IPL is a grand festival
.. .. . and hours before the match, huge crowds gather at TTK Road in Alwarpet
– just to catch a glimpse of MS Dhoni and other team members getting into team
bus from the hotel – thousands would cheer and wave at them – if MSD or a
Suresh Raina were to see and wave back – raptures would erupt … earlier days,
Indian team used to stay in Connemera Hotel and later at Taj Coromandel .. it
is not possible for commoners to get into hotel lobby or get near Cricketers as
there would be heavy security ring.
Miles
away, Pakistan are roasted at the 2nd Test at Adelaide in a pitch
where one thought bowlers would hold the upper hand. Adelaide
is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in
Australia. Adelaide is a coastal city situated on the eastern shores of Gulf St
Vincent. Port Adelaide is a suburb of
Adelaide lying about 14 kilometres northwest of the City of Adelaide. It lies
within the City of Port Adelaide Enfield and is the main port for the city of
Adelaide. The city was founded in 1836
and was planned as the capital for British province in Australia; named after Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (Adelaide
Amelia Louise Theresa Caroline; 1792 –
1849) was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and of Hanover as
spouse of William IV of the United Kingdom.
In the
24th over of Australia's innings, David Warner tucked a ball towards long leg
and rushed off for a second. The throw from Shaheen Afridi was wayward and went
for four overthrows. Warner was awarded six runs, much like Ben Stokes was in
the World Cup final, and brought up his half-century. Upon review of footage in the World Cup
final, it was clear that the throw had left the fielder's hand before the
batsmen had crossed each while taking the second run. In such cases, according
to the MCC laws, only five runs should be awarded to the batting team. In the
end, England tied the final with New Zealand, and then also the Super Over and
won the World Cup on a boundary countback.
~ some
may still debate, but that 1 run in inconsequential at Adelaide where Aussie
massacred and piled 589/3 and declared .. .. David Warner remained unbeaten on 335 off 418 balls with 39 hits to
the boundary and one over it. The other opener JA Burns was out for four and
then came a big partnership of 361 with
Marcus Labuschagne who scored 162. Steve
Smith was engaged in another partnership for 121 and then 99* with Mathew Wade.
One has
to scoff those reports that stated that Warner has been sorted out, Pakis have a game
plan and could dismiss him easily. Warner's issues this summer in the Ashes are
well-documented. Past experience revealed that Stuart Broad from around the wicket, fuller
and right at Warner's stumps and 95 runs from 10 innings (61 of them in just
one) the result. Broad dismissed Warner seven times in the Ashes that way. All
of Warner's 10 dismissals were by right-arm pace bowlers coming around the
wicket to him. England's right-arm fast bowlers bowled 149 out of the 184
deliveries Warner faced against them from around the wicket, or nearly five balls
every over!
A pink ball, a
floodlit evening, an evenly grassed Adelaide Oval pitch. These are conditions
in which, most of the time, bowlers have prospered. Josh Hazlewood described
Adelaide as his favourite pitch to bowl on in Australia. Before now David
Warner had never reached 50 in a day-night Test; before now, Marnus Labuschagne
had never made a first-class century against the pink ball. So there was an enormous amount to admire
about the way Warner and Labuschagne took their second opportunity in as many
innings to completely dominate Pakistan.
Warner's century, was his 17th in Australia, taking him level
with Michael Clarke and trailing only Sir Donald Bradman (18), Matthew Hayden
(21) and Ricky Ponting (23). At
Brisbane, David Warner, who hit his
first Test century since his year-long ban, wore shoes with names of his three
daughters embroidered on them during the ongoing Test against Pakistan in
Brisbane. David Warner and his wife Candice Warner were already parents to two
girls- Ivy Mae (5 years) and Indi Rae (3 years) - and were blessed with their
third daughter, Isla Rose (5 months) during the World Cup 2019.
Meantime, Steve Smith
has become the quickest cricketer to
7000 runs in Test match history. It's taken him only 70 matches, which is nine
quicker than the next best - West Indies legend Sir Garfield Sobers. Smith
averages 64.22 and has 26 tons to his name with a best of 239. He's 23 not out
today. After serving a one year ban, Steve Smith made a roaring comeback to
Test cricket as he scored a whopping 774 runs at an average of 110.57 in the
Ashes series this year.
.. ..
.. and what did he do after 1st Test at Gabba – he punished himself
! Smith punished himself by running all the way back from the Gabba stadium to
the team hotel as he missed the team bus. "I always punish myself when I
get no runs, just like I reward myself when I score runs with a chocolate bar
at the end of the night if I get a hundred," Smith said on Tuesday. "So
yeah, if I get no runs I always like to have a run or go to the gym or do something
just to give myself a bit of a punishment," he added.. Reacting to his
dismissal for the 7th time by
the leg-spinner, Smith, who could just manage four runs in the first Test
against Pakistan, said: "Yasir's send-off has given him extra motivation
to be more careful in the 2nd Test, which will be a Pink ball affair in Adelaide.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
30th Nov
2019.
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