Sri Lanka clinch consolation win

Sri Lanka clinched a consolation 68-run victory against India in the fifth and final one-day international in Colombo on Sunday to avoid a series whitewash.

Sri Lanka piled up 320 for eight with opener Tillakaratne Dilshan top-scoring with 97, then bowled out India for 252. India won the series 4-1.

Sri Lanka's bowlers, led by Nuwan Kulasekara and Muttiah Muralitharan , produced their best display of the series.

In-form Yuvraj Singh provided some resistance with a powerful 73 but the Indian innings eventually ran out of steam.

Thilina Thushara struck first as Virender Sehwag mishit a straight drive.

Kulasekara then followed up with the wicket of Suresh Raina, who was brilliantly caught by wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara standing up to the stumps.

Sangakkara also caught Gautam Gambhir off Kulasekara to leave India in early trouble on 52 for three.

Yuvraj still attacked and the run rate remained high, but he was unable to build partnerships. Muralitharan swung the game decisively Sri Lanka's way as Yuvraj top-edged a sweep to be caught and bowled.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni kept India's hopes alive for a while with his run-a-ball 53 and all rounder Ravindra Jadeja impressed with 60 not out on debut, but Sri Lanka's slow bowlers squeezed the run rate to maintain the upper-hand.

Earlier, Dilshan top-scored with 97 from 117 balls with Sangakkara adding 84 as the pair provided the foundation for Sri Lanka's largest total of the series with a 143-run second-wicket partnership.

Home skipper Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and opted to bat, a decision that was justified as his line-up responded by dominating the India attack for the only time this series.

Dilshan's opening partner Sanath Jayasuriya helped give the innings a solid start with a rapid 37 in a 66-run first-wicket stand.

After Jayasuriya's cameo was ended by Irfan Pathan , Sangakkara maintained the momentum with a positive innings, using up just 70 balls for his 84 and hitting eight fours and a six.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni tried all his bowling options to make breakthroughs, using nine bowlers during the course of the innings.

He was able to engineer a late collapse with Ishant Sharma making a quick double-strike, bowling Thilina Kandamby for 26 and having Chamara Kapugedera caught behind for a duck.

Dilshan was run out just short of a deserved century and Jayawardene was caught at short cover for one.

During a frenzied passage of play in which India stormed back into the game, Sri Lanka lost four wickets for one run to teeter on 256-6 but all rounder Farveez Maharoof steered the hosts past 300 with a swashbuckling 32, hitting a six and three boundaries.

Sharma was the most successful of the Indian bowlers, finishing with three for 60 from his 10 overs.

Both teams made two changes in the final game, Sri Lanka recalling spinner Ajantha Mendis and fast bowler Thilina Thushara.

India gave a debut to promising all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and a first game in the series to pace bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji.
Source: www.rediff.com

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India's Harbhajan Singh on Tuesday came under a fresh attack by Australian cricketers

India's Harbhajan Singh on Tuesday came under a fresh attack by Australian cricketers with opener Matthew Hayden calling the off-spinner an "obnoxious little weed", a remark which has the potential to create more bad blood between the two teams.

The Indian spinner, who was at the centre of a racism row involving Andrew Symonds, has borne the brunt of the Australian sledging during the explosive tour which has been marked by a series of verbal exchanges between rival players.

"Its been a bit of a long battle with Harbhajan, the first time I ever met him he was the same little obnoxious weed that he is now", Hayden said on Brisbane radio.

"His record speaks for itself in cricket. There is a certain line that you can kind of go to and then you know where you push it and he just pushes it all the time.

"That's why he has been charged more than anyone that's ever played in the history of cricket," Hayden said. Hayden's fresh salvo came a day after the Indian team management lodged a written complaint with Match Referee Jeff Crowe regarding Australia players' "provocative" behaviour.

Hayden and Harbhajan were involved in an ugly tussle at the SCG on Sunday with the Indians claiming that the Australian opener had termed the Indian a "mad boy."

However, Hayden made light of the incident and claimed India was complaining because "they are losing every game they are playing."

"I called him a bad boy," Hayden insisted.

"He took offence to that, I thought that was quite funny. I said mate you should be flattered, it's a clothing range," Hayden said.

Meanwhile, former Australian fast bowler Rodney Hogg also lashed out at the Indians.

"Ive really had a gutful of their whinging, this is international sport, obviously people are going to say things to try to unsettle you," Hogg said.

"It's not tiddlywinks. So long as it's not racial they shouldn't have a problem.

"As far as I am concerned if the heat is too hot in the kitchen then that's too bad.

"I reckon they should appoint an Asian referee for Indian games because when it's a non-Asian referee nothing against Jeff Crowe they never feel as if they are being listened to."

Hayden said he had told Ishant Sharma to settle down and on Monday quipped he would like to meet the stringbean paceman in a boxing ring.

"He is just young. I have said to him many times, you are 19, take it easy, Hayden said.

"At the end of the day you are 19, why dont you just worry about your bowling for a while," he added.

Source

Younis dedicates century to Woolmer

Vice-captain Younis Khan dedicated his match-winning 117 in the second one-dayer against India on Thursday to Pakistan's late coach Bob Woolmer. Younis anchored the innings as Pakistan recorded their highest successful one-day run chase to win with a ball to spare and level the five-match series 1-1. His third one-day hundred lifted the visitors to 322 for six after India totalled 321 for nine. "The situation required such a knock," Younis told reporters. "Today I tried hard and it worked and I can say it is special. "I would like to dedicate this innings to Bob Woolmer, especially the way he used to work with me." Younis, named man of the match, put on 102 for the fifth wicket with Misbah-ul Haq (49). When the centurion was out in the 46th over, Shahid Afridi [Images] took Pakistan over the finishing line with 29 not out off 14 balls. Woolmer died a day after Pakistan's shock first-round elimination at the World Cup in the Caribbean in March. The former England batsman was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room. Police started a murder investigation days later after it was revealed the autopsy, which investigators said was inconclusive at first, found he died of manual strangulation. That investigation ended on June 12 when Jamaica's police commissioner said the constabulary would accept the opinion of three independent pathologists that Woolmer had died of natural causes, possibly a heart attack.
Source

India, Pakistan fined for slow over rates

India and Pakistan were fined for slow over rates in Thursday's second one-day international, won by the touring side by four wickets. The players were fined five percent of their match fee and the two captains double the amount after both teams were ruled to have fallen one over short in the allotted time, the International Cricket Council said in a statement. ICC match referee Roshan Mahanama summoned both captains after the match before deciding on the penalty.

Pakistan scored 322 to win off the penultimate ball. Their bowlers conceded 31 wides in a tally of 41 extras and their Indian counterparts sent down 16 wides. According to the ICC code of conduct regulations governing over-rate penalties, players are fined five percent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount.
Source

BCCI announces enhanced retainership for top players

Putting an end to the long drawn negotiations on the contentious contracts issue, the BCCI on Thursday announced an enhanced annual retainership amount for a pool of 33 players with top grade cricketers being offered a whopping Rs 60 lakhs.

Having already showered the Twenty20 World Cup winning team with hefty cash incentives, the board carried its magnamity onto the central contracts as well by increasing the retainership amount in existing three categories while also introducing a fourth grade.

Paceman Zaheer Khan was the lone new name in the elite Grade A, which will get Rs 60 lakhs as retainership, an increase of Rs 10 lakhs from the earlier contract.

Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Yuvraj Singh and current ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni were the others in the Grade A while there were eight players in Grade B which had a retainership amount of Rs 40 lakhs.

VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Wasim Jaffer, S Sreesanth, Dinesh Karthik, RP Singh and Virender Sehwag have been clubbed in Grade B, which has also seen a hike of Rs 5 lakhs.

Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Munaf Patel, Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla and Suresh Raina are the players who find a place in Grade C which has a retainership of Rs 25 lakhs.

The young Rohit Sharma, who starred in India's Twenty20 World Cup campaign and Joginder Sharma were among 11 other players who have been accommodated in the Group D introduced for the first time.

Manoj Tiwary, Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb Bose, Mohammad Kaif, Cheteshwar Pujara, Parthiv Patel, S Badrinath, Aakash Chopra and Yusuf Pathan are the other players in that grade which offers a retainership of Rs 15 lakhs.

The BCCI said in a release that a player, who was not offered a retainership and was selected to play for India in Tests or ODIs, would be placed in the Grade D.

"A player in Grade D, if he plays 5 Tests or 15 ODIs in a year, will be placed in Grade C from that date and will be paid retainership on the pro-rata basis," the release said.

According to the earlier contracts, players in Grade A got an annual retainership of Rs 50 lakhs, while the amount was Rs 35 lakhs and Rs 20 lakhs for Grades B and C respectively.

The contracts were finalised by the BCCI's gradation committee, comprising vice-president Shashank Manohar, treasurer N Srinivasan and former president IS Bindra.

Difference between the BCCI officials and the players after the World Cup debacle led to a stalemate on the contract issue forcing the board to extend the 2005-06 contracts by another year.

In the earlier negotiations, Manohar had taken a tough stand and had even called for performance-linked contracts, meaning that players would be rewarded for victories and penalised in case of defeats.

ICC World Twenty 20, 2007/08 : India beat Pakistan by 5 runs

Man of the Match: Irfan Khan Pathan
Man of the Series: Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi
There's something about India and World Cups in South Africa. The last time India played a World Cup here, it reached the final.

Australia were too good in that 2003 final, but this time there was no denying a hungry Team India, minus big names but overflowing with infectious exuberance. Holding their nerve to win a match that made a rollercoaster ride look like a yawn, the team won the final by 5 runs and wowed the world. Then it was time for a victory lap around the field, tricolour held proudly aloft even as skipper MS Dhoni bared his chest.

It was a fitting finale to a tournament that has been high on thrills, and a fitting triumph for a team that believed in itself when hardly anybody else did. Led by a cool captain who urged them to just enjoy themselves, the players went out and had a blast — and soon, all of India had joined the party.

"I'd like to thank my young team, which has been amazing," said a beaming Dhoni after the match. "No one expected us to win, and now we deserve a big celebration." What made him choose Joginder Sharma for the final over?

"Bhajji wasn't sure, he wasn't getting his yorkers 100% right. I thought I'd give the over to a bowler who wanted to make a mark at the international level. It really didn't matter to me if we didn't win, because we'd given it our best," said Dhoni.

Rival skipper Shoaib Malik thanked the people of Pakistan "and Muslims all over the world" for their support before acknowledging that "we played badly and the Indians bowled superbly."

The BCCI, quick on the ball, announced a bonus of $2 million to the team and Rs 1 crore to Yuvraj Singh for his six sixes in an over. Generous? Not when you consider that the players have restored pride to Indian cricket.

Many have also redeemed themselves. None more so than man of the match Irfan Pathan, bowling again with the swing, verve and canniness that made him such an exciting prospect before he underwent a horrendous slump in form. He's back, and clearly loving it.

"We deserve it, specially after what happened at the (50-overs) World Cup," exulted Irfan. It was a doubly special day for the Pathan family, with Irfan's elder brother, Yusuf Pathan making his debut after Virender Sehwag was ruled out with injury.
source

All about cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport contested by two teams, usually of eleven players each. A cricket match is played on a grass field, roughly oval in shape, in the centre of which is a flat strip of ground 22 yards (20.12 m) long, called a pitch. At each end of the pitch is a construction of three parallel wooden stakes (known as stumps) driven vertically into the ground, with two small crosspieces (known as bails) laid across the top of them. This wooden structure is called a wicket.

The bowler, a player from the fielding team, hurls a hard, fist-sized, cork-centred, leather-covered ball from the vicinity of one wicket towards the other. The ball usually bounces once before reaching the batsman, a player from the opposing team. In defence of the wicket, the batsman plays the ball with a wooden cricket bat. Meanwhile, the other members of the bowler's team stand in various positions around the field as fielders, players who retrieve the batted ball in an effort to stop the batsman scoring, and if possible to get him or her out. The batsman, if he or she does not get out (for example if the bowled ball hits the wicket, or if a fielder catches the ball off the bat before it bounces), may run between the wickets, exchanging ends with a second batsman (the non-striker), who has been waiting near the bowler's wicket. Each completed exchange of ends scores one run, and the match is won by the team that scores more runs.

Cricket has been an established team sport for hundreds of years. It originated in its modern form in England and is most popular in the present and former members of the Commonwealth. Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world.[1][2][3] More than a hundred cricket-playing nations are recognised by the International Cricket Council.[4] In the countries of South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, cricket is the most popular sport. It is also a major sport in England and Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean, which are collectively known in cricketing parlance as the West Indies. There are also well-established amateur club competitions in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Kenya, Nepal and Argentina, among others.

The sport is followed with passion in many different parts of the world. It has even occasionally given rise to diplomatic outrage, the most notorious being the Basil D'Oliveira affair which led to the banning of South Africa from sporting events. Other examples include the Bodyline series, played between England and Australia in the early 1930s, and the 1981 underarm bowling incident involving Australia and New Zealand.
source: wikipedia

England beat India by 42 runs in 3rd one dayer

Ian Bell's innings was the cornerstone of England's 42-run win against India at Edgbaston as they took a 2-1 lead in the seven-match series.




England players celebrate their win over India. England beat India by 42 runs in the third One-Day International at Edgbaston.

Zaheer Khan is the perfect example to aspiring fast bowlers

Rahul Dravid believes India match winner Zaheer Khan is the perfect example to aspiring fast bowlers.Zaheer finished as India's man of the series in the 1-0 npower Test series victory over England to cap a stunning return to international cricket.And Dravid reckons it has been a marathon season with Worcestershire in 2006 which has revitalised the 28-year-old's career.Zaheer lost form entirely in the winter of 2004-05 and was not even in the selection shake-up for series against England and West Indies last year.

Source: cricket.com.au

Cricket : India won by 46 runs in the second one dayer

India won by 46 runs in the second one dayer played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on 12th mat,2007 and clinch the series. This was the 2583th One day international match. India won the toss and elected to bat first. Match was limited to Maximum 50th over.

Man of the match: Gautam gambhir

Indian Performance:

Batting.............

Player Name	Status	R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
V Sehwag	c Javed Omar b Syed Rasel	21	34	26	1	1	80.76
G Gambhir	b Syed Rasel	101	153	113	11	0	89.38
MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper )	c wicket-keeperMushfiqur Rahim b Mohammad Rafique	36	73	54	4	0	66.66
Yuvraj Singh	c & b Mohammad Rafique	24	21	22	2	2	109.09
R Dravid (captain )	not out	42	82	47	1	0	89.36
D Mongia	c Mohammad Rafique b Abdur Razzak	17	21	16	2	0	106.25
KD Karthik	lbw b Mohammad Rafique	6	5	4	1	0	150
Piyush Chawla	st wicket-keeperMushfiqur Rahim b Abdur Razzak	1	4	2	0	0	50
RR Powar	lbw b Mashrafe Mortaza	5	11	11	0	0	45.45
Z Khan	not out	9	4	4	2	0	225
Extras	(b 1, lb 7, w 9, nb 5)	22
Total	(8 wickets; 49 overs)	284

Bowling.........

Bowler's Name	O	M	R	W	Econ
Z Khan	7	0	32	2	5
MM Patel	7	0	34	0	5
Piyush Chawla	10	0	37	3	4
RR Powar	10	1	32	1	3
D Mongia	8	0	57	0	7
Yuvraj Singh	7	0	40	2	6

Bangla Desh Performance:

Batting..............

Player Name	Status	R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
Javed Omar	c Karthik b Khan	11	51	33	1	0	33.33
Tamim Iqbal	run out (Piyush Chawla/wicket-keeperDhoni)	7	22	12	1	0	58.33
Aftab Ahmed	b Powar	40	71	41	5	1	97.56
Saqibul Hasan	c wicket-keeperDhoni b Khan	5	11	8	1	0	62.5
Mohammad Ashraful	b Piyush Chawla	12	19	13	1	0	92.3
Habibul Bashar (captain)	st wicket-keeperDhoni b Piyush Chawla	43	77	88	0	2	48.86
Mushfiqur Rahim (wicket-keeper)	c Karthik b Yuvraj Singh	35	50	43	3	1	81.39
Mashrafe Mortaza	c Sehwag b Yuvraj Singh	42	40	22	1	5	190.9
Mohammad Rafique	c sub (AR Uthappa) b Piyush Chawla	13	12	19	0	1	68.42
Abdur Razzak	not out	9	17	11	1	0	81.81
Syed Rasel	not out	4	5	7	0	0	57.14
Extras	(b 4, lb 2, w 8, nb 3)	17

Bowling.............

Bowler's Name	O	M	R	W	Econ
Mashrafe Mortaza	10	0	57	1	5.7
Syed Rasel	10	1	49	2	4.9
Abdur Razzak	10	0	59	2	5.9
Saqibul Hasan	7	0	40	0	5.71
Mohammad Rafique	10	0	59	3	5.9
Aftab Ahmed	2	0	12	0	6