ICL India beat ICL Pakistani by 4 wickets

The 2nd match of the ICL 20s World Series featured the big battle between traditional rivals & defending champions ICL India & the star studded ICL Pakistani. R Sathish won the toss and put the ICL Pakistani in to bat.
The usually explosive opening duo of the two Imrans (Farhat & Nazir) could not get off to their usual start, with ICL India debutant Jesuraj scalping Farhat in the first over, without troubling the scorers. Jesuraj struck again in the 3rd over, cutting short the promising innings of Imran Nazir (16) to leave the Pakistani dugout in a bit of a concern at 23/2. The five over mark had the Pakistani scorecard reading 44/2.

The inform Rana Naved in company of the promising Shahid Yousuf got into the repair act right away taking the score to 73 in the 8thover till Vignesh picked up Yousuf with 13 runs against his name. Sathish introduced his premier spinner for a second spell in the crucial 10th over who struck immediately with his first ball, getting the big wicket of Rana Naved out for a 44 off 31 balls, laced with 7 fours and one six. The half way mark of the Pakistani innings had the game at “Evens-Stevens”, with the scorecard reading 83/4. The middle overs had Inzamam & Razzaq working up a wonderful partnership looking good in the middle till the prodigal Murtaza picked his second scalp in form of the legendary Inzamam for a well made 24. Razzaq too perished to an irresponsible shot in the 15th over to give ICL India the upper hand at the Pakistani score of 118/6 at that stage of the innings. Loss of wickets at regular intervals compounded by some smart bowling in the death overs by the young Indian side; restricted the Pakistani total at 165/9 in their allotted 20 overs. For the ICL India side it was the wily Murtaza & debutant Jesuraj who emerged the most successful bowlers picking 3 wickets a piece.

The Indian chase got off to an indifferent start with Vignesh run out early at the Indian score of 13 in only the 2nd over of the innings. The five over mark had the Indians in a steady position placed at 40/1 & the young Hyderabadi duo of Rayudu & Khaleel battling it out in the middle. Both batsmen were playing sensible cricket with some percentage shots brining their fifty run partnership off 37 balls in the 7th over. Just when the partnership was taking a dangerous turn Khaleel, was scalped by the experienced Arshad Khan in the 9th over, for a well made 36, ending the 67 run partnership for the 2nd wicket. The half way mark of the Indian innings had the score card reading 85/2, needing another 81 runs off 60 balls.

Just when it seemed easy sailing for the Indians, cheap dismissals of Binny & Sathish brought the Pakistanis right backing the match in the crucial middle overs. Rayudu was however playing the sheath anchor role to perfection brining his 4th ICL fifty off 37 balls laced with 6 fours and 1 six. With five overs to go the Indians needed just 38 runs to win off 30 balls with the prodigal Rayudu looking in solid touch in the middle. The Pakistanis were not going to go down without a fight and Razzaq brought back the Pakistanis with the big wicket of Rayudu in the 16th over out for a 65. A wicket off the last ball of the 18th Sami over in form of Abbas Ali had the high pressure game wide open at the penultimate over stage at the Indian score of 153/6, needing 13 runs off 12 balls. Badani was playing a crucial knock for the Indians brining in al his international experience in play in the high pressure situation. In the end it was the crucial knock of 32 off 22 balls by the experienced Badani that sealed a brilliant victory of the young Indian side.

ICL World beat ICL Bangladesh by 12 runs

The Inaugural match of the ICL 20s World Series featured the spirited ICL – Bangladesh take on the formidable ICL- World at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad. In the end it was a disciplined effort from the ICL –World compounded by a batting failure from the usually strong Bangladesh batting that saw the World side win the tournament opener by a comprehensive margin of 12 runs. Lance Klusener was declared man of the match for all round performance that included an anchoring half century followed by three wickets in the crucial middle overs.

Start of the play saw Habib Ul Bashar won the toss and elected to field wanting to take first advantage of the freshly laid pitch. The World side opened with the formidable combination of Harvey & Goodwin who got off to a quick start racing off to 21 in the second over, till Harvey played a cut shot straight in the hands Kapali, at point off Baisya. Bashar introduced his experienced spinner Mohammad Rafique as early as the third over who struck immediately, castling the dangerous Martyn, to leave the world side in a bit of a bother at 22/2. Rafique struck again in the 5th over, getting the big wicket of Murray Goodwin for a well made 27 off 16 balls that included six hits to the boundary. The five over mark had the ICL-World side placed at 41/3.

Boje & Klusener got into the repair act right away playing some percentage strokes; working up a strong partnership worth over 50 runs at that stage of the match, to take the score to 91/3 at the half way mark of the ICL-World innings. The 55 run partnership for the 4th wicket came to an end in the11th over, with a failed reverse sweep attempt by Boje, resulted in his stumping off Mosharraf. Boje’s innings was worth 34 runs off 23 balls; laced with 5 fours.

Lance Klusener was anchoring the ICL-World innings against a committed & disciplined effort in the field by the Bangladeshi side. Mosharraf Hossain was the pick of the bowlers in the middle overs picking up the crucial wickets of Boje & Nixon for only 30 runs in his allotted 4 overs. Klusener got about his 5th ICL fifty in the 19th over, coming off only 43 balls studded with 4 fours & 1 six. The world innings finally folded at a healthy 167/6 in their allotted 20 overs, foreseeing a interesting 2nd session. For the Bangladesh side it was their left arm spinners who were the highlight in the field, with Rafique & Hossain picking three & two wickets respectively.

The Bangladesh chase got off to a brisk start with the dangerous Nazimuddin hitting two sixes off the third over from Gillespie to race of to 20 runs off only 10 balls. However a shot too many brought his promising innings to an end in the 4th over off Andre Adams, ending the 28 run partnership for the first wicket. The five over mark had the Bangladesh side well placed, right in hunt of the challenging target at 50/1. Aftab Ahmed was looking good in the middle playing some brilliant shots all across the ground, helped by a difficult dropped chance & missed stumping to power the score to 75 in the 7thover , till he was foxed by the experienced Boje to be stumped by Nixon for a well made 29. Harris brought on Klusener in the 10th over who struck immediately with the big wicket of Alok Kapali, cheaply for 1, to bring back ICL World right backing the game. The halfway mark of the Bangladesh innings had the scorecard read 77/3; needing 91 runs off 60 balls.

A middle order collapse where the Bangladesh side lost 3 wickets in four balls had the game do a sudden U-turn, with the scorecard reading a sorry picture at 89/6 in the 13th over. It was complete hara-kiri by the Bangladesh middle order loosing 6 wickets for 16 runs in the crucial middle overs. The Bangladesh side could not quite recover from the batting fiasco, needing a nearly impossible task of needing 40 runs off the last 2 overs. A late onslaught by Rafique, Baisya and especially Mosharraf Hossain (28 runs off 21 balls) was too little too late and saw Bangladesh fall short of the target by 12runs.

Tendulkar breaks Lara's record

Sachin Tendulkar went past Brian Lara's tally of 11,953 Test runs.

Sachin Tendulkar steered Peter Siddle towards the third-man boundary for three runs to break Brian Lara's record for most Test runs. The record stood for nearly two years after Lara played his final Test and it was inevitable that Tendulkar would eventually break it. As the day progressed Tendulkar scored his 50th half-century and became the first player to cross the 12,000-run mark.

The disappointingly small crowd, built largely of school kids, immediately got on its feet to salute the feat, and fireworks, which continued for three minutes, went off at the PCA Stadium. Tendulkar raised his bat in the air, took his helmet off, and looked up at the sky, as is his routine when he gets to a hundred. The Australian fielders rushed immediately towards him to congratulate him. Ricky Ponting, the man most likely to challenge his status of being the top run-getter, was the first man to shake his hand.

This also brought an end to the soap-opera-type frenzied anticipation for the record. Tendulkar was expected to overtake Lara in Sri Lanka recently, but he endured a poor series with the bat, scoring just 95 runs in three Tests. Then in the series-opener in Bangalore, during a fine match-saving effort in the second innings, it seemed he would get to the record, but he gifted his wicket when 15 short.

Even today the anxiety around was palpable. During the time he got to 15, India lost two wickets in moving from 146 to 179 in 10.2 overs. While he scored at a fair rate, he didn't get nearly as much strike during the period as he would have wanted. While he played 23 balls, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly faced 19 each. It was fitting, in a way, that he achieved the record against Australia, a team he has tormented several times in the past.

Coincidentally, Lara too achieved the world record against Australia, when he went past Allan Border's tally of 11,174 runs during the Adelaide Test in 2005. They remain the only three players to cross the 11,000-run mark in Tests. Though it is uncertain how long Tendulkar will prolong his Test career - which has lasted 19 years - the two players who stand the best chance of beating his eventual tally are Rahul Dravid (10,302) and Ponting (10,239).

Supreme Superstars make it two in row

The sixth match of the ICL20s Indian Championship featured the resurgent Ahmedabad Challenge the supremacy of the formidable Chennai Superstars at the LB stadium Hyderabad. The engrossing battle that delivered a very high standard of cricket from both sides saw the Chennai Superstars emerge winners by 35 runs. With this win Chennai Superstars made it two in a row making them one of the favorites for the title. Russel Arnold was declared man of the match for his stability personified 46 runs.
Earlier in the evening Damien Martyn, won the toss for the Rockets and elected to field. The Superstars got off to a disastrous start, with some sloppy running between the wickets seeing Harvey and Hariesh back in the dugout in the first couple of overs, leaving the Superstars reeling 5/2 in the second over. Eighteen runs off the fourth over from debutant Kunal Lal had the Superstars right back on track. Vignesh was at his swashbuckling best taking the score to 65 in the 7th over, ably supported by the experienced Arnold on the other end. Vignesh's cameo of 38 runs finally came to an end in the 8th over by Sodhi and included 2 fours and 3 sixes. A brilliant piece of fielding at gully from Murray Goodwin saw the end of Jesuraj to leave the Superstars in a bit of a bother at 82/4 in the 10th over. The loss of wickets had no effect of the Superstars' batting Juggernaut and the legendary Michael Bevan "role play definition" for his side was on full view with Sathish & Arnold playing according to the situation taking the score to 130 at the 15th over mark. At the 16th over stage the Superstars were placed at 135 /5 when a minor power failure had the VJD rule implemented, curtailing the Superstars' innings at that stage & setting the Rockets a target of 143 in 16 overs.

The Rockets reply was off to a shaky start with Rockets' performer of their previous encounter Aziz, snapped in the very first over by Shabbir Ahmed. The cheap dismissal of Ryan Campbell for 5 in the 4th over was not helping the Rockets cause and had the side in serious trouble at 15/2 at the end of the 4th over. The resurgent Reetinder Sodhi got into the repair act in company of Martyn taking the score to 44/2 at the 7th over mark. An eventful 8th over had some vintage Martyn strokes taking 15 runs off the pacy Hayward. At the half way stage of their innings the Rockets were placed at 59/2 needing another 84 runs off 48 balls and eight wickets in hand, making it a fascinating high pressure encounter. The Classy Martyn was playing a top of the drawer innings brining his well deserved fifty in the 11th over. The dangerous71 run partnership between Sodhi & Martyn for the third wicket was ended with a smart piece of fielding from Hayward, finding Sodhi short of his ground for a well made 22 in the 12th over. The quick dismissal of the Rocket's' skipper in the same over got the upper hand back to the formidable Superstars. With four overs to go the top standard match had the Rockets' needing an uphill task of 55 runs from 24 balls.

Lions hunt down Champs in low scoring thriller

The 5th match of the ICL 20s Indian Championship featured the inform Chandigarh Lions take on the revamped Mumbai Champs at the sparkling ICL facility, LB Stadium Hyderabad. Pat Symcox in his pitch report read a sporting track on offer with good carry, making it conducive to stroke-play. The classic low scoring encounter that went right down to the wire saw the Lions scamper home by two wickets. Sarabjit Singh was declared Man of the Match for his unbeaten knock of 41.

Earlier in the evening, Lions' Skipper Cairns won the toss and elected to field, wanting to take first advantage of the fresh pitch. Some tight bowling in the first couple of overs from the Lions, saw the experienced Tuffey do what he has done all his career, getting a wicket in his first over by scalping the Champs skipper Astle, leaving the Champs in a bit of a bother at 7/1 in the second over. Tuffey struck again sending back the dangerous Raviraj Patil to the Champs dugout without troubling the scorers.

A middle order collapse in form of wickets of the batting mainstay Hasan Raza for 8 and Taufeeq Umar 17, left the Mumbai innings in absolute tatters at 36/4 in the eight over. A twenty eight run partnership between Powar and Morris looked promising till the experienced Mongia trapped Morris in the 12th over, leaving Mumbai struggling to get over the Lions strangle at 64/5. The gritty south-paw Kiran Powar, was holding one end and a fighting innings of 45 off 42 balls including five fours and one six, saw the Champs fold their innings at 135/6 in their allotted 20 overs. For the Lions, Tuffey was the most successful bowler ending with figures of 2/25.

The Champs bowlers came out firing all cylinders and some controlled seam bowling saw the sub continent specialist Kasprowicz strike early sending back the dashing Vincent for only 1, with the Lions score on three. Kasper struck again trapping the Lions anchor-man TP Singh in the fourth over to bring the match back wide open. Astle brought himself on in the 7th over and it was just the tonic the Champs needed; scalping three wickets, including the wicket of the dangerous Elliott who had got off to a flier with 38 runs off 32 balls; leaving the Lions in deep trouble at 55/5 in the 10th over. Astle was bowling in the zone scalping skipper Cairns, as his fourth victim to give the Champs the upper for the first time in the match.

Astle ended his four over spell with magical figures of 4/19. With five overs to go, the Lions were placed at 85/6 needing another 51 runs off 30 balls leaving the low scoring encounter wide open. A spirited seventh wicket partnership of 56 runs between Sarabjit Paul & Andrew Hall got the Lions backing the game. The last over saw the match placed preciously with the Lions, needing eight runs off 6 balls and two wickets in hand.

In the end the nail bitter saw the brilliant Sarabjit power the Lions home with a mighty six off the fourth ball of the last over. His unbeaten match winning innings of 41 runs off 22 balls included three fours & sixes.

Royal Bengal Tigers draw first blood, toppling Lahore Badshahs in season-2 opener

The 4th match part of the weekend double bonanza from the ICL stable, featured the revamped Royal Bengal Tigers take on the might of the formidable Lahore Badshahs at the LB stadium Hyderabad.

Pat Symcox in his pitch report predicted a sporting track conducive to stroke play along with some fair assistance for both pacers as well as spinners. In the end it was the Tigers all the way who converted their legendary spirit into a comprehensive performance beating the Lahore Badshahs by a big margin of 8 wickets. Hamish Marshall was declared Man of the Match.

Inzamam won the toss and elected to bat. The Badshahs opened with their formidable combination of the two Imrans', Farhat & Nazir who got off to a steady start; placed at 22 for no loss at the end of the first three overs. Some tight bowling, assisted by some sharp bowling resulted in a mix-up in the middle, resulting in Nazir falling short of his crease to give the Tigers the first breakthrough in the 5th over at the Badshahs score of 28.

Marshaled by the combative McMillan, the Tigers in their new smart outfit were lighting up the field with some tight bowling and sharp fielding keeping a tight leash on the Badshahs at 44/1 at the end of the 8th over.

The 11th over saw a bowing change in the form of the experienced leggie Upul Chandana, who got the second breakthrough packing back debutant Mughal cheaply for eight. This set the stage for skipper Inzamam, looking in a dangerous mood scoring nineteen off just eleven balls before the wily old fox Chandana struck a blow, getting him to nick one to Deep Dasgupta who took a sharp catch to see the back of the great man in the crucial 14th phase.

Chandana was working up a great spell sending back Farhat & Azhar Mahmood in quick succession to end with brilliant figures of 4/21 in his allotted four overs. The spirited Tigers were all over the field not allowing any space to the formidable Badshahs batting. McMillan also showcased his sides bowling prowess using six frontline bowlers; restricting the mighty Badshahs to a partly 139/6 in their allotted 20 overs.

The Tigers chase opened in the form of new recruit Hamish Marshall accompanying the experienced Deep Dasgupta. They got the Tigers off to a good start and at the end of the third over, the Tigers were right on target at 25 for no loss. Both batsmen made most of the second chances given by some lackluster Badshahs fielding, playing some sensible strokes to take the score to 42 at the five over mark.

The Tigers fifty came about in the sixth over with some flawless batting from both the openers. It finally took the wily Saqlain to break the 52run partnership with the wicket of Dasgupta in the 7th over. Jhunjhunwala looked all at sea against the legendary Saqlian and turned out to be his second victim leaving the Tigers in a bit of a bother at 55/2 at the end of the 7th over. This brought skipper McMillan to the middle, who got into the act right away steadying the ship with the in form Marshall powering a match winning 85 run partnership for the third wicket.

In the end The Tigers romped home to a big win by 8 wickets and over two overs to spare. Marshall came up with a top class 76 runs off 56 balls that included nine fours & 2 sixes, which was the highest individual score at ICL season-2.

Giants win 'Pendulum-swinging' encounter against Ahmedabad Rockets

Delhi Giants won the match by 13 runs

Paul Nixon was declared Man of the Match

The 3rd match of the ICL 20s Indian Championship featured the resurgent Ahmedabad Rockets take on the Marvan Atapattu led Delhi Giants, representing the capital territory region, at LB stadium Hyderabad. In the end, the highly engrossing encounter that swung both ways throughout the duration of the match, saw the Giants scamper home by 13 runs. Paul Nixon was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant knock of 43.

Earlier in the day, Damien Martyn won the toss and elected to field looking to chase a target with his new beefed up batting line-up strengthened by the induction of their new dashing recruit Ryan Campbell. The Giants got off their season two campaigns with their left right opening combination of Gunawardene & Dale Benkenstein. A maiden over from the legendary Gillespie was the right message sent by Rockets on their seriousness, as one the big sides at ICL Season-2. Some high class seam bowling from Gillespie, ably supported by Rakesh Patel at the other hand had the Giants on the back foot at 8 for no loss at the end of the first three overs.

The tight bowling was rewarded with the first breakthrough in form of Benkenstein's wicket in the 7th over off Heath Streak, at the Rockets score of 38. At the half way mark of their innings, Giants were still under the shackles of the Rockets bowling power placed at a modest 53/2. The Giants were depending on their dashing south-paw & batting anchor Abbas Ali who took up the repair job taking the Giants score to 87/2 in the 12th over. Just when Abbas was taking charge, Martyn introduced the experienced Sriram into the attack, who cut short his promising innings of 25 runs, trapping him in front of the stumps.

That set the stage for the brilliant Paul Nixon who got about the task right away in the company of Bali who played a crucial knock of 35 off 20 balls including one four and three mighty sixes, before holding out to an attempted six off Gillespie in the 17th over. Nixon's stroke filled innings of 43 that included four mighty sixes, followed by a late onslaught from Bond (12 runs off 4 balls); powered Delhi to a competitive 167/7 in their allotted 20 overs. For the Rockets Heath Streak was the most successful bowler returning with creditable figures of 3/23 in his allotted 4 overs.

The Rockets got off to a shaky start with the highly rated Campbell, sent back to the dugout by the impressive Giant's pacer Shalabh Srivastava, without troubling the scorers in the first over. The Rockets were soon in further trouble with Captain Martyn departing cheaply for four runs off eleven balls, with the scorecard reading 17/2 in the 4th over. The stage was set for Rockets' south paw Parviz Aziz, setting about a fight-back for his side in company of the highly rated Murray Goodwin. However, superstar Shane Bond got the Giants the upper hand, scalping Goodwin ending the promising 40 run partnership for the third wicket in the ninth over.

With 10 overs to go, the Rockets faced a stiff task needing another 106 runs off 60 balls at a humongous required run rate of 10.60. The Rockets chase received another major jolt when JP Yadav castled the dangerous Aziz for a well made 48 off 36 balls including seven fours and one six. A dropped chance by Benkenstein off Yadav, in the 14th over was all the luck that Sriram needed. This was followed by two mighty sixes by Sodhi off the bowling of the express Shane Bond & had the match wide open with Rockets needing 57 off the last five overs & six wickets in hand. In the end despite, a courageous fight back from the talented Sodhi, whose fighting knock of 51 that included two consecutive sixes off the last two balls saw the Rockets, fall short of the target by 13 runs!

Chennai Superstars' score comprehensive win getting Season-2 campaign off to a great start

Chennai Superstars win by 6 wickets

Syed Mohammed declared Man of the Match

Hyderabad: The second match of the ICL 20s Indian Championship, featured debutants Dhaka Warriors, take on the top ranked ICL side Chennai Superstars at the LB stadium Hyderabad. In the end, the Chennai Superstars with an all round disciplined & tactical performance proved their top five world rankings with a comprehensive 6 wicket victory. The match also proved the strong bench strength of the Chennai Superstars arsenal with them missing a lot of key players due to injury. J Syed Mohammed was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant spell of spin bowling.

Earlier in the evening Warriors' skipper Habib Ul Bashar won the toss and elected to bat, wanting to take advantage of the sporting wicket. The Warriors set about their campaign with the left–right formidable opening combination of Shahriar Nafees & Mohammad Nazimuddin. Three sparkling off side boundaries of the bat of the attacking Nafees had the Warriors placed at 16 for no loss at the end of the first 2 overs. Going for a shot too many had Nafees, sky a mistimed shot to Syed off the bowling of Jesuraj, for a quick fire 18 off 13 balls, including four hits to the boundary.


The extravagant stroke-play from the top order Warriors saw them off to a flier, placed at 54/1 in the first 5 overs; including seven boundaries & two sixes. Aftab Ahmed was living up to his coach's prophecy, dealing in big boundaries & scoring at a strike rate of two hundred percent. Some tight bowling from Superstars' premiere spinner Syed & medium pacer Vignesh put some breaks on the Warrior's batting juggernaut. At the half way mark of their innings the Warriors' were handsomely placed at 80/2.

Aftab's cameo came to an end due to the unsuccessful execution of the reverse sweep that saw him castled by the impressive Syed for a well made thirty. Just when the Warriors were taking charge of the match, the Superstars came back with a bang destroying the Warriors' middle order, reducing the Warriors to 89/5 in the 12th over, showing why they are today ranked amongst the top T20 sides of the world. Syed was working up a great spell of spin bowling, ending with an impressive figure of 1/12 in his allotted four overs. The Warriors never quite recovered from the middle order collapse & a fighting 21 from the young wicket keeper batsman Dhiman Ghosh saw the Warriors restricted to 142/6 in their allotted 20 overs.

The Superstars chase got off to a great start with the potent opening combination of Harvey & Vignesh getting off to an explosive start scoring 36 runs off the first two overs. The Superstars fifty came in only the third over off only seventeen balls, creating a record for the fastest fifty in the T20 format of the game; the dashing Vignesh going hammer & tongs after the left arm pacer Manjural Islam Rana.

It finally took an arm ball from the experienced Rafique to end to explosive partnership with Vignesh's wicket for a well made 25 off only 10 balls. A twin spin attack in form of Rafique & Mosharraf Hossain got the warriors back in the game with two quick wickets of Harvey and Jesuraj. At the half way mark of their innings, the Superstars were well placed towards reaching their target at 94/3. The Warriors never quite recovered from the deadly opening onslaught of Vignesh & Harvey. A composed 54 run partnership between the experienced Arnold & Hemanth Kumar saw the Superstars score a comprehensive 6 wicket victory, with two overs to spare.

Robust Rayudu powers Heroes to win over Badshahs in power interrupted match

Hyderabad Heroes defeat Lahore Badshahs by 18 runs (VJD method)

Ambati Rayudu declared Man of the Match for sparkling half century

Hyderabad: The first match of the ICL 20s Indian Championship, Season-2 featured the big match of defending champion Hyderabad Heroes take on the formidable Lahore Badshahs at the glittering ICL facility LB stadium, preceded by a high octane opening ceremony. The spectacular opening ceremony was graced by Shri.K R Suresh Reddy, Assembly Speaker, Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu, former Chief Minister-Andhra Pradesh, Shri Subhash Chandra-Chairman Zee & Essel Group and Kapil Dev-Chairman, Executive Board, Indian Cricket League (ICL).

In the end, in an anti climax resulting due to a massive power failure in Hyderabad resulted in the match being awarded to the Hyderabad Heroes, who won the match by 18 runs (VJD method). Local lad Ambati Rayudu won the Man of the Match for his sparkling half century.

Badshahs captain Inzamam, won the toss for the Badshahs & elected to field, wanting to take first advantage of the fresh pitch. The Badshahs struck early getting the dangerous Abdul Razzaq early in the second over, cheaply for 13 (7 balls) in the second over.

The experienced South paw Jimmy Maher took over the mantel of the innings and at the end of the 5th over took the Heroes' score to 40 /1. The prodigal Rayudu also got into the act showing his class with some breathtaking strokes.
Ambati Rayudu

Maher & Rayudu looked in great touch doing the basics right, of running hard between the wickets & percentage stroke-play, working up a good partnership for the Heroes. At the half way mark of their innings Heroes, were placed comfortable at 75 /1. Two big sixes of Saqlain's consecutive deliveries in the 12th over, from Hyderabad's favorite son Rayudu, saw the young quality-act get the first fifty of ICL season-2.

Rayudu was batting in the zone belting the experienced Badshahs bowlers all over the park. Inzamam brought on his premier pacer MD Sami in the 14th over who got the important breakthrough cutting short a brilliant Rayudu' innings of 58 runs off forty two balls ,including five sixes and one four. Quick wickets of Maher & the dangerous Kemp took some steam off the Heroes' innings in the 17th over. The half way mark of the match saw the Heroes set the Badshahs a competitive target of 160 runs.

The Badshahs reply got a setback before a start with a late- bowling penalty of six runs, revising their target to 166 runs. The Heroes struck early with Razzaq sending the explosive Farhat back in the Badshahs dug out in the first over without troubling the scorers. ICL debutant Shahid Yousuf, too had a disastrous start, packed back to the Badshahs' dugout on naught; off the bowling of the ever improving Stuart Binny.

Some tight bowling assisted by some sharp bowling saw the Heroes restrict the Badshahs at 20/2 at the end of 5 overs. An unfortunate power failure cast its shadow on the exciting encounter, resulting in a calculation of the interruption rule (VJD method), resulting in the match being awarded to the Badshahs.

Diwali dawns early in Hyderabad!

The ICL 'Opening Ceremony' was a sight to behold and an unforgettable experience which will surely be talked about for a long time to come. 'Diwali' is the Indian 'festival of lights and sound' which is celebrated by Indians across the country.

Although this vibrant and vivacious festival is a few weeks away, watching the 'Opening Ceremony' that announced the arrival of the second edition of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) gave one a feeling that Diwali had dawned early in Hyderabad. Gracing the opening ceremony were Shri.K R Suresh Reddy, Assembly Speaker, Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu, former Chief Minister-Andhra Pradesh, Shri Subhash Chandra-Chairman Zee & Essel Group and Kapil Dev-Chairman, Executive Board, Indian Cricket League (ICL). Actor Rohit Roy was the anchor for the ceremony.

With the first match to be played between ICL's popular teams, Hyderabad Heroes v/s Lahore Badshahs today, the atmosphere in the stadium was pulsating with energy. Over 1000 performers displayed their skills in what was an enthralling event encompassing acrobatics, aerial artistry, Shaolin kung-fu , trampoline daredevilry upon a heliosphere, and our very own brand of dancers and drummers.

The music was vibrant and every beat was perfectly synchronized by trained international and national artists in a choreographed extravaganza which was an amalgamation of lights, sound and a visual spectacle that was nothing short of sheer bliss to the senses.

Trampoline artists were roped in from Ukraine doing somersaults in such perfect harmony that it looked like they were puppets being controlled by unseen strings from above.

Aerialists from the United Stated climbed up to the roof of the stadium using nothing but a thin piece of cloth. These fragile and gifted women displayed the sensuousness of ice-skaters; only they were 20 feet from the ground with nothing but their many years of practice saving them from a deadly, if not fatal fall. Yet gracefully they enthralled as they always do.

Shaolin Monks from monasteries in China brought their brand of kung-fu to India reminiscing the era of Bruce Lee. Their physical endurance and apathy to pain was a sight to behold as they performed a choreographed set with props like swords, sticks and their very own bodies.

'Phoenix Productions', a group trained in 'playing with fire' took their art and craft and converted it into a scary yet visually aesthetic act that sure set the fireworks at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, quite literally.

With all these acts simultaneously vying for camera-time and a chance to enthrall our senses, a trampoline artist set off on a heliosphere which hovered around the stadium. The gifted female artist did flips, somersaults and acrobatics taking the ICL to a 'different height'.

And let's not forget our very own Indian performing artists from the Shiamak Davar Institute of the Performing Arts (SDIPA) – (aged 5 to 21) danced to the beat of Bollywood tunes and not one of them missed a step, count or footing. So professional were they that they single-handedly kept the audiences glued to the TV screens.

The drummers from the south of the country played violently and made the entire stadium come alive with the beat of their drums, announcing the ICL's arrival with fanfare and oomph. Over 100 of them beat their dholaks in an effort to breathe life into the ICL yet again and it was their pulsating rhythm that announced to the entire world that the ICL is here.

In this way, like Diwali, the whole world participated in the Opening Ceremony of the Indian Cricket League with performances and acts that will linger in the recesses of the mind for a long time to come with such and awe and splendor that's both unrivalled and unmatched, just like the brand of cricket it unveiled.

Starting today, October 10th to November 16th, the ICL 20s Indian Championship in Season 2 will see a total of 41 pulsating matches being played at four international standard stadiums in - Hyderabad, Panchkula, Gurgaon & Ahmedabad. A prize money corpus of Rs.13.72crore for 'ICL 20s Indian Championship' was announced recently.

ICL promises to make this Season 2 an unforgettable experience for TV viewers, spectators & cricket lovers across the globe. The 9 teams comprising of the newly added Dhaka Warriors will play against each other once in every city. In India, Zee Sports will telecast all matches live in Hindi, while Ten Sports will do the same in English.

ICL announces prize money corpus of Rs. 13.72crores for ‘ICL 20s Indian Championship’ Season-2

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) today announced the prize money corpus of Rs.13.72crore for its October 2008 edition of ‘ICL 20s Indian Championship’ at a press conference held in Hyderabad. The Winners of this tournament stand to gain Rs. 2crore; while the Runner-up will cash in Rs.1crore. The incentive for individual performance during the 41 match tournament will be an impressive Rs. 2 lakh for Man of the Match and a humongous Rs.40Lakh for the Man of the Series. Per match winning in the league stage will be Rs. 25lakh and the loosing semi-finalists will stand to win Rs. 50 Lakh.

Announcing the prize money, Kiran More, Executive Board Member, Indian Cricket League (ICL) said, “Monetary considerations are important for any professional cricketer and we are pleased to announce a prize money package right up there on par with international cricket. I am sure this will work as a major incentive for all our players & motivate them to give cent percent to their team and the viewing public every time they take the field.”

Bharat Reddy, Indian Cricket League (ICL) said, “As former professional Cricketers, we at the ICL executive board understand the financial prerequisites of our professional players. Along with our endeavor to provide our players with the best of facilities, support staff and training systems we have also consistently delivered a top of the drawer financial incentive scheme, right since the inception, making the Indian Cricket League as the most vibrant & lucrative platform for a professional cricketer.”

Starting October 10th to November 16th, the ICL Season 2 begins with a high octane Opening Ceremony on October 10, 2008 in Hyderabad at 7.00pm. The ICL 20s Indian Championship in Season 2 will see a total of 41 pulsating matches being played at four international standard stadiums in - Hyderabad, Panchkula, Gurgaon & Ahmedabad. ICL promises to make this Season 2 an unforgettable experience for TV viewers, spectators & cricket lovers across the globe. The 9 teams comprising of the newly added Dhaka Warriors will play against each other once in every city.

In India, Zee Sports will telecast all matches live in Hindi, while Ten Sports will do the same in English. Along with Zee Sports & Ten Sports, BTV & ATN Bangla will telecast matches in Bangladesh, Gateway in North Africa, Telkom-Malysia & Astro in Malaysia, Fox Sports in Australia, Zee Music in UK, Zee TV in Africa, Zee Sports in USA, Ten Sports in Pakistan & Middle East and Caribbean Media Corporation in West Indies and Caribbean Islands

Tigers hunt down Champs to score a four wicket victory

The penultimate round- robin match of the ICL 20-20 domestic tournament featured the resurgent Mumbai Champs take on the spirited Royal Bengal Tigers at the Lahari Resorts ground Hyderabad. In a match dominated by the bowlers, saw that Tigers scamper home to a four wicket victory, helped by a fighting lower middle order knock of 28 runs from the bat of Ali Hamid Zaidi. Zaidi’s knock won him the man of the match award.

Earlier in the day Jadhav won the toss and elected to bat. Quick dismissals of the in form Jadhav & Morris at the top of the innings saw the Champs in a bother at 2/30 in the 6th over. With the exception of Narsinha, none of the Champs batters contributed to the batting cause resulting in the Champs fold their innings at a paltry 116/6 in their allotted 20 overs. For the Tigers Tarafdar, Ahmid & Shibsagar scalped two wickets each.

The Tiger’s reply to the modest target started on a disastrous note, with pacer Burkul sending the experienced Deep Dasgupta back to the Tigers dug out in the 2nd over. Quick dismissal of Gavaskar, followed by the scalping of Jhunjhunwala & SG Das by prodigal Champs’ leggie Sridhar Iyer, had the Tigers in deep trouble at 5/63 in the 13th over.

However a fighting 27 run partnership between Zaidi & Mihir Diwakar paved way for the Tigers to scamper home on the penultimate ball of the match by four wickets.

Mumbai Champs, triumphant in "trans -metro" battle against Delhi Giants.

The nineteenth match in the ICL 20 -20 domestic tournament featured the highly anticipated trans- metro battle between the Mumbai Champs & the Delhi Giants. In the end it was the resurgent Mumbai side, marshaled by new skipper Dheeraj Jadhav that came out tops by a comprehensive margin of 32 runs. It was the tall 6foot 3 inch Champs' leg spinner Sridhar Iyer, engineering the victory with his sparkling 18 run ( off only 5 balls) & three wicket spell.

Earlier in the day Giants skipper JP Yadav won the toss and invited the Champs to take first strike. Champs lost their inform opener Morris early in the first over leaving the Mumbai side in a bit of a bother at 1/3 in the first over. However a sparkling knock of 54 runs from the talented Dheeraj Jadhav; coming into the tournament from a successful stint in the English domestic tournament saw the Champs come back right into the match.

Solid middle order contributions from Narsinha ( 20 runs ) & Khirid ( 28 runs ); followed by a late onslaught from Sridhar Iyer whose five ball innings delivered 18 runs including two fours & one six, helped the Champs set the Giants a competitive target of 158 runs.

In reply both the Giants openers (Bali 34 runs & Mishra 26runs) came up with solid contributions putting the Giants on target for the chase. However the quick dismissals of the Giants batting backbone, Abbas Ali & skipper JP Yadav created a lethal blow for the Giants chase. A quick polishing act by the towering leg spinner Iyer followed his brilliant batting cameo with a match winning spell of 3/5. This solid display helped Champs register their second straight win of the tournament by a comprehensive margin of 32 runs.

Lions maul Rockets by 5 wickets to move towards final spot

The Eighteenth match of the ICL 20 -20 domestic tournament featured the formidable Chandigarh Lions take on Ahmedabad Rockets at the Lahari resorts ground Hyderabad. In the end it was the Lions from Punjab who came out tops with a 5 wicket victory, keeping their chances of a berth in the finals alive. The star for the Lions was south paw TP Singh who scored a match winning fifty runs, including six boundaries & one six.

Earlier in the day Sriram won the toss and elected to bat on a good bating surface. A solid 59 run, opening wicket partnership between Dholpure & Sriram put the Rockets in the drivers’ seat. The successive fall of both the openers in the eight over; especially the run out of skipper Sriram put the Lions right back in contention.

The Rockets middle order saw both Sodhi (21 runs) & Jain (17 runs) get off to a start but their wickets in the 14th & 15ht over prevented the Rockets’ from taking advantage of a solid start. In the end the Rockets folded their innings at 133/8 in their allotted 20 overs.

The Lions chase was powered by a cracking half century from TP Singh who built a solid 44 run partnership for the second wicket in company of Gaurav Gupta. A solid skipper’s unbeaten knock of 34 runs by Dinesh Mongia, saw the Lions romp home to a five wicket victory, taking them to their fourth win of the tournament and frontrunners for a berth in the final.

Chennai Superstars Vs Hyderabad Heroes

The seventeenth match of the ICL 20 -20 domestic tournament featured favorites Chennai Superstars take on their arch rivals & hosts Hyderabad Heroes at the Lahari resorts ground Hyderabad. The much anticipated match between the two champion teams saw the Heroes emerge victorious by a comprehensive margin of 7 wickets, largely helped by a fine seam bowling performance from K Sahabuddin & PK Reddy.

Earlier in the day Sathish won the toss and elected to bat with a new opening combination of Hariesh & himself. It proved to be a fatal move with the impressive Sahabuddin picking up both the openers cheaply in his first spell. Reddy proved to be an able bowling partner following up the wickets of Badani & Sarvanan to leave the Superstars in serious trouble at 4/9 in the fourth over.

Quick wickets of Syed Mohammed, Naidu & Vasudevan had the Superstars all but buried and out at 7/41 in the 10th over.

A late repair act by Hemanth Kumar & Vignesh who came up with a 34 run partnership for the 8th wicket brought some respectability to the Chennai total. A fighting 22 from the bat of Kumaran; involved in a crucial 23 run partnership with Jesuraj for the last wicket saw the Superstars fold their innings at a dismal 123 for nine in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply the Heroes lost their in form opener Vinay Kumar early leaving the Heroes in a bit of a bother at 1/6 in the 2nd over.

A cracking half century from the bat of the prodigal Rayudu ably supported by Nag in a 44 run partnership for the second wicket put the Heroes in a commanding position. In the end a solid 22 from captain Binny, saw the Heroes romp home to a seven wicket victory, in turn causing the biggest upset of the tournament.

Mumbai Champs Vs Ahmedabad Rockets

The sixteenth match of the ICL 20- 20 domestic tournament featured the Ahmedabad Rockets take on the Mumbai Champs at the Lahari resorts ground Hyderabad. Champs led by opener Dheeraj Jadhav registered their first win of the tournament, beating the Rockets by 13 runs.

Earlier in the day S.Sriram won the toss and elected to field. For the Champs their inform openers Paul & Morris got off to a good start scoring 43 runs for the first wicket. Morris who has emerged as the most successful batsman for the Champs in this tournament fired a match winning 69 off 62 balls including five fours & three mighty sixes, justifiably winning the man of the match award.

A solid 20, late in the innings from south-paw captain Dheeraj Jadhav saw the Champs set the Rockets a competitive target of 141 runs. The most successful bowler for the Rockets was rookie Kunal Lal who finished his spell at 2/27 in his allotted four overs.

The Rockets’ chase saw opener Sachin Dholpure get off to a good start scoring 28 off 20 balls , however the fall of his wicket in the fifth over gave the Champs the upper hand. With cheap dismissals of the other recognized Rockets batsmen, saw them in deep trouble at 88/6 in the 14th over. The chief architect of the Champs bowling performance was left arm spinner Avinash Yadav, picking up three important wickets in his allotted four overs.

The only other significant batting contribution from the Rockets’ line up came in the form of Pallav Vora’s fighting 20 off 15 balls.

In the end the Rockets feel short of the target by 13 runs helping the Champs register their first win of the tournament.

Hyderabad Heroes register first win of the tournament.

The Fourteenth match of the ICL 20-20 domestic Indian championship featured the Mumbai Champs take on hosts Hyderabad Heroes at the Lahari resorts ground Hyderabad. Both teams came into this match deprived of any wins in the tournament, preceding this match. In the end it was the Heroes who registered a comprehensive six wicket victory marshaled by a cracking half century from opener D. Vinay Kumar. Kumar was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant batting display. Kumar scored a quick-fire 66 off just 45 deliveries in a knock that included 6 boundaries and 2 hits over the fence.



Earlier in the day, Stuart Binny won the toss and put the Champs in to bat first. They got off to a rollicking start with their openers Morris(60) & Subhojit Paul (52), scoring the tournament’s first century partnership for the first wicket. However the departure of the openers’ post the fifteenth over saw the quick wickets of Powar & Khirid, putting breaks on the Champs’ batting juggernaut. A late onslaught from dashing south paw Dheeraj Jadhav (21 runs off 15 balls) saw the Champs set the Heroes a competitive target of 157.

In reply the Heroes got off to a good start with Vinay Kumar & P Shashank Nag taking the attack to the Champs’ bowling with a solid 75-run partnership for the opening wicket. Rock-hard, useful contributions from Captain Stuart Binny & prodigious Ambati Rayudu saw the Heroes emerge victorious by a comprehensive six wicket margin. The highlight of the Heroes win was the crackling half century from D. Vinay Kumar.

Lions roar to eight wicket win over Hyderabad Heroes.

The 13th match of the ICL 20-20 domestic tournament saw the Chandigarh Lions battle it out with hosts Hyderabad Heroes at the Lahari resorts ground Hyderabad. In the end it was the buoyant side from Punjab that registered its third victory of the tournament, comprehensively defeating a lackluster Heroes’ side by 8 wickets. Dinesh Mongia was declared man of the match for his solid 43 runs & one wicket contribution.

Earlier in the day Binny won the toss and elected to bat. Some sharp fielding from the Lions saw the Heroes struggle at 15/2 in the third over with both openers back in the dugout; falling short of their crease. The Heroes never quite recovered from the initial loss and with the exception of Rayudu’s 24 run knock; none of the other top order batsmen contributed to the Heroes’ batting cause. A late recovery from Sahabuddin & PS Niranjan (47 run partnership for the 6th wicket) saw the Heroes fold their innings at 126/7 in their allotted 20 overs.

The Lions chase was largely dominated by a solid sixty-six run partnership between the solid south-paw duo of Dinesh Mongia & TP Singh. In the end the Lions romped home to a comfortable eight wicket victory.

Chennai Superstars beat Rockets to make it four in a row.

The 12th match of the ICL 20-20 Domestic tournament featured the upcoming Ahmedabad Rockets take on heavyweights Chennai Superstars at the Lahari Resorts ground Hyderabad. Both sides came into their respective fourth match with contrasting fortunes: Superstars having registered a clean sweep in all their three league matches, on the other hand Rockets, had registered a solitary win in their three previous encounters.

In the end the superstars romped to their fourth straight win by a narrow margin of four wickets. R Jesuraj was declared man of the match for his stupendous seam bowling spell of 2/17.

Earlier in the day Superstars skipper Sathish won the toss and elected to field. His decision was justified by his opening fast bowler Jesuraj who scalped two wickets in his very first over leaving the Rockets innings in tatters at 2/5.

Captain Sriram & Anshu Jain got into the repair act with a fighting fifty-five run partnership taking the score to 60 in the 10th over. However the wicket of Sriram; castled by his Superstars counterpart Sathish broke the momentum of the Rockets’ batting. With no other significant contribution but for the exception of Sanjeev Martin (28 runs off 28 balls); saw the Rockets fold their innings at a modest 116/6 in their allotted twenty overs. For the Rockets Anshu Jain top scored with 33 runs. The pick of the bowlers for the Superstars was their opening strike bowler Jesuraj who returned with impressive figures of 2/17 in his allotted 4overs.

Bipul Sharma spins Lions to a comprehensive victory.

The eleventh match featured the Chandigarh Lions take on the Royal Bengal Tigers at Lahari resorts ground Hyderabad which was a crucial encounter for both the sides. In the end the Lions scored a comprehensive six wicket victory over their Bengal opponents. The chief architect of the victory was the young left arm spinner Bipul Sharma, who bowled a brilliant spell of 4/8.


Earlier in the day the Tigers' skipper Dasgupta won the toss and elected to bat. The Tigers opened with their successful combination of Dasgupta & Kumar, who put up a solid partnership of 43 for the first wicket. However the fall of Dasgupta in the fifth over put brakes on the Tiger's batting largely due to a destructive spell from Bipul Sharma who gulped the Tigers' middle order with an inspired spell of 4/8 in his three overs. The Tigers never quite recovered from this
jolt and folded their innings at a modest 120 runs.


The Lions successful chase was scripted by opener Chetan Sharma who scored a furious half century & ably supported by T.P Singh. In the end, the Lions marched home to victory by 6 wickets.

Hemant Kumar maintains Chennai Superstars’ supremacy in clash of the Titans.

The 10th match of the ICL 20-20 domestic tournament featured the clash of the domestic heavyweights. The crowds got to see Chennai Superstars & Delhi Giants take on each other at the Lahari Resorts ground- Hyderabad. Both teams came into this match with an unbeaten record .The match was previewed by experts as the best encounter at the round robin stage.

In the end it was the boys from South India, who came up at the top in the great “North VS South” clash between the two domestic titans on the ICL platform. The win was powered by a solid opening partnership of 91 runs between Vignesh & Hemant Kumar resulting in the Superstars maintaining an edge over their arch north Indian rivals. Hemant Kumar was declared man of the match for his superb knock of 80 runs of 48balls, including 10 fours & 3 sixes.

Earlier in the day Giants’ skipper Yadav won the toss and put the Superstars in to bat. Superstars opened guard with their potent combination of Vignesh & Kumar who set the tempo with some daring stroke-play. Their superb 91 run partnership (highest opening stand partnership in the tournament), had the Superstars dictate the pattern of play right from the start of the innings. It was Hemant Kumar & his brilliant innings all the way which helped the Chennai side score 167/ 7 in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply none of the top three Giants’ batsmen got going and were restricted primarily due to a superb bowling spell from Superstars’ pacer Jesuraj, who returned with a match winning spell of 3/10 in his allotted 4 over spell. The Giants’ cause received a further bolt with the quick dismissals of their dependable middle order duo Abbas Ali & JP Yadav. The only significant contributions from the Giants’ stable came from the bats of Dhruv Mahajan 27 (26balls) and a late onslaught from Abid Nabi 41 (15 balls; including 1 four & 5 sixes).

In the end the Giants chase fell short of the target by 24 runs; taking the Superstars to the top of the table with three wins from the same number of matches.

Royal Bengal Tigers’ clinical display destroys Rockets’ citadel.

The ninth match of the ICL 20-20 World Series featured the newly formed Ahmedabad Rockets take on the formidable Royal Bengal Tigers at the Lahari resorts ground-Hyderabad. A clinical display saw the Tigers score a comprehensive 72 runs victory largely assisted by the clinical batting display from their top 3 batsmen; especially a splendid match winning batting display of 79 runs from Rajiv Kumar.

Earlier in the day S.Sriram, won the toss and put the Tigers’ in to bat.

The Tigers opened with a new combination of Rajeev Kumar (promoted up the order owing to his great form that he has carried from a very successful English summer) & Captain Deep Dasgupta. The duo added a solid 41 run partnership before Dasgupta departed for a well made 22. This was an ideal setting for the prodigious Abhishek Jhunjhunwala to display his talent.

It was a perfect batting display from the top three Tigers’ batsmen (Kumar 79, Jhunjhunwala 64, Dasgupta 22), helping them register the highest total of the tournament. The Tigers’ innings finally folded at an impressive 193/4 in their allotted 20 overs.

It was a difficult task for the Rockets right from the beginning and their cause was also, not helped by the loss of wickets at regular intervals. With the exception of Sachin Dholpure; none of the Rockets batsmen got going; resulting in a huge 72 run margin defeat. The Tigers’ captain also showcased the bowling prowess of the team by employing 8 bowlers in the match. With this big win the Tigers are right back in contention and have announced their comeback with a strong all-round performance.

Dinesh Mongia’s roaring performance helps Chandigarh Lions register first win

The seventh match of the ICL 20-20 domestic tournament featured the Mumbai Champs take on Chandigarh Lions at the picturesque Jain international residential school ground. It was an important match for both sides; having lost their respective first encounters in the tournament.

In the end it was the superb all round skills (both bat & ball) from Lions’ skipper Dinesh Mongia, which sealed the match in favor of the Chandigarh Lions. Mongia was also adjudged the man of the match for his stupendous performance, which included two wickets and a match winning innings of 72.


Champs skipper Kiran Powar, won the toss and elected to bat. They opened with a new combination of Morris-Paul who got the Champs off to a steady start adding 34 runs for the first wicket. Quick wickets of Patil, Powar & Jadhav put the blocks on the Mumbai batting not resulting in any momentum. A late onslaught from all-rounder Khirid 26 runs (14 balls) helped Champs fold their innings at 135 /7 in their allotted 20 overs.

The mainstay of the Champs batting was opener Robin Morris who scored a disciplined 46. For the Lions it was Uniyal, Mongia & Luv Ablish who ended with two wickets each.


In reply the Lions got off to a shaky start with both their openers Manish & Chetan back in the Lions dugout by the end of the 4th over. Lions’ batting mainstay TP Singh, was looking in ominous touch scoring 23 off only 15 balls before he was castled by the emerging pace talent Suyash Burkul. Lions’ skipper Dinesh Mongia however had other plans and played a match winning, unbeaten knock of 72 runs (40balls; including 9 fours & 2sixes). The only Mumbai bowler to have any impression on the Lions was Burkul, who returned with impressive figures of 3/22 in his allotted 4 overs.

In the end, largely helped by the Mongia knock and able support of Sarabjeet Singh saw the Lions come out triumphs by 6 wickets & 2 overs to spare.

Rockets bombard Heroes citadel with 7 wicket shock victory.

The sixth match of the ICL 20-20 domestic tournament featured the home team Hyderabad Heroes take on the Ahmedabad Rockets at the Lahari resorts ground Hyderabad. It was an important match for both sides, having lost their respective openers at the tournament.

The Rockets scored a comprehensive 7 wicket victory over their formidable opponents, Hyderabad Heroes; in turn registering one of the biggest upsets on the ICL platform. The chief architect of the Rockets win was their young spinner Sumit Kalia who destroyed the Heroes middle order with figures of 3/16.



Binny won the toss for the Heroes and elected to bat. The Heroes opened with the combination Shashank Nag & Ibrahim Khaleel who added 34 runs for the first wicket. Nag was the first to depart, caught by Sriram off the bowling of Martin for 12.

Khaleel was soon joined by the prodigal Ambati Rayudu to battle it out for the Heroes in the middle.

Both Khaleel (24 runs off 29 balls) & Rayudu (23 runs off 27 balls) failed to capitalize on their good starts, falling to the impressive spinner Sumit Kalia. The 21 year old spinner soon ripped his spinners into the famed Heroes batting-citadel, picking up the scalps of Khaleel, Rayudu & Anirudh Singh to leave the Hyderabad side reeling at 64/3 in the 12th over.

A valiant fight back by captain Stuart Binny (37 off 29 balls) proved insignificant, mainly due to the lack of support from any other Heroes’ batsman. The Heroes finally folded their innings at a modest 124/7 in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply The Rockets got off to a flier mainly due to a sparkling knock from Sachin Dholpure. The Dholpure- Vora combination put on 38 runs for the first wicket which was ended by PK Reddy who scalped Vora for 7in the 6th over. Dholpure played a solid knock, keeping the Rockets in hunt of their maiden win at the tournament. His promising knock (34 runs off 27 balls including 6 boundaries) was cut short by an unfortunate run out in the 11th over.

Significant contributions from Bhima Rao (28 runs off 22 balls) & S Sriram (27 runs off 19 balls) saw the Rockets storm home with three overs to spare.

“Superb Sathish” skippers Chennai Superstars on-track to topping T20 world rankings.

The fifth match of the ICL 20-20 domestic tournament was played in the picturesque setting of the Jain international residential school ground Bangalore and featured heavyweights Chennai Superstars taking on Chandigarh Lions.

The Superstars have generated a lot of interest especially with their present world rankings of No-5 (Batercard power rankings, by Green berry media UK) expected to improve on basis of a good performance at ICL season -2.

In the end the Superstars registered their second straight victory, beating the Chandigarh Lions by 5 wickets. For the Chennai side it was again their supremely talented skipper R Sathish, who played a match winning innings & in turn earning his second consecutive man of the match award.


The Superstars won the toss and put the Lions in, to take first guard. The Chandigarh side opened with the two Sharmas’ (Manish & Chetan). The openers got off to a steady start scoring 27 runs for the first wicket.

Disciplined bowling from the Superstars bowling arsenal kept a tight leash on the Chandigarh batting line not allowing their innings to gain any momentum. Wickets at regular intervals too did not help the Lions batting cause and they were soon left reeling at 6/87 in the 16th over. The only significant contributions for the Lions came from Chetan Sharma 32 runs (28 balls) & Gaurav Gupta 29 (26 balls). A late onslaught from Amit Uniyal 21 runs (off only 11 balls) saw the Lions reach a modest 125 for nine in their allotted 20 overs.



In reply the Superstars got off to a quick start with both Vignesh & Hemanth Kumar getting off to brisk starts. However both the openers could not capitalize on their good starts and were scalped by the much improved, left arm pacer Amit Uniyal.

At the end of the fifth over, Superstars were comfortable placed at 50/1. However the unfortunate run out of Hemang Badani that cut short his promising innings of 19 (11balls) & quick wickets of Saravanan, Hariesh took the steam of the Superstars run chase.

However with Sathish (38 runs off 40 balls) anchoring one end and ably supported by the calm Syed Mohammad (19 runs off 17 balls) saw the Superstars romping home with one ball to spare.

Delhi Giants romp home to second straight victory at ICL 20 -20 Domestic Tournament.

The fourth match in the ICL 20-20 domestic tournament featured the Delhi Giants take on the resurgent Royal Bengal Tigers at the Lahari Resorts ground Hyderabad. Both teams went into their second match after scoring comprehensive wins in their opening matches.

In the end it was the Giants that scampered home with a five wicket victory with two balls to spare. JP Yadav won his second consecutive man of the match award for a solid 38 with the bat.

The Giants won the toss and elected to field to take advantage of the overcast conditions prevailing in Hyderabad. The Tigers received a jolt early in their innings when the experienced Deep Dasgupta was found short of his crease leaving the Tigers score reading 1-2 in the first over. The middle order tried to resurrect the Tigers’ innings with useful contributions from the experience Rohan Gavaskar (22 of 20 balls) & Rajeev Kumar (35 off 39 balls).

Disciplined bowling assisted by some sharp fielding, helped the Giants keep a tight leash on the Tigers scorecard. Rajiv Kumar held the innings well for the Tigers, showing glimpses of his purple patch; especially coming into the tournament after a successful stint in the English domestic competition.

Some big hitting from Mihir Diwakar in the death overs saw the Tigers reach a respectable 136/7 in their allotted 20 overs. For the Giants, it was their spin combination of Abhishek Sharma & wily Ali Murtaza who returned as the most successful bowlers with two scalps each.

In reply the Giants got off to a steady start scoring 30 odd runs off the first five overs. The promising partnership between Bali & Mishra was broken short by the impressive Pritam Das who scalped Mishra for a well made 18. Das looked impressive troubling most of the Giants batsmen and returned with impressive figures of 3/10 in his allotted 4 overs.

For the Giants it was again left to the impressive middle order combination of Abbas Ali (27 runs) & JP Yadav (38 runs) to come up with a match deciding 52 run partnership. Eklak Ahmid caused panic in the Giants dug out with two quick scalps of Abbas Ali & Dhruv Mahajan in the 18th over. However the cool head Yagnik & Sudhindra saw the Giants romp home with two balls to spare.

Delhi Giants diffuse Ahmedabad Rockets in rain interrupted encounter.

The third match of the ICL 20- 20 domestic tournament featured the Ahmedabad Rockets take on the formidable Delhi Giants at the ICL facility; Lahari Resorts Ground, Hyderabad. The rain interrupted match saw the application of the VJD (V Jayadevan) method for rain interruption. In the end Delhi Giants came out tops by 14runs. Giants’ all-rounder JP Yadav was declared man of the match for his attacking batting (22 runs off 21 balls; including 2 fours & a six) & disciplined bowling (0/17 in 4 overs) spell.

The Rockets won the toss and elected to bat on the freshly laid track. Left arm pacer Shalabh Srivastava (Delhi Giants), made full use of the helpful conditions sending back both the Rockets openers to the Ahmedabad dugout without troubling the scorers.

The Rockets were soon in further trouble when their batting mainstay S Sriram was foxed by the spin musketeer Ali Murtaza for 3. It was then left to the Rockets’ international stalwart Reetinder Singh Sodhi in company of Anshu Jain to resurrect the Rockets innings. Just when Sodhi’s stroke play was taking the game away from the Giants, the wily Murtaza struck again scalping Sodhi for a well made 43 (31 balls, including 7 fours & 1 six).

A handy 56 run partnership between Sanjeev Martin & Bhima Rao for the sixth wicket saw the Rockets set the Giants a target of 131 runs.

In reply the Giants got off to a confident start with both Bali & Mishra taking the total to 31 in the 4th over. Rockets struck back in the match through medium pacer Baburao Yadav, who scalped the prized wicket of Bali for 20.

Mishra did not last long (13runs) and was Baburao’s second victim of the match in the 6th over. It was then left to the experienced duo of JP Yadav & Abbas Ali to take forward the Giants chase. At the ends of the 11th over Giants, were comfortable placed at 78/2, with both Abbas & Yadav looking good at the crease.

It was at that point that the rain gods intervened, washing out the chances of any further play. The VJD method was applied to declare the Giants as winners by 14 runs.

Royal Bengal Tigers start with a win, upset Hyderabad Heroes in their opening tie.

The second game of the ICL 20-20 Domestic Tournament was played at the Lahari Resort, Hyderabad featuring the home team, Hyderabad Heroes, against a new look Royal Bengal Tigers. The Royal Bengal Tigers hit the right notes in their maiden game, recording a 42-run win. The Tigers put up a clinical performance with the bowlers backing the contribution of their middle order batsmen to fold the Heroes’ innings for 115 after setting a competitive 157.

Taking a cue from the first game that was played between Chennai Superstars and Mumbai Champs, the Hyderabad Heroes too, elected to field after winning the toss in order to extract some early juice. The Heroes’ got early breakthroughs dismissing opener Zaidi (6) and the highly talented Jhunjhunwala (1) inside the first five overs.

With two wickets down and the run-rate far below from being convincing, Bengal’s skipper Dasgupta and the experienced Rohan Gavaskar showed maturity as expected and steadily built a partnership. Deep Dasgupta departed in the ninth over for 20 and Gavaskar carried on with Rajiv Kumar (15) and SG Das (31). A late cameo by MS Diwakar helped Tigers cross 150. The right-hander changed the course quickly blasting 33 from just 18 balls with 1 four and three sixes before getting out on the penultimate ball to PK Reddy. The new ball bowlers for Hyderabad shared five wickets between them with Sahabuddin claiming 3-31 and Reddy taking 2-25.

The Hyderabad Heroes launched their chase well with both the openers getting good starts. However, Shahank Nag was the first one to depart off Eklak Ahmid’s bowling for 19. Ibrahim Khaleel than had a steady partnership with Ambati Rayudu before a run out by agile Jhunjhunwala brought an unexpected end to Rayudu’s (14) campaign. The picture started to look bleak as the Heroes kept losing wickets in quick succession. Unlike the Tigers, the home team’s middle order failed and six of their batsmen got out in single figures. PL Das picked two wickets in the final over to end Hyderabad Heroes’ campaign for 115. Eklak Amid bagged three wickets from four overs, while Ahmed and Das took two wickets apiece.

Chennai Superstars start ICL season -2 campaign, with a win over Mumbai Champs

The first match of the of the ICL 20-20 domestic tournament was played in the picturesque setting of the Jain international residential school ground Bangalore and featured heavyweights Chennai Superstars taking on Mumbai Champs. In the end it was the Chennai side that came up triumphs by 18runs, largely helped by a sparkling half century from captain R Sathish (58 off 46 balls; including 9 fours) & four Mumbai scalps by T Kumaran (4/28).

The Champs won the toss and elected to field, looking to take advantage of the virgin track. The Superstars got off to a disastrous start and were left reeling at 2/3 at the end of the second over. It was left to captain Sathish & dashing south paw Hemang Badani to resurrect the Superstars’ innings. Helped largely by the 76 run partnership of the two experienced campaigners; Superstars folded their innings at 143 /7 in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply, the Mumbai Champs lost wickets at regular intervals, largely wrecked by some disciplined bowling from Kumaran & Vignesh. The only significant contributions for the Champs came from their left hand opener Dheeraj Jadhav (36 runs off 36 balls) & a lower middle order fight back from Khirid & Paul (43 run partnership for the seventh wicket). In the end the Champs fell short of the modest target by 18 runs.

India set up dream final

India beat Australia by 15 runs in a memorable floodlit match in Durban to take their place in the final of the ICC World Twenty20, against Pakistan.

The brilliant left-hander Yuvraj Singh hit 70 off just 30 balls as India won the toss and recovered spectacularly from a sluggish start to total 188-5.

Australia kept in touch through Matthew Hayden (62) and Andrew Symonds (43), despite Sree Santh's excellent 2-12.

But they crumbled when 30 were needed from the last three to end on 173-7.

India won the toss and had little hesitation in opting to bat first at a ground where they had played all but one of their previous matches.

But they were stifled initially, and had to make do with an unthreatening 41-2 after eight overs.

The momentum suddenly changed when Yuvraj, the hitter of six sixes in an over against England on Wednesday, pulled his second ball for another maximum.

He had missed the match against South Africa with a bout of tendinitis of the elbow, but looked in sensational form from the moment he deposited Stuart Clark into the crowd for the first of five sixes.

The dolly mixture bowling of Symonds was treated with thorough disdain by Yuvraj, and Robin Uthappa (34) who was accelerating smoothly after an awkward start.

One of Symonds' overs, the 11th, disappeared for 19 - and featured a six from Yuvraj that bounced about the roof of one of the tall stands at Kingsmead Park.

The 14th over, bowled by Mitchell Johnson, cost 21 as the two batsmen began to really embarrass the Aussies.

Reserve wicket-keeper Brad Haddin was forced to play without the gloves as Australia hunted for replacements to cover hamstring injuries to Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson.

And he flapped aimlessly at a chance at deep extra cover that would have ended Yuvraj's innings on 35.

Australia's sixth bowler, Michael Clarke, was the final man to suffer at the hands of Yuvraj, but also the one to claim his wicket when a big hit went straight to deep mid-wicket.

The big hits continued though, with the normally reliable Nathan Bracken being hit for sixes by Mahendra Dhoni (36) and Rohit Sharma in the 19th over.

Australia needed nine-and-a-half runs per over, and they started their innings with the right mixture of purpose and caution.

The fifth over, bowled by RP Singh, cost 17. But Santh, bowling quite beautifully, then made a horrible mess of Adam Gilchrist's stumps.

Back came Australia; Joginder Sharma's first over was caned for 18 as Hayden finally began to find his range.

Once Symonds also began to propel a few deliveries over the short Kingsmead boundaries, the game was nicely poised.

Virender Sehwag bowled one over, which was pummelled for 20, and Dhoni brought back his trump card, Santh.

The Kerala paceman did not let his skipper down, removing Hayden's off-stump.

Australia were still scoring the 10 runs an over they needed though, and keeping enough wickets in hand, until the crucial 18th over.

But Harbhajan Singh knocked back Symonds' off-stump in an over costing just three, while another tight over from RP Singh left 22 needed off the last.

Australia's remaining batsmen were suddenly rendered powerless and it was India, to the delight of thousands of their fans in the stadium, who emerged victorious.

Pakistan canter past New Zealand

Imran Nazir helped Pakistan book their place in the Twenty20 World Cup final after an easy six-wicket victory over New Zealand at Newlands in Cape Town.

The Kiwis, having won the toss and elected to bat, made a below-par 143 as they failed to live with an incisive Pakistan attack of whom Umar Gul was the pick with three wickets for 15 runs.

And they were given a lesson in Twenty20 batting as Pakistan strode past their target with Imran Nazir's 59 off 41 balls proving decisive.

New Zealand were as surprised as anyone to be in the semi-finals having been given passage to the last four by South Africa's shock capitulation against India.

Rain interrupted the New Zealand innings briefly with the Kiwis making steady if unremarkable progress.

But Pakistan made the breakthrough in the eighth over when Faward Alam claimed Lou Vincent's wicket with a brilliant return catch.

Vincent had made 28 off 28 balls and he was followed in by fellow opener Brendon McCullum who was 26 off 27 when he was trapped lbw by Shahid Afridi.

The momentum was with Pakistan as Scott Styris (18) and Peter Fulton (10) failed to impress before falling to Umar Gul to leave New Zealand 85 for three and struggling.

The next four wickets fell for 20 runs with Daniel Vettori's trip to the middle the most futile as he was run out before facing a ball having sacrificed himself following a shambolic mix-up with Ross Taylor.

Shane Bond was then run out on 126 after more confusion with Taylor.

And, although he swung freely in the final over as he hit Mohammad Asif four, six, four and finished his innings on 37, Taylor did not redeem himself.

Mohammad Hafeez hit Bond for four off the first ball of the reply as Pakistan started quickly, reaching 19 in two overs.

Hafeez brought up Pakistan's 50 in the sixth over, lifting a six back over Mark Gillespie's head.

But he was claimed lbw by Scott Styris two overs later, having made 32 and a total of 60 for the first wicket in partnership with Imran Nazir.

Nazir brought up his own half-century with a six off Jacob Oram and he made 59 before he was trapped lbw by Jeetan Patel with Pakistan on 104 for three.

New Zealand then looked like making a game of it when Younus Khan feathered a thin edge off Vettori and was caught by McCullum.

And, when Shahid Afridi (six) was caught by Fulton off Bond, Pakistan were suddenly vulnerable at 111 for four after 14 overs.

But Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq revived the Pakistan challenge and the captain hit the winning runs in the penultimate over with a majestic six off Patel.

India to hot to handle for shocked Proteas

A pumped up India, inspired by a brilliant four-wicket performance from seamer RP Singh, scored a sensational 37-run win over South Africa at Kingsmead on Thursday night to shock a nation.

India booked a World Twenty20 semi against Australia and knocked hosts South Africa out with a 37-run win.

They were reeling on 61-4 but Rohit Sharma (50no) and skipper Mahendra Dhoni (45) shared 84 to help them post 153-5 in bowler-friendly conditions.

RP Singh (4-13) then helped reduce the hosts to 31-5 before Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel both hit 36 to share 69.

But they folded well short of the 126 they needed to progress and New Zealand face Pakistan in the other semi-final.

India's chances of going through were dealt a blow when Yuvraj Singh, who hit six sixes in an over against England, was ruled out with a forearm injury.

And they were then rocked on a pitch offering inconsistent bounce and movement, which reduced the openers to groping outside off-stump.

Gautam Gambhir's attempted heave off Shaun Pollock ballooned to mid-off, Karthik chipped to mid-wicket for a golden duck and it became three wickets in four balls when Virender Sehwag guided Makhaya Ntini behind.

Robin Uthappa carted Johan van der Wath over deep mid-wicket for a big six, but was dropped by Vernon Philander before mis-timing another big shot to Graeme Smith at mid-off.

The inexperienced Sharma initially overshadowed his illustrious skipper Dhoni and began the revival by taking advantage of poor work in the outfield to collect two fours in a row off Ntini.

The pair then hit Morne Morkel for 18, including a massive six over wide long-on from Dhoni, as the partnership went past 50.

After Dhoni was run out chasing a second, Sharma finished with a big six to reach 50 off the final ball.

India had the momentum, and they emphasised that in a torrid opening burst from Sree Santh and RP Singh.

Singh swung the ball back into Herschelle Gibbs to trap him plumb lbw with his first ball and skipper Smith flayed at one outside off-stump and was brilliantly caught by Karthik diving high to his left at slip.

Karthik then took over keeping duties from Dhoni, who appeared to have suffered a back problem in the first over, and both were leaping up with joy when Santh trapped AB de Villiers plumb lbw.

Just when things had calmed down, Boucher called Justin Kemp through for a quick single after dabbing the ball out on the off-side and Rohit Sharma brilliantly found the target with the latter short of the crease.

Amazingly, Pollock then played around one that Singh nipped back in next ball and his leg-stump was uprooted for a golden duck.

Morkel cracked Joginder Sharma and Irfan Pathan through the covers, while Boucher worked Harbhajan doosra through the leg-side and deftly guided him past short third man for three fours in a row, as the home side rallied.

The fifty partnerships came up off 47 balls - hardly the stuff of Twenty20 - but it was quite clear the Proteas had their sights set on scoring at least 126 even though Morkel hammered Joginder Sharma for a straight six.

However, Santh returned to bowl Boucher off an inside edge and Philander, who had endured a miserable time in the field, was beaten by a flighted Harbhajan doosra to be stumped.

That left the equation 20 off two overs for South Africa to stay in the competition and once RP Singh cleaned up their last hope Albie Morkel, the game was up.

It was asking too much for the last three batsmen to conjure up 17 in the final over and Harbhajan added some gloss to a sensational triumph by having Van der Wath stumped.

Gayle fireworks not enough for Westindies

Chris Gayle struck the first ever Twenty20 international century but it was not enough as Herschel Gibbs lead South Africa to victory by eight wickets.

Gayle blasted 10 sixes, another record, in a pulsating 117 from 57 balls.

Graeme Smith was hit painfully on the hand off the first ball as South Africa chased 206 but the Westindies missed three catches and leaked a record 23 wides.

Herschelle Gibbs, with a runner, fired 13 fours and two sixes in an epic 90 to seal victory with 14 balls remaining.

The bright lights and carnival atmosphere even affected the languid Gayle, who skipped out to the wicket like a prize fighter.

Gayle, freed from the pressure of captaincy, flicked Shaun Pollock over mid-wicket for the opening six in the third over and then dished out the punishment to Makhaya Ntini.

A lofted drive straight down the ground was followed next ball by a stupendous towering stroke that soared like a firework into the second tier at long-off.

Another extraordinary stroke brought him six more, leaning back he sliced it to third man and the altitude helped to just elude the boundary fielder.

It was that rare breed a quiet single that brought up his fifty from 26 balls and at the halfway stage it was 109-0.

The big shots continued amid the dancers in camouflage hot pants in the crowd, and having appeared to damage his arm with another whirling dervish follow through for six, he decided to flick one casually next ball - which went even further.

Smith, finding things difficult, edged in the 14th over but it brought in Marlon Samuels, who took all of one delivery to play himself in before swinging his second for six.

But it was all Gayle, and having sent the ball clean out of the massive Wanderers stadium, another breathtaking shot was bounced back off the players' tunnel.

The shell-shocked South African fielders were compelled to shake Gayle's hand when his incredible innings ended with a top-edge straight up in the 17th over.

Had it not been for Gayle, the hosts would have been firmly in the driving seat, with the other West Indies batsmen struggling to adapt, although skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan hit a six with one hand in the final over.

Beginning their quest to score in excess of 10 an over, the Proteas saw their captain floored by a hostile opening delivery from Daren Powell.

Smith bravely battled on but was clearly impaired and it benefited his team when he drove to cover.

With the score on 59-1 and Gibbs on 20, Dwayne Bravo juggled and spilled a crucial chance on the cover boundary.

Dwayne Smith conceded 20 from his opening over and the required rate dipped below 10 for the first time, but after Fidel Edwards came on for the ninth over and sent down the 14th wide, he ousted AB de Villiers who got a towering leading edge.

With 100 needed from the final 10 overs Gibbs was dropped on the boundary again by Shiv Chanderpaul and reached 100 from 50 balls with the powerful Kemp, who was badly missed in the outfield by Samuels.

Gibbs defied injury to display some superb clean hitting, sharing 120 with the powerful Justin Kemp (46) as the Windies were left to rue their lax display in the field and their failure to build on Gayle's outstanding innings.

Yuvraj smashes India to victory

Yuvraj Singh smashed six sixes off one Stuart Broad over to guide India to an important Super Eights victory over a shell shocked down and out England at Kingsmead.

Stuart Broad was hit for six sixes in an over as England's World Twenty20 bid ended with an 18-run defeat by India.

The young seamer was savaged in the 19th over by Yuvraj Singh, who made 58 off 16 balls, as India amassed 218-4.

South Africa's win over New Zealand had already eliminated England and, despite some brave hitting, they were always struggling to keep up with the rate.

The top five all got starts, with Vikram Solanki making 43 and Kevin Pietersen 39, as they ended on 200-6.

But this game will be remembered solely for the dramatic events in the final over of Broad's spell - which leaked 60 runs in four overs - as Yuvraj made the fastest fifty in international history, off 12 balls.

The ball disappeared with tremendous velocity over wide long-on, backward square-leg, extra-cover, backward point and mid-wicket while Broad and skipper Paul Collingwood played the role of startled rabbits.

It ultimately proved the difference between the teams - and yet there was no hint of the carnage to come when the openers cautiously went about garnering 23 in the first four overs.

They stepped on the gas to make more than double that in the next 24 balls as Gautam Gambhir (58) pulled Andrew Flintoff and Virender Sehwag (68) flogged Dimitri Mascarenhas over extra-cover for sixes.

England should have had a breakthrough when Sehwag sliced Collingwood to fine third man on 39, where Mascarenhas over-ran to miss the chance.

The right-hander profited by hammering over backward point for six and thrashing through the covers to reach 50 off 38 balls, while Gambhir got to his fifty off two fewer deliveries by punishing a Chris Tremlett full-toss.

Tremlett, who had come in for some severe punishment in his first appearance had two moments of joy when he knocked back Sehwag's leg-stump and cleaned up Robin Uthappa.

However, any suggestions that the innings might fizzle out were truly shattered by Yuvraj, who left England needing to hit the leather off just about everything from the start.

Solanki and Darren Maddy made decent enough progress, picking up sixes each before the latter was pouched at mid-on off Irfan Pathan.

Solanki was dropped at gully off Joginder Sharma and by the latter at square-leg off Sree Santh before eventually being snaffled at mid-off.

By the time England passed 100 in the 12th over, the required rate was 13.50.

Pietersen slapped Sharma a dozen rows back over mid-wicket and down the ground to give his team a glimmer of hope but only nine runs came in the next 12 balls.

And when Pietersen hammered a Harbhajan Singh full-toss back to the off-spinner, the rate was around a daunting 17 an over.

Collingwood swung defiantly to send Santh over mid-wicket and down to fine-leg for 10 in two balls before another thrash over mid-wicket made it 16 off the over.

Owais Shah pulled Sharma for six and four to join in the fun but he was snapped up at wide mid-on off RP Singh, who clean bowled Collingwood.

There was some humors at the end when England began the final over needing 36, and Luke Wright helped them get half of those before being brilliantly caught on the boundary by Harbhajan.

But, ultimately, they had no-one with Yuvraj's midas touch.

India win bowl out thriller

India won a dramtic bowl-out 3-0 to beat Pakistan and seal their place in the Super Eights after their Twenty20 World Cup Group D match ended in a thrilling tie.

Pakistan, who had already qualified, needed one to win off the last ball in Durban but Misbah-ul-Haq (53) was run out and the game went into a bowl-out.

India's first three all hit the stumps but Pakistan's top three all missed.

India were reeling after Mohammad Asif took 4-18 in a superb spell, but Robin Uthappa's 50 helped India to 141-9.

Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa all hit the leg-stump while Pakistan's Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi all missed.

Asif vindicated Pakistan's decision to put in their arch-rivals by holding a superb return catch to dismiss Gautam Gambhir for a duck off the match's third ball.

He bowled Virender Sehwag in his next over, had Yuvraj Singh caught at mid-on by captain Shoaib Malik in his third over and finished by bowling Dinesh Karthik in his final over.

Uthappa hit Yasir Arafat for two magnificent sixes to the delight of the India fans in the packed Kingsmead stands.

But Sohail Tanvir had Uthappa caught behind soon after to leave the onus on Dhoni.

Left-hander Irfan Pathan hit Shahid Afridi's spin on to the roof of the main stand and spanked another booming six off the next delivery, before Afridi bowled him for 20 off 15 balls in a three-ball spell which encapsulated all the excitement of Twenty20 cricket.

A third, brief rain delay interrupted the thrilling entertainment just as Dhoni seemed to be getting into his stride.

Afridi bowled Harbhajan Singh almost immediately after the resumption and Umar Gul dismissed dangerman Dhoni when the Indian captain mis-timed a slower delivery high into the floodlit sky.

Ajit Agarkar's 14 at the death helped India push up the total as they sought to ensure their run-rate remains high enough to eliminate Scotland - even if they lose.

RP Singh took out Imran Nazir's leg stump in his second over but Pakistan seemed intent on going for a quick victory to knock their arch-rivals out of the tournament.

Wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, promoted up the order, blasted a six and a four to set pulses racing.

But Salman Butt struggled to live up to the required rate and was caught by Dhoni off Agarkar for a sluggish 17 off 25 balls.

Yuvraj swooped to run out Akmal after a mix-up and Pathan bowled Younus, and all of a sudden India were scenting victory as Pakistan lost three wickets for three runs.

Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq put on 40 for the fifth wicket before Harbhajan Singh removed the skipper but not even the belligerent Afridi could rescue Pakistan.

Agarkar dropped Afridi from a towering straight whack but Dinesh Karthik held another high chance off a Harbhajan full toss to dismiss the big-hitter for seven.

Misbah blasted a big six and a four to leave Pakistan needing 29 from the final two overs.

Misbah and Yasir Arafat hit 17 off the penultimate over and only 12 were needed off the last six balls.

The Indian duo got the scores level but could not manage a run off the last ball as Sree Santh bowled a tight line and the bowler even managed to run Misbah out.

Inspired Zimbabwe humble world giant

Zimbabwe have caused one of the biggest upsets in cricket history by beating World Champions Australia by 5 wickets in a truly stunning match at Newlands in Cape Town.

The 50-over world champions could only manage 138-9, with Elton Chigumbura (3-20) and Gary Brent (2-19) backed up by energetic fielding and good catches.

Vusi Sibanda (23) began the reply well but wickets slowed the scoring before rain forced a delay in Cape Town.

Brendan Taylor kept cool to hit 60 off 45 balls and the penultimate ball went for four leg-byes to seal a famous win.

It provided an early and dramatic twist in Group B, which also features England, who can eliminate the world's best team by beating them on Friday.

Ricky Ponting's men will need to improve considerably after a well below-par performance which continued the rustiness they showed in the warm-up matches.

Ponting became the first skipper in the tournament so far to opt to bat and soon saw Matthew Hayden edge behind, while Adam Gilchrist mis-timed a pull to deep mid-wicket to give Chigumbura two early victims.

When Ponting heaved Brent down to third man, the Aussies were 19-3 and Sibanda struck another blow when he hit the target from point after Mike Hussey changed his mind over a quick single.

The first six arrived in the 14th over when Brad Hodge (35no) crashed Hamilton Masakadza over wide mid-on but two balls later the Australians were five down when Andrew Symonds (33) was stumped lunging forward to the medium-pacer.

Hodge, the leading run scorer in Twenty20 history, then launched Tawanda Mupariwa over the fence at deep mid-wicket for his second maximum and he remained their best hope of a challenging total.

But Brad Haddin was snaffled at long-on, while Brett Lee clobbered Tatenda Taibu through the off-side for a six and four before losing his off-stump.

Mitchell Johnson was sent packing by a stunning throw from keeper Brendan Taylor which hit the single stump he had to aim at and Nathan Bracken sliced Chigumbura to deep cover.

Sibanda pouched with aplomb and then launched a series off terrific drives, crashing Bracken and Lee through the covers before hammering Bracken down the ground.

Ponting cut a worried figure but he was relieved when Sibanda edged behind trying to flay the left-armer away.

Justice Chibhabha made a confident start by driving Clark firmly down the ground and helped Mitchell Johnson down to backward square-leg before pummelling the left-armer to the long-off boundary.

Taylor had been content to push the ball around for singles but he too got in on the act by cutting Clark as 50 was passed in the seventh over.

But Chibhabha got carried away and mis-timed another booming drive off Clark straight up in the air, Gilchrist pouncing, while Taibu edged Johnson behind to no doubt create palpitations in the Zimbabwean dressing room.

The boundaries dried up as the seamers started pitching the ball shorter and Matsikenyeri should have been run out by Hodge at one end and by the fielder backing up at the other.

With the rain coming down hard, the sense of drama was heightened when Matsikenyeri skied a catch off Clark to keeper Gilchrist and the seamer ended with excellent figures of 2-22.

When the umpires called a halt not long after the Aussies were firmly back in the game but boundaries started flowing on the resumption and Taylor cracked two big straight sixes off Hodge to bring the game back to the boil.

He got to his fifty off 38 balls and 23 were needed off the last three overs but clever bowling from Johnson and Lee denied the batsmen the room to clear the field.

Masakadza (27) was lbw trying to do that against Lee and 12 were required off the final over.

Taylor got an inside edge of the first ball from Bracken which evaded the fielder at deep backward square-leg and when the fifth delivery was speared down the leg-side by Bracken, it flicked off his pads to spark scenes of unbridled jubilation.

Scotland bow to Pakistan pressure

Four wickets each for Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul helped Pakistan to a comfortable 51-run win over Scotland in their World Twenty20 match in Durban.

The Scots performed well in the field to restrict Pakistan to 171 for nine from their 20 overs at Durban but the target proved beyond them.

Opener Fraser Watts hit an excellent 46 but a middle-order collapse, in which Shahid Afridi claimed four quick wickets, undermined their efforts.

Afridi finished with four for 19 while paceman Umar Gul took four for 25 including the wickets of Craig Wright and John Blain in successive balls.

Watts gave Scotland hope but he could not establish a significant partnership as the quality of Pakistan's attack shone through.

Gul removed captain Ryan Watson and Navdeep Poonia early on and when former England all-rounder Gavin Hamilton swept Afridi into Gul's hands in the deep, the Scots began to fold.

They slumped from 53 for three to 79 for seven in the space of four overs before Gul returned late on to bowl Wright and Blain and put Pakistan on the brink.

They were eventually finished off for 120 in the final over as Mohammad Asif bowled Majid Haq for 14.

Earlier, Younis Khan top-scored for Pakistan with 41 but the Scots applied pressure and took wickets at regular intervals to keep themselves in the game.

Wright shone with three wickets for 29 from his four overs, including that of dangerman Afridi.

Afridi came to the wicket with Pakistan limping at 81 for four in the 13th over and threatened to change the course of the innings as he slog-swept his first ball for six.

That over from Haq - which had begun with the wicket of captain Shoaib Malik - went for 23 with Afridi responsible for all but four of them.

But Afridi, having scored 22 from just six balls, was not to last long as he tamely clipped his next delivery to Haq at short fine leg.

Haq followed up to remove Younis soon after to leave Pakistan 116 for six.

Off-spinner Haq was the most expensive of the Scottish bowlers as he conceded 49 from his four overs but he cannily had Shoaib stumped by Colin Smith and then had Younis hole out to Watts.

Misbah-ul-Haq added 23 to get Pakistan up towards a more testing total.

Dewald Nel took two wickets late on to finish with two for 25 and bowled Yasir Arafat for 17 with the last ball of the innings.

Arafat had been caught the ball previously by

Hamilton but the all-rounder could not prevent himself from stepping over the boundary rope.

New Zealand thrash hapless Kenya

New Zealand blew away minnows Kenya for a record low total at Kingsmead to begin their World Twenty20 campaign with a crushing nine-wicket win.

The Kenyans, whose previous appearance in Durban was for the 2003 World Cup semi-final, never recovered from a whirlwind start and were eventually dismissed for a paltry 73.

Any chances of an early tournament shock were dispelled inside the first two overs as Kenya were reduced to one for four.

Fast bowlers Shane Bond and Mark Gillespie caused mayhem by moving the ball in the air and off the surface at pace, after New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss.

Each of the first four Kenyan batsmen fell for ducks and runs did not overtake wickets until deep into the fourth over.

Although Collins Obuya (18) and Thomas Odoyo (18) added some respectability with a stand of 36, the gulf in class saw Kenya shot out inside 17 overs.

Gillespie finished returned to clean up the tail and finished with four for seven, the best figures in the short lifespan of international 20-over matches.

The Black Caps cantered home inside eight overs with Lou Vincent, Brendon McCullum and Peter Fulton all hitting sixes to emphasize the difference in power between the sides.

It was a fine start to Vettori's career as full New Zealand captain, having taken over the Test leadership earlier in the day from Stephen Fleming.

Gayle fireworks not enough for Westindies

Chris Gayle struck the first ever Twenty20 international century but it was not enough as Herschel Gibbs lead South Africa to victory by eight wickets.

Gayle blasted 10 sixes, another record, in a pulsating 117 from 57 balls.

Graeme Smith was hit painfully on the hand off the first ball as South Africa chased 206 but the Westindies missed three catches and leaked a record 23 wides.

Herschelle Gibbs, with a runner, fired 13 fours and two sixes in an epic 90 to seal victory with 14 balls remaining.

The bright lights and carnival atmosphere even affected the languid Gayle, who skipped out to the wicket like a prize fighter.

Gayle, freed from the pressure of captaincy, flicked Shaun Pollock over mid-wicket for the opening six in the third over and then dished out the punishment to Makhaya Ntini.

A lofted drive straight down the ground was followed next ball by a stupendous towering stroke that soared like a firework into the second tier at long-off.

Another extraordinary stroke brought him six more, leaning back he sliced it to third man and the altitude helped to just elude the boundary fielder.

It was that rare breed a quiet single that brought up his fifty from 26 balls and at the halfway stage it was 109-0.

The big shots continued amid the dancers in camouflage hot pants in the crowd, and having appeared to damage his arm with another whirling dervish follow through for six, he decided to flick one casually next ball - which went even further.

Smith, finding things difficult, edged in the 14th over but it brought in Marlon Samuels, who took all of one delivery to play himself in before swinging his second for six.

But it was all Gayle, and having sent the ball clean out of the massive Wanderers stadium, another breathtaking shot was bounced back off the players' tunnel.

The shell-shocked South African fielders were compelled to shake Gayle's hand when his incredible innings ended with a top-edge straight up in the 17th over.

Had it not been for Gayle, the hosts would have been firmly in the driving seat, with the other West Indies batsmen struggling to adapt, although skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan hit a six with one hand in the final over.

Beginning their quest to score in excess of 10 an over, the Proteas saw their captain floored by a hostile opening delivery from Daren Powell.

Smith bravely battled on but was clearly impaired and it benefited his team when he drove to cover.

With the score on 59-1 and Gibbs on 20, Dwayne Bravo juggled and spilled a crucial chance on the cover boundary.

Dwayne Smith conceded 20 from his opening over and the required rate dipped below 10 for the first time, but after Fidel Edwards came on for the ninth over and sent down the 14th wide, he ousted AB de Villiers who got a towering leading edge.

With 100 needed from the final 10 overs Gibbs was dropped on the boundary again by Shiv Chanderpaul and reached 100 from 50 balls with the powerful Kemp, who was badly missed in the outfield by Samuels.

Gibbs defied injury to display some superb clean hitting, sharing 120 with the powerful Justin Kemp (46) as the Windies were left to rue their lax display in the field and their failure to build on Gayle's outstanding innings.