Punjab hang on after thriller

May 17, 2009

Kings XI Punjab 134 for 7 (Sangakkara 52, RP Singh 3-26) beat Deccan Chargers 133 for 8 (Rohit 42, Yuvraj 3-13) by 1 run

Kings XI Punjab lived to see another day in the IPL after a tremendous bowling effort - highlighted by Yuvraj Singh's second hat-trick of the tournament - gave them a one-run win over the Deccan Chargers off the last ball of the game. Rohit Sharma played yet another crucial innings for Deccan but Punjab fought back valiantly after a poor batting performance.

Adam Gilchrist had given Deccan a brisk start of 30 in three overs. But Ramesh Powar's entry into the attack turned things around. Powar took two in two in his first over and the scoring rate dropped considerably. But Deccan were still ahead of the required run-rate in the 12th over when Yuvraj struck with Gibbs' wicket. He returned in the 14th to take two more and after that Deccan were playing catch-up.

They needed 43 off 18 when Rohit hit two sixes and a four off Wilkin Mota to bring Deccan back in the game. Fourteen off the next over meant Deccan needed 11 off the final. Irfan Pathan, who went for 18 in his first over, was handed the ball. Rohit got an edge to go for four off the second and Pathan followed with a wide. Four needed off the last three: Rohit tried to hit to midwicket and was bowled, RP Singh survived one ball before top-edging the next to Pathan. Needing four of the final ball, Ryan Harris hit it to the off side and Brett Lee fumbled in the pick-up but Harris was never interested in the unlikely third run that would give Punjab the tie. Now Deccan have to win their next game against the Bangalore Royal Challengers to have any hope of reaching the semi-final.


Powar's introduction worked as an antidote to Pathan's horror first over - Gilchrist pulled a short and wide one for four, hit a fuller ball for six over midwicket, drove an over-pitched delivery between point and cover for four before flicking another boundary to fine leg. Gilchrist leapt out of the crease to the first ball, pitched outside leg, looking to hit it over midwicket. But it turned sharply towards off stump and he was too far down the track to make his way back. T Suman, the new batsman, also stepped out of the crease and completely missed the line to be bowled. Andrew Symonds faced the hat-trick ball and lofted it over mid-on for a four, though he didn't middle it.

The other bowlers chipped in to increase the pressure. Sreesanth bowled full and straight; Piyush Chawla struggled to get his length right, bowling too full, but didn't go for too many runs; Powar flighted the ball and got big turn which the batsmen weren't willing to take risks against after the first two wickets. Even then Deccan had the better chance. But it all turned pear-shaped for them after the strategy break. Chawla held on to a diving catch from Gibbs off the last ball of Yuvraj's second over. Then in the first ball of this third, Yuvraj drew Symonds out of the crease and Kumar Sangakkara effected an excellent stumping after fumbling with the ball. Deccan were 79 for 4, needing 56 off 41 balls. Venugopal Rao faced up to the hat-trick ball - a flat arm ball just outside off - and let it go just to see it bowl him. To make things worse, Deccan didn't score a boundary between overs 7 and 14. Yuvraj finished with 3 for 13 and then Pathan made up for his first over with only two in his second and held his nerve in the final one after Rohit had brought Deccan back into contention.

Punjab's batting was in contrast to their inspired bowling as the top-order batsmen threw their wickets away and then some tight bowling from Deccan meant only 17 were taken off the last three overs. At the end of ten overs Punjab were struggling at 55 for 4. The spinners exploited the early collapse and worked over the batsmen by bowling full and using flight to dry up the runs. Sangakkara played it out patiently and made do with singles till there were short and wide deliveries to go after. Rohit provided those in the 15th over that went for 16 runs. Sangakkara cut the first two for fours and paddled the third to fine-leg for three. After that over, Sangakkara went on the attack; Punjab crossed 100 in the 16th.

In the end it was contest between the bowlers of the two sides and Punjab's prevailed.

Delhi outclass Rajasthan in revenge win

May 17, 2009

Delhi Daredevils 150 for 3 (de Villiers 79*, Dilshan 33) beat Rajasthan Royals 136 for 9 (Botha 37, Mishra 3-33) by 14 runs

Riding some momentum the Rajasthan Royals came to Bloemfontein to face the side they beat in the second week of the tournament to start an amazing turnaround. As it turned out, there was no positive carryover effect in a 14-run loss to the Delhi Daredevils. In a pressure game they needed to win, Rajasthan let the early momentum slip with two drops and a missed run-out chance, lost three early wickets during a stiff chase and will rue allowing Delhi score heavily at the end of their innings.

They now need to beat the Kolkata Knight Riders soundly in their final league game. If they don't manage that the race for a semi-final spot shifts to net run-rates, and hoping some of the other teams slip up.

In a match when the ball jagged and spun past the bat more often than it hit the middle - largely down to a sporting pitch that assisted pace and spin - two crucial hands allowed Delhi to recover from the loss of their openers. Munaf Patel appeared to have it figured from the first over, keeping it straight and on a length to get rid of the dangerous duo of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag in his second but returned to bowl a horror 19th over after Rajasthan's support cast disappointed. From 15 for 2 a resourceful 87-run stand between AB de Villiers, who read the conditions excellently, and Tillakaratne Dilshan buttressed Delhi to a competitive total. And therein lay the difference between a reasonable total and a winning one.

Delhi's innings gradually changed character when Rajasthan's second-choice bowlers came on. The pitch was slow and Shane Warne set attacking fields for the first ten overs, so all that was needed was for de Villiers and Dilshan to perforate the field consistently. The loose offerings weren't spared - Siddharth Trivedi strangely dropped it short and wide when the pitch was demanding of a fuller length - and both batsmen slapped fours off his only over.

As Warne brought Johan Botha and himself on for spin, de Villiers and Dilshan resorted to common-sense cricket. Balls were knocked in the gaps, the cross-batted shots were shunned and the score ticked over mainly with singles and doubles. Both employed the late dabs effectively and their ability to scamper between the wickets hurt Rajasthan. It wasn't smooth sailing, though, as Warne got plenty of turn from a slow track and Botha mixed flight and speed in a tidy spell.

de Villiers, not one for subtlety, bided his time and played himself in - much as the game's situation demanded despite this being a Twenty20. Leading the partnership going into the ten-over break, he turned a tad more urgent after it, reaching out to edge Warne for three and taking Ravindra Jadeja and Abhishek Raut for first-ball fours off the back foot.

Dilshan, always more comfortable against spin, continued to cut and flick after being dropped on 16 off Botha. Botha had his revenge in the 17th over, locating the fuller length which Munaf had so brilliantly tapped, but the damage had been done.

de Villiers' aptitude for regular rescue jobs came in handy while Dinesh Karthik walked into the hot seat and immediately connected. de Villiers prospered from a drop at mid-on when 57, a thick outside edge two runs later, and a poor collection from the wicketkeeper, and starred in the most expensive over of the innings - the 19th. That 25-run over aided an excellent 48-run stand in 20 balls. Impressively - and importantly for Delhi's middle order going into the semis - de Villiers batted through to the end too.

Warne was quite disappointed at losing the toss and would've been peeved at allowing Delhi 20 too many. Where Rajasthan's butterfingered catchers reprieved Delhi's anchormen, Delhi's boundary patrollers held crucial early catches. In the second over Graeme Smith was well held on the second attempt by a juggling Aavishkar Salvi at third man, and in the next Dirk Nannes jumped up to hold Rob Quiney's pull at fine leg. After six overs Rajasthan were 24 for 2, their second lowest effort after the Powerplay. That became 24 for 3 when Naman Ojha slapped Salvi to extra cover.

Botha, promoted up the order, held up one end but never looked threatening. Rajasthan needed 91 from the last ten overs. Jadeja took two fours in the 11th over but Salvi drew an edge first ball of the 13th. Salvi only gave two singles in that over, capping a good return match in which he was accurate and economical.

That brought Yusuf Pathan - hero of that earlier win over Delhi - to the crease. There was to be no reprise, Yusuf getting a leading edge to Karthik. Game set and match. Botha went for 37 and three fell in Amit Mishra's last over like plastic ducks in a shooting gallery. Munaf's free hitting in the last three overs was of purely academic interest.

The result ensures Delhi a place in the semi-finals and leaves Rajasthan near the brink.

McCullum and Hodge gun down Chennai

May 18, 2009

Kolkata Knight Riders 189 for 3 (McCullum 81, Hodge 71*) beat Chennai Super Kings 188 for 3 (Raina 52, Dhoni 40) by seven wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders, powered by fifties from Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge, staged one of the most thrilling chases in the tournament and showed why the bottom-placed team may still prove to be the king-makers in this crucial last phase of the league games. Chennai Super Kings, who looked set to seal a semi-final spot with their mammoth total batting first, will now have to put the celebrations on hold.

The run-chase owed its success to three partnerships: the opening stand totally dominated by McCullum, his association with Hodge, where he took charge initially before letting his partner step up, and Hodge's match-winning association with Wriddhiman Saha, whose calm presence combined well with the timely acceleration to stun Chennai.

The return of the seamers at the death heralded a decisive shift in the game as Hodge found an unlikely foil in Saha, who smote a six and a four in the 17th over from L Balaji that went for 14. The next over from Albie Morkel bled 13, with Hodge collecting two fours, one slapped back past the bowler and the other swung behind square leg.

With Chennai short of options, it was hoped that Balaji would be able to hit the blockhole but he was guilty of the same slip-up that cost Kolkata their previous two games. He gifted Hodge length balls, two of which were struck clean and straight over long-off, and a generous full toss to Saha off the final ball, who duly obliged to smack it over midwicket to bring it down to six off the last over. Suresh Raina tried his best, but despite an attacking field and a dot ball first up, the wave was against him. Hodge and Saha stole singles off the second and third deliveries, a tight run to cover on the fourth, before a swat to long-on with a deep enough Jacob Oram allowed them to scamper back for the second and level the scores. With the field brought up, an incredibly calm Saha chipped Raina over cover to seal a comeback win.

McCullum threatened to wrest the game with his blistering innings, displaying the same destructive batting that was on view in the first match of the IPL's inaugural version. His dominant innings today was as much a reflection on his brilliance as the lack of support from the other end, especially in the initial stages.

McCullum announced his intent from the first over, slashing one past slip, and clipping Morkel past square leg. Keeping him off strike became Chennai's immediate objective and Sourav Ganguly made their job far simpler, struggling to get bat on ball, a stark contrast to McCullum's free flow. McCullum feasted on Morkel, smashing him for 16 in the third over, while Ganguly was made to look like an irritable fly-swatter by Sudeep Tyagi. He was eventually put out of his misery, chopping one on from Muttiah Muralitharan, though Chennai, in hindsight, would have wished he had continued.

The dismissal did not deter McCullum; the run-chase received a massive boost in Tyagi's next over, as Chennai were suddenly made to grapple with the possibility of an upset. Tyagi was clattered for four consecutive fours - two over cover, one through fine leg and the other over midwicket - before gifting a freebie that was promptly dispatched into the stands. Kolkata had made 56 in the powerplay of which 50 had come off McCullum's blade.

Hodge has been Kolkata's best batsman in the tournament, and adapted to his subordinate role superbly, allowing McCullum the bulk of the strike, something his predecessor had appallingly failed to do. The scoring dipped with Murali and Shadab Jakati doing their utmost to restrain Kolkata, but McCullum's determination to put the horror of his team's run behind him bode ominously for Chennai. If the Powerplay was lit up by his brute force, his handling of spin exhibited his subtle touch, as he opened the face to Murali's doosra, chopped him through point and shared the floor with Hodge, who cut loose himself, thumping Jakati for two sixes.

McCullum survived a chance on 66, dropped by Oram, who palmed a catch over the ropes at long-on, leaving Chennai with a sense of foreboding as the match slipped away. However, the lapse did not prove too costly, as Jakati just managed to squeeze one through his attempted swipe to just kiss the offstump. When the in-form David Hussey was run out seven balls later, Chennai had fought back to steal the advantage which seemed to hinge on the fortunes of one batsman, but as they were to find out, it wasn't quite so simple.

Chennai were missing Matthew Hayden, their most prolific batsman this season, but his team-mates made up for that by posting a formidable score. The effort owed to a calculated performance by Raina and an equally shrewd effort by MS Dhoni, who built on a solid opening stand to put Kolkata Knight Riders under pressure.

Raina shrugged off a relative slide in form - he had managed just 48 in his previous three innings - to quickly slip into his natural mode of play, using the flicks, dabs and cuts that characterize his batting with relentless frequency and opened up in timely fashion to retain the tempo set by the openers. Dhoni, meanwhile, proved again that he remains Chennai's best middle-order batsman. He had been involved in four 50-plus stands before this, and added another to his tally, mixing up his raw power and rotating the strike. The innings was set up by an admirable display by the openers Parthiv Patel and George Bailey who put together a busy stand of 59, attacking the seamers early on and retaining the momentum once the spinners came on, scoring a boundary virtually every over amid a spate of singles and twos which never allowed the bowlers to settle into a rhythm.

However, their efforts were in vain as McCullum's blistering knock and Hodge's reliability produced an upset which has made Chennai's hold on the No.2 spot in the points table a little shaky.

Classy Kallis keeps Bangalore alive

May 19, 2009

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Kallis 58*, Dravid 38, Taylor 25, Nagar 2-20) beat Delhi Daredevils 134 for 7 (Karthik 31, Praveen 3-30, Kumble 2-24) by seven wickets

Royal Challengers Bangalore boosted their chances of securing a place in the semi-finals, winning a crucial game against Delhi Daredevils fairly comfortably at the Wanderers. Jacques Kallis starred in an excellent all-round performance, playing an important role in restricting Delhi to a chaseable score, and shepherding the chase with an assured half-century to take his team to fourth place.

Bangalore were dented early with the wicket of Robin Uthappa, but Rahul Dravid and Kallis timed the chase well, intent on preserving their wickets in early phase before opening up. They did get themselves into a bit of a hole after the early setback, struggling to get singles, and relying instead on the bad balls to score off. They inched to 27 in the Powerplay, with boundaries - including a six over midwicket by Kallis - accounting for 18 of those runs. But with the field spread, and the batsmen set, the rest of the innings panned out according to plan.

Virender Sehwag may have missed a trick by opting to bring the spinner in as late as the ninth over. Though the opening bowlers Ashish Nehra and Avishkar Salvi had proved tidy, neither Dravid nor Kallis had offered any chances. They then approached the chase as one would in an ODI, piercing the field with little difficulty and scoring the odd boundary to knock off 27 in the four overs before the timeout. The only scare was an incredibly difficult attempt at a catch by AB de Villiers at cover, who failed to latch onto a ball hammered by Kallis.

Amid the spate of singles and twos, Dravid and Kallis ensured there were no wasted opportunities. Andrew McDonald's first ball, a juicy half-volley was duly dispatched for a boundary by Dravid and a rank long hop from Vettori received the same treatment. But just when a predictable outcome seemed on the cards, Dravid lobbed a catch back to offspinner Yogesh Nagar.

With 65 needed off 48, Delhi still had an outside chance, but Ross Taylor quashed it with a blistering cameo, displaying shades of the monstrous assault against Kolkata which put Bangalore back in contention for a place in the top four. He wasted little time to settle into his groove, leading the charge in the 14th over, punishing freebies from Salvi for a four over extra cover and a massive six over midwicket. Nagar then erred in length the next over to watch the ball sail over deep midwicket and deep square leg for two more sixes, before Taylor - a victim of complacency - holed out to long-on. But the damage had been done, though a tight over from Vettori next up gave Delhi the only sign of hope.

The game was effectively sealed in the 18th over, with Kallis launching Vettori for six and a four over cover to narrow it down to 9 off 12. Mark Boucher flicked Nehra for a boundary, and the pair knocked off the rest in singles to complete a comprehensive win against the table-toppers.

Bangalore's win was set up by a professional bowling effort, as Kallis and Praveen Kumar struck early to dent a strong Delhi line-up on a slow pitch. The spinners, led by Anil Kumble, then took over, restraining the middle order before Dinesh Karthik staged an inadequate recovery.

The tone was set in the first over with the wicket of a struggling Virender Sehwag, who failed to curb his instinct, clipping Praveen straight to square leg. When Mithun Manhas, promoted to No.3, top-edged an attempted hook to slip two balls later, the responsibility, yet again, was palmed off to the middle order.

Kallis had struggled as a bowler this tournament, capturing just four wickets and proving ridiculously expensive. But his spell today marked a stark contrast, as he used his variations well, consistently probed the batsmen by maintaining a tight line outside offstump and dried up the runs at one end. Though Delhi had been provided some release by an undeterred Gautam Gambhir, Kallis was rewarded for his persistence when the left hander mistimed an attempt to clear point.

Spin has played a decisive influence in the tournament, often introduced before the Powerplay, but Kallis' frugality meant that Roelof van der Merwe didn't come on until the eighth over. Delhi did their best to keep up the run-rate, de Villiers scoring a run-a-ball 28, but when he, their best batsman, failed to pick an arm ball by van der Merwe, Bangalore were firmly in control. Pace ceded the floor to spin, and the newbie Andrew McDonald, replacing Tillakaratne Dilshan, was yorked by Anil Kumble to continue the slide.

Karthik and Nagar cobbled up a fighting stand of 39, but both fell trying to accelerate. Delhi did post a competitive score, and a slow track, holding up and taking spin, gave them reason for encouragement. But they were undone by a brilliantly executed run-chase, that has intensified the race for the knockout stage.

Langeveldt and Shukla knock defending champions out

May 20, 2009

Kolkata Knight Riders 102 for 6 (Shukla 48*, Munaf 2-15) beat Rajasthan Royals 101-9 (Langeveldt 3-15, Agarkar 2-15) by four wickets

The much-ridiculed underdogs of this year, Kolkata Knight Riders, have ended the tournament for the original underdogs, but not before they almost made a mess of the chase. Laxmi Shukla was the saviour for Kolkata, after they had stumbled to 45 for 6 in 11.3 overs. They had Charl Langeveldt to thank as well for pinning down Rajasthan Royals, and his 3 for 15 exposed Kolkata's blunder of not playing him throughout the tournament.

The lesson to learn was not to write off Rajasthan till the end. Not even when they are defending just 101 in a must-win game. At the half-way mark, after a frenzied innings during which they added just 79 to the 22 they got from the first over, the tournament seemed all over for Rajasthan. One final twist remained.

Even that seemed to be flattening out soon after Brendon McCullum hit two boundaries off the first two balls of the chase. The final figures of Munaf Patel after those two fours, 4-0-14-2, epitomised the comeback.

Munaf got Sourav Ganguly in that first over, and Amit Singh sent back McCullum with the first ball he bowled from the other end. That was the piece of fortune Rajasthan needed, as the half-tracker rose only as high as McCullum's knees. On a cracking pitch, Shane Warne's innovative field placings, and smart bowling by his bowlers worked superbly after that. Even Brad Hodge and David Hussey, the pair who was key during Kolkata's chase of 189 against Chennai Super Kings, found it extremely difficult to score.

Naman Ojha did superbly to dismiss Brad Hodge, who looked to run after dropping Johan Botha's first delivery at his feet. He had barely taken a step, but couldn't make his way back. More pressure and smart bowling followed. Botha and Warne followed the first seven-over spell of 30 runs by the medium-pacers with a five-over spell of 17. And wickets fell consistently throughout.

Hussey got a top-edge thanks to Botha's extra bounce, and Shoaib Shaikh ran himself out. But when Shukla, was dropped on 6 off a Warne flipper by Ojha, the final turnaround started.

Shukla batted sensibly, choosing well when to go bog, and when to accumulate. He knew he needed only two or three big hits, which would be enough to set the cat among the pigeons. His first break came when he went after Warne in the 13th over, and cleared the wide long-on boundary easily.

His next assault came in Ravindra Jadeja's second over, the 16th of the innings. Shukla went over extra cover first ball, and managed three more couples through that over. It was indeed a tough match for Jadeja, who was involved in two run-outs, failed to make up for those run-outs, and then bowled one over too many.

Shukla's turnaround finished as it started, with some luck from behind the wicket, as Ojha missed on two run-out opportunities as Shukla and Ajit Agarkar stole two byes in the 19th and 20th overs, with five and four still required respectively.

Spare a thought for Ojha, though. Apart from that brilliant run-out of Hodge's earlier in the piece, Ojha had got Rajasthan off to the best start a team could have imagined. It was Hodge who suffered at his hands then too. He slogged and lofted Hodge's first over to take 22, the most expensive first over of the tournament. But as he had Shukla to spoil his good work in the second innings, there was Langeveldt in the first.

How fitting it was that when Langeveldt finally got a game he was not given the first over. But the first ball Langeveldt bowled was a bouncer that hurried Rob Quiney up, got the top edge and nestled in wicketkeeper Shoaib Shaikh's gloves. The extra pace and bounce was obvious and the away movement lethal. In his next over, Langeveldt removed Ojha, with one that kicked off from just back of a length, and moved away too. In between these two strikes, Swapnil Asnodkar ran himself out when going for a single. From 22 for no loss, Rajasthan had slid to 28 for 3 in 15 balls.

Kolkata then hustled Rajasthan with quick bowling and athletic fielding. When Langeveldt came back to remove Niraj Patel's wicket, Rajasthan had stumbled to 62 for 5 at the half-way stage. Two disastrous run-outs followed. When Yusuf Pathan dug a yorker out, Jadeja called him for one, then realised the ball had traveled too fast towards Shukla, the bowler. Jadeja didn't go through, and the most dangerous batsman in the team was left stranded. Jadeja's face told a story of guilt. Three balls later, when Jadeja called Tyron Henderson for a quick single, he found to his horror that Henderson was too slow, and that Hussey had hit the stumps direct.

None of Dinda, Agarkar, Sourav Sarkar or Shukla provided Rajasthan any respite later, and the last 3.4 overs got Rajasthan only nine runs. The last over, from Agarkar, went for 21 less than the first.

Chennai deal Punjab killer blow in low-scorer

May 20, 2009

Chennai Super Kings 116 for 9 (Parthiv 32, Sreesanth 2-23) beat Kings XI Punjab 92 for 8 (Pomersbach 26, Murali 2-8, Ashwin 2-13) by 24 runs

It didn't rain runs in either of the two matches at Kingsmead but there was no shortage of entertainment value as the bowlers called the shots in what is regarded as a sloggers' game. When Chennai Super Kings limped to what looked like a barely defendable 116, Kings XI Punjab trooped off with the belief that a confirmed semi-final berth was just an hour-and-a-half away. But they were treated to a harsh lesson by Chennai's spinners, led by the wily Muttiah Muralitharan, and never at any stage since their introduction did Punjab look like matching the mounting asking rate.

The stern test couldn't have come at a worse time for Punjab, who after this defeat, became the favourites not to make the semi-finals. Chennai were virtually in the top four before this match but the 24-run win only tightened their grip at second place.

MS Dhoni, at the toss, justified the addition of an extra offspinner by pointing to the number of left-handers in the line-up. The strategy worked as the trio of offspinners - Muralitharan, R Ashwin and Suresh Raina - choked the runs and forced them into taking risks. The figures tell the story - their combined quota of 12 overs cost only 38 runs and yielded six wickets.

The most decisive phase in the chase was Muralitharan's spell. He came in when Chennai conceded 13 off an over by Thilan Thushara - the most expensive of the innings - and struck soon with the wicket of Simon Katich, who lost his legstump after shuffling across too far. The ball gripped, stopped on the batsmen and on the whole made scoring very difficult. The array of left-handers struggled to milk the singles, let alone find the odd boundary and went into their shell by shouldering arms.

Sensing the truckload of pressure the batsmen had been putting on themselves, Dhoni, interestingly, didn't over-attack the batsmen and instead placed fielders at the boundary, trying to tempt the batsmen into hitting out. Though the boundary riders came into play only towards the fag end of the innings, the pressure tactics applied by Dhoni contributed to Punjab's capitulation.

Even Yuvraj Singh was rendered clueless, plodding around for 18 deliveries for his six before he backed away in desperation and lost his stumps to a shooter from Suresh Raina. Punjab earlier pinned their hopes on Luke Pomersbach - one among only two batsmen to cross double figures - but he too fell to the spinners, edging Murali to slip.

In the five-over passage before the time-out, Punjab managed only 16 runs. Now with the loss of those two wickets, plus the fall of Kumar Sangakkara, the run-rate dipped to three an over, unimaginable by Twenty20 standards. None of the three spinners looked easy to get away. Murali used flight and got it to grip and turn; Raina bowled a much flatter trajectory and forced the batsmen to check using their feet; Ashwin relied on bowling a more stump-to -stump line. The frustration of not being able to put away the only spinner in the trio without international experience forced Sangakkara into chipping one back to Ashwin.

From there, the innings was a freefall and there was an air of inevitability to the result by the 15th over. Punjab's capable lower-order hitters couldn't quite turn the script around, and it was all over when 32 was needed off the final over.

The worried faces at the dugout was in sheer contrast to when the inimitable Sreesanth nearly scaled the entire perimeter of the outfield in celebration after pegging back Dhoni's offstump with an inswinging yorker. Back then, Punjab had Chennai in a spot of bother at 70 for 4 in the tenth over, wrecking a brisk opening stand of 40 between George Bailey and Parthiv Patel.

Their stand was the only passage of play in the entire match which witnessed some fluency in the strokeplay. They lost control when Ramesh Powar came on in the fifth over, which brought a run-out. Powar was just as effective as Chennai's spinners, keeping the runs down and applying pressure on the batsmen to build on the opening stand.

Sreesanth's double-strike dented Chennai further and it reflected in the way the lower order failed to push the scoring. They swung their bats at everything, made room to improvise and managed only two fours and a six in the last ten overs, which yielded 46 runs. Punjab managed only twice the number of fours in their entire innings. The gulf between the two sides was, however, much wider than those figures indicate.

Sehwag finds form in easy win

May 21, 2009

Delhi Daredevils 166 for 6 (Sehwag 50, Harbhajan 4-17) beat Mumbai Indians 165 for 8 by four wickets

Barring a late scare by Harbhajan Singh , who took 4 for 17, the Delhi Daredevils go into the semi-final with a confidence boosting six-wicket win against the Mumbai Indians. At the toss Virender Sehwag said he wanted to field to give his side some much needed practice chasing. And a fair bit of practice they got, with Sehwag leading the power-hitting top order who stayed ahead of the fairly steep required run-rate.

Gautam Gambhir and David Warner, Delhi's openers, blitzed to 30 in the first three overs. It started from the sixth ball of the first over. Lasith Malinga found bounce and bowled over 140kph but Gambhir picked his slower bouncer and pulled it for four to square leg. Then Gambhir and Warner hit 22 off the next 12 balls. Gambhir walked out and hit Dhawal Kulkarni for a four behind square leg before lifting a fuller one down the ground for another boundary.

Rahil Shaikh began his IPL campaign with a high full toss that Warner pulled to midwicket boundary before being picked for another in the same area by Gambhir. Warner lofted Kulkarni for a six over long-on but then top-edged one and ended up losing his wicket and his bat. But Delhi couldn't afford to slow down, needing over seven an over. Not that they would slow down when Sehwag joined Gambhir at the crease. Kulkarni was the one to suffer as Sehwag scored boundaries off whatever length he bowled. He gave away 36 in three overs.

Harbhajan came on at the end of the Powerplays with Delhi at 60 for 1. He kept it tight by mixing flighted deliveries with flatter and sharper ones but it didn't help as Sehwag and Gambhir instead picked the boundaries from the other end. Gambhir played Abhishek Nayar's shorter deliveries to the fine leg and midwicket boundaries while Sehwag hit a half-volley over the bowler's head for a six. After ten overs Delhi were 93 for 1 in contrast to Mumbai, who were 72 for 3 at the same stage.

Gambhir finally fell in the 12th over, again walking down the track but mistiming a loft to a diving Mohammad Ashraful at third man. But by then the required run-rate had come down to under seven an over, mostly owing to the wides conceded by Sanath Jayasuriya. Tillakaratne Dilshan waited only two balls before going for the big shot. He hooked a slower ball by Malinga to deep backward square leg for six. Jayasuriya further pulled down the asking rate to less than six, this time owing to Sehwag who made room to hit him for four over extra cover and a six over long-on. Dilshan stuck into Malinga in the next and overs 12 to 14 cost Mumbai a whopping 39. Sehwag got his fifty immediately after that but the two batsmen fell off successive balls to Harbhajan.

There were some tense moments for Delhi after that. Harbhajan gave away only three and JP Duminy two. Harbhajan came back to pick up AB de Villiers and Rajat Bhatia off successive balls as well. de Villiers was caught at midwicket trying to flick him for a six and Bhatia misread an offbreak and was bowled for 2. At the end of that over, Delhi needed 12 off 18, with four wickets in hand. Amit Mishra ensured they needed only three of those balls, hitting Duminy for a six and a four, and Mumbai ended their IPL campaign at No.7, after having being a semi-final contender at one point.

However their batsmen, led by Ajinkya Rahane, had given them a chance to end on a positive note. Rahane began attacking after the Powerplay overs and added 73 with Sachin Tendulkar. Bhatia, bowling his slow-medium stuff, had sent down four tight balls and a wide before Tendulkar messed up the over with two beautifully executed fours. He late-cut the first to the third-man boundary and drove the next straight past the bowler to long-on. After the strategy break, the two took advantage of Mishra's poor length and scored 15 off his third over. Even after Tendulkar fell, Rahane kept the scoreboard ticking and got to his second half-century of the season from 37 balls. Mumbai scored 56 off the last five overs but Delhi's batsmen came in to form and spoiled their farewell.

Pandey century takes Bangalore to No. 3

May 21, 2009

Royal Challengers Bangalore 170 for 4 (Pandey 114*) beat Deccan Chargers 158 for 6 (Gibbs 60, Akhil 2-18, Kumble 2-23) by 12 runs

In a campaign that has included matches insipid and inspiring Royal Challengers Bangalore have well and truly come to life. Maintaining the momentum of three consecutive wins, they pulled the rug from under Deccan Chargers' feet and went to No. 3 in the points table, setting up a semi-final clash with the Chennai Super Kings on Saturday. Deccan will play Delhi Daredevils in Friday's semi-final.

At the end of a clinical win, Bangalore can thank Manish Pandey and RP Singh. Promoting Pandey to open in a pressure situation, Bangalore nearly lost him in the third over but RP's gross misjudgment at third man settled the nerves and then some. Either cutting solidly or swatting and slapping with efficiency rather than grace, Pandey grabbed the opportunity and notched up just the second century this season - and the first by an Indian in either season. Few in South Africa would have heard of the Under-19 batsman before today but should remember him after this amazing effort.

Teams have struggled to defend under lights at Centurion, and Bangalore were put on the backfoot as Herschelle Gibbs waded into the attack. But Anil Kumble took pace off the ball and once Gibbs and Andrew Symonds were dismissed in relative succession it all got too tough for Deccan.

RP's drop in the third over came after Jacques Kallis pulled his seventh ball to short square leg. It proved a costly error. Pandey began his innings looking out of sorts, twice inside-edging Ryan Harris on the bounce to Adam Gilchrist and top-edging safely to third man. Batting as though Bangalore needed to chase 250, Pandey clouted the ball through the leg side with abandon.

Roelof van der Merwe showed a liking for RP on the leg side, twice crashing him over through and over mid-on for boundaries, and weighed in with 23 from 18 balls. After he was well stumped off Symonds in the tenth over, Pandey weighed the situation and hung on. By this time he was 33, and on resumption after the strategic break dumped T Suman's offspin for consecutive sixes to raise his half-century. Now his timing had improved considerably and Bangalore were going at seven an over.

Very strong through the leg side, Pandey's main scoring option was the swipe across the line. RP returned to bowl the 14th over and Pandey reminded him of his reprieve, swatting and edging fours. He continued the same way after Pragyan Ojha accounted for Rahul Dravid in the next over, clearing his front leg and slogging against the turn. The caress - Pandey steered Jaskaran for four - was followed by the clubbed - next ball disappeared for six - and the fortuitous - an edge beat Gilchrist for four - as Pandey moved to 98 at the end of the 17th over.

The landmark came up with a couple wide of long-on and there wasn't much fanfare. Virat Kohli took a cue and pulled six more, followed by a top edge that dropped safely between two clueless fielders, and deposited the last ball over the ropes. That last over summed up the course the two teams had run.

With Gilchrist struggling for timing, Gibbs took over the responsibility of scoring and did so in inimitable fashion. He survived a shout against an Kumble topspinner when on 5 but didn't refrain from walking across his stumps, lapping and pulling the bowlers to distraction. Kallis hobbled off with a troublesome hamstring and Gibbs decided to take on Praveen Kumar. The first two balls were short-arm-flicked for sixes, the third was lapped for four, and Gilchrist put away a low full toss. Gibbs then dismissed van der Merwe for a couple of sixes upon introduction. Taking full toll of the half-volleys and stray balls that were on offer, Gibbs blasted 45 of the 68 runs added by the openers, lashing boundaries on both sides of the wicket.

He was dropped on 49 - soon after Gilchrist went for 15 - but didn't do much damage after Deccan went into the strategic break on a healthy 85 for 1. Symonds walked out in the 11th over after Kumble got Suman, and Rohit Sharma followed him in second ball of the 15th when Gibbs lost his grip and skied one to a tumbling Pandey in the deep. With 52 needed in five, Kumble called back van der Werwe and he bowled Symonds first ball. The pressure was on Rohit and Venugopal Rao but neither contributed; Rao was run out in the 18th over and in the next Rohit lofted Kumble to a very calm Kohli at long-on. The 26 needed off the final over was too much.

Bangalore showed an intensity that indicated how keen they were to erase the loss from the last time these two teams met. Pandey has said he would like to join the army, like his father, if he is unable to become a professional cricketer. If he can score hundreds like this going forward he won't need to reach for that application form.

Raging Gilchrist carries Deccan into the final

May 22, 2009

Deccan Chargers 154 for 4 (Gilchrist 85) beat Delhi Daredevils 153 for 8 (Dilshan 65, Sehwag 39, Harris 3-27) by six wickets

There's no rust on this baby. Adam Gilchrist didn't just blow the Delhi Daredevils out with a blitzkrieg but also backed up his vow at the end of a disappointing 2008 to give fans in Hyderabad more to cheer for in 2009. Gilchrist played a pivotal role in bringing last season's wooden spoon holders this far and tonight, in the cauldron of a semi-final, he treated Centurion to a stunning display of hitting. His assault on Delhi's bewildered bowlers turned what threatened to be a tricky chase into a no-contest as Deccan chased down 154 with six wickets in hand and 14 balls to spare. Deccan have duly earned the right to be in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Gilchrist had looked like a man with a plan when, at the toss, he said Deccan would field and try and keep the opposition to an achievable target. With teams not always chasing down totals in the vicinity of 160 easily under lights at Centurion, Deccan's chase wasn't expected to be an easy one. It took Gilchrist five deliveries to dismiss such thoughts. Dirk Nannes, one of the success stories of this IPL, was flayed for five consecutive boundaries in the first over, Gilchrist pulling, cutting and driving with power. Nannes was not needed again until the 11th over by which time Deccan were well on their way.

That assault set a trend that continued through Gilchrist's innings as he made the semi-final his own. Ashish Nehra bowled Herschelle Gibbs for a duck but Gilchrist was in a hurry, clobbering Pradeep Sangwan's first three balls for four, four and six. No frills, just excellent bat speed and powerful wrists. In three overs Deccan were 41 for 1, out of which Nehra's first over cost just three.

Nehra's second was nowhere as controlled. Gilchrist drove a no-ball for four and drilled the free hit for a straight six to raise Deccan's fifty in 23 deliveries - his contribution being 48 from 14 balls. His half-century needed just 17 balls, the fastest of the IPL. Virender Sehwag came on for the first and last time in the tournament, with Gilchrist plundering three successive sixes in a 25-run over. It was the Gilchrist of old, the man who put the fear of God in bowlers the world over.

Why Sehwag brought himself on before Amit Mishra and the crafty Rajat Bhatia on a sluggish track will go down as one of the IPL's blunders, because the legspinner struck almost immediately. Gilchrist fell for a superb 85 from 35 balls one delivery before the strategic break, but the damage had been done. Mishra then cut Andrew Symonds off before he could finish the job, finishing with 3 for 19. Rohit Sharma walked out with 17 required from 38 balls and closed the deal in T Suman's company.

Matters had veered to and fro throughout the first half of the match but Deccan's reining Delhi in to 153 ultimately proved decisive. Tillakaratne Dilshan had played a crucial hand, holding it together after Delhi's openers fell to Ryan Harris in the first over, and then providing the momentum as well when quick runs were needed. Deccan regrouped through Symonds and Harmeet Singh initially and Harris and RP Singh thereafter, only allowing Delhi 70 in the last ten overs.

A scoreline of 0 for 2 had little bearing on Dilshan. He led a charmed life, pulling his first ball just over deep backward square leg's fingertips for six and edging the second between gully and slip for four. Sehwag nearly ran him out next ball when he punched the ball to midwicket and then changed his mind.

While Sehwag got tall to work the ball to the leg side, Dilshan preferred to back away and squeeze it through backward point and third man. He used the uncomplicated strategy of judging the length early and then slapping it either off the back foot or front. When Pragyan Ojha slowed his pace and offered room Dilshan flayed him for boundaries, and when Symonds did the same he was cut away. Gilchrist was given a tough time in setting a field for Dilshan, who was adept at picking runs anywhere in the park. A drop behind the stumps when Dilshan was 30 didn't help.

After a maiden first over, Delhi scored 83 in nine. Runs came thick and fast and Gilchrist turned back to Symonds, who finally broke an 85-run alliance with a straighter one that Sehwag needlessly tried to paddle. Symonds and Harmeet choked runs and Deccan did well to take four wickets, including two run outs in the 20th over that only cost eight. Sehwag would have been pleased with 153 after Delhi were 0 for 2 but that was before Gilchrist stepped up. Delhi have now been thrashed in consecutive IPL semi-finals after dominating the league stages.

Gilchrist's praises have been sung in this tournament - he came into the game leading their run list - and tonight he deserved no less than a chorus.

Efficient Bangalore outplay Chennai

May 23, 2009

Royal Challengers Bangalore 149 for 4 (Pandey 48, Dravid 44) beat Chennai Super Kings 146 for 5 (Parthiv 36, 2-38) by six wickets

Last things first. Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers, placed at the bottom last year, will face each other in the IPL final tomorrow. And lightning does strike twice. Ask Chennai Super Kings. They had shot under by setting Bangalore 147, but would have thought of it as a fighting total. Manish Pandey, who came out of nowhere and scored a century in the last game, didn't think so. His 35-ball 48 almost killed the chase, and a minor hiccup later Bangalore were in the final.

If anything this was an even better innings, both in terms of the quality of strokeplay and in terms of this being a far bigger match. He got going with a square-drive in the first over, following a ball both wide and full. As if to say it was no fluke, he brought out a more classical square-drive, down on one knee, to the next delivery. Jacques Kallis matched that start with back-to-back square-cuts of equal ferocity and beauty in the second over.

But within seven deliveries Bangalore lost Kallis and Roelof van der Merwe. To pull them out of the shock Pandey produced boundaries with a back-foot punch and a drive on the run in two deliveries in the fourth over. Out of habit the slogs came out in the next two overs, but he cleared the leg-side field with them. By the end of the Powerplays Pandey had reached 29 off 14 deliveries, six fours, four of them along the ground, and Bangalore needed only 88 from 84.

Pandey had batting with him the best man possible, Rahul Dravid, whose classical strokeplay and superb planning had a calming effect on the 19-year-old at the other end. His straight-drive off Shadab Jakati and flick off Albie Morkel were shots as good as any played in the night. The key moment was always going to be when Muttiah Muralitharan, held back by MS Dhoni, would come on to bowl.

Murali started off with a big lbw shout against Pandey, and after that Dravid made a conscious effort of keeping the youngster away from the fox. Pandey finally fell when he went to slog-sweep the other spinner, Jakati, and a turnaround was in the offing. Fifty-three were required in 45 balls then, and Dravid seemed to have it under control until Murali came back and got him lbw in the 16th over. After an asphyxiating over, Bangalore required 35 off four overs.

Chennai needed a gamble then, after all other bowlers had been taken for runs. Suresh Raina bowled the next over, and both Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli took a six off him. The decisive, and the most symbolic, blow came in the next over when Kohli read a doosra, stepped out to Murali, and hit him straight down the ground for a big six. Bangalore's fifth win in a row was all but sealed.

The win, though, looked far away when Parthiv Patel stunned them after they had put Chennai in. The whole talk before the semi-final centered around the orange cap holder Mathew Hayden and whether he would be back for the big match. But Bangalore were hit from an unexpected quarter. It's not often you go outscoring Hayden in good form, and if you do you better be playing exceptionally. That's precisely what Parthiv did for a brief while.

Parthiv was attacked with short bowling, but he brought out the pulls, the cuts, and the upper-cuts. In the first six overs Chennai raced away to 52, and Hayden hadn't even warmed up by then. In fact Parthiv had reached 32 off 20 deliveries, while Hayden was still 13. What odds would punters get for that?

But Anil Kumble and Bangalore regrouped fast. Smart bowling changes and smart bowling thereafter kept pulling Chennai back whenever they threatened to move too far out of reach. The result? A late assault never came. It was Kumble, who brought some control to the proceedings, coming in to bowl the sixth over. And then when Hayden went for one six too many off R Vinay Kumar and mis-hit to long-on, Kumble seized the opportunity.

He brought back Kallis, whose first two overs had cost 21. With his fourth delivery Kallis removed Parthiv and Bangalore could try and force restrain upon two new batsmen.

The two new batsmen were Dhoni and Raina, in that order. There was a period of quiet around the time-out, and Kallis went for five in his next two overs. Just when Raina looked like opening up, with a four and a six off Vinay, Kumble brought back Praveen in the 15th over. With the first ball, Praveen got Raina to sky a slower ball, and Bangalore had once again prevented Chennai from getting away.

Again, when Morkel slogged Kumble for a six after 23 balls without, van der Merwe got Dhoni, caught at long-on. Dhoni's move to come in at No. 3 didn't work: he didn't hit any boundaries in his 28-ball 30.

Kumble handed over India's Test captaincy to Dhoni, but today he had outfoxed his opposite number.