Indian Premier League (IPL)

Match 47: Delhi DareDevils vs. Kolkata Knight Riders

An important match for both teams infact Kolkata considered it too much crucial because only this way they could show any magic to home crowd. Last time both teams played together Shoaib Akhtar made wonderful return in grand fashion and stolen victory from Delhi to Kolkata.

But today! without any ball match due to excessive rain at Feroz Shah Kotla match got abandoned and Delhi DareDevils and Kolkata Knight Riders given a point each. Delhi move on to 13 points as Kolkata stayed on same position having 11 points. This game termed as No Result infact it is a first game of IPL end as No Result.

Match 46: Chennai Super Kings vs. Bangalore Royal Challengers

Bangalore who are supposed to under dogs due to successive defeats over almost every team now confident to display some show in remaining matches. Rahul Dravid who had performed much well in IPL tournament won the toss and choosen to bat first. Batting line-up as always faulted again in this match. Early wickets and low average caused  problems for Bangalore Royal Challengers. Only Rahul Dravid stayed at wicket who ensured Royal Challengers to have a compitable total of 126. Great bowling effort by Chennai Super Kings who restricted Bangalore to modest total. Albie Morkel strike 4 wickets and Dravid remained top score by scoring 47 runs.

Chasing a low score opening batsmen Parthiv Patel and Stephen Fleming as always given a revolution start to Chennai Super Kings. At the end of 9th over they were well placed towards win scoring 60-0 but suddenly game changed when early wickets of Patel and then Dhoni fallen. It created gateway for Kumble to attack and grab more. Leg spinner also removed Fleming and given yet another major wicket. Dale Steyn seen in full-swing he also grabbed two victims in which his national mate Morkel and Vidyut included. Suresh Raina stayed till the last ball of match but he was unable to retreive his team towards victory however Parveen Kumar bowled awesomely under immense pressure. Dravid XI Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 14 runs and ensure that they came late but effective now they uplifted Deccan Chargers from 8th to 7th place. Although it wont matter Challengers arrival in Semis but it can boost moral and confidence for upcoming matches and next season. MS Dhoni termed defeat as poor selection by batting line up bowling done their work it was useless shots which created loose. Anil Kumble named man of the match for his magnificient bowling figures 3-14 which turned out victory for Challengers

Match 45: Kings XI Punjab vs. Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians after return of Sachin Tendulkar became more confident and gelled as unit. Mumbai who are unbeaten from consecutive 6 games they played after loosing 4 opening matches. Sachin Tendulkar won toss and elected visitors to bat first. Kings XI Punjab with solid and aggressive batting started things in grand way. After early loss of James Hopes, Marsh and Pomerbasch soon capitilized to form a big and important partnership. Aussie combination worked effectively for Kings XI Punjab they scored 134 runs together. After departure of Marsh who scored 81 runs and steered team towards decisive total. Meanwhile Pomerbach continued to bat flawless and stayed unbeaten on 79 runs till the end of innings no major parntership formed after arrival of Marsh. Punjab siezed their innings scoring 189 runs.

Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar went out to bat and chase massive total of 190 initialized things in superb way. But most expected Jayasuriya dismissed by Sreesanth then Tendulkar and Smith formed a short more worthful partnership but Smith ran out and Mumbai Indians incurred in more problems then Abhishek Nayyar joined captain to rescue Mumbai Indians in difficult situation after a useful contribution of 27 off 18 he felt just after Nayyar well set batsman Sachin Tendulkar which changed the complete tempo of game in favour of Kings XI Punjab. Punjab soon captilised and took instant wickets on the spot of Uthappa and Pollock. Major break troughs caused trouble for late orders tailenders. However they struck level best but due to absolute classical fielding made Kings XI Punjab winner of the game by just one 1 run. 5 run-out created special efforts to win over strong batting line-up of Mumbai Indians. The win over Mumbai opened doors for Kings XI Punjab in semis. Shaun Marsh again awarded as Man of The Match due to splendid piece of batting.

Match 44: Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Rajasthan Royals

Shane Warne won the toss and put home team Kolkata Knight Riders to bat first. Kolkata missing regular batting pair after McCullum remained two Pakistanis for opening slot Mohammad Hafeez and Salman Butt. Hafeez felt early in second over then skipper joined in-form Salman Butt to pull off things for Knight Riders. Salman Butt found in great touch after hitting few boundaries he looked to be confident batting with captain. Eventually he misjudged the ball by Munaf Patel which he dimissed Leg Before. Since then nothing went in favour of Kolkata Knight Riders. Wickets at regular periods broken runs momentum but Saurav Ganguly stood and scored few handy runs. After loss of Hussey, Shukla and Ganguly, Das took the charge in the end he was removed by spanking bowling of Sohail Tanvir. Sohail Tanvir took 3-26 another match winning performance even Munaf Patel also well supported by grabbing 2 early wickets. Knight Riders finished their total 147-8 playing all alloted overs.

Knight Riders missing real match winner Shoaib Akthar started off things shakily. Ashoke Dinda and Ishant Sharma given proper start to bowling attack of Knight Riders. Early wicket of Asnodkar invited Sohail Tanvir to join Graeme Smith. It was surpise package made by Shane Warne. Tanvir sent to do perfect use of Powerplays. Umar Gul, returning back for Knight Riders grabbed his national mate Sohail Tanvir and in same over he also strike Graeme Smith which given double bonus for Knight Riders in one over. After loss of 2 more wickets Kaif and Watson tried to form a solid platform for run chase but Saurav Ganguly slow bowling done the damage for Shane Watson he bowled him comprehensively. Yosuf Pathan joined Mohammad Kaif to consilidate a partnership and finish off things in grand fashion howeer Yosuf Pathan used full of his power and batting skills to compete target for Rajasthan Royals. He smased and remained unbeaten on 48 off 18 balls and reached Royals towards another fabolous win over Kolkata Knight Riders which had open gate for semis. Rajasthan Royals won by 6 wickets with 21 balls to spare. Yosuf Pathan awarded man of the match

Match 43: Delhi DareDevils vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore

Delhi DareDevils Captaing Virendar Sehwag won the toss and choosen to field first. Royal Challengers who are out of IPL for sure tried something special in batting strategy. Jacques Kallis promoted upto batting order with Chipli. Chipli felt early but newly debutant Goswami shown fantastic batting display with impressive shots selection. Meanwhile wickets of Kallis and Dravid fallen down but Goswami continued to show his batting magic. Even Misbah-ul-Haq joined him came @ 5th place. Misbah who is not picked much runs in IPL content looking to steer his team towards decisive and compatible total. After reaching half-century Goswami dismissed by Maharoof. After his departure two instant run outs in quick time created more problems for Challengers infact Misbah-ul-Haq stood and realised his importance to reach anything defendable for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Glenn McGrath also bang on target grabbed twice also Maharoof too. Misbah in search for boundaries found himself lucky to get it on crucial period of time. Last over proved to costly for Delhi DareDevils, Rajat Bhatia given 24 runs including 3 massive sixes and 1 boundaries by Misbah-ul-Haq. Royal Challengers setup competetive total of 154-7

Most destructive batting combination Gautam Gambhir and Virendar Sehwag came out to bat again in fabolous fashion. Opening partnership stand given 90 runs in which flory of boundaries and beautiful shots included. Suddenly Parveen Kumar striked Sehwag in 7 over of innings which created something for other bowlers to attack on. Gautam Gambhir unfortunately ran out due to confusion after scoring splendid 39 runs. After fall of few wickets things become unfamiliar for Royal Challengers. as Shikhar Dhawan came out late in order to finish off target superbly. Delhi DareDevils won by 5 wickets and with 15 balls to spare. It was must win match for Delhi DareDevils. Surprisely Goswami awarded as Man of the Match for his fine knock of 52 runs.

Match 42: Deccan Chargers vs. Mumbai Indians

Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist won the toss and sent Sachin’s team Mumbai to bat first. Deccan Chargers who are missing winning combination were up against another superb team unbeaten from last 5 matches. Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya opened again in grand fashion but high hoped Jayasuriya fallen earlier scoring 36 runs due to instant change done by Gilchrist Venugopal strike in his first over. However after departure of Jayasuriya dropped scoring rate of Mumbai Indians but Sachin Tendulkar with Thornely tried to carry up things @ good rate. Shahid Afridi picked two in his over of Sachin and Thornely created some problems for Mumbai Indian. But depth of Mumbai Indians consisted Nayyar and Bravo settled and transformed innings to defend able total. Quick runs in few balls helped Mumbai Indians to finish the innings and set target of 178 runs.

Deccan Chargers who are not well-chasers initiated things shakily, Shahid Afridi dismissed in his first bowl of the match. Gilchrist and Sharma smelt a partnership but Dilhara Fernando removed both of them in his first over. Venugopal Rao was only batsmen from few matches showing great resistance with the bat and ball too. He continued to show his brilliance along Ravi Teja and tried to guide Deccan towards victory. But fine bowling of Bravo and Fernando restricted Deccan Chargers to only 153 runs. Mumbai Indians won by 25 runs and registered their 6th consecutive win in a row. Dwayne Bravo named the man of the match for his fantastic batting and bowling performance.

Match 41 - Chennai Super Kings vs. Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Rider who were champion other day @ Eden Gardens against Delhi DareDevils. Now Kolkata hosting another fascinating encounter versus Chennai Super Kings. Saurav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat first. Last time when Knight Riders went to bat they lost quite badly against Mumbai Indians. Salman Butt who is in fantastic nick pulled off things nicely for Knight Riders along with his countryman Mohammad Hafeez. Hafeez and Ganguly dismissed earlier part of game by Makhaya Ntini. Butt conslidated with Das for 80 + runs parntership and settle things in good way for Knight Riders. Salman Butt shots were elegant to view every time he tried to work ball in gaps. Makhaya Ntini again brought back in 16th over and bowled Das following next ball David Hussey also cleaned up that made hatrick for him. What a day he has so far with the ball 4 wickets in 4 overs and Chennai back on track. Wickets falling as well set Salman Butt also departed after scoring his fabolous 73 runs including 10 boundaries and 1 six. Kolkata Knight Riders finished their innings and set target of 150 runs for Chennai Super Kings.

Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar attacked not brightly for KKR. He and Ishant Sharma unable to give any wicket but Stephen Fleming and Parthiv Patel opened and created thunderous partnership of 55 runs before rain came to in action. They were well placed according to Duckworth Lewis method and decision of method went in favor of Chennai Super Kings due to impressive scoring rate without any loss. Chennai Super Kings won by 3 runs D/L method. Makhaya Ntini awarded Man of the match for his fine bowling.

Match 40: Delhi DareDevils vs. Kings XI Punjab

Another exciting match between two good sides Delhi and Punjab playing at Feroz Shah Kotla Day Nighter in front of large audience. From Initial play interupted due to Rain and game delayed for a while. Virendar Sehwag who won the toss and choosen to bat first on flat track. Magical opening pair of Gambhir and Sehwag opened brilliantly. Infact Sehwag dropped earlier by Yuvraj Singh who missed the simple sitter which cost much higher as Sehwag started to counter attach each and every bowler of Kings XI Punjab including VRV Singh and Piyush Chawla went for many. Gambhir shown same kind of ravishing batting form along Sehwag. Both of them maintained scoring rate with fantastic momentum. After scoring 40 runs Gambhir bowled by Ramesh Powar. Powar playing his 2nd match strucked another blow this time Shekar Dhawan early in his 2nd over. Some problems started for Delhi DareDevils after falling 4 wickets in quick sessions. But sudden rain stoppage discarded players attention. Delhi DareDevils well placed in 11 over scoring 118 runs on the board.

After several interuption on the field Duckworths Lewis method introduced to get match results. Kings XI Punjab openers not provided absolute start as they given in past. Shaun Marsh felt earlier. James Hopes and Yuvraj Singh looked to partnership. Glenn McGrath dismissed Yuvraj Singh in process of lifting up the scoring rate. Following next over James Hopes also sent back by legspinner Mishra. Mahela Jayawardene and Pomerbach steered Kings XI Punjab extra-ordinary with maintainence of high runs per over 11.75 which favored Kings XI Punjab to win over Delhi DareDevils according to D/L Method. Fine innings of Jayawardene 36 runs off 17 balls remain Kings XI Punjab winner of the day. Jayawardene awarded as man of the match for his performance

Match 39 - Rajasthan Royals vs. Royal Challengers

Royal Challengers Bangalore who are looking to win over against any team of IPL and up against Rajasthan Royals most destructive team throughout tournament. Rahul Dravid won the toss elected to field first. Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar opened bowling attack for Bangalore Royal Challengers. The batting pair for Rajasthan Royals were Graeme Smith and Asnodkar. Smith and Asodhkar formed great batting partnership of over 100 runs. In which plenty of boundaries and massive sixes involved. All bowlers including Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Jacques Kallis with Abdur Razzak went expensive without any victim. Infact veteran Anil Kumble dismissed Asnodhkar after scoring half-century then Shane Watson came in to join party of Smith and steered batting total towards 197 runs. Smith looked impressive with his unbeaten 75 runs including 8 boundaries and 2 maximum sixes. Shane Watson also stayed unbeaten on 46 runs.

Rajasthan Royals prime bowler Sohail Tanvir started off preceeding in grand fashion. Tanvir on target from his very over. Wickets started to tumble over by over for Royal Challengers Bangalore as always looked to find anyone to settle @ wicket. Misbah-ul-Haq again felt earlier alongside Kallis, Cameron White and Patil without any impressive scores. Rahul Dravid the only runs machine for Bangalore leading from front and begun to do counter attack against Rajasthan Royals. Dravid who always looked to get any partner to consilidate with him. He looked in total aggressive mode scoring 50 runs off 25  balls. However he unable to reach his side towards win but Dravid stayed unbeaten on 75 runs including 6 boundaries and 6 massive sixes. Sohail Tanvir and Shane Warne grabbed 3 wickets each. Rajasthan Royals won by 65 runs. Graeme Smith awarded as man of the match for his brilliant 75 runs.

Match 38 – Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Mumbai Indians

After emphatic win against Delhi DareDevils Knight Rider up against another emerging team Mumbai Indians who started late but quite right winning 4 consecutive in past. Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and put Knight Riders to bat first. Inform Salman Butt alongside Aakash Chopra opened for Knight Riders. Shaun Pollock, on target from his second over. Butts who look to score quick runs fell earlier by Pollock. Saurav Ganguly came in and tried to form partnership but slight hesitation between running cost another victim for Mumbai Indians Aakash Chopra ran out. David Hussey, Mohammad Hafeez and L Shukla also unable to score more than single digit due to classic pace of Shaun Pollock. Wickets started tumble at regular intervals for KKR. Much expected Saurav Ganguly also get out by Thornely with great line and length. Each KKR batsmen found him in hurry. Kolkata Knight Riders only able to score 67 runs the lowest total in IPL by any team previous was 82 by Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Shaun Pollock impressed in bowling who grabbed 3 wickets.

In-reply of modest total on board Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar came out for batting. Sanath Jayasuriya in first over displayed some kind of repect to Rawalpindi Express and KKR Speed Star Shoaib Akhtar at the score of 5 runs, As always Shoaib Akhtar dismissed Sachin Tendulkar for without scoring a run sent on duck. Something to cheer for Kolkata fans after departure of Sachin but big guns are in business such as in form Sanath Jayasuriya. Ishant Sharma brought into attack to snatch more wickets but in front of Sanath Jayasuriya who is prime form straight away went for plenty. Shoaib looking for more infact big one Sanath Jayasuriya started yet another second over. This time Sanath given warm welcome with flory of big hits for sixes and boundaries he played & outclass speed machine with his fabulous stokes. Akhtar finished over by giving 23 runs and went wicket less for first time in an over. Ishant Sharma struck Robin Uthappa early but nothing went in favor for Kolkata. Jayasuriya, his disasterous batting and scored 48 unbeaten runs and reached total of 67 in just 5.3 overs. Its second time in a row Jayasuriya remain unbeaten & steered his team towards win. Mumbai Indians won by 8 wickets and Shaun Pollock awarded as man of the match for his 3 wickets.