An Inch away from a roaring win !!

A match to remember before Cricket World cup 2011 .The fifth and last ODI match of MTN series India Vs South Africa has a palpitating value, a day to be kept in memory lane India started chasing the target of 264 in 46 overs which was not that tough for a squad like Indian team with the presence of MSD,Yuvraj Sing, Virat Kohili, suresh Raina, and Yusuf Pathan but same way of falling wicket at initial level made the game complicated.

People might have switched off their Television Set with disappointed performance of Indian team on a match like this adeciding match for a ODI series,as usual a regular habit at every final matches.

But the fighting spirit of two Indian warrior Yusuf Pathan and Zaheer khan made a possible avenue for India's win, yusuf Pathan again made the day in his credit list for thr best performance in such a hard situation.

 He made the ball travel to every possible corner as well as out side of the stadium, Television Sets got switched on, all the fans got tune to the match and praised the performance of Yusuf Pathan appraising his century in need.

India got an inch close to the win.....but the hope turned into mirage as soon as yusuf departed from the crease ......India loosed the match so close that hopefully they will at least take home back some feel good factor, even if they lost the series.

South African bowling attack once proved to be a Guli cricket in front of Yusuf's fight but finally the chief destructor Morkel changed the match  when SA team expecting a breakthrough from him.

As MS Dhoni said; batsman didn't play the series and bowlers bowled well as well as scored runs and they hopefully make some changes in strategies in up coming World cup 2011. Now Yusuf Pathan is Mr. Match changer in any condition will be a favorite in World cup.

South African team would have squeeze out the same a big boost for their team member after a favolous series win with spell binding performance. South African batsman like Amla.,MN van wyk, Smith Duminy every one of them played superb in the series, which would be helpful for them in cwc 2011 against Indian Team.

Man of the Match- Hashim Amla
Player of the Series- M Morkel

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Domino effect of wickets after rain...

Sun finally shines in Centurion ....but rain of wicket continued falling in domino effect. Superb controlled bowling by Munaf patel and Zaheer khan made a tight rein In streaming runs by South African batsman, Munaf managed to click 3 wickets in between. South African lost their 6 wickets in exchange of 24 runs is last 4 overs, but as the reduction of overs imposed on them they gained a perk of 14 runs, Now is the turn of Indian Team for a long chase of 264 Runs for the final and series deciding match in 46 Overs.

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webumpire

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Rain Rain Rain all over again

Rain Rain Rain all over again...!! The final hope for both the teams India Vs South Africa for the winner throne is hanging between rain drop and sun shine....in Centurion . After the Toss MSD decided for fielding hoping to engulf host team under a minimum target but it went wrong . A pillar stand by Amla and MN Van wyk made the game turned on SA favor. Indian bowling attack couldn't make any impact on SA batting forte resulted a tower of runs till the match got interrupted by rain. Amla stayed glued to the crease and showered runs all over the ground stamped his performance and begged a century still padded and waiting for a sun shine to give the final touch to the match. SA have already scored a decent total, remaining 4 over can be devastating for Indian team if sun sun ll peep out from wet clouds. Till the hope is shining as sun has came out from the veil of clouds and overs got reduced to 46 overs.......!! Lets stay tune to match in another 15-20 minutes...

Score till now SA- 226/3, 42 Overs Hashim Amla-111 not out and

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webumpire.com

Rajesh Hota

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Pakistan's nose dive in 1st match of the series with New Zealand....!!

Pakistan cricket is going through a tough time, NZ Vs Pak series has a dramatic opening in today's match after winning the toss Afridi the CWC 2011 captain choose to bat first. The decision of batting first started showing its consequences. Pakistan cricket team started donating wickets in regular intervals except younis khan and misbah-ul-haq played a visible innings, and not to forget Afridi as he managed to make a stand till end with a mere 15 runs and rest fell in domino effect and ended the match scoring 125 rest of PAK's team counterparts couldn't cross even double digit.

New Zealand made the chase so easy that in just 14 overs they managed to score 100 runs by loosing 1 wicket of JD Ryder, by the time he got out he has contributed his part of game (55 runs) for a soothing win for New Zealand, finally the chase got over in just 17.2 overs.

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webumpire

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Cricket gaining popularity all over the world......!!

Sports have no boundary under the sun, the popularity of Cricket is spreading and making news these days in Europe and central America hosted in Asia, sports is the true avenue for a universal integrity . Cricket is gaining popularity all over the world for its thrust value and uncertainty and pulse-sating feel .

The buzz is about the Pepsi ICC world Cricket league Division -3 which is an interesting event, making a solid link to crickets increasing popularity and became a hot cake in the gulf countries. The spellbinding performance of USA over host Hong Kong team in their own soil with a one sided chase over 250 runs was a real moment to watch, which turned out to be a defeat for Hong Kong and a stunning win for USA.

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webumpire

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India left hopeless to its fans in SA series...!!

India left hopeless to its fans in SA ODI series...!!

It was a hope for all Indian cricket fans but in India Vs South Africa 4th ODI ended up in a "Damadol " condition . Our one time specialized ODI batsman Rohit Sharma again failed to prove his part of performance after given so many turns in ODI matches, notwithstanding that our sincere captain Dhoni has also ended up showing inability in batting as usual like the statistic says in last few matches, it was a surprising move by Dhoni playing a loose shot and leaving his team half way from the win.

Once the Mr. match changer Yuvi also seen struggling from his bad form and got out like an inexperience player in this match.

Rising Mr. Virat Kohili Delhi's hero "made the Match special" playing a fabulous innings once more making a buzz that he is the replacement of any middle order batsman in the team, it is a good sign for the team from the anticipated plan of performance for a reliable middle order batsman in coming Cricket World cup 2011.

Rain has played a major role in the match, though it could have been ended up with a result may be favoring either side, but the match left relied on Duckworth-lewis method at a very deciding point and India lost to South Africa by 48 runs.

Loose part of the match was again the poor opening partnership in the absence of Sehwag and Gambhir and the scattered middle order, specially our reliable batsman like Dhoni and Raina, when ever there is a need of their presence in the crease they disappoint the fans, any way we shouldn't have a regular expectation from Yusuf pathan in every break downed matches .

Moreover the chance to make a series win over South Africa in South Africa remained an in-concluded for Indian Team, the heat of the series is getting hotter by the time, the ownership of the Pie is undecided and remained a hope for Indian fans as well as South African fans, The Roar is getting louder and louder for the ownership of the series. lets keep our finger crossed and wait for the Final deciding day of the series.

Scoreboard

South Africa

H. Amla run out 64 (69b, 8x4), G. Smith c Harbhajan b Nehra 18 (30b, 2x4), M. van Wyk c Kohli b Yuvraj 15 (22b, 1x4), A.B. de Villiers c Dhoni b Yuvraj 3 (5b), J.P. Duminy (not out) 71 (72b, 2x4, 1x6), F. du Plessis run out 1 (4b), J. Botha st Dhoni b Yuvraj 44 (59b, 3x4), R. Peterson run out 31 (35b, 3x4), D. Steyn (not out) 4 (6b); Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-2, w-10): 14. Total (for seven wickets in 50 overs): 265.

India bowling: Zaheer 9-1-55-0, Munaf 8-1-49-0, Nehra 6-0-27-1, Harbhajan 10-0-61-0, Yuvraj 8-0-34-3, Rohit 2-0-6-0, Raina 3-0-13-0, Yusuf 4-0-18-0.

India

Rohit Sharma c Duminy b Tsotsobe 1 (6b), P. Patel lbw b Tsotsobe 11 (24b, 2x4), V. Kohli (not out) 87 (92b, 7x4, 2x6), Yuvraj c Smith b Botha 12 (20b, 1x4, 1x6), S. Raina st de Villiers b Peterson 20 (36b), M.S. Dhoni c du Plessis b Peterson 2 (8b), Yusuf c de Villiers b Morkel 2 (3b), Harbhajan (not out) 3 (8b); Extras (lb-2, w-2): 4 Total (for six wickets in 32.5 overs): 142.

South Africa bowling: Steyn 4-0-15-0, Tsotsobe 6-1-25-2, Morkel 6-1-13-1, Botha 6.5-0-27-1, Peterson 8-0-46-2, du Plessis 1-0-5-0, Duminy 1-0-9-0.

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A real test for India in south Africa...to create a History....!!

India or south Africa who will make the flag floating with pride.....!!!

A new history is going to be take place if Indian team gonna make it large ......the previous track record says that Indian team in south Africa had a bad statistic in terms of winning matches. But the time has changed so far, batsman like Yusuf and virat showing consistency in their respective positions, and not to miss out our Raina and Punjab-da-sher Yuvraj.......they too can make a difference to the whole scenario. Rohit sharma and Vijay bagged a little in their bags so far but as the Hammer is on Indian side with a 2-1 win already may recreate a new history in south Africa....Amen....GOOD LUCK Indian team...!!

South African have lost two consecutive match though, but can do attitude of smith and his team is still alive, their have been too many shot falls during previous matches as well as some quick gains have seen in the field.....so far Amla has failed to make his presence felt in own grounds same with others hopefully they are watching out for a bounce back.....Today will be deciding day for the series......Indian audience would love to see the heat once more in and out the field after all that is the real taste of GAME..!!

by

webumpire.com

Rajesh Hota

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World cup 2011....30 days to go ...!!

......millions of heart started beating for the most awaited moment of Cricket....ICC world cup 2011 is coming to Asia the heat is up .......!!!

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Scorecard for 3rd ODI: South Africa v India

3rd ODI: South Africa v India at Cape Town - Jan 18, 2011

South Africa 220 (49.2 ov); India 223/8 (48.2 ov)

India won by 2 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)

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India Continue its winning chariot....!!

India Continue its winning chariot......!!

It was a wonderful sight in chilling winter to peep out from your blanket and keep hope for a win of Indian team over SA.......despite of having a little hope......all the Indian fans had the heat of the match.

Dilliki sardi couldn't steal the taste of India Vs SA match yesterday, even though it was post midnight still the cricket fans have awaited till the last ball of the match .

Yusuf pathan have ignited the fire all over the field during the match and finally got over obsessed with his own heat and left the fans in screaming hope for a while, any way it was on the eve of tension after an easy depart of Suresh Raina....but the brave stand of Punjabi sher made the night memorable once more, once more Harbhajan have proved that he can turn the match whether its bowling or Batting and the unexpected hit by Nehera to give a finishing touch to the match was an awesome sight to see...!! Bravo Indian Team...specially Yusuf consistently proving to be a match winner .

By

Webumpire

Rajesh Hota

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Scorecard for 2nd ODI: South Africa v India

2nd ODI: South Africa v India at Johannesburg - Jan 15, 2011

India 190 (47.2 ov); South Africa 189 (43 ov)

India won by 1 run

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Man of the match: Munaf Patel

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Munaf clinches stunning win for India

South Africa v India, 2nd ODI, Johannesburg

India 190 (Yuvraj 53, Dhoni 38, Tsotsobe 4-22) beat South Africa 189 (Smith 77, Munaf 4-29) by one run

South Africa made a mess of what should have been a comfortable chase of a below-par total at Wanderers, stumbling in the batting Powerplay and then sinking to a dispiriting defeat in a thrilling finish. In conditions less favourable for batting than what the venue has offered in the past, Graeme Smith had put South Africa on course with a positive innings but his wicket in the 33rd over triggered a collapse that was a product of panic, ill-luck and some needling Indian bowling. Munaf Patel's spell proved decisive as he dislodged Smith and ended the South African innings with two wickets in the 43rd over, when the hosts were just a shot away from victory.

The game was still South Africa's when Munaf began bowling the 43rd over. Four runs were needed with two wickets in hand but what clinched the game for India were two short-of-a-length deliveries that the tailenders, Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell, who had batted calmly until then, felt were too good to resist. With three needed for victory, Morkel slashed one straight to the substitute fielder Yusuf Pathan at point and, off the last ball of the over, Parnell, keen to finish off the game, cut Munaf to Yuvraj Singh, sparking wild celebrations in the Indian camp while leaving South Africa shell-shocked at their sudden capitulation.

The result had seemed unlikely with Smith's assured presence at the crease. He had been ruthless in his treatment of the bad balls, which the Indians doled out more often than their opponents had earlier in the day, and had eased the pressure despite periodic breakthroughs at the other end. Munaf was punished for consecutive boundaries through mid-off and point, while Zaheer Khan was pulled through midwicket when he pitched short. Initially a little rusty against Harbhajan Singh, Smith stepped out to the offspinner to combat the turn and take the ball off a length. He kept threading the gaps in the outfield to squeeze boundaries off the seamers and went past 6000 runs in ODIs.

Smith's shaky yet productive stand with Colin Ingram, a fluent partnership with JP Duminy and an increasingly threatening association with David Miller had continued the one-way traffic set up by South Africa's bowlers. But at 152 for 4, in the second over of the batting Powerplay, a reversal began.

South Africa's bowlers had exploited the movement off the pitch in restraining India, and Munaf had managed to prise out the wicket of Hashim Amla with a delivery that nipped back in. In the 33rd over, he managed to dart one back in from outside off towards Smith, who played on. In the next over, after he had been flicked to the fine-leg boundary, Zaheer shortened his length and dismissed Miller with an offcutter that the batsman failed to pull and gloved to short fine leg. And when he returned in the 36th over, Zaheer was fortunate to dismiss Johan Botha, who was given out lbw playing back to a good-length delivery, when it seemed the ball had only made contact with the outer half of the bat, not with the pad.

Parnell calmed the nerves of a capacity Wanderers crowd with a square-cut boundary and a promising vigil with Dale Steyn. But Steyn's attempt to risk a single and retain strike for the 39th over resulted in a run-out when Yuvraj barely managed to break the stumps before the ball slipped out of his hands. From 177 for 8, Parnell and Morkel braved a determined spell from Zaheer, managed a streaky boundary off part-time offspinner Suresh Raina and took South Africa to within four runs of a 2-0 lead. Only to throw it all away in the next over from Munaf.

South Africa's bowlers may have unable to finish the job with the bat but they had impressed with disciplined bowling performance under overcast skies on a slowish track. India approached their innings cautiously and, using the movement, South Africa's bowlers capitalised on their circumspection. Lonwabo Tsotsobe was the best. His role in ODIs has largely been a containing one but his accuracy amid India's pressure to accelerate earned him his best match haul of 4 for 22. India, too, faltered in their batting Powerplay, losing four wickets for 14 runs to undermine what Yuvraj and Dhoni had achieved during their fighting recovery stand.

The pair had to build from scratch following the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in quick succession. Displaying little signs of getting bogged down, neither batsman felt compelled to take undue risks and instead ensured a steady scoring-rate by working the field. Both used the sweep and the paddle, while Yuvraj often drove straight to pinch twos because long-on that was wider than usual. Bad balls were a rarity but Yuvraj was prompt to punish them when on offer: he slashed Morkel over point and glanced Tsotsobe to the fine-leg boundary to raise his half-century. The stand was worth 83 and with 13 more overs to go, a score of 240 was on. India didn't get that far, though given the manic developments towards the end, they didn't need to.

Courtesy: cricinfo.com

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Scorecard for 1st ODI: South Africa v India

1st ODI: South Africa v India at Durban - Jan 12, 2011

South Africa 289/9 (50 ov); India 154 (35.4 ov)

South Africa won by 135 runs

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Ruthless South Africa win by 135 runs

South Africa 289 for 9 (de Villiers 76, Duminy 73, Amla 50) beat India 154 (Kohli 54, Tsotsobe 4-31) by 135 runs 

India had to survive the new ball if they were going to make a fist of chasing 290 but they were gasping for breath within 11 overs, after slipping to 43 for 4, and never quite recovered. South Africa had threatened twice to run away to a mammoth total in their innings. India pulled them back on both occasions to keep the target below 300, but the chase went nowhere. South Africa were 82 for 2 in the 14th over before Munaf Patel removed Hashim Amla to slow the innings down, but the hosts bounced back to reach 213 for 3 in the 36th over, when AB de Villiers fell and India clawed their way back once again.

The ball was expected to do a bit under lights and the top order, barring Virat Kohli, collapsed without much fight. The dismissal of Yuvraj Singh perfectly captured South Africa's dominance on a bouncy track. Morne Morkel got one to kick up and jag away from Yuvraj, who got his feet into an awful tangle, and ended up stabbing the ball to first slip.

It was that kind of a night: the India batsmen struggled to adapt to the conditions and they went down in a heap. M Vijay was trapped in front in the first over of the innings by a full delivery from Dale Steyn and Sachin Tendulkar perished to a pre-determined move to shuffle across his stumps. There was a short fine-leg in place for Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Tendulkar moved across to drag a short-of-length delivery past that fielder but only succeeded in top-edging a dolly to Steyn.

India recovered from 13 for 2 to reach 41 without further damage but a double strike by Morne Morkel pushed them further back. Morne had hustled and hurried Rohit Sharma into having a few injudicious wafts outside off but Rohit was eventually unlucky to be given out, caught behind by AB de Villiers. It was a gem of a delivery that kicked up and straightened just outside off and Rohit hit his pad with the bat as he pushed inside the line but the umpire mistook the sound for an edge.

Yuvraj proved a walking wicket in these seaming conditions and India were left staring down the barrel after MS Dhoni's run out just before the half-way mark. Kohli hit a straight drive but the bowler Wayne Parnell got a hand on it to accidentally run out Dhoni and leave India with a mountain to climb. Kohli hung around for a while but once he fell to Steyn, the lower order just crumbled.

South Africa's bowlers blew away India but it was their batsmen who set up the win. It was a fascinating late afternoon at Durban after Amla's exit. There was an imminent threat of a collapse in the air: South Africa had a long tail, JP Duminy can be an iffy starter against spin and the ball was starting to stop on the batsman a touch. de Villiers and Duminy initially batted like men who were aware of these threats. They added 47 runs in a little over 12 overs and the hosts had reached 132 for 3 in 25.4 overs when a single shot turned things around for them. de Villiers charged down the track to Harbhajan Singh and didn't quite seem to connect well, but his sliced golf shot sent the ball into the screaming fans beyond long-off. When Duminy slog swept Yuvraj Singh for a six in the next over, it was official: they had broken free of the shackles.

They followed it up with a smart move: they took the Batting Powerplay in the 28th over and looted 45 runs off the five overs. de Villiers made 28 of them, with a hat-trick of fours - a pull, a skillful inside-out hit over cover, and a slice over point - against Ashish Nehra in the final Powerplay over to leave South Africa sitting pretty at 192 for 3.

Things were looking dire for India and Dhoni decided to bring in part-time spinners Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. de Villiers pulled Rohit straight to deep midwicket in the 36th over, David Miller played inside the line to lose his off stump against Raina in the 39th, and then in the 42nd Duminy missed a reverse sweep and was trapped in front by Rohit. The tail didn't have the skill to add too many and South Africa meandered along to their final score.

It was quite a contrast to the frenetic start to the innings, with Amla going after Nehra in some style. The bat-speed was rapid, and time and again he played on the up and through the line. There were some trademark cover drives on a stretched front foot and the highlight was the hat-trick of fours he unleashed against Nehra in the seventh over. Amla whacked a short ball to the midwicket boundary, then walked down the pitch to lace a length delivery to the left of mid-off before he pinged that region with an off drive. There was a caressed straight drive for three runs in the same over and he put away a couple of slower ones from Munaf for boundaries. His dismissal put pressure on the middle order but de Villiers and Duminy ensured that their bowlers had a score to defend.

Courtesy: cricinfo.com

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India win despite van Wyk fifty

South Africa v India, only Twenty20, Durban

India 168 (Rohit 53, Raina 43) beat South Africa 147 for 9 (van Wyk 67) by 21 runs

Morne Van Wyk defined irony on a lovely Durban night at the marvellous Moses Mabhida Stadium. On the day where he went unpicked by the IPL franchises, van Wyk hit a cultured 39-ball 67 to threaten to overhaul India's strong 168, but he fell in the 11th over to trigger a collapse and India closed in quickly. South Africa had deployed three spinners on a slow, low surface, but Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina propelled India to a match-winning total.

Van Wyk had the crowd in screaming in delight with his strokeplay: He looted 25 runs from six deliveries, spread over two overs, from Munaf Patel: There was a stunning pick-up shot over midwicket boundary, a pulled six and a cut boundary but the best shot was a scorching square drive to a ball that landed just short of the blockhole. And when he crashed R Ashwin for a four and a slog-swept six in the final over of the Powerplay, South Africa had reached 59 for 2. Read more...

Courtesy: cricinfo.com

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New Zealand v Pakistan, 1st Test, Hamilton, 3rd day

Pakistan seal crushing win on dramatic day

Pakistan 367 (Shafiq 83, Misbah 62, Arnel 4-95) and 21 for 0 beat New Zealand 275 (Southee 56, McCullum 56, Ahmed 4-63) and 110 (McCullum 35, Rehman 3-24, Gul 3-28) by 10 wickets

What Pakistan inflicted on New Zealand on a dramatic third day in Hamilton was nothing short of an embarassment. On a still-placid track, the hosts were victims of some incisive Pakistan bowling but let themselves down through some equally inept batting, transforming a Test that had been closely-fought on the first two days into a hopelessly one-sided contest in just one session.

Pakistan's build-up to this Test had been hijacked by the spot-fixing hearings in Doha but they managed to infuse plenty of significance to a Test that otherwise appeared as a sideshow. Missing several of their first-choice players, for reasons ranging from allegations of corruption to indiscipline and fitness, Pakistan were propelled to victory on the back of strong performances from their inexperienced players under a fresh captain. Misbah-ul-Haq's team had held South Africa to two draws in the UAE, but this win, for all the distractions off the field and though against a less prominent opposition, would go miles in restoring some pride after a turbulent few months. Read more...

Courtesy: cricinfo.com

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IPL auction, Day 2: Ganguly remains unsold, unknown Christian clinches huge deal

BANGALORE: Reputations counted for little as former India captain Sourav Ganguly and several other big names found no takers for the fourth edition of the IPL even as unheralded AustralianDaniel Christian was bought for an astounding $900,000 (RS 4.14 crore apprx) on the second day of the auction on Sunday. 

Who got whom | Team Composition | Players to go under hammer | Pics: Top money grossers 

Veteran Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya also failed to find a buyer on Sunday joining a high-profile list of unsold players which included among others West Indies batting great Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Mark Boucher and Graeme Swann. 

Ganguly's name, in fact, did not even come up in the second round of bidding, the players for which were handpicked by the franchises, prompting angry fans to stage protests against his former team Kolkata Knight Riders in the Bengal capital. 

A total of 241 of the 353 players in fray went unsold in the first round of auctions, which spanned over two days. 28 players came up for a re-auctioning on the request of the franchises but again some of them strangely went unsold. 

New Zealand's hard-hitting batsman Jesse Ryder (Pune, $150,000), spinner Murali Karthik (Pune, $400,000) and Mohammad Kaif (Bangalore, $130,000) were among the lucky 12 who managed to sneak through into the cash-rich event. 

At the end of the two-day auction all the franchises still had some money left from the $nine million cap on a rather dull second day considering that Gautam Gambhir had gone for a record Rs 11.04 crore to KKR on the first day. 

In a relatively low-key day, it was Christian who hogged the limelight as he was bought by Deccan 18 times more than his base price of $50,000. 

No one could have even imagined that the 27-year-old from New South Wales will go for such a high price. He has played just three Twenty20 internationals for Australia and is primarily a fast bowler who can hit a long way in the lower order. 

"We believe Dan Christian is a good buy. He is good fast bowler and a decent batsman. He is also a brilliant fielder," Deccan Chargers owner Gayathri Reddy said. 

Delhi Daredevils were the biggest gainers as they snapped up fringe fast bowlers. Umesh Yadav, who had a base price of $50,000, went for a whopping $750,000 while pacers Ashok Dinda ($375,000) and Ajit Agarkar ($210,000) were bought by Delhi Daredevils. 

Munaf Patel was bought by Mumbai Indians for $700,000 (apprx Rs 3.1 crore). 

Ranganath Vinay Kumar was bought by Kochi for $475,000 while Manpreet Gony was bought by Deccan for $290,000. However, paceman VRV Singh was a prominent Indian player who went unsold. 

Chennai Super Kings, who have been on a retention mode, also got back Sudeep Tyagi ($240,000),Joginder Sharma ($150,000) while roping in Suraj Randiv for as cheap as $80,000. 

However, it was Kolkata Knight Riders who poached L Balaji from CSK for $500,000. KKR retained Jaidev Unadkat buying him for $250,000. 

There were a few surprises also as unfancied Netherlands cricketer Ryan ten Doeschate was bought for $150,000 by Royal Challengers Bangalore. Doeschate was ICC's Associate Player of the Year. 

Another surprising pick was India discard Venugopal Rao getting a staggering deal of $700,000 (Rs 3.22 crore) from Delhi Daredevils. 

Sahara Pune Warriors, who remained quiet for the better part of the first session, got a good deal in South African pacer Wayne Parnell ($160,000) and West Indian Jerome Taylor ($100,000). 

There was some stiff bidding between Pune and Kings XI Punjab for Australian Mitchell Marsh. However, the junior-most Marsh will play for Pune under his father Geoff Marsh's tutelage rather than being a teammate of his elder brother Shaun. 

Michael Yardy of England, Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills of New Zealand, Ravi Bopara, Monty Panesar and Tim Bresnan of England and Fervez Mahroof of Sri Lanka, Shivnarine Chanderpaul of West Indies, Makhaya Ntini and Lonwabo Tsotsobe of South Africa were among the prominent players who went unsold today. 

After the lunch session, maximum players went unsold save South African batsman Francois du Plessis who was taken by Chennai Super KIngs at $120,000. Another surprise was Alfonso Thomas who was taken by Sahara Pune Warriors for $100,000. KKR bought Australian quick James Pattinson. 

Like yesterday, Indians were the hot picks for the franchises but the bidding war never quite touched the frenzy it did yesterday, when apart from Gambhir three others went for more than $two million. 

Gambhir's mind-boggling deal with KKR beat the previous high set by the English duo of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff ($1.55 million) last season. 

Gambhir, who was captain of the Delhi Daredevils last season, saw his price skyrocket 12 times from his base price of $200,000 (Rs 92 lakh) while three other Indian players -- Yusuf ($2.1 million), Rohit Sharma ($2 million) and Robin Uthappa (2.1 million) crossed the two million mark. 

Yusuf's younger brother Irfan, who has not played any cricket this season, was taken by Delhi Daredevils for a surprisingly high amount of $1.9 (Rs 8.74 crore) million.

Courtesy: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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Jayasuriya, Vaas miss out on Sri Lanka World Cup squad

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka left out World Cup winners Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas from their final 15-man squad for this year's tournament.
Both players were named in the provisional squad of 30 but failed to make Friday's cut, leaving Muttiah Muralitharan as the only remaining member of the triumphant Sri Lanka team from 1996.
Kumar Sangakkara will lead Sri Lanka in the tournament being hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and running from Feb. 19 to April 2.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath managed to beat off-spinner Suraj Randiv in one of the few surprises in the final 15.
Sri Lanka squad: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Mahela Jayawardene (vice-captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath.


Source: http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net

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Kochi Team

Kochi Team composition for IPL 4 on day 1 of player auction

Used Amount: $6.92 million 
Available Amount: $2.08 million 

	Player	Nation	Base Price	Purchased price	Role
1	Mahela Jayawardene	Sir Lanka	$400,000	$1.5 million	Batsman
2	VVS Laxman	India	$400,000	$400,000	Batsman
3	Brendon McCullum	New Zealand	$400,000	$475,000	Wicket-keeper
4	S Sreesanth	India	$200,000	$900,000	Bowler
5	RP Singh	India	$200,000	$500,000	Bowler
6	Parthiv Patel	India	$100,000	$290,000	Wicket-keeper
7	Ravindra Jadeja	India	$100,000	$950,000	All-rounder
8	Steven Smith	Australia	$200,000	$200,000	All-rounder
9	Muralitharan	Sri Lanka	$300,000	$1.1 million	Bowler
10	Ramesh Powar	India	$100,000	$180,000	Bowler
11	Brad Hodge	Australia	$200,000	$425,000	Batsman

Read more: Kochi Team - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/Kochi-Team/articleshow/7236321.cms#ixzz1ATMFFwDK

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