The 2007 cricket world cup has finally gained some attention. All the pundits who thought that with the minnows making it through to the super 8’s the world cup had become very predictable, try guessing this now: who will be the semi finalists? Who will win the WC?
Barring any more shock defeats from Ireland and not treating Bangladesh as a lesser talented team, the top three slots are pretty much taken. Australia, New Zealand and SriLanka are almost guaranteed to make it to the semi finals. The NZ vs SRL game will probably be only a drill for the semi final match up they will have on the 24th of April. Who will Australia face in its semi final match, is the interesting question.
The spot is pretty much up for grabs for all the other 4 teams (except Ireland). After Bangladesh’s victory on Saturday, a lot of supporters of different countries would have had a big smile on their faces. Moreover, the ICC top ranks also would have finally had a moment of relief.
The teams which win world cups are those who step up their game when it matters most. A Team which has a crunch game some where around the middle of the world cup and comes out on top, is the team to look out for. Other than the occasions where a team has dominated the entire world cup (West Indies (75, 79), Sri Lanka 1996, Australia 2003) it is the late birds that lift the trophy. After a poor start to the WC in 1992, elimination was staring right in the face of Pakistan when they went out to play Australia in their do or die league game. Imran’s Tigers won that game and went on to win the next 4 to become world champions. In 1999, Australia had a disastrous start to their World Cup campaign till they faced West Indies, and for the first time in that tournament Glenn Mcgrath was given the new cherry. West Indies were bowled out for a paltry 110 and there was no looking back for the baggy green boys. They have won 22 straight WC games since then.
This time, there are four such teams which have the opportunity to prove this theory right again. For England, Bangladesh and the West Indies, there is no room for error left. South Africa can afford another defeat and still be in contention for the fourth semi final spot. For WI, England or Bangladesh to come through, not only will they have to win all their games, but also hope that South Africa looses to at least any of the other three teams (WI,ENG,NZ) too.
The one team Australia would not want to face in the Semi Finals will be the host nation. With three knock out wins, lady luck (as SA would need to loose to some other team), a playing legend and the Caribbean calypso bands behind them, Australia’s world cup streak may just come to an end.
Irrespective of which ever team makes it to the semi finals, and whether they go on to win the world cup from there on, Bangladesh’s win on Saturday has for all practical purposes served as the opening ceremony of the 2007 cricket world cup.
Four teams, one spot. Game on! Thank you Tigers!
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As you know, I was one of the fortunate few to captain the real "Cornered Tigers" and amazingly the only tournament we won we was becaause we always were pushed into that corner and plus it helped us to lose the first match by a few runs which galvansied our subsequent performances. That being said :) you must have players who have that fighting spirit and will not want to throw the match away by absymal batting although I do remember having helped a particular bowler embark on his successful bowling career (think BJ) :)
Tigers surely deserve applause for their performances in the WC. I wish they had beaten the crap out of England team too. :)
this is in response to Mr. Malick's comment. I just wanted to remind Mr. Malick that his 'cornered tigers' (ahem, so to speak) were not actually 'tigers' to begin with. They lost their opening match to a far superior team in 'CS kay cheetay' and had it not been for the unfortunate scheduling, they wouldnt have even made it to the final. So Mr. Malick, while you bask in the glory of your lone win in the tournament, I hope you do realize that your win was due to unfortunate, albeit correct, scheduling, rather than pure talent.
whoa! whoa !! there buddy whoever you are you my friend have your facts all wrong. true we lost the opening encounter to one CS kay cheetay but everyone who was there that day knows it was a marginaly defeat by 2 runs or the sort i can't remember exactly. as for the scheduling that was never in our favour. in fact there was a blatant rigging of the semis under our very own eyes in favour of club 420 who largely comprised of individuals representing the PSA's committee for that semester. comes to show how dishonest at times some people can be in trying to project a "fair" tournament. if my memory serves me correctly club 420 opted to give san antonio's team (by far the strongest of that tournament) a walkover when club 420 had their whole team on the field and SA was willing to play. SA didn't drive a hundred miles to not play. the premise was that SA would play us in the semis if 420 forwent that game and thereby avoiding a clash with us. cheap underhanded tactics i tell you and no spirit whatsoever. and in the semis we faced off SA and we beat them who like i mentioned had been wallopping all the teams in the previous tournaments. so what do u say about that. as if that is not enough then the 420 management once again bent the rules and recruited good players from teams that had been knocked out to beef up their squad. so in the final we met a 420 that had avoided all the tough games and beefed up their squad to face the consistent play of the tigers. 420 did well to restrict us for less than 60 in overs. which was an appallingly short total i admit. but they couldnt make it. i was bowling the last over (and i dont like blowing my trumpet but i will here) 420 needed 7 runs in the last over to win not a very hard task but they lost 2 quick wickets and i even bowled a wide to help them but still they couldnt make it. and they lost by 5 runs in the end. so u can judge for urself if our win was due to scheduling or our efforts.
i dont know who u are or where u are coming from but i do know you have ur facts completely incorrect and that u dont know what ur talking about. also i dont like those people who try to offer explanations for why others won when they shudnt have because they dont feel they are worthy winners. if there was blatant cheating on our part then i wud say we dont deserve it but i know how hard my team worked and how much they enjoyed it so im not gonna have someone acting like a half-baked village idiot come here and mouth off whatever he wishes and try to render the work of my team inconsequential by absurd theories. i have stated my case with proof where is ur proof? i can even bring witnesses numerous witnesses from my team and others to vouch for my word if u wudnt bealive me. u havent cited anything that can be termed as "unfotunate scheduling" jus tmentioned.
so next time you try to pull a stunt like this get ur facts straight before you make urself look like an idiot.
my identity is irrelevant Mr. Malick. But I will tell you what IS relevant, and that's the facts. The reason Cornered Tigers got it the easy way in that tournament was because of the scheduling... and that is a fact. Now I agree that SA was a tough team, but not invincible as the tigers had shown. What the tigers didnt show was whether they could beat CS kay cheetay. Tigers played them in the tournament twice (once in Fall, the other in Spring), and both time the result was the same, a Cornered Tigers loss. So I think you should count your blessings because if the Tigers were to get their wish and had played CS kay cheetay instead of SA, they would have lost miserably and most probably would not have won their only tournament. Now I agree that Club 420 didnt exactly play by the rules and resorted to unsportsman-like conduct by beefing up their squad prior to the final game. But I dont see how that proves that tigers were the best team in that tournament. Tigers were never even among the better teams in that tournament. In fact, I remember the Tigers match against CS kay cheetay in which one of their worse batsmen from CS kay cheetay (i.e. Mr. Safder Hasan) hit a spanking six off of a bowler with a funny run-up (oh that will be you Mr. Malick). So, Mr. Malick, as I see it, Tigers SUCKED!!!
i care not for your identity as i never asked for it but if you must hide behind anonymity to help you boost your ego and confidence then so be it, whatever rocks your boat so to speak. like i said last time if you can prove how the scheduling was favourable to my team then do so why do you keep referring to easy scheduling and not for once bring up your proof? i just showed you how we faced some tough competition and even in the final we were not in a good position to win but we still did. you keep bringing up CS kay cheetay but you forget that 420 recruited from CS kay cheetay. are these the ethos of the cheetay? i assure you that you wont find any of my players moving to other teams for more glory after losing, they hold their heads high even after a loss and are gracious in defeat. the game against cheetay was a close one and we both enjoyed it if you want to come here and plant the seeds of discord then i suggest you look elsewhere. as for safder hitting a six on me, i have never said i am the best bowler or one of the best even, i have had my moments that have made me look like a bowling genius as has everyone so safder hitting a six on me isnt a big deal. i have been hit for sixes before in my life too so its not that big a deal. so has mcgrath, so has wasim, so has waqr, so has lillee and even by nobody batsmen in the tail. so its not that great a deal. if u think my run-up is funny then why dont u laugh at it because the fact is and will always remain that we won that tournament fair and square without any hodgepodge and are not crying over being given a raw deal. so move on young one and redeem some pride for yourself by being gracious.
are you saying that CS kay cheetay weren't gracious in their loss? If so, would you care to name any one player who you think was unsportsman-like?
'CS kay cheetay' ???
What kind of a loser names their team that? A classic case of a one dimensional nerd/geek (nerd: bad grades & a loser; geek: good grades & a loser) who has serious identity issues. Since his only purpose and focus in life is his computer science education.
'Cornered Tigers' ???
Who starts a fresh tournament with that metality?? This assumes that one will dig himself in a hole everytime. It's negetive thinking and no surprise that they have only ever won one tournament !
clearly the athenian philosopher left his brains in Athens because if he/she/it had any brains he would at least provide some reasoning behind his/her/its analysis of the names of the two teams.
"Cornered Tigers" is undoubtedly one of the best names one could come up for a team. Its not about the phraseology of the name, its more about the passion and spirit that the name brings with it. So Athenian Philosopher (spelled "Perpetual Loser") make sure you know about the background and context of the talk before you open your mouth (or whatever it is you speak from).
to L&G i must say i have never for once stated that CS kay cheetay were ungracious i was talking about you nowhere have i directly implicated CS kay cheetay but am always challenging what you are stating and asking for you to prove your statements. as for plato's cousin here i will try my best to keep it simple so i dont lose him as he has a very simple minded vision but i also thank L&G for clarifying the name issue. as far as im concerned a name must be such that the team can recognise with it; a name generally encompasses a philosophy which the constituents can readily identify with in our case it is the spirit of the fight a cornered tiger displays and not the position that we would like to be in so in other words we like to fight hard ! CS kay cheetay named themselves that because they were all from CS and they felt they embodied the spirit of the cheetah. hence our contest has been always known as the rumble in the jungle. which i must admit sadly though that the cheetay have stamped their dominance over us in that one contest. i hope this puts matters to rest and if someone wants to continue this talk then let him do so only if they can bring something substantial and not something flippant like what plato's cousin here has or the fact that L&G has kept avoiding to cough out some proof or back his claims with examples that can be verified.
well Mr. Malick, I think I have alleged sufficient facts to indicate why CS kay Cheetay were just downright better than your beloved, yet OVERRATED, Tigers. Anyways, I digress from my main point, which is to express my amazement at the sudden absence of our fellow poster, the brainless philosopher from Eastern Europe. Just wanted to mention that the organization that regulates the MCAT are opening up a new center in Sparta (a little far from Athens, but nevertheless closer than Austin) and that you might be interested in taking your MCATs there, especially after you have already taken your GRE, GMAT, LSAT, SAT, SAT II, SAT III, SAT IV, SAT V, need I mention PSAT.
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