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.

Read: Man of the Match List

Read: Points Table

Read: IPL Scores Table!

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

Read: Man of the Match List

Read: Points Table

Read: IPL Scores Table!

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 21: Bangalore Royal Challengers Wins the Thriller by 3 Runs!

Put into bat, Bangalore Royal Challengers though seemed to struggle in the home ground, finally won by 3 runs. The last 5 overs required 45 runs with Laxman and Rohit Sharma in the crease.

Steyn bowled a tight 16th over where he gave just 3 runs. Sharma scored 2 runs of the fours balls he faced and Laxman scored 1 off the 2 balls.

With 42 from 24 balls, Rohit hit a six, and a four of the first two balls of Kallis to reduce the target to 32 from 22 balls. The next two balls were single and Rohit was out in the fifth ball. He was caught at long on by Jaffer for a well made 57, his third fifty of IPL, in 42 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes.

With 3 overs and 29 required, Praveen dismissed Afridi in the first ball. He hit it over long on, where Steyn covered huge ground running from long on to almost mid-on to take a superb forward diving catch, a crucial one.

The next four balls were singles, but Laxman fell of the last ball. He played across on the ball that almost pitched on the leg and Laxman tried to play it on the onside got trappd in front. He was out for a well made 52 off 44 balls with 7 fours.

25 runs required from 12 balls, Zaheer Khan got Styris leg before for 2. The sweep by Styris of the slower ball did not materialize as he was found plumb in front of the wicket. 11 ball, 25 runs. All the five balls were singles and Zaheer produced a beautiful 19th over under pressure.

Last over was bowled by Indian test skipper Anil Kumble. The first two balls were singles scored. The third ball gave hope to Deccan Chargers were Bangar hit a six over extra cover. Came down the track and hit a flat six.

The fourth ball was also a six. The full toss was sent over mid wicket for another 6 bringing down the target to 6 runs of two balls.

Kumble, the experienced campaigner, just gave a run in the next delivery. Boucher misses the hit at the stumps, when the inside side onto his pads.

Last ball, 5 runs, Yadav, the yorker length delivery went to deep midwicket for a single and Bangalore Royal Challengers win by 3 runs. Earlier, Gilchrist fell cheaply for 10 caught at deep square leg, just inches inside the rope. Though the momentum took him few steps behind, he ensure that he is still inside the rope to take a wonderful catch to get rid off the dangerous batsman Gilchrist.

Gibbs did not make use of this match as well. He hit a four and then got out in the next over for 5. He tried to pull the short ball from Praveen Kumar's first ball, but it came late and the ball lobbed to mid off for a simple catch to Kumble.

Rohit, owner of two fifties in this IPL, joined his skipper. End of power play, 6th over, Deccan Chargers were 33 for 2. It was Sharma who started giving momentum by hitting a six of Kumble's first over and then two fours of Praveen. After that, they were playing singles to reach 63 in 10 overs.

Laxman hit three fours of Kumble in the 12th over. This opened the chance for Deccan Chargers to eye for the victory. Sharma hit a six of Praveen's over, but that over added just 7 runs. With 60 runs from 42 balls and 8 wickets in hand, every chance was with Deccan Chargers. The next two overs added 15 runs to the total to reduce the target to 45 from 30 balls and finally they lost by 3 runs.

Both Laxman and Rohit crossed half-century for Deccan Chargers.

Earlier, Jaffer and Chipli opened the innings with Chipli hitting 2 continuous fours in the 2nd over bowled by RP Singh and was bowled in the next ball. Jaffer and Kohli built the innings with a 72 run partnership of 54 balls.

Jaffer hit few good fours and Kohli also joined the party. He was caught at extra cover by Gibss off Ojha for 44 off 37 balls with 6 fours.

Kallis started off with a flick to fine leg for a boundary was bowled by Ojha. The flighted delivery pitched leg and middle deceived Kallis and he missed the line and was bowled for 6.

Kohli's irresponsible shot sent him to pavilion in the next over leaving Bangalore struggle at 104 for 4 in the 14th over.

Mibah-ul-Haq was trapped leg before off Afridi. The umpire was convinced but not the TV replays. Boucher and skipper Dravid had to carry on and put on a good score.

At the end of 15 overs, Bangalore Royal Challengers were 114 for 5. Afridi bowled a very tight line not giving any room for the batsman. The 17th over by Styris costed only 4 runs and the 18th over by Afridi added another 4. With 130 on the board and 2 overs to go, skipper Dravid had to open his shoulders for big shots.

Boucher hit a four and got out. Praveen Kumar, the new batsman hit two fours of the last two balls of RP Singh to take the score to 143 for 6.

Dravid hit a six of Styris and scored a single in the next ball. Praveen was run out in the next ball. He was looking at his shot and the ball when he played a scoop over short leg. It was Dravid's call and he rightly came to batting crease where Praveen was watching the fielder. He started late and didn't reach the crease on time.

Dravid hit a six of the penultimate ball and got out in the last ball for a well made 26 in 19 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes.

Praveen Kumar was declared man of the match for picking 3 wickets in his four overs giving away 23 runs.

Match 21
Venue: Bangalore
Date: May 3, 2008
Teams: Bangalore Royal Challengers and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
Captains: Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to field
Result: Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 3 runs
Man of the Match: Praveen Kumar off Bangalore Royal Challengers (India)
Points: Bangalore Royal Challengers-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Bangalore Royal Challengers 156 for 8 in 20 overs (B Chipli 10, W Jaffer 44, V Kohli 38, JH Kallis 6, Misbah-ul-Haq 3, R Dravid 26, MV Boucher 16, P Kumar 8, Z Khan 0 not out, Extras—5 (lb 3, wide 2), DP Vijaykumar 3-0-18-0, RP Singh 4-0-41-3, SB Styris 4-0-29-1, Shahid Afridi 4-0-23-1, PP Ojha 4-0-28-2, SB Bangar 1-0-14-0) beat Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 153 for 6 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 10, VVS Laxman 52, HH Gibbs 5, RG Sharma 57, Shahid Afridi 1, SB Styris 2, AS Yadav 3 not out, SB Bangar 17 not out, Extras—6 (b 1, lb 3, wide 2), DW Steyn 4-0-20-0, Z Khan 4-0-24-2, P Kumar 4-0-23-3, A Kumble 4-0-47-0, JH Kallis 4-0-35-1)

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)

Match 15: Dhoni gives Chennai Kings a Win!

Dhoni, lead by example while batting and leading the side from behind the wicket. What thought to be a 150 chasing was completely changed by Dhoni with his firing knock during the last five overs. Chennai scored 76 runs in the last five overs.

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, the previous match man of the match Hayden lost his wicket for 13. When he tried to give room and hit Zaheer, took the thick inside edge and the ball rolled to the stumps.

Hussey and Patel could not accelerate the innings and the bowling was very good. Patel tried to slog and got out caught at slip tried to steer to third man. He scored 21 off 17 balls.

Raina and Hussey were scoring singles. The shots played in the air landed in no man's land. At the end of the 10th over, Chennai Super Kings were 65 for 2. To cross 150, they have to score 8.5 run per over and to reach 165 they have to score 10 runs per over.

Hussey pushed the ball to on side and went for a single. Raina called for 2 but Hussey sent him back. But Raina was sloppy in returing and didn't expect the throw at the striker's end. Before he could come back on time, it was all over. He was hitting the ball well, but the poor running costs his wicket. He scored 28 off 17 balls with 1 fours and 2 sixes. At this stage, Chennai were 83 for 3 in 12 overs.

Dhoni joined the club with Hussey and they built the innings well. They played single's and two's till the score reached 100 in the 15th over.

The party started after that. Hussey scored 2 sixes of Akhil's first two balls in the 16th over. That over gave 14 runs to Chennai.

In the 17th over bowled by Kallis, Hussey scored two fours and the Dhoni a six to add 16 more runs to the total.

In the 18th over bowled by Praveen Kumar, Dhoni scored a four, but it was a good over for Bangalore, costing only 8 runs. The score was 140 for 3 in 18 overs. Dhoni was batting on 28 off 19 balls and Hussey batting on 47 off 36 balls.

Steyn bowled the 19th over--the crucial over of the match. The first turning point of the match as well. Firt ball was a wide, then it was 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, 1 to take the score to 164 for 3. This particular over costed Bangalore 24 crucial runs.

The last over was bowled by Zaheer. Dhoni faced the first ball with no run, then the next three balls were 4, 6, 4. He was hitting over long on, straight back over the bowlers head, pulling over mid wicket. He was finally caught at deep extra cover when tried for another six. The last ball also got a wicket for Zaheer. Hussey tried a six, but it went straight to Dravid at deep mid wicket.

This score was competitive enough, but nothing can be said in a twnety-20 match.

Banglore chased the innings with a poor start in the first 3 overs. Jaffer was not timing the ball, in fact, I lost my temperament with his batting skills. His stroke play, style, attitude everything reminded off Test Match cricket. The crowd lost the patience. The 3rd over bowled by Oram juste added 1 run to the score.

With no big runs scored, the pressure added and Goni used it well. Chipli trying to slog was bowled. Jaffer was dropped on three occassions--one by Gony himself, a caught and bowled when Jaffer was on 7, and then by Dhoni off Oram on 7, and then finally by Goni at long on off Amarnath when he was on 18.

Jaffer's utilized his luck and started to fire. On one end, Taylor was rocking with huge sixes and fours. From 20 for 1 in 4 overs, they took it to 93 for 1 in 10 overs. Jaffer reached his 50 in 32 balls and was out the next ball. His first 15 runs came of 16 balls, but he accelerated it very well to give Bangalore Royal Challengers a good chance of winning.

Amarnath broke the 2nd wicket parntership of 89 runs by taking Jaffer's wicket. He walked down the wicket and tried to slog it over long off, but didn't clear it well. Jacob Oram took a good catch at long off. That was the turning point.

Kallis hit couple of fours before he was caught behind by Dhoni of Joginder Singh. The ball pitched on the off and swung away took the edge to land in Dhoni's hand. Crucial 15th over added just 5 runs to the total and that put pressure on Bangalore.

The last 5 overs required 47 runs. The turning point was the wicket of Taylor, caught by Raina at covers and the breakthrough was provided by Amarnath. Kohli hit a crucial 4 of the last ball of the 16th over.

The 17th over turned out to be very crucial and turned the match upside down. Till then, it was in favor of Bangalore Royal Challengers. They needed 39 of4 24 balls with 6 wickets in hand.

Gony picked two crucial wickets--Boucher caught by Hussey at third man. The ball took thick outside edge and flew to third man. The next delivery was a single by Kohli and Dravid was trapped leg before, the first ball he faced. The TV replay showed the ball went above the stumps. The last ball was a four by Kohli.

The last 18 balls requied 31 with 4 wickets in hand. Kohli was out in the 2nd ball of the 18th over and that over had 6 runs for Bangalore.

The last 12 balls required 25 runs with 3 wickets in hand. The first and second ball were singles. Third ball was a four between gully and point. Fourth ball was no run.

Fifth ball was drivern to mid off, where Raina picked the ball and threw it to the wicket keeper's end where Zaheeer was well short of his crease. Dhoni collected the ball neatly and removed the bails in a flash,

Last ball was driven to long on by Akhil and he settles for a single. But, Praveen came back without looking at Akhil who was showing his hand indicating no second run. But, Praveen came back all the way to the non-strickers end. The ball was thrown to bowlers end to Oram, he in turn threw it to Dhoni and he removed the bails.

With last over requiring 17 with only one wicket in hand, first three balls were singles. Steyn scooped the low full toss to long on where Hussey took a good diving catch and that put an end to Bangalore Royal Challengers hopes. Chennai Super Kings Win four continous matches!

Score:

Match 15
Venue: Bangalore
Date: April 28, 2008
Teams: Chennai Super Kings v. Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rahul Dravid
Toss: Chennai Super Kings and decided to bat
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 13 runs
Man of the Match: Mahendra Singh Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings (India)
Points: Chennai Super Kings-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:
Chennai Super Kings 178 for 5 in 20 overs (PA Patel 21, ML Hayden 13, MEK Hussey 47, SK Raina 28, MS Dhoni 65, JDP Oram 0 not out, Extras 4--lb 1, wide 3, DW Steyn 4-0-40-0, Z Khan 4-0-38-3, P Kumar 4-0-29-1, JH Kallis 4-0-36-0, B Akhil 4-0-34-0) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 165 all out in 19.4 overs (B Chipli 8, W Jaffer 50, LRPL Taylor 53, JH Kallis 14, R Dravid 0, P Kumar 6, Z Khan 8, B Akhil 2 not out, DW Steyn 1, Extras 7--lb 1, wide 6, JDP Oram 4-0-27-0, M Gony 4-0-34-3, JA Morkel 4-0-38-1, P Amarnath 4-0-38-2, Joginder Sharma 3.4-0-27-2)

Chennai Super Kings win 4 in a row!

Chennai Super Kings win their fourth match in a row by beating Bangalore Royal Challengers by 13 runs. Dhoni was very cool and pulled the match out from nowhere. When Bangalore were going all guns, Dhoni kept his cool and did very good bowling changes. Morkel did not bowl well in his first few overs but he came back well. Similarly, Joginder also didn't bowl well but later came back well picking kallis wicket.

Requiring 17 of the last over with only one wicket in hand, Bangalore lost the wicket caught at long on by Hussey giving the victory to Chennai Super Kings.

Dhoni's batting was sparkling! He scored 38 runs of the last two overs to take Chennai to 178, which was struggling at go beyond 150 at one stage. He scored 65 off 30 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes.

Congratulations Dhoni!

Dhoni Fires!

Dhoni has scored a quick fire 50 to help side Chennai Super Kings to reach 178 in 20 overs. He hit 22 runs in the 19th over bowled by Steyn. The first ball was a wide, the rebowled first ball was a four, second ball was also a four, third ball was a six, fourth and fifth ball were four, last ball was a single. Dhoni demolished the hopes of Bangalore Royal Challengers restricting Chennai within 150.

The last over bowled by Zaheer Khan. First ball was a slower ball missed by Dhoni, second ball was a four, third ball was a six, and fourth ball was a four.

He was then out in the 5th ball.

Dhoni blasted in the last two overs where he scored 37 runs.

He scored 65 off 30 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes. He reached his 50 in 28 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes.

What expected to be less than 150, Dhoni smashed all the balls and took Chennai Super Kings to 178. What a knock from the captain?

Match 6: Watson helps Rajasthan Royals to register first win!

Splendid innings by Shane Watson helped Rajasthan Royals to register their first win of the IPL tournament. At one stage, what looked like the second defeat for Rajasthan Royals, was turned completely by Shane Watson and RA Jadeja.

Chasing a target of 167, Rajasthan lead by Shane Warne lost the first three wickets of Kaif, Yousuf Pathan and Kamran Akmal for 48 runs in the first 5 overs. With the run rate not picking up, and requiring 102 in the last 12 overs, Watson and Lehman scored 34 runs in 3 overs which actually helped the Rajasthan to start the momentum.

But, in the 12th over, Lehman was trapped leg before off Irfan Pathan. With 4 wickets lost, and requiring 68 in 52 balls, Jadeja joined Watson and they helped Rajsthan to have the last laugh. Jadeja hit quick fire 36 of 25 balls with 5 fours and 1 six. Watson scored 72 off 48 balls with 4 fours and 5 sixes. It was an elctrifying knock from both Jadeja and Watson.

What said to be a team with no big stars like Smith of South Africa, and Pakisani players, Shane Warne has won the game for Rajasthan Royals.

Earlier, winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Kings XI Punjab had a good start. The fielding lapses by the Rajasthan gave a good chance to Punjab to put a fighting total in the board. It was Lehman's drop catch for Yuvaraj proved costly for Rajasthan.

Skipper Yuvaraj was the top scorer for Punjab with 57 of 34 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. It was the 5th wicket partnership of 63 runs in 47 balls between Yuvaraj and Irfan Pathan helped Kings XI to put a decent total. Shane Warne picked 3 wickets giving away 19 runs in his quota of 4 overs.

Match 6
Venue: Jaipur
Date: April 21, 2008
Teams: Kings XI Punjab v. Rajasthan Royals
Captains: Yuvaraj Singh and Shane Warne
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to bat
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 6 wickets with 11 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Shane Watson of Rajasthan Royals (Australia)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Kings XI Punjab-0
Score:
Kings XI Punjab 166 for 8 in 20 overs (K Goel, 26, JR Hopes, 16, KC Sangakkara, 20, DPMD Jayawardene, 2, Yuvraj Singh, 57, IK Pathan, 12, S Sohal, 4, B Lee, 0, PP Chawla, 24 not out, WA Mota, 1 not out, Extras 4--lb 1, wide 2, nb 1, MM Patel 4-0-36-1, SR Watson 4-0-39-0, SK Trivedi 4-0-25-2, SK Warne 4-0-19-3, D Salunkhe 2-0-21-1, Pankaj Singh 1-0-12-0, YK Pathan 1-0-13-0) lost to Rajasthan Royals 168 for 4 in 18.1 overs (M Kaif, 5, Kamran Akmal, 15, YK Pathan, 7, SR Watson, 76 not out, DS Lehmann, 17, RA Jadeja, 36 not out, Extras 12--lb 12, wide 6, nb 4, B Lee 4-0-35-1, S Sreesanth 3.1-0-38-1, JR Hopes 4-0-33-1, IK Pathan 4-0-21-1, PP Chawla 2-0-27-0, WA Mota 1-0-12-0)

Tendulkar not playing! Harbhajan to lead!

In the firt match for Mumbai Indians against the Bangalore Royal Challengers, the skipper and the master batsman Sachin Tendulkar decided not to play. He is suffering from groin injury for the last few weeks. He did not play the 2nd and 3rd test against South Africa in Ahmadabad and Kanpur.

Though everyone expected that he would be playing the first match for Mumbai, he is still not fuly fit and is expected to play the next match.

The vice-captain Harbhajan Singh will be leading the Mumbai Indians. During the pre-match interview to the private televsion commentary group that it is an honor to lead Mumbai Indians and will enjoy the game. He said the crowd support is enormous and is an advantage.