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Lanka end Kiwi dream run, enter final
Murali ends career at home with a wicket
India/Pakistan cricket quiz By Gulu Ezekiel
Skippers need to swap roles
Bookies back India to enter final
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Somewhere in the middle of the fortress of khaki that the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here has become, a band of cricketers trying to carve a little island of silence and concentration, even as the world was going mad around them. The match is a must-win - any India-Pakistan match is. But there is a larger picture which has been draped over by the hue and cry of cricket diplomacy at its rampant best. That picture is about getting into the final and winning it, a trophy that has eluded all the current crop of Indian and Pakistani players. “The politics around the match should not affect us,” India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said in his pre-match media briefing. “This is a big match and we are focussed on preparing for it.” But surely the hype surrounding the match would have some effect? “The hype is created by the media or sponsors, and we are not involved with that. Our role in this thing is to play good cricket and hopefully make it to the final.” So much is the focus on non-cricketing events, that not one question was asked about the team composition or anything such. But for the team concerned, and a few journalists trying to do their job, that is a big question. On the face of things, the sides pretty much select themselves, especially Pakistan, who do not currently have any real reasons for any changes. India on the other hand would be thinking seriously about the second seamer. Munaf Patel was the soft target in the match with Australia, as the batsmen couldn’t find much scope to go after the spin of Harbhajan Singh or R. Ashwin and even Yuvraj Singh wasn’t liberal. Zaheer Khan has become the champion for the Indian bowling cause but the second medium-pacer is someone who needs to be able to complement this bowling, which hasn’t really set the stands on fire in this tournament. The only alternative is Sreesanth, really. If Mohali retains even a percentage of its basic original character, the medium-pacers will get some benefit and in this lot that India have, Sreesanth is the only one who has the ability to make the white orb travel across the 22 yards with any velocity. He isn’t Zaheer, but given the rest of choices, he is almost the only one. If the team is thinking of any change, that is. Pakistan couldn’t have asked for more on the bowling front. In Shahid Afridi, they have a born-again bowler, who has made their attack that much more lethal. “I have enjoyed my bowling over the last couple of years. This is where I perform consistently. About my batting, sometime I perform, sometimes I don’t, so this is a side of my game I am focussed on.” He also agrees that this is a match between the Indian batting and the Pakistan bowling. “You could say that, though we have got some good performances from our batsmen and have some seasoned players too.” The battle lines are set, though one would struggle to keep one’s focus, given the amount of noise surrounding the game. But come 2.30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, hopefully all this hoopla will stop, and we will have a game of cricket.
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Lanka end Kiwi dream run, enter final
Colombo, March 29 New Zealand were dismissed for 217 in 48.5 overs. After the way Sri Lanka demolished England in the last match, New Zealand needed to post a score in excess of at least 250 to have a realistic chance of stopping the home team from storming into their second straight World Cup final. In the end, the Kiwis fell well short of that mark and now the Lankans will look to overhaul this modest score quite easily. The Premadasa pitch has played true so far and has shown no signs of cracking up. The Kiwi batsmen were struck by the M-syndrome from Sri Lanka with Malinga, Mendis and Muralitharan inflicting most of the damage. Martin Guptill (39) fell after doing all the hard work and so did Ross Taylor (36) as New Zealand failed kick on in the final overs. 36-year-old Scott Styris, who’s had a lukewarm tournament so far, rose to the occasion with a responsible knock of 57 which was the top score on the Kiwi scoresheet. Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara lost the toss but kept his wits about him as he rotated his bowlers with a lot of flair and imagination. Today he opened the bowling with Lasith Malinga and spinner Rangana Herath and it was the latter who brought him the first success when he castled Brendon McCullum. Jesse Ryder, who had played a crucial knock against the South Africans in the last match, looked uncomfortable against the spinners and lost his wicket to Muralitharan after scoring 19. Guptill had looked assured in his knock until Malinga rocked him with his trademark yorker. Malinga, who is the only bowler to have claimed two hat-tricks in the World Cup (one in 2007 and one this time against Kenya), claimed 3 for 55 today. While Malinga’s yorker was very much in place to keep the batsmen on their toes (quite literally), his other variations were also on display to disconcert the batsmen. Taylor was biding his time to go for the assault but mistimed his pull off Mendis straight into the hands of Tharanga at deep mid-wicket. An innings that was threatening to explode was cut short rather abruptly. Kane Williamson hit some rousing shots in his 16-ball 22, but was another victim of the Malinga yorker. Murali, who is playing his final ODI at home, took two wickets to take his overall tally in World Cups to 68. Mendis came back to polish off the Kiwi tail and the innings folded in the 49th over itself.
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Murali ends career at home with a wicket
Colombo, March 29 Muralitharan had Scott Styris LBW off the final ball of his 10th over to finish with two for 42 after earlier dismissing Jesse Ryder for 19 in front of a capacity 35,000 spectators who turned up to watch his last hurrah at home. He has taken 534 wickets in 349 ODIs to add to his 800 Test wickets from 133 matches, both world records. Interestingly, Muralitharan had achieved a similar feat in his last Test when he dismissed India's Pragyan Ojha in Galle in July last year with his last ball of the five-day format. — PTI
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India/Pakistan cricket quiz By Gulu Ezekiel
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I can only imagine the tension in India, where the media has hyped this game to new levels. It really does look like a fantastic semi-final, and a treat for fans on both sides. Here in the UK, the Indians and Pakistanis are treating the match as a final and it’s as if they don’t care what happens in the actual final, as long as their team beats the other in Mohali. India look the favourites because of their strong batting line-up. But if Pakistan have one of their fantastic days, they can come up trumps. They just need to get all the pieces in order. This just adds to the explosiveness of this semi-final. Pakistan have been carried this far largely on the work of their spinners, Shahid Afridi in particular. But this is India, a team that plays spin very well. It won’t be nearly as easy for Pakistan as it was against some other teams. The likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli won’t play spin with as much respect as others did, so getting wickets early will be key for Pakistan. In the past, a lot of Pakistani teams had two or three very good fast bowlers, but this time is more reliant on spin. In that regard, Umar Gul’s role as the leader is massive. He has to strike early. Gul needs to get a wicket in his first three overs to get some momentum. If Pakistan do not get three wickets inside the first 15 overs it will become very difficult to stop India because the hosts bat very deep. I’ve been impressed with the Pakistan opening combination of Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal. They have got it together decently, especially Hafeez. He has, of late, been able to stabilize the top order and give confidence to the middle order. Hafeez and Akmal can build the innings, which is good for Pakistan. What Pakistan would really need now is runs from Afridi. In such a high-pressure scenario, leadership becomes key and Afridi and MS Dhoni are two very different captains. Afridi is very emotional. He always runs in and engages his bowlers, talking to them and bucking them up. He’s a very involved captain, but sometimes he overdoes it. He’s always in his bowlers’ ears and as a bowler that can get annoying, believe me. Sometimes you need to trust your bowler and let him to his job. Afridi needs to relax. Dhoni is a very relaxed captain, not overly emotional like Afridi. He is always cool, even though he understands the game very well. However, I feel he is at times too relaxed. He doesn’t attack enough and often allows easy runs by having too many fielders in the deep. Afridi and Dhoni could swap a bit of each other’s characteristics, which won’t be a bad idea. Overall, I would prefer Dhoni the captain. He gives his bowlers breathing space and doesn’t get on top of them like Afridi does. — PMG
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Ponting steps down as Aussie captain
Melbourne, March 29 The 36-year-old Tasmanian, considered one of the world's best batsmen, however, made it clear that he was avaiable for selection as a player. "I have resigned as captain of both the Test and one day teams," Ponting said at a press conference at the Sydney Cricket Ground. "I will continue to play and I've made it very clear to selectors that I'm available for selection in both the one-day and Test teams. “I have thought long and hard about what Australian cricket needs. Now is the right time for the next captain to assume the responsibility for both the Test and one-day teams," said Ponting. He said that Australia's World Cup ouster had prompted his decision and insisted that he was not pressurised by Cricket Australia to give up the leadership role. "I've had no tap on the shoulder from anyone. This is a decision wholly and solely from me. I thought the timing was spot on," Ponting said. He endorsed Michael Clarke as his successor as captain. "I think Michael (Clarke) was quite surprised. I had a really good chat to him. He's probably reasonably excited at the fact that I'm doing what I'm doing today. I fully endorse Michael Clarke as the next captain," Ponting said. — PTI
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Bookies back India to enter final
Mumbai, March 29 The Dubai-based syndicate which controls much of cricket-related betting in Western and Northern India has pegged the prize money at 60 paise for every rupee on an Indian win. The prize of Rs 1.55 for every rupee on Pakistan has fallen to Rs 1.40 in the past two days. Guesstimates on the amount being bet on the World Cup amount to more than Rs 30,000 crore. However no accurate figure is available since the business is illegal.
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Just in case everyone forgot, there is a semi-final to be played. This match between India and Pakistan has become the main attraction, with the World Cup playing a minor bit role on the side.
Colombo, March 29
I can only imagine the tension in India, where the media has hyped this game to new levels. It really does look like a fantastic semi-final, and a treat for fans on both sides. Here in the UK, the Indians and Pakistanis are treating the match as a final and it’s as if they don’t care what happens in the actual final, as long as their team beats the other in
Mohali.
Just in case everyone forgot, there is a semi-final to be played. This match between India and Pakistan has become the main attraction, with the World Cup playing a minor bit role on the side. Even in that, the match in itself somehow isn’t as important as the mad rush for brownie points to be won at all levels, right from the ruling elite to the local auto-rickshaw driver.
