All posts by h716a5.icu

Mumbai Indians’ twin titles vindicated their strategy of chasing the big players, who proved too much for the less glittering names in Rajasthan Royals

Siddarth Ravindran06-Oct-2013Mumbai Indians had begun their defense of 202 in the final with Sachin Tendulkar being given a guard of honour by his team-mates and it ended with him being chaired off the field by them. It was the perfect sign-off for the man to whom the entire Mumbai campaign was dedicated (#ThisTimeFor10dulkar) and who was retiring from short-form cricket after the game.It was also a perfect ending to the second three-year cycle for Mumbai, who added the Champions League title to their IPL trophy. Mumbai were the most expensive IPL franchise when the league came into existence back in 2008, had the biggest name in Indian cricket as their icon, and have relentlessly done all it takes to reinforce their squad – sometimes even causing rule changes, such as the infamous five overseas players decision in 2010 which briefly earned them the nickname Mumbai Foreigners.When Kieron Pollard became the hottest thing in T20s after the 2009 CLT20, Mumbai opened the cheque book to land him in a secret tiebreaker at the following auction. In 2010, after retaining four marquee names, they also splashed $2m to sign on the biggest star from their home city, and possibly the best batsman over six seasons of the IPL, Rohit Sharma.When the 2011 campaign spluttered and part-timer Ambati Rayudu wasn’t deemed good enough to be the regular wicketkeeper, in came the country’s second-best Twenty20 wicketkeeper-batsman, Dinesh Karthik. It was a buy outside the auction and reportedly cost them $2.35m. In that failed 2011 campaign, the little-known Ali Murtuza was the team’s second spinner, another department the management thought needed strengthening. Within 10 days of bringing in Karthik, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha – the leading wicket-taker in the 2010 season – was bought, again outside the auction.And for the thorny problem of who to open with Sachin Tendulkar, Mumbai chased every flavour-of-the-season opener – whether it was Davy Jacobs after his strong show at the 2010 Champions League or Richard Levi after he made his name with the quickest T20 international century in 2012, before settling on Dwayne Smith. In 2013, they spent a million on Glenn Maxwell and used him mainly for carrying drinks in the IPL, giving him just three games.All of which meant that even without one of the world’s premier T20 bowlers, Lasith Malinga, and benching Mitchell Johnson, they could field a side in the CLT20 final with ten internationals. Only the seamer Rishi Dhawan hasn’t represented his country yet, and even he might not have got a look-in if Munaf Patel’s bowling hadn’t deteriorated badly over the last season.Mumbai’s cocktail of talent, temperament and experience proved too much for their opponents, the cash-strapped Rajasthan Royals. Without the finances to secure too many of the format’s leading players, Royals have relied instead on clever cut-rate overseas buys, like James Faulkner and Kevon Cooper, and on scouting talented no-namers.0:00

Time with Rajasthan Royals has been a learning experience – Ajinkya Rahane

That made them everybody’s favourite underdog team in the IPL, and has unearthed some of the most heart-warming narratives in the tournament. Two of their heroes in the final were 41-year-old legspinner Pravin Tambe, whose story is the stuff of screenplays, and 18-year-old Sanju Samson who served notice of his abilities with a series of clean hits that kept Royals alive despite starting the chase needing over 10 an over.Royals also beat better-resourced opponents by making full use of the home advantage, winning all 13 matches this year on a pacy Jaipur surface, which generally hasn’t lent itself to big scores – only one team reached 180 at the Sawai Mansingh stadium during the IPL season.In every Royals press conference the talk is about the strong team spirit, and how the emphasis is on the team and not on big names. That spirit had to be reforged after the spot-fixing scandal rocked the side in the 2013 season, and left them without four of their players.Despite overcoming that challenge, and producing exceptional performances from several wild-card picks, and their perfect home record, they couldn’t complete the final step of their dream. Even as Tendulkar was carried off the field by jubilant team-mates, he was watched from the sidelines by a morose Rahul Dravid, who was also representing his IPL team for the final time.This time the Goliaths of the IPL had beaten the Davids.

There has been a noticeable spring in South Africa’s step over recent days after their remarkable turnaround in fortunes

Firdose Moonda26-Feb-2014Sports teams would have us believe winning, just like eating for a chef or travelling for an airline pilot, is just part of the job. That it is the best, most exciting, most fun and most enviable part of the job is something they do not often admit, especially in the middle of a series, because it could result in them getting carried away. Finally, someone has broken the mould.We all knew already what Russell Domingo confirmed but at least he did: nothing beats coming out on top. So, he seems to have allowed his team to bask in the glory of their St George’s Park victory instead of limiting them to the dreaded task of focusing solely on the function and he joined some of the celebration himself.”The breakfast area the day after winning a cricket game and the day after losing a cricket game is totally different,” Domingo said. “No matter how you try not to emphasise the importance of winning because you want to focus on your processes, winning is very important. The general vibe around the team after a good win – there is so much more energy when compared to after a loss.”That may be why Hashim Amla was willing to go as far as announcing it was advantage South Africa heading to Newlands, why Morne Morkel was spotted strolling carefree along the Port Elizabeth beachfront the day after the triumph and why Dean Elgar had time to seek out a doppelganger on Twitter (the lookalike is a South African radio host) in the lead up to the third Test. The Australian have also taken some out – three days actually – but Domingo hinted they would used it differently, given how he explained the aftermath of a loss.”There’s a lot of tension after a loss, a lot of reflection, a lot of what ifs, should we have, could we have…” he said, which would also have explained South Africa’s tension ahead of the second Test. “After a win you just really try and emphasise the good stuff and that’s the feeling I get at the moment. There’s a good energy around the side and guys know they have played more to their potential than in the first Test – probably not at their best but to their potential in this last Test match.”A mantra of “we can always get better,” is as formulaic as sports teams trying to deflect attention of victory but for the South African team, as they stand right now, it is not far off the mark. There are areas where they need to improve ahead of the series decider and fielding is one of them. South Africa’s displays in both Tests have been riddled with fumbles and dotted with dropped catches.However, a Domingo in good spirits does not seem too worried about that. “We’ve generally fielded well and taken good catches. But it’s like everything else in the game. If you put one or two down, there’s always a little bit of anxiety around that,” he said. But what if you put down seven?That is how many South African have let slip so far, with five of them alone off David Warner. The opening batsman may not be Australia’s top run-scorer in the series if it was not for those mistakes. South Africa do not currently have a fielding coach but that should not even be a factor. No one should be needed to teach international cricketers to catch. “No one does it on purpose but it’s something that we are a little bit aware of and are trying to improve on,” Domingo said,He was similarly nonplussed about their use of the DRS. “It’s the same thing with the referrals: if you get one or two wrong and the next one comes, you think ‘Oh damn, I’d better not stuff this one up. Let’s not do it.’ It’s a little bit of the same anxiety.”Graeme Smith has had a tough time with technology, allowing Mitchell Johnson (first Test, first innings), Peter Siddle (second Test, first innings), Nathan Lyon (second Test, first innings) and Chris Rogers (second Test, second innings) to get away when they would have been out had he called for DRS and incorrectly asking for referrals off Warner (first Test, second innings) and Rogers (second Test, first innings). He had a similar struggle with his own form with no scores over 15 so far but Domingo believes he is due.”I am not really too concerned. Graeme’s record speaks for itself. It’s very seldom that he goes through a series without making a contribution – I am talking about with the bat, because he makes a massive contribution as the leader,” Domingo said. “It’s not something I am too fazed about. He is a quality player. He is playing well at the moment, he is looking in good touch, he has just found ways of getting out.”On his home ground, in the last Test of the summer Smith will have the perfect opportunity to turn things around and have the final say of the season. He may even get the surface he wants to do it on. Domingo said South Africa want nothing more than a “good cricket wicket,” and early signs suggest Newlands will produce one.Domingo had a brief chat with Evan Flint, the groundsman, and saw that the pitch “looks like a wicket that is ready to play on tomorrow,” so Flint will “probably want to keep a bit more moisture in it.” With heat and wind dominating the build-up, Flint has had the top drying out but not the whole surface, now that the gust has let up, he can bake the pitch before match day to present something everyone will be happy with.That leaves only one person likely to receive bad news ahead of the third Test: Robin Peterson. Domingo admitted he was happy enough with the job JP Duminy did in Port Elizabeth and even though he does not have an XI yet, it seems Peterson will not find his way back in. “In South Africa, the spinner’s role is very much of a holding role and I thought JP and Dean did a very good job for us in the second Test,” he said.Everyone else can simply enjoy that winning feeling.

Stats highlights from the second ODI between Australia and England at the Gabba

Shiva Jayaraman17-Jan-2014 This was the first time a target of 300 or more was chased successfully at the Gabba. The highest successful chase at this venue before this match was in 1997 when West Indies chased down a target of 282 against the hosts. This was also only the fourth instance of a team chasing down a target of 300 or more in ODIs in Australia. England have been at the receiving end on three of these occasions. Australia’s win was the first time they have beaten England by a margin of one wicket. England have also won an ODI against Australia by a margin of one wicket, at Old Trafford in 2010. Australia conceded a score of 300 or more in ODIs at home for only the tenth time. The last such occasion was also at the Gabba, against Sri Lanka in 2012. All such instances have come since 2000. There were 14 sixes hit in all in this match, the highest in an ODI at the Gabba, beating the 11 sixes that were hit by Australia and West Indies in 2010. Eoin Morgan contributed six sixes to the tally, the highest ever by a batsman in an ODI at this venue. James Faulkner’s five sixes in this match are the second highest by a batsman at the Gabba. Faulkner’s five sixes also equalled the second-highest hit by a batsman in an ODI batting at No. 9. Darren Sammy’s six sixes at No. 9 are the highest – he has done it twice, against South Africa in North Sound and against Australia in Gros Islet. Andre Russell and Abdur Razzak have also hit five sixes in an innings batting at No. 9 in ODIs. Faulkner’s unbeaten 69 is the joint third-highest score by a batsman batting at No. 9 in ODIs, equalling Jai P Yadav’s 69 against New Zealand in Bulawayo in 2005. Andre Russell’s unbeaten 92 against India in North Sound in 2011 is the highest score by a No. 9 batsman in ODIs. Darren Sammy’s 84 against Australia in Gros Islet in 2012 is the second highest. Faulkner has now scored 320 runs at 160.00 with one hundred and three fifties in chases, as opposed to 157 runs at 22.42 while batting first. The 57-run unbeaten partnership between Faulkner and Clint McKay is the third-highest in a winning cause in ODIs. The 106 runs added for the tenth wicket by Viv Richards and Michael Holding in the famous ODI against England at Old Trafford in 1984 is the highest ever added by a pair for the tenth wicket in a winning cause. Australia’s tenth-wicket partnership today was also the second highest in successful chases. The 64-run unbeaten partnership between West Indies’ Deryck Murray and Andy Roberts against Pakistan at Edgbaston in 1975 is the highest for the tenth wicket in successful chases. Morgan’s hundred in this match was his third for England batting at No. 5 in away ODIs. Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood also have three ODI hundreds batting at No. 5 for England away from home. David Gower is the only other batsman for England to hit a hundred at No. 5 in away ODIs.

Sri Lanka arrived at Lord’s on the cloud of confidence their limited-overs cricket has generated, but on a tour in which they have sometimes felt besieged they failed to press home an early advantage on the sport’s most celebrated stage

Andrew Fidel Fernando at Lord's12-Jun-2014At the tail-end of 2012, Sri Lanka’s last marquee Test became one of their lowest points in their professional era. On a springy but manageable Melbourne deck, the batsmen collapsed twice, fielders shelled simple chances, and bowlers surrendered easy runs.At the end of the debacle, Sri Lanka’s coach spoke of how the team had perhaps imploded under the pressure they had loaded on themselves. That match had been the cricketing equivalent of going to the biggest job interview of your life, only to race manically around the room, having somehow set your own pants on fire.Eighteen months on, Sri Lanka arrived at Lord’s on the cloud of confidence their limited-overs cricket has generated. They have only played one full tour against a top-eight side in the interim, but on a tour in which they have sometimes felt besieged, Sri Lanka yearned to prove themselves on the sport’s most celebrated stage.They have been the boys who excel in blue for some time, but here, with a full-house 28,000 strong in attendance, they might have been the men who shone in white as well.The first three hours had been so promising. Nuwan Pradeep – the catalyst of Sri Lanka’s best win of the year in Dubai – had the ball swerving sharp and late, while Nuwan Kulasekara boarded up one end, pitching the ball on the straight and moving it down the slope. That mix of security and venom lured a muddled innings from Alastair Cook and loose strokes from Sam Robson and Gary Ballance.There was energy in the field and vocal support for the men in the ring. At one stage, Kulasekara, who rarely clocks in at over 130kph, had four slips and a gully. Ambitious though the plan was, it suggested a brimming over of belief; a team riding on momentum, feeding off good vibes. In Melbourne, Sri Lanka had meandered listlessly, but here was heartening direction: clear plans, and fleshed out lines of attack.But how quickly bad habits can return. In Australia, Sri Lanka had allowed the opposition to beat them back again and again whenever they threatened an advance, and at Lord’s a swift partnership between debutant Moeen Ali and embattled Joe Root stole the visitors’ initiative. Rangana Herath toiled on an unresponsive surface, but as the sun beat down on the quickly-browning pitch, the fast men wilted around him. It didn’t help that the surface flattened quicker than Sri Lanka had anticipated at the toss.”We thought the pitch would have more bounce and pace than it did,” Kaushal Silva said. “But maybe at the latter part of the day it got slower. Sometimes the odd ball was keeping low as well. Hopefully, tomorrow morning, with the new ball in our hand, we can do something.”Angelo Mathews’ decision to bowl first with blue sky overhead raised English eyebrows early on, but it was an understandable, given the top order’s history. Sri Lanka coped with the moving ball in the ODIs, thanks in part to Tillakaratne Dilshan’s circumspection, but those skills have sometimes diminished when a red ball series arrives. Even at home, Sri Lanka have collapsed against good swing bowling. Knowing his attack is doughty rather than indomitable, Mathews had perhaps reasoned the zip in the pitch represented Sri Lanka’s only chance of achieving a definitive edge with the ball.”When you have the advantage of a green pitch, you should take that. We have three quality fast bowlers, so there was doubt for Angie to take that decision.”Sri Lanka’s decision to rest their spearhead-by-default Shaminda Eranga in the Northampton match, also had creditable reasons. Eranga had not played competitively since injuring his ankle in Bangladesh in February, but with Suranga Lakmal already laid low, Sri Lanka felt it wise to preserve him.He has returned from long breaks to deliver long, testing spells in the past, and he was perhaps entitled to a poor day on this return. He swung the ball at pace at times, but an economy rate of 4.77 was a fair reflection of his waywardness.As evening came on, Sri Lanka began to serve up freebies, allowing Root unchecked progress to his hundred, and Matt Prior a smooth return to his free-flowing best. In the last half-a-session, England raced on at close to five runs an over.Sri Lanka’s attack has only succeeded when it has hunted as a pack and made run-making difficult on unresponsive surfaces. A poor end to this day may not necessarily spell doom for the Test, but already outgunned in English conditions, Sri Lanka cannot afford too many sessions like it.At 344 for 5 and two men well set, England have the firmer grip on the match. Sri Lanka have so often been tenacious in ODIs and T20s, roaring back from near-impossible situations, refusing to accept defeat. If they can discover some of that intensity in whites, they may tip the match back in their favour and avoid another disappointment at one of cricket’s cherished venues.

The St Vincent and St Lucia Tests have shown that Bangladesh’s batting habits continue to be ineffective in any conditions slightly different from those they encounter at home.

Mohammad Isam15-Sep-2014The 35th over of the Bangladesh innings produced ten runs and a wicket, which was an unimportant contribution to their score and only gave West Indies the wicket of a tail-ender. An unsafe 79 for 6 became a more perilous 89 for 7.What stuck out during this over was the constant chatter that came from the other end. Barring the first ball, Kemar Roach was bowling only short-pitched deliveries at Taijul Islam but Mahmudullah kept telling the man on strike that the next one would be a full ball. He said it after Taijul was stung on the gloves off the second ball, after he had fended the next one off his elbow guard for four leg byes, and after the next two balls, to which the No.8 again backed away.Initially it seemed as if the senior batsman was preempting what Roach was going to bowl, and hoping that the next one would indeed be a full ball. But Mahmudullah’s motive sounded like an indirect attempt at bringing Taijul to the line of the ball.It is what club coaches sometimes do in Bangladesh when the young batsman has only just started to play with the cricket ball. The coaxing would obviously be backed up by an actual full ball and sometimes slipping in the short one, but it has often worked.The simple reverse-psychology would work on someone only starting out on the game but Taijul was having none of that. He was not going to stand still to Roach for any one of those deliveries. Finally, he backed away and ramped the sixth ball into third-man’s hand.Taijul has a 64 in his 20 first-class matches so far, but he is a tail-ender. These days everyone in the playing XI is expected to have some gumption to hold his own, with a precondition that they would have batted at a competitive level in their formative years.Roach’s hounding of Taijul, and the batsman’s sliding away from the line of the short ball each time, showed how unprepared most Bangladeshi cricketers are when they enter international cricket. The manner of his batting made it easy to realise that he was fearing getting hit, and that invariably happens when a batsman is not used to facing this sort of attack. But this cannot be an excuse for Taijul or for Bangladesh cricket.To go a little deeper, it is indicative of how little attention is paid in pitch development even in first-class venues. The acceptance that Bangladeshi cricketers will always play on flat pitches that only offer slow pace and little bounce doesn’t just trouble Taijul but the more established players like Tamim Iqbal, Nasir Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahim.Bangladesh’s cricket calendar is shaped as such that international cricket clashes with domestic cricket, and since the Dhaka clubs are opposed to playing the Premier League one-day tournament without the national players, first-class cricket doesn’t see any of the senior players hone their skills regularly.It is true for most Test countries that their international cricketers are hardly available for region, club, county or franchise but in the case of the tenth Test playing nation, such absence hurts the international cricketers as much as it constricts the domestic game.So when the senior cricketers are repeating the same mistake in Test cricket, are being sucked into a false comfort zone or cannot easily find their way out of poor form, a lot of things are blamed, except their appearance in domestic matches.The economy of Bangladesh cricket is kept sound by ensuring these players get to play Dhaka Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League at every given opportunity. But when Test status was sought 14 years ago or fiercely protected earlier this year, was it done just for the “status”?Let alone the domestic game, the idea of playing more first-class cricket against Associate Nations has never been given due attention. The BCB have made it clear in the recent past that they would avoid risking a loss to one of these lesser ranked nations. Former president AHM Mustafa Kamal dawdled for a long time before approving a T20 series against Ireland two years ago. When Bangladesh won a game there, he hastily arranged an extra game, only to lose that one.Shane Jurgensen and before him Stuart Law requested time and again to arrange some four-day cricket against the likes of Ireland, UAE or Afghanistan but the BCB kept quiet. Nepal and Afghanistan have come out and said how little the BCB have supported them.The connection between these decisions and how Taijul batted is long-winded but a simple route. When the BCB doesn’t pay attention to the cricketing needs of the Bangladesh team, and that means skill development and the quest for constant improvement in their all-round game, the writing is on the wall for the cricketers, established in international cricket or not, to struggle in alien conditions.Bangladesh’s last tryst with a green-top was in Zimbabwe last year and they were crushed in both innings of the first Test match. In 2012 they did not face a pitch that offered pace and bounce while in 2011 it was only the West Indies and Pakistan attacks in Mirpur and Chittagong that made them uncomfortable; the year before they faced swing and seam in England for two Tests and struggled.The other side of the argument is that Bangladesh need not change pitches at home just to prepare for conditions that they face only once or twice every year. But as has been the latest evidence in slow St Vincent and rapid St Lucia, the batting habits that have been set for years are ineffective in any conditions that are slightly different than at home.So when Roach comes to hit Taijul, he will not listen to Mahmudullah from the other end but will continue to run away. Saving his bowling fingers, saving himself. How that reflects on a Test-playing nation is for all to see.

Australia still had work to do when they began day two, but it all turned too easy for them as Michael Clarke and Steven Smith feasted on a choice selection of dropped catches, long-hops and length balls on the pads

Sidharth Monga in Adelaide10-Dec-20142:57

‘Two frontline bowlers leaking five an over unacceptable’

At such an emotional time in their careers, that too after just having lost badly in the UAE, Australia couldn’t have asked for a more convenient opponent than India. A team they can thrash while still making good money from the spectacle. India bring in the crowds, the sponsors, but not a contest. You have a crisis, you want to make three of the most affected players feel good, but not lose out on the money, India are the team you are looking for.You can have a batsman in considerable lower-back pain from a chronic injury, not even bending in his stance, unable to run properly; he can grunt and groan each time he is made to move his back, but once India have started waiting for a declaration, he won’t need to move. The pursuit or a declaration is unstinting and unwavering. Michael Clarke just needs to show a hint of inclination to stand tall and ramp short balls over slips, and he shall be served those with pickles and garnish.Steven Smith dismissed the short ball to all parts during his unbeaten 162•Getty ImagesIf Clarke is feeling emotional around the hundred – he carried the coffin of a friend last week and might have to make career decisions with the World Cup, a West Indies tour and the Ashes coming soon – the short ball can be shelved altogether in favour of a length ball on the pads, from around the wicket. It’s Australia’s party, of course, how can India crash it?Steven Smith, oh they will keep dropping him until he has scored to his heart’s content. Not that the reprieves came before Smith had already hurt India badly, but why bother the bowlers to come out and score runs when batsmen can take the opponents to a declaration?Australia left alone 78 balls in 120 overs. They were beaten 43 times. Not all of these 121 went through to the keeper. You can leave a ball alone and get hit on the body. You can get beaten and can be hit on the body. So you can see how little Wriddhiman Saha has had to do in this innings. So when, 109 overs of flogging later, with Smith on 107, if Saha is not expecting a ball to come to him, you can probably empathise with him.As you perhaps can with Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, too. Put together they scored 356 runs in India’s last Test series, over 20 innings. You can make allowance for their having to worry about facing Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle with runs in their bags when they drop Smith in quick succession.Ishant Sharma had just finished an over when he went to long leg and picked late a flat catch from the Smith sweep that he didn’t reach. He had been the pick of India’s bowlers, although he had just taken 1 for 85. He is the leader of the Indian pace attack, India’s big hope in Australian conditions although he averages 36.5 overall and 73 in Australia.In fact it should all be inexcusable. It’s on days like these when tenacious teams dig in and make it tough for the opposition to gain an advantage, or at least delay such an advantage long enough to give themselves a shot at the draw. India, they go for 163 on a day when they have had to bowl just 30 overs. For one wicket, that of an injured man taking risks almost every ball in search of quick runs.There is no fatigue, no heat to contend with. It’s just that India love to wait for declarations. These days came pretty late on their tours to South Africa and England, but Australia is different. In England and South Africa, their bowlers get some assistance from the pitches. In Australia you need skill, strength and fitness in abundance. And Test-match temperament. The Indian bowling unit is often found wanting on those counts.This time yesterday India were looking at an opportunity, having Australia six down for 354. Clarke was really brave in coming out to bat, Smith batted excellently, but had India managed to keep a lid on their scoring they still would have left themselves plenty of scope to draw the Test, and prospectively come up against a Clarke-less Australia with the sheet clean. Now, as ever, India are left looking to their batsmen to help turn around what is already beginning to look like a long tour. Not much has happened of late to make you want to hold your breath.

By elevating Jason Holder to the captaincy of a troubled team so early in his career, West Indies have risked stalling the development of an immensly promising cricketer

Daniel Brettig at the SCG27-Feb-20151:38

‘Have to improve death bowling’ – Holder

At the start of the second season of World Series Cricket, the embattled Australian Cricket Board appointed a new young captain in Graeme Yallop. Asked for his prediction of the forthcoming six-Test Ashes series, Yallop blithely predicted a 6-0 victory. A few months later he was left nursing a 5-1 mauling at the hands of Mike Brearley’s England, and would go on to publish a bitter account of the series entitled “Lambs to the Slaughter”.There is something of the lamb being led to a similarly grim fate about Jason Holder at this World Cup. Following a horrendous mess of leadership, board and player problems, his parachuting into the captaincy as the WICB’s man of choice has risked permanent damage to a fine young man and an allrounder of much potential. Imagine thrusting Steven Smith into Australia’s captaincy not this summer but during the 2010-11 Ashes, when he was still more embryo than cricketer, and you will have a fair parallel.Even AB de Villiers has sympathy for Holder’s situation, though he was never likely to show it during a sunny and warm afternoon at the SCG. Smarting from his own reverse in Melbourne at the hands of India, de Villiers tore at West Indies with a ferocity to match that shown at the Wanderers a few weeks ago. He had no qualms about turning his harshest light on Holder himself, utterly destroying his opposite number’s fast medium in an assault that left the younger man at his wits’ end.In 2000, at a time when West Indies’ decline was becoming apparent, Steve Waugh was asked whether he had any advice for his opposite number Jimmy Adams following a particularly heavy defeat in that year’s Boxing Day Test. Waugh did not hesitate with the rejoinder, “oh, have a serious drink tonight”, prompting widespread laughter in the room. Pondering Holder’s plight, de Villiers resorted to empathy rather than black humour.”While you’re playing it’s definitely not something you think about,” de Villiers said. “He’s actually a really nice guy, so yes, we’ve all been there, and I think every captain goes through really tough games – it was a tough game for him today but we had a tough game in the last one at Melbourne. I know for sure he’s mature enough to handle it, he’s got enough teammates and experience to look after him.”Unfortunately for Holder, the conflicts and intrigues of West Indies cricket leave him unable to know for sure who has their mind completely on the job. It also felt more or less inevitable that after his commanding performance against Zimbabwe in Canberra, Chris Gayle would not trouble South Africa for long at the SCG. Likewise Lendl Simmons showed a bizarre lack of awareness when declining to review an LBW decision when he had clearly edged Imran Tahir onto his front pad.Meanwhile Holder must work to understand his own tactical skills as a captain while at the same time developing and maturing as an allrounder. He may have misstepped in the afternoon by underbowling Gayle and Marlon Samuels on a pitch that later offered up generous spin and bounce for Tahir, and his inability to find a way to contain de Villiers allowed his thinking to veer into quite negative zones – he admitted afterwards that his best ploy towards the end of the innings was to hope he could keep de Villiers off strike.”He was obviously in full flow and my main thing was just to get him off strike and bowl a few more balls at [Farhaan] Behardien who had just come tot he crease,” Holder said. “The dropped chances didn’t help. If you take away my last two overs which AB really took me apart, it could have been a different story. We tried to execute some yorkers and we didn’t land them, but he created room which most batsmen probably wouldn’t have.”It was perhaps a time to note that no less a judge than Rohit Sharma had stated how he rated Dwayne Bravo the most difficult death bowler he has had to face, via a mastery of changes in pace and length that keeps the batsman guessing rather than the bowler. Kieron Pollard has a not dissimilar ability to change his pace, and had scored a fine century on this very ground. Both sit at home at the behest of the WICB.Walking off with a South African tally of 408 staring them in the face, Holder’s men looked beaten, and the early overs of their chase – more of a slump really – proved this beyond doubt. Older spectators in attendance, whether in the SCG’s stately Members Pavilion or other, newer quarters of the ground, were left to think back in puzzlement on how this once great collective of island nations had slumped so low, as yet another match between the ICC’s Full Members failed to produce the sort of willing contest served up by the supposedly lowlier Associates.Many of the crowd had already begun to drift out of the SCG in search of an evening drink in Paddington, Surry Hills or Darlinghurst when the night ended on the only note of any positivity for West Indies. The only consolation to be taken from the evening would be that this note would be played by no one other than Holder himself. In an innings of free spirit and ample leverage, he averted the heaviest ODI defeat of all time and performed some sort of salvage job on his team’s net run rate. There is fight in Holder, which is one reason why he has been given such an onerous job at such a callow age.”I’m pretty good with my game at the moment,” he said. “If I analyse my bowling today just one player took me out. It happens and I just need to figure what I can do better when things like that happen. My batting, we had nothing to lose but we needed to get some runs to try to help our net run rate, so just tried to be positive and stay out there. I was struggling a bit with cramp and felt I couldn’t go off, just had to fight it through and put some runs on the board for the team.”Nevertheless, the question the WICB and more senior players must ask of themselves is whether Holder can be allowed to take on so much of the burden of this team at such a developmental time in his life and career. Were his talent to be lost to a lack of confidence, an emergence of bitterness and a creep of indifference, Holder would not be to blame. It would be those around him and above him guilty of leading a lamb to the slaughter.

The Hashim Amla we knew became the Amla we may want to know a bit more of as he abandoned elegance and decided to go unorthodox instead to reach a career-best

Firdose Moonda in Canberra03-Mar-20152:10

‘Delighted to be amongst runs’ – Amla

It was Hashim Amla’s before he had to go and get it. The first fifty runs that is.His path was cleared as early as the sixth over when he whipped Kevin O’Brien’s first ball to short midwicket and Ed Joyce put it down. Irish eyes were stinging and with good reason. Amla takes second chances very seriously.After being dropped from the Test side following just three appearances in the 2004-05 season, Amla marked his return 15 months later with 149. Nine years later, he is still in the side and holds the highest score.After opting out of leadership – Amla was appointed the ODI side’s second-in-command in 2011 – because he felt it wasn’t for him, he accepted the Test armband three years later. On his first assignment, he took the team back to the top of the rankings by winning a series in Sri Lanka, where South Africa had not triumphed in 21 years.So when Amla bisected the bowler and mid-on with a drive laced with finesse only Amla has off the first ball of O’Brien’s over following the drop, Ireland were warned that he was planning to revel in this second chance as well.Amla was on 10 when the chance was fluffed, and on 21 when he masterfully struck the straight drive that signaled his intent and the runs were flowing from a faucet only Amla’s bat can open. He threaded a gap between short cover and cover, which is like reaching for a bottle behind another bottle, but did it with the carefulness of not breaking either. He used his wrists to drive and even when the ball did not get all the way to the boundary, it was enough to allow singles to accumulate. He brought up fifty with the urgency that Faf du Plessis injected into the partnership – by running three against legs that were only in the 17th over but were starting to become heavy.The first third of South Africa’s innings went better than it has gone all tournament and they could have eased off. The most the opposition could offer was competence, not claws. Ireland’s attack, like Zimbabwe’s, have to make use of skill rather than any standout qualities but unlike Zimbabwe, they had not succeeded in showing that skill upfront.It was there for Amla to go and get. A hundred, 150 and maybe even 200 and he knew it. The Amla we knew became the Amla we may want to know a bit more of as he abandoned elegance and decided to go unorthodox instead. Well, unorthodox for him.

The first boundary Amla struck after reaching fifty was the ugly stepsister to his usual Cinderella. The resultant hack could have left blood on the moon

Amla does not slog, smack or shovel. He does not hoick. He does not even hit. The word sounds too hard for what he usually does: guides and glances, picks gaps, gently. Not today.The first boundary Amla struck after reaching fifty was the ugly stepsister to his usual Cinderella. He took a wide stance and swung his bat the way an ogre would a club. The resultant hack could have left blood on the moon. It was vicious.It was more vicious when Amla did it again in the next over with a better result. Another stable base, another carefree swing and another contact of wood to leather that both shattered and sunk opposition morale.Amla and du Plessis dented the bowling enough to be able to drain it afterwards. On a field with bigger dimensions than the MCG, there was ample room to move the ball around and plenty of singles. The pair saw off just 11 dot balls between boundaries in the 24th and 31st over and sucked the energy out of Ireland.Du Plessis quietly approached his own milestone, one that seems to have been a long time coming even though his previous two innings have brought half-centuries, perhaps because the last time he scored a century, it was his third in four innings. He’d gone through a middling period between his success in last September’s triangular series and this World Cup but always said he was ready to score big runs. Today, he showed it.Du Plessis was the Marlon Samuels to Amla’s Chris Gayle and he did not mind. He was a part-time aggressor, full-time supporter who made sure his methods of scoring runs complimented rather than competed with Amla’s. Only in his caution to get to three figures did he threaten to slip up when Amla, running on adrenaline, called him for a single that du Plessis decided was not on. He sent Amla back.Amla understood the importance of his partner securing the century, and there was time enough to get him there safely, but once that was done, it was open season. Du Plessis started it with the ramp shot, an Affies (Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool) special perfected by his schoolfriend AB de Villiers. Amla continued by doing to Ireland’s best bowler what de Villiers had done to West Indies’ captain four days ago. He dismantled John Mooney’s figures and taught him a harsh lesson in how to not to bowl to set batsman.Don’t bowl a slower ball. Don’t bowl a full toss, that’s just asking for trouble, but if you are going to bowl one, don’t overstep. Don’t give away a free hit and if you do, don’t drop the extra delivery short. Don’t offer width. Don’t do any combination of those things together unless you want to be pulled and driven and sent into the stands.That was Amla’s over and he got all of it himself. All 26 runs. All the way to within sighting distance of 150 and a career-best. He didn’t get the double but it was still Amla’s innings. Some of it was given to him, but most of it, he took for himself.

Led by their fearless captain, New Zealand threw themselves at this World Cup and came as close as they ever have done to greatness

Jarrod Kimber at the MCG29-Mar-2015Brendon McCullum is in mid-air. He is above the ground, above the ball. Floating. Flying.The ball is heading for the boundary. McCullum sticks his hand down just before his body hits the ground. He stops the ball, but his hand, his shoulder, and most of his spine are on the padded triangle.The ball dribbles off slowly. McCullum crashes into the LED advertising boards behind the rope. He gets up wringing his hand.The match is against Bangladesh. It is the last of New Zealand’s group games. They cannot be anywhere other than first in their group. The game means nothing. It should mean nothing.McCullum doesn’t play like that. He doesn’t think like that. He doesn’t lead like that. He flies into danger. Sometimes he crashes.

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Mitchell Starc to Brendon McCullum is how you start a World Cup final. The first two balls to Martin Guptill were little more than a cocktail sausage. McCullum and Starc was the whole spit roast.That first ball seemed too quick out of Starc’s hand, but somehow McCullum’s bat speed was even quicker. The whole thing was such a blur that there was even a micro moment where the crowd was waiting to see if it was six or out. Instead it had flown past the base of off stump.Brad Haddin did a little “I can’t believe it” skip. Starc reach for his head in despair. McCullum just stared back at him.The World Cup final had started.

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Six World Cup semi-finals. New Zealand were virtually in a permanent state of semi. It was one of the more remarkable, almost invisible, records in cricket. New Zealand are nearly almost never not good at ODI cricket. New Zealand are never great at ODI cricket.In 1975 they ran into West Indies. Glenn Turner might have been batting in that tournament like no one could get him out, but he did get out and West Indies won with 119 balls to spare. In ’79 they were up against England, and had 221 to chase in 60 overs. They ended up nine runs short with one wicket in hand. Glenn Turner went out with 60 to get. Richard Hadlee with 42 to go. Geoff Boycott took 1 for 24 from his nine overs.Saeed Anwar could not be dismissed in the 1999 semi-final, and New Zealand didn’t set him enough to really test his skills anyway. In 2007, Mahela Jayawardene made 115 and New Zealand’s top six combined for less than that. Four years later New Zealand played Sri Lanka again. They made 217 and Sri Lanka were 160 for 1 before four quick wickets scared them, but not enough to prevent them cruising into the final.If you meet Martin Crowe, there is a chance that, not long into meeting him, he will mention not being on the field for the whole ’92 semi-final. This was the tournament of Crowe. He let Mark Greatbatch attack in the batting. He used Dipak Patel with the new ball. And he smashed Australia for a hundred.Crowe did all this while looking good and sounding like a cricket genius. In the semi-final, he continued to smash. He scored a better-than-run-a-ball 91 that was only ended by a run-out. At this stage, the ’92 World Cup was Martin Crowe’s tournament.Martin Crowe was Man of the Tournament at the 1992 World Cup, but he never forgave himself for his side losing the semi-final•Getty ImagesNew Zealand made a huge total of 262, the highest score of any game not featuring Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe. But Crowe had hurt his hamstring, so he sat out the bowling innings, with such a big total already in the bag. Even so, Pakistan still needed 123 off the last 15 overs. New Zealand should have been in the final, but instead, Inzamam-ul-Haq came into our lives and Pakistan won the World Cup. Crowe has never forgiven himself. Crowe left the field, and the tournament.Of all of New Zealand’s almosts, this was the most almost.

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Lose toss, be asked to bat. Face sixth ball of World Cup, smash it over cover to the rope. Score 65 off 49. Win match. That is Brendon McCullum starting the World Cup.New Zealand bowled out Scotland for 142. The game is over. But New Zealand don’t just want to win the game. They want to win the net run rate. They want to dance gloriously over the line in the shortest amount of time possible. First ball McCullum faces, he slashes wildly and mishits it over cover for 1. Then a drive to the fielder. Then a perfect cover drive. Then a dropped flick. Then a turn for one. Then a crazy charge and swipe to the rope. New Zealand’s innings is much the same as that. Instead of dancing across the line, they stumble out of the pub after having a cracking night.Tim Southee produced one of the greatest bowling performances in World Cups against England. Old swing bowlers were watching in tears. Some of his deliveries seemed designed to not only dismiss English batsmen but humiliate them for years to come. Everyone should have been talking about him for years to come. Fifteen minutes after his seventh wicket, his name was already fading away. Had McCullum been holding a chainsaw he couldn’t have done any more damage to the English bowlers. He made 77 from 22 balls. There were four dot balls and two singles in that. The rest was too brutal to relive.In Auckland, Australia were 51 for 1 after six overs. It is hard to attack with that going on. So McCullum didn’t attack. He changed the attack. Daniel Vettori came on. In his first 23 balls, Australia only took 13 runs. His 24th ball dismissed Shane Watson. Australia were 80 for 2. They would not double that score from there. Mitchell Johnson tried to break McCullum’s, um, arm but he still made a third of the chase in 24 balls. Somehow, even with the back of innings already broken, Mitchell Starc almost stole it with 6 for 28. McCullum took Starc for 16 off eight balls.Vettori had seven catchers against Afghanistan for a hat-trick ball. Later that game, McCullum almost took out Guptill with a down-the-track cross-bat straight smash.Win toss against West Indies. Watch Guptill bat. Move to seventh World Cup semi-final in country’s history.

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New Zealand came into Test cricket in 1930. Their first-class cricket was probably not much stronger than that in Argentina at the time. A first Test was against England. A day later England played another Test against West Indies.Australia played their first Test against New Zealand in 1946. They did not consider it a Test at the time. New Zealand made 42 and 54. Australia did not play New Zealand again for 10,136 days. In 1955, New Zealand went into the third innings 46 runs behind England. England won the match by an innings and 20 runs.In this period, New Zealand had many players but only one champion. Bert Sutcliffe.For 12 Tests, he proved to everyone that New Zealand belonged in Test cricket and should be taken seriously. It was Sutcliffe’s 13th Test that changed him.Neil Adcock was the bowler. He was patient zero for South African quick bowling. Adcock had this flock of hair that would stand on end as he hurled the ball in. It was cute. It was the only thing cute about him; the rest of him was terrifying. He bruised everyone he played against. Australia’s Colin McDonald once said, “Tell this bastard I’ve got a family to go home to.” This day in Johannesburg, Adcock was bowling length balls, at pace, that according to Sutcliffe were going “almost vertical”. Both New Zealand’s openers were hit before they were out.People at the ground talked about the sound the ball made on Sutcliffe’s head for years afterwards. Sutcliffe slumped to the ground unconscious. He got up, and even walked off the ground. As Sutcliffe got to hospital, Lawrie Miller was hit right on the heart, and started spitting blood. Two other players were hit as well. At the hospital, Sutcliffe lost consciousness again.They hit him, then he hit them: Bert Sutcliffe battles on against South Africa in 1953•ESPNcricinfo LtdThe image of Sutcliffe going back out to bat at Ellis Park looks more like a war photo than a cricket one. His head is covered in a bandage. There is a huge lump on the back of his neck. According to Richard Boock’s , on Sutcliffe, “[captain Geoff] Rabone and a couple of first-aid men raced into the middle to readjust the Kiwi’s bandages, which had been weeping blood during the exchanges. They eventually decided to tape a white towel around his head.”Sutcliffe smashed the ball while he was out there. He smashed Adcock, and the great Hugh Tayfield. He went after everyone. Sutcliffe went past the follow-on with a six. At nine down, Sutcliffe was still unbeaten; he started to walk off the ground.Bob Blair was supposed to bat at No. 11. Blair’s fiancée had tragically died in the Tangiwai train crash the day before. Blair was in mourning. Sutcliffe, and most at the ground, thought that Blair wouldn’t bat. He did. He played one scoring shot, for six. Sutcliffe ended up with 80 out of 187. The two men showed amazing bravery.At that time, these two brave men batting in a losing cause was New Zealand’s greatest day. New Zealand lost the game by 132 runs.

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McCullum doesn’t run down the wicket, he hurls. It’s not a charge, it’s a challenge. The first ball from Starc might have beaten him, but that doesn’t stop him, it seems to spur him on. The Aussies must know who they are playing against, he must show them, he must bash them, he must end them.He is three paces down the wicket, and two outside the leg stump. He is standing in the middle of the MCG, nowhere near the stumps.Starc follows him. The ball is fast, again, and it comes in at him, again. This time it beats him outside his off stump and inside his leg stump. McCullum turns his head to see if Haddin has taken the ball, and then casually gets back into his crease.McCullum has not hit a ball. He is under attack.

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South Africa lose two early wickets. McCullum places every single New Zealander in a catching position. All four million of them.McCullum won’t back off. He keeps attacking. He uses up his best overs, he ignores his risky, fifth-bowler overs. He knows, he hopes, that if he goes hell for leather he can bowl South Africa out. He is wrong. In the end the most important force is the weather.Until McCullum enters with the bat, that is. You might be excited by Chris Gayle. You might love Glenn Maxwell. You might think AB de Villiers is the best batsman on the planet. But every single ball you miss of Brendon McCullum is a moment lost.

Against South Africa, McCullum might as well have taken a sword, ripped off his clothes, hopped on a wild stallion and ridden into an invading army on his own

Not just the boundary, or play and miss, but the feeling you get as the bowler comes to the crease. The cricket possibilities are endless. He could save the world, chop his own head off, or clear a stand at cover. It is all possible, it is all probable, in that final moment. The moment between delivery stride and McCullum playing a shot is the best moment in cricket right now.Against South Africa, he might as well have taken a sword, ripped off his clothes, hopped on a wild stallion and ridden into an invading army on his own. He has batted quicker. He has batted better. But never have 26 deliveries been more important to his country.In McCullum’s 4.2 over spell of destruction, he changed the entire run chase. It was mad. It was beautiful. It was almost enough.Later, New Zealand would win thanks to Corey Anderson and Grant Elliott. The whole country celebrated. They had defeated the semi-final. They had won the biggest game of their country’s cricket existence. They had won.They were almost World Cup champions.

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Thirty-nine years is a long time to wait for your first Test series win. When New Zealand did finally win a series, they did it in their own way. They had no champions in the team that won the only Test out of three. In that Test, the top score was from a Pakistani, and so was the only five-wicket haul. They had a collapse of 4 for 4. When they were finally chasing the target of 82, they lost five wickets. Plus, they did it away from home.In the third Test they had to hold on for the draw. They did it because one man made the heroic contribution of 23 and four wickets in the match.In the third innings, New Zealand fell to 108 for 8, with a lead of less than a hundred. Then Mark Burgess was joined at the crease by Bob Cunis.Neither would have played much, if at all, for other countries. Burgess played 50 Tests and averaged 31.20. Cunis was, and will always be, known as famously “neither one thing nor the other”.In two hours these two put on 96 runs. They put on a lead. Took time out of the game. Gave some hope. Burgess made a hundred, his second first-class hundred; Cunis 23. Which is neither one thing nor the other.Pakistan’s chase was two hours and 20 minutes long to score 184. Pakistan shut up after losing four wickets. Cunis took all four, 4 for 21. In that whole match, he took only four wickets and made 23 runs. In his whole career, he made one fifty and took one five-wicket haul. In the history of New Zealand cricket, there have been greater personal performances, but few that were as important. Bob Cunis was one thing that day: a hero.Don Neely, a former first-class cricketer and cricket official, later said: “It’s a pity this side hasn’t had greater recognition – perhaps their achievements were overshadowed by other world events in those tumultuous times, which saw men walking on the moon, as well as Vietnam and Woodstock.”New Zealand cricket had survived a war, some of the most humiliating defeats in Test cricket and a train tragedy, all on their way to one Test series win.

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Never a lost cause: McCullum set the tone for his team with the bat and in the field•Getty ImagesMcCullum has three slips. The ball is swinging. Aaron Finch is a distance away from it. And McCullum smiles.The rest of the world might think this is a formality. But McCullum has not given up. He has the smile of a man who knows the future, and it’s a World Cup victory for New Zealand.His smile is misguided, and magnificent.

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New Zealand’s second Test series win was against West Indies in 1979-80. They would be the only Test side to beat a full-strength West Indies. That started a whole new era of New Zealand cricket. The greatest days, at home and away. They beat Australia and England. They survived the underarm ball. And the team included a comic villain and a pretty hero.That moustache. There was no way around it. It was the moustache of a villain. It wasn’t just the moustache. Richard Hadlee had the sharp features of someone who would tie a young girl to a train line. And his eyes. They were supposed to look at you like that. Always. Hadlee seemed to pop out of a 1920s film and straight into the bowling crease. When Australian crowds called him a “wanker”, it was the highest honour they could bestow.Martin Crowe was like a beautifully illustrated coaching manual come to life. He managed to play forward and still late. He rotated the strike right up until the moment there was a ball he could hit for four, and then it went. His batting was calm and complete. When Crowe pushed through point, you wanted to convert to him.New Zealand had a team around them as well. They were the good old days. In 14 series New Zealand won nine times.But they weren’t the best team on earth, West Indies were. They never even made the semi-final of a World Cup in this era. New Zealand might have been at their best. But they weren’t best.

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When the MCG knew they had won the World Cup•Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesOn the back page of Melbourne’s biggest newspaper it said, “Hey Bro” with a photo of Brendon McCullum. He is the superstar of this New Zealand team. Australia is a country that doesn’t know the difference between a Trent Boult, a Kane Williamson and a Luke Ronchi (even though he used to play for them). They know McCullum.McCullum has a great team, but he’s the face, the brawn, the leading man. And the man who can take Australia’s whole World Cup away.But he’s still not hit a ball after the first two deliveries. And the MCG is salivating as one. The whole ground feels moist. Eager. Desperate. Lustful.McCullum doesn’t run, charge or hurl down the wicket. He stays in his crease. Starc doesn’t hoop the ball. It isn’t a Wasim Akram ball. It didn’t have a devious mind and a cunning plan. It was straight and full, and it faded back.McCullum played it like a man who had just played and missed twice. McCullum was late. McCullum was wide. McCullum was out.The MCG reacted like it had won the World Cup. You could feel the shake in the stands. You could feel the shake in every person. You could feel the concrete erupting.The MCG had just won the World Cup.New Zealand will fight, they will hope, they will “dare to dream” but they will come to find what the MCG already knew – it wasn’t their day.”The greatest time of our lives” is how Brendon McCullum described this tournament. It was perhaps the greatest time of New Zealand cricket. Eight straight wins and a trip to the MCG for a magical day.It was almost. But their greatest almost.

The conditions in Chennai for the game against Rajasthan Royals were about as far removed from New Zealand as it could get. Yet Brendon McCullum found a way to succeed

Arun Venugopal in Chennai11-May-20152:40

O’Brien: McCullum’s runs pivotal to winning the game

The 16th over of Chennai Super Kings’ innings is nearing its completion. Brendon McCullum is on his haunches, trying to mine every remaining ounce of energy. Chennai’s heat and humidity have sucked out much of it. The stadium announcer urges the crowd to chant, ‘We want sixer,’ and they comply. McCullum, too, looks like he could do with one. He has just run a brace of twos, and appears too drained to even contemplate another quick single. All he manages off the last ball is a hit down the ground for one.McCullum grits it out for another over and a bit. He watches Faf du Plessis, his partner in a 101-run alliance off 76 balls, depart after being run out. McCullum then carts Shane Watson over long-on for a six in the same over. He is out in the next over, top-edging a pull. Out after playing an un-McCullum-like innings – 81 off 61 balls. Seven fours and four sixes. Still, un-McCullum-like.This was the longest he had batted since his unbeaten 56-ball hundred against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Not that the brevity of his knocks has impacted his numbers: with 419 runs at 38.09, he is far and ahead Super Kings’ highest run-scorer this year, besides being fourth on the overall list. His strike-rate, of 165.61, is second only to that of AB de Villiers among the top four.McCullum’s method has been that of a free-spirited bounty-hunter, galloping away – literally and figuratively -in the Powerplay with the intention of gunning down as many scoring opportunities as possible. He has been Super Kings’ force-multiplier at the top, but never quite the restorer or consolidator that batted deep.Sunday’s match against Rajasthan Royals, his and Super Kings’ last home outing for IPL 2015, had him playing a game he was “a little bit unfamiliar with.” Given the conditions, he rated the 81 higher than his century against Sunrisers. “Coming from New Zealand you don’t play a lot on a wicket that is slow and offers spin,” McCullum told iplt20.com. “So, given that and the situation of the game and tournament on the whole, this is more satisfying.”Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming acknowledged that it was an “absolute grind.” “The pleasing aspect for us was we needed an innings of substance from someone in the top four, and the fact that McCullum got through to 81 and had a 101-run partnership with du Plessis was where the game was set up for us.”McCullum weathered a disciplined spell from Royals, as Dwayne Smith and Suresh Raina fell to leave Super Kings 15 for 2. What McCullum did next was counter-intuitive: rather than go on an indiscriminate leather-hunt, he picked his targets, like Rajat Bhatia and Pravin Tambe, to ensure Super Kings stayed the course. Once they had reached a position of moderate comfort, McCullum brought into play the ramps and the flat-batted strikes even as du Plessis struggled to hike up his scoring-rate.And he had quite a bit of running to do which explains why he ran out of gas at the end. MS Dhoni put McCullum’s knock in context at the presentation. “He comes from New Zealand and it was difficult for him. There is a joke going around in the dressing room: If Brendon Mccullum bats for 6-7 overs, he will be cooked.”Cooked he certainly was, but that didn’t stop him from being his usual gum-chewing, vibrant self on the field later. McCullum’s contribution to Super Kings’ success this year has gone beyond his batting. Along with Raina, du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja, McCullum has formed an impregnable fielding core.His has been a tigerish presence at point and cover while swooping down on the ball or making those exaggerated tumbles after hurling himself on ferocious hits. So desperate was he to effect a run-out in one of the matches that he bolted towards the ball, and with no time to pick up and throw, knived it with his palm onto the stumps. That he actually dropped a sitter offered by Chris Morris on Sunday was as rare as snow in Chennai.McCullum seemed to embody the ‘greatness is contagious’ theme of the World Cup, and he has sustained it in the IPL. With the kind of influence he has had, Super Kings will find it difficult when McCullum leaves for New Zealand’s Test series in England. The Super Kings management confirmed he will available for their next two games before leaving on May 17.Michael Hussey, the man who has spent many an evening carrying drinks and enthusiastically cheering the players on, will be his replacement. Hussey was also on hand to help McCullum stretch and rehydrate while fielding. Super Kings and their fans, while missing McCullum, can take heart in the quality of his replacement.