Vijay Action hundred Super Kings to meet Knight Riders in final match

CHENNAI: Murali Vijay's withering century set-up a massive 86-run win for Chennai Super Kings over Delhi Daredevils in the 2nd qualifier on Friday.

Chennai’s rousing triumph, their 2nd in succession after the shellacking of Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator, places them in their 3rd consecutive, and 4th overall, last, which they will contest against Kolkata Knight Riders at the same venue on Sunday evening for a tilt at the most unachievable of records – a hat-trick of IPL titles.

Once Chennai had posted the season’s highest total – 222 – it would have been wishful thinking to expect Delhi to make a first of it on what is generally careful to be a treacherous track. As it happened, Delhi, opening with Jayawardene and Warner, were never in the chase after the early dismissals of Warner and captain Sehwag disallowed them to gain any sort of momentum.

Daredevils kept up a run-rate in the vicinity of nine runs-per over for the most part, thanks to Jayawardene’s classy 55, but behind the tempo - at least through the duration of a super-200 chase - was nigh impossible. The pursuit was ruined by tumbling wickets, as batsmen attempt in vain to meet the spiraling obligation, only to be arrested with finality in the 17th over when Dhoni ran out final man Varun Aaron.

The double defensive champions appear to be on an upswing, and on Friday it wasn’t just good cricketing that took them to victory. Daredevils – strictly the ‘home’ side by virtue of last at the top in the league stage – were on the back foot even previous to the game began. They chose to ‘rest’ the most winning bowler in IPL-V, Morne Morkel, and replaced him with debutant off-spinner Sunny Gupta, who was murder for 47 runs in 3 overs. It did not help that the pacy, supposedly promising Varun went for 63 in his 4 overs.

When Sehwag selected to field in a crunch game at a venue where pursuer are in need by the progressive slowness of the surface, Delhi appear to be hell-bent on making things tough for them. If that wasn’t bad enough, Vijay initiate the mayhem by nailing boundaries off the 1st 2 balls of Chennai’s innings, and from there the run-rate only went North, and beyond.

It would be futile to delve into person hits, which were too many to recount. Let it be put on record still that it was Dhoni’s faith in Vijay that paid off. Out of sorts with a niggle in the wrist for the most of the season, Vijay began by hammering boundaries off Sunny and in the company of Michael Hussey took Super Kings to 68 in seven overs.

Hussey was quickly out, and Vijay got moving when Sehwag introduce himself in the 11th over – first a six over midwicket caught by Ross Taylor who overstepped the boundary then a slash over backward point for four, and then one more 4 and 6 to long-on and over cow corner respectively.

Daredevils made things worse with their butter fingers. Slowcoach Sehwag at cover was late on a mishit by Raina, and even the regularly reliable Warner fluffed Dhoni at long-on. It was persistent hitting all the way as Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo joined the revels with brutal cameos of their own, as if they were just ongoing the riot act from their earlier game against Mumbai Indians.

Vijay reach his hundred in 51 balls and was run-out on the final ball of the 1st innings. It was a remorseless show through and through – a display befitting the most dominate team across the short history of the match – and reminiscent of the destruction Vijay had caused in the 2011 IPL final. Can he do it again on Sunday against KKR? Or will Sunil Narine derail the Chennai juggernaut and prevent a hat-trick of titles? We shall know quickly.

Man of the match

  Murali Vijay

Tomorrow Match

Chennai Super Kings Vs kolkata Knight Riders.

Final, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, 27 May 2012 08:00 Pm

Super Kings Stunning Beat in Mumbai

BANGALORE: Lucky. Kissed by fortune. Favored by fate. Whatever! Count Chennai Super Kings out at your own peril. After creation the play-offs following a string of happy results, the defending champions overcame a disastrous start to defeat Mumbai Indians by 38 runs in the Eliminator at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday night.

Chennai Super Kings will next play Delhi Daredevils in the Qualifier - a near semifinal - at their stronghold, the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, on Friday. The winner of that game will meet Kolkata Knight Riders in the final match of IPL- Wednesday, Chennai were sent in to bat by Harbhajan Singh and found themselves in hot water within the 1st 8balls of the match. They were two down for 1 run, with M. Vijay and Suresh Raina back to back in the pavilion, and the ball swinging cruelly late, when they engineered an amazing turnaround.

Super Kings steady the boat through Michael Hussey (49) and S. Badrinath (47), and then benefited from a jaw-dropping display of power hitting from skipper M.S. Dhoni (51, 20b) and Dwayne Bravo (33 runs 4b) The conclusive assault bring in 105 runs from the last 8 overs, as captain cool and Bravo went crazy, adding 73 in just 29 balls and taking Chennai to a gargantuan 187-5.

The most successful IPL permit then tided over Dwayne Smith’s early fireworks in the chase to trounce Mumbai expansively, the chase having virtually ended when the pursuer found themselves 5 down for less than hundred, all their stars back in the dugout. Bravo had a brilliant day in the field, 1st sparkling with the bat and adding 2 wickets to his haul when Mumbai took guard.

The Champions League T20 winners were never in the hunt except for a brief period when Smith was going after Ben Hilfenhaus – who had an unusual off-day – but when Sachin Tendulkar sacrificed his wicket for Smith in a brainless run-out, the chase faltered irreversibly, ending in a rash of wickets resulting from the pressure of a sky-high asking rate.

The match was really about what Chennai did when they took 1st strike. Harbhajan, criticize through the match for under-bowling himself, opened events by restricting Hussey and Vijay to just one off the 1st over. Vijay continued his indifferent form when he edged Dhaval Kulkarni’s late away swinger to Rohit Sharma at 1st slip. On the next ball, Suresh Raina went for a drive on the off-side and chopped the ball on to the stumps for a golden duck out.

Within the first 8 balls of the match, Chennai were on the back-foot in this most critical of matches. Harbhajan followed up his one-run opening over with a maiden to Hussey and the pressure on Chennai mounted, but Hussey and Badrinath made the best of their chances to resurrect the torn innings.

Badrinath edges Kulkarni a couple of times to the boundary and shattered the same bowler to the long on fence. Hussey got off the mark on the 9th ball he faced, but switched gears when R.P. Singh came on to bowl. The Aussie crunch 3 fours – one of which was chancily feathered wide of first slip – to catch up on his strike rate.

Malinga was introduced and Hussey welcomed him with a four caress through the off-side. Chennai reached 61 for 2 in 10 overs as Bhajji played around with the bowling changes. But when the captain Dhoni came on again to bowl – in the 11th of the innings – he was ill-treated by Badrinath and Hussey, who clouted a six each and took 19 from the over.

Badrinath looked good for a fifty in his return game but he skied Kieron Pollard to long-on where he was taken by Rohit for 47. Hussey and Ravindra Jadeja departed quickly after, and then began the most brutal phase of the innings as the last 8 overs of the innings conceded 105 runs. Dhoni flick the first ball he faced to the mid-wicket fence and waded into the flurry of full-length delivery that Mumbai bowlers accessible him. James Franklin was massacred over long-on for the main hit of IPL-V – all the way for 112 metres.

The Power play hero Kulkarni was clobbered straight past his head. Then the India captain launched into a helicopter shot (112 m) off Malinga over that came to rest in the stands. Dhoni reached his 50 in 20 balls. It was fearless, nerveless hitting as Bravo joined his skipper in a carnage that produced 73 runs in just 29 balls. The highlight of Bravo's knock was a banana peel ‘six that he powered, off-balance, against Kulkarni in the final over. What Sooper hitting! Whatay Sooper team! Delhi Daredevils had better watch out.

Man of the match

MS Dhoni

Tomorrow Match

Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils

8:00pm

Kolkata gallop into 1st Time IPL final

PUNE: His bizarre antics can lastly be appended to a reason. Shahrukh Khan bounded about like a rabbit on speed, hugging his teammates on the field of play – Yes! He was allowed to enter the arena on this occasion – as his permit Kolkata Knight Riders strode into their 1st IPL final, after outplaying Delhi Daredevils by 18 runs in the ‘Qualifier 1’ on Tuesday night.

Spin-heavy Kolkata batted 1st, pulled themselves up to 162-4, thanks to Yusuf Pathan’s and Balaji Shukla late onslaught, and then stalled Delhi on 144-8 with their battery of bowlers – mainly the confounding mystery spinner Sunil Narine and expert seamer Jacques Kallis, both of whom had match figures of 4-0-24-2.Delhi has another chance of making the last when they play the winner of the Mumbai Indians-Chennai Super Kings eliminator.

In chase of a tricky target, Delhi suffered a massive hinder when David Warner was out to a horrible caught-behind decision off Shakib Al Hasan in the 2nd over of the chase. Virender Sehwag, back after sitting out with an illness, followed soon after, slashing a wide Balaji deliverance to the ‘keeper. With 2 of their most dangerous batsmen out, Delhi faced a mammoth task ahead, but were bring back in contention with a 59-run partnership between Mahela Jayewardene (40) and Naman Ojha (29).

The alliance ended when Ojha cut Rajat Bhatia directly to point, and the death knell was sound when Jayewardene charged Iqbal Abdullah only to be stumped – after a minor fumble – by Brendon McCollum. Delhi needed 54 runs in 5 overs at that stage and a cascade of wickets resulted as the batsmen went after the spinners. Really, the chase was never on after Ross Taylor was demoting to below Pawan Negi in the batting order. Earlier, KKR, safe in the information that they contained 3 spinners in their eleven, batted 1st on a pitch with more than reasonable turn and grip.

Delhi’s attack comprise three quicks and Gambhir took an immediate liking to them, provided his team a blistering start with a 16-ball 32.Gambhir began with a pulled maximum off Umesh Yadav and tore into Varun Aaron for 6 and 4 in the last over of the Power play. Failure struck in the same over when the Kolkata captain was run out. He thumps Varun to mid-off, and was late returning to the crease after having backed up too far. A straight hit from Venugopal Rao found Gambhir short of his ground, and the wicket pegged KKR back.

The next 10 overs yield just 58 runs as Brendon McCollum (31) and Jacques Kallis (32) struggled to go faster. Left-arm spinner Negi slipped in his overs for precious little and picked up the New Zealander with bright turn, as he sliced one high into the night sky and was taken smartly by Warner.In the next over, Shakib edged Irfan Pathan to the ‘keeper and soon after Kallis walked off when he pull Umesh down Taylor’s throat. The 3 fast wickets stalled KKR and they would have been in fall were it not for Yusuf and Laxmi Shukla.

Yusuf shrugged off his uncaring season to partner Shukla for 56 runs in just four overs. The burly right-hander cream Morkel for a straight 6and powered boundaries off Umesh. Shukla too chip in, lofting Morkel for four and implementation a savage pull for maximum gain against the same bowler.

The final over, bowled by Varun Aaron, was a run fest. Warner dropped Yusuf at long-on and conceded a six instead as the ball sailed over the ropes. Yusuf smack vicious cover drives off the very last 2 deliveries, both to the fence, taking the cost of the final over to 21. Kolkata ended with 162 – a massive total consider the nature of the wicket.

Man of the match

Yusuf Pathan

Today Match

Super Kings v Mum Indians (20:00 local | 14:30 GMT)

IPL Thrilling Climax This Week

The I P L heads for a thrilling climax this week when the play-offs take place to decide the champions of this season popular T20 tournament.

The 5th edition of the glitzy cash-rich event is already being hailed as the most moving ever despite off-field troubles as packed houses watched beguiling cricket over the past 6 weeks. The last spot in the play-offs was decided in Sunday's last but one match of the 72-game league as defensive champions Chennai Super Kings sneaked through while Royal Challengers Bangalore were stunned by unfancied Deccan Chargers.

Table-toppers Delhi Daredevils will take on number 1 Kolkata Knight Riders in the 1st play-off in Pune on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the May 27 final in Chennai. The Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, the 3rd and 4th teams in the league, will face-off in Bangalore on Wednesday with the scum being knocked out of the race The loser of the 1st play-off will then meet the winner of the 2nd in Chennai on Friday to determine the 2nd finalist.

The play-off system rewards constancy over seven weeks, said IPL chairman Raj Shukla. One bad day in the office does not ruin a team's chances. The winner of Sunday's name clash at the Chidambaram stadium in Chennai will pocket $2 million and the runner-up will get $1.5 million. The 3rd-placed team will get a direct entry into the Champions League to be held in India in October among the top domestic Twenty20 clubs from about the world.

Delhi Daredevils, led by Sehwag and featuring Sri Lankan veteran Jayewardene and South African fast bowler Morne Morkel, have shown consistent form by winning 11 of their 16 league matches. But the Knight Riders will fancy their chances on a slow Pune wicket ideal for their West Indies Sunil Narine, whose haul of 22 wickets this season is 2nd only to Morkel's tally of 25.

You can't predict what will happen in a T20 game, but we have faith in ourselves, said Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir. We want to succeed this one for the people of Kolkata. Mumbai Indians, featuring the inspiring Sachin Tendulkar, bounced back after a shaky start to end 3rd and set up an intriguing clash against India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings.

We must not waste the s2nd life given to us, said Dhoni. We must execute our plans well as Mumbai will come hard at us. Among a series of scandals to hit the match has been police charges against Australian Luke Pomersbach, who played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, over supposedly molest a woman and beating up her fiancé.

5 Indian players signed to IPL teams were also suspended after an undercover TV report alleged they were ready to take money for spot-fixing.

Rajasthan knocked out, Deccan wins lastly

Hyderabad: Former champions Rajasthan Royals were knocked out of the 5th of Indian Premier League following their 5-wicket defeat by Deccan Chargers at Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on Friday. It was lastly a moment of celebrations for the home team as chase a modest target of 127; they notched up a success with 1.2 overs to spare.

The result put an end to series of defeat for the home side but made little dissimilarity to their position. They are already out of the race for the play-offs. With 5 points from 15 matches, the Chargers still languish at the bottom with the last match against Royal Challengers Bangalore listed at the same ground on Sunday. For the  Rajasthan Royals, the loss wealth finishes of the road for a place in play-offs. They have 14 points from 15 matches and a succeed in the last match against Mumbai Indians would not help them.

Buckling under the force of a must-win situation, the Royals crumbled to 126 after winning the toss. After imposing bowling, Chargers' batting came up good to snatch the much-needed victory. Ashish Reddy hit 2successive fours of Shaun Tait to overcome some nervous moments and seal the win for his team. The opening partnership of 63 between Reddy and Shikhar Dhawan, adding 58 in the power play, helped Chargers to reach the target. JP Duminy chip in with 24 off 31 balls.

The openers gave a flying start with Dhawan beating Chandila for a six over long-on, followed up by a sweep for four to notch up 11 runs in the 1st over. Dhawan, one of the leading run-scorer this season, then enthusiastic Tait for a 6 behind the wicket keeper. The 1st breakthrough for the visitors came in the 9th over when Johan Botha had Dhawan caught by Chandila. Reddy was the next to go as he tried to brush it away but got a leading edge and Owais Shah took a good catch by running back.

Skipper Cameron White (1) did not last long as he gave a return catch to Chandila. At this stage, Royals tried to put some force with tight bowling and fielding but in the end their total proved to be too meager to defend. Trivedi claimed 2 for 20 while Chandila, Botha and Binny bagged a wicket each.Earlier, an impressive bowling presentation by Chargers limited the Royals to 126 for eight. Dale Steyn's 2 for 14, Amit Mishra's 2 for 20 and a fine display by other bowlers abridged the visitors to the lowest score this season.

Elect to bat after winning the toss on what looked to be a good batting track, the Royal' top-order misshapen before disciplined bowling attack of the home team. Barring Captain Rahul Dravid (39 off 26) and Owais Shah (28 off 32), who showed some resistance; none of the batsmen could endure the fiery spells by Steyn, Mishra and Gony (1 for 26). Veer Pratap Singh also chipped in with two for 31.The 35-run partnership for the 5th wicket between Shah and Ashok Menaria (20 off 17) was the only highlight of the Rajasthan innings. Dravid's knock of 39 off 26 balls was studded with 5 fours out of the total 10 boundaries in the innings.

The visitors also failed to capitalize on 3 dropped catches and some sloppy fielding by Chargers, who were led by White as Kumar Sangakkara opted out after a rather poor period with the bat. Royals had a disastrous start with Rahane departing in the 2nd over as Steyn had him caught in the slip by Dhawan. Watson survives narrowly in the 5th over when Dhawan could not hold on to a head1st catch off Gony at mid-on. Dravid survived the next delivery as Ashish Reddy attempt a difficult overhead catch.

Amit Mishra then gave his team a key get through as he clean up Watson for 13 (1x4, 1x6) on his very 1st delivery which spinned away to hit the off-stump. Mishra in his next over deceived Binny (7) to one more beauty which uprooted the stumps. Playing the captain's knock, Dravid held on to the other end. However, in an effort to give some force to the scoring, he was caught by Chris Lynn off Gony near the boundary line.

Man of the match

Dale Steyn

Today Match

Kings XI v Daredevils (16:00 local | 10:30 GMT)

Warriors v KKR (20:00 local | 14:30 GMT)

Gayle and Kohli New record T20 match

May-16:Chris Gayle is a man in desperate need of a challenge. Bowlers in T20 competition around the world have failed to give him one. Back home in the Caribbean, on the bouncy wickets of Australia or the level ones in Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, and most of all in the IPL, the big Jamaican has butchered one attack after another. It’s hard to fathom what bowlers have been doing wrong.

His run-scoring has been formulaic: settle down, see off the new ball, and let the weaker bowlers come on, turn off Bruce Banner, turn on Hulk, and go smash. That’s closely what happened today. Briefly, Umesh Yadav seemed to have found the magic mantra to keep Gayle quiet. Yadav bowled short of length around off-stump, swinging away from the left-hander.

The absurd happened: Gayle played a maiden over. It has got to be one of the bowling moments of the match. Gayle took his time. He moved to 10 off 17 balls. He hit a couple of sixes over long-on, reached 38 in 34. Still slow by his standard. Delhi had completed a pretty good holding job till then with their off-stump line. But their wheels quickly came off. Gayle took 62 off his next 19 balls for the hundred, and 90 in all off his 28. In those 19 balls, Parvinder Negi was hit into the stands 4times and Irfan Pathan thrice in an over. These were all hit in the arc between open place leg and long-off.

Jayewardene, standing in for the ill Sehwag, brought back Yadav, who went back to his off-stump line. This time it didn’t work. Gayle smashed him for sixes over extra-cover and point. The best of Gayle’s IPL record-equaling 13 sixes today was his final of the innings. Varun Aaron bowled him a quick yorker outside off-stump, but erred by giving him the least width. Gayle dug it out and guides it over the point boundary. There was nowhere you could bowl to him today. The 2nd highest score in the game today was Virat Kohli’s 73. Gayle scored more in sixes alone. Their 2nd-wicket stand of 204 is a T20 record.

What sets Gayle apart from most big hitters of the game is his fuss-free advance to drumming sixes. There’s no fancy footwork, no attempt to hoodwink the bowlers by changing his grip or stance. There’s little or no premeditation. As he said after the game, the decision to go for 6 is left for the last moment. His reach is big, his arms strong, his bat as big and important as William Wallace’s sword, and the boundaries nearly not big enough. If the ball lands in his swinging zone, it will be punish. And he needn’t even go full throttle at it. Batsmen these days are only too keen to express delight after hitting a six. They break into a laugh, brag to their partner about how they did it, and in general looked pleased.Virat  Kohli at the other end surely did.

Gayle on the other hand leftovers in his character: you can’t tell from his stone-faced countenance if he’s just got out or just hit the bowler for 5 sixes in an over. Gayle has 706 runs in 13 innings in IPL5, with 57 sixes. The next man is 160 runs at the back. In all T20 cricket, Gayle has 3943 runs in 106 games. He has the most hundreds (8) and the highest average for anyone with over 1,000 runs (43.81). He has the most sixes and averages a six every 9 balls. No other T20 batsman with a standard above 40 has a strike rate above 150. If Gayle is not the Bradman of the straight format, he certainly is its Hammond.

But these imposing numbers would count for little if Bangalore fails to win their final league game. Luckily, they will play it in Hyderabad, Deccan Chargers’ bogey venue. Winning there may help them scrape during to the play-offs with 19 points. Afterward, Gayle needs to do what no one has for the Royal Challengers: win them an IPL final.

Man of the match

Chris Gayle

Today match

Chargers v Royals at Hyderabad

May 18, 2012 (20:00 local | 14:30 GMT)

Super Kings defeat to Punjab

Dharamsala: Kings XI Punjab severely dented the chances of Chennai Super Kings qualify for the play-offs and kept them in the reckoning with a convincing 6-wicket win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the picturesque HPCA Stadium on Thursday.

Captain Adam Gilchrist, making a comeback to the Kings XI set-up after a constrain injury kept him out of 9 matches, scored an unbeaten 64 of 46 balls to carry his team past the 121-run target set by Chennai. Thus, Kings XI (16 points) moved into the 5th position behind Chennai (17). Punjab has to play table-toppers Delhi Daredevils while Chennai have completed all their 16 games. 2 wickets each by Praveen Kumar, Azhar Mahmood and Parvinder Awana helped Kings XI restrict Super Kings to a paltry total of 120 for 7 and gain 2 crucial points.

Mandeep Singh (24) and Gilchrist gave their team a lively start, scoring 51 in 6 overs, before the Indian youngster got castled by Albie Morkel. In the absence of Shaun Marsh, Punjab's batting line-up looked thin in star power. Nitin Saini (1) and David Hussey (9) put their team in a spot of bother by getting out in speedy succession.Gilchrist, however, held his end up, hitting out forcefully. He exploded towards the end, scoring 22 runs of Yo Mahesh's 15th over and that sealed the succeed for Punjab.

Put in on a pitch with a greenish tinge, defensive champions Chennai lost Murali Vijay (10) and Michael Hussey (7) without much on the board. Suresh Raina, who is the only player yet to miss a match in the IPL, smacks Mahmood for 2 sixes. However, he fell caught behind in the same over while slash at a wide ball. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who promotes himself up the order, again played a dreary innings scoring six off 16 balls.

West Indian Dwayne Bravo came to the let go of Super Kings when his team was reeling at 46 for four in the 11th over. He played a watchful innings of 48 off 43 balls, stringing small partnerships with Ravindra Jadeja (13) and Morkel (14) as Chennai stutter to a below par score.

Man of the match

Adam Gilchrist

Bowlers Stunning Kolkata is gone top

MUMBAI: Kolkata Knight Riders entrapped Mumbai Indians in a web of deceit as ‘mystery’ spinner Sunil Narine weave for them a 32-run win at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

Kolkata were sent in to bat and struggled to 140-7 in their owed quota, after which they scuppered Mumbai’s chase with usual wickets. The star actor for Shahrukh Khan’s permit was young Sunil Narine, who proved impossible to read even for the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, and ended with match figures of four for 15. He was support admirably, for once, by Lakshmipathy Balaji, who took 2 for 11 from 4 tight over’s.

The win lifted KKR to the 2nd spot on the table with 19 points - one behind league best Delhi Daredevils, a place in the play-offs now written in stone. For this most pleasant result, KKR should thank their bowlers. Chasing an apparently innocuous 141, Mumbai lost Herschelle Gibbs early – leg-before to Iqbal Abdullah - and were stupefied when Narine got a searing off-break to clatter into Tendulkar’s stumps. Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu, losses of frank indiscretion, followed quickly after, and when Kieron Pollard was caught behind off a short Jacques Kallis delivery, Mumbai were in plummet.

They lost their last 6 wickets for 12 runs, as Narine lured Harbhajan Singh with a delivery that spun away, and Rohit Sharma with one that straightened. Nobody display the stomach to hang around, and KKR romped home when R.P. Singh hocked Narine to deep mid-wicket, where he was immovable by Abdullah, as Mumbai folded for 108 in the 20th over. Kolkata, however, had begun the match terribly. They were jolted by an abominable leg-before decision and an R.P. Singh ripper as they lost two key batsmen in the 2nd over of the 1st innings, after Mumbai selected to field.

On a wicket not fairly conducive to shot-making, the visitors were pegged back by the early on double blow, and although Manoj Tiwary attempt a restructuring of the innings, Kolkata had to satisfy themselves with a total – their lowly of the season - that seemed inadequate against the might of Mumbai’s batting.R.P. Singh made early inroads and his 1st success was more fortuitous that anything else. Opener Brendon McCollum charged down the pitch and was struck on the pads.

The ball had inclined outside leg, the batsman too was a mile out of the crease, yet umpire Subroto Das raise his finger for a dreadful decision, sending the disappointed New Zealander on his way.On the next ball, R.P. knocked back Kallis' off stump, putting Kolkata in a right spot with 2 wickets down in the 2nd over. Gautam Gambhir, the man in form, also struggle for runs. He was handed 2 reprieves - by the wicketkeeper and by Tendulkar - and was lastly bowled by Kieron Pollard on 27.

Manoj Tiwary hung around, intersperse a rash of singles with a couple of fours and sixes, and was out after scoring 41. Yusuf Pathan did valuable little to salvage his poor season. The strong hitter was handed a quasi ‘life’ when he was caught off an R.P. Singh no-ball, but could not build on it, final with a laborious unbeaten 21.

Man of the match

Sunil Narine

Today Match

Kings XI v Super Kings (16:00 local | 10:30 GMT)

Daredevils v RCB (20:00 local | 14:30 GMT)

Delhi beat Kings XI Punjab by 5 wickets

NEW DELHI: Delhi Daredevils became the first team to cement their place in the play-offs as they bested Kings XI Punjab by 5 wickets on a seamer-friendly wicket at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Tuesday night.

Delhi’s 10match win of the season elevated them to 20 points, and was brought about by their young Indian bowler Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav, who controlled Punjab to 136-8, and Mahela Jayewardene, who lastly came excellent with an unbeaten 49-ball 56 as he guided his team home in the chase with an over to spare. The understanding of victory was not really straightforward. Delhi lost David Warner early, and then Parvinder Awana rocked them with 3 fast wickets – of Sehwag, Venugopal Rao and Ross Taylor, leaving the home side tottering on 37-4 in the 6th over.

penultimate over of the chase Jayewardene steady the ship with Naman Ojha (34) and then collaborate with Irfan Pathan to make certain that no last-gasp vagaries were allowable to creep in. Delhi needed 26 in 18 balls when parvinder Awana returned for his last over and what a turnaround in fortunes he experience. Pathan brutalizes the medium pacer for 3 boundaries, reducing the requirement radically. And then Jayewardene ended the game in style, by cracking three straight fours in Azhar Mahmood’s.The respective and possible gain from the match was known in black and white before the match.

Delhi needed to win one of three remaining games to make the next point, while Punjab needed to win all their remaining fixtures to stay in the hunt. As it happened, Delhi went through, and Punjab was left with a host of arithmetical possibilities, but little else. Punjab had earlier fended off Delhi’s pacemen to post 136-8, despite – or because of – a regular loss of wickets. In this 1st meeting between the teams in IPL-V, David Hussey played the lone hand for Kings XI with an unbeaten 40, as Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav picked up 5 wickets in 8 overs, giving away just 40 runs.

Punjab had progress to 24 without loss when the first one fell, as Varun had Shaun Marsh caught on the leg side off his 1st ball. In his next over, the young tear-away accounted for Mandeep Singh, who was pouched by Sehwag at mid-wicket. Still, Punjab reached 50in the 7th over, and looked good for a spirited total before Umesh Yadav came on to bowl in the 8 over of the innings. Almost right away, Umesh struck, striking as Nitin Saini hit out loosely at a speedy away-moving delivery to be caught at slip.

Much depended on David Miller, but the South African was run-out by a direct hit from Pawan Negi. And when Azhar Mahmood holed out to Umesh, Punjab were gone without any dependable batsman to maintain Hussey in the middle.Gurkeerat Singh, the man in charge for a match-winning cameo against Deccan Chargers, was good for a couple of boundaries, but he too departed soon – out stumped against the left-arm spin of Negi.

All this while, Hussey had cruised along; ensure that his team had great to defend. But the total that Punjab ended with was never going to be enough, despite Delhi losing their top batsmen with barely everything on the board.

Man of the match

Umesh Yadav

Mum Indians v KKR (20:00 local | 14:30 GMT)

Chennai Beat Kolkata by Five Wickets

KOLKATA: Not for nothing are Chennai Super Kings double defending champions of the IPL. Faced again with the task of winning their remaining matches for survival, Chennai yawed and swayed between opposite outcomes before Dwayne Bravo’s last-ball six brought them a very important 5-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders, at the Eden Gardens on Monday night.

Kolkata were limited to 158 after they had got off to a solid start and Chennai began their chase splendidly, riding on a 97-run opening partnership between Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay, only to lose their way in the center. The visitors lost 4 wickets, including those of the well-set Hussey and Vijay on the matching score for just 30 runs in a span of nearly 7overs.

The ask rate kept mounting and with 2 overs left, Chennai needed 27 to win as captain M.S. Dhoni took strike against South Africa seamer Marchant de Lange. Dhoni bullied the 1st delivery right over the bowler’s head for 4. The 2nd too found the fence – drill to mid-wicket – and captain brave swung the 3rd ball over long-on for six. De Lange went on to grant 18, but when Dhoni was out on the 2nd ball of Rajat Bhatia’s final over of the match, Chennai appear to have blown their chance.

Five were needed off the final delivery as Bhatia served up a full-toss, which Bravo thankfully clobbered beyond long-on, causing Gautam Gambhir’s facial features to freeze threateningly and pulling Chennai up to fourth place with 17 points – their IPL-V dreams very much alive. Earlier, KKR suffer from a middle order implosion, sliding from 99 without loss to 128 for 5, before ending with a middling 158. Captain Gambhir continual his excellent form racing to 62 off just 43 balls.

His opening Brendon McCollum was run-out and in the after that over Gambhir too departed – playing on against Shadab Jakati.With both the set batsmen dismissed, Chennai began to tense things in the field. Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan and Manoj Tiwary were all out in a hurry and it was gone to Debabrata Das’ neat little cameo to pull Kolkata up to 158.

A win would have taken Shahrukh Khan’s franchise to 1st place on the points table, but the loss ensures that Kolkata complete the night third, one above the team that hoodwink them for a 5-wicket win at the Eden Gardens.

Man of the match

Michael Hussey

Daredevils v Kings XI (20:00 local | 14:30 GMT)

Rayudu and Pollard Stunning Mumbai Fantastic Win

BANGALORE: Ambati Rayudu 81runs not out. And Kieron Pollard 52 runs not out. Pulled off an amazing chase on Monday evening as Mumbai Indians overcome an early implosion to gun down the 172 target they were set by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

After Mayank Agarwal firework lifted Bangalore to 171 in the rain-delayed 1st innings, Mumbai looked down for the count in their chase. They were 51-5 in the 9th over – with Sachin Tendulkar duck out. Herschelle Gibbs, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Smith back in the pavilion – when Rayudu and Pollard got jointly, and refused to get out.

The pair added 122 in fewer than 12 overs for the 6th wicket, garnering their team a thrilling succeed that took the CLT20 Champions to 2nd place on the points table. Rayudu and Pollard began carefully, but augmented their approach as things hurtled towards a frenetic end. Pollard initiates the carnage by hammering succeeding sixes off left-arm spinner K.P. Appanna in the 11th over.

Still, 57 were needed from the final 4 overs when Zaheer Khan came on for his 3rd and was unceremoniously carted for 16. In the next, Rayudu tore into Vinay Kumar, a sequence of 6, 4, and 6 restructuring the equation somewhat in the favour of the chaser. Zaheer return for his last over – the penultimate of the match – and restricted the rampage duo to just nine runs, leaving 14 as the last-over target.

Gayle was entrusting with the blame of turning his arm over. Rayudu ran a single upfront, leaving the stage to Pollard, who flicked a wristy six, benefited from a chancy 4 and then pulled another 4to the mid-wicket fence to hand Mumbai a 5-wicket win, with two balls to spare. Earlier, Bangalore surmounts the cheap loss of its stars, Gayle and A.B. de Villiers, to post a healthy 171. The home team was struggling on 87-4 in the 12th over, before fantastic hitting by Mayank Agarwal pulled them up to a spirited total.

Agarwal whipped up a anger in his 30-ball 64 – his 1st IPL fifty – and provided the last flourish by massacre Munaf Patel for 24 in the last over of the innings The match was delayed by an hour due to rain, and soon after start Gayle played on to Munaf. More trouble followed for Bangalore when Gibbs, all of 38 years, engineered the run-out of Virat Kohli, who fell as greatly to the South African’s agility as to a mix-up and a slip on the turf.

The home team was 13 for 2 after 4, when Munaf single-handedly turned things just about by conceding a spate of free hits in a protracted over that leaked 21. But just as Tillakaratne Dilshan and Saurabh Tiwary were steadying the ship, the latter was hit-wicket as he trod on his stumps.Dilshan struggle to find the boundary and scored a sedate 47, and when de Villiers hit Pollard straight to Malinga, Bangalore were gone without anybody to give them a decisive push.

Or so we thought, until Agarwal unleash a deluge of big hits, taking his team from 134-6 to 171-6 in the space of 12 balls. Not even Malinga was spared as Agarwal crashed a 4 and 6 off the Sri Lanka paceman, and then waded into Munaf in the final over as Bangalore ended with a high, only to come crashing down when the Rayudu-Pollard combine outdid them in the middle.

Man of the match

Ambati Rayudu

Super Kings win by four-wicket

JAIPUR: A contest between previous champions, neither of whom could afford to lose, went the way of the side that played the endgame better. And no prizes for guess which team that was.

Chennai Super Kings held their nerve to squeeze out a 4-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals. The defending champions limited Royals to 126 after electing to field, thanks to Ben Hilfenhaus tight bowling, and then tided over a flurry of dismissal and a swelling asking rate to smash the 47 runs that were needed in the last 4 overs. With Chennai’s top-order back in the pavilion, Albie Morkel and Anirudha Srikkanth, playing his first game of IPL-V, added 43 in just 11 balls to reel in an unlikely win.

Morkel took the attack to Pankaj Singh, and then in the company of Anirudha Srikkanth cream 18 runs off Shane Watson’s 18th over. Shaun Tait came on to basin the 19th, with 12 needed in as many deliveries, and was greeted with a six, clubbed implacably by Anirudha. On the following ball, Srikkanth Jr. was bowled, but as luck would have it, Tait had overstepped. The next one from the Aussie speedster went scurry down the leg side for 5 wides, handing Chennai a succeed after a topsy-turvy outing at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Morkel and Anirudha both finished with an identical, unbeaten 18 (6balls, 1x4, 2x6).

Previous, Super Kings chose – surprise, surprise! - to field and limited Royals in an innings intervallic by three breaks for rainy weather, as Ben Hilfenhaus bowled his quota of 4 for just 8 runs, while picking up 2 wickets.Dhoni’s decision to field was vindicated by his fast bowlers, who turned in brilliant opening spells. The player’s troop off after the 1st ball as it began to light rain and when play resumed Hilfenhaus lured Rahul Dravid into a pull, the resultant top edge taken gratefully at mid-ff.

Hilfenhaus struck again when he had a struggling Shane Watson caught superbly at third man by R. Ashwin. Yo Mahesh got rid of Ajinkya Rahane, who tried to go faster and was out playing across the line. Stuart Binny sparkled for a moment, creaming boundaries and six off a naughty Bravo, before he holed out to mid-wicket. Brad Hodge and Johan Botha provide the innings some matter as they combined for 32, but Royals still ended with their lowest score of the season – one that proved deficient against the late assault that Morkel and Anirudha wreaked upon their bowlers.

Man of the match:

Ben Hilfenhaus

Today Match

Warriors v RCB (20:00 local | 14:30 GMT)

Delhi Daredevils' was big win

HYDERABAD: What happens when the possible champions meet the laggards? What else, but total annihilation! David Warner short-lived 54-ball 109 helped Delhi Daredevils inflict upon Deccan Chargers a massive 9-wicket succeeds that take them again to the top of the points table.

Having batted 1st and posted 187-4, thanks to Shikhar Dhawan and Cameron White, Deccan would have careful half the job done. They could even be excused for assume that it was all over once captain Virender Sehwag departed in the 1st over of the chase. But the home team had taken the field with no a single overseas bowler and paid heavily for that, as Daredevils gunned down the target with 20 balls to spare.

It didn’t help that Warner was in a mainly vicious mood. As a result, whatever Chargers had ended in their innings, Delhi did one better. The pint-sized Aussie gather his runs at a frenetic pace, starting with fours off Dhawan and success a pinnacle of demolition against Ashish Reddy, as the seamer accepted 20 in the 6th over. Warner joint with Naman Ojha (64, 46b) for 189 runs in 16.2 overs in an unbroken 2nd-wicket partnership.

He biffed sixes off most of Deccan’s attack and reached his 2nd IPL and 5th Twenty20 century in style, pulling another maximum off Ankit Sharma. The Warner-Ojha alliance totally overshadowed the 126-run connection between Dhawan and White, and brought Delhi back to the top of the table, where they replaced Kolkata Knight Riders. Deccan had earlier posted 187-4, thanks to their most consistent batsmen this season – Dhawan and White. The pair added runs at almost eleven per over as the home side shrugged off a normal start to go faster menacingly in the final 10overs.

After Kumar Sangakkara selected to bat, Chargers were 64 for the loss of opener Daniel Harris and captain Sangakkara. Dhawan opened the sluice-gates by cracking successive sixes off Shahbaz Nadeem and then wading into Irfan Pathan for 16 runs in the 13th over.Andre Russel, making his IPL debut, wasn’t spared either. The West Indian approved a hat-trick of fours to end with a wicket-less 39 from 4 overs. Morne Morkel came back after the Strategic timeout, and he too was taken to the cleaners – a 4 to fine-leg, another during point and a deadly 6 carted over mid-wicket.

Dhawan was run-out by a straight throw from fine-leg in the 18th over, and White full in by launching into Pathan again for maximum gain. The last 10overs yielded Chargers 123 runs, as Delhi bowlers insist on erring on the fuller side. And yet the whole failed to challenge Warner in the outline of mind he was in.

Man of the match:

David Warner