope the man inside the Stumpy costume got paid enough.Face-off I relished
Puppy versus Rest of the World. That puppy changed the game for us when it sprinted onto the field. Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli tried chasing it out but it ran in again and finally settled near the refreshments box. Seven wickets fell in 31 runs soon after.Wow moment
Zaheer Khan’s wicket of Devon Smith. My friend had just left, thinking we’d lose, and I was pretty bummed. That wicket and the dog brought the madness back to the crowd.Close encounter
R Ashwin, pumped at playing his first World Cup match, and after taking first wicket, acknowledged his home crowd behind him. I want to know what the very noticeable, perfectly circular, pink patch, on the back of his pants, was.Shot of the day
Yuvraj’s six off Darren Sammy. Just when we all thought the mid-field vomiting had done him in…Crowd meter
The stadium was jam-packed. The air was electric, loud and full of stories, just the way I like it. The crowd was very sporting, and even played along with a seemingly dead emcee who asked us to yell “Yahoo!” Mexican waves spread like wildfire. There’s nothing quite like watching the real thing, even with uncomfortable seats and in the heat of the Chennai sun.The sound of 30,000 voices silenced by Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket never fails to astound me. One man unites so many diverse people. Hype or not, it’s truly something very special.My friend and I walked into the stadium hoping Kieron Pollard or Yusuf Pathan wouldn’t kill us with their sixes, but fortunately or not, we didn’t have much of those to worry about.Entertainment
The entertainment was superb. Of course the energy was already so high you didn’t need a DJ to rouse the crowds, but ours did a great job. From the classic Tamil music, to Hindi songs, and Rihanna’s hip-hop, there was something to please them all. The crowd went crazy when “Who Let the Dogs Out?” was played right when people were starting to talk about the divine canine intervention. Then there was the customary “Singh is King” for Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj, but like I said, it doesn’t take much to please an Indian crowd watching Indian cricket.ODIs v Twenty20
Twenty20s are easier to watch but ODIs have more soul.Marks out of 10
6 for quality of cricket, 0 for food (tell me, how do curd rice and count as cricket-match food?) , and 10 for everything else. I guess that has a weighted mean of about 9.

ESPNcricinfo presents plays of the day for the Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians CLT20 game

Nitin Sundar at the MA Chidambaram Stadium24-Sep-2011The send-off and the welcome
Given the length of Mumbai’s injury roster, Lasith Malinga was always going to be their talisman in this tournament. In a three-ball burst in his second over, he showed why. First came a scud missile masquerading as a reverse-swinging yorker, and M Vijay successfully got his bat and toes out of harm’s way to lose middle and leg stump. Enter Suresh Raina, itching to have a go on featherbeds after being tormented endlessly on bouncy tracks in England. However, the bouncer threat has been tattooed so firmly into his mind that he always hangs back for that extra split second. Malinga welcomed him with another yorker, and Raina dug it out with a late, flailing jab that broke his bat in two. A replacement bat came out, Raina took guard again, and this time it was the bouncer. The bounce wasn’t England-esque though, and it thudded sickeningly into Raina’s arm. Broken stumps, a broken bat and nearly a broken elbow – Malinga at his menacing best. Chennai wouldn’t have known that he had more carnage saved for later in the day.The Dhoni specials
MS Dhoni’s free-style batting technique produces some of the most original shots ever. He invented two of them towards the end of Chennai’s innings. In the 19th over, Abu Nechim pushed a length ball a couple of feet wide of off stump to negate Dhoni’s straight-hitting. No luck. Dhoni lunged as far as he could and scooped the ball over extra-cover with a bottom-handed carve so fierce that he over-balanced even as he played the shot and nearly fell over. He had more in store for the next over. Malinga sent down a searing yorker that was heading towards Dhoni’s toes, but the captain smartly moved the front foot away, opened up the leg side and swung a circular arc of fury that sent the ball hurtling through square leg.The Tendulkar moment
The crowd was distinctly Chennai-biased, but Sachin Tendulkar’s appearance on the big screen met with the loudest cheer (apart from when the DJ played a song from a Rajnikanth movie). But there was one moment that had Tendulkar himself applauding. In the fourth over of the chase, Doug Bollinger delivered a short ball that was angled into Aiden Blizzard’s body even as he charged out of the crease. Blizzard was in no position to play a shot, but went through with a full-blooded pull. He was so late on the shot that he made contact – good contact at that – at the start of his bat swing, and the ball took off to land over the point boundary for the innings’ first six. Chepauk went silent, and the ‘greatest batsmen in the game’ clapped in glee for one of the most bizarre mishits of the day. Cricket breaks new ground every day.The sea of yellow
Over the years, the Chennai franchise’s on-field success has been bolstered by a loyal local fan base, but today there were three stands that remained completely vacant while the rest of the MA Chidambaram Stadium filled up impressively. Was it a case of pricing gone wrong? Or was it an indication that people were not interested in the tournament? Neither. Apparently, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association had decided not to use stands G, H and I for the tournament, and had made alternate plans for fans who had already purchased tickets for them. That the empty stands – all of which were renovated in the lead-up to the World Cup – consisted of yellow seats did not help them merge with the rest of the ground. Surprisingly, despite the absence of Sachin Tendulkar on the field, a good number of Mumbai fans had turned up with their own merchandise to create spirited blue breaks in the sea of yellow.The marked man
Raina’s body was in the firing line more than once today. After the Malinga bumper that softened him, he struggled through to 18 off 17 balls. He later came on to edge out two wickets with canny offbreaks, but the ball kept following him in the field. In the sixth over of the chase, an Aiden Blizzard shot was fielded at midwicket and the fielder hurled the ball at the stumps at the non-striker’s end and missed. Raina at cover was backing up, but the ball bounced up awkwardly and thudded painfully into his chin. Raina must have been still smarting when he lunged to field a fierce Malinga drive that escaped his hands and hit him in the soft spot. Ouch to the power of three.

Australia and Sri Lanka, who fought out a closely contested best-of-three finals, were streets ahead of India on the batting and bowling fronts

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan09-Mar-2012At the end of a long and gruelling summer, Australia, faced with multiple injury problems, appeared jaded as the CB Series went on. However, as has usually been the case, they were able to pick themselves up for the crucial contest and managed to put it past a spirited Sri Lankan team in the finals. Despite losing to Sri Lanka in four out of six matches before the third final, Australia produced an impressive bowling performance to defend a modest target of 232. Sri Lanka, who had also reached the finals in 2005-06, were a far improved team this time around. They twice beat Australia comprehensively, and were unlucky to lose three games by narrow margins and tie another against India earlier in the tournament.Their batsmen were by far the best among the three teams. India, on the other hand, were highly inconsistent and their run of big losses against Australia left them with too much to do in the end to qualify for the final.Throughout the tournament, Sri Lanka proved to be the best batting team and their top order was the most consistent. Even on the occasions when the top order failed to perform, the middle-order batsmen were up for the challenge. In the first final, faced with a massive target of 322, Sri Lanka collapsed to 144 for 6 before staging a remarkable recovery to reach 306. On the other hand, India’s batting was very ordinary throughout the series except for their final game when they completed an extraordinary chase of 321 in just 36.4 overs. Their batting display against Australia, however, was well below par and they ended up conceding a bonus point on three occasions in four matches against them. The average difference (difference between batting and bowling averages) and run-rate difference (difference between run-rate and economy rate) are clear indicators of the gulf between the finalists and India. While Australia have an average difference of 4.05 an run-rate difference of 0.13, the corresponding figures for Sri Lanka are 3.56 and 0.06. India, however, are way behind Australia and Sri Lanka, with corresponding values of -10.93 and -0.24 respectively.

Overall stats of the three teams in the series

TeamMatchesWins/LossesBat avgBowl avgAvg diffRRERRR diffAustralia116/532.3028.254.055.275.140.13Sri Lanka115/535.5331.973.565.375.310.06India83/428.0138.94-10.935.265.50-0.24In the end, Australia ended with a 6-5 win-loss record in the tournament after the triumph in the third final. Sri Lanka though, were marginally behind, finishing with an even win-loss record (5-5) with one tied game. However, Sri Lanka were the better team in clashes against Australia, winning three of the four group matches and one more in the finals. They had an average difference of 6.06 and run-rate difference of 0.44 in the group stages against Australia. India, who finished with a 2-1 record against Sri Lanka, had an inferior batting average (36.75 to 39.92) but a positive run-rate difference of 0.37 by virtue of the superb chase in their final group game. The Australia-India contests were, however, extremely one-sided. Following their dominance of India in the Test series when they won 4-0, Australia extended their hold in the tri-series by winning three of the four matches while gaining a bonus point on each occasion. The extent of Australia’s domination is reflected in the high value of the average difference (16.74) and run-rate difference (0.97). In the best-of-three finals, Australia and Sri Lanka were closely matched across the three games with Australia finishing with the higher batting average and Sri Lanka ending with a slightly higher run-rate.

Head-to-head records for the teams in the series

OpponentsMatchesWins/LossesBat avg (T1)/Bat avg (T2)*Avg diffRR (T1) /RR (T2)RR diffAustralia-Sri Lanka (group games)41/324.94/31.00-6.064.74/5.18-0.44India-Sri Lanka42/136.75/39.92-3.175.76/5.390.37Australia-India43/137.96/21.2216.745.63/4.700.93Australia- Sri Lanka (finals)32/137.40/36.131.275.50/5.57-0.07The biggest reason for Sri Lanka’s success in the tri-series was the excellent form of their top-order batsmen. Tillakaratne Dilshan, the highest run-getter in the series with 513, was consistent throughout and scored centuries against India and Australia. Both Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka’s most experienced batsmen, were also in great touch and ended with more than 400 runs. With the exception of David Warner, who became the first batsman to score two centuries in the finals, Australia’s top-order batsmen were surprisingly inconsistent in home conditions. And in a tournament where India’s batting hardly had an impact, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir stood out. All three teams were evenly matched when it came to the performance of the middle-order (Nos.4-7) batsmen. David Hussey, in particular, was outstanding throughout and scored five half-centuries. Sri Lanka were slightly ahead of the fray in the lower-order batting stats with timely contributions from Nuwan Kulasekara and Lahiru Thirimanne.

Batting stats for the teams

Bat positionAustralia (avg, 100/50)India (avg, 100/50)Sri Lanka (avg, 100/50)1-332.21, 3/427.87, 0/442.30, 3/64-736.75, 1/1133.36, 1/333.40, 0/98-1113.26, 0/012.33, 0/017.31, 0/1A comparison of the teams’ performances across the Powerplay overs reveals some interesting numbers. In the mandatory Powerplay (overs 1-10), Sri Lanka and India were ahead of the hosts, losing fewer wickets and scoring at a higher rate. In the bowling Powerplay, however, Australia scored at a higher run-rate but averaged lesser than Sri Lanka. In the same period, India had a slightly higher scoring rate than Sri Lanka, but averaged less than 30. All three teams finished with fairly even run-rates in the batting Powerplay. The hosts, however, were far ahead on the average front finishing with an average of 80.00 while India and Sri Lanka ended with averages of 32.42 and 27.00 respectively.

Batting stats for teams across the innings

Phase of inningsAustralia (Runs/wickets, RR)India (Runs/wickets, RR)Sri Lanka (Runs/wickets, RR)Mandatory Powerplay (overs 1-10)505/16, 4.59410/14, 5.32558/13, 5.16Bowling Powerplay268/6, 5.36178/6, 4.68223/4, 4.46Batting Powerplay320/4, 6.66227/7, 6.64352/13, 6.49Given the success of the top-order batsmen, Sri Lanka’s dominance of the partnership stats is not surprising. They averaged nearly fifty for the top three partnerships and were involved in three century stands including the highest of the tournament (200 between Dilshan and Sangakkara against India). In contrast, both Australia and India struggled to stitch solid partnerships for the first two wickets but almost finished on par with Sri Lanka for the third wicket. Australia had the most consistent middle order and their partnership averages for wickets 4-6 were the best among the three teams. They also finished with 11 fifty-plus stands, the highest among the three teams (Sri Lanka and India had four each).

Partnership stats for the three teams

Partnership wicketAustralia (avg, 100/50 stands)India (avg, 100/50 stands)Sri Lanka (avg, 100/50 stands)136.45, 1/221.00, 0/249.72, 1/3222.27, 0/132.37, 0/149.27, 1/4348.54, 2/046.12, 1/249.44, 1/2445.72, 1/444.00, 1/143.00, 0/3536.90, 0/331.57, 0/226.75, 0/1632.44, 0/320.14, 0/015.00, 0/0719.50, 0/036.20, 0/132.85, 1/0In the first few matches of the tournament, there were very few high scores and the bowlers had a significant impact. However, in the latter stages of the tournament, the batsmen dominated the proceedings and there were four 300-plus scores in the last five matches. Even the experienced Lasith Malinga and Brett Lee proved expensive in most matches with Malinga conceding over nine runs per over on two occasions. Malinga ended the series with an economy rate of 6.21, his highest for a series of four or more matches. Clint Mckay, who was man of the match in the third final for his 5 for 28, was by far the best pace bowler in the tournament finishing with 15 wickets at an average of 19.40 and economy rate of 4.60. Overall, Australian pace bowlers finished with the most wickets and had the best stats among the fast bowlers from the three teams. The spinners were quite effective in curbing the run-rate but were hardly among the wickets. Not only did the pace bowlers disappoint for India, the spinners were also below par and finished with 17 wickets at an economy rate of 5.31 and a high average of 44.65.

Pace/spin stats in the tournament

Bowler typeAustralia (wickets, avg, ER)India (wickets, avg, ER)Sri Lanka (wickets, avg, ER)Pace69, 26.40, 5.1328, 35.58, 5.6561, 29.93, 5.62Spin14, 41.00, 4.6417, 44.65, 5.3112, 42.50, 4.44In the first ten-over period of the innings, India’s pace bowlers were the most economical (economy rate of 4.27) while the pace bowlers from the other two teams finished with corresponding numbers greater than five. In the middle overs (11-40), the Australian pace bowlers finished with the best average (29.17) and economy rate (5.01) while the Indian fast bowlers had the worst numbers (average of 45.18 and economy rate of 5.58). David Hussey and Xavier Doherty bowled consistent lines in the middle overs and ensured that Australia’s spin-bowling stats in the period were highly competitive. In the final ten-over phase (overs 41-50), the Australian and Sri Lankan fast bowlers finished with much better averages and economy rates than their Indian counterparts. In the end overs, the Indian spinners outperformed the Australian spinners, but finished with a higher average and economy rate than the Sri Lankan spinners.

Pace and spin across the innings

Bowler typeOversAustralia (avg, ER)India (avg, ER)Sri Lanka (avg, ER)Pace1-1031.38, 5.3838.00, 4.2735.73, 5.25Spin1-10-, 6.60-32.00, 4.00Pace11-4029.17, 5.0145.18, 5.5837.37, 5.49Spin11-4042.18, 4.3957.84, 5.2558.62, 4.30Pace41-5016.15, 6.2326.50, 8.2416.92, 6.66Spin41-5020.25, 6.2320.14, 5.6418.80, 5.52

England built themselves a chance to win the first Test in Galle but the ability of only one man to overcome the conditions proved decisive

Andrew McGlashan in Galle29-Mar-2012Mirages are best known for appearing in the desert but midway through another sizzling day, one appeared in the middle of the Galle stadium. It seemed that England had a chance to begin atoning for a dire start to their Test year by achieving a record fourth-innings run chase. Then, however, just like reaching the water and finding it is not there at all, that chance vanished in the blink of an eye.With Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior taking their controlled fifth-wicket stand to 81, England had almost pushed their requirement into double figures. Then a moment of huge misfortune as Prior swept firmly and short leg managed to cling on in his midriff. It is the sort of blow that can change a match and England conspired to lose their last six wickets for 31 in another dismal collapse. While Prior can rightly rue his misfortune there was, for the eighth innings in a row, some highly questionable batting against worthy, but far from lethal, spin bowling.But take nothing away from Sri Lanka, this was a hugely impressive victory for them and suggests they are coming to terms with life beyond Murali. Mahela Jayawardene stayed calm as the required runs were ticked off steadily, knowing that with England in their current state one wicket could open the floodgates. It came in an unorthodox manner, but he was proven to be exactly right.It is the first time since 2006-07 that England had suffered four consecutive Test defeats and unless they can conjure a turnaround in Colombo – where conditions are likely to be quite similar to Galle – they will match their run from the Ashes whitewash. That series was Duncan Fletcher’s last Test assignment and though there is no question of Andy Flower going the same way even with a 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka the start to 2012 has shown up some stark home truths for England. In Asia they remain a very poor batting team.You could even argue that the current run is worse than the nadir they hit against India in 1992-93 when they were whitewashed 3-0. During that era the England team did not have the millions spent on it for preparation and training they do these days. They also had little regular exposure to the subcontinent. Nowadays players are given every chance to prepare in foreign conditions and tours are far more regular. Despite that England’s batting in these conditions has come nowhere since they were last here in 2007.

“I thought we showed in the second innings that technically there is a lot of skill in our dressing room against spin bowling but we didn’t apply ourselves in the first inningsAndrew Strauss

When asked about whether England had a terminal problem, Mahela Jayawardene tried to be diplomatic. “They have lost four Tests in a row in these conditions against spinners so maybe, yes. It’s about adapting I guess,” he said. “It’s all about conditions. They dictate things, it’s not just the spin bowling it’s how you play in certain conditions.”It’s been tough. Even though we beat them last time here it wasn’t easy and today was nothing different. We had to work hard, so rather talking about England and how they can improve I’d rather talk about us getting better.”Trott showed what was possible by finally registering England’s first Test hundred of 2012. It was an innings as masterful as Mahela Jayawardene’s 180 in the first innings. In terms of elegance at the crease Trott and Jayawardene are not in the same bracket but that is of no significance apart from aesthetics. Instead of hoicking to midwicket like Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen or driving to cover like Samit Patel, Trott knuckled down and played to his strengths, learning from his mistake in the first innings when he was stumped and left lying on his back fearing a neck injury after a collision with wicketkeeper.”Jonathan Trott’s innings in particular was a huge exhibition of skill, technique and application and he certainly didn’t deserve to be on the losing side,” Andrew Strauss said. “Generally we left ourselves with too much to do in the fourth innings and that was a result of too many mistakes earlier in the game both in the field and with the bat.”I don’t think you need to be a rocket scientist to work out where things have gone wrong. We haven’t got scores on the board and you’re not going to win too many Test matches if that is the case. I thought we showed in the second innings that technically and gameplan-wise, there is a lot of skill in our dressing room against spin bowling but we didn’t apply ourselves in the right manner in the first innings.Jayawardene tried to stifle Trott with smart 6-3 leg-side fields that included two catching midwickets. Apart from a couple of early bat-pad shouts against Suraj Randiv, Trott was barely troubled by them until being smartly caught at leg slip by Tillakaratne Dilshan. The blow to firmly seal the demise. Up to then he had flicked, driven, cut and swept (and reverse swept) with more confidence than any England batsman in the last four Tests.As England pick through another defeat Trott at least gives them a template to work from, not in terms of style – each player will always bat in a different way – but in terms of shot selection and judgement. But whether the others will learn in time for the second Test in Colombo is an entirely different proposition.

David Hopps in Colombo19-Sep-2012Crowd of the dayIf there was a large crowd somewhere in Colombo, it wasn’t at Premadasa Stadium. It might have been possible to count 1,000, but that included groundstaff, media, dancers and firework operatives. It was an afternoon match involving two non-Asian sides, one of them a minnow, on only the second night of the tournament but the empty terraces were not a sight to rouse spirits.Ageing process of the dayTrent Johnston’s second over went for 19, his suffering completed by Shane Watson’s dismissive pull for six as he strayed down the leg side. Johnston is now 38, and says he still wants to help Ireland to qualify for the next 50-over World Cup, even if not necessarily play in it. He did pull off a run out, throwing out Shane Watson from short third-man, but he decided against a rendition of the chicken dance that he treated Adam Gilchrist to when he dismissed him in the 2007 World Cup.Brothers of the dayThere was no satisfaction for Australia’s Hussey brothers as Mike had to make do without his younger brother, David, who was omitted despite holding the Australian record for most runs in Twenty20. At least the O’Brien brothers clubbed together to ease Ireland’s pain, adding 52 in seven overs from the depths of 33 for 4 as they passed their lowest Twenty20 score in the process.Insults of the dayBefore a ball had even been bowled in Australia’s reply, Ireland’s wicketkeeper Gary Wilson said something to David Warner that riled him so much that he invited a confrontation. Watson walked down from the non-striker’s end to intervene. Umpire Aleem Dar told Ireland’s captain, William Porterfield, to get a grip.

Tillakaratne Dilshan’s adventurous fightback has given Sri Lanka hope of walking out of the Hobart Test with their heads held high

Andrew Fernando in Hobart16-Dec-2012When Tillakaratne Dilshan reached his century, he leapt into the morning and so buoyant did he seem that the Tasmanian air held him in its embrace for a few split seconds longer than it ought. He had given life to Sri Lanka’s Test, and his joy at the milestone was as unfettered as his morning’s cricket had been. His trademark bandanna, the flamboyant beard and a clinking mass of gold around his neck make Dilshan easy to cast as some sort of maritime swashbuckler. The earring he once wore would have made the picture even more complete.Sri Lanka’s morning was ruled by adventure, and Dilshan was its protagonist. By taking the attack to Australia, he had shown his team-mates that they could compete with the hosts – even batter them, and they will need that belief in spades if they are to emerge from the tour with the bounty they yearn for.For the first two hours of day three, Sri Lanka’s batsmen were unburdened by a ragged scoreline and uncowed by a fresh attack. Angelo Mathews hit his first four with the pull, and though Australia first put men out on the leg-side fence, then had them catching close, he sneered at the challenge, pulling disdainfully whenever the bowlers plied him with hopeful short balls.Dilshan had offered glimpses of belligerence late on day two, when he eased to fifty while wickets littered the other end. The whirring drives and dashing slashes were slow to emerge on day three, but when Dilshan greased his innings into motion with two quick boundaries off Mitchell Starc, there was no respite until he stood on a hundred’s doorstep. In that time, Ben Hilfenhaus went off the field with an injury, and Dilshan seized the chance to put the hosts under pressure for the first time in the match, when he advanced to Nathan Lyon’s first ball, and drilled him down the ground. Lyon was soon replaced, and Michael Clarke himself stepped in to the breach. With Mathews’ assistance, he was hammered away before long as well.”If the ball is there to be hit we thought we definitely will go for it,” Dilshan said. “I and Angelo discussed that if the field was up, we should go over it and put the pressure on Nathan because he was their only spinner. That was our main aim. Angelo batted really well and put the pressure onto the bowler. He hit over mid-off and mid-on and got some quick runs in the first session.”In the second session, Dilshan nicked Peter Siddle behind, but to his great luck, Australia were unwise to the edge and only Matthew Wade whimpered an appeal. No adventurer ever slew a dragon, got the girl, or tamed the seas without a fair helping of fortune. Walking may suit his more straight-laced team-mates, but the opportunist in Dilshan could never allow for honour as square as that. He was deep into making lemonade from lemons for Sri Lanka, and he could use every grain of sugar the game supplied him.Their impetuosity had its pitfalls. Twice Mathews would have been run out when Dilshan called him through for singles, only David Warner could not hit the stumps from point. Near-nicks grew more common than watchful leaves in the second session, and Siddle may have felt aggrieved at tea that only one batsman had snuffed it to his patience, control and fire. But perhaps that is the price of a swashbuckler’s mindset. There is no gain without danger with foes as dauntless as these, and as Dilshan noted, it was his more violent outlook that ensured he survived a difficult evening on the previous day.”Compared to others in the top order I am a little bit different. With my batting style, I always want to score runs and I am positive. Throughout my career I have batted that way. That may be the reason I survived yesterday. Different players have different game plans and yesterday it suited my game.”When Australia countered Sri Lanka’s early riposte after lunch, the pair may have hemmed in their bravado, but every hero knows there are times when he must lay low. Mathews lacked the concentration to convert a wonderful fifty into a second Test hundred – a weakness that has been a theme of his career so far. But Dilshan saw the storm through to the other side, and was beginning to accelerate again when he was undone by a good Starc yorker.Sri Lanka are still poorly placed in the match, but at least on day three, Dilshan proved they are not altogether beneath Australia’s class. The visitors won the first session handsomely, were about even in the second – having lost only Mathews for the 62 runs they ground out, and could have approached parity in the evening, had they reviewed an lbw shout off Ed Cowan, which was plumb but for the possibility of an inside-edge, which Hot Spot did not produce in evidence.Adventure may not always be Sri Lanka’s route to success in Australia, but it proved a welcome respite from their reticence in the first two days, and gave them hope, however unlikely, that they might escape Hobart with credit.

The reception to the Ranji Trophy in Hubli should strengthen the case for moving domestic first-class cricket to the country’s smaller centres

Siddarth Ravindran in Hubli22-Dec-2012Most Ranji Trophy matches are low-key events that whizz by in a blur of public indifference. This week, with much of the Karnataka State Cricket Association’s energies devoted to preparing for the one of the marquee matches of the year – the resumption of India-Pakistan cricketing ties – on Christmas day in Bangalore, Karnataka’s concurrent Ranji game could have been overlooked even more.Instead, the match in Hubli got the sort of high-profile beginning that few Ranji games do, with the state’s chief minister inaugurating the pavilion at the new stadium and hoping the city would one day host international cricket. There was also a lunch-time ceremony during which former Ranji players from the region, including Anand Katti, Somashekar Shiraguppi and Avinash Vaidya, were honoured. The biggest difference from the usual run-of-the-mill first-class game, though, was made by the boisterous crowds as top-flight cricket returned to Hubli after a two-decade absence.There was plenty of chatter among the 2000 or so in the stands, ranging from good-natured unsolicited advice to the players ( [dive, dive] to fielders nearing the rope when chasing the ball), to juvenile shouts (a player’s scream of ‘Catch,’ merrily echoed half a dozen times) and taunts directed at the Haryana batsmen (one wit called out ‘batting, batting’ as Abhimanyu Khod walked past after bagging a duck). There were also more serious discussions on team selections (why is Stuart Binny captain?) and explanations of some of the novelties of seeing a game at the ground (where the television cameras are mounted). The day began and ended with players surrounded by swarms of kids wanting their autograph (some even asked “Who are you?” before thrusting their pen and book at the cricketer).For most fans it was their first time in the stadium, and they lapped up the experience. “We used to play here as kids before the stadium was built,” said Pralhad Kulkarni, an insurance salesman, who grew up in the neighbourhood. “I just wanted to see how the area has changed with the stadium. It was good to watch a match live, totally different from watching on TV. It’s great to see it with so many people around who are also watching and discussing it.”Pavan Kulkarni, a final-year college student, was equally enthusiastic, especially with Karnataka dominating the first two sessions, taking seven wickets. “Watching a match live in Hubli itself is a dream come true, you could say. I haven’t seen cricketers like Robin Uthappa and Amit Mishra play before,” he says before adding he would definitely return to watch on Sunday as well. “I’m looking forward to watching Karnataka bat, I had left the stadium midway through but came back on seeing the tea-time score, hoping to see Uthappa bat, but Mishra just didn’t get out (and Haryana finished the day on a respectable 293 for 7).”It wasn’t only locals who flocked to the stadium, though. A middle-aged English couple who are holidaying in Goa since October decided to spend the weekend in Hubli after hearing about the match. “We’ve watched plenty of cricket in India before, it’s great to see that they are spreading out the game,” said the lady (she didn’t want her name printed as “it looks bad in the papers, people talking about things they don’t know”). “We were looking for something to do over the weekend before Christmas. We’re enjoying ourselves so far.”Not everyone was having as good a time. A couple left an hour after arriving at the game. “It is so slow, Twenty20 is much quicker,” the husband said. “Also, it is difficult to follow the game as we don’t know many of the players and there should be more announcements to inform us. Without that, it reduces our involvement in the game.”Another man in his mid-30s, Shivakumar, a long-time fan who underlined his credentials by saying he has followed every World Cup since 1987, was slightly puzzled by the stadium experience. “Why is there no live commentary? Is there no live commentary at other matches also?”The ground was rarely more than half-full but the noisy buzz surrounding the game again highlighted the long-acknowledged need to move Ranji matches to smaller centres. A better case is likely to be built on Sunday when a larger turnout is expected.