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Shane Jurgensen, the Bangladesh coach, wants most of his players to get accustomed to conditions in Australia and New Zealand well before the 2015 World Cup

Mohammad Isam10-Sep-2013Shane Jurgensen, the Bangladesh coach, wants most of his players to get accustomed to conditions in Australia and New Zealand well before the 2015 World Cup. He believes that players like Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal will be at their physical peak during the tournament, which would help the team try and make it to the second round.Apart from an A team tour to the region, Jurgensen would like groups of players to take part in training sessions and tournaments in his native country. Bangladesh last visited New Zealand in 2010 for one Test, three ODIs and a Twenty20 while their previous trip to Australia in 2008 had only three ODIs. They have never won in either country in 20 games.Bangladesh will play four matches in Australia and two in New Zealand in the 2015 World Cup. Jurgensen believes the conditions in those places won’t be too hard. “The boys will be more evolved, have more experience in the next 18 months,” Jurgensen told the Bengali newspaper . “Most of them will be 26-27 or 28. They will also be at their physical peak. The venues won’t be a big obstacle too. Wickets are good at the Gabba, in Canberra, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hamilton and Nelson.”We will try to send an A team to Australia, and send players to play different tournaments there. Tamim and Shakib can easily play in the Big Bash, while some can play club or grade cricket. We could send four or five pace bowlers to train in Queensland. We have former Bangladesh coach Stuart Law, who is now at the Centre of Excellence. We also have [trainer] Stuart Karpinnen and [academy head coach] Richard McInnes working here in Bangladesh, so we can work something out.”Jurgensen put particular significance on Bangladesh’s performance in global events like the 50-over World Cup, because it is in these tournaments that the world fully notices the country’s progress in the game. Apart from that, he would like to end his two-year stint with discernible improvement on the field as well as in the numbers.”Their improvement should be visible on the field, and in their rankings. I would like to see them rise in the ODI and Twenty20 rankings. Draw and win Tests and do well in global events. The cricketing world will see our improvement. So it is very important that we cross the group stages of the 2015 World Cup. I think we can.”The 37-year-old Jurgensen said he was a supporter of keeping things calm in the dressing room rather than flying off the handle after the team loses. “There’s already a lot of pressure in international cricket so I don’t want to be an angry headmaster and put more pressure on them. I have always wanted to create an environment or pass on the message to the guys that at least before, during and just after the match, there will be no anger in the dressing-room.”It is important that there is consistency in behaviour, similar to on-field consistency. I like to be tough with them for a reason, so that they realise it is not a personal attack.”Having been the head coach since November 2012, Jurgensen said the Bangladesh players have faith in him. He was handed a two-year deal earlier this year, having held a temporary position after Richard Pybus’ abrupt departure last year.”I think I have gained their trust. It is important to understand them, because sometimes they can have a bad mood, have a bad day. Maybe their morning hasn’t started too well or (they’ve) had some family problems. So the coach has to be a spy, a guru and sometimes a psychologist.”

Namibia won the T20 Quadrangular title, beating Kenya by five wickets in a last-ball finish

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-2013
ScorecardNamibia won the T20 Quadrangular title, beating Kenya by five wickets in a last-ball finish.Set a target of 188 to chase, Namibia raced to 68 in the eighth over, before a couple of quick wickets pegged them back. Opener Pikky Ya France guided the chase and once he departed, Craig Williams and captain Sarel Burger stepped up. With 15 runs needed in the last over, Burger hit a crucial six and took a few crucial runs with Nicolaas Schotlz as Namibia scored the winning runs off the last ball.Earlier, Kenya, who were put in to bat, had a strong start as the openers, Alex Obanda and Tanmay Mishra put on 73 in 8.3 overs. Mishra fell in the 16th over for a 53-ball 68 but a couple of quick knocks from Morris Ouma, Collins Obuya and Rakep Patel took Kenya to a strong 187 for 5.

New Zealand’s need to regroup after their Test defeat against England before the Champions Trophy has been made doubly difficult by the possibility that they will lose Trent Boult for the tournament because of injury

David Hopps at Headingley28-May-2013New Zealand’s need to regroup after their Test defeat against England before the Champions Trophy has been made doubly difficult by the possibility that they will lose Trent Boult for the tournament because of injury.Boult has carried the fight for New Zealand with 19 wickets at 25.47 in five Tests, home and away, against England, but his side strain is not responding to treatment and he will have a scan in London on Wednesday to assess the damage.”He’s not looking great,” New Zealand’s captain, Brendon McCullum, lamented. “He is still not moving that freely which is a shame because he’s been a revelation for us this season.”Until a fateful Sunday at Lord’s, New Zealand had pressed England all the way, but their capitulation for 68 in only 22.3 overs against Stuart Broad and James Anderson was an experience from which they never recovered.”Right up until that point our self-belief was very high and that ripped our hearts out and just started to create some self-doubt among us, which is a horrible thing in this game,” McCullum said. “That’s what unfolded in this Test. We still had periods where we dominated but they didn’t last long enough and the periods of England dominating seemed to last a lot longer.”We saw in this Test match England flexing their muscles and us not being able to respond. It’s incredibly disappointing. If you look back on the last five Test matches we’ve played some good cricket and taken some strides forward but it’s fair to say this one was a step backwards.”McCullum has seen enough to favour England in the Ashes later this summer. “England are red-hot favourites at home, their ability to swing the Dukes ball is huge,” he said. “Any team that plays at home is familiar with the surroundings.”There will be no overreaction to New Zealand’s batting failures if McCullum gets his way. He insisted that he retained faith in the potential of the group that, until the past ten days, had begun to promise a brighter Test future.”If you fast forward 18 months, we’ve got the makings of a very good cricket team,” he said. “I’m a big fan of protecting the people who have performed for a period of time and that’s what we’ve seen from this group of players. We’ve got the right mix and the right balance in this group and we need to keep improving as a team and smooth out some of our rough edges.”Brendon McCullum’s early dismissal helped England push on for victory on the final day•Getty ImagesHe dismissed suggestions that New Zealand, six down overnight, were caught on the hop when they did not bother with morning nets before the Test resumed under sullen Leeds skies. The forecast had left Leeds on the edge of a bank of heavy rain but it only suffered light drizzle and a delayed start and a couple of interruptions were not enough to halt England’s charge to victory.McCullum, one of the not-out batsmen overnight, fell early to a superb return catch by Stuart Broad, who dismissed him in all four innings in the series. After that, Tim Southee and Doug Bracewell chose to counterattack – Southee seems to know no other way – and then Neil Wagner and Boult sought to block. As rain was a constant threat, it seemed an idiosyncratic approach towards trying to save a Test.New Zealand’s emphasis now turns to the Champions Trophy. They have eight squad changes but the first player McCullum needs to consider when it comes to reintegration is himself. Having stepped in as wicketkeeper because of an injury to BJ Watling, he now has to decide whether to continue in the role or hand over the gloves to Luke Ronchi.”I’ve always said I’d never have any regrets through my career and that doesn’t change,” he said. “Obviously I wasn’t as fluent as I would like to be, like when I was 21, and I wasn’t able to contribute with the bat as much as I wanted, but it was a decision we made and I’ll stand by it. It didn’t affect my batting, I’d love to say it was an excuse for why I didn’t get runs but I can’t claim that.”The keeping role is something we need to talk about in the next 24 hours before we start to nail down the one-day team. It’s definitely up for discussion. Luke is definitely going to play as an opener. We need to work out what’s comfortable for both of us and the team.”

Waqar Younis, the former Pakistan fast bowler, captain and coach, will be joining Sunrisers Hyderabad as a bowling consultant for the 2013 IPL season

Nagraj Gollapudi08-Mar-2013Waqar Younis, the former Pakistan fast bowler, captain and coach, will be joining Sunrisers Hyderabad as a bowling consultant for the 2013 IPL season. Waqar will be the second Pakistani bowling coach in the IPL, following the footsteps of his former new-ball partner Wasim Akram, who has performed the same role with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders since 2010. Akram, though, has taken a break this season.Former Australia allrounder Tom Moody, who is the Sunrisers’ head coach, was active in hiring Waqar, who is based in Sydney. “Tom is a fine buddy since our playing days and he asked me if I could come and help and I accepted the offer,” Waqar told ESPNcricinfo. “I want to go and have a feel about it and how it works.”After he stepped down as Pakistan’s head coach in September 2011, Waqar coached Ruhuna Royals in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League last year. During his stint as Pakistan coach, Waqar was instrumental in leading Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies where they were silenced by Michael Hussey’s heroics late in the match.Waqar said the IPL job would be a good challenge. “I am going to go the way I go about things. It will be a good experience for me also to interact with a lot of fast bowlers.” And he has already set himself a goal: working closely with the Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma. “I am really excited to work with Ishant Sharma. He can be a better bowler than he is.”Dale Steyn, Clint McKay, Sudeep Tyagi are some of the other quick bowlers in the Sunrisers squad, who are bound to benefit from Waqar’s vast experience.”We hope Waqar’s experience and Steyn’s expertise will help our bowlers restrict the opposition batsmen’s charge and reduce the pressure on our batsmen,” a Sunrisers’ official said on Waqar’s appointment.Last October, the Sunrisers replaced Deccan Chargers in the IPL after the BCCI had terminated the contract with Deccan Chronicles Holdings Ltd (owners of the Chargers), due to a prolonged financial crisis. Sun TV network successfully bid for the franchise rights for 85.05 crores per year (approx $15.9m) for a five-year deal.Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad: Akshath Reddy, Amit Mishra, Anand Rajan, Ankit Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Biplab Samantray, Cameron White, Chris Lynn, Clint McKay, Dale Steyn, Darren Sammy, Dwaraka Ravi Teja, Hanuma Vihari, Ishant Sharma, JP Duminy (currently injured), Karan Sharma, Kumar Sangakkara, Nathan McCullum, Parthiv Patel, Quinton de Kock, Sachin Rana, Shikhar Dhawan, Sudeep Tyagi, Thalaivan Sargunam, Thisara Perera, Veer Pratap Singh.

Former Chelsea star Eden Hazard took a shot at Tottenham Hotspur as he claimed that the north London side are not better than the Blues this season.

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Hazard savagely trolled TottenhamAdmitted Liverpool and Man City are better than ChelseaThe Blues are 12 points behind SpursWHAT HAPPENED?

The Blues legend, while speaking to former colleague John Obi Mikel on his podcast, admitted that clubs like Manchester City and Liverpool are currently performing better than Chelsea but dismissed Tottenham Hotspur's name.

AdvertisementWHAT HAS BEEN SAID

Speaking on , Hazard said, "But the Premier League is so hard. You see now, I think, Manchester City, they are better than Chelsea. You see Liverpool, they are better than Chelsea."

Obi Mikel then briefly interrupted the Belgian to bring up Tottenham's name to which he mockingly replied, "No, no, Tottenham no. They play good football, yeah but you know Tottenham. As a Chelsea legend, you can't say that man."

The Nigerian then stated, "I'm not saying they gonna win the league though. For sure, they are not going to win the league."

Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Since Todd Boehly took the reins from Roman Abramovich ahead of the 2022/23 season, Chelsea have seen their performance go downhill. Despite spending close to £1 billion (€1.1 billion) to set up the squad, the Blues did not see much success in the past one and a half years. After finishing 12th in the 2022/23 campaign, they currently find themselves 10 in the Premier League, 12 points behind fifth-placed Tottenham.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA?

Mauricio Pochettino's side, who held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw in the last game week, will be next seen in action in the final of the Carabao Cup against Liverpool on Sunday.

A round of matches in the Faysal Bank T-20

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2012
ScorecardHaris Sohail scored a brisk half-century to give Sialkot Stallions a target their bowlers defended comfortably against Abbottabad Falcons. The 34-run win was Sialkot’s fourth success in five matches and they were second in Group A.Sialkot’s top order had stumbled – they were 69 for 3 in the 11th over – before Sohail made an unbeaten 62 off 43 balls to lead his team to 164. Sohail had a 79-run stand for the fourth wicket with his captain Shoaib Malik. Fast bowler Junaid Khan was Abbottabad’s best bowler, with figures of 3 for 22.Abbottabad overcame the early loss of Mir Azam to reach 79 for 1 in the 13th over but they failed to accelerate from that platform. They lost four wickets for 14 runs to slip to 110 for 6 and eventually ended on 130.
ScorecardMultan Tigers rose to the third spot in Group A with a 17-run win against Karachi Zebras in Lahore. Put in to bat, Multan lost opener Sohaib Maqsood in the second over, but made steady progress for the next seven overs as Zain Abbas and Gulraiz Sadaf scored 48 together. But Karachi’s Faraz Ahmed and Haaris Ayas picked up two wickets apiece to reduce Multan to 87 for 5 in the 15th over. It was then that Saeed Anwar Jr launched a counterattack, hitting 39 off 22 and sharing a 52-run stand with Kashif Naved to help the team finish on a high.Multan carried the momentum into their bowling, with Mohammad Irfan striking off the first ball of the innings. Two more wickets went down in the next two overs, pushing Karachi onto the back foot. Rahat Ali and Anwar Jr shared seven wickets between them to derail the chase and help Multan win comfortably in the end.
ScorecardBahawalpur Stags maintained their winning run with an 11-run win against Hyderabad Hawks, who are yet to register a victory. Bahawalpur were set back early after choosing to bat, but healthy contributions of 40, 34 and 37 from Ali Haider, Usman Tariq and Bilal Khilji ensured the team crossed the 150-run mark. Haider was the most aggressive – his 40 came off 26 balls with five fours and a six.In their chase, Hyderabad had made brisk progress to 44 when Ataullah struck in the sixth over to remove Sharjeel Khan. Other Bahawalpur bowlers soon joined in; they kept the scoring under tight control and picked up the wickets as the pressure got to the batsmen. Twenty-eight were required off the last two overs, but Kamran Hussain and Mohammad Talha both picked up two wickets each in the last two overs to seal the win.
ScorecardFaisalabad Wolves kept their unbeaten record intact with a narrow two-wicket win against Karachi Dolphins at the Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore. Chasing 148, Faisalabad were in danger of running out of batsmen when 19 were required off 16 balls and only two wickets were left. But Misbah-ul-Haq remained unbeaten on 72 and scored 17 out of 19 in the ninth-wicket partnership to help Faisalabad cross the line off the last delivery.Misbah took only 47 balls to score his runs and hit four boundaries and three sixes in the innings. He didn’t receive much support at the other end, 17 being the second highest score.Earlier, Karachi were cruising on 85 for 1 in the 12th over after a half-century stand between Khurram Manzoor and Khalid Latif. However, both batsmen were out in the space of three balls off Ehsan Adil’s bowling and that slowed down the charge. Adil picked up four wickets as Karachi were restricted to 147.
ScorecardA big-hitting century partnership between the Rawalpindi Rams openers helped their team to overhaul Lahore Eagles’ total with ease – they won by eight wickets with more than five overs to spare. Naved Malik and Awais Zia hit 11 sixes between them and put up 135 runs in 12.1 overs to make short work of the 156-run target. Malik scored 77 off 41 balls and Zia, 54 off 36, but both fell with the target in sight.Lahore Eagles had chosen to bat and with the help of contributions from everyone in the batting order, had scored 155. Yasir Arafat was the most successful bowler for Rawalpindi with 3 for 37.
ScorecardIn a clash that pitted the bottom-rung Group A teams against each other, Islamabad Leopards beat Quetta Bears by five wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium. This was Islamabad’s first win in five matches, while Quetta remained winless after the same number of games.Islamabad chose to bowl, and the decision paid off straightaway as seamer Iftikhar Anjum struck in each of his first three overs to leave Quetta reeling at 17 for 3 in the sixth. Apart from getting the wickets, Iftikhar kept a tight leash on the scoring, having conceding only 2.75 runs per over by the end of his spell. The other bowlers too kept things tight for the most part, and struck with regularity to restrict Quetta to 111 for 7.The chase was off to a poor start too, as Islamabad lost opener Shan Masood for a golden duck and No. 3 Moed Ahmed for 1, but the rest of the top and middle order produced cameos and that was enough to propel their team past their meagre target with nine balls to spare.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has offered annual contracts to 105 first-class cricketers in addition to the 15 national cricketers

Mohammad Isam28-Aug-2012The Bangladesh Cricket Board has, for the first time, offered central contracts to 105 players from outside the national team, taking a major step towards decentralisation of the game from its present Dhaka-centric structure. The decision is aimed at increasing competition in the NCL, long called a “picnic tournament” because of the lack of seriousness among players preferring the Dhaka club circuit.The list includes cricketers from each of the eight designated regions of the country – Barisal, Khulna, Rajshahi, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rangpur, Dhaka and Dhaka Metropolis – that take part in the NCL.Cricketers with more than 11 years of first-class experience will be paid Tk 25,000 (approx $300) per month under Catergory A. Players with 6-10 years of experience will receive Tk 20,000 (approx $240) per month in Category B and Tk 15,000 (approx $180) per month in Category C for players who have played for 1-5 years.The 2012-13 domestic season will begin in the second week of October, but the contracts will be effective on January 1, 2013. These salaries will be in addition to the match fees that the players will continue to receive.The BCB chief AHM Mustafa Kamal made the announcement at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur during a function attended by BCB directors, national selectors and some first-class players, who were handed the contracts.”This is just the beginning. We have given the players the contracts and soon we will be able to put in place the infrastructure across the country,” Kamal told ESPNcricinfo.Hannan Sarkar, who has played 17 Tests, 20 ODIs and 92 first-class games, spoke on behalf of the players and talked about the need for such a system.”We have waited a long time for such an initiative. We always wanted to be under the BCB’s contracts. We thank them on behalf of the players,” Sarkar said. “Every player now will want to be under the BCB’s contract. This is a big recognition for a professional cricketer. The competition that I felt as a salaried national cricketer will be replicated at the first-class level.””This is the start of a journey, so for those who are going to be enrolled in the future, it will be much better for them. And I also think the careers will be longer from now on,” he said.Former national captain Habibul Bashar, who is now a national selector, underlined the importance of this contract to the players. “From my personal experience, I have often seen that it is hard to motivate players in first-class cricket. We have talked about the lack of professionalism in this format, but from now on, I hope this question will never arise,” Bashar said.”The standard will be higher because everyone will be serious from this point onwards. I think this step will take Bangladesh cricket a long way ahead,” he said.First-class cricket began in Bangladesh in 1999 with the six divisional sides taking part in the NCL, which is now in its thirteenth season, and it is the only first-class competition in the country.List of cricketersCategory A (playing experience of 11 years and above): Tk 25,000 ($300) per month.Category B (playing experience between 6-10 years): Tk 20,000 ($ 240) per month.Category C (playing experience between 1-5 years): Tk 15,000 ($180) per month.Barisal: Shahin Hossain (category A); Syed Rasel, Nasiruddin Faruque, Shahfaq Al Zabir, Monir Hossain, Abul Bashar, Iftekhar Nayeem and Shahriar Nafees (category B); Ishraq Sonet; Tariqul Islam, Fazle Mahmud, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Bikash Sharma, Mohammad Sajib and Sohag Gazi (category C).Chittagong: Nafees Iqbal and Faisal Hossain (category A); Aftab Ahmed, Gazi Salahuddin, Yasin Arafat, Kazi Kamrul Islam, Raihanuddin Arafat and Rezaul Karim (category B); Sadid Hossain, Mahbubul Karim, Mominul Haque, Iqbal Hossain Rony and Noor Hossain (category C); Tamim Iqbal and Nazimuddin (central contracts).Dhaka: Imran Ahmed (category A); Mahbubul Alam, Hannan Sarkar, Mohammad Sharif, Anwar Hossain, Mosharraf Hossain, Uttam Sarkar, Raqibul Hasan and Shahadat Hossain (category B); Nazmul Hossain Milon, Rony Talukder, Saikat Ali, Taibur Rahman, Nazmul Islam (category C); Shuvagata Hom (central contract).Dhaka Metro: Mohammad Ashraful, Tareq Aziz Khan, Arafat Sunny, Arafat Salahuddin, Nadif Chowdhury, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Talha Jubair, Shamsur Rahman, Marshall Ayub, Arman Hossain and Sharifullah (category B); Asif Ahmed and Tasamul Haque (category C); Elias Sunny and Mahmudullah (central contracts).Khulna: Tushar Imran (category A); Nazmus Sadat, Sahagir Hossain, Ziaur Rahman and Nizamuddin (category B); Dolar Mahmud, Taposh Ghosh, Murad Khan, Mithun Ali, Anamul Haque (category C); Mashrafee Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Abdur Razzak, Imrul Kayes and Rubel Hossain (central contracts).Rajshahi: Anisur Rahman (category A); Mohammad Shahjada, Farhad Hossain, Junaid Siddique, Farhad Reza, Saqlain Sajib and Delwar Hossain (category B); Jubair Ahmed, Mizanur Rahman, Sabbir Rahman, Mukhtar Ali, Sanjamul Islam (category C); Mushfiqur Rahim, Jahurul Islam and Shafiul Islam (central contracts).Rangpur: Naeem Islam, Dhiman Ghosh, Sajidul Islam and Sohrawardi Shuvo (category B); Ariful Haque, Shuvashish Roy, Mahmudul Hasan, Tariq Ahmed, Tanveer Haider, Alauddin Babu, Saymon Ahmed, Naeem Islam Jr, AR Rahman Rony and Liton Das (category C); Nasir Hossain (central contract).Sylhet: Rajin Saleh and Imtiaz Hossain (category A); Ezaz Ahmed, Tapash Baisya, Alok Kapali, Enamul Haque Jr, Nabil Samad, Golam Rahman, Golam Mabud and Robiul Islam (category B); Abul Hasan, Sayem Alam, Abu Jayed and Shaker Ahmed (category C).

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL qualifier match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils in Chennai

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran24-May-2012Match factsFriday, May 25, 2012
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Mahela Jayawardene will be looking to raise his game for the big occasion•AFPBig PictureVirender Sehwag and Delhi Daredevils are in a familiar position. Like this year, they had utterly dominated the 2009 season, before their mighty batting line-up faltered in the semi-final, much like their flop against Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday. This time though, with the changed format, they get a second opportunity.One of Daredevils’ puzzling decisions in the game against Knight Riders was to send in Ross Taylor as low as No. 7, below even teenager Pawan Negi, who is in the side primarily as a left-arm spinner and isn’t known for his batting exploits. TA Sekar, Daredevils’ team mentor, said the team had reassessed its batting order the game; so Taylor can expect to bat at a more customary position on Friday.Chennai Super Kings are also in a familiar position. Once again, they seem to be at their best in the final stages of the tournament. After several days of nervously watching other teams’ results go their way, Super Kings looked unstoppable when they took apart Mumbai Indians on Wednesday.They have always looked like the team with the greatest depth in their batting, and that was amply demonstrated against Mumbai Indians. Even after losing M Vijay and the IPL’s highest run-scorer Suresh Raina as early as the second over, their crisis men Michael Hussey and S Badrinath stabilised the innings, before the flamboyance of MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo switched the innings mode from build to blast. Even without using the heavy-hitting of Albie Morkel, even against the bowling of Lasith Malinga, Super Kings ran up 187 and coasted to victory.The trouble for Super Kings is that they need to bring their A game three times in five days, to beat each of other three playoff teams, if they are to make it a hat-trick of titles. They have done it once. Can they do it a second time on Friday?Form guide (most recent first)
Chennai Super Kings: WLWWW
Delhi Daredevils: LWLWLPlayers to watchIn five years of the IPL, Mahela Jayawardene is yet to win a playoff match. He’s only had two chances: once in 2008, when Kings XI Punjab were thrashed by Super Kings, and then the defeat to Knight Riders earlier this week. In addition, his form this season hasn’t matched the high standard expected of him. In successive World Cups, Jayawardene has shown his ability to lift his game for the big occasion, something Daredevils would love him to do over the next three days.Ben Hilfenhaus has taken over from Doug Bollinger as Super Kings’ Australian fast bowler of choice. He’s played seven matches since his arrival from the West Indies, and hasn’t gone wicketless even once. After Dwayne Smith clubbed a succession of boundaries off Hilfenhaus to steal a last-ball victory, Hilfenhaus showed his temperament by bouncing back with consecutive Man-of-the-Match performances. Besides the outswinger which serves him well even in the longer formats, he has a quick bouncer, an accurate yorker and he likes to bowl full and wide to stifle batsmen. He accounted for both Sehwag and David Warner in the last game against Daredevils. Can he do it again?Team combinationSuper Kings don’t like to tinker with their team composition, re-securing their core players even during the re-shuffle before the 2011 season. They have used only 17 players this year, the least by a franchise, showing how much they like a settled side. After Shadab Jakati’s tight spell in the previous game with the new ball, expect him to retain his place. The only question for them is whether to retain M Vijay, or to pick S Anirudha if he is fit.Daredevils will have to ponder whether to play an extra spinner in Chennai, or stick to their preferred pace-heavy attack. Irfan Pathan had injured his hand while attempting a return catch in the game against Knight Riders, but team mentor Sekar said Irfan was fit to play on Friday.Meetings this seasonBoth encounters this season have been one-sided: Daredevils won by eight wickets at the Kotla after four run-outs undermined Super Kings, and less than two weeks ago Hilfenhaus ran through the Daredevils top order to set up a straightforward nine-wicket* victory at Chepauk.Stats and trivia Suresh Raina has scored only 341 runs this season, his lowest tally in any IPL Morne Morkel is three wickets away from equalling Malinga’s record of 28 wickets in an IPL season For stats on Super Kings’ spinners’ struggles at home, click hereQuotes”We have a team that is better suited to the conditions in Chennai. We have seamers who are adequate but not startling.”

“Ross got a 21-ball fifty against Royal Challengers in Bangalore. He showed his class there and I think he is in a good space and I think he should fire tomorrow.”

*05.15 GMT May 25 The margin of victory has been corrected

Leicestershire set Derbyshire 314 in a minimum of 69 overs but heavy showers forced a draw at 5pm with Martin Guptill stranded on 67 from 75 balls in Derbyshire’s 91 without loss.

22-Apr-2012
ScorecardLeicestershire and Derbyshire were frustrated by the weather as rain wrecked the prospect of an exciting finish to their Division Two match at Derby. Leicestershire set 314 in a minimum of 69 overs but heavy showers forced a draw at 5pm with Martin Guptill stranded on 67 from 75 balls in Derbyshire’s 91 without loss.Leicestershire had started the final day in a strong position with a lead of 220 and nine wickets in hand but they needed to press on to give themselves enough time to bowl Derbyshire out with rain forecast.Matthew Boyce and Jacques Du Toit took their stand to 109 in 42 overs and had just started to accelerate when Du Toit fenced at a rising ball from Jon Clare and was caught behind for 48.Ramnaresh Sarwan flicked David Wainwright over midwicket for six but Boyce drove back a return catch in the left-arm spinner’s next over after scoring 65 from 134 balls. Sarwan went in the next over when he sliced a drive at Mark Footitt to cover. The declaration came at 169 for four.That left Derbyshire with a potentially tricky four overs to negotiate before lunch but Guptill dealt harshly with some short balls from Robbie Joseph to score 20 by the interval.Several heavy downpours delayed the restart until 3.15pm and cut the number of overs by 25 which left Derbyshire needing another 293 and Leicestershire 10 wickets in 40 overs. After yet another hold up, Guptill made the most of a drab situation to reach his second fifty of the season.Leicestershire took nine points and Derbyshire, who stay top of Division Two, six.

Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s opening batsman, has been ruled out of the domestic Faysal Bank T20 competition, due to a cyst on the chest that requires surgery

Umar Farooq29-Sep-2011Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s opening batsman, has been ruled out of the domestic Faysal Bank T20 competition because of a cyst on his chest that requires surgery. The timing of the surgery has been decided with an eye on Pakistan’s upcoming international commitments.”It’s a minor surgery, nothing serious, but he [Hafeez] opted to skip the Twenty20 championship as precaution,” a PCB spokesman told ESPNCricinfo. “He has very less time ahead of the Sri Lanka series [the first Test begins on October 18 in Abu Dhabi], which is followed by Bangladesh and England series. So it’s the ideal time for him to undergo surgery.”He needs to go through a recuperation process after surgery and, since the commitments of the national team obviously have priority, ensure his availability for Pakistan.”Hafeez, 30, is a key member of the Faisalabad Wolves, who kicked off their Faysal Bank campaign with a convincing 54-run win against Multan Tigers in Karachi. He was in prime form during Pakistan’s recent tour of Zimbabwe, scoring 467 runs and taking 13 wickets across formats, with four Man-of-the-Match awards and two centuries.