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Posts Tagged ‘sanath jayasuriya’
IPL vs ICL, Take 3
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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Twenty20 World Cup, Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, Group C
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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