Tendulkar's 100th hundred doesn't manage to save India

Finally, the master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar manged to score his 100th century but even that didn't save India from a humiliating loss against Bangladesh.

India lost the toss and were sent in to bat first by the Bangladeshis. They did manage to pick up the early wicket of Gambhir (11 of 27 balls) but after that they struggled as Tendulkar and Kohli got together and made a good 148 run partnership. Then Tendulkar had the honor of raising his bat to the gallery after scoring his 100th 100 in international cricket. It wasn't the best of his knocks as he played very slowly and ended up restricting India total to 289 for 5.

Bangladesh were set an uphill task of chasing 290. And to make matters worse they lost one of their openers, Nazimuddin in the 5th over. But they didn't panic and set up a good partnership between Tamim Iqbal and Jahural Islam. Nasir Hossain was sent in next to raise the run rate a little. But it was actaully Shakib al Hasan's brilliant innings which set the Bangladeshis back on track. He made 49 of 40 balls before he was stumped by Dohni on Ashwin. But Nasir Hossain and the skipper, Mushfiqur Rahim brought Bangladesh close to victory by taking advantage of India's horrible bowling. Nasir Hossain got out in the 49th over, but the skipper and  Mahmudullah got Bangladesh home to a victory they will never forget.

Shakib al Hasan was declared the man of the match for his brilliant 49 of just 40 balls. 

Sri Lanka's chances of getting into the final

Well, actually Sri Lanka's chances of getting into the Asian Cup's final are very slim. They have already lost two of their matches (against India and Pakistan) and only have one more match left (against Bangladesh). To get into the final they have to beat Bangladesh really badly and hope that India losses both of their remaining two matches (against Bangladesh and Pakistan). It's a really faint chance though and the probably won't get it.

Pakistan confirm their place in the final as Sri Lanka's bad run comtinues

So, here at Shere Bangla National Stadium Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets. 

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bat first on a pretty good pitch. They started off with a flyer but that didn't last long as Cheema picked up the two very important wickets of Jayawardene and Dilshan. Umar Gul and Hammad Azam also joined the party by picking up Chandimal and Thirimanne and left Sri Lanka stuttering at 65 for 4. But then Sangakkara and Tharanga got together started a partnership. This was were Misbah Ul Haq made a big mistake by setting a very defensive field and by not using his strike bowlers to break that partnership. This allowed the Sangakkara and Tharanga to take the score from 65 for 4 to 160 for 4. But Saeed Ajmal made sure that his captains mistake was not costly as he removed Tharanga and Maharoof in the batting power play. Cheema also returned and dismissed Malinga. Sangakkara was running out of partners so he tried to make some quick runs but was bowled by Cheema for a well played 71 (of 92 balls). In the end Sri Lanka were all out for 188 in 45.4 overs.

Mahela Jayawardene made sure that it was not going to be easy for Pakistan and kept an attacking field setting even after the power play. And this tactic worked as Lakmal and Prassana got early wickets, leaving Pakistan on 33 for 3. The going was tough as the attacking field setting didn't give the Pakistanis any easy runs. But Umar Akmal and Misbah got together and built a match winning partnership. Both the batsmen played sensible and didn't try anything risky in the beginning. But after staying at the crease for some time they began to time the ball well and the runs started coming quickly. The Sri Lankans morale depleted and they even dropped Umar Akmal once(when he was on 40). He got out eventually though, when Pakistan only needed 4 runs to win. That gave Hammad Azam the chance to score the winning runs and Pakistan won with 6 wickets and 61 balls remaining. They also got a bonus point, as they got to the target in 40 overs (the bonus point is going to be added in the points table).

Aizaz Cheema was the man-of-the-match with his 4 important wickets. 

Pakistan starts the Asian Cup on a winning note

So once again Pakistan's bowling manages to get then out of troubled waters here at Shere Bangal Staduim, Mirpur. After lossing the toss, Pakistan posted a modest target of 263 but managed to defend it with the help of their excellent bowling attack.

Pakistan started their innings slow and cautiously. But that cautiousness soon paid off as their opening partnership was was worth 135!!!! At that moment we could have got 300 with ease. But the Pakistani batsmen tried to score quickly but only succeed in losing most of their wickets with Younis Khan getting out for just 12, Umar Akmal for 21 and Misbah and Shafiq went for cheap scores to. 

Hafeez also lost his wicket on 89 (153 balls).

 But the most surprising and bizarre thing was yet to come. Shakib Al Hasan got Afridi on his first ball by taking the most craziest catch in the history of cricket!! Afridi tried to take a single but just managed to hit it back to the bowler (who was Shakib). He tried to catch it but the ball popped out of his hands, hit Misbah Ul Haq (who was the non-striker) and came back to him.

This video clip will show you exactly what happened:

Anyways, Pakistan needed a miracle to get to a good score. And Umar Gul was the one who provided that miracle by scoring 39 off just 31 balls!!! So they managed to get to a decent target of 263.

Bangladesh opened their innings aggressively, but soon lost Nazimuddin on 30. Then they managed to build a partnership between Tamim and J Islam but Shahid Afridi and Hafeez struck and soon Bangladesh were 135-5!!!

 But then Shakib Al Hasan and Nasir Hossain came to the rescue and nearly won the game for their team. But Gul made sure it was not going to be easy for them by removing Nasir at 47. Still, all the Bangladeshis had to do were get singles. But the panicked and Gul and Ajmel soon cleaned them up for 241 in 48.5 overs and insured that Pakistan WON the first match of the Asian Cup.

 Mohammad Hafeez was declared the man of the match for scoring 89 and taking two wickets.

Decision Review System Not Going to Take Place the Asian Cup

Yes, the rumors are true. The UDRS (umpire decision review system) is NOT going to take place in this years Asia Cup.......... I can't believe this!! Okay I know that the UDRS is not 100% correct but it eliminate all the horrible decisions umpires make and also adds some spice to the game.

The ICC has made the use of the UDRS optional though, so the officials decided not to use it. Maybe it's because they didn't want it or maybe it's simply because they didn't get enough sponsors to pay for it. But whatever the reason is I think the officials are making a big mistake.