Australia struggling in the 2nd ODI against SA!

Australia are 20 for 5 in 9 overs against host South Africa in the 2nd ODI in Centurion. Steyn picked two wickets and Parnell picked three.

Narnell's first 2 overs were maiden overs and he conceeded his first run in his third over.

Brad Haddin was bowled in the last ball of the first over by Steyn. Going for a drive, the ball took the inside edge and knocked the stumps.

Ponting who started his innings with a six over deep square leg. It was a short ball and Ponting played his famous shot. He got out in the next over trying to drive and got an edge to give the first wicket for Parnell.

Clarke was plumb in front of the wicket when trying to play across off Parnell.

David Hussey tried to puch it through covers, got a thick outside edge and went straight to Boucher.

Man of the Match Mike Hussey was trapped plumb in front off Parnell.

Ferguson and Hopes are on the crease. Can they pull off? Wait and see!

Dhoni and Zaheer added to Records Book!

The Indian Skipper MS Dhoni and Zaheer have entered the records book again for their wonderful catching and bowling performances.

Dhoni's Record:

Dhoni, grabbed six catches in the first innings of the 3rd and final test against New Zealand. All are simple catches except the catch of Ross Taylor which he grabbed on the leg side off Harbhajan Singh.

Syed Kirmani held the record for most dismissals by an Indian wicket keeper. He had 5 catches and 1 stumping agaisnt New Zealand in Christchurh in 1976. Dhoni equalled it by grabbing 6 catches in Wellington in the thrid test.

Dhoni also became the first Indian wicket keeper in terms of grabbing most catches in an innings. He beat the previous record of 5 catches held by Kirmani, Nayan Mongia and himself.

Zaheer's Record:

Two cricketers have recorded taking five or more wickets in an innings more than three times in New Zealand.

Zaheer equalled the record of Erapalli Prasanna who held the record of taking 5 wickets thrice in New Zealand. Zaheer equalled it when he picked 5 wickets in the first innings of New Zealand in the third test in Wellington.

The previous occassions were in 2002 in Hamilton (5 for 29) and Wellington (5 for 53).

Tendulkar the Greatest - Sir Richard Hadlee!

Photo credit: www.cricinfo.com, Getty Images

The New Zealand great Sir Richard Hadless was inducted into ICC's Hall of Fame. The 57 year old all rounder became the first New Zealand cricketer to be in Hall of Fame.

"I played against Sachin on his tour here in 1990 when he got that 80 or 90-odd at McLean Park in Napier," Hadlee told PTI.

"We didn't see at that time and you cannot visualise 20 years down the track what the player is likely to do in the context of the history of the game. When you score as many runs as he has in Test and one-day cricket and score as many centuries and half centuries as he has done, it makes him arguably the greatest player ever in the history of the game. Statistics speak volumes of his contribution to Indian and world cricket. He is a phenomenal player."

"Well, Sir Donald Bradman has been regarded as the greatest player ever. He played just Test cricket. He hasn't played any other forms of the game. Clearly, that is understandable. But to see Sachin and other players actually adjust to different forms of the game and different conditions all around the world, even though the average is fractionally more than half of the Don's is in itself incredible. You got to respect it and write those performances."

Hadlee is one of the 55 members to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He said, "I have been very fortunate during my playing career and to be recognised is very very special. To be one of the first 55 inductees, it doesn't get much better than that."

Hadlee's career records:

Match Type	# of Matches	Runs Scored	Wickets Taken
Test Matches	86	3124	431
ODI	115	1751	158

5th ODI: Ind v. NZ: Consolation Win for NZ!

Finally the Kiwis tasted victory in the ODI series, though they have won the T20 series 2-0. In the 4th ODI presentation ceremony, Vettori said, a win in the final ODI would equal the 3-3 though they are different versions of the game--T20 (2 win for NZ) and ODI (3 win for India and 1 win for NZ).

It happened as he wished and he could pat his back for this victory, but as per statistics and records, India have won the series 3-1 with one match abandoned. This is the first series win for Indian against New Zealand in New Zealand soil.

India have never won an ODI series in New Zealand. The best they've managed are draws in 1993-94 and 1998-99.

Winning the toss and batting first, Sehwag and Gambhir opened the innings. Sachin did not play in the match due to his stomach injury. India just made 149 in 36.3 overs. The batsmen were not able to consume the full quota of 43 overs.

Rohit Sharma was the top scorer with 43 runs off 74 balls. He completely turned the match in favor of the kiwis when he ran out both Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. Though they were not professional batters, at that stage it was important to retain wickets to ensure that India bat the full 43 overs. The attempted run was indeed not required because they went straight to fielders.

Though Praveen Kumar picked McCullum for 2 in the third over, Ryder and Guptill made it easy for the kiwis. They played good shots and both of them scored 50. Ryder was bowled by Ishanth Sharma in the 15th over for 63. It came off just 49 balls with 6 fours and four sixes. Guptill made unbeaten 57 off 50 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes.

Scoreboard:

Tour: India to New Zealand
Series: ODI
Match #: 5
Date: Saturday March 14, 2009
Venue: Auckland
Captains: Daniel Vettori (NZ) and MS Dhoni (Ind)
Umpires: GAV Baxter and RE Koertzen; EA Watkin-third umpire
Toss: India won the toss and decided to bat
Match: New Zealand won by 8 wickets with 19.4 overs remaining
Man of the Match: Ryder off New Zealand
Additional Information: Match was reduced to 43 overs a side due to rain and delayed start.

India 149 all out in 36.3 overs (Gambhir caught McGlashan bowled Mills 5, V Sehwag caught McCullum bowled Oram 40, Raina caught Styris bowled Oram 8, Rohit Sharma not out 43, Yuvaraj caught McGlashan bowled Ryder 11, Dhoni bowled Ryder 9, Yousuf Pathan bowled Ryder 0, Harbhajan Singh run out (Vettori/Oram) 1, Zaheer Khan run out (Oram/Vettori) 5, Praveen Kumar caught McGlashan bowled O'Brien 6, Ishanth Sharma caught Taylor bowled O'Brien 3, Extras--18 (lb 9, w 9), KD Mills 7-0-27-1, IE O'Brien 7.3-0-43-2, JPD Oram 9-0-22-2, JD Ryder 9-0-29-3, DL Vettori 4-0-19-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-30 (Gambhir, 4.5 ov), 2-65 (Raina, 9.4 ov), 3-69 (Sehwag, 11.5 ov), 4-88 (Yuvraj Singh, 18.5 ov), 5-110 (Dhoni, 24.2 ov), 6-111 (Pathan, 24.6 ov), 7-116 (Harbhajan Singh, 27.3 ov), 8-131 (Khan, 31.2 ov), 9-143 (Kumar, 34.4 ov), 10-149 (I Sharma, 36.3 ov)

New Zealand 151 for 2 in 23.2 overs (JD Ryder bowled Ishanth Sharma 63, BB McCullum bowled Praveen Kumar 2, MJ Guptill 57 not out, LRPL Taylor 28 not out, Extras--1 (w 1), Praveen Kumar 4-0-22-1, Zaheer Khan 8-0-51-0, Ishanth Sharma 7.2-1-63-1, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-15-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-9 (McCullum, 2.2 ov), 2-93 (Ryder, 14.6 ov)

Dhoni doubtful for 3rd Test as well!

Indian skipper missed the second test due to his back problem. Sehwag took over the captaincy in the last minute and he almost lost the match for India. Thanks to Gambhir, Laxman, Dravid and Tendulkar who played crucial innings in saving the test for India.

Dhoni is still doubtful for the third test. It seems that he is not yet fit completely and may miss it. The Indian team is awaiting news on his availability. If he misses it, Sehwag will continue to be the captain and Dinesh Karthick will take over the wicket-keeping.

4th ODI: Ind v NZ: Sehwag demolishes Kiwis! India Wins First ODI Series Win!

Firing century by Sehwag help India seal the series 3-0 in the 5-match series. This was the fastest century by Indian. His century came off 60 balls with a huge six off Vettori over long-off.

This is one of the peculiar wins in cricket history. Normally, the team batting first win by runs and the team batting second win by wickets and balls remaining. In this case, batting second, India beat New Zealand by 84 runs using D/L method.

Ryder and McCullum put a 102-run first wicket partnership with McCullum scoring half-century. Two quick break-throughs provided by Ishanth Sharma created chance for India to come back. Going at good run rate at 114 for 23 overs, they stumbled to 175 for 5 in 37 overs.

McGlashan and Elliott played beautifully which helped NZ to add 95 runs in the last 10 overs. McGlashan scored unbeaten 56 off 42 balls with 6 fours and a six. Elliott scored 35 off 27 balls with 3 fours and a six.

Ishanth Sharma came back in place of Munaf Patel. Sachin was rested due to stomach injury and Rohit Sharma was given a chance.

India were set a target of 281 in 47 overs based on D/L method. Though the kiwis scored only 270, as per Duckworth-Lewis method, India had all the 10 wickets in hand full 47 overs.

But India had a firing start with Sehwag punishing every bowler. He reached his 50 in 31 balls with 8 fours and a six. O'Brien went for 37 runs in 3 overs and Thompson went for 42 in his 4 overs.

Gambhir scored unbeaten 63 in 67 balls with 6 fours. Sehwas reached his 100 in 60 balls with 13 fours and 4 sixes. India were 201 for no loss in 23.3 overs when rain stopped play. India has to score 117 to be in par but were 201. So, India beat NZ by 84 runs.

No discussion in deciding the man of the match--the sole winner of the match Sehwag was given the award.

Scoreboard:

Tour: India to New Zealand
Series: ODI
Match #: 4
Date: Wednesday March 11, 2009
Venue: Hamilton
Captains: Daniel Vettori (NZ) and MS Dhoni (Ind)
Umpires: GAV Baxter and RE Koertzen; EA Watkin-third umpire
Toss: NZ won the toss and decided to bat
Match: India won by 84 runs
Man of the Match: Virendra Sehwag off India
Series: India lead the 5 match series 3-0 with one match abandoned
Additional Information: Match was reduced to 47 overs when rain interrupted twice in NZ innings. India was set 281 (11 runs higher than what NZ scored) in 47 overs. When rain stopped play, India needed 117 to be at par but India were 201 for no wicket.

New Zealand 270 for 5 in 47 overs (JD Ryder caught Raina bowled Yuvaraj Singh 46, BB McCullum LBW Z Khan 77, LRPL Taylor caught Rohit Sharma bowled Yousuf Pathan 5, MJ Guptill caught sub Karthik bowled I Sharma 25, JDP Oram caught Dhoni bowled I Sharma 1, PD McGlashan 56 not out, GD Elliott 35 not out, Extras--25 (lb 9, w 13, nb 3), Zaheer Khan 10-0-49-1, Praveen Kumar 7-0-51-0, Ishanth Sharma 8-0-57-2, Yuvaraj 9-0-40-1, Yousuf Pathan 5-0-14-1, Harbhajan Singh 8-0-50-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-102 (Ryder, 19.1 ov), 2-114 (Taylor, 22.5 ov), 3-155 (McCullum, 33.4 ov), 4-156 (Oram, 34.1 ov), 5-175 (Guptill, 36.5 ov)

India 201 for no loss in 23.3 overs (Gambhir 63 not out, V Sehwag 125 not out, Extras--13 (lb 9, w 4), KD Mills 5-0-29-0, EP Thompson 4-0-42-0, IE O'Brien 3-0-37-0, DL Vettori 5-0-32-0, JPD Oram 4.3-0-43-0, GD Elliott 2-0-9-0)

India Tour to New Zealand 2009!

The India tour to New Zealand consists of 5 ODIs, 2 T20s, and 3 test matches played between March and April of 2009. Click here to find out the schedule, results, records, and other interesting articles.

Dhoni Doubtful for Third and Final Test!

5th ODI: Consolation win for NZ!

4th ODI: India win Series! First Series Victory in NZ!

3rd ODI: India win

2nd ODI: Rain Spoiled 2nd ODI, Match Abandoned!

1st ODI: India wins, Takes 1-0 lead!

Run Rain in Hamilton!

2nd T20: NZ Win 1st T20, lead 1-0!

Tendulkar: Will be Fit Soon

Fast Bowlers Lost Confidence: McCullum

Tendulkar Injured! To miss 4th ODI

1st T20: NZ Win Easily

India tour to NZ - Schedule