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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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.

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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)

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Match 13: Kings XI Punjab Wins!

It was Yuvi's day as his team continued their winning habit! Two in a row for Kings XI Punjab!

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Delhi lost its skipper Shewag for a mere 6. Dhawan followed him with a duck. At 2.3 overs, Delhi was struggling at 12 for 2. It was left to Gambhir and Shoaib Malik to recover Delhi. Gambhir who played some good shots did not stay long in the crease. He was out for 18 caught by Yuvaraj off VRV Singh. After a over, Shoaib also followed Gambhir to the pavilion leaving Delhi at 54 for 4 in 7.1 overs. Tiwari and Dinesh Karthik tried to revive the innings but Karthik was out for 24.

The 6th wicket partnershp of 37 between Tiwari and Bhatia was the highest for Delhi in this match. Bhatia and Tiwari fell in successive overs. Delhi was really struggling at 139 for 7 in 17.5 overs. Maharoof and Mahesh scored 19 runs of the last 13 balls and helped Delhi to go past 150 mark.

VRV Singh picked 3 wickets and Irfan Pathan picked 2.

Chasing 159, Kings XI didn't have a good start. They lost Goel for 1 and Sangakkara, the inform batsman for 4. They were 11 for 2 in 2 overs. Katich and Jayawardane played sensibly and took the score beyond 50. They added 58 for the 3rd wicket before Jayawardane was dismissed for 15.

Skipper Yuvaraj joined Katich and played a responsible innings. The partnership of 50 for the 4th wicket was broken through a run out. Katich was found short of his crease and was out for 75 of 52 balls with 11 fours and a six. His innings really helped Kings XI to see through the chase.

With 40 requiring of 6 overs, Yuvaraj sticked to the crease to ensure that he stays till the end. Srivatsava was out for 7; Pathan was out for 10. Yuvaraj's faced 29 balls for his 40 not out and hit 3 fours and 2 sixes. The target was reached in the last over 3rd ball. The last over required 1 run and a four was scored by Yuvaraj!

Score:

Match 13
Venue: Mohali
Date: April 27, 2008
Teams: Kings XI Punjab v. Delhi Daredevils
Captains: Yuvaraj Singh and Virendra Shewag
Toss: Delhi Daredevils and decided to bat
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 4 wickets with 3 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Simon Katich of Kings XI Punjab (Australia)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Delhi Daredevils-0
Score:
Delhi Daredevils 158 for 8 in 20 overs (G Gambhir 18, V Sehwag 6, S Dhawan 0, Shoaib Malik 19, MK Tiwary 39, KD Karthik 24, R Bhatia 17, MF Maharoof 18, VY Mahesh 6 not out, Extras 11--lb 5, wide 6, B Lee 4-0-33-1, IK Pathan 4-0-26-2, S Sreesanth 2-0-25-0, VRV Singh 4-0-29-3, PP Chawla 4-0-29-0, Yuvraj Singh 2-0-11-1) lost to Kings XI Punjab 162 for 6 in 19.3 overs (K Goel 1, SM Katich 75, KC Sangakkara 4, DPMD Jayawardene 15, Yuvraj Singh 40 not out, TM Srivastava 7, IK Pathan 10, B Lee 1 not out, Extras 9--lb 3, wide 4, nb 2, GD McGrath 4-0-29-1, Mohammad Asif 4-0-39-2, MF Maharoof 3-0-31-0, VY Mahesh 4-0-23-1, Shoaib Malik 3.3-0-32-1, R Bhatia 1-0-5-0)