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!