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A round-up of matches from the third weekend of Kenya’s new East African Cup and East Africa Elite League

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Sep-2011Much of the action took place off the field after eight national squad players boycotted last weekend’s matches in another row over central contracts. But this time Cricket Kenya took a hardline stance and refused to back down, leading to the eight seeking a meeting with the board on Friday. But the franchises took the initiative and told the players they had been dropped and would not be selected again this season, in effect scuppering any hopes they had of negotiating their way back into the Kenyan side.

East Africa Premier League

Rwenzori Warriors beat Rift Valley Rhinos in the meeting of the only two previously unbeaten teams, bowling out Rift for 77 and then knocking off the runs for the loss of five wickets with three overs to spare. Rift never recovered from collapsing to 3 for 3Nairobi Buffaloes moved second with a last-ball five-wicket victory over Nile Knights, Rajesh Varsani thumping a four with two needed for the win. Colins Obuya, who had reportedly received threats over his participation in the tournament while other former team-mates were striking, led the Nairobi innings with 55.Coast Pekee’s made it five losses in as many games as they only managed 95 for 6 in their 20 overs – Dominic Wesonga the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 15 – and Kongonis strolled to a six-wicket win with seven overs in hand, Duncan Allan celebrating his call-up to the national team with 51.

East African Cup

Kongonis moved top of the table, beating tournament whipping boys Coast Pekee by 70 runs (D/L). Kongonis overcame a middle-order collapse which saw them slip from 58 for 1 to 64 for 4, eventually posting 219 for 8. Weather interventions left Pekee chasing 149 from 23 overs, a target which proved well beyond them as they limped to 78 for 6.Nile Knights were left frustrated after rain washed out their match against Nairobi Buffaloes with them in a strong position. Ugandan international Arthur Kyobe scored 123 off 100 balls to steer the Knights to 261, and in reply the Buffaloes were wobbling on 55 for 4 from 17.4 overs when the rain came.Rwenzori Warriors, who are finding the 50-over game a tougher prospect, finally recorded their first win, beating Rift Valley Rhinos by five wickets. The Rhinos lost their way after starting well, losing their last nine wickets for 90 as they were bowled out for 137. The Warriors needed fewer than half their allocation of overs to knock off the runs.

England’s Test series against South Africa next year, which could be another battle for the No. 1 ranking, will be in direct competition with the Olympic Games and played over just three matches

Andrew McGlashan28-Sep-2011England’s home Test series against South Africa in 2012, which could be another battle for the No. 1 ranking, will be in direct competition with the Olympic Games and played over just three matches. The ECB also confirmed that West Indies will visit for a full tour and Australia for five ODIs.South Africa’s visit in July and August has been squeezed because of the London Olympics, which will be staged for two weeks from late July and brings with it a series of restrictions about competing sporting events, and also by a visit from Australia for a one-day series. The first Test, at The Oval, will be played a week before the Games and the last, at Lord’s, which is an Olympic venue, takes place shortly after it has finished. The Headingley Test has the task of battling head on with the Games.In 2008, series between England and South Africa were given ‘icon’ status which, at the time, meant a five-Test series. The 2009-10 series in South Africa, however, had only four matches and was shared 1-1, with the hosts fighting back to win the final Test in Johannesburg.At a time when the primacy of Test cricket is a major debate, having such a marquee series reduced to three matches doesn’t bode well and suggests boards are paying no more than lip service to the principle that money doesn’t rule. The proximity of the Olympics is out of the ECB’s control but 13 ODIs, including another stand-alone five-match series against Australia, is unbalanced especially in a country where Test cricket is well attended.After the Tests, South Africa will play five one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals in England. They will act as preparation for the World Twenty20 that starts a week later in Sri Lanka with England as defending champions.England’s home season begins on May 17 with the first Test against West Indies, at Lord’s, followed by further matches at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston. West Indies then play three ODIs and a single T20. Both West Indies and South Africa have two warm-up matches before their respective Test series begin, although South Africa’s match against Somerset will be a two-day game followed by a three-day outing against Kent before the first Test.England will also play Scotland in an ODI on August 12 as part of the arrangement whereby they play them and Ireland in alternate years. A venue for that match has still to be confirmed.Cardiff, which was handed a 2015 Ashes Test as the major matches were allocated for a four-year period, will host the domestic Friends Life t20 finals day for the first time on August 25. The CB40 final takes place at Lord’s again on September 15.Key datesMay 17-21 – 1st Test v West Indies, Lord’s
May 25-29 – 2nd Test v West Indies, Trent Bridge
June 7-11 – 3rd Test v West Indies, Edgbaston
June 16 – 1st ODI v West Indies, Rose Bowl
June 19 – 2nd ODI v West Indies, The Oval
June 22 – 3rd ODI v West Indies, Headingley
June 24 – T20 v West Indies, Trent Bridge
June 29 – 1st ODI v Australia, Lord’s
July 1 – 2nd ODI v Australia, The Oval
July 4 – 3rd ODI v Australia, Edgbaston
July 7 – 4th ODI v Australia, Durham
July 10th – 5th ODI v Australia, Old Trafford
July 19-23 – 1st Test v South Africa, The Oval
August 2-6 – 2nd Test v South Africa, Headingley
August 16-20 – 3rd Test v South Africa, Lord’s
August 24 – 1st ODI v South Africa, Cardiff
August 28 – 2nd ODI v South Africa, Rose Bowl
August 31 – 3rd ODI v South Africa, The Oval
September 2 – 4th ODI v South Africa, Lord’s
September 5 – 5th ODI v South Africa, Trent Bridge
September 8 – 1st T20 v South Africa, Durham
September 10 – 2nd T20 v South Africa, Old Trafford
September 12 – 3rd T20 v South Africa, Edgbaston

A round-up of the action from the fourth day of the fifth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2011It took State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) a little over 20 overs on the final day to wrap up an innings and 46-run win over Faisalabad at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha. The only resistance came from Faisalabad’s overnight pair, Asif Hussain and Zeeshan Butt. Resuming on 116 for 3, the pair took their stand beyond the hundred-run mark, before being separated with the score on 141. The final six wickets then fell for just 16 runs. The bowlers shared the wickets around, but legspinner Kashif Siddiq was the best of them, claiming 4 for 22.The game between Karachi Blues and Habib Bank Limited (HBL) at the National Stadium in Karachi was called off without the third innings being completed. HBL went from 80 for no loss to 210 for 4 on the final day, a lead of 192 runs over Karachi, at which point the game was halted. Both openers, Shan Masood and Ahmed Shehzad, went on to complete half-centuries and put on their second century partnership of the game. Shehzad was subsequently banned for one game for dissent.Sialkot managed to hold on for a draw against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. They began the final day on 29 for no loss, following on and trailing by 138 runs. But a strong showing from their top order made sure they secured the match. Five of the top six got into double figures, with Mansoor Amjad top scoring with 99. Amjad was on course for his seventh first-class hundred, but was run out going for his 100th run.

Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has showered generous praise on fast bowler Chris Martin, who became only the fourth New Zealand bowler to take 200 Test wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2011Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has showered generous praise on fast bowler Chris Martin, who became only the fourth New Zealand bowler to take 200 Test wickets when he dismissed Kyle Jarvis in the Bulawayo Test. Vettori, who is the second-highest wicket-taker for New Zealand, said Martin was one of the best to have bowled for New Zealand.”Chris has always impressed me right from day one,” Vettori told . “He’s a fantastic bowler and probably an under-rated bowler as well. To do what he’s done, it’s a real credit to him and I certainly believe he deserves to be regarded as one of NZ’s best-ever Test bowlers.”It had been a long wait for Martin, who spent 10 months stuck on 199 Test wickets, and then more than 23 overs of toil after Test cricket finally came along. “It was an unfortunate circumstance that I had to wait that long, simply because we haven’t played any Test cricket since January,” Martin said. “I’d bowled 23-odd overs before it came so I didn’t know quite how to celebrate, it was more relief than anything, but it’s a moment I’ll remember for quite some time.”Three of the 200-club men studied in the same school, of course at different times. “To be one of four players to achieve that milestone is an honour, ” Martin said. “And there are three from Christchurch Boys’ High (Richard Hadlee and Chris Cairns being the other two), so that’s a nice achievement for the school. Chris Cairns is obviously immediately above me on the list and I think he’s got 218 wickets, so it would be nice to catch him.”Martin’s average of 34.94 might not strike fear, but that it is only marginally worse than Vettori’s 33.61 proves Vettori’s point that Martin might be under-rated. More than the statistics, it is Martin’s reliability and longevity that have shone through despite starting his career late – less than month shy of his 26th birthday. “Shane Bond was around for a while, but for the most part Chris has carried the pace attack by himself over a long period of time,” Vettori said. “He’s always been reliable.”What Martin has managed is rare for New Zealand fast bowlers – a near injury-free career. He has outlasted more incisive and flashier fast bowlers. New Zealand want him to stay around to share the experience he has garnered over his 11-year-old career with the younger quicks. Martin turns 37 in December, and there is likely to be debate around his place in the side, especially after match returns of 3 for 159 in the Test against Zimbabwe. Vettori, though, thinks there is more to come.”He’s still got a lot left in him and I think he wants to play for a wee while longer, which would be great for us to have him working with the likes of Tim Southee and Doug Bracewell coming through,” Vettori said. “It’s encouraging to have the three of them around for the Australian series [next month]. It’s the first time I’ve seen Bracewell bowl and I’ve been quite impressed by him.”

A round-up of the first day’s play of the sixth round of matches of the Ranji Trophy Elite, 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2011S Badrinath scored a century on his second game back from injury and Abhinav Mukund continued his prolific scoring with an unbeaten 150, as Tamil Nadu reached 288 for 2 against Gujarat at Motera. Badrinath, the top run-getter in last year’s Ranji Trophy, missed the first three matches of Tamil Nadu’s Ranji campaign this season with a shoulder injury he sustained during the Challenger Trophy. He took his time constructing his first century of the season, taking 214 balls to score 102. He was at the wicket early; Tamil Nadu lost a wicket in the first over after choosing to bat. M Vijay was caught in front by an Ishwar Chaudhary that nipped in from outside off. That dismissal was a false dawn for Gujarat; the next wicket came in the 72nd over of the day after Badrinath and Abhinav had put on 223 runs for the second wicket.Abhinav got a reprieve early in his innings when what looked like a clear lbw was given not out. He cashed in and scored 150 not out off 264 balls. It was Abhinav’s fifth first-class century of 2011. He already has one double-century in this year’s Ranji Trophy and has the opportunity to get another as Tamil Nadu go into the second day in a strong position. Gujarat’s bowlers did not get help from the Motera pitch, though Faisal Dudhat did get some reverse-swing late in the day.

Ashok Dinda’s impressive season continued with another four-wicket haul, which helped Bengal reduce Delhi to 252 for 8 at Eden Gardens. It was a day on which Delhi lost wickets in clusters. Dinda struck twice in the 11th over, after Bengal had chosen to field, to leave Delhi 30 for 2. Shikhar Dhawan scored his first half-century in seven innings and shared a 69-run partnership with Yogesh Nagar to get Delhi back on track. Dinda returned to remove Nagar and Dhawan was dismissed by Laxmi Ratan Shukla 6.2 overs later. That double-strike left Delhi in trouble again but Rajat Bhatia scored 59 not out and Puneet Bisht scored 40 to take the score to 228 for 5. Three wickets fell in the 12 overs before stumps to make it Bengal’s day, and leave Dinda with figures of 4 for 55. That puts him second on the list of wicket-takers this season with 25.Naman Ojha hit his second hundred in as many innings, and third of the season, to take Madhya Pradesh to 260 for 3 against Haryana at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak. Ojha hit five sixes and 22 fours on the way to 160 off 226 balls. He dominated stands of 102, with opening partner Zafar Ali, and 101, with Devendra Bundela. When he was dismissed for 160 in the 75th over MP’s score was still 239. Bundela remained not out on 25 at stumps, along with Udit Birla, who had scored 29.Shivakant Shukla’s 96 was the highlight of the day at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi as Railways made slow progress against Orissa to end on 204 for 5. Shukla batted till the penultimate over, facing 264 balls, hitting 12 fours and a six. Railways lost Shreyas Khanolkar early but the partnership that stood out was the 107-run stand for the third wicket between Shukla and Sanjay Bangar. Bangar made 46 before he was trapped lbw by Biplab Samantray, who struck again the following ball to remove Prashant Awasthi. Shukla was unlucky to fall four short of his ton, lbw to Govind Podder. Mahesh Rawat remained unbeaten on 38.The runs flowed in Jaipur as Vineet Saxena and Puneet Yadav scored centuries to lift Rajasthan to 369 for 7 against Saurashtra. The pair added 215 for the fifth wicket after the seam trio of Jaidev Unadkat, Sandip Maniar and Siddarth Trivedi left the hosts in trouble at 103 for 4. The pair were together for close to 50 overs before Yadav fell for 108, caught behind off Trivedi. Saxena departed four overs later in similar manner off the same bowler. Both centurions hit 15 fours each. Trivedi managed to sneak in another wicket, that of Dishanth Yagnik to end the day with 4 for 69.A century by Sushant Marathe and a fifty by Kaustubh Pawar took Mumbai to a reasonable 203 for 3 against Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow, though only 63 overs were bowled. The pair resisted for 56 overs to add 189 for the first wicket. Bhuvneshwar Kumar dislodged the stand when he removed Marathe for 102, an innings which included 15 fours. Kumar struck soon after, sending back Abhishek Nayar. Mumbai suffered another jolt when Pawar departed for a patient 76 off 191 balls, off what turned out to be the last ball of the day.

A round-up of the first day’s play from the Ranji Trophy Plate semi-finals

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2011Maharashtra recovered from a shaky start to end the opening day of the their Plate semi-final against Himachal Pradesh in a satisfactory position in Pune. Maharashtra chose to bat and lost their openers early, slipping to 45 for 2. They then had a partnership of 53 between Sangram Atitkar and Nikhil Paradkar before losing the third wicket on 98. Paradkar, however, went on to score 80 before he was run out, adding 130 with Ankit Bawne for the fourth wicket. Bawne ended the day on 56, steering his team to 232 for 4. Himachal Pradesh used eight bowlers, none of whom had much success apart from keeping the run-rate under control.Shalabh Shrivastava stopped a top-order wobble and helped steer Vidarbha to 225 for 5 in their Plate semi-final against Hyderabad in Nagpur. Hyderabad, however, will be pleased with their effort after losing the toss: they struck at regular intervals and limited the scoring. Vidarbha were 26 for 2, having lost Aniruddha Chore and Ravi Jangid in successive overs. Shrivastava, who went on to make 83, added 110 with Shiv Sundar Das, who had held firm at the top for 64. Himachal Pradesh then struck two late blows, reducing Vidarbha from 189 for 3 to 205 for 5 to leave the match evenly balanced.

Rajasthan and Haryana both stumbled their way through the group stages, and the semi-final between them promises to be a close fight. But fog may spoil the party

Sharda Ugra in Lahli 09-Jan-2012Will it, won’t it? Like a marauding medieval army sweeping over the vast plains of Haryana, the mere premonition of a winter fog has settled over those involved in the Ranji Trophy semi-final starting on Tuesday in Lahli, outside Rohtak.It is home team Haryana’s first Ranji Trophy semi-final in two decades. It is Rajashtan’s first as defending Ranji champions. To have that happen only because it has snowed in the distant Himalayas is of course meteorologically logical. Yet its consequences on cricket can be dire. Should the side batting second not complete 30 overs in their first innings due to bad weather, Haryana will go through on net run-rate.The match venue, Lalhi’s Ch Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium is a fog-magnet, set amid scenic open fields of sugarcane and mustard. Five years ago, when word went around that Virender Sehwag was coming to bat here, 2000 materialised from the neighbouring villages to watch Viru.As the teams practised at the Bansi Lal stadium on Monday, the sun shone after two days of grey misery, and anxiety dissipated. Were the semi-final scheduled to start today, match referee Pranab Roy reckoned that even a 9:30am start would have been possible.It is not as if the weather is part of Haryana’s home advantage. In last year’s quarter-final, in Lahli, they scored 379 for 6 declared in their first innings. Only 195 overs could be bowled in the entire match, and Tamil Nadu, who were 285 for 6 at the end of the game, went through to the semi-finals. They had qualified because they scored their runs at 3.60 an over during the game, against Haryana’s rate of 3.26. The same rule will apply in this year’s semi-final, should at least 30 overs be completed in the team batting second’s first innings. With fog lurking, who wants to win a toss and decide what to do?”The fog is a weather condition you can’t really control,” HCA secretary Anirudh Chaudhry said. “Saying we should not play here is like saying let’s not play in Chennai because it rains there. We are not worried about it.”Neither Rajasthan nor Haryana would want their campaign to end this way. The teams have tumbled their way through the league phase but landed on their feet, each finishing third in their group and somehow squeezing into the knockouts. They have played their best cricket when it mattered most, with minds free of clutter and fog-free game-plans.The semi-final will be a contest between two sets of unheralded triers and, barring a handful of better-known ‘professionals’, largely faceless fighters. If Rajasthan have been a revelation over the past two seasons, then Haryana’s omnipresence at the business end of the Ranji Trophy has surprised many. Amit Mishra, the Haryana captain, said getting to the latter stages of the tournament consistently would help his team earn recognition.”A lot of people don’t know that we have qualified for the knockouts three times in a row now,” Mishra said. “We need such matches to get our team’s profile higher.” By winning the Ranji Trophy last season, after starting the season in the Plate division, Rajasthan showed teams like Haryana how to upset the more-fancied teams. They would not want to be at the receiving end of their own lesson.Mishra, though, stuck to the facts. “I don’t want to get into discussions about underdogs and favourites. They are defending champions and this is our home ground.”Locals say the Lahli pitch is a swing and seam bowler’s delight; in both matches played here this season, however, first-innings scores crossed 300. Haryana coach Ashwini Kumar termed Lahli a “medium-pacer’s track”. Rajasthan captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar said he thought there would be runs in the pitch. “The surface will do a bit at the start but should things should pan out well later for the batsmen,” he said.The biggest blessing for the bowlers, Kumar says, is how clean the air is. “It is completely pollution-free. So bowlers who have the stamina to send down seven-over spells in normal conditions can run in and bowl 10 overs here. The air is so clean.”It has remained so over the course of the last five years, since Lahli’s first Ranji match, in 2006-07. However, a lot else has changed in Lahli, and Rohtak, and certainly in Haryana cricket. Aakash Chopra, the former India opener, played for Delhi in the 2006-07 season, and was involved in the match in Lahli that ended in three days and relegated the home team to the Plate division.He returned this year to find the journey from Rohtak to the stadium quicker, and on a smoother road. The ground has grown into a larger facility, and Chopra is happy to be away from the hotel where players had to pay Rs 10 for a bucket of hot water – free for India players – in the bad old days. Chopra now represents Rajasthan and he will face a new generation of Haryana bowlers in Lahli.Some weather reports promise clear skies over Lahli for the next three days. The Indian meteorological department predicts fog on Tuesday. The other semi-final, Mumbai v Tamil Nadu, may have a star cast, but Haryana v Rajasthan has the makings of a real thriller.

The Duleep Trophy has been, and largely still is, a showcase of the country’s best domestic talent

Abhishek Purohit in Indore11-Feb-2012For a tournament that comprises four games between five entities called ‘zones’, making them assemble teams that are together for barely three weeks, the Duleep Trophy still attracts its share of attention. It is perceived by some as having become irrelevant in a packed domestic season; others say it is still the gold standard for domestic cricket. It is the only tournament in which the Kookaburra ball is used, as opposed to the SG which is the norm in India.One thing is clear though. The Duleep Trophy has been, and largely still is, a showcase of the country’s best domestic talent. The finalists this time, Central Zone and East Zone, have their share of fringe India players like Wriddhiman Saha and Piyush Chawla, and past stars like Mohammad Kaif.
They have the first-class season’s top three wicket-takers – Ashok Dinda, TP Sudhindra and Pankaj Singh. They have the top two run-getters – Robin Bist and Vineet Saxena. A couple of national selectors are expected to watch the game.This is the final chance for Test hopefuls to get noticed before the season descends into a spate of state one-dayers, zonal one-dayers, state Twenty20s … all climaxing into the clutter of the IPL.Both sides are banking on their fast bowlers, with the grassy Indore pitch looking a complete contrast to the lifeless strip that made for a sleepy Ranji Trophy final in Chennai last month. Chawla, the Central Zone captain, remarked on how green the surface appeared – an unusual sight in India, except when a desperate home team dishes out green tops in search of an outright win.Indications were that the grass would stay tomorrow. It did for the Ranji quarter-final between Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai in January. The visitors saw the grass, the overcast conditions and the cold weather, and chose to bowl. Fifteen wickets fell on the first day, two on the second, six on the third, and one on the fourth. Mukesh Sahni, the MP coach, had said then that despite all the green cover, the pitch tends to ease out on the second day, and becomes good for batting. The surface was looking dry beneath the grass, with the afternoon sun beating down hard.Samundar Singh Chauhan, the curator, said that the pitch for this game had more live grass compared to the one for the Ranji quarter-final. Seemingly, Central – who have several MP players for whom this is a home ground – would bowl if they won the toss.Chawla said that this being a five-day game, sides always had a chance to come back even if they did poorly in the first innings. A five-day game also leaves a side with a huge disadvantage if one of the bowlers gets injured, which is why Central were worried about the fitness of Pankaj.The fast bowler was feeling stiffness in his shoulder, though he practised without any visible discomfort. Chawla said Pankaj had a 70% chance of playing; Rituraj Singh will take his Rajasthan team-mate’s place if Pankaj is ruled out tomorrow morning.East were also hit by an injury to one of their fast bowlers. Debashish Mohanty, the East coach, said that Abu Nechim had been ruled out. One of Bengal’s Shami Ahmed or Tripura’s Rana Dutta will replace Nechim.Mohanty was understandably confident about his side’s chances, with East having beaten West outright by five wickets in the quarter-final and then North on the first-innings lead in the semi-finals.East have historically been the weakest side in the Duleep Trophy and are the only zone never to have won the tournament. Of the four other zones, Central have won the least number of times. Both sides would feel this is their best chance.

A round-up of the latest round of matches from the MiWAY T20 Challenge 2011-12 in South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2012After three consecutive losses, Warriors finally opened their account in the tournament with a comfortable 36-run win in Benoni against Impi, who slid to their sixth-successive defeat. The Warriors were bolstered by the return of Colin Ingram from the South African Twenty20 squad in New Zealand, and the batsman made an unbeaten 42 to finish the innings after Ashwell Prince scored 63 as opener. Prince departed in the 15th over, hitting five fours and two sixes in his knock. Ingram and Craig Thyssen, whose unbeaten 49 came off 24 balls, took the score to 182 for 2. In reply, Impi could only manage 146, but it was enough to deny Warriors a bonus point. Their top order failed to convert starts against an experienced bowling attack comprising Makhaya Ntini and Nicky Boje.The match between Knights and Titans at Bloemfontein was abandoned without a ball bowled.

ESPNcricinfo previews Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2012

Sharda Ugra03-Apr-2012

Big Picture

Constant revival is the historical motif of the Daredevils’ home city, but a more contemporary representation of Delhi would include high speed and road rage. Season five of IPL for the Daredevils will then naturally require not only brazen overtaking over hairpin bends, but navigational acumen to arrive at their destination.To finish at the bottom in 2011 after topping the table two years ago is evidence that what was previously fixed, had been broken. The Daredevils ended up with only four wins from 14 matches, trailing even the season’s two new teams. Maybe rejigging of the team after the auction caused the imbalance or maybe it was a brittle top order.Regardless of the explosive pair of Virender Sehwag and David Warner, the Daredevils’ opening partnership crossed 50 only three times in 14 innings, and it lacked an energetic middle order to carry on after repeated early setbacks. Their season opened with a home game in which the Daredevils were all out for 95 and of their four victories, only one was to come at home. By the end of the season, the Daredevils were left in shambles.The repair work for the new season has come in the form of the arrival of two quality middle-order men, Kevin Pietersen, who was brought in from Deccan Chargers, and Mahela Jayawardene, to follow the openers.Had Morne Morkel not broken Ross Taylor’s arm in Wellington, the Daredevils’ middle order would have had the perfect mix: batsmen of calibre combining with the game’s leading entertainers. Morkel himself leads a quick bowling attack with several options, and the presence of Indians among them gives the Daredevils room for flexibility. Along with New Zealand’s Doug Bracewell, who will get his first taste of Indian conditions, and West Indian allrounder Andre Russell, the Daredevils will also field a genuinely quick and now toughened Umesh Yadav. The experience of Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar is valuable and Varun Aaron is said to be recovering from the injury that he picked up last year.Team mentor T A Sekhar who has been signed on again, after a couple of years with the Mumbai Indians, believes that the general gloom about the Daredevils’ lack of slow-bowling options is largely baseless. Twenty20 specialist spinning allrounder Roelof van der Merwe comes with more than useful promise.Along with its eye-catching star cast, a surprise performance from the Daredevils’ second line will be a bonus: whether through Australian allrounder Glen Maxwell, who scored a fifty off 17 balls, a record in Australia’s List-A or teenager Unmukt Chand, who is leading the India under-19 team in Australia during a two-week tour. The formula of a successful team, says Sekhar, comes from a high-profile core of performers and a handy supporting cast arranged around them.

Key players

Virender Sehwag: He was the only player the Daredevils wanted to retain in 2010, he is the captain from the 2008 ‘icon’ bunch still standing and he remains the team’s centrifugal force. He will be energised not only by the presence of many shot-makers around him, but by the quality all the way down to No. 6. Still, it will be Sehwag who will need to set the tone for how the Daredevils’ campaign turns out, especially, if he can get them to better starts than last year.Mahela Jayawardene: After Pietersen, the highest signing by the Daredevils from the 2012 auction, Jayawardene finds himself in his third IPL team in five years after being an asset for any franchise and a tough man to let go of. He found himself in the auction only because Kochi Tuskers Kerala got booted out of the IPL and will arrive into a set up that can do with his reassuring presence in the midst of extravagant talents. If he’s not worn out by Sri Lanka’s unending travels, Jayawardene can be the improvisational middle-order man who keeps his head when the big hitters go into turbo mode. His calmness at the crease belies his strike rate. His nous on the field will be of assistance to Sehwag’s leadership and he was quickly named as the vice-captain.

Big names in

Kevin Pietersen: Who else? The Daredevils were willing to spend up to half of their auction purse – $2.3m in fact – on signing Pietersen from Deccan Chargers in the January transfer window. The signing comes with the hope that Pietersen will become the Daredevils’ talisman like Chris Gayle for Bangalore. In theory, Pietersen and the IPL are made for each other – the attention-grabbing performer and the big-ticket stage. His record in the tournament though, is most unlike the man: modest. There’s far too few runs – 329 with two half-centuries – in 13 matches, despite having belonged to the bling-filled environment of Royal Challengers Bangalore. But Pietersen will arrive into the IPL after three weeks of acclimatising in Sri Lanka. What awaits him is a team looking for performers in cricket’s biggest showboat. It’s a match made in heaven.Andre Russell: Russell has pace, aggression, athleticism and star quality. Yet to prove himself internationally in the shortest form of the game, he has fitted well into the West Indies ODI squad and caught the eye when playing India in eight ODIs last year just after the World Cup. At the domestic level though, he has come to terms with the curious demands of Twenty20, churning out runs at a strike rate of 148. He has played in the Bangladesh Premier League for the Khulna Royal Bengals*, but now comes the big stuff. Over the next six weeks, Russell will have a chance to prove that he is cut out for cricket’s most lucrative event, the IPL, and therefore, worthy of a $450,000 pay cheque.

Big names out

James Hopes brought optimism when he was inducted into the Daredevils side. He was every inch an allrounder needed by a Twenty20 franchise – a bustling batsman anywhere in the order with handy medium-pace. Last season for the Daredevils though, Hopes played in ten games without producing the high-impact returns expected from him. In exchange for Hopes and Ashok Dinda, both players traded in with the Pune Warriors, the Daredevils had enough cash in hand to sign Pietersen onto their rolls.

Below the radar

Irfan Pathan: Irfan Pathan will always have his days, like his bigger hitting elder brother Yusuf. Now that injuries are behind him and he has had a satisfactory domestic season for Baroda, the Daredevils will hope for bigger performances from him. If things are going for Irfan with the bat, he can unleash a late charge or a recovery. When the ball is swinging, he has what is needed to disturb batsmen and check the flood of runs. If a player is only as good as his last game, then Irfan’s produced quite a signal: an allround performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final against Punjab that helped Baroda win the title.

Availability

David Warner will turn up in May after the end of Australia’s tour of the West Indies and Ross Taylor, when he has recuperated from his injury. Varun Aaron is building up towards recovery and should be ready by the third week. Unmukt Chand will be back from Australia in the second week but if he gets a game, he will have to make it count.

2011 in a tweet

Two semi-finals and a fifth-place finish followed by a crash landing. Law of averages be damned.* April 3, 2012, 16:05 GMT: The article earlier said that Andre Russell played for the Chittagong Kings. This has been corrected