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M.S.Dhoni won the toss and asked Ireland to bat first at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium,  Bangalore on Sunday in their encounter in the World Cup 2011.  Dhoni was proved right by Zahir Khan who took two early wickets, clean bowling Paul Sterling for a duck and got the edge of Ed Joyce for Dhoni to do the rest. The score card read a dismal 9 for 2 after 4 overs.

Yuvraj Singh

Earlier  Ireland  has successfully  chased  327 against England and this could also have prompted Dhoni’s decision to bowl first instead of setting a target.

Munaf Patel and Zaheer Khan were bowling in tandem and Dhoni’s decision of  removing Munaf Patel at that moment and asking Yusaf Pathan to bowl with the almost new ball was very surprising.

Part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh grabbed a five-wicket haul as India restricted Ireland to 207 in their Group B encounter when he rattled the Irish batting with his slow left arm bowling.

Ireland skipper William Porterfield contributed with 75 runs while Niall O’Brien, who played second fiddle to his captain in the 113-run stand, also scored 46. (more…)

Yusaf Pathan steered India to an improbable victory at Bangalore in their fourth ODI against New Zealand on Tuesday. Gautam Gambhir won the toss and put New Zealand in to bat bat who laid down a huge score of 315 runs. Chasing this mammoth score, India, at one stage were 188 for 5 having lost the top five batsmen. But Yusuf Pathan was was on a different pedestal altogether. He struck with confidence and stamped authority with his each shot. His 97 ball 123 runs were ample proof that Pathan has given a notice to the selection committee for the forthcoming World Cup.  

His century overshadowed a superbly-crafted 98 from James Franklin that had allowed New Zealand to reach a daunting total.

It rained for about an hour and when play resumed again, India needed 113 runs from 14 overs a difficult task which was made easy by Yusuf Pathan.  Yusuf launched a Daniel Vettori delivery into the stands beyond long-on and shot a delivery from Kyle Mills over the roof. 

In the  43rd over Pathan smashed Mills for three fours and slammed a six over midwicket. And when he brought up his maiden hundred with a pulled six, off Andy McKay in the next over, the game was almost over.  (more…)

The game between Royal Challangers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians was initially delayed due to two low intensity blasts outside the Stadium. After an hour it was decided that the match should be held as per schedule. The game began as if nothing had happened and the spectators did not lose out on their enjoyment and Mumbai Indians beat Bangalore by 57 runs.

Royal Challangers Bangalore won the toss and elected to field on Sunday at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium Bangalore. Mumbai Indians opened the innings with Sachin Tendulkar and McLaren who treaded cautiously and there was no big hitting except that Sachin hit two consecutive boundaries in the second over and was out after scoring 19 runs.

Tendulkar  wasn’t at his best, and he was caught by Ross Taylor at the square leg boundry. McLaren, however scored 40 runs and was out lbw bowled Pietersen. (more…)

Deccan Chargers beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 7 wickets in an exciting match where 55,000 spectators enjoyed a thrilling display of hard hitting shots at the Chinnaswamy Stadium Bangalore on Thursday.  Adam Gilchrist won the toss for Deccan Chargers and put the Royal Challangers Bangalore to bat.

Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey opened the innings for Bangalore and Pandey was bowled by Ryan Harris for 1 run. The Royal Challangers lost wickets at regular interval and were 68 for 4 at the 10th over mark. Then Kallis, with the adequate support of Virat Kohli steaded the innings for Bangalore. (more…)