10th June 2006
Hello Friends !

The First test between West Indies and India is finally wrapped up in a draw and Captain Rahul Dravid seems quite pleased with his boy's performances. So, let' s look forward to see how well they perform in the 2nd test at St.Lucia.

Indian Team After winning the one day series, the West Indians dauntlessly continued to keep their Indian visitors under pressure on the first day of the gripping 1st test match between the two at Antigua, where a Test match was being played for the last time. The Indians failed to start off impressively and ended their innings at 241. The west Indians took off a flying start untill Indian pacers like Patel and V.Singh managed to wrap up the West Indian innings for 371. The Indian 2nd Innings were held together brilliantly as Jaffer went on to score his maiden double century (212 off 399 balls. But perhaps the best was preserved for M.S.Dhoni as he shattered the hosts with an aggressive batting(69 off 51 balls) till he was caught at the fence by Daren Ganga leading to a controversial dismissal which the umpires took a while to decide on. Dhoni catapulted India in a demanding position as India finished on 521 for 6 declared, leaving an improbable 392 for the hosts to play .India took charge of the game as they dismissed the Windies top order in the space of 28 balls before lunch on the final day of the test match . But Gayle and Chanderpaul and later the tailenders looked to be guiding the test series towards a draw as West Indies ended their innings for 298/9. Though India failed to drive the last nail to the coffin, but they did prove themselves worthy of praise with the way they fought back after day two, putting the 'one-day' blow well behind. Read more...
:: More News
Lara's theme way out of tune in thriller
Sehwag fined for celebration
Tendulkar will soon make his critics eat humble pie
Dravid's decision will continue to haunt him
:: Murali spins out England, Lanka level series
Murali Muralitharan England was defeated by Murali magic as the English batsmen at Trent Bridge were mesmerized by a superlative display of spin bowling as he demolished England with an eight wicket haul in the second innings , to level the series 1-1 on Monday. The 34-year-old off-spinner, in what could be his final Test in England, finished with figures of 8/70, including a spell of 8/26 in 105 balls. He looked on course to join fellow spinners Jim Laker of England and Anil Kumble of India as the only men to take 10 wickets in a test innings. But after dismissing the first seven batsmen, his chance evaporated when Matthew Hoggard was brilliantly run out by a direct throw from Chamara Kapugedera. Muralitharan has now taken 635 wickets in 106 tests, capturing 10 wickets or more in 16 of them. It was a magical performance by the Sri Lankan, particularly since none of the other bowlers looked likely to break through despite the difficult pitch. At one stage the 34-year-old took four for seven in 31 balls, including the scalps of England captain Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen in the same over. Man-of-the-match Murali acknowledged his own display was one of the greatest performances of his career. "It was one of the best after The Oval match," he said. "It is not easy against England , the wicket helped. The batsmen coming in were very hard." More...
So, friends get ready for another enthralling test match starting soon and gear up to see how well both the teams play at St.Lucia again.But amidst all the excitement, don't forget to post your comments and suggestions at nik@corp.123india.com. If you wanna refer the newsletter to your friends go head and use the 'refer a friend' option' at the bottom of the page. Have a lovely cricketing time till I come back after 10 days.!!
With Warm Regards,
Nik - Editor, 123India.com Cricket
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:: ScoreZone
Sri Lanka in England
SL v ENG, (3rd Test) Trent Bridge, 2nd-6th June
India in West Indies
IND v WI, (1st Test) Antigua, 2nd-6th June
:: BattleNext
India in West Indies
IND v WI (2nd Test) St Lucia, 10th- 14th June

Sri Lanka in England
SL v ENG (Twenty20 Int) Southampton 15th June
SL v ENG (1st ODI) Lord's 17th June
SL v ENG (2nd ODI) Brit Oval 20th June
:: Did you know ?
Sir Garry Sobers has a Test average of more than 57, but a one-day average of 0 because he only ever played one ODI (in 1973) and got out for 0.
:: Cricket Poll
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