Hitting the mark
"Rare public joy in Kabul after Afghanistan’s World Cup win over Pakistan" read the headline on the Aljazeera website. The skies above the capital "were aglow with fireworks" as Afghans celebrated another win at the Cricket World Cup. They beat England earlier in the tournament, but the win over Pakistan has confirmed their Cinderella status. But back to that Aljazeera story. The media outlet reported hundreds of fans swarmed the street late on Monday night "joining a morass" of honking cars. They celebrated with fireworks, gunfire and they even played music in defiance of an effective ban on music by the Taliban government. "Afghanistan has been through so much recently, such moments are always special and must be celebrated properly," a Kabul resident said. "It feels like we have won the World Cup. Sport always brings unity among the people. Today we are celebrating the victory as a nation." Hopefully, we all feel that way on Sunday morning. Go the All Blacks.
Crease bound
That was a tough start for Otago. They were demolished by an innings and 32 runs by Northern Districts in Hamilton. The top five combined for a total of 21 runs in the second innings. Given the batting is seemingly the Volts’ strength this season, that will have created a stir in the background.Ollie White and Llew Johnson struck some early season form for Otago A in a three-day game against Canterbury A in Rangiora this week to put some gentle pressure on as well. Johnson stroked an unbeaten 129 and White notched 116. Kaleb McKay nabbed eight wickets in the game, which petered out to a draw.
Clubbing it
Otago Boys’ claimed the McCullum Cup with a nine-wicket win against King’s at Memorial Park on Sunday. King’s batted first and posted 105 for six. Otago Boys’ run the target down in 10 overs. Opener Ashton Hansen flogged 78 not out from 39 deliveries.
The declaration
The Black Caps’ World Cup campaign is about to get a lot harder. They play Australia tomorrow night New Zealand time. South Africa is next up on Wednesday and their World Cup bogey team, Pakistan, will be another difficult match-up. That one is scheduled for November 4. They could easily lose all three and be left with a must-win game against Sri Lanka on November 9.
