IPL Final Preview: Chennai vs Bangalore

Chennai are living up to their team name with an undefeated home run in IPL and it would Bangalore take quite an effort to breach their fortress in the finale today

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings (From): MS Dhoni(w/c), Srikkanth Anirudha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Subramaniam Badrinath, George Bailey, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey, Shadab Jakati, Joginder Sharma, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Kulasekara, Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh, Albie Morkel, Abhinav Mukund, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Sudeep Tyagi, Ganapathi Vignesh, Murali Vijay, Kuthethurshri Vasudevadas

Royal Challengers Bangalore (From): Daniel Vettori(c), Mayank Agarwal, Sreenath Aravind, Arun Karthik, BN Bharath, Raju Bhatkal, AB de Villiers(w), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Nuwan Pradeep, Muralidharen Gautam, Mohammad Kaif, Abrar Kazi, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Charl Langeveldt, Abhimanyu Mithun, Dirk Nannes, Ryan Ninan, Asad Pathan, Luke Pomersbach, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rilee Rossouw, Saurabh Tiwary, Johan van der Wath, Jonathan Vandiar, Chris Gayle, Syed Mohammad Jamaluddin

Head to Head
Played :	10
Chennai :	5 Won
Bangalore :	5 Won

Best bowling in an innings
Chennai:	4/32	Albie Morkel
Bangalore:	4/40	Vinay Kumar

Highest individual innings
Chennai:	83*	Michael Hussey
Bangalore:	75*	Chris Gayle

Leading wicket-takers
Chennai:	13 in 10 matches	Albie Morkel
Bangalore:	10 in 6 matches	Vinay Kumar

Leading run-getters
Chennai:	266 in 9 matches	Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Bangalore:	289 in 10 matches	Virat Kohli

Highest Partnerships
Chennai:	106 (1st wkt.)	Parthiv Patel & Matthew Hayden	at Port Elizabeth on 20.4.2009
Bangalore:	89 (2nd wkt.)	Wasim Jaffer & Ross Taylor	at Banalore on 28.4.2008

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PCB panic over security to Afghan team

The Pakistan Cricket Board has asked the government to give sufficient security for the visiting Afghanistan side.

After a television channel showed the Afghanistan team travelling in a bus in Rawalpindi with only a police mobile escort it with three officers on board, the PCB has requested that security be enlarged for the visiting team.

In March 2009, militants attack the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore and killed six Pakistani policemen and a van driver besides hurtful five Lankan players. The attack led to Pakistan becoming a remote cricket nation as far as teams coming to play in the country is worried.

The Afghanistan team is the first foreign team to visit Pakistan since the 2009 event which was blamed on insufficient security preparations by the police and administration.

But a board official said it was in constant touch with the law enforcement agencies and government over security being provided to the Afghan players. "We are in stroke with the government over the security arrangements. We are coordinating with them but the liability of providing the security is with the police and other security agencies," he said.

"Because of the existing situation in the country where militants are target security agencies and police as part of their activist activities the law enforcement agencies don't want to be famous in their presence around the Afghanistan team by having uniformed policemen to guard the players," the official claimed.

"But we have been certain there are sufficient plain clothed officers as long as security cover to the Afghan players," he added. Board Chairman Ijaz Butt has used the one-day series between Afghanistan and Pakistan 'A' to make a keen appeal to the cricket world to support Pakistan by sending teams to the country.

Butt has said the board was capable of organising international matches even in the current situation with the help of the government.

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Broad: A hard day for England

England 47 for 1 (Cook 24*, Anderson 1*) follow Sri Lanka 400 (P Jayawardene 112, Paranavitana 66, Samaraweera 58, Anderson 3-62) by 353 runs

Stuart Broad became the second-youngest England bowler to accept up 100 Test match wickets but he insists the team effort is more important.

England will resume on Saturday on 47 for one but they lost skipper Andrew Strauss for 20 in the evening session after Sri Lanka had earlier been bowled out for 400, and Broad praised the regulation of the visiting batsmen.

"It was a tough day, I thought Sri Lanka played very well and showed good discipline, but I thought we wedged at our guns really well to get them out for 400," he told Sky Sports.

"We tested the batsmen at times and that is all we can do. It is now up to us to bat until Sunday night and build a good score."

Broad recognized his achievement but is more listening carefully on produce a positive result in the opening Test. "It is always nice to pick up a couple of personal milestone but it is more significant to bowl a side out," he added.

"The wicket has played fairly slow but we decided to pitch the ball up and hearten the Sri Lanka boys to drive and I consideration they played particularly well. "This Test match is still living and it is up to us to bat past them. We had a few lbw shouts that we thought were mainly close but they didn't go our way, but that happen in cricket and hopefully tomorrow will be a different day for us."

Broad admit James Anderson's form is a "huge concern" for England as they await the results of a scan on the seamer. Anderson was the pick of the England attack on day two of the first power Test against Sri Lanka but left the field twice for treatment having suffered rigidity in the back and side and only bowled one over in the evening session.

He later re-emerged as night watchman as England reached stumps on 47 for one in reply to the tourists' 400 all out, but England remains troubled about his readiness to bowl.

"Obviously it's a huge concern for us," said Broad, who knowledgeable side problems of his own that, contribute to his departure from the World Cup earlier this year. "He felt a bit of tension in the back and side. Clearly I know what side injury are all about after this winter and when you get a little bit of pain it's not great. "We're being careful. He's going to go and get a scan this evening and with any luck that will come back clear and he'll be okay to go because he's a hugely vital bowler for us. Touch wood he'll be okay."

Broad does not believe Anderson's batting duties in the morning will make worse the injury whatever the results of the medical appraisal and expect him to play a frustrating role, as he did when saving the game here against Australia in 2009. "It is one of the trying injuries as a bowler. Hopefully it will just be a little tightness," Broad continued.

"Jimmy is not emotion pain when he's batting and with any luck he'll have one of those trying hours on Saturday when he wears a few but gets it away. "With my side injury I could do attractive much everything but bowl. An extensive pull shot might strain it or something but we don't really see Jimmy playing a huge amount of them, he's more of a clip to fine leg man."

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Bangalore hardback IPL final spot

Royal Challengers Bangalore set up an all southern final against the Chennai Super Kings after a 43-run IPL play-off win over Mumbai Indians.

Chris Gayle was the star yet again, smash 89 off 46 balls in a 113-run opening stand with Mayank Agarwal (41) to lead Bangalore to 185 for four.

In reply, Mumbai unsuccessful to get going in spite of a valiant 40 from skipper Sachin Tendulkar, as his complement Daniel Vettori picked up figures of three for 19.

Sreenath Aravind and Jamaluddin Mohammad chip in with two wickets each as Mumbai ended well short on 142 for eight, sending Bangalore to their second IPL final.

Bangalore was put into bat and it was Gayle's show for most of the first innings, which he started by defeat 20 off the first over before Agarwal joined in.

The West Indian reach 52 in 27 balls, but Agarwal could not make the most of a drop chance, caught by Rohit Sharma off Kieron Pollard.

Gayle carried on in spite of and was only rob of a century by James Franklin's superb running catch as Mumbai fight back with two more wickets to trash hopes of a 200-plus score.

Still, AB de Villiers (21) and Saurabh Tiwary (eight) managed 28 jointly inside the last four overs to make bigger Bangalore's total.

And they put Mumbai under early force in the chase, Aravind dismiss opener Aiden Blizzard (10) and pinch-hitter Harbhajan Singh (13).

Tendulkar had reserved his nerve so far and built 40 off 24 balls but was left stumped off Jamaluddin and Bangalore took additional control as Vettori got his treble in successive overs approximately the halfway mark.

Franklin failed to build on his start and was bowled by Zaheer Khan before Malinga's departure to Jamaluddin, with the 68 necessary off 18 deliveries proving impossible in the end.

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India squads for West Indies Tour

Suresh Raina has been named captain for India’s ODI series next to the West Indies, while Sachin Tendulkar will miss the whole tour.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announce a 16-man squad for the three-Test series which follows a one-off Twenty20 fixture and five one-day internationals - with Sachin Tendulkar opts out to use time with his family before a vital tour of England.

Left-handed opener Gambhir was set to captain the world champions for the limited-overs opposition in the Caribbean but a shoulder injury means Suresh Raina will take over the reins, with Shikhar Dhawan called up as cover.

Gambhir's injury led to a animated club next to country discuss and he was criticized for playing throughout in the IPL with an injury that he initially picked up during the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Shikhar Dhawan and Manoj Tiwary have been named replacement for Gambhir and Yuvraj for the lone Twenty20 and five-match ODI series starting June 4.

"Gautam Gambhir will be engaged for the full tour of the West Indies, on account of his shoulder injury. Yuvraj Singh will also be engaged for the full tour. He is suffering from an upper respiratory disease, with a small patch of pneumonitis in the left lung," the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.

Tamil Nadu opener Mukund was the lone new face in the squad announce after a marathon meeting of the selection board which lasted more than two hours.

Tendulkar, who was not part of the ODI team, request that he be allowable to spend time with his family.

"He will therefore not play the Test series. However, he will be obtainable for the full tour of England, that follows," the BCCI said.

The Test team to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni has no major surprises as the 21-year-old Mukund was predictable to make the cut in the nonappearance of Gambhir.

Mukund, an violent left-handed opener, was satisfied for his consistent performance in the domestic circuit where he has scored 3446 runs in 40 matches with an victorious 300 being his highest score.

The squad has seven specialist batsmen, four pacemen, three spinners and two wicketkeepers with Parthiv Patel life form the reserve stumper.

But with usual openers Gambhir and Sehwag not in the line-up, the team will lack experience at the top of the order. Murali Vijay and his Tamil Nadu teammate Mukund may be hand the liability of opening the batting.

VVS Laxman, who has been named vice-captain of the Test squad, and Rahul Dravid return to the fold to provide the constancy in the middle-order. In Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, the Indians have two hopeful batsmen who can take up the load.

Zaheer Khan, who was rested for the ODI series will lead the pace attack in Tests which also has Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth and Munaf Patel in its ranks. Harbhajan Singh will be the senior spinner in the squad with Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha as his backup.

ODI Squad: Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Manoj Tiwari, Shikhar Dhawan, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Wridhiman Saha, Amit Mishra, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, R Ashwin, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, S Badrinath

Test Squad: MS Dhoni, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay, S Badrinath, Abhinav Mukund, Harbhajan Singh, Parthiv Patel, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, S Sreesanth

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