Quick Updates : India Vs Sri Lanka Test #1

Ah! thus we witnessed yet another Indo Lankan encounter , but this was a very special one for obvious reasons. Needing 8 wickets to reach a tally of 800 wickets, there can be only person who can be sure of making it, and rest is history now. It has taken him almost 7500 overs to get to this near impossible record. Well, this is not the only record, his record list goes on and on . The one thing which baffles me is how does Sri Lanka produce unorthodox bowlers, Murali, Mendis, Malinga and many more to come.

Getting back to the test, Sri Lanka elected to bat and the bad times started for India. Sri Lankan were milking the impotent(not literally!!) Indian bowling. Their bowling was so pathetic on day I that the rain Gods got angry and came down so hard on day II and the day was called off without a ball being bowled. At the start of day III, Ishant was at his very best and 3 wickets fell quickly. Enter Herath and Malinga , they made the bowling look miserable yet again. They sent the ball screaming to the boundary. Lankans declared at 520-8 at tea on day III. Paranavitana, Sangakkara notched centuries while Malinga and Herath scored their first international half century. MSD's captaincy skills were hitting an all time low. A draw was expected considering the strong Indian batting line up, but not to be. Unlike the Lankan innings, wickets kept falling at regular intervals, Sehwag yet again at his aggressive best scored another century and UV scored a fluent 52.  But, was done in by the man of the moment, Mooorali. After yet another batting collapse, Indians were bowled out for 276 and couldn't avoid the follow on and they were batting again.

Sehwag and Gauti were removed quickly. I dont remember when Gauti had actually earned a pair in a test match. Wall and Tendlya came to the crease and steadied the ship. Dravid almost had built a great wall of India but, Malinga found cracks in it. Sachin was again a treat to watch, a river flowing smoothly which was blocked by ... once again, Malinga. Both of them put on a century partnership, and broke the record for most number of century partnerships. Indians were 5 down at the end of day IV. MSD fell early on the final day. Final day's play was all about survival for the Indian team, surprisingly none of the senior batsmen nor the captain had the game for it. Laxman along with the tailenders showed heavy resistance. Although, Laxman was more keen on getting to the non-strikers end and exposing the likes of Bhajji, Ishant, Mithun to the potent Lankan attack. Murali  was made to literally plead for his 800th wicket, which was the last wicket of the Indian innings. So, with that Ojha entered the record books edging Murali to his favourite slip fielder. Indians were bolwed out for 338 and set a target of 95 . Dilshan and Paranavitana raced away to the target and won the match by 10 wickets.  A fitting end to the LEGEND's career. Malinga was the obvious choice for the man of the match for denting the Indian batting line-up with his swinging yorkers and bouncers and his cracking 64(75). So Lankans lead the Micromax series 1-0 with two more to go. We will surely miss the Lankan lion, Chennai Super King, Smiling Assasin, 'Muthiah Muralitharan'.

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Dhoni to enter the wedlock

Yes, you heard it right . Indian Skipper M.S.Dhoni is getting married.It is with his school friend,Sakshi Rawat.They have been in an affair for a couple of years now .The date of the wedding hasn't been decided yet .Their parents thought this was the right time for them to get engaged. It MAYBE because of the rumours about Dhoni and the Indian Celeb ASIN getting closer and having an affair.So,to put off the rumors the engagement must have taken place.It was a very low profile ceremony.Raina,Bhajji and Nehra attended the function.Sakshi Rawat is a hotel management student in Aurangabad.Well, we just hope it does not become a drama  like the Tennis Star Sania Mirza , who called off her engagement with her childhood friend and made one of the most brilliant decisions ,marrying Shoaib Malik. All said and done, we wish Dhoni all the best . Well,its obvious that this news may pierce the heart of his female fans.Don't worry chicks,we heard that Bhajji is single again ;)

Quick Updates : Pakistan Vs Bangladesh ODI# 5

This was the fifth match of the tournaments and both the teams had nothing to lose as they were out of the finals . Only thing left to play was the the PRIDE. Pakistan made 4 changes to their side . Difficult to rememeber the names . As a matter of fact, even Boom Boom forgot the name of the replacements . How Pathetic !! Bangladesh made the best change ever possible , they dropped CrashaFool, whose brainfreeze never melts. Afridi won the toss and elected to bat without hesitating because the lighting is poor at Dambulla. Indians haven't complained about the lights yet as they havent lost a match yet . So, Pakistan were off to a blazing start with a quick fire 50(38) by S.Hasan. Farhat played patiently and notched a half century to his credit . Malik,Amin and Shafiq got out quickly without doing any damage . Enter U.Akmal & Boom Boom, Bangladesh's fielders were made mere spectators . Afridi terrorized the bowling attack .The ball went screaming to the boundaries . Akmal supported him excellently from the other end . Afridi got his first 50 in 35 balls and his next 50 in just 18 balls ! Uuh that must have hurt the Bangla Tigers . He broke Jayasuriya's world record of 270 6's in ODI . While Jaya took 440+ matches , Afridi broke it in just 295 . His knock definitely demoralized the Bangladeshis . He departed after scoring 124(60). Cameos by Razzaq and Kamran at the end propelled the score to 385.Terrific hitting ain't it ? Tamim and Kayes took strike for Bangladesh and Tamim,as usual BANG BANG BANG OUT!. Scored 34(27) and got out . Kayes and Siddique put on a P'ship which should be awarded the "THE BEST TEST PARTNERSHIP IN AN ODI". They never showed any intent of chasing down the score . They were happy rotating the singles , defending the balls . They seemed to be on a mission " COME WHAT MAY , WE ARE NOT GIVING OUR WICKETS AWAY!" and it was a perfect execution. They were so much keen on not losing wickets that they even forgot to score . Imrul Kayes scored a boring 66(110) . Siddique , never deserved a century and rightly so, got out on 97(114).Even after that , no batsman showed an intent to reduce the margin of victory . They managed to score 47 of the last overs .Not to forget Pakistan's sloppy fielding , dropped chances and missed run outs . According to Bangla, they had successfully drawn the test , but then reality is  that Pakistan won by 139 runs . MOM was undoubtedly Shahid Bhai for his blitzkrieg . Right then, Pakistan however finished on III place . The next match is a rehearsal for the finals . India play Lanka in  the last league match and then meet them again at the finals . Wonder, if they arent bored playing against each other for atleast half an year , every single year. :)

Match Summary


Pakistan 385/7
Afridi 124                                 Shafiul 3/95
Hasan 66


Bangladesh 246/5
Siddique 98                              Akthar 1/22
Kayes 66

Pakistan bt Bangladesh by 139 runs.