Matchup Monday #10 - 🚨News Report 🚨

Now that we have reached the conclusion of the T20 World Cup, let’s have a look at some of the key takeaways and hot topics 🔥.

1. South Africa 🇿🇦 vs India 🇮🇳 

It was the battle of the Generational Chokers vs the Chokers of the Decade, but India prevailed, after the drought of 17 years from their last T20 WC title.

At a stage, SA had a ~96.6% chance of winning the game. That left India with under a 4% chance of winning, a new low that, before this game, had not been a state India could recover from in T20Is. The 2022 clutch against Pakistan that contained Virat’s timeless shot against Haris Rauf had a chance of 15%, with the 2024 game against Pakistan being 8%, so 4% would be a stretch.

For this being a final and Klaasen setting up South Africa in such a favourable position (see odds below), South Africa had fumbled the bag.

MATCH RECAP

In the first innings, India got off to a flier, with Kohli having scored multiple boundaries in the first over alone. Sharma and Virat continued this until the conclusion of the second over, where Sharma sweeps Maharaj right to Klaasen who takes a clean catch.

Two balls later, Pant walks back with a double-ball duck.

After a batting collapse, Kohli’s prioritises building a partnership with Axar Patel rather than risking continuing this aggressive approach.

At the end of the innings, India post the highest-ever total in the T20 World Cup Finals history.

Now onto the chase…

India started splendidly regarding the bowling attack, with the early wicket of Reeza Hendriks with a beauty from Boom Boom Bumrah.

The tempo of the South African Innings sped up after the initial wickets of Markram and Hendriks, with QDK and Stubbs displaying courageous batting.

HOWEVER, it is with this, that the batsmen made irresponsible decisions, knowing they should play patiently as it is the final as well as knowing that bringing the game deep will definitely win the game from the position they were at (~6 RRR).

Examples are of how Tristan Stubbs already scored an enormous amount previous to his dismissal, where he moved far too across and got bowled. Additionally, QDK succumbed to a simple plan made by the Indians.

Even when we were told as children, that if you get hit for a six, pitch the ball slightly differently and prompt the batter to play the shot again. Usually, this method leads to a wicket.

And it did. Even for veterans of the game such as QDK.

CONTROVERSIAL SKY CATCH

As viewed by many, disregarding what had happened in this match, 16 runs off the last over is not impossible, in fact, India would be tensing with Pandya bowling, as he is not an Arshdeep or Bumrah in the context of the match.

As the 19.1 ball was hit, every fan, Indian or South African had their hearts in their mouths and nobody moved, as the camera only showed the height of the ball, not the length.

As the camera panned downwards, Surya completed the most important catch of his career, albeit, with some criticism.

There were two aspects to this controversy.

1. The boundary rope was claimed to be moved back as seen in the image below by some angry fans, but this is a weak shout as it would be extremely difficult to have been purposely done (accusing scriptwriter Jay Shah) and experts claim it is the result of mis-shaven grass.

   

2. The foot allegedly clipped the boundary rope, though very fine and could be the wind (see video below)

This is the final verdict by Aiden Markram.

2. Aussie Failure

Well… Well… Well…

This is an extract of Matchup Monday #2 below.

There are a number of reasons for the downfall of Australian Cricket in this World Cup.

1. Questionable Captaincy - Mitchell Marsh hasn’t had recent experience with captaincy, and for what reason would you not give the captaincy to Pat Cummins, a man who has proven his worth by retaining the Ashes, Winning the WTC Final against India, Winning the 2023 ODI World Cup and leading SRH to the IPL Final? An example of his current incompetency is the decision to rest Starc against the crucial clash against Afghanistan, and you know what happened?

   Australia lost and exited the World Cup.

2. IPL Form vs World Cup Form - I don’t need statistics to back this up, but batsmen that come from IPL, which had the flattest pitches seen yet, producing totals of 250+ (competing against the Pakistani pitches 💀), have had their form inverted, from good to bad, and of course, bad to good.

   Just have a look at Travis Head, who had a splendid time in India, but now has gotten complacent with the assessment of the conditions in the Caribbean and USA, compared to Hardik Pandya who has had an impressive redemption arc, from being called ‘Chhapri’ in the IPL to shifting the dynamic when he bats, striking balls fiercely out of the park, as well as providing Rohit with a more diverse and sophisticated array of bowlers he can elect from with his improved bowling.

To be continued in MM#11…