1st final in the VB Series - Aus v Ind

[JLC]

The stats i looked up show LESS than 2000 runs in one day cricket at an average of a tick over 32. However he has done well recently against Australia.

If less than 2000 runs and a low average make him the best then so be it Tubby.

jlc

[Donny]

Any chance of coming into the present, JLC ? I'll bet you love John Howard.

I haven't said (or was Tubby saying) Laxman was India's 'best batsman' 18 months ago, when they picked their WC squad.

[Donny]

Harvey has 2/9 in his 4th. over. 5/75. Ganguly gone.

[Blanch]

I'm going for 50c each way here. Lee ( I believe) was injured and brought back too early - thus the 140km deliveries. As soon as he is fit enough the 150- 160km deliveries emerge and BANG, he causes problems. Lee is not a liability if fit...he is in fact a huge asset.

I love watching Tendulkar play. However, I have to say that Laxman has been in better form than Tendulkar and I agree "for quite some time." The statement was not made about 1 day cricket....it was made about being the best batsman...and as far as who is the best batsman, well that's debatable but Tendulkar's form "for some time" has not been the best. Compare that to Laxman (I'd throw Dravid and Ganguly in there too) and Tendulkar is not the best batsman in the work AT THE MOMENT.

[Donny]

6/88 in the 26th. over.

Agree about Lee, Blanch. He was brought back prematurely. On form, at the time, Williams should have played in the Sydney Test ahead of Lee and been selected in the VB squad, as well.

[Donny]

Agarkar out for a good 53 to Clarke. 7/177 in the 41 st. over.
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India did well to total 222 from 49 overs mainly due to Badani's 60 n.o. and Agarkar's 53.

Symonds was hit around a bit but all the other bowlers did well.
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Gilly hit 38 from 20 balls to point his team in the right direcrtion. They are now 1/76 in the 14th. over.
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Ponting hits a beautiful six to move on to 29 n.o. from 28 balls and Hayden is 22 n.o. 1/92 after 15 overs.

[Donny]

Ponting goes to 50 from 51 balls and Australia moves on to 1/140 from 25 overs. Hayden is 38 n.o.
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The Punter's had enough. Time for a beer. He takes Kumble for 2 sixes and smashes 14 from the next over. He's 82 from 72 balls.

[The Prototype]

Good batting by Australia, looking like a very easy win for the Aussies, a very poor batting performence by the Indians. Looks like the WACA pitch has taken away some confidence from the Indians. Hopefully the 2nd final will bring out some better batting by the Indians.

[Donny]

50 up for Hayden from 90 balls.

He's seen a lot of action at the other end !! 1/187.
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Out for 50. Caught and bowled. 2/187.

[JLC]

Well the WACA is the first pitch all summer that has suited the way Brett Lee bowls. I cannot believe our curators made all the pitches batter friendly this summer. That would be like the Indians preparing bouncy wickets when we go there.

Well if we are talking about the present where does Bevan rank ?? In tennis terms he wouldnt even be seeded.......lol

Laxman also mentioned in the MX newspaper that he used the dropping of himself as a spur to improve and the key point was when he told the selectors that he was not a one day opener and he was better in the middle order.

jlc

[Blanch]

Pitches? What does the pitches have to do with bowling at 150-160km V 140km per hour? If Lee bowled at the waca at 140km (like he had for the whole series) then he wouldn't have ripped India to shreds in the manner he did. It was about him being fit, not about the pitches not suiting him. When Lee is fully fit and bowling to his capacity speed give him any pitch and he'll cause problems.

I don't think Bevan is in the best OD batsmen in the world, like Tendulkar. However, like Tendulkar you have him in the team because you know what he can do....because he has the runs on the board.

[JLC]

I think the pitch has everything to do with it. Lee mentioned on SEN this week that the WACA was the first pitch that had suited his type of bowling all summer.

Its the bounce in the pitch that makes Lee a dangerous bowler combined with his pace.

I dont think the Indians are too worried by faster bowlers if the pitches are not bouncy. It just means the ball comes off the bat quicker when they hit the ball.

jlc

[Donny]

Ponting puts Australia one up

The Wisden Bulletin by Anand Vasu


Australia outclassed India with the ball and bat, and in the field, to register a thumping seven-wicket win in the first of the three finals of the VB Series. To their credit India fought hard, engineering a mini-recovery. At the end of the day, though, there was little to cheer about for Indian fans. The team will have to shrug off this loss in a hurry if they are to stretch Australia to a third final.

The day began well for India, when Sourav Ganguly won the toss and chose to bat on a light-coloured dry pitch. From there on little went right. Australia's fast bowlers, rejuvenated after a couple of games on the bouncy tracks of Perth, hit a perfect length. The batsmen had nothing to drive at and slowly but surely were pushed onto the back foot. From then on, the bowlers merely had to persist. Every now and then a ball did a bit extra, a batsman committed a mistake and the wickets fell.

Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar both departed inside six overs. Sehwag fended Jason Gillespie awkwardly to Adam Gilchrist while Tendulkar played a half-cocked drive to a full one from Brett Lee and was bowled through the gate (14 for 2). Soon after, VVS Laxman (24) and Rahul Dravid were gone with the score on 48 and India were in deep strife. Each of the four Australian bowlers used – Gillespie, Lee, Williams and Harvey – had struck.

Ganguly walked out to the wicket amidst a rain of short balls, no doubt ruing the way things turned out after he had decided to bat. He played and missed more than once, attempting pull shots that would have been more in place on a beach in the Caribbean than an international tournament final.

In the event, he was put out of his misery soon enough, by the bowler least likely to get him, when he cut and edged Ian Harvey to the keeper. Yuvraj Singh had a breezy yet pleasant stay out in the middle, clipping two effortless boundaries. Then, he became the latest casualty, edging a full one from Lee to the keeper. At 76 for 6 India were dead and buried.

Ajit Agarkar then wafted out like a refreshing breeze and hit the bowlers all around the park. The pressure of being so many down for so few seemed to act in reverse. After all, Agarkar had little to lose. His driving down the ground was crisp, his whips off the hip well-placed and his pull shot phenomenal.

Hemang Badani, the last recognised batsman, watched in disbelief as a lesser batsman made light of the task at hand. Fortunately for India, Badani did not attempt to match Agarkar stroke for stroke. Instead he buckled down, brushed off the times he played and missed, and held up one end.

Agarkar's dramatic pull shot off Harvey, when he swiveled with the twirl of a ballerina and deposited a perfectly good ball over the stands at midwicket, was the highlight of a 102-run seventh wicket partnership that breathed life into the game. But even then, Agarkar's breezy 53 (62 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) and Badani's determined 60 not out (81 balls, 4 fours) could only take India to 222.

When India came out to attempt a defense of 222, it was almost an impossible task. Yet, Agarkar and Lakshmipathy Balaji began well enough, sending down two tight overs. And then all hell broke loose. Gilchrist opened his shoulders and launched the kind of assault you need when you're chasing 323 rather than 223. Hit bat came down fast and furiously with metronomic efficiency. Anything that was full, or wide, and preferably both, was dispatched with an arrogant air.

Gilchrist (38, 20 balls, 7 fours) was particularly savage on Balaji early on. He crashed him for three boundaries in four balls, and had scored 18 runs from the first five balls of the over before he finally slipped up. Balaji came around the wicket, dug the ball in short and Gilchrist's pull sailed high and handsome into Tendulkar's hands at deep backward square leg (48 for 1).

If India were happy to see the back of Gilchrist, the smiles were wiped off their faces by a rampant Ponting. He attacked the bowling from the moment he walked out to the middle, getting his eye in well against the mediumpacers before expanding his victims list to accommodate the spinners.

His quicksilver footwork formed the basis for his clean hitting. He was not always to the pitch of the ball, but that hardly mattered as he drove on the up and through the line with sure hands. Small wonder that he was happy to walk when he edged one on 88 (80 balls, 7 fours, 2 sixes) with the score on 193.

Balaji picked up three consolation wickets, including that of Hayden in unusual circumstances. Hayden drove uppishly at a slower ball and only managed a gentle scoop back towards the bowler. An apologetic appeal from Balaji was upheld by the third umpire. Hayden's unusually restrained 50 (91 balls, 4 fours) formed the backbone of the 139-run partnership with Ponting for the third wicket. Suffice it to say it was more than enough to see Australia home.

[Donny]

Just for you, JLC, as you asked about Bevo.

I hope you'll find these figures interesting and perhaps even enlightening.


These are the current ODI ratings for batsmen.

Rank - Move - Name - Team - Rating - Ave

1 +2 Adam Gilchrist AUS 820 36.33

2 +3 Jacques Kallis SA 816 46.65

3 -1 Chris Gayle WI 807 40.75

4 -3 Sachin Tendulkar IND 800 45.06

5 +2 Michael Bevan AUS 738 54.63

6 Ricky Ponting AUS 724 41.75

7 +1 Sanath Jayasuriya SL 723 31.96

8 +2 Yousuf Youhana PAK 721 42.66

9 -5 Brian Lara WI 715 42.83

10 -1 Virender Sehwag IND 702 35.20

11 Marcus Trescothick ENG 692 37.50

12 +3 Rahul Dravid IND 683 39.28

13 +4 Boeta Dippenaar SA 678 43.29

14 Matthew Hayden AUS 668 41.00

15 +3 Marvan Atapattu SL 657 37.74

16 +7 Graeme Smith SA 641 36.90

17 +2 Ramnaresh Sarwan WI 637 43.18

18 -6 Damien Martyn AUS 636 40.93

If you're wondering where VVS is, he's roaring up the charts.

29 +23 Venkata Laxman IND 584 32.52

It takes a whilke to establish a rating otherwise a new player might have averaged over 60 in his first few games and be at #1. He's the fastest mover in the top 100, having climbed 23 places since the last ratings were issued.

The next best improver is Ricardo Powell, up 10 to 39, Sean Irvine, up 9 to 57 and Shiv Chanderpaul, up 6 to 30.

The biggest drop was Ganguly, down 11 to 24.

[JLC]

Yeah very interesting........lol

Kallis has had the luxury of playing the West Indies......lol

As a measure in a point of time they are around the mark although no system is perfect.

jlc