On the fourth day of the warm-up, four games were played and three of the four games resulted in upsets (of course that is my view). The fourth game between Australia and UAE was such a match of unequals to result in an upset. But the match itself would have caused an upset among the other teams as Michael Clarke comes back to cricket.
If sixth-ranked, seventh-ranked, tenth-ranked teams defeat third-ranked, fifth-ranked, fourth-ranked respectively, then it is bound to be called a sort of upset. The comforting factor for these teams would be that it is a warm-up game and these higher ranked teams have the opportunity to re-think their strategies before the actual event starts.
These results in some way or the other feeds to the psyche of the teams as well. When New Zealand meets Sri Lanka in the tournament opener, New Zealand would be high on spirit after defeating the formidable South Africans and Sri Lanka would be mindful of the fact that New Zealand is certainly a better team than Zimbabwe (against who they lost today), and are on their home turf. Similarly, England would be against their recent nemesis Australia. Having lost the final of the Carlton Mid series very easily against the Aussies and once again today at the hands of Pakistan who are not at their best, England would have to come up with the formidable eleven. Whether Michael Clarke will play that game or not is too early to say but his coming back will also be a factor that England will have to factor into for that game. It is the same kind of mental frame the African teams will get on the field with as New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Zimbabwe would be buoyed by their victory against the last edition finalist whereas South Africa though not fazed but still will be cautious after their defeat today against the Kiwis. South Africa though do not have to worry much in the sense that they were without the services of Dale Steyn and Hashim Amla today.
As I have said, not much can be read into the results of these games but a defeat always leaves a scar. How easily you can get rid of that will determine one team's psychological preparation. All these teams have finished their warm-ups and they very well know where they stand. Neither the teams would be bloating at winning both the games nor they would be chin down with the defeats that they would have suffered. All these teams play in the first two days of the tournament and they would be mindful of that.
It is time for each of the teams to work out their best eleven to start the campaign and give us an exciting and mouth watering contest.
No comments:
Post a Comment