Malinga swings out Somerset

A dream of the Indians ! An all India final between Mumbai and Bangalore on Sunday night !

It will be a great contest, between Gayle and Kohli and Malinga. Mumbai had not been amidst the runs, but their bowling is sharp. Bangalore is amidst runs, but their bowling needs much to be desired. Vettori and Nannes will have to pull their act together, if Bangalore is to become the international champions. The earlier champion, Chennai, could not hold on to their trophy. Indians have a lot to cheer, as the World Champion T20 team will be from India.

One should appreciate the determination of Mumbai. After missing half their side, they found it difficult to put an XI on the field. But still they have won most of the matches and now are in the finals.

Blizzard's 54 off 39 kept the momentum going for them. When Pollard fell, they had Satish and Yadav to carry the attack to the bowler's end. It was a 43 runs partnership off 22 balls. Van der Merve and Trego were taken by the great yorkers of the formidable Slinga Malinga. Klieswetter's 62 could not bring home the bacon for Somerset and MI were into the finals.

28 runs were needed in the last 3 overs and Malinga and Franklin defended that. Bajji gave the 19th over to Franklin and it was a big risk. But the last two overs were well bowled and Somerset could not just do it.

Today's match will be tense and exciting. Let us pray for a great battle, a cliff hanger !

Gayle and Kohli take Banglore into the finals !

Glorious batting by Gayle ( 92 off 41 balls ) and Kohli ( 84 off 49 ) ecliped the century of Warner and Bangalore stormed into the finals. Now they take on the winners of MI - Somerset.

This is the second consecutive successful chase of more than 200 and Bangalore can be proud of this redoubtable feat. Gayle and Kohli have been doing it consistently and hats off to them.

David Warner scored his second back to back T20 century and was in great form, belting the hapless Bangalore bowlers to all parts of the field. It powered NSW Blues to score 203 and Bangalore had to everything possible to win over them. And win over them did, thanks to Gayle and Kohli.

Warner was involved in a 146 run partnership with Daniel Smith, who scored 62. Warner accelerated towards the end of the innings and scored 122 of 68 balls ! Only Dilshan impressed for Bangalore and the rest of the bowlers were battered by Warner and Smith. Sreenath Aravind was hit for 55 runs in his four overs.

A couple of fours from Kaif, saw Bangalore home. Virat Kohli was not out 84, when the match ended. Bangalore started badly, losing Dilshan ( 4) early in the third over. Kohli and Gayle were involved in a majestic 141 run partnership off just 66 balls for the second wicket to take Bangalore within touching distance of victory. Gayle and Tiwari departly abruplty, sending tremors in the Bangalore camp. But then Kohli and Kaif played sensibly and took them home.

Run Fiesta on the cards at First Semi Final, CLT20 !

The batting strip at Banglaore promises a lot. We have the likes of Gayle, Kohli, Shane Watson, David Warner, Dilshan and Henriques and the average fan is just enthusiastic about a run fest.

In their previous, Kohli, Warner and Dilshan had amassed 279 off 152 balls and they promise a lot to the cricket enthusiast.

Vettori is wary of Watson and Warner, it is learnt. Both are matchwinners and may come in the way of high flying Bangalore.

On the other hand, Gayle is always a nightmare for the opposition. So also is Kohli and Dishan. NSW will try to get these three dangers out, if they have fulfill their dream.

Meanwhile, Arun Karthik opined that he knew that Christian will bowl a slower ball and he gave it all the strength needed.

Bangalore will be up against a fit and fighting NSW Blues, who is ready for the battle. Spearheaded by David Warner, the Blues can be a dangerous outfit on their day. Warner may not look as strong as Gayle, but the power he generates is simply incredible. Now he has become a nightmare for the CLT20 bowlers. Spin continues to be the forte for Bangalore, as Vettori and Syed can rattle the Blues, who seem a bit suspect against spin in India.

Incredible win with a last ball six by Bangalore !

What an incredible match ! He who said that Cricket is a game of dire vicissitudes is right after all !

In a very high scoring match ( more than 400 runs were scored off 40 overs ), Bangalore (215/8) edged out South Australian Redbacks (214) by two wickets. Glorious innings from centurion Harris and Ferguson (70) enabled SA to score a mammoth 214. Bangalore started violently, with Gayle, Dilshan and Kohli carrying the attack to the bowlers end. Kohli played the best innings of his T20 career and his 70 contained six mighty sixes !

Here is how the drama unfolded.

The 20th over

The stuff of which heavenly tales are made off. SIx runs needed off the last ball and Arun Karthik belts it for six !

Daniel Christian bowls the last ball and Karthik slog sweeps it for six. The crowd erupts into delirium !

The 19th over

Tait bowls a beamer to Dilshan and the next ball the Sri Lankan is castled. putting the end to an incredible 74 off 47 balls. Vettori and Bhatkal get out Tait gets a glorious five for and RCB tumbles from 183/2
to 201/7!

The 18th over

Agarwal belts O Brien for a six, but perishes. Vettori begins with six and now 18 needed off 12.

Virat Kohli was excited after the match. "Never been in such an exciting T20 match all my life." said the dashing youngster, after he received the Man of the Match Award.

Asked to relive the moment when KB Arun Karthik hit that stunning six, Kohli said "I had my eyes closed on the last ball. I was talking to our coach when two balls were left. Thought if we could get boundary and a two so that scores are tied."

The team management relied a lot on the start that Chris Gayle and Tillekaratne Dilshan provided. "We thought if Chris and Dilshan could bat five or six overs, we had a fair chance.I was calm and relaxed, but of course you can't stay assured chasing a target such as 215."

Kohli's skipper Daniel Vettori was equally at loss of words after the match. "Pretty amazing game of cricket. One thing about this ground is you can chase anything here. The last five overs that we bowled were really poor. Harris and Callum and Dan Christian batted extremely well." said Vettori.

"The dew does change this wicket. The new ball turns a bit, but once it becomes soft, it's really difficult. However, the class of the batsmanship coupled with the wicket was amazing."

On the contrary, Callum Ferguson, who played another "callous" innings was dejected that his side could not pull it off. "Obviously, it's disappointing to not defend 214. Dan Harris and Dan Christian batted well, Tait came back with the ball and went bang bang bang, but Virat and Dilshan batted beautifully. We were backing our bowlers to execute despite the dew, disappointed not to do that."

Gold Astrology

Gold is one of the best precious metals and we have been advocating buying gold at declines. We had started saying BUY Gold, when the price was $900 onwards. Now Gold is at $1628 for an ounce and still going strong.

The Oil Ministers decided in 2009 to trade oil in gold, yuan, yen and euro, as the Dollar was showing signs of weakness. This is one of the reasons why Gold is going up.

We have reports that billionaires like Soros and Bufett etc are taking up great positions in gold and buying mining companies.

It was observed that the Gold Price is inversely proportional to the Dollex, the USDX. Yesterday USDX went up by one point and gold declined from 1674 to 1645. Now it is at 1628 per ounce.

Jupiter represents Gold in Astrology. Now Jupiter in Aries is responsible for the secondary reaction happening in Gold. From a high of 1900 dollars, it is now at 1628.
You can draw your own conclusions !

T & T beat Cobras in thriller !

It was a real cliffhanger of a match and Kevon Cooper proved to the the man of the hour, as T & T beat the Cobras by two wickets yesterday.

Cooper struck 25 off 11 balls, a matchwinning innings. He had also starred with the bat against Chennai.

Chasing a modest 138, T & T were struggling initially, as both openers fell cheaply for 26. From the last two overs, they needed 24 runs to win, with 3 wickets in hand.

Dale Steyn bolwed the penultimate over and 15 runs were blasted by T & T . Nine runs were needed from the last over and T & T achieved that effortlessly.

Darren Bravo top scored with 36, but it was the day of Kevon Cooper, who lofted Steyn for a glorious six in the penultimate over. Steyn's figures were economical till that time.

Earlier Shah ( 63* ) and Vilas ( 54) scored half centuries to bring the Cobras to some semblance of respectability, at 137/4.

T & T beat Cobras in thriller !

It was a real cliffhanger of a match and Kevon Cooper proved to the the man of the hour, as T & T beat the Cobras by two wickets yesterday.

Cooper struck 25 off 11 balls, a matchwinning innings. He had also starred with the bat against Chennai.

Chasing a modest 138, T & T were struggling initially, as both openers fell cheaply for 26. From the last two overs, they needed 24 runs to win, with 3 wickets in hand.

Dale Steyn bolwed the penultimate over and 15 runs were blasted by T & T . Nine runs were needed from the last over and T & T achieved that effortlessly.

Darren Bravo top scored with 36, but it was the day of Kevon Cooper, who lofted Steyn for a glorious six in the penultimate over. Steyn's figures were economical till that time.

Earlier Shah ( 63* ) and Vilas ( 54) scored half centuries to bring the Cobras to some semblance of respectability, at 137/4.