WORLD CUP CRICKET : QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 19

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ :

March 31st, 2007 : Quiztion of the Day - 19

Luck of the Irish deserted the Ireland team when it was most needed. Ireland gave a reasonable fight after their strike bowler left the field with cramps bowling just seven overs of his spell. Though Irish team displayed tremendous athleticism on field, enormous grit with the bat and excellent discipline with the ball except for the last five overs, in the end it was England who went on to register a not so convincing victory against the so called minnows of Super 8s. The Irish opening bowler Boyd Rankin, undoubtedly the tallest cricketer of the tournament, sent back both the English openers to the pavilion before they could reach double figures with England struggling at 23 for 2. And when Ian Bell was dismissed by the combination of O’Brien brothers and the score reading 89 for 3 of 21 overs, Michael Vaughan must have questioned himself certainly about the decision to bat first after winning the toss.

Kevin Peitersen got out for 48 when he was beginning to takeaway the proceedings and England was crawling at the wicket when William Boyd Rankin left the field at the end of 30 overs. Another over by Rankin at that stage could have proved vital especially with the out of form Flintoff and still not-so-settled Collingwood on 18 of 32 balls at the crease. Ireland missed him at the end of England innings too as Collingwood creamed the tired Ireland attack with 51 runs coming from the last four overs. Paul Collingwood did bat with authority after he got settled and added 81 valuable runs for the fifth wicket with Freddie Flintoff, who too found some batting form at last. At 194 for 5, and only 6 more overs to go a 250 score looked far beyond the capability of England’s lower order. However Collingwood moved to the top gear at that point and stayed till the last over before getting run out for a superbly made 90 with just three balls left in the innings.

Ireland did not get a good start they were looking for to chase the 267 target with their main batsman Jeremy Bray getting out to a first ball duck caught by Ravi Bopara of James Anderson. Like his counterpart and ex-teammate Ed Joyce, who earlier shouldered arms to a Rankin delivery and saw his off stump uprooted, Bray gave a first ball wicket to the second opening bowler of the opposition. Twenty year old Eoin Morgan, Ireland's star batsman after Ed Joyce opted to play for England, was run out when he was found just an inch short of the crease by a brilliant piece of fielding and quick thinking by Sajid Mahmood. From then the Ireland batsmen more by lack of experience than anything else did not rotate the strike and could not hit boundaries as Michael Vaughan’s excellent field placements dried them down and the run rate kept climbing. However Ireland was still in the game in 45th over with the scorecard reading 197 for 6, almost on par with England’s progress. But they did not have Collingwood in their team and in the end they were all out for 218 as Andrew Flintoff bowled the best deliveries any tail ender would hate to receive.

Ireland should consider themselves proud of their performance in this game. This outing would definitely provide them enough confidence to play good cricket going forward as worthy opponents to other teams and detach themselves from the minnows tag. Niall O’Brien, their top scorer in the upset victory over Pakistan has scored again in this match with a fluent 63. He said in a post-match interview that they take many positives from this game and can certainly spring one or two upsets down the lane. When asked which team is their main target, he said ‘Australia’ – that would definitely be the biggest upset not only in cricketing history but in sporting history as well.

Unlike many of my previous questions, today’s 'Quiztion of the day' does not figure the current tournament records but still concerns with fast bowlers . Of course these bowlers were of slightly different physique than Boyd Rankin when they achieved this particular bowling feat. Here it goes:

Shown in the pictures below are the only bowlers to have achieved a particular bowling record in the World Cup. Identify these cricketers and provide me the details of the remarkable bowling feat each of them achieved in World Cup history.

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the subject line as 'Quiztion of the Day - X' (X being the question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on http://www.dreamcricket.com/ website within a week of the World Cup Final.

Cheers...

WORLD CUP CRICKET - QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 18

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ:

March 30th, 2007 : Quiztion of the day - 18

If the match between West Indies and New Zealand is any evidence then the jinx of home team not being able to lift the World Cup may not be broken in this tournament too. Another insipid batting display by West Indies for the second time in a row may very well comeback and haunt them if the couple of the semi-finalist spots are to be decided basing on net run rate. The Kiwis are a much improved side now and are peaking at the right time. They along with Australia will be the only teams that will be having four points after playing one game in Super 8s and there by improved their chances of reaching the semi finals. West Indies and Sri Lanka are the other teams that carried 2 points from group stages but they lost both their first matches. West Indies now need to win all their matches to have any chance of reaching the last four.

After Fleming won the toss and put the opted bowl first Bond and Mason did not give any room for the West Indian openers to get on with a flying start by bowling excellent opening spells during which Bond removed Chanderpaul. Then Oram recovering his lost bowling form struck three major blows in the middle of the innings to deny West Indies any chances of recovering. Bond and Vettori finished off the innings in a style and did not let any wagging by tail. McCullum’s work behind the wickets was just brilliant and one of the four catches that he took to dismiss Sarwan was an absolute stunner. Styris chipped in with all too important wicket of Brian Lara. In the end the 177 total that West Indies put up was little too easy for New Zealand who too like Australia are on a roll. In fact this is their 7th ODI win in a row and three of those wins that came before the World Cup were against Australia. New Zealand knocked of the target under 40 overs losing just 3 wickets.

Another sterling innings by Scott Styris, his third fifty in this World Cup took the Kiwis past West Indian total for a comfortable victory. Sterling’s scores in this World Cup are 87* v Eng, 63 vs. Kenya, 28 vs. Ireland and 80* vs. West Indies. Though the opening partnership is still giving headaches andLou Vincent’s exit from the World Cup not helping the cause, New Zealand’s skipper must be pleased atleast he found some batting form at the right moment with consecutive scores of 60 vs. Ken, 66 vs. Can and 45 vs. West Indies. With Shane Bond(3-31) kicking off at full throttle, Jacob Oram(3-23) too finding his wicket taking bowling skills back and the ever reliable Danielle Vettori among wickets (3-39), no doubt Stephen Fleming must be envisioning to run through the tournament till the finish line.

Today’s ‘Quiztion of the Day’ is about the three bowlers taking 3 wickets each in the same innings of a World Cup match. Here it is:

Though it is very common in test cricket to have three bowlers claiming three wickets each in the same innings, this occurrence is very rare in One Day Internationals. Especially with the stipulated number of overs for each bowler it will be really difficult for three bowlers to find form and take wickets at the same time.

Prior to the Kiwi-Caribbean encounter, the instance of three bowlers taking three wickets in an innings for the same side happened only twice in the history of World Cup. Shown below are the photographs of those bowlers in each of those instances. Name the bowlers and provide me the details of those matches.

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the subject line as 'Quiztion of the Day - X' (X being the question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on http://www.dreamcricket.com/ website within a week of the World Cup Final.

Cheers...

WORLD CUP CRICKET - QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 17

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ :

March 29th, 2007 : Quiztion of the Day - 17:

With 36 balls to go while chasing a modest target of 210 runs, South Africa was cruising along very well at 200/5 and one would have expected Shaun Pollock to hit the winning runs in the 45th over itself bowled by Lasith Malinga. Pollock flicked the second ball of that over through mid wicket for a glorious boundary and when the fourth ball took the bottom edge of Pollock’s bat and ran to the third man for two runs, just a boundary hit was needed for victory. One can not blame the players sitting in the balcony of South African dressing room at that time including their captain Graeme Smith if they were preparing themselves to stand up from their seats to celebrate and congratulate Pollock and Kallis hoping them to finish of all the good work done earlier by their top and middle order batsmen.

But Malinga not only changed the pace of his next delivery but also changed the entire script of the South African Victory at the very last moment. First Pollock misread the slower ball and played inside the line to lose his leg stump. Then Malinga produced another lethal delivery with the last ball of that over at a yorker length to get Andrew Hall out for a first ball duck spooning an easy catch to Tharanga at covers. Everybody thought may be that was just a small hiccup; after all, there was no need to panic with the cool headed Jacques Kallis still anchoring at one end of the innings and a victory was just a boundary hit away. But Chaminda Vaas too was calmness personified when he started the next over. Though Kallis drove him for a single of the first ball, Vaas , in my view has bowled superbly in that and next over given the circumstances and made sure he did not concede another run or an extra.

When Kallis was facing Malinga again in the next over, nobody would have imagined one of the best batsmen in the World and also very well set at that time with an impeccable 86 to his name would become the third victim of Malinga’s hat-trick. When Ntini came to the wicket with 8 wickets down and still three runs needed for victory it was anybody’s game and suddenly Sri Lanka scared the living daylights out of South African team. Living up to his reputation of being one of the best bowlers to bowl at death, Malinga bowling at a furious pace and one of the most menacing spells ever recorded in International cricket uprooted the middle stump of Ntini with the next delivery. Suddenly, the “Chokers of the World Cup” tag that South Africa wanted to get rid of so badly was once again started to loom large in front of the South African dressing room. Four wickets in four balls by Malinga or the Double Hat-trick as they call it down under is like Gibbs’ Six Sixes of Six balls against Netherlands, a first time occurrence in any international match. It would have become five in five if the width of the stump was broader by a width of a hair. Of the fifth ball of that over Langeveldt gets a single to get closer to the target and Robin Peterson negotiates another beauty from Malinga and narrowly misses edging it to the wicket keeper.

Just two runs to go for South Africa and one wicket to take for Sri Lanka. Vaas bowls an excellent maiden over again beating the batsman thrice and almost stopping the beating of the heart for many a South African Players and fans equally, but failing to finish of the match.

When Peterson swings and misses the first ball of 49th over of the innings and Malinga’s final over of his spell, no one was sure which was the match was swinging. But the following delivery from Malinga gets an outside edge of Peterson’s bat and runs over to third man in a flash to seal the match for South Africa and putting an end to one of the most dramatic finishes in One Day as well as World Cup Cricket history. A game that everyone at the ground thought would be finished in one delivery when Shaun Pollock was still batting took 26 deliveries and almost half an hour of nerve wracking drama before South Africa could get their first hard-earned two points of the Super 8s.

Any second thoughts for those who advocated that there wouldn’t be any charm and luster in Super 8s with the exit of India and Pakistan. If the amazing performances of the players in the first two games of the Super 8 stage is an indication of the drama that is going to unfold during the next 30days, we are still left with many STARS still shining in the tournament and playing for the team cause who do not disappoint their fans and the lovers of the game all over the world.

Though attendances at the this match in Georgetown, Guyana and the other match which was resumed at St. Peter’s Antigua in which Lara put up some resistance to the Australian juggernaut but could not save his country from getting beaten up by more than hundred runs margin, I strongly believe, its because of the pricing of the tickets rather than the lack of interest and following of the World Cup. I for one received several emails and phone calls hailing this match as one of the greatest they have ever seen or followed on the internet. I have no doubt in my mind games like this will bring back the crowds back to the stadium or at least will maintain the TV viewer ship & Internet surfers glued on to their TV sets or computer monitors for the rest of this world cup. I for one do not think the South Africa-Sri Lanka thriller is going to be the last of such encounters in this tournament.

Today’s 'Quiztion of the Day' relates to this dramatic finish between South Africa and Sri Lanka and consists of three parts. Here it goes:

South Africa’s victory by one wicket margin is third such result not only in World Cup history but also in all of ODI cricket. The previous two games were played between the same teams and had two players taking part in both those games.

1. Name the two teams involved in those close encounters and provide the match details.

2. Name the last wicket pair that registered the improbable wins.

3. Name the two players who took part in both those games and endured the drama on both occasions.

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the subject line as 'Quiztion of the Day - X' (X being the question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on http://www.dreamcricket.com/ website within a week of the World Cup Final.

Cheers...

WORLD CUP CRICKET - QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 16

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ:

March 28th, 2007 : Quiztion of the Day - 16:

Matthew Hayden’s second consecutive century in as many world cup matches was the highlight of the rain curtailed first Super 8 match played at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, St. Peter’s, and Antigua. His 143 balls blitz in hitting the highest score by an Australian in any World Cup match erasing the previous best of 143 by Andrew Symonds against Pakistan in 2003 makes only the fourth batsman in the World Cup history to have registered a back to back century behind . Rain and drizzle played the hide and seek game through out the afternoon after the Aussies made 322 for six in their allotted 50 overs sending the match to the reserve day.

This will be the first match that will be using the reserve day in a World Cup tournament since the match between New Zealand and Zimbabwe played at Headingley, Leeds in 1999. That match could not complete even on the reserve day as it was washed out completely and ended as a no result game with both Zimbabwe and New Zealand sharing the points. Australia would like avoid suffering the same feat and hopes for no more rain interruptions when West Indies starts their batting on 28th March, 2007 or at least will wish for bowling the minimum number of 20 overs to force a result by Duckworth/Lewis method.

In all, nine World Cup matches were forced to go into the reserve days including the above mentioned New Zealand and Zimbabwe encounter and one game between West Indies and Sri Lanka at The Oval in 1979 could not even get started even though 2 reserve days were allotted because of heave rains on all three days. When West Indies start their chase it will provide the 11th instance of a reserve day being used in a World Cup match.

Today’s 'Quiztion of the day' relates to the World Cup matches that spanned two days and used the reserve day allotted. Here it is:

If history is any indication, Australia should win their first Super 8 match as out of the 10 times a reserve day was used in a World Cup match 7 times the team batting first went on to win and only once when England bundled out Canada for a paltry 45 after the scheduled playing day was washed out did the team batting second registered a win. Other two games were abandoned without yielding a result.

Of the eight World Cup encounters that were actually played and used the reserve days to provide a result, only once before the current Aussie-Caribbean Clash, a complete innings of allotted overs was played on one day before the weather interrupted the day’s play and the team batting second started their innings on the following (reserve) day. Shown below is the picture of the highest scorer of that match. Identify the Player and provide the details of the match.

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the subject line as 'Quiztion of the Day - X' (X being the question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on http://www.dreamcricket.com/ website within a week of the World Cup Final.

Cheers...

WORLD CUP CRICKET : QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 15

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ :

March 27th 2007 : Quiztion of the Day - 15

When Brian Lara & Ricky Ponting goes out for toss on March 27th, 2007 for the first Super 8s game of this World Cup tournament between West Indies and Australia at the newly built Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in St. Peter’s, Antigua, it will not only be hosting it’s first ever international match but also will be becoming the 90th cricket ground to stage a World Cup encounter.

Today’s 'Quiztion of the Day' relates to the World Cup venues. Here it is:

Identify these World Cup venues whose grounds are named as Grange Cricket Club Ground, St Helen’s Cricket Ground, Sophia Gardens, Castle Avenue, Gymkhana Club Ground and VRA Ground. What is common to all these venues with respect to World Cup Cricket?

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the subject line as 'Quiztion of the Day - X' (X being the question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on http://www.dreamcricket.com/ website within a week of the World Cup Final.

Cheers...

WORLD CUP CRICKET : QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 14

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ :

March 26th 2007 : Quiztion of the Day - 14

With Bermuda unable to answer the prayers of Billion Indian Cricket Fans, Bangladesh progresses to the Super 8s stage along with Ireland, a second successive entry of a non-test playing nation into the second phase of a World Cup Tournament. Kenya was the non-test playing nation that not only entered into the Super 6s stage of 2003 World Cup but also advanced to the Semi finals aided by some forfeitures and boycotts of crucial matches due to political unrest in Zimbabwe.

March 26th will be the first off-day of the tournament. It resumes again on March 27th with the first Super 8 encounter between Australia and West Indies at St. Peter's Antigua. I strongly believe the drama and upsets that we have witnessed during the Group Stages may not have ended with the exit of Pakistan and India before the Super 8s stage. Here is the match schedule of the Super 8s Stage.

Match Date	For Vs Against	Venue of the Match
March, Tue 27	West Indies v Australia	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, St Peter's, Antigua
March, Wed 28	South Africa v Sri Lanka	Providence Stadium, Guyana
March, Thu 29	West Indies v New Zealand	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, St Peter's, Antigua
March, Fri 30	Ireland v England	Providence Stadium, Guyana
March, Sat 31	Australia v Bangladesh	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, St Peter's, Antigua
April, Sun 1	West Indies v Sri Lanka	Providence Stadium, Guyana
April, Mon 2	Bangladesh v New Zealand	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, St Peter's, Antigua
April, Tue 3	Ireland v South Africa	Providence Stadium, Guyana
April, Wed 4	England v Sri Lanka	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, St Peter's, Antigua
April, Sat 7	Bangladesh v South Africa	Providence Stadium, Guyana
April, Sun 8	Australia v England	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, St Peter's, Antigua
April, Mon 9	Ireland v New Zealand	Providence Stadium, Guyana
April, Tue 10	West Indies v South Africa	National Cricket Stadium, Grenada
April, Wed 11	England v Bangladesh	Kensington Oval, Barbados
April, Thu 12	Sri Lanka v New Zealand	National Cricket Stadium, Grenada
April, Fri 13	Australia v Ireland	Kensington Oval, Barbados
April, Sat 14	South Africa v New Zealand	National Cricket Stadium, Grenada
April, Sun 15	Bangladesh v Ireland	Kensington Oval, Barbados
April, Mon 16	Australia v Sri Lanka	National Cricket Stadium, Grenada
April, Tue 17	South Africa v England	Kensington Oval, Barbados
April, Wed 18	Ireland v Sri Lanka	National Cricket Stadium, Grenada
April, Thu 19	West Indies v Bangladesh	Kensington Oval, Barbados
April, Fri 20	Australia v New Zealand	National Cricket Stadium, Grenada
April, Sat 21	West Indies v England	Kensington Oval, Barbados

Four teams that topped their Groups in the first phase, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies and New Zealand will carry forward two points each to the Super 8s stage which may prove very crucial in case of any upsets for them to reach the last four. Following Points table provides the standings of all Super 8 teams even before a single match is played.

Super Eights	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For Runs/Os	Against Runs/Os
Sri Lanka	1	1	0	0	0	2	4.304	310/46.0	112/46.0
Australia	1	1	0	0	0	2	1.660	377/50.0	294/50.0
West Indies	1	1	0	0	0	2	1.041	190/38.1	189/48.0
New Zealand	1	1	0	0	0	2	0.942	210/41.0	209/50.0
England	1	0	1	0	0	0	-0.942	209/50.0	210/41.0
Ireland	1	0	1	0	0	0	-1.041	189/48.0	190/38.1
South Africa	1	0	1	0	0	0	-1.660	294/50.0	377/50.0
Bangladesh	1	0	1	0	0	0	-4.304	112/46.0	310/46.0

Anyway, Lets get to the Quiztion of the Day. Today's Quiztion is very simple and straight forward. Here it is:

Identify the cricketer in the picture shown below and a unique record that he holds in World Cup history.

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the subject line as 'Quiztion of the Day - X' (X being the question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on http://www.dreamcricket.com/ website within a week of the World Cup Final.

WORLD CUP CRICKET : QUIZTION OF THE DAY -13

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ :

March 25th 2007 : Quiztion of the Day - 13

Matthew Hayden's fastest hundred in World Cup eclipsing Canada's John Davison's 67 ball effort against West Indies in 2003 World Cup is main highlight of Australia and South Africa encounter. Ricky Ponting while making 91 crossed the 10000 run milestone in ODI cricket. With his two sixes he again became the sole record holder of hitting most sixes (27) in World Cup matches.

In reply to Australia's mammoth total of 377 for 6, South Africa was very well ahead on required run rate with both Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers firing on all cylinders and reminding everyone about the last encounter between these two nations. But a spectacular direct hit by Shane Watson from the long leg boundary with only one stump to aim at to get rid of the dangerous looking AB de Villiers has altered South Africa's course.

I believe that throw alone might become the defining moment and will have a huge influence on who is going to the win this World Cup. After that when Graeme Smith got retired hurt with sever cramps and Herschelle Gibbs was stumped for 17, South Africa's chances of successive successful chase of 375 plus total against Australia was never on the cards.

No more cricket analysis till Super 8s unless Bermuda shocks Bangladesh : Just a simple : 'Quiztion of the Day'

Name the Cricketer who faced just six deliveries with the bat in spite of playing in four world cup tournaments.

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the subject line as 'Quiztion of the Day - X' (X being the question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on http://www.dreamcricket.com website within a week of the World Cup Final.

WORLD CUP CRICKET : QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 12

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ :

March 24th 2007 : Quiztion of the Day - 12:

Yes, I am disappointed too like anyone of the millions of Indian cricket fans because India lost. But I am even more disappointed as a lover of the game that India did not put up any fight and the match petered out into a tame one-sided affair even before half of the allotted overs were bowled during the Indian innings. I am disappointed because I may not get another chance to watch the Batting Triumvirate of Indian Cricket, SachinTendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, destroying the bowling attacks of the world in a World Cup match. I am also disappointed that I will miss a chance to watch some really interesting encounters that might have taken place had India moved on to Super 8s stage.

I know India still have a chance of making it to the Super 8s if Bermuda beats Bangladesh in the last Group match of the tournament on March 25th. If that happens, I will be saddened more deeply for the fact, that even the loss of a human life due to a murder did not stop the unscrupulous, greedy and corrupt external forces that ruined the sanctity of the game making their actions count more than the action on the field. On pure cricketing merit Bermuda, undoubtedly the weakest team among the 2007 World Cup squads does not have a chance to defeat Bangladesh under any circumstances. But if a miracle rather than a match-fixing can produce a result that moves India to Super 8s, I will be delighted as much as any Indian cricket fan otherwise the highest run-getter in World Cup history, Sachin Tendulkar's third ball duck may very well become his last innings of World Cup.

I am a passionate follower and spirited lover of the game and will never cease to keep following the game. I will track or watch all the forthcoming matches of this World Cup irrespective of who wins the cricket’s most coveted trophy. For me the game of cricket is a pure joy. I enjoy it and passionate about it, my passion is for the game and not for a team. So may be I am not depressed for India’s loss. To begin with as per the current form, preparations, Physical and mental strengths, I thought either South Africa or Australia will win the title. I also had a feeling after the CB series finals and Chappell-Hadlee Trophy both England and New Zealand will be better contenders for reaching the last four than either India or Pakistan. When West Indies beat Pakistan in the first match of the tournament and England was easily defeated by New Zealand, I was guessing that the four semi finalists would be Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies. But with the kind of form and tremendous discipline that Sri Lanka has shown today and in its two previous matches, I predict Sri Lanka will reach the semi finals upsetting the plans of any of the four main contenders Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies. Most probably the team that might miss a semi final spot would be West Indies.

I hope my predictions do not come true as miserably as the ones that eminent astrologers and numerologists predicted on numerous web sites and on Live television shows. That way cricket remains according to its age old tradition and reputation of being a “Game of Glorious Uncertainties”. I still love watching favorites performing to their best of abilities and walk away with the title as West Indies did in 1979 and I still enjoy underdogs and rank outsiders upsetting the main contenders like India did in 1983. I can deal with disappointments as much as I can deal with excitements. I enjoy cricket no matter what.

Enough of bragging about my love for the game, lets get to the Quiztion of the Day.

If you had followed the game that took place at Kingston between Ireland and West Indies while India was getting humiliated at Port of Spain, you would have noticed a strange occurrence. After Ireland made 183/8 in 48 overs in a game a interrupted by rain Shivnarine Chaderpaul with a classy unbeaten knock of 102 made sure that West Indies reached the target of 190 losing just two wickets. That target score is correct, it’s not a typo. In a rain interrupted match where the complicated and sometimes difficult to understand Duckworth/Lewis method that comes in to the play, adjusted the target for West Indies to 190 runs in 48 overs for a win.

One of the explanations for this is that the team batting first would be at a disadvantage if the rain interrupts and shortens their innings. This in turn prevents them pacing the innings accordingly whereas the team batting second will know how many runs they have to score right from the beginning of the innings and can plan their batting accordingly.

Here is a simple example. Consider in a match the team batting first starts off their innings thinking that they would have to bat their full quota of 50 overs and scores 110 runs in first 25 overs for the loss of couple of wickets. If the rain interrupts the match at that point for 2-3 hours and when play resumes the match might be restricted to 28 overs a side. So the team batting first would have just 3 overs to slog even though they have plenty of wickets on hand. The team batting first then adds 30 runs more in those overs. Now a target of 139 runs in 28 overs would be relatively an easy one to chase. The D/L method takes this scenario into account and makes an upward adjustment. How it is revised is beyond my comprehension.

Today’s ‘Quiztion of the Day’ relates to this always complicated and sometimes annoying Duckworth/Lewis method. Here it is:

The Match between Ireland and Pakistan is not the first match that had an upward revision of target for the chasing team in a World Cup match. Provide the details of the first match in World Cup that had an upward revision of target for the chasing team.

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the subject line as "Quiztion of the Day - X", (X being the Question number) through out the the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on http://www.dreamcricket.com website within a week of the World Cup Final.

Cheer up.... After all its only a game....

WORLD CUP CRICKET : QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 11

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ :

March 23rd 2007: Quiztion of the Day-11:

As feared by majority of the followers of the game right from the moment Bob Woolmer was pronounced dead, the Full statement by the commissioner of police for the Jamaica Constabulary Force, now confirms that Ex-Pakistani Coach’s death was because of asphyxia caused by manual strangulation and it is being treated by them as a case of murder and a full blown investigation will be conducted to take further actions. This indeed is a sad day for the game of cricket. I do hope the commercialization of cricket interfering with the lives of Players, Coaches and Administrators of the game will at least stop here. ICC and National Cricket Boards should take some radical steps to curb the external forces interfering the game as in the form of Woolmer’s death a heavy price has been paid.

In whatever way one analyzes the circumstances surrounding Woolmer’s murder mystery, one has to admit unequivocally that it has shattered an average cricket fan’s faith in the game. I reckon, it would be extremely unlikely that any cricket lover will be following the forthcoming matches without having an iota of suspicion whether the off-field activities are dictating on-field proceedings or not. The game is best left for what it is being loved for, that is, ‘as a game of glorious uncertainties’. If any certainty is forced up on … the game not only loses its charm but also will be deserted by the game’s true followers and die-hard fans. This in turn will stop pumping the basic ingredient which is the main attraction for those who want to make these games more predictable in nature and are not worried about the action on the field. Yes, you guessed the ingredient right, money coupled with greed.

Fortunately, this was not the case when the minnows Scotland and Netherlands met and the result of an 8-wicket win was very well cherished by the Dutchmen and their celebration and delight was nothing short of any of the Prior World Cup Winning Teams cup of joy. In another group match Canada fought very hard to detach themselves from carrying the tag of minnows lead by their captain John Davison, for the umpteenth time. At one point the fastest fifty of the World Cup which was recorded by Brendon McCullum of New Zealand just before the innings break was under sever threat. Such was Davison’s powerful and merciless hitting, it again reminded his 2003 heroics against West Indies that fetched him the fastest century in the history of the World Cup. Davison dispatched Michael Mason’s first two overs for 16 and 22 runs with six 4s & a six and raced to 38 of just 18 balls.

Davison’s 53 in this match came of 31 balls is the fourth fastest of the current world Cup with Brendon McCullum (20 balls), Mark Boucher (21 balls) and Sachin Tendulkar (25 balls) all reaching the half century mark much faster than him. But to Davison’s credit, he was not playing against minnows like Canada, Netherlands and Bermuda.

Today’s ‘Quiztion of the day’ is a tribute to this great cricketer, who I believe may have played his last World Cup match like Inzamam but his farewell to World Cup went unnoticed. Here is the Quiztion which has three parts.:

New Zealand was at the receiving end of John Davison’s merciless hitting in previous World Cup too. Like Mason another bowler was frustrated that day when Davison recorded a fifty of just 25 balls and missed an unique opportunity to record both the fastest fifty and fastest hundred of the tournament.

1. Name the Kiwi bowler who was carted for three sixes in an over by Davison while reaching his half century.
   
2. Who were the two players who made faster 50s than Davison in 2003 World Cup?
   
3. What unique record does John Davison hold in first class cricket , where and against which team did he achieve it?

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the the subject line "Quiztion of the Day - X", (X being the Question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on dreamcricket.com website within a week of the World Cup Final.

Follow the game with passion... Not the teams...

Cheers.

WORLD CUP CRICKET : QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 10

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ :

March 22nd 2007: Quiztion of the Day-10:

At last Pakistan found their batting form and plundered 349 runs against Zimbabwe in Inzamam's farewell ODI match. Inzamam ul Haq who started his ODI career in 1991 was first announced his arrival on big stage with a murderous assault on the hapless Kiwis with a 37 ball 60 and took the game away from them in the 1992 World Cup Semi final match. He already confirmed his plans to retire from One Day Cricket after this World Cup match. Though Inzamam played in five World Cups including the triumphant 1992 edition, he did not perform what he was capable of and aggregated just 680 runs from 34 matches at an average of 23.44 without ever scoring a hundred. Inzamam retires from ODI cricket as one of the only six players to have amassed more than 10000 runs in ODI cricket. He played 378 matches and amassed 11739 runs @ 39.52 including 10 hundreds. His 11739 runs are second only to Sachin Tendulkar's record of 14847 runs and his 83 fifties are most by any player in ODI cricket.

Inzy did play a short and sweet innings and went out in glory by making 37 of 32 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes, but it was Imran Nazir who stole the show and helped his captain dedicate the match to the deceased Coach with a big victory. Imran top scored for Pakistan with a big hundred of 160 in what proved out to be a record shattering day for him. His tally of eight sixes during the innings puts him on par with Ricky Ponting's record achieved against India in 2003 World Cup final.

Imran Nazir also provided the ninth instance of a batsman recording a score of 150+ score in a World Cup match. Except on three of those occasions the opposition was bundled out for fewer runs than these top scorers of the innings in all these matches. But to balance it out there were three other occasions on which the opposition was bowled out for a lower score than their top scorer of the innings even though there was no 150+ score in their innings. In fact in one of those matches there were three batsmen on one side who had registered a higher score than the opponent's total.

Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka on the same day in another group match failed to match Imran Nazir's record by holding out on the boundary after hitting a scintillating hundred. Had he hit a six of that delivery instead of getting out, Jayasuriya too could have equaled Ponting's record tally of eight sixes and his score alone would have been enough for Bangladesh. Jayasuriya scored 109 runs in their second group match of this World Cup as Bangladesh could not live up to the hype they have generated by upsetting India and were bowled out for a paltry sum of 112.

Today's 'Quiztion of the Day' is very simple and straight forward and relates to a batsman's score beating the opponent's total in a World Cup match. Here it is:

Identify the World Cup matches in which three 150+ individual scores were lower than the opponent's totals and also the matches in which non 150+ individual scores which were higher than the opponent's totals.

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the the subject line "Quiztion of the Day - X", (X being the Question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on dreamcricket.com website within a week of the World Cup Final.

Do not forget that the top scorer of the quiz will have a chance to win a fabulous World Cup 7-DVD Pack of World Cup Highlights (courtesy : http://www.dreamcricket.com/ and the runner up has a chance to grab a 3-DVD Pack consisting of India's Victorious 1983 campaign and Australia's unbeaten run of victories in 2003 (courtesty : http://www.pavilionshop.com).

Cheers.

WORLD CUP CRICKET : QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 9

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ :

March 21st 2007: Quiztion of the Day-9:

As I embark up on preparing the Quiztion of the Day – 9, there is a disturbing news coming out of Jamaica that Bob Woolmer’s death is being treated as suspicious and is being investigated further to determine the cause. An autopsy completed on Tuesday was found to be inconclusive in determining the cause. Meanwhile unconfirmed reports suggest that there were marks discovered around his neck and the coach may have been murdered. If it founds out to be true then it would really be a black day for the game and the Gentlemen’s game will forever be tainted. I sincerely hope and pray that the death of former Coach of Pakistan was because of his existing medical conditions and stress related massive heart attack as earlier reported rather than some unnatural reasons for the sake of his family and friends who will be hurt even more if the reasons are found to be otherwise.

Anyways Shifting the focus on the two games that took place on Tuesday, both New Zealand and South Africa sailed through to the next stage of the tournament with utmost ease. Australia and West Indies have already sealed their spots for Super 8s stage. Ireland is all set to become the second non-test playing nation ever after Kenya’s dramatic entry into Super 6s of 2003 World Cup. Strangely, the match that would decide Ireland’s fate of proceeding to the next phase of the World Cup doesn’t involve them but will be played between Zimbabwe and Pakistan. If Pakistan wins, Ireland is through. However, a Zimbabwe win can not be ruled out especially looking at the circumstances surrounding the Pakistani Camp. Another match that will be played on Wednesday will have a significant affect on India’s chances of reaching the Super 8s. They would be watching the match very closely and wishing that Sri Lanka would thrash Bangladesh so that a win against Sri Lanka can not only take them to the Super 8s but also will let them carry forward 2 points to the next stage.

Just look at the complicated system of how two teams can advance carry forward two points to the Super 8s stage of this World Cup:

Top two teams will advance to the Super 8’s on the basis of total points earned during the Group matches. In case of a tie of points NRR (net run rate) would determine which are the top two teams. Any points they may have earned against the other qualifier from their own group will be carried through. In the Super 8s, each team will play the six remaining qualifiers from the other groups and the top four teams will go through to the semi-finals. Positions will be decided again by most points. For the four semi-final spots if two or more teams are tied on points, the following methods in turn will be used to decide which team goes through:

• Most wins in their group or in Super 8 whichever is applicable.
• Higher Net run rate.
• Higher number of wickets taken per ball.
• Winners of head to head matches.
• The drawing of lots.

Today’s ‘Quiztion of the day’ is on this complicated and difficult to comprehend Carry forward system. Here it is:

As you read between the lines of the Qualifying system for Super 8s and the associated carry forward points, as of Tuesday Bangladesh would benefit if India enters the Super 8s whether on run-rate or outright. Similarly West Indies and England would carry forward 2 points to next stage if Zimbabwe and England gets into the next round.

Shown below is the picture of the person who gets the credit for devising this carry forward points system. Identify the person and provide me the details of the World Cup group match in which this system was exploited to the fullest extent as at one stage just twelve runs were scored of ten overs to improve the opponent’s net run rate, though in the end it did not result in the desired outcome?

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the the subject line "Quiztion of the Day - X", (X being the Question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on dreamcricket.com website within a week of the World Cup Final.

WORLD CUP CRICKET : QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 8

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ:

March 20th 2007: Quiztion of the Day - 8:

On a day when records tumbled like nine pins, India thrashed Bermuda by 257 runs to record the highest margin of victory in any world cup match while registering the first ever total of 400 or more. India’s 413/5 erases the previous highest of 398 for 5 by Sri Lanka against Kenya at Kandy in 1996. Their 257 runs margin of victory edges past the previous best of 256-run win by Australia against Namibia in the 2003 World Cup. Just four days prior to India’s victory, on March 15th Sri Lanka defeated Bermuda by 243 runs.

India has done whatever they could by beating Bermuda by a higher margin than Sri Lanka and now hopes that Bangladesh doesn’t better their record of Bermuda thrashing, when they meet in the last encounter of the first phase of the World Cup to fancy any chances of reaching Super 8s, provided they beat Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka beats Bangladesh.

There were three other world cup records which were equaled in the same match. Sourav Ganguly’s second six took his tally of World Cup sixes to 25 , which makes him the joint record holder for hitting most number of sixes along with Australia’s Ricky Ponting whereas India’s 18 sixes in the their innings makes them 2nd team in world cup to hit 18 sixes, the most by a side in any World Cup match, which incidentally was set just three days back by South Africa against the hapless Flying Dutchmen at the boundary line in just 40 overs, with Heschelle Gibbs leading the way with six sixes in an over. Bermuda too equaled an unwanted World record of having most ducks in any innings of a World Cup match. They became the fourth team to do suffer the ignominy after England against West Indies at Lord’s in 1975, Canada against Sri Lanka at Paarl in 2003 and Sri Lanka against India at Johannesburg in 2003.

But there was a bright spot for Bermuda as one of their bowlers achieved something that never happened before in 31 year history of World Cup. Their youngest player Malachi Jones became the first bowler to take a wicket with his first delivery in a World Cup when Robin Uthappa edged him and Dwayne Leverock took a blinder stretching his 256 pounds body as far right as he could at the first slip.

Today’s 'Quiztion of the day' is related to one of the batting feats that was missed by a whisker in this India vs. Bermuda match. Here it is:

This World Cup feat was first achieved by the indomitable Issac Vivian Alexander Richards in 1987 and on this record shattering day it is very narrowly missed by one player in India vs. Bermuda match and surpassed by other in West Indies vs. Zimbabwe match. What is this feat and who else have emulated King Richards?

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the the subject line "Quiztion of the Day - X", (X being the Question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on dreamcricket.com website within a week of the World Cup Final.

Do not forget that the top scorer of the quiz will have a chance to win a fabulous World Cup 7-DVD Pack of World Cup Highlights (courtesy : http://www.dreamcricket.com/ and the runner up has a chance to grab a 3-DVD Pack consisting of India's Victorious 1983 campaign and Australia's unbeaten run of victories in 2003 (courtesty : http://www.pavilionshop.com).

Come on..... Join the fun.....

WORLD CUP CRICKET : QUIZTION OF THE DAY - 7

WORLD CUP CRICKET QUIZ :

March 19th 2007: Quiztion of the Day-7:

The sudden and shocking death of Pakistan’s high profile Coach Bob Woolmer, leaves such an indelible mark on the World Cup 2007 tournament, the upset wins of prior day reminds us that after all they are only games and just that. It also underscores the point once again that modern day cricketers and coaches have to go through an enormous amount of stress and it’s not easy to deal with failure and defeats. Sometimes it leads to undesired after effects like Freddie Flintoff’'s rescue from the sea after falling off a pedalo (a small paddle boat) in an inebriated state, Bob Woolmer being found in an unconscious state with vomit around him.

The Cricket fans from Sub-continent nations like India, Pakistan & Bangladesh where cricket is treated as a religion and the game is put on much higher pedestal than human life, defeats and losses in mere cricket games are rued over much more than a life. Same fans who treated Mahendra Singh Dhoni like nothing short of a God, now chants for his death after he was out for a duck against Bangladesh and do not mind attacking the home under construction in Ranchi and think that they have a right to do so. Even the God of Indian Cricket was not spared and the booing of Sachin Tendulkar’s home crowd when he was out cheaply against Australia in 2004-05 test series at Mumbai still echoes in my ears.

In Pakistan the situation I reckon will be far worse considering the history of how they dealt with defeats and losses and I can imagine the stress and tension that the Pakistani players going through as they have already made an exit from the World Cup. To some degree, even the death of their team coach, Bob Woolmer, can be attributed to the same stress. But his sudden and shocking death may not alleviate the fury of the disappointed and irated Pakistani cricket fans. It is indeed sad and unfortunate, but true: the cricket fans of sub-continent nations can not deal with losses and defeats and expects a win every time their team goes on to the field. I have no doubt in my mind , the same fans that are dancing and celebrating now in Dhaka will become furious and destructive if they lose their last game of the division to Bermuda and are thrown out of the World Cup.

Anyway, the current edition of Cricket World Cup has not been good to the friends and families of Cricketers as four untimely and tragic deaths have occurred ever since the Warm-Up matches have begun, so lets have a ‘Quiztion of the Day’ as a tribute to them. Here it is:

Of all the sudden deaths involving cricketer or their family members Bob Woolmer’s (Click on this to see Cricinfo’s Photo-Profile) was the only that had a direct involvement in this World Cup. His sudden death had stunned the entire cricketing world as so many people were touched by him during his playing career for Kent, England, and Western Province & Natal and as successful coach of Warwickshire, South Africa and Pakistan. Earlier in the week the death of Manjural Islam of Bangladesh, who was killed in a motor cycle accident on March 16th and became the youngest test cricketer to die did have a profound effect on entire Bangladeshi Camp as most of them played with him both in tests and ODIs.

Two other cricketers had to deal with deaths in the family. One of them is a legend in the game of cricket and also managed the touring teams after retiring from cricket. He lost his son in a drowning accident two days after the first warm-up game. Another cricketer had to leave the tournament following the sudden death of his aunt to attend her funeral.

Name the two cricketers who suffered a bereavement of a family member since the warm-up games of World Cup 2007 started.

Remember to email your answers for each quiz individually to vijay@dreamcricket.com with the the subject line "Quiztion of the Day - X", (X being the Question number) through out the tournament duration. Results will be first posted on dreamcricket.com website within a week of the World Cup Final.