Match 58, Semi Final 2: Chennai Storms into Finals! To meet Rajasthan!

Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab for the third consecutive time in the IPL and entered the grand finale. The cool man admitted that he was under pressure but couldn't show it outside. He wanted his bowlers to see a confident man in the field.

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Kings XI Punjab failed to capitalize on the crucial toss. The much expected fight in a neutral venue did not go well as expected.

Chennai Super Kings had an easy target in hand to enter the finals and they did it withe ease. Chasing 113 in 16 overs is an easy task unless the batsmen make mistakes or the bowlers are too good in their line and length. Dhoni's team ensured that they did not make the mistakes they committed against Bangalore Royal Challengers while chasing an easy target of 127.

Vidyut got out in the 3rd over for 6 with a four. That was the only wicket to fall and we couldn't see the aggressive Yuvaraj after that. Both Patel and Raina played well to ensure that their team moved to the final stage of the game.

Both of them scored 50 in this short run chase which ended in the 15th over. Patel was the first to cross fifty in 47 balls with 8 fours and followed by Raina in 32 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes.

Raina took little risk every now and then. He hit his first six of VRV Singh over long on. The short ball pitched on the off stump was sent over long for a six. He game room for himself and that helped him to clear the boundary.

It was strange that Sreesanth bowled just one over. I think the he was not utilized properly in this game. One of the top five most wicket takers in this IPL, it was surprising that Yuvi did used him for just one over.

His second six went out of the ground. That was really huge. The short ball from Hopes was hit over mid wicket. Pathan's short ball was his third six over mid wicket. His fourth six came off Piyush Chawla's flight deilvery which was swept over mid wicket. The next ball was a four and that was his fifty. He chipped the 5th ball of the 15th over to make the winning boundary. He was awarded the DLF Maximum Sixes Award.

They both added 102 runs for the unbeaten second wicket in 75 balls.

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Read: Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils

Earlier, Kings XI did not start well. They lost wickets at regular intervals. Interesting, Dhoni opened his bowling attack with Muralitharan. He bowled just one over and conceded 7 runs. The first ball was a full toss and Marsh smashed hit through cover. Marsh scored 23 in 17 balls with 3 sixes and a six, couldn't continue his form. The pull of a short ball from Ntini, got the inside edge and dragged the ball to the stumps. Hopes was caught behind of Ntini in the second over. Sangakkar walked on his own though umpire did not give him out. He was caught behind of Gony in the 3rd over and Punjab was struggling at 11 for 2.

Most runs in the power play came in the 4th over bowled by Nitni where Marsh hit a six of an edge, which went over the keeper's head. Another edge went to fine leg boundary.

Gony and Muralitharan sent Yuvaraj back to the pavilion. It was a short ball and Yuvaraj pulled it with full power towards mid wicket. Muralitharan intercepted it near the ring and took a brilliant catch. In the next over Marsh was bowled.

At the end of power play, Kings XI were 35 for 4. Pathan and Jayawardane steadied the innings for the next overs, but the poor calling had Pathan run out. Jayawardane played the ball towards cover point boundary where Ntini brilliantly stopped the ball but couldn't control crossing the boundary. He intelligently rolled the ball inside the playing area and came back to pick it up. Pathan who looked for the third was first acknowledged by Jayawardane, but later sent him back, but by that time it was too late. Ntini sent a good one bounce throw to bowler Gony and he did the rest. Pathan was in the middle of the pitch and couldn't do much.

In the next over, Jayawardane tried to steer the ball to third man, edged the ball to Parthiv Patel off Morkel.

At the end of 10 overs, Kings XI were 45 for 6 almost ruined their chances to final. Chawla was bowled by Muralitharan's flight delivery. Powar though tried to hit the ball many times couldn't connect most of the deliveries. But, he hit a six of Morkel in the 19th over and then 3 consecutive fours of Balaji in the 20th over. The last 2 overs added 28 to the total and helped Kings XI to cross the 100 mark.

Mota was the 8th wicket to fall. In the last ball of the 19th over, Mota tried to loft the ball over long on, but it ballooned in the air. Raina came running from long and took a stunning diving catch.

Kings XI ended their innings with 112 for 8, Ramesh Power top scoring with 28 not out off 21 balls with 4 fours and a six.

Ntini was given the man of the match award, his second in IPL, for his good bowling performance and also for the good intelligent fielding and thorw which ran out Irfan Pathan.

Match 58 - Semi Final 2
Venue: Mumbai
Date: May 31, 2008
Teams: Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvaraj Singh
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to bat
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 9 wickets with 31 balls remaining
Man of the Match: M Ntini off Chennai Super Kings (South Africa)
Score:

Kings XI Punjab 112 for 8 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 23, JR Hopes 2, KC Sangakkara 3, Yuvraj Singh 4, DPMD Jayawardene 8, IK Pathan 3, WA Mota 25, PP Chawla 12, RR Powar 28 not out, S Sreesanth 0 not out, Extras-4 (b 2, wide 2), M Muralitharan 4-0-19-1, M Ntini 4-0-23-2, M Gony 4-1-14-2, JA Morkel 4-0-27-2, L Balaji 4-0-27-0) lost to Chennai Super Kings 116 for 1 in 14.5 overs (PA Patel 51 not out, S Vidyut 6, SK Raina 55 not out, Extras-4 (wide 4), IK Pathan 4-0-24-0, S Sreesanth 1-0-7-0, RR Powar 3-0-28-0, VRV Singh 2-0-14-0, JR Hopes 2-0-20-0, PP Chawla 2.5-0-23-0)

Read: Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils

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Match 57, Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Enters Final!

In the first knock-out stage, Rajasthan beat Delhi and entered the finals of the first IPL season. They have beaten comfortably and will wait for a day to see who their opponent will be.

Put into bat, Royals started their innings with the openers crossing 50 for the first wicket. In the crucial game, both Smith and Asnodkar played sensibly and added 65 for the first wicket before Maharoof provided the break through by dismissing Smith caught by Dhawan for 25. In the same over, Asnodkar got out caught by Tiwari for 39 off 21 balls with 6 fours and a six. Though McGrath gave good start for Delhi by just giving 1 run in the first over, he was not able to sustain it. He went for 7 runs including a four in his second over and then for 3 continuous fours by smith.

Asnodkar was dropped on 23 by Maharoof in the fine leg when he tried to pull Mahesh. In the same over he hit a six and a four as Rajasthan reached 58 for no loss in 6 overs.

Sohail Tanvir was sent as number 3 for maintaining the tempo, but he fell chepaly for 5 for Maharoof. Watson and Kaif added 52 runs for the 4th wicket in 29 balls. Dangerous batsman Watson once again proved that he is there for scoring runs as quick as possible. He scored 52 off 29 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes.

Watson went over Mahesh with 2 sixes and a four to score 21 runs in an over. Kaif was bowled by Mishra for 12, once again did not scorre for his team.

Yousuf Pathan continued with ihs form scoring 45 off 21 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes. His innings along with Watson proved vital for Rajasthan and Delhi should accpet that they both took the game away from Delhi Daredevils.

Rajasthan ended their innings with 192 on the board. Maharoof finished with 3 for 34 in his 4 overs.

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Delhi started with their star openers Sehwag and Gambhir. The start was not as good as Delhi would have expected. Sehwag was caught by Kohli off Watson for 3. Gambhir followed him soon in the last ball of the 4th over leaving Delhi struggle at 23 for 2.

Dhawan and Tiwari were not able to withstand the pressure and the huge run chase. They fell for 5 and duck respectively. Dilshan scored 33 and provided some resistence. Karthik, who scored 50 and took Delhi to semi-finals added 10 this time.

All batsman except Gambhir, Dilshan and Kathik, got out for single digit score and that did not do any good for Delhi.

They were bowled out for 87 in 16.1 overs and denied themselves a chance to enter finals.

SR Watson was declared man of the match for his 52 and 3 wickets.

Match 57 - Semi Final 1
Venue: Mumbai
Date: May 31, 2008
Teams: Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils
Captains: Shane Warne and Virendra Sehwag
Toss: Delhi Daredevils and decided to field
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 105 runs
Man of the Match: SR Watson off Rajasthan Royals (Australia)
Score:

Rajasthan Royals 192 for 9 in 20 overs (GC Smith 25, SA Asnodkar 39, Sohail Tanvir 5, SR Watson 52, M Kaif 12, YK Pathan 45, RA Jadeja 7, SK Warne 0, M Rawat 2, MM Patel 0 not out, SK Trivedi 1 not out, Extras-4 (lb 1, wide 3), GD McGrath 4-0-38-0, Mohammad Asif 4-0-32-1, VY Mahesh 4-0-50-2, MH Maharoof 4-0-34-3, A Mishra 4-0-37-2) beat Delhi Daredevils 87 all out in 16.1 overs (G Gambhir 11, V Sehwag 3, S Dhawan 5, MK Tiwary 0, TM Dilshan 33, KD Karthik 10, MF Maharoof 6, A Mishra 2, VY Mahesh 3, Mohammad Asif 3, GD McGrath 4 not out, Extras-7 (lb 3, wide 4), Sohail Tanvir 2-0-16-0, SR Watson 3-0-10-3, MM Patel 4-0-17-3, SK Trivedi 3-0-20-1, SK Warne 4-0-21-2, RA Jadeja 0.1-0-0-0, Yuvaraj Singh 1-0-20-0)

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The second semi final is between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings in the same ground.

Semi Finals Matches!

The first of the semi final match will be held on May 30 and the second semi final on May 31.

1st Semi Final: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils at Mumbai
2nd Semi Final: Kings XI Punjab v. Chennai Super Kings

Match 56: Marsh's Century Helps Kings XI Beat Rajasthan Royals!

Marsh scored the 6th century of the IPL tournament this year. This is first century in the T20. He reached his 50 in 27 balls and touched the 3 figures in 58 balls. He hit 11 fours and 7 sixes in his 115.

Warne and Smith did not play in this match and Watson lead the team. The bowling attack was not that great as Marsh scored all over the ground. The first wicket added 133 runs in 82 balls. Hopes was the first to go caught by Salunkhe off Yousuf Pathan for 51 off 35 balls with 7 fours and a six.

Yuvaraj Singh missed the half century by a run. He smashed quick fire 49 in 16 balls with 2 fours and 6 sixes.

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Though this match is not important in terms of points or securing place in the semi-finals, it is important in terms of playing the semi-finals with a positive mind set and the record of winning.

Rajasthan manged to score just 180. Yousuf Pathan provided good entertainment in the end stage with his 39 off 15 balls with 3 fours 3 sixes. Patel, who opened the innings with Kaif scored 51 off 39 balls with 10 fours.

Match 56
Venue: Mohali
Date: May 28, 2008
Teams: Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals
Captains: Yuvaraj Singh and SR Watson
Toss: Rajasthan Royals and decided to field
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 41 runs
Man of the Match: SE Marsh off Kings XI Punjab (Australia)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Rajasthan Royals-0
Score:

Kings XI Punjab 221 for 3 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 115, JR Hopes 51, Yuvaraj Singh 49, L Pomersbach 1 not out, Extras-5 (lb 1, wide 3, nb 1), MM Patel 4-0-37-0, SR Watson 4-0-40-1, Pankaj Singh 3-0-48-2, D Salunkhe 3-0-23-0, SK Trivedi 4-0-48-0, YK Pathan 2-0-24-1) beat Rajasthan Royals 180 for 7 in 20 overs (M Kaif 1, NK Patel 57, Younis Khan 3, SR Watson 22, YK Pathan 39, Kamran Akmal 24, M Rawat 23 not out, D Salunkhe 6, Pankaj Singh 1 not out, Extras-4 (lb 3, wide 1), IK Pathan 4-0-10-1, S Sreesanth 3-0-44-1, JR Hopes 3-0-29-2, RR Powar 1-0-7-0, VRV Singh 4-0-32-0, PP Chawla 4-0-35-3, Yuvaraj Singh 1-0-20-0)

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Match 52: Ganguly Steers Last Over Victory for Kolkata!

From nowhere, skipper of Kolkata Knight Riders Sourav Ganguly, the prince of Kolkata and also fondly called as "DADA" pulled the game in favor of his team. With 71 runs required of last 5 overs and with 5 wickets in hand, Kolkata lost Akash Chopra in the 3rd ball. But, Umar Gul, the new batsman in the crease initiated the attack with two continous sixes of the 5th and 6th ball.

Last 4 overs required 57. Ganguly opened up in this over by Chawla. He hit him for a six in the first ball over long on. The second ball was a four to square leg. The third ball was another six over mid wicket. Ganguly fires! Brings the crowd alive!

39 required off 18 balls. Sreesanth bowled the first three balls sensibly giving away just two singles. Umar Gul too the chance and hit him for a four to mid wicket. The slower ball was picked well by Umar and sent for six and hte last ball was a leg bye to fine leg. Poor bowling.

23 required of 12 balls. Umar Gul got out in the 3rd ball caught at long off by Powar off VRV Singh. Ganguly hit a four of the next ball.

Last over, 15 required, 3 wickets in hand. Pathan bowling to Ganguly. Six off the first ball! WoW! What a shot! Six over deep square leg. The next ball was a full toss at waist level, but not called a no-ball. It went to mid wicket for two runs.

7 required of 4 balls. Ganguly gives room and the ball pitched outside off was lofted over bowlers head for a six! That was a super shot and turned the match in favor of Kolkata!

1 required of 3 balls. Next ball was easily pushed to cover and an easy single taken and victory to Kolkata. Sharukh Khan should be a happy man with his team winning again!

Umar Gul declared man of the match for taking 4 wickets and scoring 24 off 11 balls with 1 four and 3 sixes and giving a chacne to KKR.

Though this win is not going to change anything in the semi-final chances for both the teams, it is very important in terms of boosting the morale for the players. Kings XI already qualified for semi-finals and Kolkata is not part of it.

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Earlier, Marsh scored 40 off 31 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. Sangakkara top scored with 63 off 45 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Yuvaraj Singh once again failed with his bat scoring just 27 off 18 balls with 3 fours and a six.

Umar Gul picked 4 wickets giving just 23 runs in his 4 overs.



Match 52
Venue: Kolkata
Date: May 25, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Sourav Ganguly and Yuvaraj Singh
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to bat
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 3 wickets with 2 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Umar Gul off Kolkata Knight Riders (Pakistan)
Points: Kolkata Knight Riders-2; Kings XI Punjab-0
Score:

Kings XI Punjab 174 for 6 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 40, JR Hopes 13, KC Sangakkara 64, Yuvraj Singh 27, DPMD Jayawardene 11 not out, IK Pathan 7, PP Chawla 0, TM Srivastava 1 not out, Extras-11 (lb 1, wide 10), Umar Gul 4-0-23-4, I Sharma 4-0-49-0, BAW Mendis 4-0-24-1, AB Dinda 2-0-18-0, DJ Hussey 4-0-36-0, LR Shukla 2-0-23-0) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 175 for 7 in 19.4 overs (SC Ganguly 86 not out, Salman Butt 24, DB Das 0, DJ Hussey 12, LR Shukla 5, WP Saha 13, A Chopra 2, Umar Gul 24, I Sharma 0 not out, Extras-9 (lb 5, wide 4), IK Pathan 3.4-0-36-0, S Sreesanth 4-0-33-2, RR Powar 2-0-14-0, VRV Singh 4-0-28-2, PP Chawla 4-0-36-2, JR Hopes 2-0-23-1)

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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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Do or Die for Kolkata and Delhi!

In the crucial encounter today, to stay in the competition, Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders take on each other. Delhi has the advantage of playing at home ground. In the preivous encounter played, Kolkata playing in their home ground, won by 23 runs. Shoaib Akhtar took 4 wickets in his IPL debut match.

Kolkata made 133 and Delhi were bundled out for 110 in 17.5 overs.

If Kolkaka wins against Delhi and also against Kings XI on May 25, they will end with 7 wins and 14 ponits.

Kolkata winning against Delhi means, they lose one game and Delhi win their last match against Mumbai, they will also end with 7 wins and 14 ponits.

With Mumbai losing to Delhi and winning one of their match against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on 26th or Bangalore Royal Challengers on 28th in Bangalore would take them to 7 wins with 14 points. It is very unlikely that Mumbai win only one of their 3 and assuming that they win 2, they go to Semi Finals along with Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab.

The only team to be fighting for this fourth spot will be Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, and Kolkata Knight Riders.

In case if Kolkata loses to Delhi, they will be out of IPL, even if they win against Kings XI. In this scenario, they will end with 6 wins and 12 points, but other teams already have more than 6 wins.

In that case, the final spot wold be fought between Delhi and Chennai.

Will have more information after the match between Delhi and Kolkata!

As of now, Rajasthan Royals lead and coached by Shane Warne has qualified for semi finals. The remaining teams are still to be identified. It is a sport, cricket, anything can happen!

It is also confirmed that both Bangalore Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers are out of competition for semi-final birth!

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Match 45: Kings XI Wins the Last Ball Thriller by 1 Run!

In another crucial match, Mumbai Indians lost the chance of registering their 7th consecutive win! They have opened up the chance for Kolkata and Delhi for the semi-final spot.

Requiring 19 of the last over with 3 wickets in hand. VRV Singh had the ball; Chitnis hit a six over third man of the waist high no ball. 12 off 6 balls;

The next ball was scooped over extra cover of a full toss where Srivatsava did not judge it right and it went for a four. 8 off 5 balls;

Chitnis is gone in the next ball; trying for the 2nd run after hitting the ball to cover, Srivatsava did the right job throwing hit to the keeper's end; 7 off 4 balls

A bye of the 2nd ball to reduce the target to 6 off 3 balls; still 2 wickets in hand;

Fernando plays the ball to deep cover and tried for the 3rd run, but found short of his crease. 4 runs of 2 balls; 1 wicket in hand

VRV Singh's unnecessary throw gives one extra run; last ball 2 runs; last wicket

Good fielding at mid-off by Yuvaraj Singh and coming to the stumps and knocking down all the three stumps to run out Yeligati. The drive was mistimed and went straight to mid-off and he was not running as fast as he wished. Kings XI win by 1 run.

The 19th over added just 4 runs to the total, which created lot of pressure in the last over.



Earlier in the innings, Tendulkar found his form with his wonderful 65 off 46 balls with 12 fours. He reached his 50 in 38 balls with 10 fours. When Uthappa called for a single and later sent Tendulkar, it was too late and Pathan sent a direct hit to send the master batsman. That was the turning point of the match!

Jayasuria got out early on 20, with a four and 2 sixes. He is leading the number of sixes by any batsman in IPL.

Smith and Nayar scored 20 and 27 respectivly. Mumbai team saw 5 run outs in their innings. The running between the wickets and judgment should definitely improve.

Sreesanth, though picked Jayasuriya intelligently through a slower leg spin, he was hammered for a four and 2 sixes in the 5th over, which created the momentum for Mumbai. In the last over of the power play bowled by VRV Singh, Tendulkar took his turn and smashed 3 fours. VRV Singh was not bowling well, though he was picked to bowl the last over and he gave victory to Kings XI. He went for 12 in his first over and then 9 runs in his second, 19 in the third. He was hit for 2 consecutive sixes by Nayar and then four of the last ball by Tendulkar.

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Earlier, put into bat, Kings XI Punjab posted 189 in the board. Marsh scored a brilling 81. His excellenr form continues. Though Hopes was out in the first over itself, Marsh and Pomersbach steadied the innings with a 133-run partnership in 86 balls for the 2nd wicket. Marsh crossed his 50 in 35 balls with 6 fours and a six and Pomersbach did his 50 in 48 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes.

The 100 run partnership came in 70 balls between the two. The last four overs added 50 runs to the total of Kings XI. Though Yuvaraj and Jayawardane got out during these overs, Irfan Pathan and Pomersbach hammered the bowlers for fours and sixes.

The last over bowled by Nehra turned the game and boosted the confidence of Kings XI. He started with a wide costing 2 runs and then 2 singles followed by a four, six and four in the last ball.

One mistake that could have been prevented by Tendulkar was the bowling option of the last over. He chose Nehra instead of Pollock. Pollock is more experienced than Nehra and he bowled well in the last match and also in the current match in his first 3 overs giving away just 14 and taking a wicket.

Sreesanth was given the purple cap for leading the wickets tally. Marsh was awarded man of the match for his wonderful batting skills and giving a fighting total on the board.

During the presentation party, Yuvaraj hit at the Mumbai crowd. His words showed that he was not a happy man inspite of the victory. Of course, victory along cannot give happiness, it is about how you celebrate it! He said, "I want to tell the crowd that the crowd support was too one sided towards Mumbai. Let me remind them that some of the Punjab players also play for India."

Match 45
Venue: Mumbai
Date: May 21, 2008
Teams: Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvaraj Singh
Toss: Mumbai Indians and decided to field
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 1 run
Man of the Match: SE Marsh off Kings XI Punjab (Australia)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Mumbai Indians-0
Score:

Kings XI Punjab 189 for 4 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 81, JR Hopes 0, LA Pomersbach 79 not out, Yuvraj Singh 7, DPMD Jayawardene 1, IK Pathan 9 not out, Extras-12 (lb 3, wide 9), SM Pollock 3-0-14-1, A Nehra 3-0-34-0, VS Yeligati 4-0-43-0, SD Chitnis 4-0-40-2, CRD Fernando 4-0-36-1, DR Smith 2-0-19-0) beat Mumbai Indians 189 all out in 20 overs (ST Jayasuriya 20, SR Tendulkar 65, DR Smith 20, AM Nayar 27, RV Uthappa 9, SM Pollock 0, P Shah 5, SD Chitnis 15, CRD Fernando 2 not out, A Nehra 0, VS Yeligati 2, Extras-23 (b 1, lb 12, wide 9, nb 1), S Sreesanth 4-0-35-2, IK Pathan 4-0-37-0, VRV Singh 4-0-56-0, PP Chawla 4-0-22-1, JR Hopes 2-0-13-0, Yuvaraj Singh 2-0-12-2)

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Match 40: Kings XI Wins the Rain Halted Thriller!

Kings XI won their battle against Delhi Daredevils and almost booked their spot for the semi finals. In the rain curtailed match, the Duckworth-Lewis system favored the visiting team in the end.

Delhi Daredevils were 94 for 1 in 8.1 overs when rain stopped play with Sehgwa on 47 and Dhawan on 1. When the match resumed, the overs were reduced to 11 per side. Delhi ended their innings at 118 for 4. Sehwag scored a quick fire 50 of 23 balls with 2 fours and 5 sixes.

Earlier, Gambhir, played his part by hammering all over the ground. He scored 40 off 28 balls before being bowled by Romesh Pawar.

For Kings XI, as per the Duckworth-Lewis calculations, the target was revised to 123 in 11 overs. Hopes' last over reduced the chasing target as he picked two crucial wickets and gave away just 3 runs.

Chasing 123, the first over by McGrath had only 3 runs in the board. Marsh was brilliantly at cover. Shoaib Malik and Dhawan went for the catch and finally without colliding each other Dhawan took a good catch. Dangerous batsman gone!

Yuvaraj Singh promoted himself for number 3. The powerplay has been redued to 3 overs he planned to use it for himself. He hit a four to fine leg and a six over backward point. Momentum given by the skipper!

109 required off 54 balls.

McGrath finally got his piece in the IPL. He went for 15 runs with two huge sixes--one over long off and the other one over square leg. McGrath got Yuvaraj Singh brilliantly caught by Maharoof in the boundary. He mistimed the short ball and hit it over long on where Maharoof took a good catch. Yuvaraj scored 23 off 8 balls with 1 four and 3 sixes.

Hopes got out in the next over, trying to hit a six was caught at long on by Shoaib Malik off Mishra.

At the end of four overs, Kings XI were 34 for 3 with 90 more to get in 7 overs.

With wickets falling and having curtailed the run rate, and it was raining, Sehwag wanted to finish the 5 overs so that the result can be brought in to the game.

He bowled the 5th over, which turned very costly for Delhi.

Jayawardane sterred the first ball to third man boundary; The second ball was a wide; rebowled second ball was a reverse sweep to third man boundary; third ball was a boundary to fine leg, it was swept well; fourth ball was a single; fifth ball was a huge six over deep midwicket by Pomersbach; last ball was two runs. This over added 22 runs and gave the second momentum to Kings XI.

End of 5 overs, Kings XI were 56 for 3 with 68 off 6 overs. At this stage, if the match was stopped due to rain, it would have been a tie as Kings XI were supposed to be at 57 for a win.

The sixth over by Mishra added 17 to the total including two sixes--one by Jayawardane over mid wicket and the other by Pomersbach again over mid wicket.

51 required off 5 overs; Maharoof's over added 12 to the total including a six by Pomersbach over square leg. It has started raining.

39 required of 24 balls; Kings XI has a chance here to win;

Bhatia bowled the 8th over giving just 3 runs in the first 5 balls. It was raining heavily now. If the match is stopped, the scores are equal. But the match is going on; Jayawardane hit a six of the last ball of the 8th over to take the score to 94, 6 runs beyond Delhi's score.

Umpires discuss and ask the players to leave; the batsmen left the ground; Delhi team couldn't believe, still in the ground expecting the umpires to call the batsmen; the groundsmen did not bring the covers despite umpires call to do so; Yuvaraj Singh comes to the centre asking the groundsmen to put the covers in the pitch.

Finally, Kings XI Punjab win by 6 runs--strange that a team batting second wins by runs.

Man of the Match List

Points Table

Score Table

Match 40
Venue: Delhi
Date: May 17, 2008
Teams: Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Virendra Segwag and Yuvaraj Singh
Toss: Delhi Daredevils and decided to bat
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 6 runs (D/L Method) (with 7 wickets in hand)
Man of the Match: DPMD Jayawardane off Kings XI Punjab (Sri Lanka)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Delhi Daredevils-0
Score:

Delhi Daredevils 118 for 4 in 11 overs (G Gambhir 40, V Sehwag 51 not out, S Dhawan 8, TM Dilshan 8, MF Maharoof 0, Shoaib Malik 1 not out, Extras-10 (lb 2, wide 7, nb 1), S Sreesanth 3-0-33-0, IK Pathan 2-0-13-0, VRV Singh 2-0-33-0, RR Powar 2-0-22-2, PP Chawla 1-0-13-0, JR Hopes 1-0-2-2) lost to Kings XI Punjab (revised target as per D/L Method-123 in 11 overs; when rain stopped play in the 8th over last ball, they should have been in 89 with the loss of 3 wickets) 94 for 3 in 8 overs (SE Marsh 2, JR Hopes 4, Yuvraj Singh 23, DPMD Jayawardene 36 not out, LA Pomersbach 25 not out, Extras-4 (lb 2, wide 2), GD McGrath 2-0-18-1, P Sangwan 1-0-12-1, A Mishra 2-0-21-1, V Segwag 1-0-22-0, MF Maharoof 1-0-11-0, R Bhatia 1-0-8-0)

IPL Scores - Details!

Scroll Down to See the Score Table!!!

Man of the Match List

Points Table

Semi-Finals Score:

Read: Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils

Read: Semi Final 2: Chennai Super Kings v. Kings XI Punjab

Read as follows:
M #: Match Number
T 1: Team 2
Wkts: Wickets
T 2: Team 2

M #	T 1	Score	Wkts	Overs	T 2	Score	Wkts	Overs	Venue
1	KKR	222	3	20	BRC	82	10	15.1	Bangalore
2	CSK	240	5	20	KXI	207	4	20	Mohali
3	RR	129	8	20	DD	132	1	15.1	Delhi
4	DC	110	10	18.4	KKR	112	5	19	Kolkata
5	MI	165	6	20	BRC	166	5	19.4	Mumbai
6	KXI	166	8	20	RR	168	4	18.1	Jaipur
7	DC	142	8	20	DD	143	1	13	Hyderabad
8	CSK	208	5	20	MI	202	7	20	Chennai
9	DC	214	5	20	RR	217	7	19.5	Hyderabad
10	KXI	182	10	20	MI	116	9	20	Mohali
11	KKR	147	9	20	CSK	152	1	17	Chennai
12	BRC	135	8	20	RR	138	3	17.1	Bangalore
13	DD	158	8	20	KXI	162	6	19.3	Mohali
14	MI	154	7	20	DC	155	0	12	Mumbai
15	CSK	178	5	20	BRC	165	10	19.4	Bangalore
16	KKR	137	8	20	MI	138	3	18.4	Kolkata
17	DD	191	5	20	BRC	181	5	20	Delhi
18	RR	196	7	20	KKR	151	10	19.1	Jaipur
19	DC	164	8	20	KXI	167	3	18.5	Hyderabad
20	CSK	169	6	20	DD	172	2	19	Chennai
21	BRC	156	8	20	DC	153	6	20	Bangalore
22	KXI	178	6	20	KKR	169	6	20	Mohali
23	MI	162	8	20	DD	133	10	18.5	Mumbai
24	CSK	109	10	19	RR	110	2	14.2	Jaipur
25	BRC	126	10	19.2	KXI	127	4	18.2	Bangalore
26	CSK	144	7	20	DC	148	3	18	Chennai
27	RR	103	10	16.2	MI	104	3	15.1	Mumbai
28	DD	187	5	20	CSK	188	6	20	Delhi
29	KKR	129	7	16	BRC	124	4	16	Kolkata
30	DC	140	8	20	RR	141	2	16	Jaipur
31	CSK	181	4	20	KXI	163	9	20	Chennai
32	KKR	204	4	20	DC	181	7	20	Hyderabad
33	DD	156	7	20	RR	159	7	19.1	Jaipur
34	BRC	143	8	20	KXI	144	1	15.4	Mohali
35	KKR	133	6	20	DD	110	10	17.5	Kolkata
36	CSK	156	6	20	MI	158	1	13.5	Mumbai
37	DD	194	4	20	DC	182	9	20	Delhi
38	KKR	67	10	15.2	MI	68	2	5.3	Mumbai
39	RR	197	1	20	BRC	132	9	20	Jaipur
40	DD	118	4	11	KXI	94	3	8	Delhi
41	KKR	149	5	20	CSK	55	0	8	Kolkata
42	MI	178	7	20	DC	153	7	20	Hyderabad
43	BRC	154	7	20	DD	158	5	18.2	Bangalore
44	KKR	147	8	20	RR	150	4	16.3	Kolkata
45	KXI	189	4	20	MI	188	10	20	Mumbai
46	BRC	126	8	20	CSK	112	8	20	Chennai
47	DD	-	-	-	KKR	-	-	-	Delhi
48	DC	175	4	20	KXI	178	4	19.3	Mohali
49	CSK	211	6	20	CSK	201	7	20	Chennai
50	MI	176	8	20	DD	179	5	19.5	Delhi
51	DC	165	10	20	BRC	171	5	19	Hyderabad
52	KXI	174	6	20	KKR	175	7	19.4	Kolkata
53	MI	145	7	20	RR	146	5	20	Jaipur
54	DC	147	8	20	CSK	148	3	19.2	Hyderabad
55	BRC	122	9	18	MI	126	1	16	Bangalore
56	KXI	221	3	20	RR	180	7	20	Mohali
57	RR	192	9	20	DD	87	10	16.1	Mumbai
58	KXI	112	8	20	CSK	116	1	14.5	Mumbai

Read: Man of the Match List

Read: Points Table

Semi-Final Scores:

Read: Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils

Read: Semi Final 2: Chennai Super Kings v. Kings XI Punjab

Hat-Tricks in IPL!

IPL has seen few hundres by prominent cricketers, quick fifties, good bowling performance by Sohail Tanvir. But, hat-trick, which involves taking 3 wickets in 3 continuous balls did not happy until the 30 matches.

The 31st match of the IPL saw the hat-trick for the first time. Lkshmipathi Balaji off Chennai Super Kings created the record against Kings XI Punjab in Chennai, his home ground.

The 37th match of the IPL saw another hat-trick. Amit Mishra off Delhi Daredevils created the record against Deccan Chargers in Delhi. He bowled the last over when Deccan Chargers needed 15 runs with 4 wickets in hand. He picked 3 wickets in the first three balls and restricted Deccan by giving only 2 runs in that over.


Balaji's hat-trick against Kings XI


Mishra's hat-trick against Deccan Chargers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Balaji gets Hat-trick!

Lakshmi Pathy Balaji, took a hat-trick in the match against Kings XI Punjab played in Chenni on May 10, 2008.

Playing his 2nd match in the IPL after a gap of more than 2 years, he bowled well in the first match against Delhi Daredevils.

His second match against Kings XI Punjab should be a memorable one for him. He thanked all those who supported him during the stressful injury period.

The History of Hat-Trick:

Last over, 27 required. Balaji to Pathan, Six off a full toss.

21 from 5 balls: Two runs were scored

19 from 4 balls: Pathan was caught by Raina at deep square leg. Pathan did not time it well during his pull and it landed in Raina's hand.

19 from 3 balls: The batsman crossed and Chawla hit the ful toss to long off and Kapugedera takes an easy catch. Two wickets in two balls.

19 from 2 balls: He was on-a-hat-trick. VRV Singh was facing. The ball was pitched short out side the off stump, and he tried to slog it, but it took the outside egde and went just few steps back of Dhoni, who took an easy catch. THAT WAS A HAT-TRICK!! FIRST IN IPL! The last ball was missed by the batsman and it went to keeper.

He picked 5 wickets in the match giving away just 24 runs in his quota of 4 overs. What a match for him? He was given the man of the match award! Who else can get it???

Click here to read match history of Chennai Super Kings v. Kings XI Punjab!

Match 31: Chennai beat Kings XI again! Balaji Takes Hat-trick!

Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI again, but in Chennai this time, the home ground.

Put into bat, Chennai didn't start their innings well. They lost Vidyut in the first over, caught at slip off Sreesanth.

Fleming got out in the 3rd over, a straight forward catch to covers off Sreesanth again. That was a good powerful shot, but it went straight to Goel. He was out for 1 and Chennai struggling at 20 for 2 in the 3rd over.

Badrinath was promoted in the batting order to play at number 4. He hit two fours off Sreesanth's 3rd over that gave the momentum to Chennai.

The next over by VRV Singh costed 15 runs for Kings XI. Badrinath hit a four and a six off free hit.


Chawla was brought to give a break through and he did it. But, before that, Raina hit him for tw continous fours and got the required runs. He was caught by Marsh when he tried a huge slog over mid wicket, but it took the edge and went high in the air towards point. End of 7 overs, Chennai were 64 for 3. The run rate was over 9 and it was good for Chennai.

Despite losing wickets, Chennai played positively going against the bowlers and maintained the run rate.

The 9th over bowled by Chawla opened up Dhoni's shoulders. He hit for a huge six over wide long-on.

End of 10 overs, Chennai were 85 for 3 with Badrinath on 28 and Dhoni on 12.

Dhoni hit two huge continous sixes of Chawla and the 11th over added 15 to the total. On the other hand, Badrinath hit two sixes of Pathan in the 13th over and he added 15 to the total in that over.

Badrinath reached his 50 off 37 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes. Should be a huge morale booster for the local boy.

He started hammering the ball. He hit two fours in the 15th over last two balls of VRV Sing. The last 5 overs added 59 to the total.

Sreesanth and Hopes bowled the 16th and 17th over respectively with a good line and gave away just 5 runs each.

That added pressure to the Chennai team and they lost Badrinath in the 3rd ball of the 18th over. He was caught at covers by Yuvaraj off VRV Singh. He scored 64 off 47 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. The 18th over also added 5 runs to the total. The last 3 overs added 15 runs over all.

What once thought to be a score of more than 190, turned differently. But, Dhoni played the skipper's innings by sending a six and a four and couple of twos to add 17 to the total. With last 6 balls in hand, Chennai were 176 for 4.

Dhoni crossed his 50 with a huge six in the 19th over and he did that in 37 balls with 3 sixes.

Last over was bowled very well by Pathan and he gave away just 5 runs to finish the Chennai innings at 181.

Sreesanth picked 2 wickets in his 4 overs giving away 29 runs.

Chasing 182, the danger batsman Marsh was hammering as usual at one end, but Kings XI started losing wickets regularly.

Hopes and Marsh opened the innings. Hopes hit a six and a four in the first over by Gony. But he got out in the last ball of the 2nd over, caught by Dhoni. The ball pitched outside the leg and he played the glance towards fine leg. But Dhoni moved quickly towards his left and held it easily.

End of over 4, Kings XI were 29 for 1. Gny struck again in the 5th over by sending Goel caught by Morkel at third man for 1.

Marsh and Sarwan played taking 1s and 2s but the 8th over turned huge for Kings XI. Marsh hit two sixes off Amarnath and that over added 15 to the total.

Muralitharan was brought into the attack. Though he started with a wide down the leg side, he just gave 8 runs in that over to have Kings XI struggle at 76 for 2 in 10 overs.

Balaji bowled the 11th over and conceeded 11 runs including a six by Marsh. Muralitharan's next over also had a six by Marsh.

The equation now is 87 runs required off 48 balls with 8 wickets in hand.

Balaji's over had two wickets for Chennai. He bowled Sarwan when he tried to come down the track and pull him. He scored 20 off 22 balls. In the 5th ball, the dangerous batsman Marsh was caught by Amarnath at deep square leg. He scored 58 off 38 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes.

Yuvaraj Singh did not stay long in the crease. He got out in the first ball of the 14th over caught by Fleming at point off Amarnath for 2.

Pathan, thought hit 2 fours in the last two balls, that was not enough as the equation changed to 75 from 36 balls.

Jayawardane hit a six off Muralitharan, but got out in the same over caught at short third man.

Balaji bowled a good 16th over in which he gave just 4 runs.

Gony was brought back and that over had two sixes--one by Pathan and the other one by Chawla. The last ball was a four by Chawla. 36 from 12 balls.

Morkel bowled the 19th over and he was hit for a six off the first ball by Pathan. He never gives up. But only 3 runs were scored in the remaining 5 balls as Morkel bowled them very well.

Last over, 27 required. Balaji to Pathan, Six off a full toss. 21 from 5 balls. Two runs were scored and in the next ball, Pathan was caught by Raina at deep square leg. Pathan did not time it well during his pull and it landed in Raina's hand.

The batsman crossed and Chawla hit the ful toss to long off and Kapugedera takes an easy catch. Two wickets in two balls.

He was on-a-hat-trick. VRV Singh was facing. The ball was pitched short out side the off stump, and he tried to slog it, but it took the outside egde and went just few steps back of Dhoni, who took an easy catch. THAT WAS A HAT-TRICK!! FIRST IN IPL! The last ball was missed by the batsman and it went to keeper.

Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab one more time!

For taking 5 wickets including a hat-trick in his 4 overs giving just 24 runs, L Balaji was rightly chosen for the man of the match award.

Match 31
Venue: Chennai
Date: May 10, 2008
Teams: Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvaraj Singh
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to field
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 18 runs
Man of the Match: L Balaji off Chennai Super Kings (India)
Points: Chennai Super Kings-2; Kings XI Punjab-0
Score:
Chennai Super Kings 181 for 4 in 20 overs (S Vidyut 8, SP Fleming 1, SK Raina 26, S Badrinath 64, MS Dhoni 60 not out, J A Mokel 7 not out, Extras-15 (lb 4, wide 10, nb 1), S Sreesanth 4-0-29-2, IK Pathan 3-0-33-0, VRV Singh 4-0-35-1, PP Chawla 3-0-36-1, JR Hopes 4-0-36-0, Yuvaraj Singh 1-0-8-0) beat Kings XI Punjab 163 for 9 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 58, JR Hopes 14, K Goel 1, RR Sarwan 20, Yuvraj Singh 2, DPMD Jayawardene 8, IK Pathan 40, PP Chawla 17, S Sreesanth 0 not out, VRV Singh 0, U Kaul 0 not out, Extras-3 (lb 1, wide 2), M Gony 4-0-38-1, JA Morkel 4-0-25-1, P Amarnath 3-0-35-1, CK Kapugedera 1-0-8-0, M Muralitharan 4-0-32-1, L Balaji 4-0-24-5 including a hat-trick)

Kings XI Punjab Leads the Table!

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

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

The other teams are:

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

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

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

Bangalore Royal Challengers with 4 points in the last place

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Man of the Match List

Score Table

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

19 runs required of last 6 balls.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Controversies in IPL - Harbhajan Slapping Sreesanth

So far, IPL is going smooth and the success it has achieved is enormous. The popularity is so huge that almost for all the matches, you could see good crowd. There were couple of controversies as in any other game and event that happens.

First Issue: Harbhajan v. Sreesnanth

Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth after Mumbai Indians lost four in a row. It was said that "Sreesanth called Harbhajan a Jinx--an unlucky person" It was also rumoured that Harbhajan had warned Sreesanth the previous day. If something wrong is done by Sreesanth, he will be beaten.

After calling him Jinx, Harbhajan had slapped Sreesanth. The TV cameras captured live pictures of Sreesanth crying uncontrollably. No one new until the news flashed that he was slapped by Harbhajan.

Both of them down played the event.

They called each other as brother and denied any slapping. The Kings XI Punjab complained officially about this incident. The IPL, which follows BCCI rules asked match referee to look into the issue.

Harbhajan slapping Sreesanth was caught in one of the cameras controlled by the official broadcaster of the game. The match referee had the evidence to punish Harbhajan.

Harbhajan plead guilty during the hearing!

After the hearing and pleading guilty, Match Referee Farooq Engineer slapped a 11-match ban to Harbhajan. Sreesanth was let off with a warning.

Harbjan Banned and Fined

Match Referee said he was banned for the remaining matches and also levied a penalty of all the match fees, which meant he will be losing 3 crores.

Warne and Ganguly takes on each other, fined 10%

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)