India tour of Australia

Indian team is touring Australia this winter. They both will be playing a 4 test match series followed by a 2 T20 match series.

Currently, Indian team is in 2nd position in the ICC test ranking list, whereas Australia is in 4th postion. It's gonna be a big event for both the teams as they face for the first time after the World Cup event.

The most notable persons for this tour would be Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Other person to watch out would be the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. This might be his last tour to Australia and also will be a great opportunity to fulfill his dream of making 100 centuries. So definitely crowds gathered for all those matches would be expecting some great actions that's gonna happen. On the other side, Australia is looking to take its World Cup revenge through this tour.

The schedule is as follows,
1st Test is on 26-Dec-2011, Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne
2nd Test is on 03-Jan-2012, Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Sydney
3rd Test is on 13-Jan-2012, Venue: W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth
4th Test is on 24-Jan-2012, Venue: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide


1st T20 match is on 01-Feb-2012, Venue: Stadium Australia, Sydney
2nd T20 match is on 03-Feb-2012, Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne

Once this tour is complete, there will be a ODI tri-series that will be played between India, Australia and Srilanka which starts from 05-Feb-2012 and ends on 08-Mar-2012. This series will be having 3 finals and the final 2 team with more wins in the finals will be announced as the winner of tri-series.

Australians were trapped in Ajantha Mendis Jinx

Yesterday, Srilanka and Australia played their second Twenty20 match at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy, Sri Lanka. The toss was won by the Srilankans and they chose to bat first.

Mahela Jayawardena and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the batting innings for Srilanka. Tillakaratne Dilshan was unsuccessful again as he got out after scoring 4 runs only. Mahela Jayawardena batted well till 19.2 over and got out scoring 86 runs in 63 deliveries that included 12 fours and 1 six. Rest other players did not make it big, they just contributed few runs here and there. Finally Srilanka managed to put up a total score of 157 runs on board in 20 overs loosing 9 wickets (SL - 157/9, 20 over). Brett Lee and John Hastings took 3 wickets each.

Australia needed 158 runs to win the match and start the innings with the openers Shane Watson and David Warner. Both of the started pretty well and the start given by Shane Watson was outstanding. For the first 6 overs, Shane Watson belted the bowlers hitting the ball in all the corners of the ground. He scored 57 runs in just 24 deliveries that included 6 fours and 5 sixes. He got out in Ajantha Mendis delivery by giving a straight catch to Thisara Perera. After the fall of Shane Watson, Australians lost 3 more wickets in just 3 runs. After this, Australian skipper Cameron White took the charge along with Steven Smith and were back on track. Srilankans started to struggle a lot in getting a wicket. Finally Ajantha Mendis struck back with his 4th wicket and broke the partnership. After this, they were back on track and managed to keep pressure on the Australians till the end of the innings. Australia could put up a total of 149 runs only with the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs (AUS - 149/9, 20 over). Ajantha Mendis was the highest wicket taker in the match. He also created the world record in T20 history by taking 6 wickets and the first Srilankan to get 5 wickets in a match.

Srilanka won the match by 8 runs. Man of the match was Ajantha Mendis for taking 6 wickets and creating a new T20 world record.

Another Gayle's show

Royal Challengers Bangalore were in a bad position as they lost 3 matches continuously and one match got tied. After the arrival of Chris Gayle things changed, RCB have won 5 matches continuously. The best part was, in almost all the games Chris Gayle was mainly responsible for the victory. He has won 3 man of the match awards in this 5 matches.

Today, Royal Challengers Bangalore played against Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. The toss was won by Virat Kohli who is the acting captain for Daniel Vettori in his stead and he chose to field first.

Shane Watson and Rahul Dravid opened the batting innings for RR. The start pretty good and they were playing aggressively. Shane Watson got out when RR's total was 73 runs which was a solid foundation for them. Rahul Dravid also got out in the same over. After this things went little slow and the run rate dropped down little bit. But as the overs were passing the pressure was on the RR as they were really struggling to find a boundary. In the end, Rajasthan Royals some how managed to put up a total score of 146 runs on board for the loss of 6 wickets (RR - 146/6, 20 over). But this score was not enough as the big man Chris Gayle who is in form can easily chase it down.

RCB gave a flying start with openers Chris Gayle and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Both started off well and were belting the RR bowlers in every angle possible. In 6.3 overs, RCB scored 68 runs just before Tillakaratne Dilshan who scored 38 runs in just 24 deliveries got out by giving a catch to Ross Taylor. After the fall of first wicket, RCB slowed down their scoring rate and played magnificently to chase down the target. RCB in 17 overs, scored 151 runs and lost only 1 wicket (RCB - 151/1, 17 over). The man in form Chris Gayle was unbeaten scoring 70 runs in just 44 balls that included 7 fours and 4 sixes. Skipper Virat Kohli was also unbeaten scoring 39 runs 34 deliveries that included 3 fours and 1 six.

Royal Challengers Bangalore won the match by 9 wickets with 3 overs to go. Man of the match was Sreenath Aravind for taking 3 important wickets. Chris Gayle has moved to 2nd position in leading runs scorer list 2011. The best part is that he has played only 6 matches so far. On the other hand Virat Kohli also moved up to 4th position in the list. As of now, RCB are in second position with 7 victories and a tie.

Australia tour of Bangladesh: Match 3

Third and the final ODI match of the Australia tour of Bangladesh was played today at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Bangladesh. Toss was won by Australia and they elected to bat first.

Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting opened the batting innings for Australia. Right from the start of the innings they started to hit the ball every corner of the ground. First wicket partnership was 110 runs and Shane Watson was the first wicket to fall. He scored a magnificent 72 runs in just 40 deliveries that included 11 fours and 3 sixes. Ponting and Michael Clarke could not complete their half-centuries. They were short of 3 runs just before getting out. Michael Hussey (Mr.Cricket) came in and played an magnificent innings and score 108 runs. This helped Australia to put up a big total against the home team. In 50 overs, they lost 8 wickets and scored 361 runs (AUS - 361/8, 50 over). Abdur Razzak and Mashrafe Mortaza took 3 wickets each.

This was an difficult chase for them as they were playing against the number one team. Bangladesh team started of very well and were very aggressive, they scored 43 runs in just 4.2 overs. In the 4.3 over, they lost their 1st wicket. After this fall, there was a big partnership of 129 runs but this did not help as their run rate was around 6 runs per over. After the second fall, there was few small partnerships which kept them to play till the end. Bangladesh failed to chase the target and they finally ended up scoring a total of 295 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 50 overs (BAN - 295/6, 50 over). Imrul Kayes was the top scorer for Bangladesh, he scored 93 runs. Mitchell Johnson took 3 wickets for Australia.

Australia won the match by 66 runs. Man of the match was Michael Hussey for his century. Man of the series was Shane Watson for his brilliant all-round performance.

ICC World Cup 2011: Australia vs Canada

On 16th of March 2011, a match was played between Australia and Canada at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India. The toss went into the favor of Canada and they chose to bat first.

Hiral Patel and John Davison opened the innings for Canada. they both gave a solid start where the run rate went  more than 10 runs per over. In just 3.4 overs i.e, in 22 deliveries they scored 41 runs. This was the best start given by Canada in this World Cup and more over it was against the World number one team. After the total reaching 41, Canada lost its first wicket and Australians were back on track. The run rate dropped but it was more than 6 runs per over until second wicket fell. Hiral Patel scored a magnificent 54 runs in 45 deliveries that included 5 fours and 3 sixes. The run rate got dropped and the third wicket partnership resulted in 68 runs. After this fall, Australians were back in full form and managed to remove remaining 7 wickets giving 211 runs in total in 45.4 over (CAN - 211/7, 45.4 over). Australian Pace bowler Brett Lee took 4 wickets. 


Australia needed 212 runs in 50 overs and it was not an tough one for them. Shane Watson and Brad Haddin opened the batting innings for Australia. They both started off well and were playing really nice. The run rate was more than 6 runs per over. First wicket partnership was 183 runs. Brad Haddin departed after scoring 88 runs and Shane Watson departed scoring 94 runs. Captain Ricky Ponting did not stay till the end and he was back to pavilion after scoring only 7 runs. After the fall of 3rd wicket, Australia managed to complete their batting by successfully chasing the target of 211 runs. In 34.5 overs, Australia scored a total of 212 runs and lost only 3 wickets (AUS - 212/3, 34.5 over).

Australia won the match by 7 wickets. Man of the match went to Shane Watson for his beautiful all-rounding performance. Australia have not even lost a match in this World Cup so far.

ICC World Cup 2011 updates: Day 3

On the Day 3 of the ICC World Cup 2011, Australia and Zimbabwe played their first World Cup 2011 match facing each other at Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera, India. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first.

Right from the start, Australians felt pressure and were struggling to score runs. But they did not loose a wicket till the end of 19th over. Brad Haddin departed at the last delivery of the 19th over scoring only 29 runs of 66 deliveries. Australian opener Shane Watson and Michael Clarke helped the team to put up some runs and increased the run rate to just over the 5 runs per over. Shane Watson scored 79 runs of 92 balls and Michael Clarke 58 runs from 55 deliveries. This helped Australia to end up scoring a good total of 262 runs with the loss of 6 wickets in 50 overs. Graeme Cremer was very economical bowler for Zimbabwe as his economy rate was 4.1 runs per over and he also picked up a wicket.

Zimbabwe needed 263 runs to win the match against Australia. Zimbabwe gave a good flying start and managed to score at the required run rate until the fall of their 1st wicket that was in 5.4 over. After the first fall, Zimbabweans started to loose wickets at regular intervals and their run rate dropped eventually. When 7th wicket fell, Graeme Cremer came in to bat and partnered Prosper Utseya. They both played well where Aussies were struggling to break the partnership and were really pissed off. After a long struggle, at 40th over, Aussies managed to break the partnership and removed remaining wickets. Zimbabwe ended up scoring a total of 171 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 46.2 overs.

Australia won the match by 91 runs. Man of the match went to Shane Watson for hitting 79 runs, took 2 catches and bowled well with an economy rate of 2.33 runs per over.

You might also like,

Opening ceremony of ICC WC 2011
Bangladesh's historic win
Airtel Champions League winner

2nd test match: India vs Australia

Yesterday was one of the glorious moment for the Indians won the test series against the Australians by 2-0. On the day 5, Australia had 3 wickets on hand to end its second batting innings. Zaheer Khan bowled an in-swing that which hit the stumps and Mitchell Johnson got out. Another 6 runs were added before Australia lost all its 10th wicket before lunch and ended up scoring 223 runs in the second innings (223/10).

India needed 207 runs to win the match and win the test series. Virender Sehwag got out when reached 7 runs and India lost its first wicket when the total score was just 17 runs. This seemed to be a bad start for the Indians as they lost Virender Sehwag in the early condition. The new entry to the team Cheteshwar Pujara came in to bat partnering Murali Vijay and they both put up a partnership of 62 runs. After the fall of Murali Vijay, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar who is in form came in to bat and put up a very good partnership of 57 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara made his debut half century and scored 72 runs before being sent back to the pavilion by Nathan Hauritz. The Wall, Rahul Dravid came in to bat partnering Sachin Tendulkar and both played till the end putting up a partnership of 61 runs. Sachin Tendulkar completed half century and scored 53 runs.  

India scored a total of 207 runs for the loss of 3 wickets and won the match by 7 wickets. India won the series by clean sweeping Australians by 2-0. Man of the match and the Man of the series award went to Sachin Tendulkar.

2nd test match: India vs Australia

The first test cricket match between India and Australia was played at Mohali where India won the match by 1 wicket. It was an very close match, where India was struggling after loosing 8 wickets at early stage itself. Later a big partnership between VVS Laxman and Ishant Sharma helped the team to get very close. Even then, Australians managed to take Sharma's wicket but failed to remove Pragyan Ojha. Some how Indians managed to win the match. Now India is leading the series by 1-0.

Second test match started today at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. Australia won the toss and they elected to bat first.

Shane Watson and Simon Katich opened the batting innings for the Australia. As usual they both started off well and put up a very good partnership of 99 runs. After the breakage of the first wicket, Indians were back on track thereby picking up another 2 wickets quickly. Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey showed some resistance and help the Australian team. On day one, Australia ended up scoring 285 runs with the loss of 5 wickets. Ricky Ponting was the highest run getter of the day who scored 77 runs from 147 deliveries that included 12 fours with no six. Harbhajan Singh took 2 wickets. Marcus North is still on the crease with 43 being scored and Tim Paine with 8 runs.


These were the updates on the day one of the second test match that is being played between India and Australia. See you all tomorrow with the updates on day 2.

1st test match: India vs Australia

Yesterday, Australia started their second batting innings. They started off well with a lead of 23 runs against the Indians. Shane Watson and Simon Katich put up a very good partnership of 87 runs. As the 1st wicket partnership for the Australians went on, the match looked like as if it will end with a draw. After the fall of their first wicket, Australians kept on loosing wickets. In-fact the wicket falling rate was getting reduced as they started to loose wickets quickly. Apart from the first wicket partnership, there was no other partnership played from the Australians side. Before tea, Australia lost all its wickets and ended up its second batting innings with a total of 192 runs. All the bowlers who bowled in this innings from India took wickets. Harbhajan Singh was very economical bowler as his economy rate was just 1.73 runs per over and also took 2 wickets.

India needed 215 runs to win the match with a day and one session in hand. India started off their batting play very badly as Indian opener Gautam Gambhir got out in the very first over and returned to pavilion without scoring any run. Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag's partnership did not last long as it was broken. By the end of 4th day, India lost 4 wickets and were in deep trouble.

On day 5, India was completely dependent on Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. But Sachin Tendulkar could not stay for longer time as he departed after scoring 38 runs. India was in trouble when they lost their 8th wicket when they reached only 124 runs. Later VVS Laxman and Ishant Sharma added some resistance and put up a very good and much required partnership of 81 runs. This added some runs to the total, but after this Ishant Sharma fell leaving VVS Laxman to fight the battle by himself. India needed 21 runs with one wicket on hand. But Pragyan Ojha played beautifully and supported VVS Laxman who completed the task successfully. OMG!! it was an nail biting match, finally Indians were victorious. India scored 226 runs with the loss of 9 wickets. Thanks to VVS Laxman who proved that he an reliable batsman in the test cricket. India won the match by 1 wicket. Zaheer Khan became man of the match.

1st test match: India vs Australia

First test cricket match between India and Australia started yesterday at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali. The toss went into the favor of Australia and the chose to bat first.

Shane Watson and Simon Katich started the batting innings for the Australian side. Simon Katich did stay for longer period as he returned to the pavilion by getting lbw in Zaheer Khan's delivery. At that point of time, Australia has scored only 13 runs in total in 4.2 over. Ricky Ponting came in to bat and teamed up with Shane Watson to put up a very good partnership of 141 runs. Ricky Ponting departed after scoring 71 runs from 124 deliveries. He got run out which was hit by Suresh Raina. This gave an shy of relief for the Indians as they finally broke out an very good partnership. Later this breakup, Indians started to be back on track as they started to build pressure on the Aussies. Australia lost 3 more wickets and its total score was 222 runs on board. By the end of the day, Australia managed to put up a total score of 224 runs with the loss of 5 wickets. Zaheer Khan took 3 wickets but Pragyan Ojha was the most successful bowler for today as his economical rate was just 1.25 runs per over in 31 overs. Shane Watson was unbeaten scoring 101 runs from 279 deliveries that included 8 fours.

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.

England wins series against Australia

England has won 3rd match against the Australians. England & Australia have been playing 5 ODI match series. Today they played the 3rd match at Old Trafford, Manchester. England has already won 2 matches, this match was an crucial one for them to get a straight win against the Aussies. England won the toss & put the Aussies to bat first.

Tim Paine & Shane Watson had put up a 75 runs of opening partnership which was an advantageous start to the Aussies. After the fall of Tim Paine, Ricky Ponting did not survive for longer period. Though Australia lost 2 wickets, they were going well as Shane Watson was performing well with the bat. Everything changed when Shane Watson got dismissed by Graeme Swann. Australia started to loose wickets in regular fashion with run rate dropping below 5 runs per over. Finally Aussies somehow managed to put up a total score of 212 runs loosing all 10 wickets in 46 overs.

This total was supposed to be a cake walk for the England team as their team was performing extra-ordinarily well in this season. But they lost the opening batsman Kieswetter in the 1st over itself which was a negative sign for them. Next 3 wickets partnership helped England to reach 185 runs in total. At this point of time they were looking very dominant in the match. Soon after the dismissal of the 4th wicket, they lost 5 wickets adding just 18 runs in the total score. At this point of time, they had completed 48 overs scoring 203 runs & had lost 9 wickets. Now the real pressure was on the England side as they had only one wicket left & needed 10 runs. Tim Bresnan played beautifully & scored 11 runs in just 7 deliveries which helped England to win an nail biting match. England won the match by 1 wicket. The series stat is 3-0, England has already won the series. Still 2 more matches will be played between these two which i think they have to play it for pride.

Rajasthan Royals won against Deccan Chargers by 2 runs

Rajasthan Royals played their home match against the Deccan Chargers today at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur. Rajasthan Royals won the toss & elected to bat first.
Rajasthan Royals started their innings with the openers Michael Lumb & Naman Ojha. They lost 2 quick wickets in first 15 balls. After this, Faiz Fazal & Shane Watson put up a partnership of 67 runs, which helped the Rajasthan Royals to put up a good total. After the fall of Faiz Fazal, Rajasthan Royals started to loose wickets regularly. By 19.5 overs, Rajasthan Royals put up a total of 159 runs loosing all 10 wickets. Rajasthan Royals top scorer was Shane Watson who scored 58 runs from 36 balls which included 3 fours & 3 sixes. Deccan Chargers successful bowler was RP Singh whose economy rate was just 4.25 runs per over & took 3 important wickets.
Gilchrist & VVS Laxman opened the innings for Deccan Chargers. Deccan Chargers needed 160 runs in 20 overs which was set by the Rajasthan Royals. VVS Laxman was out in 3rd ball of 3rd over, Deccan Chargers started to loose wickets in regular intervals. Only one man who played for Deccan Chargers was Rohit Sharma, he was playing nicely right from the start of his batting. But, his partners failed to build the partnership with him. Rohit Sharma, meanwhile started to ease the pressure which was on the Deccan Chargers. At one stage, Deccan Chargers needed just 6 runs from 6 deliveries & had 3 wickets left. But this did not go well for the defending champions, as they lost all 3 wickets in 5 deliveries. Deccan Chargers scored 157 runs in 19.5 overs & lost all 10 wickets. Thereby Rajasthan Royals won the match by 2 runs. Deccan Chargers top scorer was Rohit Sharma who scored 73 runs in 44 deliveries which included 8 fours & 2 sixes.
Shane Warne's team will be really proud after winning this crucial match as they not even lost a single match defending 150+ total in the Indian Premiere League.