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India successfully defeated Ireland in the ICC World Cup match with a brilliant performance from its star player Yuvraj Singh thereby preventing the Irish upset. With the win, India tops the table with 5 points in the Group B.

India won the toss and chose to field. Irish Captain william porterfield started the Irish innings with a brilliant Knock. He scored 75 runs before returning to the pavilion. The match however was very interesting, as Ireland played sensible. The innings of porterfield and Niall O’Brien has to be appreciated.

But, their brilliance were outperformed by India’s star player Yuvraj  Singh who took a 5 wicket haul to halt Ireland to a total of 207 for 10.

When India began their batting, people bet their money that  India will easily walk away a win over Ireland, but that is not what happened.

India did win the match but not before Ireland made India feel the heat before getting a win.

India started with a Jolt, when Virender Sehwag got out in the second over of the innings. The shock was on the air when another star player Gautam Gambhir departed for a mere 5 runs. Boy, that was the period when Ireland suspected their chance in the game and causing the second upset of the tournament.

However, the star of the Cricket Sachin Tendulkar played a sensible innings along with Virat Kohli.

When both the players were bowled out, India’s scoreboard read 100 for 4. You could sense the tense among the crowds as well as the dressing room , as Ireland continued to impress the game by fielding brilliantly and bowling sensibly.

One would say this is the day made for Yuvraj Singh with the way he contributed for the win. He along with Indian Captain Mahinder Singh Dhoni marched India towards the winning score when Mahi got out for the brilliant bowling of  Dockrell.

The batsman that came to the crease followed by Mahi departure made the Ireland rethink their strategy. Yusuf pathan, who came after dhoni, whacked the Irish attack with 4′s and 6′s. The match ended with Yuvraj Singh completing his half century thereby securing India its victory.

Yuvraj Singh was named the Man of the match for his brilliant half century not out along with 5 wickets.

This is the first time in the World Cup history that a player scored half century with 5 wickets in his bag. Seeing the person to be Yuvraj Singh to do so, there is no surprise here!

Heat is on the Australians after their poor show  in the finals of world t20 despite being rated the favorites for the cup.

As always, Australia’s  lost to England has brought such a backlash towards Skipper  Michael Clarke fearing the fact that  they may also  lose  Ashes which starts this December.

Australia’s playing legend Ricky Pointing has come forward for the defence of his team mate Michael Clarke praising him for the type of character he has shown in the field.

Pointing lauds Clarke for his commitment and fight back his team showed in the World Cup. He further stressed that  Australian team is ready for the Ashes Challenge quoting  “We Want to play test against India to prepare for the Ashes. India is the top ranked test team  and have proved to be tough challenge, he added.”

Australia is on a tour schedule to India starting this October and have accepted the offer of playing more test in India then the one-day matches.

Ricky Pointing to lead Australia in Test and One day matches

West Indies  convincingly beat India in the Super 8 match   played at Lords today. The match started with Mahinder singh Dhoni winning the toss and choosing to bat. For him though, only disappointment was available as the wickets fallen continuously. Even M S Dhoni cannot play his usual knock and was sent to pavilion soon.To admit, West Indies bowled Superbly.

India’s Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan came to party by contributing a crucial partnership between them. Yuvraj stole the show by smashing 67 of 43 balls and Yusuf  hit 31 of 23 balls. India managed to score 153 for 7  in their 20 overs. Not defendable score, yet manageable to play for.The star of West Indies bowling was Bravo who took 4 wickets for 38 runs.

The second innings started with an early blow for West Indies losing Fletcher for a duck. Dhoni brought spinners early in the play and the run rate was getting higher with the each ball the spinners bowl. Pressure was mounting and can be seen in Chris Gayle face. He tried to hit a 6 but was caught out by Zaheer for the ball of  Yusuf pathan.

At this stage, West Indies was thought to be out of the game until Bravo came and played a Bravo innings. He smashed each and every bowler and score 66 runs for 36 balls. Helping him at the other end was none other than West Indies former captain Chanderpaul who played a crucial knock . West Indies beat India with 7 wickets in hand  at  18.3 overs.  Bravo was declared Man of the Match award for his allrounder performance.

Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni has beaten him to be the most valuable player in this year’s edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) that begins in South Africa on April 18, 2009.

The Chennai Super Kings’ skipper attracted the highest individual insurance cover of $10.5 million, or Rs 52 crore, as the eight IPL team owners finalised policies for all 120 auctioned players against personal accidents, mediclaim and baggage losses with Oriental Insurance Company (OIC) for a total cover of $286 million, or Rs 1,340 crore, an OIC official said.