So the I got the egg today on my plate rather than on my face. Australia vs Sri Lanka is a dream final. The two teams have epitomized modern cricket - aggresive batting throughout, excellent fielding and a bowling attack that is multi dimensional. These two teams have been the best on view by a mile. New Zealand flattered to decieve and South Africans failed to walk their talk. Amid all the hype, both the Aussies and Lankans have gone about their work in their characteristic brands of confident cricket.
Australia were (and still are) the red hot (if not white hot) favorites before the tournament began. Many were saying that this World Cup would be a much closer affair compared to the cake walk the Aussies had the last time around. But the Aussies have just crushed each opposition. Every time they batted first, they scored 300+, have not lost more than 6 wickets in an innings batting first or second and except for Bangladesh (when the match was reduced to 20 overs), they have bowled out the opposition each time. The furthest that they have been stretched was the England game in which they eventually cantered to in the end.
If the Aussies are the Alexander's army pummelling the opposition into submission, then the Lankans are the cunning troops of Genghis Khan beating the opposition with cunning rather than firepower. But make no mistake both of them have been equally brutal - from ending a blue billion Indian hopes to dismembering the Proteas both of them have been clinical.
So how do they attacks match up?
In batting the Aussies have a definite edge. They bat long and hard. After you have weathered the assault from the quicksilver Gilchrist and Hayden who is having the time of his ODI life, in comes Ponting the most destructive batsman of our times and the best since Sir Viv. Following them are Clarke who has quietly collected his runs and Hussey who though starved for some runs at the moment knows how to turn it on. The pack is rounded up nicely with the two big hitting all rounders in Symonds and Watson.
Sri Lankan batting on the other hand are distinctly top heavy. The wily old fox Jayasuriya wants to end his career on a high and he has had a wonderful last year or so. Tharanga on the other hand has had a miserable tournament up until the semis when he burst into life with a splendid knock which gave all a glimpse of what he is capable of. One player Sri Lankans would be mightily disappointed with is Sangakara. He has got out to some pretty ordinary shots when looking set for a big knock. Jayawardane on the other hand after an indifferent group stage seems to be coming good at the right time. He gave a masterclass in ODI batting in crisis in the semis and the Lankans would be looking for an encore a in the finals. Beyond them though it is a the great unknown. Silva impressed against Australia in their Super 8 clash while Dilshan and Arnold have been efficient rather than exceptional. Nobody knows how they would fare on the D-Day.
On the bowling front, Sri Lanka seems to be better placed with the old warhorse Vaas opening up with the irrepressible Malinga who has to be the most exciting bowler on view. Fleming the other day told about how he has come of age and boy is he having a good time. Fernando can be erratic but somehow had the nerves to bowl the final over in that nailbiter against England and bowl Tendulkar for a duck during the group stages. But he has had to do little else. Then comes their trump card Murali who like wine seems to get better and better with age. They are aided by the highly under rated Jayasuriya and Dilshan with Arnold throwing in some dobblers in between as well.
Australia had a miserable run up to the World Cup failing to defend two massive totals in the Chappell-Hadlee series. Admitedly, bowling is their weaker suit but they have improved vastly on this front to the point that a lot of teams are underestimitating their bowling. Tait has been the find of the tournament for Australia giving them a vital wicket taking weapon a la Malinga. McGrath like Murali is having a wonderful time and Bracken has taken over from McGrath in the economy stakes. He seems to be the Bracken of old swinging the ball - both old and new. But the most underrated bowler (the player?) of the tournament so far has to be Hogg. Hogg is vital to Ponting's Plan B of delaying the Power Plays when the opening burst does not fetch enough wickets. Hogg has been the cushion he can fall back to bring them back into the game. The fifth bowler made up of a combination of Symonds, Clarke and Watson is effective but not the same class as Jayasuriya and co.
This would be the battle of the two most balanced attacks on view. Only Sri Lanka and Australia don't rely only on batting or bowling for a win. And only they have demonstrated the ability to come back into a match after an opening onslaught on their bowlers or after a couple of quick wickets.
The Aussies though would have one score to settle. After winning the 1996 final, the Lankans said that they wanted to beat Australia in the finals after they had forfeited a league match, well the Super 8 match between them was virtually gifted by Sri Lanka after they rested Vaas and Murali and the Aussies would like to set the record straight this time around.
As for the final, I believe that Sri Lankan batting is suceptible and like Pollock, Vaas too might struggle containing Hayden and Gilchrist with his gentle medium pacers. In fact it would be very difficult for Jayawardane to decide what to do if he wins the toss. If he bats first, he risks letting his not so strong batting line up crumble against the early morning juice at Barbados. While batting second many not be a joy if you have to chase down 350 like India had to four years ago. Australia should win comfortably.
Showing posts with label World Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Cup. Show all posts
Thursday, 26 April 2007
Thursday, 19 April 2007
World Cup Semis
So South Africa has scraped through to the semis. Once the Super 8s were decided, you could predict who the semifinalists would be. But the South Africans made it tough for themselves by losing to Bangladesh. England on the other hand should retire their whole team from the ODI format and concentrate on Tests only.
So the predictions for the semi finals - one look at the past records would tell that the final is going to be an Australia - Sri Lanka affair. Aussies have never lost a semi final in a World Cup and both New Zealand and South Africa have never won a knockout match in the past World Cups.
So the predictions for the semi finals - one look at the past records would tell that the final is going to be an Australia - Sri Lanka affair. Aussies have never lost a semi final in a World Cup and both New Zealand and South Africa have never won a knockout match in the past World Cups.
Sunday, 15 April 2007
World Cup
This week witnessed some pretty interesting match ups. Australia-England, Sri Lanka-New Zealand and New Zealand-South Africa.
Australia-England
Pietersen has to be the most fearless batsman in the world today. You have to give credit to his courage. Not many people would play the same shot against the same bowler who cracked your ribs. But Pietersen is different. He shimmied down the track and casually flicked McGrath to mid-wicket. The temerity of the the shot was mind boggling and the execution near perfect. But the most vital moment of the game came during the English innings. Ponting delayed the third Power Play yet again and was well rewarded. I thought that the gamble would fail poorly but his bowlers did not let him down. Shaun Tait brought them back into the match and the wily old fox McGrath bowled like a dream during the death. It was as lesson of how to bowl to a field that has been set. With both fine leg and third man up, he had no choice but to bowl full and straight. Six balls all full. Here is the cricinfo excerpt of the 48th over of the innings.
The English commentators - Ian Botham and Mike Atherton are the most arrogant and partisan commentators one can encounter. They believe that this English team is the best in the world. Against Sri Lanka, Botham said that 235 cannot be defended. Against Australia, they elevated Bell, Bopara and Nixon to ODI masters. Very much like how the Indian commentators talk about their team. I have no problems with patriotism, but commentary box is not the place to show it. One needs an unbiased view of the proceedings and unfortunately these blokes cannot do that.
Another very interesting thing that came to my mind during the match was the way Pietersen played to get the last 15 odd runs to his century. He just tuk-tuked his way to a 100 when the need of the hour was to get on with it. It cost England about 20 runs which could have made it slightly tougher for the Aussies. The worst part was that even the commentators justified his approach. When Mike Atherton was asked should he open out or should he look for his century. Mike said, he should look for his century (sic).
New Zealand - Sri Lanka
Every one has a bad day. I suppose this was New Zealand's bad day. They were truly mauled by the Lankans. The scoreboard read 6/2 in 7 overs. Vaas just did not allow the Kiwis to settle down. I did think that Jayawardane missed a trick by removing Fernando and putting Maharoof in. That just let the pressure off the Kiwis. Scott Styris did try to make a match of it but unfortunately Jayasuriya and Sangakara were too smart while chasing. Fleming did however limit the damage to their net run rate though, waiting till the 46th over before taking the third Power Play.
The most irritating part about this World Cup is not that you can see only one innings if you want to go to the office the next day, but to check on the score the next morning when you turn the telly on, you encounter monkeys on NDTV and chimps on CNN-IBN. Kris Srikanth seems to have lost it. He goes hysterical like the rest of the CNN-IBN crew and just blabbers on. Then there is the irritating sports editor of theirs who cannot speak without putting some numbers on the screen. On NDTV, its not very different, Navjot Sidhu and Ajay Jadeja just muck up the whole thing. They introduce Jadeja as a former India captain - ya right 20 odd matches in 7 years mainly because of Azhar or Sachin being injured is captaincy. The most irritating part was when he said the way Scott Styris played to get his 100 was stupid and was selfish. His claim was that once you are 20 odd for 4 then just sitting there and waiting for a some time for the pitch to ease off was going to do no good. They should have gone out and played their shots because they were just fighting a losing cause anyways. Perhaps he has not watched any of the great Aussie escapes especially this one.
New Zealand - South Africa
I don't like the looks of this particular South African team. They are not mentally strong, cannot think on their feet and do not have variety in their bowling attack. They would again get knocked out in the semis and this time it would neither be a tie nor the rain so that they don't drown the town with their tears begging for sympathy. To say that their leader is stupid would be an understatement. Graeme Smith is a good batsman but worse that Bishen Bedi, Navjot Sidhu and Harbhajan Singh combined. Just like the rest of them, he suffers from an acute case of verbal diarrhoea and always ends up with egg on his face. He has rubbed most of his team mates the wrong way. After their public admonition, Pollock has lost all his confidence and Kallis bats as if he wants the double his career strike rate. As for the actual match, NZ did to South Africa what Sri Lanka did to them. In this match too, after 7 overs in the first innings, the score was 6/2.
Well the final week of the Super 6s are here. Yesterday's result means that Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka are through with one spot to play for and the final juggling to avoid Aussies as the semifinal opponent. New Zealand would avoid them and Sri Lanka are safe as they have a game against the Irish to manipulate their spot. For the last place I guess it would come down to the England vs South Africa match. Its going to be on net run rate this time too and with the South African luck, they may miss the boat just yet.
Australia-England
Pietersen has to be the most fearless batsman in the world today. You have to give credit to his courage. Not many people would play the same shot against the same bowler who cracked your ribs. But Pietersen is different. He shimmied down the track and casually flicked McGrath to mid-wicket. The temerity of the the shot was mind boggling and the execution near perfect. But the most vital moment of the game came during the English innings. Ponting delayed the third Power Play yet again and was well rewarded. I thought that the gamble would fail poorly but his bowlers did not let him down. Shaun Tait brought them back into the match and the wily old fox McGrath bowled like a dream during the death. It was as lesson of how to bowl to a field that has been set. With both fine leg and third man up, he had no choice but to bowl full and straight. Six balls all full. Here is the cricinfo excerpt of the 48th over of the innings.
And to think that he is playing his last tournament. Phew. Aussies chased well and once Ponting had his eye in, with their long and powerful batting line up, they would never be troubled.
47.1 McGrath to Pietersen, 1 run, and there's his hundred. Another full toss bunged down the ground. Pietersen skips through for a single, and jumps in delight - pumping his fist and roaring his pleasure. That's his slowest one-day hundred. Time to kick on now Around the wicket to Nixon; Gilchrist up to the stumps 47.2 McGrath to Nixon, no run, and he plays and misses 47.3 McGrath to Nixon, 1 run, ah, good play from Nixon, shuffling around his crease like a man with ants in his jockstrap, putting McGrath off his line before working it to leg 47.4 McGrath to Pietersen, no run, ooh here we go! Pietersen takes a step outside leg, tries to crack McGrath over his head but can only hammer it back to him McGrath is nearly thrown backwards with the force of the shot 47.5 McGrath to Pietersen, 1 run, brilliant bowling. Full and straight, Pietersen steps a mile outside his leg stump trying to whack him down the ground but can't time it Gnasher informs us England have added just 70 since the 30th over Around the wicket to Nixon 47.6 McGrath to Nixon, no run, and again Nixon plays and misses
The English commentators - Ian Botham and Mike Atherton are the most arrogant and partisan commentators one can encounter. They believe that this English team is the best in the world. Against Sri Lanka, Botham said that 235 cannot be defended. Against Australia, they elevated Bell, Bopara and Nixon to ODI masters. Very much like how the Indian commentators talk about their team. I have no problems with patriotism, but commentary box is not the place to show it. One needs an unbiased view of the proceedings and unfortunately these blokes cannot do that.
Another very interesting thing that came to my mind during the match was the way Pietersen played to get the last 15 odd runs to his century. He just tuk-tuked his way to a 100 when the need of the hour was to get on with it. It cost England about 20 runs which could have made it slightly tougher for the Aussies. The worst part was that even the commentators justified his approach. When Mike Atherton was asked should he open out or should he look for his century. Mike said, he should look for his century (sic).
New Zealand - Sri Lanka
Every one has a bad day. I suppose this was New Zealand's bad day. They were truly mauled by the Lankans. The scoreboard read 6/2 in 7 overs. Vaas just did not allow the Kiwis to settle down. I did think that Jayawardane missed a trick by removing Fernando and putting Maharoof in. That just let the pressure off the Kiwis. Scott Styris did try to make a match of it but unfortunately Jayasuriya and Sangakara were too smart while chasing. Fleming did however limit the damage to their net run rate though, waiting till the 46th over before taking the third Power Play.
The most irritating part about this World Cup is not that you can see only one innings if you want to go to the office the next day, but to check on the score the next morning when you turn the telly on, you encounter monkeys on NDTV and chimps on CNN-IBN. Kris Srikanth seems to have lost it. He goes hysterical like the rest of the CNN-IBN crew and just blabbers on. Then there is the irritating sports editor of theirs who cannot speak without putting some numbers on the screen. On NDTV, its not very different, Navjot Sidhu and Ajay Jadeja just muck up the whole thing. They introduce Jadeja as a former India captain - ya right 20 odd matches in 7 years mainly because of Azhar or Sachin being injured is captaincy. The most irritating part was when he said the way Scott Styris played to get his 100 was stupid and was selfish. His claim was that once you are 20 odd for 4 then just sitting there and waiting for a some time for the pitch to ease off was going to do no good. They should have gone out and played their shots because they were just fighting a losing cause anyways. Perhaps he has not watched any of the great Aussie escapes especially this one.
New Zealand - South Africa
I don't like the looks of this particular South African team. They are not mentally strong, cannot think on their feet and do not have variety in their bowling attack. They would again get knocked out in the semis and this time it would neither be a tie nor the rain so that they don't drown the town with their tears begging for sympathy. To say that their leader is stupid would be an understatement. Graeme Smith is a good batsman but worse that Bishen Bedi, Navjot Sidhu and Harbhajan Singh combined. Just like the rest of them, he suffers from an acute case of verbal diarrhoea and always ends up with egg on his face. He has rubbed most of his team mates the wrong way. After their public admonition, Pollock has lost all his confidence and Kallis bats as if he wants the double his career strike rate. As for the actual match, NZ did to South Africa what Sri Lanka did to them. In this match too, after 7 overs in the first innings, the score was 6/2.
Well the final week of the Super 6s are here. Yesterday's result means that Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka are through with one spot to play for and the final juggling to avoid Aussies as the semifinal opponent. New Zealand would avoid them and Sri Lanka are safe as they have a game against the Irish to manipulate their spot. For the last place I guess it would come down to the England vs South Africa match. Its going to be on net run rate this time too and with the South African luck, they may miss the boat just yet.
Friday, 6 April 2007
Late, Very Late post on the World Cup
Long time no post. Blogger has been blocked in office, the UPS went for a toss, relatives came over and there was no gas in the tank left after watching the World Cup matches in the night. But I have got some time today.. so here is a late, very late analysis of the World Cup so far.
Whatever happens from now on - this World Cup would be known for all the wrong reasons. The death of Bob Woolmer has brought to light the dark side of the game yet again. It had ceased to be a gentleman's game for a long time now but this was really sad. The circumstances of the death are still not know and I would not speculate on them. I would just like to talk about some images of Woolmer that pop into my mind. My first memories of Bob Woolmer was in the 1996 World Cup in the SA - Pakistan game in the league stages. Inzy was considered among the best batsman in the world and was easily their best player of pace bowling. For Inzy, there were a short midwicket as a catching position even though the fielding restrictions were over. This prevented him from playing his trademark hoick over midwicket with which he had massacred the Kiwis four years ago. Forced Inzy looked for some other areas and eventually was run out cheaply. The next image that stays in the mind for long was the infamous earpiece incident during the 99 World Cup against India which he used to communicate with Donald and Cronje. This person was way ahead of his times. I don't know why they made him apologize for this? The third and probably the most impressive image was during the match fixing saga during the Oval Test of 2006. Bob was also a columnist for Cricinfo.com. He discussed the history of the cricket balls and the reasons behind reverse swing. That one article showed why he was such a great coach - he had immense knowledge about the game and its history and he could communicate it in very simple terms(I tried to find that post but have not been able to find on the cricinfo site). May you rest in peace Bob.
The second and the most obvious topic has to be on India's and Pakistan's early exit. I would write more in a separate post. But I was really pleased that the Indian team went out. Sri Lanka played well and really deserved to win that match after India has so famously botched up against Bangladesh. There was no way India could have competed in the tournament even it managed to get through to the next stage if Bermuda had shocked Bangladesh. Tendulakar failed again which is not very surprising and Murali was just fantastic.They talk about the oldies in India being liabilities. But just have a look at Sri Lanka - Jayasuriya and Murali are running around the park like kids. Their desire to win just shows through in their approach to the game. Just like India, Pakistan too did not deserve to be in the Super 8s. The Irish are playing really well. I believe they might be able to upset somebody in the next round.
The scariest match in the World Cup so far was the Aus-SA match in the group phase. There have been quite a few upsets and some thrillers that Sri Lanka have played. But what made me choose this match was the sheer intensity of the contest till about 75 overs. India Sri Lanka played the previous day. To see this match the next day akin to witnessing a Sampras-Ivanisevic bloodbath on grass the day after you have watched a Muster - Kuerten fistfight on clay. Both Australia and South Africa have 11 extremely fit gladiators. They don't give an inch, don't pull their punches and the cricket was really awesome. They seem to be from a different planet altogether. There were two captaincy masterstrokes in that match - first was the way South Africans bowled during the death - they bowled full and wide in stead of full and straight - the ground was very small straight - but was defendable on the side boundaries. So they bowled all the balls wide so that if they were hit, they were hit to the defendable parts and ended up giving 4s rather than 6s. Not many people credit Smith with brains (yours truly included), but this was a well thought out move. The second was the delaying of the third Power Play by Ricky Ponting - another captain whose skills are under-rated (perhaps rightly so). AB and Graeme Smith were going berserk. In such a huge run chase, the team chasing has to hit all the time. There is no room for a breather, no time to consolidate in the middle. With a huge cushion of runs in hand, Ponting decided to delay the third Power Play in the hope of getting a wicket. It was a huge risk because if it did not pay off, it would just consolidate South Africa's position even further. But the Aussies manufactured a wicket from nowhere and that finished off the game then and there.
The best match so far has been the Sri Lanka - England match. I switched off when Pietersen was dismissed believing that Sri Lanka would go on to win comfortably. But the next day as I switched on the TV to look at the results, I was shocked. I regret not seeing the match now. One thing must be said about Sri Lanka is that they really play as a team. In their case, the sum is much greater than their individual parts. Their bowling is disciplined and the fielding is superb. They gave only 3 extras the whole match - yes your read it correctly. And they did not give any till the 20th over (perhaps even later but I got sleepy after that).
Yesterday's match - South Africa vs Bangladesh showed why Smith is not rated very highly as a captain and why South Africa would not win this World Cup - it would surprise me if they reach the semis now. In the final overs, he did not ask the bowlers to bowl a single bouncer when the batsmen were charging all over the place. Nor did the bowlers think of it themselves. He gave the ball the Ntini and Nel when he could have given Kallis a bowl - Kallis (in the absence of Hall) is easily their best bowler at the death. He possesses a lethal in swinging yorker and is easily their most brainy cricketer in their team. And finally Smith was just playing catch up with Mohd. Ashraful during the slog overs. In the beginning of each over, Smith would bring the fine leg in. On the second or the third ball, Ashraful would scoop the ball over the fine leg's head for a four. Smith would change the field and send the fine leg back. The next over the fine leg would be back in the ring. This sequence went on incredibly for four overs !!!
And finally the predictions and wishes - I would like Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies in the semis (though I guess South Africa might still sneak in). The final wish is an Australia - New Zealand or an Australia Sri Lanka affair and of course Australia to win the cup undefeated.
Whatever happens from now on - this World Cup would be known for all the wrong reasons. The death of Bob Woolmer has brought to light the dark side of the game yet again. It had ceased to be a gentleman's game for a long time now but this was really sad. The circumstances of the death are still not know and I would not speculate on them. I would just like to talk about some images of Woolmer that pop into my mind. My first memories of Bob Woolmer was in the 1996 World Cup in the SA - Pakistan game in the league stages. Inzy was considered among the best batsman in the world and was easily their best player of pace bowling. For Inzy, there were a short midwicket as a catching position even though the fielding restrictions were over. This prevented him from playing his trademark hoick over midwicket with which he had massacred the Kiwis four years ago. Forced Inzy looked for some other areas and eventually was run out cheaply. The next image that stays in the mind for long was the infamous earpiece incident during the 99 World Cup against India which he used to communicate with Donald and Cronje. This person was way ahead of his times. I don't know why they made him apologize for this? The third and probably the most impressive image was during the match fixing saga during the Oval Test of 2006. Bob was also a columnist for Cricinfo.com. He discussed the history of the cricket balls and the reasons behind reverse swing. That one article showed why he was such a great coach - he had immense knowledge about the game and its history and he could communicate it in very simple terms(I tried to find that post but have not been able to find on the cricinfo site). May you rest in peace Bob.
The second and the most obvious topic has to be on India's and Pakistan's early exit. I would write more in a separate post. But I was really pleased that the Indian team went out. Sri Lanka played well and really deserved to win that match after India has so famously botched up against Bangladesh. There was no way India could have competed in the tournament even it managed to get through to the next stage if Bermuda had shocked Bangladesh. Tendulakar failed again which is not very surprising and Murali was just fantastic.They talk about the oldies in India being liabilities. But just have a look at Sri Lanka - Jayasuriya and Murali are running around the park like kids. Their desire to win just shows through in their approach to the game. Just like India, Pakistan too did not deserve to be in the Super 8s. The Irish are playing really well. I believe they might be able to upset somebody in the next round.
The scariest match in the World Cup so far was the Aus-SA match in the group phase. There have been quite a few upsets and some thrillers that Sri Lanka have played. But what made me choose this match was the sheer intensity of the contest till about 75 overs. India Sri Lanka played the previous day. To see this match the next day akin to witnessing a Sampras-Ivanisevic bloodbath on grass the day after you have watched a Muster - Kuerten fistfight on clay. Both Australia and South Africa have 11 extremely fit gladiators. They don't give an inch, don't pull their punches and the cricket was really awesome. They seem to be from a different planet altogether. There were two captaincy masterstrokes in that match - first was the way South Africans bowled during the death - they bowled full and wide in stead of full and straight - the ground was very small straight - but was defendable on the side boundaries. So they bowled all the balls wide so that if they were hit, they were hit to the defendable parts and ended up giving 4s rather than 6s. Not many people credit Smith with brains (yours truly included), but this was a well thought out move. The second was the delaying of the third Power Play by Ricky Ponting - another captain whose skills are under-rated (perhaps rightly so). AB and Graeme Smith were going berserk. In such a huge run chase, the team chasing has to hit all the time. There is no room for a breather, no time to consolidate in the middle. With a huge cushion of runs in hand, Ponting decided to delay the third Power Play in the hope of getting a wicket. It was a huge risk because if it did not pay off, it would just consolidate South Africa's position even further. But the Aussies manufactured a wicket from nowhere and that finished off the game then and there.
The best match so far has been the Sri Lanka - England match. I switched off when Pietersen was dismissed believing that Sri Lanka would go on to win comfortably. But the next day as I switched on the TV to look at the results, I was shocked. I regret not seeing the match now. One thing must be said about Sri Lanka is that they really play as a team. In their case, the sum is much greater than their individual parts. Their bowling is disciplined and the fielding is superb. They gave only 3 extras the whole match - yes your read it correctly. And they did not give any till the 20th over (perhaps even later but I got sleepy after that).
Yesterday's match - South Africa vs Bangladesh showed why Smith is not rated very highly as a captain and why South Africa would not win this World Cup - it would surprise me if they reach the semis now. In the final overs, he did not ask the bowlers to bowl a single bouncer when the batsmen were charging all over the place. Nor did the bowlers think of it themselves. He gave the ball the Ntini and Nel when he could have given Kallis a bowl - Kallis (in the absence of Hall) is easily their best bowler at the death. He possesses a lethal in swinging yorker and is easily their most brainy cricketer in their team. And finally Smith was just playing catch up with Mohd. Ashraful during the slog overs. In the beginning of each over, Smith would bring the fine leg in. On the second or the third ball, Ashraful would scoop the ball over the fine leg's head for a four. Smith would change the field and send the fine leg back. The next over the fine leg would be back in the ring. This sequence went on incredibly for four overs !!!
And finally the predictions and wishes - I would like Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies in the semis (though I guess South Africa might still sneak in). The final wish is an Australia - New Zealand or an Australia Sri Lanka affair and of course Australia to win the cup undefeated.
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