Story India's Journey to bring the World Cup back in India - Day five of World T20

[Prithvi]

Great story till now. Hope it continues the same..

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Last updated: 29th May, 2009

Dhoni - We can win it again

Skipper MS Dhoni in a press conference in England​

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni believes his side have the flexibility and experience needed to retain the World Twenty20 Championship.

The defending champions reached England on Friday ahead of their first Group A match against Bangladesh on June 6. Dhoni is happy that India have enough options within the side to win games and has called on his players to now also deliver the consistency needed.

He said: "We are a side which really suits the T20 format. We have specialist bowlers and the best part is we have part-timers who have bowled really well for their respective franchisees in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They give us plenty of options and in this format they would be crucial because you have to keep changing your game plan.

"I'm happy with the kind of side I've got and the kind of potential there is in this side. In this format it's also important that you play consistently well right through because things can change very quickly. No team can be taken for granted. Any team can win and even beat the best of sides. It demands that you play to your full potential."

The Indian captain added his side have gleaned plenty of experience in handling tight situations from the Indian Premier League.

He said: "There is no pressure on. In this aspect the IPL has really helped because we have played more T20 games than most other players. At some time or the other in the tournament, most of our players have been put under tremendous pressure. It has helped the youngsters in handling the pressure and in the T20 game its all about handling tight situations."

Zaheer Khan is expected to recover from a shoulder injury in time for the tournament. The left-arm paceman sustained the problem while playing in the IPL but is on course to be fit for India's opening fixture. "Zaheer is not 100 percent fit now, but I am hopeful he will be available for our first match," added Dhoni.​

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Ohk so you still continuing i thought you were not allowed

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Last updated: 4th June, 2009

India tipped to retain crown

Dhoni's side firm Twenty20 favourites​

The ICC World Twenty20 gets underway on Friday and Cricket Betting Odds are offering a wealth of cricket betting opportunities ahead of the start of the tournament.

Even without the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly India are installed as the 4/1 favourites in Cricket Betting Odds' Twenty20 betting market to retain the title they won in South Africa. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's exciting side, who pulled off a thrilling win over Pakistan in the 2007 final, are also the 13/5 favourites to hit the most sixes.

One-day kings South Africa are 13/3 to be crowned champions and they go into the tournament brimming with confidence and if their batsmen hit form early they will take some beating. Skipper Graeme Smith is 15/1 in cricket betting to finish as the tournament's leading run scorer with AB de Villiers (19/1), Jean-Paul Duminy (21/1) and Herschelle Gibbs (23/1)

Ricky Ponting's Australia are 5/1 third favourites to win the tournament outright and 3/1 to reach the final and have the talent to go all the way. England go into the Twenty20 in a rich vein of form after Test and one-day wins against West Indies and it's 10/1 for Andy Flowers' side to run out tournament winners and 7/1 they reach the final.

Amongst the other specials on offer, it's 2/3 for there to be over 238 sixes hit in the tournament and it's 2/4 that a team manages to post over 220 runs in an innings. Cricket Betting Odds offer 2/3 for any batsman to score a century and it's 2/1 that the highest individual score is under 105 runs.​

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Last updated: 5th June, 2009

India v Bangladesh Preview

Skipper Dhoni and coach Kirsten making some new strategies​

Match facts
Saturday June 6
Start time 1800 local

Big Picture
Being the top seeds by virtue of winning the inaugural edition of the World twenty20 Championship in South Africa, India get to be in the group that has two relatively weak teams, Bangladesh and Ireland. There place in the Super Eights should be a mere formality, but they can't take anything for granted especially against Bangladesh. Bangladesh have defeated the Indians and knocked them out of the 2007 World Cup in West Indies and this would surely be fresh in the minds of the both teams as they go out to play in front of a capacity ground at Tent Bridge.

Team News
The overcast conditions and some forecast of rain over here at Tent Bridge could tempt Bangladesh to go for an extra seamer in their side, given the quality of their part-time spinners. While Mashrafe Mortaza and Rubel Hossain are almost certain, the choice is between Shahadat Hossain and Syed Rasel.

Bangladesh (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Junaid Siddique, 3 Mohammad Ashraful (capt.), 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Raqibul Hasan, 7 Mushfiqur Rahim, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Rubel Hossain, 10 and 11 Shahadat Hossain/Naeem Islam/Syed Rasel/Abdur Razzak

India are yet to decide on their combination, largely due to shoulder injuries to Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag. Both of them had some net sessions today morning but the Indian camp are yet to declare them fit. India might chose not to risk both of them back, this not being a crucial match.

India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag/Rohit Sharma, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt./wk), 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 and 10 Irfan Pathan/Praveen Kumar/RP Singh/Zaheer Khan, 11 Ishant Sharma

Watch Out For...
Shakib Al Hasan would be the key for the Bangladeshis today, as he has some great ability to hit the ball long in the middle order and also take some important wickets in the middle overs. India will have to be careful against Bangladesh's best player in all forms of cricket.

For the Indians it would be none other Yuvraj Singh who would be the key today. His abilities to hit good balls for huge boundaries and score some quick runs make him the dangerous batsman in this shortest format the game.

Pitch and Conditions
Trent Bridge has been a high-scoring venue in the warm-ups. The weather, though, was cloudy today with temperatures in the teens. Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

Quoters
"I don't think this team is about flukes any more. We have done our work very well and we have improved a lot. We have really good depth in batting and bowling now and also I think we are pretty good in field."
Mohd Ashraful, Bangladesh captain

"We can't take them(Bangladesh) for granted or lightly. We still remmember what happened in the 2007 World Cup and it hurts. We will play our best cricket with our strongest possible side available and try and win tomorrow."
MS Dhoni, India captain​

 

[Tarzan]

Good work. I think Zaheer Khan and RP Singh must be in final XI...

 

[Mihir Doshi]

Nice work before..

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Last updated: 6th June, 2009

Dutch and Windies cause upsets, as Kiwis win

Netherlands team celebrate after their emphatic win over England​

The World Twnety20 Championship is underway in England and within a day two upsets have already been witnessed. The shock of the tournament was caused in the first match of the tournament when the minnows Netherlands defeated the host England by a huge margin of 7 wickets at the Lords Stadium. The second match was played at the Brit Oval on day two of the tournament saw New Zealand beating minnows Scotland by 20 runs thanks to some brilliant batting display by Ross Taylor.The third match of the tournament on the same day played at the Brit Oval saw the West Indies creating the second upset of the tournament when they defeated the Australians by 22 runs. Here is a brief scorecard of the three matches which have been played so far-

England 167/7 in 20 overs(Wright 58, Collingwood 47 ; Schiferli 2/39, Reekers 1/9) lost to Netherlands 170/3 in 19 overs(Reekers 52, Zuiderent 41 ; Collingwood 1/22, Flintoff 1/47) by 7 wickets.
Man of the Match: Darron Reekers

New Zealand 192/6 in 20 overs(Taylor 88, Broom 40 ; Stander 4/38. Drummond 1/12) beat Scotland 172/7 in 20 overs(Hamilton 59, Smith 38 ; Oram 4/45, Franklin 2/45) by 20 runs.
Man of the Match: Ross Taylor

West Indies 168/7 in 20 overs(Fletcher 74, Sarwan 57 ; Lee 3/28, Johnson 2/21) beat Australia 146/7 in 20 overs(D Hussey 64*, Johnson 51* ; Edwards 4/40, Bravo 3/15) by 22 runs.
Man of the Match: Andre Fletcher

The third match of day two will see the defending champions India play their first match of the tournament against fellow subcontinent side Bangladesh at the Tent Bridge.​

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Last updated: 6th June, 2009

Indians crush Bangladesh in Nottingham

Zaheer Khan was named the Man of the Match​

Bangladesh 142 all-out in 17.4 overs (M Mortaza 41 ; Z Khan 5-18) lost to India 146-2 in 12.5 overs (Yuvraj Singh 53 no ; M Mortaza 2-41) by 8 wickets

Zaheer Khan took five wickets and Yuvraj Singh struck an unbeaten half-century as India crushed Bangladesh by eight wickets in the first game of Group A of the opening phase of the ICC World Twenty20.

The Bangladeshis who came into this match with hope of upsetting the reigning champions were asked to bat first by the Indian skipper MS Dhoni, on a pitched which had some green grass and looked good for the faster bowlers. They were in trouble right from the outset opening spells from Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan, who ripped out the middle order before finishing with five for 18 off three overs. Bangladeshis total of 142 all out off 20 overs was never likely to be anywhere near sufficient and the Indians - led by Yuvraj Singh who made 53 from 31 balls - eased home with 43 balls left.

Bangladesh started with a bang, Tamin Iqbal(19) scoring 12 runs of the first over from Ishant Sharma, but an over later Ishant Sharma got his man when Tamin Iqbal hit straight in the hands of Suresh Raina at covers. This was just the beginning of the collapse. Zaheer Khan soon got rid of skipper Mohd Ashraful(8) with a brilliant yorker and in the same over saw the back of Junaid Siddique(6) when the lefthanded opener gave a simple catch to Yuvraj Singh at mid-on.

Shakib Al Hasan(3) - Bangladesh's best player - didn't last long as he was runout by some brilliant piece of fielding by Harbhajan Singh. Raquibul Hasan(8), Mahumudullah(9) and Mushfiqur Rahim(4) made the long walk back to the pavilion in the next over bowled by Zaheer Khan. Bangladeshis were suddenly reduced to 60 for seven after just 6 overs when MS Dhoni decided bring 'the terminator' Harbhajan Singh on.

At 60 for seven humiliation was on the cards but Mashrafe Mortaza and Naeem Islam(35*) both produced a gusty counter-attacking partnership of 70 which included seven boundaries to take their side past three figures. Mortaza(41) went for one shot too many and was stumped by MS Dhoni of the bowling of Harbhajan Singh. Shahadat Hossain(6) followed soon as he gave an easy catch back to bowler Yusuf Pathan. Yusuf Pathan's brother Irfan Pathan ended the Bangladesh innings on 142 when Rubel Hossain(2) was given leg before by the umpire.

In reply, India's opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambir wasted little time in taking the attack to the bowlers, putting on 34 runs before the former fell to Mortaza for 28 of 14 balls with four fours and one six. Shahadat Hossain beat the bat of Gambhir(19) a couple of time but it was again Mortaza who sent the Delhi opener back to pavilion, Hossain instead was despatched for two consecutive fours by Yuvraj Singh.

Yuvraj Singh and Suresh both put on a 87 run partnership of 48 balls for fourth wicket which included thirteen boundaries and this also guided the Indians to victory. Yuvraj Singh reached a deserved half-century with a boundary off Rubel Hossain towards the end of the twelfth over before nudging the winning runs to ensure India qualify for the Super Eights. Bangladesh must regroup quickly as they take on Ireland next in the second Group A encounter which will see the winner progressing to the Super Eights.

Bangladesh Innings 


Player                                         Status    R    B  4s  6s    S/R
Tamin Iqbal            c Suresh Raina b Ishant Sharma   19   10   2   1    190
Junaid Siddique          c Yuvraj Singh b Zaheer Khan    6    7   0   0  85.71
Mohd Ashraful                           b Zaheer Khan    8    6   1   0  133.3
Shakib Al Hasan               run out Harbhajan Singh    3    2   0   0    150
Mahmudullah                           lbw Zaheer Khan    9    3   0   1    300
Raquibul Hasan                          b Zaheer Khan    8    4   1   0    200
Mashrafe Mortaza        st MS Dhoni b Harbhajan Singh   41   36   3   0  113.9
Mushfiqur Rahim        c Gautam Gambhir b Zaheer Khan    4    2   1   0    200
Nameen Islam                                  not out   35   26   4   0  134.6
Shahadat Hossain                   c & b Yusuf Pathan    6    4   1   0    150
Rubel Hossain                        lbw Irfan Pathan    2    7   0   0  28.57

Total: 142                       Overs: 17.4                    Run Rate: 8.353

Extras : 1    No Balls : 1       Wides : 0    Leg Byes : 0        Byes : 0

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India Bowling



Players                              Overs   Maidens    Runs     Wickets    ER
Yuvraj Singh                         2.0           0      15           0    7.5
Yusuf Pathan                         4.0           0      24           1      6
Irfan Pathan                         1.4           0      10           1      6
Harbhajan Singh                      4.0           0      33           1   8.25
Zaheer Khan                          3.0           0      18           5      6
Ishant Sharma                        3.0           0      42           1     14

Total: 142                       Overs: 17.4                    Run Rate: 8.353

Extras : 1    No Balls : 1       Wides : 0    Leg Byes : 0        Byes : 0



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India Innings 


Player                                         Status    R    B  4s  6s    S/R
Virender Sehwag     c Nameen Islam b Mashrafe Mortaza   28   14   4   1    200
Gautam Gambhir                     b Mashrafe Mortaza   19   10   2   1    190
Suresh Raina                                  not out   43   25   5   0    172
Yuvraj Singh                                  not out   53   31   9   0    171
MS Dhoni                                          dnb    0    0   0   0      0
Yusuf Pathan                                      dnb    0    0   0   0      0
Ravindra Jadeja                                   dnb    0    0   0   0      0
Irfan Pathan                                      dnb    0    0   0   0      0
Harbhajan Singh                                   dnb    0    0   0   0      0
Zaheer Khan                                       dnb    0    0   0   0      0
Ishant Sharma                                     dnb    0    0   0   0      0

Total: 146                       Overs: 12.5                    Run Rate: 12.17

Extras : 3    No Balls : 3       Wides : 0    Leg Byes : 0        Byes : 0

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Bangladesh Bowling



Players                              Overs   Maidens    Runs     Wickets    ER
Mohd Ashraful                        1.0           0      13           0     13
Shakib Al Hasan                      3.0           0      34           0  11.33
Mashrafe Mortaza                     3.0           0      41           2  13.67
Nameen Islam                         1.0           0       5           0      5
Shahadat Hossain                     3.0           0      32           0  10.67
Rubel Hossain                        1.5           0      21           0  11.45

Total: 146                       Overs: 12.5                    Run Rate: 12.17

Extras : 3    No Balls : 3       Wides : 0    Leg Byes : 0        Byes : 0



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[Mihir Doshi]

Mate i do not feel anyintrest in this sorry as India have already lost it I hope you change the story line

But graphics are:hpraise:hpraise

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Last updated: 7th June, 2009

South Africa and England register wins

Andrew Flintoff celebrates his 6th wicket against Pakistan​

The day three of the World Twenty20 Championships in England saw no surprises as South Africa and England both registered their first victories in the tournament. The World No1 One Day side South Africa not only defeated the minnows Scotland but also knocked them out of the tournament with a comfortable 45 runs win at the Brit Oval thanks to some brilliant batting display by the inform AB de Villiers. The second game of the day saw the host England - who needed to win to keep their hopes of making the Super Eights - defeat Pakistan by just 3 wickets. Andrew Flintoff who ended with figures of 6-24 was the hero for hosts in an entertaining and a tight contest at the Lords stadium in London. Here is a brief scorecard of the two matches which were played on the Day three of the Championships-

South Africa 170/9 in 20 overs(de Villiers 57, A Morkel 35 ; Wright 4/27, Stander 1/33) beat Scotland 125/7 in 20 overs(Smith 51 no, Watson 50 ; Kallis 3/15, Steyn 3/26) by 45 runs.
Man of the Match: AB de Villiers

Pakistan 155 all-out in 19.4 overs(Shahzaib Hasan 62, Fawad Alam 51 ; Flintoff 6/24, Anderson 3/32) lost to England 156/7 in 19 overs(Shah 49, Collingwood 40 ; Mohd Aamer 4/31, Fawad Alam 2/10) by 3 wickets.
Man of the Match: Andrew Flintoff

The day four of the Championships will see Bangladesh up against Ireland in Nottingham and Sri Lanka playing their first match of the tournament against the mighty Australians in London. ​

 

[AbhishekS]

Great going.

The presentation is the charm of the story.

KUTGW

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Last updated: 8th June, 2009

Lankans send Aussies home

Aussies are knocked out of the tournament by Sri Lanka​

The day four of the World Twenty20 Championships in England saw the Sri Lankans send the World Champions Australians packing out of the tournament, while Bangladesh book their place in the Super Eights. The first game of the day at Tent Bridge saw Bangladesh defeat minnows Ireland by six wickets to qualify for the later stages of the tournament. Skipper William Porterfield's half century helped Ireland to reach 131, but a brilliant opening partnership between Tamin Iqbal and Junaid Siddque saw the subcontinent side chasing the target with 19 balls spare. The second match at the Tent Bridge saw another subcontinent side securing their place in the Super Eights of tournament. The Sri Lankans who were playing their first match of the tournament defeated the Aussies - who already had lost to the West Indies - and sent them home packing. Skipper Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey helped the Aussies to post a target of 172, but the Lankans saw their middle order batsman contribute heavily and in the end won the game with 20 balls remaining and with 6 wickets in hands. Here is a brief scorecard of the two matches which were played on the Day four of the Championships-

Ireland 131 all-out in 18.5 overs(Porterfield 66, K O'Brien 32 ; Mortaza 4/16, Mohd Ashraful 2/10) lost to Bangladesh 134/4 in 16.5 overs(Iqbal 63, Siddique 56 ; Rankin 2/24, K O'Brien 2/10) by 6 wickets.
Man of the Match: Tamin Iqbal

Australia 171/6 in 20 overs(Ponting 62, M Hussey 54 ; Malinga 3/22, Matthews 2/27) lost to Sri Lanka 175/4 in 16.4 overs(Sangakkara 56, Mubarak 49 no ; Lee 2/28, Johnson 1/51) by 6 wickets.
Man of the Match: Lasith Malinga

The day five of the Twenty20 Championships in England will see Pakistan fight against minnows Netherlands for a place in the Super Eights while New Zealand will play South Africa in a dead rubber match.​

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Last updated: 9th June, 2009

Pakistan register a thrilling win against the Dutch

Kamran Akmal pulls for a huge six​

The day five of the World twenty20 Championships in England featured some entertaining cricket for the spectators. First game of the day saw Pakistan defeating minnows Netherlands by chasing their target of 200 runs with 6 wickets remaining and booking their place in the Super Eights thanks to some great batting display by keeper Kamran Akmal and skipper Younis Khan. The second game of day was a dead rubber match at the Brit Oval for the first place in Group D between South Africa and New Zealand. In the end the no1 One Day side South Africa defeated the Kiwis by 3 wickets and took the top spot in Group D. Here is a brief scorecard of the two matches which were played on the day five of the Championships-

Netherlands 199/5 in 20 overs(ten Doeschate 59 no, Reekers 53 ; Afridi 2/38, Gul 1/46) lost to Pakistan 201/4 in 19.4 overs(Kamran Akmal 84 no, Younis Khan 70 ; Schiferli 2/49, Nannes 1/36) by 6 wickets.
Man of the Match: Kamran Akmal

New Zealand 165/5 in 20 overs(Ryder 71, Guptill 54 ; Styen 3/35, Kallis 1/22) lost to South Africa 166/7 in 18.5 overs(van der Merwe 53 no, A Morkel 43 ; O'Brien 2/24, Oram 2/27) by 3 wickets.
Man of the Match: Roelof van der Merwe

The day six of the Twenty20 Championships in England will see West Indies take on Sri Lanka in Group C while the defending champions Indians will entertain minnows Ireland in Group A.​

 

[yashwanth kumar]

Great going hope it continues .

The presentation is charming of the story .