July 31, 2010

Second Test match updates: India vs Srilanka

Second test cricket match which was played between India and Srilanka ended yesterday. On the fifth day of the second test match, India completed its first batting innings and Srilanka started its second batting innings. So far i had given updates till the day 3. I did not give update on the fourth day of the play.

On fourth day Virender Sehwag got out missing his century, he scored 99 runs and got out Suraj Randiv's delivery. Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar made his 48th test century and had a good partnership with Suresh Raina till the end of the day.

On the fifth day, Sachin Tendulkar added one more century to his test cricket centuries thereby totaling 49 centuries. Later he got out scoring 203 where he was tricked by Tillakaratne Dilshan's delivery by giving a straight catch to Prasanna Jayawardene. Suresh Raina got out after scoring his century. After the fall of 8 wickets, India had made a total score of 643 runs i.e, leading Srilanka by a run. But the last 2 wicket from Indian side showed a beautiful batting performance of 64 runs. India made a total score of 707 runs and lost all its 10 wickets thereby by putting an end to its first batting innings. Srilanka started its second batting innings and played for 45 overs. By the end of the day Srilanka scored a total run of 129 runs and lost 3 wickets. Match got drawn and man of the match was chosen as Kumar Sangakkara. Srilankans are leading the series by 1-0.

July 28, 2010

Second Test match day 2 updates: India vs Srilanka

On day 1, Srilanka had made a total of 312 runs and lost only 2 wickets. Srilankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara was unbeaten scoring 130 runs and Mahela Jayawardene at 13 runs. 


On the day 2, Srilanka had put up a massive total of 642 runs loosing only 4 wickets in total. Kumar Sangakkara made a brilliant double century and got out when he scored 219 runs. On the other hand, Mahela Jayawardene scored 174 runs before getting out. Thilan Samaraweera was unbeaten at 76 runs. Srilanka decided to declare the innings when Mahela Jayawardene got out. In yesterday's play, only Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag took wicket of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara respectively.


India opened its first batting innings with the openers Murali Vijay and Virender Sehwag. At the end of the day 2 session 3 play, India made a total score of 95 runs from 18 overs and did not loose any wicket. Murali Vijay was unbeaten at 22 runs and Virender Sehwag was unbeaten scoring 64 runs from 63 deliveries which included 12 fours. As of now, India has given a strong reply to the massive score set by the Srilankans. India need another 348 runs to avoid follow on. Let hope for the best that India will not loose all its wickets and make a follow on :-)

July 27, 2010

Test match 2, Day 1: India vs Srilanka

Currently, second test match is being played between India and Srilanka at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo. Srilanka won the toss and elected to bat first. I will be giving updates on day 1 match as second day play as not yet started.

Tharanga Paranavitan and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the innings for Srilanka. Both opened the innings in a grand style and put up a partnership till 18.1 overs. Tillakaratne Dilshan got out when Srilanka's total reached 99 runs on board. He scored 54 runs from just 42 deliveries and got out in Pragyan Ojha's delivery. Later Kumar Sangakkara joined in with Tharanga Paranavitan and put up a very good partnership of 172 runs. Tharanga Paranavitan got out scoring 100 runs in the last delivery of 72nd over. At the end of day, Srilanka lost only 2 wickets and had put up a total score of 312 runs. Captain Kumar Sangakkara was unbeaten 130 runs and Mahela Jayawardene at 13 runs. Only Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha took a wicket for India.

July 25, 2010

Srilanka very confident in winning the series against India

Srilanka has already won the first test match which was played against India couple of days back. Muttiah Muralidaran took his 800th wicket in test cricket to be a new world record. This was his last international test cricket match of his career. Muttiah Muralidaran and Lasith Malinga took 15 wickets in the last test match which helped the Srilankans to defeat the Indians very easily. Srilanka lost only 8 wickets in the entire test match where as Indians lost all 10 wickets in both the innings. This was not new for India to loose the first match. It's always happenings, Indians are known to give a poor start in the series.

After the first match victory, Srilankan Captain Kumar Sangakkara is very confident in winning the series. Muttiah Muralidaran will not be playing hence, the key bowler has been ruled out. Even Lasith Malinga will not be playing the second test match due to his knee injury. So there is a double blow for Srilanka, even then Sangakkara is very confident of clinching the series. Ajantha Mendis will be playing instead of Muttiah Muralidaran and Dilhara Fernando will be playing instead of Lasith Malinga.

India has already lost the first match and something must be going inside the Indian skippers mind by now as the key bowlers are not playing in the next test match. Now India has to win the remaining 2 matches in order to win the series or at least win a match and draw a match to draw the series. But, after looking at the batting and bowling performance, i don't have a single percent hope that they will win the series. Only hope for India and me will be Sachin Tendulkar and the wall Rahul Dravid. Second test match will be starting from Monday. Let's wait n watch

July 23, 2010

Awesome farewell for Legendary Srilankan spinner

Yesterday, India could not resist Srilankan bowling attack as they lost all their wickets just 338 runs in their follow on innings. Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman scored half centuries which helped India to add runs to total so that the innings victory for Srilankans was wiped out. Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralidaran took 5 and 3 wickets respectively. India were leading by just 94 runs. Srilanka had half a day left to chase their target which could be easily done having 10 wickets in hand. In 14.1 overs, Srilanka scored 96 runs there by chasing their target successfully. They won by 10 wickets and Tillakaratne Dilshan played a magnificent 68 runs in just 47 deliveries which included 4 fours and a six.


Spin Wizard Muttiah Muralidaran ended his test match career with creating a record of picking 800 wickets in test cricket way ahead of other bowlers in the history. He began his cricket by being a fast bowler and later he turned as spin bowler which became a great twist in his life and career. He went through many controversies regarding his bowling action in 1995 and later which was proved to be a right action. He continued his journey by creating records. Yesterday's match was his last test cricket match of his life. He said that if the Srilankan board wants him to play in coming World Cup he would make himself available. If the board feels that the youngsters need the chance then he always welcomes it.

July 22, 2010

1st Test Day four: India vs Srilanka

Yesterday morning i had given update on the 3rd day of the first test match which is being played between India and Srilanka. At that point of time, India after 32.1 overs, had scored a total of 152/3. India was on trial of 368 runs. Virender Sehwag was batting on 95 runs and VVS Laxman on 20 runs. 

Virender Sehwag added one more century to his test match centuries list and got out scoring 109 runs. Soon VVS Laxman followed Sehwag by getting out when he reached 22 runs. Indian skipper MS Dhoni and Yuvaraj Singh some how managed to add 74 runs to the total. After the breakage of this partnership, Srilankans easily removed remaining wickets in quick succession thereby restricting Indians to 276 runs in total and took all 10 wickets. India opened their second batting innings due to follow on.

Again Gautam Gambhir did not play well as he got out in the second ball of the innings. Soon followed by Virender Sehwag. 119 runs partnership between Rahul Dravid and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar helped team India to get some relief. But both departed scoring 44 runs and 84 runs respectively. Yuvaraj Singh too did not bet well in this innings. India are into real trouble now as they have lost 5 wickets. India has to save its wickets for the entire day so that the match can be drawn. At the end of 4th day, India landed up with a score of 181/5.


Hope rain comes and the match gets stopped so that my team will survive from defeat :-)

July 21, 2010

1st test match: India vs Srilanka

Right now, Day four session 1 is being played. India is batting its first innings and is trial of 368 runs.

Srilanka had won the toss and elected to bat first. Srilanka opened its batting innings with a good start. They built some good partnerships which resulted them to put up a total of 520 runs in total loosing 8 wickets. Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga scored 111 runs, 103 runs, unbeaten 80 runs and 64 runs respectively. This helped the Srilankans to put up a good total in their first innings.


India on the 3rd day opened its first batting innings of the match. The openers did not perform well which was not a good start for them. Top players Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar did not play long. But Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman are in the pitch batting very decently and have put up a 50 runs partnership. After 32.1 overs, Virender Sehwag is on 95 runs and VVS Laxman is on 20 runs. India's total score is 152/3.

July 16, 2010

ODI cricket: Banlgadesh vs Ireland

Bangladesh played a ODI match against Ireland at Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, Belfast, Ireland. Ireland won the toss and elected to field first.

Bangladesh openers fell in the first 14 deliveries and added only 15 runs to the team's total. After the fall of the 3rd wicket, Shakib Al Hasan and Zunaed Siddique put up a partnership of 107 runs which helped the team to recover from the destruction. Shakib Al Hasan scored a half century and Zunaed Siddique scored a century. After the break up of this partnership, there was no good partnerships built which led the team to land up with a total score of 234 runs. Bangladesh completed its 50 overs by putting a total of 234 runs on board and lost 9 wickets. Trent Johnston was very economical with the ball as his economy rate was just 3 runs per over and also took 2 wickets.


Ireland needed 235 runs from 50 overs with 10 wickets in hand. William Porterfield and Paul Stirling opened the batting innings for the Ireland. First wicket partnership resulted in 118 runs when Paul Stirling fell by getting bowled in Abdur Razzak's over. Next partnership was also a good which resulted in 90 runs. At this point of time, Ireland had scored 208 runs from 38 overs and lost only 2 wickets. They were looking strong and confident as they have 7 wickets on hand and only 27 runs to be scored for victory. By 45 overs, Ireland chased the score which was set by the Bangladesh. Ireland in 45 overs scored 235 runs and lost only 3 wickets. William Porterfield scored a magnificent 108 runs and Paul Stirling scored 52 runs respectively. Mashrafe Mortaza looked good with the ball as his economy rate was just 3.33 runs per over, but did not take any wicket. 

Ireland won the match by 7 wickets. Man of the match was William Porterfield.

July 15, 2010

1st test match: Australia vs Pakistan

In my previous update on the 1st test match between Australia and Pakistan, Australia on the first day finished its batting innings by loosing 9 wickets and scored 229 runs in total. The play was stopped due to bad light.

Yesterday, Australia lost its remaining 1 wickets and landed up scoring 253 runs. Michael Hussey was unbeaten scoring 56 runs. Pakistan played its first batting innings, Apart from Salman Butt no one stayed long. Salman Butt scored 63 runs and got bowled in Shane Watson's delivery. Shane Watson was the star of the Australia's first bowling innings as he took 5 important wickets at right time. Soon Pakistan lost all its 10 wickets and fell before the Australians. Pakistan scored just 148 runs in their first innings. Australia was in lead with 105 runs.

Australia opened their second batting innings. They played better than their previous innings. Again Simon Katich performed well by scoring 83 runs. Australia lost 9 wickets when they had scored 282 runs in total. Last wicket partnership between Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus resulted in 52 runs which helped Australia to put up a total score of 334 runs. Ben Hilfenhaus was unbeaten scoring 56 runs. Pakistan needed 440 runs to win with 10 wickets in hand and 2.5 days more to go.


As of now session 3 is going on, Pakistan has scored 114 runs in total and has lost 1 wicket. Salman Butt and Azhar Ali are playing with their individual score of 58 runs and 28 runs respectively.

July 13, 2010

1st test match: Australia vs Pakistan

Pakistan and Australia are playing their first test match at Lord's, London. Pakistan won the toss & elected to field first.

As usual Shane Watson did not make it big as the stumps came out in the Mohammad Aamer's delivery. There was 2 good partnership between Ricky Ponting and Simon Katich, Simon Katich and Michael Clarke of 43 runs and 120 runs respectively. After the fall of these 3 wickets, Australians start to loose wickets in regular successions. Michael Hussey played a lone battle till the end. After 70 overs, Australia had scored 229 runs and lost 9 wickets. Play was stopped due to bad light. In the last session of the day, Australia lost 6 wickets and scored only 58 runs in total. Michael Hussey was not out scoring 39 runs and Doug Bollinger at 0. Umar Gul was very economical with the economy rate of just 1.71 runs per over and took a wicket as well. Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif took 3 wickets each respectively.

3rd ODI - England vs Bangladesh

Bangladesh and England have won one game respectively and leveling the series by 1-1. The 3rd and the last ODI was played yesterday at Edgbaston, Birmingham. This was an crucial match for both the teams, whoever wins this match will win the series. England won the toss and elected to bat first.

Craig Kieswetter was out and returned to pavilion by getting bowled in the Mashrafe Mortaza over. Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott made a brilliant partnership of 250 runs in 240 deliveries. After the fall of Trott, England lost few wickets. Later, Ravi Bopara came in to bat and hit a magnificent 45 runs from 16 deliveries which included 2 fours and 4 sixes. By 50 overs, England scored an magnificent 347 runs in total and lost 7 wickets. Andrew Strauss scored 154 runs from 140 deliveries which included 16 fours and 5 sixes. Jonathan Trott scored 101 runs from 121 deliveries which included 12 fours and no sixes. Mashrafe Mortaza was the only economical bowler from Bangladesh side where his economy rate was just 3.1 runs and also took 3 top order wickets.


Bangladesh needed 348 runs from 50 overs with 10 wickets in hand. But things did not go right for them right from the start of their batting innings. They kept on loosing wickets in quick intervals with drop in run rate. By 45 over, Bangladesh lost all its 10 wickets and scored only 203 runs in total. Mahmudullah was the highest scorer from Bangladesh team scoring 42 runs 81 deliveries. 


England won the match by 144 runs and there by winning series with 2-0. Man of the match and the man of the series was chosen as Andrew Strauss for his brilliant batting performance throughout the series.

July 11, 2010

Bangladesh won against England by 5 runs

Yesterday, Bangladesh played ODI match against England at County Ground, Nevil Road, Bristol, England. England won the toss and put Bangladesh to bat first.

Tamim Iqbal did not play well as he got out in the first delivery of the sixth over by giving a straight catch to Craig Kieswetter. He returned scoring only 18 runs from 23 deliveries. After the fall of their first wicket, Bangladesh made two good partnership which help the team to go in the positive track. Non-strike opener Imrul Kayes stayed till 43.2 over scoring 76 runs from 111 deliveries. After 50 overs, Bangladesh scored 236 runs in total and lost 7 wickets. Ajmal Shahzad took 3 wickets for England.

England started their chase of 237 runs with the openers Andrew Strauss and Craig Kieswetter. They both opened the innings well and played till England put up a total of 49 runs. At 7.5 over, England lost its first wicket. After this fall, England kept on loosing wickets in regular intervals. Jonathan Trott played one down and he was playing till the fall of England's last wicket. England needed 6 runs from 4 deliveries and has one wicket in hand. But Jonathan Trott got out by giving a clear catch to Jahurul Islam. Hence England lost all its 10 wickets and fell before Bangladesh.


Bangladesh won the match by 5 wickets. Man of the match was chosen as Mashrafe Mortaza.

July 9, 2010

Mathematical formula predicts that Spain will win the FIFA World Cup on Sunday

Mathematicians Dr Javier López Peña and Dr Hugo Touchette from Queen Mary, University of London have come up with an new mathematical analysis that predicts the clear favorite for the FIFA World Cup.

These two, who are also the supporters of football, collected the data's regarding ball passing from all the games played in this Football World Cup and have analyzed every teams playing styles. They used an mathematical technique called Graph Theory and have revealed the gaping holes in England's tactics when they played Germany. They have now predicted that Spain will win this FIFA World Cup which will be played against the Netherlands in the finals on Sunday.

They have drawn a network of passes between the players of the entire tournament and have compared it between the teams. They analyzed these networks using Graph theory which gave a clear picture to them to predict.

According to the networks, Spanish players have made a more passes which is almost 40% more than Germany and almost twice the times as Dutch did in this tournament. David Villa who is the highest goal scorer in this tournament has received 37 passes on average per game which is supposed to be a great number of passes received by any other forward from all the teams. On the other hand, Fernando Torres has not scored even a single goal in this tournament so far. Torres has received only 13 passes per match which is very low when compared to Torres. Like this the mathematicians have extracted more number of results which has resulted in prediction that Spain will win this World Cup.

Hmmmmm, this sounds great and very logical to me. Let's wait and watch what happens on Sunday whether Spain will lift the World Cup or Netherlands.

ODI cricket: Bangladesh vs. England

Yesterday, Bangladesh played a ODI cricket against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England. Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first.

Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes opened the batting innings for the Bangladesh team. There was no great partnership which was put up but all the players contributed some runs to their team which helped to put up a good total against the England. Zunaed Siddique and Raqibul Hasan scored half centuries respectively. By 50 overs, Bangladesh managed to score a total of 250 runs loosing 9 wickets with a run rate of 5.00 runs per over. Paul Collingwood bowled very economically but did not take any wicket. James Anderson took 3 wickets with an economy rate of 7.4 runs per over.

England started their chase of 251 runs with the openers Andrew Strauss and Craig Kieswetter. Andrew Strauss got out in the 12th over which was an run out made by Mahmudullah and he returned to the pavilion scoring half century. Ian Bell came into bat where he stayed unbeaten till the end of the innings and scored a magnificent 84 runs. Rest other top order batsmen contributed very good runs to the total which helped to reach their target in 45.1 overs. England by 45.1 overs scored 251 runs loosing 4 wickets and won the match by 6 wickets with 4.5 overs to spare. Shakib Al Hasan was very economical bowler from Bangladesh where he took 2 wickets with an economy rate of just 3.5 runs per over from his 10 overs. Man of the match was chosen as Ian Bell for his unbeaten 84 runs.

July 7, 2010

second Twenty20: Australia vs Pakistan

Pakistan has already won the first Twenty20 match which was played 2 days ago against the Australians. Yesterday, second 20-20 match was played at Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. Pakistan again in this match won the toss and elected to bat first.

Shahzaib Hasan returned to pavilion without scoring any run in the very first over itself. After the fall their first wicket, rest other players batted well and contributed some runs from their side to the team. This really helped the team to put a decent total against the Aussies. By 20 overs, Pakistan scored 162 runs loosing 9 wickets. Stephen O'Keefe and Dirk Nannes took 3 wickets each.

Australia needed 163 runs to win, this was not at all great score but the bowling attack is very good from Pakistan side. Hence it was an real challenge to chase down the target. Australians played well but some batsmen failed to contribute some runs to their team. By 19.4 overs, Australia lost all its 10 wickets scoring 151 runs in total. Pakistan won the match by 11 runs. Mohammed Aamer took 3 important wickets and also bowled well. Aamer was chosen as the man of the match for his 3 wickets and a magnificent 21 runs from 11 deliveries which helped the team to win the match against the Aussies.

July 6, 2010

Pakistan vs Australia: 1st Twenty20 international

Yesterday Australia and Pakistan played their first Twenty20 cricket match at Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. Pakistan won the toss & elected to bat first.

Shahzaib Hasan was out in the very first ball of his batting innings. Salman Butt faced 21 deliveries and scored just 13 runs and then got out in David Hussey's over. Three wickets fell from 6.4 over to 7.4 over. At this point of time, Pakistan had scored 47 runs from 7.4 overs. Shahid Afridi failed to hit big, as he was duck out by getting bowled in the Steven Smith's over. Umar Akmal played magnificently scoring 64 runs from just 31 deliveries which included 7 fours and 3 sixes. This helped Pakistan to put up a decent total against the Australians. After 20 overs, Pakistan scored a total of 167 runs loosing 8 wickets.

Australia needed 168 runs to win the Twenty20 match. Shane Watson did not score a single run as he got out in the last delivery of the first over. Australians kept on loosing wickets in regular intervals. David Warner survived for some time, but there was no good partnership from Australian side. After the fall of their sixth wicket, they started to struggle a lot just to add a run to their total. By 18.4 overs, Australia lost all its 10 wickets and ended up scoring 144 runs in total. Pakistan won the match by 23 runs. Man of the match was Umar Akmal for his magnificent 64 runs from just 31 deliveries.
 

July 4, 2010

Final ODI between England and Australia

Yesterday, Australia played their last ODI match of the tour against England at Lord's, London. England had already won the series by winning the first 3 matches. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first.

As usual, Shane Watson was out did not stay long in the pitch as he was dismissed in the 5th delivery of the 9th over. Australians were loosing wickets in regular fashion, no survived to hit a big score, but everyone contributed a very good runs which helped them to put up a good total at the end. Tim Paine, Michael Hussey and Shaun Marsh scored half centuries which really helped Australia. By 50 overs, Australia scored a total score of 277 runs loosing 7 wickets.

England right from the start kept on loosing wickets, Except Paul Collingwood no one survived for long period. Except him, no other top order batsmen bat well yesterday. In the end there was some good partnerships in the lower orders but that did not help England to win the match as they lost all their wickets in 46.3 overs. England had scored 235 runs and lost all its 10 wickets. Australia won the match by 42 runs. Paul Collingwood scored 95 runs from 121 deliveries which included 7 fours and 2 sixes. Shaun Tait was picked as the man of the match for his brilliant bowling where he took 4 important wickets. Although Australia won the lost 2 matches, England was the winner of the series by 3-2. Man of the series was Eion Morgan for his brilliant batting throughout the series.

South African tour of West Indies

South Africa had toured West Indies earlier where they had played 3 test matches, 5 ODI matches and 2 Twenty20 matches. South Africa came back with glory as they won all the 3 series. They won the test series by 2-0, ODI series by 5-0 and Twenty20 series by 2-0.

On the third day of the last test match, South African fast bowler Dale Steyn had spit against the direction of the West Indian spin bowler Sulieman Benn when West Indies had dismissed an South African batsman. Dale steyn was fined his entire match fee under the code of conduct by the ICC. Later, South African manager Mohammed Moosajee said to the press that Steyn has apologized for the incident caused. They have filed a conduct charge on Sulieman Benn and it is in judicial process.

On the fourth day of the last test match, West Indian fast bowler Kemar Roach had done a unpleasant altercation in which even he was fined 50% of his match fee.

July 3, 2010

ICC WCL Division One: Kenya vs Ireland

Third match of the ICC WCL Division One was played between Kenya and Ireland at Hazelaarweg, Rotterdam, NED. Ireland won the toss & elected to field first.

Kenya gave a bad start with a poor run rate. They even kept on loosing wickets in regular intervals. No one long lasted so that they could have helped the team to put up a good total. Kenya by 45.3 overs, lost all its wickets and ended up putting a total score of just 163 runs. All the bowlers of Ireland had a good economy rate.

Ireland needed just 164 runs in 50 overs to win their opening match in ICC WCL division one. Even they gave a poor start, by 8.2 overs, they had scored only 28 runs. After the fall of their 1st wicket, there came a big partnership of 137 runs between Paul Stirling and Alex Cusack. In 39.5 overs, Ireland chased the target successfully and won the match by 7 wickets. They scored 164 runs and had lost only 3 wickets. Alex Cusack won the the man of the match award for his brilliant performance both with the bat and ball. He was unbeaten scoring 59 runs and also took 2 wickets.

ICC WCL Division One: Afghanistan vs Canada

Afghanistan played against Canada at Sportpark Westvliet, Voorburg, NED in the second match of ICC World Cricket League Division One. Canada won the toss & elected to bat first.

Canada started their batting innings with the openers, Hiral Patel and Rizwan Cheema. Rizawan Cheema did not bat long as he got out in the fourth delivery of the 3rd over of the innings. Canada's run rate was lower than 4 runs per over until they reached 35th over where they had scored just 150 runs in total and had lost 4 wickets. In the next 15 overs 157 runs which helped them to put up a good total against the Afghans. Teams scorer was Ashish Bagai who scored 82 runs from 122 deliveries. In 50 overs, Canada scored 257 runs in total and lost 7 wickets.

Afghanistan started their chase in a grand style. Their run rate was good right from the start of the innings. All the batsmen who played contributed some good runs and helped the team to reach the target. Openers were sent back to the pavillion as a result of run out. Nowroz Mangal played beautifully and stayed till the end of their victorious innings. He was unbeaten scoring 70 runs from just 58 deliveries. By 48.4 overs, Aghanistan team chased the target of 258 runs and had lost only 4 wickets. They won the match by 6 wickets. Man of the match award went to Nowroz Mangal for his beautiful innings bot with the bat and in the field.

Scotland vs Netherlands

ICC World Cricket League started from 1st of July 2010 in Netherlands. In the opening match, Netherlands played against the Scotland at Sportpark Westvliet, Voorburg, NED. Canada won the toss & elected to bat first.

Netherlands lost its first wicket in the 8th delivery of the innings. Fall of their first wicket impacted them a lot, as their run rate was very low. Just before the fall of their second wicket, Netherlands had scored only 69 runs from 21 overs. After the loss of their second wicket, they somehow managed to come back into the track and recovered a bit. They utilised all 50 overs and had put up a total score of 234 runs loosing only 6 wickets. Teams top scorer was Tom Cooper who had scored 87 runs from 130 deliveries.

Scotland needed just 235 runs from 50 overs to win their opening match. Scotland right from the start kept on loosing wickets. They lost wickets in regular intervals, but the asking rate was following the required run rate. By 49.5 overs, Scotland scored 235 runs and won the match by just 1 wicket and a ball remaining. It turned out to be a tough and a close chase for them. At the end, it was the Scotland who were victorious. Teams top scorer was Moneeb Iqbal. Man of the match award went to Tom Cooper for his 87 runs.

July 1, 2010

South Africans won the test series against West Indies

Hi all, last time when i gave my update on the third test match played between West Indies and South Africa, West Indies were playing their second batting innings on the third day of the test match. They had lost 7 wickets and had scored 134 runs thereby leading South Africa by 19 runs. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unbeaten scoring a half century.

On the fourth day, West Indies lost 3 more wickets thereby they were all-out scoring a total of just 161 runs. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unbeaten till the end scoring 71 runs consuming 179 deliveries. South Africans needed just 47 runs to win this match. This is supposed to be an cake-walk for them as they have 10 wickets, 1.75 days on hand. In 8.4 overs, South Africa chased its target by scoring 49 runs in total. South Africa won the match by 7 wickets. They have also won the series against the West Indies. Johan Botha was the best bowler from South Africa as he had taken 7 wickets in total with an economy rate of just 2.56 runs per over. He clinched the man of the match title. Dale Steyn was named as the man of the series for his brilliant spells throughout the series.

England vs Australia : Fourth ODI

Yesterday, fourth ODI was played between the hosts, England and Australia at The Oval, London. England has already won the first 3 ODI matches leading Australia by 3-0 thereby winning the series even though 2 more matches was yet to be played. England won the toss & elected to field first.

As usual Shane Watson and Tim Paine went to bat first for the Australians. Shane Watson was out when we had scored 41 runs and Tim Paine returned to pavilion when he had scored 8 runs. By 16.3 overs, Australia had lost only 2 wickets scoring 73 runs in total. Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke played very magnificently to score 92 runs and 99 runs respectively. They both shared a partnership of 155 runs from 154 deliveries which helped Australians to put up a very good total. At 42.1 over, Ricky Ponting got out giving a straight catch to Andrew Strauss bowled by James Anderson. Michael Clarke was unbeaten till the end of the Australian Innings. After 50 overs, Australia scored 290 runs in total loosing 5 wickets.

England needed 291 runs from 50 overs to get their 4th consecutive victory in the series. Australians, though they have lost the series, they had to win this match against the England. It was supposed to be an prestige issue for both the teams.

Andrew Strauss and Craig Kieswetter started the batting innings for England. They did not bat that well and did not stay longer in the crease. England could not resist the bowling attack from the Australians. As a result they kept on loosing wickets in regular intervals. Their run rate was dropping every time. No one had put up a good partnership which could have made some difference. Eion Morgan and Michael Yardy could not stay till the end as they departed scoring 47 and 57 runs respectively. By 42.4 overs, England lost all its 10 wickets and had scored just 212 runs in total. Australia therefore won the match by 78 runs, which was an easy win for them. Ryan Harris bowled excellent for the Australia as he took 5 wickets and his economy rate was just 3.69 runs per over. Finally, Australia has opened its account in this series and the stat has become 1-3. Though Australia have won the match, the point is that they have already lost the series, they have to play for pride.