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Bollinger in Australian Test Squad, Stuart Clarke out

admin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:11:15 +0000

Stuart Clarke may be fully fit at this stage but the Australian selectors seem to include Doug Bollinger in his place as a reward to his amazing performance recently. Stuart Clarke has done great job for Australia. He was the Man of the Series in the last Ashes series at home. But still Australian selectors are hinting at a place for Bollinger in the test squad. This at the same time means Stuart Clarke is out. What is the reason for keeping Stuart Clarke out of the test squad? Well the Australian selectors are relying more upon young players who are really doing very well at this time. Clarke, on 34, will be doubtful if he does not get a place in the Australian Test squad. However everything has not ended for him. This is because the Australian selectors have not said no to his possibility of being included in the test team. If he maintains his form and fitness he may be back at any time. Due to the match winning performance of Bollinger in the recent seven-match ODI series against India, the young bowler has made it to the test squad for the time being.

Australia Grab Thrilling Win Despite a Great Innings from Sachin Tendulkar

admin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:16:27 +0000

Australia grabbed a thrilling win by 3 runs in spite of the great Innings from Sachin Tendulkar to take a 3-2 lead in the seven match series. Australia would have never thought that giving a huge target of 350 runs to chase was not just enough till the wonder man Sachin Tendulkar is there on the crease. It was another great innings from the master blaster who single handedly took the charge to chase the target of 350 set by the Aussies. Tendulkar, who scored a magnificent 175 from just 141 deliveries did not let the Australians stay comfortable at any stage of the game. Boosted by the classic innings of Sachin, the Indians were so close to an astounding victory which ended with a heartbreaking finish. Initially Australia batted extremely well. Opener Watson found back his amazing form to give Australia a flying start. Then Shawn Marsh took the charge scoring a beautiful century. Skipper Ponting also played a good knock. Australia’s innings was given a nice finish by in-form Mike Hussey and White. The Indian innings saw a good start at hands of Sehwag. But Sachin Tendulkar was the man again to steal the show. First he completed the milestone of 17000 runs in ODI cricket. Then he went on to score his 45th century. The score board was showing 350 runs to chase. But the master never seemed to be tension. He played his natural cricket. India kept losing wickets but that did not seem trouble Sachin at all. With a good support from Raina he kept hitting the Australian bowlers comfortably and made the target of 350 easily achievable. Ricky Ponting had no answer to Sachin’s batting. But when he got out when there was just 19 runs to score from 17 deliveries, India started loosing wickets. Though Praveen Kumar drived a six to keep Indians hopes alive he became the victim of an unfortunate run out. India fell short the Australian’s target by three runs. Definitely a heartbreaking ending to a great chase.

But whatever be the result this was one of the greatest innings from Sachin. As long as this wonder is on the crease, anything can happen. However the Aussies were quite better than the Indians in the field. The catch taken by Bollinger from a very difficult angle to get Sehwag out was a very brilliant one. Again Dhoni’s dismissal saw an impossible catch made possible by Voges. Any way great cricket from the Aussies, from the Indians and specially from Sachin Tendulkar.

Umpire David Shepherd Passes Away

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:40:37 +0000

David Shepherd who had a great umpiring career passed away on October 27 at the age of 68, leaving a huge step behind him. His death is a huge loss to the game of cricket. This gentle man had a great time in cricket and was the most significant figure on the cricket field. His cheer presence on the field was a great sight for the cricket lovers. He died after a long battle of cancer. He stood in 92 Test matches and 172 ODIs before retiring in the year 2005. His death has come as a big blow to the cricket lovers all over the world.

David Shepherd has been greatly admired by all those related to the game of cricket. He had a quite long career as an umpire from 1983 to 2005.He umpired in three World Cup finals. Born in England he used to play first class cricket. But when didn’t get any good results from playing cricket he took up the career of umpiring. This took him to new level.

He was well known for his act of standing on one leg or hopping when the score board saw the Nelson number 111 or multiples of it. He believed that this Nelson number is unlucky. Let us pay tribute to this gentleman who will always be reminded.

NSW Blues become First Ever T20 Champions League Winner

admin — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:29:12 +0000

NSW Blues defeated Trinidad & Tobago in the first ever Champions League T20 by 41 runs. Brett Lee was the hero in this win of NSW Blues. Lee who was in tremendous form thorought the tournament shined in all the departments in the final. The win has added another feather in NSW’s cap. But the start of the match was a different story. After winning the toss T&T selected to bat first, as they had successfully chased some good targets earlier. They were surely favorite in the final. With the likes of Pollard they could chase any target. Starting to bat first NSW Blues saw a good start. Opener Warner gave a good start to the Blues. But wickets started falling at regular intervals. Though skipper Katich gave some resistance, he was not to last long. Soon the Blues were reduced to 83 at the cost of six wickets in eleven overs. So it looked doubtful whether they can make hundred or not. But then came Brett Lee to the crease. He took the challenge thrown by T&T. First he settled down and then started beating the T&T bowlers like anything. He smashed 48 runs from just 31 deliveries which gave the Blues a formidable score of 159.Brett Lee smashed five huge sixes in his innings. He got good support from Smith who himself made 33 runs.
Skipper Daren Ganga however was not much worried over this target. But in bowling also, Lee took the charge. He got opener Perkins bold in the second ball of his first over. In his second over he removed Simmons. Trinidad kept losing wickets at regular intervals against the pace and spin attack of the Blues. But when the danger man Pollard came to the crease then it seemed that T&T could grab a win. He smashed three huge sixes. But Hauritz finally got him caught near the boundary. Lee was the fielder. After Pollard there was little resistance left for Trinidad and they finally got all out for 118.It was a great match. Brett Lee won the Man of the Match and Player of the series award.

Trinidad&Tobago End Dream Run of Cape Cobras

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:41:29 +0000

Trinidad & Tobago qualified for the final of the first Champions League T20 by defeating tournament underdog the Cape Cobras in a convincing way. Now they will face NSW Blues in the final today. This way T&T has kept their dominating form in the Champions League alive. They have not lost any match till now. In the semifinal, the Cape Cobras after winning the toss selected to bat first. They batted well. For the first time their opener Herchelle Gibbs showed a good knock by smashing 42 runs in 27 balls. He smashed four boundaries in a single over of Bravo. After that Dumminy who has been in great form thorought the tournament took the charge. Dumminy made a beautiful 61 out of 40 balls which included a spectacular Six in the leg. The Cobras set a good target of 176 for T & T.

The openers gave a flying start to T&T. However, The Cape Cobras dropped some vital catches. T&T lost three wickets for 85 runs. But then came the Captain Darren Ganga who was joined by Dwayne Bravo. They produced a match winning partnership taking T&T to the final. Bravo scored an attacking 58 in just 34 deliveries and Ganga made 44 in 31 deliveries. The bowling of the Cobras was never up to the strong batting of T&T. Trinidad will face the NSW Blues in the final whom they have already beaten in the Super8.

The Victory of Delhi Daredevils saw the Comeback of McGrath

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:22:06 +0000

Delhi Daredevils won their must win battle against Wayamba Eleven in a dominating way. The Daredevils dominated in all the departments-batting, bowling and fielding. The match saw an exploding innings from Sehwag who made 66 out of 42 deliveries. Sehwag’s innings was tailored with 10 boundaries and 1 over boundary. Wicket keeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik played a good innings of 61 in 41 deliveries. He smashed three sixes. In the fielding Dilshan showed some brilliant work for the Daredevils. The bowling was headed by Nannes. He produced some great deliveries to give the Daredevils two early successes. The moment of the match came at that time when Legendary fast bowler McGrath was brought to attack. McGrath, who is 39, now showed once again how much cricket left in him. The legend showed that he is still the best. He started with absolute accuracy in the first over. He bowled with the same accuracy in his line and length as he always used to do. In his second over he took two wickets, both were clean bolds. He eventually finished his spell of four overs at the cost of just 20 runs. It was a dream come back for such a great man. All he lacked was some speed. He bowled around 120km/h.”I was always landing the ball on the place, but i need to be a little bit quicker”, said McGrath after the match. The Daredevils won the match with a good margin of 50 runs. This win will help them to go into the second round on the run rate basis.

Spectacular Opening Ceremony to kick off T20 Champions Leauge

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:18:07 +0000

It was a spectacular opening ceremony to kick off the first ever T-20 Champion League in the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The inaugural ceremony saw some amazing musical performance mixed with martial arts exhibition, acrobatic shows and cultural performances. The laser show and the fireworks were just incredible.

The start of the ceremony saw the captains of the participating teams standing together after they left their hand prints in clay-boards. Lalit Modi, the chairman of IPL, delivered a passionate speech to the big crowds gathering at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Pop singer Shaggy, British singer Jamelia and Chaka Khan delivered an amazing musical performance. Jamelia sang her career best single ‘Superstar’. The martial arts artists from Shaolin Temple of China showed their skills. The Japanese drummers set the stage into vibration with their energetic performance.

The opening ceremony came to an end with some spectacular fireworks. Thousands of firecrackers lit up the Chinnaswamy Stadium and sent a message to the world that Champions League T-20 has started.

MR. Reliable Clarke Saves Australia in the third Ashes test

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:15:13 +0000

The Rescuer

Another thrilling innings from Australian Michael Clarke has saved the third test for Australia in the ashes 2009.Australia were never in a safer position in the third Ashes test. They got all out in the first innings for 263 to which England answered very strongly by scoring 376 taking a good lead. Then Australia started their second innings and were two wickets down at the score of 88.To add sour to the injury, skipper Ricky Ponting also fell to a spinner from Swann. Then Mike Hussey stabilized the innings to some extent by scoring 64 but then he also got out. So it was a very tight situation for Australia. But then came Michael Clarke. He faced bravely the English attack. He batted against all odds keeping aside the combined Spin and swing attack of England. He made a record breaking partnership with North. Clarke batted the whole day to remain undefeated on 103.This was his second century in consecutive tests. His amazing innings has turned him Mr. dependable for Australia. He has scored very consistently thorought the series now. Clarke has scored 352 runs from three tests at an average of 88.This shows how consistent he is. So Australia need not worry son long as MJ Clarke is there on the crease. We call him Mr. Reliable.

The Ashes Drama

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:49:29 +0000

The Ashes test series is a major event of cricket. Every time the series draws attention of every one. This test series reflects the rivalry between two great teams of world cricket Australia and England. You will not get the excitation and thriller of the Ashes in any other series. Every Ashes series have been full of drama. Both the teams give their utmost performances in this series. This year also the Ashes has been full of excitation. The drama started right from the first test. England gave a good target of 435 in the first innings pushing Aussies to the back foot. But Australia answered back with four centuries from Skipper Ponting, Katich , Haddin and North. Then it seemed that the Aussies will run away with a test win. But hold on. Australia got nine wickets of England out in the second innings and still England were behind. They had to play 15 overs with one wicket left. So a victory for Australia was certain. But Monty Paneshar and Anderson batted with great motivation and strength to deny a certain win to the Aussies. This might frustrate Ponting a little bit.
The second test has till now hit the fifth day. England has set a target of 521 for Australia to win. The target seemed impossible. Things got even worse for Australia when they were five wicket down at the score of 128.But then MJ Clarke and Haddin counter attacked and took Australia to 313 for five at the close of Day 4.Clarke is on 125 and Haddin is on 80.So now the second test is hanging on the cliff now. No one can say which team is gonna win till the last ball is delivered. This is called the Ashes Drama.

Cliff-hanger between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Riders

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:37:03 +0000

Among all the IPL matches till now, yesterday’s battle between defending champion Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders has been the most exciting. This match has made one thing clear that IPL has more to offer in the days to come. It was a great battle between the two teams. The match remained tie till end and later it was decided by a super over in which Rajasthan Royals had the last laugh.
After winning the toss, Kolkata decided to bowl first. Rajasthan royals batted satisfactorily and ser a target of 151 which was not so big and not so small. Yusuf Pathan high scored with a 21 ball 42.With this target Shane Warne the captain and coach of Rajasthan Royals started his battle. Chris Gayle gave a very good start to Kolkata Knight Riders. But teenager Jadeja got his wicket. After that Kolkata kept on losing wickets in regular intervals. So it seemed that Rajasthan Royals were tightening the grip. But then came Sourav Ganguly.Dada took the challenge and made the target receivable. He made some nice stokes to made it possible for Kolkata to win the match. In the last over Kolkata needed just seven runs to win. Warne then gave the responsibility on teenager Kamran Khan to deliver the last and most important over. Kamran did not disappoint Warne. He got Ganguly caught behind the wicket. Then a situation comes when Kolkata needs two runs in the last ball. Baller was Kamran and in front of him was Ishan Sharma.Ishan drives hard but Shane Warne stops a certain boundary. Ishan takes one run and get run out while trying to take the second run. The match was thus tied. Then the famous super over comes. Kolkata starts with Chris Gayle and Mcculum. Again the baller was Kamran.Gayle drives three consecutive boundaries and set a target of 16.He got out in the last ball. It was a good target given by KKR. From Rajasthan Royals Yusuf Pathan was given the responsibility. He drived two consecutive Sixes and then takes two run. Then he takes the winning runs. Thanks to both the teams for giving such a exciting and close match.