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Mohammad Kaif might be fast losing hopes of playing for India again, but his captainship is showing colours now a days. After losing Game 1 to India Blue, it was important for India Red to play tough cricket & effect victory with big margin against Green team.

Kaif's boys did exactly that, and now Team Red is the first team to qualify for the challengers trophy final on Sunday. See points table at the end.

Gautam Gambhir is over-flowing with confidence & he's keen on picking quick singles. With Karan Goel, he build strong platform for his side & Subramaniam Badrinath did his job of playing right till the 50th over. Badri was 82 not out, India Red scored 62 off the last 5 overs and their Total climbed upto 303.

I should also mention Virat Kohli - the 19 year old Delhi batsman.. who looks to be a right handed Yuvraj Singh in the making!

Meanwhile, Big chase was on for India Green. Important was the role of openers but who can bat against Praveen Kumar with new ball. The all rounder swung the cricket ball both sides and bowled both the openers.

Rohit Sharma & Manoj Tiwary tried the consolidation, but there was no communicationg between the two. Sharma servived a close run-out and hence forth - both batsman concentrated on hitting fours rather than build partnership.. which never happens in highest level cricket without good running between the wickets.

Mohammad Kaif knew his math (that India Green shouldn't go past 241) and he applied slips and forward shortleg for Pragyan Ojha as wickets trumbled. Green team had lost the match long before prize ceremony was arranged.

The Match scores
Praveen Kumar 15 (8b, 1x6, 1x4), Kaif 8,
Gambhir 73(74), Karan Goel 33, Kohli 40,
Badrinath 82*(79), Paresh Patel 22 off 12.
Munaf Patel 10-0-81-1, extras 16.
India Red : 303 for 7 in 50 overs.
India Green : 215 allout in 47 overs.
Pujara 7,Y Pathan 0, Parthiv Patel 19,
Sharma 11, Manoj Tiwary 65, Nayar 29.
Praveen Kumar 9-0-45-5, extras 9.
MoM : Subramaniam Badrinath.

Notes from Ahmedabad
-Who is the highest run scorer in all Champions trophy matches? Well, those who thought Sachin Tendulkar has not played too many matches in the tournament, will be surprised to know that he's at the 2nd position with 1039 runs. Most runs in Challenger series is made by Rahul Dravid with 1167 whereas Laxman (892), Yuvraj (735) & Mohammad Kaif follow with 681 runs.

-Saw Mohammad Kaif bowling for the first time in my cricket writing career. He also picked up the wicket of Piyush Chawla.. and if you wonder if Kaif has ever bowled in first class cricket - well, he has a total of 20 wickets now with the best figures of 3 for 4 runs.

How does India Red qualify for finals?
The points table for this challengers series has an interesting method of alloting points. A win fetches you 4 points and win with bonus point gets 5. Thus, India Red now have 5 points in all.
If you lose without bonus point, you get a minus one. Thus India Green are now on -1 whereas India Blue is on 4 points with a win over Reds yesterday.

In this manner - India red with 5 points make it to the finals easily when Green and Red fight for the other spot. That match is tomorrow.

Green vs Red vs Blue : Challengers Cup 2007

5 unknowns Indian fans should watch out for

Speed & bounce in Challengers trophy pitch

Challenger cup in India : History & now

Game 1 : India Blue ride on Suresh Raina classic

India Red strom into finals in style

India Green gone, Red vs Blue final on

Challengers cup 2007 ends with plenty of hope