Dhoni retains No 1 spot in ODI rankings

Mahendra Singh Dhoni  retained number one position in the Reliance [Get Quote] Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen after the West Indies’  big guns Chris Gayle  and Shivnarine Chanderpaul  failed to make an impression in the series against England , which ended at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Gayle went into the series trailing Dhoni by 33 points but after aggregating just 42 runs from it, the Jamaican dropped one place to third while his team mate Chanderpaul moved to second spot after a series contribution of 95 runs.

Owais Shah, who was the leading run-getter in the series with 113 runs, climbed three places to 34th while Matt Prior, who scored 98 runs in the series, rocketed 22 places to 77th position.

However, former England captain Kevin Pietersen  dropped a place to 15th while Ramnaresh Sarwan slipped three places to 19.

There is no change in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders as Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh still leads the field.

Stuart Broad became England’s highest-ranked bowler in ODIs after a successful series against the West Indies.

Broad finished as the leading wicket-taker in the series with six wickets, including 4-46 in the second ODI at Bristol, and was rewarded with a jump of four places. The 22-year-old fast bowler now sits alongside Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi  in a career-best ninth position.

Broad replaced Andrew Flintoff  in the top 10; the Lancastrian dropped out after missing the series due to knee injury.

A player loses one per cent of his ratings for every match missed and, as such, Flintoff slipped two places to 11th.

Jerome Taylor , who was the most successful West Indies bowler in the series with four wickets, retained 14th place but three wickets apiece by James Anderson  and Paul Collingwood lifted the pair by two and seven places respectively.

Anderson is now placed 30th while Collingwood is 55th.

The bowling table is still headed by Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Kulasekara  while Kyle Mills  of New Zealand  is second and Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka third.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table, England’s 2-0 victory earned it one rating point and it is now on 109 rating points, just two behind fifth-placed Pakistan.

The defeat, however, cost the West Indies two ratings points and it has dropped to 90 rating points, 15 behind seventh-placed Sri Lanka.

Cricket Australia unveils schedule for 2009-10

Australia  will play six Tests, 10 one-dayers and three Twenty20 internationals on home soil against West Indies  and Pakistan as per the 2009-10 International Program announced by the Cricket Australia on Wednesday.

The 2009-10 schedule again sees two separate five-match, head-to-head Commonwealth Bank Series against the West Indies in January followed by a series against Pakistan in February.

There will be another three KFC Twenty20 Internationals this summer, one against Pakistan and two against the West Indies in February.

Australia will play Pakistan on home soil for the first time in a Test series since 2004-05, when they won 3-0.

The Aussies will start on November 26 in Brisbane against the West Indies, with the subsequent matches in Adelaide (December 4-8) and Perth (December 16-20).

The Test series against Pakistan will start from December 26 with the traditional Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, followed by the second Test in Sydney (January 3-7) and the third at Hobart (January 14-18).

“The last time Australia played Pakistan in Hobart it was a thrilling encounter that saw a magnificent partnership between Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist  steer Australia to victory on the final day. It was a fine example of Test cricket,” Cricket Australia chief executive officer James Sutherland said.

“In addition to the 3 Mobile Test, Hobart will also host their first KFC Twenty20 International against the West Indies in February.

“Melbourne hosts back-to-back international matches in early February. A KFC Twenty20 International against Pakistan is followed by the opening Commonwealth Bank Series match against the West Indies two days later,” he added.

After the Tests, Australia will play Pakistan and West Indies in back-to-back five-math ODI series starting January 22.

Flintoff out of England’s World Twenty20 squad

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was ruled out of next month’s World Twenty20 tournament on Wednesday because he has not fully recovered from knee surgery.

The England and Wales Cricket Board had expected Flintoff to get over last month’s operation on a meniscus tear to his right knee but has now called up Adil Rashid to replace him.

The 31-year-old Flintoff had the surgery after he pulled out of the Indian Premier League, where he had tied with England teammate Kevin Pietersen as the most costly players in the pre-tournament auction.

The injury already ruled him out of England’s recent Test and One-day series wins over West Indies.

The ECB must now decide whether to gamble on his form and fitness for the Ashes series against Australia, which starts in July. Flintoff will only have games for county side Lancashire in which to earn a place.

“We had to name Andrew in the ICC World Twenty20 15 because we hoped he would be fit,” national selector Geoff Miller said, “but in reality the timescale was always optimistic.

“We have now obtained permission from ICC to name Yorkshire’s Adil Rashid as a replacement. There is a lot of cricket still to play this year and it is important Andrew is fully fit for it.”

No fake tickets in IPL final: CSA

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has dismissed allegations that the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wanderers here Sunday had been overcrowded due to sale of fake tickets.

CSA said in a statement that its investigation followed a newspaper article on Monday which quoted the stadium’s CEO, Alan Khourie, as stating that the stadium had been dangerously overcrowded for the final because of the use of fake tickets.

The investigation findings were released Wednesday by CSA CEO, Gerald Majola, who said the ticketing and access control systems at the final were provided by national ticket outlet Computicket and CSA to the stadium respectively.

Majola said: “In 2003, CSA implemented an access control system at all major cricket venues through South Africa. This system has been upgraded since then, and we are very proud to say that we are the only sporting body in South Africa with such a comprehensive and effective access control system.”

“Computicket managed to recover the so-called ‘fraudulent’ tickets, to which the article referred, from the Liberty Life Wanderers Cricket Stadium – totalling 327 tickets. On checking these tickets it was discovered that 177 tickets were stolen from Computicket, 66 tickets were stolen from those allocated to the stadium and 144 were actually tickets for the semi-final.”

Majola said the official attendance at the stadium for the DLF IPL final was 25,418 as recorded by the access control system: “If the stadium did in fact have more spectators than this, these patrons would have had to access the stadium via entrances not controlled by the access control system.

“CSA’s investigation shows that if there was overcrowding, it could not have been caused by the use of fraudulent tickets. Illegal access could only have been gained through entrances outside of the access control system and these entrances fall under the control and jurisdiction of the stadium management.”

The stadium is managed by the Gauteng Cricket Board, of which Khourie is the head.

Chennai Super Kings reach Semifinals with a win over Kings XI Punjab

A magnificent bowling performance from its spinners helped Chennai Super Kings defeat Kings XI Punjab by 24 runs in a low-scoring IPL game at Kingsmead on Wednesday.

Although it suffered a batting failure, Chennai finished the league stage in style, moving to second place behind Delhi Daredevils. Despite the defeat, Kings XI Punjab, in theory, still has an outside chance of making the semifinals.

For Chennai, Muttiah Muralitharan (two for eight from four overs), R. Ashwin (two for 13 from four overs), and Suresh Raina (two for 17 from four overs) combined to keep Punjab to 92 for eight in 20 overs.

Chennai’s bowlers, led by Muttiah Muralitharan, exerted pressure on Punjab. The batsmen couldn’t escape the shackles. Muralitharan bowled Katich behind his legs and had Pomersbach caught smartly at slip before Raina bowled Yuvraj Singh to reduce Punjab to 49 for four. Off-spinner Ashwin then took two wickets, including that of the valuable Kumar Sangakkara. Ashwin forced Sangakkara into hitting a return catch before trapping Wilkin Mota leg-before. Raina had Brett Lee caught in the deep to all but settle the contest.

Earlier, Chennai had an opening partnership of 40 before Punjab’s bowlers crippled the innings. George Bailey and Parthiv Patel batted busily before their partnership ended in a run out. Sreesanth struck twice in the tenth over to hurt Chennai. He dismissed S. Badrinath before bowling Dhoni with a marvellous yorker.

Kolkata Knight Riders win by 7 wickets

The hapless Kolkata Knight Riders today tasted victory by defeating the Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets in a thriller.

Herculean efforts by McCullum (81) and Hodge(71) paved the way for success. Earlier McCullum sailed the Kolkata Knight Riders to a very competitive situation despite the mammoth total set by the Chennai Super Kings. After the exodus of McCullum, Hodge took the charge and remained unbeaten till the target was achieved. Saha remained not out at 25 runs.

Earlier, thanks to a stormy batting session by Raina and Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings today posted a mammoth total of 188 runs against the minnows Kolkata Knight Riders in 20 overs. Raina was c Shukla b Dinda at 52 runs. MS Dhoi remained not out at 40 runs.

After giving a good start for Chennai, Patel was run out by Shukla at 25 runs. First wicket came for the Knight Riders in 6.1 overs till then; Super Kings had added 69 runs in 6.1 overs.

Bailey provided a solid start for Chennai Super Kings as it were 59 runs with out any loss in six overs.

Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat first against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 51st IPL match here.

Former Bangladesh skipper Bashar to quit rebel league

Former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar has agreed to quit the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) by accepting an amnesty from the national board, an official said on Monday.

“Bashar served a notice on ICL expressing his desire to terminate his contract. He informed us through a letter on Sunday,” Jalal Yunus, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) media spokesman said.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) last month refused the league’s application for recognition followed by the amnesty offer.

Bangladesh slapped a 10-year ban on 14 players after they joined ICL last year with Bashar named to lead a newly formed Dhaka Warriors team.

Bashar, 36, has played 50 tests and 111 one-dayers for the youngest test team.

The BCB offered the reprieve this month, asking the players to terminate contracts with the league by June 15 to have their bans lifted. However, the board has said they would not be eligible for national selection until next year.

Bashar said he had written to the BCB, adding: “It’s a personal decision and I don’t want to make any comments on it at this stage.”

England Win Wisden Trophy Back

Seamers James Anderson and Tim Bresnan ripped through the West Indies batting order to lead England to victory by an innings and 83 runs in the second Test on Monday.

Anderson took four wickets and Bresnan three as West Indies collapsed on the final day and England completed an emphatic 2-0 series win.

West Indies resumed on 115 for three and, after two brief rain delays, Lendl Simmons, on 10, tamely steered a ball from Anderson straight to 19-year-old substitute fielder Scott Borthwick at cover.

Bresnan dismissed Brendan Nash for one when he clipped a wide delivery to Borthwick at square leg and the seamer struck again in his next over, Denesh Ramdin edging a simple catch to Anderson at third slip for a duck.

Anderson ripped out Jerome Taylor’s off stump with a rapid swinging delivery and he produced another fine delivery to bowl Sulieman Benn for a duck.

The ever reliable Shivnarine Chanderpaul was 46 not out at lunch but his brave innings ended on 47 when he nicked Anderson to stand-in wicketkeeper Paul Collingwood who was deputising for the injured Matt Prior.

Bresnan completed the rout when Fidel Edwards skied a catch to long leg where Karl Turner, another substitute fielder, held a tricky steepling catch on the boundary.

Mumbai Indians thrash Kings XI Punjab by 8 Wickets

Mumbai Indians kept their IPL hopes alive with a commanding eight-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab here on Tuesday.

Chasing a lowly 120, Mumbai Indians raced to the target in just 16.2 overs with Dwayne Bravo blasting an unbeaten 70 off 59 balls and Sachin Tendulkar contributing an unbeaten 41.

The victory brought Mumbai Indians back into the semi-final contention, as they jumped two spots to fourth place in the IPL standings with 11 points from 11 matches.

Kings XI Punjab’s chances of finishing among the top four now looks bleak as they are down to seventh place with 10 points and three matches in hand.

It was a must-win situation for both teams, and Mumbai Indians came out with all guns blazing to steal the show.

Mumbai’s promotion of Dwayne Bravo worked wonders as the West Indian ripped apart the bowlers with clean strikes. He struck seven fours and three sixes.

Bravo would have returned without opening his account had Irfan Pathan held onto a caught and bowled chance.

Brett Lee took out Sanath Jayasuriya before Bravo cut loose in S Sreesanth’s only over, which cost 21 runs with two sixes and two fours. Bravo continued in the same vein through the innings.

Piyush Chawla got the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane, but Tendulkar batted around Bravo to see the team through.

Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar played the spin card to perfection to restrict Kings XI to 119-9. His plan was carried out by off-spinners Harbhajan Singh (1-9) and JP Duminy (2-15), who bowled intelligently to bring the downfall of Kings XI batting line-up that had seven left-handers.

Opener Sunny Sohal played a lone hand in Punjab’s innings with a breezy 43 off 23 balls that included three sixes and five fours.

Punjab lost two quick wickets at the top with Simon Katich and Irfan Pathan being dismissed for ducks.

Sunny Sohal counter-attacked to bring Punjab back on the track.

Harbhajan came into the attack and soon got the prized wicket of Kumar Sangakkara. Tendulkar quickly tried his options and used as many as eight bowlers to keep Punjab guessing.

Duminy removed dangerous Yuvraj Singh and Ajinkya Rahane accounted for Luke Pomersbach.

Punjab batsmen were guilty of sloppy running between the wicket with as many as four players, including Sohal, being run-out.

Karan Goel’s 20 took Punjab past the 100-run mark.

Taylor heroics help Royal Challengers pull off six-wicket win

Bangalore Royal Challengers kept their hopes of making the Indian Premier League (IPL) semi-final alive with a six-wicket victory over bottom-placed Kolkata Knight Riders at the Centurion Park here on Tuesday.

Riding on skipper Brendon McCullum’s unbeaten 84 off 64 balls, Knight Riders made 173 for four in 20 overs. But Man of the Match Ross Taylor blasted a 33-ball 81 as Royal Challengers posted 176 for four in 19.2 overs.

With the win, Royal Challengers moved to the fifth spot in the IPL with 10 points from 11 matches. Knight Riders’, who have no chance of making the semis, slumped to their ninth overall and seventh consecutive loss.

Having set a 174-run target for Royal Challengers, Knight Riders looked in sight of a win, but poor bowling let them down once again. Spinners Ajantha Mendis (1-21) and Murali Kartik (2-28) were successful, while quickies Ishant Sharma, Ajit Agarkar and Angelo Matthews were punished hard by the Royal Challengers’ batsmen for their wayward bowling.

Jacques Kallis (32) and Jesse Ryder (22) gave Royal Challengers a runaway start as 50 runs came by the seventh over. Kartik picked up Kallis and Uthappa (7) to pull back things a bit in Knight Riders’ favour.

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