The buyers of the Kochi franchise have said that, despite what seems to be an “exorbitant” price paid to buy the IPL team, in reality the figure was far lesser when spread over the ten-year contract period

Cricinfo staff28-Mar-2010

Kochi’s five investors

• Anchor Earth, part of the Anchor Group, a diversified FMCG company, represented by Atul Shah and Mehul Shah

• Film Waves, promoted by Harshad Mehta of Rosy Blue Group, a global diamond merchant, who lives in Dubai. Representatives: Keshav T and Kailash Singhal

• Parinee Developers, a Mumbai-based firm, led by Vipul Shah and Bhavya Patel

• Vivek Venugopal, part of Elite and Cholayil group, a successful FMCG group based out of Thrissur, the only Kerala-based investor

• Saket Mehta of Anand Shyam Real Estate, part of the Sur Gems group. He is a 40-year-old into diamond business

• Rendezvous Sports World Private Limited is a part of the consortium, though it has existed for 15 years

The buyers of the Kochi franchise have said that, despite what seems to be an “exorbitant” price paid to buy the IPL team, in reality the figure was far lesser when spread over the ten-year contract period. Rendezvous Sports World Private Limited, a consortium of five companies, bid US$333.33 for Kochi and was awarded the franchise on March 21.”I know it seems we have paid an exorbitant price to buy the team but, if you look at the discounted value of what we are paying over the next ten years, it is not as high as it seems,” Keshav T, one of the investors in Rendezvous Sports World Private Limited, said.Going by the annual expenditure of the eight existing franchises, Kochi will have to shell out at least $33 million (10% of winning bid) annually. Keshav, representing Film Waves, one of five investors that form Rendezvous, said the valuations worked out internally suggested their investment would be secure. “The cost that we pay is based on the business plan, which we feel is viable,” he said at a media conference arranged to discuss plans and reveal various members on the board.It seemed like an entire cricket team was on stage as 12 people, representing various business groups, took their seats, making it difficult to understand who exactly held the controls of the Kochi ship. Shailendra Gaikwad, who runs the Rendezvous group, will be Kochi’s chief operating officer and its public face. The engine room will comprise the five investors (see sidebar) based in different parts of the world, from Kerala to Dubai, with the operational base in Mumbai.Keshav said, though was no long-term relationship of any kind between the partners, some, like him, had been doing business with Anchor Group for two decades. They had worked on the plan for the last six months before deciding to make the move. The seriousness of their intentions can be gauged from the fact that no one backed out of the deal despite the original tender process being cancelled and rescheduled from March 7 to 21. Back then the face of the bid was Jaypee Group, but two weeks later Jaypee decided to opt out, forcing the other partners to hurriedly re-organise things.Doubts were raised about how the two new entrants – Rendezvous and Sahara Group (owners of the Pune franchise for $370m) – expected to recover their investment after paying a sum exceeding the combined value of the eight existing franchises. It remains unclear how many franchises have broken even yet but Keshav said Kochi would not be hindered by such fears because their goals were long-term. “We are there for the long haul and we don’t expect to make profits in the first year. We have the capacity based on the business plan to sustain.”A more immediate worry would be the absence of big names in the auction pool for the fourth IPL, considering the original group of eight teams will have the advantage of retaining few of their best players – both domestic and foreign. Keshav admitted it was unfavourable but said they had to play by the rules. “The fact that teams will be allowed to retain some of their best players will reduce the availability for us,” he said. “But we don’t see that as a major issue. So we don’t expect the best players to play for us in the first year but we definitely will try to hire the best.”When asked if it wasn’t harsh on the two new franchises to miss out on buying the best players, especially when they had spent so much to buy a team, Keshav put a positive spin on it. “Not having the best players cannot be taken for granted at this point in time. There will definitely be opportunities for us to pick players. Already you have seen there are a lot of players who have come up, who have performed very well. So it is not necessary we need established or best players, we will try to get best composition.”Vivek Venugopal, representing the Elite and Cholayil group from Thrichur, the only Kerala-based investor, said the IPL had not “defined” any catchment areas. “There aren’t any specific or defined catchment areas. The players who will not be retained by the eight original franchises will be up for the auction.”

Michael Clarke believes Australia’s best Twenty20 players should be included in Cricket Australia’s contract list

Cricinfo staff28-Apr-2010Michael Clarke believes Australia’s best Twenty20 players should be included in Cricket Australia’s contract list. On the eve of the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, Australia’s Twenty20 captain said it seemed unjust that formal deals were not in place for short-format specialists like David Warner, David Hussey and Dirk Nannes.”I’ve told Cricket Australia that they should have contracts,” Clarke told reporters in St Lucia. “I think there should be a Twenty20 contract introduced to our system. Players like David Warner and David Hussey … they’re here playing in a Twenty20 World Cup. They should be paid for that.”We’ve got a lot of guys in this squad now who aren’t on CA contracts but they’re playing this form of the game for Australia in a World Cup. I think there needs to be some kind of recognition for those guys. I don’t know how that could work but I believe there should probably be something like Twenty20 contracts.”The Cricket Australia contract system rewards Test and one-day players while Twenty20 is not considered a major factor. Over the past few years Australia have generally used the same players in one-day and Twenty20 cricket but the trend towards more 20-over specialists could lead to a greater disparity between the sides.The tournament in the West Indies, which starts on Friday, will be the third Twenty20 world championship in four years as the format continues to gain impetus. Australia have not perfected their game in 20-over cricket and are keen to make up for last year’s surprise first-round exit.”For me, it’s as serious as a one-day match or a Test match,” Clarke said. “There are blokes in this squad who haven’t played Test cricket. They haven’t played one-day cricket. It’s the ultimate for them.”It’s become exactly the same as one-day and Test cricket. It’s a form of the game that we want to be the best in the world at. We’re not there yet, we’re improving, but this [tournament] is a way for us to start.”

Watch out, Australia have another blond legspinner. While the quick bowlers have been wreaking havoc and creating headlines, Steven Smith has quietly been going about his work

Andrew McGlashan at Beausejour Stadium12-May-2010Watch out, Australia have another blond legspinner. While the quick bowlers have been wreaking havoc and creating headlines, Steven Smith has quietly been going about his work. He hasn’t generated as much conversation as the pacemen, but that’s often because the opposition have been staring at defeat by the time Smith gets the ball.However, he has been incredibly impressive and figures of 3 for 20 against West Indies were due reward for a player who has made rapid strides over the past few months. He has leapfrogged Nathan Hauritz in the Twenty20 team, which is a notable achievement because Hauritz enjoyed a profitable home season.The highlight of Smith’s performance against West Indies was a ripping leg break that drew Kieron Pollard out of his crease and then he silenced the St Lucia crowd when he removed local hero Darren Sammy with a caught and bowled. Again it was a ball with flight and dip that played a key part in the batsman’s error.It reinforces the attacking mindset Australia have brought to this tournament – the legspinner instead of the offspinner. Smith, though, also brings his batting into the equation and has already played a crucial innings in the World Twenty20 with 27 off 18 balls against Bangladesh after Australia had been 65 for 6.In first-class cricket, run-scoring in his stronger suit, with an average of 56.22 from 13 matches coupled with four hundreds and he could well earn a Test place in the top six. Twenty20 is the one format where his bowling has excelled, with 29 wickets at 16.27. He provides further evidence of the success that is on offer for a brave spinner; some days he’ll get neck ache watching the ball disappear into the stands, but rewards can be plentiful.”It’s been pretty exciting coming over here and playing in my first World Cup,” he said. “The wickets here are quite slow and I think my pace of bowling is well suited. It was good to contribute today and take a few wickets to help us to victory. The team has moulded together beautifully but we haven’t come here just to make the semi-finals.”

‘Well, that was dumb’

The excitement of Australia’s win was a bit much for one supporter, whose energetic celebration resulted in a five-metre fall from a stand in St Lucia. Toby Fanning, a 24-year-old from Sydney, suffered a suspected broken nose and concussion following his tumble on to the edge of the boundary.
“Well, that was dumb,” Fanning told AAP. “I’m all right. I’m pretty sore. But that was pretty dumb. I was celebrating the shot and jumping around and lost my bearings and went over the fence.”
He was taken to hospital by ambulance after being treated on the outfield. The fall occurred after his cheering of David Hussey’s lofted boundary over extra cover in the second-last over of the game.

One significant advantage for Smith has been the top-order destruction dished out by the fast men, which has meant teams have been well behind the rate when Smith has come on to bowl. His challenge will be greater should a team be 60 for 1 after the Powerplays. However, there hasn’t been any element of Michael Clarke hiding his young spinner, who has often bowled his four overs straight through.”Smithy, like a lot of guys in their first World Cup, have been outstanding with their attitude,” Clarke said. “They have taken it upon themselves to be the one to win us the game. Smithy has bowled well throughout the whole tournament and although he got his rewards today his performances have been fantastic all the way. He wants to bowl, it doesn’t matter who’s batting and that’s important at the highest level.”Throughout the tournament, Smith has held his own against teams with impressive records against spin and he will come up against Pakistan for the second time in two weeks in the semi-final on Friday. Rather than being daunted by the prospect, he is relishing another contest.”They’ll be coming pretty hard at me I’d imagine with our three quicks bowling over 150kph – when a spinner comes they’ll attack me as they did in the last game,” he said. “It’s just about me changing my pace and missing the middle of the bat. If I do that I’ll be in with a chance.”And then, of course, there is one enticing prospect looming. If Australia overcome Pakistan and England overcome Sri Lanka there will be an Ashes final. There’s a certain blond legspinner who dominated that rivalry for more than a decade. Are any England batsmen getting twitchy?

The Pakistan board has expressed its disappointment at not having a domestic team invited to participate in the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa

Osman Samiuddin28-May-2010The Pakistan board has expressed its disappointment at not having a domestic team invited to participate in the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa. This appears to be a u-turn on an earlier stance it had taken, when in the aftermath of the IPL snub to Pakistan players, Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, had ruled out the participation of any Pakistan team in the Champions League. That, says the chairman however, was not what he had said at the time.”Those comments of mine were about the IPL and our participation in that event and not at all about the Champions League,” Butt told Cricinfo. “I had said our players would not be in the IPL because of what had happened at the auction. I did not say that our domestic teams would not go to the Champions League. Why would I deprive them of that opportunity? My comments were misinterpreted.”Nevertheless, the confusion means that Sialkot Stallions, Pakistan’s domestic Twenty20 champions five years running now, will again miss out on the most lucrative global club tournament in cricket. Sialkot, which won the RBS Twenty20 in March this year, could potentially include Pakistan players such as Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Asif, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdur Rehman and Abdul Razzaq. They were invited to take part in what would have been the inaugural Champions League at the end of 2008 but the terror attacks on Mumbai in November that year forced a postponement to 2009. By that time, relations between India and Pakistan having deteriorated, no team was invited from Pakistan.”Nobody has invited us this year and that is disappointing,” Butt said. “We asked them about it and we received no reply at all. We will take up this issue with the ICC. After all, why are we being discriminated against like this? Clubs from so many other countries are invited and our Sialkot side has done so well over the last few years.”A Champions League official, however, told Cricinfo that no Pakistan team had been considered for the 2010 tournament after Butt’s statements in February. “Mr Butt had formally announced and communicated in February that no Pakistani team would be permitted to compete in the 2010 CLT20, and as Mr Butt is the Chairman of the PCB, the Governing Council of CLT20 could not and did not consider any invitations to Pakistani teams,” the official told Cricinfo. “Unfortunately, due to the announcement by Mr Butt, it is now clearly too late to even consider the addition of Pakistani teams to the 2010 CLT20.”Gerald Majola, chief executive of Cricket South Africa, one if the founding members of the Champions League, also said it was too late to include a Pakistan team. “I don’t think the PCB approached us,” he told Cricinfo. “If that was the case we would’ve known earlier. Unfortunately it too late now, things have been finalised so there can be no question of sending an invite.”However, whether or not the league was ever considering inviting a team from Pakistan is open to question. Another tournament official told Cricinfo that “the plan was always to invite the same make-up of teams as 2009, with the understanding that if English teams were unavailable, the field would be reduced to 10 teams.”To my knowledge PCB made no approaches to be included in this year’s CLT20,” he said. “There won’t be any late invitations issued. The match schedule is being drafted at the moment and venues being finalised, so we’re advanced in our planning.”That means Shahid Afridi, who helped South Australia qualify, could be Pakistan’s only representative in the tournament this time round, although his national responsibilities until September 22 makes his participation uncertain as well. The number of teams taking part was reduced to ten this year (from 12) after the ECB said its sides could not take part because of a clash of dates with the end of the English domestic season. Other than Bangladesh and England this year, teams from all Test-playing countries participate in the tournament. The tournament is run jointly by the cricket boards of Australia, India and South Africa.

Legspinner Imran Tahir took a hat-trick as Warwickshire bounced back from their championship humbling at Chester-le-Street with a five-wicket Friends Provident t20 win against Durham tonight

02-Jul-2010
ScorecardLegspinner Imran Tahir took a hat-trick as Warwickshire bounced back from their championship humbling at Chester-le-Street with a five-wicket Friends Provident t20 win against Durham tonight. It kept the visitors on course for the quarter-finals, while Durham’s fifth successive defeat in the competition left them next to the bottom of the North Group.At 51 for 7 Durham were on course for their lowest Twenty20 total, but Albie Morkel and Gareth Breese added 66 in the last eight overs to take them to 117 for 8.Warwickshire were unable to call on England Lions pair Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott but cruised home with two overs to spare. They were 68 for 2 after 11 overs but then both Darren Maddy and Ian Westwood were run out.They needed 41 off six overs, but Rikki Clarke eased the pressure by driving Ian Blackwell over long-off for six. After Jim Troughton was stumped for 34, Clarke hit a second six on his way to an unbeaten 29 as Warwickshire took 19 off the 18th over, bowled by Neil Killeen in his first appearance of the season.After being put in on a sunny evening, Durham were already in the mire when Tahir came on for the 12th over. He has already had eight wickets in an innings against them at Edgbaston this season, plus 6 for 69 last Wednesday, and continued to wreak havoc largely with his googlies.He hurried a delivery between bat and pad to bowl Gordon Muchall for 10, then Will Smith drove to mid-on, where Ant Botha held a juggling catch. Left-hander Ben Harmison edged the hat-trick ball to Clarke at first slip.Durham took seven runs off each of the first two overs, with a boundary for both openers, but then totally lost their way. The next six overs produced a total of 11 runs for the loss of four wickets.Ian Blackwell lobbed a simple catch to mid-on off Neil Carter, who also yorked Ben Stokes, while Phil Mustard miscued to midwicket off Boyd Rankin and Dale Benkenstein drove Keith Barker to mid-off.Breese hit half of Durham’s total of eight fours in his unbeaten 30, while Morkel drove the only six, off Tahir. Morkel, who had to send for a runner after suffering a leg injury, reached 48 off 42 balls before holing out off the final ball of the innings.

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf has said he is willing to come out of retirement sooner rather than laterand has no issues playing under any captain

Cricinfo staff19-Jul-2010Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf is ready to come out of retirement sooner rather than later, further broadening the possibility of an appearance at some point for Pakistan in the summer.Yousuf, who announced his sudden retirement after a win-less tour of Australia, had said recently he was targeting the tour of UAE later this year to make a return, but the team’s struggles in the first Test against Australia at Lord’s may have prompted him to change his mind.”I am available any time for my national team,” Yousuf said in Karachi. “If the team doesn’t need me I stand retired. But if I’m needed, I am ready and available to serve my country. If PCB invites me with respect I will definitely go and join the team.”Ijaz Ahmed, Pakistan’s assistant coach, hinted at Yousuf’s possible return. “He can replace Afridi but the management haven’t decided yet who will come. It could come out in a couple of days. Maybe later, somebody will come but not at the moment.Pakistan made scores of 148 and 289 with only one batsman, Salman Butt, managing to pass fifty. They lost 11 of their wickets to Shane Watson and the part-time spinner Marcus North.Though their bowlers competed well, the batsmen fell short mainly due to the lack of experience in the middle order, which was missing the pedigree of Yousuf and Younis Khan for differing reasons.In the immediate aftermath of the Lord’s loss speculation centred on the PCB sending out an SOS to Yousuf, but Ijaz Butt denied that was the case. The matter of Yousuf and Younis’s return was considered at a meeting the chairman held with team management to appoint a new captain, but was deferred until after the second Test against Australia, officials insisting they were happy with the performances of debutantes Azhar Ali and Umar Amin.”These are the only two players we are talking about, Younus Khan and Yousuf,” Ijaz Ahmed added. “Let’s see, it might be decided about Yousuf. Yousuf might be coming here.”Salman, 25, was appointed captain after Shahid Afridi announced another unexpected retirement from Tests. Afridi was named captain for the entire tour of England but quit after the Lord’s defeat saying he wasn’t enjoying Test cricket after all.”He was the vice-captain as well. I hope he can manage this,” Ijaz Ahmed said of Salman’s promotion. “We have done a lot of talking to him and he has played really well and is shaping up well. I think he is getting mature and now he has got the responsibility as well. I think he will come good for that.”Yousuf has had problems in the past with Shoaib Malik when he was captain but said he was willing to play under Salman. “It’s a PCB decision (appointing Salman) and everybody should respect it,” Yousuf said. “I can play under any captain and have never felt degraded playing under anyone.”Yousuf added that he was in touch with the PCB chairman, who was kept aware of his plans to return.Yousuf was the captain during Pakistan’s shambolic tour of Australia, where the team came under fire for their performances. The PCB responded by penalising seven players it believed were responsible for the defeats, Yousuf among them. He and Younis were banned indefinitely, and as a mark of protest, Yousuf announced he was quitting the game “for now.”He was the only one among the seven punished players not to appeal against the sanctions, despite the PCB leaving the door open for him to return. However, since Yousuf didn’t respond to those messages from the board the national selectors could not consider him for the tour of England.

Against New Zealand, Upul Tharanga gave another demonstration of why he remains integral to Sri Lanka’s World Cup plans

Siddarth Ravindran in Dambulla13-Aug-2010In a top-order studded with some of the finest batsmen of today, Upul Tharanga tends to get overlooked. Against New Zealand, however, he gave another demonstration of why he remains integral to Sri Lanka’s World Cup plans. His batting doesn’t have either the flash of Tillakaratne Dilshan or the smooth adaptability of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, but his gutsy 70 on a challenging track was pivotal to the victory.It was a grab bag of an innings, which included inept wafts outside off, classy cover drives, his favourite cuts past point and an unintended tap to the off side as he was withdrawing his bat from a pull. The initial period was particularly patchy, a mix of getting beaten by a big margin outside off and some sparkling boundaries.Though 193 was a tiny target, batting under lights in Dambulla is never easy, as India had found out in the tournament’s opening match. “There was a bit of movement early on, there’s not a lot of swing but a bit of uneven bounce, and a bit of seam movement.” Sangakkara said. “Actually the slower bowlers like [Scott] Styris and the spinners were a bit harder to score off than the fast bowlers, the ball kept holding on the wicket, there were pieces coming off the wicket as well.”However, New Zealand’s hopes evaporated after Tharanga’s 84-run stand with Sangakkara, who after some starting trouble played some of the most eye-catching strokes of the match. “I thought Upul batted really well. I struggled to get to grips with the wicket early on,” Sangakkara said. “I was watching how Upul batted, and whenever he played a shot it was as if the wicket was absolutely flat, so I kept trying to watch him and see what he was doing and bat accordingly.”The partnership entertained the home fans, who came in decent numbers to create a lively atmosphere around the ground, unlike in the first match where hardly any spectators turned up. There were men on stilts twirling rings of fire, adding to the party mood, which wasn’t dampened even by the fall of Sangakkara and Jayawardene.Capitalising on a Styris drop at first slip, Tharanga scored his fourth half-century in seven innings, cleverly working the slower bowlers around to keep Sri Lanka on course for a bonus point. With 60 runs needed off six overs for the extra point, Sri Lanka opted for the batting Powerplay. Thilan Samaraweera showed off some innovative footwork, but Tharanga perished attempting a big hit.Angelo Mathews followed for a golden duck, and there was a bit of drama towards the end as Sri Lanka promoted Nuwan Kulasekara and Rangana Herath ahead of Chamara Kapugedera in an attempt to quickly score the runs needed for the bonus. Both didn’t succeed, and it was a cool Samaraweera who led them to a three-wicket victory, a final margin which hides the one-sidedness of the contest.Sangakkara said that it might have been a better tactic to send in the bowlers ahead of Mathews, and was disappointed to have missed the icing to the victory. “When you get an opportunity like this to get a bonus point, in Dambulla that might be a really important factor later on, unfortunately we weren’t good enough to get the bonus point.”He was happy though that the team had won chasing under lights in Dambulla. “It’s tough out there but it does our confidence a world of good.” For that, he’ll have to thank his opener. Tharanga spent plenty of time yo-yoing in and out of the side after his debut in 2005, but displaced Sanath Jayasuriya from the opening slot after last year’s Champions Trophy and has since kept out the 41-year-old, who still harbours ambitions of playing a sixth World Cup. More performances like this, and Jayasuriya could well be confined to the television studios when the global tournament comes around next year.

A combination of belligerent hitting by Virender Sehwag and potent seam bowling helped India storm to the final of the tri-series

The Bulletin by Kanishkaa Balachandran25-Aug-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt appeared as though Virender Sehwag was batting on a different pitch•AFP

A combination of belligerent hitting by Virender Sehwag and potent seam bowling helped India storm into the final of the tri-series against Sri Lanka with a comprehensive thrashing of New Zealand in the last league game. On a day when a majority of the specialist batsmen on both sides batted with two left feet in bowler-friendly conditions, Sehwag found a way to carve out an aggressive century, scoring more than what all 11 New Zealanders managed between them. The target of 224 was soon out of New Zealand’s reach after their top order crumbled against a four-pronged seam attack, a bowling combination you wouldn’t associate with Indian sides, especially in the subcontinent.By the end of the night, you could imagine batsmen queuing up outside Sehwag’s door for the inside story on how he managed to dominate everything thrown at him. It was as though he was batting on another surface. Sehwag was unfazed by the early movement and nip off the wicket, which made the seamers potent. He played in a style known only to him and, with the final in three days’ time, his innings today will undoubtedly be analysed in detail.MS Dhoni took the gamble of batting on a fresh pitch, despite India having collapsed for 103 after batting first in their previous match against Sri Lanka. New Zealand’s seamers nipped out four wickets by the end of the 13th over with a combination of swing, cut and bounce, which strikes took the sheen off an entertaining start from Sehwag.Not known for exaggerated foot movements, Sehwag used the crease to loft the seamers over the off side. He barely moved across the stumps but such was his confidence that he stretched to scoop and slash powerfully over backward point. He backed away and slapped the slower bowlers past the infield as well. A more conventional punch through cover brought up his 1000th ODI four, one that was part of a sequence of three consecutive fours off Tim Southee.India were lucky to have Dhoni at the other end, for he rotated the strike and built a solid partnership with Sehwag. Their stand produced 107, but India needed more from their last capable pair, having only Ravindra Jadeja, who is still trying to find his feet in ODIs, and a long tail to follow. Sehwag, however, didn’t alter his approach. He continued to charge the spinners, lifting Kane Williamson inside out over extra cover for boundaries, and also cleverly picked the gaps at fine leg off the seamers. He played an upper cut over the vacant slip cordon shortly after getting to his century, but the fun ended for India when Sehwag found deep midwicket when on 110. His dismissal was against the run of play.Dhoni, who had batted carefully, had to try to reclaim the advantage for India, but New Zealand took control. Having grafted to 38 off 75 balls, Dhoni edged a Nathan McCullum delivery while trying to drive. The dismissals of Sehwag and Dhoni in quick succession meant a premature end to the innings was inevitable. Soon after New Zealand picked up the final wicket, though, their control over the game came to a grinding halt.They had no-one with Sehwag’s calibre and temperament to take the initiative, irrespective of the damage being done at the other end. They were exposed against the moving ball and even seasoned performers struggled. Praveen Kumar started the slide in conditions tailored to his variety of bowling, trapping Martin Guptill leg before in first over.There was no respite from the other end as Ashish Nehra, with his extra pace when compared to Praveen, got the ball to nip in sharply to the right-handers, slicing them in half. A lot depended on the experienced Ross Taylor, but he was just as circumspect as the rest. He expected the ball to move in, but it went the other way and took a thick outside edge, giving Praveen his second wicket.New Zealand’s chase was irreparably damaged when their senior-most batsman, Scott Styris, chopped one on to his stumps without moving his feet. Grant Elliott knew that the best way to counter the swing was to cover the line and smother the movement. He regularly shuffled across the stumps, committing to the movement even before delivery, but his method didn’t yield runs as almost every defensive push found fielders. Williamson, who finally scored an international run in his third innings, was dismissed by an Ishant Sharma delivery which cut in and took the edge onto the stumps. Munaf, who was miserly to begin with, bagged two lbws with with his probing line.Kyle Mills’ blitz only succeeded in saving New Zealand the embarrassment of being bowled out for less than 100.

A 140-run opening stand followed by disciplined bowling enabled Mountaineers to inflict a crushing 111-run defeat on the Mashonaland Eagles in Harare

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2010
ScorecardA 140-run opening stand between Tino Mawoyo and Jonathan Beukes, followed by disciplined bowling enabled Mountaineers to inflict a 111-run defeat on the Mashonaland Eagles in Harare.Mawoyo – who played two ODIs for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh in 2006 – hit ten fours in his 73 off 79 deliveries while Beukes hit seven fours and a six in his 69 off 80. After their dismissals, Timycen Maruma, Mark Vermeulen and former South Africa allrounder Lance Klusener kept up the pressure on Eagles as 134 runs came in the last 15 overs.The Eagles’ chase started poorly when they reduced to 8 for 2. Though opener Simbarashe Gupo tried to steady the innings, wickets fell regularly and once they collapsed to 91 for 6, Eagles were out of the game. Seamer Silent Mujaji took 3 for 30 as Eagles were eventually dismissed for 163.Mountaineers earned a bonus point for their huge win. This was Eagles’ second loss to Mountaineers in four days after they had lost a close Logan Cup match by 14 runs.

The Chennai police have registered a case against Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, and six others on allegations of criminal conspiracy and cheating

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2010The Chennai police have registered a case against Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, and six others on allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating and falsification of accounts, according to a report in the . The case is based on a complaint filed by the BCCI on Wednesday.Four of the six others named in the case are from the World Sport Group: its chairman Seamus O’Brian, its chief operating officer, Andrew Georgio, and the president and vice-president of its South Asia operations, Venu Nair and Haris Krishnamachari. The other two are Ajay Varma, representative of software and security firm Visual Impact and Kunal Dasgupta, the former head of Multi-Screen Media, the broadcast rights holder for the IPL.The case has been registered under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), 477 A (falsification of accounts) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.This is the first step of a police investigation under Indian law; the allegations will now be probed by police and legal experts, who will press charges if they find evidence and eventually take the case to court.The move to file charges is a continuation of the decisions taken at a special general meeting of the board in June this year. “It has taken the BCCI a while to press the criminal charges because we were getting legal opinions and all the paperwork ready,” A BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo. “The case grew in recent months when we came across the contract around the virtual security van”.The allegations revolve around three issues – the facilitation fee payment to WSG for the India media rights to the IPL, the sale of mid-over ads and the hiring of security vans for the tournament. The board has argued that the fee paid to WSG was an “improper payment” and the matter is currently under arbitration in Singapore.A WSG spokesperson said they had not seen the complaint and therefore had no comment.The rights to sell mid-over ads was given to Pioneer Diagsys, an ad-sales agency run by Dasgupta, without a contract and the BCCI claim that since Modi did not issue a tender for the contract, he has cost the board moneyThe board also claimed that Visual Impact, the company Modi contracted to provide security vans does not exist, and that the money paid to them was misappropriated.