rajastan wins ipl

League or knock-out there was only one champion. It was fitting that the most consistent side in the tournament held their nerve to clinch a thriller. The Chennai Super Kings summoned every ounce of their reserves to take the match till the last ball but a calm swat from Sohail Tanvir, when one was needed off the last ball, sparked some heady celebrations in the Rajasthan Royals' dug-out. The least expensive side in the league had completed the coup that had them winning 13 of their 16 matches.

A galaxy of international stars might have added fizz to the IPL but it was India's most improved domestic player who sparkled in the tense final at the DY Patil Stadium. Few outside India might have heard of Yusuf Pathan before this tournament but he imposed himself on the grand stage, snaffling three wickets before smashing a scintillating 56, setting the stage for the inspirational Shane Warne to pull off the last-ball nailbiter.

Chasing 164 wasn't going to be easy on the slightly two-paced surface and Rajasthan were hobbling at 42 for 3 but the 65-run stand between Yusuf and Shane Watson provided the impetus. Another mini-collapse put them in a spot but Warne and Tanvir put on 21 in a harum-scarum final leg. Chennai's sloppy fielding didn't help but the batsmen ensured they didn't lose their head.

L Balaji, who got a pasting in the first three overs, was brought on with eight needed off the final over. Three tight deliveries piled on the pressure before a costly wide, which also produced a bye, tilted the balance. With three needed off 2 balls, Tanvir hurried two to deep midwicket before settling the victory in the final ball. The best bowler of the tournament did his side a big service with the bat. Warne's mighty embrace suggested much.

The base was set by Yusuf's ballistic, yet fortuitous, fifty. Chennai will rue the chance they missed in the 11th over - Yusuf tried to loft Muttiah Muralitharan but Suresh Raina, one of India's best fielders, couldn't latch on to the skier after running from mid-on. With the asking rate approaching 10, that could have been a big blow. Murali had no answers against him in the next over, though, when he was blasted for two successive sixes over wide long-on.

Yusuf soon pounded Balaji, backing away and blitzing thunderbolts down the ground, and looked more like a veteran accustomed to such high-pressure situations. He looked set to run away with the match but Raina's dart-accurate throw from gully added another twist.

Yusuf was instrumental with the ball too. Just as Chennai appeared to be building partnerships he pegged them back with his fastish offbreaks. S Vidyut holed out to deep midwicket, Parthiv Patel snicked to the wicketkeeper, and Albie Morkel top-edged towards short fine leg. Not only was he the most effective of the bowlers but also the most economical - showing the ability to raise his game at the crunch.

Chennai weren't outclassed, not by a long way. Against an efficient bowling attack, with a slow outfield to consider, they strung together a fighting total. Raina and Parthiv, the duo who took them to victory last night, put on a useful 25-run stand through accumulation rather than attack, ensuring that the platform was laid for the rest of the order.

Morkel's two sixes injected some verve into the innings before Raina and Dhoni upped the ante. What could have cost them is the decision to send Chamara Kapugedera ahead of S Badrinath. Kapugedera pottered around for a 12-ball 8 and it was left to Dhoni to up the rate. The 17th over, bowled by Watson, where he conceded just three and picked up a wicket, appeared to tilt the scales but a few mighty hits from Dhoni pushed them to 163. It was the highest total at the DY Patil Stadium but only for a couple of hours.

Its the final!!!

As the summer blockbuster comes to an end, two of its biggest superstars clash in the finale in Mumbai. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain of the Chennai Super Kings, is the highest-paid player in this league but his counterpart in the Rajasthan Royals, Shane Warne, has delivered better results, his success at this year's tournament would be the equivalent of the box-office returns of a Shahrukh Khan starrer.

A win for Dhoni may justify his US$1.5m price tag, but would be anti-climactic, a last-minute twist to the fairytale ending that would hand Warne the trophy. Warne's dual role as captain and coach of Rajasthan has been the story of the season: an entire team costing less than two-and-a-half times Dhoni's price, whose owner's low-budget strategy even got the thumbs down from the IPL's chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi, was moulded into a successful unit.

However, don't write off Dhoni just yet. His first stint as captain was at the World Twenty20 in South Africa, where an unfancied India claimed the title, and here his team were written off after the exodus of international stars, but Dhoni and Co have battled the odds to reach the final.

One factor in favour of Chennai is that Graeme Smith, whose batting has been the cornerstone of several Rajasthan innings, has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. Also, Rajasthan were routed by the Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Sports Academy, the venue of the final, and Warne termed the surface "easily the worst of the IPL" as the ball stopped before coming on to the bat.

On form, Rajasthan are favourites and their confidence will be boosted by their two earlier victories against Chennai. However, after convincingly knocking out the formidable Kings XI Punjab in the semi-finals, Chennai won't be too worried about the underdog status.

Comedy kings 11

An inspired Chennai Super Kings shrugged off the underdogs' tag with a comprehensive display to thrash Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets and join Rajasthan Royals in the IPL final. Punjab's batting had been in superb form through most of the tournament, but they came unstuck in the face of some accurate and relentless seam bowling by Chennai's three fast bowlers, folding for a paltry 112. Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina then ensured that the run-chase was a canter, putting together 102 for the second wicket - both ended on unbeaten half-centuries as Chennai sailed home with 31 deliveries to spare.

Punjab's two previous losses to Chennai, in the league games, had both come when they'd chased, and Yuvraj Singh did the team a huge favour by winning the toss and choosing to bat on a pitch which was expected to assist the spinners later in the evening. That, though, was the only thing that went right for Punjab, as Makhaya Ntini and Manpreet Gony struck twice each in their first spells and reduced Punjab to 40 for 5. They never released the pressure thereafter as the Wankhede Stadium played host to the second one-sided semi-final in two days.

On a pitch offering generous bounce to the fast bowlers, Chennai's pace attack of Ntini, Gony and Albie Morkel bowled in the perfect channel, denying the Punjab batsmen any room to execute strokes through the off side. Learning from Shane Watson's spell on Friday, Ntini pitched it slightly short of a length, hit the bat hard, and hurried the batsmen in their shots, while Gony bowled a fuller length, and with the sort of control which would have made Glenn McGrath proud. Chennai were also superb in the field - Muttiah Muralitharan pulled off a splendid catch over his head to intercept a Yuvraj pull, Suresh Raina was equally spectacular in plucking a diving catch to dismiss Wilkin Mota, while the ground fielding was blemishless.

There was little sign of such a dramatic collapse when Shaun Marsh stroked the first ball of the match - from Muralitharan, surprisingly - through the covers for four. Seven came off that over, but the wheels started coming off in the next over, when James Hopes slashed at a wide one from Ntini and edged to Parthiv.

That dismissal sparked off a procession of wickets, as three more fell in the next four overs. Kumar Sangakkara's was the most unusual, as he seemed to miss a drive off Gony, but walked off even though Parthiv didn't appeal at all. Yuvraj was restless after playing out three successive dot balls and pulled to Murali at short midwicket, but the biggest blow was delivered in the next over, when Ntini hit back to dismiss Marsh immediately after being creamed for a perfect straight drive. Marsh had top-edged a pull for six earlier in the innings, but wasn't as lucky in the sixth over, as the inside edge crashed into his stumps.

Clearly rattled by the early wickets, Punjab lost the plot with some terrible running between the wickets, which cost Irfan Pathan his wicket. Mahela Jayawardene stroked the ball to third man, ran two, started for the third and then changed his mind, leaving Pathan with too little time to gain his ground. When Jayawardene himself fell next over, steering to the wicketkeeper, Punjab had slumped to 45 for 6.

From there, it was only an exercise in damage control: Mota and Ramesh Powar - the two local Mumbai players - put together 35, easily the most productive partnership of the innings. Mota managed a useful 26-ball 25, while Powar smeared Morkel for a huge six over midwicket and then punished a listless L Balaji for three fours in the last over, but a target of 113 was hardly enough to test Chennai.

S Vidyut fell early, but Raina and Parthiv gave Punjab no further opportunity. Raina was in especially sublime touch - he started off with two delectable fours, adjusting to Powar's turn and gliding a four to third man, and then cutting the next ball through point. As he grew in confidence, the ferocity of the strokes increased, and the high point was an incredible pull off Hopes - on a pitch where most batsmen struggled to ride the bounce and execute the stroke - which sailed onto the roof of the stadium. Pathan was similarly dismissed over square leg, while Chawla was slog-swept for six and then driven through extra cover in the last over as Raina brought up his fifty off 32 balls.

Parthiv was slightly more subdued, but the paltry target gave him plenty of time to work with. He started slowly, but then a couple of superb straight hits off the fast bowlers, and powerful sweeps off the spinners. Pathan's early swing with the new ball offered Punjab some hope, but once Chennai got past that threat, there was little the slower bowlers could do.

Chennai lost both their league games against Rajasthan, but after such an emphatic win, that will hardly bother them.

Players to watchout

For Delhi:
Sewag
----The swashbuckling opener has led from the front and if he clicks then its doomsday for the opposition.

Gambir
----He was the proud owner of the orange cup before the prolific Marsh took over.if he clicks he could take the score over 180 easily.

Maharoof
----He has been the unsung hero of Delhi.His late order blitzkrieg has changed the course of the matches in a jiffy.He could be a match winner in both forms.

For rajastan:

Smith
----This big South African has played perfect 2020 innings in almost every match and has proved his worth.

Yusuf pathan
----He has been under the shadow of his more famous sibling but in this tournament he has proved his credentials as an able all rounder.He is knocking the doors of the national team and could be a force to reckon with in the future.

Watson
----He is the front runner for the man of the series of this years IPL.he has been the best all rounder of the tournament.he could be the difference between both the sides.

Tanvir
----He is the leading wicket taker of ipl and has scorching yorkers for the death.

I st semifinal-Rajastan--Delhi Faceoff

The irony of the Indian Premier League's first semi-final is that Delhi have Rajasthan to thank for their place in the final four. Stuck on 15 points after 14 matches, Delhi needed Rajasthan to beat Mumbai in Jaipur and only after Mumbai's final-ball choke was Delhi's spot secured.

Ironic because Rajasthan have lost to only three teams in the IPL - Punjab, in a dead rubber; Mumbai; and Delhi, their semi-final opponents, in their first match of the tournament. Rajasthan were crushed in that encounter at the Feroz Shah Kotla by nine wickets and 29 balls to spare. They settled scores with Delhi during the home game , but that victory too looked improbable until Shane Watson blitzed 74 off 40 balls.

Past IPL form, though, will count for little during the high stakes of a knock-out match and the contest could be decided by which team keeps its cool. Delhi have Glenn McGrath's tremendous experience to fall back on while Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik were part of the Indian squad that won several close battles during the World Twenty20 in South Africa. Rajasthan, however, will rely on Graeme Smith's experience at the top of the order and the inspirational captaincy of Shane Warne to keep emotions under control and instill self-belief in high-pressure situations.

That they have already played each other twice should leave little room for surprise but, by a quirk of circumstance, Delhi's strong top-order are yet to face Sohail Tanvir, the IPL's best fast bowler. Tanvir was on Pakistan duty in the first encounter and, for the return, was rested to give Dimitri Mascarenhas a chance. Tanvir has been deadly with the new ball and tops both the wickets and economy charts (among those who've bowled at least 10 overs) with 21 scalps while conceding only 5.97 per over.

Marsh has the orange cap and with it Kings11 have won the mindgame:

Shane Warne rested himself for the game, and there was not much the Rajasthan Royals' captain-cum-coach could do watching from the dugout as Punjab's top order knocked them out of the contest. Shaun Marsh led the way with a 69-ball 115 and James Hopes' 51 provided him support in a century stand before Yuvraj Singh finally found his rhythm with a blistering 49. Without Warne, Rajasthan looked insipid in the field, and a weakened attack without him and Sohail Tanvir, the tournament's best bowler, leaked away too many short and wide deliveries.

Rajasthan, despite a stumbling start, made a spirited effort at hunting down an imposing 222. There was a fluent fifty from Niraj Patel and two blistering hands from Yusuf Pathan and Kamran Akmal, but the match had pretty much been sealed after Punjab's batsmen provided a royal feast for the fans in their last home match.

Marsh, who has been the in-form batsmen for Punjab, was quick off the blocks. Shane Watson had taken over the captaincy, but Marsh started by spanking two wide deliveries off him for boundaries through the off side. The cut, pull and the lofted straight drive were seen aplenty as Marsh began his assault to go past Gautam Gambhir as the tournament's leading run-getter.

At the other end, Hopes got the occasional boundary while letting his partner take most of the strike, and he had to take some evasive action as Marsh blasted one off Watson that went right under his legs. The Powerplay overs fetched 51, but there was no respite for Rajasthan as Pankaj Singh was taken for 17 in the seventh: Marsh clobbering one over midwicket, before lacing the next through extra cover.

Marsh took a single off Dinesh Salunkhe's first ball to become the tournament's leading run-scorer, and a rank bad ball was blasted through midwicket to bring up his fifty. At 88 for 0 after ten overs, the Mohali crowd were set for a treat from their batsmen, and Hopes shifted gears as Punjab looked to build an imposing score. He got three boundaries off Siddharth Trivedi in the 11th over, and Yusuf's offspin was slog-swept into the stands en route to his fifty, which came 30 deliveries.

Next it was Marsh's turn; Yusuf was flat-batted over long-on for four before the Western Australian stepped down the track for to send one sailing over long-on. Yusuf got a breakthrough as Hopes holed on to deep midwicket and the two quiet overs that followed were the brief lull before Yuvraj came out storming and landed the knockout blow.

By then Marsh was marching towards his hundred, and he struck a six over Pankaj's head to move to 97, and a single later in the over - that cost 25 - brought up the sixth century of the IPL. The pressure was getting to Rajasthan, and Yuvraj cashed in: he swivelled around to pull one for six, before dispatching one through square leg.

Yuvraj was in the sort of mood that caught him when he smashed six sixes off Stuart Broad in the World Twenty20. He did hit five sixes off six consecutive deliveries - though it was spread across three overs this time - before he was run-out off the last ball of the innings, one short of what would have been the tournament's fastest fifty. Marsh had fallen earlier in the over, but Punjab were way past the par score of 180 initially suggested by Warne.

Rajasthan surprisingly opened with Mohammad Kaif and Niraj. Kaif fell early, as did Younis Khan, but Niraj, who held his calm during the gripping run-chase that knocked out the Mumbai Indians, scored a sparkling fifty.

He cracked four fours in a Sreesanth over: he worked the ball square on the off side as the bowler gave him width, and launched a slower ball down the ground. VRV Singh tried to test him with shorter deliveries, but Niraj managed to find the boundary. Punjab's bowlers had frittered away a winning position in their shock loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders, but today they were largely disciplined and were backed up by sharp fielding.

Though Niraj kept the score ticking, Rajasthan were struggling at 67 at the halfway mark. Piyush Chawla removed Niraj and Watson, but Rajasthan were given a glimmer of hopes as Yusuf Pathan and Kamran Akmal nonchalantly blasted sixes and scored 54 in three overs to bring it down to 90 off the final six.

Punjab had conceded 71 in the final five overs against Kolkata, but Chawla picked up his third wicket, removing Akmal, and even the hard-hitting Yusuf, who's been a revelation in the tournament, couldn't save Rajasthan. Warne had experimented with his line-up and Delhi Daredevils will be wary of a backlash come the semi-final in on Friday. As for the Chennai Super Kings, they will know they're up against a juggernaut.

Chennai in semi finals

Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost the toss but everything else went right for his team, beginning with some tight bowling, as the Chennai Super Kings won the match against the Deccan Chargers and a spot in the semi-finals at the expense of the Mumbai Indians. Chennai will face Kings XI Punjab, whom they have defeated twice, in one semi-final, while Rajasthan Royals take on Delhi Daredevils in the other.

Chennai had conceded 211 against Rajasthan in their previous game but the bowlers were up to the task this time as Deccan's final attempt to win at home win went awry. Chennai's opening bowlers were on the mark from the start: Makhaya Ntini bowled with pace and got good bounce and carry, while Manpreet Gony, the team's leading wicket-taker, stuck to an impeccable length on off stump and bowled through his four overs for 21. And they reaped the rewards soon, as both Herschelle Gibbs and Adam Gilchrist found the fielder at third man - Gibbs with a slash, Gilchrist with a thick outside-edge.

Deccan's early runs came mainly in singles and Scott Styris, who's had a terrible tournament, looked to be getting into rhythm with boundaries in the arc between midwicket and mid-on till he was bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan while trying to hit one across. At 57 for 3 after 10.1 overs, Deccan needed a partnership and Venugopal Rao and Ravi Teja came up with a 76-run stand that lent respectability to the eventual total. Muralitharan was hard to get away but the two went after Balaji in the 14th over, which cost 14.

They managed to up the run-rate with a boundary every over, and Rao, often at the centre of Deccan's rearguard actions, hit one to bring up the 100 in the 16th over. There was a flurry of runs, Teja slashing one high into the stands off Ntini in an over where he was taken for 15 runs. That he ended with figures of 1 for 24 off his four told the full story.

That burst was followed by a flurry of wickets, including three - one of them a run-out - in three balls in the 19th over. The crowd had chanted Shahid Afridi's name but he lasted two balls as Deccan limped to 147.

Deccan, and Mumbai, needed a wicket early and RP Singh nearly got the breakthrough as Stephen Fleming fended at one that swung away, but both Gilchrist and Styris were late to react. Fleming and his fellow left-hand opener Parthiv Patel cashed in when the bowlers erred: short and wide deliveries were dispatched for fours. P Vijaykumar then decided to go round the wicket, and it worked, as Fleming got a thick outside-edge while trying to force a drive through the covers.

n came Suresh Raina and he soon found his rhythm, slapping one riskily in the air through the covers, before punching one through the same region. Afridi was brought into the attack as early as the fifth over, and he put a brake on the scoring. At the other end, Raina got consecutive boundaries in Sarvesh Kumar's first over, but the pressure applied from Afridi worked as Parthiv played straight to cover in Sarvesh's next, Afridi taking the catch.

Raina was joined by Dhoni, and the 55-run stand between the two put Chennai on course for victory. Dhoni started with two streaky boundaries - he hit one straight to Sarvesh first-up, who fluffed a chance, and a thick outside-edge flew to the third-man boundary. With left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and Styris managing to curb the runs, Dhoni decided to take a few risks. He stepped out to deposit Ojha over long-on, and after a miscued pull nearly landed in Gibbs' hands at midwicket, he cut Styris for four. Afridi came back with 52 needed off 42 balls, and Dhoni hit one dead-straight for four, before Raina powered a shorter delivery over midwicket for six.

Chennai were cruising towards the target, but had a brief wobble after Dhoni found Gibbs at long-on. That Ojha over, the 16th, went just for three, and when Styris conceded the same in the next, Chennai were left needing 28 off 18. Another tight over and Deccan could have still been in the hunt, but Raina found the gap at midwicket as Ojha bowled a full toss. He was dropped by RP in the 19th over, and hit the winning six - which brought up his fifty - as Chennai reached their target with four balls to spare.

While Dhoni and Co were relieved and celebrated the win, Gilchrist looked ahead after a disastrous first season, in which last-placed Deccan won just two of their 14 games. "I do not have any excuses. It depends which way you look it.," he said. "It's not end of the world. We should settle down, make a self-assessment and think over where we went wrong and plan for the future."

Selection woes for Indian Team

the indian selectors will be under a lot of dilema after some very good performances in the IPL.
Some success stories are:

Abishek Nayar--Bombay
Venugopal Rao--Deccan
Amit Mishra--Delhi
Ashok Dinda--Kolkata
Saha--Kolkata
Shikar Dhiwan--Delhi
Badrinath--Chennai
Yusuf Pathan--Rajastan
Munaf patel--Rajastan

There have been some failures too:

Robin Uthappa
Yuvraj Singh
Ishant sharma
Zaheer khan

Strauss does it for England

AN exceptional bowling spell by Panesar and a well composed 12th Test hundred from Andrew Strauss guided England to a comfortable six-wicket win over New Zealand on the fourth day at Old Trafford, chasing down 294 - the highest fourth-innings run-chase at the ground - to take a 1-0 lead in the series. It marked a remarkable turnaround for England, overturning a 179-run first-innings deficit, which was the fifth highest by any team, while New Zealand have much to ponder, most notably their dismal collapse of 114 all out yesterday.

In truth, New Zealand didn't help themselves. Catches were spilled, overthrows gifted and the fielding was not nearly as alert as it should have been for a side who, at the start of the day, were marginal favourites. Remarkably, Daniel Vettori, who was such a threat yesterday when he ripped through England, went wicketless today on a pitch which lacked any of yesterday's demons. New Zealand did pick up three wickets - and should have had more, had Iain O'Brien not shelled two dollies - but England were always on course.

Strauss was the key. Solid and composed yesterday evening, he was compact and similarly collected today. Neat nudges square of the wicket were combined with a solid defence - though he did edge O'Brien down to third man after New Zealand had changed the ball after 31.2 overs. Vettori was disappointingly ineffective, not helped by his fielders. A tuck off his hip by Strauss should only have allowed one, had Kyle Mills been aware, and Vettori hinted that the pressure was beginning to take its toll on him too when, the next ball, he overstepped and Michael Vaughan clattered him through extra cover.

Vettori himself let through another Strauss drive at mid-off, audibly venting his disgust, before Brendon McCullum attempted to throw down the stumps in the next over to hand England an extra five. New Zealand were beginning to flap and Strauss brought up a fine fifty from 105 balls, his third in succession, and England's target crept below 150.

Vaughan, meanwhile, was less assured than Strauss and struggled against Jacob Oram, who recovered sufficiently from his sore shoulder - though he barely reached 70mph for much of the morning. Nevertheless, his medium-pace wobblers held up on the pitch to Vaughan who drove just short of Jamie How at cover, following it up with a crunching cover drive before a lifter was again squirted short of the cover fielder. Nothing was going New Zealand's way, until Martin was introduced half-an-hour before lunch.

Bowling at good pace and a much tighter line than O'Brien had earlier, Martin repeatedly found the outside edge of Vaughan's bat - one of which flew infuriatingly down to third man for four - but, on 48, Vaughan drove at a good-length ball to hand New Zealand their much-needed breakthrough. Enter England's crumbly middle-order, and Kevin Pietersen somehow survived a fizzing delivery from Vettori which brushed his pad and span over the stumps. It was that sort of morning for New Zealand, but England had made their own luck with the aggressive style of batting that they have so failed to demonstrate thus far in the series.

On several occasions Vettori has made Pietersen look hapless in this series, and his natural aggressive instincts again nearly cost him his wicket. Just after lunch, he skipped down the pitch to flick one through midwicket, the ball bobbling to short-leg who then shied at the stumps - only narrowly missing. However, a superbly timed off-drive in the next over got his feet moving before he thumped Vettori over the top for England's first six of the series.

Strauss marched on, approaching somewhere near his best with a free-flowing drive off Martin through the covers and a beautiful pick-up off Vettori as England's target sneaked to under 100. Befitting of such a calm, steadying innings, Strauss brought up his 12th Test hundred with a tuck off his hip for an easy single as New Zealand desperately sought inspiration. And they found it, at last, when Strauss edged O'Brien to Ross Taylor who grasped a superb catch low to his left at second slip.

Pietersen broke free briefly, flicking O'Brien through midwicket for four, but an ambitious call for two underestimated O'Brien's rocket throw from fine-leg. New Zealand had the faintest of sniffs, England still needing 46 with their two out-of-form batsmen, Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell, at the crease. Both should have been caught by O'Brien off his own bowling - especially Bell, who misread an excellent slower ball - and the fumbles summed up New Zealand's day rather aptly.

Nevertheless, the pair saw England home and Collingwood - who was completely at sea against Vettori - battled his way out of form with a couple of late fours to wrap things up just before tea. New Zealand resembled a side still in shock over yesterday's batting capitulation, and they have only a week to plot their revenge for Trent Bridge.

Brilliant Clark does a McGrath for Aussies

Stuart Clark produced arguably his best day of bowling in an already first-rate Test career to give Australia a 95-run victory, which was a flattering result after they spent most of the match locked in a tight battle with West Indies. Clark was almost unplayable on the final day and finished with a career-best 5 for 32 that masked some concerns for Australia, who were shaky in the field and struggled to find decent back-up for Clark and Brett Lee.Clark reminded of McGrath at his peak who dismissed batsmen with his pin point precision.

Fortunately for Ricky Ponting's men, West Indies, who are ranked No. 8 among Test nations, slipped back into their familiar ways as they threw away wickets and the chance to really push the No. 1 team. Only a 67-run seventh-wicket partnership from Denesh Ramdin and Darren Sammy sparked any real concern in the Australian camp, and after that stand was broken the tail fizzled away with little resistance.

The end came with a pair of wickets to Stuart MacGill - two of his best balls from a disappointing match - which was just as well as Lee and Clark were both tiring after a day of carrying the full weight of Australia's expectations. Clark was still required to end the stay of Sammy, who was lbw to a ball that seamed in, for 35, before the last few wickets fell.

Both teams had a genuine shot at victory when the morning began. West Indies needed another 241 runs and Australia required nine wickets to avoid losing the opening Test of a series for the first time since they visited Sri Lanka in 1999. Within an hour Clark and Lee had restored their team's confidence and by lunch West Indies were six down and the match appeared all but over.

It was inspiring stuff from Clark and Lee, who started the day sharing the ball and bowled unchanged for 110 minutes on a hot Kingtson morning, sending down ten straight overs each before Ponting finally gave them some assistance. Clark in particular was outstanding, stifling the batsmen with a remarkably consistent line while swinging and seaming the ball in both directions.

He removed West Indies' top three for the second time in the match and proved once again that raw speed is no longer the only useful weapon on Caribbean pitches. He was helped by a disappointing approach from the West Indies batsmen, who had all day to reach their goal and needed to be patient. Clark's nagging accuracy frustrated some of the batsmen - notably the captain and vice-captain - into poor shots that brought their dismissals.

Ramnaresh Sarwan was being beaten by leg cutters and couldn't find his rhythm, and he tried to force runs through the leg side when he got a straight half-volley. The ball spooned up off his leading edge and Andrew Symonds at cover jumped and knocked the ball down with his right hand - most men would not have reached it - and completed the chance on the second grab.

Dwayne Bravo also succumbed to a glaringly obvious plan as he was tied down for 11 balls without scoring before he too got a straighter one that he felt he could drive through the leg side. But Australia had stationed a man at a very short mid-on, next to the pitch, for several overs and Bravo struck it straight into the fielder Mitchell Johnson's hands.

In between those breakthroughs, Clark removed Devon Smith with a peach of an inswinger that pitched in line, straightened and struck Smith on the back pad when he inexplicably offered no shot. It was an awful piece of judgment and Smith, restored to the opening position due to injuries to Chris Gayle and Sewnarine Chattergoon, will be hoping he can settle back down at No. 6 for the second Test.

At the other end Lee was quick, straight, and completed his most consistent spell of the match. He picked up Runako Morton, who was lbw to a ball that angled in and struck him in line with off stump, and the first-innings hero Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who strangely prodded a nothing shot back to Lee to be caught and bowled for 11.

But it wasn't all plain sailing for Australia. Both Simon Katich at slip and the debutant wicketkeeper Brad Haddin put down regulation chances on the final day. More of a problem was that when Clark and Lee were having a well-earned lengthy break, Johnson and MacGill posed little threat and allowed Sammy and Ramdin to build a partnership. At least Johnson sometimes beat the bat and produced a couple of venomous balls that bounced sharply.

MacGill, on the other hand, was a long way below his best. Full tosses and long hops abounded and he looked worryingly like he did during the series against Sri Lanka in November, before he had wrist surgery to deal with his carpal-tunnel syndrome. Nobody would have been more relieved than MacGill when he ended the Ramdin-Sammy resistance by collecting the ball at mid-on and with a surprisingly quick flick struck the stumps at the bowler's end to have Ramdin short.

While there were enough positives to cover Australia's weaknesses, West Indies would be deeply disappointed to have come so close to challenging the world's best team only to fall back into their old habits. Despite passages of brilliance through the Test - notably Fidel Edwards' bowling and Chanderpaul's 118 - they were unable to maintain the intensity for five days.

It will be even harder in Antigua, where they will take on a stronger Australia side that will welcome back Michael Clarke and potentially Matthew Hayden. The second Test is only four days away and West Indies must shake off their inconsistent ways to pose a genuine threat to Ponting's men.

Sachin Cricket Ground -SCG???

I saw one of these placards displaying ” SCG - Sachin’s Cricket Ground “. That might be true, but there was some history that the Indians, especially the Master Blaster, was keen to re-write. Probably something started to bloom inside him after he recieved Sir Don’s bat from the SCG Museum on Saturday which he admitted was special to follow it up with a century.

Though SCG has been named as above, the Indian’s ODI record has been very pathetic there. Of the 13 ODI’s that India has played there before this one, they’ve lost all the matches. So they needed the Master to show his class and stamp his authority.

Chasin 240, Indians never looked in trouble for the major part. After Yuvraj Singh’s departure, the young Rohit Sharma joined hands with the Master Blaster, his role model, and moulded the innings beautifully. Sachin played some exuberant strokes in due course. He drew on all his experience to upset the bowlers, especially when they tried something different. Mitchell Johnson came round the wicket and pitched it short into his body but Tendulkar simply arched back to shoulder the ball over the empty slip region - just enough to beat third man.

Rohit Sharma was very quick between the wickets and made sure that he gave most of the strike to Sachin Tendulkar. Due to Sachin’s influence, Rohit Sharma benefitted a lot and Sachin felt comfortable with the lad from his hometown. They complemented each other beautifully.

Sachin's accomplishments

Records Held by Sachin Tendulkar

1. Highest Run scorer in the ODI

2. Most number of hundreds in the ODI 45

3. Most number of nineties in the ODI

4. Most number of man of the matches(56) in the ODI's

5. Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI's

6. Best average for man of the matches in ODI's

7. First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI

8. First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI

9. He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)

10. Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup

11. Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16

12. Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup

13. He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

14. Most number of Fifties in ODI's 87

15. Appeared in Most Number of ODI's 407

16. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.

17. Most number of 100's in test's 38

18. He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so

19. He is thus far the only cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honor

20. In 2003, Wisden rated Tendulkar as d No. 1 and Richards at No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI player

21. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman.

22. he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli,

23. Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts

24. In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire

25. Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma Shri by Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them.

26. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI's 7 times

27. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI's most by any batsman

28. He is the highest earning cricketer in the world

29. He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a match. Out of his 56 man of the match awards only 5 times India has lost.

30. Tendulkar most number man of match awards(10) against Australia

31. In August of 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the "Greatest Sportsman" of the country in the sport personalities category in the Best of India poll conducted by Zee News.

32. In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.

33. In December 2006, he was named "Sports person of the Year

34. The current India Poised campaign run by The Times of India has nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others.

35. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket

36. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket:79 centuries

37. Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+Twenty20s), as of 30 June 2007 he had accumulated almost 26,000 runs overall.

38. Is second on the most number of runs in test cricket just after Brian Lara

39. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,271 runs in 128 matches

40. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record

41. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hold the world record for the highest partnership in ODI matches when they scored 331 runs against New Zealand in 1999

42. Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches - a record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid

43. Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998

44. Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (41 Centuries and 87 Fifties)(as of 18th Nov, 2007)

45. the only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 and 15,000 run marks IN ODI.

46. Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999).

47. The score of 186* is listed the fifth highest score recorded in ODI matches

48. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.

49. Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs

50. Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds

51. Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185

52. On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world

53. When Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to score a century

54. Tendulkar's record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record

55. Tendulkar holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side

56. Tendulkar has scored centuries against all test playing nations.[7] He was the third batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten

57. Tendulkar has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs - 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).[6] Gavaskar is the only other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs

58. He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.

59. On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara's (5736) world record of runs scored in Tests away from home

60. Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. Both of them achieved this in 195 innings

61. Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches

62. Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.

63. Tendulkar is fourth on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168 Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests), Shane Warne (145 Tests) have appeared in more games than Tendulkar

64. Tendulkar has played the most number of Test Matches(144) for India (Kapil Dev is second with 131 Test appearances).

65. First to 25,000 international runs

66. Tendulkar's 25,016 runs in international cricket include 14,537 runs in ODI's, 10,469 Tests runs and 10 runs in the lone Twenty20 that India has played.

67. On December 10, 2005, Tendulkar made his 35th century in Tests at Delhi against Sri Lanka. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 centuries to become the man with the most number of hundreds in Test cricket.

68. Tendulkar is the only player who has 150 wkts and more than 15000 runs in ODI

69. Tendulkar is the only player who has 40 wkts and more than 11000 runs in Tests

70. Only batsman to have 100 hundreds in the first class cricket

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