India reached Semi Finals after big win over Bangladesh

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

2nd Quarter Final, Bangladesh Vs India 

Melbourne Cricket Ground, 19th March 2015

Toss - India, decided to bat first

Match Officials

Umpires - Aleem Dar, I Gould

TV Umpire - S Davis

Match Referee - R Mahanama

Scorecard

India Innings - 302/6 in 50 overs

Batting		R	B	4s	6s	SR
Rohit Sharma	b Taskin Ahmed	137	126	14	3	108.7
Shikhar Dhawan	st Rahim b Shakib	30	50	3	0	60.0
Virat Kohli	c Rahim b Rubel	3	8	0	0	37.5
Ajinkya Rahane	c Shakib b Taskin Ahmed	19	37	1	0	51.4
Suresh Raina	c Rahim b Mortaza	65	57	7	1	114.0
MS Dhoni	c Nasir Hossain b Taskin Ahmed	6	11	0	0	54.5
Ravindra Jadeja	not out	23	10	4	0	230.0
Ravichandran Ashwin	not out	3	3	0	0	100.0
Extras		16	(b - 4 w - 3, nb - 2, lb - 7)
Total		302	(50 Overs, 6 Wickets)

Bowler	O	M	R	W	ER
Mashrafe Mortaza	10	0	69	1	6.9
Taskin Ahmed	10	0	69	3	6.9
Nasir Hossain	9	0	35	0	3.9
Mahmudullah	1	0	4	0	4.0
Rubel Hossain	10	0	56	1	5.6
Shakib Al Hasan	10	0	58	1	5.8

Bangladesh Innings - 193

Batting		R	B	4s	6s	SR
Tamim Iqbal	c Dhoni b Umesh	25	25	4	0	100.0
Imrul Kayes	run out (R Jadeja/Umesh)	5	14	0	0	35.7
Soumya Sarkar	c Dhoni b Shami	29	43	3	1	67.4
Mahmudullah	c Dhawan b Shami	21	31	2	0	67.7
Shakib Al Hasan	c Shami b R Jadeja	10	34	0	0	29.4
Mushfiqur Rahim (wk)	c Dhoni b Umesh	27	43	2	0	62.8
Sabbir Rahman	c Shami b Umesh	30	40	2	0	75.0
Nasir Hossain	c Ashwin b R Jadeja	35	34	6	0	102.9
Mashrafe Mortaza (c)	c Dhoni b Mohit Sharma	1	3	0	0	33.3
Rubel Hossain	c Ashwin b Umesh	0	3	0	0	0.0
Taskin Ahmed	not out	0	0	0	0	0.0
Extras		10	(b - 1 w - 8, nb - 0, lb - 1)
Total		193	(45 Overs, 10 Wickets)

Bowler	O	M	R	W	ER
Umesh Yadav	9	1	31	4	3.4
Mohammed Shami	8	1	37	2	4.6
Mohit Sharma	7	0	36	1	5.1
Ravichandran Ashwin	10	1	30	0	3.0
Suresh Raina	3	1	15	0	5.0
Ravindra Jadeja	8	0	42	2	5.2

India won by 109 runs

Man of the Match - Rohit Sharma

India gain massive win in the 2nd ODI and square the Series 1-1

India fight  back to square the five match  ODI series against England at 1-1 credit to a 127 runs  win  in Kochi.

India won the toss and batted first. They started slowly, but lead by some belatedly fireworks from MS Dhoni (72 off  66 balls) and Ravi Jadeja (61 off  37), they scored  a tough total of 285 for 6 in  50 overs. England build  little by little after the early loss of in-form Ian Bell, but when Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan in a double wicket maiden they never fully recovered.

And in the end, with 14 overs remains  and collapse to a score of 158 runs  all out, it was a poor performance from the England  having upset the India  in the first game. Virat Kohli (37) and Yuvraj Singh (32) rebuild  the innings carefully. Suresh Raina (55) posted consecutive half century in the series, but it was only once India got into the final 10 overs of their innings that they cut loose. Dhoni and Jadeja added 108 in the last 10 overs .

Kevin Pieterson scored made 44 runs from 42 balls Joe Root, playing his 1st  knock at ODI level, and Craig Kieswetter mutual as the innings ground to a halt. 

Woakes, a capable batsman, dismissed  for a duck three balls later, while James Tredwell (1) and Steven Finn (0) fell in successive balls to Ravi  Ashwin. Patel took the batting powerplay and smashed a defiant unbeaten 30. Ravindra Jadeja named for Man of the Match award for brilliant fifty and his crucial 2 wickets. The 3rd One Day starts on Saturday at Ranchi.

Wickets falls after Dhoni, Kohli big stand on Day 3

4th Test, India Vs England, Day 3

Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur

December 13-17, 2012

England won the toss and elected to bat first

1st Innings: England 330/10

Joseph Root 73

Kevin Pietersen 73

Matt Prior 57

Graeme Swann 56

Piyush Chawla 4-69

Ishant Sharma 3-49

1st Innings: India 297/8 at Stumps

Virat Kohli 103

MS Dhoni 99

James Anderson 4-68

India trail by 33 runs

India lose to New Zealand by one run in a cliffhanger

Chennai: New Zealand pipped India by one run in a thrilling Twenty20 international in Chennai on Tuesday to ruin cancer survivor Yuvraj Singh's return to big-time cricket.

Brendon McCullum smashed 91 off 55 balls as the Kiwis posted 167 for 5 and then restricted the hosts to 166 for 4 despite Virat Kohli's 70 from 41 deliveries and a valiant 34 from Yuvraj.

India were cruising at 120 for 2 in the 14th over when left-arm seamer James Franklin turned the match around by having Kohli caught in the deep. The dismissal put the brakes on the scoring, leaving India needing 13 runs off Franklin's last over.

Franklin bowled Yuvraj with the fourth ball when six more were needed, but new batsman Rohit Sharma could manage only four runs from the last two deliveries.

McCullum led the charge for the Black Caps with 11 boundaries and three sixes before he was bowled by left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan. McCullum added 90 runs for the third wicket with Kane Williamson (28) after the Black Caps had lost openers Rob Nicol and Martin Guptill by the second over.

Taylor and Oram plundered 21 runs in the last two overs, which proved costly for India in the end.

Kohli, Dhoni star in India Test series win

India survived a mini collapse to sweep the series against a fighting New Zealand with a five-wicket victory on the penultimate day of the second and final Test in Bangalore on Monday.

The hosts slipped from 152-2 to 166-5 before achieving their 261-run target in the final session, thanks to a 96-run stand between man-of-the-match Virat Kohli (51 not out) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (48 not out) under pressure.

India won the opening Test by an innings and 115 runs in Hyderabad.

New Zealand fought well as they twice neutralised India's advantage to storm back into the match on a good pitch before Dhoni and Kohli steered their team home, much to the delight of the nearly 15,000 spectators.

The Indian captain finished the match with a six over mid-wicket off off-spinner Jeetan Patel, who took three wickets. Dhoni hit two sixes and three fours, while Kohli cracked nine fours.

India were 77 without loss after brisk knocks from Virender Sehwag (38) and Gautam Gambhir (34) and then 152-2 following a 69-run stand between Cheteshwar Pujara (48) and Sachin Tendulkar (27) before New Zealand struck back.

The tourists came back strongly after tea, which was taken early due to rain, as they dismissed well-set Pujara, Tendulkar and Suresh Raina (0) in the space of 14 runs.

The 39-year-old Tendulkar was bowled for a third successive innings in the series, this time by fast bowler Tim Southee, after hitting five fours in his 34-ball knock.

The world's leading scorer in both Test and one-day cricket with an unprecedented 100 international centuries, Tendulkar finished the series without a half-century in three innings.

Patel had Pujara caught by Daniel Flynn, who ran backwards from forward short-leg to take a superb diving catch, and then bowled Raina.

Tendulkar and Pujara steadied the innings after Sehwag and Gambhir had fallen in the morning in the space of six runs.

Pujara, who scored a solid 159 in the first Test, was on 37 when he survived a stumping chance off Patel as wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum failed to collect the ball.

McCullum kept wicket in place of Kruger van Wyk, who was injured after being struck on the arm by a delivery from paceman Umesh Yadav while batting on Sunday.

New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor pressed Patel into the attack in the 12th over after pacemen Trent Boult, Southee and Doug Bracewell had failed to provide the breakthrough in overcast conditions.

Sehwag lofted Patel over long-off, the first six of the innings, and then cut him for a four before falling in the same over. He stepped out to try another big shot, but missed the line and was bowled.

He smashed one six and seven fours in his 33-ball knock.

Gambhir went for his shots early in the innings, hitting Boult and Bracewell each for two successive fours before falling to a loose shot.

He was caught by Taylor at first slip off Boult after hitting seven fours in his 58-ball knock.

New Zealand were earlier bowled out for 248 in their second innings, adding 16 runs to their overnight total of 232-9.

Patel (22), the last man out, looked unhappy with the decision when given caught behind off left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, as the TV replays suggested he had missed the ball.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin finished with 5-69, his third five-wicket haul in four innings against New Zealand. He was named man of the series.

2nd Test: NZ 232/9 at stumps, lead by 244

Bangalore: New Zealand were 232 for 9 at stumps on day three of the second Test at here against India with a lead of 244 runs.

India resumed from overnight score of 283 for 5 and Virat Kohli, who was unbeaten on 93 at stumps on day two, soon notched up his second Test century by flicking Trent Boult for a boundary through mid-wicket. But the euphoria was short-lived as Southee trapped him plumb in front of the wickets for 103. Kohli padded the ball which was angling in after pitching and was adjudged lbw. Southee nipped out Dhoni in his next over to complete his five-wicket haul. The ball swung in and hit Dhoni's pad before brushing his bat. Dhoni made 62.

Zaheer Khan caned a six off the first ball he played but didn't last long. Southee dug in a short ball which Zaheer edged to the wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk. In the same over, Southee also removed Pragyan Ojha, who edged an outswinger to van Wyk.

From 303 for 5, India were reduced to 320 for 9. The last-wicket stand between R Ashwin and Umesh Yadav frustrated the New Zealand bowlers for some time. Ashwin played an important innings of unbeaten 32. He shielded Yadav well by striking boundaries and taking singles on the last or second last ball of overs.

Yadav's resistance was ended by Boult who cleaned him up for 4. Ashwin and Yadav added 33 runs for the last wicket as India finished their first innings for 353, conceding a 12-run lead to New Zealand. Southee was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand taking seven wickets for 64, which was the best spell by a New Zealander in India.

Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill started off the visitors' second innings on a good note as New Zealand went to lunch at 29 for no loss.

Yadav removed openers Guptill and McCullum in quick succession after lunch. Guptill (7) was cleaned up by a yorker while MuCullum (23) edged the ball straight into Dhoni's gloves.

Kane Williamson could only muster 13 runs before a straight-ball from Ashwin took an edge of his bat and Virender Sehwag at first slip grabbed another neat catch.

Ross Taylor played some fine shots but a premeditated sweep shot off Ojha ended his stay at the crease. He made 35 runs.

Daniel Flynn and James Franklin didn't let India make further inroads and took their team to 123 for 4 at tea.

New Zealand kept losing wickets at regular intervals after tea though Franklin and van Wyk added 55 runs for sixth wicket to steer their team close to 200. Ashwin broke van Wyk's defiance by trapping him lbw.

Franklin played a rash shot soon after, charging down the track to Ashwin but didn't reach the length of the ball as it turned away from him and Dhoni did the rest. He made 41, the highest score of New Zealand innings.

Southee and Bracewell didn't last long. Ashwin castled Southee to complete the five-wicket haul.

Jeetan Patel and Boult were at the crease when the day was called.

2nd Test: Kohli, Dhoni propel India to 283/5

Bangalore: Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni compiled an unbeaten 104-run partnership for the sixth wicket as India reached 283 for 5 at the end of day two of the second Test against New Zealand, just 82 behind the visitors' first innings score.

Kohli and Dhoni were batting on 93 and 46 respectively when stumps were drawn on Saturday. Tim Southee and Doug Bracewell chalked up three and two wickets respectively for New Zealand.

Kohli came to the crease when India were tottering at 67 for 3 and then lost Sachin Tendulkar when the score was 80. But Suresh Raina and Kohli forged a fine partnership of 99 runs to pull India out of the woods.

Raina was more aggressive in his approach as he smashed a flurry of boundaries and a six over extra cover. He launched a stunning assault on Bracewell and hit three boundaries in his over.

Kohli played responsibly and steadied the shaky Indian innings along with Raina. At tea, Raina and Kohli were unbeaten on 51 and 32 respectively.

Raina (55) fell soon after tea, edging a ball to wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk. Dhoni was in imperious touch from the word go as he bludgeoned a couple of sixes off consecutive balls from Jeetan Patel and later cracked a couple of boundaries in the offspinner's one over.

Dhoni didn't throw away the good start and became watchful later in the innings to remain not out, along with Kohli, at stumps.

Earlier, New Zealand could add just 37 runs to their overnight score of 328 for 6 before India wrapped up the innings 45 minutes into the morning session.

The first wicket came when Suresh Raina took a diving catch at second slip off Zaheer Khan to put an end to a breezy 71-run knock from Van Wyk.

Van Wyk added 99 for the seventh wicket with Bracewell, who was unlucky to be run out for 43 when the ball burst through Zaheer's hand to hit the stumps at the non-striker's end with the batsman short of his crease. Pragyan Ojha then snared Southee to finish the New Zealand innings and complete his five-wicket haul.

India's chase of New Zealand first innings' score of 365 started on the wrong foot, with the hosts losing the wickets of Gautam Gambhir and Cheteshwar Pujara early. Southee took both the wickets. Gambhir was cleaned up shouldering arms to a straight ball while Pujara miscued a pull and was caught out at long leg by Trent Boult.

Sehwag unfurled a string of boundaries after an anxious start while Tendulkar dug in to make scratchy 4 off 41 balls at lunch. Boult troubled Tendulkar on a couple of occasions and bowled exceptionally well.

After lunch, Bracewell prised out Sehwag and Tendulkar in consecutive overs to leave India reeling at 80 for 4. Sehwag flicked the ball in the air and Daniel Flynn grabbed a fine catch at square leg. He made 43 runs. Tendulkar cracked a spectacular straight drive off Bracewell but the bowler roared back and rattled Tendulkar's stumps on the next ball as the master batsman played across the line. He mustered 17 runs off 50 balls.

India 438, limit NZ to 106/5 on Day 2

An expected tale once again unfolded in Hyderabad when the Indian spinners stamped their supremacy after their batsmen posted a good score on a worn-out Uppal wicket on the second day of the first Test against New Zealand on Friday.

After an impressive 159 by Cheteshwar Pujara and solid half-centuries by MS Dhoni (73) and Virat Kohli (58) that took India's first innings total to 438, it was the duo of Pragyan Ojha and R Ashwin who reveled in the spin-friendly conditions, picking up two and three wickets respectively.

New Zealand ended the day at 106 for 5, still 332 runs shy of the India’s total, with James Franklin (31) and Kruger van Wyk (0) at the wicket. The visitors, who began their innings after tea, lost wickets in a heap as none of their batsmen could gauge the nature of the pitch to match the craft of the Indian spinners.

Brendon McCullum (22) paid the price of being ultra-aggressive, throwing his wicket away in the very first over bowled by the Indian spinners. Ojha drew McCullum forward, making him play a rash stroke on the up and was taken neatly by Virat Kohli in the covers. It was the first of the three catches that Kohli took.

Before Martin Guptill (2) could understand how much the wicket is turning, he was caught by Kohli at backward short leg while trying to defend a tossed-up delivery on the middle and leg from Ashwin. Ross Taylor (2) was also caught at the same place but to a more difficult attempt by Kohli, who dived full length after Taylor tried to flick it. It was referred to the TV umpire who gave him out after watching the replays from every possible angle. Daniel Flynn played across the line and was trapped lbw by a flatter delivery by Ashwin.

Kane Williamson (32) and Franklin, although scoring runs at a snail’s pace, prevented India taking any more wicket until Ojha struck again with Williamson edging a fuller one to Virender Sehwag at first slip.

Earlier, after setting up a launch pad for a big score without losing any wickets in the morning session, the Indian batsmen faltered in their approach in the afternoon and lost five wickets in the second session to get all out for 438.

Jeetan Patel got rewards for his persistence as he tempted the settled Indian batsmen, Pujara (159) and Dhoni (73), to play false strokes, thus picking up crucial wickets.

Pujara's impressive knock ended when his miscued hoick off Jeetan Patel found Franklin who back-pedalled from mid-on to take a good catch. Dhoni too didn't last long as his attempt to clear mid-off failed as Doug Bracewell leaped up to snap a fine catch.

Zaheer Khan got out to a snorter from Trent Boult whose length delivery on the off stump got a top edge from Zaheer's bat before being taken neatly by the diving van Wyk behind the wickets.

Ashwin, meanwhile, looked extremely confident, showing the technique and temperament of a top-order batsman. He was nicely behind the line against the pacers and hit the offspinner Patel for runs through the covers. But his vigil ended when he came down the track but missed a full-length delivery from Patel and was stumped for 37.

Umesh Yadav was the last man to go when he got run out to an unnecessary single attempted by Ojha.

IPL 5: Bravo's last-ball six pulls CSK through

Dwayne Bravo struck a six from the final delivery as the Chennai Super Kings kept alive their play-off hopes in the Indian Premier League with a tense five-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday. The West Indian allrounder struck Rajat Bhatia over the long-on fence. Chasing a modest score of 159, openers got Chennai off to a flying start as Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay stitched 97-run opening stand.

Mystery spinner Sunil Narine then struck twice in the tenth over to end the Hussey-Vijay partnership. Narine double-strike helped Kolkata reduce Chennai to 97 for 2 in 9.4 overs. Soon a terrible mix-up saw Suresh Raina perish for eight. Faf du Plessis and MS Dhoni then got down to the task of guiding Chennai to victory. Dhoni (28 off 21) set up the match nicely, taking 18 runs from the penultimate over bowled by Marchant de Lange

But the captain fell off the second ball in the last over, with just three coming from the next four, before Bravo's last-ball maximum stunned the home crowd into silence.

Earlier, Chennai bowlers put on a inspired show to restrict Kolkata for 158 for 6. Put into bat, Gautam Gambhir struck an aggressive half-century but then watched his team falter thanks to some brilliant bowling by Chennai bowlers. Gambhir blasted 62 off just 43 deliveries and put on a 99 run opening partnership with Brendon McCullum (37 off 29).

From 99 for no loss in the 12th over, the KKR were reduced to 128 for 5 in the 18th over as Jacques Kallis (4), Manoj Tiwary (12) and Yusuf Pathan (11) failed to make any impact. McCullum was the first to go courtesy of a needless run out. Then in the very next over Shahdab Jakati got one to slip one through Gambhir's defence to have his stumps castled.

Kallis (4) fell attempting to reverse-sweep to Jakati, while Pathan started explosively for a huge six over long-on but his run of woeful form continued as he mistimed a delivery in the very next over as he fell to R Ashwin. Soon Tiwary was caught in the deep off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. The hosts were struggling at 128 for 5 at that stage.

In the end, late charge by Debabrata Das (19 not out off 10 balls) make sure that the hosts set a competitive target for the defending champions. Das hit a six and two fours in his late blast.

Bangladesh beat India after Sachin's 100th

Mirpur: The most-awaited 100th international century by Sachin Tendulkar went in vain as India lost to Bangladesh by five wickets in their Asia Cup encounter on Friday.

Tendulkar's hundred (114), which came in 147 deliveries, took the Indian score to 289 and it looked a daunting total till a series of blitz by Shakib Al Hasan (49 off 31), Nasir Hossain (54 off 58) and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (46 off 25) blew away the Indian challenge. Tamim Iqbal's knock of 70 and his 113-run partnership with Jahurul Islam (53 off 68) for the third wicket laid a solid foundation for Bangladesh.

After his 64 against Pakistan, Shakib once again shone with the bat, taking charge of the Bangladesh chase when things were looking difficult for the hosts. Just like Shakib, Hossain, too, was extremely impressive, taking the attack to the Indian bowlers from the beginning.

Opening the innings for Bangladesh, Tamim hit his second consecutive half-century. Praveen Kumar gave India an early breakthrough, picking up the wicket of Nazimmudin (5 off 15). But Jahurul, playing his 8th match, mixed aggression with caution. He got to his maiden fifty, before being caught at mid-wicket by Rohit Sharma off Ravindra Jadeja.

Hossain picked up where Jahurul left, clobbering the Indian bowlers from the outset. The wicket of Tamim although gave India a chance to claw their way back, an onslaught by Shakib took the game away from them. His partnership of 68 off just 48 balls with Hossain turned the game in Bangladesh favour.

Huge blows (3 fours, 3 sixes) by skipper Rahim towards the end of the innings sealed the victory for the home side. Indian bowlers went for plenty in death overs, leaking 36 runs off the last 14 balls.

Earlier, Sachin reached the much-awaited 100th century. A sigh of relief was palpable on the face of the veteran batsman who kissed the India emblem on his helmet after waving his bat towards his teammates.

He and Virat Kohli, who came together after the dismissal of Gautam Gambhir (11), shared 147 runs for the second wicket before Kohli was bowled by Abdur Razzak for 66. Suresh Raina was sent ahead of Rohit and the left-hander wasted no time in displaying his array of attacking strokes. His 51 off 38 balls gave the much-needed impetus to the Indian innings, which seemed to have lost momentum as Tendulkar neared the milestone. Rohit was run out while stealing a two at death.

Skipper Dhoni remained unbeaten on 21, along with Jadeja who contributed with 4. Mashrafe Mortaza, who picked up the wickets of Raina and Tendulkar in consecutive deliveries, was the best bowler for Bangladesh.

India will play archrival Pakistan, who have already reached the final, in a must-win game on Sunday.

Bowlers script 50-run victory for India

Mirpur: Irfan Pathan led the Indian attack with a four-wicket haul with R Ashwin and Vinay Kumar taking three wickets apiece, which scripted a middle-order collapse for Sri Lanka to help India recover and register a 50-run victory in their first match of the Asia Cup on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka were on course to chase down India's 304 as they reached 196 for 3 in 35 overs, but losing 4 wickets for 31 runs in the batting powerplay proved decisive in the end. Ashwin (3 for 39) and Vinay (3 for 55) took two wickets each in that period to reduce the Lankans to 227 for 7 in 40 overs. Pathan then returned in the final overs to take his tally to 4 for 32 with the last Sri Lankan wicket of Seekkuge Prasanna

Earlier, India's twin centurions Virat Kohli (108) and Gautam Gambhir (100) put up a 205-run stand for the second wicket to set India up for a huge total. En route his century, Kohli became the fastest man to reach 10 ODI centuries, reaching the landmark in his 83rd match.

MS Dhoni (46 not out off 26 balls) and Suresh Raina (30 not out off 17 balls) then hammered the Lankan attack for 78 runs in the final 7.1 overs to cross the 300-run mark with a six from Raina off the last ball of the 50th over.

Sachin Tendulkar (6) fell early after Sri Lanka put India in to bat. He hit a full toss straight to Jayawardene in short cover; however, the maestro wasn't convinced if the catch was clean and stood his ground. The umpires brought the third umpire into play, who upheld the decision after replays showed nothing wrong with the dismissal.

Thereafter, it was a Kohli-Gambhir show as they stole the limelight by bringing up the 10th ODI centuries of their respective careers.

The Sri Lankan bowlers had no answers for Kohli who scored his second consecutive century in Mirpur after punishing the Bangladeshis in the World Cup opener last year. He and Gambhir fell soon after reaching the landmark but Dhoni and Raina ensured boundaries came thick and fast in the last seven overs to take India's total to 304 for 3.

The islanders lost Tillakaratne Dilshan (7) early in their chase but Jayawardene played a captain's knock of 78 in just 59 balls, which included 10 fours and two sixes. After Dilshan was sent back by Pathan, Jayawardene joined hands with Kumar Sangakkara for a 93-run second-wicket partnership in a 14-over period that saw some delectable strokeplay, especially from the skipper.

The Sri Lankans merrily moved to 124 for 1 in just the 19th over when Jayawardene's cheeky glide led to his downfall. The delivery from Pathan kissed the face of his bat to settle inside the gloves of a diving Dhoni. The wicket got India a foot inside the door as they struck 28 runs later when Ashwin foxed Dinesh Chandimal (13) to bowl him with his carrom ball.

At 152 for 3, Sangakkara found an ally in Lahiru Thirimanne and the duo started bringing the chase back on track by milking the Indian spinners. It was evident that Sri Lanka were eyeing the batting powerplay, especially in the way they approached the chase from that point on.

However, Ashwin sent Sangakkara (65) and Thirimanne (29) back in the first over of the powerplay, while Vinay took care of Nuwan Kulasekara (11) and Chamara Kapugedara (0) in the fourth. Maharoof tried to be a bit adventurous; however, it proved to be futile in the end.

The defending champions will next take on Bangladesh, who lost to Pakistan in the opening match, on March 16.

87-run defeat pushes India to the brink

Sydney: India's hopes of making it to the CB Series final are hanging by a thread after they suffered another massive defeat – by 87 runs – at the hands of Australia at the SCG on Sunday.

With four losses in seven games, India are at the bottom of the points table and they will not only have to win Tuesday’s encounter against Sri Lanka with a bonus point but also have to wait for the result of the last league match between Australia and Sri Lanka, which the latter should lose if India are to seal their progression.

It was another inexplicable batting display by India as they failed to chase down an Australian total of 253. None of their famed batsmen could get going as their innings finished at 165 in 39.3 overs. Australia, on the other hand, have qualified for the finals following the win.

As has been the case throughout the summer, Ben Hilfenhaus provided Australia the breakthrough by taking a return catch of Virender Sehwag (5), whose poor form with the bat continued. Sachin Tendulkar played some pretty shots before he fell prey to a moment of madness. The veteran batsman responded to a quick call for a single by Gautam Gambhir (23) but was well short of his crease at the striker's end and was run out for 14. Tendulkar showed his dismay as Brett Lee seemed to have obstructed his way by extending his follow through, but per the rules he had to walk back to the pavilion.

India's middle order then came a cropper. First it was Virat Kohli (21) who failed to keep his flick down and was caught at midwicket by Daniel Christian. Later it was Gambhir, who ended his painful 48-ball stay at the crease by playing on an away going delivery from Clint McKay. Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja justified critics questioning their stay in the Indian playing XI. Both scored eight runs each before leaving India in a deep lurch.

MS Dhoni had consumed 49 balls for his 14 before being trapped in front by Hilfenhaus. R Ashwin (26) and Irfan Pathan (22) hit a few lusty blows, but it was always going to be well short of what was required.

Earlier, the Indian bowlers had done well to restrict Australia to 253 after they had been well placed to reach 300. Umesh Yadav, who gave away 20 runs in his first two overs, came back strongly in his second spell to take the important wickets of Matthew Wade (56) and David Hussey (54), who were both caught behind. The wicket of Wade came at the right time for the Indians as he and Hussey were taking the game away from them with a partnership of 94.

Praveen Kumar made a good return to the side, providing two early breakthroughs. First he had the stand-in Australian skipper Shane Watson (1) caught at mid-on, and followed it up with the wicket of an in-form Peter Forrest (7).

The fall of wickets at the other end hardly affected David Warner, who continued batting in his aggressive style. He punished the Indian bowlers and brought up the Australian 100, along with David Hussey who joined Warner after the wicket of his brother Michael (10).

The dismissal of Warner gave India an opening but the magnificent stand for the fifth wicket between David Hussey and Wade didn't allow them to claw their way back. After an injury to Irfan, who was involved in a terrible collision with Raina while trying to take Warner's catch, Dhoni opted for an unusual choice of Sehwag's offspin in death overs.

Dhoni's gamble paid off until the 50th over when he went for 13 runs. In spite of that, he was the most successful Indian bowler, taking three wickets for 43.