Mumbai Indians maintained their winning momentum, and guarded their proud home base with a 4-wicket win over the Kings XI Punjab.
After playing tense encounters against KXIP over the last two years, Mumbai Indians had it easy against the visiting side.
Opting to field first, Mumbai Indians led by their strike pair of Lasith Malinga and Zaheer Khan, routed the Punjab side on the hallowed turf of Brabourne Stadium.
Malinga (4-22) and Zaheer (3-34) struck at regular intervals to leave the Kings XI Punjab's new look line-up wounded.
Kings XI Punjab ended at 163 off their quota of 20 overs and in reply, Mumbai Indians won in the 20th over off a wide ball leading to wild celebrations.
Mumbai Indians won by four wickets to post their fifth straight win and two more points to keep them on top of the table.
The IPL 2008 Orange Cap winner Shaun Marsh (57: 47b, 6x4, 1x6) returned to the tournament in fine style.
Shaun Marsh held the batting together, but suicidal run-outs, coupled with pin-point yorkers by Malinga, triggered off Kings XI Punjab's collapse.
The only partnership of note was a 49-run stand between stand-in-skipper Mahela Jayawardene and Marsh.
Mumbai Indians chase never really took off after opener Shikhar Dhawan (50: 40 b, 6x4) got off to a fine start.
But the regular fall of wickets ensured that the untested Mumbai Indians middle-order struggled to get going.
Kings XI Punjab's band of medium-paced bowlers, especially Ravi Bopara (3-31), bowled intelligently on the slowing track.
Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu promised much but it was all down to rising star Saurabh Tiwary.
Tiwary brought the asking rate down with a couple of DLF Maximums.
Rajagopal Sathish and Tiwary delivered a knock-out punch in the 19th over.
From then on, Kings XI Punjab struggled to control the momentum gained by Mumbai Indians. They now languish at the bottom of the table with all but no hope of making the semis.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Centurion Warner too good for Knight riders
Magic was in the air, as was the ball, with the ever threatening David Warner lighting up the Kotla skyline with some massive shots to score IPL 2010’s second century and help Delhi Daredevils defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by 40 runs.
When the game began it was the visiting Knight Riders who had the dream start. The Kolkata outfit saw off three Daredevils in the first three overs. Sourav Ganguly repeated a trick most captains seem to be employing in IPL: he opened his attack with spin. Chris Gayle’s off-spin completely stumped Sehwag. Interestingly, the wickets of the dangerous Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik fell on the last ball of the three overs.
But from then on it was a solo performance by Warner. The track was dry and slow and offering help to the spinner, but Warner seemed to be playing in a different realm tonight.
No KKR bowler was spared, with Warner being especially hard on Charl Langeveldt. The Aussie hit Langerveldt for 29 runs off 13 balls, which included two straight sixes. The southpaw played in his characteristic style, not making any exceptions either for the bowler or the difficult situation Delhi were in. He just stood still at the crease, cleared his front foot and swung hard.
At the other end, Paul Collingwood was playing the supporting role to perfection. The tenacious Collingwood scored a half-century (53) in his first match for Delhi this season. The duo were involved in a 128-run partnership that eventually took another piece of magic to break. David Hussey took probably the best catch of the tournament to dismiss Collingwood. Hussey was on the long-on boundary and caught Collingwood, threw the ball up in the air when he saw he was going over the rope and then jumped back to catch it again.
Warner, though, did have one scary moment when he was on 96. Murali Karthik took a return catch and Warner started walking, but the third umpire called him back after deciding that the catch wasn’t clean. He took full advantage to reach his century (107, 69b, 9x4, 5x6) and helped the Daredevils post 177.
The Knight Riders were never really in the hunt after losing Sourav Ganguly, Mandeep Singh and Manoj Tiwary in the space of ten balls with the score reading 21. And once they lost the dangerous Chris Gayle (30) they had lost all hope of chasing down the big total. The KKR innings showed it wasn’t an easy pitch to play on and Warner’s innings made all the difference.
Gambhir’s return proved lucky for Delhi Daredevils. And their second win on the trot takes them to eight points from seven games and places them among the top four in the table.
When the game began it was the visiting Knight Riders who had the dream start. The Kolkata outfit saw off three Daredevils in the first three overs. Sourav Ganguly repeated a trick most captains seem to be employing in IPL: he opened his attack with spin. Chris Gayle’s off-spin completely stumped Sehwag. Interestingly, the wickets of the dangerous Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik fell on the last ball of the three overs.
But from then on it was a solo performance by Warner. The track was dry and slow and offering help to the spinner, but Warner seemed to be playing in a different realm tonight.
No KKR bowler was spared, with Warner being especially hard on Charl Langeveldt. The Aussie hit Langerveldt for 29 runs off 13 balls, which included two straight sixes. The southpaw played in his characteristic style, not making any exceptions either for the bowler or the difficult situation Delhi were in. He just stood still at the crease, cleared his front foot and swung hard.
At the other end, Paul Collingwood was playing the supporting role to perfection. The tenacious Collingwood scored a half-century (53) in his first match for Delhi this season. The duo were involved in a 128-run partnership that eventually took another piece of magic to break. David Hussey took probably the best catch of the tournament to dismiss Collingwood. Hussey was on the long-on boundary and caught Collingwood, threw the ball up in the air when he saw he was going over the rope and then jumped back to catch it again.
Warner, though, did have one scary moment when he was on 96. Murali Karthik took a return catch and Warner started walking, but the third umpire called him back after deciding that the catch wasn’t clean. He took full advantage to reach his century (107, 69b, 9x4, 5x6) and helped the Daredevils post 177.
The Knight Riders were never really in the hunt after losing Sourav Ganguly, Mandeep Singh and Manoj Tiwary in the space of ten balls with the score reading 21. And once they lost the dangerous Chris Gayle (30) they had lost all hope of chasing down the big total. The KKR innings showed it wasn’t an easy pitch to play on and Warner’s innings made all the difference.
Gambhir’s return proved lucky for Delhi Daredevils. And their second win on the trot takes them to eight points from seven games and places them among the top four in the table.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Bhajji inspired Mumbai Indians wins
An all-round performance from Harbhajan Singh turned the match around and helped Mumbai Indians coast to an incredibly easy victory over hosts Deccan Chargers by 41 runs at DY Patil tonight.
Harbhajan was first an unlikely hero with the bat for Mumbai Indians and then used his off-spin to turn the game in the Mumbai Indians’ favour. He took three wickets, namely Adam Gilchrist, T Suman and Jaskaran Singh. He was ably supported by pacemen Zaheer Khan (3 for 21) and Lasith Malinga (3 for 12).
Sachin Tendulkar very intelligently opened his bowling with the slow spin of Harbhajan and was immediately rewarded with his Deccan Chargers’ counterpart wicket in the very first over. After that it was a procession of Deccan batsmen coming in and then departing in a hurry. Only Herschelle Gibbs (27) and Rohit Sharma (45) offered any kind of resistance.
The mighty Sardar came out to bat with the Mumbai Indians in trouble at 119 for 7 in the 17th over. And the spinner who has a reputation of being a big-hitter came to the IPL party with some lusty and unorthodox hitting.
Bhajji used the long handle to good use scoring a whirlwind 49 off just 18 balls. He started the carnage by hitting Andrew Symonds for a huge six. West Indian pace spearhead Kemar Roach had had a great start to his IPL journey, but Bhajji spoiled his figures hammering 19 runs from his over, the 19th of the innings. The spinner then hit four boundaries in the last over to take MI to a respectable total of 172.
Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar continued from where he had left off against Chennai Super Kings. After a solid partnership with Dwayne Bravo (23) ended and wickets started tumbling around him, the master was composure personified. He set about resurrecting the innings, but the fall of wickets at the other end eventually got to him and he mistimed a pull and set the stage for a Harbhajan special.
For the Deccan Chargers, RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha were the main strikers claiming three and two scalps respectively. DC pacer Jaskaran Singh, who had bowled well throughout the match, had to be taken off the attack in the last over after bowling two beamers.
Mumbai Indians continue their stay on top of the points table with this win. Deccan Chargers, though, need some inspiration to rise up from the middle of the table.
Harbhajan was first an unlikely hero with the bat for Mumbai Indians and then used his off-spin to turn the game in the Mumbai Indians’ favour. He took three wickets, namely Adam Gilchrist, T Suman and Jaskaran Singh. He was ably supported by pacemen Zaheer Khan (3 for 21) and Lasith Malinga (3 for 12).
Sachin Tendulkar very intelligently opened his bowling with the slow spin of Harbhajan and was immediately rewarded with his Deccan Chargers’ counterpart wicket in the very first over. After that it was a procession of Deccan batsmen coming in and then departing in a hurry. Only Herschelle Gibbs (27) and Rohit Sharma (45) offered any kind of resistance.
The mighty Sardar came out to bat with the Mumbai Indians in trouble at 119 for 7 in the 17th over. And the spinner who has a reputation of being a big-hitter came to the IPL party with some lusty and unorthodox hitting.
Bhajji used the long handle to good use scoring a whirlwind 49 off just 18 balls. He started the carnage by hitting Andrew Symonds for a huge six. West Indian pace spearhead Kemar Roach had had a great start to his IPL journey, but Bhajji spoiled his figures hammering 19 runs from his over, the 19th of the innings. The spinner then hit four boundaries in the last over to take MI to a respectable total of 172.
Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar continued from where he had left off against Chennai Super Kings. After a solid partnership with Dwayne Bravo (23) ended and wickets started tumbling around him, the master was composure personified. He set about resurrecting the innings, but the fall of wickets at the other end eventually got to him and he mistimed a pull and set the stage for a Harbhajan special.
For the Deccan Chargers, RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha were the main strikers claiming three and two scalps respectively. DC pacer Jaskaran Singh, who had bowled well throughout the match, had to be taken off the attack in the last over after bowling two beamers.
Mumbai Indians continue their stay on top of the points table with this win. Deccan Chargers, though, need some inspiration to rise up from the middle of the table.
Rajasthan continues winning
Rajasthan Royals continued their winning streak securing a comprehensive win against the visiting Chennai Super Kings at Motera by 17 runs.
Two cricket truisms were proved by this victory: 1.The team that performs as a unit wins. 2. Fielding wins matches. In the process, the Rajasthan citadel in Ahmedabad remained safe against yet another visiting team.
The Chennai team was lacklustre in their performance and again failed to win a close contest.
Matthew Hayden came in and got started, but a Yusuf Pathan special sent the CSK opener back to the dug out pretty early. Hayden couldn’t connect with a low full toss and Pathan stretched his arm out to his right and plucked one of the best catches of IPL 2010. Pathan seems to be revelling in role of a frontline strike bowler.
Murali Vijay, though, didn’t let the loss of his opening partner affect him. In the very next over, Vijay hit Sumit Narwal out of the attack blasting 24 runs, with the scoreboard reading: 6, 0, 4, 4, 6, 4.
But Pathan was on fire today in the field and the Royals’ hero scored a direct hit to rid of Vijay (42). He was then involved in another run out, that of CSK skipper MS Dhoni. With Dhoni went any chance of the visitors winning the match. Dhoni was looking to build momentum to guide his team but committed hara-kiri by running for a non-existent single. Compounding the problem was S Badrinath who rammed into his skipper and a batless-Dhoni couldn’t cross the line before the ball.
Albie Morkel provided brief entertainment and hope to CSK supporters hitting Warne for three consecutive sixes, but he too fell before seeing the side through.
Earlier, Naman Ojha was the star of the Royals’ innings scoring 80 off 49 balls. He was the rock of the Rajasthan team, scoring freely even as the wickets kept tumbling around him. Michael Lumb was his usual aggressive self getting the team off to a flier and the score read 47 in the fourth over. But Morkel, who had been battered by the Englishman, got his revenge taking Lumb’s wicket in the fourth over.
Yusuf Pathan couldn’t get going today with the bat and left after being outfoxed by off-spinner Shadab Jakati. Pathan’s wicket slowed things down and CSK managed to concede only 81 runs from the last ten overs.
The Royals’ innings ended with a manic last over that saw them lose three wickets with only six runs being added
The fourth straight win for the Royals sees them garner two more points to climb to eight points. CSK, on the other hand, sink to the second-last position on the points table.
Two cricket truisms were proved by this victory: 1.The team that performs as a unit wins. 2. Fielding wins matches. In the process, the Rajasthan citadel in Ahmedabad remained safe against yet another visiting team.
The Chennai team was lacklustre in their performance and again failed to win a close contest.
Matthew Hayden came in and got started, but a Yusuf Pathan special sent the CSK opener back to the dug out pretty early. Hayden couldn’t connect with a low full toss and Pathan stretched his arm out to his right and plucked one of the best catches of IPL 2010. Pathan seems to be revelling in role of a frontline strike bowler.
Murali Vijay, though, didn’t let the loss of his opening partner affect him. In the very next over, Vijay hit Sumit Narwal out of the attack blasting 24 runs, with the scoreboard reading: 6, 0, 4, 4, 6, 4.
But Pathan was on fire today in the field and the Royals’ hero scored a direct hit to rid of Vijay (42). He was then involved in another run out, that of CSK skipper MS Dhoni. With Dhoni went any chance of the visitors winning the match. Dhoni was looking to build momentum to guide his team but committed hara-kiri by running for a non-existent single. Compounding the problem was S Badrinath who rammed into his skipper and a batless-Dhoni couldn’t cross the line before the ball.
Albie Morkel provided brief entertainment and hope to CSK supporters hitting Warne for three consecutive sixes, but he too fell before seeing the side through.
Earlier, Naman Ojha was the star of the Royals’ innings scoring 80 off 49 balls. He was the rock of the Rajasthan team, scoring freely even as the wickets kept tumbling around him. Michael Lumb was his usual aggressive self getting the team off to a flier and the score read 47 in the fourth over. But Morkel, who had been battered by the Englishman, got his revenge taking Lumb’s wicket in the fourth over.
Yusuf Pathan couldn’t get going today with the bat and left after being outfoxed by off-spinner Shadab Jakati. Pathan’s wicket slowed things down and CSK managed to concede only 81 runs from the last ten overs.
The Royals’ innings ended with a manic last over that saw them lose three wickets with only six runs being added
The fourth straight win for the Royals sees them garner two more points to climb to eight points. CSK, on the other hand, sink to the second-last position on the points table.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
For a change Knight Riders played well
Kolkata Knight Riders snapped out of their three-match losing streak on Saturday night in fine style.
Led from the front by skipper Sourav Ganguly and Manoj Tiwary, Knight Riders made the most of the decision to bat first.
For the hosts Kings XI Punjab, their fifth loss dented their campaign in IPL 2010. But it was all Knight Riders at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday night as they pocketed two points.
Tiwary’s late charge and Ganguly’s experience ensured that Knight Riders ended at 183-5 in their 20 overs.
The Kings XI Punjab chase never really took off as they lost by 39 runs. This was the second biggest loss for any side in IPL 2010.
When the chase began, Ravi Bopara was trapped in front off the second ball by Shane Bond. Then the experienced Ajit Agarkar struck crucial blows in his first game.
Agarkar first claimed opener Yuvraj Singh, who seemed to be in a hurry and then also got rid of the threatening Manvinder Bisla.
With the asking rate going up all the time skipper, Kumar Sangakkara and senior pro Mahela Jayawardene tried to press their case, but it was too little too late.
Sangakkara (30) and Jayawardene (16) added 38 runs for the fourth wicket. But the Knight Riders bowled intelligently and the home team struggled to force the pace. The pace attack was in top form and the spinners controlled the middle overs.
The effort on the field backed up Knight Riders’ batting show. After Chris Gayle fell early, Ganguly joined forces with Tiwary.
Together the Bengal duo added 79 runs for the third wicket. Ganguly (50: 40b, 6x4, 1x6) fell trying to increase the scoring, but Tiwary carried on.
Tiwary’s late charge, including 21 runs off the last over by Irfan Pathan, pulled the Knight Riders away from a par score. Tiwary’s unbeaten 75 included eight boundaries and two sixes.
Tiwary successfully negotiated comeback man Brett Lee to take the sting out of the Kings XI Punjab attack.
Tiwary played a part on the field as well picking up a Karbonn Kamaal catch and coming up with some useful saves. In the end it was a Tiwary show which ensured the Knight Riders move to Delhi with smiles and a win.
Led from the front by skipper Sourav Ganguly and Manoj Tiwary, Knight Riders made the most of the decision to bat first.
For the hosts Kings XI Punjab, their fifth loss dented their campaign in IPL 2010. But it was all Knight Riders at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday night as they pocketed two points.
Tiwary’s late charge and Ganguly’s experience ensured that Knight Riders ended at 183-5 in their 20 overs.
The Kings XI Punjab chase never really took off as they lost by 39 runs. This was the second biggest loss for any side in IPL 2010.
When the chase began, Ravi Bopara was trapped in front off the second ball by Shane Bond. Then the experienced Ajit Agarkar struck crucial blows in his first game.
Agarkar first claimed opener Yuvraj Singh, who seemed to be in a hurry and then also got rid of the threatening Manvinder Bisla.
With the asking rate going up all the time skipper, Kumar Sangakkara and senior pro Mahela Jayawardene tried to press their case, but it was too little too late.
Sangakkara (30) and Jayawardene (16) added 38 runs for the fourth wicket. But the Knight Riders bowled intelligently and the home team struggled to force the pace. The pace attack was in top form and the spinners controlled the middle overs.
The effort on the field backed up Knight Riders’ batting show. After Chris Gayle fell early, Ganguly joined forces with Tiwary.
Together the Bengal duo added 79 runs for the third wicket. Ganguly (50: 40b, 6x4, 1x6) fell trying to increase the scoring, but Tiwary carried on.
Tiwary’s late charge, including 21 runs off the last over by Irfan Pathan, pulled the Knight Riders away from a par score. Tiwary’s unbeaten 75 included eight boundaries and two sixes.
Tiwary successfully negotiated comeback man Brett Lee to take the sting out of the Kings XI Punjab attack.
Tiwary played a part on the field as well picking up a Karbonn Kamaal catch and coming up with some useful saves. In the end it was a Tiwary show which ensured the Knight Riders move to Delhi with smiles and a win.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Rajasthan Royals back @ the scheme of things
hane Warne’s boys were imperious tonight with a Yusuf Pathan blitz crushing Deccan Chargers in the Rajasthan Royals' fortress in Ahmedabad by eight wickets.
Pathan celebrated his inclusion in the Indian squad for the ICC World T20 Championship by decimating the Chargers. Pathan Sr. hit eight humongous sixes in his explosive stay at the crease. After having failed to truly justify the tag of being a match-winner in the previous four innings, he flexed his muscles tonight to great effect.
Unlike his innings against Mumbai Indians, when Pathan couldn’t see his team through, he stuck around till his team crossed the line. Pathan quite appropriately hit a huge six to carry Rajasthan Royals home with 4.2 overs to spare. Pathan’s whirlwind knock of 73* came off just 34 balls, clearly showing how domineering the blitz was. For lovers of statistics, the big-hitter reached his 50 off 23 balls.
There was, however, a minor hurdle in the plot. A bad call from Yusuf saw opener Michael Lumb get run-out. Lumb (45) was looking great. He had got the chase off to a great start with four boundaries off RP Singh.
Before the start of the innings, Warne had stated that Motera was Rajasthan Royals’ fortress. Tonight the Deccan Chargers failed to break into the Royals’ stronghold. The battle between the two old Australian colleagues was a one-sided affair with Warne outfoxing Adam Gilchrist in every department.
It was a complete team effort from a side that doesn’t believe in stars. The first stroke of Warne’s genius was opening the bowling with medium-pacer Sumit Narwal. Narwal induced Adam Gilchrist to mis-hit the third ball of the innings and scoop an easy catch to mid-on. The Royals could have lost the plot at this point with Herschelle Gibbs going great guns, but Warne came on and the South African couldn’t read one of his beauties and left after being stumped. Warne was at his best in this match, both as a bowler and captain.
The Chargers’ cause wasn’t helped by the three silly run-outs that saw Andrew Symonds, Chaminda Vaas and Venugopal Rao return to the pavilion. The DC innings never took off with the score at one point reading 103 for six. It was only a late flourish by Rohit Sharma that saw the team get close to 150. Sharma, though, should be thankful that he was dropped on 31 by Adam Voges.
The Royals seem to be back at their best and this win takes them to third position on the points table.
Pathan celebrated his inclusion in the Indian squad for the ICC World T20 Championship by decimating the Chargers. Pathan Sr. hit eight humongous sixes in his explosive stay at the crease. After having failed to truly justify the tag of being a match-winner in the previous four innings, he flexed his muscles tonight to great effect.
Unlike his innings against Mumbai Indians, when Pathan couldn’t see his team through, he stuck around till his team crossed the line. Pathan quite appropriately hit a huge six to carry Rajasthan Royals home with 4.2 overs to spare. Pathan’s whirlwind knock of 73* came off just 34 balls, clearly showing how domineering the blitz was. For lovers of statistics, the big-hitter reached his 50 off 23 balls.
There was, however, a minor hurdle in the plot. A bad call from Yusuf saw opener Michael Lumb get run-out. Lumb (45) was looking great. He had got the chase off to a great start with four boundaries off RP Singh.
Before the start of the innings, Warne had stated that Motera was Rajasthan Royals’ fortress. Tonight the Deccan Chargers failed to break into the Royals’ stronghold. The battle between the two old Australian colleagues was a one-sided affair with Warne outfoxing Adam Gilchrist in every department.
It was a complete team effort from a side that doesn’t believe in stars. The first stroke of Warne’s genius was opening the bowling with medium-pacer Sumit Narwal. Narwal induced Adam Gilchrist to mis-hit the third ball of the innings and scoop an easy catch to mid-on. The Royals could have lost the plot at this point with Herschelle Gibbs going great guns, but Warne came on and the South African couldn’t read one of his beauties and left after being stumped. Warne was at his best in this match, both as a bowler and captain.
The Chargers’ cause wasn’t helped by the three silly run-outs that saw Andrew Symonds, Chaminda Vaas and Venugopal Rao return to the pavilion. The DC innings never took off with the score at one point reading 103 for six. It was only a late flourish by Rohit Sharma that saw the team get close to 150. Sharma, though, should be thankful that he was dropped on 31 by Adam Voges.
The Royals seem to be back at their best and this win takes them to third position on the points table.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
CSK losing its way
Sachin Tendulkar. The night belonged to the little genius as he guided the Mumbai Indians to victory over the visiting Chennai Super Kings at the Brabourne here today.
After Sachin’s master class against the Kolkata Knight Riders, it was the turn of the Super Kings to have the privilege of seeing another great knock from the Master. Sachin played around his partners and his chanceless innings of 72 had eight boundaries and a solitary six. A lot has been written about Sachin’s batting over time and journalists all over the world would repeat all the superlatives and adjectives to describe his innings tonight.
Ironically, Sachin couldn’t see the team home. A tired Sachin played an uncharacteristic pull to get out with Mumbai Indians needing a mere nine to win. Dwayne Bravo then completed the formalities hitting a six off Lakshmipathy Balaji to reach the target of 181 with one over to spare.
Shikhar Dhawan came out with Sachin Tendulkar as if he wanted to end the match within 15 overs. But after scoring a quick-fire 50, which included two towering sixes off Balaji, Dhawan (56) departed looking to repeat his lofty hitting once too often.
Thissara Perrera’s debut IPL match for CSK was one he would wish to forget soon. The match, which could have gone either way till then, turned on its head in the 16th over, with Kieron Pollard and Sachin Tendulkar milking Perrera for 19 runs.
Pollard also got the opportunity to show Mumbai why so much was spent to buy him, when he casually flicked a Muralidaran ball for six over long-on. But next ball he also showed his inexperience getting out by chopping the doosra onto his stumps.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings who had their talismanic captain, MS Dhoni, back at the helm got off to a good start. The innings truly took off in the second over when Matthew Hayden hit Zaheer Khan for four boundaries, setting the stage for a huge score. But Haydos didn’t stay long enough, getting trapped leg before to Harbhajan in the fourth over. Sadly, the Mumbai crowd got to see the Mongoose bat only for two deliveries. Parthiv followed his opening partner soon and it looked as if the Mumbai Indians were getting the better off the visiting Super Kings.
But Suresh Raina, relieved of the pressures of captaincy, went after the bowling from the start, pulling and cutting with ease. He was particularly hard on Bravo whom he hit for two huge sixes. S Badrinath, at the other end, was also gathering runs and together the duo shared a 142-run partnership, the second highest stand in IPL. Raina reached his fifty of 32 balls, while Badri got to his half-century off 41 balls.
With this win, Mumbai Indians will go to the top of the points table, and CSK will continue to languish in the middle.
After Sachin’s master class against the Kolkata Knight Riders, it was the turn of the Super Kings to have the privilege of seeing another great knock from the Master. Sachin played around his partners and his chanceless innings of 72 had eight boundaries and a solitary six. A lot has been written about Sachin’s batting over time and journalists all over the world would repeat all the superlatives and adjectives to describe his innings tonight.
Ironically, Sachin couldn’t see the team home. A tired Sachin played an uncharacteristic pull to get out with Mumbai Indians needing a mere nine to win. Dwayne Bravo then completed the formalities hitting a six off Lakshmipathy Balaji to reach the target of 181 with one over to spare.
Shikhar Dhawan came out with Sachin Tendulkar as if he wanted to end the match within 15 overs. But after scoring a quick-fire 50, which included two towering sixes off Balaji, Dhawan (56) departed looking to repeat his lofty hitting once too often.
Thissara Perrera’s debut IPL match for CSK was one he would wish to forget soon. The match, which could have gone either way till then, turned on its head in the 16th over, with Kieron Pollard and Sachin Tendulkar milking Perrera for 19 runs.
Pollard also got the opportunity to show Mumbai why so much was spent to buy him, when he casually flicked a Muralidaran ball for six over long-on. But next ball he also showed his inexperience getting out by chopping the doosra onto his stumps.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings who had their talismanic captain, MS Dhoni, back at the helm got off to a good start. The innings truly took off in the second over when Matthew Hayden hit Zaheer Khan for four boundaries, setting the stage for a huge score. But Haydos didn’t stay long enough, getting trapped leg before to Harbhajan in the fourth over. Sadly, the Mumbai crowd got to see the Mongoose bat only for two deliveries. Parthiv followed his opening partner soon and it looked as if the Mumbai Indians were getting the better off the visiting Super Kings.
But Suresh Raina, relieved of the pressures of captaincy, went after the bowling from the start, pulling and cutting with ease. He was particularly hard on Bravo whom he hit for two huge sixes. S Badrinath, at the other end, was also gathering runs and together the duo shared a 142-run partnership, the second highest stand in IPL. Raina reached his fifty of 32 balls, while Badri got to his half-century off 41 balls.
With this win, Mumbai Indians will go to the top of the points table, and CSK will continue to languish in the middle.
Finally Royal Challengers lost a match convincingly
Delhi Daredevils were back to their winning form beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 17 runs after they put up 183 for 4 off 20 overs.
David Warner’s opening over blitz was just the kind of start RCB weren’t expecting. The last two matches had seen David Warner outshine Virender Sehwag with the bat. He took the attack to the opposition and made his intentions pretty clear at the start itself. It seems the brief given to Warner was to go out there and attack from the word go. Although he had a short stay at the wicket, he gave the Delhi middle-order the perfect platform to launch from, scoring 33 off 14 balls.
Sehwag left soon and after a brisk start of 58 off 5.1 overs Karthik and de Villiers put together a steady partnership of 43 runs. His fall got debutant Kedar Jadhav on strike who impressed with some fine stroke-play. Scoring a fifty in just 29 balls the youngster provided the innings an impetus DD badly needed. They were 139/4 by the end of the 17th over, when Jadhav and Andrew McDonald stepped on the gas and scored 44 runs of the last three. A total of 183/ 4 seemed quite competitive considering that the average first innings total on this ground in IPL 2010 has been about 155. The Delhi Daredevils seemed confident of being able to defend the total as they believed the medium pacers in the team would be able to extract some good bounce and movement to snap early wickets.
The RCB innings started on a cautious note as both Manish Pandey and Jacques Kallis did not go for too many boundaries scoring just 46 off the first six overs. Kallis was the first to go, bowled by an Amit Mishra googly with the score at 71. The turning point of the game was the eleventh over when they lost Manish Pandey and number three batsman Rahul Dravid both in the same over. Pandey played all over a McDonald delivery giving himself some room to smash the ball and missed it completely, while Dravid went for an ambitious second run to a ball that he edged behind the ‘keeper off McDonald.
RCB lost the plot thanks to some soft dismissals and a couple of run-outs in the middle. Robin Uthappa played another reverse sweep which caused his downfall as he top-edged it to Karthik who took a simple catch. The biggest highlight of the match was the catch taken by AB de Villiers. Praveen Kumar hit an Umesh Yadav delivery to long on - AB jumped and was airborne when he took a brilliant one-handed catch, turning and falling face in front, inches before the boundary rope.
Eoin Morgan too could not get going as he got run-out before scoring 17 off 13 balls. A rearguard action by Virat Kohli was a little too late as RCB was way behind the asking rate. After they lost Morgan there was little hope.
Delhi Daredevils would be happy to have broken the losing streak and with the comeback of Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra expected in the next match, would become an even stronger team. RCB on the other hand should take this as a wake-up call for the middle order. Some cause for concern for the RCB captain.
David Warner’s opening over blitz was just the kind of start RCB weren’t expecting. The last two matches had seen David Warner outshine Virender Sehwag with the bat. He took the attack to the opposition and made his intentions pretty clear at the start itself. It seems the brief given to Warner was to go out there and attack from the word go. Although he had a short stay at the wicket, he gave the Delhi middle-order the perfect platform to launch from, scoring 33 off 14 balls.
Sehwag left soon and after a brisk start of 58 off 5.1 overs Karthik and de Villiers put together a steady partnership of 43 runs. His fall got debutant Kedar Jadhav on strike who impressed with some fine stroke-play. Scoring a fifty in just 29 balls the youngster provided the innings an impetus DD badly needed. They were 139/4 by the end of the 17th over, when Jadhav and Andrew McDonald stepped on the gas and scored 44 runs of the last three. A total of 183/ 4 seemed quite competitive considering that the average first innings total on this ground in IPL 2010 has been about 155. The Delhi Daredevils seemed confident of being able to defend the total as they believed the medium pacers in the team would be able to extract some good bounce and movement to snap early wickets.
The RCB innings started on a cautious note as both Manish Pandey and Jacques Kallis did not go for too many boundaries scoring just 46 off the first six overs. Kallis was the first to go, bowled by an Amit Mishra googly with the score at 71. The turning point of the game was the eleventh over when they lost Manish Pandey and number three batsman Rahul Dravid both in the same over. Pandey played all over a McDonald delivery giving himself some room to smash the ball and missed it completely, while Dravid went for an ambitious second run to a ball that he edged behind the ‘keeper off McDonald.
RCB lost the plot thanks to some soft dismissals and a couple of run-outs in the middle. Robin Uthappa played another reverse sweep which caused his downfall as he top-edged it to Karthik who took a simple catch. The biggest highlight of the match was the catch taken by AB de Villiers. Praveen Kumar hit an Umesh Yadav delivery to long on - AB jumped and was airborne when he took a brilliant one-handed catch, turning and falling face in front, inches before the boundary rope.
Eoin Morgan too could not get going as he got run-out before scoring 17 off 13 balls. A rearguard action by Virat Kohli was a little too late as RCB was way behind the asking rate. After they lost Morgan there was little hope.
Delhi Daredevils would be happy to have broken the losing streak and with the comeback of Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra expected in the next match, would become an even stronger team. RCB on the other hand should take this as a wake-up call for the middle order. Some cause for concern for the RCB captain.
Kings XI did a Super Kings to lose it from winning position
Timely wickets from Yusuf Pathan and Siddharth Trivedi combined with a middle order collapse helped the Rajasthan Royals beat the Kings XI Punjab by 31 runs. In the process, the team notched their second win of the competition in this bottom of the table clash.
Chasing an achievable, yet dicey, target of 184, Kumar Sangakkara seemed to be in a hurry to finish off the game, smashing Tait and Co. to the boundary with immense confidence and authority.
The Aussie did get his own back when Sangakkara smashed the ball straight to Fazal at the third man boundary. If the Royals thought it was going to get easy after seeing the back of the Sri Lankan, they were in for a surprise, as Manvinder Bisla came out of nowhere and absolutely massacred the Royals’ bowlers.
Bisla’s 35 off 18 gave the Kings some breathing room before being dismissed by Warne. Yuvraj Singh 15 (13) couldn’t make the most of a second chance thanks to some smart bowling from Siddharth Trivedi.
The wheels came off the Kings’ chase from then on - leaving them with a mountain to climb. Mahela Jayawardene 23 (22) did provide some resistance, but all in vain as the Royals easily saw the game out.
After being put in to bat, the Royals began with much gusto - Michael Lumb and Naman Ojha piled up the boundaries with consummate ease. But Ojha was sent packing after he hit a Sreesanth delivery straight into mid-on’s lap. Lumb, on the other hand, continued to milk the bowling and pick up the odd boundary. The Englishman lost his concentration for a moment and that was enough for Piyush Chawla to get Lumb out stumped, thanks to some alert thinking from Sangakkara behind the wickets.
That brought the Royals talisman Yusuf Pathan on the field, and the all-rounder tried to do justice to his hard-hitting tag, smashing a boundary and a six before holing out to long-on. But the Royals were still scoring at a fair rate and Adam Voges’ inclusion only added an extra impetus to the Royals cause. The Aussie along with a determined Faiz Fazal made sure the Royals set a competitive target of 184.
After the highs in Chennai, the Kings XI once again flattered to deceive and will need to vastly improve their home form to stand any chance of qualifying for the semi-final stages.
Chasing an achievable, yet dicey, target of 184, Kumar Sangakkara seemed to be in a hurry to finish off the game, smashing Tait and Co. to the boundary with immense confidence and authority.
The Aussie did get his own back when Sangakkara smashed the ball straight to Fazal at the third man boundary. If the Royals thought it was going to get easy after seeing the back of the Sri Lankan, they were in for a surprise, as Manvinder Bisla came out of nowhere and absolutely massacred the Royals’ bowlers.
Bisla’s 35 off 18 gave the Kings some breathing room before being dismissed by Warne. Yuvraj Singh 15 (13) couldn’t make the most of a second chance thanks to some smart bowling from Siddharth Trivedi.
The wheels came off the Kings’ chase from then on - leaving them with a mountain to climb. Mahela Jayawardene 23 (22) did provide some resistance, but all in vain as the Royals easily saw the game out.
After being put in to bat, the Royals began with much gusto - Michael Lumb and Naman Ojha piled up the boundaries with consummate ease. But Ojha was sent packing after he hit a Sreesanth delivery straight into mid-on’s lap. Lumb, on the other hand, continued to milk the bowling and pick up the odd boundary. The Englishman lost his concentration for a moment and that was enough for Piyush Chawla to get Lumb out stumped, thanks to some alert thinking from Sangakkara behind the wickets.
That brought the Royals talisman Yusuf Pathan on the field, and the all-rounder tried to do justice to his hard-hitting tag, smashing a boundary and a six before holing out to long-on. But the Royals were still scoring at a fair rate and Adam Voges’ inclusion only added an extra impetus to the Royals cause. The Aussie along with a determined Faiz Fazal made sure the Royals set a competitive target of 184.
After the highs in Chennai, the Kings XI once again flattered to deceive and will need to vastly improve their home form to stand any chance of qualifying for the semi-final stages.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Super Kings only have to blame themselves
It was Robin Uthappa all the way for the Royal Challengers Bangalore against the visiting Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here. From a mediocre 119 for 5 in the 17th over to 171 in the allotted 20 overs, it was the lone hand played by Uthappa that took the Challengers to the imposing, and ultimately match-winning, score.
Royal Challengers’ win by 36 runs over CSK was their third successive win at home.
The injury-hit Chennai Super Kings were never in the race and with Matthew Hayden (32) getting run out early, there was no fight left in the CSK ranks. They surrendered to the disciplined bowling of Kumble and co. It was one of the most lopsided matches with CSK needing 48 of the last six balls. The Super Kings seem to be missing their talismanic captain MS Dhoni.
Vinay Kumar was again the leading wicket-taker for RCB with four scalps, but it was the skipper, Anil Kumble, whose four overs went for a mere 15 runs, who was the real hero with the ball.
Earlier, Uthappa led a charmed life, being dropped twice. First when he was on five and then 25. He made the best use of his lives, hitting the CSK bowling out of the park. The unbeaten 52-run partnership between Uthappa, 68* off 38 balls (4x3, 6x6), and Mark Boucher (11*) off just 19 balls helped RCB maintain their winning streak.
The Bangalore boy hit six sixes, including three consecutive ones off L Balaji in the 19th over. It was an exhibition of power-hitting the likes of which Bengaluru has not seen in this IPL.
CSK, who were till then in the game, having taken wickets at regular intervals, would feel hard done by their own fielding. They dropped catches galore, but still their bowlers managed to restrict the hosts. Balaji even had the privilege of claiming the wicket of hitherto unbeaten Jacques Kallis (19). Stand-in captain Suresh Raina was clueless as to how to stem the run flow and make his boys take those catches.
With this win RCB go to the top of the table and the Chennai team will continue to languish in the middle.
Royal Challengers’ win by 36 runs over CSK was their third successive win at home.
The injury-hit Chennai Super Kings were never in the race and with Matthew Hayden (32) getting run out early, there was no fight left in the CSK ranks. They surrendered to the disciplined bowling of Kumble and co. It was one of the most lopsided matches with CSK needing 48 of the last six balls. The Super Kings seem to be missing their talismanic captain MS Dhoni.
Vinay Kumar was again the leading wicket-taker for RCB with four scalps, but it was the skipper, Anil Kumble, whose four overs went for a mere 15 runs, who was the real hero with the ball.
Earlier, Uthappa led a charmed life, being dropped twice. First when he was on five and then 25. He made the best use of his lives, hitting the CSK bowling out of the park. The unbeaten 52-run partnership between Uthappa, 68* off 38 balls (4x3, 6x6), and Mark Boucher (11*) off just 19 balls helped RCB maintain their winning streak.
The Bangalore boy hit six sixes, including three consecutive ones off L Balaji in the 19th over. It was an exhibition of power-hitting the likes of which Bengaluru has not seen in this IPL.
CSK, who were till then in the game, having taken wickets at regular intervals, would feel hard done by their own fielding. They dropped catches galore, but still their bowlers managed to restrict the hosts. Balaji even had the privilege of claiming the wicket of hitherto unbeaten Jacques Kallis (19). Stand-in captain Suresh Raina was clueless as to how to stem the run flow and make his boys take those catches.
With this win RCB go to the top of the table and the Chennai team will continue to languish in the middle.
Sachin guided Mumbai to victory
Sachin Tendulkar played one of his finest knocks in Twenty20 cricket on Monday night to lead Mumbai Indians to a famous win over Kolkata Knight Riders.
Tendulkar's controlled master class ensured that the Mumbai Indians maintained a clean slate against Kolkata Knight Riders in DLF-IPL.
Tendulkar slammed 71 (48b, 10x4) as Mumbai Indians chased down a modest Kolkata Knight Riders target of 156 at their home ground, Brabourne Stadium.
In the end, the seven-wicket win was an apt end to a clash where the home team played through the course of the game.
Right from the time Sourav Ganguly promptly chose to bat first after winning the toss, Mumbai Indians seemed to have an edge. Both sides made changes to their playing XIs and more importantly, right at the top of the order.
Ganguly and Chris Gayle walked out to form a new opening pair for Knight Riders in the tournament. Gayle and Ganguly made a measured start of 70. Ganguly (31: 34b, 5x4), still not at his best, let Gayle take charge.
After Ganguly departed, Gayle and Owais Shah put on 82 runs as the slow nature of the pitch ensured that the partnership never really took off.
Gayle (75: 60b, 7x4, 2x6) in his first game of IPL 2010 stood out for Knight Riders, but it was an uncharacteristic knock. Mumbai Indians pace attack responded well to the Gayle challenge and then Harbhajan Singh bowled a miserly spell.
What looked like a modest target was further diminished by a new opening pair for Mumbai Indians. Tendulkar, though, held the innings together after new partner Shikhar Dhawan departed.
A brief lull in the chase created excitement but Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowling was rather wayward. Ishant Sharma raised hopes but along with Shane Bond, disappointed with his extravagant approach.
Ganguly marshalled his resources reasonably, and even pulled off a stunning catch, but it was never going to be enough.
In the end it was only fair that the wave of blue at the Brabourne Stadium got what they asked for, a Mumbai Indians win.
Tendulkar's controlled master class ensured that the Mumbai Indians maintained a clean slate against Kolkata Knight Riders in DLF-IPL.
Tendulkar slammed 71 (48b, 10x4) as Mumbai Indians chased down a modest Kolkata Knight Riders target of 156 at their home ground, Brabourne Stadium.
In the end, the seven-wicket win was an apt end to a clash where the home team played through the course of the game.
Right from the time Sourav Ganguly promptly chose to bat first after winning the toss, Mumbai Indians seemed to have an edge. Both sides made changes to their playing XIs and more importantly, right at the top of the order.
Ganguly and Chris Gayle walked out to form a new opening pair for Knight Riders in the tournament. Gayle and Ganguly made a measured start of 70. Ganguly (31: 34b, 5x4), still not at his best, let Gayle take charge.
After Ganguly departed, Gayle and Owais Shah put on 82 runs as the slow nature of the pitch ensured that the partnership never really took off.
Gayle (75: 60b, 7x4, 2x6) in his first game of IPL 2010 stood out for Knight Riders, but it was an uncharacteristic knock. Mumbai Indians pace attack responded well to the Gayle challenge and then Harbhajan Singh bowled a miserly spell.
What looked like a modest target was further diminished by a new opening pair for Mumbai Indians. Tendulkar, though, held the innings together after new partner Shikhar Dhawan departed.
A brief lull in the chase created excitement but Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowling was rather wayward. Ishant Sharma raised hopes but along with Shane Bond, disappointed with his extravagant approach.
Ganguly marshalled his resources reasonably, and even pulled off a stunning catch, but it was never going to be enough.
In the end it was only fair that the wave of blue at the Brabourne Stadium got what they asked for, a Mumbai Indians win.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Super Kings fall in Super over
Super. A Super Over contest that is. The most exhilarating match of IPL 2010 saw Kings XI Punjab snatch victory from the jaws of defeat over Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk.
Yuvraj Singh and Mahela Jayawardene came in to bat after Chennai’s Hayden, Raina and Morkel had scored 9 from their Super Over. KXIP’s new face, South African ‘Rusty’ Theron, an unknown name in India, came on for the Super Over and bowled Hayden off his second delivery to take the Punjab team close to victory. But Raina hit a six off the next ball to change the dynamics again. Theron, a great death over bowler, got his revenge taking Raina’s wicket to end the CSK Super Over. Theron was deservedly named the Man-of-the-Match.
Needing ten to win, KXIP’s Jayawardene faced his wily Sri Lankan teammate Muralidaran. A six off the first ball convinced KXIP supporters, but Murali took Jayawardene’s wicket to leave the match in the balance. Yuvraj then stepped up and hit a reverse sweep for a boundary to seal the victory for KXIP.
Earlier, Parthiv Patel and Matthew Hayden came out to bat and complete the formalities for CSK, but the night was to take a different turn. After the intial Hayden salvo, 33 run from 24 balls and Parthiv Patel’s rollicking half-century 57 off 58 balls, CSK’s middle-order let them down. They went from a position of strength at 96 for 2 to 136 for 136 for seven. Theron was one of the heroes giving away a mere 17 runs off his four overs.
Sent in to bat after losing the toss, Kings XI Punjab experimented at the top of their order by sending in their last match’s hero Irfan Pathan to open the innings with Ravi Bopara. The move paid off with Pathan Jr. playing his role of a pinch-hitter to perfection.
But Pathan was again playing a lone-hand with Muralidaran bewitching his two Sri Lankan opponents: Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. First the off-spinner enticed the Punjab captain Sangakkara down the track and got him stumped. Then he got Jayawardene to play across the line and miss the ball, and he was plumb leg before.
Pathan did hit one huge six off off-spinner R Ashwin in his cameo of 39 runs off 32 balls before getting out to L Balaji. At 64 for 4 after 11 overs, KXIP were tottering towards the lowest score of this edition of IPL, but Yuvraj Singh, looking out of touch till now, took over from Pathan. His six off Morkel over the midwicket region announcing his return to form. But even he didn’t stay till the end, departing just as he was looking good. He had scored 43 from 28 balls.
With this win, Kings XI Punjab opened their account on the points table and should take the confidence of winning a close one into the next match.
Yuvraj Singh and Mahela Jayawardene came in to bat after Chennai’s Hayden, Raina and Morkel had scored 9 from their Super Over. KXIP’s new face, South African ‘Rusty’ Theron, an unknown name in India, came on for the Super Over and bowled Hayden off his second delivery to take the Punjab team close to victory. But Raina hit a six off the next ball to change the dynamics again. Theron, a great death over bowler, got his revenge taking Raina’s wicket to end the CSK Super Over. Theron was deservedly named the Man-of-the-Match.
Needing ten to win, KXIP’s Jayawardene faced his wily Sri Lankan teammate Muralidaran. A six off the first ball convinced KXIP supporters, but Murali took Jayawardene’s wicket to leave the match in the balance. Yuvraj then stepped up and hit a reverse sweep for a boundary to seal the victory for KXIP.
Earlier, Parthiv Patel and Matthew Hayden came out to bat and complete the formalities for CSK, but the night was to take a different turn. After the intial Hayden salvo, 33 run from 24 balls and Parthiv Patel’s rollicking half-century 57 off 58 balls, CSK’s middle-order let them down. They went from a position of strength at 96 for 2 to 136 for 136 for seven. Theron was one of the heroes giving away a mere 17 runs off his four overs.
Sent in to bat after losing the toss, Kings XI Punjab experimented at the top of their order by sending in their last match’s hero Irfan Pathan to open the innings with Ravi Bopara. The move paid off with Pathan Jr. playing his role of a pinch-hitter to perfection.
But Pathan was again playing a lone-hand with Muralidaran bewitching his two Sri Lankan opponents: Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. First the off-spinner enticed the Punjab captain Sangakkara down the track and got him stumped. Then he got Jayawardene to play across the line and miss the ball, and he was plumb leg before.
Pathan did hit one huge six off off-spinner R Ashwin in his cameo of 39 runs off 32 balls before getting out to L Balaji. At 64 for 4 after 11 overs, KXIP were tottering towards the lowest score of this edition of IPL, but Yuvraj Singh, looking out of touch till now, took over from Pathan. His six off Morkel over the midwicket region announcing his return to form. But even he didn’t stay till the end, departing just as he was looking good. He had scored 43 from 28 balls.
With this win, Kings XI Punjab opened their account on the points table and should take the confidence of winning a close one into the next match.
Deccan an inch above Delhi
Deccan Chargers made it two in two at their new home as they beat Delhi Daredevils in a closely fought match. DC beat DD by 10 runs in a last over finish.
Sunday started on the wrong note for debutant Monish Mishra of Deccan Chargers as he got bowled by an Amit Mishra googly. The match had two R Sharmas playing for DC today, Rohit - the batsman and Rahul – the bowler and two Mishras – Amit Mishra - the leggie for Delhi and Monish Mishra - the opening batsman for DC.
DC had quite a few batsmen who got starts but none got going as they lost wickets after every few overs, yet managing to reach a healthy 171 for the loss of six wickets. Top-scorer Rohit Sharma gave the innings an impetus with a 30-ball 45 playing his first significant knock of the tournament. Earlier Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Symonds struck together a small but important partnership after losing Gilchrist during the Power play. T Suman’s 29 off 19 too was an important contribution.
The innings for Delhi started unusually, as for a change it was David Warner who shocked the batsmen with attacking stroke-play. Warner stole the limelight from Sehwag as he got stuck into RP Singh scoring 20 runs off his first over and the innings’ second. It seemed Sehwag did not like this as he soon got out having faced seven balls for his three before getting out to Ojha.
Warner continued with a fine half-century keeping DD in the hunt. They were very much in the game when AB de Villiers and Warner were at it. After they lost de Villiers at 98, it was left to captain Dinesh Karthik to steer the team home. Karthik fought hard for a well compiled 46 of 27 with a couple of sixes but it was not enough as he got out at the wrong time with his team still needing 16 runs off 10 balls. Symonds should come in for a special praise as he bowled an excellent 17th and 19th over dismissing Karthik and Mishra off consecutive balls almost sealing a victory for his team. Purple Cap holder Chaminda Vaas showed signs of brilliance as he kept the batsmen under check with a fabulous last over picking one wicket and getting a great direct hit off his own bowling, restricting the batsmen to just 3 runs. Delhi just could not cross the last hurdle – there were run-outs, wickets falling and continuous misunderstandings in the last over.
Sunday started on the wrong note for debutant Monish Mishra of Deccan Chargers as he got bowled by an Amit Mishra googly. The match had two R Sharmas playing for DC today, Rohit - the batsman and Rahul – the bowler and two Mishras – Amit Mishra - the leggie for Delhi and Monish Mishra - the opening batsman for DC.
DC had quite a few batsmen who got starts but none got going as they lost wickets after every few overs, yet managing to reach a healthy 171 for the loss of six wickets. Top-scorer Rohit Sharma gave the innings an impetus with a 30-ball 45 playing his first significant knock of the tournament. Earlier Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Symonds struck together a small but important partnership after losing Gilchrist during the Power play. T Suman’s 29 off 19 too was an important contribution.
The innings for Delhi started unusually, as for a change it was David Warner who shocked the batsmen with attacking stroke-play. Warner stole the limelight from Sehwag as he got stuck into RP Singh scoring 20 runs off his first over and the innings’ second. It seemed Sehwag did not like this as he soon got out having faced seven balls for his three before getting out to Ojha.
Warner continued with a fine half-century keeping DD in the hunt. They were very much in the game when AB de Villiers and Warner were at it. After they lost de Villiers at 98, it was left to captain Dinesh Karthik to steer the team home. Karthik fought hard for a well compiled 46 of 27 with a couple of sixes but it was not enough as he got out at the wrong time with his team still needing 16 runs off 10 balls. Symonds should come in for a special praise as he bowled an excellent 17th and 19th over dismissing Karthik and Mishra off consecutive balls almost sealing a victory for his team. Purple Cap holder Chaminda Vaas showed signs of brilliance as he kept the batsmen under check with a fabulous last over picking one wicket and getting a great direct hit off his own bowling, restricting the batsmen to just 3 runs. Delhi just could not cross the last hurdle – there were run-outs, wickets falling and continuous misunderstandings in the last over.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
RCB Crushes Mumbai
Jacques Kallis’ unbeaten run continued as he steered his team to yet another victory. RCB reached the target of 152 with 7 wickets to spare and took the No.1 spot away from the Mumbai Indians. Playing at home, Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians had got off to a good start with 57 for 2 by the seventh over. But just when they were looking to take control of the innings, they lost Saurabh Tiwary to a googly by the wily Anil Kumble.
With Sachin Tendulkar still at the crease, MI were looking to build the innings and have a go at the end with a good pack of hitters to come. That was not to be as Vinay Kumar, the most under-rated RCB bowler, struck a triple blow. Getting rid of Ambati Rayudu, Sachin Tendulkar and Dwayne Bravo in a matter of five balls, he put MI on the back-foot at 76 for 6. MI never really recovered from there as they lost wickets regularly. Thanks to a last over blitz by Zaheer Khan, they managed a competitive 151 for 9.
The Challengers, on the other hand, have got used to a good solid start by Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey. The two have formed the ultimate opening pair in IPL 2010 with an average of over 59 batting together with three fifty-run partnerships. Pandey played a quick hand scoring 40 off 27 pulling Zaheer for a couple of boundaries. Although Kallis was earlier dropped by Rayudu, who missed a sitter and hurt himself falling on his elbow, he stayed unbeaten to see his team through.
After the opening partnership of 85 off 9 overs, RCB had all but won it. They were always in control with Kallis standing tall at the other end. The match was pitted as the clash of the two heavyweights of IPL 2010. On paper as well as on the points table, MI and RCB are by far the leaders of IPL 2010. It is a pity that Mumbai Indians eventually gave up their No.1 position to earlier second ranked Royal Challengers Bangalore rather easily.
Mumbai Indians will look at this game as a wake-up call in terms of their middle order’s resourcefulness. RCB too has been winning matches thanks to consistent performances at the top, by Kallis who has scored over 200 runs without getting out, Pandey and Uthappa.
This result sets up the next few games very well as the Mumbai Indians take on fifth placed Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Bangalore play against third ranked Chennai at home.
With Sachin Tendulkar still at the crease, MI were looking to build the innings and have a go at the end with a good pack of hitters to come. That was not to be as Vinay Kumar, the most under-rated RCB bowler, struck a triple blow. Getting rid of Ambati Rayudu, Sachin Tendulkar and Dwayne Bravo in a matter of five balls, he put MI on the back-foot at 76 for 6. MI never really recovered from there as they lost wickets regularly. Thanks to a last over blitz by Zaheer Khan, they managed a competitive 151 for 9.
The Challengers, on the other hand, have got used to a good solid start by Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey. The two have formed the ultimate opening pair in IPL 2010 with an average of over 59 batting together with three fifty-run partnerships. Pandey played a quick hand scoring 40 off 27 pulling Zaheer for a couple of boundaries. Although Kallis was earlier dropped by Rayudu, who missed a sitter and hurt himself falling on his elbow, he stayed unbeaten to see his team through.
After the opening partnership of 85 off 9 overs, RCB had all but won it. They were always in control with Kallis standing tall at the other end. The match was pitted as the clash of the two heavyweights of IPL 2010. On paper as well as on the points table, MI and RCB are by far the leaders of IPL 2010. It is a pity that Mumbai Indians eventually gave up their No.1 position to earlier second ranked Royal Challengers Bangalore rather easily.
Mumbai Indians will look at this game as a wake-up call in terms of their middle order’s resourcefulness. RCB too has been winning matches thanks to consistent performances at the top, by Kallis who has scored over 200 runs without getting out, Pandey and Uthappa.
This result sets up the next few games very well as the Mumbai Indians take on fifth placed Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Bangalore play against third ranked Chennai at home.
Al last Rajasthan opened their points tally
Rajasthan Royals opened their account in IPL 2010 with a clinical team performance that saw them defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by 34 runs.
Kolkata Knight Riders never appeared to be in the chase while going after target of 169. The wily campaigner that Shane Warne is, he understood the nature of the pitch and had Yusuf Pathan open the bowling for the Royals.
The KKR openers found Pathan’s slow off-spin difficult to hit out against and were bogged down from the very beginning. The wicket was the slowest of IPL 2010 and the Kolkata side could never get ahead of the curve. Pathan may have failed with the ball, but took the two vital wickets of KKR openers Brad Hodge (36) and Manoj Tiwary (11). Knight Riders’ supporters would have been hoping for a match-winning show from Sourav Ganguly, but the KKR skipper could only contribute a slow 33 runs from 27 balls.
In the ultimate analysis, it was good, disciplined bowling by the Rajasthan Royals that won them the match.
Earlier in the day, the Kolkata Knight Riders started well getting the wicket of Rajasthan Royals opener Michael Lumb off the first ball of the innings. But after that it was a tale of batsmen from the Royals’ stable settling in and then getting out.
On a slow track, proper cricketing shots are the order of the day. And Rajasthan Royals’ innings was about cricketers who played classical shots getting in and helping the team reach a decent total. Rajasthan’s total was largely due to the efforts of their in-form batsman Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and debutant Faiz Fazal.
Fazal, who plays for the Railways side in the domestic competition, went after the KKR bowling right from the start. Fazal was particularly severe on Dinda milking him for 18 runs. But Fazal (31) got out to Shane Bond just when he was looking good for a big score. Jhunjhunwala has had a good run in IPL 2010 till now and his 45 along with Australian Adam Voges’ 37 runs were instrumental in getting the Royals to 168 in their allotted 20 overs. Yusuf once again fell to a bouncer. Dinda got rid of the blaster with a short one that had him holing out to deep square leg. The slowness of the wicket can be gauged from the fact that only two sixes were hit in the Royals’ innings.
With this win, Rajasthan Royals opened their account in IPL 2010 with two points.
Kolkata Knight Riders never appeared to be in the chase while going after target of 169. The wily campaigner that Shane Warne is, he understood the nature of the pitch and had Yusuf Pathan open the bowling for the Royals.
The KKR openers found Pathan’s slow off-spin difficult to hit out against and were bogged down from the very beginning. The wicket was the slowest of IPL 2010 and the Kolkata side could never get ahead of the curve. Pathan may have failed with the ball, but took the two vital wickets of KKR openers Brad Hodge (36) and Manoj Tiwary (11). Knight Riders’ supporters would have been hoping for a match-winning show from Sourav Ganguly, but the KKR skipper could only contribute a slow 33 runs from 27 balls.
In the ultimate analysis, it was good, disciplined bowling by the Rajasthan Royals that won them the match.
Earlier in the day, the Kolkata Knight Riders started well getting the wicket of Rajasthan Royals opener Michael Lumb off the first ball of the innings. But after that it was a tale of batsmen from the Royals’ stable settling in and then getting out.
On a slow track, proper cricketing shots are the order of the day. And Rajasthan Royals’ innings was about cricketers who played classical shots getting in and helping the team reach a decent total. Rajasthan’s total was largely due to the efforts of their in-form batsman Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and debutant Faiz Fazal.
Fazal, who plays for the Railways side in the domestic competition, went after the KKR bowling right from the start. Fazal was particularly severe on Dinda milking him for 18 runs. But Fazal (31) got out to Shane Bond just when he was looking good for a big score. Jhunjhunwala has had a good run in IPL 2010 till now and his 45 along with Australian Adam Voges’ 37 runs were instrumental in getting the Royals to 168 in their allotted 20 overs. Yusuf once again fell to a bouncer. Dinda got rid of the blaster with a short one that had him holing out to deep square leg. The slowness of the wicket can be gauged from the fact that only two sixes were hit in the Royals’ innings.
With this win, Rajasthan Royals opened their account in IPL 2010 with two points.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Deccan escapes to victory
Irfan Pathan produced a scorcher of an innings to almost take Kings XI Punjab to an improbable win over Deccan who had scored 170 for 7 off their allotted overs. But like his older brother Yusuf against Mumbai earlier in the series, ended up on the losing side.
Jaskaran Singh was given the opportunity to bowl the last over for Deccan with 19 needed and three KXIP wickets in hand. The youngster stepped up and justified Gilchrist’s faith taking Pathan Jr’s wicket off the first ball ending the Kings XI Punjab resistance. Deccan Chargers defeated Kings XI Punjab by six runs.
KXIP and everybody watching the match had written off the Punjab team with the score reading 104 for 7 in the 17th over. But Irfan had other plans for the night.
Irfan seemed to have taken a page out of Yusuf Pathan’s diary and set about demolishing the Deccan attack. Like a man on a mission, Irfan massacred the opposition to score 60 (3x4, 5x6) from 29 balls at an incredible average of 206.89. The junior Pathan hit some huge sixes including one off R P Singh in the 17th over that went over 105 metres.
Sadly for Kings XI Punjab, Irfan couldn’t complete his task and fell at the final hurdle.
Opener Ravi Bopara with 38 runs and Mahela Jayawardene with 14 runs were the only two other Kings XI Punjab batsmen to get into double figures. Kumar Sangakkara and Yuvraj Singh again failed to get going and the task was too much for the others to handle. West Indian debutant Adrian Barath couldn’t adjust to the new playing conditions and perished quickly.
Chaminda Vaas was his usual efficient self taking two wickets for 27 runs. Symonds’ good day at the office continued with the all-rounder taking one wicket and also contributing in the field with a couple of catches. He deservedly was named the Man-of-the-Match.
The Chargers would consider themselves lucky to lose the toss and be put in to bat. On a wicket which neither of the teams was familiar with, Adam Gilchrist came out like a man possessed. The DC skipper hit a whirlwind 33 (12b, 4x4, 2x6), before giving Shalabh Srivastava the biggest wicket of his life. Gilchrist, who has been the mainstay of the Chargers this season, was so dominant that the Chargers were 43 in the third over when his wicket fell.
The Kings XI Punjab team appeared to be in the game for a brief while when their lynchpin Yuvraj Singh turned his arm over and claimed the two vital wickets of Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Symonds. The Chargers had crossed the 100 mark in the 10th over, before they were pegged back by the Punjab spinners. But the Punjab team was leaking runs from the other side. Sreesanth was the main culprit, giving away 51 runs from his four overs.
The unfortunate incident of VVS Laxman retiring hurt after being hit on the wrist by the return throw saw Andrew Symonds’ arrival at the crease. Symonds hit three huge sixes in his half-century, including one off Sreesanth that went way over long on.
Herschelle Gibbs, T Suman and Vaas also played cameo innings that helped Deccan Chargers put up a defendable score of 170.
With this win, Deccan Chargers have four points in the tournament and will go over the Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders in the points table. Kings XI Punjab are still giving company to Rajasthan Royals at the bottom of the table having failed to open their account in this edition of IPL.
Jaskaran Singh was given the opportunity to bowl the last over for Deccan with 19 needed and three KXIP wickets in hand. The youngster stepped up and justified Gilchrist’s faith taking Pathan Jr’s wicket off the first ball ending the Kings XI Punjab resistance. Deccan Chargers defeated Kings XI Punjab by six runs.
KXIP and everybody watching the match had written off the Punjab team with the score reading 104 for 7 in the 17th over. But Irfan had other plans for the night.
Irfan seemed to have taken a page out of Yusuf Pathan’s diary and set about demolishing the Deccan attack. Like a man on a mission, Irfan massacred the opposition to score 60 (3x4, 5x6) from 29 balls at an incredible average of 206.89. The junior Pathan hit some huge sixes including one off R P Singh in the 17th over that went over 105 metres.
Sadly for Kings XI Punjab, Irfan couldn’t complete his task and fell at the final hurdle.
Opener Ravi Bopara with 38 runs and Mahela Jayawardene with 14 runs were the only two other Kings XI Punjab batsmen to get into double figures. Kumar Sangakkara and Yuvraj Singh again failed to get going and the task was too much for the others to handle. West Indian debutant Adrian Barath couldn’t adjust to the new playing conditions and perished quickly.
Chaminda Vaas was his usual efficient self taking two wickets for 27 runs. Symonds’ good day at the office continued with the all-rounder taking one wicket and also contributing in the field with a couple of catches. He deservedly was named the Man-of-the-Match.
The Chargers would consider themselves lucky to lose the toss and be put in to bat. On a wicket which neither of the teams was familiar with, Adam Gilchrist came out like a man possessed. The DC skipper hit a whirlwind 33 (12b, 4x4, 2x6), before giving Shalabh Srivastava the biggest wicket of his life. Gilchrist, who has been the mainstay of the Chargers this season, was so dominant that the Chargers were 43 in the third over when his wicket fell.
The Kings XI Punjab team appeared to be in the game for a brief while when their lynchpin Yuvraj Singh turned his arm over and claimed the two vital wickets of Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Symonds. The Chargers had crossed the 100 mark in the 10th over, before they were pegged back by the Punjab spinners. But the Punjab team was leaking runs from the other side. Sreesanth was the main culprit, giving away 51 runs from his four overs.
The unfortunate incident of VVS Laxman retiring hurt after being hit on the wrist by the return throw saw Andrew Symonds’ arrival at the crease. Symonds hit three huge sixes in his half-century, including one off Sreesanth that went way over long on.
Herschelle Gibbs, T Suman and Vaas also played cameo innings that helped Deccan Chargers put up a defendable score of 170.
With this win, Deccan Chargers have four points in the tournament and will go over the Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders in the points table. Kings XI Punjab are still giving company to Rajasthan Royals at the bottom of the table having failed to open their account in this edition of IPL.
Raina wins clash of debutants skippers as Super Kings defeats Daredevils
Suresh Raina won the clash of the debutant captains as Dinesh Karthik’s Daredevils failed to defend a total of 185. The Super Kings eventually came out on top in a tense encounter as skipper Raina and Murali Vijay saw out the game with 5 balls to spare. Raina’s composed knock of 49* was enough for the Super Kings to win the match by 5 wickets. The platform for the successful chase was set up by opener Matthew Hayden who scored 93 off just 43 balls. The crowd at the Feroz Shah Kotla got more than a glimpse of the Aussie’s Mongoose bat. Hayden’s knock was embellished with seven sixes and nine boundaries to knock the stuffing out of the Daredevils’ bowling attack.
CSK Team CelebratingHayden was particularly severe on Daredevils spinners, who were slammed over the boundary with utmost ease. The belligerent Aussie scored 19 before switching bats and ended up getting 74 more with the newest innovation in cricket bat technology. Dirk Nannes clawed back some pride for the Daredevils, but it wasn’t enough as the Super Kings proved to be too good for the home side.
Earlier, after winning the toss, Dinesh Karthik opted to bat, and it looked like the move paid off as David Warner and Virender Sehwag started well. Sehwag was in a typically belligerent mood as he punished any ball slightly off length. But Warner couldn’t quite match his partner’s dominance, as he perished after making just seven. That brought Tillakaratne Dilshan to the crease and along with that began the Daredevils’ most fruitful partnership of the day.
The duo put up an impressive 67-run stand that gave the home side some momentum. The Indo-Lankan pair was in fine form, with Sehwag turning out to be a real thorn in CSK’s side. The Daredevils looked like running away with the game, and that prompted captain Suresh Raina to bring on his ace bowler Muttiah Muralidaran. The wily spinner responded aptly for his captain by dismissing both Sehwag and Dilshan in the 12th over with the score at 103. The wheels fell off the Daredevils’ batting from then on, as some tight bowling and good catching from Raina saw the Daredevils stumble. Backed by the perseverance of Mithun Manhas (32*) and some lusty blows from Rajat Bhatia (21), the Daredevils reached a competitive total of 185/6.
With this win, Chennai move up to the third spot in the points table as the Daredevils go down a rung to occupy fifth position.
Praveen's Hattrick floors Rajasthan
The first hat-trick of IPL 2010, the lowest score of the edition and it was clear only one team had showed up for the RCB vs RR match today: the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The hosts’ bowling attack completely took charge of the proceedings right from the start and the visiting team never even appeared to be in the game. Add to the mix, the first hat-trick of IPL 2010 and the Rajasthan Royals were completely outplayed on the night. Pacer Praveen Kumar took the first hat-trick of IPL 2010, and the seventh overall in the competition’s history. The medium-pacer mixed it up well to get the wickets of IPL debutants Damien Martyn, Sumit Narwal and Paras Dogra.
The Rajasthan innings was already in disarray when Praveen started his third over and the 17th over of the innings. They were tottering at 81 for 4 when Martyn hit Praveen’s first ball for a four on the on-side. He came back with a yorker that uprooted Martyn’s (19) middle stump. In came Narwal, Kumar bowled a short-pitch delivery and the debutant top-edged it and was gulped down by Manish Pandey down at fine leg. Paras Dogra (3), who has been a revelation till now, became part of IPL history losing his middle stump and becoming the UP lad’s hat-trick victim. He finished his spell with figures of 4-18-0-3.
Rajasthan’s abject surrender on a pitch that saw two scores of over 200 runs just a couple of days ago was a testimony to the RCB’s disciplined bowling. Kumar was not the only hero of the day, with his skipper Anil Kumble also taking three wickets and having exceptional figures of having given away a mere nine runs from his 3.5 overs with three scalps to boot, including RR opener Michael Lumb and his counterpart Shane Warne.
Yusuf Pathan, after that thundering century against Mumbai Indians, has failed to rescue his team on two occasions. This time around, he scored 26 off 24 balls with two towering sixes that had the crowds hoping that he would repeat his record-breaking knock. The task was monumental and ultimately, impossible.
The Bangalore batsmen came out to complete the last rites of the night getting the required 93 runs without any discomfort. The Bangalore openers reached the target in the 11th over.
Manish Pandey and Jacques Kallis had no hiccups along the way. Kallis, who is leading the race to the Orange Cap, consolidated his position on top with a cool 44* (34b, 7x4). Manish came good, remaining unbeaten at 42 runs off 30 balls.
This was the biggest win of IPL 2010 and will see RCB go to the top of the points table. Rajasthan Royals are now languishing at the bottom of the table.
The hosts’ bowling attack completely took charge of the proceedings right from the start and the visiting team never even appeared to be in the game. Add to the mix, the first hat-trick of IPL 2010 and the Rajasthan Royals were completely outplayed on the night. Pacer Praveen Kumar took the first hat-trick of IPL 2010, and the seventh overall in the competition’s history. The medium-pacer mixed it up well to get the wickets of IPL debutants Damien Martyn, Sumit Narwal and Paras Dogra.
The Rajasthan innings was already in disarray when Praveen started his third over and the 17th over of the innings. They were tottering at 81 for 4 when Martyn hit Praveen’s first ball for a four on the on-side. He came back with a yorker that uprooted Martyn’s (19) middle stump. In came Narwal, Kumar bowled a short-pitch delivery and the debutant top-edged it and was gulped down by Manish Pandey down at fine leg. Paras Dogra (3), who has been a revelation till now, became part of IPL history losing his middle stump and becoming the UP lad’s hat-trick victim. He finished his spell with figures of 4-18-0-3.
Rajasthan’s abject surrender on a pitch that saw two scores of over 200 runs just a couple of days ago was a testimony to the RCB’s disciplined bowling. Kumar was not the only hero of the day, with his skipper Anil Kumble also taking three wickets and having exceptional figures of having given away a mere nine runs from his 3.5 overs with three scalps to boot, including RR opener Michael Lumb and his counterpart Shane Warne.
Yusuf Pathan, after that thundering century against Mumbai Indians, has failed to rescue his team on two occasions. This time around, he scored 26 off 24 balls with two towering sixes that had the crowds hoping that he would repeat his record-breaking knock. The task was monumental and ultimately, impossible.
The Bangalore batsmen came out to complete the last rites of the night getting the required 93 runs without any discomfort. The Bangalore openers reached the target in the 11th over.
Manish Pandey and Jacques Kallis had no hiccups along the way. Kallis, who is leading the race to the Orange Cap, consolidated his position on top with a cool 44* (34b, 7x4). Manish came good, remaining unbeaten at 42 runs off 30 balls.
This was the biggest win of IPL 2010 and will see RCB go to the top of the points table. Rajasthan Royals are now languishing at the bottom of the table.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Mumbai outbatted Delhi
Mumbai Indians announced their championship credentials with a commanding 98-run win over the Delhi Daredevils. With only victory on their minds, the Mumbai franchise easily managed to outplay a side sans Gautam Gambhir.
Gambhir did start the match but his stint in the park barely lasted 10 minutes as a recurrent hamstring injury forced the Delhi captain to retire hurt after an over was bowled. Already down a batsman, Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan began the innings with the immense pressure of scoring at almost 11 an over. Dilshan announced his intentions with a smashing off-drive off Zaheer Khan’s opening delivery.
But very soon the spectre of gloom surrounded the Feroz Shah Kotla. Dilshan was cleaned up by Lasith Malinga in his opening spell, and after Virender Sehwag was dismissed by Dwayne Bravo for 26, there was no chance Delhi could fight back to claw an unlikely win under Gambhir’s absence.
Everything else was academic after that as de Villiers, Maharoof and Karthik perished trying to keep up with the alarming asking rate. Sanath Jayasuriya was the pick of the bowlers claiming two wickets, giving away just 17 runs in his four overs.
Earlier, after being put in to bat by Gautam Gambhir, the Mumbai Indians started like a house on fire. Sachin Tendulkar led the charge, mixing finesse with bludgeoning power like only the Little Master can do. Be it deft touches to the third man boundary, or caressed flicks to the mid wicket fence - Tendulkar did it all and more.
Even Yogesh Nagar’s acrobatic catch to dismiss Sanath Jayasuriya didn’t stop the Mumbai Indians captain from dominating the Daredevils’ bowlers. Aditya Tare’s customary cameo gave a glimpse of the youngster’s talent. Sachin was eventually dismissed after scoring 62 off 32 balls by Amit Mishra.
Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu continued from where Tendulkar left off - the left handed Tiwary was particularly severe on the ineffective Daredevils bowling. The duo put up a solid partnership of 71 runs before Farveez Maharoof got rid of the eager-to-impress Rayudu.
Tiwary followed suit trying to take a quick single. That allowed the West Indian pair of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard to provide the finishing touch as the Mumbai Indians ended up posting 218/7.
This dominating display helped Mumbai Indians leapfrog the Daredevils to the top of the IPL Points Table with two wins out of two. Sachin Tendulkar’s side look like a team eager to make up for lost time.
Gambhir did start the match but his stint in the park barely lasted 10 minutes as a recurrent hamstring injury forced the Delhi captain to retire hurt after an over was bowled. Already down a batsman, Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan began the innings with the immense pressure of scoring at almost 11 an over. Dilshan announced his intentions with a smashing off-drive off Zaheer Khan’s opening delivery.
But very soon the spectre of gloom surrounded the Feroz Shah Kotla. Dilshan was cleaned up by Lasith Malinga in his opening spell, and after Virender Sehwag was dismissed by Dwayne Bravo for 26, there was no chance Delhi could fight back to claw an unlikely win under Gambhir’s absence.
Everything else was academic after that as de Villiers, Maharoof and Karthik perished trying to keep up with the alarming asking rate. Sanath Jayasuriya was the pick of the bowlers claiming two wickets, giving away just 17 runs in his four overs.
Earlier, after being put in to bat by Gautam Gambhir, the Mumbai Indians started like a house on fire. Sachin Tendulkar led the charge, mixing finesse with bludgeoning power like only the Little Master can do. Be it deft touches to the third man boundary, or caressed flicks to the mid wicket fence - Tendulkar did it all and more.
Even Yogesh Nagar’s acrobatic catch to dismiss Sanath Jayasuriya didn’t stop the Mumbai Indians captain from dominating the Daredevils’ bowlers. Aditya Tare’s customary cameo gave a glimpse of the youngster’s talent. Sachin was eventually dismissed after scoring 62 off 32 balls by Amit Mishra.
Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu continued from where Tendulkar left off - the left handed Tiwary was particularly severe on the ineffective Daredevils bowling. The duo put up a solid partnership of 71 runs before Farveez Maharoof got rid of the eager-to-impress Rayudu.
Tiwary followed suit trying to take a quick single. That allowed the West Indian pair of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard to provide the finishing touch as the Mumbai Indians ended up posting 218/7.
This dominating display helped Mumbai Indians leapfrog the Daredevils to the top of the IPL Points Table with two wins out of two. Sachin Tendulkar’s side look like a team eager to make up for lost time.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Superkings halt KKR's momentum
Kolkata Knight Riders could not make it three wins in a row as they failed to cross the obstacle put up by Chennai Super Kings at the Eden gardens on Tuesday night. The Knight Riders fell miserably chasing 165 for a victory, falling short by 55 runs.
As MS Dhoni, captain of the Chennai Super Kings had mentioned at the toss, his team’s strength lies in their batting and hence it was important to make first use of the pitch. Chennai seemed to have made the wrong decision as they found it difficult to keep the run-rate above six till the thirteenth over.
Losing the toss and bowling first, KKR opened their attack with Shane Bond who made his IPL debut. Bond bowled a fiery opening spell going past CSK opener Matthew Hayden’s bat several times. Hayden eventually got out to a blinder of a delivery by Ishant Sharma, who was seen bowling one of his fastest spells. Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay steadied the ship for a while before falling one after the other leaving the team struggling at 55 for 3 off 9.1 overs.
Captain MS Dhoni then joined S Badrinath as the two repaired the innings with some immaculate running between the wickets. Dhoni played a whirlwind of a knock scoring 66 of 33 balls getting good support from Badri who got 43 in a stand of 109 off 65. The turning point of the match were the last four overs where Dhoni took the attack to the opposition, scoring 61 runs off the likes of Ishant, Laxmi Shukla and Bond.
Dhoni and Badri seemed to have caught some momentum taking 16 runs off a Shukla over and never looked back, ending with a commanding 164 for 3.
Set an achievable 165 to win, the Knight Riders started disastrously, losing Brad Hodge off the second ball of the match to Morkel. This wicket maiden was the sign of things to come as Kolkata lost another wicket in the second over- Manoj Tiwary, the hero of the previous match, got bowled after hitting Manpreet Gony for two consecutive boundaries.
The Chennai team sniffed a big victory here as wickets kept tumbling from one end. Wriddhiman Saha and Ganguly seemed to put a fight but did not last too long as Saha fell when the scoreboard read 34 and Dada left with the team stuttering at 55 for five.
Every bowler got amongst the wickets, except Raina, as the KKR finally folded up for 109 in 19.1 overs, handing a comfortable victory to the Chennai Super Kings. Justin Kemp led the bowling taking three wickets off his three overs giving away just 12 runs.
As MS Dhoni, captain of the Chennai Super Kings had mentioned at the toss, his team’s strength lies in their batting and hence it was important to make first use of the pitch. Chennai seemed to have made the wrong decision as they found it difficult to keep the run-rate above six till the thirteenth over.
Losing the toss and bowling first, KKR opened their attack with Shane Bond who made his IPL debut. Bond bowled a fiery opening spell going past CSK opener Matthew Hayden’s bat several times. Hayden eventually got out to a blinder of a delivery by Ishant Sharma, who was seen bowling one of his fastest spells. Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay steadied the ship for a while before falling one after the other leaving the team struggling at 55 for 3 off 9.1 overs.
Captain MS Dhoni then joined S Badrinath as the two repaired the innings with some immaculate running between the wickets. Dhoni played a whirlwind of a knock scoring 66 of 33 balls getting good support from Badri who got 43 in a stand of 109 off 65. The turning point of the match were the last four overs where Dhoni took the attack to the opposition, scoring 61 runs off the likes of Ishant, Laxmi Shukla and Bond.
Dhoni and Badri seemed to have caught some momentum taking 16 runs off a Shukla over and never looked back, ending with a commanding 164 for 3.
Set an achievable 165 to win, the Knight Riders started disastrously, losing Brad Hodge off the second ball of the match to Morkel. This wicket maiden was the sign of things to come as Kolkata lost another wicket in the second over- Manoj Tiwary, the hero of the previous match, got bowled after hitting Manpreet Gony for two consecutive boundaries.
The Chennai team sniffed a big victory here as wickets kept tumbling from one end. Wriddhiman Saha and Ganguly seemed to put a fight but did not last too long as Saha fell when the scoreboard read 34 and Dada left with the team stuttering at 55 for five.
Every bowler got amongst the wickets, except Raina, as the KKR finally folded up for 109 in 19.1 overs, handing a comfortable victory to the Chennai Super Kings. Justin Kemp led the bowling taking three wickets off his three overs giving away just 12 runs.
Kallis stuns Kings XI
Royal Challengers Bangalore have won an ultimately lopsided match against Kings XI Punjab thanks to a Jacques Kallis classic.
RCB got to their target of 204 with seven wickets in hand and with seven balls to spare.
Kallis played a gem of an innings, one only he can play. The South African took time to settle in, but once he was in, no bowler was spared. Manish Pandey’s cameo of 38 helped Kallis immensely. Pandey and Kallis had a partnership of 74 before the Indian opener was dismissed by Piyush Chawla.
The tall South African played a chanceless innings scoring 89* off 55 balls (8x4, 5x6). It was mainly thanks to his effort that RCB achieve their target of 204 with time to spare, seven balls to be exact.
He also played a part with the bowling, taking one wicket for 39 runs.
Pandey’s fall saw Robin Uthappa come in. Bengaluru then got a brief taste of that intoxicating brew called Robin Uthappa. Nobody has ever doubted Uthappa’s talent, but he has somehow failed to live up to those expectations. But today saw a different Uthappa take the field. Sreesanth’s third over saw Uthappa at his best, laying into the fast bowler to hammer 25 runs, making it the most expensive over of IPL 2010. The over analysis looked like a pin code: 6, 2,6,6,4 and 1. He scored 51 off 21 balls.
At first, Kings XI Punjab’s decision to bat first seemed to be the right one with their openers putting up a 129-run partnership by the 15th over. Manvinder Bisla played a chancy innings, but managed to stay at the crease to score 75 off 51 balls (7x4, 4x6). The Haryana-born wicket-keeper-batsman overshadowed his more experienced partner Ravi Bopara. Bopara, though, stayed steady and scored 77 before being bowled by Praveen Kumar.
Both the captains had an ordinary outing with Sangakkara not being able to defend a big total and Anil Kumble had a bad day at the office getting hit on the wrist by a Bisla thunderbolt.
The loss will mean KXIP will go to the bottom of the points table, with RCB opening their account with two points.
RCB got to their target of 204 with seven wickets in hand and with seven balls to spare.
Kallis played a gem of an innings, one only he can play. The South African took time to settle in, but once he was in, no bowler was spared. Manish Pandey’s cameo of 38 helped Kallis immensely. Pandey and Kallis had a partnership of 74 before the Indian opener was dismissed by Piyush Chawla.
The tall South African played a chanceless innings scoring 89* off 55 balls (8x4, 5x6). It was mainly thanks to his effort that RCB achieve their target of 204 with time to spare, seven balls to be exact.
He also played a part with the bowling, taking one wicket for 39 runs.
Pandey’s fall saw Robin Uthappa come in. Bengaluru then got a brief taste of that intoxicating brew called Robin Uthappa. Nobody has ever doubted Uthappa’s talent, but he has somehow failed to live up to those expectations. But today saw a different Uthappa take the field. Sreesanth’s third over saw Uthappa at his best, laying into the fast bowler to hammer 25 runs, making it the most expensive over of IPL 2010. The over analysis looked like a pin code: 6, 2,6,6,4 and 1. He scored 51 off 21 balls.
At first, Kings XI Punjab’s decision to bat first seemed to be the right one with their openers putting up a 129-run partnership by the 15th over. Manvinder Bisla played a chancy innings, but managed to stay at the crease to score 75 off 51 balls (7x4, 4x6). The Haryana-born wicket-keeper-batsman overshadowed his more experienced partner Ravi Bopara. Bopara, though, stayed steady and scored 77 before being bowled by Praveen Kumar.
Both the captains had an ordinary outing with Sangakkara not being able to defend a big total and Anil Kumble had a bad day at the office getting hit on the wrist by a Bisla thunderbolt.
The loss will mean KXIP will go to the bottom of the points table, with RCB opening their account with two points.
Sehwag powered Daredevils massacred Rajasthan Royals
Virender Sehwag’s blistering innings of 75 off just 34 balls was enough to knock the winds out of the Rajasthan Royals’ sails. The Daredevil opener absolutely shattered any hope the Royals had of defending their below par total of 141. Sehwag’s impressive hitting made sure that the Daredevils won comfortably by six wickets.
Chasing 141, the Gambhir-Sehwag opening partnership worked like a charm for 41 runs until Gambhir was dismissed by Dimitri Mascarenhas. The Englishman’s smart bowling bore more dividends as he got Tillakaratne Dilshan off the very next ball - the Sri Lankan’s second successive duck in the tournament. But that was about all the success the Royals had in the field, as Sehwag’s power batting gave the Royals no chance. The Shane Warne led side didn’t help themselves when Shaun Tait dropped Sehwag on 41. To add salt to their wounds, the former Delhi captain went on to score the fastest half-century of the competition in 21 balls. Despite getting rid of Sehwag for 75, the Royals could never pile on the pressure, as Dinesh Karthik(23*) and Mithun Manhas(11*) saw out the game with 17 balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, after being put into bat by Daredevils captain Gautam Gambhir, the away side combined tight bowling and alert fielding to restrict Rajasthan Royals to a manageable 141. The Royals began with a spark, but Dirk Nannes made sure that was extinguished pretty soon. Naman Ojha’s breezy 24 off 14 balls reignited some hope amongst the Royals faithful, but that didn’t last long either, Amit Mishra coming back well to dismiss the dangerous looking Ojha. Rajasthan’s hopes of amassing a defendable total now hinged on Yusuf Pathan. Fresh from his record-breaking feat against Mumbai Indians, Royals’ expectations of him just went up a notch. And in the search for quick runs Pathan held out at mid-on off a Farveez Maharoof slower delivery. From then on it was damage control all the way for the Royals, as they struggled to reach 141 courtesy some responsible batting from Abhishek Jhunjhunwala 53*.
Two wins out of two for the Daredevils sees them top the points table on net run rate with 4 points. The Royals, on the other hand, languish at the bottom of the table after two successive losses.
Chasing 141, the Gambhir-Sehwag opening partnership worked like a charm for 41 runs until Gambhir was dismissed by Dimitri Mascarenhas. The Englishman’s smart bowling bore more dividends as he got Tillakaratne Dilshan off the very next ball - the Sri Lankan’s second successive duck in the tournament. But that was about all the success the Royals had in the field, as Sehwag’s power batting gave the Royals no chance. The Shane Warne led side didn’t help themselves when Shaun Tait dropped Sehwag on 41. To add salt to their wounds, the former Delhi captain went on to score the fastest half-century of the competition in 21 balls. Despite getting rid of Sehwag for 75, the Royals could never pile on the pressure, as Dinesh Karthik(23*) and Mithun Manhas(11*) saw out the game with 17 balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, after being put into bat by Daredevils captain Gautam Gambhir, the away side combined tight bowling and alert fielding to restrict Rajasthan Royals to a manageable 141. The Royals began with a spark, but Dirk Nannes made sure that was extinguished pretty soon. Naman Ojha’s breezy 24 off 14 balls reignited some hope amongst the Royals faithful, but that didn’t last long either, Amit Mishra coming back well to dismiss the dangerous looking Ojha. Rajasthan’s hopes of amassing a defendable total now hinged on Yusuf Pathan. Fresh from his record-breaking feat against Mumbai Indians, Royals’ expectations of him just went up a notch. And in the search for quick runs Pathan held out at mid-on off a Farveez Maharoof slower delivery. From then on it was damage control all the way for the Royals, as they struggled to reach 141 courtesy some responsible batting from Abhishek Jhunjhunwala 53*.
Two wins out of two for the Daredevils sees them top the points table on net run rate with 4 points. The Royals, on the other hand, languish at the bottom of the table after two successive losses.
Gilchrist won the battle of glovesman
Deccan Chargers’ fortune in the two games has been clearly defined by a Sri Lankan. In the tournament opener it was Angelo Mathews who spoiled their party and on Sunday it was Chaminda Vaas who made sure it was Chargers’ day at the Chidambaram Stadium.
Chasing a competitive total of 190 runs, Chennai Super Kings could manage just 159-9 in 20 overs.
Chaminda Vaas ran through the Chennai Super Kings top order to leave them reeling at 31 for three.
The left-arm pacer clean bowled Murali Vijay (3) before getting the prized wicket of Suresh Raina (6). The middle-order batsman was caught behind off Vaas in the third over.
Vaas returned to hit the final blow in the form of Matthew Hayden’s wicket. The former Australian opener made 17 before being caught by RP Singh.
Crisis man MS Dhoni (42) along with Justin Kemp (22) tried to stitch a partnership but a bowling change by Gilly crashed all hopes. Andrew Symonds, who was brought into the attack, hammered the final nail when Dhoni misread the short-of-good-length ball and was clean bowled.
Earlier, Andrew Symonds smashed a half-century and Herschelle Gibbs made a quickfire 45 as Deccan Chargers scored 190-4 against MS Dhoni’s men.
Symonds hit three sixes in his 43-ball knock while Gibbs struck five fours and a six as the duo added 95 runs for the third wicket. This was after captain Adam Gilchrist got the Chargers off to a flying start after opting to bat first.
Gilchrist reached 1000 runs in IPL games in his brutal 17-ball 38.
The Deccan Chargers’ skipper chipped in before a late cameo from Rohit Sharma (19*) ensured they put up a healthy total.
Sudeep Tyagi (0/39 from 1.5 overs), who bowled the last over, conceded 21 runs off his first five balls before being replaced by Justin Kemp who bowled the last over.
Off-spinner R Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers finishing with 1/26 from his four overs for the Chennai Super Kings.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Deccan Chargers were off to a flier as Gilchrist and VVS Laxman (12) added 55 runs in 28 balls for the opening wicket. Gilchrist was bowled by Ashwin after scoring a murderous 38 from just 17 balls smashing 4 fours and 3 sixes.
CSK then struck again in the very next ball as Laxman was run out by the combination of Dhoni and Suresh Raina.
Chasing a competitive total of 190 runs, Chennai Super Kings could manage just 159-9 in 20 overs.
Chaminda Vaas ran through the Chennai Super Kings top order to leave them reeling at 31 for three.
The left-arm pacer clean bowled Murali Vijay (3) before getting the prized wicket of Suresh Raina (6). The middle-order batsman was caught behind off Vaas in the third over.
Vaas returned to hit the final blow in the form of Matthew Hayden’s wicket. The former Australian opener made 17 before being caught by RP Singh.
Crisis man MS Dhoni (42) along with Justin Kemp (22) tried to stitch a partnership but a bowling change by Gilly crashed all hopes. Andrew Symonds, who was brought into the attack, hammered the final nail when Dhoni misread the short-of-good-length ball and was clean bowled.
Earlier, Andrew Symonds smashed a half-century and Herschelle Gibbs made a quickfire 45 as Deccan Chargers scored 190-4 against MS Dhoni’s men.
Symonds hit three sixes in his 43-ball knock while Gibbs struck five fours and a six as the duo added 95 runs for the third wicket. This was after captain Adam Gilchrist got the Chargers off to a flying start after opting to bat first.
Gilchrist reached 1000 runs in IPL games in his brutal 17-ball 38.
The Deccan Chargers’ skipper chipped in before a late cameo from Rohit Sharma (19*) ensured they put up a healthy total.
Sudeep Tyagi (0/39 from 1.5 overs), who bowled the last over, conceded 21 runs off his first five balls before being replaced by Justin Kemp who bowled the last over.
Off-spinner R Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers finishing with 1/26 from his four overs for the Chennai Super Kings.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Deccan Chargers were off to a flier as Gilchrist and VVS Laxman (12) added 55 runs in 28 balls for the opening wicket. Gilchrist was bowled by Ashwin after scoring a murderous 38 from just 17 balls smashing 4 fours and 3 sixes.
CSK then struck again in the very next ball as Laxman was run out by the combination of Dhoni and Suresh Raina.
2009 Runners up RCB loses their opening game
In Angelo Mathews, Kolkata Knight Riders seem to have found their talismanic player. After doing a star turn with the bat in the opening encounter, the tall Sri Lankan turned his arm over and his four-for took the fight out of the RCB team.
The Kolkata Knight Riders made light of the Royal Challengers target of 136 to win the fourth encounter in IPL 2010 by seven wickets.
With a small target to chase, the Knight Riders got off to a brilliant start with both openers scoring fifties. Manoj Tiwary, who had missed out in the first match, came good with the bat. Tiwary, touted as a gifted youngster whose promising career has been hampered by injuries, came out like a man possessed. The stylist Bengal cricketer playing in the uncharacteristic position of an opener reached his fifty off just 28 balls (50, 29, 6x4, 2x6). Brad Hodge gave him good company scoring a sedate 50 (50, 45b, 7x4). Captain Ganguly looked like he would help his team cruise to the target, but his side took a while to reach this meager total, getting it only in the last over. KKR scored the last 24 runs, after losing Hodge’s wicket, in 32 balls.
Royal Challengers Bangalore had lost the plot early in the encounter losing three wickets for a mere 20 runs by the sixth over. Sreevats Goswami, Manish Pandey and Virat Kohli were all back in the dug-out without disturbing the scorer too much.
Bangalore’s much talked of young talent couldn’t do anything in this match as the Knight Riders attack kept a tight leash on the scoring rate. KKR’s new-ball bowlers, Charl Langeveldt and Ishant Sharma, never allowed the batting to settle down. At one time the scoring rate was less than four an over.
Angelo Mathews stepped in at this time and induced last season’s hero Manish Pandey to bottom-edge the ball onto his stumps. Murali Kartik, the unsung hero of KKR, then beguiled Virat Kohli to leave RCB tottering at the brink.
Mathews and Kartik continued Langeveldt and Sharma’s good work and the RCB batsmen could cross the boundary ropes only twice. One of the fours came off talented Englishman Eoin Morgan’s bat when he hit Brad Hodge over long-off. RCB was hoping their new find would prove to be the saviour like he has been for England, but Morgan got out for 10 playing a reverse-sweep.
This win earns KKR 4 points while RCB will have to hope their next encounter against KXIP will open their IPL points’ account.
The Kolkata Knight Riders made light of the Royal Challengers target of 136 to win the fourth encounter in IPL 2010 by seven wickets.
With a small target to chase, the Knight Riders got off to a brilliant start with both openers scoring fifties. Manoj Tiwary, who had missed out in the first match, came good with the bat. Tiwary, touted as a gifted youngster whose promising career has been hampered by injuries, came out like a man possessed. The stylist Bengal cricketer playing in the uncharacteristic position of an opener reached his fifty off just 28 balls (50, 29, 6x4, 2x6). Brad Hodge gave him good company scoring a sedate 50 (50, 45b, 7x4). Captain Ganguly looked like he would help his team cruise to the target, but his side took a while to reach this meager total, getting it only in the last over. KKR scored the last 24 runs, after losing Hodge’s wicket, in 32 balls.
Royal Challengers Bangalore had lost the plot early in the encounter losing three wickets for a mere 20 runs by the sixth over. Sreevats Goswami, Manish Pandey and Virat Kohli were all back in the dug-out without disturbing the scorer too much.
Bangalore’s much talked of young talent couldn’t do anything in this match as the Knight Riders attack kept a tight leash on the scoring rate. KKR’s new-ball bowlers, Charl Langeveldt and Ishant Sharma, never allowed the batting to settle down. At one time the scoring rate was less than four an over.
Angelo Mathews stepped in at this time and induced last season’s hero Manish Pandey to bottom-edge the ball onto his stumps. Murali Kartik, the unsung hero of KKR, then beguiled Virat Kohli to leave RCB tottering at the brink.
Mathews and Kartik continued Langeveldt and Sharma’s good work and the RCB batsmen could cross the boundary ropes only twice. One of the fours came off talented Englishman Eoin Morgan’s bat when he hit Brad Hodge over long-off. RCB was hoping their new find would prove to be the saviour like he has been for England, but Morgan got out for 10 playing a reverse-sweep.
This win earns KKR 4 points while RCB will have to hope their next encounter against KXIP will open their IPL points’ account.
Captain's knock by Gambhir sees daredevils through
For two first-time captains in DLF-IPL, this was probably the toughest start. But at the end of 40 overs, only one of the two, Gautam Gambhir, could walk away from the PCA Stadium in Mohali with a smile.
The other captain, Kumar Sangakkara of Kings XI Punjab, tried gamely but could not dislodge his opposite number to register a win in the opening game. Both innings of the game mirrored each other to an extent - it was Gambhir's calm approach which helped Delhi Daredevils overhaul a modest target of 143. His knock of 72 (54b, 9x4, 1x6 ) thelped Daredevils notch up a hard-fought five-wicket win.
It was Gambhir's day out as everything he tried paid off. He opted to field and the bowlers exerted enough pressure to keep the home side at bay.
With the score reading 44-4 and the top-order falling apart, the hosts appeared to have lost the plot. But Ravi Bopara (56: 48b, 7x4, 1x6) and Irfan Pathan (21: 16b, 2x4) added 60 runs to revive the home team. The lower-order contributed a bit but Kings XI Punjab could not ever recover well enough to post an imposing target.
The Delhi Daredevils attack led by the pacy Dirk Nannes (2-12) tied up the batsmen. The other bowlers fed off Nannes’ strong approach and picked a wicket each to restrict the hosts to 142-9.
When Daredevils began chasing down the modest score, they would not have bargained for a mid-innings crisis. With Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan falling cheaply, Gambhir put his head down and found an able partner in his deputy Dinesh Karthik (20: 18b, 3x4). Together the duo added 34 runs.
Gambhir picked boundaries at will and rotated the strike to keep his side in the hunt. When Karthik fell trying an expansive shot, it still seemed to be a long shot for Daredevils.
But just then Mithun Manhas showed the value of his experience and the importance of having strong Indian domestic players. Manhas began quietly, but later picked up the momentum, easing the pressure on his skipper.
Till about the 18th over in the chase, the match seemed to be headed for a tight finish, with the Daredevils still ahead. But then came the over when Manhas rode on his luck, aided by some sloppy fielding by Irfan Pathan.
Assured of a good chase, Gambhir opened up a bit more. But sadly for him he was not around to see his side win. It was the Gambhir-Manhas stand worth 61 which sealed the deal for the Daredevils, which would satisfy the skipper.
Deservingly, the final rites were completed by the unsung Manhas.
The other captain, Kumar Sangakkara of Kings XI Punjab, tried gamely but could not dislodge his opposite number to register a win in the opening game. Both innings of the game mirrored each other to an extent - it was Gambhir's calm approach which helped Delhi Daredevils overhaul a modest target of 143. His knock of 72 (54b, 9x4, 1x6 ) thelped Daredevils notch up a hard-fought five-wicket win.
It was Gambhir's day out as everything he tried paid off. He opted to field and the bowlers exerted enough pressure to keep the home side at bay.
With the score reading 44-4 and the top-order falling apart, the hosts appeared to have lost the plot. But Ravi Bopara (56: 48b, 7x4, 1x6) and Irfan Pathan (21: 16b, 2x4) added 60 runs to revive the home team. The lower-order contributed a bit but Kings XI Punjab could not ever recover well enough to post an imposing target.
The Delhi Daredevils attack led by the pacy Dirk Nannes (2-12) tied up the batsmen. The other bowlers fed off Nannes’ strong approach and picked a wicket each to restrict the hosts to 142-9.
When Daredevils began chasing down the modest score, they would not have bargained for a mid-innings crisis. With Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan falling cheaply, Gambhir put his head down and found an able partner in his deputy Dinesh Karthik (20: 18b, 3x4). Together the duo added 34 runs.
Gambhir picked boundaries at will and rotated the strike to keep his side in the hunt. When Karthik fell trying an expansive shot, it still seemed to be a long shot for Daredevils.
But just then Mithun Manhas showed the value of his experience and the importance of having strong Indian domestic players. Manhas began quietly, but later picked up the momentum, easing the pressure on his skipper.
Till about the 18th over in the chase, the match seemed to be headed for a tight finish, with the Daredevils still ahead. But then came the over when Manhas rode on his luck, aided by some sloppy fielding by Irfan Pathan.
Assured of a good chase, Gambhir opened up a bit more. But sadly for him he was not around to see his side win. It was the Gambhir-Manhas stand worth 61 which sealed the deal for the Daredevils, which would satisfy the skipper.
Deservingly, the final rites were completed by the unsung Manhas.
Mumbai held Yusuf blitzkreig to truimph
Yusuf Pathan. That was the only name on people’s lips at the Brabourne Stadium after the Rajasthan Royals batsman’s belligerent knock, which saw him score the tournament’s fastest hundred (off just 37 balls).
The day may have been sunny for most, but the Mumbai Indians team and their fans must be drenched after the Yusuf Pathan thunderstorm hit them hard. Later, a tense last over saw them sweating it out before winning by a hair’s breadth.
The match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals was all that IPL is about. Huge totals, a nail-biting finish, youngsters shining through, a belligerent batsman in the form of Yusuf Pathan and a bowler keeping his nerve to win the match for his team.
The Royals needed 12 off the last over and Malinga was handed the ball. Malinga was the hero of the day for Mumbai Indians as he managed to keep his nerve and help Mumbai Indians win by 4 runs. He affected a run-out of Dogra off the first ball and then took the wicket of Amit Uniyal. Six were needed off the last ball and a great yorker by Mascarenhas conceded just a single.
The Royals stumbled at the beginning of their innings losing wickets at regular intervals and only started to look as if they had a chance when Yusuf Pathan came to the crease. Rajasthan Royals were all but out of the game when they were 66 for 4 after 9.2 overs.
Yusuf Pathan doesn’t believe in following the script and surrendering meekly. Though his side was in trouble when he came in, he was his usual cavalier self hitting sixes and fours in a belligerent fashion. It was Yusuf all the way for a while for the Rajasthan Royals with the older Pathan hitting an unbelievable eight sixes and nine boundaries during his hundred, which came from just 37 balls.
In Paras Dogra, Shane Warne has also found an unlikely star. He mentioned the youngster during the toss and the Himachal Pradesh lad proved his captain right with a great cameo but couldn’t unfortunately carry his bat through to seal a victory for his team.
Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar’s decision to bat first was spot on with the Mumbai Indians putting up a huge total for Rajasthan Royals to chase. Shane Warne experimented by opening the bowling with Dmitri Mascarenhas. But Mascarenhas’ gentle medium pace allowed Sanath Jayasuriya to get off to a great start with the Sri Lankan opener smashing three fours in the very first over. Jayasuriya, along with his skipper Sachin Tendulkar, got the team off to a flier scoring 70 off just 6.3 overs.
But the team suffered a minor collapse before Ambati Rayudu (55: 33b, 6x4, 2x6) joined forces with the youngster from Jharkhand Saurabh Tiwary (53: 33b, 4x4, 2x6) to rescue Mumbai Indians. The duo took the Mumbai team to their highest total in the tournament, adding 110 runs from 63 balls. The youngsters never looked in pressure despite having lost the team’s batting stalwarts: Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar. There was some curiosity about the under-utilisation of Kamran Khan, but overall the young Mumbai Indians did a good job.
Australian paceman Shaun Tait couldn’t deliver on this day going for 46 runs from his four overs. Despite being hit in his first over, Mascarenhas had the last laugh taking the wickets of Tendulkar and Aditya Tare.
The day may have been sunny for most, but the Mumbai Indians team and their fans must be drenched after the Yusuf Pathan thunderstorm hit them hard. Later, a tense last over saw them sweating it out before winning by a hair’s breadth.
The match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals was all that IPL is about. Huge totals, a nail-biting finish, youngsters shining through, a belligerent batsman in the form of Yusuf Pathan and a bowler keeping his nerve to win the match for his team.
The Royals needed 12 off the last over and Malinga was handed the ball. Malinga was the hero of the day for Mumbai Indians as he managed to keep his nerve and help Mumbai Indians win by 4 runs. He affected a run-out of Dogra off the first ball and then took the wicket of Amit Uniyal. Six were needed off the last ball and a great yorker by Mascarenhas conceded just a single.
The Royals stumbled at the beginning of their innings losing wickets at regular intervals and only started to look as if they had a chance when Yusuf Pathan came to the crease. Rajasthan Royals were all but out of the game when they were 66 for 4 after 9.2 overs.
Yusuf Pathan doesn’t believe in following the script and surrendering meekly. Though his side was in trouble when he came in, he was his usual cavalier self hitting sixes and fours in a belligerent fashion. It was Yusuf all the way for a while for the Rajasthan Royals with the older Pathan hitting an unbelievable eight sixes and nine boundaries during his hundred, which came from just 37 balls.
In Paras Dogra, Shane Warne has also found an unlikely star. He mentioned the youngster during the toss and the Himachal Pradesh lad proved his captain right with a great cameo but couldn’t unfortunately carry his bat through to seal a victory for his team.
Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar’s decision to bat first was spot on with the Mumbai Indians putting up a huge total for Rajasthan Royals to chase. Shane Warne experimented by opening the bowling with Dmitri Mascarenhas. But Mascarenhas’ gentle medium pace allowed Sanath Jayasuriya to get off to a great start with the Sri Lankan opener smashing three fours in the very first over. Jayasuriya, along with his skipper Sachin Tendulkar, got the team off to a flier scoring 70 off just 6.3 overs.
But the team suffered a minor collapse before Ambati Rayudu (55: 33b, 6x4, 2x6) joined forces with the youngster from Jharkhand Saurabh Tiwary (53: 33b, 4x4, 2x6) to rescue Mumbai Indians. The duo took the Mumbai team to their highest total in the tournament, adding 110 runs from 63 balls. The youngsters never looked in pressure despite having lost the team’s batting stalwarts: Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar. There was some curiosity about the under-utilisation of Kamran Khan, but overall the young Mumbai Indians did a good job.
Australian paceman Shaun Tait couldn’t deliver on this day going for 46 runs from his four overs. Despite being hit in his first over, Mascarenhas had the last laugh taking the wickets of Tendulkar and Aditya Tare.
Knight Riders defeats Defending champs
At most times, despite his cavalier approach with the bat, Adam Gilchrist is a conservative man when it comes to taking decisions on the field. So when he opted to field first in the opening game of DLF-IPL 2010, it appeared as if Gilchrist was behaving of character in opting to chase in the tournament opener.
With a full house watching the defending champions Deccan Chargers in action at the DY Patil Stadium, the pressure would have been telling on the defending champions.
And in the end it did prove costly, as Deccan could not hold their nerve in a tense chase going down by 11 runs. The win marked Sourav Ganguly's triumphant return as skipper for his franchise.
But for much of the early part, Kolkata Knight Riders appeared to be behind the task. Comeback man Chaminda Vaas snapped up two wickets in the very first over to rattle Kolkata Knight Riders. Gilchrist was thrilled as he saw his veteran bowler strike and repay the faith posed in him in the absence of first-choice pace bowlers.
For Kolkata Knight Riders it seemed to be a continuation of where they left off in South Africa. They slipped from 0-2 to 31-3 and then 31-4 in the sixth over. At that point, Gilchrist would have been forgiven for believing that his decision was paying off.
But Gilchrist had not accounted for debutant Owais Shah and Angelo Matthews who quietly built up the momentum. From being 57-4 at the end of 10 overs to 161-4 at the end of the full quota of 20 overs, Kolkata Knight Riders staged a massive recovery.
Shah (58 *: 46b, 3x4, 3x6) and Mathews (65*: 46 b, 5x4, 4x6) revived the innings with a breathtaking 130-run unbeaten stand.
Deccan Chargers, in reply, appeared to be on course as Gilchrist led the way with 54 (45b, 3x4, 3x6) and starred in an opening stand with VVS Laxman. But the other batsmen fell to some loose shots, increasing the pressure on the middle and lower-order.
Rohit Sharma was the last hope and any thoughts of him repeating his Houdini act against Kolkata Knight Riders in the second season went up in smoke when he fell cheaply. Still 34 runs away from a win, Deccan never recovered from the Rohit blow.
And in the end Kolkata Knight Riders walked away easy winners with the bowlers, especially the pacers, keeping it tidy all the way.
With a full house watching the defending champions Deccan Chargers in action at the DY Patil Stadium, the pressure would have been telling on the defending champions.
And in the end it did prove costly, as Deccan could not hold their nerve in a tense chase going down by 11 runs. The win marked Sourav Ganguly's triumphant return as skipper for his franchise.
But for much of the early part, Kolkata Knight Riders appeared to be behind the task. Comeback man Chaminda Vaas snapped up two wickets in the very first over to rattle Kolkata Knight Riders. Gilchrist was thrilled as he saw his veteran bowler strike and repay the faith posed in him in the absence of first-choice pace bowlers.
For Kolkata Knight Riders it seemed to be a continuation of where they left off in South Africa. They slipped from 0-2 to 31-3 and then 31-4 in the sixth over. At that point, Gilchrist would have been forgiven for believing that his decision was paying off.
But Gilchrist had not accounted for debutant Owais Shah and Angelo Matthews who quietly built up the momentum. From being 57-4 at the end of 10 overs to 161-4 at the end of the full quota of 20 overs, Kolkata Knight Riders staged a massive recovery.
Shah (58 *: 46b, 3x4, 3x6) and Mathews (65*: 46 b, 5x4, 4x6) revived the innings with a breathtaking 130-run unbeaten stand.
Deccan Chargers, in reply, appeared to be on course as Gilchrist led the way with 54 (45b, 3x4, 3x6) and starred in an opening stand with VVS Laxman. But the other batsmen fell to some loose shots, increasing the pressure on the middle and lower-order.
Rohit Sharma was the last hope and any thoughts of him repeating his Houdini act against Kolkata Knight Riders in the second season went up in smoke when he fell cheaply. Still 34 runs away from a win, Deccan never recovered from the Rohit blow.
And in the end Kolkata Knight Riders walked away easy winners with the bowlers, especially the pacers, keeping it tidy all the way.
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