Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Role reversal for South Africa, choke NZ to win series!

An excellent comeback by the Proteas in the Extreme Performance Overs to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.

After getting completely blown away by Levi in the second T20I, New Zealand aimed to comeback and win the series while South Africa looked for the same with the momentum on their side.

Given the overcast conditions and forecast for rain during the match, Brendon McCullum had no hesitation in bowling first. Unfortunately, Kyle Mills was not fit for this match and Michael Bates replaced him while Jesse Ryder came in place of Colin de Grandhomme. On the flip side, South Africa opted for their same winning XI.

The last match massacrer, Richard Levi failed to impress this time around and fell cheaply to Franklin. The Proteas promoted Albie Morkel up the order as a pinch hitter, but after hitting a big six over wide long on, he perished. South Africa finished the Quick Start Overs with 54 runs on the board and a couple of wickets down.

Hashim Amla looked in fantastic touch but he became the victim of Bracewell. JP Duminy joined forces with his skipper and the duo amassed a 35-ball 62 stand for the fourth wicket. Rob Nicol inflicted a run out to get rid of Duminy and that began the downfall of the South African innings. Nicol was once again the destroyer as he claimed a couple of wickets in his one over to send both de Villiers and Ontong packing.

Tim Southee and Doug Bracewell bowled superb spells in the Extreme Performance Overs and didn’t allow the opposition to score freely. Wayne Parnell used his long handle towards the end to hammer 22 off 17 balls and helped South Africa to post a challenging 165/7 on the board. 32/1 came in the last five overs. For his knock of 38, JP Duminy received the best Batting Momentum of 87 while with a couple of wickets each, Rob Nicol and Tim Southee finished with the Bowling Efficiency of 89 and 88 respectively.

Have a look at the scorecard

Chasing 166 for a win, the New Zealander openers got off to a rollicking start with Rob Nicol, in particular, looking in murderous mood. They fetched 65/1 in the Quick Start Overs. Nicol batted with authority to punish the South African bowlers, scoring a 19-ball 33 but both openers departed within the space of six balls. 

Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder capitalized on the start and staged a 39-run partnership off 30. They were cruising and were the firm favourites to steam-roll the Proteans. The asking rate was around 4 and with Ryder in the middle it was all too easy.

The wicket of Williamson triggered the middle-order collapse and when Ryder fell to Botha, South Africa sniffed a chance to bounce back. They bowled some good tight overs and applied the pressure. Seven runs were needed off the last over and Marchant de Lange was chosen to do the job. He didn’t let his skipper down by picking up a couple of wickets but gave a scare to his side as well by over-stepping in the last delivery. Four runs were required of the final ball but Southee failed to connect with his wild swing.

Jesse Ryder scored his third T20I fifty and got the best Batting Momentum of 85 while with a couple of wickets at a better economy rate, Johan Botha received the Bowling Efficiency of 140.

The African giants defeated New Zealand by 3 runs in a thrilling match and won the 3-match T20I series 2-1. It was a close fight on the Index as well with the visitors edging out the Blackcaps by just four points. Johan Botha was adjudged the Man of the Match for his miserly spell and a couple of important wickets, bagging an Overall Castrol Index of 36. However, the top performer of the match as per the Index was Rob Nicol with the value of 52.

The action moves onto the 50-over format now as these two sides will lock horns in the first ODI of the 3-match series at Wellington on the 25th of February.

Brilliant KP hits second successive ton to lead England to 4-0 rout

Star batsman Kevin Pietersen batted superbly as he stroked a matured 130 to lead England to a 4-wicket win over Pakistan and in the process, inflict a 4-0 series whitewash.

Having lost three games on the trot and with it, the series as well, both teams were playing for pride in the fourth ODI at Dubai. Pakistan - to avert a series whitewash and England - to inflict the same. Both captains came for the toss and Misbah, after winning it, had no hesitation in opting to bat and it was then that everyone came to know that plenty of players were missing from both sides, either due to injury or due to illness.

Pakistan needed a good start but they didn’t get one. Mohammad Hafeez was dismissed in the very first over and memories of the previous few games re-surfaced. However, two youngsters, Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali, provided a refreshing fightback as they survived the English onslaught. The duo first took Pakistan to 46/1 by the end of the Quick Start Overs and then, scored 27 runs in Powerplay 2.

It seemed a nice and good passage of play but then Tim Bresnan got one to nip back in and take the inside edge of Shafiq onto his stumps. Pakistan started to falter from here as England came back into the game. Powerplay 3 yielded just 26 runs but Misbah held one end up to ensure that no wickets fell during that period.

But even he could no do much as the Extreme Performance Overs yielded just 58/6. Asad Shafiq top scored with 65 and finished with a Batting Momentum of 80.  For England, Jade Dernbach sparkled, with a career-best 4/45, ending up with a Bowling Efficiency of 196. Debutant Danny Briggs with a 2-fer.

Have a look at the scorecard.

238 was not supposed to be a big target for the in-form Brits but the middle order was looking susceptible. Junaid Khan got one to nip back in to Cook and he was trapped LBW in front in the very first over. Pietersen and Trott then stabilized the innings to take England to 46/1 at the end of the Quick Start Overs.

But then, Trott was dismissed by Rehman and Ajmal struck twice in the 16th over to leave England reeling at 68/4. England’s inexperienced middle order was now fully exposed against a Pakistani attack potent with spin and spitting venom. However, Craig Kieswetter then joined Pietersen at the crease and played one of the most important innings of his career.

First Powerplay 2 was restricted to the loss of 2 wickets, with some counter-attacking resulting in 26 runs. The duo took their stand to 109 before Kieswetter was run out in the 40th over and Powerplay 3 resulting in 19/1. Though England needed just 61 runs for victory, getting them at run a ball, sparked a bit of a tension.

But Samit Patel played a fine soothing knock of 17 from 28 balls to steer England to victory along with Pietersen who himself went on to score 130, getting dismissed in the 49th over. Kevin Pietersen earned a Batting Momentum of 162 for his efforts. For Pakistan, Saeed Ajmal picked up 3/62 and ended up with a Bowling Efficiency of 152.

England ended up with a Castrol Index of 52 as compared to 44 of the Pakistanis. The visitors won in the departments of Batting Momentum, Bowling Efficiency, Extreme Performance Overs and the Bowling Powerplay, the rest were won by Pakistan.

Kevin Pietersen was named the Man Of The Match and finished with the best Castrol Index of 71. For Pakistan, Abdur Rehman earned a Castrol Index of 47 which was the best.

Alastair Cook was named the Man Of The Series.

The two sides now gear up for a 3-match T20I series starting on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 1600 GMT.