World Cup 2011: Pakistan get good start, reach 52

Earlier, India set 260 runs target against Pakistan to win in the match being played at Mohali Stadium. India won the toss and elected to bat first at a flat batting wicket but Wahab Riaz’s 5-wicket haul didn’t allow them to put a huge total. Sehwag provided the much-needed flying start but Wahab magic bowling pushed India into a defensive mode. After Sehwag, he bowled out Kohli and Yuvraj, the two inform batsmen.

Hafeez tossed the ball that enticed Gambhir to come forward but he missed and Kamran did the job. Gambhir made 27 off 32 and hit two boundaries in his innings. Bad fielding and dropping of five catches once again allowed Tendulkar to score 85 runs. Raina, at the end, grabbed India to past 250 scores. Pakistani spinners bowled superbly against strong Indian batting. Ajmal picked two wickets while Hafeez took one wicket.

After winning the toss, Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that he was not sure if this match was the biggest match he had ever played. He said that they had made one change in the team and Ashish Nehra has been called in place of Ravichandran Ashwin.

Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi said that winning or losing the toss did not matter. He said that they had made no change in the squad. In the World Cup 2011, India and Pakistan each have won four of their last five games but this will be the first time Pakistan is going to face India in semi-finals. Collectively, both the teams have faced each other four times in the World Cups, with India winning all four matches.

In the cricket ground in Mohali, Pakistan has played twice against India and won both the matches. Pakistan also has a better record in the One-Day-International matches as they have won 69 out of a total of 119 games while India only managed to win 46 matches.

Any team that wins today’s match will face Sri Lanka in the final of the World Cup on April 2. This will be the first World Cup final in which two Asian teams will be fighting for the top prize. Regardless of who wins the match, the World Cup trophy will return to Asia after 12 years.

India lose 2nd wicket at 116 runs against Pak

MOHALI: India lost its second batsman, Gautam Gambhir, in the World Cup semifinal at 116 runs.

Gambhir made 27 runs and became victim of Muhammad Hafeez.
Before Gambhir, Sehwag returned to the pavilion after making quick 38. Wahab Riaz got his wicket.

INDIA WIN TOSS AND ELECT TO BAT V PAKISTAN
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan in their World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Pakistan named an unchanged team from the lineup who beat West Indies in the quarter-finals while India brought in paceman Ashish Nehra for off-spinner Ravichandran Aswhin.

Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who will retire after the World Cup, was left out of the Pakistan XI.

The winner of the clash will meet Sri Lanka in Saturday’s final in Mumbai.

Tendulkar rejects liquor endorsement offer

Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar has refused a huge offer of 20 billion rupees to endorse a liquor brand.
Sachin Tendulkar had always been modeling for TV advertisements but he refused to endorse a liquor brand. It is also known that this company offered him as much as 20 billion rupees per year for the endorsement. Sachin Tendulkar said that for him, money does not have value; rather respectable fame is everything for him. While on the other side Mahendra Singh Dhoni recently signed for a three-year deal with Vijay Mallya’s UB Group, which is worth 26 billion rupees.

Gambhir leads India to easy win over New Zealand

JAIPUR: India’s stand-in captain Gautam Gambhir cracked an unbeaten 138 off 116 balls to lift the hosts to an eight-wicket win over New Zealand in the second one-day international on Wednesday.

The left-hander’s eighth one-day century enabled India to surpass New Zealand’s challenging 258-8 with seven overs to spare in the day-night match at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur.

The emphatic victory gave India a 2-0 lead in the five-match series after the hosts had won the first game in Guwahati on Sunday by 40 runs.

Gambhir put on 87 for the first wicket with Murali Vijay (33) and 116 for the second with Virat Kohli, who followed up his century in Guwahati with a fluent 64.

The skipper hit 18 boundaries in his fluent knock.

Gambhir led India as regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was rested for the series along with other senior players

India takes on Kiwis in second ODI today

Staff Report

NEW DELHI: After beating New Zealand in the first ODI comprehensively with a second string side, India will be looking to impose itself on the Kiwis even more to ensure that no resurgence happens.

India has rested regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and senior players, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Zahir Khan,

New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori and his deputy Brendon McCullum, who missed the first match, are likely to feature in the 2nd ODI.

Teams:

India (From): Gautam Gambhir(c), Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, S Sreesanth, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Jaidev Unadkat, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Saurabh Tiwary, Vinay Kumar

New Zealand (From): Jamie How, Brendon McCullum(w), Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Kane

Dilshan ton helps Sri Lanka destroy India in final

DAMBULLA: A brilliant century by opener Tillakaratne Dilshan led Sri Lanka to a crushing 74-run win over India in the final of the Tri-series on Saturday.

Dilshan bludgeoned 12 fours and a six to help the hosts amass a total of 299 for eight after choosing to bat first.

He shared a run-a-ball opening stand of 121 with Mahela Jayawardene (39) and also added 85 in 96 balls for the third wicket with captain Kumar Sangakkara (71).

In reply India lost Dinesh Karthik for a duck in the first over and their hopes took a serious dent when the in-form Virender Sehwag followed for 28.

Opener Sehwag, the leading run-scorer in the tournament, was run out by a direct hit as he attempted to steal a leg bye.

India then lost wickets regularly and only skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was able to offer resistance, top-scoring with 67 as his side were bowled out

Countrywide flood kills 1,500

PESHAWAR: Fears were growing Monday for up to 2.

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Countrywide flood kills 1,500

India look to square series sans Gambhir

NEW DELHI: Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have to burn the midnight oil in deciding the combination that he would field in the series-deciding third Test against Sri Lanka starting on Tuesday in Colombo.

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India look to square series sans Gambhir

Sri Lanka dominate first day in 2nd Test against India

COLOMBO: Tharanga Paranavitana and Kumar Sangakkara flayed India”s bowlers for centuries in consecutive matches as Sri Lanka dominated the opening day of the second Test on Monday.

The left-handed duo, who made hundreds in their victorious first Test in Galle, put on 174 for the second wicket to help the hosts pile up 312-2 by stumps at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

Paranavitana, a 28-year-old playing his 12th Test, revelled in the familiar environs of his home club to follow his maiden century at Galle with a fluent 100.

Skipper Sangakkara returned unbeaten on 130, his 23rd Test hundred, after he won the toss and elected to take first strike in typically good batting conditions at the SSC.

Both players reached their centuries in the same over, the 71st of the innings, as Paranavitana took three runs off a Pragyan Ojha misfield and Sangakkara lofted Virender Sehwag for a boundary.

Paranavitana was dimissed in the next over, bowled by seamer Ishant Sharma off the inside edge, but former captain Mahela Jayawardene kept Sangakkara company at stumps on 13.

The easy-paced wicket left India”s bowlers facing an uphill struggle in hot and humid weather after captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost his seventh straight toss.

Young seamer Abhimanyu Mithun went for 0-75 in 17 overs and leading spinner Harbhajan Singh gave away 61 runs in 22 wicketless overs.

India, trailing 1-0 in the three-match series, suffered twin blows when opener Gautam Gambhir and middle-order batsman Yuvraj were ruled out of the key match.

Gambhir failed to recover from a knee injury, while Yuvraj developed high fever overnight.

The duo were replaced by left-hand batsman Suresh Raina, making his Test debut after playing 98 one-day internationals, and opener Murali Vijay.

Sri Lanka changed the entire frontline bowling attack that won them the first Test by 10 wickets.

With Muttiah Muralitharan now retired and fast bowler Lasith Malinga injured, the hosts replaced them with spinner Ajantha Fernando and Dilhara Fernando.

Also out were left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and seamer Chanaka Welegedara. Their places went to debutant off-spinner Suraj Randiv and fast bowler Dammika Prasad.

Paranavitana and Dilshan gave Sri Lanka a flying start by hammering 99 for the first wicket in 18 overs.

Dilshan smashed 54 off 42 balls before he was caught at short extra-cover by Venkatsai Laxman off left-arm spinner Ojha to provide India their only success of the morning session.

Dilshan hit Sharma for four consecutive boundaries and then took three in one over from Mithun.

When Paranavitana lofted Harbhajan for a six over mid-wicket, he brought up both the century partnership with Sangakkara and the 200 of the innings.

Paranavitana also struck 10 boundaries.

Sri Lanka bat against India in second Test

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat in the second cricket Test against India at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Monday.

India, trailing 1-0 in the three-match series, suffered twin blows when opener Gautam Gambhir and middle-order batsman Yuvraj were ruled out of the key match.

Gambhir has a knee injury, while Yuvraj developed high fever overnight.

The duo will be replaced by left-hand batsman Suresh Raina, making his Test debut after playing 98 one-day internationals, and opener Murali Vijay.

Sri Lanka changed the entire frontline bowling attack that won them the first Test in Galle on 10 wickets.

With Muttiah Muralitharan now retired and fast bowler Lasith Malinga injured, Sri Lanka replaced them with spinner Ajantha Fernando and Dilhara Fernando.

Also out were left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and seamer Chanaka Welegedara. Their places went to debutant off-spinner Suraj Randiv and fast bowler Dammika Prasad.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Murali Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Venkatsai Laxman, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ishant Sharma.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene, Ajantha Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Suraj Randiv, Dammika Prasad.

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