Tag: Leaves

A Classic and an Upset

An account of an astonishing day at the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup, one good both for the tournament and for the sport as a whole, though not good for England. Also a photo gallery.

Today saw two matches at the ODI Cricket World Cup, both of which in their own ways were excellent news for the tournament and for the sport as a whole. These are described in today’s post. Yesterday’s game between Pakistan and South Africa turned into an absolute nail biter, South Africa sneaking home by one wicket, and then came today’s events.

THE TRANS-TASMAN DERBY

Australia got away to an absolute flyer, with the scoring rate almost 12 an over for the first ten overs. However once David Warner and Travis Head were out in quick succession the innings lost momentum for a period. In the end it took a late flurry by Pat Cummins to boost the final total to 388-7. New Zealand also started fast with the bat, and were never wholly out of contention at any stage of the chase. In the end 19 were needed off the final over, and Mitchell Starc, who had a shocking match, had to bowl it. When Jimmy Neesham was run out coming back for a desperate second on the penultimate ball it meant that injured number 11 Lockie Ferguson had to attempt to score six off the one remaining delivery to pull off an epic chase. In the event the delivery was a dot ball and Australia had won by five runs. The aggregate of 771 was a new record for any World Cup match, beating the 754 between South Africa and Sri Lanka (428 plays 326) earlier in this tournament.

BANGLADESH v NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands batted first and managed to tally 229, being out to the last ball of their 50 overs. It was then that the fun started. In spite of the fact that conditions at Eden Gardens, Kolkata are rather closer to those experienced by Bangladesh on a regular basis than those best known to the Dutch it was the latter who made better use of them. Bangladesh were soon 63-4, then 69-5, then 74-6. A seventh wicket stand of 34 offered temporary reprieve. When the vastly experienced Mahmudullah was eighth out for 20, leaving numbers 9,10 and 11 in the order to score in excess of 100 at over six an over the writing was firmly on the wall, and although the tail enders showed rather more grit than most of their supposed betters with the bat the final margin was 87 runs, a second victory of the tournament for the Netherlands, and a result which condemned England, whose next outing is against hosts India tomorrow, to bottom place in the table, behind Bangladesh on net run rate. The single most damning aspect of a dismal performance by a team who have had test status for over 20 years and signally failed to make full use of being at cricket’s top table was the fact that even in the spin bowling department, always their greatest strength, Bangladesh were outdone by their opponents. Aryan Dutt for the Netherlands was allowed to record figures of 1-26 from his ten overs, while second spinner Colin Ackermann, primarily a batter, emerged with 7-1-25-1. The Dutch are to be congratulated, and I for one will be far from surprised should they add to their two wins in what is left of the group stage.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

These four pictures show a rather unusual choice of resting place for a cormorant. This tree overlooks a pond, but the bird is way above water level.

Australia Hammer Netherlands

A look back at today’s ODI World Cup match between Australia and the Netherlands and a large photo gallery.

Today’s match in the ODI World Cup featured Yellow (gold) against Orange – Australia against the Netherlands. This post is mainly devoted to that match. I did not get to follow anything of yesterday’s match due to work commitments. When I posted on Monday Afghanistan were going well in pursuit of 283 to beat Pakistan. They kept up their good start and won by eight wickets.

THE AUSTRALIAN INNINGS

Pat Cummins won the toss, and decided that Australia would bat first. Although Mitchell Marsh fell early, Australia as a whole batted very well, and an amazing innings from Glenn Maxwell late on, which saw reach three figures off just 40 balls boosted the Australian total to 399 from their 50 overs. Bas de Leede earned an unfortunate place in the record books – his ten overs went for 115, the most ever conceded in a 10 over allocation in an ODI. This record has previously been jointly held by two Australians, Mick Lewis (Johannesburg 2006) and Adam Zampa, who was playing for Australia today, each of whom went for 113 from 10 overs in an ODI innings.

THE NETHERLANDS RESPONSE

The Netherlands crumbled in the face of an all but impossible challenge. At no stage did they look capable of even offering serious resistance, and they ultimately sank to 90 all out and defeat by 309 runs. Adam Zampa took four late wickets for just eight runs.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Trees in Transistion III

More on trees in transistion…

INTRODUCTION

Both my original “Trees in Transistion” and the post I put up yesterday morning, “Trees in Transistion II” have proved popular, and I have some more tree pictures for you today.

THE TREES SPEAK

These pictures were taken yesterday evening, and the light was fading as time passed. I did not use the flash for any of these pictures.

Birds and a Coin

Some photographic highlights from in and around King’s Lynn and a coin used as case study in editing techniques.

INTRODUCTION

This post features some of my recent pictures of King’s Lynn’s thriving bird life, and also some pictures of a coin that I use to demonstrate the different degrees of editing to which a picture might be submitted.

THE BIRDS

The title of this section both refers to its contents and pays tribute to Italian composer Ottorino Respighi one of whose pieces has this title. Every bird you see pictured here was within walking distance of my town centre flat, in some cases very close indeed.

Where the Nar flows into the Great Ouse - always a good spot for observing birds
Where the Nar flows into the Great Ouse – always a good spot for observing birds

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No cormorants this time, but these will feature later.
No cormorants this time, but these will feature later.

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The last two pictures you have seen were taken on the bridge over the upper Purfleet, separated from my flat by the length of a car park.
The last two pictures you have seen were taken on the bridge over the upper Purfleet, separated from my flat by the length of a car park.

On Wednesday afternoon the cormorants were back in force - on both sides of the mouth of the Nar...
On Wednesday afternoon the cormorants were back in force – on both sides of the mouth of the Nar…

...as witness
…as witness

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The mouth of the Nar showing the cormorants on both sides.
The mouth of the Nar showing the cormorants on both sides.

SOME OTHER PHOTOS

Of course it was not only birds that caught the eye while I was out and about on these occasions…

The next two pictures show fallen leaves.
The next two pictures show fallen leaves.

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Yes, even in October boats still moor on the Great Ouse
Yes, even in October boats still moor on the Great Ouse

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Greyfriars Tower
Greyfriars Tower

A carving on Greyfriars tower.
A carving on Greyfriars tower.

A picture in my aunt's kitchen
A picture in my aunt’s kitchen

I carried this across from the neighbour with whom it had been left in my aunt's absence. Note that this delivery had been made on the Saturday and then look a the big sticker on top of the box! (and the box already had three extra bottles in it to compensate for previous blunders!)
I carried this across from the neighbour with whom it had been left in my aunt’s absence. Note that this delivery had been made on the Saturday and then look a the big sticker on top of the box! (and the box already had three extra bottles in it to compensate for previous blunders!)

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THE COIN

On Tuesday I happened to notice that one of the coins with which I was going to pay my bus fare was one that had been issued to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade, so I photographed it while waiting for the bus to arrive. Later while editing the shot I decided to use it to demonstrate various editing techniques…

This is the coin picture after cropping but nut other editing.
This is the coin picture after cropping but no other editing.

This is the coin after cropping and sharpening.
This is the coin after cropping and sharpening.

This is the coin after my usual edit (shadow and highlights protection, lighting adjustment, sharpening and brightness for extra clarity.
This is the coin after my usual edit (shadow and highlights protection, lighting adjustment, sharpening and brightness for extra clarity.

This one features the use of colour boost as well (I almost never do this)
This one features the use of colour boost as well (I almost never do this)

Finally this one also had the contrast enhanced (something I used to do regularly but now only do on rare occasions)
Finally this one also had the contrast enhanced (something I used to do regularly but now only do on rare occasions)