3rd Test: Ind v. Aus: Day 3: Sehwag keeps India still on Top on Flat Pitch!

Virendra Sehwag kept India's hope alive by taking 3 crucial wicktes out of the 4 wickets that fell on Day 3. The first hour of play was well played by Hayden and Katich. They did not lose their cool and ensured that they stay in the crease.

Hayden, the usual aggressive batsman compared to Katich was slow today mostly due to his poor runs in the first two tests. Katich reached his 50 in 91 balls with 8 boundaries. The first wicket added 123 runs before Katich was bowled by Mishra. The much awaited break through for Indians came in the 20th over of the day.

Ponting and Hayden played good shots of the pads, swept few deliveries and hit few on the point region. Hayden scored his maiden fifty of this series in his 96th delivery with 9 fours and a six off Mishra.

Sehwag trouble Hayden a little bit. The edge dit not carry to Dravid at slip and was beaten couple of times. When the score was on 202, Sehwag changed the angle and brought one quicker and straight to the stumps. Hayden was caught on the crease hitting just above the knee roll and trapped leb before. He scored 83.

Ponting reached fifty and looked comfortable to score another 100 in this tour. He hit two fours off Zaheer Khan and that should have added more confidence to him. In the next over, Sehwag flighted the delivery on the off stump which invited Ponting to come out and drive. Ponting missed the ball and the ball turned and knocked the middle stump. Ponting scored 87 with 14 fours.

Kumble injured his right little finger while trying to catch in short mid-wicket. He was sent to hospital for treating his bleeding finger.

Dhoni took the new ball, but brought in Sehwag quickly realizing that he is turning the ball well. He bowled Hussey through a typical off-spinner delivery that pitched on the middle stump and turned to strike the off stump. Hussey scored 53.

Michael Clarke survivied the last ball of the day through a lucky inside edge. Otherwise, one more time in the series, he would have been out in the last over.

The session before lunch is crucial for India, if they wanted to win. They have to pick at least 4 more wickets before lunch and complete the Australian Innings at least one hour before Tea.

Assuming India has 150 runs lead and can score at 4 runs per over in the 40 overs, they can end the day with 310 run lead. Score another 50 runs in the morning 8 overs and have Australia bat at least 80 overs which would be difficult on the last day.

Scoreboard at the end of Day 3:

India 1st Innings 613 for 7 declared in 161 overs (Sehwag 1, Gambhir 206, Dravid 11, Tendulkar 68, Laxman 200 not out, Ganguly 5, Dhoni 27, Kumble 45, Zaheer Khan 28 not out, Extras--22 (b 6, lb 8, w 2, nb 6), Lee 30-2-119-1, S Clark 33-9-69-0, Johnson 32-4-142-3, Watson 20-4-66-2, White 15-1-73-0, M Clarke 14-0-59-0, Katich 15-3-60-1, Ponting 2-0-11-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-5 (Sehwag, 2.1 ov), 2-27 (Dravid, 10.4 ov), 3-157 (Tendulkar, 51.5 ov), 4-435 (Gambhir, 123.6 ov), 5-444 (Ganguly, 126.2 ov), 6-481 (Dhoni, 133.4 ov), 7-579 (Kumble, 155.4 ov)

Australia 1st Innings 338 for 4 in 105 overs (Hayden 83, Katich 64, Ponting 87, Hussey 53, Michael Clarke 21 batting, Watson 4 batting, Extras--26 (b 16, lb 3, w 1, nb 6), Zaheer Khan 16-4-57-0, I Sharma 19-5-46-0, Kumble 17-3-53-0, Mishra 30-7-95-1, Sehwag 22-4-66-3, Tendulkar 1-0-2-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-123 (Katich, 34.1 ov), 2-202 (Hayden, 57.2 ov), 3-284 (Ponting, 85.4 ov), 4-326 (Hussey, 101.6 ov)

1st Test, Day 1: India v. Australia: Ponting Scores His First Century in India!

Zaheer struck in the first and last over of the day to give India a hope and to keep the first innings evenly balanced.

Zaheer struck in the third ball of the first over when Hayden played the ball that was pitched marginaly fuller and swung away. It took the edge and landed in Dhoni's hand.

It was left to skipper Ponting, who never had a good season in India and Katich to build the innings. They added 166 runs for the 2nd wicket. Katich and Ponting crossed their 50 and looked solid.

Ishanth Sharma dismissed Katich caught by Dhoni for 66. The ball took the outside edge and went straight to Dhoni.

Ponting scored a good century--his first in Indian soil. With this century, he has equalled Gavaskar's 34 centuries. He is in 2nd position behind Tendulkar.

His century came off 185 balls with 13 fours. He played Harbhajan well and went over the fielders head few times.

But, he finally fell to Harbhajan, given LBW when he tried to sweep. He was out for 123 off 243 balls with 13 fours.

Clarke was out in the last over 2nd ball trapped LBW off Zaheer. He scored 11.

Test: 1st Test
Venue: Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Dates: October 9-13, 2008
Teams: India and Australia
Hosts: India
Captains: Anil Kumble and Ricky Ponting
Toss: Australia

Score at the end of Day 1:

Australia 1st Innings 254 for 4 in 89.2 overs (ML Hayden 0, SM Katich 66, RT Ponting 123, MEK Hussye 46 batting, MJ Clarke 11, Extras--8 (lb 5, w 1, nb 2), Z Khan 17.2-4-39-2, I Sharma 16-3-49-1, Harbhajan Singh 25-6-71-1, A Kumble 27-4-84-0, V Sehwag 4-0-6-0)

First IPL Attracts People!

The first version of the IPL 20-20 is a grand success. The cricket lovers from all over the world are enjoying the game and it attracted big mass from the Indian citizens.

It would be the first time ever that a Indian cricket lover from Chennai or Hyderabad or Delhi wanted Sachin to get cheaply, if not in zero.

It also had the relationship built across cricketing countries like Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, etc. The Indian plyaers shared the hotel rooms with foreign players and it should have improved the relationship.

The young Indian players had the opportunity to learn the culture of other countries and also the art of cricket from the experiened players like Gilchirst, Ponting, Fleming, McGrath, Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Jayasuriya, Ntini, Muralitharan, Pollock, Smith, Warne, Gibs, Watson, Hayden, Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid, Dhoni, etc.

Though fair play award was announced, there were few stray incidents that happened which no one liked:

Harbhajan slapped Sreesantha and was banned for the remaining IPL matches. When the incident happened, Mumbai had 11 more matches to play. He lost 3 crores of Indian Rupee which is the match fee. He was later banned for 5 ODIs by the BCCI.

Warne complained that Ganguly was not sportive after Ganguly made Warne and his team wait in the hot sun for five minutes. Ganguly also did not accept the umpire's verdict when he was caught at mid wicket. He forced the umpire to refer the third umpire which ruled in favor of Ganguly because the replay was not conclusive. Later, the umpire was suspended for one match for listening to the player and not taking his own decision; Warne and Ganguly fined 10% of match fee.

Bangalore Royal Challengers owner Vijay Mallaya fired his CEO Charu Sharma for the poor performance of the team. Brijesh Patel was brought in as new CEO. He openly critized both Charu Sharma and captain Rahul Dravid for not allowing him to pick the players he wanted during auction.

Mumbai Indians franchise owner launched an official complaint against the third umpire Suresh Shastri for the poor decisions. One run out was not given for Kings XI Punjab and a run out was given during Mumbai batting. Sachin mentioned that he those two runs could have saved the game for Mumbai Indians.

The media reported a rift between Kolkata Knight Riders owner Sharukh Khan and the skipper Ganguly over couple of issues. It was reported that SRK approached Ganguly to help him by talking to West Bengal CM on Entertainment Tax issue. The only ground in which entertainment tax is applicable is Kolkata and with Knight Riders playing 7 of their matches in that ground, forced to pay the tax, which SRK wanted to avoid. Ganguly did not help him. The other issue is about the decision of batting first or second in the match against Chennai Super Kings. SRK wanted Ganguly to bat second, but Dada batted first. Kolkata lost it by D/L method by 2 runs.

We have to wait and see how this tournament will be taken forward after the current T20!

Read: Man of the Match List

Read: Points Table

Read: IPL Scores Table!

Final 2: India Wins the CBS Cup! Aussies Stunned!

India wins the Commonwealth Bank Series for the first time! Australia has lost it for the 2nd consecutive time and they will not get a chance again because this is the last triangular series in Australia!

Chasing 259 runs at 5.18 runs per over, Australia had the equal chance of winning this game and moving to Adelaide. The Brisbane wicket was good and it the score was not that tough to reach especially for the world champions!

The chase did not start well. Gilchrist was caught behind in the 3rd ball of the first over. Once again Praveen Kumar provided the good start for the Indians. The poor shot selection of Ricky Ponting continued here as well. He tried to play his best short--the pull, but he didn't pick it at the right time and gave an easy catch to Yuvaraj at mid-on. He was out for 1 with the score board reading 8.

Clarke and Hayden were timing the ball well and picking ones' and twos'. The poor shot selection of Aussies continued when Clarke tried to pull Praveen Kumar, which didn't rise as he expected, but knocked the top of the off stump. He was out for 17 and the score was 32.

Once again Hayden and Symonds Company were under pressure to score runs without losing the wicket. Hayden, the in-form batsman was timing the ball well and hit lofted shots, stepped out of the crease and hit over mid-wicket for few fours. Symonds hit a huge six of Piyush Chawla and a four of Harbhajan. They were maintaining the score just under 5 runs per over picking singles and converting them to two's at times. Hayden scored another half-century and proved that he is a danger batsman who can turn the match towards Australia anytime.

When everyone was thinking that the match was going away from India, poor calling from Symonds, good fielding by Yuvaraj, nice collection of ball by Harbhajan ran out Hayden. Symonds defended the ball by playing forward and started for a single. When he realized Yuvaraj was approaching the ball faster than anticipated, Hayden was already half way through the pitch and couldn't back on time to save his wicket. Yuvaraj proved that he is one of the best fielder's in the world, picked the ball, saw that Hayden was half-way, threw the ball one bounce at the bowler's end where Harbhajan collected it neatly and completed the rest of the job. The big break-through came in the form of Hayden's run out. He was out for 55 off 68 balls with 7 fours. In the same over, Symonds was trapped leg before and Harbhajan dismissed him one more time and proved that he is on top.

The two blows put India back into the game. From 121 for 3, Aussies slipped to 123 for 5. But, Hussey and Hope built the innings for Australia with a crucial 76 run partnership for the 6th wicket. Hussey's running between the wickets was very good and Hopes also matched him well. They were hitting the ball well and when Hussey edged Sreesanth, the decision was referred to third umpire to ensure that the catch was cleanly taken by Dhoni. The decision was in favor of India and the score was 199 for 6 in 42 overs. Hopes was timing the ball and taking the match away from Indians. He swept Piyush Chawla and pulled Pathan.

The last 30 balls required 36 runs with 4 wickets in hand. The 46th over added 9 runs to Australia's total and the last 24 balls required 31. The next 24 balls requiring 31, Praveen Kumar started the over. The fourth ball of the over got a wicket in the form of Lee. He missed to read the slower ball when he tried to hit the ball across the line and was bowled for 7. Johnson joined Hopes and tried to take Australia to Adelaide. Johnson's nick of Harbhajan to a four of third man reduced some tension. With 21 runs requiring 12 balls, Sreesanth had Johnson nick the ball to Dhoni. With 8 balls and 20 runs, Hopes hit a flat six which added more tension to the Indian camp. With one more ball in Sreesanth's over, it was tension all over the ground and viewers. Sreesanth's full toss fetched one run to Hopes.

Dhoni had only two choices--Pathan or Piyush and he picked Pathan to bowl the last over. Australia needed 13 runs and India either requires 2 wickets or bowl the six balls by giving less than 12 runs. Pathan was picked to bowl the over and the first ball went for a single to third man which brought Bracken to strike. The 2nd ball got a wicket when Bracken tried to hit over long on, but the slower ball had him hit to mid on where Piyush Chawla held his nerve and took a shaky running catch. Australia lost the 9th wicket, but was sort of okay because it brought Hopes on strike. With 4 balls, 12 runs, Hopes sent the ball to long-off and the quick running brought 2 runs and also Hopes back on strike. Last 3 balls needed 10 runs, but this time, the full toss, Hopes hit the ball straight to the fielder in mid-on at the edge of the circle and the celebrations started! India won the cup for the first time! Pathan bowled the last over very well and took his 2 wickets.

Earlier, the Indian innings started once again with a good partnership of 94 runs for the first wicket. Sachin's innings was remarkable as he was driving and hitting Lee over point for four. Uthappa timed the ball well and was cautious of running as well. Sachin's groin injury was playing in the minds of the batsman. The drive in the air of Stuart Clark and then straight pull in the same over showed his control over the game. He reached his 50 in 70 balls. Soon, India lost Uthappa when he tried to hit the ball over long on but the edge went in the air to mid-off. He was out for 30 of 49 balls leaving India at 94 in the 21st over.

Gambhir was looking good and was maintaining the run rate along with Tendulkar. His over ambitious shot of hitting Michael Clarke for a six over mid on went straight to the fielder. He was out for 15 off 16 balls leaving India at 121 for 2 in 25.2 overs.

Yuvaraj started with a huge six of Michael Clarke played few good shots. His run a ball innings had 2 fours and 2 sixes. His six over the longest boundary in mid-wicket off Symonds was his best shot. But, in the same over, the short ball provoked him to hit similar shot which went straight to the fielder near the boundary line. He was out for 38 when India was going well at 175 in 35 overs. Tendulkar once again showed his disappointment over Yuvaraj's irresponsible shot.

Tendulkar when tried to place the ball to long-on and take a single, scooped the slower ball in the air, but beautiful diving catch by skipper Ponting sent him to the pavilion, 9 short of his 43rd ODI century. His wonderful 91 came from 121 balls with 7 fours. India playing well at 205 for 4 in 39.2 overs, it was a good chance for India to go beyond 280 runs on the board. But quick wickets of Sachin and Rohit Sharma put the brake in the Indian innings. Rohit was caught by Symonds--a straight forward catch at extra cover off Michael Clarke--his 3rd wicket.

It was left to Dhoni and Pathan to score some runs. Pathan scored 12 in 20 balls, with runs are not easily adding, Dhoni also got out when he tried to hit over long-on but only found the fielder. Harbhajan was LBW to Lee for 3. India was struggling at 240 for 7 in 48 overs--35 in 52 balls, Praveen Kumar was facing Lee. You could say that 3 fours of Lee's over turned the match and helped India to go past 250. Lee's short ball hit Praveen's arm guard and went for 4 in third-man, then he hit him over point, giving himself room for another 4. The single brought Harbhajan to strike, but he was trapped in front of the wicket. Piyush edged the next ball to third man boundary. The 49th over added 13 to the total and the last over was bowled by Bracken. He bowled well with a wicket and gave only 5 runs. India finished their innings with 258 for 9. Michael Clark and Bracken were the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets each and Symonds was costly, ending with 1 for 27 in 3 overs.

Man of the Match was rightly given to Praveen Kumar for providing early break-throughs', taking key wickets. Thanks to Sachin for his important 91, Yuvaraj for his brilliant fielding that ran out Hayden.

Final Score:
India 258 for 9 in 50 overs (Uthappa 30, Sachin 91, Yuvaraj 38, Dhoni 36, Bracken 3 for 31, Michael Clarke 3 for 52) beat Australia 249 in 49.4 overs (Hayden 55, Symonds 42, Hussey 44, Hopes 63, Praveen Kumar 4 for 46, Sreesanth 2 for 43, Pathan 2 for 54)

Man of the Match: Praveen Kumar (India)
Man of the Series: Bracken (Australia)

Final 1: Sachin Guides India to Win the First Final!

Do you believe that Sachin haven't scored an ODI century in Australia? The first century in Australia and that has helped India to take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match final--the last of the triangular tournament in Australia.

After winning the toss and rightly electing to bat first, Australian's top order was rattled by Praveen Kumar, the surprise move by Dhoni. Gilchrist and Ponting tried to pull Praveen, but Gilly ended scooping the ball to mid-on and Yuvaraj took it easily. Ponting dragged the ball to the stumps. Michael Clarke was given a rough caught behind decision in Ishanth Sharma's bowling. When Aussies were struggling at 24 for 3 in 5.5 overs, Hayden continued his good form against Indians and scored a good half-century. Symonds provided a good company and both of them were cruising along well. The 100-run partnership came in 104 balls off which Symonds scored 31. Harbhajan got his man once-again through a flighted delivery. Though Symonds was successful in hitting Harbhajan for couple of fours, he hit straight to the fielder's hand in long on. Hussey and Hayden tried to continue from where Symonds left, but the sweep by Hayden in the air to deep mid-wicket was brilliantly caught by Piyush Chawla leaving Australian score to struggle at 135 for 5 in 27.3 overs.

Hussey's 45 really helped Australia to put a decent score and go beyond 200-run mark. The 5 run per over when Hayden was dismissed was brought under control by Indians. At the end of the 47th over, the score was 212 for 7 with Hopes and Hussey back in the pavilion. The quick 17 by Lee in 10 balls took the score to 239 for 8. India gave 27 runs in the last three overs, which was crucial while chasing.

The moderate score of 240 was thought to be difficult because in the previous occasion against Australia, Indians failed to chase 204. So, Australia had possibilities of winning the game and the Indian innings started with a good 50-run first wicket partnership of this series. Uthappa and Sachin brought the 50 in the 11th over. Uthappa was dismissed when he played a beautiful pull of Hopes was thought to be a good four, but Hussey at deep mid-wicket proved otherwise by taking a very good catch. Gambhir was run out for 3 when he responded late to Sachin's call for 2nd run. It was an easy run but he was watching the ball and fielder by the time Sachin was almost in half-of-the pitch.

Yuvaraj started the innings well, but didn't last long. He was bowled by Hogg. The younger Rohit joined Tendulkar at 87 for 3 and they both played well pulling, sweeping, driving the best bowling attack.

Tendulkar suffered cramp, which prevented him from playing few strokes. Lee apologized to Tendulkar when he sent a beamer, which slipped from his hand. The two top-cuts by Sachin was an example why he is stamped as best batsman in the world. Rohit on the other hand was giving good company to Sachin. He played sensibly listening to Sachin's advise and picking one and two. His drive and pulle of the fast bowlers were treat to watch. He started his scoring with a beautiful drives of Bracken which should have given him the world of confidence to build a long innings.

They both added 123 runs for the 4th wicket in 128 balls. Rohit was bowled by Hopes through a straight delivery which knocked his off stump. With 30 to win in 51 balls, Dhoni joined Tendulkar. They both finished the game in 4.2 overs. Dhoni was not out on 15 in 12 balls with 3 fours and Sachin was not out on 117 off 120 balls with 10 fours.

This is the first win in Sydney in the 12 encounters against Australia. This is Sachin's first hundred against Australia in 39 matches.

Final Score:
Australia 239 for 8 in 50 overs (Hayden 82, Symonds 31, Hussey 45, Praveen Kumar 2 for 49, Harbhajan 2 for 38) lost to India 242 for 4 in 45.5 overs (Tendulkar 117 Not Out, Rohit Sharma 66, Hopes 2 for 42)

Man of the Match: Sachin Tendulkar (India)

Match 12: Consolation win for Sri Lanka!

This match with the result having no impact in the final helped Sri Lanka to go home with a pride of beating the world champions!

Winning the toss and deciding to bat, Sri Lanka posed 221 in 50 overs. Jayawardane scored 50, Dilshan scored 62, Silva scored 35, which helped Sri Lanka to reach 200-run mark. Bracken took 4 wickets and Lee ended with 2.

Australia looking for an easy win, started with the wonderful first wicket partnership of 107 runs in 15 overs. Hayden rested for this match--an indirect punishment for his comment about Harbhajan in the radio interview. This provided an opportunity to the future wicket keeper of Australia to open the innings with the soon-to-be retired keeper cum batsman Gilchrist. Out of the 107, Hopes scored 28 and was dismissed by Muralitharan. Then the wickets started falling like the nine pins. From 107 for no loss, Sri Lanka took 8 wickets for 51 runs putting pressure on the tail enders to score the remaining 64 runs to win. Ponting (1), Clarke (0), Symonds (0), Hussey (5), Haddin (7) were dimissed in single digit--like a telephone number. Hogg scored 21 and Lee scored 37 which gave some hope to Australia, but good bowling by all the bowlers turned the match in Sri Lankan's way. Australia requiring 49 off last 11 overs with 2 wickets in hand lost Johnson in the first ball of 40th over. Lee and Bracken played till the 48th over and in 2 overs requiring 14, but Jayasuria bowled Lee in the 1st ball of the 49th over, taking 4 consolation points.

Final Score:

Sri Lanka 221 in 50 overs (Jayawardane 50, Dilshan 62, Silva 35, Lee 2 for 55, Bracken 4 for 29) beat Australia 208 in 49.1 overs (Gilchrist 83, Hopes 28, Lee 37, Kulasekara 2 for 36, Amerasinghe 3 for 44, Muralitharan 2 for 42)

Man of the Match: Gilchrist (Australia)