2nd Test Match: India V/s Sri Lanka Ends in a Draw

India V/s Sri Lanka 2nd Test Match Ends in a Draw. Sri Lanka added 642 runs with loss of 4 wickets declared after that Indian opener started well. Sehwag added 99 runs in just 101 balls. Sachin added 203 & Raina added 120 runs to avoid test loss and retain 1st spot in ICC test ranking. Test was really a bad experience for viewers when it is full of runs no result.

2nd Test Match: India V/s Sri Lanka Score Card:

Sri Lanka - 1st Inning: 642/4 Declare

Batting:

KC Sangakkara - 219 runs in 335 balls

DPMD Jayawardene - 174 runs in 244 balls

NT Paranavitana - 100 runs in 221 balls

Bowling:

V Sehwag - 1/71

I Sharma - 1/102

India - 1st Inning: 707/10

Batting:

SR Tendulkar - 203 runs in 347 balls

SK Raina - 120 runs in 228 balls

V Sehwag - 99 runs in 101 balls

Bowling:

BAW Mendis - 4/172

TM Dilshan - 3/56

Sri Lanka - 2nd Inning: 129/3 Declare

Batting:

KC Sangakkara - 42* runs in 114 balls

Bowling:

V Sehwag - 1/17

A Mithun - 1/17

India v/s South Africa 2nd ODI: India Wins by 153 Runs

Inspite of the century by AB de Villiers went in vein because of no support was found by him during his inning in the 2nd ODI in Gwalior. After all India wins by 153 runs in the second ODI in Gwalior.

Scene was started when Sachin Tendulkar started his inning by hitting his first 4 in the 2nd over of the match and then he didn't look back and ends with the record individual score of 200* in the ODIs breaking previous highest of Coventry & Anwar. Who held this for a long time.

Dinesh Karthik made 79 off 85 balls. Dhoni remained unbeaten on 68 off 35 balls, while Yusuf Pathan contributed 36. Tendulkar and Dhoni added unbeaten 101 runs for the fourth wicket. India finished at 401/3 in 50 overs. Chasing a victory target of 402, South Africa kept losing wickets at regular intervals and never came back into the match.

South Afirca finally bowled out for 248 in 42.5 overs and lost the match by 153 runs. Villiers remained unbeaten on 114. Hashim Amla made 34.

For India, Sreesanth took 3 wickets, while Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan took 2 wickets each. Sachin Tendulkar was declared 'Man of the Match'.

"I dedicate this double hundred to the people of India, who stood by me over these 20 years and always supported me through thick and thin", said Sachin Tendulkar.

It was very good performance by Indian batsmen and bowlers as well. Team efforts lead India to win the match and the series as well.

Next Match: 3rd ODI India v/s South Africa, at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad on Feb 27 , 2010 - Saturday.

Another Record by Sachin Tendulkar: 200* Highest ODI Individual Score

Record Record Record… Its been now a decade Sachin is playing cricket and making new records by breaking old records. Here is another one. 200 (Double Century) in one day internationals is the great achievement ever and the man who got it Sachin Tendulkar. He is behind all the records and he prove that he is the master of cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar scored exactly 200 not out against South Africa in Gwailor breaking previous individual highest score of 194 held jointly by Charles Coventry (Zimbabwe) and Saeed Anwar (Pakistan).

SachinTendulkar's innings was breathtaking. He faced 147 balls hitting 25 fours and 3 sixes. His strike rate of 136.05 was higher than any of the other innings on the list of top ten scores one-day international scores.

“I don’t know how to react,” said Tendulkar. “I’d like to dedicate this double-hundred to the people of India for standing behind me for the last 20 years throughout the ups and downs. I felt that when I was 175-plus and it was the 42nd over I had a chance, but I wasn’t actually thinking of it. It was only when I got closer to it that I thought about a double hundred.”

Another Record by Sachin Tendulkar: 200* Highest ODI Individual Score.

India v/s South Africa 1st ODI: India Win Thriller by 1 Run

Another good day for indian cricket, indian cricketers & indian cricket fans. India win 1st odi against south africa by just 1 run. What a game of cricket that was. No one can decide in between who is gone a win the match. It was totally mind blowing game by both the teams. Players of both teams done very hard work for the match.

South African captian Kallis won the toss and elected to field first. Visitors know that the due factor come in the play in the later game and spinners will have problems bowling on the batsman pitch. Its really a nice pitch to bat on at Jaipur. India loose Sachin at his individual score at 4. Sehwag was disapponted with the runout himself as well on 46. India loose wickets at regular intervals. After Raina & Kohli made good partnership and make a healthy total of 298/9 for the visitors.

South Africa loose Bosman and Gibbs early and then Kallis was the main headache for the Indian bowlers. But Jadeja done very well by best figure bowling in the match. He took 2 wickets for only 29 runs given in 10 overs. He was judged man of the match for his 22 odd runs and the good bowling as well. India manage to keep kallis quite but the end was very dramatic. Tailenders Dale Styne & Wayne Parnell scored very fast in the end and took match to the last over where they just lost by a whisker.

It was really a good game of cricket once again and visitors were very disappointed for the match by loosing by only 1 run.

India leads the 3 odi series by 1-0. South Africa have to win both the games for moving to the 2nd spot in the ICC ODI Rankings and wining series as well.

India V/s South Africa ODI (One Day) Series Schedule

1st ODI: India v South Africa at Jaipur
Feb 21 (14:30 local, 09:00 GMT)

2nd ODI: India v South Africa at Gwalior
Feb 24 (14:30 local, 09:00 GMT)

3rd ODI: India v South Africa at Ahmedabad
Feb 27 (14:30 local, 09:00 GMT)

Indian ODI Squad for 1st & 2nd ODI Against South Africa:

MS Dhoni
Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravindra Jadeja
Dinesh Karthik
Virat Kohli
Praveen Kumar
Amit Mishra
Abhishek Nayar
Ashish Nehra
Yusuf Pathan
Suresh Raina
Virender Sehwag
Sreesanth
Sachin Tendulkar
Sudeep Tyagi
Zaheer Khan

South African ODI Squad for ODI Against India:

Jacques Kallis (c)
Hashim Amla
Loots Bosman
Johan Botha
Mark Boucher (wk)
AB de Villiers
Jean-Paul Duminy
Herschelle Gibbs
Charl Langeveldt
Albie Morkel
Morne Morkel
Wayne Parnell
Alviro Petersen
Dale Steyn
Lonwabo TsotsobeRoelof
van der Merwe

India Gains No.1 Spot Again in Test ICC Cricket Ranking

India beats South Africa in 2nd test match at kolkata eden gardens by an inning and 58 runs. India were in serious danger of losing top spot in ICC Test Ranking after South Africa won the 1st test at Nagpur last week and then bad weather on Wednesday allowed only 31 overs of play on the day of the second Test Match. Last man Morne Morkel (12) kept Amla company for 20.4 odd overs before being leg-before to Harbhajan Singh in the 2nd last over of the match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. By the way, Harbhajan Singh took 5, Amit Mishra 3 & Ishant Sharma took 2 of the wickets as South Africa were bowled out for 289 despite a fighting 127 not out by Hashim Amla, his second century of the Test & 3rd of the Test series. India have slipped to 124 ratings points after conceding one ratings point while South Africa have stayed second on 120 ratings points.

Amla was outstanding through the 2 match test series. Amla has fitted to the no. 3 spot after kallis was there for a long time. He is very cool cusomer who plays very good innings for south africa recent past. Amla, who was declared the man of the match and the series, was understandably disappointed for losing .

The one-dayers will be played in Jaipur (Feb 21), Gwalior (Feb 24) and Ahmedabad (Feb 27).

However, the fight for the second place is tight as only two ratings points separates second-placed India from third-placed South Africa. The two sides will go head to head in the three-match ODI series on February 21 in Jaipur and the side that wins the series will finish second and will earn an additional $75,000.

Amla replaced the injured Smith for the three one-dayers, while veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis was named the captain.

India vs New Zealand 2nd Test Live Streaming From Napier

Watch Live Cricket Match: India vs New Zealand 2nd Test Live Streaming, India vs New Zealand 2nd test Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 Live Online.

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Indian cricket's Rip Van Winkle wakes up to realities, but how

By Ashis Ray

Not surprisingly, Rahul Dravid, speaking on behalf of his colleagues, has voiced concern about the payment system and restrictions on players' endorsement incomes arbitrarily and unilaterally declared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after its two-day conclave.

Clearly, the emerging theme of the meet was to make the unsuccessful representatives on the field scapegoats for India's unexpected early exit from the World Cup, and raise a red herring of cricketers' remunerations being the cause of it.

Some members of the Indian squad that went to the West Indies are unquestionably responsible for the abysmal failure and must pay for such non-performance. Given the suspicions that have been raised, their commercial contracts also need to be closely scrutinised. But a blanket dilution of fees and restraint on extraneous earnings would be unfair and unjust.

Reading between the lines, the BCCI's working committee attempted to attribute their decision to recommendations received from seven former captains invited to the conference, who have apparently distanced themselves from such advice since. Now BCCI officials seem to be divided on whether to insist on their proposal or listen to the players' point of view.

A productivity-based disbursement structure is propitious. But to dispense with retainers is debatable and may create insecurity. Also, rigid restrictions on cricketers' general proceeds could be unworkable under Indian law, if the players refuse to sign such an agreement with the BCCI. At the end of the day, it's the players' presence on the green that lays the golden egg. A potential biting of the hand that feeds the BCCI is yet another instance of this organisation being incapable of thinking through important decisions.

The wholesale gag on players also militates against freedom of speech as granted by the Indian constitution. It is common sense that if a player makes unacceptable statements, disciplinary action can be taken against him.

As expected, the BCCI's introspection has proved to be essentially an exercise in futility. It failed to address fundamental issues, such as the transfer of executive powers in the board and its affiliated associations to fulltime, caring, knowledgeable and professional persons. Instead, in a typically populist style of fooling the Indian people, it papered over cracks, that, too, clumsily.

Akin to Rip Van Winkle, the officials have woken up to the fact that international players should compulsorily be playing domestic tournaments, that subsidiary associations should 'prepare fast and lively wickets' for such competitions and India under-19 and 'A' teams should be touring overseas more frequently to gain experience of foreign conditions. That the world's richest cricket board had not been implementing the last mentioned is a tragic reflection of its ineffectiveness.

The BCCI wildly stated that all associated units should start their own academies linked to the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Would it not have been more sensible to initially have zonal institutes, while sourcing talent from the innumerable privately owned coaching camps that exist in most provinces?

It emphasises the medieval state of the BCCI that it will take six months to ratify a change in its constitution before selectors can be appointed on a fulltime, remunerated basis. Besides, it's shocking that the working committee has 'directed' the selection committee to send a 'young team' for next month's tour of Bangladesh. This is naked interference in the remit of selectors, who are supposed to pick a side purely on merit. Youth for the sake of it is a ludicrous policy. While it's wise to encourage younger players, they must deserve inclusion.

It makes sense to prepare for next year's Champions Trophy tournament with younger legs, but it could unduly jeopardise India's prospects if replacement of senior exponents is not undertaken in a phased manner. The same should also apply in test matches, but even more judiciously.

What's welcome though is the retention of Dravid as captain and the appointment of Ravi Shastri as interim cricket manager, Venkatesh Prasad as bowling coach and Robin Singh as fielding trainer. It will also be a boon for Indian cricket if Greg Chappell is recruited for an authoritative and meaningful role at the NCA. But more critical is the choice of long-term coach and the assistants around him.

(Ashis Ray is the author of the recently launched 'One-Day Cricket: The Indian Challenge' - Harper Collins - which can be bought online on www.ians.in)

Source : news.monstersandcritics.com

Indian cricket stars’ lookalikes hide from angry fans after India’s World Cup loss

NEW DELHI (AP) – Life as a lookalike of an Indian cricket star can have its perks, but lately it’s had a nasty downside, with some hiding from irate fans after India’s loss to Sri Lanka, a news report said Sunday.

India’s defeat to Sri Lanka on Friday disappointed millions of Indians with the team facing its ouster from the World Cup in the Caribbean. Fans vented their anger by burning effigies and posters of the players in several Indian cities and towns.

The team’s participation in the tournament has also resulted in the deaths of two Indians, one who hanged himself and another who died of a heart attack.

Lookalikes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Mohinder Dhoni – popular among cricket–mad Indians during better performances – have been watching their backs in recent days. In the past, they made frequent appearances on television and were cheered by spectators during cricket matches.

"When Sehwag plays well, I am treated well by people. But when he scores badly, even the lives of my wife and child are in jeopardy as people threaten to beat me up for Sehwag’s bad performance," The Times Of India newspaper quoted Yogendra Shah as saying.

He has temporarily moved out of Mehsana, his home town in western Indian state of Gujarat, to escape the wrath of cricket fans, the daily said.

Police have been drafted to protect the homes of some players and prevent a recurrence of the vandalism that followed a five–wicket upset loss to Bangladesh on March 17.

Suresh Rathod said he was treated like a very important person by cricket fans because he resembled India’s star batsman Tendulkar.

He said people’s extreme reactions were understandable as they felt let down by their heroes. "The Indian players have betrayed the trust of millions of people who worship them."

He said he had joined thousands of people in praying for the Indian team’s success in the World Cup.

However, Mukesh Patel, a clone of wicket–keeper Dhoni, has refused to go into hiding or shorten his long hair just because his idol got out without scoring in Friday’s match against Sri Lanka.

"I had long hair before Dhoni burst on to the cricket scene," the daily quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, cricket fan Mahadeb Swarnakar, 28, allegedly hanged himself Friday after an argument with his wife because he wanted to watch the India–Sri Lanka match on a neighbor’s color television, while his wife wanted him to watch it with her at home on their monochrome set, said police superintendent Hari Kishore Kusumakar.

The poor farmer’s wife, Sadhana Swarnakar, panicked and also tried to hang herself, but survived when the rope broke. The incident took place in Shaktinagar, a village 60 kilometers north of Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal state, Kusumakar said.

Also Friday, P. Raju, a 28–year–old cricket enthusiast, died after he suffered a heart attack in Hyderabad, the capital of southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, while watching India losing badly to Sri Lanka, said his wife, P. Kavita. He died on arrival at a hospital.

Kavita told The Associated Press that her husband was shocked by India’s poor performance.

Source : http://www.caycompass.com

India Coach Greg Chappell’s Insatiable Hunger For Experimentation Met With A Disaster

Was Greg Chappell the right choice to coach India coach after New Zealander John Wright made way for him in 2005? In retrospect one believes that the BCCI did not make a right choice, considering that he produced more victories in India than abroad.

As a player, Greg, was supposed to be one of the finest batsman Australia ever produced. But it seemed that coaching was not his forte. After all, he never had the experience of coaching an international team once he had hung his boots as a cricketer.

The biggest drawback of Greg’s coaching tenure with the Indian team was his insatiable hunger for experimentation, which met with a disaster.

His ploy to juggle and shuffle the batting order by playing around with cricketers’ fortunes seemed to shake their confidence right till the onset of the World Cup and through the tournament as well. And, the results were there for everyone to see as he messed up the entire dynamics of Indian cricket in association with captain Rahul Dravid, who never seemed to be bold and forthright like his predecessor Sourav Ganguly.

The Dravid-Chappell combo seemed to push India deep into a hole rather than lift the team out of it from time to time.

The batting positions of players of the caliber of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan, including that of Dravid himself were relentlessly toyed with during Chappell’s tenure.

His first few months or in fact days with Indian cricket brought about the exit of one of India’s most successful captains – Sourav Ganguly.

It was a pity then that Ganguly did not find any supporters in Indian cricket to help him hold on to his position in the team, which had become a world beater under his astute
leadership.

Once Greg arrived he played his cards well, sought the ouster of Ganguly first and then rallied for Dravid to be roped in as captain at the expense of Ganguly’s exit from Indian cricket for a while.

Unfortunately, even Dravid seemed to have kept mum when Ganguly needed total support from his pro with whom he debuted at Lord’s in 1996 while scoring his maiden hundred at the Mecca of world cricket.

It was a pity that Dravid, who fought tooth and nail to retain a terribly out of form Virender Sehwag for a place in the World Cup squad, never batted in favour of Ganguly then.

Kudos to Ganguly, who gave himself time until World Cup, to make a comeback into the Indian team and did it in great style once he was selected for the South Africa tour. He made his bat do the talking and the rest is history.

Coming to Greg, his lunacy to play around with key batting positions cost India the World Cup. A team as talented as India was thrown into shambles by one man’s single-minded desire to prove his point and that was to keep experimenting.

Had Greg given the team the stability it needed in terms of secured batting positions for senior pros, India would have done much better than enduring a first round exit.

Dravid’s captaincy was a total failure, as he never seemed to motivate his players on the big stage and instead of him taking the lead role by stepping up the order, the “Wall” simple crumbled when it mattered the most. At times his decisions seemed dreadful.

It is an after thought that Dravid now wants to own total responsibility for India’s shock exit from the World Cup, but can he undo what has already transpired. He isn’t God any way.

Source : http://www.cricketworldcuplatest.com

Abhishek Bachchan comes out in support of cricket team

The battered Indian cricket team, out of contention in the World Cup, has found a supporter in Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan who said the players had given it their best.

"I was very disappointed last night. But what we should understand is that it is difficult to perform under the kind of pressure they were in. They gave it their best," Bachchan said at the India Today Conclave in New Delhi on Saturday.
Abhishek said just because the players endorsed products and appeared in advertisements did not mean they were compromising with the game.

"It would be unfair to come down on them for doing too many endorsements and call for replacing them," Abhishek said.

Empathising with the Indian team Abhishek said, "I have faced failure. And I know it is difficult to go out there and perform."

Abhishek was responding to a question on whether corporate sector interest in films would lead to a decline in their quality, as was the case with cricket.

Source : http://www.apunkachoice.com

Bangladesh win to eliminate India

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (Reuters) -- Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore praised his team for holding their nerve to clinch a maiden World Cup second round berth with victory over debutants Bermuda on Sunday.

Bangladesh chased a revised target of 96 in gathering gloom after Bermuda scored a challenging 94 for nine in the rain-affected final Group B match that was restricted to 21 overs.

"This is very significant for us," Whatmore told a news conference. "It was something that I personally knew we had the potential to do. It is reality now."

Bangladesh, who needed only to avoid defeat, joined group winners Sri Lanka in the Super Eights, their victory pushing India out of the competition.

"This game was the most difficult you could be in to qualify," the Australian said. "Chasing that total was never easy. The ball was doing all sorts of things in the first 10 overs."

Bermuda seamer Saleem Mukuddem took three early wickets to leave Bangladesh struggling on 37-3.

"Yes, my heart was pumping a little bit," Whatmore added. "The boys haven't been in this situation before. They have done very, very well."

Source : http://edition.cnn.com

Sri Lanka win leaves India on brink of elimination

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - Sri Lanka clinched an emphatic 69-run victory yesterday that pushed India to the brink of a humiliating first-round elimination from the World Cup.

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Source : http://www.canada.com

World Cup in a spin after Bangladesh win

Bangladesh's spinners did the damage as they successfully chased down India's insufficient total to record another World Cup shock Tamim Iqbal's stunning 51 from 53 balls, featuring two sixes, proved to be the decisive knock but it was new-ball bowler Mashrafe Mortaza who set Bangladesh on their way with the early strikes to dismiss Virender Sehwag and Robin Uthappa.

India's innings was steadied by Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh, who shared a partnership of 85 after skipper Rahul Dravid, who had earlier won the toss and chosen to bat, fell in the 25th over at 72-4.

Source : http://www.clubcall.com

Indian Cricketers Score Record Win against Bermuda.

It has been a day of records for the Indian cricket team as they put behind them their upset World Cup loss to Bangladesh at the weekend.

A century from Virender Sehwag steered India to a record World Cup total of 413 for 5, before they bowled debutants Bermuda out for 156 resulting in the biggest ever one-day victory margin of 257 runs.

India swept past Sri Lanka's previous highest total of 398 for 5, made against Kenya in 1996.

They eclipsed Australia's previous one-day record victory margin of 256 runs, achieved against Namibia in the 2003 World Cup.

The 1983 champions still need to beat a formidable Sri Lankan side convincingly in their third and final group game at the weekend to be in contention for the Super Eight stage if three teams tie on points.

Source : http://www.newswire.co.nz

Due to superstition Mr. Amitabh Bachchan will avoid cricket.

Legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan avoids watching live telecasts of cricket matches involving India because he believes whenever he does so his home team loses, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.

Bachchan, 64, is known to be an avid cricket fan and has even lent his voice to a special song composed to inspire the Indian team participating in the World Cup, which opened in the West Indies this week.

"I normally don`t watch tense matches because I have this superstition that India will lose if I watch the match," Bachchan, among the busiest Bollywood actors even at his age, told the Times of India newspaper.

"That`s why I watch it after the results."

The iconic actor, who has inspired generations of Bollywood aspirants, is confident India will bring home the World Cup.

"The team is good in all departments," he said. "The blessings of the entire nation are with the Indian cricket team."

Bureau Report

Source : http://www.zeenews.com

'Best ever' Opening Ceremony, claim cricket analysts

ANDREW HANCEL , Observer staff reporter

Grabbed by the colour and the energy, some of the world's leading cricket commentators believe the West Indies have delivered the best ever opening for an ICC Cricket World Cup.

The ninth ICC Cricket World Cup - the first to be held in the Caribbean - was declared officially open two nights ago in Florence Hall, Trelawny.

Dubbed 'Caribbean energy', the Opening Ceremony mirrored a West Indian party - gradually building momentum, before getting to a prolonged climax.
The three-hour affair was so captivating that the capacity crowd remained until the end, revelling in the historic moment.

"This is by far the best. This is world class. I got a call from a friend of mine who is in Barbados. who just called to say 'I'm so proud to be a West Indian tonight'. She was in tears.," said veteran West Indian cricket commentator, Tony Cozier.

"Everybody looks at it and says 'we can't do it'. They started on time and finished on time. and they got everything in," Cozier added.

The hard-talking, but highly respected former West Indies fastbowler, Michael Holding agreed.

Said Holding: "It is the best Opening Ceremony I've seen. I saw the opening ceremony in England and watched some of the opening ceremony on TV in South Africa. But to compare this to what happened in England is chalk and cheese. This is far, far superior."

Second vice-president of CONCACAF, Cpt Horace Burrell, believed that the Caribbean has delivered, adding that while the FIFA World Cup evolves on a grander scale, Sunday's opening ceremony was of the highest standard.

"Sitting there in the stands really made me feel proud, and it just goes to show what we can do as a region. I really can't find adjectives to describe the feeling, but I think it was really, really tremendous.

"World Cup football covers a wider spectrum. but nonetheless, I believe the performance here was really next to none. I have looked at the performances of opening ceremonies of other World Cup finals and I have to say, even though I might sound biased, that this is certainly the most magnificent that I've seen," says the Jamaican, who has been largely credited for taking Jamaica to its first and only senior FIFA World Cup in 1998.

As expected, the ceremony had a lot of Caribbean entertainers, with the likes of David Rudder, Sean Paul, Shaggy, Third World, Beres Hammond and the legendary reggae icon Jimmy Cliff, who had the distinction of closing the night's show.

Harpal Singh Bedi, special correspondent, United News of India, told the Observer that credit must go to the organisers, headed by Martin Lewis.

He said that he and his Indian colleagues were overwhelmed by the music, though they struggled to understand the language.

"This is the best one. It started slowly, but it picked up. Compare to other opening ceremonies, this is the most lavish. it lived up to expectation, no doubt about that," said Bedi, who says this is his fifth Cricket World Cup.

"Usually what happen, people lose interest when the opening ceremony starts and suddenly people start leaving. But with this one nobody left the stadium. It goes to the credit of the organisers. it was just fascinating," stated the Indian from New Delhi, who has also covered five Olympics.

Headley 'Delmar' Samuels, one of the world's most recognised cricket photographers, has captured several World Cups through the eyes of his camera lenses, and he too thought the opening event was the best.

"It is the best," beamed the West Indian photographer, "we just co-ordinate everything and get it right."

Ever since the region was awarded the 2007 Cricket World Cup, there have been many critics who questioned the Caribbean's capacity to deliver.

Having proved those cynics wrong on Sunday night, the opening ceremony's organisers deserve credit for a tremendous achievement, said Brian Murgatroyd, ICC Media and Communications manager.

"When I first saw the rehearsal last night (Saturday) it was the colour of the costume, the variety of colours, the vibrancy of them that grabbed me. The number of people at the back of the North Stand. it was like a city at the back and it was just incredible," said Murgatroyd from inside the media centre, adding that "I'm not going to disagree" with those who called it the best ever opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, Cozier said the standard set by the Opening Ceremony should be duplicated for all Caribbean events.
"So many times we let standards fall. but we can do it and this is a standard that should be set for every show, in every country in the West Indies, every time," Cozier said.
"This is just a starter," said Holding. "You have the main course and the dessert to come.

"I'm anticipating all good things. I hope that everything will go smoothly, I'll expect that you'll have hiccups, because you have no world tournament or such a huge occasion that doesn't have hiccups, but I hope the hiccups will be minor and everything will be dandy by the 29th of April," Holding said.

"World class, by far the best that we have ever had in World Cup, as far as Opening Ceremony is concerned," reiterated Cozier.

For More : http://www.jamaicaobserver.com

India's amazing win against West Indies by nine wickets.

India bowled out West Indies by nine wickets in their final World Cup warm-up match in Trelawny on Friday. The Indian fast bowlers led the way in the win. The hosts were dismissed in 25.5 overs while the Indians win in 18.3 overs.

Robin Uthappa (35 not out in 43 balls) and Dinesh Kaarthick (38 not out in 67 balls) took the team home.

Sehwag disappoint once again he out for duck face only three bowls.

India Won in WC warm-up game by massive 182 runs over Dutch

Trelawny (Jamaica), March. 7 (PTI): Skipper Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar struck impressive half-centuries as India powered their way to a massive 182-run victory over minnows the Netherlands in their first warm-up game in the lead-up to the Cricket World Cup here.

Apart from setting the mood perfectly for the tournament proper, this match provided an opportunity to the Indians to acclimatise with the conditions in the Caribbean.

After setting an uphill target of 301 to win, the Indians bundled out their opponents only for 118 runs in 37.5 overs to script a convincing win yesterday.

Batting first, India were off to a good start with Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag scoring 60 runs for the opening stand.

But the top order squandered the advantage due to poor shot selection and at one stage India were looking vulnerable at 82 for 3.

However, Dravid and Tendulkar batted sensibly to set the platform for a big total after the mini collapse.

The veteran duo steadied the innings and tried to gather runs at a decent pace, adding 116 runs for the fourth wicket.

Tendulkar's run-a-ball innings was attractive as he punished the inexperienced Dutch bowlers, belting five fours and two sixes during his knock of 61.

Dravid, who provided a solid support to Tendulkar, subtly switched to aggressive mode and played some entertaining shots. His 74 came off 92 balls and was studded with five boundaries and two lofty sixes.

However, Dutchman R ten Doeschate stole the show with his five-wicket haul followed by a gritty 31.

Doeschate, with his slow medium pace, delivered a double blow by scalping Ganguly (19) and Sehwag (28) in two successive overs.

Majority of the Indian batters threw away their wickets while going for big shots and the trend started with Ganguly, who committed the crime of pushing a wide ball on the off-side and hand out an easy catch to W F Stelling.

Sehwag perished to an sharp inswinger which knocked off his middle stump after rushing through the yawning gap between his bat and pad.

Robin Uthappa, who came after the fall of Ganguly, played some glorious shots before dragging a Darron Reekers delivery onto his stumps at his individual score of 20.

When Dravid and Tendulkar were going smoothly, it seemed they would guide India to a 300-plus total. But, Tendulkar was caught brilliantly by Dutch captain Luuv van Troost off Tim de Leede.

Dravid now took the responsibility of scoring quickly and in his bid to do so he was caught by Alexei Kervezee while playing a big shot off P Borren.

Within seven overs, India lost four more wickets thereby jolted their chance of getting a bigger total as they were restricted at 300 for 9.

Doeschate took the opportunity to snatch his prized five-for. Apart from Ganguly and Sehwag, he accounted for Yuvraj Singh (14), M S Dhoni (21) and Harbhajan Singh (0) in a dream preparation to his World Cup campaign.

After shining with the ball, ten Doeschate showed his resolve and skills with the bat and notched up 31 runs off 37 balls, laced with four hits to the fence.

Other than him, opener B Zuiderent (32 off 73) was the only one who could provide some resistance to the Indians.

The task to polish off the Netherlands batting line-up was cakewalk for the Indian bolwers, who rolled their arms mainly for having some practice before the crucial games ahead.

Taking advantage of the laxity to field 13 players (of which only 11 could bat), Dravid gave chance to five of his main bowlers -- Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble -- to warm up.

But, the most successful of the Indian bowlers was part-timer Yuvraj Singh, who claimed four wickets conceding 12 runs.

The piece of news the team would have cherished most was the form of Irfan Pathan, who after his unbeaten breezy knock of 25 got down to swing the ball both ways and capture a wicket, which showed some signs of improvement.

India will take on West Indies in their next warm-up game on March 9.

Source : http://www.hindu.com

Expected big scores from top order, says Dravid

Trelawny (Jamaica), March. 7 (PTI): While expressing satisfaction over the win against the Netherlands in the warm-up game before the Cricket World Cup, Indian captain Rahul Dravid said he expected the top order to notch up big scores in the match.

"I expected the top three to go on and get big scores. But this is the early part of the tour and the boys looked good," Dravid said after the match here yesterday.

The Indian skipper said the victory against the Netherlands provided his team the right platform to proceed on their World Cup campaign.

"It was a good game, it was a sort of game we had our legs and feet moving. It was a must win game for us. We want to make our presence felt and make an impact," he said.

Dravid said the damp wicket made batting slightly difficult early in the innings, but it eased up with time.

"It was a bit wet and damp. But as it dried out, it played beautifully in the afternoon," he said.

On the next warm-up game against the West Indies on March 9, Dravid said the match would provide a chance to test the skills against one of the best sides.

"We have played each other a lot of times recently. But it is a good chance to test each other. And the West Indies are the best team in such conditions," he said.

Disappointed with the loss, Dutch captain L van Troost said his bowlers were slightly nervous earlier in the innings.

"Bowling-wise we were a bit nervous in the early part. We gave away too many extras. But the job was well done later and we were back in the game," he said.

"We always wanted to win. For that we had to bat for 50 overs," he said.

Source : http://www.hindu.com