Chances are limited for Mortaza, Langeveldt: Buchanan

Bulletin By Shwe Wai

PORT ELIZABETH: He is the man in the firing line because everything that he planned has gone wrong, but even in adversity, Kolkata Knight Riders director of cricket John Buchanan has maintained a calm exterior as was on display during the media conference at the end of the day.

Excerpts from Buchanan's press conference:

On Mortaza not getting a game: Yeah, look at the moment we have adopted a batting strategy. So that's where our international effort is. So does that mean that guys that are international bowlers, whether it be Langeveldt, Mortaza, Mendis whoever it might be their opportunities are limited at this time. It is a question that we have posed to IPL a number of times about the involvement of more players on the field. I have personally mentioned that a number of times. Hopefully IPL will look at that more seriously going forward into next season and beyond.

It was a good toss to lose today: Yuvraj

PORT ELIZABETH: It was a thriller in which Kings XI Punjab won their DLF Indian Premier League tie against Kolkata Knight Riders at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth off the last ball and Kings Xi Punjab skipper Yuvraj Singh said that the win had come as a great relief as the hard-fought victory would go a long way in setting the momentum for his team.

"I also wanted to bat first. But then it was a good toss to lose today. We started off well with the ball but after 10 overs of dominance, Kolkata Knight Riders' batsmen came back strong and went on to set a good target. After losing Sangakarra cheaply, Sunny Sohal played a fantastic cameo. He was outstanding and later Jayawardene along with Irfan saw us through the pressure game. It was a very important win today," he said.

Meanwhile, nothing seems to be going right for Brendon McCullum as despite a defendable total, Kolkata Knight Riders lost the game on the last ball. "We put up a good total. A couple of misses on the field and some bad luck did us in. Brad Hodge played a fantastic inning but more than batting we lost because of our bowling and fielding," he said.

Jayawardene, who steered the innings along with Irfan Pathan and took the match away from the opponents with his crafty 52, said that his job was to finish off the game and he just managed to do that. "It wasn't easy. It was a pressure game and I must credit Irfan for his knock in that pressure situation.

Dominant Bangalore crush Mumbai

Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL, Johannesburg

The Bulletin by Shwe Wai

Royal Challengers Bangalore 150 for 1 (Kallis 69*, Uthappa 66*) beat Mumbai Indians 149 for 4 (Jayasuriya 52, Bravo 50*, du Preez 3-32) by nine wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Dillon du Preez had a debut to tell the grandkids about

What a difference a week makes. Last Sunday, Royal Challengers Bangalore were at the bottom of the table, had slumped to their fourth consecutive defeat, and were looking ahead to surviving without two key batsmen, Rahul Dravid and Kevin Pietersen. Now, after a thoroughly dominant performance against Mumbai Indians they are jostling for a share of the top spot. The reversal of fortunes was illustrated by the two men who blunted the powerful Mumbai bowling, Jacques Kallis and Robin Uthappa, who shrugged off their forgettable starts to the tournament with superbly paced half-centuries.

The star of the first half for Bangalore was little-known South African allrounder Dillon du Preez who had an IPL debut to tell the grandkids about, taking three early wickets with his medium-pacers. A resilient Mumbai though recovered, first through Sanath Jayasuriya's half-century before Dwayne Bravo and Abhishek Nayar slammed 48 runs off the last three overs to lift their side to what-had-seemed a competitive total.

Akmal ton ensures consolation win

Pakistan v Australia, 5th ODI, Abu Dhabi

The Bulletin by Shwe Wai

Pakistan 254 for 3 (Akmal 116*, Misbah 76*) beat Australia 250 for 4 (Watson 116*, Ferguson 41*) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Kamran Akmal stroked 13 fours during his 115-ball innings

A scintillating century from Kamran Akmal helped guide Pakistan to book-ending victories in the five-match ODI series against Australia. Akmal's knock off 115 balls, his fifth ODI century, meant he top scored in both of Pakistan's successful run-chases this series and begged the question as to why he had not batted in the top four throughout.

Akmal combined superbly with Misbah-ul-Haq to reel in Australia's total, the highest run-chase of this tough series, after being thrust together with Pakistan in trouble at 56 for 3. Their unbroken stand of 198 was an ODI record for the fourth wicket against Australia.

Misbah was the ideal foil for Akmal, who was ignited by Misbah's energetic running, and the pair complimented each other perfectly to frustrate the Australian bowlers. While Akmal pounced on any width from either the fast bowlers or spinners, flaying the majority of his 13 boundaries through the off side, Misbah walked across his crease frequently, working the bowlers into the vast expanses on the on-side. Their running between the wickets was outstanding but it was the constant flow of boundaries that kept the scoring rate high.

Pakistan began their pursuit horrendously with another terrible mix-up between Ahmed Shehzad and Salman Butt, resulting in Butt's run-out in the first over without facing a ball. The problems compounded when Younis Khan, after his most fluent innings of the series, holed out to deep long-on and Shehzad made a horrible error in judgement to gift Nathan Hauritz two wickets and leave Pakistan struggling at 56 for 3.

But the promotion of Akmal proved a master-stroke from Younis while the experience of Misbah was invaluable.