Second blow given by England to India`

Indians were whitewashed in the test series that was played against England few days ago. England have come back strongly stating that even they can dominate cricket in all the aspects. England won all the four test matches played against India and became the #1 test team in the world. India dropped to 3rd position from 1st.

Indian being a strong team in both T20 cricket and ODI cricket, played a T20 match against England yesterday at Old Trafford, Manchester, England. The toss was won by the Indian skipper and elected to bat first. India gave an marvelous start and were almost scoring 10 runs per over. At one point of time, they were 104/2 in just 11.4 overs. Rahul Dravid was beautiful with his bat as he scored 3 sixes but not even a single four, just imagine 3 sixes that too by Rahul Dravid. It was something like unbelievable thing. The newest entry Ajinkya Rahane played magnificently and put up a very good partnership with the Wall and he scored 61 runs. Later on Suresh Raina came in to bat and he also played nicely and scored 33 runs in just 19 deliveries which included 2 fours and 3 sixes. After this fall, rest of the team collapsed and ended up scoring only 165 runs loosing all 10 wickets with 2 deliveries to spare (IND - 165/10, 19.4 over). Everything ended up with a mess. Jade Dernbach from England took 4 wickets.

In reply to this England opened its batting innings but soon lost its first wicket in the very second delivery of the innings. England was in trouble as it lost its first wicket without opening the run account itself. But after this, things changed as the batsmen started to attack Indians bowlers. They played very wisely and kept on momentum going. This helped them a lot to build up some useful partnerships. England in 19.3 over, chased 165 runs successfully and became victorious. England scored 169 runs in 19.3 over loosing only 4 wickets (ENG - 169/4, 19.3 over). Eoin Morgan was the highest scorer for England who scored 49 runs in just 27 deliveries that inlcuded 7 fours and a six.

England won the match by 6 wickets. Man of the match was Jade Dernbach. By winning this match, England has sent a strong message to rest of the teams in the world stating that; apart from test cricket, they have become a strong contender in T20 cricket as well.

MS Dhoni can create a reverse history too !!!!!

After triumphing over West Indies, Indians headed to England to play a test series on the hosts. But everything went in vain. India being a best team is now suffering a lot of damage done by England. The wall of India i.e, Rahul Dravid is the only consistent performer who is saving the prestige of India being drastically hindered. I will tell you that it is not India tour of England, it should be "Dravid tour of England" :-)

The first match was little OK for India as they lost the opening match by 196 runs. After this, things began to worsen very much. In the second match they lost by 319 runs. In the 3rd match, England won by an innings and 242 runs. By this, England won the series and also took the #1 position pushing India to drop down the second position.

Indians had  to at-least make a draw in the fourth test if they want to remain in #2 position. But even this has become a doubt now. England scored a total of 491 runs loosing only 6 wickets (ENG - 491/6) and finally declared. Ian Bell contributed 235 runs and Kevin Pietersen contributed 175 runs to the team's score. India were all out scoring only 300 runs (IND - 300/10) and started to play their second innings as follow on. Highest scorer from India was Rahul Dravid who was unbeaten scoring 146 runs. As of now, India have scored 25 runs with no loss in the follow on innings (IND - 25/0).

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.

India won the match by 63 runs

Today was the fourth day of the first test match that is being played between World no. 1 team India and West Indies at Sabina Park, Kingston - Jamaica. India have already played their 2 innings, it was the responsibility of the hosts to chase down the total. But they could not perform well. By the end of the first session they had lost their 9th wicket as well. There was some expectations from Indian side to take the last wicket before the lunch time. But unfortunately they failed to do so.

After the break, West Indies came back strongly and put up a last wicket partnership of 39 runs. Now the pressure was on Indians to take the last wicket and on the other side, the required run kept on decreasing. Finally it was Suresh Raina who did the honors for the team. West Indies were all out scoring 262 runs (WI - 262/10). India won the match by 63 runs. Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma took 3 wickets each.

Now, Indians lead the test series by 1-0. Next test match will be played at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on 28th of June.

First Test match: India vs West Indies

As of now, India are playing their second batting innings. They have already lost 8 wickets and have scored a total of 214 runs (IND - 214/8). They are leading West Indies by 284 runs. Only 2 more wickets to go. The Wall Rahul Dravid has again saved India by his lone battle against the homies. He is still unbeaten scoring 97 runs. Amit Mishra is also showing resistance against the bowling attack. Still its 3rd of the match and second session is going on. Long long way to go and Indians have already lost 8 wickets.

From West Indies point of view, taking another 2 wickets will not be a big deal. The big deal will be to chase the target of around 300 runs will be a big deal. They have to play very patiently and should not give wickets to India that easily. They have plenty of time, almost 2 days and 1 session are there to complete their chase.

If we see the first innings batting performance of the hosts, its very poor as they were all-out scoring only 173 runs. But my intuitions say that, if India fails to put more than 300 for chase, then Indians will have more chances of winning else West Indies will win the match. If you ask me, i will tell that match will never end up in a draw.

Current Test matches.....

Today, first test match between India and West Indies started at Sabina Park, Kingston - Jamaica. The toss was won by the Indians and they chose to bat first. Newbies Abhinav Mukund and Murali Vijay opened the batting innings for India. Both did not play well and finally ended up in going back to pavilion. Even experienced player VVS Laxman was not on top today. India have currently scored 69 runs and lost 4 wickets in 25.3 overs (IND: 69/4, 25.3 over). The wall "Rahul Dravid" is still on crease with Suresh Raina. Still session 1 is on and they have already lost 4 wickets which is a bad sign for the Indians. Ravi Rampaul made the break by removing both the openers. As of now West Indians are in strong position.

Today was the last day of the 3rd and the final test which held in The Rose Bowl, Southampton between England and Srilanka. England were in strong hopes that they will win the 3rd test as they outplayed the Srilankans in the first 2 innings and also took 3 wickets in the 3rd innings very quickly. But they could not stop skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera. Skipper scored his century and departed scoring 119 runs. Thilan Samaraweera stayed unbeaten 87 runs before rain could stop the match. The match was drawn.

England won the series by 1-0. First match was won by England and the next 2 matches was drawn. Man of the match was Chris Tremlett and the man of the match was awarded to 2 people Chris Tremlett and Prasanna Jayawardene.

On 25th of June they will be playing a One-off Twenty20 International cricket match which will be followed by 5 ODI matches.

1st test match: India vs Australia day 3

Yesterday, Australia lost its remaining wickets and ended up scoring a total score of 428 runs. Shane Watson was the top scorer who had score 126 runs 338 deliveries that included 10 fours and no sixes. Another batsmen who helped the team to put up this good total was Tim Paine. He played a magnificent knock of 92 runs from 196 runs that included 12 fours with no sixes. Zaheer Khan took 5 important wickets for India.

India soon opened their first innings with the openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag. They both started off well with the bat and put up a partnership of 81 runs. By the end of the day, Mitchell Johnson came up with another blow who took the wicket of the most dangerous batsman i.e, Virender Sehwag. Play was called off and India ended up on day 2 scoring 110 runs with the loss of 2 wickets. Rahul Dravid was not out with a score of 23 runs and Ishant Sharma with 0.

On Day 3, they both put up a partnership of 45 runs before Sharma fell for Doug Bollinger. There was some good play in the middle order. Sachin Tendulkar played well with Suresh Raina. They both departed to pavilion and failed to get a century. Sachin Tendulkar got out after scoring a good score of 98 runs and Suresh Raina departed after scoring 83 runs. After the breakage of this good partnership, Indians wall was broken down into pieces. They soon lost its remaining 5 wickets in a very quick interval. At the end of the Day, Australia managed to take all the 10 wickets. India landed up scoring 405 in their first innings thereby Australia leading India by 23 runs. Mitchell Johnson took 5 wickets that helped them to sweep the Indian team and get the lead.

Champions League Twenty20: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians

Today, Mumbai Indians played their fourth and final match of the prelims against the Royal Challengers Bangalore who were playing their third match of the prelims Kingsmead, Durban. This was an important match for both the teams as this match could help them to get into semis. Mumbai Indians have won only one match in the tournament so far, hence they have to win this match with a huge margin so that their net run rate could increase. With the help of luck they have got one last chance to enter into the semis with help of Net run rate if they win this match. On the other hand RCB has won only one match and they are looking to win this match so that they can gain some confidence for the next and final game that will be played against Highveld Lions on Tuesday.  Mumbai Indians won the toss & elected to bat first.

Shikhar Dhawan and the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar started the play for Mumbai Indians side. They started off well but Sachin Tendulkar got out after scoring 11 runs. They lost 2 more wickets very quickly after their captains fall. Later Saurabh Tiwary came in to bat and partnered Dhawan so that they added some good score to the MI total. After the fall of Shikhar Dhawan, the big man Kieron Pollard came in to bat and he followed Dhawan to the pavillion as he got duck out . Mumbai Indians some how managed to put up a good total of 165 runs on board with the loss of 7 wickets. Vinay Kumar looked impressive with the ball with an economy rate of just 4 runs per over but he did not pick any wicket for RCB. Dale Steyn picked up 3 very important wickets that helped the RCB to restrict the MI to land up with the total score of 165 runs.

RCB needed 166 runs to win the match from 20 overs with 10 wickets on hand. Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid opened the batting innings for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The start for RCB was very good and they were satisfying the requirement. The man in form Jacques Kallis got out in the second delivery of the fifth over when RCB total was 41 runs. But RCB 's expected legends failed to play in today's game, Ross Taylor, Robin Uthappa and Cameron White all three got out very quickly after the fall of Jacques Kallis. Rahul Dravid was adding some pretty good runs so that RCB was almost in pace with the required run rate. Later, Virat Kohli came in to bat and he batted magnificently thereby giving some hopes to the RCB and showed some signs of victory to the team. He was in very good form and was belting the MI bowling attack with an average strike rate of around 200. There came a stage where RCB needed 13 runs from 6 deliveries with 6 wickets on hand. This was an very crucial moment for both the teams as the victory was for either side. For the first 2 deliveries added only 2 runs and later Kohli managed to hit 2 boundaries in next 3 deliveries thereby reducing the required run to 3 runs from 1 delivery. It was an nail biting situation for both the teams as the match could end up with either team. Kohli got a very good delivery where he hit the ball with all his might hoping for the ball to clear the fence, but the ball edged the bat and went high in the air. Ambati Rayudu took the catch and RCB lost its fifth wicket and Mumbai Indians won the match by 2 runs. Man of the match was Dwayne Bravo for his brilliant performance with bat, ball and as well as in the field.

Mumbai Indians have won 2 matches but even then they cannot enter the semis as their net run rate is less than RCB. Even Highveld Lions have won 2 matches and their run rate is also more than MI. In the next match which will be played between RCB and HVL, whoever wins the match they will entering into semis along with Southern Redbacks from Group B.

Champions League Twenty20: Guyana vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Second match of the day was played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Guyana at Centurion, Tshwane. Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and put Guyana to bat first.

Travis Dowlin and Sewnarine Chattergoon started the batting innings for Guyana. This gave a little slow start and started to take pace. But after the completion of 4th over, Travis Dowling lost his wicket by giving a simple catch to Dale Steyn bowled by Praveen Kumar. This turned out to be a bad sign for the Guyana as they started to loose wickets in regular intervals with drop in their net run rate. It lost all 10 wickets in 20 overs and could just make a century. They were bowled out for 103 runs with loss of 10 wickets. Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper was the most economical bowler for the team as his economy rate was just 2.5 runs per over and he also took a wicket. Jacques Kallis took 3 wickets with a economy rate of 4 runs per over.


Royal Challengers Bangalore needed 104 runs to win from 20 overs with 10 wickets on hand. This total is not at all a good one as it could be easily chased. RCB have an very good batting lineup with some great and well experienced players. Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid opened the batting innings for the team. They both started off well and put up a partnership of 78 runs. Rahul Dravid was bowled out by Royston Crandon. Rahul Dravid scored 33 runs from 34 deliveries that included 3 fours. Later Robin Uthappa came in to bat where he played magnificently well and completed the innings for RCB in a grand style. He quick fired to score 25 runs from just 8 deliveries that included 2 fours and 2 sixes. By 12.2 over, RCB scored 106 runs in total and won the match by 9 wickets. Jacques Kallis was unbeaten with a score of 43 runs from 32 runs which included 4 fours and a six. Jacques Kallis was picked up as the man of the match as he showed an brilliant performance both with bat and ball.

1st Test Day four: India vs Srilanka

Yesterday morning i had given update on the 3rd day of the first test match which is being played between India and Srilanka. At that point of time, India after 32.1 overs, had scored a total of 152/3. India was on trial of 368 runs. Virender Sehwag was batting on 95 runs and VVS Laxman on 20 runs. 

Virender Sehwag added one more century to his test match centuries list and got out scoring 109 runs. Soon VVS Laxman followed Sehwag by getting out when he reached 22 runs. Indian skipper MS Dhoni and Yuvaraj Singh some how managed to add 74 runs to the total. After the breakage of this partnership, Srilankans easily removed remaining wickets in quick succession thereby restricting Indians to 276 runs in total and took all 10 wickets. India opened their second batting innings due to follow on.

Again Gautam Gambhir did not play well as he got out in the second ball of the innings. Soon followed by Virender Sehwag. 119 runs partnership between Rahul Dravid and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar helped team India to get some relief. But both departed scoring 44 runs and 84 runs respectively. Yuvaraj Singh too did not bet well in this innings. India are into real trouble now as they have lost 5 wickets. India has to save its wickets for the entire day so that the match can be drawn. At the end of 4th day, India landed up with a score of 181/5.


Hope rain comes and the match gets stopped so that my team will survive from defeat :-)