3rd ODI: Ind v. Aus: Yuvaraj and Dhoni give India 2-1 lead!

A well planned and executed innings from Yuvaraj and Dhoni helped India to win the 3rd ODI and take a lead in the series.

In a tough pitch which had unequal bounce and turn, anything around 250 was felt difficult. But, India restricted Australia to 229.

Deciding to bat first, Ponting lead from the front by opening the innings with Watson. With Paine fracuring his finger during the 2nd ODI, he put himself in the opening slot.

One should appreciate the courage of Ponting not ony for opening but also for positioning himself at short leg while Hauritz bowling and Dhoni batting.

Watson and Ponting started well. They added 72 for the first wicket. A big turn from Yuvaraj's first delivery dragged Watson little away from the wicket and beat him. Dhoni was quick and removed the bails.

Ponting scored another half-century. He played beautifully punching off the back-foot and pulling the short deliveries.

Unfortunatly, this time also, he was trapped leg before. An unique record of getting out in LBW in all the 3 ODIs. Mr. Consistent Hussey scored 81. He played a superb innings and is definitely a dependable batsman for Australia.

Jadeja picked 2 wickets while Yuvaraj, Harbhajan and Raina picked one each.

Chasing 230, India lost Sehwag for just 11 bowled by Johnson. Tendulkar played slowly and steadily. He ensured that he did not chase the wide off stump deliveries as he did in the first 2 ODIs.

Tendulkar's decision to take on for a single against Johnson at mid off proved wrong. He found himself short of his crease as Johnson sent a direct hit at bowler's end.

Gambhir was bowled by the turn of Hauritz. He moved away and to the back foot but the ball turned, took edge and hit the stump. India were 53 for 3 in 15.2 overs.

Yuvaraj and Dhoni played singles, rotated the strike, never felt under pressure. They kept on punishing poor balls but mostly they were just picking singles.

They added 148 for the 4th wicket in 28.4 overs. Yuvaraj won the man of the match for his 78 in 96 balls which had 8 fours and 2 sixes.

Dhoni was unbeaten on 71 in 95 balls with just 6 fours. India took powerplay in the 46th over, needing 28 runs. Dhoni and Raina ensured that they do not take the match to the last over, finished with 10 balls remaining.

Scoreboard:

Match # 3
Date: Saturday October 31, 2009
Teams: Australia v. India
Captains: R Ponting and MS Dhoni
Toss: Australia, decided to bat
Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Result: India won by 6 wkts with 10 balls remaining
Series: India lead the 7 match series 2-1
Man of the Match: Yuvaraj Singh off India

Australia Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Watson	st Dhoni b Yuvaraj	41	59	5	0
R Ponting	lbw b R Jadeja	59	92	4	0
M Hussey	not out	81	82	3	1
C White	c Dhoni b Raina	0	7	0	0
A Voges	c Kumar b Harbhajan	17	31	1	0
M Henriques	b R Jadeja	12	17	0	0
M Johnson	not out	9	12	0	1
Extras	(b 4, lb 3, w 3)	10	-	-	-
Total	for 5 wkts in 50 overs	229	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-72 (Watson, 16.2 ov), 2-128 (Ponting, 31.1 ov), 3-129 (White, 32.4 ov), 4-172 (Voges, 41.5 ov), 5-200 (Henriques, 46.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
P Kumar	5	1	16	0
A Nehra	9	0	51	0
I Sharma	5	0	24	0
R Jadeja	9	1	41	2
Harbhajan	10	0	37	1
Yuvaraj	8	0	30	1
S Raina	4	0	23	1

India Innings: (230 to win in 50 overs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
V Sehwag	b Johnson	11	25	1	0
S Tendulkar	run out (Johnson)	32	47	2	0
G Gambhir	b Hauritz	6	15	0	0
Yuvaraj	lbw b Henriques	78	96	8	2
M Dhoni	not out	71	95	6	0
S Raina	not out	9	13	1	0
Extras	(b 4, lb 4, w 14, nb 1)	23	-	-	-
Total	for 4 wkts in 48.2 overs	230	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-37 (Sehwag, 8.5 ov), 2-51 (Tendulkar, 13.3 ov), 3-53 (Gambhir, 15.2 ov), 4-201 (Yuvraj Singh, 43.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
M Johnson	9.2	2	43	1
Siddle	10	0	41	0
D Bollinger	10	0	26	0
Henriques	8	0	51	1
N Hauritz	10	0	48	1
A Voges	1	0	13	0

Brett Lee returns home! Out of India Series!

The Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has been ruled out for the rest of the ODI series against India. He returned to Australia for treatment.

During the first ODI in Vadodara, he could not bowl his full quota of 10 overs. Watson and Hilfenhaus bowled the end overs in which India scored huge runs and came close to winning the match.

Due to his elbow injury he missed the 2nd ODI in Nagpur. The injury is the latest setback for Lee who also missed the Ashes in England due to fitness problems.

"Brett's elbow injury has not responded as well to treatment as we would have liked and therefore a decision has been made to send him home to consult with an elbow specialist. With an accurate diagnosis we can determine how best to manage the injury and give Brett the best chance of being available for selection at the beginning of the Australian summer," said Cricket Australia physiotherapist Kevin Sims.

With Hopes already not available for the next two ODIs, it is a big blow for Australia. Their premier bowler is not going to be available for the remaining 5 ODIs.

Lee denied the report that the injury was due to his participation in the Champions League.

2nd ODI: Ind v. Aus: Dhoni firework Equal Series! Aussie Morale under Check!

Wonderful batting display by skipper Dhoni lead India to a 99-run win over Australia and equal the series 1-1. Having lost the match by 4 runs, India had to win this game to keep their spirit up!

Ponting thought the pitch and the dew factor will help them batting second but it didn't.

Sachin once again disappointed the fans with a single digit score. Chasing the off side delivery, he edged the ball to Paine.

Sehwag made quick 40, which came of 31 balls. He hit 6 fours and a six in his brief stay.

Yuvaraj, played his first match after resting himself due to injury, made just 23. He looked good and thought to make a big innings. A good return catch by Hilfenhaus cut short his innings at 23. But the run rate was above 6 but India lost 3 wickets with 97 on the board in 15.1 overs.

Dhoni joined Gambhir. Both of them ensure that the run rate is retained through singles and twos. They also scored odd boundaries on the loose balls.

A powerful hit by Dhoni back to the bowler was dropped and it went to mid off. Gambhir started for a single but Dhoni did not respond. Hauritz picked it one hand, hit the stumps direct, Gambhir could not come on time.

Gambhir missed a nice opportunity to score a hundred. It was an unnecessary attempt for a single which ended his innigs at 76. Dhoni and Gambhir built 119 runs for the 4th wicket 18.5 overs.

Raina paired up with Dhoni and they rotated the strike. Though Raina was shaky at the initial stage, he adjusted himself well and scored a half-century.

India were 238 for 4 in 39 overs. Dhoni decided to take batting powerplay. The first 4 overs did not yield runs as expected. Johnson and Siddle shared two overs each and gave away just 29 runs.

It was the last over of the powerplay that gave the momentum to the Indian innings. Raina hit a four of the first ball to wide long on. He then took a single and gave strike to Dhoni. Next ball was a no ball which went was pulled to mid wicket boundary by Dhoni. The free hit was thrashed for straight boundary. Dhoni picked the slower one well and hit it very hard. The next delivery went over extra cover for 3 runs. India scored 18 runs in this one over, the highest.

A six by Dhoni over long on off Hilfenhaus took him to 96 and India to 294 for 4 in 45 overs.

Watson bowled the 46th over and went for 17 runs. Dhoni reached his century thruogh a powerful six over long off. The next delivery was also hit high in the air, over long off, it stayed long in the air, but at the end, cleared the boundary for a six.

Dhoni reached his 100 in 94 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Raina reached his 50 in 42 balls with 5 fours and a six. Raina hit a four, six, two and another four off Hilfenhaus and took India to 329 for 4 in 47 overs.

Dhoni, Raina and Praveen Kumar got out in the last over as India ended with 354, the highest against Australia, by any country, batting first.

Dhoni became the first wicket keeper batsman to score the highest runs against against Australia--124 in 107 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes.

Dhoni also became the first Indian captain to put the highest individual total against Australia.

Hilfenhaus went for 83 runs in his 10 overs, picking just 1 wicket. Johnson went for 75 in his 10, but picked 3 wickets. Voges and Watson went for 33 and 47 respectively in 5 overs.

Chasing 355 in 50 overs under light is always difficult. The start has to be good, momentum should be maintained, powerplay should be properly utilized. Big partnerships are required.

Paine was bowled through inner edge when tried to play across off Praveen Kumar. Ponting trapped plumb in front by Praveen for 12. Mike Hussey scored 53 but none of the batsmen looked dangerous. Aussies were losing wickets at regular intervals and India had the chance of recording a big win.

Having knownt that the victory in sight, they took it easy and missed the chance to win with 100+ runs margin.

After a long time Australia were dismissed in less than 50 overs. Ravindra Jadeja picked 3 wickets in 6.3 overs giving away 35 runs. Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma picked 2 each.

India are equal in the series at 1-1 and the next match is on October 31 in Delhi.

Scoreboard:

Match # 2
Date: Wednesday October 28, 2009
Teams: Australia v. India
Captains: R Ponting and MS Dhoni
Toss: Australia, decided to field
Venue: Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur
Result: India won by 190 runs
Series: Equal at 1-1
Man of the Match: MS Dhoni off India

India Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
V Sehwag	c Hilfenhaus b Johnson	40	31	6	1
S Tendulkar	c White b Siddle	4	8	1	0
G Gambhir	run out (Hauritz)	76	80	6	0
Yuvaraj Singh	c & b Hilfenhaus	23	24	2	1
M Dhoni	c Paine b Johnson	124	107	9	3
S Raina	c Paine b Johnson	62	50	6	1
Harbhajan	not out	1	1	0	0
P Kumar	run out (Siddle/Paine)	1	1	0	0
Extras	(b 1, lb 6, w 14, nb 2)	23	-	-	-
Total	for 7 wkts in 50 overs	354	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-21 (Tendulkar, 3.3 ov), 2-67 (Sehwag, 10.1 ov), 3-97 (Yuvraj Singh, 15.1 ov), 4-216 (Gambhir, 33.6 ov), 5-352 (Dhoni, 49.3 ov), 6-353 (Raina, 49.5 ov), 7-354 (Kumar, 49.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Hilfenhaus	10	0	83	1
Siddle	10	0	55	1
M Johnson	10	0	75	3
N Hauritz	10	0	54	0
A Voges	5	0	33	0
S Watson	5	0	47	0

Australia Innings: (355 to win in 50 overs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Watson	c Tendulkar b I Sharma	19	26	3	0
T Paine	b P Kumar	8	14	1	0
R Ponting	lbw b Kumar	12	16	2	0
C White	c Raina b Harbhajan	23	42	3	0
M Hussey	b R Jadeja	53	60	6	0
A Voges	b R Jadeja	36	44	1	0
S Marsh	st Dhoni b R Jadeja	21	21	1	1
M Johnson	b A Nehra	21	19	2	1
N Hauritz	not out	30	32	3	0
P Siddle	c Dhoni b I Sharma	3	5	0	0
Hilfenhaus	run out (Yuvaraj/Dhoni)	16	12	2	0
Extras	(lb 5, w 8)	13	-	-	-
Total	all out in 48.3 overs	255	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-20 (Paine, 4.6 ov), 2-41 (Watson, 9.1 ov), 3-45 (Ponting, 10.1 ov), 4-93 (White, 20.6 ov), 5-140 (Hussey, 30.3 ov), 6-180 (Marsh, 36.5 ov), 7-194 (Voges, 38.3 ov), 8-223 (Johnson, 43.3 ov), 9-230 (Siddle, 44.4 ov), 10-255 (Hilfenhaus, 48.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
P Kumar	8	1	37	2
A Nehra	7	0	40	1
I Sharma	8	0	34	2
Harbhajan	10	0	62	1
Yuvaraj	8	0	39	0
R Jadeja	6.3	0	35	3
S Raina	1	0	3	0

Dhoni creates New Record! First Indian Captain to score Hundred against Australia!

Indian team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has created a new record record by scoring a wondeful century against Australia in the 2nd ODI in Nagpur.

He scored 124 in 107 balls which had 9 fours and 3 sixes. During his wonderful innings, he created the following records:

1. He became the first captain to score a hundred against Australia in ODI; Jayasuriya had the record earlier with this 122 in Sydney in 2004;


2. He became the highest scorer against Australia as wicket keeper batsman beating Kamran Akmal off Pakistan's record of 115;


3. He has scored the fastest hundred against Australia as a captain.

He was involved in two hundred runs partnership during his knock. For 4th wicket, Dhoni and Gambhir added 119 runs in 28.1 overs; Raina joined Dhoni for the 5th wicket and they added 136 in 15.3 overs.

India scored 354 for 7 in 50 overs, beating their earlier highest score of 315 in 2001 in Bangalore.

Congratulations Dhoni!

India post highest total against Australia!

India has scored a mammoth total of 354 for 7 in 50 overs in the 2nd ODI against Australia in Nagpur.

Their previous best against Australia was 315 in 2001 in Bangalore. This is the best score by any team against Australia, batting first.

Skipper Dhoni lead from the front after the departure of Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvaraj. He paired up with Gambhir when India was 97 for 3 in 15.1 overs.

India saw 2 hundred-runs partnership which really boosted the scoreboard. Though the first 4 overs of batting powerplay was not properly utilized, India scored 18 runs of the last powerplay over kick-starting the firework. India took powerplay from 40 to 44 overs in which they scored 47 runs.

In the last 10 overs of the innings, India scored 108 runs with Dhoni contributing 54 and Raina 50.

Australia's record run chase was 326 against South Africa.

Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson Ruled out of 2nd ODI!

It is a big blow to Australian team with 3 players ruled out of the 2nd ODI due to injury.


James Hopes suffering from hamstring injury ruled out of the next 2 ODIs;
Brett Lee did not bowl his full quota of 10 overs in the first ODI due to shoulder pain;
Mitchell Johnson is suffering from left ankle injury.

All these players are not available for the next ODI to be played in Nagpur on Wednesday, October 28, 2009.

New South Wales all-rounder Moises Henriques will join the Australian squad as a standby player and cover for Hopes who is unlikely to be fit till the third one-dayer in Delhi.

Australia is already leading the 7-match series 1-0. Australia beat India by 4 runs in the first ODI held in Vadodara.

Hopes Ruled out for next Two ODIs

The Australian all-rounder James Hopes have been ruled out of the next two ODIs due to injury. It is a blow to Australia as they already have Lee having a shoulder pain and could not bowl in the first ODI.

Though it is expected that Lee will return for the 3rd ODI, it is confirmed that Hopes will not be available for the next 2 ODIs.

"With James Hopes' right hamstring injury being more serious and likely keep him out for at least the next two matches it is thought adding a standby player to the squad is a necessity," Andrew Hilditch, National Selection Panel Chairman, said in a Cricket Australia statement.

"Given the most significant injury appears to be Hopes' hamstring we have taken this opportunity to add Moises Henriques to the squad until the completion of game four in Mohali where we will again assess the situation before it is decided if he remains with the squad," he added."

Hopes bowled 2 overs and conceeded 10 runs. In batting, he scored 14 in 9 balls with a six and a four.

1st ODI: Ind v. Aus: Harbhajan's Heroism in Vain! Australia Start Series with a Win!

In a match that was almost decided that India will lose, turned out to be an exciting game of cricket. Harbhajan and Praveen Kumar really put pressure on Australians by scoring almost 88 runs in the last 10 overs.

Needing 92 in 10, the 41st over saw just 2 runs. 90 required from 54 balls with 3 wickets in hand, Harbhajan and Praveen punished Watson severly that he won't forget this match for sometime. Requiring 29 from 2 overs, he went for 20 runs that made India see the winning opportunity.

But, Harbhajan was bowled by Siddle in the 2nd delivery. India needed 8 from 4, but managed to get only singles and end 4 runs short.

One should really appreciate the bowling of Johnson. He mixed his slower deliveries very well and picked both his wickets through that. Gambhir was trapped leg before in the first ball of the batting powerplay and then Raina was caught and bowled.

India missed the batting power play in which they scored just 32 runs but lost 3 important wickets--Gambhir, Raina and Dhoni.

Watson finished with 2 for 70 in his 10. The costliest bowler was Praveen Kumar during Indian bowling. He went wicketless for 77 runs in his 10. Pathetic bowling.

Batting first, Australians made use of the wicekt very well. They managed the first e30 minutes and then went on scoring. Ponting scored 74 and Mike Hussey improvised the run rate and ended his innings with 73. His innings changed the pace of the game and he smashed both Ishanth and Praveen for boundaries.

Harbhajan and Praveen got appreciation from Skipper for their batting. But, Dhoni smashed his bowlers saying that they need to bowl in the right area.

Scoreboard:

Match # 1
Date: Sunday October 25, 2009
Teams: Australia v. India
Captains: R Ponting and MS Dhoni
Toss: Australia, decided to bat
Venue: Reliance Stadium, Vadodara
Result: Australia won by 4 runs
Series: Australia lead the 7 match series 1-0
Man of the Match: M Hussey off Australia

Australia Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Watson	lbw b A Nehra	5	6	1	0
T Paine	c Dhoni b I Sharma	50	62	9	0
R Ponting	lbw b R Jadeja	74	85	8	2
C White	c Raina b A Nehra	51	68	3	1
M Hussey	c Kohli b I Sharma	73	54	8	1
A Voges	c Gambhir b Harbhajan	3	7	0	0
J Hopes	run out (Sehwag/A Nehra)	14	9	1	1
M Johnson	not out	14	8	2	0
B Lee	b I Sharma	0	3	0	0
Extras	(lb 2, w 4, nb 2)	8	-	-	-
Total	for 8 wkts in 50 overs	292	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-5 (Watson, 1.2 ov), 2-102 (Paine, 18.6 ov), 3-151 (Ponting, 29.3 ov), 4-227 (White, 42.2 ov), 5-233 (Voges, 43.5 ov), 6-256 (Hopes, 46.3 ov), 7-291 (Hussey, 49.1 ov), 8-292 (Lee, 49.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
P Kumar	10	0	77	0
A Nehra	10	0	58	2
I Sharma	10	1	50	3
Harbhajan	10	0	57	1
R Jadeja	9	0	39	1
S Raina	1	0	9	0

India Innings: (283 to win in 50 overs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
V Sehwag	c Paine b Lee	13	11	3	0
S Tendulkar	c Ponting b Watson	14	29	2	0
G Gambhir	lbw b Johnson	68	85	6	1
V Kohli	c Watson b Voges	30	41	3	0
M Dhoni	c Lee b Watson	34	46	4	0
S Raina	c & b Johnson	9	10	0	1
R Jadeja	lbw b Hauritz	5	13	0	0
Harbhajan	b Siddle	49	31	4	3
P Kumar	not out	40	32	5	1
A Nehra	not out	2	2	0	0
Extras	(lb 10, w 14)	24	-	-	-
Total	for 8 wkts in 50 overs	288	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-25 (Sehwag, 4.2 ov), 2-45 (Tendulkar, 8.1 ov), 3-103 (Kohli, 20.4 ov), 4-167 (Gambhir, 34.1 ov), 5-183 (Raina, 36.3 ov), 6-186 (Dhoni, 37.2 ov), 7-201 (Jadeja, 39.5 ov), 8-285 (Harbhajan Singh, 49.2 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
B Lee	6	0	28	1
Siddle	9	0	55	1
S Watson	10	0	70	2
M Johnson	10	0	59	2
J Hopes	2	0	10	0
A Voges	4	0	22	1
N Hauritz	9	1	34	1

Indian Team: ODI Records

Indian Team ODI records against each opposition is given below.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	Ave	HS	LS
v Sri Lanka	113	60	43	0	10	34.24	373	54
v Pakistan	118	45	69	0	4	29.67	356	79
v New Zealand	81	40	36	0	5	29.84	392	108
v Zimbabwe	49	39	8	2	0	40.92	333	168
v England	70	38	30	0	2	33.15	387	158
v West Indies	95	38	54	1	2	29.4	341	100
v Australia	98	32	58	0	8	27.63	315	63
v South Africa	57	20	35	0	2	27.57	310	91
v Bangladesh	19	17	2	0	0	43.61	348	191
v Kenya	13	11	2	0	0	53.25	351	176
v United Arab Emirates	2	2	0	0	0	48.45	273	-
v Bermuda	1	1	0	0	0	82.6	413	-
v East Africa	1	1	0	0	0	-	123	-
v Hong Kong	1	1	0	0	0	93.5	374	-
v Ireland	1	1	0	0	0	171	171	-
v Namibia	1	1	0	0	0	155.5	311	-
v Netherlands	1	1	0	0	0	20.4	204	204
v. Scotland	1	1	0	0	0	70.66	212	-

Dhoni Injured during Batting Practice!

The Indian Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has hurt his knee during the batting practice ahead of the first ODI againt Australia on Sunday.

Dhoni was hit on the backside of the left knee while batting at the nets against paceman Munaf Patel during an extended practice session at the Reliance Stadium here and had to leave the session mid-way to take rest.

I got hit when batting against Munaf. I should be alright tomorrow, but have to wait and see how it feels in the morning," Dhoni, wearing a protective gear on the affected portion, told PTI.

If he is not available, then Dinesh Karthick has to brought into the Indian side.

Sachin v. Ponting: Batting and Bowling Records!

Test Match Batting Records

Player	Mat	Inn	Not Out	Runs	Highest	100s	50s	Avg.	Strike Rate
Tendulkar	159	261	27	12773	248	42	53	54.59	54.27
Ponting	136	229	26	11345	257	38	48	55.89	59.37

ODI Batting Records

Player	Mat	Inn	Not Out	Runs	Highest	100s	50s	Avg.	Strike Rate
Tendulkar	430	419	39	16903	186	44	91	44.48	85.75
Ponting	324	315	36	12044	164	28	70	43.17	80.62

Test Match Bowling Records

Player	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Best	Average	5Ws-Inngs
Tendulkar	655	80	2272	44	3-10	51.64	0
Ponting	90	23	242	5	1-10	48.4	0

ODI Bowling Records

Player	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Best	Average	5Ws-Inngs
Tendulkar	1334	24	6806	154	5-32	44.19	2
Ponting	25	0	104	3	1-12	34.67	0

Ricky Ponting: Records

Ricky Ponting is another great batsmen that the world has ever produced! He is leading by example his country through his match winning knocks. Though his side lost the recent Ashes 1-2 to England, they bounced back and won the ODI series 6-1. He also lead his side to Champions Trophy victory.

His team is touring India for a 7-match ODI series starting Sunday October 25, 2009. Main batsmen and vice captain Michael Clarke, and economy bowler Nathan Bracken are missing due to injury.

Batting Records

Type	Matches	Innings	Not Out	Runs	Highest	100s	50s	Avg.	Strike Rate
Test	136	229	26	11345	257	38	48	55.89	59.37
ODI	324	315	36	12044	164	28	70	43.17	80.62

Bowling Records

Type	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Best	Average	5Ws-Inngs
Test	90	23	242	5	1-10	48.4	0
ODI	25	0	104	3	1-12	34.67	0

Sachin's Batting and Bowling Records!

Sachin is one of the best cricketer in the world, no second opinion can be there about it! We could even rate him as the best batsmen in the world at the moment. The records that he has created speaks about why we call him the master blaster and the cricketer of the century.

Batting Records

Type	Matches	Innings	Not Out	Runs	Highest	100s	50s	Avg.	Strike Rate
Test	159	261	27	12773	248	42	53	54.59	54.27
ODI	430	419	39	16903	186	44	91	44.48	85.75

Bowling Records

Type	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Best	Average	5Ws-Inngs
Test	655	80	2272	44	3-10	51.64	0
ODI	1334	24	6806	154	5-32	44.19	2

Hard to beat India at Home: Ponting

In a press conference, Australian Skipper Ricky Ponting has come out openly and said that it is difficult to beat India at home. They play better in home conditions than abroad.

"They will be particularly hard to beat in India, they always are. They definitely play a lot better at home than they do when they travel," Ponting told reporters.

Australian team is already struggling without few key players due to injury. Wicket-Keeper Batsman Brad Haddin is left out due to injury. T20 Skipper Michale Clarke is also not part of the team due to injury. The ODI specialist bowler Nathan Bracken is not in the side due to injury.

The good news for Australia is the return of Brett Lee. the strike bowler Johnson is also in good form. They won the champions trophy and before that they beat England 6-1.

Australia is scheduled to play 7 ODIs starting their campaign on Sunday, Oct. 25th.

Hard to beat Tendulkar Records: Ponting!

The Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has said that it is difficult to reach the milestones set by the Indian mastero Sachin Tendulkar.

"It would be nice if he retires some time," Ponting said. He further added, "I was asked about this (chasing Tendulkar's records) in South Africa. He's been the benchmark for international players in the world," he said at a media conference on Wednesday.

"I think he's going into his 20th year in international cricket, which in itself is a remarkable feat within itself. The records he has set in Test and One-day cricket would be hard for anybody to tame down the track," he added.

Ponting said that his goal is to win match for Australia and not to worry about creating recods. "I will keep plugging away, doing the best I can and hopefully, keep playing well enough to win a number of games for Australia. That's what it's all about. It's not about personal achievement or how many runs you score, it's the number of games you can win for your team. So I will do my best to win quite a few games for Australia in the next couple of weeks," he said.

Sachin v. Ponting Records:

Test Matches:

Name	Age	Tests	Runs	Hundreds
Sachin	36	159	12773	42
Ponting	34	136	11345	38

ODIs:

Name	Age	ODIs	Runs	Hundreds
Sachin	36	430	16903	44
Ponting	34	324	12044	28

Australian Tour To India - Quick Links!

Given below are the quick links to the Australian tour to India. You will find articles, match analysis, scoreboard, squad, statistics, etc.

Fixtures

Indian Team!

Australian Team!

Dravid Dropped!

Australia tour to India: Schedule

Australia is touring India this October and November 2009 to play in 7 ODI matches. All of them except the sixth are day/night encounters. The fixtures:

1st ODI: Sun Oct. 25: India v. Australia at Reliance Stadium, Vadodara

2nd ODI: Wed Oct. 28: India v. Australia at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

3rd ODI: Sat Oct. 31: India v. Australia at Feroz Kotla, Delhi

4th ODI: Mon Nov. 02: India v. Australia at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

5th ODI: Thu Nov. 05: India v. Australia at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

6th ODI: Wed Nov. 08: India v. Australia at Nehru Stadium, Guwahati

7th ODI: Wed Nov. 11: India v. Australia at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Australian team announced! Jon Holland Inducted!

The left-arm orthodox spinner Jon Hollard has been inducted to the Australian team for the 7-match ODI Series against Indian in India.

Injured Michael Clarke and Nathan Bracken are not in the list. Brad Haddin, who missed the Champions Trophy due to injury is still recovering. His replacment Tim Paine would continue to be part of the team.

Australia squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Tim Paine (wicket-keeper), Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, Adam Voges, Cameron White, Shaun Marsh, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle, Jon Holland, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger.

Indian Team Announced for Australian Series 2009!

Australia is touring India this October and November to play 7 ODI matches. The Indian team was announced today with the shocking removal of Dravid.

As expected RP Singh and Yousuf Pathan have been removed. The shocking news was the removal of Dravid instead of Kholi. Also, Ishanth Sharma's stay in the team is questioned! With his poor form, he should have been given rest which would have helped him to come back stronger.

Sudeep Tyagi, is the new face in the team. He really performed well and impressed selectors in the Irani and Challenger trophies.

Munaf Patel has once again come back and found his place. Could be the last chance for him as he's also not a consistent member of the team.

The squad has 5 fast bowlers, 2 specialist spinners, and 5 part-time spinners including Sachin and Ravindra Jadeja.

India squad: MS Dhoni (captain and wicket-keeper), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Sudeep Tyagi, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra.

Dravid Dropped from ODI against Australia!

The selection committee announced the India team for the forthcoming 7-match ODI Series against Australia starting later this month. Australia is touring India and is playing seven ODI matches. They are leading the ICC ODI Rankings at top spot. If India can beat Australia, they will clinch the top spot with South Africa already in the third spot after knocked out of the Champions Trophy in the early stages.

Indian Wall, Mr. Dependable, Dravid is once again shown the exit door. This is not new for him as he's always been in-and-out of the ODI team in the recent past.

He was selected for the Champions Trophy and faired well, but considering the coming back of Sehwag, Yuvaraj, someone has to pave way for them.

Since his come back, he has scored 14, 47, 39, 76 and 4 in five innings; the 39 came in a crucial 95-run opening stand in the final of the tri-series in Sri Lanka. It was expected that Sehwag and Yuvraj would replace Karthik and Virat Kohli, their original replacements, but the selectors put faith in Kohli.

With Sachin, Sehwag and Gambhir on the top 3 slots, Yuvaraj, Raina, Dhoni will occupty the next 3 slots. Then, we have room only for Harbhajan, and 3 bowlers.

Also, replacing Dravid with part-time all rounders like Sehwga, Yuvaraj, Raina is good as they can bowl. They can play the fifth bowler role.

It is going to be really difficult for Dravid to come back to the team this team unless injury comes into play for one of these batsmen.

I would have brought in Sehwag, Yuvaraj in place of Yousuf Pathan and Dinesh Karthick. As Dhoni can do keeping and the series is played in India, Dinesh Karthick can immediately replace Dhoni without any time delay.

I would have removed RP Singh, Ishanth Sharma and brought in Munaf Patel and Sudeep Tyagi.

Younis Khan reconsiders Captaincy!

Younis Khan, skipper of Pakistan cricket team, quit captaincy couple of days back when the PCB had a meeting to discuss the match-fixing allegations in the Champions Trophy Semi Final match against New Zealand, which Pakistan lost.

The PCB questioned captain Younis Khan and coach Intikhab Alam. It was said that Younis Khan was irritated by the questions and submitted his readily brought resignation and walked away from the meeting.

As expected by the chairman of PCB Ijaz Butt, Younis Khan is considering taking the job. The PCB released a short statement saying that a "detailed discussion was held" between the two, the details of which will be announced in the next few days.

The media speculation is that one of the items in the list is that he should be retained as captain till 2011 world cup.

Champions Trophy Records: Ducks List!

Shane Watson off Australia and Walton off West Indies lead the duck list with 2 each in the recently concluded Champions Trophy. The only differnece between them is that Shane Watson bounced back with two back-to-back centuries which helped Australia to win the Trophy.

Batsman	Country	Against	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Duminy	SA	SL	b Mendis	0	1	0	0
T Dowlin	WI	Pak	c K Akmal b M Aamer	0	2	0	0
C Walton	WI	Pak	lbw b Umar Gul	0	1	0	0
K Mills	NZ	SA	c de Villiers b Steyn	0	3	0	0
S Bond	NZ	SA	c de Villiers b Steyn	0	4	0	0
Jayasuriya	SL	Eng	c Prior b Onions	0	2	0	0
S Malinga	SL	Eng	b Broad	0	1	0	0
S Watson	Aus	WI	b Roach	0	1	0	0
C Walton	WI	Aus	b Hopes	0	2	0	0
Umar Akmal	Pak	Ind	c Dhoni b A Nehra	0	1	0	0
Umar Gul	Pak	Ind	c Raina b I Sharma	0	2	0	0
M Aamer	Pak	Ind	c Kohli b I Sharma	0	1	0	0
I Sharma	Ind	Pak	b Naved-ul-Hasan	0	1	0	0
G Elliott	NZ	SL	lbw b Mathews	0	3	0	0
S Broad	Eng	SA	b Parnell	0	2	0	0
J Botha	SA	Eng	c Onions b Broad	0	2	0	0
Merwe	SA	Eng	b Anderson	0	2	0	0
S Watson	Aus	Ind	c Harbhajan b Nehra	0	7	0	0
Strauss	Eng	NZ	c B McCullum b Mills	0	2	0	0
A Fletcher	WI	Ind	c Dravid b P Kumar	0	6	0	0
OA Shah	Eng	Aus	c Paine b Lee	0	2	0	0
B McCullum	NZ	Aus	c Paine b Siddle	0	14	0	0

Champions Trophy Records: 4 Wickets and Above!

Only one 5 wicket haul was found in the bowling records. South African Parnell picked 5 wickets against New Zealand, which they won.

Pakistan has conceeded 4 wickets to a bowler three times--Tongee off West Indies, Asish Nehra off India, and Butler off England.

New Zealand has conceeded 2 times--Parnell off South Africa and Elliott off England.

Bowler	Country	Against	O	M	R	W
G Tonge	WI	Pak	10	3	25	4
Parnell	SA	NZ	8	0	57	5
A Nehra	Ind	Pak	10	0	55	4
Elliott	Eng	NZ	8	0	31	4
I Butler	Eng	Pak	10	0	44	4

Champions Trophy Records: Centuries

Only few centuries were scored in this edition of the Champions Trophy. Shane Watson scored two centuries and Australia head the table with 3 centuries.

England has conceeded three centuries as opponents--one to Greame Smith off South Africa and other two to Australians in the Semi-Final.

Batsman	Country	Against	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Dilshan	SL	SA	c A Morkel b Steyn	106	92	16	1
S Malik	Pak	Ind	c Y Pathan b Harbhajan	128	126	16	0
G Smith	SA	Eng	c Shah b Broad	141	134	16	0
S Watson	Aus	Eng	not out	136	132	10	7
R Ponting	Aus	Eng	not out	111	115	12	1
Watson	Aus	NZ	not out	105	129	10	4

Champions Trophy Records: Top 10 Bowlers

South Africa's Parnell heads the bowling records of the Champions Trophy 2009, which Australia won beating New Zealand. Ashish Nehra is the only Indian in the table, in 5th spot. Sri Lankans and West Indian fast bowlers could not make it to the list.

Read as: M=Matches; O=Overs; MS=Maidens; R=Runs; W=Wickets; Eco=Economy Rate; Avge=Average

S#	Bowler	Team	M	O	MS	R	W	Best	4 w	Eco	Avge
1	W Parnell	SA	3	28	2	196	11	5-57	1	7.00	17.81
2	S Broad	Eng	3	28.1	1	155	10	4-39	1	5.50	15.50
3	K Mills	NZ	5	48.1	4	206	9	3-27	0	4.27	22.88
4	S Ajmal	Pak	4	30.5	1	117	8	2-16	0	3.79	14.62
5	A Nehra	Ind	3	26	2	124	8	4-55	1	4.76	15.50
6	D Vettori	NZ	4	31.1	3	124	7	3-43	0	3.97	17.71
7	J Anderson	Eng	4	38.2	2	401	7	3-20	0	4.25	23.28
8	M Aamer	Pak	3	25	3	102	6	3-24	0	4.08	17.00
9	D Steyn	SA	3	28.5	3	138	6	4-47	1	4.78	23.00
10	P Siddle	Aus	5	33	2	146	6	3-55	0	4.42	24.33

Champions Trophy Records: Top 10 Batsmen

The top 10 batsmen in terms of runs scored in the recently concluded Champions Trophy 2009 concludes that the Best Team is still Australia. The first two positions were occupied by Australians and they have captured the man of the series and man of the match awards respectively.

Australian skipper heads the table with 288 runs in 5 matches while Watson had just 23 runs short in the same number of matches. Watson in fact started with 2 ducks in the first two matches and then went on to score 2 back-to-back centuries in the semi-final (against England) and final (against New Zealand).

None of the Indian team players are in the top 10. Indian team got opportunity to bat only in 2 games (against Pakistan and West Indies). Their game against Australia was washed out due to rain. West Indies also did not have anyone figuring in the table.

Read as: M=Matches; R=Runs; B=Balls Faced; NO=Not Out; HS=Highest; Avge=Average

S#	Batsman	Team	M	R	B	NO	4s	6s	HS	100s	50s	0s	Avge
1	R Ponting	Aus	5	288	366	1	26	3	*111	1	2	0	72.00
2	S Watson	Aus	5	265	291	2	25	11	*136	2	0	2	88.33
3	G Smith	SA	3	206	192	0	26	1	141	1	1	0	68.66
4	P Collingwood	Eng	4	202	233	0	18	8	82	0	1	0	50.50
5	M Yousuf	Pak	4	200	266	0	17	0	87	0	1	0	50.00
6	M Guptill	NZ	5	191	231	0	18	3	66	0	2	0	38.20
7	S Malik	Pak	4	180	209	0	19	2	128	1	0	0	45.00
8	D Jayawardene	SL	3	163	158	0	15	3	77	0	2	0	54.33
9	B McCullum	NZ	5	155	209	0	13	6	48	0	0	1	31.00
10	T Dilshan	SL	3	149	135	0	23	2	106	1	0	0	49.66

CT 09: Match 15: Final: Aus v. NZ: Australia win Champions Trophy with a ton from Watson!

Shane Watson scored another unbeaten century to give his team the Champions Trophy. Chasing 201, Australia lost both Paine and skipper Ponting for 1 each. From 6 for 2, Watson and White handled the attack from Bone and Mills.

Both Bond and Mills bowled really well and kept both Watson and White quite. They also beat them many times but could not get the edge, luck favored Australia.

This is Watson's second continuous hundred and in both of them, he was not out. In the Semi-Final against England, he scored 136 and in Final he was 105 not out which had 10 fours and 4 sixes.

White accompanied Watson and picked singles well. Both of them rotated the strike and did not hurry as the target was less. They played out the spell from Bond and Mills. They took their chances against Butler, Franklin and Patel.

Bond and Mills gave 61 runs in their 20 overs picking 4 wickets. Butler, Franklin and Patel gave away 136 in 24.2 overs.

Kiwis played without their captain Vettori, due to injury. Deciding to bat first, Kiwis lost skipper McCullum for a duck in the 4th over. None of the batsmen able to convert their 30s and 40s into big score and no big partnerships were built.

The highest partnership was 65-run stand for 6th wicket between Broom and Franklin. The next was 61-run stand for the 2nd wicket between Redmond and Guptill.

Harutiz picked 3 wickets while Brett Lee picked 2. Watson was given the man of the match for his match winning knock while Ponting won the man of the series award.

The Australian team were given individual white coat specially made by ICC for the Champions Trophy winners.

Scoreboard:

Match # 15, Final
Date: Monday Oct 5, 2009
Teams: New Zealand v. Australia
Captains: B McCullum and R Ponting
Toss: New Zealand, decided to bat
Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion
Result: Australia won by the Champions Trophy 2009 by 6 wickets with 28 balls remaining
Man of the Match: S Watson off Australia
Man of the Match: R Ponting off Australia

New Zealand Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
B McCullum	c Paine b Siddle	0	14	0	0
J Ryder	st Paine b Hauritz	26	45	3	0
M Guptill	c & b Hauritz	40	64	3	0
LRPL Taylor	c Hussey b Johnson	6	13	0	0
G Elliott	lbw b B lee	9	9	0	0
N Broom	run out (Hussey/Watson)	37	62	5	0
G Hopkins	b B Lee	33	43	4	0
K Mills	run out (Ponting)	12	15	1	0
Vettori	lbw b Hauritz	6	7	1	0
D Tuffey	not out	16	19	1	0
S Bond	not out	3	9	0	0
Extras	(b 1, lb 2, w 9)	12	-	-	-
Total	for 9 wkts in 50 overs	200	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-5 (McCullum, 3.2 ov), 2-66 (Redmond, 18.3 ov), 3-77 (Guptill, 22.2 ov), 4-81 (Taylor, 23.1 ov), 5-94 (Elliott, 26.4 ov), 6-159 (Broom, 40.5 ov), 7-166 (Franklin, 41.6 ov), 8-174 (Butler, 43.4 ov), 9-187 (Mills, 46.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
B Lee	10	1	45	2
Siddle	10	1	30	1
Johnson	10	1	35	1
Watson	10	0	50	0
Hauritz	10	0	37	3

Australia Innings: (201 to win in 50 overs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Watson	not out	105	129	10	4
T Paine	c Taylor b Bond	1	6	0	0
Ponting	lbw b Mills	1	4	0	0
C White	b Mills	62	102	7	1
M Hussey	c Patel b Mills	11	9	1	0
Hopes	not out	22	22	4	0
Extras	(lb 3, w 1)	4	-	-	-
Total	for 4 wkts in 45.2 overs	206	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-2 (Paine, 1.2 ov), 2-6 (Ponting, 2.2 ov), 3-134 (White, 34.5 ov), 4-156 (Hussey, 38.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Mills	10	2	27	3
S Bond	10	2	34	1
I Butler	9	0	50	0
Franklin	9	0	42	0
J Patel	6.2	0	44	0
G Elliott	1	0	6	0

(c) PA Phots; source: cricinfo.com

World Cup 2011: Groups Announced! India not with Pakistan!

India and Pakistan will not clash in the group matches of the world cup 2011 to be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

India has been placed in Group B along with South Africa, West Indies and England. Pakistan is in Group A along with Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Other countries like Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Canada and Kenya are also part of these groups.

Group A: Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada, and Kenya.

Group B: India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, and Netherlands

Pakistan Captain and Coach Dumped!

Pakistan captain Younis Khan and coach Intikhab Alam were sacked by Pakistan Cricket Board today following the match fixing allegations against them in the Champions Trophy match against New Zealand.

In the semi-final against New Zealand, Pakistan were the favorites to win but they lost it. Skipper Yonis Khan had a fracture in the right little finger before the match against India.

He dropped a sitter at short mid-off for Grant Elliott of the young pacer Aamer. he was on 42 then and Kiwis were around 162 for 4, requiring another 70 odd runs. Elliott went on to score match-winning unbeaten 75 and built a nice partnership with skipper Vettori.

Both the mainstays of the Pakistan cricket team were also said to have fixed the match against Australia, throwing it away in the final overs. The loss incidentally pushed India out of the tournament.

The attitude of the skipper and the keeper were evident that they took it very lightly. There was no disappointment or frustration shown by them. Assuming they did the same in the final of the world cup, the body language would have been different, but in the game against Australia, it was differnet. This raised questions as to whether the match was fixed.

CT 09: Semi-final 2: NZ v. Pak: NZ beat Pakistan, to meet Aussies in Final!

The Kiwis beat Pakistan in the 2nd semi-final of the Champions Trophy 2009 edition to enter finals. They will play against Australia on October 5.

Deciding to bat first, Pakistan did not utilize the chances as the track helped batsmen. Butler picked 4 wickets while skipper Vettori picked 3. Imran Nazir came back after given rest in the last league game against Australia.

Imran made 28 while his partner Kamran Akmal made 24. This pair put 46 for the first wicket. Bond gave the break through by picking Imran caught by Taylor. Shoaib Malik was caught by Taylor off Butler for 2.

The slow turning delivery from Vettori took the edge off Younis Khan when he tried to play across the spin. It went straight to Taylor at short extra cover.

Mohammad Yousuf and Umar Akmal revived the innings with their 80-run stand for the 5th wicket. They made slow progress and consumed 109 balls to give some boost to the total.

Yousuf dragged the ball to the stumps when he was at 45. That put a break into the run rate. Umak Akmal made 55 and was trapped leg before by Vettori. Afridi was caught behind for 4.

Pakistan was pushed to 198 for 9 in 44.2 overs. The last pair Aamer and Ajmal added 35 for the last wicket which gave Pakistan some hope as they ended at 233.

McCullum was in firing mood as he hit a four and six in his 17. But his innings did not last long and was caught at covers when he went for a slog off Aamer. Guptill tried to pull Umar Gul's first delivery, did not time it well and it went in the air straight to Naved at mid-on. Kiwis were 41 for 2 at this stage in 9.1 overs.

Redmond and Taylor built a small partnership of 28 runs before Redmond was caught and bowled off Ajmal for 31.

Taylor and Elliott added 55 for the 4th wicket. Taylor hit a huge six off Afridi's short delivery. He tried for cut another short delivery but missed it and was bowled.

In 29.5 overs, Kiwis were 126 for 4, requiring 108 runs in 20.1 overs. Elliott and Vettori took this responsibility on their shoulders and kept the scoreboard moving. Elliott made unbeaten 75 in 103 balls which had 5 fours and a six. Vettori made 41 but was stumped at a time when Kiwis needed 4 runs from 19 balls.

Elliott took the ownership on time and scored timely boundaries. The pair utilized the batting powerplay very well and managed boundaries during the 5-over period. Pakistan could not get wickets at regular intervals except at the start.

Kiwis will meat Australia in the final on October 5.

Scoreboard:

Match # 14, Semi Final 2
Date: Saturday Oct 3, 2009
Teams: New Zealand v. Pakistan
Captains: D Vettori and Younis Khan
Toss: Pakistan, decided to bat
Venue: New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Result: New Zealand won by 5 wickets with 13 balls remaining
Man of the Match: D Vettori off New Zealand

Pakistan Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
I Nazir	c Taylor b Bond	28	40	6	0
K Akmal	c Redmond b Butler	24	35	2	0
S Malik	c Taylor b Butler	2	7	0	0
Younis Khan	c Taylor b Vettori	15	23	1	0
M Yousuf	b Mills	45	78	3	0
Umar Akmal	lbw b Vettori	55	62	7	0
S Afridi	c McCullum b Butler	4	4	0	0
Naved-ul-Hasan	c Guptill b Vettori	8	8	0	1
Umar Gul	c Broom b Vettori	6	8	1	0
M Aamer	not out	19	20	4	0
S Ajmal	not out	14	17	2	0
Extras	(lb 6, w 5, nb 2)	13	-	-	-
Total	for 9 wkts in 50 overs	233	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-46 (Imran Nazir, 9.4 ov), 2-61 (Shoaib Malik, 12.5 ov), 3-69 (Kamran Akmal, 14.2 ov), 4-86 (Younis Khan, 20.5 ov), 5-166 (Mohammad Yousuf, 38.6 ov), 6-181 (Umar Akmal, 40.5 ov), 7-183 (Shahid Afridi, 41.2 ov), 8-192 (Umar Gul, 43.3 ov), 9-198 (Naved-ul-Hasan, 44.2 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
K Mills	10	0	46	1
S Bond	10	1	54	1
I Butler	10	0	44	4
Franklin	8	0	33	0
Vettori	10	2	43	3
Elliott	2	0	7	0

New Zealand Innings: (234 to win in 50 overs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
B McCullum	c S Afridi b M Aamer	17	16	1	1
Redmond	c & b S Ajmal	31	55	5	0
Guptill	c Naved b Umar Gul	11	10	1	1
Taylor	b S Afridi	38	61	1	2
G Elliott	not out	75	103	5	1
Vettori	st K Akmal b S Ajmal	41	42	3	0
Broom	not out	3	4	0	0
Extras	(b 2, lb 6, w 6, nb 4)	18	-	-	-
Total	for 5 wkts in 47.5 overs	234	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-22 (McCullum, 4.3 ov), 2-43 (Guptill, 9.1 ov), 3-71 (Redmond, 16.4 ov), 4-126 (Taylor, 29.5 ov), 5-230 (Vettori, 46.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
M Aamer	10	2	32	1
Naved-ul-Hasan	8	0	57	0
Umar Gul	8.5	0	48	1
S Ajmal	8	0	39	2
S Afridi	10	0	41	1
S Malik	3	0	9	0

CT 09:1st Semi Final: Aus v. Eng: Ponting and Watson Demolish England to Enter Final!

Shane Watson and Ponting scored unbeaten 136 and 111 respectively to take Australia to the finals of the 2009 edition of CT. Chasing 258, Paine was caught behind in the 2nd over with just 6 on the board.

Watson and Ponting played beautiful shots all over the ground. Though England tried short pitch deliveries as a tactic, it did not work out this time. Ponting is always good in playing pull shots. Watson also joined and punished all the bad deliveries.

They created a record in the partnership for the 2nd wicket agasint Pakistan with an unbeaten 252-run stand. The 252 runs came in just 242 balls.

Ponting was the first to reach 100 (in 104 balls) followed by Watson (in 115 balls).

Ponting also joined the 12,000 run club when he reached 74. Only two other batsmen have reached this feat--Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya.

Ponting's innings had 12 fours and a six while Watson had 10 fours and 7 sixes to his account. Watson's other three matches in the leage was not that great for him as he two ducks. He proved his worth in this crucial semi-final match against England.

Earlier, England made 256, thanks to Bresnan who made 80 in 76 balls with 11 fours. England were pushed to back foot by Australian bowlers who picked top 5 wickets with just 100 on the board. OA Shah was caught behind off Lee for a duck. Strauss made 14. Morgan and Davies made 9 and 5 respectively.

England were 101 for 6 in 20.2 overs. Wright played sensible innings picking singles. He took 68 balls to score his 48. Wright and Bresnan added 107 for the 7th wicket in 19.4 overs. Siddle picked 3 wickets while Lee and Watson ended with 2 each.

Australia had to wait for a day to see whom they will meet in the final.

Scoreboard:

Match # 13, Semi Final 1
Date: Friday Oct 2, 2009
Teams: Australia v. England
Captains: Ponting and Strauss
Toss: England, decided to bat
Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion
Result: Australia won by 9 wickets with 49 balls remaining
Man of the Match: S Watson off Australia

England Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Strauss	c Hopes b Siddle	14	10	1	1
Denly	c Paine b Siddle	36	44	5	0
OA Shah	c Paine b Lee	0	2	0	0
Collingwood	c Paine b Johnson	34	30	5	1
Morgan	c Paine b Watson	9	27	0	0
S Davies	b Watson	5	4	0	0
L Wright	c Paine b Siddle	48	68	2	2
Bresnan	b Lee	80	76	11	0
Swann	run out (Hauritz/Paine)	18	15	2	0
Anderson	not out	5	9	0	0
Onions	run out (Ferguson/Paine)	1	2	0	0
Extras	(w 6, nb 1)	7	-	-	-
Total	all out in 47.4 overs	257	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-15 (Strauss, 1.6 ov), 2-16 (Shah, 2.4 ov), 3-71 (Collingwood, 11.2 ov), 4-91 (Denly, 17.2 ov), 5-100 (Davies, 18.5 ov), 6-101 (Morgan, 20.2 ov), 7-208 (Wright, 39.6 ov), 8-245 (Swann, 45.1 ov), 9-251 (Bresnan, 46.2 ov), 10-257 (Onions, 47.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
B Lee	9	0	46	2
Siddle	10	0	55	3
Hopes	4	0	28	0
Johnson	10	1	61	1
Watson	8.4	1	35	2
Hauritz	6	0	32	0

Australia Innings: (258 to win in 50 overs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Watson	not out	136	132	10	7
T Paine	c Davies b Onions	4	4	1	0
R Ponting	not out	111	115	12	1
Extras	(lb 2, w 5)	7	-	-	-
Total	for 1 wkts in 41.5 overs	258	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-6 (Paine, 1.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Anderson	8.5	0	48	0
Onions	8	0	47	1
Bresnan	8	0	51	0
Collingwood	8	0	50	0
Swann	5	0	31	0
Wright	3	0	18	0
OA Shah	1	0	11	0

CT 09: Match 12: Ind v. WI: Consolation win for India!

In a match that has no impact on the result, India registered a consolation win and registered their first winning points in the table.

Put into bat, WI were bundled out for 129. Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra picked 3 wickets each. If Australia had lost the match, India would have entered the semi finals.

Sachin Tendulkar did not play in this game as he had food poisoning and fainted in his hotel room.

Gambhir and Dravid lost their wickets early for 6 and 4 respectively. With 12 on the board, India lost 2 wickets. Dinesh Karthick and Kohli played sensibly and took India beyond 100. They both added 92 runs for the third wicket with Kohli scoring half-century. Kohli remained unbeaten on 79 with 9 fours and 2 sixes. He also won the man of the match for his match winning knock.

In the process, Dhoni picked his first ODI wicket. He bowled couple of overs and in his first, 4th ball, Dowlin dragged the ball to the stumps and gave Dhoni his first ODI wicket.

In the first semi-final, Australia will play against England and in the 2nd Semi Final, Pakistan will play against New Zealand.

Scoreboard:

Match # 12, Group A
Date: Wednesday Sep 30, 2009
Teams: India v. West Indies
Captains: Dhoni and Reifer
Toss: India, decided to field
Venue: New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Result: India won by 7 wickets with 107 balls remaining
Points: India 2; West Indies 0
Man of the Match: V Kohli off Pakistan

West Indies Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
A Fletcher	c Dravid b P Kumar	0	6	0	0
K Powell	c Dhoni b Nehra	5	15	1	0
D Smith	c Dhoni b Nehra	21	26	3	0
T Dowlin	b Dhoni	14	33	2	0
F Reifer	c D Karthik b P Kumar	1	5	0	0
D Bernard	c Dravid b Mishra	22	46	1	0
D Sammy	c Mishra b Nehra	23	38	0	0
R Crandon	b Harbhajan	5	9	1	0
N Miller	not out	17	23	1	1
K Roach	c Gambhir b Harbhajan	4	10	0	0
G Tonge	c & b P Kumar	5	6	1	0
Extras	(lb 4, w 7, nb 1)	12	-	-	-
Total	all out in 36 overs	129	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (Fletcher, 0.6 ov), 2-26 (Powell, 7.4 ov), 3-27 (Smith, 7.6 ov), 4-31 (Reifer, 10.2 ov), 5-57 (Dowlin, 16.4 ov), 6-89 (Bernard, 26.6 ov), 7-99 (Sammy, 29.1 ov), 8-102 (Crandon, 30.6 ov), 9-122 (Roach, 34.3 ov), 10-129 (Tonge, 35.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
P Kumar	9	3	22	3
A Nehra	8	1	31	3
A Nayar	3	0	17	0
Dhoni	2	0	14	1
Harbhajan	8	2	14	2
A Mishra	6	0	27	1

India Innings: (130 to win in 50 overs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
D Karthick	c Dowlin b Tonge	34	79	4	0
Gambhir	b Roach	6	5	1	0
Dravid	run out (Smith)	4	2	1	0
V Kohli	not out	79	104	9	2
A Nayar	not out	0	7	0	0
Extras	(w 3, nb 4)	7	-	-	-
Total	for 3 wkts in 32.1 overs	130	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-7 (Gambhir, 2.5 ov), 2-12 (Dravid, 3.2 ov), 3-104 (Karthik, 27.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
K Roach	6	1	27	1
G Tonge	10	0	36	1
Sammy	10	1	25	0
D Bernard	3	0	22	0
N Miller	3.1	0	20	0

CT 09: Match 11: Aus v. Pak: Australia beat Pakistan and India!

Australia have beaten both Pakistan and India as well to enter the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy 2009. Australia needed either a win or a tie to even a no-resulter to qualify for the semi-finals.

After winning the toss, Australia asked Yonis Khan's team to bat. Yonis Khan made few changes to the team by bringing Mohammad Asif in place of Mohammad Aamer and Misbah in place of Imran Nazir.

Pakistan started the innings with a casual approach as they have already qualifed for the semis. Afridi was the first man to go in the 8th over with 30 on the board.

Yousuf top scored with 45 followed by Kamran Akmal with 44. Johnson and Watson picked two wickets each. The match was a low-scoring affair but was a thrilling one at the end.

The Indian team was watching the game to see the result, as a win to Pak will give them a chance to enter semi-final if they beat WI comfortably.

The fate had a different thing when Australia started the chase. Till Ponting was in the crease, the match was in the hands of Australia. Everyone thought that the Indian dream to enter semi-final is over.

The momentum of the game changed when Ponting hit Malik across the line to mid wicket where Umar Gul took a wonderful diving catch. This catch turned the match towards Pakistan.

Ferguson, Hussey, Hopes and White fell in the span of 35 runs putting Australia to 176 for 7 in 41.5 overs. Johnson and Brett Lee brought the score to a decent level. Johnson could not repeat his heorics in this match as he was bowled by Ajmal for 9. Australia were 187 for 8 in 45.5 overs.

Aussies needed 19 in 25 balls. Naved bowled a maiden over and the equation changed to 19 in 18 balls.

The last 2 overs needed 12 runs and the last over needed 6. Last 2 balls needed 2 runs. A single was scored which ensured the semi-final birth for Australia and the ouster of Indian Team.

Last ball required one run; Hauritz and Lee pair ran a bye to give Australia the winning 2 points and confirmed the spot for the semi-final. Australia will meet England in the first Semi-Final on October 2nd.

Scoreboard:

Match # 11, Group A
Date: Wednesday Sep 30, 2009
Teams: Australia v. Pakistan
Captains: Ponting and Younis Khan
Toss: Australia, decided to field
Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion
Result: Australia won by 2 wickets with 0 balls remaining
Points: Australia 2; Pakistan 0
Man of the Match: M Hussey off Australia

Pakistan Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
K Akmal	b Watson	44	63	6	0
S Afridi	c Hopes b Johnson	15	18	3	0
Younis Khan	c Johnson b Hopes	18	49	2	0
S Malik	c Ponting b Johnson	27	37	1	1
M Yousuf	c White b Lee	45	69	3	0
Misbah-ul-Haq	hit wkt b Watson	41	53	4	0
Umar Akmal	not out	2	8	0	0
Naved-ul-Hasan	not out	7	3	1	0
Extras	(w 6)	6	-	-	-
Total	for 6 wkts in 50 overs	205	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-30 (Shahid Afridi, 7.1 ov), 2-75 (Kamran Akmal, 18.3 ov), 3-89 (Younis Khan, 23.4 ov), 4-123 (Shoaib Malik, 31.5 ov), 5-186 (Mohammad Yousuf, 46.2 ov), 6-198 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 49.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
B Lee	10	0	30	1
Siddle	5	0	24	0
Johnson	10	0	45	2
Watson	8	0	32	2
Hopes	10	0	50	1
Hauritz	7	1	24	0

Australia Innings: (206 to win in 50 overs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Watson	c K Akmal b Umar Gul	24	22	5	0
T Paine	lbw b S Afridi	29	40	3	1
Ponting	c Umar Gul b S Malik	32	64	1	0
M Hussey	b Naved-ul-Hasan	64	87	6	1
Ferguson	b S Ajmal	7	18	0	0
C White	b M Asif	5	16	0	0
Hopes	c Yonis Khan b M Asif	1	3	0	0
M Johnson	b S Ajmal	9	18	1	0
B Lee	not out	12	15	1	0
N Hauritz	not out	9	18	1	0
Extras	(b 1, w 12, nb 1)	14	-	-	-
Total	for 8 wkts in 50 overs	206	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-44 (Watson, 8.4 ov), 2-59 (Paine, 11.3 ov), 3-140 (Ponting, 31.2 ov), 4-157 (Ferguson, 36.4 ov), 5-174 (Hussey, 40.5 ov), 6-175 (Hopes, 41.2 ov), 7-176 (White, 41.5 ov), 8-187 (Johnson, 45.5 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Umar Gul	9	1	38	1
M Asif	8	0	34	2
S Afridi	10	0	47	1
Naved-ul-Hasan	9	2	39	1
S Ajmal	10	1	31	2
S Malik	4	0	16	1