Srilanka beat India

23/03/2007

Sri Lanka beat India by 69 runs in their last Group B match at Trinidad on Friday and India is now almost our of the World Cup!

Chasing 255 and a place in the Super Eights, India was bowled out for 185 runs in 43.3 overs. Earlier, Sri Lanka was put in to bat and they posted 254 for six in their 50 overs. Opener Upul Tharanga hit a fine fifty and put on 41 runs with Chamara Silva before he was trapped leg before wicket by Sachin Tendulkar. He made 64. Silva made fine 59 runs.

For India, Virender Sehwag put on a 54-run partnership with skipper Rahul Dravid before he fell to the guile of Muralitharan. Sehwag made 48 runs before being out. Dravidn made 60. Baring these two batsman no other Indian could make significant runs.

Murlidharan was hudged Man of the Match.

Score : Srilanka 254/6 in 50 overs (Tharanga 64, Silva 59, Dilshan 38, munaf 1/46, Z Khan 2/49) India 185/10 in 43.3 overs (Sehwag 48, Dravid 60, Murlidharan 3/41, Vaas 2/39)

India beat Bermuda

19/03/07

India beat Bermuda by a record margin of 257 runs in their Group B match at Trinidad on Monday. Chasing 414, Bermuda was bowled out for 156 in 43.1 overs. Ajit Agarkar and Anil Kumble took three wickets each. Earlier, Indian batsmen plundered 413 for the loss of five wickets. This is the the highest total ever in World Cup history and betters the 398 that Sri Lanka hit against Kenya at Kandy in 1996.

Virender Sehwag played an imperious knock to bring up a one-day hundred after a gap of almost three years. He was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Score : India 413 for 5 in 50 overs (Sehwag 114, Ganguly 89, Yuvraj 83, Tehdulkar 57, Borden 2/30) Bermuda 156/10 in 43.1 overs (Hemp 76, Minors 21, kumble 3/38, Agarkar 3/38, Zaheer 2/32)

India lost to Bangladesh

18/03/2007

Giant killers Bangladesh registered a famous five-wicket win over India in a Group B match at Port of Spain, Trinidad on Saturday. In a David slay Goliath affair, the Bangladeshis –chasing 192 to win – made 195 for five in 48.3 overs and won the match.

India decided to bat first and made only 192. For India, only Sourav Ganguly stood tall amongst the ruins as he brought up his 65th ODI fifty, though in vain. Both Robin Uthappa (9 runs) and M S Dhoni (0) made a forgettable World Cup debut, while another debutante Munaf Patel scored 15 runs and took two wickets. Except Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh made some resistance and made 47 run on the scoreboard. No other batsman made any effort to stay and make runs.

Bangladesh started the chase on a positive note and even though they lost a wicket with just 24 runs on the board, their batsmen did not panic. They played brilliantly in this game in all the departments. Rahim, who remained unbeaten on 56 (4x4, 2x6) brought up the winning run in the company of Mohammad Ashraful (8 not out). Hasan (53, 5x4, 1x6) and played very good and the way Bangladesh has trashed India, it could be a warning to other teams.

Score : India 191 all out in 49.3 overs (S.Ganguly 66, Yuvraj 47, Murtaza 4/38, Rafique 3/35) Bangladesh 195/5 in 48.3 overs (Rahim 59, Iqbal 51, Hasan 53, Munaf 2/39, Sehwag 2/17)