Sri Lanka Gives Up The Chase

A loss at the hands of team India in the first one day international at Dambulla makes Sri Lanka more determined to face the challenge in the second one day international, which they end up losing despite a decent team plan in chasing a comparitively low of 257 when they fall just short by 15 runs. So,this time in the third one day international, all eyes should have been on Sri Lanka who were expected after the second one day match to make things difficult for India. And Oh my god!what a surprise? What happened was exactly opposite of their expectation.

Sri Lanka seemed to have all lost even before the match started I guess. For, if not, it would not have been possible for the Indians especially Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag to blast the Sri Lankan bowlers all over the stadium. Lack of planning and prior to this , lack of interest on the Sri Lankan part was India's gain I can say. Loss in the first two one day internationals made Sri Lankans reluctant to go in for the third. A defeat was thought to be on the cards even before the Sri Lankan players stepped into the field.

Just two of the Indian batsmen were more than enough for th Sri Lankan bowlers equipped with Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis (who were thought to be Sri Lanka's main weapons before the series began) to destroy the opposition. And coming to the second part of the match, the Sri Lankan batting absolutely showed no signs of chasing the mammoth total as expected. All that the match could offer was to see some great batting display from the blades of Yuvraj SIngh and Virender Sehwag and Yousuf Pathan towards the fag end of the Indian innings. A little bit of effort from the Sri Lankan batsmen could have made the day for cricket fans.

Now that Sri Lanka have lost the third one day international against India and with it the series as well, it would not be right to expect Sri Lanka to come back and win the next two one day matches for, Sri Lanka never approached the game with a positive mind when things really mattered, a guess would reveal about their approach to the remainder of the series. Probably, Sri Lanka might offer India a 5-0 whitewash. None of the Sri Lankan players are really found equipped with the challenge of destroying the opposition, since rhe day they have been playing against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh late last year. And Muralitharan is yet to get his 500th wicket. When can we expect that?

Rivalling The Ashes?

Well, this was the match that was thought to be worth the wait for all the cricket crazy fans over the world. For, these two have been the teams that are rated high in the minds of the cricket fans. Courtesy- the world record chase of 434 by South Africa against Australia which happened to be one rare case where Australia lost the ODI series 2-3. This I think need not be cited specially whatsoever. And, how can one ever afford to forget such a great match. From then onwards, the encounters between Australia and South Africa have been on the top of the list for all the cricket fans. Oh yes, it includes me too. Well, all that is past. However, even in the present period, things are no different either.

It is deeply rooted in the minds of the cricket fans that, if at all there is a team that could beat Australia it is South Africa. And, as all of us are aware of, South Africa did exactly that in the first two tests against Australia. Not even India or England for that matter come in for such praise. With the two tests being dominated by South Africa, the third test would have really sparked off some or much curiosity among the fans out there. A win in this test would throw Australia from their number one position in test cricket, which they (Australia) have been enjoying since the past eight years or more. With the first two days of play in hand, it is really a tough job to judge the winner right away.

Neither has Australia shown some reluctance in putting a better performance, nor the Proteas are in any mood to sacrifice the third test to Australia for having won the series already. Pressure is found to be on both the sides. If not for the series, for the top spot in world cricket. A big blow in the form of an injury to Greame Smith has found to loosen the hopes of a South African win. However, the way the tail put up a 184 run partnership in the first innings of the second test shouldn't be forgotten. By putting up a decent total of 445 on board, Australia have indicated their come back into the game once again. The proteas have still 8 wickets in hand and a lot to prove. Of course, all of us would be expecting the same ie a South African win.

In the past five years (since 2003), the Australian team has lost its place temperorily on two occasions. And both of them saw South Africa head the list for the strongest one day squad. Way back in early 2007, where South Africa had beaten world cup chokers India and Pakistan in the five match series played by a margin 5-0 and 4-1 respectively. On the other hand, for a change, Australia had lost the two out of the three finals to England in the Commonwealth Bank series 2007, followed by a 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand. And in the second instance, where Australia once again lost to India in 2008, with the proteas registering wins against Bangladesh and West Indies late 2007. However, a similar fate in test cricket is yet to target the Aussies. Now, it time for that. So, can South Africa do it this time?

Virender Sehwag:The Record Breaker!!!

Well the last night,I just couldn't just believe in my own eyes when I turned my channel to Neo Sports to watch the first test between India and South Africa.And to be frank, today you can find me going through each and every cricket website to check weather there is something different than what I saw on TV.But,to no avail!

After I saw the first day's play by South African batsmen in Chepauk,I cursed myself and vowed not to watch the match anymore.But,it looked as though Viru had different plans.The man not only challenged the South African bowlers,but also crores of Indian cricket fans like me who had declared it as "All Over".And also for those people who came forward to criticize Viru whenever he put up a bad performance.

Earlier test stats shows us that his record was not an ordinary one when it came to only tests,keeping the facts about the other forms out of mind for the moment.The fact that Viru had gone well past 150+ after reaching 100 on previous 10 occasions was something special as hardly I knew about it-though being a avid cricket stat enthusiast.

All records put up by Sehwag are more the less known to each and everyone glued to their TV Sets or their newspapers turned to page number 21.Some more aspects that I could find regarding is that his second triple hundred made India in par with other sub-continent teams viz Pakistan and Sri Lanka,each of whom who have two triple centuries under their belt.Sanath Jayasuriya & Mahela Jayawardane for Sri Lanka,accompanied by Haneef Mohommed & Inzy for Pakistan.Out of them,only two of them have done it outside home,Viru(Multan) joining Haneef(Bridgetown).

It was a mistake done by the selectors to have dropped Sehwag for the home series against Pakistan -(which was found to have been his favourite team)last December. Not because of his Triple hundred,but because there was no questions about Sehwag's form when it came to tests.All was done taking into account his ODI form.With his fellowmen-Dravid & Tendulkar reaching their fourth double hundreds after attaining 30 yrs or more,it is really important to note that this man has done it at 29 itself.Perhabs Viru is the only one batsmen(keeping aside the big three,along with VVS Laxman-who form a different group altogether) to have scored a double hundred for India.The joint second highest double century scorer for India after Dravid(5), along with Gavaskar & Sachin(4 each).

An Indian win in this test would perhabs be the best possible treat because,rarely a team has produced a result with one of its batsmen scoring a triple hundred.