South Africa’s bowlers are fully aware of the damage this man can inflict if he gets going

Sidharth Monga in Nagpur04-Feb-2010The in South Africa last week asked the freshly sacked coach, Mickey Arthur, about his life after the job. “I walked on the beach with my wife this morning,” Arthur said. “We played tennis together after that … I can actually concentrate on what people are saying rather than thinking how we are going to get Virender Sehwag out.”It is instructive that Arthur should use Sehwag as the metaphor, and not, say, Sachin Tendulkar or Gautam Gambhir, who are actually more difficult to dismiss nowadays.But Sehwag invokes fear. When he plays well, he feels sorry for the bowlers. He leaves behind destruction and debris for bowling units. Arthur’s sacking has come with a positive: he won’t have to worry about all that. Over the next two weeks, the rest of his mates of nearly five years won’t have that luxury. Over the next two weeks, they may be thinking about how to get Sehwag out even when talking to wives and girlfriends. They have perhaps been thinking about how to get Sehwag out for two weeks now. Or longer even. Sehwag can ruin a series in two hours, and the scars those two hours leave can run deeper than two days of batting from some.When they last came here, two of South Africa’s bowlers – in fact their best bowlers – Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, were at the receiving end of Sehwag’s triple century at record pace in Chennai. “Ridiculous” is how Morkel describes his initiation to India. Both Steyn and Morkel, though, draw heart from how they came back in the series to get Sehwag out for 6, 17, 8 and 22.”Once we exploited what his biggest weaknesses were, he wasn’t able to get away again after that,” says Steyn. “We definitely have our game plans against somebody like him. What’s happened in the past has happened in the past. It was definitely not the pitches [in Ahmedabad and Kanpur] , it was the mind frame that we got into.”Back then, Arthur acknowledged that Sehwag played his first pull shot after he reached 312. Short balls, tucking him up, and turning third man into a catcher was the plan then. But Sehwag’s leg-side play has only improved since then. The flick-pull off the hip is back, so is the orthodox one through midwicket. Yet this will be a new test for Sehwag because there will be two pretty hungry men bowling consistently fast at him, an assignment he doesn’t get to face everyday in international cricket.Morkel knows it might take more than just bowling short into his body, which is mainly a restrictive ploy if the pitch doesn’t afford high bounce. “We are wary about how dangerous Sehwag is up front, we definitely need to target him up front,” he says. “We need to get him out really, we know how bad he can dominate attacks when he gets in.”Steyn, the leader of the attack, concurs. “I don’t think you can ever contain somebody like him. Our plan is definitely not to let him get going. We have got our plans for him in every situation. We have been in every situation. We have been in a situation where we have got him out for nought, we have been in a situation where we have got him out for 300. We have basically got a plan for every run that he has got!”

We have been in a situation where we have got him out for nought, we have been in a situation where we have got him out for 300. We have basically got a plan for every run that he has got!Dale Steyn is aware of what Sehwag can do

Steyn’s words, in a way, show how helpless Sehwag makes bowlers feel. “Sometimes he will go hard and be so aggressive that he gets himself out,” Morkel says. “The main thing is to stay patient and keep on doing what you believe is right.”Another member of this team, Paul Harris, tried the containing role with Sehwag in Chennai. And again if Sehwag is still batting by the time Harris comes on to bowl, he might have to try the improbable: contain Sehwag. “If you’ve got fielders on the boundary and he hits over them, you can’t do much about it. The field is only so big, you can’t make it any wider,” Harris says. “I’ll probably set him pretty defensive fields depending on the wicket. If he wants to go over my fielders, and he does it well, I will shake his hand after the game and say ‘well batted’. If he doesn’t, there will be people there to catch him. I am not too fazed. Hopefully I will… Hopefully I won’t have to bowl to him. After the seamers get him out early.”In the same interview, Arthur maintains that the best way to bowl to Sehwag is to tuck him up with the short stuff. That at least is clear thinking. Almost Sehwag-like. But the beauty of Sehwag is that he messes with bowlers’ thought processes. A lot will depend on how clearly the South Africans think when bowling to Sehwag.Says Steyn: “I am not giving everything away here, we still have got to play two Test matches against him. But whenever we go out to bowl in the Test match, you will obviously see what’s going to be coming his way.”We’ll see. In fact, can’t wait to see.

Stats highlights from the second day of the third Test, which belonged entirely to Virender Sehwag

S Rajesh03-Dec-2009The second day at the Brabourne Stadium was all about Virender Sehwag. He has pulverised bowling attacks before, but this was astounding even by his standards. His unbeaten 284 has so far consumed 239 deliveries, a strike rate of 118.82, which is his fastest 150-plus score in Tests. He features in three of the top four, and five of the top ten fastest double-centuries in Tests.As was the case in his other big knocks, this one was superbly paced too. He started relatively slowly, scoring only 42 in the first 50 deliveries he faced, before upping the tempo. His next 50 balls fetched 55, while each of the next two 50-ball batches brought more than 70. The rate came down just a little bit towards the end of the day, as Sehwag scored 42 in his last 39 deliveries – even when he was tiring after a long day he still managed a strike rate of more than 100. He finished with 284, just 25 short of the all-time record for most runs in a single day, but it was the top score in a day in the last 76 years.

Sehwag’s progress to his unbeaten 284

First 50 balls51-100 balls101-150 balls151-200 balls201-239 ballsRuns scored4255737242The table below shows none of the Sri Lankan bowlers escaped the Sehwag onslaught. Among the bowlers who bowled at least ten deliveries to him, all of them leaked runs at at least a run a ball – the most ‘economical’ was Chanaka Welegedara, who went for 45 in as many balls; against Nuwan Kulasekara and Rangana Herath the strike rate was more than 130, while Muttiah Muralitharan, who had another forgettable day, gave away 78 in 70. Along the way, he also became the third-fastest Indian – in terms of innings – to get to 6000 Test runs, after Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. This was also Sehwag’s sixth double-century, which puts him in fourth place, after Bradman, Brian Lara and Wally Hammond.

Sehwag against each bowler

BowlerBallsRuns4s/ 6sStrike rateChanaka Welegedara45457/ 1100.00Nuwan Kulasekara395210/ 0133.33Rangana Herath56746/ 4132.14Muttiah Muralitharan707811/ 2111.42Angelo Mathews20275/ 0135.00Tillakaratne Dilshan981/ 088.88As in most Sehwag innings, he didn’t believe in running too many singles and twos – 202 out of his 284 runs came in boundaries, which is an amazing 71%. That puts him only 36 away from the record for most runs in boundaries in a single innings – John Edrich got 238 out of 310 runs in fours and sixes against New Zealand in 1965. Sehwag’s 202 puts him in fourth place.

Break-up of the 239 balls Sehwag faced

Dots1s2s/ 3s4s6s117695/ 1407Sehwag’s sizzler ensured India scored their highest in a single day – their 443 went past the 417 they had scored on the opening day of the previous Test, in Kanpur.While Sehwag was outstanding, he also received excellent support from Murali Vijay and Rahul Dravid, both of whom put together double-century partnerships with Sehwag. It’s only the second instance in the history of Test cricket of the first two wickets each adding 200-plus runs. The earlier instance had also involved Sehwag and Dravid, with Jaffer being Sehwag’s opening partner on that occasion, against South Africa in Chennai last year. After an opening stand of 213, Sehwag and Dravid added 268 for the second wicket in a high-scoring draw.

Making it to the big screen and watching Strauss go nuts somewhat make up for not getting to watch Anderson bowl

Ronita Mohan13-Jul-2010Choice of game
The third ODI between England and Bangladesh at Edgbaston was the last stop in my sister’s cricket tour plan. We had bought tickets assuming we would be attending a dead rubber, but Saturday’s thriller in Bristol changed all that. The series was in the balance and I hoped England would manage to regain their honour.Team supported
I supported England. Main reason – Stuart Broad. As they say, “Nuff said.”Key performer
Having attended only Twenty20 matches till now, I was a bit concerned the ODI format would be dull. Was I wrong! Andrew Strauss kept us highly entertained throughout. His 154 was laden with glorious boundaries; his first six over midwicket came in just the third over.One thing I’d have changed

First up, I was very disappointed at James Anderson being dropped. I know his form hasn’t been that great of late, but he is much too talented to be carrying drinks. However, injuries to Ajmal Shahzad and Paul Collingwood meant Anderson fielded almost throughout Bangladesh’s innings.Another factor I would definitely have changed was the flow of alcohol. The Eric Hollies Stand, where we were seated, was full of fun-loving folks but on our way out we seemed to encounter a number of people who were on the verge of losing control.Face-off I relished
Mashrafe Mortaza’s brilliant length bowling against Jonathan Trott was something to watch. Trott was completely at sixes and sevens.Wow moment
Just about everything that Strauss did wowed the spectators, but my pick would have to be Shakib Al Hasan’s run-out at the hands of Collingwood. Shakib took off for a run and met his partner at the same crease, but Collingwood, in his haste to pick up the ball, ended up fumbling quite a bit until he finally took off the bails. Shakib, sure that Collingwood had already effected the run-out, didn’t even run back to his crease. Talk about a comedy of errors.Player watch
Shafiul Islam was the first to field near our stand and was a good sport with the friendly crowd. Mohammad Ashraful, however, was not. He refused to acknowledge his fans, which was a bit disappointing. Ajmal Shahzad, Tim Bresnan and Jonathan Trott fielded near us during the second innings and were generally quite friendly, especially Shahzad, who granted numerous crowd requests for a wave. Bresnan was kind enough to leave his fielding position to sign autographs, though similar demands made to Trott went unnoticed.Shot of the day
Of the five sixes Strauss hit, his straight one off Abdur Razzak was the most memorable. He danced down the track and hit the ball so far that it disappeared into the construction areaCrowd meter
The day started off wet, soggy and extremely unpleasant. The start of play was delayed by 45 minutes. Despite the dismal conditions the ground was nearly packed. Three out of four stands were full.Our stand had a fantastic mixture of Bangladesh and England supporters, who gladly took each other on when chanting team slogans. The atmosphere was jovial and festive; the crowd often forgot they were at a cricket match, so busy were they entertaining everyone with songs and chants and attempts at Mexican waves (only one was successful) and plastic-glass snakes (the stewards ruined it by removing the people responsible from the stand). Someone brought a beach ball, which was duly bounced about until it fell into the hands of a security guard. That was the end of that but the guard was lyrically chastised by the crowd. The supporters later took to swapping allegiances – there were a few surprised faces when those in Bangladeshi bandanas started shouting “England, England”.Fancy-dress index
We had some Bangladeshi “bishops” and “wizards” seated near us, complete with conical cardboard hats and Bangladesh-flag capes. Elsewhere in the ground, a Nun, a stormtrooper and a person in a monkey-suit were spotted.Andrew Stauss: glorious in attack•PA PhotosEntertainment
The music was a bit repetitive. There was a lot of N-Dubz and Ellie Goulding but little else. Each Bangladeshi batsman was greeted with “The Boys Are Back In Town”, which was catchy enough not to get boring. After the toss, snippets of spectator predictions were shown on the big screen. I was first up, as there were hardly seven people at the ground when the lads from Screens came to interview us. I must admit, having everyone turn around and stare at me was a bit amusing.During the innings break, we were treated to a wicketkeeping masterclass by Alec Stewart. It was followed by a question-and answer-session with six competition winners. Stewart was apparently available to sign autographs at the TwelfthMan Fan Hub, but I wasn’t able to meet him.Accessories
My binoculars and camera came in handy, as none of my favourite players were fielding near me. I also took along some food, which I didn’t get around to eating. Instead, I indulged in hot dogs and chips from a stall. My trusty England cap made another trip to the cricket with me. Sunscreen has now become my constant companion, except we didn’t get one dot of sunshine. I should have taken a jacket along instead.Banner of the day
I didn’t see many, but at the end of the match I met a girl with an “I heart Broady” banner. Wish I’d made one for myself.Overall
It was a brilliant and exciting match. Whoever said the ODI format was dead needs his head checked. The crowd was fabulously enthusiastic, not in the least bit partisan, and we all had a wonderful time. A handful of us even got autographs at the end of the match, so that pretty much capped a fantastic day.Marks out of 10
9. Everything was perfect really, except the rain and the absence of Anderson.

A Sri Lankan student joins in the bash thrown by his home team at the WACA

Shehan Dias01-Nov-2010Choice of game
This was my first live cricket match since Brian Lara made a 200 and Chaminda Vaas got 14 wickets at the SSC in Colombo in 2001. Also, a heavy final semester at university does take its toll on you – what better way to relax before final exams than to see your sports heroes in action.Team supported
I may be studying in Australia, but I was always going to support my home country Sri Lanka.Key performer
Although Kumar Sangakkara was great after he got settled, unleashing an array of super shots, Suraj Randiv gets the nod today for setting the game up for Sri Lanka. He deserved his Man-of-the-Match award; he got a lot of bounce and was able to vary his deliveries.One thing I’d have changed
I’d have loved to see a bit more fight from the Australian top order and a couple more boundaries earlier on would have set up the game very well. Instead, there was a batting collapse which was the last thing most of us expected.Face-off I relished
It was very enticing to see the Australians use their feet to the Lankan spinners. Michael Clarke hit a six off the first ball he faced from Muttiah Muralitharan. Steven Smith’s reverse-sweeping was great to watch, and some sensible batting let Australia claw their way back. But in the end, Randiv made sure the target wouldn’t be out of reach.Wow moment
Dilhara Fernando plucking a superb one-handed catch to send back Clarke. We all thought that he wouldn’t even get a hand on it, but somehow he held on.Player watch
The fans by the boundary didn’t seem inclined to hassle the players (Clint McKay and Lasith Malinga) for any autographs, and the fielders by the boundary had little to do anyway.Shot of the day
I’ll be a bit biased here and go with my school-mate Thisara Perera’s final six. He was great since he really took to Smith’s line and length. The execution of the shot was brilliant and it was a fitting way to end a dominant win for the visitors.Crowd meter
The crowd was near full capacity and got very vocal whenever their teams got a wicket or a boundary. Malinga got a lot of attention when he bowled; the crowd held its breath while he steamed in. As the game progressed, the Sri Lankan fans were clearly the happier bunch but even then the whole crowd gamely attempted a couple of Mexican waves and bounced a beach ball.Fancy-dress index
Being Halloween, I expected some costumes and saw Elmo, Tigger and Barney. A lot of the fans were dressed in their team jerseys and there were a lot of green Milo fingers too.Entertainment
The PA was informative since it clarified who was bowling and had some pumping music every time there was a boundary or a wicket. It was nice to listen to Survivor, Jet and the Black Eyed Peas but “If you’re happy and you know it (clap your hands)” seemed out of place.During the innings break, Spiderman and Batman made appearances on a zip line. There were a lot of fireworks and a catching contest which was horrendous since after what seemed like ages the game was stopped because the four people participating couldn’t hold on to a single catch. A spectator tried to intervene by staking his claim to participate but the guards put a stop to his antics and he was promptly booed by the crowd.Accessories
My trusty cap, whistle, finger food, Sri Lanka shirt and a notepad in case I got a chance to ask for an autograph.Overall
For my first game at the WACA, it was a pleasant experience, but could have been better. The quality of the game was good barring the middle overs since both teams seemed content to settle for singles. It was disappointing that Sri Lankan fans couldn’t play their brand of music since it would have helped create a more vibrant atmosphere.Marks out of 10
9. It is great to see your home team do so well, but a lack of a real fight by Australia was a bit of a dampener since they are known to produce a fightback when the chips are down.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the Group A match between New Zealand and Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad

Nagraj Gollapudi at the Sardar Patel Stadium04-Mar-2011Bennett’s Jonty Rhodes moment
Charles Coventry had moved forward in an ungainly fashion to nudge Tim Southee towards mid-on. An alert Hamish Benett had already taken a start and then noticed Coventry, already late off the blocks, had run in the path of Southee, giving the fielder that extra second. Bennett picked the ball swiftly and then dived forward to throw underarm at the stumps. The eye-catching thing was the angle, which was tight and Bennett could only see one stump. Coventry tried hard to recover ground, throwing himself forward to make the crease but Bennett’s throw was accurate and beat him by a whisker.The fly-scoop?
Southee surprised Taylor with a short delivery that climbed on him too quick. Taylor was attentive to the length and had moved back quickly to leave the ball. But when it rushed on to him, he improvised equally swiftly by tilting the bat – which was lying dead horizontally – a little skywards, resembling more a scoop than a cut to fetch a four past fine leg. Perhaps we could call it the ‘fly-scoop’, though suggestions are welcome.Shot of the day
Quite often batting strokes stay etched in the mind mainly due of the follow-through. Think Gavaskar’s straight drive. Lara’s rasping cut or slicing cover drive; Tendulkar’s backfoot punch; Dravid’s cover drive. Today Martin Guptill sighted a length ball quickly from Tinashe Panyangara, and lofted it over the bowler’s head for the first six of the match. What made the stroke picturesque was the way Guptill finished it – with clean follow-through and then the pose of a golfer watching his stroke land on the fairway.The lob
Propser Utseya was going for the flight, the first ball of his fourth over, but did not grip it and the ball lobbed over Brendon McCullum’s head into Tatenda Taibu’s gloves.

Two-and-a-half days too late, but India did take on the challenge. A strong message has been sent. That the team wouldn’t roll over and die

Sidharth Monga at SuperSport Park19-Dec-2010It has to be difficult to be Sachin Tendulkar. Ten minutes after he had finished re-setting the bar for the number of Test centuries, in the process threatening to save India a match from a situation where safety was just a wild dream, Dale Steyn produced the kind of special delivery that wins you Test matches. With one wicket came two, and despite a 172-run, momentum-changing partnership with MS Dhoni, India found themselves on the verge of a Test defeat. Another 16 minutes later, a crazy storm brought along crazy rain. Perhaps Tendulkar’s 50th century was meant to come in a losing cause.The outsiders didn’t know how to feel about the man and his mark, leave alone Tendulkar. It was conflicting: it was without doubt a great landmark reached, and a special innings under pressure, but once again, as has been the theme right from the toss, everything that could go wrong was going wrong for India. And the sick old feeling of a great Tendulkar effort going in vain was coming back.It was fitting that in such a time the man himself sorted out the confusion. “It was extremely important for us to come back strong and send a strong message,” Tendulkar said. “I think we have been able to do that. Many positives have come from the match. We need to continue this for the rest of the series.”Without blaming the entire match state on the toss – he knows they could have batted and bowled better than they did in the first innings of the match – Tendulkar said, “The first day, the conditions were completely different, and after the wicket got some sun and a bit of roll, the surface changed and our batsmen put up a good response. There were some very good innings from [Virender] Sehwag, Gautam [Gambhir], and then Rahul [Dravid] was gritty and obviously MS Dhoni played some brilliant shots. There are positives from this Test.”I wouldn’t want to make excuses. Definitely the conditions were different on the first day, both teams would agree to that. [However] whatever challenge is there is front of you, you have to take that on.”Two-and-a-half days too late, but India did take on the challenge. As Tendulkar said, a strong message has been sent. That the team wouldn’t roll over and die. It is a message both the teams will carry into the rest of the series. A few players might have been exposed during this Test, but mentally this team is different from the Indian teams of yore. In two years, this team has crossed 450 in the second innings of away Tests twice. In their whole Test-playing history, India have done so only six times.In what is a cruel irony, Tendulkar’s landmark took over the match state at the end of the day. Tendulkar knew he would be hounded by the media in the team hotel, so he let every reporter individually ask him a question that would meet the demands of their organisations. He would have hated to take all the spotlight, especially given the match state, but in the larger interest of a peaceful night for both himself and the reporters, he made that gesture. Never mind that possibly memories such as Chennai 1999 could be running through his mind.

“It was extremely important for us to come back strong and send a strong message. I think we have been able to do that”Sachin Tendulkar

Perhaps not. For this is not like the team of 1999, when it used to be Tendulkar or nothing. Even today, it was not all about Tendulkar. What seems doomed to be forgotten is perhaps Dhoni’s finest Test innings, to rank alongside his match-saving effort at Lord’s in 2007. He came in, and in his unique manner, shocked South Africa. India had been fighting gamely until then except for Suresh Raina but it was this shock that they needed to slightly rattle South Africa. His feet moved well, and he counterattacked with a clear mind, letting Tendulkar peacefully play for time.In quick time, against both new ball and old, India were on their way to erasing the deficit. However, it had not been about Dhoni and Tendulkar alone. Never mind the flat track, it takes a lot of buckling down when you know that you have to bat two-and-a-half days to save a Test. Sehwag and Gambhir bounced back from their first-innings failures well, Dravid batted like he was a fixture there until Morne Morkel produced a beauty to remove him, and Ishant Sharma showed a lot of character in battling it out for 69 minutes and his body was targeted more than often. Full credit, though, to South Africa for coming up with those special deliveries to Dravid and Dhoni at times when they desperately needed them.There are issues still with the Indian team. Raina’s position will definitely be reviewed; Ishant and Sreesanth looked pedestrian in Zaheer’s absence, which should never be the case; on the field they couldn’t do the containing job on the third day to delay the declaration, which would have gone a long way in their fight to save the game. Those issues will need to be addressed over the next five days if they are to convert this second-innings fight into something substantial for the rest of their stay in South Africa.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the World Cup, Group A match between Australia and Zimbabwe at Motera

Brydon Coverdale at Motera21-Feb-2011Confusion of the day
The television coverage created some drama before a ball had been bowled, with the commentators discussing Australia’s decision to leave Shaun Tait out of the team. There was only one problem: Tait was playing. It even sparked confusion in the Australian dressing-room, as the official team sheet was checked to ensure there wasn’t a mistake. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Tait’s name listed, and after several minutes of uncertainty the TV coverage rectified its team lists. The Zimbabwe side was also wrong – Greg Lamb’s name was on the screen in the starting XI, but he was ill and was not part of the team.Quick learners of the day
Zimbabwe had never before played in a match where the UDRS was being used, and the fourth official Simon Taufel spoke to the players in the lead-up to the game, to explain the finer details of how it works. There were reportedly some baffled looks around the playing group, and the only questions asked came from the always outgoing Ray Price. But when it came to the crunch, their captain Elton Chigumbura employed the system perfectly in the field, winning two overturned decisions from two attempts. An lbw appeal against Brad Haddin was denied by Asoka de Silva, but the replays showed Prosper Utseya’s delivery would have hit the stumps, and later Graeme Cremer won an lbw wicket after Richard Kettleborough turned down a shout against Shane Watson.Ricochet of the day
Haddin had already had a life. He could so easily have been back in the pavilion on 16 when he got an inside edge onto his leg and the ball bounced back to hit the stumps. However, despite clipping the wood with reasonable force, the ball couldn’t dislodge a bail. Tatenda Taibu leapt in frustration behind the stumps, and Haddin could do little but raise his eyebrows in relief. He only added another 13 runs from a further 23 deliveries, though, and his habit of making starts without going on to post big scores will continue to be a source of bother for the Australians.Throw of the day
The Zimbabweans aren’t exactly renowned for their magnificent fielding, so it was understandable that Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke hustled back for two runs when Clarke clipped the ball to deep midwicket. But in one of those memorable moments of individual brilliance, Chris Mpofu fired the ball flat and fast towards the bowler’s end, hitting the stumps from side-on and from three quarters of the way to the boundary. It caught Ponting just short and the throw had to be perfect – had it not been a direct hit, the bowler Sean Williams would hardly have had time to whip off the bails with Ponting out of his ground.Regret of the day
While Australia’s middle order was struggling to lift its tempo against Zimbabwe’s spinners, reports were emerging from Perth that Michael Hussey had trained so well on Sunday that Western Australia wanted to play him in the Sheffield Shield match that began on Monday. Hussey was originally a key man in Australia’s World Cup plans but was replaced due to a hamstring injury that they feared would not be fixed in time for Australia’s opening games. There were also reports that selector Greg Chappell had told the 35-year-old Hussey he should retire, although Chappell has strongly denied the claim. Either way, Australia would have loved to have Hussey to tackle Zimbabwe’s slow bowlers. As it turned out, he decided against playing the Shield match, choosing instead to stick to the recovery schedule originally set down for him by Cricket Australia.Shot of the day
If Australia thought their all-out pace was going to frighten Zimbabwe’s openers, they would have been surprised by Charles Coventry’s early approach. It took only until the fourth over for Coventry to launch a flat smash over point off Lee, and he struck it so well that it easily cleared the boundary. The ball wasn’t short, but Coventry lifted it with a square drive that could just about have killed if it connected with a member of the crowd. Sadly for Zimbabwe’s fans, there wasn’t much more in the armoury.

A spate of records fell by the wayside as Shane Watson unleashed his fury on the hapless bowlers. A look at some of the major landmarks from Watson’s 96-ball unbeaten 185

S Rajesh11-Apr-2011

• Fifteen sixes in an innings is easily a new ODI record; the previous best was Xavier Marshall’s 12 against Canada during an unbeaten knock of 157. Marshall needed 118 balls for his 12 sixes; Watson’s 15 came off only 96, which means he averaged nearly one six per over.
• Apart from 15 sixes, Watson struck as many fours, which means 150 of his 185 runs came in boundaries. That’s a record too, bettering Herschelle Gibbs 126 runs in boundaries during the course of his 175 in against Australia in Johannesburg.
• Watson’s score surpassed Matthew Hayden’s unbeaten 181 to become the highest in ODIs by an Australian. It’s also the highest by any batsman in a run-chase, edging ahead of MS Dhoni’s unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka in 2005.In fact, of the top 21 ODI scores by Australian batsmen, only three have come when batting second, and all of them belong to Watson – he also scored an unbeaten 161 out of a team total of 297 against England less than three months ago, and 136 not out against the same opposition in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy in 2009. The highest in a run-chase by an Australian other than Shane Watson is 133 not out by Mark Waugh.Not surprisingly, Watson averages 32.81 in the first innings in ODIs, and 64.30 in the second. Five of his six hundreds have come in run-chases.
• Watson’s century came off 69 balls, which the third-fastest by an Australian, after Matthew Hayden’s 66-ball effort against South Africa, and Adam Gilchrist’s hundred off 67 against Sri Lanka.
• Watson finished with a strike rate of 192.70, which is the highest for an ODI innings of at least 70 deliveries. A total of 6791 innings make the 70-ball cut, but only five of them have strike-rates of more than 160. His average of 3.2 balls per four or six is also the best among these innings – Virender Sehwag is next for his 70-ball 100 against New Zealand in Colombo, when he averaged 3.5 deliveries per boundary.
• Of Watson’s 185 runs, only 38 were scored on the off side, while 148 came on the leg side. All 15 of his sixes were scored in the arc between square leg and long-on, while only six of his 15 fours were struck through the off side.
• A break-up of Watson’s stats against each bowler further illustrates how helpless Bangladesh’s bowlers were: Watson’s lowest strike rate was against Shakib Al Hasan, and he conceded 26 off 20. Against Suhrawadi Shuvo, Watson slammed 39 off 11, including four sixes in an over. Shuvo went for 46 off three overs, which is among the most expensive for a bowler who’s bowled at least three overs in an ODI: only Dolar Mahmud and Sreesanth have done worse.
  

  Watson against Bangladesh bowlers

  Bowler	Runs	Balls	Strike rate	4s/ 6s
  Abdul Razzak	51	28	182.14	4/ 5
  Suhrawadi Shuvo	39	11	354.54	1/ 5
  Rubel Hossain	37	24	154.16	5/ 1
  Shakib Al Hasan	26	20	130.00	0/ 3
  Shafiul Islam	25	11	227.27	5/ 0
  Mahmudullah	7	2	350.00	0/ 1

  The table clearly shows that Watson was brutal against left-arm spin, but there was perhaps one trick that Shakib could have tried, if only out of sheer desperation. Watson was continuously slog-sweeping and pulling the spinners to leg, but the left-armers continued to bowl from round the wicket, instead of switching to over the wicket and forcing Watson to hit against the angle of the delivery. From the four deliveries that the left-arm spinners bowled over the stumps – all by Shakib, in the 17th over of the innings – Watson scored only a single; off the 55 deliveries bowled from round the stumps, he scored a staggering 115 runs, including 13 sixes.

  Watson v left-arm spin, over and round the wicket

  Delivery angle	Runs	Balls	Run rate	4s/ 6s
  Over the wicket	1	4	1.50	0/ 0
  Round the wicket	115	55	12.54	5/ 13

• Thanks to Watson’s blitz, Australia won with 144 balls to spare, which is the second-quickest chase for a 200-plus score.

Both teams have choices to make about who their third seamer will be for the first Test, but England’s greater bowling depth could prove to be the difference over the course of the series

Andrew McGlashan20-Jul-2011The ICC’s recent all-time fans’ eleven has been roundly criticised and ridiculed because of the players who weren’t included, but there is unlikely to be as much fall out when England and India name the teams that will take the field for the 100th Test between the two teams and the 2000th in the game’s history. That isn’t to say the final choices won’t be debated, but the sides only have one spot with any question marks.For both captains and coaches the final piece of their jigsaw revolves around who fills the third pace-bowling position. In England’s case it’s a shoot-out between Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan, while for India it will be either Praveen Kumar or the volatile S Sreesanth with MS Dhoni having already ruled out Munaf Patel. Whomever gets the nod will support two strong new-ball pairings so they need to be adaptable in their roles.The decision for Dhoni and Andrew Strauss is whether to stick to what they know or trying something different. Broad, despite being dropped for the final one-day international against Sri Lanka, remains the man in possession in the Test team and is favoured to see off the challenge from Bresnan. Dhoni, meanwhile, has seen Kumar perform well in the three Tests against West Indies where he took 12 wickets at 21.16 in his first Test series and for all his lack of pace – often around 78 mph – he has wonderful control of swing. He’s the type of bowler that could easily frustrate England’s stroke-makers who like extra pace on the ball.In Sreesanth’s favour is the x-factor he can provide. However, he didn’t do himself any favours in the warm-up game against Somerset (although he wasn’t the only one) as his 28 overs went for 141 runs and brought just the wicket of Arul Suppiah after he had made 156. On the flip side he has shown wicket-taking skills on flat pitches in India and caused Jacques Kallis trouble in South Africa.There are plenty of similarities between Broad and Sreesanth. Both bowlers have inflated averages (Broad 36.25, Sreesanth 35.16) and have a handful of match-winning spells. For Broad at The Oval and Durban read Sreesanth at Johannesburg and Kanpur. They are also combustible characters who don’t need much to be pushed towards boiling point. They may keep the match referee on his toes.Neither captain gave anything away. “I’m pretty clear [on the team],” Strauss said. “It’s a tough decision; all 12 players have very strong merits to play. That’s a good position to be in but always makes it a difficult decision over who to leave out.” Dhoni was even briefer when pushed on who would make the cut, saying “That’s up to us.”Strauss, though, did expand on the qualities that Broad and Bresnan can bring to the team. He also continued the theme of recent days in following Andy Flower, the England coach, in clarifying Broad’s role after he’d been described as an ‘enforcer’ by David Saker, the bowling coach, during the Sri Lanka series.”Very simply, Stuart’s role in the side is not fundamentally different to anyone else, it’s to bang out a length consistently and work in conjunction with the other bowlers to take wickets,” he said. “One aspect to his game that gives him an edge is that he has a very good bouncer and can make life difficult for batsmen. But that doesn’t mean he’s the enforcer all the time, it just means there are spells where he might go short. The majority of the time he’s no different to the other bowlers.”

“One aspect to his game that gives him an edge is that he has a very good bouncer and can make life difficult for batsmen. But that doesn’t mean he’s the enforcer all the time, it just means there are spells where he might go short.”

One issue that isn’t up for debate, though, is that if Broad keeps his place he has to start rewarding the faith shown in him with decent hauls. He took eight wickets in three matches against Sri Lanka and those match-turning spells at The Oval and Durban, which are always cited as examples of what he can achieve, are becoming increasingly distance memories. Meanwhile, there are a host of pacemen breathing down his neck with the fit-again Bresnan topping that list ahead of Steven Finn, who couldn’t even make this squad.Bresnan’s situation is an interesting one. He played such a vital role in securing the Ashes with incisive spells at Melbourne and Sydney that a place seemed there for the foreseeable future. Then the curse of many pace bowlers – injury – struck in Australia, and again at the start of the season, meaning Broad regained his place and Finn earned another chance.”It’s a great position for English cricket to be in, having two guys who can do the job,” Bresnan said. “Not just two, but a very strong crop of seamers where, if there are injuries, people can come in and do the job. I just need that one chance to show everyone what I’ve got again, get back in that side and, hopefully, cement down a place.”England’s attack had an ideal balance at the end of the Ashes series: James Anderson’s swing, Chris Tremlett’s bounce and Bresnan’s nagging accuracy and the latter’s role hasn’t been forgotten. “He’s answered every question that has been asked of him during his career,” Strauss said. “He did fantastically in Australia and did very well in the World Cup as well. He’s improving all the time as his confidence grows. He adds something to the squad and would certainly add something to the side if he played.”The other aspect to consider is that whoever makes the playing elevens on Thursday morning is far from guaranteed their position for the series. Four Tests in six weeks is a tough workload and somebody will fall by the wayside. Then it will be about the bench-strength of both teams. In that respect England have the advantage and that could yet prove the difference.

The groundwork which enabled England to reach No. 1 in the Test rankings was put in place before the new millennium

Andrew McGlashan15-Aug-2011Not for the last time as England captain, Nasser Hussain was emotional after the team sank to bottom against New Zealand•Getty Imagesv New Zealand, The Oval, 1999: Bottom of the pileWhen Alan Mullally skied Chris Cairns to mid-off, England had been beaten by 83 runs in the fourth and deciding Test and were, according to the Wisden rankings that predated the official ICC ladder, the worst team in the world. Nasser Hussain was booed as he made his way onto The Oval balcony for the presentation. The only way was up.November 1999: From now on, this is how it worksDuncan Fletcher, at the time a fairly unknown name outside of his achievements for Zimbabwe, had been confirmed as England’s new coach earlier in the year. However, he had a watching brief as the team hit rock-bottom against New Zealand and it wasn’t until the tour of South Africa that he could start to change English cricket. On his first day in charge, England slumped to 2 for 4 against South Africa at Johannesburg, yet slowly, but surely, a strong relationship with Hussain began to formMay 2000: England firstA hugely significant moment in the bigger picture of English cricket’s future came with the first batch of ECB central contracts. Some, such as Chris Schofield and Mark Ramprakash, faded away, but the principle of the leading players being managed by the England coach brought a new professionalism to the set up.v West Indies, 2000: Regain the Wisden TrophyWest Indies weren’t the force of old, but with Ambrose, Walsh and Lara they still had plenty of matchwinners. When they secured the first Test at Edgbaston it looked like normal service, but after producing a wonderful fight-back at Lord’s to win by two wickets the momentum was with England. On a heady day at The Oval they bowled out West Indies to take the series 3-1. Hussain, who’d barely scored a run, sank to his knees. England were on the climb.December-March 2000-01: Subcontinent successThis is a winter that doesn’t get the acclaim it deserves. Firstly the team won in the dark at Karachi to secure a series victory in Pakistan after 39 years then, even more impressively, came from 1-0 down to beat Sri Lanka on their home soil. A core of experienced players, led by Darren Gough and Graham Thorpe, was forming alongside younger stars such as Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan. This was Hussain’s finest hour.July-September 2001: Ashes hammeringHowever, any thought that England were ready to make a challenge for the top was brought into stark focus by another Ashes hammering. The first three Tests were over within 11 days and only Mark Butcher’s career-defining 173 saved face. Australia were still light years ahead.July-August, 2002: Missed opportunitySri Lanka had been dispatched 2-0 in helpful conditions and when India were beaten by 170 runs at Lord’s, confidence was high. However, inconsistency still dogged the team and at Headingley they were thrashed by an innings and 46 runs. A 1-1 draw was unfulfilling and, more crucially with an Ashes on the horizon, Andrew Flintoff had been stretched to breaking point with a double hernia.By 2003 Andrew Flintoff was becoming a world-class allrounder and would be central to England’s success•Getty Imagesv Australia, Brisbane, 2002: “We’ll bowl.”It’s a moment Hussain has never lived down, putting Australia into bat at the Gabba and watching them amass 364 for 2 on the first day. Worst still, Simon Jones suffered a career-threatening knee injury sliding on the sandy outfield. The Ashes finished 4-1 and, despite the consolation victory at Sydney, the team was still treading water.v South Africa, Edgbaston, 2003: Hussain loses the teamHussain had packed in the one-day captaincy following another poor World Cup campaign and Michael Vaughan made a promising start in the job with two early trophies. Hussain returned for the start of the Test series against South Africa and watched his team struggle to make an impression although the opening match was saved by a mixture of Vaughan and rain. Immediately after the game a tearful Hussain stepped down saying the side had moved on. But he had played a huge role dragging England off the bottom.v South Africa, The Oval, 2003: A tone-setting victoryVaughan’s reign started with a crushing innings defeat at Lord’s and England verged from the very good (winning at Trent Bridge) to the very bad (another defeat at Headingley) to leave the series 2-1 heading into the final match at The Oval. That’s when the first signs emerged of the cricket the side could be capable of playing, having fought back from South Africa being 345 for 2. Trescothick hit a double hundred, Thorpe a comeback century, Flintoff bashed 95 and Steve Harmison rattled South Africa with pace. The series was levelled. It was the start.May-September 2004: Magnificent sevenA summer of complete domination as England wiped the floor 7-0 against New Zealand and West Indies. Harmison became the No.1-ranked bowler in the world, Flintoff became the leading allrounder and the batting line-up was formidable. Momentum was building for the greater challenges ahead.England conquered the Ashes summit in 2005•Getty Imagesv South Africa, Johannesburg, 2005: One of their bestThe series was level following three Tests and after the two first innings at the Wanderers it was still even. Then Trescothick produced a scintillating 180 and Hoggard stunned South Africa on the final day with 7 for 61 to take his match haul to 12 wickets. The totality of their final-day performance proved they were ready to challenge Australia.January-February 2005: Enter Kevin PietersenIt’s easy to forget that Kevin Pietersen wasn’t in the Test side at the start of the 2005 season. Thorpe played against Bangladesh, but was pensioned off when Fletcher and Vaughan decided England needed an X-factor player. That player was Pietersen, whose scintillating arrival in the one-day side against South Africa had proven both his talent and big-match temperament. Three centuries in the series, in a sometimes poisonously hostile atmosphere, meant his Test call-up was a given.July-September 2005: The Greatest SeriesThe summer became the ultimate contest between the two best sides in the world. They exchanged blows throughout the series with the famous two-run win at Edgbaston producing wonderful sporting emotion. Australia hung on nine-down in scenes of rare drama at Old Trafford then England went ahead with another nail-biter at Trent Bridge. It all came down to the final day at The Oval and England stuttered. Would old failings emerge at the crucial hour? Pietersen ensured they didn’t with his spine-tingling 158. Australia’s years of consistent success meant they remained top of the rankings, but the belief was England were genuine contenders for the years ahead. It didn’t turn out that way …