Australia did it again
Posted by Nazly on Sunday, 29th April 2007 21:34:53 (GMT +0530)Australia have become the World Champions third time in a row after beating Sri Lanka in the Final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 which was played at the Kensington Oval, Barbados. After the rain delay the game was restricted to 38 overs. Australia won the toss and decided to bat first. Ruthless Adam Gilchrist didn't waste any time as he thrashed the Sri Lankan bowlers all around the park. He scored his century in just 72 balls. He ended up scoring 149 in just 104 balls. His innings included 8 sixes and 13 fours. Australia ended up scoring 281 in their alloted 38 overs losing 4 wickets.
Sri Lanka in reply lost the wicket of Upul Tharanga when the score was on 7. Jayasuriya and Sangakkara got Sri Lanka to a good position adding a quick 116 run partnership for the second wicket. But losing Sangakkara and Jayasuriya let Sri Lanka hopes down of winning the World Cup. The target was revised to 269 in 36 overs due to rain. After few incidents based on bad light, Sri Lanka managed to get only 215 for the loss of 8 wickets in 36 overs. Adam Gilchrist was named the Man of the Match and Aussie paceman Glenn McGrath was awarded Man of the Series for his 26 wickets.
So that was the end of a long World Cup. Aussies stood unbeaten throughout this World Cup and that was their simple formula to remain as World Champions for the third time. Sri Lanka on the other hand put up a great performance during this World Cup. But Aussies were too good for them at the end.
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Midnight chaos
Posted by Nazly on Sunday, 29th April 2007 20:39:45 (GMT +0530)I was almost in deep sleep last night when I heard this sudden noise that woke me up. I felt like it was thundering so I kinda got up and sat half asleep and thats when I heard the sound of a plane. It clicked to me immediately that what I heard was not a thunder but an explosion so I rushed towards the front door. When I opened the door I saw fire been hit towards the sky. The electricity was cut off as well. It was pitch black and I heard people were shouting all around. It was not revealed as of what could have happened and rumors were spreading across. It was total chaos at that time but in about 10-15 mins the firing towards the sky stopped. It was one hell of an experience in that time of the night.
It was revealed to us in the morning of what actually happened. Read Full Story
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Aussies storm in
Posted by Nazly on Thursday, 26th April 2007 15:30:45 (GMT +0530)Without any surprises Aussies have made their way into the Finals beating South Africa comprehensively in the Semi Final match, yesterday. Australian bowlers demolished the South African batting order with some tight bowling. So now it all comes to that grand Final where Australia and Sri Lanka will meet each other to battle for the ultimate prize. These two teams are the best that has played throughout this tournament, so its definitely gonna be a tight contest.
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Sri Lanka power into the Finals
Posted by Nazly on Wednesday, 25th April 2007 11:01:41 (GMT +0530)Sri Lanka have powered their way into the Finals of the ICC World Cup 2007 after beating New Zealand comprehensively in the Semi Finals, yesterday. Captain Mahela Jayawardena's century and Murali's 4 wickets were the highlights of the match. Mahela's innings was a well paced one. He initially played very defensively chipping in with ones and twos and launched himself at the end. He scored his 115 in just 109 balls. He was even criticized by the commentators for being not aggressive when he was batting at the start but he finally proved what he is capable of by the way he paced his innings. Upul Tharanga on the other hand scored a quick 73 at the top after Jayasuriya's early exit. It was an important innings as far as his own career is concerned coz there were lot of arguments whether he should be replaced with Marvan Atapattu. I personally believed that Tharanga should play coz he has been playing throughout this World Cup scored some runs at the start but failed few games after that. But Atapattu on the other hand hasn't played a game during this World Cup. Bringing him in for an important game like the Semi Finals is some what risky. Tharanga's inclusion paid off at the end.
The second Semi Final will be played against the undefeated Aussies and the South Africans at St Lucia today. It will be interesting to see who makes their way through to meet the Sri Lankans in the Finals.
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Wrapping up
Posted by Nazly on Sunday, 22nd April 2007 23:33:49 (GMT +0530)The match played yesterday against England and West Indies in the Super 8 stage of the World Cup 2007 reminded me of the match played against these two during the Champions Trophy. I even blogged about that match with the title "Fireworks, too late" and yesterday it was the same case. England's hopes of qualifying for the Semi Finals ended after the heavy defeat in the hands of South Africa. In that match England decided to bat first after winning the toss but the batsmen failed to capitalize on it. But England were exceptional yesterday. It was an emotional match as far as the West Indies are concerned coz it was the last match of the career of Brian Lara, one of the best batsman the world has ever witnessed. Unfortunately Lara couldn't make a mark in his last innings as he was run out for 18. West Indies made 300 in their innings thanks to some powerful hitting by Chris Gayle at the Top. In reply England approached the target with some positive batting. Michael Vaughan hit 79 off 68 balls at the start and gave a confident start to the innings. England lost their way in the middle a bit but it was that man, Kevin Pietersen who won the match in the Champions Trophy pulled this one out. His 100 off 91 balls and Paul Nixon's quick 38 saw England home. Kevin Pietersen has been brilliant this World Cup. The No.1 ODI player in the world scored 2 centuries and 3 half centuries in his total runs of 444 at an average of 55.50 in this tournament. He also reached to 2000 ODI runs in just 45 innings equaling the fastest to 2000.
Brian Lara would have wanted to end his last ODI in high note but failed to deliver a final show of his great career but that doesn't take anything off this great batsman. The Super 8 stages are now over so we are down to the Semis. Sri Lanka will play New Zealand on the 24th and Australia will play South Africa on the 25th. It will be interesting to see who goes through to the Finals.
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Mozilla Thunderbird 2
Posted by Nazly on Friday, 20th April 2007 15:10:51 (GMT +0530)I just now upgraded to Mozilla Thunderbird 2 which was made available worldwide yesterday. I didn't really dig into its new features yet. Message Tagging, Message History, Improved Search and Easy Access to Web Mail Services are some of the new features in this release. There is some nice improvement in the look and feel as well. Check the Press Release and the Release Notes to get what I mean. So why are you waiting for.. Go get it from here
![[Wink]](/smiles/icon_wink.gif){kind=icon}
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Down to four
Posted by Nazly on Wednesday, 18th April 2007 18:30:33 (GMT +0530)As days pass by we are getting closer to witness the Grand Final of the ICC World Cup 2007 which will be played on the 28th of April 2007 at Kensington Oval, Barbados. After my last post I managed to get quality pictures of Channel Eye using a booster. So I was able to capture most of the action from World Cup. Didn't really get a chance to make a post of the proceedings but now I feel the time has come as the Super 8 stage has almost come to an end. From sixteen teams, eight teams made their way through to the the Super 8 stage and now it has come down to four that will clash for the ultimate prize.
Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa have made their way through to the Semi Finals of ICC World Cup 2007 despite the fact that there are still few matches left in the Super 8 stage. South Africa qualified to the Semis when they thrashed England in their must win game yesterday. England had a great opportunity to go through to the Semis if they beat South Africa but their poor performance with the bat yesterday saw the end to their World Cup dreams. This back door opportunity was created by the fact that South Africa lost to Bangaladesh and New Zealand. England had tight games against Sri Lanka and Australia but they couldn't convert those to victories. End of the day what matters is the 2 points you gain by a victory. England missed that formula and thats the end of it.
Most probably if the table stays the same Australia will meet South Africa and Sri Lanka will meet New Zealand in the Semi Finals. Its tough to decide who will go though to the Finals judging by how the tournament has played. According to stats in this World Cup when these teams previously met Australia beat South Africa and Sri Lanka beat New Zealand. So theoretically we will see a Final played against Australia and Sri Lanka. When these two teams met in the Super 8 Australia were victorious. But these are just stats. In the middle, on that day the winner will be decided on how well they play against their opponent on given conditions. The toss can play a vital role as we have seen in the tournament where it has favored the team that won it. Australia have a physiological advantage being unbeaten in this tournament. And they haven't lost their last 20 ODIs in World Cups. Also they won the last couple of World Cups as well. Thats quite an achievement. I'm not an Australian fan but I do admire the way they play the game of Cricket. Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa are well capable sides that can challenge the Aussies but in my opinion they gotta step hard if they are to win this World Cup.
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