boring draw

Draw.............. Dreaded word in test matches..

Dead Pitch, slow poison to test matches.. Why bother supporting the idea of a Test championship when you're doing your best to kill off the oldest form of the game?

DRAW is a special feature of the tests.. A team must lose all wickets to give an outright win to the opposition.. 99-9 chasing 400 for win is also a draw..

Some of the most remembered test matches have been great drawn games.. The most recent being the nail biting finish at Cardiff in Ashes.. Panesar and Anderson had batted out almost an hour to ensure a draw in the 1st test match against Aussies which was considered equal to a win with the crowd roaring when the umpires called off play at the end of the stipulated time..

As far as I can remember, in Australia India has drawn a game in Gabba 2003, Sydney 2004, Sydney 2008.. I think those are the only 3 drawn games, or SAF may have drawn a game sometime.. Such is the result oriented pitches they have been producing over the past 5-6 years..

In England and New Zealand, the draws are mostly decided by wet conditions and rains..

Astonishingly, England since Jan 01,2004 has played in 42 tests and in the same time the busiest country India has featured in 27 home tests only.. 11 of the 42 tests have been a draw in England..  7 of those have been due to time wasted by bad light or rain or wet out field.. 2 instances of close calls, when India had lost 9 wickets and MS Dhoni helped India save the Lord's test match, the famous Ashes match where Lee and McGrath saw off the final few overs..

Ironically, majority of the draws have been in the tour opener at Lord's, London - 6 ..

West Indies also have 12 draws in their home..

one due to Lara's mammoth 400*..

double centuries from chanderpaul and Hinds and rain stoppage ended a match in draw..

Gayle storm of 317, 3 more from WI; 4 centuries from SA and they still had time to play 30 overs in 2nd innings.. Ironically, for SA all 11 players bowled in the match..

last wicket was not dislodged on 2 occasions.. rain on 3 occasions.

Largely, West Indies has been a batting paradise.. Scores of 580s, 600s, 750s have been the culprits in draws.. 5 of the draws has been against England..

12 draws in INDIA too, adding the draw in Ahmedabad test against Lanka 2 days back..

7 of those have been on dead pitches.. Centuries galore.. No holding back..
2 no play possible on 2-3days due to rains in Chennai.. Dead wickets assisted by bad light in the remaining 3 cases..
These 12 draws have been among the worst games ever played, mindless batting exhibitions on surfaces where the bowlers were neutered the moment the new ball lost its shine.
The pitch looked good enough to last another week- was a common comment..  Ganguly in his article has written that another test match could be played on the Motera wicket ,Ahmedabad after Murali could do no damage on the 5th day too..

There's nothing wrong with a surface being batsman-friendly initially, as long as it deteriorates over the course of a game.. There's nothing wrong in a pitch being spinner friendly either, but the match referees take it the other way that the pitch is a minefield.. What if all wickets were taken by the faster bowlers, is the pitch to bouncy ?? Why not call off then!!

This is a series where the No. 1 ranking is at stake. You'd think that results mattered. India are content with being world leaders: at signing TV deals and producing sub-standard pitches..

sachin at 20

Today, Sachin finishes 20 years in the International circuit..


ST holds all records at stake from batting perspective.. Be it the highest run getter in tests, ODIs, maximum number of 100s in ODI and tests, highest individual score for India in ODIs etc.....................................

20-20.. Lets try listing 20 best memories of ST in these 20 years..

Sachin Tendulkar has been playing top-class cricket for 20 years and he's still producing blistering innings, still looking hungry, still demolishing attacks, still a prized wicket, still a proud competitor. He has not merely been around for two decades. From his first outing to his most recent effort, a stunning 175 in Hyderabad, he has been a great batsman. Longevity counts amongst his strengths. Twenty years! It's a heck of a long time, and it's gone in the blink of an eye.From an attacking batsman in the 90s to a class player in the 2000s, the transformation has been brilliant. The one batsman who knows his body, he changed his style of batting to suit the needs very quickly.. The 100s of late, barring the 175, has been classy.. At no point we would feel that he is scoring, yet so nonchalantly he notches up that elusive 3 figure mark..

1. FIRST SIGHT
            Sachin's 600+ stand with Vinod Kambli in the school level competition.. Playing for Sharadashram VidyaMandir, ST and Kambli each scored triple hundred.. It was apparently broken 15 years later..

2. FIRST TEST
           This day, that year.. Exactly 20yrs ago at Karachi ST making his debut had to face the likes of Akram, Waqar, Imran Khan in his first test match, getting hit on the head. Yet, that kid was ready to come onto the front foot.. He scored a 50 in his 2nd test match itself..

3.FIRST 100 IN OZ
           Everybody talks of this as his best 100.. Setting: Perth,'92 .. Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes, Mike Whitney and Paul Reiffel formed the attack on the bouncy Perth wicket.. Sachin scored 114..

4. LAST OVER- HERO CUP 1993
          I remember this, South Africa needed 6 runs of the last over and ST was handed the ball.. The game was in Calcutta, Eden Gardens.. ST tied them down to just 3 runs and India advanced to the finals.. Finals was against Windies where Kumble took 6-12 to ensure an Indian win..

5. FIRST TIME OPENING THE INNINGS
           Sachin in a recent interview spoke about this. Sidhu was injured and couldn't play.. ST was till then batting at 6. He asked the captain and coach to give him one chance to bat up the order and that he was confident of doing well. If he were to fail, he would never come back again.. He was confident of hitting over the in field in the initial field restriction overs.. Sachin scored 82 of 49 balls against New Zealand.. Opening slot was his ever since..

6. TITAN CUP BANGALORE and MUMBAI- 1996
           Sachin played amazingly for his 88 but got out at the wrong time, India needed 52 runs with 2 wickets in hand.. Srinath and Kumble, local lads set up the win.. The match went almost to midnight, ST won the man of the match award.. In Mumbai, Ind vs SA finals.. Sachin held aloft a round shield..

7. WORLD CUP -1996
           India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka hosted the 96 Wills cricket world cup.. India reached the semi finals purely on Sachin's brilliance.. With 523 runs at 87.16, is the highest scorer in the World Cup..

8. WARNE'S NIGHTMARE 
           Shane Warne had nightmares bowling to Sachin.. India vs Australia test series in 1998.. India won that series 2-1.. He employed slog sweeps and deposited Warne over mid wicket for six time and again..


9. SHARJAH 1997/98
           The one knock that no one will forget.. Two centuries back to back, 143 to ensure India is through to the finals of the Coca Cola cup.. 134 in the finals to ensure India wins it.. It was the first time a cricket tournament in Sharjah did not feature Pakistan. Both the 100s came against Australia and he single handedly won the matches for India.

10. HAILED AS/BY THE DON
            Don Bradman's 90th birthday, Sachin and Warne were invited.. Don said Sachin's batting reminded him of his own batting.. The visuals of Don and Sachin playing a straight drive were shown over and over again in all TV channels..

11. BACK STRAIN and a HEARTBREAK

            Indo-Pak series after a long time, India needed 271 to win in the Chennai test.. Sachin was battling a severe back ache but batted superbly to score 136.. The famous lap sweep came during this test match.. Chennai was witnessing yet another classic from ST.. But a heartbreak was waiting for him, India slumped to defeat.. He was awarded man of the match but did not come to receive it as he was crying in the dressing room..

12. 1999 WORLD CUP
            India were in England to play the 1999 world cup and as usual the hopes rested on Sachin's shoulders.. There was a sad news, his father passed away.. He flew back to India to do the last rites.. Surprisingly, Sachin came back to wear India colours and played for India.. That was amazing spirit.. He scored 140 against Kenya on his return..

13. 2001 SOUTH AFRICA SERIES
             It was the series where ST started playing a new shot.. Upper cut over the slips to negotiate the bouncers.. The series where the match referee was Mike Dennes.. ( Remember!) Sachin and others were called for ball tampering and faced one test ban.. The 3rd test match was an unofficial one, and the star played..

14.  STUMPED FOR THE FIRST TIME
             England and Ashley Giles adopted negative strategy bowling down the leg side to tie Sachin down.. It was their only way to get him out they thought, as they had no faith in themselves to get the master out by fair means..


15. 2003 WORLD CUP, 98 vs PAKISTAN
            2003 world cup began badly with a loss to Australia and scrapped to a win over Holland.. Indian fans were fuming, burnt effigies of the players, pelted stones at their homes in India, painted them black.. Sachin came out and addressed the media asking fans to maintain calm and giving a hope that India would do well.. Under Ganguly, India had a great time in the world cup.. Scores 673 runs at 61.18 in the World Cup, taking India to within a win of the world crown. His 98 against Pakistan in an exceptionally anticipated match is one of the best knocks by an Indian in a World Cup. Attacked the Pakistan bowlers from the 1st ball.. Hoisted Akhtar  for a six over 3rd man.. Australia are champions, but he is named Man of the Series.

16. ROBBED OF 200
            Dravid declared when Sachin was on 194. ST for the 1st time expressed his displeasure in the public.. India went on to win the series, 309 from Viru in Multan.. Ganguly axed. The series saw everything, also India's first series win in Pakistan soil..

17. CENTURIES TO REMEMBER
             A patient 241 in Sydney 2004, minimal off side shots, leading to a draw in the test match and the series..No. 35 against Sri Lanka in Delhi took him past Gavaskar.. His first century in more than two years and 19 Tests, against opposition other than Bangladesh, SCG 2008.. Coveted 100s in the finals..
CB series final, India reached finals thanks to brilliant captaincy from MSD. Ponting wrongly talked of not needing a 3rd final and Sachin obliged.. 114 in Sydney in a 240 run chase, a 91 in the 2nd final ensured India win without having to play the 3rd finals as per Ponting's desire.

18: TWIN RECORDS
            Drives Shane Warne down the ground to score a significant single signaling an entry in the 10000 club.. Celebrates it by scoring 139.. From there on every 1000 run mark, he is the first. Latest one being first one to score 17000 runs..
            Steers Peter Siddle down to third man to become the highest run getter in tests going past Lara.. Hails this as his best record as it took him 19 years to get there.. Scored 12000 in tests..

19. 100 IN CHASING
            Mumbai carnage 26/11.. England's tour was cut short and India couldn't complete a 7-0 whitewash.. It was great of England to come back to play the tests.. Chennai again.. Chennai crowd are blessed indeed.. Yet another class act from Sachin. This time it wasn't a smashing innings.. India's 387 run chase was set up by Viru's brilliance overnight and on the 5th day after quick wickets Sachin and Yuvraj's partnership saw India through.. A paddle sweep that took India to victory and Sachin to his 100..

20. 175 vs AUSTRALIA, HYDERABAD
             May be he has a record in this too.. Maximum heartbreaks after an amazing knock.. Chasing 350 runs to win isn't easy by any standards.. Sachin had not scored big for sometime and a 100 was beckoning.. He chose this stage.. Scored half of the target himself.. Scintillating performance, words will do no good to describe this knock.. Salute the master..

When GOD plays

The bowlers bowl where they want to and Sachin hits them to boundary where and when he pleases to.. A cricketer who got the status of a family member in every cricket loving home in India with his cricket, humility & honesty. Words will never describe the legend Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Nov 5th, 2009 shall remain in our minds forever.. But what about Nov 5, 1989 ???
That was the first time Sachin got selected into the Indian team that toured Pakistan...

What a long wait it was though to witness this 100 from his bat !! For many it was a reminiscent of Sharjah 1997-98 Coca Cola cup against the Aussies..

He was 27 then, and India had 2 targets in the match - 1 for victory and 1 to ensure that India are through to the finals.. 285 for a win and 254 for reaching finals, it was revised to 276 and 237 after a dust storm.. Considering the then playing conditions, 280 was on par with the current 330s.. At 4-138 the hopes sunk, but this man thought otherwise.. He plundered the Aussie attack and scored a mammoth 143 at more than run a ball to secure India's place in the finals.. He walked after edging a delivery down the leg side..

In the finals, chasing 272 for a win, all hopes wrested on Sachin as he scored 134 off 131 balls to ensure a win.. The point is getting to 272 was considered a winning total, and to chase it down happened not so often those days..Warne had gone for 61-0 in his 10 overs..

Yesterday, we got to see Sachin at his attacking best after 1998 Sharjah cup.. Ironically, this was against the Aussies too.. A magnificent innings, a description of which by mere adjectives and superlatives do not do justice to the knock..

How great was the knock and how big was the heart break !!

He cannot cry now at the defeat, he is old enough.. But cry he did, when he scored a 100  against Pakistan in Chennai only in vain.. Chasing 271 for a win, Sachin who had got out for a duck in the 1st innings played with a sore back.. On reaching 254-6, Sachin went down to a floater from Saqlain and gave a catch to mid on.. India, you wouldn't believe, got out for 258..

" I think Joshi told me he[Sachin] went down the wicket and told him its gone too long now,let me finish this match.
So it was flotter from Saqlain,He came down the track and wanted to hit over the top of long on.
I came down the dressing room,I think its fair for me to say,he[Sachin] was weaping like a school boy,I kept on telling him why are you taking the whole blame yourself,by then we lost the match.You made impossible possible by playing this great inning.He[Sachin] said no sir,I have lost this match.
We were in the podium,I think very few time you gets man of the match on the loosing side,he got the man of the match on the loosing side.From the podium I signal to Anshuman Gaekwad the coach of the Indian team and asked him where is he[Sachin], because I knew he was Man of the match. Gaekwad said he not coming because he is crying.
I think thats what commitment is all about." -- Late, Mr. Raj Singh Dungarpur..

This would have been a bigger heartbreak for him, chasing 350 isn't easy.. India had posted 354 in Nagpur, and we all know how the Aussies crumbled under pressure and there was no significant partnerships handing India a 99 run victory which could have been worse had we taken the last wicket cheaply..

The 2nd story that unveiled itself was in Hyderabad, this time Aussies had scored 350.. Belter of a wicket, Sachin was edgy at the start.. His feet weren't moving.. He slowly got to 17000 runs.. 6(14) balls.. A four and a no-ball to follow.. A free hit that was sliced for 4 behind point.. From there on, it was as if saying I want to hit this through cover and I hit it.. Sublime innings..

Years since we saw him coming down the wicket to a spinner and hoisting him straight for a six.. He hit 3 like that..

A flick coming down the wicket to Voges that went for 4 through mid wicket.. An inside out shot through cover, a flick of McKay's slower ball, stand and deliver- cover drive that went whistling past the fielders, a short arm jab that split short third man and backward point of Hussey, a shot through where 2nd slip would have been came right of the middle of the bat...

Highlights of the innings


Do we remember that Ian Chappel had called for his retirement in 2008 as Sachin was according to him playing only for records ? He had in his article to cric-info had claimed that Sachin is NOT THE BEST ODI batsman, Ponting has easily overtaken him and that Ponting has played better in many pressure situations and the finals too which Sachin apparently did not do off late and that since he was well past his prime he must retire gracefully..

Before anybody else makes a decision on what will happen to Tendulkar the player himself has to have a good long look into the mirror and decide what he's trying to achieve in the game. At the moment he looks like a player trying to eke out a career; build on a glittering array of statistics. If he really is playing for that reason and not to help win as many matches as he can for India then he is wasting his time and should retire immediately. 

Read the complete article here:

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/287961.html

Now, shouldn't we ask him to look into a mirror and answer the question 'If he is writing such blogs to get more user comments and thus say he is popular and eke out a career in blogging as an expert analyst' . If so, he must retire immediately..

What do u say ??

 

Champions league CLT20 stage round recap

What happened thus far, a look back..

• Great inauguration, amazing choreography by Shaolin Monks and others.
• Boring speech which was booed by the audience; started clapping before he could finish. (Mr.Modi)

• MATCH1 - JP's great innings of 99, deserved a century.. An innings punctuated by traditional drives and pulls, no slogging.. A 105m hit for SIX that landed above the big screen.. RCB went down to this brilliant knock..

• AUSSIE might - Victoria and NSW impress with big wins that could put them in the next stage.. Thumping win against Delhi and Eagles respectively.. Showed their class and the strong domestic set up at display..
  

• IPL teams go down - 3 losses in as many matches.. RCB lost to JP's knock, Delhi to pitch and Deccan to Alfonso Thomas. A last ball thriller, from being 99 for 7 to chase down 153 speaks of Deccan's bowling strength...
  

• Empty stands await matches involving non-IPL teams.. Provokes Gavaskar to question the future of CL T20 in the absence of IPL teams in the 2nd round.. 
  

• Cape Cobras and NSW through.. Cobras went past Otago to become the 1st team to enter league stage.. NSW showed their might over Sussex Sharks a day later to qualify to the next round.. 2 champions are through.. 
  

• Amidst all questions and speculations, Delhi put up 170 on board, on a pitch where 120 is a par score thanks to Viru and Karthik.. Qualify for the league stage by gaining an unassailable Net Run Rate..
  

• RCB follow suit.. 2 IPL teams get through.. 
  

• The lesser teams bow out, Otago from Newzealand and Wayamba from SriLanka bid good bye to CLT20 earning USD200,000 each..
  

• Trinidad and Tobago surprise the world with back to back wins.. Deccan had to listen to their team music/ theme music - 'GO chargers GO chargers'.. The IPL champions GO out of the tournament.. 
  

• A super 'SUPER' over, 9/1 from Eagles and 0/2 from Sussex.. Cj De Villiers picks up 2 in 2..  Reason given from sussex- we are new to super over and have never played in it before.. ( do we give them practice matches for this too? Ridiculous)..

But what has left an impact,

 JP Duminy's brilliant 99 will be talked for sometime to come.. Unforgettable innings.. No slogging.. This gives the message that players need not change their stroke play but only change their mindsets in T20..

Laxman's knock of 40 odd has left not only Harsha Bhogle dumbfounded but also many of the cricket fans.. Laxman stepping down the wicket or playing a cross bat shot/slog was definitely not a treat to watch but leads us to say please save them from T20 gimmicks.. We would rather watch him score 20 in a test match than to see him slog his way to 50s in T20..

Where's the hype ? Where are the sponsors ? We never heard a ***** Maximum, or ******* 4s... 6s were plain sixes and 4s were plain fours.. Refreshing.. (Yes, Modi is still the man behind the tournament, no changes there)

Empty stadiums for matches not involving IPL teams.. That is a  worrying sign for the future of CL.. We can just brush away the thought saying this is the first year and people would take time to understand and identify with the teams involved..

STAR.. An anthem 'yeh cup kahin nahi jayega' (this cup will not go anywhere) and India bounced out of T20 World cup.. 'All the best India' campaign and India crash out of Champions trophy.. 'Diwali hogi cup wali' campaign, Rangoli (colours) to depict trophy from RCB, sweets stacked one above other for Delhi and a rocket firecracker turning into a cup for Deccan.. The most unrealistic campaign that of DC has ended.. As RCB and DD don't carry points they need to win all their matches to get into semis.. So, will STAR make it 3 out of 3..

Focusing on League stage, A1, A2, B1, B2 form League A and C1,C2,D1,D2 form League B..

                        LEAGUE A                           LEAGUE B
                     Trinidad and Tobago                     RCB
                      Somerset CCC                            Cape Cobras
                      NSW blues                                  Delhi Daredevils
                      Diamond Eagles                           Victoria Bushrangers

trp goes down in champions league clt20

Ratings point is a measure of viewership of a particular television program.
 
One single television ratings point (Rtg or TVR) represents 1% of viewers in the surveyed area in a given minute.

As an example, say, there are an estimated 100 million television households in the surveyed country. Thus, a single national household ratings point represents 1%, or 1 million households.. When used for the broadcast of a program, the average rating across the duration of the show is typically given. Ratings points are often used for specific demographics rather than just households. For example a ratings point among the key 18-49 year olds demographic is equivalent to 1% of all 18-49 year olds in the country.

In India, television ratings are collected by two main organizations - TAM India and Audience Measurement Analytics Limited (aMap). aMap entered the market in 2005, with more coverage and latest technology from Telecontrol-Switzerland. aMap polls the meters (6000 households) using GSM network and provides ratings overnight. TAM India collects data manually (physical visits) and releases data weekly. aMap also has a stand-alone digital panel (aMapDigital) to measure TV viewing in DTH homes.

The TRP ratings show that T20 is starting to get boring and unknown teams playing only adds to the woes.. The empty stands are also an indication that CL T20 hasn't yet caught the viewers.. If this is the situation in a cricket crazy country, the situation will only be grim when CL goes around the world..

A comparison of important matches in ICC T20 WC 2009, IPL ,CT 2009 and CL T20 is done below..


For IPL 2009, the reach had increased.. More viewers but they stayed for a lesser time on the channel.. The ratings were 4.3 for RCB vs KKR in 2008 and was 3.6 in 2009 for CSK vs MI...
The 2nd semi final CSK vs RCB had a rating of 6.5 against 5.5 rating for semi-2 in IPL-1..
But 8.8 rating of IPL-1 was far too higher than 8.3 of IPL-2 ..

Having said that, and IPL being too loud being the reason for its reach and talks that IPL and T20 are going to take the world by storm spelling an end to test matches and the ODIs were proved wrong in the ICC world cup, may we say that the timings of the match were a dent to the viewership..


In ICC WC 2009, IND-WI match had highest rating points of 5.4 followed by Ind-Eng game 4.8 ..
The finals had a rating of 3.7 in star cricket and DD had a rating of 3.8 ....

Still we find that an Ind-Pak match garners the same rating as that of T20 finals.. So, a great game of cricket is still appreciated irrespective of whether its a T20 or ODI..  Over 30 million viewed Ind-Pak match.. The knock out stages did not do that well because of the absence of Indian team..

The Champions League has fared even worse with an average of 0.74 so far, according to TV monitoring agency, aMap.. Empty stands also adds to the woes.. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore was full even for the Ind-Aus test match while in the other 3 matches we got to see empty stands.. But now, the same stadium in Bangalore was empty for Trinidad match..

This takes us to the next question.. Will the matches be fixed to let the IPL teams into the league stage ?

ICC awards

As part of the ICC's celebration of the game's heroes and role models, it stages the annual LG ICC Awards ceremony to recognize the major individual and team achievements in world cricket.

The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its sixth year and in 2009 the Awards took place in Johannesburg. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007) and Dubai (2008).

The LG ICC Awards in 2009 included eight individual prizes, including the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Cricketer of the Year. The winners of seven of these individual awards were voted upon by a 25-person panel from around the world, made up of renowned former players, respected members of the media, and an elite umpire and elite match referee. Meanwhile, the nominations for the Women's Cricketer of the Year Award were voted on by a separate 16-person voting academy featuring former players and other experts on the women's game.

The other three awards were the ICC Test Team of the Year, the ICC ODI Team of the Year and the Spirit of Cricket Award.

Based on the 12 months between August 2008 and August 2009, the LG ICC Awards 2009 - presented in association with FICA - took into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

Lists of nominees- Individual Awards

Cricketer of the Year
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind)
Gautam Gambhir (Ind)
Mitchell Johnson (Aus)
Andrew Strauss (Eng)

Test Player of the Year
Gautam Gambhir (Ind)
Mitchell Johnson (Aus)
Thilan Samaraweera (SL)
Andrew Strauss (Eng)

ODI Player of the Year
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind)
Virender Sehwag (Ind)
Yuvraj Singh (Ind)

Emerging Player
Ben Hilfenhaus (Aus)
Graham Onions (Eng)
Jesse Ryder (NZ)
Peter Siddle (Aus)

Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year
Rizwan Cheema (Can)
Ryan ten Doeschate (Ned)
William Porterfield (Ire)
Edgar Schiferli (Ned)

Twenty20 International Performance of the Year
Shahid Afridi (Pak) for scoring 51 off 34 balls and taking 2-16 against South Africa during the ICC WT20 semi-final in Nottingham on 18 June
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) for scoring 96 not out off 57 balls against the West Indies in the semi-final of the ICC WT20 at The Oval on 19 June
Chris Gayle (WI) - for hitting 88 off 50 balls against Australia during the ICC WT20 at The Oval on 6 June
Umar Gul (Pak) for taking 5-6 against New Zealand during the ICC WT20 at The Oval on 13 June

Women's Cricketer of the Year
Charlotte Edwards (Eng)
Shelley Nitschke (Aus)
Claire Taylor (Eng)

Umpire of the Year
Aleem Dar
Tony Hill
Asad Rauf
Simon Taufel

Spirit of Cricket
Australia
England
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
 
This list was arrived at after a long list of nominees was announced earlier.. Surprisingly, South Africans were missing from the short list of nominees.. CSA chairman Gerald Majola was surprised and shocked at the absence of South Africans from the final list especially after having a great year in both the test and the ODI formats and being No.1 in the ICC rankings too..

On October 1, in Johannesburg, the awards were given away..

Cricketer of the Year-     Mitchell Johnson
Test Player of the Year-  Gautam Gambhir

ODI Player of the Year-  Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Emerging Player-             Peter Siddle

Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year -            William Potterfield

Twenty20 International Performance of the Year - Tilakaratne Dilshan

Women's Cricketer of the Year - Claire Taylor

Umpire of the Year -                     Aleem Daar

Spirit of Cricket-                           New Zealand


ICC ODI and Test team captain - MS Dhoni

Johnson - Impressive performances against SA in both home and away series.. Played a hand with both bat and ball, integral part of the Aussie team which is rebuilding after the loss of its stalwarts..

Gambhir- Scored more than 1000 runs, dream run for him. 5 centuries including a double century against the visiting Australia..

Dhoni- Retained his ODI player award, highly consistent.. Averages above 50 and his average increases by 7 when India chase more than 275.. (remarkable to note that in the same period of consideration Sachin's average dips by 7 when India chase high totals)

Dishan- Has a shot named after him, Dilscoop which he used effectively in the T20s.. Scored 96 of 57 balls in the T20 WC semi final against Windies.. Afiridi's performance was more effective and it lifted the entire team against the Proteas.. Gayle's 88 against Aussies deserved an award too..

Siddle- Emerging player of the year award, he had to fill in the gap left by McGrath and an injured Lee. Truly a better choice from the nominees..Never easy to make your debut in the absence of Lee and having to lead the bowling attack and perform so superbly..

Claire Taylor- England woman's team captain, only in the woman's cricket have they won a major ICC tournament.. This year they won the 50 over championship and the 20-20 championship in which Taylor played a great role with the bat..

Aleem Daar- First time I have seen Simon Taufel being pipped for the award.. Aleem Daar, Asad Rauf, Taufel have been the better umpires..

William Potterfield- First seen in Ireland's T20 campaign, made it to the super 8s.. They have also won 9 of the 11 ODIs they played..

Spirit of Cricket- Switched hands from Sri Lanka to New Zealand this year, Vettori was pretty startled as to what this award was for..

Panel:Clive Lloyd, Anil Kumble, Mudassar Nazar,  Stephen Fleming and Bob Taylor
ICC ODI Team of the year-
Virender Sehwag (Ind),
Chris Gayle (WI),
Kevin Pietersen (Eng),
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL),
Yuvraj Singh (Ind),
Martin Guptill (NZ),
MS Dhoni (Ind, captain, WK),
Andrew Flintoff (Eng),
Nuwan Kulasekara (SL),
Ajantha Mendis (SL),
Umar Gul (Pak),
12th man: Thilan Thushara (SL)

The team has one batsman too many.. The line up cannot be determined.. Martin Guptill may be a misfit and the balance is missing..

World Test Team of the Year:

Gautam Gambhir (India),

Andrew Strauss (England),

AB de Villiers (South Africa),

Sachin Tendulkar (India),

Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka),

Michael Clarke (Australia),

MS Dhoni (India, capt & wk),

Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh),

Mitchell Johnson (Australia),

Stuart Broad (England),

Dale Steyn (South Africa),

Harbhajan Singh (India, 12th man)

This team is very strong.. No.10 can bat too.. But lacks the 5th bowler..

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!!
   

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.