Sri Lanka won the toss & decided firstly to field

On Tuesday, at 12th 1-day Virender Sehwag’s 1st century since 2005 reserved India for a massive total in the 1st 1day international in opposition to Sri Lanka at Rajkot. Sehwag & Tendulkar’s partnership started with 153-run. Indiastarted on a cool note & scored just 19 runs in the beginning 5 overs but finally Virendra Sehwag broke the restraints in 6th over with as much as 3 boundaries.

Tendulkar hit boundary of Nuwan Kulasekara & Welegedera. Its Sehwag’s 36th 1-day 50 & his 4th against the Srilanka& Sachin’s 92nd fifties in ODI & his 16th against Lankans. India was cruising at 107 runs without any loss after fifteen over; here Sehwag was at 54 & Tendulkar at 52.

Sri Lanka must be wrong if they felt that the Powerplay phase was over. The introduction of Angelo Matthews’ entry in 16th over woke up Virender from his snooze.

Even as Sangakkara introduced the experienced Jayasuriya to stem the flow of runs, the equally experienced Tendulkar danced down the wicket and cleared the fence for his first maximum. Tendulkar’s 63-ball 69 runs comprises of 10 hits to the boundary.

The spectators watched the match without Muralitharan & Malinga, as both were injured.

In contrast India missed Yuvraj Singh who was having finger injury.

Sri Lanka gave a huge surprise when they announced that Jayasuriya would bat at No. seven & Tharanga would do opening with Dilshan.

India’s scenario boosted up with Zaheer & Harbhajan whilst Virat Kohli replaced Yuvraj.

India's batting line-up came up with a stunning display of strokeplay to achieve the highest successful run chase in Twenty20 history, as they defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the second game and levelled the two-match series 1-1 in Mohali on Saturday.

After the visitors posted a competitive 206 for seven, the Indians rode on superlative batting from Virender Sehwag (64), M S Dhoni (46) and Yuvraj Singh (60 not out) to overhaul the target with five balls to spare in a thrilling floodlit contest.

India, in the process, surpassed the earlier highest run chase of 208 for 2, which South Africa made against the West Indies in Johannesburg in September 2007.

Earlier, Sri Lanka won the toss, and elected to bat first on pitch that offered some assistance to the bolwers. The visitors were off to a bad start when, Ishant Sharma dismissed the dangerous Tillakaratne Dilshan (1) in his very first over.

Ishant produced a gem of a delivery to knock Dilshan's leg stump out, with just one-run on the board.

After the early jolt, Sanath Jayasuriya (31) and Kumar Sangakkara (59) steadied the ship with a brilliant counter-attack, smashing the Indian bowlers to all corners of the park.

Jayasuriya was particularly severe on Ashish Nehra as he clobbered him for three fours and a six in his second over. Nehra was never allowed to settle into any rhythm as both the Lankan batsmen attacked him from the very beginning.

The duo brought about the 50-run partnership in just 21 balls and the introduction of the slower balls hardly had any impact on the scoring rate.

Sri Lanka's cause was helped by some poor fielding from the Indians, who continued to spill catches much to the embarrassment of new fielding consultant Mike Young.

Jayasuriya was eventually dismissed by Yusuf Pathan.

Sangakkara took over from Jayasuriya and continued with his brilliant form, smashing a brilliant 59 off 31-balls, which included eight boundaries and two sixes.

Sangakkara got a reprieve on 28, when Ravindra Jadeja dropped him on the boundary off Yusuf Pathan. The Lankans were also helped by some indicipline by the Indian bowlers who gave away as many as 24 extras.

The Sri Lankan skipper completed his second half century of the series, but could not survive long. He went for a lofted shot only to be caught by Nehra off Yuvraj.

Chasing a stiff challenge of 207 for victory to level the series, openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir gave India a rollicking start.

Sehwag began by smashing the ball right from the first over of the innings. Pacer Weeraratne was at the receiving end as the right-hander hit a huge six over extra cover in his first over.

The Sri Lankan fielders too seemed to be following in the footsteps of their Indian counterparts, also missing early opportunities to run-out both Sehwag and his opening partner Gambhir (21).

Sehwag was fortunate to get a reprieve when Jayasuriya, running in from long-on, failed to latch on to a mis-hit from the batsman. The duo put up a 50-run partnership for the opening wicket, off just 31 balls.

However, Gambhir was soon dismissed by a throw from Malinga that caught the batsman short of his ground.

Sehwag, in his bid to accelerate, gave a simple catch to Kaushalya Weeraratne at long-on off Lasith Malinga.

With the run-rate steadily rising, in came birthday boy Yuvraj Singh. The southpaw soon found his rhythm, taking 19 runs in the 13th over, bowled by Weeraratne.

Yuvraj began in his usual style, smashing the second ball he faced to the extra cover fence. He followed it with a massive six towards long-off, and three balls later heaved the ball over the ground for yet another maximum.

The 50-run partnership for the third wicket between skipper Dhoni and Yuvraj came in just 23 balls.

By the end of 15 overs, India was 159 for two, still needing 48 runs from the remaining five overs. But Yuvraj soon changed the equation in the 16th over.

Yuvraj notched his fifth Twenty20 half century, which contained as many as five sixes and three fours. He brought up the winning runs with a six.

Meanwhile Dhoni, having registered his highest score in T20 internationals (46), was cleaned up by a superb yorker from Dilhara Fernando.

Suresh Raina (9) also was dismissed cheap. But, by then, it was a lost cause for Sri Lanka.

Yuvraj was declared man-of-the-match for his all-round display. He picked three Sri Lanka wickets and hit a match-winning 60 not out.

india felt the pressure in T20

Sri lanka bounced back strongly after defeat in test series and won the 1st T20 in styly by 29 runs by scoring their highest T20 score of 215-5 in 20 overs.

Kumara Sangakkra was Man of the Match for his brilliant 78 runs off just 37 balls with 11 fours and 2 sixes.

India maintained their poor form in shortest version of the game T20 as the lost 1st Twenty20 against Sri Lanka in a high scoring match by 29 runs on Wednesday, 9th December, 2009 at Nagpur. Sri Lanka leading the series by 1-0.

India started well with the bowl but dropped jayasuriya early and in the next over hi hit 5 fours and the captain Kumara Sangakkra hit 37 balls 78 runs with 11fours and 2 sixes helped Sri lanka to made their highest sore of T20 215-5 in 20 overs.

India strted weeland placed comfortably at one stage with 92-1 in 8 overs and then lost 5 wickets for 23 runs and reduced to 115-6 but lower order fight well to take the match close.

India top Test cricket rankings for first time after Sri Lanka defeat

India secured top spot in the test rankings for the first time after handing Sri Lanka a second successive innings defeat and wrapping up their three-match series 2-0 on Sunday.

Zaheer Khan took three more wickets to record his eighth five-wicket haul as India won the third and final test by an innings and 24 runs on the final day.

"I think the real tough task from now on is to maintain this performance," said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "The real tough job starts from here."

Left-arm Zaheer dismissed overnight century-maker Kumar Sangakkara (137) caught behind in the day's opening over to kill off any hopes Sri Lanka had of saving the test.

Resuming on 274-6 and needing 60 runs to make India bat a second time, Sangakkara edged the third ball to wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni.

Zaheer then dismissed Rangana Herath (three) and overnight batsman Nuwan Kulasekara (19) in a fiery four-over spell to finish with five for 72.

"Zaheer is back in the rhythm and it was good to see the fast bowlers do well in India," Dhoni said.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh then dismissed Muttiah Muralitharan for 14 as India wrapped up the tail in 7.4 overs.

"It was tough but India outperformed us in all three departments of the game in the last two tests," Sri Lankan captain Sangakkara said.

"In this game, we nearly put 400 but (Virender) Sehwag came and took the game away from us."

The 2-0 series victory saw India jump from third in the rankings to displace South Africa at the top.

"Fantastic to be at this position," Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar told the official broadcasters.

"I have been waiting a long time to get to this position. In fact just not me, (the) entire nation."

Sri Lanka, who are still looking for their first test win on Indian soil, dropped from second place to fourth in the rankings, behind Australia.

Opener Sehwag, named player of the match and the series, scored a spectacular 293 and Dhoni cracked 100 not out to guide India to their highest innings total of 726 for nine declared.

Tillakaratne Dilshan scored a century and Angelo Mathews missed out on his maiden century by one run in Sri Lanka's first-innings 393.

India opened up 1-0 lead by winning the second test by an innings and 144 runs after the first test ended in a draw.

Sri Lanka will play two Twenty20 internationals and five one-day internationals starting on Wednesday.

India vs Srilanka 3rd test live streaming: India Srilanka live match, score highlight, Sehwag out

Mumbai, December 4: India vs Srilanka 3rd test live streaming: India Srilanka live match, score highlight, Sehwag out. Though Sehwag could not complete his triple century and gave his wicket to Muralitharan, he still managed 293 runs, just hundred runs short of what the whole Sri Lankan side scored.

Sehwag on his way to 293 runs smashed not only fours and sixes, but also scored fastest 250 runs in the history of test cricket.

He always plays cricket in his own style and dictates terms to the opposition bowlers.

A mighty batsman known for his flamboyant style and long innings-if he stays at the crease-he was so impressive that everyone is praiseful for her.

Yesterday was a fest day for cricket loving Mumbaikars. Many people who heard that Sehwag has completed century reached the stadium. In recent memory I don’t remember seeing so many people coming to see a test match.

Sehwag holds several records, especially in test cricket. It includes

Fastest 250 in Test cricket in terms of balls faced.
Most Test runs in a single day by an Indian. Sehwag made 257 in a day against SA in Chennai. He surpassed this in making 284 in a day against Sri Lanka. The latter was the second consecutive innings in which India scored more than 400 runs in a single day in Tests. Sehwag also made a century at faster than a run a ball on the previous equation.
Only Indian batsman to have scored two triple centuries in Test cricket. He is the third batsman in the history of Test cricket to score two triple centuries, alongside Sir Donald Bradman and Brian Lara.
Fastest century in ODI cricket by an Indian - 100 runs off 60 balls against New Zealand in 2009.
Second fastest ODI 50 by an Indian.[94] - a record, he shares with Rahul Dravid, Kapil Dev and Yuvraj Singh - when he took 22 balls against Kenya in 2001[95]
Six double centuries - the first three of which came against Pakistan.[96] Greg Chappell is the only other player to have scored multiple double centuries against Pakistan (2). Sehwag is the only Indian to have made six Test double centuries.
Highest score by an Indian batsman in Test cricket. He first achieved this when he scored 309 against Pakistan in Multan in 2004, and bettered his previous record in March 2008 at Chennai against South Africa by scoring 319.

Even today morning there were many people who came to the venue to see him complete the triple century. Though he got out early at 293 runs, they were not disappointed.

Sachin Tendulkar their very own fellow Mumbaikar was there at the crease playing in his same inimitable style. In fact the run rate went up since Tendulkar came at the crease.

Viru scored 293 - his sixth double-hundred. And this turned out to be game's third highest individual score in one day's play.

In his massive score, he was assisted by fellow opener Murali Vijay (87) and Rahul Dravid (62 not out) as India at the end of the day was on 443 for one.

This is 50 runs more than of Sri Lanka's total of 393. If the batters play like this then India is in a solid position to take a huge first-innings lead.

Earlier in the day, the Lankans lost batsman Angelo Mathews for 99. He was bowled out within the opening half-hour. The morning session belonged to the Indian bowlers as they struck at intervals completely dominating the day.

Lankan batsmen, who were targeting a huge score to put India into pressure, failed to stay on the crease for long.

At stumps, giving Sehwag company was Rahul Dravid, who was batting on 87, as India scored record number of runs on a day and that too in less than three sessions and also took a 50-run lead. It was also the second time that India scored 400 or more in a day's play, surpassing the 417 for two on the first day of the second Test in Kanpur.

It was a class act by the Indian batsmen, especially Sehwag who completely dominated the day and scored at more than five-and-a-half runs per over after bowlers packed up the Sri Lankan tail within 30 minutes early in the day at the historic Brabourne.

Sri lankan bowlers had a torrid time and Sehwag didn't allow any of the them to settle down. He played a flawless innings and was severe on the spinners as Muttiah Muralitharan's woeful form in the series continued. The only opportunity Sehwag gave the Sri Lankans was when he was on 273 but Mahela Jayawardene failed to grab it at first slip.

Both the openers, Sehwag and Murali Vijay (87), set the tone of the innings by giving a promising start with their 221-run first wicket stand. The duo quickly raced on to score 93 by the lunch break and accelerated the scoring in the second session by adding another 138 runs. With Dravid, Sewhag added another 222 runs for the unbroken second-wicket stand to make matters worse for Sri Lanka.

Sehwag, who scored a breezy 167 in Kanpur, started cautiously but then went on a rampage hitting 40 fours and seven sixes in the second fastest double century. He simply toyed with the Sri Lankan attack and none escaped the fury of his blade.

Vijay, playing his second Test match, was the perfect foil for Sewhag and rotated the strike, but never lost out on opportunites to punish the loose deliveries.

Sehwag also got to his 6,000 Test runs and that too in style by hitting left-arm spinner Rangana Herath for a big six over the bowler's head. He also became the third fastest Indian after Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar to score 6,000 runs in Test cricket. Gavaskar achieved the mark in 117 innings, Tendulkar in 120 and Sehwag has taken 123 innings.

Vijay got his maiden half-century by hitting Muttiah Muralitharan for a huge six over long on. He was set for his maiden Test hundred when trapped leg before by Herath. Vijay hit ten fours and a six during his 121-ball innings.

Earlier, Sri Lanka could add just 27 runs to their overnight score of 366 for eight. Angelo Matthews was unfortunate to get run out one short of his maiden Test century and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha trapped Chanaka Welegedara leg before wicket to wrap up the Dri Lankan innings.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh picked up four for 112 while Ojha bagged three for 107.

India lead the series 1-0 and a win here will propel them to the top spot in Test rankings. The historic Brabourne Stadium is hosting the first Test match in 36 years. (with IANS inputs)

Ishant dropped, Sreesanth makes a comeback in ODI squad

Mumbai, Dec 2 (IANS) After a match winning performance in the second Test in Kanpur, Shantakumaran Sreesanth made a comeback in the one-day side at the expense of an out-of-form Ishant Sharma.The selection committee that met here Wednesday under the chairmanship of chief selector Krisnamachary Srikkanth also brought back Zaheer Khan in the side for the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka.

After recovering from a shoulder surgery, Zaheer made a successful comeback with the Test and now will spearhead the attack in ODIs as well.

But the selectors decided to rest both Zaheer and Harbhajan Singh for the two Twenty20 internationals against Sri Lanka. Ashok Dinda and R. Ashwin were the two new faces in the Twenty20 side while Rohit Sharma makes a comeback. Ishant also managed to retain his place in the Twenty20 side.

ODI squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Sudeep Tyagi and Virat Kohli.

T20s: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Kartick, Yusuf Pathan, R. Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Ashok Dinda, Sudeep Tyagi, Pragyan Ojha and Rohit Sharma

Sreesanth's five wrecks Sri Lanka

Indian cricket's prodigal son Sreesanth returned in style with a five-for to destroy the back of Sri Lanka's batting and give India their biggest ever lead against Sri Lanka on the third day of the second Test in Kanpur. For nine successive overs in the first session, and for seven on the trot in the second, Sreesanth ran in hard, hit the deck and found life in a slow pitch. Mahela Jayawardene and Prasanna Jayawardene offered some resistance with a 60-run partnership but both fell in the second session as India took a firm grip on the game.

Green Park was where Sreesanth played his last Test 19 months ago before he disappeared from the sports pages and became an occasional feature on Page 3. Today, he stormed back, lifting India with spells that read 9-2-28-3 in the first session and 7-2-18-2 in the second. Debutant Pragyan Ojha, who kept things tight with his classical left-arm spin, allowing MS Dhoni the luxury to attack from the other end, got the other big wicket of the post-lunch session when he beat Mahela in the flight and produced a mishit to mid-on. Ojha hastened the end of the Sri Lankan innings post tea by trapping Muttiah Muralitharan in front. Harbhajan Singh, who picked the last wicket to terminate the innings, too bowled couple of good spells in the day but it was Sreesanth who was the star of the attack.

His bowling was sublime through the day but the highlight was the delivery that gave him his fifth wicket, a peach that cut in from the middle stump line to take out the off stump of the clueless Rangana Herath. The celebration was muted: a folding of palms in prayer and gratitude, the right hand raised to accept the high-fives from his team-mates and the face slowly creasing into a smile. It wasn't dramatic, it wasn't the usual Sreesanth theatrics that make him perhaps the most complex cricketer in this side. Today, those signature self-exhortations at the top of the run-up were rarely seen, as was any special celebration after a wicket.


It was all about the bowling. If he troubled the batsmen with seam movement in the morning he found some reverse swing post lunch with the old ball and continued to harass the batsmen. He got the big breakthrough of the second session when he terminated the fighting partnership between the two Jayawardenes. Prasanna had taken an aggressive route, slog sweeping and driving the spinners and, though he faced Zaheer Khan, he didn't have to play Sreesanth till he reached 35. Sreesanth probed Prasanna with 11 testing deliveries that included leg cutters, inswingers and a lovely inswinging yorker but Prasanna stood firm. However, Prasanna chased the 12th delivery, a short and wide one, and got a thin nick through to the keeper.

That was a recurring theme. Sreesanth would severely test the batsmen with a cluster of good deliveries and would invariably pick up a wicket with one slightly wide from the stumps. His pace wasn't frightening (135 kmph was the average), there were no fiery bouncers and he didn't swing it around corners, but what he did was land ball after ball on a probing line and length and cut it either way just enough to test the batsmen. He had his share of luck too - two batsmen played on off the inside edge - and Sri Lanka's batsmen didn't tailor their techniques to the demands of the pitch.


Instead of playing as close to the body as possible on a pitch with variable bounce, the batsmen erred by playing away. Tharanga Paranavitana was set up by a bouncer that crashed into his shoulder before he pushed at one cutting away from him. Kumar Sangakkara, who faced 24 deliveries from Zaheer Khan today, fell in the first over he faced off Sreesanth. Sangakkara played out three straight deliveries but was lured into a cover drive by a full wide one and ended up dragging it on to his stumps. Thilan Samaraweera was the next to go, pushing hard and early at a length delivery cutting away from him.


Not everything went Sreesanth's way though. He produced an edge from his best delivery but it didn't get him a wicket. Mahela Jayawardene, on zero, pushed at one that cut away late and got an edge but neither MS Dhoni nor Sachin Tendulkar at first slip went for the catch. It was the keeper's catch. Jayawardene got another reprieve on 25 when he edged a late cut off Harbhajan Singh to first slip where Rahul Dravid couldn't hold on to a sharp chance. It didn't matter as Mahela couldn't carry on for long.

Centuries from openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag left India in control on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Kanpur.

Gambhir hit a superb 167 and Sehwag overcame a tentative start to clobber a typically blistering 131, the pair adding 233 for the opening wicket on a placid surface.

Rahul Dravid then pressed home the advantage with an unbeaten 85 as India finished the day on 417 for two.

Sachin Tendulkar, who joined Dravid in the final hour, was 20 not out.

Kumar Sangakkara's depleted attack was hammered around the park as India's top order ensured there was no dramatic capitulation as in the first Test in Ahmedabad.

Sehwag was uncharacteristically scratchy in the first hour and was dropped by Mahela Jayawardene at first slip before he could get off the mark, before going on to dominate the opening stand.

He broke the shackles by driving Angelo Mathews for his first boundary in the 12th over and followed that with a pull to the midwicket fence in the same over.

There was no looking back thereafter as he quickly overtook Gambhir and reached his 16th Test century off just 97 deliveries by turning Muttiah Muralitharan for a boundary to fine leg.

Sehwag hammered Muralitharan for three consecutive boundaries as India sped past the 200 mark in the afternoon session and continued to accumulate runs at a breathtaking pace before Muralitharan made the breakthrough.

Sehwag drove at a delivery with a little more air and picked out Tillakaratne Dilshan at extra cover.

Gambhir, who had provided the early momentum, slowed as he neared his century but got there in style, skipping down the track to hit Rangana Herath for a straight boundary.

It was his eighth century and second in succession after a century in the second innings in Ahmedabad.

Together with Dravid, Gambhir added 137 for the second wicket, the run rate falling below five an over in the final session as Sri Lanka's bowlers brought some pressure to bear.

Gambhir was Muralitharan's second success on an otherwise poor day for Sri Lanka's bowlers, the off-spinner brilliantly latching onto a return catch.

Dravid had batted steadily, if slowly in comparison to the openers, but proved just as effective.

He reached his half-century - his 58th in Tests - by sweeping Muralitharan for a single.

Sri Lanka took the second new ball with four overs remaining but Dravid and Tendulkar played cautiously to finish the day unbeaten.

Ajantha Mendis, who took injured fast bowler Dammika Prasad's place in the side, conceded 87 from 19 overs while Herath - the third specialist spinner in Sri Lanka's attack - leaked 91 from 18 overs.

India force a draw after Gambhir, Tendulkar tons

AHMEDABAD, India — Gautam Gambhir made 114 and Sachin Tendulkar hit an unbeaten 100 as India batted out the final day to draw the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka here on Friday.

India easily wiped out a huge first innings deficit of 334 runs as they scored 412-4 in their second knock before the high-scoring Test was called off with six overs remaining on the fifth day.

Tendulkar, 36, set a new benchmark of 30,000 international runs at the start of his third decade in the game to frustrate Sri Lanka's bid to win their first Test on Indian soil.

Tendulkar, the world's leading Test and one-day scorer, reached the landmark when he turned Chanaka Welegedara to square-leg for a single to reach 35 soon after lunch.

He ended the match with a Test career tally of 12,877 runs, building on the 17,188 one-day and 10 Twenty20 runs he has scored since making his debut on November 15, 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi.

Tendulkar, who smashed his 43rd Test century, put on 66 for the fourth wicket with Gambhir and 137 for the unbroken fifth with Venkatsai Laxman, who returned unbeaten on 51.

Sri Lanka's bowlers struggled to cope with the batsman-friendly pitch on which 1,598 runs were scored at the cost of just 21 wickets over the five days.

World bowling record holder Muttiah Muralitharan failed to take a wicket in 38 overs which cost 124 runs and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath went for 2-97 in 40 overs.

"It was a bit disappointing to draw the game," said Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara. "It was a pretty flat track that did not have much for the bowlers.

"We were thinking positive on the final day and needed something to go our way but that did not happen.

"We did not gain any psychological edge. It's pretty Even Stevens going into the next match but I am happy the way the team played as a unit.

"There are a lot of positives to take from the game, like our batting and the bowling of Welegedara, who was told just before the toss that he was playing after the injury to Thilan Thushara."

Gambhir's seventh Test century was the third in successive matches this year after making 137 in Napier and 167 in Wellington on India's tour of New Zealand in March-April.

The Delhi opener kept vigil for six hours and 37 minutes when he attempted to loft Herath soon after lunch and holed out to mid-off.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he was delighted by the way his team fought back after conceding a huge lead.

"I am really proud of this achievement," he said. "We had to handle our nerves and that is what we showed. It was not easy to bowl on this wicket but our bowlers bowled their hearts out.

"I am not worried about our batting because we can handle any situation. We expected the wicket to have a bit more bounce for the spinners, but it favoured the batsmen all the way.

"I expect this series to be very close."

India made 426 in the first innings after being 32-4 within the first hour of play and Sri Lanka replied with a mammoth 760-7 declared, the highest total ever scored on Indian soil.

The second Test starts in Kanpur on Tuesday, followed by the third at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai from December 2.

AHMEDABAD - Scoreboard at lunch on the third day of the first cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera here Wednesday.

India first innings:

Gautam Gambhir b Welegedara 1

Virender Sehwag lbw b Welegedara 16

Rahul Dravid b Welegedara 177

Sachin Tendulkar b Welegedara 4

V.V.S. Laxman b Prasad 0

Yuvraj Singh c Dilshan b Muralitharan 68

Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Jayawardene b Prasad 110

Harbhajan Singh b Muralitharan 22

Zaheer Khan lbw Herath 12

Amit Mishra not out 7

Ishant Sharma st Prasanna b Muralitharan 0

Extras (b 2, lb 2, w 1, nb 4) 9

Total (all out in 104.5 overs) 426

Fall of wickets 1-14 (Gambhir, 2.5 overs), 2-27 (Sehwag, 6.1), 3-31 (Tendulkar, 6.4), 4-32 (Laxman, 7.4), 5-157 (Yuvraj, 36.1), 6-381 (Dhoni, 87.1), 7-389 (Dravid, 92.4), 8-414 (Khan, 101.2), 9-426 (Harbhajan, 104.1)

Bowling:

Chanaka Welegedara 22-4-87-4

Dammika Prasad 22-1-106-2

Angelo Mathews 12-1-50-0

Muttiah Muralitharan 25.5-4-97-3

Rangana Herath 22-2-79-1

Tillakaratne Dilshan 1-0-3-0

Sri Lanka: first innings (overnight 275/3)

Tillekaratane Dilshan c Dravid b Khan 112

Tharanga Paranavitana c Dhoni b Sharma 35

Kumar Sangakkara c Tendulkar b Khan 31

Mahela Jayawardene batting 86

Thilan Samaraweera c Yuvraj b Sharma 70

Angelo Matthews c Gambhir b Harbhajan 17

Extras (lb 10, w 2, nb 12) 24

Total (5 wickets in 96.2 overs) 375

Fall of wickets 1-74 (Paranavitana, 16.5 overs), 2-189 (Dilshan, 43.1), 3-194 (Sangakkara, 45.3), 4-332 (Samaraweera, 86.4), 5-375 (Mathews, 96.2)

Bowling:

Zaheer Khan 20-3-64-2

Ishant Sharma 21-0-83-2

Harbhajan Singh 26.2-3-99

Amit Mishra 24-1-107

Yuvraj Singh 5-1-12-0

Toss: India chose to bat

Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Tony Hill (New Zealand)

TV umpire: Amiesh Saheba (India)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)

Yuvraj, Gambhir slip; Harbhajan back in top-10 of ICC rankings

Feisty off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was the lone Indian to make any substantial gains in the ICC one-day rankings, jumping 11 places to joint eighth in the bowling chart even as batting stars like Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir lost ground in the latest list.

Harbhajan, who picked up eight wickets against Australia in the seven-match series which India lost 2-4, shares the eighth spot with flamboyant Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who scalped five against New Zealand in a three-match series against New Zealand in UAE. However, India vice-captain Yuvraj Singh leads the list of batsmen who failed to defend their rankings. Yuvraj, who started the series in second place, dropped five places to eighth, while opener Gautam Gambhir slipped four places to share the 19th spot with Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya. Among the fast bowlers, Australia's Doug Bollinger has rocketed 52 places to 69th after his nine wickets against India but Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee and the Indian pair of Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma dropped down the rung. Johnson shares the 13th spot with South Africa's Johan Botha after dropping two places, Lee and Praveen have dropped six places each to 22nd and 24th respectively while Ishant has slumped nine places to 35th. Australia captain Ricky Ponting continued his upward movement in the batting list and after a productive series in India, in which he scored 267 runs, the right-hander has risen two places to fourth, the ICC said in release. Mike Hussey, who was the most successful batsman in India with 313 runs, has strengthened his second position. Along with top-placed Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who contributed 285 runs, Hussey is now the only other batsman with more than 800 ratings points. In the Rankings for ODI all-rounders, Australian Shane Watson achieved a career-best second spot after his player-of-the-series performance against India in which he scored 256 runs and took 10 wickets. Besides his 26th place in the batting table, the Queenslander sits 32nd in the bowling chart.

sparkle more than the gold

Sachin Tendulkar shows his frustration at being dismissed for 175 for India against Australia. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

A remarkable innings of 175 in 140 balls by Sachin Tendulkar proved in vain as Australia took a 3-2 lead in the series with a thrilling three-run win over India in the fifth one-day international in Hyderabad.

Chasing 351 for victory, the home team were bowled out for 347 with two balls left after the brilliant Tendulkar went past 17,000 ODI runs.

He and Suresh Raina (59) put on 137 for the fifth wicket but the debutant Clint McKay struck the all-important blow for Australia when he had Tendulkar caught by Nathan Hauritz.

Earlier, a maiden century by Shaun Marsh (112) and 93 from fellow opener Shane Watson helped the visitors compile an imposing total of 350 for four.

The sixth and penultimate match of the series is in Guwahati on Sunday.

india australia series 2009, 2nd odi highlights

Description:
Gautam Gambhir hits his 2nd consecutive 50 against Australia in the 2nd ODI at Nagpur on 28t October 2009

NEW DELHI: Yuvraj Singh (78) and skipper MS Dhoni (71*) put-on a valuable 148-run partnership for the fourth wicket to guide India to a 6-wicket victory over Australia in the third ODI at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. Chasing a modest 230-run target to take a 2-1 lead in the seven-match One-Day International series on a tricky pitch, India lost Sehwag (11), Tendulkar (32) and Gambhir (6) in quick succession, leaving the hosts at 53/3 after 15.2 overs. But the pair of captain Dhoni and his deputy made sure that the target remained within reach all the time for the hosts. India lost Yuvraj in the 44th over for 78 after reaching 200-run mark. Earlier, India contained Australia to 229 for five despite Michael Hussey's rollicking unbeaten 81 and Ricky Ponting's fighting half century on Saturday. Electing to bat after winning the toss, Aussies found the runs difficult to come by on a slow Feroz Shah Kotla track. Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting (59) relied on their experience to score the bulk of the runs for the visitors. While Shane Watson (41) also chipped in with a useful contribution, none of the other Australian batsmen could hang around for long on a pitch which was not conducive for stroke-play. Ponting, opening the innings for only the second time in his career, and Shane Watson provided a solid start to the innings with both the batsmen playing cautiously on the slow track.

It would sure pay to be a travel agent for Cricket Australia at the moment. Three days after having to send Moises Henriques to India as injury cover, wicketkeeper Graham Manou is the latest to receive an abrupt call-up to join the national team at CA's expense.

The 30-year-old, whose international career consists of a single Test match against England three months ago, flew out of Sydney yesterday evening to replace fellow gloveman Tim Paine, who was to fly home home for surgery on what Australian captain Ricky Ponting said was a ''badly broken'' ring-finger on his right hand during the team's series-levelling loss to India on Wednesday night.

Paine broke the finger in the eighth over of India's record innings of 7-354, trying to glove a Peter Siddle bouncer well above his head. The Tasmanian received treatment at the end of that over and while he kept for the rest of the innings - taking two catches and effecting a run-out - he required treatment at least twice more during India's innings just to be able to keep going.

Paine also still kept his place at the top of the batting order alongside Shane Watson, although he was bowled for eight in the fifth over. Australia's fortunes were not much better than Paine's, with the visitors bowled out for 255 in the 49th over to hand India the resounding 99-run win, which levelled the seven-match series at one-all. Manou had been due to captain South Australia in its Sheffield Shield match starting today against Victoria until his call-up.

Ponting stood by his decision to send India in to bat after he'd won the toss at the batsmen-friendly Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur in match two, insisting he had been swayed by the absences of key bowlers Brett Lee (ankle) and James Hopes (hamstring).

''Our balance has been thrown out a bit. With Hopes going out of the side, Brett [Lee], our most-experienced bowler, out of the side our batting was our strongest suit … so chasing runs I thought was going to suit the make-up of our side,'' Ponting said. ''All the reasoning behind winning the toss and bowling was there. We just didn't play well enough to back that up today.''

The return of Ben Hilfenhaus to the side after spending 13 of Australia's previous 14 matches as an unused squad member was not a successful one, smashed for 1-83 from his 10 overs. Ponting said the Tasmanian was deservedly picked ahead of Doug Bollinger, despite the NSW left-arm paceman having played more recently than Hilfenhaus - and in India, in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

IT WOULD sure pay to be a travel agent for Cricket Australia at the moment. Three days after having to send Moises Henriques to India as injury cover, wicketkeeper Graham Manou is the latest to receive an abrupt call-up to join the national team at CA's expense.

The 30-year-old, whose international career consists of a single Test match against England three months ago, flew out of Sydney yesterday evening to replace fellow gloveman Tim Paine, who was to fly home home for surgery on what Australian captain Ricky Ponting said was a ''badly broken'' ring-finger on his right hand during the team's series-levelling loss to India on Wednesday night.

Paine broke the finger in the eighth over of India's record innings of 7-354, trying to glove a Peter Siddle bouncer well above his head. The Tasmanian received treatment at the end of that over and while he kept for the rest of the innings - taking two catches and effecting a run-out - he required treatment at least twice more during India's innings just to be able to keep going.

Paine also still kept his place at the top of the batting order alongside Shane Watson, although he was bowled for eight in the fifth over. Australia's fortunes were not much better than Paine's, with the visitors bowled out for 255 in the 49th over to hand India the resounding 99-run win, which levelled the seven-match series at one-all. Manou had been due to captain South Australia in its Sheffield Shield match starting today against Victoria until his call-up.

Ponting stood by his decision to send India in to bat after he'd won the toss at the batsmen-friendly Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur in match two, insisting he had been swayed by the absences of key bowlers Brett Lee (ankle) and James Hopes (hamstring).

''Our balance has been thrown out a bit. With Hopes going out of the side, Brett [Lee], our most-experienced bowler, out of the side our batting was our strongest suit … so chasing runs I thought was going to suit the make-up of our side,'' Ponting said. ''All the reasoning behind winning the toss and bowling was there. We just didn't play well enough to back that up today.''

The return of Ben Hilfenhaus to the side after spending 13 of Australia's previous 14 matches as an unused squad member was not a successful one, smashed for 1-83 from his 10 overs. Ponting said the Tasmanian was deservedly picked ahead of Doug Bollinger, despite the NSW left-arm paceman having played more recently than Hilfenhaus - and in India, in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

INDIA wins 2nd odi

was a much awaiting day for cricket-crazy Indians to see India winning over World champion Australia in the 2nd ODI, at Vidharbha Cricket Association sports ground, Nagpur, on 29th October. The victory came under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni who made a brilliant century with 3 sixes & 9 boundaries.

Australia let India to bat first after winning the toss. India scored a mammoth total of 354 runs at the loss of 7 wickets. Australia was all out for 255.

Indian batsmen dominated over Australian bowler throughout the game. Sehwag made 40 off 31 balls. Gautam Gambhir gave him full support and made half-century. He scored 76 from 80 balls, but failed badly to convert it into a century. Suresh Raina made a score of 62 from 50 balls.

It was the pathetic Australian bowling that pave the way for Indian victory. Australian bowlers gave lots of extras that helped India score a big total.

Australia lost first wicket at the 5th over of their innings when P Kumar stumped off Tim Paine. Ricky Pontingwas got struck exact in front of the stumps by Kumar.

Several records were made in this match. 354 is the maximum score for India against Australian cricket team in ODIs. The score of 124 runs made by Captain Dhoni is also the maximum score made by a captain of cricket team against the World champions.

South Africa back in Champions Trophy contention

Upset by Sri Lanka in the opening match of the ODI tournament two days ago, the Proteas had to win and did so with relative ease before a large, holiday crowd.

New Zealand were all out for 214 in 47.5 overs and South Africa cruised to 217/5 in 41.1 overs and another win Sunday over England would virtually assure the hosts of a place in the knockout phase.

The 'Black Caps', who may have erred in excluding Jeetan Patel for a match on a spin-friendly pitch, face Sri Lanka and England at the Wanderers stadium and a couple of victories would bring them back into the frame.

AB de Villiers was a fitting match winner, sealing success with a four having top scored for the Proteas with an unbeaten 70 in 76 balls, including nine boundaries.

"This was a big day for us and we stood up to deliver a much improved performance. Our bowlers set the tone in the first 15 overs with good intensity and they hit the right areas hard," said South Africa skipper Graeme Smith.

"It was a clinical job well started and well finished and the result will improve our run rate. Now we are going to prepare well for our match against England."

Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori said: "Our batsmen got bogged down as we sought a competitive score of about 250 runs. Ross (Taylor) and Grant (Elliott) handled the spinners well but the partnership did not last long enough."

Once again Smith won the toss and once again he opted to field on a dry, slow, uneven early season track that gave the spinners assistance in warm, partly cloudy conditions.

Vettori stressed the need to build partnerships, but his plea fell largely on deaf ears with the 71-run stand between Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott a notable exception.

The stubborn 95-ball stand ended when South Africa-born Elliott chose the wrong line and his middle stump was pushed back by a deceptive delivery from spinner Roelof van der Merwe.

Taylor was the top Kiwi scorer with 72 off 106 balls before missing a low full toss and being trapped leg before by revitalised Wayne Parnell, who was voted man of the match.

Opener Brendon McCullum was the only other New Zealand batsman to make an impact, scoring 44 before trying a sweep off Johan Botha and getting a top edge to JP Duminy at short fine leg.

Parnell, rebounding from a nightmare outing against Sri Lanka, finished with five wickets, impressive Van der Merwe and speedster Dale Steyn claimed two apiece and Botha one.

Set a 4.30-runs-an-over target, Smith managed just seven before departing because he played a Daryl Tuffey too early and Vettori took a simple catch at mid-on.

Jacques Kallis was next to go, adding 52 runs for the second wicket with Hisham Amla before an attempted drive off Shane Bond was snapped up by wicketkeeper McCullum.

Although ahead on run rate, South Africa were also struggling to build big partnerships and much-improved Amla returned to the pavilion having made 38 after being trapped leg before by Vettori.

Duminy did not last long, scoring just 11 off 13 balls before becoming the victim of a spectacular McCullum catch after trying a cut that took a bottom edge.

Fast bowlers lead Pakistan to victory

Johannesburg: Fast bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul shared six wickets as Pakistan beat West Indies by five wickets in their ICC Champions Trophy Group A match at the Wanderers on Wednesday.

West Indies, fielding a weakened lineup in the tournament, were dismissed for 133.

Pakistan stuttered in their reply before an unbeaten stand of 58 from Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi guided them home with over 19 overs to spare.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, the West Indies batsmen fell flat as 17-year-old Aamer and Gul reduced them to 47 for seven.

Aamer caught and bowled Dale Richards for a single at the end of the first over and then added the wickets of Travis Dowlin for a duck and David Bernard for six to finish with three for 24 in seven overs.

Gul produced a probing spell of three for 28 in eight overs as he claimed the wickets of Devon Smith (18), captain Floyd Reifer (7) and Chadwick Walton (0), the latter two with successive deliveries.

There was resistance from the West Indies lower-order, however, as Darren Sammy scored 25 and Nikita Miller made 51, his maiden one-day international half-century.

The Wanderers pitch, unlike the flat surface up the road in Centurion, always offered the pacemen some assistance and West Indian opening bowler Gavin Tonge made use of what was available to make Pakistan sweat in their run-chase.

He bowled Imran Nazir for five with his first delivery and then had Kamran Akmal (5), Shoaib Malik (23) and Mohammad Yousuf (23) all caught behind by wicketkeeper Walton.

Misbah-ul-Haq was dismissed by David Bernard for six as Pakistan slipped to 76 for five.

But West Indies' hopes of a dramatic victory dimmed as Umar Akmal played an astute innings, the 19-year-old stroking six fours in his unbeaten 41.

Tri-series win lifts India to 2nd spot in ODI rankings

The Tri-series victory lifted India to the second spot in the latest ODI Cricket rankings. India displayed a gritty show at the final of the Compaq Cup Tri-series against Sri Lanka to beat the hosts by 46 runs at Colombo on Monday.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his ‘Men In Blue’ could barely enjoy the top spot in the ODI rankings, which they achieved after beating New Zealand earlier in the series.

However, just 24 hours after reaching the pinnacle, India slipped to the third place after being beaten by the home side. The same day Australia beat England by seven wickets at Lord’s to sneak ahead into second position.

But India’s triumph at the finals against Sri Lanka propelled them to the second spot, with just one point separating them from the top-rank holders South Africa.

Australia now stands at the third place, again separated by one point from India.

The Kangaroos could easily take-over South Africa’s crown if they manage to clean sweep the 7-match ODI series against England, which they already lead by 5-0. Ricky Ponting and his men will have to win the fifth and sixth match to reach the top place, but will have to win the last match as well to sustain their position.

Sri lankan Tean Attacked!!....

Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in Pakistan when the players were on their way to Gaddafi stadium for the third day’s play of the second Test match.

Six policemen and two civilians have been killed in an attack on the Sri Lankan national cricket team in the Pakistani city of Lahore. Six members of the team were injured. Police were escorting a bus that was taking the players to the stadium to resume play in a match against Pakistan, when it was attacked by masked gunmen. Police describe the attackers as well-trained terrorists.

Unidentified gunmen, believed to be 12 in number and armed with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket launchers, opened fire on the bus carrying the cricketers to Gaddafi stadium in the city.

First ODI result

India finally won altleast one match in NZ.Thanks to the effort of Sehwag, Zaheer and Praveen kumar India managed to win the match and take 1-0 lead in the series.
India after winning the toss decieded to bat first and scored 273-4 in just 38 over.

Cricket schedule for India in local time
Date Against Match Series Location
25 Feb, 09
Wednesday
11:30 AM New Zealand
T20(1/2)
New Zealand vs India Christchurch,New Zealand
27 Feb, 09
Friday
11:30 AM New Zealand
T20(2/2)
New Zealand vs India Wellington,New Zealand
03 Mar, 09
Tuesday
06:30 AM New Zealand
ODI(1/5)
New Zealand vs India Napier,New Zealand
06 Mar, 09
Friday
06:30 AM New Zealand
ODI(2/5)
New Zealand vs India Wellington,New Zealand
08 Mar, 09
Sunday
06:30 AM New Zealand
ODI(3/5)
New Zealand vs India Christchurch,New Zealand
11 Mar, 09
Wednesday
06:30 AM New Zealand
ODI(4/5)
New Zealand vs India Hamilton,New Zealand
14 Mar, 09
Saturday
06:30 AM New Zealand
ODI(5/5)
New Zealand vs India Auckland,New Zealand
19 Mar, 09
Thursday
03:30 AM New Zealand
Test(1/3)
New Zealand vs India Hamilton,New Zealand
27 Mar, 09
Friday
03:30 AM New Zealand
Test(2/3)
New Zealand vs India Napier,New Zealand
04 Apr, 09
Saturday
03:30 AM New Zealand
Test(3/3)
New Zealand vs India Wellington,New Zealand
06 Jun, 09
Saturday
10:00 PM Bangladesh
T20 (ICC)
ICC World Twenty 20 Trent Bridge,England
10 Jun, 09
Wednesday
10:00 PM Ireland
T20 (ICC)
ICC World Twenty 20 Trent Bridge,England