australia vs pakistan 4th odi:Bollinger, Clarke seal series for Australia

pakistan batting

australia batting

A maiden five-wicket haul by Doug Bollinger and a century from captain Michael Clarke powered Australia to an eight-wicket win over Pakistan on Friday and an unassailable 3-1 lead in the one-day series.Paceman Bollinger, in his second ODI, took five for 35 as Pakistan were bowled out for 197 in 48.4 overs after electing to bat first in the fourth game.Skipper Clarke (100 not out) then hammered his fourth ODI century, sharing an undefeated stand of 197 for the third wicket with opener Shane Watson (85 not out), as Australia cruised home with 34 balls to spare.Clarke, standing in for Ricky Ponting as captain, hit 14 fours.Watson fought his way through a fiery four-over spell from fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who removed Brad Haddin for a duck with the second ball of the innings and trapped debutant Marcus North lbw for one to leave Australia struggling on three for two.Earlier, Bollinger started well on a slow pitch by having opener Salman Butt caught behind for two off his third delivery.His second spell later in the innings yielded four more victims as Pakistan collapsed to lose their last seven wickets for 81 runs.Bollinger dismissed Shahid Afridi (40) and Shoaib Malik (27) when they were well set.Opener Ahmed Shehzad top-scored with 43 and Misbah-ul-Haq chipped in with 34. The final match in Abu Dhabi is on Sunday.

kingXIpunjab vs royal challengers bangalore:Yuvraj heroics in vain as Bangalore clinch thriller

royal challengers bangalore batting

kingsXIpunjab batting

Yuvraj Singh's brilliant all-round display and the first hat-trick of the Indian Premier League (IPL) II was of no avail as Bangalore Royal Challengers pulled of a thrilling eight-run victory over Kings XI Punjab at the Kingsmead here on Friday.Chasing a target of 146 runs, Kings XI were restricted to 137 for seven despite an all-round performance of their skipper Yuvraj Singh, who scored an breezy 50 after claiming a hat-trick.New captain Anil Kumble brought some luck for the Royal Challengers, for whom this was their second successive and third win overall in seven matches.Kings XI needed 17 runs off the last 12 balls but Kumble bowled a brilliant 19th over, giving away just four runs for a wicket to tighten the noose around the Punjab team. Praveen Kumar then bowled a clever four-run last over to script an excellent win for the Royal Challengers.After winning the toss, Kumble decided to bat but his decision backfired as the top three batsmen were back in the dugout with just 38 runs on the board. Shreevats Goswami (2), who had scored a match-winning 43 against Knight Riders, failed to fire while Jesse Ryder (10) continued with his woeful form.Irfan Pathan was a miser (2-19) while Yusuf Abdulla (4-36) got to swing the ball both ways to trouble the Punjab batsmen. But the real star for Kings XI was Yuvraj, who picked up Jacques Kallis (27), Robin Uthappa (19) and Mark Boucher (2) off successive deliveries to put Royal Challengers in a spot of bother.

It took a cameo from Roelof Van der Merwe to bail out Royal Challengers and put a competitive total on the board. The South African all-rounder hit a 19-ball 35 that was studded with three fours and as many sixes.While chasing, Kings XI were on course with Yuvraj and Karan Goel (20) setting up a 70-run first wicket stand. Yuvraj promoted himself up the order in place of Ravi Bopara, who has left for home, and struggled initially against a clever Praveen Kumar but was merciless on Ryder and Van der Merwe.Yuvraj hit four sixes and three fours in his 34 ball innings before being dismissed by Kumble.Kings XI, like other teams in the IPL, fell victim to the strategic time-out break and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. In the last 10 overs, Kings XI lost five wickets. Kumar Sangakkara (17) and Mahela Jayawardene (19) tried to get some runs but their efforts were not enough.

mumbai indians vs kolkata knightriders:duminy's 52 helped MI to a victory over KKR

mumbai indians batting
kolkata knightriders batting

 Elated after his team's second successive win against Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar singled out JP Duminy for praise and said the South African's presence till the end made all the difference.Duminy remained unbeaten on 52 to help the Mumbai outfit, 96 for five after 16 overs, post a competitive total of 148 for six and the total proved just enough to defend.Tendulkar had no hesitation in admitting that Duminy's sterling knock tilted the game in Mumbai's favour."I think Duminy set the match for us," Tendulkar said. "Not to forget about our bowlers, including Zaheer (Khan) but I think Duminy staying till the end made the difference for us," he said.Abhishek Nayar bowled the last over for Mumbai as both Zaheer and Lasith Malinga had exhausted their quota.Tendulkar said it was a calculated risk which paid off in the end."I wanted my strike bowlers to bowl first and get the breakthrough because for a new batsman, it was not easy to come and score runs. So if my main bowlers remove their set batsmen, we can put pressure on them and this is exactly what happened," Tendulkar explained.

Tendulkar's opposite number Brendon McCullum was dejected to concede yet another defeat."It was a close match and I'm little disappointed. We fought well and forced through ahead. Hodge and van Wyk played really well and their partnership was crucial for us," he said."When two guys get going, things are quite easy for you. Brad played incredibly well before he was run out and we could not take our chances," rued the Kiwi player.Out of form so far in the tournament, McCullum came down at number six but could manage just five runs before perishing at a crucial stage."I was trying to bring out my game. When someone like Malinga bowls as well as he did today, it was really difficult to score boundaries off him because of his accuracy," McCullum said.Duminy, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his stellar show, said the pitch was not easy to bat on but he was determined to hang on till the end."It was not the easiest pitch to bat on and I knew spinners would have some role to play here. But the idea was to stay till the end," said the left-hander.