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Scorecard

The action may have shifted from Panchkula to Gurgaon, but the Lahore Badshahs extended their domination, posting a massive eight-wicket win over the Delhi Giants.Gurgaon would surely be considered home territory for a team named the Delhi Giants, but a total of 103 after captain Marvan Atapattu chose to bat meant the Giants had little hopes of defending their home turf, with less than 15 overs needed by the Badshahs to hunt down their target.The Giants weren’t off to an explosive start, but at 53 for 1 after 8.1 overs, they seemed to be going along smoothly. However, Mushtaq Ahmed triggered a collapse; the legspinner scalped three as the Giants crumbled to 80 for 7.Nic Pothas and Shane Bond played out the last four overs, but 103 never looked a score that could threaten the Badshahs’ batting line-up.Imran Farhat fell cheaply, but his partner Imran Nazir scored an unbeaten 60 off 47 to steer the Badshahs to their fifth consecutive win of the tournament.The Badshahs have a four-day break before their next game against the Kolkata Tigers on Friday, while the Giants, currently placed sixth in the points table, face the Hyderabad Heroes on Monday.

Hyderabad Heroes 130 (Rayudu 46*, Naved-ul-Hasan 5-22) beat Lahore Badshahs 130 for 9 (Nazir 30, Farhat 30, Reddy 4-19, Binny 3-9) in a bowl-out after match tied
Scorecard

The Lahore Badshahs nearly pulled off a great escape in Hyderabad, but the hometown Heroes held their own in a bowl-out to win the third tournament of the Indian Cricket League with a 2-0 triumph in the best-of-three finals.A largely one-sided affair had turned on its head in the 18th over of the Heroes’ chase. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan dismissed Stuart Binny, Anirudh Singh and Chris Harris to trigger panic in a chase that was going along smoothly. Naved-ul-Hasan had 11 to defend off the final over, but he nearly squandered it with two no-balls – and the resultant free hits – first up. A wide levelled the scores, but fortunately for the bowler, Ambati Rayudu, batting on 46, attempted harakiri by going for the single. Alfred Absolem was run out as wicketkeeper Humayun Farhat threw down the stumps. Naved-ul-Hasan finally got his line right for the next delivery; an inswinging yorker castled No. 11 Inder Shekar Reddy, giving the bowler a five-for, and more importantly, handing the Badshahs a chance to level the finals in the bowl-out.Nicky Boje hit the stumps first for the Heroes to make it 1-0, which remained the same when the delivery from Naved-ul-Hasan failed to swing in, narrowly missing off stump. Absolem missed, so did Shahid Nazir. Reddy hit, but Naved Latif’s miss left Heroes captain Harris with the chance to seal the game. He duly obliged, his team clinching the US$625,000 prize money. The distraught Badshahs had themselves to blame: their bowlers fared no better than that of Pakistan’s in the Durban bowl-out last year.Before Naved-ul-Hasan’s intervention, the Badshahs did not look like stretching the Heroes to a third final. Inzamam decided to bat his opponents out of the game, but the Heroes showed their upset win in the first final in Panchkula was no fluke. A disciplined effort from the opening bowlers denied the Badshahs a blazing start, with the Imrans – Nazir and Farhat – failing to capitalise on their starts, both falling for 27-ball 30s.They were the highest scores in the Badshahs’ innings as left-arm spinner Reddy and medium-pacer Binny cut through the line-up. Inzamam didn’t hide his discontent when he was given out leg-before while sweeping Reddy, replays – and Inzamam himself – indicated that he had edged it on to the pads. Binny struck twice in the 16th over, and at 98 for 6 the Badshahs’ chance of making a challenging score of around 150 were quelled and they ended with 130 instead. Reddy had four wickets in the innings, while Binny’s figures read an impressive 3-0-9-0.The Heroes’ openers didn’t throw it away in hunt of a modest target. The denied the quick bowlers an early breakthrough, and it was Mushtaq Ahmed who removed both Abdul Razzaq and Jimmy Maher for 19.Boje fell after a run-a-ball 15, but Rayudu held firm at one end as the Heroes eased towards their target. Justin Kemp only managed 3, but when Binny hit two consecutive fours off Shahid Nazir – the first one a bottom-edge that bounced over the keeper’s head – they needed only 26 off 20.Naved-ul-Hasan then came up with the heroics of the 18th over, however, he only managed to stave off the inevitable. Their consistent display in the final made the Heroes worthy winners of the title, though the Badshahs can claim bragging rights having dominated all opposition in the league phase.Perhaps the irony wasn’t lost on the Badshahs; their captain Inzamam and coach Moin Khan were among those who had moved from the Heroes to the recently-formed team, but they left back an ace in Razzaq, who emerged as the Man of the Tournament.

Mallya’s biggest mistake
Controversy continues to surround the Bangalore Royal Challengers. Days after Charu Sharma, the franchise’s chief executive, was sacked, Vijay Mallya, the team owner, has said he regrets not being involved in the squad’s selection during the auction and that he had other players in mind but went by the judgment of Sharma and Rahul Dravid, the captain.”My biggest mistake was to abstain from the selection of the team. Though I watch a lot cricket whenever possible, I am no cricket expert at the end of the day,” Mallya told the . “I had a separate list of players that I wanted. But since Dravid is such an iconic player I trusted his judgment. And Charu Sharma also backed him.”Mumbai might get Tendulkar boost
A groin injury has kept Sachin Tendulkar, the Mumbai Indians captain, out of action so far but team coach Lalchand Rajput feels he could be ready for Mumbai’s next game against the Chennai Super Kings on May 14.”Sachin has been batting for the last two days during practice and we are hoping that he will be playing the next match,” Rajput said. Mumbai have been on the rebound, winning three straight games following four successive defeats. “It has been good for our morale to be winning before he [Tendulkar] was in the team and him coming back will further boost our players and put pressure on the other teams.”DY Patil Stadium to host IPL final?
The DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai is the front-runner for hosting the final of the Indian Premier League, Cricinfo has learnt. Mumbai’s remaining league games will be held at the Wankhede Stadium but there is a strong possibility of the final, and a semi-final, being held at DY Patil. The stadium’s capacity (55,000) as well as the ease with which the authorities have been able to organise matches makes it the favourite to host the big games.

Laxman out of IPL
Deccan Chargers were dealt another jolt when VVS Laxman, their captain, ruled himself out of the rest of the Indian Premier League after failing to recover from a hairline fracture just below his right wrist.Blasts in Jaipur
Seven major blasts rocked Jaipur, the base of the Rajasthan Royals, and the death toll is on the rise. The team is away holidaying in Goa and the next match in Jaipur is in four days’ time, against the Bangalore Royal Challengers, who have now offered to host Saturday’s game.Kolkata start pruning operations
The Kolkata Knight Riders have released six of their players – Ranadeb Bose, Sourashish Lahiri, Cheteshwar Pujara, Yashpal Singh, Rohan Bannerjee and Nagaland’s Hokkaido – as they feel they will not be required for the rest of the season.”To be fair to these players, we are not experimenting with our team combination at this late stage in the tournament and these players won’t get a game,” Joy Bhattacharya told , a Mumbai-based tabloid. “So it does not make sense for us to hold them back. We have spoken to all the players about it. The players are still with the Knight Riders, but it’s just that they won’t be needed for the remainder of this season.”Prince goes back
Ashwell Prince, South Africa’s middle-order batsman, will re-join the Mumbai Indians after spending a few days with his new-born kid back in South Africa. Prince, a middle-order batsman, was was bought at US$175,000, but is yet to make his IPL debut.

Assam coach Sanath Kumar has slammed the Pune pitch for their ongoing Ranji Trophy game at the Gahunje stadium against Maharashtra, calling it “very dangerous.” He also confirmed Assam were contemplating lodging an official complaint at the end of the match.”Definitely it was a dangerous wicket, at least till lunch,” Sanath told ESPNcricinfo. “Even after lunch a couple of balls did [something] but it was not as bad as it was till lunch. Till lunch I was literally worried that some of my players might get a real knock.””I was struggling to watch the game,” Sanath said. “I really cannot understand why they play on this sort of wicket. So many balls went so dangerously close to the face, flying all over. They had a short leg, leg slip, backward short leg, so imagine [how the pitch would have behaved]. That’s what I am thinking [about lodging a complaint].”However, Pandurang Salgaonkar, the curator at Gahunje, denied Assam’s contention, saying the pitch was “not at all dangerous.” “The wicket was absolutely good, but it was a grassy wicket,” he told ESPNcricinfo.KB Arun Karthik, who spent the most time in the middle to score an unbeaten century, said he informed the umpires that the batsmen were at risk of getting hurt, but they didn’t take the players off the field.Assam had been put in to bat after the first day was rained out and while they went to stumps at a fairly healthy 223 for 4, Arun Karthik said it had been a struggle throughout the day. Their top-three batsmen fell inside six overs to the seam-bowling pair of Samad Fallah and Anupam Sanklecha, but Arun Karthik and Amit Verma steadied things with a 75-run stand. After Verma’s departure, Arun Karthik and captain Gokul Sharma, who remained unbeaten on 59 put on 130 runs.”The pitch was damp today, but they started it regardless,” Arun Karthik said. “The umpires had a look, but they said there was no other go but to play.”The wicket was damp and there was quite a bit of grass as well, so there was uneven bounce and the ball kept cutting off the pitch. Some balls hit me on the glove, some on the elbow and some others on the thigh pad.”A particular ball stopped and bounced over my head, and went on the bounce to the keeper. It was obvious for everyone to see [that the pitch was behaving alarmingly],” Arun Karthik said. “I told them [the umpires] we were at a serious risk of getting hurt. The umpires said, ‘we will look at it after sometime.’ They didn’t take us off the field.”Arun Karthik said there were only a few strokes, such as the flick and the backfoot punch, that could be played on the surface. “There was no chance of playing a cover drive as the ball was bouncing off a length. Even while leaving the ball you will have to be positive on a wicket like this.”Pune is one of the six centres that have been accorded Test status recently. The surface comes under scrutiny – despite allowance being made for the rain the city has received recently – especially because it was made a standby venue for India’s fourth Test against South Africa in the event of Delhi not securing the necessary approvals in time. Had the Test match been played at this venue, the Maharashtra-Assam game, it is understood, would have been shifted to Poona Club.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has imposed a policy on its cricketers to officially retire before acquiring a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the upcoming Masters Champions League. The move has sparked more friction between the PCB and the MCL as earlier they had a long-standing dispute on securing the venues in the UAE for their respective T20 leagues.At least a dozen Pakistani cricketers including Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Saleem Elahi and Yasir Hameed are among the ones selected for the MCL with all of them already discarded from international cricket. The PCB, however, urged them to sign a letter to announce retirement from international cricket, which would be irrevocable in the future.Earlier, when the idea of the MCL had emerged, its dates clashed with the PCB’s plans to host the Pakistan Super League in the UAE. But since the MCL organisers had already booked the three UAE venues before the PCB, it led to a dispute between the Pakistani board and the Emirates Cricket Board, which is the sole regulator of cricket in the UAE.The PCB was forced to look for an alternative venue and considered Qatar but the venue was probably not going to fulfill the requirements of hosting a T20 league involving international cricketers from around the world. Zafar Shah, the chairman of the MCL, and Najam Sethi, the head of PSL, then held talks and the PCB pushed the MCL organisers to reschedule their league and allow the PCB to utilise the available window in February. But the talks fell through and the PCB announced Qatar as the venue.Months after that, the PCB chose the UAE as the venue again, after finding a middle ground with the MCL. ESPNcricinfo understands the two leagues will be run concurrently with the PSL to hold matches in Sharjah, the MCL in Abu Dhabi, and Dubai to be shared by the two leagues. However, the MCL website currently states Sharjah and Dubai as the venues, and not Abu Dhabi. The dispute appeared to have ended then but the PCB has now asked its cricketers to fulfill the retirement criterion if they want to play the MCL.The MCL is for retired players but the PCB has said any Pakistani player active in domestic cricket who has signed up with the league will be considered retired, regardless of his prior announcement regarding retirement from international cricket. There is a long list of players from other parts of the world who might have not announced their retirement but signed with the MCL, such as South Africa’s Richard Levi and West Indies’ Fidel Edwards. But PCB said they have their own policy which is based on their direct competition with the privately-run MCL.”It is clarified that PCB will issue NOCs only to those cricketers who have announced and confirmed their irrevocable resignation and retirement from international cricket on behalf of Pakistan, in writing to PCB,” the board said in a press release. “Such cricketers will, however, remain eligible to play in domestic cricket as per rules.”Keeping in view this direct clash in dates and venues and the resulting consequence that any Pakistani players featuring in the MCL poses a direct competition to the PSL and the PCB. The Policy did not allow for NOCs to be issued freely to Pakistani players wishing to participate in the MCL and instead a criteria was put in place.”While Mohammad Yousuf refused to accept this unique policy, some other players have reportedly accepted it, including Humayun Farhat, who last played for Pakistan in 2001, Yasir Hameed (last played in 2010), Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (2010) and Mohammad Khalil (2005).”I don’t mind doing it but I have no idea what is the purpose of it,” Hameed told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s not like we are getting some retirement benefit from it or any provident funds so that doesn’t make any sense but what can we do. I am not selected in PSL, never been considered for national team since 2010, then for us it’s like we are retired already so I have no issue of signing it.”Yousuf, who last played for Pakistan in 2010, said: “If I am not playing any kind of cricket at any level from club to international then what is the point for me to announce? I think it is an opportunity for those cricketers who are not in international contention and MCL is the platform where they can play and keep their livelihood on.”Players in contention for MCL: Abdul Razzaq, Saleem Elahi, Mohammad Yousuf, Saqlain Mushtaq, Naved-ul-Hasan, Taufeeq Umar, Yasir Hameed, Mushtaq Ahmed, Azhar Mehmood, Hasan Raza, Humayun Farhat, Mohammad Khalil.

Dolphins allrounder Robbie Frylinck has been suspended pending a disciplinary process related to an alleged assault on a fellow player. The franchise clarified the reason for Frylinck’s suspension on Saturday evening after providing no details of the sanction when it was made public on Thursday. Frylinck will face a formal disciplinary hearing next week.In a press release, the Dolphins said the incident took place last Sunday, January 24, after the Kwa-Zulu Natal team returned from their fixtures against Boland in Paarl. “It is alleged that an argument developed in the car which was transporting the players to the airport after the provincial match they played in ended a day before it’s scheduled finish,” the statement read.Frylinck has been suspended until the outcome of the hearing. He was due to rejoin Dolphins for the resumption of the one-day cup, but did not travel with the team to Cape Town.Dolphins CEO Pete de Wet appealed for speculation to be doused until the conclusion of the disciplinary process. “De Wet stressed that it was imperative for the dignity of all the players involved to allow the disciplinary process to be completed, and warned against unsubstantiated rumours and jumping to conclusions until the outcome of the hearing is made public,” the statement said.

Sohag Gazi and Elias Sunny powered Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club to the Dhaka Premier League’s Super League phase, after their 74-run win over Brothers Union in Fatullah. The spinners took three wickets each as Brothers Union were bowled out for 110 runs.Pace bowler Abu Jayed took two wickets while left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam and pacer Robiul Haque picked one apiece. Earlier, Shykat Ali top scored for Dhanmondi Club with 55, as they made 184 all out in 47.1 overs.Pacer Khaled Ahmed took three wickets while there was two each for Sohrawordi Shuvo, Shakhawat Hossain and Alok Kapali.Shahriar Nafees’ 82 helped Agrani Bank to a six-wicket win against Legends of Rupganj at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.Nafees struck 10 fours in his 103-ball knock, in which he shared a 76-run opening stand with Soumya Sarkar, who was among several Bangladesh players to appear in the DPL the day after their return from Colombo.Later, it was another 76-run fourth wicket stand between Shamsul Alam and Dhiman Ghosh that sealed the win. But it wasn’t enough for Agrani Bank who are rooted at 11th place and will have to battle for relegation in the three-way playoffs with Kalabagan Krira Chakra and Brothers Union.Mohammedan Sporting Club signed off their DPL campaign with a hard-fought two-wicket win over Kalabagan Krira Chakra at the BKSP-3 ground. The game was delayed by 30 minutes after both teams and match officials were stuck in traffic on the highway leading up to Savar.Batting first, Kalabagan were bowled out for 260 in 47.3 overs with Mohammad Ashraful reaching his third century in the league. He made 127 off 124 balls with 13 fours and three sixes. He added 85 runs for the second wicket with Waliul Karim, and 82 for the third wicket with Mahmudul Hasan.But the rest of Kalabagan’s batting line-up crumbled quickly, with Qazi Onik picking up career-best figures of 6-49 from his 8.5 overs.Rony Talukdar and Enamul Haque struck fifties and shared a 98-run second wicket stand to provide Mohammedan with a good start.Shamsur Rahman’s steady 38 kept them going for a while but when he fell as the eighth wicket, Mohammedan still needed 27 to win.Taijul Islam and Onik batted well, to add the remaining runs as they won with four balls to spare. Sanjit Saha took three wickets for Kalabagan.

When Adam Voges drove a return catch to Mark Craig on the third day at the Basin Reserve, he was out for 239. In another way, he was out for 614, for that was the amount of runs Voges had scored in Test cricket between dismissals. In the dim, dark ages of day-night Test cricket at the Adelaide Oval, Voges had edged Trent Boult to second slip. From then on, it took another 815 balls and 1115 minutes of batting before Voges would again go out.Extend it to first-class cricket, and he scored 763 runs from 1422 balls between times when a bowler got him out – he was dismissed for 149 in the Sheffield Shield match in Lincoln this month, but it took a run-out to do it. They are extraordinary figures, and his Test success against West Indies and New Zealand pushed his average up over 100 during his double-century in Wellington, though it dropped down to the sub-Bradman figure of 97.46 when Craig got him.”I’m probably happy that I’m out now and it’s gone back under,” Voges said. “I can just get on with playing cricket, I guess. The boys had a bit of fun taking the mickey out of me in the change-rooms but it’s all good. It [the average] was never going to stay there, it won’t stay there, I know that. So it was always going to happen at some stage.”Of course that was true, but what is equally obvious is that Voges, at the age of 36, is in the form of his life. In the past two years, nobody in the world has come close to the 3687 runs and 14 centuries that Voges has scored in first-class cricket, and his promotion to Test ranks has done nothing to slow his progress.”I think that I’m giving myself every chance to get in each time I bat and then when I do get in I’m hungry to score runs and score big runs,” he said. “I try and keep it pretty simple. I really enjoyed my partnership with Usman [Khawaja] the other day, he’s batting brilliantly. He’s in complete control of his game so that made life a lot easier for me.”Life in this match was also made easier for Voges by the incorrect no-ball call from umpire Richard Illingworth that resulted in him being reprieved in the last over of the first day. On 7, Voges shouldered arms to a ball from Doug Bracewell and looked back to see his off stump knocked back, but when he realised that Illingworth had called no-ball he refocused for the next day.”I turned around, it was a bad leave, saw the stumps, went to walk off and then saw the arm out. A little bit of luck,” Voges said. “I approached the [next] day that I was going to go pretty hard, you don’t get second chances too often so I’m gonna try and take the game on a little bit here.”As it turned out, New Zealand bowled really well and I couldn’t do it. I had to bide my time and think I only scored 30 and had to be a little bit more patient. Once I did the hard yards it did become a little bit easier but the plan to go out and take the game on didn’t quite eventuate.”It took Voges 130 deliveries to register his half-century and 203 balls to bring up his hundred, as he ground down the New Zealand bowlers and attacked them when the chance arose. Voges said the ability to assess how bowlers were trying to dismiss him had come with age, and he conceded he would probably not have been capable of such an innings earlier in his career.”No doubt it comes with time,” Voges said. “It comes with a lot of hard work as well. And understanding your game. It comes with confidence as well, being able to trust your ability, trust your defence and then being able to attack when the opportunity presents.”Voges’ 239 and the 140 from Khawaja set up an enormous lead for Australia after they had dismissed New Zealand for 183 in the first innings, and by stumps on day three Australia’s control of the match had only strengthened. New Zealand were four down in their second innings and were still 201 runs from making Australia bat again.There was a concern for the Australians, though, with fast bowler Peter Siddle not bowling after tea and spending most of the final session off the field dealing with a back problem. Siddle also struggled with back spasms during the day-night Test against New Zealand in Adelaide in November, and was hampered by an ankle injury during the Boxing Day Test against West Indies.”It’s a bit of a back spasm and they’re never nice,” Voges said. “We’ve got some good medicos who will look after him tonight and we’re hopeful he’ll be out there tomorrow. He’s got very good skills with the reverse-swinging ball so hopefully we’ll see him out there tomorrow.”

Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain, paid tribute to his team for a “dominant performance” after their innings-and-25-run win over India in the first Test in Centurion. “We controlled the game throughout the five days,” he said. “We were ahead of the game the whole time.”South Africa put in a superior performance and there was only one passage of play in the Test where they felt under threat – during Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni’s 172-run seventh-wicket stand on day four. “That was the one time that we really put in the yards. The wicket flattened out a lot, it was hot and windy and the guys showed a lot of character in that situation, especially Dale’s spell at the end,” Smith said. Steyn clocked close to 145kph to remove Dhoni late in the afternoon and swing the advantage firmly in South Africa’s direction, a position they held from the first session of the first day.MS Dhoni, India’s captain, placed a lot of importance on the toss and the way the pitch played during the first two sessions on day one but Smith thought it was a case of too much hype. “I don’t think the wicket actually did that much. For a wicket that was under covers for four days, I thought it would do a bit more.” He added that the expectation of a bouncy wicket, and not the wicket itself, may have been what undid India. “In my mind, I think India expected more from the wicket than what actually happened. They were tentative and were on the back foot a lot of the time.”Although the pitch was thought to have played a big role on first day, with India losing nine wickets in 38 overs, Smith said most of the credit belonged to his bowlers. “Our bowlers bowled well. When you bowl on a wicket that you think is going to do a bit, you’ve got to get the ball in the right place. We were very controlled.” Lonwabo Tsotsobe was the only bowler that India could pick on but Smith did not label the left-armer the weak link. “He’s inexperienced, he has to grow as a cricketer and we have to give him the tools to do that.”The main battle of this No. 1 versus No.2 ranked Test teams has centred on South Africa’s bowling against India’s batting and after the first match, it’s clear that South Africa won the tussle by some stretch. South Africa have not forgotten about the lesser clash, between their batsmen and India’s bowlers and Smith said it’s important that the line-up doesn’t take for granted that India did not manage to bowl them out once.”Who knows how the wicket will play in Durban? There’s been a lot of rain there around this period also. We’ve got to be realistic,” Smith said. Kallis talked up the Kingsmead pitch as the one that offers “the most bounce in South Africa” and it’s also become known for its swing. With Zaheer Khan likely to spearhead the line-up, South Africa will face a different threat to the one they had in this match. Smith thinks they have done a good job at adapting to bowlers on various pitches over the years. “We’d like to think we are a strong, powerful batting unit and we can cope with conditions wherever we go.”India will look to prove they too have a similar batting unit after a match in which everyone except Tendulkar and Dhoni underperformed. Dhoni said the focus will be on levelling the series in Durban, before entertaining any thoughts of how they are going to win it from this position. Smith had said India were under pressure from before the first Test, now he thinks they face even more strain. “When you go 1-0 down in a three match series, there’s always extra pressure. The build-up to the next Test becomes crucial – the decisions you make, how you train, the selection, how the squad moves to the next Test. I know the Indian team always plays under pressure, and there are high expectations on them.”