IPL council suspends five players

 

The IPL governing council has suspended five players named by a sting operation alleging corruption until an inquiry into the accusations is conducted. TP Sudhindra (Deccan Chargers), Mohnish Mishra (Pune Warriors), Shalabh Srivastava (Kings XI Punjab), Amit Yadav (Kings XI Punjab) and Abhinav Bali were suspended, according to IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla.

"The above players would not be entitled to participate in any cricket match played under the aegis of the BCCI while under suspension," N Srinivasan, the BCCI president, said in a statement.

Shukla said Ravi Sawani, the former head of the ICC's anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU), will conduct the inquiry. "The conversation [in the sting] is about other matches also, which are not IPL, or in previous IPLs," Shukla said after the meeting on Tuesday. "After due consideration, the BCCI president has decided to have an inquiry for which a commissioner has been appointed, Mr Ravi Sawani. He will be conducting the preliminary inquiry. His report will be sent to the disciplinary committee."

Indian politicians brought up the matter during a parliamentary session. Sports minister Ajay Maken said it was the BCCI's duty to investigate the matter appropriately. "I wish that the BCCI acts fast, [explores] the root cause of this problem and solves the problem in the interest of the millions of fans in cricket in our country," Maken was quoted as saying in an Indian newspaper, the Telegraph. "The challenge and the opportunity here lies with the BCCI, as to how far they are able to get to the bottom of the problem and sort it out."

Former India cricketer Kirti Azad, who is now a member of the country's main opposition party, the BJP, reportedly said that corruption in sports was on the rise with politicians heading sports associations. "I have no objections with politicians heading sports bodies," Azad was quoted as saying. "But ever since politicians have taken over, corruption has seeped in and grown from top to bottom."

However, Srinivasan said corruption was not as widespread in Indian cricket as it was being made out. "I don't think this operation can reflect what is going across the board. I can't deny what has happened because the evidence is there as what was shown yesterday. But at the same time it is a case of few individuals so I don't want to generalise on this," he told an Indian TV channel.

"I believe it will be a case of few individual players maybe out of greed or whatever taking wrong steps. I am not prepared to take a brush and paint the whole thing or say that this is rampant or anything like that."

He also defended the franchise owners from any allegation of corruption. "All the franchisees are people of stature behind it. It will be wrong to presume they are doing something wrong and then make enquiries. If something comes to light it is different."

Meanwhile Srivastava, one of the players accused by the sting, said he was not guilty. "I fail to understand whatever is being said about spot-fixing. Also if they [a TV channel) are showing all the video clips, why aren't they showing the clip where I allegedly am demanding Rs. 10 lakh?" he told NDTV. "The voice in that telephonic conversation is not mine. It is very easy to frame anyone with a doctored audio clip."

India TV, a television channel, showed footage of a player bowling a big no-ball in a limited-overs match and played a recording of a phone conversation that it said was of a current IPL player negotiating a fee for bowling a no-ball. It also had at least three players on camera allegedly seeking more lucrative deals - including extra money that would have violated their IPL contracts - with other league franchises through an undercover reporter posing as a sports agent.

Srivastava has not played a match for Kings XI this IPL season, though he was a fairly regular starter in 2011 and has played 14 matches in all. Mohnish Mishra played the solitary match for Warriors in 2012, when he replaced Sourav Ganguly against Royal Challengers Bangalore and was dismissed for 4. Sudhindra played three games for Chargers, conceding 136 runs and taking only one wicket, while Yadav has not got a game for Kings XI. Bali, an allrounder from Delhi, is not part of the IPL but has played first-class and limited-overs cricket for Himachal Pradesh.

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Rayudu, Harshal Patel fined for spat

 

Ambati Rayudu, the Mumbai Indians batsman, has been fined 100% of his match fee while Harshal Patel, the Royal Challengers Bangalore fast bowler, was docked 25% of his match earnings following a spat between the two after Mumbai Indians' tense win at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.

Rayudu was punished for using obscene and abusive language towards Harshal immediately after Mumbai Indians hit the winning runs in the final over. Harshal reacted and both players had to be restrained. Harshal was fined for a Level 1 offence, for bringing the game into disrepute.

Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh was also fined for maintaining a slow over-rate. They were found to be one over behind the required rate after allowances were taken into consideration. Harbhajan was fined $20,000 for his offence.

Mumbai Indians in particular have been guilty of a few transgressions this IPL, aside from the latest events. In their match against Deccan Chargers in Visakhapatnam, Munaf Patel and Harbhajan were guilty of showing dissent towards the umpire, after the umpire had initially chosen not to refer an appeal to the third umpire. Munaf was fined 25% of his match fee while Harbhajan was warned.

Munaf was guilty again in the game against Kings XI Punjab in Mumbai. He lost 50% of his match fee after making inappropriate gestures towards the batsman Nitin Saini, who had hit him for two fours.

Rohit Sharma was reprimanded for kicking the stumps after his team's nine-wicket loss to Royal Challengers last week at the Wankhede Stadium.

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Mahela guides Delhi into playoffs

 

Mahela Jayawardene's half-century may have been the slowest for Delhi Daredevils this season but it was compiled under trying circumstances and helped his team become the first side to qualify for the playoffs. Jayawardene's composure under pressure ensured that an incisive fast-bowling performance from Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav, which restricted Kings XI Punjab to a middling total, was not in vain. With a place in the top four secure, Daredevils need to win only one of their last two games to secure No. 1 position.

Kings XI, on the other hand, needed victory tonight and in their remaining two games to be assured of a playoff spot. They cannot afford another defeat and will have to depend on net run-rate and on a permutation of results in other matches to qualify. Kings XI had persevered to make a below-par total competitive in their first clash against Daredevils - this season's 64th game - but did not have enough runs in the end.

Daredevils unleashed their quick bowlers, supported by a crack fielding unit, and a steady fall of wickets ensued after Kings XI chose to bat. They had made a brisk start but Aaron ended that with his first ball: Shaun Marsh caught glancing down the leg side. In his second over, Aaron had the free-swinging Mandeep Singh pulling to midwicket, where Virender Sehwag dived forward to take a low catch.

Kings XI were progressing well, though, and reached 50 for 2 in 6.2 overs. Yadav was the fifth bowler introduced, in the eighth over, and struck with his second ball. Nitin Saini drove loosely at a fast outswinger and Sehwag was stooping at first slip to catch the edge. After David Miller was run out by a direct hit from Pawan Negi at mid-on, Azhar Mahmood, the last of Kings XI's proper batsmen, was in as early as the 10th over. He stayed only until the 12th, when he hoisted Yadav towards long-off, where Irfan Pathan back-pedalled and caught the ball over his right shoulder on the edge of the boundary.

Kings XI were eventually in danger of being dismissed and David Hussey, who had been crying out for a reliable partner in vain, had to play within himself. He even turned down singles in the final two overs and dragged his team 136 for 8.

Hussey, however, had one really quick bowler in his attack too and Parvinder Awana rattled the Daredevils top order. He cut one delivery into Virender Sehwag and bowled him off the pad; he straightened two balls just outside off and induced edges from Venugopal Rao and Ross Taylor in the sixth over. In wretched form already, Taylor was recalled for this game in Roelof van der Merwe's spot but was out for a duck. Daredevils were 37 for 4. Awana's fellow seamers, Praveen Kumar and Azhar Mahmood, were economical too and Daredevils were only 42 after eight overs.

At this stage of Kings XI's innings, Sehwag had already used five bowlers. Hussey had used only three and had to bring in his fourth sooner rather than later. He gave Piyush Chawla the ninth over and watched Jayawardene cut the second ball for Daredevils' first boundary since the fourth over. Two balls later, Ojha stepped out and lofted the legspinner towards the straight boundary. The tide had begun to turn.

Daredevils needed 82 off 60 balls and Ojha continued to target Chawla, charging the bowler to loft consecutive straight sixes in the 11th over. Chawla also dropped a straightforward chance off Ojha at long-on, off Mahmood in the 13th over. Hussey, however, continued to persist with him and chose not to bowl himself.

There was irony as well. Chawla, who went for 33 in three overs, finished his spell with a maiden, while Awana, who had figures of 3-0-8-3, went for 14 in his last, the over that ended the game as a contest. Irfan Pathan played the shots, while Jayawardene watched in satisfaction, having been the glue that held Daredevils together.

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Slowly but surely for Sammy West Indies captain

West Indies captain says his side have competed against India and Australia and now need to start winning

They may be missing several of their leading players, have been beaten in the warm-up game, written-off in the media and up against the No. 1 rated Test team, but West Indies captain Darren Sammy has warned England not to underestimate his side's chance ahead of the Test series beginning at Lord's on Thursday.

West Indies' Test record in recent years is grim. They have won only one of their previous 10 series - and that was against Bangladesh - and only two of their last 24 series stretching back to 2004. Indeed, since December 2003, West Indies have played 80 Tests, won just eight - including two against Bangladesh - and lost 45. It is not a record that inspires confidence.

But Sammy believes his side is progressing. While he accepts the results do not show it, he insists there have been encouraging signs in recent Test series. Notably, West Indies pushed India hard in Delhi before collapsing against Ravi Ashwin in their second innings and succumbing to a five-wicket loss. Similarly, they came to close to upsetting Australia in Bridgetown, only for another second innings batting collapse to eventually sentence them to a three-wicket defeat.

"The only thing that has not been happening is the victories," Sammy told ESPNcricinfo. "We've been playing good, competitive cricket against strong sides like India and Australia and all our Tests have been going five days and down to the wire. Not many teams go to India and give India a run for their money, but we did that.

"Coming from where we are right now, we are not going to start winning straight away. We are taking baby steps to the ultimate goal. We are playing well and dominating teams throughout matches.

"The problem is that we keep losing key moments in matches. One bad session keeps costing us. Champion teams seize the moment but we keep having a bad session where we might lose five wickets in an hour. We just need to cut that out. Once we eliminate those bad sessions then we'll make progress."

Sammy also reminded England that the sides did not have to look back very far to the last team his side caused an upset. A young West Indies squad travelled to England to play two T20 internationals last September and, having lost the first game by 10 wickets, they hit back with a 25-run win to square the series. West Indies also won the last Test series between the sides in the Caribbean.

"We were a very inexperienced team in September," Sammy said. "People said we were just on our way to Bangladesh, but we beat England.

"Every team that comes here, the media try and bring them down for England. So we know what to expect. We have to handle the distractions - be they the weather or the press - and concentrate on doing our best on the pitch. People don't expect much from us, but we know that once we play to our potential we can compete very hard against England. If we can put runs on the board, we back our bowlers to take 20 wickets against England."

If West Indies are to do that, it is crucial that they have their best attack available to them. As things stand there are slight injury doubts hanging against all three of their leading seamers - Kemar Roach (foot), Ravi Rampaul (neck) and Fidel Edwards (back) - though it looks as if all three should be fine. As Roach, who is eagerly anticipating his first Tests at Lord's put it: "Everyone wants to be here; there's nothing going to stop me playing."

Sammy also said his entire side had been inspired by the documentary Fire in Babylon, which tells the story of West Indies' domination of Test cricket in the 1970s and 80s. He drew parallels in the challenges facing his team and West Indies team of the early 70s.

"Fire in Babylon is my inspiration," Sammy said. "I have watched it many times. I knew our history - but to see it again, to hear the passion in the voices of the players - it's got to make you think about how important what we do is to the people of the Caribbean.

"All of the guys have seen it and been inspired. The guys are aware of how important West Indies cricket is to the fans. They appreciate the history and they carry the legacy. Some never knew about it - they knew the team had been great - but they didn't understand what previous teams had gone through and what they had to endure. They didn't understand about the challenges they had to rise above.

"We have different challenges now. We dominated the world for 17 years and conquered all teams. People got used to success. A lot is expected of all West Indies teams since then. It could be a burden - every fast bowler is compared to Ambrose or Walsh and every batsman is compared to Greenidge or Lara - but I prefer to see it as an inspiration. That's the path we have to follow.

"Everyone in the Caribbean wants West Indies to do well. When we are playing well our brand of cricket is very entertaining. The turnout from the public in our last series - in Tests and ODIs and T20s - we've not seen that sort of support for our team in a long while. The reason is that they see the team competing. We're not winning, but we're playing with passion and if we do that, the victories should be just around the corner. We're fighting, we're showing passion: we understand what we have to do

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Last-ball six keeps Chennai alive

Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings, IPL

With Chennai Super Kings needing five runs to win off the final delivery, Rajat Bhatia, who had bowled MS Dhoni and conceded only four from the previous five balls, bowled a full toss. Dwayne Bravo, who had missed a heave off the fifth ball, heaved again, and this time he hit the ball high into the night sky. Kolkata Knight Riders' captain Gautam Gambhir, fielding in the circle, kept his eyes fixed on the ball as it began its descent, and grimaced as he watched it fall agonisingly out of reach of his fielder at long-on, and just over the boundary. The Super Kings were out of the dug out, craning their necks to see where the ball landed, and once they saw it was a match-winning six, there were several streaks of yellow speeding to embrace Bravo. He was standing there with arms aloft, having taken Super Kings to No. 4 with only one league game remaining.

Had the match been tied, it would have been less of a surprise, for Super Kings' chase had followed a pattern eerily similar to Knight Riders' first innings.

In pursuit of 159, Michael Hussey and M Vijay added 97 runs in 10.1 overs before Sunil Narine, who continued to confound batsmen with his variations during his spell of 4-0-14-2, dismissed both of them in the space of three balls. Hussey had demonstrated impeccable timing on a pitch that demanded application, hitting four sixes in a half-century that threatened to make short work of the chase, before he top-edged a sweep. Vijay was bowled trying to cut a straight one.

When Knight Riders had been sent in after losing the toss, Gambhir and Brendon McCullum had set off at breakneck speed, adding 99 in 11.2 overs before they were dismissed in the space of five deliveries. Gambhir scored his sixth half-century of the season and took charge of accelerating his team's innings while McCullum played second fiddle, relatively speaking. They were setting Knight Riders for a formidable total when McCullum was run-out and Gambhir was bowled after the ball came off his inside-edge and pad, gone for 62 off 43 balls.

With the Knight Riders openers gone and two new batsmen at the crease, Super Kings began to drag the run-rate back, by striking regularly. The hosts slipped from 99 for 0 to 128 for 5. Jacques Kallis was unlucky to be given caught behind while sweeping, because the ball came off the arm, and Yusuf Pathan hit his customary solitary six before holing out to Bravo on the long-on boundary. Bravo caught Manoj Tiwary there soon after and Knight Riders were eventually kept to 158.

Super Kings went down the same path. After the Hussey-Vijay stand, they were slowed down and then lost Suresh Raina to a run out in the 14th over. MS Dhoni played out four consecutive dot balls against L Balaji as the gap between runs required and balls remaining began to grow. Balaji conceded two runs off the 14th over, and Bhatia five in the next. Super Kings now needed 44 off 30 balls.

After the 17th over of the first innings, Knight Riders had been 127 for 4. After the 17th over of the chase, Super Kings were 127 for 3. They lost Faf du Plessis to the first ball of the 18th. With 27 needed off the last two overs, Dhoni changed the course of the chase. He nearly beheaded Marchant de Lange, such was the ferocity with which he clubbed the first ball to the straight boundary. The next was a full toss that disappeared through deep midwicket and the third was a towering six over long-on.

Super Kings were favourites, needing only nine to get off the final over, but Dhoni was bowled off its second ball, missing Bhatia's slower ball. Bhatia went on to bowl three more exceptional deliveries, but his last was the full toss that allowed Super Kings to move to No. 4 in the league.

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Bangalore Mumbai steal final-over win, again

Bangalore v Mumbai, IPL 2012

A match that had all sorts of drama - delays due to rain, a floodlight failure, an unbelievable four free-hits in a row, a hit-wicket, and Munaf Patel being caned for 24 in the final over of the first innings by 21-year-old Mayank Agarwal - ended on a familiar note: Mumbai Indians' batsmen completing an improbable chase in the last over, and Bangalore Royal Challengers' fifth bowler costing them again (3.4-0-58-0).

Both teams' top orders have some of the leading lights of the world game, but most of them failed to make an impact, leaving it to batsmen lower down to make an impact. Agarwal slammed a 30-ball 61, his first IPL half-century, to rescue Royal Challengers, but Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard blasted fifties of their own to take Mumbai Indians at least temporarily to second spot in the table.

The match highlighted some other customary themes: Indian bowlers unable to land their yorkers at the death, underlining concerns over the make-up of their World Twenty20 attack, and batsmen refusing to give up even when the asking-rate reached ridiculous levels.

When Pollard walked to the middle in the ninth over, Mumbai Indians had already lost half their side, the required-rate was soaring towards 12, and Royal Challengers were so assured of their position that Muttiah Muralitharan briefly operated with the unusual Twenty20 luxury of three close-in catchers.

Pollard showed the game was by no means over, by calmly lofting KP Appanna for consecutive sixes in the 11th over. With Appanna proving expensive, Royal Challengers turned to Chris Gayle's bowling but Rayudu muscled a four and six to keep Mumbai Indians believing.

Mumbai Indians' desperation to win was shown by the perfect full-length dive Pollard put in in the next over to beat the throw from the deep by inches. Murali was proving unhittable, and the batsmen watchfully played out his overs, and ransacked the rest.

With four overs to go, Mumbai Indians still needed to get 57. Royal Challengers' bowling has been dismal all season, and towards the end of the game they reverted to form. Zaheer Khan was hammered over midwicket for six, and then crashed past long-off. Vinay Kumar's next over was bookended by yorkers, but in between he offered three hit-me deliveries that Rayudu blasted for two sixes and a four. Zaheer was better in the penultimate over, though his one full toss was edged to third man for four.

With the main bowlers having finished their quota, Royal Challengers needed Gayle to win them the match with the ball this time, having 14 to defend. Gayle looked to fire everything flat and fast into the pads but Pollard effortlessly launched the second ball for six over midwicket, before a streaky four past third man and an almighty pull over midwicket took Mumbai Indians home with two deliveries to spare.

The hitting at the end overshadowed another top-order failure from Mumbai. Sachin Tendulkar's troubles continued, Herschelle Gibbs flopped and Rohit Sharma was caught and bowled for 5.

There had been a similar collapse from Royal Challengers early on: Gayle had a rare failure, Virat Kohli was run out after Gibbs proved he's an acrobatic fielder even at the age of 38, Saurabh Tiwary showed glimpses of form before treading onto the middle stump after tucking the ball to the leg side, and even AB de Villiers, for once, didn't fire.

Tillakaratne Dilshan hung around but wasn't at his most fluent, trying to hammer every delivery and succeeding rarely. It was left to Agarwal to lift Royal Challengers with an innings filled with eye-catching lofted off-side strokes. With two overs to go, at 134 for 6, they would have settled for 150, but Agarwal closed off the innings with a sequence of 4, 6, 1 (to retain strike), 6, 4, 4, 2, 6, 2.

It wasn't enough, though, as Mumbai Indians completed their fourth final-over chase of the season, snapping Royal Challengers three-game winning run.

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Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Ayub keen to impress

Faisal Iqbal, a middle-order batsman who is set to make his third comeback to the Pakistan team when they tour Sri Lanka this summer, is eager to cement his place in the Test side once and for all this time. Meanwhile Mohammad Ayub, who is set to debut on the same tour, is wary of the 'tight competition' in Pakistan's middle order.

Iqbal has played 26 Tests across the past decade, the last of which was in January 2010 and, he said, it took mental discipline to keep him going. "I have been surviving only because of my mental toughness," Iqbal told ESPNcricinfo. "In the past I have been playing mainly as a replacement player [in the national team], which is why I wasn't able to cement a permanent place. But now I think I can make it."

This recall has been triggered by Iqbal's steady performance in the Quaid-e-Azam 2011-12 season, where he averaged 46.87. He also scored two hundreds in the two games he played for Sind in the Faysal Bank Pentangular Cup, aggregating 263 runs at an average of 87.66 in the tournament.

"The last two years have been tough but I kept my fingers crossed and was optimistic, believing that Pakistan's doors are never shut on any active player," Iqbal said. "I kept my fitness levels high, never experimented with my position and scored all the runs as a specialist middle-order batsman."

Being the nephew of former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad only added to the pressure on him, Iqbal said, insisting that he didn't take any shortcuts as a result of this connection. "Being a nephew of Miandad, you [journalists] knew very well how my cricket suffered. It's very tough to cope with such pressure.

"I was a soft target for many and my selection was criticised on grounds of nepotism though my performance was a convincing one. All these things were setbacks to my career but at the same time I was getting mentally strong."

Ayub, 32, has been close to national selection for several years, having been among the top performers on the domestic circuit and having scored heavily since 2009. He was in contention even before the series against England in the UAE earlier this year.

"My performance was satisfactory for the last few years but being selected for national side wasn't in my control," Ayub told ESPNcricinfo. "Though my call-up to the national squad is a bit late, I think the chance being offered to me is fair enough and I am happy. I have been disappointed before and was hurt too each time I was snubbed, but remained optimistic that I will be rewarded for my hard work."

"The process of learning has never stopped. My cricket has matured, the key to my success is the experience I have got from playing an ample amount of first-class cricket."

Ayub understands that the Pakistan Test team is currently in good shape and he doesn't have too much time to establish himself. "Expectations are high and the competition is tight, but have faced a similar situation for many years. You have competition at every level. I have worked very hard and I deserved this chance, and I will live up to the expectations."

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Sri Lanka Premier League set for August this year

 

Sri Lanka Cricket has signed a new deal with Somerset Entertainment Ventures to hold the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) in 2012, ESPNcricinfo has learned. The deal was signed on May 5 and the tournament has been tentatively scheduled to be held between August 10 and August 31, just ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 that will be held in Sri Lanka in September.

The SLPL was supposed to kick off last year, with SLC's then interim committee signing a five-year deal with Somerset Entertainment Ventures to organise the event. However, the Sri Lankan board was forced to postpone the tournament after the BCCI refused to allow its players to participate at the last minute, causing a delay in the naming of the final composition of the teams and affecting overall preparations for the event. In addition, the interim committee that signed the deal was subsequently replaced and there was criticism of some of the clauses in the contract by the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).

A new set of administrators were elected in January and they have been negotiating with Somerset Entertainment Ventures to resolve their differences. The new deal has addressed the concerns raised by the COPE report and has been cleared by the office of the Sri Lankan attorney general, ESPNcricinfo understands.

The format of the tournament remains the same. SLPL will have seven teams that will play each other in a league format followed by semi-finals and finals. The games will most likely be played in Colombo and Kandy. Last year's event was scheduled to kick off on July 19, 2011, with the final to be played on August 6. The tournament hit its first hurdle when the BCCI decided to withhold its permission to allow Indian players to take part on the grounds that Somerset Entertainment Ventures, which owned the commercial rights, would be handling the contracts for international players and that it could lead to complications, should disputes arise over payments.

In order to assuage the Indian board, SLC was willing to back the Indian players' contracts so that their financial interests were protected, but that was not enough to satisfy the BCCI. There were also suggestions that former IPL chairman Lalit Modi had a hand in the event, but SLC and Somerset Entertainment Ventures repeatedly denied them, as did Modi.

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Punjab keep pace with last-ball victory

 

For the second match in a day, the hero was a cricketer who was a complete unknown, playing his second game of the tournament. In the afternoon, Rajasthan Royals' offspinner Ajit Chandila took the first hat-trick of the season and the wind out of Pune Warriors' chase and in the second game, it was 21-year-old Gurkeerat Singh who handed Deccan Chargers their fifth last-over defeat of the season with an ice-cool display of hitting.

Chargers seemed to have the game in control for much of the time. First, their two most consistent batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan and Cameron White, added to their rapidly growing collection of half-centuries this season to lift Chargers to their second highest total of 2012. And soon after Azhar Mahmood was dismissed in the 13th over of the chase, the asking-rate was rocketing past 13, with David Hussey as the only recognised batsman remaining. Still, as they have so often this season, Chargers managed to make a hash of it, and end up on the losing side.

The first signs of trouble for Chargers came in the 15th over from Amit Mishra, when Hussey hammered a couple of leg-side sixes as Kings XI looted 21 off it. Madhya Pradesh seamer TP Sudhindra then seemed to have pulled things back with a yorker-filled over that went only for five in the first five deliveries, but he missed his length off the final ball and Hussey promptly dispatched it for a straight six.

Fifty needed off four overs and time for Chargers to turn to their most potent weapon, Dale Steyn. He delivered with two wickets in his comeback over, though Piyush Chawla got a couple of audacious boundaries off it. When Hussey muscled a slower one from Daniel Christian for six early in the 18th over, everyone thought the outcome of the game would depend on Hussey. Instead, there were no more boundaries from Hussey and most of the runs came from Gurkeerat.

First, Christian was drilled down the ground for four and then a fearless attempt to paddle a ball from outside off resulted in a streaky four off the thigh pad. Steyn has combusted on a couple of occasions at the death this season, and has been unhittable on others. This time he was back at his best-bowler-in-the-world mode, conceding just four singles off the first five balls, though the pressure on him was evident from the expletive-infused outburst at a fielder for shying at the stumps. The last ball of the over was a low full toss that Gurkeerat somehow squeezed behind point for a boundary, making it 16 required off the final over.

With Christian and Steyn having bowled out, Kumar Sangakkara had to choose between legspinner Mishra and quick bowler Manpreet Gony, and he picked Gony. Chargers' fielding seemed to have cost them on the first ball when a fumble allowed Hussey to return for two and retain the strike, but Hussey could only take a single off the next.

Gurkeerat was unfazed by the task at hand, clubbing the next ball over midwicket for six before placing the fourth delivery to the sweeper cover boundary. Two more were taken off the penultimate delivery, levelling the scores. Sangakkara brought in all his fielders, but Gony opted to go with the bouncer, which was probably the wrong option as Hussey could have scampered a bye even if Gurkeerat missed. Gurkeerat didn't though, getting an edge as he pulled it to the fine leg boundary to deliver victory that tightens the table - the top seven teams are only four points apart.

The late heroics were needed as Christian had taken two early wickets, including the crucial one of Shaun Marsh, to stall the chase. Mahmood then helped Kings XI gain ground with a quick 31, then the baton was taken by Hussey who speeded up the innings further before Gurkeerat provided the final burst.

Earlier - considering the three tough games remaining for them - Kings XI seemed to have blown their chances with an amateurish effort in the field. Two simple catches offered by White were put down and there were numerous fumbles as Chargers built up a big score.

Parthiv Patel featured in a brisk opening stand and Christian showed off his hitting skills at the death, but the innings revolved around a 96-run stand between Dhawan and White. The pair set a scorching pace, scoring at nearly 10 an over, and despite another underwhelming performance from Sangakkara, Chargers put up what looked like a winning score. Once again, though, repeating a familiar story from their season, they managed to go down despite controlling a big chunk of the match.

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CLT20 set to have team from Pakistan

The Champions League Twenty20 is set to have a team from Pakistan for the first time. The BCCI has said it will recommend to the tournament's governing council, which is scheduled to meet on May 28, that it had no objection to a team from Pakistan participating.

The decision was taken at the BCCI's working committee meeting in Chennai today, where it was also decided to distribute approx $13m to ex-Indian players, set up a BCCI anti-corruption unit, and set up matches between IPL teams and Associate/Affiliate countries.

Srinivasan said the matter of Pakistan's participation in the CLT20 had already come up in the tournament's governing council. "The Working Committee has decided to invite a team from Pakistan to play in Champions League Twenty20 to be held in October," Srinivasan said after the working committee meeting. "CLT20 is owned by BCCI, Cricket Australia, and Cricket South Africa. So we will recommend to the Governing Council that the BCCI has no objection and is prepared to invite a Pakistan team in the Champions League.

"CLT20 will be played in India. As far as inviting a Pakistani team is concerned, it will be done by the Governing Council. The BCCI will make the recommendation to the Governing Council which will decide on the matter. This matter came up in the Governing Council of the Champions League. There was discussion around the composition of the tournament this year and on the number of teams and who will be invited. A feeling was expressed that a team from Pakistan could be invited."

The PCB had been pushing for the inclusion of sides from Pakistan, the only major Test-playing nation to not have had teams in either the qualifiers or the main round of the tournament since its inception in 2009.

Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI vice-president and a minister in the Indian federal government, said there was no interference or green signal from the government. "Though PCB were asking us from the last three years, we did not consider that," Shukla said. "But now we felt it was good time to invite them and have acceded to the PCB request."

It is understood that it was Srinivasan who proposed the matter during the discussion. Everyone felt that the political climate was conducive for a team from Pakistan to come and play and the working committee members accepted the proposal unanimously.

The Champions League is played between domestic T20 winners from various countries. Sialkot Stallions are the current Pakistan domestic T20 champions. The Sialkot Regional Cricket Association had requested the PCB last month to make efforts to enable the participation of Sialkot in the Champions League. The PCB, in turn, had said that Sialkot's participation was dependent on the restoration of bilateral ties between India and Pakistan.

Sialkot were invited to the inaugural edition of the tournament towards the end of 2008, but it was postponed after the terror attacks in Mumbai in November that year. The fall-out of those attacks strained the political relationship between India and Pakistan, and consequently, the cricketing one between the BCCI and the PCB.

Pakistan players are currently excluded from the Indian Premier League as well. Shukla, also the IPL chairman, had said last month that their participation was also dependent on the resumption of India-Pakistan cricket ties.

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Chennai Super Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by 4 wickets in an important Indian Premier League (IPL) match

 
JAIPUR: Chennai Super Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by 4 wickets in an important Indian Premier League (IPL) match played here at Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Thursday.
Chasing 127-run target, Chennai lost wickets at regular intervals and looked in trouble before Anirudha Srikkanth (18 not out) and Albie Morkel (18 not out) changed the gear for the visitors.
Both the batsmen smashed two sixes and a four each and played identical six deliveries as the duo helped the defending champions achieved the modest target with 11 balls to spare.

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Indian Premier League, 2012 / Points table

Latest Point Table

Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Kolkata Knight Riders	12	8	3	0	1	17	+0.600	1561/205.1	1480/211.1
Delhi Daredevils	11	8	3	0	0	16	+0.880	1579/189.5	1567/210.4
Mumbai Indians	12	7	5	0	0	14	-0.198	1687/234.5	1715/232.2
Royal Challengers Bangalore	12	6	5	0	1	13	-0.223	1790/216.2	1868/219.5
Rajasthan Royals	12	6	6	0	0	12	+0.265	1932/236.0	1859/234.4
Kings XI Punjab	12	6	6	0	0	12	-0.309	1796/237.0	1860/235.5
Chennai Super Kings	12	5	6	0	1	11	+0.013	1710/220.0	1623/209.1
Pune Warriors	13	4	9	0	0	8	-0.238	1956/259.2	1945/250.0
Deccan Chargers	12	2	9	0	1	5	-0.621	1675/220.0	1769/214.5

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Gayle does it again for Bangalore

It wasn't the easiest of pitches to bat on at the Wankhede Stadium, and Mumbai Indians possess the most potent bowling attack in the competition, but none of that mattered to Chris Gayle as he swung sixes on his way to the orange cap, 500 runs in the tournament and an unbeaten 82 that propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore to the fourth spot.

Victories for Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab on Tuesday and Royal Challengers' win today has tightened the table again, with only three points separating the five teams in the middle.

Mumbai's batting has rarely been at its best this season, and continued to struggle today. The Royal Challengers bowling has had some off days this year, but turned in one of their more impressive performances as Vinay Kumar's double-strike in the second over and Muttiah Muralitharan's two wickets off successive deliveries later in the innings limited Mumbai to 141.

With the ball nipping around, it seemed a competitive score, particularly given the strength of Mumbai's bowling. Gayle and Tillakaratne Dilshan watchfully played out the main threat, Lasith Malinga, and focussed their energy on scoring plenty off the rest.

As he has been all season, Gayle was relatively cautious early on. Mumbai had two gilt-edged chances to dismiss him within the Powerplays: first, in the second over when a direct hit would have caught him well short, and then in the sixth over when Dwayne Smith put down a skier at cover. That potentially game-changing drop rounded off a horror outing for Smith, who also flopped with the bat a mere three days after his final-over heroics against Chennai Super Kings.

Dilshan was dismissed in the ninth over, and the asking rate began to climb towards nine, but it only took Gayle three deliveries to transform the match. Pragyan Ojha gifted him two friendly full tosses on leg stump which were contemptuously dispatched over the leg side; the second of those had been a no-ball as well, and Gayle dismissed the extra delivery for another six, over long-off for a change. That 22-run over brought the required rate closer to seven. Mumbai were never in the game after that as Virat Kohli found some form and helped Gayle finish it off with two overs to spare.

It hadn't begun well either for Mumbai with Zaheer Khan and Vinay troubling their top order. James Franklin upper cut a catch to third man, and Rohit Sharma was plumb lbw later in Vinay's over as Mumbai stuttered to 5 for 2 - the lowest score in the IPL after four overs.

Sachin Tendulkar then survived a close call for lbw, and was again reprieved when a Kohli throw from backward point was wide. Mumbai finally got some momentum in the sixth over as Tendulkar struck three successive boundaries - the first off the bat in the innings. Just as Mumbai were getting some stability, 21-year-old seamer Harshal Patel dismissed Tendulkar getting him to top-edge a pull.

The signing of Smith and the return of Kieron Pollard made the Mumbai batting seem more solid, and when Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik added 44 quick runs, the stage seemed set for a late onslaught from the two West Indians. Murali, though, removed both the well-set Karthik and Smith in the 16th over, seemingly denting Mumbai's recovery. Harbhajan, however, swung a couple of boundaries off Zaheer and Pollard powered two sixes in the final over from Vinay to lift Mumbai, but not to a total that was beyond Gayle's

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Pakistan vs Australia series in Srilanka closed to T20 WC

Australia wants Pak ODI series closer to T20 WC

Cricket Australia has asked the Pakistan
Cricket Board to schedule the limited overs
series between the two countries closer to
the ICC T20 World Cup this year in Sri Lanka.

Series will be held in Sri Lanka

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Pakistan Team Squad for Srilanka Tour

Pakistan captain Misbah retires from international Twenty20s, Hafeez to take over as captain in format

Pakistan's Test squad for series against Sri Lanka:
M Hafeez, T Umar, A Ali, Y Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain), Faisal Iqbal, Ayub Dogar, Afaq Raheem, Adnan Akmal, U Gul, S Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Sami, Junaid Khan, A Cheema.

Pakistan's ODI Squad for series against Sri Lanka:
M Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Y Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain), U Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmad, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Rahat Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Sami, Asad Shafiq, Aizaz Cheema, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail , Imran Farhat.

Pakistan's squad for Twenty20 against Sri Lanka:
Mohammad Hafeez (Captain), Khalid Latif, Ahmad Shahzad, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shakeel Ansar (Wicket keeper), Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Raza Hassan, Saeed Ajmal, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Sami, Hammad Azam.

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Pakistan's Misbah steps down as Twenty20 captain

Misbah-ul-Haq has stepped down* as Pakistan's Twenty20 captain. PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, speaking at the same press conference, said that 

Mohammad Hafeez will take over as captain from Misbah.

Misbah had captained Pakistan in eight games. His last Twenty20 assignment was the three-match series against England in the UAE in February, which England won 2-1.

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