Sach Roars again....

Well the script was perwriten on the end of day-2 itself with the always tursty sachin was going to get his ton no 42. one could see the grid in sachin's eyes who wanted to score a ton in this tour. As soon as he walked in sachin was on the button and he started to score in a brisk phase. he once again raised the bat towards the sky for the 42nd time in test to mark him reaching the magical figure of "100". he was able supported by yuvi and mahi who scored 22 and 47 respectivly. yuvi left a martin delivery just to see his stumps rattled. a misjudgment from him cost his wicket. but not to take anything from the bowler who was able to cut the ball sharply from way out side half stump to half and middle. it was a superb spell from martin.

Obrain on the other end was also bowling his best in this test may be in the whole of the tour. mahi was first caught by ryder but when the 3rd umpire was asked for a referal by the on field umpires it was evident that the ball bounced before it was caught by Ryder. And Ryder was in no possition of having the knowledge if he collected it or not. the guy was air born at that instance. Thank fully its not a match in Australia if so the Ausi would have said "THATS OUT MATE I TOOK IT CLEANLY AND ITS A RIPPER OF A CATCH" but as we know the kiwi's are good sports and took the decision as a positive event.

Day ends early due to bad light

Morning session saw the indians getting on wuth their job of scoring runs as usual. but the india run machine had its first blow in viru. this was the only way he can get him self out by the form he is in "A Run out". ya he responed late for a call from his partner gautam and he paid the price for it

 then came the Wall Dravid, he showed his class and the way the game is played. he made a good half century but the wall was broken for a score of 66 when he was bowled by an incoming ball from Obrain. he was soon followed by Gautam how made a fluent 72 before edging one from martin and McCullam pouched it .

Then came in the mastro and VVS. both played on till tea. the way  VVS it was eviden about his lack of batting practice. his missery was brought an end as son as the 2 new ball was taken and the 2nd ball of the over he was caugth in the slips by Tylor.

End of the day was early because of bad light and Mastro looking out for yet another ton is playing well on 70* wit yuvi on 8*. lets hope its another ton no 42 from sachin

Morning and mid day... Change in fortunes

The first day of the first test between India and Newzeland produced one of the best display of a sporting pitch and a great fight back ever. Mahi won the toss and chose to field first only for a reason that it might help the seamers in the first hour or so and so it did. 61/6 is what the score was when players went for lunch the indian quicks have removed the top order batsmen for just a score of 61 during lunch mainly because of the assistance the pitch provided for a while, and the conditions where used very well by the team. this is the reason why this time around the Kiwi's did think about a green top wicket in front of the indians. this team will strive in green top pitches for sure. best examples are the loss teams like England and Australia had in their own back yards. 

but after lunch it was the time for the brave to show off their grit and persistance. the kiwi captain victory and ryder put one of the best stance we would see in the test cricket for sure. Victory who is a lower middle order batsman showed a lot of fighters insting and attacked the indian bowlers with the attacking and more dangerous Ryder played a composed test match innings which showed his skill and tallent in display proving he is a asset to the Kiwi's and a future prospect. one could not realise their eye when the captain reached the ton first before he got an under edge from a munaf delivery, and the next ball he cleaned up mills for a duck. the stance between Danial and  Ryder was the best 7th wicket parternership stance against india. fianlly india cleaned up but it was really a tens and rib tickling to see Martin face baji with Ryder standing on the non sticker side on a score of 98. the following over he scored a four off ishant to reach his maiden test ton and perished the following ball trying send the ball out of the ground.

Walked in Viru and Gautham, the usual parterners in crime for india. Both played few nice looking shoots and end of the day the score stood as 279 all out NZ and 29/0 India.

the days play saw both the extrimes for sure, one session 6 wickets fell and then a good batting performance by the Kiwi's. A score of 279 only with 2 centurians in the team shows a lot about what a great test playing day it was.. 

200 not so far away

Its a dream every one is having these days. scoring a double century. well u might ask there are a number of guys who have scored a double century in test cricket. But now i am talking about a DOUBLE CENTURY IN ODI. yes people a double century in one day internationals. and there are quite a number of contenders for that post for now.. lets talk bout the indian contingen first

INDIA:

1. Viru

2. Yuvi

3. Mahi

4. Sachin

5. Raina and on a given day even Yusuf can do the trick

NewZeland:

1. McCullam

2. Ryder

3. Guptill.

Austrilia:

1. Pointing

2. Sydmons if promoted to on down or he bats by 10th over.

Srilanka:

One and only Jayasuriya

Pakisthan:

Afridi can but for that he has to stay till he scores a 50

Westindies:

Gayle only can do it

England:

1. Kevin is the only potential enough person but for that he has to get enough strick from his co players.

South Africa:

1. Smith

2. Gibbs

3. A.B

4. Morkel if he is sent up the order.

These are all the players who can break the record and the day is not so fare from now on. the batting power play will play an important role in this format to achive 200 runs by just a batsman.  till the dream is achived lets wait for it.

Bang bang bang viru

Well it was another weather truncated match in the Newzeland soil. yes it was Raining "Water drops and SIX's'. A good toss to have won by Vitory and choose to bat first. Ryder and McCullum initally started off steadly. the Ball was doing a bit and there was a bit of carry for the new ball bowlers. as soon as ishant was brought in it was a run feast for the openning pair. Then came yuvi and yusuf, who bowled well but yuvi was denied a wicket simply Dhoni could not collect the ball cleanly and stump McCullum. But yuvi got hte wicket of Ryder soon to be followed by Taylor giving a wicket to yusuf, and the middle order slumped. In came McGlashan and Elliot who gave the needed runs to their team. The rain intrupted and play was called for 47 overs a side affair. at the end the score stood as 270/5 in 47 overs.

And for the indians the total was reviced as 281 in 47 overs according to the DWL method. Walked in the indian openners  Viru and Gautham. Both did not see a reviced total at all i think all they saw was the ropes. Then the Viru show started. in India it was te holi celebration the festival of colours, so Viru showed "Black, Blue , Green", Viru showed a rainbow  of colours to the NZ players by his raining sixes.. He crossed 50 in just 33 balls and completed the ton with a six of Vitory in just 60 balls. fastest by an Indian to have scored, beating Azras 63 balls century which stood  before as a record for almost 23 years. 

the rain gods intrupted again but the damage was done already by now. the target was reviced as 221 in 37 overs. india where 201/0 with almost 70 balls in hand that te sky openned up yet again. The call was made and india was declared the winner, the match result was "India won by ten wickets"

the irony about the match when rain came in at 19.2 overs the required run according to the DWL method  was 97/0 compared to the 169/0. the match was swon by then itself. The loss was evident when you could see Guptil turn around towards the crowd asking for ball in the long off as soon as Viru hit a ball shows the faith the oppenents have on viru

Aus smile on the revenge taken

The ausi captain ricky pointing would be smiling today with the content of winning a test serise, retaining the NO.1 status and the most importantly the sweet taste of revenge.

He has to thank his inform bowler or in other the cheif in crushing the protiers Michel Johnson. Well assisted with the new commer in peter siddle. Huges also played a role in the series win with back to back tons in both the innings and becoming the youngest batsmen to do so. in the home series loss the openning pair did not give the required starts with Hayden not giving the start.

Ausi camp has taken the revenge of a defeat they had in their back yards not so long ago. It has to been seen if this is going to be the rise of the ausi team out of the ashes like a phenoix. Or is it just a show of a hurt team which may fade off in the water when a more resilent team would play against them.

the series loss could be complimented to injury hit skipper Smith. A agressive openner in him was not at all seen in this series. he was not in his elements with both the bat and leading the team. May be he did rushed in to the team without giving much of rest to his elbow. even the bowlers were easily played by the ausi batsmen. Something has to be done about Nitiny too. he is not the same bowler when he was under pollock's company. being the senior most bowler is taking a toll at him.

Hope the protiers play some real good cricket in the up coming games

Flat Flat Flat.... Flat all the way

Usually the westindian pitches where suppose to be bouncy and seemer frendly tracks in which results where obvious and every pace bowler in the world would like to have a bowl in those pitches. But in the recent times its seen the pitches are slow and Flat as much they can. Most of the pitches in the country are not result oriented rather a stall mate oriented wickets.

The very evidence of all most 9 centuries from the English and 8 tons by the home team batsmen is an alarming sign of how flat these pitches are turning out to be. All though the batsmen who got tons from both the teams are the best in the game the view of the final days pitch shows that its not a strip where a result could have been expected.

The on going test series is not the only evidence about the status of the pittch but the results of test matches for the past few years is the answer for the questions been raised. there is also a drop in the number of Westindian fans turning out for the games. this shows the people them selfs are not to keen in watching the game.

This could sound the death of intrest in the game if the westindian cricket board dose not act swiftly enough.

Multiplexes to telecast IPL matches

 Indian Premier League (IPL) matches will be telecast live at multiplexes in the country.

Announcing this here Tuesday, IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi said tendering for the telecast rights at multiplexes is in the process.

'It is an ongoing process and we have invited bids from the multiplexes. However, the multiplexes in the city in which the match is played will not show it live. For instance, a match in Mumbai can't be shown there,' .

The IPL is planning to have commentary in various languages to attract local fans.

'A person in Chennai can listen to the commentary in Tamil,' 

Pakistan complaints for their mistake

Pakistan's cricket board lodged a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday over remarks by referee Chris Broad criticising security after last week's attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

"We have sent a written complaint as we believe Broad made unwarranted critical remarks about the security arrangements," Saleem Altaf, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief operating officer, told Reuters.

"The proper procedure for him was to inform the ICC about his views in his tour report not to make unwarranted comments publicly."

But the board has frogot its commitment to all the players and referees about the security for they but still want to complaint on a person who had gone through the most forafic incident in his whole life yet.

Left hander are elegant to watch

As batsmen discover new strokes, new ways to get to the boundary (or into the stands), some of the old ones seem to have fallen off the charts, taking with them the words used to describe these. We no longer read of the elegant late cut or the stylish leg glance; instead we have the effective upper cut or the productive reverse sweep. It is not that grace has deserted the game and batsmen have put efficiency before charm, but in recent years a Mahela Jayawardene has become the exception, a visually pleasing batsman incapable of playing an ugly stroke.

Yet one kind of batsman continues to get a good press. If you are a left-hander, it is automatically assumed that you are graceful, artistic, delicate and all those wonderful things that romantics like to burden cricket with. This is one of the game's most common myths - that left-handedness is by itself the reason for grace and elegance.

In Right Hand, Left Hand, winner of the Aventis Prize foe Science Books in 2003, Chris McManus says that around 10% of the population and perhaps 20% of top sportsmen are left-handed. He makes the point that left-handers have the advantage in asymmetric sports like baseball, where the right-handed batter has to run anti-clockwise towards first base after swinging and facing to his left. Sometimes the asymmetries, he says, are subtle, as in badminton, where the feathers of the shuttlecock are arranged clockwise, making it go to the right, so smashes are not equally easy from left and right of the court. Sometimes, of course, the left-hander is at a total disadvantage, as in polo, where the mallet has to be held in the right hand on the right side of the horse, or in hockey, where the sticks are held right handed. No natural grace here.

It is the comparative rarity of the left-hander that gives the illusion of grace. David Gower, most graceful of batsmen, used that very word, "illusion", to describe the left-hander's apparent grace.

"The fact is," he once told an interviewer, "both (the right-handers and the left-handers) have been horribly misnamed because the left-hander is really a right-hander and the right-hander is really a left-hander, if you work out which hand is doing most of the work. So from my point of view, my right arm is my strongest and therefore it's the right hand, right eye and generally the right side which is doing all the work. So if there is anything about this, then the left-handers, as such, should be called right-handers."

"It's the top hand which is doing all the work. It appears there's an illusion about this aspect too... they talk about left-handers having grace. Not all of them do. Though Allan Border was a wonderful player, he was short on grace."

A dream by the PCB

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt said on Sunday his country could host an international team in the next six to nine months and will still co-host the 2011 World Cup.

Butt was speaking by telephone on BBC's Five Live Sportsweek programme about the militant attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore on Tuesday in which seven people were killed and six members of the Sri Lankan team injured.

"I would expect teams will tour here again as soon as possible. I would give it six to nine months to get things organised," he said.

"I would want us to get security to a level that would be a guarantee from my government that no such incident like this could happen again, or I will not invite anybody.

"Once I have this assurance I may then invite people to come here. But this can happen anywhere. I cannot give that guarantee, but my government can. If they cannot then we will not have cricket in Pakistan at all. I definitely think that we will stage part of the World Cup in 2011."

Butt said he disagreed with match referee Chris Broad who said there had not been enough security to protect players and officials. Former England batsman Broad was travelling in the officials' bus behind the Sri Lanka team.

"I totally disagree with Chris Broad, he is overdoing it. And it is wrong if they (the International Cricket Council) are siding with one man's opinion. I have told them that this opinion is totally wrong," Butt said.

Its a dream the PCB is having regarding international teams returning in such a short period. Even if the players are air lifthed from their hotels to the stadium international players would refuse to play in  pakistan in the  near furture is jus a dream. Even kids in the streets of the country where quick to react about the question asked by a reporter regarding Pakistan being a venue for international cricket tha answer was "NO"

Its better for the board to stop day dreaming and start concentrating on how to make the country free of antisocial elements.

the best batting line up says the mastre

On the batting line-up: I would definitely say this is the best Indian batting line-up. We got almost five or six guys who can clear the ropes at will. If you have a good four or five overs in a row, we could end up scoring 50-plus runs. At the back of our minds, we know that with such an explosive line-up no target is impossible.

On his first 100 in NZ in 19 years : I started opening in 1994 here and got close to it around that period. The next tour was actually 2002-03 where I missed out on a few matches because of an ankle injury. I have not played that many number of games here. I got close to scoring hundreds here, but didn't manage to. It is better late than never.

On opting out of T20: I opted out of the T20 teams as I felt I wasn't in a position to give my best and my body was not ready for it. The guys went and played brilliantly, and I don't want to change that momentum.

On getting 50 hundreds: I am enjoying the game. I just want to go out and enjoy my game and not have targets. While doing that if it happens, well and good. The most important factor is to keep enjoying my game and keep winning matches for India.

On 2011 World Cup: As I said earlier I want to enjoy my game. That is still some time away. At this moment, I want to concentrate on this tour. We'll see what happens later.

Brave driver saves a brave team

After narrowly escaping death, Sri Lankan cricketers Tuesday praised Pakistani bus driver Mehar Mohammad Khalil for driving them out of danger amid firing by terrorists.

'The Sri Lankan cricketers were praising their driver for his bravery,' Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ijaz Butt told reporters after meeting the visitors at an undisclosed location.

'They wanted to thank him before heading back home,' he added.

Egged on by players who were screaming 'go, go', the driver sped away from the scene of the attack even as a group of terrorists kept firing at the vehicle. Six cricketers, however, were injured.

Butt said he had lunch with the traumatised Sri Lankans and insisted that all of them escaped serious injuries.

He said batsman Thilan Samaraweera was the only Sri Lankan cricketer who suffered a bullet injury.

'Thankfully it's just a flesh wound. He was hit by a bullet in the back but it didn't penetrate into the bone. He should be fine,' said the PCB chief.

Butt said the Sri Lankans were in high spirits as they waited for a chartered plane to go back to Colombo via Abu Dhabi.

'Thank god all the players are safe,' he said. 'They are our guests and their safety was our biggest responsibility.'

India wins the first encunter

Virender Sehwag set the tone with a typical fire-starting innings, and fine hands from Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were also instrumental as India eased to a comfortable 53-run victory [by Duckworth-Lewis] in a match twice interrupted by rain.

India piled up a mammoth 273 for 4 from their 38 overs and then reduced New Zealand to 111 for 4 before further rain left them the near-impossible task of scoring 105 from 43 balls. Harbhajan Singh then picked up three wickets in four balls as the match fizzled out and apart from Martin Guptill's accomplished 64, there was little for New Zealand to take from McLean Park.

After a small mid-innings wobble, Raina and Dhoni added 110 from just 12.2 overs to wrest the initiative. Daniel Vettori had brought about a lull in the proceedings after Ross Taylor's stunning catch to send back Sehwag, but once 40 came from the three overs of the batting Powerplay, there was no holding the Indians back.

New Zealand had reason to rue some poor bowling, with Kyle Mills, returning from injury, especially culpable. Raina was in superb touch, and full tosses from Mills were ruthlessly dealt with, usually with cleaves of the bat that sent the ball soaring over midwicket for six. When the bowlers tried to curb him by bowling wide of the stumps, Raina improvised to squeeze-steer the ball backward of point for fours. With Dhoni rotating the strike cleverly at the other end, New Zealand had no answer.

It wasn't as though Dhoni was only the supporting act though. He pulled powerfully on occasion, paddle-swept cleverly and also played one majestic wristy flick through midwicket off Ian Butler. With the regular bowlers powerless to stop the onslaught, Vettori turned to Grant Elliott. It worked, with Raina miscuing another big hit. But by then, the run-rate was hovering around seven an over, and it went beyond that as Yusuf Pathan (20 from just 10 balls) and Dhoni finished strongly.

Sehwag had started the day with a clutch off fours off the wayward Mills, but the players were back inside the dressing rooms within 20 minutes as the rain came down. By the time the game resumed, 24 overs in total had been lost, and India's sense of urgency was apparent. Sachin Tendulkar pulled Iain O'Brien for four, and then guided Mills through the vacant slip position, while Sehwag cut a six over point.

Things were looking bleak for New Zealand before Ian Butler came on, playing his first ODI in more than four years. It was an inspired move, with Tendulkar getting the thinnest of edges through to Brendon McCullum. That didn't stop Sehwag though. He pulled Jacob Oram for four to get to his half-century from 37 balls and then clipped one through midwicket for four more. Even Butler wasn't spared, with a cut for four and a swat through square-leg as the 100 of the innings came up in just 14 overs.

Vettori brought himself on immediately afterwards, but there was little respite. Dhoni cut one powerfully for four and then lofted one to the sightscreen, before Taylor's dramatic intervention gave New Zealand a sniff of a chance. When Yuvraj, bogged down by accurate bowling, followed soon after - a victim of his own hesitation between the wickets - India could have lost their way, but Dhoni and Raina hadn't forgotten their compasses or their range of strokes.

New Zealand never got the stroke-filled start that they needed. Zaheer Khan commenced with a maiden over, but it was Praveen Kumar who struck the crucial blow early on, having McCullum caught off the top edge at deep fine-leg. Jesse Ryder thumped him down to long-off for a four, but another attempted heave only found Sehwag inside the circle.

Only 23 runs came from the first eight overs of the Powerplay, but Taylor and Guptill then broke free with some attractive strokes. Taylor cut Munaf Patel for four, while Guptill lofted the ball sweetly down to the long-on boundary. With singles and twos being taken cleverly, the Indians were briefly rattled.

Taylor greeted Yusuf with a cut for four behind point, but a miscued slog-sweep only found Sachin Tendulkar at short fine-leg. Guptill continued to work the ball around cleverly, but with the fours drying up, the game began to drift away. And the pressure eventually told when Raina's throw from the deep found Elliott just short of his ground while going for a second run.

The rain then returned, and with 10 overs lopped off the innings, there was only time for New Zealand to go down swinging. Jacob Oram was caught behind off Yuvraj and Neil Broom stumped off Harbhajan. Guptill's resistance then ended with a fine catch by Gautam Gambhir at deep midwicket. Vettori ensured that his team wouldn't be bowled out, but that was little consolation on a day when New Zealand were second-best by a distance.

Terror makes chopper lift off from 22 yards.

Pakistan's status as an international sporting venue has come under doubt after masked terrorists attacked the team bus carrying Sri Lanka's cricketers to the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore on Tuesday morning. Five cricketers, including Mahela Jayawardene, the captain, and Kumar Sangakkara, his deputy, received minor injuries. Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paravitarana were also injured in the attack which killed six security men and two civilians.

The ongoing Lahore Test has been called off and the tour cancelled. Sri Lanka's cricketers were evacuated from Gaddafi stadium and taken to a nearby airbase from where they are to fly back to Colombo.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's president, condemned the "cowardly terrorist attack" and asked foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama to fly to Pakistan to oversee the evacuation of the Sri Lankan players.

The bus came under attack as we were driving to the stadium, the gunmen targeted the wheels of the bus first and then the bus," Mahela Jayawardene said. "We all dived to the floor to take cover. About five players have been injured and also Paul Farbrace. The most important off all this is all the 12 terrorist are at large scot free roaming freely woth their head held high about this incident. All these days the claims of the PCB that cricketers will never be targeted by the millitant group has gone in drains. Now the porbality of pakistan hosting the 2011 World cup is under serious threat. If given a chance to play in pakistan even i would back off as a player. A country where humanity is lost has also lost its sporting ablity atleast for another three to four years

SA or AUS cat on the wall for both the teams

The day started with the kangaroos with a lead of 297 with 9 wickets in hand the Huges with his skipper started the day. It was the pointings wicket which started the collapse of the wall for the visitors and in no time the score stood as 207 all out. No one expect huges hold the fort a bit for the visitors but he was lucky not to be judged caught. At the end of the Australians innings we saw the battle between two quicks. Steyn Vs Siddle this time it was steyn with the cherry and siddle with the ball. steyn was returning the favors what siddle was seen handing out to steyn the day before. Siddle stood his ground firm and steyn finally got a wicket of hilfenhaus and the innings was over

 

Next it was the turn of the proteries. Both  McKenzie and Smith started off well adding another 50+ partnership between them yet again for their country. Finally the shekels where broken by Johnson when he removed McKenzie for 35. Smith reached his half century but on 69 he miss quid the length of the ball and pulled it just to miss time the ball high straight into the waiting hands of Johnson. Skippers of both sides showed different reactions, one happy to see his counter part departing and other fumed for playing a wrong shot after all the hard work. End of the day the score stood as 178/2 with Amla on 43 and Kallis on 26. the game is open for all three results. Can SA bring out another magical test win or can the Aussis make this their game or will it be a tame draw. What ever the result we are in for a great game of cricket tomorrow.

 Brendon McCullum gave yet another masterclass in Twenty20 batting, keeping his nerve to shepherd New Zealand to a last-ball win. The match followed a similar script to the Christchurch game for 37 overs, with New Zealand completely in control, before Irfan Pathan's double-strike in the 18th over of the chase sparked India to life.

From a requirement of 28 off the last three overs with eight wickets in hand, it came down to nine runs off three balls. A calm Brendon McCullum slapped a couple of powerful boundaries, before a top-edge off the final delivery sailed agonisingly beyond the grasp of Rohit Sharma at mid-off to seal the victory.

The home side looked as if they would coast to a win when the openers, McCullum and Jesse Ryder, waded into India's new-ball pair. Ryder clubbed the first ball into the crowd beyond long-on to launch a rollicking opening stand that raised 52 off 4.3 overs.

All the talk before India embarked on the tour was of swinging pitches and their potent fast bowlers, but it was the spinners who brought India back into contention today. Harbhajan Singh, making intelligent use of his doosra, and Ravindra Jadeja, firing the ball in, brought down New Zealand's run-rate from 10 to around seven. During that phase McCullum, who had got off to a blazing start, was content to pick the singles.

Zaheer Khan was brought back into the attack after the spinners were through; he bowled a few unplayable snorters but they were interspersed with loose deliveries that were easily put away. With New Zealand coasting, India fought back from an unlikely quarter - Irfan Pathan. His place had been under scrutiny and he had leaked 25 from his two overs with the new ball. But Mahendra Singh Dhoni tossed Irfan the ball with three overs to go even though Ishant Sharma had two overs left.

A swinging yorker removed Ross Taylor's offstump second ball and Jacob Oram went for a golden duck, edging a short, wide delivery to the keeper. Only five came from that over, but Yuvraj conceded 11 off the next leaving the home side needing 12 from the last six balls. The tension ratcheted up as Irfan kept it full, conceding only three singles from the first three balls before a nerveless McCullum showed why he's such a feared opponent, ensuring that New Zealand maintained their 100% Twenty20 record against India - played three, won three.

India's bowling and fielding was markedly better, but the batsmen served up a repeat of Wednesday's limp performance. India didn't try to hit every ball for six as in the previous game, but their shot selection still left a lot to be desired. Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan all fell to poor strokes as India frittered Sehwag's typically belligerent start