Ricky Ponting doesn’t like the idea of a seven-match ODI series. It’s too long, he believes. Now that the first two games in India are out of the way with one win each, he can pretend his team are about to embark on a five-match series. That of course ignores the question of momentum, which [...]
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Bangladesh levelled the series with their seven-wicket win on Thursday but after one comprehensive win apiece the outcome of the third game in the year’s third series between the two teams is still difficult to predict. Zimbabwe were buoyant after winning the series opener by five wickets and gave the impression they had turned the [...]
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Bangladesh entered the series as clear favourites but were shocked by an improving Zimbabwe in the first one-dayer on Tuesday. Their captain, Shakib Al Hasan, remains confident his team is strong enough to pocket the series 4-1 and has demanded a better performance from his top order. A familiar early collapse cost Bangladesh; they crumbled [...]
Australia’s lead-up to their second clash against India in Nagpur will be more structured than the approach to the first, when their pre-match plans were affected by the late arrival of the New South Wales players participating in the Champions League final and their game-time strategy hit by the loss of Brett Lee and James [...]
Does the audience have the stomach for a seven-match ODI series? The answer will play out during the next couple of weeks. However, if you do get beyond the initial apprehension, this series is extremely vital for both teams. For Australia, as Shane Watson has said, this is a warm-up for the World Cup, while [...]
Underdogs in films make a mockery of the form book. Exhibit 1: New Zealand come to the Champions Trophy, sans superstars, sans high ICC rankings, and after being well and truly battered for more than a month in the sapping heat of Sri Lanka. They are – it is fair to say – the outsiders [...]
Sri Lanka will now be a distant memory for these two teams. Leading into this tournament, both Pakistan and New Zealand took turns in getting battered and bruised in the heat and humidity of Sri Lanka. They came to South Africa with doubts looming over their ability to stick it out with other teams in [...]
It’s battle rejoined. Just in case there hadn’t been enough of England facing Australia in recent months, the semi-final of the Champions Trophy has thrown together a rematch. There shouldn’t be much these two sides don’t know about each other, but the intrigue of this meeting is that it’s a straight knockout. Most expected Australia [...]
