Cricket Blog

More big names join IPL, the official league of the BCCI. The list now includes the following star players:

• Shaun Pollock - South Africa
• Jacob Oram - New Zealand
• Shoaib Akhtar - Pakistan
• Shane Warne - Australia
• Glenn McGrath - Australia
• Daniel Vettori - New Zealand
• Stephen Fleming - New Zealand
• Mahela Jayawardene - Sri Lanka
• Sanath Jayasuriya - Sri Lanka
• Graeme Smith - South Africa
• Mohammad Yousuf - Pakistan
• Brendan McCullum - New Zealand
• Shoaib Malik - Pakistan
• Younis Khan - Pakistan
• Mohammad Asif - Pakistan

The IPL boasts prize money of some $3 million and was created by the Indian cricket board to counter an unofficial version - the Indian Cricket League (ICL) - planned from next month.

The first edition of the IPL will feature eight franchise teams, with plans to extend that to 16 by 2010.

Each franchise will have a squad of 16 players to be comprised of local players, juniors, members of the Indian national squad and overseas professionals.

More pressure now on the ICL to compete with the IPL as a lot of big names have started to snub it off. But this was always going to happen. The ICL management should have worked with the BCCI rather than go against it. With the financial muscle behind the Indian board, the ICL will not have a long life, unfortunately.

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The first match of the Super Eight ended in a close finish, with the Daniel Vettori led Kiwis winning by 10 runs. And did he lead, by god. The man has grown a lot in cricket, and it was all evident as he wound a magical spell around the top Indian batsmen known to be the best players of spin. More on that later.

New Zealand lost the toss and were asked to bat first. The Indian bowlers did a terrific job to restrict the Kiwis from exploding as the wickets kept on falling at regular intervals. At 91-5 only Craig McMillan and Jacob Oram were the recognised batsmen left. And did they make the Indians pay? The last 5 overs cost 78 runs. McMillan smashed 44 from only 23 balls and Oram got 35 from 15. New Zealand ended up with 190 runs where they should have not got more than 160. For India, Harbhajan Singh was the best bowler as his 4 overs cost only 24 runs and he picked up 2 wickets. The most expensive bowlers were RP Singh (4-0-29-2), Sreesanth (3-0-37-1), Yuvraj Singh (3-0-38-1) and Ajit Agarkar (4-0-40-0).

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Sri Lanka continued on its merry way by posting a comfortable 7 wicket win over New Zealand. Daniel Vettori won the toss and decided to bat first. The Kiwis lost their opening duo for only 25 runs and had it not been for Peter Fulton, Ross Taylor and Jacob Oram, this would have been an embarrassing defeat. Taylor, in particular, was the foundation for the score that New Zealand finally reached. Oram provided the final thrust for the Kiwis and the total of 164 runs was very much a defendable one.

Sri Lanka relied on their only superstar to come through. Sanath Jayasuriya continues to bat belying his age and his aggressive batting has remained the same as it used to be. To see this champion in full form is a treat for any spectator. His 61 runs from 44 balls earned him the man of the match award as he blasted 3 sixes and 6 fours. It was really the start that mattered and the two openers put on 82 runs before Tharanga was caught by Martin off Vettori.

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New Zealand won their first match in the World Cup today. After being set 210 for victory, the Kiwis reached the target with 54 balls and 6 wickets in hand. The star performers for New Zealand were Scott Styris (87 not out and 2 wickets) and Jacob Oram (63 not out and 1 wicket).

After winning the toss, and after their successful run chases against Australia recently, Stephen Fleming had no hesitation in electing to field first. The result was early English wickets falling and the score reduced to 52-3, before Pieterson and Collingwood came up with a much needed partnership of 81 runs. However, both departed quickly and the England suffered a major middle order collapse as Flintoff went for a duck. In a matter of a few balls, England scorecard went from 133-3 to 138-7. And then came Nixon and Plunkett, two unlikely saviors. Both remained unbeaten and took the final score to 209-7.

New Zealand, on their part started disastrously, with Vincent, Fleming and Taylor departing in quick succession to leave the Kiwi middle order a huge task to win the match. At 19-3, Vaughan must be thinking that England have an excellent chance to win this match. However Styris and McMillan had other ideas. They kept the scorecard ticking and just when New Zealand looked like they were gaining momentum, Panesar got McMillan to heave a catch at deep cover. In came Jacob Oram and shared an unbeaten stand of 138 runs with Styris to seal the match.

Click here for New Zealand vs England scorecard
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1. New Zealand

They have always been the underdogs in any world cup that they played. And this one is not going to be any different. New Zealand has never had any “STAR” players in their team, and this squad holds no surprises as well. OK, a lot would disagree with me here, so I will mention Shane Bond as a STAR player. Although New Zealand does have a lot of bits and pieces players. And this is where the Kiwis excel in. Where they lag in star power, they more than make up for in players who do their jobs day-in and day-out. McMillan, Vettori, Oram, Styris and Fulton to name a few. Its always a collective effort for the Kiwis and thats what really works for them.

2. England

The country that created cricket has never won a World Cup. To a stranger this would be almost unbelievable, but to the cricket followers this should not come as a surprise. England has never had an invincible ODI squad and this one holds no surprises either. However, after defeating the Aussies with a depleted attack, England must surely be soaring high in confidence. The key to the English performance will be Flintoff and Pieterson. These two can rip apart any team when its their day. The rest of the team will have to play around these two guys.

3. West Indies

Last but not least, the host nation. And who else but Brian Lara will hold the key to the West Indian campaign in this World Cup. I believe that West Indies have a terrific squad who will definitely spring a few surprises and might make it to the semi-finals. They have had a far better one day record in 2006 and playing at home might just give that little bit of edge. Chanderpaul, Gayle and Sarwan need to support Lara in the batting. The bowling is very inexperienced and will be the weakness for West Indies.

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