Aditya, excellent stories and presentation bro, really good read! I'm overly impressed with the realistic scorecards that your getting in both games; Cricket 07 and Ashes 09. Could you please tell me which gameplay patches you are using in both games?
Well, from the past few days I've been thinking how to improve this story and when I think about this story, I realize that there is so much to be done to take the Indian team to the WC. It will take a lot of time for me to complete this story and when I started the story I didn't thought that I will be able to take it even this far. I was new to stories section and didn't knew that how much time this story will need to finish. Basically, what I have decided now is that, I can either finish the Natwest ODI series and fast forward to the world cup or simply fast forward to the world cup and post a review of the last 1 year. Like how did the series' went and how is each and every Indian player performing. I know this might not be the best thing to do but I also need to see that do I have enough time in my hands to continue with this story or enough willingness to stick with this story. I don't want to stop this story, I want to complete this story. Even though this has not gone the way it should have but as the WC is around I guess this is the best time to take this move.
Didnt read the whole story yet, but went through some pages. All I can say is, You're amazing! The writing is brilliant and eye-catching. Moreover, the AC09 in-game screenshots and some of the other gfx very attractive. KIU. Will be following this story.
Yes, you can do the fast forward thing now as it is the right time to do it. But I feel that you'll do good if you stick with your present plan - the Natwest Series. You can skip a series or two if you want to. Its on you, at the end of the day, you'll be writing the story and we'll be reading and reading and reading
Prediction:
Winner - England
MOTM - Kevin Pietersen
The England tour was a terrific one for the Indian team as they beat England in the test series and in the only t20 match that was played between these two sides. The Natwest triangular series was again a great one for the Indian team as they won the series final vs England. Indian team made 255/7 in their 50 overs and the English team fell short in chasing the target by 4 runs. Gautam Gambhir top scored for the Indian team with a run a ball 78.There final score for the English team was 251/8 in their 50 overs. It was a thrilling match. Both the sides were equally good but the Indian team just managed to held their nerves and win the match. Zaheer Khan was brilliant in the last few overs of the innings. He ended up with the figures of 10-0-45-4. Indian team won the Natwest triangular series. Their confidence was high and next up was the t20 world cup in carribean.
2010 T20 World Cup in Caribbean
Indian team for the tournament and the groups
The Indian team squad for the tournament was : Gautam Gambhir(C), Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel(WK), Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin and S.Sreesanth.
MS Dhoni was ruled out of the world cup due to an injury. He injured his index finger on the tour of England. Gambhir was named as the captain of the team. Sehwag was asked to captain the team but he refused because he said that he feels that being made the captain of the team will have a lot of pressure on his shoulders and this might affect his batting. So, Gambhir was named the captain of the team and Sehwah remained the vice captain of the team.
The teams were divided into four groups. Group A, B, C and D. Group A had these teams : Ireland, England and Pakistan. Group B had : India, Australia and Bangladesh, Group C had : South Africa, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan and Group D had : West Indies, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
Matches
Group Stage
Match : 1 - Bangladesh v India
Bangadesh v India
Played at : Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Line ups :
India - Gautam Gambhir(C),Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel(WK), Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin and Zaheer Khan.
India's first group stage match was against the Bangladeshi team. The Bangladeshi team won the toss and elected to bat first. They put up a good total on the board, 140/9 in their 20 overs. Iqbal top scored for the Bangladeshi team with 70 runs off 48 balls. Zaheer Khan took a five wicket haul and ended up with the figures of 4-0-21-5. The Indian team had no trouble in chasing the target as they lost just 1 wicket while chasing the target. Virender Sehwag got out for a well played 50 off 35 balls. Kohli was 10 not out off 7 balls but the captain Gautam Gambhir stood strong and top scored with 81 runs off 55 balls. Indian team chased the target in 16.1 overs and started the tournament quite well.
Match : 2 - Australia v India
Australia v India
Played at : Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
Line ups :
India - Gautam Gambhir(C),Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel(WK), Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin and Zaheer Khan.
Australia - Shane Watson, David Warner, Michael Clarke(C), Brad Haddin(WK), David Hussey, Cameron White, Michael Hussey, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes.
Indian team won the toss and elected to bat first. Australia got an early wicket of Gautam Gambhir but Virender Sehwag made sure that he plays a special innings. Sehwag made a brilliant 105. Parthiv Patel played a good innings too of 52 runs. India's final score was 175 for 5 in their 20 overs. Shane Watson and David Warner got their team off to a good start as they put up 50 runs on the board for the first wicket but after that it was a great spell from Harbhajan Singh. The wickets fell like a pack of cards and the Australian team was all out for 130. David Warner top scored with 60. Harbhajan Singh had brilliant figures of 4-0-18-4. The Indian team was through to the knockout stage. The other 7 teams that qualified for the knockout stage were : Australia, South Africa, England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand and West Indies.
Knockout stage
India v South Africa
India v South Africa
Played at : Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
Line ups
India - Gautam Gambhir(C),Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel(WK), Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin and Zaheer Khan.
South Africa -Jacques Kallis, Loots Bosman, Graeme Smith(C), AB De Villiers, Albie Morkel, Mark Boucher(WK), Jean Paul Duminy, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Johan Botha, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel.
South African team won the toss and elected to bat first. They lost couple of early wickets. They were 20/3 but Villiers and Kallis built a solid partnership and took the team to 105/3. Kallis departed for a well made 48. Villiers went on to play a really good innings of 70. South Africa's final score was 155. Sehwag and Gambhir got the team got off to a fine start as they put up 70 runs for the first wicket but then suddenly the Indian team lost 3 quick wickets. All thanks to Steyn who took 3 wickets in one over (wicket of 1st and 2nd ball and on 5th ball). From 70-0 the score was 70-3 but then what one saw was a brilliant innings from Yusuf Pathan.Yuvraj Singh supported Yusuf at one end so that Yusuf can play his shots and he did exactly that. Yusuf went on to make 50 runs off 23 balls. Yuvraj Singh supported Yusuf very well at one end and was not out for 25 runs off 22 balls. Indian team won the match easily in the 16th over and went into the semi's.
Semi finals and final
Teams that qualified for semi's : India, England, Sri Lanka and Australia.
India vs England
India v England
Played at : Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Line ups
India - Gautam Gambhir(C),Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel(WK), Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin and Zaheer Khan.
England - Michael Lumb, Craig Kieswetter(WK), Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood(C), Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright, Tim Bresnan, Michael Yardy, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom.
The Indian team was knocked off from the tournament by England in the semi finals, which then went on to win the tournament beating Sri Lanka in the final. It was a good tournament for the Indian team but the England team was brilliant in the semi final. England team made 155/7 in their 20 overs. Kevin Pietersen top scored for the England team with an unbeaten 78 runs off 53 balls. The Indian team gave a good fight but in the end the England team was too good as the Indian team as the Indian team was all out for 135. Gambhir played a good captain knock, he made 65 off 48 balls but didn't got a good support from the other end.
In the other semi final, Sri Lank beat Australia. Australia batted first and set the target of 192 for the Sri Lankan team. Mahela Jayawardene opened the batting and made a brilliant 112 and took his team to the victory and the t20 world cup final.
In the final, Sri Lankan team won the toss and batted first and made 130. The pitch was damp and slow and so this score was a good one. Mahela Jayawardene again top scored with 72. England team had no trouble in chasing the target as they lost just one wicket and chased down the target. Although they won in the 19th over but that's because the batting conditions were not easy! The openers, Michael Lumb and Andrew Strauss got the team off to a good start, as they put up 100 runs for the 1st wicket. Michael Lumb got out for 65 but the next man in, Ian Bell played well along with Strauss. Strauss top scored with 66 not out and took his team to the title. The man of the tournament trophy went to Mahela Jayawardene for making 355 runs in the tournament with the bat.
England team celebrates after winning the 2010 t20 world cup
India in Australia, 5 tests, 2 t20's and commonwealth bank odi series
Test Series
1st test match at Adelaide cricket ground
Line ups : Australia - Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting(C), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin(WK), Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris.
India - Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Rainam MS Dhoni(C) (WK), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Pragyan Ojha.
The much awaited series was all set to begin. The Australian team won the toss and elected to bat first on a very good batting track. They put up a really good total on the board in their first inning, 454 for 8. Highest run scorer for the Australian team was Michael Clarke with a brilliant 144. Harbhajn Singh troubled the Australian team with his off spinners as he managed to take 6 crucial wickets of the Australian team. Harbhajan loves bowling against the Australian team, isn't it? He doesn't only love to bowl against them, he loves to do sledging against them as well (sydney test, 2008).
Well, now it was the time for the Indian innings. Indian team replied back solidly to the total of the Australian team as they put up 470 on the board. With Sehwag top scoring with a brilliant 155 for the Indian team. So, we saw two high scoring innings but in Australia's second inning, the pitch changed completely. The pitch had a good carry and pace and it was spinning as well which helped the Indian team but the thing which was against the Indian team was the time that was left in the test match. 3 days were over and just 2 days were left for the test match to end.
Australian team made sure that they play slowly and head towards a draw because the Indian team was on the verge of winning the match. They declared in the 3rd session of day 5 when they had made 355 in their second innings. Simon Katich top scored with 99, slow inning but a much needed one for the Australian team, match saving inning actually, unlucky Katich though, getting out on 99. How often do we see him getting out in 90's, quite often! With just 1 session left for the test match to end the crowd was looking forward to some big hits by Sehwag.
Sehwag didn't disappoint his fans as he made 55 runs off 36 balls before he was dismissed. Harbhajan was sent as the night watchmen. He played well and made a good 25. Gambhir at the other end, finished with an unbeaten 35. The test match was finished and Indian team made 115/1 in their second inning. Man of the match award was given to Sehwag for making a brilliant 155 in the first inning and following it up with another excellent inning of 55 in the second inning.
2nd test match at Perth cricket ground
Line ups : Australia - Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting(C), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin(WK), Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris.
India - Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Rainam MS Dhoni(C) (WK), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Pragyan Ojha.
2nd test match at Perth was a big disappointment for the cricket fans. Only last 2 days play was possible in this test match. Australia had won the toss in this test match too but due to the overhead conditions and a green deck, they decided to field first. The ball was moving around and the batsmen were having trouble in playing the ball. But Sachin and Dravid stood strong and put up a solid 150 runs partnership for the 3rd wicket. Indian team was all out for 325. Dravid top scored with 112. Australian team got just 2 session to play. As it was certain that there is not going to be any result in this match, 20 overs were bowled before the umpires asked Dhoni and the 2 Australian batsmen to shake hands and end the test match as draw. Indian captain and the 2 Australian batsmen agreed and the test match ended as a draw. Australian team made 83 runs in their 20 overs. Watson played well and entertained the crowd with his knock of 55*. Katich on other hand, made an unbeaten 25. With 2 test matches over, the series was still leveled at 0-0. Dravid was given the man of the match award for his brilliant 112 in the first inning
3rd test match at Sydney cricket ground
Line ups : Australia - Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting(C), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin(WK), Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris.
India - Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Rainam MS Dhoni(C) (WK), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Pragyan Ojha.
Well, the sky was clear and the forecast for the next 5 days was good. So, a full proper test match was going to happen. India won the toss for the first time in the series and elected to bat. The pitch had bit of grass which was obviously helpful for the bowlers.The outfield was quick and that was a plus for the Indian team which was batting first.
Gambhir and Dravid got out cheaply and the next man to come to bat was the little master, Sachin. In the last 3 test matches, that Sachin played here he made a century in all 3 test matches and he didn't disappoint his fans this time. YES, that's right, he made another century at sydney cricket ground! He was very well supported by Sehwag at the other end who made a century as well. Apart from these two the rest of the middle order batsmen, lower order batsmen and the tail enders failed to do something special and the Indian team was all out for 370. Sachin top scored with 175. Sehwag and Sachin shared a brilliant partnership for the 3rd wicket, the partnership was of 188 runs.
Australian team had a collapse in their first inning. They were all out for 154. All thanks to Zaheer Khan who was brilliant with the ball. Zaheer took 7 wickets. It was not like the pitch was helping the bowlers a lot, it was helping a bit but it was not like it was just not good enough to bat, It was all the fault of the Australian batsmen. The pitch was still good for batting but they got out due to their own mistakes. Indian team had the lead of 216 runs and also had the option of enforcing the follow on. They did enforce the follow on and the Australian team came to bat on day 4. 3 days of the test match were over and a result was well on the cards.
It was crucial that the Austalian openers take their team off to a good start and that did happen. The Australian openers put up 72 runs for the first wicket. Harbhajan Singh provided the first breakthrough for India, Watson was clean bowled by Harbhajan. Australia was 72/1. After that Munaf was just too good for the remaining Australian team. Munaf took 7 wickets for 42 runs. Australia managed to make 252 in their second inning which meant that India needed 37 runs to win the test match. Not too difficult, right?
Indian team had no trouble in chasing the target, Sehwag was unbeaten on 28 and Gambhir was unbeaten on 8. A fascinating victory for the Indian team. Man of the match award was given to Sachin Tendulkar for a exceptional inning of 175 in India's first inning.
4th
test match at Brisbane cricket ground
Line ups : Australia - Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting(C), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin(WK), Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus.
India - Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Rainam MS Dhoni(C) (WK), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Pragyan Ojha.
Due to a side strain Katich was unlucky to miss out on playing in this test match. Marsh was given a chance to play in place of Katich. Harris was dropped from this test match and the very talented Hilfenhaus was given a chance to play.
The pitch had a good grass cover and the Australian team won the toss and elected to field first. Sehwag was out for a duck and Gambhir followed him soon to the pavilion when for 5. Dravid and Sachin put up 50 runs for the 2nd wicket but then Sachin lost his wicket for 18. Next man to come in was the player who the Australian team just hates to see, yes none other than VERY VERY SPECIAL Laxman. Laxman for the first time in the series was timing the ball well and what a time it was to make some runs when his team most needed him. India's final score was 311. Laxman top scored with an excellent 132. Dravid too played well for his 70. So, after a poor start, the Indian team managed to reach to a good total.
Australian team didn't find it easy to play Zaheer. Apart from Marsh, rest of the Australian batsmen were not really looking at their best. Michael Hussey and Shaun Marsh put up a good 100 run partnership for the 3rd wicket but the lower order batsmen and the tail enders got out cheaply and the Australian team was all out for 235. Marsh top scored with 82 and showed the Australian selectors that he deserves to be in the side.
With 2 and a half days left for the test match to end, the Indian team had the lead of 76, Sehwag came into bat with an aggressive mindset and smashed the Australian bowlers all around the park and reached to his 2nd century in the series. Gambhir too played well and made 70. The opening stand was of 212 runs. Indian team declared on 275/2. Now, just 1 day was left for the test match to end and the Australian team needed 352 runs to win.
It was time for a special inning from Watson. Wickets were tumbling at the other end but Watson stood strong and played a terrific knock of 155 runs. A thrilling test match taking place. In the 2nd session, day 5, Watson lost his wicket. Australian team was 258/6. Smith and Johnson were at the crease. 92 runs were required for the Australian team to win with 4 wickets in hand. Smith and Johnson were going pretty well.
50 runs were required, 12 overs left and most importantly both of them, Smith and Johnson were still there but then again the spearhead of the Indian bowling line up, Zaheer did something special. He managed to get both Smith and Johnson out in the passage of 2 overs.
Lee and Siddle were now at the crease. The Indian fans start thinking that now the victory is in their pockets but NO, Lee and Siddle had some other ideas. 5 overs left now, the Australian team needed 30 runs with 2 wickets in hand. It was Harbhajan this time who got the vital wicket of Lee. The crowd was on the edge of their seats, 30 required in 4 overs and just 1 wicket in hand. Go for a draw - said the Australian in the crowd. Indian bowlers tried their best to get either Siddle or Hilfenhaus but both of them were blocking very well. Last ball of the match was left, Hilfenhaus was on strike, Zaheer was bowling, the crowd started cheering for their team, Zaheer came running and bowled an ideal delivery at that situation, in the block hole but Hilfenhaus did well and safely negotiated the ball. The match ended in a draw. Australian team finished at 326/9. What a thrilling test match it was! Both the sides were equally good and who says that the test matches have no future, test matches are still the ultimate fun. The man of the match award was given to Watson for his crucial inning in Australian 2nd inning.
5th
test match at Melbourne cricket ground
Line ups : Australia - Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting(C), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin(WK), Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus.
India - Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Rainam MS Dhoni(C) (WK), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar and Pragyan Ojha.
With 4 matches over, the Indian team was leading the series with 1-0. Katich was back in the side for this test match. The Australian media was after the Australian team and their captain, Ponting. The team under pressure, that is the Australian team, lost the toss and were put into field by the Indian team.
Sehwag, yet again was looking in terrific form as he made yet another century and made the Australian bowlers work really really hard for his wicket. He was out for 115. The Indian captain, MS Dhoni who was struggling with the bat finally made some runs. He made a much needed 75. Batsmen like, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Raina. failed to trouble the scorers. So, it was needed that Dhoni plays a crucial inning. Indian team ended up making a fine total of 280 in their 1st inning.
Zaheer wasted no time and put the Australian team on back foot in the first 10 overs of their inning as they were 25/2 with both the openers back to the pavilion but much to the delight of the Australian fans, the Australian captain was finally back in the form. Ponting in his usual style didn't step back in smashing the bad balls away for boundaries. He kept it simple, if the ball is bad it is going away for boundaries, if its a good ball then he tried and make sure, that its at least not a dot ball and he plays it for a single. This resulted in him reaching to a fantastic century off 145 balls. A batsmen who was out of form, reached to a 145 balls century in test match, only a batsmen of Ponting's class can do this. Completely dominating the Indian bowlers, telling them that if he(Ponting) hits the ball it stays HIT! He got good support from the vice captain, Clarke. Who too played a fine inning of 83! Australian team made 325 in their 1st inning. Which meant that they had the lead of 45 runs.
Sehwag failed to make an impression in the 2nd inning. Same was the case with Gambhir. Both the openers disappointed their fans but all thanks to the 128 runs partnership between Dravid and Sachin for the 3rd wicket which gave the Indian inning some recovery. Tendulkar was back to the pavilion for 45. Dravid, made a brilliant century, Raina supported him well and made a 50, first time in the series Raina made some runs. Shows how much confidence Dhoni has in him, even though Raina didn't make much runs in the last 4 test matches, he still got chance to play in the 5th test match. Well, Laxman, Dhoni, lower order batsmen and the tail enders failed to do anything special and the Indian team was all out for 258. That meant, that the Australian team needed 213 runs to win. Good thing was that, still 1 and a half days were left for the test match to end, so it was certain that there will be a result in this test match.
The Australian openers again failed to take their team off to a good start as both of them departed cheaply, both of them didn't reach to the double figures. The Australian captain yet again showed his class and made a remarkable 85, sadly for the Australian team fans, he missed out on making 2 centuries in one match. Australian team was 150/4 after Ponting's dismissal. Clarke got out soon after Ponting, Clarke made 38 before he was out. Hussey and Haddin, then made sure that Australia lost no more wickets and completed an remarkable victory. Hussey was not out on 45 and Haddin was not out on 38.
The 5 match test series ended up 1-1. Man of the match award for the 5th test match went to the Australian skipper, Ponting. Sehwag was given the man of the series award for a brilliant performance with the bat in the series.
Indian tours down under are always very special and this was no different - a hotly contested series but even though the score was 1-1, I felt from reading the reports that India were unlucky not to take the series win...
Time for some attacking cricket - YES it?s time for T20's
After some "patience" cricket, it was now time for some t20 action. The first of the two t20 matches was played at the Melbourne cricket ground.
Line ups - Australia : Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, David Hussey, Cameron White, Michael Clarke(C), Tim Paine(WK), Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait.
India : Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(C) (WK), Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ravichandran Ashwin.
The Indian team won the toss and elected to bat first. The pitch was a flat one, a delight for the batsmen. The stadium was full and the people in the crowd were eager to see the match begin. Two umpires for the match were Simon Taufel and Steve Davis. Taufel said PLAY and Tait started his run up.....
Sehwag continued his good form in the series with the bat and made an excellent 58. Gambhir though disappointed his fans as he departed cheaply. Raina was sent at 1st down to bat and he played a fine inning of 36. 12 overs were bowled and India's score was 100/1. Just when it seemed that the Indian team should easily reach to a total of 180 because both the batsmen were going all guns blazing, both of them departed in one over only. All thanks to Krejza. Sehwag was going for a big straight slog but completely missed the ball and was stumped. Raina went down the pitch and played a big shot on leg side but was caught by the fielder at deep mid wicket. Dhoni decided that it was the right time to promote Yusuf up the order in place of Kohli. Now, the 2 batsmen at the crease were Yusuf and Yuvraj.
Yusuf wasted no time and from the word GO he started smashing the Australian bowlers all around the park. Yuvraj too joined the PARTY and played some beautiful drives. One batsman playing big shots and one timing the ball and playing some classy shots! What more can one cricket fan ask for? Yusuf remained not out till the end of the inning and made a attacking 56. India's final score was 185/6.
186 was never going to an easy task but the Australian openers started off very well making 50 in the first 5 overs. Finch was just at his VERY BEST. The Indian bowlers just didn't have any clue about what was happening. If Dhoni placed most of his fielders at off side, then Finch aimed leg side and will have no difficulties whatsoever and vice versa if Dhoni placed fielders at leg side, Finch aimed off. Well, when someone plays like the way Finch was, the oppositions is always clueless. In the 8th over by Harbhajan, India finally managed to get a breakthrough. Watson was dismissed for 34. Australia was 85/1 after 8 overs.
After Watson's wicket, India got 2 more quick wickets of Hussey and White. 1 taken by Harbhajan and the other by Ashwin! Australian team was suddenly in a bit of pressure being 92/3 after 10 overs. The run rate was good but they had lost batsmen like Hussey and White but the good thing was that Finch was still there. Clarke did what he is good at - rotated the strike on continuous basis and allowed Finch to take most of the strike and play big shots. 14 overs were not bowled and the Australian team was 125/3. Brakes were put on the run rate by Praveen and Ashwin and it got even more worst when Clarke was caught behind off Praveen?s bowling. Australian team was now 130/4 after 15 overs.
The match was slipping away from Australian team but NO, Finch was still going great and kept the match alive for the Australian team. Finch tried his best to take the Australian team to the victory but at least he took them really close to the victory as the Australian team finished at 179/6 in their 20 overs. Finch was out in the last over for 72. Ashwin bowled brilliantly and had the figures of 4-0-12-3 and was awarded man of the match award.
Line ups - Australia : Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, David Hussey, Cameron White, Michael Clarke(C), Brad Haddin(WK), Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait.
India : Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(C) (WK), Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ravichandran Ashwin.
2nd t20 match was played at the sydney cricket ground. Two umpires for this match were Paul Reifel and Steve Davis. The pitch was a typical Australian track. It had some bounce and carry for the pace bowlers and that was a delight for the bowlers of both the teams. The Indian team won the toss and elected to bowl first. Dhoni said at the toss that "The pitch looks good for bowling. It has some grass which will be helpful for the bowlers throughout the match but it certainly will be better in the first inning for bowling and batting might get easy in the second inning."
Haddin was given a chance to play in this t20 match. He came into the team in place of Paine. Apart from this, Australian team was unchanged. The Indian team made no changes from the last games and was unchanged.
The Australian team got off to a very poor start with 26/3 after 5 overs. After that, they didn't really recover. A good inning from White made sure that they reach to 115. White ended up making 55, the inning didn't have much big shots but it was a really crucial inning from Australian team perspective. Apart from White, no one from the Australian team really managed to do anything special with the bat. This total was certainly not a good one in a t20 game but keeping in mind that the pitch was helping the bowlers, the score wasn't that bad.
The two Indian openers, Sehwag and Gambhir started off carefully. Sehwag though not as careful as Gambhir (obviously ) but he too by his standards wasn't playing at his normal pace. India's score after 5 overs was 25/0. After 8 overs too the Indian team was going good as they had not lost any wickets and their score was 38/0 but in the 9th over they lost their first wicket in Sehwag. Next man who came to bat was surprisingly the Indian skipper, MS Dhoni. After Sehwag's wicket India lost 3 more quick wickets and was suddenly put on back foot by the Australian team. India's score was 45/4 after 10 overs.
Now, the two batsmen at the crease were Dhoni and Yuvraj. These two batsmen made sure that there is no more twist in the match and took the Indian team to the finishing line. Dhoni was rotating the strike and Yuvraj was playing the big shots. Pressure was put by the pacers but when the spinners were bowling both the batsmen were finding it easy to make runs against them. India won the match in the 20th over and both the batsmen remained not out till the end. Dhoni was not out on 26 and Yuvraj on 34. Australian bowlers gave a tough fight and certainly didn?t make the life of the Indian batsmen easy in the middle but in the end the Indian batsmen managed to win the match. Thanks to a good partnership between Dhoni and Yuvraj. Man of the match award was given to Yuvraj for his crucial inning with the bat and few good overs with the ball. India won the t20 series 2-0.
In 2007, India won the commonwealth bank series beating the Australian team 2-0 in the finals. Since then, the Indian team has not looked back and has performed brilliantly in the one day internationals. After a disaster world cup in 2007, Indian team had some bad times but since Gary Kirsten has joined the side, the team has been really performing really well. The twenty-20 world cup in 2007 was also an excellent one for the Indian team and from this world cup their confidence was back after a poor 50 over world cup earlier this year in 2007. Ranked 1st in tests and 2nd in one day internationals is impressive. With world cup few months away, this was a crucial series for the Indian team. Squads for the series were as follows :
Squads
India : Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(C) (WK), Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar and Rohit Sharma.
Australia : Shane Watson, Brad Haddin(WK), Ricky Ponting(C), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Cameron White, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Xavier Doherty, Doug Bollinger, Shaun Tait, Shaun Marsh, Callum Ferguson and Daniel Christian.
New Zealand : Brendon McCullum(WK), Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Kane Williamson, Jacob Oram, James Franklin, Daniel Vettori(C), Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Andy Mckay, Hamish Bennett, Jamie How and Neil Wagner.
The Indian team looked pretty solid on paper. This is the team that has the experience of the legend the LITTLE MASTER, Sachin Tendulkar. He has served his country exceptionally well from the last 21 years and will be looking forward to win a world cup for his nation as he has not had the privilege of holding the world cup in his hands. World Cup 2011, well might be his last world cup and each and every cricket lover in India wants his side to win the world cup for the nation and Sachin. Winning the world cup isn't an easy job, each team needs to be consistent with their cricket from the last few months of the world cup to at least hope to win the world cup (this gives the team the confidence to win the world cup, there are upsets in the world cup but the team that is performing well from the last few months does has an advantage) and this series in this sense is really crucial and a delight for the cricket fans all around the world, India vs Australia in cricket is always a good fun to watch and with New Zealand team included in the series as well, one can ask for nothing else. There were few surprise inclusions in the team, that of, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan and Rohit Sharma. All 3 of them were dropped from the team few months ago but due to their good form in the Indian domestic and IPL, they were selected in the Indian side for the commonwealth bank series. Apart from these 3, the rest of the Indian had been regularly playing for India from the last 1 year and have been performing pretty well.
Australian team, also known as "Kangaroos" were playing in their home soil and the Australian team fans expectations from them were quite high. They are usually not a easy side to beat on their home soil and even after their loss to India in the commonwealth bank series in 2007, they have still proved that beating them in their own backyard is not at all easy. Their squad was evenly balanced and they had the mixture of good batsmen, good bowlers and good all rounders. Tait, though, was a surprise selection. He has been struggling with his fitness from the last few years but still he was selected for this tour along with another fast bowler in Brett Lee, who has again been struggling with his fitness from the last 1 year. Spin department, didn't really have any experience as Xavier Doherty was the only specialist spinner selected. Although their are players that can bowl spin in this side but they are all rounders and not specialist spinners. Few might call Smith a specialist spinner but then that depends on the individual. He can either be called a specialist spinner or an all rounder who can bowl a bit of spin. Overall, the Australian team had a pretty balanced squad.
The third team for the series was New Zealand. Again, a very solid team and equally capable of winning the series as the rest two teams. From the last 2 years, the New Zealand team have got a solid side but they are not really able to perform according to their potential. Sometimes, their batting looks weak and sometimes their bowling but one thing which is always exceptional about this team is their fielding. Every match they play, their fielding is of high class and that is expected with this squad as well. The players selected in the team for this series are mostly known players apart from Neil Wagner. Wagner has been bowling exceptionally well in NZ domestic and so has been given a chance to showcase his talent (if he gets a chance to play) for New Zealand. One thing is for sure, New Zealand will give their best in this series and the rest two teams cannot take them lightly. If they do, they will be making a huge blunder. New Zealand team is having a good balanced side. The best thing about this side is that they have quite a few bowling options which does help the captain a lot if his main bowlers are proving to be expensive. Apart from McCullum (who will be keeping the wickets) the rest of the team can bowl. Some are part timers and some are really good bowlers who do have the ability to bowl at least 3 to 4 overs, if needed.
Fixtures
India vs Australia
Australia vs New Zealand
India vs New Zealand
New Zealand vs Australia
India vs New Zeland
India vs Australia
Each team plays the rest two teams twice. The two teams that will be leading the points table will qualify for the finals. There will be best of three finals, the team that manages to win two matches out of the three will win the commonwealth bank series 2010.
Contests
Yes, there are two contests being held for this series. You just need to answer the questions and if you answer correctly, you can win the prize of 500 vCash. 2 questions are as follows :
Q.1 Which team will win the commonwealth bank series 2010?
1. Australia
2. India
3. New Zealand
Q.2 Which player will win the man of the series award?
Select a player from the teams squads, who you think will win the man of the series award.
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It will take a lot of time for me to complete this story and when I started the story I didn't thought that I will be able to take it even this far. I was new to stories section and didn't knew that how much time this story will need to finish. Basically, what I have decided now is that, I can either finish the Natwest ODI series and fast forward to the world cup or simply fast forward to the world cup and post a review of the last 1 year. Like how did the series' went and how is each and every Indian player performing. I know this might not be the best thing to do but I also need to see that do I have enough time in my hands to continue with this story or enough willingness to stick with this story. I don't want to stop this story, I want to complete this story. Even though this has not gone the way it should have but as the WC is around I guess this is the best time to take this move.
and we'll be reading and reading and reading 
He was very well supported by Sehwag at the other end who made a century as well. Apart from these two the rest of the middle order batsmen, lower order batsmen and the tail enders failed to do something special and the Indian team was all out for 370. Sachin top scored with 175. Sehwag and Sachin shared a brilliant partnership for the 3rd wicket, the partnership was of 188 runs. 
Indian bowlers tried their best to get either Siddle or Hilfenhaus but both of them were blocking very well. Last ball of the match was left, Hilfenhaus was on strike, Zaheer was bowling, the crowd started cheering for their team, Zaheer came running and bowled an ideal delivery at that situation, in the block hole but Hilfenhaus did well and safely negotiated the ball. The match ended in a draw. Australian team finished at 326/9. What a thrilling test match it was! Both the sides were equally good and who says that the test matches have no future, test matches are still the ultimate fun. 
If Dhoni placed most of his fielders at off side, then Finch aimed leg side and will have no difficulties whatsoever and vice versa if Dhoni placed fielders at leg side, Finch aimed off. Well, when someone plays like the way Finch was, the oppositions is always clueless. 
In the 8th over by Harbhajan, India finally managed to get a breakthrough. Watson was dismissed for 34. Australia was 85/1 after 8 overs. 
