Australia v. WI, 2nd Test: Chandrapaul and Sarawan Help WI to Draw!

Ponting described the Australian bowling attack was not better and that was the reason for not picking the wickets on the final day to clinch the test.

Of course after losing two main bowlers to retirement--McGrath and Shane Warne, Australian bowling attack was not that same.

Though Brett Lee was there as the main strike bowler and Stuart Clarke picked 5 wickets in the first test, the attack did not go beyond that.

In the first innings, Kaitch and Michael Clarke scored 113 and 110 respectively and helped Australia to declare at 479.

Chandrapaul scored 107 not out and helped West Indies avoid the follow on, but WI still conceeded 127 run lead to Australia.

Australia declared their 2nd innings at 244 and set a target 372 for West Indies.

West Indies struggled by losing the first two wickets with 19 on the board. Smith and Marshall were dismissed for a duck and 5 respectively. For the third wicket, Mortan and Sarwan added 65. Lee dismissed Mortan for 14. Sarwan and Chandrapual fought through the innings and ensured that WI did not lose the test. Though they did not go for winning or even tried to attack Australian bowling, they were able to manage the decent pace attack. They played 53 overs together in which they added 143 runs for the 4th wicket. Sarwan scored a wonderful century, his 11th in test cricket.

Chandrapaul was declared man of the match for his century in the first innings and test saving innings with his 77 in the second innings.

Test: 2
Venue: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
Teams: Australia and West Indies
Captains: Rickey Ponting and RR Sarwan
Toss: Australia won the toss and decided to bat
Match Result: Match Drawn
Series Result: Australia leading 1-0 (2nd Test Drawn)
Man of the Match: S Chandrapaul off West Indies
Score:

Australia 1st Innings 479 for 7 declared in 136 overs (SM Katich 113, RT Ponting 65, MJ Clarke 110, BJ Haddin 33, B Lee 63 not out, MG Johnson 29 not out, JE Taylor 3 for 95)
West Indies 1st Innings 352 all out in 107 overs (XM Marshal 53, RS Sarwan 53, S Chandrapaul 107, DJ Bravo 45, B Lee 5 for 59, MG Johnson 2 for 72, MJ Clarke 2 for 20)
Australia 2nd Innings (lead by 127 runs) 244 for 6 declared in 61.5 overs (PA Jaques 76, MEK Hussey 40, PT Ponting 38, A Symonds 43 not out, FH Edwards 2 for 28, JE Taylor 2 for 33)
Drew with West Indies 2nd Innings (372 target) 266 for 5 in 93 overs (RR Sarwan 128, S Chandrapual 77 not out, B Lee 3 for 51)

Click here to read 1st Test Result!

Click here to read 3rd Test Result!

Warne Rules Out Come Back!

Everything related to Shane Warne's return to test cricket is in compltely confused state! He said he would consider coming back for 2009 Ashes if "Stuart MacGill is injured and not able to bowl and Ponting ask his help."

When asked about Warne's return, Ponting said he was not aware about Warne's return. Warne did not speak to him about it. He said, Warne's return is not possible as he has already retired.

"I've got no interest at all at this stage," Warne told AAP. "I'm very happily retired, I'm comfortable where I am at the moment."

He was the captain and coach of the IPL winning team of Rajasthan Royals. The winning of IPL and the success of bringing the team together for the should have made him to think about coming back to test cricket.

I actually said I was happily retired and if Stuart MacGill broke his leg - which he hasn't, he's retired - and there was no other spinner in Australia and if Ricky Ponting asked me, I'd consider it," Warne said. "If that's coming back out of retirement, I'm not sure. I don't think it is."

Ponting has not called Warne. "I'm sure if I rang him and said, `I'd like you to come back in South Africa and India,' he would probably put his hand up," Ponting said in the Courier Mail. "Warney made it pretty clear that if there was absolutely no one else around, he might consider it.

He further added, "I haven't entertained the idea of asking Shane to come out of retirement, no. He's probably hoping I have, but I haven't just yet."

Click here to read about Warne's come back Story!

Click here to read about Stuart MacGill's retirement Story!

Stuart MacGill Calls it a Day!

The Australian leg spinner Stuart MacGill has called it a day. Yes, he has announced his retirement from test cricket. He is the third cricketer from Australian cricket to announce retirement in the last few months. Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg are the others.

He has cited injury as the reason and could not come back. He also said that he would like to contribute to the Australian cricket by taking wickets but he is not sure whether he can do it now. He also said that he should be able to remove the top 5 batsman, but he is not sure whether he can do it now.

His Batting career, a snap shot:

Type	M	I	NO	R	HS	Avg
Test	44	47	11	349	43	9.69
ODI	3	2	1	1	1	1.00

Read as:
M - Matches; I - Innings; NO - Not Out; R - Runs; HS - Highest Score; Avg - Average

His Bowling career, a snap shot:

Type	M	I	B	R	W	Avg
Test	44	85	11237	6038	208	29.02
ODI	3	3	180	105	6	17.50

His best bowling were:

In Test, Best Bowling in an innings: 8 for 108
In Test, Best Bowling in a Match: 12 for 107

He has acquired 5 wickets in an innings 12 times and 10 wickets in match twice.

Read as:
M - Matches; I - Innings; B - Balls; R - Runs; W - Wickets; Avg - Average

Good luck MacGill!

Australia v. WI, 1st Test: Australia Wins the First Test!

The intersting chase in the 2nd innnings was in the cards in the first test between the home side West Indies and the touring Australia. Bowled out for 167 in the 2nd innings and with the lead of 119, Australia set 287 as the target for West Indies.

But, West Indies neither was able to chase the target nor could play for a draw. Though they ended day 4 at 46 for 1, they had 241 to get in 90 overs with 9 wickets. Stuart Clark rattled the batting of West Indies by picking 5 wickets.

Earlier, skipper Ponting scored his 35th test hundred, just 4 behind Tendulkar. He scored 158 in the 224 ball innings which comprised of 16 fours and a six. He was supported by Hussey (56), Hodge (67) and Symonds (70 not out). For West Indies, Edwards picked 5 wickets.

West Indies gave a good reply, but couldn't reduce the lead to less than 100 runs. Though Chandrapaul was hit by a Lee's bouncer, he scored a brilliant fighting 118. This was his 18th test hundred which came off 276 balls with 13 fours and a six. Morton scored 67, the only other half-centurian.

Started the 2nd innings with 119 runs lead, Australia were bundeld out for 167 in 56.5 overs. Symonds scored his second fifty and saved some pride for Australia. He was the top scorer in the 2nd innings with 79. Bravo picked 4 wickets, while Powell and Edwards picked 3 each.

SR Clark was declared man of the match.

Test: 1

Venue: Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica

Teams: Australia and West Indies

Captains: Rickey Ponting and RR Sarwan

Toss: Australia won the toss and decided to bat

Match Result: Australia won by 95 runs

Series Result: Australia leading 1-0

Man of the Match: Stuart Clarke off Australia

Score:

Australia 1st Innings 431 all out in 126.5 overs (RT Ponting 158, MEK Hussey 56, BJ Hodge 67, A Symonds 70, FH Edwards 5 for 104, DJG Sammy 2 for 78)

West Indies 1st Innings 312 all out in 106 overs (DS Smith 32, RS Morton 67, S Chandrapaul 118, DJ Bravo 46, B Lee 3 for 63, MG Johnson 2 for 63, SR Clark 3 for 59, SCG MacGill 2 for 100)

Australia 2nd Innings (lead by 119 runs) 167 all out in 56.5 overs (BJ Hodge 27, A Symonds 79, DBL Powell 3 for 36, FH Edwards 3 for 40, DJ Bravo 4 for 47)

Beat West Indies 2nd Innings (287 target) 191 all out in 67 overs (DS Smith 28, D Ramdin 36, DJG Sammy 35, DBL Powell 27, B Lee 2 for 81, SR Clark 5 for 32, SCG MacGill 2 for 43)

Click here to read 2nd Test Result!

Click here to read 3rd Test Result!