sohum
Executive member
m_vaughan: i got koala ver1.3 and installed it. not much difference in batting except that the bowling from cpu is much more accurate. lets see....i may bowl the lankan second innigns.
Story Asian Test Championship 2004
- Thread starter sohum
- Start date
m_vaughan
Chairman of Selectors
yeah, you may want to spend some time in the nets. but they really smash you in the nets. its a lot more eased off in the matches.
sohum
Executive member
Indian First Innings Wrap-Up
FSB: Welcome to a short update and wrap-up of the Indian innings before we go back to the coverage for the Sri Lankan second innings. India certainly drove home the advantage in this session and increased their lead to 348 runs and all but playing the Sri Lankans out of the game. I have with me Ravi Smashtri and Fanjit Fernando.
RS: Yes, a superb performance by the Indians in the field, especially by VVS Laxman. One thought that India could really have gone spiralling downwards when Dravid got out but VVS Laxman certainly made sure that didn't happen.
FF: I certainly agree with you, Ravi. VVS Laxman stroked a fantastic century today to show what an important player he is for India. He was the only player who actually used his start. We saw Sehwag, Chopra and even Dravid give up a good start.
FSB: I thought the lower order and tail, especially Parthiv and Agarkar, provided great support to Laxman. Agarkar in particular unleashed a fury of boundaries to keep the Sri Lankans on their toes.
RS: Yes, Ajit has got his place back in the team after a while and he wants to make the best of it. Harbhajan providing the fireworks in the end making a cameo of 21 from 17 balls. He took the score closer to the 500-mark.
FF: What a delivery it was from Murali to flummox VVS Laxman! If it wasn't for that important wicket, India could still be out there batting right now. It spun in from way outside off-stump to take the middle stump. Laxman was completely beaten.
FSB: Yes, the Sri Lankans fought back through Murali and Zoysa. Zoysa ending up with 3 wickets, and Murali with 4. Zoysa again changing the tide of the match picking up Parthiv and Pathan in one over.
RS: Very good point. Irfan Pathan has been showing his skill with the bat over the past few test matches, and he definitely would have been a great asset with Laxman going guns at the other end.
FSB: Let's just have a look at the scorecard for the benefit of the viewers. India, of course, ending up 498 all out in 94 overs. The innings was boosted by 144 extras, 136 of them being byes conceded by Sangakkara. He really needs to be looked at, I feel.
The Indian 1st Innings Scorecard
Indian Batting Statistics
RS: Yes, obviously that wonderful contribution from Laxman, 110 off 170 balls. 16 boundaries that were a delight to watch for the fans that have showed up.
FF: Laxman really delighted the fans with his great cover drives. He really looked great out there. Too bad he ran out of partners. No sixes in the innings, which shows that the bowlers were quite tight.
FSB: Well here is the bowling card. I was personally baffled by Chaminda Vaas' overuse in this innings.
FF: Yes, Farce Shah. This is really going to bring in Atapattu's captaincy into question. you can see there, Vaasy not in too good form. 36 overs, 1 wicket for 188 runs. And only one maiden over. Yet he was bowled over and over again.
RS: Exactly, Fanjit. Zoysa I can understand because he was picking the wickets. But Vaas wasn't even doing that. In a subcontinental test match, you definitely expect more overs from your spinners than your pacers.
FSB: Well that's an interesting discussion. We're beginning to run out of time here. You can see that Muralitharan was back to his best, trapping 4 batsmen with his spin bowling. He was quite economical too, 4 for 57.
FF: Definitely, Murali has been coming to the Lankans rescue time and again. But this time he may have been let down by his captain.
FSB: And Chandana of course picking up the solitary wicket. Well now we will head back to the Wankhede for the Sri Lankan second innings. Remember, we are only into the second day of the test match and already the third innings is about to begin. This is simply because of no application by the Sri Lankans when batting and bad wicketkeeping to boost the run rate.
FF: Now the Sri Lankans really have to apply themselves and bat out a day or two. There is no chance of a draw in this match. Sri Lanka must bat out of their skins and set a target for the Indians and hope their spinners will help them out of trouble.
RS: Well, there are about 35 overs left in the day today. Sri Lanka, in my opinion, should not look to force the run rate. For them to have a chance in this match, they have to bat well in to Day 4. The deficit obviously 350 runs. If Sri Lanka can get that down to about 250 tonight, they can push for the lead tomorrow. As long as they can bat out the overs, they should try to put a lead of about 200-230 on the board. Remember, it will not be easy to bat on a fourth or fifth day pitch over here.
FSB: That's all we have time for, folks. Catch us at the end of the day! Thank you for joining us. Latest news here is that Sri Lanka are in big trouble if they want to salvage a point in this first match of the Asian Test Championships.
FSB: Welcome to a short update and wrap-up of the Indian innings before we go back to the coverage for the Sri Lankan second innings. India certainly drove home the advantage in this session and increased their lead to 348 runs and all but playing the Sri Lankans out of the game. I have with me Ravi Smashtri and Fanjit Fernando.
RS: Yes, a superb performance by the Indians in the field, especially by VVS Laxman. One thought that India could really have gone spiralling downwards when Dravid got out but VVS Laxman certainly made sure that didn't happen.
FF: I certainly agree with you, Ravi. VVS Laxman stroked a fantastic century today to show what an important player he is for India. He was the only player who actually used his start. We saw Sehwag, Chopra and even Dravid give up a good start.
FSB: I thought the lower order and tail, especially Parthiv and Agarkar, provided great support to Laxman. Agarkar in particular unleashed a fury of boundaries to keep the Sri Lankans on their toes.
RS: Yes, Ajit has got his place back in the team after a while and he wants to make the best of it. Harbhajan providing the fireworks in the end making a cameo of 21 from 17 balls. He took the score closer to the 500-mark.
FF: What a delivery it was from Murali to flummox VVS Laxman! If it wasn't for that important wicket, India could still be out there batting right now. It spun in from way outside off-stump to take the middle stump. Laxman was completely beaten.
FSB: Yes, the Sri Lankans fought back through Murali and Zoysa. Zoysa ending up with 3 wickets, and Murali with 4. Zoysa again changing the tide of the match picking up Parthiv and Pathan in one over.
RS: Very good point. Irfan Pathan has been showing his skill with the bat over the past few test matches, and he definitely would have been a great asset with Laxman going guns at the other end.
FSB: Let's just have a look at the scorecard for the benefit of the viewers. India, of course, ending up 498 all out in 94 overs. The innings was boosted by 144 extras, 136 of them being byes conceded by Sangakkara. He really needs to be looked at, I feel.
The Indian 1st Innings Scorecard
Indian Batting Statistics
RS: Yes, obviously that wonderful contribution from Laxman, 110 off 170 balls. 16 boundaries that were a delight to watch for the fans that have showed up.
FF: Laxman really delighted the fans with his great cover drives. He really looked great out there. Too bad he ran out of partners. No sixes in the innings, which shows that the bowlers were quite tight.
FSB: Well here is the bowling card. I was personally baffled by Chaminda Vaas' overuse in this innings.
FF: Yes, Farce Shah. This is really going to bring in Atapattu's captaincy into question. you can see there, Vaasy not in too good form. 36 overs, 1 wicket for 188 runs. And only one maiden over. Yet he was bowled over and over again.
RS: Exactly, Fanjit. Zoysa I can understand because he was picking the wickets. But Vaas wasn't even doing that. In a subcontinental test match, you definitely expect more overs from your spinners than your pacers.
FSB: Well that's an interesting discussion. We're beginning to run out of time here. You can see that Muralitharan was back to his best, trapping 4 batsmen with his spin bowling. He was quite economical too, 4 for 57.
FF: Definitely, Murali has been coming to the Lankans rescue time and again. But this time he may have been let down by his captain.
FSB: And Chandana of course picking up the solitary wicket. Well now we will head back to the Wankhede for the Sri Lankan second innings. Remember, we are only into the second day of the test match and already the third innings is about to begin. This is simply because of no application by the Sri Lankans when batting and bad wicketkeeping to boost the run rate.
FF: Now the Sri Lankans really have to apply themselves and bat out a day or two. There is no chance of a draw in this match. Sri Lanka must bat out of their skins and set a target for the Indians and hope their spinners will help them out of trouble.
RS: Well, there are about 35 overs left in the day today. Sri Lanka, in my opinion, should not look to force the run rate. For them to have a chance in this match, they have to bat well in to Day 4. The deficit obviously 350 runs. If Sri Lanka can get that down to about 250 tonight, they can push for the lead tomorrow. As long as they can bat out the overs, they should try to put a lead of about 200-230 on the board. Remember, it will not be easy to bat on a fourth or fifth day pitch over here.
FSB: That's all we have time for, folks. Catch us at the end of the day! Thank you for joining us. Latest news here is that Sri Lanka are in big trouble if they want to salvage a point in this first match of the Asian Test Championships.
m_vaughan
Chairman of Selectors
I can bet 20 million on an innings defeat for the Lankans
sohum
Executive member
hahahah...........well let's hope so. the only problem is that the india line-up for bowling for some reason reverts back to the original in the game.which is annoying. it's probably because i only changed the india team in the middle of the game. i'll patch that up...
is there any patch available that will beat the byes? it's damn annoying to see good balls fly away for four. and there's no realism involved since when the batsmen leave the balls outside off-stump they end up getting four runs.
is there any patch available that will beat the byes? it's damn annoying to see good balls fly away for four. and there's no realism involved since when the batsmen leave the balls outside off-stump they end up getting four runs.
sohum
Executive member
Innings Scorecard
UNREAL SPORTS NEWS
Welcome to this short news update from UNREAL SPORTS. For those of you who have missed the action in the currently ongoing India vs Sri Lanka test (as part of the Asian Test Championships), we have the latest score update. Other cricket news also coming up! Stay tuned. Let's head to our Asian Test Championship Correspondent.
Sohum Misra (SM): Thank you, HQ. Well we are at the mid-innings break here after India's innings folded on 498. One thought India would have got a higher lead and really played Sri Lanka out of the game, but Murali and Co. had other plans. Laxman was India's highest scorer with 110 runs under his belt.
Score Update from ATC Match
SM: In other news, Bangladesh has reached Lahore where they will begin training tomorrow for the second ATC fixture. Bangla coach Dav Whatmore expects to give the Pakistanis a decent run for their money, although the most he expects out of his boys is a draw. When speaking to US he said, "Well, I was disappointed with our recent performance in the Asia Cup, but the Tests is a whole different ball game. Having said that, Pakistan is a very strong team both on paper and on the field. We are strong in neither. It will be good exposure for us."
Pakistan, meanwhile, are not taking this contest lightly. New coach Bob Woolmer wants to ensure that he gives the fans back home a great debut match under his coaching. He wants nothing less than a 10-point victory: "Bangladesh may be an up-and-coming force in world cricket but I certainly feel that our guys have the talent and concentration to post a good win. Having said that, we will be completely prepared for any surprise that Bangladesh has in store for us."
Viewers are asked to check out the complete schedule of the tournament at our website (the first page of this thread
). The Sri Lankan second innings is about to begin. Back to you, then.
That's all we have time for now. In other recent cricket news, England is taking on Australia in the Natwest Series Final and have got off to a stable start. And in the Super Challenge 2004, Australia are looking to make it level from a 2-1 deficit. That's all we have for you, folks!
m_vaughan, Shailesh and crick4life: hope you guys don't mind about the little part at the end. if you do, i'll delete it! cheers...
UNREAL SPORTS NEWS
Welcome to this short news update from UNREAL SPORTS. For those of you who have missed the action in the currently ongoing India vs Sri Lanka test (as part of the Asian Test Championships), we have the latest score update. Other cricket news also coming up! Stay tuned. Let's head to our Asian Test Championship Correspondent.
Sohum Misra (SM): Thank you, HQ. Well we are at the mid-innings break here after India's innings folded on 498. One thought India would have got a higher lead and really played Sri Lanka out of the game, but Murali and Co. had other plans. Laxman was India's highest scorer with 110 runs under his belt.
Score Update from ATC Match
SM: In other news, Bangladesh has reached Lahore where they will begin training tomorrow for the second ATC fixture. Bangla coach Dav Whatmore expects to give the Pakistanis a decent run for their money, although the most he expects out of his boys is a draw. When speaking to US he said, "Well, I was disappointed with our recent performance in the Asia Cup, but the Tests is a whole different ball game. Having said that, Pakistan is a very strong team both on paper and on the field. We are strong in neither. It will be good exposure for us."
Pakistan, meanwhile, are not taking this contest lightly. New coach Bob Woolmer wants to ensure that he gives the fans back home a great debut match under his coaching. He wants nothing less than a 10-point victory: "Bangladesh may be an up-and-coming force in world cricket but I certainly feel that our guys have the talent and concentration to post a good win. Having said that, we will be completely prepared for any surprise that Bangladesh has in store for us."
Viewers are asked to check out the complete schedule of the tournament at our website (the first page of this thread
). The Sri Lankan second innings is about to begin. Back to you, then.That's all we have time for now. In other recent cricket news, England is taking on Australia in the Natwest Series Final and have got off to a stable start. And in the Super Challenge 2004, Australia are looking to make it level from a 2-1 deficit. That's all we have for you, folks!
m_vaughan, Shailesh and crick4life: hope you guys don't mind about the little part at the end. if you do, i'll delete it! cheers...
Last edited:
m_vaughan
Chairman of Selectors
looking really good mate. as far as the byes problem is concerned, you may want to adjust your cricket 2004 settings , or better download the latest drivers for your 3d card. You can also reduce the target max size, which is pretty high in the default settings. You can do this using config editor v2.
sohum
Executive member
Day 2 Wrap-Up
Sohum Misra (SM): Hello all! I'm your new host after Farce Shah Bhogle had to leave the show due to personal reasons. Anyhow, what a game we have set up on our hands, at the moment. India are looking to push for victory in this first game while Sri Lanka are providing good resistance, reaching 112/3 at the end of Day 2. I have with me Ravi Smashtri and Fanjit Fernando.
RS: Yes, Sohum. But Sri Lanka still trail by 236 runs and this will be no mean feat to overcome. I thought the Indians bowled very well at the start by stifling Jayasuriya.
FF: Exactly, we saw Jayasuriya finding it to difficult to get runs. As a result he attacked Kumble and lost his wicket. That is exactly what the Indians wanted.
SM: And Atapattu of course getting run out very early. Sangakkara I thought played a loose shot and was done in by the straighter one from Harbhajan. Bhajji has been working on that delivery.
FF: Yes, well this pitch is really suited to the spinners. We saw that Ganguly didn't overuse the pacers on this wicket. After the initial spells by both Agarkar and Pathan, Ganguly reverted to the spinners because there was no swing in the pitch.
RS: Great point. Having said that, the Indians cannot afford to relax because Jayawardene is looking in great form. Samaraweera and Jayawardene have already put up 44 runs on the board and the Indians need to get rid of one of them quickly.
SM: How about the bowling? Anything you saw that you didn't like?
RS: Not at all. I think the Indians are bowling well. Sri Lanka, being an attacking side, don't like to be bogged down. The Indians are creating pressure by strangling the run rate and then reaping the dividends by picking up the wickets. Harbhajan, after a short spell in the first innings, is looking to settle down and bowl a long spell of overs. Kumble has already bowled 11 overs on the trot. Even Sachin looked dangerous in his 3 overs of leg spin, just because of sheer turn.
FF: I think the Sri Lankans are still favourites to lose this match unless these two really put up a good show. As soon as India get into the lower middle order, it's going to be a struggle for the Lankans. As long as Jayawardene is there, Sri Lankans still have a chance to put up a decent total.
SM: Well, that's all we have from the studio at the moment. We will leave you with some pictures of the day, including Laxman's century, Dravid's half-century and some of the wickets. Join us tomorrow to see if the Sri Lankans can make a match of this.
Sohum Misra (SM): Hello all! I'm your new host after Farce Shah Bhogle had to leave the show due to personal reasons. Anyhow, what a game we have set up on our hands, at the moment. India are looking to push for victory in this first game while Sri Lanka are providing good resistance, reaching 112/3 at the end of Day 2. I have with me Ravi Smashtri and Fanjit Fernando.
RS: Yes, Sohum. But Sri Lanka still trail by 236 runs and this will be no mean feat to overcome. I thought the Indians bowled very well at the start by stifling Jayasuriya.
FF: Exactly, we saw Jayasuriya finding it to difficult to get runs. As a result he attacked Kumble and lost his wicket. That is exactly what the Indians wanted.
SM: And Atapattu of course getting run out very early. Sangakkara I thought played a loose shot and was done in by the straighter one from Harbhajan. Bhajji has been working on that delivery.
FF: Yes, well this pitch is really suited to the spinners. We saw that Ganguly didn't overuse the pacers on this wicket. After the initial spells by both Agarkar and Pathan, Ganguly reverted to the spinners because there was no swing in the pitch.
RS: Great point. Having said that, the Indians cannot afford to relax because Jayawardene is looking in great form. Samaraweera and Jayawardene have already put up 44 runs on the board and the Indians need to get rid of one of them quickly.
SM: How about the bowling? Anything you saw that you didn't like?
RS: Not at all. I think the Indians are bowling well. Sri Lanka, being an attacking side, don't like to be bogged down. The Indians are creating pressure by strangling the run rate and then reaping the dividends by picking up the wickets. Harbhajan, after a short spell in the first innings, is looking to settle down and bowl a long spell of overs. Kumble has already bowled 11 overs on the trot. Even Sachin looked dangerous in his 3 overs of leg spin, just because of sheer turn.
FF: I think the Sri Lankans are still favourites to lose this match unless these two really put up a good show. As soon as India get into the lower middle order, it's going to be a struggle for the Lankans. As long as Jayawardene is there, Sri Lankans still have a chance to put up a decent total.
SM: Well, that's all we have from the studio at the moment. We will leave you with some pictures of the day, including Laxman's century, Dravid's half-century and some of the wickets. Join us tomorrow to see if the Sri Lankans can make a match of this.
sohum
Executive member
Score Update, Lunch Day 3
UNREAL SPORTS
Welcome to this update from the Unreal Sports news desk regarding the India vs Sri Lanka test match at the Wankhede. Sri Lanka, after struggling to keep their wickets yesterday, have progressed well this morning session. They have added 125 runs in 27 overs for the loss of just two wickets.
Star batsman Mahela Jayawardene scored a rousing century to keep the Sri Lankan's hopes still alive. He is still batting on 107, where he has Russel Arnold for company. The two wickets to fall were Samaraweera, who played exceptionally well for his 45 before he was run out in a freak misunderstanding, and Dilshan who was foxed by Harbhajan Singh.
Samaraweera's run out came shortly after a missed run out attempt by Anil Kumble off the fielding of Ajit Agarkar at Long Off. Agarkar's pick up and throw were perfect, and Jayawardene was well short of his ground after Samaraweera called him for the second run. However, Anil Kumble fumbled the ball at the stumps and the Third Umpire found the batsman to have made his ground. Could this run out cost India dearly?
Sri Lanka still trail by 111 runs, and they will be looking to erase this deficit by Tea. Catch the update soon. That's all we have from the news desk here. Back to the Wankhede.
[[[SCOREBOX]]]
Sri Lanka, 1st: 150 all out
India, 1st: 498 all out
Sri Lanka, 2nd: 237/5
M Jayawardene 107*
T Samaraweera 45
Harbhajan Singh 2/43
UNREAL SPORTS
Welcome to this update from the Unreal Sports news desk regarding the India vs Sri Lanka test match at the Wankhede. Sri Lanka, after struggling to keep their wickets yesterday, have progressed well this morning session. They have added 125 runs in 27 overs for the loss of just two wickets.
Star batsman Mahela Jayawardene scored a rousing century to keep the Sri Lankan's hopes still alive. He is still batting on 107, where he has Russel Arnold for company. The two wickets to fall were Samaraweera, who played exceptionally well for his 45 before he was run out in a freak misunderstanding, and Dilshan who was foxed by Harbhajan Singh.
Samaraweera's run out came shortly after a missed run out attempt by Anil Kumble off the fielding of Ajit Agarkar at Long Off. Agarkar's pick up and throw were perfect, and Jayawardene was well short of his ground after Samaraweera called him for the second run. However, Anil Kumble fumbled the ball at the stumps and the Third Umpire found the batsman to have made his ground. Could this run out cost India dearly?
Sri Lanka still trail by 111 runs, and they will be looking to erase this deficit by Tea. Catch the update soon. That's all we have from the news desk here. Back to the Wankhede.
[[[SCOREBOX]]]
Sri Lanka, 1st: 150 all out
India, 1st: 498 all out
Sri Lanka, 2nd: 237/5
M Jayawardene 107*
T Samaraweera 45
Harbhajan Singh 2/43
crick4life
International Cricketer
- Joined
- May 23, 2003
- Online Cricket Games Owned
Nice presentation mate, good stuff.
Goodness me, 144 runs as byes. I suppose you may want to sort that out soon.
Goodness me, 144 runs as byes. I suppose you may want to sort that out soon.
sohum
Executive member
Match Roundup
UNREAL SPORTS
SM: Welcome back to Unreal Sports and what a test match we have just witnessed. India pushing strongly to get all 10 points in this match but falling short by about 11 runs. They did win the match but some spectacular batting from Nuwan Zoysa and Chaminda Vaas saw Sri Lanka through to a normal loss, which earns them 4 points.
Dean Bones: Indeed, Sohum. There was only one team in this match and that was India. I think the point system is quite unfair to award Sri Lanka 4 points when they were severely outclassed. However, this should have been discussed earlier and thus should not be a problem with any of the captains.
FF: Absolutely great performance from India on this third day. Sri Lanka really held a lot of cards especially with Jayawardene and Russel Arnold well settled. Jayawardene getting a spectacular century that is the only gain Sri Lanka got from this match. The lower order, save for Vaas and Zoysa, crumbled under the pressure of some good spin bowling.
SM: Yes, it was great to see good captaincy from Ganguly who marshalled his spin bowlers pretty well. Apart from the last wicket from Ganguly, all the wickets off bowlers were from the spinners. The pace bowlers had almost no effect in this fourth innings.
DB: Well that's what you expect from a subcontinent track, especially one like the Wankhede. The pacers may have a good session or two in a test match but they will find it very hard to pick wickets on these flat surfaces.
SM: Yes, Deano. Let's head down to the presentation ceremony to see what the captains have to say and of course who the man of the match is.
Ravi Smashtri: Thank you, Sohum. What we have just witnessed is a thorough all-round performance from India to see them completely outclass Sri Lanka in this first match of the Asian Test Championships. It is only fair to say that Sri Lanka were on the backfoot throughout the game because of a poor first session. India beat them in every department of the game. I will first call on Marvan Atapattu, the losing captain, to have a chat with me. Marvan, disappointed with your performance?
Marvan Atapattu: Ah yes. I thought we were playing good cricket recently, especially one-day cricket. We threw it all away in the first session and could not recover.
RS: Yes, no real application from your batsmen in the first innings.
MA: Definitely. Somebody needed to stay there and get at least 75-100. We thought Sangakkara would do it but he got out in his forties. No one really had a good innings and on a flat wicket like this, we could not be forgiven.
RS: The Indian batsmen looked splendid on this pitch, didn't they? Almost everyone got some runs.
MA: Ah yes, but it was a very good pitch, Ravi. We should have scored about 400-500 as I said at the toss. It was not to be. I thought we restricted them very well and broke partnerships at the right time.
RS: Yes, you seemed to get wickets in bundles. Everytime two batsmen got settled in your bowlers came back and got a few. I thought Laxman's innings really took the game out of your hand.
MA: India have such a huge batting line-up that even 4-5 quick wickets don't give us an advantage! We will have to pull up our socks for the game against Bangladesh.
RS: You go do that. Ladies and Gentlemen, that was Marvan Atapattu of Sri Lanka. I now want to call on Sourav Ganguly, the winning captain, to collect his cheque for $50,000 from the BCCI chief, Jagmohan Dalmiya. Sourav, good game?
Sourav Ganguly (Dada): Yes, definitely. I thought we played good cricket for 3 days and the result definitely reflects that.
RS: You must have been itching to have revenge on Sri Lanka after that Asia Cup loss in the final.
Dada: Not really, Ravi. I like to think of the past as passed and it really doesn't have any bearing on what we do in the future. Test cricket is a whole different ball game and I think we were simply the better team here.
RS: Must be disappointed concede 4 points to Sri Lanka.
Dada: Yes, Ravi. It reminds me of the Pakistan match at the Asia cup, where we got the bonus point. However, this has come at the early stage of the tournament so hopefully we'll not regret it.
RS: Well enjoy your victory and good luck for your match against Pakistan! And you're playing it on your home turf, Kolkata.
Dada: I'm really looking forward to that game and hope we can put in another great performance.
RS: That was Sourav Ganguly, the captain of India. And now we have the man of the match award and I can tell it was not an easy decision. It was up to the commentators panel of Unreal Sports to decide the winner. Before we announce the winner, lets look at the candidates:
Anil Kumble for his 5-wicket haul in the match.
Rahul Dravid for his well composed 73 that put India back on track.
Muttiah Muralitharan for his 4 wickets in the first innings.
Mahela Jayawardene for his fantastic 108 in the second innings.
Harbhajan Singh for his 4 wickets in the match.
But the commentators decided that VVS Laxman's knock of 110 really put India in command after a poor showing by Sri Lanka in the first innings. So he is our man of the match. VVS come up for a chat.
VVS: Thank you, Ravi.
RS: Great knock, VVS. Would you like to tell the audience today your full name?
VVS: Ha ha, its Vengipurapu Venkat Sai Laxman.
RS: Well it should be Very Very Special because you have played another special innings here today. Really put India in command. Were you wary of the pitch after Sri Lanka's collapse?
VVS: Basically I played a little slowly at the beginning to really knock myself in. This is a fantastic batting track and all you need to do is spend some time to get the measure of the bounce. After that I played my shots and I guess it worked!
RS: Good knock, anyhow. Looking forward to the next match in Kolkata?
VVS: Definitely. One of my favorite grounds after my double-ton there!
RS: Will you be attemting to break Sehwag's record of 309?
VVS: Ha ha, let's see how it goes.
RS: Thank you, Laxman. That's all we have from the presentation ceremony, back to the studio!
SM: So VVS Laxman there earning the man of the match for his spectacular innings. Folks, we are very sorry but we must interrupt this broadcast for some live sports action. Don't forget to catch the complete wrap-up later tonight, as well as the preview for the next game.
UNREAL SPORTS
SM: Welcome back to Unreal Sports and what a test match we have just witnessed. India pushing strongly to get all 10 points in this match but falling short by about 11 runs. They did win the match but some spectacular batting from Nuwan Zoysa and Chaminda Vaas saw Sri Lanka through to a normal loss, which earns them 4 points.
Dean Bones: Indeed, Sohum. There was only one team in this match and that was India. I think the point system is quite unfair to award Sri Lanka 4 points when they were severely outclassed. However, this should have been discussed earlier and thus should not be a problem with any of the captains.
FF: Absolutely great performance from India on this third day. Sri Lanka really held a lot of cards especially with Jayawardene and Russel Arnold well settled. Jayawardene getting a spectacular century that is the only gain Sri Lanka got from this match. The lower order, save for Vaas and Zoysa, crumbled under the pressure of some good spin bowling.
SM: Yes, it was great to see good captaincy from Ganguly who marshalled his spin bowlers pretty well. Apart from the last wicket from Ganguly, all the wickets off bowlers were from the spinners. The pace bowlers had almost no effect in this fourth innings.
DB: Well that's what you expect from a subcontinent track, especially one like the Wankhede. The pacers may have a good session or two in a test match but they will find it very hard to pick wickets on these flat surfaces.
SM: Yes, Deano. Let's head down to the presentation ceremony to see what the captains have to say and of course who the man of the match is.
Ravi Smashtri: Thank you, Sohum. What we have just witnessed is a thorough all-round performance from India to see them completely outclass Sri Lanka in this first match of the Asian Test Championships. It is only fair to say that Sri Lanka were on the backfoot throughout the game because of a poor first session. India beat them in every department of the game. I will first call on Marvan Atapattu, the losing captain, to have a chat with me. Marvan, disappointed with your performance?
Marvan Atapattu: Ah yes. I thought we were playing good cricket recently, especially one-day cricket. We threw it all away in the first session and could not recover.
RS: Yes, no real application from your batsmen in the first innings.
MA: Definitely. Somebody needed to stay there and get at least 75-100. We thought Sangakkara would do it but he got out in his forties. No one really had a good innings and on a flat wicket like this, we could not be forgiven.
RS: The Indian batsmen looked splendid on this pitch, didn't they? Almost everyone got some runs.
MA: Ah yes, but it was a very good pitch, Ravi. We should have scored about 400-500 as I said at the toss. It was not to be. I thought we restricted them very well and broke partnerships at the right time.
RS: Yes, you seemed to get wickets in bundles. Everytime two batsmen got settled in your bowlers came back and got a few. I thought Laxman's innings really took the game out of your hand.
MA: India have such a huge batting line-up that even 4-5 quick wickets don't give us an advantage! We will have to pull up our socks for the game against Bangladesh.
RS: You go do that. Ladies and Gentlemen, that was Marvan Atapattu of Sri Lanka. I now want to call on Sourav Ganguly, the winning captain, to collect his cheque for $50,000 from the BCCI chief, Jagmohan Dalmiya. Sourav, good game?
Sourav Ganguly (Dada): Yes, definitely. I thought we played good cricket for 3 days and the result definitely reflects that.
RS: You must have been itching to have revenge on Sri Lanka after that Asia Cup loss in the final.
Dada: Not really, Ravi. I like to think of the past as passed and it really doesn't have any bearing on what we do in the future. Test cricket is a whole different ball game and I think we were simply the better team here.
RS: Must be disappointed concede 4 points to Sri Lanka.
Dada: Yes, Ravi. It reminds me of the Pakistan match at the Asia cup, where we got the bonus point. However, this has come at the early stage of the tournament so hopefully we'll not regret it.
RS: Well enjoy your victory and good luck for your match against Pakistan! And you're playing it on your home turf, Kolkata.
Dada: I'm really looking forward to that game and hope we can put in another great performance.
RS: That was Sourav Ganguly, the captain of India. And now we have the man of the match award and I can tell it was not an easy decision. It was up to the commentators panel of Unreal Sports to decide the winner. Before we announce the winner, lets look at the candidates:
Anil Kumble for his 5-wicket haul in the match.
Rahul Dravid for his well composed 73 that put India back on track.
Muttiah Muralitharan for his 4 wickets in the first innings.
Mahela Jayawardene for his fantastic 108 in the second innings.
Harbhajan Singh for his 4 wickets in the match.
But the commentators decided that VVS Laxman's knock of 110 really put India in command after a poor showing by Sri Lanka in the first innings. So he is our man of the match. VVS come up for a chat.
VVS: Thank you, Ravi.
RS: Great knock, VVS. Would you like to tell the audience today your full name?
VVS: Ha ha, its Vengipurapu Venkat Sai Laxman.
RS: Well it should be Very Very Special because you have played another special innings here today. Really put India in command. Were you wary of the pitch after Sri Lanka's collapse?
VVS: Basically I played a little slowly at the beginning to really knock myself in. This is a fantastic batting track and all you need to do is spend some time to get the measure of the bounce. After that I played my shots and I guess it worked!
RS: Good knock, anyhow. Looking forward to the next match in Kolkata?
VVS: Definitely. One of my favorite grounds after my double-ton there!
RS: Will you be attemting to break Sehwag's record of 309?
VVS: Ha ha, let's see how it goes.
RS: Thank you, Laxman. That's all we have from the presentation ceremony, back to the studio!
SM: So VVS Laxman there earning the man of the match for his spectacular innings. Folks, we are very sorry but we must interrupt this broadcast for some live sports action. Don't forget to catch the complete wrap-up later tonight, as well as the preview for the next game.
m_vaughan
Chairman of Selectors
Well presented mate! keep the work up and a good win for India too.
sohum
Executive member
FreshLime
FreshLime
Welcome to FreshLime where we review the latest sports stories from around the world of cricket. At the top of the show is the wrap up of the 1st match of the Asian Test Championships, where India were taking on Sri Lanka at the Wankhede. India scored a resounding win in less than 3 days to take 8 points and the lead at the top of the table. Sri Lanka, however, managed to salvage 4 points and thus remain very competitive for a place in the final.
Here is the final scorecard of the second innings:
As you can see, India dominated the test match from start to finish, except for Mahela Jayawardene's innings in Sri Lanka's second essay. India would be very disappointed at not being able to take 10 points from this contest, because only an innings defeat can achieve that.
Sourav Ganguly, speaking to FreshLime, said: "Obviously we are disappointed that we could not take full points from this encounter after having dominated the test match from start to finish. However, it is wins that will get us to the finals and we are not worrying about it at this stage."
The points table, after the first match, is as represented here:
Another disappointment for India is the fact that it took them so long to bowl out the tailenders of Sri Lanka. They allowed the game to drift, and thus Sri Lanka were able to take a second innings lead of just 11 runs. Vaas and Zoysa provided good resistance and scored more than 30 runs each. This denied India full points.
In other ATC news, Bangladesh have got in a good few days of practice at the Rawilpinid Cricket Stadium, where their match against Pakistan begins tomorrow. Pakistan are playing a full strength side and are looking to gain full points from the encounter. This will be the home test match for Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar, who is dubbed as the Rawilpindi Express. It is expected that a fast, green pitch will play host to the match, although this is not confirmed.
Other cricket headlines are that the ODI playing African Nations (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya) are planning to have a three nation tournament. Also, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is discussing possible locations to host the ATC final. At the moment Sharjah is at the top of the list, being a neutral venue, although Colombo and Delhi are also possible choices.
Thank you for joining this bulletin, we leave you with some pictures of the final day of the India v Sri Lanka test match.
FreshLime
Welcome to FreshLime where we review the latest sports stories from around the world of cricket. At the top of the show is the wrap up of the 1st match of the Asian Test Championships, where India were taking on Sri Lanka at the Wankhede. India scored a resounding win in less than 3 days to take 8 points and the lead at the top of the table. Sri Lanka, however, managed to salvage 4 points and thus remain very competitive for a place in the final.
Here is the final scorecard of the second innings:
As you can see, India dominated the test match from start to finish, except for Mahela Jayawardene's innings in Sri Lanka's second essay. India would be very disappointed at not being able to take 10 points from this contest, because only an innings defeat can achieve that.
Sourav Ganguly, speaking to FreshLime, said: "Obviously we are disappointed that we could not take full points from this encounter after having dominated the test match from start to finish. However, it is wins that will get us to the finals and we are not worrying about it at this stage."
The points table, after the first match, is as represented here:
Another disappointment for India is the fact that it took them so long to bowl out the tailenders of Sri Lanka. They allowed the game to drift, and thus Sri Lanka were able to take a second innings lead of just 11 runs. Vaas and Zoysa provided good resistance and scored more than 30 runs each. This denied India full points.
In other ATC news, Bangladesh have got in a good few days of practice at the Rawilpinid Cricket Stadium, where their match against Pakistan begins tomorrow. Pakistan are playing a full strength side and are looking to gain full points from the encounter. This will be the home test match for Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar, who is dubbed as the Rawilpindi Express. It is expected that a fast, green pitch will play host to the match, although this is not confirmed.
Other cricket headlines are that the ODI playing African Nations (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya) are planning to have a three nation tournament. Also, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is discussing possible locations to host the ATC final. At the moment Sharjah is at the top of the list, being a neutral venue, although Colombo and Delhi are also possible choices.
Thank you for joining this bulletin, we leave you with some pictures of the final day of the India v Sri Lanka test match.
sohum
Executive member
Pakistan vs Bangladesh
UNREAL SPORTS
Sohum Misra (SM): Welcome to this Unreal Sports presentation of the second match of the Asian Test Championships 2004. In the first match we saw India completely outplay the Lankan Lions. Can Pakistan duplicate that effort against minnows Bangladesh? There's only one way to find out....stay tuned! I have with me Ravi Smashtri and Attar Ali Ramen (AAR) to build up this match.
Ravi Smashtri (RS): Yes, Sohum, this is bound to be an exciting match. Although Pakistan are probably a fair bit ahead of Bangladesh in terms of accomplishments, I think the Bangla test team has come a long way under the coaching of Dav Whatmore.
AAR: I completely agree with Ravi. We saw in the tour of West Indies that the Banglas gave the Windies a run for their money in many of the one-dayers and even the first test match. They'll be looking to build on that as they search for that elusive test victory.
SM: Well we have a couple of interviews to get started with. The first one is with the Pakistani captain, Inzamam. It's Dean Bones with him down at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Deano: So Inzy, your first match today? Looking forward.
Inzy: Yes, definitely. I think we are playing good cricket recently and there is nothing bigger than the Asian Test Championships.
Deano: Happy that your first match is against Bangladesh.
Inzy: I would say yes because the boys just have a chance to get into their groove. But we are not taking this competition lightly. We will be putting our full team forward. And Insha'allah we will win the game.
Deano: Well good luck in the game then, mate!
Inzy: Thank you.
SM: Well, Inzy certainly picking his words there. Very strong words, too. The Pakistani team look like they are concentrating extremely hard and want to score a resounding victory here.
RS: Yes definitely. They felt that there was injustice in them being knocked out of the Asia Cup in the manner that they were, so they want to get back hard here. Really take the fight to the opposition.
SM: Now we rush to an interview with Habibul Bashar, the Bangladeshi captain. Deano-
Deano: So Habibul, a big game today?
HB: Yes. Every game will be big for us and we will be looking to hang on to every point we can find.
Deano: Do you think your side has grown enough to be able to tackle the big boys in test cricket?
HB: I don't know the answer to that question but we will find out on the field. We have been working very hard these last few months with Dav Whatmore and hopefully we will be able to translate this into some success on the field.
Deano: Good luck then. Back to you.
SM: News is that we are ready for the toss. So the two captains are down at the ground along with the match referee and Dean Bones, again!
Deano: Thank you, Sohum. Well here we are live at the toss for this game 2 of the Asian Test Championships. Inzy, as home captain, will toss the coin. And the call is Tails from Habibul. It's landed as heads. Inzy, what are you going to do?
Inzy: We will have a bat here. It looks like a good pitch to bat on.
Deano: I thought you would try to make use of the overcast conditions here. You've got a trio of big pacemen.
Inzy: I think that the clouds will clear up soon so better to stick to batting. We will look to last out the first session and then try to score as many runs as possible.
Deano: How many runs are you looking at?
Inzy: This pitch looks very good for batting. We will be hoping for at least 350-400 runs in our first innings.
Deano: Well good luck. Habibul, would have liked to win the toss?
HB: We would have bowled first anyway. Hope to take some wickets with the new ball and the overcast conditions and then put pressure on the Pakistani middle order.
Deano: Oh so its all worked out here! What is your bowling composition for this match?
HB: Ha ha, yes. We are going in with two pacers- Tareq Aziz and Tapash Baisya and one spinner - Mohammad Rafique. Khaled Mahmud will also be bowling, and we hope to get some overs out of Alok Kapali and Mohammad Ashraful and maybe myself.
Deano: Good luck then. So that's the result for the toss.
SM: So Pakistan winning the toss and electing to bat first. Here are the team line-ups:
SM: We are just about ready to begin coverage here on Unreal Sports. Please join us at the end of the day's play to watch our expert analysis. That's all for now. Thank you!
UNREAL SPORTS
Sohum Misra (SM): Welcome to this Unreal Sports presentation of the second match of the Asian Test Championships 2004. In the first match we saw India completely outplay the Lankan Lions. Can Pakistan duplicate that effort against minnows Bangladesh? There's only one way to find out....stay tuned! I have with me Ravi Smashtri and Attar Ali Ramen (AAR) to build up this match.
Ravi Smashtri (RS): Yes, Sohum, this is bound to be an exciting match. Although Pakistan are probably a fair bit ahead of Bangladesh in terms of accomplishments, I think the Bangla test team has come a long way under the coaching of Dav Whatmore.
AAR: I completely agree with Ravi. We saw in the tour of West Indies that the Banglas gave the Windies a run for their money in many of the one-dayers and even the first test match. They'll be looking to build on that as they search for that elusive test victory.
SM: Well we have a couple of interviews to get started with. The first one is with the Pakistani captain, Inzamam. It's Dean Bones with him down at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Deano: So Inzy, your first match today? Looking forward.
Inzy: Yes, definitely. I think we are playing good cricket recently and there is nothing bigger than the Asian Test Championships.
Deano: Happy that your first match is against Bangladesh.
Inzy: I would say yes because the boys just have a chance to get into their groove. But we are not taking this competition lightly. We will be putting our full team forward. And Insha'allah we will win the game.
Deano: Well good luck in the game then, mate!
Inzy: Thank you.
SM: Well, Inzy certainly picking his words there. Very strong words, too. The Pakistani team look like they are concentrating extremely hard and want to score a resounding victory here.
RS: Yes definitely. They felt that there was injustice in them being knocked out of the Asia Cup in the manner that they were, so they want to get back hard here. Really take the fight to the opposition.
SM: Now we rush to an interview with Habibul Bashar, the Bangladeshi captain. Deano-
Deano: So Habibul, a big game today?
HB: Yes. Every game will be big for us and we will be looking to hang on to every point we can find.
Deano: Do you think your side has grown enough to be able to tackle the big boys in test cricket?
HB: I don't know the answer to that question but we will find out on the field. We have been working very hard these last few months with Dav Whatmore and hopefully we will be able to translate this into some success on the field.
Deano: Good luck then. Back to you.
SM: News is that we are ready for the toss. So the two captains are down at the ground along with the match referee and Dean Bones, again!
Deano: Thank you, Sohum. Well here we are live at the toss for this game 2 of the Asian Test Championships. Inzy, as home captain, will toss the coin. And the call is Tails from Habibul. It's landed as heads. Inzy, what are you going to do?
Inzy: We will have a bat here. It looks like a good pitch to bat on.
Deano: I thought you would try to make use of the overcast conditions here. You've got a trio of big pacemen.
Inzy: I think that the clouds will clear up soon so better to stick to batting. We will look to last out the first session and then try to score as many runs as possible.
Deano: How many runs are you looking at?
Inzy: This pitch looks very good for batting. We will be hoping for at least 350-400 runs in our first innings.
Deano: Well good luck. Habibul, would have liked to win the toss?
HB: We would have bowled first anyway. Hope to take some wickets with the new ball and the overcast conditions and then put pressure on the Pakistani middle order.
Deano: Oh so its all worked out here! What is your bowling composition for this match?
HB: Ha ha, yes. We are going in with two pacers- Tareq Aziz and Tapash Baisya and one spinner - Mohammad Rafique. Khaled Mahmud will also be bowling, and we hope to get some overs out of Alok Kapali and Mohammad Ashraful and maybe myself.
Deano: Good luck then. So that's the result for the toss.
SM: So Pakistan winning the toss and electing to bat first. Here are the team line-ups:
SM: We are just about ready to begin coverage here on Unreal Sports. Please join us at the end of the day's play to watch our expert analysis. That's all for now. Thank you!
sohum
Executive member
I'm playing as Bangladesh 
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