Ireland v New Zealand, Super Eights, Guyana

Ferret celebrations and cracked windows

Plays of the Day by Dileep Premachandran

April 9, 2007

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Dave Langford-Smith unveiled a unique celebration of his own, this time on a cricket field © Getty Images
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Never mind the Chicken, here's the Ferret
Trent Johnston has the chicken-dance celebration, and fellow Australian Dave Langford-Smith unveiled a unique one of his own after getting his two wickets. Apparently, the Ferret was pioneered at his wedding reception, and had been seen at Ocho Rios - a holiday resort in Jamaica - as well after the victory against Pakistan. Even the laid-back Guyanese raised an eyebrow or two when it was seen at Palm Court, a popular watering hole in town.

Are you Pat Jennings in disguise?
Langford-Smith's first Ferret celebration was sparked off by a spectacular catch from Eoin Morgan at cover. Back-pedalling frantically, he threw his hands over his head to gather the ball just as Jennings, the Northern Ireland goalkeeping legend, might have plucked out a cross from under the cross bar.

Watch what you write
Press box C on the second floor of the Media Centre End is a spillover area, intended to accommodate journalists arriving at the last minute. With few left in Guyana to watch this game, it was mercifully near-empty when Brendon McCullum launched a huge six off Trent Johnston that smashed one of the glass panes. After such a hit, most journalists will be wary of penning anything that offends him.

Not quite a century
Jeremy Bray started the tournament with a magnificent century against Zimbabwe on a Sabina Park pitch that had plenty of bounce. On the sluggish pitch in Guyana, he had 1-0-0 of a less welcome kind, following up ducks against England and South Africa with just one in this game. Give the man some pace and bounce.

[All]Black beard
Edward Teach, or Blackbeard, was the original pirate of the Caribbean, a man with an immense beard that made him "look like the devil". If they don't get hold of a razor soon, Daniel Vettori and Craig McMillan might be accused of auditioning to play him in some movie.

O Brother, where art thou?
For 15.4 overs, it was going swimmingly, with Niall and Kevin O'Brien adding 75 to keep Irish fans dreaming of an improbable upset. Then, Niall set off for a crazy run, Kevin backed up, Niall said no, and it was all over. Given that Kevin was playing so fluently, a little sibling sacrifice might have been in order.

Fans in high places
Despite three defeats, the one thing Ireland never lacked in Guyana was support. Varshni Jagdeo, wife of the Guyanese president, was in the front seats of the VIP stand, dressed in an autographed Irish jersey, cheering on the team that many in the region have adopted as their own.

Dileep Premachandran is associate editor of Cricinfo

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Dileep Premachandran Associate editor Dileep Premachandran gave up the joys of studying thermodynamics and strength of materials with a view to following in the footsteps of his literary heroes. Instead, he wound up at the Free Press Journal in Mumbai, writing on sport and politics before Gentleman gave him a column called Replay. A move to MyIndia.com followed, where he teamed up with Sambit Bal, and he arrived at ESPNCricinfo after having also worked for Cricket Talk and total-cricket.com. Sunil Gavaskar and Greg Chappell were his early cricketing heroes, though attempts to emulate their silken touch had hideous results. He considers himself obscenely fortunate to have watched live the two greatest comebacks in sporting history - India against invincible Australia at the Eden Gardens in 2001, and Liverpool's inc-RED-ible resurrection in the 2005 Champions' League final. He lives in Bangalore with his wife, who remains astonishingly tolerant of his sporting obsessions.
Related Links
Tournament Results
Australia v Sri Lanka at Bridgetown - Apr 28, 2007
Australia won by 53 runs (D/L method)
Australia v South Africa at Gros Islet - Apr 25, 2007
Australia won by 7 wickets (with 111 balls remaining)
New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Kingston - Apr 24, 2007
Sri Lanka won by 81 runs
West Indies v England at Bridgetown - Apr 21, 2007
England won by 1 wicket (with 1 ball remaining)
Australia v New Zealand at St George's - Apr 20, 2007
Australia won by 215 runs
More results »
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