Cricket: Wounded Laxman steers india to one wicket win

India Vs Australia First Test

I am writing this at 01:41 PM CST, watching the final day session two after lunch. Where india need 54 runs and Johnson is bowling to ishant.

After a long time india is looking beyound Srilanka. Yeah there is a surprise for you, India is going to play Australia their favourite opponents. Lately India Vs Australia series has been one of the toughest and closest.

First test started with the same promise. As usual Dhoni lost the toss and Ponting choose to bat first. India's bowling was spearheaded by Zaheer, others to assist him where Ishant, Harbhajan and Ojha. Zaheer got rid of Katich early, but ponting and watson got the things going. Raina brilliantly ran out ponting and gave india the much needed momentum to make inroads at regular intervals. Watson stood firm and completed his century at other end. India kept on the pressure but paine and johnson took them past the 400 run score. Zaheer took a five for and paine missed what could have been his maiden test century. He made a patient 92. Australia scored 428 in their first innings.

India started their first inning with their most successful opening partners sehwag and gambhir. India started well and where going run a ball until gambhir was out. Sehwag soon followed him after a brisk half century. After night watchmen ishants departure tendulkar and dravid held the innings together and scored half centuries respectively. After dravid's departure raina came and gave support to sachin who was eventullay out 2 short of his century. Once sachin was out Australia crawled back into the game and polished off the tail and india were allout for 405 runs. Australia got the upperhand by taking a 23 run lead. Johnson took a five for australia and for india sehwag,dravid, tendulkar and raina scored half centuries.

Australia after their 23 run lead started their second innings to build the lead. Watson started positively and scored at a brisk rate. In no time he reached his half century and with katich was looking good to extend the lead futher more. Ishant who was wayward in the first innings got his rhythm back and took three quick wickets to peg australia back. Indian spinners took the charge next and had four wickets between them as Zaheer returned to complete the tail with his ferocious reverse swing. Australia where all out for 192 and setting india a target of 216 runs. For australia watson made half century and for india zaheer and ishant took 3 wickets a piece.

India's chase was hit right in the first over when Gambhir was adjudged LBW when the ball was clearly going leg side. Inspite of the early first wicket india tried to score runs at faster rate, generally thats the case though when sehwag is around in the middle. End of the fourth day with late burst form the australia bowlers india were reduced to 55 for 4 and still needing 161 on the lastday and only 6 wickets in hand which includes laxman who had injured his back and will bat only if required.

Fifth day started with all the possible results possible. Tendulkar and zaheer started well and were steady until zaheer was out to hauritz. Laxman came to bat with raina as runner as he had a bad back. Laxman and Tendulkar started the counter attack and started scoring at a faster pace and didnt allowed any bowler to settle. Tendulkar was out for 38, dhoni and harbhajan followed him soon and india required another 92 runs and just two wickets in hand. Then came Ishant to support laxman in the middle. Ishant blocked the australia bowlers with determination and on the other hand helped laxman score runs at will. They added 81 runs and where almost at touching distance that another bad umpiring saw Ishant walking back to pavilion. Wicket of Ishant raise lot of hopes for australians as they were just a wicket away from victory. Ojha looked very tensed but he managed to hold on. Ojha was lucky to miss a close LBW call and a run out for which he got four overthrows. He flicked the ball towards leg and completed 2 runs and gave india victory by one run.

Laxman was unbeaten on 73 from 79 balls as india registered their first one wicket win in tests. Laxman was the man of the moment, no one knows why he plays so well against a team which is hightly rated for their skills in cricket. He was given a special prize for this efforts during the presentation ceremony.

Zaheer was adjudged man of the match for his crucial 8 wickets.

Score: India 405 (Tendulkar 98, Raina 86, Johnson 5/64) and 216 for 9 (Laxman 73*, Hilfenhaus 4/57, Bollinger 3/32) beat Australia 428 (Watson 126, Paine 92, Zaheer 5/94) and 192 (Watson 56, Ishant 3/34, Zaheer 3/43) by 1 wicket

Cricket: "Ashes: Andrew Flintoff has the opportunity to seal his Legend Status at Oval"

Grand finale: Andrew Flintoff has a chance to secure his place in English cricket history in his final Test against Australia at the Oval, which will decide the Ashes.

Freddie has always regarded himself as a batsman who bowls, often to the point of myopia. Everyone else, and this is something borne out by his Test record too, feels his strength lies as a fast bowler who managed the odd valuable innings, such as the brilliant hundred he made against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2005.

He could prove us all wrong during the Ashes decider that starts at the Oval on Thursday but it would be the exception rather than the rule. If you asked his captain, Andrew Strauss, whether he would prefer his retiring asset to sign off against Australia with a hundred or five wickets, he would plump for the latter without hesitation.

Discovering you are not who you think you are cannot be easy for any player, let alone one of Flintoff's public standing. Fortunately, any frustration is likely to have been tempered by his recovery from a succession of career-threatening injuries.

Overcoming them has been a major achievement in itself and worthy of celebration, as would a second Ashes victory for his team should one come to pass over the next few days.

It is those injuries, beginning with a fractured foot in 2000 right up to his recent knee problem incurred during the Indian Premier League, which probably prevented him from attaining true greatness as a player, but no-one can be certain. Not one driven to the pursuit of excellence, there is a large part of Flintoff that seems content to be good enough, which may be why he does not sit comfortably with the team's current management.

Not that his adoring public ever seemed to notice that his legend mostly exceeded his deeds. Five Test hundreds and three five-wicket hauls in 78 Tests is decent but not devastatingly good. If he had a peak it came between 2003 and 2006, when in more than 41 Tests he averaged 40 with the bat and 27.9 with the ball.

Impressive though that was, it is not Ian Botham-esque, the all-rounder all subsequent pretenders have been compared to. In 102 Tests, Botham made 14 hundreds and took 27 five-wicket and four 10-wicket hauls, the majority of them match-turning efforts. Flintoff has contributed his own match-altering performances, but like Mike Gatting, who will forever dine out on his two victories as England captain because they won the Ashes, they have added cachet for mostly being against Australia.

His all-round deeds against the Aussies in the ding-dong skirmish of 2005 (24 wickets and 402 runs), means he will be forever twinned with that extraordinary series. A player who generally sacrificed flair for power, he proved a revelation in that series, especially with his bowling, which combined the menace of the great West Indies quick's with the skill of Pakistan's great reverse-swinger, Waqar Younis.

If you want the perfect distillation, it was the over in Australia's second innings at Edgbaston in which he dismissed Justin Langer with the second ball and Ricky Ponting for naught with the last.

Unfortunately, his bowling never quite reached those heights of skill again, though his powers as a battering ram, his general modus operandi when the ball is not swinging, was vital at Lord's three weeks ago, where his five for 92 gave England victory. His many injuries may have prevented him from raising his skill levels over the years, but the rehabilitation required ensured he was always strong and fit enough to bowl fast, even if it was without frills.

Flintoff's main asset is that he provided certainty, especially with the ball, something every captain craves. He was not quite so accommodating towards the team effort off the field, as Fredalo and his bad time-keeping on a trip to Belgium honoring Britain's war dead have shown, but then discipline has never been his middle name.

Many feel he has changed of late, from a happy-go-lucky Preston lad to calculating cash cow, gratuitously flashing tins of Red Bull and his Puma kit to the nearest camera. What is plain is that he does not see his duties as a team man extending beyond the cricket pitch.

All will be forgiven and his legend secured should he repeat his Lord's performance here at the Oval. Analyzing the Flintoff phenomenon, Nasser Hussain once said that, "He has something of the village green to which people can relate." Let us hope that something ends with him getting a jug or two in here over the next few days.

Freddie Flintoff’s career highs and lows

v South Africa, The Oval, 2003
A rapid 95 enabled England to declare their first innings on 605 and level the Test series.

v Australia, Edgbaston, 2005
He scored 68 and 73 before dismissing Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting in the space of five balls.

v Australia, Trent Bridge, 2005
Flintoff’s last Test century enabled England to take a 2-1 lead.

v Australia, The Oval, 2005
Flintoff’s spell in the first innings has been described by Ricky Ponting as the best he has ever seen. Flintoff took five for 78.

v Australia, Lord’s, 2009
Five-wicket haul sealed England’s first Ashes win at Lord’s in 75 years.

Cricket: "Ponting Out of Squad for Twenty20 Matches Against England"

Australian captain Ricky Ponting will be Our of Action rather Squad for Twenty20 Games against England. He has been rested for the two Twnety20 matches which will follow soon after the Ashes series. Michael Clarke will lead the 13-man Team in Ponting's absence.

Dirk Nannes is the surprise package in the Australian Squad. Dirk Nannes was born in Melbourne, he also has a Dutch passport, he recently played for Netherlands in the ICC World Twenty20 since he couldn't make the Australia Team.

Ricky Ponting will Join and lead the team in the one-day series which will follow Twenty20 Games.

Australia have included uncapped player in the 15-man one-day international squad, who will also be on duty for the ODI against Scotland on 28 August, is Tasmanian wicketkeeper and batsman Tim Paine, 24, who will be backup for Brad Haddin.

Brad Haddin has been named as vice-captain for the Twenty20 games. Other players who will accompany Ricky Ponting for rest are Peter Siddle, Nathan Bracken and Mike Hussey.

Mind you Australia have taken these drastic steps since they coudnt proceed to super six stage in recently concluded World Twenty20 Tournment. They lost to West Indies and Sri Lanka in the first round.