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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hat-Tricks in IPL!

Balaji Gets Hat-Trick!

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.

For full details of the match, click here!

Match 35: Akhtar Demolishes Delhi Daredevils!

Akhta's come back has proved vital as he demolished Delhi Daredevils single handedly. He was bowling between 145 and 150 kmph speed!

Chasing a moderate and kind of easy target of 134, sure that Delhi would have thought they can easily finish the game. To their surprise, the Rawalpindi Express really became the bullet train and put lot of pressure on the batsman.

With 150 KMH and only less than .6 seconds to take a decision on whether to play the ball or to leave it, Sehwag played at the ball pitched on the off and swung away and took the edge to keeper. Break through in the 2nd ball of the innings.

In the third over, Gambhir playing a square cut of the short ball, gave a simple catch at point to David Hussey of Shoaib again. In the fifth over, de Villiers pulled the short ball from Akthar, that hit the top of the bat and went to mid wicket in the air where Taibu took an easy catch. The next ball was a straight inswinger and had Tiwari play in the back foot, hit the back pad, plumb in front of the wicket--wicket number for 4 for Akthar. Delhi were 28 for 4 in the 5th over.

Man of the Match List

Points Table

Akhtar provided the great break throughs and rattled the top order. It is now up to other bwolwers to utilize this and take the remaining wickets.

Dhawan lost his off stump off Dinda for 7 and left Delhi at 43 for 5. Dilshan and Mishra played some good shots and resisted the victory for Kolkata. Their 24 run partnershp for the 6th wicket for a shortwhile created panic in Kolkata group, but soon the break through came in the form of run out. Dilshan ran for a quick single when Mishra playd the ball to short third man. Good throw by Shukla to Saha, who collected the ball and knocked the stumps. Close call for the third umpire, but he was found short of crease. Needless run!

Maharoof and Mishra tackled the bowling attack and started scoring few runs. Mishra hit 3 fours and scored useful 31 runs for his team. The game was still open at the end of 15 overs. Delhi needed 37 off 30 balls with 4 wickets in hand.

Maharoof got out in the 16th over last ball. The short ball hit him in the gloves and went to leg side where the bowler ran fast and picked it. Mishra started running and Maharoof started late, watching the ball, had to run faster! Dinda picked the ball, turned out and hit the stumps direct to send Maharoof back to the pavilion, a crucial wicket.

At the end of 17 overs, Delhi were 104 for 7, requiring 30 from 18 balls.

Shukla bowled the 18th over and finished the game by picking all the three wickets in the first five balls.

Mishra got out in the 2nd ball, trying to scoop over short fine leg where Ishanth took an easy catch.

Sangwan got out in the next ball, trying to slog it over long on, but hit straight to fielder Hussey.

Mahesh, the last batsman, moving way across to the off stump, trying to scoop over fine leg, missed the line and his middle stump was uprooted, giving 2 points to Kolkata Knight Riders. Sharukhan was dancing and asking all spectators to support the home team by chanting, clapping and shouting. He was dancing and encouraging the crowd.

Akhtar ended his bowling figures 3-0-11-4 and Shukla a dream figure of 0.5-0-6-3.

Earlier, winning the toss and batting first, Kolkata played a slow inniings. Salman Butt played a very slow innings, not timing the ball. He hit few fours, though, but not a convincing innings. He was the top scorer with 48 runs off 44 balls with 7 fours.

Chopra was the first to go, caught by Maharoof off Sangwan for 13. Ganguly hit a six off a free hit, but got out in the same over, trying to slog, lost his stump.

Then, Hussey, the man in form, joined Butt. They added 40 for the third wicket in 38 balls. Butt was caught by McGrath off Mahesh. Taibu and Shukla got out cheaply for 7 and 10 respectively.

Hussey hit two sixes to take the score to a reasonable level. He was out for 31 off 31 balls with 2 sixes. Kolkata finished their innings with 133 on the board.

Shoaib Akhtar rightly chosen as the man of the match for his 4 for 11 in 3 overs. This is his first appearance in the IPL, playing after few months of cricket and going through tough times of ban, court cases, etc.

Match 35
Venue: Kolkata
Date: May 13, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils
Captains: Sourav Ganguly and Virendra Sehwag
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders and decided to bat
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 23 runs
Man of the Match: Shoaib Akhtar off Kolkata Knight Riders (Pakistan)
Points: Kolkata Knight Riders-2; Delhi Daredevils-0
Score:

Kolkata Knight Riders 133 for 6 in 20 overs (Salman Butt 48, A Chopra 13, SC Ganguly 7, DJ Hussey 31, T Taibu 7, LR Shukla 10, WP Saha 5 not out, Iqbal Abdulla 1 not out, Extras-11 (lb 3, wide 7, nb 1), GD McGrath 4-0-22-0, P Sangwan 4-0-29-1, VY Mahesh 4-0-34-2, MF Maharoof 4-0-25-2, A Mishra 3-0-13-0, V Sehwag 1-0-7-0) beat Delhi Daredevils 110 all out in 17.5 overs (G Gambhir 10, V Sehwag 0, AB de Villiers 7, MK Tiwary 9, S Dhawan 7, TM Dilshan 25, A Mishra 31, MF Maharoof 10, VY Mahesh 3, P Sangwan 0, GD McGrath 0 not out, Extras-8 (lb 1, wide 7), Shoaib Akhtar 3-0-11-4, I Sharma 3-0-18-0, AB Dinda 4-0-29-1, SC Ganguly 4-0-23-0, Iqbal Abdulla 3-0-22-0, LR Shukla 0.5-0-6-3)

Man of the Match List

Points Table

Match 32: Captain Ganguly stars in Kolkata's Win

In a crucial match for Kolkata, where a win would still keep them in the race for a birth in semi-final, captain Sourav Ganguly lead from the front and retained their hope for semi finals.

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Salman Butt couldn't find his form and got out in the first over after striking a boundary. He was caught by Gilchrist off Vaas. Breakthrough in the first over itself.

Ganguly joined Akash Chopra and built a 68-run partnership for the 2nd wicket in 57 balls. Thought it was slow, the partnership laid the foundation for big overs in the remaining overs.

At the end of 10 overs, Kolkata were 73 for 1 with Ganguly on 43 with 8 fours and Chopra on 24 off 22 balls with 3 fours.

The poor calling between Ganguly and Chopra sent the later to the pavilion. Good direct hit by Gibbs in mid-wicket.

The 102-run partnership in 48 balls between Ganguly and David Hussey boosted the Kolkata's run rate and also gave them a good chance to go beyound 200 run mark.

Ganguly reached his 50 in the 40 balls with 9 fours. He did not take risk as much as Hussey did, but that made more sense.

As soon as he reached his 50, he hit two sixes off Ojha. The 14th over added 19 runs to the total and the momentum picked up.

The next over of Venugopal added 10 to the total and at the end of 15, Kolkata were 118 for 2.

Styris was brought into the attack expecting break-through, but Hussey hit hi for a four in the 2nd ball and then Ganguly hit him for two continuous sixes to take his tally to 84 and the score to 136 for 2 in 16 overs.

The sixes and fours started coming easily. Vaas was hit for a six by Ganguly of a full toss. Another full toss was sent to four by Hussy and followed by a six of one more full. 19 runs to the total and it crossed 150.

RP Sing conceeded 20 runs to Hussey in the 18th over including 2 sixes, 1 four and two 2s. Score was 175 for 2 in 18 overs. Hussey crosed his 50 with the six in 25 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes.

With 9 more to reach his hundred and just 12 balls remaining, he was caught at fine leg off Vijayakumar. The ball pitched outside the leg stump and he hooked it straight to fielder. His 91 came off 57 balls with 11 fours and 5 sixes.

Tabiu hit a four and got out in the 20th over. Shukla hit two fours and the last ball of the innings added 6 runs to the total. Shukla hit the ball to long off and retuned for the 2nd run. The fiedler at long off threw the ball to RP Singh, who in turned threw it to the wicket keeper end for a run out without realizing that no one was backing up. The ball touched the ropes and added 6 to the total. The poor throw helped Kolkata to go past 200, a psychological figure.

Chasing 205 in 20 overs, is always difficult. One or two quick wickets or good overs would put pressure to the players.

The start did not go as expected. Gibbs was caught by Salman Butt at third man for 5.

Gilchrist couldn't time the ball well as he most of the times does. He hit 3 fours in the 5th over bowled by Dinda but got out in the same over last ball, caught by Ganguly. He was out for 24 off 17 balls with 5 fours.

Ravi Teja was out in the first ball of the next over caught behind off Umar Gul.

Rohit Sharma and Styris carrying more and more pressure had to save their side from another loss. Styris was soon out for 5 caught by Shukla off Ganguly.

Venugopal joined Rohit in the 9th over. Rohit hit Ganguly for a huge six over mid wicket. At the end of 10 overs, Deccan Chargers were 74 for 4. Rohit hit another six of Ganguly, but that was not enough.

He got out in the 13th over after hitting a four in the first ball. He played across the line to hit it over mid wicket, but it went straight to Ganguly at the edge of the circle. He contributed 33 off 24 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Murali Karthik's over game some how for Decccan Charger when Venugopal tried his chances. He hit him for 3 sixes and a four. All of there were good shots which took the score to 121 for 5 in 14 overs.

Bangar was out in the 15th over, caught by Chopra off Ganguly for 2. Ganguly is becoming a good T20 bowler.

Venugopal hit a six of Ishanth Sharma, the one handed shot off a wide short ball. It cleared the third man boundary. The over pitched next ball was driven through extra cover for a boundary. 12 runs from this over changed the equation to 68 off 24 balls.

Venugopal hit a four and a six of the next over by Umar Gul and reached his 50. He was dealing in boudaries and sixes in every over. He is becoming more and more dangerous for Kolkata. He reached his 50 in 28 balls with 3 fours and 5 sixes. The 17th over added 17 runs to the total. 51 from 18 balls.

Shukla gave just 7 runsin the 18th over and picked the wicket of Vaas.

44 from 12 balls with 3 wickets in hand. Including a six by Venugopal, the 19th over added just 11 to the total.

Last over, 33 runs required. Deccan managed to get only 9 runs and lost the match by 23 runs, almost ending their dream of making it to the top 4.

Venugopal was not on 71 off 42 balls with 4 fours and 6 sixes. That was a superb fighting knock, which shocked Kolkata.

Ganguly once again is the man of the match for his 91 and 2 wickets of 4 overs giving 25 runs.

Match 32
Venue: Hyderabad
Date: May 11, 2008
Teams: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Adam Gilchrist and Sourav Ganguly
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders and decided to bat
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 23 runs
Man of the Match: Sourav Ganguly off Kolkata Knight Riders (India)
Points: Kolkata Knight Riders-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:

Kolkata Knight Riders 204 for 4 in 20 overs (Salman Butt 4, A Chopra 24, SC Ganguly 91, DJ Hussey 57 not out, T Taibu 9, LR Shukla 14 not out, Extras-5 (lb 1, wide 3, nb 1), WPUJC Vaas 3-0-36-1, DP Vijaykumar 3-0-21-1, SB Styris 3-0-28-0, RP Singh 4-0-59-1, Y Venugopal Rao 4-0-24-0, SB Bangar 1-0-10-0, PP Ojha 2-0-25-0) beat Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 181 for 7 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 24, HH Gibbs 5, DB Ravi Teja 10, RG Sharma 33, SB Styris 5, Y Venugopal Rao 71 not out, SB Bangar 2, WPUJC Vaas 9, RP Singh 6 not out, Extras-16 (lb 8, wide 4, nb 4), AB Dinda 4-0-33-3, I Sharma 3-0-27-0, Umar Gul 4-0-43-1, SC Ganguly 4-0-25-2, M Kartik 3-0-29-0, LR Shukla 2-0-16-1)

Match 22: Fourth Win in A Row for Kings XI and Fourth Loss in a Row for Kolkata

What is happening to Kolkata Knight Riders and Ganguly. The favorites of the at one time has now faced four continuous defeats. They won their first two games against Bangalore Royal Challengers and then against Deccan Chargers. After that, they have were not in their winning streak.

Chasing a target of 179, they came close and lost by 9 runs. David Hussey and Saha were the only batsman trying win for Kolkata. After the departure of Hussey, it was almost over for Kolkata. Ganguly failed in this crucial match scoring just 5 runs, was caught at third man by Pathan off Sreesanth. Two balls later, Mohammad Hafeez was bowled by Pathan for 13.

Das who played well in the previous match not able to continue from where he left. He was also out for 5 caught by Yuvaraj off Sreesanth. Brad Hodge was trapped plumb in front of the wicket by Pathan. The bowlers gave a good start for Kings XI taking two wickets each.

With the loss of 4 wickets, Kolkata were struggling with 29 on the board at the end of 5 overs. Hussey and Shukla shouldered the responsibility of saving Kolkata, but Shukla was soon bowled by VRV Singh for 7. Saha joined and unexpectedly took Kolkata closer to the traget.

They did not lose their wicket, but was not able to increase the run rate. At the end of 10 overs, they were 52 for 5.

Gangandeep bowled the 13th over, which created the momentum for Kolkata. Two fours, a six and two 2s were scored by Hussey in that over which added 17 including the first ball single by Saha. The target came down less than 100, requiring 99 of 42 balls.

Hopes bowled a well contained 14th over giving away just 5 runs. Saha hit two 2s and 2 sixes in Chawla's next over adding 16 to the total. The target reduced to 78 from 30 balls.

Hopes next over costed 12 runs with a six and three 2s by Hussey reducing the target to 66 from 24 balls. VRV Singh bowled the 17th over giving away 11 runs including a four in the first ball to Saha.

The last three overs needed 55 runs. Hopes over was smashed for two sixes and two 2s to score 18 runs including two singles. That was a big over, but not enough.

37 from 12 balls. First ball was a two by Hussey and then a six. The next two balls were scored 2 runs each. He tried for another 6 but this time found the fielder. Hopes took a good running catch to dismiss Hussey. He was out for 71 off 4 fours and 4 sixes.

Last ball was a six by Saha as the bowler's crossed before the catch was taken.

19 runs required of last 6 balls.

Pathan bowled a very good last over one more time for his team. He gave away just 9 runs to give Kings XI Punjab another victory. Except the last ball, all other balls were scored for 1 or 2. The last ball required 14, but only 4 was scored giving victory to Yuvaraj Singh's team.

Earlier, winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Kings XI Punjab finished their quota of 20 overs with a score of 178 losing 6 wickets. Man of the match in the previosu game, Marsh scored 40 off 32 balls and Hopes scored 18. They added 28 for the first wicket before Hopes fell for Dinda.

Sangakkara was retired at and Yuvi joined the crease. The 2nd wicket added 54 and Yuvaraj was out for 17. The run out was the break through. Marsh was the next to go stumped off Hussey for 40.

Jayawardane was caught by Ganguly for 10. In 12.1 overs, Kings XI were 102 for 4. Goel was run out as well for 6.

Sangakkara came back to play with a runner got out for 28, bowled by Umar Gul. In the final overs, it was Irfan Pathan and Chawla who gave home to Kings XI.

Ishanth Sharma bowled the last over in which he gave away 21 runs and that proved costly for Kolkata Knight Riders. At the end of 19, overs, they were 157 for 6, but it went to 178 after 20 overs.

First ball was a leg by and Chawla got the strike. The 2nd and 3rd ball were four. Fourth ball was two runs, a risky one. The fifth ball was another four hit towards beyond short leg. The last ball was sent to backward point for a six. That was a superb innings and useful runs to Kings XI. This over turned the match entirely in favor of Kings XI.

Match 22
Venue: Chandigarh
Date: May 3, 2008
Teams: Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Yuvaraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to bat
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 9 runs
Man of the Match: Irfan Pathan off Kings XI Punjab (India)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Kolkata Knight Riders-0
Score:
Kings XI Punjab 178 for 6 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 40, JR Hopes 18, KC Sangakkara 28, Yuvraj Singh 17, DPMD Jayawardene 10, K Goel 6, IK Pathan 24 not out, PP Chawla 21 not out, Extras—14 (b 4, lb 5, wide 4, nb 1), I Sharma 4-0-41-0, AB Agarkar 3-0-26-0, AB Dinda 3-0-24-1, Mohammad Hafeez 3-0-28-1, DJ Hussey 3-0-23-1, Umar Gul 4-0-27-2) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 169 for 6 in 20 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 13, SC Ganguly 5, DB Das 5, BJ Hodge 1, DJ Hussey 71, LR Shukla 7, WP Saha 59 not out, AB Agarkar 1 not out, Extras—7 (b 1, wide 6), S Sreesanth 4-0-25-2, IK Pathan 4-0-18-2, VRV Singh 4-0-31-1, Gagandeep Singh 4-0-43-1, JR Hopes 3-0-35-0, PP Chawla 1-0-16-0)

Match 18: Rajasthan Royals win 4 in a row!

This is the 4th continuous win for Rajasthan Royals, who thought to be one of the poor teams in the IPL after their defeat in their first match. But, they have come back well and beaten good sides includig Kolkata Knight Riders.

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Shane Warne's brave decision paid off in the end. Though Smith out for 2 in the 2nd over, Asnodkar and Kaif played well and also maintaining the run rate. They added 95 runs for the 2nd wicket in 9.3 overs.

Rajasthan was going slow till 6 overs when they scored 45 for 1. Kaif was out in the 7th over last ball after hitting for a six in the preivous ball. He read the changein pace early and gave a return catch to Agarkar.

The 9th over gave the momentum to Rajasthan as Asnodkar hit 3 continous fours of Agarkar. He hit the first ball of the 10th over to a four and then a single brought his 50 in 29 balls with 8 fours and a six. Yousuf Pathan scored 2 more fours in teh same over.

11th over bowled by Ganguly added 14 to the score with Pathan hitting a four and Asnodkar hitting 2 fours. At the end of 11 overs, Rajasthan Royals were 103 for 2.

Umar Gul provided break through in the 12th over when he dismissed both the dangerous batsman, Asnodkar caught by Hussey ad mid-off and Shane Watson for a duck, leg before though the reply showed it hit the bat first.

Jadeja hit the first six of this tournament in the free hit. He was out in the 18th over for 33 in 19 balls. The 18th over added 16 runs to the total with a six and a four. The 20th over costs 2 wickets--Yousuf Pathan bowled for 55 off 33 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes and Warne run out for 7.

Rajasthan Royals ended their innings 196 for 7. Umar Gul picked 3 wickets in his four overs giving away 31 runs.

Chasing almost at the rate of 10 per over, Salman Butt was dropped in the 2nd ball by Niraj Patel. That was a simple catch and he mistimed his jump at mid wicket.

But, he didn't last lond as he was out in the next over. Sohail Tanvir took the wicket of Salman Butt, thick inside edge ended up in stumps.

Agarkar who came as a third batsman, hit a six in the last ball. He hit another 6 in Watson. He scored quick fire 20 of 13 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes. He was out off Watson.

Hodge was run out unlucky. The straight drive by Ganguly touched the bowler Trivedi's hand and hit the stump. Hodge was way short of his crease. He was out for 1. With not much runs scored, the required run rate going up, Ganguly and David Hussey has to fire. Both of them scored a six each in the 8th over bowled by Trivedi.

At the end of 10 overs, Kolkata were 78 for 3, requiring 119 in the next 10.

Ganguly scored a six and four of the 11th over bowled by Patel. In the 12th over last ball, Ganguly pulled Pathan over mid wicket where Smith took a good diving catch. Though he was out, the third empire found it otherwise. Ganguly forced the umpire to go for 3rd umpire, which actually is against the rules.

End of 13 overs, 107 for 3, and needed 90 for 42 balls.

Warne bowled 14th over, where Hussey scored a six and a four. After a single, Ganguly came two steps forward and hit it towards long on where Kaif took a good catch just before the rope. He stood there for few seconds to balance the catch and ensure that he doesn't cross the boundary line. Ganguly's 51 run innings came to an end with 4 fours and 2 sixes off 39 balls.

Shukla, the person who scored firing 40 not out in the preivous match was out for 2. While coming back for the 2nd run, he was short by an inch. The third umpire gave the right decision.

With 69 off the last 5 overs and only 5 wickets in hand, Patel gave away 8 runs in the 16th over. Whereas Sohail Tanvir conceeded 7 in the 17th over. The target was 54from 18 balls, which was almost impossible unless two big overs come in favor of Kolkata.

Trivedi took 2 wicketsin the 18th over, dismissing David Hussey for 42 through a yorker. Then Saha was bowled him through another yorker.

The last two overs required 50 runs. Kolkata lost two more wickets again in the 19th over--DB Das was caught by Watson of Sohail Tanvir and in the next ball, Umar Gul was run out taking a chance for the 2nd run.

Last over required 46 runs with one wicket in hand. Dinda trying to clear the in field the off side and hit it in the air. Two fielders, Kohli and Warne went for the catch and almost collided. But, Kholi stretched his left hand in the air and pulled out a blinder of the catch. This will be the catch of the tournment so far.

Kolkata lost by 45 runs, their 3rd continous loss. Shar Rukh Khan will be worried along with Ganguly. They have to do something quickly to ensure that they come to winning habit again.

Score:

Match 18
Venue: Jaipur
Date: May 1, 2008
Teams: Rajasthan Royals v. Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Shane Warne and Sourav Ganguly
Toss: Rajathan Royals and decided to bat
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 45 runs
Man of the Match: SA Asnodkar of Rajasthan Royals (India)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Kolkata Knight Riders-0
Score:
Rajasthan Royals 196 for 7 in 20 overs (GC Smith 2, SA Asnodkar 60, M Kaif 21, YK Pathan 55, SR Watson 0, RA Jadeja 33, SK Warne 7, Sohail Tanvir 3 not out, M Rawat 1 not out, Extras 14--b 1, lb 6, wide 3, nb 4, AB Dinda 4-0-30-0, I Sharma 4-0-26-1, AB Agarkar 4-0-46-1, Umar Gul 4-0-31-3, DJ Hussey 2-0-26-0, SC Ganguly 1-0-14-0, LR Shukla 1-0-16-1) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 151 all out in 19.1 overs (Salman Butt 7, SC Ganguly 51, AB Agarkr 20, BJ Hodge 1, DJ Hussey 42, LR Shukla 2, DB Das 11, WP Saha 1, Umar Gul 2, I Sharma 1 not out, B Dinda 1, Extras 12--b 3, lb 2, wide 7, SR Watson 3.1-0-22-2, Sohail Tanvir 4-0-30-2, SK Trivedi 4-0-31-2, MM Patel 4-0-29-0, SK Warne 2-0-20-1, YK Pathan 2-0-14-0)

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)

Match 4: David Hussey Helps Kolkata Register 2nd Win!

David Hussey's 38 off 43 balls helped Kolkata Knight Riders continue their winning habit. What thought to be an easy target, the pitch helped the bowlers. The ball didn't come to the bat as expected. The win has set the entire almost house full crowd of Kolkata into fire. Their first victory was in Bangalore and the second win was in front of the home crowd.

Chasing the target of 111, the centurian and record holder for highest individual run getter in an innings, McCullum was out for 5, caught at point off RP Singh. He played the ball on the midwicket, but it took the edge and flew to point. Ponting was out for a first ball duck, leg before to Vaas. Saha, the other opener, gave an easy catch to midoff trying to drive the ball, but it went in the air. With three wickets lost for 21 in the 5th over, Hussey and skipper Ganguly played sensibly and built the innings. They both added 47 for the 4th wicket before Ganguly was bowled by Ojha at the end of the 13th over. He tried to slog the ball over mid-wicket, but he missed the ball completely in the flight and it it the leg stump.

With 7 overs remaining and needed 43, Mohammad Hafeez joined Hussey. His run a ball innings of 13 ended when he tried to reverse sweep, which took the edge and popped up in the air. Symonds in mid-wicket took an easy running catch, leaving Kolkata at 88 for 5 in 16.3 overs.

With 23 requiring of 21 balls, Shulka started off with a single. When Kolkata needed 22 of 20 balls, the lights of Eden Garden went off and the play was stopped for a while. The play resumed after 30 odd minutes and the referee decided not to reduce the over.

Hussey hit Styris for a 6 and a four in the same over and that turned the match in favor of Kolkata and they finished the game with one over to spare.

David Hussey declared Man of the Match and so far in all the four matches, only the foregin players have grabbed the awards.

Earlier, winning the toss and deciding to bat first, nothing went in favor of Hyderabad Deccan Chargers. They were cheaply dismissed for 110 and they did not play their full quota of 20 overs. They were all out in 18.4 overs.

Andrew Symonds was the top scorer with 32 off 39 balls, followed by Gilchrist 23 off 22 balls. Skipper Laxman was out for a duck. The Deccan Chargers had four batsman not scoring--Laxman, RG Sharma, Vaas, and Ohja.

Murali Karthik was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets.

Match 4
Venue: Kolkata
Date: April 20, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders v. Deccan Chargers
Captains: Ganguly and VVS Laxman
Toss: Deccan Chargers and decided to bat
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 wickets with 6 balls remaining
Man of the Match: DJ Hussey of Kolkata Knight Riders (Australia)
Points: Kolkata Knight Riders-2; Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Deccan Chargers 110 all out in 18.4 overs (AC Gilchrist 23, Y Venugopal Rao 14, VVS Laxman 0, A Symonds 32, RG Sharma 0, SB Styris 6, AS Yadav 10, SB Bangar 14, WPUJC Vaas 0, RP Singh 1 not out, PP Ojha 0, Extras 10--lb 4, wide 4, nb 2, AB Dinda 3-0-18-1, I Sharma 3-1-9-1, AB Agarkar 2-0-19-2, M Kartik 3.4-0-17-3, Mohammad Hafeez 4-0-8-1, DJ Hussey 3-0-35-1) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 112 for 5 in 19 overs (WP Saha 10, BB McCullum 5, RT Ponting 0, SC Ganguly 14, DJ Hussey 38 not out, Mohammad Hafeez 13, LR Shukla 4 not out, Extras 28--b 4, lb 8, wide 15, nb 1, WPUJC Vaas 3-0-9-2, RP Singh 3-0-15-1, SB Styris 4-0-19-0, SB Bangar 3-0-19-0, A Symonds 2-0-20-0, PP Ojha 4-0-18-2)

Match 2: Mike Hussey's Hundred Helps Chennai Super Kings Victory!

Mike Hussey scored a brilliant hundred, the fastest hundred of this tournament and built a strong foundation to Chennai Super Kings innings. The good toss was won by Dhoni and he decided to bat first. The two openres--Parthiv Patel and Hayden gave a good start. Patel was the first to go before he hit 3 consecutive fours of Sreesanth. It was a short of length, raising well and a speedy delivery from Lee, which took the outside edge and flew to keeper. Hayden looking good was bowled by inner edge off Irfan Pathan.

Dhoni, the highest paid player of IPL did not prove his worth in this match. He was judged leg before for 1, though the replay showed inner edge.

Raina played sensibly along with Hussey, who crossed his 50 off 31 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes. Raina fired a quick 32 off 13 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes that helped Chennai to add more runs to the board. They were maintaining a run rate of 10 per over throughout the game. Oram was out for 13 off 10 balls paving way to Badrinath.

Badrinath and Hussey added 73 runs for the 6th wicket in 27 balls. Badrinath hit 17 runs in the last over bowled by Praveen Kumar and Hussey hit 8 runs. Hussye crossed his 100 in 50 balls with 8 fours and 7 sixes. He finished his innings at 116 not out off 54 balls with 8 fours and 9 sixes. Badrinath was not out on 31 off 14 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Piyush Chawla conceeded 19 runs in his 1 over, Hopes gave 53 runs in his 4 overs with a wicket.

The chase of 241 is almost impossible to get, but the fighting innings by Hopes, once again did not help his team to taste the victory. The last time he played a similar fighting innings was against Indian in the second Commonwealth Bank Series final, which India won. Similary, his valiant innings for Pubjab Kings XI did not help them as they lost by 33 runs. His reached his 50 in just 24 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes. Sangakkara also scored a good fifty in 29 balls.

Though Pubjab reached the 100 in 9.2 overs, it was not enough to reach 240 in 20 overs. Requiring 91 runs in 38 balls was almost impossible and Pubjab Kings XI lead by Yuvaraj Singh surrendered to Chennai lead by Dhoni.

Muralitharan was the economical bowler for Chennai. He gave away 33 runs in 4 overs with the wicket of his Sri Lanka team mate Sangakkara.

Man of the Match was given to Hussey for his wonderful hundred.

Match 2
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Date: April 19, 2008
Teams: Kings XI Punjab v. Chennai Super Kings
Captains: Yuvaraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Toss: Chennai Super Kings and decided to bat
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 33 runs
Man of the Match: MEK Hussey of Chennai Super Kings (Australia)
Points: Chennai Super Kings-2; Kings XI Punjab-0
Score:
Chennai Super Kings 240 for 5 in 20 overs (PA Patel 15, Hayden 25, MEK Hussey 116 Not Out, Dhoni 2, SK Raina 32, Jacob Oram 13, S Badrinath 31 Not Out, Extras 6--lb 2, wide 3, no ball 1, Brett Lee 4-0-35-1, S Sreesanth 3-0-35-0, Hopes 4-0-53-1, Irfan Pathan 4-0-47-2, K Goel 2-0-25-0, Piyush Chawla 1-0-19-0, WA Mota 2-0-24-1) beat Kings XI Punjab 207 for 4 in 20 overs (K Goel 24, Hopes 71, Sangakkara 54, Yuvaraj Singh 23, SM Katich 21 not out, Irfan Pathan 3 not out, Extras 11--b 2, lb 4, wide 5, Jacob Oram 4-0-37-0, M Gony 4-0-42-1, Muralitharan 4-0-33-1, P Amarnath 4-0-42-1, Joginder Sharma 4-0-47-1)