Finally, a major trophy! It has only been 24 years!!! The last major tournament victory for India was the 60-overs-a-side Prudential World Cup in 1983!
The cricket-crazed nation is pretty much beside itself with joy right now. Such a thrilling win too. A 5 run win over arch-rival Pakistan - couldn't ask for more than that!
Sweet!
Showing posts with label Cricket. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cricket. Show all posts
Monday, September 24, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
!!!... India enters the semis!
Sweet. Two well-played matches in a row. That's always a good thing (and often a rarity!)
India won the toss and elected to bat on what seemed like a really green bowler's pitch. And to make it tougher, Yuvi was out for this match (tendonitis). We made a seemingly modest score of 153 for 6 with Rohit Sharma scoring the high of 50. But we totally ruled when South Africa came in to bat! RP Singh made a killing with 4 wickets and Sreesanth chipped in 2. Pretty sweet!
More here.
India won the toss and elected to bat on what seemed like a really green bowler's pitch. And to make it tougher, Yuvi was out for this match (tendonitis). We made a seemingly modest score of 153 for 6 with Rohit Sharma scoring the high of 50. But we totally ruled when South Africa came in to bat! RP Singh made a killing with 4 wickets and Sreesanth chipped in 2. Pretty sweet!
More here.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Woooo!!! Yuvraj goes ballistic!
Six sixes in an over! We haven't seen that in a while! Well, we haven't seen India play truly spirited cricket in a while (but I'll save that rant for another day)!
Yuvi rocked. And India won. Awesome.
Yuvi rocked. And India won. Awesome.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Those damn Aussies
Unbelievable! Truly unbelievable! The Aussies are on a 20-match winning streak in the World Cup. *grr*.
I was really hoping that SL would beat them today, in spite of their skeleton team. Apparently not. The aussies are almost invincible. SL really really needed the mojo of Muttiah and Malinga today. And they needed a better score to defend that 226 - that is a totally defendable score against most teams, but not AUS who ended up with a 7 wicket victory. Wow.
Some folks think that SL played its cards well by resting players and masking their strategy. *so* exciting! Can't wait for the semi finals now :)
I was really hoping that SL would beat them today, in spite of their skeleton team. Apparently not. The aussies are almost invincible. SL really really needed the mojo of Muttiah and Malinga today. And they needed a better score to defend that 226 - that is a totally defendable score against most teams, but not AUS who ended up with a 7 wicket victory. Wow.
Some folks think that SL played its cards well by resting players and masking their strategy. *so* exciting! Can't wait for the semi finals now :)
Friday, April 13, 2007
Those fabulous Sri Lankans!
A 6-wicket win! Weeee!
I'm hoping most folks got to watch SL's match against New Zealand yesterday. Muttiah and Vaas held the kiwis at bay and restricted their total to a modest 219 for 7. Pretty awesome given that SL was playing without Malinga! Styris was the lone fighter for NZ who scored 111*. And it just took some steady batting from the Lankans (Jayasuriya - 64, Sangakkara - 69*) to finish with 222-4.
Seriously, SL is the most entertaining team in the World Cup so far. They have high-energy fans, incredibly talented players, a WC title in their pocket, almost retired players who are still so incredibly passionate about the sport and they come from a beautiful, but highly troubled country that has had limited resources to spare for developing the sport. Mukul Kesavan says it all in his blog here.
Go Lankans!
I'm hoping most folks got to watch SL's match against New Zealand yesterday. Muttiah and Vaas held the kiwis at bay and restricted their total to a modest 219 for 7. Pretty awesome given that SL was playing without Malinga! Styris was the lone fighter for NZ who scored 111*. And it just took some steady batting from the Lankans (Jayasuriya - 64, Sangakkara - 69*) to finish with 222-4.
Seriously, SL is the most entertaining team in the World Cup so far. They have high-energy fans, incredibly talented players, a WC title in their pocket, almost retired players who are still so incredibly passionate about the sport and they come from a beautiful, but highly troubled country that has had limited resources to spare for developing the sport. Mukul Kesavan says it all in his blog here.
Go Lankans!
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Aussies - unbeaten!
Earlier today, Australia won (yet another) match in the Super 8 series - this time against England. Honestly, we thought it was going to be a much closer match. But the damn Aussies seem invincible! Ponting scored a solid 86 and Clarke stuck it out with 55*. I expected McGrath to be more of a force against England, but it was Shaun Tait whose mojo brought England down. Ponting's strategy was a stroke of genius - he delayed the final power play to the 27th over and soon the wickets came tumbling down!
Too bad that Pietersen's 104 didn't cut it for England. And I was a little disappointed that it was Roy who scored the 4 that clinched the match (typical flamboyance :) ) and not Clarke who was the steady bat all the way through.
P.S.: I have to agree with Bobbie: "Roy *so* looked like he had a hangover!" :)
Too bad that Pietersen's 104 didn't cut it for England. And I was a little disappointed that it was Roy who scored the 4 that clinched the match (typical flamboyance :) ) and not Clarke who was the steady bat all the way through.
P.S.: I have to agree with Bobbie: "Roy *so* looked like he had a hangover!" :)
Friday, April 6, 2007
Go Sri Lanka!
Caveat Emptor: This is a rant/post by a rabid cricket fan :)
So, I've been meaning to write about the Cricket World Cup and the debacle of sorts that it has been on several fronts:
India crashed out in the first round. The 1983 champions (That final is still one of my favorite matches!), the 2003 finalists could not quite make it to the second round! They lost their opening match to Sri Lanka, an extremely talented and passionate team, but a team they had beated in an ODI series just a month ago! Then they proceeded to win their only match against Bermuda - a first time qualifier in the ICC World Cup. The third match was a debacle - we lost to Bangadesh! A team comprising of some of the greatest cricketeers ever lost their crunch match to a handful of newbies - talented and inspired, but rookies nevertheless. I (and over 1 billion fellow Indians) watched in horror as our World Cup dreams were dashed. I've been talking about the World Cup for over a year now, even considering going to the caribbean to watch a game or 2. Guess I'm glad I wasn't there to watch this disaster.
And then there is the whole Bob Woolmer story. Considered one of the most talented coaches ever, he was murdered in Jamaica right after the Pakistani team (1992 champions) ignominiously crashed out of the tournament. There were rumors of cancelling the World Cup, the Pakistani team was held back for investigations for a couple of days, conspiracies theories seemed to fly out of everywhere, but the investigation is still ongoing.
It seemed too painful to write about cricket all along, but I finally have a new team to champion - Sri Lanka! The team that was (for too long) treated as the poor stepchild from the indian subcontinent has been playing some beautiful cricket. Though they lost the match against South Africa, it was a thriller to the end. Malinga's fabulous bowling almost won the match for them, even after the Sri Lankan batting lineup failed to impress! But the last match against England ... o.m.g. It was fabulous! A real nailbiter to the end. And Fernando bowling out Bopara was the perfect end to the match. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
P.S.: Malinga's hair *rocks*!
So, I've been meaning to write about the Cricket World Cup and the debacle of sorts that it has been on several fronts:
India crashed out in the first round. The 1983 champions (That final is still one of my favorite matches!), the 2003 finalists could not quite make it to the second round! They lost their opening match to Sri Lanka, an extremely talented and passionate team, but a team they had beated in an ODI series just a month ago! Then they proceeded to win their only match against Bermuda - a first time qualifier in the ICC World Cup. The third match was a debacle - we lost to Bangadesh! A team comprising of some of the greatest cricketeers ever lost their crunch match to a handful of newbies - talented and inspired, but rookies nevertheless. I (and over 1 billion fellow Indians) watched in horror as our World Cup dreams were dashed. I've been talking about the World Cup for over a year now, even considering going to the caribbean to watch a game or 2. Guess I'm glad I wasn't there to watch this disaster.
And then there is the whole Bob Woolmer story. Considered one of the most talented coaches ever, he was murdered in Jamaica right after the Pakistani team (1992 champions) ignominiously crashed out of the tournament. There were rumors of cancelling the World Cup, the Pakistani team was held back for investigations for a couple of days, conspiracies theories seemed to fly out of everywhere, but the investigation is still ongoing.
It seemed too painful to write about cricket all along, but I finally have a new team to champion - Sri Lanka! The team that was (for too long) treated as the poor stepchild from the indian subcontinent has been playing some beautiful cricket. Though they lost the match against South Africa, it was a thriller to the end. Malinga's fabulous bowling almost won the match for them, even after the Sri Lankan batting lineup failed to impress! But the last match against England ... o.m.g. It was fabulous! A real nailbiter to the end. And Fernando bowling out Bopara was the perfect end to the match. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
P.S.: Malinga's hair *rocks*!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
10 days and counting!
That's right! 10 more days to the start of the cricket World Cup. I am *so* excited! And Dada has been rockin', I can't wait to watch him play!
I really really wish I was going to watch the world cup, can't think of anything better than watching cricket AND bumming on the beach! But I'll be watching the matches and rooting for India and maybe we will see a repeat of our legendary win in 1983!
I really really wish I was going to watch the world cup, can't think of anything better than watching cricket AND bumming on the beach! But I'll be watching the matches and rooting for India and maybe we will see a repeat of our legendary win in 1983!
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