Chittagong Kings confirm Lara as ambassador

Brian Lara has become the brand ambassador of the Bangladesh Premier League franchise Chittagong Kings, its owner confirmed on Sunday. Lara has signed a three-year contract with Kings and will arrive inDhaka to complete formalities in November.

"I am excited and honoured to announce that Brian Lara has agreed to join us as the brand ambassador of the Chittagong Kings," Sameer Quader Chowdhury, the franchise's owner, told ESPNcricinfo.

Lara will be part of the Chittagong franchise's delegation at the auction on December 7, Chowdhury said. "He will also be with us throughout the BPL campaign, which starts on January 17. Before the tournament starts, he will be present for our corporate dealings and marketing activities. Apart from this, he will do social work and be involved in team's activities and selection."

During the inaugural season of the BPL, former Australia players Michael Bevan and Dean Jones were part of the Chittagong Kings, as batting coach and technical director respectively.

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Warriors collapse hands Cobras narrow victory

Cape Cobras 262 (Gray 67, Vilas 45, Smuts 3-22) and 297 for 8 dec (Gray 125, Van Zyl 75, Smuts 4-45) beat Warriors 266 (Ingram 80, Prince 53, Kleinveldt 3-51) and 275 (Jacobs 104, Smuts 54, Louw 3-42) by 18 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A century by Davy Jacobs went in vain as Warriors lost six wickets for 30 runs to lose by 18 runs in a thrilling Sunfoil Series match against Cape Cobras in Paarl. Jacobs, who scored 104, fell in the 71st over and Warriors' innings lasted for 59 more deliveries. The game, after similar first-innings scores, drifted towards Cobras after a century by Cobras opener Alistair Gray but Jacobs's hundred and JJ Smuts' half-century helped Warriors get close.

After choosing to bat, the Cobras got off to a positive start through opener Gray's 67. The innings progressed through stops and starts, and a couple of productive innings by the lower-order batsmen - wicketkeeper Dane Vilas (45) and Rory Kleinveldt (36) - helped them to 262. Left-arm spinner Smuts was the top wicket-taker for Warriors with three wickets.

The Warriors, though, failed to start their innings well. After being reduced to 37 for 3, Ashwell Prince and Colin Ingram added 121 runs, with both batsmen scoring half-centuries. The pair had departed by the 75th over, with the score at 205 when Ingram went, and their innings didn't last much longer. Simon Harmer scored 33 to boost the total to 266 - four more than the Cobras had made. Vernon Philander and Kleinveldt took three wickets each.

But the Cobras laid the base for a strong second-innings total when openers Gray and Andrew Puttick put on 93 runs. Stiaan van Zyl stuck with Gray and the pair weren't separated for 41.1 overs. At 209 for 4, when the pair had departed, they again lost wickets quickly, largely through Smuts, who claimed four wickets.

Warriors were in command in their chase at 211 for 3, but Kleinveldt and seamer Johann Louw took six wickets between them. Justin Kemp took two wickets off the 80th over to finish the match.

The match between Dolphins and Knights was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of a wet ground.

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Professional Lions outclass Mumbai Indians

Lions 158 for 2 (McKenzie 68*, de Kock 51*) beat Mumbai Indians 157 for 6 (Johnson 30) by eight wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A calm and collected Neil McKenzie, and a young and fearless Quinton de Kock added 123 for the third wicket to take Lions to a comprehensive win, their second over the superstar-filled Mumbai Indians.

It was a scrappy ungainly match until McKenzie and de Kock came together. Sachin Tendulkar (16 off 24) and Rohit Sharma struggled for momentum, Champions League debutant Mitchell Johnson was promoted to No. 4 for a 29-ball 30 that frustrated the others into playing low-percentage shots, extras and edges helped Mumbai Indians to a fighting total, and then the Lions openers matched the Mumbai batsmen in the go-slow.

Lions had seen three teams before them win the toss and choose to chase because South African grounds are difficult to defend. All three had failed. Alviro Petersen, though, showed no signs of second thoughts before asking Mumbai to bat. Perhaps he knew something about Mumbai batsmen. Six of them reached double figures, but only three of them went at more than 103.44 per 100 balls.

Clearly the Mumbai batsmen didn't fancy the pace and bounce of Dirk Nannes, Sohail Tanvir and Chris Morris, who bowled 12 overs for 90 runs and four wickets between them. And those figures hardly do them justice.

Their biggest test, though, was Dwayne Smith's charmed 26 off 19. Good shots and edges existed in equal measure in Smith's effort. It seemed to almost infuriate the Lions bowlers, especially Morris who began to bowl wides while trying too hard. However, he got his own back by trapping Smith in front. It might have been 45 for 1 in the fifth over then, but Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma were about to stall the innings.

Rohit went at a run a ball, and Tendulkar at one point was 3 off 10 balls. Left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso found this the perfect time to turn the screws tighter, and finally got Tendulkar when he missed with a heave-ho. Harbhajan Singh sprung a surprise by sending Johnson in at No. 4, but that hardly seem to perturb Lions.

Phangiso and Zander de Bruyn hurried through with a few quiet overs. The pressure duly resulted in wickets, but Dinesh Karthik provided Mumbai 19 quick runs off nine balls. Mumbai seemed to have carried that momentum with them. Johnson and Lasith Malinga gave nothing away at the start, and Gulam Bodi and Petersen threatened to undo Tendulkar and Johnson's work with the bat.

McKenzie joined de Kock at 37 for 2 in the seventh over, and began with a reverse-sweep for four first ball. De Kock had already slog-swept two sixes. Even as the asking rate went as high as 10.66 for the last six overs. McKenzie, 26 off 24, and de Kock, 30 off 21, were in by then. Now was the time to launch.

Wrong. It was time to caress, McKenzie style. He hit Pollard over midwicket, watched the third man come up to accommodate a deep midwicket, and then steered a full delivery fine of that short third man. This was lovely touch play. It continued with two pulled boundaries off Dhawal Kulkarni, chosen ahead of the seasoned Munaf Patel.

The best, however, was reserved for the captain Harbhajan Singh, as if he had not had a bad day already with his tactics. McKenzie swept him either side of square leg, then wide of deep midwicket, and then past point for fours to kill the game in the 17th over. The finishing touch was that de Kock, too, reached a fifty.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s Powerplay 16-20 NB/Wides Mumbai Indians 64 18 2 53/1 37/3 0/9 Lions 51 22 3 36/1 35/0(18.5) 0/5

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Auckland look to cause surprises

Match facts

October 15, 2012
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)

Big Picture

The Champions League moves to Newlands in Cape Town, which will host its first game, between Auckland and Kolkata Knight Riders. The IPL 2012 winners, Knight Riders, got off to a terrible start on Saturday, losing heavily to Delhi Daredevils in Centurion. Chasing 161, Knight Riders were reeling at 3 for 3, undone by pace and movement. It was a puzzling decision by the captain Gautam Gambhir, to chase on a ground that heavily favours the team batting first under lights. Five of their batsmen got hit and Delhi's four-man pace attack was too imposing to tackle.

Knight Riders will be up against a team making its debut in the main round of the Champions League. Auckland arrived in South Africa two weeks before the qualifying round to acclimatise and things have gone smoothly for them, with victories in both their qualifying matches. Kyle Mills has been parsimonious - he had figures of 4-1-6-2 against Sialkot Stallions - and Azhar Mahmood has been among the wickets. Sterner tests lie ahead, when they come up against franchise teams that have the best foreign Twenty20 talent.

Watch out for...

Azhar Mahmood demolished Hampshire with bat and ball, becoming only the sixth player to take five wickets and score a fifty in a Twenty20 match. He may not be an international player anymore but he is enjoying a second coming as a freelance T20 specialist. Gareth Hopkins, the Auckland captain, emphasised the experience Mahmood brings to the unit. His game-changing abilities made him an asset during his on-and-off career for Pakistan and, at 37, his skills haven't diminished.

Brendon McCullum began his World Twenty20 campaign with a blazing 123 against Bangladesh in Pallekele - his second T20 international century. His CLT20 campaign wasn't so special though, getting out for a second-ball duck. Knight Riders also lost Jacques Kallis to an injury before he could open his account. If Kallis misses out, McCullum's contributions at the top will be all the more crucial.

Stats and trivia

• Gautam Gambhir's last five scores in competitive matches, including India games, are 0,8,0,17,45.
• Manvinder Bisla needs another 44 for 1000 runs in Twenty20s.

Quotes

"We played badly and it was an embarrassing batting performance. We have the talent and we will come back."
Gautam Gambhir

"Our guys were a step ahead of the opposition in the fielding department and they adjusted to the pitch conditions and the bounce."
Auckland coach Paul Strang

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Tuskers, Rhinos post wins

After Mashonaland Eagles were bowled out for 182, half-centuries from Vusi Sibanda and Jaik Mickleburgh helped Mid West Rhinos win by four wickets at the Kwekwe Sports Club. Spinners Malcolm Waller and Graeme Cremer, who also effected two run outs, didn't allow Eagles to build big partnerships as the opening stand of 40 was their highest of the innings. A confident chase, led by a second-wicket stand of 109 runs between Sibanda and Mickleburgh effectively sealed the contest.

After being put in to bat, Eagles started positively through their openers, but from 71 for one, they slipped to 80 for four, and kept losing wickets regularly thereafter. A lower order defiance was led by Ray Price, but they failed to cross the 200-run mark, being bowled out in the 48th over.

The Eagles, however, made a positive start in the following innings when Rhinos' captain, opener and wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor was run out for 10 in the fifth over. After the ensuing Sibanda-Mickleburgh partnership, which ended in the 28th over with Sibanda's dismissal, Rhinos suffered a minor collapse. Mickleburgh had stuck around for long to score 73 and secure their victory. When he departed with the score at 160 for five, 23 more runs were needed, which were scored in 56 deliveries and the loss of a wicket.

At the Masingvo Sports Club, a four-wicket haul by Chris Mpofu overshadowed Curthbert Musoko's four-wicket haul as it helped Matabeleland Tuskers defeat Southern Rocks by nine runs in a rain-shortened game. Tuskers' Keegan Meth scored 36 turned out to be highest in the low-scoring game.

Chasing 141 in 31 overs, the Rocks fell into trouble early with the wicket of opener Kudzai Monze in the fourth over. Although half their side was out for 70 in the 21st over, a middle-order resurgence, led by Peter Burgoyne Tawanda Mupariwa helped them get close to the target. But Mpofu's timely wickets pegged them back. With 23 needed off the final two overs, Rocks lost two wickets and fell nine runs short to end the game at 131 for nine.

With five single-digit scores and two ducks, Tuskers' innings also stuttered to reach 140 for nine. Two partnerships proved to be the bedrock of their innings - a 28 run stand for the fifth wicket after they were in trouble at 32 for four, and a quick 50-run partnership in 6.2 overs between Meth and Glen Querl that pushed them towards a total that they could defend.

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Lions out for another IPL scalp

When the Lions lined up against Mumbai Indians for the first match of the Champions League T20 in 2010, there were very few people expecting anything from them. Most of the crowd cheered Mumbai, even though the match was played at the Wanderers, and Indian flags waved from the stands.

There was a moment of stunned silence when a young allrounder Shane Burger dismissed every young boy's cricketing hero Sachin Tendulkar. As the match turned, so did the spectators and at the end the Lions had a big victory and some of their home fans back.

As luck would have it, the Lions have been drawn to open their CLT20 campaign against the Mumbai Indians again and they are expecting a grudge match. "They will come at us this time around," Lions captain Alviro Petersen said. "In 2010, they were the favourites to win and we just did things well. One or two guys made big plays for us. This time will want to prove a point. They won't want to lose to the same opposition twice."

The Lions of 2012 are an improved version of the team they were just two years ago. Then wide-eyed and largely inexperienced, they were just in it for the fun. This time they are in it to win it. "When we played the first one the guys didn't really understand what it was all about, especially guys who have not played international cricket," Petersen said. "This time, we're more aware of what we need to do, how we need to go about things. The preparation has been important for us and it has gone very well."

Like the other South African franchises, the Lions have had two first-class matches to start the season. They lost the first one badly but stormed to victory in the second, defending a small total on the fourth morning. Chris Morris, who was their top wicket-taker in T20s in the domestic competition, took 12 wickets in that match and is looking in top form ahead of the format he has gained the most recognition in.

Petersen thinks Morris' development was spurred on by the inclusion of two overseas players in last season domestic tournament. Dirk Nannes and Sohail Tanvir will play for the Lions in the CLT20 as well and have turned their attack from middling to close to magnificent. "The bowling unit has come on in leaps and bounds," Petersen said. "Having the internationals helps bringing in other bowlers through as well. Chris Morris came through really nicely last year and I think they had a lot to do with that. It's not just about performance; it's what they bring us a package."

The same statement can be said for the way the Lions approach the game as a whole. There is a noticeable seriousness about them. "Twenty-over cricket is not really a slog at all. We've seen that you've got to have structure to it," Petersen said. "Power, skill all that sort of stuff are the key ingredients to being successful in T20 cricket. But most important is to have structure."

Petersen said the importance of having a plan is evident in the fact that the batsmen who succeed in the format are all strong across longer versions of the game as well. "It has been shown over the years that the guys with good techniques have come out on top in T20 cricket over a long period of time." As recently as in the first match of the tournament, Jacques Rudolph, a batsman thought to be suited to only Test cricket scored a blazing 83 not out for the Titans against Perth.

The same strategic thinking is what Petersen believed will make a good captain in this format. He dismissed the idea of leading by instinct and spur of the moment decisions that people often think are made in twenty-over cricket. "You sometimes get a gut feel but it's really about execution of plans. If you leave it up to gut, you leave it to chance. I don't captain by chance."

The Lions have made sure they leave nothing to fortune ahead of their first match. They spent four days at their smaller home base in Potchefstroom, where they had an intense camp and say they are "absolutely ready," to topple an IPL side once again.

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Will David stun Goliath again?

Match facts

October 14, 2012
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)

Big Picture

If you are a powerful IPL franchise, the Champions League T20 is a cushy place to be. You can have the tournament rules changed midway to increase the number of overseas players in your XI from four to five.

You finish fourth in the qualification tournament for the CLT20 2012, which used to offer direct entry only to the first three IPL sides. The format changes to accommodate a fourth direct entrant from the IPL. Why go through the uncertainties of qualification? So, here are Mumbai Indians, defending champions, straight into the main draw, and will meet home franchise Lions in a repeat of the opening clash of the 2010 edition, also held in South Africa.

That game had been viewed by some as a David v Goliath clash of superstar-laden Mumbai Indians with domestic strugglers Lions. And David ended up winning the supposed mismatch, as Lions rustled up 186 and stopped Mumbai Indians nine runs short, despite Sachin Tendulkar's 69. Back then, Lions had laboured without a trophy for so long that their home crowd at the Wanderers cheered for Tendulkar and his side for most of the match. What will their reaction be tomorrow?

Lions retain a few core players from the team that played in the 2010 edition, and have been bolstered by the addition of international quicks Dirk Nannes and Sohail Tanvir. Mumbai Indians, as always, have an array of star players, and easily look the stronger side on paper.

Watch out for...

A stunned Premadasa Stadium watched Lasith Malinga disappear for six after six against Marlon Samuels in the final of the World Twenty20. Malinga going for 54 runs in four overs in a crunch match was hard to even imagine, let alone witness it. He has been one of the faces of Mumbai Indians and had a major part to play in their run to the Champions League title in 2011. It is hard not to expect a comeback from Malinga.

Ethan O'Reilly, the Lions fast bowler, should have had Tendulkar second ball of his spell in the 2010 game, only for a strong lbw appeal to be turned down. He is quick, he is sharp, and he gets bounce.

Stats and trivia

• Among the IPL teams, Mumbai Indians have the best win-loss ratio in the Champions League, along with Chennai Super Kings
• Mumbai Indians scored at the fastest rate in the previous edition of the tournament held in South Africa in 2010, followed by Lions

Quotes

"He will be keen to make a point and he definitely can. The international guys who play a lot more against him may have figured out a way to keep him away but even then, there are domestic players who have never seen him before. He is still a seriously good strike option. I would still always give him the ball in the last over, especially if I had to defend 10 runs or less."
Shaun Pollock, the Mumbai Indians bowling coach, on Malinga

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Permaul picked for Bangladesh Tests

Veerasammy Permaul, the Guyana left-arm spinner, is the only new face in the 15-man West Indies squad for the two Tests in Bangladesh next month. He has led and performed for the A team throughout 2012, on top of an impressive first-class record.

Permaul, 23, recently troubled the Bangladesh batsmen during the West Indies High Performance Centre's tour, taking 12 wickets in the two four-day games. He has played 45 first-class matches since his debut as a 17-year-old and taken 152 wickets at 24.59. He will play the role of secondary spinner to Sunil Narine, who made a huge impact against New Zealand - his first home Test series.

The selectors dropped Adrian Barath and Fidel Edwards from the squad that was picked for the second Test against New Zealand in August. The decision to omit Edwards means they have only two out-and-out fast bowlers, in Tino Best and Kemar Roach, with Darren Sammy completing the pace department.

Those recalled include Darren Bravo, who missed the New Zealand series due to injury, and Kirk Edwards, who gets a recall after he lost his place in the third and final Test against England. The squad includes ten players who toured Bangladesh last year, when West Indies had won the Test and ODI series, but lost the tour-opening Twenty20 international.

West Indies have won two out of eight Test matches this year, which includes the series win over New Zealand at home. It will be Bangladesh's first Test series this year. The two Tests, five ODIs and one Twenty20 International on the tour are scheduled between November 3 and December 12.

Squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Denesh Ramdin (vice-capt), Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Kirk Edwards, Assad Fudadin, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Veerasammy Permaul, Kieran Powell, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels

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Kent batsman Tony Pawson dies

The former Kent batsman Tony Pawson, who became the Observer cricket correspondent, has died at the age of 91.

Pawson played 69 first-class matches, mostly for Kent and Oxford University, scoring seven hundreds as he made 3807 runs at 37.32. He was Kent's oldest surviving capped player.

As a 15-year-old, in 1937, he scored 237 at Lord's when playing for a Lord's XI against a CF Tufnell's XI and in 1947 he represented MCC against the South Africans playing in a team alongside Denis Compton

Cricket was not the only sport where he made his name. He won a blue at Oxford, represented England at football and at the 1948 London Olympics as well as playing two football league matches for Charlton Athletic. In 1982 he was a member of the England fly fishing team that won the World Championship and in 1988 was awarded on OBE for services to angling.

Kent's honorary curator, David Robertson, said: "Tony Pawson enjoyed his cricket, and set out to make sure spectators shared that enjoyment. I have many happy boyhood memories of his batting and fielding at Canterbury. His running between the wickets, especially with Godfrey Evans as his partner, was always an eagerly awaited feature of the game."

Jamie Clifford, the Kent chief executive, added: "The club is saddened to learn news of Tony Pawson's passing and our thoughts are with his family and friends. Tony made a great contribution to Kent Cricket and many of our members have fond memories of watching him play at the St Lawrence Ground."

During his time as a cricket correspondent he was also chairman of the Cricket Writers' Club in 1980 and 1981.

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Nepal, UAE share ACC Elite title after thrilling tie

United Arab Emirates 241 for 6 (Saqib 101*, Khurram 61, Gauchan 3-36) tied with Nepal 241 for 9 (Khakurel 55, Mandal 44)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

After a thrilling tied final in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates and Nepal shared the Asian Cricket Council Elite Trophy. Saqib Ali led UAE's recovery from 24 for 3 to help them post 241, a target that looked in Nepal's sight after their 94-run opening stand. However, they kept losing wickets consistently, and eventually needed 12 off the last over with just two wickets in hand. Shakti Gauchan, who had taken three wickets earlier, smacked Shadeep Silva's left-arm for a six, but could manage only one run off the last ball.

UAE's innings was the opposite of Nepal's. They got off to a horrible start, and were 70 for 4 after 19.5 overs. That brought together captain Khurram Khan and Saqib, who have both played ODIs for UAE. They added 87 for the fifth wicket, but the big push arrived only in the last four overs that went for 46 runs. Saqib was only 88 going into the last over of the innings, but hit Basanta Regmi for a six and a four off the last two balls to bring up his century.

UAE carried the momentum into the second innings, but Subash Khakurel and Anil Mandal got Nepal's chase off to a solid start. However, they lost their way in the middle of the innings, going from 165 for 2 to 222 for 8. Sharad Vesawkar, who came in at 165 for 4, held the chase together with wickets falling all around him. He even managed his unbeaten 38 at better than a run a ball.

However, when a splendid piece of fielding from Saqib ran Binod Bhandari out, Nepal still needed 20 off 17, and had just two wickets in hand. Gauchan practically blocked out the 48th over, and they now needed 18 off the last two. Khurram went with his quick man, Arshad Ali, for the 19th over, and conceded just six runs. That increased the pressure, but Nepal also had slight opportunity: a spinner was to bowl the last over.

Gauchan played out another dot before two singles brought it down to 10 off 3. He then swung hard at Silva, and managed to clear long-on. Silva erred again next ball by fumbling on a run-out opportunity, allowing the batsmen to steal a couple after hitting straight to long-on. Another such mistake, and the title would be Nepal's. Gauchan this time hit to long-off; UAE made no mistake, and honours were even after a hard-fought match.

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