New Zealand Vs South Africa

South Africa 193/7 (50 ov)
New Zealand 196/5 (48.2 ov)New Zealand won by 5 wickets (with 10 balls remaining).
New Zealand beat South Africa by five wickets to seal their place in the crucial round coming up. They won the toss, and having come unstuck themselves batting first in St George's against Sri Lanka, opted to field first. It paid off on a difficult batting strip, as Bond and Franklin wasted little time with the new ball. McMillan stayed there til the end, unbeaten on 38 to add to his three key wickets. Gibbs and Prince added 76 in 17 overs, but it was the gamble of bringing on McMillan that hammered in South Africa's fate. Chasing 194, New Zealand were sluggish, but Fleming played a dour captain's innings and then that man Styris added another World Cup fifty.

McMillan is the Man of the Match. He's a happy bloke. Beaming, he says he's grateful to just be here and is glad New Zealand bounced back from the loss to Sri Lanka. Loved each of his three wickets, and says chasing 194 was tricky.

What's on the menu tomorrow?: The most ironical match of the tournament takes place - it was meant to be an India-Pakistan showcase on a weekend day, but instead it is...Ireland versus Bangladesh. It could be an entertaining game between two sided who play with enjoyment and enthusiasm. Bangladesh will be favorites, but the fast men of Ireland may fancy the conditions in Barbados, and could make it a competitive game.

Thats all I have for you, guys. Let me remind you of tomorrow's game again, a tussle between Ireland and Bangladesh at Bridgetown that will start at 13:30 GMT. I'll be bringing you the update again. Until then, Cheers!

Love

I've put some of my favorite quotes here, and I try to update with new quotations very often. I try to be selective in picking quotes, including only those quotes that I find inspiring or interesting -- in other words, reflecting my own tastes and philosophy. Putting all together love quotes here to share with all my friends and family.

"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments that stand out, the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love."

Henry Drummond

Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your heart or burn down your house, you can never tell.

Joan Crawford

"There is no remedy for love but to love more."

Henry David Thoreau

"Love is everything. It is the key to life, and its influences are those that move the world."

Ralph Waldo Trine

Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.

James Baldwin

"Where there is love there is life."

Mohandas Gandhi

If you love something, set it free; if it comes backs it's yours, if it doesn't, it never was.

Richard Bach

"The important thing was to love rather than to be loved."

W. Somerset Maugham

"Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit."

Peter Ustinov

"Love is giving and it has nothing to do with what you receive."

Dr. Wayne Dyer

Trying to get a clear view 04/13/07

Sorry guys I have not put new post about WC cricket last 3 days . Got such a bad cold and fever, that put me much behind in new update.Anyway let see how much I can cover it up.

What happened: Three games that didn't achieve especially great heights. Bangladesh's batsmen were brought down to earth on a fast pitch by England bowlers, but the English batsmen made heavy weather of a small target, and Bangladesh even had a whiff of victory until Collingwood and Nixon saw England home by 4 wickets. Yesterday, in what was meant to be a tight game, New Zealand never took off against Sri Lanka and lost by six wickets. And today, Australia were in a massive hurry against Ireland, finishing them off before lunch.Australia won by 9 wickets.
Australia 92/1 in 12.2 overs( RR : 7.46 )
Ireland 91 All out , 30.0 overs,(R.R 3.03)

With each side having played four Super 8 games, plus the game carried through from the Group stages, the log now reflects each side having played 5 out of 7 games. Following is a quick look at each side's prospects at the moment:
Australia (10 pts, Net run rate +2.298): Have qualified for the semi-finals. World cup run is now 25 undefeated and 19 wins in a row. Someone please stop them!
Sri Lanka (8 pts, Net run rate +1.350): Need one more win to qualify for semi-finals and would expect to get that against Ireland next Wednesday. Even if the worst happens and they don't win either remaining match (other is Australia), their net run rate should see them through unless someone really thumps them.
New Zealand (8 pts, Net run rate +1.267): Also need one more win to qualify, but with remaining games against Australia and South Africa, they know that isn't a given. With a strong net run rate, Fleming will know that if worst comes to worse, avoiding a thumping defeat should do the trick regarding qualifying.
South Africa (6 pts, Net run rate -0.199): If they beat England, they will qualify, as England are the only side below them in the log who can still get to 8 points. South Africa's problem is if they are in a tie for fourth place, as their net run rate is the ugliest of the serious semi-final contenders. A win against New Zealand tomorrow won't guarantee a semi-final place, as a loss to England will still get England up to 8 points to tie with SA and probably qualify on net run rate. However, a thumping win against New Zealand will do South Africa's cause a lot of good.
England (4 pts, Net run rate +0.079): Probably need to win both their last matches against SA and Windies to qualify, although there may be possibilities in a tie on 6 points. Also have the advantage of playing the last Super 8 match so will know what they need to do if they still have a chance then. Don't count them out.
West Indies (2 pts, Net run rate -1.212): Only hope is to win their last two matches, have SA lose their last two, and improve net run rate drastically. Basically need a miracle.
Bangladesh (2 pts, Net run rate -1.431): Need an even bigger miracle, same story as West Indies but also need West Indies to beat England and have even bigger net run rate problems.
Ireland (0pts, Net run rate -1.968): Can't qualify. Still have their pride.

What's on the menu tomorrow?: South Africa don't have to beat New Zealand tomorrow to qualify. However, they really need to - World Cup champions usually put on a winning streak, even if it starts late in the tournament, and South Africa need to build momentum from the Windies win. It will also put less pressure on the England game, especially if South Africa can win convincingly. The game itself is hard to call- both sides won convincingly at home in recent series, and as usual, the game will pit Smith's passion against Fleming's brain. What is a bit worrying is Smith's rather casual attitude to the mathematics of the Super 8 log - you can check out yourself here. It feels a bit like a prelude to another narrow exit- I know cricket is played with bat and ball, rather than pencil and paper, but I would have thought someone in the South African set-up would be taking a bit of responsibility for the more technical aspects- it's not as if the inability to read the fine print and remember the odd run here and there hasn't cost us a World Cup before......

Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 04/12/07

Sri Lanka vs New Zealand :Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets.
Sri Lanka 222/4 in 45.1 overs( RR : 4.92 )
New Zealand 219/7 in 50 overs(R.R 4.38)

Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka receives the Man of the Match Award.

Bangladesh Vs England on 04/11/07

As I have said it before that I was not blogging last 3 days so I missed out on Bangladesh Vs England match on 11/4/07
ICC World Cup,Bangladesh Vs England-
(Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados)
England won by 4 wickets.

Quotes of love

All is fair in love and war.

WWW 155 Class: Another post, this time with labels

WWW 155 Class: Another post, this time with labels

WWW 155 Class: Second post - with trackbacks enabled

WWW 155 Class: Second post - with trackbacks enabled

What's on the cards today: 04/10/07

What's on the cards today: Today sees what must be most key Super 8 match so far, SA against the Windies. Both sides will be coming off demoralising defeats, but Windies hopes will be lifted by South Africa's travails. South Africa have an excellent record against the Windies in head-to-head series but a horrible record in ICC events, including the 2003 opening match, The stakes are high- an SA win will put the Proteas back on track, and all but mathematically eliminate the Windies while a loss will revive the Windies and surely deal an almost fatal blow to the Proteas confidence. Recent World Cup history favors the Windies, but the Proteas should look their first World Cup in 1992 for inspiration- after losing to Sri Lanka, who were then at a similar level to today's Bangladesh, they beat the Windies. I'm going back from school will write about today's match in detail later because I have not seen the score.

Edited posts after school: South Africa won by 67 runs
South Africa 356/4 in 50.0 overs(R.R 7.12)
West Indies 289/9 in 50.0 overs( RR : 5.78 )

WC 2007 New Zealand Vs Ireland

If you have read my last night blog you must have seen that I wrote: Australia and New Zealand are among the runaway. I sound like one of my friend who will always tell if something wrong happens, in a rood way "I told you so". Okay okay enough about I told you so lets talk about New Zealand Vs Ireland match.
New Zealand 263-8 beat Ireland 134 all out by 129 runs. Daniel Vettori claimed four wickets as Ireland collapsed to 134 all out to hand New Zealand a 129-run victory in their Super 8 encounter in Guyana.
Peter Fulton (83) laid the foundations for New Zealand, but Brendon McCullum (47) and James Franklin's eighth-wicket partnership of 71 proved crucial.
That helped the Kiwis to 263-8, and Niall and Kevin O'Brien's stand of 75 looked to have given Ireland a chance.
But they lost six wickets for just nine runs to hand New Zealand an easy win.
Since the St Patrick's Day defeat of Pakistan, Ireland have never quite scaled the heights, going down meekly to West Indies before England and South Africa ground out fairly comfortable victories.
Things will get tougher for New Zealand in the next ten days. Because New Zealand, have more formidable opponents: Sri Lanka, South Africa and of course the old foes the Australia. The performance of their top order batting will be important, and along with Stephen Fleming and I assume Peter Fulton, they must provide solidity to allow their long batting line-up to take control of the matches. After these three games we will have a better idea if this is the New Zealand team that may take the first World Cup for their country.

The long goodbye:Adrian Birrell will be collecting his P45 shortly. Ten more days is all he has in his current job as Ireland coach. Ten more days to shake the world. Today they face New Zealand, and then finish the Super Eights with games against Australia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Tomorrow I will come up with more cricket news about South Africa v West Indies.Till then good night. I am too sleepy now.

Australia Vs England, Super Eights

What happened today(on 8th Apr) in Australia v England Match?:

Well as I knew before Australia will win. Australia 248 for 3 beat England 247 by seven wickets. Ricky Ponting's 86 was the major feature for Australia as they completed a seven-wicket win against England in Antigua with 16 balls to spare. The result virtually assured them of a semi-final berth and left their rivals clinging on by their fingernails. Earlier, Nathan Bracken and Shaun Tait picked up three wickets each to restrict England, for whom Kevin Pietersen made 104, to 247. Australia, bidding to become the first team to win a hat-trick of World Cups, moved two points clear of Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the second-round standings with eight.
England could still reach the semi-finals after losing to Australia, especially if South Africa continue to fall apart after their defeat by Bangladesh. Any feelings of superiority England had after winning the one-day finals in Australia were dissipated when they threw away the warm-up match in St Vincent last month,"
why Australia and New Zealand are among the runaway: There are two reasons why Australia and New Zealand are among the runaway favourites for this World Cup. Firstly, both teams just keep on winning; secondly, they refuse to let little issues like injuries to key players get in the way of their momentum.
Can Australia be beaten by some other country opponent in WC2007?
I asked many of my friends this question who is interested in cricket .Its not just because I don't want to see them winning their 3rd continuous world cup. Its just a question which comes out with great fury and furious as a cricket fan like anybody who like to see a new winner on the stage now. Its time for a change of face.
As you guessed, I am talking about the unstoppable Australia.At this point of time, they have played 6 matches and salvaged each opponent in all corners with their round capability.They are invincible and keep proving that every other match .
Lets browse through their performance in WC past matches quickly:

Group Matches

1st - 334/6 - Won by 231 runs thrashing Scots to 131/10

2nd - 358/5 - Won by 229 runs folding Holland to 129/10

3rd - 377/6 - Won by 84 runs bowling out S.A to 294/10

Super 8 Matches

1st - 322/6 - Won by 103 runs beating W.I to 219/10

2nd - 106/0 - Won by 10 wickets reducing Bangladesh to 104/6

3rd - 248/3 - Won by 7 wickets taking revenge with England - 247/10

I wanted to summarize for the very purpose to show how they outplayed every team whom they played against so far.
You know it is pretty late today I will write more about Super Eight- Ireland Vs New Zealand (Providence Stadium,Guyana) tomorrow. It's seems funny now for me to write everyday but feels good.