What a roller coaster it’s been thus far? Sri Lanka beat South Africa and then loses to New Zealand and a Aussie-battered England. South Africa beat New Zealand but lose to England.
In the other group, tournament favorites (despite their issues) Australia suffer a scare against what they called a “second string” West Indies. Pakistan almost lose to West Indies and then embarrass the #1 ODI team India (more on this in my next post).
All these developments make the tournament more interesting upto the semi finals, but it remains to be seen if the interest levels prevail if the top 3 ODI teams don’t make it to the semi finals. Forget the ICC ratings, don’t we want to watch the best battle it out? Does wining two games in a row make a team better than one which has won several games in trott in the past which has bought them the interest and respect of cricket lovers world wide? Many questions that need answering. I will hold my opinions till the end of the trophy.
Who shall we blame now? Chokers South Africa or free spirited England? Shall we blame Andrew Strauss for denying Smith the runner? I do actually, because runners have been provided before for cramping batsmen, esp from the sub continent, and by denying the runner Strauss showed how insecure he was about Smith being there. Isn’t it easier to effect a run out when you’ve got three people trying to communicate with one another about taking a run? Returning to the blame game, shall we blame the injuries for India’s loss?
The organizers need to wake up about the pitch making malpractices. I have seen at least two games so far where the pitch played a Man-of-Match worthy role in a team’s victory. Not to take away from Shah-Collingwood or Malik-Yousuf in the games England and Pakistan played against South Africa and India respectively, but there was nothing in this for the seamers. If ODI cricket dies, let us not blame the format, for there is more to this than meets the eye.
VM\'s Random Ramblings 
may be smith was carrying injury to the game that’s why he was not provided runner…
i am liking the pitch already… the batsmen of today are brought on staple diet of patta wickets and as soon as it start to does something in seaming… swinging or spinning they behave like a rat on hot tin roof… atleast we are seeing who have the technique to not only survive but scoring at good pace at the same time…
What a joke as the Proteas choke yet again, before the tournament Smith and Authur were bragging that is was their time, the team looked good and had prepared well together, all that hipe to be beaten by a battered England who did not deserve to win. They even refused Smith a runner! I mean, come on the guy had a freakin cramp! Surely he deserved one, however the Proteas have failed us again through poor bowling and a failing middle order yet again…maybe the Icc should start a chokers tournament, to see who can choke first and guess who the winner will be!
@SP, “staple diet of patta wickets” 🙂 unfortunate but true.
@Springbok, welcome! I can understand your frustration. I like your idea of the chokers tournament. They should put India, South Africa and England in it. 🙂
This was an excellent tournment.
Full of suprises. Who would have expected South Africa to crash out so early and New Zealand to make the final!