The Cricket Chat Thread !!

[Red]

RE: World of Cricket News

Australia 129-4 (42.2) | *Michael Clarke 47(89) Matthew Wade 19(56)Live at Play

 

[Devesh]

Aus 236-9

 

[Devesh]

Clarke out on 91

 

[Devesh]

Aus declared

Total, 237-9

 

[Red]

Clarke could join the elite 13,000-run club: Chappell
Last updated on: March 2, 2013 15:15 IST

Legendary Greg Chappell has heaped praise on Michael Clarke, saying the responsibility of leading Australia has only got the best out of him and tipped the current skipper to emulate his predecessor Ricky Ponting by scoring 13,000 Test runs.

"I have no doubt there are a lot more runs for Michael."He's just in fantastic form and he's in a fantastic period of his career ... it's great to see," Chappell was quoted as saying by Daily Telegraph.

Clarke surpassed Don Bradman (6996) and Chappell (7110) en route to his record 23rd Test ton during the opening Test against India in Chennai to become Australia's ninth-highest runscorer in Test history.

 

[Red]

Watling shines as England lose warm-up match
March 02, 2013 15:48 IST

England's [ Images ] bowlers have plenty to ponder ahead of the first test after a New Zealand [ Images ] XI chased down a steep target for a three-wicket win in the tourists' only warm-up match in Queensland on Saturday.

Wicketkeeper BJ Watling was unbeaten on 89, with eight fours and two sixes, as the home side reached 334 for seven with eight deliveries to spare, after England declared on their overnight score of 256 for nine.

England had looked strong with their opponents reeling on 154 for five at one stage, but a sixth-wicket stand of 82 between Watling and Corey Anderson (44) stopped the rot.

Watling also found good support in left-arm paceman Neil Wagner (28 not out), who was handed a spot in the New Zealand test squad earlier in the day, and the duo saw their team home with an unbeaten stand of 52 for the eighth wicket.

England paceman Graham Onions [ Images ] once again struggled, bowling five no-balls, and the batsmen took particular liking to him as he bled 82 runs off his 16 overs without any reward.

Stuart Broad [ Images ], Chris Woakes and Joe Root picked up two wickets each for England while Graeme Swann [ Images ] took one.

New Zealand take on England in the first of the three-test series at Dunedin's University Oval starting on Wednesday.

 

[Red]

Kings XI Punjab add three new players in squad
March 02, 2013 16:07 IST

Kings XI Punjab [ Images ] added pacers Aniket Choudhary and Sandeep Singh apart from talented batsman Manan Vohra in their squad for the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League [ Images ], beginning April 3.

Aniket is a left-arm medium pacer from Rajasthan [ Images ] while Sandeep and Vohra hail from Punjab.

"I am very delighted to have good performers like Aniket, Manan and Sandeep to be part of the KXIP team. We are happy to have them as a part of KXIP squad and believe they will effectively contribute to the tournament," Col. Arvinder Singh, COO, Kings XI Punjab, said in a release.

Kings XI Punjab will open their campaign against Pune Warriors in an away match on April 7.

 

[Red]

Dean Jones pays tribute to 'unflappable, enigmatic' Dhoni
Last updated on: March 2, 2013 16:29 IST

He does not have the grace of a Sachin Tendulkar nor the "silky soft hands" behind stumps like Syed Kirmani but Mahendra Singh Dhoni will retire as one of India's top three players of all time, feels former Australian cricketer Dean Jones.

"If I asked you who were the top three Indian cricketers of all time, would you have M.S. Dhoni among them? Well, if you don't, you will by the time he retires," Jones wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald.

"The recent retirements of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman have allowed Dhoni the opportunity to bat higher and show us all that his batting alone can match some of the greats.

"Sure he hasn't made the runs yet, but after his epic 224 in Chennai, he has gained even more respect from the hardcore Indian fans," he explained.

"Dhoni is an enigmatic figure in Indian cricket. He doesn't have the technique or grace of Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar or Gundappa Viswanath. Nor does he possess the silky soft hands of Syed Kirmani behind the stumps," he said.

 

[Red]

Clarke stands tall amidst the ruins in Hyderabad!
March 02, 2013 16:55 IST
Michael Clarke [ Images ]

Who else?

Having made a magnificent 130 in the first innings in Chennai, he missed out in the second (31), a beauty from R Ashwin cutting short his stay at the crease.

However, in Uppal he was in top gear from the start.

Having come out to bat at a time when his team were reeling after a top order collapse, Clarke did his bit.

Take his 91 out and the Australia [ Images ] total (237-9 declared) will make for a pathetic reading.

En route to registering his 26th Test fifty, his sixth against India [ Images ], Clarke also added 145 runs for the fifth wicket with Matthew Wade (62), the only notable partnership for the visitors, and one that gave the Australian total a semblance of respectability.

 

[Red]

India vs Aus, Day 1: Turning Point
March 02, 2013 17:04 IST
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s opening spell has to be the turning point of the day.

MS Dhoni [ Images ] had got it wrong with the coin, on what looked like a batting wicket, and admitted his team has to make early breakthroughs. Kumar responded to his captain’s call, striking as early as the third over of the day (his second) crashing past David Warner’s (6) defence.

The bowler, who went wicketless on debut in Chennai, then had Ed Cowan (4) out leg before in his third over, though with some help from Marais Erasmus.

Replays suggested the ball had pitched outside leg stump. The South African umpire thought otherwise.

Shane Watson [ Images ] (23) and Phillip Hughes (19) put on 42 runs for the third wicket, hitting a few sweetly-timed boundaries en route and things seemed to be looking up for the visitors when Kumar, bowling continuously from one end struck for a third time, in his eighth over.

Watson, going for a pull off a short of a length delivery, was done in by the bounce, rather the lack of it. Kumar’s first spell figures (9-1-36-3) made for an impressive read and ensured Team India [ Images ] total control early on and set the tone for the day.