Chasing a target of 222 for victory Australians bundled out for 208 to give Sri Lanka a consolation win in their last league match at MCG. Austrlians started their run chase in great fashion especially Adam Gilchrist who hit quick fire fifty in just 35 balls with four 4's and one huge six.
James Hopes (28 runs of 42 balls) on the other end playing sensible cricket and with Gilchrist (83 runs of 50 balls) he put on 107 runs in 14.4 overs. Once Adam Gilchrist was dismissed Australia batsman followed one another and from 107 without loss they were reduced to 142/7. With Ricky Ponting manage to add just 1 runs to his account, M.Clark and A.Symonds both departed without troubling the scorer. M.Hussey and B.Haddin also manage just 5 and 7 runs respectively.
Six wickets went for 16 runs between the 14th and the 24th over as Sri Lankan seamers, Nuwan Kulasekara and Ishara Amerasinghe, turned the screws on the Aussies.
However B.Hogg (21 runs of 35 balls), B.Lee (37 runs of 59 balls) and N.Bracken(14* of 26 balls) kept Australia in the hunt till 48th over before S.Jayasurya wrapp up the Australian innings when he bowled B.Lee on very first ball of 49th over.
Earlier Sri Lankan captain M.Jayawardne won the toss and decided to bat first. However there opener once again fail to give the team start they were looking for. Sri Lanka had lost their first four batsmen with just 61 on the board. However, Dilshan shared a 64-run stand with skipper Jayawardene (50), and later put together a 60-run partnership with Chamara Silva, who got a useful 35, to help Sri Lanka put up a competitive score of 221 in 50 overs.
Dilshan (62) looked like getting Sri Lanka close to the 250-run mark until he lost his wicket going for a cheeky single, failing to beat Hopes' under-arm flick.
N.Bracken was pick-of the bowler taking four wickets for just 29 runs in his quota of 10 overs while Brett Lee picked two wicket. M.Johnson, J.Hopes and B.Hogg bagged one wicket each.
Match Summary
Sri Lanka – 221/10 in 50 Overs
T.Dilshan– 62M.Jayawardene– 52
N.Bracken – 10-3-29-4B.Lee- 10-1-55-2
Australia – 208/10 in 48.1 Overs
A.Gilchrist– 83B.Lee – 37
I.Amarsinghe – 10-2-44-3N.Kulasekara- 10-3-36-2
Highlights - Australia Vs Sri Lanka 12th ODI CB Series
Indian team at Hobart played an outstanding cricket both with bat and ball to beat the Sri Lanka by seven wickets to enter the Final of CB Series. Not only they beat the Lankan’s but they found a genuine line and length another medium-pacer for an option.
Chasing a small target of 180 runs for victory India achieve the target with ease in 32.2 overs with the loss of three wicket. India got of to flying start by their new opening pair Sachin Tendulkar and Robin Uthappa. However Robin Uthappa (11 runs of 9 balls)didn’t last longer when he gave a simple catch to mid-on .
In-form batsman Gautam Gambhir carried his form where he left-out in the last match against Australia and with Sachin Tendulkar he put on 102 runs for the 2nd wicket. Sachin Tendulkar struck the ball well from the word go and looked in great nick. He played some fine cover drives and sweetly-timed flicks and looked set for a big score. However, he was out for 63 when he tried to lift off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan over mid-off but caught by Chamara Silva. His 54-ball knock included 10 hits to the fence.
After Tendulkar's departure, Yuvraj played some big shots and looked in good nick before he was caught by Tilllakaratne Dilshan off Dilruwan Perera for 36, which came off 35 balls including three fours and a six.
Gambhir, who remained unbeaten on 63 off 89 balls with five hits to the boundary, played yet another match-winning knock and in the company of young Rohit Sharma (three not out) took India to the final with 17 points to their credit.
Earlier Indian captain M.S. Dhoni won the toss and put Sri Lanka into bat. Sri Lanka go of to superb start and at one stage they were 72/1 in 14 overs, however Praveen struck three deadly blows, removing a well set Sangakkara, skipper Jayawardene and Chamara Silva to leave the Lankan’s at 81/4 in 19th over.
But the biggest blow was dealt by another all-rounder, Irfan Pathan, when he had danger man Jayasuriya caught behind the wicket for 34 off 44 balls with two fours and a six to reduce Sri Lanka to 81-5.
Ishant Sharma brought into the attack at that stage and he did exactly what was required removing T.Dilshan leg before the wicket for eight, which came off 12 balls. Soon after he had Chaminda Vaas caught by Gautam Gambhir at mid-wicket off an attempted hook shot for no score to reduce the Lankans to a sorry looking 93-7 off 26 overs.
However some valiant effort from the tail enders and C.Kapugdra (57 runs of 86 balls) gave Sri Lanka something to bowl at.
Match Summary
Sri Lanka – 179/10 in 47.1 Overs
KC.Kaupedra– 57S.Jayasurya– 34
P.Kumar – 10-2-31-4I.sharma- 10-0-41-4
India – 180/3 in 32.2 Overs
G.Gambhir– 63*S.Tendulkar – 63
L.Malinga – 6-0-36-1D.Parera- 4-0-17-1
Highlights - India Vs Sri Lanka 11th ODI CB Series
After loosing the close encounter against the Australians on Sunday Indian team gave Sri Lankan’s an outside chance to get into the final, if the Sri Lankan’s able to beat India and Australia in their remaining two matches then Sri Lanka will be the other team to play Australia in best of three final of CB series.
On the other hand if Sri Lanka do beat India at Hobart but looses their last encounter against Australia at MCG then India will go through to the final. But Indian team don’t want to get into this similar equation and want to beat the Lankan’s in tomorrow match to be played at Hobart to secure their place in the Final.
The good thing for the Indians is their few batters are in good form and they will like to go hard at the Sri Lankan’s. The main worry factor for the Indian team is their opening pair Virendra Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar who fails miserably to score up to their reputation. In seven innings Sachin Tendulkar able to score just 128 runs at an average of 18.29.
On the other hand Sri Lankan bowling is excellent through out the tournament but their batsmen fail to score and that is why Sri Lanka team is on the verge of getting out of the tournament. Only two of the Sri Lankan players Kumar Sangkara and M. Jayawardne able to make some runs in the tournament. Main worry factor for them is their dashing opener Sanath Jayasurya who is yet to fire in the tournament.
With the host Australia already into the final, now its only India or Sri Lanka will be one of the other team to make it into the final of CB series. India is having 12 points from seven matches and Sri Lanka is with 6 points in one less match.
Win for India tomorrow at Hobart will throw out the Sri Lankan’s out of the competition. India is likely to go into this match with same playing XI which almost gave the Australians a hard time at Sydney on Sunday. On the other hand Sri Lankan’s might bring N.Kulasekara or C.Kapugeda in place of D.Parera.
Indian captain M.S.Dhoni said “In any case, we would like to seal the match against Sri Lanka and not leave it to the last game between Australia and Sri Lanka. This game is very important for us.” So let’s hope his word will be true otherwise we have to pray for Australian in last league match so they can beat the Sri Lankan’s.
Match will start from 04.30 AM (Indian Time which will be Day Match at Bellerive Oval, Hobart)
Indian team which needed just one win out of their remaining two matches to secure their birth in the Final of CB series. Indian team will be looking to get the job done in the match tomorrow otherwise they have to beat the Lankans in Hobbart on tueseday to get into the finals of CB Series.
On the other hand Sri Lankan fans will be hoping that their team able to win their last two matches and Indian team loss their last two encounters, so there team go through to the finals of CB Series. Since Australia already qualified for the finals with 22 points sitting pretty top in the points table. However they have some concerned over the form of their batting line-up.
All of their batsman fail to make any mark in the series so far except M.Clark, A.Gilchrist and M.Hussey. The main worries for the Australians are the form of their captain Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds. Ricky Ponting has scored mere 64 runs in six outing with an average of 10.66 and Symonds has fared worse, scoring 42 runs at 8.40.
Michael Clarke, meanwhile, has gone from strength to strength in the competition. He has 262 runs to his name from six matches at an average of 65.50 with three fifties.
On the other hand Indians is also worried due to lack of form of their openers Sehwag, Sachin and Gambhir. The best opening stand in the series so far is 68 runs which were made by Sachin Tendulkar and Sehwag against the Sri Lankans in Brisbane, Gabba.
India are relieved at the return to form of Yuvraj in the last game against Sri Lanka and it remains to be seen whether he can carry the momentum in the crucial day-night encounter against the hosts.
India likely to go into this match with seven-four combination, if that is the case then Praveen Kumar will be out from playing XI and Delhi dashing opener V.Sehwag will get the chance. S.Sreesanth is also likely to be sitting out on Sunday. Australian will also like to include Brett Lee into the playing XI giving rest to M.Johnson.
Match will start from 08.45 AM (Indian Time which will be Day/Night Encounter at S.C.G)
Australia won a rain interrupted match by 24 runs on D/L method to enter the final of CB Series. At the stage when heavy showers hit the MCG, Sri Lanka was short by 24 runs to the score that would have won them the game. The Lankans were on 77-4 in 29.3 overs after being set a target of 185 runs by Australia.
Chasing a target of 185 runs for victory Sri Lankan got of to disastrous start and loss two quick wickets for just 3 runs on the board. New opening combination (S.Jayasurya & D. Parera) not able to give their team a start they were looking for. However the most trusted pair K.Sangkara and M.Jayawardne tried to steady the Sri Lankan innings by putting 39 runs for the 3rd wicket.
M.Jayawardne was fluent in the partnership and smashed three boundaries before getting out for 27 runs. Few overs later K.Sangkara also departed when he tried to hit J.Hopes out of the park but manage a simple catch to A.Symonds.
Earlier Sri Lankan captain M.Jaywardne won the toss and put Australia into bat. Australian top order problem continued in this match also when they lost A.Gilchrist (6 runs of 11 balls) in the fifth over of the inning. Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting, both short of runs in the series, hung around for a while with the run-rate hovering around just two runs per over. Australia were crawling rather uncharacteristically and Farveez Maharoof decided to get into the act to aggravate their woes further.
First F.Mehroof get M.Hayden for 39 runs and then a brilliant pick up and throw by Maharoof off his own bowling ended the Australian captain’s struggle in the middle. A.Symonds also fail to make any mark in this match also as he departs for 4 runs leaving his team tattering at 54/4 in 21st Overs.
A solid partnership between M.Clark (50 runs of 69 balls) and M. Hussey (64 runs of 98 balls) which they put on 90 runs for the fifth wicket gave some respectable total for their teams on a wicket which was not good for batting. However they manage only 187 runs for the lost of 7 wickets in allotted 50 overs.
Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni played a cool and sensible inning of 50 runs of 68 balls to guide his team home by two wickets with four balls remaining in one of the closest finish in the tournament so far.
Chasing a target of 239 runs for victory India got of to disastrous start, when L.Malinga clean bowled Sachin Tendulkar for duck with a beauty of delivery. Indian team management sent Robin Uthappa (10 runs of 28 balls) to bat at number three however he also didn’t lasted longer and was run out brilliantly by Sanath Jayasurya to reduce the Indian score to 33/2.
Two overs later Gautam Gambhir who was playing mix with caution and aggression got out caught behind on bowling of I.Amarsinghe for 15 runs and leave his team struggling at 35/3. However the dashing left-hander Yuvraj Singh who has shown some form in the last outing hold the inning together with Rohit Sharma to get pass the score to 50. Both put on 64 runs for the 4th wicket before Rohit Sharma (24 runs of 36 balls) got out at dip-midwicket on the bowling of M.Muralitharan.
However Yuvraj Singh (76 runs of 70 balls) and M.S.Dhoni (50 runs from 68 balls) kept their team in the hunt with some good running between the wicket and by playing some lusty blows between the overs especially by Yuvraj Singh. They put on 59 runs for the fifth wicket, before Yuvraj Singh bowled by superb yorker from Chaminda Vaas in the 33rd over.
With 81 runs more needed in 17 over with five wickets in hand, Indian captain M.S. Dhoni controlled the inning by playing around the rest of the batters to follow and guided his team to 2 wickets win. Irfan Pathan made useful 31 runs.
Earlier Sri Lankan captain won the toss and decided to bat first at Adeliade Oval. However his team got of to shaky start and they lost 2 quick wickets in first three overs of their inning. With both the opener back in the hut now it was up to Sri Lankan captain M.Jayawardne and K.Sangkara to guide his team to post a challenging total for the Indians. They did what was required. Both put on 153 runs for the third wicket to help his team to pile up 238 runs in allotted 50 overs.
M.Jayawardne made 71 runs while Kumar Sangkara made brilliant 128 runs from 156 balls with 12 fours.
Both teams made one changes to their squad. Indian team bring all-rounder Praveen Kumar replacing S Sreesanth in the playing eleven and Sri Lanka recalled Ishara Amarasinghe in place of Nuwan Kulasekara.
K.Sangkara was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant century.
Indian team who is still sitting above the Lankan’s in CB Series points table with eight points will have to beat Sri Lanka tomorrow to take up the gap of points to some more extend between the two teams.
Indian team is likely to back on the theory of playing seven batsman and four bowlers. Sehwag is likely to back in the playing xi while Munaf Patel has to sit out to make room for Delhi dashing opener.
Stung by Sunday's debacle when the young batsmen failed to chase down a meager target of 204 runs against Australia, Indian think tank don’t want to take a chance tomorrow nad they are keen on reverting to its seven-batsmen format as they seek to put is across the islanders to revive their hopes of making it to the final.
With the host Australia already sitting pretty on top of the tables with 17 points is almost certain for the final; however India is at second position with 8 points from five games while Sri Lanka had six points from four matches
Win for India tomorrow at Adelaide oval will make life difficult for the Sri Lankan’s in remaining matches to make it to the final of CB Series. On the other hand a loss tomorrow against Sri Lanka will push them to the bottom of the points table. They will not want a situation where their last league game becomes virtual semi-final. Meanwhile Sri Lanka have played one game less and are taking it easy despite being at bottom of table for now.
M. Jayawardene would likely to go with the five-bowler theory which has worked for his teams. Fast bowler Ishara Amerasinghe, who had to sit out of the last two games after an impressive beginning in his first two games due to side strain is likely to play in this match and will replace Nuwan Kulasekara.
All the three teams have struggled to come to terms with the new white ball and bowlers of all the teams have had a field day. India needs its batsmen to fire big tomorrow if it has to hold back the charge of the Lankans.
Average 1st inning total at Adelaide Oval in last six ODI’s are 212 runs. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni sure would be looking to win the toss and post a big total than the average score to keep themselves in hunt for a place in the final.
Match will start from 08.45 AM (Indian Time which will be Day/Night Encounter at Adelaide Oval)
Australian Selector decided to give their fast bowler a break from the Sunday ODI to be played between India and Australia.
The Australian selectors have also drafted in Victorian David Hussey as cover for Michael Clarke after Clarke suffered a nasty knock to the ribs during Friday night's victory over Sri Lanka.
With the win on Friday at WACA, Perth Australians are sitting top on the table in ongoing CB triangular series. However they will try to win the match at Adelaide Oval to almost certain their place in the final.
On the other hand Indian will be looking to take full advantage of Lee absense from Australian Squad. A victory for India at the Adelaide Oval would open up the gap against Sri Lanka both in terms of points as well as net run-rate.
Indian batting so far in the series has been of mixed bag. Gautam Gambhir is the most successful batsman for India scoring 197 runs with the average of 65.66. Indian captain M.S.Dhoni also came good in triangular series after failure in four match Test series. He has scored 173 runs in four matches with an average of 86.50.
However the main worrying factors for the Indians is the form of their vice captain Yuvraj Singh who has scored a mere 11 runs in three innings he played so far with an average of 3.66. Another batsman who failed to deliver up to his reputation is opening batsman Virendra Sehwag who has scored only 64 runs in four inning with an average of 16.00. Sachin Tendulkar will be also eyeing a big score at batting paradise at Adelaide oval.
Three of the four games involving India are so far rain affected in the series, however there will be no chance of rain tomorrow and that is good news for both the teams to show their class and potential in full game.
Highest total at Adelaide oval is 339/4 by West Indies batting first against Pakistan in 2004-05 and lowest total is 70 by the Australians against New Zealand in 1986
Match will start from 08.45 AM (Indian Time which will be Day/Night Encounter at Adelaide Oval)
Likely Playing XI for Both teams:
Australia: Adam Gilchrist, M.Hayden, R.Ponting (C), Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, James Hopes, S.Clark, Nathan Bracken, Mitchell Johnson, B.Hogg.
Sri Lanka registered their first win of the series to wide open the on going triangular series in Australia. Chasing a revised target of 154 runs in 21 overs, lankans manage to achieve the target in 19th to beat India by 8 wickets.
T. Dilshan was the hero for Sri Lanka in the run chase who scored 62 runs of 59 balls with five fours and one huge six. He came out with Sanath Jayasurya to open the Sri Lankan innings and remain unbeaten till the match was over. Sri Lanka benefited from another reduction in overs and indeed wayward bowling as Jayasuriya let loose, taking S Sreesanth to the cleaners in his first two overs, before two quick wickets somewhat hindered their progress.
S.Sreesanth looks wayward in his three over spell considering 48 runs. He received most hammering from Sanath Jayasurya who hit him for two huge sixes and two fours in an over.
Earlier M.Jayawardne won the toss and put India on to bat. Indians got of to flying start with Sachin Tendlukar and V.Sehwag putting 45 runs in 7.2 overs before V.Sehwag got out on deep third man for 14 runs. In very next over Sachin Tendulkar also fell in the same fashion as Sehwag on the bowling of Mehroof for 32 runs.
Rohit Sharma, who posted his highest one-day score eclipsing his 52 against Pakistan in Jaipur last year passed it by scoring 70 runs of 64 balls, featured in two vital partnerships down the order with first Gautam Gambhir (35) and then captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (31), before both stands ended with run-outs.
Due to heavy rain in the morning play was reduced to 29 over a side. India posted a handsome 195-5 in the allotted 29 overs, which was further reduced from 21 overs with revised target of 154 runs.
T.Dilshan was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant batting performance.
Finally after the gap of 22 long years Indian team able to beat Australia at M.C.G by five wickets with the help of some fine bowling performance by their young fast bowlers. The star of the day were Delhi lads Ishant Sharma who help the Indians to bundle out the world champions for mere 159 runs in 43.1 overs.
Indian did struggle little bit in the process of achieving the target of 160 but some sensible batting by the Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni (17* runs) and Rohit Shamra (39* runs) guided India home by five wickets to get on top of the points table in on going CB series.
Yuvraj Singh (3 runs from 14 balls) dismal performance with the bat continues as he once again failed to deliver the runs with the bat when it’s most needed for his team.
Earlier Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and decided to bat first in Day/Night encounter at MCG. However Australian didn’t get the start from their opener they were looking for, they lost their first wicket in the very first over of their inning when S.Sreesanth trapped Adam Gilchrist in front of the wicket.
After dismissal of Gilchrist, Australia captain Ricky Ponting arrives to the crease in hope to get some runs under his belt, however Ishant Sharma has some other idea he first sent M. Hayden back into the pavilion and then got rid of R.Ponting with the beautiful delivery.
At one stage Australian were tattering at 92/6, but thanks to M.Hussey (65 not out) and B.Lee who put on 56 runs for the seventh wicket. However Irfan Pathan finally break this dangerous looking partnership to give his team a much needed breakthrough. Hussey was not out on 65 as Sreesanth and Ishant came back to polish off the tail in 43.1 overs. The Kerala paceman finished with 3-31, Pathan had two to show along with Harbhajan's one, while captain Dhoni featured with five dismissals including a sharp stumping.
Ishant Sharma was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant bowling performance.
