Isaac Schrödinger

ODI no. 3267

What a stunning match between Bangladesh and Pakistan.

When their gut-wrenching disappointment dies down, Bangladesh will remember that they were just one stroke away from the Asia Cup title. And see it as clinching evidence of their progress. When their sense of relief passes, Pakistan will remember that they were tested to the hilt, but came through somehow. And see it as confirmation of their renowned ability to win the big moments.

Bangladesh were two runs short of their greatest triumph. Only once has a team defeated India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in a single tournament. That was in the World Cup 2003 when the all-conquering Aussies crushed everyone. Bangladesh could have become the second team to perform the same feat. Instead, they fell so agonizingly short.

The Pakistanis had to squeeze every ounce of discipline from their bowling to win this one. Afridi, Hafeez and Ajmal provided the best bowling figures. Gul got hit for a few fours in the end which ruined his figures a bit. Their batting was disappointing considering that they scored an extra 100 runs against India less than a week ago. Hafeez was too lethargic. Afridi and especially Ahmed made the important contributions with the bat.

Other stats from the historic match.

ODI no. 3265

The minnows spoiled the final which is to be played in two days.

It ended a mixed season for a travel-weary Sri Lanka, following the highs of Australia. Not too long ago, India were in their hotel rooms in Brisbane, hoping for a Sri Lankan defeat to push them into the CB Series finals. This time, in a hotel not far from the ground, they were ironically hoping for a Sri Lankan win. There were no back-door entries for a team which has suffered its worst away season in recent history.

India has some very talented batsmen. However, they haven't clicked at the right moments after their World Cup victory.

Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka and made it to the final of the Asia Cup. Had they lost, India would have progressed to the final to face ... Pakistan! Instead, it'll be Bangladesh vs. Pakistan. Pakistan is, no question, the stronger team. If, however, Bangladesh wins, then this will turn out to be their most impressive tournament ever. It would mean that they vanquished the three Asian giants: India, Sril Lanka and Pakistan.

Though, I don't predict that will come to pass. Pakistan, on the strength of their bowling, will win to become the Asia Cup champions of 2012.

ODI no. 3263

India vs. Pakistan.

Pakistani batted first. Both openers made centuries. The poor Indian captain used 8 bowlers to decrease the flow of runs. Pakistan ended at 329/6. An excellent score for their bowlers to defend.

However, the Pakistanis couldn't stop Kohli who, at present, is in supreme form. He smashed an epic 183. At one point, he could've gone on to score a double century. It's likely that we'll have a re-match of this game in the Asia Cup final on March 22. The Pakistani bowlers have got to bamboozle Kohli to win or alternatively score close to 400 runs or perhaps both.

Little Master was a bit slow

Tendulkar gets his 100 for the hundredth time! The next person on the records list has "only" 71 hundreds.

However, India went on to lose against the puny Bangladeshis. The upcoming Sunday match between India and Pakistan has increased in significance.

Dravid answers

Cricinfo:

What motivated him still, after all these years and so many runs? Dravid said that as a schoolboy, he remembered many kids who had at least as much desire to play professional cricket as he did - they attended every camp and net session, no matter what the cost or the difficulty of getting there. But you could tell - from just one ball bowled or one shot played - that they simply didn't have the talent to make it. He knew he was different. "I was given a talent to play cricket," Dravid explained. "I don't know why I was given it. But I was. I owe it to all those who wish it had been them to give of my best, every day."

He succeeded brilliantly.

The Wall will rest

Rahul Dravid, one of the greatest Test players from India, retires.

To me, his most memorable innings is the support he gave to Laxman who played the most impressive innings of the last twenty years. That performance in 2001 against the top-ranked team in the world will be difficult to eclipse.

Boring Misbah

That's the biggest sin of the current Pakistan cricket captain: the dude is seriously boring. He doesn't have the good looks of Imran Khan or the bursting talent of Wasim Akram or the flair of Shahid Afridi. He's slow, methodical and oh so dull!

His virtue? He wins most of the games. That ought to be good enough. 

Anyway, this statistic about the new T20 format is just incredible:

Afridi, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal are the top three wicket-takers in the history of T20Is and Misbah felt it was Gul's bowling that made the difference on Thursday.

Wow! The three "best" bowlers in T20 are all in one team! Imagine what they could do if they only had more consistent batsmen. Pakistan is the only team to make it to at least the semi-finals of all the T20 World Cups. The fourth edition starts in September. It should be fun.

Pakistan v ... Afghanistan?

The Afghanis are trying to become a 'full member' of the cricket world. They played Pakistan and, predictably, lost.

Pakistan's all-round might proved too much for Afghanistan's carefree spirit, as Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan and Imran Farhat set up an emphatic win with 77 balls to spare.

More:

To Ajmal's third ball, the portly Shahzad calmly reversed his stance and heaved a flighted offbreak a good 20 yards into the stands behind square leg. It was just one shot, but it came against the bowler who had looped circles around England's celebrated top order through six innings of tortuous Test batting. It was a statement as telling as any - Misbah-ul-Haq smiled wryly into the distance as the ball disappeared.

Figures. The pathans are known to be audacious and fearless.

Humiliation complete

Ugly stats for England at Cricinfo:

Pakistan became the first team in over 100 years to win a Test after scoring less than 100 in the first innings of the match. The last time this occurred was when England scored 76 but still defeated South Africa in 1907.

More:

For the second time in eight months (the first being India's series in England), the No. 1 Test team has lost all Tests in a series.

At present, neither India nor England are a 'great' Test team. The manner of their defeats shows that they're not even close.

Not a great team

Cricinfo:

Alastair Cook has warned his England colleagues that they face a thorough examination of their character if they are to avoid the humiliation of a 3-0 series whitewash against Pakistan.

Wouldn't that be a brownwash?

England still have a chance to win if they can quickly take wickets on the third day. The longer it takes them, the more tired their batsmen will be and the more rested the Pakistani bowlers will be. Fourth innings of Tests are almost always hell for batsmen.

Test no. 2032

The number one team in the world gets beaten by a team which is ranked fifth. The current England team is the strongest of the last 20 years at least. They've annihilated Australia in Australia and crushed India at home. They have earned the right to be called the best.

But then they folded against a rising Pakistan team twice!

... a total of 72 can never be acceptable. It was their lowest score since the debacle of Jamaica in 2009 and the first time they had lost two Tests in a row since 2008. It was also only the second time in a century that they have failed to chase a target under 150 in the fourth innings.

Two things become clear from the two Tests:

1. Pakistan have recovered from losing their two best bowlers who cheated and were sent to jail. Their bowling department is, I think, the strongest in the world right now.
2. Even with excellent players like Strauss, Cook, Trott, Pietersen and Bell, England cannot conquer the Asian conditions. Their performances have been exceptional in England but in the UAE, they've been wretched for a team ranked first.

England will try their mighty best to save the third Test. Otherwise, the end will be an utter humiliation.

Test no. 2030: third day

Game over!

What I said last month:

Pakistan, India and Bangladesh were one nation before 1947. Yet, the most consistent and impressive bowlers keep on originating from Pakistan. Right now, Pakistan seems to have the most potent bowling attack in the world. The series against England will be interesting.

England were defeated in three days by Pakistan. I didn't expect that. I thought their batsmen would fight in the second innings but shockingly they failed even more miserably.

England were disappointing, a batting performance unworthy of their status. But Pakistan have also made Sri Lanka look miserable here, and perhaps there is more substance to this revival than could have been hoped for? With Saeed Ajmal in such mesmeric form and Misbah's leadership more impresive by the day, Pakistan are capable of turning their Middle East abode into as much of a fortress as Karachi once was. On this evidence, Pakistan can be a power again in Test cricket and the world game will be better for it.

Yeah.

Test no. 2030: first day

When I read 192 all out this morning I thought that Pakistan had folded on the first day. Upon reading carefully, I realized that England -- the #1 Test team in the world -- had crashed for that low score.

Pakistan at 42/0. Effectively making England 150 all out. It's surprising to see the Pakistani openers survive for that long. Usually they crack under pressure and the middle order has to save the day but not today.

On a pitch that, initially at least, offered little assistance to bowlers of any type, England's top order folded as meekly as a shy kitten in a room full of alligators. All the brave talk about their new-found confidence against spin bowling was shown to be mere bluster. Whatever their success elsewhere, they have acres of room for improvement on Asian pitches.

Australia vs. India

One stat tells the whole story:

There have been nine 50-plus scores in the series for each team. Australia's four best scores, though, are 329*, 180, 150* and 134. India's top four scores are 83, 80, 75, and 73.

Here's another:

In the last 13 months, India have lost five Tests by an innings: one in South Africa, and two each in England and Australia ... Between October 2001 and March 2008 India didn't lose a single Test by an innings.

The Indians simply don't have the bowlers who can contain the English and Aussie batsmen. End result: innings defeats.

Test no. 2025

It's the fourth day and the last wicket partnership is putting the Aussie top order to shame. Warner, Cowan, Marsh, Clarke and Haddin scored a combined 23 runs in the second innings. Pattinson, a bowler, in only his third match has scored more runs!

I hope Tendulkar scores a century to win this match for India. He has scored the most runs, the most centuries and earlier this year he won the World Cup. The only big achievement is to win a series against the Australians in Australia. Let's see if the legend rises to the challenge.

Update
Dang. The Indians got spanked in their second innings. Ponting scored 122 runs in the match which also turned out to be the margin of victory.

Smashing again!

More praise for Sehwag. I didn't realize it but he holds the record for the highest, second-highest and third-highest scores by an Indian in Test cricket. Considering the legendary batting line up of the modern Indians, that is an incredible achievement.

Smashing continued!

Run scoring machine:

Virender Sehwag has blasted his way into the cricketing history books often enough during his captivating career. He has written entire chapters about fast scoring. He has helped his country to the top of the Test rankings, and to World Cup glory. He has set new benchmarks in the illustrious athletic discipline of most-slowly-trudged singles. Now he has clattered the highest ever one-day international innings, becoming the second (a) human being and (b) stocky Indian wizard to score an ODI double-hundred. Of all great batsmen, he has arguably been the easiest to dismiss, but the hardest to contain.

So true. A few months ago, he was sent to England while not fully fit. He scored 0 and 0 in the two innings of his first Test match. He completely failed. But we know what he's capable of as he showed the world yesterday.

Smashing!

Sehwag breaks the little master's record. Last year, Tendulkar scored 200 runs. Today, Sehwag scored 219 -- the highest score in the history of ODI cricket. Such a feat tells us two things:

1. Sehwag is super awesome.
2. West Indies have had a great fall from their glory days of the 1980s and 90s.

Oh, and Sehwag made it look easy:

Today will be a day for superlatives, and you could be excused for getting carried away and comparing this to Usain Bolt starting to celebrate in the last 10m and still smashing the 100m record at the 2008 Olympics. That Sehwag didn't seem to have to stretch himself might make you think so. Two hundred and nineteen might seem small the day he bats out 50 overs in good batting conditions.

I think that Tendulkar is the greater and more consistent batsman. However, he can't match Sehwag's appetite for epic hundreds.

ODI no. 3222

Crushed again:

Bangladesh had an opportunity to end a losing streak against Pakistan that has lasted 12 years, but the visiting spinners were good enough to put the target of 178 far out of their reach. The track was tailored to suit Bangladesh's strength - spin - but it backfired since they didn't have the batsmen capable of sticking it out long enough to entertain thoughts of earning a consolation win.

Pakistan, India and Bangladesh were one nation before 1947. Yet, the most consistent and impressive bowlers keep on originating from Pakistan. Right now, Pakistan seems to have the most potent bowling attack in the world. The series against England will be interesting.

ODI no. 3216

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka and take the series 4-1. Strangely, Sri Lanka will continue to be ranked higher than Pakistan. Though, given their performance in the last month, that artificially high ranking won't last long.

Soon, Pakistan will play Bangladesh which will not end well for the Bangladeshis. They don't have the talent to handle the Pakistani bowlers.

ODI no. 3215

Sri Lanka's last 7 wickets crashed for only 19 runs. It's quite plain to see that they have no depth in their batting and their bowling is just plain terrible. The next few months will not be pretty for the Sri Lankans.

The Sharjah crowd got their boom boom as Afridi's golden run in ODI continues. He smashed a half-century and then took 5 wickets. That's the second time he has achieved such a feat. No other player has done it twice. He can't switch it down for Tests but in ODIs he's the key player for Pakistan.

ODI no. 3214

Afridi, Akmal and Razzaq failed. Their combined contribution was 28 runs. Yet, Pakistan still won. Sri Lanka will lose more matches in the future if they don't bring a good bowling combination to the national stage.

Pakistan, it seems, is becoming a good contender for the next big ODI tournament. Their bowling riches have never been in doubt. Now, their batting is finally gelling together. Hafeez has done exceptionally well in the last year with the bat alone.

In his last ten innings, he has scored 508 runs at an average of 56.44 with two centuries and three fifties.

His added bowling talent makes him a very valuable player.

Update
Cricinfo also notices the importance of Hafeez in the Pakistani team. Before this year, I considered him to be a so-so allrounder. He made okay scores of 20-40 and took a wicket or two in every game but didn't provide enough to be a match winner. In 2011, he has improved significantly. He is no Saeed Anwar but then that is too high a standard.

One day late

I, or rather Cricinfo, should have posted this yesterday:

Wow moment
At 11:11 on 11/11/2011, the Proteas needed 111 runs to win. The Newlands faithful were instructed to stand on one leg for one minute. For those who had already indulged in a couple of beers, this proved challenging! I can't decide if watching grown men hop about is as funny as seeing all those 1s on the scoreboard is spooky. Either way, nothing out-of-the-ordinary today could compete with 21 for 9 - just ask the Aussies.

The South African cricket team is superb. They've got the best bowler on Earth at the moment. Their batting line up is immense with an all-time great like Kallis. Yet, they just can't seem to win in larger tournaments.

They have one of the best win-loss ratios in cricket but they've never won the world cup. They've never even made it to the finals! They've got to bury the "c" word.

A historical failure II

Oh the shame:

"Australia Test Team are 9 wickets for 21 runs. Yes, it's Australia and not Austria v Sth Africa."
Bryce McGain, former Australia legspinner, would like to make sure there are no misunderstandings

More reactions here.

A historical failure

The Cricinfo headline sums it up nicely: The best bowling day in more than 100 years.

Oh how far the mighty have fallen:

Australia were bundled out for 47, which is their lowest score in, once again, over 100 years.

They ruled Test cricket for many years. Now, they are not even counted among the best three teams in the world.

Busted for corruption

For the first time ever, cricketers are found guilty of spot fixing. The shameless clowns just happen to be Pakistanis.

The jury in the spot-fixing trial has found Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif guilty, by a unanimous verdict, on the charge of 'conspiracy to cheat' and guilty by a 10-2 majority decision on the charge of 'conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments'.

Pakistan cricket in the last five years:

Since the forfeited Oval Test of 2006, this team has suffered doping scandals, petty administrators, a coach found inexplicably dead in his hotel room, terrorism against a visiting team, and - for the foreseeable future - inability to play at home.

Soon, some of their players will be spending quality time behind bars.

Latent talent + sick deception

Cricinfo:

The alleged spot-fixing trial, involving Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif at Southwark Crown Court, has entered another operative phase with the first witness, the ICC's chief investigator Ravi Sawani, being called.

It's sickening just how coordinated they were:

The bet was for three pre-determined no-balls but bad light ended play for the day before the third no-ball could be bowled, the jury heard.

A series of "frenetic activity" on the phone between all four then takes place within a couple of hours of the match being called off for the day.

"It is an irresistible inference, say the prosecution, that between these four men, what is being sorted out is that third no-ball," Jafferjee told the court.

Why did these cricketers decide to sell their soul?

For cash, apparently. Lots of cash:

Much of the money was found in a locked suitcase that Butt said belonged to his wife and for which he did not have the key. When it was opened they found a "large" amount of currency - some of which was in envelopes and some not. In total the stash included £14,003 in one spot, and £15,999 in various denominations in envelopes. There was also US$12,617, 24,300 of UAE dirhams, AUS$710, 26,015 Pakistani rupees, $350 Canadian, 440 South African rand - as well as four mobile phones.

That makes sense. If he was cheating and obviously getting paid for it, then he couldn't deposit the money in banks.

The new kings

England crushed the depleted Australians in their own country and now the Brits have done the same to India at the home of cricket. It was twelve years ago when India were defeated in every match of the series. The major difference now is that they started the first match while being ranked as the best team on Earth.

Now, they're down to the third position. It has been a hard, humiliating four matches. The only man unscathed is the legendary Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar still waits for his 100th 100.

Interestingly, a senior Indian cricketer once pin-pointed what differentiated Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid from the rest. "They will murder you when they are on top of the game and score big hundreds with ease. But it is when they are down and things are not going well, even then they can last for three hours. The rest just wilt without a spine." That is the difference.

So true. The stunning loss of seven wickets at the end is proof enough.

Cook roasts the Indians

Alastair Cook scored a combined 20 runs in the two Tests before this match. It seemed that the Indians had neutralized the biggest threat from England.

Cook has just scored an epic 266 runs in Test no. 2003 and he's still not out! By Sunday, England will be ranked as the number one team in Test cricket. After crushing the Australians in the last Ashes series, this achievement doesn't come as a surprise.

Update
The poor fellow fell painfully short of a triple-century. No matter. India are not going to dig themselves out from under the pile of runs that England have so patiently accumulated.

What a sorry contrast it makes with Sehwag. He'll want to forget this match even before it's over.

Test no. 2001 - 4th day

Cricinfo:

England win by 319 runs. From a first innings where England were 124 for 8 and India 267 for 4, England have ended up winning by a distance. Staggering performance, really.

Yup. England came back from a miserable first day to clobber India. Let's see if Sehwag can light up the series in the next game.

Test no. 2001 - Awesome 2nd day

England fought back. Broad took a hat-trick to severely limit India's advantage. It follows that we got plenty of low scorers on the Indian side: Mukund 0, Dhoni 5, Singh 0, Kumar 0.

Rahul "The Wall" Dravid has had an exceptional series so far. The poor guy is just not getting enough support from the rest of the team. Laxman has been alright but Tendulkar has got to score big soon. India will have to bat in the fourth innings. Let's see how the Big Three manage.

Test no. 2001

These four players had a miserable day: AN Cook 2, IJL Trott 4, EJG Morgan 0, MJ Prior 1. England likely lost the game with those scores. I'd be mighty impressed if they win now. Dravid and Laxman are going to be at the crease on the 2nd day. It'd be nice if they pull off a Kolkata 2001 in the Test. The spectators will certainly get their money's worth.

Near the close

On the greatest cricketer of the modern age, Sachin Tendulkar:

Many players are capable of producing the occasional moment of brilliance but very few can sustain a level of performance that is truly outstanding for more than 20 years. This is not achieved through possessing a god-given talent; it is achieved through having a deep love of the game, a passion that drives you to regularly spend two hours quietly batting on your own away from the spotlight and millions of fans.

When he started playing international cricket, India weren't the best team in the world. They weren't even close. West Indies, Australia and Pakistan were the top three at the time.

Today, after two decades of professional cricket, his side is at the pinnacle. In a few short years they've won two World Cups and their Test ranking is number one.

I watched him on TV in the early 90s when he was just a baby-faced teenager. His talent and technique even then was truly exceptional. Along with over a billion Indians I will miss him too when he retires in the near future.

Talented, Dishonest and Cheap

The Pakistan cricket story:

Intikhab Alam, the manager of the Pakistan team, has said a small clique of players within the national side have interfered in the team's management, leaked confidential information and contributed to the divisive culture and controversies that have dogged Pakistan cricket in the last few years.

"There were times when, 15 minutes after a team meeting, television channels were running tickers about things that happened or were discussed in the meeting," Intikhab told GEO Super, a local television channel.

I bet some Pakistani players were being paid by the media to provide juicy details about the team meetings. It's not like one has to pay them a lot.

Not A Surprise

Tambi Dude left a comment with this link:

"In my opinion, if I have to tell the truth, they (Indians) will never have hearts like Muslims and Pakistanis. I don't think they have the large and clean hearts that Allah has given us," Afridi said during a talk show on Samaa news channel when he was asked about relations between the two countries.

That's the captain of the Pakistani cricket team. A non-Muslim has unclean hearts given his proper Islamic logic. Or as many Muslims learn: the kafir is dirty.

ODI no. 3148: India v Sri Lanka

Tendulkar didn't get his century but right now India is cruising towards victory. For the first time in ten World Cups, the host nation will be victorious!

Spare a thought for Jayawardene. For the first time, a batsman scores a beautiful hundred in the World Cup final and his team will end up losing!

India need 35 runs off 36 balls with six wickets intact.

Update: 30 off 30. Sri Lanka need a miracle.

Update: 5 off 12. It'll be over soon.

Update: India defeated Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to become the world champions. MS Dhoni ought to be the Man of the Match.

What a great tournament for Sachin Tendulkar. It has been a long two decades of cricket for him. And near the end (or perhaps the very end?) his team has won the ultimate title.

Update: MS Dhoni is Man of the Match and Yuvraj Singh is the Player of the Tournament. Both were at the crease when the winning runs were scored.

A glorious World Cup final for India and a sad, second successive final defeat for Sri Lanka.

After ten World Cups, Australia have four titles, the Asian giants have won a combined four and the once-great West Indies two.

The other "big" teams, namely England, New Zealand and South Africa, just can't seem to perform at the highest level at a World Cup.

ODI no. 3147: India v Pakistan

You don't drop the modern Bradman four times and expect to win the match. Pakistan's fielding was atrocious. They dropped Tendulkar four times and ended up losing by 29 runs.

I really don't know what goes on in Misbah's mind. In that Twenty20 final, he tried to be needlessly cute and today he batted like a zombie -- which put unnecessary pressure on his less talented teammates to hit boundaries.

Anyway, it's interesting that the two losers from the 2003 and 2007 finals will now face each other. I'd love to see India win for one simple reason: Tendulkar's legacy. I used to watch his batting with awe in the the early 90s. He would slice the fields so superbly. It would seem that not a fielder was within a mile to stop the ball as it raced to the boundary. His combination of talent and commitment is unrivaled today.

So, what better place to win the World Cup final than in your own home? What better time to smash the most epic of centuries -- the 100th hundred!?

The Chokers of Cricket

South Africa have one of the strongest cricket teams walking this Earth. Their win/loss ratio in the late 1990s was the best. South Africa was like a well oiled winning machine which would always seem to just stop working during a prestigious global event.

South Africa has now played in six World Cup tournaments. They have yet to make it to the finals! They have wonderful players. They thrash lesser teams in the usual cricket series but when it comes to big tournaments they are like the anti-Australia: they crumble under pressure.

Citizens of most nations remember the great victories of their teams. South Africans, however, have a history of famous defeats.

ODI no. 3143: India v Australia

God wants us to be happy. Next Wednesday, India will play Pakistan in the semi-final of the World Cup.

As of right now, the top batsman in this World Cup is an Indian. And the top bowler? A Pakistani. It'll be a game of awesome batting firepower versus a terrifying bowling force. Whoever wins that epic match will go on to win the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Who will win? I really can't say. Both Pakistan and India have defeated Australia who were the defending champions. So, they're both fine but in very different ways. Usually the better bowling team has an advantage which would be Pakistan but then India is playing on home soil. So ... we'll see.

ODI no. 3142: Pakistan v West Indies

I expected Pakistan to win. What I didn't expect was the annihilation of the West Indies.

A ten-wicket win is an utter humiliation. It's stunning that Pakistan actually managed such a feat at the World Cup for their openers have been atrocious. They finally clicked.

They've reached the semi-final of the ODI World Cup for the sixth time -- a joint record they now hold with Australia.

The victory means their first journey to India since 2007 to face either the co-hosts or defending champions in Mohali. Pakistan won't care who the opposition are, it will take an exceptional performance to stop them.

Pakistan will either face India or Australia in the semi-final. I want to see India's batting going against Pakistan's bowling. It's likely that over a billion people agree with me on this matter.

ODI no. 3139: Australia v Pakistan

The last time Australia were defeated in a World Cup match was in 1999. Who beat them at the time? Pakistan. Today, it was the same deal:

The first team to beat Australia in a World Cup in 35 games and 12 years was always going to have to play a big game to do it.

Another amazing coincidence: Australia were not knocked out of the tournament as a result of their defeat in '99 and it's the same today.

Pakistan's bowling won them this game. It is what always wins them games and what always makes them a contender.

So very true.

Let's see if Australia can handle India next. I bet that they don't have the firepower to stop the Indian batsmen in their home turf. Yes, the Aussies will not make it to the semis for the first time since 1992!

ODI no. 3128: India vs. South Africa

South Africa chase again:

Five years ago, to the day, South Africa successfully chased 434 to beat Australia at the Wanderers. It was a historic win, featuring the highest run-chase in ODI cricket. It was a day to remember and when Graeme Smith was in the field against India on Saturday afternoon in Nagpur, memories of that game came back to him for all the wrong reasons.

I blogged about that epic match at the time.

Poor Sachin Tendulkar. The guy scores a beautiful century, lays a granite foundation and after he gets out the rest of the team utterly combusts. Had the Indians simply played out the 50 overs, they could have just possibly won.

ODI #3123: Pakistan vs. New Zealand

For a change, the Pakistani opposition exploded. Pakistan's bowling was excellent for the initial 44 overs of the game. Then, out of the blue, began an epic annihilation of their historical strength. Ross Taylor smashed seven(!) sixes and plundered 114 runs in 6 overs. Pakistan simply didn't recover from that shock. They lost by a mammoth 110 runs. Their top five batsman scored a combined 30 runs.

I sometimes used to play as a wicket keeper. So, it was just painful to watch Kamran Akmal drop the second chance. Pakistan isn't going to progress beyond the quarter-finals with such an atrocious performance.

ODI #3116: Pakistan vs. Canada

The Canadians just didn't have the batting firepower. However, they did scare Pakistan by getting all of them out cheaply. It was shocking to see Pakistan not even bat out all their overs. Their historical strength has been bowling and they showed that today by getting the Canadians out for even a cheaper score. This result means that Pakistan will make it to the quarter-final.

But before that they'll face the nightmare from the 1999 final -- the Australians -- who're number one because they perform spectacularly well under pressure.

On the bright side, Afridi is enjoying writing his name in the history books. He should win the Player of the Tournament award if he takes Pakistan to the ultimate match.

I want an India vs. Pakistan final: No matter who wins, someone will die! Muhahahahaha.

ODI #3114: England vs. Ireland

The Irish are partying:

Kevin O'Brien stunned England with the fastest hundred in World Cup history as Ireland secured their greatest victory with a monumental three-wicket triumph in Bangalore. O'Brien clubbed a magnificent 113 off 63 deliveries as Ireland earned the highest World Cup run-chase with four balls to spare. After he'd added a match-changing 162 with Alex Cusack, John Mooney joined him to play the innings of his life and help write another famous chapter in Irish sport.

The English have a bad habit of getting beaten by their former subjects. They bloody invented cricket but they've yet to win the main World Cup!

ODI #3110: India vs. England

Wow:

On an evening that simply beggared belief, England tied with India in an incredible finale in Bangalore. Andrew Strauss was England's inspiration, producing an extraordinary 158 from 145 balls, the highest score by an English batsman in World Cup history, as England threatened the unthinkable, and set off in full pursuit of India's seemingly unobtainable total of 338 - a score that had been made possible by a brilliant 120 from Sachin Tendulkar.

One of the greatest games ever played was a tie -- which was also in a World Cup.

ODI # 3103: Australia vs. Zimbabwe

Another minnow bites the dust. Though, the world champions didn't crush the opposition in the way that India and Sri Lanka did in the past few days.

The last time Australia lost a world cup match was in the past century. Easy prediction: Their awesome run will come to an end in the next month.

ODI # 3102: Sri Lanka vs. Canada

Canada was crushed by 210 runs.

This would be like a basketball team losing by a 100 points. It seems that there won't be a upset any time soon. The top teams are focused and healthy. The minnows are going to keep getting thrashed.

ODI # 3100: India vs. Bangladesh

I just looked at the score. India at 222 for 2 with just over 16 overs left.

And Sehwag is not out with already a century. Pain. Lots of pain for the poor Bangladeshis. Bangladesh is the only 'major' Asian team to never win a World Cup. That's not going to change in 2011.

Drawing The Line

Kafir leaves a comment:

I am surprised that you can still support pak cricket team despite what goes on in that country and despite the pak cricket team being so religious.

I've been watching, following and reading about Pakistan cricket for twenty years. I do not think that by continuing to do so that I'm somehow supporting their views or religious beliefs. It has simply become a habit. The only manner in which I "support" them is by pointing out their idiocy and by commenting on their players and matches.

In a related way, my favorite music composer is a Muslim guy: A. R. Rahman. I've been listening to his music for over fifteen years. I've supported him more than any cricket team by buying dozens of his movie soundtracks. Am I supporting his views or beliefs if I buy stuff from him?

I'm unsure about where to draw a line. I just think that it doesn't go through cricket or music.