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Mangalore United marched into the final of the Karnataka Premier League with a convincing 44-run victory over Shamanoor Davangere Diamonds in the first semi-final, courtesy a 139-run opening stand between Rohit Sabharwal and Bharat Chipli.The duo thrashed the Davangere bowlers to all corners of the ground, their partnership taking only 89 deliveries. Sabharwal, the Mangalore captain, was the more aggressive, taking 44 balls for his 78 which included five sixes and seven fours. Chipli made a 52-ball 70 with three sixes and six fours. There was no respite for Davangere after the openers were dismissed, as Rongsen Jonathan’s cameo took them past the 200-run mark. Left-arm spinner Prasana Patil’s two wickets cost him 48 runs as Mangalore raced to the highest total of the this year’s tournament thus far.The pressure of the chase proved to be too much for Davangere as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Six of the seven batsmen who got into double-figures fell before reaching 20. Only Sunil Joshi, the captain, resisted with an unbeaten 51 off 38, which included three sixes. Joshi lifted his side from the depths of 105 for 7 to 157, but there was no doubt about which team was going into the final. Sabharwal rounded off a memorable batting display by snaring six dismissals behind the stumps, including two stumpings.Bangalore Provident (Rural) set up a final clash with Mangalore, thrashing Malnad Gladiators by six wickets with 16 balls to spare in the second semi-final.The Provident openers Thilak Naidu and MK Manjunath gave their side a strong start in their chase of 158. Naidu hit six fours and a six in his 35-ball 44 while Manjunath was more guarded at the other end. After the duo were dismissed, B Akhil, the captain, hammered three sixes in his unbeaten 45 off only 22 deliveries as Provident sealed the victory with ease. Offspinner K Gowtham went for 42 runs in three overs.Tight bowling from Provident’s troika of left-arm spinners, Arjun Shetty, Sarfaraz Ashraf and Anand Katti had earlier helped them restrict Malnad to 157 for 5. Opener Sanjay Kumar had played well for his 47 off 38 balls before falling to Shetty. However, wicketkeeper KC Avinash, who came in at No 3, got stuck, and was eventually stumped after having taken 30 deliveries for his 21. Ganesh Satish, the captain, restored some momentum before Raju Bhatkal smashed an unbeaten 12-ball 26. Unfortunately for Malnad, it wasn’t enough.

Graham Ford, the coach of the Natal Dolphins, believes that Kevin Pietersen’s forthcoming stint in South Africa will be hugely beneficial for both the club and the player, as Pietersen seeks to rediscover his form ahead of this winter’s Ashes campaign. But Ford denied there was any special significance in KP’s return to a club from which he departed in controversial circumstances more than a decade ago, insisting that the issues that had persuaded him to seek his fortune in England were no longer relevant in the new South Africa.Although Pietersen has a reputation for falling out with his clubs and coaches, following high-profile departures from Natal, Nottinghamshire and most recently Hampshire, Ford is one of a handful of mentors with whom he has never had any issues. Both men were born in Pietermaritzburg, where Ford was Pietersen’s coach in his high-school days, and in his autobiography, Pietersen described him as a man “I both respect and admire”. In 1999, when he threw in his lot with South African cricket in the belief that his opportunities were being held back by affirmative action, Ford was one of the few people who actively attempted to dissuade him from such a drastic course of action.”People are dying to see him, and they can’t stop talking about the fact he’s coming, so I think all those issues are in the past now,” Ford told ESPNcricinfo’s Switch Hit podcast. “South Africa as a country has absolutely blossomed and developed – we saw that at the [football] World Cup – and issues that were seen as issues 10 or 12 years ago are not issues anymore. The country has become so united and no-one’s bothered by the past, so I think it’s more now about the cricket now.”I did coach him when he was a young kid through to his final years of high school, and I’ve always stayed in touch and followed his progress,” added Ford. “He’s still got links to his school in Pietermaritzburg, and the people there are very proud of what he’s achieved, even though he’s playing for a foreign country. Those issues are dead and buried in the past. A lot of people will be watching and hoping that he has a bumper series in the Ashes.”Despite his initial anger at being dropped by England and told to rediscover his form in domestic first-class cricket – as telegraphed in the expletive-laden Twitter post that earned him a fine from the England & Wales Cricket Board – Pietersen was quickly persuaded of the merits of the decision, and Ford confirmed that the initial approach to play for the Dolphins had come from the player himself.”He pretty much put it to me,” said Ford. “Obviously we’ve been in contact quite a bit, and he’s keen to put in some quality work out here, to get a couple of games with some good quality match time, and get in good touch ahead of the Ashes. He’s had limited game-time over there [in England] with Hampshire not using him, but with his sort of talent and a bit of decent match time, if he gets his form back, the Aussies better watch out.”Pietersen is likely to play in two first-class fixtures during his stint with the Dolphins, against the Warriors from October 7 to 10, and against the Titans from October 14 to 17, and with three first-team players – Hashim Amla, David Miller and Loots Bosman – likely to be away with the national squad at that time, Ford was especially pleased with the timing of his arrival.”It’s a win-win for us,” he said. “There will be a couple of gaps in our batting line-up, so it works out perfectly for us to get him involved. It’s a great chance for him to prepare for the Ashes, but we want to make use of his knowledge and skills. It’ll be great for our squad to rub shoulders with him, and get a great deal of info and advice from a player who’s played all round the world with a great deal of coaches at all sorts of levels. The kind of knowledge he has will be huge for all of us, players and coaches included.”Pietersen’s apparently prickly nature has left a trail of disputes and falling-outs in his wake, not least at England level where his feud with Peter Moores in January 2009 caused the removal of both men as captain and coach respectively. However, Ford insisted that some allowance had to be made for men with the talent and desire that Pietersen has shown throughout his career, and added that it was up to the management to channel that drive in a direction that was beneficial to the team as a whole.”I worked with him as a young fellow, and he’s obviously had a few hiccups here and there with a few people, but generally he’s a very competitive guy and a positive guy,” said Ford. “Initially when he took over the England captaincy he had a very positive effect on English cricket, because he’s one of those strong characters who leads from the front. If you are really going to be a top sportsman at that sort of level, you do need to be a strong character and you do need to have a bit of controlled arrogance, a real self-belief that you can go out and do the job.”Sometimes those kind of characters can cause a few problems, and there can be a few clashes, but mostly if they are managed well, guys like that can be more positive in the camp than negative,” he added. “You want to try and keep those sorts of characters going. If England can get the best out of Kevin, they’ve got a real chance of winning the Ashes.”Ford also believed that Pietersen’s current downturn in form, in which he hasn’t scored an international century since March 2009, was sure to come to an end sooner rather than later. “I think he’s such a talent, it’s just a matter of allowing that talent to sort itself out,” he said. “With real good players, if they do enough work at the right intensity, the body finds ways to sort its problems out.”I don’t see any major technical issues, it’s just important to have some quality practice and a couple of good knocks in the middle, as opposed to indoor work in England. I guess a fresh scene and the chance to link up with old friends and family can only be good from a psychological aspect, but think for England’s sake, the great news is that this guy is dead-set on getting back to the levels that he can produce.”Around the time of the Pietersen-Moores debacle, Ford – who was at the time head coach at Kent – was a strong front-runner for the job of England head coach, not least because of his renowned rapport with Pietersen. However, two years down the line, he insisted that he had never been as interested in the job as had been made out at the time.”I’m passionate about the game of cricket, I was pretty involved in the English game back then, and I still follow it closely because I really felt a part of it at the time,” he said. “But to take on a role as high-profile as that would have pretty much been the end of my family life. It would have been a huge decision. A big part of me would have loved to get involved, but a big part of me was saying it’s not the right time.”

Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Gerald Majola is unlikely to lose his job over the bonus issue. However, the fallout from the affair could prompt CSA to hold its annual meeting in secret on August 21. An internal audit revealed that Majola and 39 other CSA employees shared the equivalent of $641,000 in bonuses from funds earned during the 2009 IPL and last season’s ICC Champions Trophy.After that discovery, CSA said in a statement on Friday that Majola decided to repay his share of the money, which was around $198,000. CSA appointed a review committee, chaired by Pius Langa, a former chief justice of South Africa, to investigate the issue before its financial statements are presented at the annual meeting.”I can’t speak on the matter,” Majola told , a South African television network. “There will be our AGM next week, where CSA will report on its finances and things like this for sure, because it’s public knowledge. This is handled by the board, and the board will discuss the issues, I don’t think I can speak on the matters myself.”However, Majola took the opportunity to declare his innocence. “Everything I do is for the interests of cricket, and even if I had to pay back money, I was doing it in the interests of cricket and nothing else.”The bonuses were paid from CSA banking accounts, but the payments were not authorised by the body’s remuneration committee (REMCO). “In the view of some people, the money should have gone through CSA books before it was paid out to individuals,” a CSA insider told Cricinfo. “People aren’t opposed to the idea of bonuses, but this is a question of governance. There’s also the issue of who decided how much money was paid to whom.”Another source close to CSA said the organisation had a history of not declaring bonuses. “When CSA hosts a tournament outside its own calendar, such as the IPL or the Champions Trophy, the staff that are involved in the organising and running of that event get paid,” he said. “When the contract is drawn up between CSA and the IPL, for example, the payments to those staff are budgeted for upfront as an expense. This payment is sometimes described as a salary, but most often, because the employees are already salaried employees of CSA, it’s listed as a line item called bonuses.”This is normal procedure and has been happening since the days of (former managing director) Ali Bacher and the 2003 World Cup. The bonus structure is authorised before the tournament even starts. There is nothing unusual about it. These amounts have never gone through REMCO because they have already been authorised. If Gerald was doing something underhanded, he would have negotiated with the IPL directly for them to pay the money to him.”There might also be politics at play, as it is understood REMCO has never before complained that it was not consulted about bonus payouts. Why might it do so now? Some of the board members are in danger of being voted off and they could be trying to prove their vigilance as administrators in an attempt to hang onto their seats.Both sources said Majola would retain his position. “Whether he is fired or not is a matter for the board to decide,” said one. “Most of the board members back Gerald, so I don’t think he will lose his job. However, if you’re asking whether he should lose his job, that’s different. In a different scenario, perhaps he would.”The other took a different tack: “He is not going to lose his job and I don’t think he did anything wrong.”The possibility of the annual meeting being held away from prying eyes, however, did not sit well. “People are saying that the AGM might be held behind closed doors, and this should ring alarm bells. CSA isn’t a regular company in that its function is to regulate cricket in this country. It has a national responsibility, and it is answerable to all sorts of stakeholders. The AGM has always been open to all. The media have always been invited to attend. If it should suddenly be conducted behind closed doors, that doesn’t smell good.”

Zaheer Khan, India’s strike fast bowler, has been ruled out of the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka due to a shoulder injury. The tour includes three Tests, followed by a tri-series in Dambulla, also involving New Zealand. The BCCI, in a statement, has announced that the Karnataka fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun will replace him.Zaheer was rested for the recent tour of Zimbabwe in order to preserve himself for the busy season ahead. He participated in the Asia Cup in Dambulla and played in all four of India’s games. The BCCI did not reveal the cause of the injury or for how long he has been adviced to rest. The indication is that he will miss the Test leg of the tour, at least, as the squad for the ODI tri-series will be announced later.Zaheer however didn’t reveal much in his Twitter feed: “Shoulder is troubling me a little need to sort it out …hope to be back soon … Important season ahead …”Zaheer’s absence will come as a big blow to India, whose fast bowlers haven’t been up to the mark of late, due to injuries and loss of form. That leaves a lot of responsibility on the likes of Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth to carry the attack in Sri Lanka.Mithun has been on the fringes for the last few months after performing impressively for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy, where he was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker. He was rewarded with a call-up to the national squad for the Tests against South Africa earlier this year and an international debut in the ODIs that followed. He was withdrawn from the India A squad in England to replace the injured seamer Vinay Kumar in Zimbabwe, but didn’t get a game. He rejoined his team-mates in England for the one-dayers and in his most recent outing on Friday, taking 3 for 49 against West Indies A.The tour begins on July 18 with the first Test in Galle.

Scorecard
Nic Pothas and Neil McKenzie guided Hampshire to victoryin the last over in a low-scoring Friends Provident t20 match at the Rose Bowl. Chasing a modest 115 to beat Kent , Hampshire scraped home by fivewickets with two balls to spare.Hampshire lost their fifth wicket, that of newcomer Abdul Razzaq, at 94 to setup a tense finish. But the Hampshire sixth-wicket pair of Pothas and McKenzie made sure in an unbroken stand of 23 in the final three overs to give their side a winning startto this season’s competition.Kent captain Robert Key must have regretted winning the toss and choosing tobat first, because he was out in the first over without scoring, leg before toHampshire captain Dimitri Mascarenhas. Kent never fully recovered, slumping to 51 for 5 in the 12th over, and then90 for 8 in the 17th.There was only one stand of substance, 23 for the seventh wicket between DarrenStevens and Matt Coles. Stevens was Kent’s top-scorer with a defiant 36, whichincluded a six off Sean Ervine and a four. But Kent managed only nine boundariesin their entire innings, struggling to cope with left-arm pace bowler ChrisWood, who was making his debut.Wood took 2 for 17 and also ran out Stevens with a direct hit to easeHampshire towards victory. But Hampshire suffered a setback when Mascarenhas, who injured an ankle playing in the Indian Premier League and missed the first two months of the season, was able only to bowl three overs before limping off with a recurrence of theinjury.Kent made 114 for 9 but made an immediate breakthrough when Hampshire openerMichael Lumb was caught at backward square leg from the first ball of theinnings.Jimmy Adams, Michael Carberry and Ervine each made useful contributions asHampshire’s innings gained momentum, with Ervine striking four fours in his topscore of 31.But Ervine’s dismissal to a catch in the deep caused Hampshire to falter, andit needed the steady nerve of Pothas and McKenzie to inflict on Kent their firstdefeat of the season.

Hampshire have been handed a two-point pitch penalty after the pitch produced for the Friends Provident t20 match against Somerset, at The Rose Bowl, was deemed to be “poor” by an ECB pitch panel.The club will be docked those points from the 2011 competition so it won’t effect their chances of reaching the knockout stages this year.The pitch in question produced a low-scoring, tight match where Somerset managed to defend 104 as Hampshire suffered an extraordinary late collapse as they lost six wickets for four runs. Batting was a tough prospect throughout with uneven bounce being the main concern on a relaid wicket.After considering the pitch reports of the umpires and after interviewing them, the captain and coach of both teams and the Hampshire head groundsman, the panel upheld the umpires’ decision that the pitch had demonstrated excessive unevenness and should therefore be rated “poor”.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outChris Gayle’s 98 powered West Indies to a tall total•Getty Images

Chris Gayle finished agonisingly short of becoming the first man to make two international Twenty20 centuries, but by the time he was run-out, he had already swiped West Indies to a total that proved too tall for India’s batsmen who yet again floundered against the short ball. The defeat leaves India facing an early exit for the third straight global tournament, and the same questions about batting technique which were raised followed the elimination from last year’s World Twenty20 will be asked again.After Gayle’s slaphappy innings, in which almost all his runs came on the leg side, India’s top-order weren’t given anything to drive by West Indies’ new-ball bowlers. They faced the barrage of bouncers promised before the match, and even the short deliveries of the gentle medium-pacers Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo discomfited them initially.The home side’s fielding was also a dramatic improvement to the error-strewn show against Sri Lanka, with Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard being exceptional. India’s batting slide started with an athletic forward-diving catch by Pollard at square leg to dismiss opener M Vijay, who again failed to replicate his IPL form on the more demanding tracks in the Caribbean. Gautam Gambhir was also having a tough time, and just after edging a bouncer from Kemar Roach in the fifth over between slip and the keeper, he failed to evade a scorching short ball to glove to Denesh Ramdin.Two overs later, Rohit Sharma, the only batsman to enhance his reputation in the pasting by Australia, was controversially dismissed after the ball lobbed off his arm to the keeper. He stood his ground and asked Billy Bowden to call for the third umpire. After consultation with Simon Taufel, Bowden upheld his original decision, and India were down to 38 for 3, and the asking-rate was in double digits.There were fitful efforts to resuscitate the chase: first by Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh, who showed glimpses of their top-class hitting in a 42- run stand, but both holed out in the space of five deliveries. MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan, two of the quickest scorers, swung a few sixes, and with 32 needed off the final two overs, it wasn’t only the most one-eyed of fans who were hoping for a win. However, Bravo’s slide-rule throw from long-on ended Dhoni’s stay and with it, the big crowd in Barbados knew an important win was sealed.Unlike West Indies’ effort, the Indian fielding, usually a barometer of their performance, was shoddy, spilling two chances, one of which proved extremely expensive – Dhoni and Pathan colliding into each other as they went for a skier near square leg when Gayle was on 47, after which he blasted 51 off 26 deliveries.Gayle was just opening out when that catch went down; he had warmed up with a whip over long-on for six in the eighth over and followed it up in the next with the biggest six of the tournament, off Pathan, which bounced on the roof. He then extended Ravindra Jadeja’s poor tournament by smearing his second ball, a full toss, for a flat six. Next up was Zaheer Khan, who was flicked over square leg for four, then Yusuf was clubbed down the ground so flat that the non-striker Sammy fell to the ground to take evasive action.Then, Dhoni’s gamble of giving Raina the 17th over went awry, when Gayle smacked a couple more leg-side sixes. Gayle found the roof behind midwicket again in the next over, and looked set for a century when he entered the final over on 96. However, after Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan were sent back by Ashish Nehra, he tried to scramble back a second on the fourth delivery, but the end of his bat bumped in the air as he dived full-length to try and make his ground, and was run-out.He was given good support by three partners through the innings. First Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who never really hit top gear though he showed off a range of reverse-sweeps, set up the base with a steady 80-run stand. West Indies then sent in a pinch-hitter Sammy, who played an array of proper cricketing shots, the highlight of which was a chip for six over long-off, to collect 19 off 10 deliveries. Finally, Pollard showed his batting is as much about power as timing during a quick cameo.West Indies can bask in the glow of overwhelming India, but their celebrations will be tempered by the knowledge that they are still likely to need to beat a red-hot Australia to progress to the semi-finals.

Match Facts

Friday, April 30, Providence
Start time 1300 (1700 GMT)In conditions expected to favour slow bowlers, Nathan McCullum’s offspin could play a key role•Associated Press

The Big Picture

The World Twenty20 kicks off with two teams that look good on paper but haven’t quite hit their straps in the format. Sri Lanka have the potential to be one of the most dangerous Twenty20 sides in the world, yet have lost five of their last six games. New Zealand boast several match-winners, but lose more than they win. Daniel Vettori’s men have the advantage of recent form, having succeeded in both their warm-up games while Sri Lanka lost to South Africa.Whatever happens, don’t be surprised if the scores are low in Providence, where the slow surface has been difficult to score on during the practice matches. Adding to the challenge for the batsmen, both teams have high-quality spinners who will relish the conditions. Nathan McCullum has opened in both New Zealand’s warm-ups and will be a handy ally for Vettori, while Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan need no introduction. Although it is a pleasant change seeing batsmen forced to work hard, the one disappointment about the lack of speed and potential dominance of spin is it reduces the chances of a Dilscoop v McScoop battle.

Form guide (most recent first)

New Zealand TLWLL
Sri Lanka LWLLL

Watch out for…

At 40, Sanath Jayasuriya is easily the oldest player in the tournament (Murali, 37, is next) and he’s also the only parliamentarian. Twenty20 might be a young man’s game but Jayasuriya put his stamp on the World Twenty20 in 2007 and again last year, and only a fool would write off a cameo this time around, especially on the small Caribbean grounds.Nathan McCullum could be an important player for New Zealand in this competition. No, that’s not a misprint. We do mean Nathan, although as the leading all-time run scorer in Twenty20 internationals Brendon is clearly pretty useful as well. But on the slow Guyana pitch, opening the bowling with Nathan’s offspin could make or break New Zealand. A couple of clean strikes from Sri Lanka’s openers and plan B might be implemented, but a few early wickets and he could help New Zealand progress.

Team news

Sri Lanka’s line-up is anyone’s guess; they haven’t played a Twenty20 international since December last year and have had only one practice game in the Caribbean. Mendis, Murali and Lasith Malinga did not take part in the warm-up and the uncapped Dinesh Chandimal was tested. One certainty is that Mahela Jayawardene will open for the first time in a Twenty20 international for his country, after the captain Kumar Sangakkara confirmed the move this week.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Mahela Jayawardene, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt, wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Sanath Jayasuriya, 7 Chamara Kapugedera, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Ajantha Mendis, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.All the New Zealand players were given an opportunity during the two warm-ups but it’s hard to see Rob Nicol, Aaron Redmond or Ian Butler finding a place in the starting line-up. The return of Kyle Mills after a long-term injury could spell trouble for Tim Southee, despite Southee’s wonderful bowling in the one-over eliminator against Australia when New Zealand last played a Twenty20 international.New Zealand (possible) 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Jesse Ryder, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Gareth Hopkins (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Kyle Mills/Tim Southee, 11 Shane Bond.

Pitch and conditions

Sri Lanka’s only warm-up was in Barbados, while New Zealand have had two games to get used to the Guyana conditions. The fast bowlers will have to work hard, while batsmen will need to concentrate against slower medium pacers like Scott Styris and the spinners. “The pitches are really difficult to bat on, are very different to back home, and nothing like the other tours I’ve been on here,” Styris said. “It’s going to be tough going.”

Stats and trivia

• These two teams have met twice in the Caribbean, both times during the 50-over World Cup in 2007, when Sri Lanka won in the Super Eights and again in the semi-final
• Sri Lanka and New Zealand have played each other six times in Twenty20s, for three wins each
• Ajantha Mendis has a phenomenal Twenty20 international record of 25 wickets at 9.76 with an economy rate of 5.30.
  

  Quotes

  “They’ve got a good team and everyone talks about the unorthodox nature of some of their bowlers. Fortunately for us we’ve played them a number of times, and the fact we’ve played a couple of games here while they haven’t, hopefully that’s an advantage.”
  Daniel Vettori

Victoria 305 & 2 for 273 (Quiney 73, Jewell 70, Hussey 63*, Finch 54*) lead Queensland 257 (Broad 82, McDonald 3-64) by 321 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRob Quiney led Victoria’s impressive reply with 73•Getty Images

Victoria had their best day of the final as they amassed a 321-run lead that has effectively eliminated Queensland from the game. The hosts collected an advantage of 48 after the Bulls were bowled out for 257 in the first session and then raced ahead to finish the third day at 2 for 273.Rob Quiney and Nick Jewell started the second innings in excellent shape as they combined in an opening stand of 154 at more than four an over. With each run they made Queensland’s task even harder – they were already without the bowling services of James Hopes – and it will take a freakish effort from the visitors to upset the competition leader now. The Bushrangers only need to draw the match to raise the Sheffield Shield so they can bat for as long as they like over the final two days.Cameron Boyce, the rookie slow bowler, broke through twice in nine balls to remove both openers but David Hussey and Aaron Finch made sure there were no more losses. A fine legspinner from around the wicket bowled Quiney for 73 after he had collected 10 fours and a six during his 112-ball display. Jewell was slightly more cautious and he departed to a strange shot that ended in a catch to Chris Simpson at first slip.Victoria were 2 for 155 but Hussey and Finch quickly regained the momentum in a brisk stand of 118 in 150 balls. Hussey enjoyed attacking Boyce (2 for 60) and finished unbeaten on 63 while Finch was 54, including three fours in a Ben Cutting over late in the day.The Bulls were dismissed after adding 58 in the morning thanks to Cutting’s aggressive 35. Simpson was lbw to Damien Wright (2 for 48) early before the bowler hobbled off with a hamstring strain. Chris Swan and Luke Feldman were knocked over by John Hastings before Andrew McDonald, who had 3 for 64, finished the innings by bowling Boyce.It hasn’t been a great match for the bowlers with Hopes unable to deliver any more overs after suffering a grade one calf injury. The problem means Hopes will be out for up to three weeks, which threatens his plans of appearing in both the World Twenty20 and the IPL.

Victoria are hoping their captain Cameron White will be able to switch into first-class mode when they chase consecutive Sheffield Shield wins this week. White has spent most of the year with Australia’s limited-overs sides and has returned from New Zealand to lead his state against Queensland at the MCG from Wednesday.Instead of aiming for a boundary or more an over he will have to operate much more cautiously over five days with his tactics and strokeplay. While players shift formats regularly during a season, White’s jump will be a significant shock as he hasn’t appeared in a first-class match since before Christmas.”Cameron White coming back to turn his head from white-ball cricket into red ball is a big ask,” Victoria’s coach Greg Shipperd said. “It’s a huge challenge in terms of your psychology.”It’s a five-day game and you need to make good decisions for long periods of time, it’s something we managed to juggle particularly well this season. Hopefully he’s able to switch on, on Wednesday. As a captain he played a terrific final for us last year and will be keen to do it again.”White scored a century in the rain-affected draw against the Bulls at the Junction Oval in 2008-09, which secured the trophy for Victoria. The venue this week is the MCG, where the hosts are unbeaten in their past 13 first-class matches.The Bushrangers are also in their ninth consecutive domestic final in all three formats, making them strong favourites against a developing and inconsistent Queensland side. Victoria’s line-up has also changed, with Brad Hodge and Dirk Nannes retiring from first-class cricket, and Shipperd wants the duties shared.”Everyone in the side has got a responsibility to do their job, from the opener pairing in Nick Jewell and Chris Rogers, to David Hussey, to the emerging boy Aaron Finch,” he said. “Andrew McDonald is still wanting to show the cricket world he’s one of the best allrounders in the business, and our aging pace bowling attack, they’ve got a job to do.”Shipperd and the Victorians are aware of Queensland’s desire to win back the trophy after last year and he is most worried by their bowling attack. “Ben Cutting had a terrific season and Chris Swan and Luke Feldman move the ball,” he said. “Our batting has to be on guard.” Rogers has been cleared to play despite a broken hand while the legspinner Bryce McGain has held on to his spot.If the Victorians click, they should have the power to grind down Queensland, although they have had some slips at the last stage. “Our hunger for competition speaks for itself in that we’ve been in 13 of the last 15 finals,” Shipperd said. In the eight previous deciders they have won twice, with those victories coming in the Twenty20 competition.Victoria squad Chris Rogers, Nick Jewell, Rob Quiney, David Hussey, Cameron White (capt), Andrew McDonald, Aaron Finch, Michael Hill, Matthew Wade (wk), John Hastings, Damien Wright, Bryce McGain, Darren Pattinson.