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Match facts

Sunday, April 20, 2008
Start time 20:00 local, (14:30 GMT)

The Big Picture

This could well be a game where both guests and hosts are likely to play the more traditional cricket than the hard-hitting stuff that has been evident so far. The Mumbai Indians and the Bangalore Royal Challengers both have batsmen who prefer finesse to powerplay. Mumbai not only represent the IPL’s richest franchise but also possess two batsmen – Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya – who have between them played more than 800 ODIs and piled up 28671 runs. However, Mumbai’s middle and lower order, apart from Shaun Pollock, comprise local and untried international talent. They will also miss the pace of Lasith Malinga, absent due to injury, and will have to rely on Dilhara Fernando and Pollock.

Watch out for …

Tendulkar who, if he recovers from his groin injury – indications are that he will – can inspire his team to take the fight to the opposition. As he showed during the two back-to-back finals in the CB Series, he can still make bowlers bow. Then there is the ferocity of the aging, but still dangerous, Jayasuriya, who could just provide the impetus in which this short format.

Team news

Tendulkar’s groin injury remains a concern and the final decision will be taken by the physio on Sunday morning. A squad of 27 was pruned to 17 but Mumbai will have to wait till the second game for the services of Dwayne Bravo, who arrives on Sunday. Fernando might partner Pollock with the new ball with a support cast of Abhishek Nayar and fast bowler Dhaval Kulkarni or the allrounder Musaveer Khote. But Harbhajan might prove to the thorn for Bangalore with his experience in playing the restrictive hand in ODIs as well as Twenty20 games in the past.Mumbai (likely) 1 Sachin Tendulkar (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Saurabh Tiwary, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk), 7 Shaun Pollock, 8 Abhishek Nayar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 Dhaval Kulkarni/Musaveer KhoteAfter a classic faux pas in the opening game Bangalore are likely to open with Shivnarine Chanderpaul instead of Dravid and Wasim Jaffer, a pairing more suitable for the longer form of the game. Dravid confirmed Anil Kumble wouldn’t be available for the match, as he is still recovering from his groin injury. Ashley Noffke, the Australian fast bowler, will miss out after suffering a groin injury in the first game where he had figures of 1 for 40. That might allow B Akhil to hold on to his spot .Bangalore (likely) 1 Rahul Dravid (capt), 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Wasim Jaffer, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Cameron White, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 B Akhil, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Sunil Joshi

Stats and trivia

Record crowds have packed the Gabba for the first three days of the opening Ashes Test, beating the previous record set during the Bodyline series. reported Saturday’s crowd of 39,000 took the overall attendance to 117,603, well above the the 93,143 that flooded into the Gabba in 1932-33 for a six-day match.The Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland told the paper he was not concerned that the one-sided nature of the first Test would affect the “phenomenal” tally. “There is nothing we can really do about what happens on the field,” Sutherland said. “There are lot of things to enjoy about Test cricket, even if there is not a great contest.”He said the keen interest in this year’s series was no doubt sparked by Australia losing the Ashes in England in 2005. “Two or three matches were decided during prime-time television here in the 2005 series, so the whole country was captivated,” he said.Sutherland said Cricket Australia expected all five Test venues to break attendance records this season. Each of the first three days of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG are likely to break the single-day high of 90,800 spectators at Melbourne in 1961. He said gate revenue was also expected to be at record levels, with takings set to top $28 million for the season.

Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, felt that Sachin Tendulkar’s absence from the Indian team for the one-day series in the West Indies would deprive the youngsters in his side and the spectators the opportunity of watching a superior player in action.Tendulkar is recuperating from shoulder surgery and his availability for the four Tests against West Indies starting June 2 is still uncertain. The Test team will be announced on May 24.”I think it is unfortunate because we are all entertainers. The public would have loved to see Sachin,” Lara told after a practice session at the Queen’s Park Oval before his team’s sixth ODI against Zimbabwe. “He’s going to be here for the World Cup hopefully, but any opportunity to see him would have been great for the public.”Lara was upbeat about his own team’s chances and how Tendulkar’s presence would have lifted the opposition’s game. “It doesn’t mean that India, with a player like Sachin Tendulkar in the team, is actually going to beat the West Indies”, he said. “Yes, they would have a player of high class but we would have loved to have him here playing against us. As team members, we can only learn from a player like that.”

The Warriors batsman HD Ackerman has been suspended for the final Supersport Series match as well as the first two Pro20 games after breaching Cricket South Africa’s code of conduct.Ackerman was found guilty by Advocate Michael Kuper SC for breaking clauses 1.2 and 1.5 – which relate to dissent and conduct which could bring the game into disrepute – following the Warriors’ Supersport series match against the Titans at Port Elizabeth on February 1.He will now miss the four-day match against the Eagles starting on February 15 and the opening two Pro20 matches on February 21 and 23 against the Eagles and the Dolphins.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKieron Pollard struck five fours and three sixes during his unbeaten 37-ball 59•Caribbean Premier League

Kieron Pollard’s unbeaten 59 and Robin Peterson’s 3 for 13 set up a 17-run win for defending champions Barbados Tridents over Jamaica Tallawahs at Sabina Park. More importantly, the victory – Tridents’ fifth of the season – helped them pull clear of Tallawahs by two points at the top of the table.Tridents chose to bat and put on an opening stand of 31 before Jerome Taylor dismissed Dilshan Munaweera in the fifth over. Tridents lost three wickets for 33 runs during the middle overs and fell to 64 for 4, but Pollard and Jason Holder led a recovery be adding 58 runs for the fifth wicket, taking the team past 120. Pollard struck five fours and three sixes for his fifty, the batsman’s second of the season. Andre Russell dismissed Holder and Navin Stewart in the 19th over to leave the visitors on 124 for 6, but the final over of Tridents’ innings yielded 22 runs, with Pollard slamming two sixes and a four. His blitz meant that Tallawahs needed 147 for the win.However, the hosts’ chase did not begin well, as Ravi Rampaul dismissed the tournament’s top run-getter Chris Gayle early to end an 18-run opening partnership. Peterson then spun Tallawahs into further trouble, picking up the wickets of Chris Lynn, Mahela Jayawardene and Jermaine Blackwood all in the fifth over to reduce the team to 36 for 4.Chadwick Walton and Nkrumah Bonner revived the chase with a 67-run stand for the fifth wicket, but with the fall of Walton’s wicket in the 16th over, Tallawahs chances of a win were dented. Holder then dismissed Andre Russell and Rusty Theron in the 18th over to all but seal the game.

Bangladesh 186 for 1 (Nafees 105*, Aftab 60*) beat Zimbabwe 184 for 9 (Taylor 38, Razzak 4-33) by 9 wickets
Scorecard

Shahriar Nafees scored an unbeaten 105 as Bangladesh recorded an easy nine-wicketwin over Zimbabwe in the first ODI at Khulna on Thursday. Nafees’s century, histhird consecutive ton against Zimbabwe, was part of a sound all-round performance byBangladesh; earlier, their left-arm spin trio of Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Rafique and Saqibul Hasan restricted Zimbabwe to 184 for 9.Though Zimbabwe had enough spinners in their ranks to put pressure on theopposition on a slow surface, they paid the price for an overly defensiveapproach, often allowing the batsmen to pick the gaps during the middleovers. Nafees and Aftab Ahmed, both flamboyant players, were allowed toplay their natural game, leading to the familiar story of Nafees – who came intothis match with a Bradmanesque-average of 92.75 in six matches – tormenting theZimbabweans.After a quiet start, Nafees cut loose in theeighth over, fetching three fours off Anthony Ireland. The first, a widedelivery, was smashed past point, followed by a delicate flickdown fine leg. The third was by far the best of the match, effortlesslydriven past mid-on and accompanied by a perfect follow-through that highlightedNafees’s form. His opening partner, Mehrab Hossain, complemented him with a sedate13 in a stand of 72 before handing a low catch to SeanWilliams. Nafees did the bulk of the scoring, rocking back and slapping the spinnerspast the infield, and even scooping seamer Elton Chigumbura over midwicket for asix.Aftab, who came in next, was at his aggressive best, though his start wasn’tas convincing; he played a few streaky strokes, at one stage nearly spooning acatch to the close-in fielders. But he soon came into his own, chargingRyan Higgins for a six over long on and launching Chigumbura over deep cover, stepping down the track against a deliveryjust short of a good length. Nafees ensured that he stayed at the wicket,pulling the odd loose ball from the spinners and picking up the singles.He reached his ton with a single to deep point while his side was on the brink ofvictory.The win was fashioned by Bangladesh’s three-pronged left-arm spin attack,who shared eight wickets. The attack may have lacked variety,but their relentless stump-to-stump line restricted Zimbabwe to a modest184, undoing a breezy opening stand of 52 between Brendan Taylor andStuart Matsikenyeri, who looked at ease against the seamers.The introduction of the spinners pegged Zimbabwe back almost immediately,as Razzak struck in his first over. Matsikenyeri was bowled trying to cutand Williams fell soon after to Rafique, bowled trying to drive onthe off side. At that stage, Zimbabwe were still in a fairly decentposition, scoring at a rate of over four an over. But with spinnersoperating from both ends on a sluggish surface, the rate started to dip.Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza perished trying to push the scoring, bothhitting straight down the throat of long off. Rafique, who accounted for Taylor, picked up his 100th wicket in one-dayers. The middle order caved in asthe batsmen struggled to find the gaps against the left-armers who peggedaway on a restrictive line. With half their side gone with only 100 onboard, Chigumbura and Mluleki Nkala consolidated by adding 43. Fast bowlerShahadat Hossain, brought back in the slog overs, broke through asChigumbura missed a wild swing on the on side.Razzak was by far the most effective among the bowlers, cleverly teasingthe batsmen with his flight – which he used very effectively to claim thelast three wickets. Nkala stepped down the track but failed to get to thepitch of the ball, miscuing it to Mashrafe Mortaza, who held on to adifficult running catch at cover while Gary Brent was cleaned up for aquick 20, trying to hit across the line. Prosper Utseya wasted no time indispatching Razzak over the ropes in the penultimate ball of the inningsbut Razzak came back to claim his wicket off the last, pitching it shortof a length, beating Utseya who was neatly stumped by Mashud. Razzakfinished with figures of 4 for 33, tormenting Zimbabwe for the second time, following his parsimonious spell of 3 for 17 in four overs in the Twenty20 international at the same venue on Tuesday.

Virat Kohli is the highest-paid cricketer in the IPL, according to salary figures released by the league on Friday.While Kohli will cost his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore Rs 12.5 crore (approximately USD 1.89 million) from their salary purse, they will actually pay him Rs 15 crore (USD 2.26 million). MS Dhoni, for long believed to be the most expensive IPL cricketer, will be paid USD 1.89 million, which is equal to his purse deduction, by the Pune franchise. Pune secured Dhoni in a draft of players who were part of the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals franchises.Apart from Royal Challengers, who are paying Kohli and Chris Gayle more than the purse deduction, Mumbai Indians are paying Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga and Ambati Rayudu more than the purse deduction they result in.However, contrary to the general perception that quite a few players used to get paid much more than the official purse deduction, quite a few have actually taken big cuts. Manan Vohra, retained by Kings XI Punjab, will get less than 10% of his Rs 4 crore (USD 600,000) purse deduction. Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and David Miller are among those getting paid less than the purse deduction they are responsible for.Each franchise is required to spend a minimum of Rs 40 crore (USD 6 million) but not more than Rs 66 crore (USD 9.96 million) on their squad. However, when the franchise retains players, the purse-deduction slots are what are considered for the purpose of calculation of what it can and should spend.Kings XI are thus keen on saving money; after negotiating the salary with Vohra, they can actually spend far less than USD 600,000 on him. However, they will still lose USD 600,000 from their purse ahead of the auction. Royal Challengers, on the other hand, don’t seem to mind spending extra.In the case of former Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals players, though, the new franchises didn’t have any room to negotiate. The BCCI had assured the players left without teams but drafted by the two new teams they would be paid the same amount as they were earning earlier. So while Ravindra Jadeja might take away Rs 9.5 crore (USD 1.43 million) from Rajkot’s purse, he will actually get only Rs 5.5 crore (USD 0.83 million).

A report in today’s London Times has backed claims at the weekend that a Home Office pathologist has concluded Bob Woolmer died of natural causes and was not murdered.Reports from the post-mortem, photographs and other material have been examined by Dr Nat Carey, the pathologist who examined the bodies in the Soham murder case.The original post-mortem, carried out in Jamaica, decided that strangulation was possible because a bone on Woolmer’s neck had been broken.Police are reported to be waiting for the results of a toxicology report after traces of a herbicide were found in Woolmer’s body. The chemical is sometimes used on cricket pitches as a weedkiller, and one theory is that he might have accidentally ingested it. The report will show if the level of the toxin were suspiciously high or whether they could have built up over a period of time.The Times noted that the herbicide can cause sickness and diarrhea, both of which Woolmer suffered on the night he died. The broken bone could have been the result of a fall as he collapsed in his hotel bathroom.The report also claimed that the possibility that he was attacked by a disgruntled fan or player have been ruled out.There were also criticisms of the handling of the investigation by the Jamaica police, with delays in retrieving and examining the CCTV, a failure to take swabs from Woolmer’s hands and body, and the fact that the body was embalmed within hours of the post mortem.The Jamaica Gleaner published a hard-hitting editorial on Tuesday in which the local police were openly slammed. “The now-it-is-now-it-isn’t spectacle being played out in the international media over Woolmer’s death must be particularly upsetting to his family and makes Jamaica’s constabulary appear a bunch of incompetent boobs. It couldn’t hurt the investigation, we feel, to publish the pathology report so as to clear the air. There should also be some official statement why the scheduled coroner’s inquest appears to have been postponed indefinitely.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Persistent rain washed out the fifth day too•BCCI

The ninth-shortest, non-abandoned Test ended just before noon on the fifth day, with wet conditions and intermittent drizzle washing out a fourth day in a row. Only one Test in India has had fewer overs bowled than the 81 here. In that time, India put South Africa in, and their spinners bowled the visitors out for 214 before Shikhar Dhawan followed up his pair in Mohali with 45 not out. Playing his 100th Test, AB de Villiers scored 85, showing to his team-mates how to play spin in India.India led the series 1-0. The third Test is to begin in Nagpur on November 25.

Scorecard andball-by-ball details
How theywere out