T20 defeat: Dhoni blames lack of partnerships

   Indian captain MS Dhoni blamed  India's 6 wicket defeat against England  in the T2o match  on  the batsmen's failure to build partnerships.


"Partnership is key, doesn't matter what format it is. Once you lose quick wickets, like we did after 12 overs, it doesn't help. You want to have at least five or six wickets in the slog overs," remarked Dhoni after his side lost nine wickets.


India were 104 for one in the 13th over before being bowled out for 165, with three balls remaining.

How did England tame Sachin?

  Here is an interesting article about how England managed to silense the bat of  the maestro who was in search of his 100th century.

http://www.espnstar.com/cricket/international-cricket/news/detail/item659780/Mathematician-helps-Eng-tame-Sachin/

The Great Wall of Indian Cricket

RAHUL DRAVID stands tall among the ruins of Indian cricket in England.   He is now the second highest century maker in Tests for India after Sachin Tendulkar.  He has pushed legendary Sunil Gavaskar to the third position.  Before going into the England series, he had 32 centuries, out of which only one did not bear fruit. That was against Zimbabwe 13 years ago in Harare, where he made 128. Unfortunately, the three hundreds that came after it were all for a losing cause. It is now four defeats out of 35 hundreds. 


Kudos to his hard work, dedication and commitment to the game.

Sree says , " England have played well"

Interacting with media after the second day’s play here, Sreesanth said: “Honestly, they (England batsmen) played well. You can’t take anything out of them because they played really well. They attacked. They stayed there. They kept leaving the good balls and they didn’t go fetching outside the off-stump. (Except) a couple of good shouts (nothing happened) but honestly it was also a pure batting track as well.”

Gaylestorm hits Kings XI

Chris Gayle scored a blistering 107 off 49 balls which contained 10 fours and 9 sixes in the RCB vs King's XI Punjab match.

Now its time for Raiphy to hog the limelight as KTK beats Kolkatta Knight Riders by 17 runs

 
     Today Raiphy Vincent Gomez produced his best ever bowling performance to  help KTK to restrict Kolkatta  to 139 for 7 in 20 overs while chasing KTK's score of 156.

Gomez: "It's my best spell in this level. I stuck to my basics on a slow wicket. I wanted to keep my role going." He had the figures of 2 for 14 in 4 overs.  


  KTK scored 156 for  5  in 20 overs.  Jayawardhene batted beautifully for  55. Brad Hodge scored a quick fire 35 off 19 balls which contained  3 fours and 2 sixes. 


                               In its reply  Kolkatta Knight Riders were cruising steadily with openers Jacques Kallis and Eoin Morgen took the score to 69 in 10 overs.  Then Raiphy  clean bowled Kallis for 45.  Goutham Gambhir got out in the very next ball.   VinayKumar took 2 wickets and RP Singh took the wicket of Mark Boucher in the last ball of the match. Prasanth Parameswaran bowled a restrictive spell. He gave away only 21 runs in his 4 overs. KKR could score only 139 in 20 overs.  Morgan top scored with 66 from 51 balls.




Brad Hodge was the Man of the match.

Brief scores:

Kochi Tuskers Kerala 156-5 in 20 overs (M. Jayawardene 55, B. Hodge 35 not out, M. Klinger 29; J. Unadkat 2-25) bt Kolkata Knight Riders 139-7 in 20 overs (E. Morgan 66, J. Kallis 45; R. Gomez 2-14, V. Kumar 2-28) by 17 runs 

Ganguly signs for Pune Warriors

"I was approached by them yesterday and I've confirmed about my availability to them. I am leaving for Mumbai today and the details will be announced there," Ganguly told reporters on Tuesday.


Confirming the development, Pune Warriors team director Abhijit Sarkar said that roping in Ganguly was not a gamble and he would prove his worth with the former India captain being the "best cricketing brain" in the country.