Match 58, Semi Final 2: Chennai Storms into Finals! To meet Rajasthan!

Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab for the third consecutive time in the IPL and entered the grand finale. The cool man admitted that he was under pressure but couldn't show it outside. He wanted his bowlers to see a confident man in the field.

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Kings XI Punjab failed to capitalize on the crucial toss. The much expected fight in a neutral venue did not go well as expected.

Chennai Super Kings had an easy target in hand to enter the finals and they did it withe ease. Chasing 113 in 16 overs is an easy task unless the batsmen make mistakes or the bowlers are too good in their line and length. Dhoni's team ensured that they did not make the mistakes they committed against Bangalore Royal Challengers while chasing an easy target of 127.

Vidyut got out in the 3rd over for 6 with a four. That was the only wicket to fall and we couldn't see the aggressive Yuvaraj after that. Both Patel and Raina played well to ensure that their team moved to the final stage of the game.

Both of them scored 50 in this short run chase which ended in the 15th over. Patel was the first to cross fifty in 47 balls with 8 fours and followed by Raina in 32 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes.

Raina took little risk every now and then. He hit his first six of VRV Singh over long on. The short ball pitched on the off stump was sent over long for a six. He game room for himself and that helped him to clear the boundary.

It was strange that Sreesanth bowled just one over. I think the he was not utilized properly in this game. One of the top five most wicket takers in this IPL, it was surprising that Yuvi did used him for just one over.

His second six went out of the ground. That was really huge. The short ball from Hopes was hit over mid wicket. Pathan's short ball was his third six over mid wicket. His fourth six came off Piyush Chawla's flight deilvery which was swept over mid wicket. The next ball was a four and that was his fifty. He chipped the 5th ball of the 15th over to make the winning boundary. He was awarded the DLF Maximum Sixes Award.

They both added 102 runs for the unbeaten second wicket in 75 balls.

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Read: Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils

Earlier, Kings XI did not start well. They lost wickets at regular intervals. Interesting, Dhoni opened his bowling attack with Muralitharan. He bowled just one over and conceded 7 runs. The first ball was a full toss and Marsh smashed hit through cover. Marsh scored 23 in 17 balls with 3 sixes and a six, couldn't continue his form. The pull of a short ball from Ntini, got the inside edge and dragged the ball to the stumps. Hopes was caught behind of Ntini in the second over. Sangakkar walked on his own though umpire did not give him out. He was caught behind of Gony in the 3rd over and Punjab was struggling at 11 for 2.

Most runs in the power play came in the 4th over bowled by Nitni where Marsh hit a six of an edge, which went over the keeper's head. Another edge went to fine leg boundary.

Gony and Muralitharan sent Yuvaraj back to the pavilion. It was a short ball and Yuvaraj pulled it with full power towards mid wicket. Muralitharan intercepted it near the ring and took a brilliant catch. In the next over Marsh was bowled.

At the end of power play, Kings XI were 35 for 4. Pathan and Jayawardane steadied the innings for the next overs, but the poor calling had Pathan run out. Jayawardane played the ball towards cover point boundary where Ntini brilliantly stopped the ball but couldn't control crossing the boundary. He intelligently rolled the ball inside the playing area and came back to pick it up. Pathan who looked for the third was first acknowledged by Jayawardane, but later sent him back, but by that time it was too late. Ntini sent a good one bounce throw to bowler Gony and he did the rest. Pathan was in the middle of the pitch and couldn't do much.

In the next over, Jayawardane tried to steer the ball to third man, edged the ball to Parthiv Patel off Morkel.

At the end of 10 overs, Kings XI were 45 for 6 almost ruined their chances to final. Chawla was bowled by Muralitharan's flight delivery. Powar though tried to hit the ball many times couldn't connect most of the deliveries. But, he hit a six of Morkel in the 19th over and then 3 consecutive fours of Balaji in the 20th over. The last 2 overs added 28 to the total and helped Kings XI to cross the 100 mark.

Mota was the 8th wicket to fall. In the last ball of the 19th over, Mota tried to loft the ball over long on, but it ballooned in the air. Raina came running from long and took a stunning diving catch.

Kings XI ended their innings with 112 for 8, Ramesh Power top scoring with 28 not out off 21 balls with 4 fours and a six.

Ntini was given the man of the match award, his second in IPL, for his good bowling performance and also for the good intelligent fielding and thorw which ran out Irfan Pathan.

Match 58 - Semi Final 2
Venue: Mumbai
Date: May 31, 2008
Teams: Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvaraj Singh
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to bat
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 9 wickets with 31 balls remaining
Man of the Match: M Ntini off Chennai Super Kings (South Africa)
Score:

Kings XI Punjab 112 for 8 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 23, JR Hopes 2, KC Sangakkara 3, Yuvraj Singh 4, DPMD Jayawardene 8, IK Pathan 3, WA Mota 25, PP Chawla 12, RR Powar 28 not out, S Sreesanth 0 not out, Extras-4 (b 2, wide 2), M Muralitharan 4-0-19-1, M Ntini 4-0-23-2, M Gony 4-1-14-2, JA Morkel 4-0-27-2, L Balaji 4-0-27-0) lost to Chennai Super Kings 116 for 1 in 14.5 overs (PA Patel 51 not out, S Vidyut 6, SK Raina 55 not out, Extras-4 (wide 4), IK Pathan 4-0-24-0, S Sreesanth 1-0-7-0, RR Powar 3-0-28-0, VRV Singh 2-0-14-0, JR Hopes 2-0-20-0, PP Chawla 2.5-0-23-0)

Read: Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils

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Middle Order Did not Click: Sehwag

In the post match confernece, the Delhi skipper mentioned that his team's poor performance of middle order batsman costed the match. The Delhi Daredevils dream of entering the finals was shattered after their bowling and batting department collapsed.

He backed his bowlers by saying that they cannot do anything when the batsmen were going against them. "I never once thought the match was in our grasp. After the first three overs when their openers started the assault, whatever our bowlers could do, they tried. But when the batsmen are hitting the bowlers like that, it's difficult. Even veteran McGrath conceded 14 runs in an over," he said.

He further said, "the middle order didn't click for us in the past matches which cost us. The top three batsmen had a lot of pressure and it's not easy to go and perform in all the matches. So if we had a strong middle order batting line-up maybe it would be a different scenario."

He should be ready to focus on the next tour of India and then the next season of IPL.

Read: Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils

Fleming Not Available for Remaining Maches for Chennai!

Stephen Fleming has gone back to New Zealand to see his new born baby. The Chennai Super Kings opener who got his chance to play for Chennai after Hayden returned to Australia for the West Indies tour, scored 196 runs in 10 matches. Though he did not score in many matches, his experience definitely added value to Chennai team.

Chenni has entered the semi-finals by beating Hyderabad Deccan Chargers in the do or die match. Fleming will be missing an important match and crucial game for Chennai. If they beat once again Kings XI, he will also be missing the final game against Rajasthan Royals.

As per team management, there is no time to get a foreign replacement. So, it has decided to provide opportunity to the existing players.

Congratulations Mr. Stephen Fleming!

Match 57, Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Enters Final!

In the first knock-out stage, Rajasthan beat Delhi and entered the finals of the first IPL season. They have beaten comfortably and will wait for a day to see who their opponent will be.

Put into bat, Royals started their innings with the openers crossing 50 for the first wicket. In the crucial game, both Smith and Asnodkar played sensibly and added 65 for the first wicket before Maharoof provided the break through by dismissing Smith caught by Dhawan for 25. In the same over, Asnodkar got out caught by Tiwari for 39 off 21 balls with 6 fours and a six. Though McGrath gave good start for Delhi by just giving 1 run in the first over, he was not able to sustain it. He went for 7 runs including a four in his second over and then for 3 continuous fours by smith.

Asnodkar was dropped on 23 by Maharoof in the fine leg when he tried to pull Mahesh. In the same over he hit a six and a four as Rajasthan reached 58 for no loss in 6 overs.

Sohail Tanvir was sent as number 3 for maintaining the tempo, but he fell chepaly for 5 for Maharoof. Watson and Kaif added 52 runs for the 4th wicket in 29 balls. Dangerous batsman Watson once again proved that he is there for scoring runs as quick as possible. He scored 52 off 29 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes.

Watson went over Mahesh with 2 sixes and a four to score 21 runs in an over. Kaif was bowled by Mishra for 12, once again did not scorre for his team.

Yousuf Pathan continued with ihs form scoring 45 off 21 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes. His innings along with Watson proved vital for Rajasthan and Delhi should accpet that they both took the game away from Delhi Daredevils.

Rajasthan ended their innings with 192 on the board. Maharoof finished with 3 for 34 in his 4 overs.

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Delhi started with their star openers Sehwag and Gambhir. The start was not as good as Delhi would have expected. Sehwag was caught by Kohli off Watson for 3. Gambhir followed him soon in the last ball of the 4th over leaving Delhi struggle at 23 for 2.

Dhawan and Tiwari were not able to withstand the pressure and the huge run chase. They fell for 5 and duck respectively. Dilshan scored 33 and provided some resistence. Karthik, who scored 50 and took Delhi to semi-finals added 10 this time.

All batsman except Gambhir, Dilshan and Kathik, got out for single digit score and that did not do any good for Delhi.

They were bowled out for 87 in 16.1 overs and denied themselves a chance to enter finals.

SR Watson was declared man of the match for his 52 and 3 wickets.

Match 57 - Semi Final 1
Venue: Mumbai
Date: May 31, 2008
Teams: Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils
Captains: Shane Warne and Virendra Sehwag
Toss: Delhi Daredevils and decided to field
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 105 runs
Man of the Match: SR Watson off Rajasthan Royals (Australia)
Score:

Rajasthan Royals 192 for 9 in 20 overs (GC Smith 25, SA Asnodkar 39, Sohail Tanvir 5, SR Watson 52, M Kaif 12, YK Pathan 45, RA Jadeja 7, SK Warne 0, M Rawat 2, MM Patel 0 not out, SK Trivedi 1 not out, Extras-4 (lb 1, wide 3), GD McGrath 4-0-38-0, Mohammad Asif 4-0-32-1, VY Mahesh 4-0-50-2, MH Maharoof 4-0-34-3, A Mishra 4-0-37-2) beat Delhi Daredevils 87 all out in 16.1 overs (G Gambhir 11, V Sehwag 3, S Dhawan 5, MK Tiwary 0, TM Dilshan 33, KD Karthik 10, MF Maharoof 6, A Mishra 2, VY Mahesh 3, Mohammad Asif 3, GD McGrath 4 not out, Extras-7 (lb 3, wide 4), Sohail Tanvir 2-0-16-0, SR Watson 3-0-10-3, MM Patel 4-0-17-3, SK Trivedi 3-0-20-1, SK Warne 4-0-21-2, RA Jadeja 0.1-0-0-0, Yuvaraj Singh 1-0-20-0)

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The second semi final is between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings in the same ground.

Semi Finals Matches!

The first of the semi final match will be held on May 30 and the second semi final on May 31.

1st Semi Final: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils at Mumbai
2nd Semi Final: Kings XI Punjab v. Chennai Super Kings

Match 56: Marsh's Century Helps Kings XI Beat Rajasthan Royals!

Marsh scored the 6th century of the IPL tournament this year. This is first century in the T20. He reached his 50 in 27 balls and touched the 3 figures in 58 balls. He hit 11 fours and 7 sixes in his 115.

Warne and Smith did not play in this match and Watson lead the team. The bowling attack was not that great as Marsh scored all over the ground. The first wicket added 133 runs in 82 balls. Hopes was the first to go caught by Salunkhe off Yousuf Pathan for 51 off 35 balls with 7 fours and a six.

Yuvaraj Singh missed the half century by a run. He smashed quick fire 49 in 16 balls with 2 fours and 6 sixes.

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Though this match is not important in terms of points or securing place in the semi-finals, it is important in terms of playing the semi-finals with a positive mind set and the record of winning.

Rajasthan manged to score just 180. Yousuf Pathan provided good entertainment in the end stage with his 39 off 15 balls with 3 fours 3 sixes. Patel, who opened the innings with Kaif scored 51 off 39 balls with 10 fours.

Match 56
Venue: Mohali
Date: May 28, 2008
Teams: Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals
Captains: Yuvaraj Singh and SR Watson
Toss: Rajasthan Royals and decided to field
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 41 runs
Man of the Match: SE Marsh off Kings XI Punjab (Australia)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Rajasthan Royals-0
Score:

Kings XI Punjab 221 for 3 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 115, JR Hopes 51, Yuvaraj Singh 49, L Pomersbach 1 not out, Extras-5 (lb 1, wide 3, nb 1), MM Patel 4-0-37-0, SR Watson 4-0-40-1, Pankaj Singh 3-0-48-2, D Salunkhe 3-0-23-0, SK Trivedi 4-0-48-0, YK Pathan 2-0-24-1) beat Rajasthan Royals 180 for 7 in 20 overs (M Kaif 1, NK Patel 57, Younis Khan 3, SR Watson 22, YK Pathan 39, Kamran Akmal 24, M Rawat 23 not out, D Salunkhe 6, Pankaj Singh 1 not out, Extras-4 (lb 3, wide 1), IK Pathan 4-0-10-1, S Sreesanth 3-0-44-1, JR Hopes 3-0-29-2, RR Powar 1-0-7-0, VRV Singh 4-0-32-0, PP Chawla 4-0-35-3, Yuvaraj Singh 1-0-20-0)

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Match 55: Mumbai Wins Easily!

In a math which is of less importance to both the teams, except for the difference in Prize Money for a spot between 5th and 6th. Mumabi by winning this game against Bangalore captured the 5th spot, one above Kolkata Knight Riders.

Put into bat, Dravid's team once again failed in a rain delayed match. The rain reduced the match to 18 overs a side. Boucher and Goswami opened the innings, but nothing changed. The first boundary came in the 4th over. Boucher and Misbah got out in the same over, Fernando picked the wickets. Boucher scored 18 and Misbah got out for 0.

White who hit two fours and a six in Kulkarni's over became dangerous, but got out in the next over for 26. Dravid was bowled by Smith for 11.

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Chasing a score of 123 in 18 overs, Jayasuriya and Tendulakar once agains started well. Jayasuriya scored 54 off 37 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes. Tendulkar was not out on 40 in 43 balls with 4 fours and a six. Uthappa not out on 19 off 16 balls with 2 fours and a six.

Match 55
Venue: Bangalore
Date: May 28, 2008
Teams: Bangalore Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians
Captains: Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar
Toss: Mumbai Indians and decided to field
Result: Mumbai Indians won by 9 wickets with 12 balls remaining
Man of the Match: CRD Fernando off Mumbai Indians (Sri Lanka)
Points: Mumbai Indians-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:

Bangalore Royal Challengers 122 for 9 in 18 overs (MV Boucher 18, SP Goswami 20, Misbah-ul-Haq 0,R Dravid 11, CL White 26, V Kohli 0, B Akhil 5, P Kumar 8, R Vinay Kumar 23, A Kumble 0 not out, Extras-11 (wide 10, nb 1), SM Pollock 4-0-23-0, A Nehra 3-0-21-1, CRD Fernando 4-0-18-4, DS Kulkarni 3-0-34-0, DR Smith 4-0-26-3) lost to Mumbai Indians 126 for 1 in 16 overs (ST Jayasuriya 54, SR Tendulkar 40 not out, RV Uthappa 19 not out, Extras-13 (lb 2, wide 11), A Kumble 4-0-45-0, DW Steyn 4-0-14-1, P Kumar 2-0-21-0, R Vinay Kumar 3-0-25-0, B Akhil 3-0-19-0)

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Match 54: Chennai Enter Semi finals! Mumbai Out!

In the crucial do or die situation, Chennai Super Kings today beat Deccan Chargers and stormed into the semi finals. With this victory, Chennai has went to third place behind Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI. The last position is occupied by Delhi Daredevils.

Mumbai has one more match to be played against Bangalore Royal Challengers, which is insignificant to both the teams in terms of qualifying for the semi-finals.

Deciding to bat first, Deccan Chargers started their innings slowly. They lost Gibbs in the 3rd over, trying to cut it over point, he was caught at third man for the second time.

Gilchrist trying to slog was also caught at third man in the next over. End of 10 overs, Deccan were 57 for 2.

Styris was bowled by Muralitharan for 20 in the 11th over. Venugopal Rao played his usual agressive innings. He started little slow because of the fall of 3 wickets in 11 overs for 57 with just 57 on board.

The 14th over bowled by Balaji gave momentum to Deccan Chargers. Venugopal hit him for a six over extra cover. Teja hit a four of the last ball to score 14 runs in that over and take the score to 85 for 3 at the end of 14 overs.

The 15th and 16th over added 8 and 11 runs respectively. End of 16 overs, Deccan Chargers were 104 for 3.

The 18th over by Balaji added 15 to Deccan's total including a six and four by Teja.

Chennai is known for hat-trick now. It recorded a team hat-trick with Teja getting out in the 3rd ball off Morkel caught by Mukund. The next ball was a run out of Venugopal Rao. Going for the second run, he was short by a milli-metre. Yadav was bowled in the next ball, losing his leg stump. Three balls, three wickets.

But, RP Singh hit a six of the last ball in the 19th over which took the score to 140 for 6. The last over by Balaji added 7 to the total with 2 wickets to his credit. Deccan Charges finished their 20 overs with 147 for 8.

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Chennai started well with a 26-run first wicket partnership. Fleming trying to square cut the ball, was caught behind of a thick outside edge of Vijaykumar.

At the end of power play, Chennai were cruising well with 44 for 1. Patel and Raina added 34 for the 2nd wicket in 31 balls.

Patel was caught at extra covers off Sarvesh Kumar by Shahid Afridi for 20. Dhoni promoted himself up the order one more time and he played sensibly. Dhoni was dropped the first ball he faced by Sarvesh Kumar on his own bowling and it went for a four. The next ball took outside edge and went for another four, Dhoni 8 off 2 balls.

When the score was on 115 in 15.1 overs, Dhoni tried to attack Ojha and went over long on, but was caught by Gibbs. He scored 37 off 25 balls with 4 fours and a six. Though the intention was right, but it put pressure on Morkel and Raina in the next few overs.

Last 4 overs required 31 runs. Styris bowled a very good over and Chennai scored just 3 runs.

28 required of 18 balls. Ohja's over added 11 to the total including a boundary over mid wicket. Equation reduced to 17 of 12 balls.

The caught and bowled chance was missed by RP Singh of the first ball. It bounced from his hand and went to mid on and the fielder had enough time to hit the stumps and he missed it. Two chances in one ball to send Raina to pavilion missed.

Three runs were scored in the next ball. The boundary was saved in the point. The fourth ball took the inside edge of Morkel and went to fine leg boundary.

Last over required 7 runs and Vijaykumar had the ball. The first ball was a single by Morkel and the next ball was a huge six over long on by Raina to give victory and semi-final birth to Chennai. It means, Mumbai has no more chance of entering semi-finals. With that winning six, Raina reached his 50 in 43 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. He was rightly declared man of the match.

Match 54
Venue: Hyderabad
Date: May 27, 2008
Teams: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and Chennai Super Kings
Captains: Adam Gilchrist and Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to bat
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 7 wickets with 4 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Suresh Raina off Chennai Super Kings (India)
Points: Chennai Super Kings-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 147 for 8 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 5, HH Gibbs 8, SB Styris 20, Y Venugopal Rao 46, DB Ravi Teja 40, Shahid Afridi 1, AS Yadav 0, RP Singh 10, PP Ojha 1 not out, Extras-16 (b 1, lb 8, wide 7), M Ntini 4-0-24-1, M Gony 4-0-21-1, JA Morkel 4-0-37-2, M Muralitharan 4-0-22-1, L Balaji 4-0-34-2) lost to Chennai Super Kings 148 for 3 in 19.2 overs (PA Patel 20, SP Fleming 14, SK Raina 54 not out, MS Dhoni 37, JA Morkel 12 not out, NK Patel 40 not out, Extras-11 (lb 3, wide 8), RP Singh 4-0-32-0, DP Vijaykumar 3.2-0-32-1, Shahid Afridi 3-0-19-0, PM Sarvesh Kumar 2-0-18-1, PP Ojha 4-0-28-1, SB Styris 3-0-16-0)

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Chennai in Do-or-Die Match!

In the crucial encounter today in the IPL league match, it is almost like a quarter final for Chennai. They have to win their game against Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, who has nothing to lose regardless of the result.

The last ball defeat for Mumbai Indians has pushed Delhi Daredevils into Semi-Finals.

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Delhi has 15 points from their 14 games. But Chennai and Mumbai Indians have one game left. Chenni has 14 points and Mumbai has 12 points. If Chennai win their game against Deccan Chargers, they will qualify to Semi-Finals with 16 points regardless of a win to Mumbai, which would end ther 14 games with 14 points.

If Chennai loses and if Mumbai wins, then net run rate comes into play. If Mumbai lose thier last match against Bangalore Royal Challengers, Chennai qualifies as they are already leading in points.

Let us see whether Chennai Super Kings lead by Indian Skipper Dhoni can withstand the pressure and enter the last four. Please remember that in the last encounter in Chennai between these two teams, Deccan beat Chennai by 7 wickets with 12 balls to spare.

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Match 53: Rajasthan Win the Last Ball Thriller! One More Last Ball Loss for Sachin!

What a match! The last ball win is always a good food for eyes and emotions in cricket, especially when the home team wins it!

In a tight game where it is crucial for Mumbai, lost the game in the last ball, one more time! Last time it was against Kings XI where they did not score the run, and this time, they gave 2 runs off the last ball.

Last over requiring 15 runs, with two inexperienced international players in the crease. Fernando, the Sri Lankan fast bowler had the ball in hand.

First ball was a single by Patel on a full toss. The second ball took inside edge of Jadeja and went to fine leg where Nehra did a wonderful diving stop to save the boundary, but the batsmen run three.

11 required off 4 balls; Patel hit a six over long on. It was pitched up and it was lofted over long on.

5 required off 3 balls; Single was scored off next ball; 4 required off 2 balls.

1 run scored off a full toss by sending it to third man; they run the first run faster but couldn't come back for two.

3 runs required of the last ball; Fernando bowled down the leg and it was declared wide. Poor bowling from an experienced bowler.

2 runs required of last ball; Tension everywhere!

Patel tried to pull it, but the mistimed shot went left of Fernando who could have stopped it easily and in fact could have run out one of them and saved the game for Mumbai. He missed it and the ball went to long on. The batsman run for a single and return for second. The ball thrown to Jayasuriya at the bowlers end, where he misses to collect it cleanly and they complete the second run. The ball pops out of Jayasuriya's hand and the run out chance was missed. Nothing was going in favor of Mumbai. If Fernando or Jayasuriya picked the ball neatly, it would have been in favor of Mumbai or at least would have gone for bowl-out.

Now, Mumbai has to win their next game against Bangalore Royal Challengers and have Chennai lose their game against Deccan Chargers.

For once thought to be an easy target of 146, Rajasthan messed it up with poor shot selection. Kamran Akmal got out in a peculiar fashion. The ball was hit to point by Asnodkar and they wnet for the run. Pandey hit the stumps direct at the striker's end where Akmal was trying to ignore the ball, jumped in the air and the bat was also not grouded.

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Patel top scored with 40 not out for Rajasthan and Jadeja scored 23 not out.

Earlier, put into bat, Mumbai started the innings slowly. Jayasuriya was not able to time the ball and lot of shots was mistimed. The ball did not come to the bat and that added to the problem for hte batsman.

Jayasuriya scored 38 and Sachin 30. At the end of 10 overs, Mumbai were 60 for no loss. They lost wickets going for runs in the next 10 overs and were struggling at 120 for 7 in 19 overs. It was the last over which turned the match and gave hope to Mumbai. Takawale, the Mumbai wicket keeper scored 25 runs in the last over bowled by Watson.

The first ball was a top edge of the bouncer and went over keeper's head for a four. The second ball was another bouncer and called no ball and one run scored. Raje scored a single to give strike to Takawale.

Third ball was a six over long off. The slower ball was picked very well. Fourth ball was a boundary at backward point. The fifth took an edge and went over keeper's head for anothe rboundary. Last ball was a full toss and sent over ponit for hat-trick four. 25 runs in the last over and took the total to 145.

Sohail Tanvir once again bowled a superb spell containing Mumbai Indians in the early part of the innings. He has been chosen as the man of the match and will be given the Purple Cap for securing most wickets in the IPL as of this match.

With this win at home, Rajasthan Royals have won 6 out of 7 of their matches at home, which is a record in the IPL.

Match 53
Venue: Jaipur
Date: May 26, 2008
Teams: Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians
Captains: Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar
Toss: Rajasthan Royals and decided to field
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 5 wickets with 0 ball remaining
Man of the Match: Sohail Tanvir off Rajasthan Royals (Pakistan)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Mumbai Indians-0
Score:

Mumbai Indians 145 for 7 in 20 overs (ST Jayasuriya 38, SR Tendulkar 30, AM Nayar 25, RV Uthappa 3, DR Smith 8, SM Pollock 0, M Pandey 3, YV Takawale 24 not out, RR Raje 1 not out, Extras-13 (lb 6, wide 6, nb 1), Sohail Tanvir 4-0-14-4, SR Watson 3-0-30-0, Pankaj Singh 2-0-25-0, YK Pathan 3-0-9-0, SK Trivedi 4-0-31-2, SK Warne 4-0-30-1) lost to Rajasthan Royals 146 for 5 in 20 overs (Kamran Akmal 18, SA Asnodkar 17, YK Pathan 2, SR Watson 18, M Kaif 12, RA Jadeja 23 not out, NK Patel 40 not out, Extras-16 (b 4, lb 6, wide 5, nb 1), SM Pollock 4-0-26-0, A Nehra 3-0-18-0, CRD Fernando 4-0-27-2, DR Smith 2-0-16-0, AM Nayar 1-0-4-0, RR Raje 4-0-37-1, ST Jayasuriya 2-0-8-0)

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Match 52: Ganguly Steers Last Over Victory for Kolkata!

From nowhere, skipper of Kolkata Knight Riders Sourav Ganguly, the prince of Kolkata and also fondly called as "DADA" pulled the game in favor of his team. With 71 runs required of last 5 overs and with 5 wickets in hand, Kolkata lost Akash Chopra in the 3rd ball. But, Umar Gul, the new batsman in the crease initiated the attack with two continous sixes of the 5th and 6th ball.

Last 4 overs required 57. Ganguly opened up in this over by Chawla. He hit him for a six in the first ball over long on. The second ball was a four to square leg. The third ball was another six over mid wicket. Ganguly fires! Brings the crowd alive!

39 required off 18 balls. Sreesanth bowled the first three balls sensibly giving away just two singles. Umar Gul too the chance and hit him for a four to mid wicket. The slower ball was picked well by Umar and sent for six and hte last ball was a leg bye to fine leg. Poor bowling.

23 required of 12 balls. Umar Gul got out in the 3rd ball caught at long off by Powar off VRV Singh. Ganguly hit a four of the next ball.

Last over, 15 required, 3 wickets in hand. Pathan bowling to Ganguly. Six off the first ball! WoW! What a shot! Six over deep square leg. The next ball was a full toss at waist level, but not called a no-ball. It went to mid wicket for two runs.

7 required of 4 balls. Ganguly gives room and the ball pitched outside off was lofted over bowlers head for a six! That was a super shot and turned the match in favor of Kolkata!

1 required of 3 balls. Next ball was easily pushed to cover and an easy single taken and victory to Kolkata. Sharukh Khan should be a happy man with his team winning again!

Umar Gul declared man of the match for taking 4 wickets and scoring 24 off 11 balls with 1 four and 3 sixes and giving a chacne to KKR.

Though this win is not going to change anything in the semi-final chances for both the teams, it is very important in terms of boosting the morale for the players. Kings XI already qualified for semi-finals and Kolkata is not part of it.

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Earlier, Marsh scored 40 off 31 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. Sangakkara top scored with 63 off 45 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Yuvaraj Singh once again failed with his bat scoring just 27 off 18 balls with 3 fours and a six.

Umar Gul picked 4 wickets giving just 23 runs in his 4 overs.



Match 52
Venue: Kolkata
Date: May 25, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Sourav Ganguly and Yuvaraj Singh
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to bat
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 3 wickets with 2 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Umar Gul off Kolkata Knight Riders (Pakistan)
Points: Kolkata Knight Riders-2; Kings XI Punjab-0
Score:

Kings XI Punjab 174 for 6 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 40, JR Hopes 13, KC Sangakkara 64, Yuvraj Singh 27, DPMD Jayawardene 11 not out, IK Pathan 7, PP Chawla 0, TM Srivastava 1 not out, Extras-11 (lb 1, wide 10), Umar Gul 4-0-23-4, I Sharma 4-0-49-0, BAW Mendis 4-0-24-1, AB Dinda 2-0-18-0, DJ Hussey 4-0-36-0, LR Shukla 2-0-23-0) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 175 for 7 in 19.4 overs (SC Ganguly 86 not out, Salman Butt 24, DB Das 0, DJ Hussey 12, LR Shukla 5, WP Saha 13, A Chopra 2, Umar Gul 24, I Sharma 0 not out, Extras-9 (lb 5, wide 4), IK Pathan 3.4-0-36-0, S Sreesanth 4-0-33-2, RR Powar 2-0-14-0, VRV Singh 4-0-28-2, PP Chawla 4-0-36-2, JR Hopes 2-0-23-1)

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Match 51: Bangalore Win One More!

Akhil's quick fire 27 off 7 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes helped Bangalore Royal Challengers had the last laugh. The last 5 overs required 60 runs, with 2 runs per ball.

Dravid hit 3 continuous fours of Bangar and got out in the next ball. He scored 31 off 21 balls with 3 fours and a six. Kohli hit a four off the last ball to reduce the targt to 43 from 4 overs.

White hit a boundary off the first ball of Vijaykumar's over and the next ball was a six over long on. Singles were take rest of the overs and target reduced to 29 from 18 balls.

Kohli hit a four of the first ball of Vaas and got out immediately. Akhil hit 2 fours in the same over and reduced the target to 16 off 12 balls.

Akhil hit 3 sixes in the 19th over of Silva to give victory to Bangalore Royal Challenger with 6 balls to spare.

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Earlier, Jaffer coming after injury, couldn't find his form as he lost his wicket for 5 runs. Kallis and Misbah-ul-Haq scored 31 and 34 respectively.

Deccan Chargers had a good start with a 101-run first wicket partnership off 68 balls. Gilchrist scored 46 off 37 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes and Gibbs scored 47 off 34 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes.

Surprisingly, Dravid had Kumble open the bowling with the new ball for Bangalore. You should say that it worked for him.

Venugopal Rao fired a 26 off 12 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes.

Match 51
Venue: Hyderabad
Date: May 25, 2008
Teams: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Adam Gilchrist and Rahul Dravid
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to bat
Result: Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 5 wickets with 6 balls remaining
Man of the Match: R Vinaykumar off Bangalore Royal Challengers (India)
Points: Bangalore Royal Challengers-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 165 all out in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 46, HH Gibbs 47, RG Sharma 17, LPC Silva 0, Y Venugopal Rao 26, DB Ravi Teja 7, AS Yadav 8, SB Bangar 0, WPUJC Vaas 0, RP Singh 1, DP Vijaykumar 0 not out, Extras-13 (lb 3, wide 8, nb 2), A Kumble 4-0-33-1, DW Steyn 4-0-19-2, JH Kallis 1.2-0-19-0, V Kohli 3.4-0-25-2, R Vinay Kumar 4-0-27-3, B Akhil 3-0-39-0) lost to Bangalore Royal Challengers 171 for 5 in 19 overs (JH Kallis 31, W Jaffer 5, Misbah-ul-Haq 34, R Dravid 31, CL White 31 not out, V Kohli 9, B Akhil 27 not out, Extras-3 (lb 3), WPUJC Vaas 4-0-36-1, RP Singh 3-0-15-0, SB Bangar 4-0-30-1, DP Vijaykumar 4-0-29-0, Y Venugopal Rao 1-0-18-0, DB Ravi Teja 2-0-19-1, LPC Silva 1-0-21-0)

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Match 50: Mumbai Stunned! Delhi Wins and retains Semi-Finals Chance!

In a crucial encounter, Delhi won their match against Mumbai Indians and retained their chance for semi-finals. Now, their only hope is that Chennai should lose their match against Deccan Chargers.

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Sehwag did not help with the bat, but Dinesh Karthik proved that he is worth for Delhi and helped see through the victory. He played brilliant shots--pull, scoop over fine leg and took the match away from Mumbai. Dinesh scored his first 50, and he scored 56 not out off 32 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes.

For Mumbai, Jayasuriya once again played a firing knock. He scored 66 off 42 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes. Uthappa scored 46 not out off 23 balls.

Match 50
Venue: Delhi
Date: May 24, 2008
Teams: Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians
Captains: Virendra Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar
Toss: Delhi Daredevils and decided to field
Result: Delhi Daredevils won by 5 wickets with 1 ball remaining
Man of the Match: KD Karthik off Delhi Daredevils (India)
Points: Delhi Daredevils-2; Mumbai Indians-0
Score:

Mumbai Indians 176 for 8 in 20 overs (ST Jayasuriya 66, SR Tendulkar 18, DR Smith 17, RV Uthappa 46 not out, AM Nayar 1, SM Pollock 16, SD Chitnis 3, P Shah 0, A Nel 0, Extras-9 (lb 1, wide 7, nb 1), GD McGrath 4-0-39-0, B Geeves 4-0-50-1, MF Maharoof 4-0-27-1, VY Mahesh 4-0-36-4, A Mishra 4-0-23-1) lost to Delhi Daredevils 179 for 5 in 19.5 overs (G Gambhir 19, V Sehwag 18, S Dhawan 27, MK Tiwary 36, TM Dilshan 0, KD Karthik 56 not out, MF Maharoof 20 not out, Extras-3 (lb 2, wide 1), SM Pollock 3-0-33-0, A Nehra 3.5-0-30-1, A Nel 3-0-31-1, DS Kulkarni 3-0-26-0, DR Smith 3-0-22-2, ST Jayasuriya 4-0-35-0)

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Match 49: Rajasthan Royals Continue Winning! Chennai miss the thriller!

In the crucial match, Chennai Super Kings has lost an opportunity one more time to confirm their birth to the semi-finals. They lost the easy target of 128 against Bangalore Royal Challengers and they lost this match by 10 runs against Rajasthan Royals.

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One more match for Chennai with last over requiring 15 runs. They won one of the three such matches. They won against Delhi when M Gony hit Shoaib Malik for 15 runs. They scored only 4 runs including one waist height no ball and lost two wickets.

JA Morkel top scored for Chennai with 71 off 40 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes. Parthiv Patel scored 54 off 40 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. SK Raina added 45 off 24 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. Sohail Tanvir picked 3 wickets for 33 runs.

For Rajasthan, after deciding to bat, Smith scored a brilliant 91 off 51 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes. The first wicket added 127 in 11.1 overs and Asnodkar scored 41 of those in 27 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. Kamran Akmal fired a quick fire 53 off 28 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes.

JA Morkel picked 2 for 35 in 4 overs and has been declared man of the match.

Now, Chennai has only two options to enter semi-finals:

Delhi Daredevils has to lose their match against Mumbai Indians or Chennai has to win their last match against Deccan Chargers!

Match 48
Venue: Chennai
Date: May 24, 2008
Teams: Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals
Captains: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Shane Warne
Toss: Rajasthan Royals and decided to bat
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 10 runs
Man of the Match: JA Morkel off Chennai Super Kings (South Africa)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Chennai Super Kings-0
Score:

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 175 for 4 in 20 overs (GC Smith 91, SA Asnodkar 41, Kamran Akmal 53 not out, YK Pathan 6, M Kaif 10, T Kohli 3, Extras-7 (lb 5, wide 1, nb 1), M Ntini 4-0-43-0, M Gony 3-0-32-0, JA Morkel 4-0-35-2, M Muralitharan 4-0-31-0, L Balaji 3-0-45-0, SK Raina 2-0-20-1) beat Chennai Super Kings 201 for 7 in 20 overs (PA Patel 54, SP Fleming 7, SK Raina 45, JA Morkel 71, MS Dhoni 12, S Badrinath 1, M Gony 2 not out, A Mukund 0, Extras-9 (b 1, lb 2, wide 3, nb 3), Sohail Tanvir 4-0-33-3, YK Pathan 3-0-31-0, MM Patel 4-0-55-1, Pankan Singh 4-0-30-0, SK Warne 4-0-35-2, D Salunkhe 1-0-14-0)

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Match 48: Kings XI Enters Semi-Finals! Still No Luck for Deccan Chargers!

Kings XI beat Deccan Chargers by 6 wickets and confirmed their place in the semi-finals. Though Deccan Chargers had no chance of entering the last four teams, they were playing for gaining some pride by winning their last few matches.

Chasing the target of 176, Marsh, who won his 4th man of the match award in this match, smashed another 50 to his credit. Sangakkar and Marsh added 84 for the first wicket. Sangakkara scored 50 off 25 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Vijaykumar once again proved costly. He went for 24 runs in his 2 overs. Venugopal Raowent for 23 in his 2 overs.

Yuvaraj Singh trying to for a six was caught at deep mid wicket for 17. The danger batsman Pomersbach was caught by Sharma at long on for 13.

Jayawardane and Chawla scored the remainig runs. Though Deccan Chargers had a ray of hope when the required runs equated to 27 off 18 balls.

RP Singh bowled a tight over and gave 6 runs. Two overs, 21 required. Styris once again did not bowl well in the crucial stage. He should have used his experienced and helped Deccan Chagers, but once again he failed. I think he should not be retained towards the end. He conceeded 16 runs including 2 sixes.

Last over required 5 runs and Kings XI did not make mistake in scoring them. They finished it in 3rd ball.

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Earlier, put into bat, Deccan Chargers had a good start, the best for them in this IPL. Gilly and Gibbs added 79 in 67 balls for the first wicket. Gilly reached his 50 in 42 balls with 6 fours and a six.

Gibbs was the first man to get out bowled by Gangandeep Singh for 44 off 34 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes.

Rohit Sharma once again proved his class with another half-century. He hit four sixes and won the maximum sixes award.

With this win, Kings XI secured their place for the semi-finals. They are in second position below Rajasthan Royals. Though both of them have same points, Rajasthan is leading the table with higher net run rate.

Match 48
Venue: Mohali
Date: May 23, 2008
Teams: Kings XI Punjab and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
Captains: Yuvaraj Singh and Adam Gilchrist
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to field
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets with 3 balls remaining
Man of the Match: SE Marsh off Kings XI Punjab (Australia)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 175 for 4 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 50, HH Gibbs 44, RG Sharma 50, Y Venugopal Rao 2, LPC Silva 23 not out, SB Styris 1 not out, Extras-5 (lb 4, wide 1), S Sreesanth 4-0-29-1, VRV Singh 4-0-40-0, RR Powar 4-0-20-1, PP Chawla 4-0-31-0, Gangandeep Singh 3-0-33-1, Yuvaraj Singh 1-0-18-0) lost to Kings XI Punjab 178 for 4 in 19.3 overs (SE Marsh 60, KC Sangakkara 50, Yuvraj Singh 17, LA Pomersbach 13, DPMD Jayawardene 14 not out, PP Chawla 16 not out, Extras-8 (lb 3, wide 5), RP Singh 3.3-0-37-0, DP Vijaykumar 2-0-24-0, Y Venugopal Rao 2-0-23-0, SB Styris 4-0-36-1, RG Sharma 4-0-25-1, PP Ojha 4-0-30-2)

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Match 47: Rain Spoils Kolkata's Mild Chance! Delhi Should Win!

The match between Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders was the first ever IPL match to be completely abandoned due to rain. The continuous rain in Delhi did not allow the groundsmen to make the play possible.

What the rain means to each team? Kolkata Knight Riders is out of IPL, though they still have one more game to go. They do not have any chance of entering the semi-final spot. As of now, they have 11 points with 5 win and even if they win their final match against Kings XI Punjba in Kolkata on May 25.

As far as Delhi Daredevils is concerned, they are with 13 points and if they win their final match against Mumbai Indians at Delhi on 24th, they will be ending their IPL league with 15 points. They will have the chance of entering if Chennai Super Kings lose both of their remaining matches.

Regardles of Delhi's win against Mumbai Indians, if Chennai wins one of their match, they will be through to Semi Finals and it will be between Delhi and Mumbai!

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Do or Die for Kolkata and Delhi!

In the crucial encounter today, to stay in the competition, Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders take on each other. Delhi has the advantage of playing at home ground. In the preivous encounter played, Kolkata playing in their home ground, won by 23 runs. Shoaib Akhtar took 4 wickets in his IPL debut match.

Kolkata made 133 and Delhi were bundled out for 110 in 17.5 overs.

If Kolkaka wins against Delhi and also against Kings XI on May 25, they will end with 7 wins and 14 ponits.

Kolkata winning against Delhi means, they lose one game and Delhi win their last match against Mumbai, they will also end with 7 wins and 14 ponits.

With Mumbai losing to Delhi and winning one of their match against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on 26th or Bangalore Royal Challengers on 28th in Bangalore would take them to 7 wins with 14 points. It is very unlikely that Mumbai win only one of their 3 and assuming that they win 2, they go to Semi Finals along with Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab.

The only team to be fighting for this fourth spot will be Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, and Kolkata Knight Riders.

In case if Kolkata loses to Delhi, they will be out of IPL, even if they win against Kings XI. In this scenario, they will end with 6 wins and 12 points, but other teams already have more than 6 wins.

In that case, the final spot wold be fought between Delhi and Chennai.

Will have more information after the match between Delhi and Kolkata!

As of now, Rajasthan Royals lead and coached by Shane Warne has qualified for semi finals. The remaining teams are still to be identified. It is a sport, cricket, anything can happen!

It is also confirmed that both Bangalore Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers are out of competition for semi-final birth!

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Match 46: Chennai's Complecent! Loses to Bangalore! Dravid Happy!

Has complacency set-in in the minds of Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings team? An easy target to chase, pitch is good, though not great, confirmed birth for semi-finals. Every Chennai Supporter had a great shock on the attitude of the Chennai players.

Chasing 127 in 20 overs in a T20 game is easy including regular 50 overs match. The start was good, both Fleming and Parthiv Patel played very well to bring the score to 44 at the end of power play. With 14 overs, 83 to win, with all the 10 wickets in hand, no team would miss it. Today was an exception for Chennai and the day belong to Bangalore! Sure they were expecting another defeat until they got the wicket of Morkel.

The break through came in the form of luck for Kumble and Bangalore. It is like self-goal in football or hockey. The drive by Patel went straight to Kumble for an easy caught and bowled chance, but be missed it and ball popped out of his hands and hit Fleming, the non-striker and rebound in the air again. This time Kumble held it easily. At the end of 10 overs, Chennai were 61 for 1, requiring 66 in 60 balls.

Dhoni got out to a rash shot. He did not time the lofted shot well and gave a simple catch to Kumble at long on.

Fleming hit a six and a four of Vinaykumar in the 13th over. When he gave room for himself to take a full toss and hit it on the leg side. He misses the shot and last his leg stump, which hit keeper Boucher knees, who suffers in real pain. Fleming lost the grip of the bat and it was flying in the air. Umpires found that there were only 3 players in the 30 yard circle and call a no ball. Lucky Fleming. Bats again.

With all this luck where Patel was dropped and Fleming out on a no ball, Chennai should have won this game!

The luck did not continue for Fleming as he was out sweeping Kumble and caught at deep square leg. He scored 45 off 40 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. He won the award for DLF most sixes!

In the same over last ball, the final over for Kumble, Badrinath tried to play the sweep, but got trapped plumb in front of the wicket. Two wickets in an over! Bangalore is getting back in the game! Their confidence level goes up!

Steyn was brought in to bowl the 16th over. The good bouncer was well handled by Morkel but it went straight to Vinaykumar in deep square leg. Unnecessary short at this stage as Chennai needed only 34 from 28 balls--not difficult in T20.

Steyn's bowled another short ball to Vidyut and he tried to pull. The ball hit the top of the bat and went straight to short midwicket where Kallis took a good one handed diving catch. One more 2-wicket over for Bangalore.

End of over 16, Chennai were 93 for 6, requiring 34 from 24 balls. Raina hit a boundary of Kallis in the 2nd ball, but did not utilize the rest of the overs. Just with another single, that over added 5 to the total. 29 off 3 overs.

Praven Kumar bowled the 18th over and was smashed for two boundaries by Raina and Gony. With a wide and single, alredy 10 runs of that over in 3 balls, Gony should have played sensible to retain his wicket for other overs. He tried to hit another four of a shot ball and mistimed it and Steyn took the catch near the circle at mid off.

Two overs, 18 runs, 3 wickets in hand. Steyn bowled the penultimate over and gave just 2 runs and Balaji was run out. Last over, 16 runs with 2 wickets.

Raina trying for scoring all the runs of Praveen Kumar, could not do much on the yorker length deliveries. Though singles could have been taken in the first two balls, he did not go for it as he was not confident of Nitni.

Third ball was a single and no run on the fourth ball, victory to Bangalore!

No run was scored in the last two balls and Bangalore takes two points and moves one place above in the points table. Dravid is a happy man and was seen pumping in the air just before the last ball.

Earlier, deciding to bat, Bangalore started slow. They never looked dangerous. Kallis was caught at slip by Fleming of Gony. In the next over, Fleming dropped a sitter in slips for Goswami. In the 6th over, Goswami walked himself though umpire ruled him not out for a caught behind appeal. He showed the spirit!

Dravid alone looked dangerous. He found his form and was playing like a real T20 player! He played great innings in the last few matches, though it did not help his team to win.

Misbha, who scored 47 in the previous match, could not continue his form. The outswinger pitched on the off, took the edge of Misbha and went to the right of Patel, who took a brilliant one handed diving catch.

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Dravid hit at least one boundary in regular intervals, almost in every over. He hit two continuous fours of Balaji to take Bangalore to 87 at the end of 16 overs. He was caught at short extra cover by Dhoni of Morkel for 47 off 39 balls with 5 fours.

Praveen Kumar hit two fours of Nitni and then a four and a six of Balaji. Those two overs added 24 to the total.

Last over was bowled by Morkel. Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar got out in consecutive deliveries, giving hat-trick chance to Morkel. Praveen was bowled of a yorker and Vinay, trying to slog, saw his off stump flying.

Kumble scored two runs in the next ball and prevented hat-trick. It was almost half-a-chance but missed by Muralitharan.

Kumble was declared man of the match for his 3 wickets.

Match 46
Venue: Chennai
Date: May 21, 2008
Teams: Chenani Super Kings and Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rahul Dravid
Toss: Bangalore Royal Challengers and decided to bat
Result: Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 14 run
Man of the Match: Anil Kumble off Bangalore Royal Challengers (India)
Points: Bangalore Royal Challengers-2; Chenani Super Kings-0
Score:

Bangalore Royal Challengers 126 for 8 in 20 overs (JH Kallis 5, SP Goswami 10, V Kohli 10, R Dravid 47, Misbah-ul-Haq 4, MV Boucher 17, B Akhil 6 not out, P Kumar 21, R Vinay Kumar 0, A Kumble 2 not out, Extras-4 (lb 3, wide 1), M Ntini 4-0-27-0, M Gony 4-1-11-2, M Muralitharan 4-0-19-1, L Balaji 4-0-34-1, JA Morkel 4-0-32-4) beat Chenani Super Kings 112 for 8 in 20 overs (PA Patel 24, SP Fleming 45, MS Dhoni 4, SK Raina 21 not out, S Badrinath 1, JA Morkel 1, S Vidyut 0, M Gony 4, L Balaji 0, M Ntini 0 not out, Extras-12 (lb 2, wide 8, nb 2), DW Steyn 4-0-28-2, P Kumar 4-0-26-1, A Kumble 4-0-14-3, JH Kallis 4-0-15-0, R Vinay Kumar 3-0-23-1, B Akhil 1-0-4-0)

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Match 45: Kings XI Wins the Last Ball Thriller by 1 Run!

In another crucial match, Mumbai Indians lost the chance of registering their 7th consecutive win! They have opened up the chance for Kolkata and Delhi for the semi-final spot.

Requiring 19 of the last over with 3 wickets in hand. VRV Singh had the ball; Chitnis hit a six over third man of the waist high no ball. 12 off 6 balls;

The next ball was scooped over extra cover of a full toss where Srivatsava did not judge it right and it went for a four. 8 off 5 balls;

Chitnis is gone in the next ball; trying for the 2nd run after hitting the ball to cover, Srivatsava did the right job throwing hit to the keeper's end; 7 off 4 balls

A bye of the 2nd ball to reduce the target to 6 off 3 balls; still 2 wickets in hand;

Fernando plays the ball to deep cover and tried for the 3rd run, but found short of his crease. 4 runs of 2 balls; 1 wicket in hand

VRV Singh's unnecessary throw gives one extra run; last ball 2 runs; last wicket

Good fielding at mid-off by Yuvaraj Singh and coming to the stumps and knocking down all the three stumps to run out Yeligati. The drive was mistimed and went straight to mid-off and he was not running as fast as he wished. Kings XI win by 1 run.

The 19th over added just 4 runs to the total, which created lot of pressure in the last over.



Earlier in the innings, Tendulkar found his form with his wonderful 65 off 46 balls with 12 fours. He reached his 50 in 38 balls with 10 fours. When Uthappa called for a single and later sent Tendulkar, it was too late and Pathan sent a direct hit to send the master batsman. That was the turning point of the match!

Jayasuria got out early on 20, with a four and 2 sixes. He is leading the number of sixes by any batsman in IPL.

Smith and Nayar scored 20 and 27 respectivly. Mumbai team saw 5 run outs in their innings. The running between the wickets and judgment should definitely improve.

Sreesanth, though picked Jayasuriya intelligently through a slower leg spin, he was hammered for a four and 2 sixes in the 5th over, which created the momentum for Mumbai. In the last over of the power play bowled by VRV Singh, Tendulkar took his turn and smashed 3 fours. VRV Singh was not bowling well, though he was picked to bowl the last over and he gave victory to Kings XI. He went for 12 in his first over and then 9 runs in his second, 19 in the third. He was hit for 2 consecutive sixes by Nayar and then four of the last ball by Tendulkar.

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Earlier, put into bat, Kings XI Punjab posted 189 in the board. Marsh scored a brilling 81. His excellenr form continues. Though Hopes was out in the first over itself, Marsh and Pomersbach steadied the innings with a 133-run partnership in 86 balls for the 2nd wicket. Marsh crossed his 50 in 35 balls with 6 fours and a six and Pomersbach did his 50 in 48 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes.

The 100 run partnership came in 70 balls between the two. The last four overs added 50 runs to the total of Kings XI. Though Yuvaraj and Jayawardane got out during these overs, Irfan Pathan and Pomersbach hammered the bowlers for fours and sixes.

The last over bowled by Nehra turned the game and boosted the confidence of Kings XI. He started with a wide costing 2 runs and then 2 singles followed by a four, six and four in the last ball.

One mistake that could have been prevented by Tendulkar was the bowling option of the last over. He chose Nehra instead of Pollock. Pollock is more experienced than Nehra and he bowled well in the last match and also in the current match in his first 3 overs giving away just 14 and taking a wicket.

Sreesanth was given the purple cap for leading the wickets tally. Marsh was awarded man of the match for his wonderful batting skills and giving a fighting total on the board.

During the presentation party, Yuvaraj hit at the Mumbai crowd. His words showed that he was not a happy man inspite of the victory. Of course, victory along cannot give happiness, it is about how you celebrate it! He said, "I want to tell the crowd that the crowd support was too one sided towards Mumbai. Let me remind them that some of the Punjab players also play for India."

Match 45
Venue: Mumbai
Date: May 21, 2008
Teams: Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvaraj Singh
Toss: Mumbai Indians and decided to field
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 1 run
Man of the Match: SE Marsh off Kings XI Punjab (Australia)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Mumbai Indians-0
Score:

Kings XI Punjab 189 for 4 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 81, JR Hopes 0, LA Pomersbach 79 not out, Yuvraj Singh 7, DPMD Jayawardene 1, IK Pathan 9 not out, Extras-12 (lb 3, wide 9), SM Pollock 3-0-14-1, A Nehra 3-0-34-0, VS Yeligati 4-0-43-0, SD Chitnis 4-0-40-2, CRD Fernando 4-0-36-1, DR Smith 2-0-19-0) beat Mumbai Indians 189 all out in 20 overs (ST Jayasuriya 20, SR Tendulkar 65, DR Smith 20, AM Nayar 27, RV Uthappa 9, SM Pollock 0, P Shah 5, SD Chitnis 15, CRD Fernando 2 not out, A Nehra 0, VS Yeligati 2, Extras-23 (b 1, lb 12, wide 9, nb 1), S Sreesanth 4-0-35-2, IK Pathan 4-0-37-0, VRV Singh 4-0-56-0, PP Chawla 4-0-22-1, JR Hopes 2-0-13-0, Yuvaraj Singh 2-0-12-2)

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Match 44: Rajasthan Wins! Moves to Semi! Kolkata Virtually Out of IPL!

In the crucial encounter, Kolkata Knight Riders scored 147 after put into bat by Warne. Hafeez was out in the 2nd over trying to pull a shot ball, but did not time it well as it went to mid on for an easy catch to Asnodkar.

Ganguly and Salman aded 33 for the 2nd wicket before Salman was trapped plumb in front of the wicket for 24 off 20 balls with 5 fours.

Ganguly playing slowly to ensure that he stays in the crease till the end. He hit a six of Warne in the 11th over, his first six and also for Kolkata in this match.

Hussey did not prove one more time as a dangerous batsman. He was bowled by Pathan for 11. At the end of 12 overs, Kolkata were 72 for 3, scoring at 6 runs per over.

Das hit a straight six of Warne, who was really surprised. Another six was scored by Das off Pathan. Ganguly finally got out in the 15th over bowled by Trivedi. He scooped the ball to long on for a simple catch to Kaif. He was out for 32 off 34 balls with 2 fours and a six. Shukla ended the over with a six over fine leg boundary. End of 15 overs, Kolkata were 102 for 4.

The last 5 overs added 45 runs to the total losing 4 more wickets. The last two overs added 24 to the total and that gave some hope to Ganguly's men. Sohail Tanvir picked 3 wickets for 26 runs of his 4 overs. Munaf Patel bowled a wickets main in his 2nd over to finish with 4-1-22-2.

But, it proved otherwise inspite of losing 4 wickets for 69. Ganguly's men couldn't capitalize that. they had good chance after dismissing Watson, the inform batsman.

The dangerous batsman Asnodkar was caught behind off Ishanth Sharm in the 2nd over last ball. The fifth over bowled by Agarkar was costlies in the first 5 overs. He was hammered for a four by Smith and then a four and six by Sohail Tanvir, who was promoted in the batting order.

End of 5 overs, Rajasthan were 42 for 1. The second wicket was that of Sohail Tanvir. He was caught by Salmat Butt, another Pakistan mate at mid off. The bowler was Pakistani too, Umar Gul.

In the same over, Smith tried to pull the ball pitched outside leg stump, but it touched the glove on the way and Saha took a brilliant one handed diving catch. Two wickets in an over, brought Kolkata back in the game.

The next two overs were bowled well to give just 8 runs. End of 8 overs, Rajasthan were 50 for 3, requiring 98 from 12 overs. Agarkar was hit for a six over square leg by Watson and then for a four in the last ball.

Ganguly provided the break through by bowling Watson for 19 off 15 balls. End of 10 overs, Rajasthan were 69 for 4. The last 10 overs required 79 runs with 6 wickets in hand. All Ganguly needed was just another 1 or 2 wickets in the next two overs, but it didn't happen.

I believe Ganguly missed the services of Shoaib Akhtar today. Though he said Umar bowled well, he really did not. His second wicket of Smith was a pure luck as most of the times, Smith would have put that away to either a four or six.

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Pathan and Kaif played well not losing their wickets for the next few overs. Pathan hit two fours off Umar Gul in the 11th over.

Ganguly's over turned the table. He was hit for a four over long off, a six over long on and then a six over square leg. That over added 17 to the total and brought the required run rate.

The 15th over added 15 to the total with 3 continuous fours by Kaif off Dinda. 20 runs required in 30 balls. Pathan missed a chance to beat his own record of fastest 50. His previous record was in 22 balls and in today's match, including two fours and a six in the 17th over bowled by Umar Gul, he finished with 48 off 15 balls. The winning shot over mid wicket boundary was a good six, but it didn't take him to 50.

Kaif was not out on 34 off 31 balls with 4 fours.

With Kolkata losing this crucial match, they are virutally out of the IPL. With two more matches to go, they have to win both the games and try their luck to see if other teams lose their games. They have to play against Delhi Daredevils in Delhi on May 22 and then against Kings XI Punjab on May 25 at Kolkata.

Rajasthan Royals secured their place for the Semi Finals with 9 wins out of their 11 matches.

Match 44
Venue: Kolkata
Date: May 20, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals
Captains: Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne
Toss: Rajasthan Royals and decided to field
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 6 wickets with 21 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Yousuf Pathan off Rajasthan Royals (India)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Kolkata Knight Riders-0
Score:

Kolkata Knight Riders 147 for 8 in 20 overs (Salman Butt 24, Mohammad Hafeez 4, SC Ganguly 32, DJ Hussey 11, DB Das 31, LR Shukla 15, WP Saha 11 not out, AB Agarkar 5, Umar Gul 7, I Sharma 2 not out, Extras-5 (lb 2, wide 3), Sohail Tanvir 4-0-26-3, MM Patel 4-1-22-2, SR Watson 4-0-36-0, SK Trivedi 3-0-26-1, SK Warne 3-0-21-0, YK Pathan 2-0-14-1) lost to Rajasthan Royals 150 for 4 in 16.3 overs (GC Smith 24, SA Asnodkar 5, Sohail Tanvir 13, M Kaif 34 not out, SR Watson 19, YK Pathan 48 not out, Extras-7 (lb 4, wide 3), AB Dinda 4-0-32-0, I Sharma 3-0-23-1, AB Agarkar 3-0-30-0, Umar Gul 3.3-1-30-2, SC Ganguly 2-0-24-1, LR Shukla 1-0-7-0)

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Match 43: Delhi Wins! Keeps Their Hopes Alive!

Delhi Daredevils have beaten Bangalore Royal Challengers by 5 wickets with 10 balls to spare. They gained two crucial points and still stay in the competition. They still have a chance to secure their place in the first four if they win all of their remaining three matches.

Out of the 12 matches they played, they have won 6 and has 12 points. The remaining two matches has to be played against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 22 in Delhi, against Mumbai Indians on May 24 in Delhi. They can still go if Mumbai, Chennai and Kings XI lose all their matches.

Rightly chosing to field, Delhi chased the target with ease except at the end. Sehwag and Gambhir opened the fire from the first over. Sehwag once again missed the chance for recording the fastest 50. He was out for 47 off 17 balls with 9 fours and a six.

Zaheer Khan bowled very badly and did not give any support to skipper Dravid. He did not bowl like an international bowler. He was bowling on the leg stump with no fielder backing up. He gave 27 runs in his first 2 overs inclding 3 boundaries in his 2nd over by Sehwag.

Praveen Kumar's over also was not spard by the pair as Gambhir hit him for 2 fours and Sehwag hit one boundary.

Praveen Kumar's 2nd over was costly--Sehwag hit him for two fours, a six, and another four. He was out finally in the last ball caught by Chipli for 47. Th catch was a brilliant catch at point, where Chipli dived and took a sensational catch.

At the end of 7 overs, Delhi were 90 for 1. Gambhir got out in the last abll of the 9th over for 39. The second run was not their, but Gambhir went for it and got himself ran out.

At the end of 10 overs, Delhi were 105 for 2, requiring another 50 in 10 overs.

Two wickets in two overs sort of pressured Delhi and gave a hope to Bangalore. Dilshan was stumped by Goswami off Kumble for 4 in the 14th over and de Villiers was caught behind off Steyn for 21.

At the end of 15 overs, Delhi were 127 for 4, requiring 28 off 5 overs.

Kumble dismissed Karthik through a flighted delivery, which made the batsman come forward and drive the ball in the air. White at short cover took a good diving catch to give the 5th wicket.

22 required off 24 balls; Maharoof hit a six over point off Steyn in the 17th over. That reduced the target to 13 off 18 balls.

Zaheer Khan gave two fours to Maharoof and brought the target to 3 for 12 balls. Dhawan finished the match with a six over long off to give two points to Delhi and send Bangalore Royal Challengers out of the IPL!

Earlier, put into bat, Bangalore did not have good start they needed to win the match. Thought it was a better start, it was not enough. Kallis opened the innings and looked in good touch got out for 25, driving the ball pitched up on the off stump. The ball swung away and took a thick outside edge on the way to keeper.

Chipli struggled against the good bowling attack. He scored 2 off 10 balls. He was caught behind off McGrath, but lucky enough that he was given not out. McGrath was not happy and was having exchange of words with the batsman.

He was finally caught at mid wicket trying to pull the short ball from McGrath, who then asked the batsman not to leave until umpire gives out. He showed his frustration!

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The debutant Goswami scored a wonderful fifty and became the youngest player to do so. He hit 7 fours and a six in his 52, before caught by Dilshan at point of Maharoof. Trying to slog, took the edge and went in the air towards point.

Dravid did not stay long and was bowled by Dilshan for 9.

White was run out not looking or listening to Misbah's call. Misbhah hit the ball in the air to mid off where Shoaib Malik tried for the catch, but stopped it finally. The ball bounced just in front of him and rolled couple of yards away. Misbah watching his stroke and realized that it did not carry to the fielder, started a little late, but settled for one. White, not realizing it, came back for the second. The bowler collected the ball and sent it to keeper where Dinesh did the rest.

Misbah and Akhil had another misunderstanding. The ball was hit to short extra cover by Misbah and he did not want the run. But, Akhil went for it and realized it later that it is straight to Sehwag, who threw the ball to the Maharoof who knocked the removed the bails.

At the end of 19 overs, Bangalore were 130 for 7. The last over brought in some hope for them through 24 runs to take hte score to 154. He hit 3 sixes, a four and a two. All the sixes were huge and executed well.

Goswami was declared man of the match for his fifty in the first match he played in IPL. He is the youngest to score a fifty.

Match 43
Venue: Bangalore
Date: May 19, 2008
Teams: Bangalore Royal Challengers and Delhi Daredevils
Captains: Rahul Dravid and Virendra Sehwag
Toss: Delhi Daredevils and decided to field
Result: Delhi Daredevils won by 5 wickets with 10 balls remaining
Man of the Match: SP Goswami off Bangalore Royal Challengers (India)
Points: Delhi Daredevils-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:

Bangalore Royal Challengers 154 for 7 in 20 overs (JH Kallis 25, B Chipli 2, SP Goswami 52, R Dravid 9, Misbah-ul-Haq 47 not out, CL White 1, B Akhil 3, P Kumar 2, Z Khan 4 not out, Extras-9 (wide 9), GD McGrath 4-0-15-0, P Sangwan 3-0-51-0, VY Mahesh 4-0-25-0, MF Maharoof 4-0-13-2, R Bhatia 4-0-47-0, TM Dilshan 1-0-3-1) lost to Delhi Daredevils 158 for 5 in 18.2 overs (G Gambhir 39, V Sehwag 47, AB de Villiers 21, TM Dilshan 4, S Dhawan 16 not out, KD Karthik 6, MF Maharoof 13 not out, Extras-12 (b 1, lb 6, wide 5), DW Steyn 4-0-26-1, Z Khan 3-0-37-0, P Kumar 2-0-33-1, JH Kallis 2-0-16-0, B Akhil 3.2-0-21-0, A Kumble 4-0-18-2)

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Match 42: Mumbai registers 6th Continuous Win!

Mumbai Indians beat Deccan Chargers by 25 runs and record 6th continous win in the IPL. No other team has done it! After losing the first four games, they have bounced back very well and did not surrender like Bangalore Royal Challengers or Hyderabad Deccan Chargers.

Batting first, Mumbai scored 178 for 7 in 20 overs with Jayasuriya demolishing the early attack with his usual batting style. He scored 36 in just 15 balls including 6 fours and 2 sixes. When he was caught at deep square leg off a sweep from Venugopal Rao, the score was 39 in 2.5 overs. Tendulkar tried to keep the momentum, but got out for 23, tried to slog Afridi's first ball to find Silva at covers. He scored 23 off 19 balls with 4 fours.

Nayar scored 38 off 24 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes and Bravo added 30 off 17 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes.

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RP Singh picked 3 wickets for 35 runs in his 4 overs and became the highest wicket taker in IPL and got the Purple Cap.

Chasing 179, after losing Afridi in the very first ball and then Gilchrist, Deccan Chargers never looked in control. Though a fight was brought into the game by Venugopal Rao and Ravi Teja in hte later stage, it couldn't help Deccan Chargers to see a win. Venugopal scored 57 off 38 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes. Ravi Teja scored 37 off 27 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes.

Bravo picked 3 for 24 off his 4 overs and declared man of the match. Deccan Chargers finished their innings at 153 for 7.

Match 42
Venue: Hyderabad
Date: May 18, 2008
Teams: Hyderabd Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians
Captains: Adam Gilchrist and Sachin Tendulkar
Toss: Hyderabd Deccan Chargers and decided to field
Result: Mumbai Indians won by 25 runs
Man of the Match: DJ Bravo off Mumbai Indians (West Indies)
Points: Mumbai Indians-2; Hyderabd Deccan Chargers-0
Score:

Mumbai Indians 178 for 7 in 20 overs (ST Jayasuriya 36, SR Tendulkar 23, DJ Thornely 8, AM Nayar 38, RV Uthappa 7, DJ Bravo 30, P Shah 10, YV Takawale 5 not out, RR Raje 1 not out, Extras-20 (lb 11, wide 7, nb 2), DP Vijaykumar 2-0-24-0, DNT Zoysa 3-0-37-0, Y Venugopal Rao 3-0-25-2, RP Singh 4-0-35-3, Shahid Afridi 4-0-23-2, PP Ojha 4-0-23-0) beat Hyderabd Deccan Chargers 153 for 7 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 13, Shahid Afridi 0, RG Sharma 6, LPC Silva 17, Y Venugopal Rao 57, DB Ravi Teja 37, DNT Zoysa 10 not out, H Das 2, RP Singh 3 not out, Extras-8 (b 1, lb 3, wide 3, nb 1), A Nehra 4-0-29-0, DJ Bravo 4-0-24-3, CRD Fernando 4-0-38-2, RR Raje 2-0-19-0, AM Nayar 3-0-18-1, DJ Thornely 1-0-8-0, ST Jayasuriya 2-0-13-0)

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Match 41: Chennai Wins by D/L, Rain Stops Play! Bad Luck for Kolkata!

Two days in a row, Duckworth-Lewis helped the chasing team to win by a narrow margin. In yesterday's match, Kings XI Punjab won by 6 runs.

Kings XI Wins Rain Halted Match!

In the match played between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, the severe storm halted the match for few minutes and then rain followed.

The papers started flying, the covers were flying too. Such severe was the wind storm.

Chasing 150 in 20 overs, Chennai did not lose wickets in the first 8 overs and that helped them to gain the winning points. The catch of Parthiv Patel was dropped at long leg by Dinda. It was short ball and he pulled and went straight to Dinda, who dropped the sitter. It was the 4th ball of the 8th over.

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Next ball was a boundary by Fleming, the ball pitched on the leg stump and he just flicks it. No run in the last ball.

Play was stopped after that and sure that Ganguly would not have expected it! Either the catch should have been taken or the boundary in the fifth ball should have been stopped. One of these two would have turned the match in favor of Kolkata.

At the end of the 8th over, Chennai should be at 53 for no loss, but they were 55 for no loss, thus winning by 2 runs.

Both Fleming and Patel playing sensibly. They negogiated Shoaib Akhtar and Ishanth Sharma very well. Not losing the wickets helped them to clinch the match.

The first over by Shoaib added 5 to the total, but Patel hit a good cover drive to score the first boundary. Later, in the same over, Fleming hit two continuous fours to take the score to 18 in 2 overs.

Shoaib conceeded two fours in the next over to Fleming. 4th and 5th over added just 9 runs to the total. At the end of 5 overs, Chennai were 36 for no loss.

The 6th over bowled by Agarkar added 7 runs including a boundary by Patel. The 7th over added 4 runs to take the score to 47 for no loss in 7 overs.

The 8th over bowled by Agarkar, added 7 to the total including a wide in the 2nd ball and a four of the 5th ball by Fleming. A catch was dropped on the 4th ball for Patel at fine leg by Dinda.

Earlier, winning the toss and deciding to bat first, it was another slow scoring game for Ganguly's men.

Salman Butt top scored with 73 off 54 ball with 10 fours and a six.

Hafeez was caught by Gony off Nitni for 6. Poor and irresponsible short selection for the second time by Ganguly put pressure to Kolkata. Giving himself room to slog for a six, Ganguly lost his middle stump off Nitni, giving him his second wicket. Kolkata struggling at 28 for 2 in 5 overs.

Das and Butt revived the innings by adding 86 runs for the 3rd wicket 67 balls. End of 10 overs, Kolkata were 61 for 2 with Butt on 31 and Das on 15.

Muralitharan's over proved little costly. Das and Butt hit a six each in the 12th over to take the score to 85 for 2.

Salman reached his 50 in 44 balls with 5 fours and a six.

Salmat hit 3 continuous fours of Muralitharan and provided the momentum. At the end of 16 overs, Kolkata were 114 for 2.

Dass was another hat-trick victim for Nitni. He lost his leg stump on 27 off 32 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes.

Hussey was bowled and his off stump uprooted for a duck. That was his hat-trick. End of over 17, Kolkata were 118 for 4.

Butt hit a four of the first ball of Balaji in the 18th over and got out in the next ball. He moved across and tried to scoop over fine leg, but hit fully on the boot and declared leg before.

Shukla hit a bounday over backward ponit of the last ball of the 18th over to take the score to 130 for 5.

The last two overs added 19 runs and Kolkata finished with 149 for 5.

Nitni was declared the man of the match for his wonderful spell of 4 for 21 including a hat-trick.

With this victory, Chennai registers their 7th win and stays in the top 4. Kolkata has to win their remaining to matches to keep their hopes alive.

Match 41
Venue: Kolkata
Date: May 18, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings
Captains: Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders and decided to bat
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 2 runs (D/L Method) (with 10 wickets in hand)
Man of the Match: M Ntini off Chennai Super Kings (South Africa)
Points: Chennai Super Kings-2; Kolkata Knight Riders-0
Score:

Kolkata Knight Riders 149 for 5 in 20 overs (Salman Butt 73, Mohammad Hafeez 6, SC Ganguly 2, DB Das 27, DJ Hussey 0, LR Shukla 13 Not out, WP Saha 15 not out, Extras-13(b 2, lb 7, wide 3, nb 1), M Ntini 4-0-21-4, M Gony 4-0-17-0, M Muralitharan 4-0-41-0, L Balaji 4-0-36-1, JA Morkel 4-0-25-0) lost to Chenani Super Kings (when dust storm and rain stopped play in the 8th over last ball, Chennai Super Kings should have been at 53 with the loss of no wickets) 55 for no loss in 8 overs (PA Patel 19 not out, SP Fleming 32 not out, Extras-4 (lb 1, wide 3), Shoaib Akhtar 2-0-14-0, I Sharma 2-0-16-0, AB Dinda 2-0-10-0, AB Agarkar 2-0-14-0)

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Nitni Takes Hat-Trick! Third in IPL! Second by Chennai!

Nitni took a hat-trick in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata. It was a disjointed hat-trick.

He uprooted the middle stump of Ganguly when Ganguly tried to give room for himself for a huge slog. He took this wicket in the last ball of his first spell.

He came back for the 2nd spell in the 17th over. This time, Das's leg stump is taken out of the ground when he gave room for himself to hit it over mid off.

No body realized that he was on a hat-trick. It is very difficult to remember in these kind of tense situations especially on a disjoint hat-trick.

The next ball uprooted the off stump of Hussey. He misses the line and the ball knocked off the off stump, which was flying in the air.

The beauty of this hat-trick is all three were bowled and fittingly, he managed to knock down each of the three stumps.

He finished the figures of 4-0-21-4. His other wicket was that Mohammad Hafeez, caught by Gony.

This is the third hat-trick in IPL, the second by a Chennai Super Kings bowler. The first one to pick the hat-trick in IPL was Laxmipathi Balaji and the second bowler was Amit Mishra of Delhi Daredevils.

Hat-Tricks in IPL!

Balaji Gets Hat-Trick!