ICC Champions Trophy 2002 - look back

This was the first time the mini-world cup was played in a round robin format.. The previous editions were of knock out type..

This edition was held in Sri-Lanka with 10 test playing nations + Netherlands and Kenya divided into 4 groups of 3 each..

Pool 1	Pool 2	Pool 3	Pool 4
Australia	England	Kenya	Netherlands
Bangladesh	India	South Africa	Pakistan
New Zealand	Zimbabwe	West Indies	Sri Lanka

SQUADS

Australia Squad
Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain),Michael Bevan, Andrew Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne , Shane Watson

Bangladesh Squad
Khaled Mashud (Captain), Al-Sahariar, Alok Kapali, Fahim Muntasir, Habibul Bashar, Javed Omar, Khaled Mahmud, Manjural Islam, Mazharul Haque, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique, Talha Jubair, Tapash Baisya, Tushar Imran

England Squad

Nasser Hussain(Captain), Ian Blackwell, Andrew Caddick, Rikki Clarke, Dominic Cork, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Ronnie Irani, James Kirtley, Nick Knight, Owais Shah, Jeremy Snape, Alec Stewart, Marcus Trescothick

Indian Squad
S Ganguly (Captain), R Dravid, SR Tendulkar, V Sehwag, D Mongia, M Kaif, A Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, AB Agarkar, Yuvraj Singh, JP Yadav, A Nehra, VVS Laxman, Javagal Srinath

Kenya Squad
Steve Tikolo (Captain), Thomas Odoyo (Vice-captain), Joseph Angara, Jimmy Kamande, Brijal Patel, Collins Obuya, David Obuya, Maurice Odumbe, Peter Ongondo, Lameck Onyango, Kennedy Otieno, Ravindu Shah, Tony Suji, Martin Suji

Netherlands Squad

RP Lefebvre(Captain), LP van Troost, Dan van Bunge, JJ Esmeijer, VD Grandia, JF Kloppenburg, TBM de Leede, HJC MolRF, van Oosterom, Adeel Raja, E Schiferli, RH Scholte, NA Statham, B Zuiderent  

New Zealand Squad
Stephen Fleming (Captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Harris, Paul Hitchcock, Kyle Mills, Chris Nevin, Jacob Oram, Matthew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Glenn Sulzberge, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent  

 
Pakistan Squad
Waqar Younis (Captain), Inzamam-ul-Haq (Vice-Captain), Abdur Razzaq , Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Sami, Rashid Latif, Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Wasim Akram, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana

South African Squad
Shaun Pollock (Captain), Dale Benkenstein, Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher, Alan Dawson, Boeta Dippenaar, Allan Donald, Hershelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Jonty Rhodes, Graeme Smith, Robin Peterson

Sri Lankan Squad

Sanath Jayasuriya (Captain), Russel Arnold, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Aravinda de Silva, Upul Chandana, Kumar Sangakkara, Kumar Dharmasena, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Hasantha Fernando, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pulasthi Gunaratne

West Indies Squad

Carl Hooper (Captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Brian Lara, Runako Morton, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ramnaresh Sarwan

Zimbabwe Squad
Heath Streak (Captain), Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle, Dion Ebrahim, Sean Ervine, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Travis Friend, Douglas T. Hondo, Douglas Marillier, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Raymond Price, Tatenda Taibu, Guy Whittall
 
Points per win: 4

Group Pool 1	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
Australia	2	2	-	8	+3.461
New Zealand	2	1	1	4	+0.030
Bangladesh	2	-	2	0	-3.275

Group Pool 2	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
India	2	2	-	8	+0.816
England	2	1	1	4	+0.401
Zimbabwe	2	-	2	0	-1.125

Group Pool 3	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
South Africa	2	2	-	8	+1.856
West Indies	2	1	1	4	+0.202
Kenya	2	-	2	0	-2.050

Group Pool 4	Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net RR
Sri Lanka	2	2	-	8	+2.861
Pakistan	2	1	1	4	+1.245
Netherlands	2	-	2	0	-4.323

Pakistan  200 (49.4 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 201/2 (36.1 overs)	Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets Man of the Match: Sanath Jayasuriya
Saeed Anwar 52 (82) Muttiah Muralitharan 3/29 (10 overs)		Sanath Jayasuriya 102* (120) Wasim Akram 1/42 (8 overs)

West Indies  238/8 (50 overs)	v	South Africa 242/8 (49 overs)	South Africa won by 2 wickets Man of the Match: Jonty Rhodes
Chris Gayle 49 (55) Jacques Kallis 2/41 (9 overs)		Jonty Rhodes 61 (70) Mervyn Dillon 4/60 (10 overs)

India  288/6 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 274/8 (50 overs)	India won by 14 runs Man of the Match: Mohammad Kaif
Mohammad Kaif 111 (112) Douglas Hondo 4/62 (9 overs)		Andy Flower 145 (164) Zaheer Khan 4/45 (10 overs)

Australia  296/7 (50 overs)	v	New Zealand 132 (26.2 overs)	Australia won by 164 runs Man of the Match: Glenn McGrath
Damien Martyn 73 (87) Jacob Oram 2/60 (10 overs)		Shane Bond 26 (22) Glenn McGrath 5/37 (7 overs)

Sri Lanka  292/6 (50 overs)	v	Netherlands 86 (29.3 overs)	Sri Lanka won by 206 runs Man of the Match: Marvan Atapattu
Marvan Atapattu 101 (118) Adeel Raja 2/50 (10 overs)		Tim de Leede 31 (43) Muttiah Muralitharan 4/15 (5.3 overs)

West Indies  261/6 (50 overs)	v	Kenya 232 (49.1 overs)	West Indies won by 29 runs Man of the Match: Brian Lara
Brian Lara 111 (120) Steve Tikolo 2/49 (7 overs)		Steve Tikolo 93 (91) Pedro Collins 3/18 (9.1 overs)

England  298/8 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 190/9 (48 overs)	England won by 108 runs Man of the Match: Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Trescothick 119 (102) Douglas Hondo 4/45 (6 overs)		Heath Streak 50* (58) Ronnie Irani 4/37 (10 overs)

Bangladesh  129 (45.2 overs)	v	Australia 133/1 (20.4 overs)	Australia won by 9 wickets Man of the Match: Jason Gillespie
Alok Kapali 45 (75) Jason Gillespie 3/20 (10 overs)		Matthew Hayden 67* (70) Mohammad Rafique 1/32 (5 overs)

South Africa  316/5 (50 overs)	v	Kenya 140 (46.5 overs)	South Africa won by 176 runs Man of the Match: Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Gibbs 116 (126) Collins Obuya 2/77 (10 overs)		Steve Tikolo 69 (97) Dale Benkenstein 3/5 (3.5 overs)

Netherlands  136 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 142/1 (16.2 overs)	Pakistan won by 9 wickets Man of the Match: Shahid Afridi
Roland Lefebvre 32 (70) Shahid Afridi 3/18 (10 overs)		Imran Nazir 59 (40) Feiko Kloppenburg 1/23 (2 overs)

England  269/7 (50 overs)	v	India 271/2 (39.3 overs)	India won by 8 wickets Man of the Match: Virender Sehwag
Ian Blackwell 82 (68) Ashish Nehra 2/49 (10 overs)		Virender Sehwag 126 (124) Ian Blackwell 1/46 (8 overs)

New Zealand  244/9 (50 overs)	v	Bangladesh 77 (19.3 overs)	New Zealand won by 167 runs Man of the Match: Shane Bond
Mathew Sinclair 70 (122) Mohammad Ashraful 3/26 (5 overs)		Tushar Imran 20 (16) Shane Bond 4/21 (5 overs)

Semi- Finals

• IND vs RSA - India pulled off a stunning 10-run win over South Africa at Premadasa Stadium and entered the final of the Champions Trophy. By retiring hurt on 116 (119 balls, 16 fours) with his side still needing 70 runs for victory and 9 wickets in hand, Gibbs gave India the tiniest window of opportunity. SA did not play spin well and IND won a thrilling match. Virender Sehwag took 3 wickets in no-time and SA were found wanting..

IND- 261-9 Yuvi 62, Viru 59 Pollock 3-43
SA-  251-6  Gibbs 116, Kallis 97 Viru 3-25
Player of the match V Sehwag (India)

• AUS vs SRL - crushing semi-final victory over Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy SF. All out for 162 in 48.4 overs with 2 wickets to Dharmasena, 3 to Murali.. The top 3 were enough to finish the match..

Finals- marred with rain.

Two days the finals was played, the first day SRL scored 244 and when IND batted rain poured down after 7 overs.. The second day SRL again won the toss and batted and managed only 222.. Rain poured down when IND had batted 8 overs.. Poor management, the game could have continued on the reserve dAy rather than playing it all over again..

India and SriLanka shared the trophy..
While Murali topped the wicket takers list, Sehwag topped run charts.

Surprisingly, Man of the series was not awarded..

Ashes lost

Australia's 2-1 Ashes defeat, confirmed with a heavy 197-run loss at The Oval on Sunday, has cost them their No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings. They have slipped to fourth, with South Africa now the No. 1 Test team in the world, followed by Sri Lanka and India.

It is the first time the Australians have lost their grip on the top spot since 2003, when the ICC introduced its current ranking system. The defeat has cost them eight points but despite the series result they remain ahead of their arch rivals England, who are in fifth place. England gained six points but are still 11 behind Australia.

Australia were in danger of losing their No. 1 ranking towards the end of last year, when they lost a home Test series to South Africa 2-1. A consolation win in the third Test in Sydney ensured they retained top spot and they also held on thanks to their follow-up series victory in South Africa.

ICC TEST CHAMPIONSHIP RANKINGS

Team	Matches	Points	Rating
South Africa	30	3672	122
Sri Lanka	24	2852	119
India	28	3327	119
Australia	31	3600	116
England	39	4102	105
Pakistan	17	1424	84
New Zealand	22	1794	82
West Indies	25	1910	76
Bangladesh	19	255	13

•  Ricky Ponting has admitted that they had got the playing 11 wrong in omitting Nathan Hauritz.. The Oval took turn from the first day itself.. Swann had picked up 5 wickets in the 1st innings and part time spinner Marcus North picked 4 wickets..
• Ponting became the first Australian captain since Billy Murdoch to twice lead Australia to Ashes series defeats in England..
  

Champions Trophy 2000 - part 2

Click here for PART 1

 

PRE QFs - 

• India vs Kenya, 
• England vs Bangladesh, 
• West Indies vs Sri Lanka...

India won the toss and chose to bowl first. Batting first, Kenya were restricted to 208 for nine in 50 overs. The total was never going to be one to pose any problems for the Indians and thanks to skipper Sourav Ganguly's 66 and Rahul Dravid's unbeaten 68, they romped home with eight wickets and 7.3 overs to spare.. Kumble received MoM for 2-22 in 10 overs..

Similarly, England faced little opposition from Bangladesh emerging winners by eight wickets with 6.1 overs to spare. Bangladesh did well in getting 232 for eight in 50 overs but against ordinary bowling, Alec Stewart (87 not out) and skipper Nasser Hussain (95) had little difficulty in negotiating some ordinary bowling during their second wicket partnership of 175 runs. 

A stroke-filled 132 by opener Avishka Gunawardene and his third wicket stand of 160 runs with Mahela Jayawardene (72) saw Sri Lanka post 287 for six in 50 overs, a total that proved to be too formidable for the West Indies who were dismissed for 179 in 46.4 overs.

This meant that the Quarter Finals line up stood like-

• India vs Australia

• Pakistan vs Sri Lanka

• New Zealand vs Zimbabwe

• England vs South Africa

The quarterfinals were marked by three one-sided results but the pulsating Australia-India game made up for this. Australia were firm favorites but this was a rejuvenated Indian side, under the captaincy of Ganguly and including three potentially fine players in newcomers Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Vijay Dahiya. After Australia made the early inroads, a breath-taking innings from Yuvraj saw India wrest the initiative and the advantage thereafter stayed with India.

The left-hander hit 84 off 80 balls treating the pace of McGrath, Lee and Gillespie with utter disdain. India ultimately posted a challenging total of 265 for nine in 50 overs. Then it was the turn of another youngster to strike. Bowling with hostility, Zaheer Khan removed Adam Gilchrist and Steve Waugh and some fine work by the varied attack, backed up by some superb work in the field in which Yuvraj was outstanding saw Australia bowled out for 245 in the 47th over. 

SriLanka's batting was dismal, Wasim Akram and Azhar Mahmood took 3wickets each to topple Lanka who were bowled out for 194.. Pakistan reached the target in 43.5 overs on the back of a century from Saeed Anwar.. 

After the initial loss of 4 wickets for 120, 85 from Twose and 52 from Craig McMillan enabled NZ to reach 265.. ZIM did not have the experience to post a win after being in a similar situation, 108-4, to post a win.. 4 wickets from Paul Wiseman sealed a win for NZ.. ZIM all out for 201..

Similarly, England were no match for South Africa's professional allround skills. Graeme Hick top-scored with a 65 but England's total of 182 in 44.1 overs was always going to be inadequate. South Africa with Jacques Kallis (78 not out) and Boeta Dippenaar (65) figuring in an unbroken third wicket partnership of 132 runs romped home with 11.5 overs to spare.

SEMI-FINALS
India vs South Africa
Pakistan vs New Zealand

Anwar hit a second successive hundred (104), after a mini collapse Akram and Razzaq helped Pakistan score 252 in 49.2 overs against New Zealand. Azhar Mahmood, then, reduced the Kiwis to 15 for two but Nathan Astle (49) and Roger Twose (87) initiated a recovery process by adding 135 runs for the third wicket. Pakistan came back strongly and had a distinct edge when New Zealand were 187 for six. However, Craig McMillan (51) and Scott Styris (26) figured in an unbroken seventh wicket stand of 66 runs to steer New Zealand home amidst much excitement with one over to spare. Shane O' Connor's 5 wicket haul earned him the MoM..

The 2nd SF which many thought would go South Africa's way had some surprises.. Ganguly posted a run a ball 141 which had 11 fours and 6 sixes against an attack that comprised of Pollock, Donald, Kallis, Telemachus, Klusener.. Though Donald and Pollock were economical, Kallis and Telemachus were torn apart and as Ganguly was at the crease, SA captain was even reluctant to bowl his spinner Boje who duly got hit for 26 in 2 overs.. Result a mamoth total of 295.. SA innings suffered an early jolt as Zak removed Hall ( the famous in swinging yorker, swinging into the legs and uprooted the stumps), and then went reeling to 50-4.. India took wickets consistently and that put an end to SA's journey in the tournament..

FINALS
India locked horns with NZ for the title clash..

Cairns, returning bravely from a knee injury, won the match with an inspirational century that resuscitated a failing run-chase and carried New Zealand to one of their proudest moments. They certainly had to win this one the hard way, after Ganguly and Tendulkar had opened with 141 in just 26.3 overs. However, Tendulkar was stranded by a bad call and, while Ganguly carried on to his second successive hundred, 135 from the final 25 overs represented diminishing returns. 264 for six in 50 overs.  Trusting in their deep batting order, New Zealand were aggressive from the start. 37 for two and later132 for five - New Zealand were gasping for breath.. It was now that Harris joined Cairns for a cool-headed partnership of 122. Though the required run-rate continued to climb, Cairns refused to be fazed. He hit two sixes, one a glorious straight drive off Kumble into the red clay of the car park in the 47th over, and ultimately the winning run with just two balls remaining.

 

  

 

Record (ed) 194 - Charles Coventry

Coventry, with his unbeaten 194 off 156 balls against Bangladesh at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo on Sunday, has posted the joint highest individual score in the history of ODIs.  Coventry's outstanding knock is his career-best score - his maiden ODI hundred, bettering the 74 off 99 balls against India at Harare..
Unfortunately, Coventry finished on the losing side, thus creating an unwanted world record in ODIs, surpassing Matthew Hayden's unbeaten 181 against New Zealand at Hamilton on February 20, 2007.

Coventry's outstanding innings has contained 106 runs from boundaries (seven sixes and 17 fours) - which is also a record for most runs through boundaries for Zimbabwe in ODIs. It is also a record for most runs through boundaries against Bangladesh in an ODI innings.

Craig Wishart's unbeaten 172 off 151 balls against Namibia at Harare on February 10, 2003 was the previous highest individual score for Zimbabwe in ODIs.

The highest individual innings for losing cause in ODIs are:

Runs	Balls	Batsman	For	Vs.	Venue	Date
194*	156	Charles Coventry	Zim	Ban	Bulawayo	16.8.2009
181*	166	Matthew Hayden	Aus	NZ	Hamilton	20.2.2007
167*	163	Robin Smith	Eng	Aus	Birmingham	21.5.1993
164	105	Ricky Ponting	Aus	SA	Johannesburg	12.3.2006
152*	153	Chris Gayle	WI	SA	Johannesburg	4.2.2004

The elusive double hundred.. 

The players seem to miss the elusive 200, either because of bad luck, a poor shot or over enthusiasm and eagerness to get to that double hundred mark..

Several batsmen have neared the mark but fallen agonizingly short: Saeed Anwar ( prev post on Independence Day special records Anwar's 194)  probably had the best chance but was undone by the brutal May heat of Chennai, Sanath Jayasuriya's one-man demolition job in Sharjah ended 11 runs adrift, (both against India) and Herschelle Gibbs had raced to 175 as early as the 32nd over before holing out to long-on in the famous 438 game at the Wanderers.. In an unglamorous series in Bulawayo, Charles Coventry, joined that illustrious list.

Saeed  Anwar


Saeed Anwar had a runner from the 19th over itself as the heat at Chennai took toll on the players.. Saeed Anwar broke the record for the highest individual innings in a one-day international by scoring 194, from 146 balls, with 22 fours and five sixes, three in succession in one over from Kumble, which went for 2-2-6-6-6-4. He might have reached a double-hundred had he not top-edged a sweep to be caught at fine leg off Sachin in the 47th over. It was a remarkable exhibition of controlled aggression, even if he was helped by a runner, Shahid Afridi, for most of the innings (he was suffering from heat exhaustion and loss of fluid).

The mighty SIR Viv Richards

What is hitting in the air ? Century in an ODI !! I wouldn't say these were unheard of at 1984.. There were enough centuries and enough big ones by then.. Kapil Dev's untaped 175 against Zimbabwe could be cited as an example.. But the might of Viv is stamped on this innings, the greatest player of all time..

Almost single-handed he won the match for West Indies after they had been in deep trouble. Having won the toss and chosen to bat, they were 102 for seven in the 26th over of a 55-over match at Old Trafford on the last day of May in the 1st match of the Texaco trophy.. In a memorable display Richards received 170 balls and hit 21 fours and five sixes, one of these, a straight drive, going out of the ground at the Warwick Road end. In 14 overs for the last wicket Richards and Holding added 106, Richards's share being 93. He batted with daring and immense power..



The Matara Mauler


Sri Lanka defeated India by 254 in one of their most intimidating performances in the history of Sri Lankan cricket, in the finals of Coca Cola trophy at Sharjah 2000. The architect was, Sanath Jayasuriya, who rescued an innings that was dipping into the doldrums, with a breathtaking 189 from just 161 balls, the second equal highest score in the history of one-day international cricket.



At the start of the 49th over during the Sri Lankan innings, both the captains reached a stage where they couldn't care less, but for different reasons. While Jayasuriya was intent on throwing his bat at anything and everything without bothering about the results, Ganguly decided to bring himself on to bowl, as he must have thought that it could not get worse. Jayasuriya despatched the first ball for a four but got out the very next delivery. It was the only triumph for Ganguly on a day which otherwise was something short of a torture.


Gary Kirsten - 188* vs UAE at Rawalpindi in the world cup 1996.. G Kirsten 188* off 159 balls, 4 sixes, 13 fours. Highest ever individual score in World Cup matches, surpassing IVA Richards' 181* v SL at Karachi in 1987. 2nd highest ODI score of all time, needing 3 off last ball to equal Viv Richards' all time ODI record score of 189.

NOW, Charles Coventry.. 



How did he lose out ?

• Coventry was on 191, three short of equalling the record, when the final over started.
  49.1 Syed Rasel to Coventry, 1 run, full outside off, driven straight to deep cover, just the single
  Mupariwa needs to get a single now
  49.2 Syed Rasel to Mupariwa, OUT lbw Coventry will have to wait
  Utseya, the captain, walks in
  49.3 Syed Rasel to Utseya, FOUR, a boundary! They were on their way to get a single, picks the slower one wide of long-on, the fielder overruns it to concede a boundary, Coventry will have to wait again
  49.4 Syed Rasel to Utseya, 2 runs, short on leg stump, pulled away wide of fine leg.. why two? His partner's on the verge of a major landmark here, a single should have been fine
  49.5 Syed Rasel to Utseya, 1 run.
  Coventry has one ball to break the record. Three to get.
  The keeper comes up
  49.6 Syed Rasel to Coventry, 2 runs, full toss outside off, slaps it back past the bowler wide of long-off for a couple to equal the world record!!
   

Wall returns, India pick squad

India picked their squad for the Compaq tri series in Sri Lanka featuring NewZealand as the 3rd side and also the Champions Trophy to be held in the month of September..


Krishnamachari Srikkanth, the chairman of selectors and his colleagues of the selection committee met on Sunday in Chennai and announced the same ODI squad for both the upcoming series.

Dravid's return was more or less certain for both the tournaments since the selectors believed that such a move would bolster the Indian middle order which looked vulnerable to short-pitch stuff during the Twenty20 World Cup in England.

Dravid played the last of his 333 ODIs back in October 2007 against Australia in Nagpur and the former India captain has amassed 10,585 runs at an average of 39.49.

Indian opener Virender Sehwag, who is yet to complete his rehabilitation after undergoing a shoulder surgery has expectedly failed to find a place in the squad.

As expected, Tendulkar who made himself unavailable for the four-match ODI series in the West Indies in June-July, is back to the squad along with  Suresh Raina ,who missed the Windies tour due to an injury, that has costed Rohit Sharma his place in the side...

Yusuf Pathan, who has been chipping in with the bat besides rolling his arms to good effect, has retained his place but Ravindra Jadeja has paved the way for Abhishek Nayar who did not get a fair chance in the West Indies..

Other notable omission is Badrinath, fair enough, with Dravid, Yuvi, MSD, Raina in the middle order Badri wouldn't have got a game..

Pragyan Ojha has been left out which is the biggest surprise, he has been the most potent spinner with Bhajji nowadays looking to control the run flow than to take wickets Ojha with his spin, flight and guile could have been a good pick on the turning wickets of Lanka and also in SA..

Amit Mishra who has been bowling with pink, green and orange balls in the emerging players' tournament was the leading wicket taker and most probably that has prompted the selectors to give him a chance in the national ODI side as well..

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Abhishek Nayar, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Yusuf Pathan, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Dinesh Karthik.

Independence day

August 15th is celebrated as Independence Day in India.. India turns 63 today..

12 yrs back, celebrating Golden Jubilee of Indian Independence the cricket board BCCI had organized an Independence Cup.. India staged a quadrangular one-day tournament in the unusually late month of May to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the country's independence. They evaded the worst of the intense summer heat by starting the games in the afternoon and playing on under floodlights, now erected at most of the major grounds thanks to the profits of the World Cup.

India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan took part in the tournament.. 6 league matches and 3 finals.. This tournament would be remembered for one knock from the Left-hander Saeed Anwar who scored the highest innings ever made in a one-day international, plundering 194 off the Indian bowling to beat Viv Richards's 13-year-old record. It was his 12th century in this form of the game; Tendulkar had also reached 12 during the tournament, and only Desmond Haynes, with 17, had remained ahead of them..

The tournament was not a happy one for the Indians though who managed to win only one match against New Zealand losing the other 2 to the 2 Asian giants PAK and SRL.. PAK and SRL made it to the finals of the event which Sri Lanka eventually won convincingly without having to play the 3rd finals..

POINTS TABLE

Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR
Pakistan	3	2	1	0	0	4	+0.287
Sri Lanka	3	2	1	0	0	4	+0.478
India	3	1	2	0	0	2	-0.331
New Zealand	3	1	2	0	0	2	-0.452

Match1: NZ vs Pak : Mohali: D/N : Pak won the toss and chose to field.. NZ won by 22 runs

NZ  scored 285 on the back of a brilliant 100 from Astle, what looked like going to be staggering score was reduced with some fine bowling from Saqlain., 4 wickets from Astle saw PAK lose..
MoM: Nathan Astle

Match2: SRL vs Pak: Gwalior: D/N: Pak won the toss and batted. Pak won by 30 runs

Consistent batting saw Pak lost 289, needing 290 to win SRL was jolted by 3 early wickets.. 2 wickets of the same over by Saleem Malik ended the run chase..
MoM: Aqib Javed (5wickets)

Match3: IND vs NZ: Bangalore : D/N : NZ won the toss and batted : India won by 8 wickets

Astle almost scored his 2nd century, 92.. But NZ lost their way and made a paltry 220.. India launched a 169 run opening partnership with Sachin scoring his 12th century..
MoM: Sachin Tendulkar

Match4: IND vs SRL : Mumbai : India won toss and batted.. India lost by 5 wickets

India lost Ganguly to the first ball of the match and were in dire straits when Tendulkar slashed to deep third-man in the fourth over. Jadeja joined Dravid at 29 for three and revived the innings with a stand of 95, while Robin Singh added a run-a-ball maiden fifty. But Vaas bowled with such economy that he conceded only 13 runs, including just one in the 50th over. A moderate target of 226 soon shrank as Jayasuriya blazed his way to the highest score by a Sri Lankan in one-day internationals - 151 off 121 balls, with 17 fours and four sixes, beating Aravinda de Silva's 145 against Kenya in the 1996 World Cup. Sri Lanka won with nine overs to spare.

MoM : S. T. Jayasuriya.

Match5 : PAK vs SRL : Hyderabad, day/night. Sri Lanka won by 52 runs. Toss: Sri Lanka.

Debutant seamer Shayne O'Connor quickly removed Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva. Those blows, plus the persistence of off-spinner Patel, who shared the new ball, and the slow medium-pacers, Larsen and Astle, choked Sri Lanka's usual free-scoring style. While Mahanama tried to anchor the innings, it was left to Kaluwitharana, demoted to No. 7 after a run of poor scores, to ensure that it went past 200. Once again, New Zealand started well - they were 96 for two at the halfway mark - but then, after Fleming swept and missed at De Silva, they subsided against Sri Lanka's slow bowlers, who each picked up two wickets.

Man of the Match: R. S. Kaluwitharana. 

Match6: IND vs PAK : Chennai, day night, pak won toss and batted :

Saeed Anwar broke the record for the highest individual innings in a one-day international by scoring 194, from 146 balls, with 22 fours and five sixes, three in succession in one over from Kumble, which went for 226664. He beat the previous record, Viv Richards's unbeaten 189 for West Indies against England at Old Trafford in 1984, by five, and might have reached a double-hundred had he not top-edged a sweep to be caught at fine leg in the 47th over. It was a remarkable exhibition of controlled aggression, even if he was helped by a runner, Shahid Afridi, for most of the innings (he was suffering from heat exhaustion and loss of fluid). India were left a target of 328. They began on a poor note when Inzamam-ul-Haq took an athletic catch to dismiss Tendulkar, but Dravid sustained them with his maiden hundred in limited-overs internationals - also briefly assisted by a runner, Tendulkar, until the fielding side objected. They soon fell behind (scored 292),  five wickets for Aqib Javed.

MoM: Saeed Anwar





Finals : PAK and SRL

1st : Mohali : Sri Lanka won by 115 runs.. Jayasuriya 96 off 67 balls, De Silva 90, Ranatunga 80 - SRL- 339 Pakistan had no realistic hopes of making 340 once Sajeewa de Silva sent their top three back to the pavilion before 50 was on the board.

Player of the match ST Jayasuriya

2nd : Kolkata :Sri Lanka won by 85 runs..Sri Lanka passed 300 for the second match running. Pakistan made a poor start, with both openers holing out off unconventional shots as they tried to clear the infield. Ijaz Ahmed and Ramiz Raja added 98 but, once Ijaz fell to a smart stumping, they could not sustain the chase.

 Man of the Match: P. A. De Silva.

Man of the Series: S. T. Jayasuriya. 

Karnataka T20 League - KPL

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) had launched a Twenty20 tournament as part of its plans to expand the game in rural districts. The ten-side zonal league, known as the Karnakata Premier League (KPL), will be held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore between September 12 and 27.

It will feature eight teams backed by the KSCA and Frontiers Group India, with the state association to host an auction on August 8. The eight so-called franchises will pick from a minimum of five from a pool of 40 domestic players in Karnataka. The 40 cricketers will be divided among ten zonal teams: Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Dharwad, Raichur, Tumkur, Shimoga, Bellary, Gulbarga and Belgaum. The KSCA has fixed the minimum bid at Rs 20 lakhs. 

Bangalore will have 2 teams-Urban and Rural , Mysore, Belgaum, Shimoga, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad and Gulbarga were the other zones that were grabbed up, with Bellary, the mining capital of the state, and Raichur missing out from the list announced by KSCA president Srikantadatta Wadiyar.The bidding for the eight franchises of the inaugural Karnataka Premier League (KPL) has fetched a total of Rs 35 crore ($7.36 million approx).. 

• Brigade Enterprises, part of the Brigade Group, making the highest bid of Rs 7.20 crore ($1.51 million approx) for the ownership rights of the Bangalore Urban team. 
• Melmont Constructions Pvt Ltd, part of the Puravankara Group, netted the Bangalore Rural team with a winning bid of Rs 5.55 crore.  
• The Mangalore team went to Fiza Developers owned by politician Moideen Bava for Rs 4.23 crores 
• The Mysore team was bought by Kupendra Reddy Series Auto Company for Rs 3.25 crores 
• The Hubli-Dharwad team went to Shamanoor Shiva Shankarappa and Jagannnath for Rs 3.77 crores.
• The Gulbarga team was secured by Vivid Creations for 3.56 crores 
• Belgaum team by Subash Publishers and Sangeeth Electronics Company for Rs 3.81 crores. 
• The Shimoga team went to Jayaprakash Hedge for Rs 1.75 crores

With cricket in Karnataka being badly hit by a variety of reasons in the recent past, including the dearth of quality players and the inability to spot and nurture the few talented ones, moving forward is imperative as far as the Karnataka State Cricket Association is concerned. Without doubt, Karnataka selectors will be able to see some raw and promising talent in the KPL.  

Having witnessed the nail biting matches in the IPL the cricketers will know what is expected of them in these matches.  One is not sure if the crowds will flock to the stadium but if the matches show promise the efforts of the KSCA will bear fruit.

Former India and Karnataka players Kumble and Srinath have expressed concern over the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA)'s move to start a Karnataka Premier League (KPL) with private franchise ownership of eight teams  and feel it is not a positive development..

Kumble had said that KSCA could organize the event with annual grants from the BCCI and the franchise move is not good as it would allow back door entry into KSCA to people who are not passionate about cricket..

Srinath also voiced his concerns over introducing T20 format to youngsters while they should be trained to play the longer format and then T20 be introduced, making them T20 professionals is not the way forward.. 

The Indian board has now rejected a request from its Karnataka state association to allow players from outside that state to participate in the proposed Twenty20 Karnataka Premier League (KPL). It's understood that the BCCI's decision to restrict KPL to an intra-state event - potentially a big spoke in the league's wheel - is to prevent the possibility of such tournaments becoming potential rivals to its cash-rich IPL.

Whatever be the reason, if other state players are not allowed to play in KPL then each team has to play fringe players to pull out a playing XI.. The quality of cricket may not be that great.. If the quality is not great people will not come to watch cricket or watch on tv.. This would have adverse effects on sponsors and the league itself.. So the primary motive should be to ensure that the cricket is upto the mark and fair.. 

Champions Trophy Classic -2000 (1)

The 2000 event was held at Nairobi, Kenya with 11 teams participating in the knock out format of the tournament..

Since there were 11 teams, 6 teams competed for 3 spots.. Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand and Zimbabwe were confirmed of their participation and the remaining three spots was to be filled by a play off between India, Kenya, Bangladesh, England, Sri Lanka and West Indies..


 Schedule :

Pre Quarter Finals	Match
Match1 :Oct 3	India vs Kenya
Match2: Oct 4	Sri Lanka vs West Indies
Match3: Oct 5	Bangladesh vs England
Quarter finals
Match4: Oct 7	AUS vs Winners of Match1
Match5: Oct 8	PAK vs Match2 winners
Match6: Oct 9	NZ vs ZIM
Match7: Oct 10	SA vs Match3 winners
Semi Finals
SF1 : Oct 11	Match5 v Match6 winners
SF2 : Oct 13	Match4 vs Match7 winners
Finals
Oct 15	SF1 vs SF2 winners
16th October	Reserve day for Final (not required)

 Squads: 


Australia : Steve Waugh(capt), Adam Gilchrist, Michael Bevan, Mark Higgs, Jason Gillespie, Ian          Harvey,  Brett Lee, Shane Lee, Damien Martyn ,Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting ,Andrew Symonds, Mark Waugh,  Brad Young..
  Shane Warne and Collin Miller withdrew due to injuries..

Bangladesh: Naimur Rahman(capt), Khaled Mashud, Javed Omar,  Shahriar hossain, Habibul Bashar, Akram Khan, Aminul Islam, Enamul Hoque, Al Sahariar Rokon, Hasibul Hossain, Mohammed Rafique, Manjural Islam, Mushfique Rahman, Ranjan Das..

England: Nasser Hussain(capt), Alec Stewart, Mark Alleyne, Andy Caddick, Mark Ealham, Ashley Giles, Andrew Flintoff, Darren Gough, Mathew Hoggard, Vikram Solanki, Graeme Hick, Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe, Paul Grayson, Craig White..
     Allan Mullaly and Nick Knight originally in the squad missed out due to injury replaced by Hoggard and Solanki..

India: Sourav Ganguly(capt), Vijay Dahiya, Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Rahul Dravid,Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Sridharan Sriram, Anil Kumble ,Sunil Joshi, Ajit Agarkar, Hemang Badani, Venkatesh Prasad, Robin Singh..

Kenya: Maurice Odumbe(capt), Steve Tikolo, K.Otieno, Thomas Odoya, Ravindu Shah, C. Otieno, A.Suji, M.Suji, HS Modi, M Sheikh, LN.Onyango, P.Ochieng, J.Ababu, Jimmy Kamande..

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming(capt), Geoff Allot, Nathan Astle, Paul Wiseman, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Craig McMillan , Roger Twose, Dion Nash, Adam Parore, Chris Nevin, Craig Spearman, Scott Styris, Glen Sulzberger..
Daniel Vettori was injured and left out..

Pakistan: Moin Khan(capt), Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar, Imran Nazir, Saleem Elahi, Yousuf Youhana, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Faisal Iqbal, Arshad Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Abdur Razzaq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Ijaz Ahmed..

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya(capt), Marvan Atapattu, M.Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Wickramasinghe, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Russel Arnold, Avishka Gunawardene, Upul Chandana, Muthiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Upashantha, Nuwan Zoysa..

South Africa: Shaun Pollock(capt), Mark Boucher, Nicky Boje, Allan Donald, Jaques Kallis, Andrew Hall, Shafeik Abrahams, Lance Klusener, Gary Kirsten, Neil McKenzie, Boeta Dippenaar, Makhaya Ntini, Roger Telemachus, Jony Rhodes..

West Indies: Jimmy Adams(capt), Sherwin Campbell, Brian Lara, Wavell Hinds, Sylvester Joseph, A.Haniff, Marlon Samuels, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Courtney Browne, Nixon Mclean, Colin Stuart, Mervin Dillon, LR.Williams, K.Jeremy..

Zimbabwe: Heath Streak(capt), Guy Whittal, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle,
Mpumelo Mbangwa, Mleleki Nkala, Gavin Rennie, Henry Olanga, Paul Strang, Mark Vermuluen, Dirk Viljoen,Craig Wishart..

Zimbabwe take on Bangla tigers

 

Can bet on this series being closely fought over the second string Windies and Bangladeshis.. 

For Zimbabwe :: 

• Tatenta Taibu has been handed a 10 match ban after having been found guilty of assaulting a Zimbabwe Cricket's (ZC) finance manager.. 
• Mark Vermeulen comes back to the team after 5 years..

Mark Vermeulen had been charged by the police in connection with two arson attacks which destroyed buildings at the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy and damaged an office at the headquarters of Zimbabwe Cricket.
(Arson is the crime of deliberately and maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas.)
Vermeulen, had admitted setting fire to the two buildings in 2006 but pleaded not guilty to arson on psychiatric grounds, adding that he suffered from partial complex epilepsy and impulsive behaviour disorder after he was hit and injured by a cricket ball during a match in Australia.

Zimbabwe Squad: Prosper Utseya (capt), Hamilton Masakadza, Ray Price, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Mark Vermeulen, Charles Coventry (wk), Vusi Sibanda, Sean Williams, Elton Chigumbura, Chamu Chibhabha, Forster Mutizwa, Keith Dabengwa, Timycen Maruma, Graeme Cremer, Chris Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Ed Rainsford, Admire Manyumwa, Trevor Garwe ..

For Bangladesh :: 

• Abdur Razzak has been ruled out due to hamstring injury..
• Enamul Haque Jr replaces Razzak..
• Mushfiqur Rahim named VC to Shakib..

Bangladesh squad is expected to be same as that of Windies tour except that Mortaza and Razzak miss out due to injuries..

Itienerary : 

Date and Time	Match
Fri Aug 7 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	TBC v Bangladeshis(tour match) Bulawayo Athletic Club
Sun Aug 9 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	1st ODI - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Tue Aug 11 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	2nd ODI - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Fri Aug 14 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Sun Aug 16 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	4th ODI - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Tue Aug 18 09:30 local | 07:30 GMT	5th ODI - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo

What's all the fuss about ?

The World Anti Doping Agency ,WADA is the international independent organization created in 1999 to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against doping in sport in all its forms. It remains the only credible, independent and official anti-doping watchdog and consists of representatives from the Olympic movement and public authorities. Compliance with WADA norms will enhance cricket's credibility as a world team sport and is a mandatory requirement for participating in global multi-sport competitions like the Asian Games and Olympics. The updated WADA code was unanimously approved last year by the ICC board.

The players are not against the anti-doping rule but the clause that are against is that the players from the testing pool have to inform the ICC at the beginning of every quarter (three-month period) of the year, a location and time that they will be available for an hour each day in that quarter for testing. If a player changes his/her schedule in between, then he/she needs to update the whereabouts information to the nodal officer either online or even through SMS. However, if the player is not in the location at the time specified, he/she will have a strike recorded against his name. Three such strikes and the player will have breached the code and can face up to a two-year suspension from the game.

Those in the ICC's testing pool feel that the code infringes on their privacy and personal space, especially during off-season or when they are not playing cricket.There are 11 Indian players in the ICC's IRTP, namely Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Munaf Patel, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj. Apart from privacy and practicality issues, the Indian players, some of whom like Dhoni and Tendulkar, have received security threats from terrorist organisations before, have raised questions about the confidentiality and security risks involved in providing whereabouts information in advance..



WADA defends its policy though.. Through a Q&A section in their website they answer the questions..

What are whereabouts?
Whereabouts are information provided by a limited number of top elite athletes about their location to the International Sport Federation (IF) or National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) that included them in their respective registered testing pool as part of these top elite athletes’ anti-doping responsibilities.

Why are whereabouts important for clean sport?
Because out-of-competition doping controls can be conducted without notice to athletes, they are one of the most powerful means of deterrence and detection of doping and are an important step in strengthening athlete and public confidence in doping-free sport. Accurate whereabouts information is crucial to ensure efficiency of the anti-doping programs, which are designed to protect the integrity of sport and to protect clean athletes.




What will happen if the Indian players continue to refuse to submit to the WADA code?
The ICC cannot let them participate in any match that is organised under its umbrella. The Indian players have already missed the July 31 deadline for filing the whereabouts information for the next quarter and face one 'strike' against their name..


The Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) has warned that if the ICC does not penalise India's players for failing to submit to the new anti-doping norms in time, it would ensure that players from all other countries would be relieved from similar obligations..

India win the emerging players tournament

India Emerging Players, aided by Virat Kohli's century and Sudeep Tyagi's four wickets, clinched the Emerging Players Tournament by defeating South Africa at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane. In South Africa's only loss of the tournament they went down to India in the final by 17 runs, losing their last five wickets for 30 runs.

Now, please do not tell us that "choking"  starts from the emerging players' level itself..

South Africa Emerging Players, who had won all eight matches - six 50-over games and two Twenty20s -started clear favourites against India, who pipped Australia to the final after a victory over New Zealand in the last league match.

India have been inconsistent in the tournament, winning and losing four matches. They've won as many 50-over matches as Australia, and made it to the final only because they won one out of two Twenty20 games while Australia lost both.

South Africa have had an enviable record in the tournament, and the key has been the contribution of several players. There is no stand-out star with the bat for South Africa, but four of their batsmen have scored more than 250 runs. 

Virat Kohli and Ajinkhya Rahane top the runs chart for the tournament .. Sudeep Tyagi and Amit Mishra top the leading wicket takes chart.. 

Bangladesh complete a whitewash

Bangladesh have won all the 3 ODIs after WI continued to field second string side despite the former players making themselves available for the ODIs..


The match results : : :

Winner									Margin				Ground			Match Date
Bangladesh									52 runs				Roseau			Jul 26, 2009
Bangladesh									3wickets				Roseau			Jul 28, 2009
Bangladesh									3wickets				Basseterre			Jul 31, 2009

Most runs

Player	Mat			Inns			NO			Runs		HS		Ave			SR			100		50
TM Dowlin (WI)	3			3			1			148		100*		74.00			78.30			1		0
Mohammad Ashraful (Ban)	3			3			0			140		64		46.66			70.35			0		2
Shakib Al Hasan (Ban)	3			3			0			135		65		45.00			97.82			0		2
Junaid Siddique (Ban)	3			3			0			114		55		38.00			74.50			0		1
DS Smith (WI)	3			3			0			113		65		37.66			72.90			0		1

Most wickets

Player	Mat			Wkts			BBI			Ave			Econ			SR
KAJ Roach (WI)	3			10			5/44			16.20			5.85			16.6
Abdur Razzak (Ban)	3			7			4/39			22.85			5.39			25.4
DE Bernard (WI)	3			4			2/59			34.25			4.56			45.0
Naeem Islam (Ban)	3			3			1/26			34.00			4.08			50.0
Mahmudullah (Ban)	3			3			2/38			40.66			5.30			46.0
DJG Sammy (WI)	3			3			2/37			41.33			4.27			58.0

Player of the series :  Shakib Al Hassan