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 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 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 39: Rajasthan Royals Continue their Winning Spree!

Rajasthan Royals continued their winning habit against Bangalore Royal Challengers. Put into bat, Rajasthan Royals put 197 on the board losing only one wicket of Asnodkar.

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Chasing a mamooth target and not famous for chasing huge totals, Bangalore Royal Challengers meekly surrendered for 132 for 9 in 20 overs.

Match 39
Venue: Jaipur
Date: May 17, 2008
Teams: Rajasthan Royals and Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid
Toss: Bangalore Royal Challengers and decided to field
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 65 runs
Man of the Match: GC Smith off Rajasthan Royals (South Africa)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:

Rajasthan Royals 197 for 1 in 20 overs (GC Smith 75 not out, SA Asnodkar 50, SR Watson 46 not out, Extras-26 (b 1, lb 6, wide 18, nb 1), Z Khan 4-0-46-0, P Kumar 4-0-28-0, JH Kallis 4-0-39-0, Abdur Razzak 2-0-29-0, A Kumble 4-0-32-1, V Kohli 2-0-16-0) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 132 for 9 in 20 overs (J Arunkumar 0, V Kohli 3, Misbah-ul-Haq 0, JH Kallis 20, CL White 10, R Dravid 75 not out, DT Patil 9, P Kumar 0, Z Khan 1, A Kumble 8, Abdur Razzak 0 not out, Extras-6 (wide 6), Sohail Tanvir 4-0-10-3, MM Patel 4-0-21-2, SR Watson 2-0-6-0, SK Warne 4-0-23-3, SK Trivedi 2-0-23-1, YK Pathan 2-0-28-0, RA Jadeja 2-0-21-0)

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Record Low Score by Kolkata Knight Riders

The record low score was recorded by Kolkata Knight Riders against Mumbai Indians. Shaun Pollock bowled a wonderful spell of 4-0-12-3.

Shaun Pollock dismissed three crucial wickets in the early overs to give big advantage for Mumbai Indians.



He first dismissed Salman Butt caught by Tendular in the slip in the 5th ball of the 3rd over.

David Hussey was caught behind for 1. The beautiful outswinger kissed the outside edge and went straight to keeper Takawale.

Mohammad Hafeez was caught at second slip by Uthappa for 5. That was a good delivery pitched on the off stump and leaving the right hander. Hafeez not sure whether to play forward or backward, tried to steer the ball to thirdman, went straight to slips.

Only three batsmen scored double digit score--Salman Butt 13, Ganguly 15, and Agarkar 15.



Bravo, Raje and Thornely picked two wickets each.

Shaun Pollock was declared man of the match award for his winning performance.

The match was completed in less than 6 overs and that is also another record in this match. The quickest match in the IPL. The match that was completed in lesser time and overs. The total match had just 20.5 overs with 15.2 consumed by Kolkata and Mumbai finished chasing their target in 5.3 overs.

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Match 34: Kings XI Win Easy! Bangalore's Woe Continues!

The poor show of Bangalore Royal Challengers poor form continues and not only that, the difference of opinion between the skipper and the owner also has come out open.

The Bangalore attitude was not that great in this match! They never looked for a win, it looked!

Winning the toss and deciding to bat, Bangalore never looked to make a score that would cross 180 or 200. First over added 3 runs and then Kohli gave a maiden over. Pressure is on the openers. Arunkumar got out in the 1st bal of the third over, edging the Sreesanth delivery to Jayawardane at point.

Misbah hit two fours of the last two balls to take the score to 14/1 in 3 overs. Kohli hit two fours in the first two balls of the 4th over bowled by Pathan.

Misbha hit a six of the first ball of the 5th over and then a four in the 5th ball. He gave the momentum and was building the innings. He could have playes more sensibly by playing at least a step away from the crease. He played backfoot and hit the stumps with his back foot and ran for a single. Later it was found that he was hit wicket, very unlucky, both the Misbah and Bangalore.

Kohli hit two fours in the 6th over and was bowled by Chawla in the next delivery. At the end of 10 overs, Bangalore were 74 for 3, thanks to Misbah's firing innings.

White the danger batsman got out in the 11th over, first ball caught and bowled by Chawla, giving his 2nd wicket.

The runs were not coming as expected. Dravid got out in the 15th over bowled by Pathan. He was out for 29 off 26 balls.

Boucher opened his shoulders and he hit a six and two fours of Hopes. That was the only big over and end of 16 overs, Bangalore were 118 for 5. The last 5 overs added just 25 runs to the score and Bangalore ended their innings at 143 for 8.

The chase was easy for Kings XI as the Bangalore never showed a positive sign of winning or even trying.

Steyn's first over costed 12 runs followed by Zaheer Khan giving away just 1 run. Hopes and Marsh were never troubled and they started the innings well. Hopes hit a six of Zaheer Khan, a pull of the short ball over mid wicket. He hit another 6 of Praveen Kumar.

Marsh was dropped at mid-off by Chipli on 12. Zaheer missed a caught and bowled chance for Hopes on 19. Finally, Vijaykumar dismissed Hopes caught by Steyn, who held the diving catch running from extra cover. He was out for 27 off 19 balls with 3 sixes.

That was the only wicket to fall for Kings XI. Marsh and Pomersbach scored the remaining runs. Marsh reached his 50 in 35 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. The unbeaten second wicket partnership was 102 runs in 56 balls. Marsh was on song hitting his 74 off 51 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes.

Pomersbach was not out 34 off 24 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. This was the 7th defeat for Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Marsh was declared man of the match for his wonderful 74, leading his team to victory.

Match 34
Venue: Mohali
Date: May 12, 2008
Teams: Kings XI Punjab and Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Yuvaraj Singh and Rahul Dravid
Toss: Bangalore Royal Challengers and decided to bat
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 9 wickets with 26 balls remaining
Man of the Match: SE Marsh off Kings XI Punjab (Australia)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:

Bangalore Royal Challengers 143 for 8 in 20 overs (J Arunkumar 1, V Kohli 21, Misbah-ul-Haq 21, CL White 10, R Dravid 29, MV Boucher 39, P Kumar 5, R Vinay Kumar 1, Z Khan 1 not out, A Kumble 0 not out, Extras-15 (b 5, lb 2, wide 8), S Sreesanth 4-0-29-3, IK Pathan 4-1-23-1, PP Chawla 4-0-33-2, VRV Singh 4-0-15-1, Yuvaraj Singh 2-0-14-0, JR Hopes 2-0-22-0) lost to Kings XI Punjab 144 for 1 in 15.4 overs (SE Marsh 74 not out, JR Hopes 27, LA Pomersbach 34 not out, Extras-9 (lb 5, wide 4), DW Steyn 2-0-33-0, Z Khan 4-0-35-0, P Kumar 2.4-0-15-0, R Vinaykumar 2-0-11-1, A Kumble 4-0-36-0, V Kohli 1-0-9-0)

Match 29: Kolkata Wins Finally!

In a rain curtailed match, Kolkata Knight Riders finally tasted a win after a gap of 4 matches. It was unusual to rain in Kolkata in this season, but it did not stop the match.

Though pitch report said fielding first is the best options, both the captains thought otherwise. Winning the toss, Ganguly decided to bat first citing the outfield as reason. The overs were reduced to 16 per side with each bowler can bowl a maximum of 3 with an exception one bowler who can bowl maximum of 4 overs.

Chopra and Hodge opened the innings. The scoreboard did not move as Ganguly expected. Steyn got Chopra in front of the wicket for 2 in his 2nd over. In the same over, Ganguly and Hodge scored a four each. Hodge was out in the next over, pulled a short ball that went straight into the hands of Vinaykumar at deep square leg.

The inform batsman David Hussey hit a four and a six in the fifth over to take the score to 36 for 2. Ganguly trying to get his form, was not successful in this match also. He was out in the 8th over, going for a quick single, but found himself short of crease. He played with soft hands and the fielder White hit the stumps direct. Ganguly was out for 20 off 22 balls with 2 fours.

The first Zimbabwe player to play in this IPL is Taibu. David Hussey gave some hopes for Kolkata by hitting two continuous sixes of Kumble. He could have judged the second run better. After two sixes, the next ball went to square leg of the pads. He looked for second run, but Steyn sent a good throw from the deep straight to keeper who just knocked off the stumps. Hussey scored 26 off 12 balls a four and 3 sixes.

Taibu got out in the 12th over, caught by Boucher of Steyn, trying to pull the ball, but it took top edge. He hit 2 fours in his 15 off 12 balls. In the same over, Shukla hit two fours off Steyn and bowled in the next ball through inner edge.

At the end of 12 overs, Kolkata were 89 for 6 and added just 6 runs each in the next two overs. With two more overs to go, they were 101 for 6.

Sure that Bangalore would have eyed a win at this stage of the game. Zaheer Khan gave away 14 runs in the next over including 2 fours. Kumar's next over added another 14 to total with 2 huge sixes.

The match saw a confusin when umpires said that Steyn cannot bowl as Praveen Kumar already completed his four. Only one bowler can bowl and Praveen already did that. Everyone thought Rahul made a mistake in his calculations. Finally he was correct as the scorers made a mistake by adding a over to Vinay Kumar instead of Praveen Kumar.

Kolkata ended their innings with 129 for 7, losing Karthik in the last over.

Bangalore could have won this game if they had gone agains the bowler at least from 5th over. They were playing it like a test game. Though Ishanth Sharma was firing from one end, they could have picked other bowlers.

Chandrapaul got out trying to slog, caught at mid on by Murali Karthik of Sharma. End of four overs, Bangalore were 19 for 1.

The hopes were brought back for few balls by Arun Kumar, who hit 3 fours of Umar Gul. With 12 runs alredy in the over, he could have played sensible, waiting for the strike. Pushing the ball to point, he went for a quick single, but the fielder Hodge sent a direct hit to send him back.

With two new batsman in the crease, the run rate dropped below 6. The 6th, 7th and 8th over added 3 runs each to the score. At the end of 8 overs, Bangalore were 41 for 3. Ganguly was bowling a good line at one end giving away just 5 runs of his 2 overs.

Murali Karhik was brought in and that over added 10 and Bangalore crossed 50.

Bangalore needed 80 runs in 42 balls with 8 wickets end. What were they doing? They have to win this game and have to throw the bat.

Ganguly bowled Dravid in the first ball of the 10th over. Dravid played a paddle sweep and missed the ball, which uprooted his leg stump. "DADA" was celebrating along with Kolkata crowd. He gave just 2 runs in that over to complete his spell of 3 overs giving away 7 runs and taking a wicket. End of 10 overs, Bangalore struggling at 53 for 3.

White and Boucher tried their bit. White became dangerous as he hit a four and six of Shukla and gave momentum. The 11th over added 15 to the total. The 12th over added 8 to the total with a four by Boucher.

Umar Gul's next over added 15 to the total. Last three overs were good for Bangalore. White hit two fours off Gul to take the score 91 for 3 and requiring 40 in 3 overs.

Ishanth, having two overs, was rightly brought back. He gave five runs to change the equation to 35 in two overs.

Karthik was brought back. This is a crucial over. Boucher played the first ball back to bowler, but White started the run. Karthik easily knocked the stumps to run out White for 30 off 16 balls with 3 fours and a six.

Boucher decided to against Murali Karthik. He hit a four, six and another four, a single. This over added 15 runs, but they should have added more.

Last over, 20 runs needed, Ishanth to bowl, Boucher on strike. First ball was a four.
No run of the next ball, the next two balls were 2 runs each. Two balls 12 runs. Boucher scores a single to midwicket. The entire Eden Garden goes wild. Praveen Kumar hits a four of last ball, but that was useless at this stage. Bangalore lost by 5 runs.

Ganguly for his wonderful spell of 3-0-7-1 was declared man of the match.

Match 29
Venue: Kolkata
Date: May 8, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders and decided to bat
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 runs
Man of the Match: Sourav Ganguly off Kolkata Knight Riders (India)
Points: Kolkata Knight Riders-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:
Kolkata Knight Riders 129 for 7 in 16 overs (A Chopra 2, BJ Hodge 10, SC Ganguly 20, DJ Hussey 26, T Taibu 15, LR Shukla 11, WP Saha 17 not out, M Kartik 17, Umar Gul 6 not out, Extras—5 (lb 3, wide 2), DW Steyn 4-0-27-3, Z Khan 3-0-27-1, P Kumar 3-0-36-1, R Vinay Kumar 3-0-15-0, A Kumble 3-0-21-0) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 124 for 4 in 16 overs (J Arunkumar 22, S Chanderpaul 7, MV Boucher 50 not out, R Dravid 5, CL White 30, P Kumar 4 not out, Extras-6 (lb 3, wide 2, nb 1), AB Dinda 3-0-20-0, I Sharma 4-0-25-1, Umar Gul 3-0-30-0, SC Ganguly 3-0-7-1, M Kartik 2-0-24-0, LR Shukla 1-0-15-0)

Bangalore Royal Challengers in Trouble!

Bangalore is in deep trouble. Having only won 2 matches out of the 7 played, they are last in the table. Though they gave their best peformance, it was not enough as their opponents did more than them.

Charu Sharma, the current CEO has been asked to resign! The new CEO is Brijesh Patel.

It is expected that the coach Venkatesh Prasad will also be asked to quit.

Adding to the problem is the injury of Wasim Jaffer. He is out for the next 3 weeks as he has a fracture in the hand. He couldn't even hold his bat because of the injury he had in the match against Chennai Super Kings.

Jaffer Injured!

Charu is out, Patel is in!

Bangalore Royal Challenger's Win!

Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Mumbai Indians

Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Hyderabad Deccan Chargers

Bangalore Royal Challenger's Losses!

Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Kolkata Knight Riders

Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Rajasthan Royals

Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Chennai Super Kings

Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Delhi Daredevils

Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Kings XI Punjab

Jaffer Injured, out for 3 weeks! Charu Shama is out too!!

Bangalore Royal Challengers have been having a tough time in the inaugural Indian Premier League, losing five of their seven matches and then seeing their CEO Charu Sharma being replaced by former India Test player Brijsh Patel.

And, just when one thought things couldn't get any worse for the Royal Challengers, has come the news that opening batsman Wasim Jaffer has suffered a fracture in his hand and will be out of action for the next three weeks.

He was injured during the game against Chennai Super Kings on April 28, and couldn't even hold the bat in the match against Kings XI Punjab on Monday night. Jaffer, who has made 110 runs from five matches in the IPL at a strike rate of 111.11.

The injury comes at a bad time for Jaffer, who was just starting to prove himself in the Twenty20 format. It may be a bigger blow for the Challengers though as one of their most consistent players in the tournament is now on the sidelines.

Their their next match against Kolkata Knight Riders is a crucial one for Bangalore and they have to try something different including the opening at the Eden Gardens on May 8 to be in the competition.

Charu Sharma goes and Brijesh Patel is new CEO!

Brijesh Patel New CEO for Bangalore Royal Challengers!

The owner of Bangalore Royal Challengers Mr. Vijay Mallya have asked Charu Sharma, the current CEO to quit his post. The poor show of Bangalore Royal Challengers is the reason for this. They have lost 5 of the 7 games and they have only 7 more games and they have to almot all the games to enter the semis.

Brijesh Patel will replace Charu Sharma as the new CEO. Brijesh is currently the secretary of Karnataka Cricket Association. Patel's experience in international level stands at 21 tests appearance and 101 ODIs.

Let us see whether Brijesh is able to help with his experience in getting back Bangalore Royal Challengers to the winning rhythem.

Kings XI Punjab Leads the Table!

With the recent defeat from Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Roylas have gone down by one place. Kings XI Punjab is leading the table with same number of points, but on better net run rate.

Third and fourth places are held by Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils with 8 points each, but Delhi is better in net run rate.

The other teams are:

Kolkata Knight Riders with 6 points in the 5th place because of better net run rate than Mumbai Indians;

Mumbai Indians is in 6th place with 6 points from 7 matches winning 3 of them;

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers beat Chennai Super Kings and gained two more points to take the tally to 4 points to be in 7th position; and finally

Bangalore Royal Challengers with 4 points in the last place

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
KXI	7	5	2	0	0	10	+0.442	1189/136.4	1141/138.1
RR	7	5	2	0	0	10	+0.436	1061/129.3	1011/130.2
CSK	8	5	3	0	0	10	-0.001	1388/157.0	1338/151.2
DD	7	4	3	0	0	8	+0.654	1116/127.1	1133/139.3
KKR	7	3	4	0	0	6	+0.461	1067/135.0	980/131.4
MI	7	3	4	0	0	6	-0.455	1041/133.5	1084/131.4
DC	7	2	5	0	0	4	-0.011	1086/130.0	1093/130.4
BRC	8	2	6	0	0	4	-1.309	1135/155.4	1303/151.3

Match 25: Kings XI Punjab Demolishes Bangalore Royal Challengers! Cry Baby declared Man of the Match!

Good toss to win and the right decision by Yuvaraj. Though he is currently lacking the leadership skills according to me, he made the right decision based on wicket and the strength of the team. Remind you that Dhoni said, regardless of the pitch, he will go for batting because batting was the strength.

Sreesanth demolished the hopes of Bangalore in the first over by taking two wickets with just one wide run on the board. The first wicket of Jaffer was a typical fast bowler delivery, pitched on the off and swung away taking the edge of the ba, straight to keeper, in the fourth ball.

He pitched the next ball in the off and middle and the bowl swung well. Even before White realized that there is a big gap between bat and pad, the ball went through the gap to him the middle stump. Two wickets in the first over of the game is really not a good start for any team, especially if the team is struggling to win. Kallis avoided the hatrick to Sreesanth.

The poor calling by Kohli ran out Kallis, one more failure. Kohli played it point and called for a run which was responded well by Kalli. But, looking the fielder approaching the ball faster than anticipated, said no, but by that time, Kallis was almost in batting crease, couldn't go back. Marsh threw the ball easily to the bowler who did the rest.

At the end of the 6 overs, Bangalore were strggling at 26 for 3, the lowest by any team in the power play.

It was left to Dravid, the skipper and Kohli to build the partnership and save Bangalore. They did not take risk till the end of 10th over--51 for 3.

Sreesanth was brought back to bowl his last over, the 11th over of of the innings, and he almost provied it. Though he was hit beautifully for a four in the first ball through covers, the last ball was a catch that was dropped because of poor judgment by Hopes. He ended his figures with 4-0-16-2, which earned him the man of the match award.

Kohli got out in the 1st ball of 13th over bowled by Pathan. The change in bowling worked through a slower ball pitched away on the off stump, which Kohli trying to clear the fence. He actually did not time it well and lost his wicket. He scored useful 36 of 36 balls with 5 fours. The 54 run partnership came off 52 balls.

Misah-ul-Haq was not able to carry on his T20 World Cup form. He was declared leg before off Chawla for 8. Two balls later, Praveen Kumar didn't expect the bounce, tried to cut the ball, but it took edge and was well caught by keeper Kaul. Two wickets in an over one more time.

At the end of 16 overs, Bangalore were 102 for 6, lost all crucial wickets, with only skipper Dravid in the crease.

Though Patil was run out in the first ball of the 17th over, Dravid hit 3 fours in that over, which provided some confidence to Bangalore. Patil's in experience showed in his calling and running. It was a call of Dravid when he driven the ball to mid-on which he said clearly no, but Patil ran all the way to make himself out.

Zaheer Khan was bowled by Chawla in the 18th over; Bangalore had only 117 at the end of 18 overs with 2 wickets in hand. Dravid hit a six of VRV Singh and got out in the next ball, caught by Jayawardane. He couldn't do much as wickets were falling at the other end and overs are coming to and end. He was out for 66 of 51 balls with 9 fours and a six. He reached his 50 in 44 balls with 7 fours.

In the last over, Kumble was run out tring to run a yorker that went to keeper and found short of his crease.

The innings came to an end at 19.2 overs with 126 on the board, giving an easy target to Kings XI.

It was the first two wickets in the first over of Sreesanth, was the turning point of the match.

Though Zaheer Khan provided the break through in the 2nd over by having Hopes caught at cover by White, Bangalore did not utilize the situation properly. In fact it would be difficult because they did not have more runs in the score board to take risk.

Sarwan joined Marsh, the inform batsman for the 2nd wicket. Sarwan's six of short ball through a edge and then couple of fours released some pressure for Kings XI. Marsh hit a six of Praveen at the end of 5th over.

Praveen Kumar took the wicket of Sarawan by pitching a short ball, whch he tried to pull only to find that it took the top edge and was caught by keeper Patil. He scored 31 off 29 balls with 4 fours and a six.

Though Kumble gave only 3 runs in his first over, Marsh hit for 3 fours in his second to take the score to 81 for 2 in 10 overs.

Kings XI Punjab needed 46 from 60 balls to register their 5th continuous win.

The match got a surprise turn for a moment when Praveen had Yuvaraj caught behind for 1. It was a wicket madien leaving the target 46 to be scored in 54 balls.

Jayawardane and Marsh hit few fours before Marsh was bowled by Zaheer Khan, uprooting his middle stump. He tried to play across and missed the line. He was out for 39 off 34 balls with 4 fours and a six to his credit.

End of over 15, Bangalore were 109 for 4, requiring 18 from 30 balls, easy target.

Steyn bowled a tight 16th over and gave just one run. 17 from 24 balls. The next two overs added 10 runs--7 from Zaheer with a four by Pathan and then 3 runs from Kallis.

Kings XI Punjab needed 7 from 2 overs. Pathan hit a six of Kumble's 2nd ball taking the score to equal position. The next ball was a wide and gave victory to Kings XI Punjab and another defeat, the 5th, to Banaglore Royal Challengers.

With 5 victories and 10 points out of the 7 matches, Kings XI Punjab is in the 2nd position. Rajasthan Royals is still leading the table with 5 wins and 10 points in their 6 matches. Rajasthan is bettering in net run rate though the points are equal betwen them and Kings XI.

Bangalore Royal Challengers is in 7th position, last but one, with 4 points out of 7 matches and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers is in the last position with 2 points out of their 6 matches.

Match 25
Venue: Bangalore
Date: May 5, 2008
Teams: Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Rahul Dravid and Yuvaraj Singh
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to field
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets with 10 balls remaining
Man of the Match: S Sreesanth off Kings XI Punjab (India)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:
Bangalore Royal Challengers 126 all out in 19.2 overs (W Jaffer 0, V Kohli 34, CL White 0, JH Kallis 7, R Dravid 66, Misbah-ul-Haq 8, P Kumar 0, DT Patil 4, Z Khan 0, A Kumble 3, DW Steyn 1 not out, Extras—10 (lb 1, wide 9), S Sreesanth 4-0-16-2, IK Pathan 3.2-0-13-1, Gangandeep Singh 3-0-28-0, VRV Singh 4-0-33-0, PP Chawla 4-0-25-3, JR Hopes 1-0-10-0) lost to Kings XI Punjab 127 for 4 in 18.2 overs (SE Marsh 39, JR Hopes 5, RR Sarwan 31, Yuvaraj Singh 1, DPMD Jayawardane 17 not out, IK Pathan 17 not out, Extras-17 (lb 10, wide 7), D Steyn 4-0-16-0, Z Khan 4-0-29-2, P Kumar 4-1-22-2, JH Kallis 3-0-14-0, A Kumble 3.2-0-36-0)

Points Table: Rajasthan leads the table; Mumbai and Kolkata out of Semi Final

The Bangalore Royal Challengers won two of their last matches and captured the 7th position and pushed Deccan Chargers to the last position.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
RR	14	11	3	0	0	22	+0.632	2245/261.1	2153/270.2
KXI	14	10	4	0	0	20	+0.509	2352/259.5	2271/265.5
CSK	14	8	6	0	0	16	-0.192	2241/264.2	2195/253.1
DD	14	7	6	0	1	15	+0.342	2001/233.2	2031/246.4
MI	14	7	7	0	0	14	+0.570	2080/249.1	2096/269.3
KKR	14	6	7	0	1	13	-0.147	1845/242.4	1718/221.4
BRC	14	4	10	0	0	8	-1.160	1983/272.4	2205/261.3
DC	14	2	12	0	0	4	-0.467	2229/270.0	2307/264.3

Man of the Match List

Score Table

Match 21: Bangalore Royal Challengers Wins the Thriller by 3 Runs!

Put into bat, Bangalore Royal Challengers though seemed to struggle in the home ground, finally won by 3 runs. The last 5 overs required 45 runs with Laxman and Rohit Sharma in the crease.

Steyn bowled a tight 16th over where he gave just 3 runs. Sharma scored 2 runs of the fours balls he faced and Laxman scored 1 off the 2 balls.

With 42 from 24 balls, Rohit hit a six, and a four of the first two balls of Kallis to reduce the target to 32 from 22 balls. The next two balls were single and Rohit was out in the fifth ball. He was caught at long on by Jaffer for a well made 57, his third fifty of IPL, in 42 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes.

With 3 overs and 29 required, Praveen dismissed Afridi in the first ball. He hit it over long on, where Steyn covered huge ground running from long on to almost mid-on to take a superb forward diving catch, a crucial one.

The next four balls were singles, but Laxman fell of the last ball. He played across on the ball that almost pitched on the leg and Laxman tried to play it on the onside got trappd in front. He was out for a well made 52 off 44 balls with 7 fours.

25 runs required from 12 balls, Zaheer Khan got Styris leg before for 2. The sweep by Styris of the slower ball did not materialize as he was found plumb in front of the wicket. 11 ball, 25 runs. All the five balls were singles and Zaheer produced a beautiful 19th over under pressure.

Last over was bowled by Indian test skipper Anil Kumble. The first two balls were singles scored. The third ball gave hope to Deccan Chargers were Bangar hit a six over extra cover. Came down the track and hit a flat six.

The fourth ball was also a six. The full toss was sent over mid wicket for another 6 bringing down the target to 6 runs of two balls.

Kumble, the experienced campaigner, just gave a run in the next delivery. Boucher misses the hit at the stumps, when the inside side onto his pads.

Last ball, 5 runs, Yadav, the yorker length delivery went to deep midwicket for a single and Bangalore Royal Challengers win by 3 runs. Earlier, Gilchrist fell cheaply for 10 caught at deep square leg, just inches inside the rope. Though the momentum took him few steps behind, he ensure that he is still inside the rope to take a wonderful catch to get rid off the dangerous batsman Gilchrist.

Gibbs did not make use of this match as well. He hit a four and then got out in the next over for 5. He tried to pull the short ball from Praveen Kumar's first ball, but it came late and the ball lobbed to mid off for a simple catch to Kumble.

Rohit, owner of two fifties in this IPL, joined his skipper. End of power play, 6th over, Deccan Chargers were 33 for 2. It was Sharma who started giving momentum by hitting a six of Kumble's first over and then two fours of Praveen. After that, they were playing singles to reach 63 in 10 overs.

Laxman hit three fours of Kumble in the 12th over. This opened the chance for Deccan Chargers to eye for the victory. Sharma hit a six of Praveen's over, but that over added just 7 runs. With 60 runs from 42 balls and 8 wickets in hand, every chance was with Deccan Chargers. The next two overs added 15 runs to the total to reduce the target to 45 from 30 balls and finally they lost by 3 runs.

Both Laxman and Rohit crossed half-century for Deccan Chargers.

Earlier, Jaffer and Chipli opened the innings with Chipli hitting 2 continuous fours in the 2nd over bowled by RP Singh and was bowled in the next ball. Jaffer and Kohli built the innings with a 72 run partnership of 54 balls.

Jaffer hit few good fours and Kohli also joined the party. He was caught at extra cover by Gibss off Ojha for 44 off 37 balls with 6 fours.

Kallis started off with a flick to fine leg for a boundary was bowled by Ojha. The flighted delivery pitched leg and middle deceived Kallis and he missed the line and was bowled for 6.

Kohli's irresponsible shot sent him to pavilion in the next over leaving Bangalore struggle at 104 for 4 in the 14th over.

Mibah-ul-Haq was trapped leg before off Afridi. The umpire was convinced but not the TV replays. Boucher and skipper Dravid had to carry on and put on a good score.

At the end of 15 overs, Bangalore Royal Challengers were 114 for 5. Afridi bowled a very tight line not giving any room for the batsman. The 17th over by Styris costed only 4 runs and the 18th over by Afridi added another 4. With 130 on the board and 2 overs to go, skipper Dravid had to open his shoulders for big shots.

Boucher hit a four and got out. Praveen Kumar, the new batsman hit two fours of the last two balls of RP Singh to take the score to 143 for 6.

Dravid hit a six of Styris and scored a single in the next ball. Praveen was run out in the next ball. He was looking at his shot and the ball when he played a scoop over short leg. It was Dravid's call and he rightly came to batting crease where Praveen was watching the fielder. He started late and didn't reach the crease on time.

Dravid hit a six of the penultimate ball and got out in the last ball for a well made 26 in 19 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes.

Praveen Kumar was declared man of the match for picking 3 wickets in his four overs giving away 23 runs.

Match 21
Venue: Bangalore
Date: May 3, 2008
Teams: Bangalore Royal Challengers and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
Captains: Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to field
Result: Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 3 runs
Man of the Match: Praveen Kumar off Bangalore Royal Challengers (India)
Points: Bangalore Royal Challengers-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Bangalore Royal Challengers 156 for 8 in 20 overs (B Chipli 10, W Jaffer 44, V Kohli 38, JH Kallis 6, Misbah-ul-Haq 3, R Dravid 26, MV Boucher 16, P Kumar 8, Z Khan 0 not out, Extras—5 (lb 3, wide 2), DP Vijaykumar 3-0-18-0, RP Singh 4-0-41-3, SB Styris 4-0-29-1, Shahid Afridi 4-0-23-1, PP Ojha 4-0-28-2, SB Bangar 1-0-14-0) beat Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 153 for 6 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 10, VVS Laxman 52, HH Gibbs 5, RG Sharma 57, Shahid Afridi 1, SB Styris 2, AS Yadav 3 not out, SB Bangar 17 not out, Extras—6 (b 1, lb 3, wide 2), DW Steyn 4-0-20-0, Z Khan 4-0-24-2, P Kumar 4-0-23-3, A Kumble 4-0-47-0, JH Kallis 4-0-35-1)

Match 17: Delhi Daredevils beat Bangalore Royal Challengers!

In a close finish, Delhi beat Bangalore by 10 runs. This is the 3rd consecutive loss to Bangalore. They are now in badly need of a vicotry after their loss to Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. They have only one win in the table against Mumbai Indians.

Put into bat, Delhi started the innings well. They are one of the sides with a very good opening pair. Both the players are regular openers and they have opened for India.

Gambhir and Shewag added 53 for the first wicket before Shewag was out for 24. He normally starts well but is not capitalizing on it and converting it to a big score.

Gambhir hit 3 continuous fours of Zaheer Khan in the 2nd over and that provided lot of confidence to Delhi. He hit two more fours of Steyn in the next over. Shewag blasted Zaheer Khan a six and two fours in the firt three deliveries of the 4th over. Last ball of the fifth over was the break through over for Bangalore in the form of run out. Playing to point and started well, Shewag also responded, but direct hit by Ross found him well short of his crease, not even referred to TV umpire.

Gambhir was playing his usual T20 innings with more than run-a-ball-innings. Dhawan who joined Gambhir scored a useful 50. When your top order scores, you need not worry. He hit 3 huge sixes--2 off Kallis and one of Sunil Joshi. The 13th over bowled by Joshi costed 19 runs with Dhawan scoring a six and Gambhir contributing with a six and a four.

End of 14 overs, Delhi was almost scoring 10 runs per over. They were 138 for 1. Kallis provided the break through, though he went for a six and four. Dravid took a stunning catch at mid wicket, but the usual celebrations were not there

At the end of 15 overs, Delhi were 151 for 2, going strong with just above 10 runs per over. Shoaib didn't stay long, as well as Dinesh Karthik. Kallis uprooted and in fact broke the stumps of Karthik. That is when it dipped a little bit at 178 for 4 in 18 overs.

Gambhir was out in the 19th over for 84. He crossed his 50 of 36 balls with 7 fours. He was caught by Praveen Kumar off Zaheer Khan. His 84 came off 54 balls with 11 fours and a six. At the end of 20th over, Delhi reached 191 for 5, giving a touch chance to Bangalore.

Bangalore never looked like winning this game from the start. McGrath dismissed Praveen Kumar caught at mid wicket in the first over the innings.

Taylor and Jaffer batted well and their job is to make the scoreboard moving without losing the wicket. Taylor hit two hours in the 2nd over and a six of McGrath in the 3rd over and then anotehr 6 in the fourth over bowled by Mohammad Asif. Jaffer hit another six in the same over. That gave confidence to Bangalore, but didn's last long.

McGrath gave two break throughs in his 3rd over which was the 5th of the innings. He went for a 4 in the first ball, but he dismissed Taylor in the 2nd. He was caught by Dhawan while trying to swing over mid wicket. In the last ball, Jaffer mistimed the pull shot of a short ball deliery and was caught by Mahesh at mid-on. Two wickets in one over put Bangalore in the back seat.

Kallis and Dravid have to stay in the crease till the next 10 overs. They did not score even one bounday in two overs. At the end of the 10th over, Bangalore were 83 for 3, requiring 109 in the next 10.

The next four overs Bangalore scored more than 10 runs an over--14, 10, 11, 12, adding 47 reducing the target to 62 off 36 balls.

Good bowling change by Shewag when he brought in Vettori, who conceeded 4 runs in the 15th over. That put pressure on the batsman and McGrath did the rest. He picked Kallis in his last over by giving 6 runs. The next over by Mahesh was a good one for Delhi as he gave away only 4 runs.

With 48 off 18 balls, the task was becoming tougher and tougher. Though two international stars are in the middle, they were not able to have one or two good overs. 18th over added 13 to the board with 2 fours by Kallis.

With 35 requiring in 12 balls, Kallis got out in the last ball bowled by Vettori for 54 off 44 balls with 6 fours and a six. He gave away just 5 runs to make the target 30 in 6 balls.

Captain Shewag picked the ball for Delhi and he went for a six of the first ball. It was an easy catch, but it went through the hands of Bhatia at long on. It toched the fingers but it fell on the boundary rope for a six. 24 off 5, but only singles were scored in the next two balls to make the target 22 off 3.

Boucher scored a six and a four in the next two deliveries, but it was a too late. Last ball required 12 and Boucher scored a single giving victory to Delhi Daredevils.

McGrath was declared man of the match for his wonderful spell of 4-0-29-4, especially picking 2 wickets in the first over.

Match 17
Venue: Delhi
Date: April 30, 2008
Teams: Delhi Daredevils v. Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Virendra Shewag and Rahul Dravid
Toss: Bangalore Royal Challengers and decided to field
Result: Delhi Daredevils won by 10 runs
Man of the Match: Glenn McGrath of Delhi Daredevils (Australia)
Points: Delhi Daredevils-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:
Delhi Daredevils 191 for 5 in 20 overs (G Gambhir 86, V Sehwag 24, S Dhawan 50, Shoaib Malik 6, KD Karthik 2, MK Tiwary 11 not out, R Bhatia 8, Extras 4--lb 2, wide 1, nb 1, DW Steyn 4-0-29-1, Z Khan 4-0-42-1, P Kumar 4-0-24-0, R Vinay Kumar 2-0-25-0, JH Kallis 4-0-39-2, V Kohli 1-0-11-0, SB Joshi 1-0-19-0) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 181 for 5 in 20 overs (P Kumar 6, W Jaffer 10, LRPL Taylor 29, JH Kallis 54, R Dravid 38, MV Boucher 31 not out, V Kohli 1 not out, Extras 12--b 1, lb 10, nb 1, GD McGrath 4-0-29-4, Mohammad Asif 4-0-42-0, VY Mahesh 4-0-28-0, DL Vettori 4-0-19-1, R Bhatia 1-0-14-0, Shoaib Malik 1-0-8-0, V Sehwag 2-0-30-0)

Match 15: Dhoni gives Chennai Kings a Win!

Dhoni, lead by example while batting and leading the side from behind the wicket. What thought to be a 150 chasing was completely changed by Dhoni with his firing knock during the last five overs. Chennai scored 76 runs in the last five overs.

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, the previous match man of the match Hayden lost his wicket for 13. When he tried to give room and hit Zaheer, took the thick inside edge and the ball rolled to the stumps.

Hussey and Patel could not accelerate the innings and the bowling was very good. Patel tried to slog and got out caught at slip tried to steer to third man. He scored 21 off 17 balls.

Raina and Hussey were scoring singles. The shots played in the air landed in no man's land. At the end of the 10th over, Chennai Super Kings were 65 for 2. To cross 150, they have to score 8.5 run per over and to reach 165 they have to score 10 runs per over.

Hussey pushed the ball to on side and went for a single. Raina called for 2 but Hussey sent him back. But Raina was sloppy in returing and didn't expect the throw at the striker's end. Before he could come back on time, it was all over. He was hitting the ball well, but the poor running costs his wicket. He scored 28 off 17 balls with 1 fours and 2 sixes. At this stage, Chennai were 83 for 3 in 12 overs.

Dhoni joined the club with Hussey and they built the innings well. They played single's and two's till the score reached 100 in the 15th over.

The party started after that. Hussey scored 2 sixes of Akhil's first two balls in the 16th over. That over gave 14 runs to Chennai.

In the 17th over bowled by Kallis, Hussey scored two fours and the Dhoni a six to add 16 more runs to the total.

In the 18th over bowled by Praveen Kumar, Dhoni scored a four, but it was a good over for Bangalore, costing only 8 runs. The score was 140 for 3 in 18 overs. Dhoni was batting on 28 off 19 balls and Hussey batting on 47 off 36 balls.

Steyn bowled the 19th over--the crucial over of the match. The first turning point of the match as well. Firt ball was a wide, then it was 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, 1 to take the score to 164 for 3. This particular over costed Bangalore 24 crucial runs.

The last over was bowled by Zaheer. Dhoni faced the first ball with no run, then the next three balls were 4, 6, 4. He was hitting over long on, straight back over the bowlers head, pulling over mid wicket. He was finally caught at deep extra cover when tried for another six. The last ball also got a wicket for Zaheer. Hussey tried a six, but it went straight to Dravid at deep mid wicket.

This score was competitive enough, but nothing can be said in a twnety-20 match.

Banglore chased the innings with a poor start in the first 3 overs. Jaffer was not timing the ball, in fact, I lost my temperament with his batting skills. His stroke play, style, attitude everything reminded off Test Match cricket. The crowd lost the patience. The 3rd over bowled by Oram juste added 1 run to the score.

With no big runs scored, the pressure added and Goni used it well. Chipli trying to slog was bowled. Jaffer was dropped on three occassions--one by Gony himself, a caught and bowled when Jaffer was on 7, and then by Dhoni off Oram on 7, and then finally by Goni at long on off Amarnath when he was on 18.

Jaffer's utilized his luck and started to fire. On one end, Taylor was rocking with huge sixes and fours. From 20 for 1 in 4 overs, they took it to 93 for 1 in 10 overs. Jaffer reached his 50 in 32 balls and was out the next ball. His first 15 runs came of 16 balls, but he accelerated it very well to give Bangalore Royal Challengers a good chance of winning.

Amarnath broke the 2nd wicket parntership of 89 runs by taking Jaffer's wicket. He walked down the wicket and tried to slog it over long off, but didn't clear it well. Jacob Oram took a good catch at long off. That was the turning point.

Kallis hit couple of fours before he was caught behind by Dhoni of Joginder Singh. The ball pitched on the off and swung away took the edge to land in Dhoni's hand. Crucial 15th over added just 5 runs to the total and that put pressure on Bangalore.

The last 5 overs required 47 runs. The turning point was the wicket of Taylor, caught by Raina at covers and the breakthrough was provided by Amarnath. Kohli hit a crucial 4 of the last ball of the 16th over.

The 17th over turned out to be very crucial and turned the match upside down. Till then, it was in favor of Bangalore Royal Challengers. They needed 39 of4 24 balls with 6 wickets in hand.

Gony picked two crucial wickets--Boucher caught by Hussey at third man. The ball took thick outside edge and flew to third man. The next delivery was a single by Kohli and Dravid was trapped leg before, the first ball he faced. The TV replay showed the ball went above the stumps. The last ball was a four by Kohli.

The last 18 balls requied 31 with 4 wickets in hand. Kohli was out in the 2nd ball of the 18th over and that over had 6 runs for Bangalore.

The last 12 balls required 25 runs with 3 wickets in hand. The first and second ball were singles. Third ball was a four between gully and point. Fourth ball was no run.

Fifth ball was drivern to mid off, where Raina picked the ball and threw it to the wicket keeper's end where Zaheeer was well short of his crease. Dhoni collected the ball neatly and removed the bails in a flash,

Last ball was driven to long on by Akhil and he settles for a single. But, Praveen came back without looking at Akhil who was showing his hand indicating no second run. But, Praveen came back all the way to the non-strickers end. The ball was thrown to bowlers end to Oram, he in turn threw it to Dhoni and he removed the bails.

With last over requiring 17 with only one wicket in hand, first three balls were singles. Steyn scooped the low full toss to long on where Hussey took a good diving catch and that put an end to Bangalore Royal Challengers hopes. Chennai Super Kings Win four continous matches!

Score:

Match 15
Venue: Bangalore
Date: April 28, 2008
Teams: Chennai Super Kings v. Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rahul Dravid
Toss: Chennai Super Kings and decided to bat
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 13 runs
Man of the Match: Mahendra Singh Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings (India)
Points: Chennai Super Kings-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:
Chennai Super Kings 178 for 5 in 20 overs (PA Patel 21, ML Hayden 13, MEK Hussey 47, SK Raina 28, MS Dhoni 65, JDP Oram 0 not out, Extras 4--lb 1, wide 3, DW Steyn 4-0-40-0, Z Khan 4-0-38-3, P Kumar 4-0-29-1, JH Kallis 4-0-36-0, B Akhil 4-0-34-0) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 165 all out in 19.4 overs (B Chipli 8, W Jaffer 50, LRPL Taylor 53, JH Kallis 14, R Dravid 0, P Kumar 6, Z Khan 8, B Akhil 2 not out, DW Steyn 1, Extras 7--lb 1, wide 6, JDP Oram 4-0-27-0, M Gony 4-0-34-3, JA Morkel 4-0-38-1, P Amarnath 4-0-38-2, Joginder Sharma 3.4-0-27-2)

Chennai Super Kings win 4 in a row!

Chennai Super Kings win their fourth match in a row by beating Bangalore Royal Challengers by 13 runs. Dhoni was very cool and pulled the match out from nowhere. When Bangalore were going all guns, Dhoni kept his cool and did very good bowling changes. Morkel did not bowl well in his first few overs but he came back well. Similarly, Joginder also didn't bowl well but later came back well picking kallis wicket.

Requiring 17 of the last over with only one wicket in hand, Bangalore lost the wicket caught at long on by Hussey giving the victory to Chennai Super Kings.

Dhoni's batting was sparkling! He scored 38 runs of the last two overs to take Chennai to 178, which was struggling at go beyond 150 at one stage. He scored 65 off 30 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes.

Congratulations Dhoni!

Dhoni Fires!

Dhoni has scored a quick fire 50 to help side Chennai Super Kings to reach 178 in 20 overs. He hit 22 runs in the 19th over bowled by Steyn. The first ball was a wide, the rebowled first ball was a four, second ball was also a four, third ball was a six, fourth and fifth ball were four, last ball was a single. Dhoni demolished the hopes of Bangalore Royal Challengers restricting Chennai within 150.

The last over bowled by Zaheer Khan. First ball was a slower ball missed by Dhoni, second ball was a four, third ball was a six, and fourth ball was a four.

He was then out in the 5th ball.

Dhoni blasted in the last two overs where he scored 37 runs.

He scored 65 off 30 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes. He reached his 50 in 28 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes.

What expected to be less than 150, Dhoni smashed all the balls and took Chennai Super Kings to 178. What a knock from the captain?

Match 12: Rajasthan continue their Winning Habit! Watson Gives Breakthrough!

Winning the toss and knowing their strength, Warne decided put Bangalore Royal Challengers into bat first. Rajasthan Royals have won their match chasing and hence decided to do the same here.

Shane Watson provided vital break through by taking two crucial wickets. First ball of the innings was a single scored by Chandrapaul. Dravid was out in the first ball he faced and the 2nd ball of the innings. He pulled the short ball but it went high in the air to long leg where Jadeja took a good judging catch.

Taylor hit two sixes of Sohail Tanvir to take the score to 16 for 1 in 2 overs.

In the third over 2nd ball, like Dravid, Chandrapaul pulled it, but it went to third-main high in the air and Jadega took his second catch of the match.

The loss of 2 wickets did not stop Taylor from being aggressive. He hit 3 fours in Sohail Tanvir's bowling. Kallis joined the party and hit 2 fours of Watson. Taylor hit a four, six and a four of Patel to take the score to 57 for 2 in 6 overs. Kallis and Taylor lost their wickets in two continous overs leaving Bangalore Royal Challengers struggle at 65 for 4. Taylor pulled the ball and it went straight to Smith at deep square leg.

After the fall of these wickets, Bangalore never came back in the game. Kohli was out for 13, Boucher for 4, Joshi 3. It was Praveen Kumar who fought till the end and was out in the final over. He hit two continous sixes of Warne and he scored 34 of 30 balls. Royal Challengers ended their innings with 135 for 8, an easy target for Rajasthan Royals.

Rajasthan Royals started the innings by losing the wicket of Rawat for a duck. When the score was 26, the record holder for fastest fifty Yousuf Pathan was dismissed for 21. That was a good start for Banglore, but they didn't capitaliz it. The third wicket partnership of 104 between Smith and Watson helped Rajasthan to gain the winning points. Smith was out for 49 off Joshi, caught at long on. Watson reached his 50 of 34 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. Rajasthan Royals reached their winning runs in the first ball of the 18th over.

Shane Watson was declared man of the match for bagging 2 wickets and scoring 61 not out of 41 balls.

This was the first match in the IPL for Anil Kumble. He didn't get a chance to bat but he bowled well with an economical rate of 5.5 in his 4 overs with no wicket.

Score:

Match 12
Venue: Bangalore
Date: April 26, 2008
Teams: Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Rajasthan Royals
Captains: Rahul Dravid and Shane Warne
Toss: Rajasthan Royals and decided to field
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 7 wickets with 17 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Shane Watson of Rajasthan Royals (Australia)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:
Bangalore Royal Challengers 135 for 8 in 20 overs (S Chanderpaul 2, R Dravid 0, LRPL Taylor 44, JH Kallis 11, V Kohli 13, MV Boucher 4, P Kumar 34, SB Joshi 3, Z Khan 17 not out, R Vinay Kumar 1 not out, Extras 6--lb 2, wide 3, nb 1, SR Watson 4-0-20-2, Sohail Tanvir 4-0-31-0, MM Patel 3-0-20-2, SK Trivedi 4-0-29-1, SK Warne 4-1-23-1, YK Pathan 1-0-10-0) lost to Rajasthan Royals 138 for 3 in 17.1 overs (GC Smith 49, M Rawat 0, YK Pathan 21, SR Watson 61 not out, M Kaif 4 not out, Extras 3--lb 1, wide 2, P Kumar 3-0-42-1, Z Khan 4-0-24-1, R Vinay Kumar 2-0-15-0, A Kumble 4-0-22-0, JH Kallis 1-0-7-0, SB Joshi 3.1-0-27-1)

IPL - Man of the Match List

One of the key item in a game is awarding the key player of the match. He has been selected based on several criterias, more specifically how his contribution helped his team to win. Here, we will see the list of Man of the Match Winners in the current version of IPL 2008 T20:

Match 1: Kolkata Knight Riders v. Bangalore Royal Challengers, April 18, 2008 at Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders won by 140 runs: B McCullum of Kolkata Knight Riders

Match 2: Kings XI Punjab v. Chennai Super Kings, April 19, 2008 at Mohali, Chennai Super Kings won by 33 runs: MEK Hussey off Chennai Super Kings

Match 3: Delhi Daredevils v. Rajasthan Royals, April 19, 2008 at Delhi, Delhi Daredevils won by 9 wickets with 29 balls remaining: MF Maharoof off Delhi Daredevils

Match 4: Kolkata Knight Riders v. Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, April 20, 2008 at Kolkata, Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 wickets with 6 balls remaining: DJ Hussey of Kolkata Night Riders

Match 5: Mumbai Indians v. Bangalore Royal Challengers, April 20, 2008 at Mumbai, Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 5 wickets with 2 balls remaining: Mark Boucher off Bangalore Royal Challengers

Match 6: Rajasthan Royals v. Kings XI Punjab, April 21, 2008 at Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals won by 6 wickets with 11 balls remaining: Shane Watson off Rajasthan Royals

Match 7: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers v. Delhi Daredevils, April 22, 2008 at Hyderabad, Delhi Daredevils won by 9 wickets with 42 balls remaining: Virendra Shewag off Delhi Daredevils

Match 8: Chennai Super Kings v. Mumbai Indians, April 23, 2008 at Chennai, Chennai Super Kings won by 6 runs : Mathew Hayden off Chennai Super Kings

Match 9: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers v. Rajasthan Royals, April 24, 2008 at Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets with 1 ball remaining: Yousuf Pathan off Rajasthan Royals

Match 10: Kings XI Punjab v. Mumbai Indians, April 25, 2008 at Mohali, Kings XI Punjab won by 66 runs: KC Sangakkara off Kings XI Punjab

Match 11: Chennai Super Kings v. Kolkata Knight Riders, April 26, 2008 at Chennai, Chennai Super Kings won by 9 wickets with 18 balls remaining: Mathew Hayden off Chennai Super Kings

Match 12: Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Rajasthan Royals, April 26, 2008 at Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals won by 7 wickets with 17 balls remaining: Shane Watson off Rajasthan Royals

Match 13: Kings XI Punjab v. Delhi Daredevils, April 27, 2008 at Mohali, Kings XI Punjab won by 4 wickets with 3 balls remaining: Simon Katich off Kings XI Punjab

Match 14: Mumbai Indians v. Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, April 27, 2008 at Mumbai, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers won by 10 wickets with 48 balls remaining: Adam Gilchrist off Hyderabad Deccan Chargers

Match 15: Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Chennai Super Kings, April 28, 2008 at Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings won by 13 runs: Mahendra Singh Dhoni off Chennai Super Kings

Match 16: Kolkata Knight Riders v. Mumbai Indians, April 29, 2008 at Kolkata, Mumbai Indians won by 7 wickets with 8 balls remaining: Sanath Jayasuriya off Mumbai Indians

Match 17: Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Delhi Daredevils, April 30, 2008 at Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils won by 10 runs: Glen McGrath off Delhi Daredevils

Match 18: Rajasthan Royals v. Kolkata Knight Riders, May 1, 2008 at Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals won by 45 runs: SA Asnodkar off Rajasthan Royals

Match 19: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers v. Kings XI Punjab, May 1, 2008 at Hyderabad, Kings XI Punjab won by 7 wickets with 7 balls remaining: SE Marsh off Kings XI Punjab

Match 20: Chennai Super Kings v. Delhi Daredevils, May 2, 2008 at Chennai, Delhi Daredevils won by 8 wickets with 6 balls remaining: Virendra Shewag off Delhi Daredevils

Match 21: Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, May 3, 2008 at Bangalore, Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 3 runs: Praveen Kumar off Bangalore Royal Challengers

Match 22: Kings XI Punjab v. Kolkata Knight Riders, May 3, 2008 at Mohali, Kings XI Punjab won by 9 runs: Irfan Pathan off Kings XI Punjab

Match 23: Mumbai Indians v. Delhi Daredevils, May 4, 2008 at Mumbai, Mumbai Indians won by 29 runs: Shaun Pollock off Mumbai Indians

Match 24: Rajasthan Royals v. Chennai Super Kings, May 4, 2008 at Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals won by 8 wickets with 34 balls remaining: Sohail Tanvir off Rajasthan Royals

Match 25: Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Kings XI Punjab, May 5, 2008 at Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets with 10 balls remaining: S Sreesanth off Kings XI Punjab

Match 26: Chennai Super Kings v. Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, May 6, 2008 at Chennai, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers won by 7 wickets with 12 balls remaining: AC Gilchrist off Hyderabad Deccan Chargers

Match 27: Mumbai Indians v. Rajasthan Royals, May 7, 2008 at Mumbai, Mumbai Indians won by 7 wickets with 29 balls remaining: A Nehra off Mumbai Indians

Match 28: Delhi Daredevils v. Chennai Super Kings, May 8, 2008 at Delhi, Chennai Super Kings won by 4 wickets with 0 balls remaining: MS Dhoni off Chennai Super Kings

Match 29: Kolkata Knight Riders v. Bangalore Royal Challengers, May 8, 2008 at Kolkata, Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 runs: Sourav Ganguly off Kolkata Knight Ridres

Match 30: Rajasthan Royals v. Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, May 9, 2008 at Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals won by 8 wickets with 24 balls remaining: Yousuf Pathan of Rajasthan Royals

Match 31: Chennai Super Kings v. Kings XI Punjab, May 10, 2008 at Chennai, Chennai Super Kings won by 18 runs: Mahendra Singh Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings

Match 32: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers v. Kolkata Knight Riders, May 11, 2008 at Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders won by 23 runs: Sourav Ganguly of Kolkata Knight Riders

Match 33: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils, May 11, 2008 at Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets with 5 balls remaining: Shane Watson of Rajsthan Royals

Match 34: Kings XI Punjab v. Bangalore Royal Challengers, May 12, 2008 at Mohali, Kings XI Punjba won by 9 wickets with 26 balls remaining: SE Marsh of Kings XI Punjab

Match 35: Kolkata Knight Riders v. Delhi Daredevils, May 13, 2008 at Kolkata, Kolkata Knight Riders won by 23 runs: Shoaib Akhtar of Kolkata Knight Riders

Match 36: Mumbai Indians v. Chennai Super Kings, May 14, 2008 at Mumbai, Mumbai Indians won by 9 wickes with 37 balls remaining: Sanath Jayasuriya of Mumbai Indians

Match 37: Delhi Daredevils v. Deccan Chargers, May 15, 2008 at Delhi, Delhi Daredevils won by 12 runs: Amit Mishra of Delhi Daredevils

Match 38: Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders, May 16, 2008 at Mumbai, Mumbai Indians won by 8 wickets with 87 balls remaining: SM Pollock of Mumbai Indians

Match 39: Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore Royal Challengers, May 17, 2008 at Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals won by 65 runs: GS Smith of Rajasthan Royals

Match 40: Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab, May 17, 2008 at Delhi, Kings XI Punjab won by 6 runs in D/L Method: DPMD Jayawardane of Kings XI Punjab

Match 41st match: Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings, May 18, 2008 at Kolkata, Chennai Super Kings won by 3 runs in D/L Method: M Ntini of Chennai Super Kings

Match 42nd match: Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians, May 18, 2008 at Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians won by 25 runs: DJ Bravo of Mumbai Indians

Match 43rd match: Bangalore Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils, May 19, 2008 at Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils won by 5 wickets with 10 balls remaining: SP Goswami of Bangalore Royal Challengers

Match 44: Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals, May 20, 2008 at Kolkata, Rajasthan Royals won by 6 wickets with 21 balls remaining: Yousuf Pathan of Rajasthan Royals

Match 45: Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab, May 21, 2008 at Mumbai, Kings XI Punjab won by 1 run: SE Marsh off Kings XI Punjab

Match 46: Chennai Super Kings v Bangalore Royal Challengers, May 21, 2008 at Chennai, Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 14 runs: Anil Kumble of Bangalore Royal Challengers

Match 47: Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders, May 22, 2008 at Delhi, Match Abandoned Due to Rain: No Man of the Match

Match 48: Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers, May 23, 2008 at Mohali, Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets with 3 balls remaining: SE Marsh of Kings XI Punjab

Match 49: Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals, May 24, 2008 at Chennai, Rajasthan Royals won by 10 runs: JA Morkel of Chennai Super Kings

Match 50: Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians, May 24, 2008 at Delhi, Delhi Daredevils won by 5 wickets with 1 ball remaining: KD Karthik of Delhi Daredevils

Match 51st match: Deccan Chargers v Bangalore Royal Challengers, May 25, 2008 at Hyderabad, Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 5 wickets with 6 balls remaining: R Vinay Kumar of Bangalore Royal Challengers

Match 52nd match: Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab, May 25, 2008 at Kolkata, Kolkata Knight Riders won by 3 wickets with 2 balls remaining: Umar Gul of Kolkata Knight Riders

Match 53rd match: Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians, May 26, 2008 at Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals won by 5 wickets with 0 balls remaining: Sohail Tanvir of Rajasthan Royals

Match 54: Deccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings, May 27, 2008 at Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings won by 7 wickets with 4 balls remaining: Suresh Raina of Chennai Super Kings

Match 55: Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians, May 28, 2008 at Bangalore, Mumbai Indians won by 9 wickets with 12 balls remaining: CRD Fernando of Mumbai Indians

Match 56: Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals, May 28, 2008 at Mohali, Kings XI Punjab won by 41 runs: SE Marsh of Kings XI Punjab

Match 57, Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils, May 30, 2008 at Mumbai, Rajasthan Royals won by 105 runs: SR Watson of Rajasthan Royals

Match 58, Semi Final 2: Chennai Super Kings v. Kings XI Punjab, May 31, 2008 at Mumbai, Chennai Super Kings won by 9 wickets with 31 balls remaining: M Ntini of Chennai Super Kings