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Showing posts from September, 2022

AUS VS IND: Key talking points before the series

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AUS vs IND         Australia will tour India for the 3-match T20I series beginning from 20th September. In this series, some players will have chances to shine and make their place in T20 world cup 11. This series can answer a lot of questions for the Aussies and will make their bench-strength better. Although Smith will not be dropped but Australia will get some good options in case of injuries.  1. Steven Smith              Everybody knows that Smith is a brilliant batter in tests and ODIs but he has not given that kind of performance in T20Is, however, he allows other batters to fire up and he is playing his role very impressively. He will have a great chance to score runs with good strike rate and continue his form. He loves to play against India so it would be a great opportunity for him otherwise Tim David would be able to get his place. 2. Tim David               Tim David has performed in almost all of the T20 leagues around the globe and finally he got the call fro

ICC ODI Batting Rankings: Smith enters top 10, Babar stays on top

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ICC Batting Rankings                 After brilliant performances against New Zealand in the ODI series, Aussie star Steven Smith has made his entry in the top 10 list. He scored 167 runs in the series including a ton and a fifty. He was the top run scorer in the series because of which, he rose to 10th spot in ICC rankings with 697 points. Top three batters 1. BABAR AZAM                     Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is on top of the list with 890 points. He is continuously performing, however, his form is declined in Asia cup. 2. RASSIE VAN DER DUSSEN                   The South African batter is on second spot with 789 points. He has one of the best average in ODI cricket in current time. 3. QUINTEN DE COCK                   On no. 3, there is another South African star, De Cock, who has 784 points.

Top contenders: Who should be the next leader of Aussies in ODI cricket?

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Aaron Finch has retired from the ODI cricket so Australian team is looking for a new skipper, who will also lead the T20I side after this year's T20 world cup. Top 3 contenders of Captaincy 1. David Warner               Warner is the top contender of leadership as he is interested and he is capable. He led Australia in 3 one day matches and Australia won all of those matches.  He is interested in leading the team and he also plays T20Is but the only thing against him is his age. He is 35 years old and probably, he will play for 2 or 3 years more. 2. Steven Smith               Smith is also one of the top contender of leadership as he has lead the team previously and his captaincy record is also impressive.  He led Australia in 51 matches and won 25 out of it. 3. Pat Cummins             Cummins is another contender of captaincy, he is the vice-captain of the team at present and leading the test team really well.  The problem with him i

AUS VS IND: Injury forced Australia to make some changes in the squad

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AUS vs IND               Australia made 3 changes in their 15-member squad for upcoming T20I games against India. Australian quick Mitchell Starc will miss the India series because of knee injury whereas Marsh and Stoinis have been ruled out because of ankle injury and side strain. Australia named Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis and Daniel Sams as the replacements of the injured players. They will play 3 T20I matches against India on Indian soil, which would be a crucial series for both teams as world cup is just ahead. Aus vs Ind schedule  1st T20I         20 sep           Mohali 2nd T20I        23 sep          Nagpur 3rd T20I         25 sep          Hyderabad 

AUS VS NZ: Final ODI to be the last game of Finch, Skipper announced retirement

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Aaron Finch's retirement             Australia will play the last ODI of 3-match series on Sunday against the Blackcaps, which would be a farewell game for the Aussie-skipper. Aaron   Finch  has announced retirement from ODI cricket due to his poor form, however, the batter will still leading the Aussies in T20Is.  He has brilliant ODI stats as he scored nearly 5500 runs in one-day cricket and has won a world cup with Australia as well. He started leading the team from 2018, when Smith and Warner got banned and Australia were in deep trouble. He made it balanced side and led the team to the world cup semi final in 2019.  He has hit 17 tons in the format, 4th most by any batter for Australia, his best score(153) came against Pakistan and he also played some other crucial knocks. The reason of his retirement is his poor form, he scored only 169 runs in this year at the average of just 13.  His retirement has raised some big questions for the Aussi

ASIA CUP: The KING is back, India ended their Asia Cup campaign with an satisfying victory

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Asia Cup         In India's last match of Asia Cup against Afghanistan, Virat Kohli ended his 1021-days  century drought by scoring unbeaten 122 in only 61 deliveries.  He opened for India as Rohit was rested in this match and Rahul was leading the team.  It is his first ton in T20Is and overall, 71st ton in international cricket (equalling Ricky Ponting ). Because of his stunning knock, India made a huge total of 212 against Afghanistan.  Bhuvneshvar Kumar bowled brilliantly and took 5 wickets in 4 overs by giving just 4 runs with 1 maiden. His unbelievable bowling helped India to register a big win of 101 runs over Afghanistan. Although India did not qualify for the final but Kohli's comeback in form is a big positive for India. Kohli is the top run scorer of Asia Cup with 276 runs at the stunning average of 92.

AUS VS NZ: bowlers led Australia to series win

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AUS vs NZ            Australia defeated Blackcaps in the 2nd ODI to clinch the series. It was another low scoring game and bowlers dominated in whole match completely. It was a big win for Australia as they beat New Zealand by 113 runs because of their bowlers.  Australia batted first in this match after losing the toss and they faced another collapse as they lost their half side on just 54 runs. Only Smith scored fifty from the batters and because of the impressive knocks of bowlers, Australia somehow played 50 overs and reached at the competitive total of 195. Steve Smith  made brilliant 61, Starc scored 38 whereas Hazlewood played his best knock of 23 in ODIs. Trent Boult took 4 wickets whereas Henry grabbed 2. Nobody could have expected that the Kiwis would loss but this happened because of Zampa, Starc  and Abbott .  Sean Abbott made his comeback in the team because Green was injured and his comeback was amazing. He bowled 5 overs(4 maidens), g

AUS VS NZ: Aussies took the lead, will try to clich the series tomorrow

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AUS vs NZ             Australia won the opening encounter of Chappell-Hadlee   trophy by 2 wickets. It was a low scoring match in which, Kiwis scored 232 by batting first.  Devon Conway, Kane Williamson and Tom Latham played impressively, however, nobody hit fifty. Glenn Maxwell was outstanding with the ball as he took carrer best ODI bowling figures(4-52 in 10 overs) and was stunning in fielding.  Boult was on fire as Australia lost their half side on just 44 runs while chasing before the outstanding partnership between Cameron   Green and Alex Carey . Both hit fifties but Carey departed after scoring brilliant 85, Maxwell scored only 2 runs and all the responsibility fell on Green, who was in extreme pain and was struggling to even walk. He stayed on the crease and did not give up, because of his bravery and excellent knock of 89*, Australia won the match in 45 overs.  Both teams will compete in the 2nd ODI at the same venue on 8th September, whe

ASIA CUP: Sri Lanka stun India in a close encounter

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IND vs SL         In a knockout game, India got defeated by Sri Lanka. This was India's second defeat in Super 4 and now they are almost out of the tournament.  India batted first after losing the toss but the start was not good as Rahul failed to score again and Kohli also departed on duck. Rohit Sharma made brilliant 71 and helped India to reach at competitive total of 173. Madushanka got 3 wickets for Sri Lanka whereas Karunaratne and Shanaka grabbed 2 each. The target was never going to be easy for Sri Lanka but their openers did extremely well (both hit fifties) and made an opening partnership of 97 runs. Sri Lanka lost 4 wickets quickly at that stage but then their captain and Rajapaksa led the team and played stunning knocks. Chahal grabbed 3 wickets but was very expensive, only Bhuvneshvar Kumar had economy below 8. Sri Lanka won the match and got the ticket of the final. 

ASIA CUP: Pakistan took revenge, defeated India in a thriller

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IND vs PAK            In the second match of super 4, India got defeated by Pakistan in a nail-bitter. This was for the second time both teams played against each other, in the league stage, India defeated Pakistan in a close encounter.  Kohli played beautifully as India posted a good total of 181 after losing the toss. Rohit Sharma, the skipper, gave a quick start with KL Rahul and both got out on individual scores pf 28. Virat Kohli continued his amazing form and hit another fifty, made 60 in 44 deliveries. Babar Azam tried to release the pressure in the beginning but after playing some big shots, he departed on just 14. Rizwan played an impressive knock of 71 in 51 balks and led his team to chase the massive target. Mohammad Nawaz  made stunning 42 in just 20 balls and made a big partnership with Rizwan. After him, Asif Ali took Pakistan close to the win and Khushdil Shah ended the things well. The turning point of the match was the catch dropped

AUS VS NZ: Beginning of Trans-Tasman series

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AUS vs NZ            Aussies will take on Blackcaps in the first ODI of 3-match ODI series at Cazalys stadium, which will also host the other two games.  For Australia, Steve   Smith  and David Warner , two big guns of Australia, were absolutely brilliant in their previous series against Zimbabwe. They will play without Cummins but they have still a brilliant bowling attack as Starc and Hazlewood will lead the attack and will get support from Zampa, who is doing extremely well.  Kiwis are in outstanding touch as they defeated West Indies in their last ODI series after winning the series against Netherlands and Scotland. Santner and Bracewell are performing brilliantly, they have a really good and fresh pace attack, which can damage the opposition.  The form of the skippers of both teams is the thing to worry especially the form of Aaron Finch. He had a very good opportunity to regain his form against Zimbabwe but he failed to do so. 

ASIA CUP: Arch rivals to compete again, Ind Vs Pak in super 4

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IND vs PAK               India will take on Pakistan for the second time in Asia Cup as both teams were qualified for the super 4. In their last meeting, India registered victory in a nail-bitter but things ate changed a lot within a week after that because some players from both teams got injured, some are unavailable in this match while some are ruled out from Asia cup.  Ravindra   Jadeja  is injured and he is ruled out from Asia cup even there is a doubt on his availability in T20 world cup. Shahnawaz Dahini is also injured and he would not be able to play against India. Hardik   Pandya was the hero for India in the last match between both teams. He will have same kind of duty today. Expectations are also from Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli, who are in good form. For Pakistan, their captain, Babar   Azam  has to score big because he is the backbone of the team and he has not scored too many runs in this tournament. Changes will take place in both teams because of inju

AUS VS ZIM: Zimbabwe stun Australia and created history

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AUS vs ZIM             Zimbabwe shock Australia in a bowling dominant 3rd ODI of the series in Townswille and won the match by 3 wickets. This is Zimbabwe's first ever win  against Australia on Australian soil and overall, they made this upset for the third time.  Australia batted first and got all out on 141, out of which, Warner scored 94. Apart from him, only Maxwell crossed 10-run landmark. Ryan Burl grabbed last 5 wickets of Australia and took just 3 overs to do this (second fastest fifer in ODI cricket). Target was too small for the Aussies to defend but the bowlers did extremely well and fought hard. Hazlewood took 3 wickets but the impressive knocks of Marumani and Chakabva helped Zimbabwe to cross the line in 39th over. Burl became man of the match for his stunning performance with the ball.  Australia won the series by 2-1 but the upset made by Zimbabwe will be remembered for long time. Although Australia lost but Starc made a world record of taki

T20 WORLD CUP: A brave decision from England as they named their squad for T20 world cup

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England squad                   England became the second team to announce the 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 world cup in Australia and the same squad will play the T20I series against the Aussies just before the world cup.  Last year, they reached in semifinal however, they lost the match but their performance was really impressive in the league stage. Buttler will lead the team as Morgan got retired earlier this year so it will be a first global tournament for Buttler as a full time captain. The highlight of the squad is the brave decision of the English selectors to drop Jason Roy from the team, who was struggling to score runs since last year's world cup, Philip Salt got selected in his place because of his brilliant performance in the hundred.  15-member squad Jos Buttler(cap), Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, Reece Topley, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Phil Salt

AUS VS ZIM: Starc close to double century as Australia eye on clean sweep

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AUS vs ZIM                 Australia will play the last match of ODI series against Zimbabwe on 3rd August in Townswille. Aussies will look to whitewash Zimbabwe by winning the 3rd match as they are leading the series by 2-0. Australia registered two easy wins in first two matches especially in the 2nd one, where the bowlers destroyed Zimbabwean batting and batters chased the target effortlessly. Aaron Finch will have another opportunity to regain his form whereas Zimbabwe will try to at least compete with Australia. A milestone waiting for Starc              Mitchell Starc is just one wicket away from completing his 200 wickets in ODIs and by completing it in this match, he will become the fastest ever bowler of to complete 200 ODI scalps. Apart from him, Hazlewood will also have opportunity to complete his 100 ODI wickets by taking 2 wickets in this match. 

ASIA CUP: India defeated Hong Kong to seal their slot in Super 4

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Asia cup              In their 2nd match of Asia Cup against Hong Kong, India registered an easy win to book the spot in super 4. It means that Pakistan vs Hong Kong and Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, both matches will be decider and the winners of both matches will qualify for super 4. India made 1 change in the 11, they rested Pandya and gave chance to Rishabh Pant.  Despite of a slow start, India posted a big total of 192 in 20 overs as Suryakumar(68 in 26) and Kohli(59 in 44) hit fifties. While chasing, Hong Kong did well in powerplay but after that, they started losing wickets and in the end, they fell 40 runs short of the total. Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshvar Kumar were brilliant with the ball, they took 1 wicket each with an outstanding economy rate.