Saturday, December 29, 2007

Aussies, Windies win Test

Efficient Australia beats India and a resurgent West Indies beat RSA.

The only Indian players who reached over 40 are Ganguly and Laxman. The rest failed to impress, unfortunately. It seems that we will see a lot of new faces in the future Indian team. This series may mark the end of many players !

There is a always a cry from the crowd to blood youngsters, as it was the youngsters who brought the T20 World Cup. Many players who played a stellar role like Sehwag, Yousuf Pathan, Joginder Sharma, Sreeshant etc have been left out, as the Indian selectors opted for experience. If India loses like this, it is better to try out the youngsters. Ishant Sharma impressed in the last Test against Pak. Youngsters were found to be more agile in the field. It is better to give the youngsters a chance, than lose with oldsters !

For RSA, only Kallis gave some resistance, with a solid 85. The rest of the batsmen failed to cope up with the situation, giving WI her win !

Thursday, December 27, 2007

A bad day for India

Only Tendulkar could score more than 50. He was out for 62. We dont know what happened to Indian batting. Australia was clinical and professional. Only Ganguly could score more than 40 !
Both Lee and Clarke took 4 wickets each. Hogg took 2 wickets.

Maybe the bouncy Australian pitches was too much for the Indians. Let us hope they will come back into form in the second innings.


South Africa finished with 122/5. against WI 408. Chanderpaul scored 104. Darren Sammy gave him good support with 38.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

India and Aussies share honours !

A brilliant hundred by Hayden ( 124) and a five wicket haul by Kumble ( 84/5) saw both teams sharing honours.

Australia'2 337/9 was a fairly good score but India is happy after taking 9 wickets. Zaheer scalped 3 wickets.

The good start which the Kangaroos got was not consolidated. They were 135 for no loss when they lost Jacques. for 66

In South Africa, WI were 281/4. Manuels was dismissed for 94. Gayle was out for 66. In that match also, we can say, honors were shared.

Let us see how the much extolled Indian batting battles with the fiery Australian bowling tomorrow !

Saturday, December 22, 2007

SL wins series !

What a magnificent victory for Sri Lanka. The last Test was drawn, with Alistair Cook scoring a hundred.

Meanwhile, Down Under, Sachin hopes to win against Australia. It will be a great feat if India can do that. All batsmen, he says, are in good form. He is confident India can win, despite the formidable foursome ( Tait, Lee, Bracken & Johnson ) posing a big threat to India !

Mahela was declared Man of the Match. Definitely he deserved it, as he scored 213 not out. He is in tremendous form and hopes SL will move over to the third position in the ICC rankings.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

England bowled out for 81 !

Incredible, but true. The great batting of England, with Pieterson and Vaughan etc bowled out for 81. Chaminda Vas was the main architect of the destruction, with four wickets( 4/28). The new bowler Welegedara claiming 2 wickets ( 2/17) and Malinga picking up the all important wicket of Pieterson. It was a very bouncy ball which Pieterson tried to fend off and was caught behind !

England, following on , are none for 2.

At Melbourne, India are 110/3, in their match against Victoria. Openers Wasim Jaffer was out for nought, Laxman for one and Tendulkar for 19. Ganguly (51 no ) led the recovery with Dravid ( 33 no ).

Ponting scored another hundred and won the series against NZ. Ponting was 134 no in the Aussie total of 282 and NZ were bowled out for 168, with Lee claiming 3 wickets and Tait 2 !

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Jayawardene in tremendous form !

Mahela in great form. 149 not out in a total of 384/6. Dishan scored 84 and Chaminda Vas was 46 not out.

It seems SL is determined not to lose this match. Two days it has taken for them to compile 384/6 and a draw will be favourable to them.

Meanwhile, the Indians seem to be confident of taking on the might of Aussie pace attack. Their contention is that during the series earlier Down Under, they had performed well. The bouncy Australian pitches are dangerous, from an Indian perspective. Both Kumble and Ganguly are confident of meeting the Aussie challenge.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

India ready to take on Australia !

Mahela hopes to win the Third Test against England and move to 3rd position in ICC Rankings. Now SL is placed 5th.

At the moment SL is 132/2, with Mahela on 46. Sangakara got out at 46.

Kumble feels that India can take on the Aussies fast bowling might of Tait, Lee, Johnson and Clarke. Ganguly feels that Australia and India are the best teams in the world. India will win, says Ganguly. In the last series Down Under, India did well, as the series was drawn. Now in this series, Aussies are going with four pacers and will lack in the spin department. No McGrath or Warne, this time.

But India is pitted against the best fast bowling attack in the world. Tait, Lee, Stuart Clarke and Johnson can be formidable on Australian pitches.

In the T20, WI proved that bowlers can dominate. Jerome Taylor shocked RSA by taking three early wickets, reducing the hosts to 5/3. RSA could only make 58/8 and WI scored 60 for the loss of five wickets !

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Yuvraj ready to take on the might of Australia

"I want to be a good Test bastman" says Yuvraj. He had played only 20 Tests, mainly due few vacancies in the star studded Indian batting line up.

Now he is practising hard to counter the bouncy tracks Down Under. He is all priase for Kumble, India's captain. He also praised the Three Musketeers and Laxman.

Yuvraj is part of the Splendid Sixsome, with the Three Musketeers ( Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid) and Laxman and Sehwag.

Indian left arm seamers can take wickets on the bouncy tracks. During last tour of Australia, both Zaheer and Agarkar performed well.

Even though the resurgent Indian team is up against heavy odds, against formidable Australia in Australia, the likes of Yuvraj do not falter. They are ready for cricket battle, come what may !

Friday, December 14, 2007

Ponting stars in easy win against NZ



Ponting showed why he is reckoned as No 1 in ODIs and Tests, with a superb 107 not out against NZ. Aussies won by 7 wickets. Gilchrist hits 2 sixes in his 51 and Ponting with Clarke and Symonds sealed the fate of the match. Aussie bowling was ferocious, with Lee & Tait !


The Aussie commentators were talking about the upcoming series against India. They said India is a very experienced side, with one of the best batting line ups in the world. Jaffer is in tremendous form. The Indian left arm seamers performed well in England and they are expecting a great series, which starts from Dec 20.
In our last post, we talked about the Awesome Fivesome. It is actually the Splendid Sixsome, Yuvraj included. On paper, it looks like the best batting line up in the world, considering that Sachin alone has scored more than 27000 runs in ODIs and Tests. Ganguly has scored more than 11000 runs and taken more than 100 wickets in ODIs. Sehwag had scored a triple century and Laxman 's highest is 281. Yuvraj 169. So statistically, this Splendid Sixsome seems to be the best batting line up. Aussies have better pace attack and is the better allround side !

Thursday, December 13, 2007

The SL- England Match drawn !

SL is in terrific form, with two players, Murali and Sangakara, in the top positions in ICC Rankings.

Mahela Jayawardene scored 195, Vandort 138, and SL declared at 548/9. England replied with 250/3. Cook, Vaughan and Bell scored fifties. Pieterson is back in form with 45 not out.

Prasanna Jayawardene, the wicket keeper, impressed with 79. Dilhara gave him support with 36 not out.

Meanwhile, the Indians are ready to go Down Under and play the World Champions. Aussies lead in Tests and ODIs. One has to admit that they have the best fast bowling attack in the world, with Lee, Tait, Bracken & Johnson ! Let us see how the Awesome Fivesome- Sehwag, Laxman, Ganguly, Sachin & Dravid, with thousands of runs to their credit, fare against the formidable pace bowling of Australia !

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Sehwag comes in to the Squad to Australia


Pak was stunned when they lost 7 wickets on the fifth day to the Indian spinners, Kumble & Yuvraj. Bad light came to their rescue ultimately and the Test was drawn, giving India the series, after 27 years !

Saurav Ganguly gets the Man of the Series award !

Younis Khan praised the Indians. He was also happy that he got an excellent player in Misbah, who scored two consecutive centuries.

India's Test squad for Australia has been announced. They are


Anil Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Pankaj Singh, Wassim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni ( wk ) and Lakshman .

Rajasthan pacer Pankaj Singh comes into the squad in lieu of Munaf. Sreeshanth is injured. Dinesh Karthik retained his place as reserved wicketkeeper due to his 52 in the second innings. Ishant Sharma is retained because of his 5 wickets.

The five pacers are Zaheer Khan, Pathan, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh & Pankaj Singh. The 2 spinners are Kumble and Harbhajan.

The Awesome Fivesome are there - VVS Laxman, Sehwag with the Three Musketeers ( Sachin, Ganguly & Dravid ).

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Ishant and Misbah impress

Misbah impressed again with this brilliant 133 not out. The day belonged to the debutant Ishant Sharma who took 5 wickets for India. Kamran and Yasir contributed to Pak's 537. The Test seems to be heading for a draw with Indian on a 131/2, with Ganguly on 63 and " the Wall " on 35.

Mahela Jayawardene scored a brilliant 167 not out in SL's score of 379/4. Vandort scored a brilliant 138 and Chamara 49.

In the T20 match, Aussies formidable fast bowling wrecked NZ's chances. Tait, Brett Lee , Bracken and Mitchell tore the heart out of the NZ batting. Seymond's 85 not out made Aussies score a respectable 186. Lee and Co ran through the NZ batting, despite some big hitting by the big man, Jacob Oram. Oram hits 6 sixes and 5 fours in a blistering 66 not out. NZ all out for 132

Monday, December 10, 2007

Misbah and Younis redeem Pak



Pakistan saved the day with 369/5. Younis Khan played well for his 80 and Misbah for his 54 not out.

Ishant Sharma impressed in his spell in which he took the wicket of Faisal Iqbal. All five Indian bowlers took a wicket each.

Now the match seems to be heading for a draw. There is no glory for Pak, as India leads 1-0 in the series.

In the other match in SL, Sangakara, who is ranked No 1 in ICC rankings, got out cheaply. A huge wicket for England ! But Vandort scored his half century to redeem SL. SL at stumps are 105/2.

England had earlier cruised to 351, thanks to Cook scoring 81 along witn Vaughan's brilliant & stylish 87. Prior excelled with the bat scoring 79. Paul Collingwood scored 52 and England reached a respectable 351. Still I feel England has the edge, as they had taken Sangakara !

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Ganguly's maiden double ton !




Ganguly scored his highest Test score. 239 . Irfan Pathan scores his maiden Test hundred ! India out for an unbelievable 626, a score which never looked possible when they were 61/4 !.

Aravinda called Yuvraj " The Brian Lara of India ". What a great title ! Let us hope he will keep up that title, to model that great batsman.

"There is healthy competition now in the Indian side " said Dhoni. How right he is. Now to play in the Indian XI has become difficult, with so many good players competing and all are making use of the opportunities given. Hats off to Chappell. Now we have 33 players on BCCI payroll and there is healthy competition in between them.

Now Pak is on the back foot. They have to win this Test in order to draw the series.

Vaughan out for 87 and England finished with 251/5. Vaas gets Pieterson out cheap. Another absorbing match in the offing.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Yuvraj's magnificent comeback !




What a great comeback for Yuvraj ! The master of ODIs is back in Tests ! His 169 was priceless, remembering that he walked in at 61/4. He left at 361, a triple century partnership with the great Ganguly. India finishing with 365/5, the highest one day score at Bangalore !

The selectors were foolish to drop him. Dravid should have opened the innings in the first two Tests, with Yuvraj in. Dravid was functioning like an opener, with Karthik being a failure. Now they have a big headache on their hands.

Now, with Yuvraj's priceless innings with Ganguly's, Pak is in for troubled times. Their only chance is to limit India, score a mammoth score and then skittle out India again ! At the moment, such a possibility looks remote, but one can never tell in cricket !

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Cricket Score: Your Assistant To A Match

- By: Ella Wilson, 2007-12-06

Through out the world there are n number of sports that are played. However, the one game that has a huge fan following and people literally go crazy, is the game of cricket. Whenever a match is played, it has been seen that people actually forget their daily work and go ahead to make preparations to watch that match. In fact, the game is so much fancied upon that people go to any extent to watch a match. However, this thing is not always possible and therefore, the introduction of cricket score has proved to be a big advantage for cricket fans. Through this, these people can actually keep a track of the happenings of a particular match and even if they have to miss a match, they can keep a track on the on field and off field action with the help of cricket score.

Whether it is a world cup match or a T20 match or any one-day match, knowing the score of the match is something that every fan wants to know. In fact, apart from the score these fans also have the tendency to know about all the happenings of the match ball-by-ball. A cricket fan would always want to stay glued to the television to get the updates of a match and in the daily life this is a big issue. One cannot really miss his or her daily routines to stay updated about a match. One has to go to the office, schools and have a total control on their lives even if a match is going on. However, cricket score is one thing that can solve all these problems. Getting access to cricket score is not a big thing. The television is a reliable medium and with the help of news channels, one can get to know all the actions of a match that is being played.

Apart from the television, the internet is also a good medium. Cricket dedicated websites have special sections that give out the score of a match and also helps the fans to know about all the latest happenings of a match that is being played. In fact, these websites also help to give all the on field and off-field actions of a match. The mobile phone has also become one of the competitors to give out cricket scores and match updates. The network providers make it a point to tell customers and end users of mobile phones about a match that is being played and also gives them all the updates. All one needs to do is subscribe for the updates and then they can sit anywhere and get an update about a match with the help of their mobile phones.

In fact, the entire concept of cricket score is so good and innovative that they speak about all the actions that are taking place on the field where the match is being played. Right from who batted first to who bowled first and the latest wicket, cricket score helps a fan to know all about the game that they are thrilled about.

Ella Wilson is a cricket fanatic. She simply loves the game and tries to catch live action no matter where she is.At Stickiewicket she works on Online cricket score, Cricket Score,World Cup venues,Indian cricket and Cricket News among other things.You can see her works at www.stickiewicket.com

Article Source : http://www.articlewisdom.com

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

SL pulls off spectacular win !





What a win for SL!


They were down in the dumps at 50 odd for 5 and then resuscitated with a superb innings by Sangakara. England took the lead with (Ian Bell scoring 83) and then they scored a massive 440 odd with Sangakara top scoring with 152 ! And then they skittled out England for 261 ( Ian Bell 74). The last 3 wickets were sensational. Murali bowled Prior and Sidebottom was lbw. Malinga clean bowled Hoggard and the game was over !

Truly it has been defined as a game of glorious uncertainties !

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Younis Khan redeems Pak & Sangakara SL

Centuries by Sangakara and Younis Khan redeemed their countries. England now needs 341 to win. Pak drew the Calcutta Test, mainly due to the heroics of Khan.

Sangakara is in tremendous form and ranks now as No 3. His form with the bat is amazing. No doubt, along with Gilchrist and Dhoni, he is one of the best wicket keeeper batsmen in the world. Following his 92, his 152 is simply breathtaking. If he continues in this fashion, more records will tumble.

Pak batting asserted itself and they scored 214/4. Younis Khan continues in good form. No all eyes are on the final Test. Pressure still on Pak, as India leads 1-0

Monday, December 3, 2007

Misbah redeems Pak

With his 161 not out, Misbah played a stellar innings to rescue Pak.

Harbhajan took 5 wickets and the match looks like heading for a draw, unless the Indian spinners devastate.

Time is not enough for that, one feels. India is ahead with 301 runs and will declare today, but one feels that time is not enough to get 10 Pak wickets. Anyway one cannot tell about this game of glorious uncertainties.

In SL, Vandort and Jayasuria pulled SL from ignominy. Jayasuria, after a grand knock, announced his retirement from Test cricket.

Jaffer impressed again. D Karthik couldnt build an innings. We expect Yuvraj to come in for next Test. Why cant Dravid open ?

Sunday, December 2, 2007

ICC Ranking - Allrounders in Tests & ODIs

Tests

Rank Player Team Rating
1 J.H. Kallis SA 550
2 A. Flintoff ENG 361
3 S.M. Pollock SA 328
4 D.L. Vettori NZ 315
5 W.P.U.J.C. Vaas SL 255
6 C.H. Gayle WI 237
7 I.K. Pathan IND 229
8 B. Lee AUS 227
9 A. Kumble IND 210
10 D.J.J. Bravo WI 202

ODIs

Rank Player Team Rating
1 S.M. Pollock SA 474
2 C.H. Gayle WI 365
3 S.T. Jayasuriya SL 363
4 A. Flintoff ENG 353
5 J.H. Kallis RSA 345
6 S.B. Styris NZ 317
7 J.D.P. Oram NZ 308
8 Shahid Afridi PAK 303
9 A. Symonds AUS 298
10 Shoaib Malik PAK 289

ICC Ranking - ODI Bowlers

1 S.M. Pollock SA 855
2 S.E.Bond NZ 790
3 N.W. Bracken AUS 757
4 W.P.U.J.C. Vaas SL 717
5 M. Muralidaran SL 712
6 D.L. Vettori NZ 697
7 M. Ntini RSA 691
8 G.B. Hogg AUS 674
9 B. Lee AUS 670
10 M.F. Maharoof SL 664


Source : www.stickiewicket.com

ICC Ranking - Test Bowlers

LG ICC TEST BOWLERS RANKING

Rank Player Team Rating
1 M. Muralidaran SL 904
2 M. Ntini SA 808
3 DW Steyn SA 775
4 S.R. Clark AUS 769
5 B. Lee AUS 726
6 S.E. Bond NZ 724
7 A. Kumble IND 702
8 S.M. Pollock RSA 701
9 M.J. Hoggard ENG 700
10 Shoaib Akhtar PAK 684

Source : www.stickiewicket.com

ICC Ranking - ODI Batsmen

LG ICC ODI BATSMAN RANKING

Rank Player Team Rating

1 R.T. Ponting AUS 788
2 A. Symonds AUS 765
3 M.L. Hayden AUS 755
4 G.C. Smith RSA 749
5 K.P. Pietersen ENG 748
6 Mohammad Yousuf PAK 742
7 M.E.K. Hussey AUS 740
8 S.R. Tendulkar IND 736
9 R.R. Sarwan WI 724
10 C.H. Gayle WI 720

Source : www.stickiewicket.com

ICC Rankings - Test Batsmen

LG ICC TEST BATSMAN RANKING

Rank Player Team Rating

1 R.T. Ponting AUS 936
2 J.H.Kallis RSA 935
3 K.C. Sangakkara SL 919
4 Mohammad Yousuf PAK 908
5 M.E.K. Hussey AUS 874
6 K.P. Pietersen ENG 872
7 Younis Khan PAK 828
8 M.L. Hayden AUS 803
9 S. Chanderpaul WI 762
10 M.J. Clarke AUS 751

Source : www.stickiewicket.com

WI, RSA take revenge

Wi beat ZIM comprehensively. So did RSA against NZ.

In Calcutta, centuries by Misbah and Akmal brought some semblance of sanity into Pak batting. Pak may avoid the follow-n, as they need 50 odd runs to do so.

Magnificent century by Gibbs made it easy for RSA. Gibbs in full cry is a treat to watch. He surely is one of the best attacking batsmen in the world today.

If Pak avoids the follow-on, most probably the Test will be drawn. Everything depends on Misbah. The Indian bowlers could not do much on tha easy paced track.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Second day belonged to India

Yesterday Zimbabwe's remarkable win was great, as also NZ's.

Today, at Calcutta, both Ganguly and Laxman scored centuries and India declared at 616/5 and took a Pak wicket for 50. Kumble effected the first breakthrough.

Ganguly scored his 14th hundred and Laxman, his 11th. This is a great comeback for Ganguly. His allround performance was good in the last Test. If India wins the series, she may move over to the 3rd position in Tests.

SL were all out for 188. England in reply are 49/1. Sangakkara continued his ominous form with the bat and scored 92. Hoggard took 4/29, wrecking SL. Tomorrow the match will start earlier than scheduled.

India has a different team for Tests, another XI for ODIs and another XI for T20s! Australia, on the other hand, has the same eleven for all formats ! The explanation given is that the Test batsmen like Dravid, Laxman etc are slow starters or they take time to settle down. Anyway, it has been a good disply by India, ( except against Aussies ) in all three formats of late !