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Mysore Maharajas squandered a major opportunity to get past Bijapur Bulls and succumbed to a five-run defeat in their opening game of the inaugural Karnataka Premier League. They grabbed the last seven Bijapur wickets for 18 to restrict them to a chaseable 156, and failed to take advantage of an opening stand of 96 between Nitin Bille (35) and HT Sudhir Rao (77) in their run-chase.Bijapur opted to bat and were given a solid start by opener Gaurav Dhiman (69) and wicketkeeper Devraj Patil (40), who added a quickfire 54 for the second wicket. Patil was especially aggressive, striking five fours and two sixes in his 18-ball knock. But offspinner C Raghu then triggered a collapse, finishing with 4 for 8 to even out things.Mysore, after their solid opening stand, were coasting at 130 for 2 but Stuart Binny grabbed two wickets, including that of Rao. Left-arm spinner Deepak Anish chipped in with one to see Bijapur home. Those three wickets fell for just six runs in nine balls, and the sixth-wicket pair of Adithya Sagar and KM Aiyappa failed to score the required 21 runs off the remaining 10 balls to concede the game.Mangalore United recovered from defeat in their opening game to beat Shamanoor Davangere Diamonds by 32 runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Their effort was led by a blistering 51-ball 89 by captain and opener Bharat Chipli which formed the base of a fighting score of 160. Mangalore appeared to have justified their decision to bat after they were sitting pretty at 116 for 2 in the 15th over but they lost three wickets for four runs in the space of an over to give Davangere a chance to fight back. However, a late cameo from Vijay Chauhan (27) ensured Mangalore reached a total that eventually proved adequate.Davangere needed a good start to scale down their target but they faltered, losing their first three wickets for 27 runs. Opener Mayank Agarwal (34) and Sunil Raju (31) launched a recovery, adding 54, but fell off successive deliveries to virtually shut out any possibility of a Davangere win. Mohanram Nidesh chipped in with 23 but, by then, it was too late. Mangalore’s bowling effort was a collective one, with each bowler bagging at least a wicket.

Daniel Vettori has said his team fought well to dismiss Sri Lanka for 452 but the real test was to back that with a good batting performance.New Zealand fought back through the spin and pace combination of Vettori and Chris Martin who shared eight wickets between them to dismiss the final six Sri Lankan batsmen for 66 runs after the home team had started the day at 293 for 3.”From where we were yesterday the big thing for us is that everyone showed some fight today to put ourselves in a position where we really couldn’t have asked for too much [more],” Vettori said. “The real key for New Zealand is to back that up with a good performance with the bat.”He said New Zealand needed to bowl well in pairs if they are to restrict the home side’s batsmen. “Because we were leaking runs at the other end the Sri Lankan batsmen were able to play me out and not have to take so many risks,” he said. “The hardest thing was trying to get Chris and me bowling together because we both wanted the same end. The key to bowling (in the rest of the series) is (getting) the rest of the bowlers to support Chris and myself and just bowl in tandem.”The big wicket of Mahela Jayawardene, resuming from 108*, in the second over of the day boosted New Zealand’s confidence. “Mahela is such a disciplined batsman he doesn’t take any risks. He knows these sorts of grounds and bats so well,” Vettori said. “He showed the discipline and maturity you need to score in this part of the world. For us to get him so early gave the team a little bit of lift particularly with the new ball around the corner.”New Zealand ended the second day at 87 for 2 and Vettori said the most pleasing thing was how well his batsmen played the Sri Lankan bowlers. “It is always going to be difficult for a lot of their guys coming up against bowlers they have never seen before. Sometimes when New Zealand teams are facing quality spin bowling they can be a bit jittery but there was good confidence (on display) here. I thought [Tim] McIntosh, [Daniel] Flynn and [Martin] Guptill, for the short time he was there, looked like they were in control. It’s a good sign for us.”However, with New Zealand still trailing by 365 runs, Vettori said the home side still held the edge. “Sri Lanka is obviously in front with the quality of their bowling line-up. [Thilan] Thushara bowled exceptionally well today. We know we got a lot of work to do in the morning. [Jeetan] Patel’s a good player of spin if he can stick around for a while with McIntosh they can set up something for us.”Vettori said that Jacob Oram could not take the field the whole day because he was ill but would be fit to bat if needed on Thursday.

Trevor Chappell, the former Australia batsman, has been named coach of Singapore ahead of their ICC World Cricket League Division 6 campaign next month.Chappell, younger brother of Ian and Greg, has coached Bangladesh and spent time as a fielding adviser to Sri Lanka. “There is plenty to be happy about,” Chappell told the Singapore Cricket Association website. “There is plenty of talent. Obviously, there are areas we can improve.”Singapore, the hosts of the tournament and one of the favourites, are hoping to qualify for Division 5 which gets underway in Nepal next year. Chappell is to spend a month with the team and arrived in the country last weekend.”We are in Division 6 and need to be among the top two to make it to the next higher division,” said the board’s deputy president, Mahmood Gaznavi. “In terms of ability, it is my firm belief that we have the quality to make a big impression in this tournament.”There is much work that needs to be done,” added Gaznavi. “Players have to seize this opportunity and lift their approach at practices to be ready in all aspects for the WCL Division 6.”

The West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) has accused the West Indies board of not responding to its submission of “marked up” retainer contracts last month and then penalising players for not signing the contracts in time. The board vice-president Dave Cameron, on the other hand, said contracts had not been signed because of the WIPA’s “unreasonable behaviour”.On Tuesday, the WIPA announced a boycott by the original squad of the first Test against Bangladesh starting on Thursday and said the players had played for four successive tournaments without receiving contracts. The players’ body has released what it claims to be the facts, based on meetings with the WICB over the last four months.On its website, the WIPA says that on March 24 and March 25, the WICB and WIPA met and made proposals with regard to fees for retainer contracts. The board proposed that the most pressing issue was the contracts and fees of first-class players and suggested that this form the agenda of the next meeting. It stated that in April, the two reached an agreement on retainers and fees and the WIPA received a draft copy of the retainer contract; it was asked by the board “to provide documentation with regards to the players Intellectual Property Rights and Image Rights which WIPA did”.Later that month the WIPA “submitted to the WICB what was agreed by the parties on April 2nd 2009 which included the retainer fees among other things”. A week after this, the board responded “confirming agreement including the fees relating to the retainer contracts”. In May the board told the WIPA it would be willing to discuss the contracts “after it had received the marked up version from WIPA”.The WIPA claims it submitted a marked-up version of the retainer contract to board official Alanna Medford but received no response for a month. WIPA said it did not get a reply after writing to Medford in June that the players were keen to sign the contracts. On June 17, WIPA said, it received an email, also sent to West Indies captain Chris Gayle, from WICB chief financial officer Barry Thomas in which he said: “I would like to address the issue of retainers and wish to point out that the time for signing retainers has passed. Our major sponsor has withheld three (3) quarterly sponsorship payments for October 2008, January 2009 and April 2009 respectively totalling USD 3,000,000 as a consequence of the delay in signing retainer contracts. We have been penalized for not delivering central contracts in the required timeframe. These contracts are required to be signed so that they take effect from October 1st of each contract year.” The WIPA said it sent a letter to the WICB president Julian Hunte demanding an explanation for the email but did not receive a reply.Cameron said each year since the contracts were agreed, WIPA wanted to make changes to the standard agreed form. “They are not prepared to agree on any contracts unless the changes demanded by them are incorporated,” Cameron said. According to him, only 16 contracts were signed which did not include “most of the senior players”.On July 8 WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine said the decision to pull out of the series came after the latest talks with the WICB failed to resolve several issues. “They are now being asked to play their fifth consecutive series without a contract, which is highly unacceptable,” Ramnarine said. “When a player called me last week and asked what was the position with regards to his injury while playing cricket for the West Indies in the just concluded Twenty20 World Cup, my response was that was there was no written contract in place and therefore any action that would have to be taken would have to be taken in that context. Professional sportsmen should not be allowed to play any sport that has such a high risk without the necessary protection.”Hunte said the Test would go on despite the boycott and a second-string squad, which included nine uncapped players, was announced shortly before the start of the game. Hunte told Reuters there had been “a lot of intimidation of players” but refused to elaborate on who had intimidated which players.Shortly before leaving, Gayle apologised to fans on his Twitter page. “Heading home, sorry to all the cricket fans – this is the last thing we want to happen to the game. Need respect and stop taking us for granted!!”

John Buchanan’s decision to join the ECB for a coaching assignment in the lead-up to the Ashes has drawn an indifferent response from the Australians. Shane Watson, who is in the Ashes squad, said Buchanan would have little impact on England’s campaign while the retired Stuart MacGill said the move was more likely to hurt England than help them.Watson said players understood that coaching these days was a global business and mentors were free to ply their trade wherever they chose. Since losing the Ashes in 2005 Australia have gained the bowling coach Troy Cooley, who helped England master reverse swing, while Rod Marsh is another who has assisted both countries.”I think it’s great for world cricket to be able to use the knowledge, and it can work both ways,” Watson told the . “We’ve got Troy to be able to make the most of the information he got from coaching the England [bowlers].”We’ve had two years with Tim Nielsen now and obviously John Buchanan has coached Kolkata and done some other things as well, so to me it’s part of his job and what he is trying to do as a coach, to get around and help people out whether it’s Australia-wide or internationally. He’s got great experience so I think that’s his call and we’re lucky to have Troy on our side now.”MacGill, who suffered a knee injury during Buchanan’s boot camp in 2006, said it was clear which team had come out better in the lead-up to this year’s series. He said England would have been better to call on their own coach from 2005, Duncan Fletcher, rather than Buchanan.”John Buchanan’s mantra has always been that if the players look after themselves, the results will look after themselves,” MacGill said in the . “In 2005, Australia had a very, very good side, all they needed to do was tailor-make a game plan, and we didn’t. We didn’t spend any time on their players or conditions.”What won England the Ashes in 2005 was their bowling, and if you look at it now, we got Troy Cooley and they got John Buchanan. Troy Cooley won England the Ashes and John Buchanan lost it for us. I don’t begrudge Buck for trying to make a living, but his coaching record in England isn’t crash hot. He lost the Ashes and had a stint with Middlesex that also didn’t work out.”Shane Warne, one of the strongest critics of Buchanan’s coaching methods, couldn’t resist another dig at him. Warne reckoned that Buchanan’s switch would only motivate Australia to go harder at England.”I think that’s a great move because that means we’ve got more of a chance,” Warne said. “Hopefully, Buck (Buchanan) will be doing his stuff and he’ll be working and doing all his things and hopefully overcomplicating things. I reckon it gives our chances a big boost and makes our blokes more hungry. Hopefully, he gets all of them in a boot camp and Freddie (Andrew) Flintoff and (Kevin) Pietersen hurt their knees, that would be great.”Regardless of whether Buchanan has any dealings with the England side – his main role is likely to be with junior teams and the England Lions – the Australians have little concern about his impact. Watson said there wasn’t a great deal Buchanan could divulge about the squad’s current plans.”There are no real secrets to what we do in the Australian team,” Watson said. “It’s just the way we prepare … I don’t think it’s rocket science, what he’ll be able to give them, anyway.”

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has unveiled an amnesty offer for South African players associated with the ICL, and offered them a chance to return to official cricket if they terminate their contracts with the league by May 31. Those who joined the unofficial league include Justin Kemp, Nicky Boje, Dale Benkenstein, Andrew Hall and Johan van der Wath.CSA’s decision, taken during a board meeting on Friday, is in line with similar offers announced by various national boards following a recent ICC guideline on the issue. It specified a six-month cooling period from their last ICL match in November 2008, so the players would be eligible for the new South African season come September.The move by various national boards to offer amnesty to the ICL players was prompted by the BCCI’s offer to ICL’s Indian players that was made on April 29.

20 overs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outS Badrinath’s half-century guided Chennai to victory and the top of the table•Associated Press

Matthew Hayden and Shane Warne. Sixty-nine Tests together, the last 12 of them wins, but today they would decide who’d win this IPL game and go to the top of the table. There could be only one winner, and on the night it was Hayden. Chasing 141 Chennai Super Kings were in for a tough one, with the pitch turning square and staying slow and Warne looking like pulling off something special. Hayden, though, attacked clinically, played like a workman in between those assaults, and ensured Chennai beat Rajasthan for the second time in this IPL. He had with him S Badrinath, who went from being a supporting act to a lead player towards the end.The two teams seemed inseparable till Hayden’s one-on-one with with Warne. A disciplined Chennai, with a varied attack and well captained, had kept Rajasthan down to a total that – at the half-way mark – they would have backed themselves to chase. But Rajasthan were equally disciplined, smart, and well led. In the first eight overs, they had limited Chennai to 49 for 2, including Suresh Raina’s wicket. Yusuf Pathan was bowling big turners at 95kmph.More importantly Hayden had faced just 15 of those 48 deliveries. Even more importantly Warne had bowled an over of dip, drift and break when Badrinath couldn’t even lay bat to ball. In the ninth over Warne bowled to Hayden for the first time, throwing the first ball wide, which was called wide despite big turn. The next one was flighted wide again, and Hayden decided to reverse-sweep late but perfectly. He then walked down to Warne, as if the keeper was standing back, and got to the pitch and hit him flat over long-on.That over may have got Chennai only 12 runs, but the statement that Hayden made was huge. Warne was playable again, the required run-rate came back within manageable proportions, and soon Badrinath became comfortable too.It showed in how Badrinath overtook Hayden’s pace in the 16th over, bowled by Shane Harwood. The first ball he scooped over fine leg for six, steered one wide of point for four, whipped another over fine leg, and then upper-cut one over the keeper. This was a man bracketed as a Test batsman yet improvising to each and every delivery of an over, and providing the final game-breaker. He had come a long way in one innings, from looking out of sorts against Warne to finishing the game off.Warne finally got Hayden with a stumping down the leg side when Hayden walked down once again, but by then – in the 17th over – the game had been decided.This was also a battle between the two best captains in this tournament. And they had set the tone by exchanging indirect sledges at the toss. Warne had a go at Chennai, saying they were not good chasers. Dhoni retorted, saying given his strong batting line-up, the Rajasthan batsmen would be under immense pressure to set a defendable total.

The Chennai bowlers did their bit in accentuating that pressure. Rajasthan struggled for momentum right from the start, when Albie Morkel struck in his first over – for the third time in three matches. Dhoni rotated his bowlers around smartly, using seven of them in first 10 overs, who gave away only five boundaries.Swapnil Asnodkar and Graeme Smith added 53 in 50 balls, but there was no sense of restlessness because of the slow run-rate. The key moment came in the third quarter of the innings, when after both Asnodkar and Smith had wasted those slow starts, Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja looked to open up, hitting Shadab Jakati for a six each in the 14th over, but Chennai accounted for both of them in the next two overs.Dhoni made two smart moves then – he brought in L Balaji from the other end, and let Jakati continue despite that over. Balaji, helped by a superb diving-in-front catch by Raina at point, accounted for Jadeja, and Jakati got Yusuf who went for a repeat of the six in the next over. Again this dismissal was made possible by smart work from Jacob Oram at the long-on boundary.Dhoni went back to rotating his bowlers, the fielders stayed sharp, and Rajasthan struggled to get going again. Dhoni himself made two stumpings. Warne hit 21 off 11 deliveries to give Rajasthan something to bowl to. As far as the battle of captains goes, they were probably locked, but Dhoni was leading the better side on the night.

In a swift turnaround, South Africa has overtaken England as the preferred venue to host the IPL next month. Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, met with Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola in Johannesburg on Tuesday, and the pair will conduct a press conference to discuss the outcome of their meeting at 3pm GMT. Should South Africa be named the host nation, it is unclear whether Modi will continue with his scheduled trip to London on Wednesday.Weather has turned out to be the principal factor to have swayed the BCCI officials, a bulk of whom had been in favour of England until Monday morning when the realisation occurred that rain could seriously affect “as many as 70% of the matches” in the Twenty20 tournament, which runs from April 10 to May 24.Another reason for England’s chances receding is the assurance from top officials within the South African government and Cricket South Africa that the IPL will receive the full red carpet treatment, well-placed sources said.”The weather in South Africa seems to have become the deciding factor,” the sources said. “Besides, South Africa is working out to be a much cheaper option. The South African government’s interest in hosting the event is a major factor, too.” However, Modi is also scheduled to leave Johannesburg for London on Tuesday evening to meet ECB officials, who have also expressed interest in hosting the event.South Africa is also considered a better option when it comes to TV timings in comparison to England. For instance, the IPL wants to start its first match of the day at 4 pm IST, which would mean a 11.30 am start in England. In South Africa it would be a 12.30 pm start. The TV rights scenario is also less complicated in South Africa as Supersport owns the rights both for the IPL and for international cricket played in the country. Additionally, the cost of running the tournament in South Africa would be substantially less than in England. And the fact that the South African domestic season concludes a day before the IPL’s scheduled start date should lead to less logistical problems than in England, where the county season will be just underway.Modi and Majola are known to have a strong personal relationship, especially since the two boards became founding partners of the Twenty20 Champions League last year. It is believed that such a rapport would prove crucial in organising a tournament of this magnitude at such short notice. “This gives both the boards a lot of room for negotiations, adjustments and quick decisions, something that may not be possible with the ECB, which has to go by its board for almost every decision,” the sources said.Cricket South Africa (CSA) summoned their provinces to a teleconference on Monday afternoon, where they were updated on the latest IPL developments. “We have been told to expect a decision by Wednesday morning,” said a South African provincial official with knowledge of the conference call. “We have had some early discussions about what we might need to do to prepare for this, but as far as we are aware, no final decisions have been made.”Majola spoke cautiously on Monday evening when asked to assess South Africa’s chances of hosting the IPL’s second season. “Until I meet with Mr Modi and BCCI officials and know exactly what they want and how they think this should proceed, then I cannot say where we stand,” Majola said. “It has been strangely quiet since we were first asked by officials from the BCCI and IPL whether we can assist them, and to the best of my knowledge we remain just one of the options out there. We are interested in assisting, but we have not heard anything further.”Shaun Pollock, the former South African captain and current advisor to the Mumbai Indians, said he would be open to serving as a conduit between his IPL franchise and the KwaZulu-Natal board if approached. Pollock is currently in Durban with eight members of the Mumbai squad for a pre-season training camp.”I would love the Mumbai Indians to come to Durban,” Pollock said. “But, having said that, I don’t know who will decide which franchise goes where, or even if (the IPL) will come here. It’s hard to know at the moment. One person tells you it’s 60-40 in South Africa’s favour and another tells you it’s 60-40 to England. But if it were to come here, I would be happy to help Mumbai if they were interested in basing themselves in my home area and conditions.”As of Sunday evening, England had emerged as the preferred venue to host the tournament after a powerful lobby within the BCCI and the Indian team management felt that such a move would help in preparing for the World Twenty20 in June.However, that decision was almost entirely dependent on the ECB overcoming considerable obstacles related to costs and logistics and the approval of its stakeholders, including the counties, many of whom fear that their domestic schedule will be affected by the IPL.Apparently, there is also a certain amount of concern at the ICC level about the state of venues in England for the World Twenty20 starting on June 5. The IPL will run until May 24 alongside the English domestic season starting in April and the West Indies Test series in May. “It’s the beginning of the season in England and Wales and there is a lot of Twenty20 cricket being played including the ICC World Twenty20,” David Morgan, the ICC president, told . “I do think there will be great difficulties in relocating it.”

The former England legspinner, Ian Salisbury, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket in order to pursue a coaching role at his old club, Surrey.Salisbury, 39, made his first-class debut in 1989 and played 15 Tests for England but his 20 wickets cost 76.95 each. He started with Sussex before moving to Surrey in 1997, for whom he took 368 wickets. He then moved to Warwickshire in 2007 and last summer picked up 31 wickets at 27.90.”Following discussions with Ian over recent days, the club agreed that Surrey could approach him in connection with a new role in their recently revised coaching structure,” said Ashley Giles, Warwickshire’s director of cricket.”After a good season in 2008 Ian’s contribution to the Warwickshire squad will be missed, but in all honesty we did not wish to stand in his way when such a good opportunity became available.”Salisbury replaces Nadeed Shahid as Surrey’s second XI coach who today left the club after 15 years at The Oval.”Surrey are a huge club and I want to be a key part of making them the most successful team,” Salisbury said. “In the last decade I was part of a largely homegrown side that enjoyed huge success and in my role with the second team and Pemberton Greenish Academy I look forward to working with the club’s exciting young players to create a new generation of Surrey greats.”Gus Mackay and Chris Adams have put together a top class cricket management team and I am very excited to be a part of it.”

Triple crown
Australia’s pre-match training equipment usually includes a bag of balls but on the first day at the Wanderers they also needed a bag of baggy greens. As the group huddled an hour before play began, Ricky Ponting was handing out caps as freely as if they were promotional products. It was the first time since 1985 that Australia had included three debutants in a Test and Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes and Marcus North received their caps in alphabetical order. And the last trio to debut together? A handy group made up of Merv Hughes, Geoff Marsh and Bruce Reid.Right man, wrong shot
Phillip Hughes will be glad that the selectors invested in him for the entire series because the way he lost his wicket in his first Test innings wasn’t a great advertisement for his game. The much-hyped Hughes volunteered to face the first ball of the match and left it alone comfortably. He should have done the same with his fourth delivery. Instead, Hughes’ eyes lit up at the short, rising ball from Dale Steyn and he flashed madly trying to guide it over the slips, only to get an ugly edge behind. It’s not a ball he will forget in a hurry, no matter how much he tries.Right man, wrong continent
Instead of being part of Australia’s attack, the destroyer from their last tour of South Africa, Stuart Clark, was in the television studio in Australia helping to introduce the day’s play. Clark is still recovering from elbow surgery and the Australians would love to have him at the Wanderers, where he picked up seven wickets three years ago in his third Test. But he showed that even halfway around the world he can sum up conditions well. Worried by the threat of Dale Steyn and co, when Ponting won the toss and decided to bat, Clark said he hoped Australia wouldn’t be three or four down at lunch. The result? 78 for 3 at the break.Bowden 1, Smith 0
Billy Bowden has plenty of critics and after a couple of awful decisions over the past few months it’s only fair that he be praised for his good calls. The first referral of the series came when the bowler Morne Morkel and the entire cordon were convinced Ricky Ponting had inside-edged behind for 70. Bowden said no and Graeme Smith said we’ll see about that. The footage showed the ball had flicked Ponting’s trousers on the way through and although there were perhaps a couple of replays too many, the third official Asad Rauf combined with Bowden to ensure the right call was made.If the cap fits …
After the Australians were handing out baggy greens prior to play, there was another cap presentation at the tea break. Graeme Pollock was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame and was given his commemorative cap by the ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat. Pollock is one of two South Africans, along with Barry Richards, to be included in the initial 55 men in the Hall of Fame. “It was a great idea by the players’ association and the ICC to put something together like this,” Pollock said. “I know the way we’re playing cricket at the moment there are going to be quite a few more South Africans in the future.”Filling the Bullring
The Wanderers is famous for its intense atmosphere and there was plenty of noise on the first day, even if the crowd was just over 10,000. But a record number of tickets have been sold with more than 95,000 purchased for the five days. The next challenge is to get all those fans to actually turn up.