Match 20: KXI v. MI: KXI win the last over thriller in low scoring venture!

In the low scoring encounter between Mumbai Indians and Yuvaraj lead Kings XI Punjab, unexpectely went to last ball of the last over. Yuvi's team made 119 in 20 overs losing 8 of their wickets. The top scorer was Sangakkara with 45 runs off 44 balls with 2 fours and a six.

Winning the toss and batting first in a slow pitch, Kings XI batsmen played bad shots and did not stay in the crease for longer period--Bopara (6 off 14), Goel (12 off 12), Yuvaraj (10 off 13), Jayawardane (7 off 9), I Pathan (7 off 10). Malinga once again bowled a tight spell of 2 for 12 in 4 overs though he picked the last two batsmen.

This put Kings XI in the back seat though they managed to set a target of 6 runs per over.

Mumbai Indians surprised every one falling short by 3 runs. Jayasuriya (0), Tendulkar (1) and Dhawan (3) fell quickly leaving MI at 12 for 3 in 4.1 overs.

Duminy and Bravo revived the innings and gave hope for MI. Bravo ruined it by going for a six and was caught at long on.

Nayar and Duminy played sensibly scoring ones and twos and not going for big shots. They added 49 for the 5th wicket before Nayar was bowled by Irfan.

26 required off 17 balls with Harbhajan joining Duminy. Harbhajan tried his best and hit a four in his innings. He was caught at long off by Goel of Chawla in the 19th over.

11 balls and 19 runs required; 7 runs were scored of Chawla's over and last over needed 12. Duminy got out in the 4th ball at deep mid wicket going for a six. If he had hit that with little more power, the equation would have changed to 1 run off 2 balls instead of 7 off 2 balls. Tiwari was able to manage 2 runs in the 5th ball. Still a four would have forced super-over, but he was able to score just one run.

Abdulla bowled superb over to give unpredicted victory to Kings XI and earn the crucial 2 points.

Scoreboard:

Match # 20
Date: Wednesday April 29, 2009
Teams: Kings XI Punjab v. Mumbai Indians
Captains: Yuvaraj and Sachin
Toss: KXI, decided to bat
Venue: Kingsmead, Durban
Result: KXI won by 3 runs
Points: KXI 2; MI 0
Man of the Match: Sangakkara off KXI

Kings XI Punjab Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Bopara	c Tendulkar b Bravo	6	14	0	0
Goel	st Shah b Harbhajan	12	12	0	1
Sangakkara	Not Out	45	44	2	1
Yuvaraj	c Z Khan b Duminy	10	13	1	0
M Jayawardene	c Dhawan b Jayasuriya	7	9	0	0
I Pathan	c Bravo b Z Khan	7	10	0	0
Mota	b Malinga	5	6	0	0
Chawla	b Malinga	0	2	0	0
Romesh Powar	Run Out (Shah)	10	10	1	0
Extras	(b 4, lb 2, w 11)	17	-	-	-
Total	for 8 wkts in 20 overs	119	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-18 (Goel, 3.5 ov), 2-18 (Bopara, 4.3 ov), 3-41 (Yuvraj Singh, 8.3 ov), 4-52 (Jayawardene, 10.3 ov), 5-84 (Pathan, 14.3 ov), 6-97 (Mota, 16.2 ov), 7-97 (Chawla, 16.4 ov), 8-119 (Powar, 19.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Z Khan	4	0	19	1
Malinga	4	0	12	2
Harbhajan	4	0	23	1
Bravo	3	0	24	1
Duminy	3	0	23	1
Tendulkar	1	0	7	0
Jayasuriya	1	0	5	1

Mumbai Indian Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Jayasuriya	c Yuvaraj b I Pathan	0	1	0	0
Tendulkar	c M Jayawardene b Malik	1	6	0	0
Dhawan	lbw b Abdulla	3	7	0	0
Duminy	c sub T Kohli b Abulla	59	63	4	0
Bravo	c Mota b Powar	15	20	1	1
AM Nayar	b I Pathan	15	15	1	0
Harbhajan	c Goel b Chawla	6	5	1	0
Tiwari	Not Out	6	4	0	0
Z Khan	Not Out	0	0	0	0
Extras	(b 1, lb 8, w 8, nb 1)	11	-	-	-
Total	for 7 wkts in 19.5 overs	116	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-1 (Jayasuriya, 0.1 ov), 2-4 (Tendulkar, 1.2 ov), 3-12 (Dhawan, 4.1 ov), 4-45 (Bravo, 9.2 ov), 5-94 (Nayar, 17.1 ov), 6-101 (Harbhajan Singh, 18.1 ov), 7-113 (Duminy, 19.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
I Pathan	4	0	20	2
VS Malik	2	0	12	1
RR Powar	4	0	23	1
Abdulla	4	0	19	2
Chawla	3	0	26	1
Goel	2	0	11	0
Mota	1	0	3	0

Kings XI Punjab wins the last over thriller! Upsets Mumbai!

Kings XI Punjab pulled off a dramatic win over Mumbai Indians in a low scoring encounter. The pitch was not favorite for batting and against expectations, Yuvi decided to bat. Kings XI managed to score 119 and set 6 runs per over target for Sachin's Mumbai Indians.

It was thought to be a easy target, with the way they played the previous game against KKR.

But, Sachin and Jayasuria fell cheaply for 1 and 0 respectively. The middle order also did not stay long and lost wickets regularly.

Poor shot selection by Bravo turned the match. He hit a six but got out in the next ball trying for another six. The team already lost 2 wickets with 4 on the board and he should have played a sensible innings.

Duminy scored 59 and tried his best to give a victory to MI but fell on the last over 4th ball.

The last over required 12, bowled by Abdulla. The first ball was 2 runs, 2nd ball was no run, but the next ball was a wide.

4 Balls, 9 runs, Duminy on strike. He scored another 2 in the 3rd ball, but fell caught inches away from boundary going for a six over mid wicket.

Last 2 balls needed 7 runs, and SS Tiwari scored 2, last ball required 5. A four would have pushed for the 2nd super-over, but he managed only a single at extra cover.

Kings XI Punjab 119 for 8 in 20 overs (Goel 12, Sangakkara 45, Yuvaraj 10, Malinga 2 for 12) beat Mumbai Indians 116 for 7 in 20 overs (Duminy 59, Bravo 15, Nayar 15, Irfan Pathan 2 for 20, Abdulla 2 for 19)

Match 19: RC v. KKR: Boucher Helps RC win the Thriller!

Though both teams are not minnows, the current points table and the number of wins makes them minnows. The fight between them was a real fight as it went to the last over requiring 10 runs. Nail biting finish and both of them put in their best, but at the end of the day, Bangalore Royal Challengers had the final laugh.

Deciding to bat first, McCullum lost his wicket to Pietersen, who decided to open the bowling for RC. The move was a successful one as he picked McCullum on the first ball of the innings.

Gayle and Hodge revived the innings for KKR. They added 45 for the 2nd wicket in 34 balls. Hodge improved the run rate with a six and two fours of Pankaj Singh in the 4th over in which KKR scored 14 runs. Kumble provided the break through with a successful leg before appeal to remove Hodge for 17.

Ganguly, top scoring for KKR in the last 2 matches, fell for mere 1, caught by Kallis of a short ball from Praveen Kumar. This definitely pushed KKR in the back seat.

End of 10 overs, KKR were 61 for 3. The debutant of this season, van Wyk, played sensibly scoring one and twos. He hit 4 fours in his unbeaten 43 in 35 balls. Saha helped with his quick 21 off 14 balls. KKR ended at 139 for 6 in 20 overs.

RC started well with a good 69 run parternship for the first wicket. Kallis and Goswami played good shots to keep the momentum and ensured that they did not lose the wicket. Goswami fell first for 43 and Kallis followed him for 23. Pietersen and Kohli added 29 but that was not enough.

RC neede 42 in the last 5 overs with Kohli and Pietersen batting. Kohili hit a six and fell in the next ball. Pietersen fell two balls latter and added pressure to the team.

Two new batsmen at the crease--Boucher and van der Merwe. In the 16th over last ball, Merwe hit a six of Gayle to reduce the equation to 25 off 18 balls.

In the 18th over, Hodge went for 11 runs including a six by Boucher. Last 2 overs required 14 runs. Ishanth Sharma was brought back and he bowled a superb over and gave away just 4 runs including a leg bye. He also picked the crucial wicket of Merwe caught by Wyk for 9.

Last over, 10 runs, Gayle had the ball. Until then, he had the figure of 3-0-18-0 and McCullum thought he would be the right choice.

First ball was a single by Pandey. Boucher, stepping down, hit a four over mid wicket of the 2nd ball. It was a good shot at the pressure time.

Four balls and 5 runs. Boucher played it to extra cover for a single. Gayle didn't collect the throw from the deep and gave away extra run.

3 balls 3 runs, Boucher played to point and took easy 2 runs. Last 2 balls, 1 run. Juicy full toss on the leg stump and Boucher uses it to send it for winning boundary.

Royal Challengers celebrate while McCullum's men are completely disappointed. They have lost another match. This is the 4th loss for KKR with one win and one abandoned. This is RC's 2nd win and they have lost 4 matches. Both the teams have played 6 matche so far. RC has 4 points and KKR has 3.

Scoreboard:

Match # 19
Date: Wednesday April 29, 2009
Teams: Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Pietersen and McCullum
Toss: KKR, decided to bat
Venue: Kingsmead, Durban
Result: RC won by 5 wickets with 1 ball remaining
Points: RC 2; KKR 0
Man of the Match: Mark Boucher off RC

Kolkata Knight Riders Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
McCullum	c Kohli b Pietersen	0	1	0	0
Gayle	c Goswami b Appanna	40	37	6	0
Hodge	lbw b Kumble	17	15	2	1
Ganguly	c Kallis b P Kumar	1	8	0	0
Van Wyk	Not Out	43	35	4	0
Saha	c Pietersen b Kumble	21	14	0	1
Shukla	lbw b van der Merwe	2	3	0	0
Agarkar	Not Out	6	7	0	0
Extras	(lb 2, w 7)	9	-	-	-
Total	for 6 wkts in 20 overs	139	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (McCullum, 0.1 ov), 2-45 (Hodge, 5.5 ov), 3-54 (Ganguly, 8.3 ov), 4-70 (Gayle, 11.2 ov), 5-110 (Saha, 16.3 ov), 6-118 (Shukla, 17.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Pietersen	4	0	24	1
van der Merwe	4	0	28	1
Pankaj Singh	1	0	14	0
P Kumar	4	0	25	1
Kumble	4	0	16	2
Appanna	3	0	30	1

Bangalore Royal Challengers Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Kallis	c van Wyk b I Sharma	23	25	2	0
Goswami	c van Wyk b Hodge	43	46	6	0
Pietersen	c Saha b Hodge	13	12	1	0
Kohli	c van Wyk b Hodge	19	12	1	1
Boucher	Not Out	25	13	2	1
van der Merwe	c van Wyk b I Sharma	9	9	0	1
M Pandey	Not Out	2	2	0	0
Extras	(b 1, lb 1, w 7)	9	-	-	-
Total	for 5 wkts in 19.5 overs	143	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-69 (Goswami, 11.1 ov), 2-77 (Kallis, 12.4 ov), 3-106 (Kohli, 15.4 ov), 4-107 (Pietersen, 15.6 ov), 5-129 (van der Merwe, 18.5 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
I Sharma	4	0	15	2
Agarkar	2	0	23	0
M Karthik	4	0	26	0
Gayle	3.5	0	31	0
Hodge	4	0	29	3
Ganguly	2	0	17	0

Match 18: RR v. DD: Yousuf Pathan too Hot for Delhi! Stops Delhi's Winning Sequence!

Yousuf Pathan was the man for Rajasthan Royals who completely changed the match for Rajasthan Royals. He hit the Sehwag's best spinner Vettori for a four and 2 continuous sixes in the 13th over of the innings which changed the pace of the game.

Struggling at 67 for 5, requiring 77 from 48 balls, the equation changed to 58 from 42 balls. His knock of unbeaten 62 came in just 30 balls with 3 fours and 6 sixes.

When he came in, RR needed 80 from 53 balls. He scored 62 runs in 30 balls and took the game away from DD. Though he had luck twice--first when tried to sweep Vettori, mistimed the shot and went high in the air to fine leg, but the fielder was not able to reach on time; second, Sangwan dropped the straight catch at long off Mishra. He was on 31 and RR needed 29 from 22 balls. If that catch had been taken, DD could have tried their hand.

Sehwag did not do anything, in fact, he was not able to do anything as his key bowlers were hammered for sixes. Pathan also hit two sixes of short balls over square leg and mid wicket respectively. If he gets going, it will be difficult to stop him!

Earlier, Warne promoting himself to steady the scoring, got out stumped beautifully by Dinesh Karthik of Mishra.

Gambhir and Sehwag once again failed and did not bother the scorers much. It was surprising to see McGrath did not make his debut in this edition yet.

Mascarenhas picked both the openers in the same over to put DD undre pressure. The man in form Dilshan also fell for 7 to Munaf Patel. Karthik gave a return catch to Warne. DeVilliers and Vettori added 56 for the 5th wicket and that gave DD a chance to fight back. Manhas scored a quick unbeaten 23 off 16 balls with 2 fours and a six.

Scoreboard:

Match # 18
Date: Tuesday April 28, 2009
Teams: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils
Captains: Warne and Sehwag
Toss: DD, decided to bat
Venue: SuperSports Park, Centurion
Result: RR won by 5 wickets with 9 balls remaining
Points: RR 2; DD 0
Man of the Match: Yousuf Pathan off RR

Delhi Daredevils Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Gambhir	c Warne b Mascarenhas	8	6	1	0
Sehwag	C K Khan b Mascarenhas	16	11	2	1
De Villiers	lbw b Warne	50	40	5	1
Dilshan	c Asnodkar b M Patel	7	10	1	0
D Karthik	c & b Warne	4	5	0	0
Vettori	b M Patel	29	28	3	0
Manhas	Not Out	23	16	2	1
A Mishra	b Kamaran Khan	0	4	0	0
Sangwan	Not Out	1	1	0	0
Extras	(lb 3, w 1, nb 1)	5	-	-	-
Total	for 7 wkts in 20 overs	143	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-20 (Gambhir, 2.3 ov), 2-25 (Sehwag, 2.6 ov), 3-38 (Dilshan, 5.5 ov), 4-49 (Karthik, 7.2 ov), 5-105 (de Villiers, 15.2 ov), 6-135 (Vettori, 18.3 ov), 7-142 (Mishra, 19.5 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Mascarenhas	4	0	28	2
Kamaran Khan	4	0	35	1
M Patel	4	1	14	2
Warne	4	0	32	2
RA Jadeja	2	0	17	0
Y Pathan	2	0	14	0

Rajasthan Royals Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
McCullum	lbw b Nehra	4	9	1	0
Gayle	Not Out	44	46	5	0
Hodge	run out (Mishra)	11	8	1	1
Ganguly	c Vettori b Mishra	1	5	0	0
Yashpal Singh	c Sangwan b Mishra	16	13	1	0
Ghosh	st D Karthik b Mishra	0	2	0	0
Shukla	Not Out	62	30	3	6
Extras	(lb 3, w 5, nb 1)	9	-	-	-
Total	for 5 wkts in 18.3 overs	147	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-20 (Quiney, 3.3 ov), 2-31 (Asnodkar, 4.5 ov), 3-34 (Valthaty, 6.4 ov), 4-63 (Jadeja, 10.3 ov), 5-64 (Warne, 10.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Nannes	3.3	0	23	0
A Nehra	4	0	23	1
Sangwan	4	0	28	0
A Mishra	4	0	34	3
Dilshan	1	0	4	0
Vettori	2	0	32	0

Match 17: MI v. KKR: Tendulkar's Innings Demolishes KKR! Still No Riding for Sharukh!

The blistering knock by Tendulkar took away the game for KKR. They have already lost 3 games out of the 5 played and this one added to the worry list of Sharukh Khan and McCullum.

Deciding to bat first, Tendulkar started the fire work from the 2nd over. He hit Dinda for a six in the first ball and a four in the 5th ball. Third over was productive for MI including five wides and one four from Sachin.

Jayasuriya hit two continuous sixes of Ganguly to take the score to 61 for no loss at the end of power play. Jayasuriya and Tendulkar hit a six each in Mendis' 2nd over and took the score past 100 in the 9th over. The first team to score 100 in 8.4 overs.

Tendulkar reached his 50 in style with a six over midwicket of Mendis. The fifty came in 34 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes.

Jayasuriya followed him and reached his 50 in 26 balls which included 2 fours and 4 sixes. Tendulkar finally got out lbw for 68 (45 balls, 6 fours and 4 sixes) of Shukla. They added 127 for the first wicket, a record for highest partnership for the first wicket by any team.

Harbhajan was promoted to keep the run rate, a good surprise move by Sachin. Harbhajan utilized the opportunity and proved Sachin's move was right. He quickly hit a four and 2 sixes before getting caught by Mendis of Hodge for 18 off 8 balls.

The team once thought to go beyond 200, disappointed everyone as the run-rate came down after the fall of quick wickets. From 127 for no loss in 12.1 overs, they came down to 155 for 4 in 16 overs. Finally, MI was restricted to 187 for 6 in 20 overs.

KKR should have expected a target of 200 plus, but the 188 was also heavy for them. Mumbai had a tough bowling line up--Malinga, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Bravo, all international bowlers.

McCullum fell in the 2nd over of the innings for 1. Though Gayle and Hodge tried revive the innings, Gayle fell for a superb delivery from his fellow country men Bravo. The outside edge went straight to slip and Tendulkar grabbed it easily (see picture).

Ganguly stayed for a while and became the top scorer for KKR. He played a sensible for little while but had to go after the bowlers for improving the run rate. Going giving room to hit over covers went high in the air and Bravo grabbed it at covers. He scored 34 off 30 balls with 3 fours and a six.

All the other batsmen fell soon ending the KKR innings 15.2 overs. Anureet Singh did not play and KKR decided to end the innings with the loss of 9 wickets. Malinga and Nayar picked 3 wickets. Tendulkar was given the man of the match!

Scoreboard:

Match # 17
Date: Monday April 27, 2009
Teams: Mumbai Indians v. Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Tendulkar and McCullum
Toss: MI, decided to bat
Venue: St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth
Result: MI won by 92 runs
Points: MI 2; KKR 0
Man of the Match: Sachin Tendulkar off MI

Mumbai Indian Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Jayasuriya	c Ghosh b Shukla	52	32	2	4
Tendulkar	lbw b Shukla	68	45	6	4
Harbhajan	c Mendis b Hodge	18	8	1	2
Duminy	Not Out	18	14	1	0
AM Nayar	Run Out (Shukla/McCullum)	3	3	0	0
Bravo	c Gayle b Shukla	3	5	0	0
Dhawan	c McCullum b I Sharma	12	10	1	0
Tiwari	Not Out	4	3	0	0
Extras	(lb 1, w 8)	9	-	-	-
Total	for 6 wkts in 20 overs	187	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-127 (Tendulkar, 12.2 ov), 2-146 (Harbhajan Singh, 13.5 ov), 3-148 (Jayasuriya, 14.4 ov), 4-151 (Nayar, 15.1 ov), 5-162 (Bravo, 16.6 ov), 6-175 (Dhawan, 18.5 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
I Sharma	4	0	29	1
Dinda	2	0	24	0
Ganguly	1	0	16	0
Mendis	4	0	39	0
Gayle	2	0	24	0
Hodge	3	0	29	1
Shukla	4	0	25	3

Kolkata Knight Riders Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
McCullum	c Duminy b Malinga	1	6	0	0
Gayle	c Tendulkar b Bravo	12	11	0	1
Hodge	b Nayar	24	22	3	0
Ganguly	c Bravo b Nayar	34	30	3	1
Yashpal Singh	c Shah b Bravo	8	8	0	0
Ghosh	c Tendulkar b Nayar	0	1	0	0
Shukla	c Jayasuria b Z Khan	6	10	1	0
I Sharma	Not Out	6	3	1	0
Medins	b Malinga	0	1	0	0
Dinda	b Malinga	0	1	0	0
Anureet Singh	Hurt and Absent	-	-	-	0
Extras	(w 2, nb 2)	4	-	-	-
Total	all out in 15.2 overs	95	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-8 (McCullum, 1.6 ov), 2-17 (Gayle, 2.6 ov), 3-71 (Hodge, 10.2 ov), 4-80 (Ganguly, 12.1 ov), 5-81 (Ghosh, 12.3 ov), 6-83 (Yashpal Singh, 13.2 ov), 7-91 (Shukla, 14.5 ov), 8-95 (Mendis, 15.1 ov), 9-95 (Dinda, 15.2 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Z Khan	3	0	14	1
Malinga	2.2	0	11	3
Bravo	3	0	31	2
Harbhajan	2	0	15	0
AM Nayar	3	0	13	3
Tendulkar	2	0	11	0

Match 16: DC v. CSK: Poor Captaincy by Dhoni Gives DC Four In A Row!

Having known that the pitch is becoming slow and it will help slower bowlers, I am not sure why Dhoni didn't start with Muralitharan. With left handed Gilly opening and Murali bowling off spinners, it might have created a difference in the game. I am not saying this after seeing Murali bowling well, but was saying well before the start of the DC innings.

Though it was a good move to bring in Raina, who picked two wickets to give a come back for CSK. But, the field placing and the adjustments were not good. He should have had Raina closer at gully when Balaji opened the bowling. The first ball was almost a catch if he was little closer. Balaji does not bowl at super fast, so he could have standing little front. After that, it was fully Gilly's game as he smashed sixes and fours to take DC to 31 for no loss in the first two overs--a record.

Chasing 166, the start was apt as Balaji gave away 11 runs in his first over and Gony was demolished with 3 fours and a six by Gibbs.

Even after this massive attack by Gibbs and Gilly, Dhoni continued to use Balaji who again gave away couple of sixes and a four. The first change Morkel conceeded 12 runs giving 60 in the first 4 overs.

Muralitharan and Raina stopped the flood of runs while Raina picked Gilly caught at short third man. He scored 44 of 19 balls including 5 fours and 3 sixes.

Laxman did not last long as he also got out in the 2nd over of Raina playing the same shot as Gilly and got out in the same fashion.

At the strategy break, DC were 85 for 2. Runs were coming in as Gibbs was staying in the crease. Rohit got out in the 14th over caught behind of Balaji.

Smith hit a six and a four of Oram's over which changed the equation to 37 of of last 5 overs. Murali trapped Smith lbw for 12 in just 5 balls. He restricted Bilakhia for the remaining four balls and gave away just 2 runs and made Dhoni's man come back to the game.

Morkel once again did not perform both with the bat. His hip height no ball pitched on Dhoni's leg and went between his leg for a four. Morkel gave away 10 runs in that over and revised the target to 25 of 18 balls.

Oram gave away just 9 runs in the 18th over including a four by Gibbs. Last 2 overs required 16 and 8 runs were scored in the over by Morkel.

Dhoni gave the pads to Parthiv Patel and everyone expected that he is going to have go at the batsen, but gave the ball to Balaji. First ball was a six by Gibbs, single of the second ball and the third ball went for a winning boundary.

Gibbs carried the bat through the innings and remaining not out on 69 off 56 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. He was rightly chosen for the MoM award.

Earlier, put in to bat, CSK made 165 where they expected to score more than 180. Parthiv was caught behind on the leg side of the first over for a duck. Hayden and Raina played sensibly, adding 64 for the 2nd wicket.

Gilly rightly brought slow bowlers--Venugopal Rao and Rohit Sharma. Though they went for few runs, Rohit picked Raina, caught in his own bowling.

Dhoni once again did not succeed with the bat as he got out for a mere 22 of 22 balls. Oram and Hayden were the man for CSK as Hayden missed another 50 by one run.

Ohja once again picked two important wickets--Hayden and Dhoni, in the same over to put CSK in the back foot. CSK were 102 for 2 in 12 overs crumbled to 103 for 4 in 13 overs. Morkel scored 13 off 7 balls with a six. He is expected to contribute more as he did for South Africa against Australia, but he couldn't do it.

Badrinath was not able to give strike to Oram in the last few deliveries. Oram scored an unbeaten 41 to give a fighting total of 165.

Scoreboard:

Match # 16
Date: Monday April 27, 2009
Teams: Deccan Chargers v. Chennai Super Kings
Captains: Gilchrist and Dhoni
Toss: DC, decided to field
Venue: St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth
Result: DC won by 6 wickets with 3 balls remaining
Points: DC 2; CSK 0
Man of the Match: Gibbs off DC

Chennai Super Kings Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Parthiv Patel	c Gilchrist b Edwards	0	2	0	0
Hayden	c R Sharma b Ojha	49	35	8	0
Raina	c & b R Sharma	25	19	1	2
Dhoni	c Shoaib b Ojha	22	22	1	1
A Morkel	Not Out	41	29	4	2
Oram	c RP Singh b Venugopal	13	7	1	1
Badrinath	c & b RP Singh	8	9	1	0
Gony	Not Out	0	0	0	0
Extras	(w 4, nb 3)	7	-	-	-
Total	for 6 wkts in 20 overs	165	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (Patel, 0.2 ov), 2-64 (Raina, 6.5 ov), 3-102 (Dhoni, 12.3 ov), 4-103 (Hayden, 12.6 ov), 5-129 (Morkel, 16.5 ov), 6-165 (Badrinath, 19.5 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Edwards	4	0	21	1
RP Singh	3	0	32	1
D Smith	1	0	17	0
Venugopal	4	0	35	1
R Sharma	3	0	18	1
PP Ojha	2	0	11	2
S Shoaib	3	0	31	0

Deccan Chargers Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Gilchrist	c Gilchrist b RP Singh	44	19	5	3
Gibbs	c Gibbs b Ojha	69	56	6	2
Laxman	c D Smith b Ojha	4	5	0	0
R Sharma	b Ojha	18	19	0	1
D Smith	lbw b Edwards	12	5	1	1
Bilakhia	c Gilchrist b Harbhajan	12	14	1	0
Extras	(lb 2, w 3, nb 5)	10	-	-	-
Total	for 4 wkts in 19.3 overs	169	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-67 (Gilchrist, 5.4 ov), 2-75 (Laxman, 7.3 ov), 3-114 (Sharma, 13.4 ov), 4-130 (Smith, 15.2 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Balaji	3.3	0	41	1
Gony	1	0	20	0
A Morkel	3	0	29	0
Muralitharan	4	0	17	1
Raina	4	0	18	2
J Sharma	1	0	14	0
Oram	3	0	28	0

Match 15: KXI v. RR: Yuvi Surprises Warne in a Low Scoring Match!

Another batting failure from Rajasthan Royals gave Yuvi's team winning points. The match was low scoring one but poor batting from Warne's team handed them a 27-run defeat.

Chasing 140 is not that difficult in T20 game, but for 2nd time, Rajasthan Royals have failed to chase moderate scores. Batting first, Goel was run out for a duck--his second in this season, in the very first ball of the innings.

Winning the toss and batting first, Bopara could not do much for Kings XI as he got out for 11 off 15 balls. The Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara stood at one end and kept the score moving. Yuvi got out for 2 and Jayawardene scored 7. Kings XI were struggling at 48 four 4 in 8.2 overs.

Irfan Pathan and Sangakkara started building the innings. They added 75 for the 5th wicket while taking their own time and pace to score runs. Pathan scored 39 including 2 sixes and 2 fours. Warne's leg spin bowling helped both the left handers as they scored 37 off his 4 overs.

Sangakkara scored 60 off 51 balls before getting run out in the last ball of the 19th over. He came in the 2nd ball of the innings after the fall of Goel and stayed till 19th over and rightly chosen for the Man of the Match award.

Kamaran Khan was once again the pick of the bowlers. He picked 2 wickets giving away 15 runs in his 4 overs.

With 140 as the target, Rajasthan Royals looked favorite winners of this match. The KXI surprised everyone picking the top 5 batsmen with just 36 on the board. RA Jadeja played singles and ensured that he did not lose his wicket. The last 10 overs required 92 runs with just 4 wickets in hand.

Both Warne and Jadeja were not able to improvise the run rate as there were no reliable wickets in hand. Though they hit hard boundaries and sixes, it was not enough for them to taste the victory. They ended with 112 on the board.

Scoreboard:

Match # 15
Date: Sunday April 26, 2009
Teams: Kings XI Punjab v. Rajasthan Royals
Captains: Yuvaraj and Warne
Toss: KXI, decided to bat
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Result: KXI won by 27 runs
Points: KXI 2; RR 0
Man of the Match: Sangakkara off KXI

Kings XI Punjab Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Bopara	c M Patel b Kamaran Khan	11	15	2	0
Goel	Run Out (Jadeja/Asnodkar)	0	0	0	0
Sangakkara	Run Out (Rawat)	60	51	7	1
Yuvaraj	c Rawat b M Patel	2	3	0	0
M Jayawardene	c Kamaran Khan b M Patel	7	10	0	0
I Pathan	b Kamaran Khan	39	33	2	2
P Chawla	Not Out	6	6	1	0
Mota	Not Out	1	2	0	0
Extras	(b 2, lb 2, w 9)	13	-	-	-
Total	for 6 wkts in 20 overs	139	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (Goel, 0.1 ov), 2-21 (Bopara, 4.1 ov), 3-38 (Yuvraj Singh, 6.1 ov), 4-48 (Jayawardene, 8.2 ov), 5-123 (Pathan, 18.1 ov), 6-130 (Sangakkara, 18.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Kamaran Khan	4	0	15	2
Mascarenhas	4	0	29	0
M Patel	4	0	24	2
Y Pathan	4	0	30	0
Warne	4	0	37	0

Rajasthan Royals Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Asnodkar	c Powar b I Pathan	3	4	0	0
G Smith	c Sangakkara b I Pathan	2	6	0	0
Quiney	c Sangakkara b Abdulla	7	8	1	0
Y Pathan	c Goel b Chawla	10	13	2	0
Mascarenhas	b Abdulla	4	2	1	0
RA Jadeja	b Abdulla	37	44	2	0
Raut	c Powar b Chawla	1	4	0	0
Warne	Not Out	34	33	3	0
M Rawat	Not Out	4	6	0	0
Extras	(lb 5, w 5)	10	-	-	-
Total	for 7 wkts in 20 overs	112	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-7 (Asnodkar, 1.1 ov), 2-9 (Smith, 1.5 ov), 3-23 (Quiney, 4.1 ov), 4-27 (Mascarenhas, 4.3 ov), 5-36 (Pathan, 6.4 ov), 6-42 (Raut, 8.4 ov), 7-102 (Jadeja, 18.1 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
R Powar	2	0	10	0
I Pathan	4	0	26	2
Abdulla	4	0	21	3
VRV Singh	4	0	19	0
P Chawla	4	0	22	2
Yuvaraj	2	0	9	0

Match 14: DD v. RC: Poor Fielding and Bowling lead to 4th continuous Loss!

Royal Challengers had the match in their hand though their score was not that great! One over from Kallis changed the match in favor of DD in which a catch was dropped by Uthappa at long on. The next ball was a mis-field and went for four. Two additional fours in the same over added to the concern of RC.

Kallis started the 17th over with DD requiring 43 runs in 24 balls. Manhas scored 2 in the first ball and then a single. The 3rd ball was a wide while the next ball was a huge six by Dilshan over wide of long-on. The first three balls had 10 runs.

Dilshan scored a single in the 4th ball. The fifth ball was a drop catch and a four. The last ball was a mis-field and went for four. The over had 19 runs to DD's total and changed the equation to 24 off 18 balls. Last 12 balls required 15 while the last over required just 3 runs which DD finished it very easily.

Earlier, DD lost Sehwag for 7 while Gambhir scored just 16. Both the batsmen fell for Pankaj Singh. Then, Dilshan took it from them, steadied the innings, stayed till the end, won the game for DD. He scored unbeaten 67 off 47 balls which had 5 fours and 2 sixes.

The only centurian of IPL 2009 de Villiers also fell for 21. Dinsh Karthik scored 13 while Manhas was not out on 23.

Batting first, Royal Challengers once again failed in the batting and the power play. Kallis was bowled the first ball, misjudging the in-swinger. He left the ball to the keeper, but the ball swung in and knocked the bails.

Uthappa once again failed with the bat. This is not a good season for him so far as he failed both with his bat and gloves. He added just 3 runs to the total leaving RC struggle at 10 for 2 in 1.2 overs.

Pietersen and Taylor played sensibly building partnership. They took singles and twos to keep the scoreboard moving. They added 62 for the 3rd wicket in 8.1 overs. Pietersen was timing the ball well and hit couple of good sixes and fours. He hit a good six of Vettori and looked to handle him well. The only mistake he did was playing his favorite stand-switchng shot off Vettori. He missed the ball and was bowled for 37. Boucher played some good shots at the end to give a reasonable total of 149 for RC.

Scoreboard:

Match # 14
Date: Sunday April 26, 2009
Teams: Delhi Daredevils v. Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Sehwag and Pietersen
Toss: BC, decided to bat
Venue: St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth
Result: DD won by 6 wickets with 4 balls remaining
Points: DD 2; RC 0
Man of the Match: Dilshan off DD

Bangalore Royal Challengers Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Kallis	b Nannes	0	1	0	0
Uthappa	c Sangwan b A Nehra	3	4	0	0
Pietersen	b Vettori	37	25	2	2
LRPL Taylor	lbw b Mishra	31	34	3	0
Kohli	c Dilshan b A Nehra	22	24	1	0
Boucher	c Mishra b Sangwan	36	28	2	2
B Akhil	Not Out	8	4	0	1
R Vinay Kumar	Run Out (DeVilliers)	0	0	0	0
Pankaj Singh	Not Out	1	1	0	0
Extras	(lb 5, w 5, nb 1)	11	-	-	-
Total	for 7 wkts in 20 overs	149	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (Kallis, 0.1 ov), 2-10 (Uthappa, 1.2 ov), 3-72 (Pietersen, 9.3 ov), 4-78 (Taylor, 10.6 ov), 5-139 (Boucher, 18.6 ov), 6-139 (Kohli, 19.1 ov), 7-145 (Vinay Kumar, 19.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Nannes	4	0	24	1
A Nehra	4	0	34	2
Sangwan	4	0	32	1
Mishra	4	0	19	1
Vettori	4	0	35	1

Delhi Daredevils Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Gambhir	c Gilchrist b RP Singh	16	19	1	0
Sehwag	c Gibbs b Ojha	7	5	0	1
Dilshan	c D Smith b Ojha	67	47	5	2
DeVilliers	b Ojha	21	23	0	0
D Karthik	lbw b Edwards	12	9	1	1
Manhas	c Gilchrist b Harbhajan	23	13	3	0
Extras	(w 4)	4	-	-	-
Total	for 7 wkts in 20 overs	150	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-11 (Sehwag, 1.4 ov), 2-42 (Gambhir, 5.4 ov), 3-84 (de Villiers, 13.1 ov), 4-106 (Karthik, 15.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
R Vinay Kumar	3.2	0	28	0
Pankaj Singh	4	0	31	2
Kallis	3	0	37	0
Kumble	4	0	22	0
Appanna	4	0	24	1
B Akhil	1	0	8	1

Sachin and Gilchrist Fined!

The IPL has fined both Sachin Tendulkar and Gilchrist for slow over rate. They are the captains for their respective teams--Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers.

They both have been fined Rs.10 lakh each ($20,000) for maintainigng slow over rate in the match played on Saturday in Durban.

Per the new ruling the captain will be fined $20,000 for a first offence, the entire team will be penalised $220,000 for the second, and the third offence will result in a team fine of $360,000 and a one-match ban for the captain.

Sehwag was also fined earlier for slow over-rate in their match against Chennai Super Kings on April 23 in Durban.

The fines are higher this year as strict rules were laid out to ensure the matches end on time.

Dravid Returns Home! Worry for RC!

One of the leading batsmen of Bangalore Royal Challengers, Rahul Dravid, has returned to India to see his wife who is ready to deliver the 2nd baby of his family.

He is on paternity leave and will return to South Africa, but not sure when. He has been playing well though his team is not performing well in the second edition. Bangalore Royal Challengers captured the last but one place in the first edition.

In the second edition, out of the 5 matches, RC have won only one match, against Rajasthan Royals. He has scored 144 runs in the 4 games with a strike rate of 135.84.

Kevin's team is under a lot of pressure for losing the last four games and without Dravid, the pressure is more on Royal Challengers.

The current skipper Kevin Pietersen is also expected to fly back home for playing against West Indies, in the home series. The worries are more for Royal Challengers!

Gilly Won the Toss and asks Dhoni to bat!

With three wins and no loss under his belt, Gilly's confident team is taking on Dhoni's team in the crucial encounter. Dhoni's men have won only one game and lost 2 while the match against MI washed out due to rain.

Chennai Super Kings has 3 points from 4 matches while Deccan Charges have 6 points from their 3 matches. A win for CSK will take them to 5 from 5 matches.

Flintoff is not in the team as he left for London due to injury.

Jacob Oram gets into the team in place of Flintoff.

Match 13: CSK v. KKR: Match Abandoned due to Rain! One Point Each!

The very important match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders was called off after continuous rain and poor out field conditions. Though rain stopped in between, most of the day it was raining. The ground staff tried their best but rain did not stop.

The weather forecast also clearly mentioned rain and it did happen. With both the teams with one win and two loss, the match between them was crucial as a win for either of them will put them ahead of the others.

Earlier, on April 21st, the match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in Durban was also called off due to rain.

With this win, both teams have 3 points each from their 4 matches.

Match # 13
Date: Saturday April 25, 2009
Teams: Chennai Super Kings v. Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Dhoni and McCullum
Toss: Did not happen
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Result: Match Abandoned due to Rain
Points: CSK 1; KKR 1
Man of the Match: -

First Three Match Results of CSK:

CSK v. MI - CSK Lost the Match

CSK v. RC - CSK Won the Match

CSK v. DD - CSK Lost the Match

First Three Match Results of KKR:

KKR v. DC - KKR Lost the Match

KKR v. KXI - KKR Won the Match

KKR v. RR - KKR Lost the Match

Match 12: DC v. MI: Hatrick for DC! Surprises MI!

Sachin lead Mumbai Indians were surprised for a shocking defeat in the hands of Deccan Chargers! The matche started with MI as favorites but ended against it.

Deciding to bat first, Deccan Chargers started well and utlized the conditions well. They added 63 for the first wicket in 41 balls. Both Gilchrist and Gibbs played sensibly, especially the round-arm action Malinga.

Gibbs has come out well in this edition so far. He scored brilliant 58 off 44 with 6 fours and 2 sixes. Gilchrist, for his part, had 3 sixes and 3 fours in his 35. The only other double digit scorer was DR Smith with 35.

Malinga bowled really well with tight line and length. I think he is the only player to have bowled a maiden over with two wickets in the last over of an T20 innings. He picked Edwards--clean bowled and Ravi Teja leg before.

At one stage, DC were expected to reach 200 run mark. They were 113 for 1 in 12 overs scoring at 9.41 runs per over. Gibbs was in full form and he scored 18 runs in Kulkani's over which included 2 sixes and a four.

The quick wickets of D Smith, Rohit Sharma and Laxman reduce the run rate. Gibbs got run out in the 16th over for 58. At the end of 16 overs DC were 142 for 5. Even a 10 per over in the last 4 overs would have taken them to 180, but Malinga and Harbhajan gave just 12 runs in their two overs and Malinga took double wicket maiden over in the 20th as DC ended with 168.

Mumbai's start was not good as they lost Jayasuria for just 1, but Tendulkar and Duminy handled the situation well as they put on 82 in 9.1 overs. Tendulkar fell in the first over after strategic break and that changed the match. Dhawan fell immediately for 3. Bravo scored 21 while Nayar had 10. Duminy got out at the crucial stage for 47. The last 5 overs required 61 with 5 wickets in hand. Bravo and Harbhajan managed to bring it down to 26 from 12 balls.

RP Singh bowled the 19th over. Bravo moved across to play it over short fine leg, but missed the ball and was plumb in front of the wicket. He gave away just 4 runs and increased the between the number of balls and the runs required.

Last 6 balls needed 22 runs. Zaheer and Harbhajan tried their best, but couldn't meet the necessary target though Bhajji hit a six in the 2nd ball. MI ended with 12 runs short.

With this victory, Deccan Charges have won all their three games played so far and lead the table with 6 points.

DC v. KKR

DC v. RC

Ojha took 3 crucial wickets for Deccan Chargers. He dismissed Tendulkar, Duminy and Dhwan. All three crucial wickets turned the match in favor of DC and earned him the man of the match award.

Scoreboard:

Match # 12
Date: Saturday April 25, 2009
Teams: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers v. Mumbai Indians
Captains: Gilchrist and Sachin
Toss: DC, elected to bat
Venue: Kingsmead, Durban
Result: DC won by 12 runs
Points: DC 2; MI 0
Man of the Match: Ojha of DC

Deccan Chargers Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Gilchrist	c Shah b Bravo	35	20	3	3
Gibbs	Run Out (Bravo / Z Khan)	58	44	6	2
D Smith	b Jayasuriya	35	22	2	2
Rohit Sharma	c Dhawan b Bravo	3	5	0	0
Laxman	c Nayar b Bravo	0	1	0	0
Venugopal	b Malinga	9	10	0	0
Ravi Teja	lbw b Malinga	9	9	1	0
RP Singh	c Jayasuriya b Harbhajan	4	4	0	0
Edwards	b Malinga	1	3	0	0
Ojha	Not Out	0	2	0	0
Extras	(b 2, lb 7, w 5)	14	-	-	-
Total	for 9 wkts in 20 overs	168	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-63 (Gilchrist, 6.5 ov), 2-124 (Smith, 12.5 ov), 3-136 (Sharma, 14.4 ov), 4-137 (Laxman, 14.6 ov), 5-141 (Gibbs, 15.4 ov), 6-156 (Venugopal Rao, 17.4 ov), 7-161 (Singh, 18.4 ov), 8-163 (Edwards, 19.2 ov), 9-168 (Ravi Teja, 19.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Edwards	4	0	27	2
RP Singh	4	0	27	2
Harmeet Singh	1	0	19	0
DR Smith	2	0	15	0
Ojha	4	0	21	3
Rohit Sharma	1	0	8	0
Venugopal	4	0	33	0

Mumbai Indian Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Jayasuriya	c Gilchrist b RP Singh	1	8	0	0
Tendulkar	c Gibbs b Ojha	36	27	3	2
Duminy	c D Smith b Ojha	47	40	4	2
Dhawan	b Ojha	3	7	0	0
Bravo	lbw b Edwards	21	18	2	0
Nayar	c Gilchrist b Harbhajan	10	6	0	1
Harbhajan	c D Smith b RP Singh	20	8	1	2
Z Khan	Not Out	4	6	0	0
PR Shah	Not Out	1	1	0	0
Extras	(lb 6, w 6, nb 1)	13	-	-	-
Total	for 7 wkts in 20 overs	156	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-4 (Jayasuriya, 1.4 ov), 2-86 (Tendulkar, 10.5 ov), 3-92 (Dhawan, 12.3 ov), 4-105 (Duminy, 14.3 ov), 5-120 (Nayar, 16.2 ov), 6-144 (Bravo, 18.2 ov), 7-154 (Harbhajan Singh, 19.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
S Akhtar	7	1	32	0
Umar Gul	10	0	51	1
I Anjum	9	0	32	0
S Afridi	10	0	38	2
S Ajmal	7	0	37	1
S Malik	2.1	0	14	0

KKR Sends Bangar and Chopra to India!

Akash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar, both of them will return to India after the coach and management decided to send them back home.

The decision was taken after the discussion between Coach and Management. The decision was taken as they do not fit in the present scheme of things. Both of them are former Indian players have played international cricket.

Bangar played two mataches for KKR but got an opportunity to bat once and he scored 11 off 19 balls.

These [Chopra and Bangar] are two very good senior international players so John Buchanan and the team management thought that if they are not going to have the opportunity [to play] it is unfair to keep them around. Nobody is ever happy about going back, but they took it right frame of mind," BhattacharyaJoy Bhattacharya, Kolkata CEO, said.

Their contract is for three years and should be playing next year's edition.

Match 11: KXI v. RC: Bopara Stars in XI's First Win! Praveen Messes it Up for RC!

What's happening in RC camp? Even Pietersen is not sure and that's why he said, "I don't know mate." They were better during the powerplay in the match against Kings XI Punjab. The match was almost in the hands of Royall Challengers until Bopara and Yuvaraj smashed the last few overs for important boundaries and sixes.

Earlier, RC reached their highest total of this season scoring 168. Once again, Kevin Pietersen fell for a duck. Ryder scored useful 32, while his other opening partner Uthappan scored a duck.

Kings XI scored their first win of this season losing both of their earlier matches under D/L Method due to rain. They lost it against Delhi and against Kolkata.

Bopara top scored with 84 off 59 balls and helped KXI register their first win in three matches. In the last 10 overs, KXI required 89 runs with 9 wickets in hand.

Kumble took the crucial wicket of Sangakkara for 26. Last 5 overs required 60 runs and the 16th over from Praveen Kumar in which Bopara scored all the 19 runs which changed the equation to 41 in 24 balls. Kallis bowled the 17th and gave 13 runs including two fours by Yuvaraj.

The last 18 balls required 28 runs. Ryder's over contributed 17 to the total which included 2 sixes by Bopara. The last 12 balls required 11 runs. Kallis provided break through by taking the wicket of Bopara, who did not read the slower ball and edges it to deep midwicket where Ryder took a sliding catch. But, the wicket came too late in the innings Yuvaraj scored a four and a six of the last ball of the over to give KXI their first winning point.

Earlier, for RC, though Uthappa was out for a duck, Kallis and Ryder consolidated the innings. They added 42 for the 2nd wicket in 25 balls, but both Ryder and Pietersen fell in the same over. Taylor contributed 35 and took the final score to 168. Abdulla picked 4 wickets while Irfan Pathan picked 3.

Match # 11
Date: Friday April 24, 2009
Teams: Kings XI Punjab v. Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Yuvaraj and Pietersen
Toss: RC, elected to bat
Venue: Kingsmead, Durban
Result: KXI won by 7 wickets with 6 balls remaining
Points: KXI 2; RC 0
Man of the Match: Ravi Bopara of KXI

Royal Challengers Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Ryder	b Abdulla	32	21	6	0
Uthappa	c Yuvaraj b I Pathan	0	1	0	0
Kallis	c D Jayawardane b Abdulla	62	46	5	2
Pietersen	c Goel b Abdulla	0	2	0	0
Dravid	c Vikram b Chawla	10	13	0	0
LRPL Taylor	c D Jayawardaane b Abdulla	35	22	4	2
Kohli	c Bopara b Vikram	2	3	0	0
Praveen Kumar	lbw b I Pathan	13	7	0	1
Vinay Kumar	Not Out	1	1	0	0
Pankaj Singh	b I Pathan	0	1	0	0
Kumble	Not Out	5	3	1	0
Extras	(b 4, lb 1, w 3)	8	-	-	-
Total	for 9 wkts in 20 overs	168	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-6 (Uthappa, 1.1 ov), 2-48 (Ryder, 5.2 ov), 3-48 (Pietersen, 5.4 ov), 4-73 (Dravid, 10.3 ov), 5-134 (Kallis, 16.3 ov), 6-142 (Kohli, 17.4 ov), 7-159 (Taylor, 18.4 ov), 8-162 (Kumar, 19.1 ov), 9-162 (Pankaj Singh, 19.2 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Bose	2	0	24	0
I Pathan	4	0	35	3
Abdulla	4	0	31	4
Chawla	4	0	19	1
Yuvaraj	4	0	28	0
Bopara	1	0	4	0
Vikram	2	0	22	1

Kings XI Punjab Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Bopara	c Ryder b Kallis	84	59	4	5
Goel	Run Out	19	19	1	0
Sangakkara	c Pankaj b Kumble	26	18	2	1
Yuvaraj	Not Out	30	17	3	1
D Jayawardane	Not Out	1	1	0	0
Extras	(b 1, lb 3, w 9)	13	-	-	-
Total	for 3 wkts in 19 overs	173	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-52 (Goel, 6.4 ov), 2-92 (Sangakkara, 12.3 ov), 3-158 (Bopara, 18.1 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
P Kumar	4	0	36	0
Pankaj	2	0	20	0
Kallis	4	0	51	1
Vinay	1	0	4	0
Pietersen	2	0	16	0
Kumble	4	0	19	1
Ryder	2	0	23	0

Lalit Modi's Bail Order May be Revoked: HC

The Rajasthan High Court today issued a notice to Mr. Modi seeking an explnation from him as to why his bail order should not be revoked. He should have taken prior permission before leaving the country in a cheating case, but he did not do it before going to South Africa for the IPL 2 season.

He was granted anticipatory bail by Rajasthan High Court in a cheating case filed in Jaipur. The court granted him bail under Section 438 of Cr Pc and it stated that he could not leave the country without the approval of the court,” said Mr AK Jain, senior High Court lawyer representing the non-government organisation battling Mr Modi. Mr Modi’s bail plea had initially been cancelled by the lower court. Section 438 of Cr Pc states that those granted bail should be available for police interrogation.

The NGO alleged irregularities in the disbursement of Rs 6 crore. Modi handed over a cheque worth Rs 6 crore on behalf of the IPL to the former chief minister, Mr Vasundara Raje, last year for the Jaipur's serial bomb blast victims. The chief minister’s relief fund has reportedly received only Rs 5.2 crore.

The court is awaiting an explanation from Mr. Modi who is in South Africa enjoying the mega IPL event.

Flintoff to Return home! Miss rest of IPL!

Flintoff has returned home half-way through the IPL Season 2 in South Africa. He has to undergo a surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee.

He represents Chennai Super Kings and played in all the three matches. Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen are the two players heavily paid.

So far, Flintoff did not contribute in any great way to the CSK. His figures were 1-44 agasint Mumbai and 0 for 50 against Delhi. He took 1-11 against Royal Challengers.

Overall, his bowling average is 52.5, picking just 2 wickets. He has an economy rate of 9.54.

His batting is little better and has an average of 31.

I am not sure whether it is for good or bad for CSK, but mostly good for CSK. The only advantage CSK had was the psychological factor where people respect Flintoff and worry about his scoring pattern. He can change the game at any time and bowl good tight spells. With the current form and records, it is good that he is going home.

It is expected that he will be out of action for 5-6 weeks and will miss the test series against West Indies. But he is expected to be back in action for the T20 World Cup and Ashes.

Match 10: RR v. KKR: Match Tied, but Y Pathan's Sixes help RR win in Super Over!

In the closely faught match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, Warne's RR had the final laugh.

The match in hand was lost by KKR. Last over required 7 runs, but lost Ganguly in the penultimate ball. Last ball required 2 runs, but it was too much for Ishanth Sharma. He drove the ball towards cover where Warne did a wonderful diving stop. While going for the 2nd run, Ishanth was well short of his crease.

This created Super Over where each team has to select three batsmen and one bowler.

Gayle, McCullum and Ganguly were selected to bat for KKR and Kamaran Khan bowled for Rajasthan Royals:

Ball 1: Single to long off by Gayle;
Ball 2: Single on a hip-height full toss by McCullum. He asked for a no-ball but umpires denied it;
Ball 3: Wide;
Ball 3: Four over mid on by Gayle, over pitched and chipped over long on
Ball 4: Four over square leg by Gayle; pitched on leg stump and he flicked it;
Ball 5: Four over mid wicket by Gayle; He stayed close to the wicket and hit it over mid-wicket.
Ball 6: Caught beautifully by Quiney at deep cover; ball pitched on the wide off stump which he tried to cut but went straight to sweeper cover;

KKR scored 15 runs for 1 wicket in 1 over. RR needed 16;

RR selected Y Pathan, RA Jadeja, and Mascarenhas and KKR had Mendis for bowling;

Ball 1: Six over long-off by Pathan;
Ball 2: He hit it over long on but went high in the air; dropped; Proper adjustment would have turned this match;
Ball 3: Six over deep mid-wicket by Pathan;
Ball 4: Four by Pathan wide of square leg

RR reached 18 in 4 balls and win the crucial 2 points

Scoreboard:

Match # 10
Date: Thursday April 23, 2009
Teams: Rajasthan Royals v. Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Warne and McCullum
Toss: KKR, elected to bat
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Result: Match Tied; RR won by 2 wickets in Super Over with 2 balls remaining
Points: RR 2; KKR 0
Man of the Match: Yousuf Pathan of RR

Rajasthan Royals Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
G Smith	c Gayle b Mendis	15	21	1	0
Valthaty	c I Sharma b A Singh	5	7	1	0
Quiney	c Gayle b I Sharma	6	2	0	1
Y Pathan	c Y Singh b Mendis	42	21	6	2
RA Jadeja	c Y Singh b I Sharma	22	26	0	0
Mascarenhas	b A Singh	27	28	2	0
AS Raut	Not Out	21	13	1	2
Warne	Not Out	2	2	0	0
Extras	(lb 3, w 7)	10	-	-	-
Total	for 6 wkts in 20 overs	150	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-8 (Valthaty, 1.6 ov), 2-14 (Quiney, 2.2 ov), 3-70 (Smith, 8.1 ov), 4-73 (Pathan, 8.6 ov), 5-112 (Jadeja, 16.2 ov), 6-125 (Mascarenhas, 17.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
I Sharma	4	0	36	2
A Singh	4	0	35	2
Agarkar	1	0	14	0
Mendis	4	0	19	2
Ganguly	3	0	23	0
Gayle	4	0	20	0

Kolkata Knight Riders Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Gayle	c Jadeja b Sangwan	41	33	2	4
McCullum	c K Khan b Mascarenhas	3	9	0	0
Shukla	c Rawat b K Khan	13	13	1	0
Hodge	c Rawat b M Patel	5	7	0	0
Ganguly	c Rawat b K Khan	46	30	4	2
Bangar	c Smith b K Khan	2	9	0	0
Y Singh	c Raut b Warne	20	18	3	0
Agarkar	Not Out	1	1	0	0
I Sharma	Run Out (K Khan/Rawat)	1	1	0	0
Extras	(lb 8, w 9, nb 1)	18	-	-	-
Total	for 8 wkts in 20 overs	150	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-25 (McCullum, 3.6 ov), 2-60 (Gayle, 8.2 ov), 3-67 (Shukla, 9.5 ov), 4-71 (Hodge, 10.5 ov), 5-94 (Bangar, 13.6 ov), 6-143 (Yashpal Singh, 18.5 ov), 7-149 (Ganguly, 19.5 ov), 8-150 (Sharma, 19.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Y Pathan	4	0	27	0
Mascarenhas	4	1	29	1
Warne	4	0	25	2
Kamaran Khan	4	0	18	3
M Patel	3	0	36	1
RA Jadeja	1	0	7	0

Match 9: DD v. CSK: Complacent CSK loses! Cool DD Wins!

The complecent Chennai Super Kings lost the easy battle against Delhi Daredevils. Viru won the toss and elected to bat. Luck didn't favor Gambhir as he was caught behind the very first ball.

Sehwag, the other danger man also fell in the next over for 6. The nice opportunity to captalize was missed by Dhoni's men. De Villiers and Dilshan did not protect their wicket, instead they started attacking. They added 68 for the third wicket in just 6.3 overs. Morkel conceeded 4 fours--1 by deVilliers and 3 by Dilshan. In the next over by Flintoff, Dilshan hit a four and a six. They scored 32 runs in the 4th and 5th over.

Dilshan scored his fifty before getting caught of a full toss. He reached his 50 in just 24 balls which included 7 fours and 2 sixes. At the end of 10 overs, DD were 96 for 3 with DeVilliers on 25 and Dinesh Karthik on 14. They added 38 in 5.3 overs.

DeVilliers took it from there and reached his 50 in 35 balls and went on to score an unbeaten 105. The 50 to 100 took him just 16 balls. He was lucky to be dropped by his country mate A Morkel at long on off Gony. It was a sitter when he was at 50. His 105 had 5 fours and 6 sixes in 54 balls. This is where CSK lost their match. If that catch was not dropped, they would have won this game. Similarly, in MI match, Hayden dropped a sitter.

In the 74-run partnership between DeVilliers and Tiwari, DeVilliers scored 65 runs. He helped DD reach the highest score in season 2 by any team.

Balaji was the pick of the bowler for CSK, picking 3 for 19 in his 4 overs.

Chasing 190 requires a good start and aptly it was provided by Hayden and Parthiv Patel. They were going at the rate of 10 runs per over and put 57 for the first wicket in 5.2 overs. Hayden did not stop his attacking attitude. He scored another 50 in just 22 balls--fastest fifty by him.

At the end of 10 overs, CSK were 106 for 2 requiring another 84 in 10 overs with 8 wickets in hand. What happened after that? Big surprise!

Vettori turned the match once again for DD. He picked Dhoni 3rd ball after the strategic break. Raina and Flintoff kept the momentum with 51 requiring of 6 overs.

Sangwan, the best of hte pick for DD picked crucial wickets at important times. He picked Raina off a full toss, caught at long-on by DeVilliers.

It was not Morkel's day as he dropped catches and gave away 41 runs in his 4 overs. The man who demolished the Australian attack in the OIDI and T20 series, could not repeat it today for CSK. Believe me, he scored 13 off 14 balls which had only one boundary. This is the usual Morkel.

Last 4 overs required 34. Badrinath and Morkel could not do much except to score singles. Last 3 overs requied 29, and the last 2 requiring 24! Badri got out Vettori in the 3rd ball of 19th. Gony hit a six in the 5th and was run out on the last ball.

Last over required 15 runs, but Joginder Sharma was on strike. What a strategy? Experienced player Morkel in crease and he could not control the innings! Joginder scored two each of the first two balls, not giving strike to main player Morkel.

Third ball was run out on the third ball, fourth ball was another run out. Balaji ran even before the ball bowled, but Morkel hits straight to covers where Sangwan passes the ball to Nannes and he removed the bails. Fifth ball was a single leaving CSK requiring 10 runs of 1 ball and no run was scored, giving DD a 9-run victory.

The match in hand was lost by CSK, but Dhoni mentioned as if they're never close. In the last 10 overs, CSK required just 84 runs with 8 wickets in hand, most of the teams would reach this target in any form of the game. This day doesn't seem to be CSK's day.

Dhoni was not aggressive in the field, once again. Watching the match through TV, it looked like he never gave any input or encourgament to the fielders to be aggressive. Three runs were picked where it should have been two, Two were scored it if actually was a single. The way, Dhoni collects the ball never shows that he is a professional keeper. He seems to be so lethargic and does not looks like a cool captain. You can be aggressive, attentive, but not arrogant.

Scoreboard:

Match # 9
Date: Thursday April 23, 2009
Teams: Delhi Daredevils v. Chennai Super Kings
Captains: Virendra Sehwag and Dhoni
Toss: DD, elected to bat
Venue: Kingsmead, Durban
Result: DD won by 9 runs
Points: DD 2; CSK 0
Man of the Match: AB de Villiers of DD

Delhi Daredevils Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Gambhir	c Dhoni b Balaji	0	1	0	0
Sehwag	c A Morkel b Gony	6	9	1	0
AB de Villiers	Not Out	105	54	5	6
Dilshan	c Raina b A Morkel	50	27	7	2
D Karthik	c Flintoff b Balaji	18	16	2	0
Tiwari	c Flintoff b Balaji	9	13	1	0
Vettori	Not Out	0	0	0	0
Extras	(w 1)	1	-	-	-
Total	for 5 wkts in 20 overs	189	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (Gambhir, 0.1 ov), 2-8 (Sehwag, 1.6 ov), 3-76 (Dilshan, 8.3 ov), 4-114 (Karthik, 13.6 ov), 5-188 (Tiwary, 19.5 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Balaji	4	0	19	3
Gony	4	0	45	1
A Morkel	4	0	41	1
Flintoff	4	0	50	0
J Sharma	1	0	8	0
Muralitharan	3	0	26	0

Chennai Super Kings Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Patel	c DeVilliers b Sangwan	16	15	2	0
Hayden	c Nannes b Sangwan	57	27	5	3
Raina	c DeVilliers b Sangwan	41	27	5	1
Dhoni	c D Karthik b Vettori	5	7	0	0
Flintoff	c (sub) Warner b Nehra	16	17	1	0
A Morkel	Not Out	13	14	1	0
Badrinath	c (sub) Warner b Vettori	7	8	0	0
Gony	Run Out (Sehwag/Vettori)	6	2	0	1
J Sharma	Run Out (sub Warner)	4	3	0	0
Balaji	Run Out (Sangwan/Nannes)	0	0	0	0
Muralitharan	Not Out	0	1	0	0
Extras	(lb 6, w 8, nb 1)	15	-	-	-
Total	for 9 wkts in 20 overs	180	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-57 (Patel, 5.2 ov), 2-90 (Hayden, 7.6 ov), 3-108 (Dhoni, 10.3 ov), 4-139 (Raina, 14.1 ov), 5-156 (Flintoff, 15.6 ov), 6-168 (Badrinath, 18.3 ov), 7-175 (Gony, 18.6 ov), 8-179 (Joginder Sharma, 19.3 ov), 9-179 (Balaji, 19.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Nannes	4	0	32	0
Nehra	4	0	33	1
Salvi	3	0	41	0
Sangwan	4	0	28	3
Vettori	4	0	29	2
Tiwari	1	0	11	0

Match 8: DC v. RC: Gilly and Rohit Chop off Challengers!

In an important match for Royal Challengers, the skipper of Hyderabad Deccan Charger's Gilchrist and Rohit Sharma chopped off the Challengers with a comfortable win. After deciding to bat, Gilchrist and Gibbs opened the innings for DC. Gilly was in aggressive mood smashing the ball all over the park. He hit 3 continuous fours in the first over of the innings bowled by Praveen Kumar.

Steyn was also punished in the 2nd over with 15 runs including two fours and a six by Gilly. Royal Challengers were not able to stop the momentum built by Gilchrist and Gibbs.

Gibbs was unlucky to be given LBW of Praveen. Laxman could not add much value as he departed for 5 off 10 balls, caught by Steyn of Ryder.

Rohit Sharma and Gilchrist added 61 for the 3rd wicket in 6 overs. Gilly scored 71 off 45 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes. Rohit Sharma was also equaly demolishing the bowlers as he hit 3 sixes of former Indian captain Kumble. All sixes were beautifully hit and perfect cricket shots. The timing was perfect and all of them were on the leg side. His first half centiry in this edition came in 28 balls which included 1 four and 5 sixes.

The lower order contributed little and it helped the team to put the highest total of this edition in the first 8 games.

Bangalore Royal Challengers did not have a good start. Ryder was bowled the first ball, by a superb delivery from Edwards knocking his off stump. Though Kallis hit two fours in the same over, no batsmen looked dangerous as wickets were falling frequently. The moment the batsmen looked dangerous of scoring runs, he got out.

Kohli and Dravid top scored for RC with 50 and 48 respectively. They added 53 for the 5th wicket in 5.1 overs, but that was too late as RC did not have hitters and enough wickets in hand. Earlier, Kallis, Uthappa and Pietersen did not improvise the run rate as RC reached their 50 in the 9th over. Their Hundred came in 15th over. With 85 required in 33 balls almost an impossible target.

Praveen hit couple of sixes at the end as they needed little over 50 in 2 overs.

This victory has put Deccan Chargers at the top of the points table with 4 points while Royal Challengers have just 2 points in three matches.

RC won against Royal Challengers
RC lost to Chennai Super Kings
RC lost to Deccan Chargers

DC beat Kolkata Knight Riders
DC beat Royal Challengers

Match # 8
Date: Wednesday April 22, 2009
Teams: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers v. Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Gilchrist and McCullum
Toss: DC, elected to bat
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Result: DC won by 24 runs
Points: DC 2; RC 0
Man of the Match: Adam Gilchrist of DC

Deccan Chargers Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Gilchrist	c Kohli b Pietersen	71	45	6	5
Gibbs	lbw b P Kumar	13	7	1	1
Laxman	c Steyn b Ryder	5	10	0	0
Rohit Sharma	c Pietersen b Steyn	52	30	1	5
Styris	c P Kumar b Pietersen	14	8	0	1
V Rao	Run Out (P Kumar)	9	13	0	0
DR Teja	Not Out	8	5	1	0
Edwards	Not Out	3	2	0	0
Extras	(lb 8, w 1)	9	-	-	-
Total	for 6 in 20 overs	184	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-46 (Gibbs, 3.5 ov), 2-66 (Laxman, 7.1 ov), 3-127 (Gilchrist, 13.1 ov), 4-147 (Styris, 15.3 ov), 5-172 (Sharma, 18.2 ov), 6-174 (Venugopal Rao, 18.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
P Kumar	4	0	37	1
D Steyn	3	0	21	1
J Kallis	2	0	19	0
Kumble	4	0	39	0
Ryder	3	0	29	1
Pietersen	4	0	31	2

Royal Challengers Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Ryder	c Sangakkara b VS Malik	0	1	0	0
Uthappa	Not Out	12	19	1	0
Kallis	Not Out	15	14	3	0
Pietersen	Not Out	11	15	1	0
Dravid	Not Out	48	27	5	2
Kohli	Not Out	50	32	7	0
Bishnoi	Not Out	1	2	0	0
K Sharma	Not Out	1	3	0	0
P Kumar	Not Out	14	6	0	2
Kumble	Not Out	1	1	0	0
Extras	(lb 1, w 6)	7	-	-	-
Total	for 8 wkts in 20 overs	160	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (Ryder, 0.1 ov), 2-19 (Kallis, 3.5 ov), 3-38 (Uthappa, 7.2 ov), 4-62 (Pietersen, 10.3 ov), 5-115 (Dravid, 15.4 ov), 6-123 (Bishnoi, 16.3 ov), 7-134 (Sharma, 17.4 ov), 8-158 (Kohli, 19.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Edwards	4	0	39	1
RP Singh	4	0	17	2
Harmeet Singh	4	0	44	0
Ojha	4	0	27	1
Styris	4	0	32	3