Oooops A Last BAll Thriller !!!

Well even if cricket is all about belting the ball as far as possible,there are some exciting situations that can bring a lot of craze into cricket,and especially if thats some action oriented.And thats what happened last week in the first one dayer between Sri Lanka and West Indies.The match according to me was one of the greatest ODIs of the lot.The reason being the last ball six hit by Shivnarine Chanderapaul to take a lead in the three match series.

Well..the instance has taken place in two more occasions as per my knowladge.One that is afresh in the people's mind is that done by Javed Miandad against India at Sharjah-way back in 1980's to give a rigid reply to Sharma's ego and under estimating the last ball as well as the Pakistan team,when Pakistan needed 4 runs off the last delivery,and another instance is the lesser known,or I bet none of you know this:the match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in 2006 where Zimbabwe needed 6 runs and the maximum off the last ball,and the batsman(not sure of his name exactly) did just that.Last we have the six off the last ball hit by Asif Mujtaba to force the opposition(Australia) settle for a tie.

The first occasion involving India & Pakistan is some what a back answer to the bowlers' ego I can say,while the other two simply being the best because the required shot was not ready to compromise in any manner-only a six would settle the matter and the batsmen involved were found to do just that.The India-Pakistan encounter could have even ended in a tie had a four been hit,but not so in the other two occasions.What say?

This is what I call a perfect match,which is filled with all guess' and thrills.And finally landing some disappointed and some others frustrated and the remaining just staring at the TV for replays.

Some Positive Signs Shown By West Indies

It was really good to hear that West Indies had won the second and final test against Sri Lanka at Trinidad.And also,it was like as though I was hearing a joke that "West indies beat Sri Lanka"..ha ha ha atleast there is some maturity in West Indies cricket.But,for Sri Lankan cricket??

If both are taken considering their test performances,I don't think Sri Lankans are way behind the out-of-form West Indies.For,they can win only with the presence of spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.Though there are likes of Kumara Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardane-both of whom can see their team through with their batting performances,nothing is complete without the likes of Murali's spin bowling-who is a nightmare for most of the Western cricketers,who fear to play spin.

And even the West Indies were not this weak in test cricket,with the batting great- being around.Though not a formidable team,it is to be noted that that they used to lose with atleast some face saving work done by Brian Lara in most of the games.After his retirement,the West Indies team was all the most lost I can say.None of today's West Indies batsmen have the courage to take the team forward.Even the likes of Ramnaresh Sarwan & Shivnarine Chanderapaul.

After the second test against Sri Lanka-which West Indies won comfortably,I feel the West Indies have a ray of hope to get back to their winning ways.But,they had even won a test match against South Africa.only to lose the second & third.

With the tough tour against Australia coming up shortly,though a West Indies win is out of question at the moment,lets hope for a decent performance by the West Indies,reminding the world of their test status and their world dominance,decades ago.

Lara Is Retired,But Murali is Still There..

Sri Lanka had the double advantage with the absense of Brian lara & the presence of Murali

A couple of days ago,the first test between Sri Lanka and West Indies got over-with Sri Lanka winning the contest by 121 runs.Well the result was all the most expected keeping in mind the recent(Four years down the lane) debacle and the retirement of batting great Brian Lara.This helped the Sri Lankan team relish their long awaited dream of winning a test series in the West Indies.On the previous two tours that I've come across involving West Indies and Sri Lanka,the Sri Lankan dream was left unfullfilled,thanks to some brilliant batting display from Brian Lara-who put up a score of 209 in the first and an unbeaten 80 in the second test at Kingston to win the test by 7 wickets and with it the series in 2003.Also not to mention the superb bowling of Corey Collymore-who picked up 14 wickets in that series.Murali's magic was never found to work then.And in 1997 West Indies won by the same margin 1-0,with Lara scoring 115 in the 2nd innings of the 2nd test to see the test end up in a draw.Muralitharan's 16 wicket tally in that series was found not to contribute for the team's sake.

But,atleast now Sri Lanka have got what they were looking for.A test series win on the West Indies soil!And it was not only Murali but a team effort,with contributions coming from the blades of Warnapura and Jayawardane-each one of them putting up a century.And at last,A 5-wicket haul by Chaminda Vass.

At the end,I would like to say that West Indies missed Brian Lara this time,with Murali's presence being a advantage for Sri Lanka.The teams would rather the less be balanced had Murali not been in fro Sri Lanka.