Cricket Tournaments

Kolkata Knight Riders 148 for 7 beat Delhi Daredevils 131 for 9 by 17 runs

Man of the match: Manoj Tiwary

A poor batting effort saw Delhi Daredevils stay at the bottom of the table following yet another disappointing loss. The Delhi bowlers would be especially shattered as they did an excellent job to restrict the Kolkata Knight Riders to 148 for 7 despite a measured half century by Manoj Tiwary. However, the Kolkata Knight Riders outdid the Daredevils with the ball to coast to victory in the end at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium. Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla was the star for the Knight Riders with the ball, his three scalps derailing the chase on a pitch that offered ample turn.

In hindsight, Delhi clearly had gone the wrong way as they went out with an all-out pace attack. Even so, they did an excellent job. Irfan Pathan found his rhythm for a change and sent back Jacques Kallis early to get Delhi off to the perfect start. Umesh Yadav continued to impress with the pace which claimed the crucial scalps of the dangerous men Yusuf Pathan and Eoin Morgan. Also, Ajit Agarkar, who was playing his second game of the tournament, kept things tight and even got a wicket with the first ball he bowled.

The only disappointment for the Daredevils with the ball was unusually off colour performance of Morne Morkel, who gave away the most runs. Still, Delhi did not allow Kolkata to get away and only a mature half century from Manoj Tiwary, who remained unbeaten, took KKR close to 150. However, Delhi weren’t at their best with the bat either. David Warner had a rare failure. The only phase when Delhi looked in control was when James Hopes and Virender Sehwag were at the crease together. They took the score to 43, but the partnership needed to last longer from Delhi’s point of view.

The came turned around completed once Jaidev Unadkat managed to get rid of Sehwag. The ball was moving around and Unadkat chipped in with a couple of short ones, and Sehwag not one to back down went for one, which led to his downfall. The introduction of Abdulla had already slowed down the scoring. As the pressure grew Irfan Pathan fell, attempting to slog the left arm spinner but only perishing into midwicket’s hands. The unknown Travis Birt fell soon after, which meant also hopes were placed on all-rounder Hopes. However, he too lost his patience and hit one straight to cover off Abdulla’s bowling. The Mumbai lad added another scalp to his kitty as Naman Ojha slogged one in the outfield. Six down for 86 and the game was all but over.

Delhi managed a brief flutter. However, Shah Rukh’s team had no reason to worry as Brett Lee conceded just two runs in the penultimate over, and also helped out in getting two run-outs. The best moments for Delhi in the game came when Jacques Kallis was consumed by an incoming delivery by Irfan and Gautam Gambhir lost his wicket to Hopes’ far from threatening bowling. Yadav got Yusuf and Morgan cheaply to enable Delhi stayed ahead of the race. The boundaries were kept to the minimum in the last five overs.

Following the victory, the Kolkata Knight Riders moved up the table to second spot, but with the teams so close one wonders for how long. For Delhi though, they remain at the bottom and need something inspirational to turn things around.

Deccan Chargers 129 for 7 beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala 74 by 55 runs
Man of the match: Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma undoubtedly produced one of the greatest spells in the four year old history of the IPL as the Deccan Chargers successfully defended a modest target of 130 against Kochi Tuskers Kerala on a pitch that offered ample bounce for pacers from both sides, but the former team had better bowlers to make use of the conditions even though it has to be said that the Kochi bowlers did a good job themselves. However, Ishant was just too good on the day as he knocked out five top batsmen with his pace, bounce and movement to decide the fate of the match rather early.

Ishant began his unbelievable demolition act after South African speedster Dale Steyn got the vital early breakthrough in the very first over of the innings. Brendon McCullum was the victim as the ball moved away appreciably, but not before taking the edge of his bat. Ishant took over from there and was all over the Kochi batsmen. Parthiv Patel was the first of his victims. He jabbed at one that lifted after pitching and like the Steyn delivery moved away to take the bat’s edge to the wicket keeper. In a surprising move, equivalent of Bangalore promoting Zaheer Khan, Raiphi Gomez was sent in at number four. And just like Khan, one ball was all he lasted. The ball came in sharply on this occasion and Gomez clearly had no clue about it.

Brad Hodge was the next of Ishant’s victims. The Aussie tried to drive one outside off stump, but the ball once again came in and cleaned up the stumps. Four wickets were down and Kochi had only scored 2. The only silver lining if one can call it so was the presence of skipper Mahela Jayawardene, who was trying to hold one end up as the wickets crumbled one by one. However, Ishant wasn’t done yet. Kedar Jadhav was trapped plumb in front of the stumps from a vicious Ishant in ducker. And to top it all, he ended mission destruction by get the edge of Jayawardene with one that pitched on a good length. Mahela wasn’t even trying anything expansive. It was just a defensive push, but Ishant was too good for it on this day. When Mahela left, Kochi were struggling at 11 for 6 after four overs. Ravindra Jadeja and Thisara Perera forged together a steady partnership, but by then it was all too late.

Earlier, Deccan Chargers recovered from their own collapse to post 129. It wasn’t a great total, but a decent recovery considering the fact that they were at one stage struggling at 37 for 3 at the halfway mark of their innings, Kumar Sangakkara leading from the front with a sedate half century. Kochi played their part in letting Sangakkara get away. Sreesanth bowled an unplayable delivery that knocked out Sangakkara’s stumps. However, TV replays showed that it was a no ball and the former Lankan skipper survived.

Sangakkara and Cameron White then joined forces to feature in an important partnership. They were severe on Vinay Kumar and Perera in a three over period where the boundaries flowed. However, Vinay got Kochi back into the game getting White caught at deep midwicket forcing Sangakkara to edge a slower ball off consecutive deliveries. The others continued to struggle and 129 was all Deccan managed, way better that Kochi’s effort of 74!

Chennai Super Kings 145 for 2 beat Pune Warriors 141 for 6 by eight wickets
Man of the match: Doug Bollinger

A mature half century from S Badrinath and his counter attacking partnership with the demoted Suresh Raina enabled the Chennai Super Kings to overcome a tricking target of 143 against the Pune Warriors, who themselves got that far thanks to a breezy, unbeaten knock of 62 from their skipper Yuvraj Singh. Earlier, the Chennai bowlers made very good use of the extra pace and bounce in the surface at the D Y Patil Stadium to keep the Warriors down before Yuvraj launched a late assault.

Badrinath it was who steered the Chennai chase after a slow start by Murali Vijay and Mike Hussey made them a bit edgy. As he is known to do, Badrinath played proper cricketing shots to prove once again why technically sound players like him can also succeed in the IPL. Rahul Dravid is another shining example of the same. Coming back to Badrinath, he came in after Murali Kartik took out Hussey, who threw his wicket away unable to break the shackles. Chennai weren’t even score at 5 per over when Badrinath took charge. And eight overs had already passed by.

Badrinath began by attacking the wicket taker Kartik, slamming him for four to long-off and then lofting him for a six over cover. Next, he placed him down to third man to earn another boundary. As 16 runs came of the over, Chennai were finally underway. He hit Yuvraj for a six soon and Chennai were in command. At the other end, Vijay continued to struggle and his misery finally ended when he skied a slower ball and was caught easily. Badrinath was then joined by Raina. Badrinath continued in a similar vein and, as the partnership progressed, Raina too grew in confidence. In fact, he brought the curtains down on the match by lofting Jerome Taylor for huge sixes.

In hindsight, Pune’s lack of runs came back to haunt them again. They got off to a poor start as Jesse Ryder was consumed by Doug Bollinger off a short, rising delivery. Mohnish Mishra, who has played one match winning innings in the IPL also fell in a similar fashion, unable to judge the line of a short one. At the other end, Nuwan Kulasekara sent back Mithun Manhas with one that came in, beat the bat and pad to dislodge a bail. Manish Pandey too failed trying to swat Tim Southee, but unable to get any power into the shot. Pune had stumbled to 41 for 4.

Yuvraj had no other option but to break free and get as many as possible on his own. Robin Uthappa showed flashes of brilliance with a couple of six, but his impetuosity got the better of him again as R Ashwin dismissed him with the carom ball. This was followed by some clean, lofty hitting by Yuvraj. He slammed Ashwin, Bollinger and Southee for big hits as 50 came in the last five overs. His single handed effort though paled in comparison to Chennai’s combined brilliance.

Royal Challengers Bangalore 161 for 7 beat Delhi Daredevils 160 for 6 by three wickets

Daniel Vettori and J Syed Mohammad hit crucial boundaries to ensure that Virat Kohli’s half century did not go in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore managed to chase the target of 161 with three balls to spare. Challengers looked in a bit of trouble after Kohli was dismissed, but both Vettori and Mohammad held their nerves to ensure Bangalore got home in the end despite Delhi’s comeback with the ball.

Until Kohli was at the crease, the Bangalore chase looked in control as he was finding the ropes at will during his wonderful half-century. However, David Warner scored a direct hit to run out AB de Villiers and give Delhi some inspirational hope. Only a couple of balls later, Morne Morkel cleaned up Kohli and the match was very much back in the balance. The pendulum swung as Mohammad managed to pinch two boundaries off Umesh Yadav. Vettori also played a solid hand as Bangalore got home in the last over.

While credit must be given to the abovementioned duo, it was undoubtedly Kohli who set up the victory. He hit boundary after boundary as Delhi looked clueless. And this was after Tillakaratne Dilshan was gone second ball of the innings. Kohli managed as many as six boundaries in the first ten balls he faced as Ashok Dinda and Irfan Pathan were lacklustre. Pathan in particular was disappointing as Kohli took a liking to him, flicking and driving with a lot of ease.

At the other end, Chris Gayle was getting into his act too. He began by hammering Morne Morkel for a four and a six. 62 came in the first five overs as Bangalore looked at total ease. James Hopes gave some hope to Delhi by dismissing Gayle with a shorter one but not before they had added 82 in rapid quick time. Kohli brought up his fifty very soon. But, soon Delhi had their moment too as Villiers failed to beat a Warner throw and Morkel sent back Kohli.

Wickets continued to tumble as Cheteshwar Pujara perished going for a pull. Vettori and Tiwary scraped around for a while before the latter hammered Morkel for a crucial six. Morkel had his revenge soon enough and Abhimanyu Mithun too succumbed to the pressure, before the cool heads of Mohammad and Vettori saw them through to the end with some crucial boundaries.

Earlier in the day, James Hopes scored a half century to help  Delhi recover for a poor start. Zaheer Khan and S Aravind troubled the opening pair of Virender Sehwag and David Warner, with the new ball doing enough. They were never in with a chance of setting up a decent total until Hopes and Venugopal Rao combined in a fifth wicket alliance of 47. Warner was cleaned up by an incoming Zaheer snorter. Sehwag hit a few streaky boundaries before running himself out.

Thanks to the partnership between Rao and Hopes, Delhi had a decent platform with five overs to go, But, Rao lost his cool and cost Delhi some crucial runs. A few sixes from Irfan Pathan and Naman Ojha took Delhi to 160, but Bangalore had enough in their  arsenal to chase it down.

Chennai were brilliant in the field

Chennai Super Kings 142 for 6 beat Pune Warriors 117 for 9 by 25 runs

Chennai Super Kings got back to their winning ways as they successfully defended a mediocre score of 142 for 6 against Yuvraj Singh’s Pune Warriors, who struggled to 117 for 9 in their allotted 20 overs to lose the game by a pretty big margin of 25 runs. Chennai were very good with the ball as well as in the field, which enabled them to outdo Pune in spite of having put up a less than competitive score on the board.

Albie Morkel and Doug Bollinger, who opened the bowling, were excellent at the start of the innings for Chennai. They bowled a number of good short deliveries on the responsive pitch and the Pune openers clearly struggled. Mohnish Mishra fell to the slow nature of the surface. He tried to guide a ball down to the third man region, but only ended up edging it onto the stumps. Jesse Ryder managed to survive the faster men, but was done in by the smart R Ashwin. The off spinner bowled an arm ball disturbed, which the left hander couldn’t read and ended up exposing his stumps.

There was more trouble for Pune as Manish Pandey also fell while trying to steer a ball from Morkel down to the third man region and, like Mishra, also ended up disturbing his stumps. Soon, Pune plunged into further difficulty as Ashwin’s carom ball turned the other away and even fooled the in form Robin Uthappa, who was beaten all ends up and was bowled round his legs. Pune never recovered from that terrible start.

M S Dhoni introduced more spin as Suraj Randiv and Suresh Raina contributed with a few quiet overs. It was up to Yuvraj and Mithun Manhas to try and bring Pune back on track. Manhas did manage a mishit six off Randiv, but perished soon after ending Bollinger to Dhoni. With wickets falling, Chennai’s fielding also improved by leaps and bounds as the runs dried up. Yuvraj managed 34 but wasn’t in his elements and another brilliant fielding effort from Shadab Jakati enabled Chennai to see the back of him. The chase had already run out of steam by then.

Earlier, Pune had done much better during their turn with the ball to restrict Chennai to 142. Chennai themselves struggled, with M Vijay failing to time the ball. Both He and Michael Hussey were lucky as a number of edges made it to the boundary, with Hussey even being dropped once. But, it wasn’t going to be long before Pune got their deserved breakthrough. Vijay fell to a bouncer from Alfonso Thomas as Nathan McCullum took the simplest of catches. Thomas soon knocked over Raina as well as Chennai struggled their way to the halfway stage of the innings.

The spin of Yuvraj and Murali Kartik kept the runs down further with only Hussey holding fort for Chennai. Dhoni helped Hussey by slamming a couple of boundaries before he was stumped going for another big one. There was more bad news for Chennai as Hussey too fell a few balls later to Jerome Taylor, while trying to add more runs in Chennai’s account. Morkel had another failure with the bat and even a six from S Badrinath only enabled to lift them to 142. In the end, thanks to Chennai’s bowling and fielding effort it was enough.

Rajasthan Royals 111 for 2 beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala 109 by eight wickets
Man of the match: Shane Warne

Shane Warne continued to mesmerise and, on Sunday, it was his spell of 3 for 16 that ensured the Rajasthan Royals returned to their winning ways against the so far impressive Kochi Tuskers Kerala. The Aussie spin wizard got the key wickets of Brad Hogde and broke a fighting partnership between Parthiv Patel and Ravindra Jadeja, claiming both, to restrict the Kochi Tuskers to a well below par score of 109. And chasing it, the Rajasthan Royals had little trouble as Rahul Dravid and Shane Watson put on an assured 71 run opening stand before Dravid ran himself out uncharacteristically for a well complied 44, when he looked got for a lot more than that.

The match, essentially though, was about Rajasthan’s excellent bowling effort and Kochi’s poor batting stint. In the home conditions that favoured slow bowlers, Rajasthan’s spinners shone. South African Johan Botha, who was returning from an injury, took out Mahela Jayawardene with the first ball of his comeback game. Botha turned a delivery right across Jayawardene, and the ball hit the thigh pad before deflecting off to the stumps. VVS Laxman, who was replacing the injured and, more importantly, in form Brendon McCullum, got run out to get Kochi off to the worst possible start.

The Warne show then took over. Hodge fell to one from Warne that did not rise as much as he anticipated. The Kochi innings was in complete disarray until Jadeja and Patel joined forces. Warne welcomed Jadeja with a bouncer, but to his credit, the former Rajasthan batsman did not try anything fancy. The duo did well to steady the ship. Importantly, they did not take any risks against Warne, Watson and Botha and reserved the big strokes for the lesser known Indian first class bowlers. However, with time and overs running out they were forced to take on Warne, and this is where Kochi plummeted into further trouble.

Jadeja once tried to loft Warne, but did not succeed in his endeavour. Frustrated, he reverted to his favourite slog sweep, only for the ball to take the top edge of the bat and give Warne a simple caught and bowled. The master had done the trick again. But, he wasn’t finished yet. The very next ball, Patel, indifferent to the fact that he had lost his well-set partner, went for a horrendous reverse sweep, which only saw him get clean bowled. In a moment of madness, all the hard work done by Patel was undone. There was no comeback point for Kochi from there as no capable batsman was left in the wings. The innings soon folded up for 109, with Siddharth Trivedi helping himself to three wickets.

For Kochi to have a semblance of a change, they needed a spectacular start. Instead, Watson it was to thrashed the first ball of the chase to the cover boundary, and there was just no looking back. With no pressure of scoring at a particularly high rate, Dravid went about his task in a brisk but risk free manner. He drove and cut with ease before depositing Jadeja into the stands for the first six of the game. Unfortunately, he ran himself out needlessly, but by then the game was all but done and dusted with.

Mumbai Indians 172 for 4 beat Deccan Chargers 135 for 8 by 37 runs

Man of the match: Lasith Malinga

The Mumbai Indians recovered splendidly after losing three wickets without the addition of any run to club the hapless Deccan Chargers by 37 runs in Sunday’s second match. Finding themselves in trouble at 70 for 4, having lost Sachin Tendulkar, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard all on the same score, Mumbai found their heroes in Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds yet again. The two featured in a game changing partnership of 102 that came of just 65 balls to make Deccan suffer another taste of defeat. This was made possible thanks to yet another toe crushing effort by Lasith Malinga, who ended with exceptional figures of 3 for 9 as well as the man of the match award as Deccan Chargers crashed to 135 for 8 chasing a target of 173.

Mumbai Indians’ innings was chiefly about two partnerships, the major one being that of Symonds and Sharma. At 70 for 4 and three of their big guns gone, Mumbai needed to consolidate and they did so with the partnership between the two Ss. The best and most crucial feature of their partnership was the fact that they bid their time when needed, but when they blossomed they did so without any inhibitions. 40 runs came in the last two overs as Sharma and Symonds took the Deccan bowlers to task. Symonds started the boundary hitting show by slamming Dale Steyn pacy deliveries at an equally fast pace for two fours and a six in the 19^th over. Sharma went one step ahead in the final over, hoicking Daniel Christian for three massive sixes and adding a four as Mumbai raised themselves from a troubled situation to post a challenging total.

The total was doubly difficult to chase as Malinga was in his elements once again, not only with the ball, but in the field as well. A customary yorker first took care of Shikhar Dhawan, who honestly, was out for no fault of his. More pedigreed batsmen have failed to keep the slinger’s toe crushers from destroying the stumps. Cameron White struggled during his stay at the crease. And, with the big hit not coming, he lost his cool and going for an non existent single was beaten by a throw from, guess who, Malinga! The Lankan’s bowlers former skipper Kumar Sangakkara battled on valiantly before Malinga was successful in uprooting his stumps too with a low full toss after the former had managed to gather 34. The chase was as good as over when Davy Jacobs stumped Daniel Christian while standing up to Munaf Patel. Dan Christian struck a few customary big hits, but even before he was stumped off Munaf Patel for 21, the game was well in Mumbai Indians’ grasp.

The only time Deccan where in the game was when they got those three wickets at the score of 70. This was after Sachin Tendukar and Davy Jacobs had combined to get Mumbai off to a decent start. Following Jacobs’ exit for an enterprising 32, the Mumbai Indians were comfortably placed at 70 for one at the time of the strategic time out. The introduction of spin, however, turned things around completely. Tendulkar perished trying to clear Amit Mishra, but only managed to sky one to Dale Steyn at long on. Two balls later, Ambati Rayudu also fell, finding the fielder in the deep as 70 for 1 soon became 70 for 3. And to make matter worse, Kieron Pollard went for a paddle sweep which only lobbed up in the air and presented a simple chance to Sangakkara.

Deccan had a great chance to build up the pressure, but Symonds and Sharma knew better how to deal with the pressure. And once the partnership flourished and Malinga got his act right again, Deccan were always going to come second best.

Sehwag Warner show destroyed Punjab

Delhi Daredevils 231 for 3 beat Kings XI Punjab 202 for 6 by 29 runs

Man of the match: David Warner

Delhi Daredevils finally got their act right as Virender Sehwag and David Warner slammed 77 each to hoist their side to an improbable T20 total of 231 before Kings XI Punjab fought back equally valiantly thanks to wonderful knocks by Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh, but just had a little too much to do and fell short of the target by 29 runs. As the scorecard suggests, the game was essentially about which team was poorer of the two bowling outfits as the both the teams crossed 200 with the bat. The final result proved that the Daredevils were just a tad better that the Kings XI Punjab bowlers. But, that wasn’t what set up the game for the Daredevils. It was the blistering partnership between Warner and Sehwag that did.

Sehwag and Warner added 146 for the opening wicket in less than 12 overs. The ball was coming onto the bat for a change and both Warner and Sehwag enjoyed it. Sehwag slammed a magnificent 77 off just 35 balls, falling after slamming three consecutive sixes off David Hussey over. As expected, he perished going for the forth. At the other end, Warner was slightly more sedate but only in comparison to Sehwag. Warner got most of the strike early on and made best use of it, cutting, pulling and driving everyone with ease. Praveen Kumar, Ryan Harris and Shalabh Srivastava, all were taken to the cleaners by Warner as Punjab looked helpless.

The show wasn’t over even when the two departed for the same score of 77. Venugopal Rao and Naman Ojha combined forced to loot 47 off the last three overs, as Harris was literally pulling his hair out. Delhi ended up with a massive 231 for 3, their highest in the IPL and third overall highest score. Punjab needed something special to pull this off.

Delhi were poor in the field dropping both the dangerous openers, but they still managed to cling on. Irfan Pathan got Paul Valthaty early, and with the pressure mounting, Gilchrist perished being forced to slog Varun Aaron, playing his first game. Marsh played an exceptional knock of 95 from 46 balls. It was worthy of a match-winning effort, but wasn’t too be as, on the day, the combined efforts of Warner Sehwag outshone Marsh’s solitary brilliance.

Mumbai Indians 164 for 4 beat Chennai Super Kings 156 for 9 by eight runs

Man of the Match: Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh picked up three wickets in one over to quell Chennai Super Kings challenge completely against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday. The off spinner’s deciding over was the 18^th over of the match, and until then, it was anybody’s game thanks to a superb innings by Subramaniam Badrinath, who remained unbeaten on a brilliantly compiled 71 off 48 balls, but his team fell short of victory by eight runs. Earlier, in the day, Rohit Sharma played a rare knock that did complete justice to his abundant talent, caressing the ball with ease en route to his 48 ball 87, a potential man of the match performance but for the antics of Harbhajan later in the day. The Mumbai Indians were also exceptional with their fielding, which only added to the pressure on the Super Kings, who eventually succumbed.

Coming back to the Harbhajan over, chasing 165 the Super Kings were 136 for 5 in the 18^th over and looked like they would easily coast to a win. However, Albie Morkel fell off the second ball of the over, his slog sweep only making contact with thin air as the ball breached the bat and crashed into the middle stump. That was the beginning of the end. Ravichandran Ashwin, trying to clear the field himself after facing one ball, instead of giving back the strike to his well-set mate, perished giving a catch in the deep. And to make matters worse, Joginder Sharma hit one up in the air the very next ball to offer Harbhajan his third wicket of the over and fifth overall. A helpless Badrinath could only watch from the other end as one after the other his partners departed. Sachin Tendulkar smartly brought Lasith Malinga on in the next over to ensure the game was put beyond Chennai’s reach. And despite, Badrinath’s best efforts, including a six in the last over, the target was beyond reach for Chennai.

Earlier, in the innings as well, Malinga and Harbhajan were responsible for keeping Mumbai ahead of the game by striking crucial blows. Malinga got rid of the dangerous looking Michael Hussey, who had unhurriedly rushed to 41 off 33 balls and was threatening to take the game away from the Mumbai Indians. However, a brilliant piece of catching cut short his innings and brought Mumbai back in the game. Harbhajan, at the other end, got the big scalps of Suresh Raina and Srikkanth Aniruddha to start the Chennai collapse. At the fall of Aniruddha’s wicket, Chennai were 123 for 5 and things only got worse for them, with Harbhajan scalping three more and Malinga added a wicket to his kitty as well.

Harbhajan’s effort pretty much overshadowed the one by Rohit Sharma earlier in the day. His contribution was equally crucial to the team’s cause though. Mumbai had lost their openers Rajgopal Satish and skipper Sachin Tendulkar to great deliveries under seam-friendly conditions earlier in the day. But, on this day, Rohit was unfazed. Of course, he was aided by some poor bowling as he was offered three boundary balls in his first four balls and accepted all of them – the wicket-takers Doug Bollinger and Albie Morkel being the guilty party. That got Rohit off, setting the tone for his innings, and he never looked back.

Rohit found solid company in the form of Ambati Rayudu, with him he did the repair job with great élan. Rayudu is a special talent himself, but this Mumbai innings was all about Rohit. He was severe in his gentle manner on every bowler. Joginder Sharma’s half volleys were dispatched, Suraj Randiv’s flighted spinners were lofted with ease and the penultimate over from Suresh Raina went all over the park. Rohit deposited him over long on, slog swept him and banged him over midwicket as 17 runs were added to the total. At the other end, Andrew Symonds also took charge, slamming two huge sixes in his unbeaten knock of 31. But, even Symonds brutality paled in comparison to Rohit’s sublime knock, which indicated why the Indian selectors have been so exasperated by his underperforming was. He is special talent for sure, but he needs to deliver more knocks like the one on a good Friday.

Royal Challengers Bangalore 175 for 1 beat Kolkata Knight Riders 171 for 5 by nine wickets

Man of the match: Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle arrived, he slammed the ball and he conquered the Kolkata Knight Riders. Yes, that in short was the tale of the game between Shah Rukh Khan’s team and the Vijay Mallya owned franchise. Flown in as a replacement for the injured bowler Dirk Nannes, Gayle batted as if he had a point to prove to his former team, bludgeoning 102 off 55 balls, inclusive of seven huge sixes to make a mockery of KKR’s challenging target of 171. It was a win the Royal Challengers were desperately seeking and Gayle addition certain has come as a force to be reckoned with for the Challengers, making one wonder how he wasn’t selected in the initial auctions, and even more surprisingly, how he was left out of the West Indies squad.

That topic can be discussed on a later day, but on Friday, it was all about Gayle massacring the Kolkata bowlers, but Gautam Gambhir forced to sit back and watch in dazzled amazement. He featured in two partnerships with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virat Kohli and dominated both. Dilshan it was who began as the aggressor taking on Yusuf Pathan, who opened the innings on a tricky pitch. But once Gayle got his eye in, it was all him, but even the aggressive Dilshan happy playing second fiddle.

He began by whacking the left arm seam of Jaidev Unadkat for six well over long-on. Shakib Al Hasan was next in line and was given the same treatment. The Bangladesh skipper’s deliveries disappeared over midwicket and deep square leg. The Gayle party had just begun though. Yusuf was lofted over covers, Manoj Tiwary over long-twice on, one of them being mistimed, which also went for six. When Gambhir tried medium pace, it didn’t work either. Rajat Bhatia was hit all over the park, conceding 17 in an over. And just to prove that he was not all about hard force, he guided one down to third man to pick up one of his 10 boundaries.

All this while Dilshan, who was once running neck and neck with Gayle, fell way behind. The only time one realised that he was also batting was when he perished in the 13^th over, trying to remind everyone that he too could play the big strokes. But Laxmipathy Balaji was good enough to get through his defence. But, by that time Bangalore had raced to 123 for 1 and the game was over. If KKR believed they had any grim hopes, Virat Kohli blew that away pretty soon. In fact, he nearly blew away Gayle’s chances of getting a ton when he instinctly dispatched a full toss to the boundary, with Gayle still needing two for his 100. There was no more drama though as the West Indian crashed Hasan to get to his 100 as well as take his new franchise to victory.

Earlier in the day, it seemed that KKR would get back to their winning ways courtesy an impressive batting performance. Zaheer Khan was taken to the cleaners once again as KKR raced to 33 in two overs. Sanity was restored when spin was introduced, but KKR continued to build on the start. The opening pair of Kallis and Brad Haddin added 44 inside 5 overs, Kallis, Gambhir and Pathan all contributed 40s, but no one could build on from there. Still, KKR reached 171 for 5, which was handy. In hindsight though, it was far from enough, and Kolkata were left ruing the fact that they could not cross 190 after garnering 33 in the opening two overs. To be fair to KKR though, with the mood Gayle was in, even that wouldn’t have been enough.

Kochi Tuskers Kerala 132 for 7 beat Kolkata Knight Riders 126 for 9 by six runs

Kochi Tuskers Kerala managed to outshine the Kolkata Knight Riders in a game the latter would have expected to win but did not since the opposition had a bagful of tricks on a surface that suited them more than KKR. The slow Eden Gardens wicket saw Kolkata spinners Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan combine to keep Kochi down to an extremely manageable 132 as both picked up three wickets each. However, even though Kochi’s tweakers, the spin trio of Muttiah Muralitharan, Ramesh Powar and Ravindra Jadeja did not get as many wickets, they proved to be equally hard to get away and in the end throttled the Knight Riders by six runs.

In the end, Kochi overall bowling performance outdid the Kolkata batsman. While for Kolkata Brett Lee and Laxmipathy Balaji picked up only a solitary wicket between them, with the former also going for a few runs, the Kochi pacers were far more effective and successful too. While R. Vinay Kumar got Jacques Kallis with a shorter one, which the latter hooked but straight to the fielder, skipper Gautam Gambhir was cleaned up by a fuller length delivery from R P Singh. Despite the modest target, 27 for 2 in the 5^th over with two of their main batsmen gone was not the kind of start KKR needed. And it only was to get worse.

Manvinder Bisla, who was proved that he can be quite a handy bat at the top, perished trying to take on Ravindra Jadeja, as he was clean bowled while missing a drive. The much needed partnership at last developed for Kolkata when Manoj Tiwary and Eoin Morgan joined forces. However, even as they went about the rescue mission, they found the going extremely tough against the spinning trio. Muralitharan was back at his wily best, Jadeja stuck to his strength of not giving the ball any air while Powar did exactly the opposite.

As it often happens in such a pressure situation, a wicket fell courtesy a run out. Morgan, normally a quick runner between wickets, went for a single which was never there and Jayawardene scored with a direct hit to push Kolkata into further trouble at 73 for 4 in the 13^th over. It was now left to Manoj Tiwary to take the game into the Kochi camp. Tiwary played his part by flaying RP Singh for a couple of boundaries, but Singh got Shakib at the other end, the Bangladesh skipper missing a low full toss, to keep Kochi ahead of the race.

Along with Tiwary, Yusuf was KKR’s last hope. The latter was batting down the order following an injury he picked up in the field. However, the big hitter couldn’t work any wonders. His slammed his customary six over cow corner off Powar, but in Shahid Afridi-fashion tried to repeat the stroke and perished to the same bowler the very next ball. Left all alone and with the run rate mounting, Tiwary was forced to take on Jadeja, but only managed to get himself stumped down the leg side.

Iqbal Abdulla and Rajat Bhatia threw their bats around and kept KKR’s hopes alive faintly. But Vinay Kumar bowled a smart last over, most of the slower balls, to keep KKR in check. All this was after Shakib and Pathan had restricted Kochi to 132. Brendon McCullum and Jayawardene got starts, but failed to go on. The middle order capitulated and it was only a late burst of 29 from Jadeja, inclusive of three sixes, that got them to 132. It did not seem enough at the halfway mark. But, the Kochi bowlers did enough to ensure it was.

Mumbai Indians 124 for 3 beat Pune Warriors 118 by seven wickets

A poor batting performance by the Pune Warriors put paid to their hopes of pulling off another upset, against the Mumbai Indians, as they went down to Sachin Tendulkar’s men by seven wickets, off the last ball of the match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. They managed a miserable 118, getting bowled out inside 18 overs. Things could have been even more worse for the Warriors had Robin Uthappa not chipped in with a 35-ball 47. But, even Uthappa’s effort did not nothing more than lend a semblance of respectability to the Warriors’ total. Mumbai did make heavy weather of the chase, but in the end the Warriors’ total was just not good enough.

Mumbai opened the bowling with the spin of left-armer Ali Murtaza, which clearly caught the Warriors off guard. The openers just could not get away and, as a results, the wickets started falling soon. Abu Nechim got rid of Jesse Ryder and Mithun Manhas while Munaf Patel chipped in with the big wickets of Tim Paine and Yuvraj Singh. In the fifth over of the game, the Warriors had slumped to 17 for 4 and there was no way back from there.

Things could have been worse for Pune had Andrew Symonds managed to disturb the stumps with an underarm throw when Uthappa was dangling out of his crease. Thanks to the reprieve, Warriors managed to stage a fightbacj of sorts. Uthappa took on the medium pace of Kieron Pollard and James Franklin and added some easy boundaries, and there were some free hits too. Wickets continued to fall at the other end though as Murtaza and Lasith Malinga combined to pick up a couple of wickets each. Having no option, Uthappa also fell going for a big stroke in the 15^th over. Despite his knock, the Warriors had only managed 98 when he was dismissed, such was the extent of damage done in the earlier overs.

With no pressure on them at all, Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu went about their task in an easy manner after the experiment with James Franklin at the top failed. Tendulkar and Rayudu combined to add 74 for the second wicket. Both fell when the game was well within striking distance, reducing the run rate. Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds combined to tick down the remaining runs. But, for sure, Mumbai would not have wanted the game to go down to the last ball as it did. In a somewhat dramatic fashion Murali Kartik was slammed for six off the last ball of the match to bring the curtains down on what should have been a one-sided game and was but for the fact that Mumbai weren’t proactive. Still, it was a game Pune deserved to lose and they did.

Following their magnificent chase against the Pune Warriors, the Delhi Daredevils would have been in a confident frame of mind going into the match against the Deccan Chargers. However, everything came to naught as their batsmen struggled chasing a challenging, but hardly overwhelming, target of 169. Only David Warner, who has been the Daredevils’ best batsman, stuck it out for yet another half century, but the rest struggled and even a late assault by the relatively unknown Yogesh Nagar could not reduce the margin of deficit. This was after Sunny Sohal and Kumar Sangakkara combined to put Deccan in charge with a precision-like 92 run stand. The Daredevils did fight back well with the ball, following the dismissal of the two. But, with their weak batting faltering once again, it just was not enough.

At the end of the day, the partnership between Sohal and Sangakkara proved to be the decisive one. Things began well for the Chargers with Sohal driving the first ball of the day to the boundary. Shikhar Dhawan also got into the act, slamming a couple of fours. But, Irfan Pathan got the breakthrough for Delhi, pegging back Dhawan’s furniture. However, Delhi had little reason to smile after that as Sohal and Sangakkara went about their task in a refined manner. Neither player resorted to slog cricket. While Sohal used deft touches and drove with gentle ease, Sangakkara dominated the spinners, driving and lofting them with great success.

The important factor of their partnership was that both kept finding the boundaries at will, without taking too many risks. Sangakkara took left arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem to the cleaners, depositing him into the stands and also claiming a couple of boundaries. When the youngster Nagar was introduced, he too was treated with equal disdain, the former Lankan captain driving him for a couple of boundaries. All this while, Sohal was content with his deft play, before he too opened up after reaching his half century. Sohal took on Morne Morkel successfully, blasting him for a six and a four.

At 106 for 1 in the 12^th over, things did not look bright for the Daredevils, but they fought back thanks to some good bowling in the second half of the innings. Ashok Dinda made the breakthrough, getting Sangakkara caught in the covers, one short of a well deserved half century. A little later, Sohal also fell to Nadeem trying to move on with things. Cameron White did contribute an unbeaten 31, but it wasn’t his fluent or quickfire knock that could have taken the game away from the Daredevils.

Having chased down 180 the other day, the Daredevils would have been confident of surpassing this total as well. For that though they needed both Sehwag and Warner to fire. The initial signs were highly promising with Sehwag racing off the blocks with three successive fours. However, Harmeet Singh, playing in his first game, undid Sehwag and the wheels just fell off the innings from that point. Aaron Finch departed first ball while Naman Ojha was claimed by Daniel Christian before he had scored too many.

Once again, it was left to Warner and Venugopal Rao to do the rescue act. They did put their best foot forward, but with the pitch offering spin neither could repeat their heroics of the last game. Eventually, Rao fell for 21, which came at less than a run a ball, while Warner could manage on 51 despite being at the crease for 15 overs. When he fell, Delhi were still one short of 100. All the bowlers combined well to restrict the Daredevils, and Nagar’s final act was a mere consolation joy of some big hits.

(Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals match abandoned at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore without a ball being bowled due to persistent rain.)

Kochi Tuskers Kerala 135 for 3 beat Chennai Super Kings 131 for 4 by seven wickets (D/L method)

Man of the match: Brendon McCullum

A superlative knock of 47 from 33 balls and crucial cameos from Parthiv Patel and Brad Hodge enabled Kochi Tuskers Kerala to upset reigning champs Chennai Super Kings by a comfortable margin of seven wickets in a rail curtailed game at Kochi’s Nehru Stadium. Earlier, Chennai struggled their way to 131 for 7 in 17 overs, which was build on the back of an 18 ball 28 from Murali Vijay and a laboured half century from Suresh Raina. The Duckworth Lewis revised the target to 135, which the home team got to without much trouble thanks to McCullum’s early burst.

The Kiwi opener was in his elements right from the very start. He began by depositing Albie Morkel straight over his head and never looked back from there. Continuing to be severe on Morkel, McCullum slammed him through his favoured extra cover region as well. The only consolation for Morkel was that he want the only one being taken to the cleaners. Doug Bollinger too was treated the same way when he resorted to bowling length. And when Shadab Jakati got a chance to bowl, he too was taken for plenty. As such, M S Dhoni pinned a lot of his hopes on Tim Southee, who is known to bowl some great yorkers. However, he too strayed in line and was taken away for boundaries.

At the other end, Mahela Jayawardene departed after a couple of big hits off R Ashwin. But, McCullum soon found solid company in the form of little Parthiv Patel. The diminutive wicket keeper played a couple of lovely drives apart from miscuing a few to the boundary to keep Kochi on par with the run rate. McCullum eventually departed miscuing Ashwin while Patel also fell while trying to clear the boundary. But, Hodge and Ravindra Jadeja batted sensibly to see their team through without much trouble and with as many as two overs to spare, the duo opening up their arms towards the end after getting set.

In contrast, Chennai found the going much tougher with the bat. It did not help that there was rain around, and the match had to be stopped after nine overs. In that time, Chennai lost the big wicket of Michael Hussey, who was done in by the conditions, which made even R P Singh look lethal. Vijay was the only batsman for Chennai who looked in control of the proceedings. But, he too threw his wicket away, gifting it to Thisara Perera, when on 28. Raina did get a half century, but he clearly was undone by the conditions. This is apparent from the fact that he took 40 balls to complete his 50, an innings replete with edges and mishits, with only luck favouring him.

The story wasn’t too different with S Badrinath and even Dhoni struggled to break the shackles. R P Singh troubled him towards the end with some nagging yorkers as Dhoni managed on 14 in 13 balls. A big hit by Morkel improved their score marginally. But, once McCullum unleashed his fury, it was clear Chennai hadn’t got enough runs on the board.