Well, as we all know, there won't be any red in the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) Final. Last night the Warriors took out the Redbacks. A piece of Cricinfo statistics tells virtually the whole story:
- Warriors: 50 runs in 4.6 overs (30 balls), Extras 0
- South Australia: 50 runs in 8.5 overs (54 balls), Extras 1
Read'em and weep. I know I did.
The Redbacks appear to have fiddled around with their batting order a bit since last season, for example sensibly dropping Tom Cooper down from #3 to #7. Why on earth Redbacks kept Cooper while getting rid of Cosgrove I shall, however, never understand. Fat or not, Cosgrove was their go-to, anchor batsman in the Australian domestic Twenty20 series, KFC BigBash, that took them to the CLT20 in the first place. And he reliably delivered, even under pressure. Cooper, as far as I am concerned, only reliably delivered disappointment. Especially in pressure situations. Here too, statistics tell the story: in T20, Cooper's average is 17.61; Cosgrove's is 26.84.
For those of you who might have thought me delusional going on about Dhoni and Napoleonic luck in yesterday's post, I'd like to offer the following from a Cricinfo article:
Dhoni's leadership has its share of admirers. He tries to ensure that he appears calm in the middle, he knows his teams' weaknesses, he definitely knows its strengths and, like most successful captains, he gets his share of luck. [My emphasis]
It will be interesting to see if Dhoni's luck will last through the Final. I wish him the best of luck. On the other hand, I wish the best of luck to the Warriors' gritty Captain, Davy Jacobs too. May the best XI win! (Now that the Redbacks are out.)
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish the proprietor of this blog a very Happy Birthday!
2 Comments:
You have used that crying baby image twice now, that too on a cricket blog. And it's a negative image.
I know I have used that picture before. I think it's funny.
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Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted but to weigh and consider.
- Francis Bacon