Raina century seals one-sided win

India 186 for 5 (Raina 101, Yuvraj 37) beat South Africa 172 for 5 (Kallis 73) by 14 runs

Suresh Raina struggled at first, then he sizzled. He overcame a jittery period of mis-hits and short-.....
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New Zealand start with tense victory

World Twenty20: Cricket must play redemption song to win the Caribbean

The last big cricket event in the Caribbean was a disaster, with killjoy regulations, but this wide-open tournament could set things right

Three years ago the International Cricket Council ran a World Cup in the Caribbean so inept that it made the Atlanta Olympics seem like a roaring success by comparison. The region, so keen to take advantage of the profile offered by the event, instead was humiliated.

World Twenty20 - Morgan guides England to win

Eoin Morgan confirmed his liking for South Africa's bowlers with another match-winning role as England narrowly completed an unbeaten ICC World Twenty20 warm-up campaign at Kensington Oval.

Morgan (63) began his contribution after England lurched to nine for three in the third over of their reply to 125 for five.

But, reprising the 45-ball 85 not out he smashed the South Africans for at the Wanderers last November, he dominated a much-needed fourth-wicket stand of 71 in 11 overs with Paul Collingwood.

The diminutive left-hander announced himself with a dismissive pull for six off Morne Morkel on his way to a 53-ball half-century which also contained six fours. Morgan was unable to live up to his 'finisher' mantle, holing out in the deep off Rusty Theron but Luke Wright and Tim Bresnan did just enough as England sneaked the verdict by five wickets with three balls to spare.

Afghanistan display their intentions

Afghanistan 134 for 5 (Stanikzai 39) beat Ireland 133 for 9 (D Ahmadzai 4-15) by five wickets

Afghanistan showed no signs of nerves on the eve of their big-stage debut, as they surged to an impressive five-wicket victory over Ireland with three balls to spare. Their victory was based around two inspired spells at either end of the game - first from the seamer, Dawlat Ahmadzai, who claimed 4 for 15, and then from Ashghar Stanikzai and Mohammad Nabi, who added 66 runs for the fifth wicket in six overs to swipe the contest from under Ireland's nose.

"Any team wants a jump start, no matter who you are playing against," said coach Kabir Khan. "Ireland is one of the best Associate teams and getting a victory against them when we were a bit down to start with was very important. As a coach the promising thing is that the boys are fighting hard and they are coming back into games which is not very easy in Twenty20."

After winning the toss and choosing to field, Afghanistan pushed Ireland onto the defensive from the first over, as Ahmadzai removed Will Porterfield for a second-ball duck with the Ireland captain swatting to square leg, before ripping through the rest of the top-order. Paul Stirling was caught and bowled for 6 before Alex Cusack had his middle stump extracted for the same score, and when the O'Brien brothers both fell in the space of six balls, Ireland were in disarray at 32 for 5.

It should have been 43 for 6 shortly afterwards, but John Mooney was given a life off a top edge and alongside they did their utmost to repair the damage adding 79 in nine overs for the sixth wicket, with Mooney cracking three sixes in a 33-ball 42. Trent Johnston chipped in with 16 from 13 balls to keep up the late impetus, but Ireland's total of 133 for 9 always seemed inadequate against such charged-up opponents.

Nevertheless, Afghanistan took their time to get their reply up and running, as the young spinner, George Dockrell, once again impressed with his guile and control, claiming 2 for 23 in four overs. After 13 overs, Afghanistan were only halfway to their target on 66 for 4.

Raina, Dhoni star in Chennai triumph

Chennai Super Kings 168 for 5 (Raina 57*, Dhoni 22, Fernando 2-23) beat Mumbai Indians 146 for 9 (Tendulkar 48, Pollard 27, Jakati 2-27) by 22 runs

MS Dhoni added another feather to his captaincy hat. It was he who started the turnaround against a formidable Mumbai Indians attack, his deputy Suresh Ranina on two dropped catches to score a crucial fifty, and Chennai Super Kings defended with aggression, smartness and flair to win the third IPL. Chennai were struggling at 68 for 3 after 12 overs when Dhoni got into the act: 100 runs were added in the last eight, and Raina scored 44 at a strike-rate of 200 after the first drop. The win concluded a fourth consecutive one-sided knockout in the tournament.

Ever since R Ashwin started the defence with a maiden over, Mumbai never really threatened Chennai. Sachin Tendulkar, playing with a split webbing, played his least fluent innings of the tournament, scoring a laboured 48 off 45. Mumbai tried some strange moves: promotions for Abhishek Nayar and Harbhajan Singh bombed, and even at the fall of the fifth wicket, with 69 required off 31, Kieron Pollard was not the man making his way out of the dugout.

There were no problems with tactics for Chennai: they went with the old-fashioned approach of keeping wickets in hand, never mind the slow start, and with M Vijay breaking free, had reached a perfectly acceptable 40 for no loss at the end of Powerplay. Dilhara Fernando brought Mumbai back, removing Vijay with his split-finger slower ball in the eighth over. Pollard ended Matthew Hayden's 31-ball 17-run misery, and S Badrinath holed out in the 12th over.

Indian cricket suspends IPL chief Modi for 'corruption'

India's cricket board has suspended IPL chief Lalit Modi over corruption allegations in the worst scandal to hit the Indian game this century.

The head of the Indian Premier League faces the sack when the board (the BBCI) begins a series of meetings on his fate on Monday.

Mr Modi, who is being investigated by tax officials, denies all allegations of wrongdoing made against him.

Some of the world's top cricketers play for the lucrative IPL.

BCCI president Shashank Manohar waited until the end of the IPL final on Sunday to announce Mr Modi's suspension.

Modi to go to court to stop IPL meeting

Mumbai: IPL commisioner Lalit Modi has decided to move the Bombay High Court to stop the Governing Council meeting scheduled for April 26, sources have told CNN-IBN.

And while Modi maintains that as IPL commissioner only he can convene a meeting of the Governing Council, BCCI chief Shashank Manohar has hit back saying Modi should come clean about his family interests in the teams.

England confirm original World Twenty20 travel plans

England will fly direct to the West Indies from Gatwick on Sunday for the third ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

Alternative plans, including the possibility of sea and land travel, had been explored because of the crisis caused by the Icelandic volcano.

But the England and Wales Cricket Board told BBC Sport that such contingencies were no longer necessary.

And the International Cricket Council confirmed all teams will now revert to their original travel schedules.

England, one of eight teams yet to travel to the Caribbean for the 12-team tournament, could have flown from Dubai, if their scheduled flight from London had remained grounded because of the volcanic ash cloud produced by an eruption in Iceland.

But that would have meant an arduous trip by sea, train and probably air east to the United Arab Emirates - in the wrong direction - before flying back across Europe and the Atlantic to Barbados.

Doug Bollinger wickets help Chennai reach IPL final

Doug Bollinger recorded figures of 4-13 to help Chennai Super Kings to a 38-run victory over Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League semi-finals.

Chennai made 142-7 from their 20 overs, with Subramaniam Badrinath (37) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30) top scoring after they had made a poor start.

Australian Bollinger then produced an outstanding display to help restrict Deccan to just 104 from 19.2 overs.

Chennai now face Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

Deccan Chargers will take on Kevin Pietersen's Bangalore Royal Challengers in Saturday's third place play-off.

Pietersen was denied an IPL final appearance after his Bangalore Royal Challengers lost by 35 runs to Mumbai Indians on Wednesday.

Dhoni blasts Chennai to semi-finals

Chennai Super Kings 195 for 4 (Dhoni 54*, Badrinath 53, Raina 46) beat Kings XI Punjab 192 for 3 (Marsh 88*, Irfan 44*) by six wickets

A pumped-up MS Dhoni showed why he's one of the great finishers in the game, blasting 30 runs in the final two overs to ensure Chennai Super Kings would contest an IPL semi-final for the third season in a row. Chennai's chances seemed dim after Shaun Marsh's sparkling innings had powered Kings XI Punjab to a massive total, but meaty innings from Suresh Raina and S Badrinath set the stage for a Dhoni onslaught during a tense finish.

Punjab held the edge for most of the match, and going into the last two overs Chennai needed 29, a tough task even with Dhoni and Albie Morkel at the crease. Juan Theron had been a hero the last time the two teams met, but he couldn't save Punjab in Dharamsala.

The penultimate over, by Theron, started with two murderous hits for four from Dhoni, feasting on the length deliveries offered. He looked to repeat on the third ball, but a thick edge flew high and fast to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara, who managed to get a glove on it. Theron kept it to singles for the rest of the over, leaving Chennai needing 16 off the last.

Deccan resist gutsy Collingwood to reach semis

Deccan Chargers 145 for 7 (Symonds 54) beat Delhi Daredevils 134 for 7 (Collingwood 51*, Ojha 2-16) by 11 runs

They were the IPL's nomads, they needed to win five games in a row to reach the semi-finals, and things looked heavily loaded against them. But Deccan Chargers, the defending champions, made it. On a slow pitch at Feroz Shah Kotl Andro Symonds sparkling 54 gave Deccan a defendable total, which they protected with an inspired fielding performance lead by Rohit Sharma. and disciplined bowling. Paul Collingwood kept Delhi in the chase until the end but he lacked the firepower, and support, to pull off a victory.

It boiled down to Delhi needing 17 runs in the final over and Chaminda Vaas bowled exceptionally, mixing his slower ones with near-perfect yorkers. Deccan had earlier wobbled at the start before the Symonds show and slowed to a crawl post his fall to reach 145 for 7. It was a slow pitch, better than the previous tracks in Delhi though, and the chase was unlikely to be a stroll for the hosts. And it wasn't.

England to play two ICC World Twenty20 warm-up matches

England will prepare for the ICC World Twenty20 with warm-up matches against Bangladesh and South Africa.

Both games are in Barbados, on 28 and 29 April respectively, before England start their Group D campaign against hosts West Indies in Guyana on 3 May.

Defending champions Pakistan have lined up two warm-up games in St Lucia, against a Windward XI and Zimbabwe.

India are the only team to opt against playing any warm-up matches, while Sri Lanka will play just one.

Their decisions may have been influenced by many of their players' involvement in the Indian Premier League, which does not finish until 25 April.

Bowlers and Ganguly knock out Rajasthan

Kolkata Knight Riders 133 for 2 (Ganguly 75*, Pujara 45*) beat Rajasthan Royals 132 for 9 (Watson 44, Unadkat 3-26, Dinda 2-24) by eight wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders' bowlers knocked out Rajasthan Royals and kept their semi-final hopes alive by setting up a comprehensive eight-wicket win. They limited Rajasthan to a below-par score on a slowish pitch, and Sourav Ganguly backed them up with another significant contribution to push Kolkata to 12 points.

The effort overcame an intimidating start from Shane Watson, who began with a series of boundaries, and the loss of early wickets in the chase. Kolkata, however, face a tough task in ensuring a qualification for the knockout stage, as they have to beat a formidable Mumbai Indians in their next game and by a big margin to boost their negative net run-rate.

Watson, opening for the first time this IPL, took little time settling in to his preferred position in

Bangalore thrashed by 57 runs

Mumbai Indians 191 for 4 (Rayudu 46, Duminy 42*, McLaren 40) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 134 for 9 (Kohli 37, Pollard 3-28) by 57 runs

Royal Challengers Bangalore's final league game was delayed by an hour due to a couple of low-intensity blasts outside the stadium. The organisers decided to go ahead with the match, and spectators were ushered into the stands amid heightened security.

Once the match began, Mumbai Indians, already in the semi-finals, sent a strong message to their rivals by crushing second-placed Bangalore, whose net run-rate took a beating but remained just high enough to make them favourites for a semi-final spot. Mumbai also brushed aside any criticism about them being overly reliant on orange-cap holder and captain Sachin Tendulkar, whose rare failure didn't prevent the table-toppers from amassing 191 on a greenish track.

Ambati Rayudu has been the best of the ICL returnees this season, and added to his growing reputation with another power-hitting cameo that jumpstarted Mumbai after a dawdling start. Kieron Pollard briefly showed why he was so sought-after during this year's auction, after which JP Duminy's clinical finishing silenced the home crowd, as it had when he lashed an unbeaten 99 in the Champions League.

Warne consoles Shahrukh Khan, asks him to hang on

New Delhi, Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Warne had some words of consolation for Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan after his Indian Premier League (IPL)team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) failed to make it to the semi-finals for the third year in a row.

Warne wrote on social networking site Twitter: “Hey buddy you’re a champion and your charisma is something (that) I’m sure inspires a lot of people. Hang in there, sport is cruel sometimes.”

“Congrats the way you conduct yourself, I know it’s tough re (regarding) KKR… I am feeling for you, but it’s a pleasure to live the journey of life,” Warne tweeted.

Shah Rukh, on the same forum, had apologised for KKR’s failure.

Bomb strikes IPL cricket match in Bangalore, police say

A bomb has exploded outside a cricket stadium in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, police say.

Five people - four policemen and a security officer - were injured.

The blast happened shortly before the start of an Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match. Police say the device was hidden in the perimeter wall.

The match was scheduled to begin at 1600 (1030 GMT) with about 40,000 people in the stadium. It has now got under way.

The Chinnaswamy Stadium is staging a match between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Mumbai Indians.

The team's captains were walking out on to the pitch to toss the coin to decide who would ba

Mumbai soar higher as Bangalore lose big

Bangalore: The Mumbai Indians continued their surge as they drubbed the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 57 runs at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Saturday.

Mumbai posted an impressive 191-4 and then restricted Bangalore to 134-9.

Bangalore could have restricted the visitors to a lower score but JP Duminy's sensational 42 not out off just 19 balls set Bangalore a steep target. In their chase, Bangalore were never in the hunt as they kept losing wickets regularly.

After a 30-run opening stand, Kevin Pietersen (22 off 16) and Rahul Dravid (16 off 11) kept Bangalore in the game but only for a brief while as the home side crumbled with the asking rate jumping up.

Virat Kohli (37 off 24) took some rearguard action but it was too late in the day for a fightback.

Earlier, Mumbai got off to a sedate start the Bangalore pacers keeping with McLaren and Sachin Tendulkar in check. When Jacques Kallis sent back Tendulkar (19 off 18), Mumbai were going at less than six-a-over with the powerplay period over.

Gambhir toils for hard-fought victory

20 overs Delhi Daredevils 113 for 4 (Gambhir 57*, Bollinger 2-24) beat Chennai Super Kings 112 for 9 (Badrinath 30*, Nehra 3-26, Sehwag 2-18) by six wickets

Chennai Super Kings were restricted to their lowest total of the season at the MA Chidambaran stadium, and yet they threatened to defend it. On a pitch that offered bounce and sharp turn Delhi Daredevils lost three wickets for a song before Gautam Gambhir and Mithun Manhas batted with determination, fighting dehydration, to secure a valuable victory. It wasn't until 17.1 overs that Delhi's run-rate touched six for the first time in the chase and they overhauled 112 with eight balls to spare.

Delhi had lost to Punjab on a similar surface at home, although the Kotla surface was slower, and they had to contend with the humidity of Chennai as well after MS Dhoni chose to bat. However, their fast bowlers Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes, back after a finger injury, made vital incisions into the Chennai line-up, an advantage their spinners capitalised on. Chennai were 39 for 3 after the Powerplay, 55 for 6 after ten overs, and only an eleventh-hour boost propped them past three figures. Doug Bollinger hit the only six of the innings - in the 18th over - and it turned out to be the only one of the match.

IPL tax raid: mystery woman removes papers

New Delhi: In a shocking revelation, income tax sources have told CNN-IBN that CCTV footage has shown a woman taking bid documents from IPL commissioner Lalit Modi's office at the Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai, just 30 minutes before they carried out searches there on Thursday.

According to other media reports, a senior I-T official, on condition of anonymity, said the woman had already been identified but her name could not be divulged. The official added that the woman was someone who was very closely associated with one of the eight original IPL franchisees.

The officials were certain that the papers, documents and electronic data were kept in a room on the 33rd floor, but they found nothing relevant. The I-T sleuths had entered the hotel at 4:30 pm, just half hour after the woman left with a laptop and a bag of files.

Meanwhile, the IT department is likely to finish its IPL scrutiny on Saturday. Sources have told CNN-IBN that notices are likely to be issues to all IPL franchisees next week.

The I-T department had asked for the bid documents from Lalit Modi's office. While Modi had provided them with some, the officials were still waiting for the remaining documents.