The record breaking t-20 Vs PWI

The home match for RCB against Pune Warriors and Gayle was at his very explosive best!


This one match will be remembered by everyone, when Gayle almost broke every record, he is a super human. The 175 runs he made included 17 6’s and 13 4’s, Pune had nothing to do and Gayle was at his very best and more over it was Chris Gayle’s day at M.Chinnaswamy stadium Bengaluru and for the fans who watched the match at the stadium, they could not have asked for a better match.

Pune, earlier had won the toss and decided to bowl and soon there was a Rain when RCB  came into bat and RCB openers Gayle and Dilshan had put on 11 runs in 1.2 overs. The play was stopped for less than a hour and Fans had to wait, and the wait provided too costly for the Pune warriors, once the covers were removed and the play resumed, Gayle was in full flow, the rain had stopped and the Gayle storm had just started.

There was no one in the Pune warrior contingent who could stop the super human Chris Gayle and he was on a roll, on the other end Dilshan was calm and watching Gayle going on a rampage. Pune warriors managed a score of 133 chasing RCB’s giant score of 263/5.

A quick look on the Records made Yesterday.

175* is the Highest Individual score made by any batsman in all t-20 matches

263/5 by RCB is the Highest ever total made by any team in this format

Gayle’s century took just 30 balls and the fastest

The 17 six’s struck by Gayle is the most in an Innings, in t-20 matches

Gayle’s has hit 11 centuries in t-20 format and the most

Fastest IPL 50, In just 17 balls

Best Opening partnership for RCB 167

Fastest opening century partnership, 7.5 overs

Gayle, first player to hit 150 six’s in the IPL

the Other contributions came from, AB, 31 from just 8 balls and Dilshan made a patient 33. RCB at their very best yesterday scoring 263/5 in the allotted 20 overs.

If there are words to describe Gayle, “Super Human” would exactly fit him. Its always an honor to have a guy like him on our RCB contingent and Bengaluru is so proud of him.

Keep cheering and keep Supporting! RCB provides many and much more entertainment.

From Chennai to Chinnaswamy!

RCB this time had called the FAB's to watch the RCB RR encounter and it was a quality time for me coming to Chinnaswamy for the first time.

The Fab's have been waiting for this day, the 20th of april the Home game of RCB against RR. It was a fun time for me traveling from Chennai to Bengaluru. Joined by my fellow fab   members from Bengaluru, we were waiting for the match to get started.

RCB had won the toss and decided to bowl, and we were seated at the N stand, RC Fan Terrace and that had the best view, seated comfortably, we started watching the proceedings. Me, coming to chinnaswamy for the first time, was thrilled to watch the red flags all over and cheering RCB every time when a wicket fell for RR and DJ's and the music made the event much more interesting and awesome.

When Dravid came in to bat, there was a huge cheer and the flags of Rcb were waving all over the ground and that was a lovely sight, he deserved it. Probably the only Rajasthan Player who got so much amount of cheer and applause from the crowd, when ever he hit a four and that was a lovely experience watching him bat at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

My co fab's included, Allen, Sachin, Nivedith G, Suhasini Mitra, Ayush Agarwal, Parthasarathy, Dibyashree De, Mukesh and Naresh. We kept cheering for every Rajasthan wicket and every run scored by Rcb.

Rcb has always got something for the Fab's and they do have a good fan engagement system and all the fans would have loved those.

Be that be the Bangaluru food, be that be the BMTC travel, I had loved  everything, just to cheer for this team and would always continue to do this and Visit the city more frequently.

Watching RCB win in the home is always special and when you are present during that occasion in the stadium that makes something more special and RCB has been unbeaten at home and they have won every match there proving a lot of entertainment. We have a long way to go this IPL and wishing our team all the best, we got the best players and we are growing more stronger. Hope the IPL-6 is ours! Keep cheering, keep supporting.

India go up 2-0 at Hyderabad

Day 1, Australia won the toss and decided to bat and This time it was Bhuvneshwar who removed the openers for a low score and Warner was Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s first test wicket and that was a beauty of a delivery and in no time Australia were 15/2 and both the openers back to the pavilion. Watson looked good before he was dismissed again by B.Kumar and three had fallen for Australia in quick time and Hughes who has not made much till now was sent back by Ashwin for a duck and Aussies had to lose their 4th wicket. That was the time when Clarke and Wade put on a 145 run stand for the 5th wicket. The pair batted until tea and post tea it was Bhajji who gave the breakthrough and broke the partnership, a brilliant catch by B.Kumar at backward point and Aus had lost their 5th wicket. Once Wade was out there was not any big scores, Henriques, Maxwell were back to the Pavilion and Jadeja,Harbhajan took most of the wickets post tea. Clarke who was batting on 91, had to sweep jadeja and lost his wicket, bowled and yet again the Australian captain had to lose his wicket to Jadeja and Aussies had to declare for 237/9 and Indian openers had three overs left for the day, they had to defend without losing wicket and they did the same same. It was stumps and India were 5/0

Day 2, India lost the wicket of Sehwag caught behind and India were 17/1 and Sehwag’s out of form worry continues. Pujara and Murali Vijay were watchful throughout that session and they did not lose wicket until lunch and India were 54/1 at Lunch and post lunch they started scoring so quickly and both the batsmen had scored their centuries as well and Aussies remained clueless to break this partnership and India remained 311/1 on day-2 stumps. M Vijay 129*, CA Pujara 162*

Day 3, both the batsmen continued from where they left and scored runs and they were well settled and Australian bowlers were struggling and both the batsmen had crossed their 150 and they looked comfortable and the lead was extending. This partnership was surpassing all the records and it was huge and finally maxwell got the breakthrough, a sudden bounce surprised vijay and a fine catch at backward short leg by Cowan and Vijay had to go for a brilliant 167 and that partnership with Pujara was massive and the pair had scored 370 for the second wicket. The loudest cheer, the crowd was cheering for Sachin who was next to come and Vijay was getting Applause as well. In quick time Pujara brought up his second double ton and his first being against England, He has been very efficient at no.3 and certainly Dravid will be a happy man seeing some like pujara bat at No.3 and scoring a double century. Soon after scoring a double century pujara lost his wicket to Pattionson, a short ball and a fine catch at in the deep by Doherty, a match winning 204. Once Vijay and Pujara got out, there was not any big contributions from the Indian batsmen and Maxwell picked most of the wickets on the day and adding 4 to tally and Doherty picking up three. Indians were all out for 503 and the lead was 266 and Australian openers were off to a good start and put on a 56 run stand before warner was clean bowled by Ashwin and soon followed the second wicket of Hughes and Aussies were 74/2 at stumps, day-3. Cowan 26*, SR Watson 9*

Day 4, It was expected India would finish off the things. Ishant Sharma dismissed Watson early and that was exactly what India was looking for, and Once Watson was back to the Pavilion, Aussies started to struggle and they felt hard to face the Indian spin once again and in quick time before lunch Aus had lost all their wickets for 131 and Ashwin picked up 5 for, once again and Ravindra Jadeja delivery to dismiss Clarke was a beauty, Clarke had been gifting his wicket to Ravindra Jadeja every time this series. Jadeja picked up 3 for 33 and a brilliant run out to send back Henriques and Ishant picked up one and India won by an Innings and 135 runs and India are up in the series 2-0.

Pujara was adjudged Man of the Match for his brilliant 204

India win the first test!

Australia in India and we have won the first test at chennai and take a 1-0 lead!

After coming from a home series loss against England in the test series, India has started off with a win against Auatralia in the first test match held at Chennai.

The day-1 saw Aussies batting and dominating the whole day, with Clarke scoring a century while Warner and Henriques scored half centuries. Australians felt it difficult to face the spin. India had three spinners this time against the Aussies, Ashwin, Bhajji and Jaddu while Ojha has to sit out since Harbhajan was included in the playing 11 as a third spinner. Ashwin managed to pull up 6 australian wickets in the day-1 after Australia won the toss and decided to bat. Dhoni's decision to go with Jadeja worked out well and jaddu even managed to take a wicket on the opening day. Australia managed to score above 300 on the day-1 with their captain remaining unbeaten on 100 plus score.

The day two saw Australians adding the runs and they went on to score 380, Clarke topping the score card with 130. When the Indian openers were out to bat, they started off well Until Pattinson striked, India were 12/2 in no time. Both the openers Sehwag and Vijay were back to Pavilion and it was again in the hands of Pujara and sachin to make the ship steady. They did the same before Pujara was out and Pattinson broke that partnership and Pujara was out for 44 and India were 105/3. Virat Kohli then Joined sachin and they played until the stumps without losing any wickets. Both sachin and Virat had scored half centuries by the end of the day.

The day three, Sachin and Virat found hard to score runs and Sachin lost his wicket to Lyon, a beauty of a delivery from the off spinner and sachin had to go for a well made 81 and he had missed out a century, Virat was rock solid with his defense and Dhoni had to join Virat. They both played well and Dhoni was explosive with this batting this time and he did not took much time to settle and started hitting boundaries now and then and he had been targeting the off spinner Lyon. Virat too brought up a well made test century and the second against the Aussies and he was soon dismissed for a well made 107. Dhoni remained cool headed as he does usually and was stroking the ball well, and the same day saw dhoni scoring a double century as well. That double century was quick and he had hit 5 sixes and most of them came from lyon's bowling. India remained 515/8 with MSD and Bhuvneshwar kumar at the crease and this pair had already crossed a 100 run partnership.

The day four, saw Dhoni and B.Kumar continue their batting and Dhoni again hit a six of Lyon . Dhoni was in sublime touch before he was caught behind in Pattinson's bowling for a well made and match saving 224 and in quick time B.kumar was out too and India managed to score 572 with a healthy lead over 150.  Aussies when came into bat was struggling to face the spin and Ashwin again gave the breakthrough, getting his 8th wicket of the match. Australians kept losing wickets in regular intervals and looked like they were heading towards the innings defeat and at one stage they were 5/121 and Henriques was holding the australian innings till the stumps and aussies had lost nine wickets on day-4 and they had taken a lead of 40+ runs.

The day five did not take much time and jaddu took the final wicket of Lyon, aussies were all out for 241 and India needed a 50 run target to take a 1-0 lead. Once again India had to lose the openers early and it was Sachin and Pujara who saw India reaching the target safely and India won the match in chennai.

MSD was declared Man of the match for his brilliant 224

*Ashwin's 12 wicket haul

*The first two balls sachin faced in his first innings went for 4 and the first two balls he faced in his second innings went for a six!

Australia in India! the Squad

India’s squad was announced some days back and as expected Gambhir was dropped and he had a reason behind that. His poor show for a long time, may that be the test series against England and the ODI series against pakistan. He has not been like before and he has not got much of the runs, Dhawan his State mate got a surprise call up for the Team. Dhawan was quite Impressive in the first class cricket and Murali Vijay’s season in the first class cricket was good, he scored a century recently against the Mumbai in Irani cup as well and that should have Impressed our selectors to go with a right handed opener.

Not Including Raina in the test squad was a surprise. He had been looking good. My pick would have been Raina instead of Dhwan or Murali Vijay. Though India needed a left handed opener in order to replace Gambhir. Raina had a good show over all in the Irani cup, came up with a century and a half century and was in a good touch. Raina needs a chance in the test squad. Wasim Jaffar who has been one of India’s consistent run getter in the first class cricket was dropped once again and I still wonder on what basis they had retained Sehwag? The selectors always had an option to pick the Mumbai Opener Jaffar and they could have given him a chance now at least.

Harbhajan makes a come back once again. He was in and out of the team and hope he takes this chance as his second come back. He might have been selected as the third spinner along with Ashwin and Ojha and the Turning pitches in India can help him pick wickets against Australia and Bhajji has an impressive record against Australia in India. Bhuvneshwar Kumar really needed a test call and as expected he got one, he has been very impressive swinging the ball and I just see him as Praveen Kumar. Both the bowlers who have not got much pace but their ability to swing the ball could cause trouble to the batsman earlier in the innings. Kumar was an very Impressive pick in the squad and hope he does well in the debut test series.

Ravindra Jadeja, a bowling all rounder. Being so impressive against Pakistan series and England series and his good form with both the bat and ball has gained him a spot in the test squad, and his two triple hundreds would have also been a reason for the selectors to pick him as well and Dinda also gets a place in the squad along with Ishant Sharma.

The squad : MS Dhoni (capt.), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli,
Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra
Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, R Ashwin,
Pragyan Ojha, Ashok Dinda.

The Third ODI win!

India might have lost the series against  Pakistan. But that one last match of the series got back the hope and lifted the spirit.

After the home test series lost against England and home ODI series against Pakistan. Team India was really looking for something to get back. So as the Third and the last ODI against Pakistan, played at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi with the cold climate being a factor, India won the Toss and decided to Bat, dropping Sehwag this time for the Third ODI and Rahane was his replacement. Even this time the top order failed to provide the team with runs. Indian top order did find difficult to face Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan, the pace bowlers who has been troubling the Indian batsmen throughout this series. With the Top three failing to get big scores, Yuvi started off well hitting 18 runs of Umar Gul's over but he was not able to continue. Losing his wicket to Hafeez for 23. Once again in the hands of Raina and Dhoni, Raina has been so patient throughout the series batting along with dhoni and building partnership with MSD. Raina and Dhoni added 48 for the 5th wicket before Raina got out for a patient 31 and India was really struggling losing 5 wickets for just 111 runs with lot of overs left behind, Dhoni needed someone to stay along with him till the end, Dhoni was in great form this series a 100 and 50 to his name and unbeaten on both the occasion. Ashwin too lost his wicket without scoring and Jaddu who has been in and out of the team, was the only recognized batsmen to bat along with Dhoni. The captain who has been playing so well just lost his wicket to an out side off delivery from Umar Gul. Jadeja was the only hope for the Indians and the only thing the batting team required was to bat throughout the Innings, but Indians just managed to bat 43.4 overs and were all out for 167 and Jadeja making a valuable contribution of 27 runs down the order was the last man to get out. Ajmal picked 5 wickets for 24 and Pakistan needed 168 to win and every one thought this series would have thought this would be a white wash.
But the Indian bowlers did well to defend this low score and Indian fielding this match was top class. The Pakistani batsmen just managed to score 157, ten runs short of what India scored and the Debutant Shami Ahmed was brilliant with the ball, 9 overs 4 maidens 23 runs and a wicket and Ravindra Jadeja was equally brilliant, 10 overs and Just 19 runs and a wicket, Ishant Sharma took three for 36 and Ashwin 2 for 47 in his ten. Bhuvneshwar Kumar who gave a promising start to his career picked up 2 for for 31. Dhoni  was adjudged as the Man of the match, said it should have been given to the Indian fielding for successfully defending this low score.

Ind-Pak Secind T-20

2nd T-20  Played at :
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad. Pakistan won the toss and made India to bat, again Gambhir and Rahane provided a good start for India and both Gambhir and Rahane were so quick in getting runs, Gambhir hit three consecutive 4’s before being Dismissed by Gul in the same over and Rahane too lost his wicket following Gambhir. India were 2/53, when Virat came along with Yuvi. Two new batsmen at the crease and they picked singles and 4’s now and then, Virat got run out and that was a unnecessary lose of wicket when they were playing so well, a direct hit from Ajmal from short fine leg. MSD joins Yuvi and the brutal strikers of the ball were at the middle and they both added 97 in just 7.2 overs and Yuvi hitting 3 consecutive 6’s of saeed Ajmal was a treat to watch, yuvi hit a total 7 6’s and four 4’s in his match winning 72 of just 36 balls and MSD giving him a good company made 33 and India put on a big score this time, 192 for the loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs.

Needing 193 to win this series, Pakistan Openers Jamshed and Shehzad added runs quickly and they both put on a opening partnership of 74, Ashwin got the breakthrough and soon followed the second wicket and it was Yuvi striking with the ball and both the openers were back to the pavilion. Hafeez was brilliant with the bat and he was so quick in getting the runs and Pakistan managed to score 10 runs in every over and Indian bowlers were under pressure until Hafeez Got out. Hafeez scored 55 of just 26 balls with a strike rate of 220 and once Hafeez got out, India were right on the track,Dinda picked up three in his second spell and made sure India was safe. India won the second t-20 with 11 runs and leveled the series 1-1. Yuvi was declared man of the match and Hafeez was the man of the tournament.

The ODI’s will be more interesting and keep watching! Hope India wins that. Bleed Blue!

India Pakistan first T-20

When ever both the teams play, the excitement is always on and most of the time it would be a close finish game with more tense moments and being a t-20 game everything felt in place. The first t-20 Pakistan won the match by 5 wickets and with just 2 balls remaining with Shoaib Malik anchoring the Pakistan Innings.

1st T20I Played at :
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. Pakistan won the toss and chose to field Indian Openers Gambhir and Rahane started so well and added  77 in 10.5 overs, Rahane made a quick fire 42 of 31 with strike rate of 135 and Gambhir was a bit patient, scoring 43 of 41 balls with strike rate of 104. India did get a good start but they did not capitalize on that, India started to lose wickets in regular intervals and were struggling to get runs. Big Guns, Yuvi, msd, Raina and Virat  failed to get runs and India managed to score only 133 for the loss of 9 wickets in their allotted quota of 20 overs. Gul was the stand out performer for his 3 for 21 in 3 overs.

When Pakistan came into bat, needing 134 to win, this was not a big target to chase in forms of t-20 cricket, but India did manage to build pressure in form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pakistan lost 3 quick wickets for just 12 runs. Kumar was so accurate and brilliant in swinging the ball both ways. Pakistan were really struggling and that was the time when the Pakistan captain Hafeez and Malik put on a match winning partnership of 106, both the batsmen scored 50 plus runs. A little argument between Kamran and Ishant was unforgettable during this match and this even saw both the players fined by ICC match referee. Pakistan were under pressure when they lost two quick wickets of Hafeez and Kamran resp, Shoaib malik took the game away from India. Needing 10 runs to win of the final over from Ravindra Jadeja, Malik hit him a six signalling the win for the visitors. Hafeez was the man of the match, for his match winning 61 of 44 balls, while Malik remained unbeaten on 57.Bhuvneshwar Kumar was brilliant for his 3 wickets for just 9 runs in 4 overs, and this match being his Debut.

5th odi and only t-20 vs SL

India Vs Sri Lanka ODI Series, the 5th and the final ODI Played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, India winning the toss and electing to bat, this match saw some changes in the Indian line up with Sehwag been rested and Rahane taking his place as the opener. Indians lost the wicket of Rahane early for nine runs and Kohli at No.3 this time did not make much impact, he too lost his wicket for 23 runs, but Gauti looked solid at the other end. Rohit Sharma’s poor run continued in the 5th and the final odi as well as he lost his wicket for just 4 runs. It was the time when Manoj Tiwary Joined Gautam Gambhir and they both added 110 for the fourth wicket, Manoj Tiwary scored a well made 65 before he was dismissed by Malinga, followed by Raina for a duck Indians struggled a bit at 5/197, it was the time when the Indian Captain joined Gambhir. In the mean time Gambhir brought his yet another half century and continued his good run against the sri lankans, when the things were just going on well for India, Gambhir lost his wicket for 88. Dhoni made a quick fire 58 of 38 balls and a healthy contribution from Pathan took the Indian score card to 294/7. Needing 295 to win, the lankans lost the wicket of Dilshan for a duck, though Tharanga was quick in making runs, he was not able to carry on and lost his wicket as well. It was Irfan Pathan on both the occasion. Both Chandimal and Mathews failed to make big scores. It was Thirimanne and Jeevan Mendis, the pair added 102 for the sixth wicket partnership and things looked certain for sri lanka and they were marching towards a consolation win before Thirimanne was run out for a well made 77 and in no time the home team started losing wickets and the Indians we spot on taking wickets at the regular intervals, though the run rate needed was 5 per over, the sri lankans have lost all their wickets for 274 in 45.4 overs. India winning the match comfortably by 20 runs. Jeevan Mendis and Thirimanne were the star performers for the lankans making 72 and 77 respectively. For the Indians it was Irfan Pathan bagging the man of the match award for his second 5 wicket haul, he took 5/61 in his 10 overs. India won the odi series 4-1. The Only T20 - Played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Sri Lanka winning the toss and opting to bowl, India did lose the wicket of Gambhir early on, but Virat Kohli was in genuine touch,he was stroking the ball so well and at the point of time, almost every ball he faced, that touched the boundary ropes and he brought his highest runs in t-20 intl making a match winning 68 of 48 ball that included 11 4’s and a six. Raina as usual down the order contributed a quick fire unbeaten 34 along with the captain Dhoni scoring an unbeaten 16 and the Indians batting first managed to score 155 in their 20 overs. Needed 156 to win, The Lankans once again lost the wicket of Dilshan again for a duck, though Mahela was in good touch, Pathan was too good in removing the top three in quick time. Angelo’s 31 was the top score for the Lankans. All together the home team managed to score only 116 in 18 overs. Dinda was the stand out bowler for India picking 4 wickets for 19 runs, but once again it was Pathan adjudged man of the match for his brilliancy in swinging the ball early on and removing the top order that ensured a win for India in the t-20 game as well. Over all India had a good series with a complete domination over the lankans.

Thrid and fourth odi Vs SL

The third ODI: At Colombo, saw the Sri Lankans winning the toss and opting to bat. The openers Dilshan and Tharanga who scored 50’s in their last game failed to provide a good start in the third odi, with Zaheer Khan and Pathan removing the sri lankan top order for just 20 runs on the board, time for Mahela and Sangakkara to do some rescue work. They both batted brilliantly and both came up with the half centuries and took the score till 141 before mahela was out for a well made 65 and once India got the break through they soon found to get another one, the wicket of Sangakkara for 73. Angelo Mathews and Jeevan mendis took the sri lankan score to 286, with a quick fire 71 from the sri lankan all rounder. Zaheer was the stand out bowler for India picking up 2 wickets for 39 runs in 10 overs. When India chased, Sehwag was too early to fall for just three runs and it was once again upto Gambhir and Kohli, the duo added 105 before Kohli lost his wicket for a well made 38, as Dhoni promoted himself up the order things got slowed down for India, Dhoni too lost his wicket on the very first ball of the batting power play followed by Rohit Sharma the very next ball for a duck, Malinga it was doing the honors on both the occasions. Gambhir stood firm and brought his 11th odi ton before he was run out for a well made 102 of 101 balls. Raina and Pathan took Indian run chase from there and proved the depth of Indian batting line up and won the match. Raina scored an Unbeaten 65 and Pathan remained unbeaten on 34. Raina was declared Man of the match for his brilliant match saving knock till the end. India now lead 2-1 after this match The fourth Odi : At Colombo, saw the Sri Lankans again winning the toss and opting to bat. This match had a smart move by Dhoni, with Rohit Sharma already struggling to get his form and there were news that he should be replaced by Manoj Tiwary, he made both of them play in the fourth ODI. As the Sri Lankan openers gave a steady start, things certainly looked like they would put up a huge score in the board,but the indian bowlers fought back really well and Manoj Tiway was truly amazing, he picked up four wickets giving away just 61 runs in his 10 overs and all together Indian bowlers managed to keep the sri lankan score card for just 251 runs, apart from top order batsmen there was not any big contributions made by the Sri Lankan batsmen. Indians coming into the chase, lost the wicket of Gambhir early on for a duck. Sehwag and Kohli added 50 plus for the third wicket before sehwag was dismissed for 34 and Rohit still struggling to get runs was out for 4,followed by Tiwary, did not last long and was out for 21. Raina and Kohli the future of Indian batting line up put on a unbeaten 146 run partnership, in between this partnership Kohli brought up his 13th odi ton in just 86 matches followed by AB who did that in 121 matches and Raina too brought his half century and India winning this match along with the 5 match odi series as well. Virat Kohli was the man of the match for his unbeaten 128. It’s 3-1 with more one match to go in this series.

India In Sri Lanka 2012- Match 1 and 2 a Recap

After a very Long break, India has started its new season touring Sri Lanka with handful of 5 odi’s and a t-20 and Team India goes one up winning the opener against the Lankans. India in Sri Lanka ODI Series - 1st ODI played at Hambantota. India winning the toss and opting to bat. The openers Sehwag and Gambhir did struggle a bit to get runs, but Kulasekara was too good for Gambhir. Gambhir lost his wicket early for just 3 runs. It was all depending on Kohli to provide the support along with Virender Sehwag, earlier Sehwag was Dropped at point by Dilshan. Kohli and Sehwag consolidated well and made sure India did not lose any wickets and runs started to come easily with Boundaries now and then. Kohli was in magic touch again and he batted so well along with Sehwag that made the home side feeling the pressure. Sehwag got another chance in the bowling of Perera when the batsmen was caught at the exta cover by Kulasekara an excellent catch, but that was declared not out by the third umpire stating benefit of doubt, but Kulasekara pulled of his muscle and he did not come back to bowl as well, probably he would missing the whole series due to this groin Injury. Sehwag and Kohli added 173 for the second wicket before Sehwag was run out and he missed his century and fell short of four runs. Virat Kohli carried on to score his 12th century and his 4th in 5 matches including 3 centuries in a row against Sri Lanka. Virat certainly was the man in form for the Indians and he did prove his consistency once again. The right fellow for the No.3 spot and he is certainly the guy India wanted at the top order. Kohli made a wonderful match winning knock of 106 before he was caught by Senanayake of Perera’s bowling. Followed by a quick 50 from Suresh Raina and some healthy contribution by the Indian Captain, India did manage to score over 300 in the allotted 50 overs and they set a target of 315 for the home side. Sri Lankan openers failed to provide a good start as Dilshan was dismissed early by Pathan, caught at crease and they were in trouble early on. Once again Kumar Sangakkara showed his class and consistency at No.3 for the Lankans, but the Indian bowlers managed to pick wickets at regular intervals and they did not leave the home side to build any partnerships and the wicket kept falling on the other side as Sanga stayed at the other end looking solid. The plus for the home side while chasing was Perera‘s 28 ball 44 and the 78 run partnership between Perera and Sanga and in the mean time Sanga brought his 14th ODI century and he was holding the sri lankan innings together as the wicket kept falling at the other end, Sri lanka looked like they might chase down as Sanga and Perera were playing so well,all that hopes failed when Sangakkara was bowled by Umesh Yadav for a well made 133. Once the Indians took the wicket of Sanga, the visitors were right on the track and the bowlers ensured a win for India at the slog overs. Virat Kohli’s 106 fetched him the man of the match for the first Odi India in Sri Lanka ODI Series - 2nd ODI, India winning the toss and deciding to bat at Hambantota, the same venue with the same wind factor affecting the sides. Once again things looked well for India when they started off really well and they raised to 31 for no loss in quick time with just three overs bowled. The new comer Isuru Udana’s first ODI over of his Intl career went a bit costly, the Sri Lankan captain decided to give the ball to the man with the golden arm Perera. Sehwag struggled a bit and found hard to hit perera, the same over saw Perera taking the wicket of Sehwag, a brilliant return catch by perera on his own bowling, sehwag out for 15 runs, the first break through for the sri lanka. All hopes again on man with the magic touch Virat Kohli, but this time all hopes failed as he walked back dismissed for just a run, again it was perera who provided the home team with the second wicket and the Indian scored card showed 33/2. Rohit sharma as usual looked a bit casual, when he chopped the ball onto his off stump loosing his wicket for a duck, his poor run with the bat still continues, This time it was Mathews taking the wicket of Rohit Sharma. Suresh Raina would not have thought he would need to bat so soon, the situation demanded a partnership with Gautam Gambhir who looked solid at the other end, but Raina did not last long, Perera again joining the party picking his third wicket for none. India looked certainly in danger when the Indian captain joined in with Gambhir, the score card showed 4/41. Looked like Dhoni would handle the pressure along with Gambhir, but the second ball he faced of perera that was a catch missed at first slip, a regulation catch and that would been four wickets for None for Perera and what a day the sri lankan all rounder was having. Dhoni looked quite well after the drop catch with couple of boundaries to his name before he was caught behind by Sangakkara, this time Angelo Mathews who dropped the Indian captain at the slip made sure he removed him safely and India in trouble once again with 5/60 in just 14 overs. Not even half way through and we had lost most of the batsmen, the only hope for the Indian batting line up was Gautam Gambhir who was stroking the ball so well and picking the singles, boundaries now and then but he was running out of partners. The wicket kept falling at the regular Intervals and the Sri Lankan all rounders Mathews and Perera made sure Sri Lanka were in a winning position and all the pressure were on the Visitors. Ashwin showed some hope along with Gautam Gambhir and it certainly looked like India would play the whole quota and would cross the 200 run mark, but Ashwin’s poor run between the wickets changed things for India. He was run out while coming for a third run in which Gautam Gambhir was not even interested to take the third. Once Ashwin got out, the intentions were so clear that Gambhir has to score all the runs and make sure India batted at least 40-45 overs. In the mean time Gambhir crossed his half century, a lone fighter as far as the Indian innings was concerned. With no big contributions from Irfan Pathan and the other lower order batsman apart from Ashwin, India managed to score just 138 in 33.3 overs, with Gambhir getting out himself during the batting power play was the last wicket to fell scoring 65. Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera were the stand out performers for Sri Lanka, picking three wickets each. When the Sri Lankan openers came into chase the target certainly looked like a t-20 target and they too started off in the same way. Both the openers did not take much time and this target saw both the sri lankan openers reaching their half century in quick time and a century partnership between them, Dilshan Lost his wicket for 50 runs. Sri Lankans reached their target in just 19.5 overs leveling the ODI series with 1-1 with still three matches to go. Thisara Perera was adjudged man of the match for his lovely bowling figures. 8 overs 19 runs and three wickets.

Premier League Lanka!! And Too Much Of Cricket

Sri Lanka Cricket has signed a new deal with Somerset Entertainment Ventures to hold the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) in 2012, The deal was signed on May 5 and the tournament has been tentatively scheduled to be held between August 10 and August 31, just ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 that will be held in Sri Lanka in September. ( source : cric info.) BBL, the bangladesh premier league was quite successful and Hope the Sri Lankan provides some handful of entertainment for the viewers as well.. Keep waiting for that,the cricket will soon be watched like an EPL. But they need a long way to go, to achieve those. This is just a beginning. Hope the Test/odi cricket will continue and at the same time the viewers might get bored of too much cricket. Even the report sometime ago said, The TRP ratings of IPL-5 has come down, this is one good reason for too much of cricket and Injury management will always be a concern if these kind of things continue and when premier leagues are started by every cricket playing nations!

RCB wins!

This was the opening match for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and playing in front of their home crowd is always an advantage. After losing the toss the RCB openers put on a solid stand for 37 in just 4 overs, Pujara was the first batsmen to get out gifting his wicket to the Delhi speed star Morne Morkel, It was once again in the hands of No.3 specialist Virat Kohli the Indian vice captain, The Renegades batsman Andrew McDonald played well for his quick fire 30 of just 19 balls, it was again Morkel who struck for his second wicket took the wicket of McDonald who was looking really dangerous Rcb were 46/2 in 6 overs, the South African captain/wicket keeper Ab De villers and Virat was expected to play a long innings, but Virat's stay did not last long, and soon there was a pressure building on the batting side losing some quick wickets and It was in the hands of Ab who played so well till the end, with some contributions from Mayank Agarwal and Vinay down the order RCB reached a modest total of 157/8 and it was none other than Ab De Villers who did all the hard work and made sure he stayed till the end with 64 not out.
We had Murali this time. The spin king from the Sri Lanka and with Vettori the bowling combination needs to be awesome and the bowling unit looked pretty confident as well, defending a total of 157 is quite hard these days int-20 with Sehwag the most dangerous batsmen in the world, opening for delhi,but Zak removed Sehwag in no time and Sehwag was out for a duck as he did no damage to the score card, the opening combo Vinay/Zak kept bowling well and did not leave much runs as well. Time for some spin action, Vettori is always a pretty cool customer when it comes to pressure situations and he did rotate his bowlers really well and he brought Murali just at the right time and he picked three crucial wickets that turned the match for the home side. It was advantage RCB every time when the pressure kept building among the Delhi batsmen who found really hard to get runs. Andrew Mcdonald proved his worth with his bowling skills as well, he bowled a couple of overs including a wicket with the economy just under 6. Every bowler who came into bowl made sure they did not give away much runs and also made sure Delhi batsmen did not build any partnerships and they kept taking wickets at regular intervals. In the end Delhi managed to score 137 for the loss of 7 wickets and RCB won their opening match of this 5th IPL edition, as expected AB was adjudged MOM for his match saving/winning knock
of 64 and it was Murali, with his three wickets remained the main architect along with Ab. Keep Cheering! And we Keep winning! We are the Royal Challengers Bangalore! Game for More!!

Another win - Lanka!

With our captain MSD sitting out, It was Sehwag's turn to lead the men in Blue. A decent performance from the Sri Lankans earned them a victory at Brisbane Cricket Ground and they are ahead of India.



Commonwealth Bank series,8th match at Brisbane saw Sri Lanka winning the
toss and batting first. The openers Mahela and Dilshan did a pretty good job
adding 95 on the board the highest opening partnership for this series.With no
doubts Indian bowlers were tested right from the first over and it was Irfan
Pathan who got the first breakthrough for India, getting the wicket of Mahela
for 45 and that was a good flying catch from the Indian skipper. Soon Dilshan
was back to the pavilion after getting his half century and Sangakkara did not
make much damage with the Sri lankan score card and was out for 8 with Yadav
taking his wicket. It was again in the hands of Chandimal the middle order
batsman who has played and consolidated so much for Sri lanka from that position
made 38 and Sri Lanka was getting partnerships then and there even after losing
some quick wickets. Thirimanne was in good touch today, he made a match winning
knock of 62 before being caught by Raina at sweeper cover a very good catch
that was and India getting an important breakthrough getting his wicket, since
Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews were playing so well and 270 was always in the
cards for Sri Lanka. Angelo proving his worth as an all rounder once again made
a useful knock down the order and remained unbeaten on 49 and saw Sri Lanka
score past 280, which was quite difficult to chase at Brisbane. Sehwag made
Raina to bowl the 49 over, which saw Perera losing his wicket, no one expected
to see Virat Kohli bowling the final over, he went for plenty and finally Sri
Lanka went on to score 289 which was a very good target to defend. In the reply,
The Indian batting line up lost the wicket of Sehwag early with no score on the
board, Sachin made a brisk 22 before losing his wicket to Kulasekara and Gautam
Gambhir had the responsibility of holding the Indian innings together, but that
hopes failed, he too lost his wicket to kulasekara and India was struggling
losing the top order once again in quick time. Kohli looked solid along with Raina
and they went on to put a 50+ partnership before Raina was out for 32.It was
Jaddu's turn to get some runs, Kohli looking good lost his wicket on a crucial
time during the batting power play and went on to make a well played 66.Jaddu
soon followed Kohli and India was really struggling without partnerships. Irfan
pathan was playing so well in spite running out of partners Jaddu,Parthiv,Ashwin
and Vinay all were back to pavilion in quick successions and Irfan the last man
to get out made a brave knock of 47.India managed to score 238 in 45.1 overs
with Thisara picking up 4 wickets for 37,but it was Kulasekara who was adjudged
Man of the match for his 3 for 40 in 9 overs.

Over All.. An all round performance from Sri Lanka and the Lions have roared
again.

When Everything Went Perfect!

India's win over Australian in their second T-20 Intl, has made every Indian feel happy. Since Dec 26 2011 India had a poor run in Australia, that was mostly because of the bouncy track which India was not used to, the home conditions is totally different where as in Australia there are testing conditions where one needs to be a lot more cautious in playing the short balls and the bouncers. Indians has done a lot more in the past while playing with Australia in Australia, but this time they failed as an unit. Australia needs to be appreciated for their effort too, they just came out with a perfect planning and their execution were spot on.

Alright, after coming from the test series 4-0, India looked forward for the two t-20 internationals, they managed a loss at the Sydney Olympic park with Dhoni winning the toss and calling Australia to bat,in spite of removing warner quite early, Wade did played well and went on to score 72 of just 43 balls and with no doubt that was a match winning knock. The result India managed to score 140/6 in 20 overs.

Second T-20, India was expected to come back and they did so, in spite of losing the toss in a good wicket at MCG, Indian bowlers with the help of some brilliant fielding from Ravindra Jadeja, Raina, Gutam Gambhir and Kohli, Rohit, kept Australia under pressure and they managed to score 131/10, with Finch (36) and wade (32) top scoring for the Aussies. When India came into bat, that was quite a confident start from the openers Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag, Sehwag was little Cautious this time before he was caught by Shaun Marsh at extra cover, Sehwag did play well for his cautious 23. Then came in Kohli, continued his good form from the last test match, joined hands with Gautam Gambhir and put on a fifty run partnership before he lost his wicket caught behind by the keeper Wade,Marsh picking up the wicket. This doesn't disturbed Gautam Gambhir who went on to score yet another half century in t-20 intls along with Dhoni finishing off the match with two balls to spare and India at last won a match in this series. This would certainly make the Indians more confident for the up coming tri series, the CB series.

With Ravindra Jadeja getting his man of the match for his brilliant fielding and bowling in second t-20, he is up for the grabs! an amazing all rounder, fingers crossed!!

Good Luck team India! Bleed Blue!!