NZ briefly touch Aussie achilles heel
Published by Sameer on Thursday, November 02, 2006.
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New Zealand lost their Champions Trophy semi-final match to Australia, but they certainly did not lose face.
At 35/6, NZ looked poised to make an ignominious exit from the tournament. But a calm and efficient Daniel Vettori stemmed the rot and almost single-handedly raised visions of a possible (or you could say, impossible) upset. His 103-run partnership with an unusually restrained Jacob Oram was an object lesson for the top-order batsmen, be they from NZ or India or any other team in this tournament. The virtues of patience and common sense are often under-rated, quite like the understated Vettori himself. And these virtues were there for all to see yesterday. So much so that the NZ effort had rattled Ricky Ponting, who was seen losing his cool on the ground while adjusting field-placements. Even the Aussie fielding looked quite ragged when Vettori and Oram (and then Vettori and Mills) ran quick singles and converted twos into hard-run threes.
Incidentally, Vettori and Oram's exploits further underscored the contention that this Australian side is not quite the invincible team that it was for a long time. It's a team, so used to winning and playing aggressively that it perhaps finds itself in uncharted waters when it is put under pressure by an opposing team. However, because other teams lack the ability or will to apply pressure consistently, it lets the Aussies off the hook and lets them get back on top. This is not to say that I want Australia to lose matches. Naah!! I love watching them play cricket. Their approach and techniques provide an insight into how the game could be played to maximize performance and produce consistent results. However, like Ferrari's domination in Formula One led to boring and predictable racing, Australia's domination in international cricket is getting a tad boring! So I hope whoever plays them in the Champions Trophy final, would do well to keep the foot on the throttle all throughout the match. It will make for an exciting final!! :-)
But before that happens, we need to know who's going to face the Aussies at CCI in Mumbai. South Africa have won the toss and decided to bat first. Hmmm... interesting! They aren't afraid of the tremendous form of the West Indian top order!! Interesting indeed!!
At 35/6, NZ looked poised to make an ignominious exit from the tournament. But a calm and efficient Daniel Vettori stemmed the rot and almost single-handedly raised visions of a possible (or you could say, impossible) upset. His 103-run partnership with an unusually restrained Jacob Oram was an object lesson for the top-order batsmen, be they from NZ or India or any other team in this tournament. The virtues of patience and common sense are often under-rated, quite like the understated Vettori himself. And these virtues were there for all to see yesterday. So much so that the NZ effort had rattled Ricky Ponting, who was seen losing his cool on the ground while adjusting field-placements. Even the Aussie fielding looked quite ragged when Vettori and Oram (and then Vettori and Mills) ran quick singles and converted twos into hard-run threes.
Incidentally, Vettori and Oram's exploits further underscored the contention that this Australian side is not quite the invincible team that it was for a long time. It's a team, so used to winning and playing aggressively that it perhaps finds itself in uncharted waters when it is put under pressure by an opposing team. However, because other teams lack the ability or will to apply pressure consistently, it lets the Aussies off the hook and lets them get back on top. This is not to say that I want Australia to lose matches. Naah!! I love watching them play cricket. Their approach and techniques provide an insight into how the game could be played to maximize performance and produce consistent results. However, like Ferrari's domination in Formula One led to boring and predictable racing, Australia's domination in international cricket is getting a tad boring! So I hope whoever plays them in the Champions Trophy final, would do well to keep the foot on the throttle all throughout the match. It will make for an exciting final!! :-)
But before that happens, we need to know who's going to face the Aussies at CCI in Mumbai. South Africa have won the toss and decided to bat first. Hmmm... interesting! They aren't afraid of the tremendous form of the West Indian top order!! Interesting indeed!!
Super Sam ....
your email id please and ur mobile number too, pls sms, misplaced ur co-ordinates :(