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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Suresh Raina slugged six sixes into the Wankhede stands•AFP

How did Chennai win this? How did Bangalore lose this? Chennai always seemed to be lagging behind but surged like a tidal wave towards the end, with the odd run-filled over now and then, to storm into their third IPL final in four seasons. At the forefront was the feisty Suresh Raina, who pulled out the big shots through the latter half of the chase to set up an improbable win. The defeat makes Bangalore’s path to the final – and beyond – tougher. They will have to win the second Qualifier on Saturday, if they are to meet Chennai in the final at the MA Chidambaram stadium, where the hosts have been unbeaten all season.Bangalore will look back and rue at a few poor overs. There were full tosses and length deliveries galore and Chennai capitalised in some style. Virat Kohli bowled a slew of full tosses in the ninth over to leak 16 runs, and Abhimanyu Mithun kept bowling length deliveries in the 13th over, bleeding 23 runs. It included a fabulously carved six over the covers as Raina went down on a bent knee, to follow his muscled heave over long-off. Even then, the equation – 82 from 42 balls – seemed a tough proposition and it got tighter when it came down to 58 from 24. Chris Gayle had led from front with a parsimonious spell that read 4-0-19-0 as he fired in the skidders and the occasional yorker to pin down Chennai.But Raina wasn’t done yet, and he ramped it up style in the 17th over, from Zaheer Khan, who had been exemplary in his opening three-over spell. Raina’s two sixes over midwicket, a thumping pull and a clubbed swing, were sandwiched by a bottom-hand powered six over wide long-on by MS Dhoni, who however fell in the same over. Zaheer went for 20 runs in that over and Chennai had well and truly seized the momentum.More agony awaited Bangalore in the 19th over, bowled by S Aravind. Albie Morkel crashed a slower ball over long-on and clubbed a full toss over long-off before Raina killed another full toss over the midwicket boundary. That 21-run over left Chennai needing 12 off the final over by Daniel Vettori and Morkel dragged a four to wide long-on, before walloping the fourth ball over midwicket to win the contest.Until those frenetic end overs, Bangalore were well on their way to becoming the first team to enter the final. The big question before the game was whether Bangalore would deflate like cheap party balloons if Gayle went out early. They answered that in an emphatic manner, as Kohli powered them to a competitive total.Bangalore were in danger of slipping into free-fall after Gayle fell cheaply, trapped by R Aswhin, but Kohli and Luke Pomersbach ensured they stayed afloat. While Kohli batted with calculated aggression, Pomersbach counterattacked, taking 17 runs in the 15th over, off Dwayne Bravo. A murderous heave to wide long-on, a slash to third man and a flat six over midwicket were the highlights. Kohli, though, was the person who sculpted and shaped Bangalore’s innings. Two shots in particular reflected the assurance in his knock. In the 13th over, he sashayed back to a back-of-length delivery from Raina to unfurl a peachy punch to the cover-point boundary. Then, off the final ball of the 16th over, he leaned forward to play a classy lofted whip over wide long-on Ashwin. He went on to produce two more screaming sixes – over long-on and covers – off Morkel in the 19th over, to push Bangalore to a good total but Raina decided to gatecrash the party.

Scorecard
A patient half-century from allrounder Jim Allenby helped Glamorgan set Gloucestershire a target of 385 at Cardiff. That was after the home side declared their second innings at tea on 370 for 9.By the close Gloucestershire had moved on to 42 for no wicket, needing another343 runs to win on the final day. It was something of a turnaround in fortunes for Glamorgan, who had been 26 for 4 and 54 for 6 in their first innings at the start of the opening day.Glamorgan had resumed their second innings on the third morning on 185 for 3 – an overall lead of 199. And they were indebted to Mark Wallace and a level-headed approach by Allenbyafter they lost both Ben Wright and Will Bragg in the space of four overs.Ben Wright was run out by a direct hit from Ian Cockbain while Bragg was snaffled at slip off Vikram Banerjee. But Wallace played confidently while Allenby adopted a cool head as thesixth-wicket partnership added 55 in 21 overs.Even though Wallace was dropped on 18 and then survived an lbw appeal, and Allenby saw off strong stumping and caught behind shouts, the pair soldiered on to take the Welsh side up to 247. But Wallace was caught on 37, leaving Graham Wagg, who had a runner aftersuffering a hamstring injury while bowling on day one, to continue the job ofsetting up a winning position.Glamorgan had moved on to 276 for 6 by lunch but with the ninth delivery with the second new ball Jon Lewis had Wagg caught behind for 19. Allenby, who reached his half-century in three hours from 127 balls with six fours, was joined by James Harris, who made a useful 25 before miscuing Banerjee to point.Allenby followed six overs later, holing out to cover as he was dismissed for 68 from 158 balls with seven fours. Dean Cosker added a mighty six just before Glamorgan declared at tea.After the interval, and with four sessions remaining, openers Cockbain and Richard Coughtrie began steadily with the former driving Harris for three fours through the offside.Cosker entered the attack in the eighth over and immediately posed a few problems for the young openers as Coughtrie nearly spooned a return catch to the slow left-armer, whose first six overs were all maidens. But the Gloucestershire openers survived the final 25 overs, with Cockbain 33 not out overnight.

The three Pakistan cricketers accused of spot-fixing in a Test match against England will stand trial from May 20, a British judge has ordered. Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, and the agent Mazhar Majeed, will be tried in Southwark Crown Court in London on charges of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments.The four accused were present – dressed in suits and looking relaxed – at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ court on Thursday for the hearing to set the trial date. The cricketers were given unconditional bail and Majeed was told to surrender his passport and not apply for international travel documents.The prosecution objected to unconditional bail being granted but the players’ lawyers told the court they would attend all future hearings and, though sureties of up to £50,000 were offered to secure their bail, the judge, Howard Riddle, said it was unnecessary.He warned all four to ensure they attend Southwark Crown Court saying: “There is no doubt the allegations are very serious and I know you recognise that.” Noting all four were of good character, Riddle said the men’s reputations were of the “utmost importance” to them.The cricketers were previously funded by the Pakistan Cricket Board but, according to , their lawyer confirmed outside court that had ended.Accepting corrupt payments is an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine. Cheating is an offence under Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005, carrying a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.They players and their agent were charged after being questioned by Scotland Yard detectives over the alleged scandal in the Test at Lord’s last August, following accusations by the tabloid newspaper.The three players have already been banned by the ICC, which held a separate inquiry, for periods ranging from five to ten years. All three have, however, already filed appeals against their bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

Trinidad & Tobago captain Daren Ganga guided his side home from a tricky situation in the match against Combined Campuses and Colleges at Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground in St Augustine. Going into the final day needing 84 for victory with five wickets in hand, T&T got home with two wickets to spare, Ganga scoring an unbeaten 85 and guiding the lower order through some tense moments. He was given company by Imran Khan, Rayad Emrit and Dave Mohammed who scored 43 crucial runs among them. Debutant CCC fast bowler Carlos Brathwaite picked up two of the three wickets to fall in the day, taking his innings figures to an impressive to 7 for 90 in 25.3 overs. T&T take 12 points from the match to go to the top of the table alongside England Lions and Jamaica.The Barbados versus England Lions match ended in an expected draw, at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. James Taylor, resuming on an overnight score of 97, continued to pile on the runs, but missed out on a double century. He was dismissed on 186 by Sharmarh Brooks, while his partner from the day before, Craig Kieswetter made 75. The lower order did not put up much resistance, barring Danny Brooks who remained unbeaten by 38. The innings folded on 538 to bring the match to a close. Pedro Collins finished with the best figures for Barbados, with 3 for 89 in 35 overs. England Lions pick up six points (for procuring the first innings lead), while Barbados get three points.The match at the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s between Windward Islands and Jamaica ended in a draw, with no play possible post lunch on the final day due to rain. Going into Day Four with the scoreboard reading 27 for 1 and an effective lead of 126, Jamaica struggled to 53 for 4 before the rain came down. Jamaica take six points from the match for gaining the first innings lead, while Windward Islands get three.The game at Bourda in Georgetown was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain and a soaked outfield. Hosts Guyana and Leeward Islands get three points each for the washout.

With 25 days to go for the 2011 World Cup, Ratnakar Shetty, the tournament’s director, has dismissed concerns about the preparedness of venues for the event.There had been worries over the redevelopment of grounds in India and Sri Lanka, which had overshot their initial deadlines on November 30 and December 31, but Shetty said they were now on track.”I think the concerns are more in the media than anything else,” Shetty said following the ICC’s inspection on Monday of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, one of the grounds that was running behind schedule. “As far as we are concerned, all the 13 venues which are going to stage the World Cup are coming up very well and we don’t see any reason of concern.”The ICC team, comprising their stadium consultant Eugene van Vuuren, the body’s general commercial manager Campbell Jamieson and events manager Chris Tetley, will next visit Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday to check out its status. While the Wankhede has had all its stands completely rebuilt, Eden Gardens had two stands renovated.The tournament kicks off on February 19, with India taking on Bangladesh in Mirpur. The Wankhede will host the final on April 2, in addition to league games on March 13 and 18. Eden Gardens will host four matches, with the first one scheduled for February 27.

There was just one result from the three fixtures in the eighth round of the SuperSport Series this week, with rain playing a big part in the all the matches.Cobras earned a nine-wicket win over Dolphins in Durban to move to second place on the table, 12.12 points behind the Titans. With wet weather hanging over Kingsmead, the Dolphins put the Cobras in to bat first and had early success. Seamers Quinton Friend, Jon Kent and Mthokozisi Shezi took four early wickets between them to have Cobras pegged back on 55 for 4. Skipper Justin Kemp rode to the Cobras’ rescue and a 137-run stand for the fifth wicket with Justin Ontong effectively set the platform for their victory. Kemp finished unbeaten on 135, Friend with 4 for 80 and the Cobras were bowled out for 360.The Dolphins were never allowed to settle in their knock and were bowled out for 162, incurring a deficit of 198 runs. Vernon Philander, who took 4 for 47, and Rory Kleinveldt, who ended with 3 for 30, did the bulk of the damage. The Dolphins were made to follow on and managed 255 in their second stint at the crease. They had a decent start with Devon Conway and Imran Khan scoring 35 and 37 respectively. The rest of the order crumbled and only Jon Kent’s half-century saved them from an innings defeat. Philander’s 4 for 49 saw him amongst the wickets again. The Cobras were set a target of 63 to win. They reached with only the loss of Alastair Gray for 15.In East London, play was only possible for the first two days of the match between the Warriors and the Titans. Jacques Rudolph’s continued claim for a national recall was the feature of the Titans innings. Rudolph scored 105 in the Titans total of 256. It was his third hundred in eight matches and takes him just 45 runs behind the competitions top scorer Neil McKenzie. Andrew Birch ran through the rest of the Titans line-up taking 6 for 52 while Farhaan Berhadien contributed 63 and Albie Morkel a confidence boosting unbeaten 55.The Warriors lost both their openers for ducks in reply. Brad Bennet was bowled by Morkel and Michael Price suffered a similar fate at the hands of Ethy Mbhalati. Jon-Jon Smuts settled in comfortably and scored 131. He was ably assisted by Arno Jacobs who scored 63 and Craig Thyssen, who was unbeaten on 67. Eden Links’ 4 for 71 was the most successful return by a Titans bowler. The heavens opened with the Warriors on 307 for 6, leading by 51, and by the end of the match had not closed.The Lions and the Knights also only managed one innings apiece in their clash in Bloemfontein. The Knights set themselves up for a long period in the field when they chose to send the Lions in to bat. Steven Cook and Alviro Petersen put on 99 for the first wicket with Petersen finishing on 52 and Cook going on to make 106. The innings belonged to young Temba Bavuma who scored 124 in just his second first-class game. The Lions declared on 336 for 9 in 98 overs.In reply, the Knights were in all sorts of trouble at 124 for 5. Dean Elgar was still at the crease on 66, but the rest of the top five were out in the single digits. Ethan O’Reilly took 2 for 33 and Friedel de Wet 2 for 11. Despite a strong performance by the Lions, they slip to fourth on the table, with the Dolphins moving into third. The competition takes a two month break to make way for the Standard Bank Pro20, which starts next Friday.Batsman of the week: Temba Bavuma came in as a late replacement for McKenzie, who had a calf injury and made the most of his opportunity. He scored his maiden SuperSport Series century to boost his franchise career.Bowler of the week: Vernon Philander’s eight-wicket match haul went a long way to helping the Cobras beat the Dolphins. Philander has 35 wickets in the competition at an average of 16.11.

Tests against Australia have traditionally been the acid test for England batsmen, but Jonathan Trott’s brief flirtation with Ashes cricket has so far bucked that trend, with two second-innings centuries in his only two appearances, at The Oval in 2009 and most recently at the Gabba last week.But if any cricketer in the England team knows what it takes to begin again from scratch in Adelaide this week, it is Trott, whose unflappable desire to pile up runs irrespective of circumstance has made him indispensable at first drop in England’s order. His plan for dealing with Australia’s bowlers for the rest of the series is simple: “We don’t want to give them a sniff”.Coming into the first Test, Trott was the only member of England’s batting unit not to have made a half-century in any of the three warm-up fixtures in Perth, Adelaide and Hobart, but having shown promising signs of form during his first-innings 29, he made it count second-time around to bat England to safety with a massive unbeaten 329-run stand with Alastair Cook.”Leading up to the Test match I felt in good nick but I hadn’t been able to kick on and get a big score, so I was very pleased to contribute to an excellent fightback that was set up by Staussy and Cooky,” Trott said. “I’ve been pretty fortunate to do pretty well [against Australia], but individually and as a team things can change pretty quickly.”Trott’s unbeaten 135 has given him a share in two triple-century stands in consecutive Test matches, following his record eighth-wicket 332-run with Stuart Broad against Pakistan at Lord’s back in August. By his own admission the conditions in Brisbane were benign by the final day, having assisted the bowlers on both sides early in the match, but the powers of concentration he displayed during his six-hour stay with Cook were not to be under-estimated.”The wicket flattened out and that’s what Test cricket is about, it’s about hard yards,” said Trott. “Sometimes you get on wickets as a batter that are tricky to bat on, so it evens itself out. At the Gabba it probably wasn’t what you want as an ideal Test wicket, but you get on with what you’re given, and we did that pretty well. To be 200 behind wasn’t ideal in the first Test of the Ashes, but we showed great character in the way we were able to get back in the game.”With unseasonal rain interrupting preparations ahead of the second Test, there is a slim chance that the Adelaide wicket will prove to be more sporting than the one at the Gabba. However, the ground’s new curator, Damian Hough, has promised a “traditional” pitch for his first match in charge, which implies it will be slow and full of runs, with some assistance for spin bowlers late in the game. Much as was the case on England’s last visit four years ago, in fact, when Shane Warne spun them to a standstill on a shocking final day, despite the teams each registering 500-plus totals in the first innings.Trott is the only member of England’s top six who missed that fixture, but he admitted that the memories, although ancient history as far as the current squad is concerned, still serve as a cautionary tale – not least on the final day of the Brisbane Test, when the satisfaction at rescuing the team from a sticky first-innings situation was tempered by the knowledge that their lead going into the fifth day – 88, with nine wickets intact – was actually worse than had been the case in that fateful Adelaide match.”The way we approached batting on the last day [in Brisbane], obviously we were only 90 ahead, and I was speaking to Alastair, and he said they were only half of that ahead in this game [Adelaide],” he said. “So we were making sure that our mindset was to bat for each hour, then reassess. It was normal Test match batting. We don’t get ahead of ourselves, we just do what we do well as a pair, and as a unit. But I don’t think the guys will be worried about four years ago. It was in the past and we’re looking to come to Adelaide and win.”England’s overall approach to the series has been as measured as Trott’s own approach to batting. The desire appears to be to take the series one ball at a time, let alone one Test at a time, and extraneous issues such as the form of Mitchell Johnson or the likely make-up of Australia’s attack, with Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris both competing hard for inclusion, are not being allowed to impact on the team’s overall planning.”When you’re batting as a pair you don’t worry about outside things that are going on,” said Trott. “The fact we could bat for a long length of time is very pleasing, and that’s our job, to get their bowlers into their third and fourth spells, and get ourselves big scores. We don’t want to give them a sniff.”Johnson most certainly wasn’t given a sniff in the first Test. He went wicketless for the first time in his career, with England frustrating him with their disciplined refusal to flirt outside off stump. “I think that’s generally the idea in Test cricket,” said Trott. “You don’t want to be playing where you don’t need to be. There’s no huge urgency on run-rate, and although it’s good to have a positive mindset, you want to be playing in your areas of strength, where you know you can score and are confident.”Trott may have played his part in finishing the first Test on a high, but having being bowled out for 260 on the first day of the match, he’s under no illusions that improvements are required from England’s batting if they are to make good on any psychological ascendancy that may exist. “The one thing we look at in Brisbane is our first innings,” he said. We didn’t get as many as we’d have liked, because if we’d got a big score we’d have put pressure on them. As a batting unit, first-innings runs in Australia are very important. Hopefully it’s in this game.”

Graeme Swann became England’s first injury scare of their tour of Australia when he was struck on the thumb while batting in the nets during the squad’s first training session at the WACA on Monday. However, the extent of the damage was quickly played down by his team-mate Stuart Broad, as England set their sights on their opening first-class warm-up match against Western Australia on Friday.Swann is currently the highest-ranked spin bowler in the world, and is widely considered to be England’s key weapon going into the Ashes. So there was understandable concern when he was struck on the thumb by a rising delivery from Tim Bresnan. He received ice treatment and strapping, but his upbeat body language suggested that no long-term damage had been inflicted.”He’s fine. It’s just a bit of precautionary strapping,” Broad told reporters after the session. “I don’t think he’s in any trouble at all. He just got a bit of a blow, which you’re used to in nets. I think he’s pleased his thumb got him out of the running.””Thanks to both of you who enquired about my thumb,” Swann later wrote on his Twitter feed. “It’s fine, I just like my boiled eggs runny.”Swann was nevertheless the third member of England’s bowling contingent to suffer an injury worry, following the rib injuries sustained by James Anderson and Chris Tremlett during the pre-series bonding session in Bavaria last month. Anderson, however, took part in the nets session without any obvious discomfort, although having been diagnosed with a fracture, he may not be risked until England’s subsequent practice matches at Adelaide and Hobart later this month.England’s preparations took place against the backdrop of two intriguing contests – firstly at the WACA, where Australia were brushed aside by seven wickets by Sri Lanka in a Twenty20 international on Sunday night, and secondly on a greentop at the Gabba in Brisbane, the venue for the first Ashes Test on November 25, where the home side, Queensland, failed to pass 100 in either of their two innings against New South Wales.Commenting on Australia’s setback, however, Broad insisted that England would not be reading anything into the result. “It’s a completely different format of the game, and I think there are only two or three players who were involved last night and look in the frame for the first Ashes Test match,” he said. “So there’s certainly nothing we can take from last night as an England team.”

Aamer Sohail, the former Pakistan captain, has criticised the nation’s government for failing to put a check on the various crises affecting cricket in the country. Several Pakistan cricketers were punished in the aftermath of a winless tour of Australia in 2009-10 and, most recently, Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were provisionally suspended by the ICC over suspicion of being involved in the spot-fixing controversy during the tour of England. Sohail called on the patron-in-chief of the PCB, the Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari, to step in.”The government must realise it [cricket] is not just a sport in Pakistan, a country where there are so many religious, political and other divisions,” Sohail told . “In a country where people are facing so many crises and problems, the government must realise cricket has always served as a unifying factor.”The chief patron must wake up to the reality and the seriousness of the crisis. Good governance is all about recognising the potential of cricket to unify the people and give them happiness and joy in their lives.”Sohail, not for the first time, was critical of Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, over the current state of affairs. Sohail had served as the director of Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy, before quitting in July 2009, because of differences with Butt.”I am really surprised that a seasoned political party like the Pakistan Peoples Party has still not realised that things are not moving forward with this present set-up and chairman,” Sohail said.Pakistan recently announced their team for the tour of the UAE, where they will face South Africa in each of the three formats. Misbah-ul-Haq was included in the team and, in a surprising move, made captain for the Test series. Younis Khan, whose ban after the Australia series was overturned, wasn’t picked. “For no rhyme or reason Ijaz Butt refuses to give clearance for Younis to be in the Pakistan team. If Younis has committed a major crime or indiscipline then it is the duty of the board to let the people know so that this chapter is closed once for all,” Sohail said.”Enough is enough and I don’t think any former chairman of the board has faced so much criticism and opposition for his manner of running cricket affairs. Yet the government appears to be blind to popular public opinion even though it preaches democracy.”