Yakubu scored 33 times in 107 appearances for Everton between 2007 and 2011.

The former Nigeria international made his name at Maccabi Haifa before joining Portsmouth, where he became a cult hero.

Yakubu left Portsmouth for Middlesbrough in 2005, and he scored another 25 league goals in English football before making the move to Everton.

Of Yakubu’s 33 goals for Everton, 25 of those came in the Premier League.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”252976″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch 21 things that will definitely happen at the World Cup”]

There is absolutely no question that he made a positive impression on the club’s supporters, and the centre-forward went on to represent Blackburn Rovers, Reading and Coventry City in the English game before hanging up his boots.

Now 35 years of age, Yakubu is certainly winding down.

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The Everton supporters have recently taken the chance to pay tribute to their former striker, however, and one fan even claimed that ‘The Yak’ should return to the Merseyside club to play alongside Cenk Tosun in the final third of the field.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Everton fans, who have also been commenting on the future of Victor Lindelof, can be seen below:

Newcastle United fans have voted overwhelmingly in favour of signing Chelsea winger Kenedy instead of Andros Townsend after they were linked with moves for both players recently.

The Guardian reported last week that the Magpies were interested in a £20m move for Crystal Palace winger Townsend, with The Evening Chronicle quoting a similar fee for Kenedy this summer.

That figure would make either player Newcastle’s record signing, but the St James’ Park side know they need to spend significantly in the transfer window if they’re to build a squad that can improve on their 10th placed finish last term.

Both players have spent similar amounts of time at the club, but for Newcastle fans there is only one choice when it comes to who they should sign, and it isn’t 26-year-old Townsend.

A massive 92% of respondents to a poll we published at the weekend believe that they should make a move for Kenedy instead of the 13-cap England international.

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You can see the full results below…

Leeds United fans in the Transfer Tavern will want to see a number of transfers happen this summer following the arrival of Marcelo Bielsa as manager.

The Chilean was appointed last week as the new man in charge of the Elland Road outfit and the locals will be hoping his name and experience can help take the Whites back into the Premier League.

The Yorkshire outfit know that they will need a number of additions this summer in order to have any chance of making that a possibility and have been heavily linked with a number of attackers as they look to add to their firepower.

Matej Vydra is one of the names that has been mentioned over the past couple of weeks and a number of the locals have been wondering whether anything could happen for the Derby County man.

According to Phil Hay, who is the chief football writer for the Yorkshire Evening Post, there has been some progress, however, it does appear there could still be some way to go.

It is believed the wage demands will not be a problem for the Czech Republic international but rather the transfer fee, with Derby asking for around £11million to let the deal happen.

Landlord’s Verdict

The Leeds fans in the Tavern will be encouraged that there has been progress about a deal with the prolific goalscorer as they look to add an attacking threat to their game.

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Vydra was crowned the league’s top goalscorer with 21 strikes to his name and the locals will want to see him doing his thing at Elland Road in the very near future.

Leeds fans – thoughts?

A round-up of the second day’s play of the third-round matches of the Ranji Trophy Plate League 2009-10

Cricinfo staff18-Nov-2009

Group B

Scorecard
The contest between Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala in Jammu has proved a closely-fought one. A four-wicket burst from Abid Nabi helped the hosts bowl out Kerala for 133, and gain a lead of 31. Raiphi Gomez (39) and Sachin Baby (32) provided some resistance but Kerala couldn’t capitalise after having bowled out the opposition for 164 on the first day. Though they fought back well in J&K’s second innings, the hosts still held the edge at stumps. An unbeaten 57 from Hiken Shah steered J&K to 157 for 6 at stumps – Sony Cheruvathur took three wickets an increased his match tally to nine – and took the lead to 188.
Scorecard
There was no play possible as rain played spoilsport on the second day of the game between Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha in Vijaywada.

Group A

Scorecard
Assam reached a position of advantage against Jharkhand in Guwahati. First, their bowlers, led by Sairaj Bahutule’s 5 for 53, bowled out Jharkhand for 261; then their batsmen responded by notching up 149 at stumps with the loss of just one wicket. Jharkhand will rue the fact that their middle-order batsmen failed to consolidate on starts. Five reached double-figures, while three – Saurabh Tiwary, Rajeev Gupta and Shahbaz Nadeem – reached 30-plus scores but didn’t press on. Assam, in response, were boosted by opener Parvez Aziz’s 85 and an opening stand of 128. Dheeraj Jadhav is still there, unbeaten on 49, and will look to take his team to a substantial lead tomorrow.
Scorecard
Goa, buoyed by Swapnil Asnodkar’s century, reached a dominant position against Rajasthan in Margao. They began the day on even terms, on 149 for 4, but a 128-run stand between the two overnight batsmen, Asnodkar and Rahul Keni, tilted the balance in Goa’s favour. Fast bowler Pankaj Singh bagged 4 for 92, but Goa had posted a competitive 338. In reply, two quick wickets from Saurabh Bandekar dented Rajasthan in their innings and left the visitors in a precarious situation at stumps.
Scorecard
The first day of the game in Nagpur was washed out, but the hosts were pegged back on the second as Tripura limited them to 217 for 9. The Vidarbha score could have been much worse had it not been for a 59-run sixth-wicket stand between Ravi Jangid (45) and Himanshu Joshi (38). The lower order stepped up with some important contributions but Wilkin Mota, who grabbed 3 for 39, ensured Tripura stayed ahead of the eight-ball. Tripura used nine bowlers in the innings, and Mota was supported well by the rest in keeping the opposition in check.

Victoria have secured the services of Pakistani allrounder Sohail Tanvir for this summer’s Twenty20 domestic tournament

Cricinfo staff09-Dec-2009Victoria have secured the services of Pakistani allrounder Sohail Tanvir for this summer’s Twenty20 domestic tournament. Tanvir, who last year turned out for South Australia in the event, has recently recovered from a back injury that has severely disrupted his 2009 season.Tanvir’s unorthodox, wrong-footed bowling action has proven successful in Twenty20 tournaments the world over. Tanvir, a left-armer, was among Pakistan’s leading players at the inaugural World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa, and topped the wicket-taking list in the first Indian Premier League while representing the Rajasthan Royals.Victoria have been searching for a second overseas player since Muttiah Muralitharan’s withdrawal to play for Sri Lanka in matches against Bangladesh. Tanvir will join the West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo on the Bushrangers’ books this season.Tanvir has endured a difficult 2009 season, not least on account of the back injury that led to him losing his regular place in Pakistan’s limited-overs line-up. He was turned away at London’s Heathrow airport for not obtaining the appropriate visa after being offered a contract by Surrey, and will be unable to play in the 2010 IPL, after Lalit Modi announced Pakistan players would not be invited to participate.Meanwhile, New South Wales are in talks with at least one member of the current West Indian touring squad for the Twenty20 tournament. The reigning Champions League victors last year recruited New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum for the final in controversial circumstances, and are understood to have set their sights on an allrounder.

India’s best fielding performance in ODIs since the Champions Trophy in September last year set up their march to the final by way of a thumping win

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga10-Jan-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Zaheer Khan was India’s best bowler, picking up three wickets, to help bowl out Sri Lanka for 213 and set up a thumping win•Associated Press

India’s best fielding performance in ODIs since the Champions Trophy in September last year set up their march to the final by way of a thumping win. It wasn’t anything spectacular: half chances were taken and easy ones not missed, marking a big improvement on their recent fielding form. That, coupled with impressive bowling from Zaheer Khan and Amit Mishra, pulled Sri Lanka from an explosive start and restricted them to a paltry 213, which was chased down with 17.2 overs to spare.Zaheer was the pick of the bowlers, creating one half chance, and two fairly easy ones. At one stage his figures read 6-2-11-2. Sri Lanka had chosen to bat to allow their bowlers experience first-hand the wet conditions before the final, but it took resilient half-centuries from Kumar Sangakkara and Suraj Randiv to take the match far enough for the dew to set in.If Sangakkara and Randiv had to work hard, India’s runs came with
predictable ease: Gautam Gambhir scored his 19th half-century, Dinesh
Karthik narrowly missed a fourth, and Virat Kohli made it to his fourth 50-plus score in his last five innings.But it was the first 11 overs of the match that staged the decisive action: two wicket-maidens, a wicket in the first over of new spells on three occasions and, between that, scintillating batting from Tillakaratne Dilshan. Coming back from a groin injury, Dilshan decided to do away with the running. He just drove, cut, pulled and late-cut eight boundaries in 17 deliveries to deflate any confidence India and Sudeep Tyagi would have gained from getting Upul Tharanga out in the first over.When Zaheer was brought on, in the sixth over, Dilshan had hit seven
boundaries in his 29, and Sri Lanka nine in their 38. He was pulled for a four second ball. The next ball took a thick edge, and was dying on Gambhir at fine gully before he snared it. Zaheer was pumped, and proceeded to bowl to a plan that worked just fine for him. Nothing to drive, a short cover in place, playing on the batsmen’s patience with the nagging accuracy. Mahela Jayawardene gave in, driving a ball that should not have been driven, and Kohli hung on to a sharp catch at short cover.Back came Sreesanth, whose first two overs had gone for 16, and Thilan
Samaraweera walked across to a straight delivery and missed. Forty-two for 1 in 5.2 overs became 61 for 4 in 10.2. Soon Thilina Kandamby was run out, his fifth such dismissal out of 23. This time, though, he was sold a dummy by his captain, and was done in a by a smart throw from Karthik and quick backing-up by Zaheer.Thissara Perera, bounced and verbalised by Zaheer, tried to target Mishra, but Yuvraj Singh pulled out a diving catch at wide long-on, not his last contribution to Sri Lanka’s woes. Sangakkara, who had reached 32 off 42 by then, responded to Perera’s wicket by stepping out and hitting Sreesanth for four. He dominated a seventh-wicket partnership that took Sri Lanka closer to 150, but that’s when Yuvraj struck.Sangakkara had tried to make full use of every loose delivery that came his way, and also took calculated risks to keep the scoreboard from stagnating. But when he pulled a Yuvraj delivery which was too full, he had completed 43 innings without a century. Randiv and Thilan Thushara added 59 for the eighth wicket, a stand that saw Randiv through to his first List A fifty. But when the time came to press on, when they opted for the Powerplay in the 44th over, the tail came up short, and Sri Lanka were bundled out by Zaheer and Mishra, with four overs still to go.If there was any doubt to which way the match was going, Karthik and Gambhir removed it by taking 86 off the first 10 overs. Sri Lanka’s last chance of preventing India from getting the bonus point vanished when Dilshan and Tharanga dropped Gambhir on 41 and 44 respectively.Karthik did no harm to his chances of pushing for a place in further matches by following up a catch and a smart run-out with a dominating role in the opening partnership. He started off with a streaky boundary past the slip but soon got into the groove, punishing errors in both line and length. Anything straying on the pads was flicked through midwicket, and the ones short were cut through point and covers. Gambhir smartly assumed the second fiddle, capitalising on width when not milking singles.Once with Kohli, and with fields spread, the two got down to exploiting the gaps, running almost on intuition, scoring 60 off their 72-run partnership on foot. Upon Gambhir’s dismissal, Kohli asked for the Powerplay and quickly finished Sri Lanka off, accelerating from 33 off 48 to 71 off 68.

Ireland could not defend a hefty 174 for 6, as Sri Lanka A cantered homein the 19th over after a whirlwind batting performance.

Cricinfo staff04-Feb-2010
Scorecard
Ireland powered to 174 for 6 on the back of a 104-run opening stand by Paul Stirling and Niall O’Brien in their game against Sri Lanka A at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, but could not defend their total. Led by a Chinthaka Jayasinghe’s unbeaten 41, the Sri Lankans cantered home in the 19th over.O’Brien cleared the boundary twice as he raced to his second half-century in two games, while Stirling continued to impress, making a rapid 43 before he fell to Seekkuge Prasanna in the 12th over. O’Brien was dismissed in the next over, but short cameos from Kevin O’Brien and Alex Cusack kept the momentum going.Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, however, and Ireland could not quite push on to an unbeatable score. Cusack and John Mooney both fell to Chaminda Vidanapathirana, whose fast-medium seamers proved difficult to get away, but a solid innings from Gary Wilson lifted Ireland’s total in the closing overs.With a hefty target to chase down, Sri Lanka had to start positively and their opening pair of Tharanga Paranavitana and Milinda Siriwardana did just that. Paranavitana thrashed 21 off just nine balls, and despite his dismissal off the last ball of the second over, the strong Sri Lankan batting line-up sustained the assault, with 50 runs coming in the first three overs.Undeterred by captain Chamara Kapugedera’s dismissal, bowled by Mooney in the sixth over, Gihan Rupasinghe and Siriwardana continued to flay the Irish bowling attack. By the time both had been dismissed, the target had been reduced to just 65 runs in a little over ten overs. Jayasinghe and Jeewan Mendis picked up where they left off, easing Sri Lanka home with 10 balls to spare with an unbroken sixth wicket stand of 68.Ireland now move on to the United Arab Emirates, where they have another warm-up fixture against Canada on Sunday, before facing Afghanistan in their opening Twenty20 Qualifier game on Tuesday. Worryingly for Ireland, it has been confirmed that Boyd Rankin, who picked up a foot injury before this tour, will miss the tournament.Cricket Ireland have yet to nominate a replacement, but Nigel Jones will have done his chances of inclusion no harm whatsoever, taking 1 for 22 in his four-over spell – one of the few to escape punishment against the free-flowing Sri Lankans.

Cricinfo’s preview of the 2nd ODI between Australia and West Indies at Adelaide Oval

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale08-Feb-2010

Match Facts

The Australians will need to watch out for Kieron Pollard, who is in good form and knows the Adelaide Oval well•Getty Images

Tuesday, February 9, Adelaide Oval

Start time 1355 (0325 GMT)

The Big Picture

The series opener wasn’t the close contest that many people expected from a West Indies outfit that challenged Australia during the Tests. The absence of Dwayne Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and others was noticeable although there were some positive signs from the young allrounder Kieron Pollard. It’s worth remembering that West Indies began their Test tour with a dismal performance at the Gabba, where they were beaten inside three days, before they lifted significantly for the rest of the series. For that to happen in the one-dayers, they need not only their captain Chris Gayle to lead from the front but also several of the newer players like Pollard, Kemar Roach and Lendl Simmons to play important roles.For Australia, the 113-run victory in Melbourne has heightened their resolve to go through the summer undefeated, an aim that Shane Watson said was laid out by Ricky Ponting at the start of the season. They believe they have worked out Gayle’s weakness – cramping him and giving him no width early in his innings – and they know he is the key to a successful West Indies. Like the visitors, Australia are without some of their best one-day players including Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken but the depth in their fast-bowling ranks has been very impressive. Ryan Harris has taken 16 wickets in four ODIs this season, Doug Bollinger has troubled Gayle and Clint McKay couldn’t even squeeze into the XI in Melbourne having been Man of the Match in the previous game.

Form guide (most recent first)

Australia WWWWW

West Indies LLLLL

Watch out for…

Kieron Pollard knows the Adelaide Oval well. It was his home ground during December and January when he played with South Australia in the Big Bash. Pollard was the tournament’s leading run scorer and two of his best three scores came in Adelaide. He can also bowl a bit, as he showed at the MCG with 3 for 45, and his maturity impressed his captain Gayle. The more Pollard can resemble Bravo, the better the chance of a West Indies win.Questions have been raised over Michael Clarke‘s value as a Twenty20 batsman but his importance to Australia’s one-day international setup is not in doubt. He may not provide Shane Watson- or Cameron White-like thrills but his anchoring role in the middle order has been one of the reasons Australia have won 21 of their past 25 ODIs. The long straight boundaries at Adelaide Oval allow him to tick the score over relatively risk-free, as he did with 80 including only three boundaries against Pakistan on Australia Day. Of the current crop of Australians, none has scored more ODI runs in Adelaide than Clarke.

Team news

Deciding which bowler to leave out was more troubling for Australia’s selectors than worrying about who to include at the MCG, such has been the success of the attack this summer. McKay was desperately unlucky not to play and might miss out again given the usual reluctance to change a winning line-up, especially one that won so easily.Australia (possible) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Cameron White, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Ryan Harris, 11 Doug Bollinger.Gayle was happy with his bowlers at the MCG but he was concerned by the batting. If West Indies wish to make any changes to the top order, Wavell Hinds and Brendan Nash are the two men who could come in. Nash’s game isn’t especially suited to limited-overs, so the most likely scenario would be including Hinds for his first international match since 2006, having been ineligible for the past couple of years due to signing as a Kolpak player in county cricket. Runako Morton could be vulnerable after he looked very rusty at the MCG, struggling to react quickly enough against bowling that was only mid-130kph and scratching his way to 3 from 15 balls.West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Travis Dowlin, 4 Lendl Simmons, 5 Narsingh Deonarine, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Nikita Miller, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Kemar Roach.

Pitch and conditions

Australia had no trouble posting nearly 300 in Adelaide on Australia Day and there is no reason to expect a low-scoring encounter this time. The forecast for Tuesday is for a hot and humid day with temperatures reaching 36C.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies haven’t beaten Australia in an Adelaide ODI since 1986-87. Australia have won the three games since then
• When Denesh Ramdin caught Michael Hussey at the MCG he became the third West Indies wicketkeeper to take 100 ODI dismissals. He got there in his 68th match, much quicker than Jeff Dujon (80 games) but slower than Ridley Jacobs (61)
• The Australians who triumphed at the MCG have played a combined tally of 1007 one-day internationals, nearly double the West Indies’ mark of 511 games
  

  Quotes

  “We’ll take Adelaide as Adelaide and then we’ll go from there but an unbeaten summer, that would be great.”
  
  
  “We did well with the ball [in Melbourne] but my worry is always with our batting.”

Amit Mishra, who had struggled to buy a wicket until the penultimate day of the series, provided two inspirational moments just before two breaks to keep India hopeful

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga17-Feb-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
HawkeyeAmit Mishra provided two big breakthroughs•AFP

Amit Mishra, who had struggled to buy a wicket until the penultimate day of the series, provided two inspirational moments just before two session breaks to keep alive India’s hopes of a win on a day that they could managed only 157 minutes of play. Hashim Amla, who had scored 367 runs in two innings before this, was made to dig deep into his patience and skill reserves, and will be hoping he has more in the tank. India would have been much more comfortably placed despite bad light and rain had M Vijay held on to a sharp chance from Amla at backward short leg.On a riveting, if truncated, day’s play India couldn’t manage wickets in a hurry but got three of them at regular intervals. Graeme Smith came out bull-headed and, along with Alviro Petersen, almost batted out the one-hour first session. Five minutes before the break, though, Mishra got him with his first delivery. In the second session, Harbhajan Singh, looking menacing with almost every delivery, got Petersen early. Amla and Jacques Kallis looked pretty comfortable for 16 overs, but in deteriorating light Mishra got Kallis with a beauty minutes before the players walked off.Zaheer Khan got an iffy moment each out of Smith and Petersen in the first few overs, but wasn’t helped by the inexplicable choice of just two slips and a gully in his third over. Petersen survived then, but it was Harbhajan – opening the bowling – who looked the most difficult to negotiate.Harbhajan tested both the batsmen with his drift and dip, and the bounce that the pitch has provided on each of the four days. Smith made sure he didn’t repeat the mistake Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy committed in the first innings. His first instinct was to play at every delivery, but he watched the rotations closely, and only if certain of an offbreak he left it alone. Against Zaheer, Smith took a middle and off guard, covering the stumps better, preventing a repeat of the earlier two dismissals.Against Mishra, though, it seemed Smith let the guard down, and paid for it. He played all around an accurate legbreak, missed, and was trapped in front. India went in to the break a confident side, and came out a confident side.Just before the break, Harbhajan had got one to bounce and break at Petersen, but there was no backward short leg to take the catch. In his first over after lunch, he nearly got Amla who swept at a full delivery and somehow managed to get an inside edge. In his second, the inevitable Harbhajan dismissal arrived, with another ball turning in sharply to Petersen, and taking the bat and pad. It took a smart catch from forward short leg S Badrinath, though, who went up high to his right, parried it, and then recovered quickly to take the rebound.Harbhajan was on a roll, and in his third over after the break, got an inside edge from Amla, but Vijay couldn’t get down in time. It was the 20th over of the innings, and the Amla-Kallis partnership had hardly even begun. After that and before the eventual Kallis dismissal, neither of the batsmen struggled.Ishant Sharma’s bouncer ploy didn’t work: Amla swayed away easily, Kallis pulled him. Harbhajan was swept regularly by Amla, and easily defended by Kallis. Zaheer looked off in his post-lunch spell and was taken off after one over. Mishra’s four overs were easy to negotiate.Then Mishra changed ends and started his third spell off with an accurate maiden to Amla. The second ball of the second over landed around middle, Kallis had to play at it and made provision for the spin as he did, but the ball turned more than budgeted, took a thin edge and settled in MS Dhoni’s gloves. It was a big moment in an important day’s play: two balls before the dismissal the umpires discussed the light situation, and four balls later walked off for bad light.That was at 1.44pm, 41 minutes before scheduled tea. Rain followed soon and play resumed at 3.20pm, only for light to deteriorate within three minutes. During this period, Harbhajan bowled one over and Alma cut him for a four to move to 49.

Shane Warne did not set the IPL alight in his first five matches this season, but he was terrific tonight in Ahmedabad, setting up Rajasthan’s third win in a row

The Bulletin by George Binoy26-Mar-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outYusuf Pathan dismantled the Deccan Chargers bowling attack•Indian Premier League

Shane Warne did not set the IPL alight in his first five matches this season, but he was terrific tonight in Ahmedabad. His captaincy was innovative as always and he bowled his best spell of the tournament, choking the run flow, dismissing a dangerous-looking Herschelle Gibbs, and helping Rajasthan Royals restrict Deccan Chargers’ formidable batting line-up to a below-par total. Warne’s charges responded to his leadership, with the ball and in the field, and the result was a clinical performance that set up Rajasthan’s third win in a row.Rajasthan’s batting has blown hot and cold this season – scoring 200-plus in Mumbai and only 92 in Bangalore – but their performances gained consistency in the last two contests. Michael Lumb anchored another convincing display, leading the chase with a brisk 45, setting the platform for Yusuf Pathan to destroy Deccan’s slim chances. Yusuf swung his bat powerfully, reached 50 off 23 balls, and sent a total of eight balls sailing over the boundary. The required-rate dipped below six in the ninth over, and Rajasthan eventually cruised past 148 with 26 balls to spare. The win catapulted Rajasthan from sixth to third in the points table.Warne had promised surprises in the lead-up to this contest, but that he always does. After some confusion over who won the toss – Deccan had, and chose to bat – he unveiled his first. Adam Gilchrist thrives against speed while facing the new ball, and is perhaps familiar with the modus operandi of Shaun Tait, so Warne slowed it down by deploying little-known Sumit Narwal, who replaced Munaf Patel in this match.Narwal got the ball to move away from Gilchrist, the IPL’s most prolific six-hitter, and after two tight deliveries, induced a mis-hit that was held by Yusuf at mid-off. Deccan were 2 for 1 at the end of the first over.Warne’s next move didn’t work. Yusuf is usually the go-to man when Warne wants to open with spin, but today he chose Abhishek Jhunjhunwala. Herschelle Gibbs responded by skipping down the pitch twice to loft the offspinner back over his head for sixes. The over cost 16, but Jhunjhunwala would make amends with two accurate throws to run out Andrew Symonds and Venugopal Rao later in the innings.Laxman, meanwhile, had swatted Siddharth Trivedi to the midwicket boundary. The shot was forced and was further indication that Laxman isn’t comfortable playing his naturally graceful game in the Twenty20 format. He tried it again against Tait – Warne had brought him on in the fifth over – and holed out to mid-on.Symonds and Gibbs threatened to wrest the initiative. Symonds struck three boundaries in a Narwal over and the run-rate was still above nine when Warne came into the attack after the Powerplay. He bowled three tight balls to Symonds, and dismissed Gibbs with the next: drawing the batsman forward with flight and beating him with dip and turn. Naman Ojha took off the bails with Gibbs’ foot on the line.At 58 for 3, it was left to Rohit Sharma and Symonds to lift the innings, but a poor call left Symonds with no hope of completing the second before Jhunjhunwala’s throw reached Warne, who had figures of 1 for 7 at the end of his second over. Two quiet overs followed before Rohit took on Trivedi, pulling him over midwicket for six and driving to the extra-cover boundary.The wickets continued to fall – T Suman bowled, Venugopal Rao and Chaminda Vaas run out – but Rohit ensured runs were coming from at least one end. He was dropped by Adam Voges on the deep midwicket boundary on 30, and then smashed Tait and Narwal over the straight boundaries for sixes, before holing out on 49. His dismissal meant Deccan had to settle for 148, their lowest total of the season.Lumb got Rajasthan’s chase off to a fluent start by taking two boundaries of Vaas’ first over. He was dropped by Gibbs at point off RP Singh when on 12 and made Deccan pay immediately. In RP’s second over, Lumb helped himself to four consecutive boundaries against length deliveries, over point, through square leg, over mid-off and midwicket. The last ball went for four leg byes as well, and Rajasthan were firmly on their way.The Yusuf show started after Naman Ojha was stumped, ending a partnership of 54. Gilchrist began with a slip and a silly point for Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf responded by sending the ball over the straight boundary. It was the beginning of an assault that rendered Deccan helpless. Yusuf would wind up and swing, sometimes it appeared as if he hadn’t connected properly, but the ball would need fetching from beyond the boundary. He finished Deccan with 73 off 34 balls, Gilchrist put it succinctly when he said “We were pumped today”.