Live Match Analysis - India vs South Africa Test match

South Africa have won the ODI series 2-0 and they go into test series with full confident. Indian cricket team on the other hand needs to start fresh for the test. All of the team batsmen were going  great guns prior to this series but all of the sudden they all have batting and form issues.

For India there are some good news like Pujara coming to the team who is more technical and fit to survive in these seam friendly balling conditions. Also experienced Zaheer Khan can make a complete difference in the bowling.

Match is just to begin in some minutes and the news form the Johannesburg, cricket ground is that Indian captain M S Dhoni have won the match and decided to bat first. I tweeted few minuted back that first two session will decide the future of the series for team India and with Indian team batting first this seems to be a predictions that might be true.  :

First two sessions of the play today are sufficient to predict the results of the series #indiavsSA #testcricket - http://t.co/KK5v5cJRTg
— Vinay Kumar (@vinay11111) December 18, 2013

One main attraction of this match would be Khan vs Smith war. Zaheer Khan has dismissed Smith a lot of times in recent past and lets see how this dual goes on.

Best wishes to both the team.

Looking forward to an excellent day of test cricket today.

A little about history of Ashes Test Series

Ashes test series is no doubt the most popular cricket test match series in the world. No test match series drives this much excitement and I feel that an Ashes test match is second only to a world cup ODI match between India and Pakistan.

Today when the first test match on Ashes 2013 is being played already I decided to share some information and interesting facts about Ashes series with the readers of this blog.

First Ashes series was played way back in the year 1882 between Australia and England. Since then Ashes is being played between two countries and the excitement and interest of fans is ever growing.  Ashes series is held one in every two years and played alternately at England and Australia. If ever the series ends in a draw the team then the country already holding the trophy retains it till the next series.

History of Ashes:

In the year 1882, a visiting Australian team beat England by 7 runs. This was like a shock to the English cricket team fans and most of them felt that this was end of England team’s supremacy in cricket. Many newspapers published that this defeat is the death of English team cricket and Ashes being taken to Australia.

Here is the full quote about the same : "In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29th AUGUST, 1882, Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances R.I.P. N.B. - The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."

English media published lots of news, poems criticizing the English cricket team and praising the Austrians. When the England team was to tour Australia next, it was publicized as the "quest to retain the Ashes".  When England team arrived in Melbourne, the then captain of England team, Ivo Bligh was presented a terracotta urn by a group of women in Melbourne. It’s believed that the urn contained ashes of bails. Since this was a gift to the captain he retained it but the replica of that urn is being kept by the winning team since then. After the death of Ivo Bligh, his widow gifted the urn to Marylebone Cricket Club Museum at Lord's.

Ashes 2013 is the 67 Ashes series being played among the two teams and out of the 66 already played, Australian has won 31, England won 30 and 5 series were drawn.  Currently England is retaining the Ashes and let’s see which team will gain the Ashes in 2013. You can catch live action of the Ashes series online.

This was a little about the Ashes series, if you are a cricket fan then you must have also heard about the "Bodyline series". Bodyline series happened in the Ashes 1932-33 and I'll post about this series sometimes later.

India look for Test Series Clean sweep against West Indies

India have won the test series against West Indies by wining the second test match and Eden gardens Kolkata. However for both the teams it is a right opportunity to improve the performance levels and go to test series with a positive frame of mind.

Specially West Indies need a draw or win in the third and the final test match that begins 22-Nov at Mumbai. We can hope to see a completely different West Indies team in the ODI series with players like K. Pollard joining the team. Yes I must mention that India will not play Yuvraj Singh in the final test match. Thus a setback for Yuvraj who wants to establish himself as a test cricketer. Perhaps he can focus on domestive test cricket for some time. He is a wonderful player for shorter version and theres no doubt about it.

For India I am not sure but a clean sweep can be little helpful for them to improve the test rankings. Still getting back the Numero Uno position is very far and difficult journey.

Now a quick summary of cricket from other parts of the world:

• South Africa Vs Australia: Match is going in interesting phase on day 4 with Australia picking 4 quick wickets and mark a comeback in the test match. Still South Africa lead by 264 runs and have 3 wickets in hand which means if they manage to take the lead for more than 300 runs match will be evenly balanced.
• Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka need to win the match number 4 of the series to stay alive in the series. Let wait and watch all the live action from few hours from now.
  

Good start for India but still trail by 100 runs

Dravid and VVS Laxman gave India a good start after first ball dismissal of openor Abhimanyu Mukund. Together they both build the partnership of 93 runs, before Laxman got out after scoring 54 runs. It seemed like India can take advantage of the situation but Sachin Tendulkar fell right after lunch, in a situation India still trailing by 100 runs.

Dravid is still looking good and it all depends upon him and the fellow batsmen Raina, Yuvraj and Dhoni to bat well and take some substantial first inning lead even if they have to play some risky shots.

There are still 53 overs left for today but the way Indian team is batting its hard to say if they can take any lead all Indian fans can pray is that they don't loose lots of wickets.

Day 4, Third Test Match - India vs West Indies

Though rain ruined the the play for almost 1.5 days, the third test match stil looks moving towards a dicisive end. and in case there is no result for this match then definitely it would be an interesting draw. I how rain will not play spoilsport here. At stumps on day three India have took lead of 104 runs. India still have 4 wickets in hand and captain M S Dhoni is batting alongwith Harbhajan Singh.

India would like to bat for two session on day 4 however for West Indies target would be to restrict India as quick as possible and dont get the lead past 200. In case Indian team takes a lead of more than 200 runs Match will be over for West Indies no matter how many sessions are left for them to play. Under that cirsumstances they can only play ofr a draw and for which they have to bat also one and half day ( a troublesome task).

Even if West Indies manage to restric team India early within a lead of 150 runs then also they have to bat really really well and at least few good partnership, in case they can manage to loose less than 5 wickets today they will be in a position to take the match to draw. Winning from here for West Indies look one in a million chance.

However cricket is a game of uncertainities anything can happen in this game. Just wait and watch the live 4th day score of the match to see where game progresses from here now on.

West Indies Target to Draw Series - India Vs West Indies Test Match 3

Third and the final test of the three match test series between India and West Indies will be played tomorrow. And Its pretty much sure that West Indies will get on the field to level the series 1-1 and repeat what they managed to achieved in the last series against West Indies few week back.

If West Indies can manage to win the last test match then it'd definitely be an achievement to draw a series against the number one team in the world. For India it can be another chance to win the series by 2-0 and earn more points to strengthen there position in the points table. Also if India win the series they can go to England with a positive node.

Series begin tomorrow and it'd be interesting to see what combinations are picked by both the teams.

Crucial Day of first Test - India Vs West Indies

West Indies bowled out India on the first day of first test match at the score of 246 and in return India managed to restrict West Indies at 173 taking first innings lead of 173 runs. Now today is the third and the most important day of the test match. Though Indian team looks is a little comfortable situation with a lead of 164 runs still there is lot of cricket left to be played in the match.

In case West Indies bowler restrict India cheaply they will have plenty of time to chase the total. India on the other hand need to bat well till the lunch session tomorrow if they want to fancy their chances of winning the first test match.

India Vs Sri Lanka Test match live score - ICC CRICKET LIVE

Well Sehwag reached his century today and Tendulkar got dismissed on the very first over today. however middle order and tail ender batted really well taking Indian score to beyond Sri Lankan score. At the end of day Sri Lanka are 45 for 2.

Both the wickets were picked by Sehwag so it seems India haas got the chances to win this mathch, pitch seems to have slower a bit now. Lets see if Indian bowlers can pick remaining 8 wickets tomorrow or not.

Live Test Match Score - India Vs Sri Lanka

Live score updates of India Vs SriLaka test match series. Day one has been not so good for India as two Sri Lankan batsmen scored centuries and India can get only two wicekts. Seems like India on the way to loose yet another test match series abroad.

Score at the end of day one:

Sri Lanka 312/2 (90.0 ov)

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first.


On the other hand neighbour Pakistan has manages to draw the test series by winning the second test match against Astralia and is all set for the test match series against England:


Below is the series schedule:

1st Test: England v Pakistan at Nottingham
Jul 29-Aug 2, 2010 (11:00 local, 10:00 GMT)
2nd Test: England v Pakistan at Birmingham
Aug 6-10, 2010 (11:00 local, 10:00 GMT)
Worcs v Pakistanis at Worcester
Aug 13-14, 2010 (11:00 local, 10:00 GMT)
3rd Test: England v Pakistan at The Oval
Aug 18-22, 2010 (11:00 local, 10:00 GMT)
4th Test: England v Pakistan at Lord's
Aug 26-30, 2010 (11:00 local, 10:00 GMT)

Can India save first test match - India vs Sri Lanka

Can India save first test match or will it be a winning farewell to the legendary spinner Muralitharan. I am not sure if India can save the test match or not but one thing is for guaranteed that Muthiah Muralitharan will retire from text cricket with 800+ wickets in his stats. Murali thinks only Harbhjan Sing can get closer to his records but he is not as consistent as the Sri Lankan offie, and none other bowler seems to be close to him, thus his record will stay longer.

Now comming to the match India is 63 suns behind the Sri Lankan score with only batting pair of Laxman and Dhoni left. Even if they get close to a 100 runs partnership then also its nothing for Sri Lanka to chase. Now only rain can draw the match for India or a rare partner ship or a long innings that last for atleast 3 sessions.

Stay tuned and watch the live score at http://icccricket.blogspot.com

Also you can catch a glimpse of Muralithan at your blog in the past:

• Video of Murali taking his 500th wicket

• Murali breaks Warne's record

• Shane Warne : 700 Test wickets n gud byee to cricket

India vs Sri Lanka - 1st Test, Galle Day one

The test that will saw the end of the carreer of legendary bowler who single handedly lead the Sri Lankan bowling attack has begun. In the morning Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first. Given the inexperienced Indian bowling attack Sri Lanka started well against the number one test team in the world.

Both the batsmen Paranavitana and Sangakara are on the verge to reach the centuries. Current score is Sri Lanka 188/1 (47.6 ov) now it would be interesting how Indian bowlers perform post tea session.

India Sri Lanka Test Series - India without main pace attack

India Sri Lanka Test Series - India without main pace attack - Ruling out of main bowler Zaheer Khan alongith Sreeshanth due to injuries is the main concern of recently wed Indian cricket team Captain M S Dhoni. Adding to his worries is the news that main spinner Harbhajan Singh is suffering from fever and will miss the practice match. Hoever he is expected to be fit by the first test match. The firt match of the series will also be interesting as its the last match of the ace spinner from Sri Lanka Muttiah Muralitharan who have took 792 test wickets so far and it'd be exciting to see if he can make it to the 800 mark. Wish you all the best Murali.

Below is the match schedule for the test series:

1st Test: Sri Lanka v India at Galle
Jul 18-22, 2010 (10:00 local, 04:30 GMT)
2nd Test: Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (SSC)
Jul 26-30, 2010 (10:00 local, 04:30 GMT)
3rd Test: Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (PSS)
Aug 3-7, 2010 (10:00 local, 04:30 GMT)

You can also check live score of othe international cricket tournaments goin on currently:

• Pakistan v Australia in England
• Bangladesh in England
• Pakistan in England
• Australia in England
  

India Vs South africa - Second test day 5

Now on the last day lets see if weather or Hamla can save south Africa or not, as far as Indian bowling attack is concerned they can get South Africa all out only if all 98 overs are bowled tomorrow.

wishing good luck to team India for number one test country position

India Vs South Africa - Play starts after rain

Well it seemes like rain will help South Africa draw this game however play has started again with South Africa trailing by 232 runs and has 7 wickets in hand. India will need just another 2 wickets to get hold of the match and retain the number one position in ICC test rankings.

Latest news is that only one over was bowled and game has stopped again due to bad light.