Pandey stars as India A crushes South Africa A by an innings and 13 runz!!

India A crushed hosts South Africa A by an innings and 13 runs on the fourth and final day of the opening unofficial Test to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series on Tuesday.
The Indian bowlers continued their dominating show as they bundled out South Africa for 212 in their second innings after making them follow on with a 225 run  lead on them.

Seam bowlers Mohammed Shami (3/29) and Ishwar Pandey (3/25) picked up three wickets each while part-time spinner Rohit Sharma chipped in with two wickets to wrap up India's crushing win over the hosts.
Middle-order batsman Temba Bavuma (65) was the top-scorer for South Africa in their second innings. His 138-ball innings included 6 fours.

Resuming at overnight 312 for nine, Kyle Abbott (33 not out) and Andrew Birch (18) provided some late resistance before Suresh Raina had the latter trapped leg before to bring an end to South Africa's first innings at 357.
After asking South Africa to follow on, India's  pace batteries struck early with Pandey dismissing Reeza Hendricks (4) in the third ball of his first over.
Shami then struck twice in the sixth over, removing Dean Elgar (3) and JP Duminy (0) in the space of four deliveries leaving RSA A in deep trouble.

The Half centurian of the 1st innings Rilee Rossouw tried to break the shackles and cracked away three boundaries in the 10th over bowled by Shami Ahmed.He was dismissed in the 20th over by Raina, who bowled out Rossouw's timbers when the batsman went for a sweep shot.
Bavuma picked up a couple of boundaries in the 23rd over off Raina, while Ontong (19) hit two fours off Shami's in the 25th over. But Shami came back strongly to clean up Ontong in the fourth delivery of the same over as South Africa  sinked to 93 for five.

Pandey took his second wicket in the form of Tsolekile in the 35th over before Nadeem got rid off Wayne Parnell (10) as South Africa further slumped to 140 for seven in 41.4 overs.
At tea, South Africa needed another 84 runs to make India bat again with three second innings wickets in hand. Temba Bavuma and Simon Harmer were at the crease after the break.

After the interval, Bavuma started on a positive side,  dispatching Nadeem through the mid-wicket and covers for a
couple of handy boundaries.

Bavuma scored another boundary off the left-arm spinner when he drove him through point and covers in the 48th over.
Part-time spinner Sharma was then introduced into the attack by captain Pujara and the trick worked as Bavuma (65) in sight of a pull shot hit it straight to the India skipper at mid-wicket.

Abbott (14) and Harmer (31 not out) tried to ease out the mounting pressure with a couple of hits to the fence. Sharma came back for his second spell to dismiss Abbott when he induced an edge to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.Birch then picked up a four off Sharma but Pandey cleaned up the batsman in the 67th over to complete India A's a thumping victory.

England eye's on history as Australia fights for Pride!!

A chance to make history although of different sorts, will confront England and Australia when the final Test of this season's Ashes starts at The Oval in south London on Wednesday.

At 3-0 up with one more to play, England have already retained the Ashes and won the series - the first time since the 1950s they've won three successive Ashes series against their oldest rivals.
But they still have plenty to play as they've never won four Tests against Australia in England and have never taken any Ashes series by a 4-0 margin, although they did win 4-1 in Australia in 1911/12 and in 1928/29 before taking a six-match series against an Australia side weakened by the unofficial World Series Cricket by 5-1 in 1978/79.

A result of greater resonance to both current sides is that the last England team to win the Ashes and round off the series with a defeat was Mike Gatting's side at Sydney in 1987. Following a narrow victory, Australia won the next eight Ashes series hence dominating nxt 18 years.

The last thing England batsman Jonathan Trott wants is for his captain, Alastair Cook, to receive the Ashes urn on the back of a loss. "I don't think anyone wants to go up on the stage and raise the urn after we have lost," Trott said. "If we do that, it will be a bit of a downer."

Unusually, Australia will have a chance for their revenge in a matter of a few months, with the return Ashes 'Down Under' starting in November. "There are another five games [against Australia] after this one so we are not letting up," Trott said. "That is an important message to send. If we take our foot off, you give them hope and they can go back to Australia having won a Test," added Trott, who marked his Test debut by making a hundred against Australia at The Oval in the concluding Ashes Test of 2009 where victory saw England regain the urn.

England have been forced into making a change after Tim Bresnan, who starred with both bat and ball in the 74-run fourth Test win at Chester-le-Street was ruled out of the rest of the season with a back injury.
Fast bowler Chris Tremlett, looking to reincarnate his Test career on his Surrey home ground, is one of three players along with the uncapped duo of allrounder Chris Woakes and left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan looking to take Bresnan's spot.

Australia, who've used eight batsmen in a series where the top order has been their headache, could once again make changes despite being urged to 'pick and keep faith' by the likes of former captain Steve Waugh, who didn't score a hundred until his 26th Test before becoming a legendary batsman.

Usman Khawaja, averaging just 19 in three successive Tests, appears to be the batsman under greatest pressure right now after coach Darren Lehmann warned his top six they were playing for their places following Australia's latest collapse at Chester-le-Street, and there have been many suggestions that reserve wicketkeeper Matthew Wade could play a role into the side as a specialist batsman.

Australia have lost seven of their last eight Tests, a losing streak interrupted by a rain-affected draw at chester lee street. However, vice-captain Brad Haddin insisted a side led by a world-class batsman Michael Clarke could avoid becoming the first Australia team since Greg Chappell's side lost 3-0 in England in 1977 to go through an Ashes series without winning a Test.
"There's a lot of belief in the changing room that we can win this last Test," wicketkeeper Haddin said. "We've been in a position over the Tests to put ourselves in a position to win; we just haven't been good enough in the big moments.
"We've shown glimmers of where we can be as a team, but we haven't done it for long enough. To get ourselves in a position that we did at Durham and then finish the way we did, it takes a lot out of you," Haddin admitted. "But Test cricket's not meant to be easy ... The series has gone, and we've just got to see what we're made of." Haddin concluded.

Gambhir all set to make his county debut

Out of favour India opener Gautam Gambhir is set to make his county debut after signing to play for the Essex team in the LV= County Championship. The 31-year old left-hander will be available to play for the remainder of the County Championship season as well as the Yorkshire Bank 40 matches.

Gambhir will replace New Zealand's Hamish Rutherford as Essex's overseas player as the Black-Caps player is set to return to his country after playing the final of the Friends Life t20, for the pre-season training ahead of their domestic and international competitions.

Gambhir is likely to make his maiden county appearance in the match against Northamptonshire which starts on August 20 at the Castle Park Cricket Ground in Colchester.

Essex Head Coach Paul Grayson expressed his delight with the signing of Gambhir and said the left-hander's experience will play a crucial role at an important juncture of the season for Essex.

"We are delighted with the signing of Gautam Gambhir who is a player with pedigree and high class on the biggest stages in cricket. He will no doubt bring his experience to the squad during an important stage of the season for us in the LV= County Championship and Yorkshire Bank 40 competition."

The southpaw batsman, who has scored 11,274 runs in first class cricket at an average of 51.45 and 8815 runs at an average of 37.99 in List A cricket, said: "I am delighted to have this chance to make my county cricket debut with Essex."

"After the IPL (Indian Premier League) ended I was looking to play some competitive cricket and playing for Essex will give me that opportunity. I am thankful to Essex for presenting me with this option and BCCI for allowing me to participate in county cricket. I hope I can make some meaningful contributions to Essex in the ongoing season," Gambhir added.

Bradman"s Bat sold for a whooping $65,000

A bat used by Australian legend Sir Donald Bradman and signed by his 1948 "Invincible" team sold for Aus$61,000 ($65,000) at auction in Melbourne on Thursday according to the reports.

Bradman used the Sykes bat to score 115 in his final first-class innings at home before the team travelled to England 65 years ago. It sold for well above its estimated value of Aus$20,000, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.

The bat was signed by Bradman and his team-mates, who included Lindsay Hassett, Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller.

An inspection of the Bat

The Invincibles went on to become -- and remain -- the only Australian side to go through an entire Ashes tour unbeaten.

The item had spent 20 years on display at the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) and is mounted in a wooden display case. The bat was sold by Leski Auctions.

Legendary Australia batsman Bradman, who died aged 92 in 2001, played his last match in England in 1948 and retired with a yet-to-be-broked Test batting average of 99.94, despite scoring a duck in his final innings.

Kapil Dev's Greatest Indian ODI team

He can walk into any Indian team on a given day but former captain Kapil Dev decided to keep himself "out" of the best-ever Indian ODI team which he himself  feels should be led by none other than the limited overs legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The World Cup winning captain's team of 12 has young Saurashtra all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja while Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble are the other two spinners in the line-up.

Apart from Dhoni, the team has Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli and Mohammed Azharuddin while Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath are the two fast bowlers.

Interestingly, Kapil didn't select a single member of the victorious 1983 squad. Asked about the reason behind leaving out members of 1983 side, Kapil said: "I feel this is India's best ODI team. People can disagree with me but that's my personal view."

"Furthermore, I am selecting the side so how can I include myself in it," he said when asked to hand pick India's best ODI team on the sidelines of promotional event. "We won the 1983 World Cup but the fact remains that West Indies were by far the better side. We were just confident of doing well on that given day."

Kapil claimed that the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team which won the Champions Trophy in England this year is the best-ever team in the history of Indian cricket.

"The team did not have key players like Sehwag, (Gautam) Gambhir, Zaheer but the way they played nobody missed them. West Indies is still missing the likes of Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes," he said. "I have never seen such outstanding fielding side in the history of Indian cricket. The Champions Trophy title is the ultimate tribute to this team."

Kapil had words of appreciation for India's new batting sensation Shikhar Dhawan and compared the hard-hitting left--hander to Sehwag.
"Shikhar has been outstanding from his very first match. I had never thought there would be someone who can hit the ball better than Sehwag," he said.

With the present Indian team sporting a settled look, Kapil feels it would be tough for seniors like Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj and Zaheer to make a comeback. "Nothing is impossible but they need to have patience. The competition would be tough because and the age is also not in their favour," he said.

Kapil's all-time XII: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Mohammed Azharuddin, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan. 12th Man: Ravindra Jadeja.

India A clinches Tri series final after an emphatic 50 run victory over Australia A

Shahbaz Nadeem took three wickets for 34 and spot-in-contention pacer Mohammed Shami took two for 30 as India defended their 243 to beat Australia by 50 runs in the final of the tri-nation A series final in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Australia lost half their side for 53 in the 14th over and hardly recovered. A 54-run eighth wicket partnership betweent keeper Tim Paine (47) and Josh Hazlewood (30) defied the Indians but it was Nadeem who spun his magic to ensure India's first win against the Aussies in the championship. Australia were bowled out for 193 in the 47th over.

It was perfect team effort by the Indian bowlers. Suresh Raina, who opened the attack with his fast off-spins, Ishwar Pandey and Parvez Rasool picked up a wicket each as Australia made a hell of the run-chase.

Earlier Nathan Coulter-Nile and Hazlewood took three wickets each as India 'A' were bundled out for 243 after opting to bat first.

The Indians did not even manage to bat out their 50 overs, being packed off in 49.2 overs as Coulter-Nile removed India's last man Rasool. This was the second lowest total in the series with Australia A scoring 233 against South Africa A.

India A started disastrously with back-to-back wickets of Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara. Sharma was on 6 when trapped lbw by Hazlewood while Pujara, who scored a century in the last match against South Africa A, was dismissed for 1 caught by Aaron Finch off Glenn Maxwell.

Shikhar Dhawan, who looked in bright touch all this while, was then joined in by Dinesh Karthik as India A badly needed a partnership. The pair provided exactly that as both proceeded to get some quick runs.

Majorly targeting Indian-origin Aussie pacer Gurinder Sandhu and Pakistani-origin spinner Fawad Ahmed, Dhawan (62) and Karthik (73) added 108 in 18.2 overs. Both reached their half centuries off identical number of deliveries, 51, as India A recovered from a position of potential disaster to one of strength.

But the Aussies bowlers had other ideas. Moises Henriques got the big wicket of Dhawan, caught by keeper Paine for 62 off 65. Within 16 runs of his departure, Karthik too fell, clean bowled by Coulter-Nile for 73.

India A then went from 142/2 to 166/5 with Raina's wicket, lbw to Mitchell Marsh.

Ambati Rayudu and Wriddhiman Saha then got together as Indians looked for stability as well as quick runs. The pair batted with grit but could not break free. They added 63 in 12.5 overs but fell in quick succession when trying to up the scoring rate. Rayudu got 34 off 49 before being cleaned up by Hazlewood while Saha got 31 off 41 when Henriques had him caught by Maxwell.

It was all in collapse for India after that. After Saha's dismissal at 236, India A batsmen - Rasool, Pandey, Ahmed and Nadeem - managed just 7 more runs thus ending the scoreboard reading at 243.

Rogers and Watson Consolidates Australia on Day 2

Chris Rogers became the second oldest Australian to hit a maiden Test century as he led his team to 222 for five on the second day of the fourth Ashes Test against England in County Durham on Saturday.

The gritty left-handed opener nudged and nurdled his way to 101 not out after a four-wicket burst from Stuart Broad had threatened to put England, bowled out without adding to their overnight total of 238 for nine, on top.

Rogers was given good support by Shane Watson (68) as the pair shared a stand of 129 for the fifth wicket on a tricky day for batting.

"I can't talk for the younger blokes but after all this time you just don't think this opportunity is going to come up," Rogers told reporters.

"I wanted to believe I was good enough but never knew. To get a hundred, that's something that no one can take away from me, and I can tell my grandchildren about it now...if I have any."

Fellow Australian Arthur Richardson was 37 when he reached three figures against England at Leeds in 1926.

Rogers, making only his fifth test appearance, needed a generousi helping of good fortune at the Emirates Durham and also suffered several nervous moments in the 90s.

Broad, who often blows hot and cold, was in mean and hungry mood and took advantage of overcast skies and a pitch offering extravaganza seam movement to remove Watson, David Warner (three), Usman Khawaja (nought) and skipper Michael Clarke (six).

The day began with England's last man James Anderson being hit on the helmet by a bouncer from Jackson Bird.

Later the same over Bird ended the innings by bowling Anderson for 16, leaving Tim Bresnan undefeated on 12.

It did not take long for England to rattle out  the top of the Australian order, Warner being bowled by an inswinger from Broad that clipped the top of off stump with the total on 12.

There had been no addition to the score when Khawaja could not decide whether to play or leave a delivery from Broad and the ball struck the toe of his bat before going through to Matt Prior.

It was the 200th catch of Prior's career on his 71st test appearance and left him third on the all-time list of England wicketkeepers, behind Alec Stewart (227) and Alan Knott (250).

The home team, 2-0 up in the five-match series, then wasted a video review when Broad hit Rogers in front on the pad but the replay showed the ball had pitched a couple of inches outside leg stump.

England went close again moments later when umpire Tony Hill gave Rogers out caught behind off Broad.

The video replay showed the ball clipping the pad, not the bat, and the hosts quickly changed their appeal to an lbw shout.

England's players started celebrating when the big screen in the corner of the ground showed the ball striking the stumps but that appeal was also turned down because it was only nudging the top of the bails.

Captain Alastair Cook and his players remonstrated with Hill and his colleague Aleem Dar but to no avail.

Rogers responded in defiant manner by hitting two fours in one over from Bresnan.

Broad took his third wicket when Clarke slashed a wide ball to first slip where Cook took a good reaction catch high above his head.

When Bresnan had Steve Smith caught behind by Prior for 17 after lunch, it seemed as though England were ready to run through the Australian lineup. But Watson, demoted to number six for this test, provided a reassuring presence alongside Rogers.

Rogers reached his half-century with an edge off Broad that was put down by Graeme Swann as he dived full-length at second slip attempting the catch.

Watson played a classy shot for four through mid-wicket off Broad before following up with two more boundaries off Anderson, one a clip through square leg and another coming from a venomous pull through wide mid-on.

The Australian all-rounder finally fell in unlucky fashion just before the close of play, edging Broad to Prior who took a tumbling catch down the leg side.

Rogers, on 96, had to face 19 deliveries from Swann without scoring and twice chipped the ball in the air short of fielders while Clarke covered his face with his hands on the pavilion balcony.

Clarke and the rest of the Australian team then punched the air with delight when the opener swept Swann for four to bring up his hundred.

Brad Haddin (12) was the other undefeated batsman when stumps were drawn early because of bad light.