India Vs Pakistan The Second ODI

The second one day international match between India and Pakistan was one of the best matches of all time. The host India batted first scoring a mammoth total of 322 runs. The greatest batsman of the world the little master scored 99 runs and was one run short of a three digits score. Chasing a 300+ runs in a one day international match is not a joke as 265+ runs is a defend able score. So the match was literally in India's favor but not to be. Riding on Younis Khan's century and Sahid Afridi's terrible knock Pakistan went on to win the match. India could not defend such a good total in their own ground. However the Pakistani team deserve some appreciation after that big win over their big rival India. The one day series is the best of five match series and now the score is one each with three more to go and we can expect a lot more excitement in the remaining matches as well.

South African Cricket Team

South Africa is one of the favorites to win any championships in cricket. The South African team is very well balanced team in all departments. Whether it is about bowling, fielding, batting everything is good but they are an unlucky team. Being such a good team they did not reach the T-20 World Cup Final. The history also proves it all. In the ICC World Cup as well they have never crossed the Semi-final stages. Though there is no fault in the team but it’s a fate I should say. They once reached the semi-final of the world cup when England beat them where Duck Worth Louis method was applied. Had the rule been not applied South Africa would have beaten the English team which the cricket lovers know. Following this World Cup South Africa again crashed out of the preliminary rounds when they hosted the World Cup jointly with Zimbabwe and Kenya. In the next edition of the World Cup too, they were eliminated in the semi-final by Australia. This is the game which no one would forget. The final score was leveled but due to the run rate Australia proceeded to the final and won the ICC World Cup as well.

In this T-20 World Cup too, they were a very good team but just couldn’t go beyond the semi-final. The likes of Graeme Smith the skipper, hard hitter Justin Kemp, technically sound batsman Hershelle Gibbs and A. B. D. Villers too could not do anything. Nevertheless South Africa is a very good team in fact the best and some day they will lift the cup and dominate the world of cricket like the Australians are doing right now.

T-20 World Cup Inauguration

The first match of the T-20 ICC Cricket World Cup saw one of the best match. The West Indies losing the toss was sent in to bat first by the South Africans. Chris Gayle the opening batsmen showed no mercy against the bowlers and scored a century. A century in a twenty overs each side a match is not a small thing. He hit every bowlers and hit the ball across the boundry via air more than via ground. This is probably the first ton hit by any batsmen in a twenty twenty cricket match. Though Gayle laid a solid platform for the bowlers to defend the score the West Indians went on to lose the match. Bad fielding by the West Indians was the only reason for the loss. Hershelle Gibbs shone from the winning team who played a good inning of 9 plus runs and not out as well. Finally the man of the match was awarded to Chris Gayle though his contribution was not enough for the team's victory but he deserved the man of the match award. The favorite and the home team made a good start to this tournament as they chased a very descent total of 200 plus runs in a twenty twenty cricket match. There are a lot of other blasts and paces in the South African Cricket grounds to be witnessed for a couple of more days.

Afghanistan Goes Down Against Nepal In ICC Under 19 Cup

Nepal won the ICC Under 19 Cup held at Kuala Lampur, Malaysia this being the fourth time. This thus opened the gate to the ICC U-19 World Cup which is going to take place in Malaysia in February 2008.

In the final match Nepal played against Afghanistan. After winning the toss Nepal opted to bat first, this being the very first time in the tournament that Nepal had decided to defend the run. Though a shaky start Nepal accumulated 172 runs in 49.4 overs losing all the wickets. A.K. Gupta scored the highest number of runs of 48 runs off 48 balls . Nepal then restricted Afghanistan to just 124 runs in 45.5 overs snaring all ten wickets. Keshari took 3 wickets to restrict Afghanistan. From the Afghanistan side Shirzai scored a brilliant half century contributing individual 66 runs half the team's total. Nepal's victory in this final match is due to some strong fielding and tight bowling. Afghanistan conceded 24 extras whereas Nepal just gave away 2 extra runs in 45.5 overs. This is also the factor that saw Nepal win the final.

Both the teams Nepal and Afghanistan were the favorites to win or reach the final. And as the prediction did not go wrong Nepal had a very good tournament without losing a single match which is a great achievement. For more detailed information you can always log on to www.icc-cricket.com and read more about this tournament and the world cricket as well.

Nepal has done well in this tournament in fact the best and we can look forward for a better performance in the ICC Under-19 World Cup which is to be held at Malaysia.