The Great Game Called Cricket...

Ice-cool Dhoni delivers nerve-shredding tie

2012-02-14T04:04:00.000-08:00

At some stage, in an increasingly distant future, teams will learn to make proper use of the batting Powerplay. At the very least, they will figure out a way to take 30 runs without losing a bagful of wickets in that treacherous five-over block. In Adelaide, Sri Lanka's batsmen became the latest to find themselves on the wrong side of the double-edged sword. Dinesh Chandimal had batted with flair, and added a menacing 94 runs off 100 balls with Mahela Jayawardene. The pair had weathered early losses in consummate style, and set Sri Lanka up for the big surge. The Powerplay had other plans, though.

Sri Lanka stumbled from a heady 168 for 3 in 35 overs, losing 18 for 3 in the next five overs, including the two set batsmen. The complexion of the game changed so drastically that R Ashwin bowled with two slips in the 40th over, when he got Thisara Perera to miscue a loft.

Sri Lanka had turned the momentum their way admirably in the lead-up to the Powerplay. Chandimal was at the forefront once again, imposing himself with a series of pulls and whips through the leg side, imparted with a flourish that was once the trademark of Marvan Atapattu. Chandimal's technique was adept for the conditions, as he used soft hands and decisive feet to milk India's attack.

Jayawardene, too, suggested he was finally ready to shrug away the poor form that has dogged him since the South Africa tour. Everything seemed well with the world when he skipped out and carved Ravindra Jadeja inside out over the covers for four. Chandimal ushered in the Powerplay by leaping out and depositing Jadeja over the midwicket boundary in the 35th over. The innings went pear-shaped from that point, though.

Vinay Kumar dismissed Jayawardene with an indipper, which meant Sri Lanka were suddenly down to their last recognised pair. The nerves showed: Chandimal escaped while attempting a risky second run, when MS Dhoni backed away from collecting a throw from fine-leg. Two balls later, the opportunity came again, and this time Dhoni stepped up to break the bails in good time. Ashwin then invited a slog from Thisara that spiralled straight to mid-off. Sachithra Senanayake slogged hard in the end overs to lift Sri Lanka to 236 for 9, but they seemed to be at least 20 runs short.

India made three crucial early strikes, which meant they were only one wicket away from the lower order even when Chandimal and Jayawardene were in full flow. Vinay made the first impression, preying on Upul Tharanga's unending trouble outside the off stump, consigning him to his 13th ODI duck, and fifth against India.

Irfan Pathan then took over, his career having come full circle since his international debut at the same venue eight years ago. After a considerable time spent in the wilderness, much against the wishes of his clamorous legions of fans, Irfan returned with a remodelled action and improved fitness levels, to suggest he just might turn the clock back. He got promising shape going away from the left-handers right from the outset. Tillakaratne Dilshan looked intent to stonewall his way through the new balls unless he was given gifts. Irfan, however, managed to tempt him into a hard-handed thrash through the off side, but the ball slanted in to take the inner edge through to MS Dhoni.

Ashwin continued to have a series of two parts: clueless and meek against Australia, as opposed to attacking and confident against Sri Lanka. He tussled with Sangakkara and pinned him with the good old three-card trick. The first ball drifted in with the arm to nearly have Sangakkara lbw, and the next one landed on a length, spun and bounced deviously to beat the outside edge. Sangakkara was out of his crease next ball, anxious to negate the turn, but Ashwin beat him in the flight to induce a leading edge. That set the stage for Jayawardene to rebuild the innings, but the final Powerplay allowed India to alter the script.

The best death-overs bowler in the game went face-to-face against the best finisher in the business with four to defend off the last ball. It was only fair that neither Lasith Malinga nor MS Dhoni ended up on the losing side of that contest. Malinga's wide full-length ball would have hoodwinked most batsmen who would have been setting themselves up for the swing to the leg side. Not the fleet-footed Dhoni, though, who calmly stretched across and carved high over the covers even as he balanced on one foot. The ball didn't have the strength to beat Sachinthra Senanayake on the boundary, but Dhoni and last-man Umesh Yadav pranced through for three runs to tie a nerve-wracking classic at the Adelaide Oval.

The beauty of the ODI format shone throughout the duration of the chase, with the best minds in the game feeling the pressure of a close finish. India were coasting on the back of another polished effort from Gautam Gambhir, whose faultless 91 showed he has moved on from his Test-match woes. Dhoni had added 60 runs with Gambhir off 12.4 overs, leaving India needing 59 off 58. At that stage, Dhoni made the first decisive error, when he called Gambhir through for a tight single before sending him back. Gambhir was caught short by a direct hit from Nuwan Kulasekara. Gambhir's fall gave Sri Lanka an opening; Dhoni would later say it cost India the win.

India's rotation policy was bound to come under scrutiny, as Gautam Gambhir was left to anchor another tricky chase after the cheap dismissals of Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. All three batsmen got off to starts, before curiously falling on the same score - 15. Gambhir buckled down for a fifty, and looked good to go one better than the 92 he made against Australia.

Tendulkar wasn't at his best and it is debatable whether the break for Sunday's game did his fluency any good. Gambhir continued to build on the assurance he displayed in that match, but should sit out of the next game if India stick to their policy of musical chairs for the openers - a decision that would be contingent on Virender Sehwag's fitness. After another failure, Rohit, too, must be feeling the pressure of being singled out as the reason behind the unnatural rotation.

India's chase began sedately, with the first couple of boundaries coming when the Sri Lankan seamers strayed onto Tendulkar's pads. Nuwan Kulasekara dismissed Tendulkar in his third over, getting a length ball to angle into the worrying line outside off stump. Tendulkar went for the drive, but nicked it through to Kumar Sangakkara.

Kohli's short innings, like his effort against Australia over the weekend, was a throwback to Rahul Dravid in the early stages of his career. He defended with assurance, and drove decisively, but too often straight to the fielders. When he gets in, Kohli has the range of strokes to make up for a slow start, but today he perished early, lbw trying to work Thisara Perera across the line.

Gambhir batted through it all, seemingly in a different plane, his Test match woes well behind him. He didn't score his first four until the ninth over, when he stepped out to carve Angelo Mathews through the covers, but was in complete control despite the early lack of boundaries. Sri Lanka fed him with a series of deliveries on the pads, and Gambhir routinely worked them through square leg for runs. His only moment of madness came between the wickets, when he took on Mahela Jayawardene's arm with a push to mid-off, but the throw missed by inches.

The next time Jayawardene got a chance, though, he threw down the stumps, with Rohit caught short attempting a quick single. Earlier, Rohit had creamed a couple of peachy cover drives against pace and spin - strokes that reinforced that he belonged in the XI, and didn't need favours from the team management. Runs under the belt would surely help his cause, though.

Hussain Bolt A Great Fan Of Tendulkar

2011-06-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

Sachin Tendulkar's long list of admirers keeps on growing with world and Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt today saying he was one of "greatest cricketer" and he dreams of watching the Indian champion play on the cricket field.

Bolt, one of the most celebrated modern sporting icons, also said that he would one day run in India, despite the fact that had pulled out of the Commonwealth Games held in that country last year.

"For me he (Tendulkar) is one of the greatest cricketers I have seen. He has done extremely well and he is a very aggressive cricketer. I look forward to the day when I can see him play live," said the Jamaican 100m world record holder (9.58secs) about Tendulkar who opted out of India's ongoing West Indies tour to take rest.

"It would be great had he (Tendulkar) played in Jamaica (in India's first Test against West Indies). I want to see him play, that is my dream," said the triple Olympic and World Championships gold medallist.

Bolt also said that he loved the aggressive attitude of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the first Test in Kingston.

"I loved to watch Dhoni, he is aggressive. Both of them (Dhoni and Tendulkar) are aggressive players," he told "Times Now".

Bolt's favourite West Indies player is swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle, who was axed from the squad due to a stand-off with his Cricket Board.

"I want to watch Chris Gayle play. I have never met him and he is my favourite," said Bolt about his compatriot.

Asked about any chance of running in India, Bolt said, "In future I hope I can make a comeback in India as I heard there is a big fan base for me there. I like to thank them for the support and I would urge them to keep supporting me."

He said his focus now is to reach peak form during the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea from August 27 to September 4.

"I want to do my best in the World Championships and I am working for that. My focus is the World Championships and I want to be the best there."

Two Legends Chit Chat

2011-06-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

It takes lot to bowl over Sachin Tendulkar as bowlers around the world would confess but tennis ace Roger Federer managed to do it just by his knowledge of cricket when the two legends caught up during the Wimbledon.

Tendulkar, a self-confessed Federer fan, met the winner of 16 Grand Slams at the All England Club after the world number three beat David Nalbandian to advance to the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Tendulkar chatted for an hour with the Swiss and posed with him for the shutterbugs.

"Spent an hour with Roger Federer chatting on the balcony of Wimbledon Royal box. What a humble guy! And by the way he knows a lot about cricket!!" Tendulkar later tweeted.

The two reportedly also had dinner together after Federer's match.

Federer too talked about his meeting with Tendulkar on his Facebook page.

"Today was a special day, played a good match and had the chance to catch up with the great indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar," read the status message on his Facebook page.

India brush aside West Indies

2011-06-24T02:27:00.000-07:00

In another demonstration of their improving record overseas, a weakened India eased to only their fifth Test win in the Caribbean. The resistance from West Indies was disappointingly limp at Sabina Park as they lost six of the seven remaining wickets in the morning session. Praveen Kumar, sporting a buzz cut, snapped the home side's resolve by removing both overnight batsmen, Darren Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, in the first half hour. There were some big hits from Darren Sammy and Ravi Rampaul, but they merely delayed an Indian victory.

The resolve the West Indian batsmen showed on the third evening didn't make an appearance on Thursday. The Indian bowlers weren't particularly threatening early on, regularly providing harmless leg-side deliveries. One of those broke the stand that had frustrated India for nearly two hours, with Bravo losing his leg stump after walking across to try and guide the ball to fine leg. In Praveen's next over, he had Chanderpaul chipping a catch to cover as the ball, after causing a cloud of dust on pitching, came on slower than the batsman expected.

West Indies' chances evaporated with those two strikes, and Harbhajan Singh made it worse, removing birthday boy Carlton Baugh for a duck. Sammy wasn't going to give up, though. He was struck on the forearm by a kicker from Harbhajan, which prompted him to attack. Some blacksmith-swings sent the final three deliveries of the over for leg-side sixes, with the last two flying into the second tier at least. The entertainment ended with Amit Mishra's first delivery, a tossed-up, over-pitched ball that Sammy wanted to send out of the ground but sent only as far as extra cover.

Brendan Nash, the vice-captain who has been desperately short of runs over the home summer, restricted himself to defensive nudges. When he attempted one of his first enterprising strokes, a pull off a short ball from Mishra, he was horrified to see the ball scoot through impossibly low to be trapped plumb lbw.

Ravi Rampaul gave the few fans that turned up something to cheer about with a series of swept and driven boundaries, the highlight of which was an inside-out six over extra cover off Harbhajan. Like Nash, he too was done in by a ball of unpredictable bounce, from Ishant: it took off from a length and had him gloving it to MS Dhoni, who leapt acrobatically to take a one-handed catch over his head.

The last pair kept out the final seven deliveries before lunch, and then kept India waiting for half an hour after the break. With the specialists unable to finish things off, Dhoni turned to the part-time offspin of Suresh Raina, who needed only two deliveries to bowl Bishoo and secure a 1-0 series lead.

Smart stats

India's 63-run win is their second in Jamaica and their fifth Test victory in the West Indies. The number of wins in West Indies (5) brings it level with their number of wins in Australia, England and New Zealand.
Praveen Kumar's match figures of 6 for 80 is the third-best by an Indian bowler in a Test win in West Indies. BS Chandrasekhar's 8 for 208 in the six-wicket win in Trinidad in 1976 is the best bowling performance by an Indian bowler in a win in the West Indies.
Ishant Sharma's match haul of 6 for 110 is third on the list of his best bowling performances in a match in Tests. His finest is 7 for 58 against New Zealand in Nagpur in 2010.
Among captains who have led in at least 25 Tests, MS Dhoni has the best win-loss ratio (5.00). He is followed by Steve Waugh (4.55) and Mike Brearley (4.50). Dhoni has now led in five away-Test wins bringing him joint-second on the list of Indian captains with most wins in away Tests.
The 74 runs added by West Indies for the last two wickets is the second-highest aggregate for wickets nine and ten in Tests in Jamaica. Their highest is 98 against Australia in 1990-91.

Rohit Sharma outdoes Andre Russell's heroics

2011-06-12T02:17:00.001-07:00

produced his best international innings since his big-stage arrival in Australia three years ago to help India chase down 226 from 92 for 6. Harbhajan Singh supported him with a seventh-wicket partnership full of sensible cricket and worth 88 runs. Rohit stayed unbeaten on 86 to outdo a similar effort from Andre Russell who blasted 92 off 64 to give West Indies a defendable target after they had been 96 for 7. With the result, India took an unassailable 3-0 lead. West Indies last won an ODI series against a Test-playing nation in April 2008.

Without doubt this was the best of India's tour so far. A day when West Indies showed remarkable fight after getting off to the worst start of the series. A day when Amit Mishra mesmerised them with old-fashioned legspin full of turn, drift, bounce, straighter ones and googlies. A day when two tails wagged to provide uncertainty and drama. A day when a young talent announced himself well and proper on the international stage. A day when a young talent who has fumbled with mediocrity played a comeback innings well and proper.

There were also collapses that didn't make for pretty viewing. At 65 for 1 West Indies lost six wickets for 31, India four for 32 from 60 for 2. There were similarities in the collapses. Both began with avoidable run-outs, West Indies' with Ramnaresh Sarwan's and India's with S Badrinath's. Both lost their bats as they tried to make their crease.

West Indies could claim the rest of their collapse was down to some special legspin bowling. During that period, Mishra took three wickets for one run. He set up Marlon Samuels with four legbreaks bowled with a scrambled seam. None of those turned big, and were defended well by Samuels. The change-up was the orthodox legbreak, which drifted, dipped, and then ripped past Samuels who had been lured out of the crease. Debutant Danza Hyatt was done in by a googly, and Lendl Simmons fell to another big legbreak that he was forced to play at.

Simmons fell short of what would have been a sixth fifty in the last seven innings. India, too, lost opener Parthiv Patel in the 40s again. The batsmen who followed played too many shots even with the asking rate under 4.5 an over, and lost their wickets. In between Virat Kohli got a bad lbw decision. Yusuf Pathan's dismissal seemed just as unfair; Simmons had no business back-pedalling from short midwicket - after having instinctively moved in to save the single - to complete an overhead catch well behind his body.

West Indies' comeback in the first half of the day was unexpected because of the way they have been squandering positions of strength. Here Russell and Carlton Baugh did the opposite. The two added 78 for the eighth wicket, but that alone would have been strictly consolation.

To make a fight out of it, West Indies would need something special. And special Russell was in the last three overs, scoring 42 off the last 14 balls he faced. The last two overs of the innings, bowled by Raina and Praveen Kumar, went for 37. Russell just kept clearing the front leg, kept hitting off the middle of the bat, and the ball kept clearing the ground. Russell walked back to an applause from his team-mates who had found a new belief.

While Russell's innings could be seen as one played from a position where he and West Indies didn't have much to lose, Rohit is one man who has it all to lose on this trip. Today he only gained. He tends to be a touch edgy at the start of all his innings, but today his start was the most fluent part of his innings. Coming in at 60 for 3, he went after Darren Sammy who had earlier been on a hat-trick, lofting him for a beautiful six and four off back-to-back deliveries.

Rohit was in a mood to boss the game, but when he saw wickets fall at the other end he went into accumulation mode. Harbhajan proved to be an ideal partner. With the asking-rate still within reach, neither man tried to hit boundaries. There were two boundary-less spells of 10 overs each in the middle of the innings. The first one was during the collapse, and was broken only when Rohit got a low full toss on the pads, moving to 38 in the 28th over.

Ten overs later, he played another beautiful punch, caressing the ball past point for four. The next three overs featured a couple of half chances, a couple of uppish shots that didn't make it to the deep fielder. That's when the game broke towards India. Harbhajan went with the flow and hit a four and a six in the 41st over. Russell, though, hadn't had his last say. Off the last ball of the over, he got Harbhajan with a slower ball.

In a deliberate ploy, Rohit then took the back seat, asking Praveen Kumar to go for the big hits in the batting Powerplay. Praveen's twirls paid off, and Rohit stayed solid at the other end. After hitting the match-winning runs, Rohit pulled out one of the stumps. It could signify a turning point in a career that many believe should have taken off long ago.

Rohit helps India prevail in battle of attrition

2011-06-06T19:17:00.001-07:00

In a contest of ordinary batting line-ups, India had the extra bit of quality to successfully chase an under-par West Indies total. West Indies seemed to lack enterprise and skill to handle India's bowling, but their bowlers and fielders were spirited in the defence, dragging India down. The top order faltered after a quick start, but Rohit Sharma and captain Suresh Raina steadied India from 104 for 4.

It was a slow and low track all right, fast becoming the norm in the West Indies now, but wasn't treacherous enough to justify either West Indies' total or the struggle India went through before getting there. The only batsmen that seemed at ease were Marlon Samuels, Raina and eventually Rohit. Samuels' half-century injected some life in West Indies' limp innings after early wickets and an extra-cautious Ramnaresh Sarwan had left them crawling to 74 for 3 in 25 overs.

Raina did much the same for India with a busy effort, but it was Rohit who was the most interesting study. There were two Rohits on display. The first came out, saw Devendra Bishoo spin one across him, and started slogging at everything. That Rohit refused to work hard, and looked to slog his way out. That Rohit batted alongside Shikhar Dhawan, who scored his maiden half-century in unconvincing manner and looked liked he could get out any moment.

West Indies' brightest phase came when legspinners Bishoo and Anthony Martin kept a tight leash on the scoring, with Darren Sammy and the alert fielders providing the support cast. For 13.2 overs India didn't get a single boundary. The edginess was apparent. S Badrinath played 11 straight dots before edging Bishoo to make it 61 for 3. Rohit's ways rubbed off on Dhawan, who started trying to hit every ball for four, finding either an edge or a fielder. His wicket, through a slog sweep that gave Martin his maiden wicket, was a freight train coming.

Rohit, though, was over the self-destructive period by then. And also a critical moment in the 24th over when a close lbw shout was ruled in his favour. He played Bishoo for the turn, and the straighter one kissed his back pad before hitting the bat. And it was right in front. The umpire couldn't really be faulted for not being completely sure it had hit the pad first, but West Indies could claim that the DRS would have got them their man.

Those early hiccups negotiated, the other Rohit was the one batting in a sweat-drenched shirt, running hard, looking to convert ones into twos, scoring his first 30 runs without a boundary. Raina came in and nudged a couple of boundaries to calm things further. Rohit's first boundary was a treat: an inside-out chip for six off Sammy. He added 80 in 14.3 overs with Raina without looking hurried at all. Raina perished looking to finish the game in the batting Powerplay, and a physically struggling Rohit would have had to dig much deeper had Martin held on to a simple return catch from Yusuf Pathan at 189 for 5.

Another half-centurion in the match, Sarwan, got off to a much better start than Rohit did, but played himself into a shell, during the other critical passage of play in the game. West Indies had got off to a start similar to India's, losing two wickets after a quickish opening, but Sarwan's 63-ball stand with Kirk Edwards featured 38 dots. Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra and Harbhajan Singh - who went for 108 in their 30 overs for five wickets - bowled well, but not least because the batsmen allowed them to. Neither of the two batsmen looked to drop and run a quick single, nor was a single fielder put under pressure. Harbhajan reaped the rewards as Edwards top-edged a straighter one.

Samuels, though, brought in the urgency, attacking Yusuf, becoming the first batsman to have a strike-rate of over 50. After a spell of 12 overs for 56, at 130 for 3, they asked for the Batting Powerplay. Forty-three came off the five-over block, but West Indies also lost Sarwan to a tickle down the leg side. The real blows came after the Powerplay as Raina snuck a short delivery through Samuels' legs, and Harbhajan did Bravo in with a doosra that dipped and kicked. The rest could add only 23 to the 191 for 6 in the 45th over, providing India with a seemingly easy chase. As it turned out, it took a dehydrated, cramping-up, and a slightly fortunate Rohit to pull it off.

India win tour opener despite early wobble

2011-06-05T19:11:00.001-07:00

During a five-over spell of poor discipline, West Indies lost the tour opener, the only Twenty20 international in Port of Spain. Led by Darren Sammy's four-wicket haul, the hosts bossed India for 15 overs on a spinners' paradise, but then they dropped a catch, took a wicket off a no-ball, bowled a lot of length, and the 72 runs they conceded in the last five overs proved to be the deciding factor. With two specialists spinners handcuffing the chase, the West Indies batsmen never really threatened India's total, although they lost only two wickets in the first 15.3 overs.

West Indies had been much more clinical for the majority of the first half of the game. Two reprieved men, though, - Rohit Sharma, dropped on 8, and S Badrinath, caught off a no-ball on 25 and not given stumped on 36 - played crucial parts in those five overs that went for 72. India's first 72 had taken more than 12 overs on a Queen's Park Oval pitch that had been under covers for most of the week because of rain. It misbehaved profusely: a few deliveries took the top surface with them, and the spinners managed disconcerting turn even without giving the ball much air. To make it worse for India, it drizzled for about the first 12 overs of the innings, but not hard enough to send the players off. There were two massive boundary-less periods: 19 balls at the start and 32 in the middle.

The way the ball turned justified India's call to play two specialist spinners, in Harbhajan Singh and R Aswhin, but West Indies inflicted damage even before spin was introduced. Their captain Sammy exploited the conditions with slower offcutters, slicing a chunk out of India's batting during an unbroken four-over spell, even as Chris Gayle watched from the stands, dressed in flashy party wear and a cap that said "captain".

Sammy's first wicket, though, was with a bouncer that cramped the debutant Shikhar Dhawan, and kissed the side of the bat on its way through to Andre Fletcher. Virat Kohli got a massive leading edge to a slower delivery, Parthiv Patel lobbed another offcutter to point, and Suresh Raina heaved to mid-on. Following that, Nurse and Bishoo stifled India, but the turning points came in the 14th and 16th overs.

First Nurse passed a maiden international wicket by failing to hold onto a simple return catch from Rohit. Then Rampaul seemed to have got rid of Badrinath, but the replays showed his front foot had landed on the line. The resultant free hit went for four, which should actually have been six because Nurse caught the ball on the full and dived on the boundary rope, and that opened the floodgates.

Rohit hit Rampaul for a six down the ground, and Badrinath hit two fours off Bishoo's next over. In between those boundaries, Badrinath was stumped, but the umpire Peter Nero refused to even refer it to the third umpire. The 18th over, bowled by Christopher Barnwell, was a disaster for West Indies even though he managed Rohit's wicket. He began with five wides and was hit for two sixes, one each by Rohit and Yusuf Pathan, in a 20-run over. Bishoo did some damage control in the 19th, but Rampaul came back to bowl length in the 20th, and was smacked for a six and a four by Harbhajan Singh.

Expectedly India wasted little time in unleashing spin after Praveen Kumar opened the defence with a maiden over. Ashwin and Harbhajan proved to be too good at the start, and Ashwin - albeit fortuitously - removed Lendl Simmons early. The man to blame was Nero again, who ruled Simmons caught behind off the thigh, and also off the wicketkeeper's helmet.

What followed involved no luck. Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo managed to not lose their wickets but struggled to stay in touch with the asking-rate. As the ball turned and bounced, surely they would have wondered why their home pitches should test their weakness, and not the opposition's. That didn't explain lack of urgency in running between the wickets. No Indian fielder felt under pressure to charge at the ball as West Indies were not looking to convert ones into twos.

The asking-rate touched 17 for the last five overs, and the first big risks taken by the pair resulted in wickets to Harbhajan. Barnwell displayed his big-hitting capabilities in a 16-ball 34, but he was left with too much to do to prevent West Indies' first T20 defeat to India.

Champions Yet Again,,

2011-05-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

Chennai's total of 205 was the third-highest in IPL 2011, and easily the highest in a final. The previous highest had been Chennai's 168 against Mumbai in last year's final.

The margin of victory was massive too - 58 runs, which makes this easily the most one-sided IPL final of the four so far. The previous margins had been three wickets (with no balls to spare), six runs (in 2009) and 22 runs (in 2010). This result also means three out of four finals - and each of the last three - have been won by the team batting first.

The win was set up by a magnificent first-wicket partnership of 159 between M Vijay and Michael Hussey, which is the highest first-wicket stand in all IPL seasons, and the second-highest for any wicket. The only higher stand was the one for 206 runs between Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh for Punjab against Bangalore earlier this season. The two highest partnerships have thus both been in this season, and Bangalore were at the receiving end on both occasions.

Vijay's 95 and Hussey's 63 are the two highest scores in an IPL final. The previous-highest was also by a Chennai batsman - Suresh Raina's unbeaten 57 against Mumbai last year. Vijay's 95 is also his second-highest in all IPLs, next only to his 127 against Rajasthan last year.

Chennai have usually been slow off the blocks in this IPL, but in the final they were switched on from the beginning, scoring 56 off the first six, their highest during the Powerplay overs and only their second 50-plus score this season. Before the final, Chennai's average run-rate in the first six this season had been 6.33, compared to Bangalore's 8.03. In the final, Chennai sped at 9.33, while Bangalore only managed 7.83. In the middle eight overs Chennai turned it on even more, scoring 87, while in the last six they amassed 62.

R Ashwin said after the match that he felt confident bowling to Chris Gayle as he is a left-hander, and stats bear him out: against left-handers, Ashwin took ten wickets at an average of 12.70 and an economy rate of 5.60; against right-handers, he took as many wickets, but at an average of 26.10, and an economy rate of 6.47.

For Bangalore nothing went according to script. None of their bowlers conceded less than seven-and-a-half per over, and even Daniel Vettori went for 34, his second-most expensive performance in this IPL. His most expensive spell was also against Chennai, only four days ago, when he conceded 42 in the first qualifier.

Vijay stars in Chennai's successful title defence

2011-05-28T20:18:00.001-07:00

What would have been on Chennai Super Kings' wish list before this final? 1) Win toss on a slow pitch. 2) Great start by the openers. 3) Remove Chris Gayle for a duck. PS: While we are it why not knock out AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli cheaply? They got all that. Chennai produced a near-perfect game and mauled Royal Challengers Bangalore to lift their second IPL trophy.

M Vijay has rarely converted his starts this IPL and Michael Hussey hasn't sparkled in the previous few games. So what they do on the day of the big finale? They amass a sizzling 159-run partnership to launch Chennai to a massive total at the Chidambaram Stadium. R Ashwin then derailed the chase by packing off Gayle for a duck in the first over. Game over.

It was the ease with which the runs flowed and the calm manner in which they were accumulated by the Chennai openers that caught the eye. There were several big shots but nearly all of them were in conventional zones. There was just one bad shot in the first 14 overs. Just one. In the 10th over, Vijay had just played a nonchalant flick that sailed just clear of a lunging Luke Pomersbach on the deep-midwicket boundary. He then tried to slog the next ball across the line and edged it to the leg side. The reaction of the players reflected their awareness of the need to keep adrenalin in check: Vijay shadow practiced a straighter arc of the bat and Hussey rushed across to have a long chat.

For the duration of the partnership, which lasted 14.5 overs, they complemented each other with contrasting approaches. Hussey punctuated his bunts, chips and drives with the occasional big hit - the highlight was a monstrous heave off Syed Mohammad that crashed into the roof beyond wide long-on. Vijay went the other way. He punctuated his flamboyant on-the-up hits with quieter punches for singles and twos. They both ran between the wickets hard and fast and the scoring-rate never flagged. Vijay grew increasingly tired but it was Hussey who fell first, swatting a full toss from Mohammad to long-on. By then, they had laid a great platform.

It was Vijay who started the mayhem off the final delivery of the second over with a special shot. It was a short-of-length delivery with little room for maneuvering, or so it seemed, but Vijay wafted it on the up and through the line for a flamboyant six over long-on. Hussey pulled the next delivery, from Zaheer Khan, over the backward square-leg boundary to launch the assault. They repeated that double-dose of sixes again. Hussey swung the final delivery of the fifth over, bowled by Mohammad, over the midwicket boundary and Vijay lifted the next ball, from Chris Gayle, over long-on. Chennai reached 56 for 0 in six overs and kept going from strength to strength.

They started their bowling in the same way. Ashwin just needed three deliveries to remove the chief thorn in their path. The first two turned sharply away from Gayle before the third swerved in from round the stumps and skidded on to collect the edge from an attempted cut. de Villiers reeled off a few big shots but was trapped by Shadab Jakati and Suresh Raina had Kohli lbw to sew up the game for Chennai.

In contrast Bangalore slipped on the little things that matter on this stage. In the Powerplay, there were three instances of fielders succumbing to adrenalin rushes and indulging in needless throws; one, from Saurabh Tiwary, even went to the boundary. Pomersbach could have done a better job in seizing that chance from Vijay in the 10th over, and S Aravind messed up an opportunity to run out Hussey in the 12th over. Vijay, the non-striker, had called Hussey for a risky single and Aravind, the bowler who picked up the ball at short mid-on, flung it wide at the non-striker's end. There was another instance in the 11th over when the bowler, Mohammad, flung himself full stretch to his right but couldn't hang on to a difficult chance offered by Vijay. It was that kind of day. Things just didn't go right for Bangalore and everything went according to script for Chennai.

Mumbai prevail on night of nerves

2011-05-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

Kolkata Knight Riders began nervously, Mumbai Indians finished similarly, but it was Mumbai who booked a place in the Champions League T20 and in the semi-final equivalent of IPL 2009. What will irk Kolkata is that they were the better side for 39 overs in the previous match between these sides, but one bad over then set up this rematch in the quarter-final equivalent. Mumbai then did enough to make use on the second chance.

Kolkata's top order came out trying too hard for a big start, losing four wickets for 20, and Ryan ten Doeschate's 70 was not recovery enough on a good Wankhede track with short boundaries. A blazing start from Aiden Blizzard and Sachin Tendulkar seemed to have put to rest Mumbai's habit of muddled chases, but they choked again. For the second consecutive game, though, James Franklin scuppered Kolkata's hopes. This time, with much more on the line, he produced a less dramatic, but more assured 29.

Munaf Patel bowled smartly to capitalise on Kolkata's palpable nervous energy, taking three wickets, including those of Jacques Kallis and Yusuf Pathan. It was a subtle change-up immediately after being driven for four that sent Kallis back. The wicket-taking delivery was pitched in the same area, but was bowled with a scrambled seam and was hence a touch slower. The slice settled with a diving Tendulkar.

Gautam Gambhir, Shreevats Goswami and Manoj Tiwary concentrated just on the boundaries, in the process failing to place the good balls for singles. The dot balls mounted, and all three fell to shots they would normally not play. ten Deoschate played sensibly, though, looking for singles and punishing the bad balls. That calm rubbed off on Yusuf, their 60-run stand took the run-rate past six an over, and a big finish could not have been ruled out.

Munaf, though, returned to interrupt the comeback with more clever bowling. Convinced that the short ball would trouble Yusuf, he let his Baroda team-mate have some. The first one took a top edge for four, the second went for a single along the ground, and the third one was mistimed over midwicket. Munaf persisted, and with his fourth bouncer of the over, he sent his man back.

Ambati Rayudu, a part-time wicketkeeper, proceeded to miss ten Doeschate and Shakib Al Hasan in the next two overs. ten Doeschate went on to score the highest for a No. 6 this IPL and Kolkata got 60 in the last six, yet a blazing start to the chase was always going to knock them out. Blizzard and Tendulkar provided just that.

Blizzard relished the pace of Brett Lee, while Tendulkar took care of the spin of Iqbal Abdulla and Yusuf Pathan. A lot of class and a lot of power merged effectively to bring up the fifty in the fifth over. There was a remote semblance of redemption for Lee when he came back to remove Blizzard, but not before the batsman had hit him for four and six in that over.

Then Mumbai stumbled. Rohit Sharma ran himself out, Tendulkar fell to a sharp bouncer, and Rayudu seemed to have been sawn off. From 81 for 0 in the eighth over, Mumbai had been reduced to 103 for 4 in the 13th. A mini-partnership ensued, but Shakib trapped Pollard to make it 123 for 5. T Suman couldn't handle the nerves and holed out to long-off.

The asking-rate crept past run-a-ball for the last two overs, but a top edge off Lee's first ball brought it back to 11 off 11. L Balaji, who failed to defend 21 in the last match, didn't get a shot at redemption. The last over went to Shakib - his figures 3-0-17-2 until then - who needed to defend seven. Harbhajan lofted the second ball over midwicket, and let out a roar.

Raina stuns Bangalore to power Chennai into final

2011-05-25T08:46:00.001-07:00

How did Chennai win this? How did Bangalore lose this? Chennai always seemed to be lagging behind but surged like a tidal wave towards the end, with the odd run-filled over now and then, to storm into their third IPL final in four seasons. At the forefront was the feisty Suresh Raina, who pulled out the big shots through the latter half of the chase to set up an improbable win. The defeat makes Bangalore's path to the final - and beyond - tougher. They will have to win the second Qualifier on Saturday, if they are to meet Chennai in the final at the MA Chidambaram stadium, where the hosts have been unbeaten all season.

Bangalore will look back and rue at a few poor overs. There were full tosses and length deliveries galore and Chennai capitalised in some style. Virat Kohli bowled a slew of full tosses in the ninth over to leak 16 runs, and Abhimanyu Mithun kept bowling length deliveries in the 13th over, bleeding 23 runs. It included a fabulously carved six over the covers as Raina went down on a bent knee, to follow his muscled heave over long-off. Even then, the equation - 82 from 42 balls - seemed a tough proposition and it got tighter when it came down to 58 from 24. Chris Gayle had led from front with a parsimonious spell that read 4-0-19-0 as he fired in the skidders and the occasional yorker to pin down Chennai.

But Raina wasn't done yet, and he ramped it up style in the 17th over, from Zaheer Khan, who had been exemplary in his opening three-over spell. Raina's two sixes over midwicket, a thumping pull and a clubbed swing, were sandwiched by a bottom-hand powered six over wide long-on by MS Dhoni, who however fell in the same over. Zaheer went for 20 runs in that over and Chennai had well and truly seized the momentum.

More agony awaited Bangalore in the 19th over, bowled by S Aravind. Albie Morkel crashed a slower ball over long-on and clubbed a full toss over long-off before Raina killed another full toss over the midwicket boundary. That 21-run over left Chennai needing 12 off the final over by Daniel Vettori and Morkel dragged a four to wide long-on, before walloping the fourth ball over midwicket to win the contest.

Until those frenetic end overs, Bangalore were well on their way to becoming the first team to enter the final. The big question before the game was whether Bangalore would deflate like cheap party balloons if Gayle went out early. They answered that in an emphatic manner, as Kohli powered them to a competitive total.

Bangalore were in danger of slipping into free-fall after Gayle fell cheaply, trapped by R Aswhin, but Kohli and Luke Pomersbach ensured they stayed afloat. While Kohli batted with calculated aggression, Pomersbach counterattacked, taking 17 runs in the 15th over, off Dwayne Bravo. A murderous heave to wide long-on, a slash to third man and a flat six over midwicket were the highlights. Kohli, though, was the person who sculpted and shaped Bangalore's innings. Two shots in particular reflected the assurance in his knock. In the 13th over, he sashayed back to a back-of-length delivery from Raina to unfurl a peachy punch to the cover-point boundary. Then, off the final ball of the 16th over, he leaned forward to play a classy lofted whip over wide long-on Ashwin. He went on to produce two more screaming sixes - over long-on and covers - off Morkel in the 19th over, to push Bangalore to a good total but Raina decided to gatecrash the party.

Mumbai edge past Kolkata in last-ball finish

2011-05-23T00:56:00.000-07:00

Kolkata Knight Riders had their Champions League debut all but booked when they began the last over with 21 to defend. Three edged boundaries off L Balaji and two missed yorkers later, James Franklin and Ambati Rayudu had seen Mumbai Indians to a highly unlikely win, breaking their three-match losing streak. The win set up a repeat clash between the two teams in the eliminator, an equivalent of a quarter-final.

In all the chaos of the last over, which stunned the full house at Eden Gardens, Chennai Super Kings emerged the biggest gainers. Had Kolkata won the game, which they should have despite all those edges, Chennai would have finished third, and would have had to win two games in order to make the final. Now they need win only one of the two.

Mumbai gained too: they needed to finish the chase off in 5.1 overs to make it to the top two, but by beating Kolkata they could have ensured a psychological advantage in their eliminator. For the best part of their 19 overs of batting, Mumbai scarcely looked like a team that could do so. Iqbal Abdulla removed T Suman in the second over, the pinch-hitter Harbhajan Singh managed 30 off 29, and Rajat Bhatia's leg-rollers broke the batting order's back with thee wickets in three overs.

At 96 for 4 in the 13th over, it seemed too much was left for Kieron Pollard and Franklin. Pollard lived up to that expectation, but Franklin kept the fight up mostly with well-placed couples. A six and a four in between meant Mumbai were not completely out of it even when Balaji ripped Pollard's leg stump out with 40 required off 15.

If this was robbery in broad floodlights, Kolkata weren't the most vigilant victims either. As much as the edged boundaries in the last over, Kolkata will also look back at little moments towards the end that proved to be decisive. Balaji bowled a wide with one ball left in the 18th over, and Ambati Rayudu lofted the compensation delivery over extra cover for a six. It wouldn't be Rayudu's last six of the night.

The last ball of the 19th over hit Rayudu in the pad and rolled towards the keeper. The batsmen had all but stolen a leg-bye when wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami went for a direct hit, and conceded an overthrow. That kept Franklin - 28 off 18 now - on strike for the last over. L Balaji went for a wide yorker first ball, and a thick edge off the low full toss went between the keeper and the short third man. A slower bouncer followed, and the tope edge cleared the keeper again. Thirteen off four now looked so much more gettable.

Balaji went back to the wide-yorker plan, and Franklin smacked the next low full toss past extra cover for four. Under pressure and in the face of some ill luck, Balaji was just not landing them right. The next ball was a low, wide full toss again, and another thick edge beat third man to make it five of two. The next low full toss found extra cover, and brought Kolkata some relief. However, just then Balaji chose to bowl the worst delivery of the over - a high full toss on the pads - and Rayudu helped himself to his second, and decisive, six.

The stunned Eden gardens crowd could scarcely believe what they were seeing after they had cheered their team all night to what looked like a comfortable win. Most of it was thanks to Jacques Kallis who batted solidly at first and rapaciously towards the end. Along the way he was helped by breezy 30s from Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan, but it was Kallis who provided the innings the final impetus with 19 off the last five balls he faced. It was fitting then that the man who minimised the damage with the wickets of Kallis and Yusuf was none other than Franklin.

Match Meter

MI
Kolkata lose two early Mumbai strike early to reduce Kolkata to 22 for 2, including Gautam Gambhir's wicket.

KKR
Tiwary, Yusuf counterattack With Jacques Kallis solid around them, Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan attack Mumbai to take Kolkata to 124 for 4 after 16 overs.

KKR
Kallis assaults late Kallis goes from 40 off 37 to 59 off 42 to give Kolkata a big finish.

KKR MI
Tendulkar, Harbhajan chip away Sachin Tendulkar and a promoted Harbhajan Singh keep up with the asking rate, taking Mumbai to 70 for 1 in eight overs.

KKR
Bhatia strikes Rajat Bhatia takes three wickets in three overs to reduce Mumbai to 96 for 4 in the 13th over.

MI
The last over Mumbai need 21 off the last over, but Franklin and Rayudu manage it through a mix of edges and held nerves.

Advantage Honours even

Bangalore finish on top of table

2011-05-22T10:12:00.001-07:00

Chris Gayle indulged himself after his bowlers restricted Chennai Super Kings to a below-par 128 to ensure Royal Challengers Bangalore will finish top of the points table. The result also secured their berth in this year's Champions League.

Chennai were always facing inevitable defeat once their top order crumbled six overs into the game. Tottering at 22 for 4, MS Dhoni consolidated initially before looting quick runs in the end, but 128 wasn't going to test Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Especially with Gayle unleashing hell.

Gayle left his mark on the chase and it was violent. A six flew over third man, another disappeared over cow corner, a third, off Suresh Raina, landed in the upper tier of the long-on stands and a fierce straight drive rammed into Albie Morkel's shin. A limping Morkel continued bowling after receiving some treatment but Gayle promptly dispatched a short delivery over the deep midwicket boundary. But while Gayle thrilled the home crowd, it was the bowlers who won the game for Bangalore.

The first couple of overs set the tone: Zaheer Khan nearly yorked M Vijay and beat Michael Hussey with couple of outswingers, and S Aravind hit a nagging line and length to handcuff Chennai. The breakthrough came in the third over when Hussey dragged an away-going delivery on to his stumps. It was a sign of things to come. Vijay hung his bat out against Aravind, Suresh Raina top edged a pull off Zaheer and when S Badrinath lifted Daniel Vettori to long-off Chennai were wobbling at 22 for 4 from 5.4 overs.

It was left to Dhoni to play the lone ranger but every time he tried to switch to attacking mode, a wicket fell, forcing him to revert to caution. He added 26 runs with Wriddhiman Saha from 6.4 overs and Chennai reached 60 for 4 in 12 overs. Saha swung Gayle for a six over midwicket in the next over to suggest a possible change in the mindset but he fell, trying to repeat the shot off Virat Kohli in the 14th over.

Dhoni was on a run-a-ball 19 at that stage and soon swung Gayle for his second six to hint at a revival, but Dwayne Bravo was trapped by an arm-ball from Vettori, forcing Dhoni to slow down again. He went quiet for a couple of overs and it was only in the final over, bowled by Abhimanyu Mithun, that Dhoni really displayed his brand of violence. He pulled a six and a four before he smote one over the midwicket boundary to finish off in style. It was far from enough though.

Dhawan puts Punjab out of contention

2011-05-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

The happily-ever-after ending that Kings XI Punjab were expecting for their campaign slipped through their fingers, literally, in Dharamsala. Their rise from the dead has been the story of the IPL, but they crumbled in the field in a must-win game and were eliminated from the race for the play-offs.

Dropped catches galore, spiced up with misfields and missed run-outs, allowed Deccan Chargers' openers, Shikhar Dhawan and D Ravi Teja, to deliver just the kind of a partnership that would lift the spirits of a struggling team in its final game. While Amit Mishra did his bit with a hat-trick, it was their stand that put the task beyond Punjab's batsmen. The result meant Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders qualified for the play-offs.

The first over set the tone for the day. There was encouragement for Praveen Kumar from the track, with the ball moving both ways, but there wasn't much the bowlers could do when not backed up by their fielders. Ryan McLaren missed an attempt to run out Dhawan first ball and Ravi Teja was dropped by Paul Valthaty in the deep moments later. Both chances were difficult, yet manageable, and proved decisive in the outcome.

The opening bowlers, Praveen and Ryan Harris, erred in line, particularly against Dhawan, who played through square leg and fine leg for boundaries. While Dhawan looked determined to bat through, it was Ravi Teja's responsibility to maintain the high tempo. Dhawan focussed on the gaps, timing and power enabling him to pierce them with ease, while Ravi Teja went over the top, accomplishing the task he was sent out for, albeit with much fortune.

Streaky as he was, Ravi Teja sent Punjab's frustration levels soaring. He survived a run-out in the 11th over - umpire Asad Rauf didn't call for a replay - and edged the next two balls from McLaren to the third-man boundary. He was dropped by Harris in the next over, and then launched Piyush Chawla for two massive sixes in another over that yielded 20 runs. By the time he was finally caught, he had smashed 60 when he should have been dismissed for a duck.

Having fed on tripe bowled on the pads, Dhawan drove Harris twice for boundaries through the off side, then ceded the floor to Ravi Teja, before taking the lead once again following his dismissal. His intentions were clear right after the second time-out, as he slog-swept Chawla and Bhargav Bhatt. He scarred Harris in his return spell with consecutive fours, including one that almost decapitated the man at the non-striker's end, Cameron White. Dhawan's first six was over cow-corner, and he was unfortunate to miss out on three figures, not being able to farm much of the strike at the end of the innings.

Punjab had changed their strategy in this game, opting to chase, leaving some a little surprised since Adam Gilchrist had scored a blistering ton at the same venue after batting first in their previous game. The pressure of a big target, despite the friendly surface and the small boundaries, was too difficult a challenge. Paul Valthaty perished in the second over, Shaun Marsh smashed JP Duminy for successive boundaries but was caught on the third attempt, edging to short third man. Gilchrist stood in the way and there was hope when he launched Anand Rajan over extra cover and slog-swept Pragyan Ojha into the stands.

Unlike Punjab, though, Deccan caught well and when Gilchrist drove Daniel Christian straight to White in the 11th over, the game was decided. Mishra got into the act: his first wicket, that of McLaren, was a product of an excellent diving catch by Christian in the deep. Mandeep Singh swung and missed to be stumped off the next ball, and Harris edged a googly straight to second slip to complete the hat-trick. The element of suspense Punjab brought to a mostly predictable tournament was over.

Match Meter

DC
Lucky openers step up: Deccan are 58 without loss in the sixth over after Dhawan and Ravi Teja are given reprieves

DC
Ravi Teja rides his luck: He survives a run-out, is dropped, and smashes Chawla for two sixes. At the end of the 13th over, Deccan are 129 without loss

DC
A good finish: Dhawan is unable to get a century but takes Deccan to an intimidating 198

DC
Early losses: Paul Valthaty and Shaun Marsh fall in quick time, and the pressure on Punjab grows

DC
The decisive blow: Gilchrist, after giving Punjab some hope, is caught at extra cover in the 11th over and it is all but over for his team this IPL

Advantage Honours even

Mumbai humbled by the other Shane

2011-05-20T20:05:00.000-07:00

The prospect of a final face-off between Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne had dominated the build-up to this clash, but on the field it was overshadowed by an imposing performance from Shane Watson. Not only did he deliver a fitting farewell for his captain from competitive cricket, he also left Mumbai Indians under serious pressure to keep their qualification chances alive following a third straight defeat. For someone who had struggled to capitalise on starts through this tournament, Watson compensated with a splendid all-round effort, with each of his crushing blows serving Mumbai a painful reminder of what they should have achieved on a good pitch.

The Tendulkar-Warne contest should have been a non-event as left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan trapped Tendulkar twice in front, only for umpire Paul Reiffel to think otherwise. Backed up by his disciplined bowling at one end, Watson dismissed T Suman and Ambati Rayudu in successive overs from the other, depriving the hosts of the attacking start they would have hoped for after choosing to bat. And just as Kieron Pollard had warmed up at the death after muscling a couple of boundaries, Watson cleaned him up to restrict Mumbai to a below-par total, one that was given some respectability by a classy half-century from Rohit Sharma.

It didn't take long for Watson to set about punishing Mumbai, as he smote Harbhajan Singh for two massive sixes over midwicket in the second over of the chase. He followed that up by drilling Lasith Malinga past mid-off in an over that perhaps produced his only moment of discomfort. Malinga responded venomously, knocking back Watson's chin with a bouncer - it escaped the grill, there would have been some pain but Watson didn't flinch. His own response? A memorable counterattack, pulling Malinga each time he dropped short, his next seven balls producing three fours, a flat six and a stunned crowd not used to seeing their star-studded home team being overwhelmed in that manner.

A sense of resignation was felt in the crowd, if not among the players, when Watson smacked Harbhajan for three consecutive fours in his comeback over, while Rahul Dravid, happy to play the supporting role, showed his own class with some delightful boundaries off Pollard and Munaf Patel. The pair remained unbeaten, Rajasthan cantered home, marking a satisfactory end after their turmoil-filled build-up to the tournament.

Rohit had won praise from Warne as one of the most exciting talents in Indian cricket, and he undoubtedly would have impressed his opposing captain with his performance today. He quickly took the lead in the stand with Tendulkar, his stand-out shot being an imposing drive against Warne through extra cover, matched by a delightful punch in the same region off Johan Botha who couldn't restrain Rohit despite chasing him as he made room.

Rohit used his feet well to spin, and stepped up in the late overs after Tendulkar perished to an upper cut off Amit Singh. Warne though, wasn't finishing his spell without a cheer. His final victory with the ball was the stumping of Rohit, stunned by the turn and losing his bat to square leg with a wild swing gone bad. At the end of the game, Warne was still smiling while Mumbai stayed baffled.

Match Meter

RR
Watson strikes early: He dismisses T Suman and Ambati Rayudu in successive overs. Mumbai are 17 for 2

MI RR
Rohit, Pollard step up: Rohit goes after Amit while Pollard muscles a couple of boundaries to boost Mumbai's hopes of a good score

RR
Warne ends on a high: Rohit is stumped off Warne in the final over, and Mumbai are restricted to a below-par 133

RR
Unstoppable Watson: Harbhajan Singh is struck for two huge sixes in the second over of the chase, and Watson doesn't look back

Advantage Honours even

Spinners, Gambhir help Kolkata breeze past Pune

2011-05-20T00:45:00.000-07:00

It was billed as Sourav Ganguly's payback game against Kolkata Knight Riders. Instead, it proved to be a stern examination on a turner for the Pune Warriors batsmen, and called in to question the home side's decision to play only one specialist spinner as Shakib Al Hasan, Iqbal Abdulla and Yusuf Pathan exploited the generous spin available to tie Pune down. Kolkata, anchored by Gautam Gambhir, and under no pressure with an asking rate of below six, motored to victory, taking a big step towards making the play-offs.

Unless they lose badly to Mumbai Indians in their last league game, and Kings XI Punjab manage another big win in their last match, Kolkata should be through to the knock-outs.

The comfortable victory was set up by the Kolkata spin trio, who picked up five wickets for 51 runs in 11 overs, but more than that, preyed on the minds of the Pune batsmen, who struggled to score on a pitch that would have been a good test of batsmen's skills in a Test match against quality spin, but looked out of place in a Twenty20 game.

Right from the first ball that Abdulla bowled, it was clear that the batsmen were in for a hard grind. It was flighted, drew Manish Pandey forward, and spun sharply across as he missed the ball by a long way. The third was the typical left-arm spinner's sucker ball, making Pandey push forward outside the line for the turn and going straight on to strike him in front. This was after Jesse Ryder had targeted the second ball of spin in the game, trying to smash Yusuf Pathan for six but only finding mid-off. It was the beginning of Pune's problems.

Callum Ferguson came in ahead of Ganguly, and the relative ease with which he played during his short innings made one wonder again what he had been doing in the Pune dugout for most of the season. It was the spinners' night though, and Ferguson was left clueless as he skipped out to Shakib, only for the ball to turn a long way past his bat for Shreevats Goswami to do the rest.

There was a time when left-arm spin from both ends would never be tried against Ganguly, but that time is long gone. Ganguly led a charmed life today, almost edging the ball on to the stumps and also escaping a stumping chance. He showed one glimpse of the batsman he once was, lofting Abdulla for a very straight six, but clearly, sustained big hitting on a difficult pitch was too much to expect. He departed on another failed attempt to break free, sweeping Shakib to Yusuf at backward square leg.

It was not until the 13th over that Pune's most explosive batsmen, Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj Singh, got together. A run-rate that had remained stuck below six after the opening over forced Uthappa to go hard at Yusuf in the next over, but he swung it to deep midwicket where Lee took a sharp catch. Yuvraj was left playing the tragic hero yet again, but even he could not do much, ultimately top-edging a pull off L Balaji, who came on to bowl for the first time in the last over.

Alfonso Thomas got Pune the breakthrough in the first over, getting Goswami caught behind with one that took off. That was as close as Pune came to entertaining hopes of an upset, and Kolkata's line-up proved to be too powerful, not even requiring the services of Jacques Kallis, who had injured his finger in the field.

Gambhir, as always, showed how to tackle a turning pitch, repeatedly using his feet against Pune's spinners, Rahul Sharma and Yuvraj. He also played two delightful extra cover drives off successive deliveries against Thomas. Yusuf wasn't far behind, making room to cut Rahul's skiddy deliveries from off stump through short third man.

That it wasn't to be Pune's day was evident when consecutive throws from Ferguson ran to the boundary, the latter after hitting the stumps. Not that it mattered in the end, as Kolkata were simply the superior side by a long margin.

Match Meter

KKR
Pune openers fall to spinners: Manish Pandey and Jesse Ryder fall as soon as Gautam Gambhir introduces Yusuf Pathan and Iqbal Abdulla. 17 for 2

KKR
Pune middle order struggles: Pune's batsmen can't find runs against spin. Shakib Al Hasan removes Callum Ferguson and Sourav Ganguly; Yusuf gets Robin Uthappa

KKR
Yuvraj can't get going too: Yuvraj Singh top-scores with a patient 24 but Pune manage only 118 for 7

KKR
Gambhir leads the way: Gautam Gambhir, along with Yusuf and Manoj Tiwary, chugs smoothly towards the target as Kolkata win by seven wickets

Advantage Honours even

Saha steers Chennai to 152

2011-05-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

It was an unusual day in Chennai. To begin with, it was not oppressively hot. And halfway through the game, the hosts' power-packed batting line-up was restricted by a team on the brink of elimination at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, which is a fortress for the Chennai Super Kings. Tight lines, varied lengths and some good catching from Kochi Tuskers Kerala helped limit Chennai to a score that exceeded Parthiv Patel's expected target by 12 runs. But poor wicketkeeping from Parthiv, and a death-overs surge from Wriddhiman Saha meant Chennai still had enough to entertain hopes of climbing to the top of the IPL table.

For those who were witness to Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh's entertaining onslaught against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, this innings was a slightly laborious affair. However, it would require Kochi to replicate what Kings XI Punjab achieved in Dharamsala in order to remain mathematically alive in this competition.

Unlike Bangalore, who had doled out freebies to a merciless Australian pair, Kochi bowled with discipline for much of the innings. The seamers didn't dish out length deliveries and often cramped the batsmen for room, while Muttiah Muralitharan prompted caution and restraint from the Chennai batsmen. And when the batsmen did improvise and went on the attack, a wicket, earned more than handed out, pegged them back.

M Vijay flat-batted RP Singh, clipped him over square leg and launched one over his head to pick up three boundaries in the third over, but was cleaned up with a perfectly-aimed yorker off the final ball. Suresh Raina was let off first ball, when Parthiv spilled one diving to his left, and Sreesanth, the frustrated party, was made to rue that lapse with two huge sixes over long-on. But the bowler hit back the same over, when Raina miscued a full toss. S Badrinath hit a massive six off Hodge in the 10th over, but was brilliantly caught in the deep while attempting a similar shot as RP dived full length to his right and plucked it inches from the ground.

Amid all this, Michael Hussey was dropping anchor, though the pressure to increase his strike-rate with wickets falling around him reflected in his shot-making. An attempted paddle resulted in a clean catch by Parthiv, but was shockingly turned down by Rudi Koertzen. Not long after, in the 13th over, Parthiv missed a stumping off Hussey, having let off Saha the previous over. Hussey eventually fell to a good running catch from Gnaneswara Rao, but Saha took centrestage at the death.

Saha swept Ravindra Jadeja over square leg, charged out to Murali to deposit him over long-on and hammered RP over deep midwicket in an enterprising cameo that undermined Kochi's initial success with the ball.

Sizzling Gilchrist conquers Bangalore

2011-05-18T02:33:00.000-07:00

Adrenalin. Violence. And a lot of skill. The Dharamsala sky cracked with lightning and thunder but the real storm was witnessed from the bats of Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh. Gilchrist rolled back the years to produce a delightfully aggressive century and Marsh unfurled a gem of his own as the pair constructed the highest partnership in a Twenty20 game, 206 runs, to help Kings XI Punjab terminate Royal Challengers Bangalore's winning streak. With this massive 111-run victory, Punjab are level on points with Kolkata Knight Riders and also, racked up their net run rate.

There are many big-hitting batsmen but most of them tend to club, bludgeon, tonk, heave and thump. Gilchrist, though, rarely plays an "ugly" shot. He makes eye-pleasing classical arcs with the bat and tonight was no different. Marsh captured the mood best: "It was a privilege to watch it from the other end," Marsh said.

Gilchrist made his presence felt in the chase too, diving to his left to take a stunner to dismiss Chris Gayle and derail the chase. Ryan Harris removed both Gayle and Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar bowled his fifth maiden of the tournament, and Piyush Chawla bamboozled the lower-middle order with his googlies and legbreaks to grab four wickets but the night will be, as it should be, remembered for the carnage unleashed by Gilchrist the batsman.

He didn't start flowing until the seventh over, preferring to let Paul Valthaty play the role of aggressor. Gilchrist was on 2 off 9 deliveries, and Punjab on 30 for 1, when a short ball from Abhimanyu Mithun helped him kickstart his flashback. He swivelled to pull the white ball over the midwicket boundary to signal the beginning of the carnage. He then turned his attention to S Aravind, who had given only a solitary run from seven deliveries. He charged down the track to lift one over long-off and crashed another to the straight boundary. With Marsh collecting a six and a four, S Aravind leaked 21 runs in that eight over. The floodgates were well and truly open.

Kohli tried to the check the Gilchrist flood with the spin of Gayle. No luck, though, as he was swung for two huge sixes. It was in the 10th over, bowled by Charl Langeveldt, that Gilchrist really stepped up the violence in some style. He played the conventional and the short-arm pull to collect two sixes before he produced the longest six (122 metres) to complete the hat-trick. It was a knuckle-ball from Langeveldt but Gilchrist read it early and swung it way beyond the midwicket boundary. Langeveldt winced, Kohli stared into distance and the Punjab camp was agog with utter delight.

Bangalore's woes, though, were only to escalate from that moment as Marsh decided to weigh in with his own brand of aggression. He stamped his presence on the game in the 15th over, looting 30 runs off Johan van der Wath. It went for 6 6 4 4 4 6, as Marsh launched a stunning assault. Three fours sped to the extra-cover boundary, one six flew over midwicket, another sailed over long-off and the final six disappeared over the straight boundary.

By the end it was difficult to keep count of the sixes as the scorecard kept racing ahead as though it was on steroids. It was a violent violent night in the hill-town inhabited by peaceful monks.

Deccan end Pune's slim hopes

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

A bowling attack having four Test bowlers bowled to its world-class potential for once and Deccan Chargers' batting did not stumble chasing a middling total to end Pune Warriors' slim hopes of making the play-offs.

Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma gave the Pune top- and middle-order a complete working over, each posing various problems of flight, turn, pace and bounce. For once, Daniel Christian was much more than just the supporting cast, and the result was that apart from the opening over, there was only one team that dominated most of the match, and it wasn't Pune. Had it not been for Mitchell Marsh's counterattacking innings, Pune would have struggled even more.

After Kumar Sangakkara began with JP Duminy in his last IPL game, the introduction of Steyn and Ishant was the start of Pune's woes. Manish Pandey looked as out of place as a bargain hunter in a fixed-price store, top-edging half-hearted pulls and slashing wildly over slip.

Jesse Ryder looked much more comfortable, but he fell to a blinder from Ravi Teja at cover, who dived to his left to pouch a powerful drive. Sourav Ganguly did not last long. His first attempt to carve Christian over extra cover resulted in a swing-and-miss. The next one resulted in a simple chance to Ojha at mid-off. Ojha foxed Pandey with one that came in to uproot middle stump.

Pune were already in trouble at 45 for 3 when they ran in to Mishra, Deccan's most successful bowler this season, and the architect of their surprise win over Mumbai Indians. The first delivery struck Robin Uthappa on the pads as he missed the flick, the fourth was a loopy legbreak that dipped on him and produced a fatal leading edge that popped to Mishra. The fifth was even better. It was tossed up outside off stump and Mithun Manhas set himself up for the cut, expecting it to turn away. To his horror, it was the googly that turned in and bowled him off the inside edge as Pune slipped to 45 for 5.

Once again, it was down to Yuvraj Singh to lift Pune out of the hole the other batsmen had dug. Yuvraj looked the part, slamming Ojha for consecutive boundaries in the tenth over, but he could not hang around for long, top-edging a wild pull off Christian to Sangakkara.

Marsh showed glimpses of why he is talked about so much, smacking the spinners for sixes after having taken his time to settle. Deccan managed 34 runs off the last three overs, courtesy Marsh and Wayne Parnell, and that lifted them to a fighting total which they would have gladly taken at 45 for 5. Deccan hadn't won a match chasing this season, and Pune hadn't won while setting a target. The latter trend was to continue.

Pune's only hope was to rattle Deccan's brittle batting line-up early but with both Shikhar Dhawan and Sunny Sohal managing to perform to expectation, their slender hopes of making the play-offs started to disappear. The Deccan openers stuck to their usual selves; Dhawan chugged smoothly to 28 before throwing it away, Sohal threatened to do so throughout his 34 before Rahul Sharma trapped him leg-before.

While Dhawan drove and punched for delightful boundaries through extra cover, Sohal did what he does best, swing at everything, hit some and miss some. There were sixes over extra cover and long-on; he also earned a wide for height as he fell away trying to flail at a short ball from two feet outside leg stump. An opening stand of 67 in 49 deliveries meant Pune needed Deccan to fall apart like they themselves had earlier, but Sangakkara and Duminy ensured Pune were firmly shut out of the game, and knocked out of the race for the play-offs. The only thing Deccan were left wondering was how their season could have gone if their potential had been realised earlier.

Match Meter

DC
Pune lose 5 for 14 Amit Mishra takes two in two as Pune crumble from to 31 for 0 to 45 for 5 to surrender the initiative early

DC
Yuvraj goes too Pune's hopes of a turnaround recede as a solid-looking Yuvraj Singh goes caught behind for a brisk 23

DC PW
Marsh takes Pune to 136 Mitchell Marsh hammers three sixes in his 37 off 28 balls to lift Deccan to a fighting 136 for 9

DC
Deccan openers in control Shikhar Dhawan and Sunny Sohal put on 67 in 8.1 overs, and Kumar Sangakkara and JP Duminy capitalise on the solid start as Deccan win by six wickets

Advantage Honours even

West Indies triumph in low-scoring battle

2011-05-15T20:50:00.001-07:00

Quite suitably, it took an up and down day to end an up and down Test, a cracker between two faltering sides. At the end West Indies had wrapped up their first and most significant Test win in over two years, since they beat England at the start of 2009. Ravi Rampaul and captain Darren Sammy were at the centre of it, taking eight wickets between them to lead the side to a 40-run win in Providence. Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal battled but Pakistan had been outplayed, their batting as brittle as ash.

Though Sammy took five wickets, Rampaul was actually the key, the best fast bowler in this Test by some distance. Devendra Bishoo's arrival has taken the limelight away from Rampaul, for whom, in a normal non-dysfunctional cricket set-up, this would be hailed as a breakthrough performance. He's bustled in all game, with pace, intelligence and movement.

He was terrific yesterday and began similarly today, generating incoming swerve and then more off the surface. Asad Shafiq's charmed but vital hand was defeated early by one such delivery, coming in and going through. He gave little away in that first six-over spell. Then, after lunch as the ball softened and got old, he raced in for a spell of subtle reverse swing, dismissing the stubborn Abdur Rehman in his second over back.

In between, Sammy took over, playing a real captain's hand. Bishoo and Kemar Roach had looked particularly flat in the morning, so Sammy brought himself in and at his gentle pace, immediately started getting some inswing. The key intervention came in his third over - two wickets in three balls turned around what was becoming Pakistan's morning. He found enough late in-drift to first trap Misbah and then Mohammad Salman lbw; the latter's leg-before took the total number of such dismissals in this Test to a world-record 18.

After tea he picked up three more in a similarly simple manner: pitch on a length on off and bring it in. Umar Gul was first and then came the killer blow, Akmal. The pair were trapped in successive overs before Saeed Ajmal was bowled to cap the win.

With Misbah and Umar putting on a breezy 52 in the morning, the game had been shifting into Pakistan's control. But the fragility of their batting is swiftly becoming legendary, especially in chasing small-ish targets. Misbah continued his extraordinary revival as captain-batsman with a seventh fifty in eight Test innings, employing a familiar method designed to frustrate and exhilarate equally. Most deliveries he blocked, as you might with the Most Exaggerated Forward Defense in world cricket.

But he does possess a keener mind than most Pakistani batsmen and his mini-assault in the morning on Bishoo was well-conceived. Having been tied down against him through the Test, he suddenly lofted him straight for a big six. In the next over, he lofted him through midwicket for a boundary and the field spread, Bishoo a little rattled.

With him, Akmal provided such easy impetus that the surface was forgotten about. He'd already cut a faltering Bishoo, before producing a sumptuous drive on the up off Rampaul. Soon he began to look so good, cutting square, picking through the leg side as well as driving to bring the target under 100, that a rash dismissal felt inevitable, as it so often does with him.

At lunch, he was still around though, poised between his most significant Test innings and yet another pretty but futile hand, and the game was just about still on. Post lunch, he went soon enough, another of the latter in his bag, and one of Pakistan's more shocking recent Test defeats was sealed.

Kochi stay mathematically alive with a thumping win

2011-05-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

The short boundaries in Indore proved to be bad masters for Rajasthan Royals. The small playing field seemed to be playing on their minds as batsman after batsman in the middle order perished to reckless strokes. Brad Hodge was at the receiving end of those gifts, ending up with a career-best 4 for 13, but it was perhaps a tight first spell from Sreesanth - three overs for 15 runs and the wickets of Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane - that set the desperation in. Kochi chased the paltry 98 in style, giving their net run-rate a boost too.

Coming into the game, both the teams had an outside chance of making it to the play-offs, but Rajasthan didn't seem too optimistic on that front. They knew the remoteness of the outside chance, and took the opportunity to make six changes to their side. Rajasthan now stand knocked out, and Kochi, with 12 points from 13 games, need to win their last game and need Kolkata and Punjab to lose theirs.

None of Rajasthan's experiments worked. RP Singh and Sreesanth offered no freebies. Faiz Fazal was caught plumb in front by a full toss before Sreesanth got Dravid with a nice outswinger. Rahane followed up a flick from wide outside off to mid-on with a shuffle too far across, making it 26 for 3 in 5.2 overs.

Rajasthan didn't look to rebuild; they knew they would need a substantial total here. Ashok Menaria began with a six off Sreesanth, Shane Watson with three off debutant left-arm spinner P Prashanth. At 56 for 3 after eight, it seemed like Rajasthan were on their way back, but Watson played all around a full delivery from Prasanth Parameswaran.

Now began the Hodge show. He kept tossing the ball up, the Rajasthan batsmen kept trying to hit the ball into the jungles of Madhya Pradesh. All of Hodge's four victims thought they could hit him for sixes; they could not have been more wrong. Pinal Shah managed to go as far as long-on, Jacob Oram failed to even get a touch, Shane Warne dragged one slog-sweep on, and Menaria found long-off. When Menaria fell, Rajasthan had slumped to 89 for 9 in the 16th over, and they were not going to get many more.

Brendon McCullum came out obsessed with improving his team's net run-rate, charging at Shaun Tait first ball. Tait didn't do himself any favours, bowling two no-balls in the first over. One of them - when he cut the side crease - had bowled McCullum. After hitting Tait for a four and six in the first over, McCullum proceeded to treat Oram as a club bowler, nonchalantly flicking him for three straight sixes. When MCullum fell for a 12-ball 29, it was important for Kochi to keep scoring fast. Hodge and Parthiv Patel didn't disappoint, ending the chase in 7.2 overs. It was the second-biggest win in terms of balls remaining in IPLs and the fourth-biggest in all Twenty20 matches.

Average Delhi keep Punjab's campaign alive

2011-05-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

The scorecard will say Paul Valthaty hammered 62 to power Punjab to an eventually match-winning 170, but that's not even half the story. Through 50 balls of clueless flailing, Valthaty put on a display completely out of place in the beautiful setting that is Dharamsala. Delhi Daredevils matched his ordinariness with a shoddy show on the field, followed by the sort of batting display that can be expected from a one-man team, when that one man is missing. Punjab's bowlers, led by a resurgent Piyush Chawla, capitalised on Delhi's woes to run to their third win on the trot, keeping their late-blooming campaign alive.

By all counts it was an average game of cricket, and the tone for the ordinariness was set right at the start. There was swing for Irfan Pathan, but not enough pace. There were swings of Adam Gilchrist's bat, but not too many connections. At the other end, Morne Morkel's other-worldly bounce systematically exposed Valthaty's limitations. The pressure was on Punjab and the chances promptly followed, but Delhi graciously fluffed them. Yogesh Nagar and Irfan combined to mess up a straightforward run-out opportunity, before Venugopal Rao dropped a chance at slip. Delhi's generosity was duly reciprocated by Punjab, as Gilchrist gifted his wicket soon after the botched run-out. It was like watching two football sides trying to outdo each other in an own-goal contest.

Shaun Marsh's advent sought to bring sanity to the proceedings - he began by charming Aavishkar Salvi over mid-on, before shredding him through point - but Valthaty's methods continued to spoil the scenery. Initially he attempted on-the-up thumps, regardless of length, and often missed by ridiculously large margins. He later tried to counter the bounce with cuts, but rarely made contact. He then resorted to the pull, and it was soon evident why he doesn't play that shot too often. On the one occasion when he managed to middle the ball, Varun Aaron at fine-leg ran in too far, and the ball sailed over the boundary.

Valthaty eventually found his match against James Hopes' trundle and ignited the innings with two violent sixes over the leg-side and an edged four through third man. Bowling listless lengths to Valthaty wasn't Hopes' biggest mistake of the innings though. He brought on S Sriram's nondescript left-arm spin in the 13th over and Marsh indulged himself to some slog-sweeping violence. The over bled 25, including three big sixes over the leg side, as Punjab galloped from 70 for 1 in ten overs to 115 for 1 in 13.

Delhi managed to contain the damage in the remaining overs, through Aaron's pace, and Irfan's surprising rediscovery of old-ball swing. Marsh and Valthaty perished to Irfan's stock indippers off successive balls in the 15th over. Delhi could have taken control in the next over, but Naman Ojha grassed a chance to let off Dinesh Karthik, allowing Punjab to motor along to 170.

Delhi's chase followed a now-familiar template: David Warner's shocking loss of form - he had cobbled up 47 runs in his last six innings before the game - and Virender Sehwag's absence meant the innings lost steam quickly. Along with Naman Ojha, Warner played out ten successive dot balls early on, in the process giving Praveen Kumar his fourth maiden of the season. Ojha eventually found release by clouting Shalabh Srivastava for two sixes and a four in the sixth over, but it proved to be a false dawn. Ojha guided Srivastava behind in the eighth over for a run-a-ball 28, before Warner miscued the same bowler for a run-a-ball 29. Run-a-balls were, however, not going to be enough.

Chawla has endured a rough time recently: he struggled for impact in the World Cup and his place in the team became a national debate; his struggles continued in the IPL, and he's been left out for the West Indies ODIs. On Sunday, he finally came into his own with a sprightly spell, in which he refrained from his old failing of over-doing the googly. He accounted for Sriram, Rao and Hopes in successive overs, as Delhi went down with the setting sun in Dharamsala.

Match Meter

KXIP
Delhi blunders: Yogesh Nagar messes up a run-out in the third over, and Venugopal Rao drops a chance in the fourth

KXIP
Valthaty plunders: Valthaty cashes in despite never looking in control, and smashes Hopes for 18 runs in the 11th over

KXIP
Marsh goes berserk: Marsh takes a leaf out of the Valthaty book - Sriram leaks 25 runs in the 13th over, as Delhi lose their grip on the game

KXIP
Warner and Ojha crawl: Praveen's maiden comes in a phase where Delhi play out 10 successive dot balls. Alarm bells.

KXIP
Chawla takes it home: Chawla dismantles the middle order with three wickets in three overs. Game over.

Advantage Honours even

Deccan prevail in low-scoring upset

2011-05-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

For 19 overs Deccan Chargers, out of the competition already, seemed to be going through the motions. In the 20th, they came to life through Amit Mishra's four successive boundaries off his India team-mate Munaf Patel. Mishra and his India spin rival Pragyan Ojha then bowled eight overs for 34 runs on a turning pitch, sucking the life out of Mumbai's chase. A rollercoaster final over by IPL debutant Anand Rajan made for good drama too.

Mumbai, pretty much like Deccan, woke up in the last two overs of their innings, with 42 required. Kieron Pollard and Harbhajan Singh took 16 off the 19th, and then Pollard got stuck into Rajan, who had earlier removed Sachin Tendulkar and TL Suman in the same over. Rajan was chosen to bowl that last over ahead of the overseas pro and expensively acquired Daniel Christian. Pollard hit the first length ball for a huge six. Rajan's attempt at a yorker resulted in a leg-side wide. Pollard got a thick edge on the next, and dived a mile to complete the second run. Both teams' scores after 19.2 overs were identical: 119 for 6.

Pollard started doing what Mishra had, flicking a leg-side length ball for four. The debutant had to be under pressure, although an expressionless face didn't give much away. Kumar Sangakkara and Ishant Sharma, fielding at a very straight mid-on, called conferences every ball. Rajan's previous over had featured the wicket of the best batsman in the world. He was throwing it away now. Then came a smart slower ball, a split-finger one, outside off. This edge from Pollard carried to third man. Game over. Rajan didn't go delirious celebrating in true IPL fashion. He just smiled.

For a little less than the first half of the match, Deccan hadn't had much to smile about. From the moment Michael Lumb lost his leg stump to Lasith Malinga in the first over, Deccan lived a stifled life. Not one of the main batsmen, except for Shikhar Dhawan, struck at a run a ball.

Malinga and Harbhajan Singh were difficult to get away, and Dhawal Kulkarni sneaked in three wicket-taking deliveries. It seemed Mumbai had resumed normal service after their 87 all out in their previous game. Then Munaf began the last over, at 112 for 6. Dhawan hoisted the first ball for six. Munaf came back well with a yorker that brought Mishra on strike.

This is where the game started turning. Munaf bowled a bouncer, and the top edge flew over the keeper's head. Munaf had things to say to Mishra then, which didn't quite go down well with the Deccan batsmen. Dhawan too joined in the exchange. An attempted yorker now ended up as a full toss, and ended up at the midwicket fence. This time Mishra was looking for Munaf. The next was half edged, half guided past the keeper. Mishra and Munaf collided on the pitch even as the ball reached the third man boundary. Another yorker went wrong, and another full toss was clipped for four.

Deccan went into the defence with confidence. JP Duminy, who was beautifully done in by a loopy offbreak earlier in the match, bowled a beauty himself, opening the innings. That offbreak, pitching on leg, hitting off, removed Aiden Blizzard, and sent Mumbai into caution mode. Now with Mishra and Ojha turning the ball square, Deccan's 135 started to look a good total.

Ishant, too, chipped in with the wickets of Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma. With wickets falling around him, Sachin Tendulkar seemed to be stuck between caution and aggression. He too tried to go after the debutant Rajan in the 16th over, with 60 still required. He punched him for four first ball, but then saw Suman perish to a slower one. To the last ball of the over, he moved across to try and pull, and was caught dead in front. Ojha and Mishra came back to give just 11 off the next two overs.

Pollard's hitting in the final two, which brought Mumbai teasingly close to a win, went on to emphasise that he should be batting higher for Mumbai, who are now out of the crucial top two on the points table.

Gayle cameo takes Bangalore through to play-offs

2011-05-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

Brett Lee sledged, Gautam Gambhir sighed in agony, and the crowd lapped it up in delight as Chris Gayle's brutal cameo obliterated the below-par target set by Kolkata Knight Riders in a rain-hit game in Bangalore. Though the chase went into the final over, and Royal Challengers Bangalore lost a few quick wickets in the end, Gayle's 12-ball 38 had effectively killed the contest in just 2.4 overs of the chase. With the win, Bangalore made it seven victories on the trot and qualified for the playoffs.

Though Gayle dealt them the final blow, it was Kolkata's batting, which bordered on over-aggression, and the rain, that reduced the game to a 13-over contest, that really cost them the game. Kolkata were 69 for 3 in 11 overs when rain left them with only two more overs to bat, and they reached 89 for 4. Bangalore were set a Duckworth/Lewis adjusted target of 102 and Gayle's blitz ensured they could soak up the loss of quick wickets and reach the target.

The first over of the chase perfectly caught Gayle's fury and Kolkata's disappointment: Edge. Blast. Sledge. Edge. Crash. Gayle edged the first delivery to the third man boundary, crashed the second over cover, dug out a screaming yorker next - Lee sledged at this point, collected a four with a top-edged pull off the fifth ball and walloped the fifth to the cover-point boundary.

Kolkata's troubles didn't end with that 16-run over, for Jaidev Unadkat was looted for 23 in the next over. Luke Pomersbach, who replaced Tillakaratne Dilshan, started with a square-cut boundary before Gayle took over. He top-edged a six over third man before launching the next delivery on to the second tier of the stand beyond long-on. Although Gayle fell, top-edging a Lee delivery to Kallis, he had put Bangalore on course. They lost a few wickets in the end but there was never any danger of them losing their way.

It was with their batting that Kolkata lost the game. Sometimes, you can get over-aggressive. Sometimes, you need to shift to a Plan B but Kolkata seemed too eager to dominate. In their attempt to attack, they perhaps crossed the line. Even Jacques Kallis was nearly slogging and heaving at deliveries. Gautam Gambhir went too hard at deliveries and Eoin Morgan tried to cut nearly every delivery he faced. The result? They were reduced to 30 for 3 in the sixth over. They recovered to reach 69 for 3 in 11 overs but then rain soaked the playing arena. A long wait ensued and the game was restricted to 13 overs upon resumption.

Bangalore did everything right; they attacked relentlessly and suffocated the batsmen. They hurled down the bouncers, slipped in the occasional yorker, they got the ball to swing and seam a bit and always attacked. Eoin Morgan couldn't get Zaheer Khan away and fell, charging out and flicking straight to midwicket. Jacques Kallis was intent on playing the big shots and he fell, edging an attempted heave off Charl Langeveldt. Bangalore's change-up bowlers, Abimanyu Mithun and S Aravind, too kept it really tight and Bangalore's sharp fielding did its bit in keeping Kolkata in check. When Gambhir tried to break free with a cut, AB de Villiers lunged to his left at backward point to take a sharp chance. It was left to Yusuf Pathan to give Kolkata a decent total but it didn't prove enough.

Karthik blitz keeps Punjab in race

2011-05-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

Kings XI Punjab beat the Kochi Tuskers Kerala by six wickets in a boundary-rich encounter at the IPL's newest venue, Indore, keeping their hopes of making the play-offs alive. Emphatic batting from Dinesh Karthik and Shaun Marsh, who put on a 111-run stand for the third-wicket, made the difference on a surface that was good for batting, in a stadium with short boundaries and a quick outfield.

Karthik and Marsh's bruising combination nullified the earlier efforts of Mahela Jayawardene. The Kochi captain had played a classy innings of 76 in which he alternated effortlessly between elegant flicks, casual lofted strokes and crunching blows to propel the Kochi ship to 178.

Adam Gilchrist and Paul Valthathy started the chase in measured fashion against RP Singh and Sreesanth but with the target they had to chase, they could not afford to hang around for too long. Valthaty began the assault, smashing RP for two sixes off short balls before being bowled with the full one.

Gilchrist continued watchfully and was out in RP's next over, trying to pull over midwicket but only succeeding in getting an edge through to Parthiv Patel, leaving Punjab in trouble.

Karthik and Marsh weren't pushed into a shell by that though. They took on the bowling and managed at least one boundary off every over they faced together. Some overs were more profitable than others. Marsh was feeding off the full delivery, getting under them and driving aerially, while Karthik cashed in on the short balls. He hit the balls particularly furiously and brought up his 50 with a blistering swipe through midwicket.

As he and Marsh had Punjab needing about a run-a-ball for victory, when RP returned and struck twice again. Karthik drove in the air to extra cover and Mahela Jayawardene timed his leap to perfection, snatching it out of the sky. He stuck again in that over, removing Marsh with a spectacular reflex catch off his own bowling.

It slowed Punjab down a touch, but not enough as David Hussey and Mandeep Singh took them across the finish line. In the end Punjab got away with the 19 wides they sent down while bowling and the blistering start they allowed Jayawardene and Brendon McCullum to get off to.

The Kochi pair were offered a healthy amount of short ball and flighted deliveries from Ryan Harris and Bipul Sharma and took full advantage. The nature of the track allowed them to punish even decent balls and they put on 93 for the first wicket. McCullum fell to Sharma after being trapped lbw while attempting the sweep shot but Jayawardene was unmoved by the loss of his partner.

With Ravindra Jadeja, he took Kochi to 103 for 1 at the halfway stage. Jadeja smacked one gorgeous six off Piyush Chawla before the lespinner had him out lbw. The runs slowed a little after that. The third fifty took 44 balls to come, during which Jadeja and Brad Hodge were out, and Jayawardene had to rein himself in a little.

He formed another damaging partnership with Owais Shah, who had his first outing in the IPL this season. Shah hit an entertaining 23 off 11 balls before being run-out after struggling to hear the call from Jayawardene, who was himself run out off the last ball. A flurry of wickets at the end pegged Kochi back and kept them from striding over the 200 mark.

Disciplined Pune outplay uninspired Deccan

2011-05-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

Deccan Chargers were handcuffed by Yuvraj Singh's round-arm left-arm spin, submitting to a middling total after a flashy start. They lost two wickets to Yuvraj at crucial junctures, and scored only 17 off his four overs. Mitchell Marsh and Rahul Sharma did their bit too, conceding 49 in their eight overs. Marsh was rewarded handsomely with three wickets in the 19th over with frustrated batsmen looking to force the pace. Jesse Ryder and Manish Pandey made light work of the chase, although this game was inconsequential to qualification for further rounds.

The match might not have an impact on who goes to the playoffs, but it grew immensely as drama when Yuvraj announced at the toss that Sourav Ganguly was finally going to play in this year's IPL. Having been ignored by his home side Kolkata Knight Riders, and picked by Pune Warriors only after an injury to Ashish Nehra, Ganguly came in to bat with the win more or less in the bag, but found time to hit a trademark six over midwicket off Amit Mishra in an unbeaten, run-a-ball 32. One member of the enthusiastic crowd found his way onto the ground, and fell at his feet during the break after Robin Uthappa's wicket.

The chase by then seemed easy, but with the way Shikhar Dhawan and DB Ravi Teja started the game, a facile win would have been the last thing on Pune Warriors' minds. They brought up the fifty in the sixth over, but Yuvraj dismissed Dhawan in his first over, and the squeeze that followed slowed Deccan down. Five fours and two sixes were hit in the first six overs, only six boundaries in the rest of the piece.

Dhawan and Teja were good against the medium pace of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shrikanth Wagh, and Dhawan welcomed Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell to the crease with sixes. When he tried to do the same to Yuvraj, who had brought himself on to stop the bleeding, the bowler pulled the length back, bowled a little slower, and Dhawan could only sky him to cover. Marsh followed it up with a played-on dismissal of Teja's. At 56 for 2 in the eighth over, Kumar Sangakkara and JP Duminy tried to make sure there were no more quick strikes.

However, Rahul beat Sangakkara's sweep with a flat, straight delivery. Yuvraj came back, and tortured Daniel Christian with deliveries that wouldn't spin. Finally Christian played around his front pad to be caught dead plumb. At 98 for 3 in the 15th over, the onus was on Duminy to take Deccan to a good total. However, as has been the case of late, Duminy couldn't make a telling contribution, managing a run-a-ball 30.

Dale Steyn, faced with the prospect of defending a pedestrian total, took matters in his own hands, and scored 10 off the last over, in the process scoring only the third boundary since the 15th over. Ryder, though, was quick to see off the only threat to their chase. He punched, drove and hooked Steyn for four, four and six in the first over. Between them, Ryder and Pandey scored 84 off 62, which basically finished off the chase.

Rayudu, bowlers lead Mumbai to dominant win

2011-05-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

Mumbai Indians played like the dominant side they have been this IPL, and Delhi Daredevils like the middling one they have been. Consequently Mumbai took another step towards qualification for the next round, Delhi towards elimination.

Except for a period of four overs where Mumbai lost two wickets for 17 runs, they bossed the whole game. Aiden Blizzard teased headline writers with seven boundaries off Morne Morkel's first two overs, and then Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma absorbed the shock of two quick wickets to follow it up with an assault that got Mumbai 67 off the last six overs.

On a flat and quick pitch, with short boundaries, 178 was still not beyond Virender Sehwag and David Warner. Not against Mumbai, though, whose big three with the ball - Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel - killed the game in three overs. Harbhajan got Warner with a straighter one, Colin Ingram had no clue about a Malinga yorker, and Munaf got a top edge from Sehwag first ball. It left Delhi too steep a climb, although an 87-run stand between half-centurion James Hopes and Venugopal Rao meant sure all time-outs were utilised.

The first innings had got off to a similarly emphatic start for Mumbai. Blizzard took to the pace and the regulation length from Morkel, who has troubled a few Indian batsmen with pace and bounce. To Blizzard, though the faster they came, the faster they went. One of the seven boundaries was a cut from in front of leg stump. A defeated Morkel found time for a bemused smile even as the total reached 50 in five overs.

Irfan Pathan, though, found swing, and with a wicket-maiden brought Delhi back. Shahbaz Nadeem added to Sachin Tendulkar's wicket when he removed Blizzard with one that skidded on. This was a time when things could have easily gone wrong for Mumbai, but Rayudu and Rohit batted sensibly. It was Rayudu who took lead in both rebuilding and in attacking once he was in.

Rayudu began pushing Delhi out of the contest in the 10th over when he targeted James Hopes. He moved across the stumps, and waited with a high back lift. He got a length ball from Hopes, and pulled it over short fine leg. It didn't make for pleasant viewing, but Rayudu immediately balanced it aesthetically with a proper drive through extra cover next over. Two overs later, Ajit Agarkar served him a leg-stump half-volley, which Rayudu flicked out of Agarkar's home ground.

Rayudu's hitting rubbed onto Rohit, who lofted Morkel and Hopes for lovely straight sixes. Morkel found a semblance of redemption with Rohit's wicket in the 17th over, Agarkar with a last over to Kieron Pollard and Andrew Symonds that went for just five. In between, though, Rayudu punished Delhi some more. He didn't go hell for leather, instead he placed his shots well and hit Nadeem and Hopes for a six and three fours. From 30 off 26 he had gone to 59 off 39. Malinga, Harbhajan and Munaf soon told him he had done enough.

Bowlers set up victory for Kolkata

2011-05-07T22:43:00.000-07:00

Kolkata Knight Riders' bowlers made best use of a sluggish pitch after a rain-delayed start, keeping Chennai Super Kings to 114, and their batsmen did enough to be ahead of the par score when rain returned to cut the match short. Both captains thought the weather would have little impact on the pitch and identified it as a good batting strip, but were proved wrong.

On a slow, low wicket that didn't allow the ball to come on, Brett Lee and Iqbal Abdulla exploited the conditions perfectly. It was only S Badrinath's carefully crafted half-century that held the Chennai innings together. Both Lee and Abdulla bowled tight lines, with Lee using the slower ball well, and didn't give the batsmen room to break away.

Lee bowled a three-over spell up front, instead of the usual two, and while he pulled the noose at one end, another wicket fell at the other. Pressure built and M Vijay succumbed. Abdulla saw him charging down the track, dropped one short and was offered an easy caught-and-bowled.

Yusuf Pathan, who didn't allow any release, took the pace off the ball and had Suresh Raina caught at midwicket. Rajat Bhatia also permitted no let-up and after nine overs, Chennai had not scored a single boundary.

The first one came in the 10th over, off Yusuf, when Badrinath had had enough, and smacked it low and flat over long-on. Michael Hussey had stayed with Badrinath through the tough patch but his labour ended in the next over when he was offered a short ball by L Balaji and pulled it straight to Eoin Morgan at midwicket.

Albie Morkel was promoted to number five and gave himself some time to get in and the Kolkata bowlers maintained the stranglehold. After eight balls, he had the opportunity to sink his teeth into Jaidev Unadkat, who was only brought on in the 15th over. The pace bowler seemed to misread the pitch and bowled too quick, getting dispatched for consecutive fours before he pulled it back with some slower balls. Morkel was dropped in the same over by Lee, trying to launch Unadkat over the leg-side.

While Morkel was attempting to hit big shots and even appeared to get an edge in Lee's final over but was not given out, Badrinath was sculpting his half-century. He became more comfortable after he had got in and picked the balls to hit. Morkel had more of the strike in the last two overs but only one of his many swings got to the boundary.

It wasn't easy for Kolkata to chase, especially with R Ashwin making use of some turn. He bowled Eoin Morgan in the second over and also got the important wicket of Gautam Gambhir, although the fielder deserved more credit for the second. Gambhir had danced down the track and sliced the ball in the air towards extra cover. Suraj Randiv ran from point to take a tough diving catch.

Jacques Kallis was the immovable rock for Kolkata. He coped well, given the conditions and struck two classic boundaries. Along with Manoj Tiwary, Kallis looked comfortable enough to see Kolkata through and had the rain not come down, he probably would have. Nevertheless, he had done enough to put Kolkata firmly in front when play ended.

Shane Warne announces IPL retirement

2011-05-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

The ongoing season of the IPL will be Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne's last one as a player. He will most likely continue to be associated with Rajasthan as a coach or advisor in the future.

"Yes this is my last year playing IPL - please come down and support RR last 2 home games v Chennai & Bangalore ! We need your help !!!!", Warne wrote on Twitter. He confirmed that this meant he would not play any more professional cricket matches after this IPL. "A big thank you to everyone that has helped me - supported me through all the ups and downs - hope you have enjoyed watching me play," he added.

Warne captained Rajasthan to victory in the inaugural season of the IPL but the franchise's fortunes slumped in the next two seasons. He has played 52 games for Rajasthan so far picking up 56 wickets at an average of 24.66. Rajasthan are currently fourth in the points table in this edition and Warne called on Rajasthan's fans to support them in their last two home games.

"We have a spirit in the squad similar to IPL 1 - it would be great to leave on a high - I'm proud of the way we have developed young players," Warne wrote.

Australia allrounder Shane Watson, who plays under Warne in the IPL, told ESPNcricinfo in an interview that Warne was keen to leave the game on a winning note, whenever that happened. "I think he's very motivated," Watson said. "After last year the way things panned out for Rajasthan, I think he's very motivated to make sure that whenever he leaves the game he leaves in a really good place. Warney's bowling unbelievably well and has been since the start of the tournament. There's only really one person who's ever been consistently able to do it as a legspinner and he's bowling absolutely beautifully."

The team released a statement praising Warne for his contribution while making clear his retirement as a player was not the end of his association with the franchise. "Shane Warne has been an integral part of Rajasthan Royals for the last four years," Raghu Iyer, the chief marketing officer, said. "He has been instrumental in nurturing young talent in the team and making Rajasthan Royals a formidable force in IPL. He will continue his association with the Royals in coming years and will offer his invaluable guidance to young players.

"We are looking forward to him assuming a larger role in the team and continuing adding value to the team's success."

Punjab succumb to merciless Gayle

2011-05-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

Once every two years Bangalore hosts Aero India, the country's biggest air show, on the outskirts of the city. On Friday night, Chris Gayle took it upon himself to deliver a similar spectacle to the home crowd, which went ballistic while watching a flogging of a lifetime inflicted on Kings XI Punjab. As the deflated attack desperately sought mercy, Gayle celebrated his domination with a triumphant smile, propelling his team to a thumping fourth straight win with an unforgettable century that made a backyard out of the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Adam Gilchrist, cheery as ever, decided to field on a pitch that promised assistance to his four-pronged pace attack. While he met Gayle's onslaught with a look of awe and admiration, his bowlers were what they looked - stunned into submission. The early movement and a spate of hits and misses in the first couple of overs were the few signs of encouragement in an otherwise dispiriting innings.

Gayle targeted the straight boundary, rarely attempted any cross-bat heaves or slogs, and relied on brute strength, partly a consequence of what is known to be a fitness regime that's ever the aspiration of the healthier than normal. Ryan Harris was the first recipient of Gayle's treatment, as he clobbered two consecutive sixes over long-off and long-on in the fourth over.

The Punjab bowlers erred in length, often doling out length deliveries, but most would have been unsettled by Gayle's ruthless approach. His initial movement was to make room and, depending on the line, have a free swing in the same direction. Praveen Kumar's skills with variations in pace were conspicuous by their absence as he dished out a series of length deliveries that Gayle was only happy to dig into. After launching him for two straight sixes, he cashed in on some misdirection to pick up two fours in an over that yielded 22.

Gilchrist had to turn to spin and he found the expensive Piyush Chawla, whose figures this season took further beating with two monstrous sixes over midwicket off long hops. Virat Kohli, in a fortunate yet largely mature innings, was only too happy to cede floor to his partner. Gayle directed his attention to Love Ablish, whose pain of rejection was felt in three consecutive boundaries, one of which was a streaky edge past the diving Gilchrist.

A half-tracker from Abhishek Nayar disappeared over square leg, and the returning Ryan McLaren, who had delivered Punjab their first breakthrough with the wicket of Tillakaratne Dilshan, was to bear first sight of Gayle's celebration upon reaching his century. He was hammered over long-on, followed by a disdainful punch through mid-off that brought up the landmark off 46 balls, Gayle's second this season.

Relief came when Gayle holed out to deep midwicket off Chawla, and Kohli was bowled two balls later, but AB de Villiers kept the innings on track with a typically aggressive cameo to leave Punjab with a daunting task. Such was the manner in which Gayle imposed himself, anything else was destined to be a sideshow. Punjab's innings turned out to be worse - it was a virtual non-event.

The signs were there when Gilchrist was brilliantly run out first ball by Asad Pathan while attempting a quick single, and as is the case in games decided by individuals, it wasn't long before Gayle stepped in. He cast aside his usually calm, sober self and reveled at every Punjab misfortune wrought by his offspin. Paul Valthaty spooned one to square leg, Dinesh Karthik was trapped in front and Chawla yorked. As Punjab limped towards a fourth defeat in a row, Gayle stood out amid the celebrations, fluttering curls, locomotive moves and all.

Match Meter

RCB
Gayle warms up: Ryan Harris is smacked for two big sixes in the fourth over, a sign of things to come for the remainder of the innings

RCB
Praveen left scarred: Gayle tears into Praveen Kumar in the eighth over, smashing two sixes and as many overs, stealing 22.

RCB
Centurion Gayle: Gayle dispatches Ryan McLaren over long-on before disdainfully driving him down the ground to raise his second century of the season.

RCB
Failure to launch: Adam Gilchrist is run out off the first ball of the Punjab chase and his team is out of contention in the game not long after

Advantage Honours even

Deccan drown in Sehwag deluge

2011-05-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

For a large part of his career, it was tough being Sachin Tendulkar. In the IPL, it's tougher being Virender Sehwag. After having watched his bowlers take wickets off no-balls and his fielders drop sitters, the Delhi Daredevils captain took his frustration out on the Deccan Chargers with a blistering century, his first in Twenty20s. The assault bettered his masterpiece against Kochi Tuskers Kerala, and stunned Deccan into offering him two chances. Unmindful of the complete lack of support from his team-mates, Sehwag cashed in and drowned Deccan in a flood of boundaries that took the bite out of a challenging total. The next highest score was James Hopes' 17.

Delhi's bowlers had been profligate in letting Deccan surge to 175, and their top order, barring Sehwag, let the pressure get to them. Aaron Finch, Naman Ojha and Venugopal Rao combusted against seam as Sehwag watched bemused from his end. From 25 for 3 in the sixth over, only Sehwag could have taken Delhi home, and he did it in some style, moving from 8 off 13 balls to 119 off 56, pushing Deccan to the brink of elimination.

Sehwag has made a career out of sticking to his guns regardless of the situation, and his approach today was no different. Two balls after Venugopal Rao top-edged a pull off Ishant Sharma, Sehwag shuffled across and glanced a boundary from the middle-stump line to fine leg. In the next over, Travis Birt struggled against Daniel Christian, getting beaten three times in four balls, as the asking-rate crossed eleven at by the end of seven overs.

Sehwag broke free in the next over, bowled by IPL debutant Ishan Malhotra. The first ball disappeared over deep square leg, the next over deep midwicket. Two more boundaries followed, as Sehwag looted 23 off the over. As if to dispel the notion that he had targeted just the newcomer, Sehwag plundered 13 off the next over, from Christian.

Sangakkara brought on spin, so often Sehwag's strength as well as weakness. Sehwag displayed his strength first ball, dancing down and launching Amit Mishra over the straight boundary. The weakness was on display next ball, as he rushed out again but ended up slicing to sweeper cover. That is when Deccan decided to return the earlier favours, substitute Ankit Sharma clanging a simple chance. Sehwag gladly guided the third ball through third man for four.

Birt departed in the 11th over, having contributed four runs to a partnership of 61 off 28 balls. Sehwag continued to ignore the procession at the other end, dispatching Mishra for three consecutive fours. The second of those boundaries slipped into the boundary from Ravi Teja's grasp, after he had managed to get both hands to the chance.

With 69 needed off 48, Sangakkara brought Dale Steyn back. Steyn dug one in short, Sehwag got on top of it, and flashed it past backward point. A desperate Sangakkara turned to Bharat Chipli's gentle medium pacers. Mistake. Sehwag brought up his hundred off the first ball, and then creamed the next two for sixes. Twenty-seven needed off 30. Game over. Though Steyn had Sehwag caught behind in the 17th over, the remaining batsmen managed to complete the heist.

Victory was looking far away for Delhi when they had allowed Deccan to run amok on a bouncy pitch. Sangakkara and Shikhar Dhawan had chances grassed, and JP Duminy and Christian would have been dismissed within the space of three balls, had Yogesh Nagar not over-stepped twice in the 15th over.

Two of the four reprieved batsmen made Delhi pay dearly. Sangakkara doubled his score to make 44, and Duminy went better, clattering four sixes on his way to converting 23 off 18 deliveries into 55 from 31. The no-balls meant what should have been 114 for 5 in the 15th over turned into 175 for 5 in 20 overs.

Sangakkara's partnership with Duminy was a stop-start affair, with punchy and edged boundaries alternating with swings-and-misses. More luck was to come Deccan's way when Morkel dropped Sangakkara at short fine leg off Ajit Agarkar, and then failed to get near the ball when Dhawan top-edged a pull off the next delivery.

After Dhawan fell, Sangakkara's aggression allowed Duminy to play himself in before launching into an onslaught. Duminy, who had made 77 runs in five previous games, hardly looking like the batsman who had been struggling for runs. He added 71 in 33 deliveries with Christian, as Deccan made 108 in the last ten overs. It counted for little in the end.

Match Meter

DC
Morkel reprieves Sangakkara and Dhawan Kumar Sangakkara and Shikhar Dhawan are let off by Morne Morkel in the ninth over. Sangakkara capitalises, doubling his score from 22 to 44

DC
Nagar takes two wickets off two no-balls Yogesh Nagar has JP Duminy and Daniel Christian caught in the 15th over, but oversteps on both occasions. The duo add 71 off 33, Deccan post a stiff 175 for 5

DC
Delhi top order caves in Aaron Finch, Naman Ojha and Venugopal Rao depart quickly to leave Delhi struggling at 25 for 3

DD
Sehwag blazes away Virender Sehwag makes a mockery of an asking rate of eleven an over, tearing in to Deccan to reach his maiden Twenty20 century off 48 balls. Delhi win by six wickets with an over to spare

Advantage Honours even

Gomez and Hodge star in hard-fought win

2011-05-05T23:01:00.001-07:00

A disciplined performance in the field and an explosive 35 off 19 balls from Brad Hodge helped Kochi Tuskers overcome Kolkata Knight Riders in the last match at the Nehru Stadium this IPL season.

Hodge's last over blitz, in which he took 21 runs off countryman Brett Lee, proved to be the difference between the two sides, as Kochi defended 156 by 17 runs. In the chase, RP Singh and Sreesanth failed to get the same kind of movement that Brett Lee extracted early in the Kochi innings. Jacques Kallis and Eoin Morgan didn't have to take many risks early on as there were many poor deliveries that were smacked to the boundary. In the first three overs, the bulk of the short and wide ones came from RP Singh.

R Vinay Kumar and Prasanth Parameswaran pulled back the chase before it raged out of control with a selection of back of a length deliveries that proved difficult to get away. Although they kept the boundaries down, they didn't trouble the batsmen much and failed to get a breakthrough until after the halfway stage, when Kolkata were well set. Kallis was the senior partner and easily outscored Morgan in that phase. Seven times in the first ten overs Kallis stole the strike at the end of the over.

Just as Kallis looked as though he had grown roots, Raiphi Gomez rattled Kolkata with a double strike in his second over. He bowled Kallis with a legcutter and had Gautam Gambhir caught in the covers off consecutive balls, which left Morgan to assume the senior role. Manoj Tiwary could not last long, and Yusuf Pathan was expected to counterattack, but he and Morgan were frustrated by Gomez's variations and Parameswaran's accurate fuller deliveries. Sreesanth let the noose loosen, giving Morgan back-to-back boundaries but Vinay Kumar was on hand to tighten it. Confusions between Morgan and Yusuf mounted in Vinay's last over, and Morgan was run out when both batsmen ended up at the wicketkeeper's end.

It brought Brett Lee to the crease, in poetic justice for the last over he bowled, which went for 21. There were 25 to get off the last over of Kolkata's innings. Lee was run-out and the task proved too steep.

Kochi's innings was anchored by a third-wicket partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Michael Klinger before being given momentum at the death by Hodge. It didn't look as though Kochi would get over the 150-run mark, especially after the way things started. Lee's first over was a whole bag of peaches. He got impressive away movement and started the innings with a maiden.

Some success seemed inevitable after the start Kolkata got and it came from Jaidev Unadkat, although he hardly deserved it. He banged one in, too short and too wide outside off that Brendon McCullum chased and his fine edge nestled in Kallis' hands at slip.

Parthiv Patel came in at No. 3 and opened his account with two stunning boundaries. He looked energetic and confident in his strokeplay and dealt with Unadkat's bouncer and the introduction of spin, in the form of Iqbal Abdulla, with relative ease. Surprisingly, it was the short ball that undid him, when he charged down the track and miscued a pull shot to midwicket.

The stage was set for Jayawardene to play an innings of authority and, with Klinger at the other end, he did exactly that. They played creative cricket, managing a boundary off five of the seven overs they were together for and pushed each other to take singles before Klinger holed out. When Abdulla got the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja for eight, Kochi were being pegged back and some impetus was needed.

The floodgates were opened with Jayawardene's six over long leg at the start of the 17th over and Kochi put on 54 runs in the final four overs, with Hodge's fireworks yielding almost half of those.

Mumbai win edges Pune closer to exit

2011-05-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians are geographically the two closest IPL franchises but they couldn't get any further from each other in the points table. Mumbai proved they are the best team in the tournament and reclaimed their position at the summit of the table by battering Pune at the DY Patil Stadium, whose freefall continued with a seventh successive loss that kept them firmly at the bottom.

Mumbai gave another demonstration of the depth of their batting talent, as two men who have had little batting time this season, T Suman and Kieron Pollard, fired them to a competitive total. Their brilliance undermined the efforts of the Pune spinners who had initially shackled Mumbai.

Yuvraj Singh, who has under-bowled himself in the IPL, removed the rocks at the top of the Mumbai batting, Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu. Then, legspinner Rahul Sharma prised out two important wickets with the most economical spell of the season (4-0-7-2) to leave Mumbai at an insufficient 114 for 5 after 15 overs. Suman and Pollard, however, got stuck into the erratic Alfonso Thomas to lift Mumbai to a competitive score.

Mumbai had briskly moved to 56 for 1 after seven overs, before Rahul and Yuvraj pulled them back. Rahul's combination of quick legbreaks and topspinners proved hard to get away, before Yuvraj made the big breakthrough in the ninth over, getting Tendulkar to hole out to short extra cover. Yuvraj and Rahul choked the innings in a four-over passage of play that yielded only 13 runs. That forced Rayudu to attempt the big hit, but he holed out to long-off.

Suman was surprisingly promoted ahead of Andrew Symonds and Pollard for his first proper hit this season, and he provided Mumbai the momentum they desperately needed. In an innings where everyone else had struggled to score at a run-a-ball till then, Suman came out blazing, racing to 19 off seven with a couple of stylish sixes.

Rahul returned and removed the struggling Rohit Sharma and Suman in two overs, but in between those strikes Suman showed off his timing with a four and a six to long-off against Thomas. Pollard then provided the final flourish, unleashing his brand of brutal straight-hitting. Thomas bore the brunt as he was whipped for 27 in the penultimate over, and Pollard's quickfire 30 made sure Pune's batsmen had a challenge on their hands.

Pune's reply got off to a horror start as Jesse Ryder sliced the first ball to backward point. Graeme Smith has not been in the best touch with the bat for quite a while now, and that spell continued today. Manish Pandey's timing was completely awry, and the decision to promote Abhishek Jhunjhunwala meant the big guns, Yuvraj and Robin Uthappa, were pushed too low in the order.

The most expensive over in the first ten overs of the chase fetched only nine runs, and the asking-rate soared past 11 by the halfway stage. Lasith Malinga then harried Yuvraj with a series of bouncers, the last of which was awkwardly popped towards third man where Munaf Patel took a tumbling catch. It was the knockout blow, and Yuvraj was left on the floor.

The big news ahead of the match was that Pune had bought former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly. Even if that does prompt a dramatic turnaround, it might be too late for Pune, as even winning all their remaining matches may not be enough to make the semi-finals.

Match Meter

MI PW
Yuvraj strikes: A diving Jesse Ryder caught Sachin Tendulkar at short extra cover to pull back Mumbai after their solid start

PW
Rohit exits: In the 15th over Rahul Sharma capped a superb spell by dismissing Mumbai's most expensive signing at the auction, Rohit Sharma, to push them to 96 for 4

MI PW
Thomas taken apart: Mumbai clawed their way back when Pollard and Harbhajan carted Thomas for 27 in the 19th over

MI
Golden duck for Ryder: Harbhajan Singh removed Ryder off the first ball of Pune's chase to give Mumbai a big lift

MI
Malinga floors Yuvraj: A perfect at-the-body bouncer from Malinga had Yuvraj flailing and offering a catch to third man to end Pune's challenge

Advantage Honours even

All-round Chennai cruise to fourth straight win

2011-05-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

Chennai Super Kings continued their dominance at home and eased to a fourth-successive win in conditions where power play took a backseat to opportunistic strokemaking, and stamina and steady consolidation was more crucial than short outbursts of runs. The sweltering Chennai heat and a slow pitch made it a tiring ordeal for batsmen, and it seemed at one stage that Rajasthan Royals, riding on the back of Rahul Dravid's fluent half-century, would have the better of the contest. But an inspired recovery from Chennai's faltering bowlers and a controlled approach to the chase from Suresh Raina and Michael Hussey set up Chennai's comfortable win - their fifth in five games at home this season.

The Rajasthan openers, Dravid and Shane Watson, had displayed excellent determination to occupy the crease and set a strong foundation to their team's innings. The pair ran well between wickets, rotated the strike, picked the gaps to scramble back for the twos, before Dravid took charge against the spinners. He pulled R Ashwin twice in an over to the midwicket fence, reverse-swept and punched Suraj Randiv for three fours in an over to different parts of the ground. The highlight of the first ten overs was his inside-out drive over extra cover off Shadab Jakati, as Rajasthan coasted to 86 in the first ten overs.

The trigger for the fightback was a brilliant return catch from Jakati off Watson, as he put his hands up and intercepted a ferocious thwack back towards him in the 11th over. Despite an encouraging run-rate, and with plenty of ammunition left in the batting for a surge at the death, the desire for clearing the ropes overrode any thought of building the innings for a few more overs. Ashok Menaria holed out needlessly against Ashwin, and Johan Botha, who had picked a cheeky boundary, succumbed when he tried to use force against Jakati. Dravid was swimming in sweat in the Chennai heat and fell to a tiring shot, and not long after, the seamers returned to contain the flow further. A couple of fours from Ross Taylor was offset by a double-strike from Albie Morkel in the penultimate over, and Rajasthan only managed 61 in the last ten, losing six wickets.

The wicket of M Vijay was an early boost for Rajasthan but some sloppy fielding, a difficult opportunity that was grassed, and the maturity of the Raina-Hussey combine put paid to Rajasthan's hopes. Stuart Binny conceded eight runs in the field, through a misfield and an overthrow, and was listless with the ball. Raina was let off by Watson diving full stretch in the deep, but otherwise there weren't any opportunities.

Like the Chennai bowlers had done in the first ten overs, Rajasthan's attack erred in line and length, giving the batsmen timely opportunities to pierce the field. Siddharth Trivedi bowled too often down the leg side, and the more accurate Watson and Botha were worked around. With both batsmen settling in well, left-arm spinner Nayan Doshi was carted for two sixes in the 11th over - the same passage in the Rajasthan innings had marked a decisive turn of events. As the shoulders drooped, Binny doled freebies outside off which Hussey cut for successive fours before delivering the same treatment to Menaria on the leg side. Raina's dismissal was against the run of play, but his knock, along with Hussey's, had made a relatively one-sided contest out of a potential cracker.

Match Meter

RR
Dravid's shot of the innings: When he lofts Jakati over extra cover in the ninth over, Rajasthan are 69 without loss and on course for a big total

CSK RR
Spinners lead Chennai fightback Menaria and Botha fall in quick succession, and when Dravid holes out off a tired shot in the 16th over, Rajasthan are 117 for 4

CSK
The double-strike: Morkel dismisses Rahane and Taylor off successive deliveries in the 19th over and by the end of the innings, Rajasthan have only managed 61 in the last ten.

CSK
Nightmare in the field: Binny has an off day, conceding eight runs in the field in third and fourth overs through a misfield and an overthrow. The early pressure after Vijay's wicket is off Chennai

CSK
Doshi targeted: Raina and Hussey crack two sixes and a four in the 11th over, and it's smooth sailing for the rest of the innings

Advantage Honours even

Yusuf and Co. make sloppy Deccan Chargers pay

2011-05-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

Deccan Chargers dropped too many catches in the first half of the game to allow Kolkata Knight Riders to motor along to 169, and then dropped intensity alarmingly in the chase to succumb to their sixth defeat in nine games. Yusuf Pathan was the biggest beneficiary of Deccan's fielding largesse, surviving three clangers to pummel his way to his highest score of the season. His assault yielded 47 off 26 balls, and he helped Kolkata double their score in the last eight overs in Manoj Tiwary's company.

Deccan's pursuit followed a similar template to their misfiring chase against Chennai: Sunny Sohal kept opening up the off side and swiping in hope and Shikhar Dhawan once again receded into a shell after starting with promise. As he has done regularly this season, Iqbal Abdulla made things happen, removing Sohal and Kumar Sangakkara in his second over with clever changes of pace. Cameron White then crawled listlessly as the chase slumped to a mid-innings comatose. Rajat Bhatia put White out of his misery in the 11th over, and the game was over as a contest when Daniel Christian was wrongly adjudged lbw three balls later. Dhawan tried to reignite Deccan's hopes, but the innings had meandered too far off course by then.

It seemed unlikely that Deccan would be chasing 170 when they limited Kolkata to 84 for 3 by the 12th over. Gautam Gambhir exited at that pivotal juncture, leaving two new batsmen to do a repair job. Deccan, however, simply refused to seize the moment. Pragyan Ojha kept attacking with flight, and Yusuf tried to break free by lofting over the leg side. He was beaten in the air, though, and Amit Mishra ran back at long-off to get under the mis-hit. Drop. In the next over, Mishra had Yusuf miscuing in the same direction, towards Christian. Another drop. The next ball was whacked with the turn over the extra-cover boundary, and Kolkata never looked back.

Sangakkara missed a trick by holding Dale Steyn's second spell back until the 16th over. Yusuf had got his eye in by then, and the fact that Tiwary faced that entire over did not help Deccan's cause. Tiwary looted two off-side fours off Steyn, before Yusuf thumped Ishant Sharma for a massive six over long-on. By the time Dhawan grassed Yusuf again in the 19th over, Deccan were in damage-control mode, and doing a poor job at it. Tiwary launched Christian for six more, before Yusuf fore-handed Ishant and whipped Steyn for boundaries to ensure Kolkata finished with a bang.

The start of Kolkata's innings was a dawdle by comparison, in spite of Eoin Morgan's innate energy at the crease. He nearly ran himself out first ball, and charged out to the third and dumped Christian over long-on for a six. Thereafter Jacques Kallis settled into accumulation mode. He checked in with a typically pristine set of boundaries, charming Steyn through the covers, before redirecting short balls from Ishant on either side of the wicket for fours.

Gambhir took charge after Christian foxed Morgan with a slow offcutter. Gambhir lofted his first ball emphatically over the covers for four, before slashing Ojha through point. His joust with Christian was the most captivating mini-battle of the session, and included a heaved pull for six, a drop, a collision and a heated exchange of words. Kolkata progressed to 73 in the first ten overs, and Deccan were in need of some inspiration. The spinners produced just that, with Mishra foxing Kallis in the flight and Ojha hoodwinking Gambhir, but the fielding was about to let them down big-time. Yusuf exacted full toll, and ensured it was another forgettable night for the Hyderabad supporters who have witnessed only one home win in three-and-a-half seasons.

Match Meter

KKR DC
Christian nails Morgan: Kolkata lose Eoin Morgan at 36 in the sixth over in a slow start

KKR DC
DC attack through spin: Ojha and Mishra manage to dismiss Gambhir and Kallis to reduce Kolkata to a dodgy 84 for 3 in the 12th over

KKR
Drop, drop, drop: Yusuf is put down by Mishra in the 13th over and Christian in the 14th over. He punishes Deccan before Dhawan clangs him again in the 19th

KKR
Abdulla strikes twice: Deccan's meandering chase derails early, when Abdulla removes Sohal and Sangakkara in the sixth over. They never recover.

Advantage Honours even

All-round Kochi pummel Delhi

2011-05-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

Five defeats at home have meant the Feroz Shah Kotla faithful have had little to cheer this season, and today was the bleakest day since Delhi Daredevils were routed by Mumbai Indians in their opening game. Two days after a Virender Sehwag special handed Kochi Tuskers Kerala a hiding, it was the turn of Mahela Jayawardene's men to outclass Delhi, snapping a three-game losing streak by cruising to victory with five overs to go.

The Kotla track has been everything from a batting beauty to a square turner this season, but though the pitch was neither of those extremes on Monday, Delhi's batsmen struggled to a sub-par total, and like generous hosts, their bowlers gave the visitors 18 extras to ease Kochi's path to victory.

Delhi's batting is hugely reliant on their two lethal hitters at the top of the order, Virender Sehwag and David Warner, and their early exits derailed their innings. Sehwag swatted a couple of fours in the first over, and greeted the debutant Prasanth Parameswaran with a brutal hit for six in the third over. Three balls later, though, Parameswaran had a moment to remember, getting Sehwag caught behind. And when Warner pulled Sreesanth to long-on, Delhi were down to 42 for 2.

It wasn't exactly vintage Twenty20 batting after that as Venugopal Rao and Yogesh Nagar put on the biggest stand of the innings at just over a-run-a-ball. There was a surprise bouncer down the leg side from the left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, and a ball that bounced twice from Vinay Kumar and was swiped for four, but otherwise it was mostly sedate stuff.

The arrival of Travis Birt spiced up things as he chipped in with a series of innovative strokes, scoring virtually all his runs behind the wicket. The highlight of the innings was his angled glide for four through third man, after he went down on a knee and initially looked to paddle the ball.

Delhi's chances of winning hinged on keeping in tight and getting rid of the big names at the top of the Kochi batting early. Instead, Irfan Pathan sprayed five wides in the first over, and then gifted a boundary by slipping the ball down the leg side. Brendon McCullum then caned Morne Morkel for three fours in the next over, and the game was as good as over after Umesh Yadav's first over went for 23. There was a classic McCullum extra cover drive, a chest-high full toss that was unintentionally clipped for six, another short ball that was crashed for six more, before a muscled four through cover-point propelled Kochi to 53 for 0 after four overs.

The openers were dismissed soon after, but with the asking rate at 5 and the likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Brad Hodge to come, the next half hour was mostly about completing the formalities. Jayawardene was needlessly run-out, before Parthiv Patel and Hodge killed off any Delhi dreams of a comeback with an unbroken 52-run stand.

The result leaves Delhi needing five wins in their remaining matches to reach the final four, and while Kochi moved up to eight points, their route to the semi-finals isn't straight-forward either.

Match Meter

KTK
Sehwag exits early: Debutant Prasanth Parameswaran gets Sehwag to nick to the keeper for 15 in the third over

KTK
Sreesanth strikes: In the sixth over, Warner is done in as he tries to pull a ball angling away from him, which ended up lobbing to mid-on

KTK
McCullum blazes: The first over from Umesh was lashed for 23, which meant Kochi were 53 for 0 after four overs

Advantage Honours even

Ruthless Mumbai surge to sixth win

2011-05-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

If Sachin Tendulkar doesn't get you, Ambati Rayudu will. If Lasith Malinga doesn't get you, Harbhajan Singh will. Unfortunately for Kings XI Punjab, all four men were on top of their game today, and the rest of the Mumbai Indians XI was ruthlessly efficient. Tendulkar played within himself, Rayudu launched the occasional sortie and the middle order kept up the momentum to lift Mumbai to 159. It was a gettable target on this pitch, but not against this attack.

Harbhajan and Malinga cracked open the game in their opening spells. Harbhajan nailed Adam Gilchrist on the sweep in the opening over, before Malinga put Paul Valthaty in his place with an over of pace-bowling brilliance. He began with a full ball that was through Valthaty in a blink. The second was a swerving full toss at 144.5 kph that Valthaty barely managed to get bat to. The third was faster, and Valthaty nervously glanced to fine-leg, but he was back on strike for the last two. Malinga let him have two short balls; Valthaty did not pick the first one, and missed a feeble attempt at a pull off the second. Valthaty, clearly outclassed, was stunned into his shell and Punjab never recovered.

Tendulkar smelled blood, and went for all-out attack. Malinga bowled with two slips, while Harbhajan trotted in with a slip and a silly point. Valthaty continued to struggle, but Shaun Marsh managed to sneak a couple of boundaries off Malinga. Abu Nechim kept the pressure on Valthaty, who was so late on a pull in the fifth over that he ended up playing it uppishly to cover. Cover is not where a pull shot should go, neither is it the place for Munaf Patel to field: he grassed the catch, tumbling forward. Unfortunately for Punjab, that was the only fielding error from Mumbai.

After dawdling to 8 off his first 24 balls, Valthaty eventually found respite against the back-up bowlers. He carted T Suman and Andrew Symonds for sixes, but holed out soon after. Marsh was in his groove by then, charming a Munaf half-volley for four and clattering a half-tracker from Nechim to midwicket, but he needed someone to hold up the other end.

Mumbai ensured that did not happen: David Hussey was held spectacularly at long-on by Rohit Sharma, who hurtled forward and dived full-length. Dinesh Karthik was trapped in front by Kieron Pollard, and Abhishek Nayar allowed the entry 'c Symonds b Harbhajan' to enter the scorecard. Malinga tied up the loose ends in his second spell.

Earlier, Mumbai were efficient rather than excellent with the bat, as Punjab's spinners held them back in an attritional first half. Punjab were clearly looking to capitalise on Tendulkar's weakness against left-arm spin, when they opened the attack with Bhargav Bhatt. Bipul Sharma took over for the third over, and struck with his unusual trajectory from well wide of the crease. Davy Jacobs was lazy leaning out to one of those deliveries, and turned his wrists too early as the ball slipped through to hit the stumps. The early dismissal forced Mumbai to rebuild cautiously, and the left-arm gambit had paid off though Tendulkar hadn't fallen for it.

Rayudu attempted to break free with a couple of against-the-spin heaves, while Tendulkar skipped inside the line to sweep Bhatt over deep square leg, but Mumbai showed their first real sign of intent only in the 12th over of the innings. As always, Praveen Kumar was cannon fodder once the shine disappeared from the ball, and Rayudu clubbed him for two fours and a six off consecutive balls. Punjab did not help their own cause, dropping Rayudu twice in two balls. The second a comical error in judgement from Ryan Harris at long-off, that allowed Rayudu reach his half-century.

Rayudu and Tendulkar fell soon after getting to their half-centuries, but Pollard ensured there was no let-up, smashing two sixes and in the process increasing his tournament tally by a factor of five. His closing surge, aided by Rohit, took Mumbai to a score that Punjab would have fancied chasing, but Malinga and Co. had other plans.

Match Meter

KXIP
Bipul strikes: Bipul Sharma removes Davy Jacobs in the third over of the game, pegging Mumbai back early

KXIP MI
Rayudu hits back: After a slow recovery, Ambati Rayudu clobbers Praveen Kumar for two fours and a six off successive balls

KXIP MI
Punjab keep striking: Tendulkar and Rayudu perish unable to capitalise on their half-centuries, and Mumbai finish with 159

MI
Harbhajan nails Gilchrist: Gilchrist is caught in front in the first over from Harbhajan Singh to give Mumbai the ascendancy

MI
Malinga outclasses Valthaty: Paul Valthaty barely lays bat on ball as Lasith Malinga bombards him with pace. Neither Valthaty, nor Punjab recover

Advantage Honours even

Taylor leads Rajasthan to top spot

2011-05-01T19:46:00.001-07:00

It was a tale of contrasting performances from two Pune Warriors spinners. Rahul Sharma threatened to win it for them but Murali Kartik lost the plot and Rajasthan Royals' Ross Taylor seized the moment, with valuable support from Ajinkya Rahane, to clinch a thrilling win. Rajasthan moved to the top of the table while Pune stayed frozen at rock bottom.

With 52 runs required from six overs, Rahul bowled a gem of a maiden over that included the wicket of the aggressive Ashok Menaria to end his spell with figures of 4-1-13-3. However, Kartik gifted two short balls and a full toss in the next over and Taylor looted 17 runs with the help of two fours and a six. Suddenly, the equation came down to 29 from 18 and despite two relatively disciplined overs from Alphonso Thomas and Jerome Taylor, Rajasthan just needed the odd boundary here and there to squeeze past the line.

Two boundary hits from Rahane and Ross Taylor sealed the contest. When they needed 24 runs from 14 balls, Rahane sliced a slower length ball from Jerome Taylor to the point boundary and when they required 17 from 11, Ross Taylor slugged a length delivery from Thomas deep into the midwicket stands. Game over.

Pune will look back and rue the reprieve they offered Ross Taylor. When Rajasthan needed 32 from 20, Taylor, on 31 then, heaved Thomas to left of deep midwicket where Nathan McCullum did all the hard work to get there but couldn't hold on. He lunged out to take it but it bounced off his palms as he fell to the ground and bounded off his chest and right thigh.

It was that kind of night for Pune. Only Rahul sparkled with the ball and almost single-handedly pushed them to the cusp of victory. His evening changed with a long hop in his second over, the seventh of the innings. Rahul Dravid, who again failed to convert a start, pulled it back to him and Rahul started to choke the run-flow with a slew of bouncing top spinners. However, Kartik had a horror day, leaking 41 runs from his four overs.

Pune will also look back at their batting effort and wish if they could have done a bit more. The top order flattered to deceive. The contest of the afternoon was between Shane Warne and Robin Uthappa. It had an overload of skill, adrenaline, ego, canniness and a dash of foolhardiness. It lasted eight deliveries but it encapsulated everything that is good about Twenty20. It had an aggressive batsman intent on attack and an ambitious bowler focused on hunting down his prey. Throw in an umpire ready to brave ferocious appeals and rule on the side of conservatism, and you had a thoroughly entertaining package.

Uthappa unfurled the reverse-sweep and conventional sweep to collect two fours. Warne ripped a big leg break next, starting from just about leg stump - part of the ball was outside leg - and it beat the bat to strike the pad. It was the start of Warne's increasingly vocal tussle with the umpire Shavir Tarapore. He yelped out a huge appeal but Tarapore perhaps thought it pitched just outside leg and turned it down. Warne looped the next delivery on a length but Uthappa stretched forward to slog-sweep it over midwicket.

Three boundaries in four balls and the heat was well and truly on Warne, who responded with a front-of-hand skidder that landed on the line of leg stump and just about straightened to hit the pad. Warne screamed, Tarapore stayed frozen and Uthappa survived. Warne got the final delivery to skid on towards the leg stump, Uthappa was caught in a tangle and yet again, got stuck on the pad. Replays suggested it would have clipped leg stump but you could understand why the umpire didn't give it.

Warne removed himself from Tarapore's end and appeared at Simon Taufel's in the ninth over. Uthappa again reverse-swept the first ball to the boundary but Warne shortened the length off the next and got it to skid and bounce towards middle. Uthappa ended up top-edging the swat to the keeper. Uthappa's exit was sandwiched between the dismissals of Jesse Ryder, stumped off Johan Botha, and Yuvraj Singh, run out after he backed up too far at the non-striker's end, and it derailed the innings.

Smart Chennai withstand Sohal blinder

2011-05-01T19:42:00.001-07:00

Sunny Sohal was like a millionaire spending the last night of his life in Las Vegas, but as it often happens in heist films, the casino owners withstood the brilliant early hand. Sohal's 30-ball 56, full of extravagant risks, had turned a formidable chase into a regulation one, but Chennai Super Kings waited for the final fatal risk before closing in on the rest to deny them the required 95 off 79 deliveries.

It was a night of madness, of silly dropped chances and missed run-outs, of Sohal's extraordinary stroke-play; but the class in the Chennai attack brought the decisive sanity. It was difficult, though, to keep one's wits when Sohal was going. It seemed he could do no wrong, even when he was like a deer in the headlights against bouncers from Doug Bollinger and Albie Morkel. Twice he nearly shut his eyes hoping for the best, twice the ball found some part of the bat to fly over the keeper.

Sohal drove it home by making room often and lofting the pace bowlers over cover, and the spinners over long-on, cow corner and midwicket, wherever his arc took them. He hit six fours and four sixes in that spell of play. However, like an amateur gambler, he became too adventurous and tried three reverse-heaves off spin. Two he failed to connect, and the third took the stumps. At 71 for 1 in the seventh over, though, the situation called for sensible batting.

MS Dhoni let Shadab Jakati and Suraj Randiv go through a few quiet overs that resulted in Shikhar Dhawan's wicket. Jakati's effort of 2 for 23 allowed Dhoni to hold back his best overs. Bollinger, R Ashwin and Morkel could now bowl the last seven overs between them. Fifty-eight were required off those overs, and Deccan were still slight favourites.

Not for long. Morkel started the slide with a short ball that got Bharat Chipli's wicket. Ashwin followed it up with a three-run over. Forty-eight off 30 didn't sound quite that easy now. Kumar Sangakkara was forced to manufacture a flick over fine leg, and Bollinger hit the middle stump. Given the form Cameron White and JP Duminy are in, it was game over right there. And so it was as the duo duly holed out.

Deccan's effort in the field was almost a mirror reflection of their chase. On a surface as tired as the whole tournament, they stifled Chennai for the better part of their innings, but fielded poorly and bowled ordinarily at the death to let the hosts off the hook. Hussey enjoyed his fourth life in six IPL innings this year, Suresh Raina discovered two pleasantly surprising chances, and Morkel laid into gentle length balls in the 19th over to hurt Deccan.

White's 13 off 18 wasn't his first mistake of the night. He had dropped a sitter from Hussey. Had he taken that catch, Hussey would have been dismissed for 10, Pragyan Ojha would have got his second wicket in his first over, and Chennai would have been 19 for 2. As it usually happens - ask Kamran Akmal and friends for more - Hussey went on to make them pay with 36 more.

Harmeet Singh then proceeded to let Raina off, and he went from 25 off 21 to 59 off 35 when eventually caught after another life. There was some vengeful slog-sweeping and some leg-side bowling that helped his innings. Morkel, though, provided the exclamation to Deccan's horror effort in the field when he hit Ishant Sharma for three back-to-back sixes. That 21-run over in the end provided Chennai with the buffer to absorb Sohal's onslaught. And Morkel, with 3 for 38, played a significant part in the second half as well.

Kolkata out-spin Punjab on turner

2011-04-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

On a square turner, Kolkata Knight Riders out-spun Kings XI Punjab to move to become joint leaders on the points table, although the other team, Mumbai Indians, have a game in hand. Iqbal Abdulla and Yusuf Pathan took the big wickets - Adam Gilchrist, Paul Valthaty and David Hussey - for 43 runs in eight overs, exploiting the conditions to the fullest. Eoin Morgan and Gautam Gambhir, two of the best players of spin on show tonight, made sure the chase was smooth.

It took Gambhir just the three overs to realise that there was no point offering the batsmen pace on this track. In fact it was a track where even medium-pacer Rajat Bhatia turned his slower legbreaks appreciably. Gambhir's fielders complemented their slow bowlers, Punjab's indecisive running compounded their woes. At 22 for 0 after three overs, Abdulla immediately started turning the ball at right angles. Valthaty succumbed to the pressure, hitting Yusuf straight to long-on. Gilchrist, pulled back from 18 off 14 to 26 off 26, looked to manufacture a pull off a length. This was the straighter delivery from Abdulla, and snuck through Gilchrist's legs.

Either side of Gilchrist's dismissal, Shaun Marsh and Abhishek Nayar were run out: Marsh caught ball-watching when hit on the pad, and Nayar slow off the blocks when trying a tight single. At 53 for 4 in the 10th over, Gambhir's captaincy shone through. He was not content with the early wickets. Almost every new batsman walked out to a slip and a silly point. Gambhir himself stayed under the helmet.

While the wickets didn't come, they always lurked around the corner. The cautious batsmen couldn't do much about the poor run-rate. Bhatia cannily played the role of the third spinner, dealing almost exclusively in slower legcutters. The 18 runs off his four overs included four overthrows.

A 33-run stabilising stand between Dinesh Karthik and Hussey threatened much, but Abdulla came back to end it in the 15th over. Three overs after he had survived a shout for a plumb lbw, Hussey was now given out to a delivery that could have perhaps slid down the leg side. Karthik nudged and swept his way to 42 off 42, but couldn't provide that final kick. Only 33 came off the last five overs, which meant that the run-rate never crossed six an over after it slipped under the mark in the seventh over.

It was a chase that could have easily gone wrong on a difficult track. Al least it threatened to when Jacques Kallis got out to the first ball of left-arm spin of Bhargav Bhatt, who opened the bowling. Morgan, however, took out whatever enthusiasm the Punjab side might have had. He judged lengths early, moved feet decisively, and his 15-ball 28 made sure there was no run-rate pressure on the rest.

Gambhir negated the spinners expertly, showing off his version of quick footwork. Perhaps because he is the captain, he was less flashy than Morgan. He relied on pressing forward, then waiting for the bowler to bowl short for a nudge into the leg side. If the bowler didn't pitch short, like Piyush Chawla tried, he chipped him well over the infield. With support forthcoming from Manoj Tiwary, the rest was an evening walk at Eden Gardens.

Players can't ignore IPL lure - Law

2011-04-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

Stuart Law, Sri Lanka's interim coach, has expressed sympathy with Lasith Malinga's decision to quit Test cricket due to a knee condition, but has also acknowledged that the lure of the IPL - with its bumper signings and opportunities to secure oneself financially in quick time - makes it difficult for players to continue playing international cricket. He added it was important to keep India "sweet", as that's where a significant part of the revenue for several cricket boards lies.

Malinga made himself unavailable for Sri Lanka's upcoming tour of England and announced his decision to quit Tests because of a "long-standing degenerative condition in the right knee". While the condition made it difficult for him to play in the longest format, he intends to continue playing limited-overs cricket, and is currently the leading wicket-taker in the IPL, where he represents Mumbai Indians.

"'It's disappointing that he doesn't want to play [the] longer [format cricket] but you can't make [force] a guy who goes through hell every time he bowls a cricket ball," Law told The Age. "I can sympathise with him. I would love him to play every game for us but that's impossible, no one does that these days.

''It's a tough one for the players because we're not talking about $10,000 here and there. We're talking about a million dollars and Malinga, when he bowls, he puts his body through hell, so … two more years of IPL cricket and he can put his feet up and not go through that pain again."

Apart from Malinga, there are three other prominent Sri Lanka players participating in the IPL - Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. The tour of England clashes with the latter stages of the IPL, and there's been confusion in Dilshan's case about when he'll join the Sri Lanka squad. He had said he wanted to join as early as May 10, ahead of the first warm-up game, but the BCCI and the Sri Lanka board are negotiating his release date. Sangakkara and Jayawardene, meanwhile, will join their squad ahead of the second warm-up fixture.

''The IPL situation - we've got to be smart with that,'' Law said. ''India, they are big brother, we've got to look after them, we don't want to upset them. It's where a lot of the world cricket boards make a lot of their money, so we've got to keep India sweet.''

The financial incentive of the IPL was a major temptation for players, Law said. ''You want the best for your players and the best Sri Lanka can supply to the players at this stage is nowhere near what other international players are getting.

''I think [better pay] will arrive one day but right now it is difficult to attract the players to continue to play international cricket when they can go to the IPL for six weeks and earn five years' money.''

Sri Lanka have undergone a change in leadership since finishing runners-up in the 2011 World Cup, with Sangakkara and Jayawardene stepping down as captain and vice-captain respectively - decisions Law could "totally respect and understand" - and their selection committee resigning. Dilshan has been named the new captain and Law has taken over from Trevor Bayliss, who he worked with as assistant coach.

''Sri Lanka will go through a rebuilding phase now," Law said. "But the amount of talent that is yet to play international cricket at this stage is amazing."

Delhi rout Kochi after Sehwag masterclass

2011-04-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Virender Sehwag showcased his class on a tricky Nehru Stadium surface on which numerous deliveries hardly got up above ankle height. Sehwag took his time before exploding in the end to lift Delhi Daredevils to 157, a score that proved beyond Kochi Tuskers Kerala and breathed some life in to Delhi's doddering campaign. In a knock that must surely go down as one of the best IPL innings, Sehwag smashed 49 off his last 15 deliveries to surge to 80 off 47, on a wicket where even survival was an achievement for batsmen.

Smarting from the big defeat against Deccan Chargers on a green-tinged home pitch, Kochi went to the opposite spectrum of surface preparation, dishing out a dry and loose wicket on which the ball kept alarmingly low right from the start. But they ran in to a determined Sehwag who, quickly realising that his usual cavalier style was not going to work, changed his approach, playing as safely as a Sehwag can.

The surface had come under scrutiny at the toss when Sehwag voiced doubts over it, saying the top surface was coming loose when someone walked on the wicket. Right away, the first ball from Sreesanth, in the second over, hardly got above David Warner's shin, and disturbed his off stump as he was caught clueless on the back foot. The fourth ball just rolled along the ground after pitching on a length, catching Naman Ojha on the boot in front of leg stump as Sehwag watched incredulously from the non-striker's end.

Delhi's innings was built around a 56-run stand between Yogesh Nagar and Sehwag after Venugopal Rao fell to leave them at 35 for 3 in the seventh over. The extent to which Sehwag reined himself in was evident when Delhi went without a boundary for 38 balls. It was Nagar who ended the drought when he launched R Vinay Kumar past extra cover in the 12th over.

Sehwag, who was on a scarcely believable 31 off 32, broke free in the next over, slamming Ravindra Jadeja for consecutive sixes over long-off and deep midwicket. On a pitch where batsmen were finding it difficult to hang in, Sehwag toyed with the bowling. The shots that had been put away came out in a torrent of calculated hitting. It rained pulls, whips, inside-out lofts, late cuts on a hapless Kochi attack. Vinay Kumar disappeared for 15 in the 15th over, B Akhil was scattered for 18 in the next.

Sehwag's complete control over his craft was on display against Ramesh Powar. Even as the offspinner tossed the ball up, Sehwag found time to dance down the track and lift him effortlessly against the turn over extra cover. His dismissal in the next over off Vinay was also characteristic, caught at deep extra cover on the edge of the rope, going inside out with three men in front of square on the off side boundary. But his charge lifted Delhi to 157, after they had been 62 for 3 in the 13th over.

Shell-shocked Kochi's only chance on the treacherous wicket was if their top order came good, but it wasn't to be. The pitch didn't play a major role in the first two dismissals though. IPL debutant Michael Klinger flicked Morne Morkel only for Roelof van der Merwe, in for the injured James Hopes, to pull off a blinder at square leg. Two deliveries later, Brendon McCullum decided that the only way to tackle the unpredictable surface was the blind charge, and lost his middle stump to Irfan Pathan.

Parthiv Patel found just how difficult the track was, as a back-of-a-length Pathan delivery barely rose a foot, easily going under his defensive push and disturbing off stump. As a disgusted Parthiv walked off in a volley of expletives, it was left to Kochi's two most-experienced batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene and Brad Hodge, to salvage the chase from 28 for 3.

Jayawardene hung around for a while but it was always going to be difficult to get more than eight an over on such a wicket. In trying to whip Ajit Agarkar over midwicket, he spooned a tame catch to Sehwag when on 18. Hodge could not capitalise on a dropped chance by Pathan on 15 and his dismissal by Morne Morkel in the 14th over effectively ended Kochi's chances though a few hits from Ravindra Jadeja reduced the margin of defeat.

Taylor comfortable in 'finisher' role

2011-04-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

Just in case Ross Taylor had any doubts about his role with Rajasthan Royals, Shane Warne made it very clear. Taylor was picked to be the team's finisher, to provide that final, devastating kick that sets a winning total or ensures a successful run-chase. Anyone who watched Taylor's assault on Pakistan in the World Cup league game knows he has the power to play that role. But while Taylor is enjoying the job, he said he is still learning to cope with its demands.

"It is probably something that has been put upon me over the last three or four years," Taylor told ESPNcricinfo. "It is different. It is not a role I do for my team back home in New Zealand, or for New Zealand at international level but it is something I do enjoy."

The position's biggest challenge, according to Taylor, is the need to adapt rapidly to different situations, depending on the state of the game, and ensuring one preserves his wicket. This doesn't mean simply smashing the ball from the word go. One still has to play himself in. The key, he says, is figuring out how much time one has before pulling out the big shots.

"There are not many batsmen who can come out and smack the ball from ball one and do it consistently. So you still have to give yourself a chance. It depends on many runs you have to get and how many balls you have to go. Then you can decide how many balls you have to get in."

Taylor has been at the crease when Rajasthan went past the finish line in each of their three wins this season, all of which have come chasing, but he hasn't had to really flex his hitting muscles yet; his top score in those games is 18. His highest score so far this season was an unbeaten 35 in the first game against Kolkata Knight Riders, a game Rajasthan lost by nine wickets. Should he crack into form soon, he may be able to give Rajasthan the final 'kick' going in the business end of the tournament.

The franchise is currently fifth in the table with seven points from seven games, and Taylor reckons the one point gained from the rained-out game against Royal Challengers Bangalore might be crucial in the race to the semi-finals. "We have Mumbai and Chennai, home and away, over our next seven games and they are first and second in the table so it is going to be a tough road ... but we have four games at home and we know how to play at home so hopefully we can show that." He goes into the match against Mumbai Indians in Jaipur in the hope that it will do for his IPL presence what the match against Pakistan had done for his reputation on the world stage.

Taylor said he had a smooth transition shifting franchises from Bangalore to Rajasthan. The opportunity to share a dressing room with some of the best players in the world, both Indian and international, as well as India's younger bunch, is what he likes the most about the IPL. "You never get to do that, and seeing the way they prepare and the way they go about the business, I think I not only learn a lot for myself but it is good for world cricket as well."

On the flip side, Taylor says players having to choose between club and country is the biggest downside to the league. As more international players choose to play in the IPL, the problem is only going to get bigger, as will the clamour for creating a window in the international schedule for the tournament.

"I think if you ask any international player, they will tell you there should be a window."

Botha stars as Rajasthan hammer Mumbai

2011-04-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Mumbai Indians' first batting collapse of the tournament gave Rajasthan Royals a small target of 95 to chase on a dry and cracked pitch in Jaipur. Although the home team had to fight hard for their victory, it ended up being a comprehensive one.

Sachin Tendulkar expected conditions to be difficult for batting but he probably didn't expect that none of his batsmen would score more than 17. Mumbai started confidently with Tendulkar driving the second ball through point and Davy Jacobs punching the ball over long-on for the first six of the innings. Jacobs went three balls after that shot when he played across the line to an Amit Singh delivery that uprooted middle stump.

In the next over, Tendulkar was stumped off the bowling of Ashok Menaria to give the left-arm spinner his first wicket in Twenty20 cricket and deny the spectators the possibility of a Tendulkar versus Shane Warne special. Menaria showed confidence in flighting the ball and reading the batsmen's intentions. He was rewarded for a second time when he bowled a short delivery to Ambati Rayudu, who charged down the pitch and offered Menaria a simple return catch.

Shane Warne brought himself on and had success in his second over, inviting Rohit Sharma to drive in the air to Johan Botha on the long-off rope. Kieron Pollard scored his first run of this year's IPL with a flick through square leg and together with Andrew Symonds had to set about rebuilding the innings.

The pair lasted 33 balls before Johan Botha trapped Pollard lbw, as he completely missed the offbreak. Botha struck twice in his next over, bowling Symonds with a ball that kept low and enticing R Sathish to charge down the pitch and get stumped. The procession continued when Lasith Malinga was dismissed for one by Amit Singh.

Mumbai avoided the ignominy of being bowled out within the 20 overs as Harbhajan Singh swatted at four deliveries in the final over before finally connecting for a six. But, they finished on their lowest total in IPL history.

It was always going to be difficult to defend 95 but with an aggressive bowling attack, Mumbai may have had some hope. Lasith Malinga started in his usual toe-crushing fashion while Munaf Patel was also accurate. He got an early breakthrough with a slower ball that Rahul Dravid scooped to Tendulkar at midwicket.

Ali Murtaza, who was brought in in place of Abu Nechim, was bowling a difficult line and length and with the pitch keeping low he was almost impossible to get away. Watson and Botha saw off his first two overs and although the required-rate was never going to trouble them, they picked the balls to hit well.

Botha slog-swept Harbhajan for six while Watson hit Pollard for a straight six over his head. They handled Murtaza with greater ease in his second spell and the chase was turning into a stroll. Tendulkar brought Malinga back into the attack, and after three full balls, he banged one in short to Watson who was caught behind off an edge.

Ross Taylor joined Johan Botha and the pair concentrated on rotating the strike, which was all they needed to do. Two fuller deliveries were punished with Taylor stroking a ball through the covers for four and Botha lofting one over midwicket. Botha took Rajasthan to the brink and was bowled with just five runs left to get for the win. Rajasthan have now won 14 out of 18 home games in IPLs, with 11 of those wins coming in Jaipur.

The one that swung, and the ones that spun

2011-04-28T19:05:00.001-07:00

The one that swung
Irfan Pathan's unending search for the dream inswinger has been one of the enduring themes of Delhi Daredevils' matches this season. Today, he got them to curl in right from ball one, before hitting the stumps with a patent inducker than snuck through, though not exactly through bat and pad. Wary of his movement, Jacques Kallis was consciously looking to get well across and forward to negate the swing, when he ended up going too far across to one in the fifth over. The ball landed on middle stump and began bending in sharply, even as Kallis realised he was in no position to flick. He belatedly tried to glance it off its path, but the ball found a way past and disturbed leg stump.

The ones that spun
The Delhi strip has been the most capricious 22 yards of real estate since the IPL began. It began as a typically sluggish Kotla track with no life in it, before the curator was asked to spice it up. The resultant greentop promptly produced the highest scoring match of the tournament. Today, it was expected to be another batting beauty with little in it for spinners. So much so, that the first sighting of a spinner was only in the 26th over of the game. And what an over it was. Iqbal Abdulla trotted in and landed it on a length outside off, it whirled out of the grassy track and bounced big on James Hopes who missed it by a foot and looked on as if he'd encountered a ghost. Later in the over, Abdulla repeated the dose to Virender Sehwag, who wisely chose to let the ball go through after thinking of guiding it with the spin. On both occasions, wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami did not get even close to collecting it. He looked confused after jumping around in a vain attempt to pouch it the second time, while Sehwag sported a bemused half-smile.

Pathan v Pathan
From the moment Irfan started bowling, people were looking forward to Yusuf walking out and having a go at him. By the time Yusuf came to the crease, Irfan had completed his first spell. While Yusuf played himself in in the middle overs, it seemed inevitable that he would run into Irfan at the death. Until he smeared a short ball from Umesh Yadav straight to long-on, where who else but Irfan would complete the catch. Irfan promptly came on to bowl the next over. The possibility of the brothers coming face-to-face in the chase perked up when Irfan got an unusual promotion up to No. 4. Irfan was at the crease for four overs, but none of those were bowled by his brother. Irfan perished in the 11th over, slogging Abdulla straight to deep midwicket. No prizes for guessing who bowled the 12th over.

The NBA moment
Fielding standards in the IPL have been increasing with every passing game, and today's headlining performance came from Brett Lee. Delhi needed 26 off 12 balls when Lee came on to bowl the 19th over. Venugopal Rao missed the second ball, but tried to sneak a bye. Lee realised what was happening, aborted his follow-through, and back-pedalled rapidly towards the stumps at the non-striker's, always a step ahead of the scrambling Rao. Goswami collected the ball and lobbed it high to Lee who leapt up to collect it overhead, even as he turned around mid-air and slam-dunked the ball onto the stumps to catch Rao well short. Kobe Bryant would have approved of the classic lay-out.

Omni-present Kallis
If Lee captured the imagination with one act of brilliance, Jacques Kallis impressed with the single-minded ruthlessness with which he manned the short square boundaries in the end overs. In the 16th over, Rao looked to force Lee through the off side and the ball was speeding away towards the rope when a horizontal Kallis kept it in play. In the next over, Yogesh Nagar whipped Jaidev Unadkat powerfully and it was hurtling inevitably to the midwicket boundary when Kallis intercepted again. With the asking-rate mounting, Rao cracked L Balaji in the 18th over through point, and the ball was almost there when Kallis dived into its path. He had taken complete ownership of the sweeper position and wasn't going to let anything through today.

Agarkar's fortunes
The man with more comebacks than most in Indian cricket came on to bowl the seventh over of the game. In his only previous game this season, he had started off in ominous fashion by conceding four fours off his first four balls. More generosity was expected when he ran in and landed his first ball full and wide outside off. Goswami looked to steer, and got a thin edge behind. Luck was not on Agarkar's side when he came out to bat though, as he ran himself out for a duck before he had even faced a ball. Just the kind of extremes you expect from a man with a Test hundred at Lord's as well as seven successive Test ducks against Australia.

Kolkata fight back to keep Delhi bottom

2011-04-28T19:04:00.001-07:00

Delhi Daredevils' all-pace attack seemed to have done enough at the halfway stage to get their team a much-required win but Kolkata Knight Riders showed their mettle to scrap their way to an 18-run victory on a two-paced Feroz Shah Kotla track.

Both teams seemed to have misread the pitch, packing their sides with quicks. It was left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla though who was the most influential of the bowlers, spinning his first ball "like Warne to Gatting" according to Brett Lee, as he nipped out three wickets in a stifling spell.

After Delhi chose to bowl, Irfan Pathan found that elusive and coveted inducker to shackle Kolkata at the start, Umesh Yadav bowled it fast and at the batsman's chest to snuff out two key batsmen in the middle overs, and even the much-ridiculed Ajit Agarkar kept it tight in the final over.

If the usually incisive and economical Morne Morkel was Delhi's most expensive bowler, Kolkata's best batsman was not one of their big-money imports, but their local boy, Manoj Tiwary, who made a combative half-century to stabilise the innings.

Still, Delhi had a seemingly below-par target to chase, and that was looking even smaller when Virender Sehwag was crashing boundaries at will through the off side. A murderous blast over cover followed by a piledriver past backward point from Sehwag in the fourth over took Delhi to 28 for 1.

Everything changed in the next two overs. Abdulla, the first spinner to bowl in the match, ripped the ball a long way in the fifth over, making the ball stop and nearly had James Hopes giving a return catch. Then, Jaidev Unadkat, who was getting the ball to jag around, fired in two bouncers at Sehwag, the second of which was top-edged to fine leg.

That massive wicket and the big turn combined to squeeze the runs, and only 21 came off the next five overs before Abdulla had Irfan swiping to Ryan ten Doeschate at midwicket. With Delhi's experiment with Tasmanian batsman Travis Birt failing, much depended on Hopes, who also perished to Abdulla; ending a patient innings with a punch to cover in the 15th over. Three balls later, Abdulla had his third with Naman Ojha mowing to the deep, and at 86 for 6 Delhi were out of it.

Shah Rukh Khan and the rest in the Kolkata camp were briefly worried when Delhi blasted 14 off the 18th over, though they were smiling again as Brett Lee killed off the game with a perfect penultimate over which had two runs and two run-outs.

That silenced the Kotla crowd, which had plenty to cheer early on as their fast bowlers tied down Kolkata's heavyweight batting. Jacques Kallis was swallowed up in the fifth over by the exaggerated inswing Irfan was extracting and Gautam Gambhir holed out against Hopes' no-frills bowling for 18.

Tiwary was not at his most fluent, though he muscled the odd boundary to drive Kolkata ahead. The men Kolkata expected the big hits from - Yusuf Pathan and Eoin Morgan - perished off successive deliveries from Umesh to leave the side at 105 for 5 in 15 overs. Though only three boundaries came off the final five overs, the total ultimately proved sufficient.

With the win Kolkata became the fourth team to occupy second spot in five days. While there has been plenty of churn in the middle of the table, there's been no change at the top and bottom for several rounds, with Delhi remaining stuck at the wrong end.

Match Meter

* KKR DD
*
Gambhir falls: Kolkata slipped to 82 for 3 in the 12th over as Gambhir holes out

*
DD
*
Umesh's two-in-two: Kolkata's two dangerous batsmen, Yusuf Pathan and Eoin Morgan, fall on consecutive deliveries in the 15th over to put Delhi on top

* KKR DD
*
Sehwag bounced out: Unadkat slips in two short deliveries in a row, the second of which is top-edged to fine leg by Sehwag

*
KKR
*
Abdulla strikes: Hopes slashes a short ball to cover, and Delhi's chances evaporate as they slide to 83 for 5

Advantage Honours even

Ishant five-for wrecks Kochi

2011-04-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

If you needed a punctuation mark to describe this game, you'd choose a big, bold exclamation mark and colour it a deep crimson red. Kochi Tuskers Kerala's scorecard was stunningly woeful at the end of four sensational overs: 0, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0 were the scores of the batsmen sucker-punched by Ishant Sharma, who harassed them with seam and bounce. And Kochi never recovered from that soul-crushing spell.

His hair bobbed up and down in characteristic fashion as Ishant ran in, fingers behind the seam and wrists snapping at the release, and the length was nearly always full. The first has been an ever-present theme with him in good and bad times, the second image hasn't always been consistently repeated, and the third was a pleasant surprise.

Ishant entered the scene after Dale Steyn took out Brendon McCullum in the first over with a delivery that jagged away to take the outside edge. It was the beginning of Kochi's nightmare as Ishant stunned them with a triple strike. Parthiv Patel stabbed at a delivery that bounced and seamed away from him to the keeper, Raiphi Gomez (what was he doing at No. 4?) was taken out for a first-ball duck by a sharp incutter, and Brad Hodge combusted off the fifth delivery. He played a loose and ambitious off drive, wafting outside the line of the full delivery that cut in to rearrange the furniture.

Kochi were 2 for 4 then and all their hopes rested on their opener and captain Mahela Jayawardene, who was a forlorn figure in the middle, watching the destruction unfold in front of him. Ishant wasn't done yet; he reserved his best for Jayawardene. After trapping Kedar Jadhav in front with a sharp incutter in the fourth over, he produced a brute of a delivery to knock out Jayawardene, and Kochi, in the same over. It screamed up from back of a good length, held its line and kissed the edge of the defensive prod en route to the delighted Kumar Sangakkara. Jayawardene gave an inquisitive, and accusing, look at the pitch before he turned and departed the crime scene.

Ishant's figures read an incredible 5 for 6 and Kochi were 11 for 6 from four overs, and though there were a couple of face-saving contributions from Ravindra Jadeja and Thisara Perera, they were rapidly heading along a cul-de-sac.

In retrospect, the middle-over massacre led by Sangakkara - Deccan recovered from the depths of 37 for 3 after 10 overs to reach 105 for 3 in 16 - lulled one into a false perception about the nature of the track. In hindsight, Kochi will be ruing a no-ball from Sreesanth that allowed Sangakkara to break free. Sangakkara was on 5 when Sreesanth produced a jaffa - it bent back in from the off stump line to knock out the middle stump - but the third umpire confirmed the on-field umpire's suspicion that it was a no-ball.

It was the 11th over, bowled by Perera, that changed the landscape. Both Sangakkara and Cameron White, who was on 6 from 17 balls, pulled two short deliveries to the boundary to take 11 runs in that over. It wasn't your massive "big over" that the IPL throws up on a daily basis but it was the spark that ignited Deccan, and Sangakkara in particular. In the 12th over, he dragged Vinay Kumar for two leg-side boundaries and threw in the conventional and the upper cut to collect two more fours in the 14th over, off Perera. He continued to slash and heave and even unfurled a paddle-swept boundary off Sreesanth but the next over over from Vinay brought Kochi back.

Vinay had White holing out to deep midwicket off the fifth delivery and induced Sangakkara to edge a slower one off the next. The lower order couldn't produce anything substantial and the question lingered at the end of their innings: Was 129 going to be enough? Ishant answered it in some style.

Duncan Fletcher named India coach

2011-04-27T07:27:00.000-07:00

the former England coach and former Zimbabwe captain, has been appointed India's coach, ending weeks of speculation over who will succeed Gary Kirsten. The BCCI announced the decision to give Fletcher a two-year contract after a Working Committee meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday. Eric Simons' tenure as the team's bowling coach was also extended.

Fletcher, though, is unlikely to be with the team during the tour of West Indies in June. "The contract with Fletcher is for two years," N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, told reporters after the meeting. "He may not join the team in West Indies as he has some prior commitments."

"After a lot of thought and consultation, the BCCI president and BCCI secretary placed Fletcher's name before the Working Committee, which the Committee ratified," Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI vice-president, said, adding that the terms and conditions of Fletcher's appointment would be the same as Kirsten's.

Fletcher, 62, was in charge of the England team when they beat Australia in 2005 to win the Ashes for the first time since 1986-'87, and was credited with turning around England's fortunes in Tests during his eight-year stint, first with Nasser Hussain and then with Michael Vaughan.

He was England's first foreign coach and took over in 1999; soon enough, he oversaw Test series wins in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, though Australia thrashed England 4-1 in the Ashes in 2001. Later, with Vaughan, he helped England win their first Test series in South Africa post apartheid and the pair played a critical role in moulding a team that was to win the Ashes the following year.

England won 42 and lost 30 Tests with Fletcher in charge but their ODI form wasn't as good - winning 75 and losing 82. His tenure reached its lowest ebb during a 0-5 Ashes drubbing in Australia in 2006-'07 and a disappointing 2007 World Cup campaign, after which he stepped down. One of Fletcher's problems during his England reign was a tetchy relationship with the media, something which Vaughan felt could be a hindrance in his India job as well. "Duncan will work well with all the talent," Vaughan tweeted. "His biggest challenge will come from the media ... he has never really understood how it works."

After giving up the England job, he has taken up several short-term international assignments. He joined South Africa as a batting consultant in 2008, a role he returned to for the 2011 World Cup, and was in a similar position with New Zealand on their tour of India last year.

England were officially ranked the worst Test team when he took over as their coach, and he will now take charge of a team that won the World Cup earlier this month and is currently topping the Test rankings.

One of the first coaching jobs Fletcher took up was at the University of Cape Town where Kirsten was part of the team. The pair once again were together at Western Province.

In 1994, Fletcher applied for his first high-profile job - the head coach of South Africa. He was one of the three candidates interviewed. His two other competitors were Eddie Barlow and Bob Woolmer. Eventually the three-man panel comprising Peter Pollock, Raymond White and Ali Bacher agreed on Woolmer, who stayed with the job till 1999. Fletcher, meanwhile, operated as South Africa A coach for a while before taking up the England assignment.

According to Bacher, Fletcher's style of coaching draws a lot from his playing days."Hardworking, disciplined, very professionally driven and played to his utmost potential even if he was not blessed with extraordinary talent. He brings the same characteristics to his coaching," Bacher said.

Fletcher also has been known to work on an individual basis with Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis. Kallis spent time with Fletcher prior to travelling to India for the IPL.

Classy Badrinath stars in easy win

2011-04-27T07:25:00.001-07:00

Who said there is no room for a technically correct batsman in the IPL? S Badrinath walked into a tricky situation, took charge of the chase without playing a single ugly shot, and finessed Chennai Super Kings to No. 2 in the IPL table with an easy win, though the game ended in the final over. His effort came after Chennai's seamers made exemplary use of the extra bounce on the DY Patil strip to restrict Pune to 141, despite a well-paced 62 from Yuvraj Singh.

Badrinath's virtuoso made the score seem inadequate though Chennai's chase dawdled without direction until he came in. Badrinath isn't your typical IPL hero. His upright stance, clean feet movement, classical backlift and high-elbow follow-through are all made for Test cricket. Yet, he has managed to find a niche for himself in Chennai's muscular muscular top order in the IPL. This year, he has easily been their best batsman, taking charge of crisis situations without resorting to ugly shots. All of that was on display today, as he unfurled an IPL innings of rare beauty, scoring 28 of his runs off 11 balls in the 'V'. There were no cross-batted slogs, no lap-scoops to deliveries landed outside off, and not once was he caught napping on the front foot to a short ball.

Chennai are not fond of chasing, and today it was evident why. M Vijay and Michael Hussey began too cautiously and the result was 15 dot-balls in the first 4.1 overs. Hussey then heaved Murali Kartik to midwicket where Manish Pandey took a tumbling catch. Badrinath earned a promotion ahead of the out-of-form Suresh Raina, and the swap helped both batsmen.

Chennai had crawled to 39 for 1 in eight overs when Badrinath decided to counter-punch. He trotted out to Kartik and launched him for four through long-off. Kartik tossed the next ball further up, and Badrinath carved him inside-out for a six. Badrinath came out again later in the over, hoodwinking Kartik into dropping short, and then glided him to third man. The over went for 16, and in next over, Badrinath opened up the off side again, lofting Yuvraj for six more. 77 required off 60, and Chennai did not look back from there.

Rahul Sharma thought he had got Badrinath to edge the first ball of the 11th behind, but the umpire gave it not out and replays were inconclusive. Vijay managed to heave Jesse Ryder over midwicket but his scratchy innings ended in typical fashion when he holed out against a slow legcutter. Badrinath carried on as if nothing had happened, angling near-yorkers to third man and drilling half-volleys to the straight boundary with a vengeance. Suresh Raina ended the contest in the 18th over, muscling Jerome Taylor for sixes over long-off.

For the second time in three days, Chennai Super Kings handcuffed Pune Warriors' batsmen by making exemplary use of the conditions presented to them. While the spinners had tied up Yuvraj Singh's men in the Chennai leg, this time the seamers made use of the extra bounce to systematically dismantle the batting. As his team-mates once again perished to careless shots, Yuvraj played responsibly to hold things together before exploding towards the end, pushing Pune to 141.

Chennai's plans were evident in the first over of the game when Nuwan Kulasekara, on IPL debut, landed each ball short of a length. There was none of Kulasekara's trademark sideways movement on display, but this wasn't a stand-and-deliver kind of strip. The message was lost on Pune's batsmen though.

Ryder tried to dominate with a series of lofted boundaries off Kulasekara, but could not bully the pacier Doug Bollinger in the same manner. He fell top-edging an effort ball that rose quickly from short of a length. Mohnish Mishra perished to the pull as well, not bothering to adjust to the length after plonking his front foot forward. Kulasekara then dismissed Mithun Manhas with a trademark inducker that squeezed between bat and pad to disturb the leg bail. Manish Pandey departed to a replay of Mishra's brain-fade, cross-batting Tim Southee off the front foot straight to mid-on.

Uthappa tried to stamp his authority on spin, reverse-lapping Shadab Jakati with the turn, and cutting him when he dropped short. Uthappa had a score to settle with R Ashwin, who had bowled him around the legs with a carom ball in the previous game. This time Uthappa won the first round, slog-sweeping Ashwin's offbreak with the spin, and the carom ball against the turn for sixes. Ashwin finished on top though, nailing him for the second time with a carom ball on leg stump, inducing a leading edge as Uthappa again swiped against the deviation.

Yuvraj survived a loose flail at a Kulasekara offcutter first ball, and thumped the next delivery, one of the few over-pitched by Kulasekara, through cover. Thereafter he settled in carefully, and opened up only after Uthappa's exit. Yuvraj carted Ashwin with the angle over midwicket before launching Bollinger straight for the shot of the afternoon. Mitchell Marsh starved Yuvraj for strike in the end overs before falling to another front-foot pull against Bollinger. Yuvraj still managed to finish on a high, launching Southee for two sixes in the last over. The last five overs yielded 50, but Chennai were the favourites at the halfway mark, despite the absence of Albie Morkel in their batting line-up.

Bangalore win in seesaw chase

2011-04-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

The Royal Challengers Bangalore lower order scraped 22 runs from 15 deliveries to steer their side past Delhi Daredevils' 160 - a target that had looked small when Virat Kohli was at the crease, and stiff after his dismissal. But Daniel Vettori and J Syed Mohammad found the boundaries when they were needed, and got Bangalore home with three deliveries to spare.

It had looked like a cakewalk when Kohli was finding the boundaries at will in a breezy half-century that stunned Delhi. But David Warner provided the inspiration Delhi needed with a direct hit from the deep that ran out AB de Villiers. After Morne Morkel bowled Kohli two deliveries later, 65 needed from 66 deliveries quickly became 44 required from 30, and the Feroz Shah Kotla crowd started buzzing with the hope of a home victory.

But Syed flicked and steered Umesh Yadav for successive boundaries to bring the equation down to 12 required off two overs, and Bangalore didn't allow Delhi back again.

The way Kohli had begun in a blaze of boundaries, Delhi hadn't looked like getting a look-in. Coming in after Tillakaratne Dilshan had been dismissed off the second ball of the chase, Kohli launched six fours off his first ten deliveries. He started with successive boundaries on either side of point off Ashok Dinda, and then laid in to Irfan Pathan, dismissing him for four fours in an over.

Irfan is trying to make a comeback to the Indian team, but looked helpless against Kohli, becoming too predictable with his attempt to bend the ball back in at gentle pace. Kohli took full toll, flicking, driving and glancing him for 16 runs as Delhi surrendered the advantage of the early breakthrough.

To add to Delhi's troubles, they had to contend with Chris Gayle at the other end. The Jamaican carved Morne Morkel over cover and then hammered him over long-on. Kohli and Gayle took another 17 runs off Dinda as Bangalore raced to 62 for 1 in five overs. Though James Hopes got Gayle with a surprise bouncer to end an 82-run stand off 43 deliveries, Kohli casually flicked the next delivery for four to bring up his fifty in 31 balls.

Then came the moment that got Delhi back in the game. AB de Villiers took on Warner's throw from deep midwicket for a second run, and found himself nowhere close when the ball shattered the stumps. Two balls later, Morne Morkel got Kohli to play on, and suddenly Bangalore were 96 for 4.

Bangalore had hardly recovered from the twin blows when Cheteshwar Pujara found deep midwicket with a pull. They still needed 54 from 45, and Saurabh Tiwary was the only specialist batsman left.

But Vettori has scrapped on countless occasions for New Zealand, and wasn't going to give in anytime soon. He and Tiwary brought it down to 32 from 24. Tiwary then clubbed Morkel for six over midwicket to almost snatch the game away from Delhi but the match turned again. Morkel had Tiwary steering a full delivery to the keeper. Abhimanyu Mithun tried to swing his way out of pressure off the next two balls, and found extra cover with the second attempt.

Syed joined Vettori and they shut the door on Delhi with some nerveless batting; Vettori's sliced boundary over backward point off Hopes decisively swung the game in Bangalore's favour in the penultimate over.

Hopes had earlier led a Delhi recovery after Zaheer Khan and S Aravind made the dangerous pair of Virender Sehwag and David Warner feel for the new ball that zipped around on a helpful surface. Hopes added 47 off 33 deliveries for the fifth wicket with Venugopal Rao and played the percentages excellently, targeting the three Bangalore spinners for six of his seven boundaries.

Warner had found the initial movement too hot to handle, and was cleaned up by a perfectly pitched delivery from Zaheer that came back into him. Sehwag got off to his usual carefree start, slamming his first delivery for four and twice edging Aravind just short of the men behind the wicket. His luck eventually ran out when he was caught inches short of his crease by a Mithun throw.

At 115 for 3 with five overs to go, however, Delhi had managed to set the base for the final onslaught, but Rao's blind charge to Vettori made him lose his stumps. Some late sixes from Irfan Pathan and Naman Ojha lifted Delhi to 160, a score that proved inadequate ultimately.

Match Meter

*
RCB
*
Sehwag and Warner fall Zaheer Khan bowls David Warner, and Virender Sehwag is run-out attempting a quick single. 43 for 2

* DD RCB
*
Hopes takes Delhi to 160 James Hopes' half-century lifts Delhi to a fighting total on the pacy wicket

*
RCB
*
Kohli launches assault Virat Kohli slams six fours off his first ten deliveries in an 82-run stand off 43 balls with Chris Gayle. 83 for 1 in the eighth over

* DD RCB
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Delhi take three in three overs Gayle, AB de Villiers and Kohli depart off successive overs as Delhi strike back. 96 for 4

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RCB
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Tiwary and Vettori hang in With a six off Morne Morkel, Saurabh Tiwary brings it down to 26 off 23 with five wickets remaining

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DD
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Morkel takes two in three Morkel removes Tiwary and Abhimanyu Mithun. 22 needed off 18 with three wickets left

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RCB
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Vettori and Syed Mohammad scrape through Syed hits Umesh Yadav for consecutive boundaries and Vettori's four off Hopes turns the match in Bangalore's favour

Advantage Honours even

Gayle had written off IPL 2011 until Bangalore call

2011-04-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

Chris Gayle says he had written off IPL 2011 and was getting ready to resume international duties before being dropped from the West Indies team for the series against Pakistan. Gayle spoke to ESPNcricinfo on the eve of his second IPL game for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday.

"It was to be international cricket for me. Had I been picked, that would have been what I would have done," Gayle said. "I didn't have any thoughts about IPL4. I had written off IPL4, rather I was looking forward to its next year. I should have been there (in the West Indies) playing with the national team, but I am here. It is unfortunate but that is how it is."

Gayle said he had never expected to be in this part of the world at this time. The offer to play for Bangalore came "out of the blue at 3 am. After a party." Gayle's IPL arrival was emphatic, with an unbeaten century that set up Bangalore's win against Kolkata Knight Riders after they had gone four matches without a victory. Gayle hammered 102 in 55 balls against his old franchise, leading Bangalore to a nine-wicket win.

He came in to bat at Eden Gardens after having spent the better part of a month without a hit in the nets, working entirely, he said, on physical strength work to recover from an abdominal strain. "An opportunity presented itself, so I am here now to actually do what I can. I have got a good welcome from each and everyone, the players, the owners, and management staff." The abdominal strain? Gayle replied to the question with another one, "What did it look like during the match? That's what it is like now."

In the January IPL auction, Gayle had remained unsold. "It was surprising to be honest when no one took up the bid but based on my knowledge, they said we (West Indies) have a window where we have international cricket at that particular time. So I guess that was the reason, unless there are other things that I don't know about."

Gayle said he did have complaints against the West Indies Cricket Board that had not communicated with him before dropping him for the first two ODIs of the Pakistan series. "I was injured and no one bothered ... haven't I done enough (for the West Indies)? I have given my all and if that is not enough, what is? They left me to fend on my own and I have complaints."

He has followed the progress of West Indies against Pakistan by reading the scores, rather than watching the first of the five ODIs on TV. His interaction with his teammates has been through Blackberry messaging. "I say hi to the guys now and then and wish them well."

Gayle earlier also became one of three West Indian players who did not sign their WICB contracts, becoming freelance players in the several Twenty20 leagues around the world. "I had already pointed out my reasons (for not signing the contract). I thought the contract had too many restrictions and I explained to them (the board) and I explained to the public why I had not signed."

The decision by Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga to retire from Test cricket and choose the shorter format of the game, Gayle said, had little to do with his own situation. "Malinga and I are not in the same boat - so I don't know what's happening with Malinga." The issues of club versus country, he said, could be easily sorted in most cases through communication. "It's simple, they (boards) just have to work it out as much as possible with the individual and see how best we can all co-operate. At the end of the day everyone can be happy and then we can actually move on and we wouldn't have anything dramatic like this."

A window for the IPL would be the next step to avoid what Gayle called cricket's "confusion" between a lucrative Twenty20 league and international commitments. "You have a window for the IPL just like you have a World Cup window. I'm sure there wouldn't be any fuss. That's something they need to take seriously. I'm sure cricket can actually move ahead and everyone will be happy."

Gayle had earlier said that the WICB had left him with no choice. At the moment though, all he wanted to do was, "win the IPL, be on a winning team. That would be the ultimate at this point in time. To lift the IPL trophy and see what it's like."

Rampant Chennai smother Pune in the field

2011-04-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

A disciplined performance from Chennai Super Kings in the field saw them get their IPL campaign back on track as they comfortably defended 142 against the Pune Warriors. Chennai backed up their bowlers' efforts with superb commitment in the field as they made 142 look a lot more daunting than it was.

Albie Morkel and Doug Bollinger started the assault, peppering the Pune openers with short balls. Mohnish Mishra, who survived an appeal for caught behind off Morkel's third ball, was undone by the slowness of the pitch. He tried to steer the ball down to third man but inside edged it onto his stumps.

Jesse Ryder was also battling to negotiate the extra bounce but ended up falling to R Ashwin whose arm ball disturbed the middle stump as the batsman backed away for the offbreak. Manish Pandey was dismissed in almost the exact fashion as Mishra was, trying to run a Morkel ball to third man and chopping it on. Pune's troubles worsened when Ashwin turned on the magic with a full ball that turned away from Robin Uthappa, snuck around his legs and bowled him. For the second match in succession, Pune had lost four wickets inside six overs.

Suraj Randiv and Suresh Raina bowled four quiet overs, during which Yuvraj Singh brought up 1000 IPL runs, but it laid the pressure squarely on Pune. Desperation started to creep in and Mithun Manhas mishit Randiv for six over cow corner, luckily getting the ball high enough to escape being caught. Manhas was out two overs later, trying to improvise by playing Bollinger late and only getting an edge that MS Dhoni collected.

With the required rate creeping over nine, Chennai, led by Suresh Raina's commitment, flung their bodies around saving numerous fours. Yuvraj and Nathan McCullum rotated the strike but couldn't escape the stranglehold. Chennai's efforts reached their climax when Shadab Jakati flew across from extra cover to take a catch that sent Yuvraj on his way. The lower middle order was left with too much to do and perished.

Pune had earlier kept their reputation as the most economical bowling side in the IPL intact, restricting Chennai to 142. Chennai started slowly, M Vijay looking particularly lacklustre and almost getting run out three times in the first six overs.

He and Michael Hussey had charmed stints, both scoring boundaries in streaky fashion. Vijay's first was an edge that flew past first slip while Hussey scored consecutive fours, first off an inside edge and then off an outside edge. He was also dropped on 28 by Yuvraj Singh.

Luck eventually ran out and Vijay top-edged a bouncer from Alfonso Thomas, presenting Nathan McCullum with a simple catch at midwicket. Thomas then taunted Raina with two short balls, one of which Raina top edged over mid-off and the third one knocked over middle and leg stump. Chennai were 66 for two at the halfway stage, their lowest score in ten overs in this year's IPL.

Yuvraj and Murali Kartik were economical in the middle overs while it was up to Hussey to provide impetus, bringing up his fifty with a stunning cover drive. Dhoni joined in the fun for a while, with consecutive boundaries off Rahul Sharma but like Chennai, his good fortune ended and he was stumped off a flighted delivery.

Hussey was dismissed four balls later, trying to shovel Jerome Taylor over long-on. Albie Morkel made no impact, departing for a duck while attempting a big shot that only found deep cover. Thomas bowled a clutch of yorkers in his last over and Taylor turned on the gas to finish things off. Even a six from S Badrinath in the final over couldn't take Chennai over the 150 mark, but 142 proved to be more than enough.

Warne leads Rajasthan to emphatic win

2011-04-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

Cosmetic surgery? Moisturiser? Who cares? Shane Warne is still ripping them legbreaks. He is still getting vicious dip and drift. He is still producing key wickets - tonight those of Brad Hodge and the top-scorers Parthiv Patel and Ravindra Jadeja - to keep Rajasthan Royals alive in the tournament. On a pitch where the bounce varied from shoulder to shin-high off similar lengths, Kochi Tuskers Kerala threatened to convert their ordinary start into a decent total, but Warne came back to remove both Parthiv and Jadeja off successive deliveries to end the 48-run fourth-wicket partnership. The resultant target was sub-par even on the slightly two-paced pitch, and Rahul Dravid and Shane Watson ensured there were no hiccups in the chase, with a 71-run opening stand.

Rajasthan were right at home in conditions that their two spinners and predominantly slower-ball bowlers enjoy. They also had the injured Johan Botha back, who removed Mahela Jayawardene with the first ball he bowled. It all started inauspiciously for Kochi, with Brendon McCullum missing out because of a bad shoulder. His replacement, VVS Laxman, ran himself out. Botha came on and turned one across Jayawardene, and with some help from the protruding thigh pad, the ball found a way into the stumps. Warne did Brad Hodge in with one that kept low. As a consequence of those big wickets, once Kochi's run-rate fell below six in the fifth over, it never crossed that mark.

Rajasthan's international bowlers - Warne, Botha and Watson - went for 58 in 12 overs between them. Warne even found time to settle a personal score. He welcomed Ravindra Jadeja, who had tried to move away from his franchise last year and was banned in the process, with a bouncer at 110kph. Jadeja and Parthiv, though, kept their heads and put Kochi on their way to what could have been a defendable target. They picked their battles wisely, taking risks against the domestic bowlers, running hard, not looking for ambitious shots.

At 88 for 3 after 15 overs, though, they decided they needed to push for more runs, especially considering it was the expected dew that had made Rajasthan field first on this pitch. Jadeja came down to Warne, who bowled the straighter one and got a thick edge along the ground. Two balls later Jadeja tried the slog sweep, but this one bounced at him, taking the top edge. Back-pedalling, Warne completed the catch around mid-on. Parthiv lost his head next ball, trying the reverse-sweep, and was stumped off a slider.

After that Kochi lost their way with new batsman struggling to time the ball on the slow track. In all, seven wickets fell for 21 runs. The momentum continued into the second innings as Watson smashed the first ball to the cover boundary. Dravid took over from there, playing proper cricketing shots to counter the tricky pitch. He also hit the first six of the match shortly before running himself out, going for an ambitious second run. At 71 for 1, only formalities remained, but Watson pushed the rate up, ensuring the target was achieved with 5.5 overs to spare, giving Rajasthan's net run-rate a boost.

Rohit, Malinga lead Mumbai to impressive win

2011-04-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

Deccan Chargers had the chance to retain Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds, but let both of them go, and paid the price on Sunday. The pair came together with Mumbai wobbling at 70 for 4 in the 10th over, having lost three wickets for the addition of no run in six balls, and proceeded to pulverise their former side in a 102-run stand that came off just 65 balls. Mumbai followed up the pyrotechnics of their Deccan imports with a typically clinical show in the field, to surge to a four-point lead at the top of the IPL table.

Having galloped to a strong score, Mumbai seized control with three pieces of brilliance, all of which involved Lasith Malinga slinging the stumps down. The first was a stunning yorker that the aggressive Shikhar Dhawan did well to save his toes from, though his leg stump was not so fortunate. Cameron White came in at Dhawan's fall and sucked the momentum out of the chase after struggling to get bat on ball in his short stay. It ended when he pushed his seventh ball to mid-off and set off on an ambitious single. Malinga swooped on the ball and fired in a throw that clattered into the stumps at the non-striker's end to catch White short. Kumar Sangakkara fought hard against the tide, before Malinga returned to blow his middle and off pegs out with a superfast, low full toss. The chase was as good as over when Davy Jacobs stumped Daniel Christian while standing up to Munaf Patel.

In reality, Deccan never recovered from the Rohit-Symonds show, especially the last two overs that bled 40 runs. Symonds began the closing brutality by smashing Dale Steyn's length bowling for two fours and a six in the penultimate over. Rohit then took over, flaying Christian for three sixes and a four in the 20th. Christian invited trouble by serving up two full tosses and two length balls at a hittable pace. Rohit, who finds a new plane when he is batting in the IPL, tucked in with emphatic blows down the ground, the last of which left Christian floored in his follow through.

Mumbai's innings followed three distinct phases. The first was guided by Jacobs' enterprise against the new ball, while Sachin Tendulkar played the support role. It's not easy to take the spotlight off Tendulkar, especially so on his birthday, but Jacobs managed it for the first five overs. He began with a reverse slap off Amit Mishra in the opening over, before thumping Pragyan Ojha for a straight six. He proceeded to shred Ishant Sharma's shoddy lines for fours on either side of the wicket, and scrambled Christian's lengths with quick feet to loot two more boundaries.

Tendulkar survived a close shout for lbw in the first over before trotting inside the line to Steyn's first ball to whip him through midwicket. Thereafter, Tendulkar seemed too eager to impose himself by charging out to Ishant and Steyn, who both hit speeds around 145 kph and gave him nothing to drive. Still, Mumbai managed to reach 47 in the first five overs, before Deccan hit back.

Jacobs fell attempting an ambitious heave off Ishant, but Tendulkar counter-punched with two boundaries in the same over. However, the advent of spin with spread-out fields stalled Mumbai's progress. Mishra struck twice in three balls, beating Tendulkar in the flight and enticing Ambati Rayudu to hole out. Soon after, Kieron Pollard miscued an against-the-turn paddle off his first ball, to leave Mumbai reeling. It was time for their middle-order muscle to rescue them.

Symonds and Rohit checked in cautiously as Mumbai went boundary-less for 40 balls, but switched gears rapidly thereafter. Rohit began the assault by sweeping Ojha for four before Symonds forehanded a short ball from Christian through long-off. With Rohit timing his drives particularly well, Ishant kept trying to tuck him up, but Rohit responded with a couple of strong pulls. Around that time, the owners of the Deccan Chargers franchise must have begun wondering if they had got it horribly wrong at the auction. By the end of the game, they must have been kicking themselves.

Match Meter

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MI
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Jacobs opens well: Davy Jacobs begins with a series of innovative blows against the new ball

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DC
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Deccan surge through spin: Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha snare three wickets in six balls for no run

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MI
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Rohit and Symonds blaze away: Mumbai's Deccan imports plunder 40 runs off the last 2 overs to put their side on course

*
MI
*
Malinga murders the stumps: Malinga produces a yorker to send back Dhawan, a direct hit to dismiss White, and a full toss to end Sangakkara's stay. Game Mumbai

Advantage Honours even

The Cup For Nation

2011-04-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

The Proud Moment Of Indian Cricket. India Winning The World Cup 2011, A Cup
After Almost 28 Years.

BCCI unhurried about finding new coach

2011-04-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

India are in no hurry to find a replacement for Gary Kirsten as the national coach, and it seems increasingly likely that the team will travel to the West Indies in June with a caretaker - if anyone - in charge. Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, has said the process to find a coach is ongoing, and is unlikely to be discussed in any great detail at the board's working committee meeting on April 27.

"We are still in the process of doing so (finding a new coach). There's no hurry as the team is leaving for the West Indies only on June 1," BCCI president Shashank Manohar told PTI.

Potential suitors for the position, given the decidedly difficult task of following Kirsten, must think carefully about the demands of the job, while the ECB have moved to shore up their contractual arrangements with Andy Flower, should he be interested in a new challenge on the subcontinent.

Duncan Fletcher has also been linked to the India role, having had the benefit of a few years' rest since his stint with England ended.

Another name thrown up as a possible candidate is Stephen Fleming, the Chennai Super Kings coach and former captain of New Zealand. Widely regarded as possessing a sharp tactical brain, Fleming is nonetheless inexperienced as a coach, using the IPL as his chance to place a toe in the water for a few months of the year.

"I'm enjoying coaching Chennai Super Kings. I got my hands full at CSK. It is a good experience. I haven't thought a lot about my coaching career. It is something that I'll consider as time goes on," Fleming said of expanding his career after Chennai's eight-run loss to Mumbai Indians.

"It's a great challenge for two months of the year. I am still learning my coaching philosophies as a coach in these two months."

Delhi back to winning ways on green track

2011-04-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

Delhi finally feels like home for Delhi Daredevils. With players such as Virender Sehwag, David Warner and Morne Morkel in the side, they had been frustrated by lifeless home tracks that made stroke-play and pace bowling difficult. Before this game Sehwag demanded pace, and then in the company of Warner showed just why. They added 146 for the first wicket in 11.4 overs, an ideal platform for a comfortable win despite an equally remarkable innings by Shaun Marsh, and despite the continuing good luck of Kings XI Punjab's openers who were both dropped on nought.

With the ball coming on well on this green pitch, Warner and Sehwag let the bowlers feel their wrath. They were like beasts who had been uncaged after years of confinement, gorging on anything remotely loose. It is a scary thought to imagine what Sehwag would have managed had he not got out for 77 off 35, trying a fourth successive six off the fourth delivery of a David Hussey over. Sehwag even dived into his crease, one of the very few times he has committed that unbecoming act while batting, to bring up his half-century off 28 deliveries, one fewer that Warner took to reach his.

Warner got to his landmark with a trademark pull deep into the stands, his second pulled six and third overall. Sehwag was on only 36 then. It takes some special hitting to dominate the strike and still not frustrate Sehwag. Warner managed that nicely. He began in earnest in the first over, pulling and cutting Praveen Kumar for fours. Ryan Harris managed to trouble him for a bit with the extra bounce, but Warner's comeback was emphatic: a huge pull over midwicket to end Harris' spell of 2-0-13-0 in a score of 35 for 0 after four overs.

The floodgates had just begun to open then. Sehwag tucked into Praveen with three fours in the fifth over, Warner went down on a knee and lofted Shalabh Srivastava's medium-pace over the sightscreen. The middle overs and spread fields mattered little as both batsmen moved to 59 each by the end of the 11th over. Enter Hussey, Punjab's expensive signing, playing his first game this IPL. Sehwag showed his famous disdain for spin through sixes over long-on, cow corner and midwicket. A mis-hit off the fourth ball brought some decorum to the proceedings, with only 38 coming in the next 5.2 overs.

That phase included Warner's wicket for 77 off 48 balls. Temporary relief. Lull between storms. Harris came back to have his figures rearranged, ending with 48 off four to join two other colleagues with 40-plus aggregates to their names. Venugopal Rao and Naman Ojha took 47 off the last three overs to post the third-highest total in IPL history, and Delhi's biggest.

Morkel made a further show of why a pitch with bounce suits Delhi more. He got lift, he got movement, he got an edge second ball, one that was dropped by Ojha. However, Morkel's first spell of three overs for 20, four of which came through a misfield and 10 off free hits, left Punjab an asking rate of 13.2. A period of superb hitting followed, but despite 57 coming off the next four overs, they were just about keeping up with the rate. A five-run over from James Hopes turned the pressure back on, forcing Gilchrist to slog debutant Varun Aaron and miss.

Marsh batted beautifully for his 46-ball 95, fetched mainly through proper cricketing shots in an innings that deserved to be on the winning side. He, though, was swimming against the current, and the current won.

Lasith Malinga gives up Test cricket

2011-04-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lankan fast bowler, has given up Test cricket because of a "long-standing degenerative condition in the right knee". He intends to continue playing the shorter formats, though, and hopes to play in the 2012 World Twenty20 and the 2015 World Cup.

Malinga, 27, made himself unavailable for the upcoming Test tour of England citing his fitness problems, but has been playing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Sri Lanka Cricket asked him to return home and undergo a rehabilitation programme, but Malinga has now clarified that his condition stops him from playing only the longest format.

"Although I am sufficiently fit to play both ODI and T20 cricket, I have a long-standing degenerative condition in my right knee that needs to be carefully managed," Malinga's statement read. "The condition relates directly to the chronic knee injury I sustained playing for Sri Lanka in Australia back in February 2008, an injury that prevented me from playing ODI cricket for 16 months.

"The injury was a career-threatening injury and my orthopaedic surgeon was of the opinion that given his experience with other professional athletes in Australia I was very fortunate to play again. I have since been advised by the national team physiotherapist and my orthopaedic consultant that my condition will deteriorate when fielding or bowling for prolonged periods.

"I did try to return to Test cricket after a three-year absence last year [against India] following requests from the team management and the selectors, but it left me unfit nursing severe knee pain for two months.

"I have realised that the heavy workload of Test cricket, which requires a fast bowler to be able to bowl more than 15 overs, sometimes on consecutive days, could lead to permanent injury. I have carefully considered my options and have decided that not playing Test cricket will help me achieve my goal of representing Sri Lanka in the 2012 World Twenty20 and the 2015 World Cup."

Malinga said he was available for all limited-overs internationals, and planned to travel to Sri Lanka soon to discuss his plans with the selectors.

Since his debut in July 2004, Malinga has played only 30 Tests and 84 ODIs. His slingshot round-arm action and focus on pace put a lot of strain on his body, and he was forced to miss several games. His career seemed to have stalled after the Galle Test against England in December 2007, but he returned for the series against India mid-2010. It was, however, a false dawn on his stop-start Test career.

Chennai fall to Harbhajan five-for

2011-04-22T19:10:00.001-07:00

Rohit Sharma dazzled the senses, Harbhajan Singh sucker-punched with three wickets in an over, and Mumbai Indians hustled on the field to go around a sublime S Badrinath and clinch a well-fought win at the Wankhede Stadium.

Though Badrinath batted with so much serenity under pressure that he eclipsed Rohit's knock on the elegance scale, he was left with too much to do on his own. And in the end overs, he looked a forlorn figure in the middle, hardly getting the strike as his team-mates succumbed meekly.

Badrinath tried his best, though. His first scoring shot - a gorgeous off-driven boundary against Munaf Patel of the third ball he faced, set the tone for the night but it was the late cuts that really caught the eye. In the seventh over, he caressed Harbhajan Singh to third man and in the ninth over, he glided Rohit Sharma to backward point boundary. He even lofted Rohit for a pretty six - with the high front elbow and a graceful swing of the bat - over long-off in the same over. He pulled down the shutter briefly to consolidate after the fall of Michael Hussey and MS Dhoni before he opened up again in the end overs.

With 59 runs required from 37 balls, Badrinath sashayed to the leg side and laced an excellent square drive off Lasith Malinga to close the gap. The situation turned grim again as S Anirudha, who had pulled Kieron Pollard for a six, swung a full toss from Harbhajan Singh to deep midwicket to leave Chennai needing 42 from 24 deliveries.

It was an over later that Harbhajan, who had earlier lured Suresh Raina into hitting a return catch, killed the contest with a triple strike. He slipped one past the attempted slog-sweep to bowl Albie Morkel, lured R Ashwin to hole out to long-on, and induced Joginder Sharma to top-edge a slog. Badrinath kept up with the fight, even getting a six in the final over, but Chennai's fight had evaporated into the Mumbai night during that Harbhajan over.

Before Badrinath's sensuous knock, Rohit Sharma owned the evening. He collected three boundaries in his first four deliveries, never looked back from then on and charged Mumbai Indians to a competitive 164. Big hitters usually pulverise the opposition with violence but Rohit seems to caress them to submission.

When Sachin Tendulkar fell in the fourth over with Mumbai on 13 for 2 and with the ball jagging around, Chennai had a great chance to strangle the hosts but they were thwarted by Rohit's belligerence and let down by their bowlers. Rohit was involved in a 61-run partnership with the enterprising Ambati Rayudu and a brutal 87-run stand in 8.1 overs with Andrew Symonds but it was his imprints that lay all over the Wankhede.

Sometimes, you just need a shot or two to get going. Rohit entered the scene after Tendulkar was done for pace and bounce by a sharp lifter but got two gift-wrapped boundary deliveries from Doug Bollinger to kick start his innings. He creamed two over-pitched deliveries to the point boundary and all of a sudden, venom evaporated out of Chennai's bowling. Even Albie Morkel, who was menacing until then, slipped a half-volley on the legs and Rohit collected his third boundary in just four deliveries.

A potentially nervy settling-in period in seamer-friendly conditions had turned into an imperious start and Rohit never looked back, unfurling an array of dazzling shots. He crashed a length delivery from Joginder Sharma over long-on before he was involved in a mini-contest with Suraj Randiv. The off breaks, the doosras, and the topspinners came swirling down and Rohit started to caress and steer his way out of trouble. He glided one to backward point boundary, late cut another to third man and nonchalantly lifted another over extra cover.

He brought up his fifty and Mumbai's 100 in the 15th over with a six over long-off against Randiv and the floodgates were well and truly open. With Mumbai on 107 for 3 in 15 overs, Dhoni turned to Joginder. Mistake. Rohit flayed a length ball to point boundary and shuffled across to pull another to square-leg boundary. That was the start for more imperious innovations.

He paddle-scooped a low full toss from Bollinger for a six over fine-leg before he turned brutal against Suresh Raina in the 19th over. He smote the second delivery, a gentle length ball, over wide long-on, top-edged a slog sweep for couple, and torpedoed the next delivery over cowcorner as Raina leaked 17 runs. Rohit fell in the final over, holing out to long-on, but by then he had entertained the Mumbai crowd in some style.

Rohit had one more crowd-pleasing, and game-turning, moment left in the night. When Chennai needed 64 runs from 47 balls, Dhoni top-edged a swat-flick and Rohit charged in from third man and flung himself forward to pouch a stunner. It was the beginning of the end for Chennai.

Gayle announces himself with ton

2011-04-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

Chris Gayle has arrived. He smashed his way to his first IPL century, the second-fastest in this edition of the competition, and was the architect of Bangalore's victory over his former team, Kolkata. Gayle formed powerful partnerships with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virat Kohli as Bangalore were untroubled in their chase of 172, winning by nine wickets.

The pitch was proving to be tricky for the quicks and Kolkata opted to start with a spinner after having posted 171. Yusuf Pathan, who was battling a knee niggle, opened the bowling. After three good deliveries, Yusuf strayed on the leg stump and Dilshan cashed in with four through square leg. With that, the flood gates were opened.

In the fourth over, Gayle had scored just three singles - while Dilshan had notched up 19 - when he was offered a full toss. He drove it down past the non-striker for the first of his 17 boundaries. It didn't matter what Bangalore tried after that. Jaidev Unadkat was dispatched with disdain as Gayle went down on one knee, smacking him for six over long-on. Shakib Al Hasan was tossed around like a limp ragdoll, slogged over midwicket and mowed over deep square. Yusuf was smoked through the covers. Gayle even showed a touch of deftness, playing one fine to the third man boundary.

It didn't matter who was given the ball, even though spin proved difficult to get away during the Kolkata innings. Manoj Tiwary was slapped over long-on and even mishit for six. Medium pacer Rajat Bhatia was hit for 17 runs in his second over, 16 off Gayle's bat. At the end of 12 overs, Bangalore were cruising on 123 for 1 when Dilshan was bowled by L Balaji, who controlled the swing admirably.

The Gayle force blew on though. Together with Kohli, he brought the required run rate down to less than a run a ball. Kohli was given some room to express himself too, taking advantage of full balls offered by Balaji and showing off his wrist work against Bhatia. Kohli almost had too much fun and denied Gayle a century with a boundary off the first ball of the 18th over, that left Bangalore with just two to win. He blocked out the rest of the over to make amends.

Even a wide from Iqbal Abdulla couldn't stop Gayle, who ended the innings with a smashing shot through the covers, winning the match with 11 balls to spare. Gayle, who was picked up by Bangalore as a replacement for the injured Dirk Nannes, wore a jersey with 333 - his highest Test score - on the back and made light work of a total that Kolkata should have been able to defend.

Their innings was held together by a classy 48 from captain Gautam Gambhir, patience from Jacques Kallis and a measured assault by Yusuf.

Things started disastrously for Bangalore with Zaheer Khan's first over going for 19 runs. It consisted of three wides, one of which went for four, and three boundaries, all off the bat of Kallis. Sreenath Aravind fared a little better, his first over going for 14.

Daniel Vettori rung in the changes immediately, replacing Khan with left-arm spinner Syed Mohammed. Together with Dilshan, he hauled the run rate back to reasonable 8.33 per over. Mohammed was impressive in his initial two-over spell and was rewarded for tight bowling when Haddin tried to hit him over mid-off but got an edge that Kohli collected at point.

Kallis and Gambhir batted with patience against the slower bowlers and unleashed when Khan was brought back in the 11th over. Gayle played a role in the field as well, taking the catch that sent Kallis on his way. Vettori bowled a shorter one which Kallis drove on the up towards extra cover where Gayle dived to his left and plucked the ball out of the sky.

Yusuf, batting at four, allowed himself five balls to settle before depositing a Mohammed delivery over long-on. After Gambhir was caught by Dilshan at extra cover, Yusuf unleashed. He destroyed Aravind, pulling the short one for four, smashing the full one for six and dispatching the low full toss to the boundary.

The quicks redeemed themselves a bit with Khan bowling a decent last over, mixing up slower balls and yorkers, and Aravind claiming the wicket of Yusuf, who was trying to force the ball over long off but only got it as far as Kohli.

Kochi stifle Kolkata in hard-fought win

2011-04-20T18:51:00.001-07:00

Kochi Tuskers Kerala won a battle of attrition against Kolkata Knight Riders on a slow Eden Gardens pitch to move to the third position in the points table. The wicket did not play as low as it did in Kolkata's win against Rajasthan Royals, but it was just as slow, making it difficult for batsmen, and a delight for the spinners.

After Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan had taken six wickets for 48 runs between them to restrict Kochi to 132, Kolkata's powerful batting line-up would have fancied the modest chase. But Kochi's own army of spinners - Muttiah Muralitharan, Ramesh Powar and Ravindra Jadeja - stifled the runs though they did not get as many wickets, and ensured the pressure got to the Kolkata batsmen, who fell six runs short.

As it transpired, the performance against the new-ball bowlers was the difference between the two sides. Kolkata's seamers conceded 26 for 0 in their first three overs, while Kochi's fast bowlers dismissed Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir, while conceding only 20 runs in their first four overs. Kallis fell to the hook for the second time running, swinging Vinay Kumar straight to deep square leg. Gambhir played inside the line of a full delivery from RP Singh that straightened and uprooted middle stump as Kolkata began to stutter.

In the next over, Manvinder Bisla drove outside the line of a Jadeja delivery to lose his off stump. Manoj Tiwary and Eoin Morgan tried to work the ball around but the spinners were getting turn, and their different styles posed problems. Muralitharan, back after being left out for the previous two games, varied his flight and angle brilliantly, Jadeja fired the ball in, and Powar stuck to flight as he always does.

The mounting asking-rate led to Morgan charging out of his crease in the 13th over for a non-existent single, and Jayawardene threw down the middle stump with a direct hit. Tiwary took on RP Singh in the next over with consecutive boundaries, but Shakib missed a low full toss off the last ball to be bowled.

With 47 required from five overs, Jayawardene brought Powar back against Yusuf, who came in lower down the order, having injured himself taking a catch earlier. It was a make-or-break move, and Yusuf duly deposited the second delivery he faced beyond the wide long-on boundary. It was either foolhardy or brave of Powar to flight the next ball from round the wicket. It turned out to be the latter, as Yusuf went hard at it and got a top edge to short third man.

It was all up to Tiwary now. He had batted intelligently, picking up the singles and finding the boundaries when the rate climbed. But Jadeja saw him charge out, and had him stumped off a wide delivery down the leg side. Iqbal Abdulla and Rajat Bhatia refused to give up, taking 12 off RP Singh's last over, the 19th. But 14 off the last over proved to be too much, and Vinay Kumar throttled them with a succession of slower deliveries, to give Kochi the game.

The result had seemed unlikely when Kolkata's spinners restricted Kochi to 132. Gautam Gambhir had turned to spin after Brendon McCullum took Brett Lee for 15 runs in the third over. Right away, the left-arm spin of Abdulla and Shakib slowed the scoring-rate.

The first breakthrough came when a Shakib delivery seemed to stop on McCullum, who edged a half-hearted cut to point. The introduction of Yusuf in the eighth over brought more trouble for Kochi. Jayawardene, who had got away with a close leg-before shout earlier against Abdulla, was given out lbw while sweeping, even though replays showed he had gloved the ball onto the pad.

Yusuf struck in each of his next two overs. The slow nature of the pitch was further highlighted by Brad Hodge's dismissal, bowled off an inside edge after playing the pull too early. Yusuf then trapped Parthiv Patel leg-before with a quicker one. Having slipped from 49 for 0 to 65 for 4, Kochi depended on Jadeja to take them to a fighting total.

He responded by smacking a six each in overs 13, 14 and 15, before swinging Lee straight to long-on for 29. Balaji and Lee ensured that Kochi didn't get away, but 132 turned out to be just enough in the end.

Match Meter

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Yusuf takes three in three overs After a solid start, Kochi stutter to 66 for 4 as Yusuf Pathan removes Mahela Jayawardene, Brad Hodge and Parthiv Patel in successive overs

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Jadeja lifts Kochi to 132 Ravindra Jadeja makes 29 off 18 balls to take Kochi to a fighting total

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Kolkata lose three in three overs Kochi strike regularly as Kolkata slip to 37 for 3, including the big wickets of Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir

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Tiwary hangs in Manoj Tiwary, along with Eoin Morgan, brings it down to 60 required off eight overs

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Morgan and Shakib fall Morgan is run out and Shakib Al Hasan is bowled by RP Singh as Kochi make further inroads

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Spinners get Yusuf and Tiwary Ramesh Powar lures Yusuf into a mishit to short third man and Jadeja has Tiwary stumped. The Kolkata tail tries but falls short by six runs

Advantage Honours even

Mumbai beat ordinary Pune

2011-04-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

Facing some stifling bowling on a bouncy track, Pune Warriors put in an ordinary effort with the bat to concede Mumbai Indians two fairly easy points. Despite some repair work from Robin Uthappa, Pune managed only 118, which was 64 fewer than what was successfully chased in the last game at the Wankhede Stadium. As expected, Mumbai 's chase was comfortable, though there were some nerves at the end when they needed five to win off the last over.

It was the left-arm spin of Ali Murtaza, who opened the bowling, that frustrated the Pune openers, after which Abu Nechim and Munaf Patel capitalised with two wickets each in their first overs. On a true surface offering appreciable bounce, Mumbai's plan to open with Murtaza worked instantly. He went for just nine runs in his first two overs, and also extracted a couple of risky shots from Jesse Ryder. Nechim came on in the fourth over, and it was obvious Ryder would go after him. Ryder tried that off the second ball, but found mid-off. At 16 for 0 after 3.2 overs on a pitch full of runs, Pune ought to have been frustrated.

Nechim's slightly round-arm action gives him some skid off the surface. And that's what consumed Ryder as he looked to pull one. It hurried Ryder up, and the top edge settled with Sachin Tendulkar at midwicket. Two balls later, Mithun Manhas drove away from his body, giving Nechim his second. Tim Paine, replacing the injured Graeme Smith for this game, looked to manufacture a pull. That he was bowled was suggestion enough that he had picked the wrong length to pull. Yuvraj Singh was leaden-footed, like Manhas, and the slight nip away gave Munaf his second to reduce Pune to 17 for 4.

In that same over, had Andrew Symonds not missed with an underarm flick from about 10 feet to dismiss a lazy Uthappa, the damage would have been irreparable. As it turned out, Uthappa repaired some of the damage, and was assisted in parts by some loose stuff from Mumbai. Three free hits were conceded by Kieron Pollard and James Franklin, who were a bit generous when not bowling no-balls, but Murtaza and Lasith Malinga returned to remove Uthappa's partners regularly.

Then in the 15th over, with the score at 98, Pollard made up for his 13-run over with a diving catch at long-on to remove Uthappa and suck whatever life remained in the Pune innings. With little asking-rate pressure to bother them, Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu calmly steered Mumbai closer to the win, which was eventually attained with Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma in the middle.

Tendulkar and Rayudu added 74 for the second wicket without having to work hard. The game went as far as it did because Pune seemed satisfied with spread fields and thus did not lose too much on the net run-rate front. It was a slightly bizarre pact of non-aggression, with both teams happy to go through the motions, contriving to take the game to a stage where Mumbai needed two off two. At that point, Murali Kartik, the bowler, failed to collect a throw that would have run Symonds out. With the scores level, Rohit lofted Kartik over extra cover to seal the win.

An IPL anniversary and Kochi's first home win

2011-04-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

The first for the IPL's leading wicket-taker
RP Singh is the man with the most scalps in the history of the tournament, but he had yet to take a wicket in this edition of the competition. On a surface that favoured the seamers upfront, with bounce and swing on offer, he opened his account. After an over in which he got tonked for eight, RP came back and made good use of the movement. He bowled a delivery that went away from Michael Hussey, induced the edge and Parthiv Patel did the rest.

The World Cup memories
MS Dhoni ended the Chennai innings the same way he ended India's innings in the World Cup final - with a six. He went down on one knee and sent the ball sailing over midwicket to take the Chennai total past 130. That wasn't the only moment that reminded one of the April 2 match in Mumbai. The toss was almost botched in similar fashion. Robin Jackman, the commentator announcing the result of the toss at the ground, heard the call incorrectly, after Dhoni called tails. Jackman thought he had said heads. Luckily, this time both captains and the match referee had heard right.

The inside edges
Runs came richly in the fine leg and third man area for both teams, runs which Danny Morrison calls "French cuts." The second of them occurred just after the rain delay. Raiphi Gomez, who was ready to bowl before the heavens opened, started with a full delivery that Suresh Raina looked to drive away. He only managed to get an inside edge that was oh-so-close to kissing leg stump and ran away to fine leg. Ramesh Powar chased with all he had but even his best efforts couldn't save four.

The anniversary revisited
On this day, in 2008, Brendon McCullum smashed 158 not out for Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first ever match of the IPL. A glimpse of that innings was visible in McCullum's knock on Monday, which opened with a smashing six. After swinging wildly to the first ball he faced and then solidly defending the second, McCullum launched. He hit the ball back over Albie Morkel's head, straight as you like, and sent it way over long-on. It was the first of three sixes hit in that area.

The home win
Ravindra Jadeja had all but sealed the win for Kochi with his six over midwicket and he finished Chennai off with the next ball. A simple shot off the back foot and determined running which turned one into two gave Kochi their first win at home in Kerala. The noise from the crowd had drowned out everything else for most of the match but when that moment came it was far, far louder. Incredible decibel levels were reached as the crowd at the Nehru Stadium saw their own franchise notch up a victory in front of them.

Spirited Kochi make it two in two

2011-04-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

Brendon McCullum made a severe dent into the below-par D/L-adjusted target set by Chennai Super Kings, and handy contributions from Parthiv Patel and Brad Hodge then gave Kochi Tuskers their second win in a row. It was the impact of the clean hitting from McCullum that shook Chennai up, and Parthiv and Hodge took Kochi home with some smart cricket.

It was in compete contrast to how almost every Chennai batsman, bar M Vijay, struggled to find timing on a pitch that seemed to have retained some moisture. The Kochi bowlers used the track well, getting the ball to grip, but it was the ground fielding that stifled Chennai despite the fact the inside edges regularly found the boundary and mis-hits hardly ever reached the deep fielders.

McCullum then made batting looked ridiculously easy. Statements aren't made more emphatically than the way he treated Albie Morkel like a spinner at the start of the chase. He charged straight at Morkel in the first over and deposited him into the sightscreen. In Morkel's second, he went over cow corner. Disdain was getting defined. Doug Bollinger got a sample too when he did as much as pitch short of a length.

Mahela Jayawardene departed after hitting R Ashwin for a four and a six, but nothing was keeping McCullum from hitting balls towards the sightscreen, as Shadab Jakati realised. In the ninth over, Tim Southee also made the mistake of straying into McCullum's pads, and was hit for two boundaries as Kochi attained a rate of nine an over.

In between, Parthiv played a lovely cover-drive for four, but also got one inside-edge to run down for four to give Chennai a taste of their own medicine. McCullum wanted to finish things off fast, but miscued one off R Ashwin to leave the others 46 to get off 39. Parthiv was to make the equation simpler with a slog-swept six off Jakati, but he too mis-hit a pull to leave 26 to get off the last four overs.

Hodge and Ravindra Jadeja made sure there no jitters in the home stretch. Chennai's innings, though, never escaped regular and mild jitters. It rained almost throughout the first nine overs, play was interrupted for more than an hour after that due to a heavy shower, and Chennai remained sluggish throughout. Except for a flowing 28 off 18 from Vijay, none of the Chennai batsmen adjusted well to the pace of the pitch. Even Suresh Raina's half-century, and credit must go to him for getting that many on such a day, featured as many edges and mis-hits as clean shots.

Others had nothing to show for their efforts. Early movement consumed Michael Hussey, Vijay's first loose shot accounted for his wicket, and desperation at not being able to hit freely took care of S Badrinath. The decisive moment came when MS Dhoni and Raina came together. RP Singh, Hussey's wicket to his name already, welcomed the India captain with an over full of yorkers and a bouncer, conceding just two; that left Chennai on 109 for 3 after 15. In that spell of play, heave after heave followed, pad after pad was hit, and not even a 14-run final over threatened Kochi.

Match Meter

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RP snares Hussey Chennai lose the big wicket of Michael Hussey to the new ball

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Vijay falls after brief recovery The second wicket adds 37 but Vijay plays a poor shot after a good start to make it 48 for 2

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RP concedes two in 15th over RP Singh makes sure there is no big hitting at the end of Chennai's innings

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McCullum starts in a hurry Brendon McCullum disdainfully hits both opening bowlers to give Kochi a head start

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Handy contributions from middle order Parthiv Patel, Brad Hodge and Ravindra Jadeja make sure McCullum's start is not wasted

Advantage Honours even

Balaji's ripper and Warne's deception

2011-04-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

The jaffa that worked
L Balaji has faded so much from national reckoning that he's managed a solitary ODI in almost six years. But he keeps coming up with notable performances in the IPL, as he did today with three wickets. The first of those was off a ripper that left an in-form Shane Watson clueless. Balaji angled it in on middle stump and Watson set himself up to play it on the leg side. To his horror, it zipped away and hit the top of off. The ball brought back memories of Balaji's brilliance against Pakistan in 2004.

The jaffa that didn't work
Nothing went right for Rajasthan Royals today, and even a beauty from Watson could not get them a wicket. He angled one across Gautam Gambhir who came forward to push the ball on the off side. But suddenly, the ball changed its line completely, straightening sharply and coming into Gambhir who was in no position to adjust. Unfortunately for Watson, the ball not only missed the inside edge, but also missed the off stump by a whisker.

The presence-of-mind moment
After having deceived Amit Paunikar with flight and turn, Iqbal Abdulla produced another moment of inspiration. Abhishek Raut pushed a delivery on the leg side and thought that there could be a run. Faiz Fazal, the non-striker, thought so even more, and rushed across. Abdulla went charging after the ball, swooped down on it and picked it up. Raut had seen this and had backed off, Fazal had not. Abdulla prepared to throw towards the keeper, but realising that Fazal was way outside his ground, changed his mind and scored a direct hit at the non-striker's end.

The double-deception moment
Shane Warne bowled a superb spell despite having only 81 runs to defend. He troubled the batsmen with his flight, turn and variations on a pitch that aided him and also kept low at times. Manvinder Bisla was struggling to pick him and thought he had a chance for a big hit when Warne tossed up a generous legbreak. But even as he prepared to heave, the ball dipped alarmingly on him. He changed his mind and tried to cut, but it turned away sharply and went low to the keeper.

The excited keeper
Rajasthan knew their only chance was to get some wickets. There was help for the bowlers from the pitch and there were quite a few close calls. All this got Paunikar excited and he went up for almost everything. In the opening over of the chase, Bisla missed an attempted drive off Shaun Tait and Paunikar appealed right away for caught-behind. Bisla missed again in Tait's next over, and again Paunikar thought he had caught it off the edge. Manoj Tiwary then got beaten by Warne only for Paunikar to take the ball and jump up. On all three occasions, the appeal was turned down.

Balaji stars in crushing win

2011-04-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

"Balaji, zara dheere chalo!" (Balaji, walk a little slowly) was the cry in 2004 when L Balaji charmed the Pakistan public with his skill and smile. Seven years later, post a career-threatening back problem, both the traits were visible tonight and Eden Gardens lapped it up in delight as a Balaji-inspired Kolkata Knight Riders routed Rajasthan Royals on a slow pitch.

Balaji produced a magical delivery to knock out the dangerous Shane Watson in his first spell before he returned to torpedo the lower order. The delivery that took out Watson was one of the best, if not the best, delivery bowled by a seamer this IPL. It landed on the good length around the middle stump line and jagged away sharply past the waft to hit the top of the off stump. Balaji screamed, his team-mates were delirious, and the crowd roared; everyone knew the importance of Watson's dismissal, accentuated even more by the absence of Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha in the line-up. He later returned to remove Ajinkya Rahane with an incutter and had Ashok Menaria upper cutting to thirdman.

Buoyed by Balaji's feat, a charged-up Kolkata applied the squeeze with discipline in bowling and desperation in the field. Iqbal Abdulla produced two sparkling moments: he first got one to dip and turn to leave Amit Paunikar stranded out of the crease before he produced a stunning effort in the field. He charged across and dived to stop a push-drive at short mid-on region off his own bowling and was shaping to throw at the striker's end when he realised that damage had to be done at the other end. He switched his arm at the very last instant to fire down a direct hit to run out Faiz Fazal.

The wicketkeeper Manvinder Bisla got in the act next to play his part in removing Ross Taylor in the 11th over. Taylor had overbalanced out of his crease, trying to flick a wide delivery down the leg side but Bisla reacted quickly to whip off the bails.

It was then the turn of Shakib Al Hasan to leave his imprint on the game. He reacted quickly at midwicket to fire an accurate throw at the striker's end to run out Abhishek Raut. Later, after Balaji had taken out Rahane and Menaria, Shakib took wickets off successive deliveries in the 15th over to hasten the end. Two arm-balls, with varying pace, took out Amit Singh and Shaun Tait for ducks, before Brett Lee rearranged Siddharth Trivedi's stumps to give Kolkata a perfect finish.

The chase wasn't a stroll, though. Jacques Kallis fell for a second-ball duck, top edging a lifter from Shaun Tait, and Manvinder Bisla fell to Shane Warne after a scratchy knock. Gautam Gambhir, however, stayed till the end to finish the job.

Faulkner replaces Mathews in Pune squad

2011-04-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

Tasmania allrounder James Faulkner has replaced Angelo Mathews in the Pune Warriors squad in the IPL. Mathews, the Sri Lanka allrounder was ruled out of the IPL because of a leg injury that also caused him to miss the World Cup final against India in Mumbai.

"[We have] heard he is very talented and doing very well in domestic cricket," Pune captain Yuvraj Singh said about Faulkner's inclusion. "That is why after taking opinions from everyone we picked him in our side."

The 20-year old Faulkner, who hails from Launceston in Tasmania, the home-town of former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, was part of Australia's Under-19 World Cup campaign in 2008.

A highly-rated allrounder in the domestic circuit, Faulkner made his first-class debut in 2008. He has played 14 first-class games averaging 29.86 with the bat, picking up 47 wickets. He has represented his state in 11 Twenty20 games averaging 10.25 with the bat, picking up six wickets. Faulkner won the Ricky Ponting Medal, ahead of his captain George Bailey, as Tasmania's player of the season for 2010-11.

Delhi outdo Yuvraj's all-round show

2011-04-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

Delhi Daredevils used the depth of their revamped batting order to complete a thrilling chase at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, securing their maiden victory after two losses, and handing Pune Warriors their first defeat in the 2011 IPL. Delhi's team effort upstaged a terrific all-round performance from Yuvraj Singh, whose half-century had powered Pune to 187 before his four-wicket haul was the difference between Delhi winning at a canter and having to sweat until the final over.

Teams have had trouble defending targets in excess of 180 in this tournament but Pune were on course to do so, with Delhi needing 41 runs off the last three overs with five wickets in hand. Yuvraj had tripped his opponents' progress by dismissing Irfan Pathan and Naman Ojha off successive deliveries in the 13th over. Delhi, however, had kept a couple of their power-hitters back and Aaron Finch and Venugopal Rao matched the demanding asking-rate.

The over that won the game for Delhi was the 18th, bowled by Shrikant Wagh, off which they scored 20, slashing the equation to 21 needed off 12. Finch, batting at No. 7, broke the game open with two huge strikes over the long-on boundary.

There was another twist, though, as Yuvraj bowled the 19th and had Finch caught and bowled with his first ball and dismissed Venugopal with his last. Between Finch's dismissal and his, however, Venugopal had clattered Yuvraj over long-on and to fine leg.

That left Delhi with only 8 to get off the final over, which Yuvraj gave to Jesse Ryder ahead of his seamers, who had gone for plenty. James Hopes, having faced only two balls in the IPL, crashed his third cleanly over Ryder's head for six, and carved the next through backward point to spark off celebrations in the Delhi dug out.

Such a tense finish was a remote possibility when David Warner and Virender Sehwag were batting, and for the first time in the tournament showcased just how explosive an opening combination they can be. Warner was all muscle, bludgeoning the ball down the ground and square of the wicket. He was particularly severe on the South African pair, taking three boundaries off one Wayne Parnell over and hitting Alfonso Thomas for four, six and six off consecutive deliveries. At the end of the Powerplay, Delhi had scored 67, four more than Pune had.

Warner was eventually run out for 46 and Sehwag, after scoring 37 off 23, had his middle stump knocked back in the 10th over. Pune had finally got through Delhi's powerful top order but they failed to break the lower-middle.

The difference between the two sides was the number of batsmen that pulled weight: four for Delhi while only Ryder and Yuvraj for Pune. The free-spirited Ryder struck the tournament's second-fastest fifty, off 24 balls, laying into mediocre bowling from Venugopal, Pathan and Umesh Yadav. He swung hard, aiming straight or over midwicket, and made powerful contact several times.

Delhi began to pull Pune back after Ryder's dismissal with Hopes bowling tight overs and dismissing the dangerous Robin Uthappa cheaply. Only one wicket stood between Delhi and keeping Pune to a merely competitive total, but they failed to take it.

Yuvraj got into his stride with a sweep and a six on the leg-side off Shahbaz Nadeem, and he punished Pathan by slamming him over long-off, but it wasn't until the final over that he really hurt Delhi. After taking two off Ashok Dinda's second ball and top-edging the third over the wicketkeeper for four, Yuvraj sent the last three flying into the crowds at midwicket and long-on with powerful swings off the front foot. Pune plundered 26 runs off the 20th, but ultimately that didn't cost Delhi the game.

Match Meter

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Ryder cuts loose: Virender Sehwag opens with an offspinner against the left-handers and Jesse Ryder carts Venugopal Rao over the long-on boundary. Twice

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Uthappa falls: Pune lose one of their power-hitters in the 14th over and are 117 for 4, after having been 82 for 1

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Three sixes: Yuvraj Singh carts Ashok Dinda for three consecutive sixes, propelling Pune to 187 by plundering 26 runs off the final over

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Warner and Sehwag: For the first time in this IPL, Delhi's explosive openers fire in unison. Delhi are 67 for 0 when the fielding restrictions are lifted after six overs

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Yuvraj on a hat-trick: He dismisses Irfan Pathan and Naman Ojha off successive deliveries in the 13th over. Yuvraj doesn't complete his hat-trick but has brought Pune right back into the game

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Finch fires: Delhi need 41 off three overs when Aaron Finch, batting at No 7, launches Shrikant Wagh for consecutive sixes over long-on. At the end of the over, Delhi need 21 off two

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Rao's cameo: Both Finch and Venugopal Rao fall in the 19th over to Yuvraj, but before Venugopal is dismissed, he hits a four and a six, leaving Delhi only eight to get in the final over

Advantage Honours even

Valthaty graduates from school of hard knocks

2011-04-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

"Hang around for just ten balls, and the bowlers will watch you for the rest of the time." This was the text message Paul Valthaty received from cricket journalist Makarand Waingankar, who has mentored him from age 11. The sms arrived after Kings XI Punjab's match on Sunday against Pune Warriors, when Valthaty batted six deliveries before slashing aggressively to point. He'd probably forgotten the advice on Wednesday, against Chennai Super Kings, when his first ten deliveries faced had yielded three boundaries and one dropped catch. But he hung around for another 53 balls to finish unbeaten on 120, the third-highest individual score in the IPL.

Valthaty's career is a similarly unconventional story, including a decade in the wilderness after a promising start. The future had seemed bright in 2001, when he was selected for the Mumbai Ranji Trophy probables, and the following year he played for India in the Under-19 World Cup. It seemed a natural extension to his junior career, when he'd played for some of the best sides in Mumbai: Don Bosco High School, Vengsarkar Academy, Podar College, Rizvi College.

He started out as a batsman who bowled a bit, which he remains to this day, and Dilip Vengsarkar saw potential in the then 12-year old Valthaty. "He displayed great promise and scored heavily for the academy in local matches," Vengsarkar told Hindustan Times. A chance move up the order had allowed him to display his appetite for runs. "During an Under-14 game, I was asked to open, and I ended up getting 197," Valthaty said. Gradually, he built up a reputation as a prolific scorer at age-group level.

But the focus of his dreams, the Mumbai Ranji call-up, never happened. An injury under his eye against Bangladesh that cut short his World Cup stint did not help. "I took 2-3 years to get back on track," Valthaty told ESPNcricinfo. The world had moved ahead by then but he joined Air India, which has a rich cricketing tradition and played under Hrishikesh Kanitkar, a vastly experienced former India player and Ranji-winning captain with Rajasthan. Valthaty grew enough to be chosen leader whenever Kanitkar was unavailable.

Still the Mumbai call-up never arrived, save for a solitary one-dayer against Baroda in 2006. Where did he go wrong? Balwinder Sandhu, Valthaty's coach at the Vengsarkar Academy, thinks that the only thing that he could have done was to improve his shot selection. "He was always an aggressive batsman and a clean hitter. Even if he gets 30 runs, he will hit four good shots that will stay with you for a long time," Sandhu said. "I used to enjoy watching him bat. Excellent technique and thinking cricketer, but he could have worked on his shot selection."

Was it his perceived impetuosity that did him in? Sandhu pointed instead to misfortune. "One of the unlucky few players, I must say. We backed him at that time, we were convinced, but he could not get enough support from the men who matter. Such talents have to be nurtured." Sandhu cited the example of Yusuf Pathan who, despite being initially branded as a hitter, matured enough to play match-winning innings for the country. "People start criticising aggressive players for going for their shots. Such players need a lot of backing, technical as well as emotional. But times have changed. Not many want to invest nowadays in nurturing a cricketer."

But Valthaty did not fade away despite being ignored. He had no other option. "Cricket was all I knew. Any extra motivation was not needed," Valthaty said. "All other things were anyway beyond my control." The IPL brought about a revival in his fortunes, as it has for so many Indian domestic players. Valthaty got a contract with Rajasthan Royals that finally gave him an extended run in the Mumbai team, albeit the Twenty20 side. Then came the Kings XI Punjab call-up. "Abhishek Nayar recommended my name, and Michael Bevan liked what he saw." On Wednesday, as Valthaty walked off the field, he was fairly composed when he greeted his team-mates, accepting their congratulations, shaking hands. The moment of elation - the jump of joy - was reserved for Nayar.

In only his second game for his new franchise, Valthaty has already scripted an innings that has catapulted him in to the national spotlight. It has been an arduous journey but if this convoluted route leads to bigger rewards, as it has for others before him, Valthaty will accept it. Meanwhile, he will keep hanging around, regardless.

Midas Valthaty gives Punjab comprehensive win

2011-04-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

Don't shake Paul Valthaty's hand any time soon. You might just turn to gold. He followed up his century in Kings XI Punjab's previous game by surprising everybody with his split-finger slower balls, in the Dilhara Fernando mould, taking 4 for 29, the best figures by any Punjab bowler, and then - with a 47-ball 75 - made a mockery of a target he had himself kept down to 165.

The turnaround for Punjab began with a good piece of fielding, and then a fortuitous lob off what should have been a leg-side wide. Until then Kumar Sangakkara and Shikhar Dhawan had put up a fine display of driving in a 75-run second-wicket stand, Deccan's best for any wicket this season, but both fell within three runs to send the hosts into rebuild mode for the best part of the second half of their innings.

Deccan Chargers had reached 88 for 1 in the 11th over, and the set batsmen were just looking to open up further when a diving Shaun Marsh at extra cover made sure Sangakkara stayed on strike. Sangakkara slog-swept the next ball to deep midwicket where Ryan McLaren took a good, low catch. In the next over, Valthaty's slower ball went wrong, and was going way down the leg side until Dhawan decided to try and clear short fine leg. Instead, the ball landed in the fielder's lap. Two starts had been wasted, Deccan had to become circumspect.

Valthaty's next over featured two similar slower balls. Bharat Chipli escaped long-off off the first, but the other was picked up near long-on. Daniel Christian's 30 off 14 threatened a major assault towards the end, but Valthaty once again pulled Deccan back with two wickets in two balls: Christian was bowled attempting a slog, and Amit Mishra then missed a scoop over the keeper's head and was trapped lbw.

Valthaty didn't get a chance to finish a hat-trick: the wickets came off the last two deliveries of the 19th over. However, he would get a chance to make the match his own when opening the innings. And how he owned the game. Carrying the confidence that he could do no wrong, Valthaty upper-cut and flicked Dale Steyn, then cut Ishant Sharma for a six, and took Manpreet Gony apart with some merciless hitting in the fifth over, which went for 23 runs.

In that one over, Valthaty did everything to suggest that as a batsman there is nothing he cannot do. He judged a shortish delivery early, and pulled. He lofted a delivery of similar length over mid-off. He danced down the track to hit a six over long-off. He drove wide of the fielder once long-off went back. He drove a near-yorker past point for four. Adam Gilchrist, one of the cleanest hitters the game has seen, was a mere admirer. At 59 for 0 after five, the game was all but over.

Gilchrist wasn't to be left behind, though. Soon he was hitting Gony for one of the longest sixes of the tournament so far; soon he was pipping Valthaty to the fifty, bringing it up in 30 balls. Valthaty was 46 off 29 then. More clean hitting followed. Valthaty brought up his fifty with a six over long-off, and then hit another to overtake his captain. Gilchrist finally fell for 61, walking back to a hearty applause for his former home crowd, but Valthaty stayed back, and became the joint-highest run-getter this season, before finally getting out after having scored 195 runs between dismissals.

Hussey sets up comfortable win for Chennai

2011-04-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

Michael Hussey began his 2011 IPL season by wading into Royal Challengers Bangalore's attack in an innings that was reminiscent of his famous assault on Pakistan in the 2010 World Twenty20. Chennai Super Kings flexed their top-order muscle around Hussey's enterprise to power their way to 183, and the lack of Paul Valthaty-esque intent in Bangalore's chase meant they ran out easy winners. Bangalore's batting once again suffered from muddled thinking after their fielding fell apart in a rash of schoolboy errors. To make matters worse, their support bowlers bled 101 runs off nine overs, wasting the efforts of Zaheer Khan, Daniel Vettori and Virat Kohli, who bowled the remaining 11 for 82.

Facing a tough chase, Bangalore tried a pinch-hitter at No. 3 for the second game running. Walking in after Tillakaratne Dilshan's early dismissal, Asad Pathan began by smearing two fours and a six off Albie Morkel, but departed attempting a hare-brained scoop against Tim Southee. AB de Villiers then batted with needless caution, much like he had against Mumbai Indians, and Bangalore suffered once again. They made only 113 runs in the 16 overs following Pathan's attack of Morkel. Kohli could not pick up enough singles, Saurabh Tiwary could not hit boundaries, and Cheteshwar Pujara holed out under pressure. de Villiers eventually opened up against Southee and took 15 runs from the 18th over, but by then the required-rate was above 18 and it was too late to spoil the Chepauk crowd's evening.

Chennai's celebrations were set up by Hussey's brilliance with the bat. Crouching low at the crease, with feet ready to scramble forward or back depending on the lengths, Hussey preyed on leg-stump offerings with his signature sweeps, pulls and lashes. Eight of his eleven boundaries came through the on side, four of those through square leg. On the rare occasions when the ball was angled across, he slammed powerful cover drives or steered cheekily towards third man. Throughout his effort, he ran like the wind, making a mockery of his age, and the typically oppressive Chennai afternoon.

Bangalore's fielders were switched off right from the outset. Only two boundaries came in the first four overs, one courtesy an M Vijay paddle that went straight through short fine-leg. There were more bloopers to follow, strangely from fielders with good reputations. Cheteshwar Pujara threw needlessly from point to gift an overthrow, before Mohammad Kaif - one of the best fielders to have represented India - clanged a regulation chance from Hussey at mid-off.

That was the cue for Chennai to shift gears. Vijay blasted two fours and a six off Johan van der Wath, before Hussey slapped Tillakaratne Dilshan for consecutive boundaries to ignite Chennai's charge. Ryan Ninan dismissed Vijay a ball after being lofted for a six, but Suresh Raina stepped in seamlessly. He steered van der Wath to third man, before plundering Ninan in the 11th over for a couple of fours and a six through the straight field. He fell attempting another big hit, but by then Chennai were galloping along.

Kohli and Vettori slipped in three quiet overs, before Hussey broke loose in the 15th. Vettori's exemplary spell was ruined by his last two balls, off which Hussey looted 10 runs to reach his 50 off 42 balls. He proceeded to shred Kohli for fours through square on either side of the wicket before MS Dhoni sledgehammered Zaheer for an emphatic straight six in the 17th over. Zaheer dismissed Dhoni with his next ball, in the process cutting his side's losses by at least 15 runs. It, however, made no impact on the end result.

Match Meter

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Kaif drops Hussey: The most expensive of Bangalore's fielding misses. Kaif runs back from mid-off and shells a miscued loft from Michael Hussey, then on 8

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Vijay whacks van der Wath: In the same over, M Vijay plunders two fours and a six off Johan van der Wath to put Chennai on course

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Hussey slugs Vettori: After a watchful start, Hussey opens up with a six and a four off the last two balls of Daniel Vettori's otherwise exemplary spell

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Kohli bites the dust: After a steadying stand with AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli perishes to Shadab Jakati as Chennai take complete control

Advantage Honours even

John Buchanan takes key role with New Zealand

2011-04-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

the former coach of Australia, has been confirmed as New Zealand's director of cricket. Buchanan will take on the role with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) in May, and will be in charge of the high-performance programme, while also overseeing the selection panel and implementing a talent identification system.

The wide-ranging brief is Buchanan's first major job in international cricket since he resigned as Australia's coach following the 2007 World Cup triumph. Since then, he has consulted with the ECB and had an ill-fated stint as the coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, a role from which he was sacked in 2009.

However, it is for his eight years as Australia's mentor that Buchanan earned his reputation. He was in charge during the golden era that brought Australia three World Cup titles and a record 16 consecutive Test victories, and before he took control of the national side he had coached Queensland to their long-awaited first Sheffield Shield title.

"John's appointment is an exciting one for New Zealand Cricket," NZC's chief executive Justin Vaughan said. "He has a great cricketing pedigree and will provide outstanding leadership as NZC look to move forward."

Buchanan is the first person to take on the director of cricket role with NZC after the position was created with the aim of introducing consistent coaching strategies and overseeing the entire high-performance programme. He said he was looking forward to the challenge.

"It's an honour to be appointed to this challenging role. It is a wonderful opportunity to build on the work that has been done," Buchanan said. "New Zealand Cricket has a proud history and is a true honour to be given the responsibility. I want to be part of the next successful era and am committed to building sustainable high performance for New Zealand Cricket."

Buchanan's first tasks are likely to include providing input in the choice of New Zealand's new captain and the composition of the selection panel. The existing selectors, Mark Greatbatch, Lance Cairns and Glenn Turner, come out of contract at the end of April.

Gambhir, Kallis set up thumping win

2011-04-15T09:08:00.001-07:00

Kolkata Knight Riders won by nine wickets and with nine deliveries to spare. It shouldn't have been that easy but Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis starred in a supremely well-paced chase as Kolkata successfully hunted down a potentially tough 160-run target on a sluggish track in Jaipur.

The first game-seizing moment of the chase came in the sixth over, bowled by Amit Singh. Kolkata were 44 for 1 from five overs and it was obvious that they had to fully utilise the new ball and the Powerplay on this slow track. It was an over that could have tilted the game either way: Amit tried to keep it tight, Gambhir took risks, two shots eluded palms of fielders in the off side but not by much, and Gambhir looted 18 runs. He flat-batted the first ball past the diving Ross Taylor at extra cover, slashed the third past the diving Abhishek Raut at point, glanced the fourth to fine-leg, and crashed the final delivery over mid-off.

The second turning point was Gambhir's contest with Shane Warne, who introduced himself in the seventh over. Gambhir cut his third delivery through the covers, and slog swept the first ball of the 10th over to collect another four. When Warne gave himself another over, to try and pick up a wicket, Gambhir sashayed down the track and scythed a flighted delivery through extra cover. By the end of that over, Kolkata only needed 58 runs from 48 balls and Gambhir and Kallis stayed till the end to achieve a comfortable win.

Gambhir found great support in Kallis, who was instrumental in starting the chase in a positive fashion. He lifted Ashok Menaria's left-arm spin for a four and a six over long-off in the third over, whipped Shane Watson to midwicket and slashed Nayan Doshi through backward point. He dropped anchor once Gambhir took over the baton.

Rajasthan would probably wish they had played Shaun Tait to create wicket-taking opportunities but they had put up a pretty decent batting effort. Fuelled by calculated aggression from Rahul Dravid and Menaria, who seemed to be aiming for something around 160, Rajasthan reached 75 for 1 from 11 overs. It seemed at that stage that their job, especially Dravid's, was done and it was time to hand the reins over to Shane Watson and Ross Taylor.

In the 12th over, Yusuf Pathan had a double strike - Dravid didn't connect with a slog and Menaria swatted a return catch, and the stage was set for the two big hitters. Rajasthan seized momentum by looting 14 runs in the 16th over with Taylor spanking a long hop and a full toss from L Balaji for sixes. Watson heaved Shakib Al Hasan for a straight six in the 14th over and slog-swept him over wide midwicket for another six in the 17th over. Shakib slowed up the pace on the next delivery and Watson was bowled as he missed another attempted slog sweep. Rajasthan were 125 for 4 at that stage, and Taylor stayed till the end to guide them to a good total. But they were thwarted by a fabulous captain's knock from Gambhir.

Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan dropped

2011-04-14T18:54:00.001-07:00

West Indies have left out Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, their three senior-most players, from the squad for the first two ODIs of the five-match series against Pakistan that begins on April 21. Dwayne Bravo, whose World Cup was cut short by a knee injury, returns to the squad and will serve as captain Darren Sammy's deputy, while Antigua-born legspinner Anthony Martin remains the only uncapped player in the list of 13.

Kieron Pollard will miss the five-match series to play for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, while Bravo, who, like Pollard, had opted out of a retainer contract with the West Indies Cricket Board, will skip the two-match Test series that follows the ODIs to join Chennai Super Kings.

The exclusion of Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan following West Indies' quarter-final exit from the World Cup marks a significant step and underlines the selectors' intention to move on and start afresh with an emphasis on youth. "Consistent with the policy to expose young players, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan were not selected," a West Indies Cricket Board release stated.

In addition to the phasing out of the old guard, West Indies also left out left-arm spinners Sulieman Benn and Nikita Miller; Legspinners Devendra Bishoo - who picked up three wickets on his international debut against England in Chennai in the World Cup - and Martin, along with Marlon Samuels, will comprise the spin attack. In the previous edition of the WICB Regional 50-over tournament, Martin picked up eight wickets for Leeward Islands from five games and had the best economy rate of 2.82 an over. He finished with 16 wickets in six games in the Caribbean's domestic first-class competition.

Samuels, who is also part of the squad for the one-off Twenty20 international against Pakistan, won a recall after serving a two-year ban for alleged involvement with illegal bookmakers. Lendl Simmons, the Trinidad and Tobago batsman - and nephew of Phil Simmons - was also picked while batsman Kirk Edwards and allrounder Andre Russell, who were part of the World Cup squad, kept their places.

"We have looked at a mix of players who will take us through the next five to ten years, and with this squad we have put together a youthful but exciting combination of exceptionally talented cricketers who we believe can win matches," WICB chairman of selectors Clyde Butts said.

"There are some familiar faces who have not been included on this occasion, but we have already identified the core of players who we will build the team around. The time has come for us to introduce a fresh crop of players who we believe have a deep desire to excel and who can be tested at the international level."

In another decision, the WICB agreed to consider Bravo and Pollard for selection across all formats even if their IPL commitments meant they would miss national duty. The board had adopted a policy of tying national selection to participation in regional tournaments in the corresponding format - the reason behind Pollard and Bravo not being picked for the Twenty20 game against Pakistan.

"It was mutually determined that Pollard would be best served by being allowed to hone his T20 skills in the Indian Premier League, which will bring future benefit to West Indies cricket," the release stated. "He will not play in the series against Pakistan, but remains committed to West Indies cricket and will be available for future selection to the West Indies team in all formats."

About Bravo, the release said: "Dwayne Bravo, who is also contracted to an IPL franchise, will play in the one-day series against Pakistan but will miss the two Tests in order to participate in the IPL. Like Pollard, Bravo also remains committed to West Indies cricket and will be available for future selection to the West Indies team in all formats."

Squad for first two ODIs: Darren Sammy (capt), Dwayne Bravo (vice-captain), Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Anthony Martin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach , Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Devon Thomas (wk).

Pune win clash of new teams

2011-04-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

A fluctuating game between the two new teams in the tournament ended with Pune Warriors at the top of the table and Kochi Tuskers Kerala near the other end. The unheralded Paul Valthaty had played a blinder to win the first game of the day for Kings XI Punjab, and it was another low-profile player, Mohnish Mishra, who sealed the game for Pune with an unruffled 37 in a close finish at the DY Patil Stadium.

For the second game in a row, Mahela Jayawardene was let down by the bowling in the death. Raiphi Gomez had been taken for three sixes by AB de Villiers in the 18th over of Kochi's opening match to win it for Bangalore; today, with Pune's main batsmen dismissed and 20 needed off 13 balls, Ravindra Jadeja was hammered for a straight six by Rahul Sharma, before Mishra clubbed Muttiah Muralitharan for a four and two sixes over the leg side in five deliveries to grab victory.

Pune had been galloping to victory when Robin Uthappa played a typically powerful cameo. Uthappa had started with an assured reverse-sweep off Murali first ball, and looked in great touch, sprinting to 30 off 11 deliveries, including a monster hit over wide long-on off Murali that was perhaps the biggest six of the tournament. His cavalier attempt at another reverse-sweep, though, ended with him being bowled, and Wayne Parnell's run-out an over later evened the match as Pune slumped to 118 for 6.

That was one of the many twists the game took. Kochi began badly as, for the third match in a row, there was a wicket off the first ball: Alfonso Thomas dismissed Brendon McCullum with a swinging delivery that was nicked to the wicketkeeper. Wayne Parnell then nailed two experienced batsmen, VVS Laxman and Mahela Jayawardene, and left Kochi hobbling at 24 for 4.

Kochi, however, showed the depth in their batting with Jadeja and Hodge launching a fightback. Jadeja came out swinging, hitting three boundaries in his first over, while Hodge was more circumspect. Jadeja swung a couple of sixes over midwicket off the spinners to bring up the 50 partnership, after which Hodge also played his shots.

With the boundaries flowing, Kochi galloped to 111 for 4 after 15 overs, before Pune hit back. Murali Kartik plucked a low catch falling forward at long-on to send back Hodge for 39, and Jadeja mishit an attempted slog to mid-off in the next over. The double-blow choked the runs - instead of a big flourish, only nine came in three overs. Kochi were headed for an underwhelming score but Raiphi Gomes helped plunder 28 off the final two overs to lift them to 148.

Kochi had a bit of fortune in removing the Pune openers. The chase started with some cover-driven boundaries from Jesse Ryder and Graeme Smith before Vinay Kumar's reflex attempt to catch a mishit from Ryder bounced off his arms on to his chest before he completed a juggling catch. Smith seemed to be hitting form with some muscular boundaries but his innings was cut short when he swiped a full toss to the fielder at deep midwicket.

Hodge turned the ball and produced two quick breakthroughs that kept Kochi in the hunt. Mithun Manhas holed out to long-on and Yuvraj Singh walked after edging to the wicketkeeper to leave Pune in a bit of trouble at 72 for 4. Uthappa's power-hitting and the cool head of Mishra, though, confirmed the win after some more anxious moments.

Match Meter

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Jayawardene falls: After the early losses of VVS Laxman and Brendon McCullum, Kochi's placed their hopes on Mahela Jayawardene, who fell for 2

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Hodge and Jadeja fight: The pair put on 88 in 10 overs to revive Kochi, guiding them to 111 for 4 in 15 overs

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Hodge double-strike: Pune seemed to be cruising in their chase when Hodge removed both Mithun Manhas and Yuvraj Singh to leave them at 71 for 4

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Uthappa's fatal reverse-sweep: He had looked in supreme touch in his short stay, powering two sixes before his exit in the 15th over meant all of Pune's main batsmen were dismissed

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Sharma's six: It was a tight game with 13 balls to go, when 20 was needed but Rahul Sharma's smash to long-on off Jadeja eased the equation

Advantage Honours even

Deccan charge to maiden home victory

2011-04-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

Accurate spells of fast bowling from the entire cast of seamers helped Deccan Chargers inflict a convincing 33-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have now suffered two losses in a row. In the process, they laid to rest the curse of never having won a match at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in history of the IPL.

Chasing the second-highest total in the tournament so far, Bangalore's batsmen looked hapless throughout and had it not been for a battling half-century by Virat Kohli, they would have ended up in tatters. The four-man seam attack of Dale Steyn, Manpreet Gony, Ishant Sharma and Daniel Christian combined ruthlessly picking up eight of the nine Bangalore wickets.

Tillakaratne Dilshan started off with a streaky boundary, a thick outside-edge off a seaming delivery from Ishant that raced through third man. But Ishant pitched the next ball perfectly on a length and hit the seam hard. Dilshan slashed wildly only for a thin edge to travel into the gloves of Sangakkara, who eventually ended the evening with five catches. If Sangakkara made the right decision to bowl Ishant's four overs in one spell, Steyn - acting as the on-field bowling coach - made sure the Indian kept hitting a good length and avoided getting distracted bowling bouncers.

A surprise move, actually ridiculous, by Bangalore to send Zaheer Khan in at No. 3 lasted three deliveries, before Steyn demolished the Indian's furniture with a fast swinging full toss. Mayank Agarwal tried pulling hard against a short-pitched delivery from Gony which climbed too fast and was caught easily at mid-on. AB de Villiers and Saurabh Tiwary, two proven match-winners, had miserable evenings. The South African was deceived by Gony's outswinger and Sangakkara happily accepted another offering behind the stumps when Tiwary tried to slog sweep against the legspin of Amit Mishra, but ended up skying an easy catch, pouched safely once again by the Hyderabad captain.

Only Kohli lasted the distance, keeping a calm head on his shoulders, while picking the right balls to hit to keep Bangalore's flame of hope from being doused early on. A few good shots - including a raging straight six charging Mishra, and a fierce slog-sweep to go to fifty - were the highlights of his innings. But except for Cheteshwar Pujara, who should have batted up the order, none of the Bangalore batsmen applied themselves to stand up to the challenge.

If Bangalore's batting seemed out of sorts, the Hyderabad men were solid and certain. Barring Shiktar Dhawan, who failed for the second match in a row, the rest of the hosts' batsmen played smartly and kept pushing the run-rate consistently.

Having failed to convert his starts in the first two matches, the onus today was on Sangakkara to keep the middle order intact. And he came up with his most fluent innings to date, playing with a straight bat while building a valuable 50-run alliance with Sunny Sohal for the second wicket, which was the highest for any wicket for Hyderabad so far in the tournament.

Sohal hit the first six of the match and then got out attempting a second one, but Sangakkara played with measured aggression. He took advantage of a couple of easy full-tosses from Daniel Vettori early on, then rotated the strike smartly to keep the pressure on the bowlers, before charging Dilshan to hit an elegant six straight over the bowler's head, his best shot. If Bangalore felt they could wrest the control after Sangakkara's (tame) exit - he tried to chip a fuller and wider delivery from Johan van der Wath - Chipli quickly washed away those aspirations.

He had started with two powerful pulls, both off the back foot, one a six (against Dilshan) and next over a four (off S Arvind). But his biggest victory came when he got the measure of Zaheer.

The bowler of the World Cup was smashed for 22 runs in the nine balls Chipli faced. The onslaught included four fours, the last three coming back-to-back. The first one was slapped straight down the ground to the sight-screen, followed by a bottom edge which raced past the fine-leg ropes. And when Zaheer tried a sleight of hand by coming up with a slower delivery, Chipli, with a steady head, punched a handsome cover drive for another four to march to two runs short of a half century, which he duly completed. It was an innings of impact which caught Bangalore by surprise, and set his team up for that elusive first home win.

Dizzy 201, Watto 185

2011-04-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

For five years Jason Gillespie has strutted about as the sole claimant to the title of most memorable Australian innings in Bangladesh. Not anymore.

Gillespie's 201 not out in the second Test in Chittagong in 2006 remains a most remarkable effort, and even now the proud nightwatchman still signs his autograph as a cheeky 'Dizzy 201'. The fact it arrived in a Test will also ensure it as revered - or jokingly reviled if you were one of Gillespie's team-mates - for as long as Australians play cricket. But Shane Watson's pulverising, unbeaten 185 to secure a series victory over Bangladesh in Mirpur was so compelling, even with the caveat of a compliant Bangladesh attack, that it should not sit a million miles from Gillespie's double century.

"It's amazing that Jason Gillespie, for how amazing a bowler he was, he still signs his name 'Dizzy 201', so it's nice I've been able to do this," Watson said. "It's my first tour of Bangladesh so it's nice to be able to come and try to show your skills to different people, [and have] people appreciate what you do; so that's a nice bonus to having a good day. It's just one of those days where everything that you try comes out of the middle of the bat, a mis-hit goes into the gap or you get dropped.

"The reason I kept going after [reaching] 100 is because I was tired, and I didn't really want to run too much; I was either going to try to hit as many sixes as I could or get out because I was pretty tired, that was as simple as it was. It was hot and humid out there, so it was nice to be able to get a few out of the middle to save my running."

As an allrounder and now the team's vice-captain, fatigue is an ever-present issue for Watson, and he revealed his preference for batting second in limited-overs contests.

"It's always actually easier batting second; although you do get pretty hot from bowling first, it means I can actually get through my batting innings knowing I don't have to bowl next and don't have to use my energy," Watson said.

"So my preferred way of playing one-day cricket personally, is actually batting second because you don't need the energy. If it comes off like it did today, I don't have to run too much. So it was definitely nice today."

Watson was playing in Hamilton in 2007 when Matthew Hayden smote the previous Australian record for an ODI innings, an effort that was ultimately overshadowed by a furious New Zealand run-chase. This time there was no doubt about the decisive nature of the innings.

Australia's pre-series planning had focused on the volume of left-arm spin to be bowled by the home side, and Watson used the angle into him to powerful effect by swinging all his 15 sixes into the arc between square leg and straight mid on.

"Some of the balls [that] I did hit over the leg side weren't that [leg side], it was more so the length that meant I could hit [so]," he said. "But then also I was targeting the short side as well, so I was batting on off stump to try to get it over to the leg side. When the ball's not turning and bouncing like it can here, it makes that shot a lot easier to execute. If it's turning and bouncing that shot's a lot harder."

At the other end, Ricky Ponting watched with admiration, perhaps reminded of his two domineering innings in Johannesburg in 2003 and 2006. "[It] made my job easy," Ponting said. "[I] just had to get a single to give him strike.

"No one expected it to get over that fast. I have been lucky to play with some great players; Watto has played some great innings ... this was an amazing innings. Some of those sixes would have cleared any boundary in the world. It probably won't sink into us for a while now, how good that [innings] was."

As for Bangladesh, the local reaction was best summed up by a wry question lobbed Watson's way as he discussed the innings with the media: "What did you have for lunch today?"

Kallis shines in Kolkata's home victory

2011-04-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

It could be the overdose of cricket, or the absence of their adored hometown hero Sourav Ganguly, or just that it was a Monday night; whatever the reason, it was only a sparse crowd at Eden Gardens as Kolkata Knight Riders eased to victory in their first home game of the season. On a turning track where the ball kept low, Kolkata's batsmen all chipped in to put up the highest total of the tournament so far, which proved sufficient against Deccan Chargers.

Jacques Kallis provided another launchpad for the innings, with a controlled half-century filled with off-driven boundaries. He wasn't overly troubled by the new-ball attack of Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma, but the introduction of spin slowed the scoring as Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra teased the batsmen on a helpful pitch.

Kallis' opening partner Manvinder Bisla's scratchy stay ended soon after the fifty stand came up, as he missed a straighter one from Mishra. Kallis employed the sweep effectively against the spinners, and started to punish the part-time offerings of JP Duminy and Ravi Teja. A powerful swipe off Duminy got him to a second consecutive fifty, but he perished next ball as he attempted to clear midwicket again.

Gautam Gambhir, back in the familiar territory of No. 3 after batting down the order in the opening match, hardly needed power as he picked off boundaries behind square. Manoj Tiwary's batting was more muscular, slogging two big leg-side sixes in one Duminy over. Yusuf Pathan also provided the Kolkata fans something to cheer as he unleashed his brand of power-hitting to club three boundaries off Steyn's final two overs.

Mishra was the best of the Deccan bowlers, mixing in the googlies and sliders with his stock legspinner to trouble the Kolkata batting. Gambhir is widely reputed to be among the best players of spin in the country, and Mishra had the satisfaction of foxing him with a delivery that slid on to take middle stump. Mishra ended with 4-0-19-2 despite bowling two overs at the end of the innings.

The lack of pace in the Kolkata attack worked in their favour during the chase as the ball didn't come on to the bat, making it difficult for the Deccan batsmen to play their shots. Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla squeezed the runs early on and he bowled Ishank Jaggi, who attempted an awful slog after struggling to 3 off eight balls. Soon after, Eoin Morgan pulled off a stunning piece of fielding to send back Shikhar Dhawan - diving to stop the ball at cover, and rifling in a direct hit while still on his knees.

The Deccan batting depends heavily on their three overseas signings: Kumar Sangakkara, JP Duminy and Dan Christian. Sangakkara and Duminy fell cheaply, both providing catching practice to Kallis in the deep, and it was left to little-known Bharat Chipli to keep the Deccan challenge going with a series of boundaries. He too gave Kallis a simple catch, and with half the side dismissed and the asking rate around 13, there was too much for Christian to do. He unleashed a few big hits, but by that stage the biggest worry for Kolkata was the blow to Kallis' chin as he attempted yet another catch.

Match Meter

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Steady start: When Amit Mishra made the first breakthrough in the ninth over, Kolkata had made only 51 at a little more than run-a-ball

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KKR
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Kolkata shift gears: Manoj Tiwary's two sixes in the 16th over provided Kolkata the momentum to launch the final onslaught

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KKR
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A big wicket: The dismissal of Sangakkara in the ninth over was a huge blow to Deccan, who slid to 55 for 3 after 10 overs, with the required rate hovering at 10

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KKR
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Deccan chances fade: JP Duminy fell in the 13th over, and on a difficult track with plenty of turn, Deccan slipped to 81 for 4

Advantage Honours even

Pune Warriors flatten listless Punjab

2011-04-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

Subroto Roy, owner of the tournament's most expensive franchise Pune Warriors, watched his team's debut seated amid a group of models, who had plenty to cheer as Pune outclassed Kings XI Punjab at the DY Patil Stadium. Punjab were the cellar-dwellers of the previous season, and despite completely overhauling the squad, they turned in a performance that would have been expected from the deadbeats of 2010.

Even triple digits looked a long way away from Punjab, after the top six had failed on a track with plenty of bounce, before South African allrounder Ryan McLaren pulled off some big hits towards the end of the innings to ensure it wasn't entirely one-way traffic. That target, though, proved too tiny to trouble Pune's line-up of heavy-hitters.

Pune made an outstanding start to their IPL journey, taking wickets in each of the first four overs to leave Punjab gasping at 9 for 4. South African fast bowler Alfonso Thomas will be little known to Pune fans, but he removed the biggest name in the Punjab line-up in the first over - Adam Gilchrist walking after edging a short ball to the keeper. Thomas' new-ball partner Shrikant Wagh, a similarly low-profile bowler, also delivered, removing the second most dangerous Punjab batsman - Shaun Marsh whipping the ball to short fine leg.

After Dinesh Karthik holed out to third man, Punjab started a slow recovery before some amateurish cricket ended the stand between Sunny Singh and Abhishek Nayar. Both batsmen were ball-watching after Sunny punched the ball to wide mid-on, and he was more than halfway down the track before having to turn back. Instead of attempting to make his ground, he decided to berate Nayar instead, and though the fielder's throw was way off target, Pune still had plenty of time to run out Sunny.

Match Meter

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In the 2nd over Shaun Marsh flicked to short fine leg which meant Punjab had lost their second overseas batsman

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Dinesh Karthik slashes the ball to third man in the fourth over, and Punjab were four down in the fourth over, a position form which they never recover

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PW
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Pune carve two boundaries in four balls in the third over to dissipate any pressure built up by Graeme Smith's golden duck

Advantage Honours even

Punjab were soon 45 for 6 before McLaren intervened. He was cautious early on as he re-built the innings with Piyush Chawla, with only 25 runs coming in a nine-over spell, and even at the end of the 18th over, the run-rate wasn't even five. It was only in the last two overs that McLaren showed his hard-hitting abilities, clubbing the ball over midwicket and glancing to fine leg as he plundered 22 to reach his half-century and slightly dent the party mood among Pune fans.

The first-ball dismissal of Graeme Smith also perked up Punjab. Mithun Manhas and Jesse Ryder, though, made sure there was going to be any dramatic turnaround. They put on 60 rapid runs, crashing at least one boundary in each over that they were together. Both fell in the space of five balls, but even that didn't throw Punjab off course as their most expensive batsmen, Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, came together. Some schoolboy fielding gave both Yuvraj and Uthappa a life each, and they clubbed three sixes in five deliveries to hasten the finish. Subroto Roy, owner of the tournament's most expensive franchise Pune Warriors, watched his team's debut seated amid a group of models, who had plenty to cheer as Pune outclassed Kings XI Punjab at the DY Patil Stadium. Punjab were the cellar-dwellers of the previous season, and despite completely overhauling the squad, they turned in a performance that would have been expected from the deadbeats of 2010.

Even triple digits looked a long way away from Punjab, after the top six had failed on a track with plenty of bounce, before South African allrounder Ryan McLaren pulled off some big hits towards the end of the innings to ensure it wasn't entirely one-way traffic. That target, though, proved too tiny to trouble Pune's line-up of heavy-hitters.

Pune made an outstanding start to their IPL journey, taking wickets in each of the first four overs to leave Punjab gasping at 9 for 4. South African fast bowler Alfonso Thomas will be little known to Pune fans, but he removed the biggest name in the Punjab line-up in the first over - Adam Gilchrist walking after edging a short ball to the keeper. Thomas' new-ball partner Shrikant Wagh, a similarly low-profile bowler, also delivered, removing the second most dangerous Punjab batsman - Shaun Marsh whipping the ball to short fine leg.

After Dinesh Karthik holed out to third man, Punjab started a slow recovery before some amateurish cricket ended the stand between Sunny Singh and Abhishek Nayar. Both batsmen were ball-watching after Sunny punched the ball to wide mid-on, and he was more than halfway down the track before having to turn back. Instead of attempting to make his ground, he decided to berate Nayar instead, and though the fielder's throw was way off target, Pune still had plenty of time to run out Sunny.

Punjab were soon 45 for 6 before McLaren intervened. He was cautious early on as he re-built the innings with Piyush Chawla, with only 25 runs coming in a nine-over spell, and even at the end of the 18th over, the run-rate wasn't even five. It was only in the last two overs that McLaren showed his hard-hitting abilities, clubbing the ball over midwicket and glancing to fine leg as he plundered 22 to reach his half-century and slightly dent the party mood among Pune fans.

The first-ball dismissal of Graeme Smith also perked up Punjab. Mithun Manhas and Jesse Ryder, though, made sure there was going to be any dramatic turnaround. They put on 60 rapid runs, crashing at least one boundary in each over that they were together. Both fell in the space of five balls, but even that didn't throw Punjab off course as their most expensive batsmen, Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, came together. Some schoolboy fielding gave both Yuvraj and Uthappa a life each, and they clubbed three sixes in five deliveries to hasten the finish.

Match Meter

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In the 2nd over Shaun Marsh flicked to short fine leg which meant Punjab had lost their second overseas batsman

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PW
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Dinesh Karthik slashes the ball to third man in the fourth over, and Punjab were four down in the fourth over, a position form which they never recover

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PW
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Pune carve two boundaries in four balls in the third over to dissipate any pressure built up by Graeme Smith's golden duck

Advantage Honours even

Malinga's five sets up comfortable Mumbai win

2011-04-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

When batsmen face Lasith Malinga, they know what's coming at them: several yorkers, some low full tosses, the odd slower ball. Some might not swing but everything will be aimed at the stumps. Knowledge wasn't power for Delhi Daredevils' batsmen, though, as Malinga ripped through them in two spells, claiming the third-best figures in the IPL. His five-wicket haul helped shoot out Delhi for 95, their second-lowest total, and ruin the contest before the sun had set at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Malinga's performance allowed the Mumbai batsmen to chase in comfortable gear. Davy Jacobs' first stint as Sachin Tendulkar's opening partner was ended early by Morne Morkel and Roelof van der Merwe ran out Ambati Rayudu with a scintillating intercept, slide, turnaround and direct hit from extra cover, but that was it for Delhi. Tendulkar could not be dismissed and without the pressure of a high asking-rate he steered Mumbai to an eight-wicket victory with 19 balls to spare. In a format engineered to produce the exciting finish, this was a mismatch from the fifth over.

Delhi's strength was their top order and in Virender Sehwag and David Warner they possessed the most explosive openers of the tournament. Sehwag began aggressively by launching his first delivery, off Harbhajan Singh, miles in the air only for the ball to fall short of the straight boundary and plug in the outfield. He improved on that attempt the next ball, clearing long-off by a considerable distance, forcing Harbhajan to bowl quicker and flatter.

Enter Malinga, who had been retained by Mumbai, and he re-emphasised his value in no time at all. With his second ball, a pinpoint yorker, Malinga breached Warner's defences. With his fourth, a fast and straight delivery, he hit Unmukt Chand's middle stump.

Chand made the novice error of playing across the line to a Malinga arrow, a mistake Sehwag had committed in the World Cup final. Today Sehwag was watchful, defending Malinga with a straight bat when the line demanded it, but opening the face to guide to the third-man boundary when the width allowed it. He played out the 2011 IPL's first maiden over, seeing off Malinga's second without damage, and set himself to take on the rest of the bowlers.

That did not come to pass, though, for in the fifth over Aaron Finch came down the pitch to Ali Murtaza's left-arm spin, worked the ball off his pads towards short fine leg, and continued running. Sehwag hesitated and then responded, but was beaten by Tendulkar's direct hit. He had swooped on the ball with the agility of a much younger man. It was the decisive moment of the game. Finch did not last long either, slog-sweeping Harbhajan to deep-backward square leg, leaving Delhi on 40 for 4.

Naman Ojha, whose 29 was Delhi's top score, showed a semblance of resistance but his dismissal - caught on the long-off boundary - hastened the end of the innings. Irfan Pathan, bought for $1.9 million and playing his first competitive match in a year, was run out first ball.

And then Malinga returned, and inevitably the yorkers followed. He bowled Venugopal Rao with one, broke Morne Morkel's bat with another before dismissing him with a third next ball. Malinga finished with 5 for 13 - the fifth came with a slower ball - leaving his team with a straightforward chase.

Match Meter

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MI
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In the second over, Lasith Malinga unleashes his first yorker and bowls David Warner. Delhi are 11 for 1

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MI
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In the fifth over, Sachin Tendulkar runs out Virender Sehwag with a direct hit from short fine leg. Delhi are 27 for 3

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MI
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Naman Ojha's brief resistance ends when he holes out to Malinga at long-off. Delhi are 82 for 5.

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MI
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Malinga returns for his second spell and in the 16th over bowls Venugopal Rao with another yorker. Delhi are 88 for 7 and the end is near

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MI
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In the fourth over, Sachin Tendulkar edges Morne Morkel towards first slip where Sehwag can't hold on to the tough chance. He is six then, and goes on to score an unbeaten 46.

Advantage Honours even

Botha, Trivedi star as Rajasthan open with a win

2011-04-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

Deccan Chargers were up against the mother of all jinxes. They had never won a game in front of their home crowd in Hyderabad, and had finished second-best in each of their six previous games against Rajasthan Royals. Things did not change at the end of their IPL 2011 opener against a limited, but inspired outfit. A visibly slimmer Shane Warne, with his eyebrows tweezed and sporting a brighter shade of blue than last year, led Rajasthan with aplomb, and his team responded well. Siddharth Trivedi choked Deccan's run flow with a canny spell of slow bouncers, before Johan Botha, elevated to the No. 3 spot, in the absence of Shane Watson and because of his comfort in playing fast bowling, guided them past the target of 138 in the 19th over.

Botha walked out to a pressure situation, after Amit Paunikar was snared by a vicious Dale Steyn away-seamer in the sixth over, with the run-rate under six runs per over. Clearly limited as a batsman, Botha resorted to singles unless bad balls came along. When they did, he ensured they were sent to the boundary. Pragyan Ojha was swept, Daniel Christian was scythed through the covers, Amit Mishra was reverse-swept and Steyn was pulled emphatically as the run-rate began to pick up. Rahul Dravid, however, continued to struggle and was eventually dismissed by a Steyn slower ball.

Amit Mishra piled on the pressure with a tight follow-up over, leaving Rajasthan needing 54 off the last six. With the game in the balance, Botha glanced Christian for four before Ross Taylor hammered Mishra in the 16th over, cutting fine for four, and lashing over deep square leg for six. Thirty-two required off 24 and advantage Rajasthan once again.

Steyn was not done though, producing an exemplary fourth over that went for just two, including three successive slower balls that Botha could not get away. Ishant Sharma, who had begun well, let the game slip with a shoddy 18th over that was plundered for 15 runs. The over began with a no-ball and included a slew of length balls, the last of which Taylor catapulted over midwicket. Botha sealed things in the 19th, in the process marching past 50.

Rajasthan could afford a couple of slip-ups in the chase, thanks to their excellence in the field earlier in the day. Deccan's top order seemed ill-equipped to deal with the lack of pace on the pitch: Ishank Jaggi kept going hard at the ball, but could not succeed against the seamers' discipline. Shikhar Dhawan looked to crunch boundaries through the off side, but just as he began to size up the conditions, he slogged Amit Singh straight to deep midwicket.

Thereafter Trivedi and Warne put their side in control. Kumar Sangakkara has had a hectic week, losing the World Cup final, standing down as Sri Lanka captain and taking charge of the Deccan side. His stint with the new franchise got off to a poor start as he edged an effort ball from Trivedi behind for a duck. When Bharat Chipli inside-edged a heave across the line, Deccan were in some strife and things got worse when Jaggi dragged Warne to long-on.

Warne evoked sights of his dominance over Daryl Cullinan as he reduced JP Duminy to groping and fumbling without conviction against his sliders. He eventually fell slicing Warne to long-off, as Deccan's innings floundered for momentum in the death overs. Christian and Ravi Teja injected some late momentum, but the final score of 137 was not enough to break the Hyderabad hoodoo.

Match Meter

* DC RR
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Dhawan combusts: After crashing 10 off two balls, Shikhar Dhawan throws his wicket away to give RR their first wicket

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RR
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Sangakkara gets a blob: Trivedi gets the biggest of his three scalps, getting Deccan's main batsman for a duck.

* RR DC
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Ishant begins well: Ishant's first two overs go for only three runs as Deccan claw their way back into the game

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RR
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Taylor counterpunches: Amit Mishra suffers at the hands of Ross Taylor, who clubs the 16th over for 13 runs to leave Rajasthan 32 to get off 24 balls

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Steyn's stunning fourth: Dale Steyn bowls an exemplary two-run over to level things again

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RR
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Ishant implodes: The 18th over from Ishant Sharma begins with a no-ball and includes a series of length balls, the last of which Taylor dumps out of the ground. Game Rajasthan

Advantage Honours even

Cool de Villiers crashes Kochi party

2011-04-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

Five blistering sixes from AB de Villiers, and his 52-run partnership with Saurabh Tiwary, won the night for Bangalore Royal Challengers.

The first came in the ninth over in which Sreesanth leaked 15 runs as Bangalore moved to 80 for 2. It was a full delivery, off a free hit, and de Villiers went down on a bent knee to paddle-scoop it for a stunning six over fine-leg. The next blitz from him came after spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Ravindra Jadeja choked up the run flow in the next few overs. With 33 runs required from the last three overs, de Villiers imposed himself against Raiphi Gomez, who was asked to bowl his first over in that pressure situation. The second delivery was smashed over midwicket, the fifth disappeared over long-off and the final delivery was bulldozed over long-on. Game over.

It wouldn't have been an easy decision for Mahela Jayawardene, Kochi's captain, to turn to Gomez but RP Singh's poor effort in the 15th over must have forced his hand. With 59 runs needed from the last six overs, RP Singh bowled a poor over. The first delivery was outside leg stump and Saurabh Tiwary shoved it to the fine-leg boundary. The second was a wide, the third was spanked to the straight boundary, and he kept bowling length and went for 15 runs.

Bangalore played the waiting game well; they saw out Muralitharan and treated Jadeja with some caution as they knew the seamers could be taken for plenty. It was the same resolve that saw them come back in the game with the ball and restrict Kochi to 161 after Brendon McCullum and VVS Laxman had added 80 runs in the first nine overs.

McCullum and Laxman are as different as a Bollywood masala flick and art-house cinema, but they combined superbly to lay a good platform. McCullum was the McCullum the world knows: aggressive, adrenaline-pumping and audacious as ever. He sashayed down the track in the first over to slap a Zaheer Khan delivery over extra cover, but really exploded in the second over against Dirk Nannes. A blasted off drive was followed with a slashed boundary but it was a thunderous pull over the midwicket boundary that really tested the lung power of the home crowd.

Laxman has been itching for the IPL to start to prove his worth in the shortest format of the game. There were a few lovely hits: a late cut for four against Tillakaratne Dilshan, lofted on drives on a bent knee and a couple of flicks, but it was a flat-batted thumping six over long-on that really declared his ambition to do well in this tournament. It was a short-of-length delivery from Abhimanyu Mithun, who must have been really shocked to see Laxman back away and flat-bat it over the boundary.

However, slowly, and surely, Bangalore began to claw their way back. In the final delivery of the ninth over, Laxman slog-swept Dilshan straight to deep midwicket, and in the 12th over, McCullum fell, top-edging a paddle scoop off Virat Kohli. Suddenly, the slow bowlers began to apply the squeeze. The legspinner Asad Pathan combined well with Kohli to keep Brad Hodge and Mahela Jayawardene in check. Jayawardene tried to break free against Daniel Vettori but was stumped in the 15th over, and Brad Hodge was yorked by Zaheer Khan in the 18th over.

It was left to Jadeja, who showed maturity in his shot selection, preferring the straight hits down the ground instead of across-the-line heaves, to push the score along. He did his bit with the ball too but it didn't prove enough.