Second test match: India vs England

Today was the first day of the second test match played between England and India at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England. The toss was won by the Indian skipper MS Dhoni and he decided to field first.

England started its first innings with the openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook. Things started to go weird for the England as they lost first wicket when they reached only 7 runs. Third wicket partnership resulted in 50 runs, which gave some hopes to the team and bought back into the game. However, Indians managed to take 8 wickets in just 124 runs and they failed to remove the 9th wicket quickly. This costed them 73 runs partnership and later on Praveen Kumar managed to take the 9th wicket. Soon after the break of this great partnership Indians some how managed to remove the 10th wicket and ended up the England's first innings with a total of 221 runs (ENG - 221/10). Stuart Broad was the highest scorer in the innings who did the damage for India and he scored 64 runs in just 66 deliveries. Praveen Kumar, Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma took 3 wickets each for India.

In reply to this, India opened its batting innings with the openers Abhinav Mukund and Rahul Dravid. In the very first delivery, James Anderson took Abhinav Mukund's wicket. This left India into jeopardy as they lost a wicket without scoring a single run which was a bad start for them. VVS Laxman came in to bat at number 3 position. At the end of the day, Rahul Dravid was unbeaten scoring 7 runs and VVS Laxman at 13 runs. India has scored a total of 24 runs for the loss of 1 wicket (IND - 24/1).

Lots of action will happen tomorrow and i want Indians to play extraordinarily well and do not end up all out in the second day itself. 

India looking to finish up the test series with 2-0

India and West Indies will be playing their 3rd and final test match today i.e, 6th July at Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica. Indians are very eager to finish this last match in a grand style and looking forward to break the old jinx. On the other hand, West Indies who are having a bad time in Cricket are also looking to win this match so that they can draw the series.

As of now India is leading the series by 1-0 and are in a strong position to win the series. Even if the 3rd match ends up in a draw, India will win the series by 1-0. Indian skipper MS Dhoni is eyeing on this particular test match to end up in his favor. Meanwhile West Indies captain Darren Sammy says that he has found a way to get rid of the 2 Indians batsmen Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. In the last 2 matches, these 2 players have made the difference and helped India to be in a strong position. Now, its time to test what Sammy has come out with. We all shall just wait and watch the action. If it works then, India are in real trouble and i hope it doesn't happen.

On-going series

Yesterday, second test match between India and West Indies ended up in a draw. India were very close to  the victory but unfortunately they could remove remaining 3 wickets. As of now India lead the series West Indies by 1-0. One more test match to go and it will be played on 10th of July at Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica. This will be the only chance for the West Indies to level the series and for that they have to win the match. Indians are already in safer zone as they have won the first test match. If West Indies wins the match, the series will end up in a draw else it will Indians who will be returning home victorious. Indians have got higher chances of winning this series.

ODI series is currently being played between England and Srilanka. England won the first match and the second match was won by the visitors. Third ODI match was played today at Lord's, London. England won the toss and they batter first. They had put up a total score of 246 runs in 50 overs. Opener, Alastair Cook put up his century and scored 117 runs which helped England to put this score. In reply Srilankans chased the target successfully in 48.2 overs. Dinesh Chandimal put up his century and remained unbeaten scoring 105 runs. He was chosen as the man of the match who helped his team to victory. Now Srilanka leads the series by 2-1 and 2 more matches to go.

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.