India wins 2nd test at Colombo to equal the score 1-1

India won the 2ns test match at Colombo comfortably by 278 runs. Set to score 412 for a win, the home team could not bear the pressure and succumbed to the inevitable. This victory was a special one for Virat Kohli, the captain of India Test team and also for Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara because it was his last match and ended a 15-year illustrious career.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 24 August 2015.

For the Indians, batsmen who scored centuries were Lokesh Rahul (1st innings - 108) and Ajinkya Rahane (126 in 2nd innings) while for the Sri Lankans, the only centurion was Angelo Mathews (1st innings – 102).
Bowlers Ravichandra Ashwin (3 for 76 and 6 for 42) and Amit Mishra (3 for 43 and 3 for 29) took 5 wickets each – and Sri Lanka folded up at 134 in 2nd innings giving India a fantastic win of 278 runs. There were clouds in the sky but, in the final tally, the rain gods did not pose any problem and the game ended as expected.
This win keeps alive India's hopes of carving a win in Sri Lanka after 23 years - the last time India won a Test series in Sri Lanka was in 1993 and, there are possibilities that the new look India team will win the series.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)


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IPL8 – Chennai defeats Punjab at Mohali to retain the top of the table position

#IPL8 #CSKvsKXIP #fafduplessis #pawannegi #sureshraina Chennai Super Kings retained their winning momentum and defeated Kings XI Punjab convincingly to remain on top of the points table scoring 18 points in 14 matches. KXIP won the toss and elected to bat first and Wriddhiman Saha (15) quickly hit a six and a four but fell to the guiles of diminutive left-arm spinner Pawan Negi.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 16 May 2015.

It was the spinners Pawan Negi (2/25 in 4 overs), Ravichandran Ashwin (1/14 in 4 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/18 in 3 overs) who gave away a total of only 57 runs to capture 4 wickets.
CSK managed to restrict Kings XI Punjab to 130/7 in 20 overs and getting it was like chicken feed to CSK batsmen. Faf du Plessis (55, 41 balls) and Suresh Raina (41 no, 34 balls) added 92 runs for the third wicket to lay the foundation of a victory that was achieved in just 16.5 overs.
By finishing on top of the table, CSK will play the first qualifier and, in case they lose, will get another chance when they will face the winner of the 'Eliminator' between teams placed third and fourth.
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Dhoni’s team remains unbeaten so far in CWC 2015

#CWC2015 #msdhoni #IrevsInd #dhawan #wewontgiveitback The Indian cricket team is making winning a habit and has won the fifth match in a row by beating Ireland. It was a convincing win and the men in blue have shown that the venue or country where the game is played is immaterial – it is the supremacy that matters. Winning is the bottom line and a determination to retain the Cricket World Cup that it had won in 2011. We won’t give it back!!
Ireland put up 259 runs and, at one time, it was presumed that they would go past 300 when the two Irish openers William Porterfield (67) and Paul Stirling (42) took their team off to a flier. But, Ravichandra Ashwin got his team the first breakthrough to break the 89-run stand as India. This has been reported in ibnlive.in.com dated 10 March 2015. Captain Dhoni brought Suresh Raina into the attack and he did not disappoint his skipper – he took the wicket of Ed Joyce (2).
Realizing that the fast bowlers were unable to make any dent in the Ireland lineup, Dhoni decided to go in for spin and succeeded in keeping the runs down – thereby, the Irish batsmen tried to break the shackles and failed. Mohammad Shami was the pick of the bowlers (3 for 41) while Ashwin's 2 for 38 gave him good support. Other bowlers also chipped in and ensured that the final target was a reasonable one.
Anyway, when India began the chase, openers Shikhar Dhawan (100) and Rohit Sharma (64) laid a good foundation and India romped home with 79 balls to spare.

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India on a wining streak in CWC 2015 – beat West Indies at Perth

#CWC2015 #kapildev #INDvsWI #captaincool It was the fourth win in a row for India as they beat West Indies in the CWC 2015 at Perth – thanks to captain cool M S Dhoni who ensured that the target of 182 was chased down in spite of hiccups caused by the top order not contribute much to the cause. This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 6 March 2015.
In the West Indies camp also it was its captain Jason Holder who ensured that the team put up a decent score in spite of failures of his batsmen. He scored 57 runs out of the total of 182. It was same score as in 1983 when India, under the captainship of Kapil Dev, defended it down to cause a major upset – India finally won the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
At one time it was thought that it would be a repeat performance of 1983 – if the Indies defended it and the Indians failed to win. However, Dhoni was at the crease to ward off such an end.
Anyway, it was India’s bowling that played havoc so that the West Indies got bundled out for a paltry 182 in 44.2 overs. It was Mohammed Shami (3/35 in 8 overs) who was responsible. He managed to get both Dwayne Smith and Chris Gayle out of the equation. He was ably supported by Umesh Yadav (2/42 in 10 overs), Mohit Sharma (1/35), Ravichandran Ashwin (1/38) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/27).