Pakistan’s inconsistent batting could be their biggest problem in the ODI series against in-form South Africa

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan28-Oct-2010After all the recent controversies, Pakistan will be glad to be involved in some quality cricket ahead of the World Cup. They also need to lift their ODI act considerably, for their recent form in this format has been rather disappointing: following a horror start to 2010 when they were thrashed 5-0 in the ODI series in Australia, they lost to both India and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, before defeating Bangladesh. On the controversial tour of England earlier this year, Pakistan lost a close ODI series 3-2.South Africa, on the other hand, are coming into the series on a nine match winning streak. Since 2005, the two teams have played each other 11 times with South Africa winning on seven occasions. The last series between the teams was played in Pakistan in 2007, when South Africa came back from a 1-2 deficit to win the series 3-2. This will be the fifth ODI series for Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi since 2007: Pakistan won the first two series, against Sri Lanka and West Indies, but went down to Australia and New Zealand since then.

Pakistan’s ODI record since Jan 2007

	Played	Won	Lost	NR
Overall	75	37	37	1
Abu Dhabi and Dubai	14	8	6	0
v South Africa in South Africa	5	1	3	1
v South Africa in Pakistan	5	2	3	0

South Africa have played far fewer matches over the last two years than most teams, but have the best win-loss record over the period. Their batting average and run-rate is the best among all teams. Their bowling average is better than most teams, but their economy rate of 5.14 isn’t as good. Pakistan’s bowling has generally been effective, but their poor results have largely been because of their inconsistent batting. They average just over 25 and score at less than five runs per over, which is a clear indicator of their batting woes.

ODI performance of top teams since Oct 26, 2008

Team	Played	Won	Lost	W/L ratio	Batting average	Run-rate	Bowling average	Economy rate
South Africa	33	24	9	2.66	40.73	5.93	31.34	5.14
Australia	61	38	20	1.90	34.87	5.22	29.46	4.89
India	58	34	20	1.70	36.45	5.73	36.79	5.44
Sri Lanka	51	30	19	1.57	30.79	5.20	30.41	4.95
England	44	23	21	1.09	29.39	5.23	33.60	5.17
New Zealand	41	16	20	0.80	25.43	5.13	32.30	4.87
Pakistan	36	14	22	0.63	25.18	4.95	33.28	4.93
West Indies	42	10	28	0.35	25.09	5.07	33.92	4.98

Pakistan’s best batsmen over the last two years in ODIs have been the Akmal brothers and Shahid Afridi. Afridi scored two centuries in the Asia Cup, including a stunning 109 off just 76 balls against Sri Lanka in a close defeat. Misbah-ul-Haq averages nearly 40 and will be one of the key batsmen in the middle order along with the experienced Younis Khan. Pakistan’s biggest problem is the instability of the top order: the first three wickets average less than 29 over the last two years, with just three century partnerships.South Africa though have been the best batting side by a distance during this period. AB de Villiers has been the top batsman with six centuries at an average of nearly 69. Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis have also been among the runs but Graeme Smith has been slightly below par, averaging just over 35.Umar Gul has been Pakistan’s best ODI bowler in the last two years, picking up 51 wickets at under 25. He was in splendid form in England, taking 12 wickets in the series, including his career best 6 for 42 at The Oval. Saeed Ajmal and Afridi have been economical and among the wickets, and will probably be the biggest threat to South Africa on the slow tracks of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell have been the leading fast bowlers for South Africa over the last two years. The presence of Morne Morkel and Albie Morkel boosts the pace attack further, but Johan Botha’s bowling will be crucial on the spin-friendly pitches.South Africa’s superiority in the batting department is further illustrated by comparing the performances across various stages of their innings. Their run-rate and average are far higher than Pakistan’s in the first ten overs. In the middle and end overs too, South Africa are the better batting side. On the bowling front, though, Pakistan are far more competitive. Their economy rate is better than South Africa’s in the middle overs, which highlights the role of their spinners. Gul and Ajmal have also proved very difficult to score off in the final overs and this is reflected in Pakistan’s low economy rate during this stage of the innings.

Batting and bowling stats for South Africa and Pakistan since October 26, 2008

	Innings	Runs	Run-rate	Batting average	Wickets	Economy rate	Bowling average
First 10 overs- SA	33	1832	5.55	59.09	40	4.89	40.35
First 10 overs-Pak	36	1470	4.08	29.40	40	5.05	45.50
Middle overs-SA	33	5209	5.44	46.09	148	4.86	31.66
Middle overs-Pak	36	4888	4.69	30.55	150	4.61	32.72
Last 10 overs-SA	33	1965	8.51	29.32	87	7.44	20.18
Last 10 overs-Pak	36	1818	7.26	19.54	79	6.81	21.53

Both venues for this series have proved to be bowler friendly with Dubai, in particular, being an extremely successful ground for spinners. Pace bowlers have performed better than spinners in Abu Dhabi, but spinners have the better run-rate. In Dubai, pace bowlers average more than 38, but the spinners average just over 16 while conceding four runs per over.

Venue stats for Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Ground	Run-rate	Pace – wickets	Average	Economy	Spin – wickets	Average	Economy
Abu Dhabi	4.87	88	27.44	5.22	46	33.63	4.43
Dubai	4.32	13	38.38	4.40	14	16.07	4.00

Pakistan’s inconsistent batting could be their biggest problem in the ODI series against in-form South Africa

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan28-Oct-2010After all the recent controversies, Pakistan will be glad to be involved in some quality cricket ahead of the World Cup. They also need to lift their ODI act considerably, for their recent form in this format has been rather disappointing: following a horror start to 2010 when they were thrashed 5-0 in the ODI series in Australia, they lost to both India and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, before defeating Bangladesh. On the controversial tour of England earlier this year, Pakistan lost a close ODI series 3-2.South Africa, on the other hand, are coming into the series on a nine match winning streak. Since 2005, the two teams have played each other 11 times with South Africa winning on seven occasions. The last series between the teams was played in Pakistan in 2007, when South Africa came back from a 1-2 deficit to win the series 3-2. This will be the fifth ODI series for Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi since 2007: Pakistan won the first two series, against Sri Lanka and West Indies, but went down to Australia and New Zealand since then.

Pakistan’s ODI record since Jan 2007

PlayedWonLostNROverall7537371Abu Dhabi and Dubai14860v South Africa in South Africa5131v South Africa in Pakistan5230South Africa have played far fewer matches over the last two years than most teams, but have the best win-loss record over the period. Their batting average and run-rate is the best among all teams. Their bowling average is better than most teams, but their economy rate of 5.14 isn’t as good. Pakistan’s bowling has generally been effective, but their poor results have largely been because of their inconsistent batting. They average just over 25 and score at less than five runs per over, which is a clear indicator of their batting woes.

ODI performance of top teams since Oct 26, 2008

TeamPlayedWonLostW/L ratioBatting averageRun-rateBowling averageEconomy rateSouth Africa332492.6640.735.9331.345.14Australia6138201.9034.875.2229.464.89India5834201.7036.455.7336.795.44Sri Lanka5130191.5730.795.2030.414.95England4423211.0929.395.2333.605.17New Zealand4116200.8025.435.1332.304.87Pakistan3614220.6325.184.9533.284.93West Indies4210280.3525.095.0733.924.98Pakistan’s best batsmen over the last two years in ODIs have been the Akmal brothers and Shahid Afridi. Afridi scored two centuries in the Asia Cup, including a stunning 109 off just 76 balls against Sri Lanka in a close defeat. Misbah-ul-Haq averages nearly 40 and will be one of the key batsmen in the middle order along with the experienced Younis Khan. Pakistan’s biggest problem is the instability of the top order: the first three wickets average less than 29 over the last two years, with just three century partnerships.South Africa though have been the best batting side by a distance during this period. AB de Villiers has been the top batsman with six centuries at an average of nearly 69. Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis have also been among the runs but Graeme Smith has been slightly below par, averaging just over 35.Umar Gul has been Pakistan’s best ODI bowler in the last two years, picking up 51 wickets at under 25. He was in splendid form in England, taking 12 wickets in the series, including his career best 6 for 42 at The Oval. Saeed Ajmal and Afridi have been economical and among the wickets, and will probably be the biggest threat to South Africa on the slow tracks of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell have been the leading fast bowlers for South Africa over the last two years. The presence of Morne Morkel and Albie Morkel boosts the pace attack further, but Johan Botha’s bowling will be crucial on the spin-friendly pitches.South Africa’s superiority in the batting department is further illustrated by comparing the performances across various stages of their innings. Their run-rate and average are far higher than Pakistan’s in the first ten overs. In the middle and end overs too, South Africa are the better batting side. On the bowling front, though, Pakistan are far more competitive. Their economy rate is better than South Africa’s in the middle overs, which highlights the role of their spinners. Gul and Ajmal have also proved very difficult to score off in the final overs and this is reflected in Pakistan’s low economy rate during this stage of the innings.

Batting and bowling stats for South Africa and Pakistan since October 26, 2008

InningsRunsRun-rateBatting averageWicketsEconomy rateBowling averageFirst 10 overs- SA3318325.5559.09404.8940.35First 10 overs-Pak3614704.0829.40405.0545.50Middle overs-SA3352095.4446.091484.8631.66Middle overs-Pak3648884.6930.551504.6132.72Last 10 overs-SA3319658.5129.32877.4420.18Last 10 overs-Pak3618187.2619.54796.8121.53Both venues for this series have proved to be bowler friendly with Dubai, in particular, being an extremely successful ground for spinners. Pace bowlers have performed better than spinners in Abu Dhabi, but spinners have the better run-rate. In Dubai, pace bowlers average more than 38, but the spinners average just over 16 while conceding four runs per over.

Venue stats for Abu Dhabi and Dubai

GroundRun-ratePace – wicketsAverageEconomySpin – wicketsAverageEconomyAbu Dhabi4.878827.445.224633.634.43Dubai4.321338.384.401416.074.00

To appreciate Sachin Tendulkar’s effort today – his fourth century off his first innings in each of the last four years – it is important to appreciate the most exciting bowler in world cricket at his best

Sidharth Monga at Newlands04-Jan-2011Years later, or weeks later, or days later, when they talk about this series, regardless of the result, they will talk about two Dale Steyn spells that started the first two sessions of the third day of the Cape Town Test. Perhaps the 11 best overs anyone can bowl for just two wickets. It was perfect outswing bowling at high pace, often pitching leg, missing off, too often too good for the batsmen. And if it can be considered possible, after that wicketless first spell, Steyn came out to bowl even better. If one were to strain and look for a possible criticism, it was that he bowled just one straighter one and two bouncers in the first chunk of five overs. Everything else was close to perfect. There wasn’t even a no-ball; loose balls were a distant thought altogether.To appreciate Sachin Tendulkar’s effort today – his fourth century off his first innings in each of the last four years – it is important to appreciate the most exciting bowler in world cricket at his best. It was just such a day of Test cricket. Of the 66 balls from hell that Steyn bowled in those two spells, which went for 13 runs and took two wickets, Tendulkar negotiated 48. In that mix of some masterful defending, some luck (he could not have survived without luck), and huge responsibility, is the difference between India’s being even and being woefully behind by the end of the third day.There was no counterattack there: Steyn was too hot to touch for that. It was good old-fashioned buckling down, doing your best and hoping that the good deliveries are too good for the edge. Then again, Tendulkar played five back-to-back Steyn overs for 10 runs – six of them unintentional – and in this modern world, that calls for an injudicious shot to release the incredible pressure. He reserved the releasing of pressure for Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who bowled well too, but in comparison to Steyn he was like Mother Teresa. Calculated risks were taken: the premeditated pull and the upper-cut in Tsotsobe’s first over of the day.Tendulkar had tired Steyn down, Gautam Gambhir had done the same to Morne Morkel, and with some sort of authority established over Tsotsobe’s bowling, it was time for Tendulkar to reap the rewards for the hard work in the first hour. As South Africa awaited the new ball, out came the delicate run-scoring shots, the drives through cover and extra cover, the check drives straight down the ground, the nudges, the paddle sweeps, and the steers to third man. Then, as he approached his century and also the second new ball, Tendulkar saw Gambhir get out, and contributed to Laxman’s dismissal through a lovely straight hit off Paul Harris. Time, again, for the old-fashioned Test batting to kick in.This time he was surer with Steyn, coming well forward to defend, using soft hands, and leaving better, sometimes perilously close to off stump. That couldn’t be said of Cheteshwar Pujara, who got an unplayable one from Steyn, and MS Dhoni. Three of Tendulkar’s four recent new-year centuries have featured partnerships with the tail – in Sydney, in Chittagong and here. It is something we don’t appreciate often enough with Tendulkar, because those after him have in the past inflicted heartbreak on him.Today, Tendulkar took the responsibility again. He shielded Harbhajan Singh from Steyn, and asked him to go after the others. It worked. And in a strange show of outdoing MS Dhoni in terms of defensive captaincy, Smith spread out the fields. That was the only downer on a perfect day of Test cricket, but Tendulkar would have taken it any day. He started manoeuvring the strike, and soon even Harbhajan saw spread-out fields. The partnership bloomed, and Tendulkar got surer, better and more severe on loose deliveries. Even through those deep fields, Tendulkar found runs, hitting Harris for a six over long-off, driving Morkel through the covers, and cutting between the third man and deep point to take couples to retain strike.If respect from the opponent were a yardstick to measure an effort, Tendulkar came out glowingly from his examination today. Even though on the field, Steyn had a verbal go at Tendulkar, and even though the series is now getting a bit ugly as it approaches its end, Steyn has this to say about Tendulkar’s innings: “Sachin is a really good player. I have heard one or two guys remark about the speed and everything I have been bowling at, but he is such a good player, there is no point wasting your energy bowling at him. You tend to save your energy and tend to bowl at other guys. If you bowl a good bowl to him, or a No. 11 batter, it’s going to remain a good ball. So it was a good contest going on.”Tendulkar’s role in making today one of the best days of Test cricket in recent memory cannot be overstated. But for him, it would have been a much more memorable day for Steyn and South Africa, but we would not have been entertained as much as we were. If Rafael Nadal hadn’t come around, we would have remembered Roger Federer’s incredible shots, not his matches.

A chance at promotion was on the cards after a win over Hong Kong, but 24 hours later, the wheels started to come off for USA at WCL Division Three

Peter Della Penna31-Jan-2011″On any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team.” This famous American sports quote belongs to Bert Bell, former commissioner of the NFL. After the last week in Hong Kong, it’s also a harsh reminder for the USA cricket fraternity that no matter how much talent USA has, taking a blasé approach to preparation and underestimating the strength of any opposition can result in devastating consequences.Steve Massiah, the captain, came into the ICC WCL Division Three confident that his team would make it three straight promotions to move up into Division Two. While the tournament was an opportunity for the players to stand tall against tougher competition, administrators back home were keeping fingers crossed that the team would advance again because of the increased ICC funding at stake.Knowing that five of the last six tournament hosts had finished in the top two and been promoted to the next division, a lot was riding on USA’s first encounter against Hong Kong. Rising to the occasion, Massiah led from the front with an unbeaten 97 to chase down 256 in a seven-wicket win.The next day against Denmark, cracks that had been papered over from previous tours became visible again when USA’s habitually poor fielding habits reared their ugly head. Denmark captain Michael Pedersen was dropped on 23, 46 and 70 on his way to 78 not out in his team’s 193 for 6. The US players walked around at the innings break like it was no big deal and that after the previous day’s batting performance, a win could virtually be chalked up.They started the chase easily enough, going at better than five an over through the initial Powerplay. But it all came crashing down. The team was at 84 for 2 with a well-set Carl Wright and Lennox Cush fairly new to the crease. With five men now on the boundary, all that was needed was to knock the ball around for ones and twos. Instead, Cush went for an outlandish heave against Pedersen’s flighted off-spin that resulted in a top edge taken at mid-on.What followed was a spectacular collapse against a less talented opponent, but one who had more discipline and mental strength than USA could muster. In the process, USA not only lost by 30 runs, but had to go the rest of the tournament without their most dependable batsman and leading scorer from 2010, Aditya Thyagarajan. He had sprained his left ankle in the field and then dislocated his right patella while overcompensating for leverage on the delivery that bowled him. If only the men before him had batted responsibly, his ankle would have been allowed to rest, heal, and in 36 hours, would have been ready for the next game. Instead, he was lost for the tournament and USA’s batting lineup turned into a rudderless ship.While Cush’s shot against Pedersen was worthy of a banishment to seven years in the wilderness ala Damien Martyn, he was instead rewarded with a promotion to open the batting for the next two games, where he scored 0 and 0 to set the platform for USA to be dismissed for 44 against Papua New Guinea and stutter to 20 for 7 against Oman. Only a tail-end Houdini act by Usman Shuja and Asif Khan saw USA past Oman to keep the country’s promotion dream alive.Unfortunately, USA’s sorry fielding came back to haunt them versus Italy. When the two teams first met last August at Division Four in Bologna, USA had failed to convert a handful of chances, none more costly than when Peter Petricola was on 3 before he went on to make 85 in a 51-run win for the Italians. During the pivotal encounter in Hong Kong, USA dropped another three chances, including a Petricola edge that was put down by wicketkeeper Wright on 30. One match after finishing 104 not out against Hong Kong, Petricloa finished 69 not out to go along with 4 for 38 in the first innings, leading Italy to victory by four wickets. In the process, he knocked USA back to Division Four.In a press release that appeared only hours after USA had been relegated, USACA announced that it had hired Robin Singh to coach the Under-19 squad at February’s ICC Americas U-19 event in Florida. In a not so subtle message to Clayton Lambert that his time as USA senior coach is probably up, the release stated that “it is expected that his role may expand to include coaching USA national teams in other upcoming ICC-sanctioned tournaments.”Lambert has done a commendable job in the last few years. Under his leadership, USA has won three tournaments, finished runner-up in two others and also won resoundingly against ODI-nation Scotland at the 2010 World Twenty20 Qualifier. However, his decision-making in Hong Kong was not up to scratch.When asked after the loss to Denmark about the form of 20-year-old off-spinner Muhammad Ghous, who was only given one over to bowl by the captain, Lambert replied, “Ghous has been our best bowler. He’s only had one bad game really so we shouldn’t be panicking.” Sometime in the 36 hours that followed, the panic button was pressed and USA’s “best bowler” was benched for the next three games.In a move that outraged fans and administrators back in America, Lambert not only added 46-year-old assistant coach Howard Johnson to the playing squad after the injury to Thyagarajan, he also put him in the starting XI to open the bowling against Papua New Guinea. ICC officials at the tournament felt duped after it was insinuated by team management the day before that he would only be used as a substitute fielder if necessary. One official said they would have never approved the addition of Johnson to the squad if they knew what USA’s actual plans were.”Other than Howard Johnson’s age, if he’s up for trials or selection, he can walk into the team,” was Lambert’s justification, even though fast bowler Durale Forrest was in the squad and waiting to make his debut. When prodded further to explain why he would risk destroying Forrest’s confidence with such a maneuver, Lambert responded, “What would happen if Chanderpaul was the assistant coach? Would that damage the confidence of the players?”Lambert also said that the team needed a new-ball bowler to support Kevin Darlington against PNG because Shuja wasn’t providing enough support at the other end. He also said that Johnson was the right man to do it because Forrest was brought on tour to be a first-change option. Who wound up opening the bowling for USA in two of their final three games? You guessed it, Durale Forrest.The management follies continued against Italy. USA posted 222 for 8 and after 41 overs, Italy were 180 for 5 needing another 43 more. Johnson, back in his role as assistant coach, wandered over to the scorers and media area to ask how fast Italy would need to win in order to pass USA on net run rate, totally oblivious to the fact that Italy already enjoyed a 0.638 advantage on USA at the start of the day.Changes aplenty are in order now. For several of the older players, this was probably their last tour and in the next year, younger talent must be given their chance to get more experience. Massiah acknowledged as much after the loss to Italy. A silver lining in the defeat was the assured 30 scored by 20-year-old Ryan Corns at first drop on debut. While Massiah was packing up his kit, he lifted his head in the direction of the South Africa-born Corns and said, “This is your era now Jo’burg.”More importantly, USACA would be well advised to take a hint from PNG coach Andy Bichel regarding its selection policy. USACA has a long established habit of choosing players based on reputation, with scant consideration given to form, dedication or attitude. Bichel was asked after his team thrashed USA why PNG was having so much success in Hong Kong and said, “It’s about performance. If you perform, you’ll be in this team. It’s a great environment to create. If we can build that performance-based attitude, that’s a very healthy one.”Division Four is more than a year away so USACA has to start working now in order to produce a respectable squad in time for that event. The next tournament scheduled for the senior team is this July in Toronto. If one of the lessons learned in the past week harkened back to the words of Bert Bell, another piece of wisdom that would be useful for everyone involved in US cricket to draw on comes from coaching legend Vince Lombardi: “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

Plays of the Day from the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders in Jaipur

George Binoy15-Apr-2011The run-out that wasn’t
Jacques Kallis played the ball wide of the fielder at mid-off and ran. His partner Manvinder Bisla responded, but a bit too late. He was struggling as Faiz Fazal, the substitute, ran to his left, swooped on the ball and made the perfect throw to the wicketkeeper. He was yards out when Amit Paunikar broke the stumps, so it was surprising that the umpire at square leg referred it to the television umpire. Replays, however, revealed that the ball had popped out of Paunikar’s gloves moments before he broke the stumps. It was a touch close but there was certainly enough doubt to give it to the batsman. Russell Tiffin saw it differently, though, and gave Bisla out. It was the only wicket Rajasthan took.The catch that wasn’t
The game was almost up for Rajasthan – they had 37 to defend off 32 balls – when Gautam Gambhir pulled Siddharth Trivedi straight to Johan Botha on the deep midwicket boundary, giving them a glimmer of hope. Botha and Gambhir, however, noticed umpire Aleem Dar call it a no-ball. Gambhir frantically motioned for Kallis to go back to his crease and Botha fired the ball in at the bowler’s end. His team-mates, however, were celebrating, having missed the umpire’s signal for no-ball because there had been only three fielders in the circle, when there should have been four. No one was ready to collect the throw as it whizzed past them to the extra-cover boundary for four overthrows.The eyebrow-raising strategies
Shane Warne made two curious decisions. The first was to not send Shane Watson to open Rajasthan’s innings. Watson had joined the team after brutalising Bangladesh, hitting boundaries seemingly at will in Dhaka. He didn’t bat until the 12th over, though, by which time Rajasthan had made steady but far from spectacular progress. Warne’s next offbeat decision was opening the bowling with Ashok Menaria, who is a part-time left-arm spinner even on the domestic circuit. He was out of his league against Kallis and Gambhir, and conceded ground by going for 19 in two overs.The celebration
Shakib didn’t get caned by Watson as much as his Bangladesh team-mates did during the recent one-day series. He, however, began to get caned today. Watson slammed the second ball he faced from Shakib straight over the bowler’s head, and minutes later, slog swept into the stands at deep midwicket. The ball after the second six, Watson wanted a third, and aimed to slog sweep again. He missed this time and Shakib, after watching the ball hit the stumps, gave Watson a send off by making a slitting motion across his neck. Kolkata were on their way to storming Rajasthan’s fortress.The cameo
Yusuf Pathan, Kolkata’s $2.1 million purchase, didn’t have the opportunity to hurt his former team with the bat today. With the ball, though, he made sudden and immediate impact. Brought on to bowl the 12th over of Rajasthan’s innings, Yusuf took all the pace off the ball on a slow pitch and bowled Rahul Dravid before taking a return catch from Menaria. He had dismissed both set batsmen but did not get another over.

Saturday at Lord’s was marked in diaries months in advance by die-hard Indian fans. It was a big day for them, some of whom had traversed continents to witness a possible historic moment – Tendulkar’s 100th century

Nagraj Gollapudi at Lord's23-Jul-2011The little mobile shop of , the betting agency, was a beehive of activity on Saturday morning. Fans streamed in even two hours before the scheduled 11 am start and many stopped to read the white board listing the odds. The most obvious one was at the top: Sachin Tendulkar’s century fetched odds of 4/1 while Rahul Dravid, who like Tendulkar was without a hundred at Lord’s, was at 6/1.As both men came together to bat the margins reduced with Tendulkar going at 6/4 and Dravid at 6/5. Still the shop kept attracting many fans. According to a official about 200 Indian fans placed bets on the duo’s maiden centuries at the home of cricket. “I can say there was a substantial amount of money that was bet,” the official said, without revealing figures.Saturday at Lord’s was marked in diaries months in advance by committed fans. It was a big day; both in the context of the match as well as for thousands of Indian fans, some of whom had traversed continents to witness a possible historic moment – Tendulkar’s hundredth century. Some did not mind paying large sums of money – enough for a return air ticket to India – just to witness a day’s play. Some were first-timers, excited to be part of the occasion.Despite the first four days being sold out in advance, the MCC’s ticketing office got a lot of queries but could sell only about 200 tickets that had been returned. Three quarters of those went to Indian fans who shelled out anywhere between £30 and £85 per ticket.Just as the large pints that overflowed across this historic venue, the Indian fans’ emotions, too, ebbed and flowed as they anticipated something special from the trinity of Tendulkar, Dravid and VVS Laxman, playing together in a Lord’s Test for probably the final time.Last year Suresh Shankar, a 47-year-old entrepreneur, sold his business to IBM. One of the first decisions he made then was to follow important India cricket tours. He watched most of India’s big matches in the World Cup earlier this year, including the tied match in Bangalore against England and the final in Mumbai.This time he was in England only for the Lord’s Test. “It is the most significant moment in India’s cricket history,” he said, talking about the batting trio’s last outing at the ground. “It is the passing of values, sportsmanship and their ability,” he said when asked what prompted him to make the trip.At 12:28 hrs when Tendulkar walked out to a standing ovation, Shankar couldn’t stop himself from sending his wife a message. “When 25,000 people stood up to cheer one man, it was a goosebump moment. I had to tell her that,” he said. For Shankar and millions of others, Tendulkar is the greatest sportsman across all sports; big money then becomes a small matter.Vikas Manoor, a 29-year-old software engineer, travelled to watch the Tendulkar-Dravid combine and bought a ticket only for Saturday. He arrive from Edinburgh on Friday night and paid a whopping £250 for a ticket in the Mound Stand, where the original price was £80. “I didn’t mind that. I also paid £120 for my travel, but I wanted to always see Dravid and Sachin bat together,” Manoor said. “I have always been attracted to Sachin. For 22 years he has done things consistently. I could not stop myself from being here.”Sumira Chaudhri, a Canadian-Indian lawyer, was travelling through Europe in celebration of being called to the bar in Toronto, . She got hooked on Indian cricket after following the Indian team’s triumph at the World Cup. “When I heard that India were playing in England I decided to come over from my trip to Europe,” she said.She felt sad, like many, that Tendulkar failed to reach that elusive hundred. “I was hoping Sachin would get it. But then I am happy Dravid got it. He is the best Test player,” she said with excitement.Gnanamurthy Kugan, a heart surgeon, was animatedly listening to his 12-year-old son Kavin, who was recalling his observations from the training session he witnessed when Sri Lanka were at Lord’s earlier this summer. Kugan has been in England for 25 years and is a regular visitor to Lord’s. “I am disappointed about Sachin not getting it. But it is good that Dravid has,” he said while Kavin listened intently.Rajesh Marwah has been coming to Lord’s since 1986. Originally from the north Indian town of Ludhiana in Punjab, Marwah now lives in the Hounslow suburb of London and is in the business of household removals. “Brown man with a van,” Marwah, head covered in a plain, sky-blue Lord’s bandana and wearing an India ODI T-shirt, said when I asked him what he did for a living.By the time I met Marwah again, after tea, Tendulkar had already departed. But Marwah was not disappointed. “If Tendulkar starts slow, he would never get to his landmark and I knew that. I could sense his pressure, which was more about India responding well to England’s big total,” he said with an assured tone. “I am not worried. I know he will make the century in Edgbaston.”An hour after the day’s play, about 50 Indian fans gathered at the Nursery End of the ground. As Dravid made his way to the media conference with a smiling face, they rushed to get an autograph. One person caught the eye: a middle-aged woman wearing a saree. She was at the back of the charging fans’ brigade and halfway through her stride, she gave up. But she had a smile on her face, happy at having caught a glimpse of Dravid in person.For the fan, it is an emotional journey full of anticipation, patience, pitfalls and hardships, passion and dreams. And on days like these, for fan and player alike, some dreams get fulfilled and some don’t.

After sparse crowds marred India’s home ODI series against England and the first two Tests against West Indies, the fourth day at the Wankhede is a sell-out

N Hunter24-Nov-2011″ (what a nice sound of ball hitting bat),” remarked a teenager standing in the uppermost tier of the North Stand. The afternoon sun was on the wane now, the daylight had softened and the shadows were lengthening on the field. VVS Laxman had turned his wrists to slap Darren Sammy between the man at short midwicket and the one at midwicket, who stood in awe as the ball slipped past him like a butterfly, quietly, for a four. It was a high-quality stroke and Laxman received hearty appreciation from the 20,200-strong crowd that had been in their seats from early in the morning.The teenager’s comment was one usually muttered by coaches and students during training. The quality of the noise signifies the richness of a stroke. Finer points these. And so, to hear the youngster utter those words made it clear that the cricket fan – a breed feared to be endangered based on thin crowds seen at Test matches around the world – is still healthy and, critically, young. That might just ensure Test cricket has a future.The spectator-numbers at the Test match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai have been impressive, and with Sachin Tendulkar 38 runs short of becoming the first batsman to score 100 international centuries, the best turnout is expected tomorrow.On the first day the turnout was 12,300, with 8000 daily tickets sold. On Wednesday, as the West Indies batsmen batted out a second straight day, the number dipped to 11,000, out of which 7300 were daily tickets. But today, as India came out to bat, the number had risen to 12,000 daily tickets sold.The clamour for tickets became so intense by noon that the Mumbai police had to resort to a mild lathi charge to disperse the fast-increasing crowd. So how did Test cricket suddenly become a box-office hit? The obvious and primary reason for the huge numbers was Tendulkar. But he was also playing in the first two Tests of this series, in Delhi and Kolkata, and the crowd in both cities had been sparse.At Feroz Shah Kotla, a complicated sales-system of tickets sent fans back home disgruntled. Prices were reasonable: the cheapest daily ticket was priced at Rs 100, while a five-day ticket for the best seat in the ground, in the South Club House at the ITC End, was Rs 4000. But on the first day, the ticket-office at the Kotla was closed without explanation and only 11,000 fans were in a stadium that has a capacity to seat around 45,000. Things appeared even more confusing on the second day, with chaotic scenes at the point of sale: the branch of a nationalised bank located on a nearby road. Still, only an estimated 14,000 fans turned up.At Eden Gardens, tickets were available at windows around the ground with five-day ones priced at Rs 500, Rs 1000 and Rs 1500, and daily tickets at Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 150. Yet Rahul Dravid, Laxman and MS Dhoni made centuries and raised bats to a virtually empty stadium.

Daily tickets for the Test were priced as low as Rs 50 (East Stand) and season tickets for vantage viewing points like the North Stand (behind the bowler’s arm) and the Vithal Divecha Pavilion (midwicket) were slashed to Rs 500 and Rs 600 respectively

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) had made an announcement in advance offering large discounts to the fans. Daily tickets for the Test were priced as low as Rs 50 (East Stand) and season tickets for vantage viewing points like the North Stand (behind the bowler’s arm) and the Vithal Divecha Pavilion (midwicket) were slashed to Rs 500 and Rs 600 respectively. The ticket windows were near the ground, making it easier for fans to purchase them. There are a lot of colleges around the ground, and the dirt-cheap price of a daily ticket drew large groups of students. The MCA had learned its lesson after only 13,000 fans filled the 33,000-seater stadium during the one-day match against England in October, for which tickets were steeply priced.The ticketing strategy was successful. North Stand, the most popular avenue to watch cricket at the Wankhede, was full to the brim, and played the drummer’s role as fans beat the hand-railings with empty water bottles to drive away the afternoon reverie. Though they were not as loud, the full-houses at the Vijay Merchant and Sunil Gavaskar pavilions (on either side of the square) chanted the India batsmen’s names with religious fervour. Only the Garware Pavilion was dressed scantily, with barely a few hundred people scattered around. Apparently, the Garware Club, which owns the stand, has been involved in a dispute with the MCA, and hence its members decided to opt out. A shame really, considering nearly 4000 tickets could have been put on public sale.Luckily, those who were present showed how much time they had for good cricket. A young boy of seven, wearing the India blue, stood for long periods holding a banner that read: “We want 3-0, India.”In Mumbai, at Tendulkar’s home ground, with cricket’s most-famous player on the cusp of an unprecedented feat, the youngster decided to raise support for a whitewash, a phenomenon that occurs as rarely in Test cricket as the opportunity to shake Tendulkar’s hand. What was also interesting was that the fans did not just cheer Tendulkar. VVS Laxman’s initials formed a perfect rhythm when chanted, as he walked to the centre to delirious chants of “VVS, VVS, VVS.” When Rahul Dravid lunged to punch a perfect cover drive to reach 13,000 Test runs, the shouts of “Dravid, Dravid” were as loud as those of “Sachin, Sachin” had been.Test matches do not just require endurance from the players but from fans as well. Day in, day out, their emotions, their fervour, their noise, at times, spills out onto the ground, acting as a shot in the arm for the home team’s players or a painful blow for the visitors. The history of cricket is full of pages where a dormant session has been brought to life by the vibrancy of the crowd. Today, you could sense Darren Sammy, a leader who wears his heart on his sleeve, hungry to have a face-off with the vociferous Mumbai crowd. He looked up for the challenge but each time his bowlers and fielders faltered, which was quite frequently, the crowd’s noise only grew louder. That only made Sammy more desperate.Was today’s big turnout an aberration? We can only answer that when Mumbai hosts its next Test. For the moment, the crowds are marching toward the Wankhede. And Friday is already sold out.

The semi-final scenarios for group B

S Rajesh03-Oct-2011Royal Challengers Bangalore haven’t won a single game so far, but two big wins might yet give them a shot at the semi-finals•Associated PressWarriors
They’re currently sitting on top of the group with four points, but whether they make the next stage or not depends largely on what they do in their final game, against Somerset on Wednesday.If they win, they’re through. If they lose, it could get complicated: they’ll have to hope that South Australia lose to Royal Challengers in the last match; else Somerset and South Australia will both have more points and will qualify. Even if South Australia lose to Royal Challengers, Warriors will have to ensure they don’t lose to Somerset by a margin that will pull their net run rate below that of Kolkata Knight Riders, who have four points and a NRR of +0.306. Warriors are currently on +0.592, but they don’t have much room to manoeuvre: if they’re chasing 140 against Somerset and lose by eight or more runs, their NRR will slip below that of Knight Riders.The weather in Bangalore has had most teams fretting, but the one side which will welcome rain is Warriors. One point in the last game will leave them with five, which means Somerset will be the only side that could go past them. South Australia could reach five points as well, but their NRR is languishing at -0.775: they’ll have to beat Royal Challengers by at least 67 runs (if they bat first and score 160) to go past Warriors’ NRR.Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata have played all their matches and their fate rests entirely on the hands of the other teams (and the weather). If all three matches produce decisive results, Knight Riders’ best chance is this: Somerset lose both their matches, while Royal Challengers win theirs. In such a scenario, Warriors will move to the top of the table, with Knight Riders and Royal Challengers tied in second place on four points. If Royal Challengers don’t win by huge margins, Knight Riders will stay ahead on NRR.Knight Riders will also go through if Somerset beat Warriors by a margin that is enough to pull the Warriors’ NRR below that of Knight Riders (see the write-up for Warriors above). In this case, South Australia will have to lose to Royal Challengers so that they stay on three points.Somerset
Somerset are the only unbeaten team in the tournament so far, and with three points from two games, they have an excellent chance of making it to the next stage. One win in their next two games will almost certainly get them through. Even if they beat Royal Challengers and lose to Warriors, and if South Australia win their last game, Somerset and South Australia will be level on points, with Somerset currently far ahead on NRR.South Australia
With three points in three games and a terrible NRR, South Australia’s equation is fairly simple: they must win to give themselves any chance of making the semi-finals. Even if they win, they’ll have to hope other results go their way. If Warriors beat Somerset, who in turn beat Royal Challengers, then South Australia will most likely miss the cut even if they win their last game.Royal Challengers Bangalore
They’re the only team not to have won a match in the tournament so far, but if they win their last two matches, Royal Challengers may yet have a chance of qualification. To do so, they’ll have to go past the NRR of Warriors or Knight Riders (depending on the result of the Somerset v Warriors game). Royal Challengers’ NRR is currently -0.648, but if, for instance, they score 140 in their last two matches and win them by 25 runs, they’ll sneak ahead of Knight Riders’ NRR.However, if either of their two games is washed out, then Royal Challengers’ Champions League campaign will end before the semi-finals.

Australia’s teenage fast bowler, Patrick Cummins, could make his Test debut at the Wanderers next week after a lacklustre display from Australia’s attack

Brydon Coverdale at Newlands11-Nov-2011Australia’s teenage fast bowler, Patrick Cummins, could make his Test debut at the Wanderers next week after a lacklustre display from Australia’s attack on the third day in Cape Town. Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle were disappointing, while Ryan Harris was unlucky to have an edge dropped off his bowling early in the day, and then leaked plenty of runs.Michael Clarke’s assessment of Australia’s bowling in the second innings was apparent when he was asked which members of the attack had stood up on the final day. A nine-second pause followed. He searched for an answer, but no names came to mind.”As a bowling unit we didn’t bowl anywhere near as well as we had to to beat South Africa today,” Clarke said. “I would have liked to see us fight a bit harder today and have a bit more of a crack and at least get into South Africa’s middle order.”He added that the batting was still the key reason Australia had lost the Test. And on both fronts Australia’s selectors – of whom Clarke is one – have concerns.The most likely scenario is a change to the bowling group, although Shaun Marsh’s back injury could force a tweak to the batting line-up. Three hours after the match finished, the back-up batsman in Australia’s squad, Usman Khawaja, headed to the Newlands nets for a hit.He was accompanied by Cummins and Trent Copeland, the two fast men who sat out of the Cape Town Test. The Wanderers typically offers plenty of assistance for the fast men and Cummins, 18, might be unleashed.The easiest thing for the selectors to do would be to leave out Siddle, who took one wicket for the game and was the third of the fast men chosen. Harris will not be axed while Johnson is considered a potential match-winner, although at Newlands he bowled badly, failing to swing the ball and sending too many deliveries short and wide.Johnson finished with match figures of 1 for 87 from 16 overs and narrowly avoided the second wicketless Test of his career, collecting the late wicket of Hashim Amla. In seven of his past 16 Test bowling innings, he has failed to make a breakthrough.”We need him taking wickets, there’s no doubt,” Clarke said. “I love having him in the team. I’ve said all along that he’s a match-winner. But we’ve just got to perform better. It’s hard: nobody means to get out and nobody means to fail. But at this level we as a team have got to find a way to be consistent. He’s no different to our top six or seven batters.”We’ve got to pick our best XI. Whoever we think our best XI is for the second Test match needs to be selected. If that means no changes that means no changes, if that means four changes that means four changes.”Ponting’s miserable form continued and his shuffle across the stumps is becoming a fatal flaw. He swore as he walked off the field after being adjudged lbw for a duck in the second innings when he missed a straight ball. It is to be hoped his anger was directed only at himself.

When Michael Clarke was asked which members of the attack had stood up on the final day, a nine-second pause followed. He searched for an answer, but no names came to mind

Ponting is 36 and in a slump, but it is hard to imagine Andrew Hilditch’s outgoing selection panel making the tough call on a veteran player, with John Inverarity’s new selection group to take over after this Test. In the case of Brad Haddin, one of the major culprits in the woeful batting display, there is no backup wicketkeeper on the tour.And the batting situation might be determined by Marsh’s injury, although there is a chance David Warner could be flown in as cover. Marsh hurt his back while changing direction running between the wickets on the first day, and he batted at No.10 in the second innings.Marsh’s fitness was believed to have improved on the third day, although he stayed at the team hotel and watched the defeat unfold on television. The team physio, Alex Kountouris, said it was not clear if Marsh would be fit for the second Test.”You usually have to wait the first couple of days once the original spasm and everything the acuteness of the injury settles down,” Kountouris said. “Once that settles down I’ll have a better idea of whether he’s more likely to get better in the short term or the longer term. He’s had this before though, he had this 12 months ago and got better reasonably quickly but every occasion is different so we’ll just have to wait and see how he goes.”Whatever the case, Australia’s selectors have some decisions to make. Forty-seven cannot be allowed to happen again.

Although fast bowlers held sway in the series, batting failures from Australia and New Zealand ultimately decided the result of both Tests

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan12-Dec-2011Before the series started, New Zealand nursed hopes of beating an injury-hit and inconsistent Australia. Despite losing several key players, Australia seemed right on track to seal the series after initiating a batting collapse in the New Zealand second innings in Brisbane. James Pattinson, who became the fourth Australian bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul on Test debut in 2011, followed up his performance at the Gabba with another superb spell in Hobart to bowl New Zealand out for 150. Australia, however, struggled to counter New Zealand’s fast bowlers on a green pitch and fell away for just 136.What followed was even more stunning. The hosts, after bowling themselves back into contention with a disciplined performance, abjectly collapsed from a position of strength at 159 for 2 to be bowled out for 233. What made New Zealand’s achievement all the more remarkable is that it was their first Test win against Australia since 1993 and their first ever win in Australia in 26 years. On the previous occasion that New Zealand won a Test in Australia, Richard Hadlee had dominated the series picking up 33 wickets in three Tests. On this occasion, Doug Bracewell picked up 9 for 60, the fourth-best match bowling figures for a New Zealand bowler in Australia. Click here for stats highlights from the second Test.This, however, was not the first time that Australia’s batting frailties had been exposed in the last two years. They lost three times by an innings in the last Ashes series and were famously bowled out for 98 in the first innings in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. Australia may have fought back remarkably to square their previous series against a much stronger South African team, but the cracks in the batting line-up were exposed by South Africa’s quality pace attack in both Tests. After gaining a 188-run lead in Cape Town, Australia embarrassingly crashed to 21 for 9 before a 26-run last-wicket stand lifted them to 47, their lowest total in over a century. In the second Test in Johannesburg, they once again frittered away a strong start (174 for no loss) to lose eight wickets for just 81 runs before being rescued by crucial stands for the last two wickets. Between 2004 and 2009, Australia were never bowled out for a score below 150 but since then, they have been bowled out six times.A closer look at the partnership stats for the top six wickets for Australia in the last few years provides a clear picture. In home Tests between 2004 and 2009, they averaged 59.23 and 57.31 for the first two wickets and shared a century stand every six innings. Their corresponding averages in away Tests in the same period were 46.13 and 59.17. However, between 2010 and now, they have struggled to put up century partnerships and have much lower averages. It is not only the inability to find a solid opening pair that has plagued Australia but also the woeful form of Ricky Ponting, who was for years their finest batsman.Ponting’s lack of runs has meant that the second-wicket average has slipped badly to just 20.00 in away Tests in the last two years. Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke have been the in-form batsmen for Australia over the last one year and this is reflected in the fairly high middle-order averages. The worry for Australia, however, will be their continued inability to forge large match-changing partnerships consistently like they used to in their heyday.

Australia’s partnership stats (excl Bangladesh and Zim matches)- avg, 100/50, innings/100 stand

Partnership wicket2004-2009 (home)2004-2009 (away)2010-present (home)2010-present (away)159.23, 17/22, 5.6446.13, 9/23, 11.2233.22, 1/5, 18.0046.95, 2/7, 10.50257.31, 18/22, 5.2759.17, 15/30, 6.5339.18, 2/2, 9.0027.75, 1/2, 20.00349.55, 10/23, 8.8048.97, 15/15, 6.2020.06, 0/2, -47.50, 3/6, 6.66460.87, 14/27, 5.9340.16, 11/9, 8.4559.18, 3/3, 5.3342.20, 2/3, 10.00547.71, 11/17, 7.3636.24, 9/10, 9.7725.68, 0/3, -45.85, 3/3, 6.66651.65, 6/25, 12.6656.31, 12/20, 6.7551.33, 2/3, 7.5039.47, 1/7, 20.00In a series characterised by the dominance of fast bowlers on pace-friendly tracks, batsmen from both sides struggled. The only two centuries scored in the series were both made by Australia batsmen. New Zealand failed to touch 300 in any of their four innings and suffered middle-order collapses in consecutive innings in Brisbane and Hobart. Australia, who produced a strong performance in Brisbane, were found wanting in Hobart as they failed to negotiate an accurate New Zealand attack. The only century stands for both teams came for the sixth wicket and both Australia and New Zealand averaged less than 40 for each of the top five wickets. Dean Brownlie was the stand-out batsman for New Zealand scoring 196 runs at 65.33 with two half-centuries.

Partnership stats for both teams in the series (average, 100/50)

Partnership wicketAustraliaNew Zealand123.25, 0/125.00, 0/0232.33, 0/15.00, 0/0336.66, 0/118.25, 0/0430.00, 0/128.00, 0/1527.66, 0/112.50, 0/0650.66, 1/051.50, 1/0In the short series, fast bowlers from both sides ruled the roost as both Brisbane and Hobart presented them with plenty of assistance. With enough bounce and sideways movement to contend with, most batsmen were ill at ease against the fast bowlers and their technique was severely tested. Australia’s pace attack was led by the lively Pattinson who impressed with his control and swing in his first two matches. He regularly bowled excellent lines and the New Zealand batsmen had very few answers to his ability to move the ball at pace. The Australian pace bowlers were far more successful against right-hand batsmen averaging 21.48 with a balls-per-dismissal figure of 41.32. Their corresponding numbers against left-hand batsmen were less flattering (average 36.25 and balls-per-dismissal 51.50). New Zealand, however, had better success against the Australia left-handers. Chris Martin in particular, tormented Phillip Hughes dismissing him in all four innings and ruthlessly exposed the chinks in the opener’s technique outside the off stump. Nathan Lyon also benefited from the bounce and turn on offer and picked up ten wickets in the two Tests at an average of 12.60.

Bowling stats for pace bowlers from both teams

TeamBatsman typeWicketsAverageBalls per wicketAustraliaright-hand2521.4841.32Australialeft-hand436.2551.50New Zealandright-hand1227.9230.25New Zealandleft-hand1522.5339.93Even before the start of this series, Hughes already had a problem with the ball leaving him outside the off stump. His woes were only compounded by Martin who regularly shaped the ball away making Hughes edge to the slip cordon. Hughes scored only 11 runs off Martin while falling four times. With David Warner scoring a century in the fourth innings, Hughes’ place at the top of the order will be under threat when Shane Watson returns. The New Zealand batsmen also found the pace and movement extremely difficult to handle. Martin Guptill was troubled by Peter Siddle and was dismissed three times scoring just 22 runs. Pattinson, Australia’s revelation in the series, dismissed both Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum on three occasions conceding 37 and 31 runs respectively.

Batsman v bowlers in the series

BatsmanBowlerNo of dismissalsaverageballs/dismissalPhillip HughesChris Martin42.7510.25Martin GuptillPeter Siddle37.3317.66Ross TaylorJames Pattinson312.3326.33Brendon McCullumJames Pattinson310.3316.66Ponting, one of only four batsmen to score over 12000 Test runs, has been going through a horrible phase in the last two years. His last Test century came in January 2010 against Pakistan and since that game, he has managed only seven fifties and averages 27.48. While it is indeed inconceivable to find a single reason why a batsman who scored 24 centuries in six years between 2002 and 2007 at an average of 70.36 is going through such a bad patch, in Ponting’s case, it is worth looking at the high percentage of leg-before dismissals in recent times. Between 2002 and 2009, he was out leg before 22 times in 153 innings (about once every seven innings). This mode of dismissal represented 16.05% of his total dismissals in the period. Since June 2010, the lack of balance at the crease and his tendency to fall away towards the off stump has meant that he has been dismissed leg before nine times (eight times by pace bowlers). This is a whopping 34.61% of his total dismissals in the period. Clearly, the best approach for Ponting to arrest his decline will be to deal with the cause for the high frequency of leg-before dismissals.