IPL NEWS

Team India Squad for West Indies tour:

2011-06-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Team India Test Squad for West Indies tour:

MS Dhoni (Capt), VVS Laxman (Vice Capt), Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay, S Badrinath, Abhinav Mukund, Harbhajan Singh, Parthiv Patel, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, and S Sreesanth

Team India ODI Squad for West Indies tour:

Suresh Raina (Capt), Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Manoj Tiwari, Shikhar Dhawan, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh (Vice Capt), Wridhiman Saha, Amit Mishra, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, R Ashwin, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, and S Badrinath

T20, ODIs Match Schedule – India tour of WestIndies 2011

2011-05-29T00:16:00.001-07:00

Match	Date	Team	Venue
Only T20I	4 June	India v West Indies	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
1st ODI	6 June	India v West Indies	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
2nd ODI	8 June	India v West Indies	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
3rd ODI	11 June	India v West Indies	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua
4th ODI	13 June	India v West Indies	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua
5th ODI	15 June	India v West Indies	Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
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CSK Won The IPL 2011

2011-05-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Once again it was Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore fighting in the battle royale of the Indian Premier League. For many it was meant to be Chris Gayle but the towering West Indian faltered when it mattered most and Chennai’s very own Murali Vijay — who was viewed as the weakest link in his team’s line-up — raised his game as his blistering 95 helped defending champions Chennai Super Kings beat the visitors by 58 runs in the final.

But it was not Vijay alone to script the biggest win in IPL final. He was ably supported by another struggler —Michael Hussey — as the duo put on 159 runs for the opening wicket that took the wind out of the Royal Challengers.

And then there was the quintessential Ravichandran Ashwin who had the knack to raise his game whenever a big challenge was thrown at him. Today it was Gayle and Ashwin once again topped the West Indian, the single most reason for Royal Challengers to be in the final. And Ashwin did that with style - a third ball duck for the man who tormented all since his arrival in the Indian soil.

Rest they say is history as Shadab Jakati and Ashwin stifled their opponents. Virat Kohli (35, 32b, 1X4, 1X6) and Saurabh Tiwary (42*, 34b, 1X4, 3X6) only delayed the inevitable.

Earlier, Chennai reached an imposing 205 for five with Vijay (95, 52 balls, 4x4, 6x6) led the mayhem with some clean hitting and was ably supported by ‘Mr Cricket’ Hussey as they put on 159 runs for the opening wicket. As the CSK openers took the bowlers to the cleaners, they were also helped by some sloppy work by the RCB fielders.

Vijay missed out on a well-deserved century when he was caught in the covers by Daniel Vettori off Sreenath Aravind’s bowling.

RCB bowlers made some sort of comeback towards the end of the innings as they snared four wickets in the final two overs bowled by Aravind and Gayle respectively. It was Dwayne Bravo who hit six off the final delivery to help CSK cross 205.

Vijay and Hussey started off in a whirlwind fashion that hasn’t been their style during the league phase. The idea was to dominate

from the onset and the exactly did that. The first six overs produced as many as four sixes — couple each from both the openers as CSK scored 56 in that period.

Vijay played his signature lifted shot over mid-wicket off Sreenath Aravind and then lifted Gayle over mid-wicket for another six.

Hussey who has had a good IPL pulled Zaheer over backward square leg for a six. Left-arm spinner Syed Mohammed, who outsmarted Sachin Tendulkar yesterday was sent soaring into mid-wicket stands by the Australian as he danced down the track. The Tamil Nadu opener who has failed to convert good starts in most of the matches hit some classy boundaries.

Vijay gave rival Vettori the charge as the ball sailed into stands. The only blemish was when Luke Pomersbach misjudged a catch at deep mid-wicket off Abhimanyu Mithun’s bowling when the batsman was on 40. He duly completed his 50 in 29 balls.

With Hussey playing the role of sheet anchor to perfection, the 100 came up in 63 balls. In the 12th over, Vijay suddenly launched into Sreenath Aravind hitting him for two sixes over mid-wicket region. The over yielded 18 runs. Hussey completed his fourth IPL half century off 40 balls.

Murali Vijay and Michael Hussey put up 159 runs as Chennai Super Kings lift IPL trophy

Watch Full Match Highlights: IPL 2011 Final - CSK vs RCB

KKR Out

2011-05-25T23:42:00.000-07:00

Harbhajan Singh carted the second ball of the last over for a massive six as Mumbai Indians eliminated Kolkata Knight Riders from the Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Wednesday.

In a closely contested encounter, Mumbai Indians held on to their nerves as they put on 148 for 6 in 19.2 overs to hand a spirited Knight Riders a four wickets loss with four balls remaining.

The win however does not guarantee Mumbai Indians a place in the finals as they know had to battle Royal Challengers Bangalore for a place in final against Chennai Super Kings.

Full Match Highlights: IPL 2011 Semi-Final 1 - RCB vs CSK, MATCH71

2011-05-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

Publish Post

CSK In Final Of 2011

2011-05-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the defending IPL champions, got out of jail in the first playoff against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to win by six wickets and two balls to spare to enter the final to be played in Chennai on Saturday. The second playoff between RCB and the winner of Wednesday’s eliminator between KKR and MI will throw up the second finalist.

Chasing 176, they seemed down and out, but Suresh Raina 73 not out (50 balls, 4x4, 6x6), the ultimate warrior and limited-overs finisher, played a great T20 knock and Albie Morkel 28 runs (10 balls, 1x4, 3x6) showed why he is so highly rated by his franchise to finish things off.

It all seemed very uphill for CSK after Zaheer Khan had got Mike Hussey out for a duck and S Aravind dismissed Murali Vijay cheaply.

Zaheer bowled a miserly first spell (3-0-11-1), but sadly, like the World Cup final, it was his second spell that turned out to be the spoiler as Raina carted him for two sixes off the 17th over and Dhoni struck another maximum to start the turnaround.

The southpaw then trained his guns on S Aravind as he belted the left-armer for three more sixes in the 19th over that went for 21. Earlier, Abhimanyu Mithun too went for 23 runs in one over.

With 12 needed off the last over from Vettori, Morkel hit a four, two and six off the RCB skipper to break Bangalore's hearts in a match worthy of a final.

Earlier, Virat Kohli negated the early loss of two of RCB's big-ticket overseas players - Chris Gayle and AB De Villiers - to take RCB to 176. The talented youngster showed why he was being touted him to be the next great Indian batsman as he struck a sublime and unbeaten 70 (44 balls, 5x4, 3x6).

The first playoff was billed as a clash between Super Kings vs Super Gayle. RCB have piggy-backed a ride into the playoffs on the big-hitting West Indian's solo effort. So prolific has the Jamaican been for the boys in red that there were murmurs about the team being a one-man army. 'Get Gayle, get RCB' seemed to be mantra. But though they might be guilty of overlooking the others, in the end Raina's blitzkrieg, which bettered Kohli's, took them home.

2nd Playoff match

2011-05-23T00:26:00.001-07:00

25th May Wed 8:00 PM
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

1st Play Of Match

2011-05-23T00:14:00.000-07:00

24th May Tue 8:00 PM

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Balaji turns match ..

2011-05-23T00:11:00.000-07:00

Gautam Gambhir-led side failed to do so as New Zealander James Franklin played a dream innings, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat to give Mumbai Indians five-wicket victory.

Needing 21 runs to win in the last over, Franklin hit Laxmipathy Balaji for four consecutive fours. Ambati Rayudu facing the last ball, needed to hit at least a boundary for victory, after Franklin took a single on the fifth ball.

Rayudu did a Javed Miandad, hitting a huge six over the deep square leg to silence a capacity Eden crowd. The result meant the two sides, finishing three and fourth, will face off again in the playoff eliminator tie on Wednesday. CSK finished second, ahead of Mumbai, on better run rate.

If it was opener Jacques Kallis whose innings of 59 helped KKR post a challenging total of 175 for seven, the highest score at the Eden Gardens in this IPL season, Delhi lad Rajat Bhatia made an impact with the ball, removing Harbhajan Singh, Rohit Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar in three consecutive overs to restrict MI's run chase. Bhatia ended with three for 22 from his four overs.

It was again a batting collapse for MI but they finally managed to win after three successive defeats. Except for brief period when Harbhajan Singh and Tendulkar shared a 57-run second wicket stand, MI never really looked like capable of romping home.

Only Franklin thought otherwise. The Little Master, who played his first IPL match at the Eden Gardens on Sunday, held fort at one end and played some glorious shots to the delight of the capacity Eden crowd. But he ran out of support and fell trying to clear the field.

Put into bat by MI skipper Sachin Tendulkar, the Knights were on the backfoot losing two quick wickets - that of opener Sreevats Goswami and Gambhir.

But local lad Manoj Tiwary, who is having a great IPL this season, once again took charge of the proceedings to take KKR out of the woods.

Just when he threatened to take the match away from the visitors, the Bengal Ranji Trophy skipper perished for 35 failing to beat a direct throw from Harbhajan Singh at short third man while trying to return to his crease.

The stage was thus set for senior pro Kallis to show the way and the South African all-rounder came up with a classic innings.

He played the typical waiting game in the initial overs, trying to gauge the pace of the wicket and playing second fiddle to Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan.

RCB On Top

2011-05-23T00:08:00.000-07:00

Chris Gayle showed yet another facet to his batting against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. A toned down approach sprinkled with the occasional aggression. The end result was still the same — he ensured that Royal Challengers became the first team to book a berth to the Champions League, topping the league table with 19 points.

Gayle’s unbeaten 75 (50b, 4 x 4, 6 x 6) against Chennai Super Kings was slightly understated as compared to his previous knocks when he looked impossible to bowl to.

“I haven’t seen a player have that much impact in a season yet. He’s been phenomenal. It’s by luck that he was available to RCB through injury to Nannes. He’s responded beautifully. A lot of their wins feed off him. I guess the challenge is now in the semifinals and in the final.

Whoever plays them, if you get Chris Gayle out and you’ve got a few, you have a chance”, said CSK coach Stephen Fleming on Gayle.

Chasing 129, Gayle did not let AB de Villiers’ dismissal in the first over affect him. He launched into Doug Bollinger, blasting him for two huge sixes.

Virat Kohli tried to match the big West Indian but Gayle raced away ahead. CSK bowlers lacked self-belief to challenge RCB, their modest total obviously playing on their minds. Gayle and Kohli put on 80 for the second, before the latter departed. That was the last success that CSK were to taste.

Saurabh Tiwary, who has failed to live up to his big hitting billing, played as dourly as possible for his 26-ball 13. Gayle, meanwhile, was once again the toast of the Bangalore crowd, reclaiming the Orange Cap, but more importantly sending signals to future opposition that in his sedate form too he can be as gruesome.

“It is an important win because it ensured us a top finish and makes things easy for us in the play-offs. We are not just happy to be placed on top but also with the way we played today.” said beaming Vettori after the contest.

Fleming said, “It’s probably just adjusting to conditions. Here it’s a little bit different. Probably a little bit more bounce, little bit more swing and seam. Maybe we’re playing one style of cricket for all venues and not adjusting quick enough. We just made probably some simple mistakes. Some of those shots could have come off and you’re probably talking a different game. I don’t over-analyze one loss. It certainly wasn’t a good day; we had an off day.”

CSK’s total of 128 was built around a belligerent and defying unbeaten 70 (40b, 3 x 4, 6 x 6) from MS Dhoni. But for Dhoni’s innings, which began sedately and gradually picked up momentum, CSK would have made a laughing stock of themselves.

Even before they could gather their thoughts, CSK had lost the first four wickets inside the first six overs and recovery from then on was an uphill task. The visiting batsmen had no answer to the disciplined line and length that the home team’s bowlers strived to bowl.

In trying to force the run-rate, the rivals pushed themselves to the wall before Dhoni knitted small and useful partnerships — 42 runs for the fifth wicket with Wriddhiman Saha (22) and 21 for the seventh with Albie Morkel (5) before Jakati (0) gave the skipper strike to ensure 128 was reached. Dhoni took 17 off the last over, the highest of the innings, bowled by Abhimanyu Mithun.

Punjab Out

2011-05-22T04:16:00.000-07:00

Shikhar Dhawan cracked an unbeaten 95 and Amit Mishra took a hat-trick as Deccan Chargers knocked Kings XI Punjab out of the Indian Premier League with an 82-run victory on Saturday.

Left-handed opener Dhawan, who hit one six and 14 fours in his 57-ball knock, put on 131 for the opening wicket with Ravi Teja (60) as Deccan made 198 for two before bowling Punjab out for 116.

Skipper Adam Gilchrist top-scored with a 37-ball 51 for Punjab, who put in a below-par batting and fielding performance. The captain, who hit two sixes and six fours, added 61 for the third wicket with Dinesh Karthik (11).

Deccan virtually wrapped up the match when Australian paceman Daniel Christian dismissed Gilchrist and Karthik in the space of three balls to reduce Punjab to 84 for 4 in 11 overs.

Leg-spinner Mishra’s hat-trick came in his third over when he removed Ryan McLaren, Mandeep Singh and Ryan Harris to eventually finish with four for nine.

Chennai (18 points), Bangalore (17), Kolkata (16) and Mumbai (16) have now qualified for the play-offs.

Deccan, who finished with six wins in 14 matches, were already out of contention while Punjab needed a victory in their last match to keep their hopes alive.

Teja, dropped thrice during his 41-ball knock, hit two sixes and five fours in his team’s final match, watched by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama who also met players before the start of the game.

Warne Won his last match

2011-05-21T01:10:00.000-07:00

Shane Warne might have decided to call it quits at the end of this IPL season but given the form he is in, the wily spin legend can rule international cricket if he wants to despite being 41, feels his Rajasthan Royals teammate Shane Watson.

Warne, who has picked up 708 Test and 293 ODI wickets in an illustrious international career, bids adieu to the game completely today bringing to an end a checkered career.

But Watson feels Warne still has it in him to torment batsmen. “It has been hard for the guys coming in and trying to make their mark on international cricket with the Australian team. The way Warnie is bowling now, he would continue to dominate world cricket,” the Australian vice-captain told The Age.

“It’s been mind-blowing for me to see him, after not bowling for a year, be all over batsmen the way he is. It’s pretty crazy how someone has got that much skill and hasn’t lost that control over something that is so difficult to do. If he ever came out of retirement, which he’s not going to do, he would still dominate,” he added.

Watson joked about the change in eating habits of Warne, who has battled weight issues all his life. “He’s gone from eating baked beans, margarita pizzas and cheese sandwiches to broadening his horizons a little bit,” Watson said.

Meanwhile, the leg-spinning great has not received any offers from Cricket Australia officials to help market the revamped Twenty20 competition. “My gut feeling is that it would have to be a good deal for him to do something plus he’s got the foundation work, poker world championships, he’s a busy boy,” Warne’s manager James Erskine said.

“It’s highly unlikely he’ll get involved. I haven’t had a phone call or anyone call me. I think he’s more interested in helping CA produce great Test bowlers. I think that’s more his interest than a Twenty20 (role), The Sydney Morning Herald quoted him, as saying.

The revelation came as Cricket Australia’s Big Bash supremo Mike McKenna acknowledged the difficulty the competition would face in luring big names to play in the inaugural edition next summer. With the West Indies the only team not involved in international action during the BBL’s December-January timeslot, recruiters are likely to target the Caribbean for their star imports.

Gilly over Gayle

2011-05-18T23:54:00.000-07:00

It will be a face-off between two Orange Cap contenders when Kings XI Punjab take on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday.

The outcome of the match could well be decided by either RCB opener Chris Gayle or Kings XI’s Paul Valthaty.

The two have been the leading lights of their teams and their team’s hopes rest with them. Gayle would be under less pressure since RCB have already qualified for the play-offs. Valthaty though would know that Kings XI still have a slim ray of hope and will need to put up a brilliant show.

The KXIP supporting cast of Shaun Marsh, Dinesh Karthik and David Hussey too will have to be at their best. Skipper Adam Gilchrist has been woefully out of form and this will be perfect opportunity for him to lead the team from the front. The Punjab bowlers have an advantage having played one game at the venue and know the pitch better. They were lethal against DD and the likes of Praveen Kumar, Ryan Harris and Piyush Chawla should continue in the same vein.

RCB have won seven consecutive games now. Gayle’s opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan has left IPL for his national duties and the Jamaican is likely to stride out to the middle with Luke Pomersbach, Rilee Rossouw or Jonathan Vandiar. In the absence of regular skipper Daniel Vettori, Virat Kohli will continue to lead the side. The Bangalore bowling will relish the track at Dharamsala, especially Sreenath Aravind and Zaheer Khan.

Virat Kohli, RCB, stand-in captain said in his pre match press conference "We’ll try to just go all out in the next two games. And try to cement our position in the top two because we don’t have any pressure to qualify we can just play. We can play free cricket and not think too much about the pressures"

Asked about if Chris Gayle may be given rest in the match tomorrow Kohli said"We always have a policy of whoever wants to take rest he can. So he might be feeling he needs some rest. He is fit to play he just needs some rest from all the traveling"

"He has been wonderful since the time he has come in. He has taken the pressure off all of us… He has just been superb at the top of the order"

"See even Dilshan is an explosive player so obviously Chris coming in is a great advantage. But we still have quality players in the side who can win games"

Asked about his captaincy experience Kohli said "It’s a totally different ball game (captaincy), I mean when you become captain you think differently. And you want to take more responsibility of the team. Try to make right decisions"

"It came all of a sudden, Dan got injured, they asked me in the afternoon, but I was keen on doing it so I said yes"

On queried about playing at the picturesque ground Kohli added "I’ve played a lot of cricket on this ground as well so. I pretty much know about the wicket and the conditions. I’ve put my input to the team… few of us have played on this ground"

"It’s high altitude, the ball travels faster off the bat. It swings a lot more initially it’s a change"

Asked about the middle order Kohli said "They haven’t got to bat much, so they haven’t been tested at all in this tournament, but if tested they’ll come out of it with flying colours"

Kohli also backed his bowlers "Yeah, we have good bowlers in the team. We would like to take advantage of that, but they have bowled consistently for us and tomorrow is another game and we would want them to contribute in the same way"

On asked if there is an overdependence on Chris Gayle, Kohli said "There is no sense of over-dependence on Chris. In few of the matches even the other guys have performed and put up important totals for the team"

Jason Gillespie, Bowling Coach, KXIP said "We have certainly made some plans for Chris Gayle. Chris has been in wonderful form, we will be coming up with some gameplans. It would be foolish of us to ignore some of the other players that they have"

Asked about the mood of the team Gillespie said "I think the guys are just enjoying each other’s company and playing some good cricket. I think what we’ve been able to do is getting our batting and bowling sorted in the one game. so to be able to bat and bowl equally well"

On asked if there is any extra pressure knowing that their playoff hopes are on the line, Gillespie said"We don’t really focus on that too much, we don’t even focus on the result of the game… we need to execute our skills to the best of our abilities"

"It certainly presents a unique challenge- Chris Gayle there is no doubt about that. What we are talking about to our bowlers is making sure that preparations are best as they can be. Gayle is only human if we bowl to our plan. It would be nice to knock him (Gayle) over early there is no doubt about that."

On asked about the progress of the Indian bowlers, Gillespie said "There have been a number, from the Delhi Daredevils, Varun Aaron he bowl real pace and I think that’s a good sign for India. And Sharma has certainly come along in the last couple of years. Praveen Kumar, for a guy who’s been spending time on the sidelines he has performed really well for us"

CSK won by 11 runs

2011-05-18T23:53:00.000-07:00

Chennai Super Kings paraded the depth in their talent and all-round strength as they beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala by 11 runs on Wednesday to enter the play-offs stage of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

It was the Super Kings’ ninth win in 13 matches and their seventh out of as many at home as they moved to the top of the table with 18 points while the Tuskers bowed out of the competition with 12 points.

Batting first on winning the toss, the Super Kings yet again finished well, taking 51 runs off the last five overs to post 152 for five with Wriddhiman Saha (46 off 33) being the top-scorer after an unconvincing 32 by Michael Hussey.

In reply, the Tuskers, despite a fighting half-century by Brad Hodge (51*) could manage on 141 for five in their quota of 20 overs as they paid the price for some sloppy fielding that let the Super Kings off the hook.

In fact the Super Kings did not use their frontline bowler Albie Morkel, but on Wednesday, he was very much on the field but was not given the ball. Yet, the hosts had enough firepower to check the Tuskers.

Chennai could not have asked for bigger slices of luck as Parthiv Patel dropped a catch and muffed two easy stumpings to allow the hosts to get away.

Warne fined $50,000

2011-05-18T23:44:00.000-07:00

The Indian cricket board yesterday slapped a $50,000 fine on soon-to-retire bowling legend Shane Warne over a bust-up between the Australian and an official during this season’s IPL.

The punishment casts a cloud over Warne’s last game of professional cricket tomorrow when Rajasthan Royals take on the Mumbai Indians.

The leg-spin maestro was involved in an angry exchange with Sanjay Dixit, secretary of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), following his team’s defeat at home last week.

Warne was furious about his team being asked to play on a different wicket than one used in previous games, but he later apologised for “any distress” his action may have caused. After a complaint by RCA, Warne and Dixit were summoned for a hearing before a disciplinary commission comprising IPL chairman Chirayu Amin and former player Ravi Shastri.

“The commission has decided to impose a fine of $50,000 upon Mr Warne,” the BCCI said in a statement. It said the disciplinary commission “regards the public criticism of Mr Dixit as being a serious breach by Mr Warne of his IPL playing contract”.

“However, at the same time, the commission also recognises that Mr Warne has apologised to Mr Dixit, and that the incident occurred just after the match. In addition, the commission is cognisant of the contribution to the game of cricket in general, and to the IPL, which has been made by Mr Warne.”

The 41-year-old touched off controversy when he hinted at a conspiracy over the selection of a new wicket for a home match against Chennai Super Kings which Rajasthan’s spin-heavy attack struggled to bowl on.

Sacked former IPL boss Lalit Modi, who is under investigation for alleged corruption, has implied that Chennai owner and BCCI secretary N Srinivasan used his influence to have the wicket changed. Dixit claimed Warne had been putting pressure on him to provide a “suitable” pitch for Rajasthan’s home matches.

Things came to a head when Warne walked up to Dixit following a second defeat against Bangalore on May 11 and exchanged angry words with him in full public view.

DC Won

2011-05-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

Deccan Chargers openers Sunny Sohal and Shikhar Dhawan put on a 67-run stand to lead their team to a six-wicket victory over Pune Warriors in a low-scoring IPL game on Monday.

Deccan, already out of contention for the playoffs with one game left, has 10 points from 13 games. Pune has eight points after 12 games and its slim chance of reaching the knockout stage are over. Chasing a target of 137 runs, Chargers were stretched to the last over but some useful contributions at the top of the innings meant it was never a worry for the visitors.

Sunny Sohal (34) top scored for the Chargers and the likes of Shikhar Dhawan (28), Kumar Sangakkara (25) and JP Duminy (23) did enough to help Chargers reached the target with four balls to spare. Earlier Warriors put up a listless batting display, losing three wickets in seven balls midway, to be restricted to a modest 136 for nine by Chargers.

Put in to bat by Chargers skipper Kumar Sangakkara, the Warriors started on a promising note with a 31-run opening partnership between Manish Pandey (23) and Jesse Ryder (13) before suffering a dramatic slide at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Kochi Tuskers crush Royals by 8 wickets

2011-05-16T01:37:00.000-07:00

Kochi Tuskers Kerala bowlers skittled out their opponents for a paltry score and then their batsmen bludgeoned the Royal Challengers’ bowlers to all parts of the ground to register an eight-wicket win in Indore on Sunday night.

Brad Hodge led the way with four wickets as Kochi Tuskers Kerala bundled out Rajasthan Royals for 97. Brendon McCullum then went hammer and tongs at the Royals bowling to get Kochi off to a flying start. McCullum scored 29 of 12 balls, an innings that included four towering sixes and a four before he was castled by Nayan Doshi. Jayawardene fell for six. But Parthiv Patel (21) and Brad Hodge (33) took Kochi to victory in 7.2 overs.

Earlier, Opting to bowl first, Hodge returned with impressive figures of four for 13 after the pace combo of RP Singh and S Sreesanth did the initial damage to push Rajasthan on the backfoot.

In an otherwise lacklustre batting display, young Ashok Menaria top-scored for Rajasthan, making a well-crafted 31 with the help of three fours and a six. RP gave Kochi their first breakthrough when he trapped Faiz Fazal in front of the wicket after the batsman missed a fulltoss.

S Sreesanth then had Rahul Dravid with a beauty of a delivery that moved away slightly after landing. Dravid went for it but only managed a nick that was taken by Owais Shah at slip. Sreesanth had Ajinkya Rahane plumb in front of the wicket and leaving Royals in serious trouble.

Kings XI won

2011-05-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

Kings XI Punjab produced a clinical all-round performance to score a comprehensive 29-run win over bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils to keep their play-off hopes alive in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.

The Punjab side first notched up 170 for six after being sent into bat with Paul Valthaty (62) and Shaun Marsh (47) scoring the bulk of the runs and later restricted Delhi to 141 for eight at the picturesque HPCA Stadium.

Chasing 171 for a win, Delhi batsmen failed to make any substantial contribution. David Warner top-scored with a run-a-ball 29. Piyush Chawla, grabbed an impressive three for 16 while Shalabh Srivastava took two wickets for 39.

DC won by 10 runs

2011-05-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

A disciplined bowling performance helped Deccan Chargers carve out a 10-run win over Mumbai Indians on a sluggish pitch at the Wankhede stadium on Saturday night.

Chasing 136 for a win, JP Duminy removed Aiden Blizzard for one while Ishant Sharma accounted for Ambati Rayudu (2) and Rohit Sharma (4)to leave Mumbai reeling at 25 for three.

Skipper Sachin Tendulkar tried to stem the rot with a crafty innings of 37. But once he was trapped in front by rookie Anand Rajan, Mumbai Indians lost their way.

Keiron Pollard’s pyrotechniques in the last over bowled by Anand couldn’t take Mumbai home. Pollard perished for 24 and Mumbai ended up with 125 for eight in 20 overs.

Earlier, Munaf Patel’s final over that went for 23 runs was the only blot in an otherwise disciplined bowling effort by Mumbai Indians that saw them restrict Deccan Chargers for 135 for six.

Chargers who lacked the firepower for most part of the innings were 112 for six at the end of the penultimate over.

Again KKR lost against RCB

2011-05-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

The loss of 128 minutes of play due to rains, the revised target, or that Kolkata Knight Riders had Aussie paceman Bret Lee was of little concern for RCB’s Chris Gayle, who yet again walked in to whack the leather clean.

And whack he did, with nonchalance, barring the third delivery when Lee fired in a quick yorker, paving the way for a four-wicket win for RCB that sealed the knock-out berth for the home team.

Set a revised target of 102 to win from 13 overs after KKR had made 89 for four in 13 overs, the RCB dugout were given room to relax by the big Jamaican.

Being the most destructive batsman seen in the IPL this season, Gayle hammered Lee for four fours off the very first over to set the ball rolling.

More followed when Jaidev Unadkat came on to bowl with Luke Pomersbach, playing his first match of the season slamming the first delivery to point and took a single to third man off the next.

Gayle promptly threw his bat at the third delivery and the thick edge flew over third man before the next was well placed straight deep into the BEML stands followed by a two and a scorching four to take RCB to 39 for no loss of two overs, 23 runs coming in the second.

Not to be denied his status the way he has batted, Gayle promptly grabbed the Orange Cap when he deposited Unadkat for the second six, that hit also making him the highest scorer of the season and also the highest six hitter in IPL history with 32 maximum’s to his name. By the time Lee had Gayle well caught by Kallis, RCB were 44 in 2.4 overs.

Shane Warne for abusing RCA chief Sanjay Dixit

2011-05-14T06:36:00.000-07:00

Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne landed in trouble after Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) lodged a complaint against him with the BCCI and the IPL for abusing it’s secretary Sanjay Dixit for not acceding to his request of a suitable pitch.

The RCA has alleged that Warne misbehaved with Dixit after Rajasthan Royals slumped to a humiliating nine-wicket defeat against Royals Challengers Bangalore in their last home match on Wednesday.

RCA venue director Narendra Joshi has written to IPL's chief operating officer Sunder Raman, alleging that Warne had publicly abused Dixit by calling him “a liar and egoistic” and demanded action against the Australian. The ugly incident took place just after the prize distribution ceremony at the Sawai Man Singh stadium.

According to sources a disappointed Warne walked up to Dixit and abused him for not replying to his messages. He called Dixit a liar, egoistic and asked him to go away, forcing Rajasthan Royals owner Shilpa Shetty to intervene and apologise for the incident.

RCA secretary Dixit also filed a separate complaint and had urged the BCCI and IPL to take stern action against Warne for pressuring him to provide a suitable wicket for Rajasthan Royals' home matches.

According to the sources, Dixit has forwarded the text messages to BCCI which Warne had repeatedly sent him. When Dixit was asked about the incident, he said Warne's behaviour probably came out of frustration for the team's back-to-back defeats, which almost jeopardised Rajasthan Royals' chances of making it to the play-offs.

“The BCCI has already clarified that the pitch comes under the purview of the pitch committee and curator. So, how could I have acceded to his demand? he questioned. His behaviour was totally unjustified and I have asked for action against him. Shilpa Shetty was gracious to come and calm things down," Dixit added.

The defeats at home against CSK and RCB had made Warne furious as he believed that the change of pitch after Sachin Tendulkar's criticism last month following Mumbai Indians' 7-wicket loss had robbed Royals of the home advantage.

Dhoni on top

2011-05-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and in-form Subramanium Badrinath hit contrasting half centuries to set up Chennai Super Kings 18-run win over Delhi at the MA Chidamabara stadium in Chennai to virtually seal a play off berth.

The duo added 96 runs for the fourth wicket in 9.2 overs. Dhoni (63, 31 balls, 5x4, 4x6) sent the Daredevils bowlers on a leatherhunt with a 28-ball half century. He finished with a flourish hitting Irfan Pathan for consecutive sixes off his final two deliveries.

On the otherhand, Badrinath (55, 43 balls, 6x4, 1x6) who is almost a certainty to board the flight to Caribbean did his reputation no harm as he played with lot of precision rotating the strike and punishing the loose deliveries.

The final two overs yielded 37 runs while CSK scored 109 runs off the last 10 overs having scored 67 from the first 10.

For Daredevils who erred by selecting five pacers on a slow track, Ajit Agarkar turned out to be the most expensive bowler leaking 49 runs from four overs while Pathan gave away 40 from his four.

Delhi Daredevils in their chase lost wickets at regular intervals and never looked like overhauling the Chennai target. In the end, they were content with a total of 158 for six in 20 overs. Venugopal Rao top scored with 30.

Dhoni started off with a pulled boundary off Ajit Agarkar and then launched into Andrew McDonald for straight six and then helped himself with a boundary. Both Dhoni and Badrinath ran the singles and twos well as they waited for the loose balls.

When Agarkar came back for his second spell, he played an audacious pull-shot and followed it up with a deft scoop past the short fine leg. The Indian captain moved into the 40’s when patted statemate Varun Aaron’s full-toss straight past the bowler.

The best stroke however remained a lofted shot off Agarkar over extra cover that brought up his second six. With an able ally in Badrinath who was wise enough to rotate the strike, Dhoni ensured that his side put up another commendable score on a slow Chepauk track.

Put into bat, CSK suffered an early setback when Irfan removed dangerman Michael Hussey (5) in the very first over when a delivery came in a shade wrap the batsman on pads as he remained rooted to his ground.

Suresh Raina (14) started off with a four and a six off McDonald but perished trying to hook a short-pitched delivery from Jharkhand pacer Varun Aaron. Raina, whose weakness against rising delivery is well known took his eyes off the ball and the balance was not there as Irfan took an easy catch at deep fine leg.

Meanwhile Murali Vijay (35, 33 balls, 2x4, 2x6) played some nice shots including couple of huge sixes off Agarkar —one that flew into the deep mid-wicket stands while the other was over long-on.

Vijay should however be blamed for not cashing in on after being dropped twice off successive deliveries. On 22, he uppishly drove Aaron towards cover which skipper James Hopes failed to latch on to.

The first ball of the very next over from left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem saw Vijay lobbing it straight to the bowler who failed to grab the chance. The batsman had scored 23 then. He could add only 12 more before Agarkar got his revenge as Venugopal Rao held onto a smart catch inches inside the ropes.

panjab won

2011-05-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

Dinesh Karthik smashed a quickfire 69 as Kings XI Punjab overcame initial and middle over stutter to thump Kochi Tuskers Kerala by six wickets to keep themselves in contention for a play-off berth in the Indian Premier League here on Friday night.

Chasing a stiff 179, KXIP made a struggling start with openers Paul Valthaty (17) and Adam Gilchrist (9) falling cheaply inside five overs for just 31 runs before Karthik and Shaun Marsh (42) helping their side win the match with seven balls to spare with a 111-run third wicket stand in 9.3 overs.

David Hussey (21 not out from 15 balls) finished the run chase in style with a six off Ravindra Jadeja as KXIP reached 181 for four in 18.5 overs to take his side to their fifth win in 11 matches.

Karthik smashed seven fours and five sixes in his 33-ball knock while Marsh hit five fours and two sixes from 30 balls to set up the win on a batting-friendly pitch at the Holkar Stadium which was hosting the first IPL match.

Pacer R P Singh grabbed a superb 4/25 to threaten to win the match for KTK but the KXIP batsmen were up to the task.

With the win on Friday, KXIP remained in contention for a play-off berth as they jumped to sixth spot with 10 points with three matches remaining.KTK, on the other hand, were virtually knocked out of the tournament with 10 points from 12 matches. They have two matches remaining.

The KXIP opening stand yielded just 25 runs in 2.5 overs with Valthaty falling victim to R P Singh after making a promising start, hitting two sixes in consecutive balls in the third over. Valthaty’s middle stump was knocked off as the ball went through the gap between bat and pad.

Pune Win After loosing 7 match

2011-05-09T02:23:00.000-07:00

Pune Warriors ended their seven match losing streak in the Indian Premier League this season with a five-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Sunday.

The victory for Pune was set up by their bowlers who restricted Kings XI Punjab to a meagre 119 for eight, riding on a spirited bowling effort in their Indian Premier League match.

The batters knocked off the required runs in 17.1overs losing five wickets. Yuvraj SIngh hit a blazing 35 while Robin Uthappa chipped in with a useful 22 to script Pune’s win.

Earlier, Shaun Marsh (32), Dinesh Karthik (30) and opener Paul Valthaty (23) got starts but could not convert them into big knocks, after electing to bat at PCA stadium.

Punjab kept losing wickets and never had a partnership going. The 30-run stand between Karthik and Marsh was the best and credit goes to some disciplined bowling by Pune bowlers.

Leg-spinner Rahul Sharma yet again returned exceptional figures as he gave away just 17 runs in his four overs and provided Warriors a good start by dismissing both the openers — Adam Gilchrist (3) and Valthaty.

Paceman Wayne Parnell (2/12) also did extremely well as he was the most economical bowler, conceding just 12 runs in his quota od four and also struck two blows to the rivals. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/14) and Mitchell Marsh (2/12) all took two wickets apiece.

Valthaty tried to play sensibly as he did not go blindly for his shots and waited for the punishable balls. His first four boundaries, three coming in Shrikanth Wagh’s first over, were all powerful yet elegant cover drives.

But Valthaty’s opening partner and skipper Adam Gilchrist (3) came a cropper yet again as in-form leg-spinner Rahul Sharma had him caught at deep mid-wicket. Vlathty’s self-imposed discipline and some fine bowling by Wayne Parnell and Rahul meant that the hosts managed just 34 runs in the first power-play.

Easy win for rcb

2011-05-09T02:22:00.000-07:00

Another brutal batting display by West Indian Chris Gayle halved Royal Challengers’ target by the fourth over and Tillakaratne Dilshan made sure he could return home to Sri Lanka with his head held high, carving an unbeaten 52 to enable Bangalore post another imposing victory in IPL 4 on Sunday evening.

There was little Kochi Tuskers could do against the West Indian who has mauled all the bowlers he has come across this IPL season. Even before they had realised it and the field could be spread, more than half the target had been scored with Gayle having slammed three fours and five sixes in his 16-ball 44.

Add to that Dilshan’s determination to do well in his last game for RCB before heading back to Lanka to take over the national team and it was a lose-lose situation for the Tuskers, as RCB posted a handsome nine wicket victory with 41-balls to spare.

Other than the toss, nothing seemed to go their way. Opting to bat, the Tuskers were pegged back by some sensible bowling by the RCB bowlers. Openers Brendon McCullum and Michael Klinger tried to make the most in the first six overs. But attempts to increase the run-rate saw McCullum departing.

Wickets fell at regular intervals after that with just Parthiv Patel (19) and Ravindra Jadeja (23) managing double figures as the visitors managed 125 for nine in their 20 overs, a total that was to prove child’s play for the hosts with Gayle batting the way he did.

RCB’s reply began with Gayle hoicking the first of his five sixes off the last ball of the first over from RP Singh, and there was more to come. Dilshan, who has struggled to live up to expectations, decided to go after Ramesh Powar, who was given to bowl the second over, slamming three fours, a six and a couple to milk 20 runs.

It was mayhem thereafter as Gayle launched into leftarm seamer, Prashanth Parameshwaran. The bowler began with a no ball, which was promptly sent sailing over point and the free hit, a slower one, again sailed over point, before the next went cart-wheeling to the mid-wicket fence, followed by a sweet hit to the extra cover fence.

Off the third legal delivery, he made room and smashed it over cover for a huge six, hit the next one straight over the sight screen and if it was of any consolation for the bowler, edged the last delivery, but that too going down the leg to the fine leg boundary.

With 37 coming off the third over, the match was as good as over, RCB’s total reading 66 for no loss off three overs. But local lad Vinay Kumar put the brakes on the carnage as he accounted for Gayle with a Malinga like delivery, releasing the ball side-ways, a fullish length one, that had the big Jamaican missing to be castled.

That was the lone success for the visitors as Dilshan and Virat Kohli (27) went collecting the rest of the runs without much fuss, as Kochi were still left dazed with what Gayle had done to one of their bowlers. With this victory RCB have moved to the third spot in the standings below Kolkata Knight Riders who they host next on May 14.