India hard-hitter batsman Virender Sehwag has moved to the top of the ICC Test Player Rankings after his heroics during the second Test against South Africa at Eden Garden in Kolkata. He smashed 165 in the first innings and has gained five places in the latest rankings displacing team-mate Gautam Gambhir at the top.
India’s other centurions in the match, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, have also made significant gains in the batting rankings. Off the back of some excellent recent form Tendulkar has moved up a further three places and now sits in equal sixth position while Laxman’s 143 not out has earned him six places, up to 14th spot.
Bowlers have also made an impression with off-spinner Harbhajan Singh gaining five place to number seven. Zaheer Khan has maintained his place at number six in the latest chart.
JAIPUR: India Vs South Africa 1st ODI today, After an exciting end to the Test series, India and South Africa will lock horns in the three-match ODI series starting on Sunday at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
India have been inconsistent in the shorter format of the game. India are placed second in the ODI table but are way behind champions Australia and have the third placed Proteas breathing down their necks.
South Africa can take the second spot if they win the series by a margin of 2-1 or better.
At the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here, both the teams will have their own share of problems.
Harbhajan Singh will skip the first two games for his sister’s wedding while pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has been ruled out of the series due to injury. Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir are also absent with wrist and groin injuries.
But the return of Sachin Tendulkar, who opted out of the tri-series in Bangladesh, has brought back some smiles in the Indian team. Tendulkar is in great touch and has scored four consecutive Test tons.
South Africa will miss their captain Graeme Smith due to a finger fracture and veteran Jacques Kallis will lead the side. But wicketkeeper Mark Boucher is set for a return after sitting out of the Kolkata Test with a back spasm.
Kallis, however, will be banking on the presence of ODI specialists like Herschelle Gibbs, Albie Morkel, Roelof van der Merwe and Charl Langeveldt. The last minute inclusion of Hashim Amla, who was in great touch in the Test series, as a replacement for Smith will bolster the team’s middle order.
South African fast bowler Dale Steyn, hero of their innings win in Nagpur, will be India’s biggest concern but it will be due factor that will also play on skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s mind.
CHENNAI: Virender Sehwag Tops ICC Test Rankings, India’s Virender Sehwag has displaced compatriot Gautam Gambhir at the top of the official rankings for Test batsmen following his double centuries against South Africa in their recent series.
Sehwag, who scored a century in the opening Test, moved up five places to take top spot for the first time after his 165 this week helped India win the final Test and square the
two-match series.
South Africa batsman Hashim Amla, who scored a century in each of his three Test innings in India, jumped eight places to second spot, the International Cricket Council said in a statement on Saturday.
Mahela Jayawardene is on third position while Sachan Tendulkar went up from ninth to sixth position.
Mohammad Yousuf has gone up from 13th to12th and Younis Khan from 14th to 13th place.
South African quick Dale Steyn retains his top ranking among Test bowlers while Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has been promoted to seventh position from 12th.
was first posted on February 20, 2010 at 10:50 pm.
CALCUTTA, India: Ind vs South Africa Cricket Live Score, India has claimed a dramatic win over South Africa on the final day of the second test to square the series 1-1 and retain top spot in test cricket’s rankings.
Harbhajan Singh, who finished with five wickets, claimed the final scalp in South Africa’s innings Thursday when he had Morne Morkel out lbw with only 13 minutes of play remaining.
South Africa’s Hashim Amla remained unbeaten on a dogged 127. He combined well with the tail-end batsman to bring the visitors within a few minutes of forcing a draw and winning the series, but India bowled out South Africa for 289 and claimed victory by an innings and 58 runs.
India pegged back South Africa on the first day of the second and final test match at Eden Garden in Kolkata. The visitors lost seven wickets for 32 runs in the evening session as hosts fought back strongly to turned the thing around.
Earlier in the day South Africa after opting bat first off to a shaky start when lost captain Graeme Smith in the day’s third over but with centuries from the debutant Alviro Petersen and Hashim Amla gave Proteas a solid platform for a big one.
Petersen knocked 100 and Amla scored 114 to lift the Proteas to 2-229, before India rattled the line-up and reduced them at 266-9 before the days stumped. But it was Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh who denied Proteas’ fluent proceedings to pushed them on back foot.
Petersen – who was handed a Test cap at the last minute after wicket-keeper Mark Boucher was ruled out with back spasms, took the golden chance with both hand to smack 16 boundaries in his superb hundred. While Amla – who was unbeaten 253 in the first Test, departed after hitting 14 boundaries and a six to his 114 off 166 balls before felling to Zaheer.
Harbhajan trapped Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy lbw off successive deliveries, but tail-ender Dale Steyn denied off-spinner’ hat-trick. AB de Villiers (12), Paul Harris (one) and Steyn (5) back in hut, leaving the last pair of Wayne Parnell (2*) and Morne Morkell (3*) at the crease.
KOLKATA : India vs South Africa 2nd Test Highlights, Debutant Alviro Petersen and Hashim Amla smashed fluent centuries for South Africa before India hit back in a dramatic start to the second and final cricket Test on Sunday.
Petersen made 100 and Amla scored 114 to lift the Proteas to 218-1, before India ripped through the rest of the batting to leave the tourists on 266-9 by stumps on the opening day at the Eden Gardens.
Left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh finished with three wickets each as the tourists lost seven wickets for 32 runs after tea when bad light halted play nine overs early.
India, who lost the first Test in Nagpur by an innings and six runs, need a win to square the series and retain their number one position in the official Test rankings.
“All credit to the bowlers for turning it around,” said India’s South African coach Gary Kirsten. “They showed tremendous resilience.”
Kirsten was confident the Indian batsmen will put up a big score on the second day since there was nothing in the wicket to assist the bowlers.
“We didn’t feel it took too much turn, and we didn’t feel that it offered that much assistance to the seamers either,” he said.
“There is a long way to go in the Test, but it looks a fairly good wicket at the moment. There was a lot less grass on the wicket before the start today than it was yesterday.”
The tourists, who need a draw to take over from India at the top, were well-placed as Petersen and Amla put on 209 for the second wicket after skipper Graeme Smith was removed in the day’s third over.
Smith, who chose to play in the crucial Test despite a fractured finger, made four when he was bowled by Zaheer.
Petersen, handed a Test cap at the last minute after wicket-keeper Mark Boucher was ruled out with back spasms, responded with a superb century studded with 16 boundaries.
The 29-year-old from Port Elizabeth became only the third South African after Andrew Hudson and Jacques Rudolph to score a Test century on debut.
Amla followed his unbeaten 253 in the first Test with another three-figure knock, his ninth in 43 matches. He hit 14 boundaries and a six.
Zaheer gave the hosts some respite by removing both batsmen on either side of the tea interval to catches by Indian captain and wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Harbhajan then dismissed Jacques Kallis for 10 as Venkatsai Laxman made amends for an earlier lapse as he ran back from slip to hold a skier.
Laxman, one of India’s safest close-in fielders, had floored a chest-high catch off Harbhajan when Amla was on 60.
In his next over, Harbhajan trapped Ashwell Prince and Jean-Paul Duminy leg-before off successive deliveries, but Dale Steyn denied the bowler a hat-trick.
AB de Villiers was run out by a direct throw from Zaheer as he backed up for a sharp single, leaving South Africa tottering at 254-7.
Paul Harris and Steyn departed early, leaving the last pair of Wayne Parnell and Morne Morkell at the crease.
DHAKA: India Vs Sri Lanka 5th Match Today in Tri-nation Series, The stage is all set for the India Vs Sri Lanka second One-day International which is going to be played today.
Today’s day and night match between Indioa and Sri Lanka will be the fifth match of the Idea Cup Tri Series.
Sri Lanka have already booked their place in the final of the tri-nation series which is being played between India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka have played three matches and won all of them. Today would be their fourth match while India have played two matches and won one against Bangladesh and lost one against Sri Lanka. India have to win one of their remaining two matches to make it to the finals.
Tomorrow, India will be playing Bangladesh and it would be the last match of the triangular tournament.
The toss will once again play an important role in today’s match as the dew factor will once again come into play in the second half. Till now, in all the previous four matches, the team batting second has won the match. Even today, the team winning the toss is expected to field first.
The probable teams are:
India: Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (captain & wk), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Ashish Nehra, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh
NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and opted to bowl first against India in the second One-dayer of the Bangladesh
Sri Lankan team Tri-series at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka, would be relying heavily on their batting, especially on Upul Tharanga and captain Kumar Sangakkara to come good in the absence of in-form Sri Lankan opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan, who suffered a groin injury during the tournament opener against hosts Bangladesh on Monday.
India will be without batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar, who has been rested for the one-dayers, but the return of Yuvraj Singh, who was sidelined due to a finger injury, will strengthen the already formidable Indian middle order.
The bowling department will also be strengthened by the return of pacer S Sreesanth, who has fully recovered from swine flu he suffered during the Sri Lanka series.
With the Lankans fielding a second string side for the tournament, 20-year-old batsman Lahiru Thirimanne gets his maiden international cap.
Sri Lanka’s inexperience is most pronounced in its bowling front with Nuwan Kulasekara being the most capped player with 60-odd ODIs. He will be sharing the new ball with rookie Chanaka Welegedara and Suranga Lakmal.
Each team will play four league matches before the top two qualify for the final on January 13.
Squads:
India: MS Dhoni (Capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh, Sudeep Tyagi, Dinesh Karthik, S Sreesanth, Ashok Dinda, Amit Mishra.
India hard-hitter batsman Virender Sehwag has moved to the top of the ICC Test Player Rankings after his heroics during the second Test against South Africa at Eden Garden in Kolkata. He smashed 165 in the first innings and has gained five places in the latest rankings displacing team-mate Gautam Gambhir at the top.
DHAKA: India Vs Sri Lanka 5th Match Today in Tri-nation Series, The stage is all set for the India Vs Sri Lanka second One-day International which is going to be played today.
NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and opted to bowl first against India in the second One-dayer of the Bangladesh
