India loses first T20

India loses the first T20 against Sri Lanka here in Nagpur by 29 runs, despite a brilliant 55 off just 26 balls by Indian opener Gautam Gambhir. Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara played a splendid knock of 78 runs in just 37 balls to take Sri Lanka to a mighty 215-5 in their allotted 20 overs.

Having won the toss, Dhoni decided to bowl first, keeping in mind the dew factor, which could have played a huge role in the latter part of the game. Sri Lanka were off to a flying start, as the veteran Sanath Jayasuriya and Tilakaratne Dilshan started off brilliantly. Though Jayasuriya gave the debutant Ashok Dinda, his first international T20 wicket, he took Sri Lanka to a flyer. From there, Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara took over and started making the mockery of the Indian bowling attack. He was superb with the bat and scored 78 runs off just 37 balls with 11 fours and two sixes. He got able support from the other end in the form of Dilshan(34), Chamara Kapugedera(47) and Angelo Matthews(15 not out). The Indians on the other hand were sloppy in the fielding, as the newly appointed fielding consultant Mike Young was a mere spectator of the sloppy Indian fielders in the middle.

For India, debutants Ashish Nehra and Ashok Dinda took a wicket each. Also, Yousuf Pathan and Rohit Sharma shared a wicket apiece. Ishant Sharma, though didn’t took a wicket, but he was the most impressive Indian bowler as he gave only 22 from his 4 overs. Nehra was the most expensive who gave away 52 runs in his 4 overs.

In reply, Indian were too off to a flyer as Virender Sehwag continued his form of Test Cricket into T20 and started off in his typical style. He scored a quickfire 26 runs. Gautam Gambhir – the most consistent Indian batsmen in all the levels of cricket for India, took the toll on the Sri Lankan bowlers, especially Lasith Malinga and posted a pacy 50 off just 19 balls. He however, failed to stretch his innings and is bowled around his legs by Angelo Matthews, when he was on 55. The Indian middle order failed dramatically after the departure of the openers and Dhoni(9), Yuvraj(6), Rohit Sharma(3) and Yousuf Pathan(0) could only manage 18 runs among themselves. Only Suresh Raina tried to defy the Lankan attack with 21. The defeat could have been more shameful, if Ashish Nehra and Ashok Dinda wouldn’t have shared a useful partnership between themselves. Nehra scored 22 and Dinda scored 19.

For Sri Lanka, Kulasekara, Dilshan and debutant Pushpakumara took a wicket apiece, but the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka was the veteran Sanath Jayasuriya, who took 2 wickets for just 19 runs in his quota of 4 overs.

Gautam Gambhir became the first batsmen to complete 6 half centuries in T20 internationals. There were four debutants (two from each side) in the game. For India, Ashish Nehra and Ashok Dinda made their debuts and For Sri Lanka, Chinthaka Jayasinghe and Muthumudalige made their debuts in T20.

Pakistan Tottering in First Innings

Pakistan was tottering at 165-6 in the first innings of the second Test. The first day of the second Test match was truncated due to rain and bad weather. Umar Akmal, though tried to play a match saving knock, but he was dismissed for 46. Daniel Vettori took 3 wickets and the pacers did excellent job, as all the major Pakistani batsmen fell cheaply. When the day’s play was called off, Pakistan was in trouble, as they were reduced to 165 for the loss of 6 wickets. Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Aamer were at the crease, when the play was called off.

Sehwag Mauls Sri Lanka

Virender Sehwag hit the second fastest double century to send Sri Lanka into complete disarray, as India take a lead of 50 runs in the third Test match against Sri Lanka here in Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.

Earlier, in the morning Sri Lanka resumed their first innings and was all out for 393. Young all rounder Angelo Matthews missed what could have been his first hundred in Test Cricket. He was run out when he was on 99, thanks to a brilliant throw from Sachin Tendulkar. Harbhajan Singh finished with 4 wickets; Pragyan Ojha took 3, whereas pacers Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth took a wicket each.

India began their innings in style; thanks to a brilliant innings from Virender Sehwag and replacement opener Murli Vijay. The usual roles get reversed, as Vijay started to hammer the Sri Lankan pacers, whereas Sehwag started off cautiously. Soon Sehwag came out of his skin and started to dominate the bowlers with cuts, pulls, drives, hooks, inside-out shots and every other shot mentioned in the book. Vijay was also elegant with his timing and the shots he played were simply exquisite. Vijay got out when he was trying to play a sweep shot against Rangana Herath. He made 87 off 122 balls with XX and 1 six off Muttiah Muralitharan. Rahul Dravid then joined Sehwag. But the dismissal of Vijay didn’t seem to disturb Sehwag, as he continued to play shots all over the park. Soon he completed his hundred and rose to 150 in no time. Rahul Dravid continued to play good shots as well and never seem to give a chance to the Lankans. Sehwag then completed his 6th double century. He became the 1st Indian to hit 6 double centuries. As soon as his double hundred came, he became crazy and started to play amazing shots. There was no respite for any Sri Lankan bowler. It can be seen from the economy rate of all the bowlers; the lowest being 4.56 of Welegedara. The Indian run rate was 5.61 at the end of the day’s play. Be it Muralitharan, or Herath, Matthews, Welegedara or ODIs best bowler Nuwan Kulasekara; there was no respite for any bowler.

India finished the day at 443-1 off just 79 overs. It would be very interesting to see, whether or not Virender Sehwag would be able to complete his third triple hundred or not. If he does so, he would not only be the first Indian in the world to do so, but the first batsmen in the world as well.

Records that were either broken or are on the verge of it:

• Sehwag’s 200 off just 168 balls is the second fastest double century in Test Cricket, behind New Zealander Nathan Astle off 153 balls.
• Sehwag is the first Indian to register six double centuries, outstripping Rahul Dravid’s five. Only Sir Don Bradman (12), Brian Lara (9) and Wally Hammond (7) have more.
• 284 is the 3rd most runs scored in a single day, behind Bradman’s 309 in 1930 and Wally Hammond’s 295 in 1933.
• First Indian to post four 250-plus innings. Only Sir Don Bradman (5) has more.
• Sehwag has made 200 runs in a day thrice. No other Indian has done it even once.
• Reached 6,000 runs from 123 innings, the 3rd fastest Indian after Sunil Gavaskar (117) and Sachin Tendulkar (120)
• Sehwag has a strike rate of 80.48, the best among the batsmen with over 6,000 Test runs. Viv Richards has the next best strike rate of 69.28
• India’s 443-1 is the most they’ve ever got in a single Test-day. Add Lanka’s 27 and an amazing 470 runs were scored on Thursday.

Dhoni make India bounce back

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain of India hit a brilliant century to win the game for his side. He hit a splendid 124 off 107 balls and had two excellent partnerships, first with Gautam Gambhir (76 off 80 balls, 6 fours) and then with Suresh Raina (62 off 50 balls, 6 fours 1 six).

It was all started with Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bowl first. Virender Sehwag (40 runs off 31 balls, 6 fours 1 six) smashed Aussie bowlers all over the park, however Sachin Tendulkar missed out today, as he scored just 4. Sehwag then joined hands with Gautam Gambhir and they took the score to 67. Here, Sehwag gave a catch off the bowling of Mitchell Johnson. The returning Yuvraj Singh came and started hitting strokes all over the park. But his stint was short lived, as he scored run-a-ball 24 and was caught by Peter Siddle off his own bowling. Then came the ‘Captain Cool’. He started taking quick singles, hit the odd boundary and along with Gambhir, he took the score to 216. This partnership witnessed the fifties of Gambhir and Dhoni. Dhoni and Gambhir hit the Aussies to all corners of the ground. With a confusion between both of them, Gambhir’s innings ended with a direct hit. Gambhir made 76 runs off 80 balls, with 6 fours. Once Gambhir departed, Dhoni attacked the Aussie bowlers even more fiercely; his partner was Suresh Raina. Raina also supported his captain with some lusty blows. Both of them added 136 runs off 93 balls. Raina’s fifty came in just 42 balls. Dhoni completed yet another ODI hundred in style by hitting Shane Watson for a big six. He hit one more six on the very next balls. His century came off just 94 balls, as he finished on 124 runs off just 107 balls. India finished on 357-7 off their 50 overs. With Dhoni’s century, it was the first century by an Indian captain against Australia. Mitchell Johnson took 75-3.

In reply, Australia started in a similar fashion and soon lost the wicket of Tim Paine, when he was dismissed off the bowling of Praveen Kumar. Shane Watson and captain Ricky Ponting took the innings from there, but were never able to cope with the rising run rate. Soon, Watson perished off the bowling of Ishant Sharma. Soon, Praveen Kumar dismissed Ricky Ponting and Australia slipped further down. Within a few overs, it was clear that Australia would not be winning this match. Indian spinners, especially Yuvraj Singh and Ravinder Jadeja bowled well and never allowed the Aussie batsmen took the upper hand. Michael Husey was the highest scorer for Australia, as he scored 53. Ravinder Jadeja took 3 wickets for 39 runs. Ashish Nehra took 2 wickets, so did Ishant Sharma.

Indian Captain was the obvious choice for the Man of the Match award.

With this victory, India level the series 1-1 and would be keen to win the third game and take 2-1 lead in the series.

Australia pins India by 4 runs

Harbhajan Singh's and Praveen Kumar's heroics took India agonizingly close to an enthralling win before the hosts slumped to a four run defeat against Australia in the first match of the seven One Day Internationals series on Sunday.

At 201-7 in their chase of a 293-run victory target, India seemed heading for a comprehensive defeat before Praveen (40 not out) and Harbhajan (49) came up with a defiant 84-run stand off just 57 balls for the eighth wicket (an Indian record) that took them to the doors of victory.

Earlier, Australia set up a victory target of 292 runs. Tim Paine, Michael Hussey and captain Ricky Ponting played splendidly to set up this huge score. Ashish Nehra took 2 Aussie wickets, whereas Ishant Sharma looked in good form after a long time and he ended up taking 3 Aussie wickets.

For India, top order batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag failed badly, however, Gautam Gambhir showed what a gutsy cricketer he is. He hanged on for 85 deliveries and scored an important half century. He scored 68 with 6 fours and 1 six. There were useful contributions from Virat Kohli and the skipper MS Dhoni, but with the wicket of Ravinder Jadeja, India were reduced to 201-7 in 40 overs. It looked like as if the match will have a one sided end. But Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh have other plans. They played smart cricket and Bhajji showed his 'liking' for Aussie bowling once again with a brilliant innings of 49 runs off just 31 balls with 4 fours and 3 big sixes, whereas Praveen Kumar justified his batting talent and he remained unbeaten on 40 off just 32 balls with 5 fours and 1 six.

If India would have won the game, the Man of the Match would certainly had been Harbhajan Singh, but with the Aussies winning it, Michael Hussey was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant 74 off 54 balls with 8 fours and 1 six.

What a series opener it was? I can't wait for the second match which is scheduled to held at Nagpur's Vidharbh Cricket Association ground on Wednesday, Oct 28.

Vettori becomes the first left arm spinner to take 300 wickets

Daniel Vettori, left arm spinner and New Zealand skipper, has completed his 300 Test wickets and with it became the first left arm spinner to accomplish the feat. England’s Derek Underwood has the next best tally as a left arm spinner – 297 wickets in 86 Tests. Vettori is also the second New Zealander after Sir Richard Hadlee (431 wickets) and the 24th overall to have bagged 300 wickets or more in Test Cricket.

Having already aggregated 3000 runs (3329 in 94 Tests to be precise), Vettori became the 2nd New Zealand all-rounder after Haadlee and the 8th overall to accomplish the ‘double’ of 3000 runs and 300 wickets.

Meanwhile, Lanka moved to a comfortable position after the end of Day 1’s play, as they end the day on 262-3 in 90 overs. Skipper Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samarweera scored brilliant half centuries to take Lanka to a comfortable position. Sangakkara scored 50, whereas Jayawardene was unbeaten on 79 and Samarweera was batting on 78. Vettori took 2 wickets out of the fallen 3.

“I see myself as a bowler rather than an all-rounder,” said Vettori.

Ponting Has to Face the Music

James Sutherland - the Chief Executing Officer of Cricket Australia said that sacking Ricky Ponting from the post of Australia's test captaincy would be unfair. "Ricky's had a very, very good series," Sutherland told reporters. "He's been under incredible pressure. I thought the dignity and poise that he showed in defeat was something that all Australians should be very proud of." He also dismissed the blames made on the selection committe about the non inclusion of the off spinner Nathan Hauritz. "I think everyone will be looking for people to blame. I don't think that in any way we can hold the selectors accountable for us losing the Ashes," Sutherland said. "At the end of the day, the players go out and do the business on the field".

Sutherland is also hopeful that good days for Australian cricket would return soon an he is very hopeful of coming strong in the tournaments to come.

Ex Australian players and former greats of the game has to say a lot of positive and negative things about Ricky Ponting, The Australian team, Selection Committee and other issues related to the humiliation Australia and Ponting received after the Ashes debacle.

Advantage Australia

Australia managed to restrict England to 307-8, thanks majorly to Peter Siddle’s scintillating fast bowling, which got him 4 English wickets. Though, for England Captain Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell & debutant Jonathan Trott played well scoring 55, 72 & 41 respectively. After the first three wickets, wickets fell at regular intervals. Sadly for English fans, Andrew Flintoff managed to score only 7 in what would be his last test match. He however has second innings to make it a memorable farewell. Stuart Broad was batting on 26, at the stumps. England need the last two batsmen to score at least 50 runs + the important time so that they can bank on their bowlers to restrict Australia.

Cricket News

Morne Morkel left out

South Africa declared their ODI squad for upcoming Champions Trophy. They left out fast bowler Morne Morkel from the 15 men squad. Left arm pacer Lonwabo Tsotsobe has returned to the squad. The squad for the Champions Trophy is:

Graeme Smith (Captain), Johan Botha (Vice-Captain), Herschelle Gibbs, J P Duminy, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn, Hashim Amla, AB De Villiers, Mark Boucher, Albie Morkel, Robin Peterson, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Makhaya Ntini & Wayne Parnell.

Afridi turns down Tasmanian offer

Pakistan all rounder & T20 Captain Shahid Afridi turn down Australia’s state Tasmania’s offer as he wants to concentrate on the upcoming series against New Zealand, followed by the tour of Australia. “I declined as Pakistan is already due to tour Australia in December and I want to focus on that”. Afridi said

Sri Lanka gets the edge

Sri Lanka has gained advantage over New Zealand in the first test match. At the end of Day 2 of the first test, New Zealand lost their 8 wickets for a mere 281 in reply to Sri Lanka’s 452.

Sri Lanka, earlier scored 452 in their first innings, thanks to a massive innings by Thilan Samarweera & Ex Captain Mahela Jayawardene. Samarweera scored 159 with 24 fours & 1 massive six, whereas Jayawardene scored 114 with 15 fours. New Zealand, though, managed to pull things back as they grabbed last 5 wickets for just 44 runs. Sri Lanka were 408-5 at one stage and were set for a total of 500+. But then Kiwi Skipper Daniel Vettori & pacer Chris Martin claimed 2 wickets each to dismiss the last five batsmen. They, eventually managed to take 4 wickets each. Sri Lankan innings also saw a record breaking innings from returning batsman Tilakratne Dilshan who scored 92 off just 72 balls with 12 fours & 1 sixes. Dilshan, when got dismissed become the fastest to score a fifty who has been dismissed in the Nineties (in Test Cricket).

New Zealand started their innings very well with the opening batsmen Macintosh & Martin Guptill added 45 runs for the first wicket. Guptill was the first to got out when he was bowled by left arm Sri Lankan pacer Thilan Thushara. Daniel Flynn also didn’t last long when he was dismissed for a mere 14 when he was bowled by mystery off spinner Ajantha Mendis. Daniel Vettori’s decision of sending Jeetan Patel as a night watchman gave good results & he scored 26 useful runs with Macintosh. Both of them added 49 runs for the third wicket. There was again a useful partnership between the new batsman Ross Taylor & Macintosh for the fourth wicket as another 41 runs were added between the two. Taylor got out at individual score of 35 (3 fours, 1 six). He was caught by wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawerdene off the bowling of Thilan Thushara. Macintosh was batting very slow & he finally got out after scoring a patient 69 with 6 fours & 1 six. He was trapped plumb LBW by champion off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. This started the down slope of the Kiwi innings as another as wicket keeper Brendon Mccullum & all-rounder Jacob Oram went cheaply. Jesse Ryder scored a useful 42 & Daniel Vettori took the charge once Ryder got out. Vettori was unbeaten on 33 & Ian O’ Brien was giving him company when the day’s play ended.

Pakistan....once again

It was Pakistan who was once again victorious against Sri Lanka in a T20 game, when they defeated the Island country by a big margin of 52 runs. Pakistan, under the new T20 captain Shahid "Boom Boom" Afridi won the toss & elected to bat first. The wicket was a good one to bat on & they said that even 175-180 would be chaseable.

Pakistan started off disastrously when Nuwan Kulasekara bowled Kamran Akmal on the very first ball of the innings. Shoaib Malik joined Imran Nazir & the two added 35 in just 3.4 overs when Shoaib Malik was bowled by Malinga when he was on 14. Then came the Captain himself & mind you, he is now a completely changed batsman, as he plays those huge shots but with responsibility & patience. He scored 50 off just 37 balls with 4 fours & 2 big sixes. Imran Nazir also scored a brilliant 40 in just 28 balls with 5 fours & 1 six. The young Umar Akmal took the charge with Shahid Afridi, when Imran Nazir got out off the bowling of Thilan Thushara. Umar Akmal scored 31 off just 20 balls & Abdur Razzaq scored 25 off 17. There were useful contributions from almost all the batsmen & that really set up the pace for Pakistan.

Sri Lanka began their chase well. The openers Udawatte (11 off 8 balls, 2 fours) & Sanath Jayasuriya (23 off 17 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes) scored briskly & the team's total shot to 39 in just 3.5 overs. Jayasuriya seemed to be in a blazing form, but his innings didn't last long as he was dismissed by Mohammad Aamer. Former Captain Mahela Jayawardene joined hands with current captain Kumar Sangakkara & it seemed that Sri Lanka would sail easily to victory. However, Jayawardene top edged an Iftikhar Anjum delivery to Abdur Razzaq when the score was 71. The next wicket was probably the biggest blow when Captain Kumar Sangakkara was bowled beautifully by off spinner Saeed Ajmal. It was a major setback for Sri Lanka as they lost their captain. Sri Lanka then saw a sudden collapse of their innings & the last 5 wickets managed only 20 runs! It was off spinner Saeed Ajmal & returning pacer Rana Naved-ul-hasan who took 3 wickets each.

Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi won the "Man of the Match" award for his all round performance. He was indeed blushing when he came to receive the winner's trophy.

Good Luck Captain!!!

Australia level the series

Australia crushed England to win the fourth test comfortable by an innings & 80 runs. The bowlers already won the match in the first innings itself when England was bowled for a paltry 102. Believe me, it is looking the same Australian side which has ruled the world of cricket for over a decade.

Young Marcus North scored his third hundred in sixth test & with Michael Clarke, he ensured that Aussies get a huge lead to win the test by an innings. They also bowled beautifully in the second innings to restrict England to 82/5 at stumps on Day 2. Though there was some kind of a fight put on by English middle order & lower order batsmen Stuart Broad & Swann, but they were just reducing the winning margin.

Australia are now back in the groove. They have bounced back at just the right moment in the series & they can now even won the series. Well, we'll find out in the decider. Remember, even a draw will ensure that the Aussies will retain the Ashes & England have to wait for one more year for it.

More Match Results

It's been very busy few days. So again I apologise. I am again presenting the match results from last week.

Sri Lanka v Pakistan 3rd ODI - Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 6 wickets.
Pakistan 288-8 in 50 overs. (Umar Akmal 66, Kamran Akmal 45, Younis Khan 44) Sri Lanka Bowling: Matthews 2/41, Muralitharan 2/64. Sri Lanka 289/4 in 46.3 overs. (Jayawardene 123, Tharanga 76, Sangakkara 37 n.o.) Pakistan Bowling: Saeed Ajmal 2-54, Mohammad Aamer 1-45. Man of the Match: Mahela Jayawardene - Sri Lanka.


England v Australia 3rd Test - Match Drawn
Australia 1st innings 263 (Shane Watson 62, Simon Katich 46) England Bowling: Anderson 5-80, Onions 4-58) England 1st innings: 376 (Flintoff 74, Strauss 69, Broad 55, Bell 53) Australia Bowling: Hilfenhaus 4-109, Siddle 3-89). Australia 2nd innings: 375/5 (Clarke 103 n.o., North 96, Hussey 64, Watson 53) England Bowling: Broad 2-38, Anderson 1-47. Man of the Match: Michael Clarke - Australia.


West Indies v/s Bangladesh T20 - West Indies won by 5 wickets.
Bangladesh 118/9 in 20 overs. (Naeem Islam 27, Mahmudullah 21). West Indies Bowling: Miller 2-22, Sammy 2-33) West Indies 119/5 in 16.5 overs.(Dowlin 37 n.o., Smith 37). Bangladesh Bowling: Mohammad Ashraful 2-18). Man of the Match: Darren Sammy - West Indies.

Match Results

I've been really busy from past two days; so won't be able to write the reviews, just a quick update on the results & brief scorecards of the two ODI matches played in the last two days.

Sri Lanka v/s Pakistan 1st ODI: - Sri Lanka won by 36 runs. (Sri Lanka 232-9 in 50 overs. Sangakkara 36, Jayawardene 33 & Muralitharan 32 runs. Pakistan bowling: Mohd. Aamer 3/45, Abdul Razzaq 2/33. Pakistan 196 all out in 44.4 overs. Umar Gul 33, Fawad Alam 31, Shahid Afridi 27, Mohd. Aamer 23. Sri Lanka bowling: Kulasekara 2/30, Thilan Thushara 3/29, Muralitharan 2/46) Man of the match: Muralitharan

Bangladesh v/s West Indies 2nd ODI: - Bangladesh won by 3 wickets. (West Indies 248 all out in 47.4 overs. Fletcher 52, Reifer & Sammy 40 each, Dowlin 38. Bangladesh bowling: Alam 2/42, Razzak 2/63, Mahmudullah 2/38. Bangladesh 249-7 in 48.5 overs. Siddique 55, Mahmudullah 51, Mushfiqur Rahim 31, Tamim Iqbal 30. West Indies bowling: Roach 4/63, Sammy 2/37) Man of the match: Mahmudullah. Man of the series: Shakib Al Hasan.

First Series win for Bangladesh against a "Strong" team

Bangladesh defeated West Indies in the second ODI to seal the One Day International series after the Test Series. This would surely boost their confidence in the days to come.

West Indies captain Reifer again won the toss & elected to bat first after getting a defeat from the same team while fielding first in the first match of the series.West Indies had a fair start as openers Dale Richards & Andre Fletcher shared 33 for the first wicket in just 5.1 overs when Fletcher was dismissed by the Bangladeshi skipper Shakib Al Hasan, who came to bowl in the sixth over. Richards followed his opening partner soon when the score was 52 in the 11th over. Devon Smith & Dowlin shared a good partnership of 68 runs for the third wicket & West Indies were looking solid when they were 118-2 in the 29th over. Dowlin went on to score a brilliant century & took West Indies to 274 in 50 overs. Though at the completion of 40 overs, it looked West Indies would be able to manage just 240-250, as they were 176 in 40 overs.

For Bangladesh, Syed Rasel, Skipper & left arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan took 1 wicket & so did Abdur Razzak & Naeem Islam.

Bangladesh began their innings on a slow note as their openers Tamim Iqbal & Junaid Siddique looked to defend their wicket against the Windies pacers. Mohammad Ashraful & skipper Shakib Al Hasan scored brilliant half centuries to take their team to the doors of victory. When Shakib got out, the scoreboard read 238 with 39 runs remaining for victory with 47 balls to go. Wicketkeeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim then rose to the occasion, scoring an important 31 in just 30 balls. When he got out, Bangladesh was almost their with just 16 runs remaining for the victory in 24 balls. Abdur Razzak scored 11 not out to ensure their victory in the 49th over itself.

What a victory this has been for Bangladesh, however there were some glitches here & there, but under the captaincy of Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh is looking very confident side. After their victory in Test Series & first two ODIs, none should dismiss their chances of a whitewash in the ODI series.

Bangladesh Completes Yet Another Historic Victory

Bangladesh registered yet another historic victory when they beat a weak West Indies side by 52 runs at Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica.

The stars of Bangladesh were left arm spinner Abdur Razzaq(4-39), Mahmudullah(42 runs & 1-38), Ex Captain Mohammad Ashraful(57 runs)& Captain Shakib Al Hasan(54 Runs & 1-26). In totality, it was a complete team effort as almost every Bangladeshi player chipped in with useful contributions from either bat, ball or in the field.

West Indies captain Floyd Reifer won the toss & asked Bangladesh to bat. Bangladeshi batsmen made good use of the wicket & some weak bowling by West Indies bowlers to take their total to 246. West Indies paceman Roach took 5-44.

West Indies made a horrible start by losing both their openers, when the scoreboard was reading 2-8. They continue to lose wickets at regular intervals. No batsman other than Devon Smith looked capable to face the Bangladeshi bowlers. Dave Bernard though, made 38 but other than him & Smith, who made 65 runs, there was no other batsman who showed some character. Abdur Razzq was declared the 'Man of the Match' for his excellent bowling & match winning performance.

Sanga denies Pak victory

Sri Lankan Captain & Wicketkeeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara hit an unbeaten hundred to deny Pakistan a victory in the third & last test match between Pakistan & Sri Lanka. This was first test series victory for Sangakkara.

The left hander made 130 not out as Sri Lanka faced with a world record target of 492, defied Pakistan bowlers to finish on 391/4. Along with Sangakkara, young gun Angelo Matthews & experienced batsman Thilan Samarweera scored brilliant & solid half centuries to defy the Pakistan attack. Matthews scored an unbeaten 64 not out & Samarweera scored 73.

Sri Lanka clinched the series 2-0, their first at home against Pakistan after five unsuccessful attempts. Sangakkara hung on for nearly seven hours on a placid pitchto frustrate Pakistan’s bid to record a face saving win ahead of the five match ODI Series starting at Dambulla on July 30.

Kumar Sangakkara was declared the 'Man of the Match' & Fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara was declared the 'Man of the Series'.

Malik’s Century Gives Pakistan Control

Ex Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik scored a brilliant unbeaten hundred to handle Pakistan the control of the third & the last test. Along with Wicketkeeper batsman Kamran Akmal, Malik scored an unbroken 114 for the sixth wicket.

Sri Lankan batsmen need to put an out-of-box effort to make it 3-0 in the series. Earlier, Pakistan seemed to lose the 66 runs lead advantage, when they lost three quick wickets to slip to 67/4 before lunch. However, Misbah-ul-Haq scored 65 to rescue Pakistan & along with Shoaib Malik, took the score to 186 before handling his catch to Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara off the bowling of Angelo Matthews.

If Sri Lanka could pull things up quickly on the fourth day, there would still be 425-450 runs needed to victory, which would be a Herculean task.

Sri Lanka bowled out for 233

Pakistani spinners, Danish Kaneria & Saeed Azmal bowled exceptional spells to bowl out Sri Lanka for just 233 & got their team an important lead of 66 runs. Kaneria took 5 wickets & Azmal got 3.

Before the Lankan innings, Pakistan got out by adding only 10 runs to their overnight score of 289/7. Their last three batsmen got out by adding just 10 runs. Thilan Thushara finished by taking 5 wickets & Nuwan Kulasekara took 3.

Sri Lanka started disastrously, losing both their openers for just 23. Then Caaptain Kumar Sangakkara joined hands with Ex-Captain Mahela Jayawardene to weave a partnership of 40 runs. Sangakkara was brilliant in his short innings. He scored 45 off just 56 balls including 7 fours. Angelo Matthews scored 31 & Tilakratne Dilshan, who batted very late down the order scored 44. Jayawardene ended his struggle off the bowling of Danish Kaneria when the score was 174. He scored a brilliant 79 including 10 fours.

However, Pakistan received an early setback in their second innings losing opener Khurram Manzoor early, when he was bowled by spinner Rangana Herath. Khurram scored just 2. Fawad Alam saw the day safely with the captain Younis Khan.

Historic win for Bangladesh

Bangladesh clinched their first ever overseas series win (in Test Cricket), when they defeated West Indies by 6 wickets in the second test match. Stand-in-Captain Shakib Al Hasan scored a brilliant 96* to take the game away from the West Indies team. Darren Sammy tried very hard & took 5 wickets out of the 6 wickets fallen. Raqibul Hasan also played an outstanding innings to shoulder his captain.

Earlier, West Indies were bowled out on a meager total of 209, thanks mainly to excellent bowling by the spinners, specially the captain Shakib Al Hasan. He took 5 West Indian wickets & Enamul Haq (Junior) supported him well with 3 wickets.

Shakib Al Hasan was the only choice left for the Man of the Match & Man of the Series Awards.