Kumar Sangkara scored a brilliant century for his team to post a challenging 302/7on the board after put into bat by the Pakistan skipper and then their Pace bowler and spinner did a fantastic job to restrict the Pakistanis batsman for just 238/9 to register a 64 runs victory.
Chasing the huge total things didn't go well for Pakistan at any stage as Salman Butt was bowled first ball of the innings by Chaminda Vaas. Thereafter, the spin of young Ajantha Mendis and veterans Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya ensured that Pakistan were never in the chase.
The most talented and hard hitting batsman Misbah-Ul-Haq was the only fire power during Pakistan innings as he smashed 76 runs of just 70 balls with four huge sixes and three fours. But when he came out to bat the asking rate was already climbed to 8.5 runs/over.
Shoaib Mallik was another disappointed performer during Pakistan innings as he went on to pass his fifty which was slow in nature of 76 balls he thrown his wicket away to A.Mendis. He scored 52 runs of 79 balls.
Earlier Shoiab Malik won the toss and put Sri Lanka into bat but his decision was looks cruelled in most people’s eyes since after winning the toss almost each team In the tournament batted first. However his bowlers were war ward right from the word go in their line and length except Sohail Tanvir. Sohail tanvir able to picked up crucial wicket of S.Jayasurya at start.
Sangakkara scored 112, but with Sohail Tanvir getting his first five-wicket haul in ODI's, Sri Lanka ended at 302-7, possibly not as much as they would have liked, but big enough to daunt Pakistan.
After this loss Pakistan chances to making into the finals of Asia Cup is almost over. However there is an outside chance if they went on to wins their last two matches with big margins and India or Sri Lanka have to lost their remaining matches.
Now Sri Lanka will take on Bangladesh in next game of Asia Cup on 30th of June.
A brilliant century by Alok Kapali (115 runs of 96 balls) and some good partnership in the middle of the innings Bangladesh posted a challenging total for the Indians in the first match of Super 4’s Asia Cup.
After wining the toss Bangladesh Captain M.Ashraful has no hesitation in electing to bat first at National Stadium Karachi. His decision was well supported by his opener Tamim Iqbal who smashed 55 runs of just 67 balls before giving a simple catch to M.S.Dhoni behind the wicket on the bowling of Ishant Sharma.
Bangladesh did lost their first wicket very quickly when Nazimuddin dismissed when Bangladesh has 19 runs on the board in the 5th over. However Md. Ashraful and Tamim Iqbal played mixed with caution and aggressions to guide their team to get pass the score of 50 in the 11th over. Both put on 44 runs for the 2nd wicket before M.Gony gets rid of Md. Ashraful to get his first maiden wicket in ODI.
Six over later P.Ojha playing his first One day International gets rid of R.Hasan (25 runs of 34 balls) who was bowled by one of the superb delivery from Ojha. But the partnership which was most dangerous for the Indians was between Alok Kapali and Mahmudullah as they went on to put on 112 runs of just 87 balls for the sixth wicket.
Most successful bowlers from India were P.Ojha and M.Gony both picked up two wickets each. P.Ojha bowled 10 overs and conceded just 43 runs while M.Gony was on expensive side conceding 65 runs in just 8 overs. I.Sharma and R.P.Singh picked up one wicket each.
Now India has to chase down 284 runs in 50 overs to win this match. Indian team made few changes in their squad while going into this match. They have brought M.Gony in place of P.Kumar, P.Ojha making his debut in place of P.Chawla and V.Sehwag rested for R.Uthappa.
India who is flying high on confidence after winning both of there matches in first round will take on Bangladesh in their first match of Super 4’s. India has two points already since they have beaten Pakistan in their group match. So win here will make there task lot easier to make it into the Finals of Asia Cup.
In last year World Cup 2007 Bangladesh beaten India by five wickets to shock the world but if they want to repeat their performance of last world cup then they have to play really well and India have to play really poorly to allow Bangladesh to come up as surprise winners in today’s game.
Dhoni has already warned their team that he would like to win all the matches to carry the momentum into the final of Asia Cup. Indian team already sent warning to the teams playing in the tournament that they can chase down 300 plus runs easily with their strong batting line ups.
The big-hitting Indian batsmen already have developed a liking for the National Stadium track and Dhoni reckons 300 may seem a difficult target for others, but surely not for his team.
The biggest headache for India is lack of form of Rohit Sharma who was not able to perform well in last four five matches he played. However with the likes of Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh in the middle order, India need to relax and bank on these two if their opening duo failed.
Pitch Report
In the last match as we have seen there were no turn and bounce for the spinners and wicket was flat at National Stadium Karachi. So whoever team wins the toss is most likely to bat first and try to set an imposing total on the board.
Stats and trivia
Indian team has hit most number of sixes (26) by any team in the on going Asia Cup. On the other hand Sri Lankan hit 5 sixes while Pakistan and Bangladesh hit 3 each.
Indian team has utilized there power play overs quite effectively by scoring 144 and 151 respectively in their both league matches.
Player to Watch
Dangerous Duo (Viru & Gauti): So far the most threatening opening combination for the opposition Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are in prime form and both will look to repeat their performance to seal a comfortable win against Bangladesh. In 15 ODI’s they average 51.93 partnerships per match.
Raqibul Hasan: The young talented left hander performed well against the Indians in the last match which was played at Bangladesh in Kitply Cup this lad scored a brilliant 89 runs for his team. Bangladesh must be hoping a similar kind of performance from him in today’s game against the Indians.
Team News
Irfan Pathan who is still recovering from side strain is likely to be rested for today’s game and as per the Indian Coach Garry Kirtsen Indian team may give chance to some of the new comers. So in this case P.Ojha and M.Gony is likely to be included in playing XI. On the other hand Bangladesh may opt of dropping Shahadat Hossain who went for plenty in the game against Sri Lankan at Lahore bringing Frahad Reja in his place.
Likely Playing XI for both the teams (Match will start from 15:30 PMIndia time)
A special and fastest century by Virendra Sehwag helped his team to register an easy six wickets win over arch rivals. Chasing a huge total of 300 runs for win Indian team looks in total control of the game and achieved the target in just 42.1 overs with the lost off just four wickets. This win gave India a much awaited victory in Asia Cup against Pakistan after the long gap of twenty years.
Virendra Sehwag just took 80 balls to reach his ninth century with the help of ten blistering 4’s and five huge 6’s. Chasing a target of 300 India lost their first wicket very quickly in the 3rd over for just 12 runs on the board in the face of Gautam Gambhir who was brilliantly caught by Misbah-Ul-Haq in Gully but Virendra Sehwag (119 runs of 95 balls) and Suresh Raina (84 runs of 69 balls) put on a magnificent 198 runs of just 148 balls to helped his team to chase down the score with ease.
Suresh Raina faced 69 balls as he blasted ten fours and three huge sixes in his innings of 84, and looked all set to get his second consecutive century before he carved one straight down Fawad Alam's throat off Rao Ifthikhar Anjum.
Virendra Sehwag after completing his hundred also didn’t last longer as he departed soon after the dismissal of Suresh Raina in trying to hit the leggie Afridi out of the park but managing skier to long off fielder Younis Khan a simple catch.
But Yuvraj Singh (48 runs of 47 balls) and M.S.Dhoni (26* runs of 30 balls) put on 63 runs of 66 balls to get India closer to an emphatic win. India did lost Yuvraj Singh six runs prior to win when he pulled Sohail Tanvir into Salman Butt's hands.
Earlier Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first and scored a formidable 299/4 with the help of brilliant century by their skipper Shoiab Mallik. They got of to slow start but they kept their wicket intact as they scored almost 200 runs in the last 25 overs of their inning.
Both Pakistani’s openers put on 90 runs for the first wicket before P.Chawal gave India a much needed breakthrough getting rid of Salman Butt for 35 runs. But the partnership between Younis Khan and Shoaib Mallik was haunted most as they went on to put 133 runs of just 114 balls.
However Indian bowlers bowled well in depth overs as they lost Younis, Mohammad Yousuf and Shahid Afridi in quick succession which didn’t helped their course to get the quick runs in the final overs.
S.Raina was declared Man of the match for his brilliant 84 runs of 67 balls.
So far both teams registered a comprehensive win against the minnows Hong Kong in their first game of Asia Cup. Last time when these two team mate was in final of Kitply cup which surprisingly India lost by 25 runs. However by seeing at the form of Indians it is very tough ask for the Pakistanis to outplay the Indians in their second game of Asia Cup which will be played at national Stadium Karachi.
Recently both teams have faced each other quite frequently since 2006 and India manages to beat Pakistan on nine occasions out of 14 matches they played since 2006. Indian team looks much stronger than Pakistanis on paper both in batting as well as bowling department. As we have seen the game against Hong Kong where Pakistanis batsman struggle to get going and at one stage they were struggling at 161/7.
Pitch Report
The Pitch at National Stadium Karachi is always provide a superb wickets with full of runs. As we have seen in the last two games played here that as the game progresses pitch provide helps for the spinners so it will be no surprise if both team allow there spinners to bowl more often than their pace bowlers.
Stats and trivia
Pakistan has lost to India only once in Asia Cup of five matches played between them. On three occasions Pakistan came out as winner while one game was washed out.
So far India have played four matches at Karachi wining three of them while loosing one which was way back in 1983.
Player to Watch
Salman Butt: He was dismissed on third ball of innings against Hong Kong for duck but his impressive record against the Indians tells what he is capable of when it matters most. Butt averages 52.93 against the Indians.
Two Dashing Openers Gambhir and Sehwag: Both players has given their team a solid and brisk start and if they continued to play in same fashion then it will be night mare for Pakistanis opening bowlers.
Team News
Yuvraj Singh who was rested during the game against Hong Kong is expected to get a game against the Pakistanis because of his formidable records against the home team. He average 48.58 against Pakistan. If Yuvraj Singh will play then Rohit Sharma have to make a way for his voice captain. Rest of the team will be same. On the other hand Pakistan may opt for same XI that played against minnows Hong Kong.
Likely Playing XI for both the teams (Match will start from 15:30 PMIndia time)
When India posted 374 runs on the board with the help of brilliant century by their captain M.S. Dhoni and Suresh Raina the match was almost in the bag of Indians. The results which are know to everyone even before the start of the game and it was no surprise that Indians able to thrashed the minnows Honk Kong by 256 runs.
Piyush Chawla who claimed his career best figure of 4/23 did the rest of the job to help India to bowl out the Hong Kong for 118 runs in 36.5 overs. Hong Kong was never in the hunt chasing a huge target of 375 runs for victory and they kept on loosing wickets at regular interval except for the 2nd wicket partnership they put on 45 runs. Tabarak Dar (21 runs of 37 balls), James Atkinson (23 runs of 46 balls), Irfan Ahmed (25) and Roy Lamsan (16) are the only Hong Kong batsman who spent some time in the middle to minimize their margin of defeats.
Earlier Indian captain M.S.Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first on a beautiful batting wicket. Indian openers continued their good form as they put on 127 runs in just 14.3 overs. Virendra Sehwag (78 runs of 44 balls) departed in the 15th over which did slow down the Indian run rates but Gautam Gambhir (51 runs of 54 balls) continued to put bad balls to boundary as he reached his fifty in just 51 balls.
In the able company of his Delhi teammate Gambhir, the Nawab of Najafgarh brought up his 28th ODI half-century in no time at all, as he helped shoot up India’s score to 100 in just the 11th over of the match.
It was Najeeb Amar who gave much needed breakthrough for his team when he picked up Virendra Sehwag in 15th over. Four over slated he struck again when he send Delhi dashing left hander back to the pavilion. Rohit Sharma also didn’t lasted longer as he was run out brilliantly by Nadeem Ahmed.
But it was Suresh Raina and M. S. Dhoni who gave India sustainability at the wickets as both went on to score a magnificent hundred. This was Raina maiden century in ODI his previous best were 81*. Both went on to put 166 runs for the 4th wicket before Raina got out on 101 runs of 68 balls in trying to up the tempo at the depth overs.
After S.Raina dismissal, Ms.Dhoni eventually started to blast each and every delivery all around the park to complete his 4th hundred.He remained unbeaten on 109 off 96 balls, hitting six fours and and equal number of sixes.
M.S.Dhoni (109 runs of 99 balls) and Suresh Raina (101 runs of 68 balls) superb century helped India to pile up huge total in their first game of Asia cup against Hong Kong.
Earlier Indian captain M.S.Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first on a beautiful batting wicket. Indian openers continued their good form as they put on 127 runs in just 14.3 overs. Virendra Sehwag (78 runs of 44 balls) departed in the 15th over which did slow down the Indian run rates but Gautam Gambhir (51 runs of 54 balls) continued to put bad balls to boundary as he reached his fifty in just 51 balls.
In the able company of his Delhi teammate Gambhir, the Nawab of Najafgarh brought up his 28th ODI half-century in no time at all, as he helped shoot up India’s score to 100 in just the 11th over of the match.
It was Najeeb Amar who gave much needed breakthrough for his team when he picked up Virendra Sehwag in 15th over. Four over slated he struck again when he send Delhi dashing left hander back to the pavilion. Rohit Sharma also didn’t lasted longer as he was run out brilliantly by Nadeem Ahmed.
But it was Suresh Raina and M. S. Dhoni who gave India sustainability at the wickets as both went on to score a magnificent hundred. This was Raina maiden century in ODI his previous best were 81*. Both went on to put 166 runs for the 4th wicket before Raina got out on 101 runs of 68 balls in trying to up the tempo at the depth overs.
After S.Raina dismissal, Ms.Dhoni eventually started to blast each and every delivery all around the park to complete his 4th hundred. He remained unbeaten on 109 off 96 balls, hitting six fours and and equal number of sixes.
India brought in Manpreet Gony for his first One-Day International, the Punjab medium-pacer, who was one of the discoveries of the IPL.
Indian team will start their Asia Cup campaign with the game against minnows Hong Kong. Hong Kong has already lost their first game against Pakistan by big margin of 155 runs but they will be looking to put up a good performance against the Indians.
India is one of the favorite’s team to win the title and if they do so then it will be their fifth Asia Cup win. The last win came thirteen years back in 1995. Indian team couldn’t have asked for an easier start to their Asia Cup clash title since they will face Hong Kong the minnows.
India is placed in the same group with Pakistan, so if India wins today then they will easily go through to the next round in spite of their results in the game against Pakistan which will be played on 26th June at National Stadium Karachi.
Indian team was one of the most dominating team in the last tournament played earlier this month but they lost the final against Pakistan and they don’t want to repeat the same mistakes they did in the final of Kitply Cup triangular series.
Pitch Report
The Pitch at National Stadium Karachi is always provide a superb wickets with full of runs. It will also provide some help for the spinners as the game progresses so any team winning the toss would like to bat first and will try to put runs on the board.
Stats and trivia
This is the first ODI between India and Hong Kong. They have never meet before in ODI.
No batsman so far in ODI from Hong Kong manages to get pass 50 runs in ODI. The highest score from their batsman in ODI is 36 runs by Tabarak Dar.
Player to Watch
Nadeem Ahmed: He is playing first time at international level after making his debut in 2004 Asia Cup. He has performed exceptionally well in the first game of Asia cup against Pakistan by picking 4 crucial wickets. He will be dangerous bowler for the Indians. Indian batsman needs to treat him with care.
Gautam Gambhir: In last one year he has done whatever he required to do to cement his place in ODI and if he continues to do what he has done in last 20 ODI's then it will be easier for India to achieve the victory in their first game of Asia Cup.
Team News
Irfan Pathan is already ruled out of first two ODI's of Asia cup due to side strain so we may see M.Gony making his debut in ODI if M.S.Dhoni wants to rest his fast bowler Ishant Sharma. Hong Kong have hardly any time to recover from the match against Pakistan. Zain Abbas, the middle-order batsman, had to retire hurt with cramps so his fitness will be monitored.
Likely Playing XI for both the teams (Match will start from 15:30 PMIndia time)
With the unexpected win in the triangular series Kitply Cup 2008 now Pakistan will start the campaign in front of their home crowd as one of the favoreites to win the today’s game gainst Hong Kong. Both teams are in group B with India is their other opponents in their Group. Pakistan has showed what they can do on their day by beating India by 25 runs in the Final of Kitply Cup earlier this month after the heavy defeat of 140 runs by the hand of same opposition in the league matches.
Their first opponents in the Asia Cup - Hong Kong - shouldn't stretch them but they will want to use this match to fine tune their preparations for tougher contests against India and Sri Lanka. Pakistanis selectors have included quite a few new players in their squad and the most surprisingly they have dropped their regular wicketkeeper and dashing batsman Kamran Akmal. They included Sarfraz Ahmed, Mansoor Ajmad, Nasir Jamshed and Saeed Ajmal - in the squad for the Asia Cup.
There first match will be good opportunity to give some of their new faces go against minor opponent like Hong Kong.
Hong Kong on the other hand looks to take these matches as their preparation for their next tournament, the Asian Cricket Council trophy, where they compete with the team of their rank. Last time when Hong Kong played at International level in Asia cup 2004 they have to face heavy defeat against Pakistan and Bangaldesh when they lost the match by more than 100 runs. Hong Kong will also face less match practice at International level because they haven’t played an ODI game since 2004 Asia Cup.
Pitch Report
The Pitch at National Stadium Karachi is always provide a belter of wickets with full of runs. It will also provide some help for the spinners as the game progresses so any team winning the toss would like to bat first.
Stats and trivia
Lats time when these two team mates in Asia Cup 2004, Pakistan able to beat Hong Kong quite comprehensively by more than 100 runs.
Pakistan has won all their last ten matches they have played on their home soil but all wins comes against minor teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Md. Yusuf is most successful batsman for Pakistan since 2007 scoring more than 700 runs with an average of 88.75.
Player to Watch
Salman Butt and S.Ajmal: With brilliant match winning knock of 128 runs in the Kitply Cup final S.Butt must be itching to continue his good form with another blistering knock against the opposition like Hong Kong. S.Ajmal is another promising off spinner from Pakistan. He has taken 38 wickets I 12 matches in the first class season in 2007-08.
Team News
With the absence of Kamran Akmal from their squad, Pkaistan may try new opening combination in the face of S.Afridi. S.Ajamal may also get chance to play in place of W.Riaz beacuase of his superb performance in the first class matches. Rest of the team will be same as they played in the Kitply cup final against India.
Likely Playing XI for both the teams (Match will start from 15:30 PM India time)
Pakistan: S.Afridi, S. Butt, Younis Khan, Md. Yusuf, Misbah-Ul-Haq, S. Mallik (Captain), S. Ahmed (WK), I.Anjumum, U.Gul, S.Tanveer, Saeed Ajmal.
Hong Kong: Tabarak Dar (Captain), Afzaal Haider, Ashish Gadhia, James Atkinson, Najeeb Amar, Skhawat Ali, Waqas Barkat (WK), Irfan Ahmed, Courtney Kruger, Nadeem Ahmed, Zain Abbas.
Bangladesh looks to turn the tide in their favour against UAE
Bangladesh, who starts their Asia Cup campaign today with the match against UAE, will look to stop their eight consecutive losses in ODI. This will be great opportunity for Md. Ashrafull and his team to register a win and this will brighten their chances of moving into the next round of Asia Cup.
On the other hand UAE who has played their lats ODI almost four years ago in Asia cup 2004, they went on to loss their both matches by same margin of 116 runs against India and Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh, who has everything to lose, will expect nothing less than a big win to reverse the trend and make the second round.
Pitch Report
The Pitch at Gadaffi stadium Lahore will always supportive to the batsman. In the lats five years this pitch has produced runs at an average of 5.46 runs/over in day-night games.
Player to Watch
Raqibul Hassan: After making debue for his country he has performed exceptionally well in the middle order. With superb crafty innings of 89 runs against India in 2nd ODI of Kitply Cup he also hold the score of scoring highest total against India by any Bangladeshi batsman.
Saqabil Ali: One of the most promising players from UAE, originally from Pakistan. He was the laeading run getter in current held Intercontinental cup with 690 runs in 7 games and also took six wickets in four games.
Likely Playing XI for both the teams (Match will start from 15:30 PM India time)
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Nazimuddin, Mohammad Ashraful (Captain), Raqibul Hasan, Alok Kapali, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Mahmudullah, Farhad Reza , Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Dolar Mahmud.
UAE: Saqib Ali (Captain), Arshad Ali, Fahad Alhashmi, Amjad Ali (WK), Amjad Javed, Indika Batuwitarachchi, Nizel Fernandes, Khurram Khan, Mohammad Tauqir, Shadeep Silva, Vikrant Shetty.
Here are the squads for all six teams participating in Asia Cup 2008.The tournament will begin from 24th of June 2008, when Bangladesh take on United Arab Amirates at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. The tournament will feature total 13 matches including the big Final of Asia Cup 2008 at National Stadium Karachi to be played on 6th of July 2008.
Indian Squad: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Yuvraj Singh (vice-capt), Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Pragyan Ojha, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, M. Gony, Gary Kirsten (Coach).
Pakistan Squad: Shoaib Malik (Captain), Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Sarfraz Ahmed, Rao Iftikhar, Nasir Jamshed, Wahab Riaz, Mansoor Amjad, Goef Lawson (Coach).
Australian team will travel to India for four test match series against India after the completion of ICC Champions Trophy. Last time when both teams mate in this format of the game, Indian team had given the Australian a hard time in the middle on their home soil. They even went on to beat Australia in Perth which is one of the fastest wickets in the world where most of the Asian team struggle. Now Australia will try to reverse the same story against the Indians when they will play India in India. Australia will start their tour with four days game.
They will play first test match at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium Bangalore from 9th of October to 13th of October. All four test matches will be played in Bangalore, Mohali, Delhi and Nagpur. The last match of test series will be played in Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur from 6th of November to 10th of November.
(All timing are mentioned in GMT+05:30)
Timing
Teams
Venue
Thu 2 Oct – Sun 5 Oct
09:30 AM
Tour Match – Australia v TBC
TBC
Thu 9 Oct – Mon 13 Oct
09:30 AM
1st Test - India v Australia
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Fri 17 Oct - Tue 21 Oct
09:30 AM
2nd Test - India v Australia
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
ICC Champions Trophy 2008 has been postponed and now it will be played in next year that is in 2009. The host rights of Champions trophy 2009 is still with Pakistan. The schedule and venue will be decided later by ICC.
ICC Champions trophy 2008/08 is extended by a day so instead of 11th of September tournament begins from 12th of September. Rawalpindi Stadium is also excluded from the venue which was initially included for Champions Trophy.
2008 Champions Trophy which is the second biggest tournament after World Cup will be hosted by Pakistan. The inaugural match of Champions Trophy will be played against the home team Pakistan and West Indies on September 12 at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The defending champions Australia will start their campaign with the game against 2002 Champions trophy winner India on September 13 at National Stadium, Karachi. At Last time in Champions trophy there were total 21 matches played but this time it is down to 15 numbers of matches.
All eight teams are divided into two Groups A and B. India, Pakistan, Australia and West Indies are in Group A while South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England are in group B. Each team will play with one another in their corresponding groups and the top two teams from each group will advance into the semi finals.
The first semi final will be played at the National Stadium Karachi on September 24th while second semi final will be played on 26th of September at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. Winners of each semi finals will meet at Gaddafi stadium to play the big Final of ICC Champions trophy 2008 on 28th September.
The following are the two groups: Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies Group B:South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England
Former winners of ICC Champions trophy 1998 - South Africa 2000 - New Zealand 2002 - India and Sri Lanka (Joint Winners) 2004 - West Indies 2006 - Australia
Here are the complete fixture of ICC Champions Trophy 2008-09(All timing are mentioned in GMT+05:30)
