Indian Premier League (IPL)

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 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 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.

Match 36 - Chennai Super Kings vs. Mumbai Indians

After a rapid win over Delhi DareDevils Dhoni XI Chennai Super Kings found themselves relaxed against Mumbai Indians who are not in that prime form as they were. Although Little Master Sachin Tendulkar joined the team for first time in IPL Season replacing Shaun Pollock as captain of side. Sachin won the toss and elected to bowl first as most of captains do in T20 format and prefer to chase. As usual Shaun Pollock was given the opportunati along with the experianced indian pacer Ashish nehra, Pollock bowled extremely well within line and length but the former kiwi captain smashed Nehra and bravo out of the park, but unfotunately chennai loses vidyut on the bowling of Pollock in the third over afterwards raina joined the party but he was dissmissed early after that MS Dhoni along with Badrinath holds the innings togather and put their team on a decent total of 156/6 they contributed 95 runs together.

Now it was upto Sachin’s army how to achieve competative total of 155 runs, considering their past record which clearly suggests that they are not good chasers but the way two very experienced asian runs machines fire they clearly out class the Dhoni Soldiers it was found to be Jayasuria’s night the way he smashed chennai was totaly outclass and was appriciated by every one including the Ambani’s. jayasuria was playing in his own aggressive style of batting and the sixes were raining all around the ground he smashed 11 sixes and 9 fours he fineshed the match with flying colours by hitting 26 runs of 5 balls of Kapugadra’s over he was ararded man of the match for his Supreme performance of 114 runs for just 48 deliveries. Mumbai Indians won comprehensively by 9 wickets with over 5 overs to spare.

It was a clash between two team at totally different places on the points table.Delhi were rising high on top where as mumbai indians were struggling at the bottom.but as is said in T20 you never know.Delhi Daredevils won the toss and decided to field first.Mumbai Indians got on to a flying start and Jayasurya-Yogesh pair scored 46 runs

Soon they started loosing wickets and after 16 overs they were 118/6 and it looked like they might not reach the 150 mark. But Pollock scored 22 runs of 19th over and thus Mumbai Indians scored 162 runs in 20 overs

WIth the lights of VIRU the score of 162 looked a modest one but pollock and nehra gave the home team a superb beggining by dimissing gautam and dhavan for one.Which charged up the whole sided viru played well for his 40 of 21 balls but when he got out of thornly`s bowling the only hope left for DD was shoaib Malik but he was foxed by supeb slower one by shaun pollock and derailed the DD innings and they couldn`t got back again.

Young Kulkarni finally wrapped up the innings by cleaning asif and Mcgrath and giving Mumbai Indians a much needed and famous victory by 29 runs

Match 14: Deccan Chargers vs. Mumbai Indians

A must win situation for both teams because they played 3 matches and unable to grab victory. Shaun Pollock replaced Harbhajan Singh as captain of Mumbai Indians. Fortunately VVS Laxman won the toss and elected to field first.
Mumbai Indians started off innings with same sort of stragety in last few matches. Luke Ronchi who is still unable to show any form got out early. Sanath Jayasuriya looked in fine touch but he was also cleared by brilliant bowling of Shahid Afridi. Initially Deccan Chargers seemed to apply pressure on Mumbai Indians. Shaun Pollock promoted himself and tried to boost up scoring tempo. He accomplished things well with Abhishek Nayyar who is enough consistent for Mumbai Indians in whole competetion. Nayyar played fine cricketing strokes with good partnership with Pollock and Bravo. Scoring rate always be key factor but Mumbai Indians fall short to score anything higher than 8 runs per over. Mumbai Indians made 154/7
Deccan Chargers also begun to reply to competetive target of 154. It was totally Adam Gilchrist show with full of action jam packed innings all over the park. He produced solid foundation along with VVS Laxman who supported him time by time. Adam Gilchrist continued his fearous form and completed his century in grand fashion in 42 balls fastest by anyone in IPL. Previous was Andrew Symonds century in 48 deliveries. Gilchrist performance finished all hopes for Shaun Pollock to come up in the match. They reached target within 12 overs. Adam Gilchrist was rewarded man of the match for his brilliant knock of 109 which includes 9 boundaries and 10 smashing sixes.

Mumbai Indians who are in search for their first victory in IPL faces another problem in shape of controversy. Last Friday Mumbai Indians played match against Kings XI Punjab which they lost it and Harbhajan Singh acting captain instead of Sachin Tendulkar who misbehaved with Sreesanth after the ending of last innings.
Sreesanth seen unhappy and his eyes were fully filled with lots of tears that time. No more action taken place Friday night but on Saturday Indian Premier League officials commitee decided and suspended Harbhajan Singh temporarily basis. On Monday hearing of this case will be reviewed and finalised until Harbhajan Singh cannot play game against Deccan Chargers. Shaun Pollock will render his services of Captaincy.
From a source Harbajhan and Sreesanth cleared problems with each other and they are now brothers of one’s family.

Match 10 – Kings XI Punjab vs. Mumbai Indians @ Mohali

Much interesting match of IPL Cricket League because Punjab and Mumbai both looking to open account on points table after winning this encounter. Stage set as Harbhajan Singh again won the toss and elected to field first. Mumbai Indians who was missing Sachin Tendulkar (Legend Cricketer) and captain of team quite badly.
Karan Goel and newly promoted Irfan Pathan opened up the innings for Kings XI Punjab. Pathan felt earlier only by making 6 runs. Kumar Sangakkara came in and shown great display of natural batting and ultimate class. Karan Goel run out cheaply due to confusion between Sangakkara only made 19 runs. Yuvraj Singh captain of Kings XI Punjab arrived with smashing mode. He stoked some good shots but caught out greatly by Dwayne Brawo with a decent catch. After him Ramnaresh Sarwan and Mahela Jaywardena joined Sangakkara but no one over looked to build strong partnership but Sangakkara continued his batting momentum and made his table to decent score of 180+ and got out in process of slogging against Harbajhan Singh. Kings XI Punjab ended up with 182 all out.
Mumbai Indians who are not very good in chasing batting second. Started off innings quite badly as Sanath Jayasuriya who given straight back chance to Lee and following next ball Luke Ronchi dismissed due to misunderstanding with Robin Uthappa.

Dywane Bravo and Robin Uthappa smelt a partnership together. But it was soon enough broken by Piyush Chawla a leg spinner who really turns around the game from Kings XI. After dismissal of Bravo and Uthappa no one continued to maintain the runs momentum. Shaun Pollock shown some resistance in the batting he was also outclass with a superb and fantastic catch by Yuvraj Singh. It is a poor and immature batting display by Mumbai Indians cost them to again loose the match. Mumbai Indians ended their innings only by making 116-9 playing all allotted overs. Kumar Sangakkara was rewarded as Man of the Match for his magnificent 94 runs. It is the first victory of Kings XI Punjab in IPL. The owner Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia seemed to much happy and relaxed because of first win in IPL.

Match 10: Kings XI Punjab vs. Mumbai Indians, both teams are unable to make mark on points table will look for a win against each other.

Mumbai Indians which are missing Sachin Tendulkar and his valauble services still unable to create any sort of magic as it Mumbai is the most expensive team of IPL. Kings XI Punjab led by Yuvraj Singh also didn’t look comfortable with team performances. Both team lost their opening and second matches. Harbhajan Singh acting captain of Mumbai Indians still spirited to win over fellow mate Yuvraj Singh’s King XI Punjab. 

It will be amazing encounter between Punjabs and Mumbai teams because of search for first point definately counts on Team moral and confidence.

Mumbai Indians: (probable) 1 Sachin Tendulkar (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Luke Ronchi (wk), 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Abhishek Nayar, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Shaun Pollock, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Musavir Khote, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Dhaval Kulkarni.

Kings XI Punjab: (probable) 1 Karan Goel, 2 James Hopes, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Yuvraj Singh (capt), 6 Irfan Pathan, 7 Sunny Sohal, 8 Brett Lee, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Vikram Singh, 11 Sreesanth

Match 8: Mumbai Indians after a heavy defeat against Bangalore Royal Challengers get set ready to find a victory over strong Chennai Super Kings. Harbhajan Singh the acting captain in place of Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and elected to bowl first. Parthiv Patel and Matthew Hayden started the things very well for Chennai and maintained great scoring rate too. Patel got only scoring 14 including few boundaries Matthew Hayden continued his batting momentum on other way Hussey get out early only scoring 5. It was Suresh Raina another young talent of Indian who joined Hayden and setup a partnership of 104 runs including explosive boundaries and sixes. Both Hayden and Raina completed in grand fashion but Raina lost his charm got out scoring valuable 53 with 3 maximum hits and 3 boundaries. MS Dhoni captain of Chennai promoted himself to number 5 and scored quick firing 30 off 16 balls including 4 boundaries and 1 six. Wickets started to tumble as Hayden and MS Dhone get out in last stage of the innings. Hayden scored 81 off 46 balls with 12 boundaries and 2 maximum sixes.
Jacob Oram and Badrinath finished the innings of Chennai Super Kings with a score of 208 for the loss of 5 wickets.

Chasing anything around 10 runs in a over always found to be tough job. Mumbai Indians started off the things not alike Chennai Kings. Sanath Jayasuriya fired up 20 runs with 4 smashing boundaries but early lost of 2 wickets changed team tactics. Robin Uthappa took the charge and started to play aggressive cricket. He scored 43 off 36 balls 6 boundaries and 1 six. Shaun Pollock and Dwyane Bravo joined together but never capitalized upto the conditions and demand of rate. They also get out in process of slogging. AM Nayyar and Harbhajan Singh teamed up and made quick runs! Few big hits from the bat of Harbhajan and Nayyar made Dhoni to think again about Bowlers.

In partnership of both the match result found to be weird but wicket of Harbhajan Singh who was trying to hit anything got out on the bowling of Muralitharan. Joginder Sharma again this time bowled last over the match in which 20 runs were required. First two balls were hit for boundaries and the biggest mistake done by both Joginder who bowled no-bowl and A Nayyar who took single and become off-strike. Free hit played by Ashish Nehra which he missed unable to do anything. Atlast after the miss of that ball 8 runs were required off 2 balls in which Ashish Nehra gave single to Nayyar who played last ball and just run for a single. Mumbai Indians after a long fight back able to make 202 runs.
It was great match to sight with plenty of ups and down in the end it was Chennai Super Kings who won the match after a smart fight back from Mumbai Indians.