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2008 Indian Premier League Twenty20 - Cricket
NSW TAB FIXED ODDS
21911 BANGALORE 8.00 21912 CHENNAI 5.00 21913 DELHI 8.00 21914 DECCAN (HYDERABAD) 4.00 21915 RAJASTHAN (JAIPUR) 11.00 21916 KOLKATA 6.00 21917 PUNJAB (MOHALI) 7.00 21918 MUMBAI 7.00 Royal Challengers Bangalore Abdur Razzak Bangladesh All rounder LHB Anil Kumble India Bowler RHB B. Arun Kumar India RHB Balachandra Akhil India RHB Bharat Chipli India RHB Cameron White Australia Bowler RHB Dale Steyn South Africa Bowler RHB Devraj Patil India RHB Jacques Kallis South Africa All rounder RHB K. P. Appanna India RHB Mark Boucher South Africa Wicket keeper/Batsman RHB Misbah-Ul-Haq Pakistan Batsman RHB Nathan Bracken Australia Bowler RHB Praveen Kumar India RHB Rahul Dravid India Batsman RHB Ross Taylor New Zealand Batsman RHB Shivnarine Chanderpaul West Indies Batsman LHB Sreevats Goswami India LHB Sunil Joshi India All rounder LHB Vinay Kumar India RHB Virat Kohli India RHB Wasim Jaffer India Batsman RHB Zaheer Khan India Bowler RHB Chennai Super Kings Abhinav Mukund India LHB Albie Morkel South Africa All rounder LHB Anirudha Srikkanth India RHB Arun Karthik India RHB Jacob Oram New Zealand All rounder LHB Jaydev Shah India LHB Joginder Sharma India All rounder RHB Lakshmipathy Balaji India Bowler RHB Makhaya Ntini South Africa Bowler RHB Manpreet Gony India Bowler RHB Matthew Hayden Australia Batsman LHB Michael Hussey Australia Batsman LHB MS Dhoni India Wicket keeper/Batsman RHB Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka Bowler RHB Napoleon Einstein India RHB P. Amarnath India Parthiv Patel India Wicket keeper/Batsman LHB Ravichandran Ashwin India RHB S Suresh Kumar India RHB S. Vidyut India LHB Shadab Jakati India LHB Stephen Fleming New Zealand Batsman LHB Subramaniam Badrinath India RHB Sudeep Tyagi India RHB Suresh Raina India Batsman LHB Viraj Kadbe India RHB Delhi Daredevils AB De Villiers South Africa Wicket keeper/Batsman RHB Amit Mishra India RHB Brett Geeves Australia RHB Daniel Vettori New Zealand Bowler LHB Dinesh Karthik India Wicket keeper/Batsman RHB Farveez Maharoof Sri Lanka All rounder RHB Gautam Gambhir India Batsman LHB Glenn McGrath Australia Bowler RHB Manoj Tiwary India Batsman RHB Mayank Tehlan India RHB Mithun Manhas India RHB Mohammad Asif Pakistan Bowler LHB Pradeep Sangwan India RHB Rajat Bhatia India RHB Shikhar Dhawan India LHB Shoaib Malik Pakistan All rounder RHB Tejeswi Yadav India Tillakeratne Dilshan Sri Lanka All rounder RHB Virender Sehwag India Batsman RHB Yo Mahesh India RHB Yogesh Nagar India RHB Hyderabad Deccan Chargers Adam Gilchrist Australia Wicket keeper/Batsman LHB Andrew Symonds Australia All rounder RHB Arjun Yadav India RHB Chaminda Vaas Sri Lanka Bowler LHB Haldar Das India RHB Herschelle Gibbs South Africa Batsman RHB Kalyan Krishna India RHB Nuwan Zoysa Sri Lanka Bowler LHB Pragyan Ojha India LHB Ravi Teja India RHB Rohit Sharma India Batsman RHB RP Singh India Bowler RHB Sanjay Bangar India RHB Sarvesh Kumar India RHB Scott Styris New Zealand All rounder RHB Shahid Afridi Pakistan All rounder RHB Venugopal Rao India RHB Vijay Kumar India RHB VVS Laxman India Batsman RHB Kolkata Knight Riders Aakash Chopra India Batsman RHB Ajit Agarkar India All rounder RHB Brendon McCullum New Zealand Wicket keeper/Batsman RHB Cheteshwar Pujara India RHB Chris Gayle West Indies All rounder LHB David Hussey Australia All rounder RHB Debabrata Das India RHB Iqbal Abdullah India LHB Ishant Sharma India Bowler RHB Laxmi Ratan Shukla India RHB Mohammad Hafeez Pakistan All rounder RHB Murali Kartik India Bowler LHB Ranadeb Bose India Bowler RHB Ricky Ponting Australia Batsman RHB Rohan Banerjee India LHB Salman Butt Pakistan Batsman LHB Shoaib Akhtar Pakistan Bowler RHB Siddarth Kaul India RHB Sourasish Lahiri India RHB Sourav Ganguly India Batsman LHB Tatenda Taibu Zimbabwe Wicket keeper/Batsman RHB Umar Gul Pakistan Bowler RHB W. P. Saha India RHB Yashpal Singh India RHB Kings XI Punjab Ajitesh Argal India RHB Brett Lee Australia Bowler RHB Irfan Pathan India All rounder LHB James Hopes Australia All rounder RHB Karan Goel India LHB Kumar Sangakkara Sri Lanka Wicket keeper/Batsman LHB Kyle Mills New Zealand Bowler RHB Luke Pomersbach Australia Batsman RHB Mahela Jayawardene Sri Lanka Batsman RHB Mohammed Mudasir India Nitin Saini India RHB Pankaj Dharmani India Batsman RHB Piyush Chawla India Bowler LHB Ramesh Powar India Bowler RHB Ramnaresh Sarwan West Indies Batsman RHB Rishi Dhawan India RHB S Sreesanth India Bowler RHB Sahil Kukreja India Simon Katich Australia Batsman LHB Sunny Sohal India RHB Tanmay Srivastava India LHB Uday Kaul India LHB VRV Singh India Bowler RHB Wilkin Mota India RHB Yash Gandhi India Yuvraj Singh India Batsman LHB Mumbai Indians Abhishek Nayar India LHB Ajinkya Rahane India RHB Ankeet Chavan India RHB Ashish Nehra India Bowler RHB Ashwell Prince South Africa Batsman LHB Dhaval Kulkarni India RHB Dilhara Fernando Sri Lanka Bowler RHB Dominic Thornely Australia Batsman RHB Gaurav Dhiman India RHB Harbhajan Singh India Bowler RHB Lasith Malinga Sri Lanka Bowler RHB Loots Bosman South Africa Batsman RHB Luke Ronchi Australia RHB Manish Pandey India RHB Musavir Khote India RHB Pinal Shah India RHB Rajesh Pawar India Bowler LHB Robin Uthappa India Batsman RHB Rohan Raje India RHB Sachin Tendulkar India Batsman RHB Sanath Jayasuriya Sri Lanka All rounder LHB Saurabh Tiwary India LHB Shaun Pollock South Africa All rounder RHB Siddharth Chitnis India RHB Swapnil Singh India RHB Vikrant Yelligeti India RHB Yogesh Takawale India RHB Rajasthan Royals Aditya Angle India All rounder Anup Revandkar India RHB Dimitri Mascarenhas England All rounder RHB Dinesh Salunkhe India RHB Graeme Smith South Africa Batsman LHB Jaydev Shah India Batsman Justin Langer Australia Batsman LHB Kamran Akmal Pakistan Wicket keeper/Batsman RHB Mahesh Rawat India RHB Mohammad Kaif India Batsman RHB Morne Morkel South Africa Bowler LHB Munaf Patel India Bowler RHB Neeraj Patel India LHB Parag More India All rounder Pankaj Singh India Bowler RHB Ravindra Jadeja India LHB Shane Warne Australia Bowler RHB Shane Watson Australia All rounder LHB Siddharth Trivedi India RHB Sohail Tanvir Pakistan All rounder LHB Sumeet Khatri India LHB Swapnil Asnodkar India RHB Taruwar Kohli India RHB Younis Khan Pakistan Batsman RHB Yusuf Pathan India All rounder RHB Fixtures Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders Friday Apr 18 (20:00 - IST) Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings Saturday Apr 19 (17:00 - IST) Who do you think will win the IPL? Royal Challengers Bangalore Chennai Super Kings Delhi Daredevils Hyderabad Deccan Chargers Kolkata Knight Riders Kings XI Punjab Mumbai Indians Rajasthan Royals |
hope Warnie got his supply of baked beans sent over. He could be up for a few more pitch reports to:D
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Brendon McCullum scored a unbeaten 158 runs from 73 balls. It was a super display of batting giving this tournament a real boost. :)
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Cricket
McCullum smashes 158 in IPL opener From correspondents in Bangalore, India April 19, 2008 THE controversial Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition kicked off in Bangalore with Australia captain Ricky Ponting's side scoring a crushing opening night win. Captained by Sourav Ganguly, Kolkata Knight Riders amassed a huge 3-222 from their 20 overs, with New Zealander Brendon McCullum smashing 158 from just 73 balls. Ponting hit 20 from 20 deliveries and fellow Australian David Hussey 12 from 12. In reply, Bangalore Royal Challengers - featuring Australians Cameron White and Ashley Noffke - were all out for 82. A crowd of 55,000 in Bangalore were also treated to a huge fireworks display and an appearance by cheerleaders from NFL team Washington Redskins. |
Hussey guides Kolkata to IPL win
05:48 AEST Mon Apr 21 2008 Australia's David Hussey produced a match-highest score of 38 on a minefield of a pitch at Eden Gardens to guide the Kolkata Knight Riders to a five-wicket victory in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament. Hussey's 38 off 43 balls helped his side to 5-112 in reply to the Deccan Chargers' total of 110 all out. The low scoring affair was ensured by a pitch which spun sharply and produced puffs of dust as the pacemen's deliveries at times exploded off the deck. Australian Test skipper Ricky Ponting made a first ball duck in his second IPL outing, trapped LBW by Sri Lankan veteran Chaminda Vaas. The competition's highest paid player, Australian Andrew Symonds, made 32 from 39 balls for the Chargers while team-mate and compatriot Adam Gilchrist made 23 from 22. In Sunday night's other match, the Bangalore Royal Challengers beat the Mumbai Indians by five wickets in Mumbai. Mumbai suffered a setback before the match when superstar Sachin Tendulkar was ruled out with injury. Things only got worse, though, with Australian all-rounder Dominic Thornely forced to retire hurt on nought when he was struck on the helmet grill by a Zaheer Khan bouncer |
Aussie Shanes reign in Royals IPL win
06:24 AEST Tue Apr 22 2008 Shane Watson and Shane Warne have produced sovereign performances to catapult the Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket victory in the Indian Premier League. The blond Australian pair reigned supreme at Sawai Mansingh Stadium as the Jaipur-based team chased down Kings XI Punjab's total of 8-166 with 11 balls to spare. Captain-coach Warne (3-19 off four overs) pulled out all of his old tricks to put the brakes on Brett Lee's side before Watson (76no off 49 balls) edged his skipper out for man of the match honours. Not even a faulty bat could slow down Watson's assault on the bowlers, the allrounder clobbering a six despite his bat snapping in half during the impact of striking the medium-pace of compatriot James Hopes. Watson cleared the boundary five times in all with one savage blow landing on top of the low stands at the ground before he scored the winning runs by crunching the impulsive Shantha Sreesanth for four. However the reason that Watson and the Royals faced such an achievable target was almost entirely down to Warne. The Twenty20 format is supposed to be a graveyard for bowlers but Warne showed that class counted in any form of the game with a masterful little spell. With the Kings XI Punjab having cruised to 1-54 off six overs, Warne thrust himself into the attack and struck with just his third ball by removing Kumar Sangakkara (20 off eight balls). The damaging Sri Lankan slapped a sharp return catch into the spin wizard's big hands. Warne continued to turn the heat up on the opposition in his very next over, having Hopes (16) trapped in front as the visitors slipped to 4-73. And they should have been in even deeper trouble but Darren Lehmann dropped an absolute sitter off Yuvraj Singh (57 off 34 balls) in Warne's third over. Yuvraj was on 15 when he skied a Warne delivery but the ball somehow slipped through Lehmann's fingers. Warne pulled himself out of the attack before returning in the 17th over to remove Yuvraj, who by that time had produced a half century. The displays of Warne and Watson continued the strong influence that Australian players are exerting in the inaugural competition. The Royals improved their record to 1-1 after losing their opening match to the Glenn McGrath's Delhi Daredevils while the Kings XI Punjab have dropped their first two matches. |
Cricket - NSW TAB FIXED ODDS
Indian Premier League Twenty20 - 2008 20/20 Indian Premier League Winner Winner Online Betting Closes 23:00 Sun 01 Jun 2008 Odds updated at: 9:52:17 AM Sportsbet No Selection (default) Price 21911 BANGALORE 9.00 21912 CHENNAI 5.00 21913 DELHI 6.50 21914 DECCAN (HYDERABAD) 5.50 21915 RAJASTHAN (JAIPUR) 10.00 21916 KOLKATA 3.75 21917 PUNJAB (MOHALI) 8.00 21918 MUMBAI 9.00 |
Symonds's 117no not enough for IPL win
06:59 AEST Fri Apr 25 2008 Aussie Shanes reign in Royals IPL win Andrew Symonds gave another superb batting demonstration but his bowling allowed Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals to grab a seven-wicket victory in the Indian Premier League match in Hyderabad. Symonds blazed 117 not out off 53 balls as the Deccan Chargers amassed 5-214 off their 20 overs. But he was the last bowler for the Chargers and conceded 45 runs off just 17 balls as Warne got his team got home with one ball to spare at 7-217. Warne struck a six for the winner and finished 22 not out off nine balls. South African Graham Smith made 61 from 28 and Yusuf Pathan was man of the match for his 71 runs from 45 balls plus two wickets. It was the Chargers' third consecutive loss. "I've probably bowled the worst last over in Twenty20 history. Twenty20 is good for the game but not for the ego," Symonds was quoted as saying on the Cricinfo website. |
Harbhajan caught up in slapping row
17:35 AEST Sat Apr 26 2008 India spinner Harbhajan Singh could face disciplinary action following reports he slapped compatriot Shanthakumaran Sreesanth at an Indian Premier League (IPL) game. Television pictures showed Sreesanth sobbing at the end of the game late on Friday after his Mohali team defeated Mumbai, which is captained by Harbhajan. The Hindustan Times daily reported that Harbhajan had slapped the young fast bowler. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Niranjan Shah said the spinner had been asked to explain his actions. "The BCCI condemns the behaviour of Harbhajan Singh as a contracted player of the board and he is called upon to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him and has been asked for clarification by Monday evening," he said in a statement. In a tour of Australia this year, the spinner was initially banned for three tests after being found guilty of making racist remarks against all rounder Andrew Symonds. He was subsequently let off with a fine on a lesser charge following an appeal. "It was unacceptable what happened," Mohali captain Yuvraj Singh told reporters after the match. "Harbhajan came back to the dressing room and apologised to Sreesanth." Harbhajan said the media were trying to sensationalise the issue. "It is not such a big issue the way people are making it out to be," he told television channels. "It is between me and Sree. "What you're showing on TV, it is between us." |
Harbhajan Singh suspended over slapping Sreesanth
April 27, 2008 12:00am The Indian cricket board suspended spinner Harbhajan Singh pending a disciplinary hearing into a slapping incident involving compatriot Shanthakumaran Sreesanth in an Indian Premier League game. Harbhajan had slapped the young fast bowler after Friday night's match. Television pictures showed Sreesanth sobbing after his Mohali team defeated Mumbai, who were captained by Harbhajan in the absence of the injured Sachin Tendulkar. Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah said the spinner was asked to explain his actions before a later statement announced the suspension. "Based on...video evidence as seen and reviewed by match adjudicator and referee Farokh Engineer, a decision has been reached to suspend with immediate effect Harbhajan Singh of the Mumbai Indians pending an inquiry into the incident on Monday," said IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. The hearing will be held in New Delhi and a final verdict announced by Engineer. "The BCCI condemns the behaviour of Harbhajan Singh as a contracted player of the board and he is called upon to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him and has been asked for clarification by Monday evening," Shah said. The 27-year-old spinner has had a poor disciplinary record since making his India debut in 1998. On tour to Australia this year, Harbhajan was initially banned for three Tests after being found guilty of making racist remarks against all-rounder Andrew Symonds. He was subsequently let off with a fine on a lesser charge following an appeal. "It was unacceptable what happened," Mohali captain Yuvraj Singh said. "Harbhajan came back to the dressing room and apologised to Sreesanth." Harbhajan said the media were trying to sensationalise the incident. "It is not such a big issue the way people are making it out to be," he said. "It is between me and 'Sree'. "What you're showing on TV, it is between us." |
Cricket - NSW TAB FIXED ODDS
Indian Premier League Twenty20 - 2008 20/20 Indian Premier League Winner Winner Online Betting Closes 23:00 Sun 01 Jun 2008 Odds updated at: 10:16:50 AM 21911 BANGALORE 15.00 21912 CHENNAI 5.00 21913 DELHI 5.00 21914 DECCAN (HYDERABAD) 6.00 21915 RAJASTHAN (JAIPUR) 8.00 21916 KOLKATA 4.50 21917 PUNJAB (MOHALI) 6.00 21918 MUMBAI 17.00 21915 RAJASTHAN (JAIPUR) 8.00 is good value. Going well in tournament and World's Best spinner Shane Warne is the Captain. Go Warney :D |
Gilchrist carries Chargers to huge win
06:42 AEST Mon Apr 28 2008 Retired Test great Adam Gilchrist delivered the most impressive innings of the Indian Premier League so far, clubbing 109no from 48 balls to lead the Deccan Chargers to a ten-wicket thrashing of Mumbai. VVS Laxman contributed an unbeaten 36 as they overhauled the home side's 7-154 with 44 balls remaining from the 20 overs. The battle of the bottom teams resulted in the first win for the Chargers in four games and left the Mumbai Indians, minus suspended spinner Harbhajan Singh and injured captain Sachin Tendulkar, searching for a maiden win. Batting for Mumbai, West Australian Luke Ronchi compiled 13 from 11 balls. Gilchrist was the obvious choice for man of the match after a century containing ten sixes. |
I heard briefly on the news there was a bit of slapping going on ?
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And a bit of crying :)
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Harbhajan banned over slapping row
07:22 AEST Tue Apr 29 2008 India spinner Harbhajan Singh has been banned for the remainder of the domestic Twenty20 league after he was found guilty of slapping compatriot Shanthakumaran Sreesanth. Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi told a news conference that the cricketer would be fined all of his match fees from the tournament. The incident happened on Friday, minutes after the Mumbai team captained by Harbhajan lost to Mohali. Television cameras showed opposition paceman Sreesanth sobbing. "As a penalty for the level 4.2 offence committed by Mr Harbhajan Singh, we hereby order that Mr Harbhajan Singh be banned for the rest of the remaining matches of the first IPL event," Modi announced after the committee viewed the footage of the incident and interviewed the parties. "We also order that Mr Harbhajan Singh be fined 100 per cent of any player fee that may have been paid or may hereafter be paid to him in respect of the remaining matches only. That does not take into account any of the two earlier matches (prior to Friday) that he may have played," Modi added. Harbhajan and Sreesanth were presented at the news conference and hugged each other and posed for the cameras. "I have made a big mistake and have got the punishment," Harbhajan said. "The (Indian) board has always supported me and I hope they will continue to do it. "I want to return from the ban in a happy frame of mind." Match referee and former India player Farokh Engineer added that Sreesanth, 25, has also been warned to be on good behaviour. Under the ICC code of conduct rules, a 4.2 offence refers to a physical assault and carries a minimum ban of 10 games and a maximum life ban from play. Modi said TV footage not aired live showed Harbhajan slap Sreesanth when both teams queued up to shake hands. Mumbai team manager Lalchand Rajput was found guilty of conduct contravening the spirit of the game and fined 50 per cent of his match fee. Rajput, the former India assistant coach, was found guilty for not trying to restrain Harbhajan despite being right behind him when the incident happened, Modi said. Harbhajan can appeal against the decision, though that appeared unlikely following his comments. The Indian board also ordered an independent investigation into the slapping incident. In January, the spinner escaped with a fine after appealing against a three-Test ban by the International Cricket Council match referee for alleged racial comments against Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds during India's Test tour. |
Mumbai Indians shrugged off the loss of off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to claim their maiden Indian Premier League win against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.
Just 24 hours after Harbhajan was ruled out of the remainder of the IPL by an 11-match ban handed down for slapping India team-mate Sreesanth in Friday's encounter with Kings XI Punjab, the Indians posted a seven-wicket win to kick-start their campaign. West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo shone for the Indians with an unbeaten knock of 64 from 53 balls - the first individual half-century for the franchise in five IPL outings. The Knight Riders' total of 8-137 never looked like it would be sufficient after Sanath Jayasuriya ran roughshod through the hosts' order with a tournament-best 3-14 from four overs. Bravo and Robin Uthappa duly took the visitors beyond their victory target in 18.4 overs with an unbeaten 113-run fourth-wicket partnership. The hosts made a miserable start to their innings and found themselves two wickets down inside the first over. Captain Sourav Ganguly fell for just four runs, caught by Jayasuriya at first slip off the bowling of Shaun Pollock, who was skippering the Indians in the absence of the injured Sachin Tendulkar and the disgraced Harbhajan. The third-choice captain was clearly thriving in his new role and struck again to remove Brendon McCullum just two balls later, the opener trapped lbw on his final appearance before he joins up with the New Zealand squad in England. Debabrata Das joined Ricky Ponting in the middle and the pair put on 34 runs before the former's brisk 29 from 20 deliveries was brought to an end when he lofted Bravo's delivery to Uthappa at point. Ponting, himself contesting his final IPL game before linking up with Australia, hit 19 before he was run out, while David Hussey (17) and Mohammad Hafeez (two) both fell to Jayasuriya in the 14th over to leave Kolkata wobbling on 6-77. Laxmi Ratan Shukla brought some semblance of respectability to the hosts' total as he hit two sixes and four fours on his way to an unbeaten 40, but he ran out of overs before he had chance to set the Indians a truly challenging victory target. The Indians' response got off to a stuttering start when Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed for four in the third over, Hussey taking the catch at mid on off the bowling of Ajit Agarkar. Jayasuriya added 18 runs before he was bowled by Ishant Sharma while home hopes were raised further when Manish Pandey edged Ashok Dinda's delivery onto his stumps having failed to trouble the scorers. But the quality of Bravo and Uthappa ensured the visitors claimed their first points of the inaugural IPL campaign as the pair dug in to frustrate the home attack. Bravo hit nine boundaries on his way to a long-overdue first fifty for the hosts, while Uthappa survived being dropped on five by Das as he compiled a run-a-ball 37 before his strike partner hit the winnings runs with eight balls to spare. |
1 May, 2008
McGrath turns back clock The Delhi Daredevils have moved into second place in the Indian Premier League following a 10-run win against bottom-of-the-table Bangalore Royal Challengers. Left-handed duo Gautam Gambhir (86) and Shikhar Dhawan (50) guided the hosts to an imposing 5-191 before some tight bowling from Antipodean rivals Glenn McGrath (4-29) and Daniel Vettori (1- 19) kept the visitors in check. Jacques Kallis (54) top-scored for the Royal Challengers but he was unable to provide the late hitting required to secure victory. After McGrath had taken three wickets inside the opening five overs to leave the visitors 3-48, Kallis and Dravid combined in an 87-run stand that relied on controlled aggression. But their stand was broken when McGrath struck again as Dravid skied a catch to Sehwag in the covers with his team still needing 56 from 27 balls. Kallis and Boucher got the target down to 35 runs from the final two overs, however, Vettori would frustrate their attempts as he conceded just five singles before bowling Kallis from his final delivery. Boucher hit the first ball of Virender Sehwag's final over for six, but consecutive singles followed to end the Royal Challengers' hopes of victory. Earlier, Gambhir and Sehwag took 53 from the opening five overs before their early onslaught was brought to an end by a brilliant piece of fielding by Ross Taylor, who threw down the stumps from point leaving Sehwag (24 off 12) well short of his ground. Shikhar Dhawan joined Gambhir at the crease and the left-handed duo set about building a 98-run partnership with some heavy hitting. The pair combined to take 18 from the 14th over, bowled by 37-year-old veteran spinner Sunil Joshi, with both batsman clearing the boundary. Dhawan sent another ball into the stands in the next over from Kallis, but the South African earned some revenge when Dravid completed a spectacular catch to dismiss him for 50 from 33 balls. Gambhir continued to find the boundary with regularity and when he coupled his dominance with a few choice words for Kallis, it took Dravid to intervene and avoid a potential flashpoint. Gambhir fell soon after when he mis-timed a pull shot to Praveen Kumar at deep midwicket in the penultimate over from Zaheer Khan, but his innings would prove a match-winning one. |
2 May, 2008
Royals too flash Unlikely duo Yusuf Pathan and Swapnil Asnodkar struck rapid half-centuries to lead Rajasthan Royals to a 45-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL on Thursday. Asnodkar plundered 60 and Yusuf 55 as the Royals posted 7-196 on the way to their fourth win of the competition. Sourav Ganguly and David Hussey offered some resistance with a stand of 71, but received precious little support from their team-mates as the visitors slumped to their third straight defeat. Ganguly made 51 and Hussey 42 as the Knight Riders were bowled out for 151, their last five wickets falling for just eight runs. Kolkata struck early as Graeme Smith (two) perished in only the second over, his leg stump sent cartwheeling by Ishant Sharma. Mohammad Kaif and Asnodkar then began what threatened to develop into a sizeable partnership, the former cracking three fours from his opening six balls, crashing two through the off side and guiding one down to the third-man boundary. But Kaif fell on 21 when he chipped a delivery straight back to Ajit Agarkar. Asnodkar though continued to treat the bowlers with contempt, stroking the ball to all areas of the ground. His new partner Yusuf took a back seat as Asnodkar romped to a rapid half-century, making 60 from just 34 balls before he mis-timed an Umar Gul delivery and Hussey pouched a simple catch. The Pakistan quick struck again almost immediately to dismiss Shane Watson lbw for a first-ball duck. But the right-hand left-hand combination of Yusuf (55 off 33), who brought up his half-century with a maximum onto the canvas roof of the stands, and Ravindra Jadeja (33 off 19) proved profitable for the Royals before both fell late on. Gul claimed his third dismissal of the innings by clean bowling Yusuf through the gate. The Royals claimed three early wickets to pave their way to victory, Salman Butt (seven) and Agarkar (20) both heading back to the pavilion before Brad Hodge followed them after an unfortunate dismissal confirmed by the third umpire. The Australian was run out by Siddharth Trivedi for one, the bowler getting the lightest of touches onto a Ganguly shot to deflect the ball onto the stumps at the other end. And when Ganguly was expertly caught in the deep by Kaif, who just managed to stop himself toppling backwards over the boundary rope, the writing was on the wall for the Knight Riders. 2 May, 2008 Marsh bogs down Chargers Shaun Marsh provided a glimpse of Australia's batting future as he anchored the Kings XI Punjab to a seven-wicket win over Deccan Chargers on his Indian Premier League debut on Thursday night. The 24-year-old left-hander will join the Australia team following the IPL for its one-day series in the Caribbean next month - his first international tour. That call-up came on the back of a domestic season that earned him Western Australia's player-of-the-year award, and he proved he was just as capable on the slower Indian wickets as on the harder surface of the WACA Ground with an unbeaten knock of 84 from 62 balls. After opening the innings Marsh displayed a cool head under pressure, preferring to pick the gaps in the field than rely on heavy hitting. He hit 11 fours and one six in his innings and in Mahela Jayawardene (45 not out) he found a partner equally adept at his craft as they passed their victory target of 8-164 with seven balls remaining. Eleven of the 18 games played at the Ranjiv Gandhi International Stadium have been won by the team batting second and with that in mind King Punjab XI captain Yuvraj Singh won the toss and elected to field. VVS Laxman survived an early scare when he was dropped by Kumar Sangakkara in the opening over, however the hosts did claim the key early wickets of Adam Gilchrist (six) and Herschelle Gibbs (seven). Laxman was let off the hook a second time, Marsh dropping a hot chance off Piyush Chawla at mid-wicket, before he finally fell to the young Indian leg-spinner, spooning a catch to Yuvraj at cover for 48 from 34 balls. The home innings then threatened to descend into chaos as they lost three wickets for eight runs to be 6-98 after 14 overs. However, Rohit Sharma proved his own rising talent with an unbeaten 76 from 42 balls to help his team to a defendable 8-164. The Kings XI reply began brightly with Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marsh trading boundaries before the West Indian was unluckily run out at the non-striker's end, a Marsh straight drive tipped onto the stumps by bowler Sanjay Bangar, for 15 off 15 balls. Sangakkara (three) and Yuvraj (14) followed in quick succession, but Marsh remained cool under the pressure of falling wickets to nudge the ball around the field. The West Australian brought up his half-century from 35 balls and with Jayawardene put on an unbeaten 81 runs to guide the visitors to their third consecutive victory and leave the Chargers languishing at the wrong end of the table with just one win. |
3 May, 2008
Super Kings usurped Virender Sehwag condemned the Chennai Super Kings to their first defeat in the IPL as his quick 71 led the Delhi Daredevils to an eight-wicket victory on Saturday morning. Set a target of 170 for victory, Sehwag wasted little time and he needed only 41 balls to amass his total, smashing seven fours and four sixes as he tore through the Chennai attack. He was eventually out in the 12th over, slashing at a Joginder Sharma delivery to be caught at backward point by Muttiah Muralitharan, but with Delhi already within 55 runs of victory at that point, the damage had been done. Gautam Gambir completed a half-century of his own as Delhi feasted on the Chennai bowling, but he was out for 50 when he sent an inside edge on to his own stumps off Manpreet Gony. Chennai managed to slow the run rate significantly in the later stages, but they could do nothing to prevent Shikhar Dhawan (19) and AB De Villiers (26) scoring the remaining runs needed for victory with six balls to spare. Chennai had earlier made 6-169 after winning the toss and electing to bat. S. Vidyut's first half-century of the tournament provided the backbone of the innings as he made 54 of 37 balls, hitting seven fours and one six. Vidyut had come in after Yo Mahesh, the young Chennai native bowling for Delhi, had removed the off-stump of opener Stephen Fleming to dismiss the New Zealander for 13. Fellow opener Parthiv Patel survived two dropped catches before being caught at third man by Mahesh after slashing at a Virender Sehwag delivery. After veteran Glenn McGrath finally dismissed Vidyut, Mahendra Singh Dhoni contributed 32 before he was caught by Shoaib Malik off Mohammed Asif, but with wickets in hand in the late overs, Chennai could afford to swing its bats and Albie Morkel came in to make 28 off just 16 balls to keep the score moving along. McGrath was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi, taking 1-21 from his four overs. |
Havn't had any luck punting through this comp.
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I haven't had a bet on cricket so far but maybe i might have my first bet in this tournament soon. :)
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4 May, 2008
Kumble keeps his cool Bangalore Royal Challengers produced a disciplined bowling display at the death to claim a three-run win over Deccan Chargers and move off the foot of the IPL table on Saturday. The Royal Challengers claimed four wickets for just five runs in the space of nine balls to limit their opponents to 6-153 and record only their second win in IPL. VVS Laxman and Rohit Sharma shared a stand of 96 - Sharma becoming the highest run-scorer in the IPL with 235 - but it was not enough as the Royal Challengers' total of 8-156 proved sufficient. Praveen Kumar recorded figures of 3-23 and Zaheer Khan 2-24 before Sanjay Bangar hit two sixes off the final over from Anil Kumble to take the clash down to the final ball. But Kumble held his nerve to secure victory. The Royal Challengers certainly had their bowling attack to thank for victory after earlier struggling to get the better of the Deccan spinners. Wassim Jaffer and Virat Kohli shared a second-wicket partnership of 72 after Bharat Chipli (10) went early, but found it hard to cope with the loss of Jaffer for 44. Jacques Kallis (six) and Kohli (38) were then deceived by the spin of Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh respectively in the space of four balls. Misbah-ul-Haq (three) and Mark Boucher (16) also went cheaply, the former falling victim to a Shahid Afridi quicker delivery and Boucher slicing on to his stumps. Rahul Dravid though offered some resistance towards the end of the innings, making Scott Styris pay for dropping him on 12 by cracking two maximums from the New Zealander's last over on his way to a rapid 26. The Chargers started the run chase at a leisurely pace and Adam Gilchrist (10) was well caught by Jaffer right on the boundary rope as he looked to up the tempo. Gibbs pulled a short delivery for four to get off the mark, but that was as good as it got for the South African before he was on his way back to the pavilion for six. Sharma though continued his impressive form after a brief delay due to floodlight failure. He clipped an effortless six off his pads and followed that shot up with two quickfire fours, one punched through square leg and the second cut past point, while Laxman played the spin of Kumble expertly. But Sharma eventually holed out for 57 and Laxmen fell lbw to Kumar for 52 as the Royal Challengers' accurate and ecomonical bowling proved decisive. 4 May, 2008 Marsh makes his mark Kings XI Punjab recorded a much-needed victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday, winning by nine runs after an early Kolkata collapse. Having made 6-178 off their 20 overs, Punjab soon began dismantling the Kolkata batting order. Sourav Ganguly went for just five, caught at third man off Sreesanth, and Mohammed Hafeez quickly followed for 13 when he was bowled by Irfan Pathan. When Hodge was trapped lbw for just one, Kolkata was floundering at 3-25 and it got worse as Debabrata Das fell victim to Sreesanth for five. Kolkata were scratching out runs, mainly in singles, but it was clear by the mid-point of their innings that the required run rate - hovering around 18 - was out of reach. David Hussey (71) and Saha (59no) restored some pride with a sixth-wicket partnership of 104, but it was too little too late. Punjab set themselves up for victory with a scrappy innings. Shaun Marsh was the high scorer with 40, but it was the quick-hitting of his team-mates that was the secret to Punjab's success. James Hopes smashed four fours from the first 11 balls his faced on his return, but was caught by Brad Hodge from the 12th. Kumar Sangakkara came in but was soon struggling after swinging awkwardly at a delivery, and he retired hurt in the sixth over. Yuvraj Singh followed with an explosive but brief appearance, hitting 14 off three balls before he was stumped off the next delivery for 17. Wicketkeeper Prasanta Saha claimed another victim, stumping Marsh, soon after. Ganguly saved Umar Gul for the later stages and got quick reward as he got the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene, out for 10 off Gul's second delivery. The paceman surrendered only one run from an excellent first over. After receiving treatment, Sangakkara re-emerged but saw his partner Karan Goel run out for six. Sangakkara was eventually bowled by Gul, but ended a dogged effort with a respectable 28. Piyush Chawla came into swing the bat with free abandon, and he accounted for 20 of the 21 runs Punjab scored off the final over, reaching his total of 21 off just seven balls. |
5 May, 2008
Pollock winds back the clock Veteran all-rounder Shaun Pollock wound back the years to inspire Mumbai Indians to a 29-run win over Delhi Devils on Sunday which lifted them off the foot of the IPL table. The South African cracked a rapid 33 with the bat before claiming figures of 2-16 from his four overs as Mumbai surprised the tournament leaders. The hosts' total of 8-162 had looked very achievable for a Delhi side which had won four times in the IPL going into the clash, but they hadn't reckoned on Pollock at his economical best. Virender Sehwag's quickfire 40 was as good as it got for the Daredevils, who were bowled out for 133 inside 19 overs in reply. Pollock's fellow quick Ashish Nehra finished with 3-25. The right-hand left-hand combination of Mumbai openers Yogesh Takawale and Sanath Jayasuriya looked threatening after a slow start, the latter racing to 34 off just 16 balls, hitting Vijaykumar Yomahesh for 10 runs in just two balls. But the over then took a glorious turn for the Delhi bowler as first Takawale (14) threw his wicket away, a thick outside edge falling kindly for Pradeep Sangwan at third man, and then Jayasuriya was clean bowled. Robin Uthappa (22 off 21) and Dominic Thornley (30 off 24) threatened to cut loose, the former looking in especially good nick until he needlessly attempted a cheeky flick which did not come off. Thornley fell after he was deceived by a great change of pace from Rajat Bhatia to prompt the loss of three wickets for just three runs as Mumbai slipped from 3-109 to 6-112. Only Pollock offered some resistance towards the end of the innings as he bludgeoned two maximums on his way to 33 from just 15 balls before holing out in the final over. Mumbai though made early inroads with the ball to leave its opponents floundering at 2-4, Nehra removing Gautam Gambhir (one) and Pollock getting rid of Shikhar (one). Virender Sehwag steadied the ship with a rapid 40 from just 20 balls - one of the highlights a monster cut over point for six - until he spooned a Thornley delivery straight to Pollock. The South African also had Shoaib Malik (24 off 22) caught in the deep by Abhishek Nayar to finish with an economy rate of just four. Dinesh Karthik's 28 revived Delhi's hopes, but Nehra struck the killer blow with two wickets in two balls to dismiss Rajat Bhatia (nine) and Pradeep Sangwan (two) before the last four wickets fell for just three runs. Tanvir king of Royals Sohail Tanvir proved Twenty20 cricket is not the sole domain of batsman as he produced a record display with the ball to help the Rajasthan Royals to a comfortable eight-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. The Pakistan left-armer claimed two wickets in the opening over of the match on his way to figures of 6-14 - the best in Twenty20 history - as the Super Kings were skittled for just 109. He also took two catches to complete a memorable day for the 23-year-old. The home side chased down their victory target with ease, Graeme Smith remaining unbeaten on 35 from 44 balls, while his opening partner Swapnil Asnodkar added 32. Despite the defeat the Super Kings remain top of the Indian Premier League table. Chennai captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat, but he was made to immediately rue that decision as Tanvir removed both his openers without scoring. Parthiv Patel fell from the first ball of the innings when he was trapped leg before wicket, before Stephen Fleming was dismissed in similar style four balls later. Tanvir struck again in his next over when Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan offered a catch to Shane Warne at second slip, leaving the visitors reeling at 3-11. South Africa all-rounder Albie Morkel provided the only resistence in hitting Warne for 17 from one over, including a towering straight six. But Morkel's innings ended upon Tanvir's re-introduction into the attack, bowled for 42 from 33 balls. The left-armer completed his own personal rout, bowling Muttiah Muralitharan and Makhaya Ntini as the Super Kings were routed for just 109. The home side was never troubled in their run chase as Smith and Asnodkar put on 78 for the first wicket. With victory in sight Asnodkar holed out to Ntini in the deep off the bowling of Vidyut before Yusuf Pathan could add just eight. But Smith ensured the win chipping Suresh Raina over mid-off for two with 34 balls remaining. |
6 May, 2008
Marsh stars for Punjab Kings XI Punjab remain the form team in the Indian Premier League after recording its fifth consecutive victory, by six wickets, against Bangalore, to go level at the top of the table on Monday. The away side's win was set up by a confident display with the ball as it skittled Bangalore for 126 from 19.2 overs, with five of the home players failing to score. Teenage leg-spinner Piyush Chawla was the pick of the bowlers taking 3-25 while Sreesanth, who claimed two wickets in his opening over, finished with 2-16. Rahul Dravid provided the only resistance, hitting 66 from 51 balls to save his side from total humiliation. Shaun Marsh again led the Kings XI's run chase, smashing 39 from 34 balls as Punjab passed their target with 10 balls to spare. Yuvraj Singh's decision to bowl reaped immediate rewards as Sreesanth claimed the wickets of Wasim Jaffer and the recalled Cameron White, both without scoring, in his opening over. Bangalore's start got even worse when Jacques Kallis also fell for a duck, run out by Marsh following a mix-up with Virat Kohli, to leave the home team 3-15. Kohli and Dravid stabilised the innings with a stand of 54 from 52 balls before Kohli (34) misread an Irfan Pathan slower ball to swat his attempted drive to Sreesanth at long-off. That good work was soon undone, however, as the visitors again lost two wickets in an over. Chawla trapped Misbah-ul-Haq (eight) leg before wicket before Praveen Kumar became the fourth batsman to fall for a duck, caught behind attempting to cut. Chawla was proving a handful and he claimed his third wicket, and the fifth batsman without scoring, when he bowled Zaheer Khan with a googly. The home side was indebted to some typically combative batting from Dravid, who combined his iron will with fine strokeplay to hit nine fours and a six in his score of 66. Dravid was the final man to fall when he was caught by Mahela Jayawardene at third man from the bowling of VRV Singh. Despite losing James Hopes (five) early on in their reply, a 54-run stand between Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marsh for the second wicket set the foundation for another Kings XI victory. Praveen Kumar had Sarwan caught behind for 31 off 29 balls, but by the time Marsh was dismissed, bowled by Zaheer, the visitors needed just 21 runs from 34 balls. Jayawardene and Pathan, who both finished unbeaten on 17, then guided the Kings XI home to draw it level at the top of the IPL table with Rajasthan Royals on five wins. |
Deccan Chargers hand Super Kings third consecutive defeat
7th May 2008 The Deccan Chargers have registered an 8-wicket victory over the Chennai Super Kings here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai tonight. Chasing a modest target of 145, the visitors claimed the two crucial points with three overs to spare in the match. Adam Gilchrist, who was the stand-in captain tonight for the Deccan Chargers, smashed 54 runs from just 36 balls - a knock that included seven boundaries and two sixes - to provide the raze to Chennai very early during the run-chase. Some breathtaking fielding from Rohit Sharma, Herschelle Gibbs and Subramaniam Badrinath provided the fans with plenty of riveting action tonight. Adam Gilchrist was adjudicated Player of the Match for his half-century knock. Shahid Afridi came and smashed 20 runs from 6 deliveries, including two massive hits for six and two fours to knock off the target quickly. Is it the start of an Afridi assault that has beckoned the IPL fans thus far? He ended with an astonishing strike rate of 333.33. Gilchrist found a new opening partner in Herschelle Gibbs (10) who departed early, caught and bowled by Manpreet Gony. The dismissal brought Scott Styris (36*) to the wicket who added 54 runs for the second wicket with his captain and infuriated Chennai's woes - who have now lost three consecutive matches in the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) - after the back-to-back losses against Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals. Styris saw the visitors home after Gilchrist fell in the tenth over, caught brilliantly by Badrinath at point. Rohit Sharma came and smashed 23 runs from 17 balls until he holed out to Badrinath at deep midwicket off Muralidaran's bowling. The in-form youngster stepped down the pitch to the champion offie and demonstrated yet again, his echelon of assurance. Gilchrist was particularly dismissive against South African quickie Makhaya Ntini (0-37) and Joginder Sharma (0-46) but was held back a little against Muralidaran (1-24), Manpreet Gony (1-15) and Albie Morkel (1-26). Joginder Sharma went for 6...4...6...and 4 in the 18th over when he came up against Afridi. Earlier, a regimented performance and fantastic fielding from the visitors restricted the Chennai Super Kings to 144/7. VVS Laxman missed out on the contest since he was nursing a hand injury. Adam Gilchrist won the toss and inserted the Super Kings into bat. Former India wicketkeeper batsman Parthiv Patel (4) failed to create an impact, yet again, as he perished in the very first over when he tried to play an expansive hook shot off Vijaykumar but holed out at long-leg to RP Singh. A ball earlier, he presented the bowler with a difficult caught and bowled attempt but was lucky to escape. A tendency of sorts since the exit of Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey, once more, it was the trio of Suresh Raina (32), captain MS Dhoni (23) and Albie Morkel (29*) doing the bulk of the scoring for the Chennai Super Kings. Srikkanth Aniruddha (1) joined Stephen Fleming (14) at the crease after the dismissal of Patel in the first over. The duo muffled around until the former was snapped by RP Singh in the fourth over and the latter was dismissed when an airborne Rohit Sharma intercepted his full-blooded cover drive, off former New Zealand teammate Scott Styris in the sixth over. Chennai Super Kings were reeling at 33/3 after 5.4 overs. RP Singh was the pick of the Deccan bowlers, claiming two for 12 in his three overs. His second scalp was that of Joginder Sharma (15) in the dying stages of the hosts' innings. All eyes were on the classy Badrinath (0) who joined Raina at the wicket after the early disasters, but fell victim to what was quite easily the ‘highlight of the night' when a leapfrogging Herschelle Gibbs took a splendid catch at backward point off Afridi's bowling to leave the hosts tottering at 43/4 with Raina and Dhoni at the crease. Dhoni (23) added 39 runs for the fifth wicket with Raina but failed to engender the sort of driving force the crowds correlate with the highest paid player in the IPL. He consumed as many as 31 deliveries for his 23-run knock and disaster struck Chennai once again when Raina was dismissed by Sanjay Bangar (1-36) with Rohit Sharma claiming the catch. Things could have been worse for the Chennai side had not Morkel and Manpreet Gony (15 not out off 6 balls) unleashed some lusty shots towards the fag end of the innings to swell the tally. Morkel's unbeaten 29 came off 19 balls and included two sixes besides a boundary. The Chennai Super Kings will next travel to New Delhi on Thursday to clash against the Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla. The latter pounded Dhoni's team with a 9-wicket victory when the teams met last. Can the Super Kings get one back? The Deccan Chargers will hope to carry forward the newly found momentum when they come up against the League leaders Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Friday night. |
Streak over for Warne's Royals
May 08, 2008 RAJASTHAN Royals' five-game winning streak came to a crashing halt with Shane Warne's IPL side belted by seven wickets by Mumbai Indians. The Indians had few difficulties in chasing down the Royals' meagre target of 104, claiming victory with 29 balls to spare as captain-coach Warne tasted defeat for just the second time in seven IPL games. Shane Watson scored 32 off 20 balls, but despite his 53-run partnership with opener Swapnil Asnodkar (39), the Royals failed to bat out their 20 overs, dismissed for 103 in 16.2 overs. Robin Uthappa (34 not out) then guided the home side to victory with Watson rounding off a strong game by taking 2-26 with the ball. Warne took the other wicket while going from 19 off his two overs in Mumbai. The result sees the Royals drop from top to second spot on the ladder behind the Kings XI Punjab, while Mumbai, who are expected to have Sachin Tendulkar return from a groin injury next week, improved to fifth with their third win. The match included one of the more bizarre dismissals of the competition when Royals opener Graeme Smith was stumped off the bowling of fellow South African Shaun Pollock. Smith mistakenly thought he had been clean bowled by the pace bowler and without checking his stumps began walking to the pavilion. Wicketkeeper Yogesh Takawale made the most of Smith's error by quickly taking the bails off to dismiss the Proteas captain for just five. |
9 May, 2008
Super win for Chennai The Chennai Super Kings have claimed 15 off the final over to seal a nailbiting four-wicket win over the Delhi Daredevils on the last ball of the innings. Contributions from Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, Stephen Fleming, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Albie Morkel put Chennai close to its victory target of 188, but the task seemed to have defeated it coming into the final over with 15 needed. Manpreet Gony hammered Shoaib Malik for six off the first ball, with a wide and an edged four contributing to the tension, before Manoj Tiwary lifted the final effort over the infield for the winning run - despite a fine attempted catch from Shikhar Dhawan. Earlier Dhawan (59 from 46 deliveries) and Gautam Gambhir (80 off 49) had forged a century stand which seemed to put their side in a winning position with a total of 5-187. Gambhir, the tournament's highest scorer, and India team-mate Virender Sehwag began in positive fashion, compiling 45 runs in five overs, before Sehwag (23 off 18) and AB de Villiers fell to yorkers from Gony and Morkel respectively. Gambhir survived the tightest of run-out shouts to lead a partnership of 121 with Dhawan. Gambhir passed 50 with an enormous six over deep mid-wicket off Gony and upped the pace from there, including three consecutive boundaries off Palani Amarnath. Dhawan joined in, hitting a maximum off Lakshmipathy Balaji and bringing up his half-century, but the 26-year-old hit back later in the over. Gambhir drove one straight at Kapugedera to end an excellent partnership and Dhawan soon followed, finding the same fielder in the deep to give Morkel his second wicket. In reply, Vidyut raced to 40 off 22 balls before holing out to Dhawan off Pradeep Sangwan. Fleming (44 off 28) took up the baton from Vidyut, finding gaps square on both sides of the wicket to pilfer a slew of boundaries. But he too fell before reaching 50, the victim of a good low catch from De Villiers off the returning Mohammad Asif. Morkel (31 off 15) struck three consecutive sixes and a four off one Sehwag over, but was run out shortly after, and when Dhoni fell for 33 off 33 it seemed the match was Delhi's - but Gony and Diwari saw Chennai home. 9 May, 2008 Boucher brilliance not enough A blistering unbeaten half-century from Mark Boucher has proved in vain as the Bangalore Royal Challengers slipped to a five-run defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. The South African cracked 50 from 40 balls as Bangalore fell just short of its 130-run victory target in a match reduced to 16 overs because of rain. Economical bowling from Sourav Ganguly in particular, who finished with figures of 1-7, limited Bangalore to 4-124 - and left it rooted to the foot of the IPL table. Earlier Dale Steyn had taken 3-27 as Kolkata struggled to 7-129, but late runs at the end of the innings allowed the hosts to halt a run of four straight defeats. Having posted a far from intimidating total, the dismissals of opening pair Jagadeesh Arunkumar (22) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (seven) gave Kolkata early hope. And that turned to genuine belief when Rahul Dravid was bowled by his India team-mate Ganguly for just five to leave the Challengers languishing on 3-51 in the 10th over. Boucher and Cameron White put on 45 in an impressive fourth-wicket partnership, but when the latter was run out for 30 to leave the visitors 34 runs from victory with less than two overs remaining the writing was on the wall for Bangalore. Earlier, the Royal Challengers had struck quickly to remove Aakash Chopra (two) and Brad Hodge (10) in successive overs, the Indian trapped lbw by Steyn and the Australian holing out to Vinay Kumar at deep square leg off Zaheer Khan. David Hussey came to the crease and immediately looked to hit out, following up a huge six down the ground with a textbook cover drive for four. Ganguly had also looked in good touch on his way to 20 from 22 balls before some sluggish running between the wickets saw him run out by White. Hussey pulled another maximum over long on before he too fell victim to a needless run-out, his quickfire 27 coming off just 12 balls. Tatenda Taibu (15) became Steyn's second victim after top-edging a delivery for wicketkeeper Boucher to pouch before a shorter delivery from the South African did for Laxmi Shukla (12), who sliced it on to his own stumps. And Prasanta Saha and Murali Kartik made a rapid 17 apiece at the death as Kolkata's total just proved sufficient. |
I'm enjoying your cricket reports Dougie. Good work.
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Thanks grot. :)
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Another win for Warne's Royals
Sat May 10 2008 Shane Warne took 2-20 as he led his Rajasthan Royals to an easy eight-wicket win over the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League cricket match on Friday night. Fellow Aussie Adam Gilchrist made 61 runs off 49 balls as the Chargers compiled 8-140 off their 20 overs. The Royals reached the target with 24 balls to spare after man-of-the-match Yusuf Pathan clubbed 68 off 37 deliveries. Rajasthan have won six of their eight matches to sit top of the table but the Chargers continue to dwell at the bottom with just two wins. |
Balaji's five-for sinks Kings XI Punjab
May 10, 2008 Chennai Super Kings 181 for 4 (Badrinath 64, Dhoni 60*) beat Kings XI Punjab 163 for 9 (Marsh 58, Pathan 40, Balaji 5-24) by 18 runs A match that swung from one side to the other was decided by two exceptional overs from L Balaji, the India international: he first picked up two crucial wickets in the 13th over to seize the initiative for his side, then picked up the IPL's first hat-trick in the final over to finish the match. Balaji's performance, in front of an ecstatic home crowd, pushed Chennai Super Kings to second place in the points table and ended Kings XI Punjab's streak of five successive wins. Chasing a stiff 182, Punjab lost two early wickets but Shaun Marsh stayed calm at the other end, working the Chennai bowlers into the gaps for runs while picking up the odd boundaries. As the asking-rate escalated to over ten, Marsh decided to step it up, punishing Palani Amarnath for two sixes over the straight boundary and bringing up his fifty with another clean straight hit, off Balaji. If Marsh appeared as if he'd just arrived after a stint at a driving range, Ramnaresh Sarwan, with whom he put on 66, was a touch slow with 20 off 22 balls and his inability to hit a boundary suggested why his Twenty20 strike-rate is less than a run-a-ball. Their partnership was looking threatening, though, before both fell in one match-turning over from Balaji. Ambling in from a shortened run and putting in the effort in his final stride, he varied his deliveries, mixing up slower balls with shorter ones, with some surprising the batsmen. He got Sarwan with the first ball, the batsman bowled while giving the charge. Four balls later Marsh followed, top-edging to Amarnath on the square-leg boundary. Amarnath tightened the screws in the next over, having Yuvraj Singh caught by Stephen Fleming at point, and the match was almost over as a contest. Not as a spectacle, though. The 15th over saw a mini-battle between Muttiah Muralitharan and his Sri Lanka team-mate Mahela Jayawardene, who got down on his knees and dispatched him over deep midwicket. Two balls later, though, a repeat effort resulted in a top edge to S Vidyut at short third man, and Jayawardene, normally accustomed to running to congratulate his leading bowler, had to head back to the dugout. And then there was the hat-trick, in the last over of the match. There were four balls to go and 19 runs to get when Balaji bowled to Irfan Pathan, who'd already hit him for a six off the first ball. This time, he holed out to a slower ball to deep square leg. Next, Piyush Chawla lofted one towards long-off for an easy catch, and the hat-trick was completed when VRV Singh managed to back away and top-edge one straight to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Badrinath, a local boy like Balaji, and Dhoni had earlier threatened to take the game away as Michael Hussey had done in the previous encounter between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab, but Punjab's bowlers did well to restrict the flow of runs in the final five overs of the innings. Dhoni, Chennai's adopted hero and captain, sent the crowd into raptures soon after his arrival by clobbering Chawla for three sixes; the first two sailed into the leg-side stands, while the third was hit flat over the bowler's head. Yuvraj soon went in for damage control, bringing on Pathan, his side's leading wicket-taker, for his second spell as early as the 13th over. Badrinath took two sixes off Pathan and brought up his fifty off 37 deliveries. The two had added 80 off 49 deliveries, and a final flourish was on the cards. Punjab came back well to rein in the rampaging batsmen. Sreesanth had bowled a good first spell in which he removed Chennai's openers and his final one - the 16th of the innings - went for just five, James Hopes and VRV took the cue and targeted the blockhole, and the run-scoring abated. Chennai got 181, but will be disappointed at not having been able to go past the 200-run mark, which looked likely at one stage. |
12 May, 2008
Royal Watson blazes Delhi Shane Watson cracked a scorching 74 to lead Rajasthan Royals to a three-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League on Sunday. The Australian all-rounder needed just 40 balls to compile the match-winning knock as the Royals reached their target of 157 with five balls to spare, opening up a two-point lead at the top of the table and condemning Delhi to a third straight defeat. Watson, Siddharth Trivedi and IPL debutant Dimitri Mascarenhas had earlier bagged two wickets apiece as Delhi was limited to 7-156. Farveez Maharoof's blistering 39 off just 16 balls had given the visitors a platform, but his brilliant belligerence proved in vain. Two early run-outs hampered the Royals' chase as AB de Villiers sent Yusuf Pathan (eight) and Mohammad Kaif (one) packing in successive overs. But from then on Watson - who was dropped on 26 by Virender Sehwag - took command, peppering the boundary with some trademark powerful strokes as he racked up five fours and as many sixes. He lost two partners in quick succession, Graeme Smith for 25 and Ravindra Jadeja for just six, but his rhythm was not disrupted. Mascarenhas (nine) was deceived by the spin of Sehwag and Shane Warne (11) by a slower ball from Maharoof before Watson fell to a contested run-out, but Mahesh Rawat (five) joined Niraj Patel (one) at the crease to guide the Royals to 7-159. Having been put in to bat by the Royals, Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag put on 47 in a promising first-wicket partnership before Sehwag (17) became Watson's first victim caught at point by Kaif. Shikhar Dhawan (three) was run out the following over and Gambhir's knock stalled on 31 off 23 balls when he was bowled off an inside edge by Trivedi. Mascarenhas then struck twice in one over, first removing De Villiers (20) and then Dinesh Karthik (13) as Delhi lost two wickets for no runs to slump from 3-92 to 5-92. Amit Mishra contributed just four, but Maharoof took Warne to the cleaners in the penultimate over, bludgeoning four maximums off the veteran Australian before holing out to Niraj Patel. The tail-ender's impressive innings though proved too little too late. 12 May, 2008 Ganguly gets the points Sourav Ganguly was at his aggressive best as he led the Kolkata Knight Riders to a 23-run victory over the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League. The former Indian captain fired 91 in 57 balls as the Knight Riders posted an imposing total of 4-204. He then took two catches and two wickets as the Chargers managed 7-181 in reply. Kolkata did not immediately get into its stride, losing Salman Butt early on for four. Ganguly joined Aakash Chopra (24 from 23) in the middle and the pair added an unspectacular 69 for the second wicket. Ganguly reached his second IPL fifty off 40 balls and upped the rate from there, even after Chopra was run out in a mix-up over a quick single. He struck five maximums in his innings, treating the slow left-arm spin of Pragyan Ojha with particular disdain. He was supported by Australian David Hussey and the pair compiled a 102-run stand. Ganguly eventually fell, caught at fine leg by RP Singh off the bowling of Paidikalva Vijaykumar, but Hussey continued where he left off, claiming his third half-century of the competition. He was unbeaten on 57 off 29 balls when the Kolkata innings - boosted by four overthrows off the last ball - closed. In reply, Herschelle Gibbs managed just four before departing and when Adam Gilchrist (24 from 17) joined him, caught by Ganguly to give Ashok Dinda the first of his three wickets, the Chargers were on the back foot. Ganguly struck to remove New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris (5) and Sanjay Bangar (2), taking the catch off Dinda to remove dangerman Rohit Sharma (33 off 24) in between. The only bright spot for Deccan was an effervescent innings from Venugopal Rao. He smashed an unbeaten 71 off 42 balls in reply, including 22 off one Murali Kartik over, but it was not enough. The Chargers' hopes of progression look virtually non-existent now - they have managed just two wins in nine outings. |
13 May, 2008
More runs for Marsh Shaun Marsh hit 74 not out to guide Kings XI Punjab to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over the Bangalore Royal Challengers in Monday IPL action. The Australian had the highest batting average in the IPL before the clash and he cemented his position as the competition's best batsman with another swashbuckling performance in Mohali. He smashed nine fours and two sixes to lead the Kings to 1-144 in reply to Bangalore's 143, and clinched the win with a single to cover off Praveen Kumar with more than four overs to spare. He was assisted by countrymen James Hopes and Luke Pomersbach, whose 34 off 24 balls helped easily chase down a meagre target. The Kings made a slow start but Hopes was soon racking up the runs, matching the power of three sixes with the finesse of a number of clever singles. He made 27 off 19 balls before going for one slog too many off Vinay Kumar and was caught by Dale Steyn at deep extra cover. Marsh was dropped by substitute fielder Bharat Chipli at mid-on in the fifth over as the Challengers again showed lacklustre fielding, and they were made to pay as the batsman produced another sublime showing. In the 10th over he powered Steyn for three fours and a six, and dished out similar treatment to Zaheer Khan, hitting the Indian paceman for three successive fours to bring his side to within three runs of their target. A single from Pomersbach, and two more from Marsh in the next over condemned Bangalore to yet another defeat. Earlier, the Challengers had won the toss and elected to bat, but struggled from the start and amassed just five runs from two overs when the in-form Sreesanth made the breakthrough in the third. He lured Jagadeesh Arunkumar (one) into an attempted cut at a wide delivery which flew to Mahela Jayawardene in the slips. Misbah-ul-Haq (21) and Virat Kohli (21) accelerated the run rate with two consecutive fours each and the former then hit Sreesanth for six over long-off and for four with an exquisite square drive in the same over. Misbah's form was not to last, though, and he played back too far and trod on his stumps two balls later. Kohli hit back-to-back fours off Piyush Chawla in the sixth over but was then fooled by a low delivery which skidded on to his off stump. Rahul Dravid helped guide the Challengers to 3-74 at the halfway stage but in the 11th over Cameron White (10) tried to launch Chawla over deep mid-wicket but mistimed the shot and was superbly caught by the bowler. Bangalore, a struggler in the competition so far and having only won twice, was dealt a blow when Dravid was bowled by Irfan Pathan but Mark Boucher attempted to rack up the runs in the last few overs with a huge six off Hopes. Two fours off the same over followed for Boucher but his partners continued to tumble, with Praveen Kumar (five) and Vinay Kumar (one) bowled by Sreesanth and Vikram Singh respectively. Boucher was eventually beaten with the penultimate ball of the innings when he was run out chasing a second run after pushing Pathan to long-on. |
State Of Origin-NSW v QLD
Indian Premier League Twenty20 - 2008 20/20 Indian Premier League Winner
NSW TAB FIXED ODDS Winner Online Betting Closes 23:00 Sun 01 Jun 2008 Odds updated at: 9:19:02 AM Sportsbet No Selection (default) Price 21911 BANGALORE 67.00 21912 CHENNAI 5.50 21913 DELHI 6.00 21914 DECCAN (HYDERABAD) 34.00 21915 RAJASTHAN (JAIPUR) 3.50 21916 KOLKATA 6.00 21917 PUNJAB (MOHALI) 4.00 21918 MUMBAI 8.00 There are 8 Betting Selections Available over 1 pages. |
14 May, 2008
Akhtar strikes back Shoaib Akhtar put months of turmoil behind him by taking four quickfire wickets on his Indian Premier League debut to help the Kolkata Knight Riders to a 23-run win over the Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday. Shoaib, available for selection after a five-year ban imposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board was suspended for a month pending an appeal, wasted little time in making an impact in claiming all his victims inside the first five overs of the Delhi innings for the loss of just 11 runs. Kolkata opener Salman Butt's 48 was the best individual total of a low-scoring encounter that saw the Daredevils fail to chase down the Knight Riders' meagre total of 6-133. Amit Mishra's 31 was as good as it got for the visitors, who managed just 110 runs before they were bowled out inside 18 overs. The victory continues a marked turnaround in fortunes for the Knight Riders, who are now on a three-match winning streak after suffering four successive defeats. A late effort by Laxmi Shukla, in taking three wickets with his first five balls, sealed the Daredevils' fate and their fourth straight loss. Kolkata skipper Sourav Ganguly won the toss and put his side into bat first, but Butt's knock at the top of the order was not complimented by fellow opener Aakash Chopra, who managed just 13 before he was dismissed by Farveez Maharoof. Ganguly made just seven before he was bowled between bat and pad by Yo Mahesh, but David Hussey joined Butt in the centre and the pair took the score to 87 before the latter departed two runs short of his half-century. Manesh claimed the wicket with a full delivery outside off stump that Butt sliced into the hands of Glenn McGrath at third man. Tatenda Taibu (seven) and Shukla (10) failed to concern the Delhi attack too much before they were dismissed but Hussey was steady at the crease and cobbled together a diligent run-a-ball 31 before he was caught at long on by Manoj Tiwary off the bowling of Maharoof. Wriddhiman Saha (five) and Iqbal Abdulla (one) were unbeaten as the hosts closed on 133, but if Delhi thought that total was achievable, it had reckoned without an inspired performance by Shoaib. The Pakistan paceman claimed his first scalp with just his second delivery in the IPL, enticing a thick edge from Virender Sehwag (nought) and Saha took the catch. Gautam Gambhir fell to the Rawalpindi Express in the third over as Hussey took the catch at point. Shoaib then took two wickets in two deliveries in the fifth over to see off AB De Villiers (seven) and Tiwary (nine) and further underline his intentions for the coming weeks. After Shikhar Dhawan fell for seven, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mishra combined to take the Delhi total from 43 to 75 before the former was run out attempting a quick single. Maharoof was dismissed for 10 five overs later to leave the visitors on 7-101 but it was dismissal of Mishra for 31 that sounded the death knell as Shukla claimed the first of three wickets in breathtaking finale. Pradeep Sangwan (nought) followed Mishra back to the pavilion just one ball later as Hussey took the catch at long on, and after failing with his hat-trick ball to Mahesh, Shukla took care of business with the next ball to end Delhi's innings. |
15 May, 2008
Sanath smashes ton Sanath Jayasuriya smashed an unbeaten century to guide the Mumbai Indians to a comfortable victory against the Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday. The opener's swashbuckling performance overshadowed Sachin Tendulkar's debut appearance for Mumbai and he powered his side to the 157-run victory target set by Chennai, which lost the toss and was put into bat. The Sri Lankan hit 11 sixes and nine fours from 48 balls en route to his 114 not out, and with Tendulkar adding 12 off 16 balls and Robin Uthappa unbeaten on 16, he clinched this clash almost single-handedly. Shaun Pollock had earlier laid the foundations, restricting Chennai to 6-156 after 20 overs with formidable figures of 1-9 off four overs. Chennai captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Subramaniam Badrinath rescued the innings with a partnership of 95 from 55 balls after the Super Kings had been a dismal 4-57, but the total was nowhere near enough with Jayasuriya in this kind of form. He started with a bang by smearing Morne Morkel for two boundaries in the second over, and launched Manpreet Gony for three sixes in the fifth over, bringing up the Indians' 50 in the process. He dished out the same treatment to Morkel in the next over, smashing two awesome sixes and two more fours. Chennai finally made the breakthrough when Joginder Sharma clean bowled Tendulkar (12) in the eighth over but Jayasuriya continued to hammer away at the target and took his side past their target in the 14th over with a flurry of boundaries. Three successive sixes and two fours off Chamara Kapugedera capped a stunning individual performance and steered the Indians to a superb triumph. Earlier, Chennai made a dreadful start up against an almost unplayable Pollock. The South African took the wicket of Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan in the third over when the batsman tried to hammer one over the straight boundary but skied the ball to Rohan Raje at mid-off for 16. The inconsistency of Chennai's top order has been a concern for Dhoni and the curse struck again when Suresh Raina was caught behind off Dwayne Bravo for one, leaving the Super Kings on 2-28 after six overs. Fleming rallied and made 26 off 28 balls, including four fours, but never looked totally convincing and thick-edged a Dhawal Kulkarni delivery on to his stumps in the ninth over. Kapugedera was almost out for a golden duck when he attempted a quick single which was never on, and he was back in the pavilion without troubling the scorers the next ball when he edged Kulkarni to Takawale in the slips. Chennai laboured to 4-57 by the halfway stage but Dhoni and Badrinath salvaged some hope by racking up the runs, with the latter bringing up 100 for Chennai by creaming Bravo through backward point for four. The pair accelerated the until-then low run rate in the final four overs, smashing regular boundaries, including a huge six over extra cover from Badrinath off Bravo, to power to a formidable partnership of 95 from 55 balls. Badrinath reached his second Twenty20 half-century with another maximum over long-on, but he was then caught and bowled by Bravo going for another heave-ho. Dhoni and Morne Morkel, who added five before being caught on the third man boundary by Uthappa off Kulkarni with the last ball of the innings, posted 15 runs in the last over to set Mumbai a target of 157 but it proved inadequate as Mumbai boosted their semi-final hopes with a convincing victory. |
16 May, 2008
Mishra fireworks seal win Amit Mishra claimed a hat-trick from the final over of a thrilling game to revive the Delhi Daredevils' semi-final hopes with a 12-run win against the Deccan Chargers. Chasing the hosts' total of 4-194, the Chargers needed 15 runs from the final over, but Mishra struck with the first three balls of the final over to dash the Chargers' hopes. Mishra finished with match-winning figures of 5-17. The Daredevils began the game in desperate need of a win after slumping to four consecutive defeats, which had seen them drop from the top of the Indian Premier League table to outside the top four. After being sent in to bat the hosts lost Virender Sehwag without scoring in the opening over before Gautam Gambhir (79) and Shikhar Dhawan (68 not out) combined for a stand of 133 from 85 balls to form the backbone of the home side's total. Gambhir took a heavy-handed approach to the bowling, highlighted by consecutive sixes off India team-mate RP Singh, while Dhawan opted to nudge the ball about the Feroz Shah Kotla. Gambhir's innings was ended in the 16th over when slow left-armer Pragyan Ojha fired a ball down the leg side to catch out the advancing batsman who was stumped by Adam Gilchrist. Dhawan continued to find the gaps and some late hitting from Tillakaratne Dilshan, who scored 16 from six balls, left the visitors needing marginally less than 10 runs an over to complete an unlikely run chase. The Chargers had managed just two wins in the competition, both when chasing, and sought the invention of the recalled Shahid Afridi at the top of the innings to arrest their flagging fortunes. The Pakistan all-rounder had managed just 47 runs in six innings in the tournament, but he showed what he was capable in typically carefree style, crashing 33 from 14 balls to get the reply off to a promising start. The Chargers' star-studded batting line-up has failed to fire in this tournament but solid contributions from Herschelle Gibbs (22), Rohit Sharma (35) and Scott Styris (29) gave them a sniff. And those hopes were further boosted when, following Styris' dismissal in the 18th over, Venugopal Rao took 16 from the next three balls to leave his side needing 25 from 12 balls. Rao fell in the next over but the Chargers eroded a further 10 runs from the target to set up a thrilling finale. But Mishra quickly foiled their hopes as he struck to dismiss Ravi Teja, Ojha and RP Singh in consecutive balls. It was the second hat-trick of the tournament inside a week after Chennai Super Kings medium-pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji completed the feat, also in the final over, against the Kings Punjab XI on Saturday. |
17 May, 2008
Indians crush Knight Riders The Kolkatta Knight Riders were condemned to the lowest total in the Indian Premier League as the Mumbai Indians cruised to an eight-wicket win. Shaun Pollock laid the early groundwork for Mumbai with three wickets, while there were two apiece for Dwayne Bravo, Rohan Raje and Dominic Thornely as the Knight Riders were bowled out for just 67. Sanath Jayasuriya then took control of the chase, firing 48 off 17 balls to lead Mumbai to victory with 14 and a half overs remaining. The Knight Riders were on the back foot from the off. Salman Butt (13 from 13) attempted to turn Pollock to leg and edged to Tendulkar at slip and Aakash Chopra was run out next ball after some miscommunication with Sourav Ganguly. Pollock grabbed his second as David Hussey edged through to Yogesh Takawale and made it three courtesy of a slip catch from Robin Uthappa to remove Mohammad Hafeez. Dwayne Bravo kept it tight at the other end and he claimed the wicket of Wriddhiman Saha thanks to another Tendulkar catch, his second of four. Rohan Raje bowled Laxmi Shukla and any hopes of a late surge for Kolkata disappeared when Takawale, standing up to the bowling of Dominic Thornely, held a good juggling catch to remove Sourav Ganguly (15 from 20) and the tail duly capitulated. In reply, Shoaib Akhtar removed Tendulkar early on, but Ishant's first over went for 15 and the result was never in doubt. Sanath Jayasuriya was the aggressor in chief, plundering both bowlers for a succession of boundaries and claiming a pair of leg-side sixes off Shoaib, one a nonchalant flick and the other a towering pull shot. Robin Uthappa fell for 10 from eight when he miscued Ishant straight to Ganguly attempting to keep pace his partner. But Jayasuriya continued undeterred and moved to within two runs of both his fifty and Mumbai's victory with a six off Ishant. The next delivery went to the boundary to end the game, but the former Sri Lanka skipper was denied his half-century as leg byes were signalled. Mumbai are fourth in the table with 10 points from nine games, two places above but level on points with their opponents, who have played one game more. |
18 May, 2008
Royals roll on Rajasthan Royals maintained their perfect home record and moved to the brink of a semi-final place with an emphatic 65-run win over Bangalore Royal Challengers in the Indian Premier League on Saturday. An assured batting display from the home side paved the way for victory as they lost only Swapnil Asnodkar (50) in their total of 1-197. South Africa captain Graeme Smith proved the mainstay of the innings hitting 75 from 49 balls while Shane Watson added 46 off 28. And when the recalled Sohail Tanvir took two early wickets to reduce the visitors to five for three match was all but sealed. Bangalore captain Rahul Dravid provided the only resistence for the visitors hitting 75, including six sixes, from 36 balls as his side could manage just 9-132 from their 20 overs. Uncertainty surrounded the staging of the match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium following the bomb blasts in Jaipur on Tuesday. Rajasthan captain Shane Warne and several other of the team's overseas players had voiced concerns about staying in the city while Bangalore requested the game be moved to the Chinnaswamy Stadium. However, the fixture got the green light to go ahead as planned after IPL commissioner Lalit Modi assured the 'necessary security arrangements' would be put in place for the game. Dravid won the toss and put Rajasthan in to bat and Asnodkar immediately signalled his intent smashing Zaheer Khan for six from the final ball of the opening over. The 24-year-old right-hander shared a 109-run stand with Smith, before he became Anil Kumble's first victim of the tournament, slashing a shot to Misbah-ul-Haq at short third man. The hosts were aided by 18 wides from the Royal Challengers as Watson and Smith added a further 88 runs from 46 balls to set an imposing target. The Bangalore reply was immediately in tatters as they lost their top three with just five runs on the board. Tanvir, brought back into the side for Dimitri Mascarenhas who has returned to Hampshire, claimed the scalps of openers Jagadeesh Arunkumar (duck) and Virat Kohli (three) either side of Munaf Patel dismissing Misbah without scoring. And after overseas signings Jaques Kallis (20) and Cameron White (10) fell cheaply, Warne dismantled the lower order with three wickets in two overs to claim match figures of 3-23. Despite wickets falling around him Dravid played a lone hand smashing Irfan Pathan for three sixes in one over, but without support his efforts proved futile. 18 May, 2008 Kings snatch the win Mahela Jayawardene's six off the final ball earned the Kings XI Punjab a six-run victory over the Delhi Daredevils in a rain-affected Indian Premier League match on Saturday. The Sri Lankan pulled a long hop high over deep mid-wicket from the last ball to take his side to 3-94 after the Duckworth-Lewis method reduced the target to 89. Delhi, who won the toss and chose to bat, posted 4-118 from 11 overs with Virender Sehwag smashing an unbeaten 51 off 26 balls. Punjab in reply made good headway with Yuvraj Singh powering 23 runs off eight balls. Yuvraj hit Glenn McGrath for two consecutive sixes but was then caught on the boundary by Farveez Maharoof with the Australian's next ball in the third over. James Hopes (four) followed three balls later having been caught by Shoaib Malik on the long-on boundary off the bowling of Amit Mishra but Jayawardene entered the fray and hit Sehwag for 13 from four balls in his first over. Luke Pomersbach (25 not out) helped maintain the momentum at the other end, launching Maharoof and Bajat Bhatia for maximums in back-to-back overs. Jayawardene then completed the seventh over with a six, which secured the win before the covers were brought on yet again. Earlier, Delhi made a flying start, partly thanks to some erratic bowling from Sreesanth, with Sehwag launching a six over the third man boundary in the first over. They were lucky not to lose Sehwag in the third over, however, when he tried to launch one over Sreesanth's head, but the ball took the edge and ballooned towards mid-off, where Yuvraj spilled a sitter. Fellow opener Gautam Gambhir was soon racking up the runs with regular boundaries off Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan. A change of bowler made little difference to the Kings, with Sehwag smashing Vikram Singh for two consecutive sixes and a four in the sixth over. The Kings finally made the breakthrough in the next over when Gambhir's 28-ball innings was brought to a halt by a peach of a ball from Ramesh Powar which took out middle stump. The momentum remained with Delhi despite the loss of Gambhir as Sehwag dished out some slogging treatment to spinner Piyush Chawla, but the match was then interrupted by rain. Shikhar Dhawan added eight after the break before skying a Powar delivery to Chawla at extra cover but Sehwag soon after reached 50 with a single off Vikram Singh. Punjab took two wickets in the 11th and final over with Tillakaratne Dilshan (eight) and Maharoof (nought) both caught at mid-wicket off Hopes. The Daredevils were disappointed to have their innings cut short, having raced to 4-118 by just past the halfway stage, which ultimately was not enough to prevent a Punjab victory. |
19 May, 2008
Ntini steers Chennai home The Chennai Super Kings moved a step closer to a semi-final place in claiming a narrow three-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders on the Duckworth-Lewis method. Chasing the hosts' total of 5-149, Chennai reached 0-55 after eight overs when play was halted due to rain. And after an hour-long wait the umpires decided to call an end to the match, handing Chennai a narrow win - its seventh of the tournament. Earlier, Chennai paceman Makhaya Ntini claimed the third hat-trick of the tournament - spread across two overs - as he claimed figures of 4-21 in the hosts' competitive total. Salman Butt was the Knight Riders' highest scorer, contributing 73 from 54 balls. Ntini claimed the first wicket of his hat-trick at the end of the fifth over when Sourav Ganguly (two) backed away only to see his stumps knocked back to leave the hosts 2-28. Butt and Debabrata Das then put on a stand of 86 for the third wicket before Ntini was inserted back into the attack in the 16th over with immediate effect. The South African bowled Das (27) with his first ball of his second spell, before hitting the stumps again with his very next delivery to remove David Hussey. Butt finally fell in the 18th over when he was trapped leg before wicket by Lakshmipathy Balaji as the hosts registered a competitive total. Chennai was gifted two runs to begin the reply as Shoaib Akhtar sprayed the first two balls of the innings. Chennai's innings gathered further pace in the next over from Ishant Sharma when Stephen Fleming crashed consecutive fours after Parthiv Patel also found the fence. With rain looming that helped the visitors remain just ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis method, which would prove crucial when play was finally halted. Fleming finished unbeaten on 32 while Patel made 19. 19 May, 2008 Mumbai on fire The Mumbai Indians claimed their sixth Indian Premier League win in a row with a 25-run victory over the chronically under-performing Deccan Chargers. Sanath Jayasuriya, Abhishek Nayar and Dwayne Bravo all reached 30 for the Indians and, though none could go on, they still posted a competitive total of 7-178. In reply, Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi and Rohit Sharma all fell cheaply and even some powerful hitting from Venugopal Rao and Dwaraka Ravi Teja could not help them recover. Mumbai is now in an excellent position to reach the semi-finals, while defeat for the Chargers confirmed the inevitable - their chances of progressing are over. Jayasuriya (36) was typically aggressive, striking two sixes and six fours in his 15-ball stay at the crease before sweeping Rao straight to RP Singh. Tendulkar added a more sedate 23, before Afridi removed him and Dominic Thornely in the space of three balls. Bravo (30) and Nayar (38) added 54 for the fifth wicket before both fell to Singh in quick succession. Singh also bowled Pinal Shah for 10 to finish with 3-25, while there were two apiece for Afridi and Rao. The Chargers saw their challenge ended almost before their reply had even begun. Captain Gilchrist (13) was removed by Dilhara Fernando, who also trapped Sharma for six, while Bravo had Afridi caught by Thornely for a duck. That left them on 3-20, which became 4-56 when Nayar had Chamara Silva caught behind for 17. Rao (57) and Teja (37) finally mustered some resistance, adding 74 for the fifth wicket. But Bravo returned to remove both to effectively end Deccan's challenge, in what was his last act before joining up with West Indies to face Australia. He will be replaced by South Africa's Andre Nel, who will be excused from his duties in playing English county cricket for Essex. |
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