Tag Futebol

MatériaMais Notícias

Diego Lugano, superintendente de relações institucionais do São Paulo, minimizou a discussão entre o goleiro Jean e o técnico interino Vagner Mancini durante entrevista no congresso técnico que definiu datas e horários das quartas de final do Paulistão – o Tricolor encara o Ituano, primeiro no Morumbi, às 16h de domingo, e depois no Novelli Júnior, às 19h15 de quarta-feira, muito possivelmente sem contar com Jean, que está afastado pela diretoria.

– Estamos na era das redes sociais. Coisas como essa eu vivi 70 mil vezes como jogador. Brigar com companheiro, treinador, sair na mão, xingar, não falar por um mês, jogar uma garrafa de chimarrão em cima do treinador… Na minha época não tinha rede social, não tinha tanto imediatismo na notícia. Hoje isso mudou. Na fase ruim qualquer coisa vira uma tormenta. Acho que já está solucionado pela diretoria. O Jean foi punido momentaneamente, mas sinceramente não é a prioridade do São Paulo – disse o ídolo.

​Lugano chegou a dar graças a Deus por existirem discussões internas no mundo do futebol.

​-A prioridade do São Paulo é jogar melhor, vencer, ser campeão. E essas coisas, essas rixas internas, essas discussões, que sempre houve e sempre haverá – graças a Deus, senão não seria futebol – vão tomar proporções melhores fora da instituição à medida em que os resultados sejam melhores – concluiu.

​Jean não gostou de ser repreendido por Vagner Mancini por ter ido tomar banho assim que o clássico contra o Palmeiras acabou, sem esperar o início da oração tradicional dos atletas, e abandonou uma reunião com o grupo na segunda-feira. As atitudes do goleiro já vinham desagradando a diretoria há tempos, principalmente depois que ele pediu para não ser relacionado para o jogo contra o Red Bull ao descobrir que não seria titular após Volpi falhar contra o Corinthians – na ocasião, acabou convencido e ficou no banco.

MatériaMais Notícias

Já foram vendidos antecipadamente 15 mil ingressos para a partida entre Palmeiras e Ituano, marcada para 21h30 de quarta-feira, no Allianz Parque. O confronto será válido pela nona rodada do Campeonato Paulista e será o último compromisso do Verdão antes de estrear na Libertadores, no dia 6, na Colômbia, contra o Junior Barranquilla.

A comercialização começou na manhã de segunda-feira e teve exclusividade para sócios-torcedores, seguindo o critério de pontuação de cada membro do programa Avanti, com acesso aos bilhetes através do site www.avantipalmeiras.com.br. A partir das 10h desta quinta-feira, o público geral passa a poder comprar as entradas por meio do endereço eletrônico palmeiras.futebolcard.com.

Antes de enfrentar o Ituano, o Palmeiras recebe o Santos, no Allianz Parque, às 19h deste sábado, também pelo Campeonato Paulista. O Verdão soma 14 pontos em sete rodadas da competição e lidera o Grupo B, dois pontos acima do Novorizontino, segundo colocado, e quatro a mais em relação ao Guarani, que figura na terceira posição, fora da zona de classificação às quartas de final.

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VALORES DOS INGRESSOS

Gol Norte – R$ 90,00 [R$ 45,00 meia-entrada]
Gol Sul – R$ 140,00 [R$ 70,00 meia-entrada]
Central Leste – R$ 150,00 [R$ 75,00 meia-entrada]
Central Oeste – R$ 160,00 [R$ 80,00 meia-entrada]
Superior Norte e Sul – R$ 110,00 [R$ 55,00 meia-entrada]
Superior Leste e Oeste – R$ 130,00 [R$ 65,00 meia-entrada]
Superior Visitante – R$ 110,00 [R$ 55,00 meia-entrada]

Obs.: a venda de ingressos para o setor Central Leste acontecerá apenas após o início da comercialização para o público em geral pela internet, sem a incidência dos benefícios do programa Avanti.

POSTOS DE VENDA

Bilheterias do Allianz Parque (Rua Palestra Italia – Portão A) – SOMENTE DIA DO JOGO
Endereço: Rua Palestra Italia, 214
Perdizes – São Paulo/SP
CEP 05005-030
Horário de atendimento: dia 27 de fevereiro, das 10h até o intervalo da partida
*Disponível apenas retiradas e trocas de meia-entrada

IMPORTANTE: as bilheterias do Portão A não realizarão venda de ingressos na data da partida, apenas retiradas das entradas compradas pela internet.

Bilheterias do Allianz Parque (Av. Francisco Matarazzo – Portão B)
Endereço: Avenida Francisco Matarazzo, 1705
Água Branca – São Paulo/SP
Horário de atendimento: dias 25 e 26 de fevereiro, das 10h às 17h, e dia 27, das 10h até o intervalo da partida
*Disponível para venda de ingressos, retiradas e trocas de meia-entrada

Bilheterias do Allianz Parque (Rua Padre Antônio Tomás – Portão C) – SOMENTE DIA DO JOGO
Endereço: Rua Padre Antônio Tomás
Água Branca – São Paulo/SP
Horário de atendimento: dia 27 de fevereiro, das 10h até o intervalo da partida
*Disponível para venda de ingressos, retiradas e trocas de meia-entrada

Obs.: os demais postos de venda serão divulgados nos próximos dias.

Tudo sobre

Allianz ParqueCampeonato PaulistaIngressosItuanoPalmeiras

Match facts

April 20, 2013
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Big Picture

A joke doing rounds in social media is that Royal Challengers Bangalore fans have no finger nails left. Four of their six games have gone to the final over, including two Super Over finishes. While it’s all fine for the viewers, it’s not the healthiest trend from the team’s point of view. Royal Challengers are a spot behind second-placed Rajasthan Royals, their next opponents, but their journey so far has been a bit too dramatic for their own good. They made heavy weather of their chase of 153 against Delhi Daredevils when they were cruising with 24 needed at a run-a-ball with seven wickets in hand (with no help from Chris Gayle). Though Royal Challengers passed the finish line after the Super Over, captain Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were humble enough to admit that they needed to learn to close out games better.Royal Challengers are yet to settle on a consistent opening combination. So far, Gayle has opened with Tillakaratne Dilshan, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal. With Dilshan back in the mix after recovering from injury, they will have to let go of another overseas player, possibly Andrew McDonald, to get him in. Saurabh Tiwary, the left-handed batsman, is also back from injury, to widen their options.Royals on the other hand are fresh from thumping Mumbai Indians, reducing a fancied batting order to 92 in one of the most one-sided games of the tournament so far. After piling on 179, Royals made Mumbai struggle early by getting the spinners on and taking the pace off the ball. At 10 for 2 in the chase, the game was all but over. Rahul Dravid, the Royals captain, said the team’s positive energy made the difference. In Bangalore, they will be up against a team that’s yet to lose a home game this season.

Form guide

Royal Challengers Bangalore WLWWL
Rajasthan Royals WWLWW

Players to watch

Virat Kohli was named the Royal Challengers captain this season and the additional responsibility hasn’t had any negative effects on his batting, as he currently holds the Orange Cap (leading run-scorer) with 321 runs. Just as compelling as his batting is his on-field body language, which has added more spice to the tournament; his verbal face-off with Gautam Gambhir topped it all. Kohli never holds back his emotions, be it swinging his bat at thin air when dismissed, or refusing to take his pads off while sitting at the dugout. Whether it can be deemed as acceptable behaviour from a person of authority is another debate – Kohli gets fans talking, one way or another.Ajinkya Rahane has shown that he can bat in two gears when needed. Against Kings XI Punjab, on a seaming pitch, he took on the responsibility of batting through the innings, remaining unbeaten on 34 off 42 balls in his team’s successful chase of a small target. It was not the most entertaining knock, but given the conditions, it was the best knock of the evening. Against Mumbai, in a relatively pressure-free scenario, he batted through the innings and remained unbeaten on 68 off 54 balls. Two contrasting knocks, both matchwinning ones. Royal Challengers will be reminded of the century he scored against them last year when the teams met at Chinnaswamy.

Stats and trivia

• Shane Watson needs two more sixes to become the leading six-hitter for Royals. He is currently on 60, behind Yusuf Pathan (now with Kolkata Knight Riders).
• Royal Challengers lead the head-to-head record with five wins, while Royals have four.

Quotes

“I specifically told the management that I wanted Ravi in the side because he can be deadly with the bat too.”
“We don’t have big names in our side, we don’t have guys who can demolish teams in T20 cricket, but we are a unit that is very balanced.”

Angelo Mathews refused to put Sri Lanka’s first-ever loss to Bangladesh on home soil down to conditions, and blamed his side’s bowling instead

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Mar-2013Angelo Mathews refused to put Sri Lanka’s first-ever loss to Bangladesh on home soil down to conditions, and blamed his side’s bowling instead. Bangladesh got off to a rapid start in their response to Sri Lanka’s 302, before rain forced an almost three-hour delay in play.Sri Lanka contended with a wet ball for the remainder of the curtailed match, but Mathews said his side’s bowling had been a concern throughout the series, and they should have walked away with a series win. Only Sachithra Senanayake and Lasith Malinga maintained an economy rate of less than six runs an over, as Bangladesh chased 183 in 26 overs to win by three wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis method.”I don’t think we can blame the conditions. We didn’t bowl well and that’s why we lost. It was very disappointing. I feel we had the runs on the board, but we just didn’t bowl well. Our bowling was the turning point. We didn’t execute our plans and we were wayward from the start.”Duckworth Lewis is always complicated. We had our chances still, because they had to get 102 off 13 overs and the bowling attack that we’ve got is brilliant. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t pull it off.”Sri Lanka had begun the match promisingly, with Kusal Perera and Tillakaratne Dilshan providing their second brisk 100-run partnership in the series. Dilshan hit 125 from 128 balls, and had support from Kumar Sangakkara as well, who made a busy 48. Sri Lanka lost their way from 203 for 1 in the 36th over, when the middle order collapsed, but Mathews said the batting had not worried him.”Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kusal Janith gave us the ideal start. The midde-order batsmen we were a little too hasty. But still, I think 302 in a 50-over game is a lot of runs. The batting was good, but we again showed a weakness with the ball. Our batting has been good throughout this tour. I think both in the first ODI and in the third ODI, we have not bowled well at all.”Bangladesh had the advantage of playing out all ten of their mandatory Powerplay overs despite the shortened chase, but Mathews said a curtailed match did not necessarily swing the game in Bangladesh’s favour.”It would have been different if they were chasing 303 and we were playing a 50-over game, but the credit should also go to the Bangladeshis for the way they played. They batted extremely well. It could have gone both ways. Maybe with the pressure of a 50-over match, it could have gone our way, but we could still have won the 27-over match. We didn’t play well and we accept that.”Bangladesh required more than seven runs an over for much of their chase, and they kept in touch with the asking rate with regular boundaries, before closing in on the target quickly with a final flourish. Sri Lanka fielded well, despite the wet ball and slippery surface, but it was the bowling where they were not poised, Mathews said.”It was a nervous game because it went down to the wire and the pressure was on. They were feeling it and we were also feeling it. We were a little a little bit rattled with the ball. Those 13 overs were played under high pressure, and Bangladesh outplayed us there, when we were troubled a little bit.”Ultimately they held it to pull it off and get across the line. They’ve played some really good cricket and we were outplayed today.”

Scorecard
File photo: Karnataka will look towards Robin Uthappa to provide them with a strong platform•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Two batsmen who are still finding their feet at the first-class level have tormented Karnataka’s bowlers so far in the quarter-final in Rajkot. On the first day, it was Sheldon Jackson who steadied Saurashtra after they lost their biggest gun Cheteshwar Pujara early. Today, it was the turn of Aarpit Vasavada, who made his second first-class century – not the most spectacular effort but a grinding one – that stretched Saurashtra’s total to a healthy 469.Saurashtra began the day on 272 for 5, and if Karnataka were looking for an early end to the innings, the bespectacled Vasavada denied them with a patient effort. On Sunday, one of the most common sights with Vasavada in the middle was him plunging a long way forward, keeping bat and pad close together as he studiously defended the bowling, holding the bat in position well after blocking the ball. He kept out plenty of deliveries today as well, scoring only 28 in the two-and-a-half hour morning session.”The pitch is a bit slow so it’s not easy to play strokes,” Vasavada said after the day’s play. “You have to wait for the balls in the zone to score runs. There are a few bowlers’ marks and the rough made it hard.”*Vasavada has spent several years with the Saurashtra squad but only this year he has got an extended run. He has repaid the faith with three half-centuries and two hundreds in his last eight innings. He got to triple-figures with a punch past extra cover and savoured the moment by holding his hands aloft, before acknowledging the cheers of his team-mates in the dressing room.The pitch had plenty of green on it, barely distinguishable from the rest of the turf but except for the odd ball that bounced extra from the spinners, had little to encourage the bowlers. Both No. 6 Chirag Jani and No. 7 Kamlesh Makvana made 30s to put on significant partnerships with Vasavada. Jani had a let-off on 34 when he was put down by Amit Verma at long-off, but the very next ball he holed out to deep backward square leg. Slow progress continued after tea as well, and it wasn’t till more than halfway through the final session that Karnataka managed to wrap up the innings.Still Vasavada felt Saurashtra should have got more. “500+ score ideal but I hope this is enough,” he said. “It’s turning but it’s not unplayable. You can score runs if you have some patience but if the bowler can bowl at all the right spots, it will do a bit. It’s a sporting wicket.”Karnataka’s batting has been inconsistent all season, and what had been a settled line-up for several years has had plenty of changes over the past two months. Opener KB Pawan Kumar has been dropped, Ganesh Satish, who was captain in some games last season, has had to sit out several matches, and left-hand batsman Amit Verma has also been left out for two games. The only specialist batsman to have played all matches this season is their most well-known name, Robin Uthappa.He and KL Rahul played out the final hour before stumps, taking Karnataka to 45 for 0 without needing to take too many risks. That partnership would have lasted only one ball if Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, who hit the headlines in his debut match last week against Maharashtra, had held on to a catch from Rahul at square leg off the first delivery of the innings.One of the problems for Karnataka’s batsmen for much of the league phase was the lack of big hundreds from their specialist batsmen. It was only in the previous couple of rounds that the centuries have arrived in number; before that both Uthappa and Pandey had scored four fifties each without going on to centuries. They will need more than that if Karnataka are to match Saurashtra in the first innings.*7 Jan 2012, 17.00 GMT This story has been updated to include Aarpit Vasavada’s quotes

MatériaMais Notícias

O Oeste lutou e conseguiu não sair com a derrota neste sábado fora de casa. Nos minutos finais, Léo Ceará marcou o gol que igualou o placar por 1 a 1 diante do Guarani pela 33ª rodada da Série B, no Brinco de Ouro, em Campinas (SP). O tento do Bugre saiu ainda no primeiro tempo, com Fabrício. Com o resultado, os campineiros permaneceram na nona posição, com 46 pontos, e os paulistas foram para 13ª colocação, com 43 somados, e permanecem com sequência de empates.

O próximo jogo das equipes será em dias diferentes. Na sexta-feira, o Oeste recebe o Figueirense, às 20h30, na Arena Barueri. No sábado, o Guarani visitará o Coritiba, às 19h30, no Couto Pereira.

O JOGO

Normalmente, a equipe da casa começa o duelo melhor, porém não nesta partida. Foi o Oeste que comandou às ações do jogo, com oportunidades de balançar as redes: Rodrigo Souza. O Guarani demorou para mostrar as caras. Depois disso, jogo ficou bastante brigado no meio-campo.

Se com a bola rolando estava complicado, na falta a rede balançou. O zagueiro Fabrício, do Guarani, cobrou falta com força e a bola passou pela barreira e também pelo goleiro Tadeu. Gol do Bugre. Logo em seguida, o Oeste tentou dar a resposta pelo lado direito com tabela entre Betinho e Adriano, mas eles não conseguiram dar sequência na jogada.

Na segunda etapa, o jogo começou mais animado. O Guarani buscando mais finalizar e chegar na área adversária, enquanto o Oeste enfrentou dificuldades para trocar passes e furar o bloqueio paulista.

Aos 37 minutos, Marcão recebeu cartão vermelho. Atacante recebeu o segundo amarelo após deixar o braço no rosto do zagueiro Patrick. Com um jogador a mais, o Rubrãose lançou ao ataque e conseguiu o gol de empate no último suspiro com Ceará,que bateu de chapa, no canto esquerdo do goleiro Agenor.

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Stephen Fleming has ruled himself out of replacing John Wright as New Zealand’s coach, declaring he is not ready to return to the grind of constant touring. Fleming has not dismissed the possibility of pursuing the head coach position in the future but said the timing was not right and he would prefer to spend time at home with his young family.Fleming’s only coaching involvement is leading Chennai Super Kings and his side nearly won the IPL title on Sunday, narrowly losing the final to the Kolkata Knight Riders. He said the relatively abbreviated nature of the IPL was preferable to international coaching at the moment, given his desire to have plenty of time at home.”Not really, from a selfish point of view,” Fleming said on radio when asked if he would consider the New Zealand coaching job. “I enjoy these two months [in the IPL] because it’s my cricket fix and it’s done and dusted, whereas with the national side you’ve got constant development and requirements with trave, not dissimilar to when you’re playing and I’m still, I guess, weaning my way off playing for 15 or 20 years.”I don’t know if that’s the path I want to go down. I have a good relationship with a number of the players, I enjoy talking about their game … and that might pull me back at some point but I certainly can’t see that in the near future.”Fleming, 39, retired from international cricket in 2008 and the following year ended his ties with Wellington and focused on his sports management business. In October 2009 he was considered a candidate to replace Andy Moles as New Zealand’s coach but, like this year, ruled himself out due to his family commitments.”I’m enjoying the four years I’ve been away [from playing] to develop new skills, meet new people and dabble a little bit in cricket,” he said. “The timing really is the main point for me, I’m not quite ready to get back onto that roundabout of international cricket. I’ve got a young family that I love spending time with and while I do care deeply about the New Zealand side and the direction they’re going, the timing’s just not right for me to jump back into that touring lifestyle.”New Zealand Cricket wants to have appointed a new coach by the end of July, with Wright set to finish after the two-Test tour of the Caribbean in July and August. Wright took over from Mark Greatbatch as coach in December 2010 but decided against extending his contract this year, in part due to his differences with John Buchanan, who as NZC’s director of cricket will play a key role in appointing the new mentor.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNo jet lag for Jacques Kallis•Associated Press

In the end, it was probably a fitting end to a solitary Twenty20 international sandwiched between South Africa’s tour of New Zealand, the Asia Cup and the Indian Premier League. In the end, it was rain that proved decisive in what was shaping up to be a close chase and what could have been the highest successful one in T20Is. In the end, MS Dhoni was once again left to rue the profligacy of his medium-pacers and assorted part-time bowlers.Gautam Gambhir had launched India’s pursuit of 220 in a blaze of boundaries but even a total of 71 for 0 after 7.5 overs proved to be comfortably behind the Duckworth-Lewis par score of 82, such had been South Africa’s dominance earlier with the bat.Half-centuries from Colin Ingram and Jacques Kallis had lifted the hosts to their second-highest T20I total, and the fourth-highest ever. With all his three medium-pacers going for runs, Dhoni was forced to overuse his part-time spinners, who collectively went for 87 in seven overs.Kallis showed no sign of any jet lag after having flown halfway across the world from New Zealand just in time for this game. Ingram, with a T20I strike-rate of 117.85 before this match, stroked his way to his maiden half-century in the format, his 78 taking 50 deliveries.There was no respite for India right from the start as their three medium-pacers – with similar pace and reliance on swing – were easily taken for boundaries. Richard Levi provided India a sampler of what was in store for them, dismissively swatting Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan for a couple of fours each. Irfan provided temporary relief to his captain when he got Levi to edge one going across to slip but Ingram signalled there would be no let-up with an exquisite punch past point for four off his first ball.Vinay Kumar began promisingly with an over that went for just two but Ingram and Kallis ensured South Africa were always in charge. India seemed to have stopped the torrent of runs to some extent as R Ashwin and Suresh Raina got through a couple of tight overs but Kallis and Ingram responded in style. Ashwin and Rohit Sharma were dispatched over midwicket for huge sixes.Dhoni turned to the slow-mediums of Virat Kohli. Kallis lofted him past long-on for four and crashed the next two deliveries past the sweeper cover. After having slog-swept Ashwin over deep midwicket, Kallis found the fielder on the second attempt to depart for 61 off 42 but by then the second-wicket stand had realised 119 off 80.More punishment lay in store for India as Vinay disappeared for 20 in the 17th over, 14 of those coming in three deliveries against Ingram who slashed, flicked and cut for boundaries.Though Ingram holed out to deep midwicket off the first ball of the 18th, Farhaan Behardien and Justin Ontong took 14 off the 19th over bowled by Irfan. With Praveen and Vinay available to bowl the last over, Dhoni went for Raina.Ontong earned ten off the first two deliveries with a loft over extra cover and a slog over midwicket. Though Ontong was bowled off the third, Albie Morkel hammered two sixes and a four off the last three as Raina went for 26 in the over, and 49 in four.The last ball of the innings typified how shell-shocked India were, as Ashwin lost a straightforward catch in the lights to concede a six at long-on. That stroke boosted South Africa to 219, a score which would require India to better the highest-successful chase in T20Is they achieved against Sri Lanka in 2009.Gambhir seemed to be in the mood to pull it off on his own, laying into Albie Morkel’s first over which went for 16. Before the heavens opened up, it rained slashes, cuts, hooks, top edges and outside edges from Gambhir’s bat. India might have gone at a quicker rate but Robin Uthappa struggled to get going at the other end, scoring at below a run-a-ball.The only other man, apart from Kallis, from the South Africa Test squad to New Zealand to be playing this game, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, squeezed in three overs that went for only 15, ensuring that Duckworth-Lewis went against India.

A round-up of matches from the Caribbean T20 on January 18

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2012Barbados crushed Sussex by eight wickets at the Kensington Oval and climbed to the top of the table in Group B. Sussex, who needed a win to keep their prospects alive, disappointed by shuddering to 89 all out in 18 overs. The Barbados bowlers continued their fine form by bowling out the opposition for less than 100 runs for third successive time.Sussex had a sedate, but solid start where they got to 23 runs in four overs without losing any wicket. But Tino Best sparked the slump by removing Joe Gatting and Sussex struggled through the rest of the innings, with only three batsmen getting to double figures. Fidel Edwards, playing his first game, picked up three wickets in his last 7 balls after Best (3 for 11) and Ashley Nurse (2 for 8) had annihilated the top order.In reply, Barbados cantered to their target without any trouble. Opener Kevin Stoute and No. 4 Shane Dowrich shared an unbeaten 52-run stand, which took Barbados straight into the semi-finals.In another Group B encounter, also played at the Kensington Oval, Netherlands beat Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) by 26 runs to keep the competition hot for the second semi-finalist spot. Batting first, the Dutch openers, Stephanus Myburgh and Michael Swart, added 70 runs in eight overs. Swart scored 57 off 43 balls and was supported well by Alexei Kervezee (36 off 31) to set up a challenging target for CCC. Later, the Dutch bowled with discipline to deny any momentum to the batsmen. Both teams need to win their last league games to challenge Jamaica for the other semi-final spot available in the group.

ESPNcricinfo previews the CLT20 match between Cape Cobras and Trinidad & Tobago

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit03-Oct-2011Match factsCape Cobras v Trinidad & Tobago, October 4, Chennai
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Can the T&T bowlers choke the opposition again?•AFP

Big PictureAfter the last-ball and one-wicket loss to Mumbai Indians, and the Super Over defeat to New South Wales, one wondered what Trinidad & Tobago would come up with next. Along with MI, T&T did their best to infuse excitement into a tournament that has struggled to pull in crowds. They finally managed to get it right against Chennai Super Kings to give themselves an outside chance of making the semi-finals. T&T have one last opportunity, against Cape Cobras, to add more thrills to the Champions League. It is a must-win game for both sides.While T&T’s spinners will look to use the slowness of the Chennai pitch to their advantage, they would have also noted that the Cobras batsmen struggled more against the Super Kings’ seamers in their only loss so far.A win tomorrow will put Cobras at the top of Group A and ensure their qualification for the semi-finals. Victory alone will not be enough for T&T, though, as they will need the Super Kings to beat New South Wales to force a three-way tie for the second place.Watch out for …Unlike the T&T spinners, there is nothing mysterious about medium-pacer Kevon Cooper but he has gone for just over five runs an over in the tournament. Even fellow Trinidadian Dwayne Bravo could not go after him in the death. Cooper’s 28 at a strike-rate of 280 was the difference against the Super Kings. T&T’s next best strike-rate was 121. Cobras will have to be wary on both fronts.You either get Herschelle Gibbs early or else he gets you. New South Wales didn’t, and suffered. Super Kings did, and got a target that could be chased. Gibbs will go after all the sliders, wrong ‘uns and flicked legbreaks that the T&T spinners try against him. Who will get whom?Team newsBarring last-minute injuries, neither side has reason to change their XIs.Stats and trivia Not surprisingly, slow and low Chennai is where batsmen have struggled the most. It has the lowest average per wicket, 21.22, and the lowest economy-rate, 6.80, of the three venues used in the tournament T&T’s loss to MI was only the 11th instance of a Twenty20 being decided by the smallest margin of one wicket off the last ball.Quotes”There is still a remote chance of us qualifying. God only knows what will happen in the last game but we still hold faith that we will qualify for the semi-finals.”
“We are playing T&T at the end, so their spinners are not complete unknowns to us. We have done a little bit of work on how to face them.”