Wednesday, April 30, 2008

IPL Cricket: Mumbai Indians break their jinx in Kolkata

Kolkata: After touring Bangalore, Chennai, and Mumbai, and tasting defeats the jinx was broken in the city of joy which bought joy in abundance for them, leading them to their first win in the tournament, and defeating the local and one of the tournament favorites.

After the initial shocks, Bravo and Uthappa steadied the rocking boat for the Mumbai Indians. The total was gettable and they didn’t show any hurry in reaching the target. They played it coolly and hit the balls across the rope which were needed to. Bravo, the more active of the partners completed his half century in 42 balls and they partnered for more than 100 runs to lead the team to well-deserved victory.

 

Though Indians started on a good note but the happiness didn''t last for long as the opening pair was sent back by Riders' pacemen. First it was A. Rahane who was caught by Hussey off agarkar's ball. Then Ishant sharma gave a big blow to Mumbai Indians' cause by bowling out flambouyant Jayasuriya. And, hang on! That was just not the end of bad spell for the Indians, the new bowler Ashok Dinda bowled Manish Pandey on duck on the first ball of the fifth over.

 

The famed batting line-up of Kolkata Knight Riders crumbled down to the might of the Mumbai bowlers. By the mid of the thirteenth over, Riders had already lost six of their batsmen. It was the charismatic spell of Jayasuriya which gifted Indians in form of run-out (Ricky Ponting) and caught behind (Mohd. Hafeez). Again an over later, the Sri Lankan magician almost struck the last nail in the Riders' coffin by removing Ajit Agarkar from the wicket. Before that Ashish Nehra had caught David Hussey on Sanath Jayasuriya's ball.

 

Robin Uthappa took the graceful catch of Debrata Das on Dwayne Bravo's delivery.

 

Opening pair was sent back to the pavillion by the standing captain of Mumbai Indians Shaun Pollock in the first over itself. Riders faced their first loss in the form of their captain Saurav Ganguly being caught by Jayasuriya on Pollock's ball. Another blow followed within a difference of two balls. This time Mc Cullum had to face the heat. Pollock struck again. The New Zealander was caught lbw on his ball. 

 

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and decided to bat first. Riders' captain Saurav Ganguly said, "we need to play well as T-20 is a different intensity everyday".

 

The pitch expert Arun Lal commented that the pitch has less grass, is good for batting and that the team should not be aiming 200 but somewhere like 160".

 

Skipper Saurav Ganguly and Brendon Mc Cullum opened the inning.


Source:http://www.mynews.in


Posted by Jimmy at 10:42:17 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Sangakkara stars in Kings XI Punjab win

Mohali, April 25: Kings XI Punjab opened their account in the Indian Premier League in a blazing fashion, registering a huge 66 run victory over Mumbai Indians Friday night.

Stung by two defeats in a row, the Yuvraj Singh-led Kings XI snatched their first win in the tournament.After winning the toss, Kings XI were helped to a challenging 182 with Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara (94) playing a classy innings. Mumbai Indians could reach only 116 for nine. Kings XI bowling line-up was charged up and conjured up one of the best performances of the tournament so far to hand over Mumbai Indians their third defeat.

Brett lee (1-9) bowled a fiery spell upfront to rock the opposition with his pace and bounce. Young Piyush Chawla (2-16) also bolwed an impressive spell while Sreesanth (2-31) V.R.V. Singh (1-40), Irfan Pathan (2-19) never allowed the batsmen to settle down.The emotionally charged match got the better of Sreesanth, who wept like a child after tasting his first IPL victory.

Kings XI were also brilliant on the field and skipper Yuvraj Singh led from the front with an amazing one-handed catch at covers to remove Shaun Pollock (22).Mumbai Indians were hampered with their skipper Sachin Tendulkar sitting outside again with a groin injury.

Stand-in skipper Harbhajan Singh decided to field after winning the toss but Sangakkara splashed water on his hopes with a single-handed effort.The Sri Lankan also managed to overtake Brendon McCullum as the tournament's leading scorer. Sangakkara drove with power and used his supple wrists to great effect while gliding the ball to boundaries. His innings was studded with 13 sweetly timed boundaries and one six.

Irfan Pathan was sent in to open along with Karan Goel but Pathan fell to a poor shot off Ashish Nehra in the second over. Goel cut his lip when a Bravo bouncer crashed on his helmet grill. Goel replied with a six off Bravo. Sangakkara and Goel (18) then added 73 runs before the latter fell short of his crease to a Bravo throw.

Yuvraj Singh (18) joined Sangakkara and looked formidable. He hit a huge six off Shaun Pollock but the veteran South African had the last laugh when the left-hander tried to smash another one but Bravo took a brilliant catch in long-off boundary.Sangakkara, though, kept his cool and held the innings even as wickets kept tumbling at the other end.

Harbhajan Singh (3-32) was the pick of the bowlers cleaning up Mahela Jayawerdena for just 12 and removing Sangakkara six short of his century.During the Kings XI's bowling, Lee troubled the openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Luke Ronchi with his scorching pace.Jayasuriya drove a delivery straight to Lee, who bent down to lap a brilliant low catch in his follow through. The athletic Lee, in the next ball of the third over, dived and aimed a throw at the stumps to run out Ronchi.

Wickets kept tumbling for Mumbai Indians as V.R.V. Singh removed dangerous Robin Uthappa (21) while Piyush Chawla bowled an outstanding spell foxing Dwayne Bravo (23) and Saurabh Tiwari .Irfan Pathan joined the part and stood on the verge of a hat-trick after dismissing Abhishek Nayar and Harbhajan Singh.

Pollock stood among ruins before Yuvraj took a stunning catch to clear the hurdle for his teams win. Yuvraj leapt in the air and took a one-handed spectacle in covers off the bowling off Sreesanth as Pollock left the ground in disbelief.

Source:http://www.newkerala.com
Posted by Jimmy at 11:31:18 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Friday, April 25, 2008

Warne's sixer seals thriller for Rajasthan Royals

Hyderabad, April 25 : Captain Shane Warne scripted a thrilling win for Rajasthan Royals with a massive six off the penultimate ball, as Deccan Chargers were defeated by three wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 match here Thursday night.

Chasing a target of 215, Royals needed 17 runs in the last over and Warne single-handedly snatched the match away from the home team. The legendry Australian leg-spinner hit his compatriot Andrew Symonds for four, six and six in the last over to seal the match in the favour of the Royals at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium.

Royals made 217 for the loss of seven in 19.5 overs.

Earlier in the day, Symonds' fiery 117 off 53 balls helped the hosts score 214/5 but then he negated his brilliant work by bowling the final over of the day, as Warne spanked him all over the ground to steal the show with his 22 off nine deliveries.

It was going to be a tough chase for the Royals, but Graeme Smith (71, 45 balls) and Yusuf Pathan (61, 28 balls) set the base for the other batsmen. Mohammed Kaif also played a crucial role in the middle overs with his 34 off 16 balls to help Warne and Co. register their second win in the league.

During the home team's innings, Symonds broke all the shackles with the fastest century of the tournament and proved that he is worthy of his top billing.He got a life on 76 when he was dropped by Pathan, but it was a flawless innings from the burly all-rounder.

While Symonds fired, other big names in the team like Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi and V.V.S. Laxman continued their poor form. Warne strangled the Royals' batsmen with his clever bowling and also picked up two wickets but as Symonds came out to bat he ran out of strategies.

A similar script unfolded, when Warne came out to bat and his big hits made Symonds look like a lost soul.Chargers desperately needed a win but with the loss they are again in troubled waters.

Source:http://www.newkerala.com
Posted by Jimmy at 12:48:37 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Scoreboard of Super Kings' innings against Mumbai Indians

Chennai, April 23 (IANS) The following is the scoreboard of Chennai Super Kings' innings against Mumbai Indians in the eighth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament here Wednesday.

SCOREBOARD

Match No.8, Twenty20, Indian Premier League, Chennai Super Kings vs. Mumbai Indians, M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai, April 23

Chennai Super Kings innings:

Parthiv Patel c Ronchi b Nehra 14

Matthew Hayden run out (Harbhajan Singh) 81

Mike Hussey b Kulkarni 5

Suresh Raina c Bravo b Khote 53

Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Bravo b Khote 30

Jacob Oram not out 5

Subraniam Badrinath not out 2

Extras (b 4, lb 3, w 9, nb 2) 18

Total (for five wickets in 20 overs) 208

Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Patel, 3.1 overs), 2-39 (Hussey, 4.4), 3-143 (Raina, 14.6), 4-194 (Hayden, 18.6), 5-206 (Dhoni, 19.5)

Bowling:

Shaun Pollock 3 0 32 0

Ashish Nehra 4 0 35 1

Dhawal Kulkarni 3 0 25 1

Harbhajan Singh 2 0 14

Dwayne Bravo 3 0 36 0

Vikrant Yeligati 1 0 16 0

Abhishek Nayar 1 0 14 0

Musavir Khote 3 0 29 2

Toss: Mumbai Indians, who chose to field first

Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and G.A. Pratapkumar (India)

TV umpire: Billy Bowden (New Zealand)

Match referee: Farokh Engineer (India)

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com

Posted by Jimmy at 12:16:36 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Final Scoreboard - Deccan Chargers vs. Delhi Daredevils

Final Scoreboard - Deccan Chargers vs. Delhi Daredevils - Delhi Deredevils win by 9 wicket

Hyderabad, April 22 (IANS) The following is the final scoreboard of the seventh match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament between Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here Tuesday.

SCOREBOARD

Match No.7, Twenty20, Indian Premier League, Deccan Chargers vs. Delhi Daredevils, Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad, April 22

Deccan Chargers innings:

Adam Gilchrist b Asif 8

Yalaka Venugopal Rao c Dhawan b Maharoof 14

V.V.S. Laxman b Asif 2

Andrew Symonds c Karthik b Maharoof 12

Rohit Sharma c McGrath b Bhatia 66

Shahid Afridi lbw b Bhatia 2

Sanjay Bangar run out (Tiwary/Karthik) 8

Arjun Yadav c Gambhir b Mahesh 12

Chaminda Vaas not out 12

Rudra Pratap Singh not out 1

Extras (lb 3, w 1, nb 1) 5

Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs) 142

Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Gilchrist, 1.6 overs), 2-23 (Laxman, 5.1), 3-36 (Venugopal Rao, 7.6), 4-45 (Symonds, 9.2), 5-60 (Shahid Afridi, 12.1), 6-82 (Bangar, 16.1), 7-123 (Sharma, 18.4), 8-129 (Yadav, 19.2)

Bowling:

Glenn McGrath 4 1 22 0

Mohammed Asif 4 0 19 2

Farveez Maharoof 4 0 36 2

Yo Mahesh 4 0 35 1 8.75

Rajat Bhatia 4 0 27 2

Delhi Daredevils innings:

Gautam Gambhir c Gilchrist b Singh 12

Virender Sehwag not out 94

Shikhar Dhawan not out 25

Extras (w 7, pen 5) 12

Total (for one wicket in 13 overs) 143

Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Gambhir, 3.3 overs)

Bowling:

Chaminda Vaas 3 0 22 0

Rudra Pratap Singh 3 0 27 1

Sanjay Bangar 2 0 30 0

Shahid Afridi 2 0 17 0

Andrew Symonds 2 0 35 0

Pragyan Ojha 1 0 7 0

Result: Delhi Daredevils won by nine wickets

Toss Deccan Chargers, who chose to bat first

Umpires: Ian Howell (South Africa) and Ameish Saheba (India)

TV umpire: Mark Benson (England)

Match referee: Talat Ali (Pakistan)

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com
Posted by Jimmy at 10:56:44 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Watson stars in Royals' win

Bangalore: A flawless half century by Australian all-rounder Shane Watson helped Rajasthan Royals to register their first victory in the Indian Premier League match in Jaipur. Shane Warne-led team beat the star-studded Kings XI Punjab by six wickets.

Watson, who virtually took the match away from the Kings, took just 49 balls to score his match-winning knock of 76. His stroke full innings included five hits to the fence and five huge ones over it, which enabled Royals to chase their target with one over and 5 balls to spare.

Chasing a target of 167, Royals lost three wickets in quick succession. But Aussie all-rounder was not ready to give up. He was involved in a 51-run fourth wicket partnership with Darren Lehman that laid the foundation for the much-needed victory.

Later a quick fire 36 runs from Ravindra Jadeja ensured the victory. This is the second consecutive defeat of Kings XI.

Earlier, the openers of Kings XI Punjab had promised a lot with two huge sixes off Munaf Patel.

But brilliance of Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne, 3 for19, restricted Kings XI Punjab to 166 for eight. He removed Kumar Sangakkara, James Hopes and Kings' captain Yuvraj Singh. Trivedi removed Irfan Pathan and Brett Lee.

Leading from the front Kings XI Punjab's skipper Yuvraj Singh scored a brilliant half century, after the openers laid a strong foundation. At the end of the innings Young leg-spinner Piyush Chawla made a quick fire 24 runs to take to a competitive total. Goel, 26 and Sangakkara, 20 runs in just 8 balls, are other scorers.

Source:http://sports.in.msn.com
Posted by Jimmy at 11:14:18 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, April 21, 2008

Delhi Daredevils tame Rajasthan Royals

New Delhi: Virender Sehwag fell cheaply but twin unbeaten half centuries from Gautam Gambhir (58) and Shikhar Dhawan (52) powered Delhi Daredevils to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory against Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League opener here tonight.
 
After their bowlers had restricted the visitors to 129 for eight in their allotted 20 overs, Delhi lost Sehwag before cruising to the target with 29 balls top spare.Ferveez Mahroof's impressive figure of 4-0-11-2 earned him the Man of the Match award.
 
Chasing 130 for a win at the Ferozehsh Kotla, the hosts got off to a rousing start with Virender Sehwag hitting the first three balls he faced from Shane Watson for boundary. The Australian, however, avenged it with the next delivery that uprooted the stumps to cut short Sehwag's pyrotechnics.
 
That brought in Dhawan, who joined hands with Gambhir and shared 112 runs for the unbeaten second wicket in 81 balls.Gambhir hit seven fours and one six in his whirlwind 46-ball innings and while Dhawan had eight boundaries in his strokeful 41-ball 52.Gambhir was particularly severe on Munaf Patel hitting him for five fours and a six over mid-off.
 
Dhawan smote Yusuf Pathan for a four to overhaul the target to trigger off wild celebration among the home crowd. That also brought Dhawan's fifty.Watson was the only successful bowler claiming Sehwag's wicket and conceding 31 from his quota of four overs.Sehwag and Gambhir began like they wanted to finish the match early. Gambhir struck two boundaries in Munaf's first over and even Sehwag's departure could not dampen his spirit.
 
In the seventh over, there was a minor face-off following a Watson gesture after Gambhir had played a bouncer with one hand after taking his eyes off. Gambhir almost went towards his Australian rival but retracted after the umpire apparently said something to Watson.Shane Warne, who was introduced himself in the ninth over, did not have much impact though the crowd anticipated something special from him. The retired spin great was wicketless from his 2.1 overs conceding 16 runs.
 
Gambhir and Dhawan played sensibly and did not take risks against Warne.Earlier, a fine bowling display by Delhi Daredevils restricted Rajasthan Royals to a modest 129 for eight.Electing to bat after winning the toss, the Royals failed to raise a big partnership with Daredevils bowlers sticking to a tight line and length.
 
The visitors were never in a position to post a big score with the highest partnership being 22 for the seventh wicket.For them, Ravindra Jadeja topscored with 29 off 23 balls. Shane Watson (21) got the start but he could not convert it, running himself out in search of a second run.
 
If the Royals first five overs yielded a meagre 37, it was even slower after that and they were 57 for four after 10 overs. Mohammad Kaif (9) too could not make a mark.Jadeja had the more than 30000-strong crowd something to cheer about when he hit a huge six over long on boundary off Daniel Vettori and a fine four in the next ball. The left hander hit another six over long on off the same bowler before the spinner had the last laugh clean bowling his nemesis.
 
Dinesh Salunkhe remained not out on 26, while captain Shane Warne produced a run-a-ball 14 before being out to a Mahroof delivery.

Source:http://sports.in.msn.com
Posted by Jimmy at 15:50:05 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

16 sixes by Chennai equal world Twenty20 record

Mohali: A total of 16 sixes were hit by Chennai Super Kings batsmen against hosts Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL), equalling a world record for maximum sixes in a Twenty20 game. Chennai won by 33 runs.
 
In January this year, 16 sixes were hit in Auckland's score of 185 for seven wickets against Central Districts at New Plymouth.
 
A total of 25 sixes were hit by both teams - Chennai (16) and Punjab (9) - which is the second best in Twenty20 history, next only to the 26 in the game between Central Districts (10) and Auckland (16) at New Plymouth on Jan 30, 2008.
 
Several other milestones were set during the Mohali match:
 
* Runs (447) scored in the match - Chennai (240-5) and Punjab (207-4) - the second best match aggregate in Twenty20 history, next only to the 449-9 in the game between Worcestershire (227/6) and Northamptonshire (222/3) at Kidderminster June 29, 2007.
 
* Chennai Super Kings (240/5) posted the highest innings total in the IPL, surpassing Kolkata Knight Riders' 222 for three against Bangalore Royal Challengers at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Friday.
 
* Michael Hussey (116 not out off 54 balls) recorded his career-best score in Twenty20. It was his maiden century.
 
* Hussey's brilliant knock is now the second highest individual innings in the IPL, next only to Brendon McCullum's 158 not out off 73 balls for Kolkata Knight Riders Friday.
 
* Hussey's feat of reaching his century off only 50 balls is the fastest hundred in the IPL, eclipsing McCullum's 53-ball hundred in the opening game.
 
* Hussey and Suresh Raina were associated in a stand of 64 - a fourth wicket record in the IPL, surpassing the unfinished 50-run partnership between Brendon McCullum and Mohammad Hafeez for Kolkata Knight Riders against Bangalore Royal Challengers at Bangalore Friday.
 
* Hussey's feat of nine sixes is the second best in the IPL, next only to Brendon McCullum (13) for Kolkata Knight Riders against Bangalore Royal Challengers at Bangalore.
 
* James Hopes earned a dubious distinction, becoming the first bowler in the IPL to concede 25 runs (6,6,4,1,6,2) to Badrinath and Hussey. Cameron White had conceded 24 runs in his first over - the most conceded by any bowler in the opening game (4,1,6,4,2w,1,6).
 
* Hopes (4-0-53-1) became the first bowler to concede 50 runs in the IPL, eclipsing Jacques Kallis' figures of 4-0-48-1 in the inaugural game.
 
* Hussey and Badrinath put on an unfinished 73-run stand for the sixth wicket - a record for any wicket in the IPL.

Source:http://sports.in.msn.com
Posted by Jimmy at 15:41:36 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Hussey guides Kolkata to IPL win

Australia's David Hussey produced a match-highest score of 38 on a minefield of a pitch at Eden Gardens to guide the Kolkata Knight Riders to a five-wicket victory in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament.

Hussey's 38 off 43 balls helped his side to 5-112 in reply to the Deccan Chargers' total of 110 all out.The low scoring affair was ensured by a pitch which spun sharply and produced puffs of dust as the pacemen's deliveries at times exploded off the deck.

Australian Test skipper Ricky Ponting made a first ball duck in his second IPL outing, trapped LBW by Sri Lankan veteran Chaminda Vaas.

The competition's highest paid player, Australian Andrew Symonds, made 32 from 39 balls for the Chargers while team-mate and compatriot Adam Gilchrist made 23 from 22.In tonight's other match, the Bangalore Royal Challengers beat the Mumbai Indians by five wickets in Mumbai.

Mumbai suffered a setback before the match when superstar Sachin Tendulkar was ruled out with injury.Things only got worse, though, with Australian all-rounder Dominic Thornely forced to retire hurt on nought when he was struck on the helmet grill by a Zaheer Khan bouncer.

Source:http://www.theage.com.au

Posted by Jimmy at 11:10:59 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Saturday, April 19, 2008

IPL Cricket first match: How McCullum hurricane dethrones Royal Challengers

Bangalore: Rahul Dravid won the toss and made all the wrong decisions he could. McCullum made him pay a heavily in the opening match of the 2008 Indian Permier League at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here tonight.

Kolkata Knight Riders batting first made their way to 222 for three wickets thanks to McCullum''s record-breaking 158 not out, and then bowled the Bangalore Royal Challengers out for just 82 runs to leave dada’s and SRK’s  team winners by a crushing 140-run margin.

 

Knight Riders' team owner Shah Rukh Khan and his entire gang that included his close friend Karan Johan, Juhi Chawla, Arjun Rampal and wife Gauri danced in delight as McCullum first broke loose with a flurry of shots and thereafter as each Bangalore wicket fell. Poster boy Ishant Sharma in fact gave Kolkata the ideal start when he bowled Dravid first ball, and from there on it was a downhill slide all the way for the home side.

 

Opening alongside Ganguly, McCullum ripped into the Bangalore Royal Challengers' attack, hitiing a series of fours and sixes with total ease. Dravid was pushed immediately on to the back foot and never got a chance to recover. What he could have added was that none of the other Koklata batsmen needed to do much, given the rate at which McCullum scored. And Ganguly was delighted. McCullum himself was  humble  about his knock.

 

Only one batsman in the Bangalore Royal Challengers was – Praveen Kumar – managed to cross into double figures and in the end, the win was just a formality to be completed. It brought the Knight Riders full points a record individual score by McCullum (158 not out) and also included a T20 record 13 sixes.

 

Ajit Agarkar finished with 3 for 25, Ashok Dinda and Ganguly with two wickets and Ishant had one wicket in his three overs for just seven runs.Earlier, McCullum smashed Zaheer Khan, Cameron White and Ashley Noffke as he plundered runs at will. And it was clean hitting, good cricket shots executed with great power and freedom.

 

Praveen Kumar started good initially but then was hit for 16 runs in the last over of the innings as the Knight Riders added 68 runs in the last five overs.McCullum got his 50 in 32 balls (5x4, 3x6), 100 in 53 balls (8x4, 7x6) and 150 in 70 balls (10x4, 13x6). En route he also bettered Cameron White's highest-ever T20 score of 141 not out in a county game two seasons ago.

 

Thanks to the Kiwi wicketkeeper, every partnership for Kolkata put on better than 50 runs. McCullum added 61 for the opening wicket with Ganguly contributing 10. For the second, he piled on 51 and Ricky Ponting contributed 20. McCullum then allowed David Hussey the luxury of a 12-ball 12 as the two took the score to 172 before he and Mohammad Hafeez took the score to 222 for three by the 20th over to virtually end any hopes for Bangalore.


Source:http://www.mynews.in
Posted by Jimmy at 10:47:18 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |
1 2 3