Yes, I know that title suggests that we won, when actually we didn't.
But they didn't wipe the floor with us this time.
I didn't see it, I can't comment on the game the way I uaually do, but I do know that we had a decent chance of winning right up until near the end.
And Dhoni, whose comment mentioned in the previous post suggested they would continue to wipe the floor with us because (and only because, I hasten to add) our huge list of injuries, can take those words and ... place them somewhere rather less than comfy.
13 thoughts on this post:
Ha ha!! This is funny! We'll keep beating you(by a margin no greater than 40 runs or 5 wickets!) and you can keep celebrating the fact that you're not getting thrashed by us! That arrangement suits us to a 'T'....but maybe a compromise? how about we wipe the floor with you in 2 of the remaining matches and just put it past you in the other two....will that do?
I feel a little bad for coming on so hard at you....but the thing is..DO NOT SAY anything about Dhoni...the guy is pure class and the best ODI player in the world by the length of the great barrier reef. You can have a go at just about anyone else including my grandmother and Tendulkar (scratch that...not Tendulkar) but not MS Dhoni. Look I'm pretty realistic....I know our fast bowlers are shit and our fielding is tragically comic..but this guy holds it all together. We have enough big hitting retards with zero composure like the dumpy dolt who won the MOM today...in fact we're full of them. Any other era and we would have gone down like ninepins...but this guy is just plain awesome...and he comes along in the post match ceremony and praises the aforementioned dolt....pure class I tell you. Maybe I was a little harsh the last time around....you guys are rubbish and ponting and hussey...the guy was out of it for so long I had forgotten about him..Cheers!
That was a really weird match. It left one... rather emotionless.
The first innings was actually not that bad, it was a good move to have Ponting open with Watto, and have the Hussmeister jump in right thereafter. Praised be the Huss, he is totally cool. Altogether the batting felt good, but was a bit too slow for my taste. In the end they were all getting wet over 229 being "a competitive total" but it felt rather meh, to be honest. I remember especially Harbh choking us to death.
Our bowling was also not bad. Sids and el Bollo are invaluable, Mitch played a really good game, he had much more control than usual, and NMH* took GG with his second delivery (we bow to you and kneel before you oh Lord, who looks great when sweaty). It was also a good decision not to have Watto bowl at all... although we could have needed a couple of his "OMFG I just surprised myself"-wickets, but I guess that would have been too risky.
But the Indian batsmen were tough as leather. Dhoni is a piece of... especially tough leather. At the end Punts had one of his famous blackouts in the upper chamber, the lights went out and he sent Voges in to bowl. Moises, who I was begging to lead us out of Eygpt and to be at least half a worthy successor to Timsymouse, got also whacked about the pear after a couple or so of good overs. Then Mitch was tasked to do some Lee/Sids work at the end as he had had some really great unleaky phases in between, but got spanked as well. Mitchcam showed him getting grey within seconds. I wish he would not always wear his heart on his face like this. Well, one must admit, the Indians were almost safely home at that point, so they could knock us around for a bit.
But over all it wasn't that bad, we only have to make some slight adjustments. My plan is Adam and Eve out, King David in. Putting 30 more on the total is much better than having a guy who does not only look like a rice noodle (seriously you can read the newspaper through him) but also plays like one. Keeping him in for the bowling does more harm than good, and his batting is no reason not to replace him by a fulltime batter. Warner is blazing hot on the bat and could provide us with the odd Dhoni-esque beauty, which we really need, and he's sharp in the field, he should get the call imho. And also he is very likeable, you will see :p
For the bowling I suggest Punts can take some responsibility here. His econ is cool (somewhere around 3 they say) and being more useful than Voges is not exactly rocket science. I would really love to see him bowl... the idea makes me curious.
My poor Saussie caught a couple of really nasty blows and stood a bit beside himself in general, not his fault though, his club has just signed KP II. I guess once he has settled into the conditions he will stump and catchbehind like a mad stumper and catchbehinder.
There was some dodgy umpiring, like Cams getting out for not being out and NMH not being given his second wicket, which didn't help our cause, but I guess it wouldn't have helped us either, if it had all been correct... We either need to score 30-50 runs more or we need a recipe against the Indian batters.
It is obvious that I have no clue about cricket. In my home country the national sport is "sitting on trees and throwing various sorts of nuts at each other". But there's no blog about that.
*the M in his name stands for Messiah btw.
And now for something completely different (children may watch but will need explanation by adults), and please close your eyes at 0:07-0:08 unless you want to fall over dead:
Swannp Thing
what is this that stands before me
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Thanks for the run down, Wes. I was sorry to have to miss it today. I heard about the dodgy umpiring and was dead impressed to hear how Punter played as an opener. I would like to see Warner play and would much rather Stuey was there than Henriques, but I think we have to accept our bowling is lacking without Lee; Mitchy and Sids being so unpredictable and my Lord NMH who surely needs to come home to me for a week's break.
Can't wait to play this lot when we aren't struggling with injuries. We'd walk all over them (again).
Dhoni is such an arse.
Yes I would like Stu as well but there are not enough slots unfortunately for another two NSWers *lol*. But I am not willing to accept that the bowling is lacking without Lee... it mustn't! The time has come to think about the post-Lee era. I just wish Hilf would get back on track. Best thing would be they send him home to Tas to get some actual match practice. I can vividly imagine how is he slowly but steadily rotting on the bench. If they count on him for the future they should send him back.
When are we going to win again??? :( That will really show Dhoni...
That's the way of sport, isn't it, my dear PB - sometimes you will have injured players and it will cause you to lose to sides that usually you would walk all over. It is also the way that some people are only fans when their team is winning ...
I'm with you, Wes - when is Hilfy going to get it together? He had a great Ashes series, but he seems to have lost it recently. Maybe he had too big a break. I still think Mitchy is too unpredictable to rely on but we still have my Nathan (who maintains his indestructability - for now ...)
Sid,
Sorry... I just couldn't resist. Why the Dhoni hate?
:-(
I can understand people hating Yuvi (even some of us who find him invaluable for the team can't help but roll our eyes), or Bhajji, or Sreesanth.
Or even Zak, or Gautam. Perhaps even Tendulkar (cuz he continues to play on and on and on....)
But Dhoni?
You're always welcome, Leela - I had nothing but respect for Dhoni until a few days back. I even credited his batting in an earlier post. And I still think he is a great batsman and a good captain. He is a real leader.
It was the comments about one more day of training not making a difference for the Australians. We know we're injury ridden, no need to poke fun. Just seemed rude to me. I'm not a huge Ponting fan, but I can't imagine even him poking fun at an opponent's injuries.
I was so looking forward to this series because I thought it would be more evenly matched and thus more interesting than 6-1 arsekicking 2009 (the series against England) but now it just seems our injuries have left us with no chance. That's why I was so happy that we didn't get our butts kicked today. It's not ideal, but when the chips are down you have to take positives where you can find them.
Sid,
I don't think he was making fun of injuries per se. Team India has gone thru its own injury issues recently. If you see he was mentioning that one more day of practice will not...
A little smart ass, I know... but he does get all smart ass when he talks to the media; those of us who have been sorta following his press conferences know that he and the (Indian) media have been having a whole lot of tiffs lately (owing to leaks regdg team selection and such stuff).
He rarely holds grudges, and hardly ever gets into arguments.
I once saw Shoaib Akhtar hurl a beamer at him and he just glared back.
As you can well guage, I am as much a fan of his as you are of Hauritz.
:p
I'm sure I'll get over it, Leela, it was just a small thing after all. But I can't say I'll ever be a huge fan after that ...
He is kind of sexy.
I won't get over my dislike of Graeme Swann.
Yay!!! Thanks Sid.
Did I say Nathan Hauritz is the greatest spinner ever?
He is.
:P
These are some long ass comments! Anyway, Aus needs to do something about their bowling. And let Moises and Voges bowl only if they want to lose. WHY DID VOGES BOWL?
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