Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Johannesburg
 

Delhi wallop Kolkata to go top

May 10, 2009

Delhi Daredevils 125 for 3 (de Villiers 40*, Warner 36) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 123 for 8 (Ganguly 44, Agarkar 39, Mishra 3-14) by seven wickets

The reduced canvas of a Twenty20 game is supposed to shorten the gulf between sides but in Johannesburg there was no hiding the difference in quality between the two teams at opposite ends of the table. Another commanding performance from Delhi Daredevils helped them sweep past struggling Kolkata Knight Riders and regain their No.1 spot. After their bowlers, led by Ashish Nehra and Amit Mishra, had restricted Kolkata to a paltry total, the batsmen - led by AB de Villiers - kept the chase in hand and strolled to victory with seventeen balls to spare.

It initially seemed Brendon McCullum would script a surprise after he swatted the game's second ball for six and jumped out with intent on the next. However, he was wrongly adjudged lbw off Nehra's next delivery, with the ball going over and wide of offstump, and Delhi gained an advantage they never relinquished.

Worse was to follow for Kolkata three balls later, when the reliable Brad Hodge edged to first slip for a duck. Morne van Wyk, one of the few bright spots in Kolkata's campaign, continued the procession by slapping a Dirk Nannes short ball to square leg. By the end of the second over Kolkata had lost three of their foreign recruits for nine runs.

Sourav Ganguly and Yashpal Singh tried to get their side back on the rails. Ganguly carved one into the Kolkata dug-out in the fourth over, and Yashpal collected a couple of hard-hit boundaries in the next. The singles were also being picked off, and Ganguly was looking extremely good, particularly square on the off side.

Enter Mishra. He got rid of Yashpal and Wriddhiman Saha in his first over, and Kolkata slid to 46 for 5 after eight. There was some less than assured running between the wickets when Ganguly and Moises Henriques were together before Henriques became Mishra's third victim after an uncomfortable eight-ball stay that yielded two runs.
Kolkata were then content to take the singles, cutting out most risks - Ganguly opening up only on a free hit, clobbering Mishra over long-on for a massive six. Ajit Agarkar also found some rhythm against Pradeep Sangwan, lofting him for a couple of boundaries. Just as Kolkata seemed to be recovering a bit, Delhi got rid of Ganguly.

Agarkar then threw his bat around to take his side into triple-digits, taking his chances with some uppish shots, to finish on a 29-ball 39.

It wasn't the most threatening of targets, on an easy-paced track, and Delhi's batsmen had their task made simpler still by being fed short balls early on. That helped Gautam Gambhir and David Warner get off to a brisk start and, by the time debutant Sourav Sarkar was taken for three fours in the fifth over, Delhi had piled on 45.

They were in a bit of trouble after Gambhir crashed one straight to point and Ishant Sharma removed both Warner and Tillakaratne Dilshan in the same over. Delhi were then 69 for 3 but Kolkata didn't switch to all-out attack mode. de Villiers and Karthik were allowed to get their eye in, knocking the singles around. The fielding also was not in same league as Delhi's; Agarkar had only given away three runs in the first five balls of the 14th over, but on the final delivery the long-off fielder made a hash of a simple stop to ruin the tight over. The anguish on the bowler's face was a familiar sight for Kolkata fans.

de Villiers hastened the victory by striking a boundary almost an over after that, and Delhi were again back to the summit of the IPL table, with a game in hand over their nearest rivals as well.

Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Kimberley
 

Dominant Deccan thrash Rajasthan

May 11, 2009

Deccan Chargers 166 for 7 (Smith 47, Symonds 30, Yusuf 3-34) beat Rajasthan Royals 113 (Asnodkar 44, Rohit 3-12) by 53 runs

Smart team changes by the Deccan Chargers and a spineless batting display by the Rajasthan Royals contributed to a mismatch in Kimberley. Deccan dropped two under-performing overseas players but their replacements - Dwayne Smith and Chaminda Vaas - contributed significantly in shaping a comprehensive 53-run win. Smith slammed 47 to help Deccan surge to a competitive total while Vaas took two early wickets before Rajasthan's middle order imploded.

Rajasthan were in the game for the first 15 overs. Then Smith walked in and, first, negated the effect of the spinners, who till had the batsmen on a tight leash. He smashed four sixes in his 32-ball 47 and pushed Deccan to a score that was sure to test an unpredictable opposition. The chase lacked fight and the loss cost Rajasthan their No.3 spot.

Rajasthan's slide began in the second over of their chase, when Graeme Smith was trapped lbw by Chaminda Vaas. Replays showed the ball hitting Smith high above the knee roll but it evened out for both teams as Adam Gilchrist was also given out in doubtful circumstances.

While Smith had the right to blame fate for his dismissal, Lee Carseldine had only himself to blame for his departure. Distracted by an lbw appeal off Vaas, he accidentally strolled out of his crease and failed to notice that Gilchrist was in possession of the ball during the appeal to effect the stumping.

Naman Ojha hit two fours before he misjudged a single towards point. Dropping the ball towards the fielder, he set off for the run but Ravi Teja's arm was too quick for him as he threw down the stumps with a direct hit.

Swapnil Asnodkar resisted at the other end and tried to break free by making a lot of room to loft inside out. Rajasthan needed somebody to support Asnodkar and play a role similar to Smith's but their most valuable player in the middle order, Yusuf Pathan, let them down. He slapped Pragyan Ojha straight to long-off and at 74 for 4 in the 12th over, the wheels had effectively come off.

Rohit Sharma picked up three wickets with his offspin, by which time Rajasthan had run out of resources and ideas to script a twist in the tale.

In a tournament dominated by spinners, Rajasthan's spin duo of Yusuf and Ravindra Jadeja had their share of success early on. Yusuf took 3 for 34 while his partner Jadeja took 2 for 26 by cleverly varying his pace. Jadeja struck with two wickets on either side of the strategy break to peg Deccan back. He drew Rohit forward with a flighted delivery and had him stumped and in his following over, flattened Symonds' legstump with a quicker delivery. Symonds had earlier threatened to push on to his second consecutive fifty when he took on his old IPL rival Warne, pulling the bowler over midwicket before mowing him high over long-on.

They controlled the scoring before Smith cut loose. Smith got off to a quiet start by his standards, scoring 14 off 19 balls before opening out. He lofted Jadeja over long-on, clubbed Pathan over square leg and flicked Trivedi delightfully over deep midwicket without much of a follow through. Warne gambled by bringing himself on in the 19th over and he too suffered at the hands of Smith as he swung him over long-on.

Smith departed in the final over for 47 and thanks to his big hits, Deccan managed 69 off the last six overs and negated the impact the spinners had made earlier. He came in as a replacement for the out-of-form Herschelle Gibbs and it proved to be a masterstroke.

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Centurion
 

Taylor blasts Bangalore to victory

May 12, 2009

Royal Challengers Bangalore 176 for 4 (Taylor 81*, Kartik 2-28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 173 for 4 (McCullum 84*, Hussey 43, Vinay Kumar 2-33) by six wickets

Royal Challengers Bangalore, buoyed by Ross Taylor's return to form, overcame a formidable target set by Kolkata Knight Riders to boost their chances of making the top four, winning by six wickets in a tense encounter in Centurion. Brendon McCullum's determined innings was in vain, as Taylor marked a timely comeback, feasting on some shoddy bowling by the seamers at the death, to inflict yet another disappointment on Kolkata, who squandered the edge they had held for most of the game.


Taylor and Jesse Ryder were Bangalore's key batsmen ahead of the season, and their failure, along with Kevin Pietersen's poor performance, had proved embarrassing. Taylor, though, redeemed himself, remaining unfazed by the loss of three quick wickets to time Bangalore's chase to perfection, carting five sixes and seven fours in a brutal assault that overshadowed Kolkata's admirable batting display.


Bangalore were on course in pursuit of 174, led by a solid opening stand of 58 between Jacques Kallis and Ryder. Neither of the two was excessively dominating, but combined their ability to punish bad balls with intermittent displays of improvisation when the situation demanded it. Kallis survived an early chance, when Ajantha Mendis ran too far in from third man, failing to snap an upper-cut, but two half-volleys from Ajit Agarkar were lofted for a six and four the very next over. Ryder looked fluent, in contrast to his terrible form in the early phase of the tournament, pulling Ishant Sharma before dispatching two full tosses over mid-off.


The difference in strategy adopted by both teams was evident before the tactical time-out in each innings, with Kolkata sticking to the tested method of shuffling the attack, using as many as six bowlers in the first eight overs - Bangalore had used three. The spin of Ajantha Mendis and David Hussey was countered well, but a stupendous piece of fielding from McCullum, who flung himself to his left to snap Kallis put an end to the threatening stand. When Ryder sliced Agarkar straight to third man in the next over, and Robin Uthappa slogged one to deep midwicket right after the time-out, Bangalore had lost three in three overs to concede the advantage.


Barring McCullum's acrobatic effort, Kolkata were, yet again, poor in the field, missing attempts to run out both Taylor and Rahul Dravid, giving one a chance to regain some much-needed form, and the other to play the supporting role with flair. The game began to slip from Kolkata's grasp when Taylor spoilt Murali Kartik's figures with two sixes in his final over. The talking point for Kolkata has been the puzzling absence of Mashrafe Mortaza and the experienced Charl Langeveldt. The travails of Angelo Matthews - who was struck for three fours in an over by Taylor - provided more fodder for criticism.


With 55 needed off 30, and seven wickets in hand, Bangalore held the cards but Dravid's scoop back to Mendis in a miserly 16th over added another twist to the see-saw game. Taylor, though, was unflustered, smacking two fours off Ajit Agarkar to reach his half-century, and combined with Mark Boucher, who pulled a no-ball for six, to take 19 off Ishant's final over.


Agarkar's reliability at the death has been questionable throughout his career and he failed his team, gifting two full-tosses to Taylor in the penultimate over, one smashed over midwicket and the other over long-on. The Bangalore batsmen were fed with full-length balls, which they promptly dealt with, proving decisive in the outcome. Mathews provided the fitting end, delivering another full toss, symbolically dismissed by Taylor for six over square leg to end the game and keep his team in the running for a semi-final berth.


Taylor's blitz spoilt an excellent innings from Kolkata's struggling captain, who fought through a patchy phase to take a backseat to the aggressive Hussey, and then changed gears following the Australian's dismissal to hand his team its most satisfying batting performance of the season. The burden of captaincy had proved too hard to bear for McCullum, and had affected his own performance adversely. He remained guarded for much of his innings, after he lost Sourav Ganguly and Arindam Ghosh early on, providing a glimpse of his more conventional side to batting, compared to the raw aggression that has typified his style. The boundaries kept coming, mostly of Hussey's bat, but the feature of the partnership, apart from the two contrasting approaches by each batsman, was the wave of singles and twos that avoided any dip in scoring despite the two early setbacks.


The roles changed once Mathews, the Sri Lankan allrounder, walked in. McCullum switched to his natural mode of play, stepping out to dispatch Kumble, and smashing Akhil for two sixes, bringing up his first fifty in ten innings. The cherry was a burst of three successive fours - two paddle-scoops and one contemptuous pull - off R Vinay Kumar which took his team to a competitive score.


Kolkata, despite being knocked out, still have a significant role to play as their remaining games could well determine who finishes in the final four. However, their tendency to lose, even from winning positions, reinforced their unfortunate status as the tournament's punching bag.

Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians, IPL, Centurion
 

Dazzling Bravo hands Mumbai big win

May 12, 2009

Mumbai Indians 122 for 2 (Bravo 70*, Tendulkar 41*) beat Kings XI Punjab 119 for 9 (Sohal 43, Duminy 2-15) by 8 wickets

For the second time in two meetings between these teams, Kings XI Punjab batted first and scored 119, but unlike the game in Durban, there was no redemption in the field this time as Mumbai Indians swept to an eight-wicket win to move up to 11 points and fourth in the points table. The win was set up by Mumbai's offspinners - Harbhajan Singh, JP Duminy and Ajinkya Rahane returned combined figures of 4 for 29 in nine overs to launch a stunning comeback. Dwayne Bravo ensured a hiccup-free run-chase with a magnificent unbeaten 70 in an innings full of expansive drives and pulls.

Mahela Jayawardene's absence due to a leg injury sustained during the previous game hit Punjab badly: not only did they miss his calm presence in the middle order, it also meant there were six left-handers in the top eight, since his replacement was Luke Pommersbach. That suited Sachin Tendulkar's offspin theory perfectly, and Punjab didn't help their cause with some reckless shot-making and brainless running between the wickets.

After the first five overs, though, it seemed this match would be a run-fest just like the previous one of the day, when Ross Taylor's heroics had lit up Centurion. Punjab rattled along to 50 off a mere 32 balls, with Sunny Sohal (43 off 23) plundering boundaries at will, either shuffling across his stumps to flick to leg, or giving himself room to carve sixes over point. Soon, though, Harbhajan came into the attack, beat Kumar Sangakkara with his first three deliveries, and from there Punjab had little to cheer as Tendulkar quickly latched on to the offspin theory.

Coming in to bowl in the eighth over, Harbhajan immediately settled into a magnificent rhythm. Bowling from round the stumps to the left-handers, he flighted the ball, got it to drift in, and the spin away sharply. Sangakkara was clueless off the first three deliveries, and then lost that contest comprehensively when he played all over one from Harbhajan's next over.

Duminy was soon pressed into the attack, and he responded with two strikes in his second over, first getting Wilkin Mota to hoick one to Harbhajan, who juggled repeatedly before holding on, and Yuvraj Singh, who paid the price for hitting against the turn. The twin offspin success prompted Tendulkar to try Ajinkya Rahane, and that move paid off too, as Pommersbach played a rash head-in-the-air shot that typified Punjab's approach.

In between all the spin trouble, Punjab contributed to their own downfall with some extremely sloppy running between the wickets. Mota gave it away with one such effort, making no effort to get back into his crease when Tendulkar misfielded at midwicket.

The bowlers had done much more than had been expected of them, and Bravo and Tendulkar ensured the run-chase would be a canter. Punjab nailed a couple of wickets - including that of Sanath Jayasuriya - to give them some initial hope, but Bravo, who survived a tough caught-and-bowled chance off Irfan Pathan early in his innings, ended the momentary high with a fearsome assault on Sreesanth which turned the momentum completely Mumbai's way.

Only 14 had come off the first four overs when Sreesanth came into the attack, and Bravo duly seized the opportunity, pulling him for four, straight-driving and flicking him over long-on for two glorious sixes, and then flicking through midwicket for another four as the over leaked 21.

Tendulkar soon joined in the fun, dropping down to No.4 and playing himself back into form after a run of low scores. The spinners caused a few problems, but Bravo trusted his footwork, going down the pitch and striking Yuvraj for a straight six. Piyush Chawla spun a few past the bat, Brett Lee bowled a fiery spell and tested the batsmen with pace and bounce - Bravo copped one on the helmet late in his innings - but with such a paltry target before them, the batsmen were never under any pressure. Tendulkar carved a few slog-sweeps through and over midwicket, Bravo finished it off with a spanking pull shot, and Mumbai ended the evening feeling much better about their semi-final chances than they had when they began the match.

Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils, IPL, Durban
 

Canny Bhatia steals one for Delhi

May 13, 2009

Delhi Daredevils 173 for 7 (Karthik 44*, de Villiers 44, Ojha 2-26) beat Deccan Chargers 161 (Gilchrist 64, Symonds 41, Bhatia 4-15, Sangwan 3-18) by 12 runs

Rajat Bhatia, arguably the best allrounder in India's domestic cricket, announced himself on the world stage tonight. Everything about Bhatia, his pace, his demeanour, his run-up, suggest an innocuous medium-pacer, but he was canny and deadly at the death, taking four wickets for four runs as Deccan Chargers choked to lose once again to Delhi Daredevils. Chasing 174 Deccan needed 25 in three overs, with six wickets in hand, but lost them all for just 12 runs.

When Bhatia came to bowl his final spell, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds had almost hit Delhi Daredevils into submission. After Gilchrist's powerful 33-ball 64, Symonds had chased smartly, mixing the big sixes with chipped couples. Twenty-five from 18 looked as innocuous as Bhatia is reputed to be, but when Symonds was tricked by a slower one from Bhatia things became interesting.

Dwayne Smith was fooled by a slow legcutter two balls later, and the game had turned. A big choke followed as Venugopal Rao gloved an Ashish Nehra bouncer next over, and RP Singh ran himself out after failing to get bat to another bouncer. Soon Deccan found themselves needing 14 off the last over, and Bhatia was accurate with his slower balls again, removing Pragyan Ojha and Shoaib Maqsusi.

It was a night when Delhi's domestic bowlers undid two Australian heavyweights. That Delhi could entertain hopes of winning the match despite the amazing hitting was thanks to the 18-year-old Pradeep Sangwan. When Sangwan came on to bowl, Deccan had raced to 30 in two overs. Sangwan removed T Suman in his first over, and claimed Rohit Sharma in his second, which was a maiden as well. Deccan scored 50 in the Powerplays, despite only three runs off two Sangwan overs.

If Sangwan seemed to be playing a different game from his colleagues, Gilchrist wasn't too far off that either. Unlike Delhi's domestic players, Deccan were hampered by their domestic batsmen who seemed to be caught in the headlights. By the strategy break, Gilchrist had peppered the leg-side boundary with five sixes between long-on and square-leg, scoring 63 from 31. Others - Suman, Rohit, Ravi Teja and extras - contributed 20.

It was Sangwan again who struck after that time-out, getting rid of Gilchrist with a yorker outside off, which the batsman played on. Still Gilchrist left the chase in able hands, Symonds, who came in at a surprisingly low No. 5. Right from the off, Symonds showed he was in great touch, hammering sixes and finding gaps in the field nonchalantly. With Delhi's main bowlers bowled out, the chase seemed in the firm control of Symonds, until Bhatia struck out of the blue.
Dinesh Karthik's blitz earlier in the day was not so out of the blue, yet it was surprising that he should provide Delhi the impetus. With Virender Sehwag back, the batting line-up looked imposing, and Gilchrist chose to take the bull by the horns by sending Delhi in.

His bowlers answered the call, his fielders didn't, dropping three of their destructive batsmen. Chaminda Vaas got David Warner in his first over (Sehwag batted at No. 5) with a slower offcutter. RP should have extended his lead as the holder of the purple cap when he got Tillakaratne Dilshan to lob one straight to Rohit at gully. Straight out it came, and Dilshan punished Deccan after that.

Two more catches were dropped: AB de Villiers' by Teja when he was seven, and a first-baller from Sehwag by Symonds. Although Sehwag didn't hurt Deccan enough, Dilshan did severe damage and de Villiers capitalised as well.

de Villiers went on to score 44, but got out just before he could cut loose towards the final few overs. Dilshan, however, punished Shoaib Maqsusi. Inside the Powerplays, Dilshan scooped him for a four and a six in consecutive deliveries, and managed two more boundaries down the ground in what was tied with the most expensive over of the tournament, at 24 runs.

Vaas came pretty close of ridding his team-mate of the dubious honour, when he went for 23 in the last over of the innings. Karthik, who smote an unbeaten 23-ball 44, hit him for two huge sixes into the on side and a pleasing four over extra cover. Vaas added five wides from his side.

Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL
 

Bangalore sneak home in thriller

May 14, 2009

Royal Challengers Bangalore 132 for 8 (Taylor 46, Kohli 38) beat Chennai Super Kings 129 (Hayden 60, Kumble 2-12) by two wickets

Royal Bangalore Challengers beat Chennai Super Kings with two balls and two wickets to spare to keep alive their semi-final hopes in a match that swung - rather, careened - between the sides.

Needing 130 to win, after Chennai's lower-order capitulation following Matthew Hayden's 38-ball 60, it seemed Bangalore would sail through. But by the end of the Powerplays, struggling at 33 for 3, the semi-final looked a distant dream. Ross Taylor then played a mature innings, unlike his attacking one against Kolkata Knight Riders, taking on the anchor role while Virat Kohli hunted for boundaries. The match had swung in Bangalore's favour at the end of the 19th over, largely because of a six from Praveen Kumar that left them needing just five off the last.

Taylor nearly undid his efforts by stepping out and wildly swinging at a shorter delivery from Jacob Oram only to get the top edge, which was caught by Dhoni running back halfway to the boundary. Praveen was joined by Vinay Kumar at the crease, with the equation now a run-a-ball. Praveen took a single off his first ball; Vinay Kumar flicked the next to wide of midwicket and the batsmen scrambled two. There was more drama to follow as Vinay Kumar, using a runner, cut the next ball to backward point and L Balaji misfielded after diving at the boundary. Bangalore were unsure if they had got four and the batsmen, after taking a single, pushed off for one more, before a sheepish Balaji signalled a boundary and the end of the game.

Though the climax was thrilling, Bangalore will know they made a meal of the chase after their bowlers had bowled Chennai out for an under-par total. They started badly but should have never let it get to the final over.

Albie Morkel struck in the second ball of the innings, trapping Jacques Kallis leg before for a duck though replays suggested Kallis was hit just outside the off stump. Rahul Dravid looked in good nick, driving Morkel behind square for a four and then cutting Sudeep Tyagi to third-man boundary. But when he tried to repeat the shot in the next ball, he misjudged the bounce and popped a catch to S Badrinath to backward point. Tyagi's next over went for 11 runs but Morkel, who had conceded three runs in his second, struck in his third: Robin Uthappa was trapped by one that came in and hit him on middle and leg. Morkel, like Kallis, bowled his quota on the trot, finishing with 2 for 13. He varied his length and the new batsmen - Kohli and Taylor - cautious after the early collapse, chose not to take any risks.

Kohli and Taylor collected the runs through singles. Kohli did cut and sweep the spinners for fours but couldn't beat the fielders when driving down the ground. The two added ten more than MS Dhoni and Hayden had managed - 20 - between the Powerplay and the strategy break.

Kohli survived a chance in the 13th over, when he hit Murali for four over mid-on and just out of reach of Hayden, who had run in to take the catch. The over turned into a tug of war between bat and ball after that; Murali followed the four with three dot balls - two of which beat Kohli - after which Kohli charged down the track and hit a six over midwicket. Another big six off Jakati in the next over pushed their run-rate over six. But just as Bangalore looked to be steadying their innings, Chennai yanked the mat from under their feet with two wickets in the space of six balls. Kohli pulled a short ball from Balaji over midwicket and Oram ran in from the boundary to take a tumbling catch. Mark Boucher then missed the doosra by Murali and edged a catch to Hayden at slip. Murali gave away only two runs in that over which also featured an un-Twenty20 field for the final two balls: a slip, short leg and leg gully were in place for the new batsman Roelof van der Merwe.

With Taylor and van der Merwe at the crease Bangalore held the initiative. But that slipped from their grasp with an unnecessary move from van der Merwe: after Taylor pulled Balaji for a six over midwicket, the two batsmen took a single only to see an overthrow go past them. Van der Merwe was late on the second run would still have made the crease at a stretch. However, he ran in sluggishly, not grounding his bat and was run out.


Bangalore live to bat another day but they'll have to work on it in the meanwhile. As will Chennai, who just imploded towards the end of the innings. Chennai crossed 100 in the 13th over but managed only 28 more in the next seven.


However the collapse was triggered by some tight bowling by Bangalore in the middle overs. Kallis were chiefly responsible for staunching the run flow with Kallis taking a two wickets in consecutive overs, including a maiden one.

Hayden had power-hit Chennai to 52 in the Powerplay overs and then looked to consolidate the score with Dhoni. Vinay Kumar and Praveen went for 28 runs in their first two overs as Hayden messed up their lengths by stepping out and swatting them over the fielders for boundaries. The run-rate was over nine an over even after the loss of two wickets but things began to crumble with Dhoni's fall. Dhoni tried going for a big shot but van der Merwe pulled off a stunning catch off his own bowling by diving to his wrong side. The fall of wickets hadn't affected Hayden's batting - he launched van der Merwe for a six over his head one ball after Dhoni's wicket - but he fell in the next over by Kumble, when he mistimed a pull and was caught by at the boundary by Vinay Kumar. After that, the other bowlers joined in tightening that noose: van der Merwe conceded three in his final over, B Akhil two off his first, Vinay Kumar and Praveen picked up a wicket each, while Kumble ended S Badrinath's agonising nine-ball stay.


In the end a few more runs lower down the order could have meant Bangalore's exit from the tournament.

Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Durban
 

Cool Rajasthan take humdinger

May 14, 2009

Rajasthan Royals 145 for 7 (Quiney 51, Jadeja 42, Jayasuriya 2-3) beat Mumbai Indians 143 (Tendulkar 40, Nayar 35, Warne 3-24) by two runs

The spectators at Kingsmead were treated to yet another humdinger as the Rajasthan Royals prevailed by two runs in a see-saw encounter with the Mumbai Indians. Rajasthan were in control of the game for 14 overs before Sachin Tendulkar and Abhishek Nayar opened out and gave Mumbai hope. It all came down to the final over when Mumbai needed four runs but a combination of some incredible death bowling by Munaf Patel and panic running resulted in three wickets, incredible scenes and a third-place spot for Rajasthan.

When Nayar made room and lofted Johan Botha over deep extra cover in the penultimate over, Mumbai - who battled required rates crossing nine an over - suddenly needed six off nine deliveries. The following delivery, Nayar played all around a yorker, lost sight of the ball and ambled out of his crease, only to be run out by the keeper. The dismissal was as untimely as Mumbai's revival, which came a little too late and resulted in a last-minute scramble for the required runs.

Munaf had leaked 14 off his previous over but Warne was brave enough to toss the ball back to him for the final over. Munaf beat Dhawal Kulkarni off the first ball and then slipped in a yorker to trap him lbw. Chetanya Nanda pushed the third, a full toss, to mid-off but perished to a direct hit. That put Harbhajan Singh back on strike but he could only squeeze a single off the next ball. Three were needed off two balls when Lasith Malinga took strike but yet another suicidal single, this time to cover, closed out the match.

It took a good 15 overs for the chase to actually come alive. Mumbai were kept on a tight leash by some excellent restrictive bowling by Rajasthan, particularly the slower bowlers. The duo of Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar - with 20 years of experience behind them - were silenced, to the extent that they had to settle for singles and an array of dot balls when the situation demanded at least a boundary every over to keep with the rising asking rate.

Much of that had to do with the early loss of wickets. At 23 for 3, Mumbai looked to their most explosive pair to give the innings a shove but the ball somehow just didn't find the boundary. The spinners were spot on target, varied their pace and slipped in the odd yorker. The boundary drought lasted 45 balls, before Tendulkar chipped down the track and lofted Warne over extra cover.

Jayasuriya tried to break free by slog sweeping the spinners but those heaves met thin air. When he connected, the ball ballooned off the bottom half of his pad and skied to short midwicket where Yusuf Pathan took a diving catch. JP Duminy barely had enough time to settle in before he chopped one from Siddarth Trivedi onto his stumps. It was a smart bowling change by Warne, who decided to bring in a seamer after Tendulkar charged Yusuf and carted him over long-on for a massive six. The anxiety levels in the Rajasthan camp shot up when Tendulkar slammed Ravindra Jadeja down the ground for three consecutive boundaries.

Warne let out a war cry when he trapped Tendulkar fell lbw trying to sweep him but the game was far from over, at least in Nayar's mind. With a stance as imposing Lance Klusener, he took his left leg out of the way to mow Botha for consecutive fours over the on side and the following over, he did the same to Munaf. The equation had come down close to a run-a-ball before panic set in.

There were doubts as to whether Rajasthan had made enough especially after Rob Quiney and Jadeja had given the innings the impetus with a stand of 61 in six overs. Rajasthan Royals' shoddy batting effort against Deccan Chargers demanded a few changes at the top of the order and Quiney responded positively to his recall to the side in place of the inconsistent Swapnil Asnodkar. In his earlier games, Quiney often made starts, only to throw it away. Tonight, he seemed determined to stay at the wicket and play the dominant role in the stand with Jadeja, who matched Quiney in his powerful shots over the on side.

The spinners had held the initiative with some tight bowling to pressurize the top order but the pair chose attack as the best form of defence. Between overs 12 and 15, Rajasthan managed 50 runs and the batsman who started the domination was Jadeja, who cut Harbhajan past point and slog swept over the on side. Quiney was particularly strong over the onside, slog sweeping Duminy high over deep square-leg before tonking Bravo for 19 in an over. The power behind his strokes stood out as he sent the ball sailing at least half a dozen rows back.

An excellent legstump yorker by Malinga sent back Quiney for 51 and after his departure, the runs dried up. Rajasthan managed only 22 off the last five overs and lost three wickets in the final over of the innings, bowled by Jayasuriya. Mumbai also lost three wickets in the final over of their innings but it was Rajasthan who had the last laugh.

Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab, IPL, Bloemfontein
 

Cool Sangakkara takes Punjab to victory

May 15, 2009

Kings XI Punjab 123 for 4 (Sangakkara 43*) beat Delhi Daredevils 120 for 9 (Karthik 32, Lee 3-15, Sreesanth 2-20) by six wickets

For the first time in what has been a mediocre campaign, the Kings XI Punjab arrived at the ground with three words carved in their minds: find a way. Yuvraj Singh, with his team in a do-or-die scenario, decided on fielding first on an obscure track and his bowlers vindicated that, limiting Delhi Daredevils to 120. They nearly muffed up a small chase, losing early wickets in a chaotic first six overs and then struggling after the strategic time-out, but yet again Kumar Sangakkara's level-headedness and Irfan Pathan's clutch hitting came up trumps. Delhi failed to hold it together defending a poor total, but can still make the semis even if they don't win any of their remaining games.

The side clinging on for hope before the semi-finals played with grit, while the one on song with near-flawless performances this season turned in a poor display. Brett Lee handed Virender Sehwag another poor score, Sreesanth dismissed Delhi's most consistent pair, and Lee returned with an inestimable wicket-maiden 17th over to help set up an achievable chase.

If any Delhi batsman needed time at the crease ahead of the semi-finals, it was Sehwag, but he again fell cheaply, ticking a short Lee delivery down the leg side. Sehwag has yet to cross 38 in this tournament - and seven innings have added up to only 107 runs. In the next over, Gautam Gambhir steered the ball to deep backward point but didn't run the first one hard enough and was done in by a good throw.

With two wickets from four matches at 69.50 at an economy rate of 10.69, coming into this match, you could have said Sreesanth was lucky to get another chance. But he was on top of his game today with four tidy overs of nippy medium pace that accounted for AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Sreesanth got his act together by hitting probing lines and finding just the hint of swing needed to keep the batsmen guessing, and though he didn't have further success, the damage had been done.

Punjab kept a check on proceedings during the Powerplay, allowing only four boundaries, one of which was down to poor fielding by Lee at third man. Dinesh Karthik and Mithun Manhas strung together a 50-run partnership but neither was allowed to cause much damage. The 17th over was priceless for Punjab, during which Lee had Farveez Maharoof ducking, slashing and fishing before knocking him over. Lee picked up his third wicket with the first ball of the penultimate over and finished with 3 for 15. He bowled fast, bent the ball back on a couple occasions, and offered the batsmen nothing. It was just what his captain would've expected given Punjab's predicament.

Then their chase began frenetically and an upset seemed likely. In between two tidy overs that cost just four runs Simon Katich plundered 18 off six balls from Pradeep Sangwan. Maharoof dismissed him with his first ball, only to serve up three no-balls in a 13-run over. Ashish Nehra bowled Sunny Sohal for 3, after which Gambhir let off Yuvraj Singh at slip. Maharoof roped in his line and had Luke Pomersbach caught splendidly by de Villiers, who replaced Gambhir at slip.

Delhi only allowed one more four before the strategic break, with Nehra returning frugal figures of 4-1-6-1. This was Nehra's best spell all tournament, one based on an asphyxiating back-of-a-length line. He is now tied first with 16 wickets.

From needing 71 from the last ten overs, Sangakkara whittled it down to 44 from 36. He leaned heavily on reserves of patience he's showed before in this IPL, chalking out which bowlers to go for and what areas to target. His bat came down to cut the wide deliveries with clinical precision. With Daniel Vettori wheeling through his first three overs and only giving 11, Punjab needed to find a loose over. They got two. Sangakkara made room to chip Rajat Bhatia repeatedly over the off side, or slap the ball through the arc between point and gully for ones and twos. Bhatia's two overs cost 19 and that helped Punjab immensely.

The equation was 35 from 30 balls when Sangwan came back for the 16th over. Yuvraj failed to connect on the first three balls, drove two down the ground, and then slapped the fifth straight to point. That two-run wicket over was followed up by just three in Bhatia's third, and now Punjab were sweating.

Step up Irfan. Sangwan choked, and a half-tracker and full toss were duly dumped for sixes. That made it 42 from four overs for Sangwan, criminal when defending a small total. From ten an over required, the asking rate was now seven and a half. Maharoof chipped in with two wides, then craned his neck as Irfan clubbed another six. Having done so well between overs nine and seventeen, Delhi lost the plot. Irfan's 21 from 11 balls proved immense.

Punjab came to Bloemfontein needing a win, and they've done that. It is one massive step in the right direction.

Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians, IPL, Port Elizabeth
 

Hayden struggles, but pushes Chennai over the line

May 16, 2009

Chennai Super Kings 151 for 3 (Hayden 60*) beat Mumbai Indians 147 for 5 (Duminy 62, Nayar 33*, Jayasuriya 30) by seven wickets

Some of the most bizarre stats you will ever see in Twenty20 games added excitement to the chase, but in the end Chennai Super Kings pushed Mumbai Indians out of the tournament - barring even more bizarre permutations later on. Chasing 148 Matthew Hayden had scored at various points in his innings 5 off 16, 9 off 23, and 20 off 33. His first boundary came off the 34th ball he faced (better believe all this), but he hung in till the end as Mumbai lost yet another close game after having bowled exceptionally well in the first half of their defence. Chennai now are formalities short of making it to the semi-finals.

One of the litmus tests of exceptional players is how well they do when they are performing below themselves. Hayden passed that test today. The Mumbai bowlers were effective in keeping him down, especially Lasith Malinga and Dwayne Bravo who set the tone, not giving him the length balls at all. In their first spells Malinga and Bravo bowled 11 balls to Hayden for just one run. But for a wide, Malinga even bowled a maiden. He also took Parthiv Patel's wicket first ball, the 10th time a wicket has fallen to the first ball of an innings in this IPL.

It would have been easy then for Hayden to try something outrageous to either hit out or get out. But he swallowed his ego, waited for his opportunities. How he looked during the struggle didn't seem to matter. Following Malinga and Bravo, Harbhajan Singh and JP Duminy kept it tight too, giving away 21 in overs 7 to 10.

At the strategy time-out Chennai needed 92. S Badrinath gave them a six in the first over after, but he fell in the same over. And Hayden went back to the grind again. Finally, in the 13th over, Hayden hit a four, off a short one from Chetanya Nanda, and then three more to never let the asking-rate cross 10. He got good support from MS Dhoni, who scored 23 off 22, and ran superbly between the wickets.

That the win came with five balls to go takes away from how close the teams were. They needed 27 off the last three overs when Harbhajan was brought back. A sloppy throw from Yogesh Takawale meant Hayden retained the strike, and Hayden hit a six next ball to provide the final twist. That six took him to 51 off 51, 31 runs coming off the last 18 balls. Now we're talking.

Mumbai, who have become the embodiment of "so near and yet so far", will look back at the final few overs of both innings as the ones that made the difference. Duminy, their most consistent batsman this season, got to his IPL best, but the Mumbai batsmen couldn't get the big hits then that would have taken the total from the realms of the competitive to the challenging. At 105 for 3 after 16 overs, they looked primed for a big assault, but could manage just 42 more, and 16 of them in the last two.

In a must-win game for Mumbai, Jayasuriya had answered the call early. A move up the order seemed to have worked. After two quiet overs the vintage Jayasuriya was on display, short-arm-jabbing fours and sixes to the leg side, and lofting a six over point. But just when it seemed one of those famous Jayasuriya innings that end the match in the first quarter itself was on, he skied one from Sudeep Tyagi, but not before he had put the Mumbai innings on its way. In two overs, the score went from 16 for 1 to 49 for 2, and Jayasuriya went from 2 off 7 to 30 off 17.

Duminy capitalised on that start, setting Mumbai up, despite tight bowling by spinners in the middle overs and the loss of Sachin Tendulkar in the 11th over for the second time this tournament. Abhishek Nayar and Duminy batted sensibly till the 16th over, adding 31 in the next 5.1 overs. In the 17th over, Duminy, who had until then relied mainly on his exceptional running between the wickets to get 35 off 40, opened up, but a smart 19th over from L Balaji robbed them of the momentum. Chennai scored 30 off the last 13 balls they faced, Mumbai 17.

Rohit breaks Kolkata hearts

May 16, 2009

Deccan Chargers 166 for 4 (Gilchrist 43) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 160 for 5 (Hodge 48, Hussey 43) by six wickets

A day of great political change in Bengal, with three decades of Communist domination coming to a dramatic end, was almost matched on the field by the team from Kolkata - almost but, yet again, not enough to end the Knight Riders' losing streak. They have lost several close games this season, but few have been as heart-breaking as this last-ball defeat against the Deccan Chargers, where in an incredible final over Mashrafe Mortaza went into meltdown and Rohit Sharma slammed the 21 runs to script a sensational victory. The success gives Deccan a boost in the intense scrap for the semi-final places, lifting them to third place with 14 points.

It was a match filled with talking points but none more so than the no-ball called on the first ball of the final over of the match with Kolkata deemed to have only three fielders in the circle. Brendon McCullum was livid with the umpire but, after lengthy discussions between him and the umpires, the decision stood. It had been hit for four past square leg as well, which meant that Deccan needed only 16 off the over, far more gettable than the initial 21.

The expensively acquired Mortaza, getting his first game of the tournament after an increasing clamour for his inclusion, kept the batsmen to two off the next two deliveries before giving the game away. A full toss on middle stump was swiped over midwicket for one of the biggest sixes of the tournament, and then there was a wide. Seven needed off three.

Rohit coolly punched one to long-on for two, then crashed the next ball wide of cover for four. One needed off the last ball, and Rohit completed the turnaround in high style pulling it for six to leave Mortaza with the unflattering figures of 4-0-58-0.

It undid all the good work of the previous two overs, when Kolkata relentlessly built up an advantage. Mortaza himself gave away only seven runs in the 18th and dismissed danger man Andrew Symonds with an agile run out. Ajit Agarkar, who had gifted away Kolkata's previous game, was also superb, with a mix of yorkers and low full tosses that Deccan found hard to get underneath.

It hadn't seemed that it would get this close when Adam Gilchrist provided Deccan his customary blistering start, swinging sixes over midwicket and peppering the off-side boundaries as well. The introduction of spin stemmed the runs, with Murali Kartik troubling the batsmen with his sharp turn and bounce. The part-timers Brad Hodge and David Hussey also put the squeeze on, and after Gilchrist holed out in the 10th over, the asking-rate started steadily spiraling upwards, till Rohit's heroics settled the matter.

It had been a cameo almost as incandescent as Rohit's that lifted Kolkata towards a defendable score. When Hussey walked out after 14.5 overs, Kolkata had plodded along to 85 for 2. He hurtled to a 17-ball 43 which nearly doubled their total by the end.

There was an over almost as dramatic as Mashrafe's final one when Deccan were bowling as well. The penultimate over was started off by RP Singh, who was forced out of the attack after sending down two above waist-high full tosses and just one legitimate delivery. Eight had already been taken off the over but worse was to follow when Harmeet Singh was brought on to complete it. Hussey swatted a short ball for four, then collected a couple of hard-run twos, before bludgeoning two sixes to round off the over. Twenty-eight came off it, the most expensive one of the tournament.

Despite Hussey's efforts, Kolkata only reached a middling 160 because of the go-slow of the earlier batsmen. Hodge and Sourav Ganguly couldn't get any sort of momentum going after the McCullum dismissal in the fifth over, only 25 runs coming in the six overs before the strategic break.

Ganguly, in particular, had a torrid time. One of his signature strokes during his high noon was the dance down the track to deposit the left-arm spinner over long-on. He attempted that shot off Pragyan Ojha's first over; not only did he miss the ball, he was struck a painful blow to the groin, and spent a few moments on his knees to get his breath back.

There was a controversial moment in the seventh over, when he stuck out his left hand to stop the ball as he was completing a single. Deccan appealed for 'obstructing the field' and when it was turned down, they were not too pleased with the decision, Gilchrist letting the umpire S Ravi know that the throw had been heading for the stumps.

At the other end, Hodge wasn't at his best either, only able to knock around the singles, and was especially uncomfortable against the spinners. Ganguly tried to get a move on after the time-out, but his struggle continued before the misery ended when he found the fielder at long-off in the 15th over. Hodge managed to string together some fours before Hussey's frenetic intervention, but a nerveless Rohit consigned them to another defeat.

Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab, IPL, Johannesburg
 

Punjab hang on after thriller

May 17, 2009

Kings XI Punjab 134 for 7 (Sangakkara 52, RP Singh 3-26) beat Deccan Chargers 133 for 8 (Rohit 42, Yuvraj 3-13) by 1 run

Kings XI Punjab lived to see another day in the IPL after a tremendous bowling effort - highlighted by Yuvraj Singh's second hat-trick of the tournament - gave them a one-run win over the Deccan Chargers off the last ball of the game. Rohit Sharma played yet another crucial innings for Deccan but Punjab fought back valiantly after a poor batting performance.

Adam Gilchrist had given Deccan a brisk start of 30 in three overs. But Ramesh Powar's entry into the attack turned things around. Powar took two in two in his first over and the scoring rate dropped considerably. But Deccan were still ahead of the required run-rate in the 12th over when Yuvraj struck with Gibbs' wicket. He returned in the 14th to take two more and after that Deccan were playing catch-up.

They needed 43 off 18 when Rohit hit two sixes and a four off Wilkin Mota to bring Deccan back in the game. Fourteen off the next over meant Deccan needed 11 off the final. Irfan Pathan, who went for 18 in his first over, was handed the ball. Rohit got an edge to go for four off the second and Pathan followed with a wide. Four needed off the last three: Rohit tried to hit to midwicket and was bowled, RP Singh survived one ball before top-edging the next to Pathan. Needing four of the final ball, Ryan Harris hit it to the off side and Brett Lee fumbled in the pick-up but Harris was never interested in the unlikely third run that would give Punjab the tie. Now Deccan have to win their next game against the Bangalore Royal Challengers to have any hope of reaching the semi-final.


Powar's introduction worked as an antidote to Pathan's horror first over - Gilchrist pulled a short and wide one for four, hit a fuller ball for six over midwicket, drove an over-pitched delivery between point and cover for four before flicking another boundary to fine leg. Gilchrist leapt out of the crease to the first ball, pitched outside leg, looking to hit it over midwicket. But it turned sharply towards off stump and he was too far down the track to make his way back. T Suman, the new batsman, also stepped out of the crease and completely missed the line to be bowled. Andrew Symonds faced the hat-trick ball and lofted it over mid-on for a four, though he didn't middle it.

The other bowlers chipped in to increase the pressure. Sreesanth bowled full and straight; Piyush Chawla struggled to get his length right, bowling too full, but didn't go for too many runs; Powar flighted the ball and got big turn which the batsmen weren't willing to take risks against after the first two wickets. Even then Deccan had the better chance. But it all turned pear-shaped for them after the strategy break. Chawla held on to a diving catch from Gibbs off the last ball of Yuvraj's second over. Then in the first ball of this third, Yuvraj drew Symonds out of the crease and Kumar Sangakkara effected an excellent stumping after fumbling with the ball. Deccan were 79 for 4, needing 56 off 41 balls. Venugopal Rao faced up to the hat-trick ball - a flat arm ball just outside off - and let it go just to see it bowl him. To make things worse, Deccan didn't score a boundary between overs 7 and 14. Yuvraj finished with 3 for 13 and then Pathan made up for his first over with only two in his second and held his nerve in the final one after Rohit had brought Deccan back into contention.

Punjab's batting was in contrast to their inspired bowling as the top-order batsmen threw their wickets away and then some tight bowling from Deccan meant only 17 were taken off the last three overs. At the end of ten overs Punjab were struggling at 55 for 4. The spinners exploited the early collapse and worked over the batsmen by bowling full and using flight to dry up the runs. Sangakkara played it out patiently and made do with singles till there were short and wide deliveries to go after. Rohit provided those in the 15th over that went for 16 runs. Sangakkara cut the first two for fours and paddled the third to fine-leg for three. After that over, Sangakkara went on the attack; Punjab crossed 100 in the 16th.

In the end it was contest between the bowlers of the two sides and Punjab's prevailed.

Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Bloemfontein
 

Delhi outclass Rajasthan in revenge win

May 17, 2009

Delhi Daredevils 150 for 3 (de Villiers 79*, Dilshan 33) beat Rajasthan Royals 136 for 9 (Botha 37, Mishra 3-33) by 14 runs

Riding some momentum the Rajasthan Royals came to Bloemfontein to face the side they beat in the second week of the tournament to start an amazing turnaround. As it turned out, there was no positive carryover effect in a 14-run loss to the Delhi Daredevils. In a pressure game they needed to win, Rajasthan let the early momentum slip with two drops and a missed run-out chance, lost three early wickets during a stiff chase and will rue allowing Delhi score heavily at the end of their innings.

They now need to beat the Kolkata Knight Riders soundly in their final league game. If they don't manage that the race for a semi-final spot shifts to net run-rates, and hoping some of the other teams slip up.

In a match when the ball jagged and spun past the bat more often than it hit the middle - largely down to a sporting pitch that assisted pace and spin - two crucial hands allowed Delhi to recover from the loss of their openers. Munaf Patel appeared to have it figured from the first over, keeping it straight and on a length to get rid of the dangerous duo of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag in his second but returned to bowl a horror 19th over after Rajasthan's support cast disappointed. From 15 for 2 a resourceful 87-run stand between AB de Villiers, who read the conditions excellently, and Tillakaratne Dilshan buttressed Delhi to a competitive total. And therein lay the difference between a reasonable total and a winning one.

Delhi's innings gradually changed character when Rajasthan's second-choice bowlers came on. The pitch was slow and Shane Warne set attacking fields for the first ten overs, so all that was needed was for de Villiers and Dilshan to perforate the field consistently. The loose offerings weren't spared - Siddharth Trivedi strangely dropped it short and wide when the pitch was demanding of a fuller length - and both batsmen slapped fours off his only over.

As Warne brought Johan Botha and himself on for spin, de Villiers and Dilshan resorted to common-sense cricket. Balls were knocked in the gaps, the cross-batted shots were shunned and the score ticked over mainly with singles and doubles. Both employed the late dabs effectively and their ability to scamper between the wickets hurt Rajasthan. It wasn't smooth sailing, though, as Warne got plenty of turn from a slow track and Botha mixed flight and speed in a tidy spell.

de Villiers, not one for subtlety, bided his time and played himself in - much as the game's situation demanded despite this being a Twenty20. Leading the partnership going into the ten-over break, he turned a tad more urgent after it, reaching out to edge Warne for three and taking Ravindra Jadeja and Abhishek Raut for first-ball fours off the back foot.

Dilshan, always more comfortable against spin, continued to cut and flick after being dropped on 16 off Botha. Botha had his revenge in the 17th over, locating the fuller length which Munaf had so brilliantly tapped, but the damage had been done.

de Villiers' aptitude for regular rescue jobs came in handy while Dinesh Karthik walked into the hot seat and immediately connected. de Villiers prospered from a drop at mid-on when 57, a thick outside edge two runs later, and a poor collection from the wicketkeeper, and starred in the most expensive over of the innings - the 19th. That 25-run over aided an excellent 48-run stand in 20 balls. Impressively - and importantly for Delhi's middle order going into the semis - de Villiers batted through to the end too.

Warne was quite disappointed at losing the toss and would've been peeved at allowing Delhi 20 too many. Where Rajasthan's butterfingered catchers reprieved Delhi's anchormen, Delhi's boundary patrollers held crucial early catches. In the second over Graeme Smith was well held on the second attempt by a juggling Aavishkar Salvi at third man, and in the next Dirk Nannes jumped up to hold Rob Quiney's pull at fine leg. After six overs Rajasthan were 24 for 2, their second lowest effort after the Powerplay. That became 24 for 3 when Naman Ojha slapped Salvi to extra cover.

Botha, promoted up the order, held up one end but never looked threatening. Rajasthan needed 91 from the last ten overs. Jadeja took two fours in the 11th over but Salvi drew an edge first ball of the 13th. Salvi only gave two singles in that over, capping a good return match in which he was accurate and economical.

That brought Yusuf Pathan - hero of that earlier win over Delhi - to the crease. There was to be no reprise, Yusuf getting a leading edge to Karthik. Game set and match. Botha went for 37 and three fell in Amit Mishra's last over like plastic ducks in a shooting gallery. Munaf's free hitting in the last three overs was of purely academic interest.

The result ensures Delhi a place in the semi-finals and leaves Rajasthan near the brink.

Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Centurion
 

McCullum and Hodge gun down Chennai

May 18, 2009

Kolkata Knight Riders 189 for 3 (McCullum 81, Hodge 71*) beat Chennai Super Kings 188 for 3 (Raina 52, Dhoni 40) by seven wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders, powered by fifties from Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge, staged one of the most thrilling chases in the tournament and showed why the bottom-placed team may still prove to be the king-makers in this crucial last phase of the league games. Chennai Super Kings, who looked set to seal a semi-final spot with their mammoth total batting first, will now have to put the celebrations on hold.

The run-chase owed its success to three partnerships: the opening stand totally dominated by McCullum, his association with Hodge, where he took charge initially before letting his partner step up, and Hodge's match-winning association with Wriddhiman Saha, whose calm presence combined well with the timely acceleration to stun Chennai.

The return of the seamers at the death heralded a decisive shift in the game as Hodge found an unlikely foil in Saha, who smote a six and a four in the 17th over from L Balaji that went for 14. The next over from Albie Morkel bled 13, with Hodge collecting two fours, one slapped back past the bowler and the other swung behind square leg.

With Chennai short of options, it was hoped that Balaji would be able to hit the blockhole but he was guilty of the same slip-up that cost Kolkata their previous two games. He gifted Hodge length balls, two of which were struck clean and straight over long-off, and a generous full toss to Saha off the final ball, who duly obliged to smack it over midwicket to bring it down to six off the last over. Suresh Raina tried his best, but despite an attacking field and a dot ball first up, the wave was against him. Hodge and Saha stole singles off the second and third deliveries, a tight run to cover on the fourth, before a swat to long-on with a deep enough Jacob Oram allowed them to scamper back for the second and level the scores. With the field brought up, an incredibly calm Saha chipped Raina over cover to seal a comeback win.

McCullum threatened to wrest the game with his blistering innings, displaying the same destructive batting that was on view in the first match of the IPL's inaugural version. His dominant innings today was as much a reflection on his brilliance as the lack of support from the other end, especially in the initial stages.

McCullum announced his intent from the first over, slashing one past slip, and clipping Morkel past square leg. Keeping him off strike became Chennai's immediate objective and Sourav Ganguly made their job far simpler, struggling to get bat on ball, a stark contrast to McCullum's free flow. McCullum feasted on Morkel, smashing him for 16 in the third over, while Ganguly was made to look like an irritable fly-swatter by Sudeep Tyagi. He was eventually put out of his misery, chopping one on from Muttiah Muralitharan, though Chennai, in hindsight, would have wished he had continued.

The dismissal did not deter McCullum; the run-chase received a massive boost in Tyagi's next over, as Chennai were suddenly made to grapple with the possibility of an upset. Tyagi was clattered for four consecutive fours - two over cover, one through fine leg and the other over midwicket - before gifting a freebie that was promptly dispatched into the stands. Kolkata had made 56 in the powerplay of which 50 had come off McCullum's blade.

Hodge has been Kolkata's best batsman in the tournament, and adapted to his subordinate role superbly, allowing McCullum the bulk of the strike, something his predecessor had appallingly failed to do. The scoring dipped with Murali and Shadab Jakati doing their utmost to restrain Kolkata, but McCullum's determination to put the horror of his team's run behind him bode ominously for Chennai. If the Powerplay was lit up by his brute force, his handling of spin exhibited his subtle touch, as he opened the face to Murali's doosra, chopped him through point and shared the floor with Hodge, who cut loose himself, thumping Jakati for two sixes.

McCullum survived a chance on 66, dropped by Oram, who palmed a catch over the ropes at long-on, leaving Chennai with a sense of foreboding as the match slipped away. However, the lapse did not prove too costly, as Jakati just managed to squeeze one through his attempted swipe to just kiss the offstump. When the in-form David Hussey was run out seven balls later, Chennai had fought back to steal the advantage which seemed to hinge on the fortunes of one batsman, but as they were to find out, it wasn't quite so simple.

Chennai were missing Matthew Hayden, their most prolific batsman this season, but his team-mates made up for that by posting a formidable score. The effort owed to a calculated performance by Raina and an equally shrewd effort by MS Dhoni, who built on a solid opening stand to put Kolkata Knight Riders under pressure.

Raina shrugged off a relative slide in form - he had managed just 48 in his previous three innings - to quickly slip into his natural mode of play, using the flicks, dabs and cuts that characterize his batting with relentless frequency and opened up in timely fashion to retain the tempo set by the openers. Dhoni, meanwhile, proved again that he remains Chennai's best middle-order batsman. He had been involved in four 50-plus stands before this, and added another to his tally, mixing up his raw power and rotating the strike. The innings was set up by an admirable display by the openers Parthiv Patel and George Bailey who put together a busy stand of 59, attacking the seamers early on and retaining the momentum once the spinners came on, scoring a boundary virtually every over amid a spate of singles and twos which never allowed the bowlers to settle into a rhythm.

However, their efforts were in vain as McCullum's blistering knock and Hodge's reliability produced an upset which has made Chennai's hold on the No.2 spot in the points table a little shaky.

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils, IPL, Johannesburg
 

Classy Kallis keeps Bangalore alive

May 19, 2009

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Kallis 58*, Dravid 38, Taylor 25, Nagar 2-20) beat Delhi Daredevils 134 for 7 (Karthik 31, Praveen 3-30, Kumble 2-24) by seven wickets

Royal Challengers Bangalore boosted their chances of securing a place in the semi-finals, winning a crucial game against Delhi Daredevils fairly comfortably at the Wanderers. Jacques Kallis starred in an excellent all-round performance, playing an important role in restricting Delhi to a chaseable score, and shepherding the chase with an assured half-century to take his team to fourth place.

Bangalore were dented early with the wicket of Robin Uthappa, but Rahul Dravid and Kallis timed the chase well, intent on preserving their wickets in early phase before opening up. They did get themselves into a bit of a hole after the early setback, struggling to get singles, and relying instead on the bad balls to score off. They inched to 27 in the Powerplay, with boundaries - including a six over midwicket by Kallis - accounting for 18 of those runs. But with the field spread, and the batsmen set, the rest of the innings panned out according to plan.

Virender Sehwag may have missed a trick by opting to bring the spinner in as late as the ninth over. Though the opening bowlers Ashish Nehra and Avishkar Salvi had proved tidy, neither Dravid nor Kallis had offered any chances. They then approached the chase as one would in an ODI, piercing the field with little difficulty and scoring the odd boundary to knock off 27 in the four overs before the timeout. The only scare was an incredibly difficult attempt at a catch by AB de Villiers at cover, who failed to latch onto a ball hammered by Kallis.

Amid the spate of singles and twos, Dravid and Kallis ensured there were no wasted opportunities. Andrew McDonald's first ball, a juicy half-volley was duly dispatched for a boundary by Dravid and a rank long hop from Vettori received the same treatment. But just when a predictable outcome seemed on the cards, Dravid lobbed a catch back to offspinner Yogesh Nagar.

With 65 needed off 48, Delhi still had an outside chance, but Ross Taylor quashed it with a blistering cameo, displaying shades of the monstrous assault against Kolkata which put Bangalore back in contention for a place in the top four. He wasted little time to settle into his groove, leading the charge in the 14th over, punishing freebies from Salvi for a four over extra cover and a massive six over midwicket. Nagar then erred in length the next over to watch the ball sail over deep midwicket and deep square leg for two more sixes, before Taylor - a victim of complacency - holed out to long-on. But the damage had been done, though a tight over from Vettori next up gave Delhi the only sign of hope.

The game was effectively sealed in the 18th over, with Kallis launching Vettori for six and a four over cover to narrow it down to 9 off 12. Mark Boucher flicked Nehra for a boundary, and the pair knocked off the rest in singles to complete a comprehensive win against the table-toppers.

Bangalore's win was set up by a professional bowling effort, as Kallis and Praveen Kumar struck early to dent a strong Delhi line-up on a slow pitch. The spinners, led by Anil Kumble, then took over, restraining the middle order before Dinesh Karthik staged an inadequate recovery.

The tone was set in the first over with the wicket of a struggling Virender Sehwag, who failed to curb his instinct, clipping Praveen straight to square leg. When Mithun Manhas, promoted to No.3, top-edged an attempted hook to slip two balls later, the responsibility, yet again, was palmed off to the middle order.

Kallis had struggled as a bowler this tournament, capturing just four wickets and proving ridiculously expensive. But his spell today marked a stark contrast, as he used his variations well, consistently probed the batsmen by maintaining a tight line outside offstump and dried up the runs at one end. Though Delhi had been provided some release by an undeterred Gautam Gambhir, Kallis was rewarded for his persistence when the left hander mistimed an attempt to clear point.

Spin has played a decisive influence in the tournament, often introduced before the Powerplay, but Kallis' frugality meant that Roelof van der Merwe didn't come on until the eighth over. Delhi did their best to keep up the run-rate, de Villiers scoring a run-a-ball 28, but when he, their best batsman, failed to pick an arm ball by van der Merwe, Bangalore were firmly in control. Pace ceded the floor to spin, and the newbie Andrew McDonald, replacing Tillakaratne Dilshan, was yorked by Anil Kumble to continue the slide.

Karthik and Nagar cobbled up a fighting stand of 39, but both fell trying to accelerate. Delhi did post a competitive score, and a slow track, holding up and taking spin, gave them reason for encouragement. But they were undone by a brilliantly executed run-chase, that has intensified the race for the knockout stage.

Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Durban
 

Langeveldt and Shukla knock defending champions out

May 20, 2009

Kolkata Knight Riders 102 for 6 (Shukla 48*, Munaf 2-15) beat Rajasthan Royals 101-9 (Langeveldt 3-15, Agarkar 2-15) by four wickets

The much-ridiculed underdogs of this year, Kolkata Knight Riders, have ended the tournament for the original underdogs, but not before they almost made a mess of the chase. Laxmi Shukla was the saviour for Kolkata, after they had stumbled to 45 for 6 in 11.3 overs. They had Charl Langeveldt to thank as well for pinning down Rajasthan Royals, and his 3 for 15 exposed Kolkata's blunder of not playing him throughout the tournament.

The lesson to learn was not to write off Rajasthan till the end. Not even when they are defending just 101 in a must-win game. At the half-way mark, after a frenzied innings during which they added just 79 to the 22 they got from the first over, the tournament seemed all over for Rajasthan. One final twist remained.

Even that seemed to be flattening out soon after Brendon McCullum hit two boundaries off the first two balls of the chase. The final figures of Munaf Patel after those two fours, 4-0-14-2, epitomised the comeback.

Munaf got Sourav Ganguly in that first over, and Amit Singh sent back McCullum with the first ball he bowled from the other end. That was the piece of fortune Rajasthan needed, as the half-tracker rose only as high as McCullum's knees. On a cracking pitch, Shane Warne's innovative field placings, and smart bowling by his bowlers worked superbly after that. Even Brad Hodge and David Hussey, the pair who was key during Kolkata's chase of 189 against Chennai Super Kings, found it extremely difficult to score.

Naman Ojha did superbly to dismiss Brad Hodge, who looked to run after dropping Johan Botha's first delivery at his feet. He had barely taken a step, but couldn't make his way back. More pressure and smart bowling followed. Botha and Warne followed the first seven-over spell of 30 runs by the medium-pacers with a five-over spell of 17. And wickets fell consistently throughout.

Hussey got a top-edge thanks to Botha's extra bounce, and Shoaib Shaikh ran himself out. But when Shukla, was dropped on 6 off a Warne flipper by Ojha, the final turnaround started.

Shukla batted sensibly, choosing well when to go bog, and when to accumulate. He knew he needed only two or three big hits, which would be enough to set the cat among the pigeons. His first break came when he went after Warne in the 13th over, and cleared the wide long-on boundary easily.

His next assault came in Ravindra Jadeja's second over, the 16th of the innings. Shukla went over extra cover first ball, and managed three more couples through that over. It was indeed a tough match for Jadeja, who was involved in two run-outs, failed to make up for those run-outs, and then bowled one over too many.

Shukla's turnaround finished as it started, with some luck from behind the wicket, as Ojha missed on two run-out opportunities as Shukla and Ajit Agarkar stole two byes in the 19th and 20th overs, with five and four still required respectively.

Spare a thought for Ojha, though. Apart from that brilliant run-out of Hodge's earlier in the piece, Ojha had got Rajasthan off to the best start a team could have imagined. It was Hodge who suffered at his hands then too. He slogged and lofted Hodge's first over to take 22, the most expensive first over of the tournament. But as he had Shukla to spoil his good work in the second innings, there was Langeveldt in the first.

How fitting it was that when Langeveldt finally got a game he was not given the first over. But the first ball Langeveldt bowled was a bouncer that hurried Rob Quiney up, got the top edge and nestled in wicketkeeper Shoaib Shaikh's gloves. The extra pace and bounce was obvious and the away movement lethal. In his next over, Langeveldt removed Ojha, with one that kicked off from just back of a length, and moved away too. In between these two strikes, Swapnil Asnodkar ran himself out when going for a single. From 22 for no loss, Rajasthan had slid to 28 for 3 in 15 balls.

Kolkata then hustled Rajasthan with quick bowling and athletic fielding. When Langeveldt came back to remove Niraj Patel's wicket, Rajasthan had stumbled to 62 for 5 at the half-way stage. Two disastrous run-outs followed. When Yusuf Pathan dug a yorker out, Jadeja called him for one, then realised the ball had traveled too fast towards Shukla, the bowler. Jadeja didn't go through, and the most dangerous batsman in the team was left stranded. Jadeja's face told a story of guilt. Three balls later, when Jadeja called Tyron Henderson for a quick single, he found to his horror that Henderson was too slow, and that Hussey had hit the stumps direct.

None of Dinda, Agarkar, Sourav Sarkar or Shukla provided Rajasthan any respite later, and the last 3.4 overs got Rajasthan only nine runs. The last over, from Agarkar, went for 21 less than the first.

Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab, IPL, Durban
 

Chennai deal Punjab killer blow in low-scorer

May 20, 2009

Chennai Super Kings 116 for 9 (Parthiv 32, Sreesanth 2-23) beat Kings XI Punjab 92 for 8 (Pomersbach 26, Murali 2-8, Ashwin 2-13) by 24 runs

It didn't rain runs in either of the two matches at Kingsmead but there was no shortage of entertainment value as the bowlers called the shots in what is regarded as a sloggers' game. When Chennai Super Kings limped to what looked like a barely defendable 116, Kings XI Punjab trooped off with the belief that a confirmed semi-final berth was just an hour-and-a-half away. But they were treated to a harsh lesson by Chennai's spinners, led by the wily Muttiah Muralitharan, and never at any stage since their introduction did Punjab look like matching the mounting asking rate.

The stern test couldn't have come at a worse time for Punjab, who after this defeat, became the favourites not to make the semi-finals. Chennai were virtually in the top four before this match but the 24-run win only tightened their grip at second place.

MS Dhoni, at the toss, justified the addition of an extra offspinner by pointing to the number of left-handers in the line-up. The strategy worked as the trio of offspinners - Muralitharan, R Ashwin and Suresh Raina - choked the runs and forced them into taking risks. The figures tell the story - their combined quota of 12 overs cost only 38 runs and yielded six wickets.

The most decisive phase in the chase was Muralitharan's spell. He came in when Chennai conceded 13 off an over by Thilan Thushara - the most expensive of the innings - and struck soon with the wicket of Simon Katich, who lost his legstump after shuffling across too far. The ball gripped, stopped on the batsmen and on the whole made scoring very difficult. The array of left-handers struggled to milk the singles, let alone find the odd boundary and went into their shell by shouldering arms.

Sensing the truckload of pressure the batsmen had been putting on themselves, Dhoni, interestingly, didn't over-attack the batsmen and instead placed fielders at the boundary, trying to tempt the batsmen into hitting out. Though the boundary riders came into play only towards the fag end of the innings, the pressure tactics applied by Dhoni contributed to Punjab's capitulation.

Even Yuvraj Singh was rendered clueless, plodding around for 18 deliveries for his six before he backed away in desperation and lost his stumps to a shooter from Suresh Raina. Punjab earlier pinned their hopes on Luke Pomersbach - one among only two batsmen to cross double figures - but he too fell to the spinners, edging Murali to slip.

In the five-over passage before the time-out, Punjab managed only 16 runs. Now with the loss of those two wickets, plus the fall of Kumar Sangakkara, the run-rate dipped to three an over, unimaginable by Twenty20 standards. None of the three spinners looked easy to get away. Murali used flight and got it to grip and turn; Raina bowled a much flatter trajectory and forced the batsmen to check using their feet; Ashwin relied on bowling a more stump-to -stump line. The frustration of not being able to put away the only spinner in the trio without international experience forced Sangakkara into chipping one back to Ashwin.

From there, the innings was a freefall and there was an air of inevitability to the result by the 15th over. Punjab's capable lower-order hitters couldn't quite turn the script around, and it was all over when 32 was needed off the final over.

The worried faces at the dugout was in sheer contrast to when the inimitable Sreesanth nearly scaled the entire perimeter of the outfield in celebration after pegging back Dhoni's offstump with an inswinging yorker. Back then, Punjab had Chennai in a spot of bother at 70 for 4 in the tenth over, wrecking a brisk opening stand of 40 between George Bailey and Parthiv Patel.

Their stand was the only passage of play in the entire match which witnessed some fluency in the strokeplay. They lost control when Ramesh Powar came on in the fifth over, which brought a run-out. Powar was just as effective as Chennai's spinners, keeping the runs down and applying pressure on the batsmen to build on the opening stand.

Sreesanth's double-strike dented Chennai further and it reflected in the way the lower order failed to push the scoring. They swung their bats at everything, made room to improvise and managed only two fours and a six in the last ten overs, which yielded 46 runs. Punjab managed only twice the number of fours in their entire innings. The gulf between the two sides was, however, much wider than those figures indicate.

Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians, IPL, Centurion
 

Sehwag finds form in easy win

May 21, 2009

Delhi Daredevils 166 for 6 (Sehwag 50, Harbhajan 4-17) beat Mumbai Indians 165 for 8 by four wickets

Barring a late scare by Harbhajan Singh , who took 4 for 17, the Delhi Daredevils go into the semi-final with a confidence boosting six-wicket win against the Mumbai Indians. At the toss Virender Sehwag said he wanted to field to give his side some much needed practice chasing. And a fair bit of practice they got, with Sehwag leading the power-hitting top order who stayed ahead of the fairly steep required run-rate.

Gautam Gambhir and David Warner, Delhi's openers, blitzed to 30 in the first three overs. It started from the sixth ball of the first over. Lasith Malinga found bounce and bowled over 140kph but Gambhir picked his slower bouncer and pulled it for four to square leg. Then Gambhir and Warner hit 22 off the next 12 balls. Gambhir walked out and hit Dhawal Kulkarni for a four behind square leg before lifting a fuller one down the ground for another boundary.

Rahil Shaikh began his IPL campaign with a high full toss that Warner pulled to midwicket boundary before being picked for another in the same area by Gambhir. Warner lofted Kulkarni for a six over long-on but then top-edged one and ended up losing his wicket and his bat. But Delhi couldn't afford to slow down, needing over seven an over. Not that they would slow down when Sehwag joined Gambhir at the crease. Kulkarni was the one to suffer as Sehwag scored boundaries off whatever length he bowled. He gave away 36 in three overs.

Harbhajan came on at the end of the Powerplays with Delhi at 60 for 1. He kept it tight by mixing flighted deliveries with flatter and sharper ones but it didn't help as Sehwag and Gambhir instead picked the boundaries from the other end. Gambhir played Abhishek Nayar's shorter deliveries to the fine leg and midwicket boundaries while Sehwag hit a half-volley over the bowler's head for a six. After ten overs Delhi were 93 for 1 in contrast to Mumbai, who were 72 for 3 at the same stage.

Gambhir finally fell in the 12th over, again walking down the track but mistiming a loft to a diving Mohammad Ashraful at third man. But by then the required run-rate had come down to under seven an over, mostly owing to the wides conceded by Sanath Jayasuriya. Tillakaratne Dilshan waited only two balls before going for the big shot. He hooked a slower ball by Malinga to deep backward square leg for six. Jayasuriya further pulled down the asking rate to less than six, this time owing to Sehwag who made room to hit him for four over extra cover and a six over long-on. Dilshan stuck into Malinga in the next and overs 12 to 14 cost Mumbai a whopping 39. Sehwag got his fifty immediately after that but the two batsmen fell off successive balls to Harbhajan.

There were some tense moments for Delhi after that. Harbhajan gave away only three and JP Duminy two. Harbhajan came back to pick up AB de Villiers and Rajat Bhatia off successive balls as well. de Villiers was caught at midwicket trying to flick him for a six and Bhatia misread an offbreak and was bowled for 2. At the end of that over, Delhi needed 12 off 18, with four wickets in hand. Amit Mishra ensured they needed only three of those balls, hitting Duminy for a six and a four, and Mumbai ended their IPL campaign at No.7, after having being a semi-final contender at one point.

However their batsmen, led by Ajinkya Rahane, had given them a chance to end on a positive note. Rahane began attacking after the Powerplay overs and added 73 with Sachin Tendulkar. Bhatia, bowling his slow-medium stuff, had sent down four tight balls and a wide before Tendulkar messed up the over with two beautifully executed fours. He late-cut the first to the third-man boundary and drove the next straight past the bowler to long-on. After the strategy break, the two took advantage of Mishra's poor length and scored 15 off his third over. Even after Tendulkar fell, Rahane kept the scoreboard ticking and got to his second half-century of the season from 37 balls. Mumbai scored 56 off the last five overs but Delhi's batsmen came in to form and spoiled their farewell.

Bangalore Royal Challengers v Deccan Chargers, IPL, Centurion
 

Pandey century takes Bangalore to No. 3

May 21, 2009

Royal Challengers Bangalore 170 for 4 (Pandey 114*) beat Deccan Chargers 158 for 6 (Gibbs 60, Akhil 2-18, Kumble 2-23) by 12 runs

In a campaign that has included matches insipid and inspiring Royal Challengers Bangalore have well and truly come to life. Maintaining the momentum of three consecutive wins, they pulled the rug from under Deccan Chargers' feet and went to No. 3 in the points table, setting up a semi-final clash with the Chennai Super Kings on Saturday. Deccan will play Delhi Daredevils in Friday's semi-final.

At the end of a clinical win, Bangalore can thank Manish Pandey and RP Singh. Promoting Pandey to open in a pressure situation, Bangalore nearly lost him in the third over but RP's gross misjudgment at third man settled the nerves and then some. Either cutting solidly or swatting and slapping with efficiency rather than grace, Pandey grabbed the opportunity and notched up just the second century this season - and the first by an Indian in either season. Few in South Africa would have heard of the Under-19 batsman before today but should remember him after this amazing effort.

Teams have struggled to defend under lights at Centurion, and Bangalore were put on the backfoot as Herschelle Gibbs waded into the attack. But Anil Kumble took pace off the ball and once Gibbs and Andrew Symonds were dismissed in relative succession it all got too tough for Deccan.

RP's drop in the third over came after Jacques Kallis pulled his seventh ball to short square leg. It proved a costly error. Pandey began his innings looking out of sorts, twice inside-edging Ryan Harris on the bounce to Adam Gilchrist and top-edging safely to third man. Batting as though Bangalore needed to chase 250, Pandey clouted the ball through the leg side with abandon.

Roelof van der Merwe showed a liking for RP on the leg side, twice crashing him over through and over mid-on for boundaries, and weighed in with 23 from 18 balls. After he was well stumped off Symonds in the tenth over, Pandey weighed the situation and hung on. By this time he was 33, and on resumption after the strategic break dumped T Suman's offspin for consecutive sixes to raise his half-century. Now his timing had improved considerably and Bangalore were going at seven an over.

Very strong through the leg side, Pandey's main scoring option was the swipe across the line. RP returned to bowl the 14th over and Pandey reminded him of his reprieve, swatting and edging fours. He continued the same way after Pragyan Ojha accounted for Rahul Dravid in the next over, clearing his front leg and slogging against the turn. The caress - Pandey steered Jaskaran for four - was followed by the clubbed - next ball disappeared for six - and the fortuitous - an edge beat Gilchrist for four - as Pandey moved to 98 at the end of the 17th over.

The landmark came up with a couple wide of long-on and there wasn't much fanfare. Virat Kohli took a cue and pulled six more, followed by a top edge that dropped safely between two clueless fielders, and deposited the last ball over the ropes. That last over summed up the course the two teams had run.

With Gilchrist struggling for timing, Gibbs took over the responsibility of scoring and did so in inimitable fashion. He survived a shout against an Kumble topspinner when on 5 but didn't refrain from walking across his stumps, lapping and pulling the bowlers to distraction. Kallis hobbled off with a troublesome hamstring and Gibbs decided to take on Praveen Kumar. The first two balls were short-arm-flicked for sixes, the third was lapped for four, and Gilchrist put away a low full toss. Gibbs then dismissed van der Merwe for a couple of sixes upon introduction. Taking full toll of the half-volleys and stray balls that were on offer, Gibbs blasted 45 of the 68 runs added by the openers, lashing boundaries on both sides of the wicket.

He was dropped on 49 - soon after Gilchrist went for 15 - but didn't do much damage after Deccan went into the strategic break on a healthy 85 for 1. Symonds walked out in the 11th over after Kumble got Suman, and Rohit Sharma followed him in second ball of the 15th when Gibbs lost his grip and skied one to a tumbling Pandey in the deep. With 52 needed in five, Kumble called back van der Werwe and he bowled Symonds first ball. The pressure was on Rohit and Venugopal Rao but neither contributed; Rao was run out in the 18th over and in the next Rohit lofted Kumble to a very calm Kohli at long-on. The 26 needed off the final over was too much.

Bangalore showed an intensity that indicated how keen they were to erase the loss from the last time these two teams met. Pandey has said he would like to join the army, like his father, if he is unable to become a professional cricketer. If he can score hundreds like this going forward he won't need to reach for that application form.

Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils, IPL semi-final, Centurion
 

Raging Gilchrist carries Deccan into the final

May 22, 2009

Deccan Chargers 154 for 4 (Gilchrist 85) beat Delhi Daredevils 153 for 8 (Dilshan 65, Sehwag 39, Harris 3-27) by six wickets

There's no rust on this baby. Adam Gilchrist didn't just blow the Delhi Daredevils out with a blitzkrieg but also backed up his vow at the end of a disappointing 2008 to give fans in Hyderabad more to cheer for in 2009. Gilchrist played a pivotal role in bringing last season's wooden spoon holders this far and tonight, in the cauldron of a semi-final, he treated Centurion to a stunning display of hitting. His assault on Delhi's bewildered bowlers turned what threatened to be a tricky chase into a no-contest as Deccan chased down 154 with six wickets in hand and 14 balls to spare. Deccan have duly earned the right to be in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Gilchrist had looked like a man with a plan when, at the toss, he said Deccan would field and try and keep the opposition to an achievable target. With teams not always chasing down totals in the vicinity of 160 easily under lights at Centurion, Deccan's chase wasn't expected to be an easy one. It took Gilchrist five deliveries to dismiss such thoughts. Dirk Nannes, one of the success stories of this IPL, was flayed for five consecutive boundaries in the first over, Gilchrist pulling, cutting and driving with power. Nannes was not needed again until the 11th over by which time Deccan were well on their way.

That assault set a trend that continued through Gilchrist's innings as he made the semi-final his own. Ashish Nehra bowled Herschelle Gibbs for a duck but Gilchrist was in a hurry, clobbering Pradeep Sangwan's first three balls for four, four and six. No frills, just excellent bat speed and powerful wrists. In three overs Deccan were 41 for 1, out of which Nehra's first over cost just three.

Nehra's second was nowhere as controlled. Gilchrist drove a no-ball for four and drilled the free hit for a straight six to raise Deccan's fifty in 23 deliveries - his contribution being 48 from 14 balls. His half-century needed just 17 balls, the fastest of the IPL. Virender Sehwag came on for the first and last time in the tournament, with Gilchrist plundering three successive sixes in a 25-run over. It was the Gilchrist of old, the man who put the fear of God in bowlers the world over.

Why Sehwag brought himself on before Amit Mishra and the crafty Rajat Bhatia on a sluggish track will go down as one of the IPL's blunders, because the legspinner struck almost immediately. Gilchrist fell for a superb 85 from 35 balls one delivery before the strategic break, but the damage had been done. Mishra then cut Andrew Symonds off before he could finish the job, finishing with 3 for 19. Rohit Sharma walked out with 17 required from 38 balls and closed the deal in T Suman's company.

Matters had veered to and fro throughout the first half of the match but Deccan's reining Delhi in to 153 ultimately proved decisive. Tillakaratne Dilshan had played a crucial hand, holding it together after Delhi's openers fell to Ryan Harris in the first over, and then providing the momentum as well when quick runs were needed. Deccan regrouped through Symonds and Harmeet Singh initially and Harris and RP Singh thereafter, only allowing Delhi 70 in the last ten overs.

A scoreline of 0 for 2 had little bearing on Dilshan. He led a charmed life, pulling his first ball just over deep backward square leg's fingertips for six and edging the second between gully and slip for four. Sehwag nearly ran him out next ball when he punched the ball to midwicket and then changed his mind.

While Sehwag got tall to work the ball to the leg side, Dilshan preferred to back away and squeeze it through backward point and third man. He used the uncomplicated strategy of judging the length early and then slapping it either off the back foot or front. When Pragyan Ojha slowed his pace and offered room Dilshan flayed him for boundaries, and when Symonds did the same he was cut away. Gilchrist was given a tough time in setting a field for Dilshan, who was adept at picking runs anywhere in the park. A drop behind the stumps when Dilshan was 30 didn't help.

After a maiden first over, Delhi scored 83 in nine. Runs came thick and fast and Gilchrist turned back to Symonds, who finally broke an 85-run alliance with a straighter one that Sehwag needlessly tried to paddle. Symonds and Harmeet choked runs and Deccan did well to take four wickets, including two run outs in the 20th over that only cost eight. Sehwag would have been pleased with 153 after Delhi were 0 for 2 but that was before Gilchrist stepped up. Delhi have now been thrashed in consecutive IPL semi-finals after dominating the league stages.

Gilchrist's praises have been sung in this tournament - he came into the game leading their run list - and tonight he deserved no less than a chorus.

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings, IPL semi-final
 

Efficient Bangalore outplay Chennai

May 23, 2009

Royal Challengers Bangalore 149 for 4 (Pandey 48, Dravid 44) beat Chennai Super Kings 146 for 5 (Parthiv 36, 2-38) by six wickets

Last things first. Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers, placed at the bottom last year, will face each other in the IPL final tomorrow. And lightning does strike twice. Ask Chennai Super Kings. They had shot under by setting Bangalore 147, but would have thought of it as a fighting total. Manish Pandey, who came out of nowhere and scored a century in the last game, didn't think so. His 35-ball 48 almost killed the chase, and a minor hiccup later Bangalore were in the final.

If anything this was an even better innings, both in terms of the quality of strokeplay and in terms of this being a far bigger match. He got going with a square-drive in the first over, following a ball both wide and full. As if to say it was no fluke, he brought out a more classical square-drive, down on one knee, to the next delivery. Jacques Kallis matched that start with back-to-back square-cuts of equal ferocity and beauty in the second over.

But within seven deliveries Bangalore lost Kallis and Roelof van der Merwe. To pull them out of the shock Pandey produced boundaries with a back-foot punch and a drive on the run in two deliveries in the fourth over. Out of habit the slogs came out in the next two overs, but he cleared the leg-side field with them. By the end of the Powerplays Pandey had reached 29 off 14 deliveries, six fours, four of them along the ground, and Bangalore needed only 88 from 84.

Pandey had batting with him the best man possible, Rahul Dravid, whose classical strokeplay and superb planning had a calming effect on the 19-year-old at the other end. His straight-drive off Shadab Jakati and flick off Albie Morkel were shots as good as any played in the night. The key moment was always going to be when Muttiah Muralitharan, held back by MS Dhoni, would come on to bowl.

Murali started off with a big lbw shout against Pandey, and after that Dravid made a conscious effort of keeping the youngster away from the fox. Pandey finally fell when he went to slog-sweep the other spinner, Jakati, and a turnaround was in the offing. Fifty-three were required in 45 balls then, and Dravid seemed to have it under control until Murali came back and got him lbw in the 16th over. After an asphyxiating over, Bangalore required 35 off four overs.

Chennai needed a gamble then, after all other bowlers had been taken for runs. Suresh Raina bowled the next over, and both Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli took a six off him. The decisive, and the most symbolic, blow came in the next over when Kohli read a doosra, stepped out to Murali, and hit him straight down the ground for a big six. Bangalore's fifth win in a row was all but sealed.

The win, though, looked far away when Parthiv Patel stunned them after they had put Chennai in. The whole talk before the semi-final centered around the orange cap holder Mathew Hayden and whether he would be back for the big match. But Bangalore were hit from an unexpected quarter. It's not often you go outscoring Hayden in good form, and if you do you better be playing exceptionally. That's precisely what Parthiv did for a brief while.

Parthiv was attacked with short bowling, but he brought out the pulls, the cuts, and the upper-cuts. In the first six overs Chennai raced away to 52, and Hayden hadn't even warmed up by then. In fact Parthiv had reached 32 off 20 deliveries, while Hayden was still 13. What odds would punters get for that?

But Anil Kumble and Bangalore regrouped fast. Smart bowling changes and smart bowling thereafter kept pulling Chennai back whenever they threatened to move too far out of reach. The result? A late assault never came. It was Kumble, who brought some control to the proceedings, coming in to bowl the sixth over. And then when Hayden went for one six too many off R Vinay Kumar and mis-hit to long-on, Kumble seized the opportunity.

He brought back Kallis, whose first two overs had cost 21. With his fourth delivery Kallis removed Parthiv and Bangalore could try and force restrain upon two new batsmen.

The two new batsmen were Dhoni and Raina, in that order. There was a period of quiet around the time-out, and Kallis went for five in his next two overs. Just when Raina looked like opening up, with a four and a six off Vinay, Kumble brought back Praveen in the 15th over. With the first ball, Praveen got Raina to sky a slower ball, and Bangalore had once again prevented Chennai from getting away.

Again, when Morkel slogged Kumble for a six after 23 balls without, van der Merwe got Dhoni, caught at long-on. Dhoni's move to come in at No. 3 didn't work: he didn't hit any boundaries in his 28-ball 30.

Kumble handed over India's Test captaincy to Dhoni, but today he had outfoxed his opposite number.

Bangalore Royal Challengers v Deccan Chargers, IPL final, Johannesburg
 

Deccan snatch title in tense finish

May 24, 2009

Deccan Chargers 143 for 6 (Gibbs 53*, Kumble 4-16) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 137 for 9 (Ojha 3-28, Symonds 2-18) by six runs

Deccan Chargers invoked the bull in their emblem to successfully defend a modest total, beat Royal Challengers Bangalore and win a tournament they had ended up last in the previous season. They bowled with fire, fielded aggressively and sledged and hustled - almost literally - to victory in a final that twisted and turned and lived up to the occasion.

The last of those turning points was the 15th over, bowled by Andrew Symonds, who matched his verbal skills from earlier in the night with the wickets of Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli off back-to-back deliveries. Bangalore were 99 for 6 when the over started, and Taylor had looked dangerous during his 20-ball 27. That Symonds over, though, was symbolic of the night: every time a batsman got away from the bowling, a breakthrough pulled the batting side back.


Defending a total three less than what Bangalore chased easily in the semi-final, Deccan came out pumped, their energy reflecting in their behaviour. Symonds shadowed the latest tyro, Manish Pandey, all the way from the dugout to the crease. Pandey was a marked man during his innings. Symonds followed him wherever he went, giving him lip. Ryan Harris matched the aggression with the ball, clocking 145kmph constantly in the first over, a maiden.

Jacques Kallis looked to take the pressure off his 19-year-old partner. In Harris' next over Kallis took two boundaries to get the chase going. RP Singh brought the balance back when Kallis pulled onto his stumps but out came Roelof van der Merwe, who used adrenalin to push Bangalore further towards the target.

van der Merwe got a mouthful from Symonds and Harris, but he responded by hitting two sixes off one Harris over. Despite the maiden, Harris had gone for 23 in three overs. Even after Pragyan Ojha got Pandey with the first ball he bowled, van der Merwe's pyrotechnics kept Deccan at a distance.


One ball summed up the adrenalin rush van der Merwe was feeling. Beaten in the flight by Ojha he managed an edge which saved him from being stumped but he also dropped his bat. He picked his bat up as he ran the first run, and turned a two into a three, saving himself from the run-out by sprinting down the middle of the pitch and diving into the stumps at the non-striker's end.


One six later the adrenalin got the better of van der Merwe as he jumped out to Ojha and was stumped. The tension was palpable, and it sort of got to a senior pro like Rahul Dravid too. As Bangalore targeted Harmeet Singh, Dravid missed a scoop and was bowled. Bangalore still held the edge, though, with Taylor and Mark Boucher in.


Taylor looked like taking Bangalore home coolly, hitting three fours and a six, until Symonds got him on the pull, with a touch of extra bounce. Adam Gilchrist pulled off a smart stumping down the leg side next ball, and it was all down to Boucher now.


Gilchrist tried to get through Harmeet's last over, during which the youngster claimed Boucher on the cut. The bowling allocation was planned perfectly: RP had two left, and Ojha and Harris one each. Bangalore, with two wickets in hand, needed 27 from the last two overs, and 15 from the last, but RP Singh and Ryan Harris kept their cool despite a six from Robin Uthappa.


Amid the tension of the second innings one felt for Anil Kumble, who spent the most of the last over at the non-striker's end and saw his dream crash. Earlier Kumble had celebrated like a teenager but bowled like the veteran champion he is, and kept Deccan down to a manageable target.


He bowled the first over of the match, took Gilchrist out, then came back in the ninth to dismiss Symonds. That wicket was crucial because Symonds had been dropped on 5 by Dravid, and was reminding Bangalore eerily of the line his batting partner Herschelle Gibbs was apocryphally told during the 1999 World Cup. Kumble again came on in the 17th over to break a dangerous 52-run partnership between Rohit Sharma and Gibbs, when the two had taken Deccan to 110 for 3.


Towards the end Gibbs played a bizarre little innings. He had been inconspicuous in his struggle to score runs earlier, and didn't make much effort to farm the strike in the end. He faced only six balls in the last three overs, and kept taking twos in the last over to hand the strike over to Harris. He had batted the whole 20 overs for less than 60, much like Sachin Tendulkar, in more trying conditions, had in the first match of the tournament. Somehow they both ended up winning.