Unfortunately, English cricket is probably NEVER going to live down the loss to cricketing powerhouse Ireland. And there has been more of the same overnight; Bangladesh has upset the Mother Country with a hard-fought two wicket win against England in Chittagong. Cricinfo reports:
Shafiul Islam raised Bangladesh's World Cup campaign from the dead, as he turned yet another astonishing contest on its head with a breathtaking assault in the batting Powerplay to leave England stunned by their fifth cliffhanger in consecutive contests, and facing their own make-or-break encounter with West Indies in Chennai next week.
In another unbearably tense finale, Bangladesh's ninth-wicket pair of Shafiul and Mahmudullah transformed a futile situation with glorious blaze of strokeplay, as they turned an asking rate of 57 in 62 balls into a glorious victory with an over to spare. The honour of the winning hit went to Mahmudullah, who belted a Tim Bresnan full-toss through the covers for four to queue pandemonium among the most passionate cricket supporters in the world, but it was Shafiul's refusal to accept defeat that ultimately paved the way for glory.
Incredibly, England still sits at third in the Group B standings. However South Africa and Bangladesh each sit just a point behind the inventors of the game, and have games in hand over the English. England faces an absolute must-win match against the West Indies in Chennai next Thursday, whilst Bangladesh has yet to play the Netherlands, and should leap-frog England.
Oh, how the mighty are fallen. Two months ago England won an Ashes series in Australia, cricket's Holy Grail. This morning, they face the very real prospect of not making the World Cup quarter-finals, in what could become cricket's most famous penthouse-to-outhouse descent.
Oh dear.
6 comments:
Ha Ha Ha Ha!
Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.
Got the league on up here tonight.
The fun police are putting out the traffic cones already.
Nimby's, Traffic management, liquor zones and jobsworths etc have beleive or not taken the fun out of going to the game for most. The fans have become sheep to be herded in and out of the event. Theres no colour or atmoshphere.astrawet
Even my local dairy owner who has been in the area way longer than me says that.
Pity about the Highlanders. Looks like it was a snore fest at newlands.
Couldn't believe how incredibly officious and obnoxious those same "sheep herders" were at the recent Blues v. Bulls match at Eden Park.
Nonsense "controls" and detours out on Sandringham Road adjacent to the railway station were just not well enough thought out. And then we had 18-year-old marshalls in reflective clothing dealing with patrons with astonishing bombast and arrogance.
Crowd control techniques at the Word Cup promise to create a major hosting embarrassment. Could the organisers please look at how the French handled much bigger crowds at Stade de France in Paris in 2007. In particular, they would find that marshalls need to have at least basic people skills and be properly trained for the purpose.
Bulls?
It was the crusaders!
Thats why crowds are down. who wants to go something where you are treated by the jobsworths as a potential escape from Colditz.
Thanks, Alex - Crusaders indeed!
A further gripe I have about Eden Park is the quite appalling standard of food available to those of us not invited into the corporate boxes.
I don't mind paying the exorbitant prices for an infrequent evening at the Park, but the offerings are barely edible. And, like the "sheep herders" (see above), those providing the "service" have never learned the art of smiling or saying "Thank you".
The NZRFU / Rugby World Cup Ltd have not yet succeeded in introducing any concept of genial hospitality into our hosting of RWC2011. Perhaps Martin Sneddon could tell us who's going to be responsible for getting this element of the big event sorted out. Presently, our major stadium does not offer a sufficiently enjoyable overall experience, even for the cost of a Super 15 ticket.
Sorry to remain off-topic, but it does distract from the Poms' further ODI embarrassment.
Hi Sienna,
My spy has a season ticket. the price of food and beer is usuirious. I'm pleased I can watch the game on the box and listen to the crowd when i open the window. At the same time there is freh food, beer and wine in the kitchen that can be accessed without fighting through the crowd.
Have a look at my pr World Cup post over at The Sports Geek where I recall predicting a possible Bangladesh win against South Africa/Ireland B aka England.
I love it!!!!
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