Royals confident against depleted Chennai

Jaipur, May 3: Now that the Chennai Super Kings have lost their aura of invincibility, a buoyant Shane Warne and his Rajasthan Royals teammates are optimistic of pulling off their fifth straight win when they host the MS Dhoni-led side in the Indian Premier League match in Jaipur on Sunday.

Having won all their previous matches, the Chennai side looked invulnerable till Friday night when Delhi Daredevils duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir tore them apart, much to the delight of the Rajasthan Royals.

Since their first match defeat against the Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals' graph has shot upwards and fresh from their win against Kolkata Knight Riders, Warne's men are ready to come hard on the depleted Chennai side.

"We don't want to be the fourth team in the semifinal. We are looking for fifth win and one more will place us comfortable. Then we would like to carry on for as many more wins as possible. Our aim is to remain at the top," said Darren Berry, coaching director of the Rajasthan Royals.

The hosts have the resources and strategy to realise their dreams and their strategy of surprising the opponents has paid rich dividends too. Asking Swapnil Asnodker to open the innings against Kolkata Knight Riders was such a ploy that paid off well.

South African Graeme Smith has added to the batting depth, while Shane Watson has proved to a fine investment. With Yousuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja lending excellent support, the hosts' batting looks compact.

The bowling department does not look bad either. Apart from Warne who has always been threat to every batsmen, pacers Watson, Munaf Patel, Sohail Tanveer and Sidhartha Trivedi have proved that they have the variations to keep batsmen guessing.

The support in bowling comes in shape of Pathan, Dinesh Salunkhe and Jadeja who have been used as surprise package by their shrewd skipper.

In fact, the going for Rajasthan Royals has been so smooth that the only England player in IPL and Twenty20 specialist Dimitri Mascarenhas could not be accommodated in the scheme of things despite the fact that he is rated very highly by former Hampshire team mate and skipper Warne.

On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings now need to bounce back after tasting their first defeat. They have been dented by departure of Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Jacob Oram even though Kiwi Stephen Fleming is expected to bolster their batting lineup, while Dhoni's mere presence is enough to intimidate the bowlers.

Their bowling attack boasts of names like Makhya Ntini and Muttiah Muralitharan and though they could not rein in the the Sehwag-Gambhir duo on Friday night, they would be eager to put behind the setback when they take to the field on Sunday.

Fit Tendulkar: Need of the hour for Mumbai Indians

Mumbai, May 3: Rampaging Delhi Daredevils, who have shot to the top of the table and are firing on all cylinders, take on the wobbly Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League clash at the D Y Patil Stadium on Sunday in hot and humid conditions.

The home team has sorely missed its captain and injured icon player Sachin Tendulkar in their first five matches and the none-too-encouraging news is the master batsman is still not feeling 100 per cent fit.

A lot hinges on Tendulkar's availability for the tie if Mumbai Indians are to stun the high-flying Delhi outfit captained by another icon player in the Twenty20 League, Virender Sehwag.

Tendulkar played his first match on Friday, albeit against a team made up of his own teammates, after more than a month and fielded for the whole of the opposition's 20-over innings and also batted.

He is to take a final call on whether he is fit to play the match only on Sunday and the hosts are hoping fervently he's available to play his first competitive game since turning our for India against South Africa in the first Test at Chennai in March-end.

In his absence, the team has struggled to put together decent totals on board and strike at opportune times to put the opposition under pressure. The end result is that Mumbai Indians, for which Reliance Industries had paid the highest auction amount among all eight teams, are currently placed seventh.

Only a marginally superior net run-rate is keeping them above cellar team Bangalore Royal Challengers. The batting has flopped by and large, shown by the fact that Robin Uthappa who is yet to make a half-century is the leading scorer for the team with 155 runs to his credit.

The coming to form of West Indian all rounder Dwayne Bravo in their previous tie at Kolkata could not have happened at a more opportune time for the beleaguered team's confidence.

But other top-notch international stars like Sanath Jayasuriya, bought for a little less than a million dollars, has flattered only to deceive at the top order. Stand-in captain Shaun Pollock, already retired from international cricket, has tried his level best without much success to keep the team going.

The booting out of the performing Harbhajan Singh from the tournament has left the team short on spin skills too and it has been left to the vastly experienced Jayasuriya to lead the slow bowling attack with his crafty left-arm spin.

With the youngsters in the team failing, barring the spunky all-rounder Abhishek Nair, the team has scored only one victory in five ties, against Kolkata Knight Riders, which should galvanise it to take on the well-balanced Delhi outfit.

Delhi, on the other hand, have their top-order functioning like a well-oiled machine with Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan all coming good.

They have a sound middle order too with the likes of Rajat Bhatia and Mithun Manhas, two stout-hearted performers in domestic cricket which has won Delhi the Ranji Trophy earlier this season, having enough power in their tanks to bail out the team if the top order fails to get going.

The joining of South African batsman A B de Villiers, who cracked a superb double hundred against India at Ahmedabad in the second Test won by the visitors last month, and Pakistan captain Shaoib Malik has added meat to the already strong batting line-up.

The pace attack is top-class with Australian great Glenn McGrath, a largely unwanted man at the auction despite his fabulous record in international cricket, and the highly talented Pakistani Mohammad Asif spearheading it to a nicety.

Added to this fabulous duo are Sri Lankan Farvez Maharoof, a genuine swing bowler, home grown left-arm bowler Pradeep Sangwan and Tamil Nadu's V Yomahesh, who add variety to the strong pace attack.

The only area where the team seems to be lacking is in slow bowling, especially after Daniel Vettori left the side for national duty, with Sehwag looking by far to be their best bet with his wily off spinners.

Another factor that could play a big role is the intense heat and humidity as the match is to be played from 4 pm, the first in Mumbai after two night games on April 20 and 27, against Bangalore and Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad.

All in all, Delhi Daredevils seem to be carrying too much firepower for the comfort of Mumbai Indians even in a Twenty20 clash and are firm favourites.

Yuvraj leads jittery Kings XI on the ramp

Chandigarh, May 3: They can wreck opponents with the ball or set a stadium alight with batting pyrotechnics but the Kings XI Punjab cricketers learnt that walking down the ramp and making a fashion statement is a different ball game altogether.

The boyish shyness and reluctance was more than evident when some of the players took to the ramp, organised by a leading fashion brand in the lawns of a city hotel in Chandigarh on Friday night.

Apart from captain Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shaun Marsh, Mahela Jayawardene and VRV Singh were among those who participated in the event.

The fashion show did not have a great beginning when a model fell down not realising the ramp had ended. After that other models walked the ramp showcasing the brand's spring summer collection 2008.

Later, with popular Punjabi numbers playing in the background, it was the turn of the cricketers to take the centrestage.

However, nervousness and reluctance was writ large on the faces of many and they even tried to seek shelter behind their captain.

Wearing a brown printed T-shirt and white trousers, Sarwan had to be pushed twice on to the ramp by Yuvraj and though VRV was himself terribly shy when his turn came, he also joined his skipper to push the West Indian batsman.

Sarwan had barely walked two steps when he came back and hid behind Yuvraj. Dressed in green shirt and a jeans, medium pacer VRV had barely walked half the ramp, which was already about half the size of a normal ramp, when he smiled at the audience down below and swiftly turned back to be in the comforting company of his teammates.

Wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene also did not look comfortable in walking down the ramp and was quick to beat a hasty retreat. Left-handed medium pacer Irfan Pathan may have participated in fashion shows earlier but he too did not look that confident and was eager to return to his the company of his teammates.

The saving grace for the Punjab team was their captain Yuvraj, dressed in light cargo pants and dark shirt, walked the ramp with grace and ease.

Unlike others, he did not find himself out of place. Shaun Marsh, Australian import in the team, also looked confident in his striped light-green shirt and walked the ramp with perfection.

Later, the cricketers greeted the audience in Punjabi and invited them to witness Saturday night's match at Mohali against Kolkata Knight Riders.

IPL can be an Olympic sport within a 10-yr span

Miami, May 3: England needs its version of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in place within two years or risks missing the boat, Texan billionaire Allen Stanford said on Thursday.

Stanford, who has offered a multi-million pounds investment proposal to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said he envisaged international teams playing alongside counties in the new competition.

"If I was doing this (alone) I would bring it in next year," he said in an interview.

"If the ECB do not get this programme in place by 2010 they have missed the boat. That is the latest they can possibly be."

ECB officials have dismissed suggestions the new competition, a response to the lucrative IPL which has attracted players from across the globe, will operate with city franchises rather than the traditional county teams.

The board are expected to announce details of their plans by the end of the month.

Stanford, who owns several companies in the Caribbean and already finances a Twenty20 event on the islands, said the ECB model could combine franchises and county sides.

"I think the county format gives you the best structure," he said. "It has been there a long time. It works, it is the basis it (the new league) builds from. Now (it is a question) whether you build on that county structure and take that into a city structure which may be on some people's minds from a commercial aspect. You might have say Kent v Liverpool or something like that and maybe create more rivalry."

Stanford said international teams may also play a role.

TV REVENUE

"Absolutely. That brings the crowds in, that makes it international, brings television revenue in, I think that is a given," he said.

While urging the ECB to move fast over the new league, he said he was pleased the board had not rushed in too quickly.

"English cricket sometimes works slower than the rest of the modern sports world does but sometimes that is good, as long as you don't move too slow," he said.

Stanford said the IPL had been created too quick and was sure Twenty20 was ready to go global.

"With the right money, organisation and goals in place it can be an Olympic sport within a 10-year span," he said.

"We want to be the dominant team sport in the world, we want to bring it to the U.S., take it into markets where it hasn't been before and take it back into markets like the UK. It is now in the modern era."

As part of his proposals to the ECB, Stanford has suggested a game between England and an all-star West Indies team in Antigua on Nov. 1 with a $20 million, winner-takes-all purse, an unprecedented prize in cricket.

Daredevils defeat Super Kings by 8 wkts

Chennai, May 2: Delhi Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag with a smashing 41-ball 71 cruised his team to hand Chennai Super Kings an eight wicket defeat and an end to the home team's unbeaten record in the IPL, here tonight.

With the other opener Gautam Gambhir contributing an entertaining 37-ball 50, the Daredevils eased to 172 for 2 with one over to spare after their opponents, who tasted their first defeat of the tournament, were restricted to 169 for six in their innings.

Sehwag and Gambhir shared a 115-run stand for the first wicket off 70 balls to take away the match from Super Kings and AB de Villiers (26 not out; 21 balls, 2x4) and Shikhar Dhawan (19 not out; 17 balls, 2x4) had nothing much to do.

Sehwag, who scored a Test triple century here against South Africa recently, enthralled the Chinnaswamy crowd with seven fours and four sixes and was adjudged man of the match.

When Sehwag was caught by Muttiah Muralitharan off Joginder Sharma in the 12th over, Daredevils were cruising along and when Gambhir too made his exit bowled by Manpreet Gony for 50 after hitting five fours and a six, the visitors needed less than six an over with eight wickets in hand.

Dhawan ended Daredevils' innings in style by hitting the winning runs a four to post their fourth win from five matches and bump Chennai Super Kings off the top of points table on net run rate though the two sides have equal eight points.

Gambhir was later handed over the orange cap for becoming the highest run getter of the tournament with 224 runs to his credit.

Earlier, Sivaramakrishnan Vidyut celebrated his first match of the IPL with 54 off 37 balls to steer Chennai Super Kings to a competitive 169 for six after his skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat.

Vidyut, who hit seven fours and one six in his 54, proved a perfect replacement for Australian Michael Hussey and his third wicket partnership of 57 runs with his skipper MS Dhoni was the highlight of the match.

With experienced Glen McGrath bowling a tidy line and length, the hosts began at a sedate pace with openers Parthiv Patel and Stephen Fleming not being able to play big shots.

But once Stephen Fleming was out cheaply for 13, clean-bowled by Yo Mahesh, Vidyut and Patel did not allow the Delhi bowlers to dominate and the duo shared a 43-run second wicket stand and raised their team's 50 in the seventh over.

After Patel was holed out to a good catch by Yo Mahesh at short third man off Sehwag after making 21 (20 balls; 3 fours), Dhoni, though not at his explosive best, maintained the brisk pace of scoring in company of Vidyut.

When Dhoni came in at the fall of Patel, Vidyut was batting on 25 but runs came in at a faster pace and the duo scored 50 runs in just 31 balls, sharing the spoils equally.

Vidyut reached his 50 off 31 balls but made his exit with the addition of another four runs as he came out to drive McGrath only to top-edge to Yo Mahesh at the cover area.

Soon, Dhoni, who was dropped by De Villiers at covers, walked back to the pavilion being caught at long off by Shoaib Malik off Mohd. Asif and Suresh Raina was ran out by Pradeep Sangwan before Albie Morkel did some fireworks scoring 28 off 16 balls to take the Chennai score to 169.

For the visitors, five bowlers -- McGrath, Sehwag, Asif, Yo Mahesh and Bhatia took one wicket each.