A strangely subdued semi-final saw New Zealand beat Pakistan by five wickets and set up a Champions Trophy showdown with arch rivals Australia on Monday.
Grant Elliott provided some late-innings fireworks when the match was all but won - and Pakistan were left to reflect on what might have been, particulary after Younus Khan dropped a sitter. The Twenty20 champions showed none of their limited overs firepower this time round, and the black caps, while they didn't exactly set the world on fire with their hitting, paced their innings nicely.
One imagines the southern hemisphere will savour every last drop out of the final, although it's hard to see anything other than an Aussie win.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Reflections on sportsmanship
In a tournament which saw Vettori lauded for reversing Collingwood's run out and Strauss criticised in some quarters for recalling Mathews after colliding with Onions, It's Not The Winning That Counts is an interesting and timely read.
The Daily Telegraph journalist Max Davidson has researched 54 instances of sporting chivalry across a range of sports, with seven devoted to cricket. Ricky Ponting, Mark Taylor, Adam Gilchrist, Sir Gary Sobers, Andrew Flintoff, the Sydney crowd and Shane Warne are all featured for miscellaneous reasons, although united in their honourable actions.
The book starts and ends with two enduring images from the 2005 Ashes, Flintoff's consoling arm around Brett Lee after the two-run win at Edgbaston and Shane Warne racing over to congratulate Pietersen after the urn was reclaimed at the Oval.
The title is a catchy oxymoron of course, since sport is ultimately all about winning, but the series of short stories are a telling reminder that you can still play the game competitively and do the right thing when dilemmas present themselves.
The Daily Telegraph journalist Max Davidson has researched 54 instances of sporting chivalry across a range of sports, with seven devoted to cricket. Ricky Ponting, Mark Taylor, Adam Gilchrist, Sir Gary Sobers, Andrew Flintoff, the Sydney crowd and Shane Warne are all featured for miscellaneous reasons, although united in their honourable actions.
The book starts and ends with two enduring images from the 2005 Ashes, Flintoff's consoling arm around Brett Lee after the two-run win at Edgbaston and Shane Warne racing over to congratulate Pietersen after the urn was reclaimed at the Oval.
The title is a catchy oxymoron of course, since sport is ultimately all about winning, but the series of short stories are a telling reminder that you can still play the game competitively and do the right thing when dilemmas present themselves.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Aussies sting England and cruise into final
With bees swarming on cameras and flying ants disrupting the start of Australia's reply, there was no shortage of wildlife at Centurion last night -and it was the reigning champions who stung England yet again with a nine-wicket win and cruised into the final against rivals New Zealand or Pakistan, who play today.
This was vintage Australia and 'old England', the team we thought had vanished after sterling performances against Sri Lanka and South Africa, but was merely in hibernation, as Ponting and Watson flayed their docile attack to all corners under the floodlights.
It may have been a different tournament and different continent from the 6-1 drubbing, but pre-match talk of England turning the corner was severly misplaced as the game took on a familiar predictability and outcome.
The Aussie records fell faster than England's heads as the belligerent pair notched up a stand of 252, the best ODI partnership by any Australia pairing. Watson was in such destructive move that one of his sixes almost decapitated a youngster in the crowd, thankfully the ball skimming off his head, while Ponting didn't put a foot wrong, picking off the bowling with ease.
England's innings was a strange mixture of collapse and conviction, the top-order firing blanks as they fell to 101 for 6, and then an unlikely resistance from Wright (48) and Bresnan (80) taking the score towards respectability. But it was never going to be enough.
Now England have a month off before returning to SA for the tests, and can be thankful that they won't have to play the yellow shirts for a while. Australia march on though, and on this evidence will be too strong for NZ or Pakistan.
This was vintage Australia and 'old England', the team we thought had vanished after sterling performances against Sri Lanka and South Africa, but was merely in hibernation, as Ponting and Watson flayed their docile attack to all corners under the floodlights.
It may have been a different tournament and different continent from the 6-1 drubbing, but pre-match talk of England turning the corner was severly misplaced as the game took on a familiar predictability and outcome.
The Aussie records fell faster than England's heads as the belligerent pair notched up a stand of 252, the best ODI partnership by any Australia pairing. Watson was in such destructive move that one of his sixes almost decapitated a youngster in the crowd, thankfully the ball skimming off his head, while Ponting didn't put a foot wrong, picking off the bowling with ease.
England's innings was a strange mixture of collapse and conviction, the top-order firing blanks as they fell to 101 for 6, and then an unlikely resistance from Wright (48) and Bresnan (80) taking the score towards respectability. But it was never going to be enough.
Now England have a month off before returning to SA for the tests, and can be thankful that they won't have to play the yellow shirts for a while. Australia march on though, and on this evidence will be too strong for NZ or Pakistan.
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