Monday Wrap
V8 Supercars and Jamie Whincup has defied my predictions (and hopes) 100% by taking out both races in Bahrain to make it 4 from 4 to start the season. Despite losing numerous spots off the grid in race 2, Whincup powered back through the field and fought off a brief charge from Mark Winterbottom to in the end comfortably complete a clean sweep of the Middle East. Van Gisbergen proved himself as a genuine chance to win races in 2010 after grabbing another podium and being generally strong all weekend. Ford fans can take heart from the fact that if Jamie does slip up, Winterbottom and Van Gisbergen will be ready to pounce.
To NRL and it was draws all round between the Rabbitohs and the Dragons on the weekend after the annual Charity Shield was deadlocked at 26-26 and the membership race to 10 000 ticketed members was declared a tie. Crowds were brilliant in all trial games over the weekend: 10 000 turned up in Darwin to watch Cowboys vs Titans, 18 000 watched the double header in Gosford, 17 000 New Zealanders turned up to watch their team have a hit out against Manly, the Dubbo Bulldogs Raiders clash attracted 8 000 and Knights Panthers 6 000 in Port Macquarie.
Cricket and the embarrassment continues for the West Indies, being demolished by ZIMBABWE of all countries in a Twenty20. Gayle may have been missing, but Chanderpaul and Bravo returned. The series is a real chance for Zimbabwe to re announce themselves on the international stage against a struggling West Indies team, and unless the Windies knuckle down I can really see it happening.
Tim Southee comprehensively showed up the Aussie quicks on a ridiculously flat deck in Christchurch. The super over failure marked the first defeat for the Aussies this summer. Southee was able to bowl a perfect over of yorkers which embarrassed the selected Aussie hitters, before Shaun ‘the wild thing’ Tait came on and really did bowl wild. Or maybe ‘wide’ is a better description. The lightning quick Aussie attack may be good on fast pitches, but on a flat wicket it comes down to pin point accuracy, the ability to execute yorker after yorker and they were shown up in this regard. The player of the match, Brendon McCullum, hit only the 2nd ever international T20 century. He was unbeaten on 116, and his innings consisted of simply incredible shots, including numerous scoops to fine leg for four and 6.
