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

What do others think about Sachin Tendulkar

"Sachin is cricket's God"

- Barry Richards.
.

"He is 99.5 per cent perfect. I'd pay to see him"

- Viv Richards.

.
"I have seen God. He bats at number 4 for India"

- Mathew Hayden

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"There is no shame being beaten by such a great player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don"

- Steve Waugh.

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"I still think Tendulkar is the best batsmen in the world ahead of Steve Waugh and Lara"

- Glenn McGrath.

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"You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon"

- Steve Waugh.


.

"Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime, and I am privileged he played in my time"

- Wasim Akram

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"Sachin Tendulkar is a genius. I'm a mere mortal"

- Brian Lara

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"Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours"

- Michael Kasprowicz.

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"It's scary, where the hell do we bowl to him"

- Allan Border.

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"Yeah mate, but that's with all great players"

- Ian Chappell.

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"He's better than Ben Hur"

- Paul Wilson.

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"There's no doubt about it. He is the best"

- Tony Grieg.

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"Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow - nothing is a problem"

- Geoffrey Boycott.

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"Destined to be a great"

- Barry Richards.

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"You have to watch India in India truly to appreciate the pressure that Sachin Tendulkar is under every time he bats. Outside grounds, people wait until he goes in before paying to enter. They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer"

- Shane Warne