Australia Crush to India by 24 Runs in Mohali

Ricky Ponting was a relieved man after a series-leveling 24-run win over India, and the Australian captain revealed that he was worried about their total of 250 not being big enough, but that his bowlers made victory possible. 
"It was a good win but I thought we left out some 30-40 runs. We lost wickets at crucial moments which caused us to lose momentum and 250 seemed a little short. But our bowlers did a great job," a beaming Ponting said. Heaping praise on left-arm pacer Doug Bollinger, who took three wickets, Ponting said, "He showed his wicket-taking ability today. Everytime I pressed him into action, he did well. He and Shane (Watson), along with (Nathan) Hauritz did well and the whole bowling unit did a great job. The dew made it harder but we stuck to our job." Ponting was particularly happy that his bowlers have not allowed the Indian opening pair of Viernder Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar to score big knocks. Ponting also dismissed the suggestion that Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal, a terrible LBW judgement by umpire Ashoka de Silva, was the turning point of the match. Ponting seemed more impressed by Harbhajan's batting ability and described him as a dangerman in the powerplays. 
Even though the team has lost a number of frontline players to injury, Ponting said the team was getting some balance now.
On losing the toss, Ponting said," I wanted to bat first, so it did not matter. I knew there would be some seam movement early on but once we see through that period, it would become flatter. I always prefer to set a good total and put pressure on the opposition."

Australia Won the Toss elect to bat First 3rd ODI in Delhi

It's a good Saturday to all you following this game between India and Australia at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. Australia won the toss and Australia are batting. Ponting's happy to win it. Three changes for Australia. The teams are up above. As you can see, Bollinger replaces Hilfenhaus, Manou comes in for Paine while Moises Henriques replaces Shaun Marsh. It's also Henriques' debut. He's not an unfamiliar face for Indian audiences. He was part of the NSW team which won the Champions League. India are not change.

India Team: 

SR Tendulkar, V Sehwag, G Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, SK Raina, MS Dhoni*†, RA Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, A Nehra, P Kumar, I Sharma.

Australia Team: 

SR Watson, RT Ponting*, CL White, MEK Hussey, AC Voges, MC Henriques, MG Johnson,GA Manou†,NM Hauritz, PM Siddle, DE Bollinger.

India beat Australia by 99 runs in second ODI Nagpur

Chasing a victory target of 355 runs, Australia were bowled out for 255 in 48.3 overs.  

Ravindra Jadeja (3-35), Praveen Kumar (2-37) and Ishant Sharma (2-34) were the wicket-takers.

The Indian captain scored 124 off 107 balls, his fifth century, while Gautam Gambhir struck 76 off 80 balls. After Gambhir's exit, Suresh Raina played a perfect foil to Dhoni, smashing 62 off 50 balls.   

Dhoni added 119 runs with Gambhir and 136 with Raina.   

Dhoni's half-century came in 55 balls and included three fours, before he plundered the bowling in the death, bludgeoning six fours and three sixes.  

Virender Sehwag laid the foundation with a blistering 40 off 31 balls with the help of six fours and one six. Yuvraj Singh, coming back to international cricket after missing the Champions Trophy, kept the momentum going, scoring 23 off 24 balls.  

It was a compact performance by the Indian batsmen who fumbled while chasing 293 in the first ODI at Vadodara.   

Asked to bat, Indian batsmen made merry on a good batting track that provided initial help to bowlers.  

Sachin Tendulkar (4) was out early, edging one to the slip off Peter Siddle while going for an expansive drive.  

Sehwag looked in ominous touch as he clobbered the new ball in his inimitable style, raising 46 runs with Gambhir, before being dismissed by Mitchell Johnson (3-75).  

Yuvraj was out after striking two fours and a six and India were three down for 97 runs.  

Dhoni and Gambhir then scored at a rapid pace. The duo were quick on their feet and rotated the strike comfortably. Despite not getting the big hits, they managed to maintain the run rate at six runs per over.  

Gambhir hit six fours in his 80-ball knock and looked set for a century but was unfortunate to be run-out.  

Dhoni and Raina then shifted gears. The captain reached his century in style, hitting two consecutive sixes off Shane Watson that also brought the 300 for the team.  

Johnson's last over accounted for the wickets of Dhoni, Raina and Praveen Kumar, conceding  only five runs.

Scorecard of 2nd ODI

Tri-series rivals set sights on Champions Trophy

India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand hope to put in impressive performances in a tri-series starting here on Tuesday to boost confidence ahead of the Champions Trophy.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's India side start as favourites despite missing injured opener Virender Sehwag and paceman Zaheer Khan, having beaten both New Zealand and Sri Lanka in their own backyards in their last one-day series.

India are seeking a hat-trick of wins in Sri Lanka after clinching a pair of bilateral five-match series in August 2008 and in February this year.

Each team will play two league matches before the top two qualify for the final on September 14. The hosts clash with New Zealand in Tuesday's opening game.

Sri Lanka's record-breaking Muttiah Muralitharan believes the series will help the teams prepare for the eight-nation Champions Trophy which opens in South Africa on September 22.

"The tri-series will be good preparation for the upcoming Champions Trophy," said the off-spinner who is the world's leading wicket-taker in Tests (783) and one-day internationals (511).

"New Zealand have shown in the past few days how much more dangerous they are in the shorter version, winning both Twenty20 matches, and India have happy memories of Sri Lanka after two series wins here in the last 13 months.

"It will be a great test for the Sri Lankan team."

Daniel Vettori's New Zealanders salvaged some of their reputation when they stunned the hosts in two Twenty20 internationals last week after being whitewashed in the preceding two-Test series.

"The guys will take a lot of confidence from that," Vettori said after his team's Twenty20 success.

"They can take that into the one-dayers. For us, to make the final will be a great stepping stone for the Champions Trophy."

Focus will be on Indian batsman Rahul Dravid and New Zealand paceman Shane Bond, returning to one-day sides after playing their last match in 2007.

Bond, 34, became eligible to play after severing links with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League, while Dravid, 36, was recalled ahead of India's busy international schedule for his wealth of experience.

Vettori was impressed with Bond's form in the Twenty20 matches in Colombo where the fast bowler bagged three crucial wickets.

"It's great for him to start the way he has and I think he'll get better and better," said Vettori.

"He looks confident and when Shane is confident, he's really a good bowler. I think we'll see more of that as the one-day series goes on."

Dravid got the selectors' nod after a couple of younger batsmen failed to cope with short-pitched deliveries in the World Twenty20 in England in June.

He is only the second Indian after Sachin Tendulkar in the current team to have completed 10,000 one-day runs.

India's South African coach Gary Kirsten welcomed Dravid's return.

"It's good to have him back," Kirsten said recently. "He is a very experienced player and adds massive value to the team. He is a natural performer."

India will play New Zealand on Friday and take on Sri Lanka on Saturday in back-to-back matches.