Match 50: Mumbai Stunned! Delhi Wins and retains Semi-Finals Chance!

In a crucial encounter, Delhi won their match against Mumbai Indians and retained their chance for semi-finals. Now, their only hope is that Chennai should lose their match against Deccan Chargers.

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Sehwag did not help with the bat, but Dinesh Karthik proved that he is worth for Delhi and helped see through the victory. He played brilliant shots--pull, scoop over fine leg and took the match away from Mumbai. Dinesh scored his first 50, and he scored 56 not out off 32 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes.

For Mumbai, Jayasuriya once again played a firing knock. He scored 66 off 42 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes. Uthappa scored 46 not out off 23 balls.

Match 50
Venue: Delhi
Date: May 24, 2008
Teams: Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians
Captains: Virendra Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar
Toss: Delhi Daredevils and decided to field
Result: Delhi Daredevils won by 5 wickets with 1 ball remaining
Man of the Match: KD Karthik off Delhi Daredevils (India)
Points: Delhi Daredevils-2; Mumbai Indians-0
Score:

Mumbai Indians 176 for 8 in 20 overs (ST Jayasuriya 66, SR Tendulkar 18, DR Smith 17, RV Uthappa 46 not out, AM Nayar 1, SM Pollock 16, SD Chitnis 3, P Shah 0, A Nel 0, Extras-9 (lb 1, wide 7, nb 1), GD McGrath 4-0-39-0, B Geeves 4-0-50-1, MF Maharoof 4-0-27-1, VY Mahesh 4-0-36-4, A Mishra 4-0-23-1) lost to Delhi Daredevils 179 for 5 in 19.5 overs (G Gambhir 19, V Sehwag 18, S Dhawan 27, MK Tiwary 36, TM Dilshan 0, KD Karthik 56 not out, MF Maharoof 20 not out, Extras-3 (lb 2, wide 1), SM Pollock 3-0-33-0, A Nehra 3.5-0-30-1, A Nel 3-0-31-1, DS Kulkarni 3-0-26-0, DR Smith 3-0-22-2, ST Jayasuriya 4-0-35-0)

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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 29: Kolkata Wins Finally!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)