Sri Lanka registered a record win of 112 runs against India in the fifth and final one day international of Idea Cup by bowling out India for just 103 runs. The initial target of 228 runs was reduced to 216 runs in 44 overs but few bad umpiring and few bad shot by the Indian batsman helped Sri Lanka to register a win in the last ODI.
With this loss India slipped to fifth position in ICC ODI team ranking and England jump to the third position after winning the ODI series against South Africa.
Indian opener once again given their team a good start by putting 38 runs for the first wicket but middle order didn’t capitalize on the start as they have lost their way when the play resumed after the interval of 87 minutes. From 72/2 just before rain arrival India slumped to 103 all out.
Suresh Raina throws his wickets away in trying to play a needless stroke of N.Kulasekara while Rohit Sharma given out by umpire on a ball which hit him outside off stump and going to miss the stump. Yuvraj Singh worst time with the bat continues as he once again cleaned up by mystery spinner A.Mendis for 17 runs.
Now it was left to the man in form M.S.Dhoni and Iran Pathan to guide the Indian ship to the home but the dream of Indian fans shattered when Dhoni was bowled by Dilhara Fernando. Now it was only matter of time for A.Mendis to fold the Indian innings and he did exactly that by picking up four wickets.
Earlier, for the first time in the series M.Jayawardne won the toss and decided to bat first but their top order failed again as S.Jayasurya was picked up by Zaheer Khan in his very first over to reduce the Sri Lankan score to 1/1.
However two new comers M.Udawate (43 runs of 55 balls) and M.Warnapura (30 runs of 44 balls) put on 77 runs for the 2nd wicket to bring Sri Lankan inning on track but Irfan Pathan picked two wickets in one over to peg back the Sri Lankan innings.
At one stage they were tattering at 133/6 in 37 overs but brilliant inning from T.Tushara (54 runs of 46 balls) and J.Mubarak (47 runs of 55 balls) posted a competitive total for the Indians. Both went on to put 94 runs in just 78 balls.
N.Kulasekara was declared Man of the Match for his spell of 4/40.
T.Tushara was declared Hunk of the Series for an allround performance.
M.S.Dhoni was declared Player of the Series for scoring highest number of runs in the five match ODI series.
India won the five match series by 3-2 to lift the IDEA Cup.
Earlier, For the first time in the series M.Jayawrdne won the toss and decided to bat first but they failed to get start once again from their openers as they lost S.Jayasurya in the 2nd over of their innings.
However M.Warnapura (30 runs of 44 balls) and M.Udawatte (43 runs of 55 balls) put on 77 runs for the second wicket but they lost their way after 17th over as they lost three quick wickets in space of 9 deliveries.
Sri Lanka were struggling at one stage at 133/6 in 37 overs. But thanks to T.Tushara 54 runs of 46 balls and J.Mubarak 47 runs of 55 balls which get the Sri Lankan total to 227/6 in 50 overs. Both went on to put 94 runs in just 78 balls for the seventh wicket.
Sri Lanka set 228 runs target for the Indians to chase down and make it 4-1 in the five match ODI series. India were 43/1 after 10 overs with G.Gambhir back in the pavilion.
Playing XI for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 14:30 PMIndia Time on 29th August)
The series is already over but both teams will have aim to achieve in the last ODI. Sri Lanka will look to salvage their pride with consolation win and India will aim to wrap up the series on high note by winning with 4-1 margin.
As we have seen in the last two matches played at R.Premdasa stadium the team wins the toss has some advantage while batting first since ball moves and spin more than what it does during first inning. So it will be interesting to see If India have to bat last in the 5th ODI.
With Idea Cup already in the bag it will be interesting to see what strategy M.S.Dhoni will apply in this match. For Sri Lanka it will be big match for them they are really desperate to win the last one day international, since Sri Lanka have never lost four consecutive matches on their home soil.
India has played this series without their two big guns S.Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag and they still able to clinch the series this show how talented and confident M.S.Dhoni and his men’s are.
It will be good opportunity for Yuvraj Singh to find his form in the last game so far by his standard this series is very poor for him and he must score here if he would like to stay in the playing XI since so many youngster (V.Kohli and S.Badrinath) coming in and performing it will be very hard for Yuvraj Singh to save his place when Sehwag and Tendulkar returns to the team.
Sri Lanka will hope for their batsman to get their acts together and perform well in today’s game to end the series on high note. In the last two ODI their spin duo struggled badly as their figure suggest. M.Mralitharan conceded 104 runs and picked up only one wicket and A.Mendis went for 99 runs and picked up four wickets.
For India it was only few players who have performed consistently well in the last two one dayers M.S.Dhoni, S.Raina and Virat Kohli, but rest of the batting looks vulnerable. Likes of Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh will try to cash the opportunity in non-pressure game.
Watch out for
M Factor Vs Raina/Dhoni: So far Indian captain M.S.Dhoni and Suresh Raina played good cricket against the new born sensation A.Mendis and experienced M.Muralitharan and it will be interesting to see how Dhoni and his men tackle both if India bat last in today’s game.
Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh: Gautam Gambhir after performing well during test series has struggled to get going in one day series and big score might be around corner. Yuvraj Singh has more poor series than any other batters and he will be itching to score big run in today’s game to end the series with big score on his name.
Pitch and conditions
Toss will play another important role in today’s game. The team wins the toss will bat first on a wicket which dictates under light. Any score in excess of 250 will be winning total at R.Premdasa Stadium, Colombo.
Team News
India is unlikely to make any changes to their squad unless Dhoni tries some other options from Pathan,Patel, Ojha and R.P.Singh. On the other hand Sri Lanka might also stick with same playing XI and try to pull one back in the last game of the series.
Stats & Trivia
If India able to beat Sri Lanka in today’s game then it will be first time when Sri Lanka lost their four consecutive matches on their home soil.
S.Jayasurya needs another 42 runs to surpass S.Tendulkar records and become the highest run getter in the ODI between two countries.
The Indian Cricket Board and New Zealand Cricket board agreed on additional T20 International and one additional test match and announced new cricket Schedule for Indian Cricket team for the tour of New Zealand.
Now India will arrive in New Zealand on 20th of February, eight days earlier than previous schedule. Indian team will start their long 46 days cricket tour with Twenty20 International against New Zealand at Christchurch to be played on 25th of February followed by another T20I to be played on 27th February at Wellington.
India will be touring New Zealand after 6 years where they will play five one day international, two T20I and three test matches according to new schedule. The reworked schedule allowed both teams to play additional T20I and one more test matches.
Indian team ends their tour with three test matches which will be played in Hamilton, Napier and Wellington. The first test match will be played from 18th to 22nd March, second test match will be played from 26th to 30th of March and last test match will be played from 3rd of April to 7th of April.
Last time when Indian team went to New Zealand they have lost the test series by 2-0 and lost seven match One day Series by 5-2. So it will be interesting to see how Indian team performs this time when they will go to New Zealand.
Here are the complete re-schedule fixture of India Vs New Zealand Series 2009(All timing are mentioned in GMT+05:30)
M.S.Dhoni and his men beat Sri Lanka by 46 runs in 4th One day international to take an unbeaten lead by 3-1 in five match series. With this win M.S.Dhoni became the first captain to lead India to a series victory against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.
After loosing the first match of series in Dambulla, no one expected that Dhoni’s men will win the series. India not only wins the series but also some how manage to overcome M factor in the Sri Lankan bowling lineup.
This match will be remembered for some historic moments. First it was Chaminda Vaas who claimed his 400th wicket after dismissing Yuvraj Singh to become the fourth bowler in the history of ODI cricket after Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and M.Muralitharan to take 400 wickets. Then India beat Sri Lanka to create history after long-long wait.
M.S.Dhoni found himself lucky for the fourth consecutive times in the series as he won all important toss once again at R.Premdasa stadium to bat first. India got of to flying start by Virat Kohli (54 runs of 66 balls) and Gautam Gambhir (17 runs of 21 balls) as they put on 44 runs in 9.4 overs.
However India once again loss two quick wickets first of G.Gambhir and then vlunerable looking Yuvraj Singh (0 runs). But M.S.Dhoni (71 runs of 80 balls) and S.Raina (76 runs 78 balls) put on 143 runs for the fourth wicket to bring India in commandable position.
India did lost their way in the last 9 overs as they slipped from 224/3 in 41 over to 258/10 in 49.4 overs. But the target set by India was no doubt needed lots of effort from Sri Lankan batsman to achieve it. Sri Lanka's innings, as was the story on Sunday, failed to survive early inroads and faltered and succumbed to the pressures of needing a big opening partnership to challenge the total.
For India it was Munaf Patel who make early inroads in Sri Lanka innings as they picked up M.Waranpura (0 runs) and K.Sangkara (6 runs). It was S.Jayasurya (60 runs of 52 balls) and T.Tushara (40 runs of 29 balls) who showed some fight but rest of the batsman failed to help their team to achieve the target and stay alive in the series.
Now Sri Lanka has lost two consecutive ODI series at home, one against England and now India. On the other hand India is improving their away series record and improving their ODI ranking.
S.Raina was declared Man of the Match for his superb knock of 76 runs.
Match Summary
India – 258/10 in 49.4 Overs
S.Raina – 76 M.S.Dhoni – 71
T.Tushara– 8.4-0-47-5C.Vaas– 9-1-40-1
Sri Lanka – 212/10 in 46.3 Overs
S.Jayasurya– 60 T.Thushara – 40
H.Singh – 10-0-40-3M.Patel– 9-0-48-2
Highlights India Vs Sri Lanka 4th One Day International
Indian captain M.S.Dhoni for the fourth consecutive time in this series has won the toss in 4th one day international and elected to bat first. Indian team got of to flying start at the end of ninth over they were 42/0 with V.Kholi batting on 25 runs and G.Gambhir batting on 15 runs.
Indian team after loosing their first game at Dambulla now stand in a position where they can seal the series when they will take on vulnerable looking Sri Lankan in today’s game.
Sri Lanka have their backs to the wall and need to win the 4th one day international to stay alive in the series. The loss here will give M.S.Dhoni and his men another trophy. For Sri Lanka the scenario is similar to last year's home series against England, which they lost by 2-3 after winning their first game.
Sri Lanka just have one day in between the games to get their acts together and regroup for the do-or-die encounters against the Indians. Indian team on the other will be more relax after winning the Sunday encounter. However rains are likely to exploit the battle between two Asian giants.
Indian team has also some work needs to be cut out in their batting department especially their top three and if they got good start then no one can stop the Indians from winning the Idea Cup 2008.
Watch out for
S.Jayasurya and K.Sangkara: Both batsman struggle to perform up to their expectation and this will be great opportunity for both of them to perform for the team which are in lots of pressure to save the series against Indians. Kumar Sangkara has quite series so far with scores of 19, 2 and 9. Both batters may look to overcome their performance in the today’s game.
Zaheer Khan and Preveen Kumar: India new ball bowler enjoyed bowling against the Lankans in the series especially with the new ball. Both bowlers performed exceptionally well and Indian team need just one another performance from both of these to wrap up the series.
Pitch and conditions
As we have seen the team batting first has more advantage on Premdasa wickets so the captain winning the toss will have no hesitation in electing to bat first. The pitch is expected to be same as used on Sunday so any score between 240 to 260 runs will be a winning total on Premdasa wicket.
Team News
Sri Lanka after disastrous performance from their middle order may opt for dropping Chamara Silva and bringing Mahela Udawatte in place of him. On the other hand India doesn’t want to disturb their winning combination so they will go into the match with the same XI as played on Sunday.
Stats & Trivia
C.Vaas completed his quota of 10 overs in the last match without picking a single wickets so he still needs one more wicket to join 400 wickets club in ODI.
Sri Lankan's top order failed miserably in last 20 innings and they have gone without a half-century partnership for the opening wicket against the top teams.
Final Playing XI for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 14:30 PMIndiaTime)
It was another good day for M.S.Dhoni and his men in the office as they thrashed Sri Lanka quite comfortably by 33 runs to lead the five match one day series by 2-1. Indian pacer continues their good show as they removed Sri Lankan top order to give no chance in chasing down 238 runs for victory.
Indian bowlers also helped by the help they get in the evening with white bowl seaming and swinging a lot as compared to Indian innings. However from 94/7 no one expected Sri Lanka to get the close to Indian total but the valiant effort from Sri Lankan captain M.Jayawardne (94 runs of 111 balls) and T.Tushara (30 runs of 70 balls) put on 81 runs to almost bring Sri Lankan’s an impossible win.
Chasing a comparative total of 238 runs Sri Lankan’s were outplayed by the Indian pacers Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar as they removed top four Sri Lankan batters to leave the home side in dire state.
At 59-6 in the 18th over, when Tillekeratne Dilshan fell followed by Chaminda Vaas, there was really no way back into the game for Sri Lanka unless they could manufacture a genuine miracle. They almost did, but India had too much in reserve to win the game with six balls remaining.
Earlier Indian captain M.S.Dhoni once again won the toss and elected to bat first which was once again proved quite right decision. Openers Viral Kohli (25 runs of 38 balls) and Gautam Gambhir (8 runs of 20 balls) did gave India a flying start but they loss there way as they lost four quick wickets.
But it was M.S.Dhoni who involved in two crucial partnerships as India scored 237-9. First he and Raian (53 runs of 80 balls) 54 runs for the fifth wicket and then he put on a quick fire 67 runs with Rohit Sharma (32 runs of 32 balls) to gave India a comparative total.
M.S.Dhoni was declared Man of the Match for his superb knock of 76 runs.
Match Summary
India – 237/9 in 50 Overs
M.S.Dhoni – 76 S.Raina – 53
A.Mendis - 10-0-56-3T.Tushara– 9-1-36-2
Sri Lanka – 204/10 in 49 Overs
M.Jayawardne– 94 T.Thushara – 30
Z.Khan – 10-3-23-3M.Patel– 10-1-42-3
Highlights India Vs Sri Lanka 3rd One Day International
Although India was able to win the last One day International at Dambulla but the win was not as impressive as thy have liked. There batsman struggle during the run chase of 143 runs so it will be another testing time for men in blue when they take on confident Sri Lanka in the 3rd ODI at R.Premdasa Stadium, Colombo.
In the manner the win was achieved by the Indians, Sri Lanka will again start third one day as favorites. There are many concerned for the Indians in the batting department after there batters failed to deliver in last two ODI’s.
In the last ODI at Dambulla the debutant S.Badrinath did manage to show some sign of reading A.Mendis but others player also need to assess their game plans while tackling the two dangerous spinners from Sri Lanka.
A.Mendis able to get the wicket of classy left hander Yuvraj Singh on both occasions and it is more worry sign for the M.S.Dhoni. However Indian bowlers specially Zaheer Khan looks in superb shape at Dambulla and Indians will be hoping for same miracle at batting friendly condition.
Watch out for
A.Mendis and M.Muralidaran: Can they able to stop the Indians for scoring big runs. The question will be answered soon. Both are very clever bowler and with Murali has so much experience it will become little bit tricky for the Indian batsman to tackle these two deadly duos.
Gautam Gambhir and S.Raina: So far in the series both batters didn’t done so much with the bat so they will be eying for big runs on the batting friendly Premdasa wickets.
Pitch and conditions
The pitch at R.Premdasa Stadium, Colombo is as usual will be firm and hard and provide lot of runs for the batsman. Unlike Dambulla we will witness another high scoring game in 3rd ODI. So the captain winning the toss would most likely to bat first.
Team News
Chaminda Vaas who miss the last ODI due to stiffness is probably back in the playing XI in place of Dilhara Fernando. For India Gautam Gambhir is fit and will be back in the squad after missing the 2nd ODI in place of out-of form Rohit Sharma.
Stats & Trivia
Premdasa Stadium always provide high scoring games and team batting first has won 23 times and lost 10 times.
C.Vaas needs one more wicket to join 400 wickets club in ODI so if he is fit for 3rd ODI then he will become fourth bowler at International level to achieve the feet.
Likely Playing XI for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 14:30 PMIndia Time)
Indian team once again failed to register an impressive win over Sri Lanka in the 2nd ODI. Chasing a small target of 143 for victory they lost seven wickets to achieve the target and taken 39.4 overs.
M.S.Dhoni, Virat Kohli and debutant S.Badrinath scored 39, 37 and 27 runs respectively in India poor batting display. India went into the match with two changes S.Badrinath make debut in place of injured G.Gambhir and Praveen Kumar bring into the playing XI in place of P.Ojha.
India tried new opening combination Irfan Pathan and Virat Kohli in the small run chase but I.Pathan failed to read N.Kulasekara swinging delivery and got out on just 5 runs of eight deliveries faced. S.Raina sooner departed after scoring just 1 run of four balls. India went into lunch with 17/2.
However 36 runs partnership between Yuvraj Singh (20 runs of 32 balls) and Virat Kohli (37 runs of 67 balls) gave some stability during Indian innings. Yuvraj Singh once again failed to read A.Mendis for the third successive time as he was trapped lbw by A.Mendis.
Virat Kohli also departed by playing a loose shot after putting a few crucial partnerships for the Indians. Rohit Sharma once again failed as was out for second ball duck to leave India tattering at 75/5 in 20 overs.
But it was partnership of 60 runs from 95 balls between M.S.Dhoni (39 runs of 54 balls) and debutant S.Badrinath (27 runs of 57 balls) who guided India home.
Earlier Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni won the toss and decided to have a bowl and his decision was well supported by left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan who removed four Sri Lankan top orders to leave Sri Lanka in a spot of bother.
Praveen Kumar and I.Pathan also join the party by removing C.Silva and T.Dilshan quickly to leave Sri Lanka at 44/6 at the end of 18th over.
When Sri Lanka looked to registered their lowest total against Indians the partnership between T.Thushara (44 runs) and N.Kulasekara (25 runs) and some poor umpiring and drop chance by R.Sharma helped Sri Lankan team to reach closer to 150 run mark.
Z.Khan was declared Man of the Match for his superb spell of 4/21.
Match Summary
Sri Lanka – 142/10 in 38.3 Overs
T.Thushara – 44 N.Kulasekara – 25
Z.Khan – 9.5-3-21-4P.Kumar– 10-2-34-3
India – 143/7 in 39.4 Overs
M.S.Dhoni – 39 V.Kohli – 37
N.Kulasekara - 9-2-26-2 A.Mendis– 10-1-22-2
Highlights India Vs Sri Lanka 2nd One Day International
In 2nd ODI at Dambulla India won the toss and elected to field first and the decision was well supported by Indian medium pace bowler as they send four top Sri Lankan batsman back in the hurt in the space of 10 overs. Zaheer Khan picked up three while Praveen kumar picked one wicket.
It was the same story repeated by the Indian team since Asia Cup 2008 final as Indian batsman’s failed to read A.Mendis and it’s all depends how they tackle the mystery spinner in the 2nd ODI at Dambulla.
India have already lost their in form batsman Virendra Sehwag due to ankle injury and it will be really tough for India to bounce back in second one day international at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
Now the outcome of the match will depend on how Indian openers play specially Gautam Gambhir, since he is the only inform batsman and has faced A.Mendis more than anybody else in the current squad.
Yuvraj Singh, S.Raina and M.S.Dhoni so far all struggled to pick A.Mendis. So India must get a good start to counter attack this mysterious spinner.
On the other hand Sri Lanka has nothing to worry since their captain M.Jayawardne is in prime form with the bat and it seems that his each move is working quite superbly in his teams favour. All in all Sri Lanka will start the 2nd ODI as firm favorites until unless M.S.Dhoni men’s came up with other plan.
Watch out for
Sanath Jayasurya and K.Sangkara: Both batsman dismissed cheaply in the 1st ODI but they are very dangerous player and both will look to score heavily to continue their team winning momentum going.
Gautam Gambhir and S.Raina: These two batters are very much attacking players and both will try to improve their performance to save the pride for there team. Gautam Gambhir is the in form batsman as he has score most runs by Indians during test series after Virendra Sehwag.
Pitch and conditions
The pitch at Dambulla Stadium will be similar to the one used in the 1st ODI and the team winning the toss would like to have a bowl to gain slight advantage as we have seen in 1st ODI.
Team News
Sri Lanka is most likely to go into the match with same winning combination as they played in Asia Cup as well as in 1st ODI at Dambulla. With Virendra Sehwag out of the equation Indians will find themselves in desperate situation to get good start from their openers. However India will also might stick with same XI.
Stats & Trivia
India will look to improve their record at this venue since they have lost all their game against Sri Lanka.
C.Vaas needs one more wicket to join 400 wickets club in ODI.
Likely Playing XI for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 10:00 AMIndia Time)
Sri Lanka thrashed India quite comfortably by eight wickets in the 1st ODI played at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. After the loss of two early wickets Sri Lankan captain M.Jayawardne (61 runs of 82 balls) and C.Kapugedra (45 runs of 72 balls) put on valuable partnership of 102 runs for the third wicket to guide their team to an easy win in 1st ODI to lead the five match Series by 1-0. 2nd ODI will be played in same venue on 20th of August.
Sri Lanka reached the target of 147 runs with 91 balls to spare. From India Munaf Patel was the most impressive bowler who gave India a glimpse of hope when he remove both the openers S.Jayasurya (10 runs of 14 balls) and K.Sangkara (19 runs of 41 balls). But it was too low score to create any pressure on the Sri Lankan middle order batsman.
Young India once again failed to tackle the spin duo M.Muralitharan and A.Mednis as they bundled out for mere 146 in just 46 overs. No batsman able to play the long inning as Indian failed to post a challenging total to the Sri Lanka. After winning the toss M.S.Dhoni decided to bat first on a wicket which was looking greenish surface.
But India failed to get the start from their new opening pair the debutant V.Kohli who is playing in place of injured V.Sehwag and G.Gambhir. The veteran C.Vaas removed G.Gambhir in his very first over to reduce the India score to 0/1 in 0.2 overs. Virat Kohli also didn't lasted longer as he was trapped right in-front by medium pacer N.Kulasekara.
Yuvraj Singh, arriving as early as the eighth over of the innings with 23 on the board, showed a spark of promise when he hoisted Mendis over long on for six. But the very next delivery he was beaten for pace and bowled by A.Mendis.
There after no batsman able to survive at the wicket as M.Muralitharan and A.Mendis kept picking up the Indian wickets. It was only the 10th wicket partnership of 29 runs between M.Patel (14 runs of 15 balls) and P.Ojha (16 runs of 33 balls) who helped India to reach closer to 150 run mark.
A.Mendis was declared Man of the Match for his superb spell of 3/21.
The new look Indian team is all set to play Sri Lanka in the first match of five match ODI series. After winning their tour game against Sri Lanka XI they are quite confident to repeat their performance again at Dambulla Stadium. However the pitch, condition and the Sri Lanka attack will be totally different from the one they had faced on 15th August 2008.
The one day series is interesting after sensational debut made by mystery spinner A.mendis against the top world class batsman. Now it’s interesting to watch how new look young India will tackle the “M” factors.
M.S.Dhoni has already provided a CD for his players in which closer view of A.Mendis bowling action has been taken to help the Indian batsman. Dhoni has also suggested rest of his batsman to take suggestion from Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir since both played A.Mendis with ease during recently concluded test series.
It was really interesting to see how Indian middle order tackles Mendis and Murali. Last time when India played Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final Indian middle order where fallen like pack of cards.
Indian batsman needs to tackle Sri Lankan spinners while bowlers have to restrict the dangerous S.Jayasurya. As we have already seen recently in Asia Cup Final that when he gets going he was impossible to stop. Kumar Sangkara and M.jayawardne is also in fine form and Indian think tank has to come out with proper plan if they would like to beat Sri Lanka in their backyard.
Pitch and conditions
The pitch at Dambula Stadium is very slow and is likely to help the spin department from both sides. The average score at this venue is around 200 runs per inning.
Team News
Sri Lanka is most likely to go into the match with two world class spinner A.Mendis and M.Muralitharan and with two pace bowlers C.Vaas and N.Kulasekara. While India is likely to go into the match with three pacers and one spinner.
Likely Playing XI fo both teams (Match is schedule to beging from 10:00 AM 18th August)
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.
The current Champions trophy will be played between eight teams and each team is divided into two groups. 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 following are the two groups: Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies Group B:South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England
Revised Schedule of Champions Trophy:
Group Stage Match:
September 12: Pakistan v West Indies, Lahore September 13: Australia v India, Karachi September 14: Sri Lanka v England, Lahore South Africa v New Zealand, Karachi September 15: Pakistan v Australia, Karachi September 16: South Africa v Sri Lanka, Lahore September 17: England v New Zealand, Lahore September 18: West Indies v India, Karachi September 19: New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Lahore September 20: India v Pakistan, Karachi
Semi-finals:
September 24: Semifinal 1: A2 vs B1, Karachi September 25: Reserve Day September 26: Semifinal 2: A1 vs B2, Lahore September 27: Reserve Day
Final:
September 28: Final, Lahore September 29: Reserve Day.
Here is the Squad of all teams for Champions Trophy 2008/09
India Champions Trophy Squad: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, MS Dhoni (Captain), Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma.
Pakistan Champions Trophy Squad: Shoaib Malik (Captain), Nasir Jamshed, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Khalid Latif, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Iftikhar Anjum, Abdur Rauf and Saeed Ajmal.
South Africa Champions Trophy Squad: Graeme Smith (Captain), Johan Botha, Mark Boucher (WK), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn.
West Indies Champions Trophy Squad: Chris Gayle (Captain), S.Chanderpaul, Leon Johnson, Nikita Miller, Brendan Nash, Kemar Roach, R.Srawan, Dave Mohammed, Xavier Marshall, Shawn Findlay, S.Chittargoon, Carlton Baugh (WK), Fidel Edwards, Daren Powell, Jermon Taylor. England Champions Trophy Squad: Not Announced Yet
Australia Champions Trophy Squad: Not Announced Yet New Zealand Champions Trophy Squad: Not Announced Yet
