Tendulkar only current player in ESPNcricinfo all-time World XI

Sachin Tendulkar is the only current player in ESPNcricinfo's all-time Test World XI, which is dominated by Australians and West Indians, reflecting their pre-eminence in Test cricket over the years. 

Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Wasim Akram were the other players from the last two decades to make it to the XI, which featured seven players who made their debuts after 1970. 

Four Australians, three West Indians, two Englishmen, an Indian and a Pakistani make up the XI. 

The World XI: Jack Hobbs, Len Hutton, Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Viv Richards, Garry Sobers, Adam Gilchrist, Malcolm Marshall, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Dennis Lillee

The Second XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Barry Richards, George Headley, Brian Lara, Wally Hammond, Imran Khan, Alan Knott, Bill O'Reilly, Fred Trueman, Muttiah Muralitharan, SF Barnes

Readers' XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Garry Sobers, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath

India win series as 3rd ODI called off

A damp outfield caused by overnight rains forced cancellation of the third and final ODI between India and Australia without a ball being bowled to give the hosts a 1-0 series victory, their first at home in over two decades, here on Sunday.

With the abandonment of Sunday's ODI, the second in the three-match series, Australia returned home without winning a single game in their tour of India. They had lost the two-match Test series 0-2 before the ODI series.

India had beaten Australia by five wickets in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam on October 20 while the first match in Kochi on October 17 was washed out.

This was the first time that India have beaten Australia in an ODI series since 1998.

The series win by India is also the first at home in over two decades against Australia. The last time the Aussies had lost an ODI series in India was in 1986-87 when the hosts had won by a 3-2 margin.

Umpires Billy Bowden and Amish Saheba made two inspections of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium ground at 11 am and 12:15 pm before deciding to abandon the match because of the wet conditions in the outfield that persisted despite the sun shining brightly.

In between these two inspections rival skippers Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Michael Clarke also came out to go around the outfield and were seen having a long discussion with the umpires.

The match was later called off without a ball being bowled, thus making it the second time it has happened at this venue.

The wicket looked in perfect condition but the seepage of rain water through the covers left outfield damp and slippery.

The morning though began with the prospect of a curtailed match being played with the sun shining brightly.

The ground was covered by tarpaulins overnight which protected most parts of it but still there were some seepages at the outfield. Super sopper was employed to suck up the water from the covers.

The match organizers, Goa Cricket Association, have already promised to refund the entire ticket amount through branches of Federal Bank all over India from October 28.

The capacity crowd of 27,000 sat through the entire rigmarole before trooping home disappointed.

Even the players of both the sides, except for the two captains, did not come to the stadium. The two coaches, Gary Kirsten and Tim Nielsen were also seen at the ground.

SA sweep series with gigantic win

South Africa beat Zimbabwe by the second biggest margin in one-day international history on Friday, powering to a 272-run win at Willowmoore Park to sweep the series 3-0.

JP Duminy and AB de Villiers made centuries and shared a South African record 219-run partnership for the third wicket as the Proteas racked up 399-6 against the struggling Zimbabweans.

Zimbabwe was skittled out for 127 for its heaviest defeat and South Africa's biggest win in ODIs.

Duminy made an ODI career-best 129 and man of the series De Villiers scored his second successive hundred, with 109 off 99 balls. Juan Theron led the Proteas bowlers with 3-18 as Zimbabwe was all out in just 29 overs. Albie Morkel, Wayne Parnell and Johan Botha took two wickets each.

New Zealand's 290-run win over Ireland in 2008 is the heaviest margin of victory in a 50-over international, with Friday's result just 18 runs behind.

It was the perfect send-off as South Africa departs on Sunday for a Twenty20, ODI and two-Test series against Pakistan in United Arab Emirates. South Africa won all three one-dayers against Zimbabwe convincingly and also took the two-match Twenty20 series 2-0.

De Villiers' ninth ODI hundred, and fifth in 2010, followed on from his 101 not out in the last game. He crashed five fours and five sixes as South Africa raced from 59-2 to 278-3. Duminy, who was man of the match, hit seven fours and four sixes in his second one-day century.

South Africa missed out on just the 10th score of 400 or above in ODIs by one run when David Miller pummeled a four down the ground off the last ball.

Already reeling at 30-3, Zimbabwe lost topscorer Tatenda Taibu (28) and Craig Ervine to Botha in the 16th over and Chigumbura was bowled by Theron off the first ball of the 17th.

Theron then sent a trademark skidding yorker hammering into Shingirai Masakadza's pads, knocking him off his feet and clattering into his middle stump as Zimbabwe slumped to 127-9. The right-arm seamer had Ian Nicolson caught by wicketkeeper De Villiers three balls later to wrap up the match, adding another three wickets to the 5-44 he took in the second one-dayer.

Theron was only a late call-up for the ODI series following injuries to three of South Africa's leading bowlers.

South Africa's series against Pakistan begins with two T20 games next week. It then meets No.1 ranked test team India at home in three tests, five ODIs and a one-off Twenty20 match before the World Cup starts in February.

Bangladesh complete clean sweep against NZ

Paceman Rubel Hossain stunned New Zealand with four wickets to help Bangladesh beat the tourists by three runs on Sunday and complete a 4-0 series sweep.

New Zealand were bowled out for 171 with just three balls remaining and just shy of their target of 174, with Rubel taking the final wicket when he bowled Kyle Mills in a dramatic finish at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.

Rubel finished with four for 25 -- his best figures in limited-overs internationals -- as Bangladesh successfully defended what was a meagre total.

It was the fifth and final one-dayer of the series. One match was rained off.

Rubel removed dangerman Brendon McCullum and helped reduce New Zealand to 20-5 with his fierce opening spell of 3-13 before Daniel Vettori and Grant Elliott put on 86 for the sixth wicket.

Vettori, the New Zealand captain, made 43 and Elliott top-scored with 59 as the tourists recovered before the momentum shifted back.

Captain Shakib Al Hasan had earlier top-scored for Bangladesh with 36 off 47 balls. Opener Imrul Kayes made 34 as the home side were bowled out in 44.2 overs.

Vettori took 3-32 and Mills 3-36.

India wipe out Aus to win series 2-0

After a tight finish in Mohali a week ago, it was a tame finish in Bangalore as hosts India comfortably beat Australia by seven-wickets on day five of the second Test to wrap up the two-match series 2-0 on Wednesday and register their first win here in 15 years.

Needing 207 runs off a stipulated 77 overs, India achieved the target just after tea with Sachin Tendulkar (53) hitting the winning runs. Rahul Dravid was at the other end on 21. This was also the highest successful chase in Bangalore.

But it was Chesteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay who laid the foundation for the chase after the early loss of Virender Sehwag. Debutante Pujara, who was included in the lineup in place of the injured VVS Laxman, showed great poise and maturity at the No. 3 spot as he and Vijay matched stroke for stroke to send the Aussies on a leather hunt.

They duo put on 72 runs off just 78 deliveries before the first innings centurion was trapped lbw by Shane Watson for 37. Pujara, who was one-year-old when Tendulkar made his debut, then added 57 runs with the Master Blaster, bringing up his maiden Test fifty in the process.

Pujara, who has more than 4000 runs in first-class cricket, was unlucky to miss out on his 100 when he was bowled by Nathan Hauritz off 72 against the run of play.

India were then just 61 runs away and Tendulkar and Dravid made it look so easy from there.

Earlier in the day, the Australians added 21 runs to their overnight score and ended up being dismissed for 223 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The Aussies lost the three wickets with Zaheer Khan dismissing Mitchell Johnson and Peter George and Sreesanth scalped Nathan Hauritz.

Zaheer Khan had a spell of 5.2-1-9-2, while Sreesanth 5-1-8-1. Resuming at their overnight score of 202 for 7, both Johnson and Hauritz were seen not taking too many chances against the Indian pace duo.

Zaheer was able to get the reverse swing quite often and succeeded in dismissing Johnson (11) in his fourth over of the first session. The ball jag sharply off the pitch to take Johnson's off stump.

The Australian added four more runs to his overnight score of seven.

In the very next over, Sreesanth who was bowling menacingly, was paid for his hard work. A totally dried up pitch was giving some movements and Sreesanth was able to beat the batsmen since morning time and again.

Sreesanth's full length delivery cut in after pitching on outside the off stump and the ball contacted Ben Hilfenhaus' pads before hitting the stumps.

Zaheer ended the innings with a short ball that was gloved behind by Peter George (0), and Nathan Hauritz remained unbeaten on 21.

In the end Sachin Tendulkar awarded Man-of-the-Match & Man-of-the-Series after scoring 403 runs at an average of 134.33 in the series.

Dhawan called up, Tendulkar rested for One Day Series

India's cricket selectors on Tuesday left out seven star players for a three-match One-day series against Australia starting on October 17.

 

Among the glaring omissions in the 14-man squad are world batting record holder Sachin Tendulkar, dashing opener Virender Sehwag, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and spin duo Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha.

Also missing are opening batsman Gautam Gambhir and seamer Ishant Sharma, who were forced out of the ongoing second Test in Bangalore due to knee injuries.

Tendulkar, Harbhajan, Zaheer and Ojha have been rested, while the others are nursing injuries, a cricket board statement said. Delhi batsman Shikhar Dhawan is the only new face in the squad.

Australia too have rested skipper Ricky Ponting, all-rounder Shane Watson and fast bowler Mitchell Johnson for the series.

The first One-dayer will be played in Kochi on October 17, followed by the remaining two in Visakhapatnam on October 20 and Goa on October 24.  

India's One-day squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Saurav Tiwary, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma.

Indian spinners shake Australia

The second and final test between India and Australia was heading for a gripping climax after bowlers dominated the fourth day on Tuesday.

The Indian spinners reduced Australia to 202 for seven at the close, with Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz facing the task of extending a slender lead of 185 runs for the touring side who lost the first test by one wicket.

Captain Ricky Ponting made a defiant 72 to hold the innings together before falling to Zaheer Khan in the final session.

The tourists were let down by their top order which struggled against Indian spinners Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh.

Ojha removed in-form opener Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey, while Harbhajan accounted for Simon Katich and Marcus North.

India resumed on a commanding 435 for five and Sachin Tendulkar cruised to his sixth test double century before falling for 214.

Tendulkar, who hit two sixes and 22 fours, became debutant Peter George's first test victim when he dragged a delivery on to his stumps and Hauritz polished off the tail as India slumped to 495 all out.

The match can tilt any where. Whatever Aussie got is gettable but India have to bat sensibly tomorrow. The wicket is turning a lot.

Even Master predicted a close finish in the second and final cricket Test against Australia after scoring a brilliant double century. "This match is at a critical stage and it is all about how we handle pressure on the last day," Tendulkar said after the fourth day's play at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.