Royal records a Clinical win

Rajasthan Royals moved to the top of the table with a convincing seven-wicket win over Bangalore Royal Challengers, who looked out of depth as they were bowled out for 105 - the tournament's second lowest total - and conceded the win inside 15 overs. Naman Ojha scored his second consecutive half-century in the brief chase but the win was set up by Amit Singh and Ravindra Jadeja, who took seven Bangalore wickets to ensure a low target for their side.

The difference lay in how the two sets of bowlers exploited the bounce offered by the Centurion pitch; Bangalore's couldn't, Rajasthan's did to perfection. Bangalore used the short ball only after the strategy break, by which time the required run-rate was down to below five an over.

Shane Warne won a good toss and chose to field on a new pitch that had received rain overnight. Unlike in the last few games where he opened with spin from one end, he chose to give his fast bowlers a chance to exploit the conditions. Like the spinners, though, the fast bowlers gave favourable returns in their first spells. Batsmen found it difficult to counter the bounce when they tried to cut or pull though poor shot selection accounted for two of the first three wickets.

Amit struck first in the third over: Wasim Jaffer, who had been dropped by Amit in the previous over, drove a fuller delivery away from his body and popped a catch to cover. Jacques Kallis, after flicking a six off his pads from Munaf Patel, stepped out to a shorter delivery and top-edged a pull to Niraj Patel, who took the catch running from deep backward square leg to deep midwicket. Soon after, Rahul Dravid chased a Lee Carseldine delivery going down leg and gloved a catch behind for a duck.

Spin came into the picture in the eighth over when Warne brought himself on, and the steady fall of wickets continued. Robin Uthappa, Bangalore's top scorer with 17, survived a leg-before appeal in that over but fell off the first ball of the next, trapped plumb in front by Jadeja. Bangalore were reeling at 40 for four, which could have been five had Ojha collected a chance from Virat Kohli. The strategy break did them no good, Mark Boucher falling five balls after the re-start; he tried to cut an arm ball pitched full and just outside off from Jadeja, got cramped for room and was bowled for six.

Jadeja got Kohli next, outside-edging one that was pitched short and wide and Morkel holding on to a low diving catch behind point. The fast bowlers then returned to wrap up the innings as the last four wickets fell for 20 runs.

Bangalore bowled too many wide deliveries for a side defending such a low total and picked up their first two wickets as Rajasthan looked to wrap up the game quickly. Graeme Smith, after driving two fours each off Praveen Kumar and Dillon du Preez, stepped out to Jacques Kallis and was bowled after swinging and missing at a length delivery. Carseldine was given out after a mix-up with Naman Ojha saw the two batsmen at the bowler's end. Ojha made up for the dismissal with a massive six off Roelof van der Merwe in the next over Rajasthan went into the strategy break needing 44 with eight wickets in hand.

After the break Yusuf Pathan, Rajasthan's go-to batsman, and Ojha resisted the temptation to score off the short ball till du Preez returned to the attack. Pathan drove Kallis through cover for four and Ojha hit Vinay Kumar for a six over long-off. But Pathan fell, with Rajasthan needing only 15 more, when he tried to pull du Preez for a second time to fine leg and got a top edge instead. However, Rajasthan needed just two and a half an over by then and Ojha hit two fours and a six to wrap it up in the next over.

Sharma's Hattrick does the trick for Deccan

Mumbai Indians squandered a crucial opportunity to grab a spot in the top four, losing to Deccan Chargers by 19 runs in a see-saw game where they had held the cards for the most part. An unlikely hat-trick by Rohit Sharma, who benefited from some immature shot-selection and accounted for the fall of the threatening JP Duminy, followed up on a pivotal double-strike by RP Singh to remove the explosive pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya to shut Mumbai out of the game, and consolidate Deccan's position to second place.

The turning point came in the 15th over, after Duminy and Dwayne Bravo had helped get Mumbai's run-chase back on track. A rush of blood at the wrong time resulted in Bravo skying a flighted delivery from Tirumalasetti Suman to long-on, and some injudicious batting by Abhishek Nayar and Harbhajan Singh, who were both bowled by Rohit off successive deliveries, left Duminy with too much to achieve.

Mumbai were dented at the start. A disdainful slice over point, a trademark of Jayasuriya's, in the very first over off Ryan Harris bode ominously for Deccan, but the bowler had his revenge the next over, flinging himself to his right at third man to snap a thick edge from the same batsman. RP's impressive run in the IPL this season won him a place in the Indian squad for the World Twenty20, and as a sign of justification, he castled Tendulkar the next ball with an inswinger.

Pinal Shah was Mumbai's Naman Ojha, and though he displayed little signs of being gifted with sound technique, his enterprising 29, laced with a series of innovative shots, the best of which was a reverse-sweep off Harmeet Singh, relieved the pressure after a shock beginning. Duminy's presence was critical, and he immediately showed signs of intent, picking on anything loose and ensuring the required run-rate was kept within reach by combining his flourish with the natural dabs, nudges and clips that have come to typify his batting.

Shah's dismissal, an inopportune swipe to wide long-on, did little to unsettle Duminy, who picked up pace after the tactical timeout, dispatching Harmeet for two boundaries, one through cover and the other to third man, before pulling Harris wide of deep square leg. With 49 needed off six overs and seven wickets remaining, Mumbai held the edge but three quick wickets gifted by Bravo's mindless loft, Nayar's ill-judged paddle and Harbhajan's atrocious slog swung the match firmly in Deccan's favour. Rohit hammered the final nail in the coffin, having Duminy caught-behind off an attempted sweep on the first ball of the 18th over to complete his hat-trick and seal Mumbai's fate.

Mumbai's batsmen undid a disciplined bowling display by their pace attack, which boasted new inclusions in Dhawal Kulkarni and Rohan Raje, who impressed in their respective spells. Failure up the order had proved pivotal in Deccan Charger's stark turnaround after emerging frontrunners in the tournament with four consecutive wins, and had them in trouble again as their team struggled to a competitive score on a sluggish pitch.

Adam Gilchrist's decision to bat was motivated by a hard, dry surface which he felt would last out the day, but Deccan did have to contend with an out-of-touch Herschelle Gibbs who was sucked in by an away-swinger from Dhawal to edge a catch to slip, and finish with two ducks in three innings. Suman's excellent bowling effort preceded a promising cameo, including two massive sixes off Harbhajan, cut short by Bravo. Gilchrist had ceded the floor to Suman, and threatened to cut loose after his departure with a slog-swept six but failed to curb his frustration with the modest run-rate, swinging across the line to be bowled by an unspectacular, yet accurate Raje.

Rohit was restrained by some tight Mumbai bowling, patching together a laboured innings which only picked up pace when joined by Venugopal Rao, who showed some spunk towards the end with a brisk 28 to take his team to what, in the end, proved an adequate total.

A target of 146 would raise Mumbai's hopes of breaking into the top four but a suicidal rush by their middle order has now made that task significantly tougher, leaving them in seventh place.

Daredevils clinically defeats Knight Riders

Delhi Daredevils reclaimed the top spot in the DLF Indian Premier League table with a clinical nine-wicket demolition of luckless, hapless Kolkata Knight Riders at Kingsmead here on Tuesday.

Delhi Daredevils bowlers, especially leg-spinner Amit Mishra and pacemen Ashish Nehra and Pradeep Sangwan can take credit for stopping Knight Riders from running away to a huge score as seemed possible when Brendon McCullum and Morne van Wyk raised 58 runs in the first seven overs. Knight Riders finished with 154 for three in 20 overs, at least 20 runs short of par.

Mishra came into the attack as early as in the third over - replacing an expensive Dirk Nannes - and managed a superb first spell of three overs in which he conceded 18 overs. He returned to bowl a maiden over to Moses Henriques in the 14th over to effectively apply the brakes on Knight Riders's scoring.

Gautam Gambhir, leading Delhi Daredevils again in Virender Sehwag's absence owing to injury, played the anchoring effort to see his team home in 19 overs. He made 71 not out, sharing partnerships of 60 with David Warner (36) and an unbroken 97 with Tillekeratne Dilshan (42 not out) even as the Knight Riders dropped a few catches yet again.

After Chennai Super Kings took the place at the top of the ladder with a superb win on Monday night, Delhi Daredevils moved back there with 10 points from five wins in seven games. They have played one match fewer than both Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals who both have nine points each from eight games.

Kolkata Knight Riders have been unable to stop the slump that the side went into when losing the game against Rajasthan Royals in Cape Town. They have now lost seven games of the nine and have not been able to add to the three points from a win over Kings XI Punjab and a rained off game with Chennai Super Kings.

Royal mauling for Kings XI

Rajasthan Royals did not look a gift horse in its mouth, making Kings XI Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh regret his decision to field first on winning the toss in the DLF Indian Premier League here on Tuesday. By making the best total in IPL 2009, Rajasthan Royals were able to complete a 78-run victory to take the second place in the league.

Openers Naman Ojha (68, 51 balls five fours, five sixes) and Graeme Smith (77, 44 balls, 12 fours, one six) posted the best stand in the tournament this season - 135 runs - and Ravindra Jadeja (33, 12 balls, five fours, one six) ensured that Rajasthan Royals made 211 for four in 20 overs, the biggest total in 30 matches. Ojha was fabulous with his big, clean strikes allow Smith to find the form that fetched him the man of the match award and frustrated Kings XI Punjab no end. Yuvraj's pace bowling trio of Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth - coming off an injury - and Purple Cap holder Yusuf Abdulla - all disappointed him by either pitching it up or delivering the ball very short on a batting track.

On the contrary, Rajasthan Royals paceman Amit Singh found the right length to hit the deck and cause grief in the Kings XI ranks when they chased 212 for a win. Seeking quick runs, Kings XI Punjab were reduced to two for two in the first over when Sunny Sohal and Karan Goel fell to Amit Singh.

When Simon Katich, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene fell before eight overs were complete, it was all over bar the shouting. Yuvraj Singh hit a few lusty blows but Kings XI Punjab had left themselves with an unsurmountable peak to scale. The little known Amit Singh, 27, finished with figures of three for nine in his four overs and could count himself unlucky not to have been given the man of the match award.

With nine points from eight games Rajasthan Royals rose to the second place in the table behind Chennai Super Kings. Kings XI Punjab, second at the start of the game, slipped to sixth place in the league, wondering what they need to do to get back in the top half.

Super Kings Crushes Deccan Chargers

It was expected to be a battle royal but fizzled out like a wet cracker, Chennai Super Kings storming to a 78-run victory over Deccan Chargers at the Buffalo Park here on Monday. The match bucked the trend of great contests that have gone down to the wire and left Mahendra Singh Dhoni a delighted man as his team picked up their third win on the trot and topped the league with nine points.

Winning the toss and opting to take first strike on a batting track in a small ground, Dhoni and his team piled up a massive 178 for three in 20 overs, the captain himself top-scoring with a half-century that was brilliantly paced. Dhoni’s 58 came off 37 balls (six fours and a six) and ensured that Matthew Hayden’s good work (43 off 26 balls, five fours, three sixes) was made capital of.

Dhoni promoted himself up the order to No. 3 and finally came to the party with a smart innings, first by playing himself in and then by opening out. Barely a match after he termed his own batting as pathetic, Dhoni was given the man of the match award for his crafty innings. His knock propelled Chennai Super Kings to a wonderful total.

Deccan Chargers missed the accuracy and firepower of Fidel Edwards – he has flown to England to take part in the Test series – and Australian Ryan Harris did not measure up to the task of bowling to Hayden. None of the Deccan Chargers bowlers was able to make an impact once Chennai Super Kings decided to play out Pragyan Ojha carefully.

With opener Murali Vijay (31) and Suresh Raina (32, 19 balls, one four, two sixes) contributing and being associated in partnerships with Hayden and Dhoni respectively, Chennai Super Kings had posted a challenging total, even with their record of dropping catches. It was up to Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs to pick up the gauntlet for Deccan Chargers.

Both men were back in the dug out by the second over, Gilchrist falling first ball to Albie Morkel and Gibbs fared only slightly better, falling to Sudeep Tyagi off his second delivery. VVS Laxman fell in the third over and the team had scored just one run. It was a matter of how much defiance Deccan Chargers could show after that.

Dwayne Smith’s fireworks (49, 23 balls, two fours, five sixes) and his partnership with Rohit Sharma (21) breathed some life into Deccan Chargers camp but Shadab Jakati’s left-arm spin brought about a hasty end to the innings. He claimed his second four-wicket haul in successive games to send Deccan Chargers crumbling to 100 in 14.4 overs.

Chennai Super Kings pitchforked themselves to the top with nine points from eight games while Deccan Chargers, who started off with four wins in a row but have now lost three successive matches, slipped to fourth place with eight points from seven games. Kings XI Punjab (eight points, seven matches) and Delhi Daredevils (eight points, six matches) are in second and third places ahead of Deccan Chargers.

Atlast a commanding win for Roayl Challengers

Royal Challengers Banglaore pulled the rug from under Mumbai Indians' feet to cruise home to a clinical nine-wicket victory and catapult themselves to the fourth place in the DLF Indian Premier League table at the Wanderers here on Sunday. It was Royal Challengers Bangalore's third straight win.

Robin Uthapppa made a quickfire 66 (42 balls, eight fours, two sixes) teamed up with South African paceman Dillon du Preez (three for 32) and all-rounder Jacques Kallis (69, 59 balls, five fours, two sixes) to see Royal Challengers Bangalore home and dry with 11 balls to spare against a listless Mumbai Indians squad.

On a day when Rahul Dravid returned to the side - and took a fine catch in slip to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar cheaply - du Preez rocked Mumbai Indians with a triple strike in the span of six deliveries. He induced a drive from Tendulkar and found the egde, had similar success of the next ball to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane and found the egde off in-form JP Duminy.

Sanath Jayasuriya made a battling half-century but fell to a poor shot off a short ball from Roelf van der Merwe, leaving Dwayne Bravo to make a late flourish (50 off 40 balls, one four and two sixes) and power Mumbai Indians to 149 for four in 20 overs. Even Tendulkar would admit that it was at least 25 runs below par on a good batting track.

Kallis took on Bravo and dangerman Lasith Malinga and infused energy at the start of the innings that took Mumbai Indian by surprise. He eased the pace with as the innings progressed but Uthappa took it upon himself to ensure that the match did not go into the final over with some big hitting off the slow bowlers.

Sachin Tendulkar was hampered by strike bowler Zaheer Khan's absence in the death but the fact that he did not get off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to bowl his full quota of four overs will be spoken about for some time. In the event, Tendulkar's two overs cost him 21 runs and Jayasuriya leaked 20 in his two overs.

The league table wears a very interesting look with Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore all having eight points each. Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals all have seven points, Kolkata Knight Riders wallowing at the bottom with three points.

Kings XI coasts home

It rarely gets better than this, even in the thrill-a-minute DLF Indian Premier League. Tight bowling, some big hitting, spilled catches, some heated exchanges, sensible batting, a frenetic final over, leading to a last ball finish that ended in a six-wicket victory for Kings XI Punjab over a butter-fingered Kolkata Knight Riders here on Sunday.

Mahela Jayawardene celebrated the chance to bat higher up the order with a diligent half-century that steered the chase of 154-run target. His calm, coupled with Irfan Pathan’s creativity in the end saw the side home in an excruciatingly tight finish that could have gone either way. They shared a 45-run stand in just under six overs to help the relieved side claim the two points.

Pathan eased the pressure on the team by first guiding a low full toss from Ajit Agarkar to fine leg and by pulling Ishant Sharma to the mid-wicket fence in the penultimate over that cost Knight Riders 11 runs and left Kings XI Punjab with the task of finding seven runs in the final over bowled by Agarkar.

There was just a single for Pathan off the first ball and Agarkar beat Jayawardene’s hopeful slash with a short ball to make it more interesting. Six runs of four balls and Agarkar had his tails up. Jayawardene slashed again and the ball found the edge and screamed to third man, eluding Sourav Ganguly’s desperate dive.

Two runs needed off three balls. And Agarkar responded with an accurate low full toss that Jayawardene could only push back along the track. Two off two. Consultations dominated the landscape. Agarkar and skipper Brendon McCullum. Jayawardene and Pathan. It was clear that the Kings XI batsmen would run and at least tie the score.

Agarkar conjured another delivery of fuller length and Jaywardene squeezed it through the infield to the man at sweeper cover. The scores were level and sparked off another round of consultations. But Pathan had made up his mind to stay calm and connect the ball and run for life. Agarkar steamed in and bowled fuller length again. Pathan connected and found the gap to scamper through a single that won the team the match.

Defending 154, Kolkata Knight Riders dropped too many catches – sharp ones and sitters when Kings XI Punjab started their chase. As Pathan and Jayawardene completed that final single, it did not seem to matter that Pathan had conceded 21 runs to Brad Hodge (70 not out, 43 balls, 10 fours, one six) and Morne van Wyk in his final over during the Knight Riders’ innings.

Those runs saw Knight Riders surge past the 150-run mark that had appeared to be in the realms of fantasy at the halfway stage when they were 52 for one. That small score was a combination of some smart bowling with the new ball by Ramesh Powar and Pathan himself and by Chris Gayle’s continued failures as well as McCullum’s inability to get going.