Final ODI match between India and West Indies

Today, India and West Indies are playing their 5th and final ODI of the India tour of West Indies. India has already won the series by winning first matches and are into safer side. West Indies won the fourth match and they are eagerly seeking to win this match as well. Indians want to finish the series in a grand style.

The match is going on at Sabina Park, Kingston - Jamaica. The toss was won by West Indians and they chose to bowl first. Indians opened their batting innings with Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel. Right from the start of the innings, they played very slowly wasting many deliveries. Indians lost 2 wickets very quickly and were suffering to put up a partnership, even Manoj Tiwary failed to stay long. Later, Rohit Sharma came in and partnered with Virat Kohli and put up a very good partnership of 110 runs which was very much required partnership at that point of time. Kohli scored a magnificent 94 runs and failed to put up a century. Rohit Sharma also departed after scoring his half century. After the break of this partnership, Indians again started to feel pressure and the runs started to slow down. Finally they ended up scoring a total of 251 runs loosing all the 10 wickets in 47.3 over (Ind - 251/10, 47.3 over). Andre Russell took 4 wickets. 


The total looks pretty ok for me. This can be defended easily. Now the pressure is on West Indies side. 
They will have to put up few good partnerships if they want to win this match and end up 3-2.

India tour of West Indies

India has toured West Indies, where they play 1 T20 match, 5 ODI matches and 3 Test matches. Out of these already 1 T20 match and 4 ODI matches are played. India have won the T20 match and also 2 ODI matches thereby clean sweeping the ODI series from West Indies. Now the 4th and 5th ODI match was to be played for pride.

As usual Team India was fielding first. In the first 3 ODI's India fielded first and won all the matches. But yesterday unusual happened when they faced West Indies at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua. West Indies played pretty decently to put up a total score of 249 runs loosing 8 wickets. Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons played some pretty decent knocks which brought them back in the game when they lost 5 wickets very badly.

India needed 250 runs to win the match, but this time things did not favor towards Indians. They started to feel the pressure and loose wickets. In just 39 overs, India were all-out scoring only 146 runs. West Indies won the match by 103 runs. Anthony Martin was main man behind this victory as he took 3 important and much required wickets for the team. After this ODI match, the series is 3-1. Though the series has already been won by India, its time for West Indies to win last match for pride.

It's Dhoni's day again

Today, First IPL finals qualifier match was played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings at Wankhade stadium, Mumbai. The toss was won by MS Dhoni and he chose to field first.

Royal Challengers Bangalore was looking more destructive when Chris Gayle was on the crease, but today was not the day for the big man. He departed after hitting a six leaving RCB in jeopardy. Later on Virat Kohli added some magnificent runs and made RCB to put up a total of 175 runs on board.


This total was not a great one as the pitch was well known for hitting biggies. CSK in 19.4 overs, chased their target successfully. The man behind the win was Suresh Raina and Albie Morkel. In the 19th over, 3 sixes was the sole reason for RCB's loss. CSK won the match by 6 wickets and 2 balls to spare.

Now CSK are into the IPL 2011 finals. This is their 3rd entry to the IPL finals. RCB have lost the qualifier match, so now they have to face the winners of MI vs KKR match. If RCB wins, then RCB will face CSK in finals else, the winners from MI vs. KKR match will be facing CSK in finals.

Another Gayle's show

Royal Challengers Bangalore were in a bad position as they lost 3 matches continuously and one match got tied. After the arrival of Chris Gayle things changed, RCB have won 5 matches continuously. The best part was, in almost all the games Chris Gayle was mainly responsible for the victory. He has won 3 man of the match awards in this 5 matches.

Today, Royal Challengers Bangalore played against Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. The toss was won by Virat Kohli who is the acting captain for Daniel Vettori in his stead and he chose to field first.

Shane Watson and Rahul Dravid opened the batting innings for RR. The start pretty good and they were playing aggressively. Shane Watson got out when RR's total was 73 runs which was a solid foundation for them. Rahul Dravid also got out in the same over. After this things went little slow and the run rate dropped down little bit. But as the overs were passing the pressure was on the RR as they were really struggling to find a boundary. In the end, Rajasthan Royals some how managed to put up a total score of 146 runs on board for the loss of 6 wickets (RR - 146/6, 20 over). But this score was not enough as the big man Chris Gayle who is in form can easily chase it down.

RCB gave a flying start with openers Chris Gayle and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Both started off well and were belting the RR bowlers in every angle possible. In 6.3 overs, RCB scored 68 runs just before Tillakaratne Dilshan who scored 38 runs in just 24 deliveries got out by giving a catch to Ross Taylor. After the fall of first wicket, RCB slowed down their scoring rate and played magnificently to chase down the target. RCB in 17 overs, scored 151 runs and lost only 1 wicket (RCB - 151/1, 17 over). The man in form Chris Gayle was unbeaten scoring 70 runs in just 44 balls that included 7 fours and 4 sixes. Skipper Virat Kohli was also unbeaten scoring 39 runs 34 deliveries that included 3 fours and 1 six.

Royal Challengers Bangalore won the match by 9 wickets with 3 overs to go. Man of the match was Sreenath Aravind for taking 3 important wickets. Chris Gayle has moved to 2nd position in leading runs scorer list 2011. The best part is that he has played only 6 matches so far. On the other hand Virat Kohli also moved up to 4th position in the list. As of now, RCB are in second position with 7 victories and a tie.

IPL 2011: DC vs RCB

Today, only one IPL match was played. It was between Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. The toss was won by Royal Challengers Bangalore and they let Deccan Chargers to bat first.

Sunny Sohal and Shikhar Dhawan opened the batting innings for DC. They started off very well and the start looked pretty awesome. Zaheer Khan picked his first prey and it was Sunny Sohal. Skipper came in and played some good knocks till Dhawan was there. After that he gave some standing to Bharat Chipli who played a magnificent innings. After the departure of the skipper Sangakkara, the birthday boy JP Duminy entered the crease and played some good shots. Finally Deccan Chargers put up a good total or 175 runs on board for the loss 5 wickets in 20 overs (DC - 175/5, 20 over). Bharat Chipli scored a unbeaten 61 runs from just 35 balls that included 5 fours and 3 sixes. Zaheer Khan took 3 wickets.

As the total was little high, the pressure was on the RCB. The start was slow and more over they lost their first wicket in the second over itself. It was a biggie Tillakaratne Dilshan and after this Zaheer Khan was sent to bat but even was back in the same pace scoring a duck. In 11.1 overs, RCB lost 5 wickets and scored only 56 runs. The match had almost slipped from them to DC. Pujara and Virat Kohli played some good knocks and put up a partnership which helped RCB to get back confidence. This partnership was their last hope but it went in vain when Pujara got out. Things changed and DC became more dominant. RCB ended up scoring a total of only 142 runs and lost 9 wickets in 20 overs (RCB - 142/9, 20 over). Virat Kohli was the top run getter for RCB, he scored 71 runs in 52 deliveries that included 5 fours and 3 sixes. Manpreet Gony and Dale Steyn took 3 wickets each.

Deccan Chargers won the match by 33 runs. Dale Steyn was the man of the match.

ICC World Cup 2011 updates: Day 16 Match 2

On the 16th day of the ICC World Cup 2011, second match of the day was played between India and Ireland at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India. The toss went into the favor of India and they elected to field first.

William Porterfield and Paul Stirling opened the batting innings for Ireland. Zaheer Khan started the bowling innings for India and he took Paul Stirling's wicket in the very first over itself. This gave some confidence to the Indians bowling. In the 3rd over, Zaheer Khan took his second wicket, this time it was Ed Joyce who gave an easy catch to MS Dhoni. Niall O'Brien came in and made a good partnership with the skipper William Porterfield. Indians started to loose control and Ireland started to dominate the match. It cost-ed 113 runs partnership before loosing the 4th wicket. After this breakage Indians somehow managed to take out remaining wickets restricting Ireland to put up a total of 207 runs on board (IRE - 207/10, 47.5 over). Ireland skipper William Porterfield scored 75 runs. Yuvaraj Singh took 5 wickets which supposed to be his best bowling figure. Zaheer Khan took 3 wickets.

India opened its batting innings with Virender Sehwag and master blaster Sachin Tendulkar. Sehwag could not stay for longer time and so was Gautam Gambhir. After the fall of 2 wickets, Virat Kohli came in to bat and put up some good runs. Even MS Dhoni, Yuvaraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan played some good knocks that helped India to add up required runs. By 46 overs, India scored 210 runs and lost 5 wickets (IND - 210/5, 46 over). Yuvaraj Singh was unbeaten scoring 50 runs and Yusuf Pathan unbeaten at 30 runs that included 2 fours and 3 sixes.

India won the match by 5 wickets. Man of the match was Yuvaraj Singh who played magnificently with bat and ball where he took 5 wickets, one catch and an unbeaten half-century.

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ICC World Cup 2011 updates: Day 1

On Saturday, first match of the ICC World Cup 2011 was played. It was between the hosts India and Bangladesh at Mirpur. Bangladesh won the toss and they let the Indians to bat first. At start i was afraid that India might loose the match as the pitch is well known for its second innings. Virender Sehwag stayed long and played well. He scored a magnificent 175 runs in 140 deliveries and got out. On the other hand Virat Kohli played gave a good standing and he scored his debut World Cup century in the first match itself. This partnership helped India to put up a huge total of 370 runs with the loss of 4 wickets.

In response, Bangladesh gave a flying start that brought them back to the winning track. This partnership was shattered when Munaf Patel bowled Imrul Kayes. After this, the asking rate started to increase and the pressure kept on building up. By 50 overs, Bangladesh managed to score 283 runs with the loss of 9 wickets.

India won the match by 89 runs. Man of match was Virender Sehwag for his brilliant batting innings. Next India will take on England at Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore on 27th of Feb. Bangladesh will be playing against Ireland on 25th of February at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur.

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Yuraj Singh says that he taught of quitting cricket last year

As he had a series of injuries which led to his poor performance last year. He was not into the Indian ODI nor into the test team. He even showed poor performance in IPL-3 which led to few controversies. Now he admits that this was the worst situation that raised in his 10 years of cricketing. He even taught of quitting from cricket but his parents gave a strong support that he should continue his cricketing career.

Now he is into the World cup team that will be starting from 19th of Feb this year and he is very confident this time that he will show a good performance. He is also an part time spin bowler for the team as well. As this will be mostly the last World cup for Sachin Tendulkar, Yuraj Singh likes to make it a special World cup by winning it.

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.

India vs Srilanka

Today India played their 2nd ODI of the tri-series against Srilanka at Queen's Sports Club, Bulawayo. Indians after their unbelievable defeat against the Zimbabwe in their 1st ODI, they are playing against Srilanka who are their past rival. At the super eight match in World Twenty20, Srilankan's stunned India by winning the match & putting India out of the series. Now its time for India to pay them.

India won the toss & let the Srilankan's to bat first. Upul Tharanga & Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the batting innings for Srilanka. Upul Tharanga did not survive for longer period. Dilshan played beautifully & scored 61 runs before his run out which was hit by Rohit Sharma. Later, Angelo Mathews took the responsibility & contributed 75 runs to the team which helped Srilanka to put up a decent total of 242 runs. Srilanka lost all 10 wickets in 49.5 overs scoring 242 runs at a run rate of 4.86 runs per over.
This total is not a huge one for India, but looks pretty decent until they loose some quick wickets. Indians need 243 runs in 50 overs to win the match against Srilanka.

Dinesh Karthik & Murali Vijay started the chase for India, but they both were unsuccessful as they got out & walked back to pavillion. This seems to be a bad sign for India as it has lost its openers. Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli played a decent innings & contributed a good partnership. Both played well & scored half centuries individually. This helped India a lot to go into positive track.