4th Match: India win by 5 Wickets - Ishanth Sharma Fired Aussies!

For a change, this time real pace bowling helped India to crash the world's best team and ODI World Champions! It has also created fear among the Aussies!

Australia won the toss and decided to bat on the MCG and after that nothing went in favor of them! Gilchrist was judged leg before in the first over of the match while the TV replay showed an inside edge. Hayden who looked dangerous was caught behind chasing the ball that pitched little away from the batsman and edge the ball to Dhoni. Ricky, the batsman in poor form continued with his low run form and got out of 9. Clarke (11) and Symonds (14) also did not last long and that put Australia in deep trouble. Haddin was stumped off Harbhajan for five leaving Australia at 92 for 6. Only Hussey was managed to cross 50 and he was not out on 65 till the end of the innings. Ishanth took 4 wickets and Sreesanth 3 wickets. The Aussies did not play their full quota of 50 overs was really a surprising end.

Chasing 160, India lost Shewag early when the score was 18. Everyone except Dhoni was shocked when Pathan entered as the third batsman. He added 18 off 30 balls and was judged leg before off Johnson. The inform Gambhir joined Tendulakar and added 35 runs and was caught by Clarke off Lee. Tendulkar immediately followed him when he was on 44. The poor form batsman of Indian team Yuravaraj followed Tendulakar with 3 leaving India struggle at 102 for 5 needing another 58 runs. The sensible batting by young Rohit Sharma and skipper Dhoni lead India to victory during the 46th over. Everyone expected that India would win comfortably with a bonus point, but surprisingly India had to fight and win. After Sachin's exist, it was better to win than to go for a bonus point. Ishant declared player of the match for his wonderful bowling performance.

Final Score
Australia 159 all out in 43.1 overs (Hayden 25; Hussey 65 not out; Sreesanth 3 for 31; Ishanth 4 for 38; Pathan 2 for 26) lost to India 160 for 5 in 45.5 overs (Tendulkar 44; Rohit Sharma 39 not out; Johnson 2 for 24)
Man of the Match: Ishanth Sharma (India)

3rd Match: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 128 runs

The first full match favored the home team! It was a repeat of the last world cup final and this time also Australia stood tall! Nathan Bracken finished with his career best figure of 5 for 47. The slow pitch helped Australia to put a decent start. Gilly and Hayden started well and Hayden scored 42 off the 65 runs for the first wicket. Gilchrist once thought would convert his 50 into a hundred, disappointed the crowd when he was struck in front of the wicket for 61. Oh, poor Pointing, he was dismissed for 9. Michael Clarke stayed in the crease till the end of the last ball, but Symonds (12) and Hussey (10) didn't last in the crease. Clarke and Hopes added 63 runs in 48 balls. Hopes scored 34 in 29 balls and Clarke was not out on 77 of 86 balls with 2 fours and a six. Muralitharan didn't pick a wicket surprisingly, but bowled well to end with none for 42 of his 10 overs. Vaas and Amerasinghe picked two wickets each.

The Sri Lankan lost the wicket of Jayasuria early and then it started loosing wickets at regular intervals. Sangakkara continued his form from the last test thought to be a danger man, but didn't last long either. He scored 42 and the fourth batsman to fall in the 20th over.

Australia gained a crucial bonus point and is leading the table with 7 points at the end of the first round, India in the 2nd place with 4 points and Sri Lanka in the last place with 2 points.

Final Score
Australia 253 for 6 in 50 overs (Gilchrist 61; Hayden 42; Clark 77 Not Out; Hopes 34; Vaas 2 for 34; Amerasinghe 2 for 66) beat Sri Lanka 125 all out in 31.3 overs (Sangakkara 42; Bracken 5 for 47)
Man of the Match: Bracken (Australia)

2nd Match of Commonwealth Bank Series Also Abandoned! Points Shared!

Cricket Denied Again!

One more time in the history of cricket, the match between India and Sri Lanka was abandoned due to rain. Indian batted the full quota of 50 overs, but Sri Lanka didn't get a chance to bat a ball. Another expectation from this match is Sachin's 16,000 runs in ODIs. He required 28 runs to achieve this great milestone.

India won the toss and decided to bat first. The start was good with a 68-run first wicket partnership. Both Shewag and Sachin were hitting the ball well and Sachin crossed his 16,000 runs as expected. He is the highest run getter in the ODI cricket. With Sachin getting out at 35 through an inner edge into the stumps, Shewag also got out immediately when the score was 80. He scored 33 and was out caught behind. Muralithan struck twice in the same over to send the poor form batsman Yuvaraj's for 3 and Rohit in a span of 2 balls for zero leaving India struggle at 83 for 4.

The crucial stage of the match started with more responsibility on Dhoni! With his styling of batting, you wouldn't have expected him to last long, but showed temperament and class in played very patiently. Gambhir and Dhoni put on unbeaten 164 runs taking India to 267 for 4 in 50 overs.

Gambhir should have been dismissed at 11 if Sangakara had taken the catch. After than, he played sensibly driving and hitting Vaas during his third spell. He was playing very well against the spin, flicking, sweeping and driving Muralitharan. The right and left-hand combination probably added advantage for Indians and the 50-run partnership came in 78 deliveries.

Gambhir's six of Malinga through extra-cover was a brlliant shot by him and Dhoni brought up his fifty through a six. Dhoni's 50 came up in 74 balls with 2 fours and a six. With 8 more runs to score a century and India was facing the last over. Malinga's poor last over helped Gambhir to get his 100 with a four.

Final Score

India 267 for 4 in 50 overs (Shewag 33; Sachin 35; Gamhir 102 not out; Dhoni 88 not out; Muralitharan 2 for 51) match abandoned due to rain.

1st Match of Commonwealth Bank Series Abandoned! Points Shared!

Weather God Helped Whom?

The first match of the Commonwealth Bank Series between India and Australia was washed out due to rain! The match, though looked like going in favor of Australia during the middle overs of Indian batting, after the rain, the match swung in favor of India.

You never know the next moment in a rain impacted match. The team batting first may score 350 in 50 overs, but the team batting second may need to score 250 in 30 overs, but they have all the 10 wickets in hand. So, the chase could be little easy.

India won the toss and decided to bat first--a brave decision by captain Dhoni, considering the experience of the team. Shewag and Sachin opened the innings as expected and the start was good, but could have been better. Shewag's try to square cut the Bracken's delivery took in the inside edge of the bat and knocked the bails. Sachin was out strangely, the first ever time--hit wicket. Though Gambir and Rohit Sharma played well and added some score, it didn't last for long. The lower batting order also collapsed.

Rain stopped play and the overs was reduced to 45 a side leaving India with 9 overs when play started. Dhoni added few valuable runs, but Lee was demolishing with his superb bowling performance. Towards the end of the innings, a quick fire 27 of 19 balls with 3 fours by Harbhajan helped India to finish with 194 in 45 overs loosing all wickets.

Rain delayed the Australian innings and the target was revised to 141 in 26 overs.Ishant Sharma's superb in-swinger removed Hopes's off stump and Sressanth's outswinger leavin the right hander, taking Pointings edge was the hall mark of Indian bowling. Rain stopped play when Austraia were 51 for 3 in 7.2 overs. Match was called off! Each team finished with 2 points each.

Final Score (image source: cricinfo.com):
India 194 in 45 overs (Gambhir 39; Sharma 29; Dhoni 37; Harbhajan 27; Lee 5 for 27) match abandoned due to rain; Australia target 141 in 26 overs (D/L method) 51 for 3 in 7.2 overs (Hopes 17; Sreessanth 2 for 17)

Commonwealth Bank Series 2008 Australia v. India v. Sri Lanka

The Commonwealth Bank Series is really going to test all the teams in terms of morale, character, aggression, staying positive, showing patience, and playing the best.

The fixture of the entire series is given below (all times are shown in GMT):

Feb. 03, 2008 Sunday at 03:15 GMT: Match 01: India v. Australia at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane

Feb. 05, 2008 Tuesday at 03:15 GMT: Match 02: India v. Sri Lanka at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane

Feb. 08, 2008 Friday at 03:15 GMT: Match 03: Australia v. Sri Lanka at Sydney Cricket Ground

Feb. 10, 2008 Sunday at 03:15 GMT: Match 04: India v. Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground

Feb. 12, 2008 Tuesday at 23:00 GMT: Match 05: India v. Sri Lanka at Manuka Oval, Canberra

Feb. 15, 2008 Friday at 04:30 GMT: Match 06: Australia v. Sri Lanka at WACA Ground, Perth

Feb. 17, 2008 Sunday at 03:15 GMT: Match 07: India v. Australia at Adelaide Oval

Feb. 19, 2008 Tuesday at 03:15 GMT: Match 08: India v. Sri Lanka at Adelaide Oval

Feb. 22, 2008 Friday at 03:15 GMT: Match 09: Australia v. Sri Lanka at Melbourne Cricket Ground

Feb. 24, 2008 Sunday at 03:15 GMT: Match 10: India v. Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground

Feb. 26, 2008 Tuesday at 03:15 GMT: Match 11: India v. Sri Lanka at Bellerive Oval, Hobart

Feb. 29, 2008 Friday at 03:15 GMT: Match 12: Australia v. Sri Lanka at Melbourne Cricket Ground

Mar. 02, 2008 Sunday at 03:15 GMT: 1st Final: TBC at Sydney Cricket Ground

Mar. 04, 2008 Tuesday at 03:15 GMT: 2nd Final: TBC at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane

Mar. 07, 2008 Friday at 03:15 GMT: 3rd Final: TBC at Adelaide Oval, if required