Sri Lanka will be looking for the elusive test match and series win when they tour India for a Three Test, five ODI and Two T20 match series from November to December 2009. The team arrive in India on November 8th for the 55-day tour.
Chennai Super Kings is the Chennai based franchise of the Indian Premier League. The team is led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, currently the highest-paid IPL Player, and coached by Kepler Wessels. The M.A.Chidambaram stadium (often referred to as Chepauk) is the Super Kings' home ground.
2008 IPL Season
The Super Kings had a solid start to their 2008 IPL Season, winning their first 4 matches. However, their top order and bowling attack took a hit after Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey and Jacob Oram left the team for international duty. The team's performance reflected this, as they proceeded to lose their next 3 matches. The batting, although inconsistent, eventually adjusted to the losses of Hayden and Hussey with contributions from captain M.S. Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Albie Morkel. The gap in the team’s bowling left by Oram’s departure was eventually filled by the arrival of Makhaya Ntini and Morkel (both of whom were playing the Pro20 domestic tournament in South Africa during the start of the tournament) and the emergence of Manpreet Gony. A win in the final league match against the Deccan Chargers ensured their progress into the semi-finals and eliminated the Mumbai Indians.
The team found form in the semi-finals, beating the Kings XI Punjab by 9 wickets. They then lost to Rajasthan Royals in the finals by three wickets, becoming the runners-up of the inaugural IPL tournament.
The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 is a Twenty20 cricket tournament scheduled to take place in England in June of 2009. It will be the second World Twenty20 and will consist of 12 teams, contested by all Test-playing nations plus qualifiers (Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland)
The Champions Twenty20 League, formed with the official sanction of ICC will kick off in October 2008. Eight domestic teams from four nations will participate. Cricket Australia will partner the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA). The champion team in the Champions Twenty20 league will get US $5 million, which is the highest ever prize money for a cricket event.
