Australia in South Africa: 4th ODI Review : Gibbs powers SA to a series win

April 13 2009: After the No.1 spot in ICC ODI Rankings changed hands through the series, South Africa have made sure that they finish in the same position thanks to Herschelle Gibbs 21 ODI century that helped them win the 4th ODI and the series 3-1 to Australia at Port Elizabeth. His 110 came almost off a run a ball after having battled the first few overs in partnership with Smith. Australi who perished in the name of Van De Merwe never looked like being in the game.



An out of form Australia were always likely to be on the back foot heading into their do or die stint. They made a couple of changes bringing in Shane hardwood for Lauglin who didn't look like taking any wickets as Gibbs and AB Develliers powered SouthAfrica to a score of 317 leaving Australia with almost no margin for error run chase. For a while they looked Flauless, Haddin and Micheal Clarke clicked as a pair for the first time in the series putting on a 129 run stand, but both men loast their wicket at the half way mark. Clarke became victim to a vicious spinner pitching on leg and turning away from him to knock the off stump, a classical Van de Merwe delivery.

Merwe playing only his 3rd ODI picked up 3 for 46, the two other wickets coming in the name of Callan Ferguson and Micheal Hussey. Ferguson, Man who restored pride in the falling top order in the previous games was promoted to No.4 lost his wicket stumped by Boucher. Hussey soon followed, out LBW playing the wrong line. 129 for 0 suddenly turned 150 for 4 in a matter of 4 overs. Haddin's aggressive approach imbued Australia with hope and he batted instinctively in compiling 78 from 61 balls, including four sixes. But after he holed out to long-on off Johan Botha it was a steady decline for Australia and the tail succumbed to Dale Steyn, who finished with 4 for 44. The chase was always going to be difficult after Gibbs and de Villiers dominated with the bat.



Both Develliers and Gibbs kept the scoreboard moving also played some aggresive shots off the bad deliveries. Australian bolwers failed to offer any threat and the biggest worry turned out to be in the name of the spinners Micheal Clarke and Nathan hauritz who between them sent down 10 overs for 73. Both suffered in the hands off Gibbs who posted a ODI century after 14 months, Develirs suddenly turned the aggresson in the partnership as he trashed consecutive deliveries off Hauritz over long on and Mid Wicket boundaries.

The 61-run victory ensured Graeme Smith's men the honor of becoming the first team to triumph in three successive bilateral ODI series against Australia - a streak that dates back to their historic victory in the 438 match in Johannesburg three years ago. It also means that when the teams return to the Wanderers for Friday's fifth and final match, it will be to contest a dead rubber. Smith and his men have now won 7 out of their 10 games against the world champions - Australia. They deserve their 1st spot in the rankings, They've earned it.

In Other News: Botha, after being reported for suspect action has been cleared after tests found that the bending of his hand is well below the limit. His doosra and the faster ball came into the line of fire after match referee decided to report it for a test. Reports suggest that the Doosra measured a 9 deg bend while the off spinner measured 11 deg bend, well below the 15 deg limit set by the ICC.





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Australia in South Africa: 3rd One Day: Review

South Africa powered to yet another victory after they beat the touring Australians by 25 runs in the third match of the five match one day series. South Africa now lead the series 2-1. Earlier South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first on what looked like a slow and dry wicket. Australian quickies made a good start as they restricted Smith and Gibbs from scoring big runs. The first South African wicket came at the expense of Smith in the 7th over caught behind to Johnson. South Africa were 28-1 in 6.2 overs.


Playing his 289th match and with piles of runs,ten thousand plus, around his name South African all rounder Jacques Kallis joined Gibbs. The duo put together a partnership of just 22 off 48 balls before Gibbs lost his concentration and wicket to Johnson. He was caught behind by Haddin. Johnson was the pick of the bowlers until then with figures of 5 overs 2 maidens and just 7 runs for his 2 scalps. In the company of AB De velliers, Kallis cruised the sinking South African ship past the 100 mark.

Kallis suddenly uped the anti and powered South Africa past the 150 scoring almost at a run a ball. De velliers also played some excellent shots. The duo added 114 off a 124 balls before Kallis(70) pulled a short delivery straight into the hands of Hopes fielding at midwicket. A surprise scalp for Brett Geeves. 34 runs later De velliers(80) lost his wicket to a leading edge skier comfortably held by Hauritz at extra cover saw South Africa at 198-4 in the 41st over, just when South Africa had called the batting power play. Duminy(32) in partnership with Albie Morkel added 32 runs in 20 balls before he was held in the covers trying to make the best use of the powerplay.

Morkel (29) and Boucher(28) added 53 in 5 overs to take South Africa to 283 before Morkel lost his off stump to Johnson. Merwe scored a six off the remaining 4 balls as South Africa reached a score of 289 for 6 at the end of 50 overs. Johnson was the stand out bowler for his effort of 4-34 in his 10 overs.


Australia started off cautiously, both Clarke and Haddin played defensive shots to keep wickets intact as Steyn and Parnell whizzed past their outside edges quite a number of times. Haddin scored 15 off 34 balls before he was out run out by Duminy in what was a quick single.

Ponting joined Clarke with Australia at 30-1 in 9.4 overs. Ponting played cautiously but also dismissed the bad balls to the boundary with confidence. Clarke picked up his strike rate as the duo took Australia past the 50 in 15 overs. It looked like a strategy by South Africa to bowl at the legs of Ponting as the spinner Botha bowled quite a few deliveries on the legs of the batsman. Ponting eventually lost his cool as he tried to force a shot coming down the track popping a simple catch to Botha. He was out for 20 leaving Australia at 66-2 in 17.5 overs. Van De Marwe was called into the attack and immediately he picked Clarke out bowled to a classical left arm spinner delivery. It pitched and turn.

Micheal Hussey then lost his wicket LBW to merwe as Australia received their 4th blow at the score of 83. It was all spin, Duminy in his first over picked the in-form David Hussey caught at long on. Australia(114-5, 30.2 Overs) never looked like getting home with the last recognized pair of Ferguson and Hopes at the crease still requiring 176 off 118 balls.

Both the batsman stitched together a decent partnership and mixed caution with aggression to take Australia past the 200 run mark. 45th over of the match, Fergusson(63) lost his wicket to van de merwe caught by Develliers at long on. Johnson(9) soon followed out run out to a combination of Duminy and Boucher. All door were shut as Hopes finished not out leaving Australia 25 runs short off target.

Kallis was declared man of the match for his all round performance with the bat and the ball. It was the spinner who made the difference, Botha and Duminy kept things tight, while Van de Merwe chipped in with 3 wickets. With Spinners doing well, South Africa now look a complete side, a team that can win in any condition. The next match will be played at centurion on the 13th of April.

Do Join me then for more updates, news, previews and reviews.





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India in NewZealand: Dhoni Speaks : Team India celebrates the test series win

"Of course it is a bit disappointing not to win this Test," captain MS Dhoni said. India's disappointment was evident at not winning the Test, despite a charismatic spell of legspin bowling from Sachin Tendulkar, who combined really well with Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan, with 16 wickets, ended as the highest wicket-taker in the series. The smiles on the faces of the seniors said it all, "I have come here 3 times and I'm happy we finally won" said Rahul Dravid.

The only disappointment was when the series came to an end in a rain affected match. There was no running for the stumps for souvenirs, There was No high fives and group hugs.. There was no grabbing the Indian Flag and taking the victory lap.. History only creeped in slowly.. 2-0 or 1-0 Dhoni and his men were given the task of getting back home with series win and that is what they are coming back with.


But the obvious question was whether India brought it upon themselves by declaring too late, despite having known the forecast for rain. India were 531 ahead when they started the fourth day, but batted on for half a session. India perhaps didn't want to leave anything to chance after having come so close. "You can't really bank on the weather," Dhoni said. A lot has been said about Dhoni and his delayed declaration in media, but the only answer to silence this attack is with a smile and the trophy in the hand and that is what Dhoni did as he posed for photographs after the press conference.

"What we wanted to do in the second innings was to attack, attack and attack so that even if one ball goes in the air, you want a fielder to catch it. That's only possible when you have the extra 70-80 runs. You don't want to change your plan, whatever position you are in. With two days of play, we knew it may rain, but at that point of time, it was not certain. With the amount of wind that goes around, there was a very good chance that the clouds would have been blown away also." He added. The safety-first approach highlighted India's lack of success overseas. The value of this win was immense and its enormity is beginning to be understood. "It's a fantastic atmosphere [in the dressing room], can't get better," Dhoni said.

"We have set the benchmark," Dhoni said. "Next time when we come to New Zealand, people expect you to win. You have achieved something that's big, but the tough part is to maintain it, to sustain it. It never gets easy for a cricketer. If you have not achieved something, there's pressure on you to achieve it. Once you have achieved it, there is pressure to sustain it. Nothing comes easy, it will be tougher for the guys who come on the next tour."

Criticism: This is the worst NZ side of the past, the wickets were flat and suited the Indians. The absence of Shane Bod and other experienced players has affected the way the Kiwis perform. That probably signifies the reason for Kiwi's at no.8 in the test rankings. India on the other hand had every single person in the team in supreme form which was not when the team toured in the past. In the past the wickets were lively and Indians found it tough to stay on the wicket. It would have been bad for Indian cricket if they had not won on this easy paced tracks.


"Contributions came when they were needed," he said. "Wickets were on the flatter side, there wasn't much in it for the bowlers, so they have to keep on changing their plans and improvising at times. The same applied with the batsmen as well. Overall, the effort by the bowlers was really great, and the lower-order contribution is very important because that really takes the morale of the team up. Whenever it was really needed from them, the lower-order contributed.

"We didn't rely on one specific individual, everybody contributed. Each and every batsman scored at some point in the series and the same applies to the bowlers also. At times, there was one end, which was not favoring the seamers, maybe because of the wind or not much help from the wicket. Still, bowling your heart out from that end, you really need quite a determined body and mind to do that. Quite happy with the performance overall."

No matter what team India has achieved in terms of performance and criticism, They come back with a series win, and a tough 41 year record off their backs. This is not the first time this team has had records off their backs, here are some list of the 'First's' that India achieved in the last months (If i can recall)

1st ever CB Series win in Austrlia
1st Series win in South Africa
1st Clean sweep of 5-0 against England
Highest margin of victory of 300 + runs over Australia
Highest run chase of 342 runs in the last innings to win a test match
1st one day series win in NewZealnd soil
1st test series win in NZ after 41 years
1st one day series win in west Indies
And many other such records.

Talking about records, Rahul Dravid now holds the record of highest number of catches taken by any cricketer around the world. Every run that Sachin Tendulkar scores is a record in itself. He scored some fantastic fifties and hundreds throughout the tour. Sehwag showed his form with the bat in the one day series, Gambhir did it during the tests. Dhoni and Laxman contributed with the bat. Harbhajan took 16 wickets, highest in the series and scored a match winning 60 in the last test. Zaheer chippe in with the bat and the ball. Only disappointments for India would have been the form of Ishant Sharma and Yuvraj Singh. Third Seamer Munaf patel did well but needed t step up his game to help India dominate the matches.

with almost no test cricket for India until December 09 in Bangladesh, Team India will be hoping to find some fresh talent and more importantly a bowling all rounder to complete the test side. The players are now headed home, and after spending sometime with their families they will be off to South Africa for IPL followed by their visit to England for the world Twenty20.

All player Statements courtesy CricInfo






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India in NewZealand: 3rd Test : Review

41 years after a Indian side won a test series in New Zealand, Dhoni and his men have succesfully put records on their back and have rewritten history by winning the current series against New Zealand 1-0. It could easily have been 2-0 if the last session wouldn't have been washed out by rain. No more a few drops of rain, it's certainly become a drizzle. The umpires signalled the groundsmen to get into their job and the players start walking off. Vettori walked off the field with a sigh of relief on his face as the Indian players looked reluctantly at the sky.

15 minutes later the umpires walked on to the field, when players should not have left the field one would imagine. It was misty and overcast at that moment but it didn't rain. The umpires waited for the weather to clear, but much to the local team's happiness the rain became heavier and the umpires were forced to walk off the field again. There was a strong wind blowing across the ground, India's only hope one would say. It got heavier and heavier and the umpires were forced to call off the play. The match ended as a No result for the teams, but Indian players celebrated the 1-0 win.



New Zealand were 281 for 8 when rain stopped play. India's chances of winning the series 2-0 looked slim as James Franklin and Ross Taylor played the first session of the final day with ease. Pace bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ishant sharma bowled their heart's out, but there was no swing. Harbhajan Singh brought the first break through of the day picking Ross Taylor for 105 out bowled. It was bowled from around the wicket, Ross taylor was defeated by the drift on the full length ball which hit the middle stump to take his wicket. McCullum and Franklin continued defending the Indian bowlers as the NZ hopes of playing put til the rain intervention rised. The rain was quite evident and was forcasted for much earlier in the day.

It took 76 overs for captain MS Dhoni to hand the ball to Sachin Tendulkar who picked surprise 2 wickets just before lunch on the final day . He picked McCullum to a classical Leg spinner delivery, forcing the batsman into the bludgeoned drive which took the outside edge of the bat offering easy catch for Rahul Dravid at slip. Franklin was out LBW to a full straight delivery from Sachin. NZ left the field with 250 + for 7 at lunch. It was a 45 minuted break and the Indian players prayed and hoped the rain stayed away for that time. The rain clouds were thick and heavy as the play resumed after lunch. Harbhajan picked up Tim southee almost immediately after lunch caught behind to MS Dhoni. Daniel vettori at the other end hoping for rain and interventions. NZ batted out 5 more overs before the rain gods finally answered the NZ players wish for the rain.

Earlier in the match NZ won the toss and put India into bat on what looked like a hard and good pitch to bat on. Captain MS Dhoni joined the team after recovering from a back spasm replacing his counter part Dinesh Karthick. NZ brought back Tim Southee after his consistent performances in the domestic tournaments. Much to everyones surprise Sehwag played some defensive shots in what looked like a sensible knock from him and Gambhir. The duo put on 73 for the first wicket before Sehwag edged a good length delivery to McIntosh waiting at first slip off the bowling of Obrein. Gambhir followed soon out LBW to franklin as India were left tottering at 75 for 2. Sachin and Dravid put a good partnership, before Sachin was out caught by McCullum off the bowling of Martin.



Laxman lost his wicket playing a useless shot handing a simple catch to McIntosh at slips while Yuvraj singh continued his poor form as he lost his wicket for a score off 9 out lbw to Jesse Ryder. A lot was said and spoken about the decision and the way the umpire reacted, but neverthless replays confirmed that Yuvraj was given out lbw which was considered a valid decision. 20 runs later it was Rahul Dravid leaving India at 204/6 with NZ into the tail. Harbhajan Singh a good innings of 60 in partnership with Dhoni(52) to take India past the 275 mark. Contributions from Zaheer (33), Ishant(18), Munaf(15) took India to a respectable and match winnig total of 379.

It was early in the morning as the NZ openers walked into the middle with Zaheer with the ball in the hand and swing very much there. The Indian Pacer Zaheer Khan got his carrer's 6th five-for as the Indian seamers broke into the NZ batting dismissing the team all out for 197. Harbhajan chipped in with three wickets, but the man of the moment was Zaheer Khan. NZ avoided the follow on and India were forced to come out to bat with a lead of 182 on board and three days left to play.

India batted out the third day completely dominating the NZ bowlers who without swing looked like school boys bowling practice balls to the Indian batsman. Gambhir(167) got his second hundred of the series only this time it came at a strike rate of 65 as against 32 in his previous hundred during the second test match at napier. Rahul Dravid, laxman and Dhoni chipped in with fifties to their names as India declared the innings at 434 for 7 early in the fourth day with an overall lead of 616. A late decision as one may call it, but with two days left and the track still looking good for batting India didn't want to take chances and made sure they batted NZ completely out of the game.

A target of 617 looked a tall order for the NZ batsman and all they could do is to play out 6 sessions, just like India played out the second test match. They needed a gambhir style innings from one of their top order batsman. NZ Started off cautiously and played cautiously thro the rest of the day. NZ ended the day at 160 for 4 with a day remaining and positive chances of rain. NZ were surprisingly welcomed by bright sunshine but the chances of rain during the afternoon were quite high and so it happened. The rest is history.






India managed to put another history behind them as Dhoni and his men lifted the trophy. Dhoni has proved to be the best captain after having won both the One day and the Test series in NZ, but if you could call this luck or just plain captaincy, the Indians were treated to home like conditions on most of the pitches they played on. Dead batting tracks, with a batting order that India carries and new young bowlers on the NZ side a win was always on the cards. It was not anywhere close to what India faced 8 years back when on the same ground India lost a test match to NZ in less than 2 days when fast bowler Shane bond rattled the Indians with good swing bowling. If not for the form of Zaheer and Ishant, Indians could have received the same treatment from NZ, by giving good batting tracks NZ played the series into NZ hand's.

India will now be seen defending their world T20 title at the world championships in England starting June 5 2009. The players however will be hoping to practice hard playing the season 2 of the IPL staring April 18th in South Africa.

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PS: I personally apologize to people who have been on this blog looking for reviews on the current WI-Eng encounter and the Aus-SA encounters. I have been just too busy to post anything, or even watch the match.
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Australia in South Africa: 2nd One Day: Review

April 5, 2009 Sunday: Open-ing bowlers Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell produced devastating performances as South Africa bounced back with a convincing seven-wicket victory in the second one-day international against Australia at Centurion Park here on Sunday. Australia were bowled out for 131 after their top order batsmen were blown away by Steyn and the teenaged Parnell. South Africa needed just 26.2 overs to level the five-match series after being beaten by 141 runs in the opening clash in Durban on Friday.



Australia crashed to 19 for five before Callum Ferguson led a partial recovery, making 50. Steyn took four for 27 and the leftarmed Parnell, 19, claimed four for 25 in his second one-day international. Steyn started the slide when he bowled Brad Haddin off an inside edge with the sixth ball of the match. Australian captain Ricky Ponting hit the first ball he faced from Steyn for six but made only two more runs before edging a drive against Parnell to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher.


Man-of-the-match Parnell dismissed Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey leg before wicket with full deliveries that swung late and had figures of three for three after four overs, while Steyn had David Hussey caught behind. Ferguson and Mitchell Johnson put on 63 off 107 balls for the seventh wicket in the only substantial partnership of the innings before Johnson was deceived by a doosra from off-spinner Johan Botha.

Ferguson made 50 off 83 balls before falling to a vicious lifter from Steyn in the fast bowler’s second spell, gloving a catch to backward point.





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PS: I personally apologize to people who were looking for a more detailed post. I have no time to what so ever publish my thoughts on the game. This post is courtesy Deccan Chronicle.
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F1: Race 2 : It's Button Again

April 5, 2009 Sunday: Britain’s Jenson But-ton splashed to victory in a chaotic, rain-shortened Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday for his second triumph in two races for the new Brawn GP team. Half points were awarded for only the fifth time in Formula One history because only 32 of the scheduled 56 laps had been completed before a torrential downpour turned the track into a lake. With thunderclaps and lightning streaking across the darkened Sepang skies, making driving conditions impossible even behind the safety car, the race was red-flagged and then abandoned. Button, who had again started from pole position after a Brawn one-two in the Australian season-opener last weekend, was leading behind the safety car when officials signalled the halt.



The Briton, who also won in Melbourne with the safety car deployed, had already made four pitstops in the changing conditions and was only third at the end of the opening lap after a slow start. “What a crazy race, it really was,” said the 29-year-old after some slippery podium celebrations. “I still haven’t seen the chequered flag (this season) without the safety car in front.

Germany’s Nick Heidfeld was second, for the eighth time in a so far winless career, for BMW-Sauber, with compatriot Timo Glock third for Toyota with the results based on the positions at the end of the 31st lap. Italian Jarno Trulli, who was third for Toyota in Melbourne, finished fourth ahead of Brawn’s Brazilian Rubens Barrichello and Red Bull’s Australian Mark Webber in sixth. McLaren’s world champion Lewis Hamilton, at the centre of a furore after he and his team were found to have deliberately misled stewards in Australia, was seventh while Germany’s Nico Rosberg collected half a point for Williams in eighth.

“All I could do was try and keep the car on the track,” said Hamilton.

Rosberg, who had warned earlier in the week that the late-starting race was likely to be halted by the weather before the scheduled twilight finish, had led the first 15 laps until he pitted. Champions Ferrari, still without a point from two races, had Brazilian Felipe Massa ninth and 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen 14th after he changed to full wet tyres too early and paid a heavy price.There was confusion after the race was abandoned, with drivers awaiting the unlikely chance of a re-start while the clock ticked towards the twohour limit and the daylight faded. With Glock ahead of Heidfeld at the red flag, there was also uncertainty about the final podium positions.

“My engineer told me: ‘You are P2 (second place)’and then I came up here and I’m P3,” said a bemused Glock. “I’m fine with second,” replied Heidfeld.

SUTIL 17TH, FISICHELLA 18TH Force India’s experiment with extreme wet tyres fell flat on their face with Adrian Sutil finishing 17th and Giancarlo Fisichella 18th in the race.



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IPL 2: Team Preview :Chennai Super Kings

A team built around Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings now have a player by the name of Andrew Flintoff taking higher salary than the captain himself. Team Chennai Super Kings lost their only match of the tournament to end runners up in the inaugural season of the tournament. Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has already proven to be the best captain around the world, will be aiming for one better performance from the players to have his hands around the IPL trophy this year.



Andrew Flintoff is the second highest paid cricketer next to his fellow countrymen Pietersen, He will however be losing out on his full amount as he will be missing the last part of the tournament as the England team plays host to West indies for a return series. Mathew hayden having retired completely from International cricket has made Chennai his second home and will be available for the Full length of the tournament.

Hard Hitting all rounder Albie Morkel who is already proving to be the next Lance Klusner of South Africa if lives up to the reputation will leave some captains sobbing. Micheal Hussey has announced his willingness to go back home after the series with Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, leaving CSK a batsman less.Adding to team's firepower is NewZealand Monster Jacob Oram who is yet to fire this season. Muralitharan will lead the bowling attack, the man has already earned a reputation of a good T20 bowler. Flintoff bolsters the bowling while Sri Lankan left-armer Thilan Thushara could be the dark horse among the foreign recruits.

Chennai's third signing at the auction was Tasmanian batsman George Bailey, but he is unlikely to feature given the team has consistent performers in Suresh Raina and S Badrinath. Suresh Raina seems to be in blistering form and Badrinath has already scored a few hundreds in the domestic tournament.


Chennai Probable XI: 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Michael Hussey/ S Vidyut, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 5 S Badrinath 6 Albie Morkel, 7 Andrew Flintoff/ Jacob Oram/ Joginder Sharma, 8 Manpreet Gony, 9 L Balaji 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Makhaya Ntini/ P Amarnath.

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Australia in South Africa: 2nd T20I Review : South Africa power to another T20 win

29 March 2009: Young, Dynamic and Determined SouthAfrican side continued to domiante teh shorter format after theyThe South Africans continue to dominate the limited-overs format after they beat the Autralian side for yet another T20I victory.. Having usurped Australia for top place in the 50-over rankings last year, South Africa now head to the World Twenty20 brimming with confidence after a second consecutive 20-over victory over Ricky Ponting's men, this time by 17 runs.



SouthAfrica were put into bat after Autralia won the toss and elected to field. As expected Gibbs was off in full speed as he smacked 20 off the initial 22 runs that SA scored. He played one too many shots to get himself out bowled to a slower delivery of Bracken. Bracken was flown in for the T20 and the five match one day series against SA strating April 3,2009. DeVellliers continued to show poor form in the format when he was out for 0 caught by White at Short Extra cover off the bowling of the debutant Laughlin. Peterson opened the innings with Gibbs and took the attack to the Australian bowlers as soon as Gibbs was dismissed. He scored 34 off 27 balls before he was out bowled by Hopes, but not before he got over 15 runs of his over. Duminy scored a very cautious 23 off 28 balls before he was out bowled by Harwood playing his 2nd international match for Australia.

Edges off the bat carried over the boundaries for six. RE Van der Merwe, a mighty South African hit 48 off 28, Played some convincing shots and some not so convincing shots.He played some blind shots in his inning of 48 off 30 balls before he lost his wicket to Harwood caught behind by Haddin. He at one point smashed Hoped over the Point Boundary for six trying to hoik that over Midwicket. Morkel scored 14 off 10 and Boucher scored 9 off 8 as he samashed the last ball off the inning for six over midwicket to finish the inning at 156 for 5 in 20 overs.

ScoreCard Courtesy: CRICINFO

The Australians seldom appeared comfortable in pursuit of South Africa's 156 for 5 on a pitch that troubled batsmen from both sides of the Indian Ocean. Michael Clarke (27 runs from 33 balls) struggled to combat South Africa's disciplined lines, while Ricky Ponting was dismissed for a solitary run for the second time in three days; this time to a well-angled delivery from debutant paceman Yusuf Abdulla. Hardly an ideal start. But the fatal sequence for Australia was saved for the eleventh over, delivered by the ever-effective Johan Botha, who must surely rank among the world's finest Twenty20 bowlers at present. Clarke was bowled attempting to sweep the first ball of the South African captain's second over, and Callum Ferguson - following a dreadful mix-up with David Hussey - was run out the next delivery, in a carbon copy of Michael Hussey's dismissal on Friday.

Thereafter, the tourists were never in the hunt. Roelef van der Merwe, who previously blasted 48 from 30 deliveries to provide impetus to the South African innings, claimed the vital wicket of Hussey to end the Australian charge. And when Johann Louw removed James Hopes and Nathan Bracken in the final over of the innings, the Australians found themselves marooned at 139 for 8 and facing a comprehensive tactical and selection overhaul ahead of the World Twenty20 in June.





SA will like to carry the same form and momentum into the five match one day series starting on April 3,2009. Graeme smith has been named in the squad and looked a fit man as he cheered his team from the dug-out during the T20 matches. SA will be looking to regain their 1st spot from the Australians before they head to England for the world T20.

Do Join me later for more action.

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England In West Indies: 3rd ODI Review : WI win after Humiliating innings from England

March 27,2009:Dwayne Bravo, A man whose return to the WestIndies team has already sparked the members of the team took 4 wickets to dismiss England for a humiliating 117 all out in 41.3 overs. Fidel Edwards took 3 While Pollard and baker chipped in with 2 and 1 wicket respectively. Mascarenhas scored 36 in what was a below par batting performance from the touring side. Earlier, West Indies won the toss and elected to filed after a delayed start due to rain.



The match was reduced to a 44 overs per side affair as England kept losing wickets at the start of play. First it was Strauss who handed a catch to Gayle in slips off Edwards, then it was Bopara who handed a catch to Sarwan off Edwards. England at 17-2 off 6.4 overs never really took off. They lost Pietersen soon to bravo who handed a catch to Pollard. Owais shah soon followed as he lost his wicket in the very next over to baked out caught by darren Sammy. Flintoff returned after a long time but was out for a duck and survived only 6 balls before he was out caught by Edwards off the bowling off Bravo.

Wickets kept tumbling as Collingwood was out lbw to bravo leaving England at 54 for 6 off 19 overs. Mascarenhas joined Prior who could only add 14 to the partnership after Prior went to Pollard scoring only 7. Broad followed Prior 2 balls later out caught behind to Pollard. Batty and Mascarehas restored some pride taking england past the respectable 100 run mark. But the Duo could only last as long as 116 when Batty was out caught by Sammy off Bravo. He scored 17 off 47 before he lost his wicket. Mascarenhas tried hard, but lost his wicket and England's 10th to edwards caught by Bravo in the deep. England all out for 117.

WestIndies started in blistering fashion as Chris Gayle scored some fantastic runs to take WI past 50 in the 6 over off the match. Gayle would have wanted to long till the end, but lost his wicket when he was on 88 bowled to a straight Anderson delivery. With WI at 98 for 1 and most of the job already done, Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Simmons did the mop p job and took Wi to victory in the 15th over. WI Lead the 5 match ODI series 2-1.

Score Card Courtesy: CRICINFO






Andrew Strauss , the England captain, has said his team's defeat in the third ODI against West Indies in Barbados was "pretty humiliating and fundamentally pretty embarrassing". West Indies dismissed England for 117 and then routed them by eight wickets after chasing down the target with 176 balls to spare."There are 11 guys in that dressing room right now feeling pretty down on themselves," Strauss said. "It wasn't a contest, we didn't play well. There wasn't enough thought in the way we batted, but we have to take it on the chin."We didn't react well to the wicket. We all made the same mistakes. The crucial thing is you learn from your mistakes but, if we're honest with ourselves, we have done that kind of thing batting wise too often."

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Australia in South Africa: 1st T20I Review: Boucher and Morkel aid SA win

27 March 2009: A young South African side, under their new T20 captain Johan Botha won the first T20 match against the Australians chasing a target of 167. Thanks to the contribution of Albie Morkel and Mark Boucher SA sealed the victory after losing way middle of the innings as wickets fell in succession.



Earlier SA won the toss and put the Australians into bat with a batting line up that consisted od the best T20 players in Australia. Clarke lost his stumps in the seconfd over to Parnell trying to hit the ball over the covers. Australia lost their captain Ricky ponting for 1 when he tried to play one too many shots off Albie Morkel who maintained a good line. Australia at this point were 16 for 2 in 3.2 overs.

Score Card Courtesy: CRICINFO


A good partnership between Warner and David Hussey of 54 put Australians back in the match before Warner played a ball straight back to the slow left arm bowler Robin Peterson who took a very good catch. Warner out C&b to Peterson for 3. the score suddenly turned 70 for 4 after Micheal Hussey was run out to a direct hit from Botha fielding at short Midwicket. Australia lost their way when Haddin was out caught by Morkel at the long on boundary trying to break the shackles only putting his team in a deeper hole. Australia were 71-5 in 10 overs. Cameron White supported David hussey for quite a while and the duo took Australia past the 100 mark in the 15th over. Trying to Up the anti, White was caught at the deep mid wicket boundary by Duminy off the bowling of Peterson after he hit the previous ball for six in the same direction. Mitchell Johnson played a supportive role to Hussey who was going big time against the inexperienced attack of SA. He finished 88 not out off 63 balls to take Australia to a par score of 166 for 7.

Gibbs and Amla tooke the field and the attack against the Austrlian bowlers strating the innings off in blistering fashion. Gibbs had scored 19 off the 25 runs, Sa were 25/0 at the end of the third over. Gibbs innings came to an end when he was caught in the covers trying to smash the first ball of Geeves first over. DeVelliers continued to show poor form in the T20 format of the game when he was out bowled to a full delivery from Geeves leaving South Africa at 46 for 2 in 5.1 overs. Duminy and Amla stictched together a good partnership, but Amla who played the ball all along the ground was out bowled to a yorker from David Hussey. Duminy soon foollowed when he was out bowled for 21 bowled to hopes. VB Jaarsveld didn't impress Botha as much when he lost his stumps to David Hussey who was having a ball of time in the middle.

With South Africa at 83-5, It was a Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel show from then on. Balls flying over the fielders for six and boundaries. The duo scored a partnership off 58 before Morkel(37 off 19 balls) was out caught by David Husssey at the boundary off Mithchel Johnson. SA needed 26 off 23 balls. Johnson finished a good over with South Africa still needing about 20 runs to win the match. Boucher smashed the next over and 20th over of the match to lead SA to a 1-0 lead in the 2 match T20 series. Boucher scored 36 off 22 balls.





Johan Botha, the South Africa captain, praised the performances of Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel after they showed why they get paid "the big bucks" in the tight four-wicket Twenty20 win over Australia. Boucher and Morkel concluded the hosts' recovery from 83 for 5 to reach 168 for 6 with four balls remaining.

Ricky Ponting was also impressed by the effort of Morkel, who took 1 for 36 before his 37 off 19 deliveries. "He probably won a couple of games single-handedly with his batting in Australia," Ponting said. "His power hitting tonight probably got them over the line again.

"So he is a very, very dangerous hitter. They use him very well. They hold him off as late as they possibly can and let him go in for the final onslaught really." Ponting said Australia got into a position where they should have won. "That's the disappointing thing about it," he said. "If we had got blown off the park then I would not have been as disappointed.

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