Yet again, India brushed aside England, this time by a good margin , 95 runs in the fifth and final one-day international in Kolkata on Tuesday to sweep the series 5-0.

Yet again, India brushed aside England, this time by a good margin , 95 runs in the fifth and final one-day international in Kolkata on Tuesday to sweep the series 5-0.


The tourists had their task cut out when india ended with 271 on the board, England started well with Cook and Kieswetter making batting look extremely easy on a pitch which offered a fair amount of assistance to both the spinners and the fast bowlers. They looked on course to chase down 271 till they were 129-0 by the 22nd over..


However the innings subsided in a hurry, they went through an embarrassing collapse and the side which at one stage looked to be on top with 129-0 , lost all 10 wickets for just 47 runs, only to be bowled out for 176.


Jadeja , who picked 4 important wickets was the man of the match . He was well supported by Ashwin (3-28 ). Raina , Tiwary , Aaron picked one wicket each.

Read Full Story to Find out what more Alastair Cook had to say about this pathetic show by English Squad:

A simply amazing show by the Zimbabweans, Waller helps his team to chase a mammoth target of 328 runs. Zimbabwe beat New Zealand by 1 wicket.

In a high-scoring game, twin centuries from Ross Taylor, who made 119, and Kane Williamson, whose 100 came from just 69 balls, were not enough for New Zealand, who nevertheless clinched the series 2-1. Zimbabwe’s Waller faced 74 balls, hitting ten fours and a six, following up half-centuries from Brendan Taylor (75) and Tatenda Taibu (53) to hand Zimbabwe an impressive win.
Waller and Chigumbura started together at the start of the 31st over, with 146 runs required to win and crafted a match-winning partnership. They batted themselves in, faced the spinners - Nathan McCullum and Rob Nicol - capitalised on anything on a length or too full and left New Zealand's bowlers wondering how many more runs they needed to work with.
The chase was filled with twists after Chigumbura and Waller brought the target down to less than a run a ball, Jacob Oram bowled Chigumbura, swinging down the wrong line. He left Waller to marshal the lower order, a task he completed with distinction.
Zimbabwe made a poor start with Nathan McCullum having Vusi Sibanda caught by Brendon McCullum without scoring but they were revived by Hamilton Masakadza's 36 and then half-centuries from Brendan Taylor and Taibu.

What I saw last Saturday is something I never want associated with Pakistan cricket, and neither is it something I would want to see in sport in general, or in any contest for that matter. To not even try, however small the chance of victory, defies the purpose of playing any sport.

As the Pakistan batsmen came out to bat needing 170 off 21 overs in the final innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka, their fans around the world sat riveted to their TV screens, anticipating an enthralling run chase. But as ball after ball was blocked, it was obvious that going for the win was not what was discussed amongst the Pakistan team management in the interval.

When asked after the game, interim coach Mohsin Khan’s response was “...we felt we didn't want to make a mess of things...We decided that given the field set, we would opt to bat out time”. Now this is in stark contrast to what the coach was saying just a few days earlier. When speaking of the ‘successful risk’ the Pakistan selectors had taken in picking a young squad for the recent tour of Zimbabwe, Khan said “To achieve a big goal, you have to take risks...As a selector, or now a coach, I won’t be afraid of taking a risk”. Easier said than done, right Mohsin?

MATCH REVIEW : Bangladesh V West Indies 1st Test DRAWN - Courtesy Rain

Bangladesh 350 for 9 and 119 for 3 drew with West Indies 244  and 100 for 2.

The 1^st Test between Bangladesh and West Indies at Chittagong, was lost to rain, thought it was the Bangladesh side whom looked to have enjoyed the game the most, by the way they batted and bowled. The debutant Elias Sunny put on a marvelous show with 7-wickets bagged. Shahriar Nafees also impressed us by some quality batting in the second innings, which raised Bangladesh’s lead to 225. The pair, Tamim and Nafees, did successfully dodge the bowlers, though Tamim fell first, who was caught behind, but Nafees played well and carried out the batting, as he’d done the way before, towards a well-deserved half-century. 

For more details, read along!

They say that the pitch is the heart of a cricket game. If it’s fast and hard, the game’s bound to be full of excitement and fun. But when it’s slow and flat, the game would ultimately be lifeless and dull. Therefore, next time you decide to watch a game of cricket, make sure the pitch is to your liking.

Pitches that are flat and dull are proving to be a nuisance for the game. They tend to be one-sided and boring. You just get to see the batsmen conquering the whole game while the poor bowlers have their heads in their hands and display a feeling of despair and anguish. That’s not helping cricket at all but it’s making it pointless. A bowler runs in filled with an adrenaline rush and bowls his heart out, all but to be whacked around the park. That’s why cricket today is being called as a batsman’s game. Heavier, sturdier, reliable bats and equipment for the batsmen with the UDRS coming to their favour most of the time, but when a bowler for his favour scratches the ball, it’s like his committed a cardinal sin; though that’s a debate for another day.

Six out of ten nations in the world provide tracks that are batting-friendly. While pitches in England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are what the bowlers look forward to bowling on. It’s not the conditions or nature of the pitch. It’s the mentality of the curators and management what creates the pitch. I know that most of us would point at the conditions and I know how important they are. What I mean is; the approach of the curators in the sub-continent has always been about creating pitches suitable for batting, not bowling. Flat, dead with no grass or moisture in them are the pitches fed to bowlers. Though to give them some credit the heat does bake the pitches, which doesn’t help.

Marks out of 10.

The opening test in Abu Dhabi has concluded with a moral victory for the Sri Lankans who batted with utmost character, spirit and heart to prevent anembarrassing loss after being outplayed on the first 3 days by Misbah-ul-Haq'sPakistan team. The seasoned campaigner Kumar played a blinder at number 3 to notch up his 8th double century in an illustrious career. Since he has given up the gloves, his batting has gone from strength to strength. The 34 year old batted for 153 overs to ensure Pakistan did not have the necessary time they 
required in order to chase down the 4th innings target which was 170 from 21overs in the end. Pakistan decided not go ahead with the chase and ensure safety in order to get the test match done and dusted with a draw and 2 tests to follow in Dubai and Sharjah (first test will be played there in 9 years). Maravan Attapatu, the Sri Lankan batting coach and past great would have been delighted 
with the "application" his batsmen displayed on show...

Read Full Story to find out where KheloPakistan.com ranks Team pakistan's performance in last test: