India tour of West Indies

India has toured West Indies, where they play 1 T20 match, 5 ODI matches and 3 Test matches. Out of these already 1 T20 match and 4 ODI matches are played. India have won the T20 match and also 2 ODI matches thereby clean sweeping the ODI series from West Indies. Now the 4th and 5th ODI match was to be played for pride.

As usual Team India was fielding first. In the first 3 ODI's India fielded first and won all the matches. But yesterday unusual happened when they faced West Indies at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua. West Indies played pretty decently to put up a total score of 249 runs loosing 8 wickets. Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons played some pretty decent knocks which brought them back in the game when they lost 5 wickets very badly.

India needed 250 runs to win the match, but this time things did not favor towards Indians. They started to feel the pressure and loose wickets. In just 39 overs, India were all-out scoring only 146 runs. West Indies won the match by 103 runs. Anthony Martin was main man behind this victory as he took 3 important and much required wickets for the team. After this ODI match, the series is 3-1. Though the series has already been won by India, its time for West Indies to win last match for pride.

Latest update on IPL 2011

As the league matches are getting closer to its end, there has been many twists happening in and around the IPL. The Chris Gayle's entry to the Royal Challengers Bangalore has boosted their confidence, they have not lost a single match after the Gayle's entry. It's been almost one man show for the RCB as he is easing of the pressure by hitting biggies very easily and confidently. RCB has a good chance of entering into top 4 position in the ranking table at the end of league matches.

Mumbai Indians who have been spectacular throughout their IPL 2011. Now started to taste some worst defeats. They previously lost to Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Rajasthan Royals in a bad way. Today, Kings XI Punjab managed to remove all the wickets of MI in just 12.5 overs. MI were all out for 87 runs which was a bad and lowest total put by them (MI - 87/10, 12.5 over). Now KXP have started to feel the pressure and also gaining their momentum.

The skipper of Delhi Daredevils, Virender Sehwag is out of IPL 4 as he is suffering from injury. He was the only man who was winning the matches. Now it is almost impossible for the DD to enter into top 4 position. They have won only 4 matches out of 11 matches.

Pune Warriors India are having a tough time as they have won only 4 matches out of 11 matches. They are just like Delhi Daredevils. Sourav Ganguly's return to IPL has added some confidence to the PWI team. Ganguly played well and won the previous match for PWI.

Rajasthan Royals and Kochi Tuskers Kerala are fighting to get into top 4. They are currently at 5th and 6th position. They have got better chance of getting into top 4. On the other hand, Deccan Chargers are already out of IPL4 playoff as they have won only 3 matches so far.

Rajasthan Royals outplay Mumbai Indians

On Friday, Rajasthan Royals played their home match against Mumbai Indians at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. The toss was won by Shane Warne and he chose to bowl first.

Davy Jacobs and Sachin Tendulkar opened the batting innings for the MI. The start was pretty good, but they likewise the wickets were also started to fall. Not even a single batsman showed his performance in this match. Everyone failed to play their trademark shots as well. Even Kieron Pollard, Andrew Symonds who love to hunt the ball failed in this match. Mumbai Indians could not resist the bowling attack done by Rajasthan Royals and they finally ended  scoring a total of just 94 runs on board in 20 overs with the loss of 8 wickets (MI - 94/8, 20over). Johan Botha was the most economical bowler whose economy rate was just 3 runs per over and took 3 wickets. Apart from him, other bowlers also bowled well.

Rajasthan Royals in reply, chased their target of 95 runs in 18.1 overs with the loss of 3 wickets (RR - 95/3, 18.1over). Shane Watson scored 26 runs and Johan Botha who bowled an awesome spell, batted magnificently  as well. He scored 45 runs in 39 balls that included 2 fours and a six. Ali Murtaza was economical from MI side but failed to take a wicket.

Rajasthan Royals won the match by 7 wickets. Man of the match was Johan Botha for hitting 45 runs, taking 3 wickets and a catch.

IPL 2011: MI vs RCB

On 12th April, Mumbai Indians played against Royal Challengers Bangalore at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. The toss was won by Mumbai Indians and they chose to field first.

Mayank Agarwal and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the batting innings for RCB. In the very first ball of the innings, Lasith Malinga bowled and yorker length delivery to Mayank Agarwal and bowled him. He departed getting a duck and the batting team became quite upset with Malinga's bowling attack. Virat Kohli came in and did not survive for a long time. He only scored 12 runs from 19 deliveries. AB de Villiers and Dilshan put up some good partnership that helped RCB to come out of the critical situation. AB de villiers scored 38 runs before getting caught and bowled by Kieron Pollard. Dilshan managed to put up a half-century and remained unbeaten scoring 59 runs in 52 deliveries that included 4 fours and 2 sixes. In 20 overs, RCB managed to put up a total score of 140 runs for the loss of 4 wickets (RCB - 140/4, 20 over). 


The total was not a big or challenging one for the Mumbai Indians as they have a pretty aggressive batting line-up. Right from the start of the innings, MI batsmen started to play some big shots. Davy Jacobs scored 22 runs and departed. Dirk Nannes picked up his wicket and gave 0 runs in his first over. Dirk Nannes after this over did not bowl as he got injured. Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu put up a unbeaten partnership of 110 runs. Sachin Tendulkar remained unbeaten scoring 55 runs and Ambati Rayudu remained unbeaten scoring 63 runs. In 18.3 overs, Mumbai Indians managed to chase the target successfully scoring a total of 143 runs for the loss of 1 wicket (MI - 143/1, 18.3 over).

Mumbai Indians won the match by 9 wickets. Man of the match for Sachin Tendulkar. This victory has made Mumbai Indians to move to the first place of the ranking table. I am really disappointed with my home teams performance. They have lost a match, that too at their home ground.

ICC World Cup 2011 updates: Day 9 match 2

On the day 9, second match of the day was played between West Indies and Netherlands. Netherlands won the toss and chose to field first.

Devon Smith and Chris Gayle opened the batting innings for the WI team. Right from the start of the innings, the Caribbeans looked dominant. First wicket partnership was 100 runs for 16.3 overs. Devon Smith departed after scoring 53 runs and Chris Gayle departed after scoring 80 runs. Ramnaresh Sarwan was unlucky as he departed when he was at 49 and could not complete his half century. Kieron Pollard, the big man came in to bat and dominated all the bowlers. He just blasted out and scored a magnificent 60 runs in just 27 deliveries that included 5 fours and 4 sixes. His batting strike rate was 222.22. After 50 overs, West Indies landed up scoring a magnificent total of 330 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Pieter Seelaar took 3 wickets and looked impressive with the ball as his economy rate was just 4.5 runs per over under this kind of circumstances.

Netherlands needed 331 runs to win the match. The start was pretty slow for Netherlands and they lost their first wicket in the second over itself. After this break, Caribbeans started to take wickets in regular manner and dominated the opponents in bowling. NED kept on loosing wickets and finally ended up scoring only 115 runs in 31.3 overs. Tom Cooper was unbeaten scoring 55 runs. Kemar Roach took 6 wickets and was very impressive with the ball. His economy rate was just 3.17 runs per over.

West Indies won the match by 215 runs. Man of the match went to Kemar Roach.

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