A statistical preview to the three-Test series between India and Sri Lanka

Siddhartha Talya15-Nov-2009Muttiah Muralitharan has much to make up for in what could perhaps be his last full tour of India•AFPThe teams have played 29 Tests, of which India have won 11 and Sri Lanka five. India have an unblemished record at home, winning eight of the 14 games and drawing six. Sri Lanka, on their previous visit to India, were beaten 0-2. In 2009, India have played just three Tests and won one, against New Zealand. Sri Lanka have enjoyed an unbeaten run this year, with five wins out of eight games, including three series victories.Tendulkar has the best average among Indian batsmen against Sri Lanka, with 56.32 for his 1408 runs. Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh also average above 50, while Rahul Dravid has managed 44.80 in 14 Tests. At home, however, Tendulkar experiences a significant blip while Sehwag, with an average of 18.66, and Gambhir, with 10.80, do far worse.The Indian batsmen tasted plenty of success on the tour of New Zealand. Gautam Gambhir was the most prolific, hammering two centuries and averaging 89. Five out of seven frontline batsmen averaged over 50, Sehwag and Yuvraj being the exceptions.For Sri Lanka, Thilan Samaraweera has been unstoppable. He’s the highest run-getter this year, taking full toll of favourable subcontinental conditions, and averages a staggering 83.30 in just eight Tests. Tillakaratne Dilshan has succeeded in his role as opener in all forms of the game, and has impressed with 849 runs this year with an average of 70.75 and backed it up with a strike-rate of over 85. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara are also in good touch, with strong performances against New Zealand and Pakistan respectively.Jayawardene has been Sri Lanka’s best performer against India, with an average of 68.29, including four centuries and seven fifties. Sangakkara hasn’t done badly either, while Samaraweera and Dilshan both average above 50. Their record in India, however, has been below-par. Sangakkara (24.80) and Samaraweera (10.80) have struggled. Others, like Prasanna Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews and Tharanga Paranavitana are yet to play in India.Harbhajan Singh tops the wickets tally for India this year. But his performances in one-dayers have come in for criticism. Zaheer Khan, who has recovered from his shoulder injury, too, played an important role in New Zealand, taking 13 wickets at 30.76. Sreesanth makes a comeback after more than a year while the spin duo of Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra haven’t played a Test in 2009.Among the frontline bowlers in the Indian squad, only Harbhajan, Zaheer and Ishant Sharma have played a Test against Sri Lanka. All three average above 30; at home, Harbhajan’s the only bowler to have played them, and he’s done far better, taking 14 wickes at 22.28.Rangana Herath has been the foremost among Sri Lanka’s new stars. He’s grabbed 23 wickets at 26.65 this year, while their pace bowlers, Thilan Thushara, and especially Nuwan Kulasekara, have been highly effective. Murali’s not had his best year; he averages 35.52, and has limited success against India. He averages 39.58 in India and will want to make amends on what could perhaps be his last overseas tour. Ajantha Mendis’ form has declined rapidly while Dammika Prasad will have fond memories of his performance in the third Test against India last year, when he grabbed five wickets in the game on debut.(Click here for Sri Lanka’s bowling record against India.)Laxman has handled Murali particularly well, averaging 72 against him, while Sehwag has done better with 85. Murali’s had the wood on Tendulkar, whom he’s dismissed five times at an average of 16.80, as well as Dravid, who’s fallen to him seven times, averaging 28.85. Sehwag has dominated Mendis, scoring 77 in 84 balls without being dismissed and Tendulkar, too, has played him well, averaging 57. But the others have struggled; Laxman has been dismissed five times, and Dravid on four occasions – both average under 17. Gambhir, like against Murali, has been snared thrice, at 27.33Jayawardene has excelled against Harbhajan, averaging 83.33, while both Dilshan and Sangakkara average over 60. Harbhajan has had more success against Samaraweera, taking his wicket thrice at 37 but has troubled Prasanna Jayawardene the most, accounting for him thrice at 13. Zaheer has done better against the Sri Lankan top order, snapping Sangakkara on four occasions at 27.50. He’s dismissed Samaraweera twice at 31 but Jayawardene, again, has dealt with him comfortably, scoring 104 runs and being dismissed just once.India have played nine Tests at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, winning three and losing two. They played Sri Lanka here in 2005, and won convincingly, by 259 runs. They returned three years later and were bowled out for 76 on the first day against South Africa to lose by an innings.The statistics at the venue indicate the Test against South Africa last year was somewhat of an aberration. The trend has generally been that bowlers have derived more out of the conditions as the game has progressed. The first innings has been the most productive, with teams averaging 42.38 per wicket. It drops down to 30.32 in the second, 29.77 in the third and 23.14 in the fourth.Teams have opted to bat eight out of nine occasions in Ahmedabad, winning twice and losing as many times. The only time a team opted to field, it won, in the very first game to be held at he venue.

Stats highlights from the first day’s play between India and Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad

Siddhartha Talya16-Nov-2009

• India’s 385 for 6 on the first day in Ahmedabad is their second-highest total in a single day of a Test. They fell one short of the 386 against South Africa, which they achieved on the third day of the Chennai Test in 2008. On a flat deck, they reached 468 for 1 at stumps after beginning the day on 82 without loss. Earlier this year, India managed 375 for 9 on the opening day of the third Test against New Zealand in Wellington, their second-highest overseas total in a day, behind the 378 against England on the third day of the Oval Test in 1936. (They began the day on 156 for 3, were bowled out for 222 and made 312 during the follow-on).
• Rahul Dravid’s 27th Test century was only his second against Sri Lanka in 15 Tests. He’s edged ahead of Mahela Jayawardene and Garry Sobers – who have 26 Test centuries to their name – in the list of players with most hundreds in Test cricket.
• Dravid, upon getting to 177, reached 11,000 runs in Test cricket, the fifth batsman, and the second Indian, to do so. He is now fourth on the list of highest run-getters in all cricket (Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 Internationals) with 21,765.
• Dravid also reached a personal best of most runs scored in a single day of a Test. He went past the 156 (43 to 199) he scored against Australia on the third day of the Adelaide Test in 2003 during his epic 233.
• Dravid was involved in two century stands today, with Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, which took his Test tally to 78 and stretched his lead against Ricky Ponting (who has 75) by three. Ponting reached 75 by being involved in five century-stands this year; Dravid, too, has five to his name in 2009, but in fewer Tests – four, as opposed to Ponting’s nine. Sachin Tendulkar is third on the list of batsmen with most century-stands, 71, followed by Steve Waugh (64).
• The 224-run sixth wicket stand with Dhoni was Dravid’s 12th in excess of 200. It ranks No.3 in the highest sixth-wicket stands for India, overtaking Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin’s 222 against South Africa in Cape Town in 1997.
• Dhoni’s 159-ball 110 was only his second century in 38 Tests, and his first in more than three years. Among Indian batsmen who have played 40 or fewer Tests with more than 2000 runs, only two other batsmen have done worse: Chetan Chauhan and Ajit Wadekar. However, Dhoni’s career is still ongoing unlike most others in the list.
• Dravid was his most aggressive against the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, Chanaka Welegedara, scoring 44 off 40 balls. He took Muttiah Muralitharan for 45 off 61, and was most watchful against Angelo Mathews, who conceded 26 off 45. Dhoni was harsh on Dammika Prasad, scoring 26 off 24, but was eventually dismissed by him. He took the two frontline spinners, Murali and Rangana Herath, for 66 in 106.

For a New Zealand side that is struggling to get some runs on the board, the McLean Park in Napier represents the best opportunity to regain their confidence and form

Cricinfo staff09-Dec-2009For a New Zealand side that is struggling to get some runs on the board, the McLean Park in Napier represents the best opportunity to regain their confidence and form. The bad news for them, though, is that all those runs haven’t yet converted into a Test win for them at this ground – in eight Tests they’ve drawn six and lost two. Pakistan’s only Test here was the first one at this venue, way back in 1979. The match was a tame draw, with the most fascinating aspect being the battle between two outstanding allrounders: both Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee took five wickets in the match, and each got the other out.

New Zealand and Pakistan in Napier Tests

TeamTestsWonLostDrawnNew Zealand8026Pakistan1001New Zealand haven’t yet won a Test here, but it’s been their best batting venue at home. Since 2000, they’ve scored six centuries in five Tests, which includes one match when they didn’t get to bat at all. The last time they played at the McLean Park, against India earlier in 2009, three batsmen – Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum – got hundreds, but India saved the game thanks to Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman. Here’s another stat that will encourage New Zealand’s batsmen – they’ve scored more hundreds here in five games (effectively four) than they have in 15 Tests in Wellington, the venue where they were badly beaten by Pakistan in the second Test.

New Zealand’s batting stats at home venues in Tests since 2000

VenueTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sMcLean Park, Napier5248138.766/ 15Seddon Park, Hamilton8366531.3210/ 14AMI Stadium, Christchurch4199830.273/ 7University Oval, Dunedin3129830.182/ 7Basin Reserve, Wellington15615827.865/ 33Eden Park, Auckland6276825.163/ 15Among the batsmen in the current squad, Taylor, Tim McIntosh and McCullum all have excellent averages here. They’ve all scored hundreds here, while Daniel Vettori has a healthy average of 35.25 in his four Tests.Perhaps even more compelling than all those stats is Chris Martin’s batting numbers at McLean Park – he averages 14 here, his highest at any venue.

New Zealand batsmen in Napier Tests (Qual: > 1 Test)

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sRoss Taylor327755.401/ 1Tim McIntosh215150.331/ 0Brendon McCullum532246.001/ 1Daniel Vettori414135.250/ 1The bowling stats, though, don’t look as impressive, with Martin and Vettori both conceding more than 40 runs per wicket. Tim Southee took five in his only Test, against England, but Jeetan Patel has been the highest wicket-taker here since 2000, taking 14 in three Tests at an impressive average of 33.71, suggesting he could replace one of the fast bowlers in the line-up. He has a strike rate of 79 balls per wicket here, which is much better than Vettori’s strike rate of 111. Overall since 2000, fast bowlers average 41.57 per wicket, which is relatively high but still better than the spinners’ average of 46.97.

New Zealand bowlers in Tests in Napier

BowlerTestsWicketsAverageStrike rate5WI/ 10WMTim Southee1527.8056.61/ 0Jeetan Patel31433.7178.71/ 0Iain O’Brien2936.1163.81/ 0Chris Martin41240.0873.00/ 0Daniel Vettori41145.72110.70/ 0The innings-wise averages further illustrates how good this pitch generally is for batting through the entire Test – the fourth-innings average is almost 44 runs per wicket. Not surprisingly, six out of eight captains have chosen to bat after winning the toss.

Average runs per wicket in each innings in Napier since 2000

1st innings2nd innings3rd innings4th innings46.4133.5550.1943.86

Australia fought hard, but the lack of a good spin option was a huge handicap in the two-Test series

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan15-Oct-2010India reasserted their home dominance with a seven-wicket win in Bangalore which was their first at the venue in 15 years. The 2-0 defeat was the first time Australia lost all Tests of a series of at least two Tests since 1982-83. Australia are yet to beat India in a Test since the acrimonious Sydney match – they have lost five and drawn three out of eight matches played. Since 2000, India have challenged them both home and away, and have won 12 Tests to Australia’s 10 since the inception of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 1996. Both teams have been much more convincing at home, though Australia have won a series in India while India are yet to triumph in an away series.

India’s Test record against Australia

	Played	Won	Lost	Draw
1990s	11	3	7	1
2000s overall	22	9	7	6
2000s in India	13	7	3	3
2000s in Australia	9	2	4	3

The first Test at Mohali was incredibly close, but VVS Laxman’s superb 73 guided India to a narrow one-wicket victory. The Bangalore Test hung in the balance for more than three days, but excellent bowling on the fourth afternoon and disciplined batting on the final day swung the fortunes India’s way. In both the matches, the first innings proved to be a high scoring one, but witnessed collapses in the latter half of the innings. India lost their last five wickets for nine runs in Bangalore and for 23 runs in Mohali, which must be a source of concern before the tour of South Africa later in the year. Australia, on the other hand had strong starts, but were let down by poor middle-order batting in both games. In an otherwise closely contested series, India’s more experienced and skillful bowling attack proved to be the difference.

Overall performance of both teams

Team	Innings	Runs	Batting average	100s	50s	Wickets	Bowling average	5WI	10WM
India	38	1221	38.15	2	7	38	33.28	1	0
Australia	44	1229	30.72	2	7	31	40.06	1	0

The difference between the batsmen of both teams was immense: India had three who averaged 75 or more; Australia had none. Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting were clearly Australia’s best batsmen , but Ponting let the team down by his conversion rate: he had three fifties, but his highest score in the series was 77. Watson and Marcus North were the only centurions, but apart from his century, North scored 13 runs in three innings. Australia were let down most by the failures of Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey – both are considered good players of spin, but both had a rough time, with Clarke being especially poor. Hussey’s average fell below 50 for the first time in his career since November 2005 while Clarke, who entered the series averaging over 46 against India, did not reach 20 even once in four innings.For India, Sachin Tendulkar reiterated the value of his experience by aggregating more than 400 runs in the two matches. His 214 in Bangalore is his sixth double-hundred in Tests, bringing him level with Virender Sehwag in the list of Indian batsmen with the most double centuries. Murali Vijay demonstrated excellent technique and patience in the course of his maiden century. Vijay and Tendulkar shared a 308-run stand for the third wicket which is the second-highest for the third wicket against Australia. Suresh Raina and Sehwag had starts but failed to convert them. Rahul Dravid struggled a bit, but he has an opportunity to regain his touch in the forthcoming home series against New Zealand. (Click here for the series averages of India, and here for Australia.)In terms of partnerships, India’s top order did significantly better than Australia’s. The visitors’ opening pair was consistent, but failed to convert their starts into bigger partnerships. Watson and Ponting were the best batsmen in the top order, but the poor form of Clarke and Hussey significantly affected the batting. India had just one fifty-plus opening stand but Vijay and Tendulkar made amends with a massive partnership in Bangalore. Marcus North and Tim Paine shared a 149-run stand for the sixth wicket in Bangalore and the lower order also contributed substantially. India, on the other hand suffered lower order collapses in both Tests, but the 81-run stand for the ninth wicket in Mohali between Laxman and Ishant Sharma helped clinch the first Test.

Partnership stats for both teams

	Runs	Average	Highest partnership	100	50
Top order (1-3)- India	691	57.58	308	1	3
Top order (1-3)- Australia	465	38.75	141	1	3
Middle order (4-6)- India	503	55.88	124	1	4
Middle order (4-6)- Australia	561	46.75	149	1	5
Lower order (7-10)- India	129	11.72	81	0	1
Lower order (7-10)- Australia	295	18.43	82	0	2

Among the Indian bowlers, Zaheer Khan was outstanding, while Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha did their bits too. Zaheer used the reverse swing to great effect while the accurate and economical Ojha combined superbly with Harbhajan in the second innings of both Tests to restrict Australia to low scores. Ishant Sharma was inconsistent in Mohali, but brought India back in the contest with a three wicket spell in the second innings.

Performance of Indian bowlers

Bowler	Matches	Runs conceded	Wickets	Average	5WI	10WM
Zaheer Khan	2	262	12	21.83	1	0
Harbhajan Singh	2	365	11	33.18	0	0
Pragyan Ojha	2	349	9	38.77	0	0
Ishant Sharma	1	105	3	32.62	0	0

Ben Hilfenhaus was Australia’s best bowler throughout the series, bowling testing spells in both matches without luck. Mitchell Johnson had a five wicket haul in Mohali but was quite ineffective in Bangalore. Doug Bollinger’s injury proved to be very crucial for Australia as he had proved to be the best bowler in the pre lunch session in Mohali. His absence in Bangalore weakened the attack considerably and Nathan Hauritz’s poor form only added to their woes. In the crucial second innings in Bangalore, he conceded over a run a ball while picking up just one wicket. Clearly the performance of the spinners was below par for Australia.

Performance of Australian bowlers

Bowler	Matches	Runs conceded	Wickets	Average	5WI	10WM
Mitchell Johnson	2	261	8	32.62	1	0
Nathan Hauritz	2	390	6	65.00	0	0
Ben Hilfenhaus	2	261	6	43.50	0	0
Doug Bollinger	1	81	5	16.20	0	0

In the end, the factor that separated the two teams was the performance of the spinners. In both matches, the first innings witnessed high scores, but on wearing tracks, the ability of the Indian spinners to contain and pick up wickets regularly proved to be the difference. The Indian pace bowlers, especially Zaheer, were highly effective with the old ball in both matches. Hilfenhaus was the most consistent bowler for the Australians but Hauritz’s innocuous display dented their chances.

Performance of fast bowlers and spinners

Type of bowler	Matches	Runs conceded	Wickets taken	Average	5WI	10WM
Pace (India)	2	494	17	29.05	1	0
Pace (Australia)	2	760	23	33.04	1	0
Spin (India)	2	771	21	36.71	0	0
Spin (Australia)	2	482	8	60.25	0	0

Player-versus-player statsPonting sorted out his previous troubles against Harbhajan superbly. He scored at a consistent rate and was not dismissed even once by the off spinner. Ojha though, had a better time against Watson dismissing him on two occasions. North and Johnson were unable to cope with Harbhajan and Zaheer respectively, falling to them three times in four innings. Clarke, one of Australia’s finest players of spin bowling, had a poor series falling three times to the spinners while Hussey was dismissed by Zaheer in both Tests.

Australian batsmen against Indian bowlers

Batsman/bowler	Runs	Balls faced	Dismissals	Average
Ricky Ponting/Harbhajan Singh	78	112	0	–
Shane Watson/Pragyan Ojha	64	200	2	32.00
Marcus North/Harbhajan Singh	48	107	3	16.00
Michael Hussey/Zaheer Khan	12	21	2	6.00

Tendulkar and Vijay completely dominated Hauritz in Bangalore during their record stand. Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in the series, did not lose his wicket even once to Hilfenhaus, who was arguably Australia’s best bowler in the series. Sehwag though, fell to Hilfenhaus three times in four innings. Bollinger, whose absence in Bangalore proved crucial, bowled impressively in Mohali dismissing Dravid in both innings.

Indian batsmen against Australian bowlers

Batsman/bowler	Runs	Balls faced	Dismissals	Average
Sachin Tendulkar/Nathan Hauritz	161	225	0	–
Murali Vijay/Nathan Hauritz	59	79	0	–
Sachin Tendulkar/Ben Hilfenhaus	70	146	0	–
Virender Sehwag/Ben Hilfenhaus	34	36	3	11.33
Rahul Dravid/Doug Bollinger	8	24	2	4.00

Bangladesh’s capital has produced several of its leading Test players, and has a thriving club culture

06-Nov-2010The capital and largest city in Bangladesh, Dhaka is the country’s cricketing hub. The Bangabandhu National Stadium was the city’s international venue for many years, before the action shifted to the Shere Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) in Mirpur, a suburb of Dhaka, in 2006. The SBNS is the new, proud home of Bangladesh cricket. It also houses the Bangladesh Cricket Board-operated National Cricket Academy which churns out several promising cricketers. The academy uses the facilities at the SBNS at present, and is set to get its own state-of-the-art centre very soon.The city has a number of private cricket academies, including the government-run Bangladesh Institute of Sports (BKSP) where cricket is one of its major sports.The venue
The SBNS is situated about 10 kilometres outside the centre of Dhaka. The move from the Bangabandhu to Mirpur was met with much resistance, but the BCB had decided they needed a stadium dedicated exclusively to cricket, and carried on despite criticism. The venue is more than just a cricket ground. The triangular space underneath the stands has been used to the maximum, rented out as shop space. It houses perhaps the biggest furniture market in Dhaka. The shops shut when an international match is in progress. The grassless plot next to the venue is used for several simultaneous tape-ball games every evening and morning. The most striking feature of the ground is the impressive drainage facility.The stadium is undergoing a renovation ahead of the World Cup. The city has the privilege of hosting the opening ceremony on February 18, as well as the first match, between Bangladesh and India. It will host three more Group B games, as well two quarter-finals.Ground page | Fixtures | Map | PicturesGreat matches (Only two ODIs have been played at the new stadium)
Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, 5th ODI, December 2006
Bangladesh were made to sweat chasing a modest 194 and it was left to their captain Habibul Bashar to show the way with an ice-cool knock. They were coasting to victory before a middle-order collapse, orchestrated by Gary Brent, pegged them back. Bashar marshalled the lower order and saw his team to a 5-0 sweep.Bangladesh v New Zealand, 1st ODI, October 2008
One of Bangladesh’s more special wins against a major nation. It turned out to be quite a cakewalk with them coasting home by seven wickets after restricting a sorry New Zealand to 201. Mashrafe Mortaza did the early damage with a four-wicket haul, while Junaid Siddique and Mohammad Ashraful were the heroes with the bat, hitting 85 and 60 respectively.Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, tri-series, January 2009
The match that brought out the best in Shakib Al Hasan, the batsman. The game was almost a non-starter due to morning fog and bad light, but the elements were kind enough to allow a shortened 31-over game. After restricting the Sri Lankans to 147, the hosts started poorly, losing three for 11. But Shakib unfurled some brutal drives and sweeps against the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan to score an unbeaten 92 off just 69 balls, giving the crowd plenty to cheer after a frustrating morning.Top performers in ODIs
Most runs Tamim Iqbal, 801 runs at 30.80 | Top score Salman Butt, 129*
Most wickets Abdur Razzak, 37 wickets at 24.56 | Best bowling Abdur Razzak, 5 for 29Major players
Shakib Al Hasan | Mushfiqur Rahim | Shahadat Hossain | Naeem Islam | Naimur Rahman | Mohammad Ashraful | Mohammad Rafique | Javed Omar | Shahriar NafeesHome team
The stadium is the home base of Dhaka Division, one of the leading first-class sides in the country. They have won the National Cricket League first-class competitions in 2001-02, 2003-04, 2004-05, and 2006-07. They also won the one-day competition in 2006-07.

Who took over the Basin in their baby pink outfits. And the mystery of the messed-up scoreboard finally revealed

Trish Plunket12-Dec-2010Choice of game
It was the Hell Firebirds versus the Yahoo!Xtra Northern Knights who wear pink. I couldn’t miss a game like this, especially not with the stunning day Wellington turned on. (So ner ners Scotty Styris.)Team supported
I was again supporting the HellFirebirds, though it was a bit of an effort, as I do like pink, and am a fan of a lot of the Yahoo!Xtra Northern Knights. I was very restrained however. I let BJ Watling escape with his cheeks unpinched.What’s in a name?
Four of the Yahoo!Xtra Northern Knights are named Bradley. A third of the team. Does naming your child Bradley increase his chances of cricketing success? Was it just a trendy name however long ago? Are Bradleys more partial to pink?Key performer
Brad Hodge, Peter McGlashan, and Anton Devcich all did horrible things to the Hellfire Birds’ bowling attack. At one point the PA had to remind people that the ball is hard, and thus you need to watch to make sure it doesn’t kill you.One thing I’d have changed

What the Hell Firebirds? Again I have to change the top order’s inability to bat. And Matthew Bell isn’t around to blame it on this time. In fact, looks like the whole team forgot how to bat.Detective work of the day
After my suspicions last time that the keepers of the scoreboard were in fact drunk, I confirmed it today. Wine spotted in the windows at the bottom of the scoreboard! How’s that for investigative journalism? (Or just being really nosy?)Wow moment
Wow the Yahoo!Xtra Northern Bradleys are an amazing outfit. And not just the pink. Scoring 200 runs and giving an exhibition of batting the likes of which the Basin has not seen in a while.Player watch
Completely overshadowing the return of Jesse Ryder is the supreme confidence of Anton Devcich. Rocking the baby-pink broad brimmed hat (which looked remarkably bonnet-like) while all his team-mates stuck to their caps… Fierce.Shot of the day
While it wasn’t the biggest six, it was the most terrifying. Devcich slammed a shot over the long-off fence, where it flew over the head of a small child by approximately three inches. Child remained blissfully unaware; all of us who saw it felt the need for a stiff drink.Crowd meter
Biggest crowd so far this summer, and why wouldn’t it be. It was hot, the breeze was pleasant, the cricket was fantastic. The bank was full and a few people had even spilled up into the museum grandstand. Can’t beat Wellington on a good day. (Note: that saying is about the weather).Entertainment
It seems they’ve managed to pick out someone with an actual sense of humour to run the music and address system. The music as Wellington tanked grew progressively more depressing. I think “Sending out an SOS” probably summed up everyone’s feelings as we got to seven down.Accessories
Today I took several mates, an ugly, ugly blanket, and a top with the NZ flag printed on it. I figure there needs to be some support for the local boys among all the ring-ins. I attempted to purchase a Hellfire Birds top, but they were going for $135 and I couldn’t locate a small child to sell.Overall
It was glorious. The summer is in full swing, Christmas is coming and the cricket is great. Well, the XtraBradley! Pink Knights are great. The Hell? Firebirds? Are their lovely inconsistent selves.Can I make any more terrible puns out of the team names?Marks out of 10
8. Minus two for losing and not getting a cheek to pinch.

Bangladesh had thrown away a chance of a victory. The crowd were leaving stadium. Then one man played the innings of his young life

Sidharth Monga in Chittagong12-Mar-2011In their hour of need at this World Cup, Bangladesh have had a 21-year-old, unassuming, short-for-a-fast-bowler fast bowler rise a notch above the rest and keep them alive in the tournament. However, the Man-of-the-Match adjudicators have, on both occasions, overlooked Shafiul Islam.Against Ireland, defending 205 on a good surface, when Shafiul produced swing in his 4 for 21, which included the dangerous Kevin O’Brien’s wicket, Tamim Iqbal bagged the match award for his flashy 44 and a crucial catch. When he produced the runs against England, 24 off 24 balls from No. 10, to fashion an unlikely win the more orthodox 60 from Imrul Kayes was the favourite.Thankfully the Pink City talent hunt didn’t miss Shafiul five years ago. The two traditional feeders to this Bangladesh team are Bangladesh Krida Shikha Protishthan (BKSP) and the various coaching centres run by former cricketers, but Shafiul has come through the alternate route. It has been a relatively quick route, but one that has called for hard work.Catching the eye of Hannan Sarkar, the Bangladesh batsman, at the talent hunt was just a start. Coming from Bogra to Dhaka was more difficult. The initial days were spent in dorms at clubs, but that was a small price to pay. That he had the natural ability to swing the ball made him a star in domestic cricket, and soon injuries to the international fast bowlers fast-tracked him to top-flight cricket.A clear head and an ability to learn fast have made Shafiul the team management’s favourite. They backed him even after he went for 69 off seven overs against India in the World Cup opener. They remember how he bowled slower ball to Jonathan Trott at Bristol. Trott was single-handedly killing Bangladesh’s dream of a famous win, and Shafiul produced that delivery with seven required off four balls. The mind and heart were both working at a time when both tend to malfunction. No, he wasn’t Man of the Match even then.”Self-belief is the key,” Shafiul said of this habit of proving to be at the game-changer at crucial moments. In tough times, and times have been tough for Bangladesh of late, Shafiul is one of the few players in the team whose game doesn’t look affected. The nerves from being under attack from Virender Sehwag are gone.Shakib Al Hasan might not have been that confident of Shafiul’s batting against the quicks, but his partner-in-crime last night, Mahmudullah, trusted him. “In domestic cricket, he has faced many fast bowlers, and has batted very well against them,” Mahmudullah said. “It was a matter of time he delivered in international cricket too.”The turnaround began against spin, though, when Shafiul swung the bat and took a four and a six off Graeme Swann in the 42nd over. That’s when Mahmudullah started believing. The momentum had changed and only sensible batting was required. Both of them found enough of that mix of sense and belief to take Bangladesh home to what was a one of their most important wins.”It was very important to come back if we wanted to go to second round, and also we had to prove ourselves after the West Indies match,” Shafiul said. That match award can’t be too far off if he keeps keeping his cool when the heat is on.

A stats review of the second quarter-final between India and Australia in Ahmedabad

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan24-Mar-2011India had never beaten Australia in a major tournament while chasing. Their last win over Australia in a World Cup was also way back in 1987. In this game, though, India’s strategy to rotate their bowlers throughout the innings did not allow any Australian batsman other than Ricky Ponting to settle down. Faced with a stiff target of 261, India pinned their hopes on their strong batting and the key to the victory was the way they constructed partnerships at the top of the order. While Australia had two decent stands in the beginning of their innings, they lost few wickets in the middle, which limited their score to 260. India, despite not having any huge partnerships, had stands of 44, 50 and 49 for the first three wickets and scored at a healthy run-rate throughout.With the dismissal of MS Dhoni, Australia had a sniff when India required 74 runs off 75 balls. What happened next was stunning. Yuvraj Singh hit three fours off a Brett Lee over and with Shaun Tait gifting five wides in his next over, India were back in the contest. Yuvraj and Suresh Raina scored 27 runs off the 40th and 41st overs, bringing down the equation to a much more manageable 41 off nine overs. The partnership featured seven fours and a six, but more importantly 22 singles and five twos. Yuvraj Singh made his fifth fifty-plus score in the World Cup. His tally in a single tournament is second only to Sachin Tendulkar’s seven in 2003.From the batting worm for both teams, it is clear that India started their innings at a higher run-rate than Australia and maintained the difference till the end. The crucial sixth-wicket stand between Yuvraj and Raina pushed the scoring-rate up at a point when it looked like Australia would control the game. India’s decision to open the bowling with R Ashwin was a brilliant move as it did not allow Shane Watson and Brad Haddin to get away to a flying start. Regular bowling changes throughout the innings produced wickets and slowed the rate of scoring. In contrast, the Australian attack was erratic and gave away 16 wides.

Partnership stats for both teams (runs, run rate)

Team1st wicket2nd wicket3rd wicket4th wicket5th wicket6th wicket7th wicketAustralia40, 4.0070, 5.4530, 3.8210, 3.5240, 5.1055, 7.1015*, 10.00India44, 5.3850, 5.0049, 4.7425, 5.1719, 4.5674*, 10.27-Australia’s decision to go with a pace-heavy bowling attack proved a little costly in the end. However, the performance of their slow bowlers on a track assisting spin was far from convincing. Australia’s spinners averaged 61.00 in the tournament, the highest among the eight quarter-finalists. Despite conceding less than five runs per over, the Australian spinners picked up only one wicket. The Indian spinners in contrast picked up four wickets in the Australian innings.Some of the other stats from the game are highlighted belowRicky Ponting scored his fifth century in World Cups and his sixth against India in ODIs. It was his first score over fifty in the tournament. Ponting’s century was only his fifth in an ODI defeat and his second in a World Cup defeat after his 102 against West Indies in 1996.Sachin Tendulkar went past the milestone of 18,000 runs in ODIs. He also made his 20th fifty-plus score in World Cups which is comfortably higher than the second-placed Ponting, who has 11. Yuvraj Singh became only the fourth player to score over 300 runs and pick up ten wickets in a single World Cup. Kapil Dev was the first player to do it when he achieved the feat in the 1983 World Cup.The win is India’s first in a major tournament against Australia in a chase. Their earlier six chases had ended in defeats.It is also the first time that Australia have failed to reach the semi-finals since the 1992 World Cup.India won their first game in Ahmedabad after four consecutive losses.

Plays of the Day from the IPL game between Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Kings XI Punjab in Indore

Firdose Moonda13-May-2011The IPL’s new host
Indore’s Holkar Stadium is the latest venue to join the IPL parade and it had a sizeable crowd for its first match. Audiences have had many chants this IPL, most prominent being the one whenever the Mumbai Indians are playing, “Sachin, Sachiiiiiiin.” The crowd here used the same beat but belted out, “Indore, Indoooooore,” instead, a sign of how thrilled they were that cricket had come to town. They didn’t have any songs for the home team who must have felt like foreigners there, as most of the support was directed at Punjab.The wide that turned Gilchrist into an acrobat
Which one, you might ask. Given that Punjab sent down nine and Kochi five, it’s a fair question. There was one that was more eye-catching than the others, in the same way a particularly large pimple is worth staring at. It was the second wide of the match, bowled by Ryan Harris, which was splayed so far down leg, it would have been wide even if there was a second set of stumps. The soon-to-be-40 Adam Gilchrist dived full stretch to his left, almost ended up horizontal and caught the ball one-handed, saving four runs. He was tested a few more times in the innings, but none as challenging as that one.The noise that ran Owais out
The Indore crowd were having a loud blast. They were making such a din that Owais Shah gestured that he was run out because of it. He was presented with a slower ball from Shalabh Srivastava and got it to long-off who saw the batsmen attempting the second run and threw to the wicketkeeper’s end. It wasn’t clear whether either of the batsmen had called for the second or whether they had said no and went ahead with it because they saw their partner coming. Both were emphatic in making gestures that they couldn’t hear but it made no difference, Owais had to go.The apologetic appeal
It’s not often that a bowler says sorry for appealing against a batsman but it happened. Sreesanth started his spell with a ball that shaped into Gilchrist which the Punjab captain worked away on the leg side. Sreesanth thought the ball had hit the pad first and appealed for lbw, before realising that Gilchrist had managed to get the bat in front. After stifling his appeal, Sreesanth apologised to Gilchrist as he ran through to complete the single.The tag team fielding that flopped
Brendon McCullum was prowling the outfield like a demon and made some outstanding stops. When Dinesh Karthik crunched the ball through the covers, McCullum flew across from sweeper cover to cut off a four. He slid along the ground and shovelled the ball away from the rope but needed someone to pick it up. Sreesanth ran through from long off to clean up, fell over trying to get the ball and in his haste to scoop it up took himself, and the ball, over the line. McCullum’s effort was in vain.

There has been far too little analysis of the economics of the game in India, its financial nerve centre. This book makes a start

Ashok Malik02-Jul-2011For a popular and lucrative phenomenon, the business of cricket in India hasn’t been adequately recorded and analysed. True, there are regular media reports about one deal or the other – whether signed by a cricketer, by the BCCI, or an IPL franchise. Yet where is the big picture? What do these dazzling and bewildering numbers add up to?This book tries to answer those questions. Its conclusions are decidedly limited, and it will need many similar books to adequately complement it. Nevertheless, it is a start and one for which the authors needs to be thanked.The book is trapped between three stools: explaining cricket as a vehicle of marketing and explaining the marketing of cricket; explaining sports marketing; and explaining the business of cricket and the development of properties such as the IPL, which is a story that goes beyond merely sports marketing. Shyam Balasubramanian and Vijay Santhanam make an honest and purposeful attempt to weave all three threads into their narrative. However, the reader does sometimes wonder whether too many themes are being packed into one volume.Even so, in describing the evolution of cricket and cricket marketing in India, in tracing the history of cricket icons – from Sunil Gavaskar in the 1970s, Kapil Dev in the 80s, Sachin Tendulkar in the 90s, to somebody like MS Dhoni in the first decade of the 21st century – and attempting to parallel India’s economic growth and the changing urges of the Indian consumer, the authors make some valid points.Perhaps too much space is devoted to scrutinising and telling the story of individual ad campaigns and what aspect of which cricketer was highlighted in each. There are also some pat conclusions. Talking of Imran Khan’s appearance in an ad for Cinthol soap some 30 years ago, the authors write: “The Cinthol campaign widened the appeal of cricket to include women, for obvious reasons – Imran’s star/sex appeal. As women are the primary decision-makers in the purchase of consumer goods such as soap, this was very significant.”There is a contradiction here. The Cinthol ad did not bring new women fans to cricket; it brought women who could already identify Imran as a cricketer, to Cinthol. It did nothing to enhance and increase the interest of cricket-agnostic women in the sport. On the other hand, say, the IPL is specifically geared towards making a form of cricket attractive to female audiences. There is a difference between the two approaches, and on occasion this book seems to confuse them. makes some telling observations. It correctly points out cricket’s commercial viability and popularity are not the function of some conspiracy against all other sports, especially India’s official national game, hockey. Rather, they are a reflection of fairly regular success on the field, and of performance.Everybody loves a winner, whether a team who win or an individual who wins in a personal contest – Kapil versus Richard Hadlee, to use an example wonderfully illustrated by the authors – within the context of a team experience. Since the 1980s, Indian cricket has delivered such episodes time and again, and this is the single biggest factor why its business graph has zoomed. The book emphasises this and does so persuasively.Second, the authors quote ad guru Sam Balsara as saying, “It is not that Indians love cricket, the game; it is that we love to win.” A few sentences later, this is linked to the IPL – “popular because an Indian team (with a majority of Indian players) wins every match”.This is so true. Indeed, one of the motivations for the launch of the IPL in 2008 was that Indian sponsors had burnt their fingers with the 2007 World Cup – Rahul Dravid’s team were knocked out in the first round, losing to Bangladesh – and wanted a product/tournament that was world-class and yet ensured an Indian presence till the end.The book is useful as a compendium of statistics related to the cricket business, and for offering some keen insight into an industry that should, really, have many more chroniclers. Balasubramanian and Santhanam need to be congratulated for opening the innings.The Business of Cricket: The Story Of Sports Marketing In India
Shyam Balasubramanian and Vijay Santhanam
Harper Collins India, Rs 299