WEATHER PLAYS SPOILSPORT

Venue: The Gabba.
Event : 1st ODI of CB series IND vs AUS
Result: Weather Gods deny fans a thriller.


Sunday witnessed a damp end to the first match of the CB series. Chasing a paltry total less than 200, Australia was on to a racy start with a flurry of boundaries. But it was short lived. Gilly departed soon. Ishant Sharma went out to prove that his brilliance in the Perth test was not a flash in the pan and stunned James Hopes with an inswinger. A beauty from Sreesanth got punter to edge to the slips. 3 wickets down with not even 50 on the board meant that the ball was in India’s court. That was when the weather Gods decided to have some fun.

Earlier India batted first. Adelaide centurion Sehwag blasted one straight down the ground but played onto the stumps soon. Then came Sachin’s first ever dismissal via hit wicket, Brett lee being the benefactor. Then, followed a period of resistance. A 50 run partnership between Gambhir and Rohit Sharma raised some hopes. The elegant Sharma drove and cut with flair while Gambhir benefited from 2 drop chances in the slips.

But once the two departed it was always a question of when the innings would fold. Uthappa failed to trouble the scorers. Lee reserved his best for debutant Manoj Tiwary. A scorching Yorker uprooting the stumps. Tiwary was all at sea. Lee went on to claim 5 scalps.


Dhoni rallied around with the tail to lead India closer to 200. The match was truncated to 45 overs a side owing to the rain. Sadly the weather went from bad to worse.

A ROLLERCOASTER’S LAST RIDE

Batsmen all over the world can afford to heave a sigh of relief. Their nemesis, Shaun Pollock has finally blown the whistle to bring an illustrious career to a grinding halt. Polly played his last match at home on Saturday and would follow it up with his last appearance in international Cricket on Sunday.

The all rounder has lead South Africa’s pace battalion for long and should get a fitting farewell at Sunday’s final. Such was his ominous presence on the field that a bowler of the stature of Makhaya Ntini was overshadowed. Thrust into captaincy, when SA was struggling to recover from the Hansie Cronje issue, Pollock lead the team with courage and skill. And on the eve of his retirement even critics had some words of praise for the 34 year old.

One of Polly’s best performances came against Australia in the 1999 WC semifinal (though better known for Zulu’s whirlwind knock and Donald’s run out in the final over) when he took 5 scalps including those of the then greats Steven Waugh and Bevan. With more than 400 test wickets in his kitty, he was more than a lethal force to contend with. He was one among only 4 players to have scored over 3000 runs and scalped over 400 test wickets. No wonder that Barry Richards commented that a SA squad without Shaun is like tea without milk.

Critics might say that his career had a few lows. But he is still a feared bowler worldwide. The only snag in his glorious career would be that he was unable to feature in a world cup winning squad, a quest yet unachieved by SA.



So pay your tributes to a man who gave his all for cricket.

MICROSOFT TO BUY YAHOO?

After around a year of speculation Microsoft Corp. has finally made its intentions clear.
The Microsoft Corp. has offered to buy Yahoo Inc. for a whopping $44.6 billion. This move comes after a lot of anticipation in the last two years. This move is aimed at an attempt to compete with Google Inc.

Yahoo has struggled to compete with Google for online advertising revenue for long. This was quite evident from the fact that Yahoo has lost 40% of its share’s value. The two companies have previously talked about merging in 2006 and 2007. But Yahoo had declined the offer then.

Microsoft has lagged behind Yahoo and Google in the Internet search Domain. But things look brighter for Microsoft in the future.

KANGAROOS FEAST ON TIGER CURRY

Venue: Melbourne
Event : T20 clash between India and Australia
Hype : Unlimited
Result: Damp squib (atleast for Indian fans)

A billion hopes went down the drain within few moments from the start of the much talked about T20 match at Melbourne. Dhoni’s men who were supposed to be world beaters were beaten comprehensively. The word ‘slaughtered’ would be an understatement for the manner in which the Aussies massacred India. At one stage the Australians had a test match field with seven men around the bat which sums up the proceedings in the match.

The T20 champs were brought down to the Earth from cloud nine by an Australian attack that did not feature many big names. From the moment that Viru ran himself out, to the final wide delivery that sealed India’s fate, the Australians were clinical in their approach. The Indians struggled to compete in the absence of their middle order stalwart, Yuvraj Singh.

The fact that a lower order batsman had to steer India to such a low total speaks volumes about the Indian debacle. Captain courageous had a very bad day on the field, managing barely nine runs before falling to a catch at the deep. By the time the Indians came out to bowl the result was almost on the slate. Nothing much the bowlers could do. Sloppy fielding did not help matters as well.

The Indians will have to lift their game a few notches high if they have to compete with Australia in the one day series. If that doesn’t happen the Kangaroos will continue making mince meat of the Indians.