South Africa Thrashed Sri Lanka in T20 Worldcup 2012

South Africa topped Group C after skipper A B de Villiers led them to a 32-run victory over Sri Lanka in a rain-curtailed match of the ICC World Twenty20 here today.

South Africa rode on De Villiers' 13-ball 30 to post 78 for four after the match was reduced to a seven-over-a-side affair. In reply, the Sri Lankans were restricted to 46 for five as the Protea bowlers took centrestage at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium.

The loss meant Sri Lanka will enter the Super Eight stage as the second best team from the group.

Besides de Villiers, Hashim Amla (16), Faf du Plessis (13) and JP Duminy (12) chipped in with important runs to lay the foundation for a comfortable win, after being put in to bat.

In what was the first international T20 match between the two sides, the hosts always had a tough task at hands after the Proteas set a stiff target. It became even more difficult after the Lankans lost openers -- captain Mahela Jayawardene (4) and Tillakaratner Dilshan (0) -- cheaply.

The Sri Lankan batsmen simply failed to find their ground, even as Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis came up with tremendous bowling efforts to restrict the opponents.

The bowlers managed to tightened the noose further and the likes of Dilshan Munaweera, Kumar Sangakara (13) and Thisara Perera (1) could never get the momentum going.

Steyn finished with impressive figures of two for 10 from as many overs.

Earlier, South Africa also did not have an ideal start as Nuwan Kulasekara dismissed opener Richard Levi (4) in the very first over, when Dilshan Munaweera took a brilliant diving catch going back from mid on.

Read More

9:48 AM

Pune clash with rejuvenated Chennai

Pulled up by skipper Sourav Ganguly following a lackluster showing in their previous outing, the Pune batsmen would look to put up a much better display when they take on the formidable Chennai team in the Indian T20 League match played at Pune. Pune started the tournament on a positive note, notching up wins in their first two matches, till Punjab disturbed the momentum. Chennai, on the other hand, have not been their usual self at the start, but the thrilling win over Bangalore on Thursday when they chased down 206, should come as a shot in the arm for the visitors. The Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium is expected to be packed to the brim by Pune fans, but going by Chennai's depth and variety, the visitors are not likely to be too worried about that. As far as captaincy is concerned, Ganguly led the side well, but is yet to fire with the willow. Considering that they are not a side packed with experienced international stars, it is important that Ganguly takes the lead himself and inspires the rest who follow him in the batting line-up. The top-order hasn't fired yet. They would be expecting the likes of Jesse Ryder, Robin Uthappa,Manish Pandey and Angelo Mathews get into the groove quickly as it will benefit the team immensely. Their batting may not seem that formidable but Pune surely have a pretty good bowling attack in Ashok Dinda, Ashish Nehra and leg-spinner Rahul Sharma. Nehra attributed their seven-wicket loss on Thursday to fielding lapses and the failure to play the full quota of 20 overs, and Pune would do well to avoid repeating the same mistakes. In the match against Punjab, Pune were bundled out for 115 in 19 overs. In stark contrast, the Super Kings batted with aplomb as they successfully chased a mammoth target at the Chepauk stadium. While Murali Vijay hasn't really done anything of note till now, his opening partner Faf du Plessis has been in a rich vein of form. He cracked 71 off just 46 deliveries while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni contributed 41 off 24 that also marked his return to form after a quite start to the tournament. Albie Morkel and Dwayne Bravo, too, were in full flow as they tore into the Bangalore bowlers. The defending champions would be hoping to continue the momentum against Pune, who are placed third on the points table with two wins from three matches, while the Super Kings are on fifth position with as many wins as the hosts from four games.

Read More

3:05 AM

Nehra blames fielding lapses for the loss

Pune Warriors pacer Ashish Nehra has blamed the fielding lapses and not playing the full quota of 20 overs for his team's seven-wicket loss to Kings XI Punjab in their IPL match at the PCA stadium.

"The kind of chances we got...(Robin) Uthappa missed one caught behind chance of Shaun Marsh. Jessy Ryder missed one run out and there was a drop chance off my bowling," Nehra said at a post-match press conference last night.

Pune were dismissed for a modest 115 in just 19 overs after Punjab won the toss and invited the visitors to bat. The hosts then returned to overhaul the target with 14 balls to spare.

Stating that losing opener Jesse Ryder (7) with the ball doing a bit early on, did not help their cause, Nehra said: "The first half was a bit slow, with ball doing a bit, but we didn't even play full 20 overs. Had we batted through and got 130-135 with the kind of bowling we have and supported with the fielding, things could have gone in our favour."

Nehra also felt that given the conditions on the ground with a hint of movement, it was a bad toss to lose. "Bad toss to lose, I would say. The ball was doing a bit," he said.

With the Warriors having won their first two games and losing one so far, Nehra said it was still early days.

"T20 is that kind of a format, there will be ups and downs. I am sure in future we will learn from our mistakes."

Nehra, who remained wicketless from three overs he bowled last night giving away 22 runs, was satisfied with his performance after missing the earlier games because of a muscle pull.

"The muscle pull is okay now and hopefully as the tournament progresses, I will keep bowling well," said Nehra, who also missed the last edition of IPL due to a hand surgery.

"Last year's IPL, I didn't play because of hand surgery. I am fine now and hopefully will have a good IPL (this season)."

Read More

11:38 AM

Asia Cup final: Bowlers may decide the outcome

Once again, fans in both India and Pakistan show that they value a victory over their arch-rival more than they do the tournament. If the 2007 World Cup taught us anything, it is that in the agony and disgrace of first-round exits, fans found ecstasy in seeing the same fate dealt to their neighbour. It may sound cruel, but India is eliminated from the Asia Cup on the back of wins over Pakistan and Sri Lanka and a loss to Bangladesh. The Indian fan will see the greater prize in a lifetime of memories from the team’s triumph over Pakistan.

Sri Lanka would do well to forget this tournament altogether. Upul Tharanga has demonstrated in the last handful matches that he is at home at No. 6. Chamara Kapugedera showed great fight and maturity when the top order collapsed to Nazmul Hossain. In every sense, the recent CB Series in Australia was a much better showing in a harder tournament, given the conditions. Sri Lanka would do well to not lose too much sleep over their three losses, and shift focus to their first Test against England which begins in less than a week.

Bangladesh will go into the final with a focused confidence. Since losing the curtain-raiser to Pakistan, they were forced to play with their backs to the wall, and won gritty contests. The only change Bangladesh made to the playing XI was to bring in Nazmul Hossain for Shafiul Islam after their win against India for the Sri Lanka match. Nazmul rewarded the coaching staff with three early breakthroughs and was the second-best player on either team after the ever-consistent Shakib Al Hasan. If there was a criticism to be made of Mushfiqur Rahim’s captaincy in the field, it was his late bowling changes that kept a wayward Shahadat Hossain running in while Nazmul languished on 3 for 22 with two overs to spare.

The team management has shown their willingness to tinker with a winning line-up, and they will surely consider sitting Shahadat, whose expensive figures belie his scattershot line. With an economy rate of 7.12, Shahadat has consistently been the most expensive bowler in an attack that prides itself on manufacturing dot balls and restricting single to apply pressure. Shahadat’s best match came against Pakistan where he took 3 for 53 from 8, and if he is kept for the final it will be on the hope that he can repeat that effort.

Looking for a change, Shafiul Islam could be brought back to strengthen the attack. Conversely, Bangladesh might look to strengthen the batting depth which was bowled out by Pakistan when they last met 21 runs short with two overs to go. In that case, they would do well to field a left-hander near the top with Imrul Kayes or Elias Sunny.

Where Bangladesh go into the final riding two victories, Pakistan does so on their only loss. Even though Pakistan won when the two sides met in their league match, the final will offer them a chance at redemption as they hope to improve on what was their worst performance of the tournament.

Pakistan will certainly make changes. Wahab Riaz will be the first to go after conceding a half-century with the ball in four overs. Sarfraz Ahmed must return to take the gloves after Umar Akmal played stand-in. That experiment cost Pakistan at least 20 runs in the field compounded by the loss of Umar Akmal marshalling the offside field from point and gully.

Those are the quick and easy fixes. George Bernard Shaw famously said, ‘Youth is wasted on the young.’ If there is any truth to the other side of the saying, then Misbah-ul Haq is proof that, ‘Experience is a burden to the old’. Misbah must make full use of his resources and trust Hammad Azam with the ball. His decision to not continue with Mohammad Hafeez’s offspin after taking Gambhir’s wicket in the first over against India showed too much reliance on the pre-match strategy. Hafeez had established himself as a threat with this second delivery and Misbah kept him out of the attack until the 12th over, by which point Tendulkar and Kohli had added 63 easy runs. Fortunately for Pakistan, Younis Khan found some form against India, and it was only an audacious blinder from the cat-like Raina that kept the batting side from posting a score north of 350.

One man who should find himself in a position similar to that of Shahadat Hossain is Shahid Afridi. It should have happened by now, but soon everyone will realize that Afridi is not doing enough to earn his place in the side. He positions himself as an allrounder, but his best days with either tool are behind him. Afridi is a liability with the bat and his bowling has been wayward. Like Shahadat, Afridi has the worst economy in his squad among those who sent down more than 4 overs. Like Shahadat, his reputation and the fact that his best (read: least worst) performance came against the other finalist will probably be enough to keep him on the field.

If Afridi is being played as a specialist bowler, the conditions point to Abdur Rehman, though that change is unlikely given the left-arm man has not played in the tournament. Bangladesh took more Pakistani wickets than any other opponent, so if Afridi makes room for a batsman, Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali are waiting in the wings, each of whom can sneak in a few overs of part-time legspin.

Bangladesh will prefer to chase their target, while Pakistan will prefer to defend theirs. This strategy will make the coin toss a formality and begin the chess match from the opening delivery. The final looks a contest to be won with the ball, and both teams will fancy their chances. As often happens when bowling is the focus of a match, it is the fielders who ultimately decide the contest, and Bangladesh hold a strong advantage in that department.

The Pakistan team has always had a second home in Bangladesh. The fans treat them as well as their own. This will be a moment of great pride for Bangladesh, possibly 100 overs away from being crowned the champions of Asia, and Pakistan will have to weather as hostile crowds as the friendly smiles in Dhaka can muster.

Read More

11:56 PM

All-round Bangladesh trump Sri Lanka, enter Asia Cup final

An all-round effort with the bat, ball and in the field helped Bangladesh continue their giant-killing run and defeat Sri Lanka by five wickets in a rain-affected match at Dhaka today to seal their spot in the final of the Asia Cup.

In a must-win match for them, Bangladesh bowled Sri Lanka out for 232 and then chased down the revised target of 212 in 40 overs with five wickets and 17 balls to spare. A lengthy rain delay after Sri Lanka's innings resulted in the truncated match, but Bangladesh held their nerve despite stumbling in the chase to earn a well-deserved win.

Bangladesh had a disastrous start to the run chase when they were slipped to 40 for 3 in 7.1 overs with Nuwan Kulasekara accounting for Nazimudding and captain Mushfiqur Rahim; and Suranga Lakmal had Jahurul Islam caught by Chamara Kapugedera at midwicket.

The in-form duo of Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan got Bangladesh's chase back on course with their 76-run partnership in 12.1 overs for the fourth wicket to put the pressure back on Sri Lanka as the pair kept the scoreboard ticking over by rotating the strike and also hitting boundaries at regular intervals. None of the Sri Lankan bowlers made any impact on Tamim and Shakib as they adopted a low-risk but effective approach in their partnership.

Tamim, who was surprisingly left out of Bangladesh's original squad for the tournament before being reinstated, got to his half-century from only 46 balls; with Shakib continuing his brilliant form with the bat scoring his 50 from 43 deliveries. Tamim, who scored a 57-ball 59 had 28 dots, 19 singles, a couple of twos and nine boundaries in his innings; while Man-of-the-Match Shakib (56 from 46 deliveries) had 19 dots, 14 singles, four twos, two threes and seven boundaries to his name - this is as close as it gets to a
perfect partnership in ODIs.

Off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake dismissed both the set batsmen in quick succession to put the pressure back on Bangladesh with the hosts 135 for 5 in the 24th over. Senanayake dropped Tamim off his own bowling when the Bangladeshi opening batsman was on 51, but made amends soon after when he had the southpaw caught by Lahiru Thirimanne at point; before finally winning the battle against Shakib by trapping him plumb in front.

But, Nasir Hossain (36*) and Mahmudullah, who remained not out on 32 from 33 deliveries shared an unbroken partnership of 77 runs in 83 deliveries to ensure Bangladesh wouldn't be denied their just rewards.

Read More

11:52 PM

Afghanistan and Namibia contest World T20 place

Afghanistan and Namibia, unbeaten in the group stages of the qualifying tournament for this year's World Twenty20 Cup, meet on Thursday in a match which will secure the victors a tr i p to Sri Lanka.

The losers of Thursday's match will have a second chance to play in the World Cup this September although they will have to ba ttle with C anada, Ireland, the Netherlands and Scotland.

Afghanistan are favourites for Thursday's match after winning the qualifying tournament two years ago which secured them a place in the last World Cup. Namibia played in the 2003 World Cup where they lost each of their six matches.

Between them, the two teams can boast the top two run-scorers, with Namibian opening batsman Raymond van Schoor (323 runs) ahead of Afghanistan's Mohammad Shahzad (261). Shahzad is the man who reverse-swept Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal for six in a one-day international in Sharjah last month.

With the chance of a return to the big time, the Namibians could be forgiven for feeling nervous, especially now they are potentially one game away from achieving their goal.

However, captain Sarel Burger was emphatic about whether or not his side was under pressure.

"No," he told the ICC website (http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net)broadcast interview. "When the tournament started it was a long road to go (but) with the hard work we have already done it is now for the team to stick together and pull it off for the final game."

Afghanistan have welcomed back former coach Kabir Khan for this tournament after he spent a period coaching the UAE national team and captain Nawroz Mangal credited him with the team's unbeaten form leading into the final stages.

"This event has been great and we couldn't have done it without Kabir Khan our coach who has helped us get this far," Nawroz said in an ICC media release.

"Namibia are a good side whom we have faced before both in 2009 at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier and also we played a warmup fixture against them ahead of this tournament but we are confident we will qualify for Sri Lanka later this year."

Afghanistan will be without several key players for the latter stages of the tournament with opening bowlers Hamid Hassan and Shapoor Zadran and opening batsman Noor Ali all absent with injuries

Read More

11:47 PM

India vs Pak: Who will win this time?

It's time for India vs Pakistan! The last time these two teams met was at the World Cup semi-final at Mohali, where the hosts and eventual champions India outplayed the visitors. A lot of things have happened in the year after that, and the situation is very different from how it was back then. Pakistan have become a much more consistent team, and India have been jolted by losses abroad.

The Asia Cup encounter is more important for India than it is for Pakistan, as the latter have already qualified for the final. India, coming after a shock-loss to Bangladesh, will have to play out of their skins against their arch rivals in a high-pressure game.

India and Pakistan have faced each other nine times in the Asia Cup, each winning four games. They will meet on Sunday again. India's attacking batsmen and Pakistan's spin wizardry promise to make this an exciting contest. Let's take a look at the previous nine games.

- 5th Match scheduled to begin at 13:30 IST, Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka

India squad

MS Dhoni(c & wk), Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Gautam Gambhir, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Sachin Tendulkar, Manoj Tiwary, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma, Rahul Sharma

Pakistan squad

Misbah-ul-Haq(c), Sarfraz Ahmed(wk), Aizaz Cheema, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Younis Khan, Abdur Rehman, Asad Shafiq, Hammad Azam, Nasir Jamshed, Wahab Riaz, Umar Akmal

Read More

9:21 AM

Tendulkar Hits Hundreth 100

DHAKA - Sachin Tendulkar finally ended his year-long wait to score a record 100th international century but that failed to stop India stumbling to a shock five-wicket defeat by Bangladesh which threw the Asia Cup tournament wide open on Friday.

Tendulkar, who had gone 33 innings without scoring an international ton since chalking up 111 against South Africa last March, stroked a single off left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan to square leg in the 44th over to reach the landmark.

While the Little Master's achievement sparked celebrations among his team mates in the Shere Bangla National Stadium and brought the roaring crowd to their feet, Tendulkar simply raised his head skywards before kissing the Indian logo on his helmet.

"I am not God. After scoring 99 centuries, I needed a year to score another. It shows scoring a hundred from 99 is tough," a hugely relieved Tendulkar told reporters.

"It has been a test of my character and patience. Somebody who has not gone through this will not understand this. It has been really challenging.

"It was a tough journey. Now that it is out of the way things can come back to normal."

Tendulkar's determination to get the milestone out of the way may in the end have cost India the match as uncharacteristically he got bogged down in the 80s and it took him almost 15 overs to get the final 20 runs needed to cross three figures.

After a jittery innings featuring 12 fours and a six, he eventually perished for 114 after edging Mashrafe Mortaza's delivery to the wicketkeeper.

With the Indians still buzzing at Tendulkar's feat, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib gatecrashed the visitors' party with their quickfire knocks and overhauled the 290 victory target with four balls to spare.

Tamim Iqbal (70), Jahurul Islam (53) and Nasir Hossain (54) laid the foundations for the win by notching up fifties before Shakib scored 49 off 31 balls and Mushfiqur added an unbeaten 46 off 25 to help Bangladesh cruise past India's 289-5.

CLOSE DECISION

After Hossain and Shakib added 68 off 48 balls for the fourth wicket, India appeared to have snatched back the momentum when they dismissed Shakib in a close stumping decision.

However, skipper Mushfiqur tore apart the Indian attack, belting two huge sixes off seamer Irfan Pathan in the 48th over.

With Bangladesh needing 16 off 12 balls, Mushfiqur hit a four and a six in the first two balls of Praveen Kumar's next over to wrest control of the match.

Although Kumar went on to dismiss Nasir soon after, it was too late for India to salvage the contest and their defeat revived Bangladesh hopes of reaching next Thursday's final.

Pakistan top the standings with nine points while India and Bangladesh have four. Sri Lanka, who play the hosts in the final round robin match on Tuesday, have yet to win a match.

Sent in to bat first, India lost opener Gautam Gambhir (11) early on before Tendulkar added 148 runs with Virat Kohli for the second wicket.

Kohli missed out on a third consecutive one-day hundred when he was bowled by left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak for 66.

Tendulkar, however, could not be denied and scored his first ever ODI century against Bangladesh to complete his set against test playing nations.

India face arch-rivals Pakistan in their final round robin game on Sunday.

Read More

2:26 AM

Asia Cup Match 2 - India vs Srilanka; Will India fire in familiar territory?

Another ODI between India and Sri Lanka. Before you cringe in disgust, the mitigating factor in favour of the latest match is that it is not part of another hastily arranged bilateral series. The teams have no option but to meet once, at the least, in the Asia Cup.

One silver lining, if it can be called that, for India on the disaster that was their recent tour of Australia was their performance against Sri Lanka in the Commonwealth Bank series, which culminated in that record chase led by Virat Kohli in Hobart. Out of four meetings between the two sides, India won two and tied another.

India know that will count for little; Hobart and Mirpur are two different worlds as far as conditions are concerned. For the record, they are the defending champions in this tournament. India go into this series with several questions to answer. Among them is the role and future of Sachin Tendulkar in the ODI side. At least the rotation policy at the top of the order that was employed in Australia has become dormant for the moment with no Virender Sehwag in the squad.

The middle order comes with its list of young batsmen with much to prove. Are Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma the men who will perform for India in the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand? Their presence in the squad shows that the selectors believe they will; the Asia Cup in Bangladesh, unfortunately, is not the place for them to prove they can.

In a way, India are in a cannot-win situation. If they do well in this tournament, it will be said that they are back to doing what they are best at - making merry on flat subcontinent pitches. If they do not, the talk will be that if they cannot do well even in these conditions …

Sri Lanka are in a much better position. This was not a statement you could have made before the CB series. What a difference the change of captain has made. Under Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka looked rudderless and stagnant. Under Mahela Jayawardene, they seem to have found their way again. What's more, Dilshan has rediscovered himself as a batsman too.

Jayawardene has said that his appointment is short-term and his immediate goal is to make Sri Lanka win again. He started well in the CB series with Sri Lanka narrowly losing out in the finals to Australia. Back in familiar conditions, and considering how rusty Pakistan and India have looked in ODIs recently, Sri Lanka will go in to the tournament as favourites.

Read More

12:18 AM

Jayawardene succeeds where Dhoni fails

The value of good captaincy may be debatable but there can be no disputing that strong leadership improves a cricket team's performance. Sri Lanka'sMahela Jayawardene is a good example.

His vibrant leadership during the CB Series inspired and took his team to the brink of a tournament victory. From the moment Jayawardene elevated himself to the top of the Sri Lankan order, his team became a threat. He also led the way with some brilliant fielding, but just as important as his individual contributions, it was his faith in his players and the respect he has earned that have elevated the level of Sri Lanka's play.

Good captaincy can be seen in the moves a skipper makes on the field but strong leadership is harder to quantify. It mostly involves work done behind closed doors but the rewards are reaped on the field.

Jayawardene showed enormous faith in Lasith Malinga following a horror night in Hobart. And his lead bowler continued to contribute despite a niggling injury. The rapport between the two was obvious when Jayawardene hugged Malinga after his outstanding finishing effort in the must-win match against Australia at the MCG.

In the end Sri Lanka fell just short of winning the trophy, but without Jayawardene's strong leadership and shrewd captaincy, it's doubtful they would have even reached the finals.

Compare Sri Lanka's playing-above-themselves competitiveness with India's under-performance throughout the Australian tour. There's no doubt India had a more talented line-up than Sri Lanka, but other than Virat Kohli's electrifying night at Bellerive, the Indian team was unable to live up to its reputation.

MS Dhoni is a good captain, better in the short forms of the game than Test cricket but a solid skipper nonetheless. However, he has been unable to inspire his team on two lacklustre tours and consequently eight overseas Tests have been lost on the trot. There may have been extenuating circumstances in England, where injuries took their toll, but the Australian tour was an unmitigated disaster

Read More

11:17 PM

Good Start for Pakistan in Asian cup 2012

Pakistan built, nearly self-destructed and counterattacked with the bat. Bangladesh built, nearly self-destructed and counterattacked with the bat. Pakistan's base was strong enough to weather the near-self-destruction. Their counterattack proved sharper in the end as they stopped hosts Bangladesh short of what would have been their highest successful chase at home.

Bangladesh produced most of the unexpected passages in the game. They reduced Pakistan to 198 for 7 from 135 for 0. They recovered from 135 for 5 to become the favourites towards the closing stages of the game. But when it came to the critical moments which decided the match, Pakistan proved superior.

Umar Gul smashed his highest ODI score of 39 from 25 deliveries to convert 198 for 7 into 262 for 8. With Bangladesh requiring 39 off 40 with five wickets in hand, Gul and Saeed Ajmal took 5 for 17 between them to ensure that Shakib Al Hasan's heroic innings ended in frustration and disappointment.

Shakib had induced the Pakistan batting collapse, along with Shahadat Hossain. Like a fighter who has resolutely accepted the fact that he will always have to battle more than his fellow soldiers, he brought his side back into contention after they threatened to implode in the chase.

Young Nasir Hossain matched his former captain stroke for stroke in an 89-run sixth-wicket partnership at a run a ball. Shakib drove, Nasir pulled, Shakib slashed, Nasir pulled harder, and Bangladesh hoped.

When Nasir took consecutive fours off Gul in the 44th over, Bangladesh seemed to have moved decisively in front. Gul is made of sterner stuff, though. He found nip off the pitch and movement in the air with a 21-over old ball and bowled Nasir for 47. Ajmal, who had gone for 11 in the previous over, stepped in now.

With the asking-rate under six, Abdur Razzak decided to slog at a full delivery only to get bowled. Mashrafe Mortaza saw the flight but did not read the doosra. Bowled again. Shafiul Islam had two deliveries to keep out in the next over, the 46th. Gul hurled in the inswinging yorker first up. Gone leg-before.

Read More

10:58 PM

Australia lifted CB Series in low-scoring grand final

In a Thrilling Final match Australia beat Sri Lanka by 16 runs to win the best-of-three match one-day international tri series at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

Australia scored 231 off 49.3 overs and held off a determined fightback to dismiss the World Cup finalists for 215 with seven balls to spare in the third ODI final.

Paceman Clint McKay proved Australia's match-winner taking five for 28 off 9.5 overs, including the big wickets of captain Mahela Jayawardene for 15 and Dinesh Chandimal for just five.

Veteran Brett Lee chipped in with three wickets for a more expensive 59 runs.

Upul Tharanga topscored for Sri Lanka with 71 off 122 balls, but once he was caught behind off Shane Watson, Sri Lanka dropped behind the required run-rate and needed 22 for victory off the last two overs.

Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade topscored with 49 off 74 balls in Australia's innings, with fellow opening batsman David Warner hitting 48 off 45

Read More

4:45 AM

India beat Australia in 4th ODI at Oval

India weren’t perfect today. But they beat Australia the hard way. And nothing satisfies a team more than a hard-fought win when it is going through a rut.

A pale-looking MS Dhoni got off to an agonisingly slow start of three runs in 17 balls. But he caught up with the pace at the end, capping off a tight chase for 270 by getting India the 13 needed in the final over from Clint McKay.

It helped India burst past some glass ceilings – they had never beaten Australia in an ODI in Adelaide, and had never chased more than 242 against the hosts in their country. More importantly, the win would take the attention away from the howls of protest after Sachin Tendulkar was rested today.

Gambhir Shines

The chase was set up by Gautam Gambhir’s 92 and a couple of thirties from Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. But each time they seemed at ease, Indian batsmen got out to rash shots to complicate matters.

Virender Sehwag (after adding 52 with Gambhir) got out to McKay trying to flick a loose ball on the leg. Virat Kohli was caught at the cover boundary trying to hit a six. And Rohit, having looked in total ease, played a ridiculous chip shot to be caught at long-off.

The win was in sight before India nearly botched it the chase by playing out two quiet overs from left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty in which Raina yorked himself, and Ravindra Jadeja holed out to midwicket, leaving the game precariously balanced.

Monster Six

Dhoni biffed McKay’s second ball into the banks behind long-on, one of the biggest boundaries in international cricket. The hit may have easily been about 120 metres long. Dhoni swung the next ball, a waist-high full-toss to midwicket, where it was caught by David Warner. The no-ball was called, leaving India three runs to get from three balls.

He swung it to midwicket again, taking three runs, coolly collecting a souvenir stump and walking off the park. At the award ceremony, Dhoni said he had hit a longer six in his pre-India days. It put in the shade a pull shot by Rohit for six – probably the most authoritative shot an Indian batsman had done on this tour of Australia.

India Raise Fielding Standards

India did two things well today. They fielded well, and bowled tightly in the last 10 overs (conceding 57-4), displaying a real urgency to keep Australia’s score down. India scored four run-outs in the second T20 in Melbourne. Today they had three, plus a sharp catch by Virender Sehwag to dismiss Hussey.

Sehwag’s catch was crucial. Australia looked set for a score close to 300. Sehwag’s tumbling effort at square leg cut short Hussey’s stay at 72. But the run-outs of David Warner and Daniel Christian were also crucial in keeping Australia under check.

Forrest Shines On Debut

The merits of the rotation system is another topic. The fact is that Australia have come out of their worst slump in years on the basis on really good selections. Today, the right-handed Peter Forrest came in for Mike Hussey, who has been given a week’s rest.

Forrest in only 26 and has played just 37 First Class games. This is in sharp contrast with Hussey, who was 30 and nearly 15,000 First Class runs down before he wore the Baggy Green. But like Hussey when he appeared on the scene, Forrest looked ready for the big league.

On his international debut, Forrest looked at ease – off the front-foot, off the back-foot, against pace or spin. You’d expect an Australian batsman coming out of Brisbane to be really good against pace bowling. But Forrest impressed with his footwork against Indian spinners too.

Twice he walked down to Jadeja and Rohit – that walk is rarely seen in the stand-and-deliver era – and lofted them over the straight field for six. If you could find one blemish in the innings, it was that Dhoni didn’t consider exposing Forrest to Zaheer Khan, and gave a long run to his spinners, none of whom were particularly impressive today.

Read More

4:03 AM

Give Sachin Tendulkar a break in Sydney test

Predictably, the lead up to the Sydney Test centered around Sachin's much awaited hundredth international century (babies have arrived sooner). This time even the Aussie media went berserk, eulogising on how wonderful it would be for Tendulkar to reach the landmark in Sydney Cricket Ground's 100th Test.

What was most disappointing was to see former cricketers and experts give so much importance to the landmark. An otherwise level-headed Mark Nicholas, went to the extent of quizzing Dhoni at the toss, not on who made India's XI or their strategy for the game, but on how he would like it if Sachin scored his ton of tons in Sydney.

When Sachin walked in to the middle with India already reeling on 30 for 2, Ravi Shastri (not one to be outdone) spoke of how the master blaster would be nervous. Not because of the precarious position his side were in or due to the menacing bowling he was about to encounter, but because as Shastri claimed "he is approaching such a big milestone." Facepalm moment anyone?

With India's first innings wrapping for 191, India most definitely have more important things that merit their attention.

Read More

1:07 AM