The BCCI has sent show-cause notices to seven of the eight players involved in the pub brawl in St Lucia on May 11, the day India were knocked out of the World Twenty20. According to a board source the seven players are Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Rohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja and Murali Vijay. The players have been given a week to explain their role, if any, in the incident and why the board should not take disciplinary action against them. If the responses are found unsatisfactory, the matter will be taken up by the board's disciplinary committee.
Four of the seven players will be touring Zimbabwe for India's next international assignment but the pull-up is expected to have no impact on their participation in the tour.
The eight players had gone to the pub early evening when allegedly some of the fans present inside started heckling one of the players. Unable to stand the taunting, the others reportedly came to the rescue of the team-mate but it only resulted in an unruly brawl.
The BCCI bosses, including its president Shashank Manohar, were said to be highly critical of the incident after hearing the report of team manager Ranjib Biswal in person on Monday in Mumbai. Biswal had submitted his report on Saturday to the board's chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty but he stayed back to report to Manohar and N Srinivasan, the board secretary, who was also present at the briefing.
This is the first instance of the board pulling up so many players in public. But Manohar, the BCCI president, has always had the reputation of being a strict administrator and on this occasion he possibly felt the board was left with little option but to give a warning to the players considering the World Cup is nine months away. And to tolerate such indiscipline, especially after India's exit from the Super Eights in the World Twenty20 for the second year in a row, would have been inappropriate.
Incidentally, Biswal denied reports of the brawl when he returned to India. "There is no truth at all about the brawl. It is all media creation that is doing the rounds,'' he said last week.
Ryan McLaren is determined to rise to even greater heights on South Africa's tour of the Caribbean after taking 5 for 19 in the first Twenty20 against West Indies. McLaren returned the second-best figures in Twenty20 international history as he bowled South Africa to a 13-run victory in Antigua. "It's a good way to start off the tour having practised indoors and not outdoors for the last few weeks," McLaren said after the match. "But it's only the first day, and there's plenty more cricket to come, so hopefully, I can better this performance. We all know the nature of T20 cricket - the bowler is always up against it.
"You can take five wickets one day, and the next day, take a thumping, but I enjoyed it. It was not an easy day for the batters, and you had to graft pretty hard. Playing shots was not easy, and there was a strong wind, so there were a lot of things you had to take into consideration.
"It was obviously nice to start with a win. This was the most important thing for us. We have worked really hard over the last few days here in Antigua, had a few discussions, the energy has been good around the team, and a lot of new faces have come in. We want to have a good tour of the Caribbean, so success in this match was very important to getting us off on the right foot."
The series could be important for the confidence of both teams after they failed to reach the semi-finals of the World Twenty20. The two Twenty20s are followed by five ODIs and three Tests and the West Indies captain Chris Gayle said there was plenty of room for improvement from his men.
"It was a disappointing start for us," Gayle said. "We wanted to put our dismal performance in the T20 World Cup behind us, but this was not the best way to do it, and was not the best start to the series.
"We still have a match on Thursday, so we have to pick ourselves up. This is no time for pointing fingers. We have a lot of corrections to make out there, and we have to return to the drawing board to try and get the best out of the players."
England 148 for 3 (Kieswetter 63) beat Australia 147 for 6 (D Hussey 59) by seven wickets
Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen powered England to their first ICC global title with an irresistible 111-run stand for the second wicket, as Australia were outmuscled in a battle of the bowlers at Bridgetown. Despite a brave recovery led by David Hussey, who made 59 from 54 balls, Australia's hopes of claiming the only world title to have eluded them were devastated from the moment they lost three wickets in 13 legitimate deliveries in a stunning start to the contest. Chasing a target of 148, Kieswetter and Pietersen broke the back of the chase in an 11-over alliance, but fittingly it was left to England's captain, Paul Collingwood, to seal the victory with 18 balls to spare. At the moment of victory, he was mobbed by his jubilant team-mates as they poured out of the dug-out, with incredulity and triumph writ large on their features. Barely 12 months ago, Collingwood was leading England to defeat against the Netherlands in the opening contest of the 2009 event. Now he has joined football's Bobby Moore and rugby's Martin Johnson in captaining England to a world sporting title.
The difference between the sides was underlined by the boundary count. Whereas Australia managed eight fours and three sixes in their 20 overs, and just two fours in the first 12 overs, England clattered 12 fours and five sixes in 17, as their confident and attacking batsmen targeted the weak links in the Australian bowling line-up - in particular Shane Watson - to motor past a mid-range target. England, by contrast, showed no weaknesses with the ball or in the field, as their multi-faceted five-prong attack tore onto the offensive with an aggressive but highly strategic display.
The start of the contest was sensational, as Australia crashed to 8 for 3 with a wicket in each of the first three overs. Ryan Sidebottom, a controversial selection a week ago but an automatic choice now, settled England's nerves and exacerbated those of the Australians by removing Shane Watson with the third delivery of the match. A lifter outside off was slashed through to Kieswetter, who fumbled the initial take only for an alert Graeme Swann at slip to dive forward and grasp the rebound in the heel of his hands.
One over later, the dangerous David Warner was run out for 2, as his captain, Michael Clarke, called him through for a tight single at short cover, only for Michael Lumb to swoop and score a direct hit with his underarm shy. And before Australia had had time to regroup, they were undermined by misfortune as well, as Brad Haddin was adjudged caught behind off his hip - brilliantly caught, in fact, by a full-stretch Kieswetter - as Sidebottom snaffled his second.
The effect of the early breakthroughs was to hand all of the initiative to England's charged-up attack, who came at Australia with a Test-match intensity. While the pace in the pitch encouraged the seamers to bend their backs, they were sensibly sparing with the short balls, and instead concentrated on pinning the batsmen to the crease with arrow-straight but undriveable lengths. Had Lumb's aim been slightly better, he might have added two further run-outs from short cover, as Clarke betrayed his anxiety with a succession of nip-and-tuck quick singles.
It wasn't until Clarke nudged Sidebottom through fine leg in the fifth over that Australia registered their first boundary, and though he added a second when he pulled a rare long-hop from Bresnan through mid-on, the score was 34 for 3 after seven overs when England turned to their spinners, Swann and Michael Yardy, with licence to apply the tourniquet. And when Collingwood leapt superbly at short midwicket to snaffle an attempted flick from Clarke, Australia had slumped to 45 for 4 in the tenth over.
Not for the first time in this tournament, however, Cameron White had the power and the intent to lift Australia's tempo. He chose the 13th over of the innings, Yardy's third, to make his move, as he followed a David Hussey swipe for six with four, six, four in consecutive deliveries. With 21 runs in the over, Australia were suddenly back in business on 80 for 4, and with two further fours in consecutive overs, White had moved along to 29 from 17 balls when Collingwood opted to introduce Luke Wright for his first over of the tournament.
The ploy paid quick dividends. Targeting the yorker with every delivery, Wright stifled the swinging blades before drawing White into a wild slash outside off. Broad, who moments earlier had made a mess of a swirling top-edge at deep cover off Hussey, called bravely and chased down a fine low chance as he ran back towards the rope at point. Michael Hussey joined his brother to nudge and swat 47 runs for the sixth wicket in 22 balls, but Australia's final total of 147 for 6 was, as Clarke later conceded, at least 25 runs short of parity.
For once, Lumb was unable to jump-start England's reply, as he clipped airily to mid-on in Shaun Tait's first over to fall for 2 from four balls, but Kieswetter - who was at his happiest with the ball pitched up in his half - cracked Dirk Nannes for consecutive fours, either side of a lengthy delay to fix the malfunctioning sightscreen. He added a third four when Tait overpitched in his subsequent over, and with Pietersen looking typically busy at the crease, England reached a healthy 41 for 1 in their Powerplay, a position that was comfortably ahead of Australia's 24 for 3 at the same stage.
With their platform secure, England never looked like faltering. The legspinner Steven Smith was nailed through the covers for Pietersen's third boundary, before Kieswetter collected consecutive fours in Watson's first over - the first a touch fortuitously as David Hussey fumbled at mid-off. Clarke had no choice but to recall Mitchell Johnson for his third over, and though he stemmed the flow a touch, Watson's medium pace was meat and drink for the now pumped-up Kieswetter, who mowed a massive six over midwicket in an over that leaked 16 runs.
Back came Tait with Australia desperate for a wicket, but Pietersen met him with an imperious lofted drive over mid-on for four, before opening his stance to drive a glorious six over extra cover, and take the required rate down below a run a ball. Two balls later, Kieswetter dabbed a wide ball through point to bring up a 40-ball fifty, and celebrated by slashing Nannes for four through third man before belting an astonishing one-handed six over backward square leg. With just 30 runs needed from the final seven overs, Pietersen gave Smith the charge and holed out to Warner at long-off for an excellent 47 from 31 balls, but at 118 for 2, Australia knew they still needed a miracle. That prospect became a touch more probable six balls later, when Kieswetter gave himself too much room to a Johnson yorker and was rather comically bowled for 63 from 49 balls, but to judge by the grim faces in the England dug-out, no-one was particularly keen on laughing just yet.
Eoin Morgan, however, swept Smith powerfully for six over square leg to mop their collective brows, and when Collingwood pulled the luckless Watson off the front foot over midwicket for another six, the result was beyond doubt. A swat through fine leg brought the scores level, and one ball later, the title was secure, and England's limited-overs hoodoo had finally been laid to rest.
Michael Clarke believes he might need to rediscover the attacking approach of his youth to become a successful Twenty20 batsman. Clarke has no intention of giving up his place as Australia's captain in the shortest format despite struggling to lift his scoring rate in the World Twenty20, where he led Australia to the final, which they lost to England.
Ricky Ponting has been impressed with Clarke's leadership and in the Herald Sun on Thursday, Shane Warne argued that Clarke was the best captaincy option and No. 3 for the Twenty20 team. However, after arriving home to Sydney, Clarke conceded he might have to dust off some of the more aggressive strokes he played as a younger man.
"Who knows? Maybe I need a little bit of that back," Clarke said. "Everybody has a different role in our team though and that is one thing that players certainly are aware of, and you need to do your role to the best of your ability.
"For me my role is not the same as Dave Warner or Shane Watson. I always want to perform, I always want to score runs, it doesn't matter what form of the game I'm playing, but like I said in this game, sometimes you can't always make those runs."
Clarke's immediate future in the format is expected to be decided over the next week as the selectors settle on the squads for the upcoming tour of England. Clarke is determined to stay in charge of the Twenty20 side, a role he took over last year when Ponting retired from that version of the game.
"No doubt [I want to continue], I'm disappointed we couldn't win the World T20, win the final, but I've really enjoyed the opportunity," Clarke said. "I've loved playing with the guys, I've had a lot of support from people back at home, the people who came and watched the games in the West Indies, and family and friends, so it's been great and I'm enjoying it."
Clarke said that while the loss to England was disappointing, there was no reason to panic ahead of next summer's Ashes series in Australia. The urn is held by England following their triumph at home last year, but the previous series in Australia was won 5-0 by Ponting's men.
"It always hurts losing to England in any form of the game, but obviously a lot of guys in both teams that won't take part in the Ashes series," Clarke said. "They will take confidence out of it, no doubt about it, but I can guarantee the way we've been playing Test and one day cricket of late, or even T20 cricket in this tournament, we're very confident."
South Africa 141 for 5 (Boucher 33*) beat Sri Lanka 137 for 8 (Kapugedera 61*, Kleinveldt 2-13) by five wickets
A combined team effort set up victory with three balls to spare as South Africa brushed past Sri Lanka in their first warm-up match ahead of the World Twenty20. A late fightback from Sanath Jayasuriya and Chamara Kapugedera allowed Sri Lanka to post a modest 137 for 8 and the match was finely balanced when AB de Villiers was dismissed in the 14th over with 63 still needed, but a 61-run partnership between Mark Boucher and Johan Botha took South Africa home in the final over.
Kumar Sangakkara opted to bat first after winning the toss but was quickly left ruing the decision as Tillakaratne Dilshan fell first ball to the impressive Rory Kleinveldt. Charl Langeveldt then struck twice in his second over to remove Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene as Sri Lanka slipped to 22 for 3.
Dinesh Chandimal lasted just two balls before he hit Morne Morkel to Herschelle Gibbs, and when Angelo Mathews was dismissed by Roelof van der Merwe Sri Lanka were in deep trouble at 42 for 5 in the ninth over. But Jayasuriya drew on his vast experience in a relatively sedate 33 from 41 balls as he dominated a half-century stand with Kapugedera to claw his side back into the game.
Once he was dismissed, caught behind off Kleinveldt, Kapugedera came to the fore, slamming three fours and five sixes to finish unbeaten on 61. The wickets were shared around by the South African bowlers, with Kleinveldt, Langeveldt and Morkel taking two each, while Rusty Theron and van der Merwe weighed in with one apiece.
Nuwan Kulasekara removed Graeme Smith in his first over for single figures as Sri Lanka started their defence strongly, but Loots Bosman kept the score ticking over with a rapid 20. After his dismissal, Gibbs and de Villiers struggled to reach the boundary, and when they were removed in consecutive overs Sri Lanka were right back in the match.
But Botha and Boucher set about their task with gusto, scoring at more than 11 runs an over to take South Africa to the brink. Botha was bowled by Thissara Perera off the first ball of the final over, but Boucher sealed the confidence-boosting result with a boundary two balls later.
The BCCI has suspended controversial Indian Premier League chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi just hours before a crucial governing council meeting.
Modi has been accused of a wide range of financial impropriety from rigging bidding deals related to the IPL, offering bribes, betting and money laundering.
The decision to suspend Modi was announced by BCCI president Shashank Manohar.
"While we rejoice and celebrate the great success of IPL season three, the alleged acts of individual misdemeanours of Mr.Lalit K Modi, chairman IPL and vice president, BCCI have brought a bad name to the administration of cricket and the game itself," Manohar said in a statement.
"I have waited for the IPL 3 - 2010 to conclude in order to respond to the situation as I did not want the event to be disrupted in any manner.
"Immediately after the conclusion of the IPL final, the secretary, BCCI Mr. N Srinivasan has in consultation with me issued a show cause notice to Mr. Lalit K Modi under Rule 32 (iv) calling upon him to show cause within 15 days why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.
"Simultaneously in exercise of the powers vested in me under Rule 32 (vii), I have suspended Mr. Lalit K Modi from participating in the affairs of the Board, the IPL, the working committee and any other committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India."
Modi now cannot attend the governing council meeting called by Srinivasan at the behest of Manohar to discuss the allegations as well as his future at the head of the Twenty20 tournament.
Modi had at first refused to attend the meeting, indicating that it was illegal as only he, as chairman and commissioner of the IPL, had the power to convene such a gathering.
Late on Sunday, however, Modi abruptly changed tack by announcing that he would not only attend the meeting, but also revealed he would chair it.
Modi also issued a one-point agenda for the meeting which was to have a "discussion on any complaints received in writing from members of the governing council against the chairman, other members of the council and/or the Board of Control for Cricket in India."
He also requested documentary evidence and vowed to provide all the answers.
"Members of the governing council have been requested to give all such complaints in writing with the requisite supporting documents at the meeting on the morning of 26th April, 2010 to the chairman and commissioner, so they can be replied in full," the statement from Modi read.
Modi's decision to attend the meeting is believed to have triggered the BCCI into issuing a show-cause and a suspension notice.
The Indian Board is reported to have emailed the suspension notice to Modi during the final of the tournament in Mumbai, but the IPL commissioner put on a defiant face.
In his address at the end of the IPL final in Mumbai Modi said: "Though the events on the ground have been an outstanding success, there have been some off-field unpleasant dramas based on the unknown, half-truths and motivated leaks from all sorts of sources.
"I assure you all decisions have been jointly taken by the governing council and approved by the general body (of the BCCI) in both year one and two of the IPL.
"Still as leader of the team, I reassure you that if there have been any flouting of the rules and regulations or if there have been any irregularities, I shall take full responsibility.
"I assure you the IPL is clean and transparent."
Significantly, Modi's reassurance of all decisions being taken by the governing council is only limited to the first two editions of the tournament.
The current crisis, however, relates to the current edition and was triggered when Modi revealed details on Twitter relating to the ownership and shareholders of the new Kochi franchise in an alleged breach of a confidentiality clause.
Modi had especially questioned a free stake given to Sunanda Pushkar, a close friend of junior minister in the ruling coalition Shashi Tharoor, who had mentored the consortium which eventually secured the winning bid for the Kochi franchise.
Tharoor was forced to resign after being accused by the opposition of using his office to profit, but the decision brought on a multi-agency government probe into all aspects of the IPL.
That probe, which covers a range of so far unsubstantiated infringements including tax evasion, money laundering, front companies and foreign exchange violations, is continuing.
The BCCI had admonished Modi for revealing the names of the shareholders of the Kochi franchise - to which Modi responded by suggesting the stakeholders of the franchise had plenty to hide - but focus and attention was shifted to Modi's own alleged impropriety and misconduct following scrutiny by income tax officials at the offices of the BCCI, the IPL and all the franchises, Modi's residence and at the offices of the broadcasters of the tournament Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony Entertainment Television) and World Sports Group.
The decision to suspend Modi was announced by BCCI president Shashank Manohar.
"While we rejoice and celebrate the great success of IPL season three, the alleged acts of individual misdemeanours of Mr.Lalit K Modi, chairman IPL and vice president, BCCI have brought a bad name to the administration of cricket and the game itself," Manohar said in a statement.
"I have waited for the IPL 3 - 2010 to conclude in order to respond to the situation as I did not want the event to be disrupted in any manner.
"Immediately after the conclusion of the IPL final, the secretary, BCCI Mr. N Srinivasan has in consultation with me issued a show cause notice to Mr. Lalit K Modi under Rule 32 (iv) calling upon him to show cause within 15 days why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.
"Simultaneously in exercise of the powers vested in me under Rule 32 (vii), I have suspended Mr. Lalit K Modi from participating in the affairs of the Board, the IPL, the working committee and any other committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India."
Modi now cannot attend the governing council meeting called by Srinivasan at the behest of Manohar to discuss the allegations as well as his future at the head of the Twenty20 tournament.
Modi had at first refused to attend the meeting, indicating that it was illegal as only he, as chairman and commissioner of the IPL, had the power to convene such a gathering.
Late on Sunday, however, Modi abruptly changed tack by announcing that he would not only attend the meeting, but also revealed he would chair it.
Modi also issued a one-point agenda for the meeting which was to have a "discussion on any complaints received in writing from members of the governing council against the chairman, other members of the council and/or the Board of Control for Cricket in India."
He also requested documentary evidence and vowed to provide all the answers.
"Members of the governing council have been requested to give all such complaints in writing with the requisite supporting documents at the meeting on the morning of 26th April, 2010 to the chairman and commissioner, so they can be replied in full," the statement from Modi read.
Modi's decision to attend the meeting is believed to have triggered the BCCI into issuing a show-cause and a suspension notice.
The Indian Board is reported to have emailed the suspension notice to Modi during the final of the tournament in Mumbai, but the IPL commissioner put on a defiant face.
In his address at the end of the IPL final in Mumbai Modi said: "Though the events on the ground have been an outstanding success, there have been some off-field unpleasant dramas based on the unknown, half-truths and motivated leaks from all sorts of sources.
"I assure you all decisions have been jointly taken by the governing council and approved by the general body (of the BCCI) in both year one and two of the IPL.
"Still as leader of the team, I reassure you that if there have been any flouting of the rules and regulations or if there have been any irregularities, I shall take full responsibility.
"I assure you the IPL is clean and transparent."
Significantly, Modi's reassurance of all decisions being taken by the governing council is only limited to the first two editions of the tournament.
The current crisis, however, relates to the current edition and was triggered when Modi revealed details on Twitter relating to the ownership and shareholders of the new Kochi franchise in an alleged breach of a confidentiality clause.
Modi had especially questioned a free stake given to Sunanda Pushkar, a close friend of junior minister in the ruling coalition Shashi Tharoor, who had mentored the consortium which eventually secured the winning bid for the Kochi franchise.
Tharoor was forced to resign after being accused by the opposition of using his office to profit, but the decision brought on a multi-agency government probe into all aspects of the IPL.
That probe, which covers a range of so far unsubstantiated infringements including tax evasion, money laundering, front companies and foreign exchange violations, is continuing.
The BCCI had admonished Modi for revealing the names of the shareholders of the Kochi franchise - to which Modi responded by suggesting the stakeholders of the franchise had plenty to hide - but focus and attention was shifted to Modi's own alleged impropriety and misconduct following scrutiny by income tax officials at the offices of the BCCI, the IPL and all the franchises, Modi's residence and at the offices of the broadcasters of the tournament Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony Entertainment Television) and World Sports Group.
Champions League Twenty20 2010
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South Africa will host the next Champions League Twenty20, to run from September 10 to 26, the tournament's organisers have announced. The tournament chairman Lalit Modi confirmed the decision, following a board meeting in Mumbai where it was formally agreed to accept Cricket South Africa's invitation to stage the event. However Modi, under immense scrutiny over the ongoing IPL mess, was not present at that meeting, which took place at the BCCI headquarters on Saturday.
"South Africa is considered an ideal CLT20 host after successfully staging the Indian Premier League and ICC World Twenty20 tournaments in recent years, as well as the strong support shown for its domestic Pro20 Series competition," said Modi via a press release.
The venues and competing teams for the second edition of the Champions League will be announced in the near future, said the tournament management.
The first edition of the tournament was held in India last year. South Africa had hosted the IPL in 2009, after the tournament was moved out of India as it clashed with the country's general elections.
The decision puts to rest the speculation that surrounded the Champions League earlier this year. In February, CSA had announced that South Africa had been finalised as the venue for the tournament, only for Modi to quickly clarify - via Twitter - that the statement was inaccurate. Despite the dates for this season's edition having been announced much earlier, there had been press releases from CSA and the Champions League itself stating that, like in 2009, 12 teams will take part from seven full member countries, including England.
Gerald Majola, the CSA chief, had confirmed the news to Cricinfo earlier in the day while Dean Kino, head of the league's Governing Council, had on Friday stated that a decision regarding the appropriate participating countries was taken each year as policy.
The Champions League features the best domestic Twenty20 teams from across the world and is run by by the boards of India, Australia and South Africa with its governing council comprising representatives from each board. Other countries participate in the tournament by invitation, but Pakistan and Bangladesh are the only two Test-playing countries with no presence in the tournament. Pakistan had sent a representative in the first edition of the tournament, which was cancelled in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008. As ties worsened between India and Pakistan and their cricket boards in the aftermath, the PCB was not eventually extended an invitation to the first tournament and since then it has stated that it will not send a team this year after Pakistan players were not included at the IPL auction in January.
The dates of this year's Champions League clash with the end of England's county season, which finishes on September 16. At the same time, England and Pakistan will be contesting an ODI series that runs until September 22.
Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2010 final, Mumbai
Raina, Dhoni star in Chennai triumph
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Chennai Super Kings 168 for 5 (Raina 57*, Dhoni 22, Fernando 2-23) beat Mumbai Indians 146 for 9 (Tendulkar 48, Pollard 27, Jakati 2-27) by 22 runs
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MS Dhoni has added another feather to his captaincy hat. It was he who started the turnaround against a formidable Mumbai Indians attack, his deputy Suresh Raina capitalised on two dropped catches to score a crucial fifty, and Chennai Super Kings defended with aggression, smartness and flair to win the third IPL. Chennai were struggling at 68 for 3 after 12 overs when Dhoni got into the act: 100 runs were added in the last eight, and Raina scored 44 at a strike-rate of 200 after the first drop. The win concluded a fourth consecutive one-sided knockout in the tournament.
Ever since R Ashwin started the defence with a maiden over, Mumbai never really threatened Chennai. Sachin Tendulkar, playing with a split webbing, played his least fluent innings of the tournament, scoring a laboured 48 off 45. Mumbai tried some strange moves: promotions for Abhishek Nayar and Harbhajan Singh bombed, and even at the fall of the fifth wicket, with 69 required off 31, Kieron Pollard was not the man making his way out of the dugout.
There were no problems with tactics for Chennai: they went with the old-fashioned approach of keeping wickets in hand, never mind the slow start, and with M Vijay breaking free, had reached a perfectly acceptable 40 for no loss at the end of Powerplay. Dilhara Fernando brought Mumbai back, removing Vijay with his split-finger slower ball in the eighth over. Pollard ended Matthew Hayden's 31-ball 17-run misery, and S Badrinath holed out in the 12th over.
Dhoni left alone the first ball he faced, was beaten by a legcutter after that, was almost bowled the next ball, and worked a single to end that testing Fernando over. Mumbai can file for lack of sufficient warning for what was to come next. The first ball Dhoni faced from Pollard he charged down and hit him into the second tier - with one hand. The next ball Pollard ran in and didn't let go, stares were exchanged, and Tendulkar rushed in to apologise to the batsman: it was the second time Pollard had done this in his 2.1 overs. Dhoni's bat spoke emphatically, though, with a punch for four to end the over.
Match Meter
 Advantage  Honours even |
Tendulkar was warned sufficiently by now: he had to bring Lasith Malinga, whose yorkers have been near perfect, back before he would have ideally liked to. Dhoni charged at him, converted one into a low full toss, and hit a boundary to extra cover.
Zaheer Khan was brought back in the next over. He produced a top edge that neither Fernando (running in from third man) nor Abhishek Nayar (running back from point) claimed. Salt was in ready supply for Zaheer's wound: out of nowhere Raina produced timing and a four and a six to take Chennai to 108 after 15 overs. In the over that followed, Pollard eked out a skier from Raina, which Zaheer dropped. The next ball Raina made room and lofted over extra cover for six. The ball after was hit to Tendulkar, and cannily they exposed his injured hand by stealing a second. And the next was slogged over midwicket for six. Mumbai needed a time-out to figure out what had hit them.
Fernando, three overs for 12 until then, bowled a poor last over to nearly double the tally. Malinga started the last over superbly: bat couldn't meet ball for the first four deliveries, and Albie Morkel was run out in panic. Then it came apart: five wides, followed by a length ball driven over extra cover, and some manic running, and they were chasing the biggest total in an IPL final.
A maiden over was not the best way to start for Mumbai, but losing Shikhar Dhawan in the second was even worse. The next 10 overs featured smart spin bowling, hustling fielders, run-out opportunities created, signs of desperation of Tendulkar, and eventually the wickets of Nayar and Harbhajan in the 12th over. With the required rate going past 12 an over, Tendulkar holed out to long-off, and Raina pulled off a blinder, running in from deep midwicket, to send back Saurabh Tiwary. To everybody's surprise, JP Duminy walked out, and by the time he walked back, he had left Mumbai 55 to get in three overs.
Pollard made a match out of this too: taking 22 runs off Bollinger's 18th over. Morkel bowled a tight 19th over, with a long-off, and a mid-off up in the circle and so straight it was almost behind him. Pollard hit a catch to him: it just highlighted which captain had got it right on the night.
Bangalore secured the third spot available in the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 tournament from the IPL by trouncing Hyderabad by nine-wickets in their third-place play-off in Mumbai.
In a battle between last year's finalists, the Bangalore team emerged dominant with Anil Kumble paving the way for victory with a four-wicket haul, whilePraveen Kumar and Jacques Kalliscollected two apiece as Hyderabad were bowled out for a meagre 82 inside 19 overs.
Rahul Dravid (35 not out) and Kevin Pietersen (29 not out) rattled off the runs required, needing only 13.5 overs to end a woefully one-sided contest.
Kumble led from the front as Bangalore turned in a superb performance with the ball on a pitch which offered turn and bounce.
Kumble began with the new ball and secured the wicket of Adam Gilchrist off the fourth delivery, the Hyderabad skipper pulling a low full toss straight to Kallis at fine leg.
Praveen, who shared the new ball, then struck with his first delivery, trapping other opener Monish Mishra in front and had wickets in consecutive overs when he snared Rohit Sharma for a four-ball duck.
Hyderabad lost their top three batsmen inside the first six overs and Steyn, who had grassed Andrew Symonds while on one, made amends when he had the batsman caught behind for two at the start of the seventh over.
Kumble, bowling one-over spells, then brought himself back on in the ninth and dismissed Dawyne Smith for five.
Anirudh Singh (40), who had come in at number three, looked in good touch and eventually found support in Venugopal Rao (24), the duo putting together the only partnership of substance, 43 for the sixth wicket.
Kallis, who finished with two wickets for three in two overs, broke that stand by snaring Anirudh in his first over and Surrey left-arm spinner Nayan Doshi collected his first IPL scalp when he removed Venugopal in the next over.
Kumble returned to add to two more wickets to his tally as Hyderabad succumbed to the lowest total in the tournament this year.
Kallis and Dravid put on 36 together before Hyderabad claimed their first success, but the Bangalore team were never under any sort of pressure.
Pietersen, in a belligerent mood, smashed two sixes and a four and added 50 in an undefeated stand as Bangalore ran out winners
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The Pune IPL franchise has announced its team will be called the Sahara Pune Warriors. The team name and logo were unveiled by Subrata Roy, chairman of the Sahara group, which bought the franchise for US$370m last month.
"It is a moment of great pleasure for us to present the identity of the Pune IPL team for the people of the city and cricket enthusiasts across the world," Roy said.
"We have just started the journey and in the short span the support and affection received from the people here is very heartening and makes me feel that Pune is my second home."
The Pune team will make its IPL debut in 2011, and will play its home matches at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium being built 25 km outside the city.
Indian Premier League 2010
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Sachin Tendulkar, the Mumbai Indians captain, has said the IPL franchises should be allowed to hold on to a certain number of players from their existing squads as the league prepares for a reshuffle at the end of the 2010 season, when existing player contracts expire. Next year the IPL will have two new franchises - Pune and Kochi - and a fresh auction but Tendulkar wanted teams to be able to retain at least eight players.
"About retaining players, my personal thoughts are that we should be allowed to retain four India players and four foreign players," Tendulkar told the Indian news channel Times Now. "As for domestic players, it should be up to the franchisees. I feel it's a tough call because all teams have made huge efforts in building a good side.
"It's not an overnight result. For three years everyone has been working on what's the best combination. Even a player's identity is important. We have to look into these things and then have some changes. I hope there are not too many changes."
For a player who opted not to represent India in Twenty20 internationals in 2007, Tendulkar has appeared to have mastered the art of batting in the shortest format, as his statistics this IPL indicate. His batting has been a sensation this season but his captaincy has also drawn plaudits. Tendulkar captained India twice unsuccessfully, but he said he did not have a point to prove to critics as Mumbai prepared to contest their first IPL final.
"It's a big stage but it's not about proving a point to someone that I can manage captaincy. I have never played for that," he said. "The runs I have scored in all forms of the game, I was not trying to prove something to someone. I have just played because I enjoyed playing and loved playing and the passion for cricket is there. I have just done that and while doing that all this has happened."
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