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[ganavk]

Boucher is not a bad choice either as he should be one of the certainty foreign players because of his finishing abilities.

BRC has too many WKeepers. May be they should still try Uthappa at #7 and let Goswami keep the wickets and open the batting. Then they can have
Ryder
Taylor
Wan Der Merve/Steyn
Bracken as four foreigners

[justforkix]

Boucher is not a bad choice either as he should be one of the certainty foreign players because of his finishing abilities.

BRC has too many WKeepers. May be they should still try Uthappa at #7 and let Goswami keep the wickets and open the batting. Then they can have
Ryder
Taylor
Wan Der Merve/Steyn
Bracken as four foreigners

how does it matter whether they ae WKs or not. IMO, Boucher can play purely as a batsman in T20s for BRC. A good finisher is what BRC needs and Boucher is just that. He can finish games and also consolidate if many wickets fall. He is the perfect #6 for BRC. It is again stupidity not to play Boucher. To me, he would be a better T20 option than Ryder, Taylor, Van Der Merwe and Kallis.

[flashpan]

Maritzburg Oval laps up more IPL bangs and big hits
30 Apr 2009
Lungani Zama

THERE were plenty of blasts, both on and off the field, as the Bangalore Royal Challengers and an Inland XI played out an entertaining Twenty20 friendly at the Oval last night, which was eventually won by seven wickets by the IPL outfit.

Not even a delay due to a faulty fuse in one of the floodlights could dampen the festive mood.
Inland, buoyed by another very good crowd, certainly played their part as they plundered 173 for 5 in their allotted overs.

Mbasa Gqadushe (27 off 14) and skipper Ross McMillan (38 off 25) set a blistering early pace, with left-handed Gqadushe smashing 22 off a startled Dillon du Preez’s over.

The ferocious pace slowed a bit in the middle overs, but most of the home batsmen chipped in, and the slightly built Kyle Nipper finished with a flourish as he belted one of the bigger sixes ever seen at the picturesque Oval.

With 174 needed, the Royal Challengers were always going to go in with all guns blazing, but no none foresaw such stunning early assault.

With 50 up off just 23 balls, Robin Uthappa showed his true class. Along with the equally dashing Rohit Bishnoi, they added 92 inside 8 overs to leave the crowd contemplating an early night.

But Inland fought back manfully, with the spinners dragging the rate back somewhat, Uthappa eventually falling for 50 off just 26 balls, while Bishnoi smashed 41 off 21 deliveries.

Australian all-rounder Cameron White, who was skipper for the day, helped himself to an undefeated 31 as he saw his side home in the 19th over.

Gqadushe’s cavalier start earned him a rather charitable man-of-the match from the visiting management, and the crowd was treated to a ferocious fireworks display after the presentation.

SCORES IN BRIEF:
INLAND: 173 FOR 5 ( R. McMillan 38, M Gqadushe 27, M Hulett 24 not out, U Patel 2/24)
BANGALORE: 174 FOR 3 ( R. Uthappa 50, R Bishnoi 41, C White 31 not out)
Bangalore won by seven wickets.

[flashpan]

Bangalore win but can't hide the flaws
Karna S
April 29, 2009

What almost cost Bangalore Royal Challengers the match against Kolkata Knight Riders, was the batsmen's shot selection © Associated Press

The game ended in the last over but it didn't have to come to that. The target wasn't huge but Bangalore stumbled after a good start and the match hurtled towards a somewhat artificially created close finish. Bangalore may see this win as a turning point - it lifted them off the bottom of the table - but the result can't paper over the obvious flaws in the way they play.

The team, it seems, is aware of those flaws - coach Ray Jennings had, on Tuesday, spoken to Cricinfo at length about some of the problems that were on view today.

Most important, perhaps, and what almost cost them this match, is the batsmen's shot selection. They needed 75 off 60 - with all wickets intact - when things went awry. The plan must have been for young Shreevats Goswami to go after the bowling while Jacques Kallis stayed till the end. Goswami, who'd done a fine job despite struggling with Ishant Sharma's bounce, fell to a slog sweep and Kallis the next over fell to a mistimed pull.

Kevin Pietersen and Virat Kohli tried to steady the chase and when Kohli hit Brad Hodge for a six, they needed a very gettable 34 off 27. Kohli then did what his coach despairs about: he tried a cute dab to third man but ended up edging it behind. In so doing, he underlined Jennings' opinion of him. "Kohli sometimes thinks he is better than the game," Jennings had said. "He is a very talented kid but needs to understand he has to put in performances on the field."

Bangalore still had their skipper, Pietersen, in the middle. It was his chance to finish the tournament on a high before leaving for England. He'd done the hard stuff: earned his teammates' trust, taken them out for dinner meetings and even learned a smattering of Hindi. And, earlier today, even taken a wicket off the first ball of the match. Everything but scoring runs. His dismissals have usually been tame and, worse, robbed his team of momentum. Today, the pressure told on him. A gently flighted delivery from Hodge, Pietersen tried a chip stroke but could only push it weakly to long-on.

At that stage they needed 33 from 24 and had six wickets in hand, but Bangalore weren't done. After a brief period of stability, Roelof Van der Merwe went for a wild slog but edged it to the keeper (debutant Morne van Wyk's fourth catch of the innings, which itself tells a tale). It was left to Mark Boucher to hold his nerve and steer them through with a ball to spare.

The batting - especially of Pietersen and Kallis - seemed to confirm Jennings' theory. "Our international cricketers are letting the team down. They have not produced the goods. To me they should be our leaders in runs and wickets. But here we have a situation where Dravid has been streets ahead of them all. He will be back with us in a few days so I looking forward to having him in the side again."

If this win does mark a turning point for Bangalore, it will be a reward for the effort they have put in, something that has pleased their famously tough coach. On Tuesday they had two practice games, morning and afternoon. They've cut down on the partying.

The final word, though, to Kolkata Knight Riders, the new occupants of the foot of the table. At the end of the game, a distraught captain Brendon McCullum was frank in his assessment of his team - nothing was going right for the team, he said. However, he did show he had his wits about him. As the press conference ended, someone handed him an envelope; he peered into it, saying, "Any ideas in there for us?"

He can take a leaf out of Jennings' book. There are ideas and theories galore there.

[flashpan]

We will miss Kevin Pietersen, but it's been great having him around

By ANIL KUMBLE - Friday, May 1, 2009

The legendary India spinner writes for Metro

KEVIN PIETERSEN left the Royal Challengers ranks after celebrating a victory against the Kolkata Knight Riders - and we are going to miss him.

We always knew right from the start he would be returning to England after six matches to prepare for the first Test against the West Indies so we can have no complaints.

And while he will be the first to admit he has not lived up to his reputation with the bat, I can speak for all the others in the Bangalore squad when I say he has made a great contribution.

KP shone with the ball against the Knight Riders as he took an early wicket and his spirit, enthusiasm and presence in the dressing room were vital as we climbed off the bottom of the table thanks to that win. He is a great player and I'm sure he will regain his touch to enjoy a big summer in England in all formats of the game.

Next up for us are the Kings XI Punjab today and it is imperative we keep our momentum going by claiming successive victories.

We can climb as high as fifth with a victory and that would be the perfect foundation for a strong run at a place in the final four at the end of the campaign.

Despite losing KP we still have a lot of quality in the squad and Mark Boucher is beginning to look particularly sharp at the crease.

He has come into the side and played a couple of lovely cameos, quickly amassing some decent scores, and if he continues with that and the rest of us pick up our form then the outlook is very bright for us. We all realise we haven't made the best of starts but the bowlers are all picking up the slack and we believe we can now make some rapid strides.

The whole team has come together and we're keen to turn the tables on Punjab after they defeated us earlier in the tournament.

They are flying high but if we can overcome them it will really send out a statement to the rest of the teams that we mean business.

[ganavk]

AK is the new captain of BRC. Sanity at last!

[Cover Point]

how is it that the Pommies left and the WI players are still around?

[gouravk]

only gayle is around. he is greedy 

[flashpan]

I honestly feel , when RD returns , we will have the best MO and later MO  of all teams in this IPL . Just look at this for a Line-up of 3-9
JK
RU
RD
VK
MB
RVDer Merwe
PK

[dextrous]

I honestly feel , when RD returns , we will have the best MO and later MO  of all teams in this IPL . Just look at this for a Line-up of 3-9
JK
RU
RD
VK
MB
RVDer Merwe
PK

this is the best MO? Robin Uthappa, Kallis, Praveen Kumar, etc?!

[flashpan]

Kallis is a world-class all rounder(perhaps the best) and his job is to anchor this team . He has done pretty well with the bat this time around with 150+ runs at a SR of 120 . I feel he will enjoy bowling with a new ball rather then with the older one . In the last match he bowled with the new ball and went for only 6RPO despite bowling in the power-plays to Yuvi. RU will do much better coming in at 4 or 5 and he too showed some signs of coming back to form in the last match . PK is not a bad man to have at 9 for any team.

[dextrous]

Kallis is a world-class all rounder(perhaps the best) and his job is to anchor this team . He has done pretty well with the bat this time around with 150+ runs at a SR of 120 . I feel he will enjoy bowling with a new ball rather then with the older one . In the last match he bowled with the new ball and went for only 6RPO despite bowling in the power-plays to Yuvi. RU will do much better coming in at 4 or 5 and he too showed some signs of coming back to form in the last match . PK is not a bad man to have at 9 for any team.

I'm afraid you're taking the 'all-rounder' tag too seriously for Mr. Kumar!

[justforkix]

CSK and DD probably have the best middle order.

[12th_Man]

BRC MO was never bad on paper. Unfortunately those runs did not come from their willow.

Amazingly DD even after VS and GG failure have pulled it along. Devil an Dilshan, Now Warner and Kakadi played good. Morkel had to hit for CSK.

[keep-it-cool]

What about KXIP? They have some scary batting talent in there ...although I'm not entirely convinced about Jaya's T20 creds yet.

[justforkix]

What about KXIP? They have some scary batting talent in there ...although I'm not entirely convinced about Jaya's T20 creds yet.

now ? 

[keep-it-cool]

Hehe I beat you to that post.

But I still think he's the least scary among among the top established SL bats - I.E. Jayasuriya, Sanga, Dilshan.

[ganavk]

RD is back in the team as per Cricinfo.

[keep-it-cool]

So is Jaffer.

[justforkix]

RD apparently was back today morning and told AK he's ready to play 

[keep-it-cool]

Wish he had delayed it by a day.

[ganavk]

RD for Bishnoi in the MO and Jaffer for Goswami as opener is a good choice in these pitches. Goswami looked very iffy when ball is bouncing in the prev match. MI bowling would have easily got him

[pzd]

Good to see the way the think tank of BRC is working... Horses for courses selection. spinning pitch and they select Appanna and now Du Preez for a flatter pitch

[12th_Man]

Good to see the way the think tank of BRC is working... Horses for courses selection. spinning pitch and they select Appanna and now Du Preez for a flatter pitch

Also the way they made Kumble captain instead of the expected Kallis is very commendable.
While I dod not like the way Uthappam started, but will still have to give it to BRC think tank for persisiting with him on top after all those initial failures.
The BRC attack had  MI running for covers today.

[ganavk]

Good to see the way the think tank of BRC is working... Horses for courses selection. spinning pitch and they select Appanna and now Du Preez for a flatter pitch

Also the way they made Kumble captain instead of the expected Kallis is very commendable.
While I dod not like the way Uthappam started, but will still have to give it to BRC think tank for persisiting with him on top after all those initial failures.
The BRC attack had  MI running for covers today.

persisting with Uthappa ( it is not Uthappam by the way) in a T20 is not really such a difficult tasks especially when you rarely have anyone is reserve who can bat like this.

[ganavk]

So much derided so called 'RD's test team' is coming good at last. Sadly looks like RD and management picked a team which can play consistently well on sporting pitches and not on flat batting pitches!

[inoc]

So much derided so called 'RD's test team' is coming good at last. Sadly looks like RD and management picked a team which can play consistently well on sporting pitches and not on flat batting pitches!

Ganav

class always tells specially in difficult circumstances. although the BRC think tank were unaware that they were going to play in SA the team they have selected is good for the course now. I dont think anybody can deny the pedigree of the players in BRC, I am at least very happy they are doing as well as they are now. I was/am always for better cricketers not one season wonders anyway. this tournament in SA has taught us to differentiate the chaff from the rice.

[12th_Man]

Good to see the way the think tank of BRC is working... Horses for courses selection. spinning pitch and they select Appanna and now Du Preez for a flatter pitch

Also the way they made Kumble captain instead of the expected Kallis is very commendable.
While I dod not like the way Uthappam started, but will still have to give it to BRC think tank for persisiting with him on top after all those initial failures.
The BRC attack had  MI running for covers today.

persisting with Uthappa ( it is not Uthappam by the way) in a T20 is not really such a difficult tasks especially when you rarely have anyone is reserve who can bat like this.

Sorry, I had skipped breakfast. It is always difficult to make a choice between Idly and Uthappam when i am asked.  BTW this was not a typo..Uthappam did not deesrve to survive as long as he did.  He was way too lucky.

[dlee1]

true he was playing crap initially and had actually let some of the momentum slip away,but one has to give him credit for staying on inspite of that..one can say he way lucky (well luck favours the brave) or mi were just not able to bowl in the right places to get him out.
bottomline  he did the hard work of staying on and in the end finished the job rather than leaving it half done.

[ganavk]

Good to see the way the think tank of BRC is working... Horses for courses selection. spinning pitch and they select Appanna and now Du Preez for a flatter pitch

Also the way they made Kumble captain instead of the expected Kallis is very commendable.
While I dod not like the way Uthappam started, but will still have to give it to BRC think tank for persisiting with him on top after all those initial failures.
The BRC attack had  MI running for covers today.

persisting with Uthappa ( it is not Uthappam by the way) in a T20 is not really such a difficult tasks especially when you rarely have anyone is reserve who can bat like this.

Sorry, I had skipped breakfast. It is always difficult to make a choice between Idly and Uthappam when i am asked.  BTW this was not a typo..Uthappam did not deesrve to survive as long as he did.  He was way too lucky.

Once again it is Uthappa and nothing to do with Uthappam.
you are talking as if BRC is brimming with local talent. FYI he did reasonably well in the last IPL and there is a reason why he was traded with Zaheer this time. That way,, Zaheer is luck also. He has like 3 wickets in 7 matches and that is lucky too. At least Bng paid him good and giving him chances in the team where as team like KKR is paying big money on MOrtaza and not even playing him

[gouravk]

finally UUU delivers. he is a strange person 

[keep-it-cool]

Put him outside the opening slots and he will do well.

[keep-it-cool]

So much derided so called 'RD's test team' is coming good at last. Sadly looks like RD and management picked a team which can play consistently well on sporting pitches and not on flat batting pitches!

Not quite. There were a few reasons why they failed last time around other than flat batting conditions.

a) RD and AK were not in form. RD was out of form in all formats and AK's bowling was more tailored for test matches. In fact he himself confirmed this last point when he said that now he knows that he'll be playing only one format of the game and has prepared accordingly. That accuracy which made him such a force in ODIs five to six years earlier is now back. RD, despite being among the better bats last time around, would have enjoyed the same flat conditions a lot more in his current form.

b) Kallis - he has re-engineered himself for the shorter version of the game. In fact he mentioned yesterday that he was working with Mickey Arthur the whole of last year to become a better option for ODIs and T20s. Again, I think Kallis would have performed much better this time around even if the tournament was held in India.

b) Some additions have made a lot of difference. I think the Van Merwe impact is HUGE. Besides being very tight and picking up useful wickets, he also strikes some lusty blows. The wins against KXIP and KKR would have been impossible without him. Now this Du Preez chap also looks quite good.

I think the team is definitely better this time around that it was last year - irrespective of conditions - and with the two senior players in better form, they look a much better outfit. I also think Ray Jennings deserves some credit. At least to me, this is clearly more a coach than a captain run team in terms of overall strategising outside the field etc.

[dhruvdeepak]

WOW Bengaluru spice up the tournament!!!

excellent, professional win. they have it in them to make the semis, i think. but so do a lot of teams!

[keep-it-cool]

WOW Bengaluru spice up the tournament!!!

excellent, professional win. they have it in them to make the semis, i think. but so do a lot of teams!

They have played one game extra compared to MI, KXIP & CSK and two compared to DC and DD ...so, that may still hurt. But, yes, they have a good chance given that they have a winning streak going now.

[gouravk]

now they have an excellent captain like kumble; a great cricketer like dravid who will give his life for his friend. I am wary of this team now.

[ganavk]

So much derided so called 'RD's test team' is coming good at last. Sadly looks like RD and management picked a team which can play consistently well on sporting pitches and not on flat batting pitches!

Not quite. There were a few reasons why they failed last time around other than flat batting conditions.

a) RD and AK were not in form. RD was out of form in all formats and AK's bowling was more tailored for test matches. In fact he himself confirmed this last point when he said that now he knows that he'll be playing only one format of the game and has prepared accordingly. That accuracy which made him such a force in ODIs five to six years earlier is now back. RD, despite being among the better bats last time around, would have enjoyed the same flat conditions a lot more in his current form.

b) Kallis - he has re-engineered himself for the shorter version of the game. In fact he mentioned yesterday that he was working with Mickey Arthur the whole of last year to become a better option for ODIs and T20s. Again, I think Kallis would have performed much better this time around even if the tournament was held in India.

b) Some additions have made a lot of difference. I think the Van Merwe impact is HUGE. Besides being very tight and picking up useful wickets, he also strikes some lusty blows. The wins against KXIP and KKR would have been impossible without him. Now this Du Preez chap also looks quite good.

I think the team is definitely better this time around that it was last year - irrespective of conditions - and with the two senior players in better form, they look a much better outfit. I also think Ray Jennings deserves some credit. At least to me, this is clearly more a coach than a captain run team in terms of overall strategising outside the field etc.

isn't that whole idea of quality players in one format can always adjust in another format and do well from the beginning ? in fact I remember RD also saying last year that he would have easily cracked this format if he were 10 years younger. In spite of that fact he was top 10 scored in the last tournament and easily was their best batsman. Even in this tournament he is BRCs best batsman including Kallis.
Coach can take credit of course but the team essentially is the same.

[Cover Point]

RD apparently was back today morning and told AK he's ready to play 

thats commitment.

[gouravk]

im still not convinced about UUU - he plays some outrageous shots - both great and terrible - either way they are outrageous.

[ganavk]

im still not convinced about UUU - he plays some outrageous shots - both great and terrible - either way they are outrageous.

I don't think anyone is. he is certainly not even the best 15 in T20 format in the Indian team but certainly cannot left out of this BRC team because when he comes off he is very good and can win the match on his own.