Big Saturday- India Vs Pakistan!!

With Yuvraj down and out of the contention, it’s going to be a tough task for the Indians as they take on their arch rivals Pakistan on Saturday at Centurion. It’s an intense competition as Pakistan is still basking in the Glory of the Victory in T20 World Cup. Right time to catch the opposition napping. Off late Dhoni has been a touch unlucky. First Sehwag and now Yuvraj out of the tournament without playing a single ball. They are the kind of blokes who take away the match from the jaws of the opposition single handed, be it with bat or ball. Yet Dhoni does not have to worry as Indian team is not deprived of the talent. Even if the strikers and hitters are not available, we have our very own swashbuckling master blaster Sachin Tendulkar who can fire all cylinders and can make the opposition look pedestrians. The Wall of India (Rahul Dravid) is standing as tall as ever. Just about time for India to pull up their socks and concentrate on the fielding which will help to pull out a victory out of the hat.

Shams N Wags are already looking forward for a Big Saturday! Are you??

Victorious Lankans!!

The Champions trophy started off style with the Lankans scoring 300+ runs against the Proteas. Dilshan has been Mr. Dependable for Sri Lanka and yet again he proved it by scoring a century at the Centurion. Sri Lanka won the first match of the league under Duckworth Lewis and they will play their next match against England on 25th September.
Match Summary:
Sri Lanka:319/8
South Africa 206/7
Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 55 runs (D/L method)
Player of the Match: T. Dilshan.

Champions Trophy 2009

We are inching towards the last debacle of World cricket calendar for the year.
Yes we are talking about the Champions Trophy. With 8 teams playing for the title and the top four team desperate to retain the top position, it’s going to have some exhilarating contests between the teams.Champions Trophy is also referred as 'Mini World Cup' and it’s played once in every two years.

The teams have been divided in 2 groups. Each team will be playing a match against the same group.
The group structure is as follows
Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan and WI
Group B: England, New Zealand, SA and SriLanka.
India is placed in one of the toughest group as it has the likes of Australia, Pakistan and West Indies. The Champions Trophy will kick start on 22nd September between SA and SL at the Centurion.India will take on Pakistan on 26th September at the same venue and believe us, its going to be as good as a final match. India has never lost to Pakistan in any World cup format and we hope that record remains intact.
Let’s hope to see some wonderful matches in this 50 over format which is talked about losing it's interest over the T20 format.

Posted by: Shams N Wags.
Photo source: livesports-streaming.com

Compaq Win

After 11 years,Team India finally won a series in Sri-Lanka.Last victory was in the year 1998 in a tri-series. It was a collective effort from the team with both bat and ball. After winning toss MS Dhoni elected to Bat first and the openers responded well by putting 100 run partnership for first wicket. Sachin blasted his 44th century by scoring 138 of 133 balls supported well by half centuries from Dhoni who promoted himself to no.3 and Yuvraj finding quick runs in the end. India went on to make 319/5 in 50 over to set a target of 320 for the hosts on somewhat predictable R Premadassa pitch cracking up in 2nd innings.
The hosts though couldn’t have asked for a better start than this one with Dilshan and Jayasuriya blasting early. It seemed to be a close contest with Indian fielding looking pedestrian and the Lankans converting 1’s into 2’s. Robin Singh - fielding coach, need to work really hard to make this team look like No.1 especially in fielding department.
Lankans were sailing through easily with 6 plus run rate until Bhajji shattered Dilshan’s off stump and making foundation for wickets to follow. By 125 on board Sri-Lanka lost 5 wickets. Captain Sangakkara and Kandamby showed some courage by holding innings and making score pass 200. Sangakkara though found himself unlucky to get out Hit-wicket on RP Singh’s delivery leaving Kandamby as sole warrior to fight. Kapugedera supported Kandamby well with his little knock before nicking one to wicket-keeper.
With 82 runs needed in 60 balls things look difficult and Bhajji made it even more difficult in his second spell by picking 2 wickets in 2 balls getting Kandamby clean bold followed by lollypop C&B from Malinga.
Sri-Lanka was bowled out on 273 giving team India 46 runs win in tri-series. Sachin was adjudged Man of the Match for his brilliant knock and also Man of the Series for scoring 211 runs in three matches. Bhajji got stylish player award for his 5-56.
With Champions trophy to start from 22nd September in South Africa this win will boost up moral of the team to enter contest on a winning note.
Shams & Wags wishes team India all the very best and promises to bring all updates from Champions trophy.
Jai Ho!!!!!!!!
Posted by Shams N Wags

New ODI Cricket Champions- India!!

By hitting the final nail in the Kiwi’s coffin, India moved to the Number One position in the ICC rankings. First time ever in the history, India has reached number one position. By saying so, India has to keep winning to retain the position. The champions are called champions if they are able to retain the position and the real challenge now lies ahead of India to retain the title. It’s a moment of pride and honor for India.

Coming back to the match, it was a superb bowling effort by Ashish Nehra Ishant Sharma and Yuvraj Singh. It’s good to see Nehra back amongst the wickets. He is now a member of 100 wicket club. For a long time, he was stuck on 94 wickets. 6 wickets in 2 matches made him reach the landmark.
There seems to be something wrong with Jesse Ryder. He is known to be a smashing hitter of the cricket ball. Forget smashing balls out of the park, he is not being able to sustain for more than an over. In both the matches, he got out for a duck with out troubling the scorer. The scorer seems to be his friend; hence he does not want him to trouble him at all.
The Compaq cup is now a contest between India and Sri Lanka and our sincere wishes for India to win the Series and retain the title.

Victorious-Thilan-Lanka!!

With Daryl Tuffey and Shane Bond back in the New Zealand side, the visitors did quiet well to restrict the Sri Lankans for a small total of 216. New Zealand heavily relies on Jesse Ryder who is a great opening batsman. But he didnt bother the scorers as he got out for a duck.The New Zealanders had knocked out the top order of Srilanka very cheaply. In came Thilan Samaraweera and anchored the boat with a steady innings along with Angelo Mathews and spoiled the party for New Zealanders.
Thilan scored his maiden century, and Angelo supported with a Half century.
Even the lankans bowled superbly with Lasith Malinga striking thrice in an over ensing up with figured of 6.0 overs, 28 runs and 4 wickets.
Sri Lanka won by 97 runs and Samaraweera was rightly adjudged as the man of the match.

Cricketing Actions for Indians!!

Finally after a long break there's some cricketing action to begin for the Indians.
To start with, we have the Tri Series to be played in Sri Lanka starting 8th September.It's a small series between Srilanka, New Zealand and India.Then we have the Champoins Trophy with 8 participating countries to be held in South Africa. Now this is the biggest tournament as far as the year 2009 is concerned.
Hope we keep winning the matches that come in our way and grap the Numeber 1 position in the ODI rankings.
Untill then, lets sit back and enjoy the beauty of cricket.