Final of the world cup 2011- India vs Sri Lanka

                                                           






The biggest stage of the tournament has arrived. It is the fight between two Asian giants. Tomorrow on 2 nd April 2011 the final match will be played at Vankhede stadium in Mumbai.

This is the biggest occasion for the players of both teams. Sachin is likely not to play in the next world cup and Muralitharan has also announced this will be his last international game. Both of them will try and give their best to win a cup for their own country and the team members would like to give them farewell with the trophy.
It has been tight security around  Mumbai .The president of India and Sri Lanka will watch the match at the venue.
 The Indian model Poonam Pandey has announced that she will strip out for the players and spectators if India win this world cup.
Cup Le India !

Srilanka vs New Zealand 1 st semi final

It is going to be  all asian finals as the Sri Lanka won the first semifinals by 5 wickets.
New Zealand won the toss and batted first. Their batsman got a start but could not convert them to big innings and were all out on 217. Styris was the top scorer with 57 runs, Guptil made 39 runs and taylor contributed with 36 runs.For Sri Lanka  Malinga and Mendis picked 3 wickets each and murali picked 2 wickets.

In reply Sri Lanka chased ity positively but stumbled for some time and their middle , lower middle order batsman kept their nerve . Dilshan made 73 runs and Sangakara made useful 54 runs. for New zealand Southee picked 3 wickets and other bowlers failed to support him.
Sangakara was man of the match for his half century and 3 catches.

Sri Lanka win the 4th quarter final

In the one sided game Sri Lanka beat england by 10 wickets. It was comprehensive win by Sri Lanka as they booked their place in semi finals 3 rd time in a raw.

The england side winning the toss elected batting . They were fighting for each and every single run against good disciplined bowling of Sri Lankan bowlers. The England batsman could achieve only 229 for 6 wickets in their 50 overs. Trott was the top scorer with 83 and Morgan made a useful 50. Murali picked up 2 wickets.
In reply Sri Lanka never looked in trouble as they chase down the target with out losing any wickets and 63 balls left. Dilshan made blazing century 108 not out with Tharanga supporting him 102 not out.
Dilshan was man of the match for his hundred and one wicket while bowling.

South Africa keeps Chokers tag

South Africa always entered the big tournaments as favorite to lift the trophy and were out because of team not performing on the decider game as they are called chokers. 
In the 3rd quarter final game against New Zealand they threw it away from the winning situation.

Vettori winning the toss elected bat first but they just manged 221 for the loss of 9 wickets against good discipline bowling effort by South African bowlers. Ryder made 83, Taylor and williamsom contributed 43 and 38 not out respectively. Morkel picked up 3 wickets, Styen and Tahir shared 2 wickets each.
In reply South Africa cruising at one stage on 108 for 2 at 24 overs but they made a big collapse and were all out on 172. Losing last 8 wickets in 64 runs.Kallis was the top scorer with 47 , Du plesis and De villiers contributed with 36 and 35 respectively. Oram was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets and N mccullum picked up 3 wickets.
Oram was declared man of the match for his brilliant bowling performance.

Australia down and out of the world cup 2011

It has been disappointing world cup campaign for Australians. They are 4 times champions and were defending the title but couldn't hold on it any more. There has been very ordinary and inconsistence performance by the players. They failed to bat well against the spinners and their own spinners could not perform up to the level. 

The loss against pakistan made a huge impact as if they would have won that game then their quarter final would have been against easier team west indies  . Brett Lee was the top performer for them but was not supported by others. After this loss there has been questions raised against Ponting's captaincy and I think he would be changed by someone more capable.
It has been end of an aura of Australian dominance in cricket we are likely to see a new team reaching top of the cricket.

India beat Australia in quarter final of the world cup 2011

It was a fascinating game , India beat Australia by 5 wickets and progress through the semi finals.


The Australia captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first. They started up well adding 40 runs for the first wicket before Ashwin got the watson out for 25. Ponting joined Haddin ,they added 70 runs partnership before haddin was caught by Raina in the bowling of yuvraj singh for well made 53. Ricky ponting scored a century 104 with 7 fours and 1 six, David hussy made useful 38 in just 26 balls. For India Zaheer, Yuvraj and Ashwin picked 2 wickets each.Australia made 260 for the loss of 6 wickets at the end of their 50overs.
In reply India got home with useful half centuries by Sachin(53), gambhir950) and Yuvraj(57*).Raina scored useful 38 to steer India to victory. lee , watson ,tait and D.hussy picked a wicket each.
Yuvraj singh was given man of the match for his all round performance.

The most awaited game of the world cup 2011 - India vs Australia

India vs Australia
It is going to be a crunch of a game. The most awaited game of the tournament. Both the teams are the big contenders of lifting the world cup trophy. Australia being 4 times world champion will give their all to stay in the tournament and keep the chances of winning it. On the other hand India is the team with good bunch of a match winners who can turn the game in their favor any moment.
Australia's strength is their fast bowling while India heavily relies on their strong batting line up. 
This game will be a decider for great players like Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, who's team looses the player might not be seen on any future ODI's. 



Pakistan vs West Indies -1st quarter final
It was a dull game, pakistan out played west indies in all departments and they beat them very comprehensively and progressed to semi finals.
It wa sthe first quarter final of the world cup 2011. The toss was won by west indies and without any hesitation they elected to bat, but their batsman failed to give any impression as the team was all out on only 112. Chanderpaul was the top scorer with 44 not out, he was left on one side ran out of partners. Afridi picked up 4 wickets with hafeez and ajamal picked 2 wickets each.
In reply Pakistan easily chased down total and they won with 10 wickets. Hafeez made unbeaten 61 and he was declared man of the match for his all round performance.

Team's journey to Quarter Finals.

Here is quarter final match ups

March 23	Pakistan v West Indies	Dhaka
March 24	India v Australia	Ahmedabad
March 25	New Zealand v South Africa	Dhaka
March 26	Sri Lanka v England	Colombo

It's the end of group stage matches in world cup 2011, no minnow-associated teams will be in the competition any more. Although these associate teams have given headache to the England team as the Ireland and bangladesh won their games. Some games have been so one sided and some have been a thriller. The tie game between India and England, SA vs England, SL vs Pak, England vs Bangladesh are some of few exciting -nail biter games. We had a fastest hundred of the world cup history so far and it was made by associate team player kevin O'brian of Ireland. Ross Taylor if NZ hit the record 13 sixes in an innings against Pakistan.

Let's start with group A - this group has been a tough one. Pakistan are on top of this group with 5 wins out of 6 games played. They lost the only game against New zealand.

Sri lanka are no2 here they won 4 out of 6 games played. They lost narrowly against Pakistan by 11 runs and their game against Australia was washed out.

Unlike the defending world champions Australia are at no3 . They won 4 out of 6 games played. They had a big loss against pakistan and game washed out against Sri Lanka.

New zealnd were no4 ,they won 4 out of 6 games. Their loss against Sri lanka  and Australia were so disappointing but they turned the tables against the No1 team of the group Pakistan.

Group B- This group has seen so many ups and downs . South Africa at the No1 spot. They won 5 out of 6 games. They narrowly lost against England by 6 runs.

India entered the tournament with the best contender to lift the world cup but they couldn't perform on important times. They lost 1 out of 6 games and 1 game against England resulted in a tie.

England's performance has been like roller coaster ride, they tied the high scoring games against India and won the low scoring game against South Africa. They fail to win against Ireland and Bangladesh.They won 3 out of 6 games played and lost 2 with 1 tie.

West Indies team just manged qualify with 3 wins and 3 losses out of 6 games  played.

India vs West Indies and Zimbabve vs Kenya

The last two games of the group games gone on the expected way.
Zimbabve beat Kenya and India beat West Indies.

Zim won the toss and elected to bat first.Withe help of the half centuries by Sibanda (61), Ervine(66) and Taibu Zim scored a huge total of 308 with the loss of 6 wickets. For kenya Otieno picked 2-61, the other bowlers Ongondo, Odhimabo and Ngoche picked a wicket each.
In reply Kenya failed give a reasonable reply to chase down the score and they were all out on 147 losing the game by 161 runs.Odhiambo was the top scorer with 44, for zim cremer, Lamb and Price picked up 2 wickets each , Utseya and mpofu shared a wicket each.
Ervine was the manof the match for his quiock fire 66 from 54 balls.


 In the other game of India against west indies the toss was won by India and they decided to bat first. India made 268 all out with the help of 113 by yuvraj and 59 by Kohli. Rampaul picked 5 and Russelpicked up 2 wickets. Yuvraj made 113 runs from 123 balls with 10 fours and 2 sixes.
In reply westindies were cruising at one stage at 154 for 2 but they loss their rest 8 wickets in 34 runs. Smith was the top scorer with 81. For India zaheer khan picked 3-26 , yuvraj and ashwin picked 2 wickets each.
Yuvraj was the man of the match for his all round performance. 
India beat West Indies by 80 runs.

Australia Vs Pakistan at Colombo

The 40th game in the world cup ended the winning streak of Australia of 34 consecutive unbeaten games. last time Australia lost a game was in 1999 world cup against the same opposition.
Ricky Ponting for Australia won the toss and elected to bat first . They lost watson early on score of 12 runs, after that ponting and haddin added 63 runs for the second wicket. Once these two were dismissed no other Aussie batsman could stay on the wicket for a longer period , they were all out on 176 in 46.4 overs. Haddin top scored with 42 , Clarke made 34 and smith added useful 25 runs.
Umar gul picked 3/30 and razzak took 2/8. Rehman, Riaz, Afridi and Hafeez picked a wicket each. It was a real struggle for the Australian batsman , they found very difficult to score runs. 
Chasing 177 to win pakistan never looked in serious trouble and the got the winning runs in the 41st over with the loss of 6 wickets. Shafeeq made 46 and U.Akmal made important 44 runs. U.Khan also contributed with 31runs.

Brett lee was very effective with 4/28 but other bowlers failed to give him support. kretja and jhonson could only pick a wicket each.

World Cup 2011: Shoaib Akhtar declared retirement from international cricket after World Cup

Shoaib akhtar will say good bye to international cricket at the end of this world cup. This will be end of a player who has seen peaks and valleys in his cricketing carrier. 
Since he made debut in the internaional cricket he played only 46 out of 84 Tests pakistan played and appeared in only 163 ODI. Because  of injuries ,fitness, misbehavior, indiscipline and controversies like doping he was in & out of the team many time in his 13 years long carrier.
He will be remembered for getting wickets of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in 2 successive deliveries in the Asian test championship match at Kolkata.


I have found some good comments at cricinfo :
A man with humble arrogance and undaunted attitude who turned out to be a threat for great 2W's. Shoaib who became the competitor of his ideals Wasim and Waqar is a man of will and determination. His career full of glitz glamor and controversies a wild man with sane head on his shoulder who challenged himself on his will and still bowling 90+ miles at the age of 36 with Flat feet. I'm gonna miss da arrogance of the ball while leaving from the shoaib's hand.
He is no doubt the fastest bowler in the world and i think his attitude throughout his career matches his personality, pace and aggression. he is one of the greatest entertainers world cricket has ever produced. only pak can produce such a rare talent. he proves his worth while being part of sub-continent team. had he played more matches outside sub-continent he might have been the greatest fast bowler world has ever produced.
Its useless to talk about what Shoaib COULD have achieved...had be been more disciplined..or properly handled...or whatever...Cuz had he achieved ALL those things.
Being an Indian Cricket Supporter- I always followed Indian Team Playing everywhere they go and no doubt India has produced some real batting entertainers like Sachin,Sehwag,Ganguly,Dravid-Now Pathan. But when it comes to bowling department my heartiest congrats goes to PAKISTAN- You all have produced one of the most feared bowlers the world have ever seen- I cannot imagine a match Pakistan have played without a genuine quality express pace fast bowler- Shoaib Aktar was and will continue to be my most cherished fast bowler- I rate Waqar,Wasim and Imran Khan very highly but Shoaib Akhtar is in a differently league all together- He is a real crowd puller- I can pay a heavy ticket just to see this legend runing in to bowl- that feeling and that excitement rush that Shoaib bought to the minds of billions around the world cannot be imagined or measured- SHOIAB AKHTAR will be remembered as very rare fast bowler who never given up on pace just to extend his career-true commitment from heart.

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