SL quicks begin training with Duke ball

Sri Lanka's hopes of sending up to six cricketers to England for early-season training had been upset by former coach Paul Farbrace's move to the English setup, but their fast bowlers have nonetheless begun training at home with Duke balls, in preparation for the two-Test series in June.

Tests in England pose a unique challenge for foreign sides, most of whom use Kookaburra balls across all formats. Chaminda Vaas did not have memorable Test tours of England in his career, but as the fast-bowling coach, he has drawn up specific plans to consolidate the pace attack's 2014 gains.

"The Duke ball doesn't swing much earlier on," Vaas told The Island. "Some of the guys who could play for us in Tests like Suranga Lakmal, Shaminda Eranga, Dhammika Prasad and Nuwan Pradeep have lot of potential and they will develop during this tour."

Though his Tests returns in England were mediocre, Vaas has had good experience of English conditions in four largely successful county stints for Northamptonshire, Hampshire, Worcestershire and Middlesex. His knowhow may be vital to the fast bowlers' performance on the tour, particularly as only one tour fixture precedes the Tests.

"The wickets will suit seamers in the early season and conditions will be wet. It will be tough for them, but hopefully they will enjoy the conditions and I am looking forward to working with these guys."

Nagging line-and-length complemented by modest movement off the seam has been the hallmark of Sri Lanka's new pace spearheads Eranga and Lakmal - a strategy that brought laudable dividends against Pakistan and Bangladesh this year. Vaas suggested the attack would not veer far from that blueprint in England.

"We have been working on things like accuracy, good line and length. The results are there for everyone to see and we need to keep improving. Suranga and Shaminda both bowl at 135 (kph) plus. They need to bowl in that range constantly and their variation will help them."

Accuracy had been allied with endurance in the UAE, where Eranga and Lakmal both delivered over 130 overs each in three back-to-back Tests against Pakistan. The side's plans made for some attritional cricket, but when Sri Lanka won a Test in Dubai largely on the back of their quicks, there were hints the strategy could lead to a resurgence of fast bowling in the national team.

"I always tell them to be patient. We need to bowl good balls to take wickets. When you keep bowling one line the wickets will come. You need to put the batsmen under pressure. During the Pakistan series in UAE a lot of people didn't give us much of a chance. But our seamers did the simple things right and enjoyed quite a bit of success."

Kumar Sangakkara will also have some Duke-ball preparation, after he confirmed a two-match stint with Durham before Sri Lanka's limited-overs series in England.

Sri Lanka depart for Ireland for two ODIs on May 2, before moving on to England for a full tour consisting of one T20I, five ODIs and two Tests.

Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. @andrewffernando

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Jurgensen resigns as Bangladesh coach

Shane Jurgensen, the Bangladesh coach, has resigned from his position less than a month after the World T20, where his team won just two out of seven matches. BCB officials, however, have not ruled out convincing him to stay till his two-year contract ends on February 2015.

BCB's cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan, effectively Jurgensen's boss, has already called it an "emotional decision" and that there will be a meeting with the coach when he arrives in the country later this week.

"Just before I entered the board's emergency meeting today, I got a letter from our head coach telling us that he has resigned," Akram said. "One of the reasons he has given is that he saw in the media that some directors have spoken against him. There was no official communication with him in this regard. I didn't expect such a letter.

"The head coach has told us that he wants to stay till the India series (in June). It seems to me that it was an emotional decision. He will come to Bangladesh, and we must discuss before we can think of taking any decisions."

There had been talk within the BCB to replace the coaches after Bangladesh's woeful home season. The team managed just one win in the Sri Lanka series, lost all four Asia Cup games and in the World T20, they could only manage wins against Afghanistan and Nepal but lost to Hong Kong.

The first such statement came from the BCB president Nazmul Hassan during the World T20, but he stopped short of suggesting that the coaching staff would be replaced, merely saying that there will be a lot of changes. In subsequent press briefings, Hassan said there was a plan to hire specialist coaches for short-term duty.

Some board directors, citing anonymity, told ESPNcricinfo recently that they are actively searching for a coach with a batting background but haven't found one. Jurgensen, a former fast bowler who represented three domestic teams in Australia, expressed his disappointment at the matter, saying he was reconsidering his position.

Akram has criticised the discussion on appointing a new coach, which he believes has affected the players and coaching staff. "I don't think people should talk in this manner. The board president will take the decision. There was no official discussion, so it doesn't help Bangladesh cricket when this sort of talk happens.

"It has happened before, which I feel has always affected the players and coaching staff. After such bad performances recently, discussions were bound to happen at all levels. But we didn't make anything official," he said.

Jurgensen bagged the two-year deal in February last year keeping in mind the 2015 World Cup. During his time as full-time head coach, Bangladesh won a Test match after four years, against Zimbabwe, and drew Tests against Sri Lanka (in Galle) and against New Zealand at home. They also drew an ODI series in Sri Lanka and blanked New Zealand 3-0.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84

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Chennai leave it late, but win again

Chennai Super Kings 146 for 5 (Smith 66, McCullum 40) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (Finch 44, Mohit 2-27) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

It seemed at the halfway point that Chennai Super Kings would face a challenging chase. Two big overs at the death had propelled Sunrisers Hyderabad to 145 on a slow Sharjah pitch, which had seemed difficult to play big shots on. Sunrisers had gone into the match with five specialist bowlers, each different from the other, all of them capable of exploiting the conditions.

But as early as the first over of Super Kings' innings, delivered by Dale Steyn, something seemed to have changed. Dwayne Smith only took six runs off it, but he middled every ball, despite Steyn delivering most of them with a scrambled seam.

After a close shave in the next over, off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, when the ball narrowly missed the top of middle stump after hitting his inside edge, Smith continued timing the ball beautifully, raced away to a 46-ball 66, and put on 85 for the first wicket with Brendon McCullum, who was hitting it just as crisply. Dew had come into play, and the ball was coming nicely on to the bat.

When Super Kings lost Suresh Raina, they had eight wickets in hand and 36 balls in which to get 32 runs against a Sunrisers attack that was reaching for the towel stuck in the umpire's waistband with increasing frequency. The chase seemed well in control.

Just then, when everything was stacked against them, Sunrisers came back into the game. Suresh Raina mistimed a big hit off Ishant Sharma, turning a poor over into a reasonable one. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took two wickets in one over, including a lucky break when Smith hit a full-toss straight to long-off. Steyn bowled a superb last over, giving away just four, and Bhuvneshwar followed it up by giving away just five in the next one.

Ishant Sharma, who had gone for 33 in his first three overs, got his leg-cutter to work all of a sudden, bowling Ravindra Jadeja off his pads and beating Mithun Manhas twice in two balls. Four runs off that over left Super Kings needing six off the last over.

Sunrisers hadn't used anyone apart from their five specialist bowlers, and they stuck with that plan, handing Amit Mishra the task of bowling the last over. Only two runs came off the first two balls, but the dew, the pressure of defending four off four balls, and the fact that MS Dhoni was on strike came together for a high full-toss to slip out of Mishra's fingers. Dhoni swatted it away to the midwicket boundary, and a result that had seemed a formality five overs earlier had now belatedly come to pass.

Having chosen to bat, Sunrisers never recovered after losing two wickets inside the first three overs. Shikhar Dhawan pulled Ben Hilfenhaus straight to the midwicket fielder, and David Warner fell victim to a poor umpiring decision two balls later.

The ball, from Ben Hilfenhaus, was short, pitched well outside leg stump, and hit Warner high on the pad with the batsman on the hop. Umpire Vineet Kulkarni gave it out, and Super Kings had sent back two-thirds of Sunrisers' heavy artillery. The third member of that trio, Aaron Finch, was now forced into circumspection.

Super Kings' bowlers, for their part, did everything in their power to make life difficult for the batsmen. Their three seamers, Mohit Sharma in particular, made clever use of the slower ball, and the best strategy against R Ashwin's around-the-wicket line, at times, seemed to be to let the ball go and hope for wides. No one, barring Ravindra Jadeja on a couple of occasions, gave the batsmen any width.

Finch and KL Rahul put on 52 at just over a run a ball, and Venugopal Rao made 13 off 15 before he was out off the last ball of the 15th over. Sunrisers were 98 for 4, and their hopes of getting to a competitive total rested on Finch and Darren Sammy. Finch fell in the 18th over, foxed by one of Mohit's back-of-the-hand offerings, but Sammy and Karn Sharma tonked 36 off the last 16 balls to propel the score to 145. It shouldn't have been, considering how much of an effect the dew was to have, and it wasn't in the end, but they almost made it look like a big enough total.

Karthik Krishnaswamy is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Daredevils keep Mumbai winless

Delhi Daredevils 126 for 4 (Vijay 40, Malinga 2-17) beat Mumbai Indians 125 for 6 (Pollard 33*, Unadkat 2-29) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Butcher: Mumbai have too many old players for T20

Mumbai Indians have John Wright as their head coach, Anil Kumble as their team mentor, Jonty Rhodes as fielding coach, Sachin Tendulkar as an 'icon' and Robin Singh as assistant coach. Ricky Ponting was added to that list of illustrious names today, joining as an advisor. The expansion of the brains trust didn't result in a change in fortunes, as Mumbai went down for their fourth defeat in a row after their batting misfired yet again.

Delhi Daredevils may not have any superstar in their bowling ranks, but they combined to stifle Mumbai on a slow surface in Sharjah. Mumbai scores so far in this tournament have been 122 for 7, 115 for 9 and 141 for 7. To that sorry list, they added 125 for 6 today, again giving their bowlers too little to work with.

Things didn't go according to plan right from the start for Mumbai. The plan to push Rohit Sharma to the top of the order in place of the struggling Michael Hussey didn't work as Rohit was run-out by a Mohammed Shami direct hit in the second over. The ploy to have allrounder Corey Anderson at No. 3 seemed to be working a touch better as he hit two muscular boundaries, before finding man in the deep. Aditya Tare had already done the same.

	M Vijay's 40 guided the chase © BCCI Enlarge

Ambati Rayudu, an influential member for Mumbai in recent seasons, couldn't make an impact this time, poking around for a 21-ball 14. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the Mumbai batting has been the absent form of the ultra-consistent Michael Hussey, who had another forgettable outing before being undone by a slower yorker from Jaydev Unadkat. Perhaps the time has come to drop Hussey.

CM Gautam played sweeps and reverse-sweeps to make an enterprising 18-ball 22 and Kieron Pollard overcame a slow start to unleash a couple of monster sixes and lift Mumbai's run-rate above six.

Daredevils' spinners have been one of their weaknesses this season, but Shahbaz Nadeem and JP Duminy proved hard to get away on the sluggish pitch where the ball didn't come on to the bat. The lack of pace worked for medium-pacer Laxmi Shukla as well, and he troubled Pollard in particular.

Daredevils have a formidable top five, and the target of 126 was never going to be a problem unless there were plenty of early wickets. The openers, Quinton de Kock and M Vijay, provided a steady start with Vijay going on to top score with 40. Hussey took a stunner at point to dismiss de Kock, Lasith Malinga got rid of the in-form JP Duminy, and though there were a few anxious moments for Daredevils, Mumbai never really looked like posing a serious challenge. It gave Daredevils their second win in five matches so far.

Siddarth Ravindran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Coulter-Nile, Maddinson ruled out of IPL

Nathan Coulter-Nile, the Delhi Daredevils fast bowler, and Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman Nic Maddinson have been ruled of IPL 2014 with injury. The IPL technical committee has allowed the franchises to look for replacements for these players. Chennai Super Kings, too, could look for a replacement for the injured Dwayne Bravo, the committee said.

Coulter-Nile took 2 for 27 against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 19, before injuring himself three deliveries into Daredevils next match, against Super Kings. He hobbled off after hurting his leg while sliding to stop the ball. Maddinson opened the batting for Royal Challengers in two games, scoring 4 and 12. Bravo, who was one of five players retained by Super Kings, hurt his shoulder while attempting a catch on the boundary in the team's first match, against Kings XI Punjab.

According to the IPL player regulations, the three franchises can choose replacements from among the players who registered for the 2014 auction but were not bought.

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Ponting joins Mumbai camp

Ricky Ponting in Mumbai camp
Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, has joined the Mumbai Indians in an "advisory role". Ponting was a part of the Mumbai team that won the IPL last year, and he had even led the side in a few matches before the current captain Rohit Sharma took over.

"I am looking forward to working with Mumbai Indians once again," Ponting said."I had a fantastic season last summer and understand how passionate our players are towards the franchise. I believe we have the fire in us and we will strive hard to put our best."

Ponting will be with Mumbai for their last two matches in the UAE.

Bookies barred from venues
A list of bookies has been forwarded to the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) by the IPL governing council to ensure the suspects are kept out of the venues and from the team hotels. Not that the bookies need to operate from a particular location but even the UAE government has taken steps to deny visas to people on the list who are wanting to travel to the country.

"We've given them a list of bookies and the cooperation from the UAE cricket board and government has been excellent. Sheikh Nahyan has been very helpful in ensuring smooth conduct and success of the IPL. We're immensely thankful to him," Ranjib Biswal, the chairman of the IPL Governing Council, was quoted in the Mirror.

Johnson, the leader
After a dream run over the last twelve months starting with the Mumbai Indians' triumphant IPL 2013 campaign, Mitchell Johnson has returned to the Twenty20 league as one of the senior players in the Kings XI Punjab line-up. And Johnson had been preparing for the leadership role in his new franchise even before he joined the team.

"Yes, that is something I had thought about doing before coming here and I spoke to the team about taking up that role as a senior international player. These young guys coming through are willing to learn and are very good listeners," Johnson told iplt20.com. "I remember what I was like when I was their age - you look up to the senior guys for a bit of advice. Sandeep (Sharma) went for a couple of boundaries in his last over (18th of the innings) and I told him, 'Just keep sticking to your guns' because that's how you learn to overcome situations. If I can keep helping the young guys, we will keep winning like this."

With four wins in as many games, Kings XI Punjab have emerged as the team to beat in the initial phase of the IPL's seventh edition. The results haven't surprised Johnson. "I remember sitting around with the Australian team on our tour to South Africa, watching the IPL auction. When it came to an end, I actually said that this seems like a very well-balanced and all-round side. It seems to be going on that way for us at the moment," he said. "We've had some very good wins and tonight's was one of the better ones. On that Abu Dhabi wicket, I think we pretty much got a par score and it was always going to be tough batting second on it. We've been sticking to our guns and have been going really well."

Maxwell's energy infectious
Virender Sehwag has been considered as one with the most positive impact in all the dressing rooms he has been a part of. But when it comes to the Kings XI Punjab set-up, Sehwag feels Glenn Maxwell takes the cake as far as the positive impact is concerned.

"It is great to have Maxwell with us in the team. After the match, he forgets what he did on the field, and is very humble," Sehwag told the Times of India. "His positive energy is infectious, and he loves to play golf and goof around. It's a great atmosphere in the dressing room with Maxwell being there.

With 294 runs in four innings, Maxwell has emerged as the story of the tournament. His scores of 95, 89 and 95 in Kings XI Punjab's first three matches helped the team from Mohali cruise past their opponents and top the points table. Even though Maxwell perished for 15 against Kolkata Knight Riders, the Kings continued their winning run thanks to an all-round bowling effort.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Kings XI Punjab keep winning

Kings XI Punjab 132 for 9 (Sehwag 37, Chawla 3-19, Narine 3-24) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 109 (Suryakumar 34, Sandeep 3-21) by 23 runs Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Glenn Maxwell and David Miller failed for the first time this season, but that didn't prevent Kings XI Punjab from extending their winning streak to four this year, and seven overall. Sandeep Sharma had the new ball curling around, Akshar Patel showed why he is the most economical left-arm spinner in the tournament, and Rishi Dhawan also kept it tight before the spearhead Mitchell Johnson finished off the job.

It wasn't a vintage game of Twenty20 cricket, as none of the batsmen could time the ball on a surface on which the heavyweight batting line-up of Royal Challengers Bangalore had been shot out for 70 in the afternoon.

On a green track with plenty of cracks in it, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir had hoped it would be easier to bat under lights, but his decision to bowl first backfired as the ball jagged around after sunset. Set a seemingly straightforward target of 133, Knight Riders lost wickets regularly and, though Suryakumar Yadav briefly threatened to take the game close, wound up well short.

The pillars of the Knight Riders squad when the teams were revamped in 2011, Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan, continued to have miserable seasons. Gambhir pushed himself down to No. 3 after three zeroes in a row, but nearly had a golden duck again, only for Sandeep to put down a difficult, diving return catch. There was further relief for Gambhir as he got a single to fine leg to score his first run of the tournament, but minutes later he handed a catch to short extra cover.

If Gambhir's IPL troubles have been confined to this season, Yusuf has struggled to recapture the heights of the first cycle of the tournament. Once again he looked woefully out of touch, lbw for 3 after being bringing his bat down late on a Rishi Dhawan delivery. He rarely bowls these days and isn't the quickest in the field either, all of which combine to put his place under serious scrutiny.

Knight Riders openers couldn't get any momentum against Sandeep and Johnson, with both dismissed for single-digit scores. Chris Lynn couldn't recreate the form that yielded a quickfire 45 in his first game of the season earlier this week, and Knight Riders' chances were nearly extinguished once Robin Uthappa was run out by a precise throw from George Bailey at cover in the 13th over. Knight Riders were 62 for 6, looking for a miracle. It didn't arrive.

They wouldn't have expected to be in that position after the performance of their bowlers. Knight Riders' decision to bring in Piyush Chawla for Vinay Kumar, who bowled them to a last-over win two days earlier, paid off as Chawla bamboozled Virender Sehwag with a googly, and benefited from the long boundaries in Abu Dhabi by getting big guns Miller and Bailey caught in the deep.

Chawla's intervention came after some hostile new-ball bowling from Morne Morkel, who tormented the Indians in the top order with his 145-plus kmph deliveries, and got the prized scalp of Maxwell with a legstump yorker. Kings XI collapsed from 101 for 4 to 132 for 9 against the wiles of Chawla and Sunil Narine, who took three in an over. It didn't matter, though, as Knight Riders' batting woes continued.

Siddarth Ravindran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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