Tuesday 24 September 2013

Titans beat Brisbane in low-scoring thriller - CLT20

CLT20: Heat fall short by four runs in Mohali.

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MOHALI: Titans prevailed over Brisbane Heat in a low-scoring Champions League T20 thriller as both teams, by turns, suffered and recovered from collapses at the PCA Stadium here, on Tuesday night. For the Australian outfit Heat, this was the second match in succession that they failed to chase down a moderately sized total. Having made a hash of Trinidad and Tobago’s 135 in their first match, Heat fared even worse chasing Titans' 123, a target set after a deplorable batting implosion, but defended by four runs through fast bowler Marchant de Lange. This deals a serious blow to Heat's chances of making it to the next stage of the tournament. de Lange was the star of the show as he finished with 3/13 off his four overs. He kept a check on scoring in the early overs, and then came back to bowl a terrific last over when Heat needed ten runs for victory, with only three wickets remaining.

Tight finish

The end came when left-handed Chris Sabbarg, whose spate of hits had kept Heat alive in the contest, was run out trying to farm the strike on the first delivery of the last over, and Titans scraped through by the proverbial skin of their teeth.

Left-arm spinner Roelof van de Merwe had earlier removed the captain James Hopes, whose top-score of 37 was threatening to assume the proportions of a match-winning knock. Sent in to bat after rain had delayed the start by 45 minutes, Titans, in keeping with teams from their country, choked badly and throttled themselves to near death, from the safety of 90/3 in the 13th over, to the embarrassment of 123 all out in the 19th.

They seem to have have recovered from opener Jacques Rudolf’s second over dismissal, racing ahead through Henry Davis (39) and Heino Kuhn (31) as medium pacers Hopes and Alister Mc Dermott were taken apart. But Davids was run out trying to steal a sharp single and five runs later, Kuhn followed him to the pavilion in the 11th over.

Imperious 
AB de Villiers (28) looked imperious as he struck boundaries off Cutting and Lynn and looked set for another blistering  knock. But de Villiers' stay was run-out by all-rounder Farhan Behardien, who in the heat of the moment failed to sacrifice his wicket for his captain’s  The South African side lost their last six wickets for 16 runs. Notwithstanding the batsmen’s intent of swiping big only to get out, Twenty20 debutant Matthew Gale capitalized with 4/10 in 2.5 overs. But even that was not enough as Heat fared miserably with the bat.

Perera delivers as Hyderabad beat T&T - CLT20




CLT20, MOHALI — Sunrisers chase down 160 in the final over after Narine's brilliant bowling.

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Perera's unbeaten 57 revived Hyderabad after Narine's 4-9.

MOHALI: All-rounder Thisara Perera pulled Sunrisers Hyderabad up to an exciting four-wicket win over Trinidad & Tobago as he helped them complete a dramatic chase at the PCA Stadium on Tuesday night. Having defended 135 in their previous game, Trinidad & Tobago mounted another stiff challenge to guard a much more imposing 160 against the Sunrisers. But the bigger total proved harder to protect.

Perera came to the crease with the Sunrisers needing 90 more to win in 10-odd overs and smashed an unbeaten 57 in just 32 balls, with four sixes and as many fours. He was the ultimate counter to T&T’s spearhead, ‘mystery spinner’ Sunil Narine, who finished with superlative figures of 4-1-9-4, including two wickets in his last over, the 18th of the innings, that brought his team back into reckoning.

Narine, however, couldn't finish the job. For, at the other end of the spectrum, was medium pacer Rayad Emrit who leaked 57 in four overs as Perera, with a little assistance from Karan Sharma (13, 5b), took his team over the line with three balls to spare. The Sri Lankan all-rounder had earlier bowled splendidly to pick up two wickets when T&T batted.

Rocky start

Sunrisers' chase was off to a rocky start. Opener Parthiv Patel (17) was first dropped, then rattled by a strike on the helmet, and finally out on the first delivery bowled by Narine. Shikhar Dhawan (23) was next when he played vapidly back to medium-pacer Navin Stewart for a simple caught and bowled.

The wickets kept tumbling.

JP Duminy (17) was run out – Stewart coming into the picture again with a deadly direct hit from fine-leg – and Narine had Hanuma Vihari (13) stumped to leave Hyderabad struggling on 95/4 in the 14th.

Perera then launched into a magnificent assault on Emrit, mowing the seamer for sixes over mid-wicket. Ravi Rampaul was biffed over the leg-side field, only for Lendl Simmons to tip the ball over the ropes in a valiant attempt to catch it. It all came unstuck for the West Indian side in the 17th over as Emrit leaked 23 runs – a dropped catch of Darren Sammy (15) and a couple of no-balls not helping his cause.

Bravo Bravo

Earlier, Dhawan won the toss and saw his team let him down badly as misfields and dropped catches added at least 20 runs to the total. After opener Lendl Simmons was caught behind off Dale Steyn on the first ball of the innings, the Brian Lara lookalike Darren Bravo (66, 44b) smashed four sixes and five fours, leading from the front in a series of partnerships.

Evin Lewis (22), Jason Mohammed (19) and Denesh Ramdin (21) all assumed a secondary role with Bravo in a particularly destructive frame of mind. He reached his half-century off 37 balls and had guided his side to 100 in the 14th over when he was caught at cover going after Ishant. Tidy bowling by Perera and Sammy (2/21) brought the Sunrisers back into the game, but another cameo, this time by Stewart, pushed the visitors onto a challenging total - albeit not one they were able to defend.

Monday 23 September 2013

Srinivasan's re-election will be doomsday for Indian cricket: Lalit Modi

PTI

NEW DELHI: Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi was his usual outspoken self when he said it will be a "doomsday" for the Indian cricket if N Srinivasan gets re-elected as BCCI president at the board's AGM on September 29.

"Across the globe, the fans, advertisers and administrators will be disappointed at this if Srinivasan gets re-elected. A wrong message would be sent. It will be a doomsday for Indian cricket," said Modi.

Srinivasan has declared that he will contest for the top post in the upcoming Board elections in Chennai.

Srinivasan is bidding to get re-elected as BCCI president for the third year running under the Board's two plus one year tenure rule, having completed two years at the helm.

Srinivasan has been under a lot of pressure since the spot-fixing scandal broke out and his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings team official Gurunath Meiyappan's name cropped up in investigations into betting during the Indian Premier League's sixth season held in April-May.The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association's president stepped aside in June as the BCCI chief and let former president Jagmohan Dalmiya take over the day-to-day work. However, he chaired the meeting of the disciplinary committee held in Delhi earlier this month that imposed life bans on cricketers S Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan following a probe by BCCI's anti-corruption and security unit chief Ravi Sawani for indulging in spot-fixing in IPL6.

Modi said Srinivasan must quit if he has any sense of morality. "Issue of morality is key here. The game of cricket in India is more than religion, it cuts across all sections of the society and reverred and followed passionately. I am sad to see this. Only way to get rid of this menace is joining hands of both fans and media," he told 'Times Now'.

Modi recently got a big relief from a Delhi court, which has restrained the BCCI from holding its special general meeting (SGM) on September 25 to consider the report of the disciplinary committee on him for alleged financial irregularities in running of the cricket league.

Modi said he was surprised to see South Zone associations lobbying for BCCI president, most of whose members are staunch Srinivasan loyalists.

"The credibility of Indian cricket is at stake. The world is watching us and I am really surprised to see that all my colleagues of South of India have chosen to ignore the call of all the fans and cricketers around the country and world. They still support somebody who is tainted," he added.

Did bookies approach Hyderabad Sunrisers? - IPL News

By Krishna Kumar | Mail Today


While only three players, all belonging to the Rajasthan Royals, were been arrested by the Delhi Police in the Indian Premier League betting and spot fixing scandal, the mess could be deeper and could involve more teams, if the statement of one of the bookies, Chandresh Patel, is to be believed. The statement has been attached in the charge-sheet that was filed by the Mumbai crime branch on Saturday against Gurunath Meiyappan, Vindoo Dara Singh and 20 others.While Patel, the alleged bookie, was arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with spot fixing, he was also taken into custody by the Mumbai crime branch to investigate the betting case against Gurunath and co. Patel alleged that he also met players from the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise, in order to try and fix an IPL match held on April 17. The deal was fixed by a man named Amir, who approached the bookies and offered them to fix the match. Amir told the bookies that in order to fix the match, he would require Rs.6 crore, out of which five would go to the players while the rest would be taken as commission by Amir himself.

Patel has claimed that three days before the match, he met some of the Sunrisers’ players and finalised the deal. He alleges that the players, in return, would lose the match against Pune Warriors.

The alleged arrangement was that Sunrisers would not score more than 120 runs in the match and, while batting, they would lose one of their wickets in the second over of the match. The SunRisers were also supposed to lose the match.The first innings of the match allegedly went exactly as the bookies planned, a Sunrisers batsman got out off the last ball of the second over and the team scored 119 runs, thus giving a target of 120 to the Pune Warriors who, interestingly won the match.

Reproduced from Mail Today. Copyright 2013. MTNPL. All rights reserved.

Whatmore confident of Pakistan's resurgence

Since Whatmore took over in March last year, Pakistan have won only one Test and lost five.

AFP



Pakistan cricket coach Dav Whatmore admitted Monday he was "embarrassed" by his side's Test defeat to minnows Zimbabwe but insisted they could bounce back against South Africa.
Pakistan lost the second Test against Zimbabwe by 24 runs earlier this month to leave the two-match series tied at 1-1, a result which saw them drop from fourth to sixth in the Test rankings.
The defeat revived calls to replace captain Misbah-ul Haq and Whatmore before the clash against number one Test team South Africa in the United Arab Emirates next month.
The Proteas will be full of confidence going into the series after their pace attack helped them thrash Pakistan 3-0 in South Africa at the start of the year.
Since Whatmore took over in March last year, Pakistan have won only one Test and lost five.
The 59-year-old told AFP Zimbabwe had been tougher than they expected, but he was confident his men would bounce back in the two-Test series starting in Abu Dhabi on October 14.
"Zimbabwe gave us better preparation and they were bit stronger than a lot of us thought about them," he said.
"All three adjectives -- upsetting, disappointed and embarrassing -- can be used to describe the way I feel after the defeat against Zimbabwe."
Whatmore refused to blame any individuals but said the side had let itself down with both bat and ball.
He said the different opposition and different conditions in the UAE -- typically low, slow pitches similar to those found on the subcontinent -- would demand a different line-up.
However Whatmore backed Misbah as captain.
"Misbah has some wonderful leadership qualities and has been successful since he took over," said Whatmore.
Misbah, derided by some team supporters as boring and conservative, was appointed captain in 2010 and won nine Tests out of 15 before Whatmore took over.
"My observations are that by nature he is a methodical person who thinks deeply before making decisions. This is reflected in his batting as well," said Whatmore.
"He takes a little time at the beginning but at the end his contribution is effective. His consistency in contributions during 2013 have been second to none. It's easy for people to be critical."
Whatmore, who coached Sri Lanka to a famous World Cup victory in 1996, was tight-lipped about his own future.
His contract with Pakistan is due to expire in March and he said any renewal would depend on "mutual willingness" on both sides.

Lions-Scorchers game washed out - CLT20

CLT20: Not a ball bowled in the fixture in Ahmedabad.

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The Champions League T20 match between the Highveld Lions and Perth Scorchers was washed out. Heavy rain lashed Ahmedabad and the fixture at the Sardar Patel Stadium had only got as far as the toss which was won by the Lions. The South African side had elected to bowl.

There's another game slated for the day between the Mumbai Indians and Otago Volts of New Zealand. Conditions, however, remain unfavorable for cricket

'Scoring 10,000 Test runs would make me happy' - Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli on his aggression, learning from mistakes, being a youth icon.

By Baidurjo Bose | Mail Today




Kohli receiving the Arjuna Award from President Pranab Mukherjee.

The road from rebellion to responsibility is a long one. But Virat Kohli has made the journey as easy as silken drives that

he plays. From being misunderstood at 19 to being touted as the next India captain at 24, Kohli has indeed come a long way.

When one is the most eligible bachelor in Indian cricket and lives life kingsize, the spotlight is bound to be relentless.

But there is something about Kohli that sets him apart. While he wears his heart on his sleeve like Sourav Ganguly, he can

also show a sharp mind like Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Some of the knocks that he has played when chasing stiff targets have

prompted people to consider him one of the best in the business after just five years at the international level.

But it wasn’t all rosy to start with. Handling fame and adulation isn’t everybody’s cup of tea and Kohli too has learnt it

the hard way.

After winning the U-19 World Cup in 2008, he was being branded brash and arrogant. But those who have seen Kohli over the

last five years vouch for the fact that testing times have only made him stronger.

Kohli said that he himself doesn’t know how he manages to be both aggressive as well as calm on a cricket field, according

to the need of the hour.

"I am focused and know exactly what is expected of me." “I have often asked myself how I manage to be someone who is very

aggressive on the field, but at the same time with bat in hand, I am focused and know exactly what is expected of me.

Generally you would associate an aggressive person to play rash shots and get out. But the fact that as a batsman, you need

to earn the respect of the opposition by scoring runs is what keeps me going,” Kohli told Mail Today on the sidelines of the

India Today Mind Rocks 2013.

Sachin Tendulkar has often said that if there is one batsman who can break his record of 100 centuries in international

cricket, it is Kohli. But the Delhi lad feels there are cricketers much more talented than him.

“But what keeps me going is the self-belief and determination. I have learnt from my mistakes. I got carried away during my

first stint in the IPL. When I got dropped from the Indian team, I was really disappointed and realised that certain things

needed to be eliminated so that I can go ahead and live my dream,” he said.

“I don’t have any milestones in mind and the only record that would make me happy is scoring 10,000 Test runs. That would be

really satisfying.” While he is touted as the next India captain, Kohli feels leading the country at the senior level is far

more difficult than at the U-19 level.

“I didn’t have any big names playing under me in 2008 when we won the U-19 World Cup. But when it comes to the senior team,

you have players whom you have grown up watching. So it does get a bit difficult to pass orders and move them around the

field. M.S. Dhoni has had a tougher job to do when he captained India for the first time than I had when I went to Zimbabwe

as captain because I had a comparatively young side,” he revealed.

Being a youth icon, Kohli is always under the scanner, but he doesn’t mind it as it has helped him become a lot more

organised in life. “If me talking to youngsters can motivate them, I am game. I have also become more organised which has

helped my game,” he signed off.

Reproduced from Mail Today. Copyright 2013. MTNPL. All rights reserved.

Sunday 22 September 2013

T&T turn the heat on Brisbane - CLT20

Rampaul-led attack defends low score in their opening game of CLT20.

IANS India Private LimitedBy Indo Asian News Service | IANS India Private Limited

Rampaul took four wickets. (File photo)
Ranchi: Trinidad and Tobago defeated Brisbane Heat by 25 runs in the first Group B match of the Champions League Twenty20 to

bag four points at the JSCA International Stadium here Sunday.

Put in to bat, Trinidad and Tobago put on 135/9 in their quota of 20 overs. In response, Brisbane Heat were bowled out for

110 in 18.4 overs in the second match of CLT20.

The Caribbean side struggled with their batting with skipper and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, later named the man of the

match, playing the anchor's innings with a 38-ball 48, which included four boundaries and two sixes. The second highest

scorer was Evin Lewis with 19.

Pacer Alister McDermott, son of former Australia fast bowler Craig McDermott, was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets

from his four overs for Heat while offie Nathan Hauritz scalped two wickets.

Chasing 136, the Australian side were guided by opener Joe Burns with his innings of 45. However, at 91/5 Burns was bowled

by Ravi Rampaul which led to a Heat collapse in a span of 19 runs, eventually being bowled out for 110.

Rampaul clinched four wickets from 3.4 overs giving away only 14 runs. Rayad Emrit and Sunil Narine picked two wickets each.

Dhoni returns as Chennai smash Titans - CLT20

CLT20, RANCHI: Super Kings chase down a stiff total in their captain's hometown.


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AB De Villiers top-scored with 77, but it wasn't enough.

The Chennai Super Kings began their Champions League campaign with a near-perfect batting performance against the Titans from South Africa, who failed to defend an impressive score of 185-5.

After a lengthy break, MS Dhoni returned to action at his home town Ranchi’s JSCA International Stadium, much to the delight of his fans. He won the toss and bowled. AB de Villiers’s brilliant 77 should have been enough to ensure Titans a win today, but Chennai’s brute response led by Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina ended the contest very quickly.

Chennai lost Murali Vijay in the first over, thanks to a sharp arm-ball from Roelof van der Merwe. But Raina and Hussey added 89 runs in under eight overs to give the chase a powerful start.

When Raina came in, the floodlights at the venue failed for the second time in the day. According to Ravichandran Ashwin, Raina’s been in bad form in the nets, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that from the hitting that was to follow once the game resumed.

He waited on the backfoot for Morne Morkel to bounce him and the first ball he faced was pulled almost without any lack of control over midwicket for six. The over, the fourth of the innings, went for 24 runs with Hussey then carving Morkel a couple of times through the off-side.

The highlight of Raina’s innings, however, was the effortless waft off his pads for six off Marchant de Lange. When Raina fell to a loose drive to mid-off, Hussey kept up with the brutal hitting till he too got out on the same score of 47 to a mistimed loft down the ground.



Rowan Richards produced a three-wicket burst late in the game to make things a teensy bit interesting, but so far ahead were Chennai of the required rate, they coasted to the target with seven balls to spare.

Earlier in the day, the moment de Villiers came in to bat at the fall of Jacques Rudolph, the game became a one-man show. De Villiers is possibly the most versatile batsman of his time – he can play spin or pace, he can score on slow wickets or fast, and there’s no corner of the field he can’t hit a ball to.    

He marked his arrival to the crease with a powerful straight drive off his South Africa colleague Albie Morkel. That shot didn’t go all the way for four, but signalled AB’s intentions. He proceeded to dismantle two of Chennai’s best. Ravindra Jadeja was put away for four sixes and Dwayne Bravo a couple.

At the other end was Henry Davids, who did a fine job making 52 in 43 but was put in the shade by de Villiers’ merciless assault on Chennai’s bowlers. Davids was stumped off a wide from Ashwin but the second-wicket partnership had produced 76 runs in six overs, setting up a large score for the Titans. But not large enough to keep the home team at bay.

Md Amir will now play domestic cricket

Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Amir is now allowed to play domestic cricket. This is great news for Pakistan cricket fans. He was banned for short time for his spot fixing act. But now he is free to play domestic cricket and after one year he might play for his National team. Wish him all the very best.

Delhi court stays SGM called to fix Modi

The single point agenda of the SGM was to take up a special disciplinary panel’s 134-page report and take a decision — possibly a life ban for Modi.


By Qaiser Mohammad Ali

New Delhi: Dealing a major blow to the BCCI — particularly president N. Srinivasan — in its bid to punish suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi for his “individual misdemeanours”, a Delhi court on Saturday stayed a special general meeting (SGM) from taking place in Chennai on Sept. 25.

Additional judge Ruby Alka Gupta, in her three-page ruling, upheld Modi’s contention that since the top BCCI officials have not been legitimately elected, they are not authorised to call the SGM. “The defendants are thus hereby restrained from holding the SGM scheduled for September 25, 2013,” she said after hearing the suit, filed on September 19.

There are seven defendants in the suit. They are: the BCCI, vice-presidents Arun Jaitley and Chirayu Amin, Jyotiraditya Scindia, interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, interim secretary Sanjay Patel and Srinivasan.

Jaitley, Amin, and Scindia were also members of the special disciplinary committee that probed Modi’s “individual misdemeanours” during his tenure as IPL chairman and commissioner from 2008 to 2010. BCCI has alleged that Modi indulged in misappropriation of funds and took some undesirable decisions.

The single point agenda of the SGM was to take up a special disciplinary panel’s 134-page report and take a decision — possibly a life ban for Modi. As per the leaked report, Modi has been charged on eight counts, which would have given the BCCI general body a reason to fix him.

In the suit, Modi’s attorney Mehmood Abdi claimed that Srinivasan, Dalmiya and Patel were not authorised as per the BCCI’s rules and regulations to call the SGM. Abdi particularly pointed out that Rule 13 (ii), 17 (i) and 32 (iv), which deal with vacancies occurring in the top posts, were not adhered to while making appointments following secretary Sanjay Jagdale and treasurer Ajay Shirke’s resignations after the IPL fixing scandal broke out with the arrest of cricketers Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan and others on May 16.

Abdi had pleaded that Modi would suffer “irreparable loss”.

“The balance of convenience, thus, lies in favour of the plaintiff. The defendants are thus hereby restrained from holding the SGM scheduled for September 25, 2013,” the judge said.


Reproduced from Mail Today. Copyright 2013. MTNPL. All rights reserved.

Cricket News: Samson and Malik help Rajasthan take first strike - CLT20

Cricket News: Samson and Malik help Rajasthan take first strike - CLT20

Misbah inspires Wolves to consolation win - CLT20

Faisalabad Wolves defeated Kandurata Maroons by 10 runs in the fifth match of the qualifying stage of the CLT20.

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Misbah Ul Haq
Misbah-ul-Haq played a captain's knock as Faisalabad Wolves defeated Kandurata Maroons by 10 runs in the fifth match of the qualifying stage of the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 at Mohali today. Both the teams had failed to qualify for the main tournament, but Maroons go back to Sri Lanka with the dubious ignominy of losing all their three matches.


Misbah again led from the front as he rescued  Wolves for the third consecutive match after the fall of early wickets and his 93 not out helped Faisalabad recover to score 146 for 6 after being asked to bat first.

Maroons suffered an early jolt in their chase when Asad Ali trapped Thilina Kandamby LBW in the second over. Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara then staged a mini-recovery but their 29-run partnership came at more than a ball as the Wolves' bowlers did the basics well.

Ehsan Adil ended the second wicket partnership when Tharanga (25) hit the ball to Asad Ali at mid-off; and then the same combination were in the thick of it again to send back captain Lahiru Thirimanne, as the Maroons slipped to 55 for 3 in the 10th over. Despite his best efforts, Sangakkara was unable to emulate Misbah's heroics as the required rate continued to climb.

Sangakkara (44 in 36 balls) fell in the 15th over with the score at 83 when Ammar Mahmood caught him at deep fine leg off Imran Khalid's bowling. Sangakkara's dismissal put the Wolves in the driving seat and despite Chamara Silva's dogged knock and Milinda Siriwardana's late pyrotechnics, the target proved to be beyond the Maroons.

Adil (3-26) and Khalid (2-27) were the most successful of the Wolves' bowlers, while Saeed Ajmal finished with 4-0-33-0.

Earlier, Misbah came into the middle with the score at 20 for 2 after Nuwan Kulasekara had Ali Waqas caught behind by Sangakkara for a golden duck in the first over, and the same combination then accounted for Asif Ali in the fourth over. Mahmood, who had two near escapes in the first over, finally saw his luck run out when he hit a short of length LHD Dilhara delivery straight to Upul Tharanga at mid-on.

Misbah, who had scored 46 and 56* in the Wolves' previous two matches, was understandably cautious at the start of his innings, but ensured the scoreboard kept ticking along. But, the Wolves' skipper wasn't afraid to play his shots and hit left-arm spinner Siriwardana for two sixes; the first of which almost cost Misbah his wicket when he was only on 1. Fortunately, for the Wolves and Misbah, the long-off fielder only managed to palm the ball over the boundary rope.

But, just when it appeared the Wolves were putting together a partnership, Ajantha Mendis trapped Khurram Shehzad plumb in front, to leave the Pakistan team struggling at 56 for 4 in the 10th over.

Misbah then finally found an ally in Mohammad Salman (21) and the pair added 74 runs in 8.4 overs for the fifth wicket with the former being the more aggressive batsman as he also took the onus on himself to face most of the deliveries. Misbah was especially harsh on Suraj Randiv (2-0-30-0), as he hit the off-spinner for four boundaries and a six. Misbah reached his 50 from 41 deliveries; but scored 43 runs in the next 19 balls that he faced to give the much-needed impetus to the Wolves' innings. Misbah didn't spare Kulasekara (2-34) either hitting him for two sixes and a boundary, but the bowler recovered well to concede only one run to the batsman from the last three deliveries of the Wolves' innings.

Dilhara (3-21) was the most successful Maroons' bowler, while Lahiru Jayaratne (4-0-13-0) was the most economical. Jayaratne also took a spectacular catch diving backwards near the boundary to end Salman's innings.

Samson and Malik help Rajasthan take first strike - CLT20

Yahoo! Cricket

Jaipur:  Sanju Samson’s half-century and Vikramjeet's Malik three-wicket haul helped the Rajasthan Royals defeat the Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets in the first match of the 2013 Champions League T20 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Saturday.

Chasing 143 for victory, the Royals lost Dravid early, after he cut the ball straight into the hands of  Kieron Pollard at point of Nathan Coulter-Nile. Samson (54) then got together with Ajinkya Rahane (33) with a 74-run partnership to put the home team on track. The right-handed teenager was however lucky to survive a plumb lbw shout from Mitchell Johnson, only to be turned down by the umpire.

While Samson rode his luck, Mumbai did break the partnership after Rishi Dhawan bowled Rahane in the 11th over. Samson brought up his half-century and looked to take Rajasthan home, when he was dismissed by Kieron Pollard. At the end of the over, the local boys would need 33 from 24.

Shane Watson (27*) and Stuart Binny (27*) however ensured that there would be no hiccups, as they batted confidently to take their side home with two balls remaining.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to field. Mumbai lost Dwayne Smith early, who lost the ball when he was going for a pull shot, and was trapped leg-before-wicket by Man-of-the-Match Vikramjeet Malik (3/24). The terrible start continued as Dinesh Karthik was bowled by Malik in a subsequent over.

Mumbai Indians 26/2.

Sachin Tendulkar (15) didn’t hang around for too long, hitting three fours in his knock, before edging the ball to Sanju Samson off Stuart Binny. Ambati Rayudu’s run out made life worse. Rohit Sharma (44) and Kieron Pollard (42) came to the rescue with a 52-run partnership for the 5th wicket. After Rohit fell to Shane Watson, Pollard tried hard to put the foot on the accelerator, only to fall off the first ball of the last over.

Thanks to some lusty hitting from Nathan Coulter-Nile (12* runs off 5 balls), Mumbai were able to make it to 142/7.

But the Rajasthan Royals had the last laugh.

McCullum leads Volts to easy win - CLT20

CLT20 Qualifiers, 6th Match: Otago thrash Sunrisers Hyderabad by 5 wickets in Mohali.

Yahoo! Cricket

Mohali: Skipper Brendon McCullum fired Otago Volts to an easy five-wicket win over high-flying Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final game of the qualifying round as both the teams look to keep the momentum going before heading to the main draw of Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was once again in top form as he carted the bowling to all parts. He was well supported by Hamish Rutherford and Jimmy Neesham.

McCullum's hammered an unbeaten 67 from just 39 deliveries to help his team chase down a target of 144 with 22 deliveries remaining. Brendon hit five fours and as many sixes to see his side home without any hiccups.

The Kiwi side were brilliant in all the departments. They bowled superbly and came back to chase the score with intent. Nathan McCullum was declared Man of the Match for his fine bowling spell.

This was Otago's 13th win on the trot in Twenty20 cricket.

Sunrisers can only hope they get better going ahead facing bigger teams.

Earlier, Jean-Paul Duminy top scored with 57 as Sunrisers Hyderabad struggled to make a competitive total at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. Otago made full use of spin friendly conditions to make quick in-roads to the Hyderabad top order.

Off-spinner Nathan McCullum (2-23), who started the proceedings with the new ball, had opener Parthiv Patel's (12) stumps disturbed in the third over of the match. The all-rounder then removed the dangerous Shikhar Dhawan for 12 runs in his next over.

The Hyderabad captain, who had looked sublime scoring fifties in both the earlier games, drove one straight to Ryan ten Doeschate at mid-on. Biplab Samantray too didn't last long and was done in by a superb catch by Michael Bracewell at long on off Nick Beard.

Duminy and Cameron White steadied the ship but their 40-run partnership ended when the Australian flushed one straight into the hands of Brendon McCullum for 25.

Darren Sammy (26) joined Duminy and they upped the tempo with a quickfire 58-run partnership against accurate bowling on a pitch of occasional low bounce.

The match was as good as a dead rubber as both teams had already qualified for the main draw of the competition.

Note: The main competition starts tomorrow (September 21) with Rajasthan Royals taking on Mumbai Indians in Jaipur.

No change in plans, will seek extension: Srinivasan

'I have not suffered any disqualification. I plan to contest and people have extended support to my candidature'


By Indo Asian News Service | IANS

Chennai, (IANS): Indian cricket board chief N Srinivasan on Saturday categorically said that there is no change in his plans to contest the presidential election at the ensuing annual general meeting of the powerful body.

"I have not suffered any disqualification. I plan to contest and people have extended support to my candidature," Srinivasan told IANS on the day when the Mumbai police filed a charge sheet naming his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan in the Indian Premier League (IPL) betting case.The Chennai Super Kings is owned by city-based cement major India Cements Ltd, of which Srinivasan is the vice chairman and managing director.

"The law will take its own course in Gurunath's case. He has been suspended and is no way connected with the game/team now," Srinivasan said.

According to him the-charge sheet against Meiyappan may not affect his prospects of getting one year extension.

Srinivasan said the issues relating to the two-member probe panel is sub-judice and he cannot comment on that.

The Mumbai police filed a voluminous charge-sheet in the IPL-6 spot-fixing scam, naming Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh, Meiyappan, Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf and many others before a metropolitan magistrate Saturday.

Besides 22 accused and eight wanted accused, the charge-sheet has named several Indian and Pakistani bookies, many of whom were arrested in Mumbai when the scam surfaced in May.

Running into more than 11,500 pages, the police have charged the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Mumbai Police Act, IT Act and Gambling Act.

The police have named around 200 witnesses and attached half-a-dozen forensic reports and mentioned 181 seizures pertaining to the case.

The police have also cited phone records, CCTV footage, SIM card details and other evidence in the charge-sheet.

The spot-fixing scam had erupted in May with the arrest of some cricketers and bookies in separate operations Delhi Police and Mumbai police.