Cape Cobras 184 for 5 (Duminy 99*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 180 for 4 (Taylor 53*, Uthappa 51) by five wickets
At this venue in 2008, Brendon McCullum slammed the most famous Twenty20 century to knock the stuffing out of Royal Challengers Bangalore. On another starry South Indian night, against the hosts again, JP Duminy struck the most awesome 99 you will see in this format to take the Cape Cobras to a thrilling last-over victory.
And so a new chapter in the rapidly growing Twenty20 format has begun. After a gala opening ceremony reminiscent of the opening night of the first IPL, the two teams treated a capacity Chinnaswamy Stadium to a superb exhibition of Twenty20 overs. Anil Kumble had no hesitation in batting first on a good batting track and 20 action-packed overs later the Cobras had their task cut out, after Robin Uthappa and Ross Taylor starred in a powerful batting display. But Duminy thumped five sixes and eight fours in as clinical and perfect a display of shotmaking as you could hope to see, and his partnership of 61 with Ryan Canning transformed the game after Bangalore had grabbed three early wickets in defence of 180.
The Cobras were in real strife early on with the bat, as Herschelle Gibbs edged Praveen Kumar behind in the first over, and captain Andrew Puttick followed suit with a leading edge to point. Henry Davids played a couple of handsome strokes but when Virat Kohli took an easy catch at point off R Vinay Kumar, the scoreboard showed 62 for 3.
As he has done at the international stage, Duminy didn't waste time in finding his range. Kumble continued to vary his pace and fed Duminy a steady diet of googlies; Duminy was beaten on occasions but replied with deft boundaries, the pick being a cut behind short third man for four. There was a moment of drama, too: Taylor dropped a dolly at long-off when Duminy was 23, after which a dead ball was called because the ball hit the cable of the fly camera.
Once he found his range, Duminy was unstoppable. Vinay was scooped for four and Roelof van der Merwe was driven over mid-on for six. After getting to 50 in 30 balls, Duminy stepped up a notch and Canning played his part with 20 from 18 balls.
The game was wide open when the Cobras needed 54 off five overs. That was eased significantly as Kohli's part-time medium-pace went for 13 in the 16th over, Kumble and van der Merwe were struck for big sixes and Vinay was mowed for boundaries either side of the pitch. Duminy's final six took him to 99 yet, cruelly, there was to be no century as Rory Kleinveldt finished the deal with two balls remaining.
This seemed a distant possibility after 20 overs in the field, when the Cobras seemed distinctly overawed by the moment and a packed house breathing down their necks, misfielding with alarming regularity and serving up a dozen too many full tosses. Uthappa paved the way with a belligerent but plucky half-century, being dropped on 18 and miscuing more than a few between catchers, and an astonishing assault from Taylor rounded flattened the attack.
Depleted by the injury blow to Charl Langeveldt in the sixth over, the Cobras were sloppy in the field, putting down three catches and missing a run-out. Uthappa was the beneficiary of one sitter and a couple miscues that dropped safely, and flourished in Rahul Dravid's company after Langeveldt took out Jacques Kallis early. Using his feet regularly to try and get on top of the bowlers, Uthappa pulled off some stinging shots down the ground and over midwicket, each of which the partisan home crowd cheered with gusto.
Dravid, dropped on 16, played some crisp and orthodox shots before he was run out for 28, after which Kohli was stumped for 17. But Bangalore took 61 off their final four overs, 40 of them in boundaries off just eight balls by Taylor, who picked up a 24-ball half-century off the final delivery of the innings, courtesy a top-edged four. Taylor has a penchant for clearing his front leg and heaving across the line, but this evening he was aided by an array of stray slower balls on the pads and rank full tosses.
A target of 181 ultimately proved a saunter with Duminy at his dazzling best. Tonight a new chapter began, one that could dictate the future of club cricket.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The youngsters won it for us - Ponting
has attributed Australia's Champions Trophy success to the efforts of youngsters in his team, especially their performance in an occasionally tense final.
"We have gone through some ups and downs in the last 18 months. A number of great players have left and we brought in a lot of young, fresh players. It was great to see some of them stand up and deliver," Ponting said after Australia's six-wicket win over New Zealand that gave them their second Champions Trophy title.
Australia's bowling performance in the final was led by Nathan Hauritz, who grabbed 3 for 37, including the well-set Martin Guptill for 40. Later, in their chase of 201, Australia were in trouble at 6 for 2 but Shane Watson and Cameron White added 128 to put them in control. "Two young guys at the crease at 6 for 2, it doesn't get any tougher and they did a great job," Ponting said.
Australia came in to the tournament as favourites along with South Africa, fresh from the success of a 6-1 ODI humiliation of England. They beat West Indies in a tough contest in Johannesburg, were dominant against India in a washed-out game and edged Pakistan in a two-wicket win in Centurion. They were comprehensive winners in the semi-final against England, Ponting and Shane Watson hammering centuries in a nine-wicket win.
"In the ODI series in England after the Ashes, we did well there to put ourselves in a position where we can give this tournament a little bit of a shake," Ponting said. "We've played some great cricket over the last couple of weeks here."
The Champions Trophy also brought personal success for Ponting, as he emerged the highest run-getter with 288 at 72 in four games. He was honoured with a golden bat for that feat, and followed it up with the Man-of-the-Series award, ahead of Watson, who finished the tournament with back-to-back centuries.
"We needed discipline today, and we knew that if I was around till the 40th over, we had a chance," Watson, who was Man of the Match, said after his innings of 105. "It was set up with Ricky's help in the semi-finals to get me through, and he missed out today, but it was time for another to step up.
"The wicket today was a little slower than the other night but Kyle Mills and Shane Bond bowled beautifully straight up until me and White had a good partnership."
"We have gone through some ups and downs in the last 18 months. A number of great players have left and we brought in a lot of young, fresh players. It was great to see some of them stand up and deliver," Ponting said after Australia's six-wicket win over New Zealand that gave them their second Champions Trophy title.
Australia's bowling performance in the final was led by Nathan Hauritz, who grabbed 3 for 37, including the well-set Martin Guptill for 40. Later, in their chase of 201, Australia were in trouble at 6 for 2 but Shane Watson and Cameron White added 128 to put them in control. "Two young guys at the crease at 6 for 2, it doesn't get any tougher and they did a great job," Ponting said.
Australia came in to the tournament as favourites along with South Africa, fresh from the success of a 6-1 ODI humiliation of England. They beat West Indies in a tough contest in Johannesburg, were dominant against India in a washed-out game and edged Pakistan in a two-wicket win in Centurion. They were comprehensive winners in the semi-final against England, Ponting and Shane Watson hammering centuries in a nine-wicket win.
"In the ODI series in England after the Ashes, we did well there to put ourselves in a position where we can give this tournament a little bit of a shake," Ponting said. "We've played some great cricket over the last couple of weeks here."
The Champions Trophy also brought personal success for Ponting, as he emerged the highest run-getter with 288 at 72 in four games. He was honoured with a golden bat for that feat, and followed it up with the Man-of-the-Series award, ahead of Watson, who finished the tournament with back-to-back centuries.
"We needed discipline today, and we knew that if I was around till the 40th over, we had a chance," Watson, who was Man of the Match, said after his innings of 105. "It was set up with Ricky's help in the semi-finals to get me through, and he missed out today, but it was time for another to step up.
"The wicket today was a little slower than the other night but Kyle Mills and Shane Bond bowled beautifully straight up until me and White had a good partnership."
Younis says he continues enjoying captaincy
Pakistan captain Younis Khan has said he is enjoying leading the side despite the semi-final loss in the ICC Champions Trophy and insisted it had not affected his own performance on the field.
"I'm enjoying cricket," Younis said after reaching Karachi. "In fact all the boys are enjoying playing under my captaincy and that's a good thing."
Younis was first made captain in 2005 in the absence of Inzamam-ul-Haq but announced his resignation for the 2006 Champions Trophy, only to reverse it the next day and lead Pakistan to a first-round exit in the tournament. He was favourite to take over the captaincy following Pakistan's poor show in the 2007 World Cup but he turned it down, citing mental strain as the reason. However in January 2009, the board approached him again following a disastrous home series against Sri Lanka. This time Younis accepted and led Pakistan to a World Twenty20 title in England.
Younis said the Champions Trophy exit was bitterly disappointing as he had wanted to gift his country the trophy that had been shifted from Pakistan to South Africa because of security concerns. He said there were many reasons for the team's defeat to New Zealand, including his dropped catch, missed run-outs and poor umpiring but that finishing in the top four was a positive sign.
"I will regret dropping it for the rest of my life," Younis said. "Maybe the result could have been different had I not dropped that catch."
Allrounder Shahid Afridi felt luck had deserted Pakistan in the game against New Zealand but also said that they had made poor use of the Powerplays in the match. They scored only 35 in their batting Powerplay after taking it only in the 45th over and conceded 55 when New
"I'm enjoying cricket," Younis said after reaching Karachi. "In fact all the boys are enjoying playing under my captaincy and that's a good thing."
Younis was first made captain in 2005 in the absence of Inzamam-ul-Haq but announced his resignation for the 2006 Champions Trophy, only to reverse it the next day and lead Pakistan to a first-round exit in the tournament. He was favourite to take over the captaincy following Pakistan's poor show in the 2007 World Cup but he turned it down, citing mental strain as the reason. However in January 2009, the board approached him again following a disastrous home series against Sri Lanka. This time Younis accepted and led Pakistan to a World Twenty20 title in England.
Younis said the Champions Trophy exit was bitterly disappointing as he had wanted to gift his country the trophy that had been shifted from Pakistan to South Africa because of security concerns. He said there were many reasons for the team's defeat to New Zealand, including his dropped catch, missed run-outs and poor umpiring but that finishing in the top four was a positive sign.
"I will regret dropping it for the rest of my life," Younis said. "Maybe the result could have been different had I not dropped that catch."
Allrounder Shahid Afridi felt luck had deserted Pakistan in the game against New Zealand but also said that they had made poor use of the Powerplays in the match. They scored only 35 in their batting Powerplay after taking it only in the 45th over and conceded 55 when New
Watson, bowlers power Australia to title defence
Australia 206 for 4 (Watson 105*, White 62, Mills 3-27) beat New Zealand 200 for 9 (Guptill 40, Hauritz 3-37, Lee 2-45) by six wickets
They were given a scare in a global final for the first time since the 1996 World Cup but Australia still remain the team to beat on the big day. If Australia were typically aggressive and opportunistic in setting themselves just 201 to chase, they were made to play out of character in the chase against exceptional opening spells from Kyle Mills and Shane Bond, which Shane Watson and Cameron White did with smartness and with determination.
Watson's best innings at international level, a century that earned him the Man-of-the-Match award for the second successive Champions Trophy final, was key to Australia's win. The opening spells of Mills and Bond even overshadowed that of Brett Lee and Peter Siddle. In defence of a meagre total, their lengths were immaculate. The ball that got Ricky Ponting was a perfect example: neither full enough for him to come forward, nor short enough to carry over the stumps, and the inswing trapped him in front. By then Bond had nailed Tim Paine with a full outswinger.
Along with White, Watson went into the Test-match mode, playing out the top two bowlers as if in the first session on a green top under overcast skies. They could afford to do so because of the paltriness of the target, and the absence of Daniel Vettori: he had to pull out at the last minute because of a hamstring injury. White even let go two leg-side half-volleys. Apart from that, there were hardly any scoring opportunities on offer. Except for a couple of awry calls for singles, they survived that period calmly. Starting from the seventh, five overs went for just two runs, and the bowling figures of Mills and Bond then told the story: 6-2-8-1 and 5-2-9-1 respectively.
And then the Aussie mental strength and ruthlessness came to fore. All the other four bowlers were welcomed with boundaries in their first overs. Two of them, against Ian Butler and Jeetan Patel, were deliberate efforts to signal intent; the other two, off James Franklin and Grant Elliott, were gifts down the leg side. Once both the opening bowlers were taken off, Watson turned it on to take the game away from New Zealand. He was lethally good with the horizontal bat, launching two powerful sixes to midwicket, and with the straight bat he mostly went down and along the ground.
Prime Numbers
5
The number of successive finals Australia have won in multi-team tournaments - they have triumphed in the last three World Cups, and the last two Champions Trophies. The last time they lost such a final was the 1996 World Cup.
3
The number of Man-of-the-Match awards Shane Watson has won in Champions Trophy knockout matches - he won the award in the 2006 final, and the 2009 semi-final and final. In all he has won seven such awards.
49.68
Watson's average when he has opened the innings in ODIs. In 30 innings he has scored 1242 runs, with four centuries and three fifties, and a strike rate of 85.95.
73
The number of dot balls Australia played in the first 15 overs of their chase. During this period they struck only four fours. In the next 30.2 overs, though, they struck 18 fours and five sixes.
128
The partnership for the third wicket between Watson and Cameron White, which is the third-highest for Australia in an ODI against New Zealand. They fell seven short of the record.
16
The number of times Australia have beaten New Zealand in an ODI at a neutral venue, out of 17 games. Their only defeat was in Cardiff during the 1999 World Cup.
51
The number of ODI wickets Brett Lee has taken against New Zealand, making him the sixth bowler - and the second Australian, after Glenn McGrath - to get to the 50-wicket mark against them.
From 7 off 28 he motored along to 49 off 72 by the 25th over. During that Watson onslaught, White presented New Zealand with a top-edge that Brendon McCullum, the stand-in captain, got under after having run backwards but dropped. That would have reduced Australia to 41 for 3 in the 18th over.
The momentum wrested, Watson took the back seat, and allowed White get into action. McCullum realised the second string of bowlers wasn't doing him any good, and called Mills and Bond back. Mills gave him another big-hearted effort, taking out White and Michael Hussey, in the process crossing Richard Hadlee's tally of 158 wickets. Both the leading bowlers' quotas were exhausted, and Watson turned it on again, bringing up his hundred and the win with back-to-back sixes.
This final will be remembered for the top-class pace bowling from both sides, on what was a true surface that yielded neither variable bounce nor much seam movement. The way Australia bowled, it seemed we would have the traditional anti-climactic final involving Australia.
All three fast bowlers were fast, accurate and menacing. Nathan Hauritz was canny on a pitch that assisted him, and Watson was stable. New Zealand were never allowed space: the first time their run-rate crossed four an over was at the end of the 43rd over, but they had lost seven wickets by then and had consumed the batting Powerplay. Ponting was proactive in attacking - even during two sizeable partnerships, he set aggressive fields, and brought back all his three strike bowlers in the middle overs to try and get breakthroughs.
A bad start for New Zealand got worse when McCullum fell for a 14-ball duck, which seemed almost inevitable. Right from the off, Lee and Siddle hit the mid-to-high 140s, with Lee getting consistent outswing as well. Three tight overs were enough to frustrate McCullum into cutting a Siddle delivery that was too close to him.
Martin Guptill and Aaron Redmond weathered the storm that the three Aussie fast bowlers worked up, but then Hauritz struck in the middle overs. A 61-run stand was followed by back-to-back strikes from Hauritz, sending back both the batsmen.
Ponting got slips in, and asked Mitchell Johnson and Lee to attack furthermore. Ross Taylor, who twice edged towards slip deliveries from Johnson straightening from a sharp round-the-wicket angle, finally played an impatient shot. Lee produced a vicious inswinging yorker to get rid of Elliott.
It then became a matter of surviving the 50 overs, and Australia never let up the pressure, despite the batting Powerplay that yielded 40 runs.
They were given a scare in a global final for the first time since the 1996 World Cup but Australia still remain the team to beat on the big day. If Australia were typically aggressive and opportunistic in setting themselves just 201 to chase, they were made to play out of character in the chase against exceptional opening spells from Kyle Mills and Shane Bond, which Shane Watson and Cameron White did with smartness and with determination.
Watson's best innings at international level, a century that earned him the Man-of-the-Match award for the second successive Champions Trophy final, was key to Australia's win. The opening spells of Mills and Bond even overshadowed that of Brett Lee and Peter Siddle. In defence of a meagre total, their lengths were immaculate. The ball that got Ricky Ponting was a perfect example: neither full enough for him to come forward, nor short enough to carry over the stumps, and the inswing trapped him in front. By then Bond had nailed Tim Paine with a full outswinger.
Along with White, Watson went into the Test-match mode, playing out the top two bowlers as if in the first session on a green top under overcast skies. They could afford to do so because of the paltriness of the target, and the absence of Daniel Vettori: he had to pull out at the last minute because of a hamstring injury. White even let go two leg-side half-volleys. Apart from that, there were hardly any scoring opportunities on offer. Except for a couple of awry calls for singles, they survived that period calmly. Starting from the seventh, five overs went for just two runs, and the bowling figures of Mills and Bond then told the story: 6-2-8-1 and 5-2-9-1 respectively.
And then the Aussie mental strength and ruthlessness came to fore. All the other four bowlers were welcomed with boundaries in their first overs. Two of them, against Ian Butler and Jeetan Patel, were deliberate efforts to signal intent; the other two, off James Franklin and Grant Elliott, were gifts down the leg side. Once both the opening bowlers were taken off, Watson turned it on to take the game away from New Zealand. He was lethally good with the horizontal bat, launching two powerful sixes to midwicket, and with the straight bat he mostly went down and along the ground.
Prime Numbers
5
The number of successive finals Australia have won in multi-team tournaments - they have triumphed in the last three World Cups, and the last two Champions Trophies. The last time they lost such a final was the 1996 World Cup.
3
The number of Man-of-the-Match awards Shane Watson has won in Champions Trophy knockout matches - he won the award in the 2006 final, and the 2009 semi-final and final. In all he has won seven such awards.
49.68
Watson's average when he has opened the innings in ODIs. In 30 innings he has scored 1242 runs, with four centuries and three fifties, and a strike rate of 85.95.
73
The number of dot balls Australia played in the first 15 overs of their chase. During this period they struck only four fours. In the next 30.2 overs, though, they struck 18 fours and five sixes.
128
The partnership for the third wicket between Watson and Cameron White, which is the third-highest for Australia in an ODI against New Zealand. They fell seven short of the record.
16
The number of times Australia have beaten New Zealand in an ODI at a neutral venue, out of 17 games. Their only defeat was in Cardiff during the 1999 World Cup.
51
The number of ODI wickets Brett Lee has taken against New Zealand, making him the sixth bowler - and the second Australian, after Glenn McGrath - to get to the 50-wicket mark against them.
From 7 off 28 he motored along to 49 off 72 by the 25th over. During that Watson onslaught, White presented New Zealand with a top-edge that Brendon McCullum, the stand-in captain, got under after having run backwards but dropped. That would have reduced Australia to 41 for 3 in the 18th over.
The momentum wrested, Watson took the back seat, and allowed White get into action. McCullum realised the second string of bowlers wasn't doing him any good, and called Mills and Bond back. Mills gave him another big-hearted effort, taking out White and Michael Hussey, in the process crossing Richard Hadlee's tally of 158 wickets. Both the leading bowlers' quotas were exhausted, and Watson turned it on again, bringing up his hundred and the win with back-to-back sixes.
This final will be remembered for the top-class pace bowling from both sides, on what was a true surface that yielded neither variable bounce nor much seam movement. The way Australia bowled, it seemed we would have the traditional anti-climactic final involving Australia.
All three fast bowlers were fast, accurate and menacing. Nathan Hauritz was canny on a pitch that assisted him, and Watson was stable. New Zealand were never allowed space: the first time their run-rate crossed four an over was at the end of the 43rd over, but they had lost seven wickets by then and had consumed the batting Powerplay. Ponting was proactive in attacking - even during two sizeable partnerships, he set aggressive fields, and brought back all his three strike bowlers in the middle overs to try and get breakthroughs.
A bad start for New Zealand got worse when McCullum fell for a 14-ball duck, which seemed almost inevitable. Right from the off, Lee and Siddle hit the mid-to-high 140s, with Lee getting consistent outswing as well. Three tight overs were enough to frustrate McCullum into cutting a Siddle delivery that was too close to him.
Martin Guptill and Aaron Redmond weathered the storm that the three Aussie fast bowlers worked up, but then Hauritz struck in the middle overs. A 61-run stand was followed by back-to-back strikes from Hauritz, sending back both the batsmen.
Ponting got slips in, and asked Mitchell Johnson and Lee to attack furthermore. Ross Taylor, who twice edged towards slip deliveries from Johnson straightening from a sharp round-the-wicket angle, finally played an impatient shot. Lee produced a vicious inswinging yorker to get rid of Elliott.
It then became a matter of surviving the 50 overs, and Australia never let up the pressure, despite the batting Powerplay that yielded 40 runs.
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