Champions Trophy

The ICC Champions Trophy tournament currently underway in India has so far seen over seventeen matches played. The competing teams Australia, West Indies, England and India are in Group ‘A’ while Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Group ‘B.’ So far the tournament has generated many upsets with the unusually slow pitches leading the way. Low scoring and the dew factor are causing much concern to all the teams participating.

The major upset had been the rejuvenation of West Indies who are currently plying to their best form. Sri Lanka expected to do better have fallen short due to poor batting performance by its top order batsmen. Most of them did not click at the right time. For Sri Lanka the only redeeming factor was their good showing in the match against New Zealand at Barbourne Stadium in Mumbai on Friday. When New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming was asked about the poor performance against Sri Lanka he said that poor batting was a mixture of ‘the mindset’ not making right decisions, of players still finding their bearings on their return to international cricket were the reasons for the debacle. He thought the injury to Scott Styris (soreness) was a blow, because he is among the better players of spin. In that fixture it was déjà vu for Man of the Match Mutate Muralitharan when asked two interesting questions. The first question related to the magical wicket of Jacob Oram whom was bowled behind his legs by the ‘Murali Doosra.’ When Mualitharan was asked whether he remembered such dismissals in the past, he replied “There have been quite a few like that.” The second question related to bowling on glued pitches. Here too Murali said “I have bowled on such pitches when playing county cricket for Lancashire. They would be glued so that the pitch didn’t turn dusty from over use.” Asked if this gluing was not fair to the spinners, Murali was sporting enough to say “If they want a good game they should use the technology.” However, New Zealand won their matches against Pakistan and South Africa to confirm their Semi Final berth. For the Sri Lankans it was flight back home and to prepare for their tour of New Zealand later this year.

The South Africans on Friday dealt a crushing blow on the Pakistanis to confirm their place in the Semi Finals. Makhaya Nitini grabbed five wickets for a paltry 21 runs to register a emphatic 124 runs victory against the Pakistanis. The Proteas started the innings disastrously and at one stage were placed at 42 for 5 wickets but recovered to end of the allotted 50 overs posting 213 for 8. Pakistan chasing this total slipped to 42 for 7 wickets and never recovered, only to be bowled out for 89 in 25 overs.

Defending Champions West Indies have already qualified from Group A to be in the Semi Finals. Australia and hosts India will battle it out for the next available berth on Sunday 29th October. In the Group B, South Africa and New Zealand have confirmed their places in the Semi Finals.