World Of Cricket

Hyderabad: India beat Australia in the 2nd test to go 2-0 up in a 4 match test series.

Cheteshwar Pujara was declared the man of the match © BCCI

India after a bad run against England and Australia in Australia lifts their spirits after thumping Australia in first 2 tests of 4 match test series. Australia will have to do something special to get back into this series, India has won both the test matches quite convincingly and they will come hard against the Aussies again in the third test.

Earlier Australia started the day with 2 down for 74 they were certainly hoping to put up a better batting performance. But it didn’t happen as Indian spinners took complete control over the match.

Shane Watson was the first dismissal of the day when he nicked one through to Dhoni, Ishant Sharma in the process also got his first wicket in the series which is dominated by spinners.

Michael Clarke who has carried Australian batting on his shoulders uptill now in the series was the next one to go when he was bowled by Jadeja for the second time in this match.

From their on a collapse was triggered and India rattled the last six of Australian batters for just 23. Jadeja after claiming Clarke’s wicket soon dismissed Cowan who was also the highest scorer for Australia with 44. Jadeja also showed glimpses of his fielding effort when a direct hit from him ended Henriques stay.

Ashwin then joined the party he and Jadeja destroyed Australian tail Ashwin in the process also claimed another 5 for, he is having a dream series. In the end India won by an innings and 135 runs a huge victory, this is also the first time when a team has lost a game by an innings after declaring in first innings.

This victory will lift the spirits of Indians going into the third test whereas Australia will have to do lots of thinking before the next match. Michael Clarke is having a fine series with the bat but he will need much more support from his other mates. The next match starts on 14th march.

India are well on their way to claim a strong 2-0 lead over Australia in a 4 match test series.

Cheteshwar Pujara scored his second double-century © BCCI

India takes another step towards victory on day 3 of 2nd test against Australia. Pujara and Vijay started the day where they left it, both played with complete command they batted in a partnership of over 350. India will be very proud of performance of their young guns.

The day started with India well ahead of the game they had a lead of 74 with 9 wickets in hand, Pujara and Vijay stroked the ball to all parts of the ground they were batting with ease and command, a special effort was required to dismantle the pair.

Finally, after a long wait Maxwell the debutant got the wicket of Murali Vijay who after playing a masterclass innings of 167 was caught at short leg. Soon after Vijay’s dismissal Pujara reached his second double ton when he found the gap between mid on and midwicket, the innings of Pujara had everything in it, it was a classy innings from a emerging young star.

Australian bowlers on the other were disappointing they were waiting for things to happen their body language was down and out, their spinners could not perform as well as they would have liked to, their spinning department is the one thing that they will be worried about.

Australian bowlers did not create to much pressure on Indian batters after the early loss of Sehwag which resulted in a big partnership between Vijay and Pujara. But Pujara soon after reaching to his double century was dismissed but not before he injected the damage.

Tendulkar soon followed him after a faint edge was taken by the keeper. After Tendulkar’s dismissal Dhoni blasted a few to take India over past 450. Dhoni was in aggressive mood which led to his dismissal he smashed the ball straight towards Doherty who grabbed the ball on the second attempt.

With the fall of Dhoni a collapse was triggered, the final five wickets could only add 43 runs which took India’s total to over 500. India ended their innings on 503 with a mountainous lead of 266.

Warner and Cowan started the innings this time hoping to stay a bit longer and bat more sensibly against the spinners specially, Both batted through the tricky new ball period, the new ball was shared by Kumar and Ashwin but as soon as spinners were introduced from both end the run making was slowed down which led to first Warner’s wicket and then Hughes both batsmen were attempting sweep shots against Ashwin and both failed.

Watson then joined Cowan and both made sure that they don’t lose any other wicket on day 3. India are still well ahead of Australia in the game. Australia would like to bat with positive intent on day 4 whereas India will be looking to wrap up the match quickly.

Chennai: Micheal Clarke’s century helped Australia to score 316 runs on first day of the test match. Ashwin took 6 wickets but he did not get support from other bowlers.

Australian on top despite Ashwin’s six wickets

Australian captain Micheal Clarke won the toss and choose to bat at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. David Warner scored 59 runs but despite of that Australians were 153-5 at one stage. Micheal Clarke and Henriques played well for 151 runs partnership. The wicket was not easy and there was a turn on pitch and Indians played with 5 bowlers, 3 spinners and 2 pacers. Micheal Clarke played well against spinners and scored a century and he is still at the crease scoring 103 runs.

Ashwin took 6 wickets but no one from the other end supported him.Catch was dropped from Virender Sehwag and stumping chance was also missed by MS Dhoni. When Micheal Clarke was on on 39 runs, he was not given out by empire as he was clearly out. He would have been out 0n 39 runs if there was DRS in this match. Australia is in a good position at the moment as Michal Clarke is still at the crease. Australians are in a position from where they can put pressure on Indians. MS Dhoni has to come with better plans t get Australia out as early as possible.

Chennai: India scored 451 runs and Australians were follow on in the 1st innings after scoring 235 runs. But in the 2nd innings Australia played well and scored 195-3.

Australians are in the a good position after being forced to follow on

Chennai: After being forced to follow on Australians batted well and they are in a very good position in the warm up game against India-A.Gautam Gambir, captain of India-A won the toss and opted to bat first. Gautam Gambhir was dropped in Indian squad after a long time and he proved himself by scoring 112 runs. His innings include 3 sixes and 13 fours. He was well supported  by Rohit Sharma and MK Tiwary. Rohit Sharma scored 77 runs while MK Tiwary scored 129 runs.

In reply, Australia scored 235 runs. Watson and Cowan started well but after that no batsman occupied the crease. Rakesh Dhurv took 5 for 51 and Jalaj S Saxena took 4 for 61. Australians were forced to follow-on. In the second innings Australia started well and they are 193-5 at the moment. Watson and Cowan both scored fifties for their teams. Usman Khawaja and Wade are still at the crease and Austrlians are in a good position now.

Brisbane: T20 World Champions West Indies beat Australia in Australia for the first time since Feb 1, 1997.

T20 World Champions beat Australia in Australia for the first time since Feb 1, 1997

Batting first, West Indies scored 191-6 which was a very good score. Charles once again played well with scoring 57 match winning runs. He was well backed by DM Bravo and Pollard who scored 32 and 26 runs respectively. Chris Gayle lost his wicket at the early stage but Charles and DM Bravo played well. 191 was a very score and difficult to chase. This victory will certainly give West Indies fans something to cheer.

In reply Australia tried hard and scored 164-8. Voges scored 51 runs but this was not enough to stop world champions West Indies from victory. With this victory, West Indies beat Australia in Australia for the first time since Feb 1, 1997. Pollard was the man of the match. Pollard said: “We got a really good score on the board. Hopefully we can improve our 50-over game as well. Took me a couple of games too late to find form. We’ve got to get the team balance right to win more consistently”.

West Indies were playing without Marlon Samules who played a match winning role in the World T20 World Cup. He is suffering from eye injury. On the other hand Australians were also playing without David Warner and Shane Watson who are in India. It was a very good match and both the teams played well and at the end it was West Indies who hold their nerves and showed why they are World Champions.

Melbourne: Australia won fifth ODI and they won the series by 5-0.With this victory, Australia extended their record to 17 consecutive victories over West Indies in Australia. Last time West Indies won in 1997 in Perth.

Australia clean sweep West Indies

In the absence of Michael Clarke, David Warner, George Bailey, Matthew Wade and Glenn Maxwell,it was not easy for young players. But under captaincy of Shane Watson Australia dominated and completed a 5-0 clean sweep. Batting first Australia scored 274-5 which was a very good total against West Indies. Adam Voges scored his first international century. Adam Voges scored an unbeaten 112 runs that helped Australia to post a huge total against West Indies.

In reply, West Indies failed to chase the target and were all out on 257.  Johnson Charles scored a beautiful hundred but that was not enough to stop West Indies from clean sweep. Kieron Pollard, who scored a hundred in the last game tried hard but unfortunately he got out. It was a disappointing tour for West Indies and they maintained their ODI ranking.West Indies only rank above sides like Bangladesh in Tests and ODI matches so 5-0 was not a surprising result .

Australians are looking forward to their tour to India which will be a challenge for them. This 5-0 victory will boost their confidence. Shane Watson is also fit and he will soon start his bowling practice as well. Usman Khawaja,basically from Pakistan, is known as Australia’s next in line and he has shown good performance for Prime Minister’s XI game a week back.Already this season he is the Sheffield Shield’s third leading run-scorer despite of missing 2 games. Usman Khawaja who is currently in India will be a key for Indian tour.