Match 46: KXI v. DD: Lee's spell help KXI win 2 points and stay in IPL 2!

Put into bat, Delhi batsmen failed completely in putting a good score on the board. Sehwag went early caught behind of Lee for 9. Gambhir going for the 2nd run couldn't reach the crease in time as Mota's throw landed in Sangakkara's hand just above the stumps.

DeVilliers would be blaming himself for missing to send the short ball from Sreesanth for a sixer. He gave a simple catch to Yuvaraj at mid-on. Dilshan trying to play over mid on sent it just above Yuvaraj's head, but Yuvi caught it well. Two wickets for Sreesanth. Delhi in trouble with 52 for 4 in 10 overs.

Dinesh Karthik and Manhas added 50 for the 5th wicket before Manhas was caught by Sohal off Mota for 26. Maharoof was bowled by Lee for 3 and Vettori was caught for 1.

Dinesh Karthik was the last man to get out for 32 as Delhi ended with 120 on the board. Lee picked 3 wickets for 15 in his 4 overs including a maiden. Sreesanth had the best bowling figures of IPL 2 picking 2 for 20 in his 4 overs.

Chasing a moderate score, Kings XI lost 2 wickets with 35 on the board in 5.2 overs. Yuvaraj and Sangakkara played sensibly and took Kings XI closer to the target. They added 53 for the 4th wicket in 63 balls. Slow but steady!

Sangakkar struck two continuous fours in the 11th over. Last 5 overs needed 35 runs. Yuvaraj got out at crucial time as he hit the juicy short ball to Sehwag at point.

Last 4 overs, 33 runs. Bhatia bowled a tight line in the 17th over in which he gave 3 runs. KXI is on the losing line! 30 from 18 balls. Irfan Pathan hit two sixes in Sangwan's over--the first one over mid wicket and the second one went over square leg.

15 from 12 balls. Maharoof started with a wide on the leg stump. Second ball was a leg bye and no run on the next ball. Again a wide. 12 from 10 balls. Third ball was a six over long on. There was no fielder on the boundary line, otherwise it would have been a catch!

Last over needed 2 runs and it was scored off the first ball from Vettori.

Now, Kings XI Punjab has a chance to grab one of the last four positions! They have 6 wins in 12 matches and is in parallel with Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers who are in 4th and 5th place.

Scoreboard:

Match # 46
Date: Friday May 15, 2009
Teams: Kings XI Punjab v. Delhi Daredevils
Captains: Yuvaraj and Sehwag
Toss: KXI, decided to field
Venue: OUTsurance Oval, Bloemfontein
Result: KXI won by 6 wkts with 5 balls remaining
Points: KXI 2; DD 0
Man of the Match: Brett Lee off KXI

Delhi Daredevils Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Gambhir	Run Out (Sangakkara/Mota)	8	11	0	0
Sehwag	c Sangakkara b Lee	9	8	2	0
Dilshan	c Yuvaraj b Sreesanth	10	19	1	0
deVilliers	c Yuvaraj b Sreesanth	11	11	1	0
Manhas	c Sohal b Mota	26	25	2	0
D Karthik	c Mota b I Pathan	32	29	0	1
Maharoof	b Lee	3	8	0	0
Vettori	c Sohal b I Pathan	1	2	0	0
Bhatia	c Chawla b Lee	0	1	0	0
Sangwan	Not Out	5	5	0	0
Nehra	Not Out	1	1	0	0
Extras	(lb 7, w 7)	14	-	-	-
Total	for 9 wkts in 20 overs	120	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-19 (Sehwag, 2.4 ov), 2-20 (Gambhir, 3.3 ov), 3-46 (de Villiers, 7.2 ov), 4-51 (Dilshan, 9.1 ov), 5-101 (Manhas, 15.4 ov), 6-104 (Maharoof, 16.6 ov), 7-111 (Vettori, 17.6 ov), 8-111 (Bhatia, 18.1 ov), 9-116 (Karthik, 19.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
B Lee	4	1	15	3
I Pathan	4	0	22	2
Chawla	3	1	16	0
Sreesanth	4	0	20	2
Powar	3	0	20	0
Yuvaraj	1	0	14	0
Mota	1	0	6	1

Kings XI Punjab Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Bravo	b Nehra	3	12	0	0
Takawale	c D Karthik b Maharoof	20	10	2	1
Rahane	c deVilliers b Maharoof	9	8	2	0
Jayasuriya	c Sehwag b Sangwan	18	31	1	0
Tendulkar	Not Out	43	47	6	0
Duminy	Not Out	21	11	0	3
Extras	(lb 2, w 3, nb 4)	9	-	-	-
Total	for 4 wkts in 19.1 overs	123	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-22 (Katich, 3.1 ov), 2-35 (Sohal, 4.1 ov), 3-35 (Pomersbach, 5.2 ov), 4-88 (Yuvraj Singh, 15.5 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
A Nehra	4	1	6	1
Sangwan	4	0	42	1
Maharoof	4	0	29	2
Vettori	3.1	0	15	0
Bhatia	3	0	22	0
Dilshan	1	0	7	0

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.

Read: Man of the Match List

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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)

Read: Man of the Match List

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read: Man of the Match List

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab one more time!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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