Cricket Blog

New Zealand continued on its merry way with another win, albeit by only 5 runs, and seem to have booked an early spot for the semi-finals. England now need to win both their matches to have any chance of reaching the semis and they have to prepare quickly as they fight it out with India in a do-or-die clash tomorrow. As for New Zealand, no one would have expected them to be leading their group, and the red hot form of South Africa is going to ensure a mouth-watering match at Durban.

Let’s get back to the match. Paul Collingwood won the toss and has been the case in the tournament, he decided to field first. The Kiwis never got off to a good start as the top order collapsed to Anderson, Broad and Flintoff. Lou Vincent was the only top order player to reach double figures, but even that wasn’t a lot - only 13 runs. The old guard took charge of the match for New Zealand with Scott Styris and Craig McMillan joining hands together for a match-winning 60 run partnership. Styris dominated this one scoring 42 runs from 32 balls with 4 big hits and 1 boundary.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark:

The first match was a batsman’s paradise, but Shane Bond and Mark Gillespie proved that may not be the case all the time. Kenya were put in by New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori and they quickly succumbed to 0-3 and then 1-4. The top order failed to get a single run and Kenya got bundled out for a measly 73 runs in 16.5 overs. New Zealand chased their target with over 12 overs to spare and won their opening match convincingly.

Click here for the full scorecard

Highlights

Bought to you by CricFever.com

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark:

1. New Zealand

They have always been the underdogs in any world cup that they played. And this one is not going to be any different. New Zealand has never had any “STAR” players in their team, and this squad holds no surprises as well. OK, a lot would disagree with me here, so I will mention Shane Bond as a STAR player. Although New Zealand does have a lot of bits and pieces players. And this is where the Kiwis excel in. Where they lag in star power, they more than make up for in players who do their jobs day-in and day-out. McMillan, Vettori, Oram, Styris and Fulton to name a few. Its always a collective effort for the Kiwis and thats what really works for them.

2. England

The country that created cricket has never won a World Cup. To a stranger this would be almost unbelievable, but to the cricket followers this should not come as a surprise. England has never had an invincible ODI squad and this one holds no surprises either. However, after defeating the Aussies with a depleted attack, England must surely be soaring high in confidence. The key to the English performance will be Flintoff and Pieterson. These two can rip apart any team when its their day. The rest of the team will have to play around these two guys.

3. West Indies

Last but not least, the host nation. And who else but Brian Lara will hold the key to the West Indian campaign in this World Cup. I believe that West Indies have a terrific squad who will definitely spring a few surprises and might make it to the semi-finals. They have had a far better one day record in 2006 and playing at home might just give that little bit of edge. Chanderpaul, Gayle and Sarwan need to support Lara in the batting. The bowling is very inexperienced and will be the weakness for West Indies.

Bookmark: