A good target set by Scotland, but I expect New Zealand to chase it fairly comfortably. The target will be made a lot easier by rain, so Scotland will hope that the rain passes away quickly. Cracking knock from Poonia, always rated him as a batsman.
A well setted score by Scotlande here, Kiwi may face problem while chasing. Now with the rain in play, we have to wait and see when the match shall resume again Great presentation Arslaan
Thats a good score by the Scots and if they bowl well and get the first three wickets for under 50 runs then they might just be able to restrict the Kiwis. Great writing and Presentation Arslaan. KIU
ICC World Twenty20 2009 Game 2:New ZealandvsScotlandLive from the Brit Oval 6th June, 2009
English weather gifts 1 point
Anxious fans weathered the bitterly cold showers which pelted down drop by drop on The Oval's outfield.
The dozen or so ground staff had scattered the field and placed the blue covers over the playing surface a couple of seconds after the first drop. Minute by minute the rain did not seem to be easing up as the thick, dark cloud reluctantly refused to move as it hovered over The Oval. Umpires Aleem Dar & Simon Taufal raced onto the field in the midst of the rain. Looking at the clouds and shaking their heads, they raced back into the pavilion where Match Referee Ranjan Madagalle and the umpires discussed about the current situation.
Heavy rain rains down hard on The Oval
In the meantime New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori and team-mates set on the edge of the balcony sipping cups of hot chocolate and tea. The Scots however had other plans and it was reported that Captain Gavin Hamilton had isued a free game in the pavilion of "One hand, One bounce" in the pavilion. :banana2
After 15 minutes of progressive rain, Taufel & Dar headed up to tell the dreaded news to Vettori and Hamilton and in an instant the match was declared as Match Abandoned with New Zealand and Scotland each grabbing 1 point each. Both captains shook hands and headed back into their dressing rooms.
In the meantime however, the Australian and West Indian camps arrived with their cricketing gear ahead of the second match of the day scheduled to commence in 3 and a half hours time. The question remains, will the rain ease up and allow Australia vs West Indies match to get underway?
Ramnaresh Sarwan and Lendl Simmons get ready for a session in the nets
Nice to see the Scots gain one point thanks to heavy rains. So If the Kiwis do lose against the Saffers then the Scots would be having a chance to qualify. Hopefully the Rain Gods will just excuse us and let us witness some exciting cricket from Aussies vs Windies match.
This point each has made the group interesting. Scotland have a fair chance now to get into the second round. Windies vs Australia should go on and I hope rain clears up to let it get under way.
All problems are sorted which means I can finally resume this story. My computer's Motherboard was not permitable for functioning and suprisingly today I got myself a brand new Computer! :happy :happy
ICC World Twenty20 2009 Game 2:AustraliavsWest IndiesPreview 6th June, 2009
Rain grounded proceedings to an abrupt halt at The Oval as New Zealand's run chase was about to begin. After a lengthy discussion, the two umpires and the match referee Ranjan Madagalle decided that there was to be nomore play and that both New Zealand and Scotland would share 2 points. Numerous journalists flocked to The Oval's media centre in order to hear from the two captains aswell as to get away from the rain.
Ponting: We can definatly go all the way
"First thing is first, the Twenty20 Cup is one trophy we do not have in our enermous cabinet and on a serious note we as a team would definatly like to add this to our collection. In the inaugural tournament in South Africa 2 years prior to this one, we got through to the Semi-Finals and I feel that now we have some International Twenty20 experience we can definatly go all the way"
On the other hand, West Indian captain Chris Gayle was in a relaxed mood ahead of his teams match against the previous Semi-Finalists.
Gayle: The 2004 Champions Trophy triumph gives us a boost
"Our record as a team in England has been quite good overall. In 2004 we actually won the Champions Trophy and so that gives us a boost heading into the opening game of this tournament. The boys have been practicing very hard ahead of today's game. We know that the game will be reduced due to the rain and we will try our best in order to make this an advantage for us."
In other news, the thick, black clouds hovering over The Oval have seemed to give way to some grey clouds. If the cloud cover does turn out to be Overcast then the likes of Lee, Bracken, Taylor and Edwards could well benefit as the ball will swing under the cloud cover. Despite the clear weather it is highly probable that the match will be reduced.
Australia vs West Indies will be a big game if it gets on! But for that to happen the rain needs to stop. If it does I hope the Oval has a quick drainage system!
ICC World Twenty20 2009 Game 2:AustraliavsWest IndiesLive from The Brit Oval 6th June, 2009
With the rain finally subsiding, both the Australian and West Indian camps sprinted onto the field doing various warm-ups aswell as stretches. Umpires Billy Doctrove and Rudi Koertzen simultaneously stepped out onto the pitch. After a couple of minutes discussing and placing their hands on the outfield both umpires raced off the field.
At the coin toss, Ricky Ponting elected to bat on a rain effected, damp pitch. Despite this and the sluggish outfield the Australian captain told Jeremy Cooney that posting a total and applying pressure is going to be the key.
It was announced that there would 11 overs per Innings with 5 bowlers bowling a maximum of 2 overs and with 1 bowler bowling 1 over. In addition, the powerplay overs would be of 4 overs. It was not long before Australian openers David Warner and Wicket-Keeper Brad Haddin strode onto the soggy outfield and out into the middle. David Warner had made 87 off just 49 balls in his International Twenty20 debut against South Africa at the MCG. Brad Haddin however had been used down the order in previous T20s and in this 11 over an innings match himself and Warner had been sent into the middle to give some early injection into the Australian Innings.
Early on in the Australian Innings, both Warner and Haddin struggled with some uneasy bounce aswell as some profound swing from Taylor and Edwards. Eventually after a 15 ball wait, Warner cracked the first boundary of the Australian Innings as he pounced on some width. Despite the early boundaries, the sluggish outfield was causing certain boundaries to become mere 2's.
Warner and Haddin both had their fair share of luck whilst batting. Warner did not pick up a Jerome Taylor slower ball and thus was through the shot too early. The ball was middled but had plenty of elevation on it. Fidel Edwards came round from mid-off and it had seemed that he had took the catch however, the already scuffed up white ball fell on the ground. Edwards was livid with his effort as was Chris Gayle who glared at his fast bowler. It was not long before an already livid Edwards had to ignite again. Edwards was pumped up going into his second and final over. After 2 singles off the first 2 balls Edwards attempted a possible effort ball by pitching it short. Haddin was up to the challenge as he steadily rocked onto the backfoot and caressed it through the covers. With the extra pace of Edwards, the ball was in the air for a mere few seconds as Edwards let out a huge cry of "Catch him" which was echoed by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin. Placed in the covers, 6 foot odd Kieron Pollard dived out infront of himself in order to grab the ball. However, the ball did not have enough elevation for Pollard to grab it. Captain Chris Gayle again glared at Pollard. If looks could kill....
However, captain Gayle got some rewards from his bowlers as the first wicket fell with 26 runs on the board. The penultimate ball of Jerome Taylor's spell yielded Brad Haddin's wicket. Taylor pitched the ball on a length and by reading it, Haddin rocked onto the backfoot. However, this time there was enough elevation and it was looking as though the ball was going to sail over Xavier Marshall's head at cover and by knowing this, he stretched his hands upwards and snatched the ball and completing a good catch. This brought Australian captain Ricky Ponting at the crease. With 7 overs left and the pitch playing up, Ponting and Warner needed to accelerate and take advantage of the medium pacers of Bravo and Pollard.
With his strike bowlers bowled out, Gayle turned to medium pacer Darren Sammy. Sammy took 5 wickets in his test debut and that too in England so he will be familiar with the English conditions. Warner had cracked 2 boundaries already but was lacking something the crowd had not seen during his 49 ball 87 at the MCG last year. Despite this, he and Ponting accumulated runs in singles as Sammy was bowling a stump-to-stump line and pitching the ball on a length. Warner and captain Ponting could only deal in singles and twos aswell as the occasional three. Captain Chris Gayle had a word with his 4th bowler of the match Dwayne Bravo telling him to bowl cutters. Bravo decieved Ponting with his first ball as an leg-cutter nearly found the edge of Ponting's bat.
With the increase in pressure from Sammy and Bravo, Warner lashed out. All Warner had to do was survive 2 balls from Bravo as they were to be his last. Bravo bowled a slower ball which turned out as a fulltoss on Warner's leg-stump. Warner had already premeditated this and the action he took was to advance down the wicket. Warner swung with all his might but was already making his way towards the pavilion as Fidel Edwards redeemed himself from his previous error and took a regulation catch at fine-leg as Warner departed for a run a ball 24 with just 3 overs left.
In the final 3 overs, there were a lack of boundaries as 1 four and 1 six were yielded off the last 18 balls of the Australian Innings. A 5 ball 10 from Michael Clarke was just what the Australians needed as they finally posted 77 with the loss of 3 wickets. However, the main highlight of the final 3 overs was yet another spectacular catch which got rid of Ricky Ponting by none other than Xavier Marshall. Ponting chiped a flighted delivery by Chris Gayle. Ponting looked on as he thought he had placed it wonderfully. However, Marshall sprinted from the boundary and in a last ditch effort stretched out towards his left. The ball stuck in his hands as Ponting looked on in horror.
Well on a damp and playing pitch, the West Indies require 78 runs to win at 7.11 runs per over. They will look for the experience of Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shiv Chanderpaul in the run chase.
Australia Batting Card
West Indies Bowling Card
West Indies require 78 runs to win at a require run rate of 7.11. Stay tuned for the West Indian run-chase only on ESPN Star Sports
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