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POP CORN - VETTAIKARAN

It has been a while catching a first day show , finally the time arrived for me to catch this flick named "vettaikaran" , i am still wondering how many movies will people make ending with this "karan" ! So this was named and the advertisements were literally killing ( the time you switch on the TV you can very well see the movie promo driving you mad ) . I caught up this movie last friday ( 18.12.09) with few of my die hard vijay fans. To be frank i am not a great supporter of Vijay and his acting , but likes his appearance on the screen from which he attracts a large fan following of all ages .

So coming to the movie , again a lengthy one running for 2 hours and 45 minutes ( still cannot believe  for this movie ) Vijay gets a Robinhood kinda intro , chasing a policeman in a horse !! (for a change ... ) , he demands justice from the policeman for running into an old man and gets the old man compensation from the police . This is according to me a repeat from some movie a while ago ( just not able to recollect what that is ) .

The movie moves on , Vijay aspires to become a police officer on seeing his role model ( devaraj an encounter specialist ) , it is indeed a pity that Vijay is shown here in bad light saying he needed 4 attempts to clear 12th std ( the no of attempts is not sure !!) and he still aspires to become a top cop . Here is what i am not able to understand the logic , he starts driving an Auto and studies in a college , not many can do this seriously . The movie actually starts with an encounter scene , enacted by the above told specialist Devaraj .

Vijay begins his journey to Chennai and meets his lady love (Anushka) , here starts the movie , Vijay a.k.a "POLICE RAVI" starts singing duet with her ( hah .. the usual stuff ) , not before he runs into trouble and discovers her(Anushka`s bike ) and also finds a place in her heart . This runs on and the first half of the movie is indeed gripping , but it reminds me of all the famous vijay flicks ( eg ., Ghilli ) .

The story is very much predictable like the case of a lower grade creative essay written by a school student . The villain does all sorts of non sense in the public yet everyone remains a mute spectator , the only thing that has changed is the villain`s attire ( the father villain of course ) , he has done a nice job . But his flashback (self narrated ) seems to be unacceptable(watch the movie you will know why )

So this is how it pans out , the hero vs villain fight  , the hero ( hope you know who the hero is ) , runs into the villain`s hands , and wages a war and the final result is "TRUTH ALONE TRIUMPHS". The movie has a lot of  loose plots as well , the villain not able to swim and the blaring sound of him are the worst part . Vijay seems to be flexible in all his stunts but it seems a bit unrealistic at times to see a single guy beating up 20 people .

The music is not bad , Naan adicha .. is still humming in my mouth and the others are also close to be good . The background score seems to be overshadowed but  , too much Dishyum Dishyum , makes a hole in your ears !!

The second half seems to be lengthy and loses the plot , you see Vijay starting a Detective agency and a having a SUV from nowhere ( to remind you people he was an auto driver before this !!) .

So the final verdict is " OLD WINE SERVED IN NEW BOTTLE " ( that tastes bitter !!!)
My rating is

* * out of a possible 5 .

Do we still need a black and white man in cricket ? ?

Technology had done wonders in all fields , especially in the field of sports , where television coverage has grown leaps and bounds and we in our dressing rooms see replays in ultra motions and also feel the soft spot of a batsman stroke by means of hot spot ( Thermal Imaging ) . The above examples were with reference to Cricket . In Tennis , Hawkeye which incidentally is also used in cricket , has been playin a crucial role in determining line calls when a player appeals , so a john mcenroe if he is in court now cannot abuse the lines men or the chair referee as the so called technology will fool him instead .

It was long before the idea of Third Umpire  , who has the advantage of seeing slow motion videos and deciding on the decision was used . The lucky man who was given out first by a third umpire was our very own Sachin Tendulkar . The whole of India stood still when a throw from Jonty rhodes crashed the stumps in Eden Gardens and the third umpire was referred who pressed the red signal for Sachin to walk back to the pavillion  . The system was a great hit and it ruled out one major theory .

  Benefit of the doubt going to the batsman

This system still remains a hit and used in all forms of cricket , still this system cannot be accounted for correct decisions , for eg , the camera angles at some stages become inconclusive and the third umpire goes back to the same old theory .

As i said before the third umpire method was tested against India and when the Indians toured the Emerald Isle last year , another system which can challenge the on field umpires was introduced . In this a team had 3 referrals ( if u are going to be incorrect in all the 3 you can no longer refer again ) , where again a so called third umpire reviews the on field umpires decision and gives his verdict . This system was introduced to show fairness to all especially to the people , who they pay and watch their heroes but they later find their hero was given out which was actually not . This referral system also include LBW`S , where Hawk eye was used to determine the impact and the area where the ball pitched .

But this system to the contraty received huge flak , especially from the Indians who were at the receiving end , where a few decisions were reversed for them and few were awarded against them . So a simple appeal from the BCCI put this system into the well and was reviewed . ( my god you have a review for the review system itself ) . Many Indians especially Sachin was against this ( I think he has been credited with the record number of times by umpiring blunders on field ) , when asked the reason he said the " the replays again are inconclusive because of the angles and he respected the two men on the field who gave the decisions .

But the DRS is back again , this time the ICC made few changes to the system , where for the LBW referral the third umpire will be shown , the area of pitching and impact , but the final frame of ball hitting the stumps or not will not be shown . This is simply laughable as even a guy with good eyes will watch it in his TV and say the ball is hitting the stumps or not . This system is presently used in the Australian series and the New Zeland series .

Tomorrow i think , people will think the two men so called umpires are just there to freeze their arms for a boundary or lift their hands and legs if a bowler bowls an extra and no other decision making . But when technology comes into any sport it also increases the process of complexity , the people who are watching a game in the stadium become restless , no to say our wonderful broadcasters who will find a better time to show their ads in TV when a referral is made . So according to me , i think decisions other than run outs can be left to the on field umpires , just because we will not be in a position to see another Dave Shepard , Dickie Bird , Simon Taufel in the future .

POP CORN - 2012

The day finally arrived for me , watching a movie in a theatre has become one of the toughest task for me these days and you also get the good movies released when you are writing your examinations . One such movie was this 2012 . This movie by all standards and reviews i saw was rated as top and had even a simultaneous tamil release ( i believe this has not happened for a while now ) , so the expectations of me seeing this movie was quiet big . I had a wonderful friend whom i gave the responsibility of getting the tickets as the tickets were in real demand even after it has been two weeks now . My friend indeed got the tickets , but the timing was chanceless , he called me at 11 10 am and said " machi show 12 manikku , devi theatre la vandhudu " i said god this guy was kidding , i was just having my lunch and thankfully my father had left the vehicle home , i wasted no time to start and reached the theatre around 12 05 , the signals were kind enough to me turning green all the time but the end signal near the theatre where i had to do a 'U' played spoil sport , my wonderful friend was already cursing me saying " 5 minutes padam poiduchu " .

Indeed the rush started i have not been late to any movies before , the greatest thing was to discover the seats in the dark ,i have not seen a darker place in my life before , thank god the theater person held a twenty rupees torch light and showed us our way ! So we settled and the movie started , showing the present age and all stuffs about climatic change and non sense . I still wondered how many movies these english men are going to take like this stating this world is going to end and we are all going to die ! I really had a story running at the back of my mind saying this would be the next happening .

But i really accepted , English men think otherwise they proved me wrong in each frame , the story was so engrossing that eventhough i predicted the flow , the visual effects were stunning in most of the scenes , the one which i enjoyed the most was the writer`s family escaping from California to the airport , here the entire city was shown beautifully going down , maybe an American watching this will curse the director , but i really enjoyed it , after all i am an Indian who was happy to see America going down ~!

Jokes apart , this movie is worth a watch , people who love Cheran or Vikraman movies in tamil , stay away from the screens as this will not be your cup of tea , was just kidding by the way , this movie is a sure value for your tickets , maybe i will rank this next to Titanic in terms of the effort they have put into a movie . Hats off !!

There were a few loose ends in this movie as well , they showed America as a very good boy in this whole world and the American president who sacrificed his life and rejecting his boarding pass to travel in his Air Force One so that he would be safe in China . The Russian billionaire was also a comedy piece in the whole story , the time he takes his children in the military chopper and leaves away the people who saved him was indeed unacceptable . Finally the proud Indian who found the entire effect of 2012 and he losing his life with his family were also unacceptable , i just cannot understand what these Americans think of us , they get all help from us and even in the movies they show us this way .

I finally said to my friend , thanks for the tickets it was worth a watch , as we were doing a revision of the scenes my friend said " irunthalum andha Indian settatdhu over " , ya it was true .
But the movie was great , it was a very easy going story which says the world is going to end by 21-12-09 and the US top scientist finds it with his help of his Indian aid . The resources are backed up and the whole world experiences severe natural disasters after that , earthquakes tsunamis and a few ( in fact a lot) remain alive after 2 hours and 45 minutes . I indeed walked out of the theatre alive !!

The other scenes that caught my eyes were
1.The earthquake in the super market in Cal .
2.Vatican City ( it was shown beautifully ) going down
3.The mount everest
4. The dog when it walks into the safe chamber ( this was brilliantly worked out) .
5. The tsunami gobbling up a big cruise ship ( i indeed remember a tsunami shown in a tamil movie where people said they have seen tsunami really , watch this people this was the real one shot brilliantly )

So many asked me who am i to rate movies , i silently replied them saying , a movie lover paying 90 rupees on tickets and 30 rupees for pop corn !!

Here are my ratings for 2012
* * * * on a maximum 5
Indeed i would have given 5 0n 5 but i did not see a flawless nadia comaneci( people who do not know her pl GOOGLE) like performance by any individual in this movie , the story along with the visual effects were the winners which will keep the cash bells ringing for the movie for some time .

_________________________(As you like it) ...

It has been a while i posted a full fledged post on a topic apart from cricket , which remained my top priority for a long time followed by some quizzes . But i wanted to do something different so that this post will be remembered for a long time by me and also the person who reads this .That is why i have left the title blank , maybe after reading through the post you will be in a position to understand why i have not given a title .

I again thought of writing about cricket , but Indians have been performing exceedingly well these days and so i thought why not movies ?? , but the problem was i have not seen any movie for a while as my exams played spoil sport . These were the two areas where an average Indian spends most of his time apart from his profession .

26th of November 2008 will be etched as a black day in the annals of history of India . The reason , the disaster not a natural one this time around but a deadly carnage performed by our wonderful neighbors by the name of Pakistan , maybe it will be wrong to blame them because they have been worst affected where a bomb goes of daily in places like Peshawar , Lahore . But coming back to the Mumbai attacks like every other attack we keep saying it was an unprecedented one . One has to keep in mind an attack is always an unprecedented one and a threat is a planned attack , where in a threat an information agency gets some information about a possible attack . Mumbai where it was of the first kind , where 10 gunmen fully armed carrying deadly weapons and RDX, where a normal police officer would have not seen such equipments before in his life and never thought the day 26-11-08 would be a tough day in office for them .

The terrorists entered Mumbai as if they were entering a play ground , ready to play a sport . But their sport was deadly , that of killing innocent people returning from work or enjoying their dinner in the famous Taj , The Trident or a common man`s Leopold . What followed was completely unbelievable , the terrorists took over center stage and started shooting down people from a hand shaking range and throwing hand grenades . This was the time i switched on the television and the flash news started to appear in the bottom of my television saying places of Mumbai are under attack . As every other Indian i said to myself the police would take care and catch these attackers alive .

But it was not supposed to be , the attacks continued the next morning when i switched on the TV again the magnitude of the attacks were severe and said the entire Mumbai city is under attack , places like the Taj and The Oberoi which housed several foreign guests and of course Indians became one of the targets of the terrorists . Not to forget the Nariman house which had a large minority of Jews living were under a terrible attack .

The Police tried their best i can call , they just had a pistol , max a better long sight gun , but the terrorists were well equipped with automatic machine guns . The Mumbai Police put up a brave show but they lost several good people in the names of Ashok Kamte , Vijay Salaskar to name a few . The NSG was called in to do deliver the knock out punch for the terrorists .

They did just that , they came , they fired , they won . It did take some time though , the "Operation Torando" was never easy for them , especially in places like The Nariman house which was a residential apartment or a hotel like Taj which had close to 1000 rooms , the terrorists on the other hand did not give up easily , they killed close to 160 lives , 40 foreigners and the rest Indians . The scenes shown in TV were gory and at one moment i asked to myself like every other Indian when will this stop ?

It did stop , it took close to 60 hours for the entire flushing operations to be completed in all the places of the attack , but the damage was already done , 160 priceless lives were lost , the touching and the tearful moments were from the Nariman house where a 3 year old kid celebrating its birthday , by the name Moshe lost both of his parents . I beleive the kid even today celebrating its birthday beleives his parents are with him . The next moment was the police officers who lost their lives trying to put a brave show , especially Vijay Salaskar who went inside the Cama hospital i believe wearing his bullet proof vests and returned back dead . But no one will forget Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan a NSG commando who returned back to his home town with the Indian tri coloured flag over him . The loss of other lives were also irreplaceable not regarding what they were in the society , some were very rich who spent a day partying at the Taj and some having finished their daily chores were returning from work and getting down from the Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station .

But there was a moment of victory as well , a terrorist was caught alive amidst all the high drama by a few clever police men who out smarted the terrorist and showed him what an Indian can do , arrested him with mere lathis in their hands . Not to forget the announcer in the CST who warned the passengers in the station to move out as there was an attack and also the entire staff members of both the hotels who helped in rescuing many hostages battling the gun fire . In the process many lives were also lost , one such incident was that of the family of Taj hotel`s GM . It was indeed touching when he returned back to work , when the hotel reopened saying that he still believed that his family was with him in the Taj !!

What followed was extremely unfortunate , the politicians started pointing fingers at each other and instead of finding where they collectively went wrong . The media took this as a chance for making news and the debates were on daily . Resignations by top politicians followed but there was no conclusion to this dreadful essay of events . Still we have a captured terrorist with us giving him a defence lawyer , saying " according to constitution of India a legal aid should be given to all irrespective of the crime commited "and we spend 31 crores for his security and keeping him hale and healthy !! A gentleman rightly commented about Kasab(terrorist) saying that he is the safest and the most protected man in the whole of Mumbai today .

So this has become my longest post of my blog , i just started this after i was frustrated to see what happened in parliament today . Again there was finger pointing by the two parties , according to me the safest people in India are the people who are in Jail and the politicians who enjoy Z+ or whatever security they have with them , but the COMMON STUPID INDIAN is always under attack . So when will this end , god alone knows , but everyone should remeber this

"Terrorism should neither be forgiven nor be forgotten"

We as Indians have very poor memory on serious issues , we know what Shah Rukh Khan`s last block buster was , but we forget the annual budget promises , we blame Sachin Tendulkar for not guiding India to victory once again despite scoring a century but forget to raise our voices when our politicians are charged of serious crimes . It is just because we take movies and cricket very seriously more seriously than everything .

There will be no conclusion to this topic like there is no introduction to it , i have not attached any images showing terrorists attacks as these are taken care by the wonderful news channels in the last two days . So with anger in my heart and tears in my eyes i say JAI HIND ! and we can pray asking the god TO SAVE INDIA .

SPORTS QUIZ DATED 10.10.09

This is the second edition of the blog for the sports quiz . I was able to answer most of them but many were tricky . Start guessing the answers by dropping in your comments below . People who have watched the sports quiz in Podhigai channel ignore this post , give a chance to others to guess .
Happy Guessing and Quizzing ...

1.What was special about the Zimbabwean tour of Australia in the year 2003 - 04 .(something to do with Zimbabwe Team )

2.Find the footballer in the anagram
HE HID DICE .
Clue : He plays for an Indian club , he is a foriegner .

3.A frisbee tournament was held in Chennai Marina (not sure) recently , My question is what is the actual name for a FRISBEE called as ( a specific name pl ... think it is easy )

4.Which boxer defeated M.C.Marykom in the recently concluded National Boxing Championship . Marykom`s unbeaten winning streak came to an end .

5 .Who is the newly appointed coach of Mumbai Indians ?

6. In which city will be the Snooker Championships held this november ?



7.Identify

8.TESTING TIMES is the autobiography of which cricketer .

9.Who is the richest man with a stake in British Football ( this is a googly ...) ?

10. Identify ( a sitter )

11. 2012 ::: London
2016:::______( fill in the blanks )

12. Identify and name it ( pl do not say it is a tiger)

Post your answers in the comment column giving the question number .

SPORTS QUIZ ...(DATED 3.10.09 )

Hello people
These are the questions taken from Sports Quiz shown every saturday ( 10:15 p m -11 00 pm ). I am a very big fan of this show and the quiz master Dr. Sumanth . I have tried compiling a few questions from the show yesterday (3.10) , a few questions are really good , people who are interested in answering , comment below the blog mentioning the question number . Have a nice time quizzing

Here are the questions

1.Which sportsman became the first to earn 5000 crores of total money . ( Hint : not a cricketer )

2.Which pair holds the highest partnership for any wicket for Australia ( people following the champs trophy will get this )

3.Tough one
connect
Tatenda Taibu 713 / 3
Hashan Tillakaratne 671 / 4
Adam Parore 650/5
Godfrey Evans 659/8

4.What was unusual about the flag bearers of Common Wealth Games during the period 1930 - 1950 .

5. Connect
Arshad khan , Rana Naved ,Wajatullah Wasti , Mansoor Ahmad

6. Who is the cricketer who is eligible to play for three teams in this Champions League ?

7.Identify this Indian foot ball club shown below

8.Identify



9. Toughie
What is the term used in Baseball to denote a position player whose batting average falls below a threshold of .200 .

10. If it is Royal Challengers for Bangalore and DareDevils for Delhi ____________ is the city named Sharks .

11. What was special about the victory over South Africa in the group game , ( this happened to them for the first time)

12. Which Indian`s name means "Little Brother" in his native language .

13.Identify

POP CORN - THIRU THIRU THURU THURU

I am posting this a day late , last evening i was very lucky to get the tickets for a movie titled Thiru thiru Thuru thuru ( by the way for the people who are puzzled the movie is taken in tamil !! ) . The first moment i heard about this movie , made my imaginative side of the brain to work . I made a lots of guesses but i found everything wrong when i watched it on screen . A special thanks to my father`s friend who was kind enough in getting the tickets ( that too in INOX !) .

So coming to the movie , it was actually worth a watch . To begin with ,the titles shown at the beginning of the movie was itself different to start of with . The story even though was predictable maintained its tempo throughout . The hero and the heroine , both newcomers ( I do not remember the names ) did a good job in handling their respective characters . Veteran Mouli played a good supporting role . The director a lady did a commendable job in handling these characters .

The story revolves about a Advertising firm owned by Mouli and the ad they plan to produce for Johnson and Johnson ( baby ads ) , the hero lands himself in trouble when he finds a baby from an accident and makes use of the baby to finish the ads . Later he finds that the baby had been kidnapped by a Mafia ( not really - a bunch of comedians !!) , the last twenty minutes are predictable where both the hero and the heroine tries to find the parents of the baby and also get the agreement signed from them for making the baby act in their ads .

The movie has a very simple story line and one is assured of a laugh riot . Some of the scenes which stood in my memory were ,at the beginning when the hero inserts the wrong CD for the presentation and lands himself in trouble , the other instance when both the hero and the heroine torture the lady who kidnapped the baby (watch this scene i have not seen something like this before ) . The baby looks cute and makes life difficult for both the hero and the heroine .

So overall this movie was enjoyable , coming to the downside the music was a let down , the songs were a misplace all the times and even disturbed the flow of the movie .

This will be my rating , the movie gets

* * * out of a possible five stars .
I recommend this movie , when you do not get tickets for any other movie or in the case you want to laugh your heart out and forget your stress .
Pop corn gets over .

THE AWARD GOES TO ....

Last night saw cricket`s oscars been given away . This panel was headed by eminent cricketers which included Sunil Gavaskar , Clive Lloyd , Anil Kumble , Ravi Shastri to name a few . So an award is always a special recognition to your achievement . So this is how it all happened the following list shows the winners in the previous editions

PLAYER OF THE YEAR :
2004-Rahul dravid
2005-Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis
2006-Ricky Ponting
2007-Ricky Ponting(again!!)
2008-Shivnaraine Chanderpaul

So there were a lots of guess work going on for 2009 , i thought it will go to Gautham Gambhir , but my guess went completely went wrong , Mitchell Johnson walked away with top honours .

The other winners were
Gautham Gambhir :Test player of the year
Mahendra Singh Dhoni :ODI player of the year
Tillakaratne Dilshan :T20 player of the year
Peter Siddle :Emerging player of the year
Aleem Dar :Umpire of the year
Claire Taylor :women`s cricketer of the year
William porterfield :Associate player of the year
New Zeland Cricket team :Spirit of cricket year

So awards do not come just like that for the above achievers , here is a small run through of each of them

Mitchell Johnson : Johnson was a surprise choice for the title, he managed 80 wickets in 17 matches, he was the most prolific strike bowler of the year, and he also recorded his maiden Test century and an unbeaten 96 against South Africa.

Gautham Gambhir : He has been one of the most successful and consistent batsman last year . His numbers do the talking , India's star opener, Gambhir, after an impressive haul of 1269 runs at 84.60 in the eight Tests during the qualification period was named the Test Player of the Year.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni : He may have lost his midas touch , but his one day numbers are not showing that ,Dhoni played 24 ODIs during the voting period, scoring 967 runs at an average of 60.43 and strike-rate of 86.63, and also claimed 26 dismissals as he led India to 17 victories including a 5-0 demolition of England.To add on he was also the ODI player of the year in 2008 .

Tillakaratne Dilshan : He does look like a mini bomb ( explosive indeed ) , after capping a sensational World Twenty20 tournament in England in June with a show-stealing 96 off 57 balls against West Indies in the semi-final. His performance at The Oval, in which no other Sri Lanka batsman managed more than 24, included two sixes and 12 fours, and though Sri Lanka went on to lose the final to Pakistan, Dilshan was nevertheless named as the Man of the Tournament, with a total of 317 runs at 52.83.

Peter Siddle : He has been an active new kid on the block ,another aussie who keeps the pace battery going . After claiming 49 wickets at 28.93 in the 12 matches since his debut at Mohali in October 2008, including five-wicket hauls against South Africa at Sydney and England at Headingley, both of which led to memorable victories. Siddle beat his fellow Australia seamer, Ben Hilfenhaus, to the award, as well as England's Graham Onions and New Zealand's Jesse Ryder.

Spirit of Cricket: This was rightly given to the New Zeland cricket team , Daniel Vettori was a proud man , one should remember the incident he called back Paul Collingwood in a do or die game for New Zeland . According to me this team deserves this award .

So the best umpire for a change was given to Aleem Dar of Pakistan !! Simon Taufel missed out this time .

Indians can be proud after having received the best ODI and Test player awards . From here on the individuals need to strike a balance and play as a team to lift the 2011 world cup ( optimistic!)
Let us hope the best happens .

POP CORN -UNNAIPOL ORUVAN ....

So this title will be exclusively reserved for all movie reviews . It is nice starting of with a very good movie which i saw today . It was Kamal hassan starrer " UNNAIPOL ORUVAN " .

I was at first not interested in watching this movie , as i had watched the origninal hindi version "A WEDNESDAY " , this in fact was a brilliant movie which had roles played by Nasseruddin Shah and Anupam Kher .

But my boring classes made me to take a different decision altogether , five of my friends got together and we got tickets easily for the noon show in which the tickets according to me were really affordable (60 bucks ) .

So coming back to the movie , i had no expectation but i wanted to see Kamal Hassan`s role of a common citizen . One had seen him in ten avatars , a super hero , a romeo , but this was entirely a different role played by him . He did live up my expectation , i am not comparing him to Nasseruddin shah , but he did a splendid job as the movie revolved around him .

So the story here is the hero , it is built in a way that a first time watcher will be having a lot of great moments to enjoy . Kamal stands out in his dialogue delivery and the way he has approached the entire role . The supporting characters of Mohanlal , also is very well played , he indeed looks like a true policeman !

The topic of discussion taken in this movie is a common man`s anger towards terrorism and terrorist . It is a difficult topic to address in a movie , but the story is built in such a way that a super hero does not carry AK 47`s into a building or delivers lengthy punch dialogues !! but here the hero sits in a place makes phone calls and gets his work done . A very nice effort by the director here in highlighting the story very well .

Some of the dialogues really stand in my heart , the time Kamal explains about his anger towards the loss of human lives and the slapstick delivery of dialogue of not including his name into the voter`s list are note worthy . There are some real shockers in the movie , our C.M`s voice(mimicked anyway) and his own Gopalapuram residence are a few of them .

Shruthi Hassan stands out in her debut movie where she has scored the background score . Some parts of the movie are brilliant which is highlighted by the background score by her .

Overall the movie is a worth for your tickets , but i will not suggest this movie for a person who has seen "A WEDNESDAY " unless he is a die hard Kamal fan . The man of the movie is clearly Kamal Hassan by the way , followed by Mohanlal .

So this is my final rating
* * * * out of a possible 5 stars

but Kamal Hassan get 5 on 5 hands down .

I AM A STUPID COMMON INDIAN

So shifting my focus away from cricket , as our Indian team is busy packing their bags , i thought of writing this post . I come from a suburb in Chennai which is almost like hell called PORUR . Why i call this place a hell because , standing to cross this road from one end to another needs lots of skill , one must be good at extreme sport ! , a good runner , should have good eyes , and to add on you must be half deaf !!( so you do not hear the blaring horn of any vehicle ) .

This is how my day starts
7:15 - Start my bike and reach "THE HELL"
after that
7:20
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
7:27 : i still keep waiting on one side of the road and watch the buses go by on the other side !!

Finally a traffic police enters from no where and puts his long hand (white gloved --- looks to be not washed for a very long time !!) the vehicles come to a halt , then comes the action scene .

Usain Bolt can be challenged to run here sure he will not clock 9.69 seconds here, people around me start running for no reason , so no other go i have to burn my calories , run for a few yards and reach the other side of the road . Once when i turned back and saw the path i came it looked like a war field !

So you may be wondering what i do in those 7 minutes ( 7:20 - 7:27 ) , have a chat with the guy who puts his hand , the commander in chief ( traffic police ) poor guy indeed he gets the blame when a traffic choke occurs . Last week was utter chaos , when it rains in this part of the world , two eyes are not enough to take care of oneself . One has to show some jumping skills in order that he finds a safe landing spot else he lands himself into a pool of water .

I once suggested an idea to the traffic police , this was that , i asked why not an overhead crossing structure can be built so it helps people to cross easily . He smiled at me and walked off . The same time the next day i was shocked to see a structure , no it was not the overhead crossing that was built instead a huge hoarding in the middle of the road welcoming a very famous politician for an inaugural function(i should cross the road tomorrow alive!!) . The same traffic police smiled at me again and said , eppudi irukka !!

So i think some day the overhead crossing structure comes up , so that i watch from there all the vehicles go below me . Hah , will be great indeed .

You may be wondering will these things happen , i think this way because
I AM A STUPID COMMON INDIAN !!!
-dialogue courtesy A WEDNESDAY

WHO ARE DUCKWORTH AND LEWIS ??

I was really interested in writing this post , but i did not get a right event to describe the non understandable people Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis . Yes these two were the kings who devised the D/L method , which not even a greatest cricket follower or king commentator say Tony Greig can understand .


It was a pity that Yesterday`s (28.9.09) match between India and Australia was abandoned due to thunder storms . I was following the text commentary in Cricinfo , where the calculations started for the D/L method , before the watch was officially called off . If India had to bat again given the conditions were good and rain stopped , India had to chase down 166 in 20 overs .

I was puzzled on looking at those numbers , this is what complexity can do to you ! Luckily it rained and the match was called off . So what is this D/ L method all about , i did a small search and found out these .

The essence of the D/L method is 'resources'. Each team is taken to have two 'resources' to use to make as many runs as possible: the number of overs they have to receive; and the number of wickets they have in hand. At any point in any , a team's ability to score more runs depends on the combination of these two resources. Looking at historical scores, there is a very close correspondence between the availability of these resources and a team's final score, a correspondence which D/L exploits.

Using a published table which gives the percentage of these combined resources remaining for any number of overs (or, more accurately, balls) left and wickets lost, the target score can be adjusted up or down to reflect the loss of resources to one or both teams when a match is shortened one or more times. This percentage is then used to calculate a target (sometimes called a 'par score') that is usually a fractional number of runs. If the second team passes the target then the second team is taken to have won the match; if the match ends when the second team has exactly met (but not passed) the target (rounded down to the next integer then the match is taken to be a tie.

The D/L method is relatively simple to apply, but requires a published reference table and some simple mathematical calculations. As with most non-trivial statistical derivations, however, the D/L method can produce results that are somewhat guessable, and the announcement of the derived target score can provoke a good deal of second-guessing and discussion amongst the crowd at the cricket ground. This can also be seen as one of the method's successes, adding interest to a "slow" rain-affected day of play.

Applied to 50 over matches, each team has to face at least 20 overs before D/L can decide the game. In twenty20 games, each side has to face at least 5 overs.

	Wickets lost
Overs left	0	2	5	7	9
50	100.0	83.8	49.5	26.5	7.6
40	90.3	77.6	48.3	26.4	7.6
30	77.1	68.2	45.7	26.2	7.6
25	68.7	61.8	43.4	25.9	7.6
20	58.9	54.0	40.0	25.2	7.6
10	34.1	32.5	27.5	20.6	7.5
5	18.4	17.9	16.4	14.0	7.0

Reading the table

The single table applies to all lengths of one-day matches from 50 overs-per-side downwards. Because this length of match is by far the most common, the resources listed in the table are expressed as percentages of those available at the start of a 50-over innings. Thus when there are 50 overs still to be received and no wickets have been lost, the resource percentage available is 100%. A 40-over innings starts with a resource percentage of 90.3% relative to a 50 over innings. An innings shortened to 25-overs before it starts commences with a resource percentage of 68.7% relative to 50-over innings. (Although such innings have only half the overs of a 50-over innings they have all 10 wickets and so have much more than half the resources.)

In order to determine the correct resource percentage the batting side has remaining at any stage of its innings, the number of overs left must be identified. This number of overs left, in conjunction with the number of wickets lost, is then used to read the resource percentage remaining from the table.

For example, suppose that after 20 out of 50 overs a team have lost 2 wickets. They have 30 overs left. From the table you will see that the resource percentage remaining is 68.2%.

Suppose now that there is an interruption in play and 10 overs are lost from the innings. When play can resume there are only 20 overs left but there are still, of course, 2 wickets down, and the table now tells us that the resource percentage remaining is 54.0%. Thus the shortening of the innings has caused the team to lose a resource percentage of 68.2 - 54.0 = 14.2%.

Having started with a resource percentage of 100% and lost 14.2%, then if they complete their innings with no further loss of overs, they will have had a resource percentage available for their innings of 100 - 14.2 = 85.8%.

My god , i did not think cricket was such a complicated game . Cricket still needs a better system to manage rain affected matches and in a way common man can understand that . Till that happens one can pray that rain does not play spoil sport !!

Champs Trophy --- India VS Pakistan

This is one of the most fiercest rivalries of cricket . An encounter between India and Pakistan makes people to finish their jobs soon , or leave the work what they are currently doing and make them glued to their television sets . This rivalry started way back in Sharjah when Javed Miandad scored a last ball six of Chetan Sharma to ensure a win for Pakistan . Till date the intensity continues and a win for either teams makes sure that the entire nation celebrates .

India held the upperhand by beating Pakistan in all major matches of ICC World Cup , but it lost the last time when they met in the Champions Trophy last time . So September 26 was a red letter day for both the cricketing giants as they met after a gap of fourteen months . India received a serious blow by missing the services of Yuvraj Singh , who injured his finger during the practice . Pakistan started playing mind games , where the Indians have been a victim on many occasion , stating that the team looked vulnerable without Yuvraj . True it was . Young Mohammed Ameer of Pakistan openly said that Tendulkar would be his target . These sort of statements made sure that Pakistan held an upper hand even before the match had begun.

So it all boiled down to the bull ring at the Centurion . This was the very same venue where India thrashed Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup , in which Sachin Tendulkar played a stellar knock of 97 . Pakistan Captain who returned from an injury commented that he would be happy if he would play a similar knock for his country .

M.S.Dhoni who is always lucky with the tosses was not to be this time , as his counterpart won the toss and decided to bat .
The pitch was flat and as it was a day night encounter , the sun was baking down . Pakistan started briskly , but soon lost its way . They were tottering for 60 by giving away three wickets .

This was the time Dhoni missed the ploy of not bringing Harbhajan , instead he tossed the ball to Virat Kohli , who bowled gentle medium pace . The flow of runs dried but this ensured , the pakistani pair of Shoaib Malik and Mohammed Yousuf settled and got their eye in .

Shoaib Malik is a big game player , here again he proved his mettle . The kind of acceleration he showed in the middle overs shocked me . Dhoni was clearly a bowler short , the inexperience of the bowlers were clearly seen as they were bowling too short and wide , but my greatest shock was Harbhajan Singh , he looked like a bowler who forgot bowling his off - spin . Better luck next time Bhajji , you are one of my best cricketers , but this was not your day really .


Mohammed Yousuf played second fiddle to Malik , but ensured the flow of boundaries . There were too many short balls as i had mentioned above and they were cut with disdain , Malik reached his century and it was one of the memorable one day innings you can see .

India pulled things back by taking wickets during the batting powerplay but the damage was already done , Pakistan set a mammoth 303 , for India to chase , a daunting but a possible target.

Mohammed Ameer who looks like a school boy lived up to his words , he picked up Sachin Tendulkar , a priceless moment of this kid`s career .
Gambhir counter attacked , free hits sailed over the ropes , but a moment of madness cost his wicket . He backed up a lot and found his stumps shattered by a direct hit from Younis Khan .

This was the moment i switched off my television and walked off . Dravid as always was struggling as he saw men come in and walk out . Suresh Raina can be called unlucky as he was given leg before where the ball had taken a clear edge before striking the pads .

My friend messaged me , it was half past one , saying that India lost badly . Yes it was acceptable , India did lose badly . There were no positives to carry forward to the next game and it was a day to forget for the Indian bowlers really .

So today ( 28 .9 . 09 ) India face the ever challenging Aussies .Dhoni has indicated he will be going with 5 bowlers , a nice ploy given the bowling should click !! Yusuf Pathan looks like a man who has forgotten to play cricket , it is good on Dhoni`s part by giving him the confidence and waiting for him to deliver . The problem is that he should deliver at the earliest else India will be packing their bags and watching the rest of the tournament in their respective drawing rooms !

ARCANE QUIZ - ROUND 3 - LONG VISUAL CONNECT

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ARCANE QUIZ - ROUND 1

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ARCANE QUIZ - ROUND 2

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AUSTRALIA BURNT TO ASHES!!

So it was a fairy tale finish for a well fought sereies . Winning crucial moments in the series enabled England to take away the Ashes . Take for the case the first test in Cardiff , if Monty Panesar and Anderson would not have held on , the series would have turned the Aussies way taking momentum from a victory in the first test .
Amid scenes of delirium unwitnessed in South London since the unforgettable summer of 2005, England's cricketers reclaimed the Ashes on a tumultuous fourth afternoon at The Oval, as Australia's brave resistance - led by a century of incredible mental fortitude from Michael Hussey - was unpicked, wicket by wicket, minute by minute, until, at 5.47pm, and with an expectant crowd willing on the moment of glory, Hussey prodded Graeme Swann to Alastair Cook at short leg to spark the celebrations into life.

At the moment of victory, all of England's players rushed into a huddle on the edge of the square - all except for one, that is. In his moment of Test retirement, Andrew Flintoff's first instinct was to seek out and console the crestfallen centurion Hussey, whose 121 from 263 balls had given his side a hope of salvation, but whose careless running between the wickets during a fraught afternoon session had been the single biggest factor in their demise. By calling for the single that led to the run-out of his captain and resistance-leader Ricky Ponting for 66, Hussey is unlikely to recall this particular innings with any fondness whatsoever.

Inevitably, it was Flintoff who stole the show from the Australians. He could not be the tub-thumping batsman of old in this series, while his bowling - though thunderous at Lord's - faded cruelly as the concerns about his right knee began to mount. But as a presence, and as a man who can make things happen on a cricket field, his spell has scarcely diminished. In a moment that is sure to be replayed for years on end, he gathered a firm clip from Hussey, steadied himself as Ponting hesitated fatally, then unleashed a fast, flat, unerring swing of the arm that plucked out the off stump with Ponting a foot short.

Though the decision went to a replay, Flintoff was in no doubt. He raised his arms in his now-habitual Kodak pose, and waited to be enveloped by his jubilant team-mates. It was a moment eerily reminiscent of Gary Pratt's series-turning shy at Trent Bridge in 2005, when Ponting once again was the fall guy, and it uncorked the tensions in the crowd as surely as the champagne was uncorked in England's dressing-room some three hours later. It brought to an end an unnerving stand of 127, and it shattered Australia's collective will.

Five balls later, their batsman of the series, Michael Clarke ran himself out for a duck after a clip off the pads ricocheted to Andrew Strauss at leg slip, and Australia could not recover their poise. Though Hussey was badly dropped by Paul Collingwood at slip on 55 off Swann, in Swann's next over, Marcus North dragged his back foot out of the crease as he swung at a big ripper, and Matt Prior, having gathered well high to his left, flicked off the bails almost as an afterthought. Their target of 546 had become a distant figment of their imagination, and at 236 for 5, their only remaining hope was to bat out the final four sessions of the series.

Brad Haddin chose pugnacity as the means to reboot Australia's innings, and he signalled his intent with two fours in his first nine balls, including a fizzing cover-drive as James Anderson overpitched. But Anderson might have dismissed him three times in a single over, including a regulation clip to short midwicket that was spilled by the substitute, Graham Onions. As he and Hussey took their seventh-wicket stand to 91, an ever-anxious crowd began to shuffle in their seats. On 34, however, his luck finally ran out, as he advanced down the track to Swann and picked out Strauss with a lofted flick to deep midwicket.

It was to be the game-breaking moment. Strauss, usually the coolest of characters in the field, celebrated euphorically as The Oval erupted once more, and seven balls later, the end truly was nigh. Steve Harmison - hitherto muted on a pitch that did not suit his style - extracted enough life for Mitchell Johnson to fence to second slip, where Collingwood, to his relief and joy, finally held on. Then, when Peter Siddle played around his front pad to lob a simple chance to mid-off, Harmison had his second scalp in the space of 12 balls.

That quickly became three in 13, as Stuart Clark fenced nervily to Cook at short leg, and though Hilfenhaus averted the hat-trick with a stabbed defence straight back down the track, there was no longer any way to stem England's tide of emotion. With Harmison stalking to the crease with a predatory menace unseen in Ashes cricket for four long years, the crowd finally dared to proclaim the Ashes were coming home. Fifteen balls later, they were.

Some six hours earlier, England's day of destiny had dawned with more than just a frisson of anxiety in the air, thanks to the ease with which Australia's openers had pushed along at four runs an over on the third evening of the match. But Swann soothed the nation by claiming the initial breakthrough at the end of his second over, tweaking a succession of sharply spinning offbreaks past Simon Katich's edge, before nailing him plumb lbw with the arm-ball.

Swann bounced for joy in the middle of the pitch as a massive roar of relief and ecstasy erupted from the stands, but almost immediately the fervour morphed into a respectful standing ovation for the incoming Ponting, in his 136th Test and almost certainly his last in England after four memorable Ashes tours.

Before he had faced a delivery, however, England had struck again, as Broad this time hurried Shane Watson on off stump and beat the inside-edge of his defensive prod. Watson did not seem best amused at the decision, but replays suggested there was nothing wrong with the appeal at all. For all of Watson's impressive form in five innings at the top of Australia's order, it was nevertheless the fourth time this series he had fallen in such a manner. Food for thought as he works on his new career as an opener.

At 90 for 2 and with a jittery Hussey at the crease, England swarmed onto the offensive, with Swann camping four men around the bat at all times and at one stage sending down 28 dot balls in a row as Hussey prodded and smothered with desperate determination. At the other end, Ponting's eagerness to play the pull was tempered by his wariness of the vagaries of the wicket, although whenever he was tempted, he executed the stroke with the mastery that has made it his calling-card for the past decade.

In the first over after lunch, Ponting laced a first-ball full-toss from Broad through the covers for four, then tickled Swann around the corner to bring up a battling and brilliant half-century from 76 deliveries. Broad subsequently received a warning for running on the pitch to deepen the crowd's growing concerns, who had just seen Collingwood at slip parry a rare Ponting edge with his left boot. But then up popped Flintoff, and once he'd had his say, there was no holding back the inevitable.

THE 'LANDMARK' QUIZ

So taking a break away from cricket , i took up this challenge of attending the premier open quiz of the country . Yes it was fun and also knowledge gaining to the max . Got a score of 21 or 22 on 40 , very decent i believe as i attended an open quiz after a long time . Named my team THE SWINE BUSTERS , yes we were given protective face masks when entering the audi (THE MUSIC ACADEMY ...what a great place really ) but found that the people had forgotten about swine flu and the masks were dangling in their necks . The questions for the prelims are given as follows..........................................

1.1^st two symbols in footnote of a book .- Asterisk and Obelisk (Star and Dagger)

2.What does M stand for in MLV and MR Radha – Madras

3.What does it take to find lost love – 4 options? which movie poster – Slumdog millionaire

4.(Logo shown FedEx)Between which two letters of the FedExlogo do we find the arrow – E and X

5.What are the three words that is most important in mountaineering uttered by George Mallory who was the 1^st to climb the Everest – Because it is there

6.What does ‘s’ stand for in https – secure

7.Former employee of system research institute pune one who received Magsaysay award d for changing the way NGO worked and also one who has changed the corporate world – Deep joshi and Narayan murthy

8.Exactly 40 yrs ago, in New York Maya kulkarni a student in newyork was asked to replace and play tambura for a concert held in empire state building by 2 people. Who a re they? Pt Ravi Shankar and Allah Rakha

9.Which organization got its name because each member visits the other in their office in the group in turns? – Rotary club

10.What was the original person s face in the Apple computers logo – Newton

11.Who was listed in vogues 1^st 10 beautiful women in 1960’s from India – Gayatri Devi and Leela Naidu.

12.What is a bunch of bananas called – a hand of bananas

13.Only fictional character whose death was announced in the newyork times in the year 1975? – Hercule poirot

14.After Nepal and Pakistan , the vulture population was reduced by 97% which was worrisome for a society of people in India – Parsis

15.In traditional Indian metal work , the shape of many vessels was based on the Sanskrit name for Leaf – Pathram

16.There is a board game which also has a quiz show in its name – Mastermind!

17.Which American writers boyhood home s the pic – the pic is tough ( would attach if I can) – Mark twain

18.Nagesh’s title character with Manorama a funny old tamil movie – Server Sundaram .

19.Where did this swine flu start from this yr 2009 – Mexico?

20.Which is the sweet made from wheat and ghee started by a Marwari family at tamaraparini , thirunelvi now running the company called Lakshmi vilas – Tirunelveli halwa

21.Spongebob - madam tussads museum ( some question related to that didn’t note that exactly)

22.Connect – Pepsi and capt vikram – Yeh dil maange more –Capt Vikram radioed his victory to the team yeh dil maange more after kargil victory

23.Hawk eyed technology is used in tennis, cricket and what ? - Snooker.

24.Who initiated the 1^st Rathyatra during elections to reach out to people and was in Guinness book of world records -= NT Ramarao

25.Which is the max % of people stay in pak which has a capital – Quetta =- Baluchistan

26.In HG Well’s story The Martian war what did they die of ?– common cold – cold virus

27.French name for the tennis tournament as the French open is the golf – Roland Garros

28.Yensid Retlaw s from whose name – Walter Disney ( detailed question s not known)

29.Who gave away all the goodness earned by penance to Brahmins and all his knowledge to someone? in Mahabharata = Parasuram and Drona

30.What is the liquid bomb that Finns found during the WWII against Russia – Molotov cocktail

31The kannada poet whose statue is up in Chennai – sarvajna

32.Image of a some kind of temple which has the roof and light through the roof shown what is this , which also s the name of a road in Chennai – pantheon

33.Barbie – Katrina kaif ( image)

34.Who is the person who has been in all the movies like spider man etc in cameo – stan lee , editor of marvel comics(video)

35.The inauguration of this location – The atlantis hotel at Palm Jamera , Dubai- was visible from space ( video of the inauguration shown)

36.Michael jacksons fav song 1936 composed by ? Charlie chaplin (song played)

37.Vikram ‘s song – Mambo mami – Kandasamy (song played)

38.DK Pattammal song – Jana gana mana. ( song played)

39.What is that element discovered in the spectrum at Guntur – Helium

40.Which place did gandhiji visit and change his style to the peasants style of dressing with just dhoti and no hair which even Rajaji tried to persuade to change – Madurai

So a Tame Draw at Edgbaston...

So it finished out to be a tame draw finally in a rain curtailed third test at Edgbaston . It was not again a walk in the park for the aussies , they were made to work for a draw . Michael clarke inspirational 106* and the much improving North unfortunately 96 , denied England a chance to chase . So one can blame the rain gods for playing spoilsport in such a wonderful encounter . The entire fourth day's play was lost . So talking about momentum Aussies have a few positives to carry into Headingley , Australia will take tremendous confidence from their second-innings batting performance, in which three batsmen passed 50 and one, Michael Clarke, a stoic century in his 50th Test to limit England to just five wickets from 112 overs. Shane Watson's returns of 62 and 53 in his first Test as opener will prove particularly encouraging as will the final-day efforts of Michael Hussey (64) and Marcus North (96), both of whom were in need of a confidence boost.
The hosts will also be satisfied by the manner in which they covered for Kevin Pietersen, but Andrew Flintoff is looming as a major concern. The England allrounder, who is understood to have had two further pain-killing injections to his troublesome right knee prior to this match, fell awkwardly on his left ankle when delivering the final ball of his 13th over. Flintoff required the better part of 30 seconds to climb back to his feet and appeared in significant discomfort, but managed to bowl two more overs in the session. His condition will be monitored with only three days between the third and fourth Tests. The latest is that Flintoff will be doubtful for the next test . This will come as a big blow to England.
Unlike the draw in Cardiff, where every ball of the final session was an angst-ridden affair, the Edgbaston Test concluded in anti-climax with part-timers Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara in operation and Australia's batsmen scoring at will. Clarke was fortunate to have survived a Stuart Broad delivery that clipped the bail and a subsequent catch off a Bopara no-ball, but eventually raised his 12th career ton with a pull to the boundary and look to the dressing rooms, whereupon he was summoned in by Ricky Ponting. Fortunate it might sound for Clarke, but he deserves the luck to move forward .
I was not able to follow this entire match on television , when i did follow the text commentary in Cricinfo , i saw a nice comment from a BBC commentator " England needs a bowler to take 6 wickets from 6 balls " sounds crazy , but the resolve showed by the Australian pair of clarke and north was brilliant .
So with two tests to play , the excitement mounts. The Fourth test promises a lot and may well decide the series . Waiting eagerly for the fourth test and eager to see a fully fit Andrew Flintoff.

VICTORY IS SWEET WHEN AUSSIES LOSE !!

In his last Test at the home of cricket, Andrew Flintoff broke England's 75-year Lord's curse with his first five-wicket haul since the Ashes-clinching Oval Test of 2005. It was, unquestionably, a performance that will enhance his already mythical status within English cricket, but more pertinently for now, delivered England to a 1-0 series lead heading into Edgbaston.
Victory was sealed 17 minutes before lunch when Graeme Swann, another major contributor on Monday, pegged back Mitchell Johnson's middle stump with the Australian total at 406. The wicket prompted scenes of jubilation not witnessed at Lord's in decades, and a collective furrowing of brows in the Australian dressing rooms as the series momentum shifted sharply in the hosts' favour.
Flintoff, who bowled unchanged for ten overs from the Pavilion End to claim three of the five Australian wickets to fall on Monday, broke first from England's celebratory huddle to shake the hands of the vanquished Johnson and his batting partner, Ben Hilfenhaus. It was a scene that mirrored the final act of the corresponding Test four years ago, and envoked a spirit of cricket that had been bruised over the previous four days.
Having spent the better part of Sunday evening chasing leather to all corners of Thomas Lord's playing field, England could scarcely have began the final day's play more positively. James Anderson's first delivery of the morning cannoned into Michael Clarke's thigh and prompted a raucous lbw appeal from both bowler and slips cordon, which was turned down by Billy Doctrove. Two more unsuccessful appeals reverberated around the grandstands before the first over was out, as Anderson probed the off stump at pace, precision and just a hint of movement away from the right-handers.
Flintoff displayed similar menace steaming in from his favoured Pavilion End, as 25,000 screaming voices drowned out the pain of a knee that, after four years of numbing injections, now resembles a pin cushion. Only a famous exit from Lord's would do for "Super Fred", and England's allrounder duly obliged with the wicket of Brad Haddin from his fourth ball of the day.
Haddin was seldom ruffled on Sunday, mixing punchy strokes forward of the wicket with deft glides behind, but a new ball and an inspired Flintoff would prove an irresistible combination. Fast and full, Flintoff coaxed Haddin into an edge that flew to Paul Collingwood at second slip, terminating his innings for an impressive 80 but placing Australia in precisely the position they had hoped to avoid. Flintoff, the victor, did not so much celebrate the dismissal as assume Nelson's Trafalgar Square pose. A candidate, if ever there was one, for the fourth plinth.
Michael Clarke was bowled by Graeme Swann for a magnificent 136 .
Johnson's early exchanges inspired little confidence that he would be the man to steer Australia to an improbable victory. Johnson half-ducked, half-stabbed at his first delivery from Flintoff and, as with his bowling, looked a shadow of the figure who compiled unbeaten innings of 96 and 123 against the South Africans four months prior. Edges off the bowling of Flintoff and Stuart Broad fell inches in front of the slips, and Johnson may well have found pavilion-bound had Flintoff not overstepped before wrapping him on the pads with a straight full-toss that struck in line.
Clarke, save for the odd Flintoff bouncer, was a picture of poise in the first half-hour of play, leaving judiciously outside his off stump and driving with sublime placement and timing. The fluency of his batting contrasted greatly with the nervous Johnson, although the latter eventually found something resembling a groove as the hour progressed.
As the first drinks break loomed, Clarke might have entertained notions of bettering his previous highest Test score, famously struck on his Test debut five years ago, however a change of bowling prompted a change in his fortunes. Swann had spent much of the previous evening bowling a faster, flatter line, but found success with a slower, looping delivery that dropped under the bat of the advancing Clarke and spun just enough into the off stump. Devastated, Clarke did not lift his head, nor raise his bat, despite a generous reception on his journey back to the Pavilion.
The loss of their sole centurion while still 165 runs in arrears of England was the death knell for Australia's aspirations of a world-record run chase. And when Nathan Hauritz was bowled shouldering arms to Flintoff the next over, an England victory was all but assured.
Johnson, by now, had found his batting form and blazed his way to a quick-fire half-century. But it would be in vain. Flintoff claimed his third career five-wicket haul by bowling Peter Siddle, and Swann rounded off the innings, and the match, by scything through Johnson's defences

AUSTRALIA BEATEN

I am the happiest person in this world when i see the juggernauts of some form of any field go down . It happened today in cricket when Australia went down to England . Yes a team like Australia do not lose often but they do in fact these days !. Aussies had a dream run last Ashes when they thrashed and white washed the Englishmen 5-0 . That was a transition peroid for the Australian team where Aussie greats like warne , mcgrath and gilchrist walked into the sunsets . The aussies always had the ability to produce quality cricketers from their bench after their greats retire . Consider the case of Adam Gilchrist , he took over from Ian Healy and was the most destructive batsman this world had seen .

So coming to the second test at Lords , the englishmen escaped from the blushes to salvage a draw in the first test at Cardiff . But the story was entirely different here , domination was the keyword for the english and they dominated in a way that the aussies had to save the test . But a shocker awaited everybody when Andrew 'FREDDIE' Flintoff anounced his retirement from test cricket and called this will be his last series . He was one of my favourite cricketer and to see a person of his stature was unbelievable some times . Andrew Strauss played a captain`s knock by scoring a century in the first innings and set a good platform . But it was his bowler`s who delivered . The aussies were dismissed when they had 5 runs to save the follow on , but as most captains do these days strauss did not enforce the follow- on and decided that the english will bat again . Almost everybody chipped in and set the Aussies a daunting target of 515 to get , a target which has not been reached before .

The aussies started their chase on day 4 , but lost crucial wickets at regular intervals and were 5 down at lunch . Staring down the barrel Clarke and Haddin played the day out and clarke scored a magnificient century .

But there was no clarke ,haddin show on day 5 the big boy freddie got haddin and the tail was cleaned up not before clarke scored 131 , an innings to remember for long time. But guess who was the hero? Yes it was Flintoff with magical figures of 5-91 who set up a great victory for England . Rightly he was adjudged the Man Of the Match .

This victory makes the Ashes even more interesting series . Will there be a twist in the tale ?

Let us wait and watch

My First Blog

Here i am , starting the journey of blogging .
After a big fight with my service provider i ended up in getting a broadband connection . Blogging has always fascinated me and to be frank i created a earlier blog which i failed to manage and forgot the password of it . No more mistakes this time and i will be following the passion on different subjects ranging from current affairs , sports and quizzing . So people keep following the blog and make it to reach places . "Information is always wealth".