India Vs SL 1st ODI Cricket: India win a thriller.

Rajkot, Dec 15, 2009.
Sri Lanka tour of India, 1st ODI: India v Sri Lanka.
India 414 for 7 (V Sehwag 146, Dhoni 72, Tendulkar 69) BEAT
Sri Lanka 411 for 8 (Dilshan 160, Sangakkara 90, Tharanga 67) by three runs




Post match interviews:
MS Dhoni: "It's quite tough to be cool when you score 400 and almost lose it. First 35 overs we were not really up to the mark, maybe we just accepted that the wicket had got better, maybe we were not focusses. But the way we bowled and fielded after that was awesome. Also we could have scored 450, which would have been an 'above-par' score. Catches, of course, if you don't take offerings from set batsmen you are going to be in trouble." Kumar Sangakkara: "It is actually worse when you come this close and lose and rather than lose easily. Most of the time you can roll over and die chasing over 400, but we almost made. After 35 overs, we should have batted smartly, India held their nerve better than us. At the end of the day, you have to acknowledge that India played better than us - slightly."

Virender Sehwag gets the Man of the Match award. I would have had Dilshan and Sehwag share it, or even Harbhajan Singh take it alone. But it's the batsmen and the winners that often tell the history. Says Sehwag: "I am in good form. I scored 200 in Tests, 50 in T20, I was telling myself I am in good form I have to utilise it. We [me and Sachin] were aiming for 350 to begin with, but MS played really well and raised the bar. In Test matches I score big hundreds, but in ODIs I get out in 30s and 40s, so this is good time to convert them into big hundreds."

cricket Complete Story.|
cricket Home

Pakistan Likely to Escape with Draw Vs NZ 3rd test: Rain

Napier. Dec 15, 2009
Pakistan Vs New Zealand, 3rd Test
Pakistan 223 & 455
New Zealand 471 & 90/0 (19.0 ov)
New Zealand require another 118 runs with 10 wickets remaining


cricket Complete Story.|
cricket Home

INDIA WIN. First Team ever to rank No 1 in all 3 ICC formats

Mumbai. Dec 6, 2009
Not even Australia has been at the top in all 3 formats. Recently, though briefly, they were No 1 ICC ODI side. After World Cup win they were No 1 Twenty20 side and now this.




Image: India vs Srilanka 3rd Test. Last wicket Muralitharan c Dhoni b Harbhajan. Winning ICC test Team Number 1
India 726 for 9 dec beat
Sri Lanka 393 and 309 by an innings and 24 runs

cricket Complete Story.|
cricket Home

India Win 3rd Test Vs Srilanka: Ranks No 1 in Tests.

Mumbai. Dec 6, 2009
India 726 for 9 dec (Sehwag 293, Dhoni 100*, Vijay 87, Dravid 74, Laxman 62, Tendulkar 52) beat
Sri Lanka 393 (Dilshan 109, Mathews 99, Harbhajan 4-112) and 309 (Sangakkara 137, Paranavitana 54, Zaheer 5-72) by an innings and 24 runs



Dhoni at Award Ceremony: MS Dhoni: I think the real tough task from now on is to maintain this performance. THe real tough job starts from here. When we are pushed to the wall, we come out with some special performances. Overall I think it was a terrific team performance in this series. Every batsman, who got in, in this match did his job. Especially Virender Sehwag. We had a big total and could put pressure with close-in fielders. Zaheer is back in the rhythm and it was good to see the fast bowlers do well in India. There was a bit of reverse swing but not much help to them but they have bowled very well. Our fielding was good. I think we caught nearly everything that came our way."

Sangakkara at Awards Ceremony: "It was tough but India outperformed us in all three departments of the game in the last two Tests. In this game, we nearly put 400 but Sehwag came and took the game away from us. The guys fought hard through this series but it was not enough. The batting of Dilshan, Prasana, Samaraweera, how Welegedera came through in the first Test .. were the positives. Congrats to the Indian team who did well as a unit; someone always stepped up to perform."

Tendulkar after the match paying rich tributes to the unsung heroes including the recently axed Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh: "Fantastic to be at this position. I have been waiting a long time to get to this position (No 1). In fact just not me, entire nation. I thought when Gary (Kirsten) and Paddy (Paddy Upton), along with Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad, all credit to them for handling the team brilliantly. Also all the players have worked very hard in the last 18 months. Right from no 1 batter to no 7 (MS bats at no 7) we have a solid batting line-up. This pitch was a brilliant wicket. There was some turn on the first day and I knew one roll would settle it down and it did." A smiling Tendulkar then adds, " I have told Yuvraj Singh not to call me Grandpa .. I have lots of names for him too and I can expose him there! No retirement as long as I am enjoying the game."

cricket Complete Story.|
cricket Home

India on Course to Create History: Need 4 wickets to win

Mumbai. Dec 5, 2009
Sri Lanka 393 and 274 for 6 (Sangakkara 133*, Paranavitana 54) trail
India 726 for 9 dec by 59 runs




cricket Complete Story.|
cricket Home