End of India's successive series win

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West Indies played with India in a 5 match ODI series in west Indies.
The 1st match was played at Jamaica on 18th May,2006.India won the toss and elected to field first.Due to rain,5 overs from each innings were reduced.West Indies scored 251-6 after 45 overs.Chris Gayle scored his 12th ODI century and took the hosts' score to 251.He scored 123 of 131 balls.Agarkar took 2-83.India were set a target of 252 and they had 45 overs to reach the target.At 86-3,India's win looked impossible,but Sir Dravid made it possible by scoring 12th ODI century of his career.He scored 105 of just 102 balls.India won the match by 5 wickets.Sir Dravid got the man-of-the match award for his match winning innings of 105.India were leading the series 0-1.
The 2nd match was played at Jamaica on 20th May,2006.India won the toss and elected to field first.At 4-43,West Indies' defeat looked unpredictable,but Ramnaresh Sarwan had other ideas.He scored 98* of 138 balls and helped the hosts to a total of 198.Pathan took 3-45 of 9 overs.India were set target of 199.It looked a very easy target.India were 197-9 of 49.2 overs.Yuvraj Singh was on strike who was already batting on 93.India needed 2 runs of 4 balls.It looked that Yuvraj would easily snatch victory.But Dwayne Bravo bowled Yuvraj of a slowere delivery and made his team victorious.West Indies won by 1 run.Ramnaresh Sarwan was named the man of the match for his innings of 98*.The series was tied 1-1.
The 3rd ODI was played at Warner Park,Basseterre,St Kitts on may23rd ,2006.India won the toss and decided to bat first.India scored 245-9 of 50 overs.Shwag scored 93 of just 87 balls.Bradshaw and Bravo took 2 wickets each.West Indies were set a target of 246.Ramnaresh Sarwan scored 115* of 119 deliveries and took the hosts to victory.West Indies won the match by 4 wickets.Agarkar took 2-32.Ramnaresh Sarwan was named the man of the match for his match winning knock.West Indies were leading the series 2-1.
The 4th ODI was played at Trinidad on 26th May,2006.West Indies won the toss and chose to field first.India scored 217 runs at the loss of 7 wickets from 50 overs.Kaif and Yuvraj scored 62 and 52 runs,respectively,Kaif's innings being the quicker one.He scored 62 of 84 balls and Yuvraj scored 52 of 78 balls.Dhoni scored 46*.Bravo took 3-32 of his 5 overs.West Indies required 218 to win.Gayle scored 46.Lara and Bravo scored 69 and 61,respectively.Bravo's innings of 61 was his career best innings.This was his 1st half century.West Indies easily won the match by 6 wickets with 6 overs to spare.Powar took 2-56 of 9 overs.Bravo was named the man of the match for his all-round winning performance.West Indies were leading the series,3-1.
The 5th ODI was played at Trinidad on May 28,2006.India won the toss and chose to field first.West Indies scored 255 runs at the loss of 6 wickets from 50 overs.Gayle,Sarwan and Bravo scored half centuries,Bravo's innings being the highest.They scored 51,52 and 62*,respectively.Agarkar took 2-44 of 10 overs.India required 256 to win.They even failed to win the 5 th ODI as West Indian bowlers ended their innings on 236.Sehwag scored 95.None othe Indian batsman was able to take his individual score past 50.Taylor and Mohammed took 3 wickets each.Bravo was named the man of the match while Sarwan was named the man of the series.West Indies won the series 4-1.
After this defeat India slipped 2 places in the ICC ODI rankings.Earlier they were 3rd in the rankings table and now they are 5th.There was no change in the West Indies rankings.They still remain on the 8 th position.
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Sir Dravid through a harsh patch

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Sir Dravid,who is the Indian captain and also a very important batsman for his side is not having the best times of his career nowadays.He has been an architect of the Indian innings on many occassions and many times has taken India to victory single-Handedly.
Let us take the example of the South African tour of India in November,2005.Sir Dravid couldn't do much with the bat in the 1st,2nd and the 4th match.South Africa were leading the series 2-1.There was only 1 match to go.India were 7th in the ICC ODI Ranking.Improvement of their ranking was largely dependant on the result of the last match.In the last match,South Africa were put on to bat by The Indian Captain(Sir Dravid).South Africa set a target of 222 for the hosts.It looked an easy target and it seemed that India would take away the series by winning the last match,but the South African bowlers had other ideas.Ntini struck early and got Gambhir's wicket.Soon after Sehwag also fell to Pollock.At 46-2,Sir Dravid walked in.As he was trying to build the Indian innings,South African bowlers kept the pressure on.Tendulkar also soon got out.The score was 83-3.But Sir Dravid was not effected by such frequent falling of wickets.He scored 78* runs and was named the man of the match.It was due to his efforts that India won the 5th ODI and were able to draw the series.
Such an effort was made by him in the 1st match against the West Indies that was played at Jamaica on 18th May,2006.India were set a target of 252 by the West Indies and they had only 45 overs to reach the target.Chris Gayle scored a century in the West Indian innings and it was due to his innings that Windies were able to reach a score of 251.He scored 123.India lost Sehwag 0n 56.On 86-3 in 17.4 overs the target looked impossible for India,but it was again Sir Dravid who took India to victory and was named the man of the match for his brilliant innings of 105 of just 102 deliveries.
Even at very difficult situations,he has always been able to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.He has been a very important batsman for the Indian cricket team in both the versions of the game since long.
But now he has not been performing very well in the 2nd,3rd and 4th ODIs againdst the West Indies.India have already lost the series.I hope he performs well in the 5th ODI as well as the test series against the West Indies because if he doesn't play well even in the test series against the Windies,then India's defeat in the test series will be unavoidable.
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India move up to 2 in the ICC test rankings

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India played with Sri Lanka in a 3 match test series in India.The 1st match of the series was scheduled to begin on december 2,2005,but the 1st 3 days and more
than half of the 4th day were abandoned due to rain and poor ground conditions.The match began on the 4th day.Sehwag scored 36 of just 28 balls.India were all out for 167.This was India's lowest score against Sri Lanka in tests ever.Chaminda Vaas took 4-20.For Sri Lanka,Mahela Jayawardene scored 71.At stumps on Day5 Sri Lanka were 167-4.Kumble took 3-41.The match ended in a draw,Chaminda Vaas being the man of the match. 2nd test was played at New Delhi which began on 10 December,2005.India won the toss and decided
to bat first.In the 1st innings,Tendulkar scored a century and broke Sunil Gavaskar's record of
34 centuries with his 35.He scored 109.India were all out for 290.Muralitharan took 7-100.Sri
Lanka were all out for 230.Atapattu scored 88.umble took 6-72.India,with a lead of 60 runs scored 375-6 declared.Pathan scored 93 and Sir Dravid scored 53.Vaas took 2-65.Sri Lanka were set a target of 436 runs,but in the 2nd innings they were all out for only 247.Atapattu and Jayawardene scored 67 each.Kumblke took 4-85 and this match became his 9th 10 wicket match.He was named the man of the match for taking 10 wickets in the match.India were leading the series at that time 1-0.3rd test was played at Ahmedabad which began on 18 December,2005.Sir Dravid had to miss this match as he was suffering from gastroentiritis.He has played 96 consecutive tests for India since his debut.In the 3rd test,India won the toss and decided to bat first.India were all out for 398.Laxman scored 104 and Pathan scored 82.Muralitharan and Malinga took 3 wickets each.In their 1st innings,Sri Lanka were all out for 206,Dilshan scored 65.Harbhajan Singh took 7-62.India still had a lead of 191 runs.In their 2nd innings,India scored 316-9 declared.Yuvraj Singh scored 75 runs of just 83 balls.Muralitharan and Bandara took 3 wickets each.Sri Lanka had to make 509 runs to win the match and draw the series,but they fell on 249.Mahela Jayawardene scored 57.Kumble took 5-89.Harbhajan Singh took 3 wickets and this became a 10-wicket match for him.India won the match by a good 259 runs and also won the series 2-0.Harbhajan Singh was named the man of the match while Anil Kumble was named the man of the series.After wiinning this test series,India have moved up to 2nd place in the ICC test rankings pushing England down to 3rd.

Pakistan too good for England

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Pakistan played against England in a 5-ODI series in Pakistan.
The 1st ODI was played at Lahore on 10 December,2005.England won the toss and elected to bat 1st.Strauss scored 94 runs.Flintoff scored 72* and Pietersen scored 56 of just 39 balls.England ended up scoring 327-4.Pakistan gave a good fight but that was not enough to win the game.All Pakistani batsman made good contributions.Salman Butt,Younis Khan,Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik scored 67,60,59 and 50,respectively. Plunkett took 3-51.Pakistan were all out on 285.They lost the match by 42 runs.Strauss was named the man of the match.
After the 1st ODI England was leading the series at 0-1.
2nd ODI was also played at Lahore on 12 December,2005.England won the toss and decided to bat first.England were all out on 230.Plunkett was the only English batsman to cross 50.He scored 56.Shoaib Akhtar took 5-54.Pakistan was set a target of 231 which was not very difficult.
Kamran Akmal,Pakistani wicket keeper scored 102 and took Pakistan to victory.Pakistan won the match by 7 wickets.Akmal was named the man of the match for his match winning innings.
At that particular point of time the series was level at 1-1.
The 3rd ODI was played at Karachi on 15 December,2005.England won the toss and put the opposition on to bat.Pakistan scored 353-6 after 50 overs.Akmal scored 109.This was his 2nd Successive ODI century and the third of his career.Plunkett took 2-61.For England Ian Bell scored 37*.England were all out on 188.Shoaib Malik took 3-29.Pakistan won the match by 165 runs.Kamran Akmal was named the man of the match for his 2nd successive ODI century.Pakistan were leading the series at 2-1.
The 4th ODI was played at Rawalpindi on 19 December,2005.Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first.Pakistan were all ot on 210.Inzamam-ul-Haq scored 81*.or England,Flintoff scored 40.England were all out on 197.Afridi took 3-34.Pakistan won the match by 13 runs and also won the series 3-1.Inzamam-ul-Haq was named the man of the match.
The 5th ODI was played at Rawalpindi today i.e 21st December,2005.England won the toss and decided to bat 1st.Vikram Solanki scored 49.England ended up scoring 206-9.For Pakistan,Yasir Hameed and Mohammad Yousuf scored 57 and 54,respectively.They scored 200-9 and lost the match by 6 runs.James Anderson took 4-48 and he was named the man of the match.Pakistan won the series 3-2 and Kamran Akmal was named the man of the match.
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Australia maintain their winning run

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Australia played in the 3 match ODI series against New Zealand in New Zealand to defend the Chappell-Hadlee trophy.
The 1st OdI was played at Auckland 3rd December.New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first.Australia scored 252-8 after 50 overs.Ponting scored 63 while Vettori,Styris and Cairns took 2 wickets each.New Zealand were bowled out for 105.Cairns scored 37*.Brett Lee's bowling figures were amazing.He bowled 6 overs and took 3 wickets at the loss of only 5 runs.He was named the man of the match for his brilliant effort.
2nd OdI was played at Wellington on 7th December.Australia won the toss and elected to bat first.Australia scored 322-5 at the end of 50 overs with the help of Andrew Symond's remarkable 156.Michael Clarke scored 82*.Mills took 2-60 after 10 overs.The Kiwi's gave their best to win the match.They were bowled out for 320,just 3 away from victory.Vincent scored 71 of just 49 balls and Mc Cullum scored 48 of just 33 balls.Australia won by 2 runs and Andrew Symonds was named the man of the match.Australia won the series 2-0.
3rd OdI was played at Christchurch on 10 December.New Zealand won the toss and put the opponents on to bat.Australia ended up scoring 331.Hussey scored 88* of just 56 balls.Ponting and Hodge scored 75 and 59,respectively.Martin took 3-65.It looked a one-sided match but wasn't.It is difficult to believe bu New Zealand won this match.Styris scored 101 of just 96 balls and Mc Cullum scored 50* of just 25 balls.New Zealand scored 332-8.They won the match by 2 wickets and 1 over to spare.New Zealand have the lost the series 2-1 but they must be very happy with their performance in the last ODI.Styris was named the man of the match for his match winning 101.
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India move up to 4

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India played South Africa in the Pepsi cup ODI series which included 5 ODIs.The series began on 16th November,2005 and ended on 28th November,2005.
THe 1st match of the series was played on,as mentioned earlier,16th November,2005 at Hyderabad.It was a day match.South Africa won the toss and elected to field 1st.India got some early shocks and were 35-5 at 1 stage.But then some great batting display from Yuvraj Singh,Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh took India to 249-9 after 50.Yuvraj scored 103.Pollock,Ntini and Nel took 2 wickets each while Botha,on his debut, took 1.For S.Africa Kallis scored 68*and South Africa won by 5 wickets.Yuvraj Singh picked the man of the match.
2nd ODI was played at Bangalore on November 19,2005.It was a Day/night match.India won the toss and put S.Africa on to bat.South Africa were all out on 169.Andrew Hall scored 32 and Pathan took 3-23.India won by 4 wickets ,Sehwag being the highest scorer.He scored 77*.Both Pollock and Ontong took 1 wicket each.Pathan was named the man of the match.The series was tied 1-1.
3rd match that was going to be played at Chennai on 22nd November was abandoned due to rain.
4th match was played at Kolkata on 25th November.South Africa won the toss and elected to field.India ended up scoring 188.Yuvraj and Kaif scored 53 and 46.Pollock and Hall took 3 wickets each.Guess what! South Africa won the match by 10 wickets.Smith played a captain's innings and scored 134* of 124 balls while Hall scored 48*.Smith picked up the man of the match.South Africa were leading at that point of time 2-1.
5th match was played at Mumbai on 28th November.It was a day/night match.India won the toss and elected to field.Kallis scored a patient innings of 91 of 146 deliveries.Pathan took 3 wickets while Harbhajan took 2.South Africa scored 221-6 after 50.For it was their captain who stood rock solid till the end.He scored 78* and took India to victory.He was the only one who helped India draw the series and move up in the ratings.India won by 5 wickets,Nel took 2 wickets for his country.Sir Dravid was named the man of the match.The series was drawn 2-2.
India have moved up in the ICC ODI cricket ratings and are now 4th while South Africa have maintained their 2nd position.
Graeme Smith and Yuvraj Singh shared the man of the series award for scoring same number of runs at the same average in the series.
Sir Dravid has become the highest run-scorer in 2005 with over 1080 runs this year.He has also been appointed the captain for the forthcoming test series with Sri Lanka.

India shines again

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India and Sri Lanka played a series of 7 ODIs in India.The 1st match was played at Nagpur on 25th October,2005.India won the toss and elected to bat 1st.After a break of 6 months Tendulkar was in a fine mood.He scored 93 runs.Irfan Pathan was sent to bat at number 3 and he scored 83 at the same position.But it was the Indian captain who took the Indian score above 300.He scored 85* of just 63 balls.His innings was comprised of 8 4s and a 6.India scored 350 after 50 overs at the loss of 8 wickets.Sri Lanka got out for 198.Murali Kartik and Harbhajan Singh were the highest wicket takers for India in the 1st ODI.Sir Dravid was named the man of the match for his brilliant 85*.India was leading the series 1-0.
2nd ODI was played at Mohali on 28th October.In this match,India won the toss and elected to field 1st.It was a very poor performance from the Sri Lankans, or we should say that the Indians performed brilliantly.Sri Lanka was all out on just 122.Sangakkara was the highest scorer for Sri Lanka.He scored 27.Pathan took 4-27 in his 8 overs.It was a very easy task for India to win.India won by 7 wickets.India scored 123-3.Tendulkar being the highest scorer for India.He scored 67*.Sir Dravid scored 2*.India was still leading 2-0.
3rd ODI was played at Jaipur on 31st October,2005.Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat.Sri Lanka scored 298-4 after50.Sangakkara scored 138*.This time it was Dhoni who brought the victory for India.He scored 183*(highest score by a wicket keeper in OdIs ever).India scored303-4.India won by 6 wickets.Dhoni picked up the man of the match.India leading the series 3-0.
4th OdI was played at Pune on 3rd November 2005.India won the toss and put the opposition onto bat.Sri Lanka was all out at 261.Atapattu scored 87.Agarkar took 5-44.Sir Dravid guided India to victory.He scored 63 runs.It was a very crucial innings for India.Dhoni and Suresh Raina scored 45* and 39*.India won the match by 4 wickets.Agarkar was named the man of the match.India won the series 4-0.
5th OdI was played at Ahmedabad on 6th November,2005.Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl 1st.There were 2 centurions for India.1st one was Gautam Gambhir who scored his maiden ODI century.He scored 103.The 2nd one was the Indian captain,the wall,Sir Dravid who scored his 11th one day hundred.He scored 103*.India scored 285-8 after 50.The match was fully in India's control till Dilshan came out to bat.At one stage Sri Lanka was 155-5.But Dilshan and Arnold got the victory for Sri Lanka.Dilshan scored 81* and Arnold scored 49*.Dilshan was named the man of the match.
6th ODI was played at Rajkot on 9th November,2005.India won the toss and put the opposition on to bat.Sri Lanka was all out on 196.RP Singh took 4-35.Dilshan scored 59.Yuvraj and Kaif took India to victory.Yuvraj scored 79* and Kaif scored 38*.India won by 7 wickets.RP Singh was named the man of the match.India was leading 5-1.
7th ODI was played at Vadodara today i.e. November 12,2005.Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.Sri Lanka scored 244-9 after 50. Arnold and Atapattu scored 68 and 59.Dhoni scored 80 and Sir Dravid 31*.Pathan and Sehwag scored 35 each while Tendulkar scored 39.India won the match by 5 wickets.Pathan picked up the man of the match while Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named the player of the series.India won the series 6-1.
It is a great victory for the Indians which they wouldn't forget,atleast for 2 to 3 years.Let us hope for some more good performances from India and from Sir Dravid in the next Indian series that will be played between India and South Africa in India.The series will start from 16th November,2005.
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