India vs Pakistan - Fingers crossed

It’s always special when the two rivals India and Pakistan meet in the battle field…I mean the cricket playground. There is no match bigger than India vs Pakistan in the cricket history especially in the world cup history as Pakistan is yet to win a match against India in any format of world cup since its launch on 1975. So India is holding this record for the past 36 years and will try hard not to lose it this time. They consider it as a dignity and a matter of esteem and at the same time Pakistan, who are said to be aggressive shockers, will come very strong to beat India this time. Obviously both the teams are very strong as of now in both batting and bowling but the fielding department looks sloppy in both the sides. We can also say it as fight between two average fielding sides but will show strong commitment in the game. I am damn sure millions of people would be watching the match irrespective of their works and the pressure is getting mounted on both the teams. Prime ministers of both the countries are set to watch the match live including lot of bollywood stars and great people all over the world. So it’s going to be mohali day and this is going to be do or die match as the one who wins this semi final match will ride to the finals and other team can enjoy the final from their home. Let’s wait for the action on Mohali on 30^th March, 2011 at 2.30PM. 

No more AUSSIES domination in Cricket

The recent defeats that the Australian cricket team have been facing inflames on everyone’s mind that ‘the Aussies era is over’ in cricket and it has been confirmed after its defeat against India and Pakistan in the world cup. The domination of Australia in cricket for more than a decade has come to an end. They were confident of lifting the world cup for the fourth time consecutively; but it went all in vain as it was thrashed by India in the quarter final match at Ahmedabad's Sardar Patel Stadium. Though Ponting is not in form, he scored an inspirational 104 under immense pressure  which confirms his spot in the Australian cricket team is safe for now but his side's glorious World Cup era is over after losing their quarter-final to India. The three-time defending champions managed to score only 260 losing 6 wickets. The Indians were largely untroubled to reply with 5-261 with 14 deliveries to spare. The start given by Sachin Tendulkar (53) and Gautam Gambhir (50) put off the pressure from Indian side for some time. But the pressure was created when wickets started falling in short interim losing Virat Kohli, Gambhir and Dhoni. But a sensible and matured game by Yuvraj and Raina put the pressure back on Australia. They took 27 runs from the 40th and 41st overs bowled by Lee and Tait which turns to be the turning point of the match. Yuvraj’s unbeaten 57 - his fourth fifty of a tournament where he is averaging over a hundred is adjudged as Man of the Match. Still Ricky Ponting refuses to believe it's the end of an era for Australian cricket. Just as he refused to believe his batting superpowers had left him, Ponting clings to the hope that Australia's period of one-day dominance remains alive.

Ireland’s SUPER HERO

The match between England and Ireland started in low profile fashion as most of the seats were found unfilled in the Bangalore's M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, but the match result pulled everyone’s attention towards it. The result ranks as one of the great world cup shocks - taking its place alongside Ireland's victory over Pakistan in 2007 and Kenya's wins against West Indies in 1996 and Sri Lanka in 2003.  It had all been going so smoothly for England earlier and Jonathan Trott becoming the equal fastest batsman to 1,000 ODI runs as they piled up their 10th highest total in the format. England managed to put awesome score of 327-8 on board with a run-a-ball 92 contribution by Trott. Pietersen and  Ian Bell also did his bit on the day, slamming 59 off 50 balls 81runs respectively. With a huge total to chase, Ireland started but lost its skipper William Porterfield in the first delivery from Anderson. However his opening partner Paul Stirling with 5 fours and a six scored 32 from 28 balls. Ireland almost went out of the game as they were buried at 111-5 with 217 more runs to win with high required rate. There come the superman of Ireland, Kevin O'Brien who scored a 50-ball century as Ireland chased down a target of 328 to upset England by three wickets at the World Cup. He launched into a furious counter-attack, going to 50 off 30 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes. Further he took just another 20 deliveries to complete the sixth quickest hundred in ODIs. Finally he blasted 113 off 63 deliveries, including 13 fours and 6 sixes, and shared a 162-run stand in 17 overs with Alex Cusack (47) which paved way for a history victory. It is the highest run chase of this format in World cup. To lose against a team like Ireland, who played really well towards the end of their batting innings, was very unexpected but a good wake-up call for the England team.

HAT-TRICK HISTORY by MALINGA

SriLankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga, known to be the demolition man of Cricket became the first bowler to claim two World Cup hat-tricks. He finished with a career best 6-38 against Kenya yesterday as Kenya were bundled out for 142. Collins Obuya scored 52 and his brother David 51, but none of their Kenya team-mates reached double figures. He trapped Tanmay Mishra lbw with the last ball of his seventh over. At the start of his next, he bowled Peter Ongondo and Shem Ngoche in successive balls to complete his hat-trick. In return Sri Lanka reached 146-1 to claim victory in Colombo in just 18.4 over. 

 

Four years back, Malinga took four wickets in a row against South Africa at the 2007 World Cup.  For the first time in World Cup history, two hat-tricks have been recorded on successive days - Kemar Roach for Windies against Netherlands on February 28 and Lasith Malinga for Sri Lanka against Kenya on March 1, 2011.  Lasith Malinga's hat-trick against Kenya is the seventh hat-trick in the World Cup. 

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – Opening Ceremony

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be an extravaganza in itself. It is one of the biggest cricketing events in the history of cricket. The grand opening ceremony of this world cup held at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka on February 17, 2010 started with great pomp and show. In total, an amount of 30 million dollar has been spent to make it as a grandiose event. Around 40,000 people were fascinated by the vibrant carnival. The welcoming speech was given by Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina. Great Canadian rock star Bryan Adams and trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy were the highlight of this flashy ceremony. The official song of the world cup was sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Divya Kumar. “De Ghum Ke”(whack it with all your might) is the theme song in three different languages Hindi, English and Bengali. Lady singers of Bangladesh Sabina Yasmin, Runa Laila and Mumtaz sang their chart-bursting numbers along with soothing voice of Sonu Nigam from India. It was quite excitement when the 14 captains of the participating teams paraded in the rickshaw ride with the usual laser and firecracker as well as a message from the UN AIDs ties up through children. Former Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly, ICC President Sharad Pawar Sri Lankan cricket board president Nishanth Ranathunga also made it to this gala event. Everyone is waiting for the action which starts with in-form India versus home support Bangladesh on Feb 19th 2011.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Schedule

The ICC World Cup 2011, is scheduled from 19 February, 2011 to 2 April, 2011 will be hosted by three South Asian Countries (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh). India will host maximum of the matches in the World Cup Tournament. India with 29 matches out of 46 and the Sri Lanka will host 12 of the rest and remaining by Bangladesh.

Feb 19:  Bangladesh v India, Dhaka
Feb 20:  New Zealand v Kenya, Chennai
Feb 20:  Sri Lanka v Canada, Hambantota
Feb 21:  Australia v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad
Feb 22:  England v Netherlands, Nagpur
Feb 23:  Pakistan v Kenya, Hambantota
Feb 24:  South Africa v West Indies, New Delhi
Feb 25:  Australia v New Zealand, Nagpur
Feb 25:  Bangladesh v Ireland, Dhaka
Feb 26:  Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Colombo
Feb 27:  India v England, Kolkata
Feb 28:  West Indies v Netherlands, New Delhi
Feb 28:  Zimbabwe v Canada, Nagpur
March 1:  Sri Lanka v Kenya, Colombo
March 2:  England v Ireland, Bangalore
March 3:  South Africa v Netherlands, Mohali
March 3:  Pakistan v Canada, Colombo
March 4:  New Zealand v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad
March 4:  Bangladesh v West Indies, Dhaka
March 5:  Sri Lanka v Australia, Colombo
March 6:  India v Ireland, Bangalore
March 6:  England v South Africa, Chennai
March 7:  Kenya v Canada, New Delhi
March 8:  Pakistan v New Zealand, Pallekele
March 9:  India v Netherlands, New Delhi
March 10:  Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Pallekele
March 11:  West Indies v Ireland, Mohali
March 11:  Bangladesh v England, Chittagong
March 12:  India v South Africa, Nagpur
March 13:  New Zealand v Canada, Mumbai
March 13:  Australia v Kenya, Bangalore
March 14:  Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Pallekele
March 14:  Bangladesh v Netherlands, Chittagong
March 15:  South Africa v Ireland, Kolkata
March 16:  Australia v Canada, Bangalore
March 17:  England v West Indies, Chennai
March 18:  Sri Lanka v New Zealand, Mumbai
March 18:  Ireland v Netherlands, Kolkata
March 19:  Australia v Pakistan, Colombo
March 19:  Bangladesh v South Africa, Dhaka
March 20:  Zimbabwe v Kenya, Kolkata
March 20:  India v West Indies, Chennai
March 23:  Quarter-final, Dhaka
March 24:  Quarter-final, Colombo
March 25:  Quarter-final, Dhaka
March 26:  Quarter-final, Ahmedabad
March 29:  Semi-final, Colombo
March 30:  Semi-final, Mohali
April 2:      Final, Mumbai

Li Na fails to bloom in Australian Open

The grand Australia open has come to an end where the third seeded Belgian Kim Clijsters bagging her fourth grand slam title after defeating Li in the final.  Li Na from China, seeded ninth, had already surpassed expectations as she played exceptionally well though she does not have the experience of her opponent but was outclassed. Her home crowd reacted with sadness and disappointment after Li Na failed to win the Australian Open women's title on Saturday but said they were still proud she had managed to get as far as the final. If she had won the final, she would have become her country’s first grand slam singles champion. In an instant, Li Na has become a new national idol. She has made history for Chinese tennis, recast the record books of Asian tennis, and she can become the queen of this pursuit.

YUSUF PATHAN - The Brutal Hitter

There is a great relief to Indian cricket team as Yusuf Pathan filled the no.7 perfectly who is considered as a match winner/saver who strongly brings the match of any type under his control. This real hero can keep getting hit in the shoulder off the bouncers, and still keeps coming back to smack the fuller deliveries into the crowd. He sends all the balls to boundaries and he never waits for power play. He has turned three of the last four games he has batted scoring at a strike rate of 134.95 by hitting 18 sixes in 216 deliveries. Two of those knocks have won India games from the dead, and one of them gave South Africa a mighty scare after India had been 119 for 8, chasing 268.

Considering the India’s preparation to world cup, India is having the much attacking opening batsmen among all the Teams. Middle order batsmen failed to shine in the recent tour in South Africa but they could do well in Indian conditions. Though Yusuf was getting in down the order, he can lead the attack even with the tail enders. His bowling is another advantage with 30 wickets under his belt, where his best 3/49 comes from a match against New Zealand. Moreover he is one of the Best Fielder among the young Indian squad. Let’s see this explosive batsman in action the World Cup.

Accident Victory by Chiefs

On Sunday, everyone were surprised by the unexpected dominance by the Kansas City Chiefs over Seahawks. Yes, it is an another victorious slip-up that baffled players, coaches, and fans alike, the Chiefs accidentally defeated the Seahawks 42-24, inadvertently outplaying their opponent by scoring more touchdowns. Matt Cassel said of his team's unintentional dominance of the game that they have no idea what even happened, because on most of the plays they didn't even mean to score. He tried to throw the ball away at least three times, but it kind of floated and ended up in Dwayne Bowe's hands. It must have startled him, too, because he started screaming and running with the ball towards the end zone as fast as he could.  During the postgame press conference, players on the Chiefs' defensive line apologized to the Seahawks for frequently tripping and falling on top of their running backs.

Funny Sledging Incidents in Cricket

Hi guys. I found these sledging incidents in the cricket world and I enjoyed reading it. I am posting here to make you laugh and it is not to hurt anybody. Sometimes, sledging sound funny but at other times, they just turn ugly.

Sunil Gavaskar (India) and Viv Richards (West Indies)

To ease the pressure on himself, Sunil Gavaskar had decided to come lower down the order and bat at No 4 for that particular match. But, Malcolm Marshall fired out Anshuman Gaekwad and Dilip Vengsarkar for ducks, setting the stage for Gavaskar to walk in at 0/2. Viv Richards said “Man, it don’t matter where you come in to bat, the score is still zero.”

Rodney Marsh (Australia) and Ian Botham (England)

Rodney Marsh to Ian Botham in an Ashes match: “So how’s your wife and my kids?” Ian Botham’s reply – “The wife’s fine. The kids are retarded!”

Javed Miandad (Pakistan) and Merv Hughes (Australia)

Javed Miandad called Hughes a fat bus conductor during a match. A few balls later, Hughes dismissed Miandad. “Tickets please,” said Hughes, as he ran past the departing batsman.

Glenn McGrath (Ausrtralia) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (West Indies)

McGrath to Ramnaresh Sarwan: “So what does Brian Lara’s di*k taste like?”Sarwan: “I don’t know. Ask your wife.

Douglas Jardine (England) and Bill Woodfull (Australia)

England player Jardine complained that one of the Australian players called him a bastard. Australian captain Bill Woodfull turns to his team, points to Jardine and asked “Which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?”

Steve Waugh (Australia) and Parthiv Patel (India)

When Steve came (Steve’s last test match) to bat, Parthiv said, “Come on, just one more of the famous slog-sweeps before you finish” Steve-”Respect Me…for when i made my test debut You were still in your nappies”.

Glen McGrath (Australia) and Eddo Brandes (Zimbabwe)

Aussie paceman Glenn McGrath was bowling to Zimbabwe number 11 Eddo Brandes – who was just missing each ball. McGrath, frustrated, went to him and inquired: “Why are you so fat?”Quick as a flash, Brandes replied, “Because every time I make love to your wife, she gives me a biscuit.”

Ravi Shastri (India) and Mike Whitney (Australia)

Shastri hits the ball towards Mike Whitney (the 12th man in the game) and looked for a single. Whitney said, “If you leave the crease i’ll break your f***ing head”. Without battling an eyelid, Shastri retorted, “If you could bat as well as you can talk you wouldn’t be the f***ing 12th man”.

Shane Warne (Australia)  and Arjuna Ranatunga (SriLanka)

Warnie told the press, "[Ranatunga is] probably slotting himself around at 150 kilos at the moment. Swallowed a sheep or something." The former Sri Lankan captain quickly hit back, "It is better to swallow a sheep or a goat than swallow what he has been swallowing."

Viv Richards (West Indies) and Merv Hughes (Australia)

Viv Richards hit Merv Hughes for four consecutive boundaries in one over. Merv stops halfway down the pitch, farted loudly, and said to Viv: “let’s see you hit that to the boundary!” Viv was dumb-founded.