Cricket

IPL 6 - Player Auction 2013 Player Name Country IPL Team Cost (USD) Abhishek Nayar India Pune Warriors 675000 Ajantha Mendis Sri Lanka Pune Warriors 725000 Akila Dananjaya Sri Lanka Chennai Super Kings 20000 Ben Laughlin Australia Chennai Super Kings 20000 Chris Morris South Africa Chennai Super Kings 625000 Christopher Barnwell West Indies Royal Challengers Bangalore 50000 Clint McKay Australia Sunrisers Hyderabad 100000 Dan Christian Australia Royal Challengers Bangalore 100000 Darren Sammy West Indies Sunrisers Hyderabad 425000 Dirk Nannes Australia Chennai Super Kings 600000 Fidel Edwards West Indies Rajasthan Royals 210000 Glenn Maxwell Australia Mumbai Indians 1000000 Jacob Oram New Zealand Mumbai Indians 50000 James Faulkner Australia ...

Brendon McCullum lifted New Zealand from 2 for 2 with a calculated 91 that highlighted his importance to his side, especially in Twenty20s. McCullum had support from Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, but he was almost single-handedly responsible for New Zealand reaching a competitive score with a knock that began watchfully, and then exploded into a frenzy of powerful hits over extra cover, down the ground and over midwicket. McCullum often begins a Test innings with a charge down the track and it was probably the two early wickets that made him play with some caution initially. Rob Nicol and Martin Guptill came out swinging but were bowled by incoming deliveries from Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan, and New Zealand were 2 for 2 in the second over. McCullum broke free in the fifth over, flicking and cutting Zaheer for boundaries. L Balaji, making his T20I debut and playing his first game for India since February 2009, was inside-edged past short fine leg and sliced over point ...

Australia crush Pakistan by 94 runs Australia began the series with one of their worst Twenty20 losses but they finished it with their second-best win in the format, crushing Pakistan by 94 runs in the dead rubber in Dubai. David Warner and Shane Watson set up the victory with an Australian-record opening partnership before Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc ran through Pakistan, who suffered their worst defeat in a T20 international and were all out for 74, their lowest total in the format. Pakistan still won the series 2-1 but if the old sporting cliché that you're only as good as your last performance can be trusted, the Australians will be reasonably happy when they arrive in Sri Lanka in the next few days for the ICC World Twenty20. The fact that Warner and Watson both fired and found their six-hitting rhythm would be especially pleasing for the captain George Bailey, although some more runs from the middle order would have been preferable. Cummins was outstanding with...

West Indies captain Darren Sammy has said his team has the self-belief to go all the way and lift the ICC World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka, starting later this month. Sammy said he was touched by the support from the fans and urged them to continue showing faith in the team. "This is a huge tournament for the team and the fans as well, so we will go to Sri Lanka and give it all we've got," Sammy said before the team's departure for Sri Lanka. "We believe we can win, but it will be hard, tough work. Once we play together and continue to get the backing of the fans, we know we can lift the title." The squad had been training at the High Performance Centre in Barbados for nine days. The World T20 will be the team's first international assignment after the home series against New Zealand. "The camp went very well and we are all in the right frame of mind," Sammy said. "We will head off to Sri Lanka believing in ourselves and belie...