India vs Sri Lanka in India, Nov-Dec 2009

Sri Lanka in India Three Test, five ODI and Two T20 match series

Sri Lanka will be looking for the elusive test match and series win when they tour India for a Three Test, five ODI and Two T20 match series from November to December 2009. The team arrive in India on November 8th for the 55-day tour.

England vs New Zealand Cricket Series 2008

Schedule

England vs New Zealand Second Test at Wellington

NZ vs ENG, Second Test, Wellington: England square series with Wellington win (1:1)

England wrapped up the second Test by 126 runs to level the series and take it into a decider in Napier, where the final match begins on Saturday. Needing four wickets, after New Zealand began the day on 242 for six, the bowlers took an hour and half to complete the task.
Brendon McCullum was last out for 85, his brave resistance ending when he was caught by Ryan Sidebottom at long-on as he tried to launch Monty Panesar for six. Earlier, Sidebottom had taken two of the wickets to fall to record five for 105, the third five-wicket Test haul of his career. The victory was Michael Vaughan's first for seven Tests, the longest fallow period of his captaincy. Yet he has never lost two matches in a row, something upheld here after the loss in Hamilton.
An away win must be celebrated as they do not happen that often. This was England's first in 10 Tests abroad, the previous one being the famous 'Ring of Fire' victory in Mumbai two years ago, when a Johnny Cash song played at lunch allegedly inspired England to bowl India out cheaply. No such spurs were needed here, though England did make sweeping changes to their bowling attack, a move that brought much more than any pep talk. With the second new ball only an over old, and Sunday's strong wind stilled to no more than a zephyr, England's bowlers had perfect conditions for a quick kill. As he has was in the first Test, where he took 10 wickets, Sidebottom was the pick. His combination of swing and aggression has undone many batsmen and in the second over yesterday it did for Daniel Vettori.
New Zealand's skipper is the world's best No 8, though that is a relative notion when confronted by a ball that is swinging, and his edged poke to Alastair Cook at third slip was more true to type. Sidebottom then got rid of Kyle Mills, lbw after a series of appeals finally won umpire Rudi Koertzen's favour. New Zealand rallied, with McCullum marshalling Mark Gillespie well to add 41 for the ninth wicket. Yet just as England fans were thinking the unthinkable, James Anderson enticed Gillespie to nibble at an outswinger.
McCullum is difficult to bowl at in this form and after a few plays and misses at Broad, he was hitting boundaries almost at will. He presented a sharp chance to Andrew Strauss at first slip as he swished at Anderson but mostly he looked indomitable until he tried to loft Panesar out of the ground. On a pitch offering seam bowlers something for most of the game, England's trio of Sidebottom, Anderson and Stuart Broad were too strong for the hosts once Ambrose's fine hundred gave them a handy first-innings total. They might have finished New Zealand off on day four had their catching and out-fielding been half as good as it had in the opening Test. The team that dominates doesn't usually fluff too many chances, but England proved the exception by missing five catches, one run-out and a stumping.
After the scintillating snares and snaffles at Hamilton this was a humbling regression and a puzzling one. One minute England's new fielding coach Richard Halsall (not yet with the team) looks surplus to requirements, the next the essential cog in the machine. The wind, strong enough to limit England's attacking capability to just one end once the new ball had softened, meant hard work for those trying to tack a course into it. Perhaps that placed added pressure on fielders, mindful not to waste chances. In his last appearance at the Basin Reserve, Stephen Fleming was the first to receive a helping hand when Ambrose dropped him standing up to Paul Collingwood just before lunch on the fourth day.
Fleming has never scored a Test hundred at his home, and his final reckoning here was a major misjudgement of line when Stuart Broad bowled him offering no stroke just after the break. It was the second wicket in four balls for Broad, after being handed the downwind end after Sidebottom's probing opening spell. Hoisting his spinnaker, he charged in with intent reaching between 78-85 mph. His reward should have been forthcoming in the fourth over after lunch when Matthew Bell drove at one that left him off the pitch, but Collingwood clanged the catch at second slip. Luckily the error did not prove costly and Bell, who has looked a notch below what is required at this level, hung his bat out obligingly four overs later and nicked off to Ambrose.
At 70 for three, New Zealand were heading for a pasting. But Matthew Sinclair, under pressure for his place, and the in-form Ross Taylor, decided to counter-attack, and England squandered further chances. Alastair Cook dropped Sinclair in the gully off Sidebottom and Kevin Pietersen floored a swirling chance at mid-off. By now Collingwood and Panesar were head down doing the donkey work, while the three pacemen shot the breeze. The Sinclair Taylor partnership had reached 81 when a switch to Anderson paid dividends, with Sinclair lamely chipping a back foot drive to Bell at extra-cover. When the ball is not swinging Anderson can prove expensive and two fours off him saw Taylor to his fifty, his second of the match. A stylish batsman with all the shots, he is prone to moments of rashness, a fault that befell him here after falling lbw to Sidebottom, whipping across a straight ball.
With McCullum and Jacob Oram striking the ball well, England were grateful they had a second new ball to take just before the close. They also had cause to be grateful to the umpires for a liberal interpretation of the light, which looked as dark as it had been when the batsmen had taken it thirty minutes earlier. As he had all day, Sidebottom immediately made demands with menaces and had Oram caught by Pietersen at fourth slip to set England’s comeback into the series in motion.

NZ vs ENG, 2nd Test, Wellington, day five: England 342 & 293 bt New Zealand 191 & 311 by 126 runs

England vs New Zealand Second Test at Wellington

Scores

England 1st Innings 342 all out (107.0 overs)	England 2nd Innings 293 all out (97.4 overs)
New Zealand 1st Innings 198 all out (57.5 overs)	New Zealand 2nd Innings 311 all out (100.3 overs)

			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Cook	c McCullum	b Oram	44	91	5	0
Vaughan		b Oram	32	80	4	0
Strauss	c Sinclair	b Mills	8	33	1	0
Pietersen		b Gillespie	31	52	3	0
Bell	c McCullum	b Martin	11	38	2	0
Collingwood	lbw	b Gillespie	65	149	8	0
Ambrose	c Taylor	b Mills	102	149	16	2
Broad		b Oram	1	7	0	0
Sidebottom	c Bell	b Gillespie	14	37	1	0
Panesar	c McCullum	b Gillespie	6	10	0	0
Anderson	not out		0	0	0	0
Extras		8nb 5b 15lb	28
Total		all out	342	(107.0 ovs)

Bowler O M R W Martin 20.0 1 80 1 Mills 30.0 4 86 2 Gillespie 20.0 2 79 4 Oram 29.0 11 46 3 Vettori 8.0 0 31 0

Fall of wicket   79 Vaughan 82 Cook 94 Strauss 126 Bell 136 Pietersen 300 Ambrose 305 Broad 335 Collingwood 342 Sidebottom 342 Panesar

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			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
How	c Strauss	b Anderson	7	19	0	0
Bell		b Anderson	0	6	0	0
Fleming	c Pietersen	b Anderson	34	93	2	0
Sinclair	c Ambrose	b Anderson	9	25	1	0
Taylor	c Ambrose	b Anderson	53	94	9	0
Oram	lbw	b Sidebottom	8	22	1	0
McCullum	c Strauss	b Broad	25	21	5	0
Vettori	not out		50	42	7	1
Mills	c Bell	b Collingwood	1	10	0	0
Gillespie		b Collingwood	0	5	0	0
Martin		b Collingwood	1	11	0	0
Extras		1nb 1w 8lb	10
Total		all out	198	(57.5 ovs)

Bowler O M R W Sidebottom 17.0 3 36 1 Anderson 20.0 4 73 5 Broad 12.0 0 56 1 Collingwood 7.5 1 23 3 Panesar 1.0 0 2 0

Fall of wicket   4 Bell 9 How 31 Sinclair 102 Fleming 113 Oram 113 Taylor 165 McCullum 176 Mills 180 Gillespie 198 Martin

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			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Cook	c Fleming	b Mills	60	137	7	1
Vaughan	c McCullum	b Mills	13	38	2	0
Strauss	lbw	b Oram	44	88	3	0
Pietersen	run out		17	38	2	0
Bell	c Sinclair	b Oram	41	83	4	0
Collingwood	lbw	b Gillespie	59	116	10	0
Ambrose		b Oram	5	16	1	0
Broad	c McCullum	b Martin	16	39	1	0
Sidebottom	c How	b Gillespie	0	4	0	0
Panesar	c Taylor	b Martin	10	21	0	0
Anderson	not out		12	11	2	0
Extras		5nb 6b 5lb	16
Total		all out	293	(97.4 ovs)

Bowler O M R W Martin 24.4 4 77 2 Mills 23.0 5 59 2 Oram 20.0 9 44 3 Gillespie 15.0 1 63 2 Vettori 15.0 2 39 0

Fall of wicket   21 Vaughan 127 Cook 129 Strauss 160 Pietersen 219 Bell 231 Ambrose 259 Broad 260 Sidebottom 277 Collingwood 293 Panesar

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			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
How	c Bell	b Sidebottom	8	22	1	0
Bell	c Ambrose	b Broad	29	96	5	0
Fleming		b Broad	31	76	5	0
Sinclair	c Bell	b Anderson	39	51	7	0
Taylor	lbw	b Sidebottom	55	78	8	0
Oram	c Pietersen	b Sidebottom	30	97	4	0
McCullum	c Sidebottom	b Panesar	85	116	9	3
Vettori	c Cook	b Sidebottom	0	7	0	0
Mills	lbw	b Sidebottom	13	21	2	0
Gillespie	c Ambrose	b Anderson	9	39	1	0
Martin	not out		0	0	0	0
Extras		1w 11lb	12
Total		all out	311	(100.3 ovs)

Bowler O M R W Sidebottom 31.0 10 105 5 Anderson 15.0 2 57 2 Broad 23.0 6 62 2 Collingwood 9.0 2 20 0 Panesar 21.3 1 53 1 Pietersen 1.0 0 3 0

Fall of wicket   18 How 69 Bell 70 Fleming 151 Sinclair 173 Taylor 242 Oram 246 Vettori 270 Mills 311 Gillespie 311 McCullum

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Umpires: S J Davis, R E Koertzen
New Zealand: Bell, How, Fleming, Taylor, Sinclair, Oram, McCullum, Vettori, Mills, Gillespie, Martin
England: Cook, Vaughan, Strauss, Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood, Ambrose, Broad, Sidebottom, Anderson, Panesar

England vs New Zealand Second Test at Wellington

Venue

Westpac Stadium, previously known as WestpacTrust Stadium, is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. Due to its shape, it is colloquially known as The Cake-Tin in other parts of New Zealand, although the locals refer to it by either its proper name or simply as The Stadium. Fans of football team Wellington Phoenix refer to the stadium as The Ring of Fire. The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situated close to major transport facilities one kilometre north of the CBD. It was built on reclaimed railway land, which was surplus to requirements.
The stadium has a capacity of nearly 36,000 including the corporate boxes; 40,000 with temporary seating. It was built to replace Athletic Park, the city’s old rugby stadium, which had fallen into disrepair and was poorly situated for the demands of modern sport. It has since been redeveloped for residential use. The new stadium is one of the best in New Zealand.

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