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Scorecard

Lisa Sthalekar and Kate Blackwell guided New South Wales Breakers to their ninth title in 11 years as the Breakers chased down Victoria Spirit’s 205 at Melbourne. Sthalekar, the captain, starred with 83 and Blackwell made an unbeaten 57 to earn New South Wales a 2-1 victory in the finals series and continue the team’s decade of dominance.The visitors were on track to rein in the target easily at 2 for 167 in the 41st over before Cathryn Fitzpatrick and Clea Smith sparked a mini-collapse of 5 for 20 within 23 balls to give Victoria hope. But Blackwell held firm as Smith and Fitzpatrick bowled out their ten overs and Victoria could not find the last few wickets.Fitzpatrick took 3 for 33 and finished with 13 dismissals from the three-matches, but the decider was all but wrenched out of Victoria’s grip by Sthalekar. Having struggled in the first two finals, Sthalekar stepped up to score 83 from 98 deliveries and her 115-run partnership with Blackwell set up the win.Mel Jones top-scored for the home side with 39 and the Spirit would have fancied their chances when they posted a challenging 7 for 205, but for the third time in a row the team batting second chased successfully. New South Wales, who scraped into the finals ahead of Queensland, completed an impressive turnaround after a poor start to earn back-to-back titles.

Michael Clarke will wait for news from the selectors on whether he is elevated to the vice-captaincy following Adam Gilchrist’s retirement. Clarke was Australia’s captain during the Twenty20 international against New Zealand last month, when he expressed his leadership aspirations, but after posting his sixth Test century he said there was only a light-hearted application being made for the position.”One came from Haydos,” Clarke said. “I said to him: ‘Are you retiring as well?’ He said: ‘Not now, I’m a chance of getting a stripe.’ We had a joke about it but other than that it hasn’t been spoken about.”Clarke and Michael Hussey are the main contenders for the spot and the pair was involved in an on-field exercise on the fourth day when Hussey was operating as Ricky Ponting’s runner. Ponting, who scored 140 and combined for a 210-run stand with Clarke, suffered a lower back injury and did not field as India reached 1 for 45 at stumps. However, he is expected to return to guide the team on the final day.The Clarke-Ponting partnership allowed Australia to dream of a lead, which eventually stopped at 37, and they retain hope of repeating the miracle last-day win against England in 2006. Clarke raised a century in that match as well and his hard-working 118 today was a mixture of attacking bursts and considered play.”The easiest time to score was when the ball was new and hard, so it was our intention to come out and be positive with the new ball,” he said. “Once it got softer and started to go reverse – they also bowled a lot of spin – we knew it was going to be hard to bat. With guys on the boundary it was hard to keep the runs flowing.”Australia were eventually dismissed for 563 and their chase for quick wickets would have been more successful if Clarke had held a regulation chance at second slip when Virender Sehwag was two. It was the fifth attempt Clarke has missed in the past three games and Australia’s reshuffled cordon is having trouble matching the success of its predecessors.Despite the lapses Clarke said there was no major problem behind the fumbles. “Over the last 20 Tests Australia hasn’t dropped too many catches so I don’t think you’ll see too much change,” he said. “We train just as hard as we do when we take all our catches and nothing has changed in our preparation. I apologised to Brett Lee, and I certainly didn’t mean to drop it.”

More for Mascarenhas?
Dimitri Mascarenhas may return to the IPL for a second spell with the Rajasthan Royals at the end of May, according to Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove. Mascarenhas, who will be available to play from May 12 to 26, could come back if Rajasthan qualify for the semi-finals. “We’ll wait and see what the Royals do in the IPL and where we’re at before that’s discussed.” Bransgrove told the . “Things have worked out very well between us so far, they’ve been decent people to deal with.” Rajasthan are chasing a third successive win in Bangalore today.Orange country
Kumar Sangakkara, who cracked 94 off 56 balls to set up Kings XI Punjab’s 66-run win over the Mumbai Indians, received the orange cap for becoming the highest run-scorer of the tournament. Sangakkara has scored 168 runs at 56.00 with a strike-rate of 173.19. Rest assured, Brendon McCullum, behind by just five runs, will be keen on taking the cap back as the Kolkata Knight Riders square off against the Chennai Super Kings in game one of a Saturday double bill.

What are the yips?
“Getting the yips” is a phrase used to describe a (mostly) mental affliction that prevents sportsmen from performing a repetitive task – such as bowling – in the presence of an audience. Most commonly prevalent among golfers, in cricket the syndrome usually affects bowlers, particularly left-arm spinners.How are the yips different from an attack of nerves, or a choke?
Getting the yips is not, unlike nerves, a passing phenomenon. It is akin to being trapped for long periods in the choking process.What causes it?
There is no one cause, but a change in bowling action to compensate for injury may be a trigger. Also, research has shown that bowlers with the yips may be overusing the analytical left side of their brains.What are the manifestations?
At nets, yippers generally feel everything is fine, only to fall to pieces in a match situation, losing length and line, and often both.Have any well known players been victims?
Fred Swarbrook, the Derbyshire left-arm spinner of the 1970s, was one of the first public cases. Ravi Shastri, Phil Edmonds, and Maninder Singh are among the better known players to have been affected.Is there a cure?
There is no fail-safe cure, but victims have found help in such measures as rubbing a soft pebble kept in the pocket before bowling, and in starting a spell from over the wicket. Research also suggests bowling in the nets against a friendly batsman, then going on to an unfamiliar batsman, then in the middle with nets, then without, and so on, may help.

The Pakistan board is set to send a formal proposal to the South Africa board for a three-Test match series to be played after the Champions Trophy in September, as it continues its push to fill up an empty international calendar. After Australia withdrew from their tour of Pakistan for March-April, the PCB has convinced Bangladesh to play a five-match ODI series and has a host of other commitments in the pipeline, but still a hole remains in their Future Tours Programme (FTP), especially with regards to Test matches.”We have had a verbal communication with them [South Africa] over a possible Test series and their response is encouraging,” Shafqat Naghmi, PCB’s Chief Operating Officer, told The News. The proposed series will be an arrangement outside the FTP.”Our first priority is to host the South Africans for the proposed Test series in October but if because of any reason they cannot visit then we will be willing to send our team to South Africa.”Naghmi said that the PCB scanned the FTP and tour commitments of the top Test-playing nations and found that South Africa were the only leading side that had a window big enough in their FTP to fit in a Test series. According to the FTP South Africa finish a tour of England in September, visit Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in the same month and are scheduled to host Bangladesh in November. South Africa toured Pakistan in October 2007, winning both the Test and ODI series.Australia’s pull out, due to security fears, meant Pakistan were left with only three Tests (against India) in 2008. Australia were scheduled to play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 International. The PCB could not persuade India to visit for a one-day series and their plan to host Sri Lanka is likely to be jeopardised by the Indian Premier League.

The Punjab Under-14 team scored a overwhelming innings and 224-runvictory over Jammu and Kashmir on the third and final day of theirNorth Zone league match at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium in Patiala onMonday.J&K were shot out for just 43 runs. Punjab’s opening bowlersHardavindar Singh (4 for 15) and Rattan Brichar (4 for 18) ran throughthe J&K lineup. In reply, Punjab declared at 325 for nine. AshishVinayak (62) and Tavish Gupta (45) added 94 runs for the second wicketoff 25.1 overs. Then Ankur Jund (87) forged useful partnerships withthe lower order batsmen to boost the total.In arrears by 282 runs, J&K fared little better the second time aroundand were skittled out for 58. This time Tavesh Gupta was the pick ofthe bowlers, finishing with figures of 5 for 20 in his 7.5 overs. Onlythree batsmen, opener Ian Chauhan (20 not out), Quyam Hassan (14) andKaran Kochhar (12) managed to reach double figures.

The ECB has blocked Ian Harvey from playing as a non-overseas player because of a delay in the paperwork relating to his British Citizenship. His application is currently with the Home Office and legally he doesn’t qualify until the final documents have been completed.During the opening weeks of the season Harvey has been covering for the injured Travis Birt at Derbyshire, but now that Birt is ready to play Harvey will have to stand down until he is officially cleared. However, there was a similar situation with Ottis Gibson in 2004 when he was trying to join Leicestershire and the ECB allowed him to play despite his papers being stuck at the Home Office.Tom Sears, the Derbyshire chief executive, told the club website: “We are extremely disappointed with the ECB’s stance on this issue. Ian has played in this country since 1999, his wife is a British citizen, he has met all the criteria to qualify for British citizenship and completed the required fours years of residency.”He submitted his application for citizenship at the earliest opportunity but the ECB is still not allowing him to play even though they have in a previous case.”The ECB has said that Gibson had to wait longer than Harvey which is why his case was treated differently but Derbyshire are not happy with what they see as double standards.”The Home Office have said that Ian is entitled to live and work in this country but the ECB are saying he can only play as one of our two overseas players until he gets his citizenship.”The question I have asked of the ECB is if they can impose a limit on players given indefinite leave to remain, why can they not do the same with EU or Kolpak players? All these players have been told they have the right to work on this country but we can set limits on some and not others? It needs clarifying and sorting out quickly.”The club have said they will not be offering a legal challenge to the decision, which means that Harvey will remain on the sidelines for the near future. He has been in impressive form during early season with two centuries in the County Championship, where he currently averages 144.

Scorecard
Sri Lanka A completed another victory against Zimbabwe Select to end the series 3-0, beating them by 31 runs. The Zimbabweans were strongly placed in the chase of 264, with Vusi Sibanda and Chamu Chibabha taking them to 148 for 2 inside the first 30 overs, but when they both fell with 198 on the board, the rest of the innings fell away as Rangana Herath and Dilruwa Perera swept up.All of the Sri Lankans’ top five made decent starts, with Mahela Udawatte and Perera putting on an opening stand of 74. Once Gary Brent had removed Udawatte for 21, the home side took wickets at steady intervals. It was the first of four wickets for Brent, the most successful bowler, while there were two each for Chibhabha and Elton Chigumbura.Thilina Kandamby led them with 62, and he and Dammika Prasad (28) gave them a late boost with 74 for the seventh wicket to take them to 264, which proved the difference as Sri Lanka A signed off their tour on a high note.

Lights out in BangaloreThe Bangalore Royal Challengers’ home match against the Deccan Chargers yesterday was interrupted for close to six minutes when the lights on the western tower of the Chinnaswamy Stadium went off. But the situation was quickly resolved and the game resumed. According to a report in the , the Karnataka State Cricket Association has only about 500 replacement bulbs left, since the company that used to provide them, has closed.Yousuf’s wait continuesMohammad Yousuf will continue to be barred from the IPL after the arbiter hearing the case filed against him by the Indian Cricket League, filed an interim order to that effect. Hitesh Jain, the ICL’s lawyer, said that arbiter’s final order is expected in July. With his IPL hopes in limbo, Yousuf has signed with Lancashire as a short-term replacement for Brad Hodge, who has joined the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The stand-off between the Indian Premier League (IPL) and leading news agencies over contentious accreditation clauses for the Twenty20 tournament starting on April 18 has been termed as a matter of concern by franchises, with some of them planning to discuss the issue with IPL officials if media coverage of the event is affected.”If the issue escalates to a point where media or sections of the media will choose to ignore the IPL, we will have to step in, meet with IPL and seek clarifications. We need to find an amicable solution,” Charu Sharma, the chief executive of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, told Cricinfo.Fraser Castellino, the CEO of Jaipur’s Rajasthan Royals, said they had invested heavily in the venture and would like the entire media on board to ensure that the event “reaches every heart”. J Krishnan, of Hyderabad’s Deccan Chargers, said he was sure the IPL officials would sort out the issue.Sharma is a well-known television professional while the Jaipur franchise is backed by the UK-based Investors in Cricket, a media group with significant interests in television. The Hyderabad franchise is owned by Deccan Chronicle, the newspaper group.The Press Trust of India (PTI), the country’s leading news agency, on Friday joined leading international agencies in calling for modifications in IPL’s coverage norms, failing which they have decided to ignore the event. The News Media Coalition (NMC), the umbrella body that covers global news and photograph agencies Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Getty Images, had earlier expressed deep concerns about IPL’s media norms, including curbs on selling photographs to websites and a press-box bar on websites.The Editors Guild of India has expressed reservations on the IPL’s media clauses and the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), a representative body of newspaper publishers, said it was disappointed about the accreditation terms, even after the IPL revised them following discussions with media representatives on Monday.”As far as we are concerned, this issue involves the IPL’s IPR, and has to be sorted out by the IPL. However, if the situation [on media accreditation] escalates we will have to have a say in the matter and will want to discuss the issue with IPL,” said Sharma. “If push comes to shove, we will want to get involved as a franchise on this matter. Generally, we believe that nobody can go forward on an event of this magnitude without getting the media on board and addressing all their concerns.”Castellino offered help to resolve the issue because the franchises needed “the entire media” on their side. “Definitely, the possibility of the media ignoring the event is not a great development from the franchise point of view. We are concerned and may need to discuss with the IPL if the situation is not resolved,” he said. “We have invested heavily in this venture, and we need the event to touch every heart. For that, we need the entire media on our side. We hope the two parties, like two sensible people, will sit across the table and resolve the issue. We really have no time but we, as a franchise, are willing to step in and help resolve this situation.”Krishnan said Hyderabad will leave the issue to the “capable” IPL officials. “We really don’t want to comment on this matter, except to state that we are sure the IPL will find a solution to this issue.”The inaugural IPL tournament starts in Bangalore with the Royal Challengers, the home team, taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders. A Knight Riders spokesman declined to comment on the issue.