3rd Quarter Final: The Come-Back of a Wicked History

I wonder if there is a greater sorrow in world cricket than being knocked out of the world cup after starting as one of the favourites, especially by a team that even the hardest optimist did not expect much from.

Nobody, as I said, nobody gave New Zealand a chance yesterday. After all, they were playing against what apparently was the most balanced side in the tournament. South Africa enjoyed being the best bowling side on paper, they batted deep, and fielded to excellence. They were certainly one of the sides to beat.

New Zealand, on the other hand, lacked talent. They lacked the sort of stars that most of the other teams in the tournament could sport. They were also haunted by a defamatory defeat to Bangladesh just before the world cup.

This was predicted to be the most one-sided of the quarter-finals, closely followed by Pakistan vs. West Indies. So much so that, people had already begun to talk about a semi-final involving South Africa. Then what went wrong? Did New Zealand outplay South Africa by pulling off a one-in-a-million performance or, as it has happened often in the past, did South Africa kill themselves?

Well, to me, it was a day when New Zealand did nothing wrong. They did not aim too high as they batted first and tried to keep it as steady - although slow - as possible. The openers fell early and Jesse Ryder had to meet Ross Taylor in the middle to form a fine stand of 114 runs. Taylor scored a vital 43 and Ryder top-scored with 83.

As Vettori said later, they were targeting 250. It is often important that a team does not get over-ambitious in a match like this. New Zealand were well-aware of the might of the South African attack and also their own limitations as a batting side. Hence, they kept going slow and at one point it looked difficult for them to even cross 200. Kane Williamson scored an unbeaten 38 of 41 in the final stages of the innings to take New Zealand to 221.

222 was definitely not a tough task for a team that batted as deep as South Africa. New Zealand, on the other hand, might have thought that it was their best chance to make a match of it by picking up some early wickets on the slow and sluggish Mirpur wicket where the bounce was never true. They got a lucky break as Hashim Amla got out early in one of the rarest fashions. Jack Kallis, the old horse, formed a couple of good partnerships with Smith and AB De Villiers. The South African ship was sailing smooth at 108-2 in 24 overs before Jacob Oram caught a blinder on the long on boundary to get rid of Jack Kallis. This marked the beginning of a play of fate that way going to lead South Africa to tears in the next couple of hours. Wickets fell as if there was an earthquake in Mirpur. Duminy was bowled by Nathan McCullum. AB was run out. Then came defeat chasing the last remaining and the only deserving participants from the African continent to confirm what was more of a South African loss than a Kiwi win.

South Africa remained at the bitter end of another tragic tale of a world cup qualifier, and, as I am forced to say - apart from 1992 when they had as valid an excuse as one will ever find - they should have only themselves to blame for acquiring this destructive trait commonly known as chocking.

Man of the Match: Jacob Oram

2nd Quarter Final: The End of an Era

Occasions don't make men stronger, but without an occasion there could be no exhibition of strength. The greatest measure of the fight in a fighter is how he rises up to an occasion, and India have showcased their share of fight in a phenomenal manner today in Ahmedabad.

Knocking Australia out of a world cup had remained an unattained dream for most teams in a generation. It was way back, 19 years ago, in 1992 when it was the last time Australia did not qualify for the semi-finals of a world cup. Since then they have played all the finals of the four world cups till the current one and, as we all know, have won 3 in a row. It was an era of utter dominance, marked by a gradually and carefully acquired habit of winning. Home or away, Australia kept winning. An Australian loss was as rare as a good ball from Munaf Patel. In fact, as the analogy might further suggest, it was virtually non-existent.

However, as they say, nothing is permanent in this world filled with fragility and change. Everything, how much ever significant and great, has an end, and today the team that had fought the best against Australia in their golden era and the team that had managed to ask them questions fairly regularly - although mostly in Test Cricket - marked the end of that era. Yes, I take immense pride in saying that it is India who have beaten the Australians in the quarter-final of the world cup 2011 and have set them right on their way home.

The dilettantes might believe that today's was not an exciting game of cricket as not many spectacular shots were played and not a lot of action was staged on the ground. However, the literates of the game would know that it was a thriller - more at the inside than from the outside - by all means. It was a match that pressure resided in like a permanent citizen and, soon as the match began, spread all over in the territories of both the sides like a fluid of low viscosity. Australia did well to reach 260 as Ricky Ponting played a fantastic knock for his fifth, and most probably last, world cup hundred. India, on the other hand, who have been one of the worst bowling sides for a large part of the tournament believed that they had done well to restrict Australia below 275. Zaheer Khan bowled brilliantly and rose up to the occasion. Harbhajan and Ashwin spun the ball well and kept things tight in the initial stages. Yuvraj, the statistically best bowler, bowled his 10 for 44 and picked up 2 wickets.

India came on to bat with a purpose and got off to a good start before Sehwag fell mistiming a pull as he was caught at midwicket. Sachin Tendulkar looked superb as usual and played some remarkable strokes all over the ground for his 53 and formed a good stand with Gambhir. Sachin was caught behind on Tait's bowling which was the only highlight of Shaun Tait's presence in the match. Otherwise, Tait was haywire, never settled down, and frankly, never bowled well. The occasion was a huge one and the match that was getting away from the Australians was once again well-balanced as Kohli got out off a full-toss ball and Gambhir killed himself running with Yuvraj Singh in the most bizarre possible manner. And when Dhoni got out shortly after, the Indian ship looked to be sinking and the famous Australian attitude of never-say-die suddenly looked alive and shining.

Then came the 7th man - Suresh Raina - the last person guarding the weak Indian tail from the lethal pace of Brett Lee, Mittchel Johnson and Shaun Tait. Yuvraj Singh, with great support from Suresh Raina, scored a match-winning 57 not out in 65 balls which, to me, was as good as a hundred. The two formed an unbeaten partnership of 74 which was as good a match-winning effort as you will ever see. Raina remained unbeaten on 34 off 28 and actively participated in writing a glorious piece of the history of Indian cricket.

Fascinating pieces of cricketing history have been written by the Indians and importantly they have a lot more to come their way. With this scintillating win, India have confirmed an appointment with their arch-rivals Pakistan in Mohali on Wednesday, 30th of March, 2011. That is as big a game as one could possibly see in world cricket. For tonight, India can rejoice and cherish a victory that would have tasted like a divine delicacy cooked in their own backyard.

Man of the Match: Yuvraj Singh

Pre'match'ure Take: India Vs. Australia

Excitement was never greater. India playing Australia in a world cup quarter-final in Ahmedabad. It's been days of excitement leading to this day and it has dawned. The quarter-final will be on its way in less than an hour from now. The toss will take place shortly.

Australia have been struggling with the bat but have a pretty good, balanced bowling attack. India sport the best batting line-up in the tournament but have been close to pathetic with the ball so far.

This is THE CLASH.

I predict a nail-biter. The fan in me wants to be pampered and wants to watch India sail through. From an analytical standpoint, too, I think India will have a slight edge today. I predict a 55:45 to India. Fingers crossed. The biggest match so far will shortly be on its way.