Australia defeated West Indies and won the series by 2-0

Australia defeated West Indies in second test by 177 runs and won the series by 2-0. Australia won the first test in Hobart by inning and 212 runs. West Indies got out at 282 runs in second inning of the second test at Tuesday.

Celebration after series win.

Before this, Australia declared his second inning at 179 runs after loss of three wicket and took a lead of 459 runs. More concerning, West Indies bowlers could take only six wickets in the match and allowed Smith’s men to pile on 551 runs in the first innings.

West Indies scored 146 runs for loss of four wickets up to tea session. For the sixth wicket, Captain Jason Holder and former captain Dinesh Ram din had a partnership of 100 runs, , but all-rounder Mitchell Marsh broke the partnership with some fiery pace bowling and took 4-61 to complete the triumph.

Due to sudden fall of last 4 wickets, West Indies lost the match before 1.3 overs of the game.  West Indies batsmen battled hard in sublime conditions but were bowled out for 282 in the penultimate over of the day.

Even though Darren Bravo and opener Rajendra Chandrika batted doggedly after lunch, there was no stopping the Australian pacers as Peter Sidle, Mitch Marsh and James Pattinson got into the act.

Holder scored 68 runs in 86 balls and Ram din scored 59 runs in 90 balls, which is the best score in last two years for him. Spinner Leon was declared as the Man of the Match who took 7 wickets. All-rounder Michel Marsh took four wickets for 61 runs in second inning.

Bravo (21 off 61) batted stoically for over 22 overs before falling victim to a peach by Sidle – caught behind by Peter Neville.

Carlos, who scored 59 runs in first inning, got out at the delivery of Leon. Marsh send Captain Holder back to pavilion who was caught out at mid-off by Hazelwood.

Hazelwood had Darren Bravo caught behind for 12 on the first ball of the last over before lunch, but a TV replay showed the bowler had over-stepped his crease.

After dismissing Roach, pace man James Pattinson ran in from long leg to complete a fine catch after Jerome Taylor slogged Marsh high into the sky, and the Australians celebrated finishing their work a day early.

The no-ball was the third to deny Australia wickets in the match, with James Pattinson reprieving fellow pace man Carlos Brathwaite twice on day three, allowing the Barbadian to score 59 on debut.

Smith scored 70 runs and became the highest scorer of the year in test cricket. He has scored 1474 runs in this year with an average of 73.70. England’s batsmen Joe Rout is at second position who scored 1372 runs this year.

Having beaten New Zealand 2-0 at the start of the home summer, Australia captain Steve Smith celebrated his second series win in charge following the retirement of Michael Clarke.

“We probably let ourselves down a little bit, obviously with the no-balls,” he told reporters after winning the game.

“I don’t think we dropped our level, it was a tough wicket to take wickets on. You really had to grind it out and work extremely hard,” he further added.

“We got the job done.”

West Indies captain Jason Holder, who top-scored for his side with a defiant 68, said the loss “hurt” but he was comforted by his team’s improvement from Hobart, where they were thrashed by an innings and 212 runs and roundly condemned for a perceived lack of effort.

“We probably showed a lot more belief when we went into bat,” Holder told reporters after losing the match.

“Obviously our bowlers still need to be a lot more disciplined,” he further added.

Gautam Gambhir refused to shake hands with Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Former Indian opener star batsman Gautam Gambhir refused to shake hands with present Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni after winning a match in Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament by 99 run, which clearly indicated that both has few hesitations for each other.

The live video of this incident got viral very quickly over the internet as it is an incident which indicates a lot of hidden misconceptions and issues of Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni with few senior players of team India during the golden era of Indian cricket, during which team India won its second World Cup title in 2011.

Gambhir and Dhoni were good friends till the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and even Dhoni had declared Gautam as one of the best attacking opener batsman of India. Gautam played a tremendous inning in the final match of ICC World Cup Tournament against Srilanka, which was played at Wankhede stadium. With the help of that marvelous inning played by Gambhir, team India got a stable start and scored a good total against attacking pace unit of Srilanka.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni also played a marvelous inning in that final match and was declared as the Man of the match, but many Indian supporters stated that it was Gambhir who came and gave a fluent start for Indian inning to get a good total. Many others examples are there of the contribution of Gambhir towards various series wins of team India at Indian ground as well as in abroad countries where pitches are more favorable for fast bowlers.

After ICC World Cup 2011, priorities of Indian captain got changed and MS Dhoni started preferring youngsters over seniors and he justified his decisions about selection of youngsters in team India after giving a press conference statement in which he clearly stated about his plan of creating a new team India for world cup 2015 tournament.

His relationship with the other senior players of team like Sehwag, Gambhir and others turned cold. Sehwag, Gautam and many other senior players got out of the team and this lead to generation of  various controversial statements about MS Dhoni in media regarding team selection and preference given to youngsters over senior players.

Controversies of MS Dhoni with his former best friend Yuvraj Singh has also become a part of the periodic floating news in Indian media. Yuvraj’s father clearly gave a statement that MS Dhoni is completely responsible for the fact that many Indian senior players are out of the Indian cricket team.

But Yuvraj refused to accept the facts stated by his father about Dhoni in India and stated that he is still a good friend of MS Dhoni and he has a massive respect for present Indian captain. Now, Yuvraj is back in T-20 squad for upcoming T-20 World Cup Tournament and it will be very interesting to see whether how both players deal with each other along with all these controversies.

Above incident of ignorance of MS Dhoni by Gautam Gambhir has clearly indicated that relationship status of Dhoni with all other senior players, who are out from the team is not much great and obviously it is all due to the fact that Dhoni preferred new talented youngsters over other senior players of the team, who were out of their form at the time when they were not selected for the Indian team.

On the other hand, Virender Sehwag, who has recently called time on his international cricket career, has backed under-fire skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to stay on as India's limited overs captain till the next World Cup.                                                                      

Replying to queries about Dhoni, Sehwag said: "He should continue as captain till the next World Cup. If he does so, he can leave behind a good World Cup team.

 "And if he retires...you can imagine, even now when Dhoni is there, people have to think about who should bat at 5th, 6th and 7th position", said Sehwag."If Dhoni is not there, the 5th, 6th and 7th slots will become absolutely free and you cannot expect somebody to finish the match properly."

The explosive opener dismissed reports that it was Dhoni who was behind the decision to drop him from the Indian team. Asked if he believed Dhoni had a hand in dropping him from the team, the former India batsman told 'India TV' show 'Aap ki Adalat': "I don't think Dhoni would have done this. He is a nice man at heart. We senior players respect him, and when he first took over as captain, all senior players played under him, gave him guidance and nice suggestions, which he implemented during his captaincy and our team won in T20, ODIs and Test matches."

On whether he had tiffs with Dhoni, Sehwag said: "I don't think any such thing happened. It was all media speculations that Sehwag and Dhoni are at loggerheads. We stay in a hotel together and play matches, I don't think such things occurred.

It is obvious that all these controversies have added a blank spot at the tremendous career of MS Dhoni, who has won two world cup title in two different format of cricket and various other ICC Tournaments like Champions trophy and all.

Delhi’s cricketer Gautam Gambhir has taken the media on his radar for above news of not shaking hands after a match win in Vijay Hajare Tournament and tweeted few statements regarding various predictions of relation between MS Dhoni and Gambhir.

The news and videos regarding not shaking hands with each other after match were trending in the media and now, Gautam tried to clarify his stand for this particular issue at twitter. Gautam tweeted:

“This handshake made more news than the one between Pak PM Nawaz Sharif & Narendra Modi. Grow up media. “

Delhi’s captain Gautam Gambhir also presented a photo in which both players are shaking hands with each other, which proves above report of media to be totally rumor.

Gautam shaking hands with MS Dhoni.

In his tweet, he clearly mentioned “This handshake was more famous than the handshake between Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi. When this media will grow up?? Before publishing anything, facts must be well analyzed before publication”.

In another tweet, he wrote “For my electronic media friends, here is that photo in which we are shaking our hands after match win.”

Compton, Taylor dig England out of trouble on Day 1

With the help of  three wickets tone from South African pacer Steyn, South Africa made a great start In the first test match between England and South Africa at Kingsmead in Durban, on Saturday.

James Taylor (right) discussing few words with team mate Nick Compton. 

South African captain Hashim Amla might have hoped a little bit of help for bowlers from the wicket when he won the toss and sent England in to bat in overcast conditions. Initial phase of the game proved Amla’s decision to be correct when English team lost his three crucial wickets just at a total of 49 runs in 18 overs.

Steyn dismissed Alastair Cook and Alex Hales, the England openers, very early to the start of the game and hence it led the England’s first inning instability as they lost their two more wickets on the same day and England could have only a small total of 179 runs with a loss of four crucial wickets.

Steyn did not concede a run in the 3.1 overs he bowled before lunch. Off-spinner Dane Piedt took the wicket of Joe Root for 24 with his first ball of the match.

After rain delayed the start, only 27 minutes of cricket was possible before rain brought an early lunch, while there was a 22-minute rain break during an extended afternoons play.

Steyn, who had not played any cricket since suffering a groin injury on the first day of a series in India on November 5, found his rhythm almost immediately and had skipper Cook caught at second slip by Elgar for a duck off the fifth ball of his second over of the game.

James Taylor and Nick Compton compiled gritty half-centuries which lead English team to a total of 179 for four after the end of the game of first day at Durban.

Both these batsmen fought very well against the pace attack of South African pacers and hence restricted any further fall of wickets as both batsmen got a huge partnership of 125 runs for the fourth wicket.

This partnership of 125 runs for fourth wicket lead the England total score to 179 runs after the end of the game of first day. In the 64th over of the game of day 1, Steyn once again got the valuable wicket of James Taylor, who was caught by De Villiers. Dale 

Steyn broke this partnership to bring back the South Africans into the game.

James Taylor and Nick Compton dug England out of trouble on a rain-hit first day of the first Test against South Africa after having half centuries for each, but Taylor got out by Steyn at the end of the day. Nick Compton is still on the field with his marvelous inning in which he has added 63 after facing 179 deliveries, which also include 4 boundaries.

England’s first inning total is now very much dependent upon this tremendous inning played by Nick Compton. Nick would like to bat more on the second day of the game and English team would like to have a good total of at least 350 runs over this ground. We hope to have a good fight between bat and ball on the second day of the game.

India Won third Test against South Africa, Clinched off series by 2-0.

With the help of 12 wicket tones of Ashwin and 4 wicket tones from both Amit Mishra and Jadeja, Team India defeated South Africa by 124 runs in the third test match of the four test match series played at Nagpur and clinched off  the test series by 2-0.

Virat Kohli after winning match and series against South Africa by 2-0.

With this win, India have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the test series of four matches, with just one more game to go. In the second match, none of the teams could get a result and hence only a single test match has been left in the series, which means that Team India has clinched off this series before the last game.

From the bowling department of team India, Ashwin got the best performance of his test career as he took 7 wickets in the fourth inning of the match and 5 ones in the second inning of match, which collectively become 12 wicket tone from the most experienced spinner of India just for 98 runs.

Jadeja and Amit Mishra shared 4 wickets each and helped in packing up the South African batting line up at a least score for any team on Indian ground in first inning and something similar scenario was shown by the South African batsmen in the fourth inning of the match too.

Ashwin mentioned after contributing a great role in the match, "I thought the wicket slowed down a bit today, it was something that was expected because it was dry from underneath. Faf and Amla fought hard, so we had to do something special.

There were two teams out there, one was trying to fight and the other was trying to win - I feel that was the difference between the two teams. A batsman goes out to make a 100 and a bowler goes out to get a fifer, that's how I do it.

 I thought Mishra bowled a wonderful spell after lunch. We prized out the wickets of Amla and Faf. Mishra got us right back into the game with those two wickets and it was always uphill for them from there on. Any batsman who comes out there and trusts his defense will pose a challenge for a spinner”, Ashwin added.

Ashwin was awarded by the Man of the Match title for his 12 wickets just for 98 runs in the match.

Ashwin after taking wickets in third test match against South Africa.

Few unexpected and surprising records has been registered on the ground at Nagpur in the third test match of the series which are listed below:

This is the first instance in India, where not even one half-century was compiled during the four completed innings of a Test.

This is only the seventh occasion in the history of Test cricket that not even one batsman composed a fifty in a Test, where all 40 wickets fell.

On Day 2 of the third Test, 20 wickets fell. This equaled the record for the most number of wickets to have fallen in a single day in India. In 2004 in Mumbai, when India took on the mighty Australian team, 20 wickets had fallen on Day 3 of the Test.

This is the first time South Africa have lost a series away from home since they came second best against Sri Lanka in 2006.  The South Africans were then defeated 2-0 in a two-match series.

Interestingly, two of South Africa's lowest scores since they returned to the Test fold in 1992, have come against India. At Wanderers in 2006, they were bowled out for just 84. Of course, in the first innings of the Nagpur Test, they were bundled out for 79.

 South Africa could only muster 79 in the first innings of this Test. Unfortunately for the visitors that is now the lowest total notched up by any team against India. Previously, Sri Lanka were skittle out for a mere 82 in Chandigarh in 1990.

Indian captain Virat Kohli stated after his first Test series victory as captain on home soil, “It’s very pleasing to win the series after having lost the ODIs and the T20Is. They (South Africa) are a tough side to beat. The guys have shown great character.

We have been positive throughout the series. Sealing the series in Nagpur feels very good. Ashwin is a world-class spinner, probably the best in the world right now. He's one of the main reasons why we were able to win back-to-back series. He's a consistent performer and it's a pleasure to have him in the side.

We expected South Africa to string in a partnership or two. That's how Test cricket goes. We knew we needed patience with the ball. Mishra showed great character when it was tough going and he got two in two overs and I think that was the turning point today for us. It's a challenging wicket.

The batsmen from our side applied better in Mohali. We just need apply ourselves in our batting. Sometimes it is going to be bowler-friendly, batsmen might not get many runs. Wickets can be taken by the fast bowlers if reverse swing is put in the right place. Ishant bowled with a big heart today.

Delhi would be an opportunity for us to be more consistent as a team. Nagpur has been wonderful, the crowd was great. Hopefully we'll have similar support in Delhi as well", Kohli added.

For all those who questioned the pitch for the completion of three innings inside two days, had their 'rank-turner' concept go awry. Amla and du Plessis' determination showed how, if you adapt well, conditions can be overcome. With all decks stacked against them, the pair was involved in the biggest partnership of the series (72) for South Africa, and did something that only one other batsman had done - batted over 100 balls.

South African captain Hashim Amla mentioned after losing the match as well as series against India, "It's disappointing to lose. It was a tough match, we tried our best. I think the way the guys fought today was very good. We could have been bowled out for 100 odd in the second innings as there were many plays and misses and a few edges didn't go to hand. But tried to dig deep as long as we can. The pitch was a difficult factor."

A small fight back from South African captain Amla and Duplesis came into the picture of the game in fourth inning of South Africa as they got a strong partnership of 72 runs for the fifth wicket. Both batsmen showed the way to other ones how to play over such a track where ball got a lot of turn and spin.

Amit Mishra braked this dangerous partnership for the fifth wicket and got rid of Amla to end the partnership and also packed off du Plessis soon.

Vijay stated after winning the third test, "It's a great feeling (to win the series). I am very happy at the moment. One more game to go, hopefully we can put up a good performance in Delhi as well. We played our A game here. I thought the first day the wicket was better than how it is right now. Very happy for Ashwin. Still a long way to go. Hopefully he can keep his fitness and do well for India in the future."

Virat tweeted after the victory:  Nagpur has been wonderful and it is great to see so many people come out and watch a Test match.

It is very pleasing indeed and SA are a tough side to beat. The guys have shown character.

Ashwin tweeted after his best performance of the career:  A batsman goes out there to get a hundred and I go out there to get a 5-wicket haul.

Third Test Match between India and South Africa, Nagpur

Day 1 Summary:-

South Africa dismissed India for 215 in the first innings with nine overs more to play on Day 1 of the third Test match at the VAC stadium in Nagpur, on Wednesday.

After pack up of the first inning of the Indian batting line up, South African team also got initial shock and South Africans have lost its two early wickets very quickly just at a score of 12 runs in their first innings.

South Africa's Morne Morkel, celebrates with AB de Villiers, right, after taking the wicket of India captain Virat Kohli

Ashwin got the important wicket of Van, who got caught out by Rahane and Jadeja got wicket of South African night watchman Imran Tahir who could not defend his wickets on a perfect delivery from Jadeja, which made South African score 12 runs at the loss of two wickets.

South Africans are trailing by 204 runs from the first inning total of Team India in the third test match of four test match series of the tour and now, the role of second day of the game has become too much important because It's going to be spin, spin and more spin from India. This game is moving very fast and we can expect the result of the game at fourth day of the match.

The South African off-spinner Simon Harmer did most of the damage of team India in the first inning as he took four big wickets of strong Indian batting line up by just giving a total 78 runs, which packed up Indian inning just at a total of 278 runs.

South African main pacer Morne Morkel took three wicket for 35 runs and other three wickets were equally shared by Rabada, Dean and Imran Tahir.

Murali Vijay again played a good inning at the top as he scored 40 runs and tried to give a slight stability to Indian first inning, but the two most important innings came lower down the order.

Ravindra Jadeja played a positive knock of 34 just on 54 balls, while Wriddhiman Saha scored a patient 32 on 106 balls, which formed a 48 runs partnership for seventh wicket between Ravindra and Saha, which helped team India to cross the 200-run mark.

After winning the toss, Indian captain Virat Kohli decided to bat first over this wicket due to the importance of role of spinners on this track in the fourth inning of the game.

The surface provided prodigious turn for the spinners from the first session of the match, which South Africa, currently the top-ranked Test team, needs to win to level the four-match series.

It all started early on in the day. The pacers were taken off after the new ball offered absolutely zip. And Harmer, Elgar started making things happen. And despite all this. Vijay was in a zone of his own. But by now, Morkel also had found some reverse-swing going. And bowled a corker of a spell aided by some loose stroke play from the Indian batsmen. India's lower order rallied courtesy a counter-attacking Jadeja and a steady Saha. Enabled the hosts to crawl over the 200-mark.

In the space of 15 overs after lunch, India lost four wickets for the addition of only 31 runs after being 85 for 2.

Morkel, lacking effective pace support at the other end in the absence of the injured Dale Steyn, was most impressive of the bowlers and his tea figures read 3 for 27.

Harmer, mostly bowling from around the wicket, also utilized the spin-friendly track well to have 2 for 65, while Elgar, the other wicket-taker, had figures of 1 for 7.

Both sides went in with an extra spinner, India opting for leg-spinner Amit Mishra and South Africa adding off-spinner Harmer to their line-up.

 Day 2 Summary:-

On the second day of the third test match between India and South Africa, spinners got tremendous support from the wicket of Nagpur as total wickets shared by spinners on the day is 17 wickets. 

Ashwin got 5 wickets and Jadeja got four wickets, which helped India to pack up the South Africans first inning just at a total of 79 runs, which is the least score of South Africa against India.

After South Africa, it was the turn of Indian batsmen who could not found the trick against Imran Tahir and Morkel as team India's second inning got packed up just at a total score of 176 runs. Imran 

Tahir got 5 wickets and Morkel got three, which packed up Indian batting line up just at a total score of 176 runs.

Now, India need 8 wickets to win this four match series and South Africa needs 278 runs to win the third test match at Nagpur as South Africa lost its two early wickets at just a total score of 32 runs in the fourth inning of the match. 
Day 3 Summary:-

With the help of 12 wicket tones of Ashwin and 4 wicket tones from both Amit Mishra and Jadeja, Team India defeated South Africa by 124 runs in the third test match of the four test match series played at Nagpur.

With this win, India have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the test series of four matches, with just one more game to go. In the second match, none of the teams could get a result and hence only a single test match has been left in the series, which means that Team India has clinched off this series before the last game.

From the bowling department of team India, Ashwin got the best performance of his test career as he took 7 wickets in the second inning and 5 ones in the first, which collectively become 12 wicket tone from the most experienced spinner of India just for 98 runs.

Ashwin got man of the match for his 12 wickets just for 98 runs in both innings.

Day 3 Summary:-

With the help of 12 wicket tones of Ashwin and 4 wicket tones from both Amit Mishra and Jadeja, Team India defeated South Africa by 124 runs in the third test match of the four test match series played at Nagpur.

With this win, India have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the test series of four matches, with just one more game to go. In the second match, none of the teams could get a result and hence only a single test match has been left in the series, which means that Team India has clinched off this series before the last game.

From the bowling department of team India, Ashwin got the best performance of his test career as he took 7 wickets in the second inning and 5 ones in the first, which collectively become 12 wicket tone from the most experienced spinner of India just for 98 runs.

Ashwin got man of the match for his 12 wickets just for 98 runs in both innings.

Michael Clarke compares former Australian coach John Bukanan with his dog

Michael Clarke has launched a scathing attack on former teammates Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds and slammed John Buchanan due to the criticism he received after announcing his retirements during the recent Ashes series loss in England.

Michael Clarke compares former Australian coach John  Bukanan with his dog

Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden publicly criticized Michael Clarke in August for his decision of retirement from all the formats of International cricket during the recent Ashes series.

Both former Australian players questioned about Clarke’s leadership and Michael replied back with the help of his “Ashes Diary 2015” released this week in which Clarke has discussed a lot of bitter words and facts about during the period all of them used to play together for Australian team.

Clarke also slammed former Australian coach John Buchanan for his statement against Clarke after the announcement of his retirement and said that even my dog too could have the same success that was achieved by the coach Buchanan with the team he found in that era.

Michael Clarke clearly gave the full credit of the victory of Australian team in the world cup and other various big tournaments during the working period of the former coach Buchanan to the players of the team and clearly stated that it were the players, who won all these titles for the Australia and there was nothing special in the coaching career of the Buchanan which lead the Australian team to all those glorious victories.

"He's still living off the fact that he coached a team that anyone, even my dog Jerry, could have coached to world domination," Clarke said in the reply of Buchanan who criticized Michael in August about the culture of the Australian team under the captaincy of Michael Clarke.

Michael criticized Buchanan for not playing a single match for Australia and said that “I don’t think John knows a thing about the baggy green cap, having never worn one.”

"Players like Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and others really tried to make the Baggy Green culture something special but I could sense it was under threat and under Michael's captaincy I can sense it has disappeared a bit and that disappointed me." There were times when I felt Michael did not understand or did not want to understand." Coach Buchanan told News Corp Australia.

He also replied to the criticism of the two former players Andrew Symonds and Mathew Hayden and stated clearly that whenever he played for Australia , he was fully dedicated for the victory of Australian team and his game was for his nation, not for his own achievements or for anybody else satisfaction.

"Andrew Symonds went on TV to criticise my leadership. I'm sorry but he is not a person to judge anyone on leadership," Clarke wrote of his former teammate. This is a guy who turned up drunk to play for his country. It's pretty rich for him to be throwing rocks."

Hayden claimed he heard Clarke tell Ricky Ponting he would "hand back (his) baggy green" if he was forced to put on the helmet and field in close.

However, Clarke replied to this in his own style and stated that his previous records tells all the facts about his game.

Michael Clarke compared former Australian coach with his dog and clearly said that he would not give any type of credit to him for the previous success of the Australian team.

"I think I have shown over the past 12 years how much i have valued representing my country and how much my 389 baggy green means to me.

"If Ricky Ponting had asked me to jump off the Harbour Bridge, I would have jumped. I loved playing for Australia that much.

"Anyone hearing this commentary - and I've had to wear this kind of talk for a very long time - would think I've been the only problem with Australian cricket for the past 13 years," Clarke wrote.

"Any time we've lost, it's apparently been because of me - my personal life, my attitude, the way I've captained," Clarke said.

Clarke further added "That's a tough rap for someone who has led this team to a World Cup victory at home, won a Test series against the best team in the world, South Africa, in South Africa won an Ashes 5-0, and in Tests has taken Australia from fifth to number one in the world."

India won the toss, elected to bowl first in second test match against South Africa

South Africa:53/3 (17.0 Over), Day 1: 1st Session

India have won the toss and have opted to field in the second test match of the four test match series against South Africa, at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore, on Saturday.

Recently, South Africa has lost three early wickets just at a score of 53 runs in 17 overs. Ashwin got both batsmen out by two brilliant deliveries in a same over and Aron got the wicket of captain of South Africa.

Ashwin strikes second ball and South Africa has lost the first wicket in the very early session of the match. The crowd found their voice. And the crowd are steadily building too. Easy call for Kettle borough. Basically van Zyl has missed a straight delivery, on middle, floated up and van Zyl was late on the forward defence, the ball strikes him below the knee roll and would've been crashing into middle and leg. He also didn't come sufficiently forward to that one. He pays the price for his laziness. Nothing great about the ball, just that van Zyl caused his own downfall there. India won't mind that one bit though.  

Du Plessis walks off after being given out by the third umpire and hence South Africa has lost its second wicket in the same over. But I have my doubts. To me a part of the ball was touching the grass before being safely clasped by Pujara. The third umpire is Shams Uddin who has a couple of replays to look at and then makes his call. Needed more looks I guess. But he seems happy and that's what matters. The soft signal was out from Kettle borough which meant there needed to be conclusive evidence to overturn that call. Anyway coming to the wicket - du Plessis came down the track, the ball spun in and there was an inside edge onto the pad on the flick, went low and near his bootlaces, fielder at short leg got both hands and held on, but the ball seemed to have a touched a blade of grass as fielder cupped it with his left-hand. He gets up and throws the ball away in delight. Reflex catch and a top one at that for he stayed low and concentrated on the ball instead of du Plessis's footwork. Brilliant effort from fielder and the Indians are all patting him for that. 

Ishant Sharma, who comes back into the Test after a serving a one-match ban, will open the bowling for India. The first ball is pitched right up as Van Zyl defends it off the front foot. A couple of deliveries later, he drives a slightly wide delivery through the covers where Ravindra Jadeja makes a good stop.

Before the start of play, AB de Villiers was felicitated by the Karnataka State Cricket Association for his achievement of completing 100 Test matches. KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel and other officials presented the South African with a momento.

India captain Virat Kohli has won the toss and elected to bowl.

The big news from Bangalore is that India are playing an extra medium pacer in place of a spinner. Local boy and all-rounder Stuart Binny comes in place of leg-spinner Amit Mishra, while Ishant Sharma, as expected, takes the place of Umesh Yadav.

Kohli is expecting the wicket to provide a bit of assistance on the opening day and is looking towards his three fast bowlers, including Binny, to exploit the early help from the wicket

Hashim Amla said after the toss, "I was pretty close to thinking on the same lines (talking about opting to bowl). But probably we would have batted first as well. Hopefully, we will get a good total on the board. We have lost Vernon (Philander) for the rest of the series, Dale (Steyn) for this game. Three changes for us. Vernon, Dale and Simon Harmer miss      out. JP (Duminy), Morne (Morkel) and Kyle (Abbott) are playing this game."

Virat Kohli mentioned after winning the toss, "We are going to bowl first. It's been raining for the last week here, the pitch has been under covers. So there must be a lot of moisture. We predict that the moisture will stay through the day and probably for tomorrow's morning session as well. This is a surface that is more binded. It all depends on how much sun we get. We are playing a balanced combination. Ishant Sharma comes back for Umesh Yadav and we have Stuart Binny in place of Amit Mishra."

Meanwhile, South Africa have also made three changes to their team from the first match. Fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander miss out because of injuries and were replaced by Morne Morkel and Kyle Abott.

J P Duminy returns to bolster the batting in place of off-spinner Simon Harmer.
This will be South African batting genius AB de Villiers's 100th Test match. He has already spoken about how special it is for him to complete the landmark at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, his home away from home, following his exploits for Royal Challengers Bangalore, in the Indian Premier League for the last few years.

Australia won first test, take 1-0 lead against New Zealand

Australia has won the first test against New Zealand by 208 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the test series . Kane Williamson scored 59 runs and Brendon McCullum scored 80 runs, still New Zealand first inning packed up at a total score of just 295 runs in front of huge total of Australia and lost the match my 208 runs.

David Warner is declared as Man of the Match for scoring tow centuries in both the innings.


"It was good to put a nice performance on the board. Loved the pitch they dished up, didn't have much for the bowlers. Always nice to be in form, I look back to England which was disappointing where I got a couple of fifties but wasn't able to contribute a lot. Back of my mind was to keep playing my natural game," Warner said after receiving the Man of  the Match trophy.

"Satisfying performance, nice to start the summer on a high. David Warner and Burns set us up for the rest of the day. Conditions were a bit tacky early on. Long time since we played a Test match and the guys were up for the challenge. This is a big responsibility and something I'm really looking forward to. The guys have been brilliant since I have been named captain. To be up 1-0 in the 3-match series is really crucial. Our new ball bowling, I think we let ourselves down a bit. Didn't quite hit our lengths so still some areas to work on. He's (Warner) been batting superbly getting runs at the top of the order," captain Smith said after winning first test match of the four test match series against New Zealand .

David Warner is the real hero of the first test match as he scored two centuries in both the innings of the match and secured a safe place in the team as openar batsman.

In the space of a few days, an Australian team that was unproven had assumed the air of inevitable winners, while a New Zealand team expected to challenge had been unable to come close

"Yeah it was a difficult game. Australia were outstanding. We didn't hit our lengths on Day 1 and were always playing catch up from there. Don't think we were under cooked, were very excited to pouch the opportunity on Australian shores but Day 1 cost us as those were the best bowling conditions on offer. It's a game. Nigel Llong and Richard Illing worth are two of the best umpires in the world of cricket (referring to his dismissal which was a rough one). Just have to cop it sweet. I thought Tim bowled really well on the first day and batted through a back injury as well. We have bounced back before in the past and will take something special to do that in Perth," New Zealand captain said after loosing the first match against Australia.

India won first test, take 1-0 lead

With the help of 8 wicket tone from Ravindra Jadeja and 8 wickets from Ashwin, India won the first test match at Mohali stadium against South Africa as South African batting line-up got packed up at just a total score of 109 runs at day 3 of the Mohali test.

Ravindra Jadeja was declared as the man of the match for his valuable 38 runs in first inning and total eight wickets in both the innings, which was the main cause of the South African loss against India.
Only four South African batsmen could make it possible to score in two digits and hence only a single long partnership for seventh wicket between Simon and Zyl of 42 runs became a sign of resistance from Africans.



With this victory, India took 1-0 lead in the test series of four test match against South Africa.

Kohli said after winning the first test match on home ground under his captaincy, "It feels great to win the first game as captain at home. It was a special occasion. It's a young team, this win was important for us. I think the team deserves a lot of credit for the way we played. I was pretty confident of our bowlers, but at the same time we were also wary of the quality of their batsmen. We thought, if we are finding it difficult, then it is going to be tough for them as well. Throughout the game there were a lot of soft dismissals.

"Obviously the performances in the domestic circuit helped as I played on turning tracks in Rajkot. I scored three fifties on those tracks as well, so it helped me a lot. I did all the hard work. This was the comeback game for me so I was just trying to play positive cricket. I was just trying to spend time in the middle and rotate the strike. I was under a lot of pressure, but I am very happy that I proved myself again," Jadeja said after receiving the man of the match trophy.

Kohli also agreed that lack of domestic cricket could have led the players to lose touch against spinners, when asked about the failure against South African spinners he said, "Could be.We have played a lot of cricket away from home and we have not played a lot of cricket on the turning wickets.And as you rightly said, we have not played a lot of domestic cricket.That could be the case.

"Obviously there could be a reason that, it is always said that Indians are very good players of spin, Asians are very good players of spin. That might put pressure over  a few guys saying that we have to play spin well. And if that doesn't happen once or twice, it starts building up. It could be anything. The individuals need to be spoken to individually," he further added about failure against spinners.

Replying to a query on getting fast pitches for Indian pacers getting ready for foreign tour, Kohli said, "It all comes down to how many wickets the spinners get abroad. I don't think we should compare the two things. Fast bowlers should be better but for that we don't need to alter our home conditions.

"We can prepare such wickets and hold camps, get those kind of tracks in first-class cricket, but that can't happen on a regular basis because when we talk of home conditions then in India we have a certain kind of pitches.

"The bounce and pace of South Africa and swing of England cannot be replicated here. Eventually it becomes a batting wicket which is not result oriented. If you want to play and compete in Tests then the wickets should be result oriented. When we played in Sri Lanka the first wicket and the second wicket was turning, third wicket was seaming but all were result oriented.

"So we don't have a problem with that. If a fast track can be prepared somewhere fine, it will be our decision that we want that kind of wicket, whether our pacers want to bowl on that kind of wicket."

Indian captain  spoke about Indian batsmen faltering against spin in the sub-continent in recent years.

"See we have played spin relatively badly in the past. Once it happened in Galle. I think the problem has been that we lost wickets too quickly. If we get a stand and then lose one, we've lost two three... so that needs to improve. Apart from that everyone plays spin well. It's just a mindset thing.

"You can think of five different things while playing a stroke, thinking that the ball might go there. You need to think of only one thing. If you want to hit a ball somewhere, you need to think about only that. That sort of confidence is something only an individual can instill in himself.

"We have spoken about that -- having clarity of mind, playing fearless cricket. I think that's what we are going to stress on again. Next time around the guys are going to back themselves more and face the situation front on rather than thinking what could have been done. Rather just be out there and be sure of what you want to do and have no fear in executing what you want to do," said Kohli.

"At times we have played spin well. In the second innings is when we have not played spin well, as far as I have experienced. In the first innings we have played spin relatively well. I think it's a mindset thing where some sort of fear creeps in and you're not able to make the right decisions. Doesn't matter if its spin or pace. More often than not, it has happened against spin. I think that is an area we can improve on," Kohli added in his statement about his planning against spin attack.

Indian captain rejected the criticism of the pitch for the first test match and said "There were no demons on the pitch. If we had applied ourselves better, we could have set a bigger target. The ball did not turn square, but it is just that the batsmen played bad shots. I think this was more a bowler's game. The spinners stood out. "

"Those two (Vijay and Pujara) are the most solid guys we have in the team. Anybody can play, but it is how you turn up mentally on the day that counts. Important contributions from everyone overall", Kohli said about the solid partnership between Vijay and Pujara.

 Talking about  Jadeja's performance, captain Kohli stated" "I am really happy for him (Jadeja). He went out of the team, played domestic cricket, got a lot of wickets and scored runs as well. He's mentally feeling good. It's hard to find people with all-round abilities. If he keeps his mental strength, he can be a match-winner for India in the future as well."

Talking about the performance of the Indian bowlers, Indian captain stated,"Yes, the match wasn't as comfortable as the margin suggests. I wouldn't say it was very very close. I would say if they had wickets in hand then it could have been interesting in the fourth innings. Apart from that I don't really want to get into the deficiencies of the opposition team at the mistakes they made. I am sure they want to reflect on that and so do we as a batting unit.

"We have not performed to our potential in this game, the bowlers have stepped up. Even if the ball is turning how much the bowler needs to pitch the ball up to get the ball in the right areas. So they should get credit to that.

"Even the fast bowlers in both the innings, they bowled with good pace even in the last innings their spells were very important to make the batsmen feel they are not getting easy runs from any corner. So I think that was very very important as far as the whole bowling unit bowling together as well was concerned. I would prefer to look at our strengths and weaknesses," he added.

South African captain Hashim Amla pointed out that few wrong decisions from the umpires went against his team and said"The chat that we had in our meetings was that the ball was not turning that much actually.And i think a lot of dismissals actually in both teams, there were quiet a few dismissals due to lack of turn more than due to excess of turn.

"Sometimes those are the more difficult pitches to play on.In saying that , the chat was that the ball was not turning as much but there a few errors in decision making that kind of cost us a bit. We actually kept it as simple as possible, that it is not turning as much.If you get a good ball that turns, so be it" said South African captain after loosing the opening test of the four test match series.


 "It probably boils down to the last innings. I think 200 was a good total for us, but 150 would have been a bit more realistic. There were a few soft dismissals during the chase, credit to India, they played well. I was surprised myself with my dismissal, I think it was a brain-freeze. It's unfortunate that we lost 4-5 wickets and put pressure on the lower-order. Like how Stiaan (van Zyl) showed, one could bat on this surface. I am extremely proud of the way the boys performed. Batting first was easy and we did well to restrict India to 201. We kept ourselves in the game right till the last session, but credit to India, they played well", South African captain added .

Chris Cairns defence concludes in perjury trial

After 3 days of evidence at London's  Southwark crown court,former New Zealand all rounder Chris Cairns defence at his perjury trail closed their case on Friday. His legal team then gave way for defence lawyers representing Cairn's co-defendant, Andrew Fitch Holland.

At the very first day in the witness box, there were a lot of tears inside the eye of the Chris Cairns when he discussed about his family , currently living in Australia. He could not control his sentiments and reduced to tears when he faced detailed cross-examination.


This case has been proved to be quiet famous as it is directly related to match fixing scandals of New Zealand.

Cairns himself gave evidence about his clearance over two days and on Thursday, Cairn's Australian wife, Mel Cairns was a witness via video link directly from Canberra. She denied the fact that she had ever heard his husband discussing any type of stuff related with the match fixing. 

"I will never lie in a court of law to save or help my husband", she said when she was accused of lying during the present trail and in his 2012 libel action with former senior Indian cricket administrator Lalit Modi. She denied the fact that her husband might be involved in any type of match fixing in any era and said that her husband should be given a clean chit as far as this case is concerned.

A former New Zealand cricketer, Chris Harris had previously given an evidence about a conversation in an exhibition between Chris Cairns's friend Fitch Holland , who is a barrister also and the group of Harris. According to Harris, Fitch Holland came up to him and a group of others . Some one from the group asked about the match fixing discussion about the Cairn, Mr. Fitch replied"oh, he is guilty,Cairns is guilty". However on Friday, Fitch told the court that he was drunk at that time and did not remember the conversation.

Fitch-Holland also explained that scene to the court when Chris Cairns called him after the famous tweet from  Lalit Modi, a former senior Indian cricket administrator  about the involvement of the Chris Cairns in the match fixing .Fitch told the court "My mobile phone rang and it was Chris, freaking out". Chris said - you won't believe it. Modi has f***d me.I am done. He has tweeted i am involved in match fixing."

Fitch-Holland will face cross examination when the trail resumes on Monday.

The main evidence against the Fitch -Holland is a recording of a Skype conversation between him and an another ex-New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent, who has already admitted his  involvement in the match and spot fixing .In this recording, Fitch is requesting Vincent to provide a statement for the libel case. However, Fitch Holland told the case that he had not asked Vincent to give any type of statement for any case.

Fitch is now facing a charge of perverting the court of justice by trying to get Vincent a false statement and Cairns is facing a charge of perjury.

Pak thump England to clinch series 2-0

On the fifth day of the third and final test match between Pakistan and England at the Sharjah on Thursday, Pakistan packed up English batting line up at just a total of 156 in 60.3 overs  and hence Pakistan defeated England in the last test match by 127 runs.
With this win , Pakistan won the test series by 2-0 and secured a second position in the international test ranking . The hero of this series win, leg spinner Yasir Shah, who missed the opening test in Abu Dhabi due to an injury, was awarded by the Man of the series award because he took 15 wickets in the two test matches he played.








Leg spinner Yasir Shah took foyr wickets for a match-haul of seven while retiring all rounder Shoaib Malik grabbed three wickets , these two bowlers made it possible to pack up the batting line-up of England just at a score of 156 in 60 overs.

Pakistani captain Misbah-ul-Haq said at the presentation "If you look back to the whole series, there was contribution from each and every player of  the team. That's really pleasing for me as a team."

With a start from 46-2 chasing 284 for a series levelling game at the Sharjah cricket stadium, tourists were reduced to 59-6 after the first seven overs of the morning. First wicket of the day was taken by Shah when he found Joe Root leg before very clear in front of the line in the second over of the day . Root scored just six runs and found his way back to the dressing room  very early. This was the beginning of the end of the match towards the loss of England.

After fall of third wicket, Shah again trapped Jonny Bairstow in front of the stumps as he tried to play a sweep shot. Left arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar provided able support by dismissing James Taylor,who scored just two runs and Samit Patel for a duck, with the help of which England lost  four wickets for 13 runs in the morning.

Captain Alastair Cook completed his 46th half century in test matches and fought against the Pakistani spinners very well, with a partnership of 49 runs for seventh wicket Adil Rashid,who was out shortly before the lunch break . But the effort from Cook was proved to be insufficient and hence England lost the series by 2-0.

With this series win, Pakistan secured his second place in the test ranking and again Captain Misbah-ul-Haq proved that he is the best option for a team leader of the Pakistan cricket team at present time.

Ageing pitch might have slow down: Mohali Curator

Mohali Curator Daljit Singh gave statement about the behavior of  track and stated that it might have slow down with the progress of game towards 3rd or 4th days of the game. He further said that the track will be great for the spinners from the 3rd day of the game. 

Talking about the probability of result of the first test match of the test series to be played between India and South Africa, chief curator Daljit Singh said that the pitch will definitely be result oriented and we may have a quiet close match between both the tremendous teams.


He further added, “It’s a normal Mohali wicket. Our pitch is 23-year-old, so it is not the same old fresh pitch as before. It is an ageing pitch, which has not been re-laid, but it has played well in the matches that have happened in the recent past.

Talking more clearly this time, Daljit Singh said , “The main aim of the curator is to prepare a result-oriented track and that’s what we have tried. The skills of the game should come on display, whether it is fast bowling, spin or bat. So we are hoping that it turns out to be a sporting track as there is prediction of rain as well on one of the days,”


With the question of not having expected  pitches for hosts, Daljit said,“Home advantage is nothing new. But it has its limitations as well. The character of the pitch will remain the same no matter what,” He further added  about the controversies about the pitch, “It happens everywhere. See what happened in England when they lost the first Test, the second Test ended in two days. It is all a controversy.” 

“It might have slowed down a bit as it is an old pitch. Like humans, the pitch also grows old. We have repaired the footmarks that were left in the previous matches and it will certainly hold well,” the former first-class player said.

Now, we all hope that it will be a great competitive match for both the teams and we will get a tough fight between both champions for the first win in the series to take 1-0 lead and get a psychological advantage for the upcoming matches.