McCullum gets top scorer award

Brendon McCullum was on Thursday awarded the T20 Champions Award in the highest individual scorer category.

McCullum, sent a message from Bangladesh, saying he cannot wait to see his fans in Kolkata Knight Riders.

The Kiwi batsman, who turned out for a couple of games for the IPL side, Kolkata Knight Riders, was selected on the basis of his pyrotechnical 158 in the opening game of the Indian domestic T20 championship earlier this year.

The inaugural T20 Champions Award has been instituted by BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa to recognise the best of Twenty20 performances in domestic leagues across all Champions League Twenty20 constituent countries.

McCullum, whose services were secured forr USD 700,000, smashed 10 boundaries and 13 sixes in his 73-ball knock in the first match of the IPL played against Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy stadium that literally set the tone for the entire tournament.

In that knock, McCullum bettered Cameron White's record of 141 not out off 70 balls, for Somerset against Worcestershire in July 2006.

The wicketkeeper-batsman will, however, not feature in the Champions League Twenty20 because his team Kolkata Knight Riders failed to reach the title round of the IPL.

Tanvir awarded for best bowling

Sohail Tanvir was Thursday awarded at the T20 Champions Award for his superlative show for the Rajasthan Royals.

Tanvir's six for 14 -- the best figures in Twenty20 Cricket -- for eventual IPL champions Royals against runners-up Chennai Super Kings in a league encounter, earned him the award for the best bowling figures in a match.

The inaugural T20 Champions Award has been instituted by BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa to recognise the best of Twenty20 performances in domestic leagues across all Champions League Twenty20 constituent countries.

The red-hot spell from Tanvir decimated the Super Kings for 109 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. That reduced what was billed as a clash for the top spot in the Indian Premier League into a one-sided rout as the Royals chased down the target with eight wickets to spare.

Tanvir's and Royals' dominance in the match was emphasised by a rare sight in Twenty20 cricket - a slip cordon populated by three fielders.

The lanky pacer, who had a fantastic run in the Pakistan domestic T20 championship earlier this month, will turn out for Rajasthan in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 in December.

IPLCheck sequence of events - Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India's captain in the shorter versions of the game, hopes the authorities will check the sequence of events rather than go by what television footage in the Harbhajan Singh-Sreesanth controversy.

Comparing the row to the one between footballers Zinedine Zidane and Marco Matterazi at the last World Cup final, Dhoni felt that the act of provocation needed to be checked too.

Harbhajan was temporarily suspended from the Mumbai Indians side for allegedly hitting Sreesanth after the match between Mumbai and Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Friday. His hearing, today, is based on additional footage of the incident from one of the host broadcaster's 21 cameras at the match. In the World Cup final, Zidane was sent off the field for head-butting Matterazi after the latter allegedly provoked him with personal remarks.

"What Zidane did was wrong, but Materazzi also was not completely in the right," Dhoni wrote in his column for the Hindustan Times. "Harbhajan is a very aggressive cricketer who plays hard and is there for his team-mates whenever they need him. Even Sreesanth has seen this supportive side of Harbhajan in the Indian dressing room. Sreesanth is also a very aggressive cricketer who likes to express his highs and lows very passionately on the cricket field. Off the field, you will not meet a more soft-spoken guy than Sree."

Dhoni was happy to know the two players had sorted things out between themselves and said the incident was unlikely to have any effect on the Indian dressing room.

"The incident ... was unfortunate because I know both of them, and they are not bad guys at all. Everybody is passing judgment based on what is reported in the newspapers, and I am too far from the scene to actually comment on it."

IPL BCCI needs to counsel its players - Manjrekar

"The BCCI should look at Harbhajan and Sreesanth as the two cases that they have now got to tackle and ensure that they come back more balanced and are a little more aware of their own behaviour and not go out of control." Sanjay Manjrekar analyses decision to ban Harbhajan Singh for 11 IPL games after the offspinner pleaded guilty to slapping Sreesanth after last Friday's game between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab

IPL Harbhajan faces minimum ten-match ban

Harbhajan Singh faces a minimum ten-match ban from the Indian Premier League if an official hearing, in New Delhi on Monday afternoon, finds him guilty of having hit Sreesanth, his India team-mate.

Harbhajan also faces separate action from the BCCI, which has asked him to explain, "as a contracted player", his role in the incident after the IPL match between the offspinner's Mumbai Indians and Sreesanth's King XI Punjab on Friday. Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said on Monday that Sudhir Nanavati, a lawyer, has been appointed to conduct a "preliminary inquiry" and submit a report "within 15 days" to Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, who will refer the findings to the board's disciplinary committee for possible action.

Sreesanth, meanwhile, faces either an official reprimand or a strong unofficial warning for his "provocative" actions leading up to the incident, which was captured on one of the host broadcaster's on-field cameras.

"I understand the BCCI is looking into the [Harbhajan] matter separately," IS Bindra, a member of the IPL governing council, told Cricinfo. When asked about the possible penalty involved, Bindra, who is also president of the Punjab Cricket Association which hosted Friday's match at Mohali, confirmed that Harbhajan faced a minimum ban of 10 IPL games.

If the minimum ban is applied by Farokh Engineer, the match referee, it would still seriously affect Harbhajan's chances of playing any further role in this edition of the IPL. Mumbai Indians, who lost their first four games, have 10 more to play in the home-and-away league format till the semi-finals.

However, hectic efforts are on by some officials within the BCCI and IPL, run by the Indian board, to ensure that the "judicial principle of double jeopardy" is applied in this case, and Harbhajan is not "punished for the same offence twice". This would mean that the offspinner could be punished by the IPL, which is officially a domestic event, but may not face any separate sanctions from the BCCI on playing for India.

"Any action from the BCCI's side could result in a further ban from playing in a specified number of Tests and ODIs. But that would run contrary to the basic judicial principle of double jeopardy. Normally, any person shouldn't be punished for the same offence twice," a senior official told Cricinfo.

But another section within the Indian establishment, which has had its eye on Harbhajan ever since allegations of indiscipline were reported against him by the team management during the Greg Chappell era, is keen to see that "strong action" is taken to send out a "serious message" in the "larger interests of the game".

Officials from this hardline group were also not entirely convinced of Harbhajan's version of events during the subsequent race row last year involving Andrew Symonds in Australia. "Once Sachin Tendulkar backed Harbhajan's version of the race crisis in Australia, the BCCI had no option but to support him all the way," said another BCCI official, who said he was strongly pushing for a strict penalty.

However, officials on both sides of the Harbhajan debate agree it is time Sreesanth, the temperamental fast bowler who has crossed the line of accepted on-field behaviour often in his two-year career, is pulled up as well, either in the form of an official reprimand or a private warning. "The fresh video evidence might prove Harbhajan is guilty, but nobody should ignore Sreesanth's history of on-field problems and provocative actions leading up to the incident," an IPL official, who was present in Mohali, said on Friday.

Interestingly, Harbhajan and Sreesanth told reporters on Saturday they had "sorted out the issue" and were now like "brothers of one family". But Engineer, the adjudicator on Monday, said: "We are not going to sweep things under the carpet."

IPLDeccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Hyderabad

Twenty20 match
Indian Premier League - 9th match
Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals 2007/08 season

Played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad, on 24 April 2008 - day/night (20-over match)

Result Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)


Deccan Chargers innings (20 overs maximum) R B 4s 6s SR
wicketkeeper AC Gilchrist st wicketkeeperKamran Akmal b Pathan 13 9 3 0 144.44
captain VVS Laxman c & b Warne 16 16 3 0 100.00
Shahid Afridi c Jadeja b Pathan 10 4 1 1 250.00
A Symonds not out 117 53 11 7 220.75
RG Sharma c Salunkhe b Warne 36 30 3 1 120.00
AS Yadav c wicketkeeperKamran Akmal b Watson 16 9 3 0 177.77
Extras (w 5, nb 1) 6

Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 214 (10.70 runs per over)

Did not bat SB Bangar, WPUJC Vaas, RP Singh, PP Ojha, D Kalyankrishna

Fall of wickets1-22 (Gilchrist, 2.2 ov), 2-32 (Shahid Afridi, 2.6 ov), 3-75 (Laxman, 8.3 ov), 4-186 (Sharma, 17.6 ov), 5-214 (Yadav, 19.6 ov)


Bowling O M R W Econ
MM Patel 4 0 55 0 13.75 (2w)
SR Watson 4 0 32 1 8.00 (2w)
YK Pathan 2 0 20 2 10.00
Pankaj Singh 2 0 14 0 7.00
SK Trivedi 3 0 37 0 12.33 (1nb)
SK Warne 4 0 47 2 11.75 (1w)
D Salunkhe 1 0 9 0 9.00


Rajasthan Royals innings (target: 215 runs from 20 overs) R B 4s 6s SR
wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal c Bangar b Vaas 12 9 1 1 133.33
GC Smith c Kalyankrishna b Shahid Afridi 71 45 9 2 157.77
YK Pathan c Symonds b Kalyankrishna 61 28 4 6 217.85
SR Watson b Shahid Afridi 4 6 0 0 66.66
M Kaif c Symonds b Shahid Afridi 34 16 2 3 212.50
RA Jadeja b Singh 1 3 0 0 33.33
captain SK Warne not out 22 9 2 2 244.44
D Salunkhe run out (Laxman/Singh) 1 1 0 0 100.00
Pankaj Singh not out 4 3 0 0 133.33
Extras (lb 4, w 2, nb 1) 7

Total (7 wickets; 19.5 overs) 217 (10.94 runs per over)

Did not bat SK Trivedi, MM Patel

Fall of wickets1-14 (Kamran Akmal, 2.1 ov), 2-112 (Pathan, 9.3 ov), 3-126 (Watson, 11.6 ov), 4-186 (Kaif, 17.1 ov), 5-187 (Smith, 17.2 ov), 6-195 (Jadeja, 18.2 ov), 7-196 (Salunkhe, 18.4 ov)


Bowling O M R W Econ
WPUJC Vaas 4 0 42 1 10.50
RP Singh 4 0 44 1 11.00 (1nb, 1w)
PP Ojha 2 0 23 0 11.50
D Kalyankrishna 3 0 30 1 10.00
Shahid Afridi 4 0 28 3 7.00 (1w)
A Symonds 2.5 0 46 0 16.23

Toss Rajasthan Royals, who chose to field first
Points Rajasthan Royals 2, Deccan Chargers 0

Player of the match YK Pathan (Rajasthan Royals)

Umpires Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and MR Benson (England)
TV umpire SL Shastri
Match referee S Venkataraghavan
Reserve umpire SS Shamsuddin

Match notes

* Deccan Chargers innings
* Deccan Chargers: 50 runs in 5.2 overs (32 balls), Extras 0
* A Symonds: 50 off 29 balls (6 x 4, 2 x 6)
* Deccan Chargers: 100 runs in 11.2 overs (70 balls), Extras 2
* 4th Wicket: 50 runs in 31 balls (A Symonds 34, RG Sharma 17, Ex 1)
* Deccan Chargers: 150 runs in 15.2 overs (95 balls), Extras 3
* A Symonds: 100 off 47 balls (9 x 4, 6 x 6)
* 4th Wicket: 100 runs in 54 balls (A Symonds 65, RG Sharma 35, Ex 2)
* Deccan Chargers: 200 runs in 18.6 overs (119 balls), Extras 5
* Innings Break: Deccan Chargers - 214/5 in 20.0 overs (A Symonds 117)

* Rajasthan Royals innings
* Rajasthan Royals: 50 runs in 4.3 overs (28 balls), Extras 3
* 2nd Wicket: 50 runs in 20 balls (GC Smith 21, YK Pathan 29, Ex 1)
* YK Pathan: 50 off 21 balls (2 x 4, 6 x 6)
* Rajasthan Royals: 100 runs in 8.3 overs (52 balls), Extras 3
* GC Smith: 50 off 34 balls (7 x 4, 1 x 6)
* Rajasthan Royals: 150 runs in 14.5 overs (90 balls), Extras 4
* 4th Wicket: 50 runs in 24 balls (GC Smith 17, M Kaif 32, Ex 1)
* Rajasthan Royals: 200 runs in 19.1 overs (118 balls), Extras 7

Indian Premier League: Hayden the star for super kings

Matthew Hayden and Suresh Raina put on 104 to guide Chennai Super Kings to a winning 208 for 5 total after they were put in by Mumbai Indians’ skipper Harbhajan Singh.

Despite a spirited late rally from the Indians’ lower order, they lost by six runs in one of the matches of the tournament so far.

A regular stream of wickets never allowed Mumbai to really get going, but a marvellous 45 in just 20 balls by Abishek Nayar batting No 6 left them tantalisingly short of victory after they needed 19 runs off the last over.

Earlier Hayden had stroked a superb 81 off 46 balls before he was run out, and it gave the Super Kings the platform to pass 200 for the second match in succession.

Hayden began by despatching a short one from Nehra to bring up the 200th four of the tournament, before a mishit just found its way over gully.

He was joined by Raina who was content to give the strike to his Australian team mate early on, after Michael Hussey fell cheaply.

Dwayne Bravo, a last-minute addition to the Mumbai Indians squad, was belted back for four by Hayden who nearly took out his batting partner with the straight boundary.

After 10 overs, Super Kings were at 82 for 2, which became 112 for 2 after 12. Bravo was pulled for six over midwicket as Raina decided to open up and then smashed Vikrant Yeligati, playing his first game, for two fours.

Musavir Khote, the eighth and the last bowler, finally removed Raina after the batsman reached 53 off 37 balls and had contributed to only the third century partnership of the tournament.

Skipper M.S. Dhoni’s arrival meant there was no let-up in the scoring. He pulverised two fours off Bravo on his way to a two-runs-a-ball 30, before Hayden paddled another and smashed one straight past Dhoni’s head before he was run out.