Cricket T20 World Cup: Super Eight Big League Starts Today!

The Super Eight stage matches of the ICC World Cup T20 2012 in Sri Lanka start today with the big one coming between hosts Sri Lanka and spirited New Zealand in Pallekele. In the last match of the group league on 25^thSeptember buoyant Pakistan beat a fighting Bangladesh by 8 wickets. Bangladesh fought very hard trying to win by more than 36 runs which would have taken them into the Super Eight stage.

There is hardly much to choose between the two teams. While Sri Lanka would be looking for the home advantage with their specialized slow bowling that suffocates opposition on various occasions New Zealand is set to benefit too as they played their two matches here in Pallekele where they crushed Bangladesh and ran Pakistan to the wire in the second. Sri Lanka on their journey to the Super Eight bulldozed Zimbabwe in the first match of the tournament and then lost to South Africa in a ridiculous 7-over encounter.

The biggest plus for Sri Lanka would be the return of the magical spinner Ajantha Mendis who had the tournament best bowling figure of 6 wickets for 8 runs against Zimbabwe and was not fit for the South Africa match. If the out-of-form Dilshan delivers along with Mahela and Sangakkara in batting and if Malinga gets his ferocity back Sri Lanka looks formidable. With Brendon McCullum firing again if New Zealand can overpower their batting inconsistency they look formidable too. In fact, the Kiwis have won five out of the 9 T20 international encounters against Sri Lanka and won both matches played in Sri Lanka. In all, a tremendous prospect to look forward to today.

The second encounter tonight defending champions England will take on West Indies in Pallekele. While England would be smarting from their crushing defeat against India in the group league the West Indies team has not really been tested so far in the tournament. A surprise package this that could very well be a thriller or a hopelessly one-sided encounter.

Mohammad Hafeez

AB De Villiers

And, tomorrow in Colombo there are two mouth-watering encounters coming up. The daytime match will be played between South Africa and Pakistan at 3.30pm Indian time.

Shane Watson

MS Dhoni

The day-and-night blockbuster will be between India and Australia at 7.30pm. All these four top teams have won all their group matches and are the toughest unbeaten rivals. While Pakistan must get on with their current super cricket show South Africa looks the most consistent with incisively intense bowling and power packed batting. Indian skipper Dhoni must set his priorities right and field the best team possible for the day. Australia who never made it good in T20 World Cup so far has everything to gain from their powerhouse cricket. Meanwhile India climbed up to the third position in Reliance ICC T20 rankings thanks to their thumping victory over England. South Africa in No.1 and Champions England slips a position to second spot.

When rivals of super class clash with each other it no longer matters what format of the game they are playing in. It is only cricket that triumphs all the way. Enjoy!

Mitali: The Trauma of Losing a Sibling

Maybe I lied to her when I used to reassure her that she was going to be alright and was going to resume her life in some measure of normalcy in the future years; maybe all my gestures/expressions were false when I used to run my fingers across her forehead or embrace her on occasions when she was able to move around a bit; and maybe all my exhibitions of love care and responsibility were exposed as superficial when I failed to turn up in Delhi where she along with my mother were treated during September-October, 2022 (my mother Urmila Chakravarty was also diagnosed with dental cancer the same month the same year as she was) and when all the members of my parental family and the in-laws converged. Since that fateful day in August, 2022 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer to that disastrous day of March 6, 2025—the day my younger blood sister Mitali (Mainu) Chakravarty Sarma (November 2, 1963—March 6, 2025) passed away in the wee hours in a hospital in Guwahati after giving a bra...

Release of Book 'Randomized: A Dozen Short Stories'!

The fourth collection of stories titled 'Randomized: A Dozen Short Stories' by Chinmay Chakravarty has been released on Amazon KDP just now! This collection, short stories in a lighter vein plus with mild satire like the previous collections, has been published in both the E-book and Paperback formats. The links are given below: International: Click Here ! India: Click Here ! Other collections of short stories by the same author: The Cheerless Chauffeur and Other Tales(2021)--Notion Press. Funny and Fishy Tales(2022)--KDP. The Weirdos(2022)--Ukiyoto Publishing. All books of the author are available on Goodreads, apart from Amazon and other outlets! Have a look!

Kolkata: Cancel the Commerce of the Durga Puja Carnival!

Yes! We ask why shouldn't the pure Commerce show of the Durga Puja Carnival in Kolkata be canceled in view of the worsening medical crisis? For how long this cruel irony of continuing the worship of the Mother Goddess and continuing to torture/kill the Mothers in human forms going to continue? Greed, limitless greed of humans! Dear God! This time Goddess Durga came in a cradle which in itself implies ominous times, and further, the tithis from Mahasaptami onward came mixed in such a way that you get three days of worship, technically. Yet, the greedy and selfie-social-media-crazy crowds of 'devotees' were still not satiated, descending on the Puja pandals in uncontrollable hordes for as long as seven days, and to pander to their greed and to have the maximum of business, most of the Puja organizers disregarded the tithi break-up completely and have been celebrating Bijoya Dashami or the Dussehra well into Ekadashi, the eleventh day! They expect the hordes to descend tonigh...