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 47: Rain Spoils Kolkata's Mild Chance! Delhi Should Win!

The match between Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders was the first ever IPL match to be completely abandoned due to rain. The continuous rain in Delhi did not allow the groundsmen to make the play possible.

What the rain means to each team? Kolkata Knight Riders is out of IPL, though they still have one more game to go. They do not have any chance of entering the semi-final spot. As of now, they have 11 points with 5 win and even if they win their final match against Kings XI Punjba in Kolkata on May 25.

As far as Delhi Daredevils is concerned, they are with 13 points and if they win their final match against Mumbai Indians at Delhi on 24th, they will be ending their IPL league with 15 points. They will have the chance of entering if Chennai Super Kings lose both of their remaining matches.

Regardles of Delhi's win against Mumbai Indians, if Chennai wins one of their match, they will be through to Semi Finals and it will be between Delhi and Mumbai!

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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 44: Rajasthan Wins! Moves to Semi! Kolkata Virtually Out of IPL!

In the crucial encounter, Kolkata Knight Riders scored 147 after put into bat by Warne. Hafeez was out in the 2nd over trying to pull a shot ball, but did not time it well as it went to mid on for an easy catch to Asnodkar.

Ganguly and Salman aded 33 for the 2nd wicket before Salman was trapped plumb in front of the wicket for 24 off 20 balls with 5 fours.

Ganguly playing slowly to ensure that he stays in the crease till the end. He hit a six of Warne in the 11th over, his first six and also for Kolkata in this match.

Hussey did not prove one more time as a dangerous batsman. He was bowled by Pathan for 11. At the end of 12 overs, Kolkata were 72 for 3, scoring at 6 runs per over.

Das hit a straight six of Warne, who was really surprised. Another six was scored by Das off Pathan. Ganguly finally got out in the 15th over bowled by Trivedi. He scooped the ball to long on for a simple catch to Kaif. He was out for 32 off 34 balls with 2 fours and a six. Shukla ended the over with a six over fine leg boundary. End of 15 overs, Kolkata were 102 for 4.

The last 5 overs added 45 runs to the total losing 4 more wickets. The last two overs added 24 to the total and that gave some hope to Ganguly's men. Sohail Tanvir picked 3 wickets for 26 runs of his 4 overs. Munaf Patel bowled a wickets main in his 2nd over to finish with 4-1-22-2.

But, it proved otherwise inspite of losing 4 wickets for 69. Ganguly's men couldn't capitalize that. they had good chance after dismissing Watson, the inform batsman.

The dangerous batsman Asnodkar was caught behind off Ishanth Sharm in the 2nd over last ball. The fifth over bowled by Agarkar was costlies in the first 5 overs. He was hammered for a four by Smith and then a four and six by Sohail Tanvir, who was promoted in the batting order.

End of 5 overs, Rajasthan were 42 for 1. The second wicket was that of Sohail Tanvir. He was caught by Salmat Butt, another Pakistan mate at mid off. The bowler was Pakistani too, Umar Gul.

In the same over, Smith tried to pull the ball pitched outside leg stump, but it touched the glove on the way and Saha took a brilliant one handed diving catch. Two wickets in an over, brought Kolkata back in the game.

The next two overs were bowled well to give just 8 runs. End of 8 overs, Rajasthan were 50 for 3, requiring 98 from 12 overs. Agarkar was hit for a six over square leg by Watson and then for a four in the last ball.

Ganguly provided the break through by bowling Watson for 19 off 15 balls. End of 10 overs, Rajasthan were 69 for 4. The last 10 overs required 79 runs with 6 wickets in hand. All Ganguly needed was just another 1 or 2 wickets in the next two overs, but it didn't happen.

I believe Ganguly missed the services of Shoaib Akhtar today. Though he said Umar bowled well, he really did not. His second wicket of Smith was a pure luck as most of the times, Smith would have put that away to either a four or six.

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Pathan and Kaif played well not losing their wickets for the next few overs. Pathan hit two fours off Umar Gul in the 11th over.

Ganguly's over turned the table. He was hit for a four over long off, a six over long on and then a six over square leg. That over added 17 to the total and brought the required run rate.

The 15th over added 15 to the total with 3 continuous fours by Kaif off Dinda. 20 runs required in 30 balls. Pathan missed a chance to beat his own record of fastest 50. His previous record was in 22 balls and in today's match, including two fours and a six in the 17th over bowled by Umar Gul, he finished with 48 off 15 balls. The winning shot over mid wicket boundary was a good six, but it didn't take him to 50.

Kaif was not out on 34 off 31 balls with 4 fours.

With Kolkata losing this crucial match, they are virutally out of the IPL. With two more matches to go, they have to win both the games and try their luck to see if other teams lose their games. They have to play against Delhi Daredevils in Delhi on May 22 and then against Kings XI Punjab on May 25 at Kolkata.

Rajasthan Royals secured their place for the Semi Finals with 9 wins out of their 11 matches.

Match 44
Venue: Kolkata
Date: May 20, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals
Captains: Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne
Toss: Rajasthan Royals and decided to field
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 6 wickets with 21 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Yousuf Pathan off Rajasthan Royals (India)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Kolkata Knight Riders-0
Score:

Kolkata Knight Riders 147 for 8 in 20 overs (Salman Butt 24, Mohammad Hafeez 4, SC Ganguly 32, DJ Hussey 11, DB Das 31, LR Shukla 15, WP Saha 11 not out, AB Agarkar 5, Umar Gul 7, I Sharma 2 not out, Extras-5 (lb 2, wide 3), Sohail Tanvir 4-0-26-3, MM Patel 4-1-22-2, SR Watson 4-0-36-0, SK Trivedi 3-0-26-1, SK Warne 3-0-21-0, YK Pathan 2-0-14-1) lost to Rajasthan Royals 150 for 4 in 16.3 overs (GC Smith 24, SA Asnodkar 5, Sohail Tanvir 13, M Kaif 34 not out, SR Watson 19, YK Pathan 48 not out, Extras-7 (lb 4, wide 3), AB Dinda 4-0-32-0, I Sharma 3-0-23-1, AB Agarkar 3-0-30-0, Umar Gul 3.3-1-30-2, SC Ganguly 2-0-24-1, LR Shukla 1-0-7-0)

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Match 41: Chennai Wins by D/L, Rain Stops Play! Bad Luck for Kolkata!

Two days in a row, Duckworth-Lewis helped the chasing team to win by a narrow margin. In yesterday's match, Kings XI Punjab won by 6 runs.

Kings XI Wins Rain Halted Match!

In the match played between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, the severe storm halted the match for few minutes and then rain followed.

The papers started flying, the covers were flying too. Such severe was the wind storm.

Chasing 150 in 20 overs, Chennai did not lose wickets in the first 8 overs and that helped them to gain the winning points. The catch of Parthiv Patel was dropped at long leg by Dinda. It was short ball and he pulled and went straight to Dinda, who dropped the sitter. It was the 4th ball of the 8th over.

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Next ball was a boundary by Fleming, the ball pitched on the leg stump and he just flicks it. No run in the last ball.

Play was stopped after that and sure that Ganguly would not have expected it! Either the catch should have been taken or the boundary in the fifth ball should have been stopped. One of these two would have turned the match in favor of Kolkata.

At the end of the 8th over, Chennai should be at 53 for no loss, but they were 55 for no loss, thus winning by 2 runs.

Both Fleming and Patel playing sensibly. They negogiated Shoaib Akhtar and Ishanth Sharma very well. Not losing the wickets helped them to clinch the match.

The first over by Shoaib added 5 to the total, but Patel hit a good cover drive to score the first boundary. Later, in the same over, Fleming hit two continuous fours to take the score to 18 in 2 overs.

Shoaib conceeded two fours in the next over to Fleming. 4th and 5th over added just 9 runs to the total. At the end of 5 overs, Chennai were 36 for no loss.

The 6th over bowled by Agarkar added 7 runs including a boundary by Patel. The 7th over added 4 runs to take the score to 47 for no loss in 7 overs.

The 8th over bowled by Agarkar, added 7 to the total including a wide in the 2nd ball and a four of the 5th ball by Fleming. A catch was dropped on the 4th ball for Patel at fine leg by Dinda.

Earlier, winning the toss and deciding to bat first, it was another slow scoring game for Ganguly's men.

Salman Butt top scored with 73 off 54 ball with 10 fours and a six.

Hafeez was caught by Gony off Nitni for 6. Poor and irresponsible short selection for the second time by Ganguly put pressure to Kolkata. Giving himself room to slog for a six, Ganguly lost his middle stump off Nitni, giving him his second wicket. Kolkata struggling at 28 for 2 in 5 overs.

Das and Butt revived the innings by adding 86 runs for the 3rd wicket 67 balls. End of 10 overs, Kolkata were 61 for 2 with Butt on 31 and Das on 15.

Muralitharan's over proved little costly. Das and Butt hit a six each in the 12th over to take the score to 85 for 2.

Salman reached his 50 in 44 balls with 5 fours and a six.

Salmat hit 3 continuous fours of Muralitharan and provided the momentum. At the end of 16 overs, Kolkata were 114 for 2.

Dass was another hat-trick victim for Nitni. He lost his leg stump on 27 off 32 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes.

Hussey was bowled and his off stump uprooted for a duck. That was his hat-trick. End of over 17, Kolkata were 118 for 4.

Butt hit a four of the first ball of Balaji in the 18th over and got out in the next ball. He moved across and tried to scoop over fine leg, but hit fully on the boot and declared leg before.

Shukla hit a bounday over backward ponit of the last ball of the 18th over to take the score to 130 for 5.

The last two overs added 19 runs and Kolkata finished with 149 for 5.

Nitni was declared the man of the match for his wonderful spell of 4 for 21 including a hat-trick.

With this victory, Chennai registers their 7th win and stays in the top 4. Kolkata has to win their remaining to matches to keep their hopes alive.

Match 41
Venue: Kolkata
Date: May 18, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings
Captains: Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders and decided to bat
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 2 runs (D/L Method) (with 10 wickets in hand)
Man of the Match: M Ntini off Chennai Super Kings (South Africa)
Points: Chennai Super Kings-2; Kolkata Knight Riders-0
Score:

Kolkata Knight Riders 149 for 5 in 20 overs (Salman Butt 73, Mohammad Hafeez 6, SC Ganguly 2, DB Das 27, DJ Hussey 0, LR Shukla 13 Not out, WP Saha 15 not out, Extras-13(b 2, lb 7, wide 3, nb 1), M Ntini 4-0-21-4, M Gony 4-0-17-0, M Muralitharan 4-0-41-0, L Balaji 4-0-36-1, JA Morkel 4-0-25-0) lost to Chenani Super Kings (when dust storm and rain stopped play in the 8th over last ball, Chennai Super Kings should have been at 53 with the loss of no wickets) 55 for no loss in 8 overs (PA Patel 19 not out, SP Fleming 32 not out, Extras-4 (lb 1, wide 3), Shoaib Akhtar 2-0-14-0, I Sharma 2-0-16-0, AB Dinda 2-0-10-0, AB Agarkar 2-0-14-0)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hat-Tricks in IPL!

Balaji Gets Hat-Trick!

Tendulkar creates record in Catching!!

Tendulkar by taking 4 catches in the IPL match against the Kolkata Knight Riders entered the records book for having most catches in the T20 Tournament.

The first catch was in slips to dismiss Salman Butt off Pollock.

The second catch was to dismiss Saha, againt caught at slips. Bravo was the wicket taker.

Third catch was to send Agarkar back off Bravo again. He placed himself in the 2nd slip and Agarkar sterred it to third man, but Tendulkar was standing in the way to grab it easily.

The last catch was to send Shoabit Akhtar who did not read the slower ball from Raje. The ball scooped to the mid wicket where Tendulkar easily caught it.

Kolkata were dismissed for 67, the lowest total in the IPL. Mumbai Indians chased the score in 5.3 overs with 8 wickets remaining.

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Record Low Score by Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolakata Knight Riders v. Mumbai Indians

Record Low Score by Kolkata Knight Riders

The record low score was recorded by Kolkata Knight Riders against Mumbai Indians. Shaun Pollock bowled a wonderful spell of 4-0-12-3.

Shaun Pollock dismissed three crucial wickets in the early overs to give big advantage for Mumbai Indians.



He first dismissed Salman Butt caught by Tendular in the slip in the 5th ball of the 3rd over.

David Hussey was caught behind for 1. The beautiful outswinger kissed the outside edge and went straight to keeper Takawale.

Mohammad Hafeez was caught at second slip by Uthappa for 5. That was a good delivery pitched on the off stump and leaving the right hander. Hafeez not sure whether to play forward or backward, tried to steer the ball to thirdman, went straight to slips.

Only three batsmen scored double digit score--Salman Butt 13, Ganguly 15, and Agarkar 15.



Bravo, Raje and Thornely picked two wickets each.

Shaun Pollock was declared man of the match award for his winning performance.

The match was completed in less than 6 overs and that is also another record in this match. The quickest match in the IPL. The match that was completed in lesser time and overs. The total match had just 20.5 overs with 15.2 consumed by Kolkata and Mumbai finished chasing their target in 5.3 overs.

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Kolkata 67 All Out! Lowest Total in IPL!

Ganguly's men not only disappointed the few supporters in Mumbai crowd, but the entire cricketing fans.

The record low score in T20 history belongs to Kolkata Knight Riders lead by Ganguly.

The team which curtailed Delhi Daredevils witin 134, once again did not show their batting skills and were all out for half of what they scored in their previous match.

Put into bat by Sachin, Butt and Chopra opened the innings. Butt started the scoring with a for over Pollock's head in the first over.

He then hit a six of Nehra over cover. The start was good with 12 on the board at the end of 2 overs.

The slump started in the 3rd over. Pollock gave the break through with his brilliant bowling.

The well pitched ball took the outside edge and went straight to Tendulkar.

Ganguly, the new batsman, played the next ball to point and was watching the ball. Chopra looking for a run didn't see Ganguly watching the ball was almost near the batting crease.

Uthappa field it niecely and sent the ball back to Pollock, who collected it easily and knocked the stumps to send Akash Chopra back to pavilion for 1.

From 16 for no loss in 2 overs to 16 for 2 in 3 overs.

The inform batsamn David Hussey was dismissed by a superb outswinger by Pollock. Pollock was rocking with his line and length with a good amount of swing.

The ball pitched on a good length outside the off stump, drawing Hussey forward to drive the ball, but takes a light edge to Takawale. Big wicket for Mumbai, Hussye out for 3.

The sudden fall of wickets put Kolkata on the back foot. The run rate slowing down and at the end of 6 overs, Kolkata were 27 for 3.

Mohammad Hafeez was caught by Uthappa at second slip, rightly placed by Sachin off Pollock. It was a normal delivery pitched on off stump and swung away. Hafeez not sure whether to come forward or backward, steers it to second slip and was caught by Uthappa. 3rd wicket for Pollock.

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Sachin used Pollock's full quota continuously and that was a good move. He was taking wickets and the right option by the skipper. He finished his spell with 4-0-12-3.

If it was raining sixes and fours for Mumbai Indians in the match against Chennai Super Kings, it was raining wickets for them in this match.

Saha was caught by Tendulkar off Bravo. It was a regulation catch at slip and 2nd catch for Tendulkar.

Raje struck in his first ball by bowling Shukla for a duck. The ball pitched on the middle and off, Shukla tried to play it on the leg side, misses the line and lost his off stump.

Agarkar hit two fours of the first two balls he faced. Ganguly was standing alone at one end, not able to go afer the bowlers.

At the end of 10 overs, Kolkata were 44 for 6.

Ganguly hit his 2nd four in the 12th over, the 16th ball he faced. He finally got out by a thick edge off Thornely, caught by Takawale. It bounced off the glove, but he took it at the end.

Bravo took his second wicket by sending Agarkar to pavilion. It was pitched on the outside off stump and Agarkar steered it to third man, but Sachin was standing in second slip to take a easy catch, his 3rd.

Ishanth Sharma gave an easy return catch to Thornely.

Final wicket of Shoaib Akhtar did not pick the slower delivery from Raje and gave an easy lolly pop catch to Tendulkar at short mid wicket.

Kolkata were dismissed for 67, the 5th lowest score in the T20 History.

As far as IPL, Bangalore Royal Challengers score was the lowest and now they have been pushed to the second spot.

Chasing a very easy target of 68, Mumbai Indians finished the formalities in just 5.3 overs, creating another history in terms of finishin the match quickly.

This is the fastest completed match in T20.

Jayasuria hit 3 sixes and 6 fours to remain not out on 48 off 17 balls. If he had scored another 2 runs, he would have created a record for fastest 50 beating Yousuf Pathan's rcord.

The chasing started with a drop catch at slips by Chopra. The ball was pitched short on the leg stump, and Jaysuriya tried to pull. The ball hit the glove and went over Chopra head in slip. The ball touched his fingers but he couldn't hold on to it and went for a four.

In the same over, Tendulkar was out for a duck in the first over, caught behind of Akhtar. The ball pitches on a good length around off stump and seams away from the right-hander, Tendulkar moves back and swishes away from his body, he gets a thick edge through to Saha who takes a simple catch.

He hit two fours off Ishant Sharma and 23 runs in Shoabit Akhtar's over.

He hit a four of the 2nd ball, a six of the next ball over long on. That was a superb shot and stunned Akhtar.

The next ball was two runs, followed by a four over extra cover.

The last ball was a six! That was incredible. A short ball on the leg stump, Jayasuriya moved across and plays a short arm pull and the ball soaring over deep midwicket.

With 17 more overs in hand, Mumbai needed just 24 runs to register their fifth successive victory.

Ishanth Sharma got the wicket of Uthappa caught by Ganguly. Tryint to play a half valley, he gave a simple catch at mid off.

At the end of 5 overs, Mumbai were 53 for 2 requiring another 15 runs.

Jayasuria finished the match in the next over bowled by Ishanth Sharma. First ball was a four, no run in the second ball.

Third ball was a no ball, but it was hit for a six over mid wicket. That is 17th six of the IPL, which is the highest by any batsman.

With a free hit, and four to win, the ball was pitched on the leg stump, rubbed the pads and went to four in fine leg. SM Pollock was declared man of the match for his wonderful bowling performance.

After the four successive loss and stamped as one of the poor teams, Mumbai has bounced back with five continuous wins.

Tendulkar mentioned this as a team effort and thanked the spectators for their full support. He said, the decisions were taken as a team and whenever needed Jayasuriya and Pollock are pitching in to help him.

As far his form, he said that he need to middle the ball instead of edging them.

Match 38
Venue: Mumbai
Date: May 16, 2008
Teams: Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly
Toss: Mumbai Indians and decided to field
Result: Mumbai Indians won by 8 wickets with 87 balls remaining
Man of the Match: SM Pollock off Mumbai Indians (South Africa)
Points: Mumbai Indians-2; Kolkata Knight Riders-0
Score:

Kolkata Knight Riders 67 all out in 15.2 overs (Salman Butt 13, A Chopra 1, SC Ganguly 15, DJ Hussey 2, Mohammad Hafeez 5, WP Saha 1, LR Shukla 0, AB Agarkar 15, Shoaib Akhtar 2, I Sharma 4, AB Dinda 1 not out, Extras-8 (lb 2, wide 6), SM Pollock 4-0-12-3, A Nehra 3-0-17-0, DJ Bravo 3-1-13-2, RR Raje 2.2-0-16-2, DJ Thornely 3-0-7-2) lost to Mumbai Indias 68 for 2 in 5.3 overs (ST Jayasuriya 48 not out, SR Tendulkar 0, RV Uthappa 9, DJ Thornely 1 not out, Extras-10 (lb 5, wide 4, nb 1), Shoaib Akhtar 2-0-29-1, I Sharma 2.3-0-29-1, AB Agarkar 1-0-5-0)

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Match 35: Akhtar Demolishes Delhi Daredevils!

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

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

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

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

Man of the Match List

Points Table

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Man of the Match List

Points Table

Match 32: Captain Ganguly stars in Kolkata's Win

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Match 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)

Jaffer Injured, out for 3 weeks! Charu Shama is out too!!

Bangalore Royal Challengers have been having a tough time in the inaugural Indian Premier League, losing five of their seven matches and then seeing their CEO Charu Sharma being replaced by former India Test player Brijsh Patel.

And, just when one thought things couldn't get any worse for the Royal Challengers, has come the news that opening batsman Wasim Jaffer has suffered a fracture in his hand and will be out of action for the next three weeks.

He was injured during the game against Chennai Super Kings on April 28, and couldn't even hold the bat in the match against Kings XI Punjab on Monday night. Jaffer, who has made 110 runs from five matches in the IPL at a strike rate of 111.11.

The injury comes at a bad time for Jaffer, who was just starting to prove himself in the Twenty20 format. It may be a bigger blow for the Challengers though as one of their most consistent players in the tournament is now on the sidelines.

Their their next match against Kolkata Knight Riders is a crucial one for Bangalore and they have to try something different including the opening at the Eden Gardens on May 8 to be in the competition.

Charu Sharma goes and Brijesh Patel is new CEO!

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

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)

Match 18: Rajasthan Royals win 4 in a row!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Score:

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

Match 16: Mumbai enters Points Table! Wins at last!

At last, Mumbai Wins!

Mumbai tasted its first victor in the inagural T20 tournament of IPL. They beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets.

For Mumbai Indians, Pollock lead it from the front. Once again Sachin did not play the game. With Harbhajan banned from the IPL, it was Pollock who lead the team once again. But, this team, he gave a victory to Mumbai.

Except for the toss, nothing went right for Ganguly. He thought the wicket was good for batting and wanted to put a high score in the board. But that needed a good start and improving the momentum in the middle overs and good sloggin in the final overs.

Pollock bowled the first over and provided two crucial break throughs. He dismissed Ganguly after being hit for a four, caught brilliantly at 2nd slip, the only fielder in the slip region. Then, he dismissed Brendon McCullum, leg before, for 1. It was a dream start, the one Mumbai wanted.

Ponting, playing his last match and is returning to Australia for West Indies tour, was expected to play a big innings. So far, he did not play a big innings and contribute in a big way.

It was Das who played fe good shots and maintained a good run rate. He hit two consecutive fours of Nehra and then huge six of Pollock.

Ricky Ponting was struggling at one end. He was not able to time the ball or go for big shots.

Das was caught at point when he tried to drive the raising delivery of Bravo. When he was out, the score was 40 for 3. Both Ponting and David Hussey found it difficult to move forward. At the end of 10 overs, they were 60 for 3. Mumbai needed some depsarate firing and increase the run rate.

Hussey opened up by hitting a four in cover off Pollock. That over added 11 runs. But, in the 11th over bowled by Jayasuriya, he got David Hussey caught at deep by Nehra.

Two overs later, Jayasuria in addition to striking twice had bowled a maiden over. He got Hussey caught by Nehra. A poor calling by Hafeez, made Ponting run out. He called "yes" initiated the running and suddenly said "no", but ponting couldn't go back on time. He was out on a time when he was just getting momentum. In the same over, Hafeez was caught by Shah. Shukla was the lone fighter, scoring 40 not out off 22 deliveries with 4 fours and 2 sixes. Knight Riders ended their innings at 137.

Chasing an easy target, Mumbai Indians though looked like started well, actually were struggling at 25 for 3. Jayasuriya blasted few fours, but Ishanth Sharma sent his off stump flying through a beautiful inswinger.

Rahane was the first to go caught at deep fine leg by David Hussey for 4 and Pandey was bowled through an inner edge didn't score at all.

But, Bravo and Robin Uthappa played a very sensible innings. They did not take any risk, but ensure that they were scoring runs

Bravo reached his 50 off 42 balls with 7 fours and a six. On the other hand, Uthappa played some good shots.

Both of them ensured that Mumbai Indians to open their account in the points table.

Score:

Match 16
Venue: Kolkata
Date: April 29, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders v. Mumbai Indians
Captains: Sourav Ganguly and Shaun Pollock
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders and decided to bat
Result: Mumbai Indians won by 7 wickets with 8 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Sanath Jayasuria of Mumbai Indians (Sri Lanka)
Points: Mumbai Indians-2; Kolkata Knight Riders-0
Score:
Kolkata Knight Riders 137 for 8 in 20 overs (BB McCullum 1, SC Ganguly 4, RT Ponting 19, DB Das 29, DJ Hussey 17, Mohammad Hafeez 2, LR Shukla 40 not out, AB Agarkar 2, M Kartik 10, I Sharma 0 not out, Extras 13--b 1, lb 5, wide 7, SM Pollock 4-0-27-2, A Nehra 1-0-9-0, CRD Fernando 4-0-41-1, DS Kulkarni 3-0-15-0, DJ Bravo 4-0-25-1, ST Jayasuriya 4-1-14-3) lost to Mumbai Indians 138 fo 3 in 18.4 overs (AM Rahane 4, ST Jayasuriya 18, M Pandey 0, RV Uthappa 37 not out, DJ Bravo 64 not out, Extras 15--lb 5, wide 9, nb 1, AB Agarkar 4-0-23-1, I Sharma 3.4-0-33-1, AB Dinda 4-0-12-1, M Kartik 3-0-24-0, Mohammad Hafeez 1-0-16-0, SC Ganguly 2-0-14-0, LR Shukla 1-0-11-0)

Oram all praise for Dhoni!

Jacob Oram, the man of the match award winner for Chennai Super Kings against Kolkata Knight Riders, praised Dhoni on his captaincy skills. He said, he is a cool person and never allowed pressure inside or outside the dressing room.

On his own performance, though he was relieved but not happy with his performance. He said, he has to bowl well by keeping a good line and length. He was expensive in the previous games, but took two wickets in successive balls to dismiss McCullum and Ponting.

On his plan for Knight Riders, he said no special plans. “My plan was to keep it tight and choke them so that they will make mistakes,” he said.

On the future of this tournament for Chennai, he said, “it is still far too early to tag any team as a favourite. There is still a long way to go in the league and we need to keep performing like we did tonight,” he said.

Match 11: Chennai Super Kings record Hatrick Win!

What thought to be a very close fight between Kolkata Knight Riders and local Chennai Super Kings' s actually ended up as an easy win for Chennai Super Kings.

Winning the toss and deciding to bat immediately on the batting track, McCullum provided a good start by hitting the ball for fours and sixes.

Kolkata were scoring at 10 runs per over in the first 3 overs. They were 32 for no loss in the first 2.2 overs. Gony was hit for 16 runs in his first over with 2 fours and a six. McCullum hit Oram for a six in the 2nd ball of 3rd over and in the next ball, a full toss on middle and leg took the edge when McCullum tried to hit it in midwicket and flew to covers. He was out for 24 off 12 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes.

Ponting's failure in this series continued when he was out for a first ball duck, caught at covers. He drove the ball to covers but in the air, that was the mistake.

The loss of two wickets in the successive balls put Kolkata in the back foot.


Saha played a quick firing innings but he didn't stay in the crease for longer. He hit 3 continous fours of Amarnath and helpd Kolkata Knight Riders to reach 50 at the end of the 5th over. He then hit a four and six of Gony and was out in the same over bowled by a beautiful in-swinging delivery.

Skipper Ganguly's tried to save his side, but he couldn't. Almost all of his shots did not go well as he did not time them well. He struggled against Muralitharan's spin and turn. He scored 1 runs of his first over other than the wide. Amarnath got David Hussey caught at point by Badrinath. The tight bowling by Murali forced Ganguly to take the risk with other bowlers and he fell pray for that. He was deceived by the slower ball from Joginder Sharma. He tried to clear the in-field, but it took the edge and went high in the air to covers. Badrinath took a good judging catch. He was out for 12 off 19 balls.

Shukla was a threat but not a big threat. He scored 42 off 33 balls that helped Kolkata to put a decent total on the board.

Chasing the target of 148, Patel and Hayden gave a good start. They added 66 for the first wicket, the highest first wicket partnership of the tournament so far. Patel played sensibly and gave a good company to Hayden. Patel was the only man to get out, when he tried to hook Agarkar which flew directly to deep square leg where Ishanth Sharma took a simple catch.

Dhoni moved himself up in the order and played a good innings to lead Chennai Super Kings to the winning score. He along with Hayden completed the formalities in 17 overs. Hayden scored his 50 in 39 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. Dhoni was not out on 43 off 27 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.

It was a sensible captainship by Dhoni who kept his cool throughout the match. Though Kolkata started the innings scoring 28 in the first two overs, he kept his cool and believed in his bowlers. While batting also, he moved himself up in the ladder and played sensibly to ensure that his side gets 3rd consecutive victory.

Score:

Match 11
Venue: Chennai
Date: April 26, 2008
Teams: Chennai Super Kings v. Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders and decided to bat
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 9 wickets with 18 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Mathew Hayden of Chennai Super Kings (Australia)
Points: Chennai Super Kings-2; Kolkata Knight Riders-0
Score:
Kolkata Knight Riders 147 for 9 in 20 overs (SC Ganguly 12, BB McCullum 24, RT Ponting 0, WP Saha 27, DJ Hussey 0, Mohammad Hafeez 16, LR Shukla 42, AB Agarkar 11, M Kartik 3, I Sharma 4 not out, AB Dinda 0 not out, Extras 8--lb 2, wide 4, nb 2, JDP Oram 4-0-32-3, M Gony 4-0-40-2, P Amarnath 4-0-29-2, M Muralitharan 4-0-12-0, Joginder Sharma 4-0-32-1) lost to Chennai Super Kings 152 for 1 in 17 overs (PA Patel 21, ML Hayden 70 not out, MS Dhoni 43 not out, Extras 18--b 1, lb 4, wide 12, nb 1, AB Dinda 3-0-25-0, I Sharma 3-0-26-0, AB Agarkar 3-0-19-1, DJ Hussey 1-0-10-0, Mohammad Hafeez 2-0-16-0, M Kartik 3-0-33-0, LR Shukla 2-0-18-0)