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Cricket craze
India beat Australia in thriller to claim cricket tri-series
BRISBANE, Australia (AFP) — India wrapped up the triangular one-day international cricket competition when they beat Australia by nine runs to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the best-of-three finals series here Tuesday.
The Indians made 258-9 in their 50 overs then restricted the home side to 249 to claim a thrilling win and take the final ever triangular series to be played in Australia.
Veteran Sachin Tendulkar led the Indian batting with a fine 91 before newcomer Praveen Kumar tore through the Australian top order, claiming Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke with just 32 runs on the board.
Kumar came back at the death to bowl Brett Lee and finish the match with 4-46 from 10 overs to signal his arrival on the international scene.
Australian allrounder James Hopes led a rearguard action, scoring a career-high 63, but he kept losing batting partners and was last man out when caught at mid-off trying to blast 13 runs off the final over.
The Indians made a magnificent start in the field when Gilchrist, in what turned out to be his last innings for Australia, edged a ball from the impressive Kumar to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to be out for just two.
Kumar struck again in his next over when Ponting (1) tried to pull a shorter ball and spooned an easy catch to Yuvraj Singh at mid-on.
Clarke (17) then followed after he lazily tried to pull a straight delivery only to see it crash into the top of off-stump to leave Australia staggering at 32-3.
Andrew Symonds (42) and Matthew Hayden (55) recovered brilliantly and got the Australians back on track until Hayden was run out with the score on 121.
Symonds was making a big impact with his bat, but made an even bigger one with his shoulder when he tackled a streaker who made the mistake of running too close to the burly Queenslander.
The match appeared as good as over when Harbhajan Singh trapped Symonds in front to leave Australia 123-5.
Mike Hussey and Hopes set out on a rescue mission and put on 76 before Hussey feathered a Shanthakumaran Sreesanth delivery to Dhoni with Australia on 199.
Although Hopes got Australia close, the task was always just out of reach and the young Indian side celebrated wildly as their older opponents ran out of deliveries.
After Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat, India were 205-3 at one stage and heading for a score of more than 300.
But when an injury-hampered Tendulkar was dismissed for 91, the scoring rate slowed and Australia's bowlers began to gain control.
Tendulkar was well supported by Yuvraj Singh (38), M.S. Dhoni (36) and Robin Uthappa (30), but the Indians were at least 50 runs short of where they should have been.
They had a let off when Ponting dropped Tendulkar on seven, the Australian skipper spilling a difficult diving chance at point.
The little master made the Australians pay for the miss as he began to settle and increase the scoring rate.
He brought up his 50 from 70 balls when he dabbed a short ball from Stuart Clark to third man, delighting the large number of Indian supporters in the crowd.
Clark broke the opening partnership when he had Uthappa caught by James Hopes at mid-off, but Tendulkar continued his imperious form, dispatching the Australian bowlers to all parts of the large ground with ease.
Tendulkar was finally out with the score on 204 after trying to bunt a ball away for a quick single and being caught by Ponting, 84 runs after the Aussie skipper had spilled the earlier chance.
The Indians kept giving their wickets away to innocuous bowling.
India's hopes of breaking 300 fell away as Gautam Gambhir (15), Rohit Sharma (2) and Irfan Pathan (12) all fell cheaply.
But in the end 258 was just enough to get them home despite Hopes's heroics.
Another big innings from the Little Master
A MATCH jam-packed with desperate action has brought a pulsating summer to an appropriately dramatic conclusion.
It was a contest full of thrills and spills. First Sachin Tendulkar seemed to have won the series for his team. Then the Indian lower order faltered. Australia collapsed again but, as the crowd roared, James Hopes restored hope for his overheated side. And then, with two cricketing countries agog, a mighty visiting captain tossed the ball to his most vulnerable bowler and the deed was done. It was enormous. Might have been a changing of the guard.
Apart from the frenzied finish and the curious outbreak of tackles on the field, the abiding memory of the match came from Tendulkar's bat. The first final had produced one of the game's finest chasing innings. Alas the hullabaloo distracted attention from Tendulkar's hundred. Accordingly, reporters hoped for a second helping from the maestro. Happily he obliged with a superb effort in the second final.
Over the last 15 years cricket enthusiasts have enjoyed many delights but two stand out. Anyone able to follow the careers of Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne at close quarters has been privileged. They count amongst the most enchanting and compelling cricketers the game has seen. Both were craftsmen of high calibre but also artists of supreme talent. Warne was a mesmerising tweaker with a fiercely competitive streak. The Indian remains a classical batsman unburdened with ego and capable of exquisite strokeplay.
Magnificent in Sydney, Tendulkar produced another well-paced innings. It is not so long ago that observers wondered whether the time had come for the veteran to slip down the order. He had been losing his wicket to the new ball and seemed to have lost his edge. Recently another critic pointed out that Tendulkar had never scored a one-day hundred in Australia and had a relatively poor record chasing targets. Never awaken the sleeping tiger.
Although Brett Lee beat him with a couple of frisky outswingers, Tendulkar looked comfortable from the first ball. At such times his bat appears as wide as the Suez Canal. The straight drive is the cornerstone of his batting and he plays it perfectly. To this solid foundation he adds fertile strokes square of the wicket and improvisations executed with imagination and dexterity. But the drive past the bowler tells the tale. It is an immaculate stroke unfurled without any hint of flamboyance. Tendulkar does not indulge himself at the crease. His style is not a style at all, merely his way of scoring runs. He calculates and then commits.
Not that every straight drive is the same. Normally the ball is punched past the bowler with an abbreviated swing. Facing Stuart Clark, though and finding the ball holding in the pitch, he adjusted his stroke, rolled his wrists at impact and still managed to send the ball speeding past deep mid-on. If the seamer was nonplussed by this offering, he must have been startled by the batsman's next creation as a good length delivery was blasted past him off the back foot. Few men have been able to play the straight pull.
The Indian also took delight in guiding lifters over the slips, the shot that kept the score rattling along in Sydney. Nor is he content merely to elude the catchers. At one stage at the Gabba, Ricky Ponting sent two colleagues to patrol the third man boundary whereupon the batsman sent the ball between them. It is difficult enough to find the gaps with orthodox strokes.
Tendulkar is also adept at developing singles off accurate deliveries. Either he stuns the ball towards gully and scampers or he steers the ball behind point with a stroke reminiscent of a monarch knighting a favoured admiral. Accordingly, he does not allow pressure to build.
After a bright start, Tendulkar pushed the score along steadily, biding his time and allowing fresher partners to take risks. His hundred in Sydney must have taken a toll. Moreover, the Australians had raised their game, especially in the field where Michael Clarke excelled.
Nevertheless, the Indian opener marched impressively towards a final onslaught. But the nineties have often been his undoing, so much so that his eldest son has advised him to hit a six as soon as he reaches 94. Tendulkar did not get that far, a weary stroke bringing him down. For the 17th time he had lost his wicket within ten runs of an one-day international hundred.
India triumphs as Aussie run-chase falls short
A CONFIDENT young Indian side last night won the tri-series tournament for the first time with a clean sweep of the finals, sending Australia to an upset defeat that replicated its loss to England last summer.
A courageous run-chase fell agonisingly short of India's total of 9-258 at the Gabba, resigning Australia to its second successive failure in the one-day series, after it lost 2-0 to England in 2007.
James Hopes' brave 63 runs spearheaded the chase when all hope seemed lost, but in the end, the tourists bowled the hosts out with two balls to spare to claim a memorable nine-run win.
The match descended into controversy when a claim for caught behind off Michael Hussey was referred to third umpire Bruce Oxenford, who checked replays for an edge as well as to see whether Mahendra Dhoni had caught it. Channel Nine's Snickometer — which is not conclusive and cannot be used by umpires — indicated there was a nick and Oxenford ruled Hussey out for 44. It was unclear whether Oxenford had seen the Snicko graphic shown on television as the decision was pending.
Earlier, Matthew Hayden was run out on 55, while Symonds was dismissed leg before wicket to Harbhajan Singh on 42.
Paceman Praveen Kumar finished with 4-46, including the prized scalps of Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting (one) to claim man-of-the-match honours.
India began extremely well. Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed for the 17th time in the 90s but his contribution was worthy of century status as those around him stalled.
The opener scored 91 from 121 balls in probably his last innings on Australian soil. After Tendulkar's dismissal, India lost five wickets and scored only 54 runs.
Tendulkar's innings seemed effortless in the early stages, as he placed and prodded deliveries through every gap in the field. He scooped, deftly nicked, reverse-swept and pushed away Australia's best tactical deliveries, blindfolding the bowlers.
They didn't know which way to throw, and Mitchell Johnson had a near-collapse with eight wides in his opening spell.
Towards the end, however, Tendulkar became severely restricted in movement due to a groin strain picked up during Sunday's matchwinning century. His feet were heavy on the crease, his running between wickets seemed pained.
Michael Clarke crash-tackled Tendulkar while trying to recover a ball hit down the field off his bowling in the 24th over.
In his next over, Clarke claimed the important wicket of Gautam Gambhir, who had looked in ominous form with 15 runs from 21 deliveries.
Unexpectedly, Yuvraj Singh entered the pitch ahead of Rohit Sharma, then smashed Clarke for six to get off the mark. The intention was clear.Indian players hold the trophy as they celebrate their win in the second final of the one-day triangular series cricket match against Australia in Brisbane. India won the series with a nine run win in the second final.
Indian players spray champagne as they celebrate their victory over Australia following the second final of their tri-nations ODI series in Brisbane. India won the best of 3 series 2-0.
Indian players celebrate after defeating Australia by nine runs.in the second final of their tri-nations ODI cricket series in Brisbane.
Yuvraj punished Symonds down the ground, belting a four and six before attempting one too many, holing out to deep mid-wicket, where Hayden stood still and swallowed the catch.
A weary Tendulkar then was joined at the crease by Dhoni.India's 200 came up in 38 overs and it appeared a target above 270 was in the making, but Tendulkar — who was dropped by Ricky Ponting early in his innings — was caught by the skipper trying to bunt Clarke's delivery.
Before the match began, an electrical shortage in the middle stump caused a small fire, and the wicket was replaced. So fitting for a series engulfed in smoke and flame.
Yuvraj Singh acknowledges the crowd after reaching his fifty, India v Sri Lanka, 8th match, CB Series, Adelaide, February 19, 2008 Irfan Pathan grabbed four wickets as India again tamed Australia's batsmen, giving themselves a target of 204 to lead the points table in the seventh CB Series One-dayer at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. Australia collapsed to 112-6 but Michael Clarke led the fightback with a composed 79.
After Jayasuriya Blitz, Dilshan And Jayawardene Guide Lanka To 8-Wkt Win
Canberra: From a 50-50 match, India and Sri Lanka’s second meeting in the Commonwealth Bank Tri-series first became a 29-29 game and then 29-21, thanks to the rain.The Lankans, however, treated it as a 20-20 encounter to register their first win of the series at the Manuka Oval here on Tuesday. In Lanka’s win, super southpaw Sanath Jayasuriya was much like an old man in a hurry. He served a reminder that there’s still enough fire in his belly to tame the best bowlers in the world. Just in case the Indians had forgotten his destructive abilities, Jayasuriya exploded with customary disdain to decisively swing the game Sri Lanka’s way in a matter of precisely 13 balls that he lasted. He almost knocked the cover off the ball, striking two towering sixes and as many fours to play the most defining innings (27 runs) of the day. His lightening assault on the bowling ensured that Sri Lanka made most of their good fortune in a rain-hit game to score a thumping eight-wicket victory. With the Manuka Oval ground witnessing a carnival atmosphere, it would have been cruel had the game been washed out. But while the ground staff did an excellent mopping up operation, India ended up at the receiving end of the bargain because the second downpour at the break reduced the Sri Lankan run chase of 196 from 29 overs to a more amenable 154 from 21 overs. Jayasuriya then made a mockery of the so-called ‘required rate’ by trading some heavy blows that damaged the confidence of Indian bowlers. The opener got stuck into Sree Santh carting him for 23 runs in his second over with two strikes that hurt the bowler’s psyche. He first flicked him for a six with the ball threatening to travel out of Canberra. His second six was a fierce cut over backward point. In between, he also drove him through the covers like lightening. By the time the Indians got to see the back of Jayasuriya in the fourth over, top edging an intended pull off Ishant Sharma to MS Dhoni down the leg side, he had given his team an electric start. Thanks to Jayasuriya’s early assault, Sree Santh (0-48 from just three overs) and Ishant Sharma (1-26) collectively conceded 74 runs from 7 overs and that made Sri Lanka’s task all the more easy. Needing to score at just a run-a-ball in the last 15 overs, makeshift opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (62 not out) dropped anchor in the company of captain Mahela Jayawardene (36 not out) as Lanka reached the target with two overs to spare. Dhoni even tried Sachin Tendulkar but he too couldn’t do much. Harbhajan Singh bowled well but had little support from the other end.
Ishant Sharma took 4 for 38 as Australia were dismissed for 159 in the 44th over at the MCG Sachin Tendulkar (right) is congratulated by team mate Virender Sehwag after scoring 16,000 runs in one-dayers during the second match of the tri-series against Sri Lanka at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday.
The veteran became the world's first batsman to scale the 16,000 run-mark in ODIs when his score reached 28.