Top 4 ODI teams to start test match on 26th December

On 26th December, The top 4 ODI cricket teams will be starting to play test match :-) It will be India playing Australia at Melbourne, Australia. This will be the first test match of the series which will be played between both teams. On the other hand, Srilanka will be playing  South Africa at Durban, South Africa and this will be the second test match of the series played between them.

I can better say it's MS Dhoni vs Michael Clarke's boys in IND-AUS series and Tillakaratne Dilshan vs Graeme Smith's boys in SL-SA series.

For IND-AUS, it will be a 4 test match series. This will be the first test match between them.

For SL-SA, it's a 3 test match series. Already, one match has been completed. South Africa won the match by an innings and 81 runs. SA is leading SL by 1-0.

People to be watched out in both the series are Vernon Philander, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakarra, Angelo Mathews, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, James Pattinson, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.

IPL 2011: DC vs RCB

Today, only one IPL match was played. It was between Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. The toss was won by Royal Challengers Bangalore and they let Deccan Chargers to bat first.

Sunny Sohal and Shikhar Dhawan opened the batting innings for DC. They started off very well and the start looked pretty awesome. Zaheer Khan picked his first prey and it was Sunny Sohal. Skipper came in and played some good knocks till Dhawan was there. After that he gave some standing to Bharat Chipli who played a magnificent innings. After the departure of the skipper Sangakkara, the birthday boy JP Duminy entered the crease and played some good shots. Finally Deccan Chargers put up a good total or 175 runs on board for the loss 5 wickets in 20 overs (DC - 175/5, 20 over). Bharat Chipli scored a unbeaten 61 runs from just 35 balls that included 5 fours and 3 sixes. Zaheer Khan took 3 wickets.

As the total was little high, the pressure was on the RCB. The start was slow and more over they lost their first wicket in the second over itself. It was a biggie Tillakaratne Dilshan and after this Zaheer Khan was sent to bat but even was back in the same pace scoring a duck. In 11.1 overs, RCB lost 5 wickets and scored only 56 runs. The match had almost slipped from them to DC. Pujara and Virat Kohli played some good knocks and put up a partnership which helped RCB to get back confidence. This partnership was their last hope but it went in vain when Pujara got out. Things changed and DC became more dominant. RCB ended up scoring a total of only 142 runs and lost 9 wickets in 20 overs (RCB - 142/9, 20 over). Virat Kohli was the top run getter for RCB, he scored 71 runs in 52 deliveries that included 5 fours and 3 sixes. Manpreet Gony and Dale Steyn took 3 wickets each.

Deccan Chargers won the match by 33 runs. Dale Steyn was the man of the match.

ICC World Cup 2011 updates: Day 22

On the 22nd day of the ICC World Cup 2011, India and South Africa faced against each other at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur, India. The toss went into the favor of India and they chose to bat first.

India gave a fine start with the openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. Right from the start of the innings, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were hitting the ball all over the ground. Sachin Tendulkar was more aggressive than Sehwag. The both put up a partnership of 142 runs in just 17.4 overs. Sehwag was out and Gautam Gambhir came in to bat. He also batted well and put up his half century. The second wicket partnership consisted of 125 runs. Sachin Tendulkar got out and finally South Africans managed to remove the little master. This was the turning point for them. When Sachin departed, India's total was 267 for the loss of 2 wickets in just 39.4 overs. He scored his 48th ODI century scoring 111 runs in 101 deliveries. After this, India collapsed and lost all its remaining 8 wickets scoring only 29 runs. They could not even complete the 50 overs nor could score a total of 300 runs. The worst batting performance i have ever seen in my life. India after 48.4 overs, put up a total of only 296 runs and lost all 10 wickets (IND- 296/10, 48.4 over). Dale Steyn took 5 wickets.

In reply, South Africa also started off very well. The top order batsmen played their part and put very useful runs to the total. Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers put up half-centuries each. Other batsmen, played some good knocks. The match went on closer as if the match could be won be any team. Till the last over, there was no confirmation on who will the match. In the last over, South Africa needed 13 runs with 3 wickets on hand. The ball given to Ashish Nehra on whom the match depended on. The very first ball went for a four then next delivery went for a Six. This 2 deliveries decided that South Africa have almost won the match. In that over, Petersen hit 4,6,2,4 and won the match with 2 deliveries in spare. South Africa scored a total of 300 runs in 49.4 overs (SA - 300/7, 49.4 over). Harbhajan Singh took 3 wickets.

South Africa won the match by 3 wickets. Man of the match went to Dale Steyn who took 5 wickets and was responsible for the collapse of the Indian batting.

ICC World Cup 2011 updates: Day 16 Match 1

Today its the 16th day of the cricket's biggest event ICC World Cup 2011. On this day 2 matches are being played. First match is between South Africa and England at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, India. England won the toss and they chose to bat first.

Andrew Strauss failed to score even a single run and was duck out playing only 3 deliveries. Even Kevin Pietersen got out in the first over itself. Ian Bell came in to bat and he was back to pavilion scoring only 5 runs. At this point of time, England were 15 for the loss of 3 wickets. Ravi Bopara came to bat and partnered with Jonathan Trott to put up a partnership of 99 runs.  Ravi Bopara scored 60 runs and Jonathan Trott scored 52 runs. This helped England to come out of the worst situation and gained some confidence. South Africa after breaking this partnership, easily managed to remove all the remaining wickets. England counld not sustain the bowling attack and finally surrendered scoring a total of 171 runs in 45.4 overs (ENG - 171/10, 45.4 over). Imran Tahir took 4 wickets and Dale Steyn took 3 wickets.

South Africa needed only 172 runs to win the match. Hashim Amla and the skipper Graeme Smith opened the batting innings. They both started off well and made a strong position. Their partnership was 63 runs before Graeme Smith gave asimple catch to Matt Prior bowled by Graeme Swann. After this break, England started to gave some pressure, Stuart Broad came back strongly and managed to remove Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis. AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis started to build up some partnership that helped South Africans to score some good runs. But this did not last long, James Anderson came in and took 2 crucial wickets at crucial stages. South Africa scored only 3 runs loosing 4 wickets quickly. After this, Stuart Broad cleared the lower order and did the job for England. South Africa were all out scoring only 165 runs in 47.4 overs (SA - 165/10, 47.4 over). Stuart Broad took 4 wickets.

England won the match by 6 runs. Man of the match was Ravi Bopara.

You might also like,
Opening ceremony of ICC WC 2011
England's loss against Ireland
India England match tied

ICC World Cup 2011 updates: Day 6

On the 6th day of the ICC World Cup 2011, A match was played between South Africa and West Indies at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, India. The toss went into the favor of SA and they decided to field first.

West Indies opened its batting innings with Chris Gayle and Devon Smith. Chris Gayle scored 2 runs in the first 2 balls and in the third delivery, he gave an easy catch to Jacques Kallis who makes no mistakes. Darren Bravo came in to bat and put up a partnership of 111 runs that gave hope to the other batsmen. After the fall of second wicket, they lost 2 more wickets in quick intervals. One good partnership came after this, which was between Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo. After this break, West Indies struggled a lot to move forward and finally ended up loosing remaining wickets in 47.3 overs. West Indies put up a total score of 222 runs. Imran Tahir took 4 wickets and Dale Steyn took 3 wickets that helped them to restrict WI to 222 runs in total.

South Africa needed only 223 runs in 50 overs. Being one of the strongest team in the world at moment, this was not an difficult job for them. Hashim Amla could not make it big today and was Jacques Kallis. After the fall of 2 wickets, Graeme Smith hanged out at the crease for a while and departed after scoring 45 runs. JP Duminy came in to bat and partnered with AB de Villiers and put up a unbeaten 84 runs partnership. AB de Villiers scored his century and remained unbeaten at 107 runs. By 42.5 overs, South Africa scored 223 runs for the loss of just 3 wickets.

South Africa won the match by 7 wickets. Man of the match went to AB de Villiers for his century.

You might also like,
Opening ceremony of ICC WC 2011
Bangladesh's historic win
Airtel Champions League winner

ICC World Cup 2011 Opening ceremony

Today ICC World Cup 2011 opening ceremony was held at Dhaka, Bangladesh. All the 14 team skippers were in present in this ceremony. The stadium was filled with excitement with full colors and music. The main performers were Sonu Nigam, Runa Laila and the Canadian rocker Bryan Adams who rocked the stadium.

There would have been plenty of taught that had come in the minds of all the skippers. As of now, they should be having their own gaming strategies and plans prepared for this World Cup. Each players dream would be to lift the ICC World Cup along with their team members and return to their homes with glory.

In total 49 matches will be played in a span 6 weeks. The decider match i.e, the finals between the 2 glorious team performing in this World Cup will be played on 2nd April in Mumbai. One shall stand victorious while others shall fall.