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Match facts

Saturday, April 19, 2008
Start time 17:00 local, (11:30 GMT)

The Big Picture

The second match of the tournament features the Chennai Super Kings taking on Kings XI Punjab in Mohali – and it’s being touted as Royal Saturday. From an Indian perspective there’s a buzz around this game given that six of India’s ICC World Twenty20-winning squad, and some of the most expensive acquisitions, will be pitted together. No other match-up includes so many such players and that’s obviously a big draw. Chennai are lead by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who after the Twenty20 victory was snapped up for a whopping US$1.5 million. On the other side is Yuvraj Singh, he of the six consecutive sixes in the World Twenty20, leading a team of this magnitude for the first time. Punjab are a very young and promising team, with only three players over 30, whereas Chennai’s strengths lie in their batting. How each cope with the other’s strengths, and smooth over their own weaknesses – Chennai have solid batsmen but are thin in the bowling stakes, while Punjab lack a potent spinner – will determine the winner of this contest.

Watch out for …

Yuvraj has already spoken of the mini-battle that the contest is likely to throw up between him and Dhoni. “It’s a good way to build the hype (around the competition) by pitching it as a Yuvraj versus Dhoni contest,” Yuvraj said. “Maybe, I will share a joke with him after the game.” Dhoni, however, will play in the side as a specialist batsman with Parthiv Patel set to keep wicket.Matthew Hayden and Brett Lee have terrorized opposing teams for a few years now but now it’s going to be one versus the other. Hayden’s domination with the bat has extended into the Twenty20 format and it’s unlikely he will change his approach against Lee, who is at the top of his game. Lee will know Hayden’s penchant for walking down the track, so expect a few tricks.Another contest with the makings of a classic is Kumar Sangakkara versus Muttiah Muralitharan. Sangakkara has kept admirably to Murali all over the world, and has no doubt faced up to him plenty of times in the nets; but in front of a huge crowd, with so much at stake? Keep your eyes on Sanga v Murali.

Team news

Punjab will have to decide who among Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Ramnaresh Sarwan sits out. Sangakkara keeps wicket and Sarwan is due to fly back for an ODI series against Australia, so Jayawardene may have to sit out this one. There are no specialist international openers, so Sangakkara could partner James Hopes at the top, though Sahil Kukreja is an option. Karan Goel could slot into the middle order with Tanmay Srivastava, the Under-19 allrounder. Lee and Sreesanth are almost certain to share the new ball, with Hopes and Irfan Pathan to follow. That means Kyle Mills will miss out, with either the two Sri Lankans or Sarwan likely to come in to complete the overseas quota. Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, should make up the spin quotient.Punjab (likely) 1 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 2 James Hopes, 3 Sahil Kukreja, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Yuvraj Singh (capt), 6 Irfan Pathan, 7 Tanmay Srivastava, 8 Karan Goel, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Sreesanth.The team that spent the most money in the main auction has a host of talent. Dhoni has proved to be a smart captain in limited-overs cricket, and in Hayden and Stephen Fleming, Chennai have a couple of excellent, dominant batsmen. Jacob Oram has a key role to play with bat and ball, so he could be preferred to Michael Hussey. S Badrinath and Suresh Raina make up the Indian talent. Explosive allrounder Albie Morkel isn’t around till the third game, which means Joginder Sharma will fill that slot. R Ashwin and Manpreet Gony will back up Murali. Dhoni won’t be keeping in the first few games, which means Parthiv will fill that role.Chennai (likely) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Stephen Fleming, 3 S Badrinath, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Jacob Oram, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 S Vidyut, 9 Joginder Sharma, 10 Manpreet Gony, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Stats and trivia

Wellington v Central Districts Day 3
New Zealand hopeful Michael Mason tore through the Wellington lower order on a rain-shortened day to leave this match delicately poised with a day to play. The third day ended early with rain and bad light but not before Wellington picked up the vital wickets of Jamie How (9) and Mathew Sinclair. Central, chasing 227 for victory, require another 175 runs on a pitch that has proved difficult to score heavily on. Mason, with 4 for 44 from 18.2 overs, was the best of the bowlers but Wellington will be disappointed with their total. All the top-order batsmen bar nightwatchman Jeetan Patel made starts but only Michael Parlane (53) passed 50.Auckland v Otago Day 2
Big scores from Tim McIntosh and Rob Nicol might have lit the fuse, but it was Andre Adams who provided the pyrotechnics on day two of this match at the neutral venue of Lincoln, just outside of Christchurch.Adams, batting at No. 8, hit 10 fours and a staggering eight sixes in his unbeaten 117 off 94 balls to allow Auckland the luxury of declaring with more than 600 runs. Otago will know the feeling well, having declared on 601 for 9 in their opening match against Canterbury last week. Adams’s innings completely overshadowed the meritorious, though sedate by comparison, 160 from Nicol. McIntosh took his overnight 173 to 205 before being dismissed and Reece Young hit 79.In reply Otago were in dire trouble, losing three quick wickets. Adams removed the promising Jordan Sheed for 1 and Aaron Redmond for a duck while Chris Martin removed the in-form Craig Cumming for 7.Cantebury v Norhern Districts Day 2
Shanan Stewart guided Canterbury to first-innings points in this low-scoring match. No Canterbury batsman passed 50 – Craig McMillan top scored with 42 – but Stewart’s 26 not out, batting lower than normal at No. 8, was the difference between the sides. The most notable feature of a dull day, however, was the return of former New Zealand bowler Daryl Tuffey, who impressed with 3 for 61 from 24 overs. Mark Orchard took 4 for 33, also off 24 overs.

Matthew Hoggard has managed to test his injured hand during a bowling stint in the nets at Lord’s, raising hopes that he will be fit to take his place in the first Test against Pakistan on Thursday. Hoggard went through the session on during training on Wednesday and was able to match the other bowlers for pace. England will give him until the last minute to prove his fitness.It was his first bowl since suffering the freak injury at Canterbury when his Yorkshire team-mate, Tim Bresnan, stood on his hand while wearing spikes in his boots. Hoggard needed six stitches in his right hand and has spent time in an oxygen chamber to aid his recovery process.”He did some useful work in the nets today and every hour the hand is getting better. But we are going to give him as long as possible to prove his fitness,” Andrew Strauss told reporters after practice but added Hoggard would have to do more than prove his bowling fitness. “Fielding is important. I don’t think you can go into a game with a guy who is unable to field.”Hoggard has played in 32 consecutive Tests dating back to the 2004 tour of the Caribbean. In that time he has become an indispensable part of the England attack, and recently became the tenth Englishman to pass 200 Test wickets.”We all know Hoggy’s done a very good job for the England team over the last 24 months and, certainly since the Ashes, he’s probably been the pick of our bowlers,” Strauss said. “It’s very important we do get him on the pitch but if he doesn’t make it through it gives an opportunity to someone else.”Hoggard had visited a specialist on Sunday morning when it was decided to employ the same hyperbaric process at a hospital in St John’s Wood that Simon Jones used as he tried to recover from his ankle injury before the final Ashes Test last summer.Earlier in the week David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, said. “I think it would be reasonable to see him [Hoggard] bowl in the nets on Wednesday to see what he can do and what he can’t.”England’s spate of injuries has hit the team hard since the end of the Ashes, with Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Michael Vaughan and James Anderson all out of contention with a variety of ailments. “These things tend to happen in a cluster. It never rains – it pours,” Hoggard told reporters at Canterbury. “When you have one injury you seem to get more, and we are just in a very bad trot of luck.””As soon as I try and move it [right hand] or I hit it, it’s still quite sore, but we’ve still got three or four days,” Hoggard told BBC Sport on Tuesday. “If I can hold a cricket ball, that’s fine, but it’s the catching and the batting that’s going to be the difficult part, so we’ll just have to see how well the stitches have held together.””It’s very frustrating to be fit in every other aspect and just have a couple of scratches on your hand. I’m dying to play on Thursday, so I’ll be doing all I can, but we’ll just have to wait and see how it is.”Though Hoggard remains optimistic of playing at Lord’s, Gloucestershire’s Jon Lewis is on stand-by to step into his role having been named in a 13-man squad.

As his former team-mates prepare to jet off to the Caribbean for the World Cup, England’s discarded wicketkeeper, Geraint Jones, is about to head in the other direction. He is heading for the country of his birth, Papua New Guinea, as part of a 17-man MCC touring squad.The MCC, the world’s most active cricket club, will play three matches against the Papua New Guinea national team, including a Twenty20 encounter. The players will then transfer their attentions to New Zealand, where they are set to play four matches in Christchurch and Queenstown, before moving on to Auckland for the final two-day game of the tour.After his dispiriting Ashes campaign, which effectively ended after the Ashes had been surrendered in the third Test at Perth, Jones returned to Brisbane where he helped his former club Beenleigh-Logan (with whom he had been a regular before moving permanently to England in 2002) reach their first grade final since 1998.”I am really looking forward to visiting Papua New Guinea and New Zealand with MCC,” said Jones. “I’m back among the runs at club level and am hoping to make some more on tour. I believe the England wicketkeeper’s job is still up for grabs and scoring runs for MCC, and for Kent, can put my name in the frame.”The squad also includes Jones county colleague, the England A offspinner James Tredwell, as well as three members of the Glamorgan first team – Michael Powell, David Harrison, and Mark Wallace. Mark Lawson, the Yorkshire and England Under-19 legspinner, and Simon Hawk, formerly of Durham UCCE, are other notable inclusions.”I am delighted that so many professional players, including Geraint Jones, have made themselves available for this tour,” said John Stephenson, MCC’s Head of Cricket. “I’m sure that the younger guys will enjoy playing alongside such experienced cricketers, and will benefit greatly from it.”MCC last toured New Zealand in 2002, and Papua New Guinea in 2003. The Club will donate $3,750, in partnership with the International Cricket Council, to the authorities in Papua New Guinea for investment in the local cricket infrastructure.Tour party Mark Rollinson (manager), Luke Marshall (capt), Ben Claypole, Danny Evans, Matthew Eyles, David Harrison, Simon Hawk, Geraint Jones, Ronnie Kotkamp, Mark Lawson, Scott McHardy, Michael Powell, James Tredwell, Mark Wallace, Peter Heseltine (physio), Barrie Leadbeater (umpire), Don Shelley (scorer)

The BCCI has asked Sudhir Nanavati, its probe commissioner, not to go public with his observations during his investigation into the controversial incident after an Indian Premier League match last month when Harbhajan Singh slapped Sreesanth, his India team-mate and IPL rival.Nanavati has also been asked to refrain from commenting publicly on the issue even after he has submitted his fact-finding report to the BCCI next week, a senior BCCI official told Cricinfo.Nanavati had told reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday that he was “shocked” after viewing the video clipping of the incident after the match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on April 25. He had also reportedly said that he thought Harbhajan’s action “looks pre-meditated”.”The inquiry commissioner especially should not be going public about his observations during the probe. This is a fact-finding mission for the BCCI and the observations of the one-man probe panel are not for public consumption,” the official said.Nanavati, who is also vice-president of the Gujarat Cricket Association and chairman of the BCCI’s finance committee, is expected to submit his report on the incident to Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president on Monday. Pawar will refer the findings to a disciplinary panel, which he heads, for action against Harbhajan, if any.Harbhajan, who was leading the Mumbai franchise in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, was banned for the first season of the tournament by the IPL after Farokh Engineer, the match referee, found the off-spinner guilty of slapping Sreesanth, the fast bowler for the rival team.However, the BCCI ordered a separate investigation into the incident as Harbhajan is a contracted player with the Indian board, and asked Nanavati, the probe commissioner, to submit his report within 15 days.

Kenya’ preparation for the World Cup have been boosted by the return of 34-year-old Ravi Shah, considered by many to be, along with team-mate Steve Tikolo, among the best batsmen outside Test cricket.The last of Shah’s 44 ODIs was in the 2004 Champions Trophy, more than 28 months ago, since when he has been sidelined by a serious knee injury as well as his increasing business commitments.But he has been playing local cricket this season with reasonable success, and he has joined Kenya’s 30-man training squad ahead of the World Cricket League which starts in Nairobi at the end of January. His return will give much-needed robustness to Kenya’s top order, which has been a source of constant worry to the national selectors.

Simon Katich believes Phil Jaques should partner Matthew Hayden in next month’s first Test, but the opener insists it is too early for him to be a certain selection. Jaques scored a second-innings 167 in the Pura Cup match against Western Australia this week to out-point his rival Chris Rogers, who made 9 and 17.Katich, the New South Wales captain, expects his “run machine” to be at the Gabba when Australia play Sri Lanka from November 8. “We’re going to find it hard to replace him if he gets picked, but obviously 160-odd thoroughly deserves selection,” Katich told AAP. “But not only that, what he’s done in the last four or five seasons. He’s been a run machine, both here and in England, so he thoroughly deserves his chance if he gets it.”Jaques, who has played two Tests, was more cautious about his prospects and said a promotion was “too early to call”. “It’s out of my hands,” he said. “I put a score on the board in the first couple of games, which I was asked to do, and we’ll just see what happens.”He will have another opportunity to impress when New South Wales host Queensland in the Pura Cup from October 26. Injuries will make Jaques’ task slightly easier as Andy Bichel, Shane Watson and Michael Kasprowicz will be absent. “Each of those players is making progress,” Ray Phillips, the Queensland selection chairman, said. “We expect them to come under consideration for the tour match against Sri Lanka.”The internationals Hayden, Andrew Symonds, Mitchell Johnson and James Hopes will bolster the Bulls after returning from the one-day series in India. They will replace Aaron Nye, Greg Moller, Chris Swan and Ben Cutting, who played in the first-innings win over Tasmania.Bichel missed the first round of Queensland fixtures with a shoulder problem and realises the injury could be career-threatening if it does not respond to treatment. “There is no doubt that is the worst-case scenario,” Bichel said in the . “But I am confident I can get back.”He said it could be two weeks before he is bowling again, putting him in danger of missing Queensland’s tour game against Sri Lanka starting on November 2. “It is a bit of a setback,” he said. “At this stage it is not as good as we would like it.”Martin Love has been chosen in Queensland’s 2nd XI squad to travel to Perth as part of his comeback from knee surgery while Watson (hamstring) and Kasprowicz (calf) are expected to be eased through the club system. The Bulls kept the same FR Cup side that lost the opening match to Tasmania for the contest with New South Wales at the SCG on Wednesday. The Blues also did not make any changes to their squad.Queensland FR Cup squad Jimmy Maher (capt), Ryan Broad, Aaron Nye, Clinton Perren, Craig Philipson, Michael Buchanan, Chris Simpson, Chris Hartley (wk), Ashley Noffke, Nathan Reardon, Scott Brant, Grant Sullivan.New South Wales FR Cup squad Phil Jaques, Ed Cowan, Simon Katich (capt), Peter Forrest, Dominic Thornely, Stephen O’Keefe, Daniel Smith (wk), Grant Lambert, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Nicholson, Doug Bollinger, Mark Cameron.Queensland Pura Cup squad Matthew Hayden, Ryan Broad, Clinton Perren, Jimmy Maher (capt), Andrew Symonds, James Hopes, Chris Hartley (wk), Chris Simpson, Ashley Noffke, Mitchell Johnson, Daniel Doran, Grant Sullivan.

William Porterfield will lead an experienced Ireland squad for the upcoming World Twenty20 in India, with as many as five players ready to take part in their fifth tournament.Porterfield, who also captained the team during their inaugural World T20 in England in 2009, will be joined by Paul Stirling, Gary Wilson as well as the O’Brien brothers Kevin and Niall in the 15-man squad. Boyd Rankin, who recently returned to the Ireland fold after playing seven ODIs, two T20Is and one Test for England in 2013-14, has also been included in the squad; he picked up six wickets in an Intercontinental Cup clash against Papua New Guinea last week.”We are really looking forward to this World Cup, particularly with the return of Boyd Rankin,” Alan Lewis, Ireland’s chairman of selectors, said. “He gives our attack so much more balance and potency, as seen in our Intercontinental Cup win last week.”As such a consistent performer I am also delighted to see Tim Murtagh in the squad for an event like this particularly as he missed the 2015 World Cup is such disappointing circumstances.”These are the events that players want to excel in so hopefully with the lead time involved and the energy the team always show we can emerge out on top of the group in the first phase.”Ireland, who are in the same qualifying group as Netherlands, Oman and Bangladesh, will begin their campaign against Oman on March 9, in Dharamsala.”The squad has got a real balance to it, with that blend of youth and experience that every coach likes. Ireland are now regular performers on the world stage so there’s no fear or intimidation factors,” John Bracewell, the head coach, said. “We will be well prepared for the competition, as we’re currently playing Papua New Guinea, will take on the UAE later this week, and will be India for a training camp ahead of the competition.”It’s another great chance for the squad to showcase Irish cricket to a global audience, and the guys are determined to prove they belong at the top level of the sport.”Ireland squad: William Porterfield (capt), Andrew Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young

West Indies hope Fidel Edwards can carry on from where he left off at Old Trafford as they look to restore some pride in the final Test against England. Although 2-0 down in the four-match contest, West Indies will be aiming to build on their improved showing in a 60-run third Test defeat when the series finale starts at Riverside on Friday.Old Trafford saw the return to Test cricket of Edwards, whose extra pace gave West Indies a physical threat they’d otherwise lacked so far this series. Often erratic, Edwards has an indifferent record of 67 wickets in 26 Tests at an expensive average of nearly 44 apiece.But he bowled better in Manchester than match figures of 4 for 148 in 32.1 overs would suggest. “The timing was right for Fidel in that Test match,” David Moore, the West Indies coach said. “He came in and bowled on a wicket that was hard and had a lot of bounce. He’d been short of top-quality cricket, so he needed some time to find his feet.”However, Moore stressed Edwards’s pace was part of an overall bowling strategy. “If Fidel is making them jump around a bit, we need someone down the other end to be putting pressure on as well,” he said. “Corey Collymore is very much an unsung player for us. He’s our top wicket-taker, he just keeps chipping away with a very good economy rate.”West Indies’ batting was bolstered last time by a defiant second innings 116 not out from Shivnarine Chanderpaul – their first century of the series – who’d missed the record innings and 283 run defeat in the second Test at Headingley with a knee injury. Moore said other players needed to follow Chanderpaul’s lead if West Indies were to achieve what be only a third win in 39 Tests.”We’ve got players who are getting good starts and not going on, from getting 40 or 50 to 80 or 100,” he said. The stand-in skipper Daren Ganga would relish a fifty after being lbw for five and nought to Steve Harmison at Old Trafford.”Daren’s an excellent tactician and excellent captain,” said Moore. “Unfortunately we haven’t seen the best of his batting yet, but over the last six to eight months he’s been averaging 40-plus, so I’m hoping his batting will come good for us.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Rayad Emrit picked up two wickets and slammed a 28-ball 54 to stun Dhaka Dynamites•BCCI

Comilla’s win earlier in the day against Sylhet made this game inconsequential in the race for the last four, but No. 9 Rayad Emrit’s unbeaten 54 gave Barisal Bulls a two-wicket win over Dhaka Dynamites, as well as much-needed confidence before Saturday’s Eliminator between the same two teams.Dhaka seemed well on course for victory when Suhrawadi Shuvo became Mosharraf Hossain’s third wicket in the 17th over, with Barisal slumping to 94 for 8. Emrit, though, struck two sixes in the same over to reduce the equation to 29 needed off three overs.Nine runs were taken in the next over, leaving Emrit and Nikhil Dutta needing 20 off the last two. After taking three singles and a double, Emrit swung Farhad Reza for a four past short fine-leg, but crucially took a single off the last ball.Irfan’s first ball of the last over went for four and when Emrit took a single off the next ball, he reached 50 off 27 balls. Dutta ran a bye next ball before Emrit carved the fourth ball past the point fielder for a four, sealing the win. Emrit took off in ecstasy while Dhaka were left scratching their heads, especially as they had dominated most of the game.Both teams had rested four players each, including Kumar Sangakkara for Dhaka and Chris Gayle for Barisal. It gave opportunities to younger players and Mosaddek Hossain, playing on his 20th birthday, made Dhaka’s top score with 30 off 31 balls while Dutta, playing his first match in the BPL, took 3 for 18.Mohammad Irfan struck in the third over of Barisal’s chase when he had Rony Talukdar caught behind for four, after striking him with a bouncer. Nabil Samad then had Brendan Taylor leg-before for 3 and Mahmudullah bowled for 1, before Mosaddek Hossain took the big wicket of Evin Lewis, caught at long-off for 9.Sabbir Rahman was then trapped lbw by Mosharraf, although the ball appeared to be heading down the leg side. Soon after, Mohammad Hafeez took an excellent running catch, coming forward from long-off, from a Sohag Gazi miscue in the 12th over, as Barisal slipped to 59 for 6. Mehedi Maruf was batting well, attacking and picking singles at will, but he ran past a Mosharraf delivery in the 14th over to be stumped, seemingly ending any hopes of a Barisal win. His 41-ball 37 had three fours and two big sixes over midwicket.Earlier, Dutta foxed an advancing Hafeez with a wide delivery that was only toe-ended to cover for a simple catch. Hafeez had made 25 off 27 balls, helped by four fours. In his next over, Dutta bowled Malcolm Waller with a delivery that dipped late on the batsman who was trying to slog him. Nasir Hossain finally connected a slog off Dutta, but was caught at deep midwicket in the bowler’s third over. Dutta finished with figures of 3 for 18 from four overs.Mosaddek, who struck a four and a six in his 31-ball innings, came to the crease at this point and added 33 runs for the fifth wicket with Ryan ten Doeschate, who made 22 and was caught at cover off Emrit. There was a second wicket in store for Emrit in the final over of the innings, when he clean bowled Shykat Ali. Emrit would also have the last word with the bat.