At Auckland there was mayhem – 407 runs in 40 overs -at half-way today, NZ for sure would have fancied their chances setting up a target of 204 – never they would have imagined that this would be eclipsed with 6 wickets at hand and a over to spare. Score card would read : India 204 for 4 (Iyer 58*, Rahul 56, Kohli 45, Sodhi 2-36) beat New Zealand203 for 5 (Munro 59, Taylor 54, Williamson 51, Jadeja 1-18) by six wickets. One could not avoid thinking it is heavily batsmen’s game – can you imagine a situation where team batting first makes 115 and team chasing makes 147 in same overs, yet loses the match by a long way – by 44 runs !!
Team India won by DL method – thenames of Frank Duckworth & Tony Lewis are knownto every Cricket fan. It is the rain rule or rather how scores will be calculated when it rains in the midst of a match.Rain rules are indeed strange; the revised targets generally favour the chasers as they have the job cut out in the shortened version. Today it was entirely different though !The Duckworth–Lewis method (often written as D/L method) is a mathematical formulation designed to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a limited overs match interrupted by weather or other circumstances. The D/L method was devised by two English statisticians, Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis. The basic principle is that each team in a limited-overs match has two resources available with which to score runs: wickets remaining, and overs to play. Where overs are lost, setting an adjusted target is not as simple as to reduce the batting team's run target proportionally, because a team batting second with ten wickets in hand and 25 overs to play can be expected to play more aggressively than one with ten wickets and a full 50 overs, and can consequently achieve a higher run rate. The Duckworth–Lewis method is an attempt to set a statistically fair target for the second team's innings, based on the score achieved by the first team, taking their wickets lost and overs played into account. Back home, formerIndia players Chetan Sharma, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Nayan Mongia and the Mumbai duo of Abey Kuruvilla and Ajit Agarkar have applied for two positions in the Indian men's selection committee after the board invited applications last week. PTI reported that two others, the former India and Madhya Pradesh duo of Rajesh Chauhan and Amay Khurasiya, have also thrown their hat into the ring. The BCCI had earlier announced January 24 as the cut-off date to receive applications. They are yet to release an update on the number of applicants and the interview date. It's also unclear as to when the new set of selectors, which also includes a new women's selection panel and a couple of junior men's selectors, would be appointed. The position of chairman in the men's committee is up for grabs with MSK Prasad, the former India wicketkeeper, finishing his four-year term last November. Since then, he has been on an extension along with former India and Rajasthan batsman Gagan Khoda. Sivaramakrishnan is the oldest among the list of people ! ~ remember seeing him making ripples as a leg spinning prodigy in 1980s .. .. and it is stated that as per the rules of the constitution, the person with the most Test caps will be the chairman of the selection committee. Today it was match no. 20 in ICC Under-19 World Cup at Bloemfontein, a group A match between Team India and Junior Black Caps. India batting first were 115 without loss in 23 overs when rain came.YBK Jaiswal was unbeaten on 57 while DA Saxena had made 52*.The Newzealanders did organize their chase well with RA Mariu scoring 42 off 31 & FF Lellman threatening with a quickfire 31 – but the bowling was tight backed up by some good catches and Kiwis were bowled out for 147 in 21 overs.Ravi Bishnoi, the leg spinner was the best with figures of 5-0-34-4 while Ankolekar took 3/28 in his 5 overs.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar 24th Jan 2020.