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On the day they announced a new title sponsor for the IPL, the BCCI has also brought an end to its litigation with Kings XI Punjab, which had gone on for almost two years.The BCCI top brass and KXIP officials, who met in Mumbai on the sidelines of the BCCI working committee and marketing committee meetings, managed to sort out all the impending issues. “It was decided that the franchise will be fined Rs 1 crore (approx USD 181,270) for their breaches so far, and there will be no further legal proceedings between the parties,” an insider revealed to ESPNcricinfo. This effectively means that the arbitration proceedings that hadn’t started since the court appointed an arbitrator in April earlier this year, will not take off at all.The legal tussle between the BCCI and the franchise owners had gone on from December 15, 2010 when the Bombay High Court had stayed the termination of Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, the franchises who were terminated by the BCCI over alleged breach of franchisee agreements. While the litigation had not affected the Chandigarh-based team’s participation in the fourth and fifth edition of the IPL, the team’s future in the tournament was far from secure.In October 2010, the BCCI had terminated the franchise agreement with KPH Dream Cricket Pvt Ltd, the promoters of KXIP, on two counts, according to the termination notice sent to the franchise. Firstly, for having “stepped into the shoes of the original bidder on the date of award of the Franchisee without being a “group company or entity controlled by the bidder”. This transgression would shake very foundation of the tender process otherwise meant to eliminate any possibility of successful bids being converted into marketing opportunities even prior to the award of the Franchisee rights.” Secondly, “Clear violation of the franchise agreement, more particularly clause 10.1, 10.2(a) and 10.3. These violations have taken place more than once.”However, the team owners moved the court after that and the termination was stayed by the Bombay High Court. The court then appointed an arbitrator to resolve the impending issues. As a result, there was a lot of confusion over the number of teams to have featured in the 2011 edition of the Twenty20 league. Eventually, the drama over KXIP’s participation was over days before the player auction that was held in Bangalore in January 2011.With this agreement, the BCCI has, within the space of a month, made several announcements that have bolstered the IPL’s image both in public and in the market. In October, the Sun Group, a south Indian media conglomerate was announced as the new owners of the beleaguered Hyderabad franchise last month and on Wednesday, a new title sponsorship was awarded to PepsiCo.

West Indies’ three-day warm-up match, prior to the Test series, has been called off because of the condition of the outfield at the ground in Savar. The BKSP ground, which was slated to host the match between the West Indians and a BCB XI from November 8, has not dried sufficiently to be fit for play following a week of wet weather, according to BCB cricket operations manager Sabbir Khan.”It will not be possible to dry out the ground in the next two days,” Khan told ESPNcricinfo. “The BKSP cricket ground hasn’t adequately dried, and the decision was made based on the curator’s opinion.”Yesterday, the BCB had announced that the game was being reduced to a two-day affair. West Indies coach Ottis Gibson, who had attempted to travel to BKSP on Wednesday morning for an inspection, had said later that he still hoped to get some match practice.”We’ve been told the ground where we are supposed to play the practice match is wet. We are still monitoring the situation, we are hoping to get some practice before the Test match,” Gibson said on Wednesday.The BKSP ground in Savar, a town about 40kms north of Dhaka, had hosted tour matches in the past but has poor draining facilities. No other match on West Indies’ tour of Bangladesh is slated for the venue.The match was West Indies’ only tour game ahead of the first Test in Mirpur on November 13.

Nepal maintained their unbeaten run in the World Cricket League Division Four after completing an easy eight-wicket win over USA in the final of the tournament in Kuala Lumpur. The win was set up by left-arm spinner Basanta Regmi’s five-wicket haul, which limited USA to 145 after they had chosen to bat. USA’s top order was not allowed to settle into any substantial partnership as regular strikes reduced them to 83 for 5. The lower half of the batting order was then skittled by Regmi as Nepal removed the last four batsmen for eight runs.Nepal lost opening batsmen Anil Mandal, who had scored a century in the previous game, in the third over, but a 93-run stand between Subash Khakurel and Gyanendra Malla all but sealed the contest. Malla scored a 65-ball 66 that included seven hits to the boundary and three over it, but was out in the 20th over. Khakurel, who remained not out on 40, shared another unbeaten stand with captain Paras Khadka to help Nepal achieve the target with 22 overs to spare. Regmi, who ended up as the tournament’s leading wicket taker with 21 wickets, was awarded Man of the Match.Both teams, however, had already qualified for Division Three and Nepal’s coach, Pubudu Dassanayake, expressed happiness on his team’s performance: “The team did just what was needed here and deserved to win. When I came to Nepal the goal was always to get this team up to a chance of qualifying for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and this Division 4 win now means we’re one step closer. There’s a lot more hard work to do but I’m delighted with the progress so far.”Denmark collapsed to their lowest total in the tournament and ended in fourth position after a five-wicket loss to Singapore. Denmark chose to bat first but lost five wickets within the first 11 overs to Singapore’s opening bowlers Chetan Suryawanshi and Amjad Mahboob. There was a brief recovery as Denmark hobbled to 60 without any further loss, but they lost three wickets on the same score and caved in to 83 in 26 overs.Singapore were given a scare in their chase as Denmark opening bowler Bashir Shah picked two wickets in his first two overs, but by the time the next wicket fell – on 59 – Singapore were well on their way. Shah turned out to be the lone hand for Denmark, picking up all five wickets to fall, as Singapore finished the chase in the 17th over.Although Singapore finished third, captain Saad Janjua was disappointed with the team’s performance: “We came to Malaysia to win this tournament. The third place finish is very disappointing. We trained hard, prepared well but a bit of bad luck with the weather and the fact that our batting didn’t click meant we underperformed.”In the third match of the day, Malaysia beat Tanzania by five wickets to finish fifth in the tournament. Tanzania equalled their best score in the tournament after being put into bat. Opening batsman Abhik Patwa scored 67 off 105 balls and helped Tanzania out from a tricky 45 for 3 after a 66-run partnership with Nasibu Mapunda (30 off 52). But Malaysia chipped away with wickets, while keeping a tab on run-scoring, to leave themselves with exactly the same target to achieve as the day before.Tanzania bowlers responded well to first remove previous game’s centurion, Rakesh Madhavan, in the 11th over. Seventeen overs later, Malaysia were five down on 85, giving Tanzania a sniff of a first win in the tournament. But an unbeaten 103-run stand between Shafiq Sharif (57 off 80) and Khizar Hayat (49 off 60) helped Malaysia cross the line in the 46th over.Malaysia captain Suhan Alagaratnam said: “We bowled well but our batsmen have struggled throughout this tournament and we were in some difficulty until Khizar and Shafiq played well to get us through.”

ScorecardDurham’s Phil Mustard blasted 143 from just 91 balls as Durham crushed Surrey by 142 runs in the Clydesdale Bank 40 at Chester-le-Street.After being overtaken by Hampshire at the top of Group B the previous evening, Surrey’s hopes of a quick return to the summit were snuffed out. Durham were on course to beat their record 40-over total of 325, set against the same opponents at the Oval last year, until Mustard was out with the total on 271.The remaining six overs brought only 27 runs for the loss of five more wickets and Durham finished on 298 for 9. If Surrey thought they had clawed their way back into the game they quickly shot themselves in the foot as both openers departed carelessly with the score on 10.Jason Roy revived them with 43 off 24 balls, but the visitors were all out for 156 in 29.1 overs, completing an unhappy week in the north-east following their innings defeat in the LV= County Championship.Mustard led a charmed life early in his innings. On 1 he went down the pitch to Matthew Spriegel and edged the ball just out of Steve Davies’ reach and on two he survived a very confident lbw appeal from Jade Dernbach.The same bowler put down a simple return catch with Mustard on 16 and the left-hander went on to hit seven sixes. When Durham chose to bat Mark Stoneman initially dominated the strike, cutting, driving and pulling Dernbach for three fours in the fourth over on his way to 50 off 50 balls with seven fours.The stand was worth 87 when he skied a return catch to Zander de Bruyn, who cleaned up at the end of the innings to finish with five for 46. Mustard’s first six, over long-on off Gareth Batty, took him to 49 and he reached 50 off 45 balls before accelerating to 100 off 74.He put on 118 in 14 overs for the second wicket with Ben Stokes, who made 45 before he was stumped off a leg-side wide by Murali Kartik. Mustard, whose previous one-day best was 139 not out at Northampton last year, hit three sixes on his way from 121 to 142 before he was out in the 34th over, skying a catch to point.At the start of Surrey’s reply Rory Hamilton-Brown slashed at a short ball from Mitch Claydon and edged to slip then Davies shaped to pull Chris Rushworth and lobbed a catch to mid-on.Roy and Gary Wilson put on 68 but after Roy hit three successive fours in Mark Wood’s first over the young seamer picked up three wickets. When Roy went for a big hit and skied a catch to Mustard it effectively signalled the end of Surrey’s challenge.

Western Australia have finalised their squad for next summer, with the Tasmanian wicketkeeper Tom Triffitt and the young Victorian spinner Ashton Agar the only imports from outside the state. The fast bowlers Jason Behrendorff and Matt Dixon were upgraded from rookie deals to full contracts, as was the batsman Tom Beaton.The opening batsman Wes Robinson was not offered a new contract after a disappointing summer in which he averaged less than 30, while Michael Johnson and Martin Paskal were also dropped. The Warriors had already lost the fast bowlers Mark Cameron and Brad Knowles to retirement, and the batsman Luke Pomersbach is also gone from the squad after being handed a deal by Queensland.The other departure was of Luke Ronchi, who is pursuing a career in his country of birth, New Zealand, and it was his absence that opened the door for Triffitt to move from Tasmania. But Triffitt, 21, won’t have it all his own way behind the stumps with two young glovemen, Cameron Bancroft and Sam Whiteman, signed on as rookies.Bancroft, Whiteman, Will Bosisto and Ashton Turner are all new additions to the rookie list and they will all be part of Australia’s squad at the Under-19 World Cup, to be held in Queensland in August. Agar, an 18-year-old left-arm spinner, is also part of the World Cup squad and has been signed to a full contract, joining Michael Beer as the only specialist spinners on the 17-man list.”Ashton Agar has been recruited with a view to increasing our spin bowling options and he will team up with Michael Beer,” Lachlan Stevens, the Western Australia coach, said. “Allrounder Ashton Turner is also a promising spin option and the competition for spots between that trio will be similar to what is being created with our three wicketkeepers, and that’s what we are after.”Essentially we are hoping our senior players can create a new legacy for the Warriors brand by being competitive with the best sides in Australia and showing leadership with their on and off-field responsibilities.”Western Australia have also named a 10-man development squad, designed to provide opportunities for players sitting just outside the contract list. The former Test batsman and coach Geoff Marsh will head the development squad, which includes former state squad members Jake Fawcett, Drew Porter and Luke Towers, as well as the former Tasmania batsman John Rogers and the former New South Wales allrounder Tim Armstrong.Western Australia squad Ashton Agar, Tom Beaton, Michael Beer, Jason Behrendorff, Travis Birt, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Liam Davis, Matthew Dixon, Ryan Duffield, Marcus Harris, Michael Hogan, Michael Hussey (CA contract), Mitchell Johnson (CA contract), Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Marcus North, Nathan Rimmington, Tom Triffitt, Adam Voges.Rookies Cameron Bancroft, William Bosisto, Joel Paris, Ashton Turner, Sam Whiteman.

ScorecardHampshire thrashed Scotland by 89 runs in their Clydesdale Bank 40 clash at Bothwell Castle, rolling their opponents for a modest 131.Michael Carberry top-scored with 76 as Hampshire finished on 220 all out with two balls of their innings remaining but Scotland could not mount a credible challenge – Jean Symes’ 33 their best score as all six Hampshire bowlers took wickets.Kabir Ali, with 2 for 17 in six overs, and Danny Briggs – who returned 2 for 31 in eight – were the pick of the bowlers, while Majid Haq took three wickets for Scotland.Josh Davey was first man out for 13, bowled by Ali, before his opening partner Calum MacLeod was run out with the total at 28. Ali removed Ryan Flannigan lbw for duck and the dangerous Richie Berrington managed only nine before David Griffiths struck.That left the score at 58 for 4 but Symes and Preston Mommsen (22) dug in to extend the total to 94 before Symes – who batted for 48 deliveries and hit four boundaries – handed Chris Wood a wicket. Carberry’s part-time spin accounted for Haq and Liam Dawson ended Mommsen’s stay as the innings crumbled. Another run out and two tail-end scalps for Briggs ended the disappointing chase with seven overs remaining.The visitors made a swift start to their innings and were 66 for 1 in the ninth over when Jimmy Adams was caught behind by Craig Wallace off Gordon Drummond. James Vince joined Carberry in the middle and attempted to continue the rapid pace of the scoring and made good progress before being bowled by Haq.Simon Katich (six) was trapped lbw by Haq after facing just eight balls and Sean Ervine faced just a solitary delivery and was bowled with the next ball. Carberry could only watch on from the non-striker’s end but some stability was restored when Dawson joined him in the middle. Dawson kept the scoring going, but fell for 16 when he was caught by Drummond off the bowling of Mommsen.Carberry was running out of partners when Wood (4) and Michael Bates (2) fell in successive Davey overs and Carberry finally perished himself in the 33rd over following an innings which featured 10 boundaries. Ali (32) and Briggs (17) attempted to steer the visitors to a respectable total but both fell to Symes in the final over.

ScorecardKevin Pietersen wrapped up warm during his short time in the field at New Road•Getty Images

Most cricketers heading into a Test series in a week without a bat in English conditions for some months might be anxious for time at the crease.But Kevin Pietersen is not like most cricketers. Unlike Ian Bell, who requested to play extra matches for Warwickshire and England Lions, Pietersen has never been the sort who felt he required lots of county games to find his form. Indeed, his appearance in Surrey’s game at Worcestershire represented just his fifth championship match – four for Surrey and one for Hampshire – since he was first selected for Test duty in 2005. He does things his way and, with 20 Test centuries and a career average a fraction under 50, he can claim with some justification that it works rather well.Instead Pietersen – who experienced a winter in which his performances progressed from poor to outrageously good – feels he is in the form of his life. While other players may need endless nets and time in the middle to feel well prepared, Pietersen relies more on confidence and knowledge that his hand-eye reflexes are working properly.That may be just as well. While there was no sign of the floodwater that submerged this ground as recently as the weekend, only 26.1 overs were possible on the first day of this game due to rain. With Worcestershire choosing to bat first and the weather forecast hardly promising, there is a strong chance that Pietersen may have just one first-class innings ahead of the Test series against West Indies.”I feel like I’ve never batted better,” Pietersen said on the first day of Surrey’s game at New Road. “I feel in great nick at the moment but everyone knows you have a couple of bad scores and everyone says you are in bad nick again. I know that is not true but all I’m doing at the moment is concentrating on my batting, doing whatever I can do to influence a fixture here in Worcester.”There was a time, not so long ago, when it would been unthinkable that a man could fly in from a T20 event in markedly different conditions and resume Test duties. But those days have gone. The IPL is a fact of life and Pietersen, for one, has clearly tired of justifying his involvement in it.”It’s plain and simple, mate,” Pietersen said. “I’m sick and tired of having to defend myself about going to the IPL every year. I don’t see why I need to defend myself. It’s something that’s there which all the best players in the world play in. Every single time in March and April, I have to defend myself about going to India. It’s not going to change: I will play in the IPL. It’s the best tournament going and that’s the way it is.”That is not to say that Pietersen is a critic of the county game. Far from it. “I love county cricket,” he said. “It is what served me well at the start of my career in England. It’s a brilliant format and what makes a lot of players around the world. A lot of them learn their game in county cricket. It’s a brilliant concept and the opportunity to turn up here for hopefully four days will be special. Batting here at Worcester might prove a little harder than at Lord’s next week if I’m honest.”He admitted that the timing of his absence from home is not ideal – he would, naturally enough, prefer to spend Thursday with his son, Dylan, who celebrates his second birthday – but dismissed the idea that he required more of a break from the game after his stint in the IPL.”Look, I love doing what I’m doing,” Pietersen said. “I’m as fit as a fiddle. There is nothing wrong with my fitness at the moment. I love my job and there is nothing else I would rather be doing.”I’ll play as long as I’m fit. I’m not going to play until I’m 40 but I’m going to play as long as I can. I love playing for England. It’s the best. Everyone says it’s a shame missing out on the rest of the IPL and yes it is. But I’m playing the best form of cricket next week, I’m playing in a Test at Lord’s. Growing up as a kid, that’s the sort of things you dream of.”This week is very tough for me because I’ve been away for two months. I haven’t seen my kid for two months and it’s his birthday. It’s not the best situation for me but this is my job, this is what I’ve got to do, my family realises that and it doesn’t last forever. It’s a case of if the rain falls [on Thursday], I’ll be going back to London for a day.”The problem for Pietersen comes if he fails. If he does so, having not been seen to acclimatise to English conditions, he will be condemned by those who, you suspect, are always looking for an opportunity to criticise him.”It was a hell of a difficult winter,” he continued. “We came under pressure from a very good Pakistan side and we realised we weren’t as good as we thought we were. I’m not saying that we thought we were the most incredible outfit but we had played some very good cricket and it was nice to come under a bit of pressure. It is never nice to lose but good that we realised we’ve got some work to do especially in the sub-continent.”Pietersen had little to do on the first day of this game. Fielding mainly at cover or deep square leg, he looked fit and relaxed as he watched Worcestershire’s openers justify the decision to bat first on what turned out to be a slow pitch offering little encouragement to the bowlers.George Edwards – selected ahead of Chris Jordan and Matt Dunn – was the pick of the Surrey attack. Aged just 19 and another product of Surrey’s bountiful youth system, Edwards bowled with impressive pace and control and looked to be a cricketer with a bright future.Daryl Mitchell and Michael Klinger managed only three boundaries between them but completed Worcestershire second half-century opening stand of the championship season with the only moment of alarm coming when Mitchell, on 13, got a leading edge to a delivery from Tim Linley that fell into space.

ScorecardScotland claimed a comfortable 18-run win over Nottinghamshire on the Duckworth/Lewis method in the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B clash in Edinburgh.Nottinghamshire were put into bat and posted 219 for 7 at the Grange, with captain and wicketkeeper Chris Read top-scoring with 59 and Josh Davey and Majid Haq taking two wickets apiece.The Saltires, seeking to respond from yesterday’s rain-affected loss to Surrey, this time came out in credit after the weather forced a revision of the target.The visitors made a circumspect start before losing wickets in successive overs. Alex Hales was bowled for 18 by Matthew Parker in the sixth over and Riki Wessels followed in the seventh for one, caught by Calum MacLeod off the bowling of Evans, to leave Nottinghamshire 25 for 2.Samit Patel joined Michael Lumb to restore some stability, but in the 14th over the opener perished, caught behind off the bowling of Richie Berrington for 26. James Taylor and Patel took the visitors into three figures before Patel was out for 36 from 43 balls, caught by MacLeod to become Haq’s first victim.Read and Taylor set about the Scottish attack and built a useful partnership which came to an end when the latter attempted to up the ante further. Again MacLeod was the catcher off Haq’s bowling, Taylor departing in the 32nd over having made 34 runs off 56 balls.Steven Mullaney then provided able support to Read, who fell four overs from the end, caught by Ryan Flannigan off the bowling of Davey. Davey claimed his second wicket in his next over as Paul Franks fell, MacLeod again claiming the catch.The visitors survived the remaining nine balls unscathed, but their total soon looked short as MacLeod and Davey made a fast start, powering along to 73 without loss after 15 overs.MacLeod reached a 57-ball half-century, with six fours and a six, before the partnership reached three figures in the 21st over. They had advanced to 108 from 23 before rain halted play, 18 runs ahead of the D/L par, with MacLeod on 58 and Davey 44.Patel and Mullaney were economical among a struggling bowling attack which proved unable to make any inroads into the hosts’ line-up.

ScorecardWest Zone produced a clinical performance to thrash North Zone in Dharamsala and win the Deodhar Trophy. North were going for a third consecutive title but West had looked the more convincing team in the semi-finals, in which they beat East Zone by 108 runs, and put in another all-round effort to make the final a one-sided contest.West Zone played a near-perfect one-day game. One of their openers attacked, the other played the anchor role, their No. 3 scored 71 at better than a run-a-ball, and they had a swashbuckling innings in the end to put the game out of their opponents’ reach. Then, just to make things absolutely certain, they took wickets with the new ball, before the spinners mopped up the middle order and tail.North Zone captain Harbhajan Singh sent West Zone in, but was immediately put on the back foot as Parthiv Patel smashed 14 boundaries in his 78 off 63 balls. Parthiv got West Zone to 131 in 19 overs before he was trapped lbw by Harbhajan. Ajinkya Rahane, who had played second fiddle to Parthiv in the opening stand, anchored the innings, but kept the runs ticking over as well. His 118 came off 122 balls, and included 15 fours and a six. By the time he was dismissed, West Zone were 247 in the 39th over, and had the perfect launching pad from which to get a huge total.Cheteshwar Pujara had shared a 116-run stand with Rahane, and went on to get 71 off 67, but it was Kedar Jadhav, a centurion in the semi-final, who gave the innings a final boost. Jadhav struck three sixes and seven fours to get 67 off just 43 balls, and ensured West Zone reached 355. North Zone’s bowling figures made for sorry reading, with all the medium-pacers going at seven an over or more – Rish Dhawan’s 54 off six overs was the worst of the lot. Left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma was the only bowler to concede less than five an over, taking 1 for 49 in ten.The match ended as a contest early in the chase. Munaf Patel continued his impressive comeback from an ankle injury, making it nine wickets in four games with four early strikes to snuff out any hopes North Zone may have had. Bipul Sharma completed an impressive all-round performance with his 68 off 54 balls. West Zone’s spinners came in for some stick as the tailenders threw caution to the wind: Dhawan hit two sixes in his 22 off 16 balls and Manpreet Gony struck three in his 28 off 11. The spinners hit back with wickets, though, Iqbal Abdulla following up his six-for in the semi-final with four scalps.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

The BCCI will solicit the views of current Ranji Trophy captains and coaches on senior domestic cricket at a meeting in Mumbai on March 22, the board has said. The board used to hold an annual meeting at the end of each season with players and coaches, but the practice had been discontinued for a few years.The meeting will give the players and support staff the chance to air their views on the domestic game, potentially ranging from the kind of ball that is used (Kookaburra or SG) to the quality of pitches to whether Ranji games should be played over four or five days. “The views of the captains and coaches, with regard to senior domestic cricket, will be discussed during the conclave,” Sanjay Jagdale, the BCCI secretary, said in a statement.The meeting comes at a time when the BCCI’s technical committee has recommended a number of prospective changes to domestic cricket. The committee, chaired by the former India captain Sourav Ganguly, has recommended a revamp of the domestic calendar, including advancing the Duleep Trophy to the beginning of the season, playing the Ranji Trophy knockouts over five days and revising the points system in the case of incomplete matches where a team fails to take the first-innings lead. The recommendations still need to be approved by the board’s working committee, if they are to be implemented.Sairaj Bahutule, the captain of Vidarbha, welcomed the board’s decision to revive the meeting this year. “Players and coaches are getting involved, this interaction is very good,” he told ESPNcricinfo. Bahutule, who has also captained Mumbai, said it was important for the players to have the opportunity to present their idea and opinions on the game. He also felt it would give the representatives of teams in the Plate league a chance to draw attention to their concerns and possibly put forward ideas that could improve their standard of cricket.