Another nerve wracking encounter, and again India failed to keep up to expectations.
I really don`t know how to get started on this post. So many mixed emotions. Should i be angry or should i support a team that needs not only me but 1 billion crazy fans from all over the great nation called India.
Let me start off with the usual match coverage
Dhoni won the toss an elected to bat. India got off to a flyer. Sehwag and Sachin tearing the quicks "outta" their attack. The dreaded Steyn also had no reply to our masterful openers. India marched along strong compiling a mammoth 87/0 in the mandatory power play(first 10 overs).
For a change, it was Sachin scoring at a double run a ball rate instead of Sehwag. That woke up not just India, but also the South Africans. Sachin was here and he looked set for another magical innings. After long i saw Sachin hit his trademark straight drive (with the Adidas logo on his bat in an "in your face" attitude). Sachin was home. The only thing that came even remotely close to that shot from Sachin was the blistering 6 he hit off Steyn over the leg side. A brilliant pull shot that went for a maximum.
A masterful knock from Sehwag too. It only came to end when India`s score read 142/1 in 17.4 overs. He was bowled for 73 off 66 balls by du Plessis. In came Gambhir.
Gambhir and Sachin steadied the innings. They brought some sensibility to the proceedings. What impressed me was how Gambhir got going. On the score of 1 he charged down the track and smacked one over the top for a brilliant 4.
The boundaries kept coming along with Sachin cracking 2 more 6`s to the spinners. Gambhir gave him good support at the other end. Both of them reached their respective landmarks in the same over, Sachin reaching yet another century (his 48th) and Gambhir completed a well played 50.
On the score of 267, the ball caught the outside edge of Sachins that went for an easy catch to Duminy off the bowling of Morkel. The score now read 267/2.
From here on things went disastrously wrong. Never have i seen a collapse of this sorts ever. Gambhir fell in the following over to a slower ball that was way wide off the stumps. It could have possibly been 4 wides had he left it. In the efforts to maximize the use of the batting power play, the Indians tried to push but they landed up pushing too hard. We were finally bowled out for a healthy but embarrassing(considering the start we got) 296 in 48.4 overs. Once again we failed to even complete our quota of 50 overs.
If you do the math, we made 29 runs and lost 9 wickets. Appalling!!!!!!!! Disgraceful!!!!
Everyone was trying to be a hero and play for the camera. What our players tend to forget(except Sachin Tendulkar) is that the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back.
Dhoni couldn't seem to find any kind of timing. Yuvraj got caught to an easy full toss. Pathan was out to a brilliant catch. Kohli also in the effort to push the scoring gave an easy caught and bowled to Peterson. Everyone is not a Sachin. This they have got to remember. And what makes Sachin who he is, is that he plays for INDIA. Not for a fat paycheck or for fame...........but for INDIA.
Lets not forget.....Ashish Nehra.........well what can i even say about him. Cannot field......cannot bat and definitely cannot bowl. He was supposed to support Dhoni by blocking one end while Dhoni could try and do something at the other end, but no!!!! Apna Ashish tried to be something hes not (a good cricketer) and tried to push the envelope himself leading to an easy catch at mid off. Well played Nehra....well played.
Not to take any credit away from, the South African bowlers. Chances are always given by the opposition, but it takes a strong and determined team to take that chance and crawl over the opposition. Smith is known to play the patient game and he played it very well on Saturday. He waited for some kind of a break in the Indian batting chain and the moment that break came, he made sure his team capitalized. After his first spell, Steyn took a beating. But he came back strong and hard. A good example of never giving up. Kallis and Botha did a good job with the ball too.
The Indian innings folded at 296/10 in 48.4 overs with Sachin being the highest scorer scoring 111(101) and Steyn being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 9.4 overs 5 wickets for 50 runs.
The Indians did start of well with their bowling. for once they bowled an attacking lineand kept the scoring down. zaheer was showing brilliant form. munaf did start of in his usual way, but was soon knocked out of the attack to make way to.....................NEHRA. a uusekess waste of spot in the playing 11 for india.
the south africans sttarted of cvautiously. not taking too many risks and waiting for the lose balls to come. smith and amla got them off to a solid start.
Smith succumbed to a slower one from Zaheer. Out, caught by Tendulkar after making 16 off 29 balls. The score read 41/1.
In came the ever dependable Kallis. Him and Amla steadied the ship putting together 86 for the 2nd wicket. Amla was next to go for a fantastic knock of 61off 72 balls with 5 fours. The score now read 127/2. Next was AB de Villers.
Kallis and de Villers both completed their respectibe 50`s before Kallis got out on 173 after making 69 runs and de Villers on 223 after scoring 52.
Harbhajan found some much required momentum taking 2 quick wickets to put the pressure back on the proteas. Duminy, du Plessis and Botha kept fighting for South Africa. It all boiled to the last few overs of the game.
Harbhajan got a wicket in the 48th over of the innings. To keep the pressure up, Zaheer was given the ball for the 49th over and boy did he do well. He only conceded 4 runs off the over.
It all came down to the final over. 14 required by SA off 6 balls. Harbhajan yet had one over left in his spell. But for some ghastly reason, Dhoni gave the ball to NEHRA. This was where we lost the game.
The proteas milked the 14 runs easily off Nehras bowling in just 4 balls to clinch victory from the jaws of defeat. Well deserved and a fantastic team effort to give India its first loss in the World cup so far.
India needed the win to book a place in the quarters. Now they need to defeat the West Indes to have a guaranteed place in round 2.
The South Africans deserved this win. It was a well won match that comprised of team work and a never say die attitude. The Indian team can afford to learn a few things from them if they want to make any kind of inroads into this World cup and come out laughing.
Anything can happen in the World Cup now and its high time a few things change. Our middle order needs to buck up. Dhoni has to attack more and not let too many singles be taken with ease. MSD, you need to remember your innings against New Zealand in the warm up games. That was a glimpse of the old and lost Dhoni. Nehra has to be out of the playing 11. He should be replaced with Ashwin who is in good form. It also wont be a bad choice to give raina a game.
But before I end, I would like to say that there are times when a loss is much more valuable than a win. India have had some close encounters this world cup, but its only been a few players` contribution and some luck that had kept us undefeated thus far. This loss would probably wake us up and get that tiger performance out of us.
But, at this point in time, let bye gones be bye gones. We need to support our boys and they need to know we are with them.
Win the world cup for us......win the world cup for Sachin......but most importantly win the world cup for 1.2 billion Indians who worship this game as a religion. Do what you guys can do for "OUR" country.
I am INDIAN.......I BLEED BLUE!!!
I really don`t know how to get started on this post. So many mixed emotions. Should i be angry or should i support a team that needs not only me but 1 billion crazy fans from all over the great nation called India.
Let me start off with the usual match coverage
Dhoni won the toss an elected to bat. India got off to a flyer. Sehwag and Sachin tearing the quicks "outta" their attack. The dreaded Steyn also had no reply to our masterful openers. India marched along strong compiling a mammoth 87/0 in the mandatory power play(first 10 overs).
For a change, it was Sachin scoring at a double run a ball rate instead of Sehwag. That woke up not just India, but also the South Africans. Sachin was here and he looked set for another magical innings. After long i saw Sachin hit his trademark straight drive (with the Adidas logo on his bat in an "in your face" attitude). Sachin was home. The only thing that came even remotely close to that shot from Sachin was the blistering 6 he hit off Steyn over the leg side. A brilliant pull shot that went for a maximum.
A masterful knock from Sehwag too. It only came to end when India`s score read 142/1 in 17.4 overs. He was bowled for 73 off 66 balls by du Plessis. In came Gambhir.
Gambhir and Sachin steadied the innings. They brought some sensibility to the proceedings. What impressed me was how Gambhir got going. On the score of 1 he charged down the track and smacked one over the top for a brilliant 4.
The boundaries kept coming along with Sachin cracking 2 more 6`s to the spinners. Gambhir gave him good support at the other end. Both of them reached their respective landmarks in the same over, Sachin reaching yet another century (his 48th) and Gambhir completed a well played 50.
On the score of 267, the ball caught the outside edge of Sachins that went for an easy catch to Duminy off the bowling of Morkel. The score now read 267/2.
From here on things went disastrously wrong. Never have i seen a collapse of this sorts ever. Gambhir fell in the following over to a slower ball that was way wide off the stumps. It could have possibly been 4 wides had he left it. In the efforts to maximize the use of the batting power play, the Indians tried to push but they landed up pushing too hard. We were finally bowled out for a healthy but embarrassing(considering the start we got) 296 in 48.4 overs. Once again we failed to even complete our quota of 50 overs.
If you do the math, we made 29 runs and lost 9 wickets. Appalling!!!!!!!! Disgraceful!!!!
Everyone was trying to be a hero and play for the camera. What our players tend to forget(except Sachin Tendulkar) is that the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back.
Dhoni couldn't seem to find any kind of timing. Yuvraj got caught to an easy full toss. Pathan was out to a brilliant catch. Kohli also in the effort to push the scoring gave an easy caught and bowled to Peterson. Everyone is not a Sachin. This they have got to remember. And what makes Sachin who he is, is that he plays for INDIA. Not for a fat paycheck or for fame...........but for INDIA.
Lets not forget.....Ashish Nehra.........well what can i even say about him. Cannot field......cannot bat and definitely cannot bowl. He was supposed to support Dhoni by blocking one end while Dhoni could try and do something at the other end, but no!!!! Apna Ashish tried to be something hes not (a good cricketer) and tried to push the envelope himself leading to an easy catch at mid off. Well played Nehra....well played.
Not to take any credit away from, the South African bowlers. Chances are always given by the opposition, but it takes a strong and determined team to take that chance and crawl over the opposition. Smith is known to play the patient game and he played it very well on Saturday. He waited for some kind of a break in the Indian batting chain and the moment that break came, he made sure his team capitalized. After his first spell, Steyn took a beating. But he came back strong and hard. A good example of never giving up. Kallis and Botha did a good job with the ball too.
The Indian innings folded at 296/10 in 48.4 overs with Sachin being the highest scorer scoring 111(101) and Steyn being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 9.4 overs 5 wickets for 50 runs.
The Indians did start of well with their bowling. for once they bowled an attacking lineand kept the scoring down. zaheer was showing brilliant form. munaf did start of in his usual way, but was soon knocked out of the attack to make way to.....................NEHRA. a uusekess waste of spot in the playing 11 for india.
the south africans sttarted of cvautiously. not taking too many risks and waiting for the lose balls to come. smith and amla got them off to a solid start.
Smith succumbed to a slower one from Zaheer. Out, caught by Tendulkar after making 16 off 29 balls. The score read 41/1.
In came the ever dependable Kallis. Him and Amla steadied the ship putting together 86 for the 2nd wicket. Amla was next to go for a fantastic knock of 61off 72 balls with 5 fours. The score now read 127/2. Next was AB de Villers.
Kallis and de Villers both completed their respectibe 50`s before Kallis got out on 173 after making 69 runs and de Villers on 223 after scoring 52.
Harbhajan found some much required momentum taking 2 quick wickets to put the pressure back on the proteas. Duminy, du Plessis and Botha kept fighting for South Africa. It all boiled to the last few overs of the game.
Harbhajan got a wicket in the 48th over of the innings. To keep the pressure up, Zaheer was given the ball for the 49th over and boy did he do well. He only conceded 4 runs off the over.
It all came down to the final over. 14 required by SA off 6 balls. Harbhajan yet had one over left in his spell. But for some ghastly reason, Dhoni gave the ball to NEHRA. This was where we lost the game.
The proteas milked the 14 runs easily off Nehras bowling in just 4 balls to clinch victory from the jaws of defeat. Well deserved and a fantastic team effort to give India its first loss in the World cup so far.
India needed the win to book a place in the quarters. Now they need to defeat the West Indes to have a guaranteed place in round 2.
The South Africans deserved this win. It was a well won match that comprised of team work and a never say die attitude. The Indian team can afford to learn a few things from them if they want to make any kind of inroads into this World cup and come out laughing.
Anything can happen in the World Cup now and its high time a few things change. Our middle order needs to buck up. Dhoni has to attack more and not let too many singles be taken with ease. MSD, you need to remember your innings against New Zealand in the warm up games. That was a glimpse of the old and lost Dhoni. Nehra has to be out of the playing 11. He should be replaced with Ashwin who is in good form. It also wont be a bad choice to give raina a game.
But before I end, I would like to say that there are times when a loss is much more valuable than a win. India have had some close encounters this world cup, but its only been a few players` contribution and some luck that had kept us undefeated thus far. This loss would probably wake us up and get that tiger performance out of us.
But, at this point in time, let bye gones be bye gones. We need to support our boys and they need to know we are with them.
Win the world cup for us......win the world cup for Sachin......but most importantly win the world cup for 1.2 billion Indians who worship this game as a religion. Do what you guys can do for "OUR" country.
I am INDIAN.......I BLEED BLUE!!!
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