Australia destroyed at Trent Bridge

Trent Bridge 2015: Australia were humiliated by bowled out on 60 and eventually losing by an innings.
Trent Bridge 2018: Australia were thrashed by a record margin of 242 runs after conceding a record 481 runs.

The only difference in both occasions was: This time the coloring of clothes wasn't white.

In sports, there is a saying: "Defeat always hurts. The intensity of the pain is directly proportional to the manner in which it is achieved".

On Trent Bridge, the intensity of pain was as high as it goes for an Aussie supporter. The only thing which went in Australia favor whole day was winning the coin toss. It was all downhill from then.

Trent Bridge has a special place in England's heart. They do better here than most grounds in the country. In last few years, they beat Australia here in 2013 and 2015. They smashed the world record back then 444-3 against Pakistan here. Yesterday again, they beat the hell out of the Aussies' hapless bowlers to reach a whopping 481. This was absolute carnage.

Sure, it was a batting pitch and Australia are playing without at least 5 of their first-choice players. Also, England are arguably at their best in their ODI cricket history. But, there have been better pitches and worse bowlers to face and England have lost an ODI game to Scotland not too far ago. Therefore, we mustn't shrug this incredible accomplishment of England cricket off. Mind you, two of the England's players: Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes who would walk into this side weren't even playing.

The whole England batting lineup was a highlight clip. On their way to destruction, they created plenty of records. On the other hand, Australia had nowhere to hide. You know you have a problem when your most economical bowler is Aaron Finch.

England are looking like a side having all bases covered. With top-order firepower from Bairstow, Roy and Hales to Middle-order solidity by Root and Stokes and finally having Morgan, Buttler and Ali for explosive finishes. I know that It will amount to little until England do it in a global tournament but the future of England cricket has never looked brighter to me. 

A Rohit's Masterclass

Another day. Another India-Sri Lanka ODI. "How do they manage to play all these games and I still manage to get so excited with all of it?", that's the question I was asking today morning before the game started.  India were on a very slippery slope. They were 1-0 down in a best of three match series. One tiny misstep and the series is gone. Just like that. India don't lose ODI series to Sri Lanka. At least not at home anyway. A lot was at stake.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand were flying. Not too much time had passed since India annihilated them 9-0 across formats in their own home and all they could feel at the end of the series was: "Thank God. That's over". This time around, Sri Lanka were playing better. They almost had India make the all time lowest ODI total at Dharamshala. They had avoided the white-wash in test series. They had one hand on the ODI series trophy already. From being 9-0 down, this was almost a surprise. Even for them. This is the stuff dreams usually are made of. Every Sri Lankan fan was happy. Coach was happy. Nick Pothas (Sri Lankan coach) even termed the Dharamshala win as: "We have found a winning formula." Players were high on confidence. Perera was enjoying the job of captain.

As as Indian cricket fan, Dharamshala was shameful. It was the worst batting from top order I had ever seen from any Indian team. If I had my way, I would have fired those XI guys or banned them for a year or so. I was boiling with anger. "How dare they? We don't reach 29-7. FFS, Use the brain to bat and all that". Everything coming out of my mouth was either a swear word or a disparaging remark about the performance of Indian team. It was dreadful to watch. They batted like a bunch of clown that day.

But as most of you must be aware of, the anger of a cricket fan is always ephemeral (At least most of the times). I was excited again to watch Men in blue take on the field today. The onus was on Rohit and co. to keep the series alive. Sri Lanka had finally managed to break their 12 game losing streak. No whitewash at least this time.

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first as part of the plan. The winning formula as described by Nick Pothas. It was a good start to the game for them.

Sadly, the good part ended there.

Sri Lanka were caught in the jaws of the ultimate monster Rohit Sharma. Let me tell you whole tale from beginning.

It started with Dhawan-Rohit bromance. One of the best ODI partnerships in modern times. The masterstroke of putting Rohit-Dhawan together at 2013 champions trophy  has been ridiculously successful. All they do is pile up hundred after hundred partnerships at the top and help India win games of cricket. Both Dhawan and Rohit complement each other so well. Dhawan gives Rohit breathing space in the infancy of the innings. One of the reasons Rohit has really clicked as an opening batsman can be attributed to the fact that Dhawan gets going quickly. Since Rohit tends to take his time, Dhawan breaks the shackles at start and Rohit joins the party later. He doesn't need field restriction or any such bullshit. When he hits the ball, it stays hit. The ball goes into the crowd or in the car parking area or wherever he wants it to. Dhawan on the other hand is a sweet timer of the ball and he has often lost his wicket in pursuit of quick runs in beginning.

Start was crucial. Rohit started cautiously. His first fifty came off 65 balls. The blade was being sharpened. Dhawan had got out after a well-made 68 off 67.

Partnership with Iyer: The plan of the duo was to tuck it around. Nudge for single or double. Keep the game moving forward. Shreyas was in good nick as well. He was desperate to get the monkey of horror debut off his back. He failed miserably in his first ODI at Dharamshala and he was determined to more than make up for that here at Mohali. He played a fine innings of well made 88 off 70 balls. For someone only playing his second ODI, I'd take that everyday of the week.

Rohit finally got to his hundred. The celebration was a bit muted. Game was still on. Sri Lanka were still in the game by virtue of keeping the run rate in check. Sadly this will be the last time, they will actually feel like being in the game. For Rohit Sharma, hundred meant his second wedding anniversary had just got a little sweeter. The missus was there in the balcony. Both were sending kisses to each other. It was dream stuff for Rohit. Everything was going as part of his plan now.

Now it was time for monster to wake up. We all know how dangerous Rohit Sharma is when he completes the hundred after 30th over. Sri Lanka had till now managed to keep their head out of the water. Runs were coming, but the scoring rate was nowhere close to being in unchaseable zone. "No worries yet", thought Thisara Perera.

Thisara perera is an interesting captain. I felt extremely sad for Angelo Mathews who had to quit captaincy because of the twin failures: First Thisara Perera drops a sitter which eliminates Sri Lanka from CT'17 and then Zimbabwe beating Sri Lanka at home in an ODI series. Imagine Perera holding onto the catch, Sri Lanka reaches the semis of an ICC tournament and suddenly Angelo wouldn't have felt pressure to resign from the best job he ever had.

Perera had a dream debut as captain at Dharamshala. Everything he was touching was turning to Gold. Win the toss: Check. Bowl first: Check. (Manage to put India to 29-7: Dream comes true) Skittle India out cheaply: Check. Win the game with oodle of overs to spare: Check.
It all came together there.

Not so much at Mohali.

Rohit Sharma was the mastermind behind it.

From first 100 to second 100, he reached at a ridiculous rate. Everything he was hitting was going for a six. Their best bowler Lakmal was torn apart by Hitman. When Lakmal was hit for 4 sixes an over, it was almost a relief for him. Nuwan Pradeep fought and fought hard. He was eyeing for that wide line Yorker. Rohit decimated him. He ended up with figures of 10-0-106-0. The highest conceded by a Sri Lankan bowler in an ODI (beating Murlitharan 10-0-99-0 in Sydney). Rohit was hitting sixes in every part of the ground. He was shuffling across the stumps and hitting it over square-leg. When the line was straighter, he was scooping them over fine-leg for six. When the fine-leg was pushed back, he was lifting them over mid-off for six. He was not playing against Sri Lanka, he was playing with them. Not even playing, rather toying with them.

In many ways, the second double hundred was inevitable. Not to boast my omniscient cricketing brain, but I had a feeling of this when he reached 120. He was hitting it as clean as whistle. The pitch had eased out and Sri Lanka doesn't have express pace. The only thing in the way was the fact that the square boundaries are huge at Mohali. But the insanity of the innings was that each one of the sixes was aimed at spectators' heads. It was as if he had a personal grudge against someone in the crowd and he was trying to hit him constantly. It was a marvelous innings to watch.

Now Rohit is having the best day of his life, while Pradeep and Lakmal are having their respective worsts. Last game at Dharamshala, Rohit was having the worst game as captain and Lakmal was having his finest. Cricket, You little beauty.

Finally, he reached from 197 to 201 with two doubles. The missus was crying now, while the whole India was applauding the Hitman show. Hardly you will see any other sport with so many emotions attached there. I can't speak from first hand experience, but I can certainly understand what she must have been going through. It is like feeling helpless as all you can do is pray. You can't change the outcome of what is going to happen next ball, whether your spouse is going to play a rubbish shot and get out, whether he will hit for a six, whether he will get hurt from a delivery. All you can do is hold your hands together and watch things unravel. That must be hard. Being so helpless. It is almost playing the innings vicariously.

This was his third double ton in ODI. It is mental to even think that all other players (around 2,300 other ones) have managed just 4 double centuries, while he sits alone at the top with 3. If everything goes as per plan, in not very far distant future, he may get another double ton. All he has got to do is to ensure that he reaches his hundred around 30 over mark and beat the hell out of the ball from then onward.

Watching this innings was a moment of utmost joy for me. This was a must win game for India and once again they managed to come back from the brink. They had managed to come back from 1-0 behind to win the series against New Zealand as well. I have a feeling that they are going to pull it off in Vizag as well. Can't wait to see that.

A Trip to the Green Park

So close, yet so far: This is what 4.693 million New Zealand people must be thinking right now. They let the opportunity of winning their maiden ODI series against India in India slip away. Just like that. They had exceeded everyone's expectations on this tour. Of selectors, of coaches, of the rest of the world who wrote them off. They just couldn't overcome the demons in their own head. 35 to get in 24 with 6 wickets in hand, you'd think that it was kiwi's game to lose. They did lose it.

Before the start of this ODI tour, India were flying. They had just beaten Australia quite comprehensively 4-1, the only loss coming when they chose to rest two of their best bowlers. It was almost as if they took a pity on Aussies' plight and let them avoid the bluewash. Before that, they had annihilated Sri Lanka in their own home 9-0 across all formats. Before that, runners-up in a quite impressive champions' trophy compaign. And before that, some other series win and so on for the last 2 years. They had been drubbing opponents for fun on their way to number 1 ranking in tests and ODIs.

New Zealand, on the other hand haven't been quite the same after the exit of flomboyant and the one and only Brendon 'Baz' McCullum. They had a forgettable Champions' trophy when they failed to win a single match. Two losses against England and Bangladesh and the game against Australia washed out, brought their exit in the first round. They had been struggling for quite a while in pursuit of making their way among the top teams. This series was supposed to be a no match for them. India were supposed to take them out and use these games as a practice for coming tough South African tour.

Except they didn't. New Zealand started the tour by stunning 1.3 billion Indians. They pulled off an enormous and incredible run chase in the toughest of conditions at Wankhede. The pattern was set: Use the new ball judiciously, take the top order out, choke them in the middle overs and use sweeps to negate the spin. It worked almost too well at Mumbai. Then, in the next game, for reasons none will ever know, they chose to set a target and hence fell away. This was India's turn to use the same trap against them. After both teams came out of Maharashtra to Uttar Pradesh (my current habitat): none had any idea which team was going to blink first.

I was well-set to enjoy the game without the medium of television coming in the way. I was going to Green park with two amazing computer scientists Dr. Raghunath Tewari and Dr. Subhajit Roy. Everything was well set. We reached the venue just before the national anthem proceedings. It was ON.

New Zealand won the toss at Kanpur. They went back to the same well-tested formula from the first game. Bowl first, bowl well and chase anything they put in front of you.

They did the first thing right. Last two things: not so much.

But, in their defense, wicket at Green Park was a paradise for the batsman and it was one of those pitches which will make you rue for the day you threw the bat away to become a bowler. Add pleasant weather and fast outfield to it and you have a whole recipe of disaster for bowlers. To top it all off, two of the most dangerous ODI batsmen in the world were on song. For kiwis, It was like a steel cage fight and the referee locked the door and threw the key away. There was no hiding place. Rohit and Kohli didn't play against the bowlers. They played with them. They hit boundaries at will and India were running away with the game.

Historically, New Zealand have always been the team with a lot of players who do the things in bits and pieces. They always seem to find a way to do well with limited resources they have. They never run out of bowling options, somehow manage to get you out. Their fielding have been outstanding since world war II.

This current New Zealand manages to tick most of these boxes. On bowling options though, they have a bit of a problem. They are forced to use deGrandhomme for his full quota of 10 overs. Now, he is a decent bowler by most modern standards. But, against India in India: well. Not so much. India have always been a bloody cauldron even for the best of fast bowlers. Unless New Zealand finds a good 5th bowling option, it will continue to hurt them like this.

Even after everything going against them in first half, New Zealand didn't bowl too bad. Though, no team after putting the opposition to bat would want 337 on board, I personally felt that it was decent bowling performance. Most teams do worse when two tons are scored against them. After first half, Williamson didn't seem much perturbed. His message to the teammates was clear: "Guys, this is a batting beauty. Let't hit back."

For Colin Munro, the message from Williamson was an epiphany of life. He started hitting the ball as if he had some personal grudge against it. He was in no mood to spare anything bowled at his pads. He was making runs so quickly that most in the ground were thinking that he is getting late to attend a late-night party. Before anyone even blinked, he was off to a dominating half-century and set to make a big one.

At the half-way of their innings, they were very much in control. They had the advantage of dew. They had managed to take out the threat of India's best bowler. India were forced to overuse Kedar Jadhav because of that. Kiwis had managed to keep wickets in hand. Their most experienced batsman was at the crease and the hero of the first match still to come. They were by all means the favorites to break the hearts of 30,000 people in the ground (One of those 30,000 souls was yours truly too).

Then, Yazuvendra Chahal happened to them.

They had managed to keep the spinners quiet till now. Then, came Williamson's slog sweep and finding the top of the bat landing in monstrously large gloves of Dhoni. India got an opening against the run of the play. That brought the couple of the year for New Zealand on the crease. Ross Taylor and Tom Latham are two of their better batsmen. Pleasant to watch, quick to rotate strike and making batting look easy.

But, when they bat together, they are ruthless. India tasted it in Wankhede. Surely, not again.

The required rate at this stage was nowhere near unmanageable. They needed around 8 an over for the last 18 overs. At every drinks' break, they were talking each other. We're gonna pull this off.

Then, Jasprit Bumrah happened to Ross Taylor. Or better, Ross Taylor managed to happen to Bumrah. He was batting so beautifully that he almost forgot that he could ever get 'out'. One slower one, taking extra bounce hitting the top of bat, giving India a very crucial breakthrough.

That brought Henry Nichollas to the middle. Now, Nichollas is supposed to be an average batsman. His strike rate before this game was a meagre 73. He batted in this game as if Jeus was controlling him from heaven. He looked to conquer India with bat in his hands. Henry Nichollas was destroying India's bowling with ridiculous ease. Almost none including 'me' saw that coming. Latham on the other hand was batting as if he were from a different planet. They both sucked the hope out of everyone. They created an atmosphere in which a dot ball was as rare as finding pearls on the beaches of Mexico.

It all came down to this: 35 off 24 balls with 2 overs to be bowled by someone who is having the worst night of his life.

Bhuvi is an interesting bowler. Described by Steven Smith as the best in the business along with Bumrah just before this tour. He is the go-to man for David Warner in IPL. He picks the wicket coming on to bowl at the toughest of occasions. He controls his swing telepathically. He is India's best all-round bowler in last half a decade. He was not having a good time at Green Park.

Bhuvi knows it better than anyone: In cricket as in life, forget the past and embrace the present. When he bowled that 47th over, he was a different human being than he was in last 3 hours. He managed to sneak a missile onto the leg stump of Nichollas and gave away 5 runs. The LEDs were glowing and whole India was celebrating Diwali again. I was on my feet and so were the other 30,000. On other days, it was just another Bhuvi's over. Today, it was a test of his will, fight and character and he managed to overcome it.

The only thing between India and 2-1 was one man. Short in height, but tall in stature: Tom Latham. As long as he was there, India had a problem.

Then, it was again the same hero, who has done it so many times in last 2 years and IPL. The superstar: Jasprit Bumrah. Latham dared to sneak a run. deGrandhomme stranded him in the middle. Bumrah smashed the stumps with his accurate as hawk throw and New Zealand knew in that second that they were beaten by Bumrah's brilliance.

In the end, India won by 6 runs. The maximum number of runs you can achieve in one ball theoretically. Yes. The margin between the teams was only that much. India, undoubtedly were the better side on the day. But, spare a thought for New Zealand. Everyone said 3-0 to them before the series. Add one six to their scorecard and they had their maiden ODI series win in India. They lost, but hardly they have ever got so many positives out of a lost series. They have a skeleton for their ODI team for 2019 world cup.

New Zealand managed to almost beat the current best ODI team in their own backyard. Almost.

For me, it was a match to remember. It was my first ODI game at Green Park and I was delighted with the outcome. I have a lot of happy memories from this game which I will remember for a long time. Now, onto T20I series. Can't wait.