KOHLI SETS THE FIRST WIN FOR INDIA

Virat Kohli scored a fine century - his second in odi - as India beat New Zealand by 40 runs in the opening One-Day International in Guwahati.
Kohli's 105 in 104 balls helped India to reach 276.
In reply, New Zealand were dismissed for 236.

New zealand won the toss and India was Asked to bat first in testing conditions.
India responded well with openers Murali Vijay (29) and Gautam Gambhir (38) built the foundations for Kohli's innings.

In at number three,Kohli hit ten fours in his ecxellent knock.He was supported by Yuvraj Singh, who made 42 and Yusuf Pathan, who struck 29 in 13 balls.

Andy McKay returned four for 62 to keep New Zealand in the match as Kyle Mills took three for 42.
However, despite a fluent 69-ball innings of 66 from Ross Taylor, New Zealand were unable to stay in the match as India bowled well.

There were three wickets apiece for Yuvraj, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and Ravi Ashwin as regular wickets maintained India's control of the game.

Mills made 32 and Nathan McCullum made 35 which briefly gave New Zealand a small hope of victory lately.
but the return of Sreesanth removed the danger
and gave India the match as he impressed with three for 30.

Kohli was named the man of the match.
The second game in the five-match series, in Jaipur,is on 1st December.

INDIA WRAP UP THE SERIES WITH HUGE INNINGS VICTORY

India registered an excellant innings-and-198-run victory over New Zealand on day four of the third and final Test match in Nagpur to clinch the series 1-0.
Having declared on 566 for eight on day three in reply to New Zealand's 193, India dismissed the Black Caps for just 175. Indians dominated the game throughout.
New Zealand resumed on 24 for one but were bowled out in just 51.2 overs.
Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh both took three wickets each.
Tim Southee (31), Ross Taylor (29), Brendon McCullum (25) and Jesse Ryder (22) all made starts but no batsman could resist longer.
Sharma returned figures of three for 15.Harbhajan Singh had a memorable series, in which he scored two centuries and a half-century, by taking three for 56.
There were two wickets for Pragyan Ojha .
Suresh Raina, who dismissed Ryder and Daniel Vettori (13) to return figures of two for one in two overs.
The first two matches, in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, were both drawn.

McIntosh’s Ton put New Zealand in a fine position

Tim McIntosh’s second Test century enabled New Zealand in a good position to end day one of the second Test against India in Hyderabad on 258 for four.He fell minutes before the close of play.

The left-handed opener faced 254 balls before inside-edging a wide Zaheer Khan delivery into his stumps.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat, New Zealand lost opener Brendon McCullum for four when he edged Shanthakumaran Sreesanth to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

But a partnership of 147 between McIntosh and Martin Guptill (85) saw New Zealand hit back.Guptill, faced 160 balls, hitting nine fours and a six in his blazing knock.McIntosh hit ten fours and a six in a patient knock.

Guptill's was trapped in front by Pragyan Ojha.

Ross Taylor made 24 before he fell to the combination of Zaheer and Dhoni.

Unbeaten at stumps on 22 was Jesse Ryder, and yet to score was wicket-keeper Gareth Hopkins as Zaheer returned figures of two for 41.

SRI LANKA BEATS NEW ZEALAND IN THE OPENING MATCH OF THE TRI-SERIES

 

A maiden century from Thilan Samaraweera and three wickets in an over from Lasith Malinga helped Sri Lanka steamroll New Zealand by 97 runs in the triangular one-day series for the Compaq Cup in Colombo.

Samaraweera cracked a superb 104 and Angelo Mathews chipped in with a knock of 51, the two putting on 127 for the sixth wicket as Sri Lanka recovered from 69 for five at one stage to finish with a respectable 216 for seven.

Sri Lanka's new ball bowlers Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara then chipped in with three wickets each at the start of their reply, Malinga claiming his share in a single over as the visitors slipped to 41 for six.

Malinga then returned to pick up the final wicket as New Zealand were bowled out for 119 in 36.1 overs.

Left-arm fast bowler Thushara produced the early breakthrough, sending back Jesse Ryder for a two-ball duck with the second delivery of his first over.

Kulasekara followed up with the wickets of Martin Guptill (three) and Ross Taylor (two), although he was lucky to win a leg-before decision against the latter.

Brendon McCullum blocked and pushed for singles in uncharacteristic style as he attempted to revive the innings.

But with the required run rate climbing steeply, the wicketkeeper batsman was forced into a wild shot and succumbed.

McCullum, dropped by Kumar Sangakkara two deliveries earlier, attempted a heave across the line to a full-length delivery from Malinga and missed, the ball crashing into the base of middle stump.

At the time McCullum had just 14 from 52 deliveries.

Malinga then picked up the wickets off Jacob Oram (four) and debutant Nathan McCullum - bowled first ball - in the same over to leave the result a foregone conclusion.

Grant Elliott had battled hard en route to a painstaking 41, but his resistance was ended by the left-arm spin of Sanath Jayasuriya, who also scalped Daniel Vettori (10).

Malinga returned to bowl Ian Butler - the second highest scorer with 25 - to finish with four for 28 from 6.1 overs.

Earlier, Kiwi paceman Shane Bond and Daryl Tuffey made a fine start with the new ball.

Tuffey, playing his first match on this tour, claimed the wicket of Tillakaratne Dilshan (four) in the very first over, while the returning Bond scalped Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene cheaply from the other end to leave the home team reeling at 22 for three.

Dilshan attempted an aggressive start but perished in the first over, dragging Tuffey's last delivery back onto his stumps.

At the other end, Bond produced a little extra bounce and snared Jayawardene, the batsman attempting to steer to third man and instead presenting Taylor with a simple catch at slip.

Jayasuriya, struggling to retain his place in the side, was then lured into his trade-mark cut shot and was caught at third man.

Butler, bowling first change, removed Sangakkara (18) - caught at deep square leg as he miscued a clip through midwicket - while Vettori sent back Thilina Kandamby (15) as Sri Lanka slid further into trouble at 69 for five.

Samaraweera, however, took charge and in the company of Mathews resurrected the innings with a superbly-paced knock.

Samaraweera started cautiously on a pitch which had kept slow and low, but exerted authority as his innings progressed.

He reached his 50 with a single off Nathan McCullum and accelerated nicely through the batting powerplay, slamming Butler for three boundaries in one over.

Mathews kept step with Samaraweera, reaching his second one-day half-century with a single off Bond, but fell two deliveries later.

A rare misfield which yielded three helped Samaraweera amass a century, but his innings ended when he was bowled by Butler.

Bond finished top of the pile among the bowlers with figures of three for 43.

NEW AEALAND SWEEPS THE TWO-MATCH 20-20 SERIES

New Zealand recorded their second Twenty20 success over Sri Lanka in three days with a 22-run victory on Friday that helped them sweep the two-match series.

The Kiwis, who won the first match on Wednesday by three runs.

Fast bowler Shane Bond led the Black Caps charge with 3-18 in four overs, while seamer Kyle Mills and off-spinner Nathan McCullum claimed two wickets each.
The 2-0 win helped the Kiwis overcome the disappointment of losing both the preceding Test matches and boosted their confidence ahead of a tri-series, also featuring India, that opens here on Tuesday.
New Zealand's innings revolved around an explosive opening stand of 84 in 10.2 overs by Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder .
Left-handed Ryder smashed three sixes and as many fours in his 52 off 37 balls, while McCullum hit a 34-ball 49 with two sixes and four boundaries.
Martin Guptill and Jacob Oram further boosted the total with a 43-run stand for the fourth wicket in 27 balls, before Guptill was bowled by Lasith Malinga off the final ball of the innings.
Sri Lanka, chasing a target of almost nine runs an over, made a disastrous start when they were reduced to 2-2 off the first seven deliveries and slid to 11-3 soon after.
Bond removed the in-form Tillakaratne Dilshan with his fifth ball, caught at deep square leg, before Kyle Mills dismissed Mahela Udawatte and Sanath Jayasuriya in successive overs.
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara and former captain Mahela Jayawardene put on a brisk 67 for the fourth wicket when Nathan McCullum hit back with a wicket in his first over.
The off-spinner, elder brother of Brendon McCullum had Jayawardene caught at backward point by Ryder off his third delivery for 41 off 30 balls.
He then removed new batsman Angelo Mathews with his final delivery of the innings to reduce Sri Lanka to 80-5 in 11 overs.
Sangakkara gave Jacob Oram a return catch after making 69 before Bond sealed New Zealand's win with the wickets of all-rounder Gihan Rupasinghe and tailender Nuwan Kulasekara.
Earlier, McCullum and Ryder bulldozed the Sri Lankan attack for the first 10 overs, racing to 83 runs without being separated.
Jayasuriya broke the stand in the 11th over when he beat McCullum in the air and the batsman offered a simple return catch.
Ryder took over after McCullum's departure, striking two sixes and a boundary in the 12th over sent down by Dilshan which yielded 20 runs.
Jayasuriya finished with 2-22 and Ajantha Mendis took 1-21, while pace spearhead Kulasekara went for 40 runs in four wicketless overs.

NEW ZEALAND BEATS SRI LANKA IN THE T20 THRILLER

Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori shared five wickets as New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by three runs  in a Twenty20 international here on Wednesday after the poor show in the test series which Sri Lanka swept 2-0.
The tourists, restricted to 141-8, hit back to keep the World Twenty20 finalists down to 138-9 in a tense finish at the Premadasa stadium.
Oram finished with 3-33 and skipper Vettori took 2-11 as Sri Lanka lost seven wickets for 71 runs after Tillakaratne Dilshan's brilliant 57 off 28 had lifted them to 67-2 in the seventh over.
Oram, bowling the final over with Sri Lanka needing nine runs with three wickets in hand, dismissed Malinda Bandara and Nuwan Kulasekara off the first two balls and conceded just five runs in the over.
Ian Butler, who did not play in the  Test series which Sri Lanka swept 2-0, took 2-29 including the important wicket of Dilshan.

New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, returning to official cricket after two years after breaking the links with ICL, was hit for four consecutive boundaries by Dilshan in his first over.

New Zealand's innings revolved around Ross Taylor's 60 off 45 balls after Vettori won the toss and elected to bat on the slow wicket.
Taylor hit five fours and a six in his third Twenty20 half-century, but the Kiwis lost five wickets for 19 runs after they had reached 117-3 in the 17th over.
Taylor brought up New Zealand's 100 in the 15th over with a boundary off Sanath Jayasuriya, and celebrated the landmark by pulling the next delivery over mid-wicket for six.

The second Twenty20 match will be played at the same venue on Friday before New Zealand join India and Sri Lanka in a limited-overs tri-series starting here on September 8.

New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka 2009 Schedule

 

Just after the tour of Pakistan is over in Sri Lanka, New Zealand team will arrive in Sri Lanka for their 40 days tour. New Zealand team will play two matches test series with five One Day International and two twenty20 Internationals on their tour to Sri Lanka.

New Zealand team will begin their tour with three day practice game before playing first test match from 18^th August to 22^nd August at P Sara Oval, Colombo. The 2^nd test match of the series will be played from 26^th of August to 30^th of August at SSC, Colombo.

After test match series New Zealand team will shift their gear for five one day internationals and two twenty20 games. First ODI of five match series will be played at Dambulla Stadium 7^th, 11^th, 13^th and 15^th of September. New Zealand tour will conclude with two twenty Internationals will be played on 17^th and 19^th of September at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

New Zealand v Sri Lanka Fixtures (All timings are mentioned in GMT+05:30)

Thu 13 Aug - Sat 15 Aug

10:00 AM

Tour Game – New Zealand v TBC

Colts Cricket Club Ground, Colombo

Tue 18 Aug - Sat 22 Aug

10:00 AM

1^st Test – New Zealand v Sri Lanka

P Sara Oval, Colombo

Wed 26 Aug - Sun 30 Aug

10:00 AM

2^nd Test – New Zealand v Sri Lanka

Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo

Thu 3 Sep

09:30 AM

Tour Game – New Zealand v TBC

Welagedara Stadium, Kurunegala

Sat 5 Sep

09:30 AM

1^st ODI – New Zealand v Sri Lanka

Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Mon 7 Sep

09:30 AM

2^nd ODI – New Zealand v Sri Lanka

Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium

Fri 11 Sep (D/N)

14:30 PM

3^rd ODI – New Zealand v Sri Lanka

R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Sun 13 Sep (D/N)

14:30 PM

4^th ODI – New Zealand v Sri Lanka

R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Tue 15 Sep (D/N)

14:30 PM

5^th ODI – New Zealand v Sri Lanka

R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Thu 17 Sep (D/N)

18:00 PM

1^st T20I – New Zealand v Sri Lanka

R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Sat 19 Sep (D/N)

18:00 PM

2^nd T20I – New Zealand v Sri Lanka

R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

India-Sri Lanka-New Zealand Triangular Series Schedule

 

Indian team after a long break from International Cricket will start their busy schedule with the short triangular series in Sri Lanka. New Zealand will be third team to participate in the triangular Series.

Each team will play with each other once and top two teams will play final at R.Premdasa Stadium in Colombo.

The tri-series will begin with the game against New Zealand and Sri Lanka which will be played on 8^th of September. India will take on the host Sri Lanka in their first game of the triangular-series on 10^th of September, 2009. On 12^th of September India will play against New Zealand to decide the Finalist of tri-series.

All the games will be played at R.Premdasa Stadium, Colombo.

Triangular Series 2009 Fixtures (India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand) (All timings are mentioned in GMT+05:30)

Tue 8 Sep (D/N)

14:30 PM

1^st Game – Sri Lanka v New Zealand

Premadasa stadium, Colombo

Thu 10 Sep (D/N)

14:30 PM

2^nd Game – India v Sri Lanka

Premadasa stadium, Colombo

Sat 12 Sep (D/N)

14:30 PM

3^rd Game – India v New Zealand

Premadasa stadium, Colombo

Mon 14 Sep (D/N)

14:30 PM

Final

Premadasa stadium, Colombo

NEW ZEALAND BEATS SCOTLAND IN A RAIN-HIT MATCH

Scotland went close to registering the second major shock of the World Twenty20 before slumping to defeat against New Zealand in a rain-hit match at The Oval.
A day after Holland rocked the tournament by beating England at Lord's in the opening match, Scotland delivered an impressive batting display but eventually were outclassed.
Put in to bat in a match reduced to just seven overs a side by steady morning rain, Scotland raced to a competitive total of 89 for four despite losing three wickets in the last three balls of the innings.
Although New Zealand lost three wickets in successive overs after making a good start, they went on to clinch their seven-wicket victory with an over to spare.
Scotland opener Ryan Watson took the attack to New Zealand and signalled his intentions with an attempted pull off the first ball of the innings from Iain O'Brien, which flew over the wicketkeeper for four.
It was the start of a stunning cameo from Watson, who scored 27 from 10 balls and provided the impetus for Scotland's batting display.
New Zealand did not begin to assert control until they introduced seamer Ian Butler in the third over.
Butler struck with his first first delivery to dismiss Watson, who was caught in the deep attempting to hit over cover.
Kyle Coetzer and opener Navdeep Poonia added 50 in just 22 balls to leave New Zealand, one of the dark horses for the tournament, starting to panic about the target they would face.
Durham batsman Coetzer was given one reprieve when he was dropped on four by acting New Zealand captain Brendan McCullum, filling in for Daniel Vettori while he recovers from a slight shoulder problem.
He went on to hit a brilliant 33 from 15 balls, which included three fours and two sixes, before edging Butler to wicketkeeper Peter McGlashan with just two balls of the innings remaining.
Poonia was run out off the next ball attempting a quick single and then Butler bowled Colin Smith to finish with three for 19 and prevent Scotland exploiting the last over as they would have liked.
Needing a tight first over from young Warwickshire seamer Calum MacLeod, drafted into the squad following the walk-out of John Blain last week, his inexperience showed and McCullum hammered him for 19.
That gave New Zealand the early momentum and openers McCullum and Jesse Ryder took full advantage by racing to a 51-run stand in only 19 balls which effectively settled the contest.
Scotland at least provided a battling response with Ryder caught on the boundary after hitting two fours and two sixes off the previous four balls from Craig Wright.
Perhaps the most bizarre dismissal of the match came in the next over, however, with seamer Gordon Drummond handing New Zealand a free hit after being penalised for over-stepping and McCullum drove to extra cover where Coetzer missed a regulation catch.
His fumble persuaded the New Zealand captain to take a run, but Ross Taylor misunderstood and McCullum was run out attempting to return to his crease.
Jacob Oram fell in the next over, caught in the deep off impressive off-spinner Watson, but Taylor guided New Zealand home with an over to spare with a hard-hitting 21 off 10 balls.