Category Archives: Match Preview

Preview: India in West Indies – ODI Match 2

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Match Details

India in West Indies 2009| ODI #2

Date: 28 Jun, 2009

Time: 08:00 PM IST

TV Coverage: On Ten Sports in India

Venue: Kingston, Jamaica

Series Status: India leads the four match series by 1-0

Playing Conditions

Weather: High: 33°C, Low: 25°C, Mostly cloudy, Rainfall expected, Humidity: 64%

Teams Form

In chronological order from left to right

India: NWWLW

India won the opening match of the four match series on Friday by 20 runs and has a one match advantage when they face West Indies in the second tie of the series.

West Indies: LNLLL

West Indies started the first match well with their bowlers doing well with short balls against the Indians. But, once Yuvraj got in to the gear, they could not stop the proceedings. They did pretty well chasing the big total in their innings. They nearly won the match as they approached the final overs but fell short of the wickets. They would definitely like to improve on their performance in this match and register a win.

Team News

India

Dinesh and Ashish came out well in the middle and impressed with their performance. There seem no brainers in picking up the team for the second match. However, Indians need to make sure they keep their socks up throughout the match. Dhoni has expressed that they got little relaxed after the fall of seventh West Indian wicket in the first match and managed a victory of only 20 runs after posting 329.

Possible Eleven

The Indian team would be going in with the same combination that won the first match. There is a possibility that Dinesh could keep the wickets instead of Dhoni, as he looked a bit tired behind the stumps and hurt himself on a couple of occasions. There is a slight possibility that Praveen gets a chance instead of Ishant.

India

  1. Gautam Gambhir
  2. Dinesh (/wk)
  3. Rohit Sharma
  4. MS Dhoni (Capt./wk)
  5. Yuvraj Singh
  6. Yusuf Pathan
  7. Ravindra Jadeja
  8. Harbhajan Singh
  9. Ishant Sharma / Praveen Kumar
  10. RP Singh
  11. Ashish Nehra

Preview: India in West Indies – ODI Match 1

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Match Details

India in West Indies 2009| ODI #1

Date: 26 Jun, 2009

Time: 08:00 PM IST

TV Coverage: On Ten Sports in India

Venue: Kingston, Jamaica

Playing Conditions

Weather: High: 33°C, Low: 25°C, Partly Cloudy, Rainfall expected, Humidity: 52%

Teams Form

In chronological order from left to right

India: WNWWL

India has won their last 5 bi-lateral series. They would like to continue their good form in ODI this season. In the last series, India defeated New Zealand by 3-1 in their home.

West Indies: LLNLL

West Indies have played their last 5 ODIs against England and could not win any. They are counting on their recent form in T20WC and promise to present a tough competition to Indian team in their home.

Team News

India

Indian team needs to forget their bad performance in WCT20 and start the series afresh. Some of the big names like Sachin, Sehwag and Zaheer are missing from the squad. Jadeja, Badrinath, Vijay and Nehra should monetize this opportunity by performing up to the expectations.

It would be interesting to see who opens with Gambhir. Will it be Rohit again or will any one from Dinesh and Vijay will get a chance?

Possible Eleven

Seems like only one from Vijay, Dinesh or Badrinath will be selected for the playing eleven. Dinesh or Vijay could be a good choice for the opening slot and Rohit may come back to the middle order.

India

  1. Gautam Gambhir
  2. Vijay / Dinesh / Badrinath
  3. Rohit Sharma
  4. MS Dhoni (capt./wk)
  5. Yuvraj Singh
  6. Yusuf Pathan
  7. Ravindra Jadeja
  8. Harbhajan Singh
  9. Ishant Sharma
  10. RP Singh
  11. Ashish Nehra / Praveen Kumar

Preview: India Vs West Indies

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Match Details

Group E| Super 8

Date: June 12, 2009

Time: 10:00 PM IST

TV Coverage: On Star Cricket in India

Venue: Lord’s, London

Playing Conditions

Weather: High: 19°C, Low: 11°C, Partly Cloudy, Mostly Bright, Humidity: 52%

Teams Form

In chronological order from left to right

India: WLLWW

India registered comfortable wins against Bangladesh and Ireland at the group stage but today is the big first test of the tournament for them. With Zaheer coming back to the form, Indian team looks very complete and the formidable batting order adds on to opposition’s worry.

West Indies: WLWWL

West Indies is as predictable as ever in the recent times. If it is Gayle’s day, he can win any match on its own. Bravo had a good time in the IPL and is capable of playing winning knocks.

Team News

India

Rohit has filled in Sehwag’s place pretty nicely and there seems to be no problems as such at the top of the order. Dhoni continues to stick to the 3rd position to play an anchor’s role, while others to follow him can hit big boundaries.

There have been ups and downs with the Indian fielding. Dhoni has shown his concerns in this area and scope of improvements. Bowling in the death overs is again an area where Dhoni needs to give a serious thought.

West Indies

Gayle is slotted to be back in the team in today’s match after he missed out playing against Sri Lanka.

Lendl Simmons, who was included as Gayle’s replacement, impressed all with his bowling and batting against Sri Lanka. Team management would like to keep him in the playing eleven in today’s match.

Possible Eleven

Looks like Dhoni will stick to the team that won both the group matches. Though Irfan Pathan looks like a weak link in the bowling attack but his ability to score quick runs in the death overs brings in good balance to the team.

India

  1. Gautam Gambhir
  2. Rohit Sharma
  3. MS Dhoni (capt./wk)
  4. Suresh Raina
  5. Yuvraj Singh
  6. Yusuf Pathan
  7. Irfan Pathan
  8. Harbhajan Singh
  9. Pragyan Ojha
  10. Zaheer Khan
  11. Ishant Sharma

Preview: India Vs Ireland

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Group A | Match No 12

Date: Jun 10, 2009

Time: 10:00 PM IST

TV Coverage: On Star Cricket in India

Venue: Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Playing Conditions

Weather: High: 15°C, Low: 8°C, Mostly Cloudy, Humidity: 94%

Teams Form

In chronological order from left to right

India: LWLLW

India has already qualified for the Super8. Although there is no significance of this match on the rest of the tournament but India would not like to give away this match. They will be looking to try out the bench and also give some rest to the members who have recently recovered from an injury.

Ireland: WWWNW

Ireland has already qualified for the Super8 and they have nothing to lose in this match. They have not lost any T20 International matches that they have played so far. However, 138 is the highest total that they have managed in any T20. Playing against the world champions could be the real test of their skills.

Team News

India

Sehwag has been ruled out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury. Dinesh Kartik gets a chance to replace him. India would be missing Sehwag in the Super8 where it faces stiffer competition from West Indies, England and South Africa.

Gautam and Rohit have been handling their job well at the top of the order and Dhoni need not worry about that. The middle order could be one thing where Dhoni would be using his own ideas deciding who goes in to bat. I would personally like to see Yusuf Pathan getting a free license today to hit the balls out of the ground.

Ireland

The heroes of the match against Bangladesh – O’Brien brothers to hold the key to the team’s performance. Niall O’Brien scored 40 off 25 balls in the early part of the innings while Kevin O’Brien scored 39 off 17 in the end confirming the win against Bangladesh.

Possible Eleven

Looks like Zaheer will be asked to rest in this game. Sehwag has been ruled out of the tournament and it is less likely that Dinesh will be available for today’s match.

Dhoni might give chance to Ravindra Jadeja and might try to play with only one specialist spinner.

India

  1. Gautam Gambhir
  2. Rohit Sharma
  3. Suresh Raina
  4. Yuvraj Singh
  5. MS Dhoni (capt./wk)
  6. Yusuf Pathan
  7. Ravindra Jadeja
  8. Harbhajan Singh /Pragyan Ojha
  9. Irfan Pathan
  10. Praveen Kumar / R P Singh
  11. Ishant Sharma

How can Pakistan qualify for the Super8?

clip_image002The 8th team that will qualify for the Super8 will be either Pakistan or Netherlands. In case, Netherlands wins the match against Pakistan or the match ends in a Tie or No Result, Netherlands will qualify for the Super8.

However, in case Pakistan wins the match, there will be a three way tie between England, Pakistan and Netherlands. In such a situation, Netherlands can not improvise on its current net run rate of +0.05. Thus, England in a way would have already qualified for the Supr8.

The decision on which team out of Pakistan and Netherlands qualifies for the Super8 will depend on the net run rate of both the teams after the match.

Group B standings:

Have a look at the Group B standings for more clarity:

Group B

P

W

L

T

NR

PTS

NRR
B2 – England 2 1 1 0 0 2 +1.175
Netherlands 1 1 0 0 0 2 +0.050
B1 – Pakistan 1 0 1 0 0 0 -2.400

Net Run Rate

A team’s net run rate is calculated by deducting from the average runs per over scored by that team, the average runs per over scored against that team during the group matches.

If a team gets all out in less than its full quota of overs, the full quota of overs to which the batting team would have been entitled are used for calculating of the net run rate of both the teams and not the number of overs in which the team was dismissed.

Permutations for Pakistan

Now, let us try to see how Pakistan can beat Netherlands such that it ends up with a better net run rate than Netherlands, so as to qualify for the Super8.

Scenario 1: Pakistan bats first

Suppose Pakistan makes 180 runs in the allotted 20 overs. In that case, Pakistan should restrict Netherlands by 155. In short, what ever Pakistan scores, the margin of victory shall be more than 24 runs.

Scenario 2: Pakistan bowls first

Suppose Netherlands makes 180 runs in the allotted 20 overs. Pakistan would now need to make 181 runs in less than 17.2 overs.

In case Netherlands makes 150 runs in the allotted 20 overs. Pakistan would now need to make 151 runs in less than 17.0 overs.

Quick calculation:

If Y is the number of runs made by Netherlands in the first innings then Pakistan should make Y+1 runs in less than (2540 + 20Y) / (174+Y) overs

IND, IRE, WI, SL, NZ, SA and ENG reach Super 8: AUS out of the contest!

This seems like action packed thriller, so much happening at such a fast pace! India, Ireland, West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa have played only one match each but results of other matches have helped them secure their place in the Super8. No one would have predicted this, only eight matches have been played and seven teams have reached the Super8 stage. 🙂

The battle remains between Pakistan and Netherlands for the last spot…

Group standings

Before getting into the details, let us have a look at the group standings after the end of Australia vs. Sri Lanka match on June 8.

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Group A:

Bangladesh having lost both its game is out of the tournament, thus the other two teams from the group- India and Ireland have automatically qualified for the Super8.

Group B:

In case Pakistan beats Netherlands in the final match of the group, there will be a 3 way tie… but in no case Netherlands, even after losing to Pakistan, can improve their net rate. This means that England is safely into the Super 8.

The comparison of the NRR between Pakistan and Netherland will decide which team out of them qualifies for the Super8

In case, Netherlands beat Pakistan in the final match of the group, Netherlands will qualify to the Super8 along with England.

In case the match ends in a tie or as ‘No Result’, Ireland will end up topping the group with 3 points and will qualify for the Super8 along with England.

What ever the result of the match between Pakistan and Netherlands may be, England has definitely qualified for the Super8.

Group C:

Australia having lost both its games is out of the tournament, thus the other two teams from the group- West Indies and Sri Lanka have automatically qualified for the Super8.

Group D:

Scotland having lost both its game is out of the tournament, thus the other two teams from the group- New Zealand and South Africa have automatically qualified for the Super8.

Preview: India Vs Bangladesh

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Match Details

Group A | Match No 4

Date: June 6, 2009

Time: 10:30 PM IST

TV Coverage: On Star Cricket in India

Venue: Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Playing Conditions

Weather: High: 27°C, Low: 17°C, Partly Cloudy

Teams Form

In chronological order from left to right

India: WLWLL

Last two T20 Internationals that India played were against New Zealand and they lost both the matches. After a big win in the warm up match against Pakistan, India is looking good for this match.

Bangladesh: LLLLL

They scored 206 against Netherlands in the warm up match and Australia piled 219 against them in another match. Their batting looks good in patches but bowling is the weak link.

Team News

India

There is still uncertainty over fitness of Sehwag and Zaheer to be in the playing XI for today’s match.

Rohit Sharma has impressed everyone with his knock in the warm up matches replacing unfit Sehwag.

Bangladesh

Shakib Al Hasan shall be the key player to watch out for from the Bangladesh side. He gave a fighting performance against Australia in the warm up match.

Possible Eleven

India

  1. Gautam Gambhir
  2. Rohit Sharma
  3. Suresh Raina
  4. Yuvraj Singh
  5. MS Dhoni (capt./wk)
  6. Yusuf Pathan
  7. Ravindra Jadeja / R P Singh
  8. Harbhajan Singh
  9. Irfan Pathan
  10. Praveen Kumar
  11. Ishant Sharma

Bangladesh

  1. Tamim Iqbal
  2. Junaid Siddique
  3. Mohammad Ashraful (capt.)
  4. Shakib Al Hasan
  5. Mahmudullah
  6. Raqibul Hasan
  7. Mushfiqur Rahim
  8. Mashrafe Mortaza
  9. Rubel Hossain
  10. Shahadat Hossain / Naeem Islam
  11. Syed Rasel / Abdur Razzak