World Cricket Live Update

With plenty of cricket on as well as the Ashes I've decided to combine my analysis all in this post instead of single posts.

Ashes: 2nd Test Day 2
England 361 (100.1 overs) and 31/3 (20.0 overs)
Australia 128 (53.3 overs)
England lead by 264 runs

It's a pretty simple analysis of today's play in the Ashes, and that is that Australia were horrible. Their top-order batting once again failed with some horrendous shots and some even worse uses of the DRS. This all came after Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad put on a 48 run stand for the last wicket. Mind you although they played some good shots, Australia's persistence with a bouncer strategy certainly helped.

After finally dismissing England for 361, the Australian openers started relatively well with Shane Watson playing some nice drives. All went haywire though just before lunch when Shane Watson was struck on the pads and given out. He was deadset plumb but decided to review which has certainly not helped his perception by the Australian fans. Chris Rogers I think has to be partly to blame though as Watson did initially look unwilling to review, but I'm guessing Rogers might have said something to encourage him to do so. This certainly came to haunt Rogers as he was dismissed in ridiculous circumstances after lunch. Swann let go of a wild full toss which slipped out of his hands which Rogers preceded to miss completely while attempting a pull shot. Erasmus gave it out and Rogers decided not to refer with the thought that an incorrect referral would leave Australia with none left. Consequently Rogers was out in spite of HawkEye replays later on showing the ball would have missed leg stump by a fair margin.

The collapse continued as Phil Hughes played an absolute shocking shot to be caught behind, and despite an adamant referral he was sent packing. Usman Khawaja was caught after hitting one straight up in the air, while Michael Clarke was gone lbw to an inswinging Broad delivery. Smith was caught in close off the bowling of Swann and Agar was run out in a mix-up with Haddin just before tea. It didn't change much after tea for Australia with Haddin and Siddle following suit. Pattinson and Harris put on the second highest partnership of the innings which is an indication of just how poor Australia were.

Peter Siddle ensured some sort of respectability for the aussies taking three quick wickets before stumps after Alistair Cook decided to not enforce the follow-on. I've got to say despite all the hype about the pitches being played on, the top-order batting all round has been pretty ordinary so far in the series.

Hero of the day: Graeme Swann
5 wickets - an easy choice here.

Villain of the day: Shane Watson
Watson was the highest scorer of the Australian innings which might then  leave people surprised about my choice here. He again failed to go on with a start, but also decided to review his plumb lbw which ultimately dudded Rogers later on as well. Some people may feel it's too harsh to have him as the 'villain' but talk to any Australian supporter, and they will be struggling to disagree with Mickey Arthur that he is a 'cancer' in the team.

Who won the day? England
No point even really answering this as England are well in the box seat. Despite being three wickets down for not many, with Australia's batting line-up even the current lead will probably be way more than enough.

3rd ODI: West Indies v Pakistan
Pakistan 229/6 (50.0 overs)
West Indies 229/9 (50.0 overs)
Match tied

In another incredible close match of ODI cricket (who the hell said ODI's aren't exciting) the West Indies have managed to tie with Pakistan. This is amazingly the fourth tie in ODI's in the past two months and Pakistan's second having tied with Ireland in May. The West Indies needed 39 runs off the last three overs at eight down. Enter no.11 Jason Holder who hit 19 off only 9 balls including a six and a four off the last over bowled by Wahab Riaz.

Earlier Misbah-ul-Haq steered the Pakistani innings with 75 while keeper Umar Akmal chipped in with a valuable 40. Lendl Simmons scored 75 for the West Indies in what was a slugglish run chase until the fireworks at the end from Sunil Narine (14 off 5 balls) and Jason Holder (19* off 9 balls).

The series is delicately poised at 1-1 with two matches to play.

ODI Series Preview: Sri Lanka v South Africa 
5 ODI Matches

Sri Lanka and South Africa are about to kick-off a 5 match series, which again has disappointingly left no room for the test series which has been postponed until 2015. This is even more telling now that the Sri Lanka Premier League which was one of the major reasons for this postponment has now been cancelled. Nonetheless its still an important series in the ODI scheme of things with the Cricket World Cup only a year and a half away. 

I read an interesting stat on Cricinfo which was that South Africa haven't played a bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka since 2004 which is quite incredible really in the current international cricket climate. Therefore South Africa will be wanting to play well in their first ODI series encounter in the country in nearly a decade. The teams are neck and neck in the ODI Rankings with South Africa narrowly holding onto a top four spot with a rating of 110, while Sri Lanka are 5th on 108. Therefore this series will be crucial for rankings points especially for Sri Lanka who will be looking to break into even the top three possibly with a strong series. 

Sri Lanka have just come off the tri-series in the West Indies where they made the final, and before that the semi-finals in the Champions Trophy. South Africa also made the semi's in the Champions Trophy which further consolidates just how close these two sides are. South Africa will be without spearhead Dale Steyn which will certainly help Sri Lanka. South Africa have numerous inexperienced players in their squad, and with home conditions, I reckon Sri Lanka may be have a huge shot of taking this series.

Squads
Sri Lanka (1st and 2nd ODI's): D.Chandimal (c), T.Dilshan, S.Eranga, R.Herath, M.Jayawardene, S.Lakmal, L.Malinga, A.Mendis, J.Mubarak, A.Perera, T.Perera, K.Sangakkara, S.Senanayake, U.Tharanga, L.Thirmanne

South Africa: AB de Villiers (c), H.Amla, F.Behardien, Q. de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, C.Ingram, R.Kleinveldt, R.McLaren, D.Miller, M.Morkel, C.Morris, A.Petersen, R.Peterson, A.Phangiso, L.Tsotsobe

Fixtures
20th July: 1st ODI @ R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
23rd July: 2nd ODI @ R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
26th July: 3rd ODI @ Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
28th July: 4th ODI @ Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
31st July: 5th ODI @ R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

First Class Match: Zimbabwe Select XI v Australia A

Australia A 226 and 156
Zimbabwe Select XI 142 and 160

This match received some increased publicity due to David Warner being sent from England to play in it. Well, that certainly backfired with Warner being dismissed cheaply in both innings for only 6 and 11. The Australian selectors certainly have a conundrum on their hands with Warner's poor form and limited match practice along with Australia's poor batting form so far in the tests.

Meanwhile Fawad Ahmed bowled well to take 8 wickets for the match to further boost his chances of mid-series call-up to the Ashes. Pat Cummins made a reasonable comback, while for Zimbabwe Kyle Jarvis and Elton Chigumbura impressed with the ball. Zimbabwe next take on India in a 5 match ODI series which they will be hoping to spring an upset or two in.

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It certainly is a jam-packed international calender at the moment with lots of cricket on. Obviously the Ashes is taking the majority of the spotlight, but the other nations have some important cricket to play, unfortunately in ODI's only, and not in tests.