Harbhajan drop for England ODI's

Harbhajan Singh has been missing out of the first two ODI's next to England as the selectors chose an under strength India team.

Gautam Gambhir, who miss the ODI series in the tour of England because of concussion, return to the squad which will be without the services of a host of seniors, as well as Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh because of injuries.

Vidharba pace man Umesh Yadav and Jharkhand speedster Varun Aaron also figured in the team announce by new BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale after a marathon assembly of the selection committee in Chennai.
Young leg-spinner Rahul Sharma and paceman Sreenath Aravind were the two new faces in India's exhausted 15-member squad for the first two cricket one-dayers in next month's ODI series next to England.

The team, to be captain by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has a mainly young bowling attack with Praveen Kumar being the spearhead.

The national selectors have chosen as many as five fast bowlers and three spinners in Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Sharma.

Parthiv Patel, who did practically well in the recent ODI series against England, has been retain along with upcoming batsman Ajinkya Rahane of Mumbai.

The first ODI of the five-match series will be played in Hyderabad on October 14,, while Delhi will host the second game on October 17. Mohali (Oct 20), Mumbai (Oct 23) and Kolkata (Oct 25) will stage the other three matches.

Kolkata will also behavior the lone Twenty20 match against England on October 29.

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, S Aravind, Rahul Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Praveen Kumar.

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Dhoni cheerful after CSK victory

MS Dhoni was all praise for his bowlers after CSK's three-pronged pace attack controlled Cape Cobras to a modest score of 145 on Wednesday.

"Had we lost, it would have become very hard. The score of 145 was a very good effort by our bowlers, who capitalized really well when they lost a couple of wickets at the wrong time. Our bowlers did a good job," said Dhoni after his team's exciting four-wicket victory over the Cobras.

"It was a big game for us and (Dwayne) Bravo played a special innings in the end. My heart was pounding. We are look forward to the next game," the skipper added.

The pace trio of Albie Morkel (2 for 26), Doug Bollinger (2 for 25) and Dwayne Bravo (2 for 23) shackle the Cobras' batting line-up and prohibited their order consisting of Herschelle Gibbs, J P Duminy and Owais Shah from changing the gears up.

Dhoni also approved that while batting, Chennai abandoned the importance of singles at the start.

The Chennai Super Kings, with this win, have two points, the same as the Cape Cobras and New South Wales while Mumbai Indians head the table with four points from two victories.

Cape Cobras' captain Justin Kemp said that Chennai pacers bowled fine with the old ball.

"We would have liked to score more at the back end, but I consider the Chennai boys bowled well with the old ball. They were excellent in the end over’s," said Kemp.

Kemp selected all-rounder Bravo's timely cameo for special praise and said, "It took something special from Bravo. We bowled well, but it was always going to come down to the last couple of over’s, and they have a big batting line-up. Bravo played some outstanding shots and took the game away from us."

"Overall it was a good game. We were right up there until the 18th over. A couple of mistake here and there," he added.

Man-of-the-match Dwayne Bravo, whose sparkler (46 not out off 25 balls) took the Chennai Super Kings past the target of 145 with just two balls to spare, said, "Today was a great day for us. I was just backing my ability. I am enjoying my cricket now. Hope this continues later in the event."

"Dale Steyn bowled just one bad ball and I got on top of it."

Asked about his bowling, he said, "I have work hard on my bowling in the nets and distorted my action a bit. I am happy now."

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Katich: Batting wants to improve

NSW Blues captain Simon Katich was relived after his move to bowl Steve O'Keefe in the Super Over paid off in their NCL T20 match, but felt the batting wanted to improve further.

"We're dissatisfied to have left it too late today," he said after his team's win over Trinidad and Tobago via the Super Over, before adding that NSW also approved too many runs in the middle overs.

"But that's the nature of Twenty 20 cricket. The stress is on the bowlers, it's not easy for them as well. But we've got to come up with a better batting effort throughout that middle phase. If no one bats through (the innings) it's very difficult."

About going in with spinner Steve O'Keefe in the Super Over, he said, "I deduction we felt pace off the ball with an older ball is possibly the hardest thing to hit.

I guess (T&T) went the other way and Moises played wonderfully and got us back into the match when it looked like it was over. It was a unbelievable knock and to cap it off in the Super Over was magnificent.

"O'Keefe had bowled wonderfully for us and we just felt that the pace off the ball was the right option than one of the quicks. Yes, it can be look at as a gamble but appreciatively, it paid off," Katich said.

The left-hander also said that the fact that T&T picked his pacers for runs in the final five overs (they went from 89/3 to 139/6) also contribute in giving the ball to a spinner.

Moises Henriques, who starred with the bat for NSW, said, "To be honest, it was just trying to like the cricket.Nothing much was going throughout my mind.

In my last game, we were in a similar circumstance. We work hard to bat in such circumstances and give your best every time you go out, sooner or later it's gonna pay off."

Henriques took a single and gave the strike to pace bowler Pat Cummins in the final over with just three balls residual and eight runs wanted for a win.

Asked if he had the self-confidence in the 18-year-old's capability, Henriques said, "I had just taken nine runs off Ravi (Rampaul) in the first three balls and the maths in my head said we needed eight off three balls and at that stage every run was crucial.

If I could perhaps get on strike on the last ball, then we were in with a possibility, whether a six or four."

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Tolerant ICC green signals Marlon Samuels

West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels has had his bowling action blank by the ICC and is free to bowl another time at international level.

The ICC deems the off-spinner's act to be outside the 15 degrees of acceptance in February 2008 after reports from umpire Aleem Dar and Simon Taufel.

The 30-year-old has since undergone remedial work on his achievement and has been cleared after evaluation.

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Dwayne Bravo lead Chennai Kings to win

Dwayne Bravo enables Chennai Super Kings to get their Champions League Twenty20 title defense back on path with a four-wicket victory over Cape Cobras at Chennai.

Owais Shah Lead the way with 45 as the Cobras, who won the toss and chose to bat, totall 145 for seven - but Bravo's 46 from 25 balls enable the Super Kings to pass the total with two balls to extra.

The Cobras' score was built on a firm partnership of 57 for the fourth wicket between Shah and JP Duminy. Shah's knock come from 38 balls and built-in a six and three fours, while Duminy chip in with 24 from 21 balls.


South Africa spinner Duminy then excel with the ball, taking four wickets for 20 runs from his four overs as the Super Kings slip to 77 for five.

However, the influx of Bravo at the crease redress the balance - and after distribution in a 43-run stand for the sixth wicket, the West Indies all-rounder took them to brink of victory by taking 17 runs off the last but one over of the game, bowled by Dale Steyn.

With Albie Morkel, Bravo saw the Super Kings over the line, appropriately hitting the winning single with two balls remaining.

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Ganga preserve Rampaul conclusion

T&T captain Darren Ganga shielded his decision to use Ravi Rampaul in the Super Over in their NCL T20 conflict next to NSW Blues in Chennai.

Rampaul, who gave left 16 runs in the 20th over that allowable NSW to level the scores, conceded another 18 in the Super Over, which the T&T failed to overhaul.

"Ravi is the most knowledgeable bowler, he's been our best bowler so far in this event, the most in-form. Every time he's bowled at the passing away for us, he's done the job for us.

We've trained and drill ourselves in a certain way, to finish off the innings in a certain manner. If we give Ravi 15 or 16 runs to guard, he'll do that on any given day," Ganga said after the beat.

Rampaul persist with bowling around the wicket in spite of going for runs in the 20th over, but his captain shielded the move.

"We've tried it time and time once more, to bowl around the wicket to most of the batsmen, angle the ball across, the field positions... more often than not we get out of jail. (But) Ravi was a little bit tired, almost certainly having bowled two over’s back to back and then with that strength coming back to bowl the Super Over.

"In retrospection you can say a lot of things, but he's our most knowledgeable bowler," he said.

Ganga said he would've preferred to go with a right-left combination in the Super Over but the team had to name prior to the match its three favored batsmen for such a scenario.

"We were under the feeling that we had the option of using any (of the) three to open, but that's amazing we learned regarding just prior to start of the game.

"(As if) the Gods are next to us. We've had two very close games; it just shows how spirited we are. It's a pity we haven't crossed the line and secure a win. We still hold our belief. This group is still open and we'll be coming very, very hard in that game beside CSK,” he concluded.

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Ireland stroke up Australia conflict

Ireland has secured another one-day international date with Australia at Stormont next summer.

Australia, at present the world's top-ranked ODI side, edge the hosts by 39 runs in an enthralling competition in Dublin last year and Cricket Ireland chief decision-making Warren Deutrom was excited to have make sure a repeat of the high-profile fixture on June 23, 2012.

"We are pleased to welcome Australia to Belfast in 2012 after their exciting RSA Challenge ODI against Ireland in Dublin 2010," he said.

"Although opportunities to find space in the Future Tours Programmed are rare against the world's leading teams, it is obvious that Cricket Australia is devoted to ensure that the top Associates, like Scotland and Ireland, have a chance to test themselves alongside the best and help us to improve.

"Off the field, the visit of such teams gives a massive boost to the profile of the sport, delivers a terrific return on speculation to our valued partners and an amazing day out for our fans."

Ireland coach Phil Simmons added: "It's fantastic that we're taking on Australia on home soil again. We had a fantastic opportunity to beat them in Dublin last year but let the game slip.

"I know just how much that beat hurt the players, so it's huge to get another possibility to play them.

"As a coach and a player, these are the sort of furniture that you thrive on, and with the backing of the swarm in Belfast, we've a real chance of pull off another famous win."

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