India pegged back with late wickets

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir put on a 90-run opening stand to tilt the evenly poised second Test in India's favour at Galle on Saturday. Anil Kumble's three wickets, which included the prize scalp of his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahela Jayawardene, helped India take a 37-run first innings lead as the home side were bowled out for 292. Harbhajan Singh took six wickets in the innings.

Valiant Viru: Charm, charisma & class

When Virender Sehwag makes a comment, you better believe it.
He is also the batsman who has managed in part to unravel the so-called mystery of Ajantha Mendis variety of spin. This alone is exciting enough as Mendis has many awed by the way he has started his career and earned his wickets: facile words such as
wizard and magician follows his every footstep. But all that is media hype.Fortunately Sri Lankan Army second lieutenant keeps feet on terra firma. In fact there is the impression others are more impressed by all the publicity surrounding him than is Mendis who has admitted to enjoying being with his parents.
But for Sehwag, the reality is in his run-scoring ability and not only the way he mastered Mendis and tamed the menace. By the end day one (Thursday) of this second Test here, and already well into what is his fifteenth Test century, he suggested that the job had only been partly done as he first needed to rescue India then build the innings towards a competitive total.

Asia Cup 11th ODI India VS Sri Lanka Highlights India

India post a fluent six-wicket win, march into the final

Karachi: So true are the tracks at the National Stadium here, that even a score of around 310 is never safe. Once again, teh team batting second made a mockery of the big score they chased. The Indian batsmen found few devils in the pitch and none at all in the bowling as they sailed to a comfortable win over Sri Lanka to book a place in the final of the Asia Cup.Chasing Sri Lanka's 308-8, India comfortably reached 310-4 in 46.5 overs.ndia now take on Sri Lanka again in the final on Sunday,while Pakistan and Bangladesh play for statistics on Friday.

Raina fashions roaring seven-wicket win

Karachi: Suresh Raina's midas touch in the Asia Cup continued, as a breathtaking 116 not out by the southpaw saw India chase down a 284-run target with ease.Raina scored an unbeaten 116 as India cantered home against Bangladesh in 43.2 overs with seven wickets in hand. Gautam Gambhir also came up with a masterful 90 to lead the charge in the run-chase in the first Super Four clash.Earlier, riding on a 96-ball blitzkrieg of 115 by Alok Kapali, Bangladesh amassed 283-6.
Gambhir and Raina powered India's third straight win in the tournament. Gambhir perished 10 short of what would have been a well-deserved hundred but Raina, along with Yuvraj, took the team home.Yuvraj pounded some hefty blows, including two towering sixes during his unbeaten 36, but the real heroes of the game were Gambhir and Raina, who made Bangladesh pay heavily for missed chances as they put up a majestic 139-run stand.Raina, after scores of 101 (against Hong Kong) and 84 against (Pakistan) earlier this week, continued his dream run in the Asia Cup as he notched up the second century of his career. The southpaw smashed a six and then a four off Abdur Razzak to reach his ton in 93 balls. He clobbered 11 fours and three sixes during his 107-ball innings.

Asia-Cup Cricket 2008: India innings vs Pakistan

Sehwag and Raina seal thumping win

A mighty performance from India's batsmen, led by Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina, made easy work of Pakistan's competitive target of 300 and gave India two points to take into the next round. The pair tore into Pakistan's depleted and wayward bowling attack - scoring at more than eight an over during their second-wicket partnership of 198 - as India reached the target with six wickets and 47 balls to spare, their quickest chase while facing a target of 300.

Sehwag special takes India home by six wickets

Karachi: Virender Sehwag came to the party at the National Stadium here, scoring the fastest One-day International century against Pakistan by any batsman, as India walked away with a surprisingly easy six-wicket victory in their crucial Group B Clash.Set 300 to win, India eased to their target with the loss of four wickets in just 42.1 overs.Sehwag scored his century off just 80 balls, with the help of ten boundaries and five sixes and was involved in a big standwith Suresh Raina that settled it in India's favour.Sehwag and Raina put on 198 runs after India lost Gautam Gambhir early to a blinder taken by Misbah-ul-Haq at gully. Raina was also extremely aggressive and the duo were always on the ball with the run-rate.
Raina faced 69 balls as he blasted ten fours and three sixes in his innings of 84, and looked all set to get his second consecutive century before he carved one straight down Fawad Alam's throat off Rao Ifthikhar Anjum.
Sehwag, who knocked up his ninth One-day hundred, also departed soon after offering a skier to Younis Khan, before Yuvraj Singh and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni continued India's surge towards the formidable target with relative ease.

ASIA CUP CRICKET 2008 India Vs Hong Kong

India canter to 256-run win in one-sided affair

Karachi: Even before the start of the match the result was known to one and all. And when both Suresh Raina and India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored centuries to pile up 374–4 against a hapless Hong Kong, the tame battle was just waiting to get
over and the job was successfully finished sooner than later by Piyush Chawla, who claimed 4-23 to give India a 256-run victory against the minnows in their Asia Cup tie here on Wednesday.
it was Virender Sehwag who laid a solid platform in the beginning and from there Raina and Dhoni continued the good work to score their respective centuries as well.
A 127-run stand between the openers - Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir -- and then another huge fourth-wicket partnership of 166 between Dhoni and Raina left Hong Kong looking for cover.

Indian cricket team fielding at thier best

yuvraj 6 sixes off 6 balls

Sehwag the best

Hightlights - India Vs Pakistan - India Innings - Kitply cup

India crush Pakistan by huge 140-run margin

Dhaka: Praveen Kumar ran through the top-order as Paksitan, chasing a near-impossible 331 for a win, surrendered virtually without a fight to be dismissed for 190 in the tri-series contest at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium here, handing India a huge 140-run win.
Praveen returned figure of 4-53 as the top four batsmen fell to him, and Pakistan were virtually out of the contest by the end of the fifth over when they batted.
Pakistan lost three wickets with next to nothing on the scoreboard, and were never in the game after that. Praveen Kumar removed Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohd Yousuf in rapid succession, and then Kamran Akmal also fell to him after using the long handle for a while.
Once Misbah-ul-Haq also departed, edging Ishant Sharma to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the match was effectively over, as the slower bowlers led by Piyush Chawla (4-40) then wrapped up the rest of the batting.Skipper Shoaib Malik scored a half-century, but was never convincing.
Earlier, Virender Sehwag (89) and Gautam Gambhir (62) put up 155 runs for the opening wicket as India finished at 330-8.Yuvraj Singh also contributed 55 while Dhoni and Suresh Raina chipped in to add to the total, as the Paksitanis came up with one of their worst bowling performances in the recent years.
Umar Gul picked up three wickets but went for 61 runs, while the rest of the bowling ranged between the unimaginative and the pathetic. Some attacking batting by the Indians, combined with some pathetic bowling and equally ridiculous captaincy by Malik saw
India rattle up a potentially match-winning 330-8 in their tri-series game after Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat.

Desperate Mumbai seek to shock rampaging Jaipur again

Jaipur: The narrow defeat to Delhi Daredevils on Saturday may have dented their smooth progress to the last-four stage, but the Mumbai team will be encouraged by the fact that they have beaten the Royals earlier in their own backyard.The Mumbai outfit is in a do-or-die situation as they have 12 points in their kitty from as many matches and two more victories will take them to a maximum of 16 points to ensure a berth in the semis."We still have two games to go. We have done it (beat Rajasthan) before and we can do it again. We will be going out there positively. We will be focusing on the processes and if we can get the fielding back, we have the game in the pocket," said Robin Uthappa, a key member of the Mumbai team.The Rajasthan outfit, on the other hand, is at the peak of their dream run despite some experimentation being done by their shrewd captain-cum-coach Shane Warne. The Royals have a cent percent record at home, and they would prefer to keep it that way against Mumbai on Monday.

"It is important for our squad that we are the best that we can be. It is also important that everyone gets an opportunity and the players who we want perform in the finals, they get the best opportunities," said Warne.And the fact that Graeme Smith looks like a doubtful starter due to a hamstring niggle will also brighten up the Mumbai Indians' eyes as they would apply every trick in the book to seal a semifinal berth.

Ganguly, Gul puncture Punjab's run

n today's second match of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), the Kolkata Knight Riders took on the Kings XI Punjab. Punjab had already qualified for the semi-finals, and Kolkata were already out of reckoning for the same. Yuvraj Singh won the toss and decided to bat first on a slow wicket at the Eden Gardens, as he had two spinners to exploit the slowness in Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar.

The Kolkata Knight Riders got in their secret weapon - mystery bowler Ajantha Mendis, whereas James Hopes and Irfan Pathan made their way back in place of Luke Pomersbach and Gagandeep Singh.

Shaun Marsh and James Hopes opened the innings for the Punjab team, and got them off to a flier. Umar Gul, who usually likes to bowl at the death, bowled the first over for five, but Ishant Sharma at the other end was thrashed for 16 - including five wides - to take Punjab to 21/0. Ganguly immediately got Ishant out of the attack, and introduced Mendis into the attack. He cost only three in his first, but ten in his next, as he was hit for a couple of boundaries by the man in superlative touch, Marsh. However, Gul managed to get one through Hopes' defences, getting him LBW. Inshant Sharma bowled the last over of the Power Play, but conceded 10 runs, as the Kings XI reached 47/1 in 6 overs.

Ganguly tried all possible combinations of bowling. He got in Ashok Dinda, but he went for ten runs; Laxmi Ratan Shukla was smashed for 23 in his two; whereas Hussey bowled reasonably well but still went for over eight an over. Punjab were 82/1 at the halfway stage, and 104/1 in 12, and it was only when Marsh tried to go over the top off the bowling of Mendis that Kolkata finally broke through. The young Aussie gone for 40.

However that did not stop Kumar Sangakkara from lashing out at every loose - and not-so-loose - delivery that came his way. He brought up his fifty in fine style, carving one over the extra-cover, and hit another four and six off Gul, before finally getting caught in front of the stumps. Sangakkara's 64 came off only 45 deliveries. That did not deter the scoring rate though, as Mahela Jayawardena and Yuvraj Singh continued from where Sangakkara had left off. If the 16th and 17th over cost 14 in all, then Ishant Sharma's fourth and the 18th of the innings went for 16 runs. However, Dinda and Gul made sure that the Kings would not reach anywhere near the 200 they could have after the kind of start they had, and Punjab ended with 174/6 in 20 overs.

Chasing 175 for the win, Knight Riders' skipper Sourav Ganguly opened the innings with Salman Butt and his intentions were absolutely clear. Ganguly hit the last couple of deliveries of Irfan Pathan's first over for fours, which were vintage Ganguly shots - a pull and a cover drive to the fence. Inspired by this, Butt followed suit as he too smashed a couple of boundaries - again off Pathan - and then Ganguly followed it up with a six and a four in a Powar over. It was only in the sixth over of the innings that Punjab pulled back - Kolkata were 45/0 in 5 - when Sreesanth first got Butt caught off the slow leg-spinner that he bowls these days. Debabrata Das walked in but lasted only a ball, caught plumb in front of the wicket for a duck, and Sreesanth was on a hat-trick. David Hussey staved off the hat-trick ball and then cut one to the boundary as Kolkata reached 51/2 in 6 overs.

If these two wickets slowed down the scoring, then Chawla's wicket of Hussey, and Shukla's wicket scalped by VRV Singh shocked them into submission. Ganguly was still at the crease, but was struggling with his touch against the slower bowling of Powar and Chawla, as Kolkata limped to 78/4 in 11 overs.

78/4 soon became 104/5 and then 106/6 as Pathan, Hopes and VRV Singh all bowled some very tight overs for Punjab. With 71 needing off 30 deliveries, Umar Gul continued his bowling form and smacked two big sixes in the Hopes over. This, in more ways than one, inspired Ganguly too, who then danced down the track to Chawla to send the ball into the crowds twice, with a four sandwiching the two sixes. All of a sudden the Knight Riders needed 39 in the last three overs, a distinct possibility if Ganguly stayed on.

Ganguly did stay on, but it was Umar Gul who smashed Sreesanth for 16 runs in the 18th over to reduce the target to 23 runs in the last two overs. Gul was caught at the boundary, Ganguly hit the next delivery for four, but a good over by VRV Singh ensured that 15 runs were needed off the last over. Irfan Pathan bowled the last over but could not prevent Ganguly from hitting a six, a couple and another six to level scores, and then a single to win the match for the Knight Riders. Ganguly's unbeaten match-winning 86, had come off 53 balls and had six 6s and an equal number of fours.

Umar Gul won the Player of the Match award, for his four wickets and twenty four valuable runs - although it was a case of too little too late for the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise!

Rain leaves Daredevils frustrated

Prolonged unseasonal showers at Delhi meant the match between the Delhi Daredevils and the Kolkata Knight Riders was a non-starter. After the showers stopped, umpires AV Jayaprakash and Brian Jerling made two inspections - the last of the two at 2200 Hrs Local Time - and then decided to call off the match.
Both teams shared the spoils from the match with one point each.Despite the one point from this match, the Knight Riders, for whom this was a must-win game, are out of contention from making it to the last four.
The Delhi Daredevils have one more outing against the Mumbai Indians, and a win there will only keep their hopes of making it to the last four alive. Mumbai have twelve points from 11 matches, and if they emerge triumphant in Saturday's encounter against the Daredevils, that will almost ensure them of a place in the knockout round.