CSA declare their final team

CRICKET SOUTH AFRICA (CSA) on Monday named their final 15-man squad for the ICC T20 World cup to be played in England in June.

The squad consists the main players who won the two T20 Internationals against Australia earlier this year and contains no new caps.

“Our cricket is entering an exciting period,” commented selection chief Mike Procter. “We are top of the ODI rankings but have never won a major trophy and this presents the opportunity to do so in a limited overs format.

“The players are all in good form and it is particularly pleasing to have so many quality all-rounders at our disposal. As always there are a couple of unlucky players and that emphasizes the excellent competition we have for places.

“I am delighted with the squad the selectors have given me,” commented national coach Mickey Arthur. “It is a team with plenty of options – great depth to the batting and plenty of bowling options. It is also an outstanding fielding unit.”

South Africa squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Johan Botha (vice-capt), Yusuf Abdulla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robbie Peterson, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe.

The team will gather for a training camp at the end of the month.

IPL franchisees may make 4-5 time additional

Depositor who paid top dollar to own a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) opportunity are now on a good wicket. Franchise owners expect to earn around four-five times more this year than they did during the inaugural season of the 20-over league in 2008, thanks to a deluge of sponsorships and brand associations, according to estimates put together by Mint after speaking with franchise owners and media buyers.

This comes after initial reports that sponsors and advertisers were skeptical about IPL 2009’s success, when it had to be moved to South Africa after the Indian government said it could not provide security cover to the league during the election season, and that many had walked away from earlier commitments.

The team owners will also earn significantly more from the new broadcast deal the IPL management signed with sports marketing company World Sports Group (WSG) and Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd (MSM) this year. Last year, the deal had been signed for around Rs4, 000 crore for 10 years, while this year it was renegotiated at Rs8, 200 crore for nine years.

Yuvraj hat-trick for Punjab fall short to discontinue Bangalore

A fine all-round performance by Yuvraj Singh was not enough to prevent Kings XI Punjab slumping to an eight-run loss against the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Friday.

Punjab captain Yuvraj took a hat-trick to help restrict Bangalore to 145 for nine at Kingsmead before blasting a superb half-century only to see his side lose two wickets in the last over of their innings to finish on 137 for seven.

Punjab began the last over of their innings needing 13 runs to win but medium pacer Praveen Kumar held his nerve to allow a single boundary and capture two wickets.

Yuvraj earlier removed Robin Uthappa (19) and Jacques Kallis (27) with the fifth and sixth balls of the 11th over before trapping Mark Boucher lbw with the first ball of the 13th for the first hat-trick of this season’s IPL and the fourth overall.

India’s Yuvraj claimed figures of 3-22, while left-arm seamer Yusuf Abdulla captured 4-36 making him the leading wicket-taker in this year’s IPL with 13 wickets in six matches.