India vs. Zimbabwe, 4th ODI, Harare

It hasn't been a good two months for India. They were knocked out of the second stage of the Twenty20 World Cup without registering a win, failed to defend a large total against Zimbabwe in the first game of the Micromax Cup, and have now suffered their first ever second consecutive loss to Zimbabwe. India now find themselves in the uncomfortably familiar position of having to win their next game (against Sri Lanka) to stay in the tournament, while Zimbabwe find themselves in the pleasantly unfamiliar situation of having one foot in the finals of a multi-nation tournament.

With the series moving to Harare, the thought was that the slow scoring forced by the Bulawayo wicket would be gone. But as India overcautiously tapped their way to 26 off the first 10 overs, it seemed that openers Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik had other ideas. Vijay was stumped for a painful 21 off 56 balls, and some bad running between the wickets soon had India in trouble at 95/5 after 27 overs. None of the upper or middle order batsmen had a strike-rate over 75, and it was only Ravindra Jadeja's 51 off 72 that saw India to a respectable total. He was lucky to survive two plumb appeals for LBW, but the Zimbabwean bowlers were all over India. Andy Blignaut conceded only 22 from his 10 overs; every bowler took at least one wicket (Greg Lamb took three), and none conceded more than 5 runs an over). 

Zimbabwe started cautiously themselves, but once Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza settled in, they took the game away from India. Taylor brought up his 19th ODI half-century in his 100th match, and when he fell for 74 with the score reading 128/1 in the 26th over, the hard work was already done. By comparison, India were 94/4 at the same stage. Masakadza blasted two enormous 6s in his 66, and even though he and Charles Coventry were dismissed in quick succession, India were well and truly gone. Returning captain Tatenda Taibu hit the winning boundary to put Zimbabwe at the top of the league table, and leave India on the brink of elimination before the finals of a multi-nation tournament for the second time in two months. 

It's harsh, but to say that India had an "off" day would be an understatement: the batting never clicked, the fielding was very subpar (save for Virat Kohli's brilliant catch to get Masakadza), and Zimbabwe exerted such control over their innings that the Indian bowling had no chance. Barring the loss to Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe have been the team of the tournament, and their case for a return to Test cricket has never looked better. To be fair, their success has come at home, and against an inexperienced Indian lineup; but conventional wisdom would dictate that even a second-string Indian team should not go down so soundly to Zimbabwe - twice. India's backs are to the wall against Sri Lanka, but they'll take strength from their previous victory against their Asian neighbors. At this point, it's all they've got left. 

Zimbabwe vs. Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI, Bulawayo

Zimbabwe found themselves in the unfamiliar position of going into the third match of the Micromax Cup 2010 as favorites: their victory over India was very convincing; Sri Lanka were bruised after their own chastening loss to India; and Zimbabwe know their home conditions better than anyone. Add to the mixture Zimbabwe's slow-but-sure progression in climbing the cricket ladder, and Sri Lanka resting experienced players to test out youngsters, and the stage was set for another giant-killing.

The rain almost ruined the whole party, delaying the start of the game for hours. Once the downpour abated, there was enough time for a 26-over slog. Winning the toss, Tillekeratne Dilshan made the easy choice of bowling first. Under pressure to post a challenging total in quick time in difficult batting conditions, Zimbabwe lost their hero of the India game, Brendan Taylor, for just 2. Apart from Hamilton Masakadza, none of the other batsmen found their groove. Craig Ervine, who batted so fluently against India, scored just 7 off 20 balls. Charles Coventry struck the second 6 of the innings, but perished trying to repeat the attempt. Masakadza hit the only other boundaries for Zimbabwe, four 4s and a 6 giving him the team's highest total of 62 - but Coventry's 11 was the next highest contribution, and Zimbabwe collapsed to 118 all out. Suraj Randiv lead the charge with three wickets, while Ajantha Mendis and debutant Jeevan Mendis took two apiece. 

Sri Lanka had two motivators as they faced the Zimbabwean bowlers: one, save face after the loss to India; and two, defeat Zimbabwe quickly enough to earn a bonus point and go to the top of the league table. With Dilshan relinquishing the wicketkeeping gloves to Dinesh Chandimal, and without the pressure of setting a total or chasing down a large score, the captain returned to his swashbuckling best. The Zimbabwean bowlers erred by bowling too wide or too short, giving Dilshan and Tharanga good batting practice. Tharanga was run out for the second successive game, but his 40 was enough to take the game away from Zimbabwe. Dilshan made his second consecutive half-century, slashing his way to 60 off 45, as Sri Lanka reached their target with 64 balls remaining. Typically, the winning runs came off a wild wide from Christopher Mpofu. 

So Zimbabwe find themselves in familiar territory after their exemplary win against India. Fortunately for them, the series now moves to Harare, which should offer the better weather and batting conditions that played a role in their victory. The loss to Sri Lanka is a setback, but a necessary experience if they are to prove their worth as a world-class cricket team again. Sri Lanka will be relieved that they bounced back well after their defeat to India, and in such a way that they now lead the points table with 5 points, while Zimbabwe and India have 4 apiece. Going into the second stage of the tournament, each team has 1 win and 1 loss, setting up a very interesting race to the final game.

 

 

Sri Lanka vs. India, 2nd ODI, Bulawayo

Yet another India-Sri Lanka match, but this one of great importance to India, who were looking to bounce back after their surprise defeat to Zimbabwe in the first game of the Micromax Cup. For Sri Lanka, this would be a chance for Tillekeratne Dilshan to rediscover some form after an indifferent few months, but with the added pressure of captaining his team. With such names as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan being rested, the future of India and Sri Lanka decked it out in Bulawayo. 

Put in to bat, Sri Lanka had to contend with the two-faced nature of the pitch and an Indian bowling attack which had learned its lessons from the Zimbabwe game. Upul Tharanga was run out in the second over, and with the ball not coming onto the bat, Dilshan was forced into consolidation mode early on. He ground his way to his first international 50 in a while, and while not a pretty affair, might have boosted his confidence a touch. Thilan Samaraweera and Chamara Kapugedera found it tough going, dismissed for 19 and 20 respectively. Dilshan was run out for 61, and his vice-captain Angelo Mathews took the helm, hitting only two 4s and two 6s in his highest ODI score of 75. Nuwan Kulasekera and Thissara Perera, who looks like a good prospect for Sri Lanka's future, struck some quick boundaries to push their team to 242. Considering the slow nature of the pitch, Sri Lanka would have been relieved (if only somewhat) that their bowlers had a target to defend.

But once the moisture from the overnight rain had dried off, the wicket became far more honest. Without the pressure of a large chase on their hands, the Indian batsmen encountered few problems in chasing. While the first boundary came for the Sri Lankans in the 9th over, Dinesh Karthik struck India's first boundary off the second ball of the innings. Karthik and Murali Vijay fell cheaply, but Rohit Sharma brought up his second consecutive century to make light work of the Sri Lankan total. He was well-supported by Virat Kohli (82); together, they added 154 for the third wicket, and it was more than enough to see India home. Unsurprisingly, Sharma received the Man of the Match award as India coasted home by 7 wickets and with 39 balls remaining.

So India rediscover their winning ways after a stuttering start to the tournament. Their bowlers hit all the right areas, the fielders were all over the Sri Lankans, and the batsmen did not have to work too hard on a pitch that became easier to bat on as the day went on. The Sri Lankans, on the other hand, have a lot of work to do. Ajantha Mendis took only 1 wicket for 64 runs in his 10 overs, figures that will only add to the speculation that his aura has all but faded. The positive news for the Sri Lankans is that Dilshan found some form again (even if he's not back to his swashbuckling best as yet), and the maturity of Angelo Mathews' innings belies his 22 years (he turns 23 tomorrow) and his relative inexperience (only 19 ODIs). Their next assignment is against Zimbabwe; and after a magnificent victory against India and knowing that their home conditions undid the Sri Lankan batsmen, the host team will be smelling blood.  

Death Note

If there's one thing all cultures have in common regardless of any stylistic idiosyncrasies is that they're all willing to run something popular into the ground with a complete lack of shame. Much like Twilight is currently consuming every facet of culture in America, the years of 2003 through 2008 in Japan were dominated by all things Death Note. Tsugumi Ohba's wildly popular manga series has been subject to more redundant adaptations than practically any other property in the history of the medium. It got the requisite anime treatment, which makes sense, but it also found its way into a light novel, no fewer than three feature-length, live-action films and a smattering of video games. Most of these items have found their way to the United States, though not surprisingly the handheld Nintendo DS game about plotting the excruciating details of a person's death failed to find its way to our shores where the target demographic for video games tends to age in direct proportion to the income of those who can afford the hardware to run them, i.e. a game requiring a $2000 PC might actually have interesting writing and adult themes, while $300 consoles aim entirely for violence-obsessed teenage boys and $100 handheld systems are almost exclusively the realm of children who must be tricked into receiving an education. Because Death Note was so ubiquitous it only stands to reason that I've been urged to watch the TV series by everyone, everyone's mother and everyone's mother's hair dresser ever since I started, then finished the recurring Anime Friday feature on this blog a year ago.

What surprised me is that Death Note is actually pretty good. It's not the best anime I've seen and it's ridiculous on a frequent enough basis that I can't take it as seriously as, say, the entire People's Republic of China does, but there are a lot of things about Death Note that puts it leagues ahead of its contemporaries.

First of all, Madhouse's animated adaptation is painfully pretty. It's part of a recent crop of anime that exist primarily to put smiles on the faces of people who have inexplicable fetishes for beautiful scenery. Just like every wistful coming-of-age anime from the past five years can't help but be 90 minutes of cloud porn, Death Note revels in the disturbingly immaculate and often shiny world inhabited by its main character, a young man with the absurd name of Light. Honestly, sometimes I think characters from manga and Japanese role playing games are named by putting an Oxford English Dictionary in a wood chipper and choosing whichever fragment falls on the writer's tongue. Speaking of tongues, it doesn't help that Japanese linguistic conventions lead to a series full of people saying "Right-o" all the time. It's very hard to take a story seriously when it sounds like the creepy death spirit is constantly answering in a peppy version of the affirmative.

But that doesn't make a whole lot of difference because Light happens to be one of the most interesting manga/anime characters in history. His name could be Cotton Candy Puppy Lips and it would still be awesome to spend twenty minutes a week trying to sympathize with a serial killer who strokes his god complex like Blowfeld strokes his pet cat. Light is like Patrick Bateman with super powers and an unshakable sense of nigh-biblical morality. The initial premise of an unassuming notebook that can kill anyone whose name is written in it is interesting and unique enough to stand on its own, but the real delight of the series is that much of it is basically about two isolated geniuses trying to screw with one another because they both believe they have moral superiority.

Of course, Death Note, like all anime series, would be better as a 13-episode affair than the 37 that actually got produced. The nicely contained story of Light's cat-and-mouse game with cagey investigator L gives way to a complicated mythology of multiple notebooks, Light's would-be successors and a foregone conclusion of power and corruption. Death Note is fun, easy on the eyes and avoids a lot of the pitfalls of anime cliche. It may not be worth 14 hours of viewership, but I can think of less interesting content to become immensely popular.

India vs. Zimbabwe, 1st ODI, Bulawayo

International cricket visited Zimbabwe for the first time in two years, as Sri Lanka, India and the home team play for the 2010 Micromax Cup. Zimbabwe are out to (re-)establish themselves as a world class team, and with Sri Lanka and India resting experienced players to breed a new crop for the 2011 World Cup, they have a great chance of improving and impressing after a decade in the wilderness. Suresh Raina assumed the controls for India as his team faced the home side in the first fixture of the tournament.

India made a guarded start to their innings after winning the toss and batting first. Neither Murali Vijay nor Dinesh Karthik did much to accelerate the scoring, but they were helped by a woeful 26-run over from first-time skipper Elton Chigumbura, who conceded 17 runs in extras in an over that ultimately lasted 12 balls. Both openers were run out (Vijay to a lazy piece of running and Karthik to a good piece of fielding), and the spin combination of Ray Price, Graeme Cremer, Greg Lamb and Prosper Utseya brought India's run-rate down to 4.08 by the 25th over (102/3). Suresh Raina dropped anchor, but found scoring difficult, hitting only two 4s in his 37 off 52. After he departed, Rohit Sharma took control of the innings, scoring his first boundary from his 84th delivery to take him to 49, before increasing the pace to bring up his first ODI century off 114 balls. He departed for 114 from 119 balls, and Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja (61 off 61) took the Indian total to 285/5.

A good total for India after a slow start, and despite three of their bowlers making debuts, they would have been confident of restricting Zimbabwe. Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor had other ideas, racing to 88 together before Masakadza was squared up by Amit Mishra for 46 off 43 in the 12th over. With the required rate increasing, Taylor fell for a well-made 81. Charles Coventry, with a highest ODI score of 194*, smacked three 6s to bring the required run rate down from 8.60, but was bowled by a brilliant slower delivery from Vinay Kumar. Needing 55 from 42 balls, Craig Ervine, on debut, played the innings of a veteran, nudging singles and carving boundaries to reach his 50 from 51 balls. At the other end, Elton Chigumbura made up for his atrocious bowling to blast 24 off 16 balls, and hit the winning boundary to take his team home by 6 wickets with 10 runs to spare.

It's hard to call this an upset when Zimbabwe played so confidently and positively. Honors were even at the innings break, and despite a mounting required run rate, Zimbabwe were never really behind India. That the Indian bowlers took only four wickets in their failure to defend a target of 286 will give them a lot to think about, but it's too early to start burning the effigies. This is new blood being tried, and a trial by fire will serve them better than a boring victory. Zimbabwe should feel confident at their accomplishment, but the pressure is on them to prove that beating India was no flash in the pan. 

 

Australia vs. New Zealand, Women's Final, 2010 World Twenty20

Good friends (and better enemies) Australia and New Zealand met in the final of the women's edition of the 2010 World Twenty20. After their male counterparts failed to topple the auld enemy England, it fell to Alex Blackwell and her team to ensure that the green and gold would take home some gold on the day. In her way was Aimee Watkins and her White Ferns, who had enjoyed a good run up to the tournament and were in their third consecutive World Cup final. They were 0-2 going into this one, and would have hoped that the third time was their charm.

With the Aussies in trouble at 20/3, it seemed fortune was on their side. Nicola Browne did the most damage, her four overs going for just 11 runs, with a Test-like economy rate of 2.75 an over. When Alyssa Healy was run out off a dropped catch in the 16th over with the scoreboard reading 71/6, an innings total of 100 would have seemed like a luxury, but Lisa Sthalekar struck two boundaries in the 19th over, bowled by Sophie Devine. Devine had her revenge when she bowled Sthalekar, but the 100 was up. Rene Farrell and Sarah Elliott took six runs in Lucy Doolan's final over, and Farrell might well have hit a boundary off the final ball of the innings were it not for a magnificent catch by Aimee Watkins at cover. The Australians were kept to a below-par 106/8; Leah Poulton top-scored with 20, and the White Ferns conceded only four 4s in the 20 overs.

In reply, Suzie Bates struck a big six off Rene Farrell, but Aimee Watkins fell to Clea Smith the next ball. Sara McGlashan was run out thanks to a bad mix-up with Bates, and Ellyse Perry grabbed two wickets to leave the White Ferns at 30/4. New Zealand crawled at 3.27 an over, and Shelly Nitschke dismissed Rachel Priest to reduce the Kiwis to 36/5. Going into the 19th over, the White Ferns needed 14.50, and Devine caused jaws to drop when she took the last two balls off Rene Farrell for 4 and 6. 15 runs from the final six deliveries, and Ellyse Perry bowled a tight five balls to bring the equation down to 5 required off the last ball. Devine drove the ball straight down the ground, and it might well have gone to the boundary to tie the match - but Perry's soccer skills kicked in, and she deflected the ball to keep the Kiwis to a single, delivering Australia a World Cup win.

Heartbreak for the White Ferns, who have only themselves to blame; their batsmen did a terrible job of pacing their innings, undoing all the hard work that their bowlers did. That said, the Australians typically never gave up, even with a paltry total to defend. Nineteen-year old Ellyse Perry picked up the Player of the Match award for her brilliant 4-0-18-3, and cheered on by the defeated (but relieved) men's squad, Alex Blackwell had the honor of ensuring that Australia didn't leave the Caribbean empty-handed. 

2010 World Twenty20 Summary, Part 4

Group D of the 2010 World Twenty20 was full of the underachievers, the "if onlies" - or so we thought. The West Indies and England were both in gradual states of decline, neither team being able to replicate the successes of their respective outfits of the 1970s and 1980. Both had world class players, and while each team would occasionally shine, neither were what we would call "world cup material" - or so we thought. In the meantime, Ireland, one of the brightest success stories of international cricket, looked to improve on their impressive showing in the 2009 World Cup, and establish themselves as a serious contender for Test cricket.

Group D

West Indies - The West Indies had to lot to live up to - as hosts, as last year's semi-finalists, and hosting the World Cup after the 2007 debacle. The first round was a shaky one for the hosts, with only Darren Sammy's all-round performance ensuring that Ireland would not cause an upset, and then chasing down a rain-reduced total from what had been a formidable score set by England. The Super Eights proved tougher, beating India, but losing heavily to Sri Lanka and Australia. Again, Chris Gayle was under too much pressure to deliver, with none of the other batsmen showing up, but the bowling of Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach were bright spots in what was an otherwise typically disappointing World Cup campaign. 

England - England never cease to amaze, but fortunately, this time it was for the better. Nobody gave them a realistic chance of going all the way in the tournament, especially after looking vulnerable against Ireland and losing their rain-affected match against the Windies. But then came victories against New Zealand, Pakistan, and most tellingly of all, South Africa. Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom banged the ball in short, Graeme Swann strangled batsmen, and Michael Lumb, Craig Kieswetter, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan chased down totals and set imposing ones of their own. England walked all over Sri Lanka in the semi-final to set up a dream final - England vs. Australia for the World Cup. You couldn't have written a script for it, and no one would have drafted one where England strolled to victory by seven wickets, but that's what happened. England were on song and fired on all cylinders, and were easily the best team of the tournament. They still have a ways to go for atoning for their woeful limited-overs performances of the past, but this is a hell of a start for them. 

Ireland - As one of the best Associate countries, Ireland were in prime position to provide an upset, but none was forthcoming. In the only game they played that had two innings, their batting let them down, and badly (all out for 68), but the bowling was better - they had the West Indies in trouble at 93/6, and kept England to 120/8, before the rain denied them a very gettable run chase. Ireland still have a good case for Full Member status, but their winless performance will work against them. Adding to their frustrations was seeing one of the own, Eoin Morgan, play for a triumphant England side (and play well, too). It's a reminder to Ireland that they have to develop their fledgling cricket team under the shadow of a financially tempting England Cricket Board - and now that England are world champions, they're all the more tempting. 

2010 World Twenty20 Summary, Part 3

Group C of the 2010 World Twenty20 was an interesting one. You had two of the best teams (India and South Africa) against a brand new team that we all heard a lot about, as Afghanistan stepped out from the shadow of their turbulent past and into the world of international sporting competitions. Even thought Twenty20 cricket is notable for evening out the playing field between strong and weak teams, only India and South Africa were really expected to qualify for the Super Eights. If only it was that easy for them. Ironically, given how they performed in the Super 8s, it is Afghanistan who can hold their heads up higher.

 

Group C

India - International Twenty20 cricket has not been kind to its inaugural world champions. After snatching a nail-biting victory against Pakistan in 2007, India failed to win a game in the Super 8s stage of the 2009 World Cup. Their plans 2010 were thrown into disarray, as star batsman Virender Sehwag pulled out of the tournament with an injury. Suresh Raina looked as though he would take over, scoring the only the third century in international Twenty20 cricket against South Africa, but the Indian batsmen were undone by the attacking bowling of Australia and the West Indies. Only Harbhajan Singh impressed with the ball, as India left the 2010 tournament in exactly the same fashion as they did the 2009 edition - winless in the second round.

South Africa - South Africa are one of the best teams in international cricket - except in global tournaments, when everything seems to go wrong for them. On paper, they have the batting and the bowling to win every game they play. Victories against the innocent lambs Afghanistan and an underperforming New Zealand team meant nothing against losses to India, England and Pakistan. AB de Villiers was the only batsman to make his mark, with the rest of the batting taking so long to bat themselves in that by the time they accelerated, the game was beyond them. This left Dale Stayne and Mornie Morkel, two of the tournament's best bowlers, with far too much to do to bowl their team to a win. If anything, the only reason South Africa avoided the "chokers" tag was because they didn't get close enough to choke.

Afghanistan - All eyes were on Afghanistan to see how they would represent their beleaguered country after a civil war, a repressive government and invasion. Their team never threatened an upset, but they performed admirably well and have plenty to look forward to as they are exposed to more cricket. Noor Ali's half-century against India, and Hamid Hassan's three wickets against South Africa gave Afghanistan plenty to be proud of, and while they lost both games convincingly, it was to be South Africa and India who exited the tournament with their heads hanging.

 

2010 World Twenty20 Summary, Part 2

Group B of the 2010 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean was a tricky one - you had last year's finalists Sri Lanka, you had New Zealand, one of the most experienced teams in Twenty20 cricket, and the wild card team, Zimbabwe, who have made significant strides towards re-establishing themselves as a world-class cricket team. Adding to the mix was that in the warm-up games, Zimbabwe had defeated last year's winners Pakistan and the best team in the world, Australia. With all bets taken off the table, this group had the potential to be the trickiest.

 

Group B

Sri Lanka - The team of the tournament last year, Sri Lanka found it difficult to live up to the pressure this time around. The batting sparked, sometimes brilliantly, but more often than not simply fizzed out. Tillekeratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara were inconsistent, Mahela Jayawardene was sublime but failed to give Sri Lanka a winning score in the semi-final, and Sanath Jayasuria was a shadow of his former self. The new crop looked good, but the team on the whole failed to deal with the pressure exerted by opposition bowling attacks, or their own frail batting.

New Zealand - Given New Zealand's experience in Twenty20 cricket, and that they have a powerful lineup, they will be disappointed that they didn't make the semi-finals for the second year running. Brendon McCullum failed to fire, but his brother Nathan impressed on many occasions. New Zealand played well, but not well enough - the victories against Sri Lanka and Pakistan were too small to help their net run rate, and losses to England and South Africa condemned them. Worse was to come, as their star bowler Shane Bond retired from all forms of cricket following his team's unsuccessful World Cup campaign. Being knocked out of the tournament hurt New Zealand, but losing Bond hurt even more.

Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe found themselves in the unfamiliar position of being expected to deliver positive results. They had tested the West Indies in the Twenty20 and 50-over series that preceded the World Cup, and had beat Pakistan and Australia in the warm-up games. There was talk about making a case to return to top-level international cricket, but Zimbabwe failed to deliver: an impressive bowling performance against Sri Lanka came to naught in a rain-affected game, and the batting against New Zealand collapsed to the hapless total of 84 all out. Zimbabwe, like Bangladesh, are a long way from (re-)asserting themselves with performances like these. 

2010 World Twenty20 Summary, Part 1

The third Twenty20 World Cup came to its feel-good conclusion on Sunday, with England comfortably felling their arch nemesis Australia in the final. In the sixteen days that preceded that game, we were treated to some spectacular cricket, some ordinary cricket, good atmosphere, and, miraculously, none of the administrative blunders that made the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean such a disaster. In this summary, I'll be looking at the twelve teams that competed in the tournament, analyzing their performances, key players, weaknesses and problems.

 

Group A

Pakistan - Pakistan never have an easy time with world tournaments. Months before the 2009 World Cup, the Lahore terrorist attack against the Sri Lankan cricket team meant Pakistan was ostracized by the international sports community. But it's in moments of adversity, never comfort, that Pakistan shine the brightest. They did it in 2009, going on to win the tournament, and they almost did it this year, coming within a breath of winning their semi-final encounter against Australia. This, after the Pakistan team was purged of nearly all its senior players following a disastrous, winless tour of Australia. Morale and focus were low at the start of the tournament, but they peaked at just the right time. Having made the semi-finals of the last three World Cups, Pakistan can be proud that they overcame the controversy, turmoil, and political and administrative in-fighting that has marred their image in world cricket. 

Bangladesh - Failing to win either game in their group stage, Bangladesh didn't stay long. They threatened a comeback against Pakistan (but lost by 21 runs), and had Australia in deep trouble at 67/5 (but still lost by 27 runs). Bangladesh will be disappointed that in a format which evens the playing field, they were unable to make an impact in the tournament. Captain and all-rounder Shakib Al-Hasan is still the go-to guy for the team, and Mohammed Ashraful found some form, but more than a decade after achieving test status, Bangladesh are still yet to fully establish themselves. 

Australia - What can be said about Australia? Semi-finalists in 2007, eliminated in the first round last year, almost knocked out in the semi-finals this year, and then felled by their oldest foes in the final. Despite the team loss, their individual performances throughout the tournament were dominant. Michael Hussey played one of the greatest one-day innings of all time to steal victory from Pakistan in the semi-finals, and Dirk Nannes, Cameron White and David Warner have one foot in the 50-over squad. Australia, too, can take much pride from their performance in this tournament, but losing so soundly to England in a World Cup final - after surrendering the Ashes last year - will be a wound that takes a long time to heal.

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