20-20 Skipper White backs Warner to fire

David Warner and 18-year-old speedster Pat Cummins could provide the fireworks Australia need to win their Twenty20 series in South Africa, according to skipper Cameron White.

White claims Warner, who scored two unbeaten centuries for NSW in the T20 Champions League in India, will benefit from having match competition ahead of the two-game T20 series that starts in Cape Town on Friday morning.

White says he can't wait to see Cummins in the flesh after the youngster took 4-45 for the Blues in last week's semi-final loss to Bangalore.The standout's probably David Warner," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted White, as telling a press conference in Cape Town.

"He's had some good success against the Proteas before, one memorable game at the MCG a couple of years ago (89 off 43 balls on debut at the MCG in January 2009).He's one of many dangerous batsmen that we have. That's a good thing, coming off a real match and hardened competition."

White says he watched the uncapped Cummins in action in the Champions League and couldn't take his eyes off the explosive pacer.

"It's pretty exciting. I saw him play a couple of games on TV. Anyone who bowls at 150 (km/h), it's really good to watch. Those type of players, they keep you really interested in the game. You do get a bit excited," White said. (ANI)

Mumbai Wins against Bangalore in Low scoring game

On a slow wicket at the Chidambaram Stadium with just 139 runs to defend, Harbhajan Singh led Mumbai astutely. He took 3-20 and Royal Challengers Bangalore were crushed by 31 runs in a low-scorer.

Bangalore started the chase strongly with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chris Gayle adding 38 in four overs. In the next 10, they made 39-5. Harbhajan and Chahal choked the runs dry on a wicket that seemed considerably slower than earlier.

Harbhajan gambled by giving Lasith Malinga a third over in his first spell. Malinga delivered with his first ball. Dilshan swung across the line and missed. Gayle fell to a dubious LBW to Harbhajan when his front leg was a long way down the wicket. Mumbai had a foot in the door.

Mayank Agarwal and Virat Kohli, still feeling the effects of batting on the Chinnaswamy belter, didn't last long and were caught in the deep slogging slow turners. Arun Karthik and Mohammad Kaif fell the same way but they were under considerable pressure from the mounting run-rate.

This loss extends Bangalore's poor run in T20 finals. They had lost IPL finals in 2009 and 2011.

Gayle & Virat vs Mumbai Indians in CLT20 Finals

T20 is all about momentum and Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB) have that at the moment. Coming from the brink after losing two straight games, they have made it to the final and are the overwhelming favourites against Mumbai Indians.

RCB's success story has revolved around three top-order players -- Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Dilshan The others have chipped in with bits and pieces performances, but the trio has consistently provided the thrust to help the team go past 200-plus

totals in two back-to-back games and against quality Australian attacks.

Gayle, of course, is the biggest threat and MS Dhoni had shown during the IPL how to keep the

marauding left-hander in check. In two games, he started with R Ashwin and the offie got rid of

the left-hander early. Mumbai, too, have a spinner of the calibre of Harbhajan Singh.

One thing that may go in favour of Mumbai bowlers is the nature of the Chepauk track. It's not like Chinnaswamy where the ball comes on to the bat, something that the likes of Kohli, Dilshan and Gayle really enjoy. The RCB boys haven't played on this new Chepauk surface and

that may just make things difficult for them.

India-England ODI series to be played without HotSpot

The International Cricket Council said Friday the Decision Review System DRS system will not be used in the five-match ODI series between India and England. The controversial Hot Spot has been a disappointment in the recent India-England ODI series in England.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reluctant to use the system. England, who arrived in Hyderabad on Tuesday, is not aware of this development yet. Skipper Alastair Cook will be officially informed about the same when he and counterpart MS Dhoni meet the match referee before the first ODI on October 14.

BBG chief executive Warren Brennan said that his company has decided not to bring the Hot Spot technology for the upcoming ODI series after it did not find BCCI’s support. “BBG Sports is disappointed at how the Hot Spot performed in the UK during the England vs. India series. There were several incidents where we were hoping for better outcomes from the technology,” Brennan said.

According to reliable sources, a consignment of infra-red cameras — mandatory for HotSpot technology — is not arriving in India. It is still not known as to who cancelled the order but a message has gone to the makers of the technology. None of the BCCI officials, of course, was willing to come on record.

Two reasons are being cited for the cancellation. The first and obvious one is that the BCCI has lost faith in the reliability of HotSpot after Team India’s recent experience in England. Many a marginal decision had gone against the Indian batsmen, especially Rahul Dravid. The other reason is that the HotSpot owners are believed to have put some “bizarre” conditions to ferry the cameras to India.

Malinga Bowls Mumbai into CLT20 Finals

MUMBAI INDIANS beat Somerset in the second semi-final of the Champions League. They've made the final an all-IPL affair, as Royal Challengers Bangalore had qualified yesterday -- and this didn't look likely at the beginning of the tournament when most of Mumbai's first-choice players were out injured.

Chasing 161, Craig Kieswetter's 62 ran Mumbai close but what sealed the deal were Lasith Malinga's fast, furious yorkers which never seem to be off target. He took 4-20, all four wickets bowled.

Kieswetter and James Hildreth (39) added 83 to put Somerset on course for an unlikely win. This was after Malinga had flummoxed Peter Trego and Reolof van der Merwe with two fast, dipping yorkers.

James Franklin bowled Mumbai's crucial 19th over when Somerset needed 22. Franklin took 2-7 in the over but Mumbai also gained from a freak injury to Kieswetter who felt the full impact of a powerful straight-drive from Jos Buttler on his fore-arm.Franklin's good over made Malinga's work easier in the final over, in which he had 15 to defend.

Spot-Fixing Scandal

Three more Pakistani cricketers have been implicated in the spot-fixing scandal during the ongoing trial of the tainted trio- Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif- at a court in England.

The 36-year old bookie spoke of the advantages of 'grooming' younger cricketers to work with him as they would be 'around for years'.

Majeed named his players as Butt, Asif, Amir, fast bowler Wahab Riaz, wicket keeper Kamran Akmal, batsmen Umar Akmal, Imran Farhat, although Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee said that the agent explained that there was a little question mark about Farhat.

Majeed promised the undercover reporter that pakistan fast bowlers Amir(19) and Asif (28) would deliver three no-balls at specific points in the Lord's Test, the court heard.

Majeed allegedly said that the no-balls would be well over the mark to ensure that they were noted by the match officials.

Upcoming Champions League Shedule

Oct 7, 2011	20:00	14:30	Bangalore vs South wales, 1st Semi Final T20	Bangalore
Oct 8, 2011	20:00	14:30	Mumbai vs Somerset, 2nd Semi Final T20	Chennai
Oct 9, 2011	20:00	14:30	TBC vs TBC, Final T20	Chennai

Amla as Captain

Hashim Amla has been selected as the captain of the South African team in ODI and T20 series against Australia.

Amla got the team command due to the fractured finger injury of Captain AB de Villiers, that is not available for the entire series. Amla has been assigned captain for two Twenty20 and three ODI matches against Australia.

Wicketkeeper batsman Mark Boucher returns to the one-day squad, while 23-year-old batsmanRichard levy is the only new face in the T20 squad.

Former captain Greame Smith got placed in both formats ODI and T20. the beginning of the series will be held in Cape Town on October 13 with Twenty20 match.

Twenty20 squad: Hashim Amla (capt), Richard Levi, Graeme Smith, David Miller, Colin Ingram, Johan Botha, Heino Kuhn, JP Duminy, Morne Morkel, Albie Morkel, Robin Peterson, Juan Theron, Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

One-day squad : Hashim Amla (capt), JP Duminy, Johan Botha, Francois du Plessis, Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, David Miller, Imran Tahir, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Shoaib Akthar's Contraversi

In his just-published biography " Controversially Yours", the temperamental Pakistan speedster has accused Tendulkar of being scared to face his scorching pace on a slow Faisalabad track.
He also claimed that Tendulkar and Dravid were not match-winners nor did they know the art of finishing games.

Vivian Richards, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and the likes of them are great batsmen who dominated with the bat and were truly match-winners. Initially, when I bowled against Sachin, I found these qualities missing. He might have had more runs and records, he lacked the ability to finish the game," he said in the book, to be formally launched on Friday.

Akhtar, who announced his retirement during the World Cup this year, also cited an example where he felt that Sachin was mighty scared to face him.

"I bowled (Sachin) a particularly fast ball which he, to my amazement didn't even touch. He walked away! That was the first time, I saw him walk away from me-- that, too, on the slow track at Faisalabad. It got my hunting instincts up and in the next match I hit him on the head and he couldn't score after that", Akhtar wrote.

"I think players like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid weren't exactly match winners to start with, nor did they know the art of finishing the game," Shoaib said.

Akhtar who played for Shah Rukh Khan co-owned Kolkata Knight Riders during IPL has accused the Bollywood superstar and former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi of "cheating."

"Shahrukh and I talked about my not being happy with the money settled on me. Shahrukh and Modi got me to agree. I should have never listened to Modi and Shahrukh," he said in the book.