Low scoring matches are fun,too :)

And so, with more than 872 runs scored in THE match, cricket entered a new era of tonking and pitiless wearing-down of bowlers ... or did it?

The first ODI between England and India seemed decided at the halfway stage - given India's strength in recent times has been their batting and also given that they didn't really have a strike bowler ( Pathan bowling at Kumble-esque speeds :D ), the batting collapse that saw India struggle to reach 203 seemed to have put the match beyond their reach.

Until, that is, the Turbanator decided to come to the party - and how. Of course, due credit must be given to Irfan Pathan - a fiery first over saw him taking 2 wickets and breaking the back of the English top order right off . KP and Flintoff , after a brief tonking from Prior, got together and steadied the ship. England were cruising at 117/3 off 19.4 overs - just 87 runs required off more than 30 overs. The match was all but lost.

The Indians , thankfully, had different ideas - Yuvraj, turning his arm over after a long while,
provided the initial breakthrough - the breach in the wall, as it were, that led to the flood. KP opted for a slog sweep to the sqaure leg boundary to a low full toss from Yuvraj, trying to match Flintoff's aggression in Sreesanth's previous over(22 runs off it).Gambhir, positioned on the boundary, took a good catch just in front of the ropes and KP was out, through an unnecessary shot, for a belligerent 46 - breaking a 60-run partnership that had threatened to take the match away from India.

Harbhajan, under pressure for a lackluster performance in the Tests and under fire for possibly having been "figured out" by batsmen, came up iwth a performance justifying not only his selection but also the reason he has been a shoo-in in any Indian ODI team of the past 8 or so years. Reading the situation brilliantly , and with able run-constricting support from Yuvraj, he began to strike - Flintoff was his first victim in this spell , trapped in front for an attacking 41 off 37. On paper, that didn't seem like the body blow it turned out to be - with England so close to the target and with 5 wickets in hand, only the most optimistic of punters would've given India even one chance in hell of winning.

Hell must've frozen over - because Harbhajan broke through the rest of the recognised batsmen i.e. Collingwood, Jones and Blackwell ( who, btw, had bowled very well for figures of 10-0-24-1) to send England craching to 141-8 after 30 overs. Overs 20 -30 had yielded just 24 runs at the cost of 4 vital wickets. With Yuvraj and Pathan mopping up the tail ( and averting India's usual inability to clean up the tail and allow dangerous 9th wicket partnerships), India strolled to an emphatic victory when the last England wicket fell at 164.

From the depths of misery at the failure of their supposed main strength i.e batting, India had pulled off a remarkable victory over a strong English side - continuing the remarkable resurgence in ODI form ( from just above the hapless Windies to their 15th victory in 17 matches)that has characterised Chappell's tenure at the helm. Lets hope that this form continues throught the series - and , dare one hope, spills over into the Test arena? Fingers crossed...and kudos to Dravid and his men!

Ranji results!

Been a long while and need to get some updates out of the way. :)

First off, Bengal made full use of a sporting declaration by Railways and chased 303 in 55 overs to pip K'taka and claim the second semifinal spot from Elite Group A. So, the final semis lineup was Mumbai vs. UP, Bengal vs.Baroda.

In the first semiifinal, Bengal were initially in a spot of bother but India discards L.S.Shukla and D.Dasgupta hit huge tons( 141 and 171,respectively) to take Bengal to 617 from 196-5, gaining the vital first-innings lead over Baroda's sub-par 241. The match was decided by then and Baroda could only save the match from that point. With all hopes of victory and/or a spot in the final gone, they batted out their second innings finishing on 252/8, still in arrears of Bengal's total. A disappointment for Baroda, who had looked at least asa impressive as Bengal in the league matches of Elite group 2.

In the other semifinal, Mumbai collapsed in their first innings for 199 and , even though they kept pegging away at UP, were unable to break their backbone(Kaif 64 ,Raina 72 and Shamshad 40) - UP finally reaching 250 for a vital first-innings lead. Mumbai's only hope at that point was to post a huge score in the second innings and dismiss UP cheaply - always a tough ask, but not impossible at all. They piled up 264 but gave themselves only 2 sessions to dismiss UP. Barring a miracle, that was impossible - and thats what it turned out to be, UP playing safely to actually win [216/5 - target:214]. Mumbai , after a disappointing performance, had fallen at the semis and UP progressed to their 3rd Ranji final.

The final(29 Jan - 2 Feb)promised to be an interesting match up - with both Bengal and UP seeming to peak at the right time and trumping the form book in the semis. And it was ,too - although not exactly a humdinger:). UP batted first at Lucknow and, riding on fine 90s from Kaif and Raina(again) , made 387. Bengal were in trouble initially, with the young leggie Piyush Chawla bowling excellently to have them in trouble at 252-6 . They recovered, thanks to a fighting innings from L.R.Shukla(66) who shepherded the tial to bring Bengal agonisingly close. When the 9th wicket fell at 363, Bengal were desperate to make up the deficit. Shukla hit a six over longon and reverse swept Chawla past third man to bring Bengal within striking distance. Chawla kept his cool , tossed one up on leg and saw Shukla's slog-sweep spiral up into the air and into the hands of a diving sqaure-leg fielder. UP had claimed a first -innings lead of 14, and with Kaif scoring a century in UP's second innings to lead them to 342 , ensured the Ranji trophy would be theirs, for the first time and at the third time of asking. [Bengal second innings:109/5. Target:357]

Although the whole team played well, the credit for the successul campaign must go to Kaif, for his batting and caaptaincy, Raina, again for his batting, and to Chawla, the young leggie who impressed one and all with his bowling nous. A deserved victory - with UP romping to the trophy despite having only one recognised , well-known batsman/player in Kaif.

In the plate final , Rajasthan lost to Saurashtra after impressing all season. But, since both teams now gained promotion, the victory or loss would be only for bragging rights.

All in all, a very interesting season - with the form book thrown out the window multiple times. Traditional powerhouses like Delhi, Mumbai,Hyderabad and K'taka fell early and/or hard to challengers from the new power centres of Indian cricket - small- town India . This can only bode well for Indian cricket - having opened up the vast reserves of small-town India to the Indian cricket team. Here's hoping to see,in the near future, an Indian cricket team as representatve and dominant as the Windies teams of the '80s.

The Ranji one day tourney's coverage coming up soon...