India vs Australia (Warm Up Game)

Aussies Demolished

A bright and sunny day at Cardiff and the match between two giants was about to begin. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni after winning the toss elected to have a bat first. The Indian batting innings was can be divided into two parts according to me. 

Indian Innings.

Karthik celebrates his century

Part 1 : Battle for Runs

Well you can say the Indian innings did not get the best of starts. M.Vijay  departed in the 3rd over of the innings. He was out LBW bowled by Mitchell Starc. India were 4/1. In came Virat Kohli, the centurion of the previous match, but even the centurion failed today as he departed for just 9 runs. OUT caught behind by Wade bowled by Starc. Next up was Rohit Sharma. He hit two lusty fours to gain confidence and was looking good and easy at the crease but alas! he wanted to play with a ball swinging inside and unluckily chops it on to his stumps. The ball would have missed by a long way had he left it alone. India now were 39/3 and in came the Chennai Savior Suresh Raina but he too did not trouble the scorers much and had a duck attached beside his name at the score board. Wickets kept on falling and Dhawan stood on one side watching it but  he too lost his patience at the end and played a rather strange pull short toward mid on only to be caught in the 30 yard circle giving Jhonson his first wicket. Now the score card read 55/5 and now you can clearly understand why this part is named as battle for runs.

But as we know, every cloud has a silver lining. Infact the Indian team had two. Mahenda Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik.

Part 2 : Battle for Wickets

This part of our story has two heroes. The two wicket keeper batsman of India. Dinesh and Dhoni (D2). So as we saw the Australians celebrate the 5 wickets, we also saw some very gloomy and desperate faces in the Aussie side for the next 30.2 overs.

These two put up a partnership of 211 for the sixth wicket before Dhoni departed for an astounding 91 of 77 balls innings. Karthik remained unbeaten on 146 of 140 balls. These two manhandled the Australian attack and sent them to every parts of the ground. I doubt if any part was left to be hit inside the ground. Dhoni before departing made sure that this partnership had done the damage required. Jadeja at the end played a mini cameo making 14 of just six balls to make sure India crossed the 300 mark. Dinesh Karthik in his 146 run innings hit 17x4 and 1x6 and Dhoni hit 6x4 and 4x6. May i remind you that Karthik was dropped on 110 by the skipper George Bailey which made 30+ runs difference in the total.

At the end India put up a huge total of 308/6 ,thanks to Karthik and Dhoni

McCay and Starc got 2 wickets each and 1 each for Jhoonson and Faulkner.

Australian Innings

Australian innings for me was full of boredom. 9 Australians could not even make it to the double digit figures. The top scorer was Adam Voges who made 23 of 49 balls and second best by Phill Hughes who made 14. The rest just came in and went away. At the end Australia could only manage 65 runs and lost by a humongous margin of 243 runs. I've really never seen Aussies losing so bad before. Four of the 11 batsman were OUT by chopping the ball on to their stumps. Pity!!

Star of Indian bowling was Umesh Yadav who rattled the top order taking a five wicket haul. His final figures being 18/5 in 5 overs. Ishant Sharma took 3 for 11 runs and Ashwin got 1 wicket. Indian pacers truly played to their potential today.  Just the right time for Indian pacers to get into good rhythm. The only concern for India is the top order which as failed not once but twice. But Dhawan and Vijay are match winners, So you never know. 

#Best of Luck to India for the tournament

India Vs Australia

Pre match predictions

A charged up Indian side will clash with a rather down in morale side. India who won it's first practice game against Sri Lanka will look forward to win it's second practice game and be brimmed with confidence before the commencement of the tournament. Australia on the other hand after loosing 4-0 in the test series against India will be looking forward to cover that scar by defeating India today. Whereas India will look forward to make that streak 5-0. But not to forget it's a one day match so you never know. The last match between these two was played at Sydney Cricket Ground in the Commonwealth Bank Series 2012, and Australia thrashed India by a big margin of 87 runs.

Also to note that the recent side of Australia though a young one is a well balanced side. The opening of the Aussies will be powered by the hard hitter Watson and Warner and the middle order will be anchored by the experienced captain Michael Clarke along with George Bailey, Phill Hughes and Mathew Wade. The role lower order all rounders of team will be played by Glen Maxwell the million dollar baby and James Faulkner. And the tail enders also have some good and clean hitters viz. Clint McCay, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Stark. The fast bowling department will be under Mitchell Jhonson and Mitchell Stark along with Mitchell Marsh and Shane Watson ans spin will be lead by Xavier Doherty and moat probably Maxwell.

On the other hand I feel Indian squad is a better balanced side in terms of batting and spin bowling. The only concern for the Indian squad will be it's pace department. Indian pacers were taken for plenty against their first practice match so they would also wish to make a strong comeback and prove their selection worth. The Indian top order though failed in the first test will likely be eager to make a strong comeback. Not to forget how Shikhar Dhawan manhandled the Australian pace ans spin attack on his test debut. So the Indian top order wil be decorated by the likes of Dhawan, Vijay, Kohli and Raina. The middle order will be supported by Karthik, Sharma and Dhoni. Allrounders like Jadeja and Ashwin will be pretty handy at the lower order and tail enders like Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Amit Mishra will play some small cameos. Pace department will be handled by Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav while spinners Ashwin, Mishra and Jadeja will have the responsibility of tangling the Aussie Batsman in their spin web.

Lastly to conclude, it's a 50% game per side. Both sides are nearly equal and difficult to choose from. So stick to your television sets ans enjoy the mega match.

England Vs New Zealand

New Zealand wins as Guptill creates History.

Yet another century from the New Zealander Martin Guptil helped the Kiwis to register their second ODI victory against the Englishmen. Guptill who top scored in the match was the man of the match. Guptill's score of 189* is his personal best and also the highest score in ODI by any New Zealand batsman. His 189 of 155 balls included 19 fours and 2 huge maximums. He also equalled the record of Sir Vivian Richards who in 1984 made 189 in a 55 over match.

Martin who scored a century in the first match and also the second match helped his team register two consecutive wins and lead the 3 match series by 2-0. This will surely heal the wounds of defeat of the test series. Batting first New Zealand with the valiant knock from Guptill along with Ross Taylor's 60, McCullum's quick 40 and Williamson's sensible 55 posted a huge total of 359 for the loss of just three wickets. Anderson got two wickets and Swann got one.

England had to chase down a difficult target, but with the bating lineup they had, it was quite possible.If England wanted to win they would have had to break it's previous best chase of 306 against Pakistan in Karachi But sadly today was not their day. In the first innings where every pair of the kiwi team had good partnerships, in this innings no one had it. Johnathan Trott was the one who stood on one end as an anchor and watched his team mates depart regularly. Trott made unbeaten 109 but did not get the required support from the other end. Alastair Cook(34), Joe Root(28), James Anderson(28), Ian Bell(25) and Eoin Morgan(21) contributed. At the end England could only manage to make 273 in 44.1 overs. Michelle McCulligan took 3 wickets, Williamson got 2 and 1 each for Mills, Breswell, Nathan McCullum and Elliot.

New Zealand's 359 against England is it's highest against this team. The previous best being 340 at Napier in 2008. Martin Guptill broke the record of his country man Luke Vincent who before this match with his 172 runs innings held the record for highest runs by a Kiwi. He made 172 against Zimmabave in 2005 at Bulavaio. Guptill now holds the record for the fourth highest runs scored by a batsman in an ODI innings. With this win New Zealand has made it clear that they will not be an easy team to get away with in this Champions Trophy. On the other side England is now desperate for a win before the commencement of the tournament to boost it's confidence.

India vs Sri lanka Practice match

Practice match at Birmingham

A chilly morning at Birmingham and cold winds blowing, made every one feel that this day would favor the bowlers. But what happened in the next 7 and a half hours was worth watching.

The bowlers of both the team were found looking for shelter. And the wicket became a batsman's paradise. On the morning Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first. From the very first over it looked to be Sri Lanka's game as the openers Dilshan and Perera smashed the Indian bowlers to every part of the ground. A century partnership between these two ensured that their team made a huge total on the board.Dilshan made 84 and Perera scored 82. After this they retired to let their other teammates have a bat on this track. After this Sangakara, Jayavardhane, Thisara and Chandimal played some cameos to help their team score 333/3. A huge total was put forward for Indian batsmen.

India did not get the best of starts and lost Shikhar Dhawan for 1 run. Next was M.Vijay who fell for just 18 runs. Rohit Sharma who had an exemplary IPL season could not do justice to his T20 form and fell for just 5 runs. Raina and Kohli had a small but good partnership but Raina fell for 34 runs as he was bowled by Senanaike. At 110/4 India looked on backfoot and in trouble. But the new batsman Karthik and Kohli had other plans. They first played slowly and sensibly and then accelerated at the right time. Kohli completed his century in just 86 balls and made 144 before getting to a slower ball. But before getting out he ensured that his 186 run partnership with the birthday boy Karthik helped India to register it's first win. Karthik too completed his century in 80 something balls and made 108 runs and finished the game with a four towards off side. Dhoni also made 18 runs and had an unbeaten 41 run partnership with Karthik.
Though this was a practice match, this win will boost the confidence of Indian team and it's batsman.

The only concern for both teams will be the bowling department which has to click along with the batting unit if they wish to win this prestigious trophy.