Write ups
Team anant
| Player | Batting Average | S/R | Bowling Average | Bowling S/R | Economy | Comments |
|---|
| Hayden | 43.8 | 78.96 | | | | ICC ODI Player of the year 2007 |
| Watson | 40.54 | 90.44 | 31.79 | 38.4 | 4.95 | Batting average 45.14 as opener at S/R of 91.69 |
| Ponting (capt) | 42.04 | 80.39 | | | | Part of the ODI Team of the year 5 times from 2004 to retirement |
| Sangakkara | 41.99 | 78.86 | | | | Among the only 3 players to have scored 1000+ runs in 4 consecutive years |
| Kallis | 44.36 | 72.89 | 31.79 | 31.79 | 4.84 | Highest difference in batting and bowling average for any player who has bowled in atleast 60 innings |
| Miller | 40.38 | 100.62 | | | | Among the 5 players who have a S/R of >100 and average >40 |
| Jadeja | 31.88 | 85.96 | 36.57 | 44.7 | 4.89 | Got Sachin run out in that Hyderabad Innings, so won't write anything positive about him |
| Kapil Dev | 23.79 | 95.07 | 27.45 | 44.2 | 3.71 | Among the few players who averaged 20+ with bat and less than 30 with the ball |
| Narine | 11 | 82.31 | 26.46 | 38.4 | 4.12 | Among 7 spinners who have a S/R<40, Average<30 and Economy <4.5 |
| Boult | 9.35 | 74.64 | 25.29 | 30.1 | 5.03 | Part of ODI Team of the year on 3 occassions |
| Ntini | 8.65 | 66.77 | 24.65 | 32.6 | 4.53 | Among handful of pacers who have average <25 Economy <5 and S/R <35 |
Batting
Openers
Opening the batting for me would be a left hand right hand opening combination in Watson and Hayden. Both average close to 45 as openers and have the ability to pace their innings to perfection. Watson would assume the role of attacking in the powerplay overs while Hayden will just give him support from the other end.
Middle Order and Lower Middle Order
In Ponting, Sanga and Kallis, we have close to 40k ODI runs, 72 centuries, 261 half centuries and each of them has an incredible record of scoring a 50+ score once every 3-3.25 games.
Next in would be David Miller, who has an incredible S/R of 100.62 and averages 40+ despite scoring at such a rate.
Considering my MO will last till 40-42nd over irrespective of the bowling attack thanks to them being technically solid players, Miller can pair up with Jadeja and go Boom Boom in the last few overs. Even if we do lose a wicket here, at #8 will come a very capable batsman in Kapil Dev. Captained the Indian side to the unlikeliest of WC wins in 1983, Dev is the only player who had a S/R of 90+ among all players who scored 1500+ runs and played their entire career before the turn of the century.
Narine, while not having a great ODI record, has ability to hit the boundaries required as well in the worst case scenario.
Bowling
In Trent Boult we have one of the most feared ODI bowlers of this generation. A brilliant disciplined bowler who can swing the ball both ways even on the most unresponsive pitches (This bit is by cricinfo and I seriously don’t know a lot about him as I just watch WC matches here and there). He’s played a significant role in taking New Zealand to two consecutive WC finals and could have won NZ the WC as well had the English feckers not had all the luck in the world.
Despite being an idol of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela became among the most feared bowlers at his peak. Ntini is among the handful of pacers who averaged less than 25 and kept an economy rate of less than 5.
On the pace bowling department front, we also have Kapil Dev who was one of the most disciplined bowlers of his generation and had lethal outswingers
If that’s not enough, we can always call Kallis – arguably the greatest allrounder in ODI history (refer comments in the table) and Watson as well.
On the spin department front, we have Narine – a bowler whose economy rate is just 4.12 in times when even an economy rate of 5 is considered pretty good! He can stop the flow of runs against the finest of batsmen and force the batsmen to make mistakes under such pressure.
Lastly, we have Sir Jadeja – a player who is handy with both bat and bowl. Can score runs at a great pace and can take wickets of both opponents as well as teammates!
Why I win
Bowling Variations- We have all sorts of bowlers – left arm, right arm, guys who can swing, guys who possess raw pace, spinner against whom batsmen still struggle and 2 of the finest all rounders in the game to help the team out. Add to that, Fiskey’s batting depth is basically till 3 down and that is if I include Matthews in there, whose stats are padded because of number of Not outs (basically comes on for last 4-6 overs thanks to Sanga and Jaya doing the majority of the work). Considering Boult’s 45% of total wickets are top order batsmen, Dev’s 40% wickets are top order batsmen, Ntini’s 50.4% wickets are top order batsmen, I’d expect his tail starting at #5/6 exposed pretty early in the game.
Batting Discipline – Let’s be honest, even if I take into account the fact that Fiskey has Steyn, Murali and Khan, we have some of the best batsmen of all time in our ranks to tackle them. Our scoring rate wouldn’t be high, but even if we can score at 4.5-5 RPO against them and not lose wickets, we can accelerate against the likes of Pollard and Gough and Matthews.
Captain – having 2 of the greatest ODI captains of all time and 3 players who have won multiple WCs should definitely help with the mentality. My players would be dressed all smart, whereas I’d expect his players to come to the pitch in ridiculous white suits and they’d have lost the Cup final there itself. The winning mentality in my side and the experience of big games would definitely help my side get over the line in crunch situations – having cnuts in Ponting and Hayden will also help.
Pitch choices – Jadeja in the subcontinent is a fantastic option to have. Unlike Ali who averages 57 in Asia, Jadeja averages just 32 in the subcontinent. Murali might be the best spinner in the matchup but 20 overs by my spinners will be key in this matchup. On pace friendly conditions, I can rely on my 3 pacers wreaking havoc in his top order and then Watson and Kallis chipping in as well to restrict his side to an extremely low score..
Team Fiskey
Team:
1. Saeed Anwar
2. Quinton De Kock
3. Joe Root
4. Angelo Matthews
5. Hanse Cronje
6. Imran Khan
7. Moeen Ali
8. Keiron Pollard
9. Darren Gough
10. Dale Steyn
11. Muttiah Muralitharan
Weaknesses
I think my biggest weakness is probably the middle order. On a seaming pitch, should I think my biggest chance of losing would be losing a couple of early wickets. My hope would be that Matthews, Cronje and Khan as leaders and fighters would be able to fight through such a situation.
Strengths
I think I have a good chance on a spinning pitch. Muralitharan speaks for himself, and I would have the potential to bowl 30 overs of spin with Root and Ali. I really like my top 3, Anwar was a cricketer very much in the modern mould of one day openers and Root averages over 50 coming in at number 3. I actually think Root has been a better one day player than test player so far in his career, and his contribution to England's world cup winning team is underrated.
Result - anant won on super over 18 to 14
No way I thought Edgar would chase this down especially after the first two deliveries.. can't believe how this turned out. 