Brave Cricket... My foot!

A fine line between bravery and stupidity; thats a lesson the Proteas will take back from this latest semi-final embarrassment. Looking to erase the 'chokers' tag applied to them SA managed a feat not seen thus far, their lowest world cup score.

South Africa's top order crumbled to a poultry 27-5 thanks mainly to unnecessary rash shots early on; Smith charging down the wicket only to be beaten by a swinging delivery which had him bowled and Kallis uncharacteristically swinging at a widish one managed to find the edge. (See graphic, content obtained from www.cricinfo.com)
Australia needing just 153 runs for victory never looked in trouble despite losing Gilchrist early. Micheal Clarke played a fine knock of 60 odd to see his side through, the Aussie tail has yet to bat in this world cup!to go

Cricket update

And South Africa have continued their below par performance on the field, going down to New Zealand by 5 wickets; later Greame Smith attributed the loss to the toss and the pitch conditions early on... tsk tsk. He might have had a point, I'm sure Kallis (see adjacent graphic) would agree... but that was no excuse for Gibbs (fabulous dive, but the catch didn't stick) and co. to put a below par display in the outfield.

The Irish have hit back, beating Bangladesh comprehensively by 67 runs. Bangladesh once again batted with their do-or-die, now-or-never attitude and lost wickets going for aggressive strokes when they weren't really called for. If it all works on the day they can take on the top sides but if it doesn't they appear very amateur indeed. With experience they should become a more accomplished force, time will tell. Credit to the Irish (players and fans) who have a passion for the game and their country and aren't intimidated by the fact that they're playing amongst the top sides in the world.

[Images source - www.cricinfo.com]

World Car of the Year 2007

And the winner is... the hush is as profound as the sound (or lack of for that matter) of the running engine of the luxurious Lexus LS460.




The flagship Lexus model was chosen by a panel of 45 journalist-judges from around the world.

The World Car of the Year assessment process considered the requirements of consumers the world over and began with individual jurors evaluating and rating the contestants against a variety of standardised categories. Such attributes as styling, build quality, safety and performance were assessed to form a top ten shortlist in January.



The LS460 impressed the panel of judges with such world firsts as its automatic parking system and 8-speed automatic transmission as well as its peerless build quality and capable performance.

[Selected content attributed to http://www.cartoday.com/]

Who would have guessed!

The biggest upset thus far has been pulled off again by Bangladesh who beat South Africa (currently ranked no. 1 ODI team in the world) by 67 runs yesterday. The Bangladeshi side who were largely responsible for Team India's exit it the first round of the competition appeared to have lost their touch with a couple of very average performances to follow up in the beginning of the Super 8; but they found their super form again with a sterling performance against SA, it was their first victory against the south african side in 9 encounters. Their care free attitude of play showed once again that if luck's on their side they can outplay the very best teams in the world.

To the Super 8s

The 2nd Stage of the CWC competition has commenced and India have completed their dismal showing and flown back home. The game's super power (the way I see it Australia and India are the biggest teams in world cricket today) have put up their worst display in a world cup to date. Big loses result from their exit running into millions in forfeited Caribbean travel packages as well as a predictable drop in the television audience from the massive subcontinental market.

Oh well... Tough! The competition goes on... and for minnows Ireland and Bangladesh and their fans things could not be rosier... As I post this blog Ireland is facing England in their fist Super 8 encounter, a distinguished achievement and hopefully this will promote the game in the Irish Republic and they will develop into a fully fledged cricketing force. Fans who at the start of the tournament foresaw a tie between the rivals India and Pakistan will be treated to a spectacle of Ireland v Bangladesh!

The teams from the Southern Hemisphere exhibit none of the inconsistencies their counterparts from the subcontinent suffered, Australia are looking ominous and their squad looks to be back in good shape with the return of Symonds from injury. This produced one of the best matches thus far when they defeated South Africa in their final first round match. South Africa look in good knick although the Caribbean pitches have exposed that perhaps they are lacking slightly in variety in the bowling department. My personal favourite of mine, Shaun Pollock hasn't been the force he normally is; though I believe he will prove himself in the second half of the tournament. These two along with the All blacks are looking to be the teams to beat in this competition, New Zealand look quite strong out on the field with strength in their allrounder department. Sri Lanka is the only major South Asian team left and are doing a reasonable job thus far, their bowling looks to be well organised array of weapons with ample ammunition in the form of experience, capable of being deployed on any type of track at the various battle grounds.

Cricket World Cup 2007

Undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the latest edition of the world cup is that the Irish are through to the Super 8s level, a feat that would have been laughed at by most had it been ventured prior to the commencing of the tournament. The big guns from the subcontinent managed to prove once more that consistency is one aspect of the game thats missing from their Caribbean luggage, perhaps all the holiday gear took up all the available compartments. Pakistan gifted the Irish with their passport to the next round on St. Patrick's Day (miracles do happen, if you were an unbeliever then here's your example). India managed to perform worse than Bangladesh in all areas of play and went down to the youngsters in their first match of the tournament, its going to be an uphill battle here on for the biggest side in world cricket to make it past the first round. The Australians are proving strong despite a few injury scares coming into the tournament, an indication of the depth of their squad. The South Africans set about shattering records to show their intent, Herschelle Gibbs becoming the first man in International Cricket to hit a 6 of every ball of an over and Mark Boucher scoring the fastest 50 in a World Cup.

All the action was accompanied by the tragic news of the passing of Bob Woolmer, coach of the Pakistan side and ex-coach of South Africa, just a day after Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament.