Kohli-inspired India win by four wickets

PERTH: Youngster Virat Kohli steered India to a four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their tri-series one-day international in Perth Wednesday, but appeared to suffer a hamstring injury in the process.

Although Sachin Tendulkar again failed in his quest to score his long-awaited 100th international century, Kohli’s impressive 77 ensured the Indians notched a comfortable win.

Sri Lanka made 233-8 after winning the toss and electing to bat, but India replied with 234-6, reaching the victory target with 20 balls to spare.

It was the first time the sides had met in a one-day international since last year’s World Cup final, which India again won, that time by six wickets.

The Sri Lankan total never looked quite enough on a perfect Perth batting wicket and in front of a small crowd of 6,685 dominated by Indian fans.

They were desperate to see Tendulkar, the “Little Master”, reach his long-awaited milestone and he appeared to be cruising towards his half-century.

But on 48 he dragged an Angelo Mathews delivery onto his stumps to make it 27 Test and one-day innings since his last century, last March at the World Cup.

Kohli, the only Indian centurion during the tourists’ dismal 4-0 Test series loss to Australia, again upstaged his more celebrated team-mates, until he ran himself out and seemed to suffer a hamstring strain in doing so.

The 23-year-old was run out by a direct hit from Lasith Malinga at mid-on.

He had appeared to be suffering cramp late in his innings and had to be helped up from the ground after a despairing dive.

He faced 94 balls, hitting eight boundaries and one six.

India looked shaky at 181-6 when Kohli departed, but man-of-the-match Ravi Ashwin (30 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (24 not out) guided them home.

Dinesh Chandimal’s polished knock of 64 from 81 balls was the mainstay of the Sri Lankan innings and at least helped them post a competitive total.

Several of the Sri Lankan batsmen squandered promising starts, including opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (48) and veteran Kumar Sangakkara (26), but the 22-year-old Chandimal was the only one to reach 50.

However, he fell just as the Sri Lankans were trying to boost their run rate late in the innings, beaten in flight by the spin of Ashwin and comprehensively stumped by M.S. Dhoni in the 44th over.

Dhoni and Ashwin combined twice for stumpings, also removing Thisara Perera.

Ashwin, dropped from the Indian side for the third Test at the same venue last month, was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 3-32 from his 10 overs, while recalled paceman Zaheer Khan picked up 2-44 from 10 overs.

The loss continued a dismal record for Sri Lanka at the WACA, with just two one-day international wins in 16 matches.

The next match sees them face Australia at the same venue on Friday. AGENCIES

World Cup 2011: Wahab’s double strike rattled India, 161/4

Something extra ordinary was required to remove the pressure of Sehwag’s onslaught and Wahab did the magic with back to back strike and pushed India into a defensive mood.

First it was Kohli, who cut the ball only to hand a catch to Umar Akmal at point. Then came the stunner, Yuvraj Singh – the strongest contender for the player of the tournament – was back on his way after facing just one ball. It was full, it was straight, it was quick and it rattled the stumps.

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. India 119/2 after 20 overs. Tendulkar got the second life as Younis dropped a catch that must be taken when you were plying the World Cup semi-final. Tendulkar has already been dropped by Misbah and Afridi’s was the poor bowler at both occasions.

Afridi introduced offspinner Saeed Ajmal in the ninth over in search of break through and he almost picked Tendulkar twice in his second over. First he won an LBW decision in his favour only to get it overturned on a referral.

One ball later, Karman Akmal dislodged the bails but the batsman again proved lucky as just manage to land his foot on time.

Carrying the momentum of Sehwag’s blistering start, India cruise at 73/1 in 10 overs.

Sehwag went for the referral but the on field call stood as he was hit on the middle.

The right hander struck five boundaries to Gul in the third over of the innings. Gul kept pitching half-volleys and Sehwag taking full advantage. He hit two more boundaries, this time on the off side. Razzaq also went for 12 in his second over.

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 changes in the squad.
The semi-final match of the cricket world cup is being played at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali.

In the World Cup 2011, India and Pakistan have won four of their last five games but this will be the first time Pakistan is going to face India is 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.

If Pakistan loses the match, this will be the last time Shoaib Akhtar will be a part of the Pakistani cricket team as he earlier announced his retirement from international cricket.

Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi is regarded as a danger man as he is the leading wicket taker in the tournament with 21 wickets. He is also the first bowler in World Cup history to take four wickets in a match on four different occasions in a tournament which include two five wickets and two four wickets hauls. Umar Gul is also among the top 10 wicket taking bowlers in the tournament.

On the other hand, India has a strong batting line up with Sachin Tendulkar, the leading Indian run scorer with 379 runs which includes two centuries and a half century. Tendulkar is yet to score a century against Pakistan and if he does so he will have a record 100 centuries.

Apart from that, there are three Indian batsmen in the top 10 of most runs scored in the World Cup. Umar Akmal is the only Pakistani batsmen to score beyond 200 runs and the best placed Pakistani batman is ranked at number 28 for most number of runs scored in the tournament.

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.

World Cup 2011: Tendulkar survives close calls

Afridi introduced offspinner Saeed Ajmal in the ninth over in search of break through and he almost picked Tendulkar twice in his second over. First he won an LBW decision in his favour only to get it overturned on a referral.

One ball later, Karman Akmal dislodged the bails but the batsman again proved lucky as just manage to land his foot on time.

Carrying the momentum of Sehwag’s blistering start, India cruise at 73/1 in 10 overs.

Sehwag went for the referral but the on field call stood as he was hit on the middle.

The right hander struck five boundaries to Gul in the third over of the innings. Gul kept pitching half-volleys and Sehwag taking full advantage. He hit two more boundaries, this time on the off side. Razzaq also went for 12 in his second over.

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 changes in the squad.
The semi-final match of the cricket world cup is being played at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali.

In the World Cup 2011, India and Pakistan have won four of their last five games but this will be the first time Pakistan is going to face India is 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.

If Pakistan loses the match, this will be the last time Shoaib Akhtar will be a part of the Pakistani cricket team as he earlier announced his retirement from international cricket.

Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi is regarded as a danger man as he is the leading wicket taker in the tournament with 21 wickets. He is also the first bowler in World Cup history to take four wickets in a match on four different occasions in a tournament which include two five wickets and two four wickets hauls. Umar Gul is also among the top 10 wicket taking bowlers in the tournament.

On the other hand, India has a strong batting line up with Sachin Tendulkar, the leading Indian run scorer with 379 runs which includes two centuries and a half century. Tendulkar is yet to score a century against Pakistan and if he does so he will have a record 100 centuries.

Apart from that, there are three Indian batsmen in the top 10 of most runs scored in the World Cup. Umar Akmal is the only Pakistani batsmen to score beyond 200 runs and the best placed Pakistani batman is ranked at number 28 for most number of runs scored in the tournament.

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.

World Cup 2011: New Zealand beat South Africa by 49 runs

New Zealand beat South Africa by 49 runs in the 3rd quarterfinal of ICC World Cup 2011 at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. Following the target of 222, all South African side bowled out for 172 runs. Six Proteas batsmen couldn’t enter into the double figures. Jacob Oram got four wickets.

According to details New Zealand Captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and elected to bat first. Kiwi side goes early in trouble by losing the big wicket of Brendon McCullum on the first ball of 3rd over. He scored 4 runs. Soon after, Martin Guptill was taken by Steyn on just 1 run. He played 14 balls for this score. After losing two early wickets, Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor batted very sensibly and added 114 runs in the third wicket partnership. Taylor was taken by Imran Tahir when his score was 43. Scott Styris failed to play a big innings and turned back to pavilion after scoring 16 runs.

The innings of Ryder ended on 83, Ingram took his catch on the ball of Imran. Nathan McCullum was bowled out by Steyn on 6. Jacob Oram (7) was clean bowled by Morkal on the first delivery of 48th over. Daniel Vettori also dismissed on the second last ball of the same over. At the end of limited number of overs, New Zealand posted the total of 221/8 on the scoreboard. Kane Williamson was notout on 3. Morne Morkel was best South African bowler with 3 wickets. Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir finished the innings of two, two players.

Following the target of 222, South African side goes early in trouble by losing the big wicket of Hashim Amla. He scored 7 runs after playing 5 balls. Captain Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis played a bit responsible cricket and added 61 runs in the second wicket partnership. Smith turned back to pavilion after scoring 28 runs. This time in-form AB de Villiers came to join Kallis. The innings of Kallis finished ended on 47, he faced 75 balls for this score. JP Duminy failed to play a big innings and was soon taken by Nathan McCullum.

AB de Villiers became the fifth wicket of Kiwi side, he scored 35 runs. Soon after, Johan Botha was dismissed by Oram on 2. Robin Peterson turned back without opening his score account. Dale Steyn was taken by Nathan McCullum on 8. The resistance of Faf du Plessis finished by Oram on 36. Morne Morkel became the victory wicket of kiwis who scored 3 runs. After losing all wickets the score of South Africa was 172in 43.2 overs.
Jacob Oram was the most sussessful bowler of the winning side, he took four wickets. Nathan McCullum finished the innings of three Proteas batsmen.

Imran Tahir Four Wickets Ends England Inning For 171 Runs

South African spinner Imran Tahir took 4 wickets against the England and restricted them to 171 runs total. The spinners of South Africa done the job well and they bowled at accurate line and didn’t allow the batsman to score runs. The bowling was supper through out the inning.

The match is being played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai. This is neutral venue for both teams. England was looking to get at least 240 average score on the ground. The pitch was not batting paradise and the expectation of above 300 runs was not on from the England batsmen.

After losing the openers early in the inning Ravi Bhopara and Trott batted well for 99 runs partnership. Both scored half centuries. RJ Peterson took three wickets while young spinner Imran Tahir was the pick of the bowlers and he took four important wickets.

He ended the England inning with his good bowling. The pitch was looking good for spinners and the batsmen were struggling to score runs on the wicket. South Africa has a good chance to chase the small total set by England team. The need less then 4 runs per over to win the match. England difficulties to reach knock out stage will increase after the defeat.

Boxing Day Test: England rout Australia for 98

England tour of Australia, 4th Test: Australia v England at Melbourne
Australia 98
England 157/0 (47.0 ov)
England lead by 59 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
It was meant to be Boxing Day, not Boxing Australia Around the Ears Day. Within three sessions of complete England dominance at the MCG, they moved to within touching distance of retaining the Ashes by dismissing Australia for 98 and passing their total with no wickets down, leaving Ricky Ponting requiring a late Christmas miracle to avoid leading Australia to three Ashes series failures.
Chris Tremlett and James Anderson collected four wickets each, backing up Andrew Strauss’s decision to send the hosts in, before Strauss and Alastair Cook showed that with discipline, batting wasn’t that hard on a pitch with a little juice in it. The day could not possibly have gone better for England, who finished at 0 for 157 with Strauss on 64, Cook on 80, a hefty first-innings advantage in prospect and a 2-1 series lead on the horizon.
For Australia, it was up there with the opening day at Headingley against Pakistan this year, in terms of disastrous cricketing dates. Back then they chose to bat and managed only 88, but this time there was one slight difference – their dismal performance will probably cost them the Ashes. Not since 1936 had they scored a lower Ashes total at home, and that was in the days of uncovered pitches. It took Tremlett, Anderson and Tim Bresnan less than two sessions to run through the order as they hit consistent lines and kept the runs tight. They also exposed Australia’s team-wide inability to handle seam movement and swing, which is no great revelation but could not be ignored in front of 84,345 fans on the biggest day in the Australian cricket calendar. Every batsman fell to an edge caught behind the wicket, six to the wicketkeeper Matt Prior, two to slips and two to gully. Too many men played with hard hands away from their bodies, and they struggled to work out which deliveries to leave and which ones to play. The questions that the batting coach Justin Langer must consider surround not only technique, but also judgment. England picked up four wickets before the first break and in one particularly impressive patch they collected 3 for 0, as Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson all failed to make solid contact with the face of the bat. A rain delay had extended lunch by nearly an hour, but even that wasn’t enough to help the Australians survive until the scheduled tea break. But England’s bowlers certainly earned their wickets, especially the early strikes. Shane Watson was dropped twice on 0, as Paul Collingwood at slip and Kevin Pietersen at gully denied Anderson an early breakthrough. It was a sign of things to come, and Watson had only made 5 when he was surprised by sharp bounce from Tremlett and fended a loopy catch to Pietersen. Soon afterwards, Phillip Hughes (16) tried to cover-drive and edged to gully to hand Bresnan his first Ashes wicket, and without further addition to the score the Australians also lost Ricky Ponting. Again it was the rising ball from Tremlett that did the job, and this one nipped away significantly off the pitch, so much so that Ponting, on 10, did well to even get bat on ball as his edge flew to second slip. Australia’s recent saviour, Michael Hussey, joined the procession in the last over before lunch, when Anderson produced a pearler that moved away from Hussey and found a thin edge through to Prior. Then came the rain, an early and prolonged lunch, and after the break the dismissals got a bit softer, as Australia’s middle order failed to exercise due caution. The hosts want Steven Smith in the side for his energy and all-round talent, but as a Test No. 6 his technique needs a lot of work, and all it took was a probing delivery outside off stump from Anderson to draw an edge behind when Smith had 6. The top scorer Michael Clarke, who made 20, also wafted outside off at a ball he could have left, and edged behind off Anderson. And 5 for 77 soon became 8 for 77 when Haddin drove at Bresnan and gave Strauss a catch at first slip, before Johnson tickled a catch to Prior off Anderson. A few late runs came via Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle before Tremlett finished off the tail to finish with 4 for 26, a much deserved return after he was the best of the bowlers early, extracting bounce from a pitch expected to be as stodgy as leftover Christmas pudding. By the time Australia bowled, it looked like any spice in the pudding had lost its kick. In reality, they just didn’t bowl well enough, while Cook and Strauss defended solidly and left the right balls, also ticking the score along by chasing the bad deliveries, like an uppish cut to the vacant third-man area from Cook when he was given width. That Strauss and Cook both registered half-centuries before stumps was the perfect finale for the visitors, and Cook was already within sight of his third hundred of the series. Australia’s four-man pace attack had little impact – Michael Beer was made 12th man again – and by the close, Smith had tossed up a few overs of unthreatening legbreaks, including one that was slog-swept almost for six by Cook. Smith wasn’t born last time England won the Ashes in Australia, in 1986-87. He’s about to see it happen first-hand.

Aussies gamble on uncapped Doherty for Ashes

SYDNEY: Australia dropped Nathan Hauritz from the squad for next week’s first Ashes encounter on Saturday, leaving fellow spinner Xavier Doherty looking set for a test debut against England in Brisbane.

Selectors also removed young middle-order batsmen Callum Ferguson and Usman Khawaja as well as fast bowler Ryan Harris, who is returning from knee surgery, from the 17-man squad named on Monday.

Off-spinner Hauritz, who played in the last Ashes test in England last year and has taken 63 wickets in 17 tests, struggled on the recent tour of India and was only able to bowl one over in Sheffield Shield action this week.

Left-armer Doherty impressed with four wickets on his international debut in a one-day match against Sri Lanka two weeks ago, which Australia still contrived to lose from a dominant position.

“Nathan Hauritz is one of these players omitted

Pakistan secures easy win against Thailand

GUANGZHOU: Off-spinner Sana Gulzar took four wickets for just eight runs as Pakistan crushed Thailand in their Asian Games women’s cricket opener on Sunday.

After Thailand had been restricted to 49 all out, Pakistan cruised to an eight wicket victory in just 8.3 overs to hammer home their credentials as gold medal favourites.

The Thais lost their last eight wickets for just 23 runs with opener Siwaporn Kosathong the only player to reach double figures with 10.

Fast bowler Marina Iqbal and spinner Nida Rashid claimed two wickets each.

In reply, Fatima Abidi and Bismah Maroof saw Pakistan to victory after Rashid (21) and Javeria Wadood (19) had put on 42.

Pakistan will tackle hosts China in their next match.

“Today’s match was useful practice for the game against China,” said Pakistan captain Sana Mir.

“We don’t know too much

Indian bowlers restrict New Zealand to 350

HYDERABAD: India’s Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh picked up four wickets apiece to trigger a New Zealand batting collapse as the visitors folded up for 350 in their first innings of the second test on Saturday.

Resuming on a strong overnight score of 258-4 built on Tim McIntosh’s opening day ton, New Zealand added just 92 runs for the loss of six batsmen on day two at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

A watchful opening duo of Virender Sehwag (28) and Gautam Gambhir (29) then took India to 62 runs without loss at tea, continuing the hosts’ dominance on the second day.

In a fiery spell of left-arm swing bowling, Khan (4-69) trapped right-handers Gareth Hopkins (4) and Kane Williamson (4) leg before as he managed to get the ball to swing back from around the wicket.

Harbhajan then joined in the fun for the hosts by dismissing Daniel Vettori

Kallis, Tsotsobe lead South Africa win over Pakistan

ABU DHABI: Paceman Lonwabo Tsotsobe took four wickets and Jacques Kallis hit an unbeaten fifty to help a disciplined South Africa down Pakistan by eight wickets in the first one-day match here on Friday.

Tsotsobe took a career-best 4-27 off his ten tight overs to trigger a middle-order collapse and helped South Africa dismiss Pakistan for 203 before Kallis (66 retired hurt) saw off the target with 9.3 overs to spare.

The modest target was never beyond South Africa’s reach after Pakistan batsmen once again failed to take advantage of a good start on a flat Abu Dhabi Stadium, much to the disappointment of a 10,000 holiday crowd.

The 35-year-old Kallis, back after missing the limited over series against Zimbabwe at home and South Africa’s 2-0 win in the Twenty20 series which finished here on Wednesday due to injury, was at his usual best.

He steadied the

Next Page »