India vs Sri Lanka in India, Nov-Dec 2009

Sri Lanka in India Three Test, five ODI and Two T20 match series

Sri Lanka will be looking for the elusive test match and series win when they tour India for a Three Test, five ODI and Two T20 match series from November to December 2009. The team arrive in India on November 8th for the 55-day tour.

Indian Premier League - IPL

Indian Premier League Cricket News 2008

RR v CSK, IPL Final, Mumbai: Rajasthan win inaugural IPL

Yusuf Pathan inspired Rajasthan Royals to a three-wicket defeat of Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling Indian Premier League final on Sunday.
He took three wickets to reduce Chennai, who lost the toss and were put into bat, to 163 for five, and then smashed 56 - including four sixes and three fours - in a 39-ball innings. Needing eight runs off the final over, Shane Warne (nine not out) and Sohail Tanvir (nine no) kept their cool to reach the target, with the latter grabbing the one run needed for victory off the final ball of the match.
The Royals suffered a double blow as in the same over Kamran Akmal (six) went for a suicidal single after nudging to mid-on and was run out by Makhaya Ntini's direct hit. Pathan proved he was just as capable with the bat as with the ball, although he was lucky to be dropped by Raina in the 11th over on 13. Raina's error proved costly as Pathan went on to smash Muttiah Muralitharan for back-to-back sixes.
Shane Watson chipped in with a quickfire 28 off 19 balls but succumbed when he came down the track to Muralitharan but missed and was bowled.
Needing 52 off the last five overs, Pathan launched Lakshmipathy Balaji for 12 off one over and then dished out the same treatment to Muralitharan, hoisting the spinner over midwicket to bring up his half century. But Mohammad Kaif then lobbed Muralitharan to Mahendra Singh Dhoni at cover and Ravindra Jadeja followed next ball when he pulled Morkel straight to Kapugedera at mid-on. Rajasthan's hopes were knocked when Pathan was run out by Raina's superb direct hit but Warne and Tanvir steered the Royals to victory.
Earlier, Chennai openers Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and Parthiv Patel put on 39 before the former was dismissed in the sixth over. He tried to pull Pathan over deep midwicket but mistimed it and was caught by Jadeja sprinting in from the boundary.
Aiming for a flurry of runs in the final few overs, Raina tried one shot too many and was caught on the long-off boundary by Jadeja off the bowling of Watson, and Chamara Kapugedera did not last long, adding just eight runs before lofting to Asnodkar at long on off Tanvir.

RR v CSK, IPL Final, Mumbai: Rajasthan Royals 164 for 7 in 20.0 ovs beat Chennai Super Kings 163 for 5 in 20.0 ovs by 3 wickets

CSK v KXP, IPL 2nd Semifinal, Mumbai: Chennai Super Kings cruise into IPL final

Chennai Super Kings romped into the final of the Indian Premier League thrashing Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets in the second semi-final on Saturday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team advanced to Sunday's summit clash with the Rajasthan Royals after a determined and disciplined effort saw them past Kings XI with some ease. Chennai's speedsters set up the victory, reducing Punjab's famed batting line-up to 112 for eight, before Parthiv Patel (51 not out) and Suresh Raina (55 not out) saw them home with more than five overs to spare.
Dhoni handed Muttiah Muralitharan the new ball, but it was Makhaya Ntini who struck the first blow when he induced an edge from the bat of James Hopes (two), in the second over. It was the beginning of a dramatic slide for the Kings XI. Manpreet Gony resumed his place opposite Ntini at the top of the bowling order after Murali's first over proved expensive and immediately struck, getting rid of the dangerous Kumar Sangakkara cheaply. Yuvraj Singh came and went quickly and Shaun Marsh, the tournament's leading run scorer, played on to a delivery from Ntini leaving Punjab XI's batting order in tatters.
Significantly, it was the portly off-spinner Ramesh Powar who top-scored for Kings XI. He added a touch of respectability to the Punjab King's XI total by smashing a 21-ball 28. He flayed Lakshmipathy Balaji for three consecutive boundaries in the final over of the innings to get his team past the 100-run mark.
The absence of Stephen Fleming, who has returned home for the birth of his child, left Chennai looking decidedly brittle at the top, but the 113-run target - less than a run a ball from the start - never had the Super Kings under any sort of pressure. Fleming's replacement at the top, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (six) departed early but Patel and Raina batted with poise as they calmly overhauled the target.
Patel flicked a Pathan delivery through mid-wicket to bring up his second half-century of the tournament, while Raina, who had hit a couple of big sixes, reached his with a boundary off Piyush Chawla.

CSK v KXP, IPL 2nd Semifinal, Mumbai: Chennai Super Kings 116 for 1 in 16.5 ovs beat Kings XI Punjab 112 for 8 in 20.0 ovs by 9 wickets

DDD v RR, IPL 1st Semifinal, Mumbai: Rajasthan Royals in IPL final

Shane Watson was the star of the first Indian Premier League semi-final as he steered the Rajasthan Royals to a 105-run win over the Delhi Daredevils.
Captain Shane Warne had feared a neutral venue could hamper the Royals, who topped the regular league table with 11 wins from 14 matches, but those concerns were quickly laid to rest by Watson as the Royals came through unscathed in a disappointingly one-sided affair. The Australian all-rounder, who top-scored for the Royals with 52 off 29 deliveries, also dominated with the ball, dismissing the dangerous Virender Sehwag (three) and Gautam Ghambir (11) in quick succession to leave the Daredevils reeling.
Sehwag mis-timed a pull and was caught at deep square-leg by Sohail Tanvir, while Ghambir was caught in the covers while attempting a drive. Those wickets coupled with that of Shikhar Dhawan (five) - Watson's third wicket - brought the Daredevils' chase to a standstill. And when Dinesh Karthik (10) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (33) departed cheaply, it was all over bar the shouting.
Earlier Watson built impressively on the platform provided by openers Graeme Smith (25) and Swapnil Asnodkar (39) as the Royals finished with a competitive 192 for nine in 20 overs after being asked to bat first. Asnodkar had stifled nerves at the start in typically explosive style as he put on 65 runs for the opening wicket with Smith.
The South African had seemed in considerable pain due to a hamstring injury and called for a runner in only the second over. But his stroke-making skills seemed unaffected as he hit Glenn McGrath for three consecutive boundaries in the third over. The Daredevils had started with Mohammed Asif, just back from an elbow injury, but when the Pakistani proved expensive Farveez Maharoof was pressed into service.
The Sri Lankan delivered immediately, dismissing both openers, but those blows hardly stemmed the flow of runs. Watson bailed his team out of trouble and together with a cameo from Yusuf Pathan (45) ensured a winning total for the Royals.

DDD v RR, IPL 1st Semifinal, Mumbai: Rajasthan Royals 192 for 9 in 20.0 ovs beat Delhi Daredevils87 in 16.1 ovs by 105 runs

IPL Cricket News Archives

• IPL Cricket News : May, 2009
• IPL Cricket News : April, 2009
• IPL Cricket News : March, 2009
• IPL Cricket News : May 21-30, 2008
• IPL Cricket News : May 11-20, 2008
• IPL Cricket News : May 1-10, 2008
• IPL Cricket News : April 21-30, 2008
• IPL Cricket News : April 1-20, 2008
• IPL Cricket News : March 2008
• IPL Cricket News : February 2008
• IPL Cricket News : January 2008
• IPL Cricket News : October 2007
• IPL Cricket News : September 2007