IPL Cricket Match | ICC world cup Update

Lions' chance to adorn trophy cabinet - espncricinfo

2012-10-27T22:14:00.005+05:30

Little over three weeks ago, brightly coloured sashes were being put up over the Wanderers in preparation for the Champions League.

Then, the Lions were holding one of their first practice sessions ahead of the tournament and happily shared their nets with Auckland. There was a quiet sense of anticipation among them which was eclipsed by feelings of great resolve. Had they been told then that one of them would qualify to the main draw and then cause a major upset and the other would spring an even greater surprise by making it to the final, they might have only smiled knowingly -- such was the confidence in both camps.

It is the Lions' achievement which has resulted in the stadium gaining its latest accessory: 'Sold Out' signs which adorn the office gates of the grand old lady, who will once again welcome over 30,000 people. Given that it's the Sydney Sixers who will be contesting the final against them, most of those people will cheer for the Lions.

The last time that many people packed into the Bullring to cheer on their domestic team could have been before the CSA bonus scandal broke over three years ago, the economic collapse of 2008 or maybe even before twenty-over cricket had its own World Cup in 2007. It really is difficult to remember when that was.

For five seasons, the trophy cabinet on Corlett Drive has not had reason to be opened because nothing came in. The Lions reached the final of the 2008-09 season domestic T20 competition and did the same last season. Both times they ended up empty handed.

Very few people would have tipped them to get this far in the CLT20. Even fewer will expect them to give the administrators reason to dig out the key for that accolades cupboard. But Lions' captain Alviro Petersen does not mind. Commentators have compared him to MS Dhoni in his icy mannerisms and he is not an easy man to read. When is he tense, when does he smile? Who knows?

When he posted the only single figure score in South Africa's emphatic Test victory over England at the Oval in July (Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla and Jaques Kallis also batted in that match and all scored centuries), he met unjustified criticism with a stony glare and nothing else. Then, he went on to score a big hundred in the next match. That's Petersen and although he has not contributed much with the bat, his unfussed leadership is one of the Lions' best assets.

Their other strengths are more obvious to identify. Gulam Bodi has turned into the most reliable opener in the tournament, Neil McKenzie is the sage in the middle order and Quinton de Kock, the fire, although he hasn't set the stage alight every time. Sohail Tanvir and Dirk Nannes lead the attack with experience, Chris Morris ignites it with pace and Aaron Phangiso is the silent assassin - who gives away little and always ends up with much reward. They rely on unity to succeed and it's taken them to the final.

Sydney, on the other hand, were always seen as one of the favourites to go far in the tournament. With a pace attack that reflects Australia's depth, they have scared as well as dominated batting line-ups. Although hype has been built around Pat Cummins, who will now return to the scene of his spectacular Test debut, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood have jostled for space under spotlight. Both have displayed maturity and control and add that to their natural skills and you have two highly competent and dangerous bowlers.

It does not end there for Sydney though. Even without Shane Watson, their so-called other bowlers provide more than adequate back-up. Moises Henriques is enjoying the form of his life, having done well in the lead up to the tournament and then used it as a vehicle to showcase his all-round skills.

The contest could be decided on whether Sydney's young trio can outbowl the Lions' varied attack. It may also lie in whether the batsmen on either side can withstand. Perhaps the same battle lines will define the upcoming Test series between South Africa and Australia but for now the focus is more micro. The Lions' batting, with some national presence in Petersen, has looked fragile but somehow has only been broken once. That was by Sydney in Cape Town ten days ago.

Conditions at the Wanderers will be markedly different though with pace and bounce playing more of a part. Most notably, the Lions will have thousands behind them, something Sydney thought would be intimidating enough at SuperSport Park. Peter Nevill described beating a team at home as the "biggest hurdle" and Sydney already managed that against the Titans.

Despite massive support, the Titans' could not use what Matthew Maynard called their 12th man to post a victory. But they have added their voices to the cheers for the Lions. It is a rare message of support from one to the other, especially because the rivalry between these two South African sides has been fierce. "We came close but I hope they go one better," Martin van Jaarsveld, Titans captain said.

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent

BCCI rewards Ashwin with Grade A contract - dawn

2012-10-27T22:12:00.003+05:30

MUMBAI: Rising Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Friday replaced out-of-form senior tweaker Harbhajan Singh in the top bracket of BCCI’s list of central retainership contracts, while struggling pacer Ishant Sharma was also demoted from Grade ‘A’ to ‘B’.

Harbhajan and Ishant have spent the better part of this year out of the team struggling for form in whatever chances they have been handed.

The elite Grade ‘A’ features nine players this year, three down from the last season.

With the retired duo of Rahul Dravid and Vangipurappu Laxman out of the equation Ashwin was only new name in the top bracket, the players in which are paid an annual retainership of Rs1 crore.

The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan retained their Grade ‘A’ contracts. Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh completed the top category, all three retaining their contracts.

In Grade ‘B’, the BCCI has offered contracts to eight players, three more than last season with Rohit Sharma being the only one to have retained his contract.

Irfan Pathan has been given a contract along with young players such as Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav, all of whom have been elevated from Grade ‘C’. The players in Grade ‘B’ are entitled an annual retainership of Rs50 lakh.

In the Grade ‘C’ list, a demoted Ravindra Jadeja has replaced S. Sreesanth. Yousuf Pathan, Lakshmipathy Balaji and Ashok Dinda have come in replacing the likes of Jaydev Unadkat.

In all, the BCCI has offered contracts to 37 players, which is the same as last year.

Contracted players:

Grade ‘A’: Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh,

Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin.

Grade ‘B’: Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav.

Grade ‘C’: Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Vinay Kumar, Munaf Patel, Abhimanyu Mithun, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, Parthiv Patel, Manoj Tiwary, S. Badrinath, Piyush Chawla, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Sharma, Varun Aaron, Abhinav Mukund, Ashok Dinda, Yusuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Lakshmipathy Balaji.—Agencies

England will get back what they gave us, warns Virat Kohli - cricketnext

2012-10-27T22:01:00.002+05:30

New Delhi: Prolific Indian middle order batsman Virat Kohli reckons that it will be absolutely fair if India take advantage of home conditions and make the visiting English side play on rank turners during their upcoming tour. "Why not? We were given flattest of tracks during practice matches in England and Australia and then suddenly presented with a green-top during Tests. During practice matches, we would face those 120 kmph bowlers," a candid Kohli said during a freewheeling chat after a net session with the Delhi Ranji Trophy squad here on Saturday.

"If they [England and Australia] wanted to be fair to us, they could have provided us with same kind of tracks for practice matches like what were used in Tests, especially when they knew that visiting teams get very less time to practice. Now they would be playing on turning tracks and definitely would know where they stand," he said when asked about the fairness of playing on turners.

Kohli also sought to play the mind game ahead of the series by stating that Kevin Pietersen will be "under a lot of pressure to perform well" as he is one of their key players who has a good record against quality spin attacks. "There will be huge pressure on KP as he has been playing in India for quite some time and considered to be a good batsman against spin. You may say that the senior England cricketers have an understanding of these conditions but let me tell you, it's not that easy. You might feel they would like to hit spinners but end up doing exactly opposite."

The prolific batsman cited the example of England's Test series against Pakistan in UAE. "Come to think of that particular series, there wasn't much of turn on offer but England couldn't negotiate one quality spinner [Saeed Ajmal] as they lost the battle in their heads," he said.

For someone who has always played the horizontal bat shot well enough, Virat Kohli doesn't endorse the popular perception that Indians are susceptible against short-pitched stuff. "I have never really understood this theory. Are people like Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag poor players of short-pitched bowling? Show me how many Indian players were out to short-pitched deliveries in Australia?" he questioned.

"No batsman in world cricket is comfortable against a good bouncer. If you get a good bouncer, give credit to the bowler rather than finding chinks in batsman's armoury. When someone gets out to cover drive, no one raises questions about your technique but it only happens when you get out to a short ball. A good bouncer will remain a good bouncer."

Although he thinks that it is important "to stay one step ahead" of the opposition, the 23-year-old batsman feels that over-analysis can complicate matters. "I would like to react to on-field situations rather than do a homework and find that my rivals have changed their gameplan. I believe in doing things my own way and being in that zone," he said.

The talented batsman also doesn't like comparisons between Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher. "Gary was much more involved in practice sessions but Duncan is also a thorough professional. He would quietly stand in one corner and observe. If he needs to say something, he would come up and give a suggestion. He believes international cricketers know their jobs. And if we have lost eight Test matches, blame us and not the coach."

Kohli also backed skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni saying that just eight Test defeats doesn't make him a bad captain. "Under him, we have won the World Cup, been No. 1 in Tests. He has also encouraged the juniors."

Talking about the Ranji Trophy game against Uttar Pradesh, Kohli said that it would give him the necessary "game-time" and also help him switch back to "Test mode" from Twenty20. "Last time against New Zealand at Hyderabad, I was trying to hit every ball and thus missed out on big hundred. The UP match would give me sufficient game time and help me get back to Test match mode," he added.

Royal Challengers Bangalore winoking

2012-05-12T17:19:00.001+05:30

Mumbai Indians were better placed on the points table than Royal Challengers Bangalore before the start of this crucial clash at the Wankhede Stadium. And that might explain Bangalore's commitment and intent - in all three departments of the game - and Mumbai's lack of it. As a result of the difference in attitude as well as Bangalore exploiting the pitch better than the hosts, the tone was set early on. Despite a comprehensive Bangalore win by nine wickets, Mumbai stayed in third spot, while the visitors moved into fourth.

It was a strange pitch for Mumbai to have prepared for a home match, with appreciable bounce and carry from the start. And with Bangalore bowling first, Zaheer Khan, R Vinay Kumar and Harshal Patel were in business straightaway. James Franklin and Rohit Sharma fell early. Sachin Tendulkar played and missed a fair bit as Mumbai stuttered to just 12 after the first five overs, and then just 25 at the end of the six powerplay overs.

Tendulkar did find his bearings after that, but fell to a top-edged pull off Patel for a 27-ball 24. The task of consolidation was left to Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu. Scoring was tough, but the two fought hard, scoring at just over a run a ball to bring the innings back on track.

Despite that, it looked unlikely that Mumbai would cross 125 till Harbhajan Singh and Kieron Pollard got together. In the 19th over of the innings, Harbhajan struck two fours off Zaheer, and then in the last over, Pollard went over the square-leg boundary twice to take the hosts to 141 for six. Not big, but competitive. Or so it seemed.

As far as the Bangalore reply was concerned, it was always a matter of batting sensibly and staying abreast of the asking rate. Chris Gayle ensured that was the case, even though his opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan fell in the ninth over for a rather sedate 25-ball 19. Virat Kohli came in and, like he has throughout this year's Indian Premier League, grafted for his runs.

Things remained relatively quiet till it came to the 11th over of the innings, bowled by Pragyan Ojha. The first four balls went well and then he dished out a leg-stump full toss. Six. The next one was another full toss - a no-ball above the waist - and was dispatched for another six. The extra delivery was over-pitched and easily dispatched over long-off. Pollard bowled his three overs at an economy rate of 11.00, and the die was clearly cast.

Kohli wrapped things up off the last delivery of the 18th over, a big straight six off Rohit Sharma. A huge win, and one that worked wonders for Bangalore's net run rate, while sending Mumbai back to the drawing board with two qualification spots still left to play for.

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Chennai crunch Rajasthan

2012-05-12T17:15:00.001+05:30

TOSS: Chennai won the toss, and elected to field

RESULT: Chennai won by 4 wkts

MOM: BEN HILFENHAUS

Chennai Super Kings have perfected the habit of making even the most regulation run chase appear formidable, and still finding a way of getting out of jail. Even by those standards, the two-time defending champions made a complete meal of a most modest total of 126 for six posted by Rajasthan Royals, and looked set to play themselves out of contention for the knockout stages of IPL V until, dramatically, Albie Morkel and S Anirudha got them out of jail on a tense, low-scoring but action-packed Thursday night.

Playing his first game of the season, Anirudha turned out to be the unlikely hero, smiting Shane Watson and Shaun Tait, until then the two most impressive Royals bowlers, for massive sixes to play an equal partner in an astonishing stand of 43 off just 12 deliveries that propelled the Super Kings to a four-wicket victory.

Having needed 47 off the last four overs after having dawdled during the middle part of their reply, the Super Kings eventually won with 11 deliveries to spare in a sensational turn of events that catapulted Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men to fourth in the standings.

On a stop-start day when rain interrupted the Royals' innings thrice, the Super Kings seemed headed for a comfortable victory with Suresh Raina blazing away, but once the left-hander was well caught by Ajinkya Rahane attempting one big hit too many, the innings went into an inexorable tailspin. The experienced trio of Michael Hussey, Dwayne Bravo and Dhoni struggled to get the ball off the square as the Royals medium-pacers made capital of the swing and seam on offer, imposing a stranglehold that appeared decisive.

It was Morkel's arrival, with 47 needed off 24 deliveries, that turned the course of the match. The South African left-hander exploded in a flurry of boundaries, then watched from the non-striker's end as Anirudha smashed Watson and Tait around. Victory came courtesy five wides from Tait in an anti-climactic end to a contest that ended well past midnight and had the capacity crowd on the edge of their seats.

The Royals looked set for a hiding to nothing after being stuck in by Dhoni, deprived of momentum all the way through. Ben Hilfenhaus bowled an exceptional spell, sending down four overs on the trot with the new ball for incredible figures of 2 for 8, while the rest complemented him beautifully, R Ashwin's sensational catch running in from third man and diving forward to snaffle Watson typifying the resolve and grim determination of the holders.

Only when Stuart Binny laid into Bravo did the Royals obtain any impetus, but the Super Kings pulled things back beautifully. Strangely, Dhoni didn't requisition Ashwin's off-spin till the 17th over and asked the profligate Bravo to bowl the final over when Morkel had one up his sleeve. On another day, these might have been crucial errors, but with Morkel and Anirudha in awesome boundary-clearing mode, the champions lived to fight another day.

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Facing Narine will be exciting: Jayawardene

2012-05-07T16:12:00.001+05:30

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."

Facing Narine will be exciting: Jayawardene

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I was confident of winning the match: Smith

2012-05-07T16:07:00.001+05:30

Dwayne Smith

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.

I was confident of winning the match: Smith

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Mumbai Indians vs Chennai super kings

2012-05-07T16:01:00.003+05:30

IPL 5 2012

Match: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai super kings

Mumbai Indians won the toss and Bowl first

Man of the match : DWAYNE SMITH

MUMBAI ROCKS AS CHENNAI FLOPS INA MUST WIN SITUATION

The sensational knock was a reminder of one of those matches where Tendulkar played a match- winning knock and brought his team in a winning position and as soon as he perished, the tide turned to the other side. But Dwayne Smith didn’t let the legend down. Mumbai needed 14 runs of the last three balls and Dwayne Smith produced magical figures of 6,4,4 off them to clinch a spectacular win for his side at the Wankhede Stadium.

Ben Hilfenhaus stood stunned after his follow through as jubilant Mumbai Indians players erupted with joy and came running to the field in front of a maddening Wankhede crowd.

Mumbai needed 16 runs from the last over and Dhoni threw the ball at experienced Hilfenhaus who bowled a maiden first over for the defending champions. Smith who struck a crucial six in the penultimate over smashed the first ball towards long-off for a single. Malinga was the man on strike and he was taken by Hilfenhaus’ pace as he perished for a first ball duck. The crowd went dead with that dismissal and faces drooped down in the Mumbai dugout.

RP Singh was the new batsman and he managed to get Smith back on strike with a single towards cover. Smith injected life into the crowd and his team-mates with a six over long on with extreme power. The next ball was bludgeoned over the bowlers head for another boundary. Smith had gained confidence and Hilfenhaus missed a yorker off the last ball as a bullet shot by Smith produced another boundary towards long-off that made the crowd go berserk.

After a mediocre performance in the tournament so far, Chennai Super Kings did well to score 173 runs. Murali Vijay who was back to some form in the previous outing, hit some brutal blows to get Chennai off to a flyer. He began the innings with a boundary and smashed Munaf Patel for three sixes and a boundary in the fifth over. CSK’s run-machine for this season Faf du Plessis could not continue his good form as he was run-out off a direct hit from RP Singh in the sixth over. RP Singh had dropped du Plessis when he was batting on 4 and compensated for that error by sending him back to the pavilion.

Vijay scored 41 runs from 29 balls before being bowled by Singh. Suresh Raina (36) continued his good form with the bat as he added crucial 62 runs with Dwayne Bravo who looked very impressive during his 33-ball 50. Dhoni too contributed with the bat as he scored 25 from 15 balls. With useful contributions from most of the batsmen, Dhoni’s men scored 173 runs at the end of 20 overs which was a very good score.

Apart from the dropped catch, RP Singh had a huge role to play for Mumbai Indians. He not only picked up three crucial wickets but also took a blinder at point to dismiss Raina who was looking very dangerous.

Mumbai Innings didn’t get off to a good start as Franklin played a maiden over and was dismissed in the third over for just 1 run. Tendulkar was joined by Rohit Sharma (60 from 46) and both of them hit fabulous shots all across the ground to match up with the required run-rate. Tendulkar (74 from 44) in particular led from the front as he regularly charged down the track to score boundaries on his home turf. He was dismissed in the 15th over when du Plessis took a blinder, but Mumbai looked in comfortable position that time needing 41 runs from 25 balls with 8 wickets in hand.

Mumbai lost the next 6 wickets for just 25 runs as they slumped from 134/2 to 159/8. Such was their collapse that Rayudu, Harbhajan, Peterson and Malinga could not even open their accounts. It was all left to Smith who pulled off a miraculous victory for the home team.

As wickets fell at regular intervals and Mumbai needed 16 off the last over, Dhoni’s team might have thought that they have managed to end their losing streak. But it was Dwayne Smith’s incredible 9- ball 24 that that produced one of the most sensational chases we have seen in this year’s IPL.

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Kolkata Knight Riders vs Pune Warriors India

2012-05-05T15:55:00.001+05:30

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Pune Warriors India - 20-20

Read my content : Knight Riders spoil Ganguly's home coming at Eden

Match 47, Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India,
Sat, 05 May 2012 04:00 PM IST
Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss & elected to bat

Commentary ::

Sourav Ganguly - Well, this ovation feels great and more importantly, it feels great to be playing in Kolkata. Is one of the best cricketing grounds in the world. I have played over here before and doesn't look like it has changed much. We need to get a win tonight, should have won a couple of days ago as well. Usually, in Ranji matches, there is a bit of grass on the surface but given that this is a T20, don't expect too much grass.

Gautam Gambhir - So far it has been good and hopefully we can continue with the same. Wee have been playing as a unit and hope we can get some good results today. It is always a good feeling and a good headache when you have more than four quality foreigners. Twenty20 format is one where you cannot predict.

Kolkata are placed second on the points table while Pune, thanks to 4 successive losses, are at number 8. A loss here would mean that Pune cannot make it to the play-offs. In fact, they need to treat each and every match as a knock-out from here on. This is the trio of Karthik, Mihir and Tarun to take you through the proceedings. Sit back and enjoy!

The Kolkata Knight Riders have been on a roll since the start of the IPL and it is no surprise as they are now placed second on the points table, just below the mighty Delhi Daredevils. After having thrashed the Chennai Super Kings in Chepauk, the Knight Riders would be high on cofidence going into their next encounter, where they take on the Pune Warriors India at the Eden Gardens. The Warriors would be disappointed with their performance against the Mumbai Indians, losing to the visiting side by just one run. Sitting at the bottom of the table is not a pleasant sight for Pune, though, they will be itching to get back to winning ways as Sourav Ganguly visits his home town to play against his former team. Expect a lot of cheers for the Prince of Kolkata, but equal support for the home team as well. This should be an interesting contest to witness.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS Points : 13
Player
Manoj Tiwary
Sunil Narine
James Pattinson
Ryan ten Doeschate
Shakib Al Hasan
Jacques Kallis
Eoin Morgan
Yusuf Pathan
Brad Haddin
Brett Lee
Gautam Gambhir (C)
Brendon McCullum
Chirag Jani
Debabrata Das
Iqbal Abdulla
Iresh Saxena
Jaidev Unadkat
Lakshmipathy Balaji
Laxmi Shukla
Manvinder Bisla
Marchant de Lange
Pradeep Sangwan
Rajat Bhatia
Sanju Samson
Sarabjit Ladda
Shami Ahmed
Coach:
Trevor Bayliss

PUNE WARRIORS INDIA Points : 8
Player
Alfonso Thomas
Ali Murtaza
Angelo Mathews
Anustup Majumdar
Ashish Nehra
Ashok Dinda
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Callum Ferguson
Dheeraj Jadhav
Eklavya Dwivedi
Harpreet Singh Bhatia
Harshad Khadiwale
Jesse Ryder
Kamran Khan
Krishnakant Upadhyay
Luke Wright
Mahesh Rawat
Manish Pandey
Marlon Samuels
Michael Clarke
Mithun Manhas
Mohnish Mishra
Murali Kartik
Rahul Sharma
Raiphi Gomez
Robin Uthappa
Sachin Rana
Shrikant Wagh
Sourav Ganguly (C)
Steven Smith
Tamim Iqbal
Wayne Parnell
Coach:
Geoff Marsh

Match Analysis ::

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Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers butchered Kings XI Punjab

2012-04-21T11:39:00.000+05:30

Chris Gayle struck a brilliant 87 as Royal Challengers Bangalore comfortably beat Kings XI Punjab by five wickets in their IPL match at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here Friday.

Chris Gayle and AB de Villliers - Snatched the match

Gayle and A.B. de Villiers (52) added 131 runs for the fifth wicket as Royal Challengers Bangalore, set a target of 164, made 166 with three balls to spare. Gayle was also adjudged as Man of the Match for his brilliant 56-ball innings that was studded with eight fours and four sixes.

With their second consecutive win, Royal Challengers Bangalore got their campaign back on track after having suffered three losses on the trot. They move up a place to the seventh spot with six points from six matches while Kings XI slipped a spot to the eighth with four points from six matches.

Asked to bat first, Kings XI Punjab, who were without their captain Adam Gilchrist, again made a poor start but crucial innings from stand-in skipper David Hussey (41) and former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood (33 not out) helped them get a competitive score of 163 for six in 20 overs . Gilchrist missed the match nursing a hamstring injury.

Kings XI pacer Parvinder Awana (4-34) raised hopes for the hosts. He bowled a brilliant first spell in which he picked up the crucial wickets of opener Mayank Aggarwal (1), Virat Kohli (4) and Saurabh Tiwary (4) to reduce Royal Challengers to 25 for three inside six overs.

But Gayle played a patient knock and took his time to settle down before an onslaught. He took 28 balls to score 31 runs but once he took on, there was no stopping him. Gayle completely dominated the century-run stand between him and De Villiers. The duo always kept Royal Challengers along with the required run rate as the boundaries came regularly.

The match looked evenly balanced till the 17th over as Royal Challengers needed 24 runs off the last three overs. But Awana, who was the bet bowler for the Kings XI till then, bowled a pathetic 18th over that made things easy for the visitors.

Gayle smashed Awana for 17 runs in the eight-ball over before departing in the fourth ball but by then he had taken Royal Challengers to the threshold of a win. Hussey took a brilliant catch at extra cover to end Gayle's whirlwind knock.

Leggie Piyush Chawla gave Kings XI a glimmer of hope after he dismissed De Villiers, trapped leg-before in the penultimate over. The South African hit six fours in the 39-ball innings. Andrew McDonald (8 not out) and skipper Daniel Vettori (2 not out) took the team home safely without further damage.

Earlier in the day, Kings XI again made a poor start losing openers Nitin Saini (14) and Paul Valthaty (6) inside five overs. A 30-run stand between Australians Shaun Marsh (26) and Hussey got Kings XI innings back on track.

Mahmood, who registered himself as a British citizen, made a memorable debut in the IPL smashing 33 off 14 balls that helped Kings XI get a competitive total on board. Mahmood's arrival to India was delayed due to visa issues. The 37-year-old, who has played 21 Tests and 143 ODIs, had surprisingly applied for visa in his Pakistani passport that delayed his arrival.

KKR win easily

2012-04-19T11:28:00.001+05:30

Riding on a disciplined bowling and fielding display, KKR first restricted Kings XI to 124 for seven after sent into bowl, and then skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a fine unbeaten half century to overwhelm the target with 21 balls in hand.

Gambhir scored an unbeaten 66 off 44 balls with the help of seven fours and a six to hold the chase together and see his side home. Gambhir was ably supported by Jacques Kallis, who scored an unbetaen 30 off 23 balls. The duo stitched unconquered 53 runs for the third-wicket as KKR scored 127 for two in 16.3 overs.

Earlier, Kings XI batsmen lost wickets at regular intervals to be restricted to the modest total after opting to bat at the PCA stadium. Captain Adam Gilchrist, who retired hurt in the sixth over with a right hamstring problem only to return later to drag his side out of trouble, top-scored with an unbeaten 40, while Shaun Marsh made a 30-ball 33 with the help of four boundaries. Kings XI batsmen struggled from the onset against a determined KKR bowling line up and it could be gauged from the fact that only three of their batters could manage double figures.

Wily West Indian off-spinner Sunil Narine (2/24) and Brett Lee (2/26) starred with the ball for KKR, sharing four wickets between them. Laxmipathy Balaji (1/20) and Rajat Bhatia (1/23) also picked up a wicket each for the visitors. KKR's started their run chase on a blistering pace, racing on to their fifty inside the sixth over.

Brendon McCullum (15) was the initial aggressor as he clobbered Praveen Kumar for two boundaries in the first over. KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir matched his partner stroke by stroke and welcomed Harmeet Singh with a huge six over mid-wicket and a four in the bowler's opening over.

After the initial burst, McCullum found boundaries hard to come by, which finally led to his dismissal. Struggling to score freely, the Kiwi hit a Piysuh Chawla's (2/19) short, way down the leg side delivery straight to Dimitri Mascarenhas at short fine-leg, but not before stitching a 53-run opening stand with Gambhir.

Chawla picked up his second wicket four overs later when Manvinder Bisla (11) dragged a delivery on to his stumps. Gambhir, on the other hand, played a calm and composed innings and notched up his half century in just 36 balls.

In Kallis, Gambhir found a perfect partner as they duo went about their business in style. Kallis struck little-kwown Bhargav Bhatt for back-to-back four and a six to finish off the run chase in emphatic fashion.

Kings XI's last year's hero, Paul Valthaty once again disappointed as he fell early, outside edging a Lee delivery to Bisla behind the stumps in the third over. To make matters worse for Kings XI, Gilchrist had to retired hurt in the sixth over.

Kings XI failed to get a substantial partnership as Mandeep Singh (6), Marsh, David Hussey (10), Paras Dogra (6) and Mascarenhas (9) all departed in quick intervals. Marsh's dismissal in the 14th over, however, turned out to be a little controversial.

The left-hander underedged an attempted cut off a Lee delivery which just seemed to have carried to Bisla behind the wicket. But the batsmen was not satisfied and walked away only after checking with the keeper.

The dismissal also brought Kings XI owner Preity Zinta on to the ground as she was not satisfied with the decision. She, however, left the field only after Gilchrist intervened. Towards the end, Gilchrist and Chawla (9) tried their level best to shoot up the run rate but failed.

Gayle set up the game for RCB nail Pune in a thriller

2012-04-18T15:26:00.000+05:30

IPL 2012

MATCH: RCB VS PUNE WARRIORS

TOSS: Pune won the toss, and elected to bat first

RESULT: Bangalore won by 6 wkts

MOM: Chris Gayle

Needing 21 off the last over, Tiwary took a single on the first delivery of Ashish Nehra to give strike to de Villiers. The South African then smashed the second ball for a boundary and followed it by two consecutive sixes to make things easier for Bangalore.

With four required of last two balls, Villiers took a single off the fifth ball to bring Tiwary back on strike. The southpaw didn't let pressure mount on him and sailed the final delivery into the crowd over the rope to finish the game for Bangalore on style.

At halfway stage during their chase, RCB were 63 for two with Gayle at the crease. Although Gayle hit couple of huge sixes off Ashish Nehra, he wasn't at his dangerous best as he failed to find the gaps.

Virat Kohli too was taking time to get into the groove. Credit should be given to Bhuveneshwar Kumar who bowled three tight overs during the front 10. It was only after Kohli was dismissed by Angelo Mathews that Gayle decided to play his signature game.

Leg-spinner Rahul Sharma bore the brunt as Gayle launched into him hitting five consecutive sixes as 31 runs came off that over and RCB seemed to be back on track.

Gayle raced to 81 off 47 balls as he hit Ashish Nehra to notch up his eighth six but the veteran seamer bowled a perfect delivery in the blockhole that cleaned up Gayle. The Jamaican had scored 81 off 48 balls with four boundaries and eight sixes.

He smashed five sixes in an over from Rahul Sharma just after reaching his half-ton.

Ashok Dinda gave Pune first breakthrough by scalping Tilakaratne Dilshan (4) after Pune Warriors scored a massive 182/6 at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. Dilshan was caught behind stumps while trying to flick Dinda on leg side. Marlon Samuels then dismissed Mayank Agarwal (9) to give Bangalore second blow at the score of 42 in six overs.

royal-challengers-bangalore win over PWI

Earlier, local boy Robin Uthappa's belligerent knock of 69 along with useful contributions from Jesse Ryder and Marlon Samuels helped Pune Warriors India set a challenging 183 for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Pune openers Jesse Ryders and Robin Uthappa got off to a cracking start adding 63 runs for the first wicket in only seven overs. The Royals introduced offie Tillekratne Dilshan in the second over where he was hammered for 13 runs which included a six and four.

Ryder started from where he left in the last match against CSK while Uthappa showed why he is so highly rated in this format.

Just when it looked that Ryder-Uthappa duo would murder the bowling, Harshal Patel provided RCB the breakthrough as Kiwi opener tried to pull him over lbackward square leg only to be caught by Mayank Agarwal at the boundary.

Uthappa had a reprieve when he tried to sweep left-arm spinner KP Appanna and TV replays showed that ball jumped off his gloves to be caught by AB de Villiers. The umpire however gave him not out and the next ball was dispatched into the deep mid-wicket stand.

The Karnataka lad quickly raced to his fourth IPL half century reverse sweeping Dilshan past short third-man for his second consecutive boundary. His 50 had seven fours and two sixes and came off only 34 balls. The Warriors reached 100 in the 11th over.

RCB responded with two quick wickets in two overs. R Vinay Kumar first picked up an woefully out-of-form Sourav Ganguly whose slash was easily caught at sweeper cover by Mayank Agarwal and in the next over Vettori sent back Uthappa 69 (45 balls 4x9 6x2).

Marlon Samuels (34, 20 balls, 1x4, 2x6) and Steven Smith (16) added 47 runs in only 4.5 overs before couple run-outs saw the back of both players. Especially Samuels who looked in fine touch and Warriors looked like having finished 15 runs short in the end.

RCB made three changes inducting Dilshan, KP Apanna and Harshal Patel in place of Muttiah Muralitharan, Mohammad Kaif and Sreenath Aravind, who all played last game against Rajasthan Royals. PWI brought in pacer Bhuvaneshwar Kumar replacing orthodox left-arm spinner Murali Kartik.

Rajasthan Royals beat Deccan Chargers by five wickets

2012-04-18T15:18:00.000+05:30

Rajasthan required 11 runs in the last over. Dishant Yagnik (9 not out off 3 balls), who just joined dangerous Brad Hogg after Johan Botha’s departure, hit two consecutive fours to hand Rajasthan an unbelievable win.

Rajasthan-Royals-Squad-2012

But it was Hodge who revived Royals’ hopes after the fall of Rahane while chasing a mammoth 197 for a victory. When Hodge came on to bat, Rajasthan needed 76 runs off just 40 balls, an uphill task considering the fact that they just lost in-form Rahane, who again played a quickfire 31-ball 44.

The win looked more unlikely when another power-hitter Owais Shah departed for just 12. At that stage, they were struggling at 135/4 in 15.2 overs. 62 runs needed off just 28 balls, almost an impossible task. But the old Australian war-horse, took the onus of putting the Rajasthan team on top. He first, in the company of Johan Botha put on 37-run stand off only 17 balls, setting the tone of an unlikely win.

Hodge slammed 4 fours in the 17th over of the innings off premier fast bowler of the world, Dale Steyn to change the complexion of the match and turned the tide in their favour. From there on, everything went in their favour. He finally remained unbeaten on 48 which was decorated with 6 fours and 2 sixes.

Rajasthan’s batting again clicked as their openers-Dravid (42 off 24 balls) and Rahane-again gave them a rapid start. Dravid looked more dangerous than Rahane. He hit a six over extra-cover which would have made Sehwag a proud man. They reached 62 in just 5.5 overs before Christian bowled Dravid with a perfect yorker.

Apart from leg-spinner Amit Mishra (3/32), every Deccan bowlers went for a plenty of runs.

Earlier, a superb 94-run opening stand from Kumar Sangakkara and Shikhar Dhawan and blistering unbeaten 58 by J P Duminy at the end helped Deccan Chargers post a huge 196/2 in the allotted 20 overs after they won the toss and decided to bat first on a placid Jaipur track.

Duminy clobbered five sixes during his entertaining knock of 58, and along with Dan Christian (29 not out) put on an unbeaten 88-run 3rd wicket partnership to guide his struggling team to almost 200.

Coming on to bat at number 4 after Shikhar Dhawan’s departure, Duminy continued the good work put on by the openers. He initially contented with singles and doubles but once they crossed 15th over, he launched a blistering attack on the oppositions, hitting 5 mighty sixes, mostly on the leg side.

Batsmen

Rahul Dravid (Captain)
Brad Hodge
Ajinkya Rahane
Owais Shah
Kevon Cooper
Aakash Chopra
Ankeet Chavan
Faiz Fazal

Bowlers

Shaun Tait
Sreesanth
Samad Fallah
Siddharth Trivedi
Deepak Chahar
Aditya Dole
Pankaj Singh
Amit Singh

All-rounders

Shane Watson
Johan Botha
Brad Hogg
Paul Collingwood
Sumit Narwal
Abhishek Raut
Stuart Binny
Ashok Menaria

Wicketkeepers

Dinesh Chandimal
Shreevats Goswami
Amit Paunikar
Pinal Shah
Dishant Yagnik

Duminy was also ably supported by Christian with a sensible 19-ball 29. Though he was overshadowed by Duminy during the most part of his stay, his innings was also important in the context of the match as he ensured that they did not lose any wicket, and Duminy, who was hitting all over the park, could stick to his attacking game.

Openers-Sangakkara (44) and Dhawan (52)-gave Deccan a flying start, hitting boundaries in every corner of the ground. They reached 50 in 5.2 overs.

It’s Sangakkara who took the attack to the oppositions first. But soon Dhawan came into his own and started hitting boundaries and outscored his partner. Dhawan got his fifty off just 37 balls with the help of 8 fours. Their 94-run opening stand laid the foundation for a huge score they finally posted.

Samuels reported for suspected bowling action

2012-04-18T08:26:00.003+05:30

Pune Warriors India all-rounder Marlon Samuels has been reported for a suspected illegal action for bowling certain deliveries during his team's match against the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here Saturday.

Off-spinner Samuels was reported by on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Bruce Oxenford, along with third umpire Vineet Kulkarni, at the conclusion of the match.

'Under the IPL Suspected Illegal Bowling Action policy, Mr. Samuels may continue to be selected to play and bowl for Pune Warriors India in the 2012 season but should he be reported a second time, he will be suspended from bowling for the remainder of the season,' an IPL release said.

It was only last September that the International Cricket Council (ICC) cleared Samuel's action after a three-year ban.

Samuels has also endured a two-year ban for links with an alleged Indian bookie before returning to the game in 2010.

My Daily News sports Analysis: The importance of man-management

2012-04-18T08:12:00.001+05:30

Sourav Ganguly at the opening of the mascot of Knight Riders (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My Daily News BSE, Currency, Sports and Business update Analysis: The importance of man-management

The ultimate team man : Pune Warriors India's captain Sourav Ganguly

The game underlined the essential difference between the two leaders, past and present. Dhoni is hailed as an instinctive leader, but in cricketing annals, no one has yet equalled 'Dada' in his ability to turn average sides into winning units; he turns indifferent players into fighters who will give their lives for him. And nothing so illustrates why, as his reaction when the on-field umpires in Saturday's game reported his team-mate and Jamaican all-rounder Marlon Samuels for a questionable action.

The average captain, faced with such a potentially contentious issue, would have contented himself with statements. 'No comment, the ICC is looking into it, I have not received any formal complaint'… We all know the sort of thing.

His reaction was different — and totally in keeping with the character of the man. In full combative mode, he told a press conference: 'I am surprised he has been called, because if you go around the IPL you will see worse actions,' Ganguly, never one to mince his words, told the media.

And he was only warming up to his theme. 'You've got to be very, very careful when you warn someone and let someone else go,' he said, his words almost a portent of things to come. Pointing out that Samuels has bowled for the West Indies without collecting a warning, and that no one had said anything in the first three games of this season of IPL, Ganguly said, his words ice, 'Whoever did it (triggered the warning) has got to be very, very careful.'

DELHI DAREDEVILS won by 7 wickets

2012-04-16T23:17:00.001+05:30

Delhi Daredevils (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DELHI DAREDEVILS won by 7 wickets

Maximum sixes award: Harbhajan Singh.

Best catch of the match award: Ross Taylor.

By virtue of this victory, Delhi move to the top of the table with 6 points from 4 matches. Mumbai stay at 4th, with 6 points from 5 games.

A comprehensive win for Delhi. Thrashing Mumbai by 7 wickets and 31 balls to spare. Mumbai were never in the game. After being shot out for 92, the Mumbai bowlers came out with any fight and Delhi cruised through. Sehwag is showing signs of coming back to form and thet could be good for Delhi later on in the tournament. Surprisingly, Harbhajan did not bowl at all.

Everything fell in place perfectly for Delhi, right from winning the toss, as they bundled out the hosts for a paltry 92, the lowest team total of the current edition, and then overhauled the target by losing just three wickets with 5.1 overs to spare.

Chasing a meagre total, skipper Virender Sehwag top scored for Delhi with a patient 32 off 36 balls while Mahela Jayawardene remained unbeaten on 17 in company of Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor (11).

Taking full advantage of the MI batsmen's rash display with the bat, the Delhi bowlers attacked from the first over to reduce the hosts to a sorry-reading 44 for six by the 12th over to make it a virtual no-contest at Wankhede Stadium track, offering good bounce.

Host skipper Harbhajan Singh made a counter-attacking 33 off 22 balls, with five fours and a six, after Rohit Sharma prospered a bit while making a chancy 29 off 27 balls with five fours, but the rest of the batsmen self-destructed.

The below-par score was MI's second-lowest aggregate in five seasons of IPL, slightly better than the 87 they made against Kings XI Punjab last year, and the first sub-100 score by any team this season.

The wickets were shared by the five Delhi bowlers -- Shahbaz Nadeem taking two wickets in his first two overs to start the slump, which was later feasted on by Morne Morkel (2-22), Ajit Agarkar (2-27), Umesh Yadav (2-11) and Irfan Pathan (1-12).

Openers Sehwag and Naman Ojha started the run-chase on a sound note by putting on 34 before the latter became the first of two victims of left arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh, also getting his first chance to play this season.

Singh sent back Ojha, after the batsman had struck two fours off Clint Mackay for two successive fours, as a mistimed pull ended his innings. He also got rid off Kevin Petersen to finish with 2 for 22.

Sehwag was lucky when on 16 in a team score of 45 for 1 to be let off by third man Levi off a slash that he played against Singh. He put his team well on path to victory though he was not there to score winning runs.

When MI batted, they got off to a shock start by losing both their South African openers with only five runs on the board. Jacobs tried a cross-batted heave against left-arm spinner Nadeem and was bowled comprehensively for a duck in the second over.

His compatriot Levi too did not prosper much and was also guilty of trying an audacious pull off Nadeem and under-edged the ball on to the stumps to leave MI reeling in the fourth over after being sent in to bat.

Rohit Sharma tried to attack from the first ball and played a couple of glorious lofted off drives but was also lucky that three other ambitious shots were top-edged to the boundary, two of those off Morne Morkel.

Even as Rohit was settling down he saw the backs of Ambati Rayudu (4), out to a very poorly judged and attempted single, and key batsman Kieron Pollard.

Rayudu scampered for a non-existent run after being struck on the pads by Ajit Agarkar who was given his first match of the season. Partner Rohit never budged from the non-striker's spot. The batsman was so far down the pitch that even a misdirected throw by fielder Yogesh Nagar could not help him regain the crease.

Tottering at 30 for 3, things became worse when Pollard was caught trying to cart Umesh Yadav out of the ground and getting a leading edge for the catch to drop into the waiting hands of Ross Taylor. The Kiwi then caught Rohit off Agarkar in the next over to leave MI at 41 for five.

Dinesh Karthik too played poorly as his attempted pull off Yadav resulted in a dolly catch to mid on fielder Kevin Petersen as the ball hurried on to the batsman and at 44 for 6 in the 11th over, MI's tail was exposed. Skipper Harbhajan Singh used the long handle to good effect by slamming Agarkar for two fours and a six in the 12th over that yielded 17 runs to help MI pass the 50 mark.

But for the MI captain and his stand of 34 runs with McKay, who was playing his first game of IPL 5, the total would have been even more pathetic.

Delhi Daredevils

2nd Innings

Naman Ojha c Harbhajan Singh b RP Singh 13

5.1 OUT! Caught! The combination of Singhs gets rid of Ojha. Short ball outside off, 131.7 kph, Ojha goes for the pull but it climbs onto him and he gets a top edge. The ball goes high in the air and Harbhajan calls for it from mid-wicket and takes it easily. Ojha departs for 13, DD 34/1 in 5.1 overs!

Virender Sehwag c Richard Levi b Pragyan Ojha 32

12.1 OUT! Caught! A bit late in the game but a wicket nevertheless. Flighted outside off, 76.9 kph, Sehwag jumps out of his crease and lofts this miles in the air. Does not get the distance and Levi takes it with ease at long on. DD 74/3 in 12.1 overs!

Kevin Pietersen c Davy Jacobs b RP Singh 9

7.6 OUT! Straight to the man! Short ball outside off, 132.3 kph, Pietersen goes for the pull but mistimes it and hits it straight to Jacobs at mid-wicket. Pietersen departs for 9, DD 52/2 in 8 overs! RP finishes with figures of 4-0-24-2.

Mahela Jayawardena not out 17

Ross Taylor not out 11

Yogesh Nagar

Irfan Pathan

Ajit Agarkar

Morne Morkel

Umesh Yadav

Shahbaz Nadeem

Extras (b 0, lb 5, w 6, nb 0) 11

link : Without Malinga-Tendulkar no magic For Mumbai Indians

Thanks : yahoo cricket

Without Malinga-Tendulkar no magic For Mumbai Indians

2012-04-16T23:07:00.002+05:30

Mumbai Indians (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DLF IPL 5

Venue :

Team : Mumbai Indians V/s Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils bowl out Mumbai Indians for 92

Mumbai Indians

1st Innings

MI 92/10

19.2 Overs

RR:4.75

Richard Levi b Shahbaz Nadeem 1

3.1 OUT! Bowled! He has done it again! Poor shot from both the South African batsmen, Jacobs on the previous occasion and now Levi. Full and straight from Nadeem, 99.7 kph, Levi goes for the big slog sweep but the ball is too far from him and he only succeeds in dragging it back onto the stumps. Nadeem is up and running in celebration as Levi departs for 1, MI 5/2 in 3.1 overs!

Davy Jacobs b Shahbaz Nadeem 0

1.5 OUT! Bowled! Gone now. Nadeem persists with his line and length, full and straight, 92.7 kph, Jacobs, too, persists with his stroke-making, swinging wildly and misses. The ball crashes into the stumps. A 10-ball duck for Jacobs, MI 2/1 in 1.5 overs!

Rohit Sharma c Ross Taylor b Ajit Agarkar 29

9.3 OUT! Caught! And lady luck has finally deserted Rohit with the bat. Good length delivery on middle, 140.9 kph, Rohit looks to help it away to fine leg but is early into the shot and gets a leading edge. The ball flies in the air and Ross Taylor comes in quickly from deep mid-wicket to take the catch. Rohit Sharma departs for 29, MI 41/5 in 9.3 overs!

Ambati Rayudu run out (Virender Sehwag) 4

7.1 OUT! Mix-up and it results in Rayudu's run out. Poor stuff. Total miscommunication. Good length delivery outside off, 135.6 kph, Rayudu pushes it towards point and sets off for the single. Rohit says yes initially but then says no and Rayudu keeps on running. Nagar gets on to the ball and misses his shy at the striker's end. But Rayudu is so far down the track that it takes a long time to get back. The throw is backed up by Sehwag at mid-wicket who lobs it to the keeper and Ojha takes the bails off. Rayudu departs for 4, 30/3 in 7.1 overs!

Kieron Pollard c Ross Taylor b Umesh Yadav 1

8.3 OUT! And Yadav gets Pollard! Poor choice of a shot, so early in the innings. Full outside off, 145.6 kph, Pollard gives himself room to the leg side and slogs wildly. Is nowhere near the pitch of the ball and gets a top edge. The ball is skied up in the air and Taylor settles under it at deep extra cover. Pollard departs for 1, MI 38/4 in 8.3 overs!

Dinesh Karthik c Kevin Pietersen b Umesh Yadav 3

10.2 OUT! Caught! The short ball gets the wicket again. Landed outside off, 142.3 kph, Karthik goes for the pull but the ball comes much quicker than his anticipation. Spoons a simple catch to mid on and Pietersen takes a dolly. Karthik departs for 3, MI 44/6 in 10.2 overs!

Harbhajan Singh c Naman Ojha b Morne Morkel 33

17.5 OUT! Caught behind! Morne gets the Mumbai skipper. Short outside off, 141.6 kph, Harbhajan goes for the pull but gets a top edge straight into the gloves of Ojha. Morne celebrates, Harbhajan doesn't move, the players appeal and umpire Bowden raises his finger. Harbhajan departs for a wonderful cameo of 33 from 22 balls, MI 89/9 in 17.5 overs!

Clint McKay c Umesh Yadav b Irfan Pathan 8

14.5 OUT! Caught! Poor shot, considering that he was playing so sensibly. Full outside off, 133.1 kph, McKay goes for the big hit down the ground but finds Yadav at long off who takes a good catch tumbling to his right. McKay hits his helmet with his bat in frustration, he departs for 8, MI 78/7 in 14.5 overs!

RP Singh b Morne Morkel 0

15.5 OUT! The off stump is all over the place! RP backs away, looking to go inside out, Morkel bowls full and straight, 147.1 kph, RP misses and the off stump is dislodged. RP departs for 0, MI 80/8 in 15.5 overs!

Pragyan Ojha b Ajit Agarkar 3

19.2 OUT! Full and straight, 135.3 kph, Ojha swings and misses. The ball hits the timber. MI all out for 92!

Munaf Patel not out 1

Extras (b 0, lb 4, w 3, nb 2) 9

Can Mumbai make a match out of this? No Malinga tonight but if they manage to get a couple of quick wickets, who knows, we might have a game on our hands. Stay tuned for the run chase...

An excellent bowling display by Delhi, to restrict Mumbai to the lowest total in this year's IPL. Shahbaz Nadeem set the tone first up, with two wickets in his first two overs and Mumbai never recovered. Just two batsmen went into double figures, Rohit Sharma and Harbhajan Singh, without whom, this would have been a sorry total. Every bowler except Pathan picked up 2 wickets.

DELHI DAREDEVILS won by 7 wickets

Kings XI Punjab won by 2 runs

2012-04-16T19:54:00.000+05:30

IPL2012

MATCH: KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS VS KINGS XI PUNJAB

TOSS: Kolkata won the toss, and elected to field

MOM: Sunil Narine

RESULT: Punjab won by 2 runs

Chasing a target of 135 on a tricky Eden pitch, KKR needed nine runs off the final over but medium pacer Harmeet gave away only six runs. Debabrata Das, who played a lovely cameo (35, 23 balls, 3x4, 1x6), failed to hit a boundary off the final delivery as home team ended on 132 as Kings XI won their second match of the tourney.

Debabrata, who played for KKR in first edition of IPL before being dumped during three subsequent seasons almost took his team to victory with some lusty blows after they were down in the dumps at 88 for six.

Along with Harmeet, India seamer Praveen Kumar bowled a brilliant penultimate over where only four runs were scored. Also spinners Piyush Chawla (3/18) and Bhargav Bhatt (2/22) should be lauded for sharing five wickets for only 42 runs in the eight overs bowled by them.

It was pity that KKR offie Sunil Narine's brilliant figures of five for 19 were undone by some indiscreet shot making on the part of home team batsmen -- especially Manvinder Bisla and Yusuf Pathan.

On a track, where the spinners are getting fair amount of assistance, a target of 135 was always going to be difficult. While Jacques Kallis (1) was gone early -- thanks to a brilliant catch by Paras Dogra, skipper Gautam Gambhir hit a flurry of boundaries on his way 22 before he offered a tame return catch to Dimitri Mascarenhas.

At 30 for two, in-form Bisla (27, 25 balls, 1x4, 1x6) and Manoj Tiwary (20, 27 balls, 1x4) added 43 runs for the third wicket and it looked KKR will coast home easily. However left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt angled one into Tiwary who was caught plumb in-front as KKR were 73 for three. Within another six runs, it was Bisla who played all over a Piyush Chawla delivery to be bowled.

Pathan tried a paddle sweep but the ball jumped off his pad straps to clip the bails. KKR went further down in the dumps as Shakib Al Hasan lobbed an easy catch to Gilchrist off Chawla's bowling as home team stuttered at 88 for six.

Earlier, Narine foxed Kings XI Punjab with a brilliant five-for that helped KKR restrict the visitors to 134 for nine in stipulated 20 overs. Put into bat, Kings XI batsmen failed to read Narine's deliveries as the Trinidad spinner had figures of 4-0-19-5 to show for his efforts which also proved why KKR bought him for a handosme price of $700,000.

The Trinidad spinner after being introduced in the third over took two prized scalps of Adam Gilchrist (5) and an in-form Shaun Marsh (1) in two overs to dent the Kings XI progress.

Gilchrist along with his new opening partner Mandeep Singh started positively with the duo racing to 14 for no loss in two overs but Narine's spell (2-0-5-2) cost them dear as they were reduced to 21/2 in 4.2 overs. Gilchrist tried to hit Narine across the line only to balloon it up as Manoj Tiwary at the short cover took an easy catch.

Narine then breached through Shaun Marsh's defence with a beauty that straightened after pitching. The two dismissals meant that the Kings XI progressed at snail's pace before Mandeep Singh launched into Jaidev Unadkat handing him some rough treatment.

Kallis did a fine job, rather quietly, at the other end, conceding 11 from his three overs to further unsettle the visitors plan. In between, Rajat Bhatia did an excellent job with his slow medium pace returning with two for 14 in the slog overs as the Kings XI boys struggled to find a partnership going.

Kings XI Punjab held their nerve in the slog overs to restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to 132/7 and clinched a thrilling two runs victory in their match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

In another IPL match went down to the wire as Kolkata needed 9 runs to win in the last over but fell two runs short of their target.

Piyush Chawla bowled the magical spell as he dismissed Manvinder Bisla, Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan in quick succession to dent Knight Riders chase.

Debabrata Das, who remained unbeaten on 35 off 23 balls, led the Knight Riders fight back after they lost their six wickets inside 90 runs side. But the batsman effort was not enough to take Kolkata to their consecutive victory.

Kings XI Punjab's Bhargav Bhatt and Dimitri Mascarenhas struck to remove Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir respectively and give Kolkata early blows.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders produced stunning bowling display, led by Sunil Narine's five-wicket haul, to restrict Kings XI Punjab to 134/9 in 20 overs. It was their tail-enders who gave the team a competitive total in their last overs.

Sunil Narine claimed five wickets for 19 runs to pile misery on Kings XI and outplayed the opposition's batting. Kings XI Punjab was never in match as they lost their wickets at regular intervals.

Mandeep and David Hussey revived Kings XI Punjab innings as they added 52 runs for the 3rd wicket after losing two early wickets.

Punjab suffered a big blow as they lost David Hussey when the batsman got run-out in the mix-up with Paras Dogra.

Mandeep Singh mistimed his slog-sweep off Shakib Al Hasan after playing useful knock of 38 runs.

Kolkata Knight Riders' spinner Sunil Narine gave Kings XI Punjab early jolts. Narine struck in his successive overs to remove Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh cheaply as Kings XI Punjab were struggling at 21/2 4.2 overs.

Punjab skipper Adam Gilchrist continued his poor run in the tournament as he just managed to score 5 off 9 balls. Earlier, Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and decide to bowl against Kings XI.

Rajasthan royals team ride on Rahane's century to outclass Challengers

2012-04-16T19:50:00.001+05:30

IPL2012

MATCH: ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGLORE VS RAJASTHAN ROYALS

TOSS: Rajasthan won the toss, and elected to bat first

MOM: Ajinkya Rahane

RESULT: Rajasthan won by 59 runs

Ajinkya Rahane`s spectacular maiden IPL ton powered Rajasthan Royals to an emphatic 59-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore on their home ground at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Sunday. Rahane who opened the innings for Rajasthan remained unbeaten on 103 runs which came off just 60 balls.

By the end of 10 overs, Rajasthan had scored just 61 runs without any loss. At the end of 13th over they had scored 82 runs for the loss of two wickets and no one had a clue what was about to follow. It was the 14th over bowled by Sreenath Aravind that was the turning point for Rajasthan Royals.

Rahane scored six consecutive boundaries in that over as Rajasthan innings completely changed from there. And all of the six boundaries were well executed as Rahane seemed to be scoring boundaries at will after that over. His partner Owais Shah who was at the non-striker's end too changed gears from there on.

Vettori bowled the 15th over he tried to compensate for the damage done in the previous over as he gave away just 7 runs. For the 16th over he brought Gayle to control the massive run flow. Shah clobbered Gayle over long-on for a six which was followed by another one. Gayle’s over produced 21 runs and there was no looking back for Rajasthan.

Rahul Dravid and Rahane shared an opening stand of 62 runs which took over 10 overs and the run-rate wasn’t impressive at all though they had wickets in hand. Towards the end, it was raining sixes as none of the bowlers were able to control the run flow. Aravind was hit for 48 runs in just three overs. Vinay Kumar also proved to be very expensive as he gave away 51 runs in 4 overs without a wicket.

With the likes of Gayle, Kohli and de Villiers by their side, Bangalore would have fancied their chances to chase down the formidable total. Openers Mayank Agarwal and Gayle provided a brisk start as they scored 42 runs in just 4.2 overs.

Pankaj Singh who was playing his first match in IPL 2012 made a great comeback to the shorter format as he scalped both the openers in the fifth over. Bangalore who now depend a lot on Gayle were stunned as he was bowled by Pankaj for just 8 runs.

Another superb spell of seam bowling was yet to follow. Siddharth Trivedi came into the attack and the middle order collapsed trying to play him across the line of almost similar deliveries. The first to perish was de Villiers (6) followed by Kohli (22) and Saurabh Tiwary (17). None of the Bangalore batsmen looked like they were determined to make a match of it as the late onslaught of Rajasthan innings had created tremendous pressure.

Undoubtedly Rajasthan seamers bowled really well as they shared 8 wickets between themselves. Trivedi was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up 4 wickets for just 25 runs in 4 overs. But it was Pankaj Singh who derailed Bangalore innings as Gayle and Mayank collapsed in a matter of few deliveries. Pankaj and Amit Singh picked up two wickets each.

Needless to say, Ajinkya Rahane was declared the Man of the Man for his breathtaking innings which helped his team reach the top of the table with 6 points from 5 matches with a better run rate than Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians who are also on 6 points. Rahane is now once again the orange cap holder with 260 runs. It was also the first century of IPL 2012.

Pune Warriors India pull victory from Chennai super kings

2012-04-15T13:57:00.000+05:30

Pune Warriors India pull victory from Chennai super kings

Match 16

TOSS: Chennai Super Kings won the toss, and elected to bat first

RESULT: Pune won by 7 wkts

The Dada v Dhoni duel ended with the Pune Warriors India winning their second consecutive match at their home ground by seven wickets. Powered by Jesse Ryder’s unbeaten 73 and a 44-run cameo by Steven Smith PWI are back on top of the IPL 2012 table.

Pune Warriors India

Jesse Ryder came well when it mattered most slamming an unbeaten 56-ball 73, as Pune Warriors stunned defending champions Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League, on Saturday.

Steven Smith was equally brilliant as he smashed 44 off just 22 balls with the help of four boundaries and three sixes. Chasing 156 for victory, the Warriors needed 34 off the last three overs. Smith carted Dwayne Bravo for a six and a four to bring the equation down to 22 off 12.

Murali Vijay’s poor run in IPL 2012 continued as the opener departed after contributing just eight runs to the 43-run first wicket stand. The batsman flicked Ashok Dinda to Angelo Mathews at deep square-leg. In contrast to Vijay, his opening partner, Francois du Plessis picked up from where he had left off in the previous innings. The South African all-rounder, who hit two sixes and four boundaries, batted with ease until Rahul Sharma had him stumped. Although he missed out on a half-century, du Plessis claimed the Orange Cap thanks to his 33-ball 43, which took his overall tally to 171 runs.

Ryder then launched into Nuwan Kulasekara as he pulled and cut the medium pacer for two fours on either side of the wicket. Requiring 10 in the final over, the Warriors cantered home with four balls to spare after Smith hit a four and a six over cover off Yo Mahesh.

Ryder hit seven fours and a six during his stay at the wicket. Robin Uthappa started the chase in earnest, pulling Albie Morkel for a six over mid-wicket in the second over.

But the Karnataka batsman could not sustain the initial momentum as he was run out by Kulasekara. Ryder was, however, unfazed by the dismissal of his partner as he went about the task in a calculated manner.

After hitting Kulasekara for three boundaries on the leg-side prior to Uthappa's wicket, the burly Ryder found the fence against Morkel and Dwayne Bravo at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium. But what must have hurt the Warriors at that point of time was the lack of support from the other end.

Yet to find form with the bat, the trend continued for skipper Sourav Ganguly who, despite digging on for some time, could not score more than 16. Marlon Samuels flopped again as he got out to a horrendous shot off the bowling of Mahesh after wasting 15 deliveries for his eight runs, before Smith and Ryder turned the tide in their team's favour.

Earlier, Ravindra Jadeja once again proved his worth with a brisk 26-ball 44 that lifted Chennai to a fighting total. Jadeja took centrestage after opener Faf du Plessis slammed 43 off just 33 balls to set the tone for the visitors.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni contributed 26 off 28 balls while Suresh Raina struck 20 off 19. Opting to bat, Chennai were off to a flyer as du Plessis went hammer and tongs, especially against left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra.

In all, du Plessis hit five fours and two sixes, while Jadeja slammed four boundaries and two sixes. Du Plessis collected 18 runs off Nehra's first over and soon the fifty was up on the board for the Super Kings.

Brought in to bowl the fourth over, Nehra was welcomed with a drive through the off-side. The second ball was carted over the extra cover for another boundary, and Du Plessis got the maximum when he nonchalantly went down the ground to hit Nehra over his head off the bowler's fourth ball.

The show did not end there as the South African sweetly drove Nehra through the extra cover region for another boundary. Thanks to du Plessis' onslaught, Chennai were able to maintain a health run-rate, which however dropped a bit after his dismissal.

Du Plessis' was an important wicket from the Warriors' point of view and the credit for that goes to Rahul Sharma who foxed the batsman with extra bounce in the 10th over. Leg spinner Sharma struck again when he had Raina, caught brilliantly by Steven Smith in the deep.

Chennai got a bit of momentum back as Jadeja picked Murali Karthik for special treatment, lofting him over long-off and long-on for a four and six respectively. Jadeja then hoicked Marlon Samuels over long-on for a massive six, three overs after guiding the same bowler to the left of the sweeper fielder.

IPL 5 Highlights

Pune Warriors have registered their first victory against Chennai in three matches in the IPL - winning % 33.33.

Pune Warriors are at the top of the points table with six points in four games in the present tournament. Mumbai Indians are second with three victories out of four.

Francois du Plessis, with 171 runs at an average of 34.20 in five matches, is the leading run-scorer in the IPL. Francois du Plessis became the first batsman to post 10 sixes in the IPL 2012.

With seven wickets at 11.28 runs apiece in four matches, Ashok Dinda is the top wicket-taker for Pune Warriors.

Smith and Ryder put on a match-winning unbroken fourth wicket partnership of 66 - the highest for any wicket for Pune against Chennai.

The aforesaid partnership is the first fifty-plus stand for Pune against Chennai.

Steven Smith's magnificent unbeaten 44 off 22 balls is his highest for Pune Warriors in the IPL.

Jesse Ryder (73 not out off 56 balls) has posted his highest innings in the IPL, obliterating the 60 against Delhi at Mumbai on April 17, 2011.

Ryder has been named the Man of the Match for the first time in the IPL. Ryder's match-winning knock is the highest individual innings for Pune Warriors in the IPL, eclipsing Yuvraj Singh's unbeaten 66 against Delhi Daredevils at Mumbai on April 17, 2011. Ryder has posted one half-century each against Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi.

The top wicket-taker for Chennai Super Kings this year so far is Ravindra Jadeja - seven wickets at 9.85 runs apiece in five matches.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (89 runs at 17.80 in five matches) is yet to click in this competition.

Dhoni has completed his 1500 runs in the IPL - 1514 at an average of 36.92 in 64 matches.

Pune Warriors, with a seven-wicket triumph, have emulated a record for their largest win in terms of wickets. Against Punjab at Mumbai on April 10, 2011, they had recorded their first win by seven wickets. The first team to have lost three matches in the IPL 5 is Chennai Super Kings.

Chennai Super Kings (155 for five) have recorded their highest total against Pune Warriors in the IPL, eclipsing the 145 for two at Dr D Y Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai on April 27, 2011. Pune Warriors (156/3) have registered their highest total against Chennai Super Kings.

Ravichandran Ashwin could bag only one wicket at 118.00 runs apiece in the IPL 5 - his strike rate is 110.00.

Man-of-the-Match: PWI opener Jesse Ryder for his match-winning 56-ball 73*

Next match ::

Royal challengers bangalore V/s Pune Warriors India on 17th April 2012

Kolkata takes the Charge against Royals

2012-04-14T13:17:00.000+05:30

Rajasthan Royals (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Rajasthan Royals

IPL 2012

TOSS: Rajasthan Royals won the toss, and elected to bat first

RESULT: Kolkata won by 5 Wickets

Date: 13th April 2012

Having found the winning touch in their last match, Kolkata Knight Riders would be hoping to maintain the momentum when they host Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League return match on Friday. The timing could not have been better for the Knights to capitalize as the Royals are coming after a battering at the hands of Mumbai Indians in their last match.

With the Knight Riders' next match (vs. Kings XI Punjab on Sunday) also scheduled at home, maintaining the winning momentum will top their agenda. Whereas Rahul Dravid's men appear a bit tired with the hectic scheduling, the Knights are fortunate to get a day's extra break after their win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday.

It took the think-tank a bit of chopping and changing to get to the winning mode after the back-to-back losses against Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in season five.

The four changes in the line-up meant that skipper Gautam Gambhir elevated himself to his usual slot, dropping out of form Kiwi opener Brendon McCullum, a move that set the tone in their much-needed maiden victory this season.

Gambhir led the way with a brisk 39-ball 64 to set up a total of 166, which eventually turned out to be a winning one. But their biggest plus point was the inclusion of veteran seamer Laxmipathy Balaji whose fired-up spell of 4-1-18-4, after Kallis took the prized-scalp of Chris Gayle, set the victory.

"Balaji is a quality bowler and has the capability to take wickets on any pitch. Hats off to him for the way he bowled. This was the best spell that I have ever seen in a Twenty20 competition," Gambhir said. "It feels nice to finally get a win under our belt. To be honest, it was a team effort. I am pretty happy by the performance of the boys."

KKR would hope that sports psychologist Dr Rudi Webster give some mantra to the explosive Yusuf Pathan. Yusuf had scored 1011 for the Royals at an average of 26.6 and with a strike-rate of 161.2, to go with his 20 wickets, but is yet to notch up a fifty representing the Knights.

All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who was finally included in the line-up after much criticism, is yet to fire and the Bangladeshi would be keen to be in the thick of action on the slow Eden Gardens strip. It would be naive to write off the Royals who turned it around with successive wins against Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders in the first-leg.

For Dravid and Co, having experienced their first defeat in Mumbai -- their first in an away match -- it would be a challenge to conquer the odds outside home. The bowling would be the main concern ahead of their second outing away from home.

The bowlers were at the receiving end against Kieron Pollard in the team's 27-run loss to Mumbai Indians. The team would hope that the bowlers stick to the task the way they did against the same team in the first-leg while defending 164.

"We have a young bowling attack, there's a little inexperience there. But there are lessons to be learnt. We will try and keep improving," Dravid said after their loss in Mumbai. Batting is not much of a worry though with Ajinkya Rahane and Owais Shah in splendid form. The duo gave Mumbai a run for money before the Englishman was castled by Lasith Malinga.

In their last meeting, Rahane was out for a duck after a superb 98 against Kings XI in their campaign opener. The orthodox top-order batsman would look to open his account against the Knights. The weather god stole the show in the last match at the Eden before the home side lost their opener in a rain-curtailed fixture.

Both the camps will keep their fingers crossed with sudden thundershowers towards the evening being the norm these days.

Teams (from):

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Gautam Gambhir (Capt.)

Jacques Kallis

Manvinder Bisla (wk)

Yusuf Pathan

Manoj Tiwary

Ryan ten Doeschate

Shakib Al Hasan

Laxmi Ratan Shukla

Brett Lee

Rajat Bhatia

Laxmipathy Balaji

Chirag Jani

Debabrata Das

Iqbal Abdulla

Iresh Saxena

Jaidev Unadkat

Pradeep Sangwan

Sanju Samson

Sarabjit Singh Ladda

Mohammad Shami Ahmed

Brendon McCullum

Eoin Morgan

Marchant de Lange

Sunil Narine

Rajasthan Royals:

Rahul Dravid (Capt.)

Ajinkya Rahane

Shreevats Goswami (wk)

Owais Shah

Ashok Menaria

Johan Botha

Kevon Cooper

Ankeet Chavan

Brad Hogg

Amit Singh

Siddharth Trivedi

Aakash Chopra

Abhishek Raut

Aditya Dole

Ajit Chandalia

Amit Paunikar

Amit Singh

Deepak Chahar

Dishant Yagnik

Faiz Fazal

Gajendra Singh

Pankaj Singh

Sreesanth

Samad Fallah

Stuart Binny

Sumit Narwal

Brad Hodge

Dinesh Chandimal

Paul Collingwood