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East Zone

Bengal booked their place in the knockout stage after their bowlers engineered a 45-run victory over Tripura at the Sunshine Ground in Cuttack. Halfway through the match, Tripura looked set for their second win – which would have given them an outside chance of qualifying for the next phase – after limiting Bengal to 123. Medium-pacers Rana Dutta and Rajib Saha took three wickets each, and the only Bengal batsmen to make substantial contributions were captain Manoj Tiwary (40) and opener Shreevats Goswami (39).Bengal’s bowlers, though, restricted Tripura to a measly 78, with six of the batsmen making single-digit scores. Tripura briefly put up a fight, moving to 47 for 3, before losing five wickets for 10 runs to virtually extinguish their chances. Four members of the Bengal attack had economy-rates below four as they stifled Tripura, and left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena was the most successful, finishing with 3-14.Orissa also made it to the next round with their third straight victory, beating Jharkhand by five wickets in another low-scoring encounter at the Ravenshaw College Ground. Ishank Jaggi (28) led Jharkhand to a respectable 63 for 2 in the 12th over, before things unravelled for his side; their lower-middle order collapsed, four wickets went down for eight runs, and Jharkhand limped to 109 for 9.The Orissa chase was in trouble early on, as medium-pacer Kuldeep Sharma took two wickets in the second over. There was further trouble for Orissa as Niranjan Behera had to retire hurt first ball, but their captain Halhadar Das steered them home with an unbeaten 59, his first half-century in Twenty20s. He added 50 for the fifth wicket with Biplab Samantray as Orissa cruised to victory with ten balls to spare.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outFour wickets for Suresh Raina but Victoria had the last laugh•Associated Press

Twenty20 was at its chaotic best – or worst, looking at some of the shots played – in giving Champions League T20 its first Super Over, one that Victoria Bushrangers won emphatically to stay alive in the tournament.With 24 required off the last three overs, and David Hussey entrenched on 48, it looked like a cruise, but poor shot after poor shot gave Suresh Raina four wickets in the 18th and 20th overs. Hussey left the job unfinished, but came back to finish some with three sixes in the Super Over.Redemption seemed to be the theme of the night. R Ashwin, though, who bowled the Super Over for Chennai Super Kings, was left on his knees, all alone despite consolatory pats on his back. Doug Bollinger, not given the Super Over, was left an angry fast bowler, kicking the ground, mouthing off, sitting in the dressing room as opposed to the dugout. It was that kind of night.Emotions were completely in check, though, after Aaron Finch’s stunning 41 off 17 at the start of the chase. Victoria needed a straightforward 59 off 50 when Muttiah Muralitharan took two wickets in two balls. They were still in control with six wickets in hand when Raina began the 18th over. Madness was about to strike.Raina fielded the first ball, and went for a blind reverse-flick. Had he hit, he would have got Rob Quiney. Had he not tried, he wouldn’t have conceded the overthrow that brought Quiney on strike. Quiney, perhaps lured by the short leg-side boundary, went to pull a length ball, and lost his middle stump. John Hastings, hero of Victoria’s bowling effort, got stumped trying a massive slog as opposed to giving Hussey the strike. Twenty-one from 13. Still manageable.Bollinger, whom Finch had hit for 23 in his first two overs, bowled three perfect deliveries for three singles before getting Hussey to hit a slower ball straight to long-off. Game over? Peter Siddle didn’t think so. He backed away, and chipped Bollinger over extra cover, like a batsman would, to bring it down to 12 required off the last over.Raina was the man enjoying the tension. He was pulling out of deliveries and smiling, he was reverse-flicking and smiling, he was accepting gifts and smiling. He was the man to go to. Clint McKay, who had got Raina’s wicket with a superb slower ball earlier, dealt him another blow, nonchalantly swinging the first ball over long-off. Six off five, with three wickets in hand. Game over? Raina didn’t think so. The next ball stopped a touch, and Raina was smiling again after accepting a return catch.Dirk Nannes played along with the chaos theme, and hit the next ball straight down long-on’s lap. Siddle, who should have been given the strike, now made sure he crossed. He had earlier bowled an over of three waist-high full tosses, two of them deemed beamers, one of them hit way over third man. This was time for his redemption. Again, like a seasoned batsman, he made room and lofted the hat-trick ball over extra cover.Two off two. Last wicket standing. Mind games began. Raina pulled out of the next delivery. When he came into bowl again Siddle pulled out. Raina wasn’t blinking first, and refused to bowl the next time. Asad Rauf smiled, walked a few steps down the pitch, perhaps to move out of stumps mic’s range, and told Raina something.Raina let go this time, Siddle swung, got a bottom edge through to MS Dhoni, who saw Bryce McGain trying to steal one and lobbed the ball back to Raina. Raina had blinked. He wasn’t back at the stumps, and had to throw from halfway down the pitch. The overthrow cost the single that brought the scores level. One more mistake was to follow. McGain swung across the line of the last ball, and missed. Dhoni collected cleanly.Dhoni had earlier got Finch out by persisting with Ashwin, who was hit for 14 in the second over of the innings. He again went with Ashwin, ahead of Bollinger and Raina. Finch was there to face Ashwin, who bowled flat and fast, giving him little room. Hussey was brought on strike. This was time for the ultimate redemption. The captain should have finished it off earlier. He was going to do it now.Hussey just took half a step down the pitch and pulverised the first ball he faced out of St George’s Park. This six meant more than just six runs. The massiveness. The nonchalance. Ashwin knew Hussey could get him anytime. The carrom ball that had got Flinch was forgotten. The arm ball was forgotten. All that came out was flat and full, or flat and short, and went for 2, 2, 6, and 6.With 23 runs to defend in the Super Over, Victoria went to the master of slower balls, McKay, who didn’t need to do anything clever. McKay and Hastings, though, had to produce some of the best slower balls earlier in the night to keep the target to manageable proportions.M Vijay, with his 53-ball 73, had taken Chennai to 135 for 2 in 16 overs when Hastings and McKay intervened with three overs for 14 runs and the wickets of Vijay, Dhoni and S Anirudha. Both expertly bowled all three versions of the slower ball – offcutter, legcutter and bouncer – and Chennai and the shots, just like punctured balloons, went nowhere.If the slower ones had the sedative effect on Chennai, Finch shook them up harshly. McKay, Hastings and Finch would have thought they had done enough, but they were required again on a mad night.

Lalit Modi

End of the road for Shane Warne and the Rajasthan Royals?•AFP

“The Teams is what makes the IPL. With what Bcci has done today – is something that will only harm the image of the IPL and Bcci””They are hell bent on destroying something that we as Indians are proud of – The IPL. So as to satisfy there personal Agendas.””The status of all teams is the same. They were all approved. There is no ambiguity as far as that is concerned.The action it totally illegal.”

Preity Zinta

“Still absorbing the News! After working so hard in the IPL & putting my everything building this team dis is not what I expected! Shocked !”

Shane Warne

“What now for the youngsters, I hope bcci come to there senses , fingers crossed !””The royals gave young unknown Indian players a chance and I as captain backed them, and our coaching staff supported them we were a team.””3 seasons ago royals won the first ever ipl, underdogs come good what a story, it helped give credibility to the competition !!! Now look..”@TheShilpaShetty hey Shilpa, please keep me posted if you hear anything , such sad news for us and our loyal fans, shattering to all !!!

Shilpa Shetty

“This is 4 all those who want my reaction”Honestly too shocked to react,just disheartened..cause its more than just a team 4 us!Still hav …””Still havnt recd the termination will react after.Need to kno the basis of this decision”In London nowabout 2 hours ago.”

Vijay Mallya

“I wonder if IPL franchisees r serious stakeholders whose investments n participation r respected or r they slaves who only come n play ?””@TheShilpaShetty this is down right ridiculous and raises serious questions on the attitude of the BCCI towards IPL franchisees.”

Graeme Smith

Guys thx for all messages re:ipl and royals!playing for the PROTEAS today so will comment later!have a good one…….

Kevin Pietersen

“Just heard news on Kings XI and Royals.. What’s happened and what’s reasons for their expulsion from IPL 4?”

England’s coach, Andy Flower, has told his underperforming batsmen there is no place to hide after two poor performances in the third Test at The Oval allowed Pakistan to pull the four-match series scoreline back to 2-1 with just the decider at Lord’s to come this week. On a good batting track, England suffered collapses in each innings, including a remarkable subsidence of 7 for 28 second-time around, to muster scores of 231 and 222, as Pakistan held their nerve to win a tense contest by four wickets.Although England have shown faith with their team by naming the same 11 players plus the nominal12th man, Tim Bresnan, Flower knows that his players have to front up if they are to avoid squandering a series victory that seemed preordained when they went 2-0 up after the second Test with a nine-wicket win at Edgbaston. “On the batting side, I thought we underperformed without a doubt,” he said. “On a good Oval pitch, scores of 230 and 220 weren’t good enough to win a Test match, and we need to produce better results, simple as that.”Having bowled Pakistan out for 80 and 72 in the first two games of the series at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston, England’s own batting frailties had been masked to a certain degree. “I think the first two pitches we played on were very tricky surfaces,” said Flower. “So they would undoubtedly have contributed to collapses. But as a batting team we need to produce better results, simple as that. Lord’s should provide us with a very good opportunity to put things right and it is the responsibility of all of us to make sure that happens.”Despite conceding a first-innings deficit of 75, England were inching back into command of the game at 156 for 2, with Alastair Cook ending a season-long batting drought with his 13th Test century. But once he was dismissed, caught down the leg side for 110, the innings lost its momentum and the twin dismissals after tea of Kevin Pietersen and the well-set Jonathan Trott proved decisive in the final analysis.”At The Oval, although we won the toss and batted, they were still quite trying conditions,” said Flower. “But in the second innings there were no excuses whatsoever. We set up a brilliant platform through Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott and we performed poorly after that. Any batting collapse is concerning and there have been too many of them.”Nevertheless, Cook’s return to form, and the steady tempo that Trott displayed in his three-and-a-half-hour 36, were pleasing to Flower, who believes that – while Cook’s innings was a more aggressive affair than he is used to producing – both men have the ability to buck the current trend of fast and aggressive Twenty20-influenced scoring, for the greater benefit of their team. “There is a different style of batting in international cricket these days,” said Flower. “It is without doubt more attacking, and with that has come a heavier percentage of results and shorter games.”We thought that when Trott played an obdurate innings in our second innings and it was looked at as very rare and questioned by certain people. That was good, old-fashioned Test match batting. I thought it was quite a good example of how attitudes to strike rates in Test cricket have changed.”Cook is quiet but he is quietly strong,” he added. “After failing in the first innings and having a rough time of it recently, I think it was a courageous knock filled with really exciting strokeplay. He is a tough young man and that is why he has the record he has. But he has got to back that up now, at Lord’s and into the future.”The man whom Flower was most impressed by, however, was England’s wicketkeeper and No.7, Matt Prior, who followed up his century in the second innings at Trent Bridge with a vital 84 not out that dug England out of a big hole at 94 for 7 on the first day at The Oval. “He’s looking probably the most organised I’ve seen him as a batsman since he started playing international cricket,” said Flower. “Graham Gooch and he have worked hard at the basics of batting and I think we can see the results of some of those hours in training.”Despite the Oval loss, Flower was confident that his players would bounce back with a strong performance. “Lord’s should provide us with a very good opportunity to put things right and it is the responsibility of all of us to make sure that happens,” he said. “Once the boys step over the boundary it is their job to embrace that responsibility and be skilful enough to deal with the pressures of international cricket. I think we’re underperforming. I think our batsmen believe that as well. And they will be doing everything to put that right.”

ScorecardDaryl Mitchell’s second century of the match and 94 from Moeen Ali led Worcestershire to a six-wicket win over Gloucestershire in their County Championship Division Two clash at Cheltenham. Mitchell, who finished 134 not out, and Ali put on 181 for the fourth wicket as Worcestershire reached their target of 339 with 14.2 overs remaining and for the loss of just four wickets.Worcestershire captain Vikram Solanki also played an important part in his side’s fourth Championship win of the summer, contributing 64 to a second-wicket stand of 96 with Mitchell.It was a bitterly disappointing day for Gloucestershire, who had been hoping to increase the pressure on Sussex and Glamorgan at the top of the Division Two table.Gloucestershire began the day looking to register their first County Championship victory at the College Ground since they beat Sussex in 2001. They enjoyed an early success when, in the third over of the day, David Wheeldon was caught down the legside by wicketkeeper Jonathan Batty off Gemaal Hussain.But that proved to be Gloucestershire’s only success of the morning session as Mitchell, who had made 104 in the first innings, and Solanki batted with great patience to take the score on to 73 for 1 from 35.4 overs at the interval, which was taken two balls early due to rain.The first boundary of the innings did not arrive until the 15th over – a straight drive by Solanki off Hussain – and 50 was not reached until the 30th over. Solanki, on 22, survived a sharp chance to Chris Taylor at short leg off left-arm spinner Vikram Banerjee. Other than that, he played with increasing confidence and fluency on his way to a 92-ball half-century, which he reached with a boundary driven through extra cover off Hussain.Mitchell and Solanki had put on 96 for the second wicket when Jon Lewis dismissed Solanki, who could count himself unlucky to fall victim to a superb diving catch by Taylor at midwicket. Shakib Al Hasan got off the mark by sweeping Banerjee for six over midwicket and hit the next ball for four to the same area. But the Bangladesh allrounder rather recklessly tried another big hit off the next delivery and holed out to Will Porterfield on the midwicket boundary.That brought Ali to the middle and he and Mitchell saw Worcestershire through to 202 for 3 at tea with few alarms. The biggest escape came when Ali, on 28, was put down by Porterfield at extra cover off James Franklin.Worcestershire now had victory in mind and Mitchell confirmed their intentions by pulling three successive fours off Anthony Ireland, the last of which was all-run. Mitchell had required 152 balls to reach his half-century, but he needed just 66 more to reach his second ton of the game, which arrived when he straight-drove a single off Banerjee.Ali reached his fifty from 84 deliveries and looked set for a hundred until he drove a return catch to Franklin, shortly after the second new ball had been taken. His 124-ball innings contained 15 fours, the majority of which were driven through the off-side.There was no dislodging Mitchell, though, who ended with 16 fours in his 256-ball innings. Alexei Kervezee hit Banerjee for six over long-off and ended the match in the same over by driving him for another boundary to long-on.

The prospect of using the UDRS at next year’s World Cup came a step closer after the ICC approved the implementation of the controversial system subject to agreements over costs and equipment between the broadcaster partner, ESPN STAR Sports, and the host nations. However, the use of UDRS in all Tests still seems a distant possibility after it was agreed to retain the current arrangement whereby the host country and visiting team decides.The implementation of the UDRS worldwide has been inconsistent, and the ICC Cricket Committee, in its meeting at Lord’s earlier this year, had recommended the system be introduced “as soon as possible in all Tests.””The detailed work of the ICC Cricket Committee gave both the CEC and the ICC Board excellent direction and there was full agreement that technology would be used whenever possible,” Haroon Lorgat, the ICC’s chief executive said.”We have all seen the benefits of using DRS to assist umpires in Test cricket and we are now keen to use DRS in the ICC Cricket World Cup. We also acknowledge and we are grateful for the support provided by broadcasters and technology suppliers around the world during the development phase of DRS.”The ICC and the ECB have also exonerated umpire Daryl Harper of any blame during the Johannesburg Test earlier this year. Harper landed in controversy after he turned down a caught-behind appeal against Graeme Smith which had been referred to him.Harper upheld the on-field umpire Tony Hill’s decision because he could not hear a sound on the replay and it was suggested that he had not increased the volume setting on his monitor which would have made the edge evident. However, the ICC has said a “technical failure” was the cause of the lapse.”Following the issues raised with the DRS in the Wanderers Test match between South Africa and England in January 2010, the preliminary findings of Advocate Brent Lockie and ICC Cricket Committee chairman Clive Lloyd acknowledges that the technology failure at the time adversely impacted on the information received by the third umpire Daryl Harper while making his decision,” the ICC said. “The ICC and the England and Wales Cricket Board agreed that the third umpire in the match, Daryl Harper, was entirely blameless due to this technical failure.”Andy Flower, the England coach, was unhappy with officials at the time and suggested the outcome of the investigation wasn’t quite what transpired. “I know what happened that day, because they told me,” he said.However, he remains a supporter of the system and has no issues with it being extended into the World Cup. “I think the DRS, in whatever format it is used, is quite useful – because we get more good decisions,” he said. “I don’t see why, if we give the same level of importance to all three formats, it is only Test cricket that should have DRS available.”In a bid to eliminate any inconsistency the ICC, in May, had decided it had to meet with all broadcasting companies in a bid to standardise the use of technology, and hosted a workshop earlier in the year.

Australia fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus begins his comeback from injury with the Australia A team that will take on Sri Lanka A in the first four-day game at Allan Border Field, Brisbane, from tomorrow. Hilfenhaus hasn’t played since the first Test of the home summer, when he was the Man of the Match against West Indies at the Gabba. Tendonitis in his left knee created so much pain the day after a long bowling spell that he could barely walk.James Pattinson, younger brother of England test player Darren Pattinson, has been named twelfth man. If Pattinson progresses as the Australian selectors hope, he and his brother will join the Trotts of Australia and England and the Hearnes of England and South Africa, as the only brothers to play Test cricket for different countries.The team is led by George Bailey, who believes the latest crop of Australian cricketers is full of promise. “The juniors and the younger players that are coming through are going to be outstanding. I think this batch of fast bowlers that are coming through now – James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc – those sorts of bowlers, are really exciting, have good pace and can swing the ball.”The two sides are set to play two four-days games, three ODIs and one Twenty20 match.Squad: George Bailey (Capt), Andrew McDonald, Ed Cowan, Peter Forrest, Peter George, Ben Hilfenhaus, Usman Khawaja, Michael Klinger, Stephen O’Keefe, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc.

Eoin Morgan’s first one-day century came against Canada, his second versus Bangladesh and his third on Tuesday against Australia at the Rose Bowl. Little wonder the day after his match-winning, unbeaten 103, he rated it the best of his one-day international career.”Playing against such a big side like Australia, and given the circumstances, I was quite proud of myself,” Morgan said after the squad arrived in Cardiff for the second ODI. Morgan came in at a critical time for England, who stumbled to 97 for 4 early in his innings.But he demonstrated a cool head and struck 16 boundaries to all parts of the ground. Importantly, Morgan saw the chase of 268 through to the very end, and brought up his hundred with the winning four straight back down the ground. His power was a feature of the innings, and several times he cleared Australia’s infield with ease.”I’ve learned with experience. I’ve batted at four and five for a long time and been in different situations,” he said. “I’ve made plenty of mistakes and, over the last couple of years, I’ve learned to give myself a lot more time. I’ve worked on the power-hitting and the longer I stay at the crease the more I give myself a chance.”I do put in a hell of a lot of hard work. I do a lot of work in my own time and with guys I like to work with. That’s taking nothing away from England, I work quite hard with Andy Flower and the other senior players within the side.”The Australians couldn’t maintain any pressure on Morgan, who brought up his century from 85 deliveries. It was a challenging day for Australia’s fast-bowling debutant Josh Hazlewood, 19, who collected 1 for 41 but also leaked five fours and one six.”There were a lot of boundaries hit last night,” Hazlewood said. “I felt when I was bowling there were one or two bad balls an over which they capitalised on. It’s a massive learning curve for me, but also a great opportunity to show what you can do.”I feel a bit more part of the team now I’ve played a game. You’ve just got to make sure that with very opportunity you get, you make your mark. That’s all you can do.”Hazlewood might get another opportunity in Thursday’s second game. He can only hope that Morgan has an off night.

Vinay Kumar, the Indian seamer, has been ruled out of the ongoing tri-series in Zimbabwe after injuring his knee during practice prior to the game against Sri Lanka. He has been replaced by Karnataka team-mate, seamer Abhimanyu Mithun.Mithun, 20, had a fantastic debut domestic season, finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy with 47 at 23.23. His effort helped Karnataka qualify for the Ranji Trophy final for the first time in 12 years – they were beaten by Mumbai – and was rewarded with a call-up to the national squad for the Tests against South Africa earlier in the year and an international debut in the ODIs that followed.Mithun was named in the India A squad for the tour of England in June, but will now head to Zimbabwe to fill in for Vinay. Mithun was also the recipient of the Border-Gavaskar Scholarship for 2010, which entitled him to a two-week training stint at Cricket Australia’s Centre for Excellence.

Glamorgan have had a pitch penalty from 2009 halved following an appeal, but will still begin this season’s Clydesdale Bank 40 competition on minus one.The original sanction stemmed from a Friends Provident Trophy match against Essex last May when the pitch was rated as “poor”. Glamorgan were bowled out for 124 and lost by seven wickets.Under the regulations the penalty is carried forward to the following season, but because the CB40 competition is a different structure and fewer teams qualify for the knockout stages it was decided that the loss of points should be given a new weighting to reflect this.”In the light of the fact that in comparison with the 2009 Friends Provident Trophy only half the teams in the 2010 Clydesdale Bank 40 will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, it is confirmed today that having reviewed an appeal by Glamorgan Cricket, to maintain a penalty of equivalent weight the ECB has confirmed the penalty as a one point deduction,” said an ECB statement.