The importance of batting through the fifty overs and having your recognized batsman until the end is proving to be a very important factor for teams to be successful at the World Cup.
In the quarter finals India went through a few anxious moments before overcoming Australia after their last recognized batting pair of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina put on 70 plus runs for the sixth wicket that took them pass the finish line. On the contrary South Africa failed to reach a modest 221 set by New Zealand as they lost their last eight wickets for something like 65 runs.
 Batsman should realize that there may be a stage in the game where run making will be difficult. At a period of time where boundaries dry up and maybe even singles are hard to come by it’s during this time that the batsman (especially the key batsman) need to make up their mind, be a little patient and play some ‘smart’ cricket.
They must remember that it is a 50 over game and not a twenty-20 encounter .Keeping wickets and having your recognized batsman throughout the innings is a fact that is required for teams to be successful. If your recognized batsman are in the middle chasing scores like even 8-10 runs per over is not a difficult task-as seen in twenty-20 cricket.
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| Yuvraj in roaring form at present took up the challenge once again and batted through the business hour of the game against the Australians. |
Despite dominating the Cricket World Cup for over a decade with three consecutive triumphs Australia never looked a team that had the ammunition to repeat that performance in the Sub-Continent. After the exit of McGrath, Warne, Hayden the Aussies were not a champion outfit. However it needed an extra effort from an equally good team to down the former Champions.
On Thursday, M S Dhoni and company rose to the occasion to dethrone the Aussies with a good all-round effort. First it was their bowlers who restricted the Aussies with some tidy bowling and then it was their batsman led by the experienced Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh that delivered the knock-out punch. It was nice to see a team that lost the toss chase down over 260 runs batting second and won by five wickets with over two over’s remaining.
In high pressure games like this the onus is always on the more experienced players. It’s something very difficult to explain but the more experience you have the less nerves you will have in pressure games that eventually helps you to perform. We witnessed this in the Australia-India game when the likes of Ponting, Tendulkar and Yuvraj came to the party.
I thought the Australians fell short by about 20-25 runs which ultimately made the difference. Like most countries in this world cup the Australian middle order batting has not delivered. Michael Clarke, Cameron White and the Hussey’s have not performed to expectations. On top of this the Aussies missed a good and experienced spinner. As a result the World Champions crashed out of the competition.On the contrary India is beginning to peak at the right moment. Although their middle order batsman are also not in the best of form the advent of Suresh Raina and the current form of Yuvraj Singh augurs well for the men in blue. With the ever reliable Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag, Virat Kohli and M S Dhoni the Indian batting resembles a solid line up. Their weak link however is in the bowling department. Apart from Zaheer Khan the rest of their bowlers have been mediocre and most opposition teams are aware of this weak link.
Pakistan extended their dominance with a resounding 10 wicket victory over West Indies. Afridi’s men now appear to be unstoppable. After defeating Australia in the first round they have now set the stage for a clash with arch rivals India. This game is something that every Indian or Pakistani fan looks forward and I am sure most Sri Lankans also love to see these two teams compete. The Organizers of the World Cup cannot ask for anything more. It’s like the icing on the cake.
The build up to the game is going to be very vital. Players need to focus totally on the game ahead and forget about what is being said all-round them. India will have that added advantage with their home crowd behind them. However the Pakistanis will take a lot of confidence with them after their excellent performances in the earlier games.
New Zealand grounded the high riding South Africans comfortably after executing a very good all round performance. After being 108 for 2, the South Africans stumbled to 172 all out. The Kiwis who earlier toppled Pakistan are now looking to be a dangerous outfit. Their spin department led by skipper Daniel Vettori is proving to be very effective especially in sub-continent conditions. They are certain to be relishing the prospects of playing their semi-final at the R Premadasa Stadium. |
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