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Anna Thompson - BBC Sport journalist

India cashes in on Twenty20 global appeal

It does not take a genius to work out how mad India is for its cricket.

But a new international Twenty20 league, the Indian Premier League, has raised the stakes even higher with $800m (£411m) being spent on TV rights for a 59-game tournament in April, featuring eights teams comprising many of the world's top stars and young Indian players.

On Wednesday in Mumbai, the hotly contested auction for the players was held and hundreds of millions of dollars were flying around in a secure bidding process to capture the services of cricketers such as Mahendra Dhoni, who went to Chennai for $1.5m (£771,000), Australia's Andrew Symonds, who cost Hyderabad $1.35m (£694,000), and Sri Lanka veteran Sanath Jayasuriya, who Mumbai forked out $975,000 (£500,000) for.

It was like a high stakes fantasy cricket game with Monopoly money all rolled into one - except it was for real...

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Jonathan Agnew

Styris blunder leads to England recovery

The fourth one-day international between England and New Zealand was a magnificent game which, throughout their run chase, seemed destined to be won by the home side.

They needed 145 from the last 20 overs with eight wickets in hand, and 72 off the last 10 with seven - they paced their innings to perfection.

But mistakes are there to be made, and the man who must feel culpable in New Zealand's failure to secure their win is Scott Styris - one of the most experienced players in the match - who inexplicably planted a catch down long-on's throat with 40 needed from six overs.

It was an extraordinary blunder which enabled England to tighten the noose.

Have a listen to Aggers and Geoff Boycott on today's dramatic match (6m 26s).

Continue reading "Styris blunder leads to England recovery"


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