Match 55: DD v. MI: Rahane's fifty in vain as Sehwag give Delhi another win!

Rahane's firing fifty did not help Mumbai to clinch a victory as Sehwag's fifty took it over. Put into bat, Mumbai lost Jayasuriya for a duck in the first over. The first two balls were wide but the rebowled first ball brought a wicket for Nannes.

Duminy fell for 9 while Mohammad Ashraful went for 2. Tendulkar and Rahane revived the innings as they put on 73 runs for the 4th wicket in 54 balls.

Tendulkar was bowled by Bhatia for 46. At the end of 15 overs, Mumbai were 109 for 5 and did not look to go beyound 140. But, Rahane brought fortune with a four or a six in every over. He reached his fifty in 37 balls. He was caught by DeVilliers of a slower one from Sangwan for 56. Harbhajan hit the last ball of the innings to a four as Mumbai ended the innings at 165 for 8.

Delhi reached the target easily. Warner and Gambhir added 36 in 3.3 overs before Warner fell for 15 caught by Ashraful off Kulkarni. Sehwag and Gambhir played aggressive innings did not bother about the lost wicket. Gambhir fell in the 12th over for 47.

Dilshan and Sehwag took Delhi closer to the target as they added 40 in just 19 balls. Dilshan and Sehwag fell next to each other in the 15th over from Bhajji.

DeVilliers was caught by Nayar of Harbhajan for 6 going for a big shot. Bhatia was bowled of the delivery. Though 4 wickets were lost in the span of 12 balls.

Mishra was lucky as the edge went for a four, otherwise it would been another wicket for Bhajji. Dinesh Karthik and Mishra took Delhi without adding anymore pressure!

Scoreboard:

Match # 55
Date: Thursday May 21, 2009
Teams: Delhi Daredevils v. Mumbai Indians
Captains: Sehwag and Sachin
Toss: DD, decided to field
Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion
Result: DD won by 4 wickets with 15 balls remaining
Points: DD 2; MI 0
Man of the Match: Sehwag off DD

Mumbai Indians Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Jayasuriya	lbw b Nannes	0	1	0	0
Tendulkar	b Bhatia	46	41	8	0
Duminy	c D Karthik b Nannes	9	6	2	0
Ashraful	c D Karthik b Sangwan	2	10	0	0
Rahane	c DeVilliers b Sangwan	56	41	5	2
AM Nayar	lbw b Salvi	4	4	0	0
PR Shah	c & b Nannes	12	11	1	0
Harbhajan	Not Out	12	7	2	0
Malinga	Run Out (Dilshan/Sangwan)	0	0	0	0
Kulkarni	Not Out	0	0	0	0
Extras	(b 6, lb 6, w 11, nb 1)	24	-	-	-
Total	for 8 wkts in 20 overs	165	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-2 (Jayasuriya, 0.1 ov), 2-21 (Duminy, 2.3 ov), 3-28 (Mohammad Ashraful, 4.3 ov), 4-101 (Tendulkar, 13.3 ov), 5-106 (Nayar, 14.2 ov), 6-149 (Shah, 18.3 ov), 7-155 (Rahane, 19.1 ov), 8-159 (Malinga, 19.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Nannes	4	0	27	3
Salvi	4	0	27	1
Sangwan	4	0	28	2
Mishra	4	0	42	0
Bhatia	4	0	29	1

Delhi Daredevils Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Gambhir	c Ashraful b Malinga	47	38	7	0
DA Warner	c Ashraful b Kulkarni	15	9	1	1
Sehwag	b Harbhajan	50	27	5	2
Dilshan	st Shah b Harbhajan	24	14	2	2
Bhatia	b Harbhajan	2	7	0	0
DeVilliers	c Nayar b Harbhajan	6	6	1	0
D Karthik	Not Out	0	1	0	0
A Mishra	Not Out	13	4	1	1
Extras	(w 8, nb 1)	9	-	-	-
Total	for 6 wkts in 17.3 overs	166	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-36 (Warner, 3.3 ov), 2-104 (Gambhir, 11.1 ov), 3-144 (Dilshan, 14.2 ov), 4-144 (Sehwag, 14.3 ov), 5-153 (de Villiers, 16.3 ov), 6-153 (Bhatia, 16.4 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Malinga	4	0	38	1
Kulkarni	3	0	36	1
Shaikh	1	0	11	0
Harbhajan	4	0	17	4
AM Nayar	2	0	25	0
Jayasuriya	2	0	25	0
Duminy	1.3	0	14	0

Match 32: DC v. MI: Rohit's Hat-trick Pushes MI Down the List!

What is happening to MI? Another loss to them pushed them to bottom of the list just before KKR. Once again the batting failed for them as they succumbed to the spin of Rohit Sharma.

MI also awarded Rohit Sharma with a hat-trick throwing their wickets. Get 1 and two free! This is the second hat-trick in this edition of IPL with the first one picked by Yuvaraj against Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Chasing 146, with the batting line up MI have, they should have reached this target easily. I would say, against Deccan Chargers bowling, still possible. RP Singh gave the right start by picking Jayasuriya and Tendulkar with just 7 on the board.

Jayasuriya was caught at third man, playing his favorite slash of the short ball where Harris took a wonderful forward diving catch. Jayasuriya was stunned and shocked! Next delivery, Sachin's try to send the ball to third-man took inside edge and knocked the stumps. RP Singh strck twice in two deliveries.

Duminy and PR Shah built the partnership for the third wicket. It looked dangerous as Shah hit two sixes in the last over of the powerplay. He scored 29 off 19 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. The parternship was broken by Suman with a good flight delivery which templted Shah to for a slog and was caught at long by D Smith.

Duminy, the wall of MI, started building parternship with Bravo. Though Duminy played realizing his responsibilities, Bravo didn't do it and that cost the match for MI. When added 37 for the 4th, Bravo played a poor shot by going for a six which ended as a catch to Harris at long off, giving one more wicket to Suman.

The wicket of Bravo turned the match in favor of DC as MI needed 49 from 35 balls. In the 16th over, 4th ball, Rohit Sharma bowled AM Nayar when he moved across to play a sweep and missed the ball.

What did Harbhajan do? Can he not play sensible cricket at least for couple of balls? He went for a slog in the next delivery, dragged the ball to the stumps of inside edge. Two wickets in 2 balls for Rohit, but that's the end of the over pushing MI to 103 for 6 in 16 overs.

Suman's next over added 5 to the total of MI. Luck favored DC and Rohit as the part-timer picked the hat-trick of a delivery bowled on outside the leg stump. As the key-man, Duminy went for a sweep, the ball rubbed the gloves and lobbed in the air to land in the hands of Gilly. Three wickets in three balls!!

In the same over, Tiwari was stumped and pushed MI to 109 for 7. The last two overs required 34 with 2 wickets in hand. MI ended the innings with 19 runs short! Though it was RP Singh who picked two crucial wickets at the start and Suman picked two middle order batsmen, for the hat-trick brilliant 38, Rohit was given man of the match!

Earlier, deciding to bat, once again Gibbs went for a duck. Gilly and Suman added 29 for the 2nd wicket before Suman was caught behind of Bravo.

Rohit Sharma played a superb innings showing maturity and responsibility. He scored 38 off 36 balls with 2 fours and a six. It was Venugopal who played a brisk knock at the end with 28 off 17 balls to take DC to 145 for 6.

Scoreboard:

Match # 32
Date: Wednesday May 6, 2009
Teams: Deccan Chargers v. Mumbai Indians
Captains: Gilchrist and Sachin
Toss: DC, decided to bat
Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion
Result: DC won by 19
Points: DC 2; MI 0
Man of the Match: Rohit Sharma off DC

Deccan Chargers Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Gilchrist	b Raje	25	29	2	1
Gibbs	c Tendulkar b Kulkarni	0	5	0	0
T Sumar	c Shah b Bravo	20	13	1	2
R Sharma	c Bravo b Malinga	38	36	2	1
D Smith	b Jayasuriya	16	12	1	1
Venugopal	Run Out (Bravo/Shah)	28	17	2	1
Ravi Teja	Not Out	4	4	0	0
Harris	Not Out	5	4	0	0
Extras	(lb 5, w 4)	9	-	-	-
Total	for 6 wkts in 20 overs	145	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-8 (Gibbs, 1.4 ov), 2-37 (Suman, 5.3 ov), 3-62 (Gilchrist, 9.4 ov), 4-85 (Smith, 12.6 ov), 5-118 (Sharma, 17.1 ov), 6-137 (Venugopal Rao, 19.1 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Malinga	4	0	24	1
Kulkarni	4	0	21	1
Harbhajan	2	0	23	0
Bravo	3	0	16	1
Raje	3	0	25	1
Jayasuriya	4	0	31	1

Mumbai Indians Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Jayasuriya	c Harris b RP Singh	5	7	1	0
Tendulkar	b RP Singh	2	4	0	0
PR Shah	c D Smith b T Suman	29	19	3	2
Duminy	c Gilchrist b R Sharma	52	48	7	0
Bravo	c Harris b T Suman	13	16	0	0
AM Nayar	b R Sharma	1	4	0	0
Harbhajan	b R Sharma	0	1	0	0
Tiwari	st Gilchrist b R Sharma	3	5	0	0
Raje	Not Out	11	7	0	1
Kulkarni	Not Out	7	9	0	0
Extras	(lb 2, w 1)	3	-	-	-
Total	for 8 wkts in 20 overs	126	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-7 (Jayasuriya, 1.4 ov), 2-7 (Tendulkar, 1.5 ov), 3-60 (Shah, 8.5 ov), 4-97 (Bravo, 14.1 ov), 5-103 (Nayar, 15.5 ov), 6-103 (Harbhajan Singh, 15.6 ov), 7-108 (Duminy, 17.1 ov), 8-109 (Tiwary, 17.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Harris	4	0	25	0
RP Singh	4	0	19	2
Harmeet Singh	3	0	28	0
D Smith	1	0	13	0
Shoaib	2	0	19	0
T Suman	4	0	14	2
R Sharma	2	0	6	4

Match 23: MI v. KKR: Duminy steers MI beat KKR Again! Hodges effort in vain!

A fighting 73 from Hodge went in vain as KKR once again lost to MI. The only difference this time was that it was a close match. Last encounter between MI and KKR played on April 27 at Port Elizabth, MI won by a comfortable 92 runs.

Deciding to bat first, Jayasuria fell early for 6. Harbhajan's promotion did not work this time as he also fell for 6 leaving MI at 40 for 2 in 6 overs.

Tendulkar played another good innings that anchored the MI. Duminy took over from Sachin and contributed in a big way that helped MI put a fighting total.

Duminy scored his second fifty of this season. He bulit small partnerships with Nayar, Napier and Rahane. His fifty came in 37 balls with a four and 4 sixes.

Struggling at 61 for 3 in 10 overs, and added 27 in the next 5 overs, MI looked to end around 140. Duminy started his fire work in the 18th over in which he scored 2 sixes. He also hit 2 huge sixes in the 3rd last ball of the final over to take MI to 148.

McCullum made a big change in the batting order as he promoted Ganguly to number 2 along with Gayle. Ganguly once again disappointed the fans as he was bowled by Zaheer Khan, the very first ball he faced.

Gayle was also bowled with his off stump flew and fell few yards away. At the end of power play, KKR were 26 for 2 requiring another 123 in 14 overs.

Hodge settled well and stay in the crease till the end. His first six came in the 7th over and hit another in 9th over. At the end of 10 overs, KKR were 60 for 2 requiring 89 from 60 balls. The match was evenly poised.

Wyk got out to Napier caught by Duminy for 32. With the last 30 balls requiring 51 runs. Hodge hit a six from a free hit off Zaheer Khan. Malinga bowled a tight over giving away 7 runs.

31 from 18 balls. Shukla missed a full toss which uprooted his off stump for multiple somersault. McCullum came in late but managed to score only singles.

Last 2 overs required 23 with 6 wickets in hand. Hodge was run out in the last of the 19th over. He drove the ball to long off and took a long route for the 2nd run. He was well short of his crease.

I think someone should check for Malinga's action. His round-arm bowling action creates lof of trouble for batsmen. He gave away just 4 runs in the 19th over. KKR needed 19 from last over in which they managed just 9 runs.

One more loss for KKR and they have ended with just one win and 5 loss with a abandoned match.

Scoreboard:

Match # 23
Date: Friday May 1, 2009
Teams: Mumbai Indians v. Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Sachin and McCullum
Toss: MI, decided to bat
Venue: Buffalo Park, East London
Result: MI won by 9 runs
Points: MI 2; KKR 0
Man of the Match: JP Duminy off MI

Mumbai Indians Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Jayasuriya	c van Wyk b Dinda	6	8	1	0
Tendulkar	c MucCullum b Agarkar	34	30	3	2
Harbhajan	c Dinda b M Karthik	6	7	0	0
AM Nayar	b Hodge	10	13	1	0
Duminy	Not Out	52	37	1	4
Napier	c MucCullum b Gayle	15	16	1	0
Rahane	c Gayle b I Sharma	10	8	1	0
Z Khan	Not Out	2	2	0	0
Extras	(b 3, lb 3, w 6, nb 1)	13	-	-	-
Total	for 6 wkts in 20 overs	148	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-19 (Jayasuriya, 3.2 ov), 2-40 (Harbhajan Singh, 5.5 ov), 3-54 (Tendulkar, 7.5 ov), 4-71 (Nayar, 11.4 ov), 5-96 (Napier, 15.5 ov), 6-131 (Rahane, 18.5 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
I Sharma	4	0	24	1
Dinda	3	0	27	1
Shukla	3	0	25	0
M Karthik	3	0	20	1
Agarkar	1	0	12	1
Gayle	4	0	21	1
Hodge	2	0	13	1

Kolkata Knight Riders Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Quiney	b Z Khan	7	7	1	0
G Smith	b Z Khan	0	1	0	0
Asnodkar	Run Out (Duminy/Shah)	73	60	5	3
RA Jadeja	C Duminy b Napier	32	35	3	0
Y Pathan	b Z Khan	6	7	0	0
Mascarenhas	c Malinga b Nayar	5	7	0	0
Warne	Not Out	8	4	1	0
Rawat	Not Out	0	0	0	0
Extras	(lb 1, w 6, nb 1)	8	-	-	-
Total	for 6 wkts in 20 overs	139	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-1 (Ganguly, 0.4 ov), 2-8 (Gayle, 2.2 ov), 3-97 (van Wyk, 14.5 ov), 4-119 (Shukla, 17.2 ov), 5-130 (Hodge, 18.6 ov), 6-132 (McCullum, 19.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Z Khan	4	0	31	3
Napier	4	0	27	1
Harbhajan	4	0	24	0
Malinga	4	0	23	0
Jayasuriya	1	0	13	0
AM Nayar	4	0	20	1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scoreboard:

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

Mumbai Indian Innings:

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

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

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

Kolkata Knight Riders Innings:

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

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

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