Ganga recognition spinners for solid win

Trinidad and Tobago captain Darren Ganga applauded his spinners for setting up their five-wicket victory over debutants Ruhunu in the opening NCL T20 qualifier.

Ganga said the win will boost his side's self-confidence as they get ready to take on Leicestershire in their next game on Tuesday.

"We have got some practiced slow bowlers. They have done tricks for us time and time again. We just consideration that spinners did the trick," Ganga told reporters at the post-match press conference.

"We need to take care at top of the order and how we move toward things to change the momentum of the game. The win has helped our self-assurance to grow further," he added.

Noting that the team relies a lot on the spinners, he said he would decide on the composition depending on the track.

"We play to our strengths. We rely on their (spinners) experience heavily. If conditions change, if we got a track that has got lot of grass and looks very hard, we got the quality of players and we make the essential decisions," he said.

Ganga was all praise for Darren Bravo and Sherwin Ganga, whose incomplete sixth wicket partnership of 53 in just 26 balls helped the team win the game.

"Bravo knew what accurately his role was and Sherwin also played well," he said.

Meanwhile, Ruhunu's TM Sampath said the team predictable to get around 150 to 160 runs but failed to do so.

"We have to score at least 150-160. We missed some fielding that is the rotating point for the game. We are not giving up the event. We are looking forward to the next match. We still have a chance to qualify," he said.

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BCCI will not do any inquisition

New BCCI president BCCI has lined out any post-mortem of India's miserable tour of England in which the side unsuccessful to win a single international match.

"The tour did not go as intended. We did not have our best team from the start. A lot of players were injured.

We have faith in the team. There is no reason why we can't get back (no. 1 spot) there. We have not formed any committee (to do a post moretem)," said Srinivasan at the end of the Board's 82nd AGM on Monday.

The Indian squad was whitewashed 0-4 by England in the Test rubber and lost the ODI series 0-3, besides losing the lone T20 clash against the hosts.

The Chennai-based businessman remind that the same team had climb the peak of ODI and Test cricket before the England tour by winning the World Cup in April and achieve the no. 1 Test rank that it kept for more than a year in its hold.

"Our cricketers have achieved whatever there was to accomplish. Two months ago they were heroes having won the World Cup; they were the number one Test team. They had one bad series. (Now) they need our support," he said.

Srinivasan did not agree with the view that surplus of cricket affected the team's performance.

"BCCI does not support the view of too much cricket, because accepting a few, not all play all the three formats and those who did were not the ones who were injured.

"We have taken stock of the cricket being played around the world and there is not much differentiation between other teams. Yes, we did not do well but we have faith in the team, they will bounce back," he declared.

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Indecision loom over Kochi players

The conclusion by BCCI to terminate the Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise for breach of contract has left 28 thin cricketers in the lurch.

Although the BCCI has stated that in case the franchise fails to pay up the players' dues, they would encase the bank guarantee and pay their salaries.

However, a larger question in this background is what and how will be the future of these players, which include top names like former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene and Indian players like Parthiv Patel, S Sreesanth, Ravindra Jadeja, Rudra Pratap Singh, to name a few.

Will these players feature in the fifth edition of IPL? That's a million dollar question as of now with BCCI express their want to go with nine-team for the next edition.

"It's a tough situation, certainly. The new IPL governing council needs to put in a lot of consideration into how they will handle the delicate issue of the future of these players," a BCCI official, who attend the AGM on Monday, said.

He admits that it will be a tough ask to restore the players in other teams.

There are a few options and the BCCI is deliberate on the pros and cons of each of them.

While a section of members are in favour of re-auction for the players, there are others who are pointing out at the soft underbellies it might have to go in for an auction.

"Why would the nine other franchise be ready for sale of these players (though all of them are not capped)?" the official questioned.

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KKR record slight win in qualifiers

Kolkata Knight Riders 121 for 6 (Bisla 45, Kallis 33, Mills 2-24) strike Auckland Aces 119 for 6 (Vincent 40, Yusuf 2-21) by two runs

The Kolkata Knight Riders survive a thrilling opener to their NCL T20 movement as they edged to a two-run win next to the Auckland Aces in the second qualifier.

The New Zealand champions fell agonizingly short of an upset when, with four wanted from the final ball; Kyle Mills could only squirt a Brett Lee yorker away for a single.

The Knight Riders expensively-assembled batting order managed only 121 for six batting first, but the Aces failed to capitalize on that with Lou Vincent's 37-ball 40 the only important input to the chase.

Vincent had look set to contentedly guide his side to victory, hitting 30 of his 40 runs in boundaries, but after he was run out Yusuf Pathan claim two wickets in three balls to bring his side back into the match.

The Aces required 22 from the last two overs and while Jacques Kallis right away bowled Colin Munro, Andre Adams hit his first ball for six.

But the New Zealand side unsuccessful to find the ropes again, most considerably from the last ball, to suffer a beat which leaves them needing to win their second and final qualifier against Somerset on Tuesday to have any chance of reaching the group stage.

Earlier, the Knight Riders had looked on course for a bigger score than they managed after openers Manvinder Bisla and Kallis joint for 73 in 57 balls.

But after Bisla fell for a breezy 45 from 32 balls the IPL side lost their way with four wickets going down for the addition of five runs in 10 balls.

Andre Adams started the mid-innings slump bowling dangerman Yusuf Patel before Mills unconcerned Kallis and Manoj Tiwary in the next over.

A direct hit from Hampshire's Jimmy Adams then ran out Ryan ten Doeschate and when some more good fielding, this time from namesake Andre, wedged Shakib Al Hasan backing up too far the Knight Riders had to be content with a below-par score.

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