Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Cricket Analysts would say that the Indians were the more deserving of the two sides to win this Tri-nation series but the performance on the big day counts the most. The Pakistanis were the better side on the day and they edged out India in what was a fabulous game of cricket. First a brilliant opening with two centuries and then the bowlers stuck to the plan all the time and the fact that the Pakistanis picked up wickets at regular intervals, but most important - at crucial stages which always kept them ahead in the hunt. In the end, too much was asked from the Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and he faltered in the contest. Irfan Pathan’s patchy stay at the crease didn’t help the cause much and that pegged back the Indians. Earlier in the game, the Indians fielded and bowled poorly. However, this total was always chaseable but the Indians just couldn’t hold the game at times when it mattered the most. Hope you have enjoyed the game. Do join us again for the forthcoming games from the other parts of the globe.

At the end of the Match the winning captain Shoaib Malik rated this win as one of the biggest wins in his captaincy tenure. He said he is happy with the performance of his boys and was all praise for them. He had a lot of faith in Salman Butt and Younis and they pulled off special knocks to enable his side post a big total. He praises his bowlers who stayed disciplined all through. Finally, he says that a win against India is always special and when it comes in a Final, nothing gets better than this.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni congratulated Pakistan for having played brilliantly. He said that their side was sloppy on the field but he can’t take any credit away from Salman Butt and Younis Khan who werer too good today. He feels that the decision to send Raina ahead of him was very critical, he admits that he made a mistake there but he hopes to avoid such mistakes in the future. He thanks the crowd for being supportive right throughout the series.

Salman Butt is the Man of the Series. He thanks heavens and the crowd for all their support. He and Younis planned to stay out there in the middle for as long as possible, both of them are natural stroke makers so run scoring was never a problem. He feels proud to have performed in a big game.

Younis Khan is the Man of the Match. He says that it always feels nice to perform while under pressure. He says that he didn’t get enough opportunities previously in the series and today, he wanted to make it count. His plan was to stay out there in the middle for sometime before playing his natural game, it paid off today and he is delighted.

In the end we saw Mahendra Singh Dhoni walking off the field dejected and disappointed. There would be a few questions coming at him so as to why didn’t he bat up the order? The Pakistanis are a happy bunch at the moment and why shouldn’t they be? They were the better unit this evening, they bowled and fielded with a lot more discipline than their neighbours and as a result, they emerged champions in yet another final against India winning by 25 runs.

Pakistan Batted first winning the toos and scored 315/3. India managed a score of 290 falling 25 runs short from the total.

Tags: bangladesh, butt, india, Pakistan, Series, Tri Nation, younis

The tri nation’s tournament opener opened the chapters of the same old sorry story for Bangladesh. How many times has it happened that Bangladesh captains have been lured in to bowling first on a seemingly fresh and lively pitch and have ended up being batted out of the game by the half time. Bangladesh need to realize that whatever the conditions may be the only chance they have of winning against top teams is batting first posting a decent score and hope that their spinners come good. Even on a lively pitch, Bangladesh pacers don’t have the potency to bowl out good oppositions for totals that they could chase.

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Tags: bangladesh, butt, india, Pakistan, salaman, Tri Nation, yousuf

Editorial: Mohit Goyal

Indian Premier League Match Preview

Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils at Kolkata

Delhi who got off to a rollicking start in the league have now lost four of their eight matches. Kolkata are too on same points and there’s not much difference in net run rates too.

Men at the Helm

Both the captains have led from the front to win games for their teams. Other thing both have in common is that, both have persuaded on field umpires to refer decisions to the third umpire. Issues apart, both have been doing fairly good jobs and have been aggressive and intensive.

We have the bat

If Delhi have had Sehwag and Gambhir performing, Kolkata have had Ganguly and Hussey performing. Other batsmen haven’t yet come to the party. De Villiers and Karthik for Delhi and Butt and Hafeez for Kolkata have pressure on them to perform well now.

We have the ball

Both the teams are pretty well matched in the bowling department too. If Delhi have Mc Grath and Asif, Kolkata have Ishant and Gul. While Kolkata have Murali Kartik, Delhi may just miss a quality spinner like Vettori.

Patrolling Party

Kolkata have fielded brilliantly in the last two matches. Delhi as its is, is the best fielding unit in the league. Watch out for some boundaries saved, couple of sharp catches and half chances for run out being converted.

High on betting meter

Why Delhi fans are disappointed? Because this team has much more potential. And that is why they are convincingly high on most betting meters. Kolkata give a return of well over hundred percent while Delhi a shade under eighty percent.

Who gets the tick?

Delhi are pretty good team to be at the fifth position in the table, but Kolkata have shown that they have the class. Watch out for Mc Grath v Ganguly, Asif v Butt, Ishant v Sehwag and Gul v Gambhir.
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Tags: asif, butt, Delhi Daredevils, gambhir, Ganguly, gul, Hussey, indian premier league, ishant, Kolkata Knight Riders, match preview, shoiab Akhtar, umar, Virender Sehwag