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Cricket Diaries 2012 – Smallest Victory in T20
India lose a thriller –
New Zealand in India T20 Series – 2nd T20
India v New Zealand,
New Zealand won by 1 run. Played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai 11 September 2012 – D/N
It was a return match for Yuvraj Singh post his absence from cricket due to his fight with Cancer. The first T20 match was abandoned even without a bowl being bowled. In the second T20 match, India won the toss and decided to bowl first. New Zealand lost both the openers in successive overs bowled by Z Kahn and I Pathan. B McCullum made sure that India didn’t stuck any more blows and changed the momentum in New Zealand’s favour. He hit a quickfire 91 of 55 balls and helped New Zealand put up a competitive 167 in 20 overs after being 2 for 2. Yuvraj got to bowl 2 overs in his comeback match.
India lost its opener Gambhir early in the match. Virat Kohli, ensured he carried on the flow of runs for India. Kohli made an explosive 70 of 41 studded with 10 fours and a six. He was supported by Raina and Yuvraj. Yuvi looked in full flow as his shots crossed the boundary line. A couple of sixes and fours by Yuvraj and Dhoni brought India closer to the target. Needing 13 runs of the last over, with both Dhoni and Yuvraj at crease, it looked easy for India. However things changed dramatically in the last over bowled by Franklin. Dhoni hit a four, but Yuvraj got out after that. Requiring 4 of the last ball, Rohit Sharma could only manage a double. Despite a valiant effort by Kohli and Yuvraj, India lost the match which was it should have won easily. New Zealand won the series 1-0.
Post the match Yuvraj said – “We lost a game that we should have won, but for me personally it was a big emotional moment to get on the field. I had tears in my eyes when we were fielding, luckily the cameras did not catch it. I think I am timing the ball well and it can only get better from here.” – Way to go Yuvi !!!
Click on the video below to watch the highlights of the match
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUSv4_0s6Q8&rel=0]
Cricket Diaries 2012 – Smallest Victory in One Day International
Bangladesh loses final but gains respect in the cricketing world-
Asia cup Final – 22 March 2012 @ Mirpur Bangladesh
Bangladesh Vs Pakistan – Pakistan won by 2 runs
Bangladesh outplayed both India and Sri Lanka to face Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2012 finals. Bangladesh won the toss, unsurprisingly decided to bowl. Pakistan kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, with the highest individual score coming from lower down the order (wicket keeper Sarfaraz Ahmed – 46*). Pakistan managed to post a respectable 236 runs on board. Continue reading “Cricket Diaries 2012 – Smallest Victory in One Day International”
Cricket Diaries 2012 – Performances across formats and famous retirements
Famous retirements in 2012
The year 2012 was an year of retirements. In March, Rahul Dravid bid adieu to international cricket. Laxman retired in August 2012. Both of them just announced their retirement and did not play a farewell game.
Rickey Ponting also retired from international cricket on 29th Nov 2012. Mike Hussey has also announced his retirement and is currently playing his last Test match against SL as in am writing this post.
The biggest shock came when the Little Master (Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar) announced his retirement from ODI cricket on 23rd Dec. It needs to be seen till how long he plays test cricket.
World cricket results summary – Tests
India had a dismal 2012, performing badly in all formats of the game, specially in Test cricket. The retirement of Laxman and Dravid did effect the team. R. Ashwin has also not been able to shine as a test bowler. India could only manage 3 victories of the 9 test matches it played in 2012. The worst was the 4-0 dubbing at the hands of Australia in Australia in Dec 2011 – Jan 2012. Even worse was the 2-1 home series loss against England in Dec 2012.
The following screenshot shows the win-loss record of all test playing nations in 2012.
World Cricket results summary – ODIs
If we look at ODI matches, SA had a phenomenal year, winning 12 out of the 15 matches. Here is a synopsis of the results of the matches played in 2012.
World Cricket results summary – T20s
T20 cricket was a mixed bag for all the top cricket playing nations. Australia bettered its woeful 2011 record. WI team made a good comeback and won a number of games. The surprise of the year was however Ireland who won the maximum %age of matches played in 2012. They won 8 of the 13 T20 matches they played in 2012. However, all the wins came against Kenya, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
A snapshot of the T20 match results of 2012 is as follows:
Key performers in 2012
In test cricket, the year belonged to Michael Clarke who scored 4 double centuries (including a triple century). Clarke scored 1595 runs in the calendar year at an average of 106.33
Alastair Cook also had a great year. He scored 1249 runs in tests played in 2012, scored 4 hundreds in his first four Tests as captain, led from the front and took England to an unlikely victory in India. Hashim Amla, Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott were the other players who grossed over 1000 test runs in 2012.
In ODI, 3 players scored over 1000 runs in calendar year 2012. Kumar Sangakkara top scored with a total of 1184 runs at an average of 43. Virat Kohli had a phenomenal 2012; he scored 1026 runs in 17 innings at an average of 68.40 and scored 5 centuries in the process. The 3rd player to cross 1000 ODI runs in 2012 is Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Cheteshwar Pujara was a find for Indian cricket in 2012. He showed great determination in Tests. He scored the first double ton of his career against England. The new year 2013 has begun with a lot of action. India getting trounced at home against Pakistan, with England waiting in the wings for an ODI series. NZ touring SA and Sri Lanka touring Australia. Hope there will be much more entertainment in the coming year 🙂
We, cricket fans, at CricBol.com wish you a fun filled and prosperous new year 2013.
We will bring more posts on the memorable cricketing moments of 2012 as part of this series.
Stay tuned…
Pakistan tame India in the Chennai encounter
Pakistan defeated India by 6 wickets in a pretty much one sided victory in the 1st ODI of the 3 match series at Chennai.
However, the match will be remembered more for the heroics of Dhoni who scored a fighting century. India lost 5 quick wickets and went from being 17-0 to 29-5 in 10 overs thanks to the fiery spell by Junaid Khan. Junaid cleaned up the Indian top order and took 4 wickets, out of which 3 were clean bowled. Dhoni however steadied the innings and later with Ashwin forged an unbeaten stand of 125 runs. Ashwin remained not out on 31. Raina scored 43 runs.
Dhoni scored his 7th century and remained not out on 113 of 125 balls. He scored 7 boundaries and 3 sixes. He was however given a life when he was dropped by Misbah on 16.
The following video shows the highlights of Dhoni’s century:
Pakistan also had a shaky start, loosing 2 quick wickets. Younis Khan and Nasir Jamshed then played cautiously and steadied the chase. Jamshed anchored till the end and scored the second century of his ODI career. He remained unbeaten on 101.
Dhoni was given the ‘Man of Match’ for his brilliant batting.
Pakistan go up 1-0 in the 3 match series. It needs to be seen if Indian can bounce back in the 2nd ODI in Kolkata on 3rd Jan.
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The master hangs his boots!
Sachin Tendulkar, today announced retirement from ODI cricket. It came as a surprise to all his cricket fans throughout the world. Sachin’s retirement was on cards but the announcement came in an unexpected fashion. We all hoped to see him play in the ODI series against Pakistan. Probably, the man will also retire from test cricket after the Test series against Australia in February 2013.
The master left with some amazing performances and left an a permanent mark in the hearts of cricket fans throughout the world. His service to the nation for the last 22 years is unparalleled.
He will always remain the greatest cricketing icon of India and one of the greatest in the world.
Tendulkar retired with these closing comments:
“I have decided to retire from the One Day format of the game,” he said in a statement. “I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup winning Indian team. The preparatory process to defend the World Cup in 2015 should begin early and in right earnest. I would like to wish the team all the very best for the future. I am eternally grateful to all my well wishers for their unconditional support and love over the years.”
He played in 463 ODI’s, scored 18, 426 runs and made 49 centuries. All of these are world records.The master was also the first batsmen in the world to make a double century in an ODI. He made his ODI debut against Pakistan way back in 1989 and his last ODI appearance was also against Pakistan in the Asia Cup. The master scored a 50 in the match.
Well, the show is over. The master will no more mesmerize us with his charisma. But the memories will always remain etched in our minds. He will continue to command all the respect in our eyes.
Thank you Sachin for all the great performances, for setting such a high demeanor, for inspiring countless youngsters over the last 22 years. You may have retired but you are immortal now.
Hail the master blaster, the ever so classy little master /|\
A fresh start for team India
Finally, something to cheer for the Indian fans. India was able to make the head to head T20 stats against England 3-3. India went into the game with high pressure, specially after the ghost of the dismal test series behind them. Team India had to start afresh, start positively and they were able to do so.
India played Rahane in place of Sehwag. Pacer Parvinder Awana was also given a game. India won the toss and decided to bowl first with a heavy spin attack and 2 pacers. The pacers being Dinda and Awana and the spin attack consisted of Ashwin, Chawla, Raina, Jadeja and Yuvi. Surprisingly, Kohli was also made to bowl. After the early departure of Lumb; Hales and Wright gave England a great start. From being 21/1 after 3 overs, they helped England reach 89/1 after 10 overs and at this stage England was really looking for an above 180 score. Dhoni had deployed 7 bowlers in the first 9 overs itself, but to no affect.
The man on a mission, the man to rescue India turned out to be Yuvraj. He scalped the critical wickets of Wright and Hales in the 11th and 13th over and tightened the proceedings. Dinda and Jadeja also bowled some tidy overs and India did not allow England to get off the hook. England could only manage 58 runs of the last 10 overs and in the process lost 5 wickets. England thus ended at 157/5 and posed India a decent challenge. Yuvi ended with figures of 4 – 0 – 19 – 3 and Dinda had figures of 3 – 0 – 18 – 2.
India needed a solid start to guide them in the chase. Gambhir and Rahane provided India a good start before Gambhir departed in the 4th score after scoring 16 runs. Rahane also followed Gambhir in the same over after scoring 19 runs. Rahane did however play a couple of lusty blows all over the fence. India was 44/2 after 5 overs when Yuvi walked into bat. He caressed and he stroked the ball so well, mesmerizing his fans all over the world. It never seemed like he was playing his first T20 after his return from cancer. He hit 2 fours and 3 sixes in an effortless 38 of 21 balls. He was severely harsh on Briggs scoring 18 runs of his one and only over. By the time Yuvi departed, India had reached 93 runs of 10 overs. And the required rate now was about 6.5; Raina, Kohli and Dhoni then guided India home with ease. Raina played some good strokes in his innings of 26. Dhoni hit the winning runs and remained not out on 24 of 21 balls. India reached home with 2.1 overs to spare.
India pulled it off easily today, thanks to the heroic efforts of Yuvraj Singh. But will India be able to carry the momentum in the next T20 game on 22nd Dec at Mumbai?