Batting may make the difference

Pakistan has to deal with the fearsome Foursome in the Sri Lankan line-up when they meet in the finals of the ICC T20 Championship on Sunday. If Pakistan has to win the Cup this time, they need to stop the onslaughts of Malinga, Mendis, Murali and Dilshan.

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Visit http://www.castrolcricket.com to learn about Castrol Index.

Semifinals-1

'Bowling will be the key differentiator'


Spinners and pacers will have an equal role when Pakistan and South Africa face each other in the first semi-final on Thursday. With the track helping the spinners in the recent matches, it will be a keen fight between the bowlers of the two sides.

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Pakistan v/s South Africa

'Semi Final-1'

South Africa vs Pakistan on 18th June 2009, Thursday

Its going to be a tough match for both the team.

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Pakistan v/s Ireland

'Pak bowling finally coming off good'

Pakistan bowling is finally coming off well in this Championship. The trio of Umer Gul, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal have been exemplary against New Zealand. The trio will be again in the limelight when Pakistan faces Ireland today.

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West Indies v/s India

'Batting First could be advantageous in Lord’s'

Teams which bat second in a T20 match have lost most of the times at Lords. India, in recent times has proved that they are good chasers. Will they take the risk against the tricky nature of the wicket at Lords?

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Pakistan v/s Sri Lanka

'Focus on bowling, fielding'

Batting have powered Sri Lanka in the ICC T20 Championship in the group stages. However, a close look at their bowling shows gaping holes which can be easily exploited by Pakistan when they face each other today in the Super 8s.

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Australia knocked out of World T20

A well coordinated effort in bowling and batting saw Sri Lanka triumph over Australia, knocking them out of the T20 World Championship. The surprise package in this Championship continues.

Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakratne Dilshan were in their elements when they tore apart the Australian bowling who looked all but tired in this format of the game. The lack of top class match practise was evident when the Australian team came on to defend their total of 159. The pacers trio of Brett Lee, Mitchel Johnson and Nathan Bracken bowled 8 extra balls in wides and no-balls – a cardinal mistake in the T20 format. Sangakkara and Dilshan took advantage of this way ward bowling and piled up a 62 runs partnership in quick time to lay the foundation for the huge upset.....

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Ireland charges into Super 8s

In another upset, debutants Ireland beat Bangladesh by 6 wickets to clinch an important victory and advance to the Super 8s of ICC T20 Championship. A dismal performance with the bat saw the Bangladesh team biting the dust.

Read the full Match Review here.

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Is team India in good form?

Team India is all set to defend their crown as the World Twenty20 kicks off this Friday. The players have seen plenty of cricket action over the last few weeks, which give us a fair sense of who’s in good form and who isn’t. How exactly do we measure this form? Simple, we look at the Castrol Index which quantifies each player’s performance.

Read more at fuel for debate at castrol cricket site.

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IPL 2009 Dream Team

Picking the best XI of the tournament is kind of like the Oscars- you pick the best performer for a particular role. For instance, you pick the best batsman in an opening role or the best bowler in a miserly role. And what you end up with is the “Dream Team” of the tournament.

One caveat before we begin our selection- we are looking at players who have participated in at least six matches, long enough for them to have shown consistency over a number of matches. As a result, one-hit wonders like Manish Pandey, Charl Langeveldt and R Ashwin are not considered. Here is the IPL 2009 Dream Team.

Fine about the dream IPL 2009 team here.

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Deccan Chargers v/s Royal Challengers Banglore

'Deccan is the champion 0f IPL 2009'

It was a day for the bowlers as Deccan outsmarted Bangalore to win the second edition of IPL to complete a fairytale turnaround for a team which finished at the bottom of IPL 2008.


After Bangalore Royal Challengers (BRC), led by Anil Kumble’s fantastic spells restricted Deccan Chargers (DC) to a reasonably low score of 143, one would have thought that it would to be a one-sided affair.

But he was outsmarted later on by the disciplined spells of DC bowlers Singh, Ojha and Symonds who improved upon their earlier performances to see their team through in the finals, when it mattered the most. DC turned the tables on BRC with a dose of their own medicine of discipline on the field – in bowling and fielding – which helped BRC reach the finals.

Check out For graphs and reviews of the finals in

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Discipline vs thrill – who will win?

Deccan Chargers and Bangalore Royal Challengers face their biggest challenges today in the finals of IPL 2009. It will be a battle between Deccan’s thrilling batting and Bangalore’s discipline on the field.

The two bottom-placed teams of last year’s IPL now face today to decide who will be the champion of IPL 2009. While Deccan Chargers (DC) relied on their strong batting and fielding, Bangalore Royal Challengers (DC) depended on their disciplined batting and bowling to make a complete turnaround this year.

Read full story here.

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Can Sehwag make the cut against Deccan?

Delhi faces Deccan in the first semi-final of IPL 2009.Riding on a win against Mumbai in their last league match, Delhi surely is high on confidence. Virender Sehwag struck form at the right time for Delhi to make them comfortable. But can he do it again against Deccan?

DD has proved to be a formidable team in this IPL due to their superlative batting and bowling performances. DD boasts of a good Bowling Efficiency (BE) due to consistent performance from Ashish Nehra, Farveez Maharoof and Dirk Nannes. Nehra incidentally is also amongst the highest wicket takers in IPL 2009. Nannes and Nehra, have been accurate during periods of QuickStart Bowling (QS Bowl) and Extreme Performance Bowling (EP Bowl) which restricts the opponents. The Batting Momentum (BM) of DD is dependent on the good form of batsmen Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik. But they are quiet vulnerable at the start of their innings. However with Virender Sehwag striking form lately, it remains to be seen how Deccan Chargers (DC) plans to keep him calm.

Read full story at Match Preview section at castrol cricket site.

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Who is the Most Valuable Player of this IPL?

With less than a week to go in the IPL 2009, its time to look back and pick this year’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). Selecting the best player in a league is a subjective call. And when it comes to cricket you can be sure that everyone has their own opinion.

In the NBA, the MVP is picked by an “informed” voting panel with each member ranking their top 5 candidates in a secret ballot. The player with the highest weighted average vote wins. The logic here is- the average of the subjective views of a number of experts is bound to throw up the right result. And even after this, there’s still a lot of debate of whether the right man won.

Read full story in fuel for debate at castrol cricket site.

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Chennai virtually spins out Punjab

Punjab put up a terrible batting performance chasing a low target to lose to Chennai by 24 runs. Punjab now waits for the match between Deccan and Bangalore and on the net run rate for a possible entry into the semi-finals.

Punjab put up a terrible batting performance chasing a low target to lose to Chennai by 24 runs. Punjab now waits for the match between Deccan and Bangalore and on the net run rate for a possible entry into the semi-finals.

Read full review at match review at castrol cricket site.

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Laxmi shocks Rajasthan out of IPL

A gritty knock by Laxmi Ratan Shukla of Kolkata shocked defending champions Rajasthan out of this year’s IPL, in a low scoring thrilling match.

Keen to salvage some pride, Kolkata KnightRiders (KKR) put up a high class performance with their fielders backing up their bowlers. If Charles Langeveldt was KKR’s hero in bowling, it was their fielding that outsmarted the Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) batsmen, effecting 3 runouts today. Langeveldt, playing his first match of the tournament, ran through the top order of RR picking up 3 crucial wickets for 15 runs earning him a Bowling Efficiency of 160. RR couldn’t recover from the early setbacks and could finally score a paltry 101, with only 4 of their batsmen reaching double figures.

Read full story at http://www.castrolcricket.com/matchreview

It is now or never for Rajastan in IPL 2009

With the race to semi-finals getting extremely tight, nothing less than a victory will help Rajasthan in their quest for a semi-final spot when they face a resurgent Kolkata today.

But will it be a cake-walk for Rajasthan Royals (RR)? According to Castrol Index, RR shouldn’t be worried with their overall bowling performances, but their batting leaves much to be desired. In bowling also, RR bowlers tend to lose their way in the last five overs, allowing the opponent to pile up some extra runs. The Extreme Performance Bowling of 3 looks abysmally low compared to what Kolkata KnightRiders performs with the bat during the same period (Extreme Performance Batting of 79). Can Shane Warne fix this hole in his bowling department?

Kolkata Knight Riders v/s Chennai Superkings

'Can Kolkata salvage some pride?'

Having already qualified for the semis, Chennai will be looking to maintain their winning momentum against Kolkata today.





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Kolkata Knight Riders v/s Deccan Chargers

'Can a in-form McCullum worry deccan?'




Deccan Chargers will be going all-out for a win over Kolkata KnightRiders today to book a place in the semi-finals in this year’s IPL. But an in-form Brendon McCullum can bother them.

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Mumbai Indians v/s Chennai Superkings

'Mumbai's batting needs to fire'

With majority of the games having close finishes, Mumbai Indians will have to improve their batting by few notches to keep their hopes alive in the tournament.
Can Hayden continue his blitz kreig?
Watch out todays statistics and castrol index of Mumbai and Chennai..




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KingsXI Punjab v/s Delhi Daredevils

'Punjab needs to uplift their game'

Delhi Daredevils will be carefully watching a declining Bowling Efficiency of Kings XI Punjab in their quest to register their fifth straight win. But will it be a cake-walk for Delhi?

Can Punjab break the winning momentum of Delhi?

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Mumbai Indians v/s Rajasthan Royals

'Only victory matters for mumbai'

It’s a do or die battle for Mumbai Indians now, if they want to make it to the semis this IPL. Two straight victories have helped them gather the winning momentum which will be crucial for them to hold on as they face Rajasthan Royals today.

Which team do you support?
Can Rajasthan break the winning streak of Mumbai?

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Banglore Royal Challengers v/s Chennai Superkings

'Can Banglore spring a suprise?'


A high Batting Momentum makes Chennai Super Kings a strong favourite against Bangalore Royal Challengers. But can Bangalore spring a surprise?

Todays encounter is crucial for both the teams.
Who will win todays match??

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Deccan Chargers v/s Delhi Daredevils

'Can deccan break the winning momentum of delhi?'

Deccan Chargers will be wary of the superior Bowling Efficiency of Delhi Daredevils when they face each other in the return league today.

For more reviews and castrol index of the player and teams log on to:-

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KingsXI Punjab v/s Mumbai Indians

'Confidence boosters for mumbai.Punjab'

Winning is a habit. Return to winning ways will boost the confidence of Mumbai Indians, when they face Kings XI Punjab today in a crucial encounter.Its a do or die for mumbai.


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Bangalore Royal Challengers v/s Kolkata Knight Riders

'Bangalore is in a favourable position'

In a battle between the laggards of IPL 2009, Bangalore Royal Challengers finds themselves in a favourable position against Kolkata KnightRiders when they meet each other today in the return leg.




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Deccan Chargers v/s Rajasthan Royals

'Deccan well equipped than Rajasthan'

Deccan Chargers will have more options to field players who are performing consistently well this IPL, when they face Rajasthan Royals today. Can rajasthan manage to win this match?





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Mumbai Indians v/s Delhi Daredevils

'Sachin needs to fire'

Mumbai Indians will keenly await Sachin Tendulkar’s return amongst runs when they face current league leaders Delhi Daredevils today.
Can MI win this important match today?




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KingsXI Punjab v/s Chennai Superkings

'Can Punjab fix their opening problems?'

Kings XI Punjab will look deep into stabilising their ailing Quickstart Batting when they face a charged Chennai Super Kings today in a crucial encounter.




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Banglore Royal Challengers v/s Rajasthan Royals

'Close encounter may favour Rajashthan'

Rajasthan Royals is on a roll. So is Bangalore Royal Challengers.
They both have successive wins under their belts.
But if the match goes down to the wire, Rajasthan has a better chance for a win.

Read the full story and reviews with castrol index graphs and statistics in

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Mumbai Indians v/s Deccan chargers

CHARGERS ON A STICKY SITUATION

Three defeats in the last three matches have put the Deccan Chargers in a sticky situation. Mumbai Indians will look forward to exploit this vulnerability when the two teams face each other in the return leg today.



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Kolkata knightriders v/s Delhi Daredevils

'Kolkata needs to click as team'

Kolkata KnightRiders’ failure to click as a cohesive unit in the field is hurting them this IPL. But with their backs against the wall, will Kolkata be able to turn around and make a positive impact against the Delhi Daredevils today?


Read the full story and reviews with castrol index graphs and statistics in

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KingsXI Punjab v/s Rajasthan Royals

Can Rajasthan Royals fix their batting woes?

Yusuf Pathan has been the mainstay of Rajasthan Royals this IPL. But can he perform his magic again when they face Kings XI Punjab in the second leg today?


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Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers

A fiery spell by bowlers Albie Morkel and Sudeep Tyagi along with some hardhitting by the top four batsmen ensured a huge victory for Chennai Super Kings over Deccan Chargers.

Read the full story and reviews with castrol index graphs and statistics in

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Castrol cricket

The Castrol Index objectively analyzes and ranks player and team performances adopting a comprehensive approach towards the game.

Castrol Index begins by classifying every player as a Batsman, Bowler or an All Rounder. Batting and Bowling are considered core skill areas in calculating a player’s Castrol Index. For an All Rounder, both Batting and Bowling are considered Core Skills. Batting is considered as the Core Skill for a Wicket-Keeper.

The famous commentator harsha bhogle has lot to say about castrol index..
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www.castrolcricket.com