Bangladesh offer incredible resistance to Sri Lanka

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Not many people would have thought of the first Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, entering the fifth and final day when the visitors had declared their second innings on the fourth morning setting an improbable target of 521.

The kind of cricket Bangladesh had mostly played after being pushed into the Test arena rather prematurely there was little to suggest the match going into the final day. Obviously you couldn’t have expected the team having folded for 178 in a matter of 60 overs in their first innings to do much better on a wearing pitch in their second outing.

Bangladesh surprised even their own supporters by their grit and determination in their second innings while chasing a monumental target of 521. Their top order batsmen played their natural game and they had every reason to feel delighted at having given the champion Sri Lankan bowlers a run for their money.

The hosts already had enhanced their reputation by having finished the fourth day at 254 for five, having negotiated 78 overs. Nobody expected them to go anywhere close to the target when the proceedings began on the final day but there was a hope that they might bat out the time to save the game.

Skipper Mohammad Ashraful and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan picked up from where they had left the previous evening and by scoring freely they ensured that the pressure was also shifted on the heads of the Sri Lankan bowlers.

The home side was still 229 runs short of their target when Ashraful perished soon after having notched up another hundred. It must have been one of his greatest knocks in Test matches if not the best one.

Then came the brilliant century partnership between Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim that really opened up the game and millions of cricket lovers all over the world became interested.

South Africa had only recently successfully chased down a target of 414 in Australia and who knew Bangladesh were on the verge of rewriting history.

One knew that Murali Muritharan was capable of snaring the remaining four wickets in an over but the growing seventh wicket partnership made the contest much more absorbing than was being anticipated.

Not surprisingly Bangladesh did lose their last four wickets in a rush but not before having scared the mighty Sri Lankans. The hosts suffered a 107-run defeat but they had the satisfaction of going down fighting against a very tough opponent.

South Africa had emerged triumphant by scoring 414 in the fourth innings of the game at Perth but Bangladesh lost the encounter by 107 runs despite aggregating 413 at Mirpur. It was amazing performance by the home side and the resilience they have shown should do their confidence a world of good.

Scoring in the excess of 400 in the last innings of the game is an incredible accomplishment and the Bangladeshis should be complimented for having produced such an outstanding performance against all odds.

The magnificent batting performance by Bangladesh overshadowed another ten-wicket haul from Muttiah Muraitharan, who was chiefly responsible for preventing an embarrassing defeat for Sri Lanka.

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Steyn, Duminy help South Africa seize series at Melbourne

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

What a moment for the South African cricket! Their come from behind win in the second Test at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground has allowed them to seize the series with a game in hand.
It’s their first-ever series win in Australia. More than anything, as the victorious skipper Graeme Smith recognized in the presentation ceremony, it was the self-belief of the South Africans that powered them to a convincing nine-wicket wicket on the final afternoon after being precariously placed just a couple of days ago.
The record ninth wicket partnership between J P Duminy and Dale Steyn on the third day led the turnaround and they didn’t look back once they had regained control. Like any other great team the South Africans went very hard at their opponents and forced them to submission.
It was quite an extraordinary Test match, befitting the occasion. It was a typical Boxing Day Test with big crowds and they were treated to cricket of the highest quality on all five days. You couldn’t have expected greater entertainment. 
There was plenty to cheer for the Australians on the first couple of days but they clearly became the second best side in the field after the rearguard action of the South African led by Duminy who got overwhelming support from the lower-order batsmen.
Continuing with the second best, South Africa find themselves at a striking distance of displacing the Aussies from the top slot in the ICC rankings. Australia would be relegated to the second position and South Africa would be crowned as the new world leaders if the result of the third and final Test at Sydney is not any different from the first couple of games.
It would come as little surprise if South Africa do complete the whitewash at Sydney. In fact they appear to be in a very good position to do some more damage to the stature and reputation of Australia.
Ricky Ponting is in all sorts of trouble. He has continued to bat well in crunch situations but his teammates have lacked the consistency to trouble the South Africans who have stamped their authority with hints of conviction.
Ponting must have learnt that it’s a different ball game against motivated sides like South Africa and India. Earlier in the season his team was whacked in the Test series in India and now South Africans have humbled them in their own backyard. The Australian skipper must have wished there was a longer series against a team like New Zealand where they could dictate terms and relax.
It would be quite a challenge for Australia to prevent a whitewash in the series in the present scenario. The South Africans have an edge over Australia in every single department of the game and they would dearly love to complete a clean sweep at Sydney.

Coming to the success of the South Africans, on verge of becoming the top ranked side in the world, they have discovered an immensely gifted middle-order batsman in the shape of the left-handed J B Duminy who has class as well as character. His magnificent century in the pressure-cooker situation in only his second Test announces the arrival of another star on the horizon.
Dale Steyn, the lion-hearted fast bowler, has performed exceptionally well throughout the year and there’s every indication to suggest that he would continue hitting headlines in the years to come. His ten-wicket haul, besides that fighting knock, has earned him the Man of the Match award in the Melbourne Test.

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Declining standards in New Zealand-West Indies series

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Watching the recent contests between New Zealand and the West Indies makes one feel little disconsolate. There was plenty of entertainment in both the Twenty20 Internationals but the inconsistency of performance would not have pleased either side.
The ground fielding as well as the catching was pathetic to say the least when the West Indies came out at Seddon Park, Hamilton, in the second game after having narrowly won the first one at Eden Park, Auckland, a couple of days ago.
The two New Zealand openers, Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum, took full advantage of the sloppy work in the field that blunted the enthusiastic West Indian bowling.
The 130-run opening stand in just eleven and a half overs between Ryder and McCullum, both of whom blasted quick half-centuries, had set the platform for a real big total.
Once the belligerent opening partnership was broken it was the turn of the New Zealand batsmen to demonstrate their lack of skills. They lost nine wickets in the 8.2 overs to finish with 191 in 20 overs.
The West Indians had pulled it back nicely after their dreaded spell in the field in the first half of the New Zealand innings. Once the fielding was lifted with Xavier Marshall’s catch the visitors looked a different side altogether and New Zealand could not cope with the pressure.
Although containing the hosts to 191 for nine represented a grand recovery, their batsmen still had a mountain to climb. The having failed to reach the target of 156 in the first game despite the heroics of skipper Chris Gayle had to do something sensational to get to 192 even against a bowling attack not so menacing.
Gayle lived upto his reputation of being Mr Inconsistent and the West Indians were in disarray even before getting started. To their credit tourists succeeded in getting past 150 once more, 155 to be precise. So for the second time running they managed to score 155 batting second and on both occasions it was not enough.
Ramnaresh Sarwan, promoted to open the innings, gave the impression of being a master blaster while hammering 53 off 36 balls but one is not sure if he would continue to deliver for long, such has been the unpredictability of the West Indians.
His team would have easily won the first game had he scored even half of these runs at a time when his captain was in full flow and the target was getting progressively easier.


The West Indians should have easily won the Boxing Day encounter after having restricted the hosts to 155. Gayle’s swashbuckling knock had provided the best possible opportunity for the middle-order to knock off the runs without worrying for the run-rate.
Their self-destruction allowed the hosts to stage a comeback from no where and the match looked wide open in the final over. An edged boundary by Sulaiman Benn had given the West Indies the upper end but he couldn’t connect properly on the last ball and the match was tied.
Since it was a Twenty20 encounter a tie-breaker was to be witnesses. A new method called ‘Eliminator’ was used according to which both the teams were allowed to bat for one over each. Gayle’s magnificent hitting won the day for the West Indies but it was a most unsatisfying win and they were beaten neck and crop in the following game.

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Gautam Gambhir comes of age

Golden Jubilee article

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

This is a special article for some reasons. Number one my niece, Sameen Tariq, who is not even eight years old yet, instantly complained to me after going through my blog for the first time the other day that why I had not written on Gautam Gambhir whom she had watched on television receiving the Man of the Match award against England only a few days ago.

I was pleasantly surprised with the depth of cricket knowledge possessed by the tiny tot and as a reward I promised her that my very next article will be on Gambhir, who has indeed come of age with his consistent performance in every form of the game during the year drawing to a close.

Another reason for treating this write-up as special is that it would be my 50th article for the blog. The Golden Jubilee of my articles has been reached here and I am really delighted about it.
The coming of age of Gautam Gambhir means a lot to the Indian cricket. This left-handed opener has provided the much needed relief to his flamboyant partner, Virender Sehwag, and together they form the most destructive opening pair in world cricket today.

Sehwag and Gambhir complement each other remarkably well. They have the best possible understanding as both of them have been playing together for Delhi for quite sometime. Their excellent running between the wickets reflects how precisely they read each other’s movements.

I think this is for the first time in India’s history that they have a pair of attacking openers. They did have a few aggressive opening batsmen in the past as well but never did they possess a set of openers who could do the business from both ends.

Sehwag has been around for quite sometime, having demonstrated his prowess literally in every corner in the world. The only cause of worry for him had seemed to be the change of partners at regular intervals. 

With Gambhir in full flow now, Sehwag has the liberty of taking the fight to the opponents from the word go being aware of the fact that his partner will carry it on after his departure something that was missing in the past.

Gambhir had made his Test debut four seasons ago but was unable to deliver and he was then considered more of a one-day specialist. He kept scoring prolifically in the limited overs games that didn’t allow the selectors to write him off at any stage.

Not surprisingly it has his phenomenal success in the limited overs fixtures that brought him in the limelight and led to his return in the Test line-up. He was one of the star performers in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup held in South Africa last year, helping his team annex the trophy against the heaviest of odds.

The triangular series in Australia early this year saw him grow in stature with every game. His outstanding run against Sri Lanka and Australia helped India win the series for the first time in 27 years. He then excelled in the Indian Premier League, scoring consistently and heavily in the T20 games for Delhi.
 
Gambhir has now cemented his place in the Test team by his magnificent run of big scores in the current season. His superlative knocks have been instrumental in guiding India to victories over Australia and England. He has proved that he has the skill and the temperament to play long innings.

Early in his career he was guilty of taking too many risks. He still likes to take the aerial route but he has become wiser in shot selection and there is marked improvement in his technique in letting the ball go.

Attacking play his forte but he has shown that he can also hang around. He has the rare ability to adjust to all versions of the game and he is a welcome addition to the Indian batting line-up already studded with quality performers.

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Old India’ reminiscent in Mohali Test

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has stunned many of his staunch supporters by adopting tactics that belied his attacking instincts and positive approach. The world had recognized Dhoni as a standout captain who lifted the morale of the side with his wisdom combined with aggression.

Dhoni had entered the Mohali Test with a very good chance of making it five out of five. Having led India to victories in his first four Tests as captain the stage was set for him to extend the brilliant run.

The England team was running short of confidence after conceding the first Test from an advantageous position and there was hardly any life for the visitors to group before rushing for the second and final Test of the series.

The Indians were basking in the glory of the successful run chase in the previous game in which they had turned it around against heavy odds. The momentum was with them and they were ideally placed to double their lead at Mohali.

Dhoni did his team a favour by winning the toss. Virender Sehwag, whose whirlwind knock in the second innings of the Chennai Test had helped India’s cause immensely, perished without scoring this time and that brought in Rahul Dravid to join Gautam Gambhir.

Dravid had been struggling to get runs on the board but Gambhir was in the middle of a purple match. They did build a partnership to deny England further success for more than a day but it wasn’t the kind of stuff that would have enhanced their reputation. They added 314 for the second wicket but consumed nearly 108 overs.

If it was not enough all the batsmen following the marathon partnership also went into their shells. It was hard to believe what was happening. It was difficult to imagine why the dead-batting was carried out in such a dominating position.

Dravid faced 328 balls for his 136 and VVS Laxman made a 24-ball duck. It was the time when India needed their stroke-makers to fire after the strong base provided by Dravid and Gambhir. Even the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh refused to bat with any sense of urgency. Dhoni wasn’t an exception either. The normally free-stroking skipper was content in killing time rather than scoring runs.

India played out 158.2 overs to score 453 in their first innings. They could have easily scored over 550 after occupying the crease for so long. They were also aware of the fact that the play was to be curtailed every day in the prevailing weather conditions. They needed to score briskly in order to make up for the loss of time but their intentions caught people by surprise.

The manner in which the England batsmen scored on the third day despite losing two wickets for literally nothing it became clear that the Indians had intentionally slowed down the game on the first couple of days and there was nothing wrong in the pitch.

The Indian bowlers fought back to earn 151-run first innings lead. Still there was time to force a result but the Indian batsmen chose to bat out time instead of putting runs on the board to get England in again.

The late declaration on the fifth and final day simply confirmed that the Indians were not interested in going for a win. These were the tactics the Indian teams of the past used to adopt once they had taken an early lead in the series but it was not expected from the Indian team of modern times that has set high standards and brought glory more regularly than ever before.

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Australia at receiving end in a record chase

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

“Unlike the past, it could be the Australians at the receiving end this time round. The first Test is to be played at Perth where the pitch is known to have extra bounce and zip. With the presence of the fast bowlers like Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel in their ranks, South Africa have the edge over the hosts in the pace bowling department and they stand a very good chance of going one-up in the series.”

I had made the above observation in my write-up captioned ‘South Africa on a mission to tame Aussies’ on December 7. I have been proved right. It’s South Africa, not Australia, having drawn the first blood in the series between the top two sides of the world at the moment.

The South Africans have done it in style. They did let Australia off the hook so many times during the game but they had the last laugh. Their bowlers did the job of dismissing the hosts two times but it were their batters in the second innings who stole the limelight. They won the game so comfortably in the end even while chasing a record target of 414 on Australian soil.

It was the second highest successful run-chase in the history of the game but the highest-ever in Australia. More than anything it was the self-belief of the South Africans that helped them rewrite the history.

The record-breaking performance of the South Africans at Perth has put them in a commanding position and it would come as no surprise if they wrap up the series in the very next Test.

The Australians, still the top ranked side, has had the knack of fighting back in the recent past but one should not lose sight of the fact that they are not the team they used be in the days of Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh, Justin Langer, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. Their batting still has considerable depth and experience but the same cannot be said about their bowling.

The South Africans are ideally poised to apply further pressure on the Aussies and knock them down in their own backyard. Ricky Ponting and his men would be eyeing a comeback in the series but the momentum is with Greame Smith who is leading his team by example.

It was the skipper himself who set up the record chase. His positive outlook yielded the results. He had lost his opener partner Neil McKenzie early on but he kept attacking and his brilliant hundred kept his teammates motivated. They were on a mission to accomplish something never done before.

At the start of their innings it was hard to imagine South Africa could get to the target of 414. But Smith’s 108 had brought the target down to 187 with seven wickets in hand, something that looked achievable.

A B de Villiers played the innings of his lifetime on the final day and he got the desired support from the vastly experienced Jacques Kallis and the debutant Jean-Paul Duminy. Their combined effort took South Africa to the record target and Duminy, playing in the place of the injured Ashwell Prince, had the satisfaction of hitting the winning runs.

It was quite extraordinary to find the South Africans reach the target with remarkable ease in the end. Mark Boucher looked tense padded up but he was not even required to bat. A magnificent unbeaten from the ever-improving de Villiers and an equally important half century by Duminy prevented any panic and the historic match was won so comprehensively by the visitors.

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Sehwag indeed made the difference at Chennai

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It’s not often that someone having scored an eighty is adjudged the Man of the Match ahead of two centurions. In fact England’s Andrew Strauss had scored a century in each innings and India’s Sachin Tendulkar had played probably the innings of his lifetime, scoring an unbeaten century in the second innings to guide his team to a famous victory in the first Test at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

But what a great decision it was to declare Virender Sehwag as the Man of the Match because primarily it was his dazzling knock of 83 on the fourth evening that laid the foundation for an Indian win when chasing a target of 387 on a wearing track.

It was very sporting of the Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to acknowledge in his brief chat during the presentation ceremony that it was Sehwag’s innings that prompted his team to think in terms of a victory rather than settling for a draw.

It’s hard to imagine that India would have even entertained hopes of attempting a victory when their openers went out to start the second innings. Mind you the England captain, Kevin Pietersen, had declared the innings. Obviously he must have thought that the target of 387 in the fourth innings of the game was next to impossible to attain even for the best batting side in the world.

Had Pietersen any doubt or reservations in his mind he would have instructed his lower-order batsmen to occupy the crease for a longer period of time. Ideally he might have wanted to set a target of 400 but he didn’t delay the declaration once the ninth wicket fell.

Only two results had looked possible when he took out his troops to the field in the final session of the fourth day. India could have been tipped to salvage a draw if the likes of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar spent long time at the crease to ward off the danger.

Although England had entered the game as the underdogs, they must have fancied their chances of going one-up in the series after having looked the better team on more than one count.An Indian win was theoretically possible but taking into account the ground realities it was least likely going to happen.

Everyone knew the capabilities of Virender Sehwag, who has scored not one but two triple centuries in Test cricket. He had won India numerous games in the past but was there anybody to believe that he would kickstart the big chase in such brilliant fashion.

The conditions were not ideal for batting. The England bowlers and fielders had their tails-up. They sensed victory. They would have hated to think in terms of letting India escape with a draw. The momentum was with the visitors as they thought that they had the hosts on the mat.

All it took was another Sehwag special and the mission impossible starting looking probable. He took the fight to the England camp by hammering their bowlers to all parts of the park from the outset. His flurry of boundaries made the mockery of the plans Pietersen had up his sleeves.

Sehwag’s sixes and fours changed the entire complexion of the game and by the time he was adjudged leg before, India had reasons to believe that a victory for them was now a possibility. He deserved a hundred but as we found out his 83 had done enough damage to the confidence of the England bowlers who appeared to have lost their self-belief in a matter of an hour or so.

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Tendulkar’s greatest innings yet

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It was Sachin Tendulkar’s 41st Test hundred. The great man has played many outstanding innings in his long and illustrious career nearing two decades now. But I don’t think any of his past knocks could match the greatness of one he played at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on the fifth and final day of the first Test against England.

Nothing succeeds like success. Tendulkar has thoroughly deserved all the records having come his way but a match-winning innings had become long overdue from him. He rose to the occasion to lead India to victory while chasing a mammoth target of 387 on a wearing pitch.

It was the kind of dominating innings that must have pleased his fans immensely all over the world. He has a global fan following and there had always been an air of disappointment whenever he perished without accomplishing the task.

What an innings he played. He was in total control of the situation from the moment he set his feet at the ground. It was not the best of starts for India on the final day with Rahul Dravid, who has been the architect of so many famous victories recorded by India in the recent past, falling cheaply for the second time in the match.

The M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai had witnessed Tendulkar play a couple of fabulous innings in the past as well. His knock of 155 against an Australian attack having Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in the series-decider was a truly an outstanding effort. His magnificent century against Pakistan in the 1998-99 series has also been talked of very highly even though it came in a lost cause.

But the century he has scored against England surpasses all his previous accomplishments. India needed him to fire to be able to chase a target of the magnitude of 387, a feat never achieved before.

He was involved in three productive partnerships all of which had their significance in setting up the win for India. First he was associated in a third wicket stand with opener Gautam Gambhir that kept the momentum going even after the early departure of Dravid.

VVS Laxman joined Tendulkar when Gambhir was dismissed. The England bowlers were looking threatening but neither Tendulkar nor Laxman got bogged down. Their attacking instincts kept the scoreboard moving which ensured that the asking rate never became an issue.

The real test for Tendulkar came, however, when Laxman left the scene very early in the afternoon session. It was the fourth wicket to fall and India were still 163 runs away from their target.

In came Yuvraj Singh, known more for his flamboyance than patience. The presence of an assured Tendulkar at the other end allowed Yuvraj to play his natural game that prevented England from applying the pressure.


Tendulkar was as solid as a rock but he never went into a shell. The boundaries did not come all that regularly with Kevin Pietersen deploying defensive fields but the strike was rotated once too often to unsettle the bowlers.

Tendulkar played some crisp strokes off his legs without taking chances. He was equally fluent in driving anything pitched outside his off-stump. He did also take the aerial route once or twice but they were calculated risks and didn’t do any damage.

The smile on the face of Tendulkar after hitting the boundary that brought up his 41st Test hundred said it all. Most importantly it was also the stroke that took India to a famous victory.

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