Man-of-the-Match Chris Gayle sloughed off the ‘ol’ handle, showed off the old Universe Boss form and lashed the Nicholas Pooran-led West Indies to an emphatic six-wicket win over Aaron Finch’s hapless Australians. Without a T20I half-century for over five years, the almost 42-year-old former opener suddenly re-found his appetite for …
Read More »Media Monitor: The lighter side of a heavy Australia 56-run defeat
Some people say T20 is not cricket, it’s entertainment. It’s not a distinction that my family is wont to make or one I am prepared to spend any energy on challenging either. We watch T20 cricket and have great fun doing so. The Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia. Game …
Read More »Bravo, Hetmyer give West Indies 2-0 lead; Aussie bats fail again
A comprehensive 56-run triumph in Saturday’s second T20I at the Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia left West Indies with their noses still in front. And within one win of sealing victory in the five-match series against Aaron Finch’s Australia. After their exciting 18-run win in Friday’s opening encounter, it …
Read More »Best: Is repeat of WI World Cup history possible? Will the Australia challenge help?
Kieron Pollard’s star-studded highly favoured white ball unit, some are saying, can make history and retain their T20 World Cup title in India in a few months’ time. No chance, Curtly Ambrose demurs. Not unless the batsmen start using their brains and divest themselves of ‘the foolish notion that T20 …
Read More »Pooran’s West Indies fight back to snatch 1-0 lead over Finch’s battling Aussies
In the first T20I at the Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia on Friday, the West Indies only got to 24 for 2 in the Powerplay; in reply to the home side’s total of 145, Australia raced to 70 for 3 at the end of the first six overs. At …
Read More »Best: Whether with Pollard or Holder, WI spinning top in mud without CWI reform
For 32 years since Viv Richards’ West Indies beat Australia by nine wickets at the Gabba, no other country successfully breached that fortress. Of the 31 matches played there between that defeat and this year, the home side had drawn seven and won 24. But without its appointed captain and …
Read More »Clive Lloyd’s 1975-76 WI (Pt 1): Viv, voracious and vocal
In 1976, Tobago-born Owen Thompson was but a boy of 14 when Greg Chappell’s Australia put a 5-1 merciless whipping on Clive Lloyd’s West Indian cavaliers. That turned out to be the last time for a long, long time. In those days, Thompson, who now works in film and television …
Read More »Captaincy playbook: Benaud was ‘energetic and often inspired, engendering total loyalty’
Cricket, like everything else, goes through troughs and peaks. Teams have floundered and risen. West Indies had malingered in the state of ‘potential’ for a long time, relying on talk without action, but perhaps with the world in one of its states of upheaval and change, it might be that …
Read More »Aussies too good for Sri Lanka; Afghans too bad to beat South Africa
Australian captain Aaron Finch smashed his way to a tournament-best century against Sri Lanka at the Oval in London earlier today to power his side to the top of the ten-team table. And his opposite number, Dimuth Karunaratne, fell just three runs short of his own century but his side …
Read More »Bad mind fails Pakistan as Australia get home easily to move to second
If Pakistan’s Asif Ali were the cousin of T&T’s Inshan Ali or Zaheer Ali, Australia would today be fifth in the 2019 World Cup standings instead of second. The two points Aaron Finch’s team earned for their 41-run victory over Safaraz Ahmed’s side in Taunton yesterday lifted them to a …
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 …
Read More »Dhawan drives India into early pole position for qualifying after win over Aussies
The setting was perfect: a fine summer’s day, a sell-out crowd, a sea of blue and a home game for India at the Oval in London. Capitalising, Virat Kohli’s side, who are pressing the home team hard as favourites to take the 2019 World Cup, produced a near-perfect exhibition of …
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