Saturday, April 16, 2011
Mike Hussey strokes Chennai to victory !
Hussey began his 1PL 2011 career with a superb, scintilling knock, like the blistering innings he played against Pak in the T20 2010.
Hussey was responsible for powering Chennai to 183, setting a target of 184 to Bangalore. Bangalore cracked under pressure !
Bangalore's fielding was below par and Hussey was let off when he was on 8. He went to score 83 not out. The support bowlers of Bangalore gave 101 runs off nine overs !
When Chennai started, except for Kohli and Bram Villiers, no batsmen impressed. Their muddled thinking and bungling cost them the match !
When Bangalore batted, Morkel removed the dangerous Dilshan. AUK Pathan was bowled by Southee for 14 and M Agarwal was removed by Ashwin when the score was 31. Bangalore was faced with 13/14 runs per over as the required rate and lost the match by 21 runs !
The Australian Effect is here in IPL. The Kangaroos are back from the BD
tour and are active in the fourth edition of the IPL.
It is a paradox the Dilshan, the highest scorer in the WC 2011, 500 runs, is
all at sea in IPL Last match he was scratching here and here, even though
he scored a fifty and yesterday he was out to Morkel for a duck ! What a
great game cricket is ! A man who scores a century goes out for a blog and
the man who goes out for a duck scores a hundred in the next match. Cricket
is indeed a funny game !
Bangalore's decision to send a pinch hitter, Asad Pathan, failed, as Pathan,
who hit two fours and a six off Albie Morkel, perished attempting a scoop
off Southee ! It seems all Pathans are pinch hitters !
Experts point out that the best batsmen should be in the top order. What we
saw yesterday was that Bangalore were 31/3 and then it was too late for
Kohli and Bram Villiers to lift them to victory. Rightly did Mahela open the
innings for Kochi. The best should come up in the order. Villiers opening
and Kohli at No 3 or 4 should be ideal. Remember, Kohli was India's No 3 !
Pathan and Agarwal can come down in the order. Anyway it is upto the
Bangalore think tank to decide.
If we look at the latest matches, Kallis and Gambhir powering KKR to
victory, or Valthaty and Gilchrist powering Punjab to victory, the top order
has delivered. Even in the WC, the SL top order was it form and that is why
they became finalists !
S Tiwari and Pujara should come up the order and Agarwal and Pathan can come
lower down. Pujara has immense talent and this talent can be utilised if he
comes up the order.
Anyway Dhoni's tactics seemed to bring home the bacon. Batting first and
winning only Dhoni can. He proved it today with ease.
Kohli played well but he could not pick up singles, Pujara cracked under
pressure and Tiwary could not hit boundaries due to scoreboard pressure.
When Villiers hit Southee for 15 off the 18th over, it was too late.
Fielding cost us the match, said Vettori after the match. Three catches were
dropped and catches win matches.
Vettori said, 'I think it's an attitude thing. It's all about energy. A
couple of things went wrong today, big crowd, lot of noise, lot of pressure,
(but) it's still about attitude.' Saying that Villiers and Kohli should be
supported by others, he added 'They're big-time players, everyone knows how
good they are, but they need people to help them out too, we can't rely on
them every game.'
Asked about the poor form of Dilshan, he said 'I think you always expect a
lot from your key player. We expect a lot from ourselves in the IPL'.
RCB lost the game due to a little bit of fielding and little bit of bowling"
and not due to batting, he averred.
One of the greatest catches was seen when M Vijay, ran like a hare and took a superb catch. It can be called the catch of the Tournament.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Kerala beats Mumbai ! A Vishu gift to Keralites !
Vishu is a glorious Agri Festival for Keralites, as the Sun enters the Vernal or Spring Equinox, the First Second of Aries. So also it proved on the cricket field, as minnows Kochi beat Sachin's impregnable Mumbai side !
Sachin was 100 not out in a score of 182/2. McCullum is on 57 and Mahela is 52 not out.
Even Slinga Malinga faltered before his ex skipper and the grand hitter, McCullum.
Keralites are celebrating the Sun's entry into the Vernal Equinox, known as Vishu. Will this be a Vishu gift for the Keralites?
McCullum smashes the Slinga for a four and KTK are 123/0!
Today seems the day of the batsmen, Gambhir scoring 75 no, Kallis 80 no, Sachin 100 no and now the Kerala Tuskers 127/0!
Malinga shatters the stumps of Mahela and KTK are 128/1 !
McCullum lofts Pollard for four and KTK move on to 155/1! KTK need 28 off 19 balls ! Jadeja is giving him excellent support and McCullum is on 81 !
MI get a vital breakthrough as the formidable Slinga clean bowls McCullum ! Now 27 runs are needed off 18 balls !
Jadeja lofts Murtaza for two sixes and KTK beat formidable Mumbai by 8 wickets !
The Slinga returned with the figures of 2/42! As the Tuskers won, the Mumbai crowd were silenced.
The Kochi win was possible by the great batting of McCullum (81), Mahela (56), Jadeja (25 ) and Brad Hodge ( 11).
This was the best first wicket partnership in the IPL, 128 for the first wicket. McCullum and Mahela blasted the hapless Mumbai bowlers to all parts of the field. And when Jadeja and Hodge took over, the formidable Mumbai bowlers could do nothing ! Bradman was right ! " The bowlers can only bowl as the batsmen allow them to "
Slinga Malinga may say " Bowlers win matches" but yesterday he could do nothing. He did take two wickets but that was not enough, as Jadeja otudid Dhoni and blasted two consecutive sixes to take his side to victory !
In his brilliant 81, McCullum blasted 2 sixes and ten fours. Mahela's was more or less a sedate knock, embellished with nine fours and his 56 came off 36 balls. Jadeja's 25 not out was sweet and scintillating and contained two fours and two sixes. Brad Hodge was brilliant as he hit 11 off 7 balls with two fours !
Mahela said later they had plans to destroy the Mumbai attack. McCullum hit the formidable Slinga for three fours and that halted the bullishness of Malinga ! McCullum took the attack to the bowlers and committed mayhem on the hapless Mumbai bowlers, who were considered formidable so far ! He was rightly adjudged the Man of the Match. His 81 made Sachin's hundred go in vain ! Even me scoring fifty brought happiness to Keralites. What was disappointing was the ball of Malinga which bowled me. We had plans to combat the formidable Slinger. His variation of pace did me in. I was worried we may be defeated again. But fortunately Jadeja and Hodge played with mental toughness and brought home the bacon !
In other words, this victory came as a shot in the arm to the fanbase of Kochi and the players. It is not easy to defeat the formidable Mumbai team, led by mighty Sachin. Now we are preparing to take another powerful team, Dhoni's Chennai. We are preparing hard. It is a home match and the crowd expect a lot from us.
This is the result of hard work, as we have been preparing hard. This win will bring the crowd back to Kochi.
Mahela wins toss and fields !
The odds favour Mumbai, undoubtedly. Sidhu said on the satellite channel that Mumbai are favourites. !
Sachin was out twice lbw, but the umpire did not give him lbw ! Now MI are 46/0
Rayudu hits 4 sixes in a blistering innings of 53. Tendulkar remained not out on 100 ! All Mumbai went bersek as Sachin completed a briliiant hundred.
Many believe in a jinx that if Sachin scores a hundred, his team will lose. Against SA, he scored a hundred and India lost. Against Eng in the WC, Sachin smashed a hundred and one billion Indians were disgruntled that India could not win ! Now the same jinx has been proved true. Sachin was 100 not out and Mumbai lost !
KKR win !
Kallis score third consecutive fifty and KKR are 122/1 and they are on their way to victory.
Gambhir is on a superb 71 not out. KKR lost Bisla for 1 and that was the only success which RR got. The Indian No 3 and the South African No 3 are taking them to victory.
Kallis lofts one for six and now they want only 20 runs off 24 balls !
The first wicket fell at 8 ( Bisla ) and then this unconquered partnership is now 142, as the score is 150/1. Just 10 runs needed for victory and Kallis lofts Waren for four.
Gambhir proved why he is India's No 3 and Kallis why he is SA's No 3.
KKR win by 9 wickets. Kallis 80 not out and Gambhir 75 not out ! Their unbroken partnership 152 off 102 balls !
Gambhir wins toss and bowls first !
Now RR are 36/1, with Dravid on 14. Ashok Menaria, who was in such ominous form last match, has just hit Shakib past point for four. RR 45/1.
Menaria lofts Abudlla into the stands and RR are 69/1.
Dravid tries to swing Pathan and is clean bowled and then Menaria, after a good innings of 27, lobbs one back to Pathan and suddenly Pathan has picked two wickets with his off breaks and RR are 79/3. Shane Watson and Ross Taylor are batting now.
Watson starts his six hitting and lofts Shakib for six and now RR are 101/3. ( Shakib must be having the scene of Watson hitting 15 sixes in his mind, but he did not flinch ! ).
Ross Taylor swings Balaji for two sixes and RR are 116/3. He started magnanimously ( first ball hit for six ) and ended the over magnanimously ( the last ball hit for six ).
Watson swings Shakib again for six and RR are 124/3. Then he swings again, misses and is clean bowled by Shakib. This is top class cricket !. RR 124/4, off 16.4 overs.
RR have set a target of 160 to win for KKR. Ross Taylor remained unconquered with 35.
Can Kolkotta checkmate Rajastan Royals?
So also will be Kolkotta, as Brett Lee joins them. Shakib al hasan also joined KKR. Also Brad Haddin.
Today Kolkotta take on Rajastan in Fortress Rajastan ! Not an easy task.
The strength of the RR is their coach and captain, Shane Warne. Now he is in superb form and eveyone acknowledges him as the best spinner in IPL.
The strength of the RR is their coach and captain, Shane Warne. Now he is in superb form and eveyone acknowledges him as the best spinner in IPL.
RR is strong in bowling and KKR is strong in batting and let us see which principle is more apt.
"Bowlers win matches"
"Bowlers can only bowl as the batsmen allow them to "
Shaun Tait opined that they will have to remove Y Pathan early in order to win !
Individual battles will be Lee vs Tait, Kallis vs Dravid, Warne vs Gambhir etc.
Wont repeat small mistakes : Geoff Lawson
Regarding the Wankhede pitch, Mahela said " It is a good wicket and hopefully I will get more time to spend here. Mumbai are a good team and in form. It is a big challenge for us. We made a few mistakes in our first two games and did not handle the situation. The challenge is to win those close games.
Kochi face a formidable team today, the MI, whose batting is spearheaded by the legendary Sachin and bowling spearheaded by the most dreaded Slinga Malinga !
Even though odds favour Mumbai, anything can happen in T20. Two days back, an unknown star by the name of Valthaty proved that an inspiring performance can knock even the best !
Bad news struck Kochi, as Steve Smith was ruled out due to injury. He will not take furthur part in IPL.
But then, John Hastings, the giant allrounder, is in the Kochi camp and it will boost Kochi's bowling strength.
Menaria great talent : Dravid
He hit three mighty sixes in a blistering innings of 22, off 15 balls!
His rise is reminiscent of Yuvraj Singh.
Well he has a mentor, Dravid. But Dravid insists that "he has a long way to go, needs to work on many aspects of the game, but then he is an exciting prospect"
The Udaipur born lad has already edged other prospects like Bisla, Jaggi, Mayank Agarwal and even Manoj Tiwari.
That is the glory of the IPL. There are many new finds, like Valthaty, Chipli, Menaria etc.
Ashok Menaria was modest about his performance. " My style of play is naturally aggressive, and I hopefully should not have any problems in adapting to this format as far as skills are concerned".
Ashok hit centuries in the quarter final, semi and final of the Ranji Trophy. No wonder he has been blooded this year for the Rajastan Royals and he is in the company of world class players like Shane Warne and Dravid, which will improve his cricketing skills !
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Kochi will turnaround : Mahela
"From where we started, losing 3-4 wickets upfront, we came back strongly, but could not finish the game. We have to ensure we do that. T20 cricket, you have to do that, one or two overs here or there, and you lose a game. We had a chance after Robin's dismissal," he said.
"But it is just the beginning of the tournament, we need not be negative. I think just one win can change things for us and the momentum will take us ahead in the tournament," added the Sri Lankan.
After the match against Kochi, Yuvraj said "Partnership between Hodge and Jadeja got them to a good total. Robin and Mohnish played well. We could have bowled and fielded well, but we won at the end of the day," he said.
"Mohnish keeps telling me that he wants to open, but I tell him he can be good at No 6 and finish the game for us and he did that today. He is going to be at No 6 from now on."
Monish Mishra, the Man of the Match, said "I am happy with No 6, it is a challenge for me to bat at this position. It was tough after Robin's dismissal, I thought I would stay till the end," he said.
"The sweep shot is on against the off-spinner, I went for it and got it. I had not faced Murali much but watched him closely and went for it."
Uthappa, whose innings changed the game said "I time the reverse sweep very well, just have to work more on the shot. I did pretty well last year, hopefully I can do even better this year. I enjoy keeping, have been moving well. Generally I like to open the batting," he said.
Gavaskar, after yesterday's match, said that Ishant Sharma, who bowled at 150 kph yesterday, is India's most promising bowler and will lead the Indian attack in the years to come. Varun Aaron clocked 153 kph and Sreeshant bowled 145 kph. Now IPL is allowing young fast bowlers to assert themselves !
Chipli pulls DC to victory !
Shikhar Dhawan after playing some delectable shots, lobbed one from Zaheer into the hands of Vettori and DC are 21/1 !
Yamaha will be sponsoring DC !
Bharat Chipli played a great cameo, 63 off 31 balls. It seems he is another Valthaty. It is heartening to see unheralded young Indians shining.
Chipli's 63 off 31 balls was simply superb. 175/5 is a good score, but chasable. Chipli hit 5 fours and three sixes.
Zaheer showed why he is the best Indian bowler with bowling figures of 3/32. Duminy played superbly, hitting a six and two fours, till he was snapped at the fence by one of the best Indian fielders, Virat Kohli.
176 to chase and let us see whether the star studded RCB can do it !
Ishant Sharma, bowling at his best, sent back Dilshan. A superb delivery took the edge of Dilshan's bat and Sanga behind the stumps did the rest. Zaheer was sent as a sort of night watchman and Dale Steyn shattered his stumps with a fast full toss ! RCB 20/2 !
It was heartening to see Ishant Sharma bowl at 150 and 148 kph.
Then Gony struck twice, removing Mayank Agarwal and Bram Villiers ( for a duck ). RCB 4/29 !
S Tiwari also fell to Amit Mishra and it was 5/56 !
Then a glorious partnership between Kohli and Pujara took the score to 118, when Pujara holed out to Steyn. The next ball Van der Warth edged to Sanga and it was 7/118.
In a blistering knock of 71, Kohli showed why is India's No 4. He hit three sixes and was going strong when a slower ball from Gony shattered his stumps ! RCB 130/8 ! Kohli would have done a Valthaty, if not for that slower ball ! Well played, young man !
Gonu who came in for Prajnan Ojha took 3/30 and now RCB needs 43 off 11 balls !
Dale Steyn bowling at 150 kph, took 3/20. Steyn, Sharma and Gony - this trio is the best pace attack in the IPL. DC has Ojha and Mishra, took leading wicket takers in the IPL 2010.
DC win by 44 runs !
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Pune beat Kochi in thriller
Kochi's decision to bat first backfired, as Pune beat them by 4 wickets. Pune went to the top of the Points Table and Kochi finished at No 9 !
The game was a thriller, with Kochi losing 4/26 and surrendering advantage to Pune. Then Jadeja and Hodge retrieved Kochi and Kochi managed 148/8.
Like Valthaty, who finished the game for Punjab with a blistering 120 no off 63 balls, now it was the turn of Monish Mishra, who scored a fearless 37, to finish the match for Pune. Lack of penetration of the Kochi bowling was seen. Despite having a good bowling attack on paper, Kochi simply did not deliver. Nor did her batting.
It seems Mahela has not learnt his lessons. The New Bombay track is more or less a green top. Punjab were 9/4 in the last match there, batting first. It gives some help to the swing bowlers. If Kochi had taken bowling, it would have given help to Sreeshant , RP and V Kumar. The dew factor is a make or break factor. Look at the way Sachin won the toss and fielded and then chased and steered Mumbai to victory. He was 55 not out ! MI had chased twice and won. Kochi batted first twice and lost. If your bowlers cannot deliver, it is better to chase. The scoreboard pressure is only psychological. Neither Valthaty or M Mishra were bothered by target total pressure.
The minute Mahela took batting, we were surprised. The scene which came up in the mind was Punjab's 9/4 against Thomas and Wagh. Why did Mahela take batting ?
Murali and Jadeja as spinners, Sreeshant, RP and V Kumar as pacers are not bad. But they should bowl when the wickets give some help to them.
But then, all credit to Pune, as they marshalled their resources and jelled as a unit. We do not know whether they are peaking early. It may be that Kochi may peak late. But it is diffcult to see Kochi ascending to the top of the table. Kochi may not get much fanbase with such performances !
Kochi was let down by bowling in the death overs. Bram Villiers had hit three sixes off Gomez in the last match in th death. In this match, when Pune needed 20 runs off 13 balls, Rahul Sharma hammered Jadeja for a six, and Mishra hit two sixes and one four off the greatest spinner in the world, Murali. Uthappa had played a cameo, hitting 31 off 13 balls.
For Pune, Wayne Parnell bowled superbly, taking three wickets.
Unless Kochi sorts outs her problems, she is in for real trouble. She takes on the formidable Sachin's team on Friday
Parnell sends Kochi reeling !
Then a great partnership of 88 between Jadeja ( 47 ) and Brad Hodge ( 39 ) put Kochi back into the game. But then both set batsmen were out. Vinay Kumar was run out unnecessarily and now Kochi are 118/7 !
Kerala lad Gomez played a cameo 26 not out and the Tuskers scored 148/8. 17 runs came in the last over and a 149 target was set by them.
It is still 50-50. There are many who thought that batting first was the wrong decision !
Valthaty pulls Punjab to victory !
Then Murali Vijay and Badrinath took the Chennai to score 124, a century partnership of 124, when Vijay was out for 74, with six fours and four sixes. Then Dhoni hit two sixes in a blistering 43. Badrinath remained not out with 66.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man and the man of the hour was Paul Valthaty. In a swashbuckling innings of 120 not out off just 63, Valthaty lofted Punjab to victory. With Gilchrist, he put on 61. Stuart Marsh was out when the score was 100. Then Sunny Singh, after some lusty blows got out for 20, when the score was 136/3. Valthaty dominated the hapless Chennai bowlers and pulled, hooked and cut them with ease. As long as he was there, it was Punjab, Punjab all the way. Dhoni could not do anything but watch helplessly. A catch was let go by Dhoni !
Tim Southee then trapped Abhishek Nayar lbw for a duck and Punjab were 136/4 ! Then Dinesh Karthik joined Valthaty. Valthaty continued to impress and became the fourth player in the IPL to score a hundred, after M Pandey, M Vijay and Y Pathan !
Then D Karthik played a cameo and when 2 were needed to win, he lofted one into the stands for six and the match was over ! Punjab won by six wickets.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Pune began well : Yuvraj
I was more impressed by the performance and the mental state of the Warriors than victory. There was not enough time for the IPL teams to prepare. IPL teams are a mixture of different players from different countries and different states. So it will take time for them to jell as units. But then Pune shone like a lamp in darkness !
Our game plan worked against Punjab. Once we got Gilly and Marsh, we did not let them come back into the game. Thomas and Wagh bowled superbly. We chased 113 and even though we lost Smith cheap, Jesse Ryder and Manhas took us to safety.
On home ground, Pune take on Kochi Tuskers on Wednesday.
We will be giving a grand reception to Kochi outside the field. The very fact that Kochi lost the first game will make them thirsty for success and we are ready to take on a resurgent Kochi !
The Battle of the Cities !
Kochi will bounce back, said Mahela. ( He did not specify when Kochi will bounce back, like Preity, who said that Punjab will turnaround ! ).
Kochi thought they could defeat formidable Bangalore. Kochi actually batted well for 161 and the opening pair put on 80, at 10 per over ! McCullum and Laxman, in dashing roles, batted superbly ! But the bowling let Kochi down. You have to understand that it was one of the best batsmen in the world, Bram DeVilliers, who was responsible for the Kochi defeat !
We, said the mighty Sri Lankan, learnt a lot from those matches. Tuskers have a lot of talent and I will have to jell them as a victorious unit. After the hectic schedule of the WC and IPL inaugural event, I could only arrive at the morning of the match. I feel happy at the way the Tuskers have practised and it is only a matter of time when they become a victorious unit !
We were happy at the way Brendon and VVS batted. Also at the way Brad Hodge and R Jadeja batted. Murali and Jadeja will form an excellent spin duo and Sreeshant, V Kumar and RP Singh will form a formidable pace trio. The way Sreeshant bowled sent raptures into the hearts of the Kochiites.
We are confident of taking on the Pune Warriors at the New Bombay Stadium and Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede. We are confident of victory !
We will concentrate on our strengths and talents, rather than think about the formidability of the opposition. Pune is led by the WC Man of the Tournament, Yuvraj and Mumbai by the second best scorer of the World Cup !
Sreeshant should stay aggressive, said Mahela. He does not want to curb the aggression of the temparamental fast bowler. Sreeshant, who bowled at 145 kph in the WC final, has vowed to bowl 150 kph in this IPL !
"I think you need to identify the individuals. Sree performs well in that manner. You take that from him and he might not do well. He's a very aggressive bowler but I have noticed he has toned down in the last one year. That's why he got to be a part of the India's World Cup squad." said the Kochi captain.
"We want him to be aggressive. I think that's what he is all about. You need characters like him. You had much more worse characters in international cricket in the last 20 years and I don't think Sree is that harmful to the game.
"But I think if we can control him and he has done well in doing that. We can have ourselves a very successful bowler for Kochi as well as for India. He is heading in the right direction as long as he is doing that."
Kochi Tuskers take on mighty Pune at the DY Patil Stadium in New Bombay today. The master Sri Lankan batsman said it is nice to have fiery characters like Sreesanth around as it helps relax the tension in the dressing room.
"Brilliant to have him; he just needs to reduce the volume in his i-Pod as well as the speakers. The boys have given him new songs to play. To that, we have some mixture going. We need that. With him and Murali around, nothing can go wrong for us."
"We have been bonding very well. We had a great last outing. I thought there would be many hiccups in our first game; that didn't happen. Everyone did really well. Everyone is identifying their roles and that is great. We have got a very good bunch of players.
"The local young Indian players too are very keen on improving themselves. Most of them are keen on getting in the national team and are working very hard. It's a good combination for us to have.
"We are trying to motivate the Indian players to perform well as it gives them an opportunity to get into the Indian team. Lot of these boys have done well in the last three IPLs. Whosoever has done well in the IPL got an opportunity to play for their national team.," said the formidable hitter.
No revenge against India is this Wed match, said the 33 year old and he is looking forward to an edge of the seat thriller.
"(Its) not a revenge match. That was India vs Sri Lanka. This is a different thing. I don't have such animosity with players. Off the field, we are good friends. On the field we are competitive. The final was a good match and we have to move on from that. I have done that.
"(Its) not only (about) Yuvi but the entire Pune Warriors. They looked very good the other day. They looked very aggressive, which is great, looking forward to their challenge. We are playing in their home ground. It should be a keen contest. Yuvi had a great World Cup. So we are definitely up for the challenge," the seasoned campaigner said.
Pune had faced a mediocre opposition in direct contrast to Kochi, who came up against an in from Bram Villiers.
"I think Kings XI had a very mediocre game and Pune took control of the game very well. For us, our game against Bangalore, it was a very competitive game. It was a close encounter. Probably two overs changed the game for us."
Regarding the pitch, the Emerald Isle emerald said, "We had a look at the wicket. We had a look even when they played. (It is a) very good wicket, good pace, good bounce. I think it throws a different challenge at you. But every wicket in the IPL throws a new challenge. That's the uniqueness of this tournament."
He said that captaining KTK is a daunting task indeed.
"For me obviously, auction made the change. Enjoyed my three years with Kings XI Punjab. But the new franchisee is a new challenge for me as captain."
Sachin wins toss, bowls and wins !
Then Kohli comes and hits the slinger for two fours and now RCB are 16/1 !
Sachin must have been influenced by the dew factor. Last match MI chased and Sachin was 46 not out in that chase !
Dilshan, who had a strike rate of over 100, is struggling and RCB are 64/2 off 12 overs, a slow start indeed !
Dilshan swings Pollard forfour and RCB are 75/2.
RCB finish at 140/4, with Dilshan on 59 and Tiwari 16. Villiers was out caught and bowled Pollard for 38 and Pathan was clean bowled by Malinga!
Rayudu remained on 63 not out and Sachin 55 not out in Mumbai's score of 143/1. An easy victory !
Mumbai lost their first wicket when Davy Jacobs was bowled by Dirk Nannes for 22. That was the only success Bangalore achieved as Rayudu and Sachin took the score to the winning 143/1.
The first wicket fell for 33 and an unbroken 110 run match winning partnership between Rayudu and Sachin took the MIs home !
IPL is giving opportunities to young stars. V Rao with his brilliant 60 with four sixes, Menaria with 22 with three sixes and now Rayudu, with 63 no, with nine fours came into the limelight.
RR win by 6 wickets !
The second ball was hit by Sehwag for four and then the third ball of Tait proved to be his undoing. Sehwag slashed at a fast rising ball and it ended up in the hands of Dravid ! The first wicket falls !
Then Finch lofted Botha for a glorious six and then Warne brought in Tait again. Then Ficn pulled Tait into the hands of Botha and Delhi were two down.
Then Warne in his first over removed Chand and Naman Ojha and Delhi are in dire straits at 41/4!
Venugopal hits two fours and two sixes. Dave Warner swings Tait for six and Delhi are 106/4! What a recovery, from 36/4. Now this pair of Rao and Warner has added 70 runs for the fifth wicket ! Shastri opines that a total of 140 will be competitive on this track !
Dave Warner tries to loft Amit Singh and is caught by Raut. DDD 116/5 !
V Rao is playing beautifully and is 46 not out. Last 8 overs produced 80 runs and this is a great fightback by DDD ! Two more overs to go and 123/5 the DDD are now !]
Irfan Pathan gets off the mark with a single . Rao liofts the next one for six and crosses his 50. Next ball he lofts again for six. His fourth six, along with four fours ! He is now 58 not out off 38 balls, a swashbuckling innings !
Cometh the hour, cometh the man and the man of the hour is V Rao ! V Rao tries to loft and lofts one straight into the throat of Warne ! DDD 137/6 and Rao out for a glorious 60!
Irfan Pathan flashes Tait for an edged four through slips and hits the next ball through the covers for four ! DDD finish at 151/6. What a magnificent recovery this !
Tait bowled with fire and did his job. Both Warne and Tait picked up two wickets and they had made DDD 36/4! But then Rao and Warner pulled them back to respectability !
RR started well with Dravid making a good 38. Then Ashok Menaria, an Under 19 player, hit 3 mighty sixes, but then got out for 22. Now the experienced and cool Johann Botha is at the crease with Rahane ( who just hit a six ). Now RR are 121/3 !
Morne Morkel is called by Sehwag and he obliges him with a wicket first ball - Rahane clean bowled by that South African !
Now Botha and Ross Taylor are playing well and Shilpa Shetty is smiling. RR needs 14 off 15 balls !
Now RR are 140/4 and Botha has moved to the No 2 spot in batting, slightly behind the orange cap holder and his team mate, Jack Kallis !
Just 11 needed from 12 balls and the home crowd is ecstatic.
Botha pulls Dinda for four. And like Dhoni, Botha pulls him for another six !
Botha was 39 not out off 32 balls and Ross Taylor 18 no off 10 balls.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Punjab will turnaround : Preity
After Punjab's thrashing by Pune Warriors, Preity is not disappointed. Success and failure are part of the game.
"I am an eternal optimist and I hope there will be a turnaround," said the formidable actress, hailed as a 'tragedy queen' and 'the empress of stormy emotion'.
It was ironical that Punjab lost to Pune, a side captained by Punjab's former skipper, Yuvraj ! Then Yuvraj was not in form ( maybe that is why he was not retained by Punjab ) and Yuvraj created the greatest turnaround for a cricket player, when he, who was sadly out of form last year, became the Man of the Tournament in the WC 2011 ! This proved the adage " Class is permanent, form is only temporary ". The best scorers of the WC Final were not in form, Mahela, Gambhir and Dhoni and world class players can any day recover their form !
Preity is confidend that Punjab will flourish under the 39 year old Gilchrist.
"I am happy with what we've got. We don't have big stars in the team. I think Gilly (Gilchrist) is a good captain, a good team leader, who led his team in winning the title (as Deccan Chargers skipper)," said pretty, pretty, Preity.
Life is strife, she said, and the Kings IX can surmount all obstacles. It is also true that Yuvraj, Sanga and Mahela were not retained. Incidentally all these three are captains of different teams now !
Preity joked about the immense contribution of Punjab to IPL.
"KXIP has already given three captains to IPL. Sangakkara is leading Deccan, Mahela the Kochi team while Yuvi is Warriors' skipper," said the actress, who has the ability to make people cry and laugh !
Punjab has to overcome some jinx - as even with these players, Punjab's performance was below par ! Like the jinx of DC losing all matches in Hyderabad, their home ground !
The team's punchline is " Live Punjabi, play Punjabi" and the fans are hoping that some Punjab players are included in the playing eleven on Wed. No Punjabi player played in the Sun match !
Punjab is trying to increase their fanbase. Their website, http://www.kxip.in/, has already 100,000 registered users !
Arvinder Singh, Chief Officiating Officer of Kings XI, said "On the marketing front, we have a lot of initiatives and many interactions lined up for the fans. We are happy to announce that registered data base of fans on our website has crossed 100,000 which is a landmark in itself."
"We have so many activities for our fans besides ticketing. We have live chats, blogs, interactive sessions with players and co-owner Preity Zinta. All updates will be available on our website. We are also planning to introduce the facility of live video chats on the website."
"Our team is all about the spirit of Punjab. There are many initiatives like 'homecoming' an opportunity to meet and greet players in their hometowns in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, and flying catch contest for the fans," said Singh.
"We will run a campaign called 'paint the town red' and a contest 'Rocky Ranjit ki Khoj', a search for the voices for our mascots has been arranged," he added.
The Punjab skipper, Gilchrist, is also excited about the fanbase.
"This is really exciting time for us and I am looking forward to good support from local fans. Our team wants to develop strong bond and relationship with our fans," said the great blaster.
The fans still support Kings XI, even after local hero Yuvraj's exit.
"We already have many fans on our website and I expect huge number of them to come to the stadium to watch the entertaining cricket." said the master wicket keeper batsman.
KKR beat Deccan !
On the contrary, DC has the best attack in the world in Steyn, Ishant, Mishra and Ojha !
Let us see which principle is correct !
"Bowlers win matches"
or
"Bowlers can only as the batsmen allow them to" ( Bradman )
Can KKR batting overcome DC bowling ?
Steyn bowls to Kallis and Kallis hits him for two fours. And now KKR are 8/0!
Ishant finds the edge of Bisla's bat, the ball goes past the slip for four !
A better start cannot be had, as KKR cross 50/0.
Now Bisla tries to sweep Mishra and is adjudged lbw ! KKR - 52/1 ! Kallis is out, after scoring 53.
Manoj Tiwari lofts Duminy for two mighty sixes and KKR are 127/2 off 15 overs ! This time Tiwary stays. Last time, after hitting two sixes, he got carried away and holed out !
Pathan hits two fours and in the 19th over, KKR are 155/3. The last over in progress.
Steyn was hit for 15 runs by Tiwari and Pathan and he is now bowling the final over. Pathan slashes Steyn for four and the score moves on to 161/3. Pathan pulls and get two. 163/3. Pathan lofts and is out caught and KKR finish at 163/4 ! So Steyn finally got Pathan.
Amit Mishra finished with the figures of 2/19! Tiwari was 30 not out and Pathan was out for 22.
Kallis put in a superlative performance, as he blasted the DC bowlers to all parts of the field, in his 53. His brilliant knock , off 45 balls, contained seven fours and a six.
Kolkotta piled up a mammoth 163/4 and they restricted to Deccan to 154/8 off 20 overs.
The whole of Kolkotta celebrated, as this was their first victory in IPL 2011.
World class fielding was witnessed, when Eoin Morgan, dived and grabbed a shot by Shikhar Dhwan, and then threw the ball in the same instant & scored a direct hit, running Shikhar Dhawan out ! And a surpised Dhawan moved towards the pavilion !
Kallis also took 4 catches to make it his day. It was Iqbal Abdullah, the left arm spinner, who gave Kolkotta the first breakthrough, removing Jaggi in the third over and then Bhatia accounted for Sangakara, the DC skipper and DC were 53/3.
Deccan succumbed to their second defeat and could not recover. Their best batsmen, Duminy and Sanga, both holed out.
Gambhir coming at number six was criticised heavily. This time he came in at No 3, which is his natural position in India. he was involved in a 43 runs partnership off 26 balls with big hitting Manoj Tiwari ( 30 not out ).
Tiwari blasted two mighty sixes and was unconquered at 30.
Smile was on Shah Rukh Khan's face, as Kolkotta won on their home ground. Pune is placed first in the Points Table, followed by Mumbai. RR is third and RCB fourth and then comes the Kolkotta Knight Riders !
Shane Watson hits 15 fours and 15 sixes !
BD could only score 229/7 and Aus scored 232/1, with Watson on 185 and Ponting on 37.
Watson has created a record in ODIs, with 150 runs scored in boundaries, eclipsing Gibbsy's record!
Watson has announced himself as a world class allrounder !
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