Cricket News

Shewag 219 world record highlights

2011-12-09T01:23:00.000-08:00

New Delhi: Virender Sehwag's awe-inspiring double hundred, only the second in ODI history, continued to fetch him effusive praise with cricketers, athletes from other sports and international media bowing in admiration to his epic knock.

Sehwag smashed 219 off 149 deliveries in the fourth one-dayer against the West Indies on Thursday in Indore, overtaking his idol Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 200 to become the highest individual scorer in an ODI.

Leading the praise was Tendulkar himself, who said he was happy that a fellow countryman had broken the record created by him.

"I am very happy for Viru and also happy about the fact that someone who has broken my record is my team-mate and an Indian. Well done Viru," the veteran right-hander, who is in Melbourne right now, said in an SMS.

The knock also created ripples far away in Australia, a country which India tours next for a Test series. Staying up to catch Sehwag's brutality was Aussie swashbuckler David Warner and he claimed the 33-year-old left him amazed.

"Wow, Test match tomorrow but am still up watching Virender Sehwag score, hopefully, 200. Unreal, and he does (get the) highest ever. Well done mate," Warner tweeted referring to the second Test against New Zealand on Friday.

Sehwag's Indian colleagues were expectedly in awe with players such as Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay congratulating the marauding opener.

"It's a great effort. Once he got a triple hundred (in Tests), it was just a matter of time for him to bring up this one. I am a big fan of him. The fact that he can even dispatch good balls to boundaries makes him so different," Karthik said.

Vijay said, "I was just watching it. I am so happy for him. It's unbelievable. He is such a great batsman. He batted like himself."

Former chief selector Kiran More described Sehwag as one of the greatest cricketers India had ever produced.

"One of the greatest cricketers India ever had. He is one of the biggest destroyers of spin bowling. Be it Test, one-day or T20, he bats with equal flair. If you see the records, Indian Test cricket has improved tremendously in last 10 years and Viru is a key factor.

"The results are showing. He will be a vital cog in the Indian wheel in their upcoming tour Down Under. He has done well in difficult conditions and on various types of pitches. We can't compare Sachin with Sehwag. When he came, he tried to copy Sachin. But Sehwag has played very freely since then," More said.

Sehwag had athletes from other sports also glued to the TV sets and among them were Indian tennis players Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza who were effusive in congratulating Sehwag.

"Holy cow is all I am gonna say about that innings. Amazing stuff by Viru. As Johnny Mac would say, "You can't be serious," said Bhupathi.

"What an achievement. What a player. Hats off to Sehwag," added Mirza.

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar said, "Congrats Viru for that incredible 219 which was an epic innings! What timing and energy, indeed SehWhacked. Respect."

Not to be left out, Indian Premier League CEO Sundar Raman said, "If one did not see Viru's innings, could easily mistake the scorecard for a game of book cricket!"

Former India captain Ajit Wadekar said Sehwag's phenomenal knock of 219 was "out of the world" stuff.

"No batsman in the modern game destroys attacks quite like Sehwag when he is in the right mood, and when presented like he was with an easy paced batting pitch and short boundaries, there was always going to be problems for the West Indies. When he raced to his 100 off only 69 deliveries, Sehwag was unstoppable," said The Daily Telegraph.

The Guardian said Sehwag's understanding of the game is quite different from his contemporaries.

"Virender Sehwag's technique is not revolutionary, just thrillingly heightened. The way he sees the game is so different," it said.

"What is different about Sehwag is his mind, the way he sees the game. Essentially, he is free. Where tradition insists that the new ball and fresh bowlers and aggressive fields are threats, he sees wide open spaces, a hard ball that will fly off the bat," it added.

The newspaper likened Sehwag to Brian Lara, saying he simplifies the game.

"Viru doesn't have Gayle's shoulders or Jayasuriya's forearms or Haydo's pecs. He has none of the nervous intensity of Slater or the cross-eyed desire of Hayden. He doesn't really have the insouciance of Gayle or Barry Richards," it said.

"He is instead an almost implacable little Buddha, soft-edged, calmly accepting of the fates, whether they swing for him or against. If there is one player he is most like, it is Lara, in that he can hit unstoppably not just for hours but for days. It is they who have built monolithic scores most regularly.

"Yet Lara didn't open, and he often gave the first hour or so of his innings to the bowler. That has not been Sehwag's way," The Guardian added.

"I think the knock was out of the world. I have never seen anyone hitting so hard and so aggressively. His cuts, pulls were ferocious. We talk about Vivian Richards, the Aussies but in Sehwag we have someone who can play breathtakingly," Wadekar said.

"He has got so many 200s. He has such confidence. He knows that he can do it and it was just a matter of time. This knock is one of the best. People will remember his knock for a long time," he added.

Wadekar said the knock would give Sehwag a confidence boost ahead of the Australia series later this month.

"The record-breaking knock will give him a lot of confidence. Having played such a knock, helping the team to 418 is not a joke. I'm sure the Aussies would be very worried now," he Wadekar said.

"It gives us a thrill. We have all the record-breakers in our team - Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid. This is the best Indian team ever," he said.

Former Test player Lalchand Rajput said that it was only Sehwag who could have broken Tendulkar's record.

"This was one of the best knocks I have ever seen. People were casting aspersions on him. Many were writing that he had not scored for the past five innings. But he answered them in the right way," Rajput said.

"If there was anyone who could have broken Sachin Tendulkar's record, it was Sehwag. Had he stayed there till the end, who knows he could have scored even a 250. A innings such as this before the Australia tour will give him a lot of confidence."

The international media too gave a round of applause to the rustic Najafgarh-lad, whose simplicity with words and high-risk batting has bowled over many.

Eden pitch ugly wicket says MS Dhoni

2011-11-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

Kolkata: Less than a fortnight after it was criticised by Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as an 'ugly' wicket, the Eden Gardens strip is back in focus again.

Staging the second India, West Indies Test from November 14, the much-criticised Eden wicket will hold the cetrestage with milestone man Sachin Tendulkar eyeing his 100th ton in international cricket.
Understandably, Eden curator Prabir Mukherjee who has been in the business since 1989 is under some pressure.

Even as the 80-year-old maintains that there's no added pressure on him, his recent hush-hush meeting with CAB boss Jagmohan Dalmiya tells a different story.

The CAB refuses to confirm but sources claim the Board has sent instructions to the curator for a specific tailor-made wicket, especially after India's Twenty20 loss to England on October 29.

Incidentally, there was an air of displeasure among the Bengal and Gujarat cricketers during their Ranji Trophy Super League opener earlier this week.

But the Eden curator asserted that an ideal Test wicket had been laid out for the second Test.

"People love to make concocted stories. They see me meeting with (Jagmohan) Dalmiya and write stories that he has issued me a warning, likewise," Mukherjee said.

IND VS WI 2nd test live streaming

2011-11-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

New Delhi: Itching to attain peak fitness ahead of the tough tour of Australia later this year, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan reckons the emergence of youngsters like Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron augers well for Indian cricket.

Yadav caught the eye of many during India's one-day series against England and the subsequent first Test against the West Indies here and Aaron was equally impressive in the ODIs, and their efforts did not escape Zaheer's attention.

"It is a positive sign for Indian cricket. I was watching the morning session (of day 2 of the first Test against West Indies) and it was heartening to see Umesh bowl in that channel. They have the pace," Zaheer told PTI.

Training with his Mumbai Ranji Trophy teammates for the past few couple of weeks, Zaheer said his immediate aim was to regain 100 per cent fitness, following which he will take a call on which match he would play in the top domestic tournament.

"I have not yet decided but I will take a call on that very soon. I am trying to regain 100 per cent fitness. I have been doing full session and will take a call in consultation with the physio at the National Cricket Academy," he said.

Mumbai are scheduled to play Karnataka from November 17, followed by matches against Orissa from November 29 and Saurashtra from December 6, and Zaheer is likely to play in at least one of the three matches to prove his fitness ahead of the Indian team's departure for Australia on December 13.

Troubled by various injuries for a major part of his career, the left-arm seamer said that he wants to be part of the Indian team in Australia from start to finish.

"I have never been part of a full tour of Australia, so I want to play the full tour this time around," Zaheer said.

Zaheer broke down after bowling only 13.3 overs, during which he picked up two wickets, in the Lord's Test against England in July.

Troubled by a recurrent hamstring strain, Zaheer also underwent a surgery in England for an ankle impingement on his right foot.

He was on crutches for some time following the surgery, but later improved to be able to bowl at the nets.

"The emphasis is on bowling. I have been bowling for about two weeks. I am feeling good, and I am only building up (towards match fitness)," the 33-year-old said.

Asked about the hype around Sachin Tendulkar's impending hundredth international century, Zaheer said the fans expect nothing less than a century whenever the champion batsman walks out to bat.

"You always expect a century from Sachin. He will score, but the question is when," he said.

Tendulkar seemed on course to achieve the much-awaited landmark before a Devendra Bishoo googly foxed him when on 76 during India's victory in the first Test.

INDIA VS WESTINDIES 2nd TEST:India, West Indies teams arrive in Kolkata

2011-11-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

Kolkata: The Indian cricket team sans Sachin Tendulkar and Ravichandran Ashwin along with their West Indian counterparts arrived in Kolkata for the second Test beginning on Monday.

Eyeing his impending 100th international century, Tendulkar is expected to join the team on Saturday, while offspinner Ashwin, who is getting married, will join the squad on the eve of the match, team sources said.

The Chennai spinner is tying the knot with Preethi Narayanan on Sunday and is expected to fly straight to Kolkata after taking the wedding vows.

Ashwin scalped nine wickets, including six in the second innings in the opening Test to earn the Man-of-the-Match award in his debut match in New Delhi.

Both the teams opted to rest on Friday and according to the local manager India will practice at 1 pm on Saturday.

Leading 1-0 by virtue of their five-wicket win in the first Test, India will aim to seal the three-match series with a victory here.

Australia vs south africa 1st test highlights:SA beat Aus by 8 wickets inside three days

2011-11-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

Cape Town: Captain Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla blasted centuries to send South Africa racing to a crazy eight-wicket win over an embarrassed Australia in the first Test on Friday.

South Africa won inside two-and-a-half days at Newlands after trailing by a hefty 188 runs on the first innings, completing a staggering turnaround in an amazing match to lead the two-Test series.

Smith made 101 not out - the fourth time he's made a century in a successful fourth-innings run chase - and Amla 112 as South Africa hurried to their victory target of 236 for just two wickets before lunch on Day Three.

The pair shared a dominating 195-run partnership and Australia's bowlers took just one wicket on the third day in Cape Town.

This, after Australia were skittled for 47 in a game-changing collapse in their second innings on Thursday, their lowest score since the 19th century.

After that chaotic second day when 23 wickets fell and the game swung wildly in the space of four frantic hours in the afternoon, Smith and Amla restored sanity. The Proteas' pair played fluently to take South Africa to an absurd victory after they trailed by a big margin in the first innings just a day ago.

"It's quite incredible. Yesterday was a bit of a mind boggle for all of us," Smith said. "I think it's probably a win I have to give to the bowlers, the way they fought back after a bad batting display and got us back in the game and being able to close it off was terrific."

"Hopefully the next match is less stressful than this one."

Led by 151 from captain Michael Clarke, Australia made 284 batting first and blasted out South Africa for 96 for their 188-run lead, seizing complete control of the match.

But Australia suddenly slumped to their worst batting score in Tests since 1896 - and their fourth lowest total ever - to see their dominant position disintegrate in a heap of wickets on the second afternoon.

"We were in a good position but we let that slide very quickly," Clarke said. "We have no excuses for that, we played disgraceful shots. Our shot selection was horrendous, our execution with the ball today wasn't great and we let the Test match slide. Like I say, we have no excuses. We have a lot of work to do before the second Test match."

Australia also missed two crucial chances off Amla in the final stages of a traumatic Test for the Baggy Greens, dropping the right-hander off the last ball of the second day and again early on Friday when he was on 30, when Shane Watson spilled a regulation catch at first slip.

Amla sent flashing drives through the covers for his 13th Test century and first against the Aussies, powering the Proteas to victory with 21 fours in a 134-ball innings.

Amla made the most of his two lives to go on the attack. He carved three straight boundaries off Ryan Harris - the bowler who produced the two missed chances from Amla - to cruise to three figures before edging a catch to Clarke in the gully off Mitchell Johnson with South Africa 14 short of victory.

But Smith saw South Africa home with his unbeaten hundred, and first Test ton in a year, nudging a single through midwicket to complete a dramatic turnaround in a hectic Test that lasted barely two days but is set to be remembered for years.

The 195-run partnership between Amla and Smith set a record for the second wicket for South Africa in games against Australia, beating another mark that had stood for over 100 years - another milestone in a match that produced a string of records amid the madness, mainly down to the inexplicable failure of the batters, on Thursday.

All four innings featured on Day Two, 17 consecutive batsmen were dismissed without reaching double figures, and the most wickets fell on a day of a Test in more than 100 years.

Australia's dramatic second-innings slump, where they were bowled out in just 18 overs and were in danger of recording the lowest Test score ever, sent the tourists crashing to defeat in stunning and unexpected fashion.

"We got rolled for 47 and the sun was shining," Clarke said. "It's cricket, there's plenty of tough times throughout your career and I guarantee this is one tough time for our team."

"Our goal is to fight hard in the second Test and get a win and try to level the series before we get on a plane back home."

Organizers announced they allowed spectators who had tickets for Days Four and Five to use those passes instead on Friday, because of what they called "the freakish course of this exciting Test match."

The second Test starts next Thursday in Johannesburg.

Australia vs south africa 1st test highlights 96 allout

2011-11-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

Australia vs south africa 1st test highlights 47 allout

2011-11-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

IND VS ENG 5th ODI highlights

2011-10-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Kolkata: Indian spinners sparked an England collapse after skipper MS Dhoni's fireworks with the bat to hand the visitors a 5-0 bashing by winning the fifth ODI by 95 runs here at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

After Varun Aaron broke the 129-run opening stand between Craig Kieswetter (63) and skipper Alastair Cook (60), India's spin attack of Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Suresh Raina and Manoj Tiwary took nine wickets between them to dismiss the visitors for 176. Of these, Jadeja was the most successful bowler with a spell of 4/33.

Earlier, Indian skipper Dhoni's not out effort of 75 off 69 balls carried India to a formidable total of 271/8.

Indian openers Ajinkya Rahaje and Gautam Gambhir gave their team a solid start of 80 but India were jolted by losing three wickets at the same score.

But Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Praveen Kumar gave their skipper the support he needed to take India to a challenging total.

Sachin Returns

2011-10-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Mumbai: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has started training after a month he was ruled out of action due to a toe injury during the One-Day International series in England.

Tendulkar visited the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai on Friday, where he was seen joggling lightly on the sidelines of a C. K. Nayudu Under-22 game between Mumbai and Gujarat, Hindustan Times reported.

The Little Master suffered recurrence of an inflammation to the bone in his big toe on the right foot, ahead of the first ODI against England at Cardiff, due to which he had to return to India.

The same injury kept him out of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, which was won by his team Mumbai Indians.

Tendulkar could be aiming to get fit before the home series against the West Indies in November, which would help him prepare better for the Australia tour starting on December 26.

The report also said Tendulkar might comeback for the fourth ODI against England, which will be played in Mumbai.

New ODI rules confusing for now: Kohli

2011-10-16T10:18:00.001-07:00

New Delhi: India's middle-order batsman Virat Kohli finds the new ODI rules introduced by the ICC confusing and feels that the playing condition, which allows for a run out if a batsman is deemed to have obstructed the field, is "vague".

The new ICC rules came into application in the ongoing five-match India-England series, the first game of which India won by 126 runs in Hyderabad.

"It is a good change. It might turn out to be more interesting and exciting eventually but in the first match it was very confusing. The run out rule is a little vague, no one knows how the obstruction rule will apply," Kohli said on the eve of the second ODI here on Monday.

According to the new rule, on appeal from the fielders, if the umpire feels that a batsman, while running between the wickets, has significantly changed his direction without probable cause (to save his wicket) when a fielder attempts to run the batsman out, should be given out "obstructing the field". It shall not be relevant whether a run out would have been effected or not.

For making a decision to declare the batsman out obstructing the field, the on-field umpires may consult the third-umpire.

There were four run outs in the first ODI (India 3, England 1) but none involved the 'obstructing the field' rule.

Among the other changes, each fielding side is given two new balls to be used in alternate overs, one at each end. The mandatory change of the ball after the 34th over of an innings will not take place anymore.

The two powerplay blocks, which the bowling team and the batting team decide to take as per their wish after the end of first 10 overs (Mandatory Powerplay) will not be taken earlier than the 16th over nor be completed later than the 40th over.

Talking about Monday's match, Kohli said he expects the Feroze Shah Kotla pitch to be its usual slow self and India would be relying more on the spin department to deliver the wickets on such a track.

"Delhi wicket has always been on slower side, there won't be too much of bounce but I think this time it would be better than before for sure," he said.

"Spinners would be our strength, we have good pacers also but spin is our strength and we will capitalise in the middle overs using our spinners," he added.

Going into the match after a massive win in the lung-opener, India strike a confident pose after the hammering the team got in the shambolic tour to England. Kohli said the Hyderabad win was just the kind of boost India needed.

"Obviously it's confidence booster after the England series, we have been preparing for some time. We were keen to do well. The fact that we beat them with a big margin, it was a convincing victory so it will obviously give us confidence.

We will take this confidence into the next game on Monday," he said.

"Some youngsters have been coming up and they have done well against a strong England team. It will give them a lot of confidence and whenever in future they play for India, they will use this confidence," he added.

Recalling the horrendous tour, during which India failed to win a single international game, Kohli said part of the disaster was also caused by weather gods especially during the ODI series.

"In England, we did really well in ODIs, we could not win because of certain unfortunate circumstances such as rain but we gave them a good fight. We have always been in a calm, confident and collected space and we always had the confidence," he said.

IND VS ENG 2nd ODI live

2011-10-16T10:17:00.001-07:00

New Delhi: By ending their 10-match win-less streak against England in the first one-dayer at Hyderabad, Team India once again exhibited their invincibility at home, to the dismay of the opposition. The depleted Team India, which is without the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma and Zaheer Khan, will go head to head in the second encounter at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi hoping to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

India won the first match on a slow wicket thanks to some brilliant batting by skipper MS Dhoni who led from front and Suresh Raina. Dhoni scored a match-wining knock of 87 off just 70 deliveries as the hosts piled on an imposing total of 300/7 in their quota of fifty overs. Another bright spot in Indian team is the rise of Ravindra Jadeja who has improved vastly since the 2009 T20 World Cup. The left-hander scored a fighting 27 and took three important wickets and would once again be the one to look out for on the slow Kotla wicket.

Delhi lads Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli also got off to a decent start and the duo could be a real handful for the English if they keep on going their merry way. The two have enough experience to enthrall their home crowd if they find their feet in the middle. Gambhir and Kohli have been in great form in the Champions League T20 and will be hoping to set off some Diwali fireworks for all the fans worldwide. The team management will surely be going with Parthiv Patel and young Ajinkya Rahane who failed to make their mark in the first ODI, but possess enough quality in them to make a comeback. The Indian batting order looks formidable, and it will be a near impossible task for the England bowlers to dominate them in their own backyard.

The Indian spin bowling was brilliant in the first ODI, R Ashwin once again proved that he is the best man for the job after Harbhajan Singh. He, along with Jadeja, spun a web around the batsmen and forced them into errors which cost the English team dearly. The Delhi pitch will offer the same assistance to the spinners and the duo will once again hold the key on sluggish Kotla turf. Pacers Praveen Kumar and Umesh Yadav were right on the money and took three wickets between them and built the pressure early on in the innings. With the talented Varun Aaron and Rahul Sharma waiting in the wings, competition for places will be the order of the day, but the team's think tank is likely to go with the winning combination for the second ODI.

On the other hand England's bowling and batting was dismal in the first ODI. Apart from Grame Swann, the English bowlers were easily tackled by the strong Indian batting. Bresnan and co. were toothless in the death overs and were unable to make most of the early wickets. It was the same story in the batting department for England, as they were bundled out for just 174 inside fifty overs.

Craig Keiswetter, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen failed to make any impact for the visitors. Skipper Alaistair Cook was the only key contributor with a well-made fifty but he also eventually perished trying to up the ante. The visitors will need something special from KP and Cook if they are to seriously pose a challenge for India in the second ODI. The English batsmen will have to pull up their socks if they want to take the fight to the opposition, or else the five-match series might fizzle out into a one-sided affair in favour of the hosts.

IND VS ENG 1st ODI - Not a revenge says MS Dhoni

2011-10-15T04:21:00.000-07:00

HYDERABAD: The India-England series has been billed as a 'revenge series' but Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni chose to play down the issue after his stellar show in the first ODI against England.

"I believe revenge is a very strong word. If you look at the England series especially the second half, we did play well. We scored runs but unfortunately there were rain interruptions and the ball used to become heavier and tougher for our bowlers to grip," Dhoni said at the post match media interaction after India beat England by 126 runs in the first ODI.

"This is a series where the idea is to groom the youngsters. Also this win came after a long time and it was an important win. You can't enjoy playing the game if you lose too many matches," the skipper said candidly.

Dhoni termed his unbeaten 87-run knock as one of his "precious innings" and said today he played like he used to do at the start of his career.

"I normally don't believe in rating my performance but yes this innings is a precious innings for me. Over the years, I have played some good knocks and this one is also a valuable one. Once I started batting at No 6, I had remodelled my game. This innings of mine was a very well calculated one."

"I tried a lot of aerial shots which I normally don't play nowadays. I was practising a lot of hitting over the cover region. I felt this was the right match to try out and it worked well," he added.

He feels that batting at No 6 is something that shouldn't be entrusted on any junior player as it would be asking too much from him.

"Often on sub-continent tracks, if you send a junior guy, he might not get enough deliveries and get out scoring 10 or 15. Then again on a good strip he may just score around 35 and not get enough time to score big fifty or a 80," Dhoni observed.

"After 15 matches, you will see that particular player's average in the range of 25 to 30. That's why you need to send them up and give them as much opportunities possible. Look how Yuvraj Singh transformed his game batting at that position," he quipped.

Dhoni felt that lack of dew was one factor that helped his bowlers stick to the right lines.

"Yesterday in the evening, I saw there was a fair bit of dew but today fortunately there wasn't any dew. That really helped our cause. Also the dryness in the outfield offered a bit of reverse swing as well," Dhoni explained.

He lauded young Ravindra Jadeja's effort as the all-rounder scored a quick 27 and then grabbed three wickets for 34 runs.

"Jadeja is an important player as he brings in a lot of stability to the side," Dhoni said.

About the new Powerplay rule, Dhoni said, "It was important for us to rotate the strike initially. There was a bit of uneven bounce but I won't say too much. The new Powerplay means that even if you take it in the 36th over, still you have 10 overs left. Therefore, you can't go all out.

"I reckon 250-260 would have been a good score and in the end we got 300."

Dhoni ruled out the idea that he would depend more on spin to counter the English batsmen as the visitors have found it uncomfortable.

"Had it been April or May when it's dry and humid with the pitches offering lot of turn, I would have said that I would go with three spinners and two seamers. But in these circumstances when we are approaching winter season, we still don't know whether their will be dew in Delhi and Mohali," he reasoned.

IND VS ENG 1st ODI - We were outplayed in all departments says Cook

2011-10-15T04:19:00.000-07:00

Hyderabad: England captain Alastair Cook credited India for their comprehensive 126-run win and said the home team completely outplayed the visitors in the first ODI here on Friday.

After posting a challenging 300 for seven, India shot out England for 174 runs in 36.1 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

"It was an important toss to win. We saw at the end that the ball kept low. But credit to India. They outplayed us in all departments today," Cook said after the match.

"We're going to learn from this, and that's the beauty of a five-match series."

India's newest spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin (3/35) and Ravindra Jadeja sizzled in the slow conditions, sharing six wickets between them and Cook said tackling the tweakers will be a challenge for his batsmen in the series.

"We know that (playing spin) is an issue, and that's a skill thing. We're going to work hard on that in the next couple of days," he said.

IND VS ENG 1st ODI Highlights

2011-10-15T04:16:00.000-07:00

Hyderabad: Back in form with a match-winning knock against England, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the unbeaten 87 in the opening ODI here was one of his most "precious and well-calculated" knocks.

"I normally don't believe in rating my performance but yes this innings is a precious innings for me. Over the years, I have played some good knocks and this one is also a valuable one. Once I started batting at No 6, I had remodelled my game.

MS Dhoni said the unbeaten 87 in the opening ODI here was one of his most precious knock.

This innings of mine was a very well calculated one," Dhoni said at the post match media interaction after India beat England by 126 runs in the first ODI last night.

"I tried a lot of aerial shots which I normally don't play nowadays. I was practicing a lot of hitting over the cover region. I felt this was the right match to try out and it worked well," he added.

He feels that batting at No 6 is something that shouldn't be entrusted on any junior player as it would be asking too much from him.

"Often on sub-continent tracks, if you send a junior guy, he might not get enough deliveries and get out scoring 10 or 15. Then again on a good strip he may just score around 35 and not get enough time to score a big fifty or an 80," Dhoni observed.

"After 15 matches, you will see that particular player's average in the range of 25 to 30. That's why you need to send them up and give them as many opportunities as possible. Look how Yuvraj Singh transformed his game batting at that position," he quipped.

Dhoni lauded young Ravindra Jadeja's effort as the all-rounder scored a quick 27 and then grabbed three wickets for 34 runs.

"Jadeja is an important player as he brings in a lot of stability to the side," Dhoni said.

This series has been billed as a 'revenge series' but Dhoni chose to play down the tag.

"I believe revenge is a very strong word. If you look at the England series especially the second half, we did play well. We scored runs but unfortunately there were rain interruptions and the ball used to become heavier and tougher for our bowlers to grip.

"This is a series where the idea is to groom the youngsters. Also this win came after a long time and it was an important win. You can't enjoy playing the game if you lose too many matches," the skipper said candidly.

About the new Powerplay rule, Dhoni said, "It was important for us to rotate the strike initially. There was a bit of uneven bounce but I won't say too much. The new Powerplay means that even if you take it in the 36th over, still you have 10 overs left. Therefore, you can't go all out.

"I reckon 250-260 would have been a good score and in the end we got 300."

Dhoni ruled out the idea that he would depend more on spin to counter the English batsmen as the visitors have found it uncomfortable.

"Had it been April or May when it's dry and humid with the pitches offering lot of turn, I would have said that I would go with three spinners and two seamers. But in these circumstances when we are approaching winter season, we still don't know whether there will be dew in Delhi and Mohali," he reasoned.

INDIA VS ENGLAND 2nd test 3 rd day Highlights

2011-08-01T01:11:00.000-07:00

Nottingham: A magnificent 159 by Ian Bell and some uninspiring bowling by the Indians allowed England to march to an imposing total of 441/6 at the end of day three of the second Test at Nottingham on Sunday.

At stumps, Matt Prior was sitting pretty on 64 while Tim Bresnan was giving him company on 47 as the home team extended their lead to 374.

Prior and Bresnan stretched their unbeaten stand to 102 after India struck back with quick wickets in the post tea session.

Yuvraj Singh dismissed Bell who edged a rising delivery to first slip where VVS Laxman took a sharp catch.

Praveen Kumar then picked up Eoin Morgan's wicket for 70, and was unlucky not to get Jonathan Trott off the very next delivery.

It looked like a clear leg before wicket decision but the umpire ruled the batsman not out. Trott though did not survive long and was finally out in Praveen's next over for just two.

Earlier, in a magnanimous move, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni called back Bell after the latter was declared run out under bizarre circumstances off the last ball before tea.

Morgan flicked the ball off his legs and a sprawling dive by Praveen Kumar at the deep square leg boundary prevented the ball from touching the boundary skirting.

Bell assuming that tea had been called jogged up to Morgan and the two batsmen started walking off before the bails were whipped off at the batsman's end.

The decision was referred to third umpire Billy Bowden who gave the decision in favour of the fielding team which was reversed subsequently.

Bell and Morgan pressed on for England after the loss of Kevin Pietersen as the home team went into tea at 252/4.

Pietersen struck seven boundaries and scored 63 before nicking one to MS Dhoni off the bowling of S Sreesanth.

England progressed to 130/2 at lunch with Bell on 84 and Pietersen on 20 as the hosts moved ahead by 63 runs with eight second innings wickets still in their bag.

Sreesanth struck a crucial blow for India by sending back England skipper Andrew Strauss as the hosts carried on from their overnight score of 24/1.

Strauss who made 16 put on 51 runs with Bell for the second wicket before edging a delivery to his opposite number Dhoni behind the stumps.

It was really stupid on my part says Bell

2011-08-01T01:09:00.000-07:00

Nottingham: After being at the centre of the run-out drama, England batsman Ian Bell admitted that it was "naive and stupid" on his part to walk off the crease, assuming that the tea break had been called on day three of the second Test against India here on Sunday.

"It was being naive on my part to assume the ball was dead and walk off for tea, it was stupid," stated Bell whose stupendous 159 was overshadowed by the run-out drama at the stroke of tea.

Bell was controversially given run out when he left the crease after completing a run, assuming that the ball is dead and tea had been called.

The batsman was, however, called back after the Indian team, in a fine gesture, withdrew its appeal. "Morgan had clipped one off his pads right down to the boundary, the fielder had dived, it looked like having gone for four, the fielders body-language suggested so. I had touched down for the third (run) and turned and saw Asad (umpire Asad Rauf) pull out the jumper and looked like he was going to hand it over to the bowler," Bell said.

"My initial reaction was naive and to walk off for tea. I walked up to Morgan. I wasn't attempting a run and everything was meandering towards walking off for tea. It wasn't until we reached the boundary ropes, we realised something had changed.

"We felt something was going on. But not thinking it involved us. We were waiting to understand. Even then it was a shock (when I was given out)."

Bell revealed that it was at the very last moment that he was told he could resume his innings. "It was at the very last minute. Prior had padded up to go. There was this last-minute knock on the door that I could go out and bat. After the captains and coaches had met, India had got back to us."

VVS laxman Vaughan Hot spot controversy

2011-08-01T01:06:00.000-07:00

NOTTINGHAM: If England are at the receiving end, can Vaseline be far behind? Late on Saturday afternoon, when India were just about effecting a strong but eye-pleasing fightback, it inevitably made its appearance.

VVS Laxman, on 27, jabbed at a swinging delivery and missed it; the bowler, James Anderson, and the slip cordon promptly went up, claiming an edge. Umpire Asad Rauf had a long look at it and shook his head. Not out.

England were not convinced though: they sought a review. Third umpire Billy Bowden watched a few replays, enlisting the Hot Spot technology too, but just couldn't detect the edge. Laxman survived again.

It should have been the end of it. But commentators on Sky Sports, mostly former England players, were also certain that he was out; indeed, the 'snicko' that the broadcaster was using, flashed the tremor indicating that the ball had hit the bat.

They were obviously not going to let it go; they argued that the Hot Spot was not good enough, that it didn't catch the fainter nicks. Michael Vaughan, however, took it to another level by tweeting: "Has Vaseline on the outside edge saved the day for Laxman?"

It brought into the open rumours about the use of this substance by batsmen to negate the Hot Spot. It apparently softens the blow, especially if it's only a faint touch, making it difficult for the Hot Spot to catch it. It anyway can only detect contact between two solid substances, like bat and ball, bat and pad etc.

Not surprisingly, the local media went into over-drive. Almost all the newspapers, with late deadlines raked it up, alleging that something was amiss. What, of course, was being left unsaid was that they were calling Laxman a cheat, that they were questioning his integrity as a player.

Expectedly, it created a huge furore back home. Former India players responded angrily, with Sunil Gavaskar even suggesting that Laxman should take Vaughan to court. Sanjay Manjrekar said that Vaughan was only seeking attention.

Vaughan, realizing that he had stirred a dangerous pot this time, claimed that he was joking on Sunday. "Friends from India, I didn't accuse VVS of using Vaseline," he wrote. "Even if batsmen do, it's not cheating," he added. There is, of course, no law against applying stuff on the bat, unlike on the ball.

On Saturday, though, England's players were absolutely sure that Laxman was out. Stuart Broad had a long chat with umpire Rauf, trying to figure out what caused the noise. Replays had already confirmed that there was no contact between pad and pad either.

Later at the press conference, he revealed that he had cheekily felt Laxman's bat when the ball went past his bat. "There was no sign of liquid though," he said. He, however, claimed that Hot Spot was not showing the really faint edges. It is a bit of a flaw."

Maybe, India should get this banned too. If a thin layer of Vaseline can fool it, it can't be a good tool.

Dhoni's 'generous but illogical' gesture hailed

2011-08-01T01:03:00.000-07:00

London: A generous but illogical gesture - this is how the English media and former players described Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to call back Ian Bell after he was controversially run out in the ongoing second Test here.

Dhoni allowed Bell, who was run out after walking off the crease assuming that the ball had crossed the boundary, to play on after tea break.

The Indian captain was hailed for upholding the spirit of the game by many but there were others who felt Bell should have paid for his carelessness and that included legendary English all-rounder Ian Botham.

"It was the right decision by the umpires, they did everything spot-on. Bell had wandered off. He was out and he should have stayed out, in my opinion," Botham wrote in Daily Mirror.

"I can understand why MS Dhoni withdrew his appeal and decided to go along with the spirit of the game, but I would have had no problem if he had upheld it and sent a message about dopey cricket.

"If it was me I'd have run him out and let him think long and hard about remaining in his crease until the ball is dead while sitting on the balcony watching others score the runs he should have," he said.

Even former Australian spinner Shane Warne agreed that Bell was at fault in the episode. "What a last delivery before tea? huge controversy. Much as we don't like to see dismissals like that, Bell made a careless mistake," he said.

On the other hand, England spinner Graeme Swann could not understand what the fuss was all about.

"The big issue about "the run out that wasn't" hasn't been mentioned yet. I had already started a cheese sandwich, so it was definitely tea," he joked.

The English papers, meanwhile, felt Dhoni was well within his rights to reject England's request for a reprieve for Bell, who scored a hundred.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, former player Derek Pringle said, "The hurrah's for good sportsmanship were quick to follow India's generous and illogical decision, but Test cricket, as its participants are at constant pains to remind us, is meant to be tough, something India's bowlers have certainly discovered after England amassed 441-6 in their second innings."

"The spirit of cricket has its place but it was not being abused here. Bell, who'd played superbly to that point, should have remained dismissed, following his naive presumption that a leg-side flick from Eoin Morgan, which had been clumsily fielded at long leg by Praveen Kumar, had gone for 4."

"His reprieve, after Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss visited India's dressing-room during the tea break to plead his case and ask Mahendra Singh Dhoni to withdraw his appeal, should be measured not in runs (Bell added only 22 more before Yuvraj Singh dismissed him fair and square), but in the improved relations between the two Boards."

"Under Law 27.8, the reprieve shouldn't have been allowed anyway, as any player must be recalled before they have left the field of play," he explained.

The writer seemed to suggest that Dhoni's decision was governed more by the bilateral Board ties.

"...when there is potential horse trading to be done at Board level, laws can obviously have a coach and four driven through them. India usually adopt a hard line on such matters though with Duncan Fletcher being a former England coach, perhaps a more conciliatory tone was struck.

"Perhaps they were feeling guilty that the wicket arose, not through any good play on their part, but by the incompetence of their fielding and Bell's doziness. Bell was guilty of breaking the schoolboy dictum of never leaving your crease unless taking a run or the ball is dead, neither of which was the case here."

The Daily Mail said India should not have bothered about the boos at Trent Bridge as they had not done any wrong by dismissing a careless player.

"We almost had an international incident on our hands when Ian Bell was dismissed as he prematurely walked off for tea at Trent Bridge believing that Eoin Morgan had flicked the last ball before the interval for four.

"That we did not was due to an extraordinary piece of sportsmanship from Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher that is being hailed as a victory for the spirit of cricket.

"But, frankly, it was one that they did not have any need to make. India had done nothing wrong," the newspaper said.

"England might have been furious and the majority of the 17,500 crowd indignant when Abhinav Mukund casually removed the bails as Bell headed towards the pavilion with 137 of the most elegant, exquisite runs that you will ever see to his name. But England really had no cause for complaint.

"Bell was inexplicably dozy not to check that the ball had reached the boundary before he left his ground after Praveen Kumar had made a pretty hapless attempt at stopping it reaching the red marker."

The newspaper said Dhoni should not have accepted England's request. "Bell was out of his ground, no sharp practice had taken place and India had nothing to feel guilty about. (Eoin) Morgan had even gestured to Bell to return to his ground before realising that he was too late and decided instead that he had better walk off nonchalantly too.

"Dhoni and coach Fletcher would have had every right to show Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower the door when they asked at tea for India to withdraw their appeal."

The Daily Mirror stated rather matter of factly, "India took the moral high ground, but were brought back to earth on another day of English dominance."

But The Guardian and The Independent were effusive in their praise of Dhoni's gesture.

"...in a game that has at times become increasingly dishonourable it required an honourable act by India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team to enable Bell to complete an innings that appeared to have been curtailed by his own doziness.

"Bell will have learned that in cricket, as in other sports, you play to the metaphorical whistle. He will not always get favours like this. There was some judicial balance in the fact that he capitalised only to the tune of 22 more runs before edging to slip," said The Guardian.

"Dhoni and his team had been booed off the field but with one act of good sportsmanship he won over a capacity crowd of 17,000 and also ensured there would be no lingering bitterness," added The Independent.

Ian Bell controversial Runout

2011-08-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Nottingham: The ICC on Sunday ruled that the run out decision of Ian Bell on the third day of the second cricket Test here was correct and applauded Indian team's fine gesture to recall the England batsman by withdrawing their appeal.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat praised India, the England team and the match officials at Trent Bridge, for the way they upheld the "Great Spirit of the Great Sport of cricket".

At the end of the afternoon session, Bell was given run out after leaving his crease in the belief that tea had been called by on-field umpires Asad Rauf and Marais Erasmus.

"On appeal, after consultation with television umpire Billy Bowden, Bell was given run out, which was the technically correct decision under the letter of the law of the game," the ICC said in a statement.

"Absolute credit must go to Team India, the England team and the match officials - Ranjan Madugalle, Asad Rauf and Marais Erasmus as well as the off-field umpires Billy Bowden and Tim Robinson - for the superb way that they all handled a tricky situation," Lorgat said in the statement.

"While the initial appeal and umpire decision may have been acceptable to the letter of the law, the decision by India captain M S Dhoni and his team -as well as the Team India coaching staff - to withdraw the appeal shows great maturity.

"To see players and officials uphold the Great Spirit of cricket, which has underpinned the game for more than a century, is very special. I am indeed grateful for the way that the teams and match officials handled what was clearly a difficult situation and their behaviour reflects well on everyone," he said.

Dhoni on the verge to be banned

2011-07-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

Dominica: Team India have a 'Save Dhoni' campaign ahead of them if they want to pre-empt a ban on their skipper in the Lord's Test against England, beginning July 21.

Dhoni must not have his team turn up slow on the over-rate in the third Test against the West Indies here from Wednesday, for it would incur an immediate ban of one Test match on him.

The Indian team follow their Caribbean odyssey with a star-billed series in England this summer and if Dhoni's team is not alert, it could make him sit out in the Lord's Test.

Dhoni has already been twice guilty of breaching ICC Code of Conduct, rule 2.5, which states that a captain who is pulled up for three offences of slow over-rates in a 12-month period, would suffer an automatic ban in the next match of the same format.

Dhoni and his men were deemed to have bowled three overs short during the recently-concluded Barbados Test, which was the second such offence in 2011, following a similar breach of rules in the Cape Town Test against South Africa earlier this year.

The onus is now on India's three premier bowlers to avert such a fate befalling their skipper.

Ishant Sharma is in fantastic form with a 10-wicket haul in the drawn Barbados Test but he takes unusually long time to finish up his overs.

"Ishant takes a long time to return to his bowling crease and it sometimes stretches his over to seven minutes," said an insider from the Barbados Test.

The case with Praveen Kumar is a little different.

Praveen does return to his bowling mark briskly but he has the habit of standing and looking at the batsman, after a delivery has passed the bat and gone to the wicketkeeper.

Even Harbhajan Singh, though a spinner, is not much of a help in making up for slow overs.

"If he bowls 20 overs in a day, you would still find the slow over-rate hasn't improved by much."

To be fair to Harbhajan, he got to bowl only 14 and 19 overs from the two innings in the Barbados Test.

In contrast, Ishant and Praveen bowled the bulk of the overs - 42 for the former and 39 for the latter - which makes it 81 overs bowled from the 145 overs in two West Indies' innings.

"Bowlers like Glenn McGrath, if you remember, used to wear a watch on their wrist while bowling," said the source.

"To be fair, it is not easy for a genuine fast bowler to finish his overs in time. Teams which have had Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar usually struggle to keep up with the over-rates."

In the Barbados Test, Dhoni knew all along that he was behind the required rate in a stipulated time but even he was guilty of not rushing up the matter.

Dhoni, being an innovative captain, keeps shuffling his fielders constantly and it doesn't help in finishing the overs in time.

He did try getting Suresh Raina to bowl his off-spinners on the last afternoon in a bid to speed up the rate but it only marginally helped the matter.

Thus, Indian bowlers are required to win the Dominica Test and win the three-Test series but if it comes at the cost of a ban on their skipper, they would have paid a heavy cost for their efforts.

ENGLAND VS SRILANKA 3rd ODI HIGHLIGHTS

2011-07-04T08:56:00.000-07:00

London: Dinesh Chandimal's swashbuckling century anchored Sri Lanka to a convincing six-wicket win in the third one-day international at Lord's on Sunday, as England captain Alastair Cook's career-best knock of 119 proved in vain.

Cook gave the hosts a fighting chance by grafting his way to a second ODI century in a total of 246-7 but the 21-year-old Chandimal's 105 not out helped Sri Lanka chase down the target, finishing on 249-4 with 10 balls to spare.

Opener Mahela Jayawardene — building on his near-flawless 144 in the tourists' series-leveling win at Headingley on Friday — weighed in with an assured 79 at more than a run a ball.

Sri Lanka moved 2-1 ahead in the five-match series, with the fourth ODI at Nottingham on Wednesday.

In farcical scenes late on, Angelo Mathews went on the defensive and often refused runscoring opportunities to allow Chandimal to complete his second ODI century. The tactics angered captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, sitting on the balcony outside the dressing rooms, and left the crowd bemused.

Chandimal eventually passed the milestone two balls into the 48th over, with a massive six over the mid-on boundary, and grabbed the winning runs with a four through extra cover. He had been just as brutal early on, slashing and swotting wayward deliveries to the rope and surviving a fierce early spell by Stuart Broad.

Chandimal, who passed 50 for the second time in ODIs, had 11 fours and two sixes in his 126-ball knock.

Dilshan was bowled by Tim Bresnan for 3 at the start of the Sri Lankans' chase but a second-wicket stand of 112 between Jayawardene and Chandimal put them back in command on a flat wicket in increasingly overcast conditions.

Jayawardene's innings was typically cultured, an exquisite extra-cover drive for four off Bresnan in the sixth over — arguably the shot of the day— which was one of nine boundaries he struck.

He fell to the expensive Jade Dernbach while Kumar Sangakkara (25) and Thilina Kandamby (11) were the other men out for the tourists. Mathews finished on 1 not out off 21 balls.

Cook had earlier underpinned England's 246-7 with a gritty century, made against the backdrop of a regular smattering of falling wickets at the other end.

Kevin Pietersen contributed a quickfire 41 before falling to legspinner Jeevan Mendis for the third straight time this series and when limited-overs star Eoin Morgan departed for 5, less than two overs later, England was struggling at 85-4 after 22 overs.

Partnerships of 72 (Cook-Ian Bell) for the fifth wicket and 75 (Cook-Bresnan) for the sixth revived the hosts, who stuttered to a total that was always going to be tough to defend given the benign batting surface at Lord's.

It was Cook's first century since 2007 — when he made 102 against India — and was a good response to the critics who believe his measured style of batting is not suited to ODIs.

His patient knock, which included 13 fours, may have come off 143 balls but it was crucial in the context of the innings, which started off poorly when Craig Kieswetter (3) and Jonathan Trott (2) perished cheaply to pile early pressure on Cook.

England would have been in even more trouble had Jayawardene not dropped Cook when he was on 15. The captain — who passed the 1,000-run mark in his 29th ODI — was eventually dismissed with seven balls left in the innings, run out by wicketkeeper Sangakkara after attempting a cheeky single from the non-striker's end.

A Sri Lankan victory at Trent Bridge on Wednesday will clinch the series.

Teams:

England: Craig Kieswetter (wk), Alastair Cook (c), Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Jade Dernbach.

Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan (c), Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Thilina Kandamby, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekera, Suranga Lakmal, Suraj Randiv, Lasith Malinga.

Dhoni was wrongly given out -ICC confirms

2011-06-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

Dubai: The ICC on Thursday confirmed that an error by the host broadcaster during first day's play in the second Test between the West Indies and India in Barbados led to the wrong replay being shown to the third umpire that caused Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's dismissal.

During India's innings, India captain Dhoni was out caught at mid-on off the bowling of Fidel Edwards.

On-field umpire Ian Gould suspected that the delivery may have been a no-ball, so as per the correct protocols he sought confirmation from the third umpire Gregory Brathwaite.

But the delivery Brathwaite was shown by the host broadcaster was legitimate and hence, Dhoni was given out.

However, it was subsequently established that Brathwaite had been shown the wrong replay and that the delivery that led to Dhoni's dismissal should indeed have been called a no-ball.

"The host broadcaster for this series, IMG Media, acknowledged the mistake and has apologised. Having looked into the situation, I am satisfied it was an unfortunate but honest mistake in what is a tense and live environment," said Chris Broad of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees.

"It is worth pointing out that the umpires followed the correct procedures and are without blame in this matter.

"Seeing as the game has continued, clearly there is no opportunity to reverse the decision. We are forced now to put it behind us and move on with the remainder of the match," he added.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for IMG Media took the responsibility and said that it was a case of human error.

"IMG Media takes its responsibilities on this matter very seriously. This was a case of human error, compounded by a senior replay operative having to return home at very short notice."

As this series is not operating the Decision Review System (DRS), the enhanced standards, including the presence of an ICC technical official, is not in place as would be the case when DRS is used.

Champions League 2011

2011-06-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: Defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have been drawn in Group A of the 2011 Champions League T20 tournament that will be held from September 23 to October 9, it was announced on Thursday.

As many as 13 teams have the chance to go for Champions League T20 glory this season with seven teams already divided into two groups and six more competing for three remaining places in a pre-tournament playoff.

According to the schedule, the pre-tournament six-team qualifying event will be held at Hyderabad from September 19 to 21. Three winners from this round will join the seven teams in the main tournament that will run from September 23 to October 9. The matches have been scheduled in Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

For the qualifying tournament, the six teams that includes IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders, will be divided into two pools and the top team from each pool qualifies for the group stage, with the third team to be the next highest ranked team based on points and then net run rate.

For the main tournament, the 10 teams will be divided into two groups for a round robin phase before the top two teams from each group progress to the Semi Finals.

The two semi-finals will be held on October 7 and 8 at Bengaluru and Chennai, respectively. Chennai will also host the final on October 9.

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings have been drawn in Group A along with Cape Cobras (South Africa's Pro20 Series Champions), 2009 CLT20 Champions NSW Blues and Mumbai Indians. The fifth team from the group will be the team that finishes top of Pool B in the Qualifier.

Group B contains Royal Challengers Bangalore (2010 IPL Runner-Up), Warriors (2010 CLT20 Runner-up) and South Australian Redbacks (Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash Champions). The remaining two places will come from the Qualifier (the top of Pool A and the next highest qualifier).

The tournament starts in Bengaluru on September 23 with a Group B clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Warriors at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the second time that the venue has hosted the CLT20 opener.

Royal Challengers Bangalore is also the only team to have qualified for the past three tournaments while their opponent was the surprise of last year's event, using its home ground advantage in Port Elizabeth to great effect in the group stage on their way to the Final.

Group A action gets underway the following day with a double header in Chennai with Cape Cobras and NSW Blues in the early match followed by an IPL battle between MS Dhoni's all-conquering Super Kings and Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians.

Teams that emerge from the Qualifier won't start their group stage matches until 25 September, giving them time to regroup and prepare for their campaign.

ENGLAND VS SRILANKA 1st ODI HIGHLIGHTS

2011-06-29T09:33:00.001-07:00

London: An inspired spell of pace bowling by James Anderson helped England dismiss Sri Lanka for just 121, sealing a convincing 110-run win in a rain-affected first match of the one-day series at The Oval on Tuesday.

Set a tough target of 232 off 32 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis method, Sri Lanka wilted to 15-4 by the fifth over, with Anderson taking 3-7 in his first three overs to remove Tillakaratne Dilshan (1), Kumar Sangakkara (4) and Mahela Jayawardene (5) — the team's three key batsmen.

The fast bowler then took a sensational diving catch to see off the dangerous Angelo Mathews (16) before adding Nuwan Kulasekara to his list of scalps, finishing with figures of 4-18 off five overs and giving England the perfect start to the five-match series.

Earlier, Craig Kieswetter hit a rapid 61 off 56 balls either side of a frustrating three-hour rain delay to help England to 229-8.

There was no fairytale end to Sri Lanka veteran Sanath Jayasuriya's international career. The 41-year-old opener, playing his 445th and final ODI, perished for 2 off just four balls, although he did grab the wicket of Ian Bell to have bowling figures of 1-46.

The victory allowed England to gain some revenge for the humiliating 10-wicket hammering it received at the hands of the Sri Lankans in the World Cup quarterfinal in March and improved its overall ODI record against the tourists to 24-22.

Sri Lanka, who welcomed back captain Dilshan from a broken thumb, whitewashed England 5-0 in the teams' last ODI series on English soil but was always up against it after going for 7.15 runs an over in England's innings.

Aside from Kieswetter, whose entertaining knock on his return to the team featured four fours and two sixes, Eoin Morgan (45 off 35 balls) and Kevin Pietersen (26 off 24) also chipped in with quickfire knocks for England.

Opener Alastair Cook (5) — starting out as England's full-time ODI captain and playing his first ODI in 15 months — had lasted just three balls but Kieswetter underpinned the rebuilding of the team's innings in some style.

Suranga Lakmal then went for 20 off the last-but-one over — with allrounder Tim Bresnan smashing 24 off 13 deliveries late on — to give England a bigger psychological advantage by the turnaround.

Dilshan departed to the third ball of Sri Lanka's innings, holing out to Bresnan in the deep, before Anderson trapped Jayawardene lbw, leaving the tourists on 14-3 after 26 balls.

When Sangakkara was caught and bowled by the Lancashire paceman, who then dived to his right to pouch a hooked slog by Mathews to make it 40-5, it was a case of damage limitation for Dilshan's side.

Thilana Kandamby went for a slow 19 before the tail briefly wagged, Lasith Malinga (26) and Suraj Randiv (24) enjoying a swashbuckling 52-run, ninth-wicket stand. Graeme Swann wrapped up the innings, dismissing the tailenders in the space of four balls to end with 3-18 off five.

Malinga (3-40) earlier had Sri Lanka's best bowling figures.

ICC Meet -Decision on ICC Presidency deferred

2011-06-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has deferred until October a proposal to abolish the rotational policy on appointing the governing body's president.

"The board ... decided to defer the proposed constitutional amendment to the nominations process for election of president," the ICC said in a statement at the end of a two-day meeting of its executive board.

Scrapping the rotational policy would impact on Pakistan and Bangladesh the most as the South Asian countries are due to nominate the successor to New Zealander Alan Isaac as ICC president in 2014.

Isaac is to take over from incumbent Sharad Pawar of India next year.

The executive board also revised its stadium policy based on this year's World Cup experiences and venues for ICC events will now have to be match-ready six months before a game.

"Even though the (2011) event was hugely successful it is important for us to learn lessons so we can continually improve our events," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.

The 2011 World Cup organisers were left red-faced when an ICC inspection team dropped an under-prepared Eden Gardens as the venue of the India v England match barely a month before the game.

Lorgat also said the ICC was planning a special celebration for next month's England v India match at Lord's - cricket's 2,000th test.
Among other decisions taken on Wednesday, the Pakistan Task Team presented a report comprising 63 recommendations covering areas of governance, cricket administration, playing structure, financial viability and communications.

The PTT comprises Giles Clarke (chairman), Mike Brearley, Peter Chingoka, Haroon Lorgat (ICC Chief Executive), Ranjan Madugalle, Ramiz Raja, and David Richardson (ICC General Manager- Cricket).
The ICC Executive Board also received a request from the PCB to consider hosting an ICC event in Pakistan in 2018.