Cricket World Cup: Semi-finals

It's taken a little while, but the World Cup has reached a semi-final stage that promises to serve up two very good matches.

If the quarter-finals were disappointing in the sense that they did not produce any close contests, they at least ensured that the best quartet of teams in the tournament have reached the last four.

The draw has also paired New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and India in the most intriguing way. New Zealand and South Africa are already reasonably well matched, while conditions in Sydney give India much more of a chance against Australia.

The semis and the teams involved throw a spotlight on the four captains, who have their own separate stories in addition to the mission of trying to win the World Cup.

New Zealand's Brendon McCullum is the personification of his nation's hopes, while AB de Villiers is looking to finally shake off South Africa's 'choker' reputation in a year in which he has already done some extraordinary things with the bat.

Source: BBC.com

South Africa’s AB de Villiers scores fastest one-day international century

South Africa’s batsman AB de Villiers has scored the fastest-ever one-day international century during his side’s run-laden innings against the West Indies on Sunday.

The Proteas’ captain needed only 31 deliveries to reach three figures in the second ODI in Johannesburg, five fewer than the previous record holder, New Zealand’s Corey Anderson, who needed 36 balls to reach a century, also against West Indies, last year.

De Villiers had earlier broken Sanath Jayasuriya’s 19-year-old record for the fastest ODI fifty, taking a mere 16 deliveries to achieve the feat by launching Jason Holder over the long-off boundary.

He needed a further 15 balls to break Anderson’s year-old fastest ODI century record and any West Indian hopes that De Villiers would subsequently relax were soon dismissed as he and Hashim Amla continued to pepper the New Wanderers Stadium boundary.

De Villiers soon set his sights on breaking another record - the most sixes in an individual ODI innings - and equalled the record Rahul Sharma set in 2013 against Australia when he smashed his 16th maximum on the penultimate ball of the penultimate over.

The wicketkeeper-batsman could not score another to make the record his own, however, when he went for another huge hit off Andre Russell and was caught at deep extra cover with two balls left having scored 149 from 44 balls.

The Proteas ended their innings on 439 for two, four runs shy of the highest ever ODI score by a team - set by Sri Lanka in 2006 against the Netherlands.

Earlier, South Africa’s openers Amla and Rilee Rossouw both scored centuries as they made 247 in just over 38 overs for the first wicket. Rossouw made 128 from 115 balls before he was caught at mid-off to give Taylor a wicket, while Amla finished unbeaten on 153 from 142 deliveries.
Fastest ODI centuries

31 balls AB de Villiers v West Indies, 2015

36 Corey Anderson v West Indies, 2014

37 Shahid Afridi v Sri Lanka, 1996

44 Mark Boucher v Zimbabwe, 2006

45 Brian Lara v Bangladesh, 2006

45 Shahid Afridi v India, 2005

Rajgarh

Popularly known as the Peach valley, Rajgarh is a lush green valley in Sirmaur district. Rajgarh is a place of great natural beauty and is about 40 km from Solan. One can camp and trek in the valley. At Rajgarh, rest house of PWD and Forest Department are available for staying, besides private hotels and guest houses.
The people of this valley are dynamic and hardworking. They are religious and worshippers of Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga. The local Shaya temple of Lord Shirgul has a mammoth following. According to a legend, Lord Shirgul had first come to Shaya village and later settled in Churdhar Mountain at height of 12,000 feet.
The famous Baru Sahib Gurdwara also lies in this valley and is worth a visit. It is 29 km from Rajgarh and is situated beyond Kheri, a picturesque spot on the banks of a tributary of the Giri River.
Habban Valley: It is an enchanting destination and the area has thick pine fir, kail, baan and deodar forests besides orchards of apples and peaches. The climate is pleasant round the year and in winter, Habban occasionally has snow. Habban is about 70 km from Solan via Yashwant Nagar and Rajgarh.

Haripurdhar: Haripurdhar is about two hour journey from Rajgarh and is famous for the temple of Bhangyani Devi, a god sister of Lord Shirgul, the principal deity whose seat is at Churdhar. For staying PWD rest house (3 sets) and newly constructed trekkers hut is available, besides the Sarai in the temple.
Nohradhar: On way to Haripurdhar from Rajgarh, Nohradhar is one hour journey and is a base for trekking to Churdhar. There are many trek routes in the valley to Churdhar, like-Sailpaw-Dokhta-Churdhar (7 km), Haripurdhar-Churdhar (17 km), Nohradhar-Churdhar (14 km), Sarahan-Churdhar (7 km), Habban-Churdhar (15 km). For staying rest house of PWD (3 sets), IPH (2 sets) and some Guest houses are available.