Grizzlies top Warriors Got 3rd straight win

Grizzlies defeated the Golden State Warriors 98 -94 last night.

O.J. Mayo had 19 points to lead Memphis scorers, DanteCunningham scored 13 points, hitting all six of his shots for Memphis, which played with little drive for most of the game but acieved a  third straight win.

Marc Gasol added 12, Rudy Gay finished with 11 points, in spite of going 3 of 13 from the field, and Gilbert Arenas scored 10 points, hitting all four of his shots.

David Lee scored 22 points and had 13 bounce backs to lead the Warriors, who lost their sixth straight. Nate Robinson scored 18, and BrandonRush added 13 on 4 of 7 from the field.

The Grizzlies won the game by outscoring Golden State 28-15 in the final period, shooting 70.5 For the first three quarters, the Warriors appeared to be the ones in line for the playoffs, instead of hoping for good draft position.

The game started pretty ugly. The Warriors missed nine of their first 10 shots, and both teams ended the first quarter hitting 9 of 24 from the field.

The offense picked up in the second as Lee was effective for the Warriors, while Memphis was relying on balanced scoring.

Golden State, which started three rookies - Klay Thompson, Jeremy Tyler and Charles Jenkins - went to their veterans to take a second-quarter lead.

Lee's basket with 2.4 seconds left in the half gave him 14 points and tied the game at 50 at the break.

Conley, who hit 5 of 7 shots including 2 of 3 outside, had 12 for Memphis. The Warriors complete the lead to nine in the middle stages of the third as the Grizzlies continued to look exhausted Mayo hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Memphis close, but Robinson answered with consecutive long-range jumpers to provide the Warriors a buffer.

That helped Golden State carry a 79-70 lead into the final quarter, and a 3-pointer by Rush on the Warriors' early possession of the fourth gave them the first double-digit lead of the game.

India Thrashed Pakistan

India's vice captain ViratKohli smashed a career-best 183 to power India virtually into the finals of the Asia Cup as he led the chase of a enormous 330-run target to beat archrivals Pakistan by six wickets on Sunday.

Sachin Tendulkar  and Rohit Sharma were the other chief contributors of this must-win game that took India to second place in the points table, behind Pakistan

For Pakistan, their opening pair of Mohammad Hafeez  and Nasir Jamshed  hit stroke-filled centuries in a 224-run stand that propelled Pakistan to the huge total. However, India pulled things back in the last 10 overs to instil hopes of victory.

India's run-chase began with a stumble when opener Gautam Gambhir was dismissed lbw by Mohammad Hafeez off the second ball of the innings. However, a 133-run partnership between Tendulkar and Kohli nullified the early advantage Pakistan had got.

Tendulkar was ejected by off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, but incoming batsman Rohit proved to be the ideal foil for Kohli, who has been in the form of his life. During this knock, Kohli became the second-quickest to 3500 ODI runs, only behind West Indian legend Vivian Richards. His 148-ball 183 included 22 fours and one six.

Rohit was a bit slow to get off the blocks, but once in, he made it count by rotating the strike and hitting a boundary every now and then. Kohli and Rohit both fell in the space of 13 runs after a 172-run partnership, which by then had put India in cruise mode with the score already past 300.

Raina and Kohli then performed the last rites to complete a facile win.

Jamshed's 112 came off just 104 balls, including 10 fours and one six.

Pakistan lost their other opener, Hafeez, four balls later, which lifted the Indian spirits. Hafeez's 105 runs came off 113 balls, studded with 9 fours and one six. Akmal and Younis Khan then stitched together a 48-run partnership but Pakistan lost Akmal for 28 at the score of 273 in the 43rd over. He was dismissed by Praveen Kumar.

Afridi tried to get his eye in but his 15-ball stay was ended by Irfan Pathan. He contributed just 9 but was involved in a 40-run stand with Younis, during which Pakistan crossed the 300-run mark.

Pakistan, who scored 73 runs and lost four wickets in the last 10 overs, lost the momentum in the end but Younis's 34-ball 52 ensured Pakistan reach 329 for 6 in the end. Praveen sent him back off a one-handed stunner by Raina in the covers. Captain Misbah-ul-Haq remained not out on four, while allrounder Hammad Azam scored 4.

Ashok Dinda finished with figures of 2 for 47 in 8 overs, while Praveen was the most expensive of the lot at 2 for 77. Irfan was hammered for 69 runs in his 10 overs and returned with a lonely wicket.

Asia Cup

India’s Victory over Sri Lanka with 50 runs proved that India is in form again .In its first match

Of Asia Cup, Irfan Pathan led the Indian attack with a four wicket pull.India put forward the score

Of 304 before Sri Lanka.Losing 4 wickets for 31 runs in the batting powerplay proved decisive

In the end as they reached 196 for 3 in 35 overs.Ashwin and Vinay took two wickets each and decreased

Lankans to 227 for 7 in 40 overs.Pathan returned in the last over to complete his 4 for 32 with the last

Sri Lankan wicket of Seekkuge Prasanna.

Earlier, India's twin centurions Virat Kohli  and Gautam Gambhir put up a 205-run stand for the second wicket to set India up for a big total. On the way to his century, Kohli became the fastest man to reach 10 ODI centuries, reaching the landmark in his 83rd match.

MS Dhoni  and Suresh Raina then stricken the Lankan attack for 78 runs in the final 7.1 overs to cross the 300-run mark with a six from Raina off the last ball of the 50th over.

SachinTendulkar fell early after Sri Lanka put India in to bat. Thereafter, it was a Kohli-Gambhir show as they stole the fame by bringing up the 10th ODI centuries of their respective careers.

The Sri Lankan bowlers had no answers for Kohli who scored his second consecutive century in Mirpur after punishing the Bangladeshis in the World Cup opener last year. He and Gambhir fell soon after reaching the landmark but Dhoni and Raina ensured boundaries came thick and fast in the last seven overs to take India's total to 304 for 3.

The Lankans  lost Tillakaratne Dilshan  early in their chase but Jayawardene played a captain's knock of 78 in just 59 balls, which included 10 fours and two sixes. After Dilshan was sent back by Pathan, Jayawardene joined hands with KumarSangakkara for a 93-run second-wicket partnership in a 14-over period . The Sri Lankans joyously moved to 124 for 1 in just the 19th over when Jayawardene's downfall. At 152 for 3, Sangakkara found an supporter in Lahiru Thirimanne and the duo started bringing the chase back on track by exploiting the Indian spinners. However, Ashwin sent Sangakkara  and Thirimanne  back in the first over of the powerplay, while Vinay took care of Nuwan Kulasekara  and Chamara Kapugedara  in the fourth. Maharoof tried to be a bit adventurous; however, it proved to be vain in the end.

ASIA CUP

Pakistan pulled off a 21 run victory over a vigorous Bangladesh in the exhilarating opening

Match of Asia Cup on Sunday. Pakistan Team set forth the score of 263 before Bangladesh .

Hoewever,the hosts lacked the batting power in the end and got all out for 241 in 48.1 over only.

On the other hand the hosts gave a good account of themselves and also proved that they cannot

Be taken lightly in the tournament.Shakib and Nasir were going great arms together as the team.
Umar Gul broke the partnership by bowling Nasir in the 44th over.Shakib was the last man out

Pakistan scored 262 for eight after Mohammed Hafeez top-scored with a patient 89 and shared a 135-run stand with fellow opener Nasir Jamshed. Apart from Hafeez and Jamshed's brilliant batting it was Gul's strokeful unbeaten 39 towards the end that lifted Pakistan to a respectable total.

ShahdatHossain and Shakib Al Hasan  shared five wickets between them to help Bangladesh restrict Pakistani players, who were scoring briskly till the 30 overs.

Pakistan rode on spin trio of Hafeez ,Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi's brilliant bowling to open their campaign with a win.

Bangladesh's chase was guided by opener Tamim Iqbal's crafty 64 but the hosts could not make the best use of his innings. Iqbal along with opener Nazimuddin  and Jahurul Islam  shared two 45-run stands each for the first and second wickets.

Hafeez struck twice in two balls in the 29th over as he bowled Iqbal in the third ball and trapped Mahmudullah in the next to reduce Bangaldesh to 135 for five.

Shakib then joined hands with Nasir to take the fight to Pakistan. They made good use of third powerplay to set the tone for a close finish.

Earlier, Hafeez and Jamshed had laid the foundation by putting on 135 runs for the first wicket in just 28 overs but Shahdat Hossain (3/53) and Shakib Al Hasan (2/41) struck at crucial moments to help the hosts fight back into the match.

But Gul, somewhat, spoilt Bangladesh's plans with a brisk 39 off 25 balls.

Hoping that the pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium would offer some assistance to his seamers early on, Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim elected to field after the coin landed in his favour.

Jamshed was the more aggressive of the two as he found the fence five times, besides hitting a six. Hafeez was content to rotate the strike while hitting the occasional boundaries.

Bangladesh then made a spirited fightback and the breakthrough they needed, came in the form of Jamshed's wicket in the 28th over, when Mushfiqur ran the batsman out after receiving a throw from Shakib. Living up to the tag of being an unpredictable side, Pakistan suffered a collapse and, from 160 for two in the 33rd over, they were struggling at 198 for seven.

Pakistan Vs England

Pakistan lost the ODI series to England4-0, after having beaten them in the Tests.

Former players rallied round Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq on Wednesday despite his side's miserable showing in the 4-0 one-day series battering by England.

Pakistan failed to carry the momentum of their 3-0 Test whitewash of England in the UAE into the one dayers, losing all four games to suggest they will be susceptible  to their rivals in the Twenty20 series starting on Thursday.

England strolled to a four-wicket win in the fourth game in Dubai on Tuesday, with Kevin Pietersenhitting a second successive hundred.

The sudden slump in form prompted former captain Imran Khan  to bemoan a lack of depth in Pakistan's squad.

But the legendary allrounder backed captain Misbah-ul Haq to continue as skipper in the short form of the game, having already led a remarkable revival of the Test side.

Khan rejected the suggestion the side would be better served by separate captains for the three forms of the game.

Former spinner Iqbal Qasim also backed Misbah, urging critics to give him time to turn around the side's one-day fortunes.

Qasim said Pakistan must choose specialists for Tests and limited overs.

Sri Lanka Vs India

Sri Lanka defeated India by a broad margin of 51 runs in the 8th Match of the CB Tri-Series at the Gabba in Brisbane.  the Indian top order failed to put Sri Lanka in charge. Although there was a resist here and there from India, it was always Sri Lanka’s game.

India’s run chase began very poorly as Captain Virender Sehwag  played disappointingly but Things still looked bright for India as Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir were striking the ball beautifully. But the  Nuwan Kulasekara with his lovely swing and closure bowling made the two batsmen out to leave India at 54 for 3 by the 12th over.

It was a huge disappointment for Sachin Tendulkar as he looked good for his 22 (from 33 balls with 3 fours) before he dragged from Kulasekara onto his stumps.. Gambhir got out walking down the track and guiding an away swinger low into the hands of Thisara Perera at wide .

India staged a steady fightback through Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina which was possible through a couple of catches put down by the Lankans. The young pair added 92 runs for the 4th wicket before Suresh Raina (32 from 55 balls with a four) got caught at covers off a leading edge in an attempted backfoot flick off a bouncy delivery from Maharoof in the 31st over. By the 36th over, India was reduced to 172 for 5 when a well set Virat Kohli (66 from 83 balls with 2 fours) mishit his pull shot off a rising delivery into the hands of mid on after looking to play an attacking game in the Batting Powerplay.

It was matter of formalities for the Sri Lankans after removing Kohli. However, Irfan Pathan was having other ideas and was pretty confident of pulling a victory all on his own. Unfortunately for Pathan, he lost three vital partners in Jadeja, Parthiv and Ashwin which reduced the score to 232 for 8 in 43 overs.
Kulasekara made things easy for the Lankans when he had Ravindra Jadeja dragging a wide.In the 43rd over, Lasith Malinga came up with a death blow when R Ashwin was forced to edge his late cut off a slower one to the keeper.

India by the start of the 46th over was bowled out for 238 with the last man to fall being Irfan Pathan. The left-handed all-rounder scored a valiant 47 from 34 balls with 7 fours before his flat-batted hit off a full toss got caught overhead by Thisara Perera in his own bowling.

Thisara Perera finished the match with statistics of 4 for 37 in 7.1 overs. 

Pakistan beat us fair and square

Abu Dhabi England coach Andy Flower said on Sunday that Pakistan's series-clinching Test win would be a huge boost to the country, but called on his team to show their mettle on subsequent matches in the subcontinent.
Pakistan thumped England by 72 runs in the second Test here on Saturday, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. They won the first Test by ten wickets in Dubai.
The third and final Test begins in Dubai from February 3.
Under Flower England had been unbeaten in their last nine Test series, which saw them rise to number one in rankings last year.
But after being set a tricky 145-run target to win on Saturday, England were dismissed for a paltry 72 runs as Pakistan's spin bowlers came to the fore.

Pakistan beat us fair and square

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Abu Dhabi England coach Andy Flower said on Sunday that Pakistan's series-clinching Test win would be a huge boost to the country, but called on his team to show their mettle on subsequent matches in the subcontinent.
Pakistan thumped England by 72 runs in the second Test here on Saturday, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. They won the first Test by ten wickets in Dubai.
The third and final Test begins in Dubai from February 3.
Under Flower England had been unbeaten in their last nine Test series, which saw them rise to number one in rankings last year.
But after being set a tricky 145-run target to win on Saturday, England were dismissed for a paltry 72 runs as Pakistan's spin bowlers came to the fore.

Pakistan beat us fair and square

Click here for test.doc