Yuvraj Singh clobbered his second successive century and then scalped four key wickets as India maintained their stranglehold over England by winning the second ODI on Monday by 54 runs.
The Indians rode on Yuvraj's scintillating 118 to post a competitive 292 for nine and then bundled out England for 238 in 47 overs to take a decisive 2-0 lead in the seven-match series.
The 26-year-old Yuvraj, who recovered from a back injury just in time to be drafted into the team, came out with a stunning all-round display to play the pivotal role in India's victory on a rather slow track at the Maharani Usharaje Trust ground.
Yuvraj, who had blasted an unbeaten 138 off just 78 balls in the first One-dayer in Rajkot to mark his return to form, not only notched up his tenth century but also helped the hosts recover from an early slump which saw them tottering at 29 for three at one stage. He then proved his ability as a left-arm spinner by returning dream figures of 10-0-28-4 which included the prized scalps of Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen and Owais Shah.
The Punjab swashbuckler stitched 134 runs for the fourth wicket with in-form Gautam Gambhir (70) while Yousuf Pathan provided the late sparks to the innings with a savage unbeaten 50 off just 29 balls.
The England innings never really got the momentum to overhaul India's target with none of the batsmen really getting a big knock to keep them in the hunt. Owais Shah (58), Andrew Flintoff (43), Matt Prior (38) and Kevin Pietersen (33) got the starts but could not hang around long enough.
Earlier, India won the first ODI by 158 runs - India 387-5 (50 overs) v England 229 (37.4 overs). In that encounter India batted first and Yuvraj Singh made a quickfire 138 with Virender Sehwag contributing 85, and Gautam Gambhir 51. In their reply, England slumped to 38-4. Kevin Pieterson played a captain’s knock of 68. Later, Ravi Bhopara added his undefeated 54. This saw England to 229 all out. Zahir Khan grabbed three wickets for 26 for the victorious Indians.
The next match in the series will be played at Kanpur on November 20.

 

Chris Gayle hit a controversial 18th One-Day International hundred, as West Indies failed in their bid to avoid being swept 3-0, when they lost the third and final ODI against Pakistan yesterday.
The West Indies captain hit 122 from 137 balls, as his side - chasing 274 for victory from their allocation of 50 overs - fell short of the target, and was dismissed with 21 balls remaining.
Gayle was controversially given "not-out" on 99, when it appeared he had edged a delivery from Rao Iftikhar to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal in the 39th over.
But this failed to save West Indies, and the defeat was formalised, when Sohail Tanvir bowled number 11 Lionel Baker for two.
The result for West Indies followed a four-wicket loss in the first ODI last Wednesday, and a 21-run defeat in the second match last Friday.
West Indies again bowled steadily, if not menacingly, but the victory for Pakistan was set-up by Younis Khan.
He hit his sixth ODI hundred - an astute 101 from 119 balls - which earned him the Man-of-the-Match award - to carry the substantive home team to 273-6 from their allocation of 50 overs after they chose to bat on a hard, docile Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch.
Gayle and fellow opener Sewnarine Chattergoon then fought their way through the first six overs of the chase, when the ball danced around, and made run-scoring difficult.
But Chattergoon was caught at second slip for six off Tanvir in the seventh over, and Ramnaresh Sarwan joined Gayle.
They put West Indies back on track with a stand of 151 for the second wicket, but fortune favoured Gayle on two, when he essayed a lofted drive off Umar Gul, and Saeed Ajmal from mid-on and Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik from mid-on could not decide who should complete the catch, as the ball fell annoyingly between them.
Gayle continued to plod away and lofted Malik straight for the first of his six sixes into the West Indies sitting area to reach the half-century mark in the 21st over before Sarwan drove Shahid Afridi straight for a single to reach 50 in the 29th over.
But things started to unravel for West Indies four overs later, when Sarwan was bowled for 62 from 73 balls, trying to run a delivery from Iftikhar to third man.
West Indies were then 168 for two, but Iftikhar flattened the middle-order to send West Indies crashing to 193 for six in the 40th over, and finish with four wickets for 59 runs from nine overs which made him the pick of the Pakistan bowlers.
Things could have been worse had Gayle been dismissed on 99, but the left-hander stood his ground surrounded by the celebrating Pakistan players, and umpire Mark Benson too, look bemused by the fuss, and gave him "not-out".
Gayle reached his 100, when he guided a delivery from Iftikhar through square cover for a single, but not before Afridi had Brendan Nash caught behind for one.
Though Gayle and compatriot Jerome Taylor - the only other batsman to reach double-figures with 17 - raised hopes of a late, successful charge to victory, Pakistan kept their composure the rest of the way, and reached the finish line.
Gayle was eventually caught behind off Gul, edging a delivery off the toe of the bat, a decision which took the video umpire to adjudicate with 42 runs required from the last 37 balls of the match.
Gul ended with three for 31 from eight overs, and Tanvir took two for 32 from 7.3 overs.
Earlier, Younis reached his landmark, when he edged his 115th ball from Daren Powell into his pads, it dropped at his toes, and he scrambled a single.
His knock highlighted consistent batting down the order from the Pakistanis, as Misbah-ul-Haq gathered an unbeaten 79 from 91 balls, Khurram Manzoor made 30 from 59 balls, and Akmal got a quick-fire 21 not out from 11 balls.
Taylor was the most successful West Indies bowler with two for 50 from his 10 overs, after Powell had given West Indies early success.
Powell had left-handed opener Salman Butt caught at second slip for a duck in the first over, but the visitors were stonewalled, when Younis joined Manzoor, and consolidated to add 85 for the second wicket.
Two dropped catches that benefitted Manzoor personified the poor effort from West Indies in the field - Nikita Miller put the opener down at backward point on one off Powell, the suffering bowler when stand-in 'keeper Xavier Marshall muffed a straightforward chance with the batsman on six.
It took Gayle to break the partnership with his uncomplicated off-spin, when Manzoor was caught at short third man in the 22nd over, slicing a shortish delivery.
The grind continued for West Indies, when Misbah joined Younis, and navigated Pakistan through the middle orders.
They added 103 for the third wicket to put their side on solid ground before Miller bowled Younis 'round his legs, as the batsman attempted a reverse sweep in the 42nd over.
Though Taylor bowled Malik for 13 in the 46th over, and Baker had Afridi caught at long-on for six in the next over, Pakistan were always in control, and Misbah and Akmal smote a few boundaries in the closing overs to significantly beef-up the total.

 

"First there is God on the offside, then Sourav," his teammate Rahul Dravid said when the two began their Test career in the English summer of 1996.
Sourav Ganguly was not just one of India’s most stylish left-handed batsmen but also the most prolific, with 7,212 runs in 113 Tests, averaging 42.17. His ODI performance was as impressive, with 11,363 runs from 311 games. Among those who led India in 25 Tests or more, he was the most successful, with a winning percentage of 42.86.
He took over the captaincy at a time when there was a cloud of match-fixing over skipper Azharuddin. A few months later, Sourav led India to an amazing 2-1 win in a three-Test series against world champs Australia who won the first match at Mumbai and forced India to follow on at Kolkata.
Against the odds and playing a team which had won 16 Tests in a row, Sourav inspired his side to win at Kolkata and then clinch the series at Chennai. He then led the team to drawn series in England and Australia, courtesy India’s first win in a Test Down Under against a side which said it liked to “mentally disintegrate” the opposition through on-the-field verbal warfare. Sourav then led India to a historic Test-series win in Pakistan.
After Australia won the 2004 Test series at Nagpur, Greg Chappell was appointed as Team India’s coach on Sourav’s recommendation. However, the coach and captain could not see eye to eye and Sourav was dropped. Chappell left after the ‘07 World Cup fiasco and Sourav came up with his best performance in a calendar year, scoring 1,106 in 10 Tests in ‘07.
He retired on Monday of last week, scoring 324 runs in his farewell Test series, averaging 54. The comeback kid has left on a high. If there is life after cricket, you can expect Sourav to live it to the full, whether on or off the pitch!

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has welcomed the announcement by the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) of former West Indies Test player, Jimmy Adams, as the JCA's new Technical Director. WICB President, Julian Hunte, commented, that The WICB is happy with this move by the Jamaica Cricket Association. Hunte explained, that initiatives of this kind, by the territorial Boards, can only accrue to the benefit of the development of West Indies cricket. Adams will commence duties December 1st, and will be on a two-year contract.
The announcement of his appointment comes just days after the new Association's first Board meeting on Monday, November 10th, and follows closely on the election of business executive, Paul Campbell, as the new President of the JCA.
Campbell announced a series of events for the 2009 Season, including the hosting of an official dinner during England's Tour of the West Indies, on February 2, to commemorate a number of milestones such the 60th Anniversary of England's 1947/48 Tour of the West Indies; the 50th Anniversary of Sir Garfield Sobers' World Record - the individual batting record scoring 365 not out in 1958 against Pakistan at Sabina Park; the 60th Anniversary of Sir Everton Weekes' world record of five (5) successive Test hundreds in 1947/48 - the first being against England in the final Test at Sabina Park; the 100th Anniversary of George Headley's birth - May 30th, 1909 and Shivnarine Chanderpaul's selection as the Cricketer of the Year.

 

India thrashed Australia in their four match test series. India took the rubber 2-0. Both test wins came when Mahendra Singh Dhoni was at the helm, in the second and fourth tests. During the series, two legends left the scene. After the third test, former captain, Anil Kumble retired, as did Saurav Ganguly, another previous skipper, who left after the final game. India are currently playing England
Summarized Scores
October-9-13: 1st Test, Bangalore
Australia 430 & 228-6d drew with India 360 & 177-4
Oct 17-21: 2nd Test, Mohali
India 469 & 314-3 dec beat Australia 268 & 195 by 320 runs
Oct 29 - Nov 2: 3rd Test, Delhi - India 613-7 dec & 208-5 dec drew with Australia 577 & 31-0
Nov -6-10: 4th Test, Nagpur
India 441 & 295 beat Australia 355 & 209 by 172 runs.