West Indies A lost four wickets for four runs to crumble to 101 all out in response to Pakistan A’s 172 in the second unofficial one-day international at Progress Park in St. Andrew’s, Grenada

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2010
Scorecard
West Indies A lost four wickets for four runs and fell from a position of strength at 63 for 1 to crumble to 101 all out in their 71-run defeat at the hands of Pakistan A in Grenada.Chasing 173, Andre Fletcher got West Indies off to a solid start with 30 off 39 balls and at 63 for 1, the home team appeared to have laid a strong platform. Then the collapse began with Kirk Edwards edging left-arm fast bowler Junaid Khan to be caught-behind. Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed was in the thick of the action as he went on to take the catches of Kieran Powell and Fletcher off Zulfiqar Babar and Khan respectively.West Indies were reeling at 67 for 5 and never recovered from the collapse. Babar was the most successful Pakistan bowler with figures of 4 for 22.Pakistan looked set for a competitive total after a 55-run partnership between Umar Amin and Aamer Sajjad had got them to 100 for 3. But, Devendra Bishoo, who helped Guyana reach the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, picked up 4 for 35 as Pakistan’s middle-order failed to capitalise on the start.West Indies captain David Bernard’s decision to bowl first seemed justified after Rampaul – who picked up three wickets – and Bishoo,dismissed Pakistan inside 50 overs. But West Indies failed to get beyond the 32nd over in their own innings.The two teams will play two four-day games in St. Vincent with the first one starting on November 18.

A round-up of the second round of games from the World Cricket League Division Eight tournament in Kuwait

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Nov-2010Kuwait wrapped up their second win of the tournament with a resounding 161-run hammering of Vanuatu at the Hubaru Ground in Kuwait City. Twin hundreds from Irfan Bhatti and captain Hisham Mirza set up Kuwait’s massive total of 401 all out. They put 202 for the first wicket and both fell for 111, hitting a combined 23 fours and 11 sixes.It took a run out to eventually part them, but Vanuatu were not helped by the poor quality of their own fielding as eight chances went down in the course of the innings. They still managed to pick up regular wickets, but could do nothing about the run-rate as a further nine sixes were struck before Jonathon Dunn brought the innings to a swift end with three tail-end wickets in 11 balls.Vanuatu passed their highest ever limited-overs score with 337 in their first game of the tournament against Bhutan, but in this match they lost opener Lenica Natapei for a duck in the third over and never launched a realistic challenge on their target. Both Damian Smith and captain Andrew Mansale made it into the 40s, however, and Dunn’s half-century capped a good allround day for him and lent some honour to the defeat.”Cricket’s a funny game and Kuwait set us a huge target today and credit has to go to its two centurions,” said Mansale. “We didn’t seem to be able to match them in the runs department and our bowling and fielding wasn’t up to scratch today. We’ve all to play for on Tuesday against Suriname as victory could secure us a top two finish in the group which would help when it comes to the qualifying matches.”Bhutan bounced back from their embarrassing 282-run thrashing at the hands of Vanuatu yesterday with a hard-fought 11-run win over Suriname in a low-scoring match at the Unity Ground in Kuwait City. After captain Tshering Dorji won the toss and opted to bat, Bhutan struggled to build any momentum and their eventual total of 182 for 8 was built around Manoj Adhikari’s patient 61.Opening bowlers Lobzang Yonten and Tandin Wangchuk then made a mess of Suriname’s top order with three wickets in the space of five balls. Brahma Prasad and captain Shazam Ramjohn launched a recovery with a 79-run partnership before Ramjohn was dismissed by Dampo Dorji to spark another collapse at the hands of spinner Phuntsho Wangdi. Prasad went to his fifty but was run out shortly afterwards and Suriname were dismissed for 171 in the 45th over.”Things went well for us today particularly in the fielding and catching department,” said Dorji after the match. “We held catches, kept things tight so when it came down to them trying to make the runs and meet the target they couldn’t because we fielded so much better than yesterday.””Our top order didn’t do so well today when it came to batting but Manoj performed very well and the main thing ahead of Tuesday is that we need to keep things simple. We need to be consistent with our fielding and our batting. I think if we can set a good target here and our bowlers pitch it up a bit and get the ball to swing on the flat pitches, we could be in with a chance.”A united team performance from Zambia set up their 76-run victory over Bahamas at the Sulabiya Ground. Zambia lost both openers for single figures after opting to bat first, but Nos. 3 to 8 all got starts and three men passed 30 to keep the innings ticking over. The innings came to an end in the final over when Gladson Kandela, who had struck two sixes in an aggressive 33, was caught and bowled by Mario Ford.Kandela continued his fight in the field, picking up three top-order wickets with his seamers to ensure that Bahama’s innings got off to a stuttering start. The spinners then come to the fore, Godfrey Kandela and Mohmed Mitha picking up three wickets apiece as Bahamas were bowled out for 132 in the 40th over.”We played well yesterday against Germany but we didn’t execute our batting to the fullest,” said Zambia’s coach Peter Kirsten. “But after some hard work by the coaching team last night and a bit of a bad start with the batting this morning the senior players really came to the party today with the bat.”We’ve got some good youngsters coming through to accompany the seniors and we always know that if we can put over 200 on the board and bat out the 50 overs we’re in with a good chance of victory and that’s what happened today.”Kirsten was also pleased with the performance of Man of the Match Gladson Kandela. “Gladson was the Under-19 captain recently and he’s a good performer with both the bat and ball, as today showed. He’s definitely the spearhead opener of our bowling attack now and after today’s tactics paid off I think our group is wide open.”In the second Group B match of the day at the Doha Entertainment City ground Germany beat Gibraltar by an impressive 130 runs despite a spirited 99 by Christian Rocca. Both Milan Fernando and Asif Khan cracked hundreds as the Germans reached a daunting 363 for 5, and Gibraltar captain Rocca then played a lone hand in the chase. He was bowled one run short of the milestone by offspinner Shakeel Hassan, who finished with four wickets as Gibraltar were kept to 233 for 8.Monday is a rest day for all of the teams in the tournament, with play resuming on Tuesday.

New Zealand’s poor batting display on the first day of the third and deciding Test cost them the match, according to Daniel Vettori

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2010On New Zealand’s 1999 tour of India, the heat, the noise and the crowds had all started to take their toll on the visitors. In the second Test, Rahul Dravid was further adding to their woes by doing what he does best – batting long. As former New Zealand fast bowler Dion Nash tells it, a butterfly suddenly landed in the middle of the pitch, and Dravid pulled away from the strike. While the rest of the players watched in “collective horror”, Adam Parore stormed down the pitch and stomped on the insect. Dravid turned around and said loudly, “Oh no, he has kicked the butterfly, that’s bad luck for you guys”. It was indeed, for New Zealand went to suffer a big loss. The frustration of a typical Indian tour had had its effect on Parore.This time around, there has been anything but frustration in New Zealand’s camp heading in to the third Test. They even threatened to win the first Test, and comfortably drew the second. But just when everyone had forgotten the whitewash in Bangladesh that preceded this tour, they collapsed in this Test. India were allowed to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, admittedly with a little bit of help from the umpires.New Zealand’s performance today wasn’t all that surprising. The ball turned and bounced, and with two umpiring howlers going against them, they didn’t have much of a chance to save the game. It was their batting debacle on the first day on a true surface that was the real surprise, especially since it followed their creditable batting performances in the first two Tests, albeit on flat tracks.”I can only look at the overall performance and say it was poor in this Test as compared to the first two Tests,” Daniel Vettori said. “We were exceptional then because we grinded it out and put in good performances. In this part of the world, the first-innings runs keep you in the game, and then it’s up to your bowling attack to take wickets but that didn’t happen here. I think after winning the toss, scoring just 193 put us under a lot of pressure.”We might never know whether it was because New Zealand play better when they are the underdogs, which they were in the first two Tests, and stumbled here because they went in with higher expectations, or whether Brendon McCullum’s last-minute injury completely unsettled the team. The second day was the best for batting on this pitch, and their bowlers couldn’t make much headway. Their chance came on the third day morning; the ball was still hard and they removed Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and Suresh Raina, but Vettori was left to rue their inability to dislodge the pair of Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni.”We bowled so well and took three wickets but couldn’t capitalise on that. Dhoni and Dravid played exceptionally well. There were lots of niggles for us but I think India showed us how to bat, especially in this Test.”Their fight evaporated after the 193-run stand between Dravid and Dhoni. In the first Test at Ahmedabad, after a hard day’s work when New Zealand had fought hard to push India on to the back foot, Sreesanth came to meet the press. After giving credit to the opposition, he couldn’t help himself, saying “Let’s see how they play on a proper turning track. I think they will struggle”.Today, they did exactly that, and collapsed in a heap. “Any time you lose, you surrender too early,” Vettori said. “We knew we had to be positive this morning but couple of dismissals… There was a period where India bowled well but once you get through the new [hard] ball, it’s a wicket where you can bat on for a long time. We are disappointed with our performance.”On the eve of the game, Vettori had said that they would be judged on how they performed in the final Test. India were without their best bowler Zaheer Khan and New Zealand had won the toss, but everything went pear-shaped from then on. “A loss is a loss. It should hurt us as much no matter the situation. To win the toss we were pretty happy with that. If we had gone through that period- just 58 overs were bowled – and come in the next morning, which was the best day to bat as India proved, but we made things difficult the way we batted on the first day.”

Michael Hussey expects Michael Clarke to be a positive and aggressive leader in his first outing as Australia’s Test captain on Monday

Peter English01-Jan-2011Michael Hussey expects Michael Clarke to be a positive and aggressive leader in his first outing as Australia’s Test captain on Monday. Clarke gained the post following Ricky Ponting’s withdrawal with a broken finger and will be in charge of a young outfit that has the job of levelling the Ashes series at the SCG.Clarke is the team’s most experienced player with 68 Tests, while Hussey, one of only two men in the squad over 30, has appeared in 10 fewer matches. Hussey said it would be strange walking on to the ground without Ponting, but he is confident Clarke will be a strong replacement.”He’ll be an aggressive captain, always looking to take wickets out there, make changes to the field and with the bowlers,” Hussey said. “He’ll be searching for a wicket all the time, and will always want the game going forward. That’s the way Australians have played our cricket as long as I can remember. I think he’ll be a very positive captain.”Clarke has been successful in the limited-overs arenas and was in charge of Australia’s journey to the final of the World Twenty20 in the West Indies in May. He also has 13 victories in 18 ODIs as leader and has been able to impress his team-mates with his high-energy style.”I guess the challenge is to be able to maintain that over the five days,” Hussey said. “It’s going to be a hard old graft. But we have 100% confidence in him. I think he’s done a really good job when he’s captained the team so far in his career.” This Test assignment is more complicated because it comes at a time when Clarke is struggling for runs, having scored 148 in seven bats against England.England retained the Ashes with their victory in Melbourne last week, and Hussey hopes the Sydney Test will be the start of Australia’s revival. “Our focus is trying to get it back to 2-2 – I think that would be a real morale-boosting win for us,” he said. “We’ve got to get better. We hope our Test team is going to get better over the next 12 months to two years, but the process starts now. Unfortunately, we can’t win the Ashes, but if we can get it back to a two-all series leveller, it will be a good result for us.”Hussey, who is 35, was particularly disappointed after the MCG defeat. “It’s the Ashes and the biggest thing you play for,” he said. “I hope I get another opportunity to have another go at it. But I don’t know if I will, so that is a pretty hard thing to start thinking about.”

West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has said his team’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka will help the players acclimatise to the conditions for the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2011West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has said his team’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka will help the players acclimatise to the conditions for the World Cup that is being played in the subcontinent. West Indies play three ODIs against Sri Lanka at the SSC in Colombo, but while their World Cup warm-up games will also be played in Sri Lanka, they play their group games in India and Bangladesh.”It is a good opportunity to put some of the plans in place that we are going to take into the World Cup,” Gibson said. “When we went for the Test series we did really well as a team and we made progress. We also had a chance to get used to the conditions. The players are fresh out of the Caribbean Twenty20 and are ready for what we have coming up.”West Indies are part of Group B in the World Cup along with South Africa, Netherlands, India, Bangladesh, England and Ireland, and Gibson was positive about his team’s chances in the tournament.”I think we have a team that can win the World Cup,” he said. “We will go there with the expectation of doing very well and putting ourselves in a position where we can reach the semi-finals, which is a very realistic possibility. We are not listed among the favourites and that could work in our favour.”The three-Test series between West Indies and Sri Lanka last December ended in a rain-marred 0-0 draw. That series was to be followed by the one-dayers, but they were rescheduled due to bad weather. The first ODI will be played at the SSC on January 31.Squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith.

Australia’s World Cup campaign has been dealt a blow even before the squad leaves Australia, with Michael Hussey and Nathan Hauritz ruled out due to injuries

Brydon Coverdale08-Feb-2011Australia’s World Cup campaign has been dealt a blow even before the squad leaves Australia, with Michael Hussey and Nathan Hauritz ruled out due to injuries. Callum Ferguson and Jason Krejza will replace the pair in the 15-man squad, which flies out to India on Wednesday to defend the title under Ricky Ponting.And if losing a key middle-order batsman and the first-choice spinner was not bad enough, Australia could not even opt for their second choices in each discipline, with Shaun Marsh and Xavier Doherty not considered due to injuries of their own. It has meant a rapid promotion for the aggressive offspinner Krejza, who made his ODI debut on Sunday, while the inclusion of Ferguson was less of a surprise given his solid performances at international level over the past couple of years.Hussey in particular will be a massive loss, as he is the only Australian in the top ten of the ICC’s one-day batting rankings, and he is a renowned finisher who can rescue the side after top-order trouble. However, the selectors decided they could not risk Hussey, who suffered a serious hamstring injury during the one-day series against England that resulted in surgery, and he conceded he would be unlikely to be fit for the first couple of World Cup matches.Hauritz seemed a more likely candidate to make the cut, after he dislocated his shoulder while fielding during the one-day game in Hobart on January 21 and had surgery in a bid to be fit for the World Cup. He bowled in the nets on Monday and sent down a dozen deliveries at what he called 60 to 70%, but it was not enough to convince the selectors that he was worth the risk in such a big tournament.”The National Selection Panel has determined that the best strategy to ensure a successful campaign is for Australia to enter the tournament with a fully fit squad of fifteen from the first game,” the chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said. “We’ve applied to the ICC Technical Committee for Callum Ferguson to replace Mike Hussey in the squad.”Callum has an excellent record in one-day international cricket and played well in the one-day game against England in Sydney recently. We think he’ll play well in sub-continental conditions. We’ve also applied to the ICC Technical Committee for Jason Krejza to replace Nathan Hauritz in the squad. Jason toured India with the Australian Test team in 2008 and understands those conditions. We’re certain he’ll be a key member of our squad.”Krejza picked up 2 for 53 in his debut one-day international on Sunday and, although he dragged the ball short too often and threatened to leak big runs, he will enjoy the prospect of returning to India, where he collected 12 wickets on his Test debut in 2008. He was only called up in Perth due to Doherty’s back problem, which also ruled him out of replacing Hauritz, while Marsh’s hamstring strain meant Ferguson got the nod.However, there was some good news for the Australians, with Ponting and Steven Smith both deemed fit enough to fly to India, while Brad Haddin was also cleared after hurting his knee during the final ODI against England. Smith will share the spin duties with Krejza, while nothing was going to keep Ponting from his fifth World Cup.”Ricky Ponting is going well in his rehabilitation following his finger fracture,” the team physio Alex Kountouris said. “He is batting regularly and is expected to transition into unrestricted training soon after the team arrives in India.”Brad Haddin was struck on the knee whilst batting during the seventh ODI against England. During the batting innings the knee became swollen. We expect this to resolve soon after we arrive in India. Steve Smith is making very good progress from the groin injury he sustained in the sixth ODI against England.”The Australians fly out on Wednesday and play their first of two warm-up matches on Sunday, against India in Bangalore. Their opening match of the tournament proper is against Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad on February 21.Squad Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Cameron White, Callum Ferguson, David Hussey, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, John Hastings, Mitchell Johnson, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Doug Bollinger, Shaun Tait.

Where Ireland went, Canada could not follow as their dreams of a World Cup fairytale were blown away by Shahid Afridi

The Bulletin by Sahil Dutta03-Mar-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShahid Afridi now has 14 wickets after leading his team to victory with 5 for 23•AFP

Where Ireland went, Canada could not follow as their dreams of a World Cup fairytale were blown away by Shahid Afridi. For three-quarters of the game Canada had hustled Pakistan into a corner, only for Afridi to lash out with five wickets to seal Pakistan’s qualification to the quarter finals.While Afridi’s speculative batting may long since have gone bust, his bowling has grown into a model of menacing consistency which has placed him well in front as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 14 scalps from three games.Chasing a modest 184 after a lethargic Pakistan batting effort, Canada had scrapped hard to reach 104 for 3 with 17 overs remaining. Even in conditions that had been refreshingly inviting for bowlers, it was an equation within Canada’s reach, but Pakistan’s jack-in-the-box captain sprung to life to wipe out the lower and middle order.It was Saeed Ajmal, back in the side in place of Abdur Rehman, who started the collapse when he dismissed the obdurate Zubin Surkari lbw. The appeal was initially denied by umpire Daryl Harper, but the much-maligned DRS proved the bowler right. It was one of a number of decisions that Harper had to reverse as, in a single innings, the merits of umpire technology were given a perfect advertisement.Surkari’s dismissal brought the destructive Rizwan Cheema to the crease and with the target still in sight it seemed scripted that Cheema would bash his adopted country to glory against the land of his birth, but after starting with a bang over midwicket he ended with a whimper – missing an Afridi googly to lose his off bail.

Smart stats

• Shahid Afridi has become the first bowler to take three four-wicket hauls in a single World Cup. He is also the fourth bowler to take two five-fors in one World Cup.

• The two best bowling performances by a Pakistan player in World Cups belong to Afridi, and they’ve come within ten days of each other.

• Afridi is the leading wicket-taker in this World Cup with 14, and needs only four more to equal the record for most wickets by a Pakistan bowler in a World Cup: Wasim Akram took 18 in 1992.

• It is only the ninth instance of a bowler taking at least four wickets in three consecutive ODI innings. Waqar Younis achieved this feat on three separate occasions.

• Canada’s 15-over scores in their three matches have been the three lowest among all teams in this tournament – they scored 35 for 3 against Zimbabwe, 36 for 3 against Sri Lanka, and 40 for 2 today against Pakistan.

Afridi’s next over all but sealed the match with a slider rushing through Jimmy Hansra’s defences. Hansra had played with the sort of calculated daring that underpinned Ireland’s success in Bangalore but could not last long enough. Afridi was aloft in celebration a ball later when he bowled Harvir Baidwan to set up a hat-trick delivery. Though he didn’t get it, he sealed his five-wicket haul when Wahab Riaz held a Tyson Gordon skier.As if to emphasise his hold on the occasion Afridi even managed to conjure another scalp after finishing his bowling stint, hitting direct from mid-on to catch the wheezing Balaji Rao short. It meant Pakistan finished a game with all the zest that was missing from a forgettable batting display.Were it not for a stodgy 73-run stand between Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal, Pakistan may well have joined England on the receiving end of a World Cup shock. Before they came together Pakistan were rocking at 67 for 4 and lost five wickets for 44 after their stand was broken. Misbah was as calm as ever and nursed his more volatile partner through an organised, pragmatic and thoroughly un-Pakistani partnership.Either side of that pair it was a overconfident display as the batsmen lacked the intensity to buckle down and keep the scoreboard moving in the face of an energetic Canada effort. Using the heavy atmosphere and sporting pitch, all the Canadian bowlers caused trouble but it was the contrasting aggression of seamer Baidwan and rotund legspinner Rao who starred, constantly prodding and probing the Pakistan batsmen who were unable to raise their games.It left Canada dreaming at the half-way stage, but Afridi intervened when his team needed him most.

Match Timeline

Jason Gillespie’s is no longer the sole memorable performance by an Australian cricketer in Bangladesh

Daniel Brettig in Mirpur11-Apr-2011For five years Jason Gillespie has strutted about as the sole claimant to the title of most memorable Australian innings in Bangladesh. Not anymore.Gillespie’s 201 not out in the second Test in Chittagong in 2006 remains a most remarkable effort, and even now the proud nightwatchman still signs his autograph as a cheeky ‘Dizzy 201’. The fact it arrived in a Test will also ensure it as revered – or jokingly reviled if you were one of Gillespie’s team-mates – for as long as Australians play cricket. But Shane Watson’s pulverising, unbeaten 185 to secure a series victory over Bangladesh in Mirpur was so compelling, even with the caveat of a compliant Bangladesh attack, that it should not sit a million miles from Gillespie’s double century.”It’s amazing that Jason Gillespie, for how amazing a bowler he was, he still signs his name ‘Dizzy 201’, so it’s nice I’ve been able to do this,” Watson said. “It’s my first tour of Bangladesh so it’s nice to be able to come and try to show your skills to different people, [and have] people appreciate what you do; so that’s a nice bonus to having a good day. It’s just one of those days where everything that you try comes out of the middle of the bat, a mis-hit goes into the gap or you get dropped.”The reason I kept going after [reaching] 100 is because I was tired, and I didn’t really want to run too much; I was either going to try to hit as many sixes as I could or get out because I was pretty tired, that was as simple as it was. It was hot and humid out there, so it was nice to be able to get a few out of the middle to save my running.”As an allrounder and now the team’s vice-captain, fatigue is an ever-present issue for Watson, and he revealed his preference for batting second in limited-overs contests.”It’s always actually easier batting second; although you do get pretty hot from bowling first, it means I can actually get through my batting innings knowing I don’t have to bowl next and don’t have to use my energy,” Watson said.”So my preferred way of playing one-day cricket personally, is actually batting second because you don’t need the energy. If it comes off like it did today, I don’t have to run too much. So it was definitely nice today.”Watson was playing in Hamilton in 2007 when Matthew Hayden smote the previous Australian record for an ODI innings, an effort that was ultimately overshadowed by a furious New Zealand run-chase. This time there was no doubt about the decisive nature of the innings.Australia’s pre-series planning had focused on the volume of left-arm spin to be bowled by the home side, and Watson used the angle into him to powerful effect by swinging all his 15 sixes into the arc between square leg and straight mid on.”Some of the balls [that] I did hit over the leg side weren’t that [leg side], it was more so the length that meant I could hit [so],” he said. “But then also I was targeting the short side as well, so I was batting on off stump to try to get it over to the leg side. When the ball’s not turning and bouncing like it can here, it makes that shot a lot easier to execute. If it’s turning and bouncing that shot’s a lot harder.”At the other end, Ricky Ponting watched with admiration, perhaps reminded of his two domineering innings in Johannesburg in 2003 and 2006. “[It] made my job easy,” Ponting said. “[I] just had to get a single to give him strike.”No one expected it to get over that fast. I have been lucky to play with some great players; Watto has played some great innings … this was an amazing innings. Some of those sixes would have cleared any boundary in the world. It probably won’t sink into us for a while now, how good that [innings] was.”As for Bangladesh, the local reaction was best summed up by a wry question lobbed Watson’s way as he discussed the innings with the media: “What did you have for lunch today?”

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers in Chennai

The Preview by Sriram Veera30-Apr-2011

Match facts

Sunday, May 1 Chennai
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)With nine wickets to his credit, Amit Mishra is third behind Iqbal Abdulla (10) and Shane Warne (10) in the list of spinners•Indian Premier League

Big picture

They win one and they lose one but Deccan have slowly picked themselves off the bottom and are beginning to inch up in the points table. They were almost a two-man bowling attack, with only Dale Steyn and Amit Mishra contributing in the first half of the tournament, but suddenly, from nowhere, Ishant Sharma announced himself in some style in their last game. Admittedly, the pitch was helpful but Deccan will hope he will rouse himself to greater deeds from here on.As far as their batting is concerned, Deccan have depended heavily on Kumar Sangakkara. Their domestic batsmen have failed, their big signings like Cameron White, Daniel Christian and JP Duminy haven’t quite managed to live up to their billing yet. So, it’s no surprise that they haven’t been consistent so far.Deccan’s opponents Chennai Super Kings have lost three games but it took some exceptional performances, and iffy conditions, to beat them. Paul Valthaty dropped his cloak of anonymity one day, Harbhajan Singh picked his maidenTwenty20 five-for on another day, and rain played a big part in the game they lost to Kochi. They have won all their home games and won their first away game in the last encounter against Pune. They return to Chennai where their spin-heavy attack can be expected to test Deccan’s batting.

Form guide (most recent first)

Deccan: WLWLW (sixth in points table)
Chennai: WWLLW (fifth in points table)

Team talk

Will Deccan Chargers opt for the off-colour Pragyan Ojha at Chepauk? Ojha, who was a star performer in previous IPL editions, has been looted for runs but they might be tempted to give him a go on Sunday. Surely, now, JP Duminy, or even Michael Lumb, will be given a go in place of Cameron White?Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.

In the spotlight

S Badrinath has been one of the most classically pure batsmen in this IPL. Everything seems to have fallen in place for him this IPL season; he hasn’t been dismissed in his last three games and has harvested runs in some style. Interestingly, he will face Dale Steyn, the man who made him look like a novice in his last Test match. The ball cut in, swung out, reared at the throat, and Badrinath struggled; his critics have used that failure to fuel their arguments. Will there be a mini-redemption for him on Sunday?India loves their quick bowlers because there haven’t been many in their history. And so when Ishant Sharma harassed Ricky Ponting in a furious spell at Perth, they thought they had found a new hero. However, Ishant slowly lost his mojo and with it his place in the national team. He sparkled on a pitch that had something for the seamers against Kochi. Will it be the start of his journey back to the highest level or was it just a one-off?

Prime numbers

• Kumar Sangakkara and Badrinath are the top scorers for their respective sides and both have made 235 runs. Chennai have two other batsman who have tallied more than 200 but Deccan’s second highest run-tally is 144 (Bharat Chipli).
• Doug Bollinger is the only bowler from either of these teams who has an economy rate of under 6 an over (5.93)

The chatter

“Our captain [Sangakkara] is playing beautifully at the moment, Sunny Sohal has done well, [Bharat] Chipli has also done quite well. Mishra’s been outstanding, probably one of the best bowlers in the competition. Everyone’s beating everyone out there. No one’s really slipping away at the top of the table. If we win tomorrow it will be our fourth win and we’ll be pretty close to those top four positions.”

Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has questioned the PCB’s decision to appoint 36-year-old Misbah-ul-as Haq as the limited-overs captain

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-2011Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, has questioned the PCB’s decision to appoint 36-year-old Misbah-ul-as Haq as the limited-overs captain in place of Shahid Afridi, saying the move is “at best a stop-gap arrangement.””The present Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq is on the wrong side of 30 and I don’t see him leading the side beyond six to eight months”, Akram told on Friday
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Earlier this week the PCB decided to hand Misbah the reins for the two ODIs against Ireland at the end of the month, but chose not to offer a reason for the move. It is likely, however, that the decision came after the board decided they had had enough with Afridi’s penchant for awkward public statements. The latest situation arose when Afridi returned from the Caribbean and hinted at unhappiness with coach Waqar Younis over matters of selection.Out of 34 ODIs, Afridi had won 18 and lost 15; a stretch which included tough series against England and South Africa, and took Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup, and Akram believes those results mean it was wrong to sack Afridi over such “trivial matters”.”Arguments between captains and coaches are not new in Pakistan cricket,” Akram said. “Afridi was hailed as a national hero after the World Cup, and came back from the West Indies after winning the ODI series only to find out he has been sacked. What is the PCB up to?”It is a wrong step taken by PCB, and only [chairman] Ijaz Butt is to be blamed for this. In Pakistan, the coach wants all the power and when it doesn’t happen, the fight begins.”Akram was not the only one critical of the board’s decision. Abdul Qadir, former Pakistan legspinner, felt the board should not have been so quick to change captains. “Afridi should also be careful in giving media statements,” he told . “But the fact is changing the captaincy is a cricketing decision and this one is not a sagacious one. Dropping Afridi as captain and retaining him in the side to play under Misbah appears a bad move,” he said.And former chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said the PCB was to blame and called for the government to intervene. “Players are the ones who bring in money for the board and attract people to the sport. Afridi didn’t commit a crime if he spoke about problems he was facing as captain. Instead of listening to him the board sacked him as captain this is unjust and unfair and the government should take notice of this.”