Kings XI Punjab failed to score 19 off the last over as they lost to Chevrolet Warriors by 10 runs in their warm-up T20 match.

Set a target of 152 to win, Kings XI Punjab could only manage 141 for six as they lost wickets at regular intervals at Sahara Oval St George’s Park.

Australian Simon Katich (12), Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara (16) and Englishman Ravi Bopara (24) all got starts before losing their wickets.

It was left to middle order batsman Taruwar Kohli to take the charge and he brought Kings XI close to the target with 19 runs needing off the last over off Warren Bell.

Kohli’s partner at the other end Karan Goel raised hopes for Kings XI when he smashed a straight six from the first ball of ultimate over to leave the equation at 13 off the remaining five deliveries.

However, destiny had other things in stored as Kohli was run out by wicketkeeper Davy Jacobs two balls later, and Bell was bang on his task, conceding only two singles in the remaining three deliveries to give see his side home.

Kohli made 36 runs off 26 deliveries which was studded with two fours and equal number of sixes.

For Chevrolet Warriors, pacer Bell was the most successful bowler, scalping the wickets of Katich and Bopara for 22 runs while Jon-Jon Smuts took the wicket of dangerous Sangakkara.

Earlier, VRV Singh picked four for 24 to restrict the Warriors to 151 for five after the South African side were asked to bat first with Colin Ingram hitting an unbeaten half century (57).

Shoddy fielding was the order of the day for Kings XI as they dropped as many as five catches.

The Warriors were quick to capitalise on the errors and Ingram played some delightful strokes en route his 57-run innings, although he was lucky to have survived after being bowled off a no-ball by Vikramjit Malik.

He faced 43 balls and stroked five fours and two sixes in his innings.
Source – espnstar.com

Telecom service provider Virgin Mobile Wednesday launched an online cricket fantasy game, Indian Hatke League (IHL), with an aim to leverage the cricket mania during the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
The online game will provide users the option to play for any of the eight teams participating in the 47-day IPL, to be held in South Africa April 18-May 24, while their scores on the basis of performance will determine their standings.

Launching the game here, Virgin Mobile chief executive M.A. Madhusudan said the initiative was strictly a “brand-building exercise”.

“We have launched the game for the Indian youth and not just for Virgin Mobile customers. The players will compete against each other during the period with the prospect to win prizes at the end of the tournament,” he said.

The company is offering Hyundai’s recently launched hatchback i20, Sony’s video game console Play Station and Virgin Mobile handsets as prizes to the winners of the IHL game.

According to reports, the company earlier had plans to be part of the Twenty20 extravaganza by striking sponsorship deals with Delhi Daredevils, but it pulled out as the tournament’s venue was shifted to South Africa.
Source – thaindian.com

Babbelas (pronounced bub-buh-luss): When you’ve had a bit too much to drink after the Rajasthan Royals win a match, you will feel babbelas (hungover) the next morning.

Braai (br-eye): South Africans don’t need an excuse to have a barbeque. If they can’t get tickets to the big match then they’ll have a braai at home.

Bru (brew): A term of affection meaning brother. “Hey bru, howzit?”

China: No, we are not refering to the country, but to someone who is your mate. “My china, please pass me another drink.”

Eish! (aysh): Used to express exasperation, disbelief, frustration for just about everything. “Eish! We got a good hiding in the IPL last night.”

Hayibo! (hiboh): A Zulu word which you can use when you disagree with something. “Hayibo! That was never out lbw.”

Howzit! Hoesit! Hoezit!: No, we are not refering to an lbw appeal. This is actually a traditional South African greeting. For instance, if you meet Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola before a match you will say: “Howzit, Mr Majola?”

Jawellnofine: You use it when things aren’t really fine but there’s not much you can do about it. It can come in quite handy when you don’t know how to react to your friend who is gloating after his team beat your beloved Delhi Daredevils. If he/she asks you how feel about the hammering in the IPL you simply answer ja, well, no, fine and change the subject.

Jislaaik (yes-like): An expression of astonishment which you can use when a great shot has just been played. “Yislaaik, Sachin Tendulkar just smashed a massive six!”

Lekker (lekk-irr): Meaning nice, good, tasty. “Those samoosas were lekker.”

Mampara (mum-puh-rah): Usually a public figure who has said or done something stupid. “Kevin Pietersen is a mampara for slapping Graeme Smith during the match.”

Oke: You often hear skipper Smith saying: “The okes in the dressing room just want to get out and play.” It’s simply synonym for guy, chap, bloke.

Toyi-toyi: If people are toyi-toying somewhere in town, then best stay clear. The knees-up, singing protesters might look like they are having a good old jol, but in reality they are angry about something.

Nicknames for some of the host cities, then…

Johannesburg – Joburg, Joeys, Jozi, eGoli
Cape Town – Cape or Kaap
Durban – Durbs
Port Elizabeth – PE
Potchefstroom – Potch
Bloemfontein – Bloem
East London – Slummies
Source – cricket365.com

Lebara Mobile, the international mobile service provider, has been signed up by IDS as exclusive sponsor of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament on Setanta Sports.

The six-figure deal will include all the broadcaster’s coverage of the event. Lebara will also run a spot advertising campaign to promote its new Lebara Family launch, in which customers are offered free Lebara-to-Lebara calls and texts.The IPL tournament begins on 18 April and lasts five weeks. The deal was brokered between Dale Mickle­wright, commercial development manager at IDS, and Arjun Saigal, business development director, Here & Now 365 Diversity Media, alongside Simon Gwan, head of marketing at Lebara Mobile.

Last year was the IPL tournament’s inaugural year. The 2009 tournament will feature England cricketers inclu­ding Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.
Source – brandrepublic.com

Black Caps allrounder Scott Styris admits he would rather be in India for the IPL which starts this weekend. The tournament was moved from India to South Africa for security reasons.

Styris lines up for the Deccan Chargers and says while he is enjoying the comforts of being in a first world country, the atmosphere is not as good. He says Indians love their cricket and during the tournament, a player is treated like a rock star.

The Deccan Chargers play the Kolkata Knight riders in their first match of the tournament in Cape Town on Sunday.
Source – home.nzcity.co.nz