Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Revitalized India overpower Sri Lanka

A stupendous all-round performance from Ashwin helped India beat Sri Lanka by four wickets at WACA.

Sri Lanka won the toss, elected to bat first on a good batting track but got off to a bad start as they lost Upul Tharanga in just the third over. Zaheer Khan scalped his wicket and bowled a good opening spell along with Vinay Kumar to restrict the Lankans to 46/1 in the Quick Start Overs. 

Skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan then led the resurrection with some beautiful drives and powerful cuts. He added 62 runs for the second wicket with Kumar Sangakkara. Zaheer continued from where he left off in the first spell and removed Sangakkara with a beautiful delivery in his second spell. The Indians gave away just 11 runs and picked up one wicket in the Bowling Powerplay. This bogged the skipper down and he departed two runs short of his half-century following a brief struggling period. 

Dinesh Chandimal took over the reins and stitched a crucial 52-run partnership with skipper Mahela Jayawardena but Ravichandran Ashwin pegged them back with two wickets in the Batting Powerplay Overs. The Lions could manage just 23 runs in that period for the loss of skipper Jayawardena and Thisara Perere. Dinesh Chandimal, who was playing a mature innings, then reached his fourth ODI half-century off 64 balls but departed at a crucial stage in the 44th over and Sri Lanka were struggling at 189/6. 

Angelo Mathews then stepped up the momentum and played a crucial knock of 33 off 28 deliveries to power Sri Lanka to a challenging 233/8. Sri Lanka scored 61 runs for the loss of three wickets in the Extreme Performance Overs. Dinesh Chandimal achieved a highest Batting Momentum of 76 for his important innings of 64, while Ravichandran Ashwin with three wickets in the innings, achieved a highest Bowling Efficiency of 260.

Chasing a tricky target of 234, India too got off to a bad start as they lost Virender Sehwag in the third over. Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli took the score to 47/1 at the end of Quick Start Overs. Tendulkar caressed some lovely cover drives and Kohli bludgeoned some cracking flicks as the pair constructed a partnership of 75 runs for the 2nd wicket. 

Just like Dilshan, Tendulkar departed at a crucial juncture, two short of his half century in the Bowling Powerplay. Sri Lanka gave away just 10 runs and picked up one wicket in that period. But that didn’t hamper Kohli’s momentum as he brought up his 19th ODI half-century. 

The match turned around from the 26th over as Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina got starts but couldn’t carry on. Dhoni too, flopped and when Kohli ran himself out in the 36th over, the first over of the Batting Powerplay, India were in dire straits at 181/6, needing 53 more runs to win from 14 overs with just 4 wickets in hand. But Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin had cool heads on their shoulders as they played sensibly and powered India home with 20 balls to spare.

Virat Kohli had the highest Batting Momentum of 94, while Angelo Mathews, the most impressive Sri Lankan bowler picking up 2 wickets, had the highest Bowling Effeciency of 219.

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On the Index, India ended on 51 points, 7 ahead of Sri Lanka. Ashwin was named the Man of the Match for his all-round performance and he ended up with the Overall Castrol Index of 70.

Sri Lanka now face a tough Australian challenge when they meet them in Match 3 at the same venue on 10th February. 

Monday, February 06, 2012

Ruthless Pakistan inflict 3-0 whitewash

Spectacular centuries from Younus Khan, Azhar Ali and stupendous bowling performances from Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman earn Pakistan a thumping 71-run victory over England.

Pakistan won the toss, elected to bat on a featherbed but got off to a horrendous start as James Anderson and Stuart Broad ripped through their top order with beautiful spell of disciplined seam bowling. At one point they were reduced to 44 fot 7 but Asad Shafiq showed exemplary grit and determination and constucted an important 45, adding crucial 34 runs for the 8th wicket with Saeed Ajmal. Pakistan were finally bowled out for a dismal 99. Broad bowled with great heart and picked up four wickets, while Anderson chipped in with three. 

In reply, England too got off to a horrible start as they lost Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott in the first five overs. Kevin Pietersen and skipper Andrew Strauss began the resurrection process and added 57 runs for the third wicket. Strauss was very cautious, while Pietersen played a free-flowing innings of 32 before being trapped in front by Abdur Rehman. The spin duo of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman then wrecked havoc as they bowled out England for 141. Strauss played an important innings of 56, helping his team to a crucial 42-run lead. 

Pakistan again started off scratchily as they lost their openers with just 28 on the board in the second innings. But a brilliant 216-run partnership between Younus Khan and Azhar Ali took the wind out of the sails of the English bowlers. Younus played a terrific counter-attacking innings of 127, While Azhar Ali scored a crucial and patient 157 before Panesar, with his 10th Five-for, bowled them out for 365. The damage had already been done by Pakistan as they set up a target of 324 on a tricky third and fourth day pitch.

Chasing a challenging target, The English openers saw through a difficult last session on day three but Strauss departed early on day four. The middle order got starts but couldn’t construct a humongous partnership. All the partnerships were in mid-thirty’s as Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul led the destruction process and reduced them to 203/8. Cook played a resilient innings on 49. Prior led the fight back with an intrepid innings of 49 but was left stranded as Rehman and Ajmal bowled them out for 252, powering the Asian side to a 71-run victory and a 3-0 series whitewash. Gul and Ajmal both finished with four wickets each, while Rehman scalped two. 

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Pakistan ended with 241 points on Index, 7 points ahead of England. Abdur Rehman clinched 7 wickets in the match and finished with joint highest Index of 123 along with Azhar Ali who scored 158 runs in the match and was also named the Man of the Match. Saeed Ajmal was named the Man of the series for his 24 wickets in the series.