Australia tour to South Africa - Schedule

After losing the series to South Africa in the home soil in 2008, Australia is touring South Africa for a revenge in 2009. The tour starts with a 3-day practice match followed by test matches, T20s and ODIs. Australia is lead by Ricky Ponting and hopefully South Africa has its captain Greame Smith back from the injury for leading the team.

Pracitice Game Schedule:

Practice Match: Fri Feb 20-22, 2009, Australia v. SA Board President's XI at Potchefstroom at 10:00 Local, 08:00 GMT, 13:30 IST

Test Match Schedule:

1st Test: Thu Feb 26-Mar 2, 2009 at Johannesburg at 10:30 Local, 08:30 GMT, 14:00 IST

2nd Test: Fri Mar 6-10, 2009 at Durban at 10:30 Local, 08:30 GMT, 14:00 IST

3rd Test: Thu Mar 19-23, 2009 at Cape Town at 10:30 Local, 08:30 GMT, 14:00 IST

T20 Schedule:

1st T20: Fri Mar 27, 2009 at Johannesburg at 18:00 Local, 16:00, GMT 21:30 IST

2nd T20: Sun Mar 29, 2009 at Centurion at 18:00 Local, 16:00 GMT, 21:30 IST

ODI Schedule

1st ODI: Fri Apr 3, 2009 at Durban at 14:30 Local, 12:30 GMT, 18:00 IST

2nd ODI: Sun Apr 5, 2009 at Centurion at 10:00 Local, 08:00 GMT, 13:30 IST

3rd ODI: Thu Apr 9, 2009 at Cape Town at 14:30 Local, 12:30 GMT, 18:00 IST

4th ODI: Mon Apr 13, 2009 at Port Elizabeth at 10:00 Local, 108:00 GMT, 13:30 IST

5th ODI: Fri Apr 17, 2009 at Johannesburg at 14:30 Local, 12:30 GMT, 18:00 IST

1st T20: Ind v. NZ: McCullum gives NZ 1-0 Lead!

Brendon McCullum once again proved that he is a dangerous customer to negotiat with. He gave the home team 1-0 lead in the two match T20 series with his blistering unbeaten 56. His knock came off 49 balls with timely sixes and fours. He hit 3 sixes and 2 fours.

Guptill survived a plumb leg before of the first ball he faced, but came back strongly and scored useful 41 off 28 balls.

None of the Indian bowlers could take wickets at crucial times of the game. Zaheer and Harbhajan bowled economically, but not able to break partnerships often.

Earlier, poor batting by Indian batsmen pushed them to 82 for 6. Yousuf Pathan hit 3 continuous success of Nathan McCullum but got out when he tried hit the fourth. SK Raina who came in as number 3 batsman stayed till the end of the innings and was the highest scorer for India with 61 off 43 balls with 5 sixes and two fours.

Sehwag started beautifully but could not continue his threatening hits. He hit four sixes and scored 26 off just 10 balls. He was bowled when trying to slog O'Brien over mid-wicket.

Scoreboard:

Tour: India to New Zealand
Series: T20
Match #: 1
Date: Wednesday February 25, 2009
Venue: Christchurch
Captains: Daniel Vettori (NZ) and MS Dhoni (Ind)
Umpires: GAV Baxter and EA Watkin; AL Hill-third umpire
Toss: NZ won the toss and decided to field
Match: NZ won by 7 wickets with 7 balls remaining
Man of the Match: BB McCullum off NZ

India 162 for 8 in 20 overs (G Gambhir bowled O'Brien 6, V Sehwag bowled O'Brien 26, SK Raina 61 not out, RG Sharma caught BB McCullum bowled Butler 7, Yuvaraj Singh LBW Vettori 1, MS Dhoni bowled Butler 2, Yousuf Pathan caught Oram bowled Nathan McCullum 20, Irfan Pathan caught Nathan McCullum bowled Ryder 12, Harbhajan Singh bowled Southee 21, Extras--6 (lb 3, w 3), TG Southee 4-0-42-1, IE O'Brien 4-0-36-2, IG Butler 4-0-29-2, DL Vettori 4-0-18-1, NL McCullum 2-0-27-1, JD Ryder 2-0-7-1)

Fall of Wickets: 1-25 (Gambhir, 1.6 ov), 2-32 (Sehwag, 3.1 ov), 3-54 (RG Sharma, 5.2 ov), 4-56 (Yuvraj Singh, 6.2 ov), 5-61 (Dhoni, 7.5 ov), 6-82 (YK Pathan, 9.4 ov), 7-101 (IK Pathan, 13.3 ov), 8-162 (Harbhajan Singh, 19.6 ov)

New Zealand 166 for 3 in 18.5 overs (JD Ryder LBW Ishanth Sharma 1, BB McCullum 56 not out, MJ Guptill LBW Harbhajan 41, LRPL Taylor bowled Zaheer Khan 31, JDP Oram 29 not out, Extras--8 (w 5, nb 3), Zaheer Khan 4-0-20-1, Ishanth Sharma 4-0-35-1, Irfan Pathan 3-0-38-0, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-19-1, Yousuf Pathan 2.5-0-37-0, Yuvaraj Singh 1-0-17-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-2 (Ryder, 1.1 ov), 2-56 (Guptill, 6.4 ov), 3-106 (Taylor, 13.2 ov)

India's Tour to New Zealand - Schedule

India is touring New Zealand in Feb-Mar 2009. The team will play 2 T20s, 5 ODIs and 3 Test Matches. The schedule is given below:

T20 Schedule:

1st T20: Wed Feb 25, 2009 at Christchurch, 19:00 Local, 06:00 GMT, 11:30 IST

2nd T20: Fri Feb 27, 2009 at Wellington, 19:00 Local, 06:00 GMT, 11:30 IST

ODI Schedule:

1st ODI: Tue Mar 3, 2009 at Napier, 14:00 Local, 01:00 GMT, 06:30 IST

2nd ODI: Fri Mar 6, 2009 at Wellington, 14:00 Local, 01:00 GMT, 06:30 IST

3rd ODI: Sun Mar 8, 2009 at Christchurch, 14:00 Local, 01:00 GMT, 06:30 IST

4th ODI: Wed Mar 11, 2009 at Hamilton, 14:00 Local, 01:00 GMT, 06:30 IST

5th ODI: Sat Mar 14, 2009 at Auckland, 14:00 Local, 01:00 GMT, 06:30 IST

Test Match Schedule:

1st Test: Wed Mar 18-22, 2009 at Hamilton 11:00 Local, 22:00 GMT, 05:30 IST

2nd Test: Thu Mar 26-30, 2009 at Napier, 10:30 Local, 21:30 GMT, 05:00 IST

3rd Test: Fri Apr 3-7, 2009 at Wellington, 10:30 Local, 21:30 GMT, 05:00 IST

India tour to Pak in Danger!

India tour to Pakistan is in danger. India is blaming Pakistan for the recent bomb blasts and terror attacks in Mumbai. Indian Government has claimed that they have vital proofs to show that Pakistan is involved.

India also asked for handing over of 20 top terrorits from Pakistan. With Australia cancelling their tour few months back, if India also pulls out, it will kill the PCB.

Recently Pakistan played against West Indies in a neutral venue, Abu Dhabi.

PCB is requesting India to vist Pakistan not worrying about the security threats. There is almost a bomb blast in Pakistan every week. India is worried about that and also about the attacks in Mumbai.

If Pakistan government does not respond properly, then the tour will mostly be called off.

Venue Changed Again! Ahemadabad Out, Mohali In!

The venue and the match schedule has been changed again for the England tour to continue. The England team went back to their home after cancelling the last two ODIs after the terror attack in Mumbai.

The 2nd Test was scheduled to be played in Mumbai, but it was changed to Chennai. Now, the schedule has been drawn again eliminating the practice match against the Indian Board President's XI.

The first test will be played in Chenni and the second test will be played in Mohali. Ahemadabad has been removed as the venue for the first test and Mumbai has been replaced by Mohali.

The revised schedule:

Dec 5-7, 2008: Indian Board President's XI v. England XI - Vadodara - CANCELLED
Dec 11-15, 2008: 1st Test: India v. England - Chennai
Dec 19-23, 2008: 2nd Test: India v. England - Mohali

World Cup May out of India!

With the recent terror attacks in Mumbai on 26th November 2008, the current England tour was disturbed. The team went back to England cancelling the remaining two ODIs. In the seven match series, England lost the first 5 ODIs and were supposed to play the last two ODIs in Guwathi and Delhi.

The terror attack in varous places of Mumbai completely shaken the England team and made them go back to England. CST, Taj Mahal Hotel, Trident-Oberoi Hotel, and Nariman House were attacked on November 26th which lasted till November 28, 2008.

English media reported that with these kinds of terror attacks in India, and in fact in Pakistan as well, the sub-continent may lose the chance of hosting the 2011 world cup. With already Australia declining to visit Pakistan and England returning home, if in the next years, if India is attacked, there is a chance that the world cup may be hosted by another country.

Let us see what BCCI has to say about it! I expect them to ignore this threat!

Venue Changed for England Test Series

After the recent terror attacks in Mumbai at Taj Mahal Hotel, Trident-Oberoi Hotel, and Nariman House on 26th of November 2008, England team called off the remaining 2 ODIs and went back to England citing security concerns. After a detailed discussions with the ECB, BCCI has agreed to change the venue of the test series.

Below is the revised schedule with change in the venue:

December 5-7, 2008 - Practice Game - Indian Board Presidents XI v. England XI - Vadodara
December 11-15, 2008 - 1st Test - India v. England - Ahmedabad
December 19-23, 2008 - 2nd Test - India v. England - Chennai

The venue of the 2nd test has been changed to Chennai.