When New Zealand gave Aussies a Run for their Money

New Zealand and Australia clashes have always been interesting. Kiwis seem to raise their game to the next level when they face the Aussies. The 2011 series between the two teams was no exception. Young Kiwis found some extra gas in their tanks to give Australia a hard time. Australia themselves are still looking to get through the rebuilding phase. But who came out on top? Let’s review the series:

1^st Test, December 1-5, 2011, Brisbane Cricket Ground (Woolloongabba), Brisbane

Daniel Vettori fought back for Kiwis

Michael Clarke scored a well compiled hundred

Newly appointed New Zealand captain Ross Taylor won the toss on a fast, bouncy and green pitch and wanted to have a bat. New Zealand never got going until Dean Brownlie (77) and Daniel Vettori (96) came together. The pair started a rear guard partnership. But once they were gone Aussies folded the innings fairly quickly. New Zealand ended their first innings for 295. Nathan Lyon was the pick of the Aussie bowlers with figures of 4 for 69. When batting Australia lost their openers David Warner and Philip Hughes quickly. But Usman Khwaja (38) and Ricky Ponting (78). After their departure it was the turn of Aussie captain Micheal Clarke to furnish his skills with a well compiled 139, he was supported by Brad Haddin (80). Australia ended at 427 with a lead of 132 runs. Chris Martin picked up 3 for 89.

James Pattison delivered a match winning spell

In the second innings New Zealand had the worst possible start losing first five wickets for 28 runs. Jesse Ryder (36) and Dean Brownlie (42) showed some resistance to the fire belching spell of James Pattison. Pattison ended with figures of 5 for 27 and New Zealand were bowled out for 150. Australia were set a total of 19 runs to chase and they achieved it for the loss of Philip Hughes’ wicket. James Pattison won the Man of the Match award. Australia took the first test convincingly by 9 wickets.

2^nd Test, December 9-13, 2011, Bellerive Oval, Hobart

Jesse Ryder has been dismissed by James Pattison

Dean Brownlie scored an useful half century in the first innings

With Australia stamping their authority in the first test, they were looked upon as favourites for series win in Hobart. Michael Clarke won the toss and inserted New Zealand team to bat. Again the Kiwi batting disappointed and they were bowled out for 150 again. Dean Brownlie (56), Kane Williamson (19) and Tim Southee (18) offered some resistance. James Pattison was again the wrecker-in-chief for Australia picking up 5 for 51. When Australia came out to bat it was expected that they would take a huge lead. But their ideas was thwarted by the Kiwi bowling. They were bowled out for 136 with Michael Clarke (22) and Peter Siddle (36) significant contributors.  Chris Martin, Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell took three wickets a piece.

Chris Martin has just scalped an Aussie wicket

Having just a slender lead in the first innings Kiwis looked positive. Ross Taylor (56), Kane Williamson (34), Dean Brownlie (21) and Trent Boult (21) contributed for the Black Caps. James Pattison, Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon took three wickets each for Australia. New Zealand ended with a score of 226. Thus Australia had to get to a score of 241 for victory. Australian openers made a steady start but on the final day Australia lost their strongholds Philip Hughes (20), Ricky Ponting (16) and Usman Khwaja (23) and their lower order for once failed to perform even as David Warner held one end up. David Warner got to his maiden century and remained not out at 123, when the final wicket was taken by New Zealand. Australia ended at 233 falling short by 7 runs. So a much deserved victory for New Zealand and a lot of credit goes to Doug Bracewell and his 6 wickets for 40 runs. He made the difference on the final day.

David Warner was the lone warrior for Australia

Doug Bracewell celebrates with his teammates after the tense win

It was not a series that went according to the script. New Zealand would be overjoyed with their series leveling victory while Australia have to ponder on their mistakes and rectify them before they clash against India.   

Shahid Afridi: Blitzkrieg King

There are not many players who can make a crowd standstill, who can provide breathtaking action in the middle of a cricket. If aggression was the sole criteria for ICC Cricket Rankings then there is no doubt Shahid Afridi would be the best player in the world. He has been a loyal servant of Pakistan cricket. His transition from a slam bam opening batsman to a quality leg spinner defines his urge to keep upgrading his skills. Having burst on to the scene in a match held at the Nairobi Gymkhana Stadium, he made an instant name for himself by hitting the fastest ODI century against Sri Lanka. He scored a century of 37 balls. He was aged only 16 at that time and became the youngest player to score an ODI century. Being sent in as a pinch hitter to counter the Sanath Jayasuriya effect of Sri Lanka, Pakistan unraveled a rare jewel.  

Shahid Afridi: Aggression is his other name

He started taking on the role of the pinch hitter for Pakistan coming in as an opener or a one down batsman and dazzling the opposition and fans with his strokeplay. He knew no restraints and if there was ball coming towards him, sole aim of Afridi was to send it to the boundary ropes. He had limited success because his approach often brought about his demise. Bowlers had started anticipating what the tall Pathan could do. After playing 66 ODIs he made his test debut in October, 1998. He started showing his promise as a leg spinner during his debut series taking five wickets in the match. Then was drafted as Test opener against India and he utilized this opportunity scoring his first test century, which went on to be a decisive factor in Pakistan’s win against their arch rivals.

Soon county cricket in UK came calling for him. He signed a contract with Leicestershire and proved to be a precious player. During the county season he scored 295 at an average of 42.14 with a highest score of 164. He also took 11 wickets at an average of 46.45. In the ODi matches he played for Leicestershire he got 481 runs and took 18 wickets. His 95 runs of 58 balls helped his side win the semi finals of C&G Trophy.  

Afridi after scoring a test century against India

He added to his credentials as an attacking batsman by notching up a hundred against India. This century came of just 45 balls and was the second fastest ODI century of the times with Brain Lara. During this time frame Bob Woolmer was appointed the coach of Pakistan. He helped Afridi make his technique more compact and results showed. Afridi had become a more consistent batsman in the next three series. But controversy was just round the corner for this enigmatic all rounder. In the test match against England on November 21, 2005 TV cameras caught him trying to scuff up the pitch using his boots. He was charged against the Spirit of Game conduct and this incident called for harsh criticisms. To focus on 2007 World Cup Shahid Afridi announced his temporary retirement from Test cricket. But he reversed the decision within a few weeks. In 2007 World Twenty20 Afridi performed poorly with the bat but impressed with the ball. His performances as bowler earned him the Man of the Series award though Pakistan was beaten in the final by India.

Shahid Afridi has won matches by the swing of his blade

Only a couple of years later after winning the World Twenty20 Younis Kahn resigned as captain and Shahid Afridi was named the new captain of Pakistan cricket team. Though he was named the captain in all three formats of the game but he decided to shun test captaincy after just 2 matches citing lack of current form. He was removed from the team during the England tour due to the spot fixing scandal but he came clean. Later it was learned that he had even warned players about Mazhar Majeed.

Afridi is an useful leg spin bowler too

When Pakistan toured New Zealand in December 2010 Shahid Afridi became the first player to scalp 50 wickets in T20 Internationals. The team for 2011 World Cup was also slated to be announced and there were other competitors for captaincy role of Pakistani team. But PCB appointed Afridi as the captain. In the World Cup Afridi started out in grand style against Kenya taking 5 wickets for 16 getting the best figures for Pakistan in World Cup matches. Her claimed 17 wickets in 6 matched in the first leg of the tournament. He took 4 wickets in their second round win against West Indies too. But Pakistan bowed out of the tournament in the semi finals to India. Soon he was replaced as a captain and Misbah ul-Haq was named the new captain. Shahid Afridi also decided to retire from all forms of cricket citing his differences with the Board.

He made a comeback once the new PCB committee was formed and has been in outstanding form both with the ball and bat ever since. 

Batting and fielding averages

Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct Tests 27 48 1 1716 156 36.51 1973 86.97 5 8 220 52 10 ODIs 333 310 19 6893 124 23.68 6039 114.14 6 32 631 295 109 T20Is 45 43 3 713 54* 17.82 495 144.04 0 3 56 29 13

Bowling averages

Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10 Tests 27 47 3194 1709 48 5/52 5/43 35.60 3.21 66.5 1 1 0 ODIs 333 308 14454 11080 333 6/38 6/38 33.27 4.59 43.4 4 7 0 T20Is 45 45 1019 1041 54 4/11 4/11 19.27 6.12 18.8 3 0 0

Spanish La Liga 2011-12 Week 16 Scores

European giants Real Madrid and Barcelona are still engaged in a gruelling contest to get teh top honours in Spain. What will it be this weekend Messi magic or Ronaldo excellence? Or would some other team steal the show this time around? Let’s see:

Nano scores for levante against Sevilla

December 10, 2011, Cuitat De Valencia: LEVANTE 1 [Nano 56’] vs. SEVILLA 0

Ruben Castro celebrates after scoring against Valencia

December 10, 2011, Benito Villamarin: REAL BETIS 2 [Ruben Castro (90’, 90+1’] vs. VALENCIA 1 [Dorado (o.g.) 66’]

Alexis Sanchez in action against Barcelona

December 10, 2011, Santiago Bernabeu: BARCELONA 3 [Alexis Sanchez 30’, Xavi 53’, Cesc Fabregas 66’] vs. REAL MADRID 1 [Karim Benzema 1’]

Nacho Novo scored twice to help Real Sporting to a victory

December 11, 2011, Vallecas: REAL SPORTING 3 [David Barral 9’, Nacho Novo (37’, 67’)] vs. RAYO VALLECANO 1 [Michu 90’]

Aranburu scored against Villareal

December 11, 2011, El Madrigal: VILLAREAL 1 [Marcos Ruben 72’] vs. REAL SOCIEDAD 1 [Aranburu 52’]

Javier Casquero celebrates after scoring against Grenada

December 11, 2011, Coliseum Alfonso Perez: GETAFE 1 [Javier Casquero 78’] vs. GRANADA CF 0

Osasuna's Sergio Fernandez (L) vies for the ball with Malaga's Salomon Rondon

December 11, 2011, La Rosaleda: MALAGA 1 [Juanmi 70’] vs. OSASUNA 1 [Ibrahima 33’]

December 11, 2011, La Romareda: MOLLARCA 1 [Victor 39’] vs. REAL ZARAGOZA 0

Athletic Club Bilbao’s Javi Martinez (R), Ander Iturraspe (2R) and Jon 

Aurtenetxe (L) jump for the ball next to Christian Stuani (C) and Bernardo 

Zuniga (2L) of Racing Santander

December 11, 2011, San Mames: ATHLETIC BILBAO 1 [Jon Aurtenetxe 80’] vs. RACING SANTANDER 1 [Alvaro Gonzalez 90’]

Joan Verdu vies with Athletico Madrid defender

December 11, 2011, Cornella-el Prat: ESPANYOL 4 [Joan Verdu (5’, 7’), Romaric 19’, Sergio Garcia 54’] vs. ATHLETICO MADRID 2 [Falcao 32’, Arda Turan 83’]

This week will be remembered for the clash of the titans or the match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Barcelona have kept their recent supremacy over Real Madrid intact. 

English Premier League 2011-12 Scores for Round 15

Even as Manchester City lead the pack of premier league clubs for this season there are other teams such as Newcastles United and Tottenham Hotspur impressing the fans with their play. Arsenal have kept it steady while Chelsea need a push to improve their trophy prospects. Manchester United would also look to reduce the margin between them and the league leaders Manchester City. So what were the scores for Matchday 15, let’s see:

Stiliyan Petrov vies for the ball

December 10, 2011, Reebok Stadium: ASTON VILLA 2 [Marc Albrighton 33’, Stiliyan Petrov 39’] vs. BOLTON WANDERS 1 [Ivan Klasnic 55’]

Robin Van Persie scores against Everton

December 10, 2011, Emirates Stadium: ARSENAL 1 [Robbin Van Persie 70’] vs. EVERTON 0

Luis Suarez heads home the winner

December 10, Anfield: LIVERPOOL 1 [Luis Suarez 47’] vs. QUEENS PARK RANGERS 0

Nani celebrates after scoring his second goal

December 10, Old Trafford: MANCHESTER UNITED 4 [Nani (17’, 57’), Wayne Rooney (27’, 63’)] vs. WOLVERHAMPTON 1 [Steven Fletcher 48’]

Grant Holt vies for the ball against Newcastle

December 10, 2011, Carrow Road: NORWICH CITY 4 [Wes Hoolahan 39’, Grant Holt (59’, 82’), Steve Morison 64’] vs. NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 [Demba Ba (45+1’, 71’)]

Mark Schwarzer the Fulham keeper makes an acrobatic save

December 10, 2011, Liberty Stadium: SWANSEA 2 [Clint Dempsey (o.g.) 56’, Danny Graham 90+2’] vs. FULHAM 0

Victor Moses surges ahead of the West Bromwich defender

December 10, 2011, The Hawthorns: WIGAN 2 [Victor Moses 37’, Jordi Gomez (P) 57’] vs. WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1 [Steven Reid 33’]

Formica (L) tackles David Vaughan of Sunderland

December 11, 2011, Stadium of Light: SUNDERLAND 2 [David Vaughan 84’, Sebastian Larsson 90+2’] vs. BLACKBURN ROVERS 1 [Simon Vukcevic 18’]

Matthew Etherington scored two goals against Tottenham

December 11, 2011, Britannia Stadium: STOKE 2 [Matthew Ethrington (13’, 43’)] vs. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 [Emmanuel Adebayor (P) 62’]

Raul Meireles (L) in Blue volleys to score against Manchester City

December 12, 2011, Stamford Bridge: CHELSEA 2 [Raul Meireles 34’, Frank Lampard (P) 82’] vs. MANCHESTER CITY 1 [Mario Balotelli 2’]


So Manchester City lose points with their defeat at Chelsea while Tottenham’s chances also suffered with a shock defeat to Stoke. Manchester United and Chelsea climbed up the table with their wins.

India Beat West Indies in Style

Throughout the Test series Indian cricket team looked possessed to win, they were very hungry. West Indies on the other hand had looked competitive in the final test but their main concern was regarding their batting collapses. To level out the teams, India had rested many of their senior pros. Captain genius MS Dhoni, God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar and many others were missing from the ODI line up. So India had a young team led by the make shift captain Virender Sehwag. There was a fight on the cards. Many promising players had this one scope to cement their place in the Indian outfit. How did the series go, let’s see.

1^st ODI, Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, November 29, 2011

Umesh Yadav looked impressive and took two wickets

India won the toss in this match and elected to field first. West Indies reached a total of 211 on a pitch which was not too easy to bat on. Darren Bravo (60 off 74) top scored and was supported by Danza Hyatt (31 off 54) and Andre Russell (22 off 20). Two young speedsters Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav took two wickets a piece. Little did they know they will have a crucial role to play with the willow in hand too. India never got going until Rohit Sharma (72 off 99) held the ship with Ravindra Jadeja (38 off 62). Rohit had a crucial partnership with Vinay Kumar (18 off 48) too. But it came down to the last pair to hit the winning runs. India won the match by a narrow margin of 1 wicket. Rohit Sharma was adjudged the Man of the Match. So it was an exciting start to the series.

Rohit Sharma & Ravindra Jadeja had a match changing partnership

2^nd ODI, ACA-VDCA Stadium, Visakhapatnam, December 2, 2011

Virat Kohli scored a century and was ably supported by Rohit Sharma

Virender Sehwag won the toss yet again and he elected to field too. West Indies put up a competitive total of 269 with contributions from Lendl Simmons (78 off 102), Ravi Rampaul (86 off 66) and Kieron Pollard (35 off 30). Umesh Yadav picked up 3 for 38 for India. India lost Parthiv Patel and Gautam Gambhir early but then started the magnificent partnership between Virat Kohli (117 off 123) and Rohit Sharma (90 off 98). India notched up 270 runs in 48.1 overs for the loss of 5 wickets. Virat Kohli notched up his 8^th ton and won the Man of the Match too.

3^rd ODI, Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera, December 5, 2011

Darren Sammy & Andre Russell scored quick runs

Virender won a hattrick of tosses and his decision was the same. West Indies provided a solid batting performance. There were many impressive performances for them. Marlon Samuels (58 off 93), Andre Russell (40 of 18) and Darren Sammy (41 off 17) were the leading contributors. West Indies plundered the Indian bowlers in the end overs. India went off to a bad start with two ducks from Sehwag and Gambhir. Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja also did not last long. It was only the gritty innings of

 Rohit Sharma (95 off 100) and Ravichandran Ashwin (31 off 64) which raised some hopes of victory. But once they were gone the hope faded and India ended at 244 in 46.5 overs. West Indies won the match by 16 runs and Ravi Rampaul got the Man of the Match award for his spell of 4 for 57.

Ravi Rampaul was the MOM with 4 wickets

4^th ODI, Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore, December 8, 2011

Who knew that this match would go down into the history books! West Indies came into the match full of confidence after beating India in the last match. One of the concerns for India was the lack of form of their captain Virender Sehwag. But did he answer the critics in style. It was Sehwag’s day and he made the most of it (no one has ever done better). He became the highest individual scorer in an ODI innings. He compiled a mammoth 219 of 149 ball slashing and thumping the Windies bowlers to all parts of the park. Other contributors to the Indian cause were Gautam Gambhir (67 off 67) and Suresh Raina (55 off 44). India reached their highest score ever with 418 for 5 in 50 overs. West Indies never really looked to threaten the total. Denesh Ramdin played well for his run a ball 96 runs. West Indies innings ended at 265. India won the match by a massive margin of 153 runs and won the series.

5^th ODI, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, December 11, 2011

Manoj Tiwary celebrates after scoring his maiden ODI ton

Gautam Gambhir started as the skipper for this place and Sehwag was rested. A few new faces were thrown into the Indian team. Gambhir won the toss and elected to bat first. India lost their first two wickets very cheaply and when Gambhir fell the innings was shaky. But in came the duo of Manoj Tiwary and Virat Kohli. Manoj Tiwary who had only found a place in the line up due to absence of so many senior pros proved his point. Playing only his sixth ODI he went on to score a century (104 off 126). Virat Kohli (80 off 85) also aided the youngster in his partnership. India reached 267 for six wickets in their allotted overs. In reply to this total Windies faced early collapse but the innings was held together by a smashing century by Kieron Pollard (119 off 110) and able company of Andre Russell (53 off 42). But West Indies fell short by 34 runs. They ended their innings at 233 in 44.1 overs.

Kieron Pollard scored a century in vain

India would get much confidence from this series victory as it was achieved without most of their frontline players. India venture to Australia next and the form of their players will keep them in good stead. West Indies had very few positive on this dismal tour to India.