There are some warm-up matches before the beginning of Champions Trophy 2009 in South Africa. None of these matches will be given the ODI status and teams will be able to practice before they get into the big tournament. The big game on the Sep 18 is between the Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Pakistan has lost recent series in Sri Lanka so they can back themselves in the Warm Up match. India will be taking New Zealand on Sep 20 in another warm-up match. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies play two warm-up games while India and South Africa play one.

Schedule for the warm up matches:

Friday, 18 September – South Africa v West Indies (d/n)

Friday, 18 September – Pakistan v Sri Lanka (d/n)

Friday, 18 September – New Zealand v Warriors (d)

Sunday, 20 September – New Zealand v India (d/n)

Sunday, 20 September – Pakistan v Warriors (d/n)

Sunday, 20 September – Sri Lanka v West Indies (d)

Day-1 Maches review:

Pakistan v Sri Lanka:

Pakistan warmed up for the ICC Champions Trophy in style by winning there tie against Sri Lanka. Kamran Akmal’s superb 82 and Naved-ul-Hasan’s 5 for 41 help Pakistan to achive 108-run victory against Sri Lanka in Benoni. Pakistan was initially in trouble, slipping to 64 or 3, after the experienced top order pair failed to get going. Opener Kamran and Misbah-ul-Haq revived Pakistan by continuing to score at a brisk pace, and they went on to a massive score after Misbah-ul-Haq and highly rated youngster Umar Akmal made half-centuries.

Mahela Jayawardene had called on the top order to fire last week, but it flopped in the face of a daunting target of 307. The biggest contribution from the top five was captain Kumar Sangakkara’s 21, which meant Sri Lanka were struggling at 83 for 5 by the 23rd over. Chamara Kapugedera and Angelo Mathews resisted with a 102-run stand but could only bring some respectability to the margin of defeat as they couldn’t keep up with the spiralling asking-rate.

South Africa v West Indies:

In another match South Africa laid down an early marker as they piled up 388 for 4 against West Indies at Potchefstroom. Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy all played superb inning and reached the 80s, while Roelef van der Merwe took four wickets. Duminy was the stand-out batsman with 80 off 49 deliveries and two of his five sixes required replacement balls. Mark Boucher also gave a reminder of his big-hitting skills by smashing 55 off 27 balls, adding 116 off 55 deliveries with Duminy.
West Indies’ openers made a spirited start but the middle order caved in – with the exception of Darren Sammy who made a fighting half-century – and West Indies limped to 200 before being bowled out.

New Zealand v Warriors:

While New Zealand start Champions Trophy campaign on poor note in Pretoria, where they lost their opening warm-up game by two wickets to the Warriors. After suffering consecutive defeats against Sri Lanka and India in the Compaq Cup due to batting failures, New Zealand’s captain Daniel Vettori had stressed the need for partnerships. They managed one worth 95 for the second wicket between Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor, with both scoring half-centuries, but the rest of the batsmen failed to build on a solid platform – New Zealand were 173 for 2 at one stage. They lost six wickets for 10 runs during a startling lower-order collapse and were dismissed for 237 in the 47th over. The Warriors’ opening bowler, Juan Theron, caused most of the damage, taking 5 for 42 in 8.1 overs.

The Warriors chase also suffered from the lack of substantial partnerships but all their batsmen chipped in with useful contributions. Their top eight reached double figures with wicketkeeper Davey Jacobs leading the way with 54. Ian Butler took 4 for 53 and Daryl Tuffey claimed 3 for 49 – brought the match to a close finish. The eighth wicket fell with the Warriors needing 24 runs to win but Theron came to the rescue with 21 off 19 balls to ensure victory in the penultimate over.

Author: Mona Gupta, New Delhi.

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