Cricket Blog

A one man show can only be done by a legend such as Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar who was at his deadliest best in yesterday’s day-night match. His performance won the series for India and despite missing out on YET another century, the end result would have been far more satisfying. India finally managed to beat Pakistan in a home ODI series. With another game to go, India can well afford to rest some seniors and get their younger generation a chance to display their skills.

For most part of his 18 year career Sachin has been regarded as the best batsman in the world, ever. Yesterday he showed that age is no bar when it comes to playing at the big stage. For the most capped player in ODI history, Sachin also defies critics on a regular basis. Most of 2007 has been spent in speculation on whether the time has come for the Big 3 to retire. I don’t know about the other two, but this man should be left alone. Yet again he has silenced his critics as he let the bat do all the talking. And his bat did not just talk, it screamed.

Winning the toss, Shoaib Malik decided to bat first knowing fully well that the dew would play an important factor in the second innings. RP Singh gave his team the perfect start by getting rid of Salman Butt for a duck and Pakistan never recovered from the 2nd ball of the innings. The powerplays were wasted as only 79 runs were scored in the first 20 for the loss of 2 wickets. RP, Pathan and Zaheer were bang on target and barring the odd boundary kept things nice and tight.

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So India have bounced back and the see-saw battle between these two countries continues on. But a 2-1 lead in a 5 match series is always handy. The turning point in the match was the first six that Yuvraj hit off Abdur Rehman and from there on the momentum shifted tremendously.

The toss was won by Shoaib Malik and he elected to field first citing reasons that his team chases well and he wanted to make use of the early conditions. Pakistani new-ball bowlers lost the plot early on as they gave away far too many runs to the best opening combination in ODI history. Both Sachin and Saurav made use of the chances given to them, especially Saurav who was dropped of the first ball by Kamran Akmal.

Sachin took his own time to settle down but the boundaries started to come and he looked set for a big innings. Before he played a loose shot to give Sohail Tanveer his first wicket. Akmal, in complete contrast to the dropped catch, leapt to his right to snatch it out of midair. The man in form, Gautam Gambhir, walked in to replace the Little Master.

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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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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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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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