On behalf of Indian,English and even West Indies cricket fans,I thank South Africa for not only defeating Bangladesh(Which ensures a Quarterfinal berth for both England and India);but also trashing them so hard that even if West Indies loses tomorrow and remains stranded on same number of points as Bangladesh does,West Indies will enter the Quartfinals thanks to a better Net Run Rate.
As usual,the England team performed well against a top team(West Indies),after losing to a minnow like Bangladesh;which meant that they too kept their chances of entering Quarterfinals alive,by defending a moderate target of 245 against the Windies.It was a disappointing sight to see even an attacking batsman like Chris Gayle play in a defensive mode against a spinner,there are only 2 ways you can survive against a Spinner-Atack him for boundaries,or nudge and push for easy singles;defence means you play into their hands in ODIs.Darren Bravo,Sarwan and others too committed the same mistake,giving respect to Tredwell and also a trundler like Bopara.Darren Sammy and Russell attacked the bowlers quite freely;Gayle too attacked the quicks early on,but that wasn't enough as the wickets fell easily to the spinners and Bopara,even as they were approaching the target.
So,we had to watch the South Africa-Bangladesh match;expecting the latter to lose badly.After winning the toss,Graeme Smith surprised everyone by resting his key bowlers Steyn and Morkel;and tried Tsotsobe and Parnell instead.But,I thought-Smith might not be wrong,guess Tsotsobe alone is more than enough for the Saffers to trash the Banglas and it turned out to be true.First,the South Africans batted smoothly,the loss of wickets too didn't affect their rhythm,even in the Powerplays they mostly played the balls acording to their merit,picking singles mostly and then dispatching the bad balls to the boundaries.Even a tail-ender like Robin Peterson attacked well playing some good orthodox drives and get a 9-ball 22 to reach an imposing 285.And when you've a good bowling attack,you can confidently defend even 250+,leave alone 300+.Then came Tsotsobe who demolished the top order,picking 3 Bangla wickets,the Spinners Peterson and Botha did the rest and bundled the Banglas out for a meagre 78.The Bangla fans in the Stadium were content that their team had not been bundled for less than 58.(Their lowest ODI score till date.:P)
The only chance for West Indies to get eliminated is to get bundled out for less than 75 and India then chasing it down in just 7-8 overs or India piling up 500+ and then bundling the Windies for just <200.(Which is not likely,as first,though Indians tend to win regularly these days,they rarely slaughter an opponent.The last time,their bowling attack slaughtered consistently was in 2003 World Cup before the Final match.)
As usual,the England team performed well against a top team(West Indies),after losing to a minnow like Bangladesh;which meant that they too kept their chances of entering Quarterfinals alive,by defending a moderate target of 245 against the Windies.It was a disappointing sight to see even an attacking batsman like Chris Gayle play in a defensive mode against a spinner,there are only 2 ways you can survive against a Spinner-Atack him for boundaries,or nudge and push for easy singles;defence means you play into their hands in ODIs.Darren Bravo,Sarwan and others too committed the same mistake,giving respect to Tredwell and also a trundler like Bopara.Darren Sammy and Russell attacked the bowlers quite freely;Gayle too attacked the quicks early on,but that wasn't enough as the wickets fell easily to the spinners and Bopara,even as they were approaching the target.
So,we had to watch the South Africa-Bangladesh match;expecting the latter to lose badly.After winning the toss,Graeme Smith surprised everyone by resting his key bowlers Steyn and Morkel;and tried Tsotsobe and Parnell instead.But,I thought-Smith might not be wrong,guess Tsotsobe alone is more than enough for the Saffers to trash the Banglas and it turned out to be true.First,the South Africans batted smoothly,the loss of wickets too didn't affect their rhythm,even in the Powerplays they mostly played the balls acording to their merit,picking singles mostly and then dispatching the bad balls to the boundaries.Even a tail-ender like Robin Peterson attacked well playing some good orthodox drives and get a 9-ball 22 to reach an imposing 285.And when you've a good bowling attack,you can confidently defend even 250+,leave alone 300+.Then came Tsotsobe who demolished the top order,picking 3 Bangla wickets,the Spinners Peterson and Botha did the rest and bundled the Banglas out for a meagre 78.The Bangla fans in the Stadium were content that their team had not been bundled for less than 58.(Their lowest ODI score till date.:P)
The only chance for West Indies to get eliminated is to get bundled out for less than 75 and India then chasing it down in just 7-8 overs or India piling up 500+ and then bundling the Windies for just <200.(Which is not likely,as first,though Indians tend to win regularly these days,they rarely slaughter an opponent.The last time,their bowling attack slaughtered consistently was in 2003 World Cup before the Final match.)
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