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Visiting Kolkata thrash Delhi at home

2012-05-07T23:38:00.000+05:30

Kolkata Knight Riders:

17th over: 146 for 3. Kolkata are just eight runs away from win. 12 runs comes from this Aaron over. There is still something for the bowlers, maybe couple of wickets earlier would have done the trick for Delhi

16th over: 134 for 3. This might be the turning point for Delhi in this match. Yadav takes two wickets in successive balls in the form of Kallis and McCullum respectively.

Brendon McCullum c Sehwag b Yadav 56 (44)

Jacques Kallis c †Ojha b Yadav 30 (27)

15th over: 128 for 1. With Kallis in the middle, it will be steady and balanced chase. The visiting team are scoring at a decent pace without taking much of risk.

14th over: 118 for 1. Not that a bad over from Yadav but for Kolkata an useful one. Yadav is clocking good pace at the moment and running in hard.

13th over: 107 for 1. Pathan continues to leak runs for Delhi and concedes 13 runs which included two boundaries.

12th over: 94 for 1. Nadeem's spell of four overs comes to an end with the figures of 32 for 0. Kolkata take eight runs from this one.

11th over: 86 for 1. With Kallis at the crease, the run-chase will be more organised but a decent over from Pathan.

10th over: 80 for 1. Now Delhi really have chance to slow down things for Kolkata and apply more pressure with couple of wickets. Nadeem gives four runs in this over.

9th over: 76 for 1. A wicket under his belt has done Aaron a world of good as he seems to have settled down to a good rhythm.

8th over: 72 for 1. A wicket slows down things for Kolkata. Just four runs comes in this Yadav over.

7th over: 68 for 1. Varun Aaron returns to action after an injury layoff and dismisses the in-form Gambhir. Fifth ball flies off the edge of Gambhir to Umesh Yadav at third-man and he drops. The next ball Aaron goes wide off the crease and Gambhir tries to make some room but plays on to the stumps.

Gautam Gambhir b Aaron 36 (21)

6th over: 60 for 0. Kolkata openers are now playing in their zone and this time Umesh Yadav faces the onslaught. 10 runs from this over.

5th over: 50 for 0. To counter Gambhir, Morkel comes from round the wicket and fires in a yorker but the Kolkata captain digs it out for a four through the covers.

4th over: 37 for 0. Nadeem goes for 16 runs in this over. Gambhir's good run with the bat continues, as he hits two fours and a six.

3rd over: 21 for 0. Morne Morkel right on the money from ball one as he gets the ball swing back sharply into McCullum.

2nd over: 14 for 0. Sehwag turns to his successful bowler of this season, Shahbaz Nadeem. The left-arm spinner also doesn't disappoint his skipper and bowls a tidy over.

1st over: 10 for 0. Irfan Pathan starts the proceedings for Delhi and gives away two boundaries in successive balls. Brendon McCullum slaps one over the covers with complete disdain for a four.

Delhi Daredevils:

20th over: 153 for 9. Looking for quick runs, Delhi lose four wickets in the last over. A late surge by Pathan helped Delhi to a dependable total. For Kolkata, Kallis and Narine took two wickets each, while Lee and Sangwan chipped in with one wicket each.

Varun Aaron run out 1 (1)

Morne Morkel run out 0 (0)

Irfan Pathan st McCullum b Narine 36 (22)

Naman Ojha c Tiwary b Narine 2 (6)

19th over: 141 for 5. Lee concedes 13 runs and these are crucial runs from Delhi's point of view. Moreover, the home team has the bowlers to defend.

18th over: 128 for 5. Just five runs from this Narine over. Delhi still have two overs in their hands to put up a competitive total for their bowlers to defend.

17th over: 125 for 5. A good over both for Delhi and Kolkata also. Two boundaries come in this over, but Lee bowls a beautiful yorker to clean up Yogesh Nagar.

Yogesh Nagar b Lee 10 (7)

16th over: 114 for 4. Presently boundaries have died down for Delhi and need some quick runs to put up a decent total on the board to defend.

15th over: 108 for 4. Sangwan dismisses the out of form Taylor. The Kiwi batsman goes for a wild hit and top edges to the long-off fielder.

Ross Taylor c Bhatia b Sangwan 16 (27)

14th over: 100 for 3. Irfan Pathan comes out to bat and needs to raise the tempo as boundaries are hard to come by at the moment.

13th over: 95 for 3. In a terrible mix-up, Jayawardene gets run out while going for a second run. Gambhir is sharp and hits the stumps directly from an under-arm throw.

Mahela Jayawardene run out 30 (27)

12th over: 89 for 2. Again a tidy over from Kolkata. Sangwan looks to have settled down and bowling a tight line.

11th over: 84 for 2. The scoring rate has slowed down for Delhi but things are under control at the moment with Jayawardene at the crease. Though a decent over from Bhatia.

10th over: 79 for 2. An excellent spell from Kallis comes to an end. At the end of his four overs, Kallis returns with the figures of 2 for 20.

9th over: 75 for 2. The idea of bringing on the miserly Rajat Bhatia backfires, as he gives away 11 runs. Jayawardene shuffles a long way across the off-stump and swings it over deep square-leg boundary for six.

8th over: 64 for 2. Kallis is running in hard today and getting some help off the pitch. The second last ball was a cracker of a delivery, as it swings a bit to induce an edge and a diving Brendon McCullum drops it.

7th over: 62 for 2. After the wickets of Delhi openers, Sangwan comes back and again goes for runs.

6th over: 50 for 2. Another successful over from Kallis. Warner makes room to launch over the covers, but edges to the wicketkeeper.

David Warner c McCullum b Kallis 21 (19)

5th over: 43 for 1. First over for Sunil Narine and gives only two runs. Jayawardene and Warner find it hard to read the variations of Narine and don't want to lose their patience.

4th over: 41 for 1. Gambhir's decision of bringing on the experienced Jacques Kallis pays off as he removes the dangerous Sehwag. The Delhi opener looking to work the ball on the onside gets trapped infront of the wickets.

Virender Sehwag lbw b Kallis 23 (9)

3rd over: 34 for 0. After bowling a maiden first over, Lee goes for runs and gives away 17. After looking shaky initially, Warner gets into the groove and hits a towering six over long-off.

2nd over: 17 for 0. Virender Sehwag makes up for the first over maiden and takes Pradeep Sangwan to the cleaners. Gautam Gambhir makes the folly of bringing on Sangwan too early and goes for plenty. The over consisted of two fours and one six.

1st over: 0 for 0. Great start by Brett Lee and gets through a maiden over. The Australian bowler is spot on right from ball one and gets the ball to swing both ways.

7:30 pm: Delhi Daredevils' skipper Virender Sehwag has won the toss and elected to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Delhi have made two changes in the side in the form of David Warner and Varun Aaron. While Kolkata have also made two changes as Brett Lee makes a return and Pradeep Sangwan has been included.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (c), Brendon McCullum (wk), Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Debabrata Das, Laxmi Shukla, Brett Lee, Rajat Bhatia, Sunil Narine, Pradeep Sangwan

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (c), David Warner, Mahela Jayawardene, Ross Taylor, Irfan Pathan, Yogesh Nagar, Naman Ojha (wk), Morne Morkel, Shahbaz Nadeem, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav

7:15 pm: Hello and welcome to the 51st match of IPL 5 between Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. With both the teams through to the playoffs, a win for either will assert its supremacy over the other leading up to the knockout stage.

IPL 5: Brett Lee praises KKR skipper Gambhir

2012-05-07T22:09:00.000+05:30

New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders' Australian pacer Brett Lee said his IPL skipper Gautam Gambhir is one of the most brilliant captains he has played under as the Indian backs up good leadership with strong personal performances.

"Gambhir is just brilliant. He is a born leader and it comes naturally to him. Besides, he backs it up with strong performances and has been leading our flock really well," Lee said on the sidelines of the launch of a music academy for underprivileged and autistic kids in New Delhi on Sunday.

Lee had similar words of praise for his national captain Michael Clarke, and said that it won't be too long before Australia regain the number one spot after a roller-coaster transition phase. "With Michael Clarke around, it has all been going really well for Australia. He has himself performed exceptionally well and the team is going from strength to strength under him," said Lee, who retired from Tests in 2010 but continues to be a part of Australia's ODI and Twenty20 set-up. "The recent Test series against the West Indies was a good sign and we should be there [at the top] pretty soon," he said.

Speaking about other issues in Australian cricket, especially the speculation over the future of former captain Ricky Ponting, Lee said, "Ricky has been an absolute legend of the game. He deserves to go only when he feels that the time is right."

Meanwhile, with injuries often having wrecked havoc on his career, the Australian speedster said music therapy kept him going, helping him overcome professional as well as personal challenges that life threw at him quite frequently.

Carrying the scars of 13 surgeries on his body, four on the ankle alone, Lee said it was quite a challenge to keep himself motivated, but music filled up a massive vacuum in his life and helped him cope with several personal crises, which included a divorce in 2008.

"At 17, I was told by the doctor that I could never play cricket because of an elbow injury, but I told him I will live my dream. I proved him wrong and played quite a few international games, that too as a fast bowler. And music had a huge role to play in keeping me motivated," Lee said.

"I turned to music during professional problems, during the personal crisis that I endured a few years ago. Music provided relief after a bad day in cricket and everything else. Music therapy has been brilliant for me," said the pacer, whose initiative - 'Mewsic, A Brett Lee Foundation' - is setting up academies all over India to help kids in orphanages and slums rediscover life through music.

"When you come home after playing in front of 100,000 fans at the Eden Gardens, it is important to unwind, and I do it through music. And I also fell in love with the great feeling that came with helping people through music after interacting with a few autistic kids."

IPL 5: Bye-bye time for Pune and Deccan

2012-05-07T22:05:00.000+05:30

Winners have many admirers, losers very few. But in sports, winning and losing is part and parcel of the game. However, it becomes a test of character when the losses become consistent and wins few and far in between. That's what Pune Warriors India and Deccan Chargers stare at in the rest of their 2012 Indian Premier League campaign - a test of character.

Knowing Sourav Ganguly's never-say-die spirit, he surely won't buy the argument that IPL 5 is all but over for his team Pune Warriors India. With just fours wins out of their 12 games so far, Pune are more a sitting duck than a preying falcon. And it's something that suits Kumar Sangakkara's Deccan Chargers even more as they are made to appear the punching bags of the fifth season with just two wins in 11 matches.

Interestingly, the bane for both the teams this season has been their inability to put together a winning XI even when there's been no dearth of talent in their dug-outs. Names like Sangakkara, Ganguly, Michael Clarke, Jesse Ryder, Robin Uthappa, Cameron White, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn, Steven Smith and Angelo Mathews pick themselves. Somehow, though, the think-tanks of both these squads have failed to pick a perfect XI supported by these pillars. And to some extent even these big guns have not fired consistently enough to perch their team in the top half of the points table.

Pune - after settling their pre-season differences with the BCCI - started well, but the consequences of missing out on the all-important 2012 players' auction slowly showed up as they didn't have much quality on the bench. They began the season well by beating Champions League-holders Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, but slowly lost their way. Perhaps, they chopped and changed a bit too much in desperation to win and never allowed themselves a settled XI. And by the time Australia captain Clarke arrived, it was already too late.

Now with just four league games left - two against Rajasthan Royals and one each against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders, Pune need to win everything that comes their way to reach the playoffs. But considering the form all those teams are in, it seems a pretty tall order for the Sahara India Pariwar franchise.

Deccan, on the other hand, had the worst possible start, losing five matches in a row before opening their account by splitting points with Kolkata Knight Riders in a washed-out game at the Eden Gardens. While it's pretty difficult to recover from such a disastrous start, Deccan shored up their hopes by beating Pune in their next game and then putting it across Ganguly's men again at home. But two more defeats in the next two games has certainly put an end to their playoff hopes. It would be fair to say that Deccan have suffered from the lack of quality local players in their ranks and no bowler standing up to support Steyn. Sangakkara went to the extent of dropping himself to put together a winning XI, but that too didn't work. Cameron White and Sangakkara did show signs of hitting form, but it happened too late in the day to turn the team's fortunes around.

Though Deccan have one match more in hand than Pune, it's only a matter of completing the last rites in their five remaining encounters – two against Kings XI Punjab and one each against Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan and Bangalore. The best they can do is spoil the party of those still in fray.

Fair to say, the race to the playoffs is now between six teams, with Delhi already there and Pune and Deccan on their way out.

Live Updates: DD set 154 target for KKR

2012-05-07T22:03:00.000+05:30

Delhi Daredevils:

Varun Aaron run out 1 (1)

Morne Morkel run out 0 (0)

Irfan Pathan st McCullum b Narine 36 (22)

Naman Ojha c Tiwary b Narine 2 (6)

19th over: 141 for 5. Lee concedes 13 runs and these are crucial runs from Delhi's point of view. Moreover, the home team has the bowlers to defend.

18th over: 128 for 5. Just five runs from this Narine over. Delhi still have two overs in their hands to put up a competitive total for their bowlers to defend.

17th over: 125 for 5. A good over both for Delhi and Kolkata also. Two boundaries come in this over, but Lee bowls a beautiful yorker to clean up Yogesh Nagar.

Yogesh Nagar b Lee 10 (7)

16th over: 114 for 4. Presently boundaries have died down for Delhi and need some quick runs to put up a decent total on the board to defend.

15th over: 108 for 4. Sangwan dismisses the out of form Taylor. The Kiwi batsman goes for a wild hit and top edges to the long-off fielder.

Ross Taylor c Bhatia b Sangwan 16 (27)

14th over: 100 for 3. Irfan Pathan comes out to bat and needs to raise the tempo as boundaries are hard to come by at the moment.

13th over: 95 for 3. In a terrible mix-up, Jayawardene gets run out while going for a second run. Gambhir is sharp and hits the stumps directly from an under-arm throw.

Mahela Jayawardene run out 30 (27)

12th over: 89 for 2. Again a tidy over from Kolkata. Sangwan looks to have settled down and bowling a tight line.

11th over: 84 for 2. The scoring rate has slowed down for Delhi but things are under control at the moment with Jayawardene at the crease. Though a decent over from Bhatia.

10th over: 79 for 2. An excellent spell from Kallis comes to an end. At the end of his four overs, Kallis returns with the figures of 2 for 20.

7th over: 62 for 2. After the wickets of Delhi openers, Sangwan comes back and again goes for runs.

6th over: 50 for 2. Another successful over from Kallis. Warner makes room to launch over the covers, but edges to the wicketkeeper.

David Warner c McCullum b Kallis 21 (19)

5th over: 43 for 1. First over for Sunil Narine and gives only two runs. Jayawardene and Warner find it hard to read the variations of Narine and don't want to lose their patience.

Virender Sehwag lbw b Kallis 23 (9)

3rd over: 34 for 0. After bowling a maiden first over, Lee goes for runs and gives away 17. After looking shaky initially, Warner gets into the groove and hits a towering six over long-off.

1st over: 0 for 0. Great start by Brett Lee and gets through a maiden over. The Australian bowler is spot on right from ball one and gets the ball to swing both ways.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (c), Brendon McCullum (wk), Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Debabrata Das, Laxmi Shukla, Brett Lee, Rajat Bhatia, Sunil Narine, Pradeep Sangwan

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (c), David Warner, Mahela Jayawardene, Ross Taylor, Irfan Pathan, Yogesh Nagar, Naman Ojha (wk), Morne Morkel, Shahbaz Nadeem, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav

IPL 5: Shah Rukh hails Gambhir and Ganguly

2012-05-07T06:50:00.000+05:30

Kolkata: A beaming Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan can't stop raving about his team's skipper Gautam Gambhir as he feels the batsman has lifted the side magnificently after three seasons of incessant controversies.

The left-handed opener has led by example, being the leading scorer for Kolkata this season with 421 runs. On Saturday, in their match against the Sourav Ganguly-led Pune Warriors, it was no different as Gambhir's 36-ball 56, his third half-century from as many matches, set the platform in their seven-run victory.

The Indian selectors not very long ago had removed Gambhir from the vice-captaincy ahead of the Asia Cup but for Shah Rukh, Gambhir is the best.

"In my eyes, he is genuinely the finest captain that I have seen. Yes, I have seen most of them from outside. I am a cricket follower. But leading from the front and the way he talks to the boys, I think he is the most awesome captain.

"Apart from that he is a gentleman -- a really genuine gentleman. I very seldom get impressed by leaders, but I am very impressed by Gautam Gambhir," Shah Rukh said.

Kolkata were controversy-ridden in the first three seasons and Gambhir has done a great job in motivating the side, the Bollywood star said. "For a team which has been so full of controversy for no choice of ours for the last four years... For him to come and be so full of grit and determination... To prove himself to be a Kolkata boy... is a great thing."

Moreover, Shah Rukh was also seen exchanging plesantaries with Ganguly in a rarest of rare frame after the match at the Eden Gardens. Shah Rukh came rushing from his hospitality box to greet Ganguly near the visitor's dressing room after Pune lost their prestige match.

"He [Ganguly] is wonderful, a cricketing great, a legend. We've grown up getting used to his fours and sixes and the way he plays on the offside. It's wonderful to see him playing every time, and tonight was no different," Shah Rukh said in praise of the former Indian captain.

Let Yusuf perform only after May 7: Irfan

2012-05-07T06:48:00.002+05:30

New Delhi: Delhi Daredevils allrounder Irfan Pathan is disappointed at his brother Yusuf Pathan's extended poor run in the ongoing Indian Premier League and wants him to fire with the bat but only after their match against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 7 at Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium here.

"He is a very destructive player and a game changer. He can change things around very soon for his team. I want him to start performing soon, but after our match against KKR," Irfan said. Yusuf, who was bought by KKR for USD 2.1 million, is yet to justify his price tag as he has scored a dismal 48 runs from nine matches this season, averaging a poor 6.85.

"It is a good sign for KKR that they are putting up a great performance without Yusuf being in form," Irfan said on the sidelines of a promotional event here. Irfan feels that DD, who are at the top of points table, would have to guard against complacency when they take on Gautam Gambhir-led KKR.

"We are at top and they are at number second position. They are playing good cricket and it would be an exciting match. There is no room for complacency," he said. The Baroda player added the presence of Delhi players in KKR's squad would be an advantage to them.

"They have players who play for Delhi and that would definitely make things easy for them as well as they can exploit the conditions well. And for us we would try and keep our winning momentum on."

IPL 5: Facing Narine will be exciting, says Mahela Jayawardene

2012-05-07T06:47:00.000+05:30

New Delhi: Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene termed mystery spinner Sunil Narine as an "exciting prospect who is going through a honeymoon period."

Jayawardene, who has seen the emergence of Ajantha Mendis as a "mystery spinner" and then turning out to be a cannon fodder for international batsman, feels that with passage of time Narine’s bowling would be analysed more and more. "The contest with Narine will be exciting tomorrow. He is going through a honeymoon period. But more and more he plays, batsmen will start analysing him and then it will be his real test. The key will be whether he is improving as a bowler from what he is right now," Jayawardene said on the eve of Delhi’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Jayawardene has got only one half-century till now but he didn't seem perturbed with his form. "I have been hitting the ball very well. It's been a bit of an up-and-down for me but I know it would get sorted out once I spend more time in the middle."

Although David Warner is all set to open with Virender Sehwag, Jayawardene kept the cards close to his chest. "I would like you guys to keep guessing till tomorrow." When asked whether Warner would find it difficult to replicate Kevin Pietersen's blazing form, Jayawardene, who is also Delhi’s vice-captain, said each player has its own skill-sets and no one can be a direct replacement for any other player.

"If Viru [Sehwag] gets injured, then can someone replacing him be called an ideal replacement? The answer is 'No'. Similarly Kevin had different strengths to what Warner has. The idea is to be flexible and change the way we play to suit the combination."

Jayawardene also called KKR "an all-round side." "Gauti [Gambhir] has led from the front. But again their top-order has scored a lot. It will be an exciting contest."

Jayawardene also maintained that they were not taking anything for granted and their aim was to maintain their top spot in the league. "Everyone is trying to improve their game everyday so there won't be any complacency," Jayawardene said, adding, "We want to be at the top when the group stage finishes and we are going to put pressure on ourselves to accomplish that."

IPL 5: de Villiers fires RCB to win over Deccan

2012-05-07T06:46:00.000+05:30

AB de Villiers smashed an unbeaten 47 off just 17 balls to help Royal Challengers Bangalore to a sensational five-wicket win over Deccan Chargers in match No. 50 of the Indian Premier League season five at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Sunday.

Chasing 182 TO win, Tillakaratne Dilshan stroked a classy 71 and was ably supported by Chris Gayle as the duo stitched a 91-run partnership for the first wicket. Dilshan smashed two sixes and seven boundaries as he raced to his fifty in just 29 balls. Bangalore lost Gayle (26) as Anand Rajan got one to slip through his defence to disturb his timber.

Soon legspinner Amit Mishra struck twice in the fourteenth over to rock the Bangalore chase. Mishra dismissed Asad Pathan (4) and Virat Kohli (9) to reduce RCB to 106 for 3 in 13.5 overs. Just when it looked match is running away from RCB's hands, De Villiers hammered five fours and three sixes in his scintillating knock. The 18th over of the innings proved to be the turning point of the match as De Villers smacked two fours and two sixes off Dale Steyn to ensure Bangalore's much-needed win. Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad hit the winning four as Royal Challengers chased down 182-run target in 18.5 overs.

Earlier Shikhar Dhawan and Cameron White were once again in fine form as they led the Deccan Chargers to 181 for 2. Dhawan scored an elegant, fluent 73 not out off 52 balls, with 10 fours and a six. Put into bat, openers got Deccan off to a steady start as Harris and Dhawan put up an 86-run stand for the first wicket and then left-hander added another 82 runs off 44 balls with Cameron White (45) to help his team post a huge total.

The opening partnership was ended by a run out as Harris, charging off for a silly run, was beaten back to the bowler's end as Virat Kohli swooped wonderfully in the covers. That was in the 12th over and White settled in well before hitting the ball hard and straight in his final onslaught. Dhawan also continued his carnage and cracked consecutive boundaries in the 15th over off Prasanth Parameswaran to reach to his fifty.

Parameswaran finally got the break-through for the home side dismissing White for 45. However, it didn't make any difference as skipper Kumar Sangakkara (10) then smashed a four and a six off the last ball to swell the total.

Bangalore used as many as seven bowlers but apart from Muttiah Muralitharan, none could find the rhythm. But even though Murali bowled well, he failed to get any breakthrough for his team. The last five overs of the innings brought 64 runs as the Challengers bowlers were hit silly.

Dwayne Smith clinches last-ball thriller for Mumbai

2012-05-07T06:45:00.000+05:30

Mumbai: Dwayne Smith smacked 16 runs in the last over as Mumbai Indians held their nerve to register a miraculous two-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

It looked all over for Mumbai after Smith took a single off the first ball of the 20th over and when Ben Hilfenhaus bowled Lasith Malinga (0) off the second. But RP Singh (1 not out) did a sensible job by taking a single off the third, and giving the strike back to Smith, who first cleared the long-on fence with a six off a full-toss, and then smacked two back-to-back fours and clinched a win for the home side. The West Indian power-hitter remained unbeaten on 24 off just 9 deliveries.

Chasing a competitive total of 174, Mumbai got off to a bad start as James Franklin got out after scoring just 1 off 9 balls. But Sachin Tendulkar (74) and Rohit Sharma (60) paced the host’s chase extremely well, sharing a mammoth 126-run partnership for the second wicket. Both took a little time to get their eye in, but once set they displayed their array of strokes. While Tendulkar’s boundaries through the off-side were pleasing to the eyes, Sharma’s pick-up six off Hilfenhaus was extraordinary.

The two batsmen played a chance-less innings till Faf du Plessis clang onto a stunner at short cover to send back Tendulkar. With 38 needed off the last four overs, Dinesh Karthik (11) struck two crisp boundaries to get the asking rate down. But Chennai came right into the game after taking three back-to-back wickets. First, Dwayne Bravo bowled Karthik, and then Ravindra Jadeja disturbed the stumps of Ambati Rayudu (0) and Sharma in the same over. Robin Peterson and Harbhajan Singh too went without troubling the scorers as the hosts lost 7 for 43 in the last five overs. But Smith kept his cool till the end and clinched a memorable win for the home side.

Despite Lasith Malinga’s 3 for 25, Chennai still managed to post a challenging total. The Mumbai bowling spearhead picked up two wickets in his last over, giving away just four runs in the bargain. Earlier, Murali Vijay (41) continued the touch he found in the last game against Deccan Chargers, smashing three sixes and four boundaries and sharing 47 runs for the opening wicket with Faf du Plessis (9). But a bad mix-up cost du Plessis his wicket. Vijay too didn’t stay long and was cleaned bowled by RP Singh in the next over.

Like Vijay, Suresh Raina (36) too looked in fluent touch, using his wrists to guide the ball along the ground through the square leg for his first boundary. He smacked two more fours and an equal number of sixes, both in the deep midwicket region, before he was snapped up brilliantly by Singh off James Franklin at backward point. But the 62-run stand he shared with Dwayne Bravo gave Chennai the right platform to launch in death overs. The West Indian batsman was at his best. After starting his innings with a glorious punch off the front foot for four, he clubbed Munaf Patel mercilessly over long-on for his only six. Dhoni’s two fours and a six also gave the CSK innings the spark at the end.

Besides Malinga, Singh also bowled well for the home side, taking 3 for 28 in his four overs. However, Munaf, not the first time in this edition, went for plenty (0 for 46).

IPL 5: I was confident of winning the match, says Smith

2012-05-07T06:44:00.002+05:30

Mumbai: Dwayne Smith had told RP Singh that he could win the match for Mumbai Indians if the paceman could manage to give him strike to face the last three balls.

Mumbai needed 15 off the final four balls when Singh got a single to give the strike back to Smith. And the big-hitting West Indian kept his words by hammering a six and two fours to help Mumbai register a thrilling two-wicket victory over title holders Chennai Super Kings. "I just backed myself. I know as long as I can watch the ball I can do it. I just asked RP [Singh] to give me the three balls that were left. I knew I could do it from there," Smith said after the match.

Smith, who smacked an unbeaten 24 off nine balls, got the Man-of-the-Match award. Smith also credited Sachin Tendulkar for giving him the confidence when he went to bat at no. 6. "He [Tendulkar] said the wicket was good. He told me to back myself and he was true. It paid off. It's a big win and we really deserved it as well. I will put it [this innings] up there as one of my best," he said.

Smith said he had done a similar feat for Barbados in a domestic competition. "I remember winning a game for Barbados. It went into the Super Over after we needed 12 to tie the game. I got two sixes off the last two balls," he said.

Smith said he was awaiting the call from an IPL franchise. "I actually thought that I was going to be here with one of the teams from the beginning, but that didn’t happen. But I am happy to be here now and win some games for Mumbai.”

"I was playing club cricket in Trinidad. I keep practising all the time. We have club cricket in Barbados too. So, I always keep playing," he added.

One individual can change match in T20: Fleming

2012-05-07T06:43:00.000+05:30

Mumbai: Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming on Sunday said that the way Dwayne Smith won today's match for Mumbai Indians, it shows the unpredictability of the Twenty20 format, in which one individual can change the result of a match with his performance.

Smith, playing his first game after being flown in as a late replacement for the injured Australian Mitchell Johnson, piloted MI to a two-wicket win with a fine unbeaten knock of 24 off just nine balls, including a six and two fours in the last three balls.

"Take your hats off to Dwayne Smith, it was an amazing innings. We lost by a small margin. It was a real roller-coaster, wasn't it? That's the beauty of IPL. The nature of T20 is the game can be won or lost by an individual. We saw that today," said the former New Zealand skipper after his team lost the match in the last ball.

Chasing 174 for victory, MI were cruising well at 144 for one with Sachin Tendulkar (74 off 44 balls) and Rohit Sharma (60 off 46 balls) going great guns with a splendid century partnership before the hosts lost wickets in a heap. "It was a great game, phenomenal see-sawing throughout the game. We looked down and out but were back with great fielding," Fleming said, referring to the acrobatic catch taken by Faf du Plessis at short extra cover to send back Tendulkar that triggered a collapse which saw MI lose seven wickets for 15 runs.

Fleming said that Tendulkar, who missed a few games due to injury played a dynamic knock. "Won't say he has been struggling, but had not been the dynamic player before Sunday night. The partnership he had with Rohit was wonderful. What should have been a match-winning partnership was turned around with some splendid fielding. It was an outstanding and clever partnership," he said.

Fleming said that they are aware that to make the play-offs they now have to win three out of their last four games. "Yes, we are aware. We have to win three out of the next four games. We have to lift ourselves. We created the opportunities to win tonight," he said.

IPL 5: Spoon-feeding doesn't help at all, says Morkel

2012-05-07T06:42:00.000+05:30

New Delhi: For Morne Morkel, the idea of soaking up pressure at the international level is to make mistakes and learn from them all by himself and that is why the South African pacer feels he is flourishing in the IPL as his captain Virender Sehwag doesn't spoon-feed him. "Personally, I hate the idea of trying to spoon-feed a cricketer as to what he needs to do in pressure situations. I have seen captains who love to dominate and direct a bowler about dos and don'ts in match situations," the Delhi Daredevils pacer told PTI in an exclusive interview.

"But when you are spoon-fed, you don't grow as a cricketer. Make mistakes and try yourself to find out the solution," the leading wicket-taker in this year's IPL said. "That's why I like Virender Sehwag's approach as he likes you to be your own man. Viru would never set fields for you as he believes that if I am an international bowler, I am good enough to set my own fields. Only if things don't work according to plan, he would come up and suggest an alternative," Morkel added.

Talk about pressure situation and the 19th over against Rajasthan Royals comes up for discussion. The satisfaction of executing his plan was writ large on his face. "It was a do-or-die situation and I was bowling at the back-end for the first time. That over has given me a lot of

confidence. I am still working on my bowling at the death. How to pitch it a bit fuller as some of the batsmen are playing me well on the backfoot," says the current 'Purple Cap' holder.

Morkel, who has 139 wickets from 39 Tests however feels lucky that two great players like Sehwag and Mahela Jayawardene are there in the dressing room to share their invaluable experience. "I have my little black notebook where I jot down some of the tips of Viru and Mahela. With the Twenty20 World Cup in another four months' time, the IPL is an ideal platform where you get the taste of the sub-continental conditions and that will come in handy in Sri Lanka. It's good that all top South African players like AB [de Villiers], Dale [Steyn] and myself have done well in this edition."

Ask him about the batsmen who have posed real challenge for him during his six-year career, Morkel replied, "It's got to be KP [Kevin Pietersen]. With his height and reach, he has been a phenomenal player of both pace and spin. We have seen what he has done during this IPL on these Indian tracks and he can be equally devastating on bouncy wickets in Australia and South Africa."

Morkel had special words of praise for his South African team-mate Vernon Philander. "If someone has got 51 wickets in seven Tests, he is a special talent. He has been amazing during the past season. At times, it felt as if he has 10 years of international experience under his belt."

Morkel is proud of the fact that he is now the leader of the Delhi Daredevils' bowling attack. "It is a special feeling. When I go back and join Proteas, this experience would be of enormous help. The advice you get from likes of KP and Viru can't be bought from supermarket," he concluded.

IPL 5: Delhi, Kolkata in clash of the equals at Kotla

2012-05-07T06:40:00.002+05:30

One of the most awaited clashes of the Indian Premier League's season five will unfold when two teams sitting on top of the points table – Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders – meet at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla Ground on Monday. With both the teams through to the playoffs, a win for either will assert its supremacy over the other leading up to the knockout stage.

It won't be wrong to admit that just like Delhi, Kolkata is turning out to be the epitome of competitiveness this season. And the kind of camaraderie Gautam Gambhir has built around his boys has helped the team to script a revival of sorts.

The season has seen Kolkata put in some good performances. Their unit consists of some big names, who – besides playing stellar roles to take the team to No. 2 on the leaderboard – have played their part in guiding the youngsters along. If Gambhir and Kallis have fine-tuned the batting, Brett Lee has shown youngsters the way as their bowling spearhead. As a result, batsmen like Debabrata Das and bowlers like Sunil Narine have become household names.

But there have been a few bumps on the way to registering seven wins out of the 11 matches they have played so far. Proven performers like Brendon McCullum and Yusuf Pathan have flopped so far, along with some average performance from Indian allrounders Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Iqbal Abdullah and Rajat Bhatia. But nobody complains when the team is winning. However, these names have to be at their best when confronting the might of Delhi in their backyard.

With 16 points, Delhi have enjoyed the view from the top of the points table for most of this season, coming out victorious with some jaw-dropping performances in eight of their 10 outings. The team, under the captainship of Virender Sehwag, has given its best with both bat and ball. Sehwag, the tournament's second highest run-getter, has scored five consecutive half-centuries – a feat never achieved before in Twenty20 cricket. Same can be said about Kevin Pietersen, who has been instrumental in Delhi's success; however, he won't be available further in the tournament as the English batsman has flown back home to take on the West Indies.

Pietersen's place in the eleven will be taken by the Australian opener David Warner who, along with Mathew Wade, has joined the Delhi squad after honouring national duty in the Caribbean. And the Aussie left-hander is almost certain to open the batting, pushing Jayawardene down the order to provide solid company to Ross Taylor in the middle order.

Delhi’s bowling is equally impressive and is spearheaded by Purple Cap-holder Morne Morkel along with Indian international stars Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar. And they have found a new star in left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, who has displayed nerves of steel even when confronting some intimidating names. The diminutive bowler has answered his captain's call with some courageous spells even in the Powerplays.

So the battle ground Kotla will be on fire when these two in-form teams come one-on-one. But the loyalty of the fans may be divided on Monday as both the captain and co-owner of KKR hail from Delhi. On that front, it remains to be seen whether the Delhi crowd gets behind Gambhir and Shah Rukh Khan's team or shout for the home team that has done them proud this season.

Playing XI:

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 2 Brendon McCullum (wk), 3 Yusuf Pathan, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Manoj Tiwary, 6 Debabrata Das, 7 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 8 Iqbal Abdulla, 9 Marchant de Lange, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Rajat Bhatia

Delhi Daredevils: 1 Virender Sehwag (capt), 2 David Warner, 3 Mahela Jayawardene, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Irfan Pathan, 6 Yogesh Nagar, 7 Naman Ojha, 8 Shahbaz Nadeem, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Ajit Agarkar

Live Updates: Mumbai win a last-ball thriller

2012-05-06T19:44:00.000+05:30

Mumbai Indian innings:

20th over: Mumbai 158 for 7. Ben Hilfenhaus bowls the last over and cleans Malinga up. Smith hits the fourth ball for a six to make it 8 from 2 to win and then smashes the fifth for four and then smacks the last ball for another boundary to win it for Mumbai Indians.

19th over: Mumbai 158 for 7. This is suicidal by Mumbai Indians they are losing wickets like pack of cards. Peterson is run out. du Plessis hits the stumps directly. Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh also falls trying to go for the maximum.

Peterson run out (du Plessis) 0(2)

Harbhajan c (sub)Saha b Dwayne Bravo 0(1)

18th over: Mumbai 149 for 5. Jadeja is back into the attack and picks up two in the over. CSK are back in the match as Rayudu and Rohit Sharma are clean bowled.

Rayudu b Ravindra Jadeja 0(2)

Rohit Sharma b Ravindra Jadeja 60(46)

17th over: Mumbai 147 for 3. Dwayne Bravo is back into the attack and Dinesh Karthik after hitting Bravo for two back-to-back fours. He loses his stumps trying to play a nothing shot. MI need 27 from 18 balls.

Dinesh Karthik b Dwayne Bravo 11(5)

16th over: Mumbai 136 for 2. Ashwin is back into the attack and picks up a big big wicket of Sachin Tendulkar thanks to a spectacular catch by du Plessis. Stunning piece of fielding!

Tendulkar c du Plessis b Ashwin 74(44)

15th over: Mumbai 131 for 1. Jakati continues and Mumbai are going berserk at the moment. Sachin and Rohit are dealing in the boundaries at the moment. Fifteen runs from the over as Sachin hits him for two boundaries and Rohit gets one.

14th over: Mumbai 116 for 1. Ravindra Jadeja comes into the attack and Sachin hits him for four off the very first ball through extra cover and follows it up with a two. Mumbai pick up ten from the over.

13th over: Mumbai 106 for 1. Runs are coming easily for Mumbai in the middle. Rohit Sharma hits Jakati for a huge six straight down the ground and MI pick up another eight from the over.

12th over: Mumbai 98 for 1. Ashwin continues and Mumbai pick up another ten from the over that includes one cheeky boundary by Rohit Sharma. Sachin and Rohit are keeping MI in hunt.

11th over: Mumbai 88 for 1. Albie Morkel is back into the attack and Sachin smashes his third ball for four over the cover fielder and then hits his fifth delivery for six over the fine-leg boundary and smashes his last ball for another four to bring up his fifty off just 32 balls.

10th over: Mumbai 74 for 1. Shadab Jakati, comes into the attack and bowls a good over as he restricts batsmen to just four singles of it.

9th over: Mumbai 70 for 1. Bravo continues and MI pick up another nine from the over thanks to boundary by Tendukar off the fifth balls straight down the ground.

8th over: Mumbai 61 for 1. R Ashwin continues and gives away just five from the over. CSK are on top at the moment.

7th over: Mumbai 56 for 1. Dwayne Bravo comes into the attack and gives away ten from the over that includes two boundaries to Rohit Sharma. First one to deep backward point and second one a cut shot.

6th over: Mumbai 46 for 1. R Ashwin comes into the attack and gives eight from the over. After being dropped a delivery earlier, he smashes Ashwin for four straight down the ground.

5th over: Mumbai 38 for 1. Hilfenhaus continues and Mumbai Indians pick 12 from the over thanks to a boundary over the mid-off and a brilliant six over the deep mid wicket boundary by Rohit Sharma.

4th over: Mumbai 26 for 1. Tendulkar is looking in fine form as he hits Morkel for three fours. First one down to backward square leg, second one he slashes it square of the wicket for a boundary and third one over the covers.

3rd over: Mumbai 14 for 1. Hilfenhaus continues and picks up James Franklin. Franklin tries to get under it and tries to launch it over the man at mid-on but give a simple catch to Murali Vijay. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma gets off the mark with a boundary and then follows it up with a two.

Franklin c Vijay b Hilfenhaus 1(9)

2nd over: Mumbai 8 for 0. Albie Morkel, comes into the attack and Sachin Tendulkar is off the mark with a two and follows it up with a four to fine leg boundary.

1st over: Mumbai 0 for 0. Franklin and Tendulkar are at the crease for Mumbai. Hilfenhaus opens the attack for CSK and bowls an excellent over first up -- a maiden.

Chennai Super Kings innings:

20h over: Chennai 173 for 7. Malinga bowls a good nice over as he gives away just four runs and picks up Ravindra Jadeja as he tries to cut but gives away a simple catch to Franklin at backward point and then in the last ball he picks up R Ashwin.

Ravindra Jadeja c Franklin b Malinga 9(6)

Ashwin c Harbhajan b Malinga 0(1)

19h over: Chennai 169 for 6. RP Singh comes back into the attack and picks up MS Dhoni, who tries to hit the ball out of the park but Rohit Sharma picks up a smart catch at long on fence. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja comes into the crease and hits him for a six straight over his head. But RP comes back well and clean bowls Albie Morkel off the last ball.

Dhoni c Rohit Sharma b RP Singh 25(15)

Albie Morkel b RP Singh 3(3)

18th over: Chennai 160 for 4. Malinga comes into the attack and Bravo takes the attack to him. Hits him for two back-to-back fours. One through the fine-leg and second through the extra cover. But Malinga comes back superbly and clean bowls him with a deadly yorker.

Dwayne Bravo b Malinga 40(33)

17th over: Chennai 149 for 3. Munaf Patel is back into the attack and after giving three off first three, Bravo smashes his fourth ball for a six over the long on. Gives eleven from the over.

16th over: Chennai 138 for 3. Robin Peterson is back into the attack and Dhoni smashes him for a huge six over the long on and then follows it up with a boundary towards the backward point. Chennai are surely eying 180 plus.

15th over: Chennai 123 for 3. James Franklin comes into the attack and picks up Sures Raina off his very first ball. A brilliant catch by RP Singh at backward point. Meanwhile, MS Dhoni walks in the middle and gets off the mark with a boundary off the first ball he faces. Nine runs come from the over.

Raina c RP Singh b Franklin 36(21)

14th over: Chennai 114 for 2. Munaf Patel after giving 27 off his first two overs is back into the attack and Dwayne Bravo cuts his second ball fine of the fine-leg fielder to get a boundary and the duo pick up four singles from the rest of the over to make it eight from the over.

13th over: Chennai 106 for 2. Dwayne Smith continues and Raina hits his first ball for a massive six over the deep midwicket boundary and then hits him for a boundary off the last ball through the point region to make it 14 from the over.

12th over: Chennai 92 for 2. Harbhajan continues and gives seven from the over in ones and twos. CSK are in a very good position to go and put a good total on board.

11th over: Chennai 85 for 2. Dwayne Smith comes into the attack and Raina hits him for four to third man off the second ball of the over and hits him for a huge six over long on to make it thirteen from the over.

10th over: Chennai 72 for 2. Harbhajan continues and another tight over by the offspinner. He restricts batsmen to just four singles off the over.

9th over: Chennai 68 for 2. RP Singh continues and Raina hits his second ball for four to backward square leg. Meanwhile, Bravo gets two off the fourth ball to make it eight from the over.

8th over: Chennai 60 for 2. Harbhajan Singh, comes into the attack and bowls a pretty nice and tight over. Gives away just two singles and a wide off it.

7th over: Chennai 57 for 2. RP Singh is back into the attack and picks up a important wicket of dangerous looking Murali Vijay. RP clean bowls the batsmen who tries to go for a expansive drive but misses the ball completely. Dwayne Bravo comes into the crease and open his account with a boundary.

Vijay b RP Singh 41(29)

6th over: Chennai 52 for 1. Finally a wicket for Mumbai Indians thanks to a run-out and misunderstanding between the batsmen. RP Singh hits direct at the bowler's end.

du Plessis run out (RP Singh) 9(11)

5th over: Chennai 46 for 0. This is fantastic stuff by Murali Vijay. He smashes Munaf Patel for three sixes and a boundary in this over. First six was over the square-leg, follows it up with a boundary straight down the ground and then smashes two back-to-back sixes over deep square-leg and long-on.

4th over: Chennai 22 for 0. Lasith Malinga, comes into the attack and another tight over by Mumbai Indians. Malinga gives away just three singles and wide from the over. This has been a tentative start by Chennai openers.

3rd over: Chennai 18 for 0. Munaf Patel, comes into the attack and bowls a good over and is unlucky. A straightforward catch at short fine-leg is put down by RP Singh. Just three from it.

2nd over: Chennai 15 for 0. RP Singh in action and Murali Vijay looks ill at ease against him. Faf du Plessis takes a three off the last ball.

1st over: Chennai 7 for 0. Robin Peterson opens the bowling for Mumbai and Murali Vijay takes a four off the first ball. Beautifully driven through the covers. The rest of over is relatively quiet with a double and a single.

3:45 p.m. No change for Chennai, though Dhoni admits that he and Raina are a bit unfit. Mumbai have brought in RP Singh and Dwayne Smith.

Playing XIs:

Mumbai Indians: James Franklin, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Dwayne Smith, Robin Peterson, Harbhajan Singh (capt), Lasith Malinga, RP Singh, Munaf Patel

Chennai Super Kings: Murali Vijay, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(capt/wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Albie Morkel, Dwayne Bravo, S Badrinath, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, Ben Hilfenhaus

3:30 p.m. Harbhajan Singh wins the toss and Mumbai Indians are bowling. Both captains wanted to bowl as both are uncertain how the fresh track would play.

3:15 p.m. If it were last year, we would have touted today's battle at the Wankhede as the one between the top contenders of the IPL. But this is not 2011. We are in 2012 and this is IPL 5, and the form of defending champions Chennai Super Kings and CLT20 winners Mumbai Indians is nowhere near as any of the previous four seasons.

While the two big guns have somehow managed to stay in the top four at this juncture, their form doesn't instil any confidence in their fans. But a win today will do a world of good to not only their chances for the playoffs but also to win back the fans they seem to be losing fast.

IPL 5: Rajasthan thump Punjab to stay alive

2012-05-06T00:04:00.000+05:30

Rajasthan Royals produced an all-round show as they thumped Kings XI Punjab by 43 runs to end their four-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday. Chasing 178 for a win, KXIP were in the game only for a brief while when opener Shaun Marsh (34) was going great guns with some lusty hits but once he was out in the ninth over it was all over for the home side as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

Chasing a competitive 178, Punjab got off to shaky start losing opener Mandeep Singh in the second over to Shane Watson. Marsh then up the ante with some big shots but soon Punjab lost their skipper David Hussey and Punjab were reduced to 55 for 3 in eight overs. But just when Marsh looked settled, Johan Botha unleashed a peach of a delivery to clean bowled the left-hander.

Azhar Mahmood and Gurkeerat Singh tried to stabilise the innings but with the run-rate rising with every passing over, Punjab's defeat looked inevitable and the home team managed 134 for 8 in their allotted overs.

Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals compiled a challenging 177 for 6 in their IPL encounter with the Punjab. Skipper Rahul Dravid crafted a classy 46 and was ably complimented by Shane Watson, Ashok Menaria and Brad Hodge. Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Dravid lost his opening partner Ajinkya Rahane (5) in the second over, as he was caught behind off Ryan Harris' second ball.

Dravid and the powerful Shane Watson then shared a 71-run stand, with Watson scoring 36 off just 17 balls, including two massive sixes. But the legspinner scalped him, as he was caught in the deep by Harris. Dravid then follwed back to the pavilion in the fourteenth over. Dravid hit eight four in his 39-ball innings. He had added 41 with Menaria (34) for the third wicket before he took long walk back. Maneria carried on the tempo with some lusty hits. He was though lucky as he was dropped near the boundary by Mandeep Singh. He was eventually in the 16th over and became Chawla's second victim.

Brad Hodge then played a cameo of 36 off 23 balls, with a pair of sixes and fours. Johan Botha chipped in with a couple of fours himself, as Rajasthan set a testing target. Harris, however, had the last laugh as he claimed Hodge's wicket in the final over. For Punjab, Ryan Harris and Piyush Chawla picked up two wickets apiece. Praveen Kumar once again remained wicketless and went for 32 runs. Awana gave away 34 runs and Mahmood proved expensive giving away 37 in the four overs he bowled.

IPL 5: Kolkata hold nerve to beat Ganguly's Pune

2012-05-06T00:03:00.000+05:30

Marchant de lange picked up three wickets to help Kolkata Knight Riders beat Pune Warriors India by seven runs in their Indian Premier League match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday. Chasing a competitive target of 151 runs to win, Pune managed only 143 for 8 to hand KKR their seventh win this year's IPL.

Pune made a disastrous start losing opener Michael Clarke in the second over, who fell to the de Lange for just one. de Lange struck in his very next over to send backs Robin Uthappa for 17, which put the KKR on top. And then Sunil Narine accounted for the in-form Steven Smith when he had the Australian controversially adjudged lbw.

Struggling at 55 for 5, Pune were in deep trouble, but Sourav Ganguly and Angelo Mathews shared a 73-run stand to put the visitors back on track. However Rajat Bhatia's dismissal of Ganguly sparked another collapse, and Narine allowed just 13 runs from his four overs to leave Pune needing 18 from the final over. De Lange ensured that wouldn't happen as he claimed the wicket of Mathews, leaving Pune 143 for 8 at the end of their 20 overs.

Earlier, Kolkata squandered a brilliant start provided by openers Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum as they were restricted to 150 for 5 by Pune Warriors India. The hosts raced to 98 for 0 after ten overs and a surely 200 were on the cards. The pressure was clearly palpable in the Pune camp as Dinda dropped an easy sitter, giving McCullum a reprieve on 28

Gambhir smashed 56 off 36 balls that included four fours and two sixes and his opening partner, McCullum, scored a patient 42 off 43 deliveries with five fours and a six as they powered the hosts to 113 in the thirteenth over. But from then some brilliant fielding and great bowling by Angelo Mathews inspired a magnificent comeback.

The opening stand was broken when Pune spinner Murali Kartik had the KKR skipper caught by Mithun Manhas in the thirteenth over. After Gambhir's departure, KKR lost another four wickets and struggled to impose themselves on the attack. The second batsmen to go was McCullum when Mathews trapped him in front in the next over and then send back Kallis (1) to put the brakes on the Kolkata.

Pune made stunning comeback in the late overs as he just gave 29 runs off the last five overs with struggling Yusuf Pathan and Debabrata Das found the going tough. Pathan's run of woes continued, as he scored just 11 off 15 balls. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who finished with figures 2 for 26, used his slower variations cleverly to deceive Pathan and Laxmi Shukla for 0.

IPL 5: It was like playing an away game, says Gambhir

2012-05-06T00:01:00.000+05:30

Kolkata: With a packed Eden Gardens cheering their favourite son Sourav Ganguly, Kolkata Knight Riders' skipper Gautam Gambhir on Saturday said that it was like playing an away match. "He is a legend of the game. The contribution he has made to the sport both internationally and domestically is immense and it is natural for him to command the respect he gets. It was like playing an away game for us," Gambhir said at the post-match press conference.

Gambhir later said that the crowd was behind KKR as well. "It was a 50:50 crowd and I thank them for being with us. Sourav is a legend and I am still far away from the contribution he has made to the game. Only 10 per cent of the crowd may have cheered for me," was the reply from the former Delhi Daredevils player when asked to compare the match with his game against the DD in Delhi.

The southpaw was critical of his batsmen for their failure to put up a good total. "We messed up big time. The kind of start we had with the depth in batting we could have easily got past 180. It's time the batsmen pulled up their socks. Every time there would not be a good start for them," the skipper said.

Describing the spell of Man of the Match Sunil Narine as crucial, the skipper hoped the Windies offie continued his good run in the tournament. "His spell was crucial and helped us in winning the game. I hope his continues to play the way he is in the games to come. I am someone who hates to be complacent. We cannot sit back on our laurels. Each game is important for us and we hope to continue carrying forward the momentum," Gambhir said.

He credited team effort for their consistent good performance in the tournament.

Spinners having a ball in IPL 5

2012-05-06T00:00:00.000+05:30

From Delhi's Shahbaz Nadeem to Rajasthan's Brad Hogg, Kolkata's Sunil Narine to Punjab's Piyush Chawla, spinners have influenced the outcome of topsy-turvy Twenty20 matches that have invariably gone into the last over without an assured victor.

IPL 5 has been a paradise for left-arm spinners, who have won five Man-of-the-Match awards. Pawan Negi of the Delhi Daredevils has been the latest to impress after taking a four-wicket haul against the Rajasthan Royals last Tuesday. Negi joins the list of left-armers, starting with Ravindra Jadeja of Chennai Super Kings, who picked up a fifer against the Deccan Chargers early in the season.

Among others are Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan of Kolkata Knight Riders (three for 17 against Rajasthan Royals) and Royal Challengers’ KP Appanna, who was handed over the award for his 4-19 against Rajasthan Royals by AB de Villiers after the South African limited-overs skipper was adjudged Man of the Match for his match-winning 59.

Delhi Daredevils left-arm spinner Nadeem (2-16) produced a Man-of-the-Match performance against Mumbai Indians, impressing his team-mates Kevin Pietersen of England and Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene with his tidy line and length. Bowling on placid surfaces in the Indian subcontinent, spinners are constantly on the look out for new variations, mixing speed with varying line and length. It’s most likely that they will hold the aces in the playoffs stage too.

Shahbaz Nadeem (Delhi Daredevils)

The 22-year-old Shahbaz Nadeem, who plays for Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy, has sent down impressive spells in IPL 5 but with minimal reward. He has eight wickets from ten matches at a good economy rate of 6.67. In fact, Nadeem has carried the mantle of leading Delhi's spin department this season. His 2-16 performance against Mumbai Indians went a long way in impressing teammates Kevin Pietersen of England and Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene. Nadeem could very well be in contention for India’s squad for the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka later this year.

Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Bowling miserly and taking wickets at regular intervals, West Indian Sunil Narine of Kolkata Knight Riders has bamboozled batsmen with a bunch of mystery balls. His spin mesmerised Kings XI Punjab batsmen on April 15 as he finished with figures of five for 19 in four overs. With 12 wickets from seven matches at an economy rate of 5.53, he has emerged the biggest trump card for Gautam Gambhir.

Marlon Samuels (Pune Warriors India)

Being reported for a suspect action notwithstanding, Marlon Samuels, with eight wickets from eight matches, has been a crucial bowler for Sourav Ganguly’s Pune Warriors India. Samuels’ quickish off-breaks have troubled many batsmen this IPL. He has faced problems with his action in the past, particularly when bowling his faster deliveries. However, Ganguly has firmly backed him.

Pawan Negi (Delhi Daredevils)

Though this left-arm spinner has only four wickets from three matches, he has made a quick impact playing for Virender Sehwag’s table-topping Delhi Daredevils. The most impressive aspect of his performance is his economy rate of five. Negi claimed his career best T20 bowling figures of 4 for 18 against Rajasthan Royals last Tuesday evening. He was instrumental in breaking the momentum of the Royals by dismissing Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Brad Hodge and Ashok Menaria.

Piyush Chawla (Kings xi Punjab)

With 12 wickets from ten matches, the legspinner has been almost instrumental in Kings XI Punjab's resurgence this IPL. His economy rate is an even more impressive 6.70. Ever since the first edition of the IPL when Punjab finished runners-up, the Preity Zinta-owned franchise has barely managed a handful of wins in the regular season. This is perhaps the best side they've put forward since IPL 1, and have a realistic chance of making the IPL Playoffs that gets underway on May 22. Chawla, who leaked 27 runs in the 19th over to pave the way for Mumbai Indians’ win early in the season, has bounced back strongly for Punjab.

Muttiah Muralitharan (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s most successful bowler this season Muttiah Muralitharan may not play any further part in this year's Indian Premier League, according to captain Daniel Vettori. Taking his eight wickets at an average of 14, Muralitharan has played just four matches this season but is Bangalore’s joint-highest wicket-taker. Vinay Kumar has played ten matches for the same number of wickets. But with six matches left in IPL 5 for the southern franchise, captain Vettori said the team’s focus now was on qualifying for the semi-final and he believes RCB have the right combination without the legendary off spinner. But the wily old wizard can walk into any match situation and make an impact.

Brad Hogg (Rajasthan Royals)

With 10 wickets from eight matches, the veteran chinaman bowler has led Rajasthan Royals’ spin-attack with distinction this IPL. Bowling on the flat track at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Hogg has maintained a steady economy rate of shy under seven.

The flop turners!

R Ashwin (CSK)

With only five wickets from 11 matches, R Ashwin has been the biggest disappointment for the defending champions. In previous seasons, Ashwin maintained economy rates below six, but this time around, he has gone at close to 6.5 runs per over. CSK will be hoping for a turnaround.

Amit Mishra (DC)

With just six wickets from eight matches, the legspinner has been a huge letdown for the Deccan Chargers. In previous seasons, Mishra was invariably in the race for the Purpe Cap. Last year, Mishra took 19 wickets from 14 matches at a good economy rate of 6.60.

Pragyan Ojha (MI)

With just seven wickets from seven matches, the left-arm spinner hasn’t quite lived up to the pre-season hype. He remains the spinner with most wickets in IPL history. Ojha had been with Deccan Chargers since IPL-1, and took 62 wickets in 56 matches. He was the leading wicket-taker in 2010 (21 wickets).

D Vettori (RCB)

With only five wickets from nine matches, the RCB skipper is in a tough spot as he has kept veteran Muttiah Muralitharan out of the XI. Vettori is usually not a big wicket-taker, but someone who stems the flow of runs. Unfortunately for RCB, their captain has conceded close to seven runs per over.

Rahul Sharma (PWI)

More than the lack of wickets (eight wickets from nine games), it’s Sharma’s economy rate that must worry Sourav Ganguly. The leggie was clobbered for five consecutive sixes by Chris Gayle earlier in the season, and has leaked close to eight runs per over in almost all the matches.

Harbhajan (MI)

Though he is regaining his rhythm slowly, Harbhajan Singh still hasn’t hit his stride. With five wickets from 10 matches, the Mumbai Indians skipper has become merely a third or fourth bowler for his side. In fact, he didn’t bowl himself during one of the earlier home matches.

IPL 5: RCB sign Parameswaran to replace Aravind

2012-05-05T23:58:00.000+05:30

Bangalore: Royal Challengers Bangalore have signed left-handed paceman Prashanth Parameswaran from Kerala as a replacement for the injured S Aravind in the ongoing Indian Premier League. Parameswaran will join the squad at the earliest, the RCB said in a statement on Saturday.

"We are happy with the induction of Parameswaran in our squad. He will boost our bowling resources during the most critical phase of the ongoing tournament," said RCB owner Sidhartha Mallya.

The 26-year-old pacer was a part of the Kochi Tuskers Kerala outfit in the 2011 season of the IPL, and scalped the wicket of Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag in the very first over of his IPL debut match in 2011, and winning the Man-of-the-Match award. He made his first-class debut for Kerala aged 24, and won an IPL contract after a strong showing in the 2010-11 Vijay Hazare Trophy.

IPL 5: Team unity secret to Delhi's success, says Sehwag

2012-05-05T23:55:00.002+05:30

New Delhi: Delhi Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag says "team unity" is behind the success of his side in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. Delhi are leading the pack with 16 points from 10 matches so far and are a strong title-contender this year.

Sehwag said that they have succeeded in doing on field what they discuss in the team meetings. "We have implemented our plans well. Our performance in the tournament is due to unity in the team. It has been a total team effort and since the execution of our plans has been very good, we have got desired results," Sehwag said.

Famous comics character Chacha Choudhury along with his aide Sabu have been portrayed as playing for the Delhi side in the new comics series. On this occasion, Pran, the creator of character Chacha Choudhury, said that just like his main character, Sehwag's mind work too fast.

When Sehwag was asked, who is Sabu in his side?, he said, "It's Kevin Pietersen! Sabu to thha par chala gaya. (There was a Sabu but he has gone)."

Pietersen left for England for national duty after playing his last match against Rajasthan Royals on May 1. Australian opener David Warner has joined the Delhi squad and is most likely to fill in as fourth foreign player after Morne Morkel, Ross Taylor and Mahela Jayawardene.

IPL 5: Hopeful Deccan up against inconsistent Chennai

2012-05-04T19:13:00.000+05:30

After tasting their second win of IPL 5 in the last match, Deccan Chargers will be confident when they clash with an inconsistent Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday. The game assumes greater importance for both the teams as they find themselves in a must-win situation. The Hyderabad-based franchise is at the bottom on the leaderboard with five points from nine games as opposed to Chennai who are at fifth with nine points after 10 outings.

In their last match against Pune Warriors India in Cuttack, Deccan played to their potential to register the win, which was their second over Pune this season. And when they travel to Chennai's backyard on Friday, they will take with them the confidence to upset another big gun.

After dropping himself for one match, skipper Kumar Sangakkara came back with a brilliant 82 off 52 balls against Pune. Apart from Sangakkara, Deccan would very much like Cameron White, who also hit 74 off 45, to continue his good form on the slow and low Chepauk track. And with bowling spearhead Dale Steyn in top shape and key players slowly coming out of their slump, Deccan are looking like a changed side.

CSK, the two-time IPL champions, have looked off-colour in this edition. Though they have been bolstered by the return of Australian batsman Michael Hussey, they are still struggling to find a winning combination. And despite his team not getting past the finishing line on most occasions, CSK captain MS Dhoni continues to refrain himself from making too many changes.

Playing at home has always been Chennai's strength in the past four seasons, and in spite of losing three of their six home games this season, they still remain an intimidating proposition in home conditions.

Things are not unfolding in Chennai's favour this year. Among the batsmen, opener Faf du Plessis has been in top form but the same cannot be said of others, including Suresh Raina and Dhoni, who have been out of sorts. The bowling too has been a bit of a let-down for CSK with their key strike bowler Doug Bollinger falling prey to the four-foreigner cap.

All in all, there is a lot at stake for both the teams in this clash, with Chennai having no scope to drop down the points table and Deccan having everything to play for to move up.

Probable XIs:

Chennai Super Kings: 1 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 2 S Badrinath, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 Dwayne Bravo, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Albie Morkel , 8 Ravichandran Ashwin, 9 Ravindra Jadeja, 10 Shadab Jakati, 11 Yo Mahesh

Deccan Chargers: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (c), 4 Cameron White, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Ishank Jaggi, 7 Ankit Sharma, 8 Dale Steyn, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Ashish Reddy, 11 Manpreet Gony

I am out of form, admits Ross Taylor

2012-05-04T19:11:00.000+05:30

New Delhi: Scoring just 91 runs in seven matches, Delhi Daredevils' New Zealand import Ross Taylor on Friday accepted that though the team's batsmen have done well so far in the ongoing Indian Premier League, his own form has been scratchy up to this point.

"The team has batted well, but yes, I am out of form," Taylor said on the sidelines of a function here. Delhi's top order, led by skipper Virender Sehwag, has fired in unison to score in bulk for their side that is leading the tournament's points table. Sehwag has scored 445 runs so far, while England’s Kevin Pietersen amassed 305 before he left for national duty.

Delhi's middle order, comprising Naman Ojha and Yogesh Nagar, has got limited opportunities to showcase their batting prowess, but Taylor said the players will deliver when the time comes. "It [the lack of exposure for the middle order] has been discussed [in team meetings] and that's what we are here for. Middle order will stand up when the time comes," Taylor said without divulging much about the team’s strategy now that Pietersen has left for England.

Team's allrounder Irfan Pathan was reasonably happy with his performance so far in the league, saying, "So far, I have mixed results. I have batted well, [but] bowling could have been better. I am in good rhythm but this is the time when I need to get more wickets." When asked whether good performances in the home series against West Indies and an away tour to Australia have helped him cementing a place in the Indian team, Pathan said the efforts he has been putting in will bring positive results for him in the future. "Cementing your place in the national side is a tough walk [work]. But I know that I am heading in the right direction and am confident that only good things will come."

Delhi are set to clash with Kolkata Knight Riders at home on May 7.

IPL 5: Can't afford to lose next two games, says Vettori

2012-05-04T19:07:00.000+05:30

Bangalore: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Daniel Vettori said that his team fell short by 50 to 60 runs despite Chris Gayle (71) and Virat Kohli (45) putting on 118-run second wicket stand together and laying a solid platform against Kings XI Punjab in their last IPL match.

"We lost momentum in the last five overs of our innings. The way they [Kings XI Punjab] bowled demoralised us and we could not score 50 or 60 runs in the slog overs," Vettori said at the post-match press conference in Bangalore. Vettori said that the team wasted the advantage that Gayle and Kohli provided by taking the RCB to 122 for 1 by the 15th over on a pitch

that was assisting the bowlers initially.

"RCB could have done better by setting 180-run target for the visitors to chase. It was difficult batting first up as the ball was doing a bit initially. Praveen Kumar bowled exceptionally well in his four overs, giving away just eight runs," said the skipper.

The New Zealander also said that the Bangalore have reached a stage where they couldn't afford to lose another match. "We don't want to lose our next two games against Deccan Chargers and Pune Warriors. Losing those will take us to a point of no return. We want to do things we did in the last couple of overs of the Kings XI's innings [effecting three runouts]," he said.

Chris Gayle boycotts county contract, will join national team

2012-05-04T19:04:00.003+05:30

New Delhi: Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle scrapped his deal with Somerset county and made himself available for the national team and virtually ended his year-long stand-off with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

But Gayle, who is playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB), in a statement said that he is committed to West Indies cricket and told Somerset that he will not be honouring the contract. Gayle told the West Indies selectors that he will be available for the ODI series in England after the IPL.

"I wish to advise that as of today, May 2nd, 2012, I have written to Somerset CC and advised them that I will not be honouring the commitment I made to them when I signed a contract with them for the 2012 Friends Provident Championship. I made it clear to them that my decision was made because of my commitment to West Indies cricket and to West Indies cricket fans, and because: ...I believe that it is time for the WICB to make a decision which will provide a clearer view of my own future," Gayle said.

"I understand that by making this decision, it may place me in a position of considerable risk, since I am foregoing a signed contract, without any guarantees whatsoever, with only the hope that I will be selected to play for the West Indies again. I have now satisfied all of the requests of the WICB and their selection panel, with whom I met via teleconference yesterday, and to whom I reiterated previous assurances given to the Board regarding my availability. So that there is no doubt, I confirmed to the selectors that I was available for West Indies duty in all forms of cricket, immediately following the conclusion of my contractual obligations to my IPL franchise, Bangalore.

"This has been a difficult time, and I wish to sincerely thank everyone who has supported me, my family and friends, and in particular cricket fans worldwide who have continued to show appreciation for me wherever I have played. I look forward once again to put on the maroon, and resuming my international career and my service to West Indies cricket," Gayle said.

Gayle last played for the West Indies during the 2011 World Cup in March before falling out with the WICB after he criticised the chief coach Ottis Gibson during a radio interview in Jamaica.

IPL 5: My wicket was crucial, says Ganguly

2012-05-04T19:02:00.002+05:30

Pune: Describing his wicket as the turning point of the match, Pune Warriors captain Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said that his side should have overwhelmed the 121-run target set by Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League match here.

Set to chase Mumbai's modest total of 120 for 9, Pune lost wickets at the top, and it took a 47-run fifth-wicket

stand between Ganguly (16) and Mithun Manhas (42 not out) to keep the home team in the hunt.

But just when it was time to capitalise on the partnership, Ganguly was cleaned up by a brilliant Lasith Malinga in the last ball of the 17th over. "It was not an easy wicket, the ball did not come on to the bat. But we should have got to 120. We lost a few wickets early. When I got out was the turning point of the game," said a visibly disappointed Ganguly after the match.

Victorious skipper Harbhajan Singh lauded his bowlers and fielders for putting up a gritty display in the face of adversity. "The pitch was slow, low and it was difficult to play your strokes. We did not expect the pitch to play this way, bowlers would love to bowl here. Our bowlers did a great job," he said.

Man-of-the-Match Lasith Malinga said pressure is not something which is new to him. "I am used to pressure, whatever I do during the training session, I try to apply it on the field. I know my field and I bowl accordingly," the Sri Lankan said about his two for 25-run spell.