Gambhir century puts India in control

Opener Gautam Gambhir hit his third century in four Tests to lead India to 179 for 1 on a truncated first day in the second and final Test against England on Friday.

The in-form Gambhir struck 106 not out and added 173 runs for the second wicket with Rahul Dravid to lift the hosts out of early trouble after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni elected to bat in overcast conditions.

Dravid shook off his poor form by scoring an unbeaten 65 after opener Virender Sehwag fell to Stuart Broad for a third-ball duck in the morning's second over.

The diminutive Gambhir struck 12 fours and a straight six against off spinner Graeme Swann, reaching his hundred after tea.

Play was called off with 18 overs remaining because of poor light, which had also delayed the start by 20 minutes.

Gambhir had scored a match-winning 104 in the second Test against Australia at Mohali in October and 206 in the drawn third Test in New Delhi.

He then made 66 in Chennai, after sitting out the last Test against Australia due to a disciplinary ban. India won that series 2-0.

England, demoralised by their six-wicket defeat in the first Test in Chennai after India achieved the fourth-highest run chasing a target of 387, failed to build on a promising start, often bowling too short.

EARLY ESCAPE

Gambhir survived a leg before appeal off James Anderson's first ball of the day but drove the next past cover for four before quickly settling down.

Broad, 22, replaced the off-colour Steve Harmison after recovering from a hamstring injury, and bowled a superb first spell of pace, swing and control.

He beat Sehwag, who hit a blazing 83 to trigger India's run chase in Chennai, with movement before inducing him to edge a swinging delivery to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

Gambhir and Dravid, who made three and four in the first Test to prolong a poor run of form, saw off the testing morning spells by Anderson, Broad and Andrew Flintoff to guide the team to 51 for one at lunch.

Gambhir, 27, audaciously flicked over the slip cordon for fours against Anderson and Broad after lunch as England lost their momentum.

Only Swann, who took two wickets in his first over on Test debut in Chennai, created chances as left-arm Monty Panesar, under fire for his poor first test showing, failed to impress.

However, Swann was unlucky not to dismiss Gambhir.

Slip fielder Paul Collingwood could only get his finger tips to a thick edge when he was on 70 and two runs later the umpire turned down a confident leg before appeal.

Dravid swung Anderson to square leg for four in the morning, his first boundary in five innings, and has hit seven fours in his 205-ball effort.
Source: rediff.com

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ICC Cricket World Cup 2007: Australia wins Cricket World Cup Consecutively three times in a row

Australia wins the Cricket World Cup Consecutively three times in a row (Made Hatric). Australian Team (Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist (W), Ricky Ponting (C), Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Brad Hogg, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait, Glenn McGrath) have managed 281 runs in 38.0 overs with the Run Rate of 7.39. Then it restricted Sri lanka Team (Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (W), Mahela Jayawardene (C), Chamara Silva, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, M Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando) for 215 for 8 wickets in 36.0 overs at Run Rate of 5.97 and wins the final of Cricket World Cup 2007 by 53 Runs

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007: Bowling Performance in the Final

Bowling Performance in the final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2007:

By Australia
Bowler Name	Over	Medin	Runs	Wicket	No Ball	Wide	E/R
Nathan Bracken	6	1	34	1	0	1	5.67
Shaun Tait	6	0	42	0	0	2	7
Glenn McGrath	7	0	31	1	0	1	4.43
Shane Watson	7	0	49	1	0	3	7
Brad Hogg	3	0	19	1	0	0	6.33
Michael Clarke	5	0	33	2	0	2	6.6
Andrew Symonds	2	0	6	1	0	0	3
By Sri Lanka
Bowler Name	Over	Medin	Runs	Wicket	No Ball	Wide	E/R
Chaminda Vaas	8	0	54	0	2	1	6.75
Lasith Malinga	8	1	49	2	0	0	6.12
Dilhara Fernando	8	0	74	1	1	4	9.25
M Muralitharan	7	0	44	0	0	2	6.29
Tillekeratne Dilshan	2	0	23	0	0	1	11.5
Sanath Jayasuriya	5	0	33	0	0	0	6

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007: Batting Performance in the Final

Batting Performance in the final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

By Sri Lanka Total: 215/8
Batsman Name	Status	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	S/R
Upul Tharanga	c A Gilchrist b N Bracken	6	8	1	0	75
Sanath Jayasuriya	b M Clarke	63	67	9	0	94.03
Kumar Sangakkara (W)	c R Ponting b B Hogg	54	52	6	1	103.85
Mahela Jayawardene (C)	lbw b S Watson	19	19	1	0	100
Chamara Silva	b M Clarke	21	22	1	1	95.45
Tillekeratne Dilshan	run out (M Clarke)	14	13	2	0	107.69
Russel Arnold	c A Gilchrist b G McGrath	1	2	0	0	50
Chaminda Vaas	not out	11	21	0	0	52.38
Lasith Malinga	st A Gilchrist b A Symonds	10	6	0	1	166.67
Dilhara Fernando	not out	1	6	0	0	16.67
M Muralitharan
b: 0, lb: 1, nb: 0, wd: 14, penalty: 0	extras: 15
Sri Lanka: 215/8 in 36.0 overs, Run Rate: 5.97
By Australia Total: 281/4
Batsman Name	Status	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	S/R
Adam Gilchrist (W)	c C Silva b D Fernando	149	104	13	8	143.27
Matthew Hayden	c M Jayawardene b L Malinga	38	55	3	1	69.09
Ricky Ponting (C)	run out (M Jayawardene)	37	42	1	1	88.1
Andrew Symonds	not out	23	21	2	0	109.52
Shane Watson	b L Malinga	3	3	0	0	100
Michael Clarke	not out	8	6	1	0	133.33
Michael Hussey
Brad Hogg
Nathan Bracken
Shaun Tait
Glenn McGrath
b: 0, lb: 4, nb: 3, wd: 16, penalty: 0	extras: 23
Australia: 281/4 in 38.0 overs, Run Rate: 7.39

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007: Australia reaches into the final

Australia clean bold South Africa in the second semi final of ICC World Cricket Cup 2007. First Australian team (Adam Gilchrist (W), Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting (C), Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Brad Hogg, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait, Glenn McGrath) bowled out South Africa for only 149 in 43.5 overs. Then scored 153 for three wicket in 31.3 overs and wins the second semi final by 7 wickets and reaches to the final for 4th consecutive time

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007: Bowling Performance in the Second Semi Final

Bowling Performance in the second semi final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2007:

By Australia
Bowler	Over	Medin	Runs	Wicket	No Ball	Wide	E/R
Nathan Bracken	7	2	15	1	0	0	2.14
Glenn McGrath	8	1	18	3	0	1	2.25
Shaun Tait	10	0	39	4	0	5	3.9
Shane Watson	8.5	0	49	1	0	0	5.55
Brad Hogg	10	2	24	1	0	3	2.4
By South Africa
Bowler	Over	Medin	Runs	Wicket	No Ball	Wide	E/R
Shaun Pollock	5	1	16	1	0	0	3.2
Charl Langeveldt	6	0	34	1	1	1	5.67
Jacques Kallis	5	1	20	0	1	1	4
Andre Nel	7	1	31	1	0	1	4.43
Andrew Hall	6.3	0	43	0	1	0	6.62
Justin Kemp	2	0	4	0	0	0	2

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007: Batting Performance in the Second Semi Final

Batting Performance in the second semi final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2007
By South Africa Total 149/10 in 43.5 overs
Batsman	Status	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	S/R
Graeme Smith (C)	b N Bracken	2	5	0	0	40
AB de Villiers	c A Gilchrist b S Tait	15	34	3	0	44.12
Jacques Kallis	b G McGrath	5	9	1	0	55.56
Herschelle Gibbs	c A Gilchrist b S Tait	39	49	6	0	79.59
Ashwell Prince	c A Gilchrist b G McGrath	0	2	0	0	0
Mark Boucher (W)	c M Hayden b G McGrath	0	1	0	0	0
Justin Kemp	not out	49	91	4	1	53.85
Andrew Hall	c A Gilchrist b S Tait	3	8	0	0	37.5
Shaun Pollock	c & b B Hogg	5	13	1	0	38.46
Andre Nel	c M Clarke b S Tait	8	41	1	0	19.51
Charl Langeveldt	b S Watson	6	10	1	0	60
b: 0, lb: 4, nb: 0, wd: 13, penalty: 0	extras: 17
South Africa: 149/10 in 43.5 overs, Run Rate: 3.4
By Australia Total 153/3 in 31.3 overs
Batsman	Status	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	S/R
Adam Gilchrist (W)	b C Langeveldt	1	5	0	0	20
Matthew Hayden	c G Smith b S Pollock	41	60	4	0	68.33
Ricky Ponting (C)	b A Nel	22	25	5	0	88
Michael Clarke	not out	60	86	8	0	69.77
Andrew Symonds	not out	18	16	3	0	112.5
Michael Hussey
Shane Watson
Brad Hogg
Nathan Bracken
Shaun Tait
Glenn McGrath
b: 0, lb: 5, nb: 3, wd: 3, penalty: 0	extras: 11
Australia: 153/3 in 31.3 overs, Run Rate: 4.86

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007: Bowling Performance in the First Semi Final

Bowling Performance
By Sri Lanka
Bowler	O	M	R	W	NB	WD	E/R
Chaminda Vaas	8	1	25	1	0	1	3.12
Lasith Malinga	7	2	21	1	1	0	3
Dilhara Fernando	5	0	45	0	5	1	9
M Muralitharan	8	0	31	4	0	1	3.88
Sanath Jayasuriya	9	0	57	2	0	3	6.33
Tillekeratne Dilshan	4.4	0	22	2	0	1	4.71
By New Zealand
Bowler	O	M	R	W	NB	WD	E/R
James Franklin	9	1	46	2	2	2	5.11
Shane Bond	10	1	59	1	1	3	5.9
Jacob Oram	10	0	60	1	2	1	6
Daniel Vettori	10	0	51	1	0	1	5.1
Jeetan Patel	10	0	62	0	0	0	6.2
Scott Styris	1	0	8	0	0	1	8

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007: Batting performance in the First Semi Final

Batting Performance in the first semi final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2007
By New Zealand
Batsman	Status	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	S/R
Peter Fulton	c C Silva b S Jayasuriya	46	77	2	1	59.74
Stephen Fleming (C)	lbw b L Malinga	1	4	0	0	25
Ross Taylor	lbw b C Vaas	9	25	1	0	36
Scott Styris	c M Jayawardene b T Dilshan	37	38	2	3	97.37
Jacob Oram	c & b M Muralitharan	3	7	0	0	42.86
Brendon McCullum (W)	c C Silva b M Muralitharan	0	1	0	0	0
Craig McMillan	b S Jayasuriya	25	20	1	2	125
Daniel Vettori	lbw b M Muralitharan	0	4	0	0	0
James Franklin	not out	30	38	2	0	78.95
Shane Bond	b M Muralitharan	2	4	0	0	50
Jeetan Patel	c D Fernando b T Dilshan	34	38	2	1	89.47
b: 5, lb: 2, nb: 6, wd: 8, penalty: 0	extras: 21
New Zealand: 208/10 in 41.4 overs, Run Rate: 4.99
By Sri Lanka
Batsman	Status	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	S/R
Upul Tharanga	b D Vettori	73	74	9	1	98.65
Sanath Jayasuriya	b J Franklin	1	6	0	0	16.67
Kumar Sangakkara (W)	c S Fleming b J Franklin	18	42	2	0	42.86
Mahela Jayawardene (C)	not out	115	109	10	3	105.5
Chamara Silva	lbw b S Bond	21	33	0	1	63.64
Tillekeratne Dilshan	lbw b J Oram	30	27	3	0	111.11
Russel Arnold	not out	14	14	2	0	100
Chaminda Vaas
Lasith Malinga
M Muralitharan
Dilhara Fernando
b: 0, lb: 3, nb: 5, wd: 9, penalty: 0	extras: 17
Sri Lanka: 289/5 in 50.0 overs, Run Rate: 5.78

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007: Weather Report for match no 49

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 match no 49 will be played between New Zealand and Sri Lanka on 24 april 2007.

Weather forcast for this match :

Temprature - Max. 29
Min. 27

Humidity - Max. 68%

Wind Speed - 15 mile per hour

ICC Cricket World Cup: Top Bowlers

Players	Team	Wickets	Matches	Medin	Runs	Average	Best	5wl	ER
Wasim Akram	Pak	55	38	16	1311	23.8	5-28	1	4.04
Glenn McGrath	Aus	45	28	37	935	20.8	7-15	2	3.82
Javagal Srinath	Ind	44	34	21	1224	27.8	4-30	0	4.32
Allan Donald	SA	38	25	14	913	24	4-17	0	4.17
Chaminda Vaas	SL	36	21	24	754	20.9	6-25	1	4.1
Imran Khan	Pak	34	28	18	655	19.3	4-37	0	3.86
Chris Harris	NZ	32	28	10	861	26.9	4-7	0	4.43
Shane Warne	Aus	32	17	16	624	26.9	4-29	0	3.83
Muttiah Muralidaran	SL	30	21	13	693	23.1	4-28	0	3.69
Ian Botham	Eng	30	22	34	762	25.4	4-31	0	3.43