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M.S.Dhoni won the toss for Chennai Super Kings and opted to bat against Royal Challangers Bangalore at the jam-packed M.A.Chidambaram Stadium in the final of the IPL 4 match played here on Saturday. Murli Vijay and Mike Hussey opened the innings for CSK and had saved their best Cricket for the last game. They posted the finest opening partnership of 159 runs for the IPL, which enabled CSK to post a huge total of 205 runs. 

Murli Vijai

Vijay and Hussey hit sparkling half centuries en-route to the 159-run opening stand and gave Chennai a quick start which laid the foundation of the mammoth score of 205. 

CSK had reached their 50 in 5.1 overs with a six from Murli and the score-board later went on to read hundred in just 10.3 overs. The 159-run opening partnership was broken when Hussey played a lofted shot off Syed Mohammad over long-on and was caught by Mithun. 

Dhoni scored 22 runs and then lit up Chepauk with his two sixes but he and Vijay fell to S Aravind in consecutive deliveries. Vijay 95, fell just five runs short of his century while Dhoni departed in quest of quick runs. Vijay stroked four boundaries and six towering sixes in his 52-ball knock.

For RCB, Aravind and Gayle picked two wickets apiece while Syed picked one. Bravo then hit a six off the last ball to take the total to 205 runs. (more…)

History was made at Lords by Kapil Dev and his men in 1983 and repeated after 28 years at  Wankhade Stadium, Mumbai on Apr 2nd 2011, by M.S.Dhoni and company. Kumar Sangakara won the toss at Wankhade and chose to bat Sunday in the final of the World Cup 2011 against India. In the end India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to clinch the coveted trophy.

M. S. Dhoni

It was the determined effort from Gautam Gambhir who scored 97 runs and a chanceless 91* from M.S.Dhoni which paved the way for India’s victory over Sri Lanka. This helped India overhaul the score of 274 set by Sri Lanka for India to win the title and it is the highest ever run chase in the World Cup final. 

For Sri Lanka Jayawardane scored 103* and Sangakara 48 runs.  (more…)

Netherlands won the toss and elected to bat at the Feroz Shah Kotla Grounds,Delhi on Wednesday in their Gp B encounter against India. Their openers started very well and the Indian attack looked very feeble in front of their batting. They lost their first wicket after posting half a century on board, which is their highest opening wicket partnership, and were 86 for 2 at the  half-way stage.

Yuvraj Singh

India defeated Netherlands at the Feroz Shah Kotla with more than 14 overs to spare though the margin of victory couldn’t mask a lacklustre performance from the home side. The Indian bowling was just about tidy against some dour Netherlands batting, and their bunch of big hitters came unstuck for a while against the left-arm spin of Pieter Seelaar in a low-intensity match.

In the Netherlands batting, there were a couple of avoidable run-outs as well, but the dismissal that was most embarrassing for Netherlands was Alexei Kervesee’s; he swiped a long hop from Chawla, expertly picking out Harbhajan Singh at deep midwicket.

Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to reach 2000 World Cup runs with a hat-trick of boundaries in the fifth over, and Virender Sehwag backing that with three more fours in the sixth. (more…)

Virender Sehwag slammed the highest score by an Indian against Bangla Desh in the inaugural match of the ICC World Cup match played at Mirpur. Bangla Desh won the toss and elected to field first keeping the dew factor in mind which might fall in the second part of the game so also that they find run chasing easier.

Sehwag started the tournament with the usual flurry of shots. He sent the first ball of the match to the long-on boundary. Shafiul offered Sehwag width again and watched the final ball speed to the cover boundary. In his second over, Shafiul erred by offering Sachin Tendulkar two deliveries on the pads: both were flicked to the boundary. 

In between those overs, Rubel Hossain had conceded two boundaries as well, and India raced to 36 after four overs. That  forced Shakib to turn to his premier spinner, Abdur Razzak, in the fifth. (more…)

Gautam Gambhir lost the toss and New Zealand opted to bat first at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Friday. The Indian bowlers did a magnificient job and bundled out New Zealand for a paltry 103 runs in 27 overs and Parthiv Patel rubbed salt to the  New Zealand wounds by hitting up a half century simultaneously knocking the doors of the selection Commitee reminding them for a place in the World Cup squad. 

Yuvraj Singh

India  have thus white-washed New Zealand in the five match ODI series 5-0. India’s pacers got little swing in the air but that was sufficient for Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra to do the initial damage. Bowling stumps to stumps Praveen Kumar managed to send down an out-swinger to get an edge from Martin Guptill. 

New Zealand lost Brendom McCullum also very quickly and at a stage were 14 for the loss of 2 wickets. He was declared out lbw to Nehra who brought one inwards from the off stump on to his pads. 

Ross Taylor also edged the ball with his glove from Ashish Nehra for Parthiv Patel to do the rest. Ashish Nehra got two wickets for 34 runs and Praveen Kumar bagged 1 wicket for 20 runs.  (more…)

Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to field at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium at Jaipur in the 2nd ODI against New Zealand on Wednesday. India managed to restrict New Zealand to a score of 258 runs for 8 wickets  with Sreesanth doing most of the damage, who took 4 wickets for 47 runs. The bowlers having done their job, Gambhir replied with a chanceless 138* to guide India home. He was ably supported by Virat Kohli who got out at 64 and now has two centuries and a half-century on the trot. 

Gautam Gambhir

This was Gambhir’s first century in almost a year and it was decorated with 18 boundaries to the fence and a six. Gambhir was timing the ball to perfection and was well supported by an in-form Kohli at the other end, India’s hundred was up in the 20th over. 

Earlier, Sreesanth consumed Howe but Williamson and Guptill stood ground to produce a half-century stand and Munaf Patel then removed Williamson. Guptill played very well for his 70 runs but New Zealand did not get a rocking start and so could not reach the desired 300 run target. Ross Taylor was out to a ball which he misread from Yusuf Pathan and later R Ashwin removed Guptill. 

Styris powered his way to a breezy 59 off 56 balls with the help of five fours and a huge six, while Vettori contributed 31 off 32, an innings that included four hits to the fence.  (more…)

Daniel Vittori won the toss and opted to field in the 1st ODI between India and New Zealand played at Nehru Stadium at Gawhati today. Virat Kolhi slammed a thrilling century, the second in a row, to take India to 276 runs all out.

Virat Kohli

India were however biting their nails in the last few overs when the ninth wicket pair of McCullum and Mills slammed 67 precious runs and at one stage looked set to overhaul India’s score. At one stage, only 41 runs were needed off 31 balls, when McCullum was out caught. 

Virat Kohli completed his century with ten boundaries and Yuvraj Singh contributed 42 runs. Murli Vijai struck boundaries at ease and was ably supported by Gautam Gambhir who was in his usual self.

Murli Vijai scored 44 runs and when Gambhir was out, India were 92 for the loss of two wickets. Then it was Yuvraj’s turn to give suppport to Virat Kohli and both plodded along smoothly.

In their 88-run stand for the third wicket, Kohli was compact in rotating the strike while Yuvraj looked to score in boundaries before he edged one behind the stumps. (more…)

Hyderabad. The second test between India and New Zealand ended in a draw on the fifth day on Tuesday. New Zealand had given India a target of 327 runs with not enough time left in the game to achieve it. India batted for 17 overs after tea wherein Sehwag was able to delight the crowd with a 50. Thereafter the two teams decided to call off the match.

Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum reaped rewards for his hard work and got third-highest score  in Tests in India. The game was headed for a draw the moment Zaheer Khan left the field again after bowling just three overs in the morning session.

New Zealand has now held India, the No. 1 side, to four consecutive draws.

India  had their chances to wrap up this match.  On one occassion, Cheteshwar Pujara dropped McCullum at forward short leg when the batsman was 148. Another chance India got to have a result in the match, was when  Kane Williamson was given out lbw erroneously to an off break which was sure to miss the leg stump but could not pressurize the New Zealanders later. (more…)

India proved their dominance in Cricket by defeating Australia by 5 wickets in the second ODI match played at the flood-lit Stadium at Vishakapatnam. Captain M.S.Dhoni won the toss and elected to field at the YSR Reddy Stadium on Wednesday. Australia  lost two quick wickets as both openers were consumed by Ashish Nehra. This victory follows their win over Australia in the recently concluded Test series. 

Virat Kohli

Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey later saved the innings with a fine 144 run stand and after 45 overs Australia were 205 for 3. Australia looted 84 runs in the final five overs and Cameron White slammed 70 runs in his last 24 deliveries. 

Some big hitting by Cameron White (89 from 49 balls) was at display including a straight drive which went through umpire Billy Bowden. It took Bowden a fraction of a second to duck out of the line of the shot otherwise Bowden would have been history had the shot hit him on the head. 

Skipper Clarke and Hussey did the repair work, building their innings brick by brick. In the end Cameron White’s big hitting helped Australia in reaching a fighting total of 289 runs. 

Both White and Clarke were in a rampaging mood. Nehra, who had an impressive first spell, had his figures destroyed towards the end as he returned with 57 runs from his 10 overs. (more…)

Bangalore:  After a tight finish in Mohali a week ago, it was a one-sided game in Bangalore as India comfortably beat Australia by seven-wickets on day five of the second Test to win the two-match series 2-0 on Wednesday and register their first win here in 15 years.

Cheteshwar Pujara

India won the first Test at Mohali, thanks to VVS Laxman who played a splendid knock there to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. In the second test it was Sachin Tendulkar’s herioc 214 in the first innings and 53 not out in the second innings which spelt doom for Australia.

Earlier in the day, the Australians added 21 runs to their overnight score and ended up being dismissed for 223 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Requiring 206 runs to win on the last day, India began the run chase from the word go and lost Sehwag early in the second innings. But Cheteshwar Pujara and Murli Vijay ensured building the foundation of India’s victory at Bangalore in front of a jam-packed Stadium. Pujara slammed chancelesss 72 on Test debut was bowled by Nathan Hauritz. He seems to have sealed his place as the one-down batsman for the Indian Team. (more…)