India move up to 4

Hi!
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

Hi!
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.
*not out