Wednesday, February 13, 2008

CRICKET: AN ODI ALA T20 AT HAMILTON

Venue: Hamilton
Event : 2nd ODI NZ vs Eng
Result: Collingwood was left scratching his head.


It was almost a repeat of the Wellington disaster for India. The game followed the same pattern. England batted first only to lose wickets like nine pins with a few run outs adding to their woes and Nz making it a no competition with their batting display. But the only difference was that Nz managed to tout England without losing a wicket. Add insult to injury!

Chasing a revised target of 165 from 36 overs, the kiwis made short work of the target. Openers McCullum and Ryder took the English attack to the cleaners. McCullum was cruel making a whirlwind 80 off just 47 balls while Ryder was no less aggressive with 79 off 62 balls. England wicket keeper Phil Mustard must be kicking himself for dropping McCullum on in the 2nd over – You have almost dropped the cup mate.
Earlier Vettori won the toss and put England in to reap rich dividends. But Cook and Mustard started off well making 41 at more than a run a ball. That was when Chris Martin decided to change the script taking 2 wickets off successive balls. Mustard removed for 13and Bell edging to the keeper for nought. Pietersen warded off the hattrick but didn’t last long. 2 run outs at crucial times meant England could never make a comeback. One was Collingwood run out for 1 and the other was the well set Cook on 53. England lost the last 8 wickets for 73 runs.

After that McCullum and Ryder finished the job. McCullum cleared the ropes on 5 occassions while Ryder did so twice. The T20 tournaments have definitely impacted the 50 50 version.