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

6th ODI: Aus v. Eng: Paine gives 6 in a row for Aussies!

Match: Ashes 2009: ODI # 6
Date: September 17, 2009
Teams: Australia v. England
Captains: R Ponting and Strauss
Toss: Australia, decided to bat
Venue: Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Result: Australia won by 111 runs
Series Result: Australia lead the series 6-0
Man of the Match: T Paine off Australia

Australia Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Watson	b Anderson	4	9	1	0
T Paine	c Prior b Mascarenhas	111	148	14	1
Ponting	c Sidebottom b Anderson	6	14	1	0
M Hussey	c Denly b Swann	65	69	3	2
C Ferguson	b Anderson	6	9	0	0
C White	c Denly b Anderson	35	23	5	1
Hopes	c Strauss b Sidebottom	38	22	7	0
B Lee	run out (Anderson)	0	1	0	0
N Hauritz	not out	1	2	0	0
Siddle	not out	8	3	1	0
Extras	(b 1, lb 7, w 14)	22	-	-	-
Total	for 8 wkts in 50 overs	296	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-19 (Watson, 4.3 ov), 2-40 (Ponting, 8.6 ov), 3-203 (Hussey, 39.2 ov), 4-206 (Paine, 40.3 ov), 5-220 (Ferguson, 43.1 ov), 6-273 (White, 47.4 ov), 7-281 (Lee, 48.4 ov), 8-288 (Hopes, 49.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Anderson	10	0	55	4
Sidebottom	9	0	65	1
Mascarenhas	10	0	49	1
T Bresnan	9	0	60	0
Swann	10	0	48	1
Bopara	2	0	11	0

England Innings: (target 297 runs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Strauss	c Paine b Lee	0	2	0	0
J Denly	c Lee b Hopes	25	43	3	1
Bopara	run out (Ponting)	24	33	1	0
M Prior	run out (Ponting)	6	8	1	0
OA Shah	c Watson b Hopes	23	39	1	0
E Morgan	c Hussey b Bracken	23	28	2	0
Mascarenhas	b Hopes	11	20	0	1
T Bresnan	not out	31	38	3	0
Swann	b Bracken	12	15	1	0
Sidebottom	b Siddle	15	16	1	0
Anderson	b Lee	1	7	0	0
Extras	(lb 3, w 8, nb 3)	14	-	-	-
Total	all out in 41 overs	185	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (Strauss, 0.2 ov), 2-45 (Denly, 10.5 ov), 3-59 (Prior, 13.6 ov), 4-60 (Bopara, 14.5 ov), 5-100 (Morgan, 23.2 ov), 6-114 (Shah, 27.2 ov), 7-125 (Mascarenhas, 29.4 ov), 8-159 (Swann, 34.5 ov), 9-182 (Sidebottom, 39.2 ov), 10-185 (Anderson, 40.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
B Lee	8	0	48	2
Bracken	10	0	42	2
Siddle	8	1	22	1
Hopes	9	0	32	3
Hauritz	6	0	38	0

5th ODI: Aus v. Eng: Ponting freaked out! Aussies Keep Winning!

Australia is back to number 1 spot in the ODI ranking. Brilliant century by skipper Ponting gave Aussies an unbeliable lead in the ODI series, especially after the loss of the test series 1-2. This is Ricky's 27th ODI hundred and came in at a time where his team was chasing 300. He lead the fight from the front.

For the 5th continuous time, England won the toss and but not the match. Though they changed the stragies in terms of batting first and also chasing, nothing worked so far. A nice team effort took them to 299 in the 5th ODI in Nottingham. Morgan was the only half-century maker and rest of the players contributed 30 plus. Lee's absence added confidence to the England batting line-up--one can say that.

But, Ponting's form today was brilliant and he would have chased even 350 plus. His 126 came in 109 balls with 14 fours and 3 sixes. Vice-Captain Michael Clarke scored 52 from 64. Australia reached the target confortably with 10 balls remaining.

Match: Ashes 2009: ODI # 5
Date: September 15, 2009
Teams: Australia v. England
Captains: R Ponting and Strauss
Toss: England, decided to bat
Venue: Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Result: Australia won by 4 wickets with balls 10 remaining
Series Result: Australia lead the series 5-0
Man of the Match: Ponting off Australia

England Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Strauss	lbw b Hauritz	35	38	6	0
J Denly	c Hussey b Johnson	45	68	5	0
Bopara	c Hauritz b Watson	18	21	1	0
M Prior	st Paine b Hauritz	37	44	3	0
OA Shah	c Paine b Johnson	31	41	3	0
E Morgan	c Siddle b Bracken	58	41	4	3
Mascarenhas	c Johnson b Watson	19	13	3	0
S Broad	run out (Ponting)	22	20	2	0
A Rashid	run out (Paine)	18	9	3	0
T Bresnan	c Bracken b Siddle	4	3	1	0
Sidebottom	not out	3	4	0	0
Extras	(lb 1, w 6, nb 2)	9	-	-	-
Total	all out in 50 overs	299	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-61 (Strauss, 13.2 ov), 2-95 (Bopara, 19.4 ov), 3-105 (Denly, 22.3 ov), 4-165 (Prior, 33.3 ov), 5-192 (Shah, 38.1 ov), 6-230 (Mascarenhas, 41.6 ov), 7-267 (Broad, 46.6 ov), 8-272 (Morgan, 47.3 ov), 9-278 (Bresnan, 48.3 ov), 10-299 (Rashid, 49.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Siddle	10	1	50	1
Bracken	8	1	43	1
Johnson	10	0	80	2
Watson	10	0	60	2
Hauritz	10	0	54	2
M Clarke	2	0	11	0

Australia Innings: (target 300 runs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Watson	c Mascarenhas b Bresnan	36	34	5	0
T Paine	c Rashid b Bresnan	16	29	3	0
Ponting	c Shah b Broad	126	109	14	3
M Clarke	c Shah b Rashid	52	64	5	0
M Hussey	c Sidebottom b Mascarenhas	6	9	1	0
Ferguson	lbw b Broad	17	18	2	0
C White	not out	24	15	4	0
M Johnson	not out	18	12	1	1
Extras	(b 1, w 6)	7	-	-	-
Total	for 6 wkts in 48.2 overs	302	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-45 (Paine, 8.6 ov), 2-76 (Watson, 14.5 ov), 3-209 (Clarke, 36.3 ov), 4-226 (Hussey, 39.3 ov), 5-255 (Ferguson, 43.3 ov), 6-261 (Ponting, 43.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
S Broad	9	0	57	2
Sidebottom	9.2	0	43	0
T Bresnan	10	0	76	2
Mascarenhas	10	0	49	1
A Rashid	7	0	55	1
Bopara	3	0	21	0

3rd ODI: Aus v. Eng: White's century give Australia 3-0 Lead!

Wonderful century by Craig White gave the third consecutive victory for Austrlia and put them in a comfortable position in the series. Chasing 229, Wastson (7) and Paine (29) went early with board reading 52 for 2. White and skipper Clarke played responsibly and built a 143 runs for 3rd wicket. White scored 105 in 124 balls with 9 fours and a six while Clarke took 92 balls to score his 52.

Earlier, England skipper Strauss made 63 and the other top scorer was Morgan with 43. Watson picked 3 wickets giving away 36 runs in his 8 overs.

Match: Ashes 2009: ODI # 3
Date: September 9, 2009
Teams: Australia v. England
Captains: M Clarke and Strauss
Toss: England, decided to bat
Venue: The Rose Bowl, Southampton
Result: Australia won by 6 wickets with 9 balls remaining
Series Result: Australia lead the series 3-0
Man of the Match: C White off Australia

England Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Strauss	c Clarke b Hauritz	63	72	7	0
Bopara	c Hopes b Bracken	10	17	0	1
M Prior	c Hopes b Johnson	0	4	0	0
OA Shah	lbw b Johnson	8	19	1	0
Collingwood	c Bracken b Watson	28	52	0	0
E Morgan	c Johnson b Lee	43	57	1	1
L Wright	c sub (A Voges) b Hopes	9	15	1	0
T Bresnan	not out	31	37	3	0
Swann	lbw b Watson	3	3	0	0
Sidebottom	c White b Watson	24	28	2	0
Extras	(lb 1, w 4, nb 4)	9	-	-	-
Total	for 9 wkts in 50 overs	228	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-41 (Bopara, 7.5 ov), 2-41 (Prior, 8.4 ov), 3-62 (Shah, 14.5 ov), 4-98 (Strauss, 22.3 ov), 5-132 (Collingwood, 31.4 ov), 6-147 (Wright, 35.4 ov), 7-183 (Morgan, 42.3 ov), 8-188 (Swann, 43.3 ov), 9-228 (Sidebottom, 49.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
B Lee	9	1	58	1
Bracken	10	0	36	1
Johnson	10	1	39	2
Hopes	7	0	34	1
Hauritz	6	0	24	1
Watson	8	0	36	3

Australia Innings: (target 229 runs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Watson	lbw b Anderson	7	19	0	0
T Paine	lbw b Collingwood	29	35	4	0
C White	c Sidebottom b Wright	105	124	9	1
M Clarke	b Swann	52	92	1	0
Ferguson	not out	20	17	3	0
M Hussey	not out	8	4	1	0
Extras	(b 1, lb 2, w 6)	9	-	-	-
Total	for 4 wkts in 48.3 overs	230	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-16 (Watson, 4.6 ov), 2-52 (Paine, 13.3 ov), 3-195 (Clarke, 43.4 ov), 4-220 (White, 47.2 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Anderson	9.3	1	52	1
Sidebottom	10	1	39	0
T Bresnan	10	1	46	0
Collingwood	7	0	39	1
L Wright	7	1	16	1
Swann	5	0	35	1

2nd ODI: Aus v. Eng: Australia keep winning! Takes 2-0 lead!

Thanks to Johnson's heroics at the end of the innings, Australia were able to put a decent total on the board. Thought it is not a great total, Australia managed to pull of a wondreful victory and take 2-0 lead in the 7-match ODI series.

Australia fell from 62 for no loss to 73 for 3. White and Ferguson added 69 for the 4th wicket. Again, they slumped to 179 for 6. After that, Ferguson and Lee returned to pavilion putting Aussies in trouble at 208 for 8 in 45.4 overs.

Johnson added 43 in 23 balls which increased the score and also the confidence of the Aussies. The bowlers have been given a chance with a decent target to restrict.

Lee, who was punished in the last match came back strongly and finished with 2 for 22 in 8.1 overs. He had Collingwood bowled when the batsman was in good form. Collingwood scored 56 and was looking dangersous.

Bracken, Johnson, and Watson also picked two wickets each, which helped Australia to beat England by 39 runs.

Match: Ashes 2009: ODI # 2
Date: September 6, 2009
Teams: Australia v. England
Captains: M Clarke and Strauss
Toss: England, decided to field
Venue: Lord's, London
Result: Australia won by 39 runs
Series Result: Australia lead the series 2-0
Man of the Match: M Johnson off Australia

Australia Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Watson	c Wright b Bresnan	34	49	4	0
T Paine	c Morgan b Wright	26	44	2	0
C White	c Prior b Bopara	42	66	5	0
M Clarke	c Prior b Wright	4	11	0	0
Ferguson	b Anderson	55	58	5	0
M Hussey	b Swann	8	14	0	0
Hopes	lbw b Swann	11	19	1	0
M Johnson	not out	43	23	5	0
B Lee	c Shah b Sidebottom	0	3	0	0
N Hauritz	not out	10	13	0	0
Extras	(lb 8, w 8)	16	-	-	-
Total	for 8 wkts in 50 overs	249	-	-	-

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Watson	c Wright b Bresnan	34	49	4	0
T Paine	c Morgan b Wright	26	44	2	0
C White	c Prior b Bopara	42	66	5	0
M Clarke	c Prior b Wright	4	11	0	0
Ferguson	b Anderson	55	58	5	0
M Hussey	b Swann	8	14	0	0
Hopes	lbw b Swann	11	19	1	0
M Johnson	not out	43	23	5	0
B Lee	c Shah b Sidebottom	0	3	0	0
N Hauritz	not out	10	13	0	0
Extras	(lb 8, w 8)	16	-	-	-
Total	for 8 wkts in 50 overs	249	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-62 (Watson, 14.5 ov), 2-64 (Paine, 15.6 ov), 3-73 (Clarke, 19.1 ov), 4-142 (White, 33.1 ov), 5-155 (Hussey, 36.6 ov), 6-179 (Hopes, 42.1 ov), 7-201 (Ferguson, 44.4 ov), 8-208 (Lee, 45.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Anderson	9	0	57	1
Sidebottom	9	0	45	1
T Bresnan	7	0	25	1
L Wright	10	0	52	2
Collingwood	4	0	19	0
Swann	8	0	31	2
Bopara	3	0	12	1

England Innings: (target 250 runs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
A Strauss	c & b Hauritz	47	53	6	0
Bopara	lbw b Watson	27	44	3	0
M Prior	c Paine b Watson	1	5	0	0
OA Shah	run out (Clarke/Paine)	12	12	2	0
Collingwood	b Lee	56	84	3	0
E Morgan	lbw b Johnson	14	19	2	0
L Wright	c Paine b Lee	20	19	3	0
T Bresnan	c Paine b Johnson	5	13	0	0
Swann	b Bracken	14	22	0	0
Sidebottom	b Bracken	0	2	0	0
Anderson	not out	0	5	0	0
Extras	(b 5, lb 2, w 6, nb 1)	14	-	-	-
Total	all out in 46.1 overs	210	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-74 (Bopara, 14.5 ov), 2-76 (Prior, 16.2 ov), 3-85 (Strauss, 17.5 ov), 4-97 (Shah, 19.6 ov), 5-129 (Morgan, 26.4 ov), 6-157 (Wright, 32.3 ov), 7-168 (Bresnan, 36.4 ov), 8-204 (Swann, 43.3 ov), 9-204 (Sidebottom, 43.5 ov), 10-210 (Collingwood, 46.1 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
B Lee	8.1	0	22	2
Bracken	10	1	37	2
Johnson	9	1	50	2
Hopes	3	0	22	0
Hauritz	9	0	46	1
Watson	7	1	26	2

1-62 (Watson, 14.5 ov), 2-64 (Paine, 15.6 ov), 3-73 (Clarke, 19.1 ov), 4-142 (White, 33.1 ov), 5-155 (Hussey, 36.6 ov), 6-179 (Hopes, 42.1 ov), 7-201 (Ferguson, 44.4 ov), 8-208 (Lee, 45.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Anderson	9	0	57	1
Sidebottom	9	0	45	1
T Bresnan	7	0	25	1
L Wright	10	0	52	2
Collingwood	4	0	19	0
Swann	8	0	31	2
Bopara	3	0	12	1

England Innings: (target 250 runs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
A Strauss	c & b Hauritz	47	53	6	0
Bopara	lbw b Watson	27	44	3	0
M Prior	c Paine b Watson	1	5	0	0
OA Shah	run out (Clarke/Paine)	12	12	2	0
Collingwood	b Lee	56	84	3	0
E Morgan	lbw b Johnson	14	19	2	0
L Wright	c Paine b Lee	20	19	3	0
T Bresnan	c Paine b Johnson	5	13	0	0
Swann	b Bracken	14	22	0	0
Sidebottom	b Bracken	0	2	0	0
Anderson	not out	0	5	0	0
Extras	(b 5, lb 2, w 6, nb 1)	14	-	-	-
Total	all out in 46.1 overs	210	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-74 (Bopara, 14.5 ov), 2-76 (Prior, 16.2 ov), 3-85 (Strauss, 17.5 ov), 4-97 (Shah, 19.6 ov), 5-129 (Morgan, 26.4 ov), 6-157 (Wright, 32.3 ov), 7-168 (Bresnan, 36.4 ov), 8-204 (Swann, 43.3 ov), 9-204 (Sidebottom, 43.5 ov), 10-210 (Collingwood, 46.1 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
B Lee	8.1	0	22	2
Bracken	10	1	37	2
Johnson	9	1	50	2
Hopes	3	0	22	0
Hauritz	9	0	46	1
Watson	7	1	26	2