ICC To Hear Out ICL Owners

International Cricket Council president David Morgan has agreed to a request to meet with the owners of the rebel Indian Cricket League.

The ICL is not officially recognised by the ICC and has been in conflict with cricket's authorities since its inception last year.

Now Morgan has agreed to meet with Subhash Chandra of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, who own the ICL.

Morgan said:

"The ICL had previously written to the ICC requesting its approval and now it has asked for this meeting, to which we have agreed.

"All members of the ICC Board have been informed of this meeting and I will report back to those directors at the Board's next meeting, in Dubai on 14 and 15 October."

The ICC refused to comment on the subject of the meeting, but it is expected Chandra will wish to discuss the matter of official sanctioning for the ICL.

Representatives from the ICL are unhappy that the league's players are being prevented from playing top-level cricket, with a report on Zee's own website in July suggesting the matter could be taken to London's High Court.

At an ICC board meeting in the same month, the body formed a committee to look at the issues of official, unofficial and unauthorised cricket.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), whose vice-president, Lalit Modi, is the chairman and commissioner of the Indian Premier League, have an understanding with other major nations that individuals who participate in the ICL will not be allowed to ply their trade in any top-level competition.

Both Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mushtaq Ahmed faced a battle to be allowed to play in the English County Championship this season after their participation in the ICL.

Since then, English Twenty20 Cup runners-up Kent have been prevented from taking part in the upcoming inaugural Twenty20 champions League, co-organised by the BCCI, because they have players who took part in the ICL.

I had rejected IPL offer: Mashrafe Mortaza

Bangladesh vice-captain Mashrafe Mortaza said that he had rejected the offer from the management of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) to represent Dhaka Warriors.

Mahrafe Mortaza said in an interview that he had received many phone calls from the ICL, offering him to play for Dhaka Warriors but he preferred to play for his country instead of playing for the ICL.

He said it has now become the part of history and he did not think necessary to tell this thing anybody as he was not interested in that offer.

Mortaza further said that this is wrong to say that the Bangladesh players did not perform well in Australia due to the ICL offer. They made all out efforts for victory but unfortunately, lost the series 0-3 due to poor batting.

Sri Lanka lifts domestic ban on 'rebel' ICL players

Sri Lanka will re-admit players aligned with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League into domestic cricket, officials said on Friday, in a move that defies the world cricket establishment.

"Players will be allowed to play for their respective clubs and share their expertise, but cannot represent the country,"

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) media manager Shane Fernando said.

The SLC had last year banned its five ICL players -- Marvan Atapattu, Russel Arnold, Upul Chandana, Avishka Gunawardena and Saman Jayantha -- from playing any official cricket matches.

The decision comes two days after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) joined its counterparts from other countries in banning 13 players, including former captain Habibur Bashar, who has signed up with the ICL.

The ICL, bankrolled by India's largest listed media company Zee Telefilms, was launched last year in a direct conflict with the powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The BCCI not only barred any ICL player or official from taking part in official cricket, but also convinced other boards to take similar action against their 'rebel' players.

The Indian board also started its own lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition, featuring the world's top stars, to counter the ICL.

Not surprisingly, ICL officials welcomed Sri Lanka's decision.

"This is a step in the right direction,"

ICL business head Himanshu Mody told the Cricinfo website.

"We hope that this decision will pave the way for Sri Lankan cricketers to play both for the ICL and their country in the near future."

The ICL's first season last year comprised Twenty20 and 50-overs-a-side matches between eight teams that included a mix of international players and domestic Indian cricketers.

Among the top stars aligned with the ICL are retired former Test captains Brian Lara of the West Indies and Inzamam-ul Haq of Pakistan, besides fiery New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond and veteran Chris Cairns.

The Dhaka Warriors will be added as the ninth team in the second season starting on October 10.

BCB receives retirement letters from six players

Six leading Bangladesh players - Habibul Bashar, Aftab Ahmed, Shahriar Nafees, Farhad Reza, Dhiman Ghosh and Mosharraf Hossain - have informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board they intend to retire from international and domestic cricket. The news, announced by the BCB, follows a report in the Bangladesh daily Prothom Alo which said 14 players, including the six mentioned above, were set to join the Indian Cricket League. ICL officials contacted by Cricinfo said nothing had been finalised as yet.

The report said the players will represent the Dhaka Warriors in the ICL. Besides the six, those named include current internationals Alok Kapali and Nazimuddin, four players who represented Bangladesh previously - Mohammad Rafique (now retired), Tapash Baisya, Manjarul Islam and Mohammad Sharif, and Golam Mabud and Mahbubul Karim, currently touring Sri Lanka with the Bangladesh Academy team.

If such an exodus does take place the effect on Bangladesh's cricket could be disastrous; the ICL is not recognised by the ICC and players appearing in its tournaments are liable to be banned from all top-class cricket. In effect, Bangladesh would have to create a national side almost from scratch. The report quotes some of the cricketers as claiming their contracts would have a clause releasing them for national duty.

The BCB said the players hadn't stated a reason for their retirement announcement and expressed

"concern at the abrupt decision by so many players to retire from the game".

Aftab, Nafees, Reza, Ghosh and Mosharraf have been part of Bangladesh's recent teams while Bashar, Bangladesh's most successful captain, last played in February. The six have been summoned by the board on Tuesday to explain their decision.

The report suggests the main reason for the players risking their international careers is money. Those playing for the national team are expected to pocket around $200,000 each after signing the three-year contracts, several times what they can ever expect to earn while playing for Bangladesh; the academy players will receive $30,000 each.

That kind of money is a rarity in Bangladeshi cricket but is more common in the IPL; however, only one Bangladesh player is currently in the IPL - Abdur Razzak, who signed up with the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

The plan for a Bangladesh team in the ICL had first been floated last year, soon after formation of a similar team in Pakistan called Lahore Badshahs, captained by Inzamam ul-Haq. The Bangladesh captain, Mohammad Ashraful, told Prothom Alo he had been approached by the ICL to form a team but had turned down the offer.

Kiran More, a member of the ICL's executive board, said no formal agreement had been reached.

"We are currently in the state of discussion with a few Bangladeshi players but nothing has been finalised yet."

He, however, declined to reveal the names of the players with whom the ICL was in touch.

The new ICL season will begin on October 10, featuring 34 matches across four venues in India.

David Morgan defends premature sidelining of Malcolm Speed

International Cricket Council (ICC) newly elected president David Morgan has defended governing body decision sidelining chief executive, Malcolm Speed prior to his tenure of employment.

He confirmed that the decision to put Malcolm Speed on forced leave for the last two months of his contract as CEO was as a result of a ‘fundamental breakdown’ in the relationship between him, Ray Mali, the president, and some of the Executive Board members.

Addressing a press conference at Lord’s, Morgan briefed on chief executive Malcolm Speed’s premature leave. He said that the Board’s caretaker president Ray Mali and Malcolm Speed had with mutual agreement finalized this that Malcolm Speed would go on leave in the last two months of his tenure of employment. When quizzed on Zimbabwe cricket, David Morgan said that this was the issue on which Board’s president and chief executive had differences. Malcolm Speed was unhappy over ICC not taking action against the Zimbabwe Board for misappropriations in Zimbabwe cricket accounts. He clarified that Malcolm Speed was neither sent on forced leave for his being Australian nor related to ICL or IPL.

ICL India XI win World Series title

ICL Indian XI defeating ICL World XI won the Indian Cricket League World Series here on Tuesday.

Winning the toss, the Indians batted first in the final of the series and made 148 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Their openers Ganapathy Vignesh and Ibrahim Khaleel gave a solid opening stand of 75 runs but all other batsmen failed to avail this opportunity for getting a big total.

However, their bowlers displayed an excellent performance to restrict the ICL World XI to 138-5 in 20 overs to win the match by 10 runs.

Vignesh was declared man-of-the-match for his all-round performance. He scored 57 off 43 balls with five fours and three sixes and captured two wickets.

Ibrahim, who made 34 off 33 balls with six fours, was later declared the player-of-the-series.

From the ICL World XI, Damien Martin scored 60 with ten fours and one six while Andrew Hall and Upul Chandana claimed two wickets each.

ICL India XI beat ICL Pakistan XI againICL India XI beat ICL Pakistan XI again

It was restrictive bowling at its best as ICL India XI, led by Ali Murtaza's miserly spell of 2 for 22 in four overs, shut Pakistan XI out of the contest after an aggressive start in their chase of 177. Pakistan XI pinned their hopes on Imran Farhat and Hasan Raza to guide them through but were unable to cut loose against the slow bowlers and eventually ended on 144 for 6, 32 short of the target.

The win sealed India XI's place in the final on Tuesday.

The win was setup by an attacking half-century by Tejinder Pal Singh, whose 52 off 32 balls piloted India XI to 176. Ibrahim Khaleel and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala added 66 for the second wicket before a doube-strike by Arshad Khan set them back at 84 for 3.

Tejinder and S Abbas Ali staged a recovery with a blistering stand of 52 in just 4.4 overs. Abbas Ali hit two fours in his 22 before he was run-out by Abdul Razzaq at the bowler's end for backing up too far. Tejinder continued the assault and launched two sixes, including one which towered high over long-on. He fell for 52 off just 32 balls, bowled by Naved-ul-Hasan off the penultimate ball of the innings.

Pakistan XI suffered an early setback after Imran Nazir was forced to retire hurt early owing to a groin injury. Razzaq meanwhile launched the chase into overdrive, smashing seven fours and a six in his 38. G Vignesh, the medium pacer, then struck twice in the space of two overs, sending back the dangerous Razzaq to bring the Indians back into the contest.

Farhat and Raza came together with the score at 52 and for a lengthy period, ensured Pakistan didn't ensure any further loss of wickets. However, the required rate began to climb once the left-arm spin duo of Murtaza and Syed Mohammad and the seamer T Kumaran operated in the middle overs, giving very little away. The odd six lifted Pakistan's spirits but the fluency was missing.

India XI's fielding inside the circle was of a very high standard, forcing the batsmen to improvise. Cheeky glides to third man and straight drives were intercepted and the nagging stump-to-stump line by Murtaza only made life difficult for the pair as almost every slog failed to make contact with the bat. Farhat finally hit out in the 18th over, skying a catch to R Satish off Kumaran. Vignesh finished with the best figures for the Indians with 3 for 22 in four overs.

Pakistan XI needed an improbable 43 off the last two overs and the contest was effectively sealed. With India XI already in the final, tomorrow's match between Pakistan XI and World XI is a virtual semi-final.

India XI win again in ICL triangular

The ICL India XI after beating the ICL Pakistan XI yesterday defeated the World XI by 44 runs in the Twenty20 match today.

Batting first at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium on Saturday, the India XI made 163 for eight in the allotted 20 overs. Abbas Ali top-scored with 44 runs.

In reply, the World XI could score 119 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. Their top scorers were Marvan Atapattu (20) and Matthew Elliott (19).

Ali Murtaza and Stuart Binny were the most successful bowlers from India XI. Each of them claimed two wickets for 19 runs.

The next match will be played between the ICL Pakistan XI and the ICKL World XI on Monday.

Pakistan XI outplays World XI by 9 wickets in ICL

The ICL Pakistan XI outplayed the ICL World XI by nine wickets in their first match of the ICL triangular tournament here at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium on Thursday.

Set a rather easy target of 131, the Pakistani openers gave a sound start of 119 runs off 16.1 overs.

Imran Nazir departed after scoring a magnificent 69 off 62 balls with nine fours and one six, his team needed just 12 runs in 23 balls which Abdul Razzaq and Imran Farhat got in just eight balls.

Abdul Razzaq remained unbeaten at 55 which he made off 42 deliveries with three sixes and the same number of fours.

Imran Nazir was declared the man-of-the-match.

Earlier, the ICL World XI won the toss and elected to bat but could not make any big score and were restricted by Inzamam-ul-Haq’s men to 130 runs for nine wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Their main scorers were Lou Vincent(26), Russell Arnold (23 not out) and Ian Harvey (21).

From Pakistan XI, off-spinner Arshad Khan claimed three wickets for 24 runs while pace bowlers Shahid Nazir, Naved-ul-Hasan and Abdul Razzaq took two wickets each.

World XI beat India XI by eight wickets in ICL

TP Singh's unbeaten 63 rescued the ICL India XI following a terrible start, but their total of 141 wasn't to be enough as Damien Martyn steered the ICL World XI to a comfortable eight-wicket win in the inaugural match of the fourth and latest tournament of the Indian Cricket League.

Soon after R Sathish, the India XI captain, opted to bat, his side were left in dire straits at 9 for 4. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala was out for a duck in the first over bowled by Johan van der Wath; a new rule allowing player challenges enabled the batsman appeal against the on-field umpire's decision to adjudge him lbw, but the challenge was lost as the third umpire upheld the field umpire's verdict.

Daryl Tuffey got rid of G Vignesh, the other opener, while two wickets fell in van der Wath's second over, with the 38-year-old Chris Harris producing a spectacular effort to leave his Hyderabad Heroes' team-mate Ambati Rayudu short of his crease.

The left-hand duo of TP and Rohan Gavaskar stabilised the innings with a 61-run stand. Gavaskar's run-a-ball 30 was ended by another run-out, but Stuart Binny combined well with Tejinder Pal to take India XI to 141 for 5 off 20 overs. Tejinder Pal finished on 63, which needed only 49 deliveries, and had eight fours and a six, while Binny, one of the stars in the Hyderabad Heroes' triumph in the last tournament, belted 37 off 26. van der Wath took 2 for 12 off his four overs.

On an easy pitch, the target of 142 was never going to be daunting for the World XI, but their opponents made things far simpler by spilling at least five catches in what was an abysmal performance in the field. Ian Harvey fell early, but Martyn combined with Lou Vincent in a 72-run stand. Vincent departed for a breezy 32-ball 43, and Marvan Atapattu gave Martyn company as they chased down the target with 1.3 overs and eight wickets to spare. Martyn earned the match prize for his 67 not out, which came off 53 balls and included ten fours.

Heroes beat Badshahs on bowl-out basis to win ICL

In a sensational contest, Hyderabad Heroes emerged champions in the Indian Cricket League when they defeated Lahore Badshahs 3-0 on bowl-out after the second final ended in a tie.

Three of the four bowlers from Hyderabad Heroes, Nicky Boje, Alfred Absolem and Chris Harris hit the stumps while all three from Lahore Badshahs – Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Nazir and Naved Lateef - missed and lost the match and the tournament.

Earlier, the eventful final over from Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, which had two no-balls and wide besides two wickets, left the Lahore Badshahs with the task to win the bowl-out to stay alive in the competition.
Rana Naved had earlier turned the game on its head in his third over, with three wickets startling the Hyderabad Heroes when they were cruising towards to the title.
After winning the toss, Lahore Badshahs batted first but were restricted to 130 for nine in the allotted 20 overs.

Imran Nazir and Imran Farhat top scored with 30 runs each while left-arm spinner Inder Sheker Reddy claimed four wickets for 19 and medium-pacer Stuart Binny took three for nine runs.

In reply, Hyderabad Heroes were going very strong towards victory when in the final over, Rana Naved dismissed three batsmen in four balls and unbelievably turned the match into a tie.

He captured five wickets for 19 runs in 3.4 overs while leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed took two for 19 runs.

The main scorer from the Heroes was Ambati Rayudu who remained unbeaten on 46.

Pakistani all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who played for Hyderabad Heroes in the ICL, was declared the man-of-the-series.

Lahore Badshahs lose first ICL final against Hyderabad Heroes

Lahore Badshahs who were undefeated earlier in the tournament lost the first of the best of three finals against Hyderabad Heroes here on Friday.

The Badshahs were in with more than a chance till the last over but in the end they tasted their first defeat of the tournament.

Set a target of 144 runs, the Badshahs could reach 137 for nine in the allotted 20 overs and were beaten by seven runs here at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium.

Earlier, the Heroes batted first after winning the toss and made143 runs for the loss of six wickets.

Their main scorers were Ambati Rayudu (44) and Jimmy Maher (33) while Abdul Razzaq played a breezy innings of 21 off 12 balls with one four and two sixes.

Pacer Naved-ul-Hasan claimed two wickets for 47 runs.

From Lahore Badshahs, Taufiq Umar top scored with 43 runs while all-rounder Azhar Mahmood smashed 34 off 16 balls with three fours and two sixes.

Abdul Razzaq, after blasting 21runs, captured three wickets for 18 runs and was instrumental in the victory of the Heroes.

Lahore Badshahs stop Klusener heroics to reach ICL final

Despite a hurricane innings by Lance Klusener Lahore Badshahs emerged victorious in the second semi-final of the Indian Cricket League here on Thursday.

Klusener smashed 91 off 57 balls with 11 fours and three sixes but his efforts went in vain as Lahore Badshahs won the exciting match by seven runs to qualify for the final.

Winning the toss, the Badshahs batted first and scored 182 runs for seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Their main scorers were opener Imran Nazir (42), wicketkeeper Humayun Farhat (39) and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq (33).
Besides, Azhar Mahmood played a breezy innings of 24 off just eight balls while Naved Lateef made 27 off 17 balls. Both hit three sixes each.
In reply, Kolkata Tigers made a sound start and were looking to win the match as their all rounder Lance Klusener set a fine tempo right from the beginning but he failed to guide his team to a possible victory.
Shaid Nazir claimed two for 12 runs from Lahore Badshahs while from Kolkata Tigers, S. Singh, Klusener and M.Hayward took two wickets each.

ICL's next event to feature international sides

The Indian Cricket League has announced that its next tournament will feature international sides, as first reported by Cricinfo. The event called ICL 20s World Series 2008 is a Twenty20 tri-series that will have a team comprising Indian players, one with Pakistan players and a World side taking each other. Previous ICL competitions have all been contests between city-based sides.

The ICL 20s World Series 2008 lasts for a week starting from April 9 and will be held at the Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium in Hyderabad. The competition, the fourth to be conducted by the ICL, involves seven matches, with each team playing against each other twice, followed by the finals.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, currently captaining the Lahore Badshahs, will lead the Pakistan team while Chris Cairns will captain the World team. Moin Khan, John Emburey and Steve Rixon will coach the Pakistan, World and India sides respectively.

Kapil Dev, chairman of the executive board of the ICL, said the Indian squad will be selected after the semi-finals of the ongoing Twenty20 tournament. The captain of the Indian team is also yet to be announced.

ICL to go to semi-finals tomorrow

The first stage of Indian Cricket League (IPL) with Lahore Badshah on top attaining 14 points, came to an end.

The first semi-final of the event having Lahore Badshah versus Kolkata Tigers would be played in Chundigarh on Wednesday.

Lahore Badshah consisting of Pakistani players displayed excellent performance in all the matches of the league and went atop with 14 points having won all the matches.

Hyderabad Heroes followed Lahore Badshah with five league wins; Chinnai Super Stars grabbed 8 points to stand on the third position and Kolkata Tigers with 8 points to be the fourth in ranking.

Hyderabad Tigers will face Chinnai Super Stars in the second semi-final on Thursday at Lal Bahadur Shastari Stadium of Hyderabad Deccan.

Razzaq helps Hyderabad Heroes victory over Champs

The Hyderabad Heroes lead by Abdul Razzaq who scored 78 runs clinched second place in the groups stages thanks to a 7 run victory over the Mumbai Champs.

It was an important match for the hosts, who wanted to maintain their stupendous record at home before the semi final stage. In the end, the Heroes maintained their formidable record at home scoring their 5th straight win at home over the Mumbai Champs by 7 runs.

Pat Symcox predicted a rough surface in his pitch report, excepting the track to support the spinners. Chris Harris won the toss and elected to bat. With 3 fours off Van der Wath in the first over, the Heroes mainstay Maher set the tone for the match.

At the end of the 5th over, the Heroes were placed at 35/1 with Van der Wath sending back the dangerous Maher for 26. The spin pair for the Champs in Yadav & Iyer, was doing a good job in containing the batsmen. At the half way mark of their innings, the Heroes were placed at a modest 58/1.

Razzaq & Rayudu were working a good partnership of over 55 runs taking the score to 98/1 at the end of the 14th over. Razzaq was carrying out carnage on the Mumbai bowlers and brought about his fifty with a lovely boundary in the 15th over. The partnership was going strong with both the batsmen playing shots all across the ground & brining their century stand off only 68 balls in the 16th over. Rayudu brought his fifty with a boundary to fine leg in the 17th over.

With three overs to go, the Heroes were all set for a big onslaught placed handsomely at 153/1. The partnership finally came to an end by a spectacular catch by Tino Best to send Rayudu back to the dugout for a well made 55. The onslaught finally resulted in the Heroes getting a formidable 176/2 in their allotted 20overs.

In reply, the Champs came out with a positive intent with Jadhav going after Kemp in the second over with two big hits to the boundary. However, Kemp had the last laugh sending Paul back to the dugout for 3. Razzaq came to the party with the ball, getting Jadhav nick one to the keeper leaving the Champs in a bit of bother at 22/2. The young Patil was carrying his good form in the tournament into this match taking his more formidable opponents to the cleaners with some big hit to the boundary

At the end of the 5th over, the Champs were placed at 52/2 scoring at over 10 runs per over. A 50 run partnership of only 33 balls, building between Morris & Patil kept Mumbai right in the hunt to achieve the mammoth target of 177 at the 8th over mark. At the half way mark, the Champs needed 86 runs off 60 balls with 8 wickets in hand. Just when Patil was running away with the match, Harris trapped the young Mumbai dynamite lbw for a well made 51 in the 11th over.

Reddy and Boje were turning in some good economical overs in the crucial middle stage of the Champs innings to put some serious pressure on the batsmen, soon the batsmen succumbed under pressure and the Champs were reduced to 110/5 at the end of the 14th over. With 3 overs to go the Champs needed 48 off 18 balls at a humongous 16 runs per over.

Morris took the initiative and with some lusty blows took the match right down to the last over, with the Champs needing 18 runs off 6 balls. In the end the Champs fell short in their valiant run chase by only 7 runs.

Lahore Badshahs beat Kolkata Tigers to remain unbeaten in ICL

Lahore Badshahs maintained their winning record in the Indian Cricket League when they won by 22 runs against Kolkata Tigers.

Twenty-two were also the runs conceded by Kolkata Tigers medium-pacer Abu Nechim in one over.

The Lahore Badshahs had been unconquered in five matches so far in the tournament.

The Tigers seemed to have them on the mat, but they ended up being tamed. The Badshahs, without captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, were put in to bat by the Tigers and a tight performance from the bowlers left them at only 53 for 2 at the half-way stage.

Taufeeq Umar held together the innings with a 35-ball 41, and his dismissal paved the way for Hasan Raza and Naved Latif to take charge. They didn't disappoint, as 64 runs were scored off the final five overs.

Latif got the momentum going with a six off Upul Chandana in the 16th, before both he and Raza belted a four and a six in the next from Nechim, which went for 22. The same Nechim had been the star for the Tigers on Wednesday, wrecking the Chandigarh Lions' semi-final hopes with his 4 for 27.

Further punishment was inflicted in the 20th over bowled by Nantie Hayward, with Azhar Mahmood - facing his first ball - hitting a six off the final delivery. Raza was run out for 48, while Latif was unbeaten on 30 from 17.

Mahmood struck soon after as the Tigers began their hunt, and when his new-ball partner Mohammad Sami scalped the dangerous Lance Klusener, which was soon followed by Deep Dasgupta's run-out, the Tigers were tottering at 12 for 4.

Despite a run-a-ball 46 from Rohan Gavaskar, and captain Craig McMillan's 30, the Tigers couldn't upstage the Badshahs. They finished at 131 for 7. For the Badshahs, it was an impressive collective bowling effort; of the five bowlers used, offspinner Arshad Khan, playing his first match of the tournament, was the most expensive with 26 coming off his four.

The Badshahs next take on the bottom-placed Ahmedabad Rockets in their final encounter on Sunday, while the Kolkata Tigers take on the Delhi Giants in an important clash to determine a semi-final spot.

Chennai Superstars record fifth successive ICL win

The Chennai Superstars inflicted a fifth consecutive defeat on the Ahmedabad Rockets and moved closer to a semi-final spot with a 22-run win in Gurgaon.

Stuart Law, the Superstars captain, decided to bat after winning the toss, and two left-handers helped his team post a challenging score.

The Superstars were in a spot of bother at 19 for 2, and after Law departed with the score on 48 came a 112-run fourth-wicket stand between former internationals Russel Arnold and Hemang Badani.

The stand was only the fifth above 100 in the tournament, and steered the Superstars to a score of 161.

Arnold's 51-ball 69, was supported by Badani's near run-a-ball 45 as they batted almost till the end. The two came together in the sixth over, and lasted till the 20th; Jason Gillespie removed them both to finish with figures of 3 for 25 off his four, but it had perhaps come a bit too late.

Chasing 162, the Rockets were going nowhere, down to 39 for 3 after 7.1 overs. The middle order raised hopes of a fightback, but Shabbir Ahmed got rid of Sridharan Sriram, who top scored for the Rockets with 30, before scalping two tailenders to finish with 4 for 20.

The Rockets were all out for 139 in 19.4 overs, and will play their final game against the undefeated Lahore Badshahs in Hyderabad on Sunday.

The Superstars, who won the ICL's inaugural Twenty20 tournament held last year, have completed all their seven games, and will have to await the results of the coming league matches.

ICL planning makeover with international matches

A year after its launch, the Indian Cricket League (ICL), is planning a makeover with significant changes to its structure and schedule.

The revised blueprint, revealed by its business head, Himanshu Mody, includes matches between international XIs, four-day matches and opening up team ownership to minority stakeholders.

The changes are being announced weeks before the launch of the Indian Premier League, backed by the Indian board and launched as a hostile response to the ICL.

"We will soon be having matches between international teams like an India XI, a Pakistan XI, an Australia XI and even a World XI,"

Mody told Cricinfo.

"This is a very distinct possibility that will turn into a reality in the very near future, as soon as this year."

Currently, the unauthorised ICL has eight teams representing various Indian cities and Pakistan's Lahore, with a list of 46 international players, including 16 from Pakistan, eight each from Australia and New Zealand, and seven from South Africa.

Prominent among the international stars who are currently involved in the second edition of ICL are Inzamam-ul-Haq from Pakistan, Shane Bond from New Zealand, Jason Gillespie and Damien Martyn from Australia, Chris Cairns from New Zealand and Justin Kemp from South Africa.

Mody also said they were looking at four-day leagues, which will probably be aimed at the Indian players in the league, who have been barred from domestic cricket and are known to be missing the longer version of the game.

Significantly, the ICL, owned by the Essel Group, has also opened up team ownership for the first time by getting the Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty on board as co-owner and brand ambassador of Kolkata Tigers.

The actor's roots are in Kolkata, and he still has an iconic presence there. The deal is worth around US$ 6-8 million.

"Mithun expressed interest in joining us some time ago,"

Mody said.

"Everything has been tied up, and he is now the first co-owner of an ICL team. He is a celebrity in India and brings along tremendous value in terms of promotion, which is most welcome."

The decision signals the ICL's intent to spread some of the liability and move away from the single-ownership business model. That moves it closer in structure to the IPL, which is based on a franchise model with all eight teams owned by various business interests.

Mody said the ICL is in talks with other celebrities who have expressed interest in co-owning some of the other seven teams, but added that the sale of only minority stake is being considered at the moment.

He clarified, though, that actors Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor are no longer in the frame though they had initially shown an interest in this option.

Delhi Giants cruise to victory over Hyderabad Heroes

Delhi Giants cruised to victory over Hyderabad Heroes in an important Twnety20 match of Indian Cricket League (ICL) here on Monday.

Delhi Giants won the battle of nerves by 7 runs to stay in the hunt. Sudhindra did an early damage with three quick wickets, pegging back the Heroes with 3 for 15.

Kemp and Binny steadied the innings with a 61-run partnership between them but Bond snapped Kemp just at the right moment and it was advantage Giants from there on.

Binny played a significant role with his fifty but it wasn't enough and Mahajan bowled a tight last over to bring them home.

Dhruv Mahajan also received the Man of the Match award for his all-round performance in his first ICL match.