South Africa will open their campaign against India at the Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia on Sunday and this could be a tough assignment first up for the Proteas. The Proteas will have the benefit of a couple of extra day’s preparation and the opportunity to watch their opponents in action the day before this game. Venue and conditions: Thunderstorms are forecasted so it could rain here at St Lucia. The two games played at Beausejour stadium, Gros Islet on Saturday the stats suggested another sluggish surface. The five scores in the previous five one-day internationals were: 186, 172, 257, 149 and 177. The lowest total in that grouping came from South Africa against Australia when they cracked under the pressure of a World Cup semi-final. India beat West Indies there by six wickets in 2009 with Ashish Nehra taking 3-21. Trivia: Saint Lucia was founded in 1886 by Sir Arthur Sidders when he set sail from the port of Bristol. Team News: South Africa: South Africa are able to field probably the most formidable front four in the tournament. Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers ensure that the quality keeps coming. Smith and Kallis have fine records in the Caribbean. Dale Steyn was rested in the warm-up victory against Sri Lanka but he is expected to return. Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt and Morne Morkel all hit superb touch against the Lankans. Only Albie Morkel, Kallis and Steyn were the only regular starters for their IPL franchises. Kallis and Steyn performed with great credit for the Royal Challengers as did Albie Morkel who was part of the victorious Chennai Super Kings team. Barring injury there are a few selection dilemmas, Gibbs or Bosman, Morne Morkel or Rusty Theron, but the whole squad are proven performers in this format. Does Kallis open the batting as he did so effectively for RCB in the IPL? India: India, who kicked off their campaign against Afghanistan on Saturday, give one the feeling that they don't really want to be there, moaning about niggles and heavy schedules. Still, the … [Read more...]
World cup Review: Sri Lanka Vs New Zealand
Venue/Date: Guyana national stadium in Georgetown in Guyana. 30 April 2010. Debut: Dinesh Chandimal and Chanaka Welegedera (both are from Sri Lanka). Toss: Sri Lanka, elected to bat. Result: New Zealand won by 2 wkts. Man of the match: Nathan McCullum. New Zealand chase was going smoothly with Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill collecting baundaries after easly dismissal of Brendon McCullum but main hero of the match was his brother Nathan McCullum who scored 16 valuable runs in pressure situation and hit a six to finish the game with 1 ball left. Sri Lanka innings revolved around Mahela Jayawardene who seemed the only Lankan batsmen to time the ball perfectly and made his career best T20 score while debutant Dinesh Chandimal played an important innings too. Match review: The 2010 ICC World Cup T20 was off to the perfect start when two cricketing power houses - Sri Lanka and New Zealand - dished out a nerve wracking affair at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. The Kiwis won the match on the day after a good bowling performance that restricted Sri Lanka to only 135/6 in their allotted 20 overs. The successful chase from the New Zealanders was riddled with twists and turns as wickets and runs abounded in liberal proportions to keep the onlookers hooked on to the action in the centre.Opting to bat in the sluggish pitch, the Lankan openers found runs hard to score initially. Sri Lanka had Mahela Jayawardene to thank for their respectable score of 135/6. The classical Jayawardene stroked the ball to all corners of the ground with clinical precision during his breezy knock of 81 from 51 balls. Barring some help from debutant Dinesh Chandimal (29), Jayawardene played the lone hand as others struggled on the slow and low pitch. While his team-mates struggled to score runs in the slow Providence Stadium wicket, experienced Jayawardene's breezy 51-ball innings was a classic example of effortless sensible hitting. He also shared a crucial 59-run fourth wicket stand with debutant Dinesh Chandimal (29 off 23) to lay the foundation for the Sri Lanka score.Skipper Kumar … [Read more...]
