20
guyanatimesGY.com
saturday, MAY 25, 2013
Mumbai in final after Taylor to appear at Atlanta T20 tense finish H
alf-volleys hit straight to hand. A fielder found perfectly with a long hop. Crazy wide balls. A dropped catch to finally lose the match. Another night in the life of IPL. After which Mumbai Indians made it to the finals. Chennai Super Kings have already made it to the final. Chasing 166, which was thanks to Lasith Malinga’s profligate last over, Mumbai were on their way with Dwayne Smith and Aditya Tare strolling through, but a spate of poor shots made for some late drama on Friday. Mumbai were 70 for 0 after nine overs when Tare played a chip straight down long-on’s throat. It was not an attempt at hitting a six. It was not an attempt to keep the ball along the ground. Nor was it a mis-hit. He was caught comfortably at long-on. While Smith continued to bat solidly, Dinesh Karthik cut a short and wide delivery straight to point. Mumbai were now 125 for 2 at the start of the 15th over, and Rohit Shamra was soon to make it 128 for 3 with a slog down the wrong line.
In the 17th over, Smith timed a half-volley a bit too well and found deep midwicket to fall for 62 off 44. In the next over, the 18th, Pollard did the same, and this walk had now become treacherous. Ambati Rayudu was the last of the recognised batsmen, and he responded with a six to cow corner to make it 16 off 10 balls. Two balls later, keeping with the spirit of the match, Rayudu mishit a full toss, Brad Hodge ran in from deep square leg, got under it, but dropped it. In the last over, Shane Watson, who had had an ordinary time with the ball thus far, produced a moment of inspiration, an accurate legcutter to knock back Rayudu’s off stump. With six required off four balls, and two new batsmen at the wicket, it was game on again. Rishi Dhawan, the young Himachal Pradesh allrounder, produced the other moment of inspiration, ramping a length ball over short fine leg. Dhawan was one of the inspirational men for Mumbai with the ball. Brought in to replace Munaf
Patel, who was ordinary when replacing the injured Dhawal Kulkarni, bowled ahead of Malinga, and kept it quiet. Harbhajan Singh came on and broke the sizeable but slowish opening stand when he bowled Ajinkya Rahane behind his legs. Harbhajan found a way to stay in the match. Of the six wickets that fell, he either took or caught five.
The biggest of those wickets was Watson, who top-edged him to square leg. Royals kept losing wickets until Dishant Yagnik gave them a total to defend with an innovative 31 off 17. Unsettled by that, Malinga bowled two sets of big wides and conceded 18 runs in the last over. That was not to be the last bit of ordinary cricket on the night. (Cricinfo)
SCORE BOARD
Rajasthan Royals innings R Dravid* c Sharma b Harbhajan Singh 43 A Rahane b Harbhajan Singh 21 S Watson c Sharma b Harbhajan Singh 6 S Samson c Harbhajan Singh b Malinga 0 S Binny c Harbhajan Singh b Pollard 27 B Hodge not out 19 K Cooper c Smith b Pollard 4 D Yagnik† not out 31 Extras: (lb 4, w 8, nb 2) 14 Total: (6 wkts, 20 overs) 165 Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-60, 3-64, 4-87, 5-104, 6-108 Bowling: M Johnson 3-023-0, R Dhawan 4-0-30-0, P Ojha 4-0-36-0, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-23-3, L Malinga
4-0-43-1, K Pollard 1-0-6-2 Mumbai Indians innings D Smith c Samson b Binny 62 A Tare c Samson b Cooper 35 K Karthik† c Rahane b Cooper 22 R Sharma* b Trivedi 2 K Pollard c Cooper b Faulkner 11 A Rayudu b Watson 17 Harbhajan Singh not out 6 R Dhawan not out 4 Extras: (lb 6, w 4) 10 Total: (6 wkts, 19.5 overs) 169 Fall of wickets: 1-70, 2-125, 3-128, 4-132, 5-141, 6-160 Bowling: V Malik 4-0-260, J Faulkner 4-0-36-1, S Watson 2.5-0-34-1, S Trivedi 4-0-23-1, K Cooper 4-033-2, S Binny 1-0-11-1
Gurunath Meiyappan arrested in Mumbai
G
urunath Meiyappan, a top official of the Chennai Super Kings franchise and son-inlaw of the BCCI president N Srinivasan, has been formally arrested by Mumbai Police on charges of cheating, forgery and fraud. The development, late on Friday night, is the most serious setback to the IPL in its six-year history and has serious implications for the BCCI as well given the names involved. As of early Saturday morning there was no news of an emergency BCCI meeting but it is expected that events will move fast through the day, to discuss the issue of leadership – though Srinivasan insisted he would not step down – and also Chennai Super Kings’ participation in the IPL final on Sunday. Gurunath had been summoned to Mumbai for questioning over betting and links to bookies and flew in on Friday evening. “We have interrogated Mr Gurunath after he arrived here at the crime branch headquarters,” Himanshu Roy, the joint commissioner of Mumbai Police, said. “We have gone through questioning with him in detail and after due deliberation, we have arrived at the conclusion there is evidence of involvement in offence we are investigating
Gurunath Meiyappan
and therefore he has been placed under arrest. He will be produced in court within 24 hours as per law.” Reports suggest Gurunath’s interrogation in Mumbai will continue through Friday night, and he will also be confronted with Virender “Vindoo” Dara Singh, the actor arrested earlier this week for alleged contact with bookies. Police investigations suggested that Vindoo and Gurunath were in frequent telephonic contact. Vindoo was also seen in the CSK box at IPL matches. Gurunath’s lawyer PS
Raman said: “We are exploring all legal possibilities. We are waiting for the remand report before reading the charges against him.” Srinivasan had not commented in public since the reports first emerged on Wednesday that his son-inlaw was linked to the IPL scandal, but after the arrest he maintained he would not resign as BCCI president. “I have done nothing wrong,” he told NDTV. “I am not resigning, the board is largely supportive of me.” Gurunath’s connection to Super Kings was the subject of dispute through the day. He was the public face of the franchise, his Twitter handle said he was the “team principal”, he was seen as Super Kings’ representative at auctions and at IPL owners’ meetings. Yet on Friday evening India Cements, the owners of the franchise and of which Srinivasan is the managing director, said Gurunath was only an honorary member of the team management. The implications of Gurunath’s arrest involve both Super Kings, who have qualified for the final to be played on May 26, and Srinivasan. His arrest brings into question Super Kings’ participation in the final – under IPL rules, the BCCI-IPL can terminate a franchise agreement “with immediate
effect if: c) The Franchise, any Franchise Group Company and/or any owner acts in any way which has a material adverse effect upon the reputation or standing of the League, BCCIIPL, BCCI, the Franchise, the team (or any other team in the League) and/ or the game of cricket.” More importantly, and with wider implication, Srinivasan’s position within the BCCI is likely to be under serious threat – not only because Meiyappan happens to be his son-in-law but because Srinivasan heads India Cements, who are owners of the Super Kings. The conflict of interest that arises from Srinivasan’s dual position as BCCI president and de facto owner of an IPL franchise now has a serious immediate implication: he will, as board president, have to oversee any disciplinary action against either Gurunath or the franchise. An IPL insider clarified that Meiyappan’s change of designation was not likely to have any impact on the action that needs to be taken. “The moment you’re a team management member, irrespective of the designation, the anti-corruption code applies to you. And nobody can deny the fact that he is a part of the ownership group and team management.”
(Cricinfo)
A
tlanta, GA – Georgia Women Cricket Association (GWCA) on Friday announced that Stafanie Taylor, the West Indies’ hard-hitting batswoman will be the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Women’s Cricket Ambassador at the 3rd Annual Atlanta Women’s T20 Tournament. Taylor’s presence at the tournament is being made possible through the kind courtesy of Atlantis Cricket Club – New York. The American Cricket Federation (ACF) is the title sponsor of the USACA approved tournament being staged this Memorial Day Weekend (May 25-26) in Atlanta, GA. The four participating teams are defending champions Atlantis, Atlantic Region Lady Eagles, a Cayman Islands Women’s club XI, and host team Atlanta Pearls. Ms Taylor is the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2012 ODI Women’s Cricketer of the Year. The 22-year-old made her ODI debut for the West Indies against Ireland in 2008 at age 17. In 64 ODI appearances, she has scored 2444 runs at an average of 43.64, including four centuries and sixteen 50s, while in 44 T20s she has amassed 1161 runs at an average of 33.17 per appearance. The all-rounder has also captured 80 ODI and 48 T20 wickets, in 64 and 44 matches respectively. According to tournament organiser, Petal Samuels, “GWCA is delighted to have Ms Taylor at the tourna-
Stafanie Taylor
ment. I have no doubt that her participation will be a plus for all the competing teams and the tournament, and it will serve to help develop women’s cricket in the USA. I am inviting women and men to come out to see Ms Taylor in action on Saturday, May 25 at Creel Park, 2775 Creel Road, College Park, Georgia.” The WICB, as a kind gesture, has graciously agreed to Taylor’s participation in the tournament and as its Women’s Cricket Ambassador. Earlier this year the Jamaica-born batswoman unleashed a remarkable 171 off 137 balls against Sri Lanka women in Mumbai, India, as the West Indies women crushed their Sri Lankan counterparts by a whopping 209 run margin. In an invited comment, Taylor who is currently vacationing in the USA said that she was looking forward to the tournament and doing whatever is possible to help women’s cricket grow in this part of the world. (First
published on Dream Cricket)
Rain washes out day one at Headingley
P
ersistent rain washed out the first day of the second Test between England and New Zealand at Headingley. On a wet and windy day, rain delayed the scheduled start and although there were sunny intervals between the showers, they never lasted long enough for the outfield to be drained. Play was abandoned for the day shortly before 16:00 BST. With an improved forecast for the weekend, the match should now start at 11:00 BST on Saturday. It was the first time since 1980 that the entire first day of a Headingley Test had been lost to the weather. England lead the twomatch series 1-0 after a 170run victory in the opening Test at Lord’s. Alastair Cook’s men are playing their final Test before the Ashes series against Australia, with several players looking to cement their places. The positions of opener Nick Compton and batsman Jonny Bairstow are both under scrutiny, while pace bowler Steven
Finn is under pressure from Yorkshire’s Tim Bresnan. New Zealand have been forced into a reshuffle by injuries to wicketkeeper BJ Watling and spinner Bruce Martin. Veteran left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori failed a fitness Test on an Achilles injury, meaning the Black Caps will field a four-man seam attack, with Doug Bracewell replacing Martin. Skipper Brendon McCullum will keep wicket and bat at number seven, one place below batsman Martin Guptill, who comes in for Watling. England: Alastair Cook (capt), Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steven Finn (or Tim Bresnan), James Anderson. New Zealand: Peter Fulton, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Dean Brownlie, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (capt & wk), Tim Southee, Doug Bracewell, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult. (BBC Sport)