Harmanpreet Monster devours Australian Women

Jarrod Kimber, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, 20 July 2017 where the title is  “Australia eaten by Harmanpreet monster”

The helmet is bouncing, the gloves are on the ground, and Harmanpreet Kaur is screaming. She has 100 runs, she doesn’t care. She doesn’t care that her bandana has come off, that she is dirty, that her partner may be out. She is angry that Deepti Sharma didn’t listen to her. Harmanpreet started screaming at Deepti while she was still running. Had she been further down the pitch, she would have picked Deepti up and tossed her like she did the helmet. Deepti is almost in tears; she won’t even look up, she’s afraid of Harmanpreet.

And she should be. In this mood, Harmanpreet is angry, Harmanpreet is a monster. 

Coaching India: The Issues … Beyond the Kumble-Kohli Rift

Sambit Bal,  courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, …. June 2017

A battle that has broken in the Indian camp is likely to produce no winners. It is certain, however, to produce rumours, half-truths, intrigue and innuendoes, and those will do no credit to Indian cricket or the men involved. A breakdown of the relationship between the coach and the captain is invariably unsettling for the team, but when the names involved happen to be Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli, the reverberations are inevitably far more severe.

Champion Bloggers on the Champion’s Finale at the Oval

ESPNcricinfo, 19 June 2017

A bailout or a bail-in? Mohammad Hafeez helped Pakistan add 91 in the last ten overs © Getty Images

 

• @CRICFAN56623542: Luck is part of the game. Better teams make use of luck…Fakhar dropped on 3 made century.. Koli dropped out the next ball. Pakistan is way ahead of india on head to head and yes India was neither the best ever. It was always Australia and West Indies of the old. Things get open now with a not so dominant Australia but frankly speaking i think it is a rare low from them as well as south Africa. And you said “will not ever”, my friend no one can know that. I always thought teams winning on home grounds should not get the same points as those who win as visitors. ICC should review the point system. I believe that teams winning at home should get half the value of points as those winning as visitors. Put that in the system and you will see how your so called big 4 falls to the ground.

Gods Almighty at the Oval!

Errol Fernando

The gods who fix matches are rubbing their hands with glee!!!  They fixed all the matches with consummate skill to achieve their ultimate god-almighty aim. First, they made sure that the best and worst teams were in the same group and were also the greatest arch-rivals in the world.

 

How Good Fortune and Intelligent Backroom Decisions enabled Lanka to beat India

Michael Roberts

Four huge ‘sequoia trees’ stood astride the path to the Champions Cup at the commencement of the tournament: South Africa, India, Australia, England.  But, as I write on Sunday night 11th June, a combination of English rain and good cricket from the minnows has felled Australia as well as that outsider prospect, New Zealand; while the Safs and Indians are battling for one semi-final spot – an outcome that will knock one of them out.

My focus here is on the factors that have given Sri Lanka a 50/50 chance of making it to the finals after they snuffed out India on Friday last with a commanding batting performance. Two sets of factors assisted Sri Lanka: (A) fortune; and (B) strategic choices and good tactics.

India’s Practice Match turns Turtle

Mahinda Wijesinghe,  in The Sunday Island, 10 June 2017 with title “A ‘practice game’ that became a nightmare to the Indians”

All the chips were down for Sri Lanka having to meet upbeat host India at the Oval, especially after the latter’s resounding win by 124 runs a few days earlier against arch-enemy Pakistan at Edgbaston. Acting captain Upul Tharanga, who top-scored (57) in the previous game had been suspended for two games due to slow over-rate by the bowlers during Sri Lanka’s loss to South Africa. Skipper Mathews, returning to the side to play an ODI since August last year, announced that he will not be able to bowl; this meant a seam bowler short. The woes were adding fast. Indeed, in pre-match banter, wicket-keeper Dickwella mentioned that the Indians had stated they (the Indians) were taking this as a ‘practice match’!

Kohli gives Credit where Credit is due

Amit Kumar, 9 June 2017, where the title is “We Trusted Our Bowlers But Sri Lanka Were Pretty Good, Says Virat Kohli”

After an awful bowling performance from defending champions India saw them slump to an unexpected seven-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in a high-scoring ICC Champions Trophy, captain Virat Kohli said he expected his bowlers to defend 321 but Sri Lanka batted exceptionally well to take the game away. “We felt we had enough on the board, we trusted out bowlers, but Sri Lanka were pretty good,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.