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Kris Srikkanth, India’s chief selector, has called India’s losses in Australia “devastating” but saying the selectors had picked the best possible squad. Srikkanth said the 0-3 scoreline in the Test series in Australia – with one Test to play – was the result of a collective failure and the selectors alone were not to blame.”Everybody can list any number of reasons for why the team has done badly. But don’t you agree that this was the best squad available?” Srikkanth asked reporters after India’s defeat in Perth by an innings and 37 runs. “If you people want me, as the chairman of the selection committee, to take the blame I am ready to do that. But will that solve the problem? We picked players who have scored 8000-10,000 runs in Test cricket and all of a sudden the top six are failing together. You can’t blame an individual for this. This is a collective failure.”Srikkanth stuck to his belief that the failure of the batting line-up was behind India’s abject performance on the tours of England and Australia, though he said it was too soon for a post-mortem of the series. “It is the same problem that we had during the England series. In the last two series, the batsmen have struggled to find form. I don’t think too much of a post-mortem will lead us anywhere.Meanwhile, Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI vice-president and IPL chairman, dismissed the suggestion that India’s test decline was caused, at least in part, by the importance the board attached to the IPL. Shukla said all teams had players involved in the IPL, so that could not be used as an excuse for India’s poor performance.”It is wrong to blame the IPL for everything,” Shukla said. “The Australia players such as David Warner and Shane Watson also play in the IPL, how are they performing well? [Watson has not played a part in the Test series against India].”It is also wrong to say that the players are tired. The IPL ended in May and so many series have passed since. There is no compulsion on any player to play all matches.”Shukla said all teams had disappointing periods in cricket, and that the Indian team management would take steps to ensure a better performance on the rest of the tour. “We admit that the team’s performance has not been up to expectations,” he said. “But it happens with all teams. Recently, former world champions Sri Lanka were all out for just 47 [43, against South Africa in Paarl].”We have won on foreign soil in the past. No one says anything then; all this criticism has been raked up due to defeats in England and Australia. Corrective measures will be taken by the team management so that the team does better in the final Test and the ODI tri-series.”**0830 GMT, Jan 16: A quote attributed to the BCCI president N Srinivasan was removed after he denied making it

The PCB has formed a security plan to present to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in an effort to convince it to send the national team to Pakistan. The PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf will meet his Bangladesh counterpart Mustafa Kamal at the Asian Cricket Council meeting in Singapore next week and in Bangladesh after that.”We have formed a foolproof security plan and I will explain it to them,” Ashraf told the . “After the ACC meeting, I will directly fly to Bangladesh to meet with the BCB officials as a part of my campaign to convince them to tour Pakistan.”If the PCB is successful, it would herald the return of international cricket to Pakistan following the attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore in March 2009.Talks of a possible Bangladesh tour of Pakistan could be the by-product of the deal between the PCB and BCB in choosing the next ICC vice-president. The nomination rests with the two countries and Pakistan is reportedly ready to concede its right for an expected tour by Bangladesh in 2012.The PCB has also been trying to revive cricketing ties with India, and Ashraf was expected to visit India this month to meet with officials from the BCCI. That meeting could now take place on the sidelines of the ACC meeting in Singapore.According to the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, Pakistan are scheduled to tour India for three Tests and five ODIs in March and April next year, but there is uncertainty over whether that series will take place. The two teams have not been involved in a bilateral series since the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Tharanga Pranavitana will be the key for Sri Lanka, with the bat, on the final day•AFP

Sri Lanka remained ahead after another attritional day in the third Test in Sharjah, but not to the extent required if they are to be confident of squaring the series. They are now left hoping for another of the famous Pakistan collapses that gave them the series the last time these two sides faced off.In the morning, a mix of old-school batting and innovation from Misbah-ul-Haq and butter-fingered fielding helped Pakistan frustrate Sri Lanka and cut into the first-innings deficit. After lunch, Sri Lanka needed quick runs to set up a declaration but, as in the rest of this match, the big hits proved elusive and the run-rate remained low. Some late Saeed Ajmal strikes even gave Pakistan an outside chance of winning the Test.On Saturday, Sri Lanka were buoyed by some late blows, and perked up even more after striking twice early today. Chanaka Welegedara removed Abdur Rehman in the first over of the day, getting the batsman to nick to the slip cordon, where Mahela Jayawardene fumbled but the ball landed in Paranavitana’s lap at first slip. Soon after, Umar Gul heaved a length ball to mid-off and Sri Lanka were eyeing an early end to the Pakistan innings.That would have happened if wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva had held on to a regulation take after Misbah edged Rangana Herath early in the day. That was the easiest of the three lives Misbah had – Angelo Mathews flew goalkeeper-style at mid-off but couldn’t latch on, and Tharanga Paranavitana put down a similarly difficult chance at square leg.Misbah made the most of those opportunities. He may have scored at a rate deemed slow even by Test standards, but there were also several moves from him that wouldn’t have been out of place in a limited-overs game: he kept shuffling around in his crease, especially against Herath, there was a reverse-sweep for four and a savage six over long-on.He regularly declined singles to shield No. 10 Ajmal and, though there were some close lbw calls, the pair defied Sri Lanka for 18 precious overs – that didn’t just reduce Sri Lanka’s lead but ate into the time available to force a result. Misbah looked headed for his fourth Test century, but top-edged a slog-sweep off Suraj Randiv to fall for 89.The final pair couldn’t last very long after that, with Welegedara removing Junaid Khan to wrap up the innings and complete his five-for.Sri Lanka’s reply got off to a horrible start as Tillakaratne Dilshan, the man most capable of providing them the early momentum, fell victim to Gul’s knack of striking in the first over. Paranavitana, with only two half-centuries in his previous 15 innings, would have been dismissed by Gul for the fifth time in the series if Asad Shafiq had pouched a chance early on. He wasn’t at ease against the spinners either, surviving several loud calls for lbw.Kumar Sangakkara extended his excellent run in the series, becoming only the third Sri Lanka batsman to make 500 runs in a series, but he too began watchfully. It was only once the slow bowlers came on that he began to open up. Mohammad Hafeez was greeted with a lofted on-drive for four, before Sangakkara crashed sixes in successive overs to boost the dawdling run-rate. He completed a fluent half-century before his second soft dismissal of the match, chopping a short ball to the point fielder.That dismissal prompted a bit more adventure from Paranavitana, who had crawled along to 30 off 111 deliveries, putting pressure on his partners. He slugged Ajmal over midwicket for six and followed that up with a glanced boundary as Sri Lanka had a productive six-over spell, going at nearly a run-a-ball.Just as Sri Lanka seemed to finally be hitting the gear they needed to, Gul trapped Mahela Jayawardene lbw with an incutter. The conventional offbreak then brought Ajmal two wickets in an over – Angelo Mathews and Silva.Paranavitana was unbeaten but has only the debutant Kosala Kulasekara and the tail for support, and Sri Lanka’s lead is still not sufficiently enough to declare. Even if they manage a quick burst of runs on Monday and declare early, the pitch still isn’t venomous enough for a bowling attack to run through a line-up in two-and-a-half sessions, especially one that is missing a specialist quick.

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt told a court on Monday how he confronted his agent Mazhar Majeed about text messages he had sent him to fix elements of a Twenty20 match against South Africa at the 2010 Twenty20 World Cup.Butt’s comments came on the afternoon of the ninth day of the alleged spot-fixing trial at Southwark Crown Court. It was the first time he had taken the witness box after the prosecution closed its case.Former opening batsman Butt was questioned about text messages he had received from Majeed, who was his agent from 2006 until 2010, relating to fixing. Butt first gave the background to the messages, which came on the back of a losing tour of Australia when they lost every single match in 2009-10.”He would say before a game ‘give me something’,” Butt told the court. “I didn’t like it and I felt bad about it. We are not what you are thinking of us. We don’t lose intentionally. But it didn’t make any difference to him.”For the match against South Africa, Majeed texted Butt asking, “in seventh and eighth over, one fall (wicket) in each, this will only work if you score in the first two overs and no wickets”. Kamran Akmal opened the batting with Butt. The message was recovered from police on behalf of the prosecution.Butt added, on when Majeed would raise such topics: “I would get rid of the conversations in my own language and say ‘thik he’.” At this stage Butt utilised the services of the female interpreter standing by his side for the first time. She explained that what he was saying meant ‘Okay, let’s move on’.Despite Butt’s intentions to deter Majeed’s messages, they didn’t stop. His lawyer, Ali Bajwa QC, asked him to explain messages found on Majeed’s phone that were sent to him. One such message read: “Give us one in the seventh and one in the eighth.” Bajwa asked Butt if he remembered receiving the messages at that time. He said “Well it is my phone so I must have read them”. But when Bajwa asked him if he knew what the message meant, he responded “No”.In the event, on that May 10 game, Butt was dismissed second ball trying to pull Dale Steyn. Bajwa asked Butt if he was captain at that time so to determine to the jury whether he had any influence on events in the match and Butt said, “No”.The court had already heard from written evidence given by the Pakistan team’s then security manager, Major Khwaja Najam Javed, that Majeed was in the Caribbean at the time for the tournament with his family.Butt then explained that he confronted Majeed on the day of this match and he told him: “We are not like these messages you are sending me. You must understand that I must report these things if they come up. He said I am your friend and I have known you many years and I am just checking if you are doing something dodgy or not.”I took his word for this explanation. He said he was trying to test me with something non-serious. I took his word for that. In four years there was nothing like this – something very serious. Anyone in my place would have had suspicions about it. I did not expect this thing to come up. I had known him many years and he had never done this thing before.”I didn’t report it to the ICC because this is someone I had known for quite a length of time now and he meant what he said to me in his explanation. I had worked with him a couple of years. This is someone I know, if it (happened) the way he explained it to me there was no way the ICC should find out. The only way of working with him was to have good relations so I took his word.”Just before proceedings broke off for the day, Bajwa quizzed Butt on the maiden over that, the prosecution alleged, Butt had agreed to but, subsequently, did not play out at The Oval in the third Test, the match before Lord’s. Majeed said: “You know the maiden yeah, do one more.” Butt, after said saying ‘yeah’ to the initial mention of a maiden, eventually snapped and said, “Bro just leave it”. That was known from the prosecution’s opening.Butt, who told the court “it is not hard to play out a maiden in a Test match at The Oval” after the prosecution suggested he failed to achieve it, said of the latest corrupt question from Majeed: “I just wanted him to leave this conversation. He started the same thing over and over again. The way he was showing off, like he thought I would do him a favour. I was slightly suspicious.”The case continues.

The fact that South Australia play together more regularly than some of the IPL teams will be an advantage for them going in to the Champions League Twenty20, their coach Darren Berry has said.”Teams like [Royal Challengers] Bangalore, with Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Daniel Vettori and Dirk Nannes are very strong. However, we play together all year and have a great synergy. IPL teams can be full of stars but disjointed,” Berry, who was formerly part of the coaching staff of IPL side Rajasthan Royals, told the .South Australia won the 2010-11 KFC Big Bash in Australia and were semi-finalists in the last edition of the Champions League Twenty20. They have won 15 of their last Twenty20 matches across the Big Bash and Champions League.Berry said they would be aiming to win the tournament this time and that his side had enough backup to cover for Aiden Blizzard and Kieron Pollard, who will play for Mumbai Indians in the tournament. “We are going there [the CLT20] with the expectation that we will win it. If you go there saying you’ll be okay, then that is all you will be.”Taity [Shaun Tait] is the trump card with the pace, while Daniel Christian’s played for Deccan [Chargers] in the IPL and his variety with bat and ball covers for Pollard.”Captain Michael Klinger, Berry pointed out, finished the third-highest run-scorer in last year’s CLT20, while batsman Daniel Harris was named state Twenty20 player of the year in Australia. South Australia also have strong and varied spin options, who, he said, could prove handy in Indian conditions. “[Legspinner Adil] Rashid was underdone entering the Big Bash but will come straight from a county season with Yorkshire. [Left-arm spinner Aaron] O’Brien’s been a standout Twenty20 bowler for us and Nathan [Lyon, an offspinner] will come from the Sri Lanka Test series.”Apart from the team combination, Berry said the research put in by the team’s support staff could prove to be a big advantage. “It can be as simple research as knowing when Zaheer Khan is most likely to bowl a full toss. I pride myself on providing research as a coach.”South Australia’s first assignment in this year’s CLT20 will be a match in Kolkata on September 25 against the side they lost to in last year’s semi-finals – Warriors from South Africa.

Scorecard
Steven Croft’s half-century was part of a consistent batting performance from Lancashire•PA Photos

The last time Lancashire won the County Championship outright, Adolf Hitler had just organised the Night of the Long Knives, Roosevelt had just launched the ‘New Deal’ and the Loch Ness monster had just been seen for the first time. It was 1934.There have been times since when Lancashire have gone close. They’ve finished second in the Championship eight times since 1934 – five times in the last 13 years – and shared a title in 1950. In 2007, a last-day run chase also fell agonisingly short.But whether 2011 will turn out to be another near-miss or finally end their 77-year run of disappointment remains to be seen. With one day remaining of another absorbing Championship season, Warwickshire and Lancashire remain locked in battle. It would be fatuous to suggest it doesn’t matter whether Lancashire clinch the trophy. To the players who have worked tirelessly and to the spectators who have followed every twist and turn, it matters plenty.But whatever happens on the final day, it should do nothing to diminish the fact that Lancashire have enjoyed a superb season. Whatever happens on the final day, the team, the coaches and their supporters can feel justifiably proud.Several former players have been heard to utter – off the record – that this is one of the weakest Lancashire sides for many years. And, maybe, in terms of individual talent, they have a point.But cricket is a team game. And Lancashire have achieved the ultimate aim of any team by becoming more than the sum of their parts. They are not, by any reckoning, a bad team. It was a sense emphasised several times on the third day here. In Lancashire’s innings, for example, no individual scored more than 68, yet everyone contributed with a double-figure score. It’s believed to be only the second time the county have achieved that in the first innings of a first-class match; the other occasion came against Sussex, at Old Trafford in 1957.Then, with Lancashire desperate to achieve a fifth batting bonus point, the lower order – and Kyle Hogg and Glen Chapple in particular – accelerated selflessly against some negative bowling and defensive field placing. They eventually clinched that fifth point with just three deliveries remaining of the 110 overs. It’s the first time this season they’ve claimed all five batting bonus points in a game. Even Gary Keedy and Simon Kerrigan played their part, adding 57 in just 11 overs for the tenth wicket to earn a first innings lead of 100. Kerrigan, a cricketer very much in the ascendancy, improved his career-best score for the second game in succession.Paul Horton, meanwhile, typified their excellence in the field. He clung on to two more chances, including an outrageous effort – diving to his left at slip and taking the catch at the second attempt – in the dying moments of the day to get rid of Jos Buttler. Only Daryl Mitchell and Rikki Clarke have held on to more catches in Division One this season.Most of all, however, there was the sight of Chapple, apparently struggling to walk only a day or so before, charging in with the new ball. Typically, he was leading from the front and bowling, as ever it seems, with pace and skill. His example can only have served to inspire his team-mates.”I think it’s torn,” Chapple said of his hamstring afterwards. “They’ve got the wheelchair ready for me. I didn’t expect to be able to bowl to be honest. But sometimes a very good physio can off-load the pain. I’ve got some serious strapping on and I’ve been on some painkillers. I don’t know how I’ll pull up tomorrow. But, fingers crossed, I’ll be able to go again.”Several times during the day Lancashire went to the top of the table as the struggle with Warwickshire ebbed and flowed. Liam Dawson – a fellow whose parents come from Lancashire – was certainly doing his best to deny Warwickshire.By stumps, however, despite victory in this match surely within Lancashire’s grasp, the tide in Southampton had turned Warwickshire’s way. The truth is that Lancashire’s fate is no longer in their own hands. They are in the uncomfortable situation of needing a relegated side to bat through most of a day against the championship leaders.Some will blame the dropped point for a slow over-rate against Nottinghamshire. Some will blame the capitulation at New Road. Most seasons, however, Lancashire’s total of 10 victories would surely be enough to guarantee success.”We can’t effect what’s going on 100 miles away,” Chapple said. “We’re very confident and positive about our position in this game and that’s about all we can do. We’ve proved we’re a good side. We’ve done well in all aspects of the game and our commitment is the best thing we’ve got.”If someone offers you 10 wins at the start of the season, you’d bite their hand off. We would next season as well. Whatever happens, we’ll have had a great year.”This was a somewhat dispiriting day for Somerset. With their Championship race run, their eyes are already focusing on the CB40 final and the Champions League. Murali Kartik finished with his first five-wicket haul of a disappointing season, but he was never at his best.Somerset’s batting, shorn of three first choice players, looked fragile when they began their second innings. Arul Suppiah was beaten by one that nipped back from the distinctly sharp Chapple, before Alex Barrow, for the second time in the match, edged an indeterminate prod at a good one on off stump and Chris Jones edged a beauty that squared him up.James Hildreth, cutting beautifully, and Jos Buttler resisted for a while. But when Hildreth, head in the air, charged down the pitch in an attempt to thrash a ball in to the Blackdown Hills and was stumped by miles and Buttler was brilliantly caught by Horton, diving to his left at slip to cling on to an edge off a delivery that turned sharply, the writing was on the wall. Somerset reached stumps five ahead with only five wickets in hand.”We’ve got a lot to do because it’s still a good pitch,” Chapple continued. “On that pitch, to take three with the new ball, was a great effort.It was noticeable that this charming ground began to fill with Lancashire supporters as the day wore on. The hotels in Taunton are full to bursting. Whether they’ve gathered to witness a coronation or a wake, however, remains to be seen.

A group of disaffected Kent members, alarmed by the club’s financial losses and under-performance on the field, have announced they will stand as ‘reform candidates’ at the next elections for the Kent general committee.The pair, long-term Kent members Graham Holland and Nigel Williamson, are appealing for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the club. In the last three years Kent have been relegated twice from Division One of the county championship and have sustained operating losses of more than £2 million.The club have predicted further losses of £400,000 this year and are enduring another miserable season on the pitch. Yet, despite the obvious issues, they claim there has not been a contested election for the Kent committee since 2008.Holland said: ”I am saddened to see the club which I have supported since 1957 plumb the depths to which it has sunk currently. In over 50 years, I have never known such despondency, nor what I see as the widening gap between the committee and its members, as I do today.”In their ‘reform programme’ the pair are calling for a detailed independent report to be conducted by someone outside the club on the reasons for the under-performance on the field over the last two years and an overhaul of the club’s commercial operation and the introduction of a range of new money-raising initiatives.Nigel Williamson added: ” Elections are the lifeblood of democracy. By standing, we hope to enable a debate about the way forward and to offer members a decisive break with the errors of the past. This is an enormous opportunity for KCCC to open the windows, let in the air and make a fresh start, based on the principles of accountability and transparency.”However, Kent’s chief executive, Jamie Clifford, cautiously welcomed the pair’s involvement. “We’re a members’ club, so we need and welcome members standing for election to the committee,” Clifford said. “We actually believe we’re doing all the things they are suggesting already, but they have every right to stand for election.”Yes, we’re all frustrated by how we’ve performed on the pitch. We have high expectations and we want to do better.”But I don’t know why Kent have the tag of being ‘the’ cash-strapped county. Sixteen of the 18 first-class clubs announced losses last year and we were one of them. We also invested £5m in our ground and have a strong sense of where we’re going.”Kent have just completed phase one of a development project that will, eventually, see a new supermarket and hotel upon their site. Clifford hopes the club will return to profitability in two or three years. The next committee elections take place in March 2012.

Scorecard
Tim Bresnan took four wickets on a day dominated by the bowler•Getty Images

Tim Bresnan kept in the frame for an England place in the first Test against India at Lord’s next week by grabbing four Worcestershire wickets on the first day of the County Championship match at Scarborough.In conditions which aided seam and swing, Yorkshire bowled out their fellow Division One strugglers for 168 on a green-tinged pitch after sending them in to bat, Ryan Sidebottom also showing good form to pick up three wickets.It was not entirely plain sailing for the Yorkshire batsmen either, but skipper Andrew Gale hit a robust unbeaten 68 for his side to close on 135 for 5, still trailing by 33.Before the match started, wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow, son of former Yorkshire captain David, received his county cap from skipper Gale and it was not long before he was celebrating with a catch behind the stumps.By then, however, Worcestershire had lost both their openers in the first six overs, Matt Pardoe falling lbw to Sidebottom and Daryl Mitchell edging Bresnan to Adam Lyth at first slip.Batsmen were finding survival difficult with the ball moving about appreciably and Vikram Solanki was dropped at second slip by Gary Ballance, but the miss was not expensive because in the same over he edged Richard Pyrah to provide Bairstow with his catch.Pyrah and Ajmal Shahzad were proving just as formidable as the opening bowlers and after Moeen Ali had edged Shahzad into the slips, Worcestershire slipped to 41 for 5 when Alexei Kervezee was lbw to a dipping yorker from Pyrah.There would have been a third wicket for Pyrah if Ballance had not dropped Gareth Andrew, who offered a chest-high chance to second slip and this miss was to prove costly because the left-hander went on to top score with 40.The morning slump continued, however, as Ballance jubilantly held James Cameron off Sidebottom and Worcestershire went to lunch on 61 for 6 . But Andrew and Ben Scott boosted the total straight after the interval as Bresnan and Sidebottom suddenly leaked runs with 43 coming off three overs.The chief culprit was Bresnan who went for 37 in four overs. The third ball of Shahzad’s return saw Andrew given another chance, Adil Rashid failing to hold on at third slip.This time Andrew did not cash in because in the next over from Sidebottom he drove low to Anthony McGrath at mid-off and Scott departed for a brave 26 when he tried to lift Bresnan over the arc and was held high at third slip by Rashid.Light rain brought forward the tea interval and on the resumption Bresnan polished off the innings by getting rid of Jack Shantry and Alan Richardson with consecutive balls to leave Saeed Ajmal unbeaten on 27.Yorkshire’s reply got off to a bad start, Joe Root being run out without facing a ball when Richardson deflected Lyth’s drive into the stumps and it became 15 for 2 with Lyth’s edge at Shantry going into Scott’s gloves.But Anthony McGrath, desperate for runs, and Gale, put Yorkshire in command again with a productive third-wicket stand of 92 in 19 overs.Gale took three boundaries and McGrath one in an over from Andrew which cost 19 and then Gale racked up five consecutive boundaries at the expense of off-spinner Ajmal, the fourth one rushing him to his half-century off 51 balls with 10 fours.Yorkshire slid late in the day as McGrath was lbw to Richardson for 32, Bairstow was pinned lbw by Ajmal and Pyrah was run out without scoring, but Gale remained unbeaten at the close.

Cricket Kenya has withdrawn its revised contracts, which the players had declined to sign, instead offering 20 players – 13 now and seven more by the end of July – annual contracts as was the system previously.The contracts include two reviews, scheduled in August and February, to monitor the players’ performance. Senior players like Jimmy Kamande, Thomas Odoyo, David Obuya and Maurice Ouma, who were part of Kenya’s World Cup squad, are not on the new contracts list released by the board.The board chief, Tom Sears, said the contracted players have the ability to contribute in more than one area of the game. “There is a blend of experienced players who have competed in World Cups and other ICC events, and some young players who have come through our development programme and age-group teams,” he said. “We have selected multifaceted players who have the ability to excel in more than one of the three disciplines – batting, bowling and fielding.”He also said a lot of emphasis is being laid on fitness. “We have to aim to excel in the two areas we have complete control of – fielding and fitness, and achieve genuine world class standards in these areas. If we achieve this collective performances and results will improve.”The newly contracted players will be subjected to regular fitness testing and expected to attain specified standards. The door is open to any player … if they can show they have the potential to reach the standards we expect.”The current central contracts expired on May 31, and the players reportedly refused to start training for the upcoming inaugural East African Premier league in Uganda, until their concerns with the new system were addressed. The board had announced four-month contracts for 12 players to cover the league to be played in August. At the end of the league, the selectors were to recommend a minimum of 12 players for nine-month central contracts, which were to be reviewed every three months by the selectors and coaching staff to monitor the players’ progress. The review would have determined whether a player was retained or let go.The change in the contracts system was part of a transformation being implemented in Kenyan cricket following their dismal World Cup campaign. Kenya went through the tournament without a win, after which coach Eldine Baptiste resigned, captain Kamande was sacked, a new selection panel was instituted and the domestic cricket structure was overhauled.List of centrally contracted players: Ragheb Aga, Runish Gudhka, Tanmay Mishra, James Ngoche, Shem Ngoche, Alex Obanda, Collins Obuya, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Lucas Oluoch, Elijah Otieno, Rakep Patel, Hiren Varaiya, Seren Waters

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
MS Dhoni showed off his big-hitting skills•AFP

Chennai Super Kings’ powerful batting line-up spoiled Shane Warne’s first game since announcing his retirement and left Rajasthan Royals needing at least two wins from their remaining matches to qualify for the play-offs. Chennai’s top four all played their part to set up the win that pushed their side to 14 points, one victory away from virtually sealing their spot in the play-offs.There was some controversy ahead of the game as Warne said Rajasthan were forced to change the pitch on which the match was played. It proved to be a surface that wasn’t the typical slow-and-low Jaipur track, the sort on which Rajasthan have built their intimidating home record. Instead, it was a quicker pitch that favoured stroke-making, more suited to Chennai’s bruising top order.Michael Hussey provided the initial impetus as M Vijay took his time to find his range. It was the usual unfussy innings from Hussey. He relied on power-hits only for the rare heaves to midwicket, otherwise it was more about touch and placement. There was a reverse-sweep off Ashok Maneria, and plenty of eye-catching drives through the off side. Just as the man averaging above 50 in the IPL seemed set for another half-century, he was foxed by Johan Botha’s full delivery. Hussey looked to dispatch it over to short midwicket boundary and was bowled.While Hussey was scoring at a strike-rate nearly 200, Vijay was initially cautious after three failures. It would have been a fourth flop if Ajinkya Rahane had caught a chance in the fourth over at backward point. Soon after the reprieve Vijay showed signs of the destroyer of 2010, with his favourite lofts over the leg side making a regular appearance. All his boundaries – three sixes and two fours – were in the arc from square leg to long-on, a couple came perilously close to the knocking over the redesigned IPL trophy.With Suresh Raina regularly finding the cover boundary and Vijay muscling a half-century, Chennai galloped to 117 for 1 in 13 overs. During their stand, the most likely mode of dismissal seemed to be a run-out. There was plenty of confused calling and lazy running, and they escaped several times before a dawdling Vijay was caught out by a direct hit from Botha.There was no let-up even after that dismissal as MS Dhoni came out blazing. He thrashed Siddharth Trivedi onto the roof of the first tier for his first six before unleashing a series of shots that powered Chennai close to 200. In between, Dhoni also pushed his team-mates to race between the wickets, pressurising the Rajasthan fielders and picking off extra runs.The outfield was extremely quick and there was a short square boundary, but Rajasthan still needed either Shane Watson or Ross Taylor to play a blinder to pull off the chase. Neither did, and that killed Rajasthan’s challenge. After Rahul Dravid fell for a chancy 20, Watson holed out in the sixth over, attempting his trademark slog-sweep. Taylor was gone two overs later, lashing a full delivery from Albie Morkel to deep point, which left them at 63 for 3. Ajinkya Rahane unfurled a series of boundaries to reach his second Twenty20 half-century, but that proved too little to curb the spiralling asking-rate, and Chennai walked to a 63-run victory.