A cricket match, a wise old scribe has written, is played in the minds of the opposing captains. Even in today’s changed world of T20 cricket? Hmmm…. Let’s see… For a full century after Australia’s 45-run victory over England at Melbourne in the first-ever Test match in 1877, the statement …
Read More »T20WC24: Kohli, Suryakumar, Proteas give inspired India 2nd T20 title
They choked! Again! At the last hurdle, just the wrong time! At just the right time, struggling star batsman Virat Kohli found his form to help 2007 Champions India sneak past South Africa by seven runs at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday. The former skipper’s carefully constructed 76 (59 …
Read More »Vaneisa: The enduring Master Blaster; why West Indies legend Viv Richards is the greatest
Every now and again, I indulge in a binge fest of Viv Richards. It’s therapeutic. Maybe it was triggered by his 70th birthday on 7 March, but it was such an intense submersion that I felt compelled to write about why Viv Richards resides in my mind as the greatest …
Read More »India hold off Powell and Pooran to take unassailable lead in T20I series
“We are a six-hitting team,” West Indies white ball vice-captain Nicholas Pooran repeated time and time again in the run-up to the 2021 World Cup. In the UAE, we saw none of it. But today, needing a Carlos Brathwaite imitation in the second T20I at the same Eden Gardens in …
Read More »India hold off Holder in final ODI to complete maiden series sweep over West Indies
Jason Holder’s third multiple-wicket haul in his last eight white ball matches should have earned the Nicholas Pooran-led West Indies some World Cup Super League points in the third and final game of the three-match day/night ODI series. But India’s challenging 265 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad again …
Read More »Bawa blows England away as India win fifth U-19 Cricket W/Cup title; Skerritt lauds tourney organisation
India helped themselves to an unprecedented fifth ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup title today, defeating England by four wickets at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. India allrounder Raj Bawa stole the show with a decisive all-round performance, claiming 5/31 with the ball in England’s 189 off 44.5 …
Read More »T2021 W/C: Narine shows what WI will miss as post-CPL lessons continue in IPL play-offs
It would not be accurate to say that West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine almost single-handedly put the Kolkata Knight Riders into the IPL semi-final on Monday. Why? Because accuracy requires that we say ‘former West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine’. Mr Roger Harper and his selection panel were well aware that, …
Read More »Pollard hails out fans as West Indies start T20 World Cup vs England
Sunday 14 November, 2021. Remember the date. Fans all over the Caribbean will probably be marking Monday 15 November down on their calendars as well. The organisers are calling it a reserve day; West Indian fans are already seeing it as a day reserved for celebrating Kieron Pollard’s men capture—for …
Read More »W/Cup addict comments: Are Windies taking a page from Mark Nicholas’ playbook?
Three years ago, England’s Mark Nicholas dismissed the title aspirations of the Darren Sammy-led West Indies T20 World Cup team. They, he said, ‘have no brains’. I’m pretty sure Nicholas expects all us natives of shithole countries to agree with his scathing assessment. Good luck to him with that. However, …
Read More »Kohli’s mean machine rolls past Pakistan, India virtually into final four
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is that! If you are still unsure which team is going to top the round robin stage and then go on to win the 2019 World Cup, you must have missed today’s game between India and Pakistan. Indians turned up in their numbers in the …
Read More »W/Cup addict comments: How Holder’s howler compares with Kohli’s handling of his bowlers
Assistant coaches are the wretched of the earth; they may be called assistants but they offer little real help. Roddy Estwick is the assistant coach of the West Indies cricket team. According to Estwick, the West Indies’ 15-run defeat by Australia in last Friday’s crucial fixture, had “nothing to do …
Read More »W/Cup addict comments: Scoreboard pressure does buss pipe; South Africa’s chances down the drain?
Sunday 9 June. India and Australia, their places almost reserved in the final four of the 2019 World Cup, are trying to settle the pecking order. The Indian innings is almost at an end. And already, with six balls still left, Australia are going to have to put together the …
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