Sri Lanka v India, tri-series, 3rd ODI, Dambulla

Dambulla: Disruptions to their practice schedule on Saturday won’t be as big a dampner as Yuvraj Singh’s unavailability when India play Sri Lanka in the third one-day international of the tri-series in Dambulla on Monday. However the good news is that Sehwag and Raina who had gone to India after the first game have now returned to Dambulla and are available for selection. Ishant trained in the nets after an ankle injury forced him out of the first game and is likely to replace Mithun. In the event of Nehra's absence, Munaf Patel could be drafted in while Kohli could replace Yuvraj. Dhoni seems confident with the team and has ensured a victory especially after the 200 run defeat.

India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Dinesh Karthik, 3 Rohit Sharma, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 Ashish Nehra/Munaf Patel

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Chamara Silva/Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Chamara Kapugedera/Thisara Perera, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Ajantha Mendis/Rangana Herath, 11 Nuwan Kulasekara.

Murali gets 800 wickets, Sri Lanka win by ten wickets, Sri Lanka v India, 1st Test, Galle, 5th day, July 22, 2010

Sri Lanka 520 for 8 dec (Paranavitana 111, Sangakkara 103) and 96 for 0 (Dilshan 68*) beat India 276 (Sehwag 109, Murali 5-63) and 338 (Tendulkar 84, Laxman 69, Malinga, 5-50, Murali 3-128) by ten wickets.
Muttiah Muralitharan's team-mates lift him on their shoulders as he leaves the field, Muttiah Muralitharan had to wait but eventually became the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets. At the start of his final Test, he was eight wickets short of being the first cricketer to reach the 800 test wicket mark.At 799 the umpire denied him a palpable lbw. VVS Laxman, who kept him at bay for so many hours, ran himself out and there was only one wicket left to take. He waited and perhaps even fretted. He nearly ran out the last pair himself, twice. After 23 wicketless overs, with perhaps growing doubt about whether it would come at all, the moment arrived, and Muttiah Muralitharan was there, where no man had gone before. The long wait for the 800th wicket only exemplified the toil that went into the preceding 799. And by the way, Sri Lanka won his farewell Test too, by ten wickets for the seventh time.The script had tinges of romance and fiction. Lasith Malinga nearly didn't allow Murali to get to 800. The Indian tailenders refused to relent, and it also threatened to rain. Would Malinga knock out the tail before Murali got his two wickets? By design or otherwise, Kumar Sangakkara stepped in and removed Malinga from the attack after only three overs. Murali is 38. The wrists aren't as supple as they once were, the old fizz was certainly missing, the shoulder aches and the knees creak when he pivots. Yet he still produced magical deliveries and took a five-for in his last Test. On the fourth day, he removed Dhoni with a magical offbreak and twice made Yuvraj Singh look like a tailender. Today, he didn't have to do anything special and just remain patient. The temptation to produce something magical, something unplayable to reach the landmark would have been there but he didn't show it. Murali kept delivering offbreaks, the occasional doosra and varied his pace and trajectory. The fans watching began to fear it would not come, it did. Ojha edged a flighted offbreak to slip where Mahela Jayawardene grabbed his 77th catch off Murali's bowling. Murali roared, his team-mates hoisted him on their shoulders, his wife and mother jumped out of their seats, the crowd cheered and the fireworks exploded. All seemed well with the world.

Salman Butt stumped to Marcus North

Salman Butt could not believe his lapse in falling to Marcus North's first ball, Pakistan v Australia, 1st Test, Lord's, July 16, 2010.

Pakistan's stalwart Salman Butt suffered an aberration against the part-time spin of Marcus North, and was stumped down the leg side for 92, as Australia overcame an anxious first hour on the fourth day at Lord's to claim three important wickets in their quest for victory in the first Test. On the stroke of lunch, North added a second to end a spirited cameo from Umar Akmal, to leave Pakistan teetering on 216 for 4 with five sessions of the match remaining.

After a confident start to a mountainous run-chase on Thursday evening, Pakistan had resumed on 114 for 1, still requiring an improbable 326 to make history and secure their first victory over Australia for 15 years. But the overnight pair of Butt and Azhar Ali showed no signs of anxiety as they racked up 48 runs in the first ten overs of the day under moderately overcast skies that did not offer prodigious amounts of movement to any of Australia's bowlers.

Butt, who resumed on 58 not out, was once again the main source of Pakistani optimism, as he cashed in on a wayward first spell from Mitchell Johnson to slash four fours over the covers in the space of 10 deliveries, before angling the first ball of Shane Watson's spell through third man for another boundary. Following on from his first-innings 63, the innings briefly carried his Test average against Australia past the 50 mark.

At the other end, the debutant Azhar continued the composed performance he had begun the previous evening, although he was forced to ride his luck against Ben Hilfenhaus, whose accurate outswingers were once again the most disciplined asset at Ricky Ponting's disposal. Twice in two balls, Azhar was squared up on off stump to squirt boundaries through the gully, but on 42, his luck ran out. Hilfenhaus found the perfect length once again, and Tim Paine behind the stumps snapped up a welcome dismissal.

Hilfenhaus's rhythm was disrupted one over later when he dived awkwardly at third man and jarred his left shoulder on the turf, while Pakistan's concentration was unsettled by a blink-and-you-miss it break for rain that was over before the hover-cover had even been moved into place. But it was the unassuming offspin of North that really did for Pakistan, as his teasing lobs proved too tantalising for two of Pakistan's key performers.

First to succumb was Butt, who had moved to within eight runs of becoming the first batsman to make a century in a neutral Test at Lord's for 98 years, when he was lured out of his crease by North's very first ball, an innocuous delivery that drifted late down the leg-side and was expertly snapped up by Paine as Butt overbalanced.

Pakistan v Australia, 1st Test, Lord's, 1st day

Aamer and Asif have given Pakistan the edge on the first day of the delayed test match against Australia at Lords, UK

Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer claimed three wickets apiece to counteract a battling century stand between Simon Katich and Michael Clarke at the first day of the first test at Lords. Bad light closed in with 10 overs still to be bowled and a dramatic collapse of 7 for 51 had left the Aussies groping for a decent first-innings total on 229 for 9.

After winning the toss following an hour-long delay for rain, Pakistan's pace attack revelled in the sort of conditions they could never have dreamed of encountering had they been playing this "home" Test in Karachi or Lahore. With Aamer swinging the ball late and at a zippy pace, and Asif nagging away on an impeccable seamer's length, Australia inched along to 36 for 1 after 13 overs at lunch, which became 51 for 2 soon afterwards, when Ricky Ponting flicked Aamer straight into short leg's midriff for 26.

Clarke and Katich made arduous but invaluable progress thereafter, adding 120 for the third wicket to carry Australia into the ascendancy on 171 for 2, but when Clarke fell to the final ball of the session, trapped lbw by Asif for 47, Pakistan had received a vital boost at the end of a frustrating passage of play, and they made the most of their incision.

After the break, Asif continued his devastating rhythm from the Pavilion End, nipping the ball down the slope to nick the edge of Katich's bat and send him on his way for a gutsy 80 from 138 balls, before Marcus North was bowled through the gate for a third-ball duck (174 for 5). The debutants, Tim Paine and Steven Smith were the next to go - Paine had been entrenched for 46 balls for his 7 when he nicked off to Umar Gul, before Smith was unluckily adjudged lbw to Danish Kaneria, despite getting an inside-edge on his topspinner (208 for 7).Despite holding the captaincy of Australia's limited-overs teams, Test cricket is the form of the game that brings out the best in Clarke's elegant strokeplay, and while Katich bedded in in his familiarly attritional manner, it was his 77-ball 47 that secured them the honours in the afternoon session. But then, on the stroke of tea, Clarke misjudged a nipbacker from Asif and he had to get back to the pavillion

The most notable wicket of the day, however, was that of Australia's captain, Ricky Ponting. His top score in three Ashes Tests at Lord's is a meagre 42, and there is little guarantee that he will be back again for a fourth visit in 2013. Having survived the worst of the conditions to reach 14 not out from 23 balls at lunch, he notched up his 115n 94th Test run after the break to move ahead of Brian Lara in second place on the all-time list.

Pakistan vs Australia Test match Delayed due to Rain

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first under cloudy skies but had to stop play due to an hour-long rain delay, as the much-anticipated first Test against Australia (the first neutral Test played in England after 98 years) prepared to get underway at Lord's. It was a good toss to win as admitted by Australia's captain, Ricky Ponting.He anticipated a tricky first hour before lunch on a pitch with an even grass coverage and in conditions tailor-made for Pakistan's strike bowlers, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif.

Both sides announced two Test debutants before the toss. For Australia, Tim Paine comes in as wicketkeeper for Brad Haddin, just as he did for the one-day series against England last month, while the legspinner Steven Smith plays in place of Nathan Hauritz, who flew back home to Australia with a foot injury.

Meanwhile, Pakistan have gambled on two rookie batsmen in their middle order, with the selectors looking to the future in Umar Amin and Azhar Ali, whose chance to impress will come later in the game.

Australia 1 Shane Watson, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Mike Hussey, 6 Marcus North, 7 Tim Paine (wk), 8 Steve Smith, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Doug Bollinger.

Pakistan 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Salman Butt, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Umar Amin, 6 Kamran Akmal (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Danish Kaneria, 10 Mohammad Aamer, 11 Mohammad Asif.

Bangladesh vs West Indies, Players end strike, available for ODI

West Indies' leading players have ended their strike and made themselves available for international duty following the appointment of an arbitrator to settle their dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). Chris Gayle and other star players could now take part in the one-dayers against Bangladesh.
The original 13-man squad picked by the board for the Bangladesh Tests had boycotted the series due to a disagreement over contractual issues. The strike forced the selectors to pick a second-string side which lost both Tests, handing Bangladesh their first overseas series victory.
The WICB and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA), which is negotiating on the cricketers' behalf, agreed to resolve the impasse by mediation on Tuesday, after meeting with Guyana president Bharat Jagdeo, who is also chairman of the 15-nation trading bloc Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM). Both sides agreed to the appointment of former Commonwealth secretary general Shridath Ramphal as arbitrator.
"It was agreed that in the light of the Mediation Agreement which the Parties expect to lead to the resolution of outstanding issues all the players will make themselves available for selection," they said in a joint statement.
"The mediation team, with assistance from the Caricom secretariat, would begin work immediately," they said. "Both parties have taken this step, mindful of the interest of their respective organisations but conscious also of their wider responsibility to the people of the West Indies and the international sport of cricket."
The agreement came hours after a weakened squad was announced by the board for the first two one-dayers against Bangladesh.

Sl vs Pak, Srilanka vs Pakistan, 3rd test, 3rd day

Misbah is trying his level best to save the innings, as Pakistan were struggling at 67 for 4 in the 3rd day of the 3rd test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Pakistan had started the day on 16 for 1 in the second innings but Rangana Herath continued to torment the batsman with accurate bowling keeping the batsman tied down at one end. In the 27 overs that he has bowled he has 2 wickets in his kitty and will be gunning for more. Pakistan scored 299 and Sri Lanka 233 giving Pakistan a lead of 56 runs.

England vs Australia, 2nd Test match at Lords, ashes 2009, England beat australia by 115 runs

England beat Australia by 115 runs at Lord’s in the 2nd test match of the Ashes Series 2009. Andrew Flintoff who has been in the news because of injuries has been awarded the Man of the match. England scored 425/10 & 311/6 and Australia scored 215/10 & 406/10 helping England snatch victory by 115 runs. Andrew Flintoff took 5 wickets in the 2nd innings putting to rest all injury speculations. His retirement will be a tremendous loss for the England side who struggled in the first test match. Overall a superb performance in the 2nd test has brought back the lost confidence.
Andy Flower is confident that his team will continue to build on the success and momentum they took from their historic victory over Australia at Lord’s on Monday. This was the first test victory at Lord’s against Australia for 75 years. The fitness of Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen is still under the scanner and the ability of both these star players to take the field at Edgbaston in the 3rd test which start on July 30 is a growing concern. Inspite of these concerns Andrew Flower is still confident that England has the fire power to take on the Australians

Pakistan Cricket Board, Cricket breaking news, Boycott 2011 world cup,

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have made it very clear that they are not thinking of boycotting the 2011 world cup. The International Cricket Council stripped Pakistan of its status to host a world cup due to the recent spate of violence and instability in the country. The recent attack on the Sri Lankan Team was the main cause of this decision. Unnamed sources in the Pakistani government revealed that the PCB was asked to boycott the 2011 world cup blaming cash rich BCCI for influencing the decision of the ICC. However this has been denied by the governing body of the ICC. The PCB has denied that any directive has been received from the Pakistani government.

Andrew Flintoff to retire from test Cricket, post Ashes Series

Breaking News : Andrew Flintoff to retire from test cricket post the Ashes Series due to the number of injuries, this was confirmed by the England and Wales Cricket Board on Wednesday. Shocking news for his fans who would still love to see the all-rounder in action. However he will still be playing for England in the one dayers and Twenty20 matches.

England vs Australia, 2nd Test Match - Flintoff injury

Andrew Flintoff didn’t bowl in the nets on Tuesday but England’s coach Flower is optimistic that Andrew will play the second test at lord’s which will be starting on Thursday. A spate of injuries since the 2005 ashes has forced Flintoff to miss 25 out of 48 test matches played by England. His latest injury of soreness and swelling in the right knee post the awkward fall in the first test is not severe enough, and as suggested by the doctor that he should be able to play the second test. However confirmation is yet to be received.

WI vs Ban, 2nd Test - Mashrafe Mortaza injured, Shakib Al Hasan to lead in second test

Mashrafe Mortaza injured, Shakib Al Hasan to lead in second test. Shakib was asked to stand-in as captain for the last 2 days of the first test and will continue to captain the Bangladesh side in the second test match. As Mashrafe Mortaza will return to play only post results of an MRI scan conducted on the right knee. Mortaza injured his knee while bowling on the 3rd day of the first test in St Vincent.

Mortaza who took over as captain from Mohammad Ashraful last month, has been hit by a series of injuries following his test debut in 2001. The team management has announced a faast bowler Nazmul Hossain as back-up for the second test. A win is inevitable against a depleted WI side. Following this match the teams will play 3 ODI’s and a Twenty20 international

Sri Lanka beat Pakistan, 2nd Test at Colombo, Sri Lanka vs Pakistan

Sri Lanka 240 (Sangakkara 87, Gul 4-43, Ajmal 4-87) and 171 for 3 (Warnapura 54) beat Pakistan 90 (Kulasekhara 4-21) and 320 (Fawad 168, Younis 82, Herath 5-99, Kulasekar 4-37) by seven wickets.

Fawad’s 168 in the 2nd innings of the 2nd test against Sri Lanka in Colombo could not help Pakistan as Sri Lanka finally sealed a victory on the 3rd days play. Sri Lanka bowled Pakistan all out that left Sri Lanka with a target of just 171. The target was achieved in just 32 overs.

When play began in the morning Pakistan with Fawad Alam and Younis Khan seemed to be all set to build a lead of their own but part-time offspinner Tharanga Paranavitana struck by taking the wicket of Younis Khan. This was the downfall of Pakistan where they lost 9 wickets for just 35 runs. Rangara Herath picked 5 wickets for 99, his first five in test cricket.

The 171 runs chase was a cake walk as Pakistan’s bowlers had no tricks up their sleeves. The opening partnership added 60 in a mere ten overs, and even when that pair was separated, Pakistan were never in the contest with Sangakkara bringing down the target to just 11 runs. However the Captain wasn’t in the middle to celebrate the victory, that hardly mattered.

Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, 2nd Test at Colombo, 2nd day, Sri v Pak

Pakistan 90 and 178 for 1 (Fawad 102*) lead Sri Lanka 240 (Sangakkara 87, Gul 4-43) by 28 runs.
Pakistan dominated the second day of play by bowling out Sri Lanka for just 240 runs with Umar Gul’s four wicket haul. After a poor show in the first innings 90 all out, Pakistan started off well in the second innings posting a total of 178 for 1 with Fawad scoring an unbeaten 102 at close of play. All questions about Pakistan’s commitment have now been put to rest.
When the day began the Sri Lankan team was so far ahead that it seemed a possibility to rectify their record of never winning a home series against Pakistan. However Pakistan dominated and controlled all 3 sessions of play which has left Sri Lanka with an uncomfortable thought of chasing a stiff total on a wearing pitch.

West Indies vs Bangladesh, 1st Test at Kingstown, WI v Bang

Bangladesh Spinners seal historic win against the depleted West Indies side
Bangladesh: 238 (Mortaza 39, Roach 3-46) and 345 (Tamin 128, Sammy 5-70) beat West Indies 307 (Phillips 94, Bernard 53, Mahmudullah 3-59) and 181 (Bernard 52, Mahmudullah 5-51, Shakib 3-39) by 95 runs.

Bangladesh sealed a historic career second test victory when they beat WI by 95 runs in St Vincent. Bangladesh won their first test match four and half years ago. The spin twins Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah were the stars who contributed immensely to this victory. The Victory was sealed at 4:40 pm local time when stand –in Cap Shakib bowled a full toss nailing the last batsman Tino Best with 10 overs to spare. Earlier when the day commenced Bangladesh were not comfortable getting runs. A major 5 wicket haul by Darren Sammy of the WI proved to be a blessing in hindsight as it allowed the Bangladesh spinners t bowl them to Victory.

Flintoff injured, England vs Australia, 2nd Ashes Test at Lords, Ashes 2009 ( 16th -20th)

Flintoff Injured - England vs Australia, 2nd Ashes Test at Lords, Ashes 2009 ( 16th -20th)
Due to a knee injury Andrew Flintoff will be replaced by Steve Harmison into an expanded 14-man squad for the second Ashes Test to be held at Lords on the 16th to 20th. Andrew Flintoff complained of Knee injury and had to undergo scans on Monday. Seasoned Flintoff’s injury will come as a major blow to England who had hoped the all-rounder would have repeated his performance of Ashes 2005 where he was awarded the man of the series. His performance in the 1st test match was as follows 1-128 from 35 overs and scored 37 and 26.
The Cardiff test was Englands first major assignment after a meniscus tear suffered during the IPL stint with the Chennai Super Kings. He has not represented England since the Antigua test in February.
Well Andrew being unfit has seen Stephen Harmison getting an opportunity to unsettle the opposition batsmen with pace and bounce.
Sqaud: Andrew Straus(capt), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior(wk), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Graham Onions, Ian Bell & Steve Harmison

England vs Australia, 1st Test Match of the Ashes Series 2009, Match Drawn

England drew the 1st test match with Australia at Cardiff…
James Anderson and Monty Panesar the final pair were the stars of the test match who managed to paly off Australia for the final 11.3 overs helping England pull off a great escape at Cardiff. Earlier in the day Paul Collingwood managed to frustrate the Australian bowling attack by playing a monumental 245-ball 74 with England trailing at 6. Collingwood’s 50 came off 167 balls, the slowest by an England batsman since Nasser Hussain against West Indies in Port of Spain, but the pace of his innings did not matter at all as England did save this match.
Ponting admitted that the result was tough to digest as Australia were ahead of the game virtually throughout the final day. Now he is looking forward to the 2nd Test Match which is to be played at Lords

England vs Australia, 1st Test of Ashes Series 2009, Cardiff – Live Score Aus v Eng

England 435 and 20/2 (Strauss 6* and Pietersen 3*) trail Australia 674 for 6 (Ponting 150, North 125*, Katich 122 and Haddin 121) by 219 runs.

Four batsmen in the Australian side scored centuries….taking Australia to a mammoth total of 674/6 declared on the 4th day of the first test match in the Ashes series 2009. England’s fruitless bowling efforts helped Australia score the 6th highest test score overall and the fourth against England. Five England bowlers conceded centuries for just the second time following the 1973 test against the WI at Lords.

Poor fielding also did not help the England side with Paul Collingwood letting one through his legs at cover and Pietersen hurling four overthrows. Clearly the match looks tiled towards Australia at the moment and only rain can help England to save the First test match at Cardiff.

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka – 2nd Test Match at Colombo, Live Cricket Scores of PAK v SL

Pakistan’s poor form with the bat continues. The first session was a horrible one for them where they collapsed for a paltry 90 runs. Shoaib Malik was the only one who showed some resistance to the Sri Lankan attack. Kulasekara was Pakistan main enemy scalping 4 important wickets, and Ajantha Mendis took 3 wickets to dampen the Pakistan hope of getting a descent total.

Brief scorecard:
Pakistan 90 (Malik 39*, Kulasekara 4-21) v Sri Lanka


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