India vs Australia in quarter finals facing each other

India won against West Indies in the last league match of the ICC World Cup 2011 that took place at Chennai, yesterday. This victory has led to face against the toughest team Australia in the quarter finals. Australians are the defending champions who are defending from last 3 World Cup's which was in 1999, 2003 and 2007.

In 2003, India and Australia were in the finals. Australia outplayed India and defended the cup. Now, this is the time for the Indians to take their revenge against the Aussies for their World Cup loss. As you can see from the league matches, India have not performed at a good level against the strong teams so far. On the other side, Aussies have lost only one match so far and a match was drawn. Aussies have not performed that great though, but they have played sensible cricket so far.

Aussies looks to be a silent killer. On the other side, Indians apart from poor bowling, now their batting performance is also getting inhibited. But both the rivals will face against each other after the finals that was played in 2003 World Cup.

Other quarter finalists are Pakistan playing against West Indies, Srilanka playing against England and South Africa taking against the Kiwis. All the top teams of the World are into the quarter finals. This World Cup is going to be full of excitement and entertainment with lots of action.

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.

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ICC World Cup 2011 Opening ceremony

Today ICC World Cup 2011 opening ceremony was held at Dhaka, Bangladesh. All the 14 team skippers were in present in this ceremony. The stadium was filled with excitement with full colors and music. The main performers were Sonu Nigam, Runa Laila and the Canadian rocker Bryan Adams who rocked the stadium.

There would have been plenty of taught that had come in the minds of all the skippers. As of now, they should be having their own gaming strategies and plans prepared for this World Cup. Each players dream would be to lift the ICC World Cup along with their team members and return to their homes with glory.

In total 49 matches will be played in a span 6 weeks. The decider match i.e, the finals between the 2 glorious team performing in this World Cup will be played on 2nd April in Mumbai. One shall stand victorious while others shall fall. 

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

On the fourth day, India finally ended up its first batting innings with a total of 495 runs loosing all 10 wickets. At the start of the day, India were 435/5 with Sachin Tendulkar batting on 191 and MS Dhoni on the crease. Sachin Tendulkar scored his sixth double century of the test career. Finally, Peter George an new entry for the Australian team claimed Sachin Tendulkar's wicket. India lost its 6th wicket when it reached 486 runs in total. After the fall of the master blaster, India lost remaining 4 wickets adding only 9 runs to the total. India in the first innings managed to score only 495 runs in total (495/10). India were leading Australia by 17 runs in the first innings.

Soon, Australia started their second innings with the openers Shane Watson and Simon Katich. First wicket partnership resulted in 58 runs. At this point, Australia lost its openers. Ricky Ponting took the charge and started to play well with the support of Michael Hussey and Tim Paine. He scored his half century and departed when their total was 181 runs. Ricky Ponting was the 6th wicket to fall for Australia. He scored 72 runs in 117 deliveries which included 7 fours and a six. Indians by the before the end of the day managed to take one more wicket who was Tim Paine. At the end of the fourth day, Australia have scored 202 runs with the loss of 7 wickets (202/7). Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz are still batting with a score of 7 runs and 8 runs. Australia is leading India by 185 runs in the second innings.

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.

Ricky Ponting is worried about the new one day game announced by Australian Cricket

Australia Cricket recently announced that in this season it will be adding a new format of one day game where it will trial a 45 over game which will be split into 2 innings which will be having 20 overs in one innings and 25 overs in other innings. Ricky Ponting, Australian Cricket team captain believes that this new format of one day game might damage their preparations for the World Cup.
World Cup will be held in 2011 i.e, next year in February which will be hosted by India, Srilanka and Bangladesh. Only with few months remaining this drastic change will definitely affect the players especially the young spinners who might find it difficult this summer. He also added that their national team will not get affected that much as they will be playing another 12 to 13 ODI matches before the World Cup and it is Okay for them. They are much concerned about the young spinners in particular.

second Twenty20: Australia vs Pakistan

Pakistan has already won the first Twenty20 match which was played 2 days ago against the Australians. Yesterday, second 20-20 match was played at Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. Pakistan again in this match won the toss and elected to bat first.

Shahzaib Hasan returned to pavilion without scoring any run in the very first over itself. After the fall their first wicket, rest other players batted well and contributed some runs from their side to the team. This really helped the team to put a decent total against the Aussies. By 20 overs, Pakistan scored 162 runs loosing 9 wickets. Stephen O'Keefe and Dirk Nannes took 3 wickets each.

Australia needed 163 runs to win, this was not at all great score but the bowling attack is very good from Pakistan side. Hence it was an real challenge to chase down the target. Australians played well but some batsmen failed to contribute some runs to their team. By 19.4 overs, Australia lost all its 10 wickets scoring 151 runs in total. Pakistan won the match by 11 runs. Mohammed Aamer took 3 important wickets and also bowled well. Aamer was chosen as the man of the match for his 3 wickets and a magnificent 21 runs from 11 deliveries which helped the team to win the match against the Aussies.

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.

Some news on Cricket

Third Test match between West Indies and South Africa:
Third day of the test match was over yesterday. South Africa had finished their first innings scoring 346 runs loosing all 10 wickets. They had given a lead of 115 runs to the hosts. West Indies began their second batting innings. They had to recover the lead & have to put some huge score on board either to win the match or make it a draw. Again top order batsmen failed to hit big scores for the team as they all fell soon. Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul survived & played some beautiful knocks scoring a half century. West Indies at the end of the day they had lost 7 wickets & had scored just 134 runs in total. Now WI are leading South Africans by just 19 runs which is a very critical situation for the hosts. They have to build some good and great partnerships for the remaining 3 wickets to keep their hopes alive. Right now South Africans are looking strong to win the match easily. Lets wait & watch what happens.


England vs Australia series:
England have already whitewashed Australians in the series by taking the lead of 3-0. England have already won the series as they have won all 3 matches. Next two remaining matches will be played for pride & glory. Australians seem to be very unhappy about their performance against the England. Australia have lost the series after winning 8 series in the row. Now England has dominated the Australians very easily & are looking very high. Australian captain Ricky Ponting has said that the remaining 2 matches which will be played is for pride which is the number one priority for them now.