ODI Cricket: Ireland vs Zimbabwe

Yesterday, Ireland and Zimbabwe played an ODI cricket match at Harare Sports Club, Harare. Toss went into the favor of Zimbabwe team and they decided to field first.

Ireland opened its batting innings with the openers William Porterfield and Paul Stirling. They gave an very good start scoring more than 6 runs per over in the first over. But in the second over, they lost William Porterfield. They started to loose wickets in regular intervals but with a larger gaps because of some good contributions to the total score. By 50 overs, Ireland lost 9 wickets and scored a total of 238 runs. Teams top scorer was Kevin OBrien who was unbeaten till the end of the innings. He scored 73 runs 102 deliveries which included 3 fours and 3 sixes. Prosper Utseya was the economical bowler for the Zimbabwe whose economy rate was 3.7 runs per over and he picked up 2 wickets.

Zimbabwe needed 239 runs to win in 50 overs. Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor started the batting innings for the Zimbabwe team. They gave very slow start and their net run rate was less than 3 runs per over after 6 overs. Hamilton Masakadza got out by giving a pretty simple catch to Andrew White in the fourth delivery of the 7th over. After this fall, there were few good partnerships and some good contributions from each players which helped the Zimbabwe team to move closer to their target. By 48.5 overs, they scored 239 runs with the loss of 7 wickets. Zimbabwe won the match by 3 wickets. Brendan Taylor became the man of the match as he scored 71 runs and helped in building some good partnerships that helped the team to win the match.

CSK became the winners of Airtel Champions League 2010

Chennai Super Kings became first IPL team to enter the finals and win the Champions League 2010.
MS Dhoni and his team outplayed the Warriors in the finals of Airtel Champions League 2010. Yesterday, Chennai Super Kings faced the Warriors in the finals at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. Toss went in to the favor of the Warriors and they chose to bat first.

Davy Jacobs and Ashwell Prince opened the batting innings for the Warriors. They gave an very aggressive start with an run rate of 10 runs per over. In the first 4 overs, Warriors scored a total of 39 runs. Ashwell Prince got out in the very first delivery of the 5th over by getting bowled. In the next over, Davy Jacobs was called for an Leg Before and returned to the pavillion. Once the first 2 wickets fell, Warriors started to score at slower pace. Wickets started to fall in regular intervals. Finally by 20 overs, WAR scored a total of 128 runs. Muttiah Muralidaran took 3 important wickets. This score total is supposed to be an cake-walk for any team.

CSK opened its batting innings with the openers Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay. They both started off well and put up a very good partnership of 103 runs before the loss of Murali Vijay's wicket. Murali Vijay departed by giving a catch to Justin Kreusch. He scored 58 runs in 53 deliveries which included 6 fours and 2 sixes. Suresh Raina could not make it big today and he departed scoring 2 runs. MS Dhoni partnered with Michael Hussey and stated till the end of the innings. He ended the match in a grand style by hitting a classic four and became the first IPL team to win the Champions League. By 19 overs, CSK scored a total of 132 runs with the loss of 2 wickets only. CSK won the match by 8 wickets. 


Man of the match award went to Michael Hussey and the Man of the series award went to Ravichandran Ashwin.

Warriors made it to the finals of the Champions League 2010

Yesterday, Warriors faced the Southern Redbacks in the second match of semi-finals at Centurion, Tshwane. Southern Redbacks have won all the four matches in the prelims and were looking strong and confident to win this match. On the other hand, Warriors have lost only one match in the prelims and are also looking to enter finals considering their good performances shown by them in the prelims. Warriors won the toss and they chose to bat first.

Davy Jacobs and Ashwell Prince opened the batting innings for the Warriors. Davy Jacobs took a single in the very first delivery of the match. Ashwell Prince got duck out by giving an easy catch to Daniel Harries. Warriors lost their first wicket in the second ball of their batting innings. This was supposed to be an bad start for them but Davy Jacobs and Colin Ingram played ultimately well. They both put up an partnership of 104 runs in just 74 deliveries. They just kept on hitting fours in each and every over. After the fall of Davy Jacobs and Colin Ingram, the Warriors were in trouble as they kept on loosing wickets and their run rate started to drop. While the last few deliveries were left, Nicky Boje came in to bat as they lost their 6th wicket. Nicky Boje played an magnificent innings as he quick-fired to score 22 runs in just 7 deliveries which included 2 fours and 2 sixes. This helped the Warriors to end up with a total score of 175 runs in 20 overs. Daniel Harris was the most economical bowler with an economy rate of just 4.5 runs per over and took 3 important wickets.

Southern Redbacks needed 176 runs to win the match if they want to enter in to the finals to face the Chennai Super Kings which will be played on Sunday. Southern Redbacks started their batting innings with the openers, Daniel Harris and Michael Klinger. They both gave a slow start as they don't want to loose any wickets and wanted to get well settled before going for some big shots. In the fourth over, they both got out which led them to enter in to an bad situation. They started to loose wickets in regular intervals which resulted in the drop of their run rate each time. By 20 overs, SRB managed to score only 145 runs with the loss of 7 wickets. Teams top scorer was Callum Ferguson who scored 71 runs 49 deliveries that included 8 fours and 2 sixes. Warriors won the match by 30 runs and were eligible to enter the finals of the Airtel Champions League 2010. Man of the match was Davy Jacobs for giving a perfect start who played well with the bat and scored 61 runs from 41 deliveries that included 10 fours and a six.


Warriors will be playing against the Chennai Super Kings in the finals of the Champions League on Sunday. A match between the champions of India and the South Africa. See you all with the updates on the finals. Bye and Cheers....

Airtel Champions League

On Wednesday, IPL champions of the year 2010 Chennai Super Kings won the match against the warriors by 10 runs and entered the semi-finals. It was an very close match where the target given for the Warriors was just 136 runs. Chennai Super Kings failed to put up a very good total in that particular match as the batsmen fail to play well. But the bowlers especially the spinners bowled well in this particular match which helped them to restrict the Warriors to score only 126 runs in total. Due to this victory, Victorian Bushrangers lost their chance of getting into the semi-finals. Both Warriors and Chennai Super Kings have entered into the semi-finals from Group A.

In Group B, Southern Redbacks top the table by winning all the 4 matches and Royal Challengers Banglaore somehow made into the semi-finals after their second victory in this Champions League. Mumbai Indians, Highveld Lions and Royal Challengers all share same 4 points on the table. Due to the net run rate, Royal Challengers Bangalore found their place in the semi-finals. Now Chennai Super Kings from Group A will be facing the Royal Challengers Bangalore from Group B in the semis and Southern Redbacks will be fighting against the Warriors. This is the first time that an IPL team has entered the Champions League semi-finals and more over 2 teams has been entered in one shot. RCB facing CSK will be a very big match as they both are IPL teams. The first semis match between CSK and RCB will be played today at Kingsmead, Durban. The second semis between SRB and WAR will be played tomorrow at Centurion, Tshwane.

Being the die hard fan of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, i want my team RCB to win the match played against the CSK and make it to the finals.

England - Pakistan ODI series: Match 5

The final ODI match between England and Pakistan was played today at The Rose Bowl, Southampton. This was an important match to be considered for both the teams as the series has been leveled by 2-2. Who ever wins the match will win the series. The first 2 matches was won by England and the next 2 was won by Pakistan. This shows that Pakistan team has fought back well in the series and have leveled the series. They look very confident as they have won the previous 2 games of the series. England will also be having some good plans in this match as they had lost previous 2 games and would have come up with new strategy. England won the toss and elected to bat first.

The England batting innings was opened by the openers Andrew Strauss and Steve Davies. The start was very good as their run rate was around 6 runs per over. Steve Davies got out in the 6th over of the innings by edging the ball which straight away went to the keepers gloves. Paul Collingwood contributed some useful runs to the team. On the other hand Eoin Morgan played extra-ordinarily and scored his century which helped the team to come out of bad situation. With his help, England scored a very good total of 256 runs with the loss of 6 wickets. Eoin Morgan was unbeaten scoring 107 runs from 101 deliveries that included 8 fours and a six. Shoaib Akthar took 3 wickets with an economy rate of 4 runs per over. Pakistan needed 257 runs to win the match from 50 overs with 10 wickets on hand.


Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez were the openers for the Pakistan team. They played some good cricket and put up a first wicket partnership of 63 runs. After the fall of Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq came in to bat and departed without scoring a run. Pakistan team started to struggle a lot after the fall of Kamran Akmal which resulted in loosing of wickets in regular intervals. By 37 overs, Pakistan team lost all its wickets and scored a total of just 135 runs on board. Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann took 3 wickets each respectively. Man of the match was Eoin Morgan and the Man of the Series was Andrew Strauss.

Champions League Twenty20: CSK vs Warriors

Yesterday, Chennai Super Kings faced Warriors at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth. This was an very crucial match for both the teams in order to enter semi-finals of the Airtel Champions League 2010. Chennai Super Kings have to win this match to make them very comfortable at the first position. If CSK looses this match they will be walking out of the series. For Warriors the case is little different, even if they loose the match they still have chances of registering their berth in the semis. All they have to do is to loose the match in a close range so that their net run rate is just above the Victorian Bushrangers. For the Victorian Bushrangers luck has to play if they need to enter the semis. Either Chennai Super Kings should loose this match or Warriors should loose the match by a huge margin so that their net run rate falls below Bushrangers net run rate. The toss went in the favor of CSK side and they decided to bat first.

Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay came in to bat first from the CSK side and pretty decent start. They both put up a good partnership of 63 runs. Murali Vijay got out by getting bowled in Justin Kreusch's delivery. In this match Suresh Raina did not last long and he departed scoring just 6 runs. MS Dhoni came in to bat and played some knocks which added some good runs to the teams total. Michael Hussey scored his 50 runs from 39 deliveries that included 4 fours and a six. After the fall of Hussey, MS Dhoni took over and stayed till the end which helped the team to come out of some bad situation. Finally, CSK ended up scoring 136 runs in total with the loss of 6 wickets. Justin Kreusch took 3 important wickets with an economy rate of just 4.75 runs per over.

Warriors needed 137 runs to win from 120 deliveries. Davy Jacobs and Ashwell Prince opened the batting innings for the Warriors. They started off aggressively by playing some good knocks and soon Ashwell Prince got out but this did not affect much. The runs were coming in all the ways, till they lost Justin Kreusch. This was an important turning point for the CSK where the match started to turn towards them. CSK were looking very dominant and where back in the game. Warriors easily managed to get 109 runs which was the requirement for them to enter the semi-finals and they achieved it. But they failed to win the match against CSK. Warriors ended up scoring a total score of 126 runs with the loss of 8 wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin took 3 wickets with an economy rate of 6 runs per over. Man of the match was chosen as Michael Hussey for brilliant batting performance and fielding where he took 2 awesome catches.

After this superb match, now both the teams are eligible to play the semi-finals of the Airtel Champions League 2010. Luck did not play in the favor of Victorian Bushrangers and now they are out of the series.

England - Pakistan ODI series

Fouth ODI match of the Pakistan-England series was played at Lord's, London. England were leading the series by 2-1. England needs one more victory to win the series. Pakistan team got the toss right and they decided to bat first.

Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez opened the batting innings for the Pakistan team. Both opened well and made a first wicket partnership of 62 runs before Kamran Akmal gave a catch to Andrew Strauss. After the first fall, Pakistan quickly lost 2 more wickets which increased the pressure for their team. The middle order batsmen played well and came out of the critical situation by contributing some good runs to the teams total. At the end of the innings, Abdul Razzaq quick-fired scoring 44 runs from just 20 deliveries which included 8 fours and 1 six. After 50 overs, Pakistan ended up scoring 265 runs loosing 7 wickets. Graeme Swann was the most economical bowler for England with an economy rate of 3.7 runs per over and 4 wickets.


England needed 266 runs to win the match from 50 overs. Steve Davies and Andrew Strauss were the openers for their team and started off very well. They put up a very good partnership of 113 runs which made their team be very confident of winning this match. After the breakage of England's first wicket, Pakistan gained pace in gaining wickets. Soon, England started to loose wickets in regular intervals. They could not resist the bowling attack made by Pakistan. By 46.1 overs, England lost all its 10 wickets and ended up scoring a total of 227 runs. Pakistan won the match by 38 runs. All the credit goes to Umar Gul and Shoaib Akthar who took 4 and 3 wickets respectively. Man of the match was Umar Gul for his brilliant bowling performance.


After this win, the series has been leveled to 2-2. Now either of them can win the series.

Champions League Twenty20: Wayamba Elevens vs Victorian Bushrangers

Yesterday, Wayamba Elevens faced Victorian Bushrangers at Centurion, Tshwane. This was one of the important and a must win match for the Victorian Bushrangers in order to make it to semis. Wayamba Elevens had already lost 2 matches that makes them to walk out of the tournament once this prelims is over. Wayamba Elevens won the toss & elected to bat first.

Mahela Jayawardene and Jeevantha Kulatunga opened the batting innings for the team. They gave a very good start in the very first over scored 9 runs in that over. Jeevantha Kulatunga got duck out in James Pattinson's first delivery. Even Mahela Udawatte got duck out in the very same over where Wayamba lost its second wicket with a total score of 9 runs. Jehan Mubarak and Mahela Jayawardene put up a 71 runs partnership which helped the team to come out of a very bad situation. But after the break of this partnership, Wayamba Elevens were totally destroyed. They lost remaining 7 wickets very quickly. By 16.3 overs, they lost all the 10 wickets and made a total score of just 106 runs. Peter Siddle took 4 important wickets which helped them to restrict the Wayambas to land up with 106.


Victorian Bushrangers needed 107 runs to win the match and keep the hopes alive to enter into semis. Aaron Finch and Brad Hodge started the batting play for the Bushrangers. Brad Hodge got out quickly and so was Matthew Wade. Aaron Finch stayed till the end of the their batting innings. David Hussey came in to bat with Aaron Finch and made a good partnership of 77 runs. David Hussey remained unbeaten scoring 47 runs from just 28 deliveries which included 4 fours and 2 sixes. By 13.2 overs, Bushrangers made a total of 108 runs thereby defeating the Wayambas by 8 wickets. Man of the match was Petere Siddle.


After this victory, the Bushrangers have to win their last match with a huge margin so that even if Chennai Super Kings with lower margin, Bushrangers will enter into semis. CSK are looking very dominant and have more chances of making it to semis.

Champions League Twenty20: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians

Today, Mumbai Indians played their fourth and final match of the prelims against the Royal Challengers Bangalore who were playing their third match of the prelims Kingsmead, Durban. This was an important match for both the teams as this match could help them to get into semis. Mumbai Indians have won only one match in the tournament so far, hence they have to win this match with a huge margin so that their net run rate could increase. With the help of luck they have got one last chance to enter into the semis with help of Net run rate if they win this match. On the other hand RCB has won only one match and they are looking to win this match so that they can gain some confidence for the next and final game that will be played against Highveld Lions on Tuesday.  Mumbai Indians won the toss & elected to bat first.

Shikhar Dhawan and the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar started the play for Mumbai Indians side. They started off well but Sachin Tendulkar got out after scoring 11 runs. They lost 2 more wickets very quickly after their captains fall. Later Saurabh Tiwary came in to bat and partnered Dhawan so that they added some good score to the MI total. After the fall of Shikhar Dhawan, the big man Kieron Pollard came in to bat and he followed Dhawan to the pavillion as he got duck out . Mumbai Indians some how managed to put up a good total of 165 runs on board with the loss of 7 wickets. Vinay Kumar looked impressive with the ball with an economy rate of just 4 runs per over but he did not pick any wicket for RCB. Dale Steyn picked up 3 very important wickets that helped the RCB to restrict the MI to land up with the total score of 165 runs.

RCB needed 166 runs to win the match from 20 overs with 10 wickets on hand. Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid opened the batting innings for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The start for RCB was very good and they were satisfying the requirement. The man in form Jacques Kallis got out in the second delivery of the fifth over when RCB total was 41 runs. But RCB 's expected legends failed to play in today's game, Ross Taylor, Robin Uthappa and Cameron White all three got out very quickly after the fall of Jacques Kallis. Rahul Dravid was adding some pretty good runs so that RCB was almost in pace with the required run rate. Later, Virat Kohli came in to bat and he batted magnificently thereby giving some hopes to the RCB and showed some signs of victory to the team. He was in very good form and was belting the MI bowling attack with an average strike rate of around 200. There came a stage where RCB needed 13 runs from 6 deliveries with 6 wickets on hand. This was an very crucial moment for both the teams as the victory was for either side. For the first 2 deliveries added only 2 runs and later Kohli managed to hit 2 boundaries in next 3 deliveries thereby reducing the required run to 3 runs from 1 delivery. It was an nail biting situation for both the teams as the match could end up with either team. Kohli got a very good delivery where he hit the ball with all his might hoping for the ball to clear the fence, but the ball edged the bat and went high in the air. Ambati Rayudu took the catch and RCB lost its fifth wicket and Mumbai Indians won the match by 2 runs. Man of the match was Dwayne Bravo for his brilliant performance with bat, ball and as well as in the field.

Mumbai Indians have won 2 matches but even then they cannot enter the semis as their net run rate is less than RCB. Even Highveld Lions have won 2 matches and their run rate is also more than MI. In the next match which will be played between RCB and HVL, whoever wins the match they will entering into semis along with Southern Redbacks from Group B.

Champions League Twenty20: Highveld Lions vs Guyana

Today, Guyana and Highveld Lions faced against each other at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. This was their third match of the tournament for both of them. Highveld Lions had won one match and lost one match so they have to win this match to make it to semis. On the other hand, Guyana has lost their first 2 games and they were in the situation that they have to win this match with a huge margin so that they can get some hopes to enter into semis. The toss was won by Highveld Lions won & they decided to field first.

Travis Dowlin and Sewnarine Chattergoon opened the innings for Guyana and they gave a pretty good start in the first over. In the next over for the very first delivery, Travis Dowlin got out by getting a leg before in Ethan O'Reilly's delivery. Soon wickets started to fall with the drop in run rate as well. At one point of stage Highveld Lions looked very dominant where Guyana was suffering to recover from the loss of wickets that was happening regularly. Middle order batsmen contributed some runs to the team and lower order batsmen really played well which helped Guyana to put up a decent score. After 20 overs, Guyana managed to score 148 runs in total with the loss of 9 wickets. Ethan O'Reilly took 4 important wickets at very important stages which helped Highveld Lions to restrict the Guyana from putting up a huge total.

Highveld Lions needed 149 runs to win the match in 20 overs. Jonathan Vandiar and Alviro Petersen started the chasing for the team. Jonathan Vandiar did not stay long as he got out by giving an easy catch to Derwin Christian. Alviro Petersen and Royston Crandon joined together and played well till the end of the innings. They both put up a very good partnership of 133 runs. This partnership helped the Highveld Lions to win the match very comfortably. Alviro Petersen scored 57 runs from 38 balls that included 6 fours and 2 sixes. Royston Crandon scored 78 runs from 42 deliveries which includes 5 fours and 6 sixes. By 15.1 overs, Highveld Lions scored a total of 149 runs with the loss of 1 wicket and won the match by 9 wickets. Man of the match was been picked as Ethan O'Reilly for his brilliant bowling and picking up 4 important wickets which helped them to restrict Guyana to 148 runs.

Champions League Twenty20: Mumbai Indians vs Guyana

Today Mumbai Indians played their 3rd match of the series against Guyana at Kingsmead, Durban. Mumbai Indians have already lost 2 matches which was played against Southern Redbacks and Highveld Lions. Both the matches were close ones but nothing worked in the favor Mumbai Indians. In order to stay in the tournament they have win the remaining 2 matches with very high margin and also some luck should play for them. On the other hand Guyana lost their opening match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore with a poor run rate. This is their second match of the tournament and they have to win remaining matches so that they can enter the semis easily.

For both the teams this was supposed to be one of the important match of the tournament. Toss was won by the Mumbai Indians and they chose to bat first.

As usual Shikhar Dhawan and Sachin Tendulkar opened the batting innings for the Mumbai Indians. They gave a very slow and steady start which resulted in a strong foundation. Sachin Tendulkar got out when MI reached 82 runs from 65 delivers. Soon Shikhar Dhawan followed him to the pavillion as well. Then came the great man Kieron Pollard for batting at number 3. Saurabh Tiwary did not stay as he got duck out, at this point of time MI were 99 for the loss of 3 wickets. Ambati Rayudu and Keiron Pollard started to build partnership and they contributed 53 runs partnership in just 21 deliveries in which Rayudu scored only 4 runs from 5 deliveries. Rest was played by the all rounder Keiron Pollard who has now become the pillar for Mumai Indians team. Keiron pollard made a huge difference in the scoreboard in which Mumbai Indians scored 85 runs in last 5 overs. Pollard just cruised in to score an unbeaten 72 runs from just 30 deliveries which included 1 four and 9 sixes. Mumbai Indians after 20 overs, they reached a total score of 184 runs with the loss of 4 wickets. Devendra Bishoo from Guyana took 3 wickets.

Guyana needed 185 runs to win the match but it was supposed to be a bit difficult for them because the MI had a very good bowling attack. Guyana gave an magnificent start with a very good run rate but they started to loose wickets which resulted in the dropping of their net run rate. The middle order players showed some resistance to the MI attack and played some good knocks. But this was not enough for them to reach their target. Finally Guyana landed up scoring 153 runs with the loss of 6 wickets. Zaheer Khan was very economical bowler for MI with an economy rate of just 4.25 runs per over. Mumbai Indians won the match by 31 runs. Ramnaresh Sarwan was the highest scorer for the Guyana team where he scored 46 runs from 38 deliveries that included 6 fours and a six.

Kieron Pollard was chosen as the man of the match for his magnificent and unbelievable performance shown while batting.

Tomorrow will be the day where Royal Challengers Bangalore will be facing the Southern Redbacks. This will definitely be a pretty interesting match. See you guys on tomorrow with next match updates.

Champions League Twenty20: Guyana vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Second match of the day was played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Guyana at Centurion, Tshwane. Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and put Guyana to bat first.

Travis Dowlin and Sewnarine Chattergoon started the batting innings for Guyana. This gave a little slow start and started to take pace. But after the completion of 4th over, Travis Dowling lost his wicket by giving a simple catch to Dale Steyn bowled by Praveen Kumar. This turned out to be a bad sign for the Guyana as they started to loose wickets in regular intervals with drop in their net run rate. It lost all 10 wickets in 20 overs and could just make a century. They were bowled out for 103 runs with loss of 10 wickets. Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper was the most economical bowler for the team as his economy rate was just 2.5 runs per over and he also took a wicket. Jacques Kallis took 3 wickets with a economy rate of 4 runs per over.


Royal Challengers Bangalore needed 104 runs to win from 20 overs with 10 wickets on hand. This total is not at all a good one as it could be easily chased. RCB have an very good batting lineup with some great and well experienced players. Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid opened the batting innings for the team. They both started off well and put up a partnership of 78 runs. Rahul Dravid was bowled out by Royston Crandon. Rahul Dravid scored 33 runs from 34 deliveries that included 3 fours. Later Robin Uthappa came in to bat where he played magnificently well and completed the innings for RCB in a grand style. He quick fired to score 25 runs from just 8 deliveries that included 2 fours and 2 sixes. By 12.2 over, RCB scored 106 runs in total and won the match by 9 wickets. Jacques Kallis was unbeaten with a score of 43 runs from 32 runs which included 4 fours and a six. Jacques Kallis was picked up as the man of the match as he showed an brilliant performance both with bat and ball.

Champions League Twenty20: Southern Redbacks vs Highveld Lions

Game three of the Airtel Champions League 2010 was played between Southern Redbacks and Highveld Lions at Centurion, Tshwane. This was the second match for the Highveld Lions and they have won their first match which was played against the Mumbai Indians. Highveld Lions won the toss & elected to field first.

Daniel Harris and Michael Klinger opened the batting innings for the Souther Redbacks. Daniel Harris got out by getting Leg before wicket in Robert Frylinck's delivery and departed scoring only 13 runs. After the fall of their first wicket, Southern Redbacks had 2 good partnerships followed by which resulted to put up a very good total against the Highveld Lions. After 20 overs, Southern Redbacks lost 6 wickets and put up a total score of 178 runs on board. Teams highest scorer was Michael Klinger who scored 78 runs from 48 deliveries that included 6 fours and 5 sixes. Aaron Phangiso was economical bowler from Highveld Lions whose economy rate was 5.5 runs per over and also had taken a wicket.

Highveld Lions needed 179 runs from 20 overs to win with 10 wickets on hand. They opened their batting innings with the openers Jonathan Vandiar and Alviro Petersen. Jonathan Vandiar who was the man of the match in his previous match played against Mumbai Indians failed to make it big with his bat. He was sent back to the pavillion after Shaun's Tait bowled him out when Highveld Lions total score was just 6 runs. Highveld Lions started to loose wickets in regular intervals. After 20 overs, Highveld Lions somehow managed to score a total of 167 runs with 8 wicket loss. Southern Redbacks won the match by 11 runs. Alviro Petersen had scored 56 runs 37 deliveries which included 7 fours and a six. Shaun Tait took 3 important wickets but he was not that economical as his economy rate was 9 runs per over.

Champions League Twenty20: Mumbai Indians vs Highveld Lions

Airtel Champions League Twenty20 started today and the opening match was played between the IPL Twenty20 runners up of 2010 the Mumbai Indians vs Highveld Lions at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field first.


Alviro Petersen and Jonathan Vandiar opened the batting innings for Highveld Lions. They started off very well and played very aggressively. Alviro Petersen got out when their total scored reached 24 runs in just 14 deliveries. But Jonathan Vandiar stayed and played well till Highveld Lions lost its fourth wicket who was himself. He departed when was caught by Sachin Tendulkar in Lasith Maling's over after scoring 71 runs from 48 deliveries which included 4 fours and 3 sixes. Neil McKenzie played some beautiful knocks and scored an magnificent 56 runs from just 30 deliveries which included 7 fours and a six. This added some more runs to the team and increased the teams total and the confidence in them as well. After 20 overs, Highveld Lions landed up scoring 186 runs loosing 5 wickets only. Lasith Malinga picked 3 important wickets.


Mumbai Indians needed 187 runs to win the match from 20 overs with 10 wickets in hand. Shikhar Dhawan and Sachin Tendulkar opened the batting innings for the Mumbai Indians. They both started off very well and added some good runs to the team. Shikhar Dhawan was trapped when Mumbai Indians reached 83 runs in 9.4 over. Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar played well and scored 69 runs from just 42 deliveries before getting bowled out by Shane Burger. JP Duminy added some runs to the team but got out after scoring 30 runs. Even Keiron Pollard could not make it big as he departed scoring 19 runs from just 9 deliveries which included 2 biggies. There was lot of pressure built on Harbhajan Singh who the only hope to rescue the team out of this critical when Mumbai Indians needed 13 runs from 3 deliveries. But unfortunately not even a single six was hit. Mumbai Indians finally landed up scoring 177 runs thereby loosing the match to Highveld Lions by 9 runs. Jonathan Vandiar was picked up as the man of the match.


Tomorrow, Warriors will be playing against Wayamba Elevens and Central Stags will be playing against the IPL 2010 winners, Chennai Super Kings.

1st ODI: Pakistan vs England

Today England and Pakistan played the first ODI cricket match of the ongoing series at ODI at Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street. Pakistan won the toss & elected to field first.

As usual, Andrew Strauss and Steve Davies opened the batting innings for the England team. Right from the start of the innings, England showed an brilliant performance. They started well with an good run rate more than 6 runs per over. 1st wicket partnership resulted in 78 runs from just 65 deliveries. After the fall of Andrew Strauss, Steve Davies partnered with Jonathan Trott where they both again put up a very good partnership of 75 runs. Jonathan Trott and Steve Davies put up their half centuries respectively. England till the end of their batting innings played well. Everyone contributed some decent runs to the teams total. Total overs was restricted to 41 overs. England completed its 41 overs and scored a magnificent 274 runs in total with the loss of 6 wickets. Teams highest scorer was Steve Davies who scored 87 runs from just 67 deliveries which included 13 fours. Pakistan's most successful bowler was Saeed Ajmal where he took 4 important wickets but his bowling economy was not that good. On the other hand Shoaib Akhtar bowled magnificently with an economy rate of just 3.5 runs per over but could not pick up any wicket.

Pakistan needed 275 runs from 41 overs to win the first ODI match of the series. As expected Pakistan team gave an very good and aggressive start with the openers Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal. Both played well till Graeme Swann came into the bowling attack. He picked up Mohammad Hafeez wicket where he gave a straight catch to Tim Bresnan. Pakistan lost its first wicket when its total was 62 runs. This fall resulted in continuous lose of wickets where batsmen could not stay long at the crease. Pakistan started to loose wickets in regular intervals meanwhile the asking rate got raising up. After the fall of first 3 wickets, Pakistan batsmen showed some resistance and started to contribute some runs to the team, but this did not work. Pakistan somehow managed to reach 250 runs in total after completing 41 overs. England won the match by 24 runs. All England bowlers performed equally well and picked up wickets. This was an complete team effort as far as England's victory is concerned. They showed it through bat, ball and in the field as well.

England are now leading the series by 1-0. Man of the match was Steve Davies for his 87 knock and an magnificent catch of Umar Akaml who was looking very dangerous with the bat.

Ireland vs Canada

Ireland and Canada played their second ODI Cricket match yesterday at Cricket Skating and Curling Club, Toronto. Canada won the toss and elected to field first.

Ireland opened its batting innings with the openers Paul Stirling and Andre Botha. They both started well and put up a partnership of 91 runs before the fall of first wicket. Paul Stirling right from the start of the innings played aggressively. Other top order batsmen contributed some runs to the team and also gave a good partnership to Paul Stirling. Paul Stirling scored his century and later added another half century into his records and finally scored his highest score of his ODI career. He got out by giving a simple catch in the Harvir Baidwan's delivery in the 44.5 over. Paul Stirling scored a magnificent 177 runs in just 134 deliveries which included 21 fours and 5 sixes with a strike rate of over 132.09. By 50 overs, Ireland lost 8 wickets and put up a total score of 325 runs on board. Harvir Baidwan and Harvir Baidwan picked up 3 wickets each for Canada.

Canada needed 326 runs to win the match in 50 overs with 10 wickets in hand. This was suppose to be a tough target as the team is considered. Hiral Patel and Nitesh Kumar opened the batting innings for Canada. Hiral Patel got out when Canada reached 10 runs in total. Nitesh Kumar also did not last long at the crease as he departed by giving a straight catch to John Mooney. There came a partnership of 69 runs and another partnership of 49 runs which added some runs to the team. But Canada lost all its 10 wickets as they were loosing wickets in regular fashion. By 46.3 overs, Canada lost 10 wickets and made a total score of 233 runs. Albert van der Merwe bowled brilliantly well and picked up 5 wickets. Ireland won the match by 92 runs.

Man of the match was Paul Stirling for his magnificent performance with the bat.

second Twenty20: England vs Pakistan

Yesterday, Pakistan and England played their second Twenty20 cricket match of the series at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff - Wales. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first.

Pakistan started well with the openers Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan. Kamran Akmal departed scoring 11 runs by giving a easy catch to Graeme Swann in Tim Bresnan delivery. After the fall of the first wicket, Pakistan started to loose wickets in regular intervals. Their run rate was decreasing as the overs went on and no player from Pakistan played magnificently as a result Pakistan ended up adding only few runs to the scoreboard. By 18.4 overs, Pakistan lost all its 10 wickets and made a total of 89 runs. Tim Bresnan took 3 wickets and his economy rate was just 2.72 runs per over. Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom each took 2 wickets.

England needed 90 runs in 20 overs to win the match and win the series by 2-0. They had 10 wickets on hand. Craig Kieswetter and Steve Davies opened the innings for England. England gave a moderate start as they could not start hitting because of Shoaib Akthar who was bowling brilliantly with line and length. England started to hit the ball in the second over when Umar Gul bowled a No ball which was resulted in a free hit. Craig Kieswetter used this opportunity and hit the ball over the fence which went all the way to six. Later in the same over, they hit 2 fours and a 3 run. This gave some confidence to the England team. But Shoaib akthar bowled well in his second over and to Steve Davies wicket, later in the next delivery Craig Kieswetter got run out. This was an double blow for England. Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara added contributed some runs to the team. When the 11th over ended , England had lost 4 wickets and scored 63 runs in total. By 14 overs, England scored 90 runs with the loss of 4 wickets and won the match by 6 wickets.


Man of the match went to Tim Bresnan for his magnificent bowling innings of the match. England won the series by 2-0. England has created a new record for winning the most number of matches consecutively. Next will the ODI series played  between England and Pakistan.

Ireland vs Canada

Yesterday, Ireland played an ODI match against Canada at Cricket Skating and Curling Club, Toronto. Ireland won the toss & elected to bat first.

Andre Botha and Paul Stirling opened the batting innings for the Ireland. Andre Botha got out in the 5.5over where he got bowled by Khurram Chohan's delivery. At this point of time Ireland had made a total score of 26 runs. Later wickets start to fall in regular intervals. By 34.3 over, Ireland made a total score of 172 runs. Teams top scorer was John Mooney who scored 47 runs from 55 deliveries which included 2 fours. The game was played for 35 overs only and the Ireland batting run rate was 5 runs per over.


Canada needed 173 runs to win the match from 35 overs with 10 wickets in hand. Rizwan Cheem and Hiral Patel opened the batting innings for the team. Both the batsmen departed in 2nd over and 3rd over respectively. By 2.4 over, Canada lost its opening batsmen and scored 15 runs thereby their scorecard was 15/2. Ruvindhu Gunasekara and Ashish Bagai came in to bat and partnered well to put up a 140 runs partnership. Ruvindhu Gunasekara scored 71runs from 95 deliveries which included 6 fours and Ashish Bagai scored 64 runs from 85 deliveries which included 9 fours. By 33 over, Canada scored a total score of  163 runs and won the match by D&L method. Canada won the match by 6 wickets. Man of the match was Ruvindhu Gunasekara.

Ricky Ponting is worried about the new one day game announced by Australian Cricket

Australia Cricket recently announced that in this season it will be adding a new format of one day game where it will trial a 45 over game which will be split into 2 innings which will be having 20 overs in one innings and 25 overs in other innings. Ricky Ponting, Australian Cricket team captain believes that this new format of one day game might damage their preparations for the World Cup.
World Cup will be held in 2011 i.e, next year in February which will be hosted by India, Srilanka and Bangladesh. Only with few months remaining this drastic change will definitely affect the players especially the young spinners who might find it difficult this summer. He also added that their national team will not get affected that much as they will be playing another 12 to 13 ODI matches before the World Cup and it is Okay for them. They are much concerned about the young spinners in particular.