Search This Blog

Monday, March 31, 2014

Herath bamboozles while it is double dutch for England...

Have you heard of Mudassar Bukhari, 30 year old born at  Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan and Logan Verjus van Beek, 23 year old from Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand ………. and what could connect them…  When you read the next lengthy name – ‘Herath Mudiyanselage Rangana Keerthi Bandara Herath’ – you feel that the connection is Cricket.  Rangana Herath has taken 217 wickets in 51 tests and 54 wickets in 55 one dayers… not touted as a T20 player for he is a left arm spinner.

Before that 88 all out with only four boundaries and a 45-run defeat, monumental by Twenty20 terms, a shameful margin against an Associate nation – it is all happening after the early exit of Australia, now it is turn of another originator of the game……. Double Dutch’ – is a phrase meaning : Nonsense; gibberish - a language one cannot understand. There are a host of phrases in English that include the word 'Dutch'; that's hardly surprising as The Netherlands is just a few miles across the sea from England.  There are some decrying French and some Dutch – reasons, trade and war. 

In T20 WC with 2 more matches to go – one half is complete… Sri Lanka and South Africa have qualified with 3 wins each; Lanka with NRR of +2.233 tops the pool and hence South Africa will play India in the Semis on 4th; while Lanka will take on the winner of WI and Pak. 

A spot in the semi-finals of the World T20 could well be heavily weighted on the toss of a coin, stand-in captain Lasith Malinga  lost the toss and Brendon McCullum chose to bowl in the virtual quarter-final in Chittagong,  courting success to restrict Lankans to a manageable 119………… but Herath had other ideas as he ran through the Kiwis in a breathtaking spell of 3.3-2-3-5.  He snared out Brendon McCullum; struck the pads of Taylor; next ball beat and hit the leg stump of Neesham, scalped Ronchi and then Boult. NZ were all out for 60. 

Before that England reached a new low – they had been defeated by Ireland and Netherlands, but today’s  defeat at the hands of Netherlands - the second time they have lost to them in two meetings following the result in the 2009 World T20 at Lord's - in Chittagong ranks among the worst of England's defeats. It is a defeat that might also prove a fatal blow for Ashley Giles' hopes of gaining the England coaching job.  They lost to a team that were bowled out for 39 by the Lankans a few days ago.   Their colours looked similar but their performance was still lower.

Netherland in Oranje and England in REd.. !!!


Netherlands have become the only Associate team to beat a Test team twice in T20 internationals. Their first win against England was in the only other T20I these teams have played, at Lord's in the 2009 World T20. England's total in this match equalled their second lowest score in T20Is. This was a wretched performance. While Netherlands hit three boundaries in the first over of the game, England managed only four in their entire innings.

Timm van der Gugten bowled with pace and control in taking the key wicket of Eoin Morgan, taking 3  while Mudassar Bukhari's control and variations gave him another 3.  Coming back to colours, Netherlands is Oranje …. Their national football team is colloquially referred to as Het Nederlands Elftal (The Dutch Eleven) and Oranje, after the House of Orange-Nassau. Like the country itself, the team is sometimes, although incorrectly, referred to as Holland. In football, the  Dutch hold the record for playing the most World Cup finals without ever winning the final. But in Cricket today at Bangladesh the scorecard reveals : Netherlands 133 for 5 (Barresi 48) beat England 88 (van Beek 3-9, Bukhari 3-12) by 45 runs

Backhome, Cricinfo states that Shivlal Yadav's term as the BCCI chief for all matters barring the IPL will begin on a depressingly familiar note: a court hearing in Hyderabad on April 5 in a case related to alleged embezzlement of funds during the construction of a cricket stadium. Yadav is one of 20-odd Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) officials facing various allegations, including misappropriation of funds.


With regards – S. Sampathkumar

No comments:

Post a Comment