Needing just one win to seal the series Clarke won the toss and chose to bat. After a decent start England kept picking up wickets at regular intervals as Australia stuttered to 115/4 after 23 with COW of 52%. Only Clarke hung around for a fifty but contributions from the tail pushed their total to 249 all out with COW of 55%. England started disastrously and soon were 3/37 after 7 with COW of 44%. KP and Bell seemed to have revived the innings before 3 quick wickets saw them collapse to 105/6 in 26 over with COW of 41%. A record 10th wicket stand of 53 runs only delayed the inevitable as England crumbled to 198 as they lost the series 4-1 with 2 games to go.

NZ put Pakistan in to bat and it seemed like right choice when they lost 2 early wickets to be 10/2 after 4 with COW of 44%. But Hafeez had other plans. He started the revival with Younis and then with Misbah and finally brought up his century in Umar’s company. Once he fell Umar and Afridi went ballistic and 121 runs came off last 9 overs as Pak ended at 293/7 with COW of 61%. Afridi’s 50 came off just 19 balls. NZ got off to a decent start but 3 quick wickets saw them stumble to 85/3 after 15 with COW of 36%. Guptill, Williamson and Styris tried to stem the rot but none of them could score fifties and the asking rate forced them out as NZ ended with 250/9 to lose the match by 43 runs.

With the series tied at 2-2 India decided to bowl first. Despite Smith falling to Zak again, Amla and Van Wyk built a solid partnership with fifties before 2 quick wickets saw them reach 132/3 after 27 with COW of 54%. The Amla continued in JP’s company and scored another century before rain interruption. With match reduced to 46 overs SA lost wickets in heap and ended at 250/9 in 46 but with D/L bumping their score to 267 their COW went up to 63%. India started badly and barring Parthiv no one stuck around even for a while as theu slumped to 98/7 and then to 119/8 after 23 with COW of just 8%. But Yusuf Pathan refused to give up and put together 100 runs with Zaheer Khan including 21 off a Tsotsobe over that saw him reach his century to take India to 219 before he fell. After that it was too must to expect of the 10 wicket pair as India was all out for 234 in 41st over to lose the match and the series.

South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first. South Africa were off to a great start and at one point were 105/1 after 19 with COW of 53% before 4 quick wickets brought their COW down to 45%. JP Duminy led the rescue act with a splendid fifty and he got support from Botha and Peterson as South Africa ended at 265/7 with COW of 55%. India struggled in face of tight bowling and lost 3 wickets to limp to 49/3 after 15 with COW of 33%. Kohli set about consolidating the inning with Raina before latter threw away his wicket and 2 more quick wickets meant India was 129/6 after 30 with COW of just 25%. Despite Kohli’s superb fifty it was too tall a task and rain ensured he didn’t have to fight for too long as SA won by 48 runs by D/L method.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat and what a disaster that turned out to be. Southee and Bennet ran through their top order to get them reeling at 57/5 in 20 with COW of 35%. Misbah scored a fighting fifty and batted with tail to take them to 124 all out in 37.3 with COW of 27% as Southee ended with 5/33. NZ were never in trouble once Ryder went off on a flier and by the time he got out after scoring a blazing fifty, NZ were 84/1 after 10 with COW of 99%. Guptill and Taylor finished the formalities to win the match in 17.2 overs as Shoaib Akhtar went for 47 runs in his 4 overs.

Matt Prior’s horror return to ODIs continued with second successive duck and soon they were 61/3 after 13 with COW of 52%. Trott held one end together and forged small but useful partnerships with Morgan and then with Wright but no one gave him much support and he was stranded on 84* and England were all out for 214th COW of 45%. Australia started badly too but thanks to Haddin they kept up with the run rate and by the time Haddin fell they were 100/5 in 21 with COW of 56%. D Hussey took over from there and with help from Smith and Hastings took Australia home with 4 overs to spare.

England won the toss in this must win match and chose to bat. Despite losing Strauss early it seemed like a good decision as Prior and Trott put together a big stand before Prior fell as Eng reached 139/2 after 23 with COW of 59%. KP and Bell fell quickly but Morgan, Colly and Yardy gave Trott support as he scored a century and helped England reach 299/8 with COW of 62%. Australia lost Haddin and Marsh early before Watson and Clarke put together some runs but Clarke fell for 15 as Aus reached 87/3 after 17 with COW of 36%. Once Watson fell for 64 it kept getting harder, both Smith and White fell short of fifties when a big inning was needed and Australia ended at 278/7 to lose the match by 21 runs.

England won the toss and chose to field hoping to exploit any assistance for the seamers. And that their bowlers did to the fullest as Australia stumbled to 34/4 after 14 with COW of 44%. But Shaun Marsh and White set about repairing the innings and took them to 126/4 before 4 quick wickets seemed to have sealed their fate. But some clean hitting by Marsh in company of Bollinger saw him reach his century and Australia score 230 all out in 48.2 with COW of 46%. England fared no better and were soon at 36/3 after 8 to bring COW to even levels. Trott, Bell, Morgan, Yardy all got starts but no one was able to sustain it like Marsh and when Bollinger returned to snag 4 wickets the defeat was imminent. In the end England collapsed to 184 all out in 45 overs to lose by 46 runs.

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat. Looked like a wise choice since team batting first has won more matches at Cape Town. But it didn’t turn out that way. Smith struggled to put up anything more than mini partnerships as wickets tumbled at other and when he got out SA was 91/4 after 24 with COW of 38%. But JP and Faf both scored fifties to lead SA’s revival. SA seemed to be set for a 250+ score but some good bowling and excellent fielding saw them lose 6 wickets for 20 runs as they were all out for 220 with a COW of 31%. India lost early wicket but Rohit and Kohli seemed to be setting up a good platform before 4 quick wickets meant India was 95/5 after 25 with COW of 54%. Yusuf and Raina set about rebuilding the inning and then Harbhajan gave Yusuf company as he scored a rapid fire fifty. Two more wickets fell but Harbhajan made sure India was home by 2 wickets to lead the series 2-1.

India got off to a slow start and their plan seemed to be to save wickets. It worked half for them. They managed to bat slowly but couldn’t save wickets and were 67 for 3 after 19 with COW of 40%. Yuvraj and MSD set about recovery process but run rate never really took off. When Yuvraj too fell after scoring a fifty India were bound to struggle and the Powerplay backfired as India crashed to 190 all out in 47.2 overs to end up with a COW of 35%. Despite an early wicket Saffers were going quite well till 2 quick wickets slowed them down as they reached 77/3 after 16 with COW of 60%. Smith continued to take them closer to the target first with JP and then with Miller but batting Powerplay struck again. Smith fell for a well made fifty and then the long tail collapsed under pressure created by tight bowling as India rode on some luck and lots of determination to win by 1 run and make it 1-1 in this series.

The T20s showed that Shane Watson was the man separating the two sides and the 1st ODI proved no different. England got off to a great start and by the time Davies was out they were 92/1 after 13 with COW of 59%. Trott fell too but with Strauss and KP batting England looked set for 330+ score. But Strauss fell for 63 and KP got little support apart from Bell and Bresnan as Australia fought back to restrict England to 294 all out in 49.4 with COW of 57%. Australia needed a good start and they got it as Watson and Haddin put together a century stand. When Haddin fell at 111 in 20th their COW was up to 49%. Clarke joined Watson and gave him support as he raced away to a brilliant century and even though 3 quick wickets fell, White and Watson saw them through in 49.1 overs to win by 6 wickets.

Australia won the toss and chose to bat again. Shane Watson once again went berserk and looked like he would take the match away from England before he fell for 17. Paine came in and played a cameo before he departed leaving Australia at 63 for 2 after 7 with COW of 54%. But English spinners wrested control back with tight bowling and wickets and it took a fighting fifty by Finch to take the score to 147/7 with COW of 42%. It was not a big total and looked even smaller as Bell and Davies got England off to a good start. But 3 quick wickets saw them reach 74/3 after 10 with COW of 61%. Watson and Johnson then bowled superb spells and some brilliant catching saw England implode and fall short by 4 runs to end the series 1-1.

South Africa lost Smith early on but Amla carried his test form in to the match and despite Ingram’s struggle they were off to a rapid start but both of them fell in quick succession to leave SA at 82/3 after 15 with COW of 51%. But AB and JP combined to put on a 131 stand that threatened to take South Africa way past 300 but Indian part-timers struck in quick succession and South Africa was restricted to 289/9 with COW of 53%. Any total is not easy to chase when Steyn and Morne are in full flow. India stood little chance when Tsotsobe joined in too. Mindless shots and good bowling saw India reduced to 43/4 after 11 with COW of 35%. Kohli tried to put up a fight, first with Dhoni and then with Raina, but it was an uphill task and when Kohli fell after scoring a fifty it was all but over. Tsotsobe ended with 4 wickets as India crumbled to 154 all out in 35.4 over to lose the match by 135 runs.

Australia got off to a flyer with Watson on an absolute rampage. He took 26 runs off Swann first over on route to a blistering fifty as Australia raced to 76/0 after 8 with COW of 54%. But once Watson was out the English bowlers choked off boundaries and picked wickets at regular intervals as Australia finished at a disappointing 157/4 with COW of 52%. England lost early wickets but Bell and KP played like maniacs making most of sloppy fielding as England maintained a high run rate and reached 95/3 after 11 with COW of 59%. Australia fought back as Watson picked 2 in 2, including Morgan who was batting brilliantly, but the total was too little for the flat surface and despite brilliant bowling England sneaked home by 1 wicket off the last ball.

Despite resting some of their stars India were still slight favourites to win the sole T20 match. Despite an early wicket, Rohit and Kohli took on the South Africans and raced away to 63/1 after 7 with COW of 57 before Kohli fell. Sharma notched up his fifty but 3 wickets fell as the scoring rate went down. It took a cameo from Raina to take India to 168/6 with a COW of 61%. South Africa lost 2 wickets early but Van Wyk went on a rampage, probably angry that no one bought him in IPL auction. South Africa were going well at 87/2 after 9 with cow of 46% before a rare moment of brilliance in the field ran out AB. 2 more quick wickets and India were back in. Van Wyk scored the fastest fifty by a South African but it was all over once he got out in the 11th over. India bowlers then tightened the noose and restricted them to 147/9 to win by 21 runs.

Having lost twice while chasing, Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat. Shehzad and Hafeez gave them a perfect start with the score reaching 81 before Hafeez fell in 9th over with COW at 57%. 3 quick wickets got NZ back in to the game but blistering knocks by Akmal and Razzak propelled Pakistan to 183/6 with COW of 60%. New Zealand lost wickets right from the start and were at one point tottering at 36/6 afer 9 over with COW of just 19%. There was no coming back from there. Styris held up one end vainly as New Zealand were bowled out for 80 runs in 15.5 overs as Afridi and Razzak shared 7 wickets to lose the match by 103 runs.

After being put in by Pakistan, NZ got off to the worst possible start losing Ryder off the very first delivery. But another blistering knock by Guptill with support from Franklin saw them reach 90 for 1 after 11 overs with a COW of 61%. Wickets tumbled as New Zealand looked to accelerate but Styris, Taylor and McGlashan tore apart Pakistan’s bowling to end with 185/7 with COW of 70%. After a brisk start Pakistan lost Afridi early but were at a steady 60/1 after 7 overs with COW of 33% before 3 quick wickets saw them slip to 76/4 after 10 with COW of 26%. Nathan McCullum picked up 4 wickets and Southee nearly had another hat trick and NZ coasted home by 39 runs as Pakistan ended at 146/9.

Despite their recent horrific run, NZ were slight favourites in home conditions. Shahid Afridi’s opening experiment didn’t last too long but it ensured that Pakistanis were off to a flier and despite early wickets they were 58 for 2 after 6 with their COW up by 4% to 52%. However an unlikely from Tim Southee had them tottering at 62 for 5 with COW of 44%. Gul and Riaz top scored with 30 each but Southee’s fifer meant Pak ended at 143/9 with a COW of 42%.NZ lost early wickets but with Guptill going hammer and tongs they were always in control. Guptill’s 54 off 29 balls took them to 91/4 after 10 with COW of 64%. After that Taylor endured there were no surprises as Kiwis won by 5 wickets with nearly 3 overs to spare.

Zimbabwe needed to win this one to square the series. But it looked like they took the hare and the tortoise story too seriously. A couple of early wickets and Zim posted their 50 runs in 24th over to be 54/3 with COW of 37%. Though the next 50 came up in just about only 12 more overs it took the batting power play right at the end for them to crawl to 188/6 with a COW of 42% thanks to another Taibu fifty. Bangladesh showed they meant business and despite an early wicket they raced to 130/1 after 28 to raise their COW to 80%. Even 2 quick wickets didn’t slow them down as a Tamim Iqbal special saw them canter home with 6 wickets and 7 overs to spare to win 3-1.

New Zealanders were facing their second successive white wash and losing wicket in the 1st over was not the best of starts. 2 more wickets fell before How and Styris took them to 69/3 after 17 with COW of 41%. But the India spinners picked 7 wickets as the Kiwis collapsed to just 103 in 27 overs with COW of 30%. If India were expecting a cakewalk they were in for a rude shock as they were soon 16/2 after 4 but low target meant their COW was still at 70%. Parthiv and Yuvraj ensured there were no further trouble as they remained unbeaten on 56 and 42 respectively as India cruised home in 22nd over to win the series 5-0.

Having lost 9 matches in a row, Kiwis needed something special to break this rot. They got off to a great start before 3 wickets fell to leave them at 93/3 after 14 with COW of 53%. Taylor played a surprisingly circumspect innings and with Styris got NZ to a strong base but both fell short of fifties. It took a brilliant 98* from James Franklin to push the score to 315/7 with a COW of 62%. India needed a good start to win this one and they had a steady start till 2 quick wickets left them at 68/2 after 10 with COW of 38%. Every time a partnership seemed to develop Kiwis took a wicket and soon India seemed to be out of the game at 191/5 after 34 with COW of 34%. But an explosive century by Yusuf Pathan turned the match around as India won to take 4-0 lead.

With the series at 1-1, Bangladesh were looking to win this match to gain an upper hand. After Zimbabwe put them in Bangladesh were soon tottering at 71/2 after 20 overs with COW down to 44%. Skipper Shakib yet again led the rescue act along with Mushfiqur and they both hit back with fifties to take Bangladesh to challenging 246/7 with a COW of 57%. Zimbabwe crumbled against disciplined bowling by Mortaza and Razzak and were soon reduced to 47/6 after 19 overs with their COW down to just 22%. Utseya and Cremer stemmed the rot with a stand but once Cremer was snapped up by Shakib the rest was just a formality and despite Utseya’s fifty they were all out for 181 to trail the series 2-1.

When Zaheer striked the second time around in his spell, Kiwis were already on the backfoot for any chance to be alive in the series. 34 for 3 and India already had 58% hold on the game. Next 20 overs didn’t help them much as the slipped to even worse 180 for 7 with just 35% chance in the game, and therefore the series in this case. However Franklin fighting maiden 75* with support from Nathan McCullum gave them a good enough total of 224 for 9 and chance of 42%. Not for long though as Gambhir’s century made sure they never saw a positive beyond it. India chased it down by 40 overs in comfort.

Zimbabwe started the series on a high note but couldn’t take the momentum into the second ODI. Although things looked promising for Zimbabwe at 103-3 in 30th over (at which time they also sported a healthy 37% chance in the game), subsequent brilliant efforts from both Hasan and Razzaq ensured that Bangladesh didn’t let this match slip by. Result- Zimbabwe could never grow on the foundation they had laid. Mpofu did interest the Zimbabwe’s chances early in the game (the last point when Zim managed to be above 37%) but thereafter Bangladesh sailed through smoothly. Except for the early part of the Zim innings, Bangladesh never let the control on the match go.

Zimbabwe were slight favourites for this match and their good start saw their COW go as high as 56% as they were 52/0 at the end of 9. However Bangladesh spinners wreaked havoc as they did against the Kiwis to ensure none of the Zim batsmen was able to convert their starts in to fifties. Razzak picked up 4 wickets as Zim were bundled out for just 209 in 49 overs with a COW of 42%. With a low target in sight, Bangladesh began cautiously with their openers putting together 44 before Tamim fell in the 11th over. After 20 overs they were well placed at 76/1 with COW of 57% before a collapse saw Zim back in with a shout. Shakib-Al-Hasan fought a lone battle with a fifty as wickets tumbled around him as Bangladesh eventually were all out for 200 to lose the first match by 9 runs.

Put in to bat first New Zealand lost How early but Guptill put together slow but decent stands with Williamson and Taylor as NZ reached 101/3 after 25 with COW of 43%. Styris gave Guptill a good hand as their fifties brought New Zealand back in to the game. Once Guptill fell it took a late flurry by the Kiwis to take them to 258/8 after 50 with COW of 49%. Gambhir and Vijay complemented each other to give India a steady start before Vijay fell to Vettori for 33 runs. Kohli and Gambhir dominated the Kiwi bowling as they notched up a fifty and a century to take India’s COW to 61% after 39 overs. Kohli fell with victory in sight but Yuvraj and Gambhir smashed their way to win with 7 overs to spare.

NZ won the toss and put the Indian team in first. Missing many big names, India still got off to a good start and all 4 top order batsmen contributed will with Kohli going on to score a century. New Zealand hit back towards the end to bowl India out but India still managed to score 276 with a COW of 59%. NZ on the other hand struggled in face of a disciplined performance by Indian bowlers and lost two early wickets before Taylor and Williamson consolidated the innings. But NZ went from 113/2 after 25 with COW of 34% to 169/8 after 36 with COW of 18% as apart from Taylor’s fifty no other batsman hung around for long. Mills and McCullum raised hopes with some smart batting but Sreesanth came back to wrap up the tail as India won the match by 40 runs.

After 4 cracking matches the 5th ODI was all set to be the perfect decider but got overshadowed by the events off the field and it showed. Smith fell early, but Amla being Amla flourished in Kallis’ company as South Africa raced away to 96/1 after 14 with COW of 55%. Once Amla fell for 62 off mere 47, AB joined Kallis and they put together a century stand with brilliant fifties before 3 wickets fell in quick succession to leave Saffers at 229/5 after 40 with COW of 52%. JP and Botha batted sensibly to take them to 317/5 with COW of 60%. Pakistan were going great at 81/0 with COW of 43% before 4 wickets left them at 101/4 after 18 with COW of 31%. Umar, Afridi and Razzak battled for a lost cause as they were bundled out for 260 in 45th over to hand South Africa a much deserved series win.

After the two crazy endings, we expected yet another cracker of a match. Amla fell early for a change but Smith was in supreme form and despite Kallis falling cheaply he batted with AB to take South Africa to 152/2 after 30 with COW of 50% before he got out. AB, Duminy and Ingram could not make most of their starts and it took a cameo from Botha to take Saffers to 274/6 with COW of 54%. Pakistan lost an early wicket but two fifty run stands between Hafeez and Younis and then Younis and Shafiq saw them reach 120/2 after 22 with COW of 45%. Then the wickets kept falling at regular intervals as they slumped to 248/8 after 47 with COW of 25% but late heroics by Wahab and Zulfiqar saw them pull off an improbable win to lock the series at 2-2.

Sri Lanka’s chances of a whitewash were further boosted when Australia decided to give Starc and McKay a run. However they didn’t factor in the green bouncy pitch. Batting first was a major faux pas. McKay ripped through the top order as they were down to 19/3 after 5 with COW of 46%. Tharanga and Silva staged a mini recovery but Starc and McKay kept talking wickets at regular intervals as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 115 with COW of 28%. No batsman crossed 35 runs. Chasing tiny total Australia got off to a flier before Watto fell with score at 39/1 with COW of 83%. By the time Haddin got out COW was 96%. Clarke’s fifty sealed the consolation win.