Showing posts with label victoria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label victoria. Show all posts
Monday, October 23, 2017

Victoria has been set up for a big chase in the JLT final

Victoria is Chasing 345 after Blitz by South Australia

The Redbacks plundered 117 off of the last eight overs, setting Victoria up for a big chase in the JLT elimination final. A century from Jake Weatherald and some brutal blows later on from Tom Cooper assisted the South Australians in setting a sizable total for Victoria to pursue in the One-Day Cup in Hobart.

After being sent to bat, the Redbacks managed to reach 5 for 339 at the Bellerive Oval from a diminished 48-over innings that was cut short by a brief delay due to rain.

Victoria Boosted by Internationals’ Return

Victoria, improved by the return of internationals Dan Christian, Aaron Finch, and Glenn Maxwell, have to chase a total of 345 off of 48 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in order to earn a place in the final on Saturday against the Western Australians at the same grounds.

Weatherald Crashes Vital Elimination Final Ton

Weatherald, who was dropped early on, went on to score 116 off of 121 balls, and shared a partnership of 215 runs with Alex Carey, the Ashes hopeful, for the first wicket. This player proved once again why he so strongly features in the kind of online sports betting guide offered by various internet-based bookmakers.

Carey fell excruciatingly short of a maiden one-day ton, and edged Scott Boland, placeman, behind for 92. Cooper then managed to smash a half-century off of 22 balls, making for the equal third-fastest in the history of one-day cricket, before he got holed out for 59.

Cooper Set the Vics Ablaze with a Record-Equalling 50

The South Australians managed to smash 117 off of the last 48 balls of their innings with Travis Head and Alex Ross pinching with strong cameos. Head managed 29 of 16 balls, and Ross 18 off of 6. Boland was the only bowler for the Victorians to go at less than a-run-a-ball, with 1 for 51 off of 10 overs.

The Redbacks Go Crazy in Death Overs

Victoria won the toss earlier on, and chose to bowl first as they were welcoming back an array of international talent that had performed well in training. Travis  Head, Adam Zampa, and Kane Richardson returned from foreign duty, having been on the Australian limited-overs tour in India.

The return of these star players means that Victoria has entered the final without Blake Thomson, Will Sutherland, and Seb Gotch from their last start, a contentious DLS victory against New South Wales at the North Sydney Oval that was deserted due to a dangerous pitch 26 overs into the game’s second innings.


South Australia made the difficult decision to drop Jake Lehmann for Head, with coach Darren Lehmann’s son scoring 179 runs at 35 in the competition. Dan Worrall has made a surprising return to the game after limping off of the field with a knee issue in the win against the Western Australians. An MRI cleared him of damage, and so he will be taking his place in the XI today. Chadd Sayers has been shunted out of the starting XI for Richardson’s return, and Zampa replaces Tom Andrews.P

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Thursday, May 14, 2009

Australia vs South Africa at the IPL

Arthur Turner, a columnist at Sport24, which is a South African website, has some amusing views.

He talks about how the Australian dominance in the IPL is unhealthy.

He talks about how its not good for the competition in the IPL to have so many coaches from Australia - 5 out of 8.

Turner goes on to say that no one outside Australia knows Greg Shipperd, Darren Lehmann, and Darren Berry, the 3 Australian coaches without international coaching experience.

He argues that the fact that these 3 have highly valued IPL contracts goes to show that Australia, as a cricket nation, is over rated.

Turner must have some nerve to say that.

Shipperd is arguably the best 20-20 coach on the planet. He led Victoria to the 20-20 title 3 years in a row. He coached the best 20-20 team of Australia, who for the longest period were, and maybe still are, the best cricket team in the world.

We all know who Greg Shipperd is.

Darren Lehmann's credentials as a coach may not be as good as the one he had as a player, but again no one can argue against Lehmann's cricketing nous.

Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, and many others have spoken about how they used to turn to Lehmann on occasions on the field.

So yes, we all, outside Australia, also know who Lehmann is and how good he can be as a coach.

As for Darren Berry; he is probably the least known of the 3 but I do know that he is a former captain of Victoria and close to Shane Warne.

Warne made it clear that he wanted his coaching staff last year and we all saw what Berry and Warne did for the Royals.

So we may not have known Berry before last year, but we do now. Everyone does.

Turner doesn't stop there.

He goes on and talks about the large number of Australian players (26 of them) that are playing in the IPL. He denounces their presence by stating that they are only there because of the Australian coaches.

He presents his arguement by mentioning that South Africa beat Australia recently and are the number 1 ranked ODI team and yet they have a lesser number of players (15) playing in the IPL.

So its all about that is it Turner? Its all about why there aren't more South Africans than Australians playing the league?

Turner compares the domestic performances of Rob Quiney and Ryan Harris to two South African players - Henry Davids and Rory Kleinveldt.

Moreover, Turner argues about Ryan Harris and Rob Quiney while stating that some of the Australians in the IPL have never, and will never, play an international cricket match.

I wonder if Turner knows that Ryan Harris has played an ODI for Australia and that Quiney has been talked about as a potential ODI opener if I am not mistaken.

They are definitely better known than the Henry and the Rory that he mentions.

Turner concludes his piece by saying that IPL will have to address these problems if it wants to remain the premier Twenty20 competition.

What problems!?

Had Turner only talked about the huge presence of the Australians in the IPL and argued that a more equal distribution of players from international cricket playing countries was required, then maybe, just maybe, his arguement would have carried some weight.

But the fact that he puts forward names of South Africans that could have been better bets than the Australians in the IPL, diminishes any value that his arguement could have had.

With Turner being a Player Agent in South Africa, it all falls into place now, doesn't it!?

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Friday, September 12, 2008

One More to the JRod!

His petition landed David Hussey a position in Australia's ODI team.

This morning his favourite Victorian, Bryce McGain, was announced in Australia's 15 man squad for India.

Uncle J Rod of Cricket with Balls has been going on about Bryce McGain for a year now, which is as long as Cricket with Balls has been up on air.

And finally a year later Cricket Australia selectors have bowed down to his demands.

I'm sure Uncle J is over the moon over McGain's selection and we at Well Pitched are happy for him and for McGain and also at the prospect of seeing yet another leg spinner from Victoria.

If McGain is even half as exciting as the last Victorian leg spinner to play test cricket, it'll make the Australia v India test series even more interesting than it already is.

Its a shame that Symonds isn't going as it would have been quite a watch to see the Indian public take a dig at him.

Nonethless it should be one entertaining test series. Can't wait for some cricket to start.

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