Sri Lanka crush India by 9 wickets in Second ODI

Sri Lanka 139 for 1 (Tharanga 59*, Dilshan 50) beat India 138 (Gambhir 65, Perera 3-19, Mathews 3-14) by nine wickets>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sri Lanka completed an easy 9-wicket win to level the ODI Series 1-1 before leaving to Colombo. India couldn’t put up any sort of fight with the ball as the Lankans eased to the target of 139 in just 19.5 overs without playing any real big shots. Upul Tharanga stayed unbeaten on 59* from 60 balls with 8 fours.
His opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan got out after scoring 50 from 49 balls with 5 fours. Dilshan was caught by the Keeper Dhoni when he dragged a slog sweep off R Ashwin onto the body and lobbed up in the air.

Ashwin was the only bowler to get any sort of respect with figures of 5-1-18-1. The Lankans took just 10.5 overs after the supper break to knock off the remaining 75 runs! The Player of the Match award went to Thisara Perera for his destructive spell at the start of the Indian innings.

Tharanga cracked eight fours in his 60-ball knock while Dilshan, who was dropped early in his innings by Virender Sehwag in the slips off seamer Irfan Pathan, hit five boundaries.

The Indian bowlers failed to keep pressure on the Sri Lankan openers, with fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and Pathan conceding 13 runs in wides.

India were earlier let down by their batsmen, with opener Gautam Gambhir alone defying the Sri Lankan attack with a 96-ball 65. He was the last man out, caught behind off paceman Lasith Malinga (2-36) after hitting four boundaries.

Ravichandran Ashwin (21), opener Sehwag (15) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (11) were the others to reach double-figures in a dismal Indian batting performance.

The Sri Lankan pacemen were backed by wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara, who held four catches.

Perera jolted India when he took three wickets, including those of the previous match's main scorers Sehwag and Virat Kohli (one), in his opening three overs without conceding a run.

Kohli had made an impressive 106 and Sehwag a brisk 96 in India's victory in the opening match on Saturday.

Perera struck in his first over when he held a superb return catch to dismiss Sehwag and then had Kohli caught behind to put pressure on India.

Mathews reduced India to 38-3 when he bowled Rohit Sharma for no score before Perera removed Suresh Raina (one) for his third wicket.

India retained the side which won the first match while Sri Lanka replaced injured paceman Nuwan Kulasekara with debutant seamer Isuru Udana.

The third one-day international will be played in Colombo on Saturday.

The shortest and longest fasting hours around the world!

Feel free to add more countries to the list guys, and don't forget to tell us what time do you break your fast where you live [Iftar time] and Imsak time [the time when you stop eating/drinking]

Argentina 9 hours and 30 minutes.

Australia 10 hours

South Africa 10 hours and 30 minutes

Brazil 11 hours

Kenya 12 hours

Mexico 13 hours and 20 minutes

China 14 hours

Greece 14 hours and 30 minutes

Japan 14 hours and 30 minutes

America 15 hours

France 16 hours

Saudi Arabia 16 hours

England 16 hours and 30 minutes

Egypt 16 hours and 30 minutes

Germany 16 hours and 30 minutes

Canada 18 hours

Holland 18 hours and 30 minutes

Iceland 20 hours and 20 minutes

Denmark 21 hours

Russia 22 hours

England slipping towards shock defeat after Hashim Amla’s triple hundred

England 385 and 102 for 4 (Bell 14*, Bopara 15*) trail South Africa 637 for 2 dec (Amla 311*, Kallis 182*) lead by 150 runs

The Oval Test which was expected to be fizzling out towards a high scoring draw came to life out of nowhere in the final session of Day 4 with the hosts England having their backs to the wall! Infact, England are staring at defeat on the final day having slipped to a miserable 102 for 4 in 38 overs! The cream of the English batting is back in the pavilion already.

It was like the fourth day’s play was being played on two surfaces – one a flat and placid one for the overnight batting pair of Hashim Amla-Jacques Kallis and the other a vicious one to bat on for the English team. Leg Spinner Imran Tahir was simply deadly on the dry surface although he picked just the one wicket, his jumping deliveries are going to be too much for the hosts on the final day tomorrow.

The morning started with Hashim Amla on 183* and Jacques Kallis on 82* in the pursuit of stretching South Africa’s first innings lead. The visitors batted on and on without losing any wickets at all and in the process seeing Hashim Amla to become the first ever South African to score a triple century in Test Cricket! The Proteas declared their first innings during the Tea Break at a massive total of 637 for 2. Graeme Smith settled with a lead of 252 runs while leaving England a full session to negotiate before stumps. Hashim Amla accumulated 311* (from 529 balls with 35 fours) and Jacques Kallis got 182* (from 326 balls with 23 fours and a six) which was his 43rd Test century. The Amla-Kallis pair had put on a marathon partnership of 377 for the unbroken 3rd wicket.

England then felt the fatigue of fielding for 189 overs as the top order batsmen got out without any fight! In just the 2nd over, first innings centurion Alastair Cook (0) got out edging a terrific away swinger from Vernon Philander to the keeper. Dale Steyn provided the second breakthrough which came in the 11th over when Jonathan Trott (10) on the backfoot edged his away swinger to the Keeper as well.

In the 18th over, Morne Morkel went through the backfoot defence of Kevin Pietersen (16) who got clean bowled after playing inside the line. Finally, Andrew Strauss (27 from 80 balls with 2 fours) also vanished as he tamely top edged a sweep off Imran Tahir into the hands of backward squareleg. Strauss was mentally done in by Imran Tahir’s leg breaks and googlies which turned and kicked wickedly.

By the close of play, Ian Bell (14* from 70 balls) managed to survive alongside a shaky Ravi Bopara (15*) with England still needing 150 more runs to make South Africa bat again.

India to host Pakistan for ODI series in December

India and Pakistan have agreed to a three-match ODI series, to be held in India in December. The series, whose confirmation is subject to the Indian government's approval, is likely to be held over the Christmas period, between the Test and one-day legs of England's tour of India. It will be the first bilateral series between the two sides since Pakistan's tour of India in end-2007.

Bilateral cricketing ties were snapped following the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, though the two countries have played each other in the World Cup, Champions Trophy and Asia Cup.

The decision comes after hectic and high-level consultations between officials of the two boards and, latterly, of the two governments. BCCI president N Srinivasan and PCB chief Zaka Ashraf have held several discussions this year regarding resumption of ties, with Pakistan hoping to fit in a series at the end of the year, during the Christmas break in England's tour of India. After the last of those meetings, on the sidelines of the ICC's annual conference in June, Ashraf had said Pakistan were ready for progress on the series but Srinivasan said he would only be able to commit after checking with Indian authorities.

It is Pakistan's turn to host a bilateral series between the two. But there has been no international cricket in the country between Full Members since the March 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka team bus and it is understood that India are not keen to play at a neutral venue, as has been the case with all Pakistan's 'home' series since the attack. Subsequently, Ashraf said India had the prerogative to decide on the dates and host the series, but the PCB would want the BCCI to share revenue because the PCB has apparently not yet recovered from the financial loss suffered when India pulled out of their planned tour in 2009.

Brett Lee retires from international cricket

Brett Lee has confirmed his retirement from international cricket, but he has declared his intention to play on in the Big Bash League and the IPL. Lee, 35, had originally planned to retire after the ICC World Twenty20 in September, but after flying home early from the ODI series in England due to a calf injury, he decided the time was right to make way for Australia's young fast bowlers.

He will depart the game as the equal leading wicket taker for Australia in one-day internationals, having moved level with Glenn McGrath on 380 victims, although McGrath also took one wicket for the ICC World XI, taking his career tally to 381. Lee retired from Test cricket in February 2010, but remained a valuable player in the shorter formats, for his country and his various domestic teams around the world.

Lee's final appearance for Australia came in Durham last week, when he hurt his calf while bowling the third over of his 221st one-day international. Lee said he wondered as he was clapped off whether it would be the end of his international career, and he made his decision on Friday morning before making the retirement official with an announcement at the SCG.

"I guess you ask yourself a lot of questions when you've been injured or been through a tough time," Lee said. "It's been the last two or three nights I have thought about it a lot. I woke up this morning and I knew this was the right day to do it.

"In a team environment you have to be committed 100%, both mentally and physically. Looking at the next two months I just didn't have that desire any more. It wouldn't be fair on me or the rest of the team if I was to go over there with that attitude - not lack of commitment, but you just get to a point in your life when you decide enough is enough.

"The great run must end. It was going to be post-World Cup [Twenty20]. We had spoken about that with the selectors and that was the time I was going to walk away from the game. But I woke up this morning and just felt like I was ready. It was time to go."

Lee made his debut for Australia in the 1999 Boxing Day Test against India and he will retire as international cricket's tenth leading wicket taker of all time, with 718 victims across all three formats. He has been involved in a World Cup triumph in 2003 and three successful Ashes campaigns, and although he will leave on the low of a 4-0 one-day loss to England, Lee said he was confident Australia were heading in the right direction.

"What I can say about the Australian cricket team right now is that we are guided by a terrific guy in Michael Clarke," Lee said. "I think he's been a terrific captain. He's got a great cricket brain. We've just got to back the guys we've got around us and realise that we don't make superstars overnight.

"We can't expect guys to go out there and get five-for in their first match, or a hundred. The guys need to take time to get used to their spot. There's a lot of unfair pressure coming from all angles on the players these days. Pick a group and try to stick with them I reckon is the best advice."

One of those young men who will play a key role in Australia's fortunes over the next decade is Pat Cummins, the 19-year-old fast bowler. Cummins has already been struck down by a number of injuries and has taken advice from Lee, who said he was excited to see what Cummins could deliver over the next few years.

"He's got so much talent. If I had half his talent that he's got at 19, you'd take a million Test wickets," Lee said. "He's a wonderful guy, he's a guy that listens, he's got a great body to bowl fast. The thing I told him the other day is that you are going to get injured, unfortunately. If you put yourself and your body on the line every single time you bowl a ball, the chances are you will get injured.

"You've got to learn how to deal with that, learn how to deal with the media saying you're injury prone, how to deal with people saying you've got to bowl 150ks every single ball. It's tough, it's challenging. I know that he can do it."

Lee was in and out of Australia's side so often due to injury in his career that he said he'd had "more sequels or comebacks than Rambo". He missed the 2007 World Cup due to a serious ankle injury and also suffered back, abdomen, side, elbow and foot problems throughout his 13-year international career, but he said he had no regrets about the toll his style had taken on his body.

"It may be a little bit crazy to be a fast bowler, to put your body on the line every single time," Lee said. "I've always said that if you're not living on the edge you're taking up too much space. That's the way I've always played my cricket. If I've done something I've done it pretty well [injuries]. This calf tear is the first proper torn muscle I've had in 20 years of cricket, so I can't really ask my body for much more than that.

Sri Lanka v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Pallekele, 5th day

Pakistan 226 (Shafiq 75, Misbah 40, Perera 4-63) and 380 for 8 dec (Ali 136, Shafiq 100*) drew with Sri Lanka 337 (Paranavitana 75, Perera 75, Junaid 5-70) and 195 for 4 (Sangakkara 74*, Chandimal 65, Ajmal 3-50)

Azhar Ali falls after scoring a crucial century

Tea on Day 4: Sri Lanka have fought back in the afternoon session restricting Pakistan to 210 for 4 in 70 overs. The hosts claimed two important wickets to slow down the progress of Pakistan. Azhar Ali batted out the session safely to inch towards a century.

Pakistan was looking comfortable at the start of the session as Azhar Ali and Younis Khan defied the Sri Lankan bowling. However, against the run of play, Rangana Herath got the wicket of Younis Khan (19 from 50 balls) when the veteran batsman skipped down the track but only to glove an arm ball onto the pad and the resulting catch was taken by a forward diving Tharanga Paranavitana one handed at silly point. It was an end to a promising 48-run stand for the third wicket.

Herath very soon got the wicket of the Pakistani Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (5) when the latter edged a drive off a near yorker to an alert Mahela Jayawardene at slip. Pakistan at this stage were under pressure with the lead only at 65 runs with six wickets in hand. Fortunately by Tea, Pakistan found another promising partnership between Azhar Ali (97* from 207 balls with 9 fours) and Asad Shafiq (16*) which took the lead to 99 runs.

Lunch on Day 4: Pakistan are nicely placed at 119 for 2 in 38 overs by Lunch on Day 4. The visitors are into a lead of 8 runs thanks to a solid partnership between overnight batsmen Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali.

Sri Lanka could get only one wicket that of Mohammad Hafeez (52 from 100 balls with 6 fours) in the entire morning session when he edged his drive off a widish half volley from Dilhara Fernando to slip in the 36th over.

At lunch, Pakistan have Azhar Ali (48*) joined by veteran Younis Khan, who is on 2*.

Build Up to Day 4: The third and final Test at Pallekele is headed towards an exciting finish as Pakistan are under pressure at 27 for 1 after conceding a 111-run lead in the first innings. The pitch at Pallekele has been spicy with the seamers getting plenty of movement off it should they get their lengths right.

Beginning the morning for Pakistan are going to be Mohammad Hafeez on 8* and Azhar Ali on 6*. Pakistan will have to be extremely positive and be prepared to put away the bad balls for runs. Sri Lanka on the other hand will have to bowl and field well to sustain the pressure on the visitors.