Wednesday, August 31, 2011

In Pictures:India England Test series

Sachin

Sreesanth

England

Anderson

Anderson

Monday, July 18, 2011

'Battle of Taunton' and the 'Survival of the Fittest'

Hence the 3-day practice match between Indians and Somerset has been ended on a draw.The one-off practice match before first two tests showed that Indians have not adopted english conditions yet.This was not simply a practice match as this was the only chance to play against a county side before heading towards the Lord's.English test skipper Andrew Strauss who has retired from the shorter format of the game was the invited opener in the absence of Somerset skipper Markas Trescothick to regain his lost form.The prolific opener scored a watchful 78 ,Arul Suppaih played a magnificant knock toring Indian bowlers.Somerset piled 425/3 and declared its 1st innings.Indians were totally out played against the Somerset bowlers and bowled out for a mere 224 despite Raina's quickfire century.Except Raina,no one made an impression in this game. Before this game there was so much discussion about no.6 spot of Indian batting.Youraj Singh missed the tour of Carribean but he was one of few stars of the last world cup.In the absence of Yuvi,Raina played in the carribean utilising his capabilities.He played some positive knocks there .Now after Raina's another masterclass Dhoni will be clear of any doubt picking the no.6 batsman for the historic 2000th test and also 100th Indo-English test at Lord's.

Friday, July 15, 2011

India's England Tour 1974,"Summer of 42"


The Indian cricket team toured England in the 1974 English domestic
cricket season. After matches against many of county cricket and other
minor teams, in April and May, the Indian team played three Test
matches and two One-day Internationals against the England cricket
team. England won all five of the matches.
The season became known as the "Summer of 42",[1] referring to the
number of runs scored by India in its second innings in the Second
Test at Lord's (also a reference to the film Summer of '42 which won
an Oscar in 1972; a follow-up, Class of '44 had been released in
1973). This remains the lowest total for a completed innings in a Test
match since New Zealand were dismissed for 26 in 1955.[2] Blamed for
his team's poor showing, Indian captain, Ajit Wadekar, retired from
Test cricket after the tour.
Background
India could make a fair claim in the early 1970s to be the top
Test-playing nation. In 1970-71, the team had beaten the West Indies
in the Caribbean; in the English season that followed, 1971, the team
had won its first-ever victory on English soil and with it the first
series victory in Anglo-Indian Tests in England; and that victory was
repeated, with a 2-1 margin, when MCC toured India in 1972-73.
The basis of India's success was the quartet of high-class spin
bowlers – Chandrasekhar, Bedi, Prasanna and Venkataraghavan – backed
up by world-class batting from Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath.
Ajit Wadekar was regarded as an astute captain, while Farokh Engineer
was an extrovert wicketkeeper-batsman.
[edit] Test matches
In the First Test, played from 6 June to 11 June at Old Trafford,
England won the toss and batted first, scoring 328-9 declared, with a
century for Keith Fletcher (123). Indian opening batsman Sunil
Gavaskar scored 101 in India's reply of 246 all out, assisted by 71
added down the batting order by Abid Ali. England reached 213-3 in
their second innings, declaring with John Edrich on 100 not out. India
were bowled out a second time for 182, and England won by 113 runs.[4]
In the Second Test, played from 21 June to 24 June at Lord's, England
again won the toss and batted first, scoring a monumental 629 all out,
with centuries for opening batsman Dennis Amiss (188), captain Mike
Denness (118), and Tony Greig (106); in addition, John Edrich was out
for 96. Indian spin bowler Bishen Bedi took six wickets, but conceded
226 runs in 64.2 overs. In reply, India scored 302 all out. Called to
follow on, India were dismissed a second time for only 42, and England
won by an innings and 285 runs inside 4 days. Chris Old took 5-21, to
add to his 4-67 in the first innings, and Geoff Arnold took 4-19.[5]
In the Third Test, played from 3 July to 8 July at Edgbaston, India
won the toss and batted first, scoring 165 all out. Wicket-keeper
Farokh Engineer top scored with 64 not out. English reached 459 for 2
declared in reply, with David Lloyd scoring 214 not out, Mike Denness
dismissed for exactly 100. India were bowled out for 216 in their
second innings, and England won by an innings and 78 runs.[6]
[edit] ODI matches
England also won both ODIs, played over 55 overs. The First ODI was
played on 13 July at Headingley. England won the toss and put India in
to bat. India scored 265 all out, bowled out with 7 balls to bowl.
England reached their victory target with 6 wickets down and 23 balls
to spare. [7]
In the Second ODI, played on 16 July at the Oval, India won the toss
and batted. They scored 171 all out in 47.3 overs. England reached
their victory target with 4 wickets down and over 6 overs to spare.
[8]

India's England Tour 2011 Schedule

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Indian Tour of England 1971

The Indian cricket team toured England in the 1971 season and played
19 first-class fixtures, winning 7, losing only one and drawing 11.
India played three Test matches and surprisingly won the series
against England 1–0 with two Tests drawn. This was India's first ever
series win in England. The First Test at Lord's and the Second Test at
Old Trafford were drawn. India pulled off a historic win in the Third
Test at The Oval by 4 wickets after being 71 behind on first innings.
They bowled England out for only 101 in the second innings with
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar claiming 6–38.
The Indian team was captained by Ajit Wadekar. Besides Wadekar and
Chandrasekhar, the team included other notable players in Dilip
Sardesai, Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Gundappa Viswanath,
Bishan Singh Bedi and the young Sunil Gavaskar. Farokh Engineer, who
had a contract with Lancashire was made available for the Tests and a
few other matches.

Background
With South Africa out of Test cricket, England was arguably the best
cricket team in the world at this point of time. Earlier in the
summer, they had fortuitously managed to defeat Pakistan 1–0 but
coming into the series England had gone 24 Tests without defeat. They
were to extend it to a record 26 Test matches before losing the third
Test.
India had not won a Test abroad till 1968 and had had no success in
their previous six Test tours of England. However, under the new
captain Ajit Wadekar, India defeated West Indies in an away series in
early 1971. The victory in that series was built around the batting of
Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Sardesai who scored 774 and 642 runs
respectively. Chandrasekhar had been a controversial omission from the
West Indies series. Chief Selector Vijay Merchant called his inclusion
for the tour of England "a ?calculated gamble"?.

Test Matches
First Test: India v England (22 – 27 July)

22–27 July
Scorecard England
304 (139.3 overs) v India
313 (165.3 overs) Match drawn
Lord's, London
Umpires: DJ Constant (Eng) and CS Elliott (Eng)
JA Snow 73 (132)
BS Bedi 4/70 [39.3] AL Wadekar 85 (182)
N Gifford 4/84 [45.3]
191 (98.5 overs) 145/8 (50 overs)
JH Edrich 62 (169)
S Venkataraghavan 4/52 [30.5] SM Gavaskar 53 (96)
N Gifford 4/43 [19]

You may be too young to remember, but in 1971, during a Test
match, I collided with England fast bowler John Snow and lost my bat.
Snow picked it up and handed it to me. But at the time, many papers
wrote that Snow had flung the bat at me. It all depends on your point
of view, or what you are trying to portray....[1] - Sunil Gavaskar
Picture
The England fast bowler John Snow rescued the England first innings
when he came in at 183/7 and made 73 to hoist the total up to 304.
This was Snow's highest Test and equal highest First Class score, but
he was disappointed not to realise his boyhood dream of a century at
Lords when he was caught off a Chandrasekhar googly.[2] India needed
183 to win in the fourth innings when Snow had the opener Ashok Mankad
caught by Knott for 8 and India were 21–2 when Sunil Gavaskar was
called for a quick single after hitting the ball to mid-wicket. Snow
went for the ball and knocked him over, "I could imagine the horror on
the faces of everybody watching the game from the committee room at
Lord's".[3] The were both uninjured, got up and continued with the
game after and Snow tossed Gavaskar's bat back to him. A similar
incident had happened in Georgetown in 1967–68 with Clive Lloyd, but
the 5'4" Indian received far more sympathy than the 6'4" West Indian
who nearly trampled Snow into the ground.[4] From afar the incident
had looked much worse and was replayed repeated on slow-motion
television with a media furore and press demanding disciplinary
action. The replay can be seen in the Indian episode of the BBC
documentary Empire of Cricket and it certainly appears that Snow
recklessly barged into the Gavaskar as he knocked him over. Many were
more angry about the throwing of the bat back than the knocking him
over in the first place. At lunch Snow returned to the dressing room
he apologised to the chairman of selectors Alec Bedser and promised to
do so to Gavaskar when an enraged Mike Griffith charged in and shouted
"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen on the field".
Illingworth took him out and Snow waited until he had calmed down
before apologising to Gavaskar on the field after lunch. When he later
saw the replay he said "Oh well, the scene's been far too quiet
without me anyway".[5] and realised he could not avoid being dropped
for the Second Test. The game was rained off with India needed 38
runs, but with England wanting only two wickets.

Second Test: India v England (5 – 10 August)

5–10 August
Scorecard England
386 (160.4 overs) v India
212 (93 overs) Match drawn
Old Trafford, Manchester
Umpires: AE Fagg (Eng) and TW Spencer (Eng)
R Illingworth 107 (298)
S Abid Ali 4/64 [32.4] SM Gavaskar 57 (129)
P Lever 5/70 [26]
245/3d (66 overs) 65/3 (27 overs)
BW Luckhurst 101 (173)
BS Bedi 1/21 [5] SM Gavaskar 24 (42)
JSE Price 2/30 [10]

Third Test: India v England (19–24 August)

19–24 August
Scorecard England
355 (108.4 overs) v India
284 (117.3 overs) India won by 4 wickets
Kennington Oval, London
Umpires: CS Elliott (Eng) and AEG Rhodes (Eng)
APE Knott 90 (116)
ED Solkar 3/28 [15] FM Engineer 59 (111)
R Illingworth 5/70 [34.3]
101 (45.1 overs) 174/6 (101 overs)
BW Luckhurst 33 (111)
BS Chandrasekhar 6/38 [18.1] AL Wadekar 45 (118)
DL Underwood 3/72 [38]

Snow returned for the Third Test and tore off Gavaskar's chain and
medallion with a bouncer that zipped under his chin and made him fall
over.[6] He bowled the Indian for 6 in the first innings and had him
lbw for a duck in the second, but this was not enough to prevent India
winning the Test and the series by four wickets. It was only the
second Test defeat Snow had seen since he had become and England
regular in 1966 and ended England's run of 27 Test without loss.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Chanderpaul Blocked INDIAN Victory

India won the three-Test series 1-0 following a 63-run victory inside four days in the first Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica, and a draw in the second Test at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
The visitors also wrapped up their second straight Test series victory over the West Indies in the Caribbean.
They also created a piece of history, becoming the first Indian side to win a Test and one-day international series in the Caribbean.
India suffered an early setback in their hunt for a victory target of 180.
India lost Abhinav Mukund lbw for a duck, playing back and across to the first delivery of the innings from Fidel Edwards in the brief passage of play before the break.
But Murali Vijay and Rahul Dravid steading the innings with a 72-run partnership for the second wicket. India, however, did not make any attempt to go for victory.
And once Vijay fell for 45, Dravid and VVS Laxman played a few overs before play was called off.
Earlier, Shivnarine Chanderpaul ended with the West Indies' top score of an undefeated 116, his 23rd Test hundred, making the occasion of his record 133rd appearance extra special.
He added a valuable 65 for the ninth wicket with Fidel Edwards, whose 30 was a career-best, and made him the object of great frustration for India.
But Suresh Raina had Edwards caught at long-off following a near three-hour long act of resistance, and in his following over, brought the curtain down on the West Indies' innings, when he had Devendra Bishoo caught at slip for one.
India had met defiance from West Indies before lunch, when Chanderpaul rallied the lower order to lead the home team to 294 for eight at the interval.
Chanderpaul became the second century-maker in the West Indies second innings, following Kirk Edwards' maiden hundred of 110 on debut the previous day.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Orissa Premier League(OPL):Viewer's Diary part 1

When IPL was at its peak with Gayle's carribean tsunami crossing all
the boundaries,Orissa cricket association had launched its own version
of Premier League.I was excited as the cricketing juggernaut to
continue after IPL. Also it was believed that some deserving players
will get their turn to show their capabilities.The broadcasting was so
irritating that even Saas-Bahu daily soap haters would prefer to
choose daily soaps instead of OPL to enjoy the evenings.4 matches at
same time reminded me about 75's world cup. The broadcasting angles
were always changing and even some deliveries had been seen from
behind the wicket keeper.There was no straight view(It was short long
off view) and one can't judge LBW on TV.Thanks to the curators that
pitches has been transformed to DEAD soils more than that of greater
sahara.There was no spin and no pace assistance off the pitch.Some
players played according to their merit;Biplab,Natraj,Kameswar to name
a few.It has been disapointing that players have been playing as club
level.I didn't see many batsmans playing according to merit of the
ball.I have n't seen Bibhudatta Panda bowling before but he didn't
looked like a Ranji Trophy bowler.Fresh controversy has landed in OPL
as WS Rourkela had picked 2 Grade E players instead of 3 players for
its 2 matches.So OCA has asked WSR to replay those two matches.JSP
Sparks also convicted of playing less Grade E players.I think both the
franchisees should be disqualified from this season and those
responsible for this farce should be punished.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Orissa Premier League Schedule


Gambhir Quotes


"He is in very good nick. The most important thing when you are in good form is you need to continue and that's what he is doing. This is a sign of a mature player. Sometime what happens when the maturity is not there you end of losing form playing...
Apr 30, 2011 Times of India
"Getting 176 itself was a big effort. It was more than a par score and we were very happy with the total. Spinners and Brett Lee bowled well. We have positives to take away from this game barring the last over. Getting the total was a fantastic...
May 22, 2011 Times of India
"I always enjoy my captaincy, whether it is for India, whether it is for Delhi or this one. You end up taking responsibility. You end up learning a lot. You feel happy when you win," the southpaw said after his team's 20-run win over Deccan...
May 4, 2011 Times of India
Gautam Gambhir, the captain of KKR said: "It will be a different ball game in the play-offs. We have to do the things the hard way now".
May 25, 2011 NowPublic
Asked about their next match against Mumbai Indians, Gambhir said, "We want to go out there and look to win the next game as they we would have a very bright chance of moving into the second spot in the table, so that's what we will focus on."
May 19, 2011 NDTV.com

Sachin Tendulkar at World Cups


1992


1996




1999






2003



2007
 

2011


Saturday, April 30, 2011

Fletcher Flavour

Finally BCCI has appointed former Zimbabwean cricketer Duncan Fletcher as coach of team India..The selection was made without any prior notice,in the working committee meeting of BCCI on wednesday.
                          Duncan,62 has been given a 2-year contract after talismanic Gary Kirsten's disapproval to renew the stint as Coach.Fletcher will join the team at the England tour.                                                             The former Zimbabwean player has played just 6 ODI's at 1983 world cup,but has prolific success under his coaching.He was the 1st foriegn coach of England cricket team for 8 years.During his stint which reins in between 1999-2007,he had notable success in test cricket under his belt including the famous historic Ashes win in 2004.England had won test series in Srilanka,west Indies and South Africa under his coaching.His ODI success was not so good and he had steped down after world cup 2007.

        But it is not easy to coach the Indian team as India is now no 1 test and ODI side,and sustaining the rank will be a very difficult task.
         After the selection of Duncan Fletcher many Ex-cricketers and cricketers has shared their views:

"Mohinder would have been a better choice"-Sunil Gavaskar
        
"Who is Duncan Fletcher?"-Kapil Dev

"Duncan will work well with all the talent"-Michael Vaughan

"he has had greater experience,which should be useful for the phase the Indian team are about to enter into"-John Buchanan

"we have got Fletcher at the right time"-Ravi Shastri

"given the success Gary Kirsten had,Duncan is going to be scrutinized very closely"-Adam Gilchrist

Monday, April 4, 2011

Pictures of World Cup 2011

Inaguration ceremony at Dhaka

Malinga after hattrick

Ashraful Celebrating

Someone's gain,someone's pain

Boom Boom gone



Add caption






Tuesday, March 29, 2011

INDIA VS PAKISTAN: SEMIFINAL REVIEW

India is ready to take on its traditional rival Pakistan in the crucial semifinal of CWC 2011 at Mohali.There is nothing bigger than this for an INDIAN or PAKISTANI cricketer to defeat their arch rivals.It is regarded as the mother of all battles by the media.
           India and Pakistan faced 4 times at world cup and Pakistan lost on all occasions.But previous record does n't matter in India-Pakistan clash.Pressure will be on both the sides.Handling pressure and agressiveness will hold the key to victory.
           Mind games have been started by the teams to pressurize there counterparts as an off field strategy.
Misbah ul Haq on Sunday said they have worked out plans for every Indian player.

Sachin will have to wait until after the World Cup for his 100th international century because we are not going to allow either him or any other Indian player to play a big innings,"Afridi said.
                Mohali is India's fastest pitch but any thing can't be predicted now.MID-DAY said yesterday that it will assist seamers.Some others says that it will be a sporty wicket with assistance of spin like Ahemadabad.

                 INDIA seems as favorite due its present form and home support.Sachin is in his best form and top 3 is always playing really well.Yuvraj Singh had a poor form before the world cup but he is the best all-rounder in this world cup.
Timely replacement of Pathan worked perfectly against Australia.Raina is looking solid at no 7 as a finisher.Only Dhoni's form is matter to concern for batting.It will be never easy for Pakistan to stop run feast if India gets a solid start.In bowling department Zaheer  is leading from the front .Aswin showed his class.Bhajji is improving.Yuvraj is bowling as an specialist bowler.Munaf is bowling ordinarily and Pakistan may attack munaf.I think Sreesanth should be included for semifinals according to the Mohali conditions.
                                       Pakistan will try its seam bowling to trap Indian top order.Umar Gul will be the main threat to Indian batsmans.Pakistani spinners should be played carefully.Senior pak players are advocating for Shoib Akthar but there is almost no chance for him.On batting front Pakistan is little bit unexperienced.With Yunis Batting at no 5 and Misbah at no 6,they have two fine players.Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq are two key players.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Pakistan vs West Indies:Ist QF Preview

After the loss against India,West Indies finished group B as 4th and it will play Pakistan in the 1st quarter final at Dhaka.Pakistan looks a better team in cards,basically with a strong middle order and having rich experience in bowling.Toss will be an important factor as the Mirpur wicket assists spin and it is difficult to bat on in the 2nd innings.West Indies has played in this venue vs Bangladesh.
                          Pakistan performed superbly in the world cup beating two strong teams Srilanka and Australia.Pakistan suffered an accidental defeat against New Zealand.Opening is a big worry for them.Hafeez and Sehjaad has not given a good start yet.Now Akmal is opening with Hafeez.Asad Shafiq is in his best form at no 3 position.Yunis Khan and Misbah are consistent  through out the world cup.Pakistan has good strikers as Afridi and and Razzaq to accelerate the innings.Pakistani  batsmans have to score big to give chance to their  bowlers.
                          on the other hand the West Indies has suffered defeats from South Africa,India and England.The defeat against England was unexpected as the Windies lost from a winning position.Against India they rested Gayle.Daren Smith played a fine knock of 71  but the other batsmans were trapped against Indian spinners.Chris Gayle is a dengerous customer and can change the course of the game with in some overs.Sarwan is not perfoming as his merit.Experienced Chandarpaul is not playing.Now its the time to give him a chance for solidity in batting. Pollard has not shown his calibre completely,but if he stikes then he will even more destructive than Gayle.Skipper Sammy and Andrew Russail played some quick knocks.It will be the key that how they will play against the Pakistani bowlers.
  In bowling Pakistan are most experienced  side than the Windies.Bowling is the strength of Pakistan comprising Umar Gul,Shahid Afridi,Abdul Rehman and Saeed Ajmal.Shoib Akthar is not at his best form and might be miss the quarter final contest. Afridi is bowling superbly and he is the highest wicket taker of the world cup.Umar Gul is leading the pace bowling department and is devastating with his reverse swing.Saeed Ajmal is not given a chance but he is an attacking bowler.Abdul Rehman is the prefered choice for Afridi and he bowled economically.Razzaq is another bowler can be used as a seamer.Pakistan will try to struct the Indies batsmans with its spinners.West Indies bowling lacks experience.Besides this Kemar Roach,sammy and Russail are bowling well.They have the experience of playing in Mirpur against Bangladesh.If they will get conditions like that day the pace trio could derail the Pakistani batting.Left arm spinner Benn is another bowler who will try to restrict the PAK stroke players.Bishu is a good leg spinner but bowling to sub continent batsmans is always an uphill task.
                       Pakistan is the favorite of this match.

Neither Pathan nor Kohli,Its bowling to concern

After the game of South Africa vs Bangladesh Indian skipper MS Dhoni will be relaxing as with the loss of Bangladesh, India has entered to the Quarter Finals.Now Dhoni may execute some experiment with different options.India has entered into this WC as favorites but hasn't beaten any test team except Bangladesh on its way to last 8 berth.Personal performance of Sachin,Sehwag,Yuvraj,Zaheer has been excellent but India has not performed as a team .India started Its campaign from a run feast at Dhaka against Bangladesh at the opener,two hard working wins against minnows Ireland and Netherlands,thrilling tied game against England(which I even think as a defeat) and a loss from South Africa.Indian bowling is real concern apart from Zaheer.Harbhajan is struggling to take wickets and Dhoni is unable to decide who is the 2nd seamer.R Aswin is sitting on the bench and the unworthy Chawla is playing and playing.Munaf and Nehra both are experienced bowlers but both are inconsistent with their form.Sreesanth was expensive against Bangladesh and Dhoni has lost faith from him.Chawla is totally predictable and bowling every second ball googly.It will be a good occasion for Aswin to show his capabilities against West Indies.Although Yuvraj is bowling 10 overs every game,India need wicket taking bowlers to win the cup.Even England is defending scores as 171 and 243,but our bowlers want more than 338 runs from batsmans to defend.Sources said that there has been serious difference between Indian selectors and MS Dhoni about team selection.India has world's best batsmans in its squad.Starting from master blaster Sachin we have Sehwag,Gambhir,Kohli,Yuvraj,Dhoni,Raina and Pathan.After the loss against the South Africa there has been serious talks on batting.Some people want Raina to play inplace of Kohli or Pathan.Some are upset with Pathan's performance.But when we are scoring 290/330 runs why should we bother about batting.Why to blame Pathan if Yuvi and Dhoni could not accelarate the start Indian openers give?Kohli is a top order player and he should be come on to bat at no 4 as a back up for top order collapse. This will give a good base for the late order on which Yuvi, Dhoni and Pathan will accelerate the score.Now there are two choices for Dhoni,(1)Bringing back the confidence of Indian bowling or(2) Scoring and scoring more until the bowlers be able to defend it

Saturday, March 19, 2011

SA thrashed BAN:WC campaign ends for Bangla Tigers

The journey of Bangladesh in the 10th world cup almost ended after
suffering a humiliating defeat against South Africa at home. In this
now-or-never contest at Sher-E-Bangla stadium Bangla Tigers
surrendered before the favorite proteas and lost the game by a huge
margin of 206 runs.South Africa rested their fiercy paceman due Steyn
and Morkel along with in form batsman AB Deviliers but the proteas won
the game convincingly.South Africa put on a huge total of 284 runs by
excellent batting displays of Amla,Smith,Kallis and Du Plessis.In
response to the run chase the Bangladeshi top order was ripped out by
seamer Tsotsobe.Bangladesh never recovered from initial blows and
bundled out for a merely 78 runs.With a negative run rate of -1.361
bangladesh is almost out of this compitition and entertaining England
entered into the Quarter finals.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

South Africa snatched a thriller against Confident Host

At VCA stadium,Nagpur another fantastic game ended between two best teams.At the end the Proteas were the winner beating strong Indian team by 3 wickets.Earlier MSD won the toss and decided to bat at the sporty Jamtha wicket.Sachin and Sehwag were at their best and hitting the best bowling line up of the world all around the park.Tendulkar,who made his 48th ODI ton and overall 99th century during his excellent knock of 111.Sachin and Sehwag accumulated 142 runs for the 1st wicket stand in just 17.4 overs.India scored record 87 runs in the mandatory powerplay.Then Shewag draged a delivery of Faf du Plesiss on to his stumps after scoring 73 off just 66 balls.Then Gambhir join the party with Tendulkar and both made 125 runs for the 2nd wicket partnership.Tendulkar scored his century of just 92 balls.Soon he misshit Morkel and got out.India were 267 for 1 at 39.4 overs.But the real tragedy begun then.Gambhir and Promoted Pathan gave away their wickets trying to go for runs.This led the tragic collapse of Indian innings.India scored just 30 runs and lost 4 wickets in batting powerplay.India lost its 9 wickets for just 26 runs in a span of 9 overs.Steyn,who was not impressive in his first spell bowled superbly and destructed Indian innings.Steyn picked 5 for 50 from 9.4 overs.India, which once looked to reach 350 had got all out to just 296.In response the Proteas started watchfully.Smith was struggling to Indian pacers,but Amla was playing well.Zaheer got his bunny Smith in 9th over.But the cool headed Amla and experienced Kallis led the charge and made 86 runs partnership before Amla(61) was caught behind off Harbhajan.Then man-in-form AB Deviliers joined and they were playing well.Crucial run out of Kallis(69) changed the game.But then AB and JP Duminy took batting powerplay and thrashed Indian bowlers.In the final over of powerplay dangerous AB caught on the mid-wicked boundary by Kohli off Harbhajan.Deviliars made a quick 52 off 39 before getting out.India came back to game by taking quick wickets of AB,JP Duminy and Van wyk but cool headed Du Plessis batted sensibly and J Botha smashed some fine strokes before caught on a miss-hit.SA needed 13 runs off last over and this time Nehra was given the ball.Robin Peterson smashed two back to back boundaries for 10 runs.South Africa won the game with 2 balls to spare.Dale Steyn was man of the match for his excellent bowling performance.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

India passed Dutch test,qualifies for QFs

India continued their dominance and well on their to quarter finals after beating Netherlands by 5 wickets at Feroz shah kotla.The low scoring contest was almost a one-sided affair.Dhoni again kept faith on UP leggie Chawla. Local guy Nehra got a chance to play in the place of Munaf.The Dutch won the toss and batted first.The Dutch openers Eric(28) and Barressi(26) gave a good start.They put together 56 runs for the opening partnership before Eric was castled by Chawla.Last match's hero,Yuvraj then took 2 wickets quickly by dismissing Barressi and Ten Doeschate.The Netherlands were 3 for 99.Then Nehera on his 1st ball of 2nd spell got the wicket of set batsman Cooper(29).Bas Juiderent was next to depart after being struck square on the pads by a reverse swinging delivery from Zaheer.Then Dutch captain Borren(38) and Mudassar Bukhari(21) made a partnership to help their side to reach close to 200 run mark.But a superb spell from Zaheer dismissed both to conclude the Dutch innings.The Netherlands were bundled out on a modest 189 in 47th over.In response,openers Sachin and Sehwag gave India a brisk start and it looked like the game would be over than expected.But Sehwag(39) caught at cover off Peter Seelar in the 8th over.Seelar then went on to dismiss Sachin (27) and new man Pathan(11) in one over.Sachin past the 2000 world cup runs mark during his innings.In 15th over Kohli was bowled by Borren and India were 99-4 and Dutch were in little bit of hope of an upset.But Gambhir (28) and Yuvraj put 40 runs for 5th wicket stand before Gambhir was castled by Bukhari in 24th over.Then skipper Dhoni and Yuvraj guided India to get past the required score with 13.3 overs to spare.Yuvraj awarded man of the match for his all round performance.The victory over the Dutch virtually sealed a berth for the hosts in the quarterfinals.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

England stunned South Africa

One day with dull matches and the another day washed by rain, the weekend was all set to be spoiled,but the spin paradise of Chennai produced one of the thrilling game of the world cup.England , which was once determined as one of the team that could face an early elimination stunned the South African team by beating them by just 6 runs in a titanic encourter.Starting from a thrilling tie against India to the shock of losing to Ireland they have now produced a stunning fight back to beat South Africa in a low scoring contest. England won the toss and choose to bat first.Robin Pieterson opened the bowling and dismissed both the openers in the very 1st over.Bell followed quickly and England was struggling at 15/3.Then Bopara and Trott made a vital partnership of 100 runs.Bopara played one of the finest knock at a devastating pitch.He scored 60 runs off 98 balls before getting out.Trott supported him with his innings of 52 runs.But after they got out English lower order was totally failed due to excellent bowling performance by Tahir and Morkel.Tahir managed to bowl really well and got the figure 4/38 and Morkel got 2 wickets.Only Swann(16) and Prior(10) managed to past double digits.England managed to score only 171 runs in 45.4 overs.In response to run chase the Protea's started watchfully .Left arm spinner Yardy opened the attack.Amla was hitting really well but Smith was struggling to play Anderson and Swann.Amla and Smith made 63 for the 1st wicket in 14.1 overs before Smith dismissed at 22.Kallis did n't extend his innings and dismissed for 15.Amla played on to wicked off Broad at 41.South Africa was in trouble.AB bowled on a brillant delivery by Anderson and Du Plessis was run out by a good throw of Bell.South Africa was struggling at 7-127 but the partnership from Van Wyk and Steyn threatened to take the match away.They had made a good partneship of 33 runs and SA was at 160 for 7 with just 12 runs to win.But Bresnan bowled Van wyk and that was the turning point.Stuart Broad finished the Proteas tail and Sa were 6 runs short of target.A fighting innings from Steyn(20 off 31 balls) had gone in vain.Broad took 4 wickets. Bopara won the M.O.M due to his well made half century.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Indian Bowling:A matter of concern

It is too early to examine the performance of the team but Indian bowlers are totally unimpressive in previous games.India conceded 287 runs to Bangladesh and shared points against England after posting a huge total of 338.If the game against Bangladesh had showed some of the holes of Indian bowling,the match with England has exposed its weaknesses completely. Indian batting line -up is solid and they are performing excellently.Sachin and Sehwag are at their prime form.Kohli and Gambhir are supporting them very well too.Yuvi has regained his form.But the bowlers are totally off coloured.Zaheer is the only bright spot in Indian bowling so far.His tripple blow to England at the crucial stage brought back India in that game.Zaheer has got figures of 2-40 and 3-63 so far,but other bowlers have failed completely.Munaf has been consistent without inspiring,Bhajji has yet to strike.Sreesanth and Chawla gave away too many runs.The fifth bowlers Yusuf and Yuvraj has gone for 67 runs in 10 overs at last game.With Nehra and Aswin sitting on the bench India have to rethink its bowling strategy.Nehera is recovering from an injury.He is a wicket taking bowler and he should be their in the playing XI.On the other hand Aswin has to fight with Chawla for the second spinner spot.Chawla has gone for 72 runs last match.If India has to win the world cup they have bowl excellently and have to take wickets at the dead flat pitches. There has been suggestions coming from former players to play 5 specialist bowlers in final XI.Many teams are playing in this world cup with five pure bowlers.Even South Africa has played with 3 spinners and 2 seamers in their final XI.Pakistan and Srilanka are playing with 5 bowlers every game.Australia has a good combination too.It is now a million dollar question that whether India will play with 5 specialist bowlers or remain with its 7 batsmans theory.With top order striking consistantly Dhoni could take the risk of playing another bowler by droping a batsman.But that will add additional pressure to the top order. it is unlikely that Dhoni will change his configuration. India will face the highly motivated Irish side on next sunday that thrashed the English side with a record breaking chase .India should play another paceman by droping Chawla in this match.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Ireland upsets England

They can beat Australia at their home and retain the ashes one day but they could face a humiliating defeat the very next day. History repeats once again for England. England,which tied the high voltage clash against India few days ago lost to low profile Ireland today. It was the same Chinnaswamy stadium of Bangalore which resistered a thrilling tie last Sunday,became the part of history of Irish cricket. but it was not the heroic of Strauss or Bresnan,It was one man's show.Kevin O'Brian who had hit 6 sixes and 13 fours during his innings of  unbeaten 113.Kevin smashed the english bowlers brutally all around the park and resistered the fastest century at world cup scoring in just 50 balls. Kevin was looking solid against Bangladesh but unfortunately failed to win that game.But this time he delivered nicely for Ireland . We cant ignore the performance of Cusack and Mooney.Both played vital knocks.But it was kevin's night.

England, which was always inconsistant with its performance won the toss and decided to bat first.KP and Strauss started solidly and Trott and Bell capitalised the innings.Bell made 82 and Trott score 92.Collingwood's lack of form continued and england tell collapsed quickly.Mooney took 4 wickets but england was able to post a good total of 327. In responding the chase Porterfield fell on a duck.Joyce,Striling played slowly but once Ireland was struggling at 115/5.Kevin and Cusack combined a match winning partnership.Cusack fell after scoring 47 but Mooney finished the game for Ireland with 5 ball to spare.England bowling was so out matched and well supported by their fielders.Even Strauss dropped one catch.


With this shocking result the battle for quarterfinal place is going to be more competative and the point shared with India will be vital for England.

Monday, February 28, 2011

IND vs ENG:Honour shared in nail biting encounter

The fully packed M.Chinnaswamy stadium experienced an epic game tonight.The group match between India and England ended on a tie.The high scoring game cumulated 676 runs at the cost of 18 wickets .The match has every thing starting from masterclass batting from Sachin,dramatic collapse of Indian tail, anchored knock from English captain Strauss,Zaheer's dream comback spell and finally fireworks by the england tail.Dhoni opted to play Chawla in this game ahead of Sreesanth.England picked another spinner Yardy and Sehzad inplace of injured Stuart Broad. After winning the toss,Dhoni decided to bat on this sporty wicket.The pitch assited batsmans and there is a little help to bowlers on this pitch. Anderson produced some brilliant deliveries at the start but Sehwag survived. Sachin played another master class innings of 120 off 115 balls.He resistered his 47th ODI ton.It was also his 5th world cup century. Yuvi was promoted up the order and made a half century.INDIA suffered a late collapse by Tim Bresnan and scoring rate was slowed down.INDIA bundled out for 338 with one ball to play.India lost last 7 wickets within just 25 runs. Bresnan took 5 for 48.Strauss led the mammoth run chase from the front. He played one of his finest knock. Strauss and KP added 68 runs for the 1st wicket. KP fell to Munaf after scoring 31. Trott pinned LBW by Chawla shortly. Ian Bell survived a controversial LBW shout and briged a much needed partnership with Strauss.They were unstoppable and inching toward victory.Strauss scored a fine innings of 158 runs. But batting powerplay changed the momentum of the game. Zaheer was devastating on his comeback spell. He dismissed both Bell and Strauss on two successive deliveries and India backed into the game.Strauss caught infront of wicket by a beautiful yorker. Indian bowlers pressurised the english middle order and got the wickets of Collingwood,Prior and Yardy.At a time it seemed that India had snached the game away from England.England needed 29 off 2 overs. Bresnan and Swann hit 1 six each of 49th over bowled by Chawla.14 runs required at the final over and with a six from Sehzad England managed to score 13 runs.Depth of England batting saved the game for them. Strauss named man of the match award for his brilliant knock.