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*Official* VB Series - Australia, India & Zimbabwe

Bapu Rao Swami

U19 12th Man
One thing Isimply don't understand about Lee is why on earth does he bowl short pitched deliveries and those weak half volleys.

all other bowlers with his pace concentrate on yorkers, yorkers and an occassional bouncer. look at Sami, Bond, Younis, Donald, Akhtar etc. I think Lee uses his yorkers very less, he should use more of them, secondly he bowls an aweful no of no balls.
 

Mr. P

International Vice-Captain
Bapu Rao Swami said:
One thing Isimply don't understand about Lee is why on earth does he bowl short pitched deliveries and those weak half volleys.

all other bowlers with his pace concentrate on yorkers, yorkers and an occassional bouncer. look at Sami, Bond, Younis, Donald, Akhtar etc. I think Lee uses his yorkers very less, he should use more of them, secondly he bowls an aweful no of no balls.
Lee does try to bowl Yorkers, but unfortunately the key word there is try. All of them end up as the formerly mentioned half volleys.
 

age_master

Hall of Fame Member
Bapu Rao Swami said:
One thing Isimply don't understand about Lee is why on earth does he bowl short pitched deliveries and those weak half volleys.

all other bowlers with his pace concentrate on yorkers, yorkers and an occassional bouncer. look at Sami, Bond, Younis, Donald, Akhtar etc. I think Lee uses his yorkers very less, he should use more of them, secondly he bowls an aweful no of no balls.

he hasn't got his rhythm back well enough yet....

didn't help that Tendulkar decided to play shots after getting injured right before he came on.

he really should have been given the new ball for mine he would have swung it a fair bit i reakon
 

Bapu Rao Swami

U19 12th Man
The only two Australian players I wish India had are Michael Bevan (India has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory many times, we need a finisher, Rohan Gavaskar is trying for that slot along with Bangar and Bahatule and Dinesh Mongia) and Andy Symonds (basically any allrounder, but guys like Flintoff and Pollock will be more appreciated) - these guys are very underrated particularly the latter (i'm talking ODI cricket). Had these guys been playing for any other team, they'd more appreciated. these guys are what I call "solid" Australian one day cricketers not like Gilchrist hits 150 on one day 10 in the next five!


Anway it'll be great to see who wins the game. The last time Australia chased against India in Gwalior, they lost by 77 runs.

If India gets 300+, with all the solid batting that Australia has, I doubt they'd win. This is a test for Australia post world cup ODI cricket, lets see whether the world champions can chase high targets, we know they've done that before ..thanx to Bevan , the finest finisher but talking post world cup - this is time to prove themselves. India will be bowling with a second string bowling attack, so no excuses from the Aussies this time :P


PS. now that McGrath has gone and Warne is 34, Australia will no longer dominate in either form of the game. Waugh will be missed :(
 
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Slow Love™

International Captain
Given Lee's abysmal form, I'm amazed at Ponting's willingness today to have him 1) bowl his ten overs, and 2) bowl at the death. If the idea was to restore his confidence, you'd hardly think it a good tactic (if anything, beyond his sixth over it just eroded further), and in a game where we were struggling to keep India below 300, you'd think we'd have just been better served bowling Symonds or Williams out (although it's possible that Williams just wasn't feeling well enough to complete his overs). Hell, even Clarke, who bowled four overs for a run-rate of six, as opposed to 8.3 a over for Lee.

That's just bad captaincy, in my opinion. From what I can tell, Ponting's field placings are very good, but his bowling decisions leave a lot to be desired (he often seems to exhibit a very low level of confidence in his slower bowlers).

I don't think Lee is crap though - he's previously demonstrated that he has what it takes to succeed at international level, and none of the Australian bowlers have had what could be described as a "good" summer, bar maybe Williams (and that could have as much to do with limited opportunity than anything else). But he definitely needs a break and some games at state level, because he's sliding fast.

Having said all this, I think Australia can win this game. India probably should have been shooting more for 320-340, given how few wickets they lost. Contrary to what Bapu Rao Swami says, the Aussies aren't too bad at chasing 300, and they chase better than any other team in the world. It's a fair target, but they probably fancy their chances.
 

iamdavid

International Debutant
Bapu Rao Swami said:
PS. now that McGrath has gone and Warne is 34, Australia will no longer dominate in either form of the game.
Warne's year off will help lengthen his carear , I reckon he'll play till 2006/07 , McGrath isnt gone , he's just had a few injuries & will be back by February.
 

Slow Love™

International Captain
Gilchrist out - it's a flyer of a start, but another failure against India for Gilly. The Indians must feel like they have his number.

Big blow for the Aussies, but I still favor them to win, so long as they don't throw their wickets away.
 

PY

International Coach
Australia 191/4 (32 overs)

Hayden 102*
Clarke 27*

RRR: 6.28

Hayden's wicket is required to make this a tight game IMO.

PY's Prediction: Australia win by 4 wickets. :(
 

mavric41

State Vice-Captain
Hayden dropped in the outfield by Balaji and the ball goes for 4.

Aus 4/204

100 to win off 100 balls.

Update - Hayden caught behind. for 109 off 107 balls

Aus 5/204

Game on
 

Slow Love™

International Captain
Very good century from Hayden, but really silly cricket over the course of those three balls. Can't help feeling that you get what you deserve when you show such contempt for the bowler, particularly when you've just been given a chance, and then been beaten the following ball. Lack of respect cost him his wicket.

It'll be tight here, but if the Aussies miss out by a small margin, I think it'll come down to Ponting's strange decision to persevere with Lee in the latter part of the Indian innings.

Real test for Bevo, but this situation is tailor made for him. Clarke's looking good at the other end, but I don't expect the tail to contribute much.
 

PY

International Coach
Game.Over.

Harvey out with 55 required from 7 overs.

Brett Lee in with Bevan.
 

Slow Love™

International Captain
If Bevan was in any kind of form, I'd still be pretty hopeful, but as it is, he looks pretty unconvincing.

Yeah, we're gone. We made an utter hash of this over the course of the last 7 overs or so. Should have won it, but also, shouldn't have been chasing so many.
 

mavric41

State Vice-Captain
Great win by India. The young pace bowlers Pathan and Balaji really stood up under pressure (unlike an unnamed blonde Australian bowler).
 

Bapu Rao Swami

U19 12th Man
Great win by India. The reason why Australians are in kind of decline is because you're squad is full daddy's. Get some youngsters, we've had Pathan, Balaji, Rohan all do well against you.

I think even SA and possibly Pakistan can beat Australia.
 

Magrat Garlick

Global Moderator
Pakistan? Who just went down 1-4 to NZ? (on very bowler-friendly pitches but still)

Excellent win though - Pathan and Balaji did a really good job with the ball, Gavaskar wasn't half bad either.

Hayden's wicket is required to make this a tight game IMO.
Yup, it was :)
 

Sudeep

International Captain
Bapu Rao Swami said:
Great win by India. The reason why Australians are in kind of decline is because you're squad is full daddy's. Get some youngsters, we've had Pathan, Balaji, Rohan all do well against you.

I think even SA and possibly Pakistan can beat Australia.

Aussies are not in kind of decline. Just a few very good players are out of form. I don't know what's wrong with Damien Martyn and Brett Lee. I don't believe Lee is rubbish, as sentiments from a lot of others shows so. He is just out of sorts. A player with 130 odd wickets in 75 matches isn't rubbish... Similar applies to Martyn. He's just going through an extended lean patch. I hope it ends soon.

About SA, Pakistan beating Aussies. Yes, they can do so.... But not consistently. Why AUssies are the best is because they consistently beat their competitors. If India wins the next two league matches against Australia, and then 2-0 in the final, then only I'll accept that Aussies are declining. If India can beat Aussies 4 in a row, only then I'll accept that they are as good as the Aussies.
 

Sudeep

International Captain
And just to add on the players in bad form, Michael Bevan looked out of sorts didn't he? He hadn't got a decent bat in the series... And he looked far from the finisher we know him to be...
 

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