Zim bouncing back

Irrespective of whether it is a case that India has simply played poorly, Zimbabwean cricket seems to be bouncing back in some small way and that's fantastic for the game as a whole.

Some of their recent results:

• Zimbabwe v India at Bulawayo - May 28, 2010 - Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)
• Zimbabwe v India at Harare - Jun 3, 2010 - Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets (with 70 balls remaining)
• Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka at Harare - Jun 7, 2010 - Zimbabwe won by 8 wickets (with 13 balls remaining)

This isn't T20 cricket, which is a bit of a lottery - these are good results against two of the better One Day International sides.

Sure it is early days and Zimbabwe has always had a problem with depth but there are definately some encouraging signs that maybe they are going to be a force to be reckoned with again.

On the flip side, Gary Kirsten must be tearing his hair out (what little he had to start with) over this hot and cold performance from his side. Even without having the best side around, you would have thought India had the depth to be able to run Zimbabwe hard.

What disaster?

I have been thinking quite a lot about this whole T20 World Cup "disaster" for the South African side and reading all the negative comments that have been going around in the various media channels.

Everyone is dragging up the whole "chokers" tag again and wandering around with the whole "I told you so attitude".

Game 1 - we played India - lost by 14 runs
Game 2 - we played Afghanistan - won 59 runs
Game 3 - we played New Zealand - won by 13 runs
Game 4 - we played England - got thumped by 39 runs
Game 5 - we played Pakistan - lost by 11 runs

We had 1 bad game against England and then two average games against India and Pakistan. The difference between the two sides was effectively one over.

Yes it irritates the shit out of me that Morne Morkel bowls no-balls in ODI or T20 cricket. Yes it irritates the shit out of me that we battle to pace ourselves to score at 10 an over from the word go. It also irritates the shit out of me that somebody would dare to double step Dale Steyn and slug him 90 metres for a six... but these things happen and in T20 it is going to happen on a regular basis.

With due respect if we took on any of those sides in a test or full 50 over ODI match up, our win ratio would be 75% or higher if playing at home and probably 60% or higher playing away from home.

We need to take a look at what we take away from this event:

• Morne Morkel is not an ODI / T20 bowler - let's not treat him as such. Let him mature as a test bowler
• There is a serious argument to let Johan Botha become the dedicated ODI / T20 captain. He has shown he understands the format of the game - let's use his knowledge
• In T20 cricket, where are we going to use JP Duminy? He's a great middle order batter but is he the big hitter that we need with four overs to go?
• I'm a Herschelle Gibbs fan but at some point he needs to deliver the goods

We have to be a little realistic about what this tournament says about SA cricket. It's not the end of the world - hell it is hardly a black mark on our record - its just that we need to understand what we want to do with this T20 side.

Best cricket captain in the game?

I was watching South Africa versus New Zealand in the T20 World Cup and it got me thinking about who the best captains in world cricket are at the moment.

I think one of the things about a good captain is that sometimes their skills and attributes are overshadowed by the quality of the players in their team.

Here was the list I came up with and would be curious to get feedback from our readers:

Daniel Vettori: The New Zealand captain is without question one of the most astute players in the game. He's never really had a quality team underneath him but he has made the most of the opportunities when they have presented themselves and in ODI and T20 cricket, Vettori has been surprisingly competitive.

Ricky Ponting: "Punter" inherited a top quality team but it is not easy to make a quality side "gel" and become one of the most successful units in world cricket for the better part of a decade. His competitive nature and his never say die attitude make him one of the best in the world.

Graeme Smith: Is Smith a good captain? This is one the questions that rolls around in my head regularly. There is no question he is an awesome cricketer and the kind of guy you would want in your corner in almost every fight. But is he tactically astute and can he think on his feet in the way that somebody like Johan Botha (his deputy / stand-in ODI captain) can?

Forget the whole "chokers" tage which gets bandied around. Every now and then I get the sense that Smith "innovates" for the wrong reasons or doesn't know how to change the gameplan when things are looking questionable.

Dunno - thoughts on who the best current captains are in world cricket and who are the more tactically astute players we should be watching in the next few years?

T20 World Cup - first 24 hours

Admit it, if you were a cricket fan you were intrigued to see how Afghanistan played today in their first outing in the T20 World Cup...

Apart from that first clown who came out and wanted to smash the ball to all corners of the park, I actually thought they played quite well against a more than useful Indian side.

(On a side note - how nice was that ground that they played at today? Very scenic!)

Noor Ali and Asghar Stanikzai actually played really sensible cricket in the middle parts of the innings - very few stupid shots. They ran the singles when they were there and they hit had no issues taking a crack at the Indian spinners when they saw the chance was there.

115 was never going to be enough against a side that included Dhoni, Ghambir, Pathan and Yuvraj Singh but it could have been far worse.

So what's happened so far:

• New Zealand have beaten Sri Lanka in a close match up
• West Indies have thumped Ireland but looked really bad doing it
• India beat Afghanistan

Pakistan actually look quite dangerous in this competition and they might not be worth a punt at 10/1... but remember T20 cricket is an absolute lottery.

Calling all cricket fans

Fresh from the IPL action, we now invite you to play the ICC World Twenty20 Fantasy League. Select your team of global stars from the 12 countries participating in the 2010 edition of the ICC World Twenty20 series. The tournament starts on Friday 30 April with the opening match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at 19:00 SA time.

Enter your team now at http://fantasy.supersport.com/t20

With another exciting IPL series drawing to a close, the action now switches to the West Indies where the top cricketing nations will be challenging for the honour to be crowned ICC World Twenty20 champions. Will Pakistan be able to mount a serious defence of their title? The team is in turmoil and there are some strong challengers snapping at their heels, with the likes of Australia, India, South Africa and Sri Lanka all keen to claim the 2010 trophy. Fantasy managers can pick their team based on recent IPL form with top players such as Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, David Warner, Kevin Pietersen and Lasith Malinga all available for selection.

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Good luck!
SuperSport.com
www.supersport.com/fantasy

Losing its lustre?

As a South African cricket fan, I have been a little disappointed by the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket this year and I can't put my finger on why?

I'm not sure whether it has become a little gimmicky or what but I've noticed this year that the quality of the cricket has not been particularly high. I watched the game with the Kings Punjab XI couldn't catch a cold, let alone a cricket ball.

Don't get me wrong - Matt Hayden and "The Mongoose" is a little innovative and something to at least keep the crowds a little entertained but not sure its enough to keep the fans coming back.

Some of the images from the games I've watched seemed to show that the grounds were a little emptier than they were in previous years? But now there are supposedly two new franchises coming in to play in 2011 - are they not diluting the brands which have been built over the last few years?

Surely it is only now that the brands and franchises are starting to build international fan bases?

Not sure whether it is a fair comparison but a few years ago there was quite a strong "Masters" setup in tennis where a lot of the players who were at the ends of their professional careers were involved in a league. The tennis wasn't the fastest or hardest but the players had fun and the crowds enjoyed it. The question for me is whether or not this is where the IPL is headed - a social graveyard where players go to have a bit of fun before they retire?

Dunno? Thoughts on the IPL?

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Sunday IPL action

Two IPL games on the go today with the Kings Punjab XI taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Delhi Daredevils playing host to the Royal Challengers Bangalore

Knight Riders vs Kings Punjab
T20 cricket is a lottery at the best of times but after the shocking showing from the Kings Punjab on Friday night I can't see how you can look beyond the Knight Riders to win this one.

Our picks for this match
Top Kings Punjab batsman - Youvraj Singh
Top Knight Riders batsman - Sourav Ganguly
Most sixes - KKR

Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

As for the Delhi Daredevils and the RCB, I'm leaning in favour of RCB for this one. Kohli really impressed me on Friday night and I've tipped him to carry on his form.

Top RCB batsman - Kohli
Top Daredevils Batsman - AB Devilliers

Planning to take a punt on the IPL?

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