Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Forever Icon - Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar forever icon of cricket. Now Mumbai is ready to say Good Bye to Tendulkar with honor and with big celebrations. People from all over the world who loves cricket they can not see more Tendulkar to play cricket after next text match which will start tomorrow at Mumbai against West Indies.

Many of critics told Tendulkar is the biggest player in the history of cricket. The cricket world can not forget Tendulkar because of many records which made by the Sachin Tendulkar. There has suspect that still in the cricket has no player who can broke the records of Tendulkar. Tendulkar has 100 of 100 in cricket.

Really we are going to miss a big guys of cricket world. Indian local people said that Tendulkar is the "God of Cricket". Don Bradman, Viv Richards and Sachin Tendulkar .. the cricket world can not see more. May be some one going to play well cricket but not like Tendukar. There has a thought Tendukar played 25 years but a 25 years for a player to tough to continue with cricket, to grasp fitness.

So there has low chance to create next Tendulkar.

Brian Lara Said - Sachin Tendulkar the greatest cricketer in history

Brian Lara believes that Sachin Tendulkar deserves to be remembered as the greatest cricketer in history. The 40-year-old will start his 200th and final Test match in his hometown of Mumbai against West Indies on Thursday.

 Tendulkar is the highest runscorer in international cricket, with 15,847 runs in 199 Tests and 18,426 runs in 463 one-day internationals.

"Tendulkar has had the greatest cricket career of anyone who has ever played the game," said Lara.

Former West Indies batsman Lara, 44, and Tendulkar have similar records, with Test figures showing that Lara averaged just under 53 in his 131 Tests, with Tendulkar a fraction over. Tendulkar, though, will end his career having played 69 more matches than Lara, as he becomes the first man to play 200 Tests.

"The impact he has had on his game, his country, the rest of the world - is incredible," added Lara, who scored 11,953 Test runs.

Tendulkar made his international debut aged 16 in November 1989 and last year became the only batsman in the history of the game to reach 100 international centuries.

"His stats speak for themselves," continued Lara. "I don't think there is any 16-year-old who is going to embark on the sort of career that Sachin Tendulkar has had and walk away from the game at 40 with such great achievements.

"He's the Muhammad Ali and the Michael Jordan of cricket. You think of the great boxers and basketball players, but if you were to talk about the game then you would have to talk about Sachin."


News Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/24921333

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

New Zealand Beat Sri Lanka by 4 Wickets After Getting White Wash Against Bangladesh

New Zealand 203 for 6 (Latham 86, Ronchi 49) beat Sri Lanka 138 for 1 (Sangakkara 71*, Dilshan 55*) by four wickets (D/L method)

 Before this match, Tom Latham had boasted that even this depleted New Zealand side backed themselves to chase tall scores against Sri Lanka. Striking a scintillating 86 off 68 deliveries, Latham proved that threat was not just bluster, as he carried the visitors most of the distance of their 8.6-an-over, rain-shortened chase before an ebullient Nathan McCullum pulled the match from the brink again - hitting the required 20 off the final over - to propel New Zealand over the target of 198 off the last ball. Along the way, Luke Ronchi hit his best score for New Zealand, making 49 in the belligerent 93-run partnership that resurrected the innings, after four wickets had fallen early.

The match had earlier been interrupted for five-and-a-half hours by rain and lightning, as Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan progressed effortlessly to a 126-run unbroken second-wicket stand. But, despite reaching a fine total, and a brilliant opening burst from Nuwan Kulasekara, Sri Lanka's bowlers could not contend with a wet ball or the battling opposition batsmen.

The chase took two major twists in the final overs, as Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka captain, gambled bravely but lost out backing Rangana Herath to hold his nerve. Latham and Ronchi had smote 69 between the 15th and 19th overs and had brought the required figure to a manageable 41 from four overs, sparking Mathews' risky play. His two ace bowlers, Lasith Malinga and Kulasekara, had three overs left to bowl between them, and he called for them immediately, tasting great success at first. Malinga's fourth over - the 20th of the match - cost only four, before Kulasekara removed both Latham and Ronchi in the 21st, seemingly swinging the match definitively in Sri Lanka's favour.

But Mathews did not bank on McCullum hitting out so cleanly. With 24 needed off the last seven balls, he smashed Malinga back over his head to bring the equation to 20 off the last over. When McCullum came on strike against Herath, New Zealand needed 17 off four deliveries. He backed away to hammer the bowler over the deep cover boundary first up, then beat the field with a similar ball, bringing the target to seven runs from two balls. A second back-away six, this time over long off tied the scores, before a battered Herath delivered a knee-high full toss for McCullum to launch over long on off the last ball. At the end of the match, McCullum had walloped 32 from 9.

Earlier, Latham batted with intensity and purpose from the outset, and even early on, there was no doubting his touch. Kulasekara had earned two wickets at the other end with balls that swerved late in the air, then darted in at occasionally unplayable angles, but when he swung it big into Latham in the fourth over, the batsman strode into a commanding cover drive.

New Zealand were short on the belligerence that would truly have seen them set the chase on course during the mandatory five-over Powerplay, but Latham shifted gears - most notably hitting Tillakaratne Dilshan for three consecutive boundaries in the eighth over - and soon found equally full of self-belief in Ronchi.

The pair found boundaries all around the ground during their five-over dash between the 15th and 19th overs, while Mathews continued to change the field, searching desperately for the right hole to plug. However, like a game of Whac-A-Mole, every time he moved a fielder, the batsmen would contrive a stroke in the newly vacant direction. The disadvantage for Sri Lanka's bowlers was double: the wet ball not only slipped from their hands, the field had become much quicker after the break, thanks to the lubricating layer of rain.

Sri Lanka would feel they could have done little better with the bat, given they only lost one wicket in their innings, as Sangakkara and Dilshan reached their second century stand in as many matches. No ODI pair has made more runs together in the last two years, and following their association in Hambantota, their last five partnerships are worth 542 runs.

Dilshan played and missed a few in the opening overs, but New Zealand could do little to trouble either batsman after that. The pair have now become so accustomed to the cadence of the other's batting, that each seems instinctively aware of when to lionise the strike and when to surrender it. The visitors' attack exerted so little pressure in this match however, perhaps those sorts of decisions didn't even need to be made.

Sangakkara proved once again in superior touch, as he aggressively hit out in the 14 balls Sri Lanka were allotted after the rain break, primarily through his new-fangled lap-scoop over short fine leg. He breezed to an unbeaten 71 from 59 by the innings' close as Dilshan hit 55 not out from 72 balls.

Before the series, Sri Lanka's chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya had suggested New Zealand should not have devalued the series by sending a second-string outfit, but both he and the hosts' management will now be concerned with how to salvage respectability, and they will hope that the rains allow a match in Dambulla.

Courtesy:  Andrew Fidel Fernando

News Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-new-zealand-2013-14/content/current/story/687743.html

Ashes 2013-14: Kevin Pietersen fit for final England warm-up

 Kevin Pietersen will play in England's final Ashes warm-up match in Australia after recovering from a knee injury.

Pietersen needed a cortisone injection after feeling pain in his problematic right knee against Australia A.

Pace bowlers Steven Finn, Boyd Rankin and Chris Tremlett are all included in England's 12-man squad to face an Australia Invitational XI in Sydney.

James Anderson has been rested, while Jonny Bairstow will deputise for injured wicket-keeper Matt Prior.

The four-day match begins at 23:30 GMT on Wednesday.

 After heavy rain prevented England from practising outdoors at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Pietersen batted in the indoor nets on Wednesday without showing any discomfort from his troublesome right knee.

The Surrey right-hander, who is set to play his 100th Test at the Gabba in Brisbane from 21 November, was sidelined for three months earlier this year with deep bruising around the bone.

Finn and Tremlett are expected to be picked ahead of Boyd Rankin in a three-man seam attack containing Stuart Broad.

Finn recorded match figures of 3-176 in the draw with a Western Australia Chairman's XI Perth, but did not feature in England's rain-affected draw with Australia A in Hobart.

He is hoping that the Sydney weather improves so he can stake a claim for an Ashes place.

"We're not too downhearted about it, and I'm sure - if the weather's nice for these four days - we'll be able to get out there and set our standards high," said Finn.

"Obviously, if I play this game, I need to give as good an account of myself as I can - so that I can try to put myself in contention for the first Test match."

Much of the attention in England's final match will focus on Bairstow, who stands to deputise for Prior if the regular's keeper calf tear rules him out of the opening Test.

Bairstow keeps wicket for Yorkshire but has only taken the role once for England - in a Twenty20 international in October 2012.

Meanwhile, Bairstow's Yorkshire team-mate Gary Ballance looks to have missed his chance of making his Test debut in Brisbane after he was left out of the squad in Sydney.

Michael Carberry will be given another chance to cement his position at the top of the order following his unbeaten 153 in Hobart, with Joe Root likely to bat at number six.

England (v Australia Invitational XI in Sydney, from): AN Cook (Captain), MA Carberry, IJL Trott, IR Bell, KP Pietersen, JE Root, JM Bairstow (wkt), SCJ Broad, GP Swann, ST Finn, CT Tremlett, WB Rankin.

News Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/24909402

Monday, November 11, 2013

De Villiers, pacers secure 4-1 victory for South Africa

South Africa 268 for 7 (de Villiers 115*, Ajmal 3-45) beat Pakistan 151 (Maqsood 53, Parnell 3-36) by 117 runs.

became the fastest South African to 6000 ODI runs, scored the century that formed the backbone of their innings and led South Africa to a 4-1 series win over Pakistan. South Africa had lost to Sri Lanka by the same margin in August this year, and the side has since made noticeable improvements, particularly in the batting department.

Although not yet the finished product, their line-up is showing signs of maturity and responsibility, characterised by de Villiers' knock - a well-paced innings of two halves in which he was willing to do the hard work to find fluency on a difficult batting surface.

His first fifty was circumspect, coming off 70 balls with a single boundary - a big six to bring up the landmark. That was the indication of de Villiers' readiness to change gears. His next fifty was blasted off 29 balls.

The 83-run sixth-wicket stand de Villiers shared with Ryan McLaren took the innings from ordinary to outstanding. With 114 runs added in the last 10 overs, de Villiers ensured South Africa's new-look attack, with Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir rested, would not be under much pressure. Instead, it was the Pakistan line-up who faced that burden and, once again, they could not stand up to the challenge in a series where the team batting second has not won a single game.

South Africa wanted to set right their last batting performance in Sharjah, in the first ODI, when they were dismissed for 183 but they started off shakily. Mohammad Irfan accounted for Hashim Amla in the first over when he hit the opener on the front pad. Amla considered a review but erroneously decided against it. Replays showed the ball had pitched outside leg stump. That made it the fifth time Irfan accounted for Amla's wicket in eight ODIs - the most number of times a bowler has dismissed Amla.


Courtesy: Firdose Moonda, ESPN

News Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan-v-south-africa-2013-14/content/current/story/687541.html