Sports
Juggernaut derailed and the Blues scrape home
by Rajitha Ratwatte
It was expected to be a one-sided easy win for the Canterbury Crusaders. They were playing the lowly Otago Highlanders, top of the table against the near bottom. Furthermore, the Otago coach Tony Brown had dropped six of the stars or starting players, due to a breach of team discipline and ethics. Otago had Mitch Hunt was playing at no10 against the mercurial Ritchie Mo’uanga, both former teammates at Canterbury. A team of Wannabees from Otago against a team of superstars from Canterbury.
It was a frenetic start and the normally reliable George Bridge on the wing for Canterbury dropped a perfectly placed cross-kick and with it a chance for the Crusaders to get ahead early. 10 minutes into the game the Highlanders got a penalty far left of field and about 40 meters out. Mitch Hunt stepped up and converted, 3 – 0 to the underdogs. Seven minutes later Codie Taylor the Canterbury hooker was pinged for offside, 30 meters out and mid-right. Again, the Otago no10 converted 6 -0. Otago had learned from the Auckland Blues’ mistakes of not taking three points whenever Crusaders gave a penalty, as happened last week. The Highlanders continued their dominance with no seven Billy Harmon going over for a try within easy converting distance in the 23rd minute. 13 – 0 and a few punters who had taken the long odds, were beginning to smile. The Punters even began to buy drinks for their mates when another penalty was converted in the 31st minute and the ‘Landers went ahead by 16 – 0.
Crusaders were making many mistakes, dropped balls, wild passes, and even mistakes in the line out resulting in turnovers, and loss of territory was very “uncrusaderlike”. Otago continued to play well with Jonah Nareki one of my favorite up-and-coming young wingers in the tournament, pulling off an amazing turn-over off a defensive ruck and turning another Crusader attacking move to naught.
On the halftime hooter, the Crusaders forwards powered their way over the line from a rather scrappy line out. Codie Taylor the red and black hooker scored, and the conversion was simple for Ritchie Mo’uanga; 16 -7 at halftime.
Ten minutes into the second half Scott Barret the captain of the Crusaders was caught offside mid-right and inside their 22. Another three points for the ‘Landers and the score; 19 – 7. A good old-fashioned fly hack off a crusader’s dropped pass saw useful territory gained and 10 phases later Michael Collins of the Highlanders went over the line for another try which was converted. 26 – 7, where was the famed Crusader second-half spurt, even if it did come, was the margin too much? These were the burning questions around the long bar of the Ellerslie pub! The 68th minute saw David Haveli of the Crusaders score but Ritchie Mo’uanga missed a relatively easy conversion 26 -12 and into the last 10 minutes. It was all over in the 73rd minute when the Highlanders bench no12, Garden-Bachop picked up another dropped pass and scored a seven pointer 33 -12 and a half-strength (in theory) Highlanders team had achieved the impossible! Crusaders were beaten by what was possibly a record margin and against all odds. Committed, keen disciplined players are worth more than “superstars” to a coach – Is a theorem that has been proved time and time again; Kudos to Tony Brown, this is the stuff that great coaches are made of.
The Auckland Blues at home to the Wellington Hurricanes. Eden park the bastion of the Blues not as full as usual due to the Easter long weekend and the more affluent denizens of Auckland away at their holiday “batches” and on their boats. However, the Blues fan base are mostly pacific Islanders from the hard-working lower-income bracket of society, and they were probably also celebrating an increase of the minimum wage, brought about by the ruling Labour Government with effect from the beginning of April! The Auckland coach, Leon McDonald had made vital changes to the no 9 and no 12 positions in his team and the Blues skipper Patrick Tuapoletu was out of the game due to a shoulder injury. The ginger-haired Tom Robinson who had thus far been mainly a bench player started as the stand-in captain. A big job ahead of him, particularly as the usually wrong Sir John Kirwan of the expert panel backed the Blues to win!
The Blues kicked off and four minutes into the game the first scrum showed a bit of dominance by the home side. Two penalties 50 – 60 meters out but kickable for the giant Jordie Barret were not attempted and the Blues also disregarded a possible three pointer and chose the touch option. Jordie Barret can’t be kept out of the game and a huge 50-meter clearance kick from a defensive position may have woken his captain up to the fact that here was a kicking machine. In the 15th minute a penalty right in front of the posts, conceded by the Blues was a mere formality for Jordie Barret and the score read 0 – 3 to the ‘Canes. The Blues were pinged again, but the TV ref intervened, and the penalty was reversed, and a yellow card issued to Duplessis Kurefi of the Hurricanes for a high tackle. The 18th minute saw a great ruck by Aardie Savea the captain and no 8 of the ‘Canes, earning a penalty around 52 meters out and slightly left of the posts. Since the Hurricanes were a player down due to the yellow card and this was well within the kicking range of Jordie Barret, trying for the 3 pointer was a no-brainer. Barret missed but it was not due to lack of distance!
The Blues were not looking good. Basic mistakes, ball handling errors, forward passes, and bad line out throws plagued them to an extent that the fans started to wonder if it back to the bad old days. They were unable to take advantage of being one man up in the 10 minutes that ensued. In the 30th minute, a Blues rolling maul heading for the opposition line was apparently collapsed by Aardie Savea and a penalty try was awarded to the Blues and Savea yellow carded. Score 7 – 3. The general consensus was that Savea was hard done by, he will have to be careful however because if he wants to captain the All Blacks in the possible absence of Sam Cane the incumbent skipper, due to a shoulder injury, he has to reduce the number of times he is being sent to the sin bin. Savea is undoubtedly the best no 8 playing Super rugby Aotearoa at present, sometimes his over-enthusiasm results in too much attention from the referees!
The deficit was reduced four minutes later in the 34th minute when the Blues conceded another penalty in front of the posts and around 22 meters out. 7 – 6 with Barret junior doing the needful. However, the 37th minute saw the ‘Canes pinged in front of their posts and on the 22-meter line. Another “gimme” three pointer took the score to 10 – 6 in favor of the Blues. On the half-time hooter the ‘Canes got penalty 30 meters out from the Blues posts, in front of the posts and amid Jeff Wilson (Goldie) of the commentary panel waffling on about the Hurricanes needing to try and score a try, Jordie Barret took the three points. The score read 10 – 9 to the Blues at halftime.
Two minutes into the second half saw the Blues loose head prop Tu’ungafasi go off the field with a knee injury and another of my favorite players Alex Hodgeman come on. Hodgeman is very good in the loose and was soon showing his handling skills with a couple of great offloads. However, he was given a hard time by the ‘Canes tight head Alex Fidow and conceded a couple of “knee down” scrum penalties. He will no doubt learn not to get sucked in by these tactics as time goes on. Two minutes later in the 44th minute the Blues conceded one of those scrum penalties, it was around 55 meters out with the angle and mid-right. Jordie Barret stepped up and over it went, right down the middle. 10 -12 ‘Canes back in the lead and the youngest Barret brother making an emphatic statement as to why he should be a permanent member of the All Blacks. The ability to score three points from anywhere inside 60 meters of the opposition’s goalposts, surely assures a player of his place? Even in the All Blacks!
Around the 50th minute, the changes in the Blues three-quarter line began to pay dividends with a series of nice running breaks and great passes resulting in the new no 12 T.J. Faiane scoring mid-left. Duly converted and score reading 17 -12 for the Blues. The 64th minute saw Mark Telea score on the right-wing off a Ricco Ioane pass. A difficult kick was slotted by Otere Black, and Blue’s lead was extended to 24 -12. The Blues continued to show a lack of initiative on the field and probably missed the leadership of their injured skipper. A needless penalty was conceded in the 75th minute and Reed Princep went over for a try that Jordie Barret was unable to convert. 24 -17 was the scoreline until almost on full-time hooter when the Hurricanes scrum conceded another penalty 40 meters out and mid-right. Oteri Black who had a relatively quiet game but seemed to have regained his kicking form, put this one over too, to secure a 27 -17 victory for the Blues at home. This kick saw the Hurricanes lose their “losing bonus point” due to the increase in the winning margin.
A singularly unimpressive victory with shades of the “bad old days” of mindless, unthinking rugby that we had witnessed from the Auckland team in the past, raising its ugly head once again.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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