Cricket Blog

Yet another India-Pakistan match, yet another thrilling finish. This has been a trend that goes for over 50 years. Nothing, I repeat, nothing can compare to an India vs Pakistan match. Chasing 322 for a victory, I would say Pakistan bounced back in spectacular fashion.Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch that was going to assist the pace bowlers early on. Ganguly showed his intentions as he square cut Shoaib Akhtar to the boundary off the second ball of the innings. However that was short-lived as Shoaib had the last laugh in this short battle. Ganguly inside-edged to his stumps and India were 6-1. Not the start the wanted but what followed was arguably India’s best partnership of the day. Gautam Gambhir joined Sachin and the two smashed the bowling to pulp in a calculated run of play. Sachin batted like only he can. In fact, Gambhir was the slower of the two.

The run rate picked up from the 9th over when Umar Gul was spanked to all parts of the park. To Gul’s credit he came back strongly in a match defining spell later on. Sachin was at his dominant best. And since the England series, he has really made an effort to play like he has always had, without any extra burden of captaincy, or trying to anchor the innings. He knows that with the likes of Dhoni, Yuvraj and Uthappa in the middle order, he can play his natural game. And play he did. Shoaib tried to make fun of Sachin early on, but the little master let his bat do the talking.

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Well the first match was a damp squib considering the hype and hoopla before the start of the series. Pakistan were completely outmaneuvered by India in what should be described as a clinical performance. All the talk about missing Dravid in the middle order turned out to be just that - talk. A solid batting effort from the young guns - Dhoni, Yuvraj and Gambhir should keep the critics at bay.

Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first. After the first three overs it seemed that this would be a big total chase. However, that was the only real challenge put forth by Pakistan. The Indian bowlers came back admirably and restricted the visitors to small, yet defendable, total on a pitch that was predicted to crack and turn in the second innings. Salman Butt started aggressively and was, perhaps, the only Pakistani batsman who looked like he had the better of the bowlers. Kamran Akmal was all over the place despite playing a couple of delectable strokes.

Irfan Pathan got the first breakthrough for India when he trapped Akmal LBW. Although the ball pitched just outside leg-stump the umpire had no doubts in giving Akmal out. Younis Khan walked in and the enormity of the situation/responsibility may have gotten to him. He was in his shell from the word go and just could not break the shakles. Butt on the other hand got himself run out to poor calling and his own mistake.

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South Africa in Pakistan, 2007. Pakistan vs South Africa, 3rd ODI at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, October 23, 2007. South Africa innings. Pakistan won the match by 6 wickets thanks to an all-round performance by Shahid Afridi. Chasing 198 for a win, Pakistan reached the target in 48.1 overs on the back of an unbeaten 58 from Mohammad Yousuf. Earlier, the South Africans were brought down by some excellent bowling from the Pakistanis. Shahid Afridi and Iftikhar Anjum ripped through the South African middle order. Only Graeme Smith and Justin Kemp made valuable contributions. The rest of the batsmen got the starts but failed to capitalise.

Afridi then took center-stage when the Pakistani innings started. Boom boom Afridi rattled the South African bowlers by smashing the ball all over the place. His 32 came from only 18 balls and had 4 boundaries and 2 sixes. However, South Africa came back sharply by picking up 3 quick wickets and Pakistan were 68/3 all of a sudden. Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik then played a test match brand of cricket with some good rear-guard action. The required run rate was never going to be a problem and the only way they could have lost this match was by being bowled out. That wasn’t to be and Pakistan now lead the series 2-1. Afridi was given the man of the match.

Click here for the full scorecard

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“Close Encounters of The Indian Kind” - That’s what the final match was all about. Can India ever defeat Australia convincingly? I don’t really think so. Today’s match definitely proved why the Aussies are World Champions, and will stay like that for quite some time.

Before the match even started, the series belonged to the visitors. Leading 4-1 ensured that this was going to be a dead rubber. The climax was far from dead. The toss was won by Ricky Ponting and, as expected, he decided to bat first. The pitch had some juice in it and the Indian pace bowlers were definitely going to have an advantage early on. Zaheer Khan charged in to bowl the first delivery of the match to Michael “Pup” Clarke. The ball was bang on target and caught Clarkey plumb in front. The appeal was instantaneous, the umpire’s decision even more. Australia were 0-1. India had got the dream start they were looking for.

In comes Ricky Ponting, who has had a pretty average series considering his form over the last couple of years. The Indian bowlers were giving away far too many wides and RP Singh was the leader of the pack. He just wasn’t able to control the seam movement and the extras ensured that the runs kept on ticking up. This also enabled the two Australian batsmen, captain and vice-captain, to settle down. The runs from the bat started coming and a partnership started to build.

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It has been a long long wait. Almost 4 years. Over 11 matches. But finally India have done it. The T20 World Champions have beaten the ODI World Champions by 8 runs in a nail-biter, reminiscent of their semi-final clash in the Twenty20 World Cup. India needed to win this match and the series has now come alive. After a complete domination in the first 3 matches (the first one was washed out), Australia finally were challenged and they succumbed. It goes to show that any team can be defeated if the right pressure is applied.

India one the toss and MS had no hesitation in batting first. In the previous couple of matches the Aussies had made first use of the pitch. Dhoni ensured that this time his batsmen would get the first opportunity to bat. India had the tried and tested opening pair of Tendulkar and Ganguly to start proceedings. After the recent statement by Dilip Vengsarkar, the two had to get some runs and get India a good opening start. They did that by putting on 92 for the first wicket in 19 overs before Ganguly was the first to depart on 41 from 56 balls.

Yuvraj got a promotion and came in at number 3. Along with Tendulkar, he put on another decent partnership as the Indians got to 174 before Yuvraj hit one to Ponting. He had made 39 and was just looking to cut loose. Dhoni was the next man in, but the foundation had been laid. India had another 15 overs to go and 8 wickets in hand with Tendulkar still at the crease. He had yet to come out all guns blazing and as luck would have it, he got himself run out on 79. He had faced 119 balls giving him a strike rate of 66.38 runs per 100 balls. India were now 221-3 from 41.5 overs and it really surprised me to see Rahul Dravid come in at this stage. He did not last long and his shocking series continued as he fell on unlucky 13.

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