Monday, July 15, 2013

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!

Friday, July 12, 2013

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!