Cricket Blog

The ICL will officially commence on the 30th of November. One wonders how much exposure it would get with the India-Pakistan series underway and the second test match commencing on the 30th as well. The full schedule for the inaugural tournament is as below. All matches will be played at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula which is a town near Chandigarh.

Nov 30
Chandigarh Lions v Delhi Jets - Highlights

Dec 1
Chennai Superstars v Kolkata Tigers
Mumbai Champs v Hyderabad Heroes

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A very close finish as South Africa manage a victory with only 1 ball remaining and 3 wickets in hand. With results like this, T20 is definitely catching the imagination of the cricket fan.

Match Highlights

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For ticketing information, check out any of the following:

• Globalticketservice.com
• WorldTicketShop.com
• SportsEvents365.com

October 2007
Thu 25 - Sun 28
10:30 local, 08:30 GMT South African Invitation XI v New Zealanders
Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein

November 2007
Thu 1 - Sun 4
10:30 local, 08:30 GMT South Africa A v New Zealanders
Sedgars Park, Potchefstroom

Thu 8 - Mon 12
10:30 local, 08:30 GMT 1st Test - South Africa v New Zealand
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Fri 16 - Tue 20
10:30 local, 08:30 GMT 2nd Test - South Africa v New Zealand
SuperSport Park, Centurion

Fri 23 Floodlit Match
17:00 local, 15:00 GMT Only T20I - South Africa v New Zealand
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Sun 25
10:00 local, 08:00 GMT 1st ODI - South Africa v New Zealand
Kingsmead, Durban

Fri 30 Floodlit Match
14:30 local, 12:30 GMT 2nd ODI - South Africa v New Zealand
St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth

December 2007
Sun 2
10:00 local, 08:00 GMT 3rd ODI - South Africa v New Zealand
Newlands, Cape Town

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World Champions against World Champions. Definitely a new rivalry in the making. This time, however, India were the defending Twenty20 World Champions. For a change, something that is as rare as word itself, Australia were NOT the favorites. And yesterday night’s match proved why Australia still has a little more work to do in this new format of the game.

The problem for Australia was the team selection. You cannot, I repeat cannot, go to a match in India, no matter what format, without a regular spin bowler. Australia left out Brad Hogg, clearly their best bowler in the ODI series, and that was where they lost the match. Winning the toss and deciding to bat first was always the right thing to do in this match. Ricky Ponting seems to have lady luck on his side whenever he goes in for the toss in a crucial match. Yesterday was no different.

The Australian openers have always enjoyed batting against the Indians and the T20 format would have suited them to the tee. However, that was not the case to be. Adam Gilchrist started the proceedings by smashing RP Singh for three consecutive fours only to see his middle stump uprooted off the very next ball. India drew first blood. Gilchrist was the wicket they wanted early on and that is exactly what they got.

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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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