The opening match of the WC
99 started with the batting of Sri Lanka. The innings was dominated by
Alan Mullaly the England bowler who picked up 4 wickets while Kaluwitharana
scored a good 57 runs. Thorpe and Stewart took three catches
each while Hick took two catches to pickup valuable fielding points. When
England batted Stewart was the top scorer with 88 but with a low run rate
of 0.60 against the team's 0.73. Hick on the otherhand scores 73 of 88
balls with a run rate of 0.83 and got valuable bonus points. After applying
the weightages to both the batting and bowling points based on the opposition's
bowling or batting strengths respectively the ratings of players was calculated.
(For details of calculations see M1.
For player ratings see England
Player Ratings and
Sri
Lankan Player Ratings. In case you spot any calculation errors please
keep me informed). The leader in the points table at the end of the first
day was Graham Hick with 91 points followed by Stewert with 85, kaluwitharana
with 81 and Mullaly with 77. Let us see how others catch up. The Ranking
tables below will be completed after a few matches are over. Keep watching
and if you have a comment contact me
here.
Day 2: May 15:
India
Vs South Africa(M2) and Zimbabwe
Vs Kenya(M3)
Day 2 of the world cup brought to view
the remaining 4 teams of Group A. With this 66 players have been ranked
on the basis of one match each. The lead at this stage was grabbed by India's
Ganguly who scored 97 runs in 140 balls and took 1 wicket at an economy
rate of 4 runs per over against the formidable South Africans.Kallis moved
to joint third position while the Zimbabwe's Jhonson moved to a joint 5
th position. Keen observers of the rating methodology would appreciate
that Jhonson's excellent show had to be discounted since it was against
a weak opposition such as Kenya as compared to Ganguly's performance against
SA. For details see the specific match (M2
nd M3)
and team rating sheets of
India,
South
Africa, Kenya
and
Zimbabwe.
Day 3: may 16:
Pakistan
Vs West Indies and Australia
Vs Scotland
Anonther 46 players including 2 substitute
fielders joined the race for the top player of WC 99 today. The highest
rating for the day belonged to Chanderpaul who cimbed to the second spot
behind Ganguly.Azar Mehmood of Pakistan was the highest ranked Pak player
for the day while Akram was close behind. The Australian match was a low
scoring affair with a moderate performance from Australia against a lowly
ranked Scotland.
For details see the specific match
(M4 nd
M5)
and team rating sheets of
Pakistan,
West
Indies, Australia
and
Scotland.
Day 4; May 17:
New
Zealand Vs Bangladesh
With the end of Day 4 all the twelve
teams had one match each in the worldcup. Today New Zealand met Bangladesh
and the match went true to form with Bangladesh losing the match to New
Zealand. The performance didnot disturb the rankings since this was a low
scoring match. Ganguly therefore continues to rule at the top followed
by Chanderpaul.
The match details are available at
M6
Day 5: May 18:
England
Vs Kenya
Good performances from Gough and Hick
marked a good win for England in the match. Hick moved to the top of the
table again ahead of Ganguly. Will he maitain the lead for the rest of
the round 2? Let us wait and see.
Day 6: May 19:
India
Vs Zimbabwe and South
Africa Vs Sri Lanka
Zimbabwe produced an excellent performance
to beat India today helped by a good performance from A. Flower who moved
up into the top ten of the rankings.The South Africa - Sri Lanka match
was also eventful with Lance Klusner turning out a masterly performance
which took him right to the top of the rankings. Kallis also did well to
retain the second spot while Muralitharan of Sri Lanka moved to the third
position.
Day 7 May 20:
Pakistan
Vs Scotland and Australia
Vs New Zealand
The day brought to light Hamilton of
Scotland who moved to the leading position with a total points tally of
191. Klusener was pushed to the second spot. Another major performance
came from Roger Twose of New Zealand who moved into the 7 th position.
There were 13 players in the century club with only one more match of the
second round yet to be completed. Chanderpaul is still in the 11 th position
and could move up if he does well in his match against Bangladesh. Surprisingly
Lara, Warne, Steve Waugh, Bevan and of course Tendulkar are all well below
their expected position at the top.
Day 8 May 21:
Bangladesh
Vs West Indies
Today was relatively a minor day with
West Indies meeting Bangladesh. WI won the match but without much fanfare.
Mehrab Hossain of Bangladesh did collect 61 good points but the table of
rankings remained unaltered at the top. So at the end of the second round
it was Hamilton of Sctland who had the honour of leading the table.
Day 9 : South
Africa Vs England and Sri
Lanka Vs Zimbabwe
Two important matches concluded today
in Group A. Group leaders South Africa carved out another good victory
over England while Sri Lanka kept its as well as India's hopes alive by
winning against Zimbabwe. Lance Klusener again came up with a good
performance with the bat to jump back to the top of the table once again.
He has established a big lead over Ganguly who is the nearest player with
a match to go in the 3rd round.
It is also interesting to observe
who is at the bottom of the table. This unfortunate set is lead by Inzamam,
Afridi and De Silva on whom great expectations were held by their respective
countries.
Day 10: India
Vs Kenya and Pakistan
Vs Australia
It was an interesting day at the worldcup
with Tendulkar scoring a blazing century which apart from being the 22nd
in his ODI career was of great significance to himself and the team. In
most of the other rating methodologies this effort would have been sufficient
to take him to the top of the table.However the unique checks and balances
that distiguishes our rating system has put up Wasim Akram at the top of
the table even ahead of Lance Klusener after his efforts in the Australian
match. As the third round is drawing to a close he is likely to remain
in the top.Also notice that Moin Khan has climbed to the fourth spot .
Tikolo is in the 14 th position despite being in a weaker team. Inzamam
extricated himself from the bottom of the table leaving the dubious distinction
to his compatriot Afridi.
Day 11: West
Indies Vs New Zealand and Scotland
Vs Bangladesh
With the last two matches of the round
three completed today, Akram remained at the top eventhough Hamilton did
challenge him with a good performance. Jacobs moved to the 4 th position
with a good batting and wicket keeping performance to be the highest ranked
West Indian at this stage. Moin Khan is close behind him pushing Kallis
to the sixth position. The leader of the Ceat Ranking Rahul Dravid of India
(incidentally my personal favourite) is in the 22nd position while the
Ceat runner'up Tendulkar is in the 36 th position. Here in lies the difference
between this Intelligent methodology and the others.
Watch out how Lara and Tendulkar
move from now on. And will Akram maintain his lead? Let us watch.
Day 12 : England
Vs Zimbabwe
A good performance from the England
bowlers saw England notch up a victory against Zimbabwe much to the relief
of India. Mullaly moved up the rating to the 7 th position even though
it is always better to look at positions as at the end of a round. Otherwise
there were some minor adjustments with Mbwanga moving up to a respectable
position.
It is interesting however to see where
the captains stand at the end of the third round. Wasim Akram of Pakistan
ofcourse is in the top position. Stewert is in 17 th, Lara in 21
st position Steve Waugh is 35 th and Campbell is in 50 th position. Salmond
of Scotland is in 62nd position while Asif karim of Kenya is in the 65
th position.Hansie occupies the 64 th rank,Ranatunga occupies 67 th place
and Azaruddin 73 rd place. Amin ul Islam of bangladesh is in the 82 nd
position.Stephen Fleming of New zealand is in the 94 th rank. All in all
except for Wasim and Stewert the performance of all captains is much
below expectations. Hopefully they would pick up before it is too late.
Day 13 India
Vs Sri Lanka and South
Africa Vs Kenya
The 13 th day turned out to be the
best day of the tournament for India which notched up a World record breaking
win against Sri Lanka. Ganguly and Dravid turned out dream performances
while Robin Singh gobbled up a century of rating points. In the second
match Klusener had another good bowling day taking 5 Kenyan wickets. This
gave him 64 points to put him on the top of the table with a total
of 317 points. Ganguli claimed 136 points from his match to move to the
third position overall with 261 rating points just behind Akram who had
265 points. Dravid accumulated 106 points and is presently placed in the
5th position. The surprise intrusion in the 4 th position is Hamilton of
Scotland. Robin Singh has now moved to a respectable 12 th ranking amongst
the 180 players who are competing.
Some of my Indian friends are unhappy
that inspite of two centuries by Dravid and a record breaking 183 from
Ganguly, they are yet to be at the top of the table (like in the Ceat rankings).
Unfortunately they are gathering only batting points while Klusener and
Akram are grabbing points both with Batting and Bowling. We are after identifying
the best "Player" and not the best "Batsman" and hence alrounders will
have an advantage.
Tomorrow Australia will have a go
at Bangladesh to salvage some reputation. The position of Australia is
the biggest upset of this tournament as there is a distinct possibility
of its elimination. Who has been the cause of this embarassment?
Looking at the points
table for Australia,
Fleming has been their best performer.
Unfortunately Mc Grath and Warne have failed to do well as bowlers.The
waugh brothers,Gilchrist and Bevan have also been disappointing. If Australia
fail to qualify for the Super Six, the under performance of these
six players will be the reason. Can they pull up their socks in the remaining
matches and reverse the trend? Let's watch.
Day 14 : West
Indies Vs Scotland and Australia
Vs Bangladesh
This was the day of awakening for the
two Super Six contenders in Group B, West Indies and Australia. The matches
were against weaker teams but the goal was to win with a good net run rate
difference. In a way both teams succeded in their goals with West Indies
doing slightly better. Australia has now gone past New Zealand in the net
run rate and hope to qualify atleast as the third team. We cannot however
ruleout New Zealand winning against Pakistan and surprising them Looking
at the performance of the players on the day Tom Moody was arevelation
for Australia. Hamilton continued to climb up and is now next to Klusener.
Gilchrist also did a good job while Jacobs picked good fielding points.
At the end of 4 matches each and before
their crucial encounter the total Naavi points accumulated by the Indian
team was 1380 against 1158 of England against the same opponents. This
indicates a slight advantage for India on current form.
Similarly in the Group B, West Indies
with 1136 points are ahead of Australia with 1011 points whm they meet
in their crucial tie. Let' watch whether the favourites will be able to
keep up to their current form. If not credit will be due to the opposing
captains to have overcome the form-handicap.
Day
15: Pakistan Vs New Zealand:
It was the day of Inzamam for pakistan
and Allot for New Zealand. With a good 73 of 61 balls Inzamam moved up
the rankings into the 22 nd position. We may recall that two matches back
he was at the rock bottom of the table. Allot has been consistent and with
a Naavi rating point (NRP) of 200 is now in the 8 th ranking overall. Akram
moved up by a place to thesecond position edging past Hamilton.Klusener
and Akram are the only two players who have crossed 300 NRP in the first
four matches.
Day 16: India
Vs England and South Africa Vs Zimbabwe
It was an eventful day on which the
India- England match was postponed due to rain and Zimbabwe caused the
biggest upset of the tournament by beating South Africa comprehensively.
Obviously the star of Zimbabwe was Neil Jhonson who turned out a grand
alround performance which earned him a record 150 NPRs and pulled him to
the third ranking overall below Klusener and Akram. Klusener widened the
gap between him and Akram by a good batting display. He now has 385 NRPs
to Akram's 302. Streak and Andy Flower also moved into the 9th and 10 th
positions with their performances against South Africa.
Day 17 (a)
India
Vs England - contd
The day started with the completion
of the previous day's India-England match in favour of India. The hero
of the day was Ganguly who had already accumulated 33 batting points yesterday
and continued his good work with a haul of another 50 bowling points. He
took his total tally to 344 to move to the second place. Dravid added 41
more points to reach the sixth position. Jacobs however is likely to move
up today due to his good showing in the match against Australia (which
is now in progress). England has completed its engagements with Darren
Gough earned the highest points amongst the English players. His tally
of 224 points has placed him in the 8 th position at present. Allan Mullaly
with 210 points and Hick with 194 points are in the next two positions.
Hollioake who played three of the five matches was the lowest scorer in
England with just one point to his credit.
Day 17 (b)
Australia
Vs West Indies and Sri Lanka Vs
Kenya
On the penultimate day of the Group
matches there was drama at the Australia-West Indies match bordering on
match fixing in the full glare of the public. Reminescent of the Trevor
Chappel's underarm bowling Steve waugh dragged on the match in a bid to
shut New Zealand off the Super Six. Performance- wise Mc Grath was in form
with a 5 wicket haul along with Muralitharan. Jacobs had a good day moving
up in rankings to the fourth position. Thomos Odoyo of Kenya also moved
into the top 10. Hamilton of Scotland from the teams that aremmoving out
of the tournament will also have the honour of being in the Top-10 at the
end of Group Matches. The rankings will be clear after tomorrow's matches.
Day 18
: New Zealand Vs Scotland and Pakistan
Vs Bangladesh
The 18 th and the last day of the Group
matches produced two interesting matches. First New Zealand overcame Scotland
defeating the evil designs of Australia. In the other match, Bangladesh
carved out one of the most important victories for their country against
Pakistan. This should give a lot of confidence to other Super Six teams.
In terms of performances, Saqlain did well for Pakistan while Akram moved
up marginally in the ratings but remained in the third position behind
Klusener and Ganguly. Blain did well for Scotland while Hamilton
continued his upward march and reached a respectable rating of 311 which
placed him in the fourth position overall.
Allot of New Zealand moved into the
9 th position with a good performance against Scotland.
At the end of this round 90 of the
180 players will be retiring from the contest. We can therefore bid goodbye
to Hamilton and Odoyo who were amongst the top 10 and would vacate their
positions since their teams couldnot make into the Super Sixes.They have
however proved that they are as good as players from other countries.
I thank all those who have sent
words of encouragement, queries and suggestions.Yes I intend continuing
the rating even after the world cup as it appears to be giving satisfactory
results.Please continue to keep posting your remarks.
naavi
(If you spot any calculation
errors please keep me informed)
The
Smart Choice