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Rajasthan Royals marked their fourth victory in a row as Naman Ojha (80) helped the team set a target of 178 runs from 20 overs in the ongoing IPL third season at Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad.

In the chase, Chennai Super Kings were able to make only 160 runs. CSK kept losing wickets in frequent intervals which made them fall short of 17 runs. Only Vijay made 42 runs after facing 28 balls.

In the other match between Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers, Mumbai won by 41 runs.

Mumbai who batted first made 172 runs with Captain Sachin making 55 runs from 43 balls. However, other players failed to make it big at the score board and finally it was Harbhajan Singh (49 not out from 18 balls and captured 3 wickets giving only 31 runs) who showcased with both bat and ball at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai.

Deccan Chargers had a tragic start with Gilchrist walking back without making runs. Only Rohit Sharma (45) made a decent score and all others walked back the pavilion with meagre runs. Finally Deccan were able to make only 131 from 17.4 overs after losing all wickets. With this, Mumbai registered an excellent win by 41 runs.

Naman Ojha and Harbhajan Singh were declared Man of the Match.

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Moving to the No. 1 place in Test Cricket, the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni described the status as a dream come true. He also conceded that it would be a tough job to maintain the top slot.

After the team swamped Sri Lanka by an innings in the third Test to win the series 2-0 and become the world’s best Test team, Dhoni said, “It was a dream come true. But what we actually do is to try and play every game well and ratings take care of themselves. It was a constant process for the last 18 months. Whatever Test cricket we have played we have played really well. I think it’s a team effort.”

“It’s a bit of a concern we are playing only two Test matches in the next six months. It will be tough for us to maintain this top position. At the same time we have done something remarkable. We would celebrate the feat rather than thinking about anything else. At the moment we would like to just be with the achievement, which is because of the whole team,” he said.

Dhoni felt the side was blessed in its journey to the top by the fact that more or less the same cricketers played for the last some months without injuries.

Dhoni felt the dressing room atmosphere also contributed a lot to the achievements on the field.

Indian opener Virender Sehwag who broke a number of records on his way to the huge 293 runs in the third test topped the batting charts with 491 runs from three matches with an average of 122.75.

Sehwag was declared man of the match and player of the series.

Rahul Dravid took the overall second place in the batting chart with 433 runs from same three matches with an average of 108.25.

Harbhajan Singh who claimed 13 wickets from three matches but conceded 533 runs. Zaheer Khan took 10 wickets while Sreesanth and Pragyan Ojha made 8 and 9 wickets rom two matches each.

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India came close to victory against Australia in the first One-Day International but lost to the Champions by just 4 runs, with victory coming only in the final over.

It was Harbhajan Singh (49 from 31 balls) and Praveen Kumar (40 from 32 balls – not out) who took the match a long way with their 84-run stand off 57 deliveries.

Even captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni conceded that his team lost the plot well before Harbhajan and Kumar staged a fightback. He felt the match was lost in the five overs of batting Powerplay – which was taken at the start of the 35th over – when three wickets fell while scoring just 32 runs.

“We lost four wickets in the Powerplay and I think that was the turning point. We lost three wickets in the Poweplay without cashing in too much, but thanks to Bhajji and Praveen they took the game close. I think we lost too many wickets in the Powerplay,”Dhoni said, reflecting on the defeat at the IPCL stadium in Vadodara on Sunday.

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India won the battle in the finals of the tri-nation Compaq Cup in Premadasa Stadium here. After winning the toss, India opted to bat first and scored 319/5 from 50 overs. The hosts had a huge target to chase. Sri Lanka lost the opening batting power in the beginning with wickets falling to Harbhajan Singh and when Kandamby tried to steal the show from India, Harbhajan was back to take his wicket. Finally the host lost to India after a good struggle that lasted till their 46.4 overs. They scored 273 and India won the Compaq Cup by 46 runs.

From India’s side, Sachin Tendulkar top scored with 138 runs followed by Yuvraj Singh (56 not out) and MS Dhoni (56). Thushara slammed 2 wickets from India’s side but it was Harbhajan Singh who smashed the Lankan team with his excellent bowling and obtained 5 wickets.

Man of the Match as well as Man of the Series was awarded to Sachin Tendulkar.

Scoreboard:

India innings (50 overs maximum)

R Dravid c Dilshan b Jayasuriya 39(56)

SR Tendulkar lbw b Mendis 138(133)

MS Dhoni c Kandamby b Malinga 56(62)

Yuvraj Singh not out 56(41)

YK Pathan c Kapugedera b Thushara 0(1)

SK Raina c Kulasekara b Thushara 8(6)

V Kohli not out 2(2)

Extras (b 1, w 18, nb 1) 20

Total (5 wickets; 50 overs) 319

Fall of wickets:1-95 (Dravid, 17.2 ov), 2-205 (Dhoni, 36.3 ov), 3-276 (Tendulkar, 45.6 ov), 4-277 (Pathan, 46.4 ov), 5-302 (Raina, 48.3 ov)

Bowling:Kulasekara:8-0-38-0-4.75, Thushara:10-0-71-2-7.10, Malinga:10-0-81-1-8.10, Mendis:10-0-70-1-7.00, Jayasuriya:9-0-43-1-4.77, Mathews:3-0-15-0-5.00

Sri Lanka innings (target: 320 runs from 50 overs)

T Dilshan b Harbhajan Singh 42(29)

S Jayasuriya c Nehra b Pathan 36(29)

M Jayawardene c & b Harbhajan Singh 1(5)

K Sangakkara hit wicket b Singh 33(37)

T Thushara b Sharma 15(14)

A Mathews c Raina b Yuvraj Singh 14(11)

T Kandamby b Harbhajan Singh 66(94)

C Kapugedera c Dhoni b Raina 35(42)

N Kulasekara not out 9(9)

L Malinga c & b Harbhajan Singh 0(1)

A Mendis st Dhoni b Harbhajan Singh   7(10)

Extras (lb 3, w 11, nb 1) 15

Total (10 wickets; 46.4 overs) 273 (5.85 runs per over)

Fall of wickets:1-64 (Dilshan, 7.5 ov), 2-76 (Jayawardene, 9.4 ov), 3-85 (Jayasuriya, 10.6 ov), 4-108 (Thushara, 14.3 ov), 5-131 (Mathews, 17.3 ov), 6-182 (Sangakkara, 27.3 ov), 7-252 (Kapugedera, 42.3 ov), 8-264 (Kandamby, 44.3 ov), 9-264 (Malinga, 44.4 ov), 10-273 (Mendis, 46.4 ov)

Bowling: Nehra:7-0-43-0-6.14, I Sharma:7-0-51-1-7.28, RP Singh:5-0-34-1-6.80, Harbhajan Singh:9.4-0-56-5-5.79, Y Pathan:4-0-36-1-9.00, Yuvraj Singh:6-0-24-1-4.00, S Raina:8-0-26-1-3.25

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Indian Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is under threat from his deputy Yuvraj Singh. This is just for the top slop. Dhoni’s number one ODI batsman’s tag could be taken by Yuvraj if Yuvi performs better in the upcoming series.

India is preparing to leave for Sri Lanka for the tri-series which has New Zealand as the third team. Dhoni is the number one batsman in the chart with 44 rating points separating him from second placed Yuvraj. Besides Dhoni and Yuvraj, India have two more batsmen in the top 20. Little master Sachin Tendulkar occupies the 12th position with a place in the top 10 well within his sights, while opener Gautam Gambhir shares the 17th spot with New Zealand’s Ross Taylor.

In the team chart, India trails number-one ranked South Africa by just one ratings point but if it wins all the three matches (including the final), it will gain two ratings points.

However, if India loses one match in the tournament, it will stay on 126 ratings points while defeat in two matches will drop it to 123 ratings points.

Among other, Kumar Sangakkara is the only Sri Lanka batsman inside the top 20, sitting just outside the top 10 in 11th position. Mahela Jayawardena is in 30th position while Tillakeratne Dilshan is 32nd.

In the rankings for ODI bowlers, Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Kulasekara is feeling the pressure from New Zealand duo of Kyle Mills and Daniel Vettori. With only 36 points separating Kulasekara from Vettori, a change at the top of the order looks inevitable.

The 23rd placed Harbhajan Singh is the highest-ranked Indian bowler in the absence of 16th placed Zaheer Khan.

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After a long break, the Indian Cricket team has headed for a four day conditioning camp at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Coach Gary Kirsten and trainer Ramji Srinivasan will over take the conditioning camp.

Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh were tuning themselves for the upcoming tri-series which will be played between India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand from Sept 8 to 14, 2009.

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Former Indian Cricket Captain Rahul Dravid makes a return to India’s ODI team for the tri-series in Sri Lanka and for the Champions Trophy next month. Rahul Dravid replaced Rohit Sharma, who managed 15 runs in three ODI innings in the West Indies and 43 runs in three innings against major opposition in the World Twenty20.

Also the selectors did not want to take risk including Virender Sehwag, who is yet to recover fully from his shoulder injury. He was not expected to make it to the Sri Lanka tri-series and now has been left out for the Champions Trophy as well.

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid who have made a come back to the ODI squad

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who opted out of the West Indies series, makes a comeback. Suresh Raina, who was out because of a hairline fracture of the thumb, also returns. Amit Mishra makes it into the ODI squad, replacing Pragyan Ojha as the back-up spinner to Harbhajan Singh. Dinesh Karthik and Abhishek Nayar have retained their places.

India’s ODI squad: Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, and Abhishek Nayar

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India have dropped down one place to fourth in the ICC Test Championships table after the annual update released on Tuesday, which reflects the performance of only the last three years with the older results being discarded.

Sri Lanka, riding on their Test series win over Pakistan, leveled India (119) on points but replaced Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team at number three after re-calculation upto the nearest decimal 0.01 ratings points difference.

Australia (124) clung on to the top above second-placed South Africa (122) as just five ratings points separate top four teams.

But Ricky Ponting’s men must win both the remaining Ashes Tests to stay there. Otherwise, it will be Graeme Smith’s turn to lead the number-one Test team in the world.

Australia have led the Test rankings ever since the current method was introduced in May 2003.

The progress of Kumar Sangakkara’s team is due to a consistently high performance during the period of the rankings. In that time, the team has played 10 series, winning six, drawing three and losing just one (in Australia).

No matter how the Ashes finishes, England (99) will remain in fifth position but if the home side wins the series, Australia will drop to fourth position in the Test Championship table.

If the series ends in a 1-1 draw, South Africa will rise to the top. Australia, Sri Lanka and India will all have the same rating, but with Australia still clinging on to second place by a decimal point.

In the batting list, Gautam Gambhir remained on second spot with 847 points behind Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara (862).

Sachin Tendulkar (15th), VVS Laxman (17th) and Virender Sehwag (19th) are the other Indian batsmen in the top 20.

Among bowlers, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan are in top 10 at sixth and ninth respectively while Ishant Sharma is in 19th in the list headed by South African Dale Steyn.

The annual update is carried out to ensure the ICC Test Championship table continues to reflect recent form with older results being discarded.

The table reflects all Test series that were completed since August three years ago. All series played until the start of next August will be added to this table, so by then the ratings will be based on four years of results, with series completed within the last two years carrying greater weight.

Next August the first year of results will be dropped and this pattern is repeated each August, with the oldest of the four years of results removed to be gradually replaced with results of series completed over the following 12 months.

Thus, once a year, the rankings change overnight without any new series being completed.

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Defending champions India bowed out of the World Twenty20 after losing to hosts England by three runs in a key Super Eights match at Lord’s on Sunday.

India restricted England to 153-7 after electing to field in good batting conditions, but then fumbled in their reply to be stopped at 150-5 despite scoring 56 runs in the last five overs.

Needing 15 off the last three deliveries, Yusuf Pathan smashed Ryan Sidebottom straight for six off the first, but managed only a single of the next before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit the last ball for four.

Dhoni (30 not out) and Yusuf (33 not out) added 63 for the unbroken sixth wicket after half the side was back in the pavilion by the 14th over with only 87 on the board.

India paid dearly for conceding 16 extras in England’s innings, including 14 wides as two deliveries from off-spinner Harbhajan Singh went for boundaries behind the wicketkeeper.

India needed to win to stay in the tournament after losing their opening Super Eights match against the West Indies at Lord’s on Friday.

England, who also lost their first match to South Africa, now face the West Indies at the Oval on Monday in a match that will almost certainly take the winner into the semi-finals along with the Proteas.

India slipped to 24-2 by the fourth over as Sidebottom, who replaced leg-spinner Adil Rashid in the England team, removed Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina.

Gautam Gambhir and Ravindra Jadeja took the total to 62-2 in the 11th over when Dmitri Mascarenhas broke through by having Gambhir caught at fine-leg by Stuart Broad.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann grabbed two wickets in four balls to reduce India to 87-5 by the 14th over.

Swann had Jadeja caught in the deep after the batsman, playing his first match in the tournament, plodded for 35 balls to make 25.

Yuvraj Singh, who hit the first ball he faced for a six, was stumped by James Foster in the same over after making 17 off nine balls.

Earlier, Kevin Pietersen top-scored for England with 46 off 27 balls, with three fours and a six, after sharing a second-wicket stand of 71 with opener Ravi Bopara (37).

Harbhajan picked up three wickets, but England’s lower order retrieved the situation by adding 53 runs in the last five overs.

Pietersen and Bopara took charge after Luke Wright had fallen in the second over, top-edging a pull off R P Singh. The duo brought up their 50 partnership off 35 balls before left-arm spinner Jadeja broke the stand in his first over by bowling Bopara.

Jadeja then claimed Pietersen leg-before as the batsman attempted to sweep.

Harbhajan lured Owais Shah (12) to hole out to Jadeja on the mid-wicket fence before removing James Foster and Swann off successive deliveries.

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