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Wednesday 30 November 2011

Enigmatic Jesse Ryder Only Ray of Hope for Black Caps


In the recent times there has been a lot of criticism for the New Zealand cricket team. Though they won the Rugby World Cup this year but their cricket team has been in tatters. The days of Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns have passed by and the new generation seems to be taking an awfully long time to cope up with the pressures of international cricket. Many experts have doomed the Kiwis and feel that dearth of talent in the domestic circuit is a reason for their recent poor showing. Indeed New Zealand being a small nation does not have a high ratio of players and selectors have a hard time picking their best team. In these bleak days of New Zealand cricket the only ray of hope is Jesse Ryder. The burly opening batsman has impressed cricket lovers all over the world with his aggressive and purposeful batting.

Jesse Ryder is Well Known for his Strokeplay


He broke into the cricketing arena with his impressive performances for New Zealand U-19. But his selection to the national team remained in doubts due to his weight issues. Adam Parore claimed that Jesse was too fat and not fit for playing international games. But the chief selector Richard Hadlee wanted to infuse this fresh talent into the New Zealand set up. He was selected to play in a T20 match against Bangladesh but could not take field due to injury. Finally he wore the black caps shirt when England toured New Zealand in 2008. He showed average performance in the two T20 scoring 22 and 12. But his score of 79 not out in the ODI made him an instant star. In the second ODI against England he alongside Brendan McCullum set up a record for any wicket against England by scoring 165 in 18.1 overs. But his stint with the national team ended when he cut his hand while trying to break into a toilet at a Christchurch bar after winning the series against England. He suffered severe hand injury and was criticised severely for such an irresponsible behavior.

Jesse Ryder after Injuring his hand in a brawl at bar


He returned back to the Kiwi side during the tour of Bangladesh in 2008-09. He made an unimpressive test debut scoring 1 and 38 in the two innings of first test. But in the second test he redeemed himself with scores of 91 and 39 not out. He was found guilty of drinking and missing the training sessions against West Indies and was dropped from the 4th ODI team. After this incident Jesse promised to tame down and results showed soon. During the Indian tour Jesse was the star of the Kiwi team. He was the man of the match in the third and fifth ODI. His first ODI century came in the third match and he achieved it off 72 balls becoming the third fastest ODI century scorer for New Zealand. He even shone with the ball picking up key wickets. He became a regular opening partner of Brendan McCullum. In the subsequent test he further enhanced his reputation with a century in the first test (102) and a double century in second test (201). But he played no significant part in 2009 ICC World Twenty20 due to a groin injury. In the following years he has not had too many contributions to boast about.

Jesse Ryder is a nagging Military Medium Bowler Too


One of the prime concerns for Jesse Ryder through his short career has been injuries. Just when he looks to be in full flow he picks up an injury and gets sidelined. He has a special liking for India out of his 3 test centuries all have been scored against India and one ODI century is also recorded against the same opposition.  If he can be consistent and injury free he will be a great addition for New Zealand team.

Jesse Ryder During the Record Partnership with Brendan McCullum


BATTING AND FIELDING AVERAGES

Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
16
29
2
1211
201
44.85
2208
54.84
3
6
137
6
10
0
ODIs
37
31
1
1094
107
36.46
1212
90.26
2
6
114
31
13
0
T20Is
19
18
1
360
62
21.17
293
122.86
0
2
37
14
5
0


BOWLING AVERAGES

Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
16
15
492
280
5
2/7
2/15
56.00
3.41
98.4
0
0
0
ODIs
37
18
383
399
11
3/29
3/29
36.27
6.25
34.8
0
0
0
T20Is
19
5
60
68
2
1/2
1/2
34.00
6.80
30.0
0
0
0

Tuesday 29 November 2011

English Premier League Scores for Last Week’s Matches


Though Manchester City is still in the lead in EPL 2011-12 but the next few teams are separated by less than nine points. So it is definitely going to be a tight finish to the EPL season. While Arsenal look to be rearing with form Manchester City on the other hand would be disheartened by their Champions League poor form. So what spanned out over the weekend? Let’s check out the scores:

Peter Crouch Heads Home the Winner against Blackburn
26th November, 2011, Britannia Stadium: STOKE CITY 3 [Rory Delap 28’, Glenn Whelan 58’, Peter Crouch 72’] vs. BLACKBURN ROVERS 1 [Ruben Rochina 86’]
Daniel Sturridge scores against Wolverhampton

27th November, 2011, Stamford Bridge: CHELSEA 3 [John Terry 7’, Daniel Sturridge 30’, Juan Mata 45’] vs. WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0

Grant Holt after scoring against QPR

27th November, 2011, Carrow Road: NORWICH CITY 2 [Russell Martin 14’, Grant Holt 73’] vs. QPR 1 [Luke Young 59’]
Emmanuel Adebayor Scoring against West Bromwich

27th November, 2011, The Hawthorns: TOTENHAM HOTSPUR 3 [Emanuel Adebayor (25’, 90+3’), Jermain Defoe 81’] vs. WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1 [Youssuf Mulumbu 10’]
27th November, 2011, Reebok Stadium: EVERTON 2 [Marouane Fellaini 49’, Apostolos Vellios 78’] vs. BOLTON WANDERERS 0
Demba Ba tussles with Manchester United Defender

27th November, 2011, Old Trafford: MANCHESTER UNITED 1 [Javier Hernandez 49’] vs. NEWCASTLE UNITED 1 [Demba Ba (P) 64’]
27th November, 2011, Stadium of Light: WIGAN ATHLETIC 2 [Jordi Gomes 44’, Franco Di Santo 90+3’] vs. SUNDERLAND 1 [Sebastian Larsson 9’]

Thomas Vermaelen Scored an Own goal and then scored another for his team 

27th November, 2011, Emirates Stadium: ARSENAL 1 [Thomas Vermaelen 82’] vs. FULHAM 1 [Thomas Vermaelen (o.g.) 65’]
28th November, 2011, Liberty Stadium: SWANSEA 0 vs. ASTON VILLA 0

Vincent Kompany Equalized for Manchester City against Liverpool

28th November, 2011, Anfield: LIVERPOOL 1 [Joleon Lescott (o.g.) 33’] vs. MANCHESTER CITY 1 [Vincent Kompany 31’]

Saturday 26 November 2011

UEFA Champions League Match day 5 Scores


In the last post we had a look at the results of teams from the first three groups. There are many other teams which clashed against each other on the second day of Match day 5 on November 23, 2011. Let us take a look and who came out smiling and who lagged behind:

GROUP-E

Michael Ballack of Bayer Leverkusen and Chelsea's Ramires


Leverkusen: BAYER LEVERKUSEN 2 [Eren Derdiyok 73’, Manuel Friedrich 90+1’] vs. CHELSEA 1 [Didier Drogba 48’]
Valencia: VALENCIA 7 [Jonas 10’, Roberto Soldado (13’, 35’, 39’], Pablo Hernandez 68’, Auritz Aduriz 70’, Tino Costa 81’] vs. GENK 0

Roberto Soldado after Scoring Goal against Genk


GROUP-F

Giannis Fetfatzidis Scored the Late Winner


Mersaille: OLYMPIACOS 1 [Giannis Fetfatzidis 82’] vs. MERSAILLE 0
London: ARSENAL 2 [Robin Van Persie (49’, 86’)] vs. BORUSSIA DORTMUND 1 [Shinji Kagawa 90+2’]
Robin Van Persie scored twice for the Gunners against Dortmund


GROUP-G

Hulk Fights for Ball Possession against Shakhtar Defender


Donetsk: PORTO 2 [Hulk 79’, Razvan Rat 90’ (o.g.)] vs. SHAKHTAR DONETSK 0
St. Petersburg: ZENIT ST. PETERSBURG 0 vs. APOEL 0
Constantinos Charalambides takes on Nicolas Lombaerts



GROUP-H

Marek Bakos of Plzen Scores only goal of the match 


Minsk: PLZEN 1 [Marek Bakos 42’] vs. BATE 0
Milan: BARCELONA 3 [Mark Van Bommel 14’ (o.g.), Lionel Messi 31’ (P), Xavi Hernandez 63’] vs. AC MILAN Zlatan Ibrahimovic 20’, Kevin-Prince Boateng 54’] 


Lionel Messi Dribbles Past AC Milan Defender

Friday 25 November 2011

UEFA Champions League 2011-12 Match Day 5 Scores


Match day 5 had all the teams making a push for qualifications to the knockout stages of UEFA Champions League. Fate of many English teams are hanging in a balance while Real Madrid is sitting pretty and look favourites to qualify for the next round. Napoli and Benfica have looked impressive so far can they show results. Let us have a look at the scores of UEFA Champions League matches held on November 22.

GROUP-A

Franck Ribbery shoots for his goal against Villareal


Munich: BAYERN MUNICH 3 [Franck Ribery (3’, 69’), Mario Gomez 23’] vs. VILLAREAL 1 [Jonathan De Guzman 50’]
Naples: NAPOLI 2 [Edison Cavani (17’, 49’)] vs. MANCHESTER CITY 1 [Mario Balotelli 33’]
Edison Cavani heads home the winner against Manchester City 


GROUP-B

Mousa Sow Struggles with CSKA Moscow defender


Moscow: LILLE 2 [Vasili Berezutski 49’ (o.g.), Mousa Sow 64’] vs. CSKA MOSCOW 0
Trabzon: INTER MILAN [Ricardo Alvarez 18’] vs. TRABZONSPOR 1 [Halil Altintop 23’]
Inter Milan and Trabzonspor Players Jostle for the Ball



GROUP-C

Alexander Frei vies with Otelul Defender


Bucharest: BASEL 3 [Fabian Frei 10’, Alexander Frei 14’, Marco Streller 37’] vs. OTELUL GALATI 2 [Gabriel Giurgiu 75’, Liviu Antal 81’]
Manchester: MANCHESTER UNITED 2 [Dimitar Berbatov 30’, Darren Fletcher 59’] vs. BENFICA 2 [Phil Jones 3’ (o.g.), Pablo Aimar 61’]

Pablo Aimar Scores against Manchester United


GROUP-D
Theo Janssen of Lyon collides with Anthony Reveilliere of Ajax



Lyon: OLYMPIQUE LYON 0 vs. AJAX 0
Madrid: REAL MADRID 6 [Karim Benzema (2’, 66’), Jose Callejon (7’, 49’), Gonzalo Higuain 9’, Mesut Ozil 20’] vs. DINAMO ZAGREB 2 [Fatos Beqiraj 81’, Ivan Tomecak 90’]

Karim Benzema goes past Dinamo Zagreb defender

Thursday 24 November 2011

Tottenham Hotspur Contenders for EPL feels Harry Redknapp


Harry Redknapp has asked critics to take a note of the recent vein of form that Tottenham is enjoying.  Harry Redknapp made this comment after winning 2-0 against Aston Villa and going to the third spot in the EPL league table. Tottenham have indeed been in a rich vein of form winning eight out of their last nine matches. They are placed in third place and have an extra match in hand over their closest opponents. Many people are viewing them as favourites in their next fixture against Everton. Should they come off with three points from that match they will be within a point of the second placed team Manchester United.
Rafael van der Vaart Scoring Against Liverpool

Though Tottenham had a poor start to the season and tasted defeats in their first two matches against the Manchester sides (Manchester United and Manchester City) they have overcome the bad start with a nine game unbeaten streak. Though Redknapp said he will not like to comment that he will win the EPL this season but he said that if the team believes in themselves and performs with the similar skills they will be title contenders. Further Harry feels that Manchester United have lost a little bit of sting this season and Manchester City for the great team they have still look shaky at times. He further commented that Manchester City do not have the resilience to go unbeaten through the season. Manchester City looked quite shaky in their match against QPR and could have been defeated.
Jermaine Defoe fights for possession with Sanchez Jose of Newcastle 


The top six spots of EPL 2011-12 are very tight and there is hardly much to differentiate the teams. Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle United, Chelsea are all in the top six. So the chase to the top will be hard for any team. Let us now take a look at the results of Tottenham Hotspur in this year’s English Premier League.

Gareth Bale in Action against Wigan Athletic

Emmanuel Adebayor scores a spectacular goal against Aston Villa
  • August 22, 2011, Away: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0 vs. MANCHESTER UNITED 3 [Danny Wellbeck 61’, Anderson 76’, Wayne Rooney 87’]  
  • August 28, 2011, Home: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 [Younes Kaboul 68’] vs. MANCHESTER CITY 5 [Edin Dzeko (34’, 41’, 55’, 90’), Sergio Aguero 90’]
  • September 10, 2011, Away: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 [Emmanuel Adebayor 67’, Jermain Defoe 80’] vs. WOLVERHAMPTON WONDERERS 0
  • September 18, 2011, Home: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 4 [Luka Modric 7’, Jermain Defoe 66’, Emmanuel Adebayor (68’, 90’)] vs. LIVERPOOL 0
  • September 24, 2011, Away: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 [Rafael van der Vaart 3’, Gareth Bale 23’] vs. WIGAN ATHLETIC 1 [Mohamed Diame 50’]
  • October 2, 2011, Home: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 [Rafael Van der Vaart 40’, Kyle Walker 73’] vs. ARSENAL 1 [Aaron Ramsey 51’]
  • October 16, 2011, Away: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 [Rafael Van der Vaart 40’ (P), Jermain Defoe 68’] vs. NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 [Demba Ba 48’, Shola Ameobi 86’]
  • October 23, 2011, Away: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 [Rafael Van der Vaart (15’, 53’)] vs. BLACKBURN ROVERS 1 [Mauro Formica 28’]
  • October 30, 2011, Home: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3 [Gareth Bale (20’, 72’), Rafael Van der Vaart 33’] vs. QUEENS PARK RANGERS 1 [Jay Bothroyd 62’]
  • November 6, 2011, Away: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3 [Gareth Bale 10’, Aaron Lenon 45’, Jermain Defoe 90’] vs. FULHAM 1 [Younes Kaboul 57’ (o.g.)]
  • November 21, 2011, Home: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2 [Emmanuel Adebayor (14’, 40’)] vs. ASTON VILLA 0     

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Stellar Test Series Comes to an End with Tensed Finish


This year promised two great series. One was India battling it out for test supremacy against England and the other was Australia looking to get their lost form back against the Proteas. While the first series was a disappointment and England beat India formidably, South Africa and Australia series was a thriller that went down to the wire. After the days of supremacy Australia are looking to rebuild their young team and gain their form back. They made a good start by clinching the ODI series but even they knew (given the present form of the South African team) that they were in for challenges.

Michael Clarke Scored a Hundred While Shane Watson took 5 wickets


The first test of the Australia vs. South Africa series got under way at Newlands in Cape Town. South African test captain Graeme Smith won the toss and decided to field first on a greenish Newlands pitch. Batting first Australia got to a total of 284. Though they had a shaky with Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes and Ricky Ponting getting out cheaply but Shaun Marsh and Michael Clarke build a good partnership. Michael Clarke ended up with a century (151 runs) while Shaun Marsh fell for 44. There were not many relevant contributions except these two. Dale Steyn was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 55 while Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel picked up 3 wickets a piece. South Africa got off to a good start with Graeme Smith scoring 37 runs. But no one else contributed. In fact Smith and Jacques Rudolf (18 runs) were the only batsmen to get to double figures. South Africa slumped to a total of 96 in their first innings. Shane Watson got five wickets for 17 while Ryan Harris clinched 4 for 33.

Graeme Scored a Century while Vernon Philander picked up five wickets for South Africa


Australia went into the second innings with a lead of 188 runs which put them in a winning position. But then came a least expected collapse. Australia were bowled out for a low total of 47. Only Nathan Lyon got to double figures with his score of 14. Vernon Philander was the star for South Africa with 5 for 15 and Morne Morkel got 3 for 9. South Africa had to chase down a total of 235 to win. Though Jacques Rudolph fell cheaply but Graeme Smith (101 not out) and Hashim Amla (112) ensured that South Africa got to victory.  Thus South Africa was one up in the series with their eight wickets win.

Hashim Amla & AB de Villiers Put up a Great Partnership for South Africa


The second test was a do or die for Michael Clarke’s men. Australia had been severely criticised for their loss in the first test. Second test was played at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Graeme Simith again won the toss and elected to bat. Proteas got to a total of 266 thanks to some useful contributions from Jacques Kallis (54), AB de Villiers (64), Ashwell Prince (50) and Jacques Rudolf (30). In the bowling front Peter Siddle took 3 for 69. Australia got off to a great start with both the openers firing. Shane Watson (88) and Phillip Hughes (88) had a first wicket stand of 174 runs. But the next best score was 38 not out from Mitchell Johnson. Australia ended their innings at 296. It was quite even at the end of first innings for both teams.


Patrick Cummins had a Dream Debut


South African second innings got off to a solid start as the openers took them to 40 runs before Jacques Rudolf was caught by keeper Brad Haddin of Phil Cummins for 24. Then walked in Hashim Amla who scored 105 with able support from AB de Villiers (73). But loss of some quick wickets led to South Africa ending up with a score of 339. Dale Steyn hit some mighty blows towards the end and got to 41. Pattrick Cummins who was making test debut for Australia got incredible figures of 6 for 79. Australia had a nightmarish start to the chase with Shane Watson and Phillip Hughes getting out quickly. Usman Khwaja (65) and Ricky Ponting (62) consolidated the innings. Michael Hussey (39) and Brad Haddin (55) also played an able hand. But South Africans and Australia were in a spot of bother at 292 for 8 with only Pattrick Cummins and Nathan Lyon left in the hut. But Mitchell Johnson with his unbeaten innings of 40 saw the visitors home through the tensed moments.
Mitchell Johnson after winning the Test for Australia


The victory ended the series in level terms. All through the tour the spectators enjoyed hard fought cricket between two reputed cricketing nations. Though the future of Ricky Ponting and Brad Haddin has been put to question by the Aussie press but Michael Clarke seems to be backing his players.