Nightmare at Durban

It was always going to be a tough series for India in South Africa. After being humiliated by the hosts in the first test match, India came back well to win the second and defend hard to earn a draw in the third. And after wining the one-off t20 convincingly, the Men in Blue were proving the critics wrong. They had hoped to carry the momentum into the one-day series but somehow lady luck did not smile on them. Fans were praying for clear weather with rains threatning to upset the proceedings. However Wednesday turned out to be perfect weather for cricket. It was as if even the rain gods preferred to watch the mouth watering clash. The return of Sachin Tendulkar to the one day side was the talking point before the match. It was his first competetive one day international since his famous 200 at Gwalior against the same opposition way back in 2010. With Team India missing Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir through injury Murali Vijay got another chance to open the batting with the Little Master. India went into with the match with their usual three seamers and one spinner combination and seven batsmen. South Africa on the other hand went in with a long tail comprising four pacers and one spinner.

Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat on a damp wicket letting India do the batting under lights which was always going to be tough. It was upto the Indian pacers to restrict the South African batting to a score around 250 to make their chase easier. Things seemed bright when Ashish Nehra, who despite going for runs, got Smith caught by Rohit Sharma in the 4th over. That however did not seems to stop Hashim Amla who turned out be India's tormentor again. He walked down easily to the pacers and drove them around the field effortlessly. On the other end, young Colin Ingram was very quite as he watched Amla pierce open the Indian fielding. With neither Nehra nor Zaheer causing any real threats, Dhoni brought on Munaf Patel. Having started off with a maiden, he took out Amla for a well made 50 and Colin Ingram. With two quick wickets India were again in the game,or so they thought. The next pair of AB de Villiers and JP Duminy put on 131 runs for the 4th wicket. The world's number one ODI batsman, de Villiers, scored a beautifully constructed 76 while Duminy scored an equally good 73. With neither of his regular bowlers able to get the breakthrough, the Indian skipper turned to his part timers. The young duo of Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina bowled well in tandem giving away just 51 run and getting three crucial wickets. Rohit Sharma removed the threatning pair of Duminy and de Villiers and David Miller following soon after,bowled by Raina. India again seemed in the hunt with only the long South African tail remaining. However Johan Botha and Wayne Parnell scored 23 and 21 respectively to take the total to 290 for 9. Going into the break India would be well pleased to restrict The Proteas below 300 since at one point they were well set for a huge total.

Batting under lights was never going to be easy and 290 was a mammoth total on the Kingsmead track. And with the bowling combination of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, perhaps the best combination in world cricket today, things definitely did not seem bright for India. Their first and foremost concern was to see off the new bowl without losing too many wickets. That concern was to soon become a reality when Dale Steyn struck Murali Vijay plumb on the 4th ball of the innings. It was a surprise when Lonwabo Tsotsobe was given the new ball instead of Morne Morkel. Tsotsobe was very unlucky in the test matches where he troubled the Indian batsmen but did not get too many wickets to his name. Graeme Smith's gamble paid off when Sachin Tendulkar shuffled across and tried to pull Tsotsobe but only managed a leading edge and skied the ball to Dale Steyn at fine leg. Tsotsobe will no doubt consider this wicket bigger than any he has got before. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli tried to steady the ship and managed to do so until Morne Morkel removed Rohit Sharma with a peach of a delivery though Sharma had reasons to argue. The umpire mistook the sound for an edge when actually the bat had hit his pad. Yuvraj Singh departed soon and India were staring at a humiliating defeat again at 43 for 4. MS Dhoni decided to come out before Suresh Raina to steady the batting and with Virat Kohli managed to see off Morne Morkel and Tsotsobe. However lady luck was all on the hosts' side. Wayne Parnell got a hand to a straight drive from Kohli and deflected the ball onto the stumps, catching MS Dhoni outside the crease. Kohli and Raina added 33 runs and when Smith caught Kohli off Steyn India were staring down the barrel at 128 for 6. It was now just a formality for the South Africans as they bundled the Indian tail for 26 runs with Lonwabo Tsotsobe being the hero. He finished off with figures of 4 for 31 and rightly enough fetched the Man of the Match award.

It is now think time for the Indian think-tank. They have three days before the next one-day match at Johanesburg on the 15th of January. Its time to pull up their socks and forget what happened and what could have been. Meanwhile the South Africans will be confident with the momentum on their side. They should however give no place for complacency. We have seen that India do tend to come back very strong as we saw in the test series. With that in mind we can definitely look forward to an exciting series.

The Big Red Battle

Any clash between Manchester United and Liverpool is nothing short of a battle. These two teams have always been traditional rivals and always will be. Their much anticipated 3rd round FA Cup tie more than lived up to the hype and expectation. The day began for Liverpool just as it ended. The "sacking" of Roy Hodgson was never a good sign for the club as well as the fans. However with Kenny Dalglish in charge, The Reds' fans were hoping for a much needed change in form. United came into this match with just one loss in the entire season in any competetion while Liverpool had a completely contrasting fortune. On the back of a 3-1 loss to Blackburn in the league, confidence was low in the Merseysiders' camp.

Both managers understood the magnitude of the game and competetion and neither was willing to be complacent. Both fielded full strength teams with United however missing the important trio of Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic and Edwin Van Der Saar. Sir Alex preferred a two striker attacking formation unlike the one against Arsenal when he started with just one striker and a five man midfield. The evergreen Ryan Giggs too was given a start due to the absence of wingers Luis Antonio Valencia and Park Ji Sung. Liverpool were missing Jamie Carragher in the defence and otherwise had a good solid team.

The game started off in front of a packed Old Trafford stadium with United attacking at the blow of the whistle. Kenny Dalglish was hoping for a fairy tale return as manager but that fairy tale became a nightmare within 35 seconds. Daniel Agger conceded a penalty when Dimitar Berbatov was brought down albeit with a soft touch. Many would argue that he went down too easily but referee Howard Webb thought otherwise. With Nani and Berbatov on the field, no one expected Ryan Giggs to take the responsibility. Up stepped the Welsh legend and struck the ball past Pepe Reina though the keeper went the right way. United were leading within 2 minutes and they never looked back. The goal was like a stab in the chest for Liverpool who never seemed to be in the contest. United kept pushing forward and created many chances but as has been the case before this season, they did not convert any of them with Reina and the post coming to Liverpool's rescue. Sir Alex said after the game against Stoke City that United should convert the chances or they might live to regret them. And Liverpool could have made them regret but were unable to rake up good chances themselves. They did have a few half chances from Torres, Gerrard and Maxi but the Red Devils defence held on. On the half hour mark Liverpool received their second jolt when skipper Steven Gerrard was sent off for a two footed lunge on Michael Carrick. And with Stevie G out walked Liverpool's spirit and strength. United took full control of the game then on and did not look back. They went into the break with the one goal lead but looking very comfortable. After the interval fans hoped for a Liverpool revival like when they pulled two goals back during the Premier League clash here in September. Instead they were praying for survival from wave after wave of United attacks. In fact Reina made as many as five saves in a matter of 20 seconds. Being in control of the game Sir Alex decided to bring on Anderson for Darren Fletcher with the hope of adding an attacking dimension. He could weave no magic though as Reina was brilliant at the goal and Berbatov seemed off colour. With 15 minutes left, on came Michael Owen for Javier Hernandez hoping to completely finish off his former team. There were to be no more goals in the game but United played far better than the scoreline suggests. Cheers went across The Theatre of Dreams as Howard Webb blew the final whistle. The whistle suggested the end for Liverpool's FA Cup campaign while United lived to fight another day.

Kenny Dalglish could excuse himself for the loss since a first game at Old Trafford against Manchester United isn't exactly what one would ask for. Sir Alex, on the other hand, can look forward to a bright 2011 with his team leading the league table and getting favourable draws in the FA Cup 4th round and the Champions League. It certainly seems to be a "happy new year" for the red half of Manchester.