All posts by csb10.top

It should come as no surprise that the second day of this Colombo Test Match wasyet another gripping affair, with fortunes fluctuating throughout the dayand controversy an ever-present bed fellow. It will come as even less of asurprise that the match remains evenly poised with both sides stillharnessing realistic hopes of winning the game.England dominated the morning as they efficiently brushed aside the SriLankan tail in the first half and then batted until lunch without loss, butSri Lanka’s spinners then swung the initiative their way as they took fourwickets between lunch and tea. Finally, Graham Thorpe rescued the innings inthe evening, adding 84 runs with Michael Vaughan, to leave England 66 runsbehind Sri Lanka.England’s position would appear to be the strongest, especially with GrahamThorpe still at the wicket. The Surrey left-hander played a key role inKandy scoring 59 in the first innings and an invaluable 46 in the second.Today too, he rescued the innings, defying the Sri Lankan spinners with anorganised combination of thrusting pad play and tempered aggression, toscore an unbeaten 71 at a time when England looked as if they were goingfold.He was well supported by Vaughan, who scored a disciplined 26 from 126 balls. He stroked two boundaries that betrayed his rich promise; a powerful sweep off the left arm of Dinuk Hettiarachchi and an exquisite cover drive off the beguiling Muralitharan.He will have been further boosted by the news that he has been added to theone-day squad, partly as cover for Nasser Hussain, who is unlikely to play,and partly because he offers an additional spin option on the slow SriLankan wickets.The Sri Lankan spinners proved a real handful after Chaminda Vaas had ended a 45-run opening stand when he dismissed Michael Atherton for the fifth time in five innings.Dinuk Hettiarachchi, a stocky left arm spinner making his debut, addedgreater potency to the attack as he offered the ball air and extractedconsiderable turn. He finished the day with creditable figures (19-4-33-2)and took the next two wickets to fall, as England slipped from 45 withoutloss to 66 for three.Marcus Trescothick was freakishly dismissed for 23 as he slog-swept straightinto the shirt sleeve of Russel Arnold at short leg, and then a limpingHussain, who was granted a runner by Sri Lanka after pulling his hamstringyesterday, was beaten in the air and drove straight to Sanath Jayasuriya atshort extra cover.Hussain had already been given out once in bizarre circumstances after hehad edged Hettiarachchi to Mahela Jayawardene at slip. The Sri Lankansimmediately appealed, but Jayawardene informed Sri Lankan umpire, Asoka deSilva, that he was unsure as to whether the catch had been taken cleanly. DeSilva conferred with David Orchard, who adjudged that the catch had beentaken cleanly and Asoka de Silva raised his finger, much to the horror ofHussain.England’s dumbfounded captain walked slowly off as television replaysclearly showed the ball had bounced. Asoka de Silva finally referred the decision to the television umpire, B.C. Cooray, who confirmed that the ball had bounced.In the event it proved irrelevant, as Hussain added only four more runs.Following the dismissal of Hussain, Alec Stewart and Thorpe added 25runs before Stewart was deceived by a straighter ball from Muralitharan tobe bowled.Both the Sri Lankan and England coaches believe that match to be evenlypoised and realise that tomorrow morning will be especially important. Thepitch is starting to wear and batting is becoming increasingly difficult. Alead of 70-90 runs would be very useful.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has refused to release Saqlain Mushtaq for Surrey in the English county championship. A top Pakistan Cricket Board official said the off spinner, like Abdul Razzaq, will not be released during the home series against New Zealand but would have the option to skip the proposed three-match one-day series against Australia and the tri-nation one-day series.”The home series against New Zealand, triangular tournament in Tangiers, tri-series in Pakistan and the ICC Champions Trophy are important for Pakistan in build-up for the World Cup. We presume that since the two will be our integral components in the World Cup, they have to be there so that the winning combination can be built,” the official said.Saqlain’s place in the two-Test and three-match one-day series against New Zealand is in serious threat after being dropped from the on-going Asian Test Championship final. However, the official clarified that not releasing Saqlain didn’t mean that he would be picked for all the five matches. “That’s for the team management to decide if he makes the final eleven”.The official, nevertheless, expressed his displeasure over the behaviour of Saqlain after he was informed that he was not playing in the Asian Test Championship final. “I don’t want to go into the details but his behaviour was unlike a professional sportsman,” he said.”Saqlain conveyed his latest demand to Mudassar Nazar [team coach] and Yawar Saeed [team manager] who have passed on the message to the competent authorities.”

Warwickshire Bears remain top of the NUL after Shaun Pollock’s all-round excellence secured an 85-run victory over Notts Outlaws. The South African followed his belligerent innings of 70 with 3-12 as his side made it two NUL wins in two this season.It was a one-sided encounter at New Road as Worcestershire Royals prospered against a weakened Somerset Sabres side. The hosts soon recovered from losing Solanki to the first ball of the day as Anurag Singh and Ben Smith compiled half-centuries and David Leatherdale and Steve Rhodes chipped in with valuable cameos. Kabir Ali then ran through the visitors with 4-15 including the key wickets of Bowler and Cox as the Sabres were humbled by 127 runs.In Cardiff Glamorgan Dragons did well to defend a meagre total of 161-8 against Durham. Welsh supporters will thank Mike Powell for his patient 47 not out and a partnership with Mark Wallace (34) of 58 for giving their bowlers something to defend. And Michael Kasprowicz responded brilliantly by cutting down the Dynamos top order with 4-28 as his side secured a 20-run victory.Darren Lehmann steadied his side with another match-winning performance at Canterbury. His unbeaten 69 (98 balls with four boundaries) saw his side to a five-wicket win. Earlier the Spitfires had fought back from a dire start thanks mainly to a fine half-century from Matt Walker. And with Yorkshire Phoenix wobbling at 64-4 they were indebted to their captain for his knock that leaves them equal on points – but just behind on run-rate – at the top of the table.In the second division a wonderful all-round game from Jon Lewis saw his Gloucestershire Gladiators side clinch a one-wicket victory over Surrey Lions at Bristol. The day’s most exciting game saw Lewis (27 including a six) add 18 for the final wicket with Mike Smith to thwart an excellent effort by Surrey Lions’ opening bowlers Martin Bicknell and Ed Giddins. Earlier Lewis had taken 4-22 including the key wicket of Mark Ramprakash as the Lions had struggled to 163-9 in their 45 overs. It was a tough result on Giddins in particular, who bowled with real skill and batted with uncharacteristic resilience in adding 32 in a last-wicket partnership with Jon Batty (28 not out) that so nearly won his side the game.Elsewhere Ashley Cowan and Andy Clarke each snared a three-wicket haul to limit Derbyshire Scorpions to 155 all out. Essex Eagles knocked off the runs without undue difficulty to secure a seven-wicket vistory.Meanwhile Northants Steelbacks cantered to victory against Middlesex Crusaders. Darren Cousins was the start for the hosts with 4-13 including a hostile opening spell that saw the visitors slip to 10-3; a postion from which they never really recovered. Although the Steelbacks endured a sticky start to their reply, David Sales (66 off 79 balls) and Mike Hussey (56 off 83 balls) then added 109 for the third wicket to take their side within sight of victory.Stuart Law built on the good work of Lancashire Lightning team-mates Peter Martin and John Wood with an innings of 71 with five fours and two sixes. Earlier Martin (2-22) and Wood (3-21) had bowled out Sussex Sharks for just 160. But a good effort from the Sharks’ seamers saw Lightning endure some nervous moments before the vastly experienced Law saw them home.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Sri Lanka ran out four West Indies batsmen•ICC/Getty

West Indies imploded in spectacular fashion to lose to Sri Lanka by five runs in a rain-affected match in Galle. Chasing a modest D/L target of 48 runs in eight overs, West Indies appeared well on their way with Tremayne Smartt getting a boundary off the first ball and nine runs in the opening over. The first ball of the second over resulted in a run-out, but with previous match’s top-scorer Deandra Dottin opening her account with a boundary, the match was in West Indies’ control.Though Inoka Ranaweera’s double-strike in the third over injected some life into the game, West Indies continued to attack, taking 10 runs off the fourth over. Two overs and another run out later, West Indies needed 12 off 12 with six wickets in hand and were still ahead.However, the next six balls capsized the chase. The first was a dot ball and Chamani Seneviratna had Juliana Nero stumped off the second. Third ball saw the third run-out of the innings. A dot ball was then followed by a stumping, which was followed by another dot and the advantage was duly handed over to Sri Lanka. There were no more surprises in the last over, just a bonus run-out.West Indies had put Sri Lanka in to bat in a match reduced to 17-overs a side after wet outfield had delayed the start by an hour. Sri Lanka made a good start with 21 off three overs, but the loss of their openers in consecutive overs slowed them down. The rains came again and Sri Lanka’s innings was halted at 50 for 3 after 10.3 overs, with West Indies getting a revised D/L target of 48.West Indies’ loss meant that all four teams in the group are now tied on points.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details Sophie Devine dazzled with bat and ball to help New Zealand overpower South Africa by 22 runs the first match of the day in Galle. Devine scored a well-paced 59 off 46 balls and then picked up two wickets during South Africa’s faltering chase.Teams have preferred to field first in the tournament so far and South Africa’s decision after winning the toss appeared correct as Susan Benade got rid of both New Zealand openers by the fourth over with only 24 runs on the board. Devine, along with Frances Mackay, played out the next few overs carefully as New Zealand made slow progress to reach 44 in nine overs. The batsmen, however, changed gears in the tenth over with the introduction of offspinner Sunette Loubser. Devine smashed the bowler for a six and a four off consecutive balls to take 13 runs off the over and hit two boundaries in the next. Mackay, after playing second fiddle to Devine for a while, also joined in with three consecutive boundaries off Dane van Niekerk.Devine brought up her first T20 fifty with a six off Loubser but was dismissed in the same over, the 16th of the innings, after sharing a 94-run stand with Mackay that came off 44 balls. Mackay continued to attack and her 49 helped New Zealand score 151 – the highest total in the tournament thus far.Benade led a counter-attack during the chase after South Africa lost the openers early to Erin Bermingham, but she became the first of Nicola Browne’s three wickets in three overs, effectively ending the contest. Van Niekerk resisted with an unbeaten 34 but she ran out of partners as South Africa finished 22 runs short.Devine, who was selected for the tournament after spending a year playing with New Zealand hockey team, was named the Player of the Match.”It has given me a lot of confidence now that I can perform again at the international stage. It has been a wee while. So it is really pleasing for me to get some runs and also a couple of wickets,” Devine said.

Border reached the close on the second day needing 95 more runs for victorywith nine wickets standing and two full days’ play left.The home side, then, are well on top. However, the unpredictable nature ofthe pitch has made batting a less than perfect science and Northerns are by nomeans out of this match.Border replied to Northerns’ first innings of 190 with 236. The visitorsthen crashed to a second innings total of 150, leaving Border a victorytarget of 105, and the home side were 10 for one at the close.Border resumed on 114 for five and Northerns must have smelt blood whenLaden Gamiet was caught behind for 18 off the fifth ball of the day,delivered by Greg Smith.With Pieter Strydom, Gamiet added 42 runs in the most steady partnership ofthe innings up to that point and the breakthrough seemed to snuff outBorder’s hopes of taking a first innings lead.However, Strydom found in Vasbert Drakes a reliable partner and theyfrustrated the visitors until midway through the morning session whenStrydom tamely succumbed to the slip cordon off the bowling of DavidTownsend.The Border skipper’s typically gutsy innings of 86 began with his teamteetering on 47 for four, and it encompassed three hours, 126 balls and 14fours.Strydom’s dismissal made it 188 for seven, and the tail did well to wringanother 48 runs out of the innings, which ended three overs before lunch.Drakes was ninth out for 35, while Geoff Love helped him put on 31 usefulruns for the eighth wicket.Gerald Dros dismissed Love and Drakes in the space of three deliveries butNortherns’ most impressive bowler was Townsend, who kept it tight and letthe pitch do the rest in taking five for 49.Northerns, then, began their second innings with a deficit of 46 runs, andslipped further into trouble when Drakes removed Johan Myburgh and Martinvan Jaarsveld with consecutive deliveries in the 14th over.The West Indian trapped opener Myburgh in front for 11 before having VanJaarsveld caught behind by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher.Drakes proved his immense worth to Border for the umpteenth time by alsodismissing Jacques Rudolph and Neil McKenzie to claim the scalps ofNortherns’ entire top four in taking four for 35.He bowled McKenzie for 24 to reduce the visitors to 83 for five, perhaps thepoint of no return for a team which went to tea on 69 for two and lost theirlast eight wickets for 81 runs.Border bowled well, but Northerns caused most of their own misery by playingexpansively when circumspection was called for.Piet Botha was caught at short leg off Smith for eight with what became thelast ball of the day’s play, leaving Craig Sugden not out on one.

It was such a crying shame that the rain robbed India of a greatchance to win the ICC Champions Trophy. With the rub of the green ontheir side, I am certain that the Indians, who had put on a string ofcommanding performances with the bat and ball during the course of thetournament, had a good chance of emerging victorious if either thefinal or the replay had gone the full distance.

That said we must remember that we did not get to see the Sri Lankanspinners in action against the Indian batsmen. Muralitharan and hismates would have certainly relished bowling on a pitch that wasgetting increasingly slower and lower and posed quite a few challengesfor the Indian willow-wielders.I felt the pitches that had been laid out for the semi-final againstAustralia and for the final were nowhere near ideal for one-daycricket. Spinners do not need such dust bowls to be champions. With acapacity crowd watching the game, a true wicket was what was requiredas this would have helped both the batsmen and the bowlers and madethe game an engaging spectacle.I thought the Indian bowlers bowled well in restricting Sri Lankanbatsmen to a score below 250 in both the matches. Zaheer Khan, who wasthe standout bowler as far as India were concerned, bowled a couple ofgreat opening spells and his dramatic first-ball dismissal ofJayasuriya on Monday was one of the moments of the final. The left-armquick has turned out to be a revelation and the way he performed wasindeed most heartening.Javagal Srinath being rushed in from England to partner Zaheer in thefinal was meanwhile an unnecessary step. It was never going to be easy for him to fly into a hot and humid Colombo and get acclimatised for the final in the space of a few hours. I thought that the Indians would have been much better off playing Anil Kumble instead. True, the team management admitted their error and brought in the experienced leggie for the second game but then again how many times does a team get a second chance?Though Srinath has stated that he wants to play one-dayers until theend of the World Cup next year, I think the the experienced bowler nowhas to prove that he can compete with the young fast bowlers in thecountry. It certainly will be a difficult situation for the selectorswhen Nehra becomes fit to play again.As for the spinners, both Kumble and Harbhajan bowled well in thefinals. It was heartening to see Harbhajan giving the ball a lot moreair and trying to turn the ball. This is something he has to doconsistently on any type of pitch. Harbhajan is undeniably our mainstrike bowler, and I am sure by the time the West Indian team leaves India, he would have picked a bagful of wickets.Another man who bowled impressively was Virender Sehwag. Hisdisciplined bowling and explosive batting made him the player of thetournament.I must say that it was certainly a remarkable performance by theIndian team, who it must be remembered confirmed participation onlyafter a last-minute resolution of the contracts row. It wasencouraging to see the likes of Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singhdelivering under pressure. This shall now help the experienced playerslike Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid to play with much morefreedom.

Probably, the only area of concern now is the wicket-keeper’s slot.Rahul is doing an okay job, but he has been making a few mistakes that might turn out to be crucial and effectively ruin India’s chances in the World Cup. In my opinion, India with its strong batting line-up does not really need seven batsmen to do a job that six wouldn’t do. The best solution might be to try out a specialist wicket-keeper by dropping both Dinesh Mongia and VVS Laxman.Ganguly and coach John Wright should also focus on the fielding. Eventhe spectacular efforts of youngsters like Yuvraj and Kaif cannotgloss over the fact that we remain a poor fielding side. The teamcertainly cannot afford to drop sitters like those dropped by SachinTendulkar on Sunday. This might have a lot to with a sense of overconfidence creeping in after a string of great performances.To nip this bad habit in the bud, the current team only needs to go back to the Indian teams that had won the World Cup in 1983 and the Benson & Hedges WorldChampionship in 1985. Both of them had to pay a heavy price for turning over-confident as the drubbing at the hands of the West Indies at home in ’83 and theunsuccessful World Cup ’87 campaign testify.All said, let me congratulate them once again for their success in England and now in Sri Lanka. They now are the favourites to demolish a West Indian team sans Lara. And as far as one-day cricket goes, they are not anymore the under-dogs but front-runners for winning the World Cup in 2003.

ScorecardSamiullah Shenwari was the most successful bowler with three wickets•ICC/Getty

An unbeaten half-century by the opener Mohammad Shahzad completed an all-round performance by Afghanistan, as they thumped Bermuda in a Group B match in Dubai. Shahzad’s 36-ball 60, which included nine fours and two sixes, helped Afghanistan overhaul the middling target of 102 with 10.1 overs to spare, and secure their third win in the competition.Shahzad added 42 for the first wicket with Nawroz Mangal before compiling a quick 56 for the second with Mohammad Nabi, who blasted a 16-ball 33. Nabi hit three sixes and two fours, but was caught by Janeiro Tucker off his own bowling, when Afghanistan were four runs away from the target.In the first half of the match, it was the Afghanistan spinners who bowled restrictive spells and picked up seven of the ten Bermuda wickets. Samiullah Shenwari was the most successful with three wickets, while Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Nabi picked up two wickets apiece. Only three batsmen managed double-digit scores from Bermuda as, they were bowled out in 18.1 overs.
ScorecardNetherlands moved to the top of Group B with a five-wicket victory against Nepal, though second-placed Afghanistan are trailing by two points with a game in hand. Netherlands’ bowlers set up the victory after Peter Borren won the toss, ensuring Nepal’s run-rate did not escalate throughout the innings.Nepal were reduced to 36 for 3, and after a 60-run stand for the fourth-wicket, they slipped again from 96 for 3 to 105 for 6. Gyanendra Malla, Nepal’s top scorer, used 55 balls to score 44. Mudassar Bukhari took 3 for 15 for Netherlands.Netherlands got off to a fast start in their chase, and by the time the openers were dismissed, they had scored 45 in six overs. Stephan Myburgh made 31 off 20 balls and was the top scorer. The rest of the Netherlands batting order made useful contributions, and Eric Szwarczynski was unbeaten on 21 when the winning runs were scored with 22 balls to spare.

Match facts

Sunday, October 13, 2013
Start time 1330 local (0800 GMT)Shane Watson will have to play a role completely different from the divisive one he did during the Test tour earlier this year•Getty Images

Big Picture

If you trace a line through the venues for this ODI series, it starts from western India and runs across the northern, eastern and central parts of the country before culminating in the shape of a question mark in the south. As India and Australia traverse that line for the next three-and-a-half weeks, they will doubtless ask questions of each other. The foremost for Australia will be – can this squad, sorely lacking experience compared to previous sides, come close to matching their limited-overs deeds in India?The last ODI Australia played in India was the quarter-final of the 2011 World Cup. The churn Australian cricket has gone through since then is reflected in the fact that only three members of that XI are part of the current touring party. Previous Australia ODI visits to India have been successful due to two big factors; powerful, dominating batsmen who have taken toll of India’s relatively weaker attacks on benign pitches, and bowlers of real pace who have squeezed enough out of those surfaces to prevent the home batsmen from running amok.Names such as Brett Lee, and later, Doug Bollinger, come to mind, hustling India batsmen with extra speed. Mitchell Johnson is the only such bowler in the present squad, although Nathan Coulter-Nile can produce bursts as well. However, Australia are well served on the power-batting front, Aaron Finch, in Rajkot, providing enough evidence of that.India’s No 1 ODI ranking is on the line, although it will require a 1-6 hammering, something that would leave Australia captain George Bailey “very surprised” if it happens. For MS Dhoni, as always, the question is not how to make runs, but how to prevent them from being made by the opposition. The new ODI rule restricting deep fielders to a maximum of four has only added to his problems. “I don’t know where to bring in that one fielder inside in the last ten overs when the batsmen are intent going for the bowlers,” Dhoni said. “That’s one area where we have to work on. We have to see how to use that channel to put pressure on the opposition.”

Form guide (Most recent games first)

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In the spotlight

Rohit Sharma has reinvented himself as an ODI opener following successful outings in the Champions Trophy, in the West Indies and in Zimbabwe. The promotion had come at home against England earlier this year. But his strike-rate has taken a beating at the top of the order. The needs in overseas conditions were different, but in Indian conditions, he will be required to provide explosive starts.The last time Australia toured India for a bilateral ODI series, in 2009, Shane Watson was their highest wicket-taker and third-highest run-getter, after Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting. Those two are no longer around, meaning extra responsibility for Watson. More pertinently, he had an agonizing time during the Test tour earlier this year leading to much upheaval within the team and will have to play a role completely different from the divisive one he did then.

Team news

India have the same squad that played the solitary T20 and should stick to the same XI, unless Vinay Kumar, who hurt his left wrist in Rajkot, fails to recover.India (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Vinay Kumar/Mohammed Shami/Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Ishant SharmaCallum Ferguson and Phillip Hughes are the additions to the Australia squad from the T20 one. Nic Maddinson impressed on debut in Rajkot, but he isn’t part of the ODI group, which means one of Ferguson and Hughes should come in.Australia (probable) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Phillip Hughes, 3 Shane Watson, 4 George Bailey, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Brad Haddin (wk), 7 Moises Henriques, 8 Nathan Coulter-Nile/James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Xavier Doherty

Pitch and conditions

The Maharashtra Cricket Association’s new stadium on the outskirts of Pune will make its ODI debut. Its pitch has played notoriously and stubbornly slow and low during IPL seasons. The IPL comes at the end of the season, but even during the early-season Ranji Trophy matches, the venue hasn’t seen much life. Last November, Maharashtra declared on 764 for 6. Uttar Pradesh replied with 669 for 7, and their coach Venkatesh Prasad was moved into terming the surface “pathetic”, albeit for a four-day match.The start time for all games this series has been advanced by an hour to 1.30pm to try and counter the autumn’s prospect of dewy nights. Before that, the match will have to weather the 50% rain that is forecast for the day, although not much of it is expected in the evening.

Stats and trivia

• India have won their last eight ODIs
• The MCA Stadium in Pune will become India’s 44th ODI venue. The Nehru Stadium, the old international venue in the city, hosted the last of its 11 matches* in November 2005.

Quotes

“I don’t think there’s any advantage. It’s a nice statistic though but there’s no advantage to be gained from this. I don’t worry about it too much. I am not really thinking about maintaining the streak.”
“Australia have good batting depth and can bat up to No 9. That’s their strength and that is why in the T20, they were not too concerned about losing wickets and adopted an aggressive approach.”
*October 13, 0640GMT The number of matches hosted by the Nehru Stadium has been corrected.

Heavy rain in Ahmedabad washed out both games on day three of the Champions League T20. Lions captain Alviro Petersen had just enough time to win the toss and elect to bowl against Perth Scorchers before the persistent deluge arrived to wipe out any chance of play.Ground staff covered the square immediately after the toss, but the fourth match of the Champions League T20 was called off around 90 minutes after that, with the ground having taken on a great deal of water. The rain, though, refused to let up, and resulted in the calling off of the next game about half an hour before its scheduled start.The four teams – Otago Volts and Mumbai Indians were to play the second game – took two points each. Mumbai now have just two points from their first two games after they lost their opener to Rajasthan Royals. This was the first match for Lions, Otago and Scorchers.

Match facts

October 2, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Trinidad & Tobago’s bowling attack has relied much on Sunil Narine•BCCI

Big Picture

It’s easy, if Trinidad & Tobago beat Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday, they qualify for the semi-finals. If they don’t they will be tied on points with the Titans. T&T are ahead of the Titans on net run-rate, but it is only a marginal advantage. For instance, if they bat first and score around 125, or more, they need to lose with three or lesser balls to spare to qualify. In other words, they should make Super Kings play at least 19.3 overs, or the Titans will go through.If T&T are chasing, they need to make sure they lose by five or lesser runs to qualify. So whether Super Kings score 50 or 250, all T&T need to do is fall not more than five runs short if they end up losing. Even though T&T have won two of their three games batting first, they may want to chase this time as taking an in-form Super Kings side to the last three balls of the chase might be tougher than getting within five runs of the target themselves.T&T draw confidence from their progress in the tournament as their totals have ascended from 135 to 160 and then to 188. What they need to work on, is their bowling. Since Ravi Rampaul’s four wickets in their tournament opener, against Brisbane Heat, their attack has relied heavily on Sunil Narine’s dexterity. As they don’t have their fate in their own hands, Titans can only watch from the sidelines and hope for a qualification.Super Kings are not playing for nothing. Currently at the top of the table, they can still be displaced if they lose heavily to T&T. Much will have to go against Super Kings for that to happen as they have clicked in all departments in the three matches so far. Their opening looks stronger after M Vijay followed his two ducks with a 27-ball 42, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo and MS Dhoni have torn oppositions apart from the middle order and their slower bowlers made a comeback in their previous match. What needs to be worked on is their pace bowling, and T&T may want to target the fast bowlers in the initial overs as Dhoni has not been opening with R Ashwin in this tournament.

Players to watch

After making headlines in the Caribbean Premier League with a quickfire 54 from 24, 17-year-old Nicolas Pooran has not done much. He has managed scores of 11, 6 and 8 in the tournament and since T&T’s middle order has not mustered big scores till now, Pooran is the man they might need to do the job against Super Kings.Dwayne Bravo was among the top three run-scorers for T&T in the Caribbean T20 with 153 runs at an average of 38.25 and strike rate of over 110. He has also been in fine form recently with four wickets in the tournament and a quickfire 38 against the Titans. However, he will be under the spotlight against his home team now facing the same attack he was a part of and will bowl to the batting line-up he scored with, to win the T20 event earlier this year.