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Former India captain Sourav Ganguly does not read much into India's failure in the second ICC World Twenty20 and says Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co. will erase their bitter memories by bouncing back in the four-match ODI series in the West Indies beginning tomorrow.

Fresh from his commentary assignment in the T20 World Cup in England, Ganguly differed with the views of coach Gary Kirsten who had blamed "fatigue" for the team's pathetic show.

"You must remember that Indians have been doing well for last one and half months. You should not look much into their failure in T20 World Cup," the left-hander told reporters.

He further said India would have to deal with the "setback" of losing Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan for the series.

While Tendulkar and Zaheer have been rested, Sehwag is nursing a shoulder injury.

Asked whether Indians should worry about containing destructive opener Chris Gayle, Ganguly said, "Not only Gayle, (Ramnaresh) Sarwan, (Dwayne) Bravo... everyone is capable of playing good so it will be a tight contest."

About the recent controversy regarding "hiding injury" as Dhoni has warned teammates post-Sehwag episode, Ganguly chose to differ and said he had never heard of a player not disclosing his injury.

"I don't think if there is anything like that. At this level, every player is honest while representing his country.

I have never heard of anybody hiding injury during my tenure as captain," the most successful Indian captain said.

Disagreeing on Kirsten's view that fatigue was a factor, Ganguly said, "I don't think fatigue is a concern for cricketers these days who are professional to meet the demands of international cricket. Also, the ICC prepares the Future Tours Programme taking care of the busy schedule.

Asked about the ouster of controversial John Buchanan as Kolkata Knight Riders coach, Ganguly said, "It was a team decision and I know as much as you do. I can't comment further."

On Buchanan's replacement, Ganguly said, "There are many names doing rounds, but I have no knowledge."

Ganguly was talking to reporters at his Videocon School of Cricket in Salt Lake at a function to felicitate sub-junior cricketers who won the Amber Roy tournament conducted by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

Three cricketers selected in the Indian squad for the four-match ODI series in the West Indies are yet to depart for the Caribbean because of transit visa problems.

Mumbai's Abhishek Nayar and Tamil Nadu's Murali Vijay and Subramaniam Badrinath are the three players who are waiting for their UK transit visas to proceed for the West Indies via London, it was learnt on Tuesday.

"They will get their visas today and are set to leave tonight. They are scheduled to reach Jamaica (venue of the first two ODIs) by tomorrow evening local time," Cricket Board sources told PTI.

The delayed departure will leave the trio, which has not played any top-level cricket after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League on May 24, with very little time to get adjusted to the conditions in the Caribbean prior to the series opener on June 26 at Kingston, Jamaica.

The selection of the 15-strong team was done in London on June 19 and the rest of the team members, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, have already reached Jamaica and started practising after India's early elimination from the ICC World T20 competition in England.

India are to play their second to fourth ODIs on June 28 (Kingston, Jamaica), April 3 and 5 (both at Gros Islet, St Lucia).

Last time around, they were the toast of the nation, this time not even their own families would have raised a toast to them - at least not in public.

From being defending champions to not having a single player in the World Eleven announced by the ICC for the World T20 Cup, the Indian team's wheel of fortune has turned a full revolution.

The ICC named its eleven on Monday and after losing three consecutive matches in the Super Eights, no Indian player made the cut.

Four Pakistanis feature, including captain Younis Khan who has been named skipper of this team, other than Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul and Kamran Akmal.

However, there was one Indian face figuring in the Women's XI announced by cricket's governing body and it was that of bowler Rumeli Dhar.

The men's team, including 12th man Lasith Maligna, contained four players from Pakistan, three each from South Africa and Sri Lanka and two from the West Indies.

The women's team, led by England skipper Charlotte Edwards, included five players from the winner, England, four from beaten finalist New Zealand and one each from Australia, India and Sri Lanka.

The men's team was chosen by a select group of experts, including former England pacer Jonathan Agnew, cricketer-turned-commentator Ian Bishop, Twenty20 World Cup Tournament Director Steve Elworthy, ICC Match Referee Alan Hurst and Indian journalist Sharda Ugra.

The women's team was selected by ICC Match Referee Chris Broad, former England captain Clare Connor, Steve Elworthy, commentator Alison Mitchell and journalist Jenny Roesler.

ICC World XI (Men): Chris Gayle (West Indies), Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Younis Khan (Pakistan, captain), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Kamran Akmal (Pakistan, wicketkeeper), Wayne Parnell (South Africa), Umar Gul (Pakistan), Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka). 12th man: Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)

ICC World XI (Women): Shelley Nitschke (Australia), Charlotte Edwards (England, captain), Claire Taylor (England), Aimee Watkins (New Zealand), Sarah Taylor (England, wicketkeeper), Suzi Bates (New Zealand), Lucy Doolan (New Zealand), Rumeli Dhar (India), Laura Marsh (England), Holly Colvin (England), Sian Ruck (New Zealand). 12th player: Eshani Kaushalya (Sri Lanka)

Pakistan won their first major title in 17 years when they stunned Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the World Twenty20 final at a sell-out Lord's here on Sunday.

Seamer Abdur Razzaq claimed three wickets as Pakistan bowled and fielded aggressively to restrict Sri Lanka to 138-6, then coasted home easily with eight deliveries to spare.

Shahid Afridi hit an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls, his second consecutive half-century, and former captain Shoaib Malik made 24 not out during a match-winning partnership of 76 for the undefeated third wicket.

Pakistan, runners-up to India in the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago, ended Sri Lanka's unbeaten run in the tournament with style. Pakistan last won an official multi-nation tournament in 1992 when Imran Khan's team lifted the World Cup by beating England in the final at the Melbourne cricket ground in Australia. Sunday's win by Younus Khan's team gave Pakistanis back home reason to cheer as the cricket-mad nation has been deprived of international tours due to security concerns in the volatile nation.

The International Cricket Council has already ruled out holding World Cup matches in Pakistan in 2011 following the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore on March 3.

Pakistani openers Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan ensured there were no early scares as they put on 48 for the first wicket in seven overs. Sanath Jayasuriya broke through with his first delivery in the next over when he beat Akmal in the air with his left-arm spin and had him stumped for 37 off 28 balls.

Jayasuriya then took a catch to get rid of Shahzaib off Muttiah Muralitharan for 19, but Afridi and Malik took Pakistan home amid loud celebrations from their fans in the stands.

Sri Lanka were dealt quick blows after captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to take first strike on a slow wicket. The Lankans slumped to 2-2 in the first nine balls and that became 34-4 before Sangakkara himself led the rescue act with a defiant unbeaten 64 from 52 balls. Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews put on 68 for the unbroken seventh wicket as Sri Lanka plundered 59 runs in the final five overs.

Mathews returned unbeaten on 35 off 24 balls.

Pakistan got off to a sensational start when teenage fast bowler Mohammad Aamir sent back the in-form Tillekaratne Dilshan with the fifth ball of the match.

Dilshan, the tournament's leading scorer with 317 runs, miscued a pull shot off the speedy left-armer and was caught at backward square-leg by Shahzaib Hasan for zero.

Four balls later, Shahzaib grabbed his second catch at mid-off as Jehan Mubarak skied a leading edge off Razzaq, who shared the new ball with Aamir.

Jayasuriya counter-attacked with a six and four in Razzaq's second over, but the bowler hit back two balls later as the left-handed veteran edged a ball on to his stumps after making 17.

Razzaq, who replaced the injured Yasir Arafat after ending his links with the rebel Indian Cricket League, struck again in his third over when Misbah-ul Haq dived to his right at slip to remove Mahela Jayawardene for one.

While Shahid Afridi bagged the 'Player of the Match' award, Tillekaratne Dilshan was declared the 'Player of the Tournament'.

South African captain Graeme Smith will not let his team be branded chokers anymore despite failing to make the final of the World Twenty20 here.

South Africa, overwhelming favourites after five straight wins in the tournament, were knocked out by Pakistan in a seven-run defeat in Thursday's semi-final.

Shahid Afridi smashed 51 from 34 balls and then grabbed 2-16 with his leg-spin as Pakistan successfully defended 149-4 to restrict the Proteas to 142-5 before a sell-out crowd at Trent Bridge.

"Every time we lose an important game, that word, chokers, is thrown around," a disappointed Smith said after the match.

"But we have played great cricket and I am proud of the way the guys have performed.

"During the last couple of years we have been on an upward curve and the team will improve and get stronger and stronger."

South Africa have faltered in most major multi-nation tournaments like the World Cup and Champions Trophy despite being one of the leading sides in the modern game.

Smith said the semi-final loss hurt, but conceded Pakistan were the better team and deserved to win.

"It is obviously disappointing and sad to be leaving the tournament now," he said.

"We have played some great cricket in this tournament and played some great cricket in the semi-final.

"But Pakistan brought their 'A' game to this match and every cog worked well for them.

"Afridi was the difference. His four overs brought Pakistan back into the game. We lost our way and never got back into it.

"I think we deserved to be in the final with the way we performed during this tournament, but that is not how it works. Pakistan played better than us."

Pakistan, runners-up to India in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago, will play either Sri Lanka or the West Indies in Sunday's final at Lord's.

Afridi plundered eight boundaries, including four in succession off Johan Botha, after Pakistan elected to bat on a wicket that slowed down as the evening progressed.

Veteran Jacques Kallis made a brave attempt to take the South Africans home, striking seven fours and a six in 64 from 54 balls, but the other batsmen faltered against the spot-on attack.

Smith failed to make use of an early chance when he was dropped by Umar Gul as he skied a return catch to seamer Mohammad Aamir after making 10.

Afridi, coming on to bowl in the seventh over, struck twice in four deliveries when he bowled Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers to make South Africa 50-3 in 8.3 overs.

Afridi and fellow-spinner Saeed Ajmal made runs hard to come by, and when the dangerous Gul came on to bowl in the 14th over, South Africa needed a further 77 from 42 balls.

Kallis and JP Duminy raised South Africa's hopes by adding 61 from 53 balls for the fourth wicket, but Ajmal broke the threatening stand by having Kallis caught in the deep in the 18th over.

Duminy remained unbeaten on 44 from 39 balls but the task of needing 23 runs in the last over bowled by Aamir proved too much for him and Mark Boucher.

It did not matter at the end that Pakistan, who were 120-3 after 15 overs, failed to build on the early advantage and managed just 29 runs in the final five overs.

India's coach Gary Kirsten pointed fingers at the cash-rich Indian Premier League for his team's ouster from the World Twenty20, saying it had left the players tired.

India, who won the inaugural T20 Worlds in South Africa two years ago, lost both their Super Eight matches to the West Indies and hosts England to be knocked out before the semi-finals.

Kirsten, the former South African opener, said his team was physically and mentally unprepared to defend the title because the cricketers were involved in the IPL.

He also did not rule out asking his main players to withdraw from next year's edition of the IPL in March so that they will be fresh for the next World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in April.

"We had a lot of players with niggles coming into this tournament. A lot of those niggles were picked up during the IPL," said Kirsten ahead of the last Super Eights match against South Africa at Trent Bridge later on Tuesday.

"We lose contact with our players during the IPL because they are connected to and responsible to their franchises.

"The players take a lot of pride in playing for their franchises, but the bottom line is the amount of cricket did not play into our hands.

"The next World Twenty20 is only something like nine months away and we are keen to start setting up our plans and strategies.

"We got it wrong in this tournament and we need to go forward from that."

Kirsten said ordering his players out of next year's IPL was an option he will consider.

"I've seen that happen in other sports, I know in South Africa they do that in rugby union," he said. "Maybe that is something to think of in the future.

"Whether it is possible, we don't know."

The Indian cricket board-backed IPL was held in South Africa in April-May after the Indian government expressed inability to provide security because the tournament clashed with parliamentary elections.

The five-week IPL is contested by eight franchises, owned by tycoons and Bollywood stars, who bought the world's leading cricketers for huge amounts.

Kirsten said Indian players should consider resting from the IPL, which he described as a "club competition" whose standards were lower than the T20 Worlds.

"That is a domestic competition, a club competition in many respects," he said. "While you have got international players playing in the teams, you have got first-class cricketers making up the rest.

"I sense there is a reasonably big gap between what is happening at the IPL level and what is happening internationally (like the World Twenty20)."

The IPL had left the Indian players exhausted, Kirsten added.

"The one thing that did not play into our hands here is that we had a bunch of cricketers who were quite tired when they arrived in England," he said.

"That is not an excuse because we were aware we had a demanding schedule, but we never got to the level of intensity you need to in the international game.

"The standard of cricket and the quality of cricket has been higher at the World Twenty20 than what we experienced in the IPL."

India, who have been on the road since February, are scheduled to tour the West Indies from next week for four one-day internationals.

There was no immediate reaction from the Indian board on Kirsten's outburst against the IPL.

The International Cricket Council said on Monday no agreement had been reached on where Pakistan will hold its World Cup matches in February-March 2011. "No decision has been made yet," ICC president David Morgan told a media briefing after a meeting with officials from the four co-hosts nations, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Pakistan had served legal notices on the ICC after being stripped of hosting rights in the wake of the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore on March 3 and the deteriorating security situation in the volatile nation. Morgan clarified that while Pakistan were removed as a host location, the Pakistan Cricket Board remained a co-host and expected a final decision to be made "in the next two weeks." The ICC clarification was viewed as an attempt to open doors to a negotiated settlement, but that appeared to have failed at Monday's meeting on the sidelines of the World Twenty20. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt told reporters as he left the three-hour meeting that he wanted Pakistan's share of 14 matches to be held on home soil. Morgan and ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said that while the PCB had put the legal proceedings on hold, it had already been decided that World Cup matches will not be played in Pakistan. "This meeting was the first occasion to settle misunderstandings," Lorgat told reporters. "All we did today was to clarify to the PCB that there will be no matches in Pakistan." Morgan added: "We want to ensure Pakistan remains a host nation and we stress the importance of Pakistan as a cricketing nation." The ICC officials did not rule out the possibility of Pakistan holding its matches in the United Arab Emirates, where it hosted a one-day series against Australia in May-June in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. "There are already four host nations," said Morgan. "There could be a fifth country hosting matches." Morgan declined to comment on the response of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to the current impasse. Morgan, however, ruled out switching the 2011 World Cup to Australia and New Zealand, the designated hosts of the 2015 event. "We did discuss the possibility of giving the 2011 World Cup to Australia and New Zealand, but that is not an option," he said. "Those two countries will hold the tournament in 2015." Morgan said in a statement that he was "pleased we were able to come together today in a spirit of co-operation to further the process of finding a resolution to the matter. "We had constructive discussions and I will look to follow them through with Mr Pawar (ICC vice president Sharad Pawar of India) and Mr Butt in the coming days so we can identify the best means of coming up with a recommendation on where the matches originally scheduled to take place in Pakistan can be held. "What we need to do is settle this matter as quicky as possible within the ICC family as we need to press on with our preparations for the World Cup whcih is less than two years away."

South Africa captain Graeme Smith offered his support to under-fire India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday after the defending champions crashed out of the World Twenty20. India's three-run defeat to England at Lord's on Sunday sparked an avalanche of criticism aimed at Dhoni with his tactical thinking coming under fire from the country's demanding fans. "Mahendra is a very composed person but a few tactical decisions of theirs have come under scrutiny and that's always difficult to deal with as a leader," said Smith whose team face India in their final Super Eights match at Trent Bridge here on Tuesday. "If you've captained for long enough, you've been through those phases of your career. As a leader, when things aren't going to plan, they will turn on you. How you handle yourself and handle those situations is a sign of the type of character you are and where you're going in your career. "I certainly had a few moments like that but hopefully we won't be facing that in this competition. Maybe it's someone else's turn." Smith added: "We all know India, on paper, are a supremely talented team with lots of options so it was a surprise to see them not perform to that standard in Super Eights." South Africa have already sealed their place in the semi-finals are almost certain to play their last-four match here on Thursday as Group E winners. "(Tuesday's match) is not important to the competition but we still want to go out and play well," said Smith. "In terms of the levels which you are playing and in terms of your combinations it is important for our semi-final. "It is about challenging ourselves to play at the levels we have been. The challenge for us is to maintain our level of play; it's a very difficult competition if you don't do that. "It's important, no matter what the result, that we play at the level we are comfortable with. "Twenty20 is all about adapting to situations, committing to your skills and being well-prepared tactically."

India's failure to defend their Twenty20 World Cup title could not shake Krishnamachari Srikkanth's belief in the team's ability and the chief selector insists Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men would put behind the debacle and bounce back. A day after India crashed out of the title contention following their heart-breaking three-run defeat against England, Srikkanth said the team needed to learn from mistakes. "Winning and losing are parts of cricket. I myself have been part of a team that won the World Cup and immediately lost badly and then came back to winning ways. Similarly, I'm sure this team too will bounce back. I'm confident of that, we just need to re-work and correct ourselves," Srikkanth told 'CNN-IBN' channel. Srikkanth felt Indian batsmen could not negotiate the short-pitch stuff dished out by the English pacers and identified it as a grey area. "I think we need to practise it a lot," he said. The former opener admitted Virender Sehwag's absence -- the right-hander was ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury -- was felt by the side. "See, guy like Sehwag, he is such a devastating batsman. He can hit any bowler in any part of the world and I think it's not just India but the entire world missed him. "Don't forget opening is such important. Every team need a good start and Sehwag and (Gautam) Gambhir form a fantastic pair. The best thing about them is they keep rotating the strike and never get stuck," Srikkanth explained. He also took the opportunity to defend Dhoni's poor form and said every batsman goes through such lean patch. "Every player goes through bad and good times. But I'm sure Dhoni knows how to bounce back. It's just a question of time. "Twenty20 is very unpredictable, where everything is possible. In the IPL, did anyone expect an underdog like Deccan Chargers winning or Royal Challengers Bangalore reaching the final?" he asked.

Chennai Super Kings 163 (Badrinath 45, Nehra 3-27, Nannes 3-27) beat Delhi Daredevils (Karthik 52, Warner 51, Jakati 4-24) by 18 runs

Prime Numbers 2 The number of fours hit by MS Dhoni this season 13.80 Gautam Gambhir's average, the lowest by a Delhi batsman who has played more than two innings 69 Percentage of runs scored by Matthew Hayden in boundaries 41 Number of times that a team has lost two or more wickets in the same over 2 Number of bowlers with four-wicket hauls in the Chennai team 4 Number of players with half-centuries in the Delhi team, the most for any team

A superb bowling performance by left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati gave Chennai Super Kings their third win of the tournament and with it some momentum. Chennai's total of 163 - built around a 66-run partnership between Suresh Raina and S Badrinath - seemed too little after they whimpered to a finish, but led by Jakati and Muttiah Muralitharan they hit back at the clutch, disturbing a threatening stand and keeping Delhi to 145 as the IPL bandwagon landed in Johannesburg.

Delhi were rattled early in their chase by Sudeep Tyagi, who was again given the new ball. His first wicket owed more to a corker of a catch by Raina at point to cut off Gautam Gambhir, but the second was a peach. AB de Villiers was cleaned up first ball by an awayswinger. In his first over, Jakati also arrived with a bang. Tillakaratne Dilshan, Delhi's batting hero in the last couple games, was bowled by a ripper that pitched on middle and took off stump.

Till the 16th over it was almost in the bag for Delhi, thanks to a super stand between the IPL debutant David Warner and Dinesh Karthik. Displaying plenty of urgency with his shots and running between the wickets, Warner farmed the strike and collected five fours and a six, all of which were controlled attempts. Though not at his most devastative, he was firm when he pulled to the on side and impressed with how he took on responsibility to see Delhi through early difficulty.

Karthik's was a smart innings, shot by shot relieving the pressure on Warner. He meshed caution with aggression but most importantly, found the boundaries whenever he tried. Jacob Oram was taken for a six each by Warner and Karthik when he came on to bowl the 13th over. Then Murali returned and Karthik slammed consecutive boundaries through cover, one with a two-step and the other rocking onto the back foot. The cheeky followed, as Karthik paddle-scooped L Balaji to fine leg. Murali erred in length and Karthik flat-batted four more.

Then Jakati returned and pulled the carpet from beneath their feet, with a bit of help from Murali. Karthik began by smashing a boundary but Warner, who raised his fifty from 38 balls, was stumped attempting to swing Jakati away. Mithun Manhas came and went, bowled trying to slog Murali, and Karthik found himself in the driver's seat. Karthik's fifty came up off 30 balls but next ball, with 32 needed from 17, he top-edged Jakati to the deep. Jakati completed a superb spell by bowling Pradeep Sangwan and victory was soon achieved. Jakati and Murali, in their eight overs, took five wickets. This again proved that anything in excess of 150 was not easy to chase.

Chennai's innings ran a similar course after Gambhir, captaining in place of an injured Virender Sehwag, put them in. They lost two early wickets, were lifted by a strong stand, and then collapsed in the last few overs. M Vijay replaced an out-of-sorts Parthiv Patel as opener but himself looked a Twenty20 misfit before Ashish Nehra tested him with a short ball and drew a top edge. Matthew Hayden, knocked to his feet when he took a ball from Sangwan flush on the sternum, kept swinging away but fell to the same bowler when he lofted to long-on.

With the ball still new and the field in, Raina boldly went over the top, getting off the mark with a front-foot six. When the field spread and spin came on, he chipped and tucked the ball smartly into the gaps but trying to up the tempo was taken right on the boundary line by Tillakaratne Dilshan. Badrinath had taken his time, scoring his first seven runs off 13 balls, but dumped the first ball after the tactical break for six off Dilshan. In the same over he took Dilshan for four down the ground, before hooking, pulling and cutting Sangwan to and over the boundary in the next over. Another solid slap past point followed but, like Raina, Badrinath tried to take it up a level and was yorked by an alert Rajat Bhatia.

With Albie Morkel and MS Dhoni batting and Oram to come, a total of 180 seemed a distinct possibility but the quick bowlers struck as Gambhir made a good call. With Bhatia's slow medium stuff keeping a check on runs, Gambhir called back Nehra for the 16th over. Nehra immediately struck with the short ball, taking a return catch from Morkel. Nehra was impressive all evening, varying his pace and banging it in on a testing length.

Then Dirk Nannes was ushered right back for the next over and took out Oram, who fell pulling. Nannes then found himself on a hat-trick when Dhoni top-edged a quick delivery to cover. The hat-trick was averted, only for Nehra to take his third with a fuller ball.

In the end, that total of 163 proved more than enough for Chennai to get some lift. Today the top two teams suffered defeats and the top seven are now separated by just two points, proving what a tight contest this IPL is.

Match facts

May 3, 2009
Start time 3pm (11.00GMT)

	It has been a frustrating campaign for the Pakistanis, who have one game left to repeat their opening success

Big Picture

Australia won their first series since beating Bangladesh in September with a strong victory in Abu Dhabi on Friday and the players can relax over the final two games of their United Arab Emirates tour. Sunday's fifth ODI and Thursday's Twenty20 are the last opportunities to tinker ahead of the World Twenty20 and Michael Clarke's men will also be looking forward to a short break before the tournament in England next month.

Clarke was on fire in the heat on Friday, registering 100 off 122 balls in the eight-wicket success, while Shane Watson battled to a timely 85 not out. "It's been a while since we've won a one-day series and to play the type of cricket we have in tough conditions, hot conditions, tough wickets, especially after coming from South Africa, the conditions have been so different," Clarke told AAP. "I'm rapt with the way we've performed."

Doug Bollinger set up the win with the first five wickets of his career as Pakistan reached 197. "A lot of credit has to go to our bowlers, Dougy's come in and he's had to wait a long time for his opportunity," Clarke said. "Not only has he repaid the selectors for showing him faith, but I think he's done a lot to push his name forward for future one-day selection and maybe even the Twenty20 World Cup."

Pakistan's series has gone downhill since their satisfying win in the opening game. The form of Shoaib Akhtar in the early overs of the second innings on Friday showed he still carries a dose of magic, which has been one of the few highlights for the "home" side in the UAE.

Form guide (last five ODIs, most recent first)

Pakistan LLLWL
Australia WWWLW

Watch out for

Shane Watson scraped and scrapped while carrying his bat on Friday in an unfamiliar style. He has become a muscular free-scorer in the past few seasons and now that he has proved himself with some serious runs in a long stay, he can enjoy the final encounters and seal his spot on the tour of England.

The opener Ahmed Shehzad, 17, could still be at school but is learning about international cricket instead. After a run-out mix-up on debut, he has followed his 4 with 40 and 43, showing his promise and gaining invaluable experience against a useful bowling line-up. An adventurous slog sweep ended his display on Friday, but if he goes further than a half-century his side will be in good health.

Team news

Some more experiments are likely now the final game is a dead rubber. Brett Lee could be trialled earlier than expected and Ben Laughlin will come into contention. Marcus North would like another go after his debut lasted only four balls thanks to Shoaib.

Australia (possible) 1 Brad Haddin (wk), 2 Shane Watson, 3 Marcus North, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Callum Ferguson, 7 James Hopes, 8 Nathan Hauritz, 9 Stuart Clark, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Doug Bollinger.

Pakistan have gone close on occasions in the past three games without matching their opening success. Resting Umar Gul on Friday was a strange decision considering the situation of the series, and he should be back to partner Shoaib unless either of them are too tired.

Pakistan (possible) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Younis Khan (capt), 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Umar Gul, 9 Shoaib Akhtar, 10 Iftikhar Anjum, 11 Saeed Ajmal.

Pitch and conditions

While parts of Australia shiver, the UAE has been boiling and the tourists will be pleased to return home to more bearable conditions next week. On Friday the match started with the temperature around 43C and a maximum of 37C is expected on Sunday, along with another surface offering spin and low bounce.

Stats and Trivia

• If Australia win the final game they will move one point behind the No. 1 South Africa and take their overall record in the UAE to 14 wins in 24 matches
• Doug Bollinger's 5 for 35 lifted him to third on the series wicket list, one behind Nathan Hauritz and five behind Shahid Afridi
• Clarke's century has been the only one of a series controlled by the bowlers

Quotes

"He's bowled beautifully and the rest of the guys, the rest of the bowlers, probably didn't get the same rewards as Dougy, but they did a fantastic job."
Michael Clarke has more praise for Bollinger

"When Shoaib got two early wickets, we thought we could win, but Clarke and Watson batted superbly."
Younis Khan looks back at Friday's missed chance

According to unconfirmed reports, after dropping "Kolkata" from Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders, actor Shah Rukh Khan has started discussions with Nokia, Sahara, the Anil Ambani group, and several other companies to sell the team he bought just over a year ago for Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion), and exit the business.

According to sources in Red Chillies Entertainment, KKR's holding company, "Shah Rukh Khan has been trying to sell a stake in KKR for some time now. But since most companies he approached also wanted management control, Khan is now talking to Nokia, Sahara, Anil Ambani and others to sell his entire shareholding."

Khan's public relations officer, however, said she would not be able to confirm the development because she had not met the actor.

None of those who have reportedly been approached confirmed the development. Sahara India's communications director Abhijit Sarkar said: "We have not been approached by Shah Rukh Khan yet. But if he does, we would be happy to buy the team."

D Shivakumar, vice-president and managing director (markets), Nokia India, sent a text message saying: "Shah Rukh Khan will keep the team."

A Reliance Communications spokesperson declined to comment. "A lot of people negotiate with Anil Ambani. I cannot comment unless there is something concrete on table."

According to the Red Chillies official, Khan wants to exit, owing to the team's poor performance - so far the team has won only one rain-curtailed game under the Duckworth Lewis method - and rising costs.

"If the Board for Control of Cricket in India does not increase the number of teams for next year, Khan could get double what he paid," said the Red Chillies official.

Khan is supposed to pay Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) per year for the next 10 years. The total annual cost for the team is about Rs 75 crore (Rs 750 million).

Khan had earlier said that KKR was easily the most successful IPL franchise, making a Rs 13 crore (Rs 130 million) profit last year. However, his costs trebled last year owing to interventions from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Cricket Association of Bengal.

According to initial calculations, Red Chillies had to pay Rs 90 lakhs (Rs 9 million) per match and was supposed to earn Rs 3 crore if all stadium tickets were sold at Eden Gardens. Red Chillies had to pay Rs 20 lakhs (Rs 2 million) to the police and municipal tax of Rs 500,000. So its expenses per match would have been over Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million). But this figure had trebled.

Last year, however, Kolkata Police demanded Rs 2 crore as security fees, against Rs 50 lakhs (Rs 5 million) that the organisers of the IPL offered. Then, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation demanded Rs 25 lakhs (Rs 2.5 million) from Red Chillies as amusement tax for holding IPL matches at Eden Gardens.

To settle the dispute between Kolkata Police and the IPL organisers over the cost of security arrangements at Eden Gardens, Red Chillies Entertainment had to agree to pay Rs 75 lakhs (Rs 7.5 million) as security fees.

About 5,500 uniformed personnel and about 1,500 sleuths were deployed to secure the stadium and its surrounding areas, since many celebrities were expected to watch the IPL matches at Eden Gardens.

Big Picture

Kings XI Punjab are running hot. They have won their last three games and are favourites against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Punjab lost a few big names like Brett Lee and Shaun Marsh ahead of the tournament but have brilliantly gelled together as a team. Even relatively unknown names like Yusuf Abdulla, who was drafted in to cover for the injured Jerome Taylor, have stood up to be counted.

With spin increasingly proving to be effective on dry pitches, they will be relying heavily on Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar. Irfan Pathan has also hit a purple patch and VRV Singh turned in a frugal spell in the last game that he played. They have successfully defended two low scores in a row but will be hoping for a tall score if they bat first against Bangalore.

Bangalore have been struggling after a bright start but gave themselves some breathing space with the win against Kolkata in the last game. They will have a new captain - Jacques Kallis is the the frontrunner - and while the bowling hasn't been bad, the batting has let them down. Five first-ball dismissals and three second-ball dismissals - a rare occurrence in cricket - have meant the batting has never got going and they have been always trying to repair the faulty start. They went in with Shreevats Goswami as an opener in the last game and finally, found some momentum. Anil Kumble has been in top form and they have drafted in KP Appanna and Roelof van der Merwe to bolster the spin. Suffice to say, it won't be a walkover for Punjab.

Form guide

Delhi: Pathan and Abdulla have worked wonderfully so far and have been successful in knocking down early wickets. Irfan does the job with the new ball while they have tended to use Abdulla, who has a good yorker at the death.

Bangalore: Despite being out of action, Anil Kumble has been miserly as ever and the opposition batsmen have been trying to play out his quota of overs. van der Merwe had a good outing with the ball in the last game and though he is agricultural in his batting, he can turn in an innings that could make a difference.

Watch out for

Kumble v Yuvraj: Last time they faced, Yuvraj gave plenty of respect to Kumble, preferring to not to take any risks. Watch out for Kumble tempting Yuvraj with his googlies. Last time, the situation allowed Yuvraj to play out Kumble; tomorrow it might require him to take a few risks. The contest should be very interesting.

Team news

For Punjab, the management is considering bringing in Simon Katich for Ravi Bopara though Tom Moody added that Luke Pomersbach too is in contention. "Katich has been middling the ball really well but if we feel we need a bit of fire at the top, Luke can come in," Moody said.

Punjab: (probable) 1 Karan Goel, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Yuvraj Singh (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Irfan Pathan, 7 Taruwar Kohli, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Vikramjeet Malik, 10 Ramesh Powar, 11 Yusuf Abdulla.

The choice of captain will be the dominating issue for Bangalore with Jacques Kallis the frontrunner for the position.

Bangalore: (probable) 1 Sreevats Goswami, 2 Jacques Kallis (capt), 3 Ross Taylor, 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Roelof van der Merwe, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 R Vinay Kumar, 10 Anil Kumble, 11 KP Appanna

Head-to-head record

Punjab won by seven wickets in the last match at Durban, but it was a tight game and gave them their first win of the tournament. It came down to the final overs where Yuvraj Singh and Ravi Bopara showed immense maturity to select the bowlers to be attacked and executing their plan to a T. In 2008, Punjab were one of the teams to beat in the league phase while Bangalore were dismal right through the tournament. Punjab posted easy wins both the times they came up against Bangalore last season.

In a demonstration of power-hitting with which he carried Chennai Super Kings in the first IPL, Suresh Raina again showed his ability to dominate and, when the need arose, get out of a jam. Chennai were in early trouble after being put in to bat but the early loss of the openers to Shane Warne's introduction of spin didn't deter Raina, who dispatched the Rajasthan Royals attack to all parts of SuperSport Park. His one-man show was complemented by a disciplined and enthusiastic fielding display - including a wicket and two catches to the man of the moment - and Chennai wrapped up victory by 38 runs.

The spade work for victory had been done with a gem from Raina. His blazing innings started and ended in the face of adversary but it didn't show on his face or in his choice of shots. Chennai had lost their leading run-scorer, Matthew Hayden, and Parthiv Patel to loose shots against Yusuf Pathan, who opened the attack with Dimitri Mascarenhas. But after that edgy start Chennai were put back on track through a 67-run liaison between Raina and S Badrinath. Raina was due a good score and he decided attack was the best way of defence.

He took the initiative early on, taking Mascarenhas for four and six and then clubbing Yusuf over long-off for six more. Badrinath was promoted ahead of MS Dhoni, Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel with Chennai in trouble and he reciprocated with a smart cameo of 29. He relieved the pressure with three off-side boundaries and hit Yusuf out of the attack. Badri's inventiveness - making room, getting the wrists into play, lofting over the infield - allowed Raina to continue blazing and he carved a brilliant front-foot six over point off Munaf Patel's first delivery.

Once he found his tempo, Raina was unstoppable. A deft tickle for four off Siddharth Trivedi was one for the purists, a thick inside-edge next ball for the same result just the bit of luck Raina needed to script an epic. He continued to produce punishing pulls and gorgeous shots down the ground, but the slice over cover-point was the sight of the evening. Shane Warne was pulled and cut for boundaries in his first over as Raina reached fifty from 27 balls.

By now the mood in both camps had reversed. Rajasthan's early momentum faded into repeated misfields that allowed boundaries, and where Chennai had been unsure with the bat at the start, Badrinath was uppercutting for four. There were risks, but they were calculated. The fifty-run partnership needed just 33 deliveries.

Rajasthan took two wickets shortly after the break but with Dhoni giving him strike, Raina broke the shackles with consecutive boundaries in the 17th over. The run rate had now crossed seven and increased with consecutive sixes, both sliced over covers, in a 24-run 18th over during which Kamran Khan had to limp off with a twisted ankle. In the last over Raina raised his bat on 98, when the electronic scoreboard got it wrong after he slapped four past cover. Next ball was slashed up in the air and excellently taken by Graeme Smith at deep backward point. The only batsmen to cross 30, Raina's exemplary 98 off 55 balls lifted Chennai to a competitive total.

That innings not only gave the crowd something to cheer about but also gave Chennai's bowlers a solid platform to work with. A revamped new-ball attack of Morkel and Sudeep Tyagi kept it tidy and waited for errors, which came rather soon. Smith's vigilance had played a big role in the last game but here he was impetuous, reaching out and guiding Morkel to point in the second over. Swapnil Asnodkar was another to fall going for a big shot, except that he swung his bat down onto his own stumps.

As if his innings wasn't torture enough for Rajasthan, Raina starred with the ball. Rob Quiney was given a life when Dhoni fluffed a stumping, but the bowler had his revenge when he beat bat with a slider.

Yusuf came out blazing but failed to convert, lofting L Balaji down to long-off where the man who could do no wrong took the catch. Dhoni held back on using Balaji till the 11th over and the bowler immediately made an impact, not allowing any room. When Ravindra Jadeja skied Balaji miles into the starry night and Hayden settled under a steepler, the candle had gone out. The rest was a formality as Balaji took four, a solid comeback after a poor last match.

It was apt that the last wicket, a massive top edge, should land in Raina's hands. His grip remained firm from start to finish.

The 2011 World Cup is shifting base from Lahore to Mumbai and India expects to get a "big share" of the 14 matches that were initially allotted to Pakistan.

The Indian board (BCCI) is hosting a meeting in Mumbai tomorrow where the tournament's organising committee will be reconstituted without representatives from Pakistan, which was stripped of its co-host status this month due to the prevailing political situation in the country.

A decision is also expected to be taken to move the tournament's central organising secretariat, its operational nerve centre, from Lahore to Mumbai.

Apparently, the re-allotment of Pakistan's 14 matches will also be discussed at the meeting. "Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are the co-hosts and out of those two, Bangladesh has only one venue to host all the matches," BCCI sources said. "So obviously, India will expect to get a big share of those matches."

The sources, however, admitted that one potential hurdle for the event would be if Pakistan refuses to play its matches in Indian venues because of cross-border political tensions. "In that case, Pakistan's matches will have to held in Lanka or Bangladesh but there's two years to go and it's too early to comment on that now," the sources said.

The ICC executive board on April 17 had resolved not to hold any 2011 World Cup matches in Pakistan because the "uncertain political situation" in the country would have made it difficult to "deliver a safe, secure and successful event".

In January, the PCB had named Salman Sarward Butt, a banker, as managing director of the tournament's central organising secretariat but Haroon Lorgat, the ICC's chief executive, is now expected to announce a new set-up in Mumbai after Tuesday's meeting. Sharad Pawar, the ICC vice-president, heads the tournament's organising committee.

India will host the final and one semi-final of the 2011 World Cup while Sri Lanka will stage the other semi-final, the tournament's organising committee decided in Mumbai on Tuesday. India will host 29 of the 49 matches across eight venues, Sri Lanka will host 12 in three venues while Bangladesh will stage eight at two grounds as well as the opening ceremony on February 18, 2011.

The quarter-finals will be shared among the three neighbours, with Bangladesh hosting two. The committee also decided to shift the tournament secretariat from Lahore to Mumbai. BCCI's chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty was appointed the event's managing director in place of Pakistani banker Salman Butt. The organising committee, headed by ICC vice-president Sharad Pawar, will include an operations and planning group comprising the Bangladesh Cricket Board senior vice-president Mahbubul Anam, Indian board secretary N Srinivasan, Sri Lanka's Duleep Mendis and Shetty. Haroon Lorgat, the ICC's chief executive, said IS Bindra, the special adviser to the ICC, would be a key person in the management of the World Cup.

He swept aside questions on whether Pakistan would boycott the World Cup in protest at being denied hosting rights, saying "we will cross the bridge when we come to it." The ICC had to decide on the redistribution of Pakistan's 14 matches after it removed the country from the list of hosts because the "uncertain political situation" would have made it difficult to "deliver a safe, secure and successful event" in Pakistan.

Lorgat said the security concerns of the various ICC members and the players would be addressed with the formation of a special committee headed by Shashank Manohar, the BCCI chief, to oversee security details. "The security arrangements are very important and a special committee... would put together security plans for the successful conduct of the World Cup in 2011," he said.

"We are confident of organising a very successful World Cup," Lorgat said.

The subcontinent last hosted a World Cup in 1996, when India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka shared the games. The final was in Lahore, where Sri Lanka beat favourites Australia in a famous win.

Pakistan's propensity to self-destruct cost them the lead in this series in dramatic manner, a batting collapse against spin handing Australia an improbable win. Michael Clarke, the Australian captain, turned in a superb all-round performance with a gritty 66 in the face of some penetrative spin bowling before picking up 3 for 15 amid Pakistan's middle-order chaos. His spin partners, Nathan Hauritz and Andrew Symonds, helped defend a below-par score of 198 as Pakistan fell short by 27 runs.

Spinners have been making headlines in the IPL in South Africa and the story today wasn't any different in the northern hemisphere. Pakistan's own spin trio strangled the runs and picked up three wickets and, by the time their openers Salman Butt and Ahmed Shehzad added 95, the hosts looked set for a series lead. That's when spin worked its magic again.

The cycle-stand collapse - in which shoddy shot selection played no small part - had strong statistical parallels with Australia's in Dubai during the first ODI. Back then, Australia slipped from 95 for 1 to 122 for 9. Today, Pakistan's collapse started at 95 and ended 76 runs later.

The game had drifted from Australia during the first 22 overs of the chase with Pakistan comfortably placed in terms of the required rate and wickets in hand. Only a lapse in concentration from the batsmen could have resulted in a breakthrough and exactly that caused Butt's downfall when he poked Hauritz to Clarke at first slip. The bowler had caused a few flutters in his previous over when he beat the left-hander and the fielders may have sensed that something was about to give. The next ball stopped on Younis Khan, who chipped it to a diving Andrew Symonds at midwicket and Australia had two in two. Misbah-ul-Haq negotiated the hat-trick ball and, in the next over, hit Symonds for a straight six. That prompted the captain to bring himself on and his move paid immediate dividends, Misbah holing out to long-on off the very first ball. The next delivery was an arm ball that Shehzad failed to read and was bowled. Once again, two off two.

That brought together Malik and Afridi, and there was a period of relative calm for Pakistan, though not without the odd scare - including an appeal for a stumping when the third umpire pressed the button for the red light by mistake. One sensed, though, that Afridi wouldn't last too long - and sure enough, determined to break the shackles with a big hit, he advanced down the track and edged to slip. Pakistan had lost half their side in the space of 28 runs and the Australians, having smelt blood, didn't need a second invitation to move in for the kill.

The rest of the wickets were a blur. A miscommunication between Kamran Akmal and Malik, over a single that was there for the taking, summed up the utter confusion. Two balls later, Akmal chipped Bracken to mid-on and he too was history. Yasir Arafat went for a slog and was bowled, Tanvir pulled and top-edged before Umar Gul threw his bat and was bowled Stuart Clark, bringing the match to an end

The drama overshadowed Australia's own struggles with the bat, and Clarke's return to form couldn't have come at a better moment. He was the spinners' bunny in South Africa and in the first ODI but today the fluency returned. He walked in after James Hopes' run-out - off a direct hit by Younis - and eased off the blocks with some crisply timed shots and soft punches down the ground off the seamers. He added 46 for the third wicket with Haddin to help Australia after the loss of two quick wickets.

His effort against the spinners was more impressive given that the ball was gripping and turning and Afridi was varying his pace and slipping in the odd googly. While he attacked the batsmen and looked to pick up wickets, the others - Malik and Saeed Ajmal - teased with flight and cramped the batsmen for room and in general kept it simple.

Clarke wasn't afraid to use his feet but Afridi cleverly dropped the ball short and forced him to defend. He hit the odd wide delivery to the boundary and began to push the singles with a lot more ease in the company of Callum Ferguson, who managed to rotate the strike with Clarke in a 54-run stand, though it included a 10-over spell without a boundary.

Clarke broke the spell with a cover-driven boundary off Ajmal and, in the 38th over, Australia took the batting Powerplay. Clarke pulled Afridi to square leg but the bowler had his revenge when he fired one short, quick and forced the batsman to check his shot. He ended up chipping it tamely to Afridi and was gone - but not before a match-winning 66.

Many a time over the last 15 years or so fans of this great game have wondered what it would be like if Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya opened together in a limited-overs game and really turned it on. Today they got a glimpse.

The two masters of the limited-overs game, with a combined age of nearly 76, treated Port Elizabeth to the cleanest, purest exhibition of batting that this season of the IPL has seen. Tendulkar paved the way with a sublime innings and Jayasuriya followed suit with an explosive hand, the veteran pair combining to raise a century stand in 52 balls that flummoxed Kolkata Knight Riders. That stunning opening assault formed the crux of Mumbai Indians' 187 and though Kolkata restricted the damage with six wickets for 48 runs after the tactical break, the damage had been done. Their only realistic chance at victory rested on their explosive openers' shoulders but once they were gone inside three overs the chase was basically kaput.

Mumbai's first five overs were busy, without being spectacular. Tendulkar was beaten a couple times by Ishant Sharma but upper-cut a six and flicked a four in Ashok Dinda's first over. That set the tone for a busy innings, taken up a level when he pulled Ishant for six from outside off stump.

While Tendulkar whisked the ball off his pads and slapped through point, Jayasuriya didn't get much strike. His first shot in anger was a chip just over extra cover's fingertips and a signature clip to fine leg followed. Mumbai were 45 for 0 in five overs. What followed was carnage.

Jayasuriya, who was on 8 as Tendulkar scurried to 30, launched Sourav Ganguly's gentle military-medium stuff for consecutive sixes; Tendulkar swept Ajantha Mendis for six; Chris Gayle went for ten in six balls; Mendis was dumped for two sixes by each batsman in his second over. Tendulkar's fourth six, a deft pick-up over midwicket off Mendis, raised his fifty from 34 balls. Jayasuriya had blasted 33 from 13 balls. The 100 was up in 8.4 overs. When the tactical break was taken Tendulkar was 60 off 39 and Jayasuriya 43 off 21, Mumbai 111 for 0.

For a man who has only played one international Twenty20, Tendulkar batted with amazing fluency. He got the wrists into play superbly, pulling and cutting hard, and used his crease to negotiate the pacers. Mendis wasn't even allowed to settle; Gayle was effortlessly reverse-swept.

There were no crude shots, no cross-batted slogs from Tendulkar and Jayasuriya. This was clinical hitting - each veteran knew the field and backed himself to pick the gaps. It was the experience of 1138 combined international games coming together in a mesmerizing mosaic of boundaries. In between clearing his front leg to lift Mendis there were clever late dabs from Tendulkar, neat tickles from Jayasuriya.

That assault was in stark contrast to the second half of Mumbai's innings, when Kolkata regrouped. The scoring slowed after the break and Tendulkar fell to Laxmi Shukla, looking to take the ball from off stump and work it to leg. Harbhajan Singh strode in, clubbed 18 from 8 balls, and sent a full toss to deep midwicket. Jayasuriya looked for width but instead chipped to cover for 52 from 32 balls. Then Abhishek Nayar was run out, Dwayne Bravo top-edged to the deep, and Shikhar Dhawan edged Ishant. Gayle bowled a decent last over and Mumbai were unable to end on with a flurry.

Kolkata needed almost 9.5 runs an over inside a stadium rumbling like a Jay Z amplifier, and the pressure of chasing a large total under lights affected the Kolkata openers early in their innings. Brendon McCullum shouldered arms to his first ball before he steered Lasith Malinga to point. Gayle thumped Bravo for the 152th six in the IPL only to edge his West Indian team-mate to slip.

Sourav Ganguly wasn't allowed to come onto the front foot and so he used his feet to loft Bravo down the ground for six and four, and with that try for some momentum. But Ganguly struggled to find the boundaries thereafter and Brad Hodge never really threatened with 24 off 22 balls. Both were to fall against the tidy seam-up bowling of Nayar in successive overs, the last nail firmly hammered into Kolkata's coffin.

Nayar, Bravo, Zaheer Khan and Malinga didn't have to do much but keep it near the stumps and wait for an urgent shot. Each struck rather easily and the rest of the batting card made for disappointing reading as Kolkata fell short by 92 runs. From 71 for 3 when Hodge fell, Kolkata folded for 95 in 15.2 overs.

A powerful batting display was followed by an efficient, shining effort in the field, aptly demonstrating that Mumbai pretty much have all the bases covered.

If you'd looked at the schedule before the IPL, and been told that of the two teams facing each other for the first match of April 27th, one had won 3 games on the trot while the other had only 1 win off four games, you'd have assumed Chennai had won 3, while Hyderabad had won 1. But such is the nature of T20, the headlines were the same, but with the teams reversed. Chennai needed to win this match to keep its title hopes alive, while Hyderabad didn't want to break its winning momentum.

Adam Gilchrist won the toss and inserted Chennai on a fresh pitch that looked likely to help the bowlers early on, before easing out. Fidel Edwards got his mandatory wicket in the first over, when he had Parthiv caught behind off the second ball of the match.

However, Hayden was in a murderous mood, and he treated purple cap holder RP Singh with scant respect. The fall of Raina after a good cameo, didn't deter Hayden. But as he's done everytime for Hyderabad, Pragyan Ojha put a stopper in Chennai's plans, with two big wickets in one over - those of Dhoni and Hayden, both not getting hold of the ball and getting caught. In what is becoming a worrying situation for Chennai, Albie Morkel came, hit one, and went. chennai need him to perform better than he has done so far in the tournament, because the Albie that has turned out for Chennai is a far cry from the one who terrorised the Australians a few short months ago.

For today though, Jacob Oram was the man for Chennai, and it was due to his lusty hitting at the end, that Chennai reached a total of 165 for 6.

It seemed to be competitive during the mid-innings break.

Someone forgot to tell that to Herschelle Gibbs and Adam Gilchrist though. In a display of batsmanship not yet seen in the IPL so far, they raced to 60 off just 4 overs, reaching the fastest 50 of the IPL in the process. Dhoni was forced to bring on Murali inside the power play, and he bowled the first sane over of the innings when he conceded 'just' 6 runs.

In desperation, Dhoni turned to part-timer Raina for the last over of the powerplay, but the gamble worked, when he got Gilchrist to cut one straight into gully's hands. Gilchrist departed for 44 off 19 balls. With his wicket, the scoring rate slowed down from a manic 15 runs per over to saner proportions, and Raina struck again when he had Laxman caught in a similar manner to Gilchrist.

Rohit Sharma and Gibbs then kept Hyderabad on course with a useful partnership of 39, but just when Hyderabad looked to be in control, Rohit fell, but with 42 needed off 38 balls, it was still very much Hyderabad's game. Chennai pulled things back though, especially through Murali's last over, where he gave just 2 runs and got the wicket of Dwayne Smith, until it came down to 8 needed off the final over. Gibbs then settled the issue with a six off the first ball that Balaji bowled, and with a single and a four off the next two, Hyderabad were home, sitting firmly at the top of the charts with 4 wins out of 4 matches.

Man of the Match: Hercshelle Gibbs for his superb innings of 69 not out off 56 balls, which anchored the chase. He started off matching Gilchrist stroke for stroke, but then settled down to a more sedate pace, ensuring that one end was held up, and finished off the chase in style.

Turning Point of the Match: Gilchrist and Gibbs onlslaught in the initial overs of the chase. The start ensured that the batsmen coming in would have it much easier, and importantly allowed them to see out Murali's overs safely without needing to take any risks against him.

Soundbytes: "It's not about getting close, it's about winning" - MS Dhoni couldn't have summed up his team's plight better. 3 losses - 3 close games, and the pre-tournament favourites suddenly face a struggle to qualify for the semi-finals.

"Oh I'm not revealing that!" - Adam Gilchrist, on being asked what his theory was for not bowling Pragyan Ojha at the death.

Two pairs of left-handers played key roles as Kings XI Punjab steamrolled Rajasthan Royals in Cape Town. Punjab struggled after early losses and it was left to Kumar Sangakkara to weigh in with his first half-century of the tournament and the star of the day, Irfan Pathan, to provide the momentum for a fightback. Then, defending a total of 139, Punjab were indebted to double-wicket overs from Irfan and Yusuf Abdulla at the start.

Both left-arm seamers did a sterling job under the Newlands lights, mixing their line and length impressively to check a shaky batting line-up. Rajasthan, who had set themselves a realistic chance of victory in the field fell 27 runs short.

Rajasthan's chase of 140 wasn't a tall order, but their fate was sealed by a rampant left-arm seam attack who snaffled four wickets in the first five overs. Having contributed with the bat, Irfan grabbed two wickets in his opening over. He drew a top edge from Swapnil Asnodkar with a short ball and produced a thin edge off Graeme Smith's bat with a fuller, away-swinging delivery. Rajasthan were 9 for 2.

Yuvraj Singh had opened the bowling with Ramesh Powar but Irfan's success encouraged him to go for an all-pace attack. Abdulla's first over was tidy, costing just six, and his second was disastrous for Rajasthan. Rob Quiney got a faint tickle on one down the leg side and a leaden-footed Dimitri Mascarenhas heard the death rattle second ball when he played around an offcutter.

That left Rajasthan 27 for 4, anxiously needing a partnership and Yusuf Pathan - Man of the Match in their last game - to fire. Yusuf began by picking his brother for a couple fours only to perish sweeping in Piyush Chawa's first over. Another bowling change had worked and Punjab were all over Rajasthan.

Chawla tossed it up and was rewarded with another wicket. The asking-rate kept increasing and it proved too much for Ravindra Jadeja (37) and Shane Warne, who scampered smart singles but couldn't find the boundaries during their 60-run association. Abdulla came back with Rajasthan needing 38 from two overs and cleaned up Jadeja first ball. Irfan gave just six in the last over to cap a great game. That Rajasthan didn't manage one six told a story.

Irfan's two early wickets were crucial defending a small total but that could have been smaller without his contribution with the bat when Punjab were four down for not much. Karan Goel was run out first ball - the second time in the day a wicket had fallen in that manner - before Kamran Khan and Munaf Patel struck. Warne's decision to use each of his pace bowlers in one-over bursts worked wonderfully. There were no consecutive overs for any bowler from the Wynberg end and each time Kamran and Munaf came back they struck first ball.

Kamran removed Ravi Bopara courtesy an athletic dive from Munaf at mid-on and Munaf rcame back to dismiss Yuvraj with one that swung way. Punjab slipped to 48 for 4 when Mahela Jayawardene scooped Munaf to a sliding Kamran at mid-off.

It was Irfan who provided much-needed ammunition. He wasn't always assured against spin, but backing himself to swing freely through the on side he helped Punjab rebuild. Warne and Yusuf were hit for a six each by Irfan, the quicker deliveries were smartly worked square on the off side, and a handy partnership of 75 in 59 balls had begun. Irfan kept up the momentum with some sweetly-timed strokes on the off side, the best of the lot being a cut off Warne when he came back on.

Sangakkara's 60 held the innings together. So often a calm, controlled batsman, he combined his usual elegance with a range of aggressive shots; cutting deftly, pulling powerfully and even launching Warne into a raucous crowd. Mascarenhas found just a hint of swing but too often served up four-balls; Sangakkara took him for three cracking boundaries. A powerful partnership had set up a final flourish but Rajasthan dismissed Irfan and Sangakkara in the 19th over to set themselves a gettable target.

But in the end there was no denying Punjab, piloted to victory by the all-round heroics of Irfan, their brightest star.

For a while it looked like Delhi Daredevils' batsmen had been a tad complacent while chasing a modest target, which Bangalore Royal Challengers' bowlers defended tenaciously, but an unbeaten half-century from Tillakaratne Dilshan completed their third consecutive win in the tournament. The six-wicket victory took Delhi level with Deccan Chargers on top of the points table, with six each.

The only highlight for Bangalore, who suffered their fourth consecutive defeat, was the performance of their weak bowling attack, who kept them in the game longer than most people expected. Their top-order batsmen, despite changes to personnel and order, disappointed once again. Their overseas players failed to fire, and their fielding went to pieces just when they had a sniff at pulling off an upset win.

Delhi lost their openers, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, early and Dilshan and AB de Villiers went about chasing the target of 150 calmly. They hardly attempted expansive shots, preferring instead to play the ball into gaps and run swiftly between the wickets. The spinners, Anil Kumble and KP Appanna, bowled a tight line and length and conceded few boundaries. As a result Delhi had scored only 64 for 2 after 10 overs but the equation - 86 runs off the last 10 - was manageable.

Dilshan was perhaps lucky to survive a run-out appeal soon after the tactical time-out. He was short of his crease when Ross Taylor's throw hit the stumps, but the third umpire was not convinced that Boucher had not broken the stumps with his glove before the ball found its target. de Villiers, however, fell soon after, bowled by a delivery from Appanna that turned past the bat from outside leg to hit leg stump. Dinesh Karthik started brightly, clouting a four and a six, but fell soon after, caught by Jacques Kallis at deep cover, and left Delhi at 106 for 4.

At this point Bangalore had 43 runs to defend in the last four overs. That was when they needed to raise their game but their fielding let them down during the 17th over, which was bowled by Kallis. Dilshan took a single after smashing the third ball out of St George's Park, and Mithun Manhas lofted the next towards long-on. Robin Uthappa, who's having a nightmare of a tournament with the bat, misjudged the catch: he came in too far only for the ball to fly over his head for four. Manhas pulled the next ball to deep midwicket where Appanna mis-fielded to allow another boundary. Delhi scored 19 runs off the over, needed only 24 off the last three, which they managed with ease.

Delhi's batsmen have been their strength so far in the tournament, but today their bowlers laid the platform for victory by restricting Bangalore to 149. They were challenged by Pietersen and Taylor during an aggressive partnership, but the two spinners, Daniel Vettori and Amit Mishra, struck on either side of the strategic time-out to throw Bangalore off course.

Delhi's dominance began with the first ball of the match. Dirk Nannes produced a perfectly pitched delivery which angled across Kallis, who had replaced Jesse Ryder as opener. Kallis thought the ball could be left and shouldered arms, only to hear it clip the top of off stump. It was the fifth time in five matches that a Bangalore opener had been dismissed for a duck.

Uthappa had scored 32 runs in four innings at a strike-rate of 71 before today, but Bangalore have almost no option but to play him. His innings ended on 3 when he top-edged a pull off the front foot against Ashish Nehra, when he should have been playing back.

Pietersen had said at the toss that he "had to do something today". He and Taylor made slow starts, but stepped up a gear against Nehra in the fourth over. Bangalore were 45 for 2 after the Powerplay at which point Virender Sehwag introduced spinners from both ends. Mishra was able to tie the batsmen down, but Vettori wasn't. Taylor cut him deftly for four, and Pietersen charged and hit him over long-on to take 13 runs off his compatriot's first over. In his second, Pietersen swept powerfully to the boundary but a moment's rashness cost him his wicket the very next delivery. Pietersen attempted to switch-hit Vettori's quicker ball through midwicket, but missed and was bowled, falling for 37 in the last over before the tactical time-out.

Mishra dealt Bangalore a crippling blow in the first over after the break, trapping Taylor leg before with a googly. Bangalore were struggling at 78 for 4, but managed to reach 149 largely due to Boucher's blows over the leg-side boundary in the penultimate over.

Andrew Symonds may have cut his Rastafarian beads, but he showed tonight there had been no cutback on his competitive spirit or his aptitude as Australia levelled the series 1-1. His two-wicket over, in the face of a marauding Shoaib Akhtar, had kept Pakistan down to a par total, but his bigger contribution came with the bat when Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal threatened to run through Australia for the second time in a row.

Afridi and Ajmal had undone James Hopes' good work at the top, bringing the game right back into the balance, when Symonds came in to bat. Hopes, filling in for the injured Shaun Marsh at the top of the order, had put Australia on their way to a chase of a tricky 207, before Ajmal and Afridi struck in back-to-back overs.

The contest was always going to come to life when the spinners came on. Before that Hopes had weathered the storm from hostile and accurate Shoaib and Umar Gul. That initial spell resulted in the early wicket of Brad Haddin, but Hopes counter-attacked and brought the run-rate within manageable proportions.

From 19 for 1 in six overs, Hopes cut and drove Gul and Shoaib for three boundaries and a six in the next three overs. Australia reached 70 for 1 in 14 overs, when spin was first introduced.

Australia tried to play the mind game, going for the batting Powerplay immediately, and trying to delay the introduction of the dangerous spinners. Pakistan played ball, and went on with Afridi and Ajmal anyway. From 70 in 14 they moved to 91 in 20 in a tense period of play.

In the 21st, Ajmal got Watson with a doosra, the batsman looking to pull without reading the spin. In the end Watson tried unsuccessfully to pull out of the pull, and top-edged. In the next over, Afridi beat a Hopes sweep with a straight and full delivery.

Batting was not easy then, what with Test fields in place and the ball turning big, and Australia coming off a monumental collapse in the previous game. Ajmal and Afridi attacked, but Symonds tackled them superbly. Even early on in the innings, he picked Ajmal's doosra. For good measure he let Ajmal know every time he saw the away-spinner. His 58 comprised only four boundaries and a six, the first of which was the team's first boundary in 17 overs.

The value of Symonds' knock grew when put in comparison with his partner Michael Clarke's effort. Clarke struggled to pick the spin, and was patchy all the way through. At one point, out of a 58-run stand Clarke had scored only eight.

Symonds' sensible batting also coincided with Pakistan gradually running out of the spinners' quota, and with a small total to defend they had to bring back the pace bowlers on. Once that happened it was a cruise for Australia, with close to four an over required.

Even that small target was thanks to Symonds' effective over at the death. Shoaib's 14-ball 25 had lifted Pakistan from 176 for 7, but just when it looked he would take Pakistan to a more competitive total, Symonds struck with two in the 46th over to not even allow them a full quota of 50 overs.

That was not the last twist of a slow yet dramatic first innings of the game. A disciplined Australia had done well to pull Pakistan back after they had threatened twice to move out of their grasp.

First it was Younis Khan who recovered from a sluggish start to get into fluent mode only to be dismissed for 28. Then Shahid Afridi played an uncharacteristically responsible innings, but when he looked set to launch Pakistan into the safe zone, Hopes got him with seven overs to go.

Following the early run-out of 17-year-old debutant Ahmed Shehzad, Pakistan made an edgy start. Salman Butt and Younis were literally edgy against Nathan Bracken and ODI debutant Doug Bollinger, both left-arm seamers. They troubled both the batsmen with their angle and movement both ways. By the end of the ninth over Pakistan had crawled to 28 for 1, having faced a maiden each from both the bowlers.

With Hopes came the change of angle, and Younis helped himself to three boundaries in his first two overs. In the next seven overs Pakistan doubled their score, mainly via Younis who scored 20 off 14 during that period. The sight of Ben Laughlin lit his eyes up, a short loosener first up widened them further, and an edge resulted as he went to cut the leather off the ball.

Two more wickets, punctuated by an especially asphyxiating spell by Bollinger, meant Pakistan were struggling in the middle overs, five down for 122. Bollinger went for 26 in his 10 overs, including a middle spell of four overs for five runs.

But then Afridi lifted them, not looking to hit the ball out of the ground every time he faced up. The main feature of his innings was his late-cuts, and placement for quick runs. He actually faced 40 balls, the most he has since his 52-ball 85 against Zimbabwe last January. Afridi also read the game well, picking a slower ball early during the Powerplay, when Australia had both third man and fine leg up in the circle. That was his only six. Afridi, along with Ajmal, provided Australia with a tough examination, but he was not the best allrounder on the night.

Ravi bopara  compiled a supremely-paced innings, one that could rival AB de Villiers' century because it came during a run-chase, to give Kings XI Punjab their first victory of the tournament. He scored steadily without taking too many risks and just when the chase entered its final phase Bopara accelerated with tremendous speed to consign Bangalore Royal Challengers to their third consecutive defeat.

The groundwork for the win was laid by Punjab's bowlers who made their first sunny match-day count. Yusuf Abdulla, who had bowled three overs for 39 before this match, struck at crucial moments in Bangalore's innings. Abdulla's four strikes, and Irfan Pathan's three in the final overs, were vital in restricting Bangalore to 168, a target which allowed Punjab's batsmen to play according to a plan.

Chasing under lights at Kingsmead can be tricky and Punjab approached their chase cautiously. Their openers, Karan Goel and Bopara, played few big shots, focusing instead on scoring at nearly eight an over by pushing the ball into gaps. They scored only 44 off the first six overs and Bopara's pull off Jacques Kallis, which sailed over the square leg boundary at the start of the seventh over, was the first six of the innings.

Goel fell soon after, run out after a stand of 52, and the batsmen that followed - Kumar Sangakkara and Yuvraj Singh - also paced, rather than pushed, their innings. Punjab ensured that the asking-rate didn't spiral out of control, but with 60 runs needed off the last five overs, they couldn't afford any slip-ups.

Bopara ensured there weren't any. He launched into Praveen Kumar in the 16th over, smashing him for sixes over long-on and deep backward square leg and took 19 runs off the over. Yuvraj pulled and glanced two fours off Kallis in the next over to reduce the equation to 28 off three. And when Bopara pulled a full toss and powered another full ball over the leg-side boundary, the game was nearly won. Yuvraj reached the target with a straight six with a whole over to spare, completing a clinical chase.

The calmness that Punjab exhibited during the chase was absent during Bangalore's innings. Bangalore's openers once again failed to put a partnership together with Robin Uthappa chasing and edging Pathan's wide delivery in the second over. It was the fourth time in as many matches that Bangalore were losing an opener for a duck (Jesse Ryder twice, Praveen and Uthappa once). Ryder, however, finally got off the mark this season, punching his third ball off Ranadeb Bose to the cover boundary.

Kallis started in high gear, pulling a short ball from Pathan over the long-leg boundary and lofting Abdulla's first ball over cover point for four. Ryder also hit Pathan to the point boundary and Bangalore seemed to have shrugged off their Powerplay troubles: their average in the first six overs was 36 runs for the loss of 2.33 wickets and today they were 48 for 1 off 5.1 overs.

Abdulla, however, wrecked their momentum, bowling Ryder as he attempted to play a pull. Two balls later, he struck a tremendous blow, drawing Kevin Pietersen into spooning a catch to cover off a slower ball. Rahul Dravid once again entered with his team in trouble - 48 for 3 - but this time he failed to contribute. Tied down by the spinners - Bangalore scored only 22 between overs six and ten - Dravid attempted to smash Piyush Chawla down the ground and skied a catch towards long-on.

Kallis and Taylor had added 61 in quick time before Abdulla returned to induce a mis-timed pull from Kallis with a slower short ball. Taylor continued to attack, slog-sweeping Chawla into the stands at deep midwicket, but he eventually became Adbulla's fourth wicket. Pathan picked up quick wickets towards the close and Bangalore finished several runs short of what they would have aimed for.

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is to undergo surgery on his right knee, ruling him out of the upcoming two-Test series against the West Indies. 

Flintoff has returned from South Africa, where he was playing in the Indian Premier League, to undergo the surgery but England cricket chiefs expressed confidence that their star player would recover in time for the World Twenty20 in June and the Ashes series starting in July. 

That will be greeted with scepticism in some quarters however, given Flintoff's long history of injuries. 

And the fact that Flintoff suffered the injury while playing in the IPL will inevitably spark debate about whether a player with his injury record should have been taking part in the competition rather than concentrating on preparing for England's summer Tests. 

The Lancashire star, England's outstanding performer in their 2005 Ashes win over Australia, tore the meniscus in his right knee while playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. 

Scans at a Durban hospital detected a slight medial meniscal tear and after they were viewed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)'s medical supremo Nick Peirce, it was decided that Flintoff should return to London. 

He will undergo a keyhole operation early next week and Peirce put the recovery period at three to five weeks. 

Peirce said: "Clearly this is a huge disappointment for both the player and the IPL team. This sort of degenerative injury though is one that could have happened at any time anywhere. 

"The procedures we put in place meant that the ECB medical staff were alerted about the problem immediately and we thank Chennai for their cooperation." 

Hugh Morris, England Cricket Managing Director, added: "Andrew has been extremely unlucky with injuries but if there is one saving grace it is that the injury has occured now rather than on the eve of either the World Twenty20 or the Ashes. 

"Having the surgery now means that Flintoff should be available for both those events although he is certain to miss the series against the West Indies."