Skip to main content

'It's Williamson vs Root in the first semi-final'

The first semi final between New Zealand and England should be a cracker of a game. Both teams are well matched and have the kind of balance that skippers and coaches are would die for. If the Kiwis have played the smartest cricket by far in this tournament England have shown a resilience and late order explosion that other teams would give anything for. Jos Buttler's assault on the Lankan bowlers in England's final game of the group stage is an indication of how quickly a game can turn around in this format. He has shown in recent matches that he is probably the best finisher in this format and England will be hoping for another blast from him to take them through to another T20 finals.

Virat Kohli's brilliant stroke play in the must win game against the Australians is going to be remembered for a long long time. Those who were present at the Wankhede Stadium a couple of weeks earlier when England set off in chase of South Africa's 229 will not forget Joe Root's innings either. Like Kohli did to the Aussies, Root made the South African attack look bewildered and hopeless as he took England home. Way back in the late 70s and 80s four all-rounders were battling it out for their teams and turning games upside down with bat and ball and in doing so went on to become legends of the game.

Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee were just incredible and while they may not admit it, were spurred on by the others performances and looked to better them. Today there are four batsmen that cricket lovers look forward to watching- Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson bring the same competitive skills and energy to their deeds. Their performances uplift their teams and enthuse their supporters. There is also, like with the all-rounders of yore, an unspoken competition among them to be called the best in the world. If Joe Root's fabulous innings against Dale Steyn and co. took England to a great win, it certainly made Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Virat play their special innings to get their teams across the line. The beneficiaries was the cricket loving public who saw young geniuses at work.

Williamson has settled down to the captaincy just like a duck takes to water and so as Steve Smith. Virat Kohli too has shown leadership qualities that promise many big things and Root is waiting in the wings for his opportunity.

The semi finals is as much about Williamson v Root as it is New Zealand against England and going by what we have seen so far it could be a close run finish indeed.

Source: PMG



via Sify.com http://ift.tt/1VSC9Qn
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RB Leipzig's Jean-Kevin Augustin joins Leeds United on loan

Leeds [UK], Jan 27 (ANI): German football club RB Leipzig's Jean-Kevin Augustin on Monday joined Leeds United on a loan. The striker joins the Whites on an initial loan deal until the end of the season from Bundesliga outfit Red Bull Leipzig, the club said in a statement. Augustin joined the RB Leipzig in July, 2017 for a fee of 13 million Euros. The 22-year-old featured in both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League during his time with the German club, who finished sixth and third in his two seasons, where he scored 20 goals in 67 matches. French national helped his country win the European Under-19 Championship in 2016, where he scored the most number of goals and was adjudged as player of the tournament. Augustin is Leeds' third signing of the January transfer window following the joining of Elia Caprile and Ian Poveda. (ANI) via Sify.com https://ift.tt/2OiruB9
Post a Comment
Read more

Chelsea are a young team, need to improve a lot: Kovacic

London: Chelsea's Mateo Kovacic said they are a young team and need to improve a lot. Chelsea secured a 2-1 win over Hull City on Saturday in FA Cup. Michy Batshuayi scored the opening goal of the match in the sixth minute and Chelsea's second goal was scored in the 64th minute. "It was a tough game, as we knew that it would be, but we need to score in the first half two more goals. That's our problem in this moment but obviously we're happy to go through," the club's official website quoted Kovacic as saying. "It was because we didn't score on time - we had some chances and we didn't use them. In training, we are working on it but we are still a young team, a new team, and we need to improve a lot. We need to take our chances, which in this moment we are not doing great, but we have time to improve and I am sure we will do," he added. Chelsea are currently placed at the fourth position in the Premier League table with 40 points...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chelsea are a young team, need to improve a lot: Kovacic

London [UK], Jan 27 (ANI): Chelsea's Mateo Kovacic said they are a young team and need to improve a lot. Chelsea secured a 2-1 win over Hull City on Saturday in FA Cup. Michy Batshuayi scored the opening goal of the match in the sixth minute and Chelsea's second goal was scored in the 64th minute. "It was a tough game, as we knew that it would be, but we need to score in the first half two more goals. That's our problem in this moment but obviously we're happy to go through," the club's official website quoted Kovacic as saying. "It was because we didn't score on time - we had some chances and we didn't use them. In training, we are working on it but we are still a young team, a new team, and we need to improve a lot. We need to take our chances, which in this moment we are not doing great, but we have time to improve and I am sure we will do," he added. Chelsea are currently placed at the fourth position in the Premier League table ...
Post a Comment
Read more