Day 2:Cook 's Ton Puts England In Total Control

Team India started the Day 2 of the ongoing 3rd Test in the hope of taking their score to some respectable total but couldn't managed do so as they got out in just first of hour of the morning with M.S.Dhoni being the last mam to fall.He hit a half-century before his dismissal.He made 52 runs off 158 balls which helped India get past 300 runs,as they made 316 runs in total.Monty Panesar again proved like a headache for India as he picked total 4 wickets with 2 wickets in the morning today itself.Now,It was upto the Indian bowlers to take back India into the game but English openers had some other plans in their mind for Indian bowling attack.

Both the openers,Alastair Cook and Nick Compton,played sensibly and maturily especially Cook.Indian team got the chance of dismissing him early but Cheteshwar Pujara dropped his catch in slips off the bowling of Zaheer Khan when was just at 17 runs but after this he didn't looked back and went on to hit his 23rd Test century which makes him the leading century maker English batsmen in history surpassing Walley Hammond and team-mate Kevin Pietersen.He also completed 7000 Test runs and he is the youngest batsman to reach this milestone surpassing cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar with an age of 27 years and 347 days.

On the other hand,Nick Compton reached his maiden half-century but got out soon after as he was given leg before wicket off the bowling of Pragyan Ojha.He was the only man to got out for the English Team today as at the end of the day's play,Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott were not out at 136 and 21 runs respectively.

Brief Scores:-

India: 316 all out (105.0 overs)

S.Tendulkar: 76 (202)                                M.Panesar: 4/90 (40.0)

G.Gambhir: 60 (169)                                  J.Anderson: 3/89 (28.0)

England: 216/1 (73.0 overs)

A.Cook: 136* (236)                                 P.Ojha: 1/65 (19.0)

N.Compton: 57 (137)                               I.Sharma: 0/35 (15.0)

Anderson Helps England Take Control Of Day 1 Of 3rd Test

The 3rd Test of the series between India and England at Kolkata's Eden Garden here today. The Indian captain M.S.Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first.English team came into this match with only 4 bowlers.Both the teams made only changes as England brought in Steven Finn in place of Stuart Broad and India brought Ishant Sharma in place of Harbhajan Singh.

Both the Indian openers started well by adding 47 runs for first wicket as Virender Sehwag got run out.Indians were at good stage once till they lost their 3rd wicket in the form of Gautam Gambhir.He made 60 off 124 balls.After his dismissal,no other batsmen could perform well except Sachin Tendulkar who struck his first half-century in nearly last 10 Tests.He got caught behind off the bowling of James Anderson.He made 76 runs which also included 13 fours.He was the sixth wicket to fall.

After his dismissal,Dhoni and Ashwin tried to hold on for rest of the day but Ashwin was clean bowled by Anderson in 89th over after England took the second new ball.At the end of the day's play,Dhoni and Zaheer Khan were at the crease 22 and 0 runs respectively.James Anderson was the hero of the day as he took 3 wickets

Brief Scores:-
India: 273/7 (90.0 overs)
S.Tendulkar: 76 (155)                             J.Anderson: 3/68 (21.0)
G.Gambhir: 60 (124)                              M.Panesar: 2/74 (35.0) 

It Is "Immoral" To Ask For Turning Pitches:Pitch Curator

The pitch curator of Eden Gardens,venue for 3rd Test of ongoing Test series between India and England,has criticised MS Dhoni for his demand of turning pitch by calling it as "Immoral".The pitch curator of Kolkata's Eden Garden is Prabir Mukherjee.He has also demanded a month's leave from work.


Prabir Mukherjee said, "Why does M.S. Dhoni want square turner on the first day? Then why are you selling tickets for five days? It's immoral." He also said, "I have not resigned but asked for a month's leave.I am not loving this atmosphere and not happy that Cricket Association of Bengal did not support me."

The 3rd Test of the series will start on December 5.Currentely,the series is tied at 1-1 with India losing the Mumbai Test where Dhoni had also asked for the turning pitch.

Sehwag Hits Century,India In Control After Day 1

The much awaited India-England series went underway here at Ahmedabad with Dhoni winning the toss and electing to bat first.Both the Indian openers Gambhir and Sehwag started cautiously.They played their strokes with great control.They comleted 100 runs partnership in 20th over which is quite aggressive when we talk about Test cricket.The partnership was broken with the fall of Gautam Gambhir who got out with just 5 runs left for his half-century.He was clean bowled by off spinner Graeme Swann.But then came Cheteshwar Pujara didn't let the momentum go down as he also joined the Sehwag in the run scoring party.


In the meanwhile,Virender Sehwag completed his 23rd Test Century with a four off Swann's bowling.His century came off just 90 balls.This was his first century in last 2 years.But after adding 17 more runs to his score,he was bowled by Swann.The partnership was broken for 90 runs.Then,both Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli got out cheaply with adding only 13 and 19 runs respectively.But Cheteshwar Pujara and Yuvraj Singh made sure that India don't lose any more wickets as they ended the day at 330/4 with Pujara being unbeaten on 98 and Yuvraj on 25.

Graemw Swann was the pick of the bowler and only reason for being happy for the visitors as he picked all the 4 wickets to fall on the day.In the process,he also surpassed the Jim Laker to become England's most successful off spinner with 196 wickets under his belt.

Brief Scores:-
India (1st Innings) 323/4 (93.5 overs)
V.Sehwag:      117 (209)                         G.Swann: 4/85 (32.0)
C.Pujara:       98* (185)

Indian Team Announced For First Two Tests

The BCCI selectors announced the Indian Team for first two Test matches of the four match series against England at home.As expected,Yuvraj Singh made a comeback to Test Team after his all-rounder performance in practice match played against England.Apart from him,Harbhajan Singh & Murali Vijay also made to the squad.The series will start from November 15.


The Team is as follows:-
MS Dhoni (c & wk),Virender Sehwag,Gautam Gambhir,Sachin Tendulkar,Virat Kohli,Yuvraj Singh,Cheteshwar Pujara,Ravichandran Ashwin,Umesh Yadav,Pragyan Ojha,Ajinkya Rahane,Harbhajan Singh,Murali Vijay & Zaheer Khan.

Schedule Announced For India Pakistan Series

The schedule for highly anticipated upcoming series between India and Pakistan has been announced.The series will be played during the time when England team will go back to their home to celebrate Christmas and New Year.They will return to play the ODI series starting on January 11.


The schedule is given below:

Date          Fixture          Venue
Dec 25        1st T20          Bangalore
Dec 27        2nd T20        Ahmedabad
Dec 30        1st ODI         Chennai
Jan 3           2nd ODI        Kolkata
Jan 6           3rd ODI         Delhi

Pakistan Tour Cleared By Indian Home Ministry

The Indian Home Ministry has cleared the tour of Pakistan to India.The clearance was given during the meeting between ministry officials and BCCI representatives held at Delhi.The representatives included chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty,IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla and Chief Executive Sundar Raman.


Pakistan will arrive in India on December 22 for a series of 3 ODIs and 2 T20s.The venues for the fixtures are Chennai,Delhi,Kolkata,Ahmedabad and Bangalore.It will be the first bilateral series between the two teams since 2007.

Sun TV Buys Hyderabad IPL Franchise

The Sun TV has win the bid for Hyderabad IPL franchise for a 5 year term by bidding $15.9m per year.The decision was announced after the meeting of the IPL's governing council in Mumbai on Thursday.The bids were invited by them after the termination of Deccan Chargers due to their failure in meeting the deadline for raising its bank guarantee.

Th Sun TV won the bid by defeating PVP Ventures who offered $12.9m per year.This was their second time in bidding as they failed to win the bid last time also.

The Sun TV is a private Television and Entertainment company with around 32 channels spreading across different genres including movies,news,music etc.

We Are Still The Best Opening Batsmen In The World:Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir has said that the opening pair of him and Virender Sehwag is still the best opening pair in the world.Both the batsmen are under the knife of critics currently because of their poor performences in recent times.

"We still averages 53 as an opening pair,which I think as one of the best when it comes to opening the batting in world cricket.There are not many opening pairs who have played for such a long time and have an average of 53 per innings.And if 53 is not good enough,I don't know what is good enough",Gambhir told PTI.

He also added,"As an opening pair,you average 50 per inning and if you are giving 50 runs start in every innings,you can't do more and if people talks about contributing,I will suggest them to look at the stats."

The opening pair has failed to deliver in the recent series of India against Australia and England.At the tour of Australia,the pair's highest opening partnership was of just 26 runs.All the eyes will be on them,when they will open for the team against the England in upcoming home series.

Laxman Named The Captain Of Hyderabad For New Ranji Season

The former Indian batsman VVS Laxman has been named the captain of Hyderabad team for the upcoming Ranji Season.He will take over the control of the team from Dwaraka Ravi Teja who has been named the Vice-Capain of the team.

VVS Laxman took the retirement from International Cricket earlier this year,just before the start of India New Zealand Test Series.Apart from him,the off spinner Pragyan Ojha has also got selected for the team.

Hyderabad Squad:
VVS Laxman (C), Dwaraka Ravi Teja (V-C), Akshath Reddy, Hanuma Vihari, Arjun Yadav, Syed Ahmed Quadri, Bavanaka Sandeep, Ibrahim Khaleel, Pragyan Ojha, Ashish Reddy, Mohammed Khader, Anwar Ahmed, Pagadala Naidu, Abhinav Kumar, Vishal Sharma.

New Ranchi Stadium Gets Approval From ICC

The newly built stadium at Ranchi has got the approval from ICC for hosting International matches.It was inspected by the team headed by David Boon.They inspected the stadium and was satisfied by the facilites provided there.The stadium was also inspected by a 3-member team from England Cricket Board (ECB) and they also gave it the green signal.

"The ICC had given the green signal to hold the ODI four days ago. The last time Jharkhand had hosted an ODI was in 2006 against England (in Jamshedpur)," Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) president Amitabh Choudhary said. "And there is every possibility of Dhoni leading India on his home soil for the first time." 

The stadium is yet to host a match there.It will be hosting its first international match on January 19 which will bw the 3rd ODI of the upcoming series between India and England.The stadium is located at Ranchi which is the hometown of Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni.

Sachin Tendulkar To Recieve Order Of Australia Honour

The God Of Cricket and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar will recieve the Order Of Australia honour from Australian Cabinet Minister Simon Crean during his visit to India.The announcement was made by the The Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard.

"I'm very pleased we're going to confer on Sachin Tendulkar membership of the Order of Australia, an AM," Gillard told reporters in Delhi. "This is a very special honour, very rarely awarded to someone who is not an Australian citizen or an Australian national.He is away playing cricket - surprise, surprise - but the award will be conferred on him by minister Crean when he visits India. So a very special honour and a very special recognition of such a great batsman." 

Sachin Tendulkar will be only fourth non-Australian Cricketer to get the honour after Brian Lara,Sir Gary Sobers and Clive Lloyd,all three are West Indian cricketers.Currentely,Sachin Tendulkar is in South Africa for the ongoing Champions League T20 Championship representing his IPL Team Mumbai Indians.

Bids Invited By BCCI For New IPL Team

The governing body of cricket in India i.e. BCCI has invited bids for the new IPL Team after the termination of Deccan Chargers from the IPL.The bids are invited for 12 cities Ahmedabad,Vizag,Dharamshala,Cuttak,Indore,Noida,Rajkot,Kanpur,Nagpur,Ranchi,Kochi & Hyderabad.The terminated IPL Team was based in Hyderabad.


The termination of Deccan Chargers was confirmed the Bombay High Court on Saturday.The BCCI decided to terminate it after it was discovered that the franchise owners i.e. Deccan Chargers Holding Ltd. (DHCL) were trying to sell it.The deadline for submitting the bids is till noon on October 25 .

Sachin Tendulkar To Reasses Himself Against England Series

Sachin Tendulkar has said that he will reasses his performance against England in the upcoming Test Series in November and then he will take the decision about his future.He said that he will have a look on his form and his mind of frame.

"I need not to take a call right now.When I will play in November, I will re-assess things.I am 39 and I don't think I have plenty of cricket left in me. But it depends on my frame of mind and my physical ability to deliver. When I feel that I am not delivering what is needed, and then I will re-look at the scheme of things. I am already 39 and no one expects me to go on playing forever,"Tendulkar said in an interview.

Currentely,he is undergoing criticism for his poor form by the sports critics and the experts.He got bowled in three innings against New Zealend in the last sereis played at home.He also said,"I am looking at it series by series. As long as I feel that I can deliver, I will continue playing. It also depends on what the team feels and whether I am motivated enough to continue being on top of the game."

Kohli Shines Once Again In India's Win Against Paksitan

India defeated Pakistan by 8 wickets with 3 overs still to remain in the must win Super Eight game for them.Virat Kohli was once again the man who scripted the win for India and with this win India continued their winning streak against Pakistan in any World Cup match.


Team India captain M.S.Dhoni went with 7 batsmen this time.He won the toss and elected to bowl first.Irfan Pathan gave the first blow to Pakistan by trapping Imran Nazir in front of wickets in just second over of the innings.After his departure,Pakistan sent Shahid Afridi at top of the order to boost the run rate but he couldn't accomplish the task.He did hit 2 fours but finally gave his wicket to Balaji as he looke to clear the boundery but got caught by Suresh Raina.After this Pakistan lost 3 more quick wickets and their score was 59/5 at one stage but both Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik played sensibely and added 47 runs for sixth wicket which was also the highest partnership for them in the match.This partnership was broken by R.Ashwin as he got rid of Shoaib Malik.After this none of the batsmen could do well and Pakistan was bowled out for 128 runs in 19.4 overs.

In reply,India too lost the wicket of Gautam Gambhir early as he gave a return catch to Raza Hasan on the second ball of the innings but Virat Kohli and Virender Sehwag took the charge of the chase from here onwards and added 75 runs for 2nd wicket.Meanwhile,Virat Kohli also completed his half-century.The partnership got broken when Virender Sehwag was caught out by Umar Gul on the bowling of Shahid Afridi as he looke to go for a six.After his departure,Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli took India to home with 18 balls still remaining.Virat Kohli made 78* off 61 balls and he was adjudged the Man of the Match .

Brief Scores:-
Pakistan: 128 (19.4 overs)
Shoaib Malik: 28 (29)                                       Laxmipathy Balaji: 3/22 (3.4)
Umar Akmal:21 (31)                                         Ravichandran Ashwin: 2/16 (4.0)

India: 129/2 (17.0 overs)
Virat Kohli: 78* (61)                                         Raza Hasan: 1/22 (4.0)
Virender Sehwag: 29 (38)                                  Shahid Afridi: 1/34 (4.0)

India To Face Pakistan In Super 8

Team India is going to face Pakistan in most anticipated match of Super Eight of ICC World T20 2012 here at Colombo.It is a must win game for India if they have to remain in this comeptition but it will not be an easy task for them after seeing the current form of Pakistani team which is still unbeaten in the tournament.

Team India is also facing problems over playing seven batsmen instead of five bowlers.It will be interesting to see what combination does Dhoni plays in the match.He was also criticised for his decision for not playing Virender Sehwag in the last match against Aussies which India lost badly.One major matter of conecern for Indian team is their batting as none of the batsmen have shown their form except Virat Kohli.

If we talk about Pakistani team then it looks much more confident than Indian team and if we see the way they defeated South Africa in the last match it clearly shows their level of confidence is very high.Their batsmen are in great touch especially Mohammed Hafeez,Umar Akmal and Nasir Jamshed while their opener Imran Nazir has also played some great knocks in the tournament.In bowling department they have Saeed Ajmal who is still the mystery bowler for all the bastsmen around the world.They have also defeated India the warm-up game earlier before the start of the tournamaent so they certainely have an edge over Indian team.

It will certainely be an exciting match with it's special moments but I personally think that Pakistan has more chances of winning it than India.

Super Eight Fixtures Of Indian Team

The league stage of ICC T20 Cricket World Cup is over and all the top 8 teams have qualified for Super Eight Round.In Super Eight stage,all the 8 teams have been classified into two groups of 4 teams each with top 2 teams from which group qualifying for semi-finals.

In the group of Team India the other three teams are Australia,Pakistan and South Africa.The schedule of Indian Team for Super Eight is given below:

  Date                 Fixture                Venue           Time (IST)
28 Sept        India vs Australia         Colombo        7:30PM
30 Sept        India vs Pakistan         Colombo        7:30PM
02 Oct         India vs South Africa   Colombo        7:30PM

Pakistan defeated India by 5 wkts in the much awaited warm-up game of ICC World T20 2012 here at Colombo.It was the last warm-up game for both the teams before the start of real battle as the World Cup gets underway from tomorrow.

India won the toss and elected to bat first.Both the Indian openers added 41 runs for the first wicket but it was Virender Sehwag who hit most of the runs.Gautam Gambhir  made only 10 runs and he was clean bowled by Umar Gul.Soon after,Sehwag too followed him after he was caught by Afridi on the bowling of Saeed Ajmal.But after this,man in form for India Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma added 127 runs for third wicket.Both of them hit their half-centuries and helped India reach 150.Rohit fell just after completing his half-century as he was trapped lbw by Saeed Ajmal in the 19th over of the innings.Finally,India set a target of 186 runs off 20 overs for Pakistan to win the game.

Pakistan started their chase steadily with both openers playing cautiously but they lost quick wickets.First to go was Imran Nazir who made 13 runs.After him,Nasir Jamshed got run out without even facing a delievery.After this,Mohammed Hafeez and Kamran Akmal added 51 runs for third before Hafeez got out.Soon after his departure,Pakistan lost their middle-order batsmen quickely with Pakistan's score changing from 84/3 to 91/5 in 11.3 overs and it looked that they already lost the match but Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik had other plans in store for Indians.Both of them played very aggressively and added unbeaten 95 runs for sixth wicket and took Pakistan to win.Kamran Akmal sealed the win for Pakistan with a huge six off Irfan Pathan's bowling in 20th over.

Brief Scores:
India: 185/3 (20 overs)
V.Kohli: 75*(47)                                        S.Ajmal: 2/22 (4.0)
R.Sharma: 56 (40)                                      U.Gul: 1/31 (4.0)

Pakistan: 186/5 (19.1 overs)
K.Akmal: 92* (50)                                    R.Ashwin: 4/23 (4.0)
M.Hafeez: 38 (29)                                     Y.Singh: 0/11 (1.0)

Kohli Gets ICC ODI Cricketer Of The Year Award

Indian batting sensation Virat Kohli won the ICC ODI Cricketer Of The Year at the LG ICC Cricket Awards Ceremony held at Colombo yesterday.He defeated M.S.Dhoni,Lasith Malinga and Kumar Sangakkara for this award.



After winning the award he said, "I think I have tried to keep things as simple as possible and it worked for me on the field.This year has been a learning curve along the way from the seniors in the team. It's been an all-round effort and I'm very happy to have won this award."

He played 31ODIs last year in which he scored 1733 runs with 8 centuries and 6 half-centuries.He averages 66.65 in this and he also got his highest ODI score of 183 this year which he scored against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.

Day 1 (2nd Test):Taylor's Century Puts Kiwis In Driver Seat

The 2nd and final Test of the series started here today in Bangalore.This time Kiwi captain Ross Taylor won the toss and elected to bat first but they lost their opener batsman Brendon McCullum cheapely in the second over of the day as he went for a duck.He was given lbw out on the bowling of Zaheer Khan.After his departure,Kane Williamson also went back to pavillion early as he was given out on the bowling of Pragyan Ojha.He made 17 runs.

In the meanwhile,Martin Guptill completed his half-century but he got out soon after on the score of 53 runs. He was caught by Gambhir on the bowling of Ojha.After his departure,Kiwi captain Ross Taylor and batsmam Daniel Flynn took the charge of batting and made sure that there are no further fall of wickets till lunch.

After the lunch,both the batsmen continued their batting.Both were playing cautiously by waiting for the loose ball to come.In the middle of this,Kiwi captain Ross Taylor completed his half-century.They also completed their 100 runs partnership for 4th wicket but Daniel Flynn got out after making 33 runs.He was given lbw out off R.Ashwin's bowling.This was the first wicket for him in this match but Ross Taylor continued with his good batting performance as he took New Zealand to 200 runs mark.He also completed his century in the progress in 99 balls.

After tea,New Zealand lost the wicket of James Franklin to Ojha as he gave a catch to Suresh Raina.After some time,he also took the most important wicket of well set batsman Ross Taylor.He made 113 runs off 127 balls which included 16 fours and 2 sixes.

After this no wicket fell for Kiwis as their wicket keeper batsman van Wyk and Doug Bracewell batted well in the end.Kruger van Wyk also completed his half-century as he was unbeaten on the score 63 with Bracewell who is on 30 runs.The day's play was called of early due to bad light.

Brief Scores:-

New Zealand: 328/6 (81.3 overs) 1st Innings
R.Taylor: 113 (127)                   P.Ojha: 4/90 (27.0)
K.van Wyk: 63*(85)                 Z.Khan: 1/74 (18.0)
M.Guptill: 53 (79)                     R.Ashwin: 1/82 (24.0)

Yuvraj Gets Arjuna Award

The great left-handed Indian batsmen Yuvraj Singh recieved prestigious Arjuna Award from the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi. This award is given by Indian Government to the players for their outstanding achievements in sports.


Yuvraj looked very happy after receiving the award. He said, "It's a special award for me.I had been nominated a few times but finally I got it this time.It's a proud moment for me and my family.The award will give me a lot of confidence to make a come back and perform well."

He is currently undergoing practice sessions at National Cricket Academy,Bangalore after recovering from Cancer.He has been selected for 2 T20s against New Zealand and also for the ICC T20 World Cup to be held next month in Sri Lanka.

India Defeats New Zealand By An Innings & 115 Runs

                                                 

The fourth day of the Test match between India and New Zealand again started late because of rain but when rain got stopped and overnight not out batsmen Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson came out to bat everyone expected them to play patientely. They did play patientely.They just rotated strikes by taking single-double and didn't tried to look for big shots.They builded a good partnership between them but just when the partnership was looking a bit dangerous it was broken by Umesh Yadav.He got McCullum out lbw and sent him to the pavillion.He missed his half-century by just 8 runs.Kiwi captain Ross Taylor continued his bad form and got out for just 7 runs on the bowling of R.Ashwin.

Daniel Flynn and Kane Williamson tried to hold the innings but couldn't hold it longer as Kane Williamson was caught by Sehwag on the bowling of Ojha.He made a good half-century before his departure.After the loss of wicket of Williamson, none of the batsmen could bat well and whole team got out for 164 runs and hence lost the match by an innings and 115 runs.

Indian off spinner R.Ashwin picked up 6 wickets in the innings and a total of 12 wickets in the match.Kane Williamson was the top scorer for New Zealand in the second innings with his 52 runs.

Brief Scores:-

India: 438 all out (134.3 overs) 1st Innings
C.Pujara: 159 (306)                                    J.Patel: 4/100 (41.0)
M.S.Dhoni: 73 (147)                                   T.Boult: 3/93 (27.0)

New Zealand: 159 all out (61.3 overs) 1st Innings
J.Franklin: 43* (122)                                   R.Ashwin: 6/31 (16.3)
K.Williamson: 32 (92)                                  P.Ojha: 3/44 (21.0)

New Zealand: 164 all out  (79.5 overs) 2nd Innings
K.Williamson: 52 (163)                                R.Ashwin: 6/54 (26.5)
B.McCullum: 42 (130)                                 P.Ojha: 3/48 (28.0)

Match Result: India won by an innings and 115 runs.
Series Result: India leads 2-match series by 1-0.

Man Of The Match: Ravichandran Ashwin

Day 3:Ashwin Claimes Six Wickets As India Enforces Follow-on

All of us must have expected that New Zealand will do some kind of fight back in the Test or at least they will try to spend some time in the middle but to our disappointment none of these two things happened.New Zealan lost their first wicket of the day in the form of wicket-keeper batsman van Wyk in just second over of the day.He was trapped in the front of stumps by the Indian speedster Umesh Yadav as he was yet to open his account. He went out for a duck.

After his departure,Bracewell came in to the middle.He tried to build a partnership with overnight batsman James Franklin but didn't get successful as he missed a ball from Pragyan Ojha and got stumped by Dhoni.After this,Franklin didn't get any support from any other batsmen and whole Kiwi team got out for a score of just 159 runs.James Franklin remained not out till the end and he also was the top scorer with his 43 runs. R.Ashwin was the pick of the bolwers for India as he took 6 Kiwi wicktes. India enforce follow-on on the Kiwis and called them to bat again.

New Zealand got off to a bad start again in the second innings as Martin Guptill departed early.He was given lbw out of the bowling of Pragyan Ojha. The situation of Kiwis could have been worse if the rain and bad light hadn't stopped the play early.At te time of play being called of,New Zealand have made 41/1 with Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson still at the crease.They are still 238 runs behind with 9 wickets in hand.


Brief Scores:-

India: 438 all out (134.3 overs) 1st Innings
C.Pujara: 159 (306)                                    J.Patel: 4/100 (41.0)
M.S.Dhoni: 73 (147)                                   T.Boult: 3/93 (27.0)

New Zealand: 159 all out (61.3 overs) 1st Innings
J.Franklin: 43* (122)                                   R.Ashwin: 6/31 (16.3)
K.Williamson: 32 (92)                                  P.Ojha: 3/44 (21.0)

New Zealand: 41/1 (18.0 overs) 2nd Innings
B.McCullum: 16* (59)                                P.Ojha: 1/13 (9.0)
M.Guptill: 16 (38)

Day 2:Puajra And Spinners Puts India In Driver Seat

Cheteshwar Pujara and M.S.Dhoni started the second day's play in just the way they ended it  yesterday.Both of them played sensibly not looking for any heroics.They selected their shots wisely especially the come back guy Pujara.He played shots that were technically good and he waited for the right opportunity to hit the ball  for boundaries.Dhoni completed his half-century in 100 balls .A little later Pujara completed his well deserved 150 runs.In the meanwhile,both the players also completed their 100 runs partnership for sixth wicket.But just before India could cross the 400 runs mark,Pujara lost his wicket.He got out on the bowling of Kiwi spinner Jeetan Patel but before getting out he scored 159 runs off  306 balls with 19 fours and 1 six.Pujara and Dhoni added 127 runs for sixth wicket. After adding 24 runs for seventh wicket with R.Ashwin,Dhoni too got out on the bowling of Patel.He scored 73 runs before getting out.

After the loss of both Pujara and Dhoni none of the Indian batsmen could do well except R.Ashwin who scored 37 runs off 54 balls while batting at no.8. Jeetan Patel was the peak of the bowling for Kiwis as he took 4/100 which also incuded the crucial wickets of both Puajra and Dhoni.Besides him,Boult claimed 3 wickets.

In reply,Kiwi batsmen Brendon McCullum started the innings aggressively but he could not keep the flow going when Indian captain brought in the spinners on the attack. None of the Kiwi batsmen were able to play the spinners.As a result to which Kiwis lost their 4 wickets ony at the score of 55 runs.Firs to go was Brendon McCullum who gave a catch to Virat Kohli on the bowling of Pragyan Ojha.Soon aftrer,both Guptill and Kiwi captain Ross Taylor too followed him.Both of them gave their wickets to R.Ashwin. Daniel Flynn hitted two boundaries but he couldn't do much as Ashwin trapped him in front of the stumps.

After the loss of four quick wickets,Kiwi batsmen Kane Williamson and James Franklin tried to hold the innings and to reduce the damage.They both were playing good but Williamson got out just 2 overs before the end of day's play.He fell prey to Ojha.He added 44 runs for the 5th wicket with James Franklin.

At the end of the day's play James Franklin was still there at the crease on the score of 31 and he is looking in good touch.He has wicket-keeper batsman van Wyk with him who has yet to open his account. Both of these batsmen will have to play a sensible innings and also they will have to spend some time at the crease if they want to give India a good fight back in the Test afterall they are still 332 runs behind India.

Brief Scores:-

India: 438 all out (134.3 overs) 1st Innings
C.Pujara: 159 (306)                                    J.Patel: 4/100 (41.0)
M.S.Dhoni: 73 (147)                                   T.Boult: 3/93 (27.0)

New Zealand: 106/5 (42.0 overs) 1st Innings
K.Williamson: 32 (92)                                   R.Ashwin: 3/30 (14.0)
J.Franklin: 31* (75)                                      P.Ojha:      2/35 (15.0)