Kolkata Knight Riders will face off the Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens today in the second match, while Kings XI Punjab have set the target of 204 for the Bangalore Royal Challengers to win.

Kolkata and Chennai have had contrasting starts in this ongoing third IPL T20. Kolkata will be riding on the crest of twin victories when they take on Chennai Super Kings, who went down tamely to Deccan Chargers in their opener on Sunday.

This match will also be a face-off between two of India’s most successful captains. Bold decisions and aggressive body language have been the cornerstone of Sourav Ganguly’s success, while MS Dhoni’s man-management skills have made Team India one of the most formidable sides in world cricket.

Dhoni’s CSK has got George Bailey, the Tasmania skipper with loads of domestic runs under his belt, but it remains to be seen if he can force a berth in the CSK XI straightaway.

Teams

Kolkata Knight Riders: S Ganguly (Capt), A Aaron, A Agarkar, A Dinda, E Ahmid, R Gavaskar, C Gayle, B Hodge, I Abdulla, M Kartik, H Khadiwale, C Langeveldt, b McCullum, A Mathews, A Mendis, C Pathak, C Pujara, W Saha, O Shah, I Sharma, L Shukla, M Tiwary, G Vignesh

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (Capt), R Ashwin, H Badani, S Badrinath, G Bailey, L Balaji, C Ganapathy, M Gony, M Hayden, M Hussey, S Jakati, A Karthik, J Kemp, A Morkel, M Muralitharan, M Ntini, J Oram, P Patel, T Perera, S Raina, T Thushara, S Tyagi, M Vijay

Tags: Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai vs Kolkata, DLF IPL 3, Ipl T20, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly

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Men in Blue headed by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni now has Australian Michael Hussey breathing down his neck for the top slot in the ODI rankings. Teammate Sachin Tendulkar lost his fourth place to West Indies Captain Chris Gayle in the latest ICC chart announced on Monday.

In-form Hussey narrowed the gap with top ranked Dhoni to just eight points after finishing as the second most successful batsman with 198 runs in the series against New Zealand.

Meanwhile Gayle, who was in seventh position at the start of the month, was in sublime form in the recently concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe in which he scored 273 runs, including three half-centuries.

Tendulkar is now at fifth place with a total of 819 points.

In the ODI Team rankings, India has maintained its number two position with 122 points, while Australia still rules the ratings with 133 points.

The second place in the ODI Championship means India wins $75,000 in addition to $175,000 which it won for finishing as the number-one Test side.

In the bowling ratings, India’s spinner Harbhajan Singh continued to be at seventh position with 645 points.

Tags: Australian Cricketer, Chris Gayle, ICC ODI Rankings, ICC Ranking, ICC Test Championship, Indian Captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Michael Hussey, Sachin Tendulkar

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India swept the test series against Bangladesh as Zaheer Khan collapsed four wickets off eight balls in the second innings of the Final test at Mirpur today.

Zaheer bagged a career best 7-87 as Bangladesh were bowled out for 312 leaving the visitors with just 2 runs to wrap the series.

India had won the opening test by 113 runs in Chittagong last week.

The second test was completed when the host conceded two byes in the opening over bowled by spinner Shakib Al Hasan.

Zaheer Khan was named Man of the Match and series.

Statistical Highlights:

• Zaheer Khan finished with 10/149 to become the fourth Indian fast bowler to take 10 wickets in an overseas Test match, joining Irfan Pathan who claimed 12/126 against Zimbabwe at Harare in 2005-06 and 11/96 against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2004-05, Venkatesh Prasad (10/153 against South Africa at Durban in 1996-97) and Chetan Sharma (10/188 against England at Edgbaston in 1986).
• The aforesaid occasion is the 10th of a 10-wicket haul in a Test match for India. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar holds the Indian record for registering the best figures on foreign soil – 12/104 against Australia at Melbourne in 1977-78.
• Zaheer has received his third Player of the series award for taking 15 wickets at an average of 19.53. His previous two such awards were both against England in 2007 and 2008-09.
• Zaheer Khan has received his fourth Man of the Match award – both at Mirpur against Bangladesh.
• Zaheer has captured 164 wickets away from home at an average of 30.93 in 43 Tests while in India, his tally is 71 in 27 Tests at an average of 37.91.
• For winning cause, Zaheer has bagged 121 wickets (ave. 25.64) in 31 Tests, including four instances of five wickets in an innins and one instance of ten wickets in a Test match.
• With eight dismissals (6 catches + 2 stumpings) in the Mirpur Test, MS Dhoni has equalled his previous best wicketkeeping performance. In the Perth Test against Australia in 2007-08, he had effected eight dismissals (7 catches + 1 stumping).
• India have posted their sixth victory in seven Tests against Bangladesh.
• India have won four Tests in a row for the second time – two against Sri Lanka followed by two against Bangladesh.
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni enjoys a winning percenage of 72.72 – eight out of eleven played – the remaining three drawn.
• Zaheer (7/87) has recorded his best figures in an innings, eclipsing the 5/29 against New Zealand at Hamilton in 2002-03. His previous best bowling figures against Bangladesh were 5 for 34 at Mirpur in 2007.
• Zaheer’s second instance of five-wicket in an innings Bangladesh is his ninth overall.
• Zaheer, on foreign soil, has claimed five wickets or more in an innings seven times.
• Shahadat Hossain (40) has registered his career-best score in Tests, obliterating the 33 against West Indies at Kingstown in July 2009.
• Mohammad Ashraful’s runs’ tally of 386 at an average of 42.88 in six Tests is the highest for Bangladesh in Tests against India.
• With Shahadat’s wicket, Harbhajan Singh has become the third Indian bowler to claim 600 international wickets, joining Anil Kumble (956) and Kapil Dev (687).
• Sachin Tendulkar has extended his record by featuring in 55 wins for India. His 18 hundreds resulted in the Indian wins, extending another record.
• India have won five Test series in a row for the first time. They won 2-0 again Australia in 2008-09, 1-0 against England in 2008-09, 1-0 against New Zealand in 2008-09, 2-0 against Sri Lanka in 2009-10 and 2-0 against Bangladesh in 2009-10.

With this victory, India will remain in the top slot. The ICC Top ranked team will face the second placed South Africa in a two match series starting February 6.

Tags: Chittagong Test, ICC Test Ranking, India Vs Bangladesh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mirpur Test, Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan

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