India in action.First Test:Day 2

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Today was the second day of the second test of the Royal Stag Cup between India and Zimbabwe.The 2nd day did not prove to be useful for the batsmen as 2 of the Indian batsmen missed their centuries by 2 and 3 runs.
Just in the beginning of the day Gambhir missed his century by 3 runs when he was caught behind by Taibu on a ball by Mahwire.Sir Dravid brought up his 50.Wickets kept on falling for India.Laxman went on 8.He was declared lbw on a ball by Streak.Then Mwayenga took his 1st test wicket when Sourav Ganguly was caught behind by Taibu on a ball by him.He went for 16.Yuvraj Singh went for 25,Karthik for 1.Both of these wickets were taken by Streak.Sir Dravid was getting closer and closer to his 21st century in test cricket.But,unfortunately he got out on 98.He was bowled by Mahwire.But still his efforts should be appreciated by us.Pathan went for 32,Kumble went for 8 and Zaheer Khan for 2.Harbhajan Singh remained not out on 14.India were all out on 336.India were leading by 205 runs.
Streak's bowling figures were 6-73,bowling figures for Mahwire were 2-86,for Blignaut were 1-80,for Mwayenga were 1-79 and for Dabengwa were 1-35.
Zimbabwe had to cover a trail of 205 runs and make a good lead.But at stumps it seemed that they'll fail to do so.They lost very early wickets of Taylor who went for 4 and Duffin who went for 10.He was caught By Sir Dravid on a ball by Pathan.Ebrahim went for 4.He was caught by Yuvraj Singh on a ball by Zaheer Khan.Taibu went for 1 and Masakadza remained not out on 11.
Bowling figures for India were:Pathan 2-25,Zaheer Khan 2-9 and Harbhajan 0-2.At stumps,Zimbabwe were 39-4.
Though Sir Dravid missed his century by 2 runs.But it was he who slowly and steadily built up India's innings.He once again proved to be the saviour of the Indian cricket team.

India in action.First Test:Day1

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Today India played the second and the final test of the Royal Stag cup vs Zimbabwe.
India won the toss and elected to bowl first.India straight away came in action.Taylor was dismissed very early during the day,Just on the 3rd ball of the match.He went for 4.He was caught on slips by Sir Dravid on a ball by Pathan.Duffin got out on a ball by Pathan.He was caught at slips by Laxman.He went for 12.Ebrahim went for 14.Taibu,who was the star for Zimbabwe of the previous game got out for a duck.Masakadza went for 27,Streak for 14.Coventry got out for 37,Blignaut for 13,Dabengwa for 18,Mahwire for 1.Mwayenga remained not out on 14.
The best bowling figures for India were those of Pathan.His figures were 7-59.It was really a brilliant effort from him.Figures for Khan were 1-24,for Harbhajan were 2-45.Figures for Ganguly and Kumble were 0-10 and 0-19.Zimbabwe were all out on 161 and played just 44.2 overs.
Now India had to set a good score.Sehwag and Gambhir who are India's regular Test openers came to open the innings.These 2 added 75 for the first wicket.This partnership was broken by Streak when Sehwag was caught behind by Tatenda Taibu.He went after scoring 44 of 44 balls.Now it was the turn of The Wall of India(Sir Dravid) to come to the crease.He played a very good innings.At stumps India were 195-1.Gambhir remained not out on 95 and Sir Dravid on 49.
The only wicket taker for Zimbabwe was Heath Streak.His bowling figures were 1-34.

India loses again

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Yesterday India played against New Zealand in the final of the Videocon cup 2005.India won the toss and elected to bat first.
Sehwag and Ganguly were the Indian openers.They had a good partnership of 72 runs.But then Ganguly was caught by Hamish Marshall on a ball by Oram.Sehwag was still firing.Kaif then came to the crease.Kaif also had a good partnership with Sehwag of 83 runs.But then Sehwag got out after scoring a fast 75 of just 65 balls.He was caught by Vincent on a ball by Vettori.Then Sir Dravid(Rahul Dravid) was also declared lbw in the same over.He went for a duck.Yuvraj also got out on 20,caught by Bond,bowled by Mills.Venugopal,Yadav,Dhoni and Agarkar got out after scoring 8,11,o and 6.Pathan got out for 10 and Nehra on 0.Kaif remained not out on 93.India was all out in the 50th over for 276.The best bowling figures for New Zealand were those of Oram.His figures were 4-58 after 8.3 overs.
It seemed that it was India's game.But Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle changed the face of the game.Pathan was smashed for 5 fours in an over by Stephen Fleming.They had a great partnership of 121 runs in just 18.1 overs.Stephen Fleming was caught and bowled by Sehwag.Hamish Marshall got out on 3.He was declared lbw on a ball by Sehwag.Styris went for 37 after having a good partnership of 58 with Astle.He got out when he was stump out by Dhoni on a ball by Sehwag.Mc Millan was caught by Dhoni on a ball by Yuvraj.He went after scoring 13.Lou Vincent scored 33 not out.He was dropped twice.First he was dropped by Suresh Raina and the second time he was dropped by Sir Dravid.But Sir Dravid's one was a very difficult catch.Astle scored his 15th ODI century.He remained not out on 115.New Zealand scored 278 and won by 6 wickets.The best bowling figures for India were those of Sehwag.His figures were 3-44 after 10 overs.
Nathan Astle was declared the man of the match for his match winning 115*.Shane Bond being the man of the series as he took 11 wickets in the series.

A Fair Win

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Day before yesterday India had a match against Zimbabwe.India won the toss and decided to bowl first.Zimbabwe's openers were not so good as Sibanda got out on 1 and Masakadza got out on a duck on balls by R.P Singh,who was making his ODI debut.Then Taylor was run out by Yuvraj.Then Taibu and Coventry had a good partnership of 116 runs which took the score from 50-3 to 166-3.Then Taibu was bowled out by Yadav.He got out after scoring 71.After Taibu,the next man to go was Coventry.He went after scoring a masterful 74 with Zimbabwe's score at 227-5 after 44.5 overs.Blignaut was stumped by Dhoni on a ball by Yuvraj on 41.Zimbabwe's score was 232-6.Ewing,Mahwire,Utseya and Williams got out after scoring 7,2,0 and 8.Ireland remained not out on 1.Zimbabwe's score at the end of 50 overs was 250 all out.
India got a shock in the beginning when Sehwag got out for 12 on a ball by Mahwire.India's score was 15-1.Ganguly was the next man to follow him on 2 with India's score at 23-2.Then, unfortunately Sir Dravid also got out after scoring just 6 with India's score at 34-3.Soon after Sir Dravid's dismissal Kaif also got out with India's score at 36-4.It was a nightmare for India.India was losing against Zimbabwe.Venugopal got out for 27 with India's score at 91-5.Now Dhoni came on the crease.Yuvraj made his 4th ODI century.Yuvraj and Dhoni made a brilliant partnership of 158 runs.This was India's highest partnership for the 6th wicket against Zimbabwe.Yuvraj got out after scoring a brilliant 120 with India's score at 6-249.Dhoni brought up his fifty and was not out at 67.India won the match by 4 wickets.Initially,the Indians were worried.But then Yuvraj and Dhoni turned the match in India's favour.
Yuvraj Singh was named the man of the match for his 120.

India back in the game

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Yesterday there was a match between India and New Zealand.New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first.
New Zealand opened their innings with Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle.New Zealand was doing well till Astle was caught by Dhoni on a ball by Agarkar.Astle went for 11.Then, after some time Fleming was run out by Agarkar.He went for 47.Lou Vincent was looking very dangerous as he scored 37 of just 23 balls.Yuvraj Singh dived and stopped the ball at point.From there only 1 stump was in his view.He hit the stumps with the ball.Vincent was run out.What a superb run out that was.Hamish Marshall went for8.He was bowled by Yadav.Styris played a controlled innings.He scored 56 of 89.He was caught by Sehwag.Then McMillan went for40,McCullum for 28 and Oram for 14.Adams got out for 3.Cairns and Mills were not out at 6 and 2.New Zealand managed to reach a total of 278 at the loss of 9 wickets after 50 overs.
Now it was India's turn to bat.Sehwag and Ganguly had a good partnership of 66 runs of just 42 balls before Ganguly was caught at fine leg by Jeetan Patel on a ball by Mills.Just after 9 runs Sehwag was also bowled by Oram.He went for 45.Now Sir Dravid came to the crease.Sir Dravid and Mohammed Kaif played brilliantly and added 101 runs.Sir Dravid played a supportive innings in the match.But unfortunately he got out for 39 when he was bowled by Styris.Yuvraj Singh got out on 22.India's score was 223-4 when Yuvraj got out.Soon after Yuvraj's dismissal Kaif scored his century.It was his 2nd ODI century.India needed 19 runs to win from 21 balls.Dhoni was on strike.After 2 balls,India needed 7 of 19 balls.Yes,Dhoni smashed Kiwis for 2 sixes.India easily won the match by 6 wickets with 15 balls to spare.
Kaif was declared the man of the match for his brilliant 102*.