http://www.senore.com/Cricket/BB-McCullum-c1129 – ICC World T20 - Brutality that has set the tournament alight (Part 1) - Opinion
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 has so far been a gloomy affair, with one sided matches bracing the field. The cricket carnival which was expected has sadly been limited to drums being beaten and dancing in the crowds only. In terms of eagerly anticipated
upsets, the World T20 has not lived up to many expectations. Perhaps the Group A encounter between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Afghanistan-c745, at the Premadasa, was the closest that one could get in terms of having a mouthwatering contest, and a probable upset from a minnow side.
Yet the games which have featured weak oppositions against top quality teams have been blasphemous for ardent cricket devotees, yet the efforts of one man managed to instil some life into an otherwise barren cricket tournament.
On Friday the 21st of September, beneath overcast skies on a green wicket, a little bit of history was created by a Kiwi batsman, who was billed as one of the top players in the lead up to the tournament. His brutal hitting managed to set the
tournament alight, which was marred by low scoring and one sided affairs. The man was Brendon McCullum of New Zealand who carved up something quite special on the green top at Pallekele and bruised Bangladesh’s hapless bowling attack by peppering them all
round the stadium with sheer ruthlessness. His hitting was so supreme that even the opposition that had to bear the brunt of his flashing blade, was left in awe. It was possibly the finest exhibition of power hitting that the T20 game has ever seen and fittingly,
it was also the only time a player had registered a second T20 century in his career.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 was not only destroyed by McCullum’s ferocity, but they were simply thrown out of the game after an impressive start on a track that offered no turn for their spinners. McCullum’s slashing blade became sight for sore eyes as he made the opposition
look like a miniature outfit, who could be beaten on any day. He razed the opposition so badly that any talks of an eagerly anticipated contest in the lead up to the game were thwarted by a brash and buoyant Brendon McCullum. After Bangladesh’s Asia Cup heroics
and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754’s state of ‘free fall’ in international cricket, this encounter was considered to be the first real competition of the tournament, which had otherwise seen blatant minnow bashing in the previous games. Yet vague flashbacks of Bangladesh’s poor
performances on the field since they first entered international cricket surfaced once again as New Zealand amassed a startling, 191 for 3 in 20 overs.
It was not only McCullum’s brute force which was on view, but his exquisite timing was equally delightful. He played an incredibly smart innings, where he resorted to caressing the ball into the gaps initially, and built a partnership with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JEC-Franklin-c1684
after the initial stutter that New Zealand witnessed at the top of their order. The Kiwi’s lost one of their men in form in the shortest format, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Abdur-Razzak-c41688, and the speculation after that dismissal was that New Zealand would
once again fall prey to the guile and zip of Bangladesh’s potent spin attack as they did in 2010. It wasn’t to be, as the pitch offered no turn, which was quickly identified by Brendon McCullum, who then stung into action. He deposited each of Bangladesh’s
spinners into the crowd for six and was relentless and ruthless in his approach against the pacers as well. Not a single stroke was mistimed off his blade, which left the opposition clueless, overawed and confused at what had hit them.
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