The week that lies ahead will see some fascinating Test cricket action. It is quite a unique time as all Test playing nations except Bangladesh are involved in a test series. England is touring South Africa, West Indies are touring Austrialia, Pakistan are playing in New Zealand and closer home Sri Lanka will play the final Test of the three match series tomorrow against India.

India play Srilanka at the historic Brabourne…

India takes of Sri Lanka tomorrow at the Brabourne Stadium. It is a stadium that has been known to be the bastion of culture and legacy when it comes to cricket in India. The association which runs the stadium (CCI) had a falling out with the Mumbai Cricket Association back in the early 70s. This led MCA to construct a new stadium called the Wankhede. The two associations have gotten closer now a days and with the Wankhede stadium undergoing a major re-building exercise Brabourne gets its chance to host one more Test match after 36 long years. Last time Test cricket was played at the Brabourne, Sachin Tendulkar was not even born!

India will be keen to win this Test match as it will haul it upwards to being the No 1 ranked Test team in the ICC rankings. This will be quite an achievement for the Indian team who are not particularly hailed for their ability in Test cricket.

New Zealand host Pakistan…

Not sure if New Zealand will have their confidence high after last weeks win over Pakistan. The Pakistan team came very close to an unlikely win over the Kiwis. But I still feel Pakistan have some inherent technically challenged opening batsmen along with some sparkling yet not reliable batting lineup. They have a great bowling line up too but I still feel it would not be able to match up to New Zealand’s usual dose of resoluteness and professionalism. The Test match between New Zealand and Pakistan begins on 3rd December 2009. If you are in India you should be able to catch the action on Ten Sports in early morning around 430 am.

Australia host West Indies in Adelaide…

In the first Test Match Australia declared their innings at 480/8 and bowled out West Indies twice in less than 2 days. The match was over on the 3rd day itself and was one sided more of less from the first day’s first session. This sort of a defeat does not speak very highly of West Indies’ chances in the second Test at Adelaide. This match starts on Friday morning at 5.30 in the morning. Indian viewers should be able to catch the game on Star Cricket.

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Fascinating Test cricket battles in the week ahead is a post from Cric Talks

With India losing to South Africa last night, the Super8 stage is over.

Three big teams- India (who started the tournament as the favorites), England (the host nation) and New Zealand (the only one team that Indians have never been able to defeat in T20) along with Ireland (the “nothing to lose” team) pack their bags to say goodbye to the biggest tournament of the shortest form of cricket.

South Africa and Sri Lanka enter the Semifinals unbeaten, as we look forward to a final match clash.

Pakistan and West Indies have shown some real good cricket in last two weeks to make it to the semifinal stage. The stage is all set for some exciting cricket in the coming days.

From here on, it narrows down to just two more wins in the coming matches for any of these teams to win the title.

Fixtures

Enjoy!

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ICC World Twenty20 Super8: The Semifinal Line-up is a post from Cric Talks

Match Details

Group E| Super 8

Date: June 12, 2009

Time: 10:00 PM IST

TV Coverage: On Star Cricket in India

Venue: Lord’s, London

Playing Conditions

Weather: High: 19°C, Low: 11°C, Partly Cloudy, Mostly Bright, Humidity: 52%

Teams Form

In chronological order from left to right

India: WLLWW

India registered comfortable wins against Bangladesh and Ireland at the group stage but today is the big first test of the tournament for them. With Zaheer coming back to the form, Indian team looks very complete and the formidable batting order adds on to opposition’s worry.

West Indies: WLWWL

West Indies is as predictable as ever in the recent times. If it is Gayle’s day, he can win any match on its own. Bravo had a good time in the IPL and is capable of playing winning knocks.

Team News

India

Rohit has filled in Sehwag’s place pretty nicely and there seems to be no problems as such at the top of the order. Dhoni continues to stick to the 3^rd position to play an anchor’s role, while others to follow him can hit big boundaries.

There have been ups and downs with the Indian fielding. Dhoni has shown his concerns in this area and scope of improvements. Bowling in the death overs is again an area where Dhoni needs to give a serious thought.

West Indies

Gayle is slotted to be back in the team in today’s match after he missed out playing against Sri Lanka.

Lendl Simmons, who was included as Gayle’s replacement, impressed all with his bowling and batting against Sri Lanka. Team management would like to keep him in the playing eleven in today’s match.

Possible Eleven

Looks like Dhoni will stick to the team that won both the group matches. Though Irfan Pathan looks like a weak link in the bowling attack but his ability to score quick runs in the death overs brings in good balance to the team.

India

1. Gautam Gambhir
2. Rohit Sharma
3. MS Dhoni (capt./wk)
4. Suresh Raina
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. Yusuf Pathan
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Harbhajan Singh
9. Pragyan Ojha
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Ishant Sharma

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Preview: India Vs West Indies is a post from Cric Talks