Standard Bank Pro20 Blog

World Twenty20 Fantasy League

Myles — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:21:30 +0200

Fresh from the IPL action, cricket fans can look forward to the World Twenty20 tournament which kicks off this week on Friday 5 June. India are the reigning champs having won the first edition in South Africa when MS Dhoni led his team to victory in a thrilling finale against arch rivals Pakistan. This year’s tournament takes place in England with Twenty20 cricket establishing itself as a hugely popular form of the game especially amongst the fans.

Standard Bank invites you to join in the fun with the launch of our T20 World Cup fantasy league. This is your opportunity to test your cricket skills by managing your own team of global superstars through the two week tournament. The World Twenty20 Dream Teams is now open – enter your team at www.superdreamteams.com/cricket

After the hype of the IPL it’s now nation vs. nation with all the top teams keen to claim the world title. Can India win back-to-back world cups or will England rise to the challenge on their home turf? Australia and South Africa also have a point to prove and will fancy their chances in the English conditions, and you can’t rule out Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

The key to success in the World Twenty20 Dream Teams is how you select and manage your team. You can only pick a maximum of 3 players per team in the group stages so you need to spread your selections amongst the top teams that will progress to the knockout rounds. You can make up to 5 transfers before the start of each new round in order to improve your team. It’s important to bear in mind that you are limited to a maximum of 20 transfers throughout the tournament so you don’t want to use them up too quickly.

Fantasy managers should look out for the in form players who can perform with both bat and ball. Your batsmen should be those who bat high up the order and can score at a fast run rate. Look out for bowlers who are economical and take plenty of wickets. A good option is always a batsman who is able to bowl a few overs without being a recognised all-rounder. JP Duminy and Yuvraj Singh are good examples here. Choosing your captain is critical as he scores double points, so all-rounders and wicketkeepers are always popular choices.

The recent IPL tournament is a good indicator of which Twenty20 players are on form with South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis performing well along with Albie Morkel, AB de Villiers and Herschelle Gibbs. Keep an eye on newcomers Roelof van der Merwe and Yusuf Abdulla who also had a good tournament. For the Aussies, new opener David Warner is an explosive talent with Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Bracken all consistent performers.

With India, you are spoilt for choice with RP Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan and Virender Sehwag all top Twenty20 players. New Zealand has Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori while Sri Lanka boasts the talents of Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan. And let’s not forget about the other big name players who could feature prominently like Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kevin Pietersen, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi.

It’s going to be an action packed tournament so don’t delay. Enter your team now at www.superdreamteams.com/cricket

Forever Proteas

Shaun Custers — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:27:25 +0200

Asked and answered. Herschelle Gibbs was under pressure to score runs to retain his spot in the Proteas side and boy did he do it in style, scoring 110 runs from 116 deliveries. The century from Gibbs and the 84 runs from AB de Villiers lead South Africa to a massive 317/6 and a series victory.

The Australian team was unsure of themselves going into the fourth MTN ODI at Sahara Oval St. George’s in Port Elizabeth on the back of two comprehensive losses. The Aussies showed their hand before the game by including Shane Harwood (35) making his debut as the third oldest Australian to make the ODI team.

A further sign of the lack of confidence came when Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and choose to field first, unsure of what a good total was.

Smith and Gibbs started the innings in a nervous and unsure manner, both played at balls that should have been left alone with Gibbs chasing the ball on almost every occasion. Luck was on Gibbs’ side as he made it through the first ten overs though, Smith unfortunately departed early for just 20 runs. The further departure of Kaills (17) brought AB de Villiers and Herschelle Gibbs together.

The pure class of Gibbs started to show, with AB putting in a fine performance at the other end. The Australian bowlers had no answer to the onslaught during the pairs 136-run third-wicket partnership. Gibbs, Morkel, de Villiers lost their wickets between the 38th and 42nd overs, JP Duminy and Mark Boucher ensured that they lower order played a significant role with Duminy scoring 40 runs from 25 balls.

Chasing a total of 318 for victory it was always going to be a huge task, but as usual the Aussies were up for a fight. Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin put in an opening stand of 129; Ricky Ponting was also on a mission with the bat, knocking four fours off Dale Steyn in one over before he was caught by Albie Morkel for 53. The bowling of Roelof van der Merwe must again be applauded for turning the game as he took the wickets of Clarke, Ferguson and Michael Hussey within five overs. Dale Steyn took the key wickets of Ponting and David Hussey, ending the innings with four wickets. Australia was all out in the 46th over for 256.

Over the home and away ODI series South Africa have won 7 and lost 2, with the ODI No. 1 ranking changing a few times. South Africa has now won three ODI series in a row against Australia and retains the ODI No. 1 ranking. Onwards to the ICC World T20… Forever Proteas.

Shaun Custers
SA Cricket Blog

SA vs AUS 4th ODI : 2nd Innings

Wesley Gradwell — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:41:00 +0200

South Africa Wins The Series!!

The Aussies looked in form at the start of the 2nd innings with Clarke and Haddin keeping up with the formidable score posted by South Africa, ultimately scoring 129 before succumbing to the spin of South Africa's vd Merve and Botha. Together they claimed three wickets in quick succession, jolting the Aussie line up.

Ponting came in a bit slow off the go but seemed to come to life a bit scoring four 4s until he tried to pull a ball over mid wicket and found Morkel's hands instead. A decisive blow for the Aussies which led to a crumbling tail end and in a matter of 4 overs it was over.

With Steyn taking 4 wickets and vd Merve 3 and the rest falling to Parnell, Botha and Morkel, South Africa won by 61 runs to take the Series!

Well done South Africa!

SA vs AUS 4th ODI : 1st Innings

Wesley Gradwell — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:28:24 +0200

The 1st innings of the 4th South Africa vs Australia ODI Series saw Australia win the toss and elected to bat first.

Cappie Smith and Gibbs came out to defend their wickets against the (slightly off) bowling of Bracken and Hopes. Smith's wicket (20) fell early in the innings, leaving Kallis to do the same (17) all the while Gibbs steadily scored runs and posted his 50 in 62 balls.

The dismissal of Kallis in the 18th over led AB de Villiers to come onto the field. Together Gibbs and de Villiers Blasted their way to a 136 run partnership 20.3 overs long.

Gibbs Finally was taken out by (b)Bracken and (c)Clarke, leaving the field with a standing ovation and 110 Runs off 116 balls for his Team.

A quick dismissal of Morkel(4) and shortly after that AB(84) left Duminy(40) and Boucher(29) to finish off the Innings, which they did in true Protea Style!

Final SA Score:317/6 with a run rate of 6.34 runs per over.

Good Luck Aussies.

SA vs AUS 4th ODI

Wesley Gradwell — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:30:19 +0200

We are all set up for a very exciting game this morning at the Sahara oval in Port Elizabeth.

The weather is a crisp 23° Celsius and the crowd have filled up the Stadium half an hour before game time.

The stakes are high for the Australian side who need to pull of a win if they have any hopes of winning the Series and Maintaining their No.1 ODI ranking.

Although it Seems unlikely that they will with Bracken's less than stellar performance.

Stay tuned for more on what could be the deciding match in the Series.

From destructive bowling to explosive batting

Shaun Custers — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:07:03 +0200

In the previous ODI at SuperSport Park the bowling from Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell lead to the demise of the Australians. At Sahara Park Newlands in Cape Town it was the batting of Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers that put the game beyond the reach of Ricky Ponting’s men.

After finally winning a toss in the home series, Graeme Smith elected to bat first, knowing well that chasing a total at Newlands is an almost impossible task. The opening pair of Smith and Gibbs was ineffective; they gave way for Kaills and de Villiers to take control.

It must be said that the bowling from Mitchell Johnson built the pressure on the openers, Johnson finished with figures of 10 overs, 2 maidens, 32 runs taking 4 of the 6 wickets that fell in the Proteas innings.

Kaills and de Villiers both went to half centuries as they built their partnership, taking South Africa from 50/2 to 164/3. This partnership was the foundation that allowed the rest of the batsmen room to play shots. Duminy, Morkel and Boucher all scored at more than a run a ball. In the final over of the innings Roelof van der Merwe came to the wicket, with four balls remaining everyone was suggesting he take a single and let Boucher do the rest, but Roelof had other plans. He flashed at the first one, swung wildly at the second, and then knocked a massive six to square leg. This man has passion; he wears his inexperience on his sleeve. I can’t wait to see this young player mature into a regular in the Proteas side. South Africa posted 289/6 after their 50 overs.

With the knowledge that the highest successful run chase at Newlands was 229, the South Africans were confident. The spectacular bowling carried over from the previous game, with Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell restricting the run rate. On the back of the good work the pace bowlers had done, the new spin bowling partnership of Botha and van der Merwe came into play. Roelof van der Merwe, taking 3 wickets for just 37 runs from his 10 overs, was the pick of the bowling attack.

Australia batted well in the end to score 264/7, something the Proteas should keep an eye on. Looking forward to the fourth ODI in Port Elizabeth on Monday the Proteas will be confident, both their bowling attack and middle order batting attack have performed well. It’s time for our openers to perform, leading 2-1; I’ll back them to win the series.

Kallis and De Villiers are having a good day

Kerry-Anne Gilowey — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:50:51 +0200

It's another perfect day for cricket here at Sahara Park Newlands. After a bit of a wobble upfront, with both Smith and Gibbs going out for relatively low scores (Smith for 8 and Gibbs for a slightly more respectable 26), South Africa has picked up the pace somewhat, thanks to the efforts of De Villiers and Kallis.

They've been showing a bit of intent with the bat, with a number of balls racing away towards the boundary, to be stopped just short of it by an alert fielder. Both have now reached their half-century - and that's always a good sign for a top-order batsman.

Mitchell Johnson's bowling has been pretty impressive, as always - he's bowled 7 overs, taken 1 wicket, and gone for only 15 runs.

The run rate is now sitting at 4.6 to the over - it's been climbing slowly but steadily during the Kallis/De Villiers partnership. In fact, it seems that every time I glance back at the scoreboard it's incremented by another 0.1/over!

15 overs to go - let's see what they can do...

Destructive bowling claims victory for Proteas

Shaun Custers — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:46:38 +0200

1,5,8,1,3 what is that? It’s the scores from the Australian batsmen in the second MTN ODI at SuperSport Park Centurion. On what was a beautiful autumn day in Centurion the Australians came out to bat first.

Dale Steyn opened the wicket taking bowling Brad Haddin for 1 run, his leg wicket flying out of the ground, Wayne Parnell in only his second ODI got into the action in his first over as well claiming Pointing caught behind. After opening with a maiden wicket over, Parnell then trapped Michael Clark lbw for 5 runs. At this point the Aussies were in trouble, but it got deeper, quickly. In the next over Steyn got David Hussey caught behind, the tourists were reeling at 19/4. The Aussies were on the run as the Protea’s continued to hunt them down through the bowling of Steyn and Parnell, both claiming another wicket to have the Australian side staring one of the lowest totals in the face at 40/6.

The 20 000 strong crowd at this point wanted Australia to score some runs and make a contest of it. Ferguson and Johnson came together for a 50 run partnership but the damage was already done, the Australians were bowled out for a poultry 131 from 40.2 overs.

Chasing down the runs was no problem for the South Africans, only Gibbs failed to rack up some runs, g, out for 2 from another poor shot directly to midwicket.

After the thorough whipping last Friday evening the Protea’s made some strategic changes to the team leaving out Amla, Morne Morkel and Makaya Ntini. Jacques Kallis returned from injury, Roelof van der Merwe made his debut and Wayne Parnell ensured that he’ll be playing in the next game. The Protea’s answered their supporters call delivering an inspiring victory.

The two South African fast bowlers finished with the following figures:

Dale Steyn: 9.2 Overs, 0 maidens, 27 runs, 4 wickets
Wayne Parnell: 8 Overs, 4 maidens, 25 runs, 4 wickets

Shaun Custers

Australia vs. South Africa: AUS 1 SA 1

Shane Botha — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:57:04 +0200

In a clinical display of professional cricket, South Africa have demolished Australia by 7 wickets, scoring the required 132 in 26.2 overs. It was a team effort by South Africa, with both the bowlers and batsmen contributing, Graeme Smith top scored with 40 off 48 balls. Mitchell Johnson was the only bowler who looked slighlty dangerous,but even He was sent packing. His figures were 2 for 47 off 10 overs.

Wayne Parnell is man of the match with his awesome bowling performance, he could be the next big thing South Africa is looking for.

The Centurion crowd have once again been fantastic, supporting the players from both teams with ethusiasm. This has got to be one of the best grounds to play at and could the people in charge think about giving some kind of award for crowd of the series, because the people here at Supersport Park would win hands down.

Australia vs. South Africa: Sunday afternoon cricket

Shane Botha — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:14:42 +0200

It feels like a sunday afternoon cricket game, the kind of one you have after a braai and a couple of you are feeling energetic enough to bowl a few balls, take your time and mess around a bit. Even the crowd is pretty relaxed, either most people are having the traditional afternoon siesta or a couple are trying to start the ever popular mexican wave....

South Africa are currently 94 for 3 in the 20th over, De Villiers is on 11 and Duminy on 1. Current run rate is 4.6 per over, which is way above the required rate of 1.2 per over.