2nd ODI: Ind v. Eng: Second Continuous Hundred by Yuvaraj! India 2-0 Up!

What a series Yuvaraj is having! He scored his 10th ODI hundred and second continuous hundred--back-to-back, to give India a solid lead of 2-0 in the seven match ODI Series.

He won his second continuous man of the match also for his scintilating century, especially when the team needed it.

India, after put into bat by England, lost three quick wickets with just 29 runs on the board. Sehwag (1), Raina (4), and Rohit Sharma (3) returned to pavilion before the end of 8th over. Stuart Broad picked all the three wickets and gave a chance to Pietersen. The decision to put India bat first proved to be sucessful for England.

But Gambhir and Yuvaraj had different plans--sure even they don't know what it is. The beauty is that they played their natural game and did not succumb to the pressure.

They added 134 runs for the 4th wicket and helped India to move towards a respectable total. Gambhir scored 70 off 76 balls with 6 fours and a six. When he was looking good, a poor shot selection to tap the ball to leg side for a single cost his wicket. The ball pitched on off stump took the edge and hit the stumps.

Dhoni couldn't add more to the scoreboard this time and was bowled through a straight delivery by Collingwood for 15. But, this did not stop Yuvaraj from hitting hard on the other end. He reached his 100 in 107 balls with 12 fours and 2 sixes. He was caught behind off Broad for 118 off 122 balls.

Yusuf Pathan made a match on his birthday. He hit four sixes and 2 fours to score his maiden ODI fifty in the last ball of the innings. In the last over, he hit two sixes and a four to take India to a fighting total of 292. His 50 came in 29 balls and increased the scoring rate for India in the last 5 overs. Broad ended with 4 for 55 with a maiden in his 10-over spell.

England had a chance in hand. Bell was out in the first over due to poor decision in taking a single. He played it to short covers and went for a single. Raina picked and threw at bowlers end where TV replay found him well short of his crease.

Prior (38) and Shah (58) added 96 for the 2nd wicket but both of them well one after the other. Flintoff and Pietersen added 74 for the 4th wicket. Yuvaraj had Flintoff trapped leg before and Pietersen bowled to give India the winning signal. Both of them returning to pavilion in the same over was the turning point of England innings and they never came back in the game. Yuvaraj ended with 4 for 28 in his 10 overs. Sehwag picked 3 wickets. It proved to be spinning track as against England where Broad picked 4 wickets.

Scoreboard:

Match: 2nd ODI
Venue: Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket Ground, Indore
Teams: India and England
Captains: MS Dhoni and Kevin Pietersen
Toss: England won the toss and decided to field
Match Result: India won by 54 runs
Series Result: India leading by 2-0
Man of the Match: Yuvaraj Singh (India)

India 292 for 9 in 50 overs (Gambhir 70, Sehwag 1, Raina 4, Rohit Sharma 3, Yuvaraj 118, MS Dhoni 15, Y Pathan 50 not out, Harbhajan Singh 8, Zaheer 1, RP Singh 4, Munaf Patel 0 not out, Extras--18 (b 3, lb 9, w 4, nb 2), Anderson 6-0-26-0, Broad 10-1-55-4, Flintoff 9-0-49-0, Harmison 7-1-50-1, Patel 5-0-37-0, Collingwood 8-0-43-1, Pietersen 5-0-20-1)

Fall of Wickets: 1-4 (Sehwag, 1.2 ov), 2-15 (Raina, 3.4 ov), 3-29 (Sharma, 7.3 ov), 4-163 (Gambhir, 29.6 ov), 5-206 (Dhoni, 38.6 ov), 6-239 (Yuvraj Singh, 43.4 ov), 7-258 (Harbhajan Singh, 46.3 ov), 8-261 (Khan, 47.5 ov), 9-274 (Singh, 49.1 ov)

England 238 all out in 47 overs (Bell 1, Prior 38, Shah 58, Pietersen 33, Flintoff 43, Collingwood 2, Patel 20, Bopara 3, Broad 22, Harmison 6, Anderson 1 not out, Extras--11 (lb 2, w 6, nb 3), Zaheer Khan 8-1-37-0, Munaf Patel 7-0-31-0, RP Singh 5-0-49-0, Yuvaraj Singh 10-0-28-4, Harbhajan Singh 10-0-45-1, Sehwag 5-0-28-3, Yousuf Pathan 2-0-18-1)

Fall of Wickets: 1-6 (Bell, 0.6 ov), 2-102 (Shah, 23.1 ov), 3-109 (Prior, 25.5 ov), 4-183 (Flintoff, 37.2 ov), 5-184 (Pietersen, 37.5 ov), 6-187 (Collingwood, 39.5 ov), 7-191 (Bopara, 41.1 ov), 8-222 (Patel, 44.4 ov), 9-233 (Harmison, 46.2 ov), 10-238 (Broad, 46.6 ov)

3rd Test: Ind v. Aus: Day 1: Gambhir's Ton put India on Top!

It was India's day except the first hour of play in which India lost the first two wickets with just 27 runs on the board.The Indian line up this time had to miss Harbhajan due to the toe injury and retain the leggie Amit Mishra. The long and vigorous debates on whether Kumble should be back or not with debutant Amit Mishra performing well in the 2nd Test went without much further deliberations as Kumble was back and Amit Mishra playing his second test. Australia made one change with Siddle sitting in the dressing room giving way for experienced Stuart Clark.

Kumble winning the toss and batting first, would have expected a good start. But, Sehwag was dismissed in the first ball of the third over by Lee. The ball strum plumb in front of the wicket and India were 5 for 1. Dravid looked like settling, but his poor short selection sent him back. It was surprising to see Dravid chasing the ball that was pitched well away from the off stump and swinging further away. The ball took the outside edge and went straight to first slip where Hayden took a good low catch to his right. Dravid out for 11 and India were 27 for 2.

The little master Tendulkar walked in played another life of his innings. With Johnson and Clark bowling, he waited patiently for sometime and then starting punishing the bad balls from Johnson.

Couple of bouncers would have struck Tendulkar if it were old age where no helmets were available. He drove through covers or drove straight back when Lee was firing with his full pace. Sachin reached his 51st fifty in Test Cricket off 79 balls with 8 fours.

He added 130 runs for the third wicket along with Gambhir. He was caught by Haddin of Johnson for 68 with 11 fours.

The series is turning out to be very good for Gambhir in his career. The agressive batsman scored another scintilating century (back-to-back). His storke play for amazing and good to watch. He is in great form--probably, the form of his life.

After Tendulkar's departure, Gambhir and Laxman played sensibly not taking any risks. Laxman has to score in this match and clear that he was under tremendous pressure. He did not perform the in the last two matches and he was expected to score runs in this crucial time when India had a moderate score of 157 for 3.

Gambhir reached his 100 in style. He was on 91 and hit two fours in the over of Johnson. With one run required to reach his second 100 of this series, he came down and hit Watson for a good six over long on. A six to reach his 3rd Test Hundred of his carrer, 2nd against Australia. He scored 100 in 190 balls with 15 fours and a six.

At the end of the day, India is in strong position at 296 for 3 in 89 overs with Gambhir batting on 149 and Laxman batting with 54. If India can post another 200 runs and put pressure on Austrlia, India has a good chance of winning the series.

We see all kinds of changes in the Australian cricket. They have used 7 bowlers including Katich. Main spinner White bowled just 4 overs in the day. Stuar Clark was the most economical bowler with 1.38 runs per over.

Scoreboard at the end of Day 1:

India 296 for 3 in 89 overs (Sehwag 1, Gambhir 149 batting, Dravid 11, Tendulkar 68, Laxman 54 batting, Extras--13 (b 4, lb 5, nb 4), Lee 19-1-70-1, S Clark 21-8-29-0, Johnson 17-1-69-2, Watson 13-4-41-0, White 4-0-27-0, M Clarke 9-0-34-0, Katich 6-1-17-0)

1st Test: England v. New Zealand: Ends in a Draw!

The first test between England and New Zealand played at Lords ended in a draw on the fifth day. Rain played the spoil sport for most of the time. The entire game saw only 284.1 overs all the five days put together as aginst the 444 overs leaving out the 6 overs for side change. There was a shortage of 160 overs which would have given a result.



Jacob Oram scored a quick fire century to help New Zealand go for a draw. Trailing by 42 runs in the 2nd innings, New Zealand were 269 for 6 when the play was called off. At one stage, they were struggling at 115 for 4, but the 137 run partnership betwen Oram and Flynn (and McCullum who got retired hurt) gave hope for New Zealand to go for a draw. He scored 101 in 121 balls with 15 fours and 2 sixes.



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Earlier, England Skipper Michael Vaughan scored a brilliant hundred to give a lead of 42 runs. He was the last batsman to get out for 106 off 214 balls with 11 fours. The 48-run partnership for the 8th wicket between Vaughan and Sidebottom helped them go past New Zealand's first innings score.

Flintoff did not play this test as he was injured.



Vettori was declared man of the match for his five wicket haul in the first innings.

The 3 test series is now has two more test matches to go with no result in the first match.

Test: 1
Venue: Lords, England
Teams: England and New Zealand
Captains: Michael Vaughan and Daniel Vettori
Toss: England won the toss and decided to field
Match Result: Drawn
Series Result: 0-0
Man of the Match: Daniel Vettori off New Zealand
Score:

New Zealand 1st Innings 277 all out in 86.2 overs (JAH Marshall 24, BB McCullum 97, JDP Oram 28, DL Vettori 48, RJ Sidebottom 4 for 55, JM Anderson 3 for 66, SCJ Broad 2 for 85)
England 1st Innings 319 all out in 111.3 overs (AJ Strauss 63, AN Cook 61, MP Vaughan 106, SCJ Broad 25, CS Martin 2 for 76, JDP Oram 2 for 45, DL Vettori 5 for 69)
New Zealand 2nd Innings (trail by 42 runs) 269 for 6 in 86.2 overs (JM How 68, DR Flynn 29 not out, JDP Oram 101, RJ Sidebottom 2 for 65, JM Anderson 2 for 64)

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