India vs. SA

My "Twitter" feed

0.1: 5 matches begun with fours by Sehwag

"By the way, on this day in 2006, South Africa chased 434. Just saying ..."

1.3: van Wyk pulls a Kamran Akmal. Does not even move as Sehwag edges a ball towards him. Gets a 4 instead.

"i am a nervous wreck ...i cannot watch...the way sehwag is playing dangerously on the edge of my seat...he just might lose his wicket any moment and the momentum just slips ...plenty of evidence from the past," says Abhishek. Calm down man, it's only a group game!

Sehwag is hogging the strike here.

There was a time when Sehwag had played 37 balls, and Tendulkar only 9.

"Watching Sehwag play is like throwing an ice-cream in the air and catching it with your mouth. It's exhilarating if it works out, and you go hungry if it doesn't. I figured if I use such a ridiculous metaphor, my comment might actually get put up," says Archit.

End of over 8: 7 runs off it. The commentators call it a good over for SA. Says a lot.

"12 fours from 8 overs...what sort of score do they want?..This is great stuff," says Darryl.

10 overs: 87/0

8 fours, 1 six. This is the highest mandatory Powerplay score of the World Cup, beating India's performance against Netherlands.

11.2: Sehwag reaches 50! Off 44 deliveries. Brought up with a 4.

11.4: India reaches 100.

I remember when I was a kid, I always used to hope that India would score 100 in 10 overs. I always wondered why they never managed it. It seemed such simple calculation to me. 10*10 = 100 :D

"I think its fair to say that this World Cup has been a most entertaining one thus far. A few upsets, a tie, Ireland's heroics and glimpses of progress made by the Dutch and the Canadians etc., has made it wonderful to watch. Never mind some of the flat pitches. Everyone loves to see some lusty hitting, and both sides get equal opportunity to do so, too!" says Ron.

13.3: Sachin almost goes at 49, after a amazing catching chance by already injured de Villiers.

13.4: Sachin gets to 50 in 33 deliveries. As the commentators keep commenting, we know Sehwag plays crazy cricket, but Sachin has just played amazing cricket. The crowd has gone beserk.

"Sehwag and Tendulkar have been quite impartial to all the bowlers - No one has done better than 8/over and no one did worst than 10/over," writes Leo. They're equal-opportunities batsmen!

14.5: A really, REALLY high rise size from Sachin, which eventually just about crosses the rope.

15.1: Talking about late cut, how late was this. The wicketkeeper almost had it in his gloves, when Sehwag hit it.

SMV: "India could have taken the batting powerplay straight away. They dont need one when Pathan is batting in the slog overs as it doesnt make any difference to him." We're advocating for it in the Cricinfo office! Why not?

16 overs, 17 fours, 2 sixes. So 80/137 runs have come in boundaries.

Arshad: "Clearly India have forgotten Gandhi's message of non-violent action in South Africa." Clearly!

17.4 Some wonderful entertainment comes to an end with the departure of Sehwag. Bowled in.

19.1: 150 comes up for India.

It seems too good to be true right now. Though now it has become a little more sane. The commentators keep saying a big score is definitely in the offing. I keep wondering if SA will pull off a miracle here.

30.2: 200 comes up for India.

35.5: Sachin gets 100. The crowd is deafening.

36.6: Gambhir gets to 50. He's played an understated yet amazing supporting role.

Milestones out of the way. Time to get the scorecard going again.

"The only way to top Tendulkar's fabulous century is to see the New Zealand Prime Minister face an over from Shane Warne, tomorrow at the Basin Reserve in Wellington - a Christchurch earthquake fundraiser," says John

Gambhir is hitting too wildly for my taste.

Ok he's finally connecting ball and bat well, after some wild hits off Steyn.

That is the problem in the final overs when India plays well. Too many people start watching, and the links go dead.

39.4: Ugh Sachin is gone, caught at point. 111 off 101 balls. Amazing innings.

Who's next? Kohli? Yuvraj? Dhoni? Pathan? (I just wanted to list down India's awesome batting lineup) :D

40.1: Gambhir has loyally followed Sachin back to the dressing room. Pathan is in though, in place of Sachin, and Yuvraj replaces Gambhir.

2 very new batsmen at the crease.

40.3: And now Pathan is gone. The awesome batsmen are being stupid. 3 wickets in 6 balls. Actually Smith took an awesome high catch.

"The Indian middle order looks rudderless right now. 350 is looking further and further away ..."
A gettable score this looks like becoming.

Yuvraj and Dhoni. What can they do in 55 deliveries?

Nothing it seems.
There is a sense of bewilderment in Nagpur. India were 267 for 1 ... they are 296 for 9 now.

Only God can explain why tailenders are trying to be heroes and aiming for sixes. While Dhoni seems to have forgotten how to bat in death overs. Taking a single to get a tailender on strike is all he's doing. Isn't he supposed to be the smart and responsible captain?

This is too painful to watch. Just something to note for the teams playing India, if India is doing really REALLY well, not to worry. They will self-destruct soon enough. Is there a special word for choking in the first innings?

48.4: All out.

AMAZING. Who would have guessed this would happen after 39.3 overs (before Sachin departed)? There was talk of them reaching a 400 around the 1th over. Now I knew they would never get to 400, but 350 seemed very gettable. And now the grand target is not even 300.

"The world's best batting lineup has imploded in the most spectacular fashion."

India choked in the first innings. Let's hope SA returns the favor in the second. Though the Indian bowling lineup doesn't give me much hope.

297. Will it be enough?

300/7. Apparently not. I want to cry. And kill Nehra.