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Match facts

May 5, 2009
Start time 12.30 (10.30GMT)Yusuf Abdulla’s bowling has been a huge factor in Punjab’s IPL campaign so far•AFP

Big Picture

It’s a measure of the competitiveness of this year’s IPL that the two teams clashing in Durban on Tuesday are five places apart in the rankings table, but only one point separates them. Kings XI Punjab have eight points from seven games, while Rajasthan Royals are on seven from as many games.Punjab will go in as favourites, not only because of the rank in the table, but also because of their recent form – they’ve won four of their last five games, with their only defeat being a closely fought match against Bangalore. They have in their ranks Yusuf Abdulla, the highest wicket-taker in the IPL so far, while the batting is showing signs of coming to grips with the conditions in South Africa.Rajasthan, on the other hand, need to string together a few wins to get their campaign on track. Graeme Smith’s lack of form – 65 runs in six innings, including 44 in one – has been the biggest worry, and has exposed an inexperienced top order in conditions where hitting through the line isn’t a high-percentage option. The middle order, led by Yusuf Pathan, and the bowling have made up for the top-order lapses, which is why the team has won three out of seven so far.

Form guide (completed matches, most recent first)

Kings XI Punjab – WLWWW
Punjab have found some momentum after getting off to a slow start, and what’s been particularly impressive is the consistency shown by the bowlers. Abdulla has been incisive, Irfan Pathan has supported him well, and Piyush Chawla’s guile and control has meant that few batsmen have successfully belted him for runs. The batting responsibilities have been shared around as well, with four batsmen getting half-centuries.Rajasthan Royals – WLWLW
As their result pattern suggests, Rajasthan have struggled to consistently put together winning performances. Their top order has been woeful, and their poor form continued against Deccan, when they slumped to 3 for 3 before the middle order bailed them out. Yusuf Pathan has been the tournament’s biggest matchwinner so far, but in the last few games Ravidra Jadeja and Abhishek Raut have put their hands up too, which is good news for them. Now, if only Graeme Smith hits top gear soon.

Watch out for

The battle of the Pathan brothers: Yusuf has so far outperformed Irfan in IPL 2009, scoring more runs, at a faster rate, and bowling more economically: his 169 runs have come at an average of 33.80 and a strike rate of 160.95; Irfan has scored 115 runs at 23.00 and a strike rate of 125. Irfan has taken more wickets at a much better average, but he has gone at 7.20 runs per over compared to Yusuf’s 6.52. Moreover, Yusuf has won three Man-of-the-Match awards while Irfan doesn’t have any. Irfan edged their personal battle last time, though, scoring 14 from nine balls off Yusuf, and conceding only eight off seven to him.

Team news

Punjab might not want to tinker too much with the side that clinched the last-ball thriller against Kolkata, which means Sunny Sohal will continue at the top of the order in place of Karan Goel. Kumar Sangakkara scored a duck when he opened in the previous match, and might be pushed back to No.3.Kings XI Punjab: (probable) 1 Sunny Sohal, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh (capt), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Irfan Pathan, 7 Tanmay Srivastava, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Ramesh Powar, 10 VS Malik, 11 Yusuf Abdulla.Rajasthan have problems at the top of the order, but Lee Carseldine impressed with 39 in his first IPL outing. Swapnil Asnodkar has scored two ducks in five innings so far, and Rajasthan could consider a replacement.Rajasthan: (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Swapnil Asnodkar/ Paul Valthaty, 3 Lee Carseldine, 4 Yusuf Pathan, 5 Ravindra Jedeja, 6 Abhishek Raut, 7 Naman Ojha (wk), 8 Shane Warne (capt), 9 Shane Harwood, 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel.

Stats and trivia

• Spinners have done much better than fast bowlers in Durban so far, and they could have a bigger role to play considering Tuesday’s match is a day game. The 36 wickets that spinners have taken have come at an average of 22.55 and an economy rate of 6.72. Fast bowlers have taken 57 wickets at 26.92 and an economy rate of 8.21.
• In nine innings played by Asnodkar, Paul Valthaty, Niraj Patel and Naman Ojha – four of the young Indian talents for Rajasthan – they have scored a combined total of 34 runs at an average of 3.78.
• Rajasthan have been the best bowling team in the first six overs, taking 13 wickets at an average of 17.38 and an economy rate of 6.27. Punjab have taken 14 wickets in the first six, but an average of 20.57 and an economy rate of 7.05.

Head-to-head record

Punjab won their first encounter, in Cape Town, by 27 runs, with their bowlers making quick inroads into Rajasthan’s brittle top order, reducing them to 36 for 5 in their chase of a modest target of 140.Last season, both teams had one victory each against the other: Rajasthan won by six wickets in Jaipur, while Punjab hit back with a 41-run win in Mohali.

Cricket Canada president Ben Sennik has broken his silence and spoken about the recent turmoil within the board which has seen the departure of several senior figures.Cricinfo has repeatedly tried to speak to Sennik in recent weeks, without success, but in an interview with the Toronto Sun he brushed off the situation as “unfortunate”.In January, chief executive Atul Ahuja was removed and then earlier this month first vice-president Mike Kendall walked out, but not before delivering a stinging broadside at Sennik. Sennik insisted Ahuja’s dismissal was “a majority decision of the board” and that he believes for Kendall to complain about that vote in public after the fact wasn’t “very ethical.””I know he questioned my leadership,” Sennik told the newspaper. “All these things happened after Atul was let go. Mike was on the board for almost 15 months and everything was kosher. His resignation was a surprise. He’s [Kendall] a nice gentleman. From Cricket Canada’s point of view everything is working like a charm. We don’t feel any deficiency.”But Sennik made clear that he was unconcerned what anyone thinks of him, and pointed to the turnround in finances as evidence of how well he has done. When he took over in 2003 “we were a bankrupt organisation … we had no audited balance statements. This year our budget has gone to $1 million and the deficit is gone. We are eligible for money from Sport Canada and have big sponsors like Scotia Bank.”Sennik finished on a typically bullish note, insisting that Canada would be one of the top four team at the ICC World Cup Qualifiers – “We’re going to the World Cup in 2011,” he predicted. Critics are less convinced, and there are a number who believe Canada could be pushed to finish in the top six. If they don’t then their ODI status will disappear, and that will result in a considerable drop in funding.

A little more than a year ago, Thilan Samaraweera was struggling to find a way back into the Sri Lankan Test side. He is now in his best-ever form, with 717 runs in four Tests, and has become a key member of Sri Lanka’s middle order.He attributes the dramatic upswing in fortunes to a few technical adjustments he has made. “I’ve narrowed the stance and with a slightly higher (back) lift, I’m feeling more comfortable,” he said.Samaraweera’s Test average has soared above 50, but he is yet to return to the limited-overs side, having played his last ODI in 2005. “I’m ready for the challenge of one-day cricket but my job is to score runs and it’s the selectors’ decision to pick me.”His 214 on the second day in Lahore helped his side pile up 606, and he also became only the second Sri Lankan, after Kumar Sangakkara, to make double-centuries in successive Tests. “I am really pleased to get to that exclusive club. I have worked really hard over the last two years and it certainly has helped [that] the wicket is also quite good.”The inexperienced Pakistan bowling is without Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, but Samaraweera felt it was still a dangerous unit. “The Pakistani attack doesn’t have the big names, but this attack is good. Umar Gul, in particular, is a fine bowler.”It was Gul’s mastery of reverse-swing that kept the Sri Lankans from reaching an even larger total. The rest of the Pakistan attack was off-colour, but Gul picked up a career-best six-wicket haul. “[It was] a good comeback after Sri Lanka were only four down with some 500-odd runs on the board,” he said.Despite the assured start from Pakistan’s openers, the home side are trailing by nearly 500 runs. Gul, though, insisted Pakistan were still looking for a victory. “We will try to score as quickly as possible on Tuesday and try to win the Test because it’s the last match of the series,” he said. “It was unfortunate that Salman Butt got run out at the very end of the day.”

Mark Alleyne, the former Gloucestershire and England allrounder, has been appointed as MCC head coach. He succeeds Clive Radley who has been in the post since 1991 and who was due to retire at the end of the summer.Alleyne played ten ODIs for England, but his biggest impact came at county level where he led Gloucestershire to a raft of one-day titles and was named one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year in 2000. He went straight from playing into coaching, taking charge of Gloucestershire between 2004 and 2007, and he is currently a specialist coach at the National Performance Centre in Loughborough, the England Under-15 coach and chairman of the Professional Cricket Coaches Association.”He has the ideal blend of cricketing experience and reputation allied to a very appropriate coaching style for the club and our MCC Young Cricketers in particular,” said MCC assistant secretary John Stephenson. “In addition, Mark has proven motivational skills and a very good understanding of the business of cricket.””Much like Clive and his predecessors, I look forward to a long relationship with MCC,” Alleyne said. “I hope I can bring similar success to the club and to the development of the MCC Young Cricketers.”Radley, whose links with Lord’s go back almost 50 years, will remain as coach and manager of the combined MCC Universities team, who will also compete in the Second XI Championship.

Maldives and Bhutan registered decisive wins in the final round of preliminary matches in the Asian Cricket Council Trophy Challenge in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Saturday.The Maldives smote 376 for 7 from their 50 overs before China were dismissed for 61, while Myanmar were skittled for 64, a total which Bhutan overtook in only 9.5 overs for the loss of two wickets.The starring individual performances of the day were six wicket hauls from the Maldives’ Ismail Nihad (6 for 10 v China) and Dasho of Bhutan (6 for 17)Maldives’ charge was lead by Afzal Faiz, whose 93 off 62 balls, included four sixes and nine fours. He received good support from Shafraz Jaleel, who hit 79 off 67 balls.Li Jian, by Chinese standards, had a good allround game, taking 3 for 57 with the ball before being one of two batsmen to make double figures in China’s innings. This is the first time two batsmen have made double figures in the same innings. Li Jian scored 13, including two fours, while Wang Ronggang hit 21 off 49 balls. Unfortunately, like China’s previous two innings, extras was the highest scorer (22).Play resumes tomorrow after today’s rest day. Oman play the Maldives and Thailand meet Bhutan in the semi-finals. The winners play in the final on Wednesday.Group A
P W L NR Pts
Oman 3 3 0 0 6
Bhutan 3 2 1 0 4
Brunei 3 1 2 0 2
Myanmar 3 0 3 0 0

Group B
P W L NR Pts
Thailand 3 3 0 0 6
Maldives 3 2 1 0 4
Iran 3 1 2 0 2
China 3 0 3 0 0

Worcestershire have turned around their dire financial position to record a profit in excess of £350,000, just 12 months after being deep in debt.The club’s home ground of New Road was continually flooded in the dreadfully wet summer of 2007 and match after match was cancelled, delayed or moved to another venue. The end loss to the club amounted to £1.164 million, recording a pre-tax loss of £693,000, but they have turned their fortunes around.”After the floods in 2007 we set about a two-year recovery, we are on track,” Mark Newton, the club’s chief executive, told the BBC. “We have been helped by a lot of people and we are very grateful. We lost some £75,000 at the end of the 2008 season when we had more flooding or the figures could have been even better.”£150,000 was raised by the chairman Martyn Price’s Flood Club, with increasing commercialisation of the club and sponsorship also helping to swell their profits.”Despite the general economic situation, we are optimistic about the year ahead,” Price said. “The broadcast agreement with BSkyB is in place and we have an Ashes summer plus the World Twenty20 to look forward to. The team is in the first division of both League competitions and we hope this and the continuing development of our entertaining young English players will enable us to maintain our membership and spectator numbers.”