Arsenal to face Manchester City and Chelsea in opening Premier League fixtures, fans react

Unai Emery would have known that his Arsenal career would not be easy, but he would have hoped to have an easier start to the season.

The Spaniard will kick off the 2018-19 Premier League campaign with arguably the toughest match-up of the opening weekend.

Emery will host his first top-flight game at the Emirates against the reigning champions Manchester City on August 11.

It will not get any easier after that as they travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea, so theoretically, Arsenal could be six points behind their rivals after the opening two weeks.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255610″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Five England World Cup games you totally forgot happened”]

Of course, there is no reason why they will not earn maximum points, but it is not the ideal way for Emery to ease into English football.

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Pressure will be heavy on the manager’s shoulders as he tries to eradicate two previous disappointing campaigns that ended in failure to qualify for the Champions League.

Once the fixtures were announced, the fans were automatically drawn to the opening two games.

Spurs fans want Rebic after his performance vs Argentina

Tottenham Hotspur have reignited their interest in Croatia international Ante Rebic, according to Bild, via The Express.

The Express’ report says that a fee of £26.3million would convince the German club to sell the winger to Spurs, with the London club looking to bolster their squad for the upcoming campaign.

The Croatian winger impressed against Nigeria in the first round, and capped off a brilliant performance against Argentina with a terrific volley in Croatia’s 3-0 win yesterday.

Rebic has been a consistent performer for his club side Eintracht Frankfurt. He played 25 games for the Bundesliga side last season, scoring six goals and contributing three assists to a side that went on to win the German Cup.

Spurs fans seem to think he is a steal at just over £25m, and they are not holding back in their excitement surrounding the Croatian on the back of his brilliant performances at the World Cup.

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Here’s how fans expressed their excitement on Twitter…

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Lahore Ravi crush Quetta for first win

A round-up of the third day’s action of the seventh round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2009-10

Cricinfo staff17-Nov-2009

Group B

Quetta were pushed to the bottom of the table after sinking to a ten-wicket defeat to Lahore Ravi in a basement battle at the Lahore City Cricket Association ground. The match had been evenly balanced after two days, and Quetta started the third day well, removing Lahore’s final two wickets in three overs, keeping the deficit to 48. Their batsmen flopped though, slumping to 108 all out, with only Ata-ur-Rehman making more than 25. Lahore’s new-ball bowlers, Junaid Zia and Waqas Ahmed, shared seven wickets to roll over Quetta in 30 overs. Lahore’s openers then knocked off the 61 needed for victory in less than 15 overs to confirm their first win of the season.In another battle between struggling teams, Peshawar were struggling to stave off defeat against Islamabad at the National Ground. Set a tall target of 393 with more than 140 overs to play, Peshawar were hanging on at 249 for 7 at stumps. Opener Israrullah top scored with a hurricane 82, with a huge 66 of those runs coming in boundaries. Several of his team-mates, adopting a more measured approach, got off to starts but none went on make even a half-century. Peshawar’s hopes of surviving are now pinned on No. 6 Azam Jan, who is unbeaten on 40.At the Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot’s batsmen made amends for their first-innings failure by piling on 493 for 9 against Rawalpindi. Mohammad Ayub batted all through the day to remain unbeaten on 179, the highest score of his career. It was a hard slog for the Rawalpindi bowlers as he strung together several large partnerships: 103 for the fifth wicket with Ayaz Tasawwar, 108 with Nayyer Abbas (65) for the sixth before ending the day with an unbroken 69-run stand with Bilawal Bhatti (41 off 24) for the ninth. His effort has pushed Sialkot’s lead to 385, virtually eliminating chances of a defeat.Multan took control of their match at the Gymkhana Ground by reducing Abbottabad to 156 for 8. The Multan tail wagged in the morning, with the final three wickets adding 68 runs, during which Mohammad Hafeez completed his century. That cut the first-innings deficit to 25 runs, after which Abbottabad’s Ghulam Mohammad (45) and Ehteshamuddin (39) guided their side to a relatively safe 135 for 3. A stunning collapse followed, four wickets going down for one run to put Multan on top.Table-topping Karachi Blues’ match against Faisalabad at the National Stadium witnessed a day of batting domination. No. 9 Tanvir Ahmed made the bulk of the runs for Karachi, smashing a 94-ball 88, to push Karachi to 401 from an overnight 293 for 8. The bowlers continued to have a hard time when Faisalabad batted; half-centuries to Ammar Mahmood and Zeeshan Asif taking the reply to a patient 188 for 4 by stumps.Group A
Having gained first-innings points the previous day, the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) bowlers, led by left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, did well to restrict Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to 230 for 8 at the Diamond Club Cricket Ground. Beginning on 248 for 9, the HBL batsmen lasted just nine balls, as Asad Ali finished with 7 for 98. Naeemuddin and Ali Waqas hit half-centuries as the SNGPL top order aimed for a bright start during the reply. But Abdur dented the middle and lower orders to leave them tottering at stumps, ahead by 226.Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) were in danger of losing their match against Karachi Whites at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex, despite gaining first-innings points. From their overnight score of 196 for 4, Karachi were boosted to 310 all out, courtesy Mohammad Hasan’s watchful 88. Having set WAPDA a target of 259, the Karachi fast bowling duo of Malik Aftab and Tabish Khan shared five wickets between them to damage the top order. At 152 for 6, WAPDA’s hopes rest heavily on wicketkeeper Ahmed Said, who is unbeaten on 48.Well-compiled hundreds by Imran Javed and captain Naumanullah steered National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to first-innings points against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in Rawalpindi. Resuming on 174 for 3, both overnight batsmen went about overhauling KRL’s first-innings total of 353 in confident fashion. While Imran hit 18 fours and a six during his 321-ball 176, Naumanullah managed 12 boundaries during his 110 off 236 balls. The 263-run stand for the fourth wicket was enough for NBP as they finished on 398 all out. KRL left-arm spinner Nauman Ali had the consolation of a five-for.Lahore Shalimar‘s woes at the bottom of the table continued as they conceded first-innings points to Sui Southern Gas Corporation (SSGC) at the Gaddafi Stadium. All the SSGC bowlers chipped in with useful contributions – most notably right-arm seamer Bilal Asad with 3 for 45 – as they bowled out Lahore for 307, 115 short of SSGC’s first-innings total. At stumps, SSGC were 90 for 2 with opener Asif Zakir (42) and Imran Abbas (25) at the crease.Kashif Daud’s 6 for 47 put Zarai Tarqiati Bank Limted (ZTBL) in pole position against Pakistan Customs at the Marghzar Cricket Ground. Customs’ resistance from 143 for 6 was over in 15 overs as they folded for 183, with right-arm fast bowler Daud adding three more to his overnight tally. Looking to build on their lead of 146, the ZTBL batsmen weighed in with good starts as they declared on 183 for 8. Chasing the target of 330, Customs lost wicketkeeper-captain Hanif Malik, trapped leg before by, who else, but Daud.

Assam complete three-day drubbing

A round-up of the third day’s play of the fourth-round matches of the Ranji Trophy Plate League 2009-10

Cricinfo staff03-Dec-2009

Group A

Scorecard
Abu Nechim took his second five-for of the match, finishing with career-best figures of 10 for 83, as Tripura was dismissed for 172 during the follow-on, giving Assam victory by an innings and 55 runs in three days. Tripura began the day on 35 for 3, trailing by 192 runs. Kaushik Aphale and Nishit Shetty steered them to 90 but both batsmen were dismissed by Sairaj Bahutule and Arlen Konwar in quick time. Nechim then began dismantling the lower-order, taking four of the last five wickets to fall to finish with 5 for 43 off 23.2 overs. The victory catapulted Assam from sixth to the top of the Plate League.
Scorecard
Goa’s bowlers backed up a terrific performance from their batsmen by chipping away at the Jharkhand batting line-up and were a wicket away from giving their captain the option of enforcing the follow-on. Jharkhand, resuming on 34 for 1 on the third morning, had only two major contributors. Opener Sachin Prasad scored a century, his maiden first-class hundred, and captain Saurabh Tiwary made 60 but no one else passed 20. Shadab Jakati was the best bowler, taking 3 for 53 in 27 overs, while Saurabh Bandekar and Kshemal Waingankar took two apiece.
Scorecard
There’s an absorbing tussle going on in Jaipur. Vidarbha, having limited Rajasthan to only a six-run first-innings lead, were in turn reduced to 158 for 5, with an overall advantage of only 152. Rajasthan began the third day on 166 for 5, trailing by 72 runs, but their lower-order batsmen failed to string together partnerships. Akshay Wakhare sliced through the batting, taking the last four wickets to finish with career-best figures of 6 for 56, and Rajasthan were dismissed for 244. Vidarbha, in their second innings, made a solid start with the openers adding 61. However, after Amit Paunikar fell for 23, Vidarbha lost wickets regularly to slip to 118 for 5 before Akshay Kohlar, who was unbeaten on 61, steered them safely to the close of play. Pankaj Singh and Madur Khatri took two wickets each for Rajasthan.

Group B

Scorecard
Madhya Pradesh were three wickets away from completing an innings victory against Jammu and Kashmir at the end of the third day in Indore. MP resumed their first innings on 440 for 7 in the morning and Devendra Bundela reached his 150. They were eventually dismissed for 519, with a lead of 348, and Abid Nabi was J&K’s best bowler, having taken 5 for 148. J&K struggled in their second innings, losing two wickets with the score on 15. Captain Vinayak Mane and Hiken Shah revived the innings, steering them to 114, before both batsmen fell in quick succession. TP Sudhindra took 3 for 42, while Sanjay Pandey and Ankit Sharma took two each, to reduce J&K to 206 for 7 at stumps.
Scorecard
A rearguard century from No. 10 Joginder Sharma propped Haryana up to 298 in their second innings, setting Andhra a formidable target to win their Ranji Plate fixture in Anantapur. Haryana were in trouble in their second innings, resuming on 107 for 5, leading by only 139 runs. They soon lost their overnight half-centurion, Rahul Dewan, and were gradually reduced to 184 for 9. Joginder then found support in Sanjay Budhwar, the No. 11 batsman, who hung around for 75 balls and scored 17. Joginder went about doing the bulk of the scoring, hitting 16 fours in his 110 off 178 balls, before he was the last man dismissed. Andhra faced only one ball of the chase before play ended.

Dermot Reeve accuses Ravi Bopara of ball-tampering

Central Districts coach Dermot Reeve’s fumes that Auckland’s Ravi Bopara had tampered with the ball to get it to reverse swing

Cricinfo staff22-Dec-2009 Ravi Bopara’s match-winning performance for Auckland against Central Districts in the New Zealand Cricket one-day competition in Palmerston North has been marred by CD coach Dermot Reeve’s claim that the England import tampered with the ball.Reeve, himself a former England cricketer, said he witnessed Bopara picking at the seam in order to get the ball to reverse-swing during CD’s failed run-chase. Bopara, who had earlier scored a century, claimed 1 for 51 in 10 overs of medium-pace.”I would take an oath and swear on my children’s lives, that I saw Ravi Bopara using his nails on the ball to help it swing,” Reeve told the .Bopara’s coach Paul Strang denied the claim. “It was a windy day, the ball does funny things,” Strang said. “None of these concerns have been addressed to me. I think it might be sour grapes from one end.”Reeve was not happy with Strang’s denial. “What Strang is saying is ridiculous. A windy day? I know 100% the ball was tampered with,” Reeve said. “I had the binoculars on him and I saw his nails on the ball on several occasions.”When I spoke to the umpires, they said ‘unless we actually see somebody putting their nails in or doing something to the ball, how can we prove it’? Unless an umpire has got the b**** to stop Bopara in his run-up and just say ‘give me the ball right then’, he’ll see a raised quarter seam, causing reverse swing.”Reeve did not find support from his side’s captain Jamie How, who said he did not notice anything out of the ordinary when he was batting and that any swing he encountered was “part of the game”.This is the second time Reeve has been in the news in recent times, after having accused Auckland and Northern Districts of collusion in order to contrive a result in their controversial Plunket Shield encounter earlier this month.

Next in line White wants to learn

Cameron White is second-in-command for Friday’s T20 against Pakistan and there is a push for him to take the reins permanently

Brydon Coverdale03-Feb-2010Mark Waugh believes Cameron White should be Australia’s Twenty20 captain. Justin Langer thinks White can definitely lead Australia in the future. The man himself is more interested in learning from Michael Clarke, but it’s a scenario that might not be far away after his promotion as Australia’s Twenty20 deputy.White is second-in-command for Friday’s game against Pakistan and there is a push for him to take the reins permanently, given Clarke’s ongoing back problems and his struggles in the shortest format. The chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch is in no doubt Clarke can contribute as a Twenty20 player, despite never having passed 50 in 19 internationals.Clarke’s style of batting works perfectly in Tests and he’s an effective one-day player, but he doesn’t typically show the sort of raw power associated with the shortest format. By contrast, White was one of the first batsmen to shine when the 20-over game arrived on the English domestic scene and he has captained Victoria for seven seasons and led them to four Big Bash titles in five years.”Michael’s going to do a great job and I’ll just look forward to working with him,” White said. “I’m still really young in the [Australia] job as well and very inexperienced at this level, so I think I can learn a lot off him.”I’ve been captain of Victoria for six or seven years now and captained a lot of Twenty20 especially, and had some good success there. If that opportunity came that would be great. There would be quite a different level of pressure involved but I’m pretty confident that I could do a good job.”What is not in doubt is White’s suitability to the Twenty20 game. The unbeaten 141 he made for Somerset in 2006 remains the third best score ever made and he is the only man to have two innings in the top 10 of all time.His muscular strokeplay works well in the genre and he will be a key man for Australia in May’s World Twenty20, after inexplicably being left out of the initial squad for last year’s tournament. His Twenty20 international strike-rate is 150 while Clarke’s is 102, but White is confident Clarke can be an influential player for Australia.”There’s times when you have to hit the boundary as well and Michael’s a fantastic player and has shots all round the wicket,” White said. “In this format of the game it takes a while to work out where you can play those particular shots and Michael having played so much cricket will work that out very quickly. I have no doubt that he’ll adapt his very good game to Twenty20.”You’ve got to find the way to take the pressure off and get the ball to the boundary at certain stages. The statistics show there’s still quite a lot of dot balls in Twenty20 cricket as well, so one of Michael’s great strengths in one-day cricket is that he doesn’t face a lot of balls in a row.”The first challenge for the Clarke-White leadership team is taking on Pakistan, the reigning World Twenty20 champions, at the MCG on Friday. It’s a chance not only to complete a Test, ODI and Twenty20 clean-sweep against the visitors but also to sow some seeds of doubt in their minds, with the two teams set to play each other in the pool stage of the World Twenty20 in the West Indies.”They’re the best team in the world at this format of the game. I think it suits them very well, you get to play with freedom and not a lot of fear. They can go out and play the way they naturally do and let their talents shine through. We’ll have to play exceptionally well again to beat them.”

Wright bats for Laxman at No. 3

In the absence of Rahul Dravid, the stage is set for Laxman to bat again at No. 3, ahead of Murali Vijay, who batted one-drop at Nagpur and has the attitude but not the experience

Nagraj Gollapudi12-Feb-2010In March 2001, India were falling apart at the Eden Gardens. Steve Waugh’s ruthlessness had seen Australia string together a record 16 Test wins on the trot as they reached Kolkata. Another victory seemed imminent by the end of the third day after India were made to follow on.It was a desperate situation – the series was at stake – and Sourav Ganguly and John Wright, India’s men in charge, were pushed to the wall. Call it impulse, instinct, hunch or plain desperation, their decision was pure left-field: they asked VVS Laxman to get ready to bat at his most desired position – No.3.Laxman was yet to unstrap his pads; he was the last man out in the first innings, having survived two hours of rigorous examination, but was the sole Indian batsman to hit a half century. Yet he went out at the fall of the first wicket and the rest is history.Nine years down the line, India find themselves in a similar difficult position, with more than the series at stake – they could also lose the world No. 1 ranking to South Africa. And, in the absence of Rahul Dravid, the stage is set for Laxman to bat again at No. 3, ahead of Murali Vijay, who batted one-drop at Nagpur and has the attitude but not the experience.Wright, though, has no doubt in his mind. “If Dravid is not there I’ll play Laxman at three without question straightaway,” he told Cricinfo. His confidence in Laxman, he said, stems from his ability to put the fast bowlers under pressure. “If it is the Laxman I knew, he is particularly good against the opening bowling attack because he takes the attack to the bowlers.”Recalling the events of 2001, Wright said the strategy of playing Laxman up the order in that Test was based on his batting in the first innings. “But he has the ability to punish the bad balls. You just can’t bat to survive, you have to be positive. He is that sort of a player and he loves batting at No. 3,” Wright said.It’s not just a matter of instinct – the numbers, too, support a move up the order.
Laxman has batted at No.3 in 20 Tests and averages 47.45, which is slightly higher than his career average. What’s significantly higher is his rate of converting fifties into hundreds: in his entire career 14 out of 57 fifty-plus innings have been converted into centuries (a rate of 24.56); at No. 3, it goes up to 40% (four out of ten). He averages almost 76 when batting at that position at home, and India have won five out of the six Tests when he has batted there. The last time he played in that position at home was in a winning cause, when his fighting century against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad in 2005 set the tone for the victory. And minimising the risk factor further is this factoid: Eden Gardens happens to be his favourite ground in India – he has scored three centuries here in eight Tests, and averages almost 82.Of course, the theory comes with caveats. His fitness, for one: Laxman opted out of the Nagpur Test at the last minute, having failed to recover completely from the wrist injury to his left hand. But he’s been practising hard; on Friday, he batted at No. 3 in the nets and also received some slip catches from Gary Kirsten to allay fitness concerns.He also hasn’t been in great nick of late; Laxman’s last century was the unbeaten 124 in Napier a year ago, where he helped ensure India drew the match. He made half-centuries in each of the three Tests against Sri Lanka at the end of 2009 but each time failed to convert though he had enough time. Seen differently, though, it could be that Laxman will be driven by the hunger to make a big score.It would still be an unconventional decision but in MS Dhoni India have an unconventional captain with a record of unexpected decisions. Like Ganguly, he relies on his instinct and it would not be a surprise if he promotes Laxman to make the top order more solid.”Leadership is very instinctive, you’ve got to with your gut feeling,” said Wright, who brought Dhoni into the Indian team. “Sometimes when you have come out of a big loss some captains can tend to become more cautious. But I don’t think it will happen (with Dhoni). I just don’t think Mahendra is that sort of guy.”Wright concedes, though, that the stakes are very high. “That is what it is about being the No.1: you are always being challenged. You need to be positive and have a lot of self- belief,. India would have been under some challenging situations on their journey to No.1 but South Africa are hungry for it.”

Ireland target wins in Bangladesh fixtures

Ireland are targeting victories in their two ODIs against Bangladesh this summer

Cricinfo staff26-Feb-2010Ireland are targeting victories in their two ODIs against Bangladesh this summer – at Stormont on July 15 and 16 – as a chance to gain valuable ranking points and as an important benchmark for the side as they attempt to assert their readiness to step up to cricket’s top level.”For the last three years or so, we have targeted matches against the lower-ranked full members as the most important means of measuring our progress and determining our readiness to step up to the elite level,” said Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive.”All our players will be aware of the perception that strong results against Test-playing countries create, and will be keen to maximise home advantage to good effect in the year that we are applying to move higher in the international firmament.”Ireland coach Phil Simmons sees the games as a chance to test his side ahead of the World Cup in 2011, where they will meet Bangladesh in the group stage at Dhaka. “It’s great that we have a chance to play them on home soil,” he said. “We lost to them badly in 2008 in Bangladesh but on our home turf I’d be confident of doing well.”We have beaten them in both the 2007 World Cup and in the World Twenty20 last year, so I don’t think there’s much to choose from between the two teams. It’s a great opportunity for us to gain valuable ranking points.”

Five bids in fray for two new franchises

The IPL is set to unveil its two new franchises in Chennai on Sunday, with at least five bidders competing for the slots

Cricinfo staff20-Mar-2010The IPL is set to unveil its two new franchises in Chennai on Sunday, with five bidders reported to be competing for the slots. The process was to have been completed on March 7 but was postponed by two weeks after the bidders and the BCCI objected to stiff financial clauses.The cities in the fray are Pune, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kanpur, Dharamsala, Vizag, Rajkot, Cuttack, Baroda, Kochi, Indore and Gwalior. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said on his Twitter feed that there were five bidders and media reports have suggested they include some of the biggest business houses in the country – Videocon, Adani, the Sahara group (which sponsors the Indian team), the Jaypee group and Pune-based builder Anirudh Deshpande. Bollywood actors Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty are also believed to have bought tenders.The problem arose in Mumbai when the bidders wanted a clause requiring the bidder to have a net worth of $1 billion, removed. The IPL agreed to remove it and delayed the announcement. The new process will also amend two existing clauses: One will be a reduction of the advance deposit from $100 million to a $10 million “performance guarantee”, to be submitted 24 hours in advance of the bid being opened. Another original clause gave the IPL’s governing council the discretion to seek from the winning bidder 100% of the amount with a minimum time-frame; under the new process, the winning bids will be expected to pay 10% of their bid within 48 hours. The minimum bid amount, however, remains the same at $225 million.From next year, the IPL will feature ten teams and – if the current format is retained – a total of 94 games, from the existing 60. After the first season in 2008, the league has already expanded its reach to other centres such as Cuttack, Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Dharamsala.

Lumb assault knocks out Punjab

The Sawai Mansingh Stadium remained a fortress for Rajasthan Royals, who made it eight out of eight wins at the venue by bulldozing Kings XI Punjab with five overs remaining

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran07-Apr-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Michael Lumb blazed 83 off 43 to make short work of the target•Indian Premier League

The Sawai Mansingh Stadium remained a fortress for Rajasthan Royals, who made it eight out of eight wins at the venue by bulldozing Kings XI Punjab with five overs remaining. Opener Michael Lumb pummelled 83 off 43 balls to deliver Rajasthan their third straight victory, which lifted them to joint second spot, an unlikely position for a team that was written off after starting with three defeats in a row.Rajasthan sprinted to the highest total of the season in the first five overs (65), after Punjab had mucked about to gather the least runs in the final five overs (27), reflecting the gulf between the two sides. Punjab reverted to being the bumbling bunch that has been entrenched at the bottom of the table all season: the batting lost fizz after a bubbly start, the fielding was the usual butter-fingered effort, and the bowling lacked inspiration.Mahela Jayawardene top-scored again, and Yuvraj Singh briefly showed off his awesome hitting, but with the rest failing to contribute anything substantial Punjab ended up with an inadequate total.The variety of sweeps against the spinners and the trademark carves behind point off the quicks were the highlight of Jayawardene’s innings, in which only seven runs were scored in front of the wicket. He had some luck as well, a leading edge six to third man off Aditya Dole, reprieved when Shane Warne reacted slowly to a caught-and-bowled chance and dropped by Dole at deep square leg.With Kumar Sangakkara’s poor tournament continuing, it was Yuvraj who provided some support for him. Warne was at his bewitching best in the previous game, but had no answer to Yuvraj today. First, Yuvraj muscled him over midwicket for a six, and two overs later clobbered two flat sixes and a four to take 24 runs off eight balls against the Rajasthan captain.The match turned in the next over from Dole: he had Yuvraj dragging a short ball onto the stumps and Jayawardene edged to a wide slip. That sucked all the momentum out of the Punjab innings, and they never recovered.Ravi Bopara pottered about before being run out after racing down the track for a second run which his partner, Irfan Pathan, was not interested in. Watson varied his length and pace well towards the death, and Siddharth Trivedi’s steady servings of slower deliveries proved hard to score off, so much so that Punjab couldn’t hit even one boundary in that period.The Punjab score looked insufficient, but it was not as measly as Lumb and Naman Ojha made it seem. The match was essentially decided after the fourth over of the chase, in which Lumb lashed fast bowler Rusty Theron for 20 runs to blast Punjab to 55 for 0.The template was set in the first over, when Ramesh Powar made a hash of a simple fielding chance to give away two extra runs, and Sreesanth followed that up with gift of a short ball that was pulled for four by Lumb.Sangakkara shuffled his bowlers around but to no avail: Lumb picked off the spinners with a bunch of sweeps and reverse-sweeps, while showcasing his full range of strokes against the quicks. The 100 came up in the ninth over when Irfan was caned for four fours, and Lumb was also eyeing his century. He was dismissed in the next over, but Ojha, who has been quiet when Lumb was blasting, took charge of the chase, and with the help of Yusuf Pathan finished off the game in the 15th over.

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