Story World T20 through the words of a journalist [Warm-ups | Day 2]

Who will win the second Twenty20 World Championship?


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Blog Entry #9

Tuesday, June 2, 2009
13:30 PM | Good afternoon once again and welcome to the second day of warm-up matches ahead of the T20 World Championship in England. I'm reporting live from the Kensington Oval, or as it's more commonly known, The Brit Oval.

Today we have four more games from here and at Trent Bridge. I will bring you over-by-over updates on Ireland vs West Indies, our first game of the day, and Australia vs New Zealand. I will also bring you five over updates from Trent Bridge where it's Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka followed by. the hosts. England vs Scotland.

We are moments away from the start here so I'll quickly run through the teams. Notice the unknown absence of Chris Gayle from the top of the West Indian lineup.

Ireland: J Bray, W Porterfield*, N O'Brien?, A Botha, K O'Brien, J Mooney, T Johnston, A Cusack, K McCallan, P Connell, B Rankin.

West Indies: L Simmons, A Fletcher, R Sarwan, S Chanderpaul, D Bravo, K Pollard, D Ramdin*?, D Sammy, J Taylor, S Benn, F Edwards.

Porterfield won the toss and decided to bat first once again. The pitch looks to be favouring the batsmen so we could see some fairly high scores today.

1st OVER: Ireland 6/0
Good opening over from Jerome Taylor as he limits Bray to just 6 runs. Four dot balls, a two through midwicket and a crashing cover drive for four from the final ball. Good pace from Taylor, quick enough to keep the batsmen on their toes.

2nd OVER: Ireland 9/1 ? Wicket: J.Bray c. D.Ramdin b. F.Edwards 6 (7)
Excellent first over from Edwards that produces the first wicket. Porterfield gets off the mark immediately with a single but the very next ball Edwards strikes. A full ball that Bray has a drive at finds the edge and Ramdin makes no mistake behind the stumps. Niall O?Brien takes time to settle and misses out on a free hit, skewing the ball down to third man for one to get off the mark.

3rd OVER: Ireland 22/1
Seems it took O?Brien just a few balls to settle as he smashes 13 runs off Taylor with a couple of bludgeoning blows off the back foot. First Taylor drops short and O?Brien is onto it in a flash, depositing it into the advertising boards on the bounce. Then he backs away as Taylor drops his length again and creams him over point for four. This lad can bat, and he will be certainly the Irish player to watch this tournament.

4th OVER: Ireland 23/1
Fidel keeps it extremely tight again, and he now has figures of two overs, 2 for 1. A few play and misses by O?Brien and Porterfield has the pace-man excited but both survive.

5th OVER: Ireland 36/1
Meanwhile, Taylor is getting the treatment at the other end. O?Brien drives him for four early in the over before Porterfield latches onto a bouncer and sends it over the rope. Taylor?s really struggling with his line and length and I wouldn't be surprised if we didn?t see him bowl again today.

TRENT BRIDGE UPDATE: Bangladesh 43/1
Bangladesh started badly having won the toss and deciding to have a bat. Iqbal edged to second slip from Malinga?s fourth ball as he failed to make an impact for a second day running. Ashraful had no such problems as he hit the final ball of the over through midwicket to get off the mark. Siddique got off the mark with a 3 on the offside and, following an edge that didn?t carry to Sangakkara, Ashraful lofted Kulasekara over mid on for four. After a very tight five balls malinga over stepped the crease giving Siddique a chance to free his arms from the free hit. He obliged to the challenge as Malinga sent down a bouncer only to watch it land the other side of the square leg boundary rope. Kulasekara replied with just a single from the first four balls of his next over but was punished for bowling a full toss as Siddique lifted over the leg side in field for four. Maharoof joined the attack and gifted several leg side runs with a poor line and length but managed to pull out a dot ball on a final ball free hit. Bangladesh will be happy with the start, they just need to keep batting with a bit of calm and not throw their wicket away.

6th OVER: Ireland 40/1
This is exhibition stuff by Edwards as he concedes just four runs from the final power play over. He strays down leg and a wide is given but O?Brien and Porterfield just pick up three singles. They?ll be happy to see the back of Edwards some time soon.

7th OVER: Ireland 50/1
Well I was wrong as Taylor was told to bowl out. A better over but he still gives away ten runs. The final ball of the over ruins it as O?Brien beats the off side sweeper protecting the point boundary. Taylor ends with expensive figures of 42 for 0.

8th OVER: Ireland 55/1
And now Edwards has been bowled out. Interesting tactics by Ramdin the stand-in skipper. He allows just five runs, recovering well from a first ball boundary by Porterfield to bowl four straight dots before a final ball single wraps up his day. Contrasting figures to those of his partner as he ends with 13 for 1.

9th OVER: Ireland 65/1
We have spin, and Porterfield seems to enjoy it as he slog sweeps Benn to the fence. Ten from the over as this partnership continues to grow.

10th OVER: Ireland 85/1
Bish bosh bash! Bravo meet O?Brien, ball meet bat. Bravo is brought on and is immediately met with a pair of sixes from the Irish keeper. First Bravo drops just a fraction short and O?Brien swats it over midwicket for a flat six. Then Bravo gets his length right but O?Brien is down the track and lofts the ball into the stands down at long on. This has the West Indies rattled as they concede three byes and a wide to take the total for the over up to twenty. O?Brien just three short of fifty and Ireland looking good at the halfway stage.

TRENT BRIDGE UPDATE: Bangladesh 95/2
Surprisingly Mahela Jayawardene was given the ball in the final power play over and was met with a flurry of leg side hoiks by Ashraful resulting in a four and six, but he departed for 30 as a mix up with Siddique caused him to be run out. Maharoof backed it up with a five run over as Bangladeshi?s momentum started to slip. That momentum was regained thanks to another over of Jayawardene as Shakib Al Hasan and Siddique picked up 14 easy runs. Mendis replaced Maharoof and after a nervy start Al Hasan worked the right arm mystery spinner for a couple of leg side boundaries. Jayawardene continued and continued to allow Al Hasan and Siddique pick up easy runs. Bangladesh are in an excellent position to make a testing score at Trent Bridge, and please, someone, tell Sangakkara to take off the former skipper!

 
This is new to me! new style! how do people come up with this!!! gosh i wish i could write!

nice going bro. i expect Irl to score over 175. and bangladesh somewhere around 160-170.
 
Ireland have been exceptional to say the least.They can easily reach above 180 or so here.Bangla are in a good position too.The writing has always been top-level.Nice update.
 
I Hope Ireland Win It.. Best Of Luck... Nice Update
 
I like the way you post mate.. Really learning some good stuffs for my story
 
Blog Entry #9

Tuesday, June 2, 2009
14:19 PM |

11th OVER: Ireland 92/1 – Fifty: N.O’Brien 53* (35)
Benn continues after the drinks break and bowls a solid over. O’Brien cracks a four through the off side to bring up his half century from just 32 deliveries. Three singles follow as Benn gets a little purchase off the surface.

12th OVER: Ireland 99/2 – Wicket: N.O’Brien ran out (L.Simmons) 56 (38)
Simmons take a bow son. As fielding goes this was special. Sammy leaks 7 runs from the first four balls as Porterfield hits his 4th four of the innings down to third man. The very next ball he skews the ball into the offside from what looked like the back of the bat. They call for the single as Simmons hares after the ball. He stretches forward and takes the ball on the half volley before diving and throwing the ball left handed in one motion. O’Brien is a yard short of his ground as the ball knocks off the bails. Stunning fielding from the young West Indian.

13th OVER: Ireland 107/2
Ireland continue to press on at a fairly fast rate despite the wicket. Botha gets off the mark with 2 twos and a single from his first three balls. Porterfield scrambles another two before Bravo adds a wide to the extras column. Bravo hasn’t looked great today, it has to be said.

14th OVER: Ireland 111/2
Very good over from Sammy. Botha faces all six deliveries but can only pierce the infield twice, picking up a pair of twos. Ireland might want to start looking to hit big with 8 wickets in hand six overs left.

15th OVER: Ireland 119/2
A few extras help boost the run rate on what was a solid over from Benn. The ball runs away behind the keeper after a flick off the pads for three leg byes before a wide adds yet another extra. A couple of singles and a dot end an uneventful over.

TRENT BRIDGE UPDATE: Bangladesh 127/4
Mendis bowled the 11th over limiting the set batsmen down to just 7 runs. Amazingly Jayawardene continued. After a tidy first four balls he fired down a low full toss. Siddique looked to cash in but completely miss-timed his shot, scooping the ball into the air. Mid-on only had to take a few steps back to snaffle the catch sending Siddique packing for 37. The next over saw Mahmudullah get off the mark with a delightful dance down the pitch quickly scoring two runs into the leg side. Maharoof replaced Jayawardene following his four over spell. Following a leg side single from Al Hasan Maharoof dropped short allowing Mahmudullah to free his arms and cut the ball for four. The very next over Al Hasan showed his ability with the bat once again, using his feet to swat Mendis over midwicket for four. The final ball of the 15th over produced a wicket, that of new batsman Mahmudullah. Looking to work the ball leg side the turn caused the ball to find the back of the bat and balloon to Sangakkara behind the wickets. Hopes of a competitive score lie with Al Hasan after a good comeback from the Sri Lankans.

16th OVER: Ireland 128/2
Easy runs for Porterfield as he crashes two more fours to move nearer to that half century. Sammy bowls a poor legside delivery with fine leg inside the circle making it easy for Porterfield to caress it to the fence before he rocks back and cuts the next ball with the same result. Three dots and a single make up the rest of the over. Something needs to bring this game back to life. It’s pretty dull at the moment.

17th OVER: Ireland 131/5 – Wickets: A.Botha St. D.Ramdin b. D.Bravo 10 (15), K.O’Brien lbw. D.Bravo 0 (1), J.Mooney lbw. D.Bravo 0 (1)
Did I say something needed to happen? Well that something was Bravo. A hat-trick. We had four wickets in four balls yesterday but that involved two run outs. Botha is first to go as he falls out of his crease, looking to push the ball into the offside, and is stumped sharply behind the sticks by Dinesh Ramdin. Kevin O’Brien in, Kevin O’Brien out. He doesn’t get forward as the ball stays a little low and hits him on the knee roll. The finger is straight up forcing Bravo into excitement. John Mooney walks to the crease and he takes his time getting settled. The crowd clap expectantly and Bravo doesn’t disappoint. He delivers the perfect hat-trick ball with a full Yorker. Mooney brings the bat down fractionally late and it crushes his toe plumb in front of the leg stump. Superb bowling from Bravo brings the innings to life once again.

18th OVER: Ireland 143/5 – Fifty: W.Porterfield 57* (47)
Amongst the commotion at the other end Porterfield is still marching on. Sammy continues and continues to make his fielders fetch the ball from beyond the ropes. Porterfield passes fifty with a straight six and follows it up with a two through cover. He makes it 12 from 3 balls with his seventh four of the innings over down to third man. Sammy recovers with three dot balls but it’s still a good over for the Irish.

19th OVER: Ireland 148/6 – Wicket: T.Johnston lbw. D.Bravo 2 (4)
Bravo picks up his fourth wicket in seven deliveries with yet another leg before decision. Johnson gets off the mark with a quickly run two but misses a straight ball two deliveries later. Alex Cusack steels the strike for the last over with a three from the final ball.

20th OVER: Ireland 156/6
Just eight runs from the final over as Ireland set the West Indies 157 to win. Porterfield plays out the whole innings on 62* from 51 balls. A four in the over pushes Ireland past 150 but I don’t feel it will be enough with the West Indies boasting the likes of Chanderpaul and Sarwan.

TRENT BRIDGE UPDATE: Bangladesh 164/6
Naeem Islam makes his entrance dispatching Maharoof to the square leg boundary from a free hit. After a busy over from Islam and Al Hasan Kulasekara is brought back into the attack. Al Hasan gets the strike after a few balls of Kulasekara’s over but doesn’t pick the Yorker. It strikes him on the toe and a huge appeal goes up. The umpire looks to have rejected the appeal but after several long seconds he slowly raises his finger. Hawkeye shows the ball to be brushing the off stump. Certainly a tight call but Al Hasan has to depart 9 short of his half century. Malinga replaces Maharoof and immediately forces the batsmen to hurry their shots. After a good first ball Malinga digs it in short to Islam who goes for the pull. Despite not timing the shot an aggressive field allows the ball to race away into the empty space and for four, bringing up the 150 in the process. Late in the over Raqibul Hasan pushes the ball into the off side and calls for a single. A full stretch dive is needed but the direct hit beats him to the crease and, after a long look by the third umpire, he is given out. Mushfiqur Rahim gets off the mark with a two through the off side but is struck by a short ball next up. It shakes him up and another short ball is dug in, this time Rahim almost drags onto his stumps. Kulasekara continues with the short ball but, despite hitting Rahim once again, he is called for a front foot no ball. He mixes it up with a full ball outside the off stump by Rahim is waiting and creams it over cover and away for four. The final over of the innings is given to Malinga who starts up with a dot ball. Rahim squirts the ball down to third man from the second delivery before Islam hits the ball into the off side for a single. Malinga bowls another dot ball before a second edge gets Rahim a single. He finishes the innings with a dot ball ending the over at just three runs conceded. Bangladesh have a competitive total on the board but I don’t know whether it will be enough against the likes of Dilshan, Jayawardene, Sangakkara and Jayasuriya.

mushfiqurrahim.png

Musfiqur Rahim looks to go over the top during his short innings

 
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......TRENT BRIDGE UPDATE: Bangladesh 127/4...........

.....TRENT BRIDGE UPDATE: Bangladesh 95/2

LOL backward cricket. so whats the total for our boyz
 
Sri Lanka really pulled it back in the last five overs. Malinga is seriously hard to get away on AC09. In case I haven't mentioned before, I am batting for both sides.
 

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