Sourav Ganguly has said he won’t be playing in IPL 6

New Delhi: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has said he won’t be playing in IPL 6 calling time on his domestic career after he had earlier opted out of Ranji Trophy as well.

Ganguly, who leads Pune Warriors in the Indian Premier League, told a leading Indian daily on Sunday that he has informed the owners of the franchise of his intentions.

"I had a wonderful time playing in the IPL for five seasons. It gave me a chance to keep playing top-class cricket even after quitting international cricket. But I can`t go on forever, and I have requested the franchise owners not to consider me for IPL 6," Ganguly was quoted as saying by the Times of India on Sunday.

Ganguly, who represented India in 113 Tests and 311 ODIs, had earlier said that he won’t be plying his trade in the Ranji Trophy.

"There is no question of playing in Ranji Trophy, if I`m not playing IPL," he said.

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Michael Lumb pummels Lions, Sydney Sixers win 2012 Champions League Twenty20

Johannesburg: Sydney Sixers produced an all-round clinical display to clinch the Champions League Twenty20 title with a dominating 10-wicket victory over Highveld Lions in a lop-sided summit clash here on Sunday.
Sixers vs Lions: As it happened…»

The Sixers first rode on a brilliant bowling display by spinner Nathan McCullum (3/24) and pacer Josh Hazlewood (3/22) to dismiss Highveld Lions for a modest 121 in their stipulated 20 overs after winning the toss and electing to field.

The Australian side then returned to overhaul the target with 7.3 overs to spare, thanks to some powerful hitting by opener Michael Lumb and Brad Haddin, who notched up an unbeaten 124 run partnership.

Chasing 122 to win, Lumb annihilated the Lions with eight fours and five sixes in his 42-ball 82-run unbeaten innings, while his opening partner Haddin blasted four boundaries and a six in his 33-ball unfinished 38 here.

The opening duo were in marauding form as they toyed with the Lions bowlers, taking them to the cleaners every now and then. They were particularly harsh on Chris Morris and Aaron Phangiso as the bowlers bleded 54 in four over combined.

Lumb finally finished off the chase in style when he blasted Pretorius for a six over deep wicket in the first ball, pulled the next over fine leg and then sent the third delivery across the boundary line as well to trigger celebration for the Sixers.

Earlier, McCullum and Hazlewood claimed three wickets each to help Sydney Sixers dismiss Highveld Lions for a modest 121 in the finals.

Sydney Sixers broke the back bone of the Lions as they reduced them to 9-4 in just 3.3 overs after winning the toss and electing to field.

Jean Symes top-scored with a 46-ball 51 to help Lions put up a total or else things could have been more embarrasing for the home team at the New Wanderers Stadiums here.

Symes added 23 runs with Sohail Tanvir for the fifth wicket to start the recovery but the Pakistani player lost his wicket in the seventh over as the Lions lost half their side with just 32 on board.

Symes then forged a 41-run partnership with Thami Tsolekile for the sixth wicket and another 38 with Dwaine Pretorius for the seventh wicket to help Lions cross the 100-mark. Symes had eight fours in his 46-ball innings.

For Sydney Sixers, Steve O`Keefe and Mitchell Starc were the other wicket takers with one wicket each here.

Put into bat, opener Gulam Bodi started off with a six of McCullum but he was send packing in the next delivery by the spinner to deal the first blow in the opening over.

First down Quinton de Kock was then sent back to the pavilions by pacer Hazlewood, courtesy a stunning catch by O`Keefe. Three balls later, Hazlewood reduced Lions to 8-3 after picking new man McKenzie in the last ball of the over.

Stranded all this while, Petersen was the next to go when he outside edged a O`Keefe delivery to Neil McCullum at the first slip.

Symes then tried to resurrect the innings with a couple of boundaries in the fifth over of Starc, while Tanvir also clipped one over square-leg. However, his stay didn`t last long as the Pakistani player was trapped in front of wicket by McCullum.

Undeterred, Symes continued his job and picked up successive fours in the 10th over off Pat Cummins. New man Tsolekile also got into the act and blasted a couple of sixes to ease the pressure.

But McCullum broke the partnership dismissing Tsolekile when he had him caught at short midwicket.

Symes and Pretorius then joined hands and tried to accelerate. Symes picked up a couple of fours off Cummins, while Pretorius clobbered Hazlewood and Starc for a couple of sixes, before becoming a victim of Starc.

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Proteas confident of Test success in Australia, says Smith.

Johannesburg: South Africa captain Graeme Smith has said that his Proteas squad is ‘quietly confident’ of succeeding in Australia as they prepare to leave for their three-Test tour at Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, with the first starting on November 9 at the Gabba.

“We`ve earned the right to go there with that mantle (of being the number one Test team) through the way we`ve played over the last period of time. We know we`ve got a quality team that`s proved its ability to win away from home,” a website quoted Smith, as saying.

“We knew the two tours [to England and Australia] were coming this year. Both were going to be tough and we`ve overcome one of those hurdles, and we`d like to do the next one,” he added.

Coach Gary Kirsten also concurred with the Proteas captain.

“We are going to make sure we prepare as diligently as possible. We went to England in the same way. We wanted to prepare really well. We didn`t want to say too much [because] we wanted to make our performances count,” Kirsten said.

South Africa claimed the world number one ranking with a 2-0 Test series victory over England in August and Smith felt his side was in good shape to produce another solid performance, the report said.

"For me, I would say it’s one of our strongest touring squads to go to Australia," he said.

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Champions League T20 2012 Final: Sydney Sixers vs Highveld Lions - Preview.

Johannesburg: Invincible so far in the competition, Sydney Sixers are firm favourites for the title but South Africa`s enterprising Highveld Lions would look to upset the Australian powerhouse`s applecart when the two sides clash in the Champions League Twenty20 final here on Sunday.

KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR»

Sydney won each of their five matches -- including four group stage games -- to be considered by far the best team to take the field in the competition.

Despite losing the services of their match-winner, prolific all-rounder Shane Watson, Sydney were strong enough for the Mumbai Indians in their final Group fixture and their semifinal clash against the Titans even though it was a close shave last night.

The unavailability of Watson is certainly a big blow for Sydney Sixers, given that a winner`s cheque of USD 2,500,000 rides on this match.

Watson, incidentally, was a key figure when Sydney beat the Lions in a low-scorer during the group stage earlier in the tournament.

However, the Australian outfit will not be too concerned, given they have several players who have been in good touch.

Skipper Brad Haddin has been consistently among the runs. Michael Lumb too has been in outstanding form, having scored in every outing.

In Moises Henriques and Steve Smith, the Sixers have two players in their middle order who are contributing regularly.

But a few chinks in the armour were left exposed by the last-ball last night`s win over Titans during which Smith and Haddin failed to add anything significant.

Sydney`s bowling has been impressive with Mitchell Starc being the leading wicket-taker. In Pat Cummins, the Sixers have another strike bowler, while the likes of Moises Henriques and Josh Hazlewood have been very effective in the middle overs.

However, the attack did leak crucial runs in the death overs of the clash against Titans.

"Our running between the wickets could probably improve. I think our first 16 over were brilliant but our death bowling let us down (but) we have to give credit to their batsmen, (David) Wiese and (Henry) Davids were whacking the ball so, (we could) probably (work on) the death bowling and not losing wickets consistently," feels Cummins.

The Lions, on the other hand, would be happy to start as underdogs as it would ease the pressure on them.

Opening batsman, Gulam Bodi, is the team`s top run-getter in the competition. The Lions will be banking on him to get them off to a good start.

Neil McKenzie too has been among the runs but he would need to convert his starts into match-winning performances. Quinton de Kock, who was tipped as one of the players to watch in the days leading up to the tournament, would also aim to come good on Sunday.

On the bowling front, the Lions have quite an ace up their sleeve in the form of left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso.

He is the Lions` leading wicket-taker and has bowled beautifully. Phangiso, in fact, tops the list of Lions` wicket-takers accounting for 30 scalps in 33 T20 games for his team.

The Lions will also bank on the home support they are likely to enjoy to outwit Sydney, a team which has looked unstoppable all through the event.

Teams (from):

Sydney Sixers: Brad Haddin (captain/keeper), Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Michael Lumb, Nathan McCullum, Nic Maddinson, Ian Moran, Peter Nevill, Steve O`Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Dominic Thornely.

Highveld Lions: Alviro Petersen (captain), Temba Bavuma, Gulam Bodi, Zander de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Neil McKenzie, Pumelela Matshikwe, Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Ethan O`Reilly, Aaron Phangiso, Dwaine Pretorius, Sohail Tanvir, Jean Symes, Thami Tsolekile (wicketkeeper).

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CL T20: Daredevils top group after match abandoned due to rain

 The match has been abandoned due to persistent rain. This means that the Delhi Daredevils have not only become the only IPL team to reach the semis, but they are also the table-toppers in their group with 12 points from 4 matches. They won two matches and shared two points with their opponents in the remaining ones.

The Daredevils will now lock horns with Group B runners-up Lions in the first semifinal on October 25 at Kingsmead in Durban. The Titans will take on Group B winners Sydney Sixers in the second semifinal on October 26.

It is still drizzling at Centurion.

Weather Update: It raining heavily at the Centurion!

TOSS: The Titans have won the toss and they have decided to bowl first.

The Delhi Daredevils lock horns with the Titans in their last league match of the Champions League Twenty20. After Auckland's defeat against the Scorchers, Delhi along with the Titans have automatically qualified for the semis and the match becomes inconsequential.

The Daredevils registered a narrow win over Perth Scorchers in their previous match, going atop the table with 10 points. Delhi would want to move into the semis with confidence and thus they wouldn't be complacent against their opponents in this match which is now a formality.

Meanwhile the Titans are second in the group with 8 points from three matches and they have also made it to the semis. They were humiliated by Kolkata Knight Riders in their previous encounter, where while chasing 189, they folded for 89.

The positive news for the Daredevils is Sehwag regaining his form as he played a match-winning knock in the previous game which his side won against the Perth Scorchers. Both teams would want to take some confidence from this match ahead of the semi-final clashes.

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