Cricket Tournaments

Royal Challengers Bangalore 151 for 1 beat Rajasthan Royals 146 for 6 by nine wickets

Man of the match: S. Aravind

The Rajasthan Royals were completely outclassed by their much superior opponents, Royal Challengers Bangalore, as Daniel Vettori’s men outdid Shane Warne’s struggling army. First, the Rajasthan’s batsmen undid the good work of their openers Shane Watson and Rahul Dravid to end with a disappointing 146 for 6 and then their bowlers also struggled against the in form trio of Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virat Kohli as the batting side effortlessly got past the winning mark. Rajasthan’s fielding also let them down as they dropped crucial catches. In short, it turned out to be a totally one sided match.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowling was led by S Aravind, who was highly effective with his variations. In contrast, Rajasthan’s bowling was well below par against the rampaging Bangalore batsmen on a surface will clearly suited the latter side. The massive nine-wicket victory meant that Bangalore now need only one more win to assure their qualification into the next round. On the other hand, Shane Warne’s Rajasthan will need nothing less than a miracle to go through following another big loss.

The only time Rajasthan looked in control was when their openers Rahul Dravid and Shane Watson got them off to a solid start yet again. The dependable duo added 73 from 57 balls. Unfortunately, both the openers were dismissed in the space of three balls, both falling to Aravind, and the others couldn’t do much to repair the damage. On the other hand, Dilshan and Gayle slammed 68 from 40 deliveries before a great catch from Ross Taylor broke the partnership.

However, by the time Dilshan was dismissed, Bangalore were well in control of the game and, unlike Rajasthan, they did not throw away the great start given by their openers. Gayle’s knock silenced the Jaipur crowd very soon as their realised where their team was heading for rather soon. Gayle slammed an unbeaten 70, which means now he needs a mere 27 runs to claim the orange cap from Virender Sehwag, who has ruled himself out of the tournament to go in for his much delayed surgery.

Bangalore had raced to 38 when Warne put down Gayle at mid-off. That was possibly Rajasthan’s best chance to dismiss Gayle. He hardly offered any chances thereafter as he and Dilshan went about hammering the Rajasthan bowlers. All the first four overs of the innings went for over 10 runs an over as Bangalore were clearly underway.

Earlier, it was S Aravind’s three wicket haul that prevented Rajasthan from setting a challenging total despite an impressive start. Dravid and Watson had added 73 when Aravind got rid of both the openers in the 10th over. Aravind later returned to get the wicket of Johan Botha, who has played some crucial knocks in the IPL, to make sure that Rajasthan got no momentum going into the final overs.

Pune Warriors 120 for 5 beat Kings XI Punjab 119 for 8 by five wickets

Man of the match: Rahul Sharma

After a massive struggle, the Pune Warriors on Sunday ended their seven match losing streak by defeating Kings XI Punjab, who was themselves struggling to win too much. The five wicket loss meant that Punjab are slowly but surely catching up with Pune’s unenviable record. While Pune had lost seven, Punjab have so far extended their losing streak to five. Yet again, it was Pune’s lanky legspinner Rahul Sharma, who was the standout performer, and he eventually stood out as the difference between the two sides. For a change, he found some good support too in the form of Proteas fast bowler Wayne Parnell and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, which helped Pune restrict the Kings XI to a below par 119.

Things did not look as bad for Punjab at the start of the innings as Paul Valthaty managed to pierce the off side boundary on a number of occasions. Unfortunately, their skipper Adam Gilchrist had another bad day in the office. While he hadn’t got off the mark in the last two innings, he managed just three in eight balls before failing to Rahul, trying to hit him out. Valthaty also failed to convert his starting, also succumbing to Rahul. Trying to cut a slightly shorter one, he failed to ride the bounce top edged one, handing a simple catch to the backward point fielder.

Shaun Marsh came in and once again batted with a sense of purpose, proving why he has been Punjab most efficient batsman in the IPL 2011. He played some wonderful strokes against the spinners in action. He lofted Yuvraj Singh over long-on, drove Rahul through the covers and even pulled Mitchell Marsh for a four. At the other end, he had Dinesh Karthik for company. The former India keeper wasn’t timing the ball as well as Marsh. Still, he hung around with the Australian and saw it to that by the end of 10 overs Punjab had laid a decent platform.

All the good work was wasted though as neither of them could capitalise on their starts. Marsh fell trying to slam a slower delivery from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but only managed to drag it back onto the stumps. Another Aussie was the next wicket to fall for Punjab. David Hussey tickled one to the keeper without having scored much as Punjab collapsed to 94 for 4. Karthik was still around, but he couldn’t go much. Wickets kept falling and Punjab were eventually strangled to 119.

To make a comeback, Punjab bowlers had to put up an exceptional effort. Things began well, with Praveen Kumar starting of with a maiden over. However, the floodgates soon opened as Punjab messed it up in the field. Jesse Ryder was dropped by Valthaty in the fourth over while Manish Pandey escaped a plumb lbw decision. When a couple of wickets fell, Robin Uthappa came in and threw his bat around like a millionaire. He slammed 22 and Pandey contributed 28 before falling. And if Punjab had any faint hopes post their dismissal, skipper Yuvraj Singh put paid to them with some monstrous hits as Pune ended their losing streak.

Royal Challengers Bangalore 128 for 1 beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala 125 for 9 by nine wickets

Man of the match: Chris Gayle

One over was all that was needed to decide the fate of the match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kochi Tuskers Kerala. And that decisive over was bowled by Prasanth Parameswaran to guess who but Chris Gayle. 37 runs came of the over as the Kochi Tuskers were not expectedly stunned.

The over began by Parameswaran landing one on a length, which Gayle easily lifted over cover for a six. Trying to improvise, Parameswaran bowled the next ball a slower one. Unfortunately, it was a no ball and Gayle slammed it for six more, making it seven runs off the over. Worse was only to follow. The free hit delivery was slammed through midwicket for a boundary, while the next delivery was slashed through the cover region. Parameswaran’s face had a deplorable look like Stuart Broad had when Yuvraj hit him for six sixes.

The poor treatment to Parameswaran continued as the next ball was dispatched for six over cover and then another maximum, this time over long-off. Battling a lost cause, the bowler sent down a full toss the last delivery and the ball did not meet the blade of Gayle’s bat. Yet, he under edged it for four to give Parameswaran the pasting of a lifetime. Gayle fell for 44, but Tillakaratne Dilshan helped himself to a half century and Bangalore got home by nine wickets and an amazing 6.5 overs to spare. Dilshan hammered 20 in an over from Ramesh Powar to get the chase underway before Gayle took over the show.

Apart from their batting effort, their fielding was equally magnificent. Kochi had got off to a reasonable start, but once Bangalore got the breakthrough wickets kept tumbling as Kochi stumbled from 64 for 1 to 89 for 5 and never recovered from there. Skipper Daniel Vettori got the breakthrough for his team, luring Brendon McCullum into a slash, but fooling him in the length. Parthiv Patel looked in good touching, caressing a few boundaries, but once Gayle yorked Michael Klinger, the game changed. Vettori soon sent back Mahela Jayawardene, forcing him to edge one.

Then the great Bangalore fielding show began. Brad Hodge placed one behind point and charged down the track. Patel responded initially before realising there was never a run there. It was all too late by them though. AB de Villiers pounced onto a fierce throw, took him left handed and aimed it at the stumps, while still in an acrobatic stage. Zaheer Khan bettered his effort, pulling off a one handed stunner at short fine leg. Hodge had struck S Aravind off the hips and the ball was heading towards the fence when Zaheer lunged full length and took possession of it with minimal fuss.

Kochi eventually crumbed to 125, far from enough with the kind of form Chris Gayle and Dilshan were in on Sunday.

Delhi Daredevils 179 for 6 Deccan Chargers 175 for 5 by four wickets

Man of the match: Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag’s greatness was on the display against the Deccan Chargers as he single handedly took his team to victory in a game they clearly deserved to lose. Earlier, their fielding was atrocious with catches being dropped and bowlers bowling no balls made matters worse. As a result was should have been a target of around 150 ended up being 176. Then, even with the bat, all except Sehwag struggled. Wickets fell early and by the time they were four down, the required run rate was well above 11. This is when Sehwag decided to take charge of the Chargers. He went on an all out attack, blessed with two chances, but fell only when victory was well within sight. Cleary a one man show that defeated the combined effort of 11 others from the opposition.

Sehwag’s effort outdid the one he had put up against the Kochi Tuskers Kerala a few days ago and was clearly a treat to watch. As boundaries came left right and centre, the Deccan Chargers had no answer and skipper Kumar Sangakkara looked clueless. The greatness of Sehwag’s knock can be gauged from the fact that the next best score in their innings was as low as 17, coming from James Hopes.

Even as the Daredevils’ bowlers, barring Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar, were massacred as Deccan lifted themselves to 175, Sehwag absorbed all the pressure even as the others around him failed. His partners Aaron Finch, Naman Ojha and even the in form Venugopal Rao were taken out by the pace of Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma as Sehwag could only watch as a spectator. At 25 for 3 after six overs, Sehwag knew only he could take his team home. He did and how, smashing 119 off 56 as Deccan bowlers were pummeled all over the park. Sehwag was severe on everyone. He began by slamming debutant Ishan Malhotra to deep square leg and deep midwicket as well. There were more fours to follow as Sehwag took 23 from the over and set Delhi underway. More attacking strokes followed as Sehwag slammed 13 from the next over bowled by Christian.

Even when Sangakkara introduced spin, nothing changed. He slammed Amit Mishra straight over his head, but was lucky to be dropped the next ball by Ankit Sharma. He made full use of it as Sehwag as the very next ball was guided to third man as well. Even after Sehwag lost another partner in Birt, he did not slow down, or rather he could not as the run rate was still on the higher side. And it worked perfectly for Sehwag as well as Delhi. Sehwag soon slammed Mishra for three consecutive fours. In between, another chance went down and with it Deccan’s hopes.

As a last throw of the dice, Sangakkara brought back Steyn. But, the move to bring on Bharat Chipli from the other end misfired big time. His medium pacers were easily dispatched to all parts of the ground as Sehwag brought up a magnificent hundred in the process. Steyn eventually got his man in the 17^th over, but then the game was well out of Deccan’s grasp.

Sehwags’ effort outdid J P Duminy stunning innings earlier in the day. After being reprieved, the left hander smashed 55 off 31 balls. Sangakkara and Shikhar Dhawan also got chances and made Delhi pay. On other days, it would have surely cost them the game, but they need to thank Sehwag for rescuing them.

Mumbai Indians 160 for 7 beat Pune Warriors 139 for 7 by 21 runs

Man of the match: Rahul Sharma

The battle of the neighbours Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians once again proved to be the story of one between a big brother and a small brother. Mumbai maintained their ascendancy, reclaiming their position at the top of the table, while Pune continued to remain at the bottom, with their seventh loss in a  row, the latest coming at the DY Patil Stadium, which means they are all but out of the tournament now. Even if they win all their remaining league games, which in itself will be a miraculous achievement, it might not be enough for them to qualify for the final four.

Mumbai win was built around two men who saw to it that their side ended up with a highly competitive total which, at one stage, seemed would be a below par one. T Suman and Kieron Pollard, who haven’t had much to do with the bat in this IPL so for, put their hands together on this occasion. Their blitzkrieg undid the excellent effort of the Pune spinners.Yuvraj Singh, who for some reason hasn’t bowled much in this tournament got the big breaks, dismissing Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu in his spell. Leg spinner Rahul Sharma was even more impressive. Not only did he pick up a couple of wickets, but gave away as little as seven runs in his four overs, even for him to earn the man of the match award in spite of the teams loss.

Due to the efforts of Yuvraj and Sharma, Mumbai weren’t in a great position at 114 for 5 with five overs to spare. This is where Suman and Pollard stepped up a gear. They were aided by the fact that Alfonso Thomas sprayed it all over the place, and before Pune could realise, Mumbai had lifted themselves bak into a comfortable position. Earlier, Mumbai had cruised past 50 at the top of the innings before the spinners came in. Yuvraj made the major breakthrough when he got a well set Tendulkar to chip one to short extra cover. The runs soon dried up and, in an effort to clear the fence, Rayudu too perished to Yuvraj.

In a surprising move, Suman was sent ahead of the big hitting and so was Pollard, and both the tactics worked in the home side’s favour.Suman entered with an aggressive mindset and transformed it into two big sixes. Sharma kept Pune in the game by getting rid of Rohit Sharma and Suman in his second spell. However, by then Suman had already caused some damage and Pollard only added salt into the wounds for Pune. The big hitting West Indian slammed Thomas as hard as he could Mumbai amassed 27 runs in the penultimate over of the innings, and had the momentum going into the break.

To make matters worse, Pune got off to the worst possible start. Jesse Ryder chipped the first ball of the innings straight into the hands of backward point. Former Proteas skipper Graeme Smith’s poor run was extended as he fell cheaply. Manish Pandey did get some runs but he was far from fluent and, unlike Mumbai, Pune’s decision to promote Abhishek Jhunjhunwala did not work as the match meandered towards the predictable finish

The problem for Pune was that they never got any momentum going from the very start. As a result they were always playing catch up. And even Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa couldn’t do much after that. Even as Sourav Ganguly has been brought in as a replacement Ashish Nehra, one wonder whether it is all too late for the Pune Warriors.

Chennai Super Kings 149 for 2 beat Rajasthan Royals 147 for 6 by eight wickets

Man of the match: Mike Hussey

Even as Mumbai Indians made light work of Pune Warriors, Chennai Super Kings reiterated that they are on par with Sachin Tendulkar’s men, coasting to their fourth win in a row in the game against Rajasthan Royals. The conditions were tough and Chennai found it tougher at the beginning of the innings when Rahul Dravid and Shane Watson got the Royals off to a magnificent start. However, Chennai fought back in their trademark style with the ball, and when it was their turn to bat, they just crushed the Royals’ challenge with the slightest of problems during the course of the chase. If Dravid was method combined with cheekiness, Suresh Raina and Michael Hussey just went about their task in an unfussy manner and eventually coast to victory.

For starters though the Dravid and Watson were exceptional, opening the innings. Apart from picking the boundaries at will, they did most other things right as well. The duo was quick between the 22 yards, picking up important singles and ran their twos hard as well. All this was before Dravid, uncharacteristically but successfully took on the spinners. Dravid hammered R. Ashwin for a couple boundaries to midwicket in one of his expensive overs, then collected three fours off Suraj Randiv’s bowling, all hit in different directions as even Watson seemed to be enjoying the Dravid’s T20ised game. He even drove Shadab Jakati with finesse as Rajasthan cruised to 86 without loss after 10 overs.

From that point, they should have easily crossed 160. But, Chennai fought back like Super Kings. Jakati pulled off a superb return catch offered by Watson in the 11^th over. Somehow, despite having nine wickets in hand, the Royals could not capitalise on the excellent start. Wickets kept tumbling at frequent intervals as the Royals lost the plot. Ashok Menaria gifted away his wicket to Ashwin, while Johan Botha fell trying to get after Jakati. All hopes rested on Dravid, but with the Chennai heat taking its toll he too perished after a well made 66. There was nothing much from the other big names either. Ross Taylor did manage a couple of boundaries, but Albie Morkel picked up a couple of wickets to slow down the rate again. Rajasthan only managed to score at 6 an over in their second half of the innings as Chennai clearly held the upper hand.

The Royals did get off to a good start with the ball, getting Murali Vijay early, but they had an off day in the field, which allowed to release the pressure on Chennai. Raina and Hussey the joined forces to outdo Rajasthan’s chances in a mature alliance that all but saw them through to victory. Raina was lucky when Watson dropped a difficult chance, and there wasn’t much joy for the Royals thereafter.

Rajasthan’s bowling was off track, just like Chennai’s in the first half. Siddharth Trivedi maintained a leg side length and was punished accordingly. With the run rate manageable, Raina and Hussey maneuvered Watson and Botha around. However, when left-arm spinner Nayan Doshi was induced into the attack, he was deposited for two sixes and the floodgates had opened. Stuart Binny, who had a bad day in the field, added to his misery by bowling tripe. It seemed Chennai would cruise home by nine wickets, but Raina fell just before the finish line. It was too late for any hiccups through as Hussey eased Chennai into victory.

Chennai Super Kings 165 for 5 beat Deccan Chargers 146 for 8 by 19 runs

Man of the match: Albie Morkel

In a T20 game, a quick fire cameo can often make the difference between a win and a loss. And that’s exactly what happened on Sunday in the game between the Chennai Super Kings and the Deccan Chargers. Even as Deccan’s miserable fielding let them down badly, the Super Kings found their own hero in Albie Morkel to end with excellent figures of 3 for 38 to derail what once seemed a winning chase from the Deccan Chargers. However, more importantly, it was his effort with the bat that mattered. Morkel hasn’t been among the runs in this tournament, but on Sunday he slammed three consecutive sixes of Ishant Sharma in his total of 19 runs. The over produced 21 runs, but the importance of the knock can be gauged by the fact that the Super Kings won by exactly the same number of runs that Morkel scored i.e. 19.

It was Deccan’s game for the taking really, but they had no one to support Sunny Sohal, who slammed an amazing half century. His 30 ball knock was expectedly full of unnerving strokes that made the Super Kings bowlers suffer. But, deep down in their hearts, M S Dhoni’s men, as they have often done in the past, were aware that it was probably a matter of one wicket and the tables could well turn. Even when Sohal fell for 56, Deccan were in total command. They 95 off 79 balls with ample wickets in hand, but couldn’t manage it as Chennai built up the pressure and Deccan’s poor fielding effort eventually came back to haunt them.

Yes, this game will be remembered for Deccan’s outrageous fielding more than anything else. They had Chennai on the mat for most part of the innings with the ball, but when it came to catching and fielding it just wasn’t their day. Michael Hussey, who has had a number of lives in his tournament, got one more in his kitty and made good use of it. Suresh Raina got two in one game itself and celebrated it with a half century. Raina was on 25 when Harmeet Singh dropped him and eventually ended up amassing 59 off 35 balls before finally being caught. However, the horror was far from over for Deccan as Morkel took Sharma apart to give them a torrid time.

At the start of Deccan’s innings, it seemed Sohal’s bludgeoning would undo all their bad work. Braveness and good luck combined in equal measure for Sohal as Deccan raced away. Even when he was struggling he just closed his eyes and the ball hit the bat to land in some safe, fielder-less part. When not struggling, Sohal drove the ball through the off side, lofted it over covers and carted the spinners all over the park, basically whenever he wished too. He hit as many as four huge sixes in his knock, before eventually succumbing to his own impetuosity. Going for a third reverse heave, he failed and the ball crashed into the stumps. The game was still Deccan’s at 71 for 1, but Chennai were smarter from here.

Shadab Jakati and Suraj Randiv combined to dry the runs down and eventually Shikhar Dhawan lost his wicket as well as his patience. Deccan still held the better chance, but not for long. Morkel began to turn the game as a rising delivery was good enough get rid of Bharat Chipli’s wicket. Ashwin helped out by keeping the runs down. Kumar Sangakkara had no option but to trying something adventurous, but only lost his middle stump to Doug Bollinge. Cameron White struggled his way to 13 off 18 balls. J P Duminy did not get many, and soon the Deccan charge was over.

Rajasthan Royals 144 for 4 beat Pune Warriors 143 for 7 by six wickets
Man of the Match: Ross Taylor

Spinner Rahul Sharma came up with an excellent spell of 3 for 13, but it was not enough to stop Pune Warriors from succumbing to their six defeat in a row as Rajasthan Royals went to the top of the table. Sharma needed some support from his fellow and more experienced spinner Murali Kartik, but it wasn’t among the latter’s better days as he ended up with unsavoury figures of 0 for 41 and it was during his last spell that the game totally slipped away from the Warriors as Ross Taylor, with some good support from Ajinkya Rahane, took the Royals home rather easily in the end. While the win put Royals on top, the Warriors stayed at the bottom in the battle

It was anybody’s game heading into the last six overs. 52 runs were needed, believe it or not, Sharma came up with an incredible effort of a wicket maiden, that of the dangerous looking Ashok Menaria, who was just beginning to open up his shoulder. That over gave Warriors the upper hand, but as they have often done in the tournament, they handed back the advantage. Kartik conceded 17 runs in the next over as Taylor put away his loose deliveries with rather ease.

There were two short deliveries and one that did not pitch as Taylor helped himself to two fours and a maximum. That over changed the equation again, but unlike the Warriors the Royals did not give back the advantage. Alphonso Thomas and Jerome Taylor tried their best to keep Rajasthan down. But, Rahane picked a slower ball from Jerome Taylor and deposited into the point boundary while Taylor slashed Thomas into cow corner to dash all their faint hopes.

Like Deccan earlier in the day, the Warriors’ fielding came back to haunt them. Of course, they weren’t as bad, but had Nathan McCullum held on to a lofted stroke from Taylor off Thomas’ bowling, things might have been tighter. Of course, it was a tough chance as McCullum lunged full length in an effort to get the ball. He did manage to get there, but the momentum of his dive meant the ball slipped out and with it possibly the game as well.

Pune did not deserve to win per se as only Rahul Sharma stood up for them. They were poor with the bat and should have got a lot more. The top order failed with Jesse Ryder and Yuvraj Singh also not contributing much. Robin Uthappa was the only one who played a decent hand. He took on Shane Warne and succeeded briefly, but even at 40 plus, the legend had the last laugh. Uthappa both swept and reverse-swept Warne to get the battle underway. He then slogged the leggie over midwicket after a close appeal was turned down the ball before

Warne skidded one through that rapped Uthappa, but the umpire was unmoved. There was one more appeal in the over as Uthappa remained clueless, but survived again. Not for long though, as Warne changed ends, got one to rise slightly on Uthappa, who only ended up top edging it to the wicket-keeper. Not only the match, Warne had won the battle within the battle.