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The Kochi Tuskers Kerala IPL franchise has been terminated by the BCCI for breaching its terms of agreement, the new board president N Srinivasan has said after the annual general meeting in Mumbai. The trigger for the decision was the franchise’s inability to furnish a new bank guarantee for 2011. It is understood that the deadline for Kochi to submit the bank guarantee was March 26, 2011. So the BCCI felt it had every right to terminate the contract once the franchise had failed to produce it.”Because of the irremediable breach committed by the Kochi franchise, the BCCI has decided to encash the bank guarantee [for 2010] in its possession and also terminate the franchise,” Srinivasan said. When asked if Kochi had any chance of returning, Srinivasan responded: “No, we have terminated the franchise because the breach is not capable of being remedied.”Under the terms of the franchise agreement, each franchise has to submit a bank guarantee every year that covers the fee payable to the BCCI. “We waited for six months for the fresh bank guarantee to come,” a top BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo. “They kept saying they will, they will, they will. That had no meaning.”According to the official Shashank Manohar, who stepped down as BCCI president at the AGM, had told Kochi’s owners that in case they needed an extension, they should send a letter signed by all the owners stating they would fulfill their commitments under the franchise agreement or the BCCI could encash the bank guarantee. The franchise had assured Manohar they would send the letter the same evening.”The last president [Manohar] said that that if you want an extension of two to three days or more, you give us a letter signed by all the owners saying that we undertake to pay the guarantee money by such and such a date,” the official said. “And if we fail to do that we have no objection to the bank guarantee to be encashed by the BCCI.”The official said the Kochi owners sent a “simple letter” that did not include all the details Manohar had asked for and so the board took the decision to terminate the franchise. “[These] things do not work. It is even unfair to the other franchises.”According to the official, the BCCI was not worried about Kochi going to court because it was the franchise that had defaulted. As for the players, they are likely to go back into the auction. “And in case the players’ dues are not paid, we would ensure that it is paid from the bank guarantee money we encash.”The chairman of Kochi, Mukesh Patel, however, denied that the franchise owed the board any money. “The BCCI notice is wrong, prima facie,” he told . “We will take legal action against them after our legal team reviews the case in a day or two. Maybe we have to move court. We have never defaulted. The BCCI will be paying us Rs 12 to 15 crore ($2.5 million to $3.13 million) next month as a part of our central revenue.”The franchise’s dispute centres on the BCCI’s decision to reduce the number of IPL games from 94 to 74. “The number of games in Tender Document was 94; they then reduced it to 74 but did not reduce the franchise fees.”The BCCI also appointed Rajiv Shukla as the new IPL chairman, succeeding Chirayu Amin, and said that the league’s governing council would take a decision on whether to have another auction for a new franchise. With Kochi’s termination, the ten-team competition will be reduced to nine.The consortium that owns Kochi is reported to have defaulted on an annual payment of Rs 156 crores as a bank guarantee. In April 2010, the BCCI’s working committee had rejected demands from Kochi and Pune Warriors for a reduction in their franchisee fees. The two new franchises, which made their debuts in 2011, had sought a 25% waiver on the grounds that the BCCI had stated in the bidding document that each team would play 18 league matches in a season. The schedule was later reduced to 14 matches per team.The two teams already paid 75% of this year’s installment and wanted the balance waived. They argued the reduction in matches was a breach of the terms of the Invitation to Tender the BCCI had issued before the two new teams were bought. Since they had based their bid on the number of matches to be played, a reduction should therefore be accompanied by a reduction in the franchise fee. However, the BCCI voted to turn down the request at its meeting in Mumbai in April.In March 2010, the Sahara group had bid $370 million to became owners of the Pune franchise while a consortium of five companies called Rendezvous Sports World offered $333.33 million for Kochi.

Glamorgan seamer Adam Shantry has been forced into retirement aged 28 due to knee problems.Shantry began his career with Northamptonshire and joined Glamorgan from Warwickshire ahead of the 2008 season. He underwent surgery last winter but the injury has persisted.”It is with great sadness that I announce my retirement from professional cricket,” he said. “Following surgery last year, and after undergoing a successful rehabilitation in Australia during the winter, I returned to first-class cricket at the start of the season.”Unfortunately, as the summer has gone on, it has become apparent that my knees can no longer cope with the demands of professional cricket.”While it is disappointing to leave the game so early, I can look back upon many fantastic memories, and consider myself extremely fortunate to have played with, and against, some of the best players in the world. I have loved every minute of it, and would like to thank every single player, coach, and supporter that has helped make my career so enjoyable.”Shantry had an excellent 2008 season, taking 30 wickets at 18 – the most economical return by a Glamorgan bowler for 40 years, and scored his only senior hundred at Colwyn Bay in 2009.But subsequent seasons have been dogged by injury and he ends his career having taken 90 wickets in 32 first-class matches at an average 24.60. He also claimed 13 List A scalps in 12 games and made a solitary Twenty20 appearance, for Northants in 2004.Colin Metson, Glamorgan managing director of cricket, said: “There is always sadness when a career comes to an end. Adam worked hard during the winter to gain fitness and it’s disappointing it hasn’t worked out for him. He was a hard-working, honest, committed cricketer, qualities that will assist him in the future.”

Scorecard
Heavy overnight rain and drizzle throughout the day ruined any chance of actionin the crucial County Championship clash at the Rose Bowl between bottomclubs Hampshire and Worcestershire.Bad light was also a factor in the match being abandoned for the day at 5pmwithout a ball bowled. Hampshire, bottom of the table and without a win in their first 10 fixtures,renewed hopes of survival by surprise wins over Durham and Warwickshire.Second-from-bottom Worcestershire are still 21 points above Hampshire butapproached this fixture on the back of a heavy defeat by Lancashire. Hampshire captain Dominic Cork was named in the home side’s squad after a long absence through injury and bereavement, while experienced wicketkeeper Nic Pothas was also available after recovering from appendicitis.Left-arm spin prospect Danny Briggs was also named in a squad of 13 afterrecovering from a shoulder injury.

Scorecard
Daniel Bell-Drummond top-scored for England Under-19 with a boundary-laden 86•Getty Images

South Africa Under-19 opened their tour of England with a tense four-wicket win over England Under-19 in a rain-affected match at Edgbaston. Daniel Bell-Drummond’s classy 86 carried England to a competitive 187 for 7 in 31 overs, but South Africa got ahead of the rate thanks to bruising knocks from opener Quinton de Kock and James Price.The hosts’ spinners, led by the impressive Tom Knight, appeared to tilt the match in England’s favour as panic set in towards the end of South Africa’s chase, but Regardt Verster and Calvin Savage’s 37-run partnership saw their side home with an over to spare.After repeated showers had delayed the start of the match by several hours, it soon became apparent that the seamers would find no joy in the Edgbaston pitch. Bell-Drummond and the diminutive Sam Kelsall rocketed out of the blocks in an opening stand that brought 76 runs in just over 11 overs, with all of South Africa’s frontline seamers coming for some tap and Rabian Engelbrecht giving away 22 runs in just two overs.Captain Keaton Jennings turned to his spinners, and Prenelan Subrayen soon had Kelsall stumped. England’s middle order consolidated and managed to keep up a quick scoring rate, but the spinners kept chipping away, left-armer Lesiba Ngoepe striking a telling blow when he had Bell-Drummond caught at deep midwicket one ball after he had been smoked for six over wide long-on, his dismissal sparking a mini collapse at the death.If anything, South Africa’s openers bettered England’s storming start, and de Kock weathered the loss of his captain to blaze his way to a 28-ball 40. No batsman settled in to anchor the innings, however, and though Price’s brutal 35, which included three massive sixes, put South Africa ahead of the asking rate, when he fell England would have felt they were in with a chance.When Ngoepe chipped Knight straight to extra cover to give the left-arm spinner his third wicket, 35 runs were still needed and a tight finish loomed. England captain Adam Ball eventually had to turn back to his seamers, however, and left-hander Verster took the chance to seal the result with a flurry of boundaries.

The decision to make a modified DRS mandatory across Tests and ODIs is being considered a victory by both sides. The BCCI was quick to emphasise that they had not changed their stance on the DRS and the ICC was confident it had won over the last and strongest opponent of the review system in its previous form.At the end of a day that contained several meetings at the annual conference in Hong Kong, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat had only one comment to make. “This is only the end of day two of what is a Test match,” he told ESPNcricinfo as he left a cocktail party held for all the delegates.The DRS decision had not been brought to a vote during the morning session of the chief executives’ committee meeting. Later in the afternoon, the word “unanimous” was quickly and repeatedly used to explain how smoothly all the differences had been resolved.The discussions over the DRS and the FTP were expected to begin on the first day of the ICC’s conference, along with the cricket committee’s other recommendations concerning playing conditions. ESPNcricinfo learned that they were deferred to the second day because there were said to be fairly frosty exchanges during the meeting. Members were given the impression by the BCCI’s statements that there was a possibility that the FTP’s final design could be linked to their opinions on how the DRS recommendation was handled at the meeting. Some officials strongly implied this was the case, though others like Gerald Majola, the Cricket South Africa chief executive, dismissed it outright.The FTP agreement, which has been sent up to the ICC’s executive board for approval, is vital for all Members as television rights are sold based on the itineraries drawn up in advance. The presence of India in the schedule brings the largest chunk of member boards’ earnings. It is important to note that seven of the ten Full Member nations (excluding Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India) will draft new television deals in the next 12 months. Any freeze in relations with India reflecting in the FTP would have a direct bearing on the value of those broadcasting agreements.When the meetings resumed on Monday the common opinion was that, while everyone agreed on the necessity of the DRS, it would be advisable to opt only for the technologies that everyone agreed with. This led to the ball-tracking technology being removed and the infra-red camera being included in the list of mandatory requirements for the DRS.The BCCI’s acceptance of the DRS is particularly ironic. The suggestion of a review system for umpiring decisions was first brought to the ICC’s attention, an official said, “about six to eight years ago,” by Duncan Fletcher – then coaching England but now working with the Indian team. In his first press conference as India coach, Fletcher’s comment on the DRS was cut short by the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan with the statement, “Mr. Fletcher doesn’t know BCCI’s stance on DRS”. It has now changed. Or perhaps it has been allowed to stay the same.

Match facts

Saturday, May 14, Bangalore
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)You don’t mess with Chris Gayle•AFP

Big Picture

The IPL’s glut of games makes it tough to remember what happened yesterday or last week. In that context, not many will recall that the now invincible Royal Challengers Bangalore endured a three-match losing streak in the first fortnight of the tournament. It took a Jamaican opening batsman to spark Bangalore’s turnaround, and since his arrival they have run up six wins without breaking a sweat. Chris Gayle has obliterated all attacks that have come before him, and threatens to win the tournament single-handedly. Can someone find a way to stop him, or strand him at the non-striker’s end?The Gayle show began when he took guard against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 22. On that day, Gayle took out his travel-weariness – and his anger at the WICB – on his former IPL franchise. It was the only time in this season when Kolkata’s ‘rebuild from scratch’ auction strategy backfired on them. They have otherwise been quietly efficient, and remained at the top end of the points table through the course of the season.The format of the tournament’s play-offs incentivises teams that finish first and second in the league phase. Kolkata are currently fourth, and Gautam Gambhir will be eager to find a way into the top two. ‘Operation Gayle’ will be the first step on the agenda for Gambhir, who is set to lead India’s ODI side to Gayle’s part of the world after the IPL.

Form guide (most recent first)

Bangalore: WWWWW (third in points table)
Kolkata: WLWWW (fourth in points table)

Team talk

Tillakaratne Dilshan’s role in the IPL is over and Bangalore have a bunch of options to replace him at the top. Rilee Rossouw, Jonathan Vandiar and Luke Pomersbach are the contenders to replace him, and whoever comes in, is likely to open with Gayle. Daniel Vettori will also miss out, having flown back to New Zealand to get advice on his knee injury, which means Charl Langeveldt should keep his place.Kolkata haven’t played for a week, since beating Chennai Super Kings at home. They might not want to fiddle with the XI, though the temptation to push Eoin Morgan into the middle order must be high.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team Selector.

In the spotlight

Brett Lee has been one of Kolkata’s unnoticed heroes. Barring one shoddy over against Kochi, when Brad Hodge went after him, he has been reliable with the ball. His four-over spell against Chennai yielded a paltry eight runs. Having recovered from a bout of viral fever in time for the match, can he exhibit the same miserliness against Gayle?Saurabh Tiwary has had an interesting second season after grabbing the headlines last year, with Mumbai Indians. There he was the prime-mover of the middle-order, setting up Mumbai’s innings along with Ambati Rayudu. Bangalore have used him partly as a back-up to the big guns, and partly as a finisher. The top order’s good form has meant Tiwary hasn’t had much to do, but his time is bound to come soon.

Prime numbers

• Chris Gayle has hit the most sixes so far in IPL 2011 – 30 in six innings. Virender Sehwag is second, with 18 from eleven outings
• Kolkata have four bowlers who have conceded under seven runs per over. Yusuf Pathan has been the best of the lot, going at 5.93 in 32 overs this season

The chatter

“Now I’m watching ‘You don’t mess with Chris Gayle’… O shocks, I meant ”. We kick Bad Minds. Lol.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMichael Hussey’s half-century took Chennai to 142•AFP

A disciplined performance from Chennai Super Kings in the field saw them get their IPL campaign back on track as they comfortably defended 142 against the Pune Warriors. Chennai backed up their bowlers’ efforts with superb commitment in the field as they made 142 look a lot more daunting than it was.Albie Morkel and Doug Bollinger started the assault, peppering the Pune openers with short balls. Mohnish Mishra, who survived an appeal for caught behind off Morkel’s third ball, was undone by the slowness of the pitch. He tried to steer the ball down to third man but inside edged it onto his stumps.Jesse Ryder was also battling to negotiate the extra bounce but ended up falling to R Ashwin whose arm ball disturbed the middle stump as the batsman backed away for the offbreak. Manish Pandey was dismissed in almost the exact fashion as Mishra was, trying to run a Morkel ball to third man and chopping it on. Pune’s troubles worsened when Ashwin turned on the magic with a full ball that turned away from Robin Uthappa, snuck around his legs and bowled him. For the second match in succession, Pune had lost four wickets inside six overs.Suraj Randiv and Suresh Raina bowled four quiet overs, during which Yuvraj Singh brought up 1000 IPL runs, but it laid the pressure squarely on Pune. Desperation started to creep in and Mithun Manhas mishit Randiv for six over cow corner, luckily getting the ball high enough to escape being caught. Manhas was out two overs later, trying to improvise by playing Bollinger late and only getting an edge that MS Dhoni collected.With the required rate creeping over nine, Chennai, led by Suresh Raina’s commitment, flung their bodies around saving numerous fours. Yuvraj and Nathan McCullum rotated the strike but couldn’t escape the stranglehold. Chennai’s efforts reached their climax when Shadab Jakati flew across from extra cover to take a catch that sent Yuvraj on his way. The lower middle order was left with too much to do and perished.Pune had earlier kept their reputation as the most economical bowling side in the IPL intact, restricting Chennai to 142. Chennai started slowly, M Vijay looking particularly lacklustre and almost getting run out three times in the first six overs.He and Michael Hussey had charmed stints, both scoring boundaries in streaky fashion. Vijay’s first was an edge that flew past first slip while Hussey scored consecutive fours, first off an inside edge and then off an outside edge. He was also dropped on 28 by Yuvraj Singh.Luck eventually ran out and Vijay top-edged a bouncer from Alfonso Thomas, presenting Nathan McCullum with a simple catch at midwicket. Thomas then taunted Raina with two short balls, one of which Raina top edged over mid-off and the third one knocked over middle and leg stump. Chennai were 66 for two at the halfway stage, their lowest score in ten overs in this year’s IPL.Yuvraj and Murali Kartik were economical in the middle overs while it was up to Hussey to provide impetus, bringing up his fifty with a stunning cover drive. Dhoni joined in the fun for a while, with consecutive boundaries off Rahul Sharma but like Chennai, his good fortune ended and he was stumped off a flighted delivery.Hussey was dismissed four balls later, trying to shovel Jerome Taylor over long-on. Albie Morkel made no impact, departing for a duck while attempting a big shot that only found deep cover. Thomas bowled a clutch of yorkers in his last over and Taylor turned on the gas to finish things off. Even a six from S Badrinath in the final over couldn’t take Chennai over the 150 mark, but 142 proved to be more than enough.