Aussies Demolish West Indies in the 4th ODI

Australia staged a late innings fightback to seal a one-run victory and a 4-0 one-day series lead against the West Indies on Friday. The West Indies appeared to be cruising towards a victory target of 283 before Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken claimed a combined two for five in the 48th and 49th overs to put on the brakes. That left the unheralded duo of Darren Sammy and Dinesh Ramdin needing eight runs from Shane Watson's final over but they could manage just six and finished on 281 for six.
Opener Chris Gayle blasted four sixes and six boundaries in his 92 and he was supported by Ramnaresh Sarwan (63), with whom he shared a 137-run second wicket partnership, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (53).
Michael Hussey's sublime diving catch to dismiss debutant Shawn Findlay in the 48th over wrested much of the momentum back Australia's way.
When Chanderpaul fell to Bracken with the last ball of the 48th over, a target that had appeared attainable suddenly appeared distant.
A century partnership between Andrew Symonds and debutant David Hussey had guided Australia to a competitive total.
Symonds (87) and Hussey (50) added 127 runs in their fourth wicket stand.
Michael Clarke captained Australia for the first time in one-day international cricket after Ricky Ponting was sent home with a wrist injury. Source

Pakistan Ruled Out of the Asia Cup

After their victory in the triangular series held in Bangladesh, Pakistan team failed to qualify in the finals of Asia cup. India on Thursday night shattered Pakistan's hopes of reaching the Asia Cup final when they crushed defending champions Sri Lanka in a Super Four game by six wickets at the National Stadium. Despite of their good batting peformance they were led down by the bowlers. They had set a target of 309 runs to India which they achieved easily with 19 balls to spare.

India Beat Sri Lanka in Asia Cup

After not so commendable fielding, team India finally managed to chase the target set by the Sri Lankans with 19 balls to spare. India won comprehensively by 6 wickets to reserve its place in the final of the Asia Cup. Thanks to the fireworks in the start of the innings that helped the tempo going. Brief Scores : Sri Lanka ; Kapugedra 75, Jayawardene 50, Silva 50, Jayasuria 43. Ishant 2/55, R. P. Singh 1/44. India ; Gambhir 68, Dhoni 67, Raina 54, Sehwag 42. Muralitharan 2/44, Kulasekara 1/71. Man of the Match : Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

India Lose To Pakistan in Asia Cup

Though India clicked off to a great start with the first wicket partnership of 88 runs and a solid partnership between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, India couldn't managed to win the game as Pakistan won convincingly by 8 wickets.

Brief Scores : India - 308/7 (50 overs). Dhoni 76, Rohit Sharma 58. Anjum 3/51, Rauf 2/66. Pakistan - 309/2 (45.2 overs). Younis 123 n.o., Misbah 70 n.o. Chawla 1/53.

Mahela Jayawardene On The Asia Cup

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene today said he has no complaints with the tight Asia Cup schedule as it was not a new thing in international cricket.
"I think in international cricket one has to be used to play such a tough schedule. Our players are fit and have been working hard and preparing for this tournament.
In fact it was much tougher conditions in Lahore, it is much better in Karachi," Jayawardene said.

Kapil And His Then Team To Receive A Felicitation At Lords Today

Indian Cricket's greatest captain Kapil Dev's serving to the country will never be forgotten. Its been 25 splendid years since Indian Team won its first ever World Cup in 1983, on 25th day of June under the captaincy of Kapil Dev. Todays historic day when India clinched the Prudential Cup final will be remembered in a special way. At Lords the then Indian Team will be felicitated and the star cricketers of those times will assemble altogether once again.

Clive Lloyd, then West Indian captain also couldn't stop himself from praising Kapil's efforts.

Kapil Dev was very excited on the eve of the day and remembered his old memories of the dressing room and his interaction with the players. He felt quite emotional to be honest.

We hope that this moment comes again and again in the Indian Cricket as no one is bigger than the game itself.

Asia Cup Starts Today

The battle for the Asia Cup resumes on Tuesday after a four-year hiatus with the best cricketers in the continent hoping to make their presence felt in a cricket tournament which has more to do with national pride than money.
Bangladesh will take on unfancied United Arab Emirates in Lahore and hosts Pakistan will lock horns with Hong Kong in Karachi in the opening day.
The six-nation tournament was last staged in Sri Lanka in 2004 and political problems between India and Pakistan have restricted the number of Asia Cup tournaments to just eight since its inception in 1983-84.
On the sidelines of the tournament, Pakistan and India will also resume their traditional rivalry from the recent tri-series in Bangladesh where Pakistan clinched the title.
The real battle would be between Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka while Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates would have the opportunity to learn a few tricks of the trade from the superior opponents. Full News

T20 Will Replace ODI's Soon

After success of the first world cup of T20 cricket and now the IPL, i m founding no more interests in 50 overs matches. Many including me are of the view that 50 overs matches will be seldomly played. A creative strokemaker with a high strike rate, Kevin Pietersen shares the same view :

I do think Twenty20 will be the new form of One-day cricket, for sure," said Pietersen, who was born in South Africa in 1980. "I reckon in the next couple of years, 50 overs is probably going to be something of the past.

Rajasthan Royals Won the IPL 2008 : Last Ball Win - Scorecard

What a final match it was. The match that compenstated for two flop semi finals...couldn't get better than this.

Chennai Superkings who scored 163 runs just lost in the final ball to the Royals. Being 8 runs runs required in the last over (bowled by Balaji) with Tanvir and Warne on the creeche, it could be anybody's game. But finally Rajasthan emerged as the winners.

Actually, it was not the last over only...the match looked very balanced from the begining and it was hard to predict the winner at any stage of the game. Yusuf Pathan(56) who took the game away from the Chennai got run out in the 17th leaving 21 runs to be scored in 15 balls. After that Jadeja got out in the very first ball and Chennai Super Kings were back in the game. But then Tanvir and Captain himself slowly stole the game from Chennai's hand taking their team to victory.

9 Wickets Win for Chennai Super Kings in 2nd Semi Final Against Kings Punjab XI

Chennai Super Kings strong bowling attack restricted Kings Punjan XI to a paltry 112 for 8 in the second semifinal of Indian Premier League at the Wankhede Stadium here tonight.

Makhaya Ntini and Manpreet Singh Gony rocked the high-flying Kings XI Punjab side with a double strike each which reduced Yuvraj Singh-led team to a pathetic 34 for four in the sixth over.

Chennai Super Kings chased the target in mere 14.5 overs with a loss of one wicket. Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina both scored half century taking their team to finals.

Scorecard