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Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter put on an unbroken 171-run stand as England thrashed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets on Wednesday to level the one-day international series at 2-2 and ensure the final match is a decider.

Cook, England’s newly appointed ODI captain, hit 95 and Kieswetter made 72 to steer the hosts to 171-0 in less than 24 overs after Sri Lanka was bowled out for 174 in a rain-affected fourth ODI at Trent Bridge.

England won under the Duckworth-Lewis Method after its innings was reduced to 48 overs.

Earlier, England bowlers James Anderson took 3-24 and Jade Dernbach 3-38 to rout Sri Lanka, with Kumar Sangakkara’s gritty 75 the top score for the visitors.

The final match is on Saturday at Old Trafford.

Source: MSN

West Indies was 75-3 before heavy rain made play impossible in the Dominica Test.

Rain played spoilsport as only 31.1 overs were possible on the opening day of the third and final cricket Test against between India and West Indies here today.

Sent into bat, the hosts were 75 for three when the heavens opened up shortly after the lunch break, and it stayed that way till the day’s play was finally called off at 4.15 pm local time.

Darren Bravo was batting on 22 while Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 17, with the two adding 40 runs for the fourth wicket in 14.2 overs.

Before that, the Indian seamers had West Indies in a spot of bother, picking up three early wickets.

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India 201 (Laxman 85, Raina 53, Rampaul 3-38, Bishoo 3-46, Edwards 3-56) and 269 for 6 decl. (Laxman 87, Dravid 55, Edwards 5-76) drew with West Indies 190 (Samuels 78*, Ishant 6-55) and 202 for 7 (Bravo 73, Baugh 46*, Ishant 4-53)

Though close to 128 overs of play were lost to the elements, Barbados still managed to produce a dramatic draw. On the final day, India made a bold declaration to bring the Test to life, and Darren Bravo sucked the life right out of it with an innings of application and resolve. India set West Indies 281 to get in 83 overs, Ishant Sharma helped them take early wickets, but Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Carlton Baugh thwarted India for 322 deliveries between them.

There were two twists in the final session. An ordinary lbw call against Chanderpaul, which was followed by Marlon Samuels’ wicket, would surely have sparked controversy had West Indies lost the match. With a maximum of 36 overs remaining, Bravo and Baugh put up further resistance. Baugh attacked too. At one point the target came down to 102 off 19.3 overs, and he kept India honest with the odd blow after that. Rain intervened, India came back with two quick wickets to turn the equation to three wickets required in 10.4 overs, but quite fittingly bad light brought the match to a premature end.

There was a rain break just before the start of the mandatory overs, prior to which Baugh had hit Abhimanyu Mithun for three back-to-back boundaries. The break was instructive as to where the teams stood with regards to the result. While the Indian players hung about, hoping that it would be a passing shower, Bravo and Baugh wasted little time in getting back to the dressing room.

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Solid India rule out defeat, set for victory push.
India 201 and 229 for 3 (Laxman 72*, Dravid 55) lead West Indies 190 by 240 runs

India batted West Indies out of the game through a cautious second-innings effort on the fourth day. Only 90 minutes were lost to rain, a vast improvement on the previous two days, but scoring remained difficult on a difficult track with ample bounce and seam movement. West Indies were thwarted by two rookies – Abhinav Mukund and Virat Kohli – and two veterans – Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. At some time during the Dravid-Laxman association, the hosts resigned themselves to waiting for a declaration.

The declaration wasn’t quite on India’s mind on the fourth day; they needed to make sure they got into a position of safety first. Looking at just the scorecard, it might be easy to criticise India’s pace – 206 runs added in 83.2 overs – but on the lively pitch that must have also retained moisture, under overcast skies, with low bounce creeping in too, and on a heavy outfield, they couldn’t quite afford to be casual.

That batting wouldn’t be easy was clear from the first 10 minutes or so, when Ravi Rampaul removed M Vijay with a late outswinger. Another low score wasn’t a great result for Vijay a day before selection for the England tour.

Dravid had similar problems with away swing and extra bounce, but he managed to keep the ball down with soft hands and an angled bat, getting eight runs off two deliveries that could have easily taken his wicket early on. The bottom hand kept coming off the bat as Rampaul got the ball to rear up from a length. Dravid was 9 off 32 when he flicked uppishly towards square leg, but the replays couldn’t conclusively prove that Adrian Barath completed a clean catch. Nor did the replays prove otherwise.

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India 201 and 23 for 0 lead West Indies 190 (Samuels 78*, Ishant 6-55) by 34 runs

Ishant Sharma came up with one of the best bowling efforts of his 33-Test career to secure India an advantage on the third day. In doing so, he became the fifth-youngest to 100 Test wickets, registered his second five-for and also personal best figures. Marlon Samuels, looking for a second life as a Test cricketer, showed he appreciated the struggles, curbing his natural attacking style to survive good bowling on a tough pitch under overcast skies, but was left stranded as Ishant ran through the lower order with a mid-afternoon spell of 4.4-2-6-3.

A wrong replay and gloomy weather have loomed over this Test, but Ishant and Samuels did their bit to focus the attention back on bat and ball. Only 42 overs of play were possible on the third day, an improvement of 16.5 overs from day two, but whatever time we had on the field was tense.

Ishant and Praveen Kumar were the ideal bounce-and-swing combination in the morning. Ishant, though, was clearly the more threatening bowler. He used the bouncer well, never got carried away with the assistance available, and kept squashing premeditation by slipping in the full inswingers. He used the seam like a veteran. He held the ball across seam to generate extra bounce, and along it when he wanted swing. And then there were the balls that held their lines.

Samuels and Shivnarine Chanderpaul showed remarkable defensive skill and discipline to add 77 for the sixth wicket, taking their side to a position where they could think of a first-innings lead. Ishant hit both of them on the helmet in his probing first spell of 7-1-18-0. Chanderpaul perhaps wanted him out of his face and tried hooking, only to beaten by the pace. Samuels got hit even as he tried to sway out of the line to a bouncer that jagged nastily back in.

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Rain wipes out most of second day

The replay used to verify whether Edwards had overstepped was an incorrect one

It has emerged that he was given out off a no ball on the first day of the Barbados Test. The replay used to verify Mahendra Singh’s Dhoni dismissal was of the previous delivery; when the actual one had Fidel Edwards overstepping.

The controversy over poor umpiring in the ongoing Test series between India and the West Indies has taken a new twist as it has now emerged that Mahendra Singh Dhoni was given out off a no ball, on the first day of the second match in Barbados. In what could erupt into a major controversy television replays ordered to check if Fidel Edwards had no balled didn’t show that particular ball, instead some other legitimate delivery was shown to give Dhoni out.

Incidentally, Dhoni was given out off a no ball even in the first Test in Jamaica. The latest case was the final delivery of Edwards’ 15th over, the 59th of the innings, which had Dhoni offering the catch to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at mid-on. As Dhoni headed for the pavillion, umpire Ian Gould asked him to stay put as he wanted a reconfirmation from the third umpire that the delivery was legitimate and Edwards had not overstepped the bowling crease.

The replays showed that Edwards’s front foot had stayed within the crease but it was not the same delivery but a previous legitimate ball which was shown in television replays to judge Dhoni out. The real delivery, as umpire Ian Gould had suspected, was indeed a no ball.

India, then 167 for 5, collapsed after the fall of Dhoni’s wickets to be all out for 201 in the final session’s play.

India 201

West Indies 98/5 (37.3 ov)

West Indies trail by 103 runs with 5 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

Stumps – Day 2

Source: MSN

West Indies 30 for 3 (Ishant 1-8, Praveen 1-15, Mithun 1-7) trail India 201 (Laxman 85, Raina 53, Rampaul 3-38, Bishoo 3-46, Edwards 3-56) by 171 runs

13 wickets fell on day 1 of the second Test between India and the West Indies at the Kensington Oval

India were bowled out for 201 after being asked to bat first on a bouncy pitch by West Indian captain Darren Sammy. They however returned the favour by dismissing three West Indian batsmen at stumps. Take a look at all the important moments from day one of the second Test at the Kensington Oval, where 13 wickets fell for 231 runs.

The end of Mukund
Over No. 1.3: Ravi Rampaul picked up a wicket in his very first over, with a short ball that proved to be Abhinav Mukund’s bane. The left-handed opener tried to defend the rising delivery, only to find the ball in Marlon Samuels’ hands. India 1/1.

Source: MSN

The batting ace who is a big fan of Swiss tennis star had a long chat with the latter at SW 19.

London: It takes a lot to bowl over Sachin Tendulkar as bowlers around the world would confess but tennis ace Roger Federer managed to do it just by his knowledge of cricket when the two legends caught up during the Wimbledon here.

Tendulkar, a self-confessed Federer fan, met the winner of 16 Grand Slams at the All England Club after the world number three beat David Nalbandian to advance to the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Tendulkar chatted for an hour with the Swiss and posed with him for the shutterbugs.

"Spent an hour with Roger Federer chatting on the balcony of Wimbledon Royal box. What a humble guy! And by the way he knows a lot about cricket!!" Tendulkar later tweeted.

The two reportedly also had dinner together after Federer’s match.

Federer too talked about his meeting with Tendulkar on his facebook page.

"Today was a special day, played a good match and had the chance to catch up with the great indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar," read the status message on his facebook page.

Source: MSN

Mid-June when the Wimbledon championships take flight, tennis fans and celebrities flock from all corners of the globe to witness the action on the grass courts of SW 19. This year we spotted Sachin Tendulkar, Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen accompanied by their wives at Wimbledon. MSN India brings together all these images and more from the oldest Grand Slam tournament.

Look who’s here!

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is introduced to the Centre Court crowd on the sixth day of the 2011 Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Tennis Club.

Source: MSN

India secures 63-run test win over West Indies

Kingston: India allowed the West Indies tail-enders to delay the inevitable before wrapping up the first cricket Test with a comfortable 63-run victory inside four days and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series here today.

India secured a 63-run victory over West Indies on day four of the first cricket test at Sabina Park with swing bowler Praveen Kumar claiming the key wickets of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo on Thursday. The hosts, 131-3 overnight, were bowled out 35 minutes after lunch for 262. India scored 246 and 252, while West Indies was on the back foot after posting 173 in its first innings.

Kumar, on his debut and sporting a fresh crewcut, claimed 3-42 in the second innings while his new-ball partner Ishant Sharma took 3-81. Legspinner Amit Mishra grabbed 2-62 while offspinners Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina grabbed one wicket apiece. Bravo top-scored with 41 while left-hander Ravi Rampaul provided some resistance in the lower order with a run-a-ball 34.

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