21 Oct 08 India Dominates Australia in Test match #2

Right from the word go, it clicked for the indians. Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and made the right decision of choosing to bat first. The seniors came out good in the first innings with the skipper himself making 92 in no time. Indians ended up scoring 469 and with some belligerent bowling from Amit Mishra, Indians were on song and australia were bundled out for 268!. Imagine such a situtation where even the mighty aussies couldn’t avoid a follow on!

However, Mahi did the clever thing. Instead of enforcing the follow on, Indians padded up and continued on with Innings number 2. Delhi guys Gambhir and Sehwag made aussies bowling look insultingly simple and the scoreboard kept ticking. Indians ended their innings before tea, declaring at 314/3.

Australians started off their 2nd innings well, with matt hayden looking strong. However, three balle balle’s from Bhajji did the trick and aussies reeled at 52-3. Ponting was no good playing Ishant sharma and followed his men suit. It was 52-4 and Shane watson, player of the IPL tournament was taken out again by Ishant sharma. Haddin and Clarke put up a good solid stand and lifted the score and aussie hopes as the visitors reached 142-5.

Day 5: It all ended within the first session. And how?!. Zaheer came, took 3 wickets in 4 deliveries. Australia’s hopes of saving the match were doomed now as their score looked a pathetic 144-8. Mitchell johnson and Clarke shared a 50 run partnership. But however, debutant Amit mishra set the tail of the tailenders on fire and removed Johnson and Clarke. Australia bundled out for 195. India win by 320 runs! Highest ever victory margin!!

Tags: australia, border gavaskar trophy, india

17 Oct 08 Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar - God of Cricket

“If cricket is my religion, then Tendulkar is my god”.. These are the non famous words uttered by totally non famous person living in a small suburb area, not visible on Google maps, with the name “Hariharan”. Yea thats me!

Today, Sachin scored the elusive 14 runs needed to overthrow the record made by my yet another favorite Brian Lara. When he reached 11954, there was no stopping him. He went on to make 88 runs from 111 balls, today before falling to Peter Siddle (Congratulations mate, you’ve nailed the big fish). I always thought 111 was an unlucky number, like the umpire David Shepherd does. Yes, it was truly unlucky as Sachin happened to get out in the closing moments of the day.

Albeit scoring a bit slow, It was a welcome change to see thalaivar tendiya batting positively. Thalaivar played like the god he is, smashing 10 sweet fours in a juicy pitch. India sauntered to a good first day score of 311/5. Hope they keep the pace up tomorrow as well and reach a possible 600.

Tags: australia, brian lara, cricket, god, sachin tendulkar

07 Oct 08 No Mercy - Kicks A$$!

Recently I saw WWE Pay-per-view show ‘No Mercy’. Man, it was unbelieveable! The matches lined up were

1. ECW Championship
Matt Hardy (ECW Champion) vs Mark Henry - Matt hardy delivers TOF and retains title
2. Rey Mysterio vs Kane
If Rey loses, he should unmask. Kane gets disqualified for using a Steel chair
3. #1 Contenders Match
Batista vs JBL - Batista powerbombs his way to the World Heavyweight championship match
4. Women’s championship
Beth Phoenix(Champion) vs Candice Michelle - Phoenix’s glam slam makes sure she retains her title
5. Big Show vs Undertaker
Dirty and personal. Big show’s Big Fist puts an end to taker’s misery
6. WWE Championship Match
‘The Game’ Triple H vs ‘The Enigma’ Jeff Hardy. Game counters Hardy’s swanton into a pin and retains title
7. World Heavyweight Championship - Ladder Match
HBK Shawn Michaels vs Y2J Chris Jericho -Jericho was at the right end of the ladder at the right time to defeat the Show stopper.

Like it or not, we can observe that champions came in and walked out as retaining the title. The ladder match was brutal and HBK did what he wanted to do. Permanently disfigure Jericho’s face. There is a poll in WWE website for voting your favorite match. Since the match between Triple H and Jeff Hardy was too good, I voted for it.

Tags: Chris Jericho, ECW, Hardy, HBK, RAW, SMACKDOWN, Triple H, WWE

24 Sep 08 Monday Night RAW vs Friday Night Smackdown

WWE is becoming more interesting, now that I have been following the weekly matches closely. Previously, it was a professional wrestling activity involving trash talk and less action. But the WWE superstars have come of age and started to back their words up. Both RAW and Smackdown are equally interesting to see and it is pure entertainment for 90 minutes.

RAW superstars that I like

Dave Batista, Shawn Michaels, Hi-flier Rey mysterio, Santino Marella (very funny wrestler, likes to butcher the english language), CM Punk (Disciplined and tough superstar)

Smackdown superstars that I like

The Game - Triple H (Hunter Hearst Helmsley, with an awesome Intro music), Jeff Hardy (The Enigma), R-Truth (A convict, turned on a new leaf), Carlito (Funny San huan native), Chavo guerrero (equally funny spainard), Vladimir Kozlov (Intensity personified)

Next week its RAW’s Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella versus Smackdown’s United state champion Shelton benjamin. Shelton will win this with both of his hands tied to his back, I guarantee.

Tags: RAW, SMACKDOWN, superstars, WWE

22 Sep 08 Super sunday - Oh yeah!

Super sunday.

Reason - EPL (or Barclay’s premiere league) Football.

Teams - Manchester United vs. Chelsea

Today’s match was too good to miss and I sat glued to my TV savoring every moment of the match. Je Sun Park scored the first goal of the match and the last goal for Manchester United in 18 mins. Chelsea were under immense pressure. Lackadaisical gameplay, indiscipline lead to 7 bookings (Yellow cards) for the red shirts. Chelsea kept their cool, but were unable to convert brilliant passes into finishers. A wildcard substitute Kalou scored the equalizer for Chelsea and it was at 80th minute! However, the match came to a stalemate and the defending champions were pushed to the 15th spot (they still have more games to play). I hope they don’t get relegated, as their gameplay isn’t too good.

A touch of over confidence, perhaps..

Result: MANU 1- 1 CHELSEA

Tags: chelsea, epl, football, manchester united

09 Sep 08 Fed-ex blazes to victory

Roger federer, former World No.1, has won the first grand slam of 2008, after losing to Rafeal Nadal, the current world No.1. Admitting that 2008 has been a tough year for him, he says ‘It means a world to me’ after winning the US open. He defeated Andy Murray of Great Britain in straight sets, who could have the been the first man in 72 years to win a US open for his country, if he had won the match. A swashbuckling performance from the ace has sent a clear message to Rafa that he is coming for him and for the no.1 ranking.

It has become a habit for Federer to win a grandslam 5 times in a row. He won the wimbeldon 5 times in a row and he has won the US open now 5 times in a row. He has 13 grand slam titles to his name and one short of the legend Pete sampras. Though the world won’t stop for federer here, it certainly is going to be tough road to tread on to win another grand slam.

Tags: Andy Murray, Rafael nadal, Roger federer, tennis, US open

28 Aug 08 India win Idea Cup

Three cheers to the Indian team for emerging victorious in the Idea cup ODI series. After a humiliating defeat in the test series and in the match 1 of the ODI series, Indians bounced back and won 3 matches in a row to seal the deal. One thing I appreciate in the victory is MS Dhoni. There is a saying ‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man’ Dhoni exhibited controlled brilliance and frenzy in the field and made sure Indians put up a decent total on the board.

Bowlers complemented the efforts of the batsmen and over all it was a good team effort that brought us the victory. Suresh raina is becoming more mature in his approach off late and the young indian team has proven once again that they can fare well without the seniors. Indians win their first ever ODI series in Sri Lanka.

Tags: dhoni, india, ODI series, raina, srilanka

23 Aug 08 USA wins a thriller in 4×400 Relay

USA wins the 4×400 m women’s relay fraction of a second ahead than Russia. It was a tight contest and russians were in good lead upto the final leg. USA’s Sanya richards took the lead in the straight lane i.e. the final 200 meters, over a russian lady, whose name I find very difficult to spell. Great britian was all talk and no work. They finished 5th.

In the Mens final, the US quartet lead the race with over 2 seconds ahead of Bahamas who finished second. David Neville made all the difference in the third leg, and from then on, it was a grand american finish. Both men and women complete a medal sweep in the 4×400 relay event.

Tags: 4x400, Men, Relay, usa, Women

20 Aug 08 Usain ‘The Lightning’ Bolt strikes again

It looks as if the Beijing Olympics is a revelation of talents across the world. With India ensuring a gold and 2 bronze medals via shooting, boxing and wrestling, I can say that India has finally come of age. But all the action is centered on the athletics field, with one man dominating the racing arena. That man strikes fear in the hearts of many and it is becoming a habit for him to break world records. Usain bolt broke Michael Johnson’s 100 m record of 9.81s as 9.69s and now after 12 years he broke Michael Johnson’s record in 200 m race in the Olympics.

In 1996, Johnson won the gold medal by setting the world record in 200 m race where he clocked 19.96s. Today Usain Bolt, made it look like nothing, when he clinched the victory in mere 19.3 seconds! My goodness, this guy is as fast as light! His height is an added advantage and he leads the race with ease. I don’t know how long his record will stay, but if it is going to be broken, it will be done by himself and nobody else. Period.

Tags: Beijing Olympics, Michael Johnson, Usain Bolt, World Record

18 Aug 08 Mendis continues to torment Indians

Surely the word ‘Mendis’ will strike fear among the players in the Indian dressing room and I, for one, wouldn’t want to be in their shoes now. The team has no clue to his ‘carrom’ ball release and succumbed to his bowling yet again. Indians put up a below par performance and scored a humble 146 runs in the first ODI. Sri lankans, whose batting is as good as their bowling licked up the Indian bowling attack with ease.

Murali and Mendis are still a mystery, waiting to be unravelled. I don’t know how long the players are going to take to attack them, but I sure wish that should happen soon. It is not a good sign for the players to surrender meekly to a puppet boy’s bowling.

Tags: cricket, india vs srilanka, Mendis, Muralitharan, odi