cricket

Asia Cup Cricket: Dhoni’s men Crush Lankan Tigers to become Asian Champions
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Posted By: Michelle Beckett

Posted In: Cricket
3 hours, 4 minute(s) ago

Asia Cup Cricket: Dhoni’s men Crush Lankan Tigers to become Asian Champions



Indian seam bowlers played a pivotal role in the success of their team in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka. With the victory, the pressure is off MS Dhoni and his bowlers as they win for the fourth time in their last seven finals. The Indian seam attack made considerable improvements coming into this match. And with conditions of Dambulla supporting movement of ball, it is not surprising to see Sri Lankan batsmen struggling against trio of Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar.



Indian fast bowlers were instrumental in restricting the hosts as they enjoyed bowling on a track that offered movement, bounce and consequently wickets. Sri Lanka coming into this match with an earlier win over India was looking bit over-confident and didn’t attack as they have done in their earlier contest. And with the absence of performances such as Mahroof’s hat-trick in their last match, it was evident that Dhoni’s men were there to dominate the proceedings.



India started the innings in a shaky manner as Gautam Gambhir failed to capitalize on a decent start as he was poorly run out. Sri Lanka, who fielded brilliantly in the last match failed miserably as they dropped a number of catches early in the innings. Capitalizing on the hosts’ incompetence in the field, Karthik seized the initiative for India as he accelerated the score for India. With the dismissal of Dhoni in the 33rd over, India was 167-4. Instead of attacking the Indians, Sangakkara kept on using his part timers which cost the Tigers heavily as new Indian batsmen, in-form Raina and Rohit Sharma steered India to a respectable total. After 50 overs, India scored 268 for 6 with Karthik as top scorer with 66.



In response, Sri Lanka started disastrously as they lost most of their top order in the first 15-overs. Indian seam bowlers did the most damage as trio of Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar took collectively 5 wickets. Kumar struck for India in opening over as he removed danger man Dilshan. After the dismissal of Dilshan, Sangakkara and Tharanga found it difficult to cope with onslaughts of Kumar and Zaheer khan.



Zaheer’s in-swinger hit the top of the stumps as Tharanga failed to judge the bounce and movement and left the delivery. Nehra was introduced in the attack by Dhoni and he responded by removing Mathews in the 14th over leaving Sri Lanka 49 for 3. He then struck again in 16th over when he removed skipper Sangakkara. But his best deliveries came against Chamara Kapugedera, who failed repeatedly to read Nehra’s balls. Kapugedera and Kulasekara provided some respite to hosts in form of a good partnership but they could not save the former Asian Champions as Sri Lanka crumbled to 187 awarding Indians victory by a margin of 81 runs. Kapugedera was top scorer for Sri Lankans with unbeaten 55.





This was a repeat of the final two years ago. The totals and victory margin are almost the same but the winner is different. Indian bowlers were responsible for turning the match but Karthik was awarded man of the match for his solid batting performance.



Dhoni looked satisfied as they had had a great campaign with only one loss. Talking at the post match ceremony, he said, “This was a very satisfying win for us since we won three out of four games. It was an important tournament, four of the best sides were playing, and each side was quite balanced, overall happy with the performance”. Commenting on his decision to bat first, he said, “The guys were pumped-up to perform. It was a good toss to win, conditions were ideal for batting. It got a bit slower as the game progressed and it started doing a bit under the lights, the fast bowlers made the most out of it”.



India will be leaving Sri Lanka after being crowned as new Asian Champions. For Sri Lanka, it was utter disappointment as they not only failed to defend their title but also lost in front of their home crowd.

2.India emerge winners as Pakistan exits Asia Cup 2010 fighting
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Posted By: Michelle Beckett

Posted In: Cricket
4 days, 14 hour(s) ago

India emerge winners as Pakistan exits Asia Cup 2010 fighting



In a game that lived up to its hype and expectation, yesterdays game between Pakistan and India went down to the wire as both sides displayed excellent cricketing skills and showed the world just why they are so good at cricket.



One can safely say that the match was evenly poised up till the last over when India required 3 runs of 2 balls. Harbhajan Singh then came to the occasion and smashed the penultimate ball from Mohammad Aamer for a six as India knocked Pakistan out of the Asia Cup with a three-wicket win



Pakistan batting first posted a total of 267 as both their openers gave them a good start and the middle order batsmen all contributed and played their role. At the end of their innings it was suspected that they were perhaps 10-15 runs short of what they could have made. This was exactly the case as India won with only one ball to spare as they scored 52 runs in the last five over’s.



India will now be meeting hosts Sri Lanka in the final to be played on the 24th of June and before that the two sides will face each other on Tuesday in the last game of the draw. Pakistan and Bangladesh, who have not won a match yet and thus stand eliminated, will play each other for a consolatory win as they meet on Monday.




India’s batting started solid as both opener Gautam Gambhir and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni clicked at the time that mattered most for their team. However to their disappointment they could not finish the match. As just when they were cruising home, Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal managed to get the wicket of Gambhir, thus, triggering a middle-order collapse with four wickets falling and only 39 runs being added to the scoreboard.



With this Pakistan got back into the game, however India managed to get back their concentration right in time as both Raina and Harbhajan stepped in to lead India's recovery and crush Pakistan’s hopes of an Asia Cup.



Despite Pakistan emerging as the eventual losing side one must add that the country, the fans and the captain could not have asked for a better display of cricket. It always does become hard to come to terms with such a loss especially when u get so close and yet so far. Pakistan unfortunately have been victims of this twice in a short span (the T-20 semi final loss to Australia). Captain Afridi however remains satisfied about his team’s performance and despite the loss praises the Indians for holding their nerves and winning.



As quoted before and is usually the case in such high pressure matches, controlling ones nerves in such situations is usually key to success. Yesterday, the Indians managed just that as they sailed their way into the finals of the Asia Cup.



There can never be a Pakistan-India came where you do not come across an exchange of hot words between players. This emotional intensity was witnessed yet again yesterday. During the match verbal clashes between Harbhajan Singh and Shoaib Akhtar and earlier between Kamran Akmal and Gautam Gambhir were witnessed. On both the occasions the field umpires, Billy Bowden and Billy Doctrove had to intervene.




Pakistan’s former captain and wicket keeper, Moin Khan says that a lack of cricket between the two countries is a major reason for this as both teams have to wait too long to seek revenge. Before yesterdays’ Asia Cup match, Pakistan last met India in September, last year, in the Champions Trophy in South Africa and Pakistan had won.




Harbhajan known for his in-disciplinary antics had a spat with Shoaib Akhtar in the finals stages of the match. While, earlier in the innings Gautam Gambhir featured in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with Pakistan’s wicket-keeper. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Shoaib Akhtar had to separate the two.




The team managers say that the match referee had a chat with the players from both sides and decided not to charge them as he felt it was a heat of the moment incident and even Pakistan’s captain Shahid Afridi played down the incident.

3. Pak vs India, Asia Cup: Pakistan Cricket Team Marred by Politics & Poor-Play
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Posted By: Michelle Beckett

Posted In: Cricket
5 days, 13 hour(s) ago

Pak vs India, Asia Cup: Pakistan Cricket Team Marred by Politics & Poor-Play



There was a time when Pakistan cricket team used to boast of superstars like Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Saleem Malik, who used to play for a win, and win matches as well, but that was a long time ago.



The side hasn’t won a single One-Day match this year, and it is only because of politics - the one the country’s cricket board is involved in, and the one the players are a part of.


Despite the cricket team’s poor recent performance, the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt, is not being removed because his relatives are close to President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the Patron-in-Chief of the board. Butt and his yes men continue to take decisions that don’t have any logic; yet he is untouchable in the country.


The same goes for the cricket team, where planning takes a backseat. No one in his right mind would have discontinued Abdul Razzaq after he bowled 5 overs for just 18 runs. Nobody who understands cricket would have let Shoaib Akhtar bowl the penultimate over. No selector would have selected Kamran Akmal in the side due to his hopeless performance. However, all of this was part of the Pakistan India match that usually makes the Asia Cup one of the most interesting tournaments in the world.



Pakistan continued its wretched form in the tournament, and crashed out of the event’s tenth edition with one match to play. The Pakistan and Bangladesh clash will mean nothing since India and Sri Lanka, two teams with better captains, safe fielders, dependable lower order batsmen and a wicketkeeper who drops lesser catches, have already made it to the finals.


If one compares Pakistan and India after today’s match, one can find only one difference - common sense. Salman Butt once again proved that despite being one of the most stylish batsmen in the world, he can self destruct at any given time. His decision to take a single when the ball was in the hands of the bowler was illogical, improper, and meaningless. Yet it cost Pakistan the match because after his dismissal, no batsman except Kamran Akmal was able to make use of the batting-friendly conditions.


Comparatively, Gautam Gambhir played a more sensible knock because like Salman Butt, who opened with the shaky Imran Farhat, Gambhir also had a partner in Virender Sehwag who seemed out of sorts. Yet Gambhir played well, converting singles into doubles and striking the odd boundary. He was also supported by his middle order batsmen unlike the Pakistan side, where constant shuffling in the batting order saw no one score big.



Umar Amin, the left hander who made his debut against Sri Lanka at number 3, came in at number 5 today, while Shoaib Malik, who had refused to come at number 3 after the Champions Trophy last year, came and went without impressing anyone except wife Sania Mirza, who is an Indian tennis star.


Similarly, Umar Akmal might be a good batsman but he is no Kevin Pietersen, and if he wants to stay in the side, he will have to first learn to play it right, and then innovatively. His unusual dismissal for the second time in as many matches might get him nowhere except the record books where there is a position vacant: about player with most consecutive unusual dismissals.


As for the bowling, fast men were hit for runs even though the wicket wasn’t unsupportive; the Pakistanis seemed more generous than their opponents in gifting runs. India gave only 11 extras, which included 5 leg byes, whereas the Pakistani bowlers gave away as many as 24, with 15 runs coming from leg byes, and the rest from wide balls and no balls at crucial stages of the match.



Shoaib Akhtar couldn’t bowl at his usual pace - a fact that will leave the selectors rethinking their decision - because he was limping at the end, couldn’t bowl at a stretch and seemed a force well past his best!


Fielding proved to be the biggest difference between both sides. While the Indians jumped around, took catches and hit the stumps regularly, this was only occasionally the case for Pakistan. With the team for the Twenty20 matches in England to be announced on Sunday, Pakistan selectors might make some big changes and take players with potential rather than big names with no recent performance to help them.

4. Cricket News: India win Asia Cup 2010, Australia lose against England
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Posted By: Michelle Beckett

Posted In: Cricket
5 hours, 38 minute(s) ago

Cricket News: India win Asia Cup 2010: Australia lose against England

On a day that mattered most, India's seam attack lived up to the occasion as they helped the men in blue win the all important Asia Cup 2010, knocking over tournament favourites and the only undefeated team in the series, SriLanka.



The victory meant that extra something for the Indians as only two days ago they were subjected to humiliation at the hands of the same team whom they now won the Trophy against and thus having the last say in the tournament with the history books now reflecting India as the ultimate winners of the 2010 Asia Cup. As a result, when one would look back at the series, the only thing that would mater is the winner, despite whatever happened throughout the series, as the ones with the Asia Cup are the ones who are remembered.



The victory also meant that India won the Asia cup after 6 years, winning their last Asia Cup trophy in 2004 and also denying SriLanka a hat-trick of Asia Cup victories.



To India’s advantage, they won the toss and elected to bat first and thus bowled under lights with conditions that supported all of their seamers.



Ashish Nehra lead the bowling charge as he bowled superbly, moving the bowl both ways of the seam. He got that extra bounce and thus left the SriLankan batsmen completely bamboozled which eventually lead to a batting collapse of the tournament favourites, SriLanka, who lost wickets at regular intervals.



All three of the pacers, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra bowled a good, tight line throughout their spells and thus did not give the SriLankan batsmen any room to experiment.



Looking back at the match in detail, Sri Lanka bowling first did well initially to restrict the Indians however the difference was that they could not finish the job as India managed to bat through their allotted quota of 50 over’s and thus posting a challenging total of 268 for the SriLankan batsmen to chase.



It was a disappointing day for SriLanka as their worst nightmare came to life and on the all important day of the final, they were sloppy in the fielding department and even the SriLankan batsmen never looked to be in the chase. They lost their openers and even their inform batsmen Tillakaratne Dilshan early on in the innings.



As a result of this early collapse, the Indians did not lose their grip on the affairs of the match as they managed to get wickets at regular intervals and eventually won the game comfortably by 81-runs.



For India, Dinesh Karthik was the top-scorer, making 66 runs. In the bowling department, Ashish Nehra claimed four wickets as he played a key role in reducing the hosts to 51-5 in only the 16th over of the final as the entire SriLankan team collapsed by the 45th over.



In the other match of the day, England capitalized on their first match victory by putting another win under their belt as they now lead the 5 match series 2-0.



The victory for the English side yesterday was a result of an overall team effort as both the bowlers and the batsmen complimented each other in their respective areas of expertise, helping England cruise to a victory against Australia who batting first, posting a total score of 239 in their allotted 50 overs.



Strauss, Pietersen and Collinwood were the main anchors of the English batting helping the English sail to victory.



For Australia, it was a rare ordinary outing as their batsmen struggled to time the ball. However all credit must be given to the English bowlers who noticed this bit of hesitancy and thus took great advantage of the situations and kept bowling with a disciplined line and length.



The 2-0 score line would now make it a touch difficult however not impossible for Australia to come back and win the series. Their batting is missing that Australian spark and thus the bowlers despite their efforts are being unable to defend the small totals.



But Australia does have that knack of rising to the occasion and with their backs against the wall one could be sure that in the next outing we can expect something different from the kangaroos.

5. Match Day: Pakistan takes on India in Asia Cup 2010
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Posted By: Daniel Smith

Posted In: Cricket
6 days, 2 hour(s) ago

Match Day: Pakistan takes on India in Asia Cup 2010

Team Pakistan will be meeting their arch rivals India at the Rangiri Dambulla in Sri Lanka as both teams are looking forwards to a win. The stakes are quite high as any team winning today’s match will make it to the finals of the Asia cup 2010. Pakistan will be meeting India on the fields of cricket after eight months and the atmosphere in both the dressing rooms, the stands and the ground itself is expected to be a historically proven intense one.



When Shahid Afridi’s men in green step into the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium today against Mahindra Singh Dhoni’s men in blue, it is assured that the entire world will be watching. Today’s game is expected to be the prime focus in Pakistan nd India despite the football World Cup running in South Africa.



Both the teams last met at the Champions Trophy in September and in that instance the Pakistanis had the better of India. Thus this time around in today’s all important match as a loss for Pakistan would mean an Asia Cup exit, Dhoni’s men would be itching to take their revenge and also in the process eliminating the men in green from the tournament.



However, Pakistan is no push overs as they can be dangerously volatile. When put in a do-or-die situation, the men in green tend to bring out their best game. A classic display of their unpredictability was evident not so long ago when Pakistan comprehensively beat the South Africans and had a very close match with the Australians in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.



Also to make matter worse for the Indians, a determined and aggressive Afridi, the twin power of the Akmal brothers, who are single-handedly capable of turning around matches when the chips are down. Combining the batting prowess of Salman Butt and Shoaib Malik will make it a touch difficult for the struggling Indian bowlers to curb Pakistan’s run flow.



With every said on paper, India still have a superior batting unit. Their batting runs down deep with even Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan capable of pulling their side out of a crisis like situation if the match demands so. Then they also have the likes of Virender Sehwag who has a good record against the Pakistani’s and the flamboyant Gautam Gambhir who just made an excellent 82 against Bangladesh.



But what about the bowling department? This is one department where Pakistan definitely has an edge over the Indians is the pace and spin they.



Shoaib Akhtar has returned to the side and in his first game against the SriLankan team. He looked impressive which is why he will be a key bowler against India. Pakistan also has the services of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer who could very well pose problems if they back their ability to move the ball with accuracy.



When it comes to spin, Pakistan may use Captain Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik - both of whom were brilliant against the SriLankan’s in the opening match of the Asia Cup 2010.



For India, the bowling department is not that exciting as an uncertain cloud hangs over Ashish Nehra’s fitness. If he doesn’t play today, then Zaheer Khan will be India’s main attacking bowler. Harbhajan Singh, who has been bowling well of late, can be an asset for the Indian side. However, the way Afridi dealt with Muralitharan the other day, it is assured that fireworks have been prepared for Pakistani batsmen once the spinner starts to operate.



So with all said we can now sit back and wait for the greatest moments in cricketing history to be once again be written today. Pakistan batmen Shoaib Malik has 1685 runs under his belt against India and even Salman Butt enjoys his time at the crease against the Indian as he is only 82 runs away from the 1000-run mark against them.



Historically, India and Pakistan have faced off against each other on eight different occasions in the Asia Cup, where India has won three times and Pakistan on four occasions with one match ending in a draw. So statistically, Pakistan remains the favourite team for today.

6. Cricket Update: England Destroys Australia again, is England the Next Power House of Cricket
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Posted By: Michelle Beckett

Posted In: Cricket
4 hours, 8 minute(s) ago

Cricket Update: England Destroys Australia again, is England the Next Power House of Cricket



Australia was once again at the losing end, as England crushed them comfortably to record their second win of the series. If it was Eoin Morgan who was nemeses for Aussies in the first match, then it was Broad, who demolished Australian batting line up this time. Despite Broad’s heroics, this victory is attributed to professional approach and play of the English, as they clinically finished Australians.



Australian batsmen struggled to cope with English onslaughts in Cardiff, Wales as they posted a modest total of 239, which was easily chased by England with the loss of 6 wickets. Moreover, with this loss, England is in stronger position as they lead the series 2-0 and with pathetic performance of the Australian batsmen in first two matches, it is unlikely they can change things around.



Broad struck early in Australian innings as he removed Tim Paine, who was caught at leg side by Craig Kieswetter. Paine came in the match as replacement of injured wicket keeper Brad Haddin but failed to make any significant impact. He then removed Australian skipper Rick Ponting for 13, also caught by Kieswetter. Clark was Broad’s next victim as he was caught by Swann in short leg for 1. After losing early wickets, Australia found some respite in form of Cameroon White and Smith. Both of these batsmen are famous for hard hitting. But they gave untypical performance as they battled to find the boundaries. This can be substantiated from the fact that both of them scored just 33 runs in batting power play later in the innings. Smith made 41 where as White scored unbeaten 86 from 98 balls.



England started their chase in formidable fashion as Clint Mckay, who was replacement of Josh Hazlewood sent two no balls. In response, Andrew Strauss murdered the free hits to give England an accelerated start. Strauss was instrumental in steering and stabilizing English innings as he developed 68- run second-wicket partnership with in-form Kevin Pietersen. Strauss scored 51 before he was bowled and caught by Nathan Hauritz. Pietersen scored 33 off 38 when he was removed on the bowling of Steven Smith but through brilliant catch of Ricky Ponting. Later, Morgan and Collingwood steered England close to target without facing any stiff resistance from Australian bowlers. During his innings, Collingwood changed the history books as he became the highest run-scorer for England in ODIs. Collingwood departed for 48 and Morgan for 52 but after bringing England closer to victory. Swann finished the innings with style as he hit six over mid-wicket with 28 balls to spare.



England is now one win away from sealing the series. Moreover, if they win the series, they will for the first time established their dominance over Australia in all three forms of cricket. They first defeated Aussies in Ashes, then they won the T20 championship and now they are close to winning ODI series. Commenting on their victory, English skipper Andrew Strauss said, “Australia have had a very good 12 months or so, and they played well against us last summer, but ultimately that was last summer. Times have moved on, and I'm happy with where we are as a side at the moment.” Meanwhile, man of the match, Stuart Broad said, “The most pleasing thing was the way we adapted as a bowling unit. I think the first couple of overs didn't go to plan, but we communicated about the best ways to go, and we tried to bowl as straight as possible because players thrive on a bit of width these days.”



Australia needs to re-evaluate their strategy if they want to salvage any success in this series. They need to find weak points of their English counterparts; otherwise, England will easily wrap up the series in the next match. After many years, England is on high as they have finally established dominance over their arch-rivals in all forms of cricket.