Sunday, October 12, 2008

Confusion over Lara's ICL status

Brian Lara's involvement with the ICL has been put in doubt after league officials said he was injured and "unlikely to play" for them, and the player said was "out of the ICL". Lara, who was in Mumbai, has left for Australia with the ICL second season now under way in Hyderabad.

"The fact that I'm going tomorrow to Australia means I won't be here for the ICL" Lara was quoted as saying in the Hindustan Times. "It means I am out of the ICL."

Himanshu Mody, the ICL's operational head, said Lara may never return to competitive cricket. He fractured his left arm during a Carib Beer Cup match in January and was ruled out of the second edition of the ICL earlier this year.

"Lara now has a permanent problem on his left shoulder and will never be able to play the game actively and, therefore, is unlikely to play for the ICL in future as well," Mody told Cricketnext.

Lara was the most high-profile signing when the league was launched at the end of 2007 and was named captain of the Mumbai Champs. However, he had a forgettable stint, managing 31 runs at an average of 6.20 as his side finished at the bottom of the table. He retired from international cricket after the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

Chennai coast to six-wicket win

G Vignesh and Ian Harvey starred in a comfortable six-wicket win for the Chennai Superstars. Set a target of 143 by Dhaka Warriors, both threatened to end the chase in a blink. They rattled up the team fifty in 2.5 overs, but the tempo slowed as both fell with the score on 61. Russel Arnold, the former Sri Lanka batsman, steadied the innings with Hemanth Kumar to ease Chennai home with two overs to spare.

Harvey started the assault with a charge down the pitch on the third ball of the innings against Manjural Islam. Tapash Baishya was pulled, cut, and lofted for three boundaries in the second over. The score read 26 after two overs when Vignesh joined in the carnage. He hit Manjural for four fours, the wagon-wheel swinging from point to square leg. The match seemed headed for an early finish before Mohammad Rafique terminated Vignesh's blitz with an arm ball. Dhaka then swooped in with two more quick wickets, including Harvey's. However, Arnold showed his experience to guide his team to the target.

Dhaka would have wished they had someone with Arnold's experience to lend their innings some solidity. They were sitting pretty at 78 for 1 from nine overs, with Aftab Ahmed and Nazimuddin moving along at a fair clip. Aftab, in particular, looked in fine nick, hitting Nantie Hayward for three fours in an over. Emboldened, he paddle-swept medium-pacer Vignesh for a cheeky six. But his own chutzpah got him in the end. He failed to connect with an attempted reverse-sweep against Syed Mohammad, and Vignesh cleaned up Nazimuddin to put Dhaka in a free-fall. Mohammad, a left-arm spinner, tightened the noose with a spell of 4-0-12-1 as wickets tumbled at the other end. Wicketkeeper Dhiman Ghosh ensured Dhaka got to a respectable total, but eventually, they couldn't defend it

Nixon powers Delhi to victory

Paul Nixon's 24-ball 43 proved the difference between the Delhi Giants and the Ahmedabad Rockets after he powered Delhi from 89 for 3 to a match-winning total. Reetinder Sodhi and Parvez Aziz threatened briefly in the chase but Delhi had enough firepower with the ball to arrest their momentum.

The game swung around in the 13th over with Nixon's entry. His start was typical: a reverse-sweep, a shot he deployed repeatedly during his stay. He used it against S Sriram to get a six and then slog-swept S Kalia over midwicket boundary. Jason Gillespie's full delivery was hit over deep midwicket, followed by another one over long-on.

For Ahmedabad, Aziz, the the 20-year old left-hand batsman from Assam, kept the fight going with boundaries; his best shot was a monster hit to the cow corner off the left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza. But Aziz was cleaned up by JP Yadav, 95 runs short of the target.

Sodhi played the seamers to his preferred on side and Sriram hit a couple of reverse-swept boundaries off Murtaza in a vain attempt to catch up with the required run-rate. It was Yadav again who terminated the promising 48-run partnership, leaving Sodhi with too much to do. Though Sodhi swung his bat around in the end and picked up a few boundaries, Delhi were always in control.

However, the cheekiest shot of the tournament came off his bat: he went down on his knees to paddle-scoop Shane Bond, who operated around 135kmph, right over the keeper's head for a stunning six.

Delhi may have left the arena laughing but their start wasn't all too auspicious. Gillespie, who bowled the only maiden over of the match, and Rakesh Patel applied the squeeze with the new ball before Heath Streak turned in a tidy spell. Avishka Gunawardene upped the tempo but was run out after a terrible mix-up with Abhinav Bali.

Bali, picked as the best under-22 player by the BCCI before they found out he had signed with the ICL, was confident in the middle and made amends for the run-out with a 48-run partnership with Syed Abbas Ali. He punctuated his singles with three sixes; a pull over midwicket being the highlight of his innings.

Ind v Aus 1st Test @ Bangalore: Day 4 Highlights Part 1

Ind v Aus 1st Test @ Bangalore: Day 4 Highlights Part 1