Bleed Green

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<h2>
<b><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">                          </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%;">2<sup>nd</sup>
ODI(Pakistan Vs Srilanka)</span><b><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br />Match Result: SriLanka beat Pakistan by 77 runs
and level series 1-1.</span></b><b><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /><br />Toss:</span></b><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and elected to bat
first<br />
<br />
<b>Teams:</b><br />
<br />
<b>Sri Lanka:</b></span><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">WU Tharanga, TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene, AD Mathews,
NLTC Perera, SMA Priyanjan, KMDN Kulasekara, Seekuge Prasanna, HMRKB Herath, SL
Malinga<br />
<br />
<b>Pakistan:</b></span><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Ahmed Shehzad, Sharjeel Khan Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq,
Fawad Alam, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid
Khan<br />
<br /><u><br />Srilankan Inning:</u><br />
</span><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Sri Lanka 1-0 down in the series made one change
playing Prasanna as an extra spinner. Junaid Khan provided Pakistan with an early
breakthrough when he dismissed Dilshan, the umpire initially gave it not out,
but the decision was reversed after Pakistan decided to challenge the umpire's
decision and </span><span style="color: #646464; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">review it. Wahab Riaz struck twice to remove
Sangakkara and then Tharanga to put Pakistan on top. but,then Mathews and Jayawardene
started picking up the pace and build a partnership which looked threatening nd dangerous for paki team.</span></h2>
<span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">
<br />
Mohammad Hafeez struck 3 times in 3 overs to pull Sri Lanka back in the
powerplay overs. Sri Lanka were struggling on 200-6 with Mathews still at the
crease. Mathews along with Parera then took the score past 250 and the faster
bowlers proved to be very expensive.<br />
<br />
Wahab Riaz got rid of Mathews after he'd scored a brilliant 93 and Perera made
65 and ensured Sri Lanka crossed the 300 mark. Although Wahab finished with
figures of 4-65 and Hafeez 3-39, Sri Lanka ended their innings with a massive
total of 310 after Pakistan's death bowling was hit to all parts.Its A huge target for pakistan to chase it down!<br /><br /><u><br /></u></span><b><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><u>Pakistan Innings:</u></span></b><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br />
<br />
Pakistan started the tall chase with Sharjeel and Shehzad and Sharjeel was
dismissed early after scoring only 9 runs. Hafeez looked positive from the word
go as he hit Herath and Malinga for 2 boundaries each to take Pakistan past 50
in the 7th over. Hafeez reached his 50 off just 28 balls as Pakistan crossed
100 in the 13th over and were looking set to chase down the target. Hafeez was
trapped LBW by Prasanna after a well made 62 off 49 balls. Umar Akmal soon
followed as he was caught behind the next over off the bowling of Dilshan which
brought Misbah to the crease to join Shehzad.<br />
<br />
Misbah started very slowly which pushed up the required rate. Sangakkara caught
one down the leg side to dismiss Shehzad for 56 as Pakistan were 4 down and in
deep trouble. Fawad and Misbah tried to rebuild for Pakistan as the score
reached 118-4 in 35 overs which meant Pakistan needed to score at 8.2 an over
from there.<br />
<br />
Misbah was caught at square leg trying to slog sweep Herath for 36. Sohaib was
given LBW to Herath after the decision was reviewed which brought Afridi to the
crease. He scored a quick 17 leaving Pakistan 88 to win with Fawad and Wahab at
the crease.<br />
Wahab and Fawad were dismissed in the same over by Perera followed by Junaid as
Pakistan were all out for 233 giving Sri Lanka a 77 run victory.</span><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br />
</span><img src="http://www.espncricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/192200/192275.jpg" /><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(225, 226, 230); margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Next Game:</span></b><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<br />
3rd ODI at Dambulla , Aug 30, 2014<br /><br />Written by :Mubashir Malik</span></div>

2nd ODI(Pakistan Vs Srilanka)

2 nd ODI(Pakistan Vs Srilanka) Match Result: SriLanka beat Pakistan by 77 runs and level series 1-1. Toss: C...

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Virat Kohli will improve:<br /></h1>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Test cricket remains the ultimate showpiece of the sport. Despite the allure of the one day game and the various T20 competitions around the world, a game spread over five days between two evenly matched teams remains the most intriguing and competitive stage for the best from around the world to show their ability.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.thecricketblog.com/wp-content/uploads/Virat.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s linear 0s; border: 0px; color: #34495e; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s linear 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="England dumped Virat Kohli on the floor on India's Test leg of their tour of England. He has too much talent to stay down there for long, though..." class="size-full wp-image-3858" height="524" src="http://www.thecricketblog.com/wp-content/uploads/Virat.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="900" /></a><br />
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England dumped Virat Kohli on the floor on India’s Test leg of their tour of England. He has too much talent to stay down there for long, though…</div>
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It would be too easy to suggest that following a series of failures, such as the one he has just endured, that Virat Kohli is not suited to the Test Match arena. The supremely gifted Indian batsman has only managed to score 134 runs in 10 Test innings during the series against England which, for a player of his talent, makes very disappointing reading but there is certainly room for optimism with regards to his future.</div>
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His technical faults which have been exposed time and again by James Anderson in recent weeks have been the main focus of the analysts. The fact that his bat is always pushing against the ball in seaming conditions has clearly affected his game but there have been brief glimpses of adjustments he has made to correct his errors. However, when a good batsman is as out of form as Kohli, playing against the moving ball, in bowler friendly conditions, can make scoring runs seem next to impossible.</div>
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When we see him playing in the IPL or in one day games there is a way he carries himself that separates him from others around him, a swagger, if you will. Seeing him walking out to bat at Lord’s a few weeks ago he looked a far cry from the player we witness in the shorter form of the game.</div>
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There is no doubt that he has been desperate to succeed on this tour of England. Despite seemingly being around for many years now he remains something of a novice at Test level. He had only played in 24 games before this tour began and only made his debut three years ago. When you consider that he made his one day debut in 2008 it certainly highlights his lack of experience in the longer format for India.</div>
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One of the huge problems India have been facing for many years was how to replace the likes of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. The sheer weight of runs they scored carried a nation’s hopes for many years. With the emergence of Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay it seemed, certainly after the Lord’s Test, that perhaps they had found the potential to succeed the greats that had gone before.</div>
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However, in prolonging several of the former’s careers it has led to stagnation and halting of the younger players’ progress. It is clear that Kohli’s ability was identified at any early stage and his natural progression in any other country would have been to play for the one day side and then for the full Test team a year or so later. It is not as if Kohli has been anything short of sensational in the shorter form of the game where he averages 52.16 from 134 ODIs including 19 centuries.</div>
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What Virat has missed in his formative years of the game is the ability to build long innings without restrictions. He is a masterful finisher in the ODI format and that level of cricketing brain can surely be transferred into manipulating situations in Test cricket. He has struggled in England because he has been unable to play himself in and get through Anderson and Stuart Broad’s spells to let him attack the weaker bowlers.</div>
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His major technical fault during this series has been his handling of balls bowled outside off stump where Anderson has continually bowled that fourth stump line and nibbled the ball both ways. Having grown up and built his game on tracks that require immense wrist work and timing to manoeuvre the ball he has struggled in English conditions as a result. The game here requires a batsman to play straight and show the makers name when attacking and defending. It has been a huge struggle for Kohli to adapt but he is not the first and will certainly not be the last.</div>
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The great Kumar Sangakkara, who has been scoring Test match runs for fun over the last few seasons, struggled when he initially played in England. However, what he did was to come back and play as much cricket in this country as he could to ensure he developed that side of his game. Even this summer he arrived a month or so before his Sri Lankan teammates by arranging a stint at Durham where he adjusted to the demands of the moving ball.</div>
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A batsman playing in England needs to know how and when to play the ball, how to watch the ball incredibly closely to aid picking up the swinging ball and finally to fundamentally play straight. All of these appear to be basic instructions but when facing Anderson bowling at 85mph with the ball moving both ways you need a sound technique and a strong mind.</div>
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There is no doubt that Kohli has failed to live up to his superstar billing in this summer’s series. However, it would be foolish to back against one who is clearly as gifted and talented as he is. There is certainly an argument to suggest that he doesn’t have to enjoy Test match success to cement his reputation in India but that theory seems a little premature.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">With a home Test series against the West Indies followed by a gruelling tour of Australia immediately afterwards, Kohli will be playing a great deal of Test cricket in the coming months. He has the stage to prove his ability and it is now that he needs to improve and become the player he has the potential to be. </span></div>
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Virat Kohli Failure!

Virat Kohli will improve: Test cricket remains the ultimate showpiece of the sport. Despite the allure of the one day game and the var...

2nd ODI(Pakistan Vs Srilanka)

Virat Kohli Failure!

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