Says who...

that history is written by the victors?

Its a canard, if one has to go by the Cricinfo report of the India Australia game for the third spot in the ICC Womens World Cup ( reproduced below in full)

India beat Australia for the second time in the tournament to take third place and relegate the highly fancied hosts to a disappointing fourth. Australia struggled to 142 in their first innings at Bankstown Oval, but fought back to have India 7 for 104 before failing to shut down the innings.

The captain Jhulan Goswami and Rumeli Dhar showed no nerves in the tense finish to register the success with 13 balls to spare. They needed 16 from the final four overs in the batting Powerplay and made it with Goswami's boundary to midwicket off Ellyse Perry. Goswami finished with 18 while Dhar collected 24 off 27 deliveries.

Australia struck twice through Erin Osborne, who bowled the opener Anjum Chopra for 15 and then trapped Anagha Deshpande for 18, but India kept moving forward and were cruising at 2 for 72. However, Lisa Sthalekar (3 for 27) stepped in to have Mithali Raj (15) stumped and quickly picked up another key breakthrough when Sulakshana Naik was caught slogging to deep midwicket on 28.

More trouble came as Sthalekar removed Thirush Kamini caught behind, and Perry chipped in with two wickets before the stunning Goswami-Dhar revival. India were responsible for knocking Australia out of contention for the World Cup final with their victory in the Super Six stage last Saturday and the repeat performance ensured they ended the event on a high.

Australia struggled for most of the match and started poorly, dropping to 2 for 8 after losing both openers. Their innings was interrupted in the 14th over by a lengthy rain delay that chopped the match to 46 overs a side and they lost key wickets after the break. Alex Blackwell (19), Jodie Fields (6) and Jess Cameron (7) departed in quick time as Australia slumped to 5 for 63 before a couple of senior players mounted a rescue.

Captain Karen Rolton and Sthalekar dragged Australia ahead with a 60-run stand, with Rolton striking 52 from 93 balls and Sthalekar picking up 30. The slow outfield contributed to Rolton finding only one four, but she did clear the boundary with a drive to long-on off Gouher Sultana.

Australia's hopes lifted while the pair was at the crease, but they both fell in the same over from Priyanka Roy and could not recover. Rolton hit to midwicket before Sthalekar was caught behind and Perry was soon run-out for 2.

The innings ended when Goswami, who started the day by bowling Leah Poulton with the fourth ball, hit the off stump of Rene Farrell (9) with Australia eight balls short of their allotted overs. Goswami returned 2 for 21 off 9.4 overs while Dhar, Sultana and Roy also collected two victims each.

Rolton felt the defending champions failed to put up a challenging total. "We let a few overs slip through without scoring too many runs," she said. "Maybe another 20 or 30 runs would have made the difference today.

"It's disappointing to go from No. 1 to No. 4 but we can't change it now. We've lost twice to India now after we had a good series against them last November. We just have to look forward now to the Twenty20 World Cup and the tour to England."

She also pointed out that the Australian bowling had not been "spot on" during the tournament. "The best we bowled was the game against England." Rolton said. "Every now and then we probably struggled with our batting for someone to go through and get a good score. We've still got a lot of things to work on but we've got some really good players in our team who are only going to get better.

"We've got a lot of young players and it's been pretty tough for everyone, but probably more so for them. They're only going to get better from it though."

So, now we know how Australia batted, Australia bowled and the Australian captain's opinions post match. We also know that the hosts were "highly fancied".

But, didn't India win?

This narrative would not be out of place for a news paper like the Australian, given that it has to cater to local taste. But for it to be carried in the self proclaimed "Home Of Cricket", this is a disgrace!

Test 1 - India v New Zealand - Day 4 prospects

So it did not quite pan out the way I had envisioned. No 4 sessions of batting and definitely no lead in excess of 350. Instead, India batted 2 sessions and a bit to accrue a lead of 241.

And with New Zealand losing 3 wickets, India look well and truly in command.

However, I have my doubts. For the following reasons

1. The heart of the New Zealand batting order ( Taylor, Ryder, McCullum and Vettori) have yet to bat

2. The wicket holds no demons for the batsmen.

3. The poise and the pace of the Martin Guptill innings is indicative of what can be achieved with a little common sense and a little more application.

And therein lies the problem. Unless the Kiwis decide to emulate the lemmings, India has a lot of work to do to prise out the remaining 7 wickets. And, if they have to spend all of today and some part of tomorrow on the field, it will be very interesting to see how they approach the chase ( if there is one) - Mumbai 2005 comes to mind.

From the Kiwi perspective, all they need to do is not play extravagantly. Play within themselves and let the Indians tire - the runs will come. And as the runs pile on, so will the pressure.

And that's when the fun begins!

Bryce McGain,same as Jason Krejza?

So I finally get around to watch South Africa play Australia. All thanks to Uncle JRod and CWB's own "Nice" Bryce McGain.

And after seeing South Africa go after him, I cannot but think of another spinner who suffered a similar initiation to Test Cricket.

In the leadup to the Test series, Jason Krejza had a miserable outing against the Board President's XI

JJ Krejza

20

1

123

0

and

JJ Krejza

11

1

76

0

6.90

and in the only test he played

JJ Krejza

43.5

1

215

8

4.90

and

JJ Krejza

31

3

143

4

4.61

Now, Bryce McGain's figures in the lead up to the first test

BE McGain

19

1

126

2

6.63

and he did not bowl a single ball in the second essay.

And, so far in the Test match

	BE McGain	7	1	62	0

Is "Nice Bryce" going the Jason Krejza way?

Test 1 - India v New Zealand - Third Day thoughts

End of Day 2 - India trail by 1 run with 6 wickets in hand. 3 days to go. 9 sessions. 270 overs.

India's current run rate is 3.06.

The way I look at this, India has to bat another 4 sessions. Do that, and at the current run rate, India will have scored an additional 361 runs. Giving them an effective lead of 360.

And 150 overs to get the Kiwis out a second time. It also gives India adequate time, if required, to chase down any total the Kiwis might set in the 4th innings chase.

Batting time is paramount, although with rain forecast on Sunday, India might just have to review their game plan in the last session of today's play.

From the Kiwi perspective, its all about damage control. Get wickets regularly, stop the flow of runs, and use the new ball wisely.

All in all, it looks set for another day of attrition. Which is what Test cricket is meant to be!

Test 1 - India v New Zealand - Session 3

The blogger tried. Desperately so. He even sashayed down the wicket and exposed Chris Martin to face 5 balls from Harbhajan.

But Jesse could not be denied. A sparkling century, not a false shot in the entirety of his innings and the calm he exuded augurs well for New Zealand cricket.

And yet.

7 overs in, 29 runs on the board, no wickets down. The ball will do only so much for another 8-10 overs. The wicket wont even do that (unless something dramatic happens between now and the start tomorrow morning).

Also, bundling out the opposition for under 300 in under 80 overs despite two centuries makes it, on balance, India's day.

From an Indian standpoint, they have to bat time.. Ideally, India should be batting 7 sessions and a bit - sometime between lunch and tea is when NZ should batting again. For two reasons - runs and the gap between the first and second test.

And if that is not possible, India has to still set its sights on batting once and batting big. At this point in time, the game is India's to squander. Day 2 cant come soon enough.

Well Played Daniel Vettori

Brilliant, fighting, gutsy hundred. A captain knock indeed.

Take a bow!

Test 1 - India v New Zealand - Session 2

Harry Potter leads the way as New Zealand first consolidate and then drive home the advantage.

102/0 in the session. Fifties for Vettori and Ryder. India bowled well.. The Kiwis batted better. And sensibly.

The wicket looks better to bat on. The Kookaburra is not deviating. And the two batsmen are set.

The Kiwis should be looking to book in for bed and breakfast. Only then will they negate all the gains the Indians made in the first session.

220 - 250/6 makes for much better reading than 200 all out.

Test 1 - India v New Zealand - Session 1

Early this afternoon, was having a conversation with a friend of mine. Bowl first, we agreed, because Indians are notoriously slow starters and the first session of the first day of the first match usually sets the tone for the rest of the series.

Bowl first and snare two or three for around 70 and it will be a good start. Anything less and India will be chasing the game. Anything better and India would have a good lunch.

Bat first and a score in the vicinity of 80-90 for the loss of 1 wicket was a good start. Anything less and India would be behind the 8 ball. Anything better than this and the honors would be India's.

But that's just us. Arm chair experts.

The way the session panned out has belied all expectations. Yes, India has a good bowling attack. And yes, there is some movement in the air and off the pitch.

But 61/6?

Why no Bala, ji?

You can say that Munaf Patel has played more cricket but seriously, why would you want to rest the desi version of Sid Barnes, MSD?

The pantomime villian

know no bounds, shamelessly poked their big snorters in when they don't belong, scandal, they bring a lot of baggage.

Cheeky.

All this hyperbole for this

The New Zealand board has declined an Indian broadcaster's request to start the Test in Hamilton at noon instead of the traditional 11am after discussions with the teams and match officials. Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd (formerly Sony Entertainment Television) had approached New Zealand Cricket with the request as it wants to maximise its viewership in India. If the start had been pushed back, the Test would have begun at 4.30 am in India, as opposed to 3.30 am

Self righteous angst I can understand, but what I cannot comprehend is the notion that the BCCI and Sony are a single monolithic entity - that the actions of one are inseperable from the other.

Especially in the light of this

A fresh row broke out over the issue of telecast rights of the IPL with Sony Entertainment dragging BCCI to the Bombay High Court which restrained the Cricket Board from entering into any further agreement related to the T-20 tournament.

The need to beat up the BCCI I can understand, especially in light of what is perceived as the unfair treatment meted out to Shane Bond.

But, there is also a lesson in the parable of the boy who cried wolf.

Say it again, Dileep

The real game-breakers are the bowlers, though. Despite the nature of the pitches, Harbhajan Singh should have a strong series, but it's the pace attack that will be too hot for New Zealand to handle. Zaheer can swing both old ball and new, while Ishant Sharma darts it back in at disconcerting height. The secret weapon though could be Lakshmipathy Balaji, whose return from near-crippling injuries is a tribute to his perseverance. He may no longer have the pace to hurry batsmen, but no one uses the ball more cleverly.

Sir Viv stadium suspended from international cricket

and why it is a joke - here's Achettup.

One loss later...

The knives are out....

Chandresh Narayan believes that India has a problem with the third seamer.Arun G thinks it is a matter of intensity ( or lack thereof). Martin Crowe blames Rohit Sharma!

Me, I don't know...

I mean, after all, the scoreline does read 3-1 in favor of the Indians. And had rain not intervened at Wellington, the scoreline would have made for more miserable reading for the Kiwis.

And, didn't the Indian bowlers take 23 Kiwi wickets as against 22 by the hosts ( and this includes the 4 wickets in the rained off match at Wellington).

If blame has to be apportioned ( and I know it is extremely uncharitable to do so after winning the series so comprehensively), I would blame the Indian top order.

Because of Sehwag, Gambhir, Sachin, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Raina ( and in a couple of instances, Pathan), the rest of the batting lineup hardly got a look in in the first 4 ODIs.

Which, for any other country, would be an embarrassment of riches!

So yeah, go ahead, ask the question

On a closing note, I leave with a question – was it wise on the part of the Indian team management to release the players to go on an outing on the eve of a match?

Only in India!