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India beat Pakistan at the World Twenty 20 in a bowl off

sandy — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:48:51 +0000

In a pulsating match that went down to the wire, India beat Pakistan in a bowl off, after scores were tied at the end of 20 overs.

India started badly losing 4 early wickets, before Robin Uthappa & Captain MS Dhoni guided India to a score of 141 for 9 (Uthappa 50, Asif 4-18). Pakistan looked to be on track early on, but India came back into the game with wickets and eventually Pakistan made 141 for 7 (Misbah 53, Pathan 2-20). Misbah was run out off the last ball of the match.

In the bowl off, Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa all nailed the stumps, but the Pakistan bowlers while Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi all missed as a sell-out crowd celebrated an enthralling finale.

You can view a video of the finish at the official world twenty 20 site here.

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Tags: Cricket News, Pakistan Cricket News, India Cricket News

Rahul Dravid steps down as Indian Captain

sandy — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:05:15 +0000

Rahul Dravid photo courtesy of Flickr and Rajaram S

The pressures that go with captaining the Indian cricket team are enormous. And it has just taken it’s toll on ‘The Wall’, Rahul Dravid.

In a move that surprised everybody, Dravid stepped down as Indian captain today from both forms of the game. The move is to enable him to focus on his batting. The BBC quoted him as saying, “I enjoyed the captaincy, I loved it, but it can get tough after a while and some of the enjoyment can go away. So, I thought it was the right time to step aside.”

According to the BCCI “Rahul Dravid met Sharad Pawar (the Indian Board President) at Delhi on September 13 and expressed his desire to step down as the captain of the Indian team and requested that he should not be considered for the job from the ensuing Australia series.”

The 33-year-old Dravid assured that he would extend full co-operation to his successor and contribute as a batsman and senior player, the statement added.

BCCI president Sharad Pawar said he has forwarded Dravid’s resignation to the Board.”

The big question now of course is, who will captain India going forward?

In my mind, the contenders are:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni - the current India 20 20 captain. However he is quite inexperienced in Test Cricket. Wearing the gloves, looking after his batting and undertaking the captaincy would be too large a burden.

The other two options are Sachin Tendulkar and dare I say it, Sourav Ganguly once again. Purely looking at the series coming up, against Pakistan and Australia, either of the two would be the best for the job - if they want to do it.

Sachin’s batting did suffer when he was captain, as did Ganguly’s. However Ganguly has a very good captaincy record.

It will be interesting to see which way the board goes.

Stay tuned for more on this….

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Tags: Cricket News, One Day Internationals News, Test Cricket News, India Cricket News

Warne puts Tendulkar at No.1 in his top 50 list

sandy — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 08:07:16 +0000

Sachin Tendulkar, photo courtesy of Flickr and mangalorecity.com

Shane Warne has completed his list of the 50 greatest players. At the very top of his list is Sachin Tendulkar, just ahead of Brian Lara at number 2.

Warne put Tendulkar ahead of Lara, because of his mental toughness. An example that Warne provides refers to Tendulkar’s 248 in Australia in 2003-04. Warne mentions “he (Tendulkar) was worried about getting out cover driving so he decided to cut out the shot. I saw the wagon wheel for his next innings: he scored 248 without a single cover drive.

Like Lara, he has scored runs all over the world. I have seen him run down the pitch and hit Glenn McGrath over the top for six, and I have seen him hit me for six against the spin going around the wicket. I have been lucky to get to know him off the field as well. He is quiet and humble. A great player and a great man”.

Read about the full list in Warne’s column in the Times.

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Cricket News - England finish on 200/3 on day 1

sandy — Thu, 17 May 2007 21:09:46 +0000

England finished the first day of the first Test match against the West Indies on 200/3. It was a day, where play was shortened due to bad light.

For England, the bright spot was young opener Alistair Cook’s fifth Test hundred. He was unbeaten on 102 when play was called off. Keeping him company was Paul Collingwood on 21.

Cricket News - 1st Test - West Indies put England in

sandy — Thu, 17 May 2007 14:14:05 +0000

The West Indian captain Ramnaresh Sarwan won the toss and put England into bat on the first day of the first Test match played at Lords.

The left handed pair of Alistair Cook and Andrew Strauss starred in an opening partnership of 88, before Strauss fell for 33. Soon after Owais Shah was out for 6. Both wickets went to Daren Powell.

At the time of this post, England were 156 for 2, off 40 overs, so fairly brisk progress in terms of run rate. Cook was unbeaten on 81 and that man Kevin Pietersen was just getting into his groove on 25 with 4 boundaries.

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Tags: Cricket News, Test Cricket News, West Indies Cricket News, English Cricket News

Cricket News - Bangladesh stun South Africa at the World Cup

sandy — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:59:14 +0000

Bangladesh proved that their presence in the super eights of the world cup was no flash in the pan, by beating the World’s number one ranked team South Africa by 67 runs in Guyana today.

South Africa won the toss and put Bangladesh in to bat. Opener Tamim Iqbal scored 39. Although they were reduced to 69 for 3, the middle order of Aftab Ahmed and Mohammad Ashraful came good for Bangladesh. Ashraful was terrific scoring 87 off just 83 balls in his inimitable style with 12 boundaries. Aftab scored 35 and then there was a late flurry by Mashrafe Mortaza who was unbeaten on 25 off 16 deliveries with 3 fours and a six.

Bangladesh scored 251 for 8 off their 50 overs. For South Africa Andre Nel took his World Cup best figures for 5 for 45.

The pitch appeared to be getting lower and slower, resembling a pitch from the sub continent when the Proteas went in to bat.

The South Africans lost their wickets at regular intervals and never appeared in the hunt. Particularly after Bangladesh’s trio of left arm spinners Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Rafique and Safiqul Haque got into the game.

By the 27th over, the South Africans were 87 for 5, with Graeme Smith, A B De Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher all back in the hut. Herschelle Gibbs came out to bat at number 7 and remained unbeaten on 56.

South Africa were all out for 184 in the 49th over, giving Bangladesh their biggest victory in the World Cup.

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Tags: World Cup Cricket 2007, Cricket News, Bangladesh Cricket News, One Day Internationals News, South African Cricket News

Cricket News - Greg has taken the right decision says Ian Chappell

sandy — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 00:07:06 +0000

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has said his brother Greg’s decision to resign as India coach was the right one to make but probably left him with a tinge of regret.

“As much as it would seem that Greg is probably better off without all the angst that comes with one of the most demanding jobs in cricket, I doubt he’ll feel completely fulfilled,” the older Chappell wrote in his column in Mumbai tabloid Mid Day on Thursday.

“A perfectionist, even one who has mellowed, is never going to be happy with under-achieving on his expectations.”

Read the full text of Ian Chappell’s comments in his column at the Mumbai based Mid-day paper

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Tags: World Cup Cricket 2007, Cricket News, One Day Internationals News, India Cricket News

Cricket News - Sri Lanka beat England by 2 runs

sandy — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 23:59:56 +0000

In one of the most thrilling matches at the World Cup this year, Sri Lanka beat England in a crucial Super Eights match by two runs.

With this win Sri Lanka are now very close to making the semi finals of the World Cup, while England are probably on their way out. They have to play Australia next and given the current form of the Australians it is hard to see them getting through.

Kevin Pietersen scored 58 for England, chasing down Sri Lanka’s score of 235. He was outfoxed by Muttiah Muralitharan. Jayasuriya and Dilshan further restricted England during the middle overs.

Michael Vaughan’s batting slump continued, getting out cheaply at the top of the order.

A quick-fire seventh-wicket partnership of 87 between Ravi Bopara and Paul Nixon gave England an unexpected chance.

Nixon was eventually out for 42 in the penultimate over and England needed three off the last ball.

Bopara was dismissed off the last ball of the match for a gallant 52, leaving Sri Lanka the victors by 2 runs.

Sri Lanka have now joined co-leaders Australia and New Zealand on six points in the Super Eights standings, while England are behind fourth-placed South Africa on two.

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Tags: World Cup Cricket 2007, Cricket News, Sri Lanka Cricket, One Day Internationals News, English Cricket News

Cricket News - Australia beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets

sandy — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 22:30:35 +0000

Australia easily beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets at the World Cup today. In a rained shortened match of 22 overs each, Ricky Ponting had no hesitation in putting Bangladesh in to bat. The Bangladeshi batsmen came out swinging hard, but found the Australian attack did not really provide them with the liberties to do so.

Glenn McGrath was immaculate as always. McGrath picked up 3 wickets to become the bowler with the highest number of wickets at the World Cup, easing past Wasim Akram’s record.

Bangladesh scored 104 for 6 off their alloted 22 overs with Mashrafe Mortaza unbeaten on 25, Saqibul 25, and captain Habibul Bashar 24.

Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist then came out with a license to thrill and finished off the match by the 14th over itself. Gilchrist hit 59 off 44 balls, with 8 fours and a six. Matthew Hayden was undefeated on 47 off 39 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes, when the mayhem finally stopped.

Bangladesh have had a good world cup - until now, when they ran into a rampaging Australia showing no signs of slowing down.

Read the match report here

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Tags: World Cup Cricket 2007, Cricket News, Bangladesh Cricket News, One Day Internationals News, Australian Cricket News

Cricket News - Sachin Tendulkar should retire : Chappell

sandy — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 02:36:50 +0000

After India’s disastrous World Cup campaign, Ian Chappell, the brother of current Indian coach, Greg Chappell has suggested that it is time for Sachin Tendulkar to retire.

Ian Chappell who is always forthright and not known to mince his words, suggested in his column in the Mumbai based Mid-day news paper that “At the moment he (Sachin Tendulkar) looks like a player trying to eke out a career; build on a glittering array of statistics.

If he really is playing for that reason and not to help win as many matches as he can for India then he is wasting his time and should retire immediately.”

He also said that Sachin’s form was in direct contrast to that of Brian Lara, who was fleet footed and aggressive in his play. Age and injuries have appeared to take a toll on the Indian, whilst the West Indian has continued to play in the natural style that has been his trademark for long.

Read the full text of Chappell’s article here

Chappell’s comments have been slammed by former players in the Indian media.

Former Indian wicketkeeper batsman Chandrakant Pandit said Tendulkar has played the game for long to judge himself and decide on retirement.

“Sachin Tendulkar is good enough to know his ability and approach towards the game. He is an experienced player and knows how long he should carry on playing,” Pandit said.

“With his experience, he knows what is required at that level, he is very much aware. He can judge himself better than anybody else. I don’t think anybody should advice him whether to continue or not,” he added.

Read more about the reactions to Ian Chappell’s comments here.

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Tags: World Cup Cricket 2007, Cricket News, One Day Internationals News, Test Cricket News, India Cricket News