The proteas (South Africans) have certainly arrived and how, the sound thrashing they administered to a hapless West Indian team at the capitals' Feroz Shah Kotla only went a long way towards reaffirming their favourites status and served up a warning with capital letters to the rest of the participating nations regrading the will and determination of this team to shed the "chokers" tag once and for all.
Skipper Graeme Smith and the team management did certainly catch the opposition and media unawares by opting for a three pronged spin attack comprising of the offie Johan Botha,new leggie on the block Imran Tahir and traditional left arm trundler Robin Peterson.Smith's masterstroke of opening the bowling with Johan Botha did also certainly pay rich dividends with the unconventional offie dismissing the uber dangerous Chris Gayle for a paltry personal score of two with the team total also reading the same at the fall of the first wicket.
A century plus second wicket partnership etween the younger Bravo brother Darren and the grizzled southpaw opener Devon Smith did certainly more than steady the West Indian ship and cause more than a furrow or two on the forehead of the opposing captain,while Darren Bravo stroked his way elegantly to a fluent and classy 73 of 82 balls emblellishing his knock with 8 boundaries and a solitary six, his partner in arms Devon Smith was nerves personified alaways looked like a cat on a hot tin roof yet struggled his way through to a personal score of 36 before being dismissed by Imran Tahir for his maiden wicket in South African colours.
The fall of the second wicket did certainly open the floodagtes for a brief while and the men from the Caribbean soon saw themselves tottering at a rather unflattering score of 120/4 and though a resilient 58 run partnership between the older Bravo brother Dwayne and the old warhorse Shivnarine Chanderpaul did indeed provide the Windies with renewed hope it proved to be nothing more than a bried flash in the pan in the ultimate analysis as the West Indian batsmen soon collapsewd like a pack of cards following the demise of Dwayne Bravo for forty impressive runs when he was led up the garden path by his team mate who called him through for a non existent single.
Thinking out of the box,failure to conform to stereotype and a cavalier spirit personified in the form of a bold decision to include three spinners within their playing eleven did indeed pay off for the men in green as their spinning trio ended up ensnaring six opposing batsmen in their web with the lahore born leggie returning the rather flattering match figures of 4/41 from his allotted quota of ten overs in his debut match in the Protean colours while dale Steyn and Johan Botha helped themselves to three and two wickets respectively.
A paltry score of 222 from 47.3 overs was never going to prove a formidable challenge for the marauding South African batsmen and though the West Indian opening duo of Kemar Roach and Suleiman Benn did certainly send a shiver or two up the spine of the South African dressing room by soon reducing them to 20./2, this proved to be the last hurrah for the West Indians as the batsman in form AB De Villiers and skipper Graeme Smith did more thansteady the ship and jitters with a commanding 119 run partnership in quick time.While the indomitable De Villiers did indeed provide a batting masterclass with his unbeaten 107 of 105 balls studded with 8 boundary hits and 2 booming sixes, Smith struggled,edged,nerdled and mistimed his way to a personal total of 45 from 78 balls before his off stump was sent cartwheeling by Kieron Pollard.
J.P.Duminy and the irrepresible De Villiers then saw their team through to a resounding victory with 7 overs and 1 ball to spare and with seven wickets in the team's kitty,with the dimunitive Duminy creditably coping with a barrage of short pitched deliveries unleashed by the opposing speedsters thereby ending up undefeated on a pleasing to eye 42 which did certainly enhance his status of one of the better young batsmen in international cricket anmd though the thrashing at the hands of the South Africans must certainly have dented West Indian hopes and pride, the knee injury sustained by their premier all rounder Dwayne Bravo while horibly slipping in his delivery stride must certainly be causing sleepless nights within the Windies team management as the clouds of uncertainity hang over his further participation in the tournament.
Proteas ki ho gayi balle,balle,balle,West Indians thaley,thaley,thaley.
SUNDEEP CHOPRA.
Skipper Graeme Smith and the team management did certainly catch the opposition and media unawares by opting for a three pronged spin attack comprising of the offie Johan Botha,new leggie on the block Imran Tahir and traditional left arm trundler Robin Peterson.Smith's masterstroke of opening the bowling with Johan Botha did also certainly pay rich dividends with the unconventional offie dismissing the uber dangerous Chris Gayle for a paltry personal score of two with the team total also reading the same at the fall of the first wicket.
A century plus second wicket partnership etween the younger Bravo brother Darren and the grizzled southpaw opener Devon Smith did certainly more than steady the West Indian ship and cause more than a furrow or two on the forehead of the opposing captain,while Darren Bravo stroked his way elegantly to a fluent and classy 73 of 82 balls emblellishing his knock with 8 boundaries and a solitary six, his partner in arms Devon Smith was nerves personified alaways looked like a cat on a hot tin roof yet struggled his way through to a personal score of 36 before being dismissed by Imran Tahir for his maiden wicket in South African colours.
The fall of the second wicket did certainly open the floodagtes for a brief while and the men from the Caribbean soon saw themselves tottering at a rather unflattering score of 120/4 and though a resilient 58 run partnership between the older Bravo brother Dwayne and the old warhorse Shivnarine Chanderpaul did indeed provide the Windies with renewed hope it proved to be nothing more than a bried flash in the pan in the ultimate analysis as the West Indian batsmen soon collapsewd like a pack of cards following the demise of Dwayne Bravo for forty impressive runs when he was led up the garden path by his team mate who called him through for a non existent single.
Thinking out of the box,failure to conform to stereotype and a cavalier spirit personified in the form of a bold decision to include three spinners within their playing eleven did indeed pay off for the men in green as their spinning trio ended up ensnaring six opposing batsmen in their web with the lahore born leggie returning the rather flattering match figures of 4/41 from his allotted quota of ten overs in his debut match in the Protean colours while dale Steyn and Johan Botha helped themselves to three and two wickets respectively.
A paltry score of 222 from 47.3 overs was never going to prove a formidable challenge for the marauding South African batsmen and though the West Indian opening duo of Kemar Roach and Suleiman Benn did certainly send a shiver or two up the spine of the South African dressing room by soon reducing them to 20./2, this proved to be the last hurrah for the West Indians as the batsman in form AB De Villiers and skipper Graeme Smith did more thansteady the ship and jitters with a commanding 119 run partnership in quick time.While the indomitable De Villiers did indeed provide a batting masterclass with his unbeaten 107 of 105 balls studded with 8 boundary hits and 2 booming sixes, Smith struggled,edged,nerdled and mistimed his way to a personal total of 45 from 78 balls before his off stump was sent cartwheeling by Kieron Pollard.
J.P.Duminy and the irrepresible De Villiers then saw their team through to a resounding victory with 7 overs and 1 ball to spare and with seven wickets in the team's kitty,with the dimunitive Duminy creditably coping with a barrage of short pitched deliveries unleashed by the opposing speedsters thereby ending up undefeated on a pleasing to eye 42 which did certainly enhance his status of one of the better young batsmen in international cricket anmd though the thrashing at the hands of the South Africans must certainly have dented West Indian hopes and pride, the knee injury sustained by their premier all rounder Dwayne Bravo while horibly slipping in his delivery stride must certainly be causing sleepless nights within the Windies team management as the clouds of uncertainity hang over his further participation in the tournament.
Proteas ki ho gayi balle,balle,balle,West Indians thaley,thaley,thaley.
SUNDEEP CHOPRA.
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