India Are Favorites To Win the World Cup : Smith

South Africa captain Graeme Smith believes India are the team to beat at the forthcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India are co-hosting the event alongside counterparts from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's star-studded squad are already the bookmakers' pick for the trophy.
Smith guided the Proteas to a 3-2 ODI series win over India in their recent series in South Africa but he accepts that India will be an even tougher proposition on their own turf.
"I think the home teams will be right up there when it comes to the World Cup," Smith told the ICC Cricket World Radio Show.
"I think in the sub-continental conditions they'll be very crafty, knowing how to read conditions while other teams need to find ways to be successful there.
"I think for us we need to be versatile and I think India will come in as favourites."
Despite picking India as the best-placed team prior to the event, which begins on February 19, Smith sees plenty of potential victors.
"Personally I think there are five or six teams that could win this World Cup which is probably going to make it a very exciting one," he added.

India Makes A Comeback Win Against Lankans

Rohit Sharma hammered his second successive ODI century as India crushed Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their second match to put their campaign back on track in the cricket tri-series here on Sunday.

Chasing 243, India made a rather slow start and lost both their openers inside 10 overs before one-down Virat Kohli (82) and Rohit (101 not out) resurrected the innings to help India romp home with 6.3 overs to spare at the Queens Sports Club.

Earlier, the tidy Indian bowlers produced a disciplined effort to bundle out Sri Lanka for 242 after captain Suresh Raina had opted to field.

Today's win also marked Raina's first victory as captain.

Coming together in the 10th over, Kohli and Rohit added 154 runs from 168 balls for the third wicket to take the game away from Sri Lanka.

Rohit, who hit 114 against Zimbabwe in India's first match though for a lost cause, hit six fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 100-ball, his second ODI century in his 44th match.

He got a superb support from Kohli whose 82 came from 92 balls with the help of four boundaries.

After opening bowler Nuwan Kulasekara and Ajantha Mendis achieved early success by removing Murali Vijay (14) and Dinesh Karthik (18) respectively, the Sri Lankan bowlers were left high and dry with Kohli and Rohit stamping authority.

The duo initially dealt mostly in singles with occasional boundaries before opening up later on. They also did not allow the asking rate to jump over five.

Rohit took 60 balls to reach his fifty which came of a single off Ajantha Mendis in the 28th over and Kohli reached his seventh half-century an over later with a single off Dilhara Fernando.

Kohli, however, perished in the 38th over while trying to finish the game early. He came down the track to play a lofted shot off a Suraj Randiv delivery only to hole out to long-on fielder Dilhara Fernando.

When Kohli fell, India needed just 42 runs from more than 12 overs and Rohit ensured that they wrapped up the match without any hiccup.

Rohit took a four off Mendis in the 43rd over to reach his second successive ODI century while Raina hit the winning runs in the next over.

India, who lost their opening match against Zimbabwe on Friday, play the hosts again in their next match on Thursday at Harare Sports Club.

Earlier, save for Angelo Mathews (75) and captain Tillakaratne Dilshan (61), the Lankan batsmen struggled for runs under tight Indian bowling after they were put into bat.

The Lankan innings eventually folded for 242 in 49.5 overs with three of their batsmen running themselves out.

Except for rookie Umesh Yadav (1/61), all the Indian bowlers bowled tight spells with Ashok Dinda (2/44), Pragyan Ojha (2/44) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/49) taking two wickets apiece.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra was also economical, conceding 40 runs from his 10 overs though without taking a wicket.

The Lankans were dealt an early blow when Upul Tharanga (1) became the first to get run out.

After hitting an Ashok Dinda delivery to the covers, Tharanga was left stranded when Virat Kohli, who initially fumbled in collecting the ball, threw it accurately at the Lankan's end while he was attempting a third run.

Thilan Samaraweera (19) didn't last long either and was stumped by Dinesh Karthik while trying to charge at a Pragyan Ojha delivery.

Dilshan and Mathews then steadied the ship and put on 58 runs for the third wicket before the Sri Lankan skipper became the second Lankan batsmen to be run out.

Dilshan, whose 81-ball knock comprised four boundaries and a six, took off for a single after hitting Mishra to the square leg but rushed back after a couple of strides only to find himself short of ground as the bowler had dislodged the bails by then.

But Mathews held one end together with a gritty knock that included a couple of sixes and an equal number of fours. His prized wicket ultimately went to Umesh Yadav, who bowled him.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja bagged two late wickets in Chamara Kapugedera (20) and Chamara Silva (5) to make sure that the Lankan innings never took off.

Thissara Perera's late 32-run cameo down the order did, however, help the Lankan to go past the 200 mark.

Deccan chargers charge over Banglore challengers

T Suman and Andrew Symonds steered Hyderabad to a fabulous seven-wicket win over Bangalore on Thursday.


Hyderabad lost an early early wicket in the form of Monish Mishra, chasing a massive 185 against Bangalore.
But Adam Gilchrist and T Suman consolidated the innings and played their shots well to lay a solid platform for Hyderabad.
Gilchrist departed after playing a breezy knock of 32 off just 19 balls that put Hyderabad in a good position.
Then even Rohit Sharma departed in quick succession as Bangalore gained an upper hand.
But T Suman in the able company of Andrew Symonds clinch the game away from Bangalore.
Earlier, brilliant half-centuries from Jacques Kallis and Virat Kohli helped Bangalore post a massive total of 184 for six.
Bangalore lost an early wicket in the form of Manish Pandey after Hyderabad put them in to bat in their IPL match.
Thereafter Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid consolidated the innings but Dravid failed to sustain and departed after playing a fine knock of 26 off 25 balls. It was Pragyan Ojha, who took the prized wicket of the former India captain.
Then Andrew Symonds struck in the very next over to get rid of Robin Uthappa.
And before Bangalore could get over the twine blow, Ojha struck again to see off Ross Taylor for one.
And suddenly Bangalore were reeling at 68 for four in 10.1 overs.
However, Jacques Kallis and Virat Kohli fired all cylinders to put the team in the driver's seat. They also completed their half-centuries each in the process.
Hyderabad are in a must win situation in this crucial encounter.
While Bangalore are comfortably placed in the points table, with every chance of making it to the semi-finals, Hyderabad's five consecutive loses have put them in a danger of slipping down to the bottom of the table.
Teams:

Bangalore: JH Kallis, MK Pandey, CL White, RV Uthappa, LRPL Taylor, V Kohli, R Dravid, R Vinay Kumar, P Kumar, A Kumble, DW Steyn

Hyderabad: AC Gilchrist, MD Mishra, A Symonds, Y Venugopal Rao, MR Marsh, RG Sharma, TL Suman, RP Singh, PP Ojha, RJ Harris, Harmeet Singh

Rajasthan Royals win the match Royally

Jaipur captain Shane Warne believes their win over Hyderabad would serve as a warning to the rest of fray in the Indian Premier League.

This was their third straight win and leaves them on course for a semi-final berth, a remarkable turnaround following three consecutive defeats at the start of the tournament.

"Part of the turnaround is about preparation and planning, but a lot of it is about executing those plans," Warne said.
"We have a good buzz in our squad at the moment, we executed our plans really well and everyone contributed.

"It was a good result and an emphatic win and I think it sends the message to the rest of the IPL that Jaipur are playing good cricket and we are here to stay."

Warne paid rich tribute to the way his players have performed.

"You just cannot create team spirit and you cannot force it on the team. It has got to come from within," Warne said.

"We appointed Yusuf the vice-captain this morning and we also have a leadership role for Munaf Patel, the other senior player in Indian cricket in the team.

"We have lots of good chats and honest talks and I thought all the guys have responded beautifully.

"We have started to play good cricket and everyone has played their role. I am very proud of the guys today."

Warne revealed part of the plan was to be strong in their home games.

"We have only lost one game in two IPL seasons at home and we would like that record to stay.

"We'd like the opposition to feel uncomfortable when they come in because this is our fortress."

Hyderabad skipper Adam Gilchrist admitted his team had performed poorly.

"We were pumped and to be honest we were outplayed in pretty much everything we did," he said.

"We were pretty soft in some areas and allowed them to dominate which, to their credit, they did.

"We have a few games coming in a row now so the good thing is we can put it behind us and move on pretty quickly and get into the next challenge.

"We have things to think about definitely after this game, but we have also done pretty well as a side until this game.

"We would have to see what we can improve on which after tonight's performance seems to be quite a bit. But it is something we will work on."

Hayden's knock boost Chennai's morale

Mathew hayden has won the match single handedly for chennai against the delhi dare devils.The very long worry of hayden's form was on its peak and he gave a fitting reply to all his critics

Hayden’s 43-ball blitz, with his long handle Mongoose bat at his age of 38, left a packed Feroze Shah Kotla awestruck on Friday evening. The innings not only helped Chennai beat Delhi comprehensively, the yellow shirts will not only be favourites against Kings XI but could rise on top of the league table.

Hayden was a revelation. His 24-ball 50 was a record but it was his excellent cricketing shots that changed the complexion of the game. The Aussie was classy during his partnership with stand-in skipper Suresh Raina. The duo produced 50 of only 23 balls for the third wicket. Hayden also proved that there was no devil in the Kotla wicket.

A five-wicket victory against Delhi and their stupendous win over the Kolkata Knight Riders have given Chennai the momentum from which they could only get better with their morale high. By contrast, the morale of Punjab XI is at its lowest and even Tom Moody can’t find ways to lift his professional stars.

Punjab captain Kumar Sangakkara has been in poor form. As skipper, he has done precious little to lift his team. The form of Yuvraj Singh has also been a concern. Among the overseas skippers in the League, only Adam Gilchrist has been successful. At the Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday, Punjab will start as underdogs as Chennai will surely ride their home support.

Chennai’s batting strategies have worked well so far. The top three contributing 150 has been the key and the home team will look for an encore against beleaguered Punjab.

Chennai skipped nets on Saturday but the Kings XI will train under lights. Skipper MS Dhoni is likely to sit out Sunday’s game to rest his injured elbow.