Duminy's brilliance dump Bangalore in CL opener

Not a single Bangalore bowler was saved from Duminy's pyrotechnics as the left-hander struck eight fours and five sixes in his scintillating 52-ball knock to power the South African side home with two balls to spare.

Apart from Duminy, Henry Davids (27 off 21) and Ryan Canning (20 off 18) were the other notable scorers for Cobras.

Praveen Kumar was the pick of the bowlers for Bangalore, picking up three wickets for 32 runs.

Earlier, Robin Uthappa made a brisk 51 off 39 balls while Taylor scored an unbeaten 53 off 24 deliveries to help Royal Challengers post a formidable 180 on the board.

Cobras' run chase got off to horrendous start as Praveen Kumar found the outside edge of Herschelle Gibbs' (0) bat in the last ball of the opening over.

Skipper Andrew Puttick became Praveen's next casualty as he found a thick edge and Virat Kohli did the rest.

Then Davids (27 off 21) and JP Duminy stabilised the Protea side innings with a 48-run third wicket stand before Davids fell prey to first change R Vinay Kumar, caught by Kohli just after hitting the bowler for back-to-back fours.

But Duminy used his experience to great effect and played sensibly with fours and sixes when required to keep alive the Cobras' chase.

Needing 53 off the last five, Ryan Canning stepped up the gear, cutting Kohli for four and then Duminy finished off the over with another boundary in the last ball.

Duminy then clobbered his South Africa team-mate Roelef van der Merwe over the long on boundary to reduce the margin to 32 runs off 20 balls.

To the disappointment of Bangalore fans, skipper Anil Kumble dropped Duminy at 74 off his own bowling and the left-hander then added salt to the former India captain's wound by hitting his next ball over the mid-wicket boundary.

Duminy hammered the final nail in Royal Challengers coffin when he hit two consecutive fours off Praveen with Cobras needing 17 off nine deliveries.

The 25-year-old middle-order batsman, who plays for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, then finished off the proceedings, slamming R Vinay Kumar over wide long-on.

more on: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Dhoni ranked cricket's top earner

Dubai: It's official now: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has dislodged Little Master Sachin Tendulkar as the world's top earning cricketer.

According to the list of the world's top 10 earning cricketers compiled by Forbes magazine, Dhoni now occupies the top spot with earnings of $10 million (Dh36.73 million) over the last 12 months - a period in which Tendulkar raked in $8 million.

The list also includes three other cricketers from the Indian sub-continent - third-placed Yuvraj Singh and fourth-placed Rahul Dravid. Retired Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting are tied at sixth place.

Singh earned $5.5 million while Dravid and Ganguly raked in $5 million and $3.5 million, respectively. Ponting earned $3.5 million.

"Paycheque figures include club and national team salaries and commercial endorsement income over the last 12 months," Forbes said.

This could be a matter of pride for the Mindscapes Group, which had been handling Dhoni's portfolio for the last two years.

"We have reached such a situation that over the last couple of months, we have had to say no to a number of prospective clients. The credit is entirely his and our team is extremely happy about it," Yudhajit Dutta, director of the group, said.

Vettori hopes for improved showing on limited-overs leg

Daniel Vettori didn't have a lot to smile about yesterday, but was hoping to start afresh with the two Twenty20s against Sri Lanka after the defeats in the Test matches. Though New Zealand were outclassed in both Tests, there is still plenty of limited-overs cricket for them before returning home - the two Twenty20s preceding the tri-series, also featuring India, with the Champions Trophy in South Africa to follow.

England await another pace barrage

Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Start time 19.00 (18.00 GMT)

Autumn certainly arrived in Manchester on Sunday as a full house huddled up against the cold and damp before being left unfulfilled when the first Twenty20 was abandoned seven balls into England's chase. However, for the home side it looked like a reprieve after Australia's new ball pair of Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson rattled the top order.

Joe Denly's Twenty20 debut couldn't really have gone much worse - a dropped catch and a first-ball duck - while Ravi Bopara's problems outside off stump continued with a flash to slip. The Australians were pumped, with Johnson enjoying some heated banter with the crowd, and Lee eager to put weeks of frustration on the sidelines behind him.

For Australia this period of one-day action is about moving on from the Ashes defeat, but also about building a side for the World Twenty in West Indies next April. Cameron White, on his return to side, staked a huge claim with the innings of the day and will aim for a repeat on Tuesday. Hopefully, too, there will be a chance to see Dirk Nannes in action.

England are also plotting and planning having never settled on a Twenty20 side. The bowling unit was impressive in the opening match - although Stuart Broad's round-the-wicket attack isn't convincing - but they need to hold all their catches. Denly's miss off White on 12 could have been the difference if the first game had gone the distance.

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