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Shoaib Malik's composed maiden Test hundred steered Pakistan to an spirited draw on the final day of the first Test against Sri Lanka. Malik was given support by Faisal Iqbal in a 115-run partnership, with whom he defied Sri Lanka for much of the morning and afternoon. The draw thus ended Sri Lankan hopes of a first Test victory against Pakistan at home for 20 years, confirmed Pakistan's recently acquired resolve and displayed Malik's versatility.

Malik played beautifully for148* which made sure that pakistan managed with a draw which could have been the other way had he given out leg-before which many think was out, had there noyt been an interruption because of rain.

Final score looks like this:

Pakistan 176 and 337 for 4 (Malik 148*, Iqbal 60) drew with Sri Lanka 185 and 448 for 5 dec

A 118-run stand between Raina and Dhnoi has made sure that India reach home comfortably with 4 wickets in hand and 1 over remaining, India's latest teenage prodigy, and the wicketkeeper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, rescued India from a middle-order collapse and carried them to a comfortable four-wicket victory in the second one-day international at Faridabad.

Indian Bolwers bowled magnificantly particularly powar who was brought in place of VRV Singh, he bowled well for and took 3 wickets for 30 runs in his alloted 10 overs.Yuvraj too bowled well and ground fielding was excellent but the catching is a concern.

India started off beautifully with 61-0, but after the break of this partnership they slipped to 95-5 with Dhoni and Raina at crease, but these played well and added 118 runs for 6th wicket.Finally Dhoni was out but Raina made sure he was there till the end, and India won the match.

India 230 for 6 in 49 overs(Raina 81*, Dhoni 38) beat England 226 (Pietersen 71, Strauss 61) by four wickets

Man of the match: Suresh Raina

Sangakarra's special follwed by murali's magic has placed them close to a victory over pakistan.Beautiful batting display by Sangakarra 185 and good supporting roles by mahela and few others has really put srilanks on the top in first test over pakistan.

Having played well for 59 without loss, Pakistan lost two quick wickets to Muralitharan to end the day a little forlorn at 89 for 2.We have to wait and see what will happen at the end of days play.

Harbhajan spins India to a fantastic win over England in 1st one day international at delhi.Harbhajan took 5 wickets to give india victory and lead in the one day series.

It didn't started that well for India specially the middle order played horibly placed at 147 for 7 before Harbhajan got stuck the blows with the bat and then with his spin, finally india managed a meagre total of 203.

Irfan pathan set the tone with superb display of swing and removed two quick in the form of Andrew Strauss and Owais Shah.Later the tempo taken away by Prior, but he was out when the score was 57, and England lost 3 wickets at 57 and are in a bit of trouble, but Kevin peterson joined with his new captain Flintioff took the attack to opposition and really batted beautifully.

A mis calculated sweep from Kevin is what India is looking for, and middle order is exposed to turbonator who really bowled well to take 5 wickets, and finally India are victorious.

Scores look like this at the end of the day:

India 203 (Harbhajan 37, Kabir Ali 4-45) beat England 164 (Pietersen 46, Harbhajan 5-31) by 39 runs

Man of the match:Harbhajan Singh

Kallis the allrounder and Devilliers are leading the day after a poor display of batting by Gibbs and Smith.Kallis raced to his half-century from just 49 balls, and devilliers played well for his 48*.Kallis is at his best after coming back from injury, and scored 12 boundaries ans ended up 72*.

Australia sensed a top order collapse as Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz both picked up early wickets to drop South Africa to 10 for 2, but Kallis hit back and the tourists. Warne bowled below his best and will be seeking fast improvement as his side defends the first-innings 369.

Day 3 South Africa 140 for 2 (Kallis 72*, de Villiers 48*) trail Australia 369 (Ponting 103, Hussey 75, Martyn 57, Ntini 3-81, Nel 3-83) by 229 runs

Sachin ruled out his chances of retirement after getting booed by his home fans.He said issue was blown out of proportion by the media.He added that it was small part of the crowd that did this,maximum capacity of Wankade stadium is with me.We need to ignore this and concentrate on cricket.

I think I am middiling the ball great, and from the bottom of my heart I know I am giving 100 percent then why should I think of retirement, the day I think I am not contributing that will be the last day of my cricketing.

Sachin left for London to undergo a surgery on his shoulder.He was accompinied by his wife Anjali.It was Dr. Wallace who had operated on Tendulkar's tennis elbow will be operating him. Because of this sachin has to miss the One day series against England, sachin could also miss the early part of the tour of West Indies, starting on May 18, as it would take at least eight weeks for him to recuperate.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

England pulled off a magnificent series-levelling 212-run win, their biggest victory in the subcontinent.The target of 313 was almost like impossible as it was not acheived in the last 216 test matches that were played in India.But the patriotism and the recent run chase by South Africa against Australia in one day series made me beleive that records are there to be break.

But things didn't went India's way right from the first over, impressive Hoggard was moving the ball both ways to make things tough for India, and he got the break in the form of Kumble who was out leg before.soon after followed by Wasim jaffer, but things look rosy when sachin was playing with ease and India moved to Lunch with 75/3.

Flintoff after lunch proved too good for Dravid and dravid was caught by jones and sachin followed him soon by poking a ball outside off stump,and the famous middle order collapse which we have forgotten for the last 5-6 months was on the picture, not even in form batsman yuvraj and dhoni could stop it, and this brings England victory by 212 runs.

Man of the Match: A Flintoff
Player of the Series: A Flintoff

Sachin Tendulkar is out of the One day serious not because of his poor form in the ongoing test serious, but his labrum tear* and cyst in his right shoulder for which he was adviced to undergo a surgery on his right shoulder.

This turned to be good for Andhra Batsman Venugopal rao, who was dropped for pakistan series, he got a recall from BCCI, and munaf patel after impressing in the test matches has been given a green signal by selectors for One day series.


Team India for first three one days is as follows:

Rahul Dravid (Capt),Virender Sehwag(Vice-Capt), Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Venugopal Rao, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Rudra Pratap Singh

Rahul Dravid has been appointed as the captain of team Inida till World Cup 2007.He will be the captain in Both forms of cricket announced by the BCCI president Sharad Pawar.

BCCI has the tradition of announcing the captain for the series which they have broke it just thrice once with Mohammad Azharuddin, and it happened twice with Dravid.In 1998 BCCI handed over captaincy to Azhar for one year, and the next time it happened is with Dravid when he was handed over the captaincy for two one-day series, against Sri Lanka and South Africa.

All the Best Dravid for the World cup and the current series against England.

Stuart Clark display with bowl in both the innings has made sure that Australia win the first test match easily, they won the match with two days to spare.It was a splendid performace by Stuart clarke on debut to pick up 5 wickets in the first innings and 4 wickets to follow up in the second innings.

Stuart ended up with figures of 9 for 89, whom everone thought will be a twelfth man,but Ricky has other plans in mind and it really payed off this time.Australia won the match comfortably with seven wickets in hand.

Australia 308 and 95 for 3 (Ntini 3-28) beat South Africa 205 and 197 (Rudolph 41, Clark 4-34) by 7 wickets

Man of the Match: SR Clark

It's the decision to bowl after winning the toss by Rahul Dravid first was monumental if this has any negative effects on th result on the match.England right from ball one are confident and truely played professionally and gave Indian bolwers hard time.

It all started by Strauss who delivered for the team with a superb 128, to add to him debutant Shah played magnificently for his 50 after which he retired.Later a quick fire by Pieterson ensured there in a raise in the run rate, finally flintof and paul collingwood ensured there is no more wicket loss, so that they can capitalize the next morning.

From Inidan point of view Sree santh bowled well, and got 2 crucial wickets and finally score looks like this at the end of days play.

Total 272/3 from 89 overs

The Indian board has filed a formal complaint with the police against Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former board president, accusing him of misappropriation of funds during the 1996 World Cup.

A few hours after the complaint was lodged, Dalmiya said that there was "no truth in their allegations" and that they were based on "malicious intent".

"It is all the more surprising that such action has been taken by the BCCI even when the matter is sub-judice," said Dalmiya.

The board headed by Sharad Pawar had recently appointed a three-member committee to look into irregularities in the PILCOM (Pakistan-India-Lanka Committee) account. The PILCOM had overseen the conduct of the1996 World Cup held in the subcontinent.

Last week the board issued a show-cause notice to Dalmia on this issue and gave him 15 days to reply to it. Dalmiya then obtained a stay order from the Calcutta City Civil Court against the show-cause notice. Subsequently, the board's lawyers challenged the stay order at the Calcutta High Court and today a division bench comprising Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice PN Sinha, refusing to pass any interim order on the matter, directed that the appeal would be heard tomorrow.

The reviewing of the PILCOM account had raised several pertinent questions. These include: the absence of proper audits from 1996 to 2006; the fact that the Kolkata bank account meant for legal expenses relating to PILCOM was wound up on February 4, 2006, when Dalmiya was not authorised to do so as he ceased to be convenor secretary from January 23, 2006; Rs 65,000 was withdrawn in cash every month from April 2005 to December 2005 without any voucher or supporting documents.

Sri Lanka have suffered a triple blow ahead of their opening one-day against Pakistan, on Friday, with Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas and Ruchira Perera being ruled out.Vaas and Perera are carrying shoulder strains, while Jayasuriya had originally been cleared to play in the match, but aggravated a thigh problem during practice.

Farveez Maharoof and Dammika Prasad, who were given opportunities on the tour of Bangladesh, could now be given a further chance to play for their nation.

Squad:*Marvan Atapattu , Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga,
Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan , Russel Arnold, Chamara Kapugedera
Farveez Maharoof , Chaminda Vaas , Malinga Bandara, Muttiah Muralitharan
Ruchira Perera , Nuwan Kulasekara, Kaushal Lokuarachchi

After a thumping win in the second test India’s Selection panel headed by Kiran More have decided not to change the squad. He is satisfied by the performances of Munaf Patel and Piyush Chawla although the latter bowled just 14.1 overs in the match. He said that both these players have the capability to with stand the pressure and make big in the international cricket.

He mentioned about the form these players are in the domestic level with 88 first-class wickets in the last couple of seasons by Munaf Patel and 40 wickets this season by Piyush Chawla.

Squad - Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh, Piyush Chawla

India to victory Over England in Second Test, thanks to good bowling performances by Munaf Patel and Kubmle.They bowled exceptionally well and restricted England to 181.England started the day with 112/5 (Flintoff 16*, Jones 1*; 51 overs), but things went India's way and they cleaned up the England to 181.

Then India batted well with Sehwag firing with all clyinders, he lived up the expectations and batted brilliantly to score 76 from 89 balls.He got great support from Indian captain Dravid 42 from 77 balls.

Positives from the test are that Munaf Patel took seven wickets and piyush chawla bowled pretty well.Sehwag back to form and batted beautifully for his 76 with 9 fours and a six.

Result: India won by 9 wickets
Series: India leads the 3-Test series 1-0
Man of the Match: A Kumble

Bond's Express deliveries with swing added has brought victory to New Zealand by 27 runs.Needing 54 runs with two wickets left west Indies were bowled out with 27 runs short of the target.

This is how the score board looks after the match:

New Zealand 275 (Styris 103*, Astle 51) and 272 (McCullum 74, Gayle 4-71) beat West Indies 257 (Sarwan 62, Bravo 59) and 263 (Gayle 82, Ganga 95, Bond 5-69) by 27 runs

On a given day Records tumble like pack of cards…..It happened in the match between South Africa and Australia, where records were surpassed. These are the records

• Most sixes in a match: 26

• Most fours in a match: 87

• Mick Lewis, who conceded a whopping 113 runs, has the most expensive bowling figures in a ten-over spell in ODIs

• A total of 872 runs were scored in this match, making it the highest match aggregate in ODIs, going past the previous highest of 693, made by India and Pakistan at Karachi in 2004.

• South Africa has broken the world record for the highest successful chase in ODIs.

• South Africa's 438 for 9 is the highest total in ODIs beating the previous best by Australia in the same match 434/4

• This is the only match in which both the teams have crossed 400 plus runs

• This also equals the highest total in List-A games (inclusive of domestic ODI’s games): Surrey had made 438 for 5 against Glamorgan at The Oval in 2002.

• This is the highest total batting second in a One day Match.

The BCCI today said that it would ask all telecom operators who provide scores and match updates through SMS to enter into commercial agreements. If telecom companies are offering SMS free, we have no issue. If they are charging for this, then the information is the property of the board. We should get appropriate share of revenue from it,"

On any playing day the estimate SMS business in India to generate Rs 20-22 crore and the board expects Rs 8-10 crore a day from it. Legal notices were sent by the board last week to the concerned telecom companies, including Bharti Televentures, Reliance Infocomm and Idea, questioning their circulation of scores without its approval. "We will be constrained to take appropriate legal action and take the matter to its logical conclusion," a BCCI counsel said.

South Africa won the greatest match and with it the series 3-2.It was a nail biting finish where boucher has done justice to his experience and South Africa and brought the home side to shore.Needing 435 to win in 50 overs South African captain started the innings with Boeta Dippenar but they lost their first wicket with 3 runs on the board.Then came Herschele Gibbs he played a gem of an innings and made the dream come true for South Africa chasing 435.

The match went to the last over needing 7 runs to win the series Telemachus skied the ball and was well taken by Hussey.Then came AJ Hall seem to have the match in control when he pulled Brett Lee for four through the vacant midwicket region but, with two runs needed from four balls and two wickets in the bag, he spooned his very next delivery to Michael Clarke at mid-on. That meant that it would be the No. 11, Makhaya Ntini, on strike to face the decisive deliveries, but this time there was no mistake from Number 11 and he guided the ball to third man and mark boucher hit Brett Lee for four bringing the home side a memorable victory.

Shane Bond put New Zealand on top what should be Wset Indies Position at the end of day.His Bolwing with fierce pace and swing, swung the match in New Zealand's favour.

Bowling extended spells with accurate pace, in a scintillating display of fast bowling, Bond's four-wicket burst broke the back of the West Indian chase. The collapse that ensued frittered away a perfect platform that Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga had laid with dominant half-centuries. However, with 70 runs to get and three wickets in hand, Denesh Ramdin and Ian Bradshaw defied New Zealand, after Bond had been taken off, during a 25-run partnership.

Lara's Wicket was the turn around in the run chase he was bowled first ball by Bond,then Astle took the crucial wicket of Daren Ganga who was out on 95, he played well for his 95 and desevres 100.West Indies require another 45 runs with 2 wickets remaining we have to wait and see whether west Indies can pull up the victory which seemed easy at one moment of time(especially after their first wicket stand).

The day didn't start that well for India losing Dhoni in the first half-hour of the play, but things improved and India managed to take 38 runs lead, thanks to fine display of batting lower middle order especially by Irfan,Harbhajan,Kumble. Not to forget the Wall's(Dravid's) effort 95 splendid innings from him.

England's Batting started woefully buy loosing wicket of Cook(First test centurion) cheaply this time.But the credit should be given to the Indian pacers, they maintained superb line and length.Both the spinners got considerable purchase out of the wicket, and troubled the batsmen with turn and bounce and reduced England 112 for 5.

England's hopes of a fightback rest on the last recognised pair, Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones, who are at the crease. With the Indians pushing hard for a victory on a helpful pitch, an engrossing final day's play is on the cards.

Ricky Ponting produced most sensational one-day innings of all time to power Australia to the first 400-plus score in ODI history (previously by Srilanka). Ponting had creamed 164 sublime runs from 105 balls, with 13 fours and an astonishing nine sixes. It was the finest exhibition of clean-hitting.

Ricky Ponting launched a furious assault on South Africa's bowlers, as Australia hurtled towards a vast total in the fifth and decisive one-day international at the Wanderers. After 39 overs, the total stood at an imposing 293 for 2, and Ponting himself was 109 not out, having brought up his 20th one-day hundred from just 71 balls.

To all intents and purposes, Ponting was producing a re-run of his thrilling World-Cup winning 140 not out, on this very ground three years ago. After a comparatively measured start to his innings, he launched Jacques Kallis for consecutive sixes over the leg side to bring up his half-century from 43 balls, and then set about destroying the South African morale, with the Test series getting underway in just four days' time.

Australia's batsmen made a flying start to the fifth and final one-day international at the Wanderers, reaching 183 for 1 after 27 overs of their innings. After Ricky Ponting had won the toss and chosen to take first use of a fine straw-coloured batting track, Adam Gilchrist led the way with a blazing 35-ball half-century, before Simon Katich and Ponting picked up an already frenetic tempo with a blistering 119-run partnership.

Kumble reached 500 wickets mark in test cricket by taking the wicket of SJ Harmison.
He was given Leg before by Simion Tuafel.Today he became the first to take 500 Test wickets in Indian cricket history, and joins Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath and Courtney Walsh in an exclusive club.He is the second-fastest to reach the 500 mark in terms of matches played, ahead of Warne, McGrath and Walsh. The only bowler to do it in fewer matches is Murali, who achieved the feat in 87 Tests.

As of Today his stands are

Anil Kumble 105* 5493.1 501 28.87/65.7

Born in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) into a middle class family, Tendulkar was named after his family's favorite music director Sachin Dev Burman. He went to Sharadashram Vidyamandir School where he started his cricketing career. He, when in school was involved in a mammoth 664 run partnership in a Harris Shield game with friend and International team mate Vinod Kambli, and in 1988/89 scored 100 not out in his first first-class match, for Bombay against Gujurat. Aged 15 years 232 days, he was then by some distance the youngest player ever to score a century on debut.

He played his first international match against Pakistan in Karachi facing up to the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. He scored just 15 runs and was bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match. It was an innings very different from how the rest of his career went. He followed it up with his maiden test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad. However he could not get a century in that series. His One-day International (ODI) debut on December 18 was equally disappointing where he was dismissed without scoring a run again by Waqar Younis. The series was followed by a non-descript tour of New Zealand in which he did not make remarkable contribution. In the tour of England in 1990 he scored his maiden test century but the other scores were not remarkable. It was in the 1991/1992 tour of Australia that he made his mark as a remarkable batsman

He than became the first batsman to score 50 hundreds in international cricket, Sachin Tendulkar established himself as the greatest of all Indian cricketers. Recognised by Sir Donald Bradman as his modern incarnation, Tendulkar has a skill - a genius - which only a handful have possessed. It was not a skill that he was simply born with, but one which was developed by his intelligence and an infinite capacity for taking pains.

Full name Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born April 24, 1973, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Age 33 years
Major teams India, ACC Asian XI, Mumbai, Yorkshire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak googly

Test Debut: India v Pakistan at Karachi, 1st Test, 1989/90

ODI Debut: India v Pakistan at Gujranwala, 2nd ODI, 1989/90

At the tender age of 16, Tendulkar was thrust into the international spotlight in his debut test match. Now he is a living legend and continues to amaze India and the world with his incredible cricket skills.

Called "The Little Champion" and "The Greatest Batsman Alive," Tendulkar stands at only 5'4. However, in spirit and talent, he towers over his colleagues. He was made captain of the Indian cricket team from 1996-1997, and was the second youngest captain in Indian cricket history.

more to come........