sponsored by

Your Ad Here

Monday, August 6, 2012

C r i c H o t L i n e

C r i c H o t L i n e

England – South Africa 2nd Test end in a thrilling draw

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:54 PM PDT


Kevin Pietersen enjoyed rare success as a bowler and Stuart Broad took five wickets, as England gave South Africa some anxious moments before the second Test ended in a draw at Headingley on Monday.

The result means South Africa go into the third and final Test at Lord’s on August 16 with a 1-0 lead, with England needing to win to prevent South Africa from taking over their number one place in the Test rankings. South Africa-born Pietersen followed up a thrilling century in the first innings by taking the first three wickets with his occasional off-spin bowling, despite never having taken more than one wicket in an innings in 87 previous Test matches.

Broad then took five wickets in 37 balls before South Africa declared at 258 for 9, leaving England an improbable 253 to win in 39 overs. They made 130 for four before the players agreed to a draw with six overs remaining.England opened the batting with Pietersen, who hit 149 in the first innings, and the star of the match hit three fours in the first over from Morne Morkel.But he was caught at mid-on on 12 when he mistimed a drive against Vernon Philander without scoring any further runs.

Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss tried to keep the scoring rate close to the required rate of almost six-and-a-half runs an over. But the chase ended after Strauss hit a full toss straight back to offspinner JP Duminy while on 22, Cook fell to Dale Steyn four short of his half-century and Matt Prior was run out for seven. Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell batted together for an hour before the players shook hands.

An entertaining final afternoon did not seem likely on a rain-hit morning as Jacques Rudolph and Graeme Smith progressed serenely to an opening partnership of 120. Play was twice interrupted by rain and only 21 overs were bowled, despite lunch being delayed by half an hour. Pietersen struck with his second ball, trapping Rudolph lbw in the last over before lunch – the second time in the match Pietersen had dismissed Rudolph with his second ball – and followed up in his second over after lunch with Smith’s wicket.

It was the start of a hectic afternoon in which 116 runs were scored for six wickets in 27 overs. While Pietersen prised open the South African batting, also dismissing Hashim Amla, he leaked runs with some loose deliveries. After he had taken three for 52 in nine overs, captain Strauss took him off and brought back fast bowler Broad. With his fourth ball Broad trapped AB de Villiers lbw, ending an enterprising innings of 44 off 45 balls.

He won another verdict against JP Duminy off his next ball and followed up with the wickets of Philander and Jacques Kallis before tea and Morkel soon after the interval, as South Africa sought quick runs before declaring. Broad finished with 69 for 5, with all his wickets taken for 29 runs in 37 balls.

Although both James Anderson and Stuart Broad produced some hostile deliveries on an overcast morning, Rudolph (69) played some stylish strokes, while captain Smith was solid.Rudolph, returning to what was his home ground during five years playing for English county Yorkshire, drove fluently to reach his half-century off 92 balls with nine fours. He also had an all-run four and added another three boundaries in facing another 30 deliveries before his dismissal.

Rudolph was opening the batting in place of Alviro Petersen, who batted at number eight after he suffered a hamstring injury while making top score of 182 in the first innings.

Live Cricket Streaming: India vs Sri Lanka only T20 #IndvSL Ten Cricket

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 11:29 AM PDT


India have won the ODI series with a 4-1 against Sri Lanka and are now the no. 2 in ICC ODI rankings. Team India have played superbly on the tour with both batsman and bowlers performing well. MS Dhoni, skipper Indian team still feels there a lot of improvement needed in the team. India will now come up against Sri Lanka for a one-off T20 and will definitely like to continue the momentum. With T20 World Cup round the corner the series has been good start for India.

India have faced Sri Lanka in 4 T20 matches so far and both teams have won 2 games each. India will definitely try to get an upper hand here on the last match of the tour. Sri Lanka on the other hand will look to get over their mistakes and get the momentum back. They tried to restrict India but batting and fielding led them down. They seriously need to work on those as T20 world Cup is around the corner.

Demand of live streaming of cricket matches is on a rise and its also difficult to find good working links as well. Most of the links are redirected to other domains while some make you click hundreds of links without taking you to the streaming page.

Here are list of the genuine cricket live streaming link which works all the time:

India vs Sri Lanka only T20 Live :

1. http://thecrictv.com

2. http://thecricket-tv.info

3. http://thecricctv.blogspot.com

4. http://thecrickettvvinfoo.blogspot.com

England vs South Africa Day 5 Highlights 2nd Test #EngvSA Leeds 2012

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 09:46 AM PDT


England vs South Africa highlights of the Day 5 of the 2nd Test played at Headingley, Leeds, England on 06 August 2012. Day 5 Highlights of South Africa vs England will be posted here. Watch out for the highlights of the South Africa tour of England 2012 here.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Check out the preview of 2nd Test here and for live scores go here

Preview: India vs Sri Lanka only T20 Pallekele #IndvSL 2012

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 08:30 AM PDT


The world number two ranking clinched following a dominating 4-1 triumph in ODIs, India will now look to stamp their authority against Sri Lanka in the only Twenty20 international on Tuesday.

India’s domination was reflected in the margin of victory and they would look to carry their rampaging form to the shortest version of cricket as well.

Sri Lanka and India have played only four T20s since 2009, with both teams winning two each and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men will look to gain an upperhand.

The match also holds prominence considering the fact that the T20 World Cup is round the corners and it would be hosted by Sri Lanka from September 18.

The Indian team had a smooth comeback to international cricket after a rather long break. Their batters fared well and so did the bowlers.

Even allrounders such as Irfan Pathan performed satisfactorily, prompting coach Duncan Fletcher to say that he would soon command a regular place in the ODI team.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had nothing to show beside the only victory in the second ODI in the five-match series and the hosts will now pin hopes on their young guns in the T20 international.

Sri Lanka’s problems were many. Losing Kumar Sangakkara through injury and having to contend with a below par Lasith Malinga and a Mahela Jayawardene reluctant to take more responsibility up the order.

The silver lining, however, in the dark clouds was the unexpected gutsy performances of some of the lesser known names such as the left-handed Lahiru Thirimanne and Jeewan Mendis, not so young in terms of age.

“Very encouraging to see guys like Thirimanne and Mendis joining the show. We always depend on the likes of Sangakkaras, Jayawardenes and Dilshans to win games for us. We saw the guts Thirimanne and Mendis had. They almost pulled it through,” Acting captain Angelo Mathews had said after the final ODI.

Among the seniors, Tillakaratne Dilshan has failed to fire in the ODI series. A solitary 50 was what he managed and there were a couple of single digit scores underlining Sri Lanka’s woeful batting.

Jayawardene, who should return after rather inexplicably opting to stay out of the final ODI, himself made only one 50 plus score in the ODIs. Chandimal who was pushed up the order to take charge was also not able to turn things around.

Sri Lanka’s bowling worries are even more acute than their batting. No bowler was able to make the desired impact on the Indian batsmen. Thisara Perera showed only a glimpse of the form he showed against the Pakistanis.

With not so happy resources at command, it would be a big ask for the Sri Lankans to try and stop the Indians running away with T20 win to cap off an excellent tour of the island.

Team:

India (probable): Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, MS Dhoni (wk&c), Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan

Sri Lanka (probable): Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene (c), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath, Jeevan Mendis, Isuru Udana

Time: 19:00 local (19:00 IST)

Daniel Vettori doubtful for India tour: Ross Taylor

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 08:06 AM PDT


New Zealand captain Ross Taylor on Monday admitted the ace spinner Daniel Vettori is unlikely to be available for the tour of India later this month, after suffering a groin injury during their recently concluded tour of the West Indies.

"It’s not looking likely at this stage … there’s a 90 per cent chance he won’t be there," Taylor was quoted as saying by The Australian.

The 33-year-old left-arm spinner managed to play on despite suffering an adductor strain in the first Test, wherein New Zealand suffered a crushing loss by nine wickets at Antigua against the West Indies.

Vettori eventually had to miss the second Test against the Caribbean side at Kingston, which the home side won by five wickets.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) physiotherapist Paul Close said, “Dan will return to New Zealand where he will be monitored closely and undergo a period of rehabilitation."

Senior New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum had also hinted earlier that the former captain of the Black Caps is unlikely to tour India.

“He will require a rest from bowling and his return date will be determined by how well he responds to the treatment," he added.

“It’s a huge loss, not just for his performance on the field which he has done for a number of years consistently – he has really led us from that point of view – but also what he offers us in the changing room,” McCullum told New Zealand Herald.

"When you’re out on the field you know that he has that experience to call on for some of the younger bowlers and even the batters as well.

"He’s had a phenomenal career so far and we hope he rests up, gets himself recuperated and he comes back in a couple of months’ time for us and we’re able to gel him back into a team that is performing a bit better than of late," he added.

Virat Kohli rise to no. 2 spot in ICC ODI Rankings

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 02:04 AM PDT


Virat Kohli achieved his career-best ranking as he gained one position to be at second spot in the latest ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, which was released on Sunday.

Kohli, who entered the India-Sri Lanka five-match ODI series as the third-ranked batsman, climbed to no. 2 following his player-of-the-series performance, in which he scored 296 runs.

The former India Under-19 captain, who led his side to victory in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2008 in Malaysia, also achieved a career-best rating of 866 after the fourth ODI, in which he scored 128 not out in India’s six-wicket victory.

Kohli now trails South Africa’s Hashim Amla by 13 ratings points and can potentially top the batting chart if the Proteas opener fails to perform in the five-ODI series against England, starting on August 24 in Cardiff.

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has also broken into the top 10, which means India now has three batsmen inside the top 10 with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni sitting in fifth position.

Gambhir scored 258 runs in the series and has been rewarded with a jump of seven places, which has put him in 10th position.

Other Indian batsmen, who climbed up the order include Virender Sehwag in 26th (up by one) and Suresh Raina in 30th (up by two), while Rohit Sharma has slipped eight places to be at 54th.

There is no movement in the top 20 of the ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers.

In the ICC ODI Championship table, India’s 4-1 victory has helped them move up the ranking.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men now sit in second place when ratings points are calculated to within the decimal point, despite being on equal points with Australia.

The annual ICC ODI Championship update will now take place. The exact table after the annual update will be confirmed on August 8. (PTI)
Posted by MohammaD IsmaiL at 1:15 PM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)