Be it for pursuing higher education or planning to work and settle in a country, Australia still appears to be the most dreaded place for the Asian populace, or at least for the people in India as racism continues undeterred there. According to the reports, 3 Indians were assaulted by an Australian mob and hours after this incident, the Indians in Australia staged a protest. Fact of the matter is this is the third major protest down under and there is nothing Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister can do to put an end to this issue. Poor chap, every time these bloddy racists attack the hapless Indians, a protest is staged and he’s pulled out and asked - Mr Rudd, are you listening? These racial attacks are a prime concern for the Australian Prime Minister and you might be wondering why Mr Rudd is least bothered about these incidents. But alas, that’s not the case. It looks like he strongly believes in the proverb - If you can’t beat them, join them. Right, Mr Rudd?
September 20, 2009
January 27, 2009
Back to winning ways
Forget their dismal performance in the Tenty-20s against the world champions prior to the ODIs. The South Africans, after their remarkable run in the test matches, have now come back very strongly in this ODIs clinching the series 3-1 and that too, surprisingly on the Australian turf. However, after Graeme Smith’s injury, everyone had a preconceived notion that the visiting side would face a massive defeat under the captaincy of a new skipper. Now after their clinical performance in the ODIs, they have proved everyone of us wrong. With the injured skipper yet to join the team after the injury, it will be a tough choice to decide who should sit back. True, you will also find a number of promising players in your side when the team is performing quite well and from this Australian tour, it is apparent that the pick of the lot is the dynamic left hander, JP Duminy. Undoubtedly, he’s a fine prospect to the team for he has had a remarkable career so far. Be it ODIs or test matches, he has delivered when his team needed him to. Also interesting is the fact that, many other players have even come up and proved their mettle on many occasions. More importantly, one should also note that beating the world champions on their home turf is not an easy thing to do. All credit goes to the entire team, in fact no other team has achieved this great feat. Unquestionably, South Africa is in its hey days and indeed the best team to enjoy the number one spot.
January 26, 2009
South Africa thrash Australia
The series has been sealed. The South Africans have won the tournament for the first time ever in Australia. Apparently, they deserve the number one spot. Be it the test matches or the ODIs, the South Africans have dominated quite comprehensively. Apart from their dismal show in the twenty-20s, they are no doubt a strong team sans Graeme Smith. And not wanting to wait till the series ends, they have proved it in the 4th ODI itself. Having chose to bat first for the fourth consecutive time in the series, the Australian skipper never expected this dingy performance from his team. Having just 222 runs on the board, a comprehensive South African victory was always on the cards. The Australian bowling wasn’t that good either. Apart from James opes no bowler was economical, all went for plenty of runs right from the start of the innings. Hashim Amla and Herschelle Gibbs provided a wonderful platform in their run chase. In the end, it was an easy run chase for the visiting team, completely one-sided. South Africa won the match quite comprehensively with 8 wickets in hand and more than 10 overs to spare. The final encounter between the two teams may not be that intrigiung after all, for the visiting team has already clinched the series. Nevertheless, a good game is in the offing - on the one hand, Australians endeavouring to end the tour on a winning note and on the other hand, South Africans trying to completely dethrone the world champions from the number one spot. Let’s wait and watch.
January 23, 2009
South Africa lead 2-1
Australians have failed to impress yet again. And quite unfortunately, having won just a single game out of the 3 matches, they are lagging the series. Australian captain won the toss, and for the third successive time the visiting team were bowling first. Although Shaun Marsh ans David Warner provided the start the team wanted, they failed to capitalise soon after both the openers departed. Unexpectedly, they were also bowled out for the first time in the series even before the full 50 overs were bowled. Coming to the South African bowling, pacemen, Dale Steyn and Makaya Ntini bowled quite nicley and picked up two wickets each. Skipper Johan Botha was the stand out bowler who chipped in with 3 wickets and who was also the best economical bowler in the side. The South African reply was no different from the first one. Yet again, all rounder Albie Morkel splendid innings of 40 runs from 22 balls was remarkable. Ultimately, South Africa registered a comprehensive victory with 3 wickets in hand and 21 deliveries to spare.
January 19, 2009
Australia level series
After the close encounter in the first ODI, the home team has come back strongly. Having won the toss, the South African skipper opted to bowl first on this Bellerive Oval pitch, Hobart. Australia had a bumpy start when it lost the impressive opener David Warner for just 5 runs. After that, it was skipper Ricky Ponting and the other opener, Shaun Marsh who steadied the Australian innings. Contributions, though trifle, came from other players as well, the home team was not at all satisfied with the final total. 249 though not a good score, it was more than enough on this pitch which was not that conducive for batting. South Africa chasing down 250 was not at its usual best. However at the end, the visiting team fell short of just 5 runs albeit Albie Morkel and mark Boucher were unbeaten till the very end. Unsuccessful run chase, this second ODI.
January 16, 2009
Sensational opener
The first ODI between South Africa and Australia was but fantastic. Having chose to bat first on a pitch conducive for batting, the home team was destined to put up a fighting total on the scoreboard. The ploy to let middle-order batsman Micheal Hussey to open the innings didn’t work at all for the Aussies as he was dismissed cheaply early in the innings. With the unavailability of Ntini, Morne Morkel was given a chance in the playing eleven. Though he took a couple of crucial wickets, he went for a lot of runs in his full quota of 10 overs. Finally, the home team put up 271 on the board, though not a formidable total, it was but a challenging one. In return, South Africa’s reply was no different from the Australian innings. Although, valuable contributions came from a couple of players, it was Albie Morkel’s blistering cameo that made a certain difference. His 18-ball-40 was a remarkable one to the end of the innings and with the captain at the other end, he made sure his team was through in the first encounter. Definitely, a cliff hanger, this.
January 3, 2009
Whitewash!
Be it batting first or second, the South Africans were not at all looking comfortable out there. Smith’s absence has taken a toll on the team quite badly and the new team under the captaincy of Neil McKenzie, is looking down the barrel. It’s quite obvious that without the original skipper, the team is void. Now coming to the second twenty-20 of the series, the skipper chose to bat first keeping in mind that it was conducive to bat, plus, the main frontline bowler, Ntini, who was asked to sit back due to an injury, it seemed. With wickets tumbling in quick succession, the visitiors were afraid they would be running short of batsmen even before the full quota of 20 overs were bowled, but fortunately, JP Duminy played another fantastic knocks and almost rescued the team as he does always. At the end, they could only put up 157 runs on the board, which was not at all satisfactory on this pitch. Meanwhile, their bowling wasn’t that good either. Defending a small total, you had to strike early to put breakes on the Australian batting, but that never happened. Eventually, it was a comprehensive victory for the hosts. 157 was not at all enough.
December 28, 2008
Australia dominate again
After winning the final test match of the series, the World champions are back to their winning ways. What a way to start the year - a win of the last test match, and now one-up in the two match Twenty-20 series. With the unavailability of the in-form South African skipper, Graeme Smith, the team looks incompetent - a lacklustuer performance in the last test match and now continuing the dismal form in the twenty-20. Undoubtedly, Smith is the trump card. Unless and until he returns to Cricket, the team will continue to face defeats. Meanwhile, the world champions are continuing to dominate. The inagural twenty-20 match kicked off in style. Having won the toss, the Australian team looked exceptional right from the word go. The vibrant opener David Warner, was at his best, in fact his blitzkrieg was phenomenal. Apart from him and the skipper, no other batsman contributed significantly. The South Africans, on the other hand looked feeble. Asking them to chase down 183 was too much for the asking. Wickets fell in quick succession and that hindered their run chase. With wickets tumbling at one end, the young promising South African batsman, JP Duminy, almost single handedly tried to win the match for his team but unfortunately, he was running short of partners. Albeit playing sensibly, apparently, he was not at his usual flamboyant best. Ultimately, the visitors fell short of 52 runs which is a big defeat by any stretch of imagination.
December 24, 2008
End of Australian dominance?
Earlier it was a 2 - 0 defeat against India on the sub continent turf. Now the world champions have lost the series again. And that too on their home turf. Losing a series is something the Australians are not accustomed to and after this defeat, the cricket fraternity has realized that even the world champions can be beaten. Gone are the days when Glen McGrath used to deceive the batsmen with his clever ploy of bowling the slow ball deliveries, Shane Warne who used to bamboozle the batsmen with his spin bowling, and Adam Gilchrist who used to used to fire on all cylinders with his bat. With the absence of the great stalwarts, the team isn’t looking formidable. The dashing opener, Mathew Hayden’s retirement is also imminent. If he retires from Australian cricket, the world champions are unquestionably doomed.
December 22, 2008
Day 5
The Australians have somehow won the final test of the series. The visiting side on the other hand have done extremely well and they are quite obviously, the winners. The defining moment of the day was when skipper Graeme Smith came out to play. He received a standing ovation and a huge round of applause for the courage he showed when he stepped out of the pavilion after the 9th wicket fell for the visiting team. When the pen ultimate wicket fell, the spectators and some of the Australian players started celebrating, thinking it was all over. He was ruled out of the 3rd test because of a broken arm. Nevertheless, with great courage he came out to bat. Finally at the end of the day, it was an Australian win. If the South African skipper
was not injured and had he batted both the innings, it would have been a different story altogether.
