IPL is back...

The IPL is back and that too with a bang, more so because it's happening in India this time. So, whats new in this edition of IPL? First, two strategic timeouts instead of one; second, mid over advertisements which features Akshay Kumar, laughing like a donkey and Gibbs, with a cell phone on his ears from Karbonn and third, defending champions, the Deccan Chargers, despite the IPL taking place in India, are not playing in front of their home crowd. Lets see whether Gilchrist's boys will be able to defend their title or will it be the Daredevils, who lost in the semifinal in both the previous editions?

Three matches have taken place till now and there was no clear winner in any of those matches. But needless to say, in just two days, we have seen a hundred from an Indian and that too the fastest of the IPL; two totals beyond 200; more than 30 sixes. And yes, IPL 3 is just 2 days old. There is surely gonna be a lot of entertainment and thrill as we move ahead.

Ami tomake Bhalo bashi Dada...

Dada is back as the captian and so is his team. After making a modest total of 161 on a flat batting pitch, defending it was a tough task, but with Dada as the captian, nothing seems to be tough. Although he dint score a single run in the match, he dint took a single wicket in the match, it was just his presence on the field and his way of leading the team, which made the day for the riders yesterday. Who would have thought that after being 99 for 1 after 10 overs, the Chargers will go down as the losers. But hats off to Dada and his team for not succumbing to pressure and emerging as the winners of the very first game of the tournament. I hope they do well and make a mark in this edition.

Pathan is the man for Royals...

Sidhu and Warne consider it the best of the knocks they have seen in their entire career. No, it isnt Sachin's 200, its Yusuf Pathan's 100 off just 37 balls against the Mumbai Indians and this time Sachin was at the receiving end. Royals needed 213 for victory and they were down and dusted by the Mumbai bowlers and were struggling at 66 for 4 in the 10th over. Then a storm came, stayed until the 18th over and completely shifted the momentum of the game from the Indians to the Royals. During his short 9 over stay at the crease, he hit 9 fours and 8 sixes, with his 6 fours and 5 sixes coming off 11 consecutive balls. As soon as he left, Dogra took charge and hit a couple of sixes and a four off Satish's over, after which the Royals required just 19 off the last 2 overs. But, Zaheer and Malinga spoiled the party for Warne's men and took Mumbai Indians home in front off their home crowd.

Australia finally got a competitor this season...

With two back to back clean sweeps against Pakistan and WI in the test, ODIs as well as the T20s, Australia was looking like the best team in all forms of the game, until they faced New Zealand, who beat them in the T20s but went down 2-3 in the ODIs but it could have been 3-2 in NZ's favor easily. The first two games were very close and the team which held its nerve won it in the end. But to say the least, there are teams in the international arena which can beat the mighty Aussies.

NZ won the one sided match today by 50 odd runs, helped by Bond and Southee, both of whom took 4 wickets a piece. The first two games of the series were close encounters as I mentioned earlier and both the teams came out with flying colors once. The 3rd and 4th games were gifted to the Aussies by the Kiwis.

In 5 days time, they will test each other in the longer format of the game and I would be more than happy to see NZ giving Aussies the taste of their own medicine.

This is what you can do when you are in Love...

After almost 4 decades and 2961 matches since the start of One Day Internationals, someone scored a 200 and this someone is none other than the Superman of Indian Cricket, the Master Blaster, The God of World Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar. No adjective is enough today to describe the master. A new record got a worthy achiever and this can happen only when you are in Love with what you do. A very few people can come close to what Sachin has achieved in his 20 year old career, with a wooden stick. Hats off to the Master. A true Sachin fan would have shed a few tears down his cheeks when he had seen Sachin reached the Holy score of 200 off the 3rd ball of the last over. I was not the lucky one to see it but listening to FM radio was no different. One could hear the roar of the audience coming from the headphones connected to the radio.

It was simply amazing and I, myself, being a cricket fan, consider myself lucky enough to be born at a time, when I can see Sachin batting Live. It seems like 2010 is the year Sachin was waiting for, to break rest of the records. India has played 4 tests so far this year and Sachin has scored 4 centuries, with one in each of the four tests, thereby equalling Gavaskar's and Dravid's record of 4 consecutive tons in tests and one short of Gambhir, who has 5 and with the form he is in, he will definitely break Sir Don Bradman's record of 6 consecutive tons. Today, I am falling short of words to describe his knock of 200.

These kinds of innings also help nations to come close together. Former Pak greats Miandad, Aamir Sohail and the previous record holder for highest score in ODIs, Saeed Anwar were all praising Sachin on his wonderful knock. Australian legend Warne consider himself lucky as he was not bowling to Sachin today.

Now, as records are meant to be broken, a question arises in my mind. Which batsman can break this record or is anyone out there who dare to do it? Lets leave this question open to discussion as of now. I will definitely come back to it sometime later.

Talking about the match today, it was a crucial one for both the teams. India would have sealed the series after winning this one and SA were in a desperate need for a comeback after a close call in Jaipur. But, after Sachin's 200, the competition proved out to be a dead rubber. SA lost it by a huge margin of 153 runs.

Well, apart from Sachin; Karthick, Dhoni and Pathan also played decently and helped India retain their No. 2 spot in the ODIs with this win.

So near... yet so far...

It is rightly said by someone: "Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital". So, after a few years from now, when you will look at the statistics of the 2010 series between India and SA, you will just see that India drew the Test series 1-1 and won the first of the 3 ODIs at Jaipur, but you will not remember that how close Proteas were from drawing the second test and winning the first ODI.

They were just 9 balls away from drawing the test match and regaining their no 1 Test spot, but Bhajji had other plans. He got Morkel leg before wicket and helped India retain their no. 1 spot. But Morkel almost did an Onions. He was about to do the same to India, what Onions did to them in their home series. Enough said and done, All Izz Well now... :)

But talking about today's match, had that penultimate ball been given a boundary, India would have lost this one. A desperate dive from Sachin would have gone into vain. But our very own Third umpire ,Mr. Hazare, was not sure even after looking at the replay for about 10 minutes and that too from every possible angle. This is what will be called so near yet so far for the South Africans.

Now talking about the shortcomings about India today... well there are lots. India again fail to capitalize in the last 10 overs making just 60 odd runs. With 9 batsmen in the team, India should have scored atleast 80 in the last 10 overs. Yusuf Pathan did not learn the lesson even after being thrown out of the team. He still wants to hit every ball out of the park, though he was successful a couple of times, but he should learn that every ball is not supposed to be hit out of the park. Suresh Raina once again, after getting to his 50, got out in the slog overs.

There is nothing much to be talked about the Indian bowling. With all 3 regular bowlers in the team going for runs, India should consider themselves lucky today that they ended up winning the game. Shreesanth was looking awry with no control over his line and length, so too Nehra. Parveen bowled well in patches, but we need a bowler, who is consistent with his performance. Lets see, whether India will be able to find out a suitable successor to Zaheer and Anil kumble before the world cup or they will rely on their batting to win the matches. Its still one year to go for the World cup, lets see now how India will fare in the next game.

Proteas had a good tea, Indians will have a good dinner...

The way Amla and the debutant, Peterson were batting today, it looked like SA will again post a total in excess of 500 and the matter became worse when Laxman dropped a sitter of Amla off Harbhajan, but then destiny had something else in store for the Indians. SA went into tea with 2 down for 228 and would have been thinking of ending the day on a good note. But they forgot, its Eden Gardens, a ground where the post tea session has always been a mystery and most of the times, Bhajji was a part of it. This time also, Bhajji played his part and SA were reduced from 251 for 3 to 266 for the loss of 9 wickets, making just 38 runs in 25 overs bowled after Tea.

Laxman compensated for his dropped catch by taking a blinder to dismiss Kallis off the bowling off Harbhajan. After that, Bhajji had 2 consecutive LBWs to dismiss Prince and Duminy, but he missed out on a Hat-trick. Nevermind, India finished off the day way ahead of her fan's expectations. Now, India have to dismiss the last SA batsman tomorrow in the first half hour and have to score a mammoth total in the first innings to win this one. But one thing is for sure, Indians are gonna have a good dinner tonight after a dissapointing lunch and tea. :-)

Poor Gayle...

This is the fourth time in four matches this series that he has won the toss, but once again he misread the pitch and put Aus into bat on a flat wicket. Watson and Paine started off well, but Hinds took a blinder to send Watson to the pavilion. Then Ponting took charge and score his 29th century to help Australia reach 324 along with decent contributions from White and Hopes.

This time Gayle started off watchfully and it looked like he will take the game away from the Aussies but Gayle again came to the rescue of Bollinger, who dismissed Gayle for the 3rd time in the series. Then WI kept on losing regular wickets until Deonarine showed some resistance. Also, Pollard and Smith tried to up the ante for WI but all was in vain.

Now, what poor Gayle will say after this defeat. Now the series has been lost and he cannot take his words back, so it will be either 3-1 or 4-0 in favour of the Aussies. It is rightly said by someone "jo baukhte hain... woh kaatate nhi..." (those who bark, do not bite...) ;-) Also, it has been said that "Actions speak louder than words..." but Gayle's actions led him and his team down.

Gayle goes from 4-1 to 3-2

It seems like Gayle has to change his statement after every game now, if WI continue to perform as they did yesterday. A dismal batting performance coupled with a terrible bowling effort. After electing to bat this time, Gayle score a first ball duck and in no time WI were reduced to 16 for 4, with Bollinger taking 3 out of them. At once, it looked like WI will be bowled out for less than 100, but the lower middle order save their ass and they went on to score 170 and got all out in less than 40 overs.

Watson once again made mockery of the WI bowlers, thrashing them to every nook and corner of the ground and as soon as he departed, skipper Ponting carry forwarded his aggression and helped Aus chase the target in just 25 overs.

If WI continue to play like this, ICC has to take away their Test as well as ODI status. But I would prefer to see them performing against the mighty Aussies and breaking their winning streak.

History did not repeat itself...

So, we lost by an innings. It was bound to happen, but being a true Indian fan, you expect a lot from the team and the consequence is that you get disappointed in the end. There was a glimmer of hope when Sachin and Dhoni were batting and it looked like they will stay there till the end of the day and save India from a humiliating defeat. But there was something else in store for Dhoni and his boys. Soon after completing his century, Sachin fell to Harris and Dhoni followed suit. After that it was a matter of just a few more overs and the game was over. But Saha, Bhajji and Zaheer showed guts and when it seemed that they will save India from an innings defeat, Steyn spoiled the party taking two more wickets, competing his 10 for the match.

Amla was awarded with the Man of the Match, but if you ask me my choice, it would be Steyn. Taking 10 wickets in a match and that too on a pitch which had nothing much for the fast bowlers and where Indian seemers Zaheer and Ishant were struggling to take one wicket. Had it been a joint MoM, it would have made more sense.

Now, after this loss, Mr Srikant, the chairman of the selection committee decided to bring back Dinesh Karthik, who just scored two centuries in the Duleep Trophy final against West Zone and S.Sreesanth, who just recovered from his injury. But the surprise package was the inclusion of Suresh Raina, who was considered as a pure ODI batsman. Lets see whether he will get a chance in the second test. But if he gets one, he will stood up to the occassion for sure.

Can India bounce back...?

This one reminded me of the historic match between India and Aus in 2000-01, where India after following on went on to win the match, courtesy Laxman and Dravid. They batted for the full 4th day and took India from 200 behind to 300 ahead and then left the rest to the bowlers, when Bhajji rose to the occassion and won the match for India.

Everything is almost the same in this one, right from India losing 12 wickets in a day to batting after being followed on. If Sachin can stick tomorrow for the whole day with someone who can rotate the strike, I think we will be in a good position by the end of the day tomorrow. Lets hope for the best.

If we look at the numbers in this game, we have got all the number ones here. Dale Steyn, the number one test bowler was bowling to the number one batsman, Gauti with the number one all-rounder, Kallis standing in the slip-cordon waiting to catch the ball. But it was disappointing to see the no. 1 batsman struggling here. Both the other no. ones performed according to their ranks with Kallis scoring a ton in the first innings and Steyn taking 7 wickets to restrict India to 233, when they were just 4 down for 221. To add to this, from the Indian side, only Sehwag played responsibly in absence of Dravid and Laxman as was expected from him before the match. But, in the second innings, he lost his temper and played a bad shot off the outside off stump delivery, giving an easy one to skipper Smith.

Now i just hope that history repeats itself and India go on to win this one. A draw will also do... ;-)

Australia continue to dominate West Indies after assaulting Pak

When WI skipper, Chirs Gayle made a statement that "we will win this series 4-1", it looked as if he meant it, but as soon as WI came into bat while chasing 256 to win the first ODI, it was all over in the third over of WI innings. Gayle played an over confident shot and got caught at mid on. After that, there was nothing much left in the game with wickets falling at regular intervals. There was only one partnership above 50, that was also not of much help and soon WI were all out for 143, losing the match by a huge margin of 113 runs.

Let's try to look at the mistakes made by WI skipper before and during the match.

• Predicting the outcome of the series before the first match. He knew that Aussies just came of out a clean sweep over Pakistan and a statement like this one has only put pressure on WI only, not Aussies.
• Second, deciding to field after winning the toss. Aus won 3 out of their 5 games against Pakistan while batting first and also there was nothing in the pitch which could have supported the WI pacers. But still they did a good job by restricting them to 256.
• When WI came out to bat, I had a feeling that Gayle will play a sensible and responsible knock. But I was wrong. He started hitting the ball from the word go and soon was seen going back to the pavilion.

Had Gayle not made any one of these mistakes, the outcome of the game could have been entirely different.

Today Bollinger came out with a statement, which goes like "we aim to finish this home season unbeaten". Now lets see, whose wish will come true.

Aus going to WACA 3-0 up in the 5 match series

It happened once again, but the margin this time was much less as compared to the previous two encounters. Aus won this time by just 40 runs. It seems that Pakistan need more youngsters to showcase their talent against the Aussies as the senior players are not able to perform up to their level in the ongoing series, be it Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal or the skipper Mohd. Yousuf. Only Afridi is one senior who is standing up against the Aussie attack. But it would not be appropriate to call Afridi a senior because his age is same since the last 4-5 years according to the stats provided :-O

Earlier, Ponting won the toss and elected to bat and once again the openers gave them a start they needed but Watson fell prey to Asif on 33. Though Marsh looked solid and went on to make 83 after which Ajmal squared him up. Then Clarke showed some form along with Hussey, who made a 28 ball 49, and made 80 off just 90 balls to help Aus reach 286 in their alloted 50 overs.

Pakistan started off well when we compare it to the last match where they made just 7 runs in 6 overs. This time, they crossed that mark in the very first over with Butt hitting two boundaries in the first over from Bollinger. But the senior Akmal continue to dissapoint and left the crease with just 14 on the board. Butt from the word go was looking good but he was unfortunate to be given out LBW on a ball which pitched just outside the leg stump. Soon after Younis and Yousuf followed. But then came some respite as youngsters Umar Akmal and Fawad Alam started building up the innings but a bowling change from Ponting worked this time and Harris picked another victim in form of junior Akmal. With Afridi batting sensibly, it looked at once that Pakistan might just win this one, but a good bowl from Harris did him in and soon after Pakistan were bowled out for 246, 40 runs short off target.

Harris was the Man of the match for his 5 wicket haul. On one hand, the senior Pak team is struggling against the Aussies, the U-19 is doing just opposite. They have just reached the finals of the U-19 world cup and are going to face the Auss U-19 team led by the junior member of the Marsh family, Mitchelle Marsh. Lets see, whether Pakistan U-19 team take the revenge of the insult of the senior team against the Aus U-19 team in the finals.

Aus 2-0 up... thanks to White and Watson

After thrashing Pak in the first ODI courtesy White, who scored a century, Aus did it once again and beat Pak once again by 140 runs in the second ODI. This Pakistani team is looking wayward, they batted well in the last ODI, but seemed lost in this one, their bowling was also not up to the mark apart from a few good performances by Afridi and Aamer.

In the first match, Pakistan put up a decent show by setting a target of 275 for Aus and they also took a few early wickets but then Cameroon White played brilliantly and scored a century and took Aus home easily with more than an over to spare.

In the second one, Watson started off brilliantly hitting the ball to every nook and corner of the field and score 69 off just 71 balls, but then Aus slowed down a bit and Cameron White accelerated a bit in the end and set a target of 268 for the Pakistanis. Then Aus started off well with their bowling also, thanks to a few good catches from White and Ponting and reduced Pak to 71 for 7. Then it was just a formality to finish the game up because Pak in no way gonna win the match from that point. Watson was awarded with the Man of the Match for his all round performance.

Bhaiya... All IZ Welll...

So finally, All Iz Well... Its good to see India dominating the day's play to win the match after kind of struggling for the first 3 days. Indian bowling looked good today with Ishant Sharma starting off well by taking 2 wickets early in the day and then almost every bowler chipped in and made a breakthrough apart from injured Sreesanth. Sehwag, Zaheer, Ishant and Mishra took 1,2,3 and 4 wickets respectively and bowled Bang out for 301.

This match saw various milestones being reached, with Sachin completing his 13,000 Test runs, Gambhir making 5 tons in a row and Bang wicketkeeper Rahim scoring his maiden Test century. The only thing to take out of this match is Ishant's bowling. He looked like Ishant of 2007-08 who ripped the Australians in their series down under. It will be good for India, if he can maintain his good run in the series against SA too next month.

Gambhir touching new heights...

Gautam Gambhir touched new heights and helped India reached a comfortable position in the test against Bang after 4 days. Gauti became only the fourth player in the history of Test Cricket to score 5 tons in 5 consecutive Tests played for his country, after Sir Don Bradman, who had 6 and Kallis and Mohd Yousuf had 5 each, surpassing his countrymen Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid. By doing this, he has become the first Indian to achieve this feat.

Gambhir has scored 9 centuries so far in 29 tests, with his last 8 coming from last 10 matches with his first one coming at the same venue as the latest one. When Gambhir hit his 5th career
century against New Zealand at Napier, he wouldn't have thought whats in store for him after 4 more matches. He started his career in 2003 but is able to cement his place in the side around 2007 and since then he is showing what he is capable of. He is the no. 1 Test cricketer in the ICC rankings and nobody can say for now that he doesn't deserve it as it was said by Ian Chappel that Indians will not be able to sustain their no. 1 spot for a long time because of their bowling. So, lets see whether Gambhir will be able to equal the record of Sir Don Bradman and go past it.

A clean sweep by the Aussies...

After a 2-0 win over the windies, they did it again by beating Pakistan 3-0 and closed the gap with South Africa to just 2 points in the ICC Test Rankings. Ponting was ruthless in this match with a double ton in the first innings and a 89 in the second one. Pakistan was nowhere near the performance of the Aussies. Now they have to sit and re organise their team and strategy before their next test series. Aus won this one by a big margin of 231 runs after being let down in the previous one at the SCG, though they went on to win that one too, but that was a close one according to their standards.

Ricky Ponting was awarded with the Man of the Match for his outstanding performance with the bat in both the innings. In the bowling department, part timer Katich did a wonderful job by taking 3 wickets in the first innings and he also showed a decent one with the bat in the second innings with a ton in just 138 balls.

This defeat has led to a statement from the Pak skipper that the Aussies are the best in the world with all the players performing in their team when it matters.

Day 4: SA levelled it up....

So finally South Africa leveled the series with an easy win over England. They wrapped it up in less than 4 days and won by an in, even after rain played spoilsport for the first 3 days. Dale and Steyn were given the Joint Man of the Match for their bowling, which demolished the England batsmen in both the innings. The duo took 14 out of 20 English wickets.

It was all South Africans throughout the match. They wrapped up the guests for 180 on the 1st day, the second day belonged to the skipper as he made a ton and on the third day, the Proteas continued their stupendous batting display as the joint player of the series, Mark Boucher, made 95 and completed his 5000 career runs and on the fourth day, they finised the match just before lunch.

It could have been 3-1 in favor of the Africans, had it not been Onions, who saved the grace on 2 occassions for England. So, the Proteas dominated the series but unfortunately they were only able to draw it, but fortunately are able to retain the Basil D'Oliveira Trophy. But the drawn series has put SA four points behind India in the ICC test rankings with 120 points. Now, India just have to win their ongoing series against Bang to retain their no 1 spot as a drawn series will also put India alongside SA on 120 points.

Day 1: Advantage home team

The final match of the series SA and Eng, and Aus and Pak, started off well for both the home teams. Though Aus struggled a bit in the morning session by going 3 down, but after that the whole day was dominated by the the skipper and the to be skipper with both making centuries and taking the total to 302 for 3 at stumps. At Wanderers, SA pace bowlers helped them wrap the Britishers to 180 with Morkel destroying the top order and Steyn ripping apart the tailenders. A complete domination by the Proteas today and they also ended the day on a good note at 29 for no loss.

Australia were once again seen struggling against the Pakistani fast bowlers as they were reduced to 71 for 3, but this time Ponting stood apart along with Clarke to make it an Aussie day. Watson was also looking good today, but he was not able to carry on to his good start. Pakistan made a few changes in their squad by calling Sarfraz Ahmed in place of guilty Akmal and also Shoib Malik was called in to replace Misbah.

South Africa also made a couple of changes as Parnell and McLaren made their debuts today by replacing Ntini and Harris. As rain halted the play after tea, only 60 overs were bowled today but it looked like England had a big day against the home team as they were struggling at every point of time. Once again, it was Collingwood, who saved the face for England along with Bell. Looks like Eng have to bowl really well tomorrow to restrict SA to a total close to theirs.

Final: India Vs SL: Went down the drain

It has to happen. 7 out of 7 matches in the tournament were won by the team batting second, a new record. Sangakkara, after winning the toss put Indians into bat and his bowlers started off pretty well by taking early wickets.Wickets kept on falling at one end, but Sehwag was oblivious to it and was playing his natural game until Kulasekara sent him back to the pavilion. India was struggling at 60 for 5, when Raina and Jadeja showed some temparament and added 106 runs for the 6th wicket, before Jadeja was adjudged lbw to a skidder from Dilshan. But Raina continued his game and went on to score his 3rd ODI ton and helped India reach 245, which were not enough for the Lankans.

Indians also started off their bowling well with Nehra taking Tharangs in the very first over of the innings, but after that it was all Lanka. Although in the end, it looked like, Indians will give them a run for the money, but with Jayawardena at the crease, Sri Lanka always had an edge. Kulasekara was awarded with the Man of the match for his 4 wickets and Sanga was the Man of the Series for his consistent run throughout the series.

Now it has become all the more difficult for the Indians to reach the No 1 spot after losing this series. Anyways, lets hope atleast India retain the top spot in the Tests.

Match 5: Ind Vs SL: A Comfy one for India

Atlast after two kinda close matches against SL and Bang, this was an easy one for us. A comfortable win by 8 wickets in this match placed this match in the top 10 biggest wins for India Vs the Islanders. It seems that Virat Kohli is now used to face the SriLankan bolwers as seen from his decent performance in the last few matches. He, along with Gauti, steered India to victory in just 32.4 overs.

Earlier in the day, the Lankan skipper elected to bat after winning the toss with a reason to test his bowler's performance under the lights and in the dew. But, the Delhites taught him the lesson and Sanga will surely consider the dew factor after winning the toss in the matches to come. India started off pretty well in their bowling today with the youngster Sudip Tyagi taking Tharanga in his very first over. After that Dilshan played as he usually does and scored 33 off just 17 balls with his 32 runs coming in boundaries. From then on, Zaheer and Mishra destroyed the Lankan batting order and reduced them to just 84 for 6. Then, the skipper himself along with Randiv, scored half centuries to help the Lankans reach a respectable total of 213 in their alloted 50 overs.

Dinesh Karthick once again proved by his quick fire 49 that India also has got a good bench strength. With seniors such as Sachin, Bhajji, Nehra not in the team, Indians put up a good show yesterday to beat the Lankans. Lets hope that we continue to carry forward this winning steak and go on the win the series to reach closer to our goal of attaining the No 1 spot... ;-)

Match 3 and 4: The story of two one sided matches

Both India and SriLanka won their respective matches comfortably against Bangladesh. Although India were once reduced to 51 for 3 in their chase of 297, but then young Kohli impressed with his knock of 91 and our Mr Cool, Dhoni scored his 7th century and took India home along with Raina with an unbeaten 94 run stand after adding 152 for the 4th wicket with Kohli. Dhoni once again proved his capability to play under pressure by scoring a ton, for which he was awarded with the Man of the Match. And I must also say, the next Indian captian in the making is Virat Kohli. The temperament he has shown in the last few months is amazing, though still its early days for him, he will live up to the expectations.

The very next day Bangladesh had a daunting task on their hand once again against SriLanka and they once again proved that they are still the Minnows. SL first limit Bang to just 249 on a good pitch and then Jayawardena, who came back after being rested, belted the Bandladesh bowlers along with Tharanga and managed to add more than 200 for the first wicket. And soon without any problems, the islanders won with more than 7 overs to spare and fixed their place in the finals. Now India have to win only one of their two remaining matches to reach the finals and move closer to their goal of reaching to the peak of the ODI rankings.

Day 5: SA Vs Eng: Oops... England did it again...

One really has to feel pity for the South Africans. In 2 out of the 3 tests thus far, they were so near yet so far from the victory and on both the occasions it was Onions, who was responsible for those tears from the eyes of the South Africans. He faced most crucial 20 odd balls of his career in these two tests and took England home on both the occasions. Now the visitors cannot lose the series from here on. England started their day from 130 odd for 3, but they were soon reduced to 160 for 5 after night watchman Jimmy Anderson and the native South African Trott were sent to the pavilion. From then on, Collingwood and Bell played patiently and when it seemed that the match is heading for a draw, the part timer Duminy striked twice and England went from 278 for 6 to 286 for 8. Then Broad showed some guts and stood there for 22 balls without any intention to score and was caught at short leg off the bowling of Harris. Then, a bowling change from Smith worked in his favor when Morkel took Bell off his first ball. Now England had to face 3 overs with Swann and Onions on crease and fortunately for England, they survived the blow.

Smith was awarded the Man of the Match for his 183, which took the Proteas to the comfortable winning position, which remained till the end of 5th day but the encounter ended in a Draw. So, now 1 more to go and SA has to win it to level the series. More importantly, they have to win it for the pride. Lets wish good luck then to the South Africans for the next one.

2nd Match: Ind Vs SL: SL won even without their big guns

It has to be a short one for sure. A dismal performance by us with the bowl, only Bhajji created some trouble for the Lankans but it was all in vain as Samaraweera helped the Lankans to gain 4 more points in the triangular series yesterday. He along with the skipper added 122 for the 3rd wicket during which Sangakkara reached his 8000 run mark in the ODIs, only the 5th SriLankan to do so. And in the end, some Perera fired 36 of just 15 balls to take SL home with 2 overs to spare.

During the Indian innings, Sehwag was going all guns blazing and hit 9 fours in his short knock of 47 off just 31 deliveries after which India was soon reduced to 71 for 3. Then, Yuvraj and Dhoni added 99 for the 4th wicket before Dhoni got caught behind as soon as he tried to accelerate the scoring rate. In the end Raina and Jadeja helped India to reach a decent 279, which were surely not enough for the mighty Lankans.

Samaraweera was awarded the Man of the Match, but i think it should have been shared between him and Walagedara who took 5 Indian wickets. Anyways, a bad one for India indeed and lets hope we are able to the minnows Bangladesh atleast on Thursday.

Day 4: Pak Vs Aus: Was it fixed? If no, then hats off to the Aussies...

It seemed to be a fixed one right from the word go. The odds in favor of the Aussies were getting down as the day was passing and the bookies must have had a hard day out today, but the Australian supporters have everything to cheer today.

It was a good first session for the Aussies when Siddle equaled his career best first class score of 38 and along with the Australian wall, Hussey, put on 123 for the 9th wicket. But the celebration ended soon for the Aussies after lunch when both the tailender were showed the way to the pavillion and left Hussey unbeaten at 134. Then came the Pakistani openers with an aim to level the series and they started off pretty decently by putting up 30 odd runs in just first 6 overs. But after that it was all Hauritz and Johnson, who saved the Aussies on the first day with the bat. This time they did it with their weapon by taking 5 and 3 wickets respectively and Pak was soon all out for 139 in just 38 overs. The only batsman to put up some fight was Umar Akmal who once again missed out on his half century by a run.

Overall, a shameful performance by the Pakistanis and such is the purity of a test match. Pakistanis had just one bad session on day 4 and that cost them the match. And finally hats off to the Aussies. Now I have to say, they deserve to be number 1.

Day 3: Pak Vs Aus: Pakistan close in on victory...

After looking at the way morning session went, it seemed like Aus will save it from here and give Pak a hard run for their money, but Pakistan bounced back during the evening session by taking crucial wickets, thanks to Kaneria and Gul, and left Aussies at 286 for 8 at the end of the day, with Hussey putting a fight.

Earlier in the day, Hughes and Watson gave Aussies a comfortable start but Watson unfortunately fell once again in the nervous 90s. I guess, third time unlucky in the series for Watson. After that only Hussey looked comfortable against the Pakistani attack and watched other players go to the pavillion one by one.

So, the SCG will surely wake up tomorrow, but to their horror only to watch Australia losing from here on. I think Pak will wrap up the tailenders early morning tomorrow and will level the series 1 all and will go to the Oval with a positive frame of mind. Thanks to Pakistan to restrict Australia in this match, it will surely help the Indians retain the number 1 spot for a longer period of time... ;-)

1st Match: Bang Vs SL: Will Bangladesh always remain minnows...?

Will Bangladesh ever come out of the status of minnows? I dont think so. After putting a defendable total on the board with help from Mohd. Ashraful, who made a decent 75, Bangladesh lost comfortably to the Lankans giving them 4 points. Dilshan again proved to be a match winner for the Lankans after a tremendous performance against the Indians in the bilateral series scoring a ton off 122 balls, a little slow according to his standards and put up 148 for the 2nd wicket along with the skipper to take his team home against the minnows. Soon after his fall, Samaraweera took the centre stage and finished it off with more than 5 overs to spare.

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh were given a good start by their openers before Kulasekara removed Kayes to break the opening stand. And Bangladesh were soon struggling for 74 for 4, when their star batsmen Ashraful stood up to the occassion and helped reach Bangladesh to a respectable total of 260 for 7. Dilshan was awarded the Man of the Match for his century.
Bangladesh never looked strong enough in their bowling to restrict the Lankans and I can foresee a final between the two giants India and Sri Lanka. But they will face each other twice before taking the centre stage in the finals to take place on 13th of Jan.

Day 2: SA Vs Eng: A slight edge at the end of day 2 for the Proteas

England started off the day pretty well by taking 4 wickets for just 12 runs in the morning session courtesy Onions and Anderson. But the celebrations ended soon when Strauss also was showed the way towards the pavillion with just 2 runs on the board. Trott looked promising with his usual tantrums before playing the ball, but Steyn took him away for 20 and then Pietersen also followed Trott to the pavillion after 2 balls. The in-form Collingwood was also not able to make a mark and got caught in front of the wicket for 19. Then wicketkeeper batsman Prior took charge along with Bell, but he too got out soon and left Eng at 174 for 6. Then Broad showed some promise and batted well for his 25 before becoming prey to Steyn. So England is struggling at the end of the day at 241 for 7.
Although they are only 50 runs behind, it will be difficult for them to chase a score beyond 200 in the fourth innings. If I look at the batting card for England, Cook, Bell and I would say even Trott got a start but all of them failed to convert their starts. Had anyone of them carried his bat for a little bit longer period, it would have been a completely different picture. But anyways, the match is still far from over for England as in if they bowl well and restrict SA to less than 200 or 250, they are in for the game, but that will make the last match a dead rubber, which SA would have to play just for pride. Anyways, SA are still the favorites to win this one and I hope they win this to set up an intersting final at the Wanderers.

Day 2: Pak Vs Aus: Pak on top even after 9 down...

A good one for the Pakistanis today. 200 run lead with 1 wicket to go; looks like they will wrap up the match and level the series tomorrow only. Well, the day started off well for the visitors with Butt and Farhat adding another 95 today with Farhat falling to Hauritz giving a bat and pad to Haddin. After that Faisal and skipper Yousuf showed some resistance which lasted only for 50 odd runs. Then, the younger brother Umar Akmal stole the show and made a run-a-ball 49 to give some respite to the Pakistanis and took the total to 277 for 5. Then onwards, Bollinger took charge taking Misbah, who failed to impress once again, and the Akmal brothers. With the departure of Kamran, the tailenders Sami and Gul also followed suit and Pakistanis were soon reduced to 331 for 9 at stumps.

Although, Yousuf is not as good a captian as Inzi or Younis Khan was, he is lucky to have players like Sami, Asif, Akmal, who are performing for him at the right time. The chances for Aussies to make a come back now are very less, but they will not show any sympathy in the decider to take place at the Oval. I hope I am not making an early prediction for this match, but I would love to see Aussies losing at the end of the 3rd day. So, lets see then whether the SCG will wake up to the morning of Wednesday or will it be all over tomorrow. ;-)

Day 1- SA Vs Eng: Its Kallis once again...

Its Kallis once again who saved the day for the Proteas, who after losing the toss were put into bat by Andrew Strauss on a good bowling pitch. It was proving to be a good decision by the English skipper until Kallis came to the crease and played a patient knock and after some good partnerships with AB De Villiers, Boucher and Steyn helped the Proteas to end the day on a good note at 279 for 6. Earlier in the day, Smith continued his good form but was once again unable to capitalise on the start he got. Amla was hesitant from the word go and was helped by a referral to the third umpire but was still unable to carry on his fine form from Kingsmead. Boucher and De Villiers also looked good, though both got out after getting starts. The surprise package of the day was Dale Steyn, who stayed unbeated on 26 along with Kallis.
It seems that England has got a knack of rising up from the ashes. We ve seen two cosecutive instances wherein England were down and out played in the first test of the series and bounced back to win the second encounter. First, it was against the Aussies in the Ashes last year and then it's against the No 2 team Proteas. I m sure they are gonna clinch this series as well after looking at the way Strauss is leading and the way each and every player is performing. So, lets see, whether Kallis can help the Africans level the series or will it be Strauss' boys once again. Its gonna be a good day today. So, Lets wait and watch it then.

Day 1: Pak Vs Aus: Comeback boys made the day for Pakistan...

A good start for Pakistan today courtesy comeback boys Sami and Asif. While Sami ripped apart the top order with just 10 runs on the board for Aus, Asif followed suit and demolished the middle order, which left Aus struggling at 62 for 7. Then some respite came from the fast bowler Johnson and half centurion from MCG, Hauritz, when they piled up 55 for the 8th wicket. But then Asif striked once again and Aus were bowled out for 127 in less than 45 over on a rain affected day and that too after winning the toss and electing to bat.

So, was it Pakistan's disciplined bowling or Australia's sluggish batting which led to the downfall of Aus. Well, its kinda both. It was clearly visible that Pak bowlers such as Sami, Asif et al, if provided with a little bit of help from the pitch, are almost unplayable. It also opened the loop hole in Aus batting that they cant play the swinging ball. It was the swing of Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma two years back; of Dale Steyn last year and of Asif and Sami this year, which troubled the Aussies. They ve to do something to tackle the swing, otherwise they ll start losing more frequently on their homeground.

Anyways, lets not speculate anymore, because its still 4 days to go and I am sure that Aussies are definitely gonna come back hard at the Pakistanis. Lets see whats in store for Pak's batsmen tomorrow.

A Grand Welcome!!! Isnt it... ?

What a grand welcome to the new year by our very own Indian Cricket Team. Numero Uno status in the purest form of the game; ODI series win over the Lankans to take the No 2 spot; swashbuckling performances by Delhites - Viru, Gauti and Kohli; along with some unforgettable knocks by the little master and last but not the least - sound captiancy by Mr Cool, Mahi. So what's next in line now?

With the tri series in Bangladesh coming up next week, we have got a chance to make it to the No 1 spot once again in the ODIs and with the likes of Viru et al, and the kind of form they all are in, it seems to me that the target will be achieved in no time. Also, as T20 WC is scheduled to take place in April this year, I hope that we do well in that format also and move from the current 6th spot to atleast top 3.

So, lets hope for the best and let the new year 2010 mark the end of Australian dominance, which they had during the last decade, and the beginning of a new era of Indian dominance. So, today as we step into the new year, I am starting this cricket blog to present my "biased" views and some news from the world of cricket. Keep watching this space... ;-)

Here is a list of matches to come in the following week:
3rd Jan, 2009 - Australia Vs Pakistan, 2nd Test Match, SCG
3rd Jan, 2009 - South Africa Vs England, 3rd Test Match, Cape Town
4th Jan, 2009 - Bangladesh Vs SriLanka, 1st Match of the Triseries
5th Jan, 2009 - SriLanka Vs India, 2nd Match
7th Jan, 2009 - India Vs Bangladesh, 3rd Match