CSK take on RCB. DC Face KXIP

CSK will take on RCB at Chepauk

Both CSK and RCB coming in this match with the defeat under their belt. CSK lost to KXIP which was bit surprising and RCB lost 2 matches consecutively after winning first game. So, as far as momentum is concern it is more with CSK rather than RCB which is looking for desperate win. As far as resources are concerned both teams looks par.

CSK have M.Vijay, Badrinath, Raina, Dhoni, Albie Morkel and Michael Hussey in their ranks as a batsmen and as far bowling is concerned they have the best suited bowling line-up for Chennai wicket. They have 3 good spinners in R.Ashwin, Suraj Randiv and Jakati who can be very dangerous on turning Chepauk wicket.Chennai also have the advantage in captaincy as they have magical captain in MS Dhoni who has also got his batting form back. So this makes Chennai more dangerous.

As far as Royal Challengers are concerned they have illustrious batting line-up. They have likes of Dilshan, DeVilliers, Sourabh Tiwary, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara. In bowling they have Zaheer Khan, Daniel Vettori, Van Der Wath, Dirk Nannes. So RCB is equally good team. Only thing they lack is x-factor in captaincy. Vettori looked completely out of sorts in last two matches and Vettori have be more pro-active.

Nobody is favorite in this game and this will going to be cracker of the contest.

---

Team Info:
Chennai Super Kings

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain/Wicket-Keeper), Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Wriddhiman Saha(Wicket-Keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Subramanium Badrinath, Joginder Sharma, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhinav Mukund, Aniruddha Shrikant, Ganapathi Vignesh, K Vasudevdas, Shadb Jakati, Vijaykumar Yomahesh, (Foreign) Albie Morkel, Michael Hussey, Dwayne Bravo, Doug Bollinger, Scott Styris, Ben Hilfenhaus, Nuwan Kulasekera, Suraj Randiv, George Bailey, Faf du Plessis. Stephen Fleming(Coach)

---

Team Info:

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Daniel Vettori (Captain), Virat Kohli, Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB De Villiers (wicket-keeper), Zaheer Khan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Dirk Nannes, Saurabh Tiwary, Mohammad Kaif, Abhimanyu Mithun, Charl Langeveldt, Luke Pomersbach, Rilee Rossouw, Johan van der Wath, Jonathan Vandiar, CM Gautam (Wicket-Keeper), S Arvind, Mayank Agarwal, Arun Karthick, Asad Khan Pathan, Abrar Kazi, Ryan Ninan, Bhareth Narayanan, Nuwan Pradeep.Ray Jennings(Coach)

---

Jubilant Deccan will face rejuvenate KXIP.

Both the teams coming in this match with win under their belt in their last match respectively. As far as resources are concerned Deccan is having slightly upper hand. But T20 is such contest where the team which play better cricket on a day wins. So resources don’t matter too much as far as this match is concerned. Both teams have seasoned wicket-keepers at the helm of the affairs. Deccan is captained by Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara while KXIP is lead by legendary Adam Gilchrist.

Both the teams have few good youngsters in their side and so far those youngsters have done well. Paul Valthaty played magnificent century innings against CSK and won the game single-handedly for KXIP while Bharat Chipli is playing consistently well for Deccan Chargers. Chipli played superb half-century innings against RCB which helped Deccan to register its first win IPL 4. So there will be lot of pressure now on Chipli and Valthaty to score runs consistently and prove that they are not one match wonder.  As far as bowling is concerned Deccan is far better with Steyn Ishant, Mishra, Gony and Ojha in their ranks while KXIP have only Chawla and Praveen Kumar.

Its going to be entertaining contest and Deccan will certainly have little edge over KXIP.

---

Team Info:

Deccan Chargers

Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Manpreet Gony, Akash Bhandari, Anand Rajan, Ankit Nagendra, Arjun Yadav, Ashish Reddy, Bharat Chipli, DB Ravi Teja, Harmeet Singh Bansal, Ishank Jaggi, Ishan Malhotra, Jaydev Shah, Kedar Devdhar, Sunny Sohal (Foreign) Kumar Sangakkara (Captain/Wicket-Keeper), Kevin Pietersen, Cameron White, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn, Daniel Christian, Chris Lynn, Juan Theron, Michael Lumb.Darren Lehmann(Coach)

---

Team Info:

Kings XI Punjab

Dinesh Karthik(Wicket-Keeper), Abhishek Nayar, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Bhargav Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, Love Ablish, Mandeep Singh, Nitin Saini, Paras Dogra, Paul Valthaty, Shalabh Srivastava, Siddharth Chitnis, Sunny Singh, Vikramjeet Malik, Amit Yadav, (Foreign) Adam Gilchrist (Captain/Wicket-Keeper), Shaun Marsh, David Hussey, Stuart Broad, Ryan Harris, Dimitri Masceranhas, Nathan Remington.Michael Bevan(Coach

---

Gambhir and Kallis tame Rajasthan Royals

It was thoroughly clinical performance by KKR which saw them home quite easily against Rajasthan Royals. Gambhir and Kallis stuck to the task and helped KKR to win the game quite comprehensively. Rajasthan looked off-colour in bowling today and fielding standards also dropped a bit as they dropped 3 catches.

KKR won the toss and elected to field first on pitch which initially had something in it for the bowlers but Rahul Dravid and Paunikar started cautiously but in 5th over Rajasthan lost its first wicket in Paunikar. Watson was expected but Warnie sent young Menaria at No.3 who stitched good partnership with Rahul Dravid for the 3rd wicket, just when partnership was looking dangerous, Gambhir introduced Yusuf Pathan in the bowling who picked up both Dravid and Menaria in his first over and put Rajasthan on back-foot. But Watson and Taylor knitted little partnership which helped Rajasthan in reaching good score on wicket which was bit stopping. Pathan and Shakib  bowled well but other KKR bowlers including Brett Lee  looked ordinary. Both Shakib and Lee were played in this match and now KKR is at its full strength.

Chasing 159 of RR score, KKR lost Bisla quite early but captain Gambhir and Jacques Kallis build superb century partnership and helped KKR win the game. Both score half century and remained not-out. Gambhir looked in very good touch today right from the word go and probably given full return to KKR owners against his price at which he was bought in auction. Kallis is in superb form and KKR now looks formidable force in year’s IPL. This time KKR will definitely make it to the Top 4. KKR is sure shot contender for semi-final berth.

It was fantastic batting by Kallis and Gambhir which entertained the crowd and not to forget Rahul Dravid once again played superb knock before getting out. Return of Shane Watson didn’t help the cause of RR.

Man of the Match

Gautam Gambhir

---

Sachin scored century but Mumbai lost to Kochi

It was beautiful evening at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai with Queens Necklace in backdrop. Thousands of fans rushed to Wankhede Stadium to watch the match between Mumbai Indians vs Kochi Tuskers and fans did not disappointed either as the match proved out and out entertainment. Sachin scored his maiden IPL century, Ambati Rayudu scored yet another swashbuckling half-century, Brendon McCullum hitting Malinga with ease and Jayawardene played artistic innings.

Kochi won the toss and elected to field first on a pitch which had little bounce and swing. Tendulkar was lucky enough to survive 2 close LBW shouts but he took full advantage of those chances and played brilliant shots all over the park.  He scored magnificent century and dominated the bowlers completely. Sachin’s brilliant innings also included MS Dhoni’s signature ‘Helicopter Shot’.  Sachin executed Helicopter shot to the perfection and proved that their is no better improviser than him in the game of cricket right now and everyday he adds something new to his batting. Ambati Rayudu played brilliant knock and scored his 2nd consecutive half-century. Rayudu matched Tendulkar stroke by stroke and later on sacrificed his wicket for the Master in last over. It was brilliant display of batting at Wankhede Stadium. It was maiden IPL century for Sachin Tendulkar. He is also highest runs scorer in IPL 4 so far and he is yet to be dismissed in this edition of IPL.

After reaching the score of 182, everybody including Mumbai Indian team though they won the game but Kochi Tuskers had other ideas. Coming into this match with two losses under their belt, it was really uphill task for Kochi to win this match but at the the same time it was important to win this match at any cost. Jayawardene this time came to open the innings with McCullum. Lasith Malinga bowled brilliant delivery upfront which almost cleaned up McCullum but Rohit Sharma made a mistake and dropped the easy catch of McCullum. Here on Kochi started hammering Mumbai bowlers severely.

McCullum was severe on Malinga and did not allow him to settle down at all. First time Malinga came under pressure in IPL. Sachin introduced Pollard but he proved more costlier than Malinga as McCullum and Jayawardene tore him apart. Both knitted century partnership between them. Harbhajan also failed to make an impact with wet ball as dew also played its part in Mumbai’s loss.  McCullum was hitting the ball hard while Jaywardene looked like an artist who sketched his innings brilliantly. Finally at the score of 128 Mumbai Indians succeeded in getting the breakthrough as Malinga bowled his Sri Lankan team-mate Jaywardene. Ravindra Jadeja was promoted up the order and he also didn’t disappointed either. He scored brilliant 25 and remain not-out till the end and helped Kochi Tuskers in registering their first win IPL 4. McCullum played brilliant innings of 81 and he was key architect of Kochi win.

Man of the Match

Brendon McCullum

Incredible record of 15 sixes…

Yesterday when Bangladesh entered the Mirpur ground to play 2nd ODI against Australia, they didn’t dreamt about the incredible World Record. Had they sensed that incredible record then certainly they wouldn’t have taken the field but as they say ‘cricket is game of glorious uncertainties’ and Monday 11th April, 2011 was the day when glorious records established by Aussie opener Shane Watson.

Shane Watson made an unbeatable century in Mirpur and smashed Bangladesh’s bowler. He hit a record 15 sixes and also hit 15 fours. He amazed the crowd with the tremendous hitting. He was in an amazing form from the word go as he started with the four on the first delivery. He made a total of 185 runs (not out) on 96 balls.He hit the boundaries on 30 balls that mean made 150 runs on just 30 balls and 35 runs on rest 65 balls. Watson relished the hot sub-continent conditions and turned the match Aussie way. 

With this outclass performance he broke the record of West Indian player  Xavier Marshall(Jamaica), who hit 12 sixes against Canada in 2008. Total centuries made by Watson are now six. He made his century off 69 deliveries, which is third fastest century made by Australian player. Now Watson holds the incredible record of 15 sixes in an innings, most by any player in World Cricket.

More Sixes

The record for most sixes in a Test match innings is 12, which was achieved by Pakistani all-rounder Wasim Akram during an innings of 257 not out against Zimbabwe in October 1996 at Sheikhupura. The One Day International record for most sixes hit in an innings is held by Shane Watson who hit 15 sixes against Bangladesh in Dhaka in April 2011.

Adam Gilchrist currently holds the record for most sixes in a Test career (100 as of March 2009). Shahid Afridi holds the record for most sixes in an ODI career (272 of 296 matches as of June 2010).

The record for the most sixes in a Test match is 27, which occurred during a 2006 Test match between Pakistan and India at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. In their first innings, Pakistan hit eleven sixes. India hit nine in their first innings. Pakistan hit seven more sixes in their second innings.

The record for the most sixes in a One Day International is 31, which was achieved in a match between India and New Zealand at AMI Stadium in March 2009. India hit 18 sixes in their innings and New Zealand hit 13. The equivalent record in Twenty20 Internationals was set on the same ground and on the same tour, 24 sixes were hit during the Twenty20 International match between India and New Zealand on 25 February 2009.

6 Sixes in an over

On 31 August 1968, Garfield Sobers became the first man to hit six sixes off a single six-ball over in first-class cricket.The over was bowled by Malcolm Nash in Nottinghamshire's first innings against Glamorgan at St. Helen's in Swansea. Nash was a seam bowler but somewhat rashly, as it turned out, decided to try his arm at spin bowling. This achievement was caught on film.

The feat was repeated by Ravi Shastri in January 1985. Playing for Bombay against Baroda at the Wankhede Stadium in Bombay, Shastri hit left-arm spinner Tilak Raj for six sixes in a single over.

On 16 March 2007, in a match between South Africa and the Netherlands at the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Herschelle Gibbs became the first person to hit six sixes off an over in a One Day Internationalmatch. The over was bowled by Dutch leg-spinner Daan van Bunge.

On 19 September 2007, in a match between England and India, Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes off a single six-ball over in a Twenty20 international cricket match during the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Durban, South Africa. The bowler was Stuart Broad of England.

List of all-time leading ‘Six Hitters’ in ODIs

Player(Country)	Career: From - To	Total Sixes
Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)	1996 - Present	274
Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)	1989 - 2009	270
Sachin Tendulkar (India)	1989 - Present	193
Sourav Ganguly (India)	1992 - 2007	190
Chirs Gayle (West indies)	1999 - Present	168
Ricky Ponting (Australia)	1995 - Present	162
Chris Cairns (New Zealand)	1991 - 2006	153
Adam Gilchrist(Australia)	1996 - 2008	149
Inzamam Ul Haq (Pakistan)	1991 - 2007	144
Yuvraj Singh (India)	2000 - 2011	141

Knight Riders discharged Deccan. Preview: RR vs DD and RCB vs MI

Finally, Gambhir came up the order and Kolkata Knight Riders opened their account of victory in IPL 4. Chasing KKRs par total on a pitch which had something in it for spinners, Deccan lost 3 quick wickets at the start of the innings. Shikhar Dhawan, Ishank Jaggi and skipper Kumar Sangakkara got out early leaving Deccan in all sorts of trouble. Chipli and Dan Christian gave some fight back after top-order collapse but in the end Deccan found 9 runs short of the target and lost the match. Second consecutive defeat for Sanga and his boys. Most importantly Sangakkara who were in tremendous form at World Cup looked completely out of sorts in IPL 4.

KKR started their innings brilliantly as Bisla and Kallis given them solid and steady start at the top and Kingiht RIder batsmen capitalise on that start and put up good total for the Deccan to chase. Monoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan played superb cameos for KKR which helped them in reaching good score. Gambhir once again failed with the bat but he came up the order this time and that was heartening for Shahrukh Khan and KKR. Deccan bowling looked ordinary except Amit Mishra who bowled superb spell for Deccan. Steyn was good in 1st spell but lost his way in 2nd spell. Ishant Sharma was disappointing from the Deccan’s perspective.

So KKR moved on and Deccan have to wait for sometime for the win. KKR started as favourite in this game and they lived upto the expectations of the fans at Edens. Crowd response was  mild from Kolkata as most of the fans refrain themselves from KKR match because ‘DADA’ was missing from KKR line-up.

Man of the Match

Two games coming up today and both are going to be terrific games.

 

---

Warnie’s Royals face Sehwag’s Daredevils.

In the first game today, Rajasthan Royals will take on Delhi Daredevils at Jaipur. Rajasthan Royals looks confident side after win in their opening game. On the other hand Daredevils will be keen to open their victory account in IPL 4. On paper RR and DD don’t have much difference. But confidence factor and shrewd tactics of captain Warnie gives the edge to RR. Moreover, they are playing at home and will have definite advantage of home crowd support and conditions. The likes of Ross Taylor, Rahul Dravid and Botha who was star in RR victory against Deccan will play important role in today’s game as well. RR bowling  also looks good even though it don’t have any big name except Shane Warne.

Daredevils batting is lacklustre and there is no doubt about it. The way they struggled against Mumbai Indians, seriously put question-mark on DDs batting. Except Sehwag and Warner they don’t have anybody on whom team can rely. If Warner and Sehwag will get out early then DD will surely fail in this match as well. Aaron Finch is good batsmen but it will be difficult for him to play on slow and low pitches of India. Daredevils have relative good bowling line-up as they have Morne Morkel and Irfan Pathan in their ranks.

Rajasthan Royals will certainly have upper hand in this match and Shewag have to pull out the win at any cost just to get the momentum.

Team Info:

Delhi Daredevils

Virender Sehwag (Captain), Irfan Pathan, Naman Ojha(Wicket-Keeper), Ajit Agarkar, Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav, Venugopal Rao, Aavishkar Salvi, Prashant Naik, Rajesh Pawar, Robin Bist, S Sriram, Tejashwi Yadav, Unmukt Chand, Varun Aaron, Vikash Mishra, Vivek Yadav, Yogesh Nagar, Shahbaz Nadeem (Foreign) David Warner, James Hopes, Morne Morkel, Aaron Finch, Mathew Wade, Roloef van der Merwe, Andrew McDonald, Travis Birt, Collin Ingram, Robert Frylinck.. Greg Shipperd(Coach)

---

Team Info:

Rajasthan Royals

Rahul Dravid, Pankaj Singh, Aakash Chopra, Abhishek Raut, Aditya Dole, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Paunikar, Ashok Menaria, Deepak Chahar, Dishant Yagnik, Faiz Fazal, Nayan Doshi, Pinal Shah, Samad Fallah, Siddharth Trivedi, Stuart Binny, Amit Singh, Dinesh Salunkhe, Swapnil Asnodkar, Sumit Narwal, Ankeet Chavan (Foreign) Shane Warne, Shane Watson, Ross Taylor, Johan Botha, Paul Collingwood, Shaun Tait.Shane Warne(Coach/Captain).

---

MI will face RCB Challenge

Confident Mumbai Indians will take on jubilant Royal Challenger Bangalore at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Both the teams coming in this match with a win under their belt. Both teams also look par as far as resources are concerned but MI  have little edge in their bowling with Malinga firing from the top. The runners-up of the third edition of the IPL retaining most of its previous players in the squad, the team management is keen to rotate the players in the initial games to asses their depth in both the departments - batting and bowling.

Sachin’s from is another good aspect of Mumbai Indians. Andrew SYmonds missed out in last match against DDs on the account of injury, so it will be interesting to see that MI will feature him in this match or not.On the other hand RCB will bank on in-form batsmen AB DeVilliers and Virat Kohli. Both are in good touch. Zaheer Khan provides great strength to RCB bowling and he will spearhead the RCB bowling attack against his ex-team.

It will going to be battle of nerves more than anything else as both teams are equal on paper and nobody starts as favourites in this game.

Team Info:

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Daniel Vettori (Captain), Virat Kohli, Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB De Villiers (wicket-keeper), Zaheer Khan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Dirk Nannes, Saurabh Tiwary, Mohammad Kaif, Abhimanyu Mithun, Charl Langeveldt, Luke Pomersbach, Rilee Rossouw, Johan van der Wath, Jonathan Vandiar, CM Gautam (Wicket-Keeper), S Arvind, Mayank Agarwal, Arun Karthick, Asad Khan Pathan, Abrar Kazi, Ryan Ninan, Bhareth Narayanan, Nuwan Pradeep.Ray Jennings(Coach)

---

Team Info:

Mumbai Indians

Sachin Tendulkar (c), Harbhajan Singh, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Aditya Tare, Ali Murtuza, Ambati Rayudu, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pawan Suyal, Rajagopal Sathish, Surul Kanwar, Surya Kumar Yadav, T Suman, Yazvendra Singh Chahal, (Foreign) Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Andrew Symonds, Davy Jacobs, James Franklin, Moises Henriques, Alden Blizzard, Dilhara Fernando

Prevew: QF-2 Litmus test ahead for the Aussies against Indians at Motera.

Thursday is going to be a D-Day for India as well as Australia. One will succeed in achieving their goals another one will go home . 4 time champions and 3 consecutive time winners of the World Cup trophy, can Aussies pass the litmus test? According to law of averages they will fail but you never count them out because they are virtually invincibles. For India, Champion of 1983 edition, this is the biggest occasion to show the world that they are the top side in the World and they are still favourites to win the trophy. Its a final before the final. Its revenge time for India. Its time to settle few old scores which is haunting Indian team and Indian cricket for very long. Its time to break the arrogance of the most arrogant team in the world. Will Dhoni and his men do it?

It is the ground where history created many times. Legendary Sunil Gavaskar reached his  landmark of 10000 runs and became first cricketer to achieve that feat. Kapil Dev broke the record of highest wickets of Sir Richard Hadlee on this very ground when he claimed 432nd wicket. This ground also witnessed first double century of Sachin Tendulkar in test cricket. So as far as records are concern Motera ground is happy hunting ground for the Indians but their ODI record is poor on this ground as they lost 7 matches out of 13. So this record is speaking against Indians.

India possess best batting line-up in the World  at the moment but that batting failed to an extent in the tournament so far. Tendulkar and Sehwag are among the highest run-getters but middle-order failed to impress so far and often Indian batting collapsed in the tournament after getting into good positions. I think India have to rectify that and they have to sort out the 'Powerplay Ghost' immediately because thats where Team India is losing the plot. But there is good thing that Team India is collapsing after reaching good scores and that will give them some solace when they take on mighty Aussies at Motera in Ahmedabad. So far India played on the venues where they got flat pitches and Motera will  not going to be different one. 

Indian batting will get some more strength with the return of its swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag who missed the last group stage game against West Indies due to allergic reaction in the knee. Sehwag's sheer presence on the crease is enough to demoralise the opposition. Who can forget his 83 run innings against Australia in 2003 World Cup finals at Johannesburg. He was the only batsmen who took on mighty Aussies in that game. So top-order batting is not that bigger concern for India it is middle-order and lower-order which has failed to score runs when required. 

India's bowling was considered its weakest link and it was matter of concern till the match against West Indies  but with the inclusion of R. Ashwin it has certainly got teeth to its attack. So far Zaheer Khan was the lone warrior but now he will get good enough support from Ashwin and Harbhajan has also showed the signs of improvement since last few matches, so bowling is no more weak link. One can also keep in mind that so far Indian bowlers bowled on the flat tracks where opposition bowlers were also gone for plenty so I think in Ahmedabad if Indian bowlers will go for runs then Aussie bowlers will also leak plenty of runs. I think more than bowling Dhoni have to work on the field placings because field placings often affect the bowler's performance. So far Dhoni set defensive fields and never tried to attack the  opposition batsmen and thats where India faltered. I think Dhoni have to be offensive in the field placings. I think Harbhajan and Ashwin must have silly point, slip and a short leg when they are bowling. Dhoni have to keep atleast 5 fielders in the ring  in order to stop the quick singles so that will create pressure on opposition batsmen to go for big shots and that    will give chance to the bowlers to pick up wickets. So field placings have to be spot-on and no easy singles for the opposition batsmen if India wants to stop its opposition from getting big score.

Aussies are coming into match with a defeat under their belt at the hands of Pakistan. Pakistan broke their consecutive 34 matches winning streak in the World Cup and Australians will be over-cautious in the match against India. Form of captain Ricky Ponting is big concern for Australia but he is a big match player and he is one innings away from hitting the form and its possible that he hits the form against India because he was the one who scored 140 runs of 121 balls against India in 2003 World Cup finals which eventually Australia won. So Aussies must be expecting similar kind of innings from Ponting at Motera if they want to go into semis. Motera wicket will be a belter and it will give good opportunity to Ricky Ponting to score half-century or century. So India have to be cautious of that and try to pick Ricky as early as possible. Brett Lee and Shane Watson are the back-bone of Australian team. If these two will perform to their potential in this crucial game then Australia will certainly win this game. Brett Lee is the only bowler who got Sachin Tendulkar out 14 times in 39 games most by any bowler in the world. So Sachin v/s Lee will going to be mouth-watering contest.

Australia have few middle-order batting issues like India and their middle-order have to click at any cost at Motera. If their midlle-order fails which often happened in the tournament so far then this will going to be their last match in this World Cup. Another problem is their spin department. They don't have quality spinner in their ranks who can run through the side which is required badly in the sub-continental conditions. They must be missing Shane Warne badly as Jason Krezja failed to impress so far and Steve Smith, the leg-spinner has been not utilized much by Ponting. So big headache  for Ponting as far as spin bowling is concern and Aussies batsmen themselves are vulnerable against spinners. If we talk about Shaun Tait and Mitchel Johnson then Tait looked liability so far  and Johnson has picked up wickets but in patches as there is no consistency seen in Johnson's bowling and flat wicket of Motera will not serve very well to the Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson. Ponting have to come out with innovative plans to tackle strong Indian batting line-up other wise high scoring game is on cards at Motera.

This is the contest which cricket lovers waiting for a while and it will be interesting to see who will advance to the semis because it is evenly balanced contest.

Agony continues for Kiwis as Kangaroos scored emphatic victory

Kiwi minds must be full of thoughts about whats going wrong with them in last few months as they are losing series and matches like novices. Kiwis faced huge loss at the hands of Aussies at Jamtha, Nagpur. If talk about resources and talent then Kiwi team is no less to anybody in this tournament. They have class players in McCullum, Guptill, Taylor, Vettori and Southee but somehow they are losing the plot and their agony continuing. Today also top-order of Kiwis falter badly and I must say if  Vettori had not scored those valuable 40 odd runs in the end then Kiwis had been bundled out for less than 150. I think they have to believe in their abilities and play sensibly to their strengths.

Now on every match becomes crucial for them, it will  going to be a difficult task for them to come-back in the tournament because they have to face Sri Lanka and Pakistan who are very tough opposition in sub-continent conditions. Kiwis can make it to the quarter-finals somehow even if they lose to Sri Lanka and Pakistan but one or two upset happens in their group then it will become difficult for the Kiwis so its important that they win atleast 4 matches to go smoothly into the quarter-finals. Their top-order is not at all clicking and hence their bowler fails to make any impression in absence of good runs on the scoreboard, so its important that top-order get among the runs and give something to their bowlers.

Australia chased down the score of 206 in just 34 overs at the loss of 7 wickets reflects the pathetic situation of Kiwi team. I feel John Wright and Daniel Vettori have to make some changes in batting-order. I think they have to open with Ryder and Guptill and ask Brendon McCullum to bat one-down. New Zealand must play Jacob Oram in all the matches. I don't understand the reason of leaving him out today for Jamie How who is struggling with his batting at the moment. Oram also gives the option of bowling. Its important for New Zealand players to bring some smiles on the face of earth-quake victims back home by winning few matches.

As far as Australia is concerned they are playing like invincibles at the moment. They are bowling well, fielding well and today their top-order also got some runs under their belt but worry for them is the  form of captain Ricky Ponting who is clearly struggling with the bat. He has to score few runs just to set example for the fellow players. Ponting  have lost his confidence and looks completely out of sorts. I think his finger injury is worrying him too much and he does not look like the Ponting whom we know. There is no flow in his footwork and strokes. Australian team is winning at the moment so nobody is questioning about Ponting's batting but moment Australia start losing I think Ponting will become first victim of the loss if he continues to fail with the bat.

Good thing for Australia is their bowling. Lee, Tait and Johnson bowled very well today and restricted New Zealand by picking up regular wickets and bowling them out in just 45 overs. Right through this tournament their bowling is their main ammunition and doing very well for them. I think return of Brett Lee has done wonders to their bowling and under Lee's leadership all the bowlers are doing very well. At the moment Australians not giving an inch to the opposition batsmen and looks like going into the quarter-finals unbeaten. Brilliant performance today must have bolstered their confidence for coming matches.

So everything went perfect for Australia today except Ponting's batting and for Kiwis it was horrible match and they have to come out all guns blazing in their next match if they want to advance in the tournament.

Team Australia: Analysis and Odds for ICC World Cup’11

Australia

Group Rivals :-	Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya
Coach :-	Tim Nielsen
Captain :-	Ricky Ponting
Best Performance in WC :-	Champions in 1987, 1999, 2003,2007
Highest Score in WC :-	377-6 (50 Overs) v/s South Africa in WC’07
Lowest Score in WC :-	129 All Out (38.2 Overs) v/s India in WC’83
Best Individual Score :-	158, Matthew Hayden v/s West Indies in WC’07
Best Bowling :-	7-15 Glenn McGrath v/s Namibia in WC’03
Matches Won/Lost/Tied/NR	51-17-1-0
The Odds :-	7-5
ICC ODI Ranking :-	No.1

MAN TO WATCH Shane WATSON Shane Watson is the face of future for Australia. He is one of the world’s best all-rounder, a clean and uncomplicated hitter who plays any kind of game from first gear to overdrive. He is pillar of the  Australian batting because he opens the batting and gives good and quick starts to Australia in all the 3 formats of the game. He knows the sub-continent conditions very well as he is playing for Rajasthan Royals in IPL for last 3 seasons. He is the one man who can demolish any attack on his day and a very good medium pacer as well who can bowl economically and pick up key wickets in crucial moments and not to mention he is a brilliant fielder like all Aussie players. Career-best performance: Batting: 161* v/s England at MCG in 2011 Bowling: 36-4 v/s Pakistan at Brisbane in 2010

Australia is defending champion in ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. This Australian team is only team which had won Cricket World Cup 4 times and won the World Cup 3 times consecutively since 1999. They are undefeated  in the World Cup finals since 1999. In short they are World Cup rulers since 1999. They are also No.1 team in ODIs according to ICC rankings and they simply justify their No.1 rank by giving superlative performance in shorter version of the game. Their dominance in ODIs can be defined from the fact that currently they are leading ongoing Commonwealth Bank ODI series 5-1 against England. They recently lost Ashes Test Series against England at home but that loss has not affected their ODI performance. They are really invincible atleast in shorter form of the game. This Australian team can bat well, bowl well and field well anywhere in the world. Different venue and pitch conditions does not make much effect on their performances and not to forget they possess two of the fastest bowlers in the world in Shaun Tait and Brett Lee who can demolish any batting line-up on any ground in the world with their sheer pace.

Australian team’s record in ODIs speaks everything about their domination. What could possibly be their Achilles’ heel? Key players in Ricky Ponting who is regular captain, off-spinner Nathan Hauritz, left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty, dependable batsman Micahel Hussey and Shaun Marsh are doubtful for the initial stages of the World Cup due to injuries. But not to forget they enough capable replacements for the injured players atleast in shorter version of the game. I will not be surprise if they will retain elite cricketing trophy once again.

Key Players for Australia: Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Brett Lee  and Cameroon White