The cricketer's who might be playing their last world cup: Part2

Here are some predictions for the cricketer's in which i think this might be their last World Cup.

Sachin Tendulkar, 37: He owns nearly every batting record there is but World Cup glory has eluded him. He single-handedly took India to the semis in 1996 and the final in 2003. This is his sixth World Cup and he will be 42 by the time the next World Cup comes around. In all probability, this is his last chance to wear the winner's medal.

Steve Tikolo, 39: He’s been the rock of Kenyan cricket ever since they started playing ODI cricket in 1996. A fluent middle-order batsman and an off-spinner, Tikolo astonishingly lead the minnows to the semi-final of the 2003 World Cup. 2011 is his fifth World Cup, and he’ll be plotting some upsets.

Ricky Ponting, 36: The Australia captain has been a middle-order force since the late 90s. But his poor form with the bat has coincided with Australia's worst slump in many years. Ponting has tasted World Cup success in 1999, 2003 and 2007 but this could be his final shot at the title.

Brett Lee, 35: Once the fastest bowler in the world alongside Shoaib Akhtar, Lee's career has been curtailed by recurring injuries. He's fought back into the team, but it will be a struggle for him to remain there for long. He's won the World Cup in 2003 and 2007.

Paul Collingwood, 34: He holds the distinction of leading England to their first world title, the World T20 in 2010. He's been England's blue-collared hero --- a hard-working batsman, attacking fielder and useful seamer --- but this may be his last chance to end his team's World Cup jinx.

Scott Styris, 35: He's a dependable middle-order batsman and an annoyingly good seamer. Styris will be 40 by the time the next World Cup happens in 2015. He has a good cup record, averaging 69.2 in just 18 matches. His experience will be much needed if this Kiwi team has to reverse its losing trend.

The cricketer's who might be playing their last world cup: Part1

Shoaib Akhtar, 35: Once the fastest bowler in the world, his career has always been on the brink of an abrupt end due to injuries and misdemeanours. But he has surprisingly hung on. Shoaib was runners-up in the 1999 World cup and bowled a delivery at 161 KMPH in the 2003 event. He's now one of the fading stars of a once brilliant team.

Jacques Kallis, 35: The finest all-rounder this side of the 1990s, Kallis has seen many World Cup heart-breaks: the quarterfinal in 1996, semi-finals in 1999 and 2007, and the rain-rule blunder of 2003. His team has a point to prove in 2011.

Muttiah Muralitharan, 38: Murali is the most successful bowler ever in international cricket. He retired from Tests last year with a mind-boggling 800 wickets and will retire from ODIs after the World Cup. Sri Lanka won the 1996 World Cup with him, reached the 2003 semis and the 2007 final. Playing at home again, can they do an encore for Murali?

Tillakaratne Dilshan, 34: He started his international career at 23, but blossomed late. He is one of the most destructive openers on sub-continental flatbeds and has also invented the ‘Dilscoop’. Sri Lanka is an aging side with lots of senior batsmen in their mid-30s. Dilshan might not be around in 2015.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 36: Chanders will be playing his fifth World Cup. In 1996, he almost took West Indies in to the final but his wicket triggered a collapse leading to an Australian win. Since then, the two-time champs have performed poorly at the World cup. Will this time be different?

Zaheer Khan, 32: Fast bowlers tend to have a shorter shelf-life than other cricketers. Given Zaheer's work-load and injury record, he would do well to stay fit for the 2015 World Cup. It's a difficult task, but let's hope India’s best pacer is still around taking loads of wickets.

India won the match against Srilanka by 6 wickets

Today Srilanka and India played their second match of the tri-series at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Rangiri. Srilanka won the toss and elected to bat first.

Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the batting innings for the Srilankan team. Upul Tharanga got out in the very first delivery of their batting innings. Praveen Kumar took the wicket and it was an awesome start for the Indians which gave a real boost to the teams bowling. After the fall their first wicket, things started to worsen as they were loosing wickets in regular interval and their run rate dropping drastically. Tillakaratne Dilshan some how managed to stay for long period and scored 45 runs before returning to the pavilion. Suraj Randiv and Nuwan Kulasekara contributed some runs to the team which helped in increasing the team's total. They both scored 43 runs and 22 runs respectively. By 46.1 over, Srilanka lost all its 10 wickets and scored a total score of 170 runs. Pragyan Ojha took 3 wickets, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja took 2 wickets each. Praveen Kumar was very economical bowler for the day as his economy rate was just 2.5 runs per over.


India needed 171 runs from 50 overs with 10 wickets in hand. First wicket fell when India's total reached 30 runs. It was Dinesh Karthik who gave a simple and straight catch to Nuwan Kulasekara. Later, India lost one more wicket when its score was just 31 and again one more wicket fell when India it reached 32. At this point of time, India was facing a very critical situation as their previous match where they got all out for 88 runs against the New Zealand. That same thing started to repeat. But Virender Sehwag made a change where he stayed till the end of the match and helped the team to come out of this situation. He scored a magnificent unbeaten 99 runs and finished the match with a grand style. India, by 34.3 over chased its target successfully by scoring a total of 171 runs with the loss of 4 wickets. India won the match by 6 wickets. Angelo Mathews and Dilhara Fernando took 2 wickets each.


Now, all the three teams have won a match out of 2 matches played.

India vs Srilanka

Today India played their 2nd ODI of the tri-series against Srilanka at Queen's Sports Club, Bulawayo. Indians after their unbelievable defeat against the Zimbabwe in their 1st ODI, they are playing against Srilanka who are their past rival. At the super eight match in World Twenty20, Srilankan's stunned India by winning the match & putting India out of the series. Now its time for India to pay them.

India won the toss & let the Srilankan's to bat first. Upul Tharanga & Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the batting innings for Srilanka. Upul Tharanga did not survive for longer period. Dilshan played beautifully & scored 61 runs before his run out which was hit by Rohit Sharma. Later, Angelo Mathews took the responsibility & contributed 75 runs to the team which helped Srilanka to put up a decent total of 242 runs. Srilanka lost all 10 wickets in 49.5 overs scoring 242 runs at a run rate of 4.86 runs per over.
This total is not a huge one for India, but looks pretty decent until they loose some quick wickets. Indians need 243 runs in 50 overs to win the match against Srilanka.

Dinesh Karthik & Murali Vijay started the chase for India, but they both were unsuccessful as they got out & walked back to pavillion. This seems to be a bad sign for India as it has lost its openers. Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli played a decent innings & contributed a good partnership. Both played well & scored half centuries individually. This helped India a lot to go into positive track.