Aussies looks to have started the 1st day of 1st Test quite well. Watson was out without scoring a run, but after that the team begin to consolidate their innings and building up good partnerships. West Indies team looks to be out of place against the Aussies but they were able to get success in regular intervals. The day was dominated by the Aussies and West Indies now need to think of some other game plan so that they can pressurize the host. The bowlers were very consistent and were not giving away too much runs but the host team is very sharp in their short selection. Host seems to be very calm and looks to play a long innings. West Indies need to take advantage of the early few hours on Day 2 to get help from the pitch. In all a nice day of test cricket is heading up your way.

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Day 3 saw a fantastic contest between bat and ball, and that’s what Test cricket should be all about. Bond bowled really well on his return to Test cricket, his hostile spell put New Zealand on top initially but they weren’t prepared for the Akmals. We’ve seen Kamran play good innings under pressure. Umar showed that it indeed runs in the family.

Pakistan trail by 122. It’s hard to say at this point if we will have a result, if the weather permits like it did yesterday. If NZ get a lead of 100, they will have to score quickly and set a target.

I would really like to see Bond rip through the Pakistan batting. He is the perfect advertisement for Test Cricket. Fast, furious and accurate. Bond vs Akmals in the second innings would be a treat!

Match Timings: 12:00 local, 23:00 GMT, 04:30 IST

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Day 2 was another dominant day for India. Sri Lanka trial by 356 runs and have only 6 2nd innings wickets remaining. Sreesanth did most of the damage today taking 6 wickets. Now India just needs to wrap things up, they are only six wickets away from a massive victory.

Sri Lanka on the other hand batted shoddily, none of their batsmen really applied themselves and tried to stay on the wicket. Its the same wicket on which every Indian batsman was scoring freely. But with all the main batsmen gone, there is not much hope for the Lankans.

Match Timings: 09:30 local, 04:00 GMT

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S Sreesanth had feared that he may not play for India again after a series of controversies plagued his career.

Star performer of day three of the second India-Sri Lanka Test, Sreesanth shared his fears of not playing for India again because of his serial disciplinary indiscretions.

"To be honest, I never thought I will play for the country again. But God has been very kind and I got the opportunity at the right time," said Sreesanth, after his career-reviving five-wicket haul in the Sri Lankan first innings that put India on the threshold of a victory.

Sreesanth felt it was a sort of re-birth at the Green Park where he played his last Test against South Africa last year.

"I played my last Test here and it’s nice to start here again. It’s like a cycle, you go back from here and come back here again," he said.

Since the 2008 Slapgate incident — he was slapped by Harbhajan Singh during an IPL match in Mohali — Sreesanth had gradually slipped into the wilderness with injuries and controversies joining hands to nearly ruin his career.

Sreesanth was also warned by the BCCI to mend his ways, failing which he could be banned from domestic cricket.

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There was no trace whatsoever of their stormy past as S Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh — main protagonists of the 2008 Slapgate episode — hobnobbed like long lost mates brought together by the ongoing second India-Sri Lanka Test match.

Those who expected sparks to fly in Green Park whenever the volatile duo came near were in for a pleasant surprise as both gave the impression that they have buried the hatchet and moved on in life.

So much so that Sreesanth found himself in Harbhajan’s embrace after the temperamental Kerala speedster had removed Tharanga Paranavitana for his first wicket after 19 months in the international wilderness.

The last time the duo hugged each other in full public view was in April last year with Farokh Engineering brokering peace between them.

Harbhajan had slapped Sreesanth in Mohali during an Indian Premier League match involving Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab.

Harbhajan was banned from the remainder of the IPL and Sreesanth was censured and the duo had to perform the unforgetable task of hugging each other in front of lensmen.

Sri Lanka were staring at a massive defeat after India’s Shanthakumaran Sreesanth grabbed 6-85 on the third day of the second cricket Test in Kanpur.

Sreesanth, 26, took the second five-wicket haul of his career to bowl out Sri Lanka for 229 in their first innings and rocked them again in their second knock by dismissing in-form opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (11).

The fast bowler’s efforts helped India take a 413-run lead on the first innings and enforce a follow on.

At close, Sri Lanka were reeling on 4-57 in their second innings, trailing India by 356 runs.

India, who amassed 642 in their first innings, need six more Sri Lankan wickets to claim an innings victory and go 1-0 up in the three-Test series. The first match in Ahmedabad ended in a draw.

Thilan Samaraweera was batting on one while Angelo Mathews was on two when stumps were drawn for the day, five overs before scheduled close due to bad light.

Sreesanth, who took three wickets in the morning session, added two more to his tally to return impressive first-innings figures of 5-75 in 22 overs at the Green Park stadium.

Spinners Pragyan Ojha (2-37) and Harbhajan Singh (2-54) tidied up the tail to wrap up the Sri Lanka innings shortly after tea.

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S Sreesanth’s five-wicket haul rocked Sri Lanka and the islanders followed on on the third day of their second Test against India here on Thursday.

In reply to India’s mammoth first innings total of 642, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 229 in their first innings.

Sreesanth was the pick of the Indian bowlers today, claiming five for 75. Back in the side after 19 months in the wilderness, the Kerala pacer grabbed, with both hands, what the Green Park track had to offer.

He got rid of both the overnight batsmen and could have added Mahela Jayawardene to his scalp but for a confusion between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar.

Towards the end, he added Thilan Samaraweera (2), Prasanna Jayawardene (39) and Rangana Herath (11) to his scalps to complete a five-for.

Sreesanth hit Tharanga Paranavitana (38) on the shoulder early this morning to signal his intention before prising him out and nearly had Mahela Jayawardene caught in the next ball but Dhoni and Tendulkar could not decide who should go for it and let the ball race away for a four.

Undeterred, Sreesanth went on to remove Kumar Sangakkar (44) and Samaraweera in similar fashion — both dragging it onto their stumps — to compound Sri Lanka’s crisis.

Having lost Tillakaratne Dilshan for a golden duck yesterday, both the overnight Sri Lanka batsmen resumed at 66 for one but with Sreesanth exploiting the early juice in the wicket, life was never easy.

Paranavitana thick edged Sreesanth for a streaky boundary but was in all sorts of trouble against the Kerala pacer, who bent his back and maintained a probing line. Click here for more…

Umar Akmal struck a century on debut as Shane Bond ripped through Pakistan’s top order on day three of the first Test against New Zealand in Dunedin.

Bond, making his Test comeback at 34, reduced the tourists to 85-5 with three wickets in a fierce spell in Dunedin.

But Umar, 19, guided Pakistan to 307-8, recording a 176-run sixth-wicket stand with older brother Kamran (82) before he fell to Bond (4-93) for 129.

Pakistan are still 122 runs behind New Zealand’s first-innings total of 429.

The Akmals partnership ensured Pakistan avoided the follow-on target of 229 after the hosts had added a further 25 runs to their overnight total.

Bond made a breezy 22, featuring a six off spinner Saeed Ajmal, before he became Mohammad Asif’s fourth victum.

But it was with the new ball where Bond – back following a two-year Test hiatus – and fast bowling partner Chris Martin wreaked havoc as Pakistan’s top order crumbled.

Openers Khurram Mansoor and Imran Farhat fell to Martin while Bond, bowling with real pace and aggression, accounted for stand-in skipper Mohammad Yousuf, Fawad Alam and Shoaib Malik as Pakistan teetered at 85-5. Click here for more…

Simon Katich fell eight runs short of a deserved century as Australia made confident progress on day one of the first Test against the West Indies.

The tourists made the perfect start when fast bowler Jerome Taylor removed Shane Watson for a duck in Brisbane.

But opener Katich (92) added 126 for the second wicket with captain Ricky Ponting (55), while Mike Hussey’s 66 ensured Australia finished on 322-5.

All-rounder Dwayne Bravo (2-66) was the pick of the West Indies bowlers.

After winning the toss and electing to bat on a glorious wicket at the Gabba, Australia began in the worst possible fashion when Taylor trapped Watson lbw for a duck in the third over when the opener shouldered arms to a delivery which nipped back off the track.

But Katich and Ponting settled the home crowd’s early nerves, although the Australia captain was the subject of the first use of the International Cricket Council’s Decision Review System on Australian soil when he was given not out following a confident lbw appeal by Ravi Rampaul on 30.

West Indies jet-lagged captain Chris Gayle – who arrived in Brisbane from Jamaica on Tuesday following a visit his ill mother – asked for the decision to referred to third umpire Mark Benson, who upheld Ian Gould’s decision.

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West Indies in Australia, 3 Test Series, 2009

Australia vs West Indies - 1st Test Day 2

Played at Brisbane Cricket Ground (Woolloongabba), Brisbane – Queensland, 11 November 2009

Fall of wickets (Australia):

1-0 Shane Watson (2.1 ov), 2-126 Ricky Ponting (27.5 ov), 3-200 Simon Katich (48.1 ov), 4-253 Michael Hussey (65 ov), 5-287 Michael Clarke (79.3 ov), 6-371 Brad Haddin (104.5 ov), 7-386 Mitchell Johnson (111.2 ov), 8-444 Marcus North (124.5 ov)

Teams
Australia: Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (C), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Marcus North, Brad Haddin (W), Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus

West Indies: Chris Gayle (C), Adrian Barath, Travis Dowlin, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin (W), Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach

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