The last leg of the Warm-up matches

© AFP : A fan feels sleepy as she watches the proceedings on Friday :)

I can bet you it would not have been this boring... Unless you were witness to the India - WI encounter :)) Got back home just in time from office, and I switch on the TV only to see that India is batting second - "Shucks ! India should've batter first. That's what I am here for". But nevertheless, I thought WI would set a target of atleast close to 250, and we would be in for a late night entertainment. But alas !!! Entertainment was redefined yesterday :)

And hence, I could not get a better pic than the one I just put here :) The final leg of warm-up matches is now over, and just about a day to go for the World Cup to officially kick off with the grand opening ceremony scheduled to take place on the very same ground that India challenged Holland on !! Let's look at a snapshot of the day's proceedings...

Australia vs. England
Result : Australia won by 5 wickets
Brief Scores :
ENG : 197 (48.3 overs)
MP Vaughan 62(73), IR Bell 56(79), SW Tait 4-33, SR Clark 3-16
AUS : 200/5 (40.5 overs)
AC Gilchrist 72(82), SR Watson 55(68), PD Collingwood 1-15, MS Panesar 1-16

Australia were playing for pride, after having suffered a 2-0 whitewash down under. Experts commented that the loss was just consequential, and AUS were definitely out to prove that right ! Vaughan and Bell gave England a very good start and took them to 122/1, when Bell got out to Hogg in the 26th over. 9 runs later, Vaughan fell too, and that spelt problems for England. They could only manage 60 more runs in the next 20+ overs, and that more or less closed the English chapter in this warm up game. for AUS, Gilchrist and Watson looked amazing with their strokeplay, and added 140 runs for the first wicket. ENG were never in the chase to victory after that. AUS reached the target in the 41st over, and that brought about an easy win for the baggy greens !

New Zealand vs. Sri Lanka
Result : New Zealand won by 18 runs
Brief Scores :
NZ : 285/8 (50 overs)
L Vincent 70, SP Fleming 65, PG Fulton 59, SL Malinga 2-26, MF Maharoof 1-23
SL : 267 (48.2 overs)
WU Tharanga 106, LPC Silva 40, JDP Oram 2-26, SB Styris 2-44

Having lost out to Bangladesh in their earlier warm-up game, New Zealand were definitely expected to pose a comeback in this one... And did they stage one ! Vincent and Fleming set the stage for a big score for the Kiwis... A nice late strike by Fulton made sure they reached a handsome total of 285. This was always going to be difficult for Sri lanka, after Muralitharan was trashed all around, conceding 64 off his 10. Tharanga started beautifully and went on to score a wonderful 100 ! But he did not get too much support from the other end, considering some lovely medium-pace bowling by NZ, in the form of Oram and Styris who took 4 wickets between them. The match got close enough, but SL lost all their wickets within 19 runs of the target with 10 balls to spare ! But SL is one team to watch out for, in this World Cup !!

Pakistan vs. South Africa
Result : Pakistan won by 7 wickets
Brief Scores :
SA : 199 (48.3 overs)
LL Bosman 53(57), AG Prince 35(55), M Sami 2-13, U Gul 2-20
PAK : 200/3 (44.3 overs)
Y Khan 79, M Hafeez 49, M Yousuf 48*, A Nel 1-21, CK Langeveldt 1-21

South Africa has not experienced the best start to this world cup, and certainly not the best start in any match in the prelude to this World Cup so far !! In this match too, they were reduced to 93 for 5. Boucher chipped in a bit of support to Bosman who was the key anchor for SA to help them get to 199. But this was never going to be enough against the formidable Pakistanis. The men-in-form, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf rolled on, and made sure Pakistan reached the target comfortably, with lots of balls to spare. Pakistan play the first match of this WC against West Indies on 13th March... Watch out for that one !!

West Indies vs. India
Result : India won by 9 wickets
Brief Scores :
WI : 85 (25.5 overs)
BC Lara 22(35), MM Patel 4-10, IK Pathan 3-25
IND : 86/1 (18.3 overs)
KD Karthik 38*(67), AR Uthappa 35*(43), DB Powell 1-21

When Brian Lara got out on 22, he would have never thought that his would be the highest individual score for his team that day... When he was creaming those boundaries that he DID hit, the crowds thought they were in for some high quality entertainment from the master batsman. But, when he was in two minds about playing a shot on a Pathan delivery, he had to walk back towards the pavilion, dejected. West Indies were 53/3, and they somehow managed to succumb to 62/8, before India completed the formalities to roll them up for 85. A target of 86 never seemed to be a problem for India. It would have just meant lesser practice time in the middle for them. Sehwag got out yet again - Caught behind to a tame delivery outside off. But Karthik came in next, and got some good practice knocking the West Indian bowlers for singles and twos and the occasional boundary. Uthappa and Karthik managed to sail India home to the target in just the 19th over, and announcing their readiness for the World Cup !!