Sri Lanka tour to Pakistan. 1st ODI, 2013.

Pakistan 322 runs/5 wickets 

Sri Lanka 311 runs/10 wickets  

Pakistan won by 11 runs and leads the series 1-0        

  

         

The action returns form the Desert Fortress i.e. U.A.E. as Pakistan hosts the Sri Lankans on their 2^nd Home ground. After an amazing but DRAWN T20i series we are finally up to a 5-match ODI series. Both the teams had already introduced some exciting players including form of Sharjeel Khan of Pakistan and Seekkuge Prasanna of Sri Lanka marked the arrival of some nail biting contests upfront.

     

The match started with the toss right in favor of the HOSTS and they decided to Bat First. The pitch of Sharjah looked a perfect batting paradise and it was confirmed that it contains 300+ runs but with the uncertain batting line-up of Pakistan, it was not expected but who knew they would blast the things. Pakistan started up with Ahmad Shahzad and the debutant Sharjeel Khan who looked extremely impressive in the T20i. The debutant continued his impressive form scoring 61 runs followed by 6 fours and 3 immense sixes with a strike rate of 100.0. Though Ahmad Shahzad(11 runs) was already sent back to the pavilion by Suranga Lakmal but the debutant kept on knocking around for his Maiden 50 in his ODI Debut. Finally he was caught on boundary on the ball of Sekkuge Prasanna but the debutant had made his mark. There began the 140 runs stand between Muhammad Hafeez and Sohaib Maqsood. Both of them played excellently through the end overs and made sure that they set a platform from which the strikers could launch.

       

 

Finally like all good things, the partnership too came to an end as Sohaib Maqsood was unfortunately RUN OUT by Thisara Perera/Kumar Sangakara after playing his magical knock of 73 runs off just 68 balls including 2 boundaries and 3 immense sixes. Meanwhile the T20i skipper, Muhammad Hafeez regained his form as he went up to an awesome 122 runs’ innings. He played a real mature knock like a senior member of his team. Some finishing touches were given by Shahid Khan Afridi who scored 34 runs off just 12 balls with 2 fours and 3 Heaven kissing sixes but he was bowled out by Thisara Perera. However the damage had already been done. Though Muhammad Hafeez was dismissed in the last over on the ball of Lakmal but Pakistan ended up with a huge total of 322 runs/5 wickets. Remember that this was Pakistan’s highest score in the current year.

           

  In the chase of such a huge target, Sri Lanka started pretty positively with TM Dilshan and Kusal Perera. They knocked over all the Pakistani bowlers. Sri Lanka made an opening stand of 66 runs that ended up with the departure of TM Dilshan who was caught on the delivery of Junaid Khan after an innings of 30 runs. Kusal Perera along with Kumar Sangakara took the team to the total of 113 runs where Kusal Perera was caught in front of the wickets, “lbw” by Muhammad Hafeez after scoring 64 runs. Pakistan did not have to wait for their 3^rd wicket as Kumar Sangakara(23 runs) was dismissed by Shahid Afridi.

Soon Lahiru Thirimanne(10 runs) was also undone by Shahid Afridi. He was caught wonderfully by Sohaib Maqsood on square leg. It looked to be ending for the Islanders but Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews were not in a mode of giving up. They kept on ticking on the score board as they took their side to 214 runs at the end of the powerplay but the last bowl brought the wicket of Dinesh Chandimal(46 runs) as he was RUN OUT by Saeed Ajmal and the next over, the skipper Angelo Mathews(31 runs) was sent back to the pavilion by Junaid Khan. It looked that the things were all over for the Islanders but Sachitra Senanayake and Seekkuge Prasanna kept the ends alive as they scored 42 runs each and took the team to edge of victory but it was never enough as RUN OUT of Malinga and wickets by Sohail Tanvir and Junaid Khan who dismissed Senanayake and Prasana respectively at crucial time saved the day for Pakistan as they restricted Sri Lanka for 311 runs taking 11 runs victory.

          Man of the Match was awarded to Muhammad Hafeez for his brilliant all-around performance.

              Pakistan now holds a 1-0 lead in the 5-ODI series. Let’s see if the Lankans can bounce back or its Pakistan who continue to impress everyone..........      

       

Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka 2013-14, 1st ODI Live Stream......

    Here are the live streams for Pakistan vs Sri Lanka.....................
 
                                                            Link Alpha
 

     

The Ashes 2013-14, Test 3 Day 5.

  Australia won by 150 runs and wins the ASHES 2013-14 

  

Australia 385 runs/10 wickets – 1^st Innings

England 251 runs/10 wickets – 1^st Innings

Australia 369 runs/6 wickets – 2^nd Innings

England 251 runs/5 wickets – 2^nd Innings

       

Finally the wait for the Australian fans is over as they finally regain the URN as they win the ASHES 2013-14 in straight sets 3-0. Australia finally grabs the Ashes after a long wait of approximately 5 long years. They successfully win the 3^rd match of the series and now they are eying towards clean sweep 5-0. After the victory when Michael Clarke, The Aussie skipper was asked that after series win they would be play the next 2 games in a relaxed mode to which the victorious Captain replied “I'm going to enjoy 3-0 for as long as I can tonight. I think it's really important that we celebrate and enjoy this feeling. But we'll worry about the clean sweep in Melbourne and Sydney. I can guarantee you there won't be any complacency and we will turn up in Melbourne 100% ready to go and doing everything we've done in the first three Test matches.”    

       The 5^th and final day started with Ben Stokes and Matt Prior on the crease with 4 batsmen still to come. England looked once again completely rattled as the Aussies make a strong mark with an amazing all-around performance on the field.

    

England started up the day with a mode of DRAW as Matt Prior and Ben Stokes stood solidly on the pitch. The start looked pretty cautious for the visitors as they were determined for a DRAW game and they did now want to lose a wicket. The plan looked perfect as both the batsmen looked pretty determined. Prior kept his bat on the wicket while the 22 year old Ben Stokes looked great playing shots all over. The partnership began to consume time which was the utmost desire of the English camp but Australia kept on attacking the cracks in the pitch regularly and finally in the day’s 19^th over it paid off as Mitchell Johnson provided the required break through by dismissing MATT PRIOR on 26 runs. This marked the end of the English innings. There was no fall of wicket till the lunch but both the teams had package of surprises after the lunch.

       After the lunch Ben Stokes finally became the 1^st Englishman on this tour to score a 100 but the happiness was not to last long. The boy with his maiden Century “Ben Stokes” was soon dismissed by Nathan Lyon for his well played 120 runs but could do nothing about the match’s result. Finally the things ended up for the Visitors as Graeme Swann and James Anderson were also undone Nathan Lyon and Mitcell Johnson. Stuart Broad remained Not Out at the end of the day with his 2* runs and finally the trophy was back to the home team as they reclaim the ASHES well after 5 years. Australia won the match by 150 runs.                                                                          

    The Aussie camp looked an extremely emotional side as they didn’t only regain the Ashes but also answered the questions being asked about them. There were several stories in the STORY as Peter Siddle, Shane Watson, David Warner, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson reserve their places back in the team showing what they are capable of.

     Man of the Match was awarded to Steve Smith for his match saving 100 in the 1^st Innings that kept Australia on track. Let’s see if the English nightmare finally ends up in the next 2 Tests or Michael Clarke follows Ricky Ponting and wins the series 5-0. Let’s wait and watch....  

Ashes 2013-14, Test 3, Day 4.

  Australia 385 runs/10 wickets – 1st Innings

  England 251 runs/10 wickets – 1st Innings

  Australia 369 runs/6 wickets – 2nd  Innings

  England 251 runs/5 wickets – 2nd Innings

   England trail by 253 runs with 5 wickets remaining.

            The Ashes fever continues as the 3^rd Ashes Test Match proceeds into the 4th Day today. Note that Australia holds the lead 2-0 in the previous matches during the series, the Aussies, yet again with a good all-around performance are now eyeing towards winning the series in the 3^rd Test Match in order to regain what had been lost in the past 5 years. Once again the HOME Side continues to bull-doze the British lanes as they move an INCH closer to the ASHES victory.

      

     The 4th day started with Steve Smith and Shane Watson on the crease with 3 batsmen gone back in the hut. England looks once again drowned in trouble as the Aussies to deliver a strong performance with David Warner scoring 2nd Century in the series followed by another Century of Shane Watson which clearly marked the Rule of the Aussies.

     

Australia started up the day with Steve Smith and Shane Watson on the pitch.  Previously David Warner also scored his 2nd Century in the current series. This time the Home side started solidly as the day's opening pair was looking good. It took Australia towards a solid journey as both of them successfully put together 78 runs. But the 1st ball of the 80th over broke the partnership as it was Steve Smith’s turn to leave the ground after playing a little innings off 15 runs. This time he was undone by Ben Stokes. Meanwhile Shane Watson reached his excellent 50. Soon he was joined by George Bailey who gave James Anderson a nightmare by EQUALING THE WORLD RECORD OF SCORING THE MAXIMUM RUNS IN AN A fast Bowler's TEST OVER. He thrashed James Anderson for 28 runs in an over. Finally the things ended up for the Shane Watson as was finally dismissed by Graeme Swann adding 102 run(11 x fours, 5 x sixes) to his team total. George Bailey remained Not Out at the end of the innings with his 39* runs. Australia made a good total of 369 runs at the end of their turn setting a mighty total of 504 runs.

       

 England had a huge task upfront if they had to stay alive in the series. England once again started with the skipper Alastair Cook and Michael Carberry and this time it failed badly.The opening made a disastrous start as the skipper Alastair Cook for dismissed on a DUCK.Courtesy to a brute of the ball that gave the Home side a GOLDEN DUCK. Meanwhile the Michael Carberry tried to answer all the questions that were being asked but neither could he make his opponents silent as was caught right in front of the wickets 'lbw' by the centurion SHANE WASTON.. After adding just 19 runs to the total , Joe Root was also uprooted from the crease by Mitchell Johnson. Meanwhile Kevin Pietersen made a good partnership with Ian Bell but finally he was sent to the pavilion by Nathan Lyon.
     

 Ian Bell and Ben Stokes stood in the way of the Australia as they put together a partnership of 99 runs falling 1 short of a 100 stand. Finally Ian Bell left the pitch as he was dismissed by Peter Siddle. Now at the end of the 4th day Ben Stokes(72* runs) stand along with Matt Prior(7* runs) trying their best to save the day but with 253 runs still required. Remember that England will be 1 batsman short as Stuart Broad broke his ankle on the bowl Mitchell Johnson. England stand at a disastrous place with 251 runs/5 wickets. Let's see if Australia break the shackles and win the TINY TROPHY or the visitors can do something miraculous to take the match home..............   

                

Ashes 2013-14, Test 3 Day 2.

Australia 385 runs/10 wickets – 1^st Innings

England 180 runs/4 wickets – 1^st Innings

            The Ashes fever continues as the 3^rd Ashes Test Match proceeds into the 2^nd Day today. Remember that Australia holds the lead 2-0 in the previous matches during the series, the Aussies, yet again with a good batting performance will be now eyeing towards to wrap up the series in the 3^rd Test Match in order to regain what had been lost in the past 5 years.

      The 2^nd day started with Steve Smith and Mitchell Johnson on the crease with 4 batsmen still to come. England looks once again down and out as they allow the Aussies to make a strong come-back with Steve Smith scoring a Century and Brad Haddin with a Half-Century which clearly marked the Dominance of the Home Team.

     Australia started up the day with Steve Smith and Mitchell Johnson on the pitch. The start looked disastrous as the Kangaroos lost Mitchell Johnson(39 runs) who was dismissed by Stuart Broad right in the day’s 2^nd Over. He went back to the pavilion without scoring a single run further on. Pretty soon it was Steve Smith’s turn to leave the ground after playing a great innings off 111 runs. He was undone by James Anderson. This marked the end of the Australian innings as Peter Siddle was soon dismissed by Tim Bresnan. He played well for his 21 runs. Finally the things ended up for the home team as Ryan Harris was also undone by James Anderson adding 12 runs to his team total. Nathan Lyon remained Not Out at the end of the day with his 17* runs. Australia made a good total of 385 runs at the end of their turn.

   

  England had a huge task upfront if they had to stay alive in the series. England once again started with the skipper Alastair Cook and Michael Carberry and this time it would work. This time the opening looked a different story for the visitors as they passed a 50 run stand 1^st time in the current series. Meanwhile the English skipper answered all the questions that were being asked about his technique of play. Both the openers put together an 85 runs opening stand which ended up with the departure of Michael Carberry who played well for his 43 runs(8x4s,1x6s) as he was Bowled out by Ryan Harris. After adding just 4 runs to the total , Joe Root was also uprooted from the crease by Shane Watson.

                Meanwhile the English skipper another 50 after a long time. There was another 46 runs partnership between Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook but like all good things, it also came to an end as the English skipper made his way back to the dressing room as he simply threw his wicket away to Nathan Lyon after playing well-set innings of 72 runs(10x4s). Soon it was Kevin Pietersen’s(19 runs) turn to leave the crease as Peter Siddle out-foxed him with a slowish short delivery. Now Ian Bell and Ben Stokes stand on the pitch at the END OF THE DAY 2 with their respective 9 and 14 runs taking their team to a total of 180 runs/4 wickets. Still a mighty task in front of the visitors with 3 days to come. Let’s see if they can pull it of or the Kangaroos pounce back in the match. Let’s wait and watch.    

Ashes 2013-14, Test 3, Day 1.

Australia 326 runs/6 wickets – 1^st Innings

            The Ashes fever is back as the 3^rd Ashes Test Match starts today. Remember that Australia holds the lead 2-0 in the previous matches during the series, the Aussies will be now eyeing towards to wrap up the series in the 3^rd Test Match.

      The 3^rd match started today and Australia having won the toss decided to bat first. Australia made no change and maintained their winning combination on the other hand England made 1 change as they brought Tim Bresnan for Monty Panesar. England are already down and out in the series and if they have to make a come-back then they will have to bounce back heavily but the current performances clearly show the Dominace of the Home Team.

           Australia opened up with their regular openers David Warner and Chris Rogers. The start didn’t look good at all as the Aussies Chris Rogers(11 runs) was dismissed earlier at a total of 13 runs. He went back to the pavilion as a result of a Run Out done by James Anderson. Meanwhile Shane Watson and Michael Clarke got a decent start but none of them could carry on. Shane Watson was undone by Stuart Broad on 18 runs while the skipper fell to Graeme Swann after scoring 24 runs. During these 3 wickets David Warner kept his head and reached yet another Test 50. He scored 60 runs followed by 8 boundaries and a SIX! Unfortunately neither could he enter a 3-figure score as he was dismissed by Graeme Swann. It didn’t take any longer for Stuart Broad to get rid of the Aussie’s ODI skipper, George Bailey for only 7 runs. Now Brad Haddin and Steve Smith stood on the crease without any mode of surrender. Both of them put together an excellent and much needed 124 runs partnership taking their team to a reasonable score of 267 runs. All Good Things come to an end and so happened as the partnership broke with the departure of Brad Haddin who played sensibly for yet another 55 runs. He was upprooted form the crease on the delivery Ben Stokes.

     There entered Mitchell Johnson who accompanied Steve Smith who reached to his wonderful 2^nd Test hundred scoring 103* runs(13 x fours,2 x sixes). He still stands on the pitch along with Mitchell Johnson(39* runs) at the end of the day taking their side at a total of 326 runs/6 wickets. Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad got 2 wickets each while Ben Stokes got 1 wicket.

       Still 4 days of cricket to come and let’s see what CRICKET brings us.   

West Indies tour to New Zealand, 2013. Test 2, Day 3.

New Zealand won the match by an Innings and 73 runs.

New Zealand 441 runs/10 wickets – 1^st Innings

West Indies 193 runs/10 wickets – 1^st Innings

West Indies 175 runs/10 wickets(follow-on) – 2^nd  Innings

      The 3^rd day of the 2^nd Test match between New Zealand and West Indies proved to be horrible one for the visitors as they were bowled out Twice on the same day. The Kiwi pacer, Trent Boult proved to be the destructor as he got 10 wickets in a single match which proved to be his maiden 10 wicket haul.

      The day started with Marlon Samuels(50* runs) and Narsingh Deonarine(11* runs) on the crease but all of a sudden Trent Boult started to make his mark all over the place as he got rid of Narsingh Deonarine(22 runs) followed by the key wicket of Marlon Samuels who could only reach to a total of 60 runs.

             This marked the end of the Windies as the wickets started to rattle down. None of the batsmen except Dinesh Ramdin(12* runs) could get off the mark including the skipper Darren Sammy and went out for a Duck. Interestingly all the upcoming batsmen were Bowled Out. Trent Boult bowled out Darren Sammy(0 runs), Shane Shillingford(0 runs) and Tino Best(0 runs) while Tim Southee had the last laugh by dismissing Shannon Gabriel(0 runs). This sealed up the Windies at a total of 193 runs and once again the Visitors were forced to Follow-on but the Black Caps were in no mode of creating a mess of it once again.

            

The West Indies again started firmly as Kirk Edwards and Keiron Powell put together 74 runs. Compared to the total what they had to put together, a relatively smaller stand ended by the departure of Keiron Powell(35 runs) due to a brute from Tim Southee as he knocked the stumps over. The very next over produced the wicket of Darren Bravo who went back for a Duck. He was caught at slip on the delivery of Neil Wagner. The Windies camp started to tremble again as the next over brought the wicket of Kirk Edwards(36 runs). This time it was Tim Southee again who got his wicket a brilliant catch from Kane Williamson off Tim Southee. Now the wickets started to come on regular intervals as Marlon Samuels(12 runs) was dismissed soon. Tim Southee was the man again to do so. This marked the fall of the visitors.

      Darren Sammy again went for a Duck. Little resistances were shown by Narsingh Deonarine(12 runs) , Dinesh Ramidn(19 runs), Shannon Gabriel(21 runs) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul(31* runs) but Trent Boult again dismissed 4 of them while Corey Anderson and Neil Wagner provided some help too. This ended the innings of the visitors and the Black Caps won the match easily in the end by an INNINGS AND 73 runs.

     Man of the Match was awarded to Trent Boult for his 10 wickets in 1 match. Still 1 Test to come. Let’s see if the sea Masters can square the series or the visitors maintain the dominance........

West Indies tour to New Zealand 2013. Test 2, Day2.

New Zealand 441 runs/10 wickets – 1^st Innings

West Indies 158 runs/4 wickets  – 1^st Innings

   West Indies trail by 283 runs with 6 wickets remaining.

    

  2^nd Day between the Kiwis and the Islanders begin with Bradley-John Watling and Tim Southee on the crease. They continued to bat on but the 38 runs partnership ended up with the dismissal of Tim Southee as he was dismissed by Darren Sammy on 21 runs. Watling was in no mode of giving up as he established another 49 runs partnership with Ish Sodhi who went back to pavilion after scoring a valuable 27 runs. He was victimized by Tino Best. No sooner, Wagner also went for a Duck on the bowl of Tino Best. Trent Boult also made a valuable contribution of 38 runs but the KIWI innings finally ended up with the departure of BJ Watling after playing a cameo of 65 runs. He was Bowled out by Shannon Gabriel. This sealed up the Kiwi Innings at a total of 441 runs. Tino Best got 4 wickets, Shannon Gabriel and Darren Sammy got 2 wickets each while Shane Shillingford and Narsingh Deonarine got wicket a-piece.

     

West Indies started firmly as they opened up Kirk Edwards and Keiron Powell. Both of them put together 46 runs but the tiny partnership ended up with the departure Keiron Powell(21 runs) as he fell to Tim Southee. It took no longer for Corey Anderson to dismiss Darren Bravo on only 4 runs. Another tiny partnership was on its way involving Kirk Edwards and Marlon Samuels but it soon ended up as Kirk Edwards(55 runs) was shown the way to pavilion by Corey Anderson again. No sooner it took for Trent Boult to get rid of Shivnarine Chanderpaul for 6 runs only.

     

Then the deck was steadied by Marlon Samuels(50* runs) and Narsingh Deonarine(11* runs). All of the stuff ended up just before lunch as rain stepped in and never went away till the end of the day. Both the batsmen still stand on the crease at a total of 158 runs/4 wickets. Still a lot needed by the West Indians. Let’s see if the Windies can enter the lead or it’s the KIWIS who dominate the match........      

India tour to South Africa 2013, 3rd ODI.

     India vs. South Africa – 3^rd ODI

     South Africa 301 runs/8 wickets

Match ended in NO RESULT due to Rain after the 1^st Innings.

   The 3^rd ODI between the Proteas and the Indians was played yesterday. India had already lost the series 2-0 were now looking for the consolation in form of a victory in the last game.

      Toss went to South Africa who decided to bat first. South Africa made 3 changes as they called in Imran Tahir, Wayne Parnell and Henry Davids for Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis and Morne Morkel. On the other hand Indians went on with unchanges side.

      Cloud Cover was all over the place but it didn’t rain till the start of the match. The Proteans opened up with their regular openers, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla. The decision proved to be drastically wrong for the home side as they  lost 3 wickets for a total of 28 runs. Muhammad Shami got rid of Hashim Amla(13 runs) while Ishant Sharma got rid of Henry Davids and JP Duminy. Their started the way for the 2 Centurians. Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers put together a partnership of 171 runs which ended up with the departure of Quinton de Kock who ended up with 101 runs(9 x 4s, 2 x 6s). He bacame the 5^th man to score 3 consecutive centuries. On the other hand AB de Villiers also reached a much needed 100 but was finally dismissed after scoring 109 runs(6 x fours, 5 x sixes) on the delivery of Umesh Yadav. There began the end of the Protean Innings as the wickets begin to fall regularly. Still David Miller stood firm on the crease as he played a flyer of 56 balls(5 x 4s,3 x 6s) . Finally the overs ended when South Africa reached a total of 301 runs/8 wickets. 

       

Ishant Sharma got 4 wickets in his bucket while Muhammad Shami got 3 wickets and Umesh Yadav received 1 wicket.

     There was no Man of the Match but Man of the series was awarded to none other than Quinton de Kock for his 3 consecutive centuries. 

       This was the least target what India had got on this tour but the rain played its part. It started to rain heavily before the start of the Indian Innings and finally the match ended in the form of NO RESULT ending up the 3-match series 2-0 to home side.

        Test Series is still to come. Let’s see if the Indians bounce back or the Protean dominance continues,,,,,,,,,,,

          

Sri Lanka tour to Pakistan 2013-14, 1st T20i.

  Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka- 1^st T20i

Pakistan won by 3 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)

      The 1^st T20i between the Asian Gladiators i.e. Sri Lanka and Pakistan was played yesterday in Dubai. Both the teams had to fight for the Number 1 spot in the International rankings making in note that if Sri Lanka wins the series then they retain their 1^st Position and if vice versa Pakistan will grab the Number 1 position in the International Rankings.

            Pakistan having won the toss decided to field first. The pitch looked pretty good for batting but later on the dew factor would have made it difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball which was a solid reason why this decision was made. Pakistan introduced 2 new men into their squad in form of the left-handed opener, “Sharjeel Khan” and the lefty quicky “Usman Khan Shirwani”. On the other hand Sri Lanka went on with their regular side.

         

Initially the decision proved right in favor of the home team as they got rid of the experienced TM Dilshan on the total of 9 runs. He was victimized by Sohail Tanvir. Later on some starts were taken by Kushal Perera(15 runs), Dinesh Chandimal(22 runs) and Kumar Sangakara(21 runs) but none of them could continue as Saeed Ajmal dismissed Kushal Perera and Kumar Sangakara while Shahid Afridi caught his hands on the wicket of the skipper, Dinesh Chanidmal. There entered Angelo Mathews who blasted while playing a cameo of 50 runs(5 x fours, 1 x six) but finally he also fell to Sohail Tanvir. Lahiru Thirimanne also played a little hand of 23* runs followed by 1 four and a six taking the Visitors to a decent total of 145 runs/5 wickets. Meanwhile Saeed Ajmal achieved his 400^th International Wicket while Shahid Afridi also got his 50^th T20i wicket.

         The target was never  a massive one but still Pakistan needed to play sensibly. They opened up with Sharjeel Khan and Ahmad Shahzad but the later of them got out pretty early for a total of 12 runs. Courtesy: a brute of a catch from Lahiru Thirimanne off Sachitra Senanayake’s ball. Their started a 50 run stand between Muhammad Hafeez and Sharjeel Khan which soon ended with departure of Sharjeel Khan(34 runs) off the delivery of Thisara Perera. Pakistan begun to tumble as the skipper also went out to Ajantha Mendis and on the very next bowl, Umer Akmal also bit the dust as a result of an unlucky run out. Meanwhile Umar Amin and Sohaib Maqsood soon fell to Lasith Malinga. But the Boom Boom action was still left as Shahid Khan Afridi took his team home in the final over with his sensible knock of 39* runs (2 x fours, 3 x sixes). Pakistan won the match after a long struggle by 3 wickets.

      

Man of the Match was awarded to Shahid Afridi who played a match winning innings of 39* runs including an important wicket in the Bowling wicket. Meanwhlle Shahid Afridi also became the 1^st man to achieve 1000 runs and 50 wickets in T20i.

       Still one more T20i still to come. Let’s see if the Lankans can hold their Number 1 spot or the Hosts make their way at the top of the ICC Rankings.......    

West Indies tour to New Zealand, 2013. Test 2, Day 1.

New Zealand 307 runs/6 wickets (90.0 overs)

          The 2nd Test match between the KIWIS and the Caribbeans started today. West Indies won the toss and decided to field first. The Windies went unchanged in the 2nd match where as New Zealand made 1 change bringing in Kane Williamson in for Aaron Redmond. After an unexpected Draw in the previous Test, the New Zealanders were looking forward to rectify their mistakes while West Indies had to make an immense improvement against such an in-form batting side.
           New Zealand opened up with their regular openers including Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford but none of them could continue as they were dismissed by Darren Sammy and Tino Best respectively after at a total of just 24 runs.Then came the solid part of the Kiwis as Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor put together an important of 88 runs taking their side at a total of 112 runs/3 wickets.
          The partnership came to an end with the departure of Kane Williamson after playing a decent innings of 45 runs. Tino Best proved to be the wicket-taker again. Ross Taylor kept his head calm and successfully reached yet another 50. Further he was also helped by Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson who scored 37 and 38 runs respectively. This time it was Narsingh Deonarine who dismissed the Kiwi skipper while Shane Shillingford caught his hands on the wicket of Corey Anderson.

 During all of this stuff it was Ross Taylor who reached yet anther Century in his back-to-back games. But just before the end of the Day, it was Shannon Gabriel who got rid of the dangerous Ross Taylor and made a much needed breakthrough. Ross Taylor made his way back to the pavilion after scoring a wonderful 129 runs accompanied by 15 fours.

        Tino Best got 2 wickets in his bucket while Shane Shillingford, Shannon Gabriel, Darren Sammy and Narsingh Deonarine goot 1 wicket a-piece.

        
  At the end of the 1st day the Kiwis still stand on the crease with Bradley-John Watling(8* runs) and Tim Southee(9* runs) with their team total of 307 runs/6 wickets. Still a lot of drama to as 4 days are still to come. 
         

India tour to South Africa, 2013, 2nd ODI.

              South Africa won by 134 runs

South Africa 280 runs/6 wickets(49 overs D/L)

    India 146 runs/10 wickets(35.1 overs)

       The 2nd ODI between India and South Africa on 8th November, 2013. After suffering a defeat earlier in the series, the visitors were totally rattled as they never looked back in form against the Proteas. In the 2nd ODI South Africans went in with the same side while India made two changes bringing in Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav in for Bhuvanehswar Kumar and Mohit Sharma. This time India won the toss and decided to bowl first with a refurnished bowling side.

     

  South Africa started right from the point where they left the previous match. Quinton de Kock again went off to a flyer as he scored his consecutive Century in the current series. He ended up with 106 runs off 118 balls with 9 fours.This time Hashim Amla also accompanied the youngster as he scored exact 100 runs on 117 balls including 8 fours.Some little charges were provided by JP Duminy, David Miller, Jacques Kallis and Ryan McLaren taking the Protean to a total of 280 runs/6 wickets in the limited 49.0 overs(D/L). 

             Muhammad Shami proved to be the stand-out for the Indians as he dismissed 3 batsmen including Hashim Amla, David Miller and Jacques Kallis. Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Quinton de Kock while Duminy was sent back to pavilion as a result of a run out.

                       In chase of such a colossal target India never looked confident as Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli were dismissed at a total of 16 runs as they both departed for a Duck. All the Protean bowlers maintained the pressure as they kept on dismissing the Guests on regular intervals. Only Suresh Raina could score something reasonable achieving 36 runs. Finally it ended upas all the Indians were bowled out at a total of 146 runs in just 35.1 overs. Lonwabo Tsotsobe got rid of 4 batsmen while Dale Steyn victimized 3 batsmen. Morne Morkel got 2 wickets and Vernon Philander got 1 wicket giving their side a massive victory of 134 runs.

      Man of the Match was awarded to  Quinton de Kock for his 2nd consecutive Century.

     Soth Africa wrapped uo the series in 2nd ODI defeating India in the 1st 2 matches. India will still look for a victory which will not be greater than a consolidation for them.....