Sports
Black Magic
by Rajitha Ratwatte
Bledisloe 2 would be a close-run thing we thought. Maybe the aura of Eden Park the bastion of the All Blacks would have lost its sheen as this was the second game in two weeks. Well, it started like that with a closely contested first half. The Wallabies playing with the wind behind them, suffered an early setback with Rikko Ioane in his makeshift position of no13 intercepting a long pass from the hapless Noah Lolesio and streaking down 70 meters or so to score under the posts inside the first five minutes. 7–0 to the ABs but the Aussie scrum had given a good account of itself earlier and even won a penalty off the first scrum inside two minutes. Marika Korobiete stamped his class on the game just three minutes later with a penetrating run and Lolesio tried to make up for his mistake by a clever cross-kick to Kellaway on the wing who scored far right for a five pointer that Lolesio couldn’t convert. 7–5 and the Kiwis seemed to have changed their game plan not taking a very kickable penalty and choosing the touch option. However, the Wallaby defence stood up to the task so much so that Sam Whitelock the All-Blacks skipper chose to try for points off the next penalty they got but Ritchie Mo’uanga was not able to convert from the left of the posts as has been a consistent issue with him. It was only in the 23rd minute that we saw the magnificent sight of Brodie Retallick that huge second row forward running twenty meters untouched, off a good pass delivered by Rikko Ioane and scoring under the posts for the Blacks. 14-5 but the New Zealand defence were still getting caught offside inside their 22 and a penalty in the 30th minute was duly slotted, and the margin reduced to 14–8. Ardie Savea the ABs no8 was probably enjoying the absence of Wilson in the Aussie ranks and made a great break, showed amazing pace for such bulk, and scored mid left, this time Mo’uanga was able to convert taking the score to 21–8 with around five minutes to go in the first half. On the halftime hooter McDermott that nippy little Aussie half back justified his selection over Nick White with a great darting run off a five-meter scrum, playing with the referee signalling advantage, to score under the post, taking the half time score to 21–15.
The second half started badly for the ABs, playing with the wind behind them with Ardie Savea getting yellow carded less than two minutes after the start for consistent infringements inside the ABs 22-meter line. Ardie was the victim of the referee losing patience with this fault in the ABs play. It really needs to be looked at by the defensive coaches as does the fact that opposing sides score too many points overall. However, the Blacks scored twice playing with one man short. Firstly, by Codie Taylor their hooker running 20 meters aided by a great break by Aaron Smith and scoring under the posts and then through Damian “clutch” Mackenzie slotting a 60 meter plus penalty with the wind behind him and obviously only taken to wind the clock down until Ardie could finish his time in the bin. Score 31–15 and the irrepressible Seevu Reece took his cue with another intercept off a long pass, a scathing run and a try under the posts taking the score to 38–15.
The game was approaching the last 20 minutes and the much-vaunted NZ bench came on. Three Barret brothers and a refreshed front row supplanted by two fresh props proved too much for the Wallabies. The Black scrum began to dominate. Codie Taylor helped himself to another try-scoring far right, the conversion missed by Ritchie Mo’uanga in the rain which was bucketing down by this stage. Ardie Savea helped Will Jordan over the line to score far-right and Beauden Barret who was in for Mo’uanga gained the additional two points with a great kick taking the score to 50–15 and virtually ensuring that the Bledisloe cup remains in NZ for another year. Kalloway on the Aussie wing scored his second try for the game taking the score to 50-22 but David Havili had the last laugh going over mid-right off a great run by Will Jordan and Barret senior signalled the curtain call with another impeccable conversion. Final score 57–22 with 79 points in total being scored in 82 minutes of scintillating rugby.
Full kudos to the All-Black coaches and selectors. There were some great moves off line outs and the only near-disaster from the selection of Rikko Ioane at no13 came from a characteristic wild pass on the All Blacks line at the closing stages of the game. Those of us who thought we knew better and were enraptured by the long odds offered by the bookies and laid the money down on a Wallaby victory, saw our money sizzle its way out of our hands and into the capricious pockets of the worthies!
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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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