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Leicestershire snatched a sensational three-wicket win against Kent to reach finals day in the Friends Life t20 for the fifth time

George Dobell at Grace Road06-Aug-2011
ScorecardAndrew McDonald’s half-century laid the foundation to Leicestershire’s victory•PA Photos

There was a moment during a rain break in this game when Rob Key, the Kent captain, was spotted on the pavilion enjoying a crafty cigarette.While that might not be the sort of behaviour expected of a professional athlete in this day and age, it’s not hard to see why Key might be driven to nicotine. Or, indeed, something far stronger. For, so maddening must it be trying to captain this Kent team, that a weaker man might be reduced to hawking his club car on the way home in return for some mind-numbing release.Kent should have strolled to victory in this game. Having scored 203 – their highest total of the season and their third highest in the nine-year history of this competition – they produced a remarkably inept performance with the ball to allow Leicestershire back into a game that was as high on entertainment value as it was, at times, low on quality. The bowling of both sides really was remarkably poor.Crucially, Kent produced 11 wides – nine contributed by their two overseas players – and a diet of long-hops and half-volleys that gave Key no chance of setting an effective field. At one stage Wahab Riaz delivered four wides in five deliveries as the basics of the game deserted professionals who really should be able to produce better.There are some mitigating circumstances. This Grace Road pitch was superb – perfect for T20 cricket – and rain showers left the ball hard to control. But a Kent attack containing four international bowlers should have done better.”I don’t know [what went wrong],” Key admitted afterwards. “But we didn’t bowl well enough. We never thought they would get close, but we didn’t do well enough. I’m very, very disappointed.”Of course Leicestershire deserve credit, too. It might be expected that a side with their dismal record in the Championship this season – and it really is very dismal – might have lacked the confidence to chase such a target.Instead, however, they produced a fine team performance with the bat, each man contributing selflessly in the pursuit. The end result was their highest successful run chase in the history of T20 and their third highest score.It was hard not to be pleased for them as a pitch invasion greeted the moment of victory. This is a club that has been starved of success since the early days of this competition, when Leicestershire appeared at the first four finals days and won two of the first four events.Grace Road had not seen a crowd of this size since 2006 – the last time they won the T20 – and the prospect of finals day at Edgbaston and, perhaps, a Champions League appearance, is a welcome oasis in the wilderness they’ve been travelling in recent years.Right in the middle of the throng at the end was Paul Nixon. Nixon, with 31 from 17 balls, played a significant role in the run chase and now has the chance to end his tremendous career in the style he deserves. The 40-year-old, who made his debut way back in 1989 – before his team-mate James Taylor was even born – was making his last appearance in a competitive game at Grace Road before retirement. He is, however, scheduled to play in the T20 tour game against India.And, if there was an element of sentiment in the decision to name him man of the match, few would resent it. Or the adulation he received as delighted Leicestershire supporters lifted him upon their shoulders in celebration.A Leicestershire win appeared most unlikely at the halfway stage of the game. Martin van Jaarsveld and Azhar Mahmood thrashed 130 in just 63 balls – a third wicket record for the county – as Kent plundered 120 from the final nine overs of their innings and 73 from the last five. It was superb batting.Van Jaarsveld (63 from just 32 balls) treated the regular long-hops he received with murderous contempt, while Mahmood (91 from 52) struck four straight sixes and hit the ball delightfully cleanly. All Leicestershire’s bowlers suffered, with even Claude Henderson, normally a paragon of control, dragging the ball down and offering a number of long-hops.But it didn’t matter. Leicestershire started at a blistering pace, with Josh Cobb – afterwards praised by his captain as “as clean a hitter of the ball as anyone in the world” – and Andrew McDonlad feasting on some fearful rubbish from Mahmood and the deeply underwhelming Charl Langeveldt.And even when Leicestershire’s openers fell, keeping their side just on top of the D/L chase as rain threatened an early finish, the likes of du Toit, James Taylor and, in particular, Abdul Razzaq (with 27 from 11 balls) all took up where their colleagues stopped. By the time Nixon was dismissed by perhaps the first real yorker of the game, the result was no longer in doubt.Matt Boyce pushed the first ball he has received in this year’s competition to the cover boundary and Leicestershire were victors with four balls to spare.Afterwards McDonald admitted his side had “escaped” after their “worst performance with the ball” in the season. “We gave away about 20 too many runs,” he said. “And we were below par in the field, too. It’s something we need to work on, but we always believed we could win it.”The result effectively ends Kent’s season and raises many questions about their expensively assembled squad. It now seems highly unlikely that the club will be able to retain some of their higher-profile players. In light of results such as this, however, and supporters may well question whether that is as big a loss as it has sometimes appeared in recent times. It’s surely time to back the club’s young players and start a long-term, sustainable rebuilding operation.Perhaps some at Leicestershire might have similar concerns. There will be a temptation to allow this success to paper over the cracks in an otherwise desperately disappointing season. The future of James Taylor at the club – averaging under 32 in the Championship as he does – also looks increasingly precarious.But such concerns can wait. There’s a time for analysis and a time for celebration. And, after a grim few months, Leicestershire deserve a night or two of celebration before their focus falls once again on finals day. They’ll go into it as underdogs but, on the evidence of this performance, it would be foolish to discount them.

South Africa’s spearhead Dale Steyn has said Phillip Hughes will not have it quite so easy on his return to the scene of a remarkably successful debut series in 2009

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2011South Africa’s spearhead Dale Steyn has said Phillip Hughes will not have it quite so easy on his return to the scene of a remarkably successful debut series in 2009.Hughes made 415 runs in the three Tests including a century in each innings of the second match in Durban, a pivotal contribution as Australia took an unbeatable 2-0 lead. However Steyn said Hughes’ runs arrived at least partly because the home side did not know how to bowl at him, and would be far better equipped this time.”Not to take anything away from Phillip, he played unbelievably well against us when he came here and it looked like we didn’t know where to bowl to him in all honesty, and that’s, I think, why he got off to such a fantastic start,” Steyn told . ”England is the team that really sorted him out and since he scored those two hundreds against us I don’t think he got another one until the last Test in Sri Lanka.”Steyn said the 2009 team had bowled too impetuously at Hughes, in contrast to the relentless lines of attack England used in both the 2009 and 2010-11 Ashes series, in which Hughes did not once pass 50 in five matches.”From what I remember we bowled too wide to him,” Steyn said. ”One of the things we said was that we didn’t want to bowl wide to him, and then we did. It was one of those childish things where you say to a kid, ‘don’t touch the frying pan, you’re going to burn yourself’, and then you end up touching the frying pan and burn yourself.”The English side found a way of getting him out, and quite easily getting him out, so I will go through those videos. I’m a little bit wiser, a little bit smarter now. Obviously he opens the batting for Australia, so anybody who is a good player can score runs somewhere along the line, but he will definitely have his weaknesses.”We haven’t played a lot against him since then, so I will have to go through a couple of things and see where we went wrong and hopefully we can rectify that.”Steyn also expressed surprise that Simon Katich was not still a part of the Australian squad, having lost his Cricket Australia contract in mid-year. Katich was also successful at the top of the order in the 2009 series.”The way he moves around the crease, he is able to control where he wants to hit the ball. It’s incredible,” Steyn said. ”It’s surprising that he is not there because he is one of those real Aussie players, a gutsy, strong character.
He even looks like the epitome of an Australian opening batsman from years back.”In a weird way I’m quite happy he’s not playing, but you want to compete against guys like that, and for his sake I think he should be there.”

Mumbai overtook defending champions Rajasthan’s mighty first innings’ score to take lead and thereby pocketed three critical points

The Report by Nagraj Gollapudi in Mumbai13-Nov-2011 625 (Nayar 243, Rohit 100, Pankaj 5-111)
Scorecard
Relief was writ large on Abhishek Nayar’s face when he helped Mumbai overtake Rajasthan’s first-innings score•Fotocorp

The picture of the match was a moment of pure synchronicity. Abhishek Nayar, the best batsman, caressed a square drive between point and cover off Pankaj Singh, the best bowler. Nayar and his partner Iqbal Abdulla completed a single as the ball raced past the square boundary. Then, unbeknownst to the other, Nayar and Abdulla raised their gloved left hands, swiftly whipped it down in an arc, before letting out a cry of relief. Mumbai had overtaken defending champions Rajasthan’s mighty first-innings score to take the lead and pocketed three critical points.By the end of their innings, Mumbai led by 95 runs, courtesy Nayar’s first double-century in the Ranji Trophy and some sturdy partnerships from the lower order involving Abdulla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Nayar and Murtuza Hussain. The match entered the second session and a dead zone. Rajasthan played for an hour, lost their openers before the teams decided to call off the game.Though Nayar deserved to be present to savour the moment, it was the 106-run partnership between the overnight unbeaten pair of Abdulla and Dhawal Kulkarni that had paved the way for Mumbai to overtake Rajasthan. They walked out together immediately after tea on Saturday when severe body cramps had forced Nayar to the physio’s table. Mumbai were 146 runs behind, and Rajasthan sensed an opportunity to wrest control. However, Abdulla and Kulkarni, no strangers to such anxious situations, stayed calm to battle out the next two hours as Mumbai finished 92 runs adrift.The first hour on the final morning held the key to the contest. Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar, Rajasthan’s new-ball pair, bowled attacking lines but the Mumbai pair remained steady. Aakash Chopra, leading the side after Hrishikesh Kanitkar’s injury on Saturday, employed the spin pair of Gajendra Singh and Vivek Yadav early. The moved tempted Kulkarni, who stepped out twice against each spinner and was lucky to survive having dragged his back foot in in the nick of time. Otherwise he timed his cuts and pulls well to collect five fours while Abdulla had three boundaries in the morning session.Half an hour before lunch, Kulkarni swished at a straight, seaming delivery from Pankaj, and the thin edge was pouched easily by Rohit Jhalani behind the stumps. Mumbai were just ten runs away from Rajasthan’s score. Abdulla ran towards Kulkarni, patted him on the back and ruffled his hair in appreciation. That was the story of Mumbai this match: through collective efforts – two centuries, three fifties – the hosts bounced back in a match in which they were bystanders on the first two days.To say Mumbai managed to escape easily against an opposition that lacked a killer instinct wouldn’t be wrong. Barring Pankaj, Rajasthan have an inexperienced bowling attack. Chahar overcompensated trying to go for speed and, like any rookie, struggled with his mind, lines and lengths. The inability of the spin pair of Yadav and Gajendra to break through only added to Rajasthan’s woes. In three straight games this domestic season, Rajasthan have conceded 600-plus scores. In the Irani Cup, Shikar Dhawan, Abhinav Mukund and Ajinkya Rahane pummeled the hosts’ bowlers in Jaipur, setting up massive totals in both innings. Last week, Karnataka batted only once to put pressure on the Rajasthan bowlers.Rajasthan, though, are playing in the Elite league for the first time. As their captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar said, they improved with every game last season and to maintain the consistency in the higher grade against quality and seasoned opponents will be difficult.Mumbai have their own issues to deal with. The most significant among them could be the difference of opinions between the selectors and the team management. On the second evening after the day’s play, Mumbai coach Sulakshan Kulkarni laughed at the suggestion from a media person that his team had home advantage playing at Brabourne. According to Kulkarni, the Brabourne pitch was flat and put pressure on his bowlers who toiled on the first two days in vain. Reportedly, his remarks did not sit well with his own selectors, who felt Kulkarni should look at his bowlers who failed miserably in their lengths and lines.”Why was there no third man for most part of the Rajasthan first innings. About 75 runs were leaked there,” said an aggrieved Mumbai selector. “And what about bowling part-time bowlers in Nayar and Kaustubh Pawar after tea on the second day. Why was Ramesh Powar only bowled for a handful of overs (six) on Friday. The field was also not attacking when all the specialist batsmen were out,” were questions that the selector rolled out.Mumbai have plenty to think about in order to avoid any hiccups when they meet a tougher opponent in Karnataka in four days’ time at the same venue.

Left-arm seamer Lonwabo Tsotsobe is expected to be added to the South African Test squad for the remaining two matches against Sri Lanka.

Firdose Moonda19-Dec-2011Left-arm seamer Lonwabo Tsotsobe is expected to be added to the South African Test squad for the remaining two matches against Sri Lanka. Tsotsobe suffered a side strain before last month’s series against Australia and was left out of the initial 13-man squad named to play Sri Lanka in Centurion.Tsotsobe has not bowled since November 4 in a franchise one-day game but returned to the nets last week. He has started bowling again, although not at 100%, and will likely be assessed on Friday in Durban, when the South African squad regroups. South African team manager Mohammad Moosjaee told ESPNcricinfo that Tsotsobe’s injury was classified a grade one strain and the latter parts of his rest time were more precautionary than in response to a serious ailment.”Often a side strain feels worse than it is,” said Moosajee. “When you have a side strain, you have to build up your bowling. So you start bowling at 50%, 60%, until 100% and if there is any discomfort you return to using less effort to minimise any damage.” Moosajee and the national management have not yet had the opportunity to see Tsotsobe and gauge his readiness to make a comeback.Tsotosbe last played a Test match in January against India and has only represented South Africa five times at Test level. He fared reasonably well against the then-No.1 ranked side in Test cricket and collected big scalps such as Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. His injury, coupled with Vernon Philander’s explosive start in the game, cost him his role in the Test team.Philander’s record-breaking start to Test cricket means a place for Tsotsobe in the starting XI could be hard to find, with the third seamer’s spot now sealed. However, Morne Morkel’s concerning loss of confidence could be the opening Tsotsobe needs to wrest back his place.Morkel, who has been demoted to first-change, went wicketless in the first innings against Sri Lanka and managed 1 for 36 in the second. Since having the new-ball taken away from him, he has taken nine wickets in three Tests, at an average of 31.11, slightly higher than his overall average of 30.28. He has struggled to find his rhythm and slipped back into the age-old problem of overstepping.Although both captain Graeme Smith and bowling coach Allan Donald said they are not concerned about Morkel’s problems and expect him to be back to his best soon, South Africa may choose to experiment against an underwhelming Sri Lankan opposition.

Rarely in Test cricket is a first-innings score of 150 enough. New Zealand have never won a Test having scored so few batting first

Brydon Coverdale in Hobart09-Dec-2011Rarely in Test cricket is a first-innings score of 150 enough. New Zealand have never won a Test having scored so few batting first. But on a pitch so green that it barely qualified to be called a cut strip, they believed their total was competitive. And by nicking out Phillip Hughes shortly before rain ended the day’s play, they boosted their confidence further.”We felt the pitch was doing quite a bit,” the batsman Dean Brownlie said after play. “We feel like we’ve got the runs on the board and to get the early wicket was excellent. We feel like we’re in the game.”Brownlie, who made 56 and was the only New Zealand batsman to pass 20, said the pitch was the hardest surface he had played on, considering the quality of the Australian attack. Four of his colleagues were caught behind the wicket as the ball swung and seamed alarmingly, especially early in the day.After their disappointing performance in Brisbane, where 17 of the 20 wickets lost during the match were caught, and the majority of those were deliveries that need not have been played, it was a more disciplined effort in Hobart. Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor were lbw and four men were bowled, although three of those played on.”You had to have a little bit of luck out there, to hopefully miss the ones that moved, and if they didn’t move you’ve got to make sure you hit it,” Brownlie said. “In terms of how we approached it, we wanted to make sure we were accountable for how we batted. I thought we did that. It was tough and some guys edged it, and that’s part of cricket. We’re quite happy with 150 on the board.”Not that New Zealand’s total, the second lowest Test score recorded at Bellerive Oval, worried the Australians. James Pattinson, who collected 5 for 51, said the Australians were happy with how thing stood at the end of the day, despite the loss of Hughes leaving Australia at 1 for 12 in the fifth over of their innings.”I think 150 on any wicket is pretty under-par,” Pattinson said. “I don’t think it’s enough. But saying that, if they bowl really well you don’t know what can happen. We’ve definitely got the talent in our batting to make a big score. Hopefully the sun comes out tomorrow and they get the covers off pretty early. This wicket does change when they get the sun on the wicket.”Pattinson has experience of grassy Bellerive surfaces, having taken more first-class wickets at the venue than he has at his home ground, the MCG. Asked if he had ever bowled on a greener pitch at the elite level, he said it compared to another Hobart pitch but he hoped it would not break up in the same way later in the game.”We played a Shield game down here at the start of the year which was green with a lot of grass on it,” Pattinson said. “But the wicket today was a lot softer. It was a lot wetter than when we played on it last time. Last time it broke up quite a bit. I think that’s probably why he [curator Marcus Pamplin] has done that. He’s probably worried about the last couple of days on it, breaking up and balls could roll like they did last time we were here.”If the surface stays together, batting should only become easier as the match wears on. And New Zealand will need to defy history to pull off a remarkable victory. Only twice in the past 100 years have Australia bowled a team out for 150 or less in the first innings and gone on to lose the Test.

An all-round performance from Shaylin Pillay consigned Zimbabwe Under-19s to their third straight defeat in the tri-nation tournament in South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2012
ScorecardAn all-round performance from Shaylin Pillay consigned Zimbabwe Under-19s to their third straight defeat in the tri-nation tournament in South Africa. South Africa Under-19s put Zimbabwe in to bat at Newlands, and skittled them for 176, with Pillay taking two wickets with his medium-pace. After an early stutter in the chase, Pillay guided the hosts to their second win of the tournament with his 91.Zimbabwe lost a wicket in their first over but contributions from the top order got them to 105 for 3 in 23.5 overs. Fast bowler Solo Nqweni, left-arm spinner Lesiba Ngoepe and Pillay affected the collapse. They finished with seven wickets between them as Zimbabwe’s innings lasted just 38.2 overs.South Africa were given a scare by medium-pacer Kyle Bowie, whose three strikes, along with one by his new-ball partner James Bruce, reduced the hosts to 39 for 4. Pillay began the recovery in the company of Murray Coetzee, and the 138-run stand they put together was enough to take South Africa home.

Nasir Jamshed’s rapid half-century helped Chittagong Kings beat Khulna Royal Bengals with five balls to spare in Mirpur

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2012
ScorecardNasir Jamshed’s rapid half-century helped Chittagong Kings beat Khulna Royal Bengals with five balls to spare in Mirpur. They and Barisal Burners are the only unbeaten teams in the Bangladesh Premier League after two games.The Kings lost the toss at the Shere Bangla Stadium and watched the Royal Bengals openers make a strong start. Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Herschelle Gibbs had added 89 by the 11th over, when Gibbs was dismissed by Mahmudullah for 34 off 39 balls. Mahmudullah also dismissed Chanderpaul in the 15th over, for 59 off 50 balls with his team on 114 for 2. Two other West Indians, Dwayne Smith and Andre Russell, ensured the Royal Bengals had a strong finish. They scored 52 in five overs and gave their bowlers 171 to defend.Jahurul Islam fell early but Jamshed, the Pakistan batsman, gave the Kings a quick start. He had a partnership of 88 with Jason Roy for the second wicket and put the chase on course. The innings stumbled when Roy and Mahmudullah fell in the 11th over, and Dwayne Bravo didn’t make much either. Jamshed, however, held one end up, scoring rapidly to deal with the asking-rate. He hit 86 off 47 balls, with ten fours and a six, to steer the Kings to victory in the final over.

New Zealand are likely to play an extra batsman in their starting XI for the third Test

Firdose Moonda20-Mar-2012New Zealand are likely to play an extra batsman in the third Test against South Africa, which starts in Wellington on Friday. The hosts played five specialist batsmen in the previous two Tests, in which the highest total they managed was 273. Only two in their lineup, Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson, scored half-centuries.”That [playing another batsmen] is something we will strongly consider because we haven’t been getting enough runs,” John Wright, the New Zealand coach said. “We’ve looked short at times and have had a long tail.”New Zealand included Daniel Flynn and Dean Brownlie in the squad for the third Test and both look set to play. Flynn is likely to open, even though his two hundreds in two first-class matches came in the middle order. He played 16 Tests for New Zealand between 2008 and 2009, also in the middle order, but Wright said Flynn had always been an eager opener. “He’s earned his place on form; I know he’s keen to eventually bat at the top of the order,” Wright said.Wright ruled out the possibility of McCullum returning to the top of the line-up, saying he will remain at No. 3. He hoped Flynn would solidify the top order to allow the batsmen lower down to play their natural game. “You don’t want to be in a situation with the middle order always going in at 20 for 3,” Wright said. “[Ross] Taylor and McCullum have played well, they just need to go on and post three figures. That’s really what we talk about a lot.”The coach also tipped the other opener, Martin Guptill, to come good after his streak of seven consecutive half-century scores was broken by South Africa. “Guptill’s had a lean time, that can happen when you’re opening. We know he’s a class player and hopefully he’ll come right this Test match.”Brownlie is likely to make a return as the No. 6 batsman, after suffering a broken finger in the series against Zimbabwe last month. New Zealand’s batting woes do not have Wright in panic mode just yet, though. He said even if New Zealand went on to lose the series, they had performed well against a top team.Edited by Devashish Fuloria

Mumbai Indians’ new signings, Pragyan Ojha and Richard Levi, made immediate impact to set up an easy win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the season opener

The Report by Sidharth Monga04-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKieron Pollard was a good deputy to Pragyan Ojha, taking 2 for 15•Associated Press

Mumbai Indians’ new signings, Pragyan Ojha and Richard Levi, made immediate impact to set up an easy win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the season opener. Richard Levi swiped his way to a 35-ball 50 in an easy chase, but it was Ojha who made the crucial contribution. He made a seamless transition from Deccan Chargers to Mumbai, taking two wickets in his first two overs to pull Super Kings just when they were threatening to break free.Super Kings were 69 for 2, having made a bit of a comeback from a slow start, when Ojha was introduced in the 10th over, and three wickets in the next four overs – including those of danger men Suresh Raina and Dwayne Bravo – meant they could add only 43 in the rest of the piece. Kieron Pollard was a good deputy to Ojha, taking two wickets after the spinner had dismissed the settled batsmen.Ojha’s introduction was a pivotal moment in the game. Put in on a surprisingly green Chennai pitch – definitely not one that will impress IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla – Super Kings were just coming out of a period of struggle then. One of their big strikers, M Vijay, had taken six balls to get off the mark, and his anxiousness to do so had resulted in the run-out of fellow opener Faff du Plessis. Soon he himself fell to a slower ball from James Franklin.At the other end, though, Raina enjoyed his homecoming to the tournament he revels most in, starting things off with a six over mid-off, the first of the tournament. Bravo joined in with two beautiful shots on the up off the bowling off Franklin, putting the pressure back on Mumbai. Both the batsmen were now confident enough to take risks off Ojha’s bowling. Raina swept the first ball powerfully, Bravo slogged at the second, and drove the next inside-out for four. That was to be the last boundary of the innings.Ojha refused to give them pace or flatness, and Raina, 36 off 26, picked out sweeper-cover off the fifth ball Ojha bowled. In Ojha’s next, Bravo found long-on with similar precision to fall for a run-a-ball 19. Ojha couldn’t be kept out of the game. He soon caught the promoted Albie Morkel off the varied bowling off Pollard. In Ojha’s last over, the 16th, MS Dhoni fell for a rare non-direct-hit run-out. It must have been some pressure of suffocation at work. Ojha finished with 2 for 17 in his four, and Pollard dismissed S Badrinath in his last to finish with figures of 2 for 15.At 99 for 7 in the 17th over, with two Lasith Malinga overs left, no one would have expected an addition of many more than the eventual 13. The beefy Levi then charged out in the chase, swinging the shoulders, mostly to leg, hitting sixes off Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Dwayne Bravo. The pitch remained lively: Doug Bolinger hit both Rohit Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar with uneven bounce, forcing the latter to retire-hurt. Levi’s explosive start, though, had done enough, and Mumbai cruised through with 3.1 overs to spare.

Dimitri Mascarenhas and Shaun Marsh were the architects of a comfortable win for Kings XI Punjab, their first this IPL after a poor start to the season

The Report by Siddhartha Talya12-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Dimitri Mascarenhas took his second five-for in Twenty20 cricket and helped Kings XI Punjab open their account•AFP

Dimitri Mascarenhas and Shaun Marsh were the architects of a comfortable win for Kings XI Punjab, their first this IPL after a poor start to the season. Mascarenhas picked up his second five-for in Twenty20 cricket, in conditions perfectly suited to his accuracy and medium pace. His performance helped bowl out Pune Warriors for just 115 on a slow track, and Shaun Marsh ensured the chase was on track with a composed half-century that marked his own return to form.On a Mohali track that had some grass and one that was livened up with some rain last night, the Kings XI seamers justified their captain’s decision to field, deriving swing and movement with some accurate bowling and picking up wickets at a steady pace in the process. After the early loss of Jesse Ryder, who was run out thanks to a late decision against a single by his partner Sourav Ganguly, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Awana and Mascarenhas went about slowing down the innings considerably. Praveen got significant away movement and surprised the batsmen with ones that nipped back in.The top order hasn’t really fired for the Warriors and the trend continued. After promising much with a couple of delightful shots, Ganguly was dismissed thanks to the introduction of Mascarenhas. He got rid of Ganguly with some away movement that produced a leading edge, and saw off an edgy Marlon Samuels with a lovely delivery that moved just at the right time to clip the off stump.At the other end, with the Warriors soon reduced to 29 for 3, Uthappa was forced to curb his natural instincts but found an able partner in Mithun Manhas, whose swift running and busy approach didn’t allow his side to buckle down significantly. Interspersed between a spate of singles and twos were a couple of useful boundaries from Manhas, a wristy smack over Piyush Chawla’s head standing out.The 26-run stand for the fifth wicket ended when Uthappa holed out against Mascarenhas in his second spell and Steven Smith followed not long after, bowled off an inside edge. Smith and Uthappa had played a critical role in the Warriors’ previous two wins, chipping in with cameos that proved crucial in the outcome, but weren’t able to push on today.Mascarenhas returned to trouble the Warriors more in his final spell, and wasn’t perturbed when struck for a huge six over extra cover by Manhas. He stuck to a straight line, bowling Manhas the very next ball as he tried the scoop, and picked his fifth as Rahul Sharma skied one to deep midwicket; the innings was wrapped up shortly after.Barring a first-ball setback when Paul Valthaty was cleaned up by Ashok Dinda, Kings XI never really strayed off the track in the chase. Marsh, whose last seven Test innings have yielded just 17 runs, began his innings in style, pulling Dinda through midwicket. It didn’t help the Warriors that their fielding was poor, with misfields, overthrows, a missed run-out and a couple of dropped catches preventing them from putting up a fight.Together with Adam Gilchrist, Marsh saw off the early pressure with two crunching boundaries off Samuels through the off side and Gilchrist matched him, smacking Angelo Mathews for successive fours in the last over of the field restrictions. Marsh, who was reprieved when on 31 and 41, was ruthless when offered width and his adeptness at playing the pull allowed the Warriors bowlers little margin for error. Both timing and power were on display, a classy flick over midwicket off Nehra and a towering six over long-on off Rahul Sharma typifying both those features.Chawla, promoted above David Hussey, gave Marsh good company and sealed the win, the Warriors doing their bit to hasten it through some sloppy fielding.