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ESPNcricinfo previews the first Twenty20 between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town

Brydon Coverdale12-Oct-2011Match FactsOctober 13, Cape Town
Start time 1800 (1600 GMT)Big PictureAustralia’s month-long tour of South Africa begins with a Twenty20 in Cape Town, a match that will be South Africa’s first international in any format since March 25. During that same period, Australia have been to Bangladesh for a one-day series and Sri Lanka for Tests, ODIs and Twenty20s. They haven’t been overworked, though, and by comparison South Africa will have to shed their rust as quickly as possible. They have a new captain, Hashim Amla, standing in for the injured AB de Villiers, while star players Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn are being rested. Still, Twenty20 is a format that South Africa have mastered considerably better than their opponents in recent years.Australia are trying to find their best Twenty20 outfit, under the captaincy of Cameron White, and they have three uncapped men in this squad. One of those is the wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, who has benefited from Brad Haddin’s recent retirement from the format and Tim Paine’s broken finger. The side is also in a state of flux off the field: Troy Cooley is the acting coach for this trip after Tim Nielsen’s resignation following the tour of Sri Lanka, while the selection panel is temporary while replacements are found. Five members of the Twenty20 squad will fly home ahead of the ODIs, so quite how much momentum the team could carry if they win in the shortest format is questionable. But kicking off the tour with a win would be an adequate start.Hashim Amla will lead South Africa in their first international game across formats in almost seven months•Getty ImagesForm guideSouth Africa LWWWW
Australia LLWLLIn the spotlightHashim Amla is one of the world’s finest batsmen, but he is yet to show his best against Australia. Across all formats, he averages 39.05 against Australia, compared to an overall mark of 49.70. He also has the burden of captaining his country for the first time in his career. Graeme Smith is on hand to provide advice but the best way for Amla to lead is from the front – with big runs at the top of the order.At 18, Patrick Cummins will become Australia’s second-youngest debutant in any format. Only Ian Craig, who won a baggy green at 17, was younger. Cummins bowls with genuine speed and has won rave reviews, most recently from his team-mate Shane Watson, who said Cummins was “as impressive as I’ve seen for any young guy coming through for the past ten years”. He is, however, incredibly raw, and it will be interesting to see how he handles the pressures of international cricket.Team newsThe injury to AB de Villiers means Heino Kuhn will take the gloves, while Albie Morkel is also missing from the original squad due to injury. Wayne Parnell will struggle to make the final XI, while Ryan McLaren and Richard Levi are also in danger of missing out.South Africa (possible) 1 Hashim Amla (capt), 2 Graeme Smith, 3 JP Duminy, 4 Colin Ingram, 5 David Miller, 6 Heino Kuhn (wk), 7 Johan Botha, 8 Robin Peterson, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Rusty Theron, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe.The absence of Brett Lee due to his bout of appendicitis guarantees a debut for Cummins. On a pitch that could offer some turn, Steve O’Keefe and Steven Smith are both likely to play. Aaron Finch is the extra batsman in the squad, but he will struggle to oust Shaun Marsh or David Hussey.Australia (possible): 1 David Warner, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 David Hussey, 5 Cameron White (capt), 6 Steven Smith/Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Steve O’Keefe, 9 James Pattinson, 10 Patrick Cummins, 11 Doug Bollinger.Pitch and conditionsAn early-season pitch at Newlands should be a touch on the slow side, so the spinners are likely to play an important role. The weather is expected to be fine and warm.Stats and trivia Australia have won only one of their previous eight Twenty20 internationals, while South Africa have won six of their previous seven Australia’s leading Twenty20 international wicket-taker is Mitchell Johnson, who was not considered good enough to be part of this squad Only three players from each side were part of the last Twenty20 between the two teams: Johan Botha, Robin Peterson and JP Duminy, along with David Warner, Cameron White and David HusseyQuotes”Everybody’s been given their room and space to have a lot of freedom when they play, and also to express themselves within the team environment. It’s been a really nice few days for the guys to connect with each other.”
“We didn’t play that well in Sri Lanka but in the same breath we weren’t that far away either. I think we are heading in the right direction. We’ve got a very young squad together now and the more Twenty20 we play, the better we will be.”

Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, has said that 135 was a ‘good enough’ score at Mirpur given the amount of bounce and turn the bowlers were getting

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2011Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, has said that 135 was a “good enough” score at Mirpur given the amount of bounce and turn the bowlers were getting. Batting first, Pakistan had struggled against the Bangladesh spinners in getting to that score, but their bowlers made short work of the hosts to give them a 50-run win.”I think it was a difficult wicket to bat on,” Misbah said. “There were some loose patches and the ball was just bouncing and turning and I think scoring 135 runs on this wicket was good enough.”If you consider the wicket, I think the batsmen did a pretty good job for the way they got the start. There was a little tremble in the middle overs, which cut down the score by 10 to 12 runs. Scoring 140 or 150 would have been a brilliant job.”It was the turn and bounce that encouraged Misbah to hand the new ball to offspinner Mohammad Hafeez, and the decision paid off immediately. Hafeez dismissed Alok Kapali in his first over on the way to figures of 2 for 11.”We saw patches on the wicket on which the ball was bouncing and turning,” Misbah said. “So it was a good idea to start with the spinners, specially Mohammed Hafeez for the way he bowls. He bowls wicket to wicket and gets a bit of bounce and turn.”Having seen first-hand how difficult it was to play spin on this wicket, Hafeez was mentally ready to open the bowling as well. “We had a plan to cut their runs in the first six overs and I have bowled with a new ball before and I am confident in doing so,” Hafeez said. “The captain knew that I can be worthy with the new ball for which I was given the job and I tried to give 100%.”Despite their victory, Misbah said that low-scoring T20 games were less exciting than high scoring ones. “I think the game and the crowd demands more batting wickets for the game to become more entertaining. But I think these matters are not under the control of the players. We are professionals and should respect whatever wicket we get.”

The opening day at Centurion went largely according to expectations as Sri Lanka struggled to handle the home side’s bowling attack on a helpful pitch

The Report by Andrew McGlashan15-Dec-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Vernon Philander continued his productive start to Test cricket•AFPPredicting Test cricket in recent weeks has been a fool’s game, but the opening day at Centurion went largely according to expectations as Sri Lanka struggled to handle the home side’s bowling attack on a helpful pitch. Vernon Philander continued his prolific emergence with his third five-wicket haul in three matches – making him just the fifth bowler to achieve the feat – as Sri Lanka crumbled to 180. Although Graeme Smith fell moments before the close it was emphatically South Africa’s day and they are on course for a handsome lead.As they had against Australia, Philander and Dale Steyn combined to do much of the damage with nine wickets between them which ensured a poor day for Morne Morkel didn’t seriously cost the home side. After being inserted on a green pitch there were low expectations for Sri Lanka so three down at lunch represented a decent morning’s work and then during the afternoon 156 for 4 was the basis for a competitive total. However, Sri Lanka have dealt in some serious collapses this year and here they registered a demise of 6 for 24 in five overs with Philander and Steyn both claiming two wickets in two balls.Philander’s success for the day had begun with the key wicket of Kumar Sangakkara, currently the No. 1 Test batsman in the world, who was able to play despite the split webbing he suffered in the warm-up match. Sangakkara’s stay in the middle was brief as Philander produced a delivery that bounced off a length and the batsman followed it. Fifteen minutes before lunch he had a second with a delivery that swung back between Tharanga Paranavitana’s bat and pad to end a stubborn stand of 56 with Mahela Jayawardene.Philander was then the bowler to get South Africa back on track after they’d lost their way for an hour during the afternoon. Morkel suffered a day to forget as he firstly had Thilan Samaraweera taken at third slip when he overstepped – a no-ball called after the on-field umpires asked for a closer look – and that would have left Sri Lanka 91 for 5. Instead, Morkel lost his control when he changed ends and a two-over spell cost 23 as Angelo Mathews latched onto regular short and wide deliveries.Smart stats

Dale Steyn became the second-fastest bowler to reach the 250-wicket mark in Tests. Steyn got there in his 49th Test, only one behind Dennis Lillee’s record of 48 Tests. Steyn, however, has the best strike rate (39.4) among all bowlers with 250-plus wickets.

Vernon Philander became only the fifth bowler after Charlie Turner, Tom Richardson, Rodney Hogg and Frank Foster to pick up a five-wicket haul in each of his first three Test matches. Philander now has 19 wickets at 13.05.

Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for just 24 runs to collapse from 156 for 4 to 180 all out. Only five times since 2000 have Sri Lanka lost their last five wickets for fewer than 24 runs.

This is the seventh time in 14 innings (completed innings) in South Africa that Sri Lanka have been dismissed for a score below 200.

Sri Lanka have only won once before after scoring lower than 180 in the match first innings. Their lowest first-innings total to win a Test outside the subcontinent is 183 in Napier in 2005.

The 88-run stand between Jacques Rudolph and Graeme Smith is the third-highest opening-wicket stand for South Africa against Sri Lanka in home Tests and their sixth-highest opening stand against Sri Lanka overall.

As the hosts were threatening to waste their toss advantage, Philander was recalled to the attack, although his success was a duel effort along with the DRS. Samaraweera edged a length delivery and the appeal was initially turned down by Rod Tucker, but South Africa’s signal for a review was instantaneous which showed a small mark on the edge from Hot Spot. The same technology came to the fore again next ball when Tucker turned down another appeal, for a catch down the leg side off Kaushal Silva, but this time Smith’s review appeared more in hope than expectation yet a faint mark showed up on Silva’s glove.There was no hat-trick for Philander (or the DRS) although another wicket soon followed when Imran Tahir found Thisara Perera’s edge with a trademark googly and Jacques Kallis held a superb catch at slip with the ball having deflected off Mark Boucher’s leg. Mathews, who produced some crunching back-foot boundaries, tried to keep the innings afloat but clearly didn’t have much faith in his lower order and edged to second slip, as he advanced down the pitch, to hand Philander his fifth. Yet none of Philander’s victims was the most culpable batsman for the day.That dubious honour goes to the captain, Tillakaratne Dilshan, who played an awful shot as he tried to flick Steyn over the leg side and offered mid-on a simple catch. Even the South Africans appeared surprised at the generous offer. By his nature Dilshan can be a hit-or-miss batsman, but his team deserved better especially when conditions demanded care and attention.Steyn made an important breakthrough after lunch when Jayawardene, who began the innings needing 46 runs to become the first Sri Lanka batsman to reach 10,000 in Tests, pushed outside off and offered a catch to first slip. Jayawardene had a lean series against Pakistan in UAE but showed a touch of class in tough conditions as he played the ball late to account for the movement. He was well aware he had wasted his hard work. Steyn later did a comprehensive clean-up job on the final two wickets as neither Chanaka Welegedara or Dilhara Fernando showed any inclination to get into line.South Africa began their innings after tea and found life much simpler than the Sri Lankans. There was the occasional alarm against the new ball – the life hadn’t disappeared from the pitch – but Welegedara and Perera didn’t have the incisiveness of their counterparts. Smith led the way as he picked off anything on his pads while Jacques Rudolph, under pressure to secure his Test spot, was more circumspect having damaged his finger in the field which needed a trip to hospital.Smith reached his half-century from 80 balls with a drive down the ground; a sign that his game is in decent order. However, late in the day, Sri Lanka finally had a moment to cheer when Smith played across the line of a full Fernando delivery. It gave the visitors something to cling to overnight but they still have a huge task ahead of them.

Monty Panesar has been given hope of relaunching his Test career after being named in England’s squad to take on Pakistan in UAE next month

Andrew McGlashan09-Dec-2011Monty Panesar has been given hope of relaunching his Test career after being named in England’s squad to take on Pakistan in UAE next month. The 16-man party is very much as expected with Ravi Bopara retaining the spare batting slot and Steven Davies, the Surrey wicketkeeper, given the role of Matt Prior’s understudy as he was in Australia.In a sign of the consistency that has been a hallmark of England’s Test cricket over the last 18 months there is only one change from the original 16-man squad that travelled to Australia last year with Bopara replacing Paul Collingwood. The trio of players who have been recovering from injury – Stuart Broad (shoulder), Eoin Morgan (shoulder) and Chris Tremlett (back) – are all included although there remains a small injury cloud over Tim Bresnan who has recently undergone elbow surgery.”This series sees Steven Davies once again deputise as wicketkeeper to Matt Prior while Monty Panesar, who has been playing cricket in Sydney recently, has been selected as the second spin option along with Graeme Swann,” Geoff Miller, the national selector, said. “Monty’s selection comes off the back of a strong domestic season with Sussex and with the potentially spin-friendly conditions of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in mind.”Ravi Bopara has another opportunity to show his growth as a Test player and we believe he will continue to add depth to our batting stocks for what promises to be a highly competitive series.”Panesar remains the second-best spinner available for England and was the logical option to work alongside Graeme Swann. His last Test was against Australia, at Cardiff, in 2009 when he produced the famous last-wicket rearguard with James Anderson to save the match. He moved to Sussex to rejuvenate his career and last season he was the highest wicket-taker in Division One of the County Championship in 2011 with 69 victims at 27.24.Yet, whether Panesar makes the first eleven will depend on the willingness of Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower to move away from the current balance of six batsmen, the keeper and four bowlers – albeit in conditions that haven’t demanded a second spinner, or specialist fifth bowler – unless they opt for the risky strategy of two quicks and two spinners.The prolific form of England’s top five, Prior’s consistency in Test cricket, plus the developing allround skills of Bresnan and Broad, suggest England could cope with the shift in strategy but don’t be surprised to see the balance remain the same. However, there is little doubt that at some point next year – whether in UAE, Sri Lanka or India – England will need two spinners in the same attack.Bopara has clung onto his place in England’s Test plans after replacing the injured Jonathan Trott against India and has fought off the claims of James Taylor, Samit Patel and Jonny Bairstow. Davies, meanwhile, is back in an England squad for the first time since the one-day series in Australia during which he was omitted from the World Cup party.”We believe we’ve selected a very strong squad with a number of key players looking to return from injury including the likes of Stuart Broad, Eoin Morgan and Chris Tremlett,” Miller said. “All three have missed a significant period of cricket recently but continue to make excellent progress and will be looking forward to having a substantial impact during this series. To have three world-class players of their calibre returning to the squad is an enormous boost for the Test team.”We’ve been very pleased with the preparations undertaken by a number of players during what continues to be a lengthy break from international cricket. Several players are attending training camps with the England performance programmes in South Africa and India. With a long lead-in period once the squad arrives in Dubai there will be a substantial amount of preparation time to acclimatise and adapt to the conditions.”England have two three-day warm-up matches before the first Test on January 16 although the opposition is still to be confirmed. Tremlett and Steven Finn, the two other pace bowlers in the squad, will view that as an opportunity to push for recalls but may have to bide their time.Squad Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett, Steven Finn, Ravi Bopara, Monty Panesar, Steven Davies

David Miller, the South Africa middle-order batsman, has been retained by Kings XI Punjab and given a two-year contract

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2012David Miller, the South Africa middle-order batsman, has been retained by Kings XI Punjab ahead of the fifth season of the IPL, and given a two-year contract. Miller had joined Kings XI as a replacement for Dimitri Mascarenhas last season but did not play a game. He has been on the fringes of the South Africa ODI and Twenty20 side, and scored a half-century against Australia in the October 2011 series.Teams who signed replacement players last season have first rights to their services this season, provided they can come to an agreement with the player on the price. Had Miller not been retained by Kings XI he would have gone into the mix for the February 4 auction. Kings XI sold Dinesh Karthik to the Mumbai Indians earlier in the transfer window, which closed on January 20, and have brought in R Sathish and Miller to bolster the batting.Miller has never played an IPL match, but averages 31.30 in Twenty20s for his South African franchise the Dolphins with a strike-rate of 127.75. English county Durham signed him to play in the 2011 Friends Life t20, and he scored 212 runs at an average of 26.50.After being drafted into the South Africa team as a 20 year old in 2010, Miller was left out of the squad for the 2011 World Cup. He received a recall for the home ODIs and Twenty20 internationals against Australia, but despite his half-century did not even figure in the squad for the series against Sri Lanka.

Papua New Guinea have appointed former Queensland and South Australia wicketkeeper Peter Anderson as their new coach

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2012Papua New Guinea have appointed former Queensland and South Australia wicketkeeper Peter Anderson as their new coach. Anderson replaces Brad Hogg, who resigned as coach of PNG following his recall to Australia’s Twenty20 side.Anderson’s first-class career spanned eight years from 1986 to 1994. He made 1399 runs from 56 matches, averaging 17.93, and effected 172 dismissals. Cricket PNG general manager Greg Campbell said the team was looking for a long-term coach. The big assignment ahead is the World T20 Qualifier in March.”We’re coming into a very important and exciting time for Cricket PNG right now, and needed someone to spend vast periods of time with the team,” Campbell said. We’ve been blessed in recent times to have the both Brad Hogg and Andy Bichel working with the team, but given their reputations in the cricket world, they would always have opportunities knocking at the door. With Peter, we know we’re going to get 100% and the vision and attributes he brings to the team will be great for the boys.”Anderson has been coaching local clubs in Queensland over the last six years and has also been working with wicketkeepers in the ICC Pacific region.”I think Peter will be a great addition to our coaching staff, with many years playing and coaching behind him, I feel we have picked the right man to take us to the next level,” Cricket PNG chairman Mick Nades said. “As a board, we congratulate him on his appointment, and look forward to moving forward together.”Anderson will join the PNG team in Canberra next month.

Playing on uncovered pitches and incentivising wins by tweaking the Ranji Trophy points system were some of the ideas proposed at a BCCI conclave for domestic captains and coaches

Nagraj Gollapudi22-Mar-2012Playing on uncovered pitches, incentivising wins by tweaking the Ranji Trophy points system, scheduling Ranji knockouts at neutral venues, increasing the number of rest days between games, increasing the number of bouncers allowed per over in first-class cricket; these were all ideas proposed at a BCCI conclave for domestic captains and coaches, in Mumbai.With team officials from nearly 27 states in attendance, the meeting was chaired by BCCI president N Srinivasan along with Sanjay Jagdale and Ratnakar Shetty, the board secretary and chief-administrative officer respectively. The conclave, a concept that had been discontinued a few years ago, made a resounding comeback according to some participants, who said there had been fruitful discussions.One of most important discussions in this year’s conclave concerned the revamping of the points system in the Ranji Trophy. WV Raman, the former India opener and current Bengal coach, suggested there was a need to encourage teams to win games outright. Under the current points system, once a team takes the first-innings lead they sit back, he said. “My suggestion was if a team gets a first-innings lead then give them the impetus to go for an outright win by allowing them to retain the three points even if they lose the game. The team that wins will get four points.”According to the existing rules, a team that takes a first-innings lead gets three points if the match ends in a draw, with the opponent getting one point. An outright win is worth five points with an additional bonus point available for an innings victory or ten-wicket win. According to Raman’s formula, a team would secure three points once they took a first-innings lead, regardless of the result, and would then chase a further four points for a win.”It will give the teams the drive to challenge the opponents and make sporting declarations,” Raman said.The other topic which saw animated discussion was that of uncovered pitches. Bishan Singh Bedi, the former India captain and current Jammu & Kashmir coach, said playing on uncovered pitches would toughen up domestic batsmen and simultaneously negate home advantage in matches. The idea met some opposition, particularly, according to Hyderabad coach Sunil Joshi, from the batsmen and coaches at the conclave.”In domestic cricket the quality of bowling is bad while the batsmen continue to bat on for days,” Bedi said. “The uncovered pitches will give the bowlers some encouragement.”According to Joshi, a better idea would be to use uncovered pitches at the Under-19 and Under-22 levels. “That would allow the youngsters to negotiate variable bounce, moisture, dew and a variety of other factors. It could be a good learning experience not only for the youngsters but also for the coaches,” Joshi said.During the BCCI’s technical committee meeting last month, Sourav Ganguly and his nine-member panel had struck down the suggestion of playing Ranji matches at neutral venues, an idea that had come out of the BCCI working committee meeting. The technical committee had recommended carrying on with the existing home-and-away format during the league phase.One advantage of neutral venues would be that sides like Tamil Nadu could avoid playing in Chennai, where several matches are affected by rain•ESPNcricinfo LtdDuring the conclave, many coaches and captains supported the idea of knockout matches being played at neutral grounds, saying it would guard against any bias a home-team curator might have while preparing a pitch. However, Raman pointed out that the home team lost in both semi-finals and the final this Ranji season. “So you can’t take it for granted that the home side will tweak things in their favour,” Raman said. Also, Raman said, the fact that BCCI grounds and pitches committee officials were present to overlook pitch preparations during the knockout phase was a good enough assurance that tracks would be fair to both sides.Raman also suggested at the conclave that fast bowlers be allowed to bowl three bouncers in an over in first-class cricket. “It would give the fast bowlers an added weapon and also help batsman counter short-pitch bowling,” Raman said. It was an extension, Raman said, of the technical committee’s decision to allow two bouncers in an over during domestic one-day tournaments.There was also a unanimous opinion among the captains and coaches that a four-day break between matches during the Ranji season was needed as opposed to the prevailing three-day breaks.Ganguly’s committee had suggested that Kookaburra balls continue being used during the Duleep Trophy. That idea did not find favour at the conclave, as members suggested playing with SG Test balls would be better. “What is the point of playing with a Kookaburra ball when the domestic players play the Ranji season with SG balls,” Joshi said. “Also, in the next 18 months India will be playing only at home so it would be much better to use SG during the Duleep Trophy too.”Kookaburra balls are used for the domestic 50-over and 20-over competitions, and it was recommended that teams be given more balls to practise with, well in advance of the tournaments. “Normally we are given a few Kookaburra balls two days before the tournament. How do you expect the bowlers to get used to it?” one of the coaches said. Another idea discussed was the introduction of a league phase in the Duleep and Deodhar Trophy.Joshi and Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the captain of Rajasthan, winners of the last two Ranji Trophies, proposed the idea of having just one group in both Elite and Plate divisions, increasing the number of games each team would play in the league phase, and thus giving them more chances to qualify for the knockouts. “So you play about 14 matches in the Elite division, and 11 in Plate. Then you could have the top four or the top two from each group progress to the quarterfinals or the semi-finals,” Joshi said.That idea, though, was in contradiction to the agreed-upon notion that players needed more rest. “On the one hand people wanted the rest period increased, but at the same time they were requesting more cricket in an already packed calendar,” one of the captains who attended the meeting said.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

USA Cricket Association president Gladstone Dainty and other incumbent members of the board are favoured to win re-election today in the USACA general elections

Peter Della Penna14-Apr-2012USA Cricket Association president Gladstone Dainty and other incumbent members of the board are favoured to win re-election today in the USACA general elections. A lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction for the elections to be delayed was dismissed in the District Court in California on Friday.It means that 32 out of 47 USACA member leagues who had their voting privileges stripped by the USACA board in February will remain unable to take part in the election. The majority of the 15 eligible leagues are supporters of Dainty. Consequently, they are also highly likely to favor treasurer John Thickett and vice presidents Michael Gale and Rafey Syed who have all reportedly sided with Dainty in recent board decisions.The other position up for a vote today is executive secretary. John Aaron, who resigned from his position on November 30 in protest at the board’s stalling tactics to overstay their three-year term, is running against Kenwyn Williams. Due to the fact that the majority of the board voted to uphold Dainty’s suspension of Aaron last year, it is believed the pro-Dainty leagues will vote against Aaron. Williams has vowed on his campaign’s Facebook page to enforce a “gag order” on all USACA players, team officials and administrators from speaking with the media if he is elected executive secretary.Votes will be presented and tabulated at the USACA annual general meeting which takes place today in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Candidates
Gladstone Dainty (incumbent), Mahammad Qureshi, Ram Varadarajan, Kenwyn Williams
Michael Gale (incumbent), Shahid Ahmed, Ahmed Jeddy, Krish Prasad, Mahammad Qureshi
Rafey Syed (incumbent), Hemant Buch, Ahmed Jeddy, Charles Peterson, Mahammad Qureshi
John Aaron, Kenwyn Williams
John Thickett (incumbent), Gangaram Singh

Delhi Daredevils batsman Kevin Pietersen, whose hundred helped beat his former team Deccan Chargers by five wickets on Thursday, said that he felt “a little sorry” for Chargers

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Apr-2012Delhi Daredevils batsman Kevin Pietersen, whose hundred helped beat his former team Deccan Chargers by five wickets on Thursday, said that he felt “a little sorry” for Chargers, who lost their fourth straight match in the tournament. Deccan sold Pietersen to Daredevils in the 2012 transfer window after he missed out on the entire 2011 season due to injury. Pietersen said that the thought of playing against his former team didn’t cross his mind during the match, as he concentrated on his batting.”I feel a little sorry for Deccan, but we came out here as Delhi players and had to get the two points. They played very well, they put us under a lot of pressure and could have won. Luckily we came through but they are a very good team that should have won against Mumbai, and [against Rajasthan Royals] the other night,” Pietersen said.Pietersen said though that there is still time in the tournament for Deccan to improve. “You don’t want to play your best cricket in April, if you have a good May. In my first season [in 2009] I played for Bangalore, and we lost five out of our first six games and went on to play the final in Jo’burg [Johannesburg], so nothing’s lost for Deccan at all,” Pietersen said.Pietersen said his innings against Deccan was his best in the Twenty20 format. “It’s my first hundred in T20 cricket so it’s my favourite. I hit one [six] on the top terrace which was good. It’s amazing, you look at guys that get T20 centuries and you envy them. It’s something that I hadn’t done yet, I’ve got Test centuries, ODI centuries and now a T20 century. Although it’s the IPL and not an international T20, it’s still a special feeling.”Chargers, who’ve struggled in the field this season, made matters worse on Thursday by dropping Pietersen three times [on 6, 68, 84]. Chargers coach Darren Lehmann said that poor fielding cost them the last two matches. “I said it the last time, they’ve cost us matches, they have cost us the last two games. You can’t drop a bloke like Pietersen. To give him some credit it’s one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen so when you drop him on six it costs you the game.””We were in a good position at the 12th, 13th over mark and then we lost our way with a couple of poor shots and poor decision making. We are playing at 90%, if we kick off the other 10% we’ll win each game.” Lehmann said.Daredevils currently top the table with four wins and one loss. The team have been performing well [with both bat and ball] and Pietersen said it was a team effort that helped them beat Deccan. “Irfan was good, Yogi [Yogesh Nagar] was good, unfortunately we ran out Ross Taylor and it put a lot more pressure on me,” Pietersen said.”[Shahbaz] Nadeem was excellent, he took three wickets for nine runs in the Chennai game, went to Mumbai and bowled beautifully with the new ball and again he bowled fantastically today. He’s a clever bowler,” Pietersen said. “People were talking about us not having a spinner for this tournament but we’ve turned out to have a little superstar.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Pune Warriors and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Pune

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria10-May-2012Match factsFriday, May 11, Pune
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Sourav Ganguly has left his best behind•AFPBig PicturePune Warriors have lost six matches in a row – a sequence even worse than bottom-placed Deccan Chargers, who have been clueless against everyone but the Warriors. The losses have meant that Warriors’ promising start in the tournament has been squandered. With only three games to go, Warriors can only hope to trip others on their rush to make it to the playoffs and they can start with the fourth-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore.Royal Challengers earned valuable two points after their bowlers had restricted Mumbai Indians to 141 – the lowest score against them this season – on a responsive pitch and their batsmen strolled to the target. That Virat Kohli scored useful runs must have come as a relief to the team and they would hope that he continues the form. Royal Challengers face Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers after the game against Warriors, and with the race to the finish getting hotter, they wouldn’t want to lose points against bottom-placed teams.After the first four matches, Warriors had shot to the top of the table only to be shaken off the perch by Royal Challengers in a game where Gayle punished Rahul Sharma with five sixes in an over and Ashish Nehra failed to defend 21 runs in the last over. Warriors have the chance to dish out revenge this time but their batting needs to fire. Their last three totals have been 125, 143 and 119 and Sourav Ganguly’s tinkering with the batting order hasn’t helped him or the team. Ganguly’s role in the team has been questioned just as much as a few other captains and his position in the team is, reportedly, in doubt. Now, in their penultimate game in Pune, Warriors would hope to give their fans, who have filled the stadium every time, something to cheer. With nothing to lose, Warriors could win some more fans in Bangladesh if they include Tamim Iqbal.Form guide (most recent first, completed games)
Pune Warriors: LLLLL
Royal Challengers Bangalore: WWLLWPlayers to watchMuttiah Muralitharan is the leading wicket-taker for Royal Challengers with ten although he has just played six games. Muralitharan’s double-wicket over derailed a recovering Mumbai Indians batting and inspired a much-improved bowling performance. He would aim to keep the straightjacket on the struggling Warriors’ batting.Michael Clarke has scored 31 runs in his last three innings after scoring 41 on debut. He doesn’t have much of a reputation in Twenty20 cricket and with only a few games remaining, he would hope to leave a mark on the tournament.Stats and trivia Steven Smith has taken the most catches – nine – in this IPL. Sourav Ganguly has the lowest strike-rate of 107.27 of all batsmen who have scored more than 1000 runs in IPL. This season, his strike-rate is 100.81, which is the lowest among regular batsmen in his team. Warriors have played Royal Challengers twice, losing both.Quotes”It is a good feeling to get it [orange cap]. Do you want it?”
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