England Wins Final Test, Consolation Win, Retains some pride!

The first time skipper of England Kevin Pietersen has tasted victory in his test captaincy debut. He has also joined the club of batsman who have scored century in their test captaincy debut.

Winning the toss and batting first, South Africa were bundled out for 194. With such a good show in the previous two tests, it was tough to believe that they were bowled out for less than 200 especially in the last test. All the bowlers delivered for England and provided an opportunity for England to put a huge total on the board.

Though England got past the total, but the lead was not as big as they would have planned. Except skipper Pietersen's century and Collingwood's 61, they would have struggled to go beyond 200. Nitni sent 5 of the England batsmen to the pavilion.

Trailing by 122 runs in the 2nd innings, South Africa made just 318, not enough to restrict England. DeVilliers scored 97 and gave SA bowlers a chance to go against England.

Chasing 197 on the last day, they reached the target with 6 wickets in hand. Strauss and Cook added 123 for the first wicket. They ensured that they didn't lose their wicket in the first session.

Cook fell in the 3rd over after lunch for 67. Bell was beautifully bowled by Nitni for 4. He shuffled acorss for a ball that pitched on the middle and swung in. He tried to flick it, but missed the line and his leg stump was uprooted.

Strauss fell two balls later for 58. Three quick wickets put England under pressure at 147 for 3. The skipper fell for 13 when they were 15 runs away from victory.

Collingwod and Flintoff completed the formalities with the latter scoring the winning shot with a six over bowlers head.

Pietersen declared man of the match. He also shared the man of the series with counter part Smith.

Match: 4th Test
Venue: London
Date: August 7-11, 2008
Teams: South Africa and England
Captains: GC Smith and KP Pietersen
Toss: South Africa won the toss and decided to bat
Result: England won by 6 wickets
Series: South Africa won the serie by 2-1 with one drawn
Man of the Match: KP Pietersen off England
Man of the Series: KP Pietersen off England and GC Smith of South Africa

Score:

South Africa 1st Innings 194 all out in 64.5 overs (GC Smith 46, ND McKenzie 17, HM Amla 36, JH Kallis 2, AG Prince 4, AB de Villiers 39, MV Boucher 3, M Morkel 17, PL Harris 13 not out, A Nel 4, M Ntini 9, Extras--4 (b 1, lb 1, nb 2), SJ Harmison 2 for 49, JM Anderson 3 for 42, A Flintoff 1 for 37, SCJ Broad 2 for 60, MS Panesar 2/ for 4)

England 1st Innings 316 all out in 95.2 overs (AJ Strauss 6, AN Cook 39, IR Bell 24, KP Pietersen 100, PD Collingwood 61, A Flintoff 9, TR Ambrose 4, SCJ Broad 1, SJ Harmison 49 not out, JM Anderson 13, MS Panesar 0, Extras--10 (lb 4, w 1, nb 5), M M Morkel 0 for 78, M Ntini 5 for 94, A Nel 0 for 56, JH Kallis 3 for 51, PL Harris 1 for 33)

South Africa (trail by 122 runs) 318 allout in 99.2 overs (GC Smith 0, ND McKenzie 29, HM Amla 76, JH Kallis 9, AG Prince 24, AB de Villiers 97, MV Boucher 12, M Morkel 10, PL Harris 34, A Nel 3 not out, M Ntini 2, Extras-22 (b 6, lb 8, w 5, nb 3), JM Anderson 2 for 85, SJ Harmison 2 for 84, A Flintoff 1 for 53, MS Panesar 2 for 37, SCJ Broad 3 for 44, KP Pietersen 0 for 1)

lost to England 2nd Innings (target 197 runs) 198 for 4 in 52.5 overs (AJ Strauss 58, AN Cook 67, IR Bell 4, KP Pietersen 13, PD Collingwood 25 not out, A Flintoff 11 not out, Extras--20 (b 6, lb 7, w 1, nb 6), M Morkel 0 for 43, M Ntini 2 for 55, PL Harris 2 for 56, A Nel 0 for 21, JH Kallis 0 for 10)

Sri Lanka beat India 2-1 and win Idea Cup!

Sri Lanka beat India in the 3rd Test by 8 wickets and won the series and Idea Cup. Chasing a target of 122 with more than 1.5 days of game in hand, Sri Lanka was in no hurry chasing this moderate target.

Though they lost the opener to Harbhajan Sing, who was given the new ball in the 2nd of over of the innings, a surprise move by Kumble, skipper Jayawardane scored a timely half-century and helped Sri Lanka reach the target without any trouble or danger.

With Sachin returning home due to injury, the young team to be lead once again by Dhoni should prove and outplay Sri Lanka to bring back the lost pride!

Tendular Injured! Out of ODI Series!

The master batsman Sachin Tendulkar injured his left hand while trying to catch at backward short leg. The incident happened on the 3rd day of the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka.

He did not score big runs and help India during the crucial time! India lost the series 2-1, where his century could have helped.

He also missed to become the highest run getter in the test history. All he needed was 172 runs in 3 test matche, but he scored less than 100 runs in 6 innings--a very unusual Tendulkar!

I think the media has to raise the question of his retirement / form once again, so that he start scoring runs. Everytime somebody brings this question, he neglects them saying he is enjoying is cricket and scores runs immediatley. It is time that he helps India one more time like he did in the past.

With this injury, he is out of the ODI team for the five ODI against Sri Lanka. It is not of a great concern now as Sehwag and Gamhir are performing well.

But, we always need the Greatest batsman of world cricket back in the game soon. Wishing you speedy recovery!

3rd Test: South Africa beat England and Win Series!

South African skipper Greame Smith lead from the front and by example to give his country a series win in England after a gap of 43 years. Their last series win against England in England was in 1965.

Smith scored a meaningful century in the 2nd innings of South African batting and took his side to victory target. Chasing a target of 281, South African reached their target with the loss of 5 wickets. Smith scored 154 not out and Mark Boucher added an useful 45 and they both scored 112 for the unbeaten 6th wicket partnership.

Struggling in the 2nd innings by 83 runs, England was rescued by Kevin Pietersen's 94 and Collingwood's timely 135. From 104 for 4, they both added 115 for the 5th wicket.

With this win, South Africa win the series 2-0 with one drawn and one more test to go.

Match: 3rd Test
Venue: Birmingham
Date: July 30-August 2, 2008
Teams: South Africa and England
Captains: GC Smith and MP Vaughan
Toss: England won the toss and decided to bat
Result: South Africa won by 5 wickets
Series: South Africa won the serie by 2-0 with one drawn
Man of the Match: GS Smith off South Africa
Score:

England 1st Innings 231 all out in 77 overs (AJ Strauss 20, AN Cook 76, MP Vaughan 0, KP Pietersen 4, IR Bell 50, PD Collingwood 4, A Flintoff 36 not out, TR Ambrose 22, RJ Sidebottom 2, JM Anderson 1, MS Panesar 1, Extras--15 (b 1, lb 7, w 2, nb 5), M Morkel 0 for 50, M Ntini 2 for 70, A Nel 3 for 47, JH Kallis 3 for 31, PL Harris 0 for 25)

South Africa 1st Innings 314 all out in 90.2 overs (ND McKenzie 72, GC Smith 7, PL Harris 19, HM Amla 9, JH Kallis 64, AG Prince 39, AB de Villiers 5, MV Boucher 40, M Morkel 18, A Nel 0, M Ntini 0 not out, Extras--41 (lb 35, nb 6), RJ Sidebottom 3 for 81, JM Anderson 3 for 72, A Flintoff 4 for 89, PD Collingwood 0 for 12, MS Panesar 0 for 25)

England 2nd Innings (trail by 83 runs) 363 all out in 98.2 overs (AJ Strauss 25, AN Cook 9, MP Vaughan 17, KP Pietersen 94, IR Bell 20, PD Collingwood 135, A Flintoff 2, TR Ambrose 19, RJ Sidebottom 22, JM Anderson 1, MS Panesar 0 not out, Extras--19 (b 8, lb 2, w 6, nb 3), M Morkel 4 for 97, A Nel 1 for 79, M Ntini 2 for 58, JH Kallis 1 for 59, PL Harris 2 for 60)

lost to South Africa (281 to win) 283 for 5 wickets in 80 overs (GC Smith 154 not out, ND McKenzie 22, HM Amla 6, JH Kallis 5, AG Prince 2, AB de Villiers 27, MV Boucher 45 not out, Extras-22 (b 9, lb 9, w 2, nb 2), RJ Sidebottom 0 for 26, JM Anderson 1 for 60, MS Panesar 2 for 91, A Flintoff 2 for 72, KP Pietersen 0 for 16)

Ashok Mankad passes away

Ashok Mankad, the former Indian cricketer, passed away at the age of 61. He had no ailments and hence it was a shock for the entire Indian cricketers.

He died in his sleep early on Friday, August 1, 2008. He scored 991 runs for country in the 22 tests he played. He played only one ODI match and scored 44 runs.

He represented Mumbai in the domestic cricket. All the Indian cricketers termed his sudden demise has a loss to the Indian cricket and few termed it as a loss of a good friend.

Let us pray for his soul rest in peace!

Champions Trophy Schedule

The Champions Trophy scheduled has been annouced. Pakistan retained the venue with them though there were controversies regarding the security.

Australia already declard that they will not be playing citing security reasons. It is not sure whether South Africa, New Zealand and England will play either. The teams expected to participate are, Pakistan--the hosts, India, Sri Lanka, and West Indies.

The groups are:

Group A: India, Australia, Pakistan, and West Indies
Group B: South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka

Match 1, Thu Sep. 11, Group A: Pakistan v. West Indies, Lahore
Match 2, Fri Sep. 12, Group B, New Zealand v. Sri Lanka, Karachi
Match 3, Sat Sep. 13, Group A, Australia v. India, Lahore
Match 4, Sun Sep. 14, Group B, England v. Sri Lanka, Karachi
Match 5, Mon Sep. 15, Group B, South Africa v. New Zealand, Rawalpindi
Match 6, Tue Sep. 16, Group A, India v. West Indies, Karachi
Match 7, Wed Sep. 17, Group A, Pakistan v. Australia, Rawalpindi
Match 8, Thu Sep. 18, Group B, South Africa v. Sri Lanka, Lahore
Match 9, Fri Sep. 19, Group B, England v. New Zealand, Rawalpindi
Match 10, Sat Sep. 20, Group A, India v. Pakistan, Lahore
Match 11, Sun Sep. 21, Group A, Australia v. West Indies, Karachi
Match 12, Sun Sep. 21, Group B, England v. South Africa, Rawalpindi
Match 13, Wed Sep. 24, Semi Final 1, Karachi
Match 14, Thu Sep. 25, Semi Final 2, Rawalpindi
Match 15, Sun Sep. 28, Final, Lahore

Good luck to all teams, but let India win!

Tendulkar to Act in Big Screen!

Sachin Tendulkar, though made his debut in Cricket at the aga of 17, is making his debut in the big screen towards the end of his career. He will be acting in a Marathi movie "Vighnaharta Siddhivinayak."

Though the movie is about the miracles of the Lord Ganesha, I would rather call it a social than a mythological film. I want the movie to convey a social message of friendship and have it conveyed through the easily-recognised icon, Sachin Tendulkar," Rajiv Singhvi, movie's producer, told IANS.

Several movie stars are expected to give a guest appearance giving a social message. It is expected that Amitab Bachan will give the voice for the movie.

Tendular has experience in acting ads and is an ambassador for several products. His first time experience in big screen has to wait and seen. Good luck, Sachin!