Australia humble Windies as hosts bow out
GROS ISLET, Saint Lucia: Australia knocked hosts the West Indies out of the World Twenty20 and kept alive the possibility of an Anglo-Australian final with a dominating six-wicket win here on Tuesday.
West Indies, in a match they had to win by 24 runs to reach the semi-finals were bowled out for just 105 at the Beausejour Stadium. Australia, in reply, lost two wickets on 31.
But Brad Haddin (42) saw Australia to the verge of victory before he got out with two runs needed to West Indies captain Chris Gayle.
The occasional off-spinner then ended the match with a ball that went for five wides, a delivery that summed up his team”s performance on the day.
Australia, who finished on 109 for four, won with 22 balls to spare. Their win ensured Sri Lanka, last year”s losing finalists, also went through to the semi-finals as Group F runners-up.
England will play Sri Lanka, who earlier Tuesday knocked out India with a five-wicket win, in the first semi-final here on Thursday. The second semi-final will see Australia playing defending champions Pakistan, also at Beausejour, on Friday. The final takes place at Barbados”s Kensington Oval on Sunday.
West Indies, who saw Gayle win the toss, suffered a dramatic collapse.
From the relative safety of 52 for two, they lost their next five wickets for 25 runs as they slumped to 77 for five. Only Ramnaresh Sarwan (26) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (24) made it past 20.
Australia leg-spinner Steven Smith, the man-of-the-match, took two wickets in two balls on his way to figures of three wickets for 20 runs as West Indies failed to sparkle under the Beausejour floodlights.
West Indies” star batsman Gayle was out second ball, clean bowled by left-arm quick Dirk Nannes, the tournament”s leading wicket-taker.
Then the experienced Chanderpaul, having flicked Mitchell Johnson”s second and fifth balls for four was out to the left-arm quick”s sixth. The left-handed batsman launched Johnson high over the bowler”s head but didn”t quite time his shot and David Hussey, running back from mid-on, took a superbly judged catch.
The slump really took hold in unlucky fashion when all-rounder Dwayne Bravo (six) was run out, backing up, after Johnson touched a Sarwan drive onto the stumps at the bowler”s end. Smith then got in on the act as recalled batsman Narsingh Deonarine holed out for a duck, caught by Michael Hussey at deep midwicket.
And he followed up with two wickets in two balls. Kieron Pollard (13) tried to work the ball legside but was beaten by the turn and wicketkeeper Haddin completed a neat stumping.
Next ball Darren Sammy, in front of his St Lucia home crowd, chipped a simple return catch back to Smith. Jerome Taylor survived the hat-trick.
Sarwan, the last of the specialist batsmen, tried to clear long-off but simply holed out off part-time spinner David Hussey to David Warner.
In reply, Warner made a typically brisk 25 off 12 balls before he edged paceman Taylor to Gayle at slip. And next ball 31 for one became 31 for two when Watson gloved an intended sweep off left-arm spinner Benn onto his stumps.
Clarke helped Haddin add 47 for the third wicket before he was brilliantly run out by Bravo, after an athletic stop and direct hit from short third man. But that was an all too rare highlight for the West Indies.
Pakistan 14-0 in 1st Innings at Stumps
SYDNEY: Pakistan 14-0 in 1st Innings at Stumps, Pakistan were 14 runs for no loss at close on day first of rain-delayed second cricket Test match against Australia after bowling out Kangaroos for mere 127 runs in their first innings here at SCG on Sunday morning.
Earlier, Australian were dismissed for 127 runs in their first innings.
Mohammed Sami and Mohammed Asif shone brilliantly from Pakistan as two contributed 9 wickets together.
Mohammed Asif claimed 6-44 – his carrier best bowling, meanwhile, Mohammed Sami took 3 quick wickets and Umar Gul grabbed one wicket.
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Michel Johanson made hectic 38 runs – carrier best score, while two Aussie batsmen were gone for not.
Pakistan 14-0 in 1st Innings at Stumps was first posted on January 3, 2010 at 2:36 pm.
Sreesanth puts India on the brink of an innings win
Sreesanth captured six out of the 13 Sri Lankan wickets that fell on the third day’s play at Kanpur to put India on the brink of a big innings victory. Sri Lanka in reply to India’s 642 crashed to 229 all out in their first innings and have already lost four wickets after following on!
The Lankans had a bad first session with Sreesanth picking up three wickets – opener Paranavitana (chasing a wide away going delivery to get caught for 38), Sangakkara (dragging a big cover drive onto the stumps to get bowled for 44) and Samaraweera (dragging his cut onto the stumps). Sri Lanka lost one more wicket in Angelo Mathews before lunch to get reduced to 138 for 5.
In the afternoon session, India had to wait for a long time before getting their next scalp as Mahela Jayawardene and Prasanna Jayawardene got a partnership going. It was again Sreesanth who provided the breakthrough by having Prasanna (39) caught behind playing a loose cut shot. Mahela Jayawardene (47) followed him back to the pavilion after a big shot off debutant spinner Pragyan Ojha failed to clear mid on. Sreesanth soon picked up his fifth wicket when he bowled left handed Rangana Herath with one that swung away from middle to hit the off stump. Sri Lanka went to Tea at 219 for 8.
The visitors got bowled out within no time after Tea and the follow on was enforced by Dhoni. Once again Sreesanth came good for India as he forced Dilshan to nick him behind. In a surprise move, Dhoni brought on Virender Sehwag in the 11th over and the part timer got rid of Paranavitana with an arm ball that had him lbw.
Sri Lanka got into horrible trouble moments later with Mahela Jayawardene getting run out due to a misjudgement of a single by Sangakkara. The Lankan Captain himself exited from the middle after dragging on a cut shot off Harbhajan onto the stumps. Sri Lanka finished the day’s play ar 57 for 4 in their second innings and know very well that nothing can save them from a big defeat tomorrow
.
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Sreesanth puts India on the brink of an innings win was first posted on November 26, 2009 at 8:16 pm.
Pak Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Visits Peshawar
November 25, 2009 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
TrendPK.com Pak Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Visits Peshawar ESHAWAR: Chief of Army staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has arrived here in Peshawar on a daylong visit on Wednesday. The Chief of Army Staff was received by Corps Commander Lt. Gen.
TrendPK.com Pak Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Visits Peshawar ESHAWAR: Chief of Army staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has arrived here in Peshawar on a daylong visit on Wednesday.
The Chief of Army Staff was received by Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Muhammad Masood Aslam at Peshawar Airport.
During the day long visit [...]
New Zealand 404-8 At Stumps On Day Two Vs Pakistan
November 25, 2009 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
TrendPK.com New Zealand 404-8 At Stumps On Day Two Vs Pakistan UNEDIN: New Zealand were 404 for eight in their first innings at stumps on day two of the first cricket test between New Zealand and Pakistan at University Oval here today.
TrendPK.com New Zealand 404-8 At Stumps On Day Two Vs Pakistan UNEDIN: New Zealand were 404 for eight in their first innings at stumps on day two of the first cricket test between New Zealand and Pakistan at University Oval here today.
Bad light stopped play shortly after a resumption following [...]
Dravid, Dhoni rescue India with superb tons
Hosts India finished the opening day’s play of the first Test at Ahmedabad at an incredible 385 for 6 after being reduced to a disastrous 32 for 4 within the first hour of the match. Rahul Dravid proved his class yet again when the chips were down and partnered with Yuvraj Singh and Skipper MS Dhoni to steer India out of trouble. ‘The Wall’ – Rahul Dravid remained unfinished on 177 and MS Dhoni played a Captain’s knock to come up with his second Test hundred. Dravid also became the fifth player to cross 11,000 test runs during his big hundred.
MS Dhoni won the crucial toss which gave his team the opportunity to bat first on a good wicket. India stuck with a predictable line-up of seven batsman and four bowlers. Sreesanth had to sit out. Sri Lanka came up with some surprises with Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara missing out. Chanadaka Welegedara and Dammika Prasad got selected ahead of them. But the biggest decision was to drop Ajantha Mendis and retain left arm spinner Rangana Herath.
Sri Lanka had a dream start in rattling the Indian top order with left armer Chanaka Welegedara swinging the ball both ways to make inroads. The 28-year-old Welegedera got an unsure Gambhir inside edging onto the stumps and then followed up with a late inswinger to trap Sehwag lbw. Three balls after Sehwag’s fall, Sachin Tendulkar got cleaned up by one that nipped back sharply to knock his off stump bail through the gate. And six balls later, VVS Laxman too disappeared to the dressing room after chopping a drive off Dammika Prasad onto his stumps. India were out of the Test Match it seemed with the score tottering at 32 for 4 in the 8th over. They were in the danger of getting bowled out very cheaply like before against South Africa at this same venue when they could put up just 76.
Fortunately for India, the most important batsman survived the early blows and it was none other than Rahul Dravid. Yuvraj Singh walked into the middle in a situation that wasn’t new for him. The left hander had already featured in a rear-guard action against Pakistan along with Sourav Ganguly when India faced the same kind of pressure. Yuvraj replicated the same fightback and along with India saw through the difficult first session. At Lunch, India had started to claw back steadily at 105 for 4 in 25 overs with Dravid on 45 and Yuvraj on 35.
After lunch, Dravid and Yuvraj eases past their fifties but their partnership was broken when the latter lobbed a simple catch to covers off Murali against the run of play. Yuvraj fell in the 37th over having scored 68 (from 93 balls with 13 fours). The left hander put on 125 runs for the 5th wicket with Dravid. Sri Lanka now had got back the chance of dismissing India inside the 220-mark. But that wasn’t the case with Skipper MS Dhoni continuing Yuvraj’s good work and giving the right kind of support to Dravid. India went into Tea smoothly without any further damage to 221 for 5 in 54 overs. Dravid was just two runs short of his century and Dhoni worked his way to nearly 30.
The final session was a repeat of the previous one with Dravid putting up another big partnership. The Sri Lankan spinners – Muralitharan and Herath failed to get any purchase off the wicket and that left the Indian pair to dominate them with ease. After an hour’s play, India was out of trouble completely at 299 for 5 in 70 overs with the bowlers getting tired totally. MS Dhoni got to his second Test match hundred but fell just moments before the close of play when he edged a cut shot off the second new ball to the keeper from the expensive Dammika Prasad. Dhoni got out scoring a well-paced 110 from 159 balls (with 10 fours and a six) and his partnership with Dravid was worth 224 runs!
India finished Day 1 safely at 385 for 6 with Dravid still holding fort and Harbhajan Singh batting out the last few balls quite sensibly. Dravid’s unbeaten 177 took just the 251 balls and was filled with 26 fours and a six over long on off Herath. Welegedara, who did all the damage in the first session had to settle with figures of 3 for 75 in 17 overs. Muralitharan and Herath who were expected to wrap up the Indian innings after Welegedara’s blows came a cropper.
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Dravid, Dhoni rescue India with superb tons was first posted on November 16, 2009 at 9:07 pm.
Ind vs Aus 6th odi: India Fizzle out for 170 in Must Win Encounter
Ind vs Aus 6th odi: India Fizzle out for 170 in Must Win Encounter, India were bowled for 170 runs in the sixth ODI at Guwahati on Sunday morning, failing to survive their full quota of 50 overs.
Even for this moderate total, India had Ravindra Jadeja and Praveen Kumar to thank, who displayed great gusto to ensure that hosts retained a fighting chance of winning this crucial match and leveling the series.
20 year old Jadeja, who faced immense criticism for his reckless run-outs in the previous two games, showed the way to his illustrious seniors with a gritty 57 run-knock, his second ever half-century.
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Coming into bat with the scoreboard reading 27/5 and India facing an inglorious prospect of being bundled out for a 2-digit score, forget lasting 50 overs, initially along with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jadeja provided some much needed stability to the Indian ship.
But after Dhoni’s dismissal, Jadeja broke through the shackles and along with Praveen Kumar pushed India’s score past 150, in the process ensuring that the bowlers have a decent chance of saving the day for the hosts.
Jadeja and Kumar added 74 runs off 82 balls, exploiting the batting power play to the hilt, scoring 34 runs from it.
Jadeja eventually fell to Doug Bollinger when he failed to get the timing to pull right. Jadeja’s fighback lasted 103 balls and was sprinkled with 6 hits to the fence.
Praveen Kumar, undeterred, continued his impressive performances with the bat and slammed his maiden half-century as well. His batting prowess have been the find of the series for India in this series and gave yet another display of his immense untapped potential. He blasted 54 runs from just 51 balls and looked good to add a few more before Shane Watson’s double strike in the 48th over engulfed Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel to draw curtains on the Indian innings.
Earlier, the rebuilding process for the hosts had started with Dhoni and Jadeja putting their heads down when they joined forces at 27/5.
With runs coming at a snails pace, the duo ditched all forms of aggression as they attempted to offer a semblance of respectability to the Indian total.
However, it seemed to be back to square one when Bollinger, re-introduced into the attack for a second spell, trapped Dhoni leg before wicket. Dhoni, who became Bollinger’s third victim, contributed a painstakingly slow 24 runs off 77 balls to India’s cause.
In the same over Harbhajan Singh managed his second consecutive second ball duck as Australians seemed to have tightened the noose on the hosts, before heroics from Kumar and Jadeja gave India some breathing space.
In the morning, a disastrous start with the bat by India helped Australia wrest early advantage.
After Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat in this do-or-die match, India made the worst possible start as the opener Virender Sehwag and one-drop batsman Gautam Gambhir fell cheaply. Soon after, master blaster Sachin Tendulkar too made a beeline for the pavilion as Indian innings plunged deeper into crisis.
Having got off the mark with a six off the second very delivery of the match, Sehwag perished two balls later when he was beaten by late in-swing off a Mitchell Johnson delivery to see his stumps uprooted.
Johnson cleaned up the stumps of Gambhir too in the same over to reduce India to 7/2 after an action packed first over.
The biggest blow of the day however was struck by Doug Bollinger, who showcased his excellent reflexes to take a sharp return catch offered by Tendulkar to send the packed Jawaharlal Nehru stadium into shocked silence.
Tendulkar fell for 10 runs (17 balls, 2 fours) to leave India reeling at 23/3 after the sixth over.
Next up, Yuvraj Singh was clean bowled by Bollinger quite bizarrely as the ball hit the stumps due to a faint nudge from the back of his bat. Yuvraj himself was left bemused by the manner of his dismissal as he trudged out of the pitch sporting a wry smile.
Suresh Raina too failed to make a mark falling for a duck, his half-hearted swipe off Johnson latched onto by Nathan Hauritz.
Just 10 overs into the match, India was 27/5 leaving Dhoni and Jadeja with a mountain to climb even if India just aspire to make a match out of the contest now.
For Australia, Bollinger (5/35) and Johnson (3/39) dealt crucial blows to India while Shane Watson cleaned up the tail to finish with 2/27. Hauritz bowled a tidy 9 over spell conceding just 19 runs.
Meanwhile, India retained the same side that lost the Hyderabad ODI by mere 3 runs.
Australians however made one change to their playing eleven, bringing in Mitchell Johnson in place of Ben Hilfenhaus.
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The Teams:
Australia: Ricky Ponting (C), Michael Hussey (VC), Doug Bollinger, Nathan Hauritz, Jon Holland, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White and Clint McKay.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja.
Ind vs Aus 6th odi: India Fizzle out for 170 in Must Win Encounter was first posted on November 8, 2009 at 12:41 pm.
Srilanka Win 2nd Test Match From New Zealand
COLOMBO:Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in the second Test by 96 runs winning the Test series 2-0.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori led his team’s fight to avoid the defeat while chasing formidable target of 494, was the last Kiwi batsman out at 140.
Newf Zealand was all out at 397 runs.
Earlier, Tillakaratne Dilshan broke a threatening 124-run partnership between Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram as New Zealand attempts to salvage the second test on the fifth and final day Sunday.
New Zealand also enjoyed some luck after Vettori survived an edge to slip, then when Rangana Herath broke the stumps without the ball in his hand with Vettori still some distance to complete a run.
Herath grabbed five wickets for Sri Lanka.
New Zealand was bowled out for 234 in the first innings in reply to Sri Lanka’s 416.
Srilanka Win 2nd Test Match From New Zealand was first posted on August 30, 2009 at 5:23 pm.
©2009 “Pakistan News“.
Srilanka Vs NEw Zealand 2nd Test Match, NZ On 302-7 At Lunch
COLOMBO: Tillakaratne Dilshan broke a threatening 124-run partnership between Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram as New Zealand attempts to salvage the second test against Sri Lanka on the fifth and final day Sunday.
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The New Zealand went to lunch at 302-7 and must now bat out two full sessions to force a draw and avoid a two-test whitewash, or score 192 runs for an improbable victory.
After resuming the final day at 182-6, Vettori and Oram and batted sensibly to add 118 more runs in the first session before Dilshan had Oram caught at extra-cover by captain Kumar Sangakkara in the last over before lunch for 56 runs.
Oram faced 148 balls and hit five boundaries in brining up his sixth test half-century.
New Zealand captain Vettori was unbeaten on 68 runs with Jeetan Patel on 1 at the break.
The dogged partnership between Vettori and Oram came in 228 balls and came after New Zealand coach Andy Moles on Saturday accused his players for getting out after good starts and not learning from their mistakes. He called for some “character and fight” from his batsmen on the final day.
New Zealand also enjoyed some luck after Vettori survived an edge to slip, then when Rangana Herath broke the stumps without the ball in his hand with Vettori still some distance to complete a run.
Herath grabbed four wickets on Saturday to carry Sri Lanka within sight of victory and has the team’s best figures of 4-107.
Sri Lanka declared its second innings on 311-5, helped largely by an imperious 109 from Sangakkara.
New Zealand was bowled out for 234 in the first innings in reply to Sri Lanka’s 416.
Srilanka Vs NEw Zealand 2nd Test Match, NZ On 302-7 At Lunch was first posted on August 30, 2009 at 3:38 pm.
©2009 “Pakistan News“.
