Ahmedabad gamble backfires on organisers

Last Friday, the organisers of the Champions League were busy preparing to move Monday's crucial Group B double-header out of Ahmedabad due to the torrential rain that had washed out a double-header and forced another game to be rescheduled to Jaipur last week.

Suddenly, the weather cleared on Friday evening and the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) assured the CLT20 officials that if there was no more rain, they could make a submerged Motera stadium playable by Monday afternoon.

This in itself was surprising since Motera is far from being a modern cricket venue. With an age-old drainage system, even a short shower makes the outfield soggy. Still, the GCA hadn't organised sheets that would cover the whole field of play and not just the inner circle, a step that has worked well in keeping outfields dry in Sri Lanka, where matches are often interrupted by heavy rain.

Yet on Saturday, all the four teams involved in Monday's double-header - Trinidad & Tobago, Titans, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Brisbane Heat - who had been told to be on standby for flying to Ranchi in case the venue was switched, were informed their matches would not be rescheduled, despite a scattered thunderstorm being predicted for Monday.

No doubt the CLT20 organisers had their hands full of problems. First and foremost, with a plethora of important tournaments clashing with CLT20 - the A series against West Indies, Challengers Series, Under-19 quadrangular series and the Duleep Trophy - the CLT20 team had to struggle to find venues for matches with clear weather.

To add to their woes, there were limited options to move Monday's double-header, if the need arose. Mohali, which staged a few games early on in the tournament including qualifiers, couldn't stage it since the in-stadia branding had been removed from the PCA Stadium. Jaipur couldn't host a match for three nights in succession due to a lack of pitches and the Delhi stadium wasn't available as it was only scheduled to be ready in time for the knockouts. As a result, the only possible venue for the double-header to be shifted was Ranchi, where a big hurdle was accommodating four teams in five-star hotels at such short notice.

The CLT20 organisers went ahead and took the risk of not moving the games out of Ahmedabad. However, it backfired badly as a heavy downpour arrived just as the first match of the day was heading towards a thrilling finish, thus possibly robbing Titans of a place in the semifinals. And even though the storm subsided after about 45 minutes, it was enough to give the Motera the look of a mini-swimming pool and wash out the late game, thus taking away the possibility of Sunrisers keeping themselves in the hunt for a place in the semi-finals.

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Gurunath 'ran the team', says Hussey

Michael Hussey, Chennai Super Kings' opener, has become the first player to suggest Gurunath Meiyappan was more than just a "cricket enthusiast" after N Srinivasan and India Cements have distanced themselves and Super Kings from Gurunath, who has been chargesheeted in the IPL betting scandal. In his book, Underneath The Southern Cross, Hussey has commented that Srinivasan ceded control of the team to his son-in-law.

"Our owner was Indian Cements, headed by Mr Srinivasan," Hussey has written. "As he was also on the board of the BCCI, he gave control of the team to his son-in-law Mr Gurunath. He ran the team along with Kepler Wessels, who was coach."

This comes at a time when the Supreme Court of India is hearing a matter related specifically to Gurunath, and Gurunath's to the Super Kings team. Before Mumbai Police first sought to arrest him, Gurunath was often seen in the team dugout, at the auction table to represent Super Kings, represented himself as the team prinicipal on a verified Twitter account, and his IPL accreditation represented him as an owner.

Super Kings is owned by India Cements, a listed company of which Srinivasan is vice-chairman and managing director. The BCCI president has maintained that Gurunath had nothing to do with the team, and was just a "cricket enthusiast" who was allowed to travel with them.

A two-member probe panel constituted by the BCCI then cleared the Super Kings of any wrongdoing, but Cricket Association of Bihar moved court and procured a stay order against the findings of the panel, the fairness of whose constitution was questioned by the court. The matter is now being looked into by the highest court in India. The next hearing is scheduled on October 7.

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Sunrisers eliminated after washout

Brisbane Heat v Sunrisers Hyderabad - Match abandoned without a ball bowled

The match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Brisbane Heat was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Ahmedabad. This puts Sunrisers out of the Champions League after they finished with six points from four matches, winning once and losing twice. This was the third washout in Motera, after the double-header on September 23 took the same route due to rain.

Heat were already knocked out having lost their first three matches. This leaves the Titans and Trinidad & Tobago battling for the second position in Group B behind Chennai Super Kings who have already qualified. All T&T need to do is not lose by a great margin against Super Kings in their final group match.

The match scheduled for an 8:30pm start couldn't go through after heavy rain began during the first match between T&T and Titans. That match ended with three overs to spare, the Caribbean side winning by six runs by the Duckworth/Lewis method.

The two matches were retained in Ahmedabad, after an earlier game was moved out of the city due to week-long rains. Though there was 60% chance of rain today, the first game was uninterrupted until rain struck 17 overs into Titans' chase.

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Afghanistan look to seal World Cup spot

Afghanistan coach Kabir Khan has targeted winning both matches against Kenya this week in the World Cricket League (WCL), victories which will guarantee direct qualification to the 2015 World Cup.

Afghanistan are currently No. 4 in the WCL points table behind Ireland, UAE and Netherlands, with only the top two automatically progressing to the World Cup. While Ireland have already qualified, UAE and Netherlands have 18 points each after playing all their matches.

Two wins for Afghanistan, currently on 15 points, will lift them to second place and seal a World Cup spot. If Afghanistan fail to do so, they will head to New Zealand for a second chance to qualify.

"It is very important for us to qualify directly, otherwise there would be extra pressure on the boys to go to New Zealand for another round of qualification," Khan said. "We want to qualify directly and start preparing for the World Cup."

Khan stated that though the players have been under pressure throughout the tournament, they are now used to it. "Since I joined about 18 months ago, we knew that we had to win all remaining matches to qualify directly for the World Cup," he said. "The pressure has been there since the beginning and the boys are used to it."

If Afghanistan are unable to win both the matches, UAE at No. 2 will qualify automatically along with Ireland. UAE won their last two matches, on Friday and Sunday, dismissing Namibia for 39 and 80 respectively, which also caused Netherlands' elimination.

The WCL teams that don't progress directly to the World Cup will get a second chance in next year's qualifiers in New Zealand. They will play with Hong Kong, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Uganda for the other two World Cup spots.

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Winning 14 on bounce breeds confidence - McCullum

When Otago needed 65 runs off the final five overs in their chase of 168, with only four wickets in hand, it looked like Lions had won the game in Jaipur. But James Neesham managed to take it to the Super Over. When Otago had got only seven runs off the first five balls of the Super Over, they looked in bad shape again. But Brendon McCullum charged down to convert one of many good deliveries from Sohail Tanvir into a full toss and hit it for six to give them a defendable 13. When Lions needed only three off the final three deliveries of their over, it seemed the game had finally got away from Otago. But the fielders and Neesham held their nerve, again.

In the end, captain McCullum said, for them it came down to the confidence gleaned from their 14-match winning run in T20s which ended with this tie. "I think it's the luxury of winning all the games on the bounce, it breeds confidence," McCullum said after victory was secured via a superior boundary count. "The guys get pretty composed in the middle and are backing their ability."

They might have been clear in their mind as to what was needed to be done, but the nerves were still jangling, McCullum admitted: "I don't know about calm. I played about three dots and in the Super Over [and that] wouldn't have gone down that well. I missed two really good balls from Tanvir to start the over and at the end was fortunate to get one away."

Neesham, who had thumped 52 off 25 to get it to the Super Over, was entrusted with bowling it for Otago. He didn't bowl the best of overs, dishing out several length deliveries but, as he said later, it was just his day. "Everyone has their day I guess. I guess it was just my day. Someone new stood up in each game, so I guess it was my turn."

He mirrored McCullum's thoughts, saying that the situation was tense but he didn't let that get to him. "Did I look calm? Got to be cool on the outside and not let on, and just be clear in your plans and go forth from there. I think this feeling will linger for a while."

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NZ A prevail in high-scoring game

New Zealand A 350 for 8 (Ronchi 84, Munro 70, Serasinghe 2-46) beat Sri Lanka A 322 (Karunaratne 120, Chandimal 69, Devich 3-58) by 28 runs
Scorecard

Sri Lanka A's lower-order buckled late during a steep chase of 351 in Pallekele, giving New Zeland A a 22-run victory in the first of three one-dayers between the two sides. The victory is New Zealand A's first on their trip to the subcontinent, after having been whitewashed in the one-day series against India A, in addition to losing the unofficial Test series to Sri Lanka A.

Opener Dimuth Karunaratne anchored Sri Lanka A, stitching century-run stands with Kusal Perera and captain, Dinesh Chandimal. Sri Lanka were 314 for 5 towards the end of the 46th over, needing 36 runs off 25 balls. Their slide began when left-arm spinner Ronnie Hira had Sachithra Serasinghe out leg before for 7 off the last ball of the 46th over. New Zealand pace bowler Adam Milne then took three wickets in the 47thover, to leave Sri Lanka tottering at 316 for 9. It took another four balls for New Zealand to secure the win, after wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi had Suranga Lakmal run out for 1.

Karunaratne's run-a-ball 120, which included 17 fours, kept Sri Lanka in the chase and he received good support from Perera and Chandimal. Sri Lanka lost a cluster of wickets after Karunaratne fell but recovered with a brisk knock from Ashan Priyanjan.

Earlier, New Zealand A rode on fifties from Anaru Kitchen, Colin Munro and Luke Ronchi to reach an imposing 350 for 8. They had an indifferent start, losing Anton Devcich early, but Kitchen held things steady with a 50-ball 62. Once he fell, New Zealand slipped a little but an 85-run stand between Munro and Ronchi set the side back on track. After Munro's wicket, Ronchi took charge of the innings, adding 76 crucial runs in quick time with Andrew Ellis. Two big overs towards the end of the innings then propelled NZ A to 350.

Sri Lanka bowlers Shaminda Eranga and Suranga Lakmal had been added to the A team in order to get some match practice in a lean period for the national team, but both fared poorly. Eranga's ten overs cost 84 and Lakmal went for 7.28 an over. They took one wicket apiece.

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De Kock's eventful day ends in defeat

Lions batsman Quinton de Kock's unbeaten 109 was not enough to prevent a heart-breaking Super Over loss to Otago Volts, and their subsequent ouster from the Champions League. De Kock was chiefly responsible for putting Lions in a strong position, and smashed a four and six in the Super Over when 14 was required for victory. However, off the final ball, he failed to take an apparent second run which would have taken them to victory, and keep their tournament hopes alive.

"Yeah, it is difficult," de Kock said after the loss. "I mean I came here and I tried to do my best for the team. I feel bad for the team. Yeah it is sad to lose especially after getting some runs."

De Kock's century was an innings of two parts. His first 50 runs were a rather scratchy affair, with some ill-timed shots around the wicket. However, once he passed fifty, he started to open up and take advantage of some poor bowling from Otago Volts, who bowled a number of short deliveries which de Kock accepted gleefully.

This innings was a landmark for de Kock, who has not enjoyed the best of times in the subcontinent of late. He was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad in this year's auction for his base price of $20,000, and did not do too much after, with a duck on debut, scoring only 6 runs in 3 innings. He was duly dropped from the side and did not feature for the rest of the campaign, despite Sunrisers reaching the final four. Following that, he endured a torrid ODI tour of Sri Lanka, scoring only 55 runs in three innings.

"Yeah I finally scored some runs in the subcontinent. I have been working hard on my game, especially here on these kind of wickets. Yeah, let's hope that my hard work has paid off now."

	"It is the worst I have seen the Lions bowl so it is something we need to work on" Alviro Petersen, Highveld Lions captain

His captain, Alviro Petersen, had praise for his young ward. "Yeah he is a good player," Petersen said. "We know he is a special talent, we have played together and every time he seems to score some runs and put us in a good position."

When queried about the loss, Petersen was most critical of the bowler's performance. "I am more disappointed in the way we bowled. It is the worst I have seen the Lions bowl so it is something we need to work on, and it's something we have to go back to the drawing board and come back stronger."

Petersen was also upfront about the lack of experience his players had in these conditions. "Most of our team hasn't played in the subcontinent. We don't have a lot of international players. We are a team that relies on every single player to perform well, you know, and we just came together here so we are disappointed but we need to keep our heads high."

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Mohit likely to retain place, Yuvraj a chance

Mohit Sharma, who bagged the Man-of-the-Match award on his ODI debut during India's tour of Zimbabwe, is likely to keep his place in the squad for the first half of India's limited-overs series at home against Australia, which starts with the lone Twenty20 international in Rajkot on October 10. Yuvraj Singh has done enough upon his return to be on the selectors' radar.

The national selection panel, which was retained during Sunday's BCCI annual general meeting, will meet in Chennai on Monday to pick the squad for the T20I and first three of the seven ODIs to be played against Australia.

Mohit, the medium-pacer from Haryana who followed up an excellent Ranji Trophy season with Haryana with an impressive IPL season for Chennai Super Kings, has a reputation for striking early in the innings. It is this ability, combined with his work ethic, that has impressed coach Duncan Fletcher. The selectors are of the view he is ready for the highest level.

If Mohit is rewarded with a place, he is likely to replace Vinay Kumar from the triumphant Champions Trophy squad. Besides Mohit, the most discussed player will be Yuvraj, who led India Blue to the Challenger Series title on Sunday.

Yuvraj made his return to international cricket last September after recovering from a rare germ cell cancer. He subsequently lost his place in the side after some middling performances. He is now back after a a prolonged fitness stint in France with renowned trainer Tim Exeter. Ever since returning to competitive cricket, a lean and fit Yuvraj has blazed away consistently.

He marked his return to competitive cricket with an astonishing knock of 123 runs for India A against West Indies A two weeks ago, and followed it up with scores of 40 and 61 in the following one-dayers before signing off the series with a quick-fire 52 in the lone T20. Though he missed the Challenger opener due to a stiff back, he carried in his form with a trademark 84 against India Red before scoring 29 against Delhi in Sunday's final.

Yuvraj has appeared to be at his fluent best, thus forcing the selectors to take note. The selectors have been viewing Yuvraj's resurgence as a "good headache". They now have three choices: to bring back Yuvraj, or to stick with Dinesh Karthik who had a decent Champions Trophy outing, or to go with Ajinkya Rahane, who has been waiting in the wings for a long time.

Two of these middle-order batsmen can be accommodated in case the selectors decide not to go for a like-for-like replacement for an unfit Irfan Pathan from the Champions Trophy squad. However, it is understood that Abhishek Nayar's name will pop up during the discussion for the slot left vacant by Irfan's injury.

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The BCCI's year of controversy

As the Indian board goes into its AGM, a look at the year gone by shows its disregard for propriety and public opinion has only served to overshadow its operational efficiency

In ideal circumstances, the annual general meeting (AGM) of any organisation is an opportunity to take stock, to formulate plans for the future, to apprise its stakeholders of where the body is headed. The BCCI's AGM, though, is more about political equations and aspirations at the best of times. This year is worse than others, what with legal wrangles and fixing controversies raising new issues of propriety every day. This AGM might not have the required mood to analyse the year gone by and make plans for the one coming up, but what if the BCCI were to look back?

There have been IPL controversies both at the start and the end of the year, and the current one is not going to die down any time soon. The president is all set to be re-elected unopposed, but the highest court of the country has said the man has to get his name cleared before assuming office. It was a year when the BCCI was the farthest removed from what the public thinks of it, when its functioning was questioned by the enforcement directorate and the courts, but amid all the controversies it also found enough time to successfully organise two home Test series and a busy domestic season, to host Pakistan without glitches, to provide numerous opportunities for young fringe players through A tours and generate employment for quite a few former cricketers through its broadcast deal that has had more domestic cricket on TV than ever before.

The BCCI can hardly hide behind those achievements. They pale in comparison to the questions of propriety asked of it. Soon after its last AGM, the BCCI oversaw a controversial sale of the Hyderabad franchise in the IPL. Turned out it was only a warm-up for the legal tussles and muck that was to follow. Unhappy with the treatment meted out to its franchise, Pune Warriors, Sahara, India's team sponsors and one of Indian cricket's biggest benefactors over the previous 10 years, expressed its intention to pull out of Indian cricket. Again.

The BCCI's energies were set to be centred around the IPL, but there were skeletons waiting to tumble out of the closet. Mohinder Amarnath, a former selector who was sacked as opposed to being named the chairman as was anticipated, accused N Srinivasan of interfering with selections. Most importantly, not allowing them to remove MS Dhoni as captain. Now there might have been cricketing merit in what was eventually done - there is even a clause that says every team selection has to be ratified by the board president - but here we are talking of a vice-chairman and managing director of a company saving the captaincy of the company's vice-president. The company incidentally owns an IPL team captained by the vice-president.

Thankfully Dhoni and his India team began to turn around its fortune, for who knows he might have been disowned if not, just like the managing director's son-in-law who presented himself as the owner of Chennai Super Kings, and attended conferences in that capacity. The moment the news of Gurunath Meiyappan's alleged involvement in the IPL betting scandal came up, he went from being the owner to an enthusiast in no time at all.

	The BCCI found enough time to successfully organise two home Test series and a busy domestic season, to host Pakistan without glitches, to provide numerous opportunities for young fringe players through A tours and generate employment for quite a few former cricketers through its broadcast deal that has had more domestic cricket on TV than ever before. But the BCCI can hardly hide behind those achievements. They pale in comparison to the questions of propriety asked of it.

The most charitable interpretation of the whole scandal was that the BCCI hadn't done enough to protect its prize asset, the IPL, from the unsavoury elements that were guaranteed to flock around it. A proper corporation would have sacked everyone responsible for such a lapse of security, but here the BCCI fell to its lowest. Until then there was nothing to suggest Srinivasan was personally at fault. Until now he was just a victim of carelessness. Now the BCCI appointed a panel that would absolve everybody without a thorough investigation. It was as clear a message as any that the BCCI didn't care what people thought of the way it functioned.

The board was now without an open leader, and had a figurehead who clearly knew he was just keeping the seat warm, playing Bharat to the exiled Ram. Still the board had enough energy to interfere in the internal matters of another board. Again this call to ask Cricket South Africa to steer clear of Haroon Lorgat might or might not have had administrative merit, but the BCCI's reaction to his appointment showed how little regard it held the public and the international cricket community in. Not only did it renege on an agreement it made in principle, it disappointed the people who had been looking forward to a full tour of South Africa with some anticipation. Not to mention its own cricket wing: the selectors who put plans in place, and the coach who went to South Africa to see how the A team was doing there.

The cases, inquiries and controversies will not cease. The BCCI's operational efficiency - it is no mean job to organise 13 simultaneous first-class matches every week of the season, with them also coinciding with internationals - will keep being neglected unless it cleans up its act on other fronts.

And there is a lot to clean. And more will pile on. Next year's IPL will clash with general elections in India, and might need to be taken out of the country. A new team sponsor might be needed. The search for a new title sponsor for cricket in India is on. The BCCI will hope that in the coming year it bounces back like its cricket team did after a horrible last year. How that cricket team will hope it had its board's tenacity to dig its heels in and somehow, by hook or by crook, maintain status quo when it kept losing.

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Hussey stars as Super Kings cruise into semi-finals

Chennai Super Kings 140 for 2 (Hussey 57*, Vijay 42) beat Brisbane Heat 137 for 7 (Cutting 42, Hartley 35) by eight wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Chennai Super Kings sauntered through to the Champions League semi-finals with an effortless eight-wicket win in Ranchi, while scuttling Brisbane Heat's tournament hopes. A stuttering Heat top order laid a mediocre foundation, before the men in the middle ran aground on Super Kings' spin.

R Ashwin was almost indecipherable in the middle overs, but Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina contributed fine spells as well; the trio shared four wickets and conceded just 37 runs in 11 overs collectively. Michael Hussey then stroked an unhurried, unbeaten half century, to help run down the target of 138 in 15.5 overs.

Dom Michael had had quite a road to the Champions League in 2013, but could not manage to make a run in his first Twenty20 match, departing in the first over to Mohit Sharma. James Hopes then promised much during his 14-ball 20, but mis-hit Albie Morkel to mid-off to leave his side at 29 for 2 in the fourth over.

It wasn't until spin arrived after the Powerplay, however, that Heat's evening truly took a nosedive. Ravindra Jadeja had had a poor tournament with the ball until tonight, and perhaps Heat had planned to dominate him early, but Dan Christian's attempt to hit Jadeja's first ball for a straight six, ended with him being caught at long-off for three. Four balls later, Joe Burns edged Jadeja to slip to collect a golden duck.

All this did was set the scene for Ashwin's last three overs, which cost two runs and claimed the wicket of Chris Lynn who underestimated the turn Ashwin generated from a conventional offbreak, and top-edged to short third man. The remaining 17 deliveries were a canny mix of googlies, offbreaks, carrom balls and more big-spinning leggies. Heat's middle order could hardly lay a bat on his deliveries, and soon abandoned any thoughts of hitting him to the fence.

The six overs following the Powerplay cost Heat four wickets for 12 runs, and from 66 for 6, a total below 120 beckoned. Ben Cutting, however, stroked his best Twenty20 innings to elevate his side toward credibility. He was watchful alongside Chris Hartley to begin with, hitting six from his first 14 balls, but adopted violence as the innings drew to a close, hitting five sixes from the last 10 balls he faced to finish on 42 not out from 25.

On a decent batting pitch, and with dew collecting on the outfield, 137 for 7 would rarely have been a base for victory, and at no stage in the chase did it test a purring Super Kings batting order. Hussey and Vijay punished indiscipline, but the pair were largely content to push runs into the outfield when the bowlers found their line.

With Super Kings' bowlers having prospered, Nathan Hauritz's overs shaped as crucial ones for Heat, but he was launched for two sixes in his first over, and was almost as expensive in his two subsequent overs. Vijay departed for 42, breaking a run of three consecutive ducks, but after having helped put on 75 runs for the first wicket in 9.2 overs, the side were well on their way to victory. MS Dhoni finished the match with a six, much to the delight of his home crowd, and Super Kings confirmed themselves as the in-form side of yet another tournament.

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