Fantastic: 4 Teams Claim ODI Status!

ICCWCL2: A Dream Come True Chance!

It has always been a dream for smaller teams to claim either T20I status or ODI status. When ICC announced latest team rankings earlier this month, a list of 80 teams were in that ranking. Now the job was to claim ODI status for these teams! And 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two gave 4 teams an opportunity to qualify for ODI status. Even-though these teams are not officially named on the ODI ranking, they have officially claimed ODI status as said by ICC's higher official himself. The tournament took place from 20-27 April 2019. There were six teams involved in this tournament. The teams were Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Papua New Guinea, United States and the tournament hosts Namibia. This was a historic tournament as well for the top 4 teams left in this tournament. A look at the team standings of 2019WCL2:

 

 

 

 

All Teams Individually!

Now, lets talk about all the teams individually. Starting off with Canada. Canada was not on it's best in this year's competition. They need to work hard way more to be called a stable team. They played there first match against Hong Kong which they horribly lost. They managed to post 222/8 with the highest score of 52* made by Davy Jacobs. Hong Kong won this match comfortably by 7 wickets. They lost  the next two matches as well, then won against Papua New Guinea. They won the next game against United States as well. Unfortunately, they last on the 5th position in the tournament. Next up is Hong Kong. This team by far has been the most shocking in this tournament. They played pretty well before this tournament. They played in Asia Cup and its qualifier. In the qualifier, they were a pretty good team and they fought well against India in that match. But when they joined this tournament everything changed. They won the first quite comfortably against Canada, which should've boosted there confidence but it turned opposite. The lost the next four matches and also lost the fifth-place qualifier in this tournament. They have to work extremely hard to get back the respect they earned while playing the Asia Cup. Papua New Guinea and United States both lost the first games to there oppositions respectively and won the next ones. Then they clashed with each other where PNG faced disappointment. They were all out on 127 in 39.3 overs with the highest score being just 32 by L Siaka. USA won the match quite comfortably in 19.2 overs without giving away a single wicket. They were performing equally the same throughout the tournament and then they clashed again in third-place qualifier where PNG took revenge despite a good fighting effort from USA. This match was officially called a ODI match by ICC. A total of 12 players made there ODI debut in this match and it was the first international match USA played in 15 years. It all comes down to the last two teams, in-fact the table-toppers, Oman and Namibia. No one was expecting these teams to play sensible and stable cricket, but they left the world's mouth open. They played exceptionally well through out the tournament, Oman won their first match against USA. Namibia lost their first match which was a thriller. They were only two runs short and there were two balls left as well but the last man Z Groenewald was run out. The team's captain was good through out the tournament with the high score of 92. Namibia lost only 2 matches in this tournament and Oman lost only one match!  

The Final and Final Thoughts!

Oman and Namibia went to the finals where Namibia took revenge from Oman for the loss of there previous rivalry. Namibia made 226/7 and Oman in reply only made 96! The hosts became champions of the tournament. Well, Good luck to all of the teams and I hope every single team come backs strongly! Who played better throughout? Lets leave it to you guys!

 

Ireland vs England: One-sided or Competitive?

One-sided or competitive?

So, this is the first question that comes in everyone's mind, Is this series one sided? So to answer this we have to look at Ireland's squad as well as England's, their luck, commitment, hard work and how the players perform as a team together throughout the match. 

Ireland: A Fine Team

Irish squad looks fine in my opinion. They have players like Paul Stirling, Kevin O'Brien, Tim Murtagh and George Dockrell who are well experienced and can turn the match other way around. The main concern about their squad is William Porterfield's form!

Porterfield's last 6 innings: 

Porterfield doesn't do much with the bat these days. So he should be considered at 7 or 6 until he gains his form back. Niall O'Brien's replacement hasn't been found still. He has retired from international cricket and now working as a commentator. Niall was the best wicket-keeper/batsman Ireland has produced till date and his replacement has been made by Andrew Balbirnie/Gary Wilson.  We haven't seen excellent wicket-keeping from these players but they have courage and resolution to replace Niall, time will tell about this concern in Ireland's squad. A bowling all-rounder is required for the Ireland team. In my opinion, Tim Murtagh can take on that role. He can hit the bowl well and provide a decent score to his team as we have seen in the (Ireland vs Afghanistan) test match. The fast-bowlers department in Ireland's squad is pretty decent. Tim Murtagh and Boyd Rankin are two famous fast bowlers in this area. Mark Adair has also been included in the playing XI of Ireland. He is a good right-arm fast bowler with potential to pick wickets. He can bat as well! Spin department is quiet shocking in this match! Both Simi Singh and James-Cameron Dow are not playing! Clearly a big step taken by the Ireland Cricket selection committee. The only professional spinner in the whole XI is George Dockrell! He can bowl really good but you need a partner to get it going! A partner over here can only be a part-timer. Ireland is playing with a lot of part-time so we'll see how the capatin uses them.
  

England: A Balanced Team

England have mostly been balanced. I don't have much to say about there out of form players, but here are some points. Tom Curran is really out of form. He hasn't been a regular for England but when he does participate, he doesn't give his best at all. Maybe, it is his day today but so far no hopes. 

Tom Curran last 5 innings:

Another one is Liam Plunkett. He hasn't been on his best as well. He was injured before this match. But he is one of the most experienced player in this squad. He can be handy if it is his day.  But, form matters. They have a lot of in-form players with the likes of Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Adil Rashid. They have debutants such as Jofra Archer and David Willey. 

Final Thoughts.

England have most of the chances but Ireland have got to a pretty good start in the first 6 overs. So, personally I am with Ireland but statistics take England's side. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
 



 

Pakistan vs Australia: Where Pakistan Is Going Wrong?

Normal Day At The Box Office!

Australia being 5 times world cup champions are now going for it again. They lost series against India and England in late 2017 and early 2018. This was there downfall and nobody expected them to start winning matches. But they came back by winning the second match of the Australia vs South Africa series in 2018, even though they lost the final game. They lost the next series against India, but defeated them in 2019. The 2019 Australia vs India was fantastic, from 2-0 to 2-3. By winning this series they were able to rise back and show there power in cricket. Currently they are playing against Pakistan and have already gone 2-0 in a 5-match One Day International series.

Pakistan's Laziness, 

An English idiom, grapes are sour which refers to a fox who tries hard to jump and catch grapes which are attached to a tree but doesn't get there every-time it tries to do so and says that the grapes are sour, so it doesn't try hard anymore to achieve it. Pakistan Cricket Team led by Shoaib Malik is doing the same thing. After 2nd ODI, Shoaib Malik said that they were not playing to win the series but to increase the strength of bench. This statement was shocking to Pakistan fans and ex-cricketers such as Rameez Raja. Pakistan team in the 1st ODI were not stable even after a century from Haris Sohail. Most people will not agree, but the century from Haris Sohail was a slow century where as according to the pitch, the century should've been in range of 70-80 balls. Nobody was playing an hard hitting innings in the 1st ODI except for Imad Wasim. Bowling in 1st ODI was terrible from Pakistan. Even the ball was turning but nobody was able to pick wickets early and Australia won the match comfortably. In the 2nd ODI, Pakistan got the worst start possible. Openers departed early but a stable century from Mohammad Rizwan and a decent 60 from Shoaib Malik got Pakistan to 284. The bowling was again terrible. The only bowler to show aggression and calmness in his bowling was Muhammad Hassnain. He was bowling good bouncers and wicket-to-wicket good length balls. But, Australia was batting with brilliance and won the game with eight wickets.

Final Words,

Today, Pakistan will play third ODI against Australia and I'm hoping that Pakistan can come back strongly and win it. All eyes would be on Muhammad Hassnain from Pakistan and Aaron Finch from Australia as Finch has gained his form back. According to me, Imad should be sent at 7 or 6 (if this position is possible) because he can hit some quick shots rather then the slow middle and top order batsmen. Hopefully, Abid Ali and Saad Ali will also get a chance in the squad so it will be interesting to see what type of players they can turn out to be. Pakistan need to keep the momentum high to win this match. Australia doesn't need any changes as the squad is absolutely fit and can beat Pakistan again (hopefully not!). Well till next post, Goodbye! :)