M01: Kolkata start with a win, beat Hyderabad!

Scoreboard:

Match # 1
Date: Friday March 12, 2010
Teams: KKR v. DC
Captains: S Ganguly and A Gilchrist
Toss: DC, decided to field
Venue: Mumbai
Result: KKR won by 11 runs
Points: KKR 2; DC 0
Man of the Match: A Mathews - KKR

KKR Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
M Tiwary	c Sharma b Vaas	0	1	0	0
B Hodge	c Gibbs b Jaskaran Singh	13	9	1	1
S Ganguly	c Anirudh Singh b Vaas	0	3	0	0
C Pujara	c Ojha b Singh	10	16	2	0
OA Shah	not out	58	46	3	3
A Mathews	not out	65	46	5	4
Extras	(lb 8, w 6, nb 1)	15	-	-	-
Total	4 wkts in 20 overs	161	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (Tiwary, 0.1 ov), 2-0 (Ganguly, 0.4 ov), 3-31 (Pujara, 4.4 ov), 4-31 (Hodge, 5.1 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W	Extras
Vaas	3	1	22	2
RP Singh	4	0	35	1	(3w)
Jaskaran Singh	4	0	35	1	(1w)
P Ojha	4	0	19	0
A Symonds	4	0	26	0	(2w)
T Suman	1	0	16	0

DC Innings: (162 to win in 20 overs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
A Gilchrist	c Tiwary b Hodge	54	35	3	3
VVS Laxman	c & b Kartik	22	14	2	1
H Gibbs	c Mathews b Langeveldt	19	24	2	0
A Symonds	c Ganguly b Sharma	5	9	0	0
R Sharma	c Hodge b Mathews	13	12	2	0
Anirudh Singh	c & b Shukla	14	14	1	0
T Suman	not out	7	9	1	0
Vaas	b Langeveldt	0	1	0	0
Jaskaran Singh	not out	4	4	0	0
Extras	(b 4, lb 1, w 5, nb 2)	12	-	-	-
Total	7 wkts in 20 overs	150	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-61 (Laxman, 5.5 ov), 2-99 (Gilchrist, 11.1 ov), 3-102 (Gibbs, 12.2 ov), 4-116 (Symonds, 14.1 ov), 5-128 (Sharma, 16.2 ov), 6-141 (Anirudh Singh, 17.6 ov), 7-142 (Vaas, 18.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W	Extras
CK Langeveldt	4	0	26	2	(3w)
I Sharma	4	0	31	1	(1nb, 1w)
LR Shukla	3	0	30	1
M Kartik	3	0	17	1
AD Mathews	4	0	27	1	(1nb, 1w)
BJ Hodge	2	0	14	1

Match 58: Semi Final 2: Poor Batting Cost CSK the Final Spot! RC to meet DC in Final!

The nice chance to beat the Bangalore Royal Challengers was missed by Dhoni's men. Put into bat, the good start was not utilized by the middle order batsmen as they just played singles rather than going for big shots.

Hayden and Parthiv Patel played well and added 61 for the first wicket in 7 overs. Patel played well and took some risks. As usual, Hayden also took the risk which Dhoni did not. The only shot risky shot he played was in the 18th over and got out.

Hayden going for a big shot over long on, did not time it well and was caught for 26. Patel followed him in the 9th over trapped leg before off Kallis. He was the top scorer for CSK with 36 off 27 balls with 7 fours.

Dhoni and Raina played singles though the latter took some risk against Kumble and Merwe. Raina, came down the track, miscued the lofted shot off a slower one from Praveen Kumar. The ball went in the air which Boucher grabbed it easily. His 20 came in 19 balls with a four and a six.

Dhoni was playing singles, which I would rate as a very poorly planned and played innings. What's going to happen if you get out trying for big shots? Still CSK had Morkel, Badrinath, Oram yet to bat!

CSK added just 39 runs in the last 5 overs. From 74 for 2 in 10 overs, they added 72 in the last 10. Poor batting in a crucial match! The team was rated high for the batting strength, but it failed in a crucial match!

Vinaykumar bowled the last over very well. He gave away just 6 runs and picked the wicket of Oram. He mixed his deliveries very well that restricted CSK to less than 150.

Chasing 147 in a semi final is difficult, but not with a good start. Though it was not like what Gilchrist did against DD, a pleasant and decent start.

Pandey hit two beautiful fours in successive deliveries of Morkel in the first over. Kallis also hit two fours of Gony in the first two balls. Trying to play off drive, the ball took the outside edge and went to Parthiv Patel.

Muralitharan dropped a chance for Merwe at mid on, running backwards. But, Merwe was bowled in the next delivery from Morkel.

Pandy continued his good form and smashed two more fours in the 4th over bowled by Gony. Dravid missed the free hit chance in the same over which went for a single.

Boundaries were scored in almost every over or the alternate overs. Other poor decision from Dhoni was to put Muralitharan behind the wheel until the 10th over. Though Murali controlled the run rate, RC did not lose the wickets.

A close decision against Pandey was not given. It was plumb but Tuffnel denied it off Muralitharan. Pandey missed fifty by 2 runs when he went for a slog of Jakathi and lost his stump.

End of 15 overs, RC were 110 for 3. With 37 needed in 5 overs, Dravid was trapped leg before by Muralitharan and he gave just 2 runs. 35 from 4 overs.

Taylor and Kohli took the charge and hit a six each of Raina in the 17th over. The target was revised to 20 from 18 balls.

Kohli hit a six of Muralitharan in the 18th over.

12 runs from 12 balls. Taylor hit a six off Oram in the 19th over. It was a waist height full toss and despatched to square leg boundary. Poor bowling from Oram in a crucial stage. Kohli finished the formalities with a boundary played off the pads and RC reach final with 7 balls remaining.

Scoreboard:

Match # 58 Semi Final 2
Date: Saturday May 23, 2009
Teams: Bangalore Royal Challengers v. Chennai Super Kings
Captains: Kumble and Dhoni
Toss: RC, decided to field
Venue: New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Result: RC won by 6 wickets with 7 balls remaining
Result: RC moves into finals
Man of the Match: Pandey off RC

Chennai Super Kings Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
P Patel	lbw b Kallis	36	27	7	0
Hayden	c Pandey b Vinaykumar	26	19	2	1
Dhoni	c Vinaykumar b Merwe	28	30	0	0
Raina	c Boucher b P Kumar	20	19	1	1
A Morkel	Not Out	20	17	1	1
Oram	c Uthappa b Vinaykumar	9	7	0	1
Badrinath	Not Out	1	1	0	0
Extras	(b 3, w 3)	6	-	-	-
Total	for 5 wkts in 20 overs	146	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-61 (Hayden, 6.6 ov), 2-69 (Patel, 8.4 ov), 3-104 (Raina, 14.1 ov), 4-125 (Dhoni, 17.2 ov), 5-140 (Oram, 19.2 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
P Kumar	4	0	26	1
Kallis	4	0	26	1
Vinaykumar	4	0	38	2
Kumble	4	0	30	0
Merwe	4	0	23	1

Royal Challengers Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Kallis	c P Patel b Gony	9	7	2	0
M Pandey	b Jakarti	48	35	7	0
Merwe	b A Morkel	2	5	0	0
Dravid	lbw b Muralitharan	44	39	6	0
Kohli	Not Out	24	17	1	2
Taylor	Not Out	17	12	0	2
Extras	(lb 3, nb 2)	5	-	-	-
Total	for 4 wkts in 18.5 overs	149	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-17 (Kallis, 1.4 ov), 2-22 (van der Merwe, 2.5 ov), 3-94 (Pandey, 12.3 ov), 4-110 (Dravid, 15.1 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
A Morkel	3	0	26	1
Gony	2	0	23	1
Jakati	4	0	29	1
Raina	3	0	23	0
Muralitharan	4	0	15	1
Balaji	2	0	16	0
Oram	0.5	0	14	0

Match 54: Chennai Enter Semi finals! Mumbai Out!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Chennai in Do-or-Die Match!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Match 42: Mumbai registers 6th Continuous Win!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Match 37: Delhi Daredevils Win! Mishra takes Hat-Trick!

The second hat-trick of the IPL was taken by Mishra off Delhi Daredevils. The last over needed 15 for Hyderabad Deccan Chargers with 4 wickets in hand. Virendra Sehwag once again showed his belief in the spinners and this time he gave it to Amit Mishra.

Ravi Teja was caught at the long off boundary by Shoaib Malik of the first ball;
Ohja was caught at covers by Sehwas when he tried to slog;

RP Singh was stumped by Karthik, trying to come down the track and the ball was pitched short and kept low, where Dinesh Karthik did the rest;

Fourth ball was again a stumpin gchance to remove Sarvesh Kumar, but Karthik missed it to give four in a row to Mishra;

The remaining two balls went for a single and Mishra gave 12 run victory to Delhi Daredevils, keeping them in the tournament.

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Earlier, put into bat, Delhi lost the captain and dangerous batsman Virendra Sehwag in the first over last ball, caught at third man for a second duck.

But, Gambhir and Dhawan did not stop scoring the runs at 8 runs per over in the power play. At the end of 6 overs, Delhi were 48 for 1. Gambhir struck two continuous sixes and a four four of RP Singh. This really showed that despite losing the wicket of Sehwag, the team was going against the bowlers.

They both played sensibly and were picking ones and twos and fours in the bad balls. At the end of 10 overs, Delhi were 76 for 1 with Gambhir batting on 44 and Dhawan on 28.

Gambhir reached his 50 in 34 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes.

Gambhir hit 2 fours in the 13th over bowled by Sarvesh Kumar and in the 14th over bowled by Afridi costed 18 runs to the Deccan Chargers. Gambhir hit a 2 and a six and then Dhawan hit 2 fours and reached his 50 in 37 balls with 7 fours.

End of 15 overs, Delhi were 138 for 1. With 9 more wickets in hand, there was a high chance that they can go beyond 200.

Gambhir got out in the 2nd ball of the 16th over. He came down the track off Ojha, and left the ball pitched on the leg stump. Though it was called a wide, Gilchrist stumped him out for 79 off 48 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes.

Maharoof hit two sixes--one in RP Singh's over and then in Ojha's over. He was caught by Sharma off Ojha for 19 in 11 balls with 2 sixes.

Dilshan hit a four of the last ball of the 18th over to take the score to 171 for 3. Vijaykumar bowled a very good 19th over and he gave just 9 runs including a six over square leg.

The last over bowled by RP Singh helped Delhi to add 14 runs including two fours. Dilshan was out in the fifth ball, run out by Gilchrist for 16 off 6 balls with 2 fours and a six.

Delhi ended with 194 for 4 in 20 overs. Vijaykumar was the pick of the bowlers with 1 for 24 of 4 overs.

Afridi opened the innings for the first time in this IPL. At least he has been given a chance to play the full quota. He proved that he is worth opening the innings.

Gilchrist and Afridi hit a four each in the first over bowled by McGrath. Prbably, the only match were he gave 10 runs in the first over. The 2nd over bowled by Mohammad Asif added 2 more fours to Gilly and Deccan had a good start with 21 on the board in 2 overs.

Gilly was caught by Dilshan off McGrath. He smashed it through mid-off where Dilshan dived and took a brilliant catch.

Asif again proved costly by giving 17 runs in the 4th over. Afridi hit a four and later in the over, Gibbs hit a four and a six.

McGrath was hit for two sixes by Gibbs and then a four by Afridi to end that over with 17 runs--most costly by McGrath. End of 5 overs, Deccan were 61 for 1, going comfortably at 12 runs per over. Afridi was hitting the ball hard and clearing boundaries. He hit another six in the 6th over bowled by Maharoof.

The break through came in the 7th over, first ball, bowled by Mishra. The ball was pitched on the off and spun, Afridi trying to hit it over long off, didn't time it well and the ball raised a little higher than expected. The ball went in the air towards cover where de Villiers, the substitute in this match caught it easily. Afridi scored 33 off 14 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Gibbs got out in the 9th over, bowled by Mishra for 22. At the end of 10 overs, Deccan Chargers were 84 for 3, requiring 111 from 60 balls.

Styris couldn't find his touch in this match. But, Rohit Sharma proved his class one more time. He hit two sixes off Bhatia in the 12th over.

Trying to scoop the ball over fine leg, Rohit missed the ball and lost his stump. Crucial break through was provided by Maharoof.

Venugopal, the newly turned dangerous batsman joined Styris. End of 15 overs, Deccan were 128 for 4 requiring 67 for 30 balls.

The 16th over added 9 runs including a four by Styris. The 17th over added two more fours to Styris and the last ball went for a four between third man and point.

43 runs from 18 balls. Maharoof got Styris, caught at long-on by de Villiers for 29 off 28 balls with 2 fours. But, Venugopal continued his fight with a six, four and a six to finish the over with 18 runs.

25 from 12 balls, the match is still open. McGrath took the wicket of Venugopal, caught at long on. I think with this wicket, the hopes of Deccan Chargers would have gone. The most dangerous batsman is gone and McGrath has used his experience through an inswing delivery.

Ravi Teja hit a six over point in the 5th ball to keep the match alive. Last over, 15 to win, 4 wickets in hand.

Amit Mishra took 3 wickets in the first three balls and restricted Deccan Chargers with 2 runs in that over. He was chosen as the man of the match.

Match 37
Venue: Delhi
Date: May 15, 2008
Teams: Delhi Daredevils and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
Captains: Virendra Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to field
Result: Delhi Daredevils won by 12 runs
Man of the Match: Amit Mishra off Delhi Daredevils (India)
Points: Delhi Daredevils-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:

Delhi Daredevils 194 for 4 in 20 overs (G Gambhir 79, V Sehwag 0, S Dhawan 68 not out, MF Maharoof 19, TM Dilshan 16, MK Tiwary 4 not out, Extras-8 (lb 3, wide 5), DP Vijaykumar 4-0-24-1, RP Singh 4-0-50-0, PM Sarvesh Kumar 3-0-24-0, SB Styris 4-0-33-0, Y Venugopal Rao 2-0-23-0, Shaid Afridi 1-0-18-0, PP Ojha 2-0-19-2) beat Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 182 for 9 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 14, Shahid Afridi 33, HH Gibbs 22, RG Sharma 35, SB Styris 29, Y Venugopal Rao 34, DB Ravi Teja 9, RP Singh 1, PP Ojha 0, DP Vijaykumar 1 not out, PM Sarvesh Kumar 1 not out, Extras-3 (lb 1, wide 2), GD McGrath 4-0-42-2, Mohammad Asif 4-0-51-0, MF Maharoof 4-0-39-2, A Mishra 4-0-17-5, R Bhatia 4-0-32-0)

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 30: Rajasthan Royals beat Deccan Chargers!

Deccan Chargers need some kind of luck or good performance or something that would given them win! But, there is nothing else other than hardwork and doing it in smart way with little bit of luck in their site.

Put into bat, they started it well. For the second continuous time, Gilly lead the team, looking for another win.

The two dangerous players of One-Day cricket, Gilchrist and Gibbs opened the innings. Gilchrist launched the attack with a four of the first ball and last ball in the first over.

Sohail Tanvir, who wanted to continue his bowling form, did not find the rhythm this time. In addition to two fours in first over, he was smashed for another 3 hours. He hit a six in Watson's over and Gibbs hit a four in the same to take the score to 41 for no loss in 5 overs.

The 6th over had two fours by Gilchrist and end of power play, Deccan Chargers had 51 on the board with Gilly scoring 37.

Gibbs not finding his rhythm and not able to smash like Gilly, got out in the 8th over, caught by Rawat off Munaf Patel for 19 off 20 balls.

At the end of 10 overs, Deccan Chargers were 74 for 1. What else you need? You have to keep the momentum going, but full credit to Rajasthan captain Shane Warne for his wonderful capatincy.

Pathan went for 10 runs including a six. Gilly scored his 50 off 37 balls with 8 fours and a six. Trivedi gave 3 runs in the next over.

The thirteenth over of Pathan had Styris caught by Warne. The pressure of not able to add runs to the scoreboard had him go against Yousuf Pathan. It took the edge and went high in the air. Warne standing at mid wicket took a good judging catch.

Gilchrist was out in the 14th over, caught by Rawat of Trivedi for 61. It was almost a wide, but he chased and got an edge.

Afridi failed one more time. He was out for 1 off Warne, who turned the ball well seeing Afridi coming out of the crease. He still went ahead with the shot and threw his bat. It took the edge and went to point where Munaf Patel took the catch.

Rohit Sharma was struck in the pad and started for the run. The team was appealing and Rohit started for the run, but Warne picked the ball faster and hit directly at the stump to run out Rohit. Another big turning point in the innings. This person can definitely improve the scoring rate, but had to go.

Bangar was out in the next over, caught by Rawat off Watson. At the end of 17 overs, Deccan Chargers were 111 for 6. Sohail Tanvir's over added 10 to the total including two fours by Venugopal Rao.

Ravi was trapped leg before off Warne for 6 and that over added 8 to the total including a boundary off the first ball by Venugopal.

Last over by Sohail Tanvir added another 11 including a six by Venugopal and a run out RP Singh. Deccan Chargers ended their innings with 140 on the board, which actually should have been 160+ with the start they had. Good work by Warne and his team.

With an easy target in hand, Rajasthan started their innings way beyond expectations. Both Smith and Yousuf Pathan played smashing innings, especially Yousuf Pathan. The first wicket partnership crossed 100 mark, which has happened only for the 3rd time in this IPL.

Yousuf Pathan was hitting all over the ground regardless of who was bowling. The team meeting conducted by Gilly in the field did not help much as he was in the attacking mood.

The first overs, they did not lose wicket and did not add many runs. They were 33 for no loss. Good tactic.

Ojha's over--the last power play over, was the launching point. Yousuf a six and two fours to take the score to 50. At the end of 10 overs, Rajasthan Royals were 83 for no loss with Yousuf Pathan reaching his 50 in 28 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes.

He got out in the 13th over, when the match was almost over for Deccan Chargers. He was out for 68 caught by Gibss at long off. Ohja captured the first wicket. The partnership was broken in the 4th ball of the 13th over when the score was 109.

At the end of 15 overs, Rajasthan were 129 for 1 with Smith on 36 and Kaif on 14. Smith trying to finish the game soon, hit the first ball for a four and then got out in the 3rd ball, caught by Ojha off RP Singh for 40 off 43 balls with 4 fours.

Watson finished the match in the last ball with a four and gave Rajasthan another 2 points. Virutually Hyderabad Deccan Chargers is out of the tournament!

Yousuf Pathan was rightly chosen as the man of the match for his swash buckling knock of 68 off 37 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes.

Match 30
Venue: Jaipur
Date: May 9, 2008
Teams: Rajasthan Royals and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
Captains: Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist
Toss: Rajasthan Royals and decided to field
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 8 wickets with 24 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Yousuf Pathan off Rajasthan Royals (India)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 140 for 8 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrst 61, HH Gibbs 19, SB Styris 13, RG Sharma 5, Shahid Afridi 1, SB Bangar 3, DB Ravi Teja 6, Y Venugopal Rao 23 not out, RP Singh 2, PP Ojha 1 not out, Extras-6 (lb 4, wide 1, nb 1), Sohail Tanvir 4-0-39-0, SR Watson 3-0-22-1, MM Patel 4-0-28-1, SK Warne 4-0-20-2, YK Pathan 2-0-19-1, SK Trivedi 3-0-8-1) lost to Rajasthan Royals 141 for 2 in 16 overs (GC Smith 40, YK Pathan 68, M Kaif 17 not out, SR Watson 5 not out, Extras-11 (b 1, wide 10), DP Vijyakumar 1-0-10-0, RP Singh 4-0-24-1, SB Styris 2-0-14-0, PP Ojha 4-0-47-1, Shahid Afridi 2-0-10-0, SB Bangar 2-0-20-0, Y Venugopal Rao 1-0-15-0)

Gilly gives tips to Rohit! Good for him!

Rohit Sharma of the Deccan Chargers is one of those cricketers taking full advantage of this IPL, which gives rich experience and learning through sharing of rooms with experienced international cricketers and also playing in the nets. They give lot of tips and advice for the youngsters, which is good for both cricket and India.

The 21-year-old Nagpur-born Telugu-speaking lad, bought by the Hyderabad-based Chargers for $750,000, received a simple piece of advice from Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist - stay positive.

For Rohit, the mantra has worked wonders and he religiously follows it.

"Young cricketers like me have benefited immensely by the IPL. I never expected to get a chance to share the dressing room with Gilchrist. Watching him prepare for any match is a learning curve in itself. He has advised me to stay positive at all
times and that has changed my attitude and approach towards the game," Rohit told IANS.

Gilchrist, has rated Rohit as the most exciting Indian talent.

"It is very difficult to pick oneself up after every defeat and every time I remembered Gilly's encouraging words. He told me not to get swayed by the results as my job is only to keep performing. It sounds simple, but is very difficult to follow. I have started following his advice and already and I find the difference in everything I do on the cricket field," Rohit said.

"I don't feel Twenty20 is all slam-bang cricket. I have played simple cricketing shots and I don't believe in experimenting too much. Using simple methods, I have scored runs in this tournament."

He said that it was unfortunate that the Deccan Chargers were losing matches in a row despite a good batting line up and hoped his team would find the winning formula soon.

"It's unfortunate that we are not performing well and if we have to qualify for the semi-finals we can't afford to lose any more games. We have come close to winning on a few occasions, but ended up losing. It is high time we put things in order," said Rohit.

He mentioned that the main reason for his team's dismal performance is that "we are not able to pool our resources and click".

"The innings Gilchrist played against Mumbai Indians can't happen everyday. Everyone has to contribute at the same time for us to win consistently," he said.

AS of now, he is owning the Orange Cap, bagged from Shewag for highest run scorer in the IPL.

Match 26: Deccan's 2nd Win beating Chennai!

What happened to Dhoni? Why is he not learning the positives and negatives from the previous losses? The Chennai super Kings have given a hopes to Deccan Chargers and now more pressure on Dhoni to win the remaining matches.

Put into bat, once gain the top order failed. Patel wanted to hit from the first over itself--may be using the tactics of attacking the bowler before he does it. He failed once more time, caught by RP Singh, a well run catch off Vijaykumar.

Anirudha Srikanth, appearing for the first time, couldn't handle the pressure. He faced 7 balls for his 1 run and fell for the pressure. He stepped out and tried to pull the short ball. But, he hit from the top of the batch, which went in air like a lolly pop.

Fleming looked like he was coming to form, but fell to a good jumping catch by Rohit Sharm at covers of Styris.

Badrinath came in and was briliantly caught by Gibbs at point. It was a wide and short deliery by Afridi. He chased it and tried to steer it between point and third man, but it went in the air towards left of Gibbs. He dived and grabbed the ball, though looked easy, it was a good catch. At this stage, Chennai were 43 for 4 in 6.5 overs.

Raina and Dhoni added 39 for the 5th wicket off 40 balls. Raina was out off a low full toss, which he hit straight to Rohit Sharma at extra cover, an easy catch to end his innings at 32 off 21 balls with 5 fours.

Dhoni fell in the next over, trying to sweep Ojha. He was struggling against Ojha already and he tried sweep the ball pitched outside leg stump. The ball hit gloves, and the back of the bat and flew to short third man where Afridi took one of the simplest catches. He scored 23 off 31 balls with just 2 fours. Chennai was struggling at 86 for 6 in 15 overs.

It was Morkel who lighted the Chennai innings. He hit a four and 2 sixes in his 29 not out off 19 balls. Joginder Singh contributed 16 off 10 balls with a six and a four. He was bowled in the 19th over in which only 3 runs were scored.

The last over cold have been a turning point, if Chennai had bowled well. Gony hit two sixes and a four to finish the last over with 17 runs and Chennai ended their innings with 144 on the board.

RP Singh took 2 wickets in his 3 overs giving away just 12 runs.

Chasing a moderate score is alwyas kind of 50-50. You lose two quick wickets or score low runs in couple of hours, it turns the match. Though the first two overs did not go well for Deccan Chargers--4 for no loss, Gibbs opened it up and Gilchrist took it from there! Gibbs stepped out and hit Ntini for a six over covers.

Morkel's over had two boundaries from Gilchrist. The change of end for Gony worked when he dismissed Gibbs caught and bowled for 10.

In the next over, Gilly hit Ntini for 2 sixes and a four in the 6th over. Both Gilly and Styris played sensibly with Gilly scoring at high speed in one end.

Gilly reached his 50 off 34 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. In the 10th over, Gilly played his favorite shot, a slashing cut towards point, flying like a bullet, where Badrinath took a good catch. He was out for 54 off 36 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes.

Rohit Sharma, took his orange cap again for going beyond Shewag. He added 47 along with Styris, in which he scored 23 off 17 balls with 2 fours and a six. He was trying to finish the game faster, but did not read the doosra from Muralitharan. The ball went up in the air and Badrinath accepted it easily. That was too late for Chennai to get a wicket. The score was 125 for 2 in 16.1 overs.

Deccan Chargers needed 20 runs from 4 overs with 8 wickets in hand--a sure win. With Muralitharan completing his spell of 4 overs with 1 for 24, there was no specialist bowler to contain the Deccan Chargers. The last three overs needed 18.

Afridi, the usual destructor finished scoring all the 18 runs in one over of Joginder Sharma by hitting two sixes and two fours--six, four, six, four.

Gilly was rightly chosen for the man of the match award.

This is the 2nd win for Deccan Chargers and 3rd continuous loss for Chennai Super Kings.

Match 26
Venue: Chennai
Date: May 6, 2008
Teams: Chennai Super Kings and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
Captains: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to field
Result: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers won by 7 wickets with 12 balls remaining
Man of the Match: AC Gilchrist off Hyderabad Deccan Chargers (Australia)
Points: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-2; Chennai Super Kings-0
Score:
Chennai Super Kings 144 for 7 in 20 overs (PA Patel 4, SP Fleming 14, S Anirudha 1, SK Raina 32, S Badrinath 0, MS Dhoni 23, JA Morkel 29 not out, Joginder Sharma 16, M Gony 15 not out, Extras—10 (lb 6, wide 4), DP Vijaykumar 3-0-17-1, RP Singh 3-0-12-2, SB Styris 3-0-24-1, Shahid Afridi 3-0-27-1, SB Bangar 4-0-36-1, PP Ojha 4-0-22-1) lost to Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 148 for 3 in 18 overs (AC Gilchrist 54, HH Gibbs 10, SB Styris 36 not out, RG Sharma 23, Shahid Afridi 20 not out, Extras-5 (lb 1, wide 2, nb 2), M Ntini 4-0-37-0, M Gony 3-0-15-0, JA Morkel 4-0-26-1, Joginder Sharma 3-0-45-0, M Muralitharan 4-0-24-1)

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 19: Marsh denied Victory to Deccan Chargers! Help Kings XI to Win!

Marsh denied Deccan Chargers another victory and stopped their dream of continuous winning.

Gilchrist failed this time when he was bowled by Pathan for 6. Everyone expected another firing innings from him, but the fans were disappointed.

The new comer Gibbs also did not taste success. He was caught by Goel of Piyush Chawla, who was brought into bowling after the power play. The team was going at 7.71 runs per over at the end of 7 overs.

Rohit Sharma, another successful and young batsman, joined his skipper. In two overs gap, Laxman was caught by Laxman at extra covers off Chawla. He played stylishly, picked from off stump to mid wicket for four, his usual shot. He was out for 48 off 34 balls with 8 fours.

Rohit Sharma's innings was amazing! The youngster provided an opportunit for other players to see his beautiful strokes and timing the ball for hitting huge sixes and picking gaps for fours. If he is guided and coached perfectly, he will be one of the key players for Indian team. His temparement and playing huge knocks is going are perfect examples that he has every opportunity and talent to replace one of the three to the retire--Ganguly, Dravid and Sachin.

He crossed his 50 in 35 ball in 34 balls with 7 fours and a six.

Though Afridi looked like dominating the bowling, he fell soon and was not a big success in IPL. He scored 13 before scooped one in the air and was caught by Yuvaraj for 13 with a six an four in 7 balls. The score was 90 for 4 in 11.5 overs.

No one crossed double digit after that. Venugopal Rao, Bangar, Zoysa, Kalyankrishna, and RP Sing scored 1, 3, 1, 3, and 2 respectively. But, Rohit Sharma, was scoring on the other hand and no one was able to stop him. None of the bowlers went for 10 runs per over and that was a good sign for Kings XI Punjan. Gagandeep Singh was the costly bowler giving away 37 runs in his 4 overs and taking a wicket at 9.25 runs per over. Piyus Chawla was the pick of the bowlers taking 3 wickets and economical also giving away 28 runs in 4 overs.

Rohit was not out on 76 off 42 balls with 10 fours and 2 sixes.

Deccan chargers put a decent score of 164 on the board, but that was not enough the control Kings XI Punjab.

Marsh scored a wonderful 84 which helped his team to add another victory. Though he hit only one six, his drives and hitting over infield were amazing. He reached his 50 in 35 balls with 8 fours and remained not out on 84 off 62 balls with 11 fours and a six.

Sarwan provided him good company, but was run out himself for 15, when found short of his crease when the ball touched Bowler Bangar's finger.

Sangakkara did not last long. He was caught by Sharma for 3; Yuvaraj Singh scored 14 off 9 balls and gave a return catch to Zoysa. When he was out, the score was 86 for 3 in 10.5 overs. In 55 balls, 79 needed.

Jayawardane and Marsh added the remaining score in 18.5 overs. They scored 81 in 48 balls. Kalyankrishna was costly with 34 runs in 3 overs.

Jayawardane was 45 not out in 23 balls with 6 fours and a six. Marsh was not out on 84 off 62 balls with 11 fours and a six and rightly chosen for the man of the match award.

Match 19
Venue: Hyderabad
Date: May 1, 2008
Teams: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Yuvaraj Singh and VVS Laxman
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to field
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 7 wickets with 7 balls to spare
Man of the Match: SE Marsh off Kings XI Punjab (Australia)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 164 for 8 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 6, VVS Laxman 48, HH Gibbs 7, RG Sharma 76 not out, Shahid Afridi 13, Y Venugopal Rao 1, SB Bangar 3, DNT Zoysa 1, D Kalyankrishna 3, RP Singh 2 not out, Extras—4 (b 1,lb 1, wide 2), S Sreesanth 4-0-33-1, IK Pathan 4-0-30-2, VRV Singh 4-0-34-0, PP Chawla 4-0-28-3, Gagandeep Singh 4-0-37-1) lost to Kings XI Punjab 167 for 3 in 18.5 overs (SE Marsh 84 not out, RR Sarwan 15, KC Sangakkara 3, Yuvraj Singh 14, DPMD Jayawardene 45 not out, Extras—6 (lb 2, wide 4), RP Singh 3.5-0-36-0, DNT Zoysa 4-0-32-1, Shahid Afridi 3-0-28-0, SB Bangar 4-0-26-0, D Kalyankrishna 3-0-34-1, Y Venugopal Rao 1-0-9-0)

Match 9: Warne's spoils Symonds Century Party in a Thriller!

Symonds was a hero during batting and became villian while Bowling! Warne Spoiled Symond's Century Party!

What a match? It was Symonds who gave Deccan Charger the hope to win with his wonderful batting skills. He dominated the Rajasthan Royals throughout the innings and scored a magnificient century. This is the third century in this tournament. The other two were scored by McCullum and Mike Hussey.

Chasing the target of 215, Rajasthan Royals were not the favorites, though the pitched favored the batsman. Kamran Akmal and Smith opened the innings. The first ball drive from Akmal should have sent Smith back to pavilion as he was short of his crease, but the third umpire found the ball did not touch the bowler Vaas.

Akmal's inning was short and brief as he scored 12 off 9 balls with a four and six. He was caught at point by Bangar of Vaas.

Sending Yousuf Pathan was a good move by skipper Warne. He created the record for fastest fifty in the tournament when he reached the milestone in 21 balls with 2 fours and 6 sixes. He hit Vaas for 2 sixes and four and in the same over Smith hit a six. Vaas conceeded 22 runs in this 3rd over. He then hit RP Singh for a huge six over extra cover to reach his 50. When he tried to clear the boundary, he was caught at long on by Symonds off Kalyankrishna. He was out for 61 off 28 balls with 4 fours and 6 sixes.

Watson did not stay in the crease for long as he was dismissed for 4 in 6 balls.

Shaid Afridi was the pick of the bowlers in terms of taking wickets and also conceding runs. In his first two overs he gave away 17 runs with a wicket. In his thir over, he gave away just 5 runs. Smith reached his 50 in that over in 34 balls with 7 fours and a six.

It was Symond's 2nd over, which added momentum to the innings. Kaif hit 3 sixes--over midwicket, straight over bowlers head, and then over long on. That brought down the target from 76 off 36 balls to 56 off 30 balls.

The next over by Kalyankrishna also went in favor of Rajasthan Royals, who scored 17 runs--Smith scoring a six and a four and Kaif hitting a four over backward point.

At this stage, Rajasthan Royals required 39 in 24 balls. Deccan chargers still had the hope and possibility of registering their first win.

Vaas bowled the 17th over and conceeded 10 runs

With 29 in 18 balls, Shaid Afridi took 2 crucial wickets of well settled batsmen--Kaif caught by Symonds at long on and Smith caught at deep midwicket. Kaif scored 34 off 16 balls and Smith was out for 71 off 45 balls. This should have been utilized well by Deccan skipper Laxman, but the day belonged to Rajasthan. In the same over, Jadeja's catch was dropped by Kalyankrishna at deep midwicket. He took a good catch of the previous ball to send back Smith.

Warne was not able to score runs of the first two balls of Afridi. The first one was a faster one bowled at 115kph and he was beaten by the pace. The next ball pitched on the middle and leg was missed by Warne. Few words were exchanged between the two, which was started by Afridi.

The last ball went to a four off thick outside edge and it beat the short-third man. It was a good over bowled by Afridi, giving away 6 runs and taking 2 wickets.

With 23 to get off 12 balls, RP Singh removed Jadeja in the 2nd ball. In the same over 4th ball, Salunkhe was run out. The ball hit by Warne went straight to Laxman at covers and the runner did not see it and started running. RP Singh gave away just 6 runs

In the last over, Rajasthan Royals required 17 to get with 3 wickets in hand. Laxman picked experienced Symonds to bowl as other strike bowlers completed their quota of four overs.

First ball went to midwicket and Pankaj ran two runs.

The second ball was a low full toss and one run was scored.

With 14 off 4 balls, Warne hit the ball over Symond's head and it crossed the fence.

Tension everywhere. 10 requried off 3 balls.

The fourth ball was a huge six. Warne connected the ball well and it went off the middle of the bat over deep midwicket and went to the second tier.

4 required off 2 balls.

The fifth ball was also a six by Warne. He lead by example. The ball pitched short was well connected, half volley, just over the extra cover rope.

Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets with a ball to spare. Warne was the hero!

Earlier, Symonds scored a beautiful century that helped Deccan Chargers reach 214. He reached his 50 in 29 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. He along with Rohit Sharma built the innings for the 4th wicket with 111 run partnership of 84 balls.

Symonds did not spare Warne too as he hit him for two sixes. He scored 35 runs out of the total 47 runs given by Shane Warne in his 4 overs.

His huge six of Warne in the 18th over first ball took him to his hundred. He touched this milestone in 47 balls with 9 fours and 6 sixes. He was not out on 117 off 53 balls with 11 fours and 7 sixes and he gained the award of INR 100,000 for hitting highest sixes in this match.

Rohit Sharma played well and scored 36 off 30 balls with 3 fours and 1 six.

Warne picked 2 important wickets--Laxman and Rohit Sharma

The defeat puts Deccan Chargers in trouble with all 3 matches lost. They are yet to open their winning account. Let us hope they do it quickly and get back to form.

Score:

Match 9
Venue: Hyderabad
Date: April 24, 2008
Teams: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers v. Rajasthan Royals
Captains: VVS Laxman and Shane Warne
Toss: Rajasthan Royals and decided to field
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets with 1 ball remaining
Man of the Match: Yousuf Pathan of Rajasthan Royals (India)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 214 for 5 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 13, VVS Laxman 16, Shahid Afridi 10, A Symonds 117 not out, RG Sharma 36, AS Yadav 16, Extras 6--wide 5, nb 1, MM Patel 4-0-55-0,SR Watson 4-0-32-1,YK Pathan 2-0-20-2,Pankaj Singh 2-0-14-0,SK Trivedi 3-0-37-0,SK Warne 4-0-47-2,D Salunkhe 1-0-9-0) lost to Rajasthan Royals 217 for 7 in 19.5 overs (Kamran Akmal 12, GC Smith 71, YK Pathan 61, SR Watson 4, M Kaif 34, RA Jadeja 1, SK Warne 22 not out, D Salunkhe 1, Pankaj Singh 4 not out, Extras 7--lb 4, wide 2, nb 1, WPUJC Vaas 4-0-42-1,RP Singh 4-0-44-1,PP Ojha 2-0-23-0,D Kalyankrishna 3-0-30-1,Shahid Afridi 4-0-28-3,A Symonds 2.5-0-46-0)

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

Match 7: Shewag and Delhi Bowling Demolish Deccan Chargers!

For the second time, the Deccan Chargers have failed to prove their credibility in the 20-20 and IPL. The team lead by Laxman once again failed to win their match and has faced two consecutive defeats.

Winning the toss, but taking a bad decision to bat first, Laxman did not had anything go in favor of him except the last few overs of his teams batting. Including his form, everything has been questioned on the teams performance. He has scored just 2 runs in two games with the a duck in the first game.

The swing the pitch offered in addition to the natural ability of McGrath put Hyderabad Deccan Chargers in the back foot. No one was able to make big hits as they were not timing the ball. At the end of the 10th over, Deccan Chargers were 45 for 4 with all the leading batsman back in the pavilion--Gilchrist (8), Venugopal Rao (14), Laxman (2) and Andrew Symonds (12).

It was the young Rohit Sharma who took charge of the innings, but at the later part of the overs. He was playing singles to ensure that they score at least run a ball so that they can cross 100.

The over from Maharoof proved to be vital and provided a hope for Deccan Chargers. Rohit hit 26 runs of Maharoof's final over and the 18th over of the innings. That took the score from 90 for 7 in 17 overs to 116 for 6 in 18. Rohit was out in the next over, but the remaining batsman were slogging and scored 26 runs in the last two overs to give Deccan a decent total of 142 for 8. Rohit scored 66 off 36 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes.

Delhi, looking for their 2nd win, reached home with another 2 points comfortably in just 13.1 overs. Skipper Virendra Shewag smashed Deccan bowling all over the ground. Though he was lucky not to be given out in the 1st over, he scored a firing 94 not out off 41 balls with 10 fours and 6 sixes. He dominated the complete innings with huge hits over the ground.

The 12th over of the innings bowled by Symonds had seen highest run conceding over in the game. Shewag scored 30 runs in that over with alternates of forus and sixes--four, six, four, six, four, six.

Shewag as declared man of the match, the first Indian to get the award in the tournament.

In the 4th ball of the 12th over, the ball hit the helmet and Deccan Chargers were penalized for that. It was a bonus of 5 runs to Delhi.

Match 7
Venue: Hyderabad
Date: April 22, 2008
Teams: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers v. Delhi Daredevils
Captains: VVS Laxman and Virendra Shewag
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to bat
Result: Delhi Daredevils won by 9 wickets with 42 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Virendra Shewag of Delhi Daredevils (India)
Points: Delhi Daredevils-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 142 for 8 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 8, Y Venugopal Rao 14, VVS Laxman 2, A Symonds 12, RG Sharma 66, Shahid Afridi 2, SB Bangar 8, AS Yadav 12, WPUJC Vaas 12 not out, RP Singh 1 not out, Extras 5--lb 3, wide 1, nb 1, GD McGrath 4-1-22-0, Mohammad Asif 4-0-19-2, MF Maharoof 4-0-36-2, VY Mahesh 4-0-35-1, R Bhatia 4-0-27-2) lost to Delhi Daredevils 143 for 1 in 13 overs (G Gambhir 12, V Sehwag 94 not out, S Dhawan 25 not out, Extras 12--wide 7, penalty 5, WPUJC Vaas 3-0-22-0, RP Singh 3-0-27-1, SB Bangar 2-0-30-0, Shahid Afridi 2-0-17-0, A Symonds 2-0-35-0, PP Ojha 1-0-7-0)

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)