England are out of World Cup 2011

The last quarter-finals was played between England and Srilanka today at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The toss went in to the favor of England and they chose to bat first. This game was an a crucial game for England as they have not even won a World Cup so far. Being a strong team, England were looking to dominate Srilankan's in their home ground.

Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell gave a very slow start. Their intention was not to play big shots and make huge total. They were looking to play calm and put up a good total. But this did not work as they lost 2 big wickets in the first 10 overs and their total was just 31 runs when they lost both the openers. After this 2 fall, there was 2 good partnership that helped England to recover from the collapse. But the run rate was very low. When fourth wicket fell, their total was only 186 runs consuming 43 overs. England ended up their batting innings with a total score of 229 runs in 50 overs and lost only 6 wickets (ENG - 229/6, 50 over). Highest scorer in the team was Jonathan Trott who scored 86 runs and Eion Morgan scored a half-century. Muralidaran took 2 wickets.

This total was not that challenging for the Srilankan's. Upul tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the batting innings for Srilanka. They started off well and put up a unbeaten partnership of 231 runs. In just 39.3 overs, Srilanka successfully chased the target scoring 231 runs for no loss of wicket (SL - 231/0, 39.3 over). Upul tharanga scored a unbeaten score of 102 runs and Tillakaratne Dilshan scored an unbeaten 108 runs. No England bowler managed to take a wicket of Srilanka.

Srilanka won the match by 10 wickets. Man of the match was Tillakaratne Dilshan for his brilliant batting for hitting a unbeaten century and bowling performance for taking a wicket.

Srilanka will be playing against New Zealand in the semi finals that will be happening on 29th of March.

second Twenty20: England vs Pakistan

Yesterday, Pakistan and England played their second Twenty20 cricket match of the series at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff - Wales. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first.

Pakistan started well with the openers Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan. Kamran Akmal departed scoring 11 runs by giving a easy catch to Graeme Swann in Tim Bresnan delivery. After the fall of the first wicket, Pakistan started to loose wickets in regular intervals. Their run rate was decreasing as the overs went on and no player from Pakistan played magnificently as a result Pakistan ended up adding only few runs to the scoreboard. By 18.4 overs, Pakistan lost all its 10 wickets and made a total of 89 runs. Tim Bresnan took 3 wickets and his economy rate was just 2.72 runs per over. Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom each took 2 wickets.

England needed 90 runs in 20 overs to win the match and win the series by 2-0. They had 10 wickets on hand. Craig Kieswetter and Steve Davies opened the innings for England. England gave a moderate start as they could not start hitting because of Shoaib Akthar who was bowling brilliantly with line and length. England started to hit the ball in the second over when Umar Gul bowled a No ball which was resulted in a free hit. Craig Kieswetter used this opportunity and hit the ball over the fence which went all the way to six. Later in the same over, they hit 2 fours and a 3 run. This gave some confidence to the England team. But Shoaib akthar bowled well in his second over and to Steve Davies wicket, later in the next delivery Craig Kieswetter got run out. This was an double blow for England. Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara added contributed some runs to the team. When the 11th over ended , England had lost 4 wickets and scored 63 runs in total. By 14 overs, England scored 90 runs with the loss of 4 wickets and won the match by 6 wickets.


Man of the match went to Tim Bresnan for his magnificent bowling innings of the match. England won the series by 2-0. England has created a new record for winning the most number of matches consecutively. Next will the ODI series played  between England and Pakistan.

Test match highlights between Pakistan and England

Pakistan is playing a test match against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England. England won the toss and elected to bat first. On the first day of the play, England opened its first batting innings with a good start where there was some good partnerships which helped England to put up a good total. The biggest partnership was between Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan which was 205 runs. After the break of this partnership, England lost all its remaining 5 wickets in quick succession. England had put up a total score of 354 runs and lost all its 10 wickets. Eoin Morgan scored a beautiful 130 runs which helped the England a lot to put up this good total. Mohammad Asif took 5 wickets and Mohammad Aamer took 3 wickets.

Pakistan opened its first batting innings with the openers Imran Farhat and Salman Butt. First wicket to loose was Salman Butt where he gave a easy catch to Matt Prior and he departed scoring only 1 run. This was a bad start for the Pakistan team which turned the entire innings. Pakistan soon lost 6 wickets with a total score of 47 runs on board. After this Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Aamer put up a partnership of 48 runs. Shoaib Malik and Aamer got out when Pakistan total was 105 and 108 runs. Later on, Umar Gul came in to bat where he remained unbeaten till the end of the Pakistan's first batting innings. He scored a magnificent 65 runs from just 46 deliveries which included 8 fours and 4 sixes. This magnificent performance helped Pakistan to come out of the Follow on. Pakistan by 54 overs, lost all its 10 wickets putting up a total of 182 runs. England was leading Pakistan by 172 runs.

In the second batting innings, England lost its first wicket in the very first over itself. It was Andrew Strauss who departed without scoring a run. England soon started to loose wickets with very less runs adding up in the score. Matt Prior came into bat at 5 down where he stayed till the end of the England's innings and remained unbeaten. He gave a good partnership with Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn which helped England to put up a very good total. Matt Prior was unbeaten scoring 102 runs. England declared its second batting innings with after putting up a total score of 262 runs with one wicket remaining. Last wicket resulted in a unbeaten 489 runs. Umar Gul took 3 wickets in this innings.


Pakistan needed 435 runs in total to win the match. Currently Day 3 session 3 has been completed and the play for the day has been called off. Pakistan in between 3.1 over to 4.1 over lost 3 important wickets. This was again a poor start from them as they have lost 3 top order batsmen. Right not Pakistan has scored a total of 15/3. Pakistan needs 420 runs to win the match with 7 wickets remaining and 2 days left. 

Stuart Board and James Anderson are bowling brilliantly. Lets see what they will do in tomorrows play. See you all with some more updates on tomorrows play :-)

England vs Australia : Fourth ODI

Yesterday, fourth ODI was played between the hosts, England and Australia at The Oval, London. England has already won the first 3 ODI matches leading Australia by 3-0 thereby winning the series even though 2 more matches was yet to be played. England won the toss & elected to field first.

As usual Shane Watson and Tim Paine went to bat first for the Australians. Shane Watson was out when we had scored 41 runs and Tim Paine returned to pavilion when he had scored 8 runs. By 16.3 overs, Australia had lost only 2 wickets scoring 73 runs in total. Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke played very magnificently to score 92 runs and 99 runs respectively. They both shared a partnership of 155 runs from 154 deliveries which helped Australians to put up a very good total. At 42.1 over, Ricky Ponting got out giving a straight catch to Andrew Strauss bowled by James Anderson. Michael Clarke was unbeaten till the end of the Australian Innings. After 50 overs, Australia scored 290 runs in total loosing 5 wickets.

England needed 291 runs from 50 overs to get their 4th consecutive victory in the series. Australians, though they have lost the series, they had to win this match against the England. It was supposed to be an prestige issue for both the teams.

Andrew Strauss and Craig Kieswetter started the batting innings for England. They did not bat that well and did not stay longer in the crease. England could not resist the bowling attack from the Australians. As a result they kept on loosing wickets in regular intervals. Their run rate was dropping every time. No one had put up a good partnership which could have made some difference. Eion Morgan and Michael Yardy could not stay till the end as they departed scoring 47 and 57 runs respectively. By 42.4 overs, England lost all its 10 wickets and had scored just 212 runs in total. Australia therefore won the match by 78 runs, which was an easy win for them. Ryan Harris bowled excellent for the Australia as he took 5 wickets and his economy rate was just 3.69 runs per over. Finally, Australia has opened its account in this series and the stat has become 1-3. Though Australia have won the match, the point is that they have already lost the series, they have to play for pride.

2nd ODI between England & Australia

Australia are playing 5 ODI matches against England. Already one match has completed, in which England won the match against the Australia. Today, England & Australia played the 2nd ODI match at The Rose Bowl, Southampton. Australia won the toss & elected to bat first.

Australians opened their batting innings in a grand style with the openers Shane Watson & Tim Paine. They looked good right from the start & played well till 8.4 overs. Shane Watson in the 5th delivery of the 9th over gave a straight catch to the England's bowler Stuart Board. Australia lost their 1st wicket, at this point of time they had scored 52 runs. Three more wickets fell before the scorecard reached 100 runs. After the fall of 4 crucial wickets, Australia came back with some good partnerships which helped them to end up with a good total. Michael Clarke was unbeaten till the end of the innings scoring 87 runs from 97 deliveries. Australia had put up a total of 267 runs in total completing 50 overs loosing 7 wickets. Michael Yardy was the economical bowler from England's side whose economy rate was 4.1 runs per over & had took a wicket. This wicket was the most important wicket to be considered, it was Michael Hussey.

England wanted 268 runs to win their 2nd ODI in this series. Andrew Strauss did not stay longer as he got out in the 1st delivery of the 3rd over. Craig Kieswetter & Kevin Pietersen had up a partnership of 69 runs before England lost its second wicket. Again two more wickets fell quickly which put up England into trouble. But 2 good partnerships from England side helped them to reach their destination easily. All credit goes to Eion Morgan who was unbeaten till the end scoring a magnificent 103 runs from 85 deliveries which included 16 fours. In 46 overs, England scored 268 runs & defeated Australia by 4 wickets. Ryan Harris was the economical bowler for Australia whose economy rate was 4.66 runs per over & had took 3 wickets.

This was England's second victory in this ODI series. Still 3 more matches to be played between them. England still need 1 more victory out of 3 matches to win the series against the Australians.