Can England Make a Comeback? 2-0 now.

Mitchell Johnson has led Australia to another test win. A win at Adelaide today gave Australia a 2-0 lead in the ashes. Having scored a massive 570 in the first innings, a century from pup and Haddin. Australia looked strong and they looked confident.

England had to play without Trott and  the talented Joe Rott had to play at No.3. Stokes and Panesar were in the playing 11. Most of them were expecting the all rounder Bresnan to join, but the captain and the coach had some other plan. England played with two spinners and the combination was not a successful one. In the first Innings, almost every bowler picked up wickets for England and Broad came out with 3/98.

Captain cook's form has been troubling England a lot, he has not been scoring runs at the top for England this ashes season. Johnson cleaned him up early, getting the first breakthrough for Australia. Carberry scored a patient 60. Joe Root, Pietersen all went out cheaply. Ian Bell and Carberry had a 45 run partnership between them, the second highest for England. The highest being 48 between Carberry and Joe Root. This indicates how well The English batsmen had tackled the Australian bowling and they lacked major Partnerships. Ian Bell was rock solid and remained unbeaten on 72 and he was the only batsman next to Carberry to provide some resistance when Johnson was firing the ball at 150kmph almost every time. The pacer came back strongly to pick up 7 wickets totally in the first Innings. Broad and Anderson were bowled the first ball they faced. Stokes was caught at crease, Monty who showed some resistance along with Bell, faced 35 balls for his two runs before he was cleaned up by Johnson. Johnson picked 7/40 and England all out 172.

Surprise. Clarke refused a follow on, may be, he wanted a rest for his fast bowlers or he wanted his batsmen to score more runs and take the lead over 500. Anderson was on fire, he picked up two quick Aussie wickets. Rogers gone caught behind for 2 and Watson for a duck and his form needs to be noticed. Watson has not been in best of his form. The home team two down for 4 runs. Thanks to the over night score of 83 from Warner, Australia took the lead over 500, 132/3 and England needed 531, when Aussies declared from their over night score of 132.

 Huge target for England. All they needed was a good start, No they did not get a start. Cook gone,  prey to Johnson again scoring just a run. Carberry followed for 14, Root and Pietersen (53) looked solid and kept going, But Aussies Just needed that one wicket of either KP or Root. Siddle got that wicket of KP, bowled. Smith, the part timer picked up Bell for 6 runs and a even a draw looked difficult for England. Root played well for 87, that should have been a 100 he was a bit unlucky to get an inside edge and a fine catch by the keeper. Stokes gone for 28, Prior looked good and at last he found some form and never carried that and was out for 69.Siddle and Harris shared 7 among them and england could score only 312.

Siddle 4/57 and Harris 3/54, one each from Johnson, Smith and Lyon. Player of the match, Johnson for his 8 wickets.


From the past " Australia, after seven defeats in nine, have now won two Tests on a row; England, unbeaten in 13 before this series, have been heavily beaten in both "

First win in ten Tests - Welcome Back Australia!

It's has been long time, Australia won a test! But, they have won it huge this time at the Gabba. Australia never lost a match at the Gabba since 1988. After series loss against India and at England, Australia came back harder and worked hard to start off the Ashes with a huge win over England at Gabba.

Mitchell Johnson was the hero. The comeback star was seen as the fast and the furious and he took almost 9 wickets for 103 runs and with the bat, 64 in the first innings and 39* in the second innings.

No one would have thought Australia could beat England by 381 runs. After scoring a modest first innings total of 295. (Brad Haddin top scoring with 94 and Johnson 64 )

When Stuart Broad came in to bowl, almost Every Australian crowd remembered what had happened last summer during the Ashes and among all those Boo's and placards on Broad, the English pacer picked up a 5 wicket haul and went on to pick 6/81.

Cook,did not have a good start to the season. Carberry who looked in good touch missed scoring a 50 at Gabba. Kevin Pietersen playing his 100th test did not provide the usual impact which could have ended in a memorable historic 100th test for Pietersen. The first four of the England's wicket were shared by Johnson and Harris. Johnson was at his very best, he had the pace and the bounce, England batsmen did find difficult to pick the short ball he bowled in particular. Nathan Lyon, the surprise package picked up couple of wickets to his name.

Pay Back time Aussies!

They had a lot, a lot. The crowd was amazing at Gabba! One of those interesting Placard on the display.

It was a full packed stadium at Gabba, despite rain interrupting the play, the Gabba crowd was amazing.




Aussie Batsman had more to offer during the second innings, A century from Clarke, and David Warner. England were in a worry, the lead was building up. Pup was dismissed after he scored a flawless 113 and warner for an entertaining 124. Bailey, Haddin and Johnson, down the order came good for Australia and the home team declared 401/7, with a huge lead over 500 runs and England needed 561 to win.


Not a good start for England during the chase. Two quick wickets, Carberry and Trott back to the pavilion and Cook had to play a solid innings, KP did not last long. Bell scoring 32 lost his wicket. Cook looking set, lost his wicket to lyon, having edged one to Haddin. Then it was just a pack of cards. In a span of Time, Johnson's 5 wicket haul and England all out for 179. It was all over at the Gabba! Australia came back stronger from the loss and the margin was huge. Australia won by 381 runs. Johnson, man of the match!

Next test, hopefully, Watson should be in form. He had made the no.3 spot his own, Bailey had an impressive debut, SPD Smith had lost his touch a little bit! if these batsman are coming good next test match. Problems for England.

Go Aussie!!

Another huge target chased! - India!!

After 4th odi ended in No result at Ranchi and the 5th odi was abandoned due to wet outfield at Cuttack. India came back strongly to the win the 6th odi and level the series 2-2 at Nagpur
Being played at Nagpur the 6th odi, the conditions were hot and dry and the the pitch looked good for Batting, India had won the toss and decided to chase. India brought in Bhuvi and Amit Mishra in place of Vinay and Unadkat. Australian openers Hughes and Finch did not provide the start as they usually do, both were back to pavilion in quick time. Bailey and Watson were looking good, Watson had luck going his way when he was caught of a no ball being bowled by Jadeja, Watson had just scored 25 that time. Watson, then went severe on every Indian bowler and reached his half century. Bailey was solid as usual getting runs easily at the other end. The pitch was looking good and Australian batsmen were looking for a score over 300 again. Watson and Bailey added 168 in 23.3 overs and Indian bowlers had no clue what so ever. Mean while Watson scored his 9th odi century and soon lost his wicket to Mohammed Shami,a much needed breakthrough for India. Maxwell's stay at the crease this time did not last long and was caught at deep by Bhuvi and Ashwin was lucky to get the wicket of Maxwell. Voges and Bailey took the attack further and added 120 in 13.2 overs and Bailey who missed every opportunity of scoring a century this series, finally scored a much deserved century and went on to score a massive 156,a record score by an Australian Captain. Bailey's wonderful innings came to an end in the pursuit of quick runs as he smashed one from Jadeja to long off a simple catch to Kohli, that was an awesome performance from the Australia captain. Jadeja again went on to pick Mitchell Johnson and that happened to be his 100th Odi Wicket and in the end Australia had scored again a massive first Inning total of 350 for the loss of 6 wickets. As far as the Indian bowling was concerned, Bhuvi turned out to be economical,he picked a wicket in his 8 overs giving away 42 runs and Jadeja picked 2 for 68 in his 10 and Ashwin picked 2/64 in his 10 and a wicket for Mohammed Shami.

This target looked challenging, but the Indian batsmen had already chased down 360 at Jaipur and they had to repeat the same stuff here at Nagpur. The Indian openers Dhawan and Rohit sharma had a solid start and they put on 178 for the first wicket in 29.3 overs. Once again the Australian pace bowlers were tested and the Indian openers were quick on their feet and made sure they gave India a sound start. None of the specialist bowler were able to pick the first wicket, it was when Bailey decided to throw the ball to a part time bowler Finch. Finch gave Australia a much needed breakthrough and Rohit sharma was first wicket to fell, for a well made 79 of 89 balls. There was cheer, Virat came in and he did not waste much time and he continued where he left from Jaipur, Dhawan was looking set for his 4th odi century and he did not miss this time and went on to score a match winning century and he was soon dismissed after scoring a century, India were two down for 234 when Raina joined Virat Kohli and Raina was once again troubled by a short ball from Johnson and was out for 16, soon Johnson picked yuvraj for a duck and India had lost 3 wickets in quick span of time. In the other end Virat was going well scoring runs and he had not slowed down. India had lost 4 wickets for 290 and had a long way to go. MSD joined virat, the duo made sure they did lose any more wicket and carried on, soon Virat brought his 17th odi century and 11th while chasing, and a champion player like him is what India needed during the crisis situation. Kohli delivered what India exactly needed, a pressure situation and he was leading from the front, 11 centuries he has scored while chasing and India had won all of them. Needing 20 of the last two overs, Kohli took on watson and scored 14 runs of that over and India needed 6 from the last over from Faulkner. Dhoni was on strike and as a finisher you all know what Dhoni can do and Dhoni scored the winning runs for India and remained unbeaten on 25 and India had won yet another match chasing over 350. What a match to remember, What a chase.

Virat Kohli was again magical this time and won the man of the match for his 66 ball 115 and rest of the contributions were Dhawan's 100 and Rohit's 79.

A monemt of joy! the next match will be at Bengaluru on Nov-2nd! do not miss the action.
Ok folks! It's Diwali time! I wish you all a very Happy Diwali and hope you enjoy the festival and yea, Be safe!
                                       - Harish.S

what a match! what a chase! what a win! - India!!

The second ODI between India and Australia played at : Sawai Mansingh Stadium Jaipur, saw Australia winning the toss again and electing to bat. Aussie Openers Hughes and Finch once again provided the start they required. The track looked like a good one to bat and the openers started scoring runs in quick time, the first wicket fell when Aussies had scored 74.  Brilliant fielding from Raina and a direct hit. Finch back to the pavilion. Watson who missed out in the first game was in sublime form this game, he and hughes added 108. Watson scored a quick fire 59 before he was dismissed caught over long on by Ishant. The Aussie Captain George Bailey had come to the crease and he was in a hurry to score runs and he was hitting every ball he faced, at the other end Hughes was calm and composed, this duo added just 30 runs before Hughes was dismissed for a well played 83. Maxwell known for his big hitting joined his captain and both were taking on the Indian Attack and Dhoni had no clue on stopping them, the runs flowed so easily for the batsmen and the Indian bowlers found hard to get their line and length. The hard hitting pair added 96 in just 8.3 overs before Maxwell was run out for 53 of just 32 balls. Captain Bailey scored a massive 92 of 50 balls and remained unbeaten. The Aussies had scored a huge first Innings total of 359 for the loss of 5 wickets in 50 overs.The bowling, Vinay Picked couple of wickets for 73 from his 9 overs and Ashwin picked one for 50 from his 8 overs.

Now, Indian batsman again had to chase a score over 300 and this time its going to be a huge task than the last game. The openers Rohit Sharma and Dhawan did not fail this time, the duo put on a opening partnership of 176 runs, This was the kind of start the Indians were looking, those runs came in quick time,26.1 overs. Shikhar Dhawan who missed out in his first game, was dropped while he was on 18 by Haddin and he did utilize that opportunity and went on to score 95 in 86 balls and the delhi batsman was dismissed without scoring a century, yet that innings made a huge impact on the scorecard. Rohit sharma was calm until dhawan was scoring, once dhawan was back to the pavilion, he took up the attack along with Virat Kohli. The Mumbai Batsman had scored a century during 2010. Rohit Sharma was in sublime touch, he was pulling and driving the ball so well and at the other end Kohli was on fire, he was hitting six’s and four’s now and then and both the batsmen made bowling difficult for the Aussie Bowlers. The run rate had come down to 4 runs an over and the last ten overs Indians needed only 40 runs. The way Rohit and Virat played was just more than awesome, in the mean time Rohit brought up his 3rd odi ton in style, this century certainly took a long time to come, and at the other end Virat was clinching towards his 16th odi ton and the fastest as well, Virat scored a 52 ball 100 and the fastest by an Indian, earlier Sehwag had this record, scoring a century in 60 balls against New Zealand. The target looked comfortable in the end for India, and India had successfully chased down a huge target and scored 362 in 43.3 overs with a loss of Just one wicket.
Rohit Sharma was adjudged Man of the Match for his 123 ball 141*(17 four’s and four six’s) The other contributions came from Virat Kohli, 100* of 52 balls(8 four’s and 7 six’s) and Shikhar Dhawan’s 95 of 86 balls(14 four’s)
What a win! What a chase! and the series is leveled 1-1,hope you all enjoyed the game! as I too loved watching. See you soon with an update after the Mohali encounter.

Yuvi Yuvi Yuvi!! - The men in blue are back!

India's last series was against Zimbabwe, and that series saw a lot of new faces getting their breakthrough.
Australia's tour of India, first match commenced yesterday with a t-20. Played at Rajkot, India had won the toss and decided to field in a flat pitch that was good for batting.
Australian openers started off well and they did not allow any Indian bowlers to settle. The openers Finch and Nic Maddinson(debut) made sure they gave their team the start. Australia utilized the powerplay and added 56 in 4.5 overs before Bhuvi rattled Maddinson who scored 34 in 16 balls he faced and India had their First breakthrough. Finch was just unstoppable and he continued his hard hitting, Ashwin went for 41 in his two overs. Watson was given Leg before and Vinay was spot on with his bowling and Aussies found hard to play his bowling and Jadeja too was quite consistent with the line and length. The Aussie Captain George Bailey was dismissed for a duck and it was Vinay again taking that wicket.Maxwell scored a quick fire 13 ball 27 and was out when Ishant took a good catch. Though Aussies kept losing wickets, they were well ahead of 10 runs per over and 200 was looking so easy. Finch scored a massive 89 of 52 balls before being dismissed by Vinay, a great return catch to send the Aussie opener back to the pavilion. In the twenty overs, Australia scored 201 for the loss of 7 wickets. It was Vinay Kumar, the stand out performer for India, he picked up 3 wickets for 26 in his 4 overs and Bhuvi Picked 3 for 35 in his 4 and Jadeja a wicket for 23 in his 4 overs.
 Indians had to chase a huge score, The openers Dhawan and Rohit sharma were not able to provide the start as Aussies did, Rohit was out for just 8 runs, Dhawan and Raina started to score runs quickly and added 38 in 3.4 overs before Raina lost his wicket for 19. Kohli Joined Dhawan , the left/right combo added 30 in 3 overs and Dhawan headed to pavilion, being stumped. There were still hopes, this man came in Yuvraj Singh. Every one remembers his 30 ball 70 against Australia in the t-20 semi finals 2007. The team exactly needed that Kind of knock to chase down this target and he did played the same way,Kohli lost his wicket for 29 when he tried to charge Mackay down the track and caught over long on. India's most devastating pair MS Dhoni and Yuvraj on the middle. They just played the way as if there was no pressure and India were going on 9 runs per over and they needed 10, Yuvraj was in sublime form on his come back game, he was timing the ball so well and he hit 5 huge six's and 8 fours and that was a match winning knock, he scored a brutal 77 of 35 balls, that was more challenging than Finch's 52 ball 89. MSD remained calm at the other end and he was the finisher as usual, scoring 24 of 21. The duo added 102 in 8.3 overs and saw India winning with 2 balls to spare.
Yuvraj Singh was adjudged man of the match!
It's time to cheer folks! 7 ODI matches remaining! Lets win it! Bleed Blue!

Hi!! I am bored!

Been loooooooong time I came here updating my blog after India played against Zim!

well, This is just gonna be a formal , no.. a scribbling may be! Have been watching films hearing a lot of music, and less of cricket!

Got really bored on seeing Australia losing to England 3-0 in the ashes. Yes, hope they come back!

Finch's 156 was lovely to watch, and what else?!

Pakistan winning against Zimbabwe and Younis Khan's 200 in the second Innings!

Dollar value going up! and petrol prices going up! but there are people like me, who put petrol for Just 100 rs. Earlier 1.39 lts for rs.100 and now approx 1.29 lts for rs.100!

Onion prices. Thank you! what else?! Gold prices! hats off to congress and the Indian economic system and Our Finance Minister says, we are having a tough time. Ok!

The new RBI governor. Welcome sir!

Gang rapes and the judgement!! 

UP riots! what else do we need to face?!

Syria! really Pity that country! chemical chemical! really dangerous! not again plz!

Kimi losing in Italian GP! I heard fans of him telling keep calm and let kimi do what he wants to do! Ok.

see you soon with the next post! Bbbyee!  - with Laav, Harish.S! oYE! How ever you call me! :)

India in Zimbabwe. A recap!

This was the series to test the bench strength and Virat was again given an opportunity to lead the team against Zimbabwe and this was the young Indian squad with lot of new faces. Pujara Made his debut, Mohit was given a chance, Unadkat proved his skill as a bowler. Ambati Rayudu scored some runs, Rahane scored a half century and he has been in the bench for a long time. Amit Mishra was excellent with the ball picking up 18 wickets and equaling the world record with Srinath did against New Zealand. Lot of things happened this series.
Match 1 : India won the toss and chose to field. Sikandar Raza (82) and Chigumbura (43) were the highest scorers for Zimbabwe and they made a modest total of 228. Mishra bowled well and picked up 3 for 43 in his ten overs
India had to chase with ease. The openers fell for low score and Captain Virat had to lead from the front, Virat scored an excellent century (115) and he along with Rayudu (63) made sure India secured a lead in the 5 match ODI Series . India chased down the total in 44.5 overs. Virat was the man of the match.
Match 2 : Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to field. Rohit sharma's poor form continued and he had to lose his wicket for just 1 run. Virat too did not last long and was back to the pavilion. Time for Dhawan to perform and he did so. The left hander scored a brilliant century after bring dropped behind and one at deep. He did not waste his chance and went on to score 116, Dinesh Karthik was another stand out performer this game scoring 69. Both the batsman made sure India was out of trouble and Vinay Kumar made a quick fire 27 from 12 balls and India put on a massive score of 294 in their 50 overs
Zimbabwe had to chase a huge target after winning the toss. Sibanda (55) was the only highest scorer for them followed by Chigumbura's (46) and Utseya's 52 and in 50 overs Zimbabwe scored 236/9. Unadkat picked 4/41 and Dhawan was the man of the match. India lead series 2-0.
Match 3 : India won the toss and chose to field. Indian bowlers were spot on. Zimbabwe batsmen struggled to get runs except for Sean Williams (45) and were all out for 183 in 46 overs. Amit Mishra 4/47 in his 10
Indian's had nothing much to chase,Rohit sharma failing again and useful 35 from Dhawan, Virat remained unbeaten on 68 to chase down the target in just 35.3 overs, Mishra was man of the match. India won the series 3-0
Match 4 : Having won the series. India won the toss and chose to field. Once again this was a kind of repeat, the bowlers were spot on and made sure Zimbabwe kept losing wickets. Chigumbura's half century made them to score 144 in 42.4 overs. This time Mishra picked 3/25 and Mohit sharma picked 2/26.
Pujara on his debut scored 13 and lost his wicket. Rohit and Raina put on a 100+ run partnership and chased down the target with ease, Both scored half centuries and got back their form. 145/1 in 30.5 overs. Mohit Sharma got Man of the match on his debut. India 4-0.
Match 5: Again, India won the toss and chose to field. As expected, Mishra and his googly fetched him six wickets for 48, with just a half century on the scorecard by Sean Williams (51) Zimbabwe all out for 163.
Pujara again failed to capitalize the opportunity and lost his wicket, 41 from Dhawan, 50 from Rahane and 48* from Jadeja won the match for India in 34 overs. Man of the match Amit Mishra for his 6 wicket haul.Series White Washed
India did show their class, This series was completely dominated by India, testing the bench strength and Virat's potential as a future leader.

Seven for Twelve!! - Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi has been the latest sensation after yesterday's brilliant performance with the ball and the bat. Pakistan were really struggling at their first odi against West Indies, West Indies being the home side, won the toss and decided to bowl first. Jason Holder was furious with his bowling who destroyed the Pakistan top order and picked up 4/13 in his ten overs and his career best as well!

Misbah To the rescue again :

This has been a frequent show in Pakistan side, with the side losing wickets and their captain Misbah has come to the rescue every time and this time he was really patient and the strike rate was almost less than 50 and he was supporting afridi who was on a rampage. Afridi scored a quick fire 50 and took his team to a decent total and before getting out, Afridi made a valuable 76 of 55 delivers, that knock included 5 6's and 6 4's with a strike rate of 138. Pakistan had scored a modest total of 224, Misbah with another half century of 121 balls.

With the likes of Gayle,Pollard and Bravo etc, the target looked quite simpler to the home side and they looked comfortable they way they had bowled . But things got changed, Gayle was run out and Irfan struck in his first over, Charles was back and top order was back to the pavilion.

Return of Shahid Afridi :

Afridi was quite a sensation yesterday, he picked almost every west Indian wicket and he had bowled one of the odi's best bowling figure. 9 overs, 3 maidens and 7 wickets, this kind of performance does not happen now and then, and when that happens that becomes the best of all. West Indies had lost all their wickets for 98 runs and no one ever imagined this low score from the home side, who had bowled so well. The magician Shaid afridi has done once again for Pakistan and he has announced his return in style!

India The Winners!! Yet Again.

India has been the best team again, beating Sri Lanka in the tri nation finals, they continue their good from after winning the Champions trophy in England.

MS Dhoni joined the team after he missed out some games due to Injury, mean time Virat Kohli had to lead the team and he did pretty well to take the team to the finals of the tri nation. Virat too scored the first century as a captain against the west Indies in a must win game, Rohit Sharma, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar( 4/8, against Sri Lanka) etc were the other crucial architects taking India to the finals knocking out West Indies.

Dhoni won the toss and decided to bowl at :
Queen’s Park Oval. That was a very good toss to win and Bhuvi showed his swinging qualities again, he removed the openers for a low score. Sangakkara and Thirimanne had to steady the ship and they did so, the pair put on a 100+ run partnership and that was the time when Sri Lanka thought they started getting runs, Ishant Sharma got the wicket of Thirimanne and soon Ashwin chipped in with the wicket of Sangakkara and India were right back into the game. Once the pair was back to the pavilion, Sri Lanka did not find a chance to return, Indian bowlers picked wickets at regular Intervals and the pressure was on Sri Lanka every time. Jadeja picked 4/23, Ashwin, Ishant and Bhuvi took 2 each and Sri Lanka were bundled for 201 in 48.5 overs

When Indian openers came into bat, the target looked much easy, but the opening partnership did not last for long and Shikhar Dhawan was back to the pavilion for 16 and soon followed by Virat for 2. India lost both the wickets in quick succession and That was the time when DK and Rohit put on a 50 run partnership and things looked easy. DK lost his wicket for 23, Mahela took a beauty at slip, Herath announced his arrival. In the mean time Rohit brought up his half century and that was a patient innings and he did not carry on and lost his wicket for 58, herath with his second wicket and Raina batted well for his quick fire 32 and a 62 run partnership with Rohit Sharma, both the batsmen out in quick succession and Pressure on India, the arrival of Dhoni showed his calmness at the crease, but the wickets kept falling at the other end and Herath picked up 4 wickets totally for 20 runs and India had lost 9 wickets for 182 and Ishant Sharma accompanied Dhoni till the end, the Indian captain ensured he scored 15 runs of the final over of Eranga’s bowling, the Indian captain remained unbeaten on 45.

The winning shot was a flat six and Indians won the game with two balls to spare, Once again India had bet Sri Lanka in the final and the winning shot being a 6 from the same person as happened in the world cup finals.

Dhoni declared man of the match and Bhuneshwar Kumar declared Man of the series.

We are the Champions yet again! Keep cheering!

India into the semis of the CT-2013!!

India with it's splendid all round skills had qualified for the semis in the on going champions trophy in England. India bet West Indies yesterday to make sure they were the first team to qualify for the semi final, India earlier had won its first game against The South Africans. Shikar Dhawan was the stand out performer in both the matches with back to back 100's lifting India's spirits and hopes.

Against West Indies : India had won the toss and elected to field, and India was so lucky to get rid of the most dangerous Chris Gayle, caught at slip, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar gave India the first break through. Charles looked dangerous before he lost his wicket after a well made half century and Ravindra Jadeja was spot on yesterday and picked five for giving away just 36 runs in his 10 overs. Indian bowling and fielding were up to the mark.

West Indies Just managed a score of 233, with late fire works from Darren Sammy towards the slog overs and he scored an Unbeaten 56. Though this score looked good to defend, the Indian openers put on a century stand, the Indian batsman were brilliant to chase down the score in just 39.1 overs, Dhawan brought up his second ODI century of the tournament and his good form continues. Rohit Sharma too played sensibly before he was caught behind for a well made 52, his second half century of the tournament. Virat Kohli in his 100th odi for India scored a quick fire 22 of 18 balls before he was bowled by Sunil Narine. Dhawan and Karthik put on a 109* partnership as they completed the chase with ease, karthik scored an unbeaten 51 and Dhawan on 102*.

With this win, India qualifies for the next round, the semi finals.

Earlier, India opened their account winning against the South Africans, Indians having lost the toss and put into bat first made a huge score of 330, a brilliant century from Dhawan set up the game for India, the Indian openers had really come out well, putting on a 127 run partnership.
South Africa just managed to score 305 in 50 overs losing all their wickets.
Man of the match, game one : Dhawan (114)
Man of the match, game two : Ravindra Jadeja (5/36)

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.