IRELAND VS SCOTLAND

Sorry guys, cudnt post on the bigbash match.

Coming to dis match it looks like and clear win for Ireland. Scotland doesn't have much of quality in their line up.

PREDICTION: Ireland

MIRACULOUS CRICKET GROUND - THE WANDERERS

THE WANDERERS,

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

The Wanderers, the name itself speaks it's a place for great wonders!! Known as "Bullring" the first International Cricket played here was way back in 1956 in the same year it completed it reconstruction! 24th December ,1956 is day when South Africa played against Australia for the first time in the Miraculous ground. The first ODI played here was in 1992 where the South Africans played against India. The first T-20 played here was in 21st October,2005.

Surprisingly, the ground has hosted two ICC tournament finals in which both the times India has featured in it. First, in the 2003 World Cup against Australia which they lost and second the first T-20 World Cup Final which India won to Pakistan in one of the best world cup finals to watch.

"Miraculous", literally means "the power to work miracles".
Why is the Wanderers described as "Miraculous"?
ODI No. 2349
12 March 2006 [Surprisingly the Birthday of my girl friend ;) haha joking]
At - The Wanderers, Johannesburg, South Africa
South Africa VS Australia

Australia won the toss and elected to bat.

Gilly & Simon Katich opened the innings! Ntini to Gilly... Gilly opened his & team's account with a beautiful boundary in the fifth ball of the 1st over. At the end of the 20th over the score was 123/1. Gilly got out scoring a quick 55 of 44 balls. At this stage there were no signs of scoring an impossiblly massive total of  434 which the Kangaroos managed to score at the end of 50 overs. It was when Skipper Ricky Ponting & Mr. Cricket Mike Hussey started to hit the ball all round the park it was believed that a huge total is coming! Ponting scored a blistering 164 of 105 balls & Hussey scored 81 of 51 balls.

Chasing a total that was as high as Mt. Everest, the Proteas started their innings with G. Smith & Boeta Dippenaar. Nathan Bracken took a early break through with the wicket of Dippenaar. With his wickets everyone in the stadium lost hopes without knowing the fact that Smith-Gibbs will gift South African cricket a surprise that was never expected! Captain Smith scoring 90 off 55 & the incredible innings of  175 off 111 by Herschelle Herman Gibbs and with help of the lower order batsmen the Proteas made an IMPOSSIBLE just another word re framing it I-M-POSSIBLE!!

11th January 2015
At - The Wanderers, Johannesburg, South Africa
South Africa VS West Indies

West Indies won the toss and elected to field.

Riley Rossouw & Van Wyk opened the batting but couldn't do much! Coming at No.3 Faf Duplesis scored a fast 119 off  56 balls that changed the course of their innings along with the help of David Miller. 231/7 at the end of 1st innings looked a very easy total for South Africas to defend! But.. The Devils of the T-20 cricket were yet to bat! The partnership of 152 off 71 balls by Marlon Samuels & Christopher Henry Gayle was enough for the Carribeans cross the line with 4 balls to spare!! 236/6 in 19.4 overs, was it a real game or I was witnessing cricket- 07 or a gully cricket match? Called the Service Center of my cable operator and complained in channel number 415 instead of Ten Cricket I was seeing computer game channel. He said "peekay ho ka" (are you drunk)? I then realised I was watching a real game!!

Chasing 231 in 19.4 overs & chasing 434 in 49.5 overs is a MIRACLE itself! And co-incidentally both of the occassions were in the "The Wanderers", Johannesburg is even more rare. It feels The Wanderers has some kind of  "Miraculous" power!!!

SOUTH AFRICA VS WESTINDIES

Domunating the 1st ODI by the Carribeans, it looks like the Proteas will makeva strong comeback today.
Miller & Duplesis will be key to SA's innings. Their failure or success will define SA's fortune.

Trusting on SA's comeback, I would back SA for this match. 

BRISBANE HEATS VS SYDNEY SIXERS

MATCH TIMING : 01:40 (IST) [IST=GMT +5:30]

VENUE: BRISBANE

BRISBANE HEATS(prev. match): LOST to Perth Scorchers by 8 wickets.

SYDNEY SIXERS(prev. match): LOST to Melbourne Stars in one over eliminator.

BRISBANE HEATS: D. Christian, B. Cutting, R. Duffield, A. Flintoff, J, Floros, P. Forrest, C. Gannon, J. Hopes, C. Lynn, S. Parry, J. Peirson, N. Reardon, M. Steketee

SYDNEY SIXERS: S. Abbott, D. Bollinger, R. Carters, E. Cowan, B. Dwarship, M. Henriques, S. Keen, B. Lee, M. Lumb, N. Maddinson, S. O'keefe, J. Silk, M. Wessels

With both the teams coming in with a dissapointment from previous match it will be a game of the level of spirits. The Heats have shwon no confidence in their game while the Sixers in the fourth position has shown tremendous efforts in the field. Losing in a very close game in the super over the Sixers doesnt looks to be in much trouble.

While the Heats in the bottom shows a different story.

A comeback from the Heats is highly unlikely however having the potential with Cutting, Forrest, Lynn, Flintoff you cant just ignore them from the equation.

Men in form from Sixers have to perform like its just another day in the game of cricket to win the match.

PREDICTION: Sydney Sixers

SRI LANKA VS NEW ZEALAND

MATCH TIMING : 03:30 (IST) [IST=GMT +5:30]

VENUE: CHRISTCHURCH

SRI LANKA: A. Mathews(C), D. Chandimal, T. DIlshan, S. Eranga, R. Herath, M. Jayawardene, D. Karunaratne, N. Kulasekara, S. Lakmal, L. Malinga, J. Mendis, T. Perera, D. Prasad, K. Sangakkara, S. Senanayake, L. Thirimanne

NEW ZEALAND: B. McCullum(C), N. McCullum, J. Anderson, T. Boult, G. Elliot, M. Guptill, T. Latham, M. McClenaghan, K. Mills, A. Milne, L. Ronchi, T. Southee, R. Taylor, D. Vettori, K. Williamson

Dominating the test series 2-0 Kiwis have shown a great confidence. Skipper McCullum & Kane Williamson scoring 195 & 242 respectively proves they are in an out standing form. Apart from Southee's & T. Boult's performance in one winngs of four each, the rest of the heroes of the bowling department are not in the ODI Squad. The new to the series bowlers will need to spend more time in the field. While playing a ODI you dont hav much time unless you have first batting. In simple language, Kiwis bowling will be better if they bowl second!

The struggling Sri Lankan side have had most of its player swapped from that of the test sqaud. Losing two staright games in a row with huge margins will have made a severe impact to the team! However the presence of veterans like SANGA, Jayawardene, Dilshan, skipper Matthews & Malinga would have helped players to over come the hard time.

Sri Lanka are not a side to be humiliated. The seniors would have increased the spirits with in the players.

By seeing the fact that SRI LANKA are a far better side than they have performed, it can be said that they can win the first ODI. However its very difficult to predict a winner in a bi-lateral series. Its better not to give any judgements and enjoy the game.

AFGHANISTAN VS IRELAND

MATCH TIMING : 15:30 (IST) [IST=GMT +5:30]

VENUE: DUBAI

AFGHANISTAN: Afsar Zazai, Aftab Alam, Ashgar Stankziai, Dawalat zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Hamid Hassan, Javed Ahmadi, Mirwais shraf, Mohammad Nabi(C), Bajibullah Zadran, Nasir Jamal, Nawroj Mangal, Samiullah, Shenwari, Shapoor adran, Usman Ghani

IRELAND: A Balbarinie, P. Chase, A Cusack, G Dockrell, Ed Joyce, AR McBrine, JF Mooney, K. O'Brien, N. O'Brien, W. Porterfield(C), P. Stirling, S. Thompson, G. Wilson, C Young

Afghanistan & Ireland the two favourite associates play against each other in a tri series. It is a simple equation Afghans have a better bowling line up than Ireland. In other hand Ireland has more experience than Afghanistan in professional cricket. Irish players ge to play domestic cricket with the English so they ought to be the better team!

Defeating Scotland by a whooping 8 wickets marging, the Afghans will be high on confidence.

A. Stanikzai, M. Nabi, N. Mangal can put a good foundation in their batting while they can trust their bowlers to defend a total. So, winning the toss for Afghans will be a key to win the match. 

Irish on the other side have loads of experience with Ed Joyce, W. Porterfield, P. Stirling, K. Ob'brien. Apart from A. Cussack the bowling department looks a bit weak for them.

With all these said I would back Afghans to upset Irish.

PREDICTION: Afghanistan

MELBOURNE STARS VS MELBOURNE RENEGADES

MATCH TIMING : 1:40 (IST) [IST=GMT +5:30]

VENUE: MELBOURNE

MELBOURNE STARS(prev. match): WON in super over eliminator to Sydney Sixers.

MELBOURNE RENEGADES(prev. match): WON by 37 runs from Hobart Hurricanes.

MELBOURNE STARS: Cameron White(c), Michael Beer, Jackson Bird, Scott Boland, James Faulkner, John Hastings, Alexander Keath, Glenn Maxwell, Kevin Pietersen, Clice Rose, Tom Triffit, Daniel Worrall, Luke Wright
MELBOURNE RENEGADES: TM Beaton, T. Cooper, Fawad Ahmed, CJ Ferguson, J.Pattinson, NJ Rimmington, B.Rohrer, Shakib Al Hasan, P. Siddle, B. Stokes, M. Wade, N. Winter

A week after their first meeting, the Renegades face the stars once more, this time at MCG. Co-incidentally both the teams have an identical win-loss ratio of 2-3 respectively.
The introduction of Ben Stokes & Shakib Al Hasan against Hobart Hurricanes had an immediate effect. Stokes turned in a man of the match performance making 77 with the bat when no one else managed more than 31. Hasan didnt gave an stand out performance but handy contribution in battin, bowling & fielding. Perhaps, most importantly his left arm orthodox meant that Aaron Finch had two genuine spin options.
Although the Renegades batting is still yet to fire as a collective unit, the improved bowling unit with Siddle, Hasan, Stokes & Pattiinson will give the side a slight edge to cross the bar against the Stars

When all seemed lost for thye stars, Tom Triffit & James Faulkner propelled them into a super over against the Sixers. In the extra over Faulkner hit Lee over the fence twice which was enough for their second straight victory. Despite the absence of players like Stoinis, Handscumb, Quiney & Hussey, the Stars have managed to steal two wins which will boost the moral of the team.
SIDDLE VS PIETERSEN will be the best part of thematch to watch!
Stars have it all, all they have to do is to perform!

Looks like a even steven match considering the Renegades will regain their lost form. Its hard to decide who will cross the line. It seems a clear 50-50 match.
If I had to choose one between these two I would back MELBOURNE RENEGADES having confidence in the their players to make a comeback.

SOUTHAFRICA's 2015 WORLD CUP SQUAD-PREVIEW

AB De Villiers(175)

J.P. Duminy(129)

Hashim Amla(103)

Dale Steyn(93)

Morne Morkel(87)

Faf duplesis(62)

David Miller(58)

Wayne Parnell(43)

Quinton De Cock(35)

Imran Tahir(27)

Vernon Philander(21)

Farhaan Behardein(16)

Aaron Phangiso(12)

Kyle Abbott(9)

Rilee Rossouw(9)

Possessing the world's best test, one-day and t20 batsmen and bowler, South Africa are certainly favorites to lift the gold studded trophy. Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, and Imran Tahir. Do u need any world class batsmen to chase the smaller targets set for them by the bowlers. I guess no? But South Africa do posses the some of the world's best batsmen. Abraham Benjamin De villiers, Hashim Amla, Faf Du Plessis. Surely with these world class batsmen and bowlers SA are the clear cut favorites of the tournament.

The captain, AB de Villiers, or Mr. 360, can be ruthless when it comes to scoring runs at the death and can even be an anchor when the needs him. He is absolutely everywhere in game making his presence felt by everyone. Hashim Amla, who will also go into the tournament as the man in form will be the go-to man for SA. He will be well supported by Quiton dekock at the top who has had a fantastic couple of years in international cricket. Making debut at the tender age of 19, he did the unthinkable against India scoring 3 consecutive tons in 3 consecutive ODIs.

Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy (subject to fitness), David Miller are all dashing stroke makers who can chip in with some lusty blows when required at the end. Faf in particular can be a very dangerous player to deal with for the oppositon. He can score freely even in the middle overs.

Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Kyle Abott, Wayne Parnell, Vernon Philander are a horror dream for any batsmen. If its their day then the batsmen will just sit back and enjoy chasing a poultry total. Dale Steyn who will be a very difficult customer to deal with will be swinging the ball when its fresh and new and then come back in the end to bowl some tight overs to restrict the opposition. Morne Morkel will be as usual fast and would like to maintain his agression. He recently rushed through the Aussies line up when they were palying at the WACA. So certainly he is gonna throw some challenges along side his colleagues Kyle Abott, Parnell and Philander.

With World Cup being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, conditions which suits the Africans, can they rise to the occasion and pull off and odd ICC event win. They are yet to lift a WC (both t20 & ODI) or will they just choke out of the tournament in the midway. Only time can say...

NEW ZEALAND's WORLD CUP 2015 SQUAD - PREVIEW

Daniel Vettori(280)

Brendo McCullum(232)(C)

Kyle Mills(167)

Ross Taylor(142)

Martin Guptill(90)

Tim Southee(80)

Nathan McCullum(72)

Kane Williamson(59

Grant Elliot(51)

Mitchell McClenaghn(28)

Tom Latham(21)

Corey Anderson(18)

Luke Ronchi(15)

Adam Milne(11)

Trent Boult(10)

Entering as the Dark Horses in to the World Cup The Black Caps has chosen a very well balanced side with a mixed bag of highly experienced and young youths.Since the introduction of Cricket World Cup the Black Caps have entered in to the Semi Finals SIX times yet never made it to the finals.
Their performance since the begining:

• 1975: Semi finals
• 1979: Semi Finals
• 1983: Round 1
• 1987: Round 1
• 1992: Semi Finals
• 1996: Quarter FInals
• 1999: Semi Finals
• 2003: Super Six
• 2007: Semi Finals
• 2011: Semi Finals 

Its been a misfortune for them to never cross the Semi Finals bar. But in the current edition of the World Cup cricket lovers believe that the Black Caps can surprise the Cricketing World.

Making his debut way back in 25th March 1997 against Sri Lanka, the young kid Daniel Vettori has turned into a "star" of experience playing 17 years of professional cricket with almost 650 International Wickets (651 to be exact as of 9th Jan,2015) & 7000 International runs (6682  to be exact as of 9th Jan,2015). The services of Daniel Vettori will be a great help for first time world cup captain Brendon McCullum. Brendon who himself has played 12 years of International Cricket will have a great pressure captaining in the World Cup for the first time. He will be lucky to have vastly experienced Kyle Mills & Ross Taylor who have played around 150 ODI games. Apart from the four seniors Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, Nathan McCullum & Martin Guptill also have experienced playing in the World Cup.

With the presence of B. McCullum, Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill, Luke Ronchi, Kane Williamson, Corey Anderson the batting department looks pretty good! Out of batsmam Ross Taylor needs to find his form as his contributions will be vital in the middle order considering Skipper McCullum plays in top order. New comer & wicket keeper Luke Ronchi will hold a important spot in keeping the wickets and if he does his job well Skipper will be relieved from taking the responsibility from wicket keeping and contribute as an extra ordinary fielder saving a handful of runs in each match. Moreover B. McCullum being in the field will help bowlers to gain confidence and have stratergy discussions in between overs. These mid over discussions will help the bowlers and the fielders to keep them charged!

Dan Vettori, Kyle Mills & Tim Southee along with McClenaghn & Co. looks a very impressive bowling attack. Vettori will lead the bowling attack sharing his experiences with his fellow bowlers. McClenaghn & Southee looks in a pretty good form.

The Black Caps have it all. The only thing they need to do now is perform what they are capable of in the ICC World Cup 2015!!
They looks a clear favourtie along with the Proteas to seal their first World Cup!


May The Force Be With You!! B-)

SOUTH AFRICA VS WEST INDIES

Dominating the Test series by South Africa, the Carribean will be low on confidence. However South African resting their senior players gives West indies a chance to win the game.
The T20 specialists West Indies look more favorite to win the only T20 to be played with playing its full squad.

PREDICTION: West Indies

SYDNEY THUNDER VS HOBART HURRICANES

MATCH TIMING : 1:40 (IST) [IST=GMT +5:30]

VENUE: SYDNEY

SYDNEY THUNDER(prev. match): WON by 20 runs from Perth Scorchers.

HOBART HURRICANES(prev. match): LOST to Melbourne Renegades by 37 runs

SYDNEY THUNDER: A. Bliard, M Cosgrive, P. Cummins, C Hartley, N. Haurit, D. Hughes, M. Hussey(C), J. Kallis, J. Lalor, I. MOran, J.J. Roy, G. Sandhu, C. Tremain
HOBART HURRICANES: B. Dunk, S Malik, G. Bailey, Wells, T. Bresnan, Boyce, B. Hilfenus, J. Doherty, Reed, Gulbis, Hill, Michael, Wells

Two wins in four games means that the Thunder have doubled the total number of victories in the previous two seasons. They remain the worst performing team in the history of the competition but the capture of J. Kallis have changed their fortunes! Their batting completely depends upon the veteran players, Kallis and skipper Hussey. If they fail, team fails! Aiden Bliard has also given some contributions but the the arrival of J.J. Roy should make them a little stronger. Man in form Josh Lalor and senior J. Kallis will be the key to their bowling and contributions from G. Sandhu is expected in this match.

The Hurricanes look to hav the better all round side but seems more inconsistent. Having chase down 208 against Brisbane Heats with an over to spare, Bailey's boys crumbled to 126 on Wednesdaywhile chasing 163 against Renegades. The void of Darren Sammy s surely felt in the field for Hurricanes while Tim Bresnan csn fill up that void if he plays at his full capability.
Senior player Tim Bresnan & Ben Hilfenus will be the key for Hurricanes's bowling line up while the services of X. Doherty can not be ignored!
With the likes of B. Dunk, T. Paine, G. Bailey, Alex Hales & T. Birt their ceoncern in hitting the ball shouldn't be much, all they want is consistency!

With both teams locked on four points, the difference being Hurricanes played an extra game than Thunder, it looks Thunder have performed well in the tournament.
Trusting in the Hurricane's all round side I would back Hurricanes for this match!

PREDICTION: Hobart Hurricanes

PAKISTAN's WORLD CUP 2015 SQUAD - PREVIEW

S. Afridi(389)

Y. Khan(259)

Misbah UL Haq(153) (C)

M. Hafeez(153)

U. Akmal(102) (WK)

A. Shehad(56)

J. Khan(48)

W. Riaz(47)

M. Irfan(38)

S. Ahmed(34)

S. Maqsood(18)

S. Khan(5)

H. Sohail(3)

E. Adil(2)

Y. Shah(1)

Entering the tournament as one of the most under-rated team and having been called the dark horses, Pakistan is believed to be one of the countries where conflicts, confusion regarding captaincy, and fixing issues arise every now and then. Leaving everything behind, Pakistan would like to play the brand of cricket they played way back in 1992. They won a few major tournaments after that like the Asia Cup, WC t20 but they would like to feast upon the Mega event coming up n February and March this year.


With a mixture of cool captaincy, experience and youth on its side, Pakistan would fancy their chance. Misbah-ul Haq, the captain, maintaining his cool in every situation is also known for his attacking captaincy. Though after missing his main gun Saeed Ajmal, Misbah may become a bit defensive as he has even lost the services of Hafeez from the bowling department till he gets his action cleared. Even after losing Hafeez and Ajmal he has likes of Afridi, Irfan, Junaid, Riaz in his side.


With the likes of Shahid Afrdi, Younus Khan, Mohammad Hafeez Pakistan seems to be in safe hands. Apart from them the batting department has the likes of Ahmed Shehazad who is touted as the next big thing in Pakistan cricket. He proved his abilities through the under-19 level and soon was drafted into the national squad. Since then there has been no looking back for the young man. He is likely to open the innings along side Hafeez. Right mix of experience adn Youth again. At No.3 would be Younis Khan, the Mr. Dependable for Pakistan for over a decade now. He would be followed by Captain Misbah. Misbah's cool and calmness would help the team a lot as it has a lot of stroke makers in its line up lower down the order.


The middle and lower middle order is also filled up with exciting stroke makers who can turn the tide in favour of Pakistan at any moment of the game. Umar Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shahid Afridi would be lethal down the order if Pakistan's top order provide a solid base for the lower order. Likes of Afridi, Akmal and Sarfaraz can clear the field with ease. Even their mishits goes for a maximum.


The x-factor for Pakistan would be Harris Sohail. With Hafeez getting banned from bowling and playing as a specialist batsmen, Harris Sohail being more than handy with the ball can  also make inroads into the opposition batting line up as we saw in the series vs New Zealand. He can also come up the order and can play the role of an anchor. mean while can also bat down the order and smoke a few out of the ground to boost up the final score.

While there is no doubt that Pakistan keeps producing amazing left arm bowlers, The squad has 3 left arm pacers. Mohammad Irfan, the tall, lanky pacer who extracts extra bounce from the good length area is a threat in Australian condition. Wahab Riaz, a proven match winner who puts a lot of thinking and hard work into his bowling is likely to exploit the conditions there.

While the selectors have kept a few tried and tested players, they have also given a chance to the new comers like Sohail Khan, Yasir Shah, Ehsan Adil. Sohaib Maqsood, Junaid and Riaz have all recived a call up to the national squad.

With dark clouds over the Pakistan cricket every now and then, right from losing badly in 2007 WC to mysterious Bob Woolmer murder case, multiple batting failures to occasional bowling failures, Pakistan has faced it all. Now its high time for the under-rated nation to be called as a leading contender. But only time will say who takes hold of Mega event.