Ind vs Aus Live: Ponting stays but India go after the others

Australia are 158/4 in 35 overs with Ricky Ponting and Cameron White at the crease against India in their World Cup quarter-final match at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, on Wednesday. Live Score

Earlier, Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat. Not an unusual decision considering that seamers won't have much bounce and carry and it is a good batting wicket.

The wicket looks dry and there will be some turn in offer for the spinners. Considering this, it was a good move by India captain MS Dhoni to give the ball to offie R Ashwin in the first over. And Ashwin did get the breakthrough though a bit late. On the last ball of the 10th over he scalped Satson with his turner that crashed into his stumps. He fell for 25 and Aussies went down to 40/1.

Post that wicket, Brad Haddin and Ricky Ponting got on with a fine partnership to put 70 runs for the second wicket. Brad Haddin went on to score his fourth half-century in the World Cup, but he could not carry any further as Yuvraj Singh got the man India wanted. Haddin went for a big hit off Yuvraj but failed to get the elevation and Suresh Raina took a fine catch to dismiss him on 53. Aussies lost their second wicket on 110/2.

Yuvraj, who is on a purple patch at the World Cup, came up with another vital breakthrough to send Aussie vice-captain Michael Clarke home. A top edge off Clarke's bat was taken by Zaheer Khan at mid-wicket. He departed for 8 and Australia fell to 140/3 in the 31st over. 

Then it was the turn of India paceman to join the party and Zaheer came headon scalping Michael Hussey with his slower ball that pitched on the off and turned in a little to take the batsman's off stump. Australia lost their fourth wicket on 150. 

In World Cups, India and Australia have played each other nine times. Australia have won seven times and India have won twice. However, in the knock-out stages of ICC events, they have met four times where India have won thrice and the Australia just once. At Motera, they have played twice and both have won one game each. 

Teams -

India: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt./wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel  

Australia: Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt.), Michael Clarke, Cameron White, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait 

Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/133165/top-stories/ind-vs-aus-match-report.html

Aus vs NZ: Convincing 7-wicket win for Aussies against Kiwis

Australia beat their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand by seven wickets in a one-sided World Cup Group B match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur on Friday. 

Chasing a partly 207, the Australians got off to a fine start with openers Shane Watson and Brad Haddin milking away the Kiwi bowlers. The duo batted on at ease even as the Kiwis tried hard to figure out a way to stop their charge.

Their bowling lacked the kill and the Aussies continued to pound away boundaries. Finally Kiwi pacer Hamish Bennett managed to break their partnership when the Aussie score was 133 runs. It was a slower ball that did the trick albeit a bit late. Haddin went for an aerial shot and ended up giving a catch to James Franklin at deep midwicket. Haddin scored 55.

With the partnership broken, the other opener Shane Watson too lost his rhythm and got out in the 20th over when the Aussie score was 136/2. He was cleaned bowled by Bennett on 62.

A few minutes later Aussie skipper Ricky Pointing too fell trying to play Tim Southee down the leg side. The ball was wide off the leg side and Ponting still touched it trying to play it towards the fine-leg boundary. But keeper Brendon McCullum had other plans, he collected the ball and even before Ponting could realise his error his bails were off. He scored 12 as the Australia score read 167/3.

Finally, Michael Clarke and Cameron White batted on to carry the Aussies to victory in the 34th over.

New Zealand innings

New Zealand posted a meagre 206 against Australia in their World Cup Group A match. The total could have been all the more dismal hadn't Nathan McCullum and skipper Daniel Vettori staged a late revival at death.

In the morning, Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting won the toss and decided to bowl under overcast conditions - a move aimed helping his pacemen excel. And that's what they did with Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson ripping the Kiwi batting apart.

Shaun Tait started the job rather early removing opener Brendon McCullum in the fourth over of the day.

However, it was more of McCullum's fault in the way he got out. He went for a big hit right away and Jason Krejza took a fine catch in the deep. He fell for 16 as New Zealand slumped to 20/1 in 3.4 overs.

Shortly after McCullum's dismissal, the other opener Martin Guptill too walked back with Shane Watson castling him on 40/2 in the 9th over. He scored 10.

But, that was just the beginning of the Aussie charge as Mitchell Johnson claimed two wickets in the space of two balls to push the Kiwis to the wall. Ryder fell for 25 while James Franklin hadn't even opened his account, when Johnson removed them. The New Zealand score at the stage was 66/4 in 13.5 overs.

Clearly the Aussies pacemen were at a party and Shaun Tait struck back to make sure he had more reason to cheer. After removing McCullum in early, he claimed seasoned batsman Scott Styris in the 15th over when the Kiwi total was 67/5. Poor Styris hadn't even opened his account.

Tait was far from satisfied and in his next over he struck again to get rid of Ross Taylor (7) with a fine yorker. Kiwis were reeling on 73/6.

Six wickets down and the pitch dry by then, the Kiwis finally managed to forge a small 48-run partnership with Nathan McCullum and Jamie How sticking together for 40 minutes.

The two used 12 overs and scored the rate of four runs an over helping their team cross the 100-run mark. But in the 29th over, leg-spinner Steve Smith decided to break their stand. He tossed the ball in the middle and removed How with an LBW decision. The Kiwis went for a decision review, but it proved to be unsuccessful as New Zealand slumped to 121/7.

Finally, Nathan McCullum decided to stage a comeback, but it was too late for the Kiwis as he along with skipper Daniel Vettori were the last recognised batsmen in their camp. Nathan carried on and even scored the team's highest individual total with 52 on board.

However, after staying at the crease for more than an hour a change in bowling foxed Nathan as he became Mitchell Johnson's third victim on 175/8 in the 42nd over. Once again the Kiwis decided to use the review and once again it proved unsuccessful.

Skipper Daniel Vettori too departed with Brett Lee claiming his wicket. He scored a resolute 44 helping the Kiwis cross 200-run mark.

Eventually New Zealand were all out for a partly 206 on the first ball of the 46th over with Shaun Tait (3-35) and Mitchell Johnson (4-33) claiming seven wicket between them.

Source:-http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/130835/sports/aus-vs-nz-match-report.html