IPL Matches Discussion [Archive]

Nadeem

04-23-2008, 08:58 AM

http://geo.tv/4-22-2008/eng/4-22-2008_17152_l.gif

HYDERABAD DECCAN: Delhi Daredevils recorded their second consecutive win at ease in the seventh Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.

Set a winning target of 143 runs by Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils easily achieved it in only 13 overs for the loss of one wicket here at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

This was all due to captain Virendar Sehwag’s hurricane innings of 94 not out from just 41 balls with ten fours and six sixes.

After Gautam Ghambir (12) left at 31, Sehwag along with Shikhar Dhawan 25 not out), made 112 runs off just 57 balls for an unbeaten second wicket stand.

Earlier, Deccan Chargers won the toss and elected to bat but they lost their top order batsmen for only 82 runs in 16 overs.

However, Rohit Sharma’s explosive 66 off just 36 balls made a great recovery for his team after star batsmen failed to score. He smashed six fours and four sixes.

Sharma along with tail-enders added 60 runs in just four overs to reach 142-8 in the allotted 20 overs.

Pace-men Mohammad Asif, Rajat Bhatia and Farveez Mahroof claimed two wickets each.

Deccan Challengers did not win any match so far as they lost both their early matches.

Geo Super telecast the match live from Rajiv Gandhi stadium, Hyderabad Deccan.

Nadeem

04-24-2008, 01:43 AM

http://static.cricketnext.com/pix/sitepix/04_2008/haydenharbhajan_ipl313.jpg

Chennai: Mumbai Indians stand-in skipper Harbhajan Singh and young left-hander Abhishek Nayar brought their side to within shouting distance of the huge Chennai Superkings total.
Chasing 209 for a win, Mumbai ended at 202-7, with Nayar remaining unbeaten on 45 off 20 balls, while Harbhajan contributed 28 off 14 balls.
With this win, Chennai have four pooints from two games while Mumbai are yet to open their account.

Earlier, Matthew Hayden and Suresh Raina were involved in a 104-run third wicket partnership, which helped Superkings score 208-5.
Hayden scored an attacking 81 while Raina contributed 53 runs. Mahendra Singh Dhoni chipped in with a quickfire 30 as the hapless Mumbai bowlers were taken to task by all the Chennai batsmen.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians went into their second Indian Premier League match, again with their iconic player and captain Sachin Tendulkar, still out of action with a groin injury. Mumbai stand-in skipper Harbhajan Singh won the toss and elected to field on the placid M.A. Chidambaram Stadium pitch here.

Nadeem

04-25-2008, 01:20 PM

http://geo.tv/4-24-2008/eng/4-24-2008_17249_l.gif

HYDERABAD DECCAN : Rajasthan Royals defeated Deccan Chargers by three wickets in an exciting finish in the ninth match of the Indian Premier League’s Twenty20 tournament here on Thursday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad.

Chasing a tough target of 215 runs, the Rajasthan Royals passed through various ups and downs but ultimately they emerged victorious in the end with only one ball remaining.

They needed 17 runs when Andrew Symonds began the final over but the Rajahstan Royals captain Shane Warne hit a four off the fourth and a winning six off the fifth ball.

Warne remained unbeaten on 22, scored off nine balls with two fours and two sixes while his partner Pankaj Singh was four not out.

However, the main scorers were Graeme Smith (71) and Yousuf Pathan (61) while Mohammad Kaif hit 34 off 16 balls with three sixes and two fours.

Leg-spinner Shahid Afridi captured three wickets for 28 runs while Chaminda Vaas, RP Singh and Kalyankrishna took one wicket each.

Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals won the toss and decided to field against Deccan Chargers.

Andrew Symonds smashed an unbeaten century to help Deccan Chargers for setting the Rajasthan Royals a tough target of 215 runs in 20 overs.

Symonds made 117 not out off just 53 balls with seven sixes and eleven fours and dominated the Deccan Chargers innings of 214-5 in the allotted 20 overs.

Among others, no batsman could make any significant contribution except Rohit Sharma who made 36 off 30 balls with three fours and one six. He gave a valuable support to Symonds while adding 111 runs for the fourth wicket partnership.

Captain VVS Laxman (16), Arjun Yadav (16),Adam Gilchrist (13) and Shahid Afridi (10) were the other scorers.

From Rajasthan Royals, Yousuf Pathan and captain Shane Warne claimed two wickets each while Shane Watson took one wicket.

Geo Super telecast this interesting match live from Hyderabad Deccan.

Nadeem

04-26-2008, 01:43 AM

http://geo.tv/4-25-2008/eng/4-25-2008_17291_l.gif

MOHALI: Kings XI Punjab recorded their first victory in the Indian Premier League when they defeated Mumbai Indians by 66 runs on Friday here at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.

Chasing a moderate target of 183 runs, the Mumbai Indians were never looking comfortable against the Punjab bowlers and were restricted to 116 for nine in the allotted 20 overs.

This was the Kings XI Punjab’s first win whereas the Mumbai Indians failed to win any match so far in the tournament. They have now joined the Deccan Chargers at the bottom of the table with three out of three defeats.

None of the Punjab batsmen could make any prominent score as six of them failed to get into double figures.

Their main scorers were Dwayne Bravo (23), Shaun Pollock (22) and Robin Uthappa (21).

From Kings XI Punjab, Pyush Chawla (2-16), Irfan Pathan (2-19) and Sreesanth (2-31) were the main wicket-takers while Brett Lee and VRV Singh took one wicket each.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians won the toss and put Kings XI Punjab into batting who were all out for 182 runs playing the full quota of 20 overs in the tenth match of the IPL.

The architect of this score was Kumar Sangakkara who hit a magnificent 94 off just 56 balls with 13 fours and one six.

No other batsman could make any significant contribution and six players failed to get into double figures. Three of them got ducks.

From Mumbai Indians, captain Harbhajan Singh captured three wickets for 32 runs while Ashish Nehra and Dhawal Kulkarni claimed two wickets each.

Sachin Tendulkar, Mumbai's icon player, who just turned 35 yesterday, did not play this match either. He's still recovering from a groin injury.

In his absence, Harbhajan Singh captained the Mumbai Indians for third successive time.

Nadeem

04-27-2008, 12:41 AM

http://geo.tv/4-26-2008/eng/4-26-2008_17325_l.gif

CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings cruised to an easy victory by nine wickets against Kolkata Knight Riders in the eleventh match of the Indian Premier League on Saturday.

Chasing a moderate target of 148 runs, the Chennai Super Kings achieved it in 16.5 overs when captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni struck a six off Murali Kartik.

After losing the only wicket of Parthiv Patel (21) at the score of 66, opener Matthew Hayden and Dhoni took the score to 152 to get their team win the match by nine wickets here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk.

Hayden made 70 off 48 balls with six fours and three sixes while Dhoni scored 43 off 27 balls with three fours and two sixes. Both remained not out.

Kolkata captain Sourav Ganguly tried seven bowlers but none of theem could take any wicket except fast-medium bowler Ajit Agarkar who claimed the only wicket of the Chennai innings.

By winning their all three matches in the IPL, the Channai Super Kings is now leading the points table with six points where as the Kolkata Knight Riders lost for the first time after winning two successive matches in the tournament.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to bat first but could not bat confidently as the Chennai Super Kings with their fine bowling and superb fielding restricted Kolkata Knight Riders at 147 runs for nine wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Their top scorer was late-order batsman Laxmi Shukla, who made 42 off 33 balls with four boundaries and one six while wicketkeeper batsman Prasanta Saha scored 27 and opener Brendon McCullum contributed 24.

Mohammad Hafeez (16), Captain Saurov Ganguly (12) and Ajit Agarkar (11) were the only other batsmen who got into double figures.

Fast-medium bowler Jacob Oram captured three wickets for 32 while pacers Palany Amarnath and Manpreet Gony took two wickets each. Renowned off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan could not get any wicket but he conceded only 12 runs in four overs.

Nadeem

04-27-2008, 11:59 AM

http://geo.tv/4-26-2008/eng/4-26-2008_17333_l.gif

BANGALORE: Rajasthan Royals easily defeated Bangalore Royal Challengers by seven wickets in the 12th match of the Indian Premier League here on Saturday.

Chasing an easy target of 136 runs, the Royals completed their victory in 17.1 overs for the loss of three wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Shane Watson and Graeme Smith were the architects of the victory as they added 104 runs for the third wicket stand.

Watson remained unbeaten on 61 runs off 41 balls with eight fours and two sixes while opener Smith made 49 off 42 balls with eight fours.

From the Royal Challengers, Zaheer Khan, Sunil Joshi and Praveen Kumar took one wicket each.

Earlier, Shane Warne, captain of the Rajasthan Royals winning the toss put the Bangalore Royal Challengers into batting and restricted them at 135-8 in the allotted 20 overs.

Bangalore batsmen could not make a big score and were restricted at 135 runs for the loss of eight wickets at the.

Ross Taylor top scored with 44 runs off just 20 balls. He hit six fours and three sixes. The second top-scorer was Praveen Kumar, who made 34 off 30 balls with three sixes and two fours.

Shane Watson and Munaf Patel both claimed two wickets for 20 runs each from the Rajasthan Royals.

Geo Super telecast the match live from Bangalore.

Nadeem

04-27-2008, 11:27 PM

http://geo.tv/4-27-2008/eng/4-27-2008_17363_l.gif

MOHALI: Kings XI Punjab beat Delhi Daredevils by four wickets in the first match of Indian Premier League on Sunday at Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali.

Simon Katich sealed Punjab’s win with brilliant 75 including 11 fours and a six. Yuvraj Singh was another top contributor of Kings XI Punjab innings with undefeated 40.

Muhammad Asif captured two wickets for 39 runs for Delhi. McGrath, Shoaib Malik and Mahesh took one wicket each.

Earlier, Delhi Daredevils won the toss and batting first managed a total of 158 runs. Manoj Tiwary's battling innings of 39 were the highlight of Delhi innings. Kings XI attained the target with loss of six wickets in the final over with three deliveries remaining.

Geo Super telecast the match live from Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali.

Nadeem

04-28-2008, 03:22 PM

Mumbai: Adam Gilchrist couldn't have chosen a better stage than this to come good. Playing in a packed spanking new stadium, he stunned the Mumbai Indians with a blitzkrieg century to script a ten-wicket win in just 12.4 overs.
Gilchrist scored 109 not out off just 48 balls, getting to his century off only 42 deliveries, overtaking teammate Andrew Symonds' effort off 48 balls.

VVS Laxman kept Gilchrist company with a knock of 36 not out, but it was Gilchrist's game. He hit ten sixes and nine fours during his stay on the crease.
Abhishek Nayar and Dwayne Bravo got Mumbai Indians to something of a total as they carried their side to 154-7 in a game they need to win to get some points on the board.

Nayar scored 34 balls off 19 balls with three sixes and one four, while Bravo scored the same number of runs in one ball lesser, with the aid of one six and three boundaries.

For Hyderabad, RP Singh returned figures of 2-15 while Sanjay Bangar and Shahid Afridi also got two wickets each.
Visiting skipper VVS Laxman took the first step right, winning the toss the electing to field.

Mumbai were rocked by the Harbhajan Singh controversy, were again denied the services of Sachin Tendulkar, and will also miss Harbhajan, who has been suspended, pending the IPL match referee's inquiry on Monday.
Shaun Pollock led the skipper for the home team for this match.
Hyderabad decided to rest Chaminda Vaas and called up his Sri Lankan teammate Nowan Zoysa.

Teams: Mumbai Indians: Shaun Pollock (capt), Luke Ronchi, Sanath Jayasuriya, Robin Uthappa, Ajinkya Rahane, Dwayne Bravo, Abhishek Nayar, Musavir Khote, Ashish Nehra, Dhawal Kulkarni, Siddharth Chitnis.
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers: VVS Laxman (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi, Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Arjun Yadav, Sanjay Bangar, Nuwan Zoysa, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, D Kalyankrishna.

Nadeem

04-29-2008, 06:01 PM

http://geo.tv/4-28-2008/eng/4-28-2008_17429_l.gif

BANGALORE: Chennai Super Kings defeated Bangalore Royal Challengers by 13 runs in the 15th match of Indian Premier League here at Chanaswami Stadium Monday.

Bangalore Royal Challengers were all out for 165 in 19.4 overs.

Outstanding innings of Wasim Jaffer 50 and Ross Taylor 53 could not save Bangalore Royal Challenger from defeat.

Manpreet Gony took maximum 3 wickets for Chennai Super Kings. Palani Amarnath and Joginder Sharma clinched two wickets each while Albei Morkel got one wicket.

Earlier, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Chennai Super Kings elected to bat after winning the toss and made 178 runs for the loss of 5 wickets, setting a winning target of 179 runs for Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Indian star batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni who is leading Chennai Super Kings was the top scorer with 65 runs including 9 fours and 3 sixes. Michael Hussey followed with 47 runs with the help of 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Zaheer Khan took 3 wickets for 38 runs for Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Nadeem

04-30-2008, 03:17 PM

Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders to get first IPL win

http://geo.tv/4-29-2008/eng/4-29-2008_17480_l.gif

KOLKATA: After suffering from the humiliation of four consecutive defeats, the Mumbai Indians at last succeeded in getting their first victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

Chasing an easy target of 138 runs against the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Mumbai Indians started disastrously when they lost three wickets for only 25 runs.

However, Robin Uthappa and Dwayne Bravo came to rescue and took the score steadily to get their team win the match by seven wickets with eight balls remaining.

Bravo scored an unbeaten 64 off 53 balls with eight fours and one six while Uthappa remained not out on 37 off the same number of balls with five fours.

The Kolkata Knight Riders lost their second successive match in the tournament

Bollywood king Shahruk Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders lost their second successive match in the IPL.

After winning the toss and elected to bat, they were restricted by Mumbai Indians to 137 runs for eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Laxmi Shukla was the top scorer with 40 runs off 22 balls with four fours and two sixes while Debabrata Das made 29.

Sanath Jayasuriya took three for 14, the best figures of the tournament, while stand-in captain Shaun Pollock claimed two wickets to give the struggling Mumbai Indians a great chance to pull off their first win.

Nadeem

05-01-2008, 06:22 PM

http://geo.tv/4-30-2008/eng/4-30-2008_17526_l.gif

NEW DELHI: Delhi Daredevils defeated Bangalore Royal Challengers by 10 runs in an exciting finish in the 17th match of the Indian Premier League here at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground on Wednesday.

Chasing a rather difficult target of 192, the Bangalore Royal Challengers went down fighting at 181 for five in the allotted 20 overs.

Their main scorer was Jaques Kallis, who made 54 off 44 balls with six four and one six while captain Rahul Dravid scored 38 off 30 balls with four boundaries and one six and Mark Boucher smashed unbeaten 31 off 17 balls with two fours and two sixes. He hit 19 runs in the final over bowled by rival captain Virender Sehwag.

Fast-medium bowler Glenn McGrath bowled extremely well and grabbed four wickets for 29 runs while Daniel Vettori took one wicket. McGrath was declared man-of-the-match after the match ended.

Earlier, Dravid won the toss and invited the opponents to bat first who made 191 for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

The architects of their total were opener Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan who added 98 runs for the second wicket.

Gautam Gambhir played an outstanding innings of 86 runs off 54 balls with eleven fours and one six and Dhawan made 50 off 33 balls with four fours and three sixes.

Jacques Kallis took 2 wickets while Dale Steyn and Zaheer Khan got one wicket each for Banglore Royal Challengers.

Nadeem

05-02-2008, 02:02 PM

http://geo.tv/5-2-2008/eng/5-2-2008_17563_l.gif

HYDERABAD DECCAN: Shaun Marsh made an unbeaten 84 on his IPL debut to help the Kings XI Punjab to a convincing seven-wicket win over Deccan Chargers here at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday.

Chasing 165 runs to win the match, the Kings XI Punjab achieved the target losing only three wickets with seven balls left.

Shaun Marsh made 84 runs off 62 balls with eleven fours and one six while Jayawardene scored 45 off just 23 balls with six fours and one six. Both remained not out after adding 81 runs from 48 balls for the fourth wicket to see their team win their third consecutive match.

Earlier, the Kings XI Punjab won the toss and put the Deccan Chargers into batting in the 19th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The hosts made 164 runs for eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs, due to splendid 76 by Rohit Sharma, and 48 by captain Venkata Sai Laxman as other batsmen failed to deliver.
Sharma faced 42 balls for his 76, hitting ten fours and two sixes while Laxman struck eight fours.

Pyush Chawla claimed three wickets for 28 runs while Irfan Pathan took two wickets and
Sreesanth and Gagandip Singh got one wicket each.

Nadeem

05-02-2008, 02:04 PM

http://static.cricketnext.com/pix/sitepix/05_2008/jaipurpractice1_313.jpg

Jaipur: Kolkata fought hard for a while but a 197-run target proved a mountain too steep to climb as Jaipur continued their super run in the IPL tournament by winning their fourth consecutive game. Jaipur now have four wins from five games.

Sourav Ganguly (51) and David Hussey (42) put up a valiant fight in the middle overs but it proved in vain as Kolkata lost by 45 runs at the Sawai Man Singh stadium on Thursday.
Jaipur posted an impressive 196-7 in their 20 overs with the youngsters coming good. Swapnil Asnodkar (60), Yousuf Pathan (55) and Ravinder Jadeja (33) sizzled on their home ground to set up a daunting task for the Kolkata Knight Riders, who now have lost their last three games.

Replying to the formidable score, Kolkata skipper Ganguly ended his dry patch, displaying exemplary timing in his 39-ball effort, clobbering four boundaries and two sixes. But Ganguly had some anxious moments in his knock. First, Yousuf Pathan pouched the ball from thin air at fine-leg but stepped over the ropes and then the third umpire ruled a Graeme Smith catch not clean even though television replays suggested otherwise.

Ganguly and Hussey put on a valiant 68-run stand in seven overs but the steep asking rate forced one shot too many from Ganguly and Kolkata lost their skipper, owing to a smart catch by Mohd. Kaif at long-on.
Hussey fought for a while until Sidharth Trivedi cleaned him up for 42. With him went the hopes of a miracle win for Kolkata, who were up against an asking rate of 20 at that stage. It was all downhill from there as they lost the last five wickets for only six runs to be bundled out for 151 in 19.1 overs.

Kolkata got off to a poor start losing Salman Butt for seven. But their move to send Ajit Agarkar as a pinch-hitter worked to an extent as the pacer gave the visitors the much-needed flying start. Agarkar smashed two sixes in his 13-ball effort before Watson got him caught behind. And when new recruit Brad Hodge was unfortunately run out, Kolkata’s hopes were pinned on Ganguly and Hussey.

Nadeem

05-03-2008, 11:13 PM

http://geo.tv/5-3-2008/eng/5-3-2008_17637_l.gif

BANGLORE: Bangalore Royal Challengers in an exciting match Saturday defeated Deccan Chargers by 3 runs in Indian Premier League.

Deccan Chargers could only make 153 runs for 3 wickets.

Earlier, Rahul Dravid’s Bangalore Royal Challengers scored 156 runs for loss of eight wickets in 20 overs.

Deccan captain V Luxman scored 52 runs and Rohit Sharma 57.

Pravin Kumar took 3 wickets, Zaheer Khan 2 and Jacque Kallis 1 wicket for Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Nadeem

05-04-2008, 01:45 PM

Bangalore: Bangalore scored a hard-fought three-run victory over Hyderabad in a see-saw battle in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.

Defending a total of 156-8, Bangalore got a spirited effort from their pace bowlers and were also helped by a couple of dubious decisions as they saw off Hyderabad’s challenge in what was billed as the clash of the weaklings, both teams having won just one out of five previous matches.

Hyderabad were cruising along at 127-2 in the 17th over but Rohit Sharma’s dismissal at that stage change the course of the match. Sharma, who overtook Gautam Gambhir to earn the ‘orange cap’ for most runs in the tournament during his superlative 57 off 42 balls (three sixes, five fours), was caught at long-on with 30 needed off 20 balls.

Sharma once again finished on the losing side like in the match against Mohali, when he had slammed 76, his 96-run stand for the third wicket with skipper VVS Laxman (52 off 44) not proving good enough to seal the match. Though the partnership was a solid one, the inability to supplement huge hits with singles and twos meant they could not provide the lower order batsmen with a buffer to finish the match with ease.

For Bangalore, pace bowlers Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan shared five scalps, but were lucky to get the wickets of Laxman and Scotty Styris, respectively. The two were adjudged lbw by umpires Billy Doctrove and Suresh Shastri, respectively, on deliveries that pitched outside the leg-stump.
With Shahid Afridi also failing to blast off, Hyderabad were left to get 20 off the last over. But there were plenty of thrills still to follow in the over bowled by Anil Kumble. Sanjay Bangar smashed two sixes to keep the match alive till the last delivery. With six to get from two balls, Bangar could manage only a single and Arjun Yadav could do just the same off the last ball when a four was required for victory.

The fireworks after the match made up for the light failure earlier in the day after the home side had failed to step on the throttle despite a fine start.
Captain Rahul Dravid’s unbeaten 26 off 19 down the order lent some respectability to the total after the home side lost the plot in mid innings.

Nadeem

05-04-2008, 01:46 PM

Mohali: Kolkata crashed to their fourth straight loss as they went down to Mohali by nine runs at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Match 22 of the Indian Premier League on Saturday. Mohali, on the other hand registered their fourth consecutive win after losing their first two games in the tournament.
Chasing 179, Kolkata were hardly ever in contention after they were reduced to 50-5 in the 10th over but David Hussey battled hard for Kolkata as the Aussie pounded a determined 46-ball 71, clobbering four boundaries and as may sixes. Along with Wridhiman Saha, Hussey added 104, the highest sixth wicket partnership in the competition.

Saha too batted with gusto, smacking two boundaries and four sixes in his unbeaten 59 which came off 32 balls. After Hussey was dismissed in the penultimate over, the target proved a little too much for Kolkata. Requiring 19 off the last over, the visitors fell short by nine runs as a disciplined length by Irfan Pathan, who redeemed dropping Saha, ensured there was no miracle for Kolkata.

Kolkata were put on to the backfoot right at the onset with skipper Sourav Ganguly caught at third-man for five. And they went downhill from there as Mohammad Hafeez (13), Brad Hodge (one), Debabrata Das (five) and Laxmi Shukla (seven) were dismissed cheaply.

Earlier, a steady 40 by Shaun Marsh and cameos by Kumar Sangakkara (28), Irfan Pathan (24 not out) and Piyush Chawla (21 not) helped Mohali post 178-6.
Mohali started off briskly but quick wickets held them back in the middle overs till some power blows by Chawla helped them to a formidable total.
Pathan, along with Sangakkara, who was retired hurt for 10 earlier, added 49 for the sixth wicket. Chawla then smashed Ishant Sharma for three boundaries and one six in the last over of the innings that went for 21 runs.

Nadeem

05-05-2008, 12:33 AM

http://geo.tv/5-4-2008/eng/5-4-2008_17676_l.gif

MUMBAI: In 23rd match, Mumbai Indians won the match against Delhi Daredevils by 29 runs in today’s first match of the Indian Premier League on Sunday, which started at 15:30

Earlier, Mumbai Indians gave 163-run target to Delhi Daredevils, which could not achieve it and were restricted to 133 runs. Delhi Daredevils were all out, when still seven balls were to go.

It was only Virender Sehwag who could put up some resistance against their rivals and played 40-run innings with three fours and three sixers.

Other batsmen could add up runs short of the target. Karthik 28, Shoaib Malik 24 and de Villiers could make only 21 runs.

Mumbai Indians’ Nehra bowled out three players against 25 runs. Shaun Pollock and Kulkarni preyed two wickets each.

In the beginning, Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to field first against Mumbai Indians. Delhi Daredevils’ Sanath Jayasuriya was the top scorer with 34 runs comprising six fours and one sixer. Shaun Pollock was the second highest scorer with three sixers and two fours.

Yo Mahesh was the most successful bowler from Delhi Daredevils, who showed three Mumbai Indians out into the pavilion. While, Mohammad Asif, Virender Sehwag, Shoaib Malik and Rajat Bhatia achieved one wicket each.

Geo Super telecasted the match live from DR DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai.

In the next IPL fixture Rahul Dravid will lead his team Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Jaipur.

Mumbai Indians: Ajinkya Rahane, Sanath Jayasuriya, Robin Uthapa, Dwayne Bravo, Shaun Pollock (captain), Abhiahek Nayar, Pinai Shah, Musavir Khote, Dilhara Fernando, Ashiah Nehra, Dhawai Kulkarni.

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (captain), Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villiers, Shikhar Dhawan, Shoaib Malik, Dinesh Karthik, Rajat Bhatia, Yo Mahesh, Glenn McGrath, Pradeep Sangwan, Mohammad Asif.

Nadeem

05-06-2008, 03:19 PM

http://geo.tv/5-6-2008/eng/5-6-2008_17727_l.gif

NEW DELHI: Preity Zinta’s Kings XI Punjab won by six wickets in the 25th match of Indian Premier League (IPL) against Bangalore Royal Challengers here on Monday.

Kings XI Punjab set a target of 127 runs in the first innings for their rivals. Kings XI Punjab’s Shaun Marsh was the highest scorer at 39, followed by Ramnaresh Sarwan 31.

BRC’s Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar were the only two bowlers who grabbed two wickets each.

Earlier, all players of Punjab got out after making 126 runs in 19.2 overs.

Captain Rahul Dravid made highest score of 66 runs for Kings XI Punjab with 9 fours and 1 six. Virat Kohil bagged 34 runs.

Pyush Chawla of Bangalore did most damage to Punjab by taking 3 wickets. Sreesanth got 2 wickets while Irfan Pathan and Vikram Singh had 1 wicket each to their credit.

Nadeem

05-07-2008, 04:19 PM

http://geo.tv/5-6-2008/eng/5-6-2008_17771_l.gif

CHENNAI: After losing various close games during the first six matches, the Deccan Chargers recorded their second victory in the tournament when they easily defeated the Chennai Super Stars by seven wickets with 12 balls remaining on Tuesday here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk.

Stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist laid the foundation of the Super Stars’ win by smashing 54 off 36 balls with seven fours and two towering sixes. When he departed, the victory target looking more easy for his boys.

When they lost their third wicket, they needed only 17 runs in 21 balls and Shahid Afridi came to the crease who hit 20 runs off just five balls from Joginder Singh with two fours and two sixes to see the Chennai Super Stars get an embarrassment of having their third consecutive defeat.

Afridi’s partner Scott Styris was unbeaten on 36 with three fours and one six.

From Chennai Super Stars, Manpreet Gony, Muttiah Muralitharan and Albie Morkel took one wicket each.

Earlier, Deccan Chargers won the toss and put the Chennai Super Kings into batting who made 144 runs for seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

The main scorers from the Super Kings were Suresh Raina (32), Albie Morkel (29 not out) and captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni (23).

From Deccan Chargers, RP Singh claimed two wickets for 12 runs while Vijay Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, Scott Styris, Shahid Afridi and Sanjay Bangar took one wicket each.

Venkat Sai Laxman did not play the match due to injured hand as he got hit on the glove by Steyn during Deccan's loss against Bangalore. In his place, wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist led the Deccan Chargers from the front against the Chennai Super Kings.
He won the match and also the Man-of-the-match award.

The Deccan Chargers made just one change, bringing in Venugopal Rao for Laxman while the Chennai Super Kings also made one change for this game, S Vidyut was left out and Anirudh Srikkanth, Krishna’s son, played his first game.

Nadeem

05-09-2008, 12:50 PM

http://geo.tv/5-9-2008/eng/5-9-2008_17859_l.gif

KOLKATA: In an exciting match of the Indian Premier League, Kolkata Knight Riders beat Bangalore Royal Challengers by 5 runs.

Kolkata Knight Riders decided to bat first after winning the toss. Due to rain, the match was limited to only 16 overs. David Hussey scored 26; Ganguly 20 and Kartik scored 17 runs. Kolkata Knight Riders managed to score 129 thus setting 130 runs target for Bangalore Royal Challengers.

From Bangalore Royal Challengers, Dale Steyn got 3 wickets while Zaheer Khan and Kumar got one wicket each. In 4th over, Chanderpaul got out at the bowling of Ashant Sharma. In another over, Arun Kumar got run out by Hog, he made 22 runs out of 17 balls. Rahul Dravid was clean bowled by KKR skipper Sourav Ganguly in 10th over. Bangalore Royal Challengers managed to score 124 runs at the loss of 4 wickets in 16 overs.

Nadeem

05-10-2008, 04:53 PM

http://geo.tv/5-9-2008/eng/5-9-2008_17899_l.gif

JAIPUR: A solid opening stand of 109 runs between Graeme Smith and Yusuf Pathan guided the Rajasthan Royals to an easy eight wickets victory over the Deccan Challengers in the 30th Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League on Friday at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.

Chasing 141 runs, the Rajasthan Royals achieved the target from just 16 overs for the loss of only two wickets.

Pathan smashed 68 off just 37 balls with nine fours and two sixes while Smith made an steady 40 off 43 balls with four fours. Later, Yusuf Pathan was declared the man-of-the-match.

Mohammad Kaif (17) and Shane Watson (5) remained not out.

RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha took one wicket each.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne won the toss and put the Deccan Chargers into batting and then restricted them to 140 runs for eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Deccan Chargers’ stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist smashed a quick fifty and along with Herschelle Gibbs provided a solid opening stand of 61 runs off 48 balls.

However, when Gibbs and later Scott Styris departed at 88 they were losing run-rate and the collapse began.

Gilchrist made 61 off 49 balls with nine fours and one six while other main scorers were Venugopal Rao (23), Gibbs (19) and Styris (13).

Shane Warne was the most successful bowler with two for 20 while Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel took one wicket each.

Adam Gilchrist again captained the Deccan Chargers in place of Venkat Sai Laxman, who is still unfit due to hand injury.

Deccan left out Arjun Yadav and brought in Ravi Teja while Rajasthan also made one change as Swapnil Asnodkar was replaced by Niraj Patel.

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (captain and wk), Herschelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, Rohit Sharma, Shahid Afridi, Venugopal Rao, Sanjay Bangar, Ravi Teja, RP Singh, P Vijaykumar, Pragyan Ojha.

Rajasthan Royals: Graeme Smith, Niraj Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson, Mohammad Kaif, Ravindra Jadeja, Mahesh Rawat (wk), Shane Warne (captain), Sohail Tanvir, Siddharth Trivedi, Munaf Patel.

Nadeem

05-11-2008, 02:23 PM

http://geo.tv/5-11-2008/eng/5-11-2008_17946_l.gif

CHENNAI: Right-arm medium-fast bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji’s hat-trick in the final over got Chennai Super Kings a 18-run thrilling win over the Kings XI Punjab here on Saturday in the 31st match of the Indian Premier League, played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk.

The Chennai Super Kings set a rather difficult target of 182 runs and the Kings XI Punjab made a brave effort to chase it but Balaji’s hat-trick, the first of the IPL, turned the tables in the final over.

Needing 25 runs in the final over, Irfan Pathan got eight runs off the first two balls from Balaji but on the next ball he was out caught by Suresh Raina at deep square-leg. Then Balaji struck two more wickets to get the hat-trick and also to get victory for his team and win the man-of-the-match award for his five for 24.

Opener Shaun Marsh was the top scorer from the Kings XI Punjab, making 58 off 38 balls with four sixes and three fours.

Later, all-rounder Irfan Pathan smashed 40 off just 18 balls with three sixes and three fours and he brought his team close to win when Balaji dismissed him.

Earlier put into batting by Punjab captain Yuvraj Sing, the Chennai Super Kings after losing two early wickets succeeded in making 181 runs for four wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

This was all due to a fourth wicket stand of 90 runs between Subramaniam Badrinath and captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni.

Badrinath made 64 runs off 47 balls with six fours and three sixes while Dhoni scored an unbeaten 60 off 43 balls with four sixes and two fours.

Suresh Raina contributed 26 off 17 balls with four boundaries.

Sreesanth claimed two wickets for 29 runs and Pyush Chawla took one wicket.

Punjab made one change, bringing in Karan Goel for the bowler Gagandeep Singh. Sangakkara is not fit and according to Yuvraj he will take another four-five days to recover so Uday Kaul kept wicket once again.

Chennai fielded an unchanged eleven from the game against Delhi.

Teams:
Kings XI Punjab: Shaun Marsh, James Hopes, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Yuvraj Singh (captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Karan Goel, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Uday Kaul (wk), Sreesanth, VRV Singh.

Chennai Super Kings: S Vidyut, Stephen Fleming, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wk), Suresh Rania, Albie Morkel, Chamara Kapugedera, S Badrinath, Manpreet Gony, Palani Amarnath, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lakshmipathy Balaji.

Geo Super telecast the match live from Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

Nadeem

05-12-2008, 02:56 PM

http://geo.tv/5-11-2008/eng/5-11-2008_17973_l.gif

HYDERABAD: Leading from the front, captain Sourav Ganguly’s all-round effort guided the Kolkata Knight Riders register a comprehensive 23-run victory over the Deccan Challengers in the 32nd Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League here on Sunday.

First, his captain’s knock of 57-ball 91 helped his team to set a difficult target of 205 runs for the Deccan Chargers and later a fine two-wicket bowling display played an important role in restricting the opponents at 181-7 in the allotted 20 overs.

The Deccan Chargers accepted the challenge and tried to chase the target but the accurate bowling and tight fielding by Ganguly’s men failed them.

However, Venugopal Rao’s unbeaten 71 was a fighting effort but it all came a little too late. Deccan in a sense lost this game in the field with some sloppy displays.

Besides Rao, no other batsman except Rohit Sharma (33) and captain Adam Gilchrist (24) could make any significant score.

Ashok Dinda claimed three wickets for 33 runs and Ganguly captured two for 25 while Umar Gul and Laxmi Shukla took one wicket each.

Earlier, Ganguly chose to bat first after winning the toss at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium and played an aggressive innings of 91 with eleven fours and five sixes.

He and David Hussey together added 102 runs from 48 balls for third wicket partnership. Hussey scored 57 off 29 balls with four boundaries and three sixes and remained not out to see his team reach 204 for four in the allotted 20 overs.

Among other batsmen, opener Salman Butt could score only four runs while Aakash Chopra made 24 and Tatenda Taibu 9. Laxmi Ratan Shukla hit 14 off just three balls and remained not out.

From Deccan Chargers, Chaminda Vaas, Vijaykumar and RP Singh took one wicket each. RP Singh conceded 59 runs in his four overs.

The Deccan Chargers dropped one of their biggest stars who has been a non-performer so far - Shahid Afridi - in favour of Chaminda Vaas, after scoring just 47 in six innings.

Kolkata Knight Riders made one change too as Salman Butt came in for Brad Hodge, who has left the IPL to join the Australian squad in the West Indies.

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (captain, wk), Herschelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, Rohit Sharma, Venugopal Rao, Ravi Teja, Sanjay Bangar, Chaminda Vaas, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, DP Vijaykumar.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Aakash Chopra, Salman Butt, Sourav Ganguly (captain), David Hussey, Tatenda Taibu, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Murali Kartik, Umar Gul, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda.

Nadeem

05-12-2008, 02:57 PM

http://geo.tv/5-11-2008/eng/5-11-2008_17979_l.gif

JAIPUR: An splendid batting by Shane Watson guided the Rajasthan Royals to defeat the Delhi Daredevils by three wickets with five balls remaining in the 33rd Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League here today on Sunday at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

Watson smashed 74 off 40 balls and struck five sixes and as many fours while none of the other batsmen could make any significant score except Graeme Smith (24).

Chasing 157, the Rajasthan Royals cruised to victory when Mahesh Rawat hit four off Yo Mahesh’s first ball of the final over.

The Rajasthan Royals have maintained their top position, extending their victories to seven and expecting a semi-final berth in the tournament.

From Delhi Daredevils, Amit Mishra got two wickets while captain Virender Sehwag and Farveez Maharoof took one wicket each.

Earlier, the Delhi Daredevils set the Rajasthan Royals a target of 157 runs after they were put into bat by the Rajasthan Royal's captain Shane Warne. They made 156-7 in the allotted 20 overs.

Their main scorers were Farveez Maharoof and opener Gautam Gambhir. Mahroof displayed aggressive batting in the final overs and smashed 39 off just 16 balls with four huge sixes and two fours while Gambhir made 31 off 23 balls with four boundaries.

From Rajasthan Royals, Shane Watson, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Siddharth Trivedi claimed two wickets each while leg-spinner Shane Warne conceded 47 runs and failed to get any wicket.

The Rajasthan made one change, all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, the only England player in the IPL has finally been included in the team before he returns home, in place of bowler Sohail Tanvir.

Delhi dropped Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Malik for Farveez Maharoof and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Rajasthan Royals: Graeme Smith, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, Shane Watson, Niraj Patel, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Warne (captain), Mahesh Rawat (wk), Siddharth Trivedi, Munaf Patel.

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, AB de Villiers, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Amit Mishra, Yo Mahesh, Glenn McGrath, Farveez Maharoof, Pradeep Sangwan.

Nadeem

05-13-2008, 02:30 PM

http://geo.tv/5-13-2008/eng/5-13-2008_18025_l.gif

MOHALI: Bollywood star Preity Zinta’s team Kings XI Punjab crushed Banglore Royal Challengers by 9 wickest in Monday’s match of Indian Premier League (IPL).

The bowlers of Bangalore Royal Challengers appeared weak before the batsmen of Kings XI Punjab, as they failed to limit them below target.

Shaun Marsh of Punjab played an outstanding innings of 74 runs in only 50 balls with the help of 9 fours and 2 sixes while Luke Pomersbach made 34 runs. Both the players remained not out.

Earlier, Bangalore Royal Challengers elected to bat after winning the toss and made 143 runs.

Kings XI Punjab’s bowlers restricted Bangalore Royal Challengers from setting a high target.

Geo Super is telecasting the match live from Mohali.

Nadeem

05-14-2008, 09:52 PM

http://geo.tv/5-14-2008/eng/5-14-2008_18075_l.gif

KOLKATA: In his IPL debut, fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s devastating spell helped the Kolkata Knight Riders crush the Delhi Daredevils by 23 runs with 13 balls remaining in the 35th Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League here at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

Shoaib Akhtar grabbed all the first four wickets for a mere 11 runs in a spell of three overs. He wasn't even required for his fourth over.

On the second ball of the match, Shoaib sent back Sehwag and there was no looking back after that. The fielding was sharp and accurate and the number of direct hits, to go with the two run-outs, kept the pressure on Delhi.

Chasing 134, Delhi boys were reeling at 104 for seven when Sourav Ganguly brought in Shukla to bowl for the first time in the 18th over of the innings and Shukla bagged three wickets for six runs from five balls and the Delhi Daredevils were all out for 110 in 17.5 overs.

Kolkata have edged out Delhi in the points table and are now placed fourth.

Losers’ captain Sehwag said after the match: "Our bowlers did well but our batting let us down. Shoaib bowled really well and we didn't plan properly for facing him. Dilshan's dismissal was crucial and we didn't recover after that."

The winners’ captain Ganguly said: "Shoaib showed a lot of character. It's one of the best wins in my career.”

Man-of-the-match Shoaib Akhtar said: "I'm just there to enjoy my game. I've got no point to prove to anyone. I've had a stressful few months and I'd like to thank everybody in the dressing room. Shah Rukh has been like a brother giving me a lot of advice. All the guys played really well."

Earlier, the Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and decided to bat first but were restricted at 133-6 in the allotted 20 overs by the Delhi Daredevils.

Only opener Salman Butt and middle-order batsman David Hussey made significant contributions but no individual fifty could be scored in the innings as Salman Butt made 48 and Hussey 31.

Farveez Maharoof and Yomahesh got two wickets each while Pradeep Sangwan took one wicket.

Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar made the IPL debut as Umar Gul made way for him and Murali Kartik made way for left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla, the left-arm spinner in the Kolkata camp while Manoj Tiwary made way for Dinesh Karthik for Delhi.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Salman Butt, Aakash Chopra, Sourav Ganguly (captain), David Hussey, Tatenda Taibu, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Iqbal Abdulla, Shoaib Akhtar, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda.

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, AB de Villiers, Manoj Tiwary, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Amit Mishra, Farveez Maharoof, Pradeep Sangwan, V Yomahesh, Glenn McGrath.

Nadeem

05-15-2008, 02:41 PM

http://geo.tv/5-15-2008/eng/5-15-2008_18125_l.gif

MUMBAI: Sanath Jayasuriya’s hurricane hundred helped the Mumbai Indians crush the Chennai Super Kings by nine wickets with 37 balls left in the 36th Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday at the Wankhede Stadium.

He smashed an unbeaten 114 off just 48 balls with 11 towering sixes and nine fours – an IPL record - to see his team cruise to an easy victory in 13.5 overs.

His hundred off 45 balls is the second-fastest century and his11 sixes are the most sixes in the tournament. His 102 out of 114 runs came in boundaries and was later declared the man-of-the-match..

Jayasuriya was well supported by his captain Sachin Tendulkar (12) and Robin Uthappa (16 not out) and involved in two successive big partnerships – 82 with Tendulakar for the first wicket and 78 with Uthappa for an unfinished second wicket stand.

He finished the match in style by hitting 26 runs from only five balls of the 14th over bowled by medium-fast bowler Chamara Kapugedera. These included three consecutive sixes and two successive fours.

Joginder Sharma was the only bowler to get a wicket, which was of Tendulkar, who was playing on his IPL debut.

Earlier, a fifth wicket stand of 95 runs from just 61 balls between Subramaniam Badrinath and captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni took the Chennai Super Kings to 156-5 in the allotted 20 overs after Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and put them into batting.

In the beginning, the Mumbai bowlers succeeded in getting the opponents reeling at 46 for four in the ninth over but then came Badrinath and Dhoni who slaughtered the Mumbai attack to take the score to a respectable 156 runs for the loss of six wickets.

From Mumbai, Dhawal Kulkarni was the most successful bowler taking three for 33 while Dwayne Bravo claimed two wickets for 37. Shaun Pollock’s bowling was the most economic as he conceded just nine runs from four overs to take one wicket.http://geo.tv/images/shim.gif

Nadeem

05-16-2008, 04:27 PM

http://geo.tv/5-15-2008/eng/5-15-2008_18161_l.gif

NEW DELHI: Delhi Daredevils humbled Deccan Chargers by 12 runs to clinch a thriller in the 37th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Thursday.

Chasing 195 to win the match, the Chargers failed to reach the target despite valuable contributions from their top order batsmen including Shahid Afridi and Rohit Sharma.

Amit Mishra was the man of the moment for Delhi as he had 15 runs to defend in the final over and he responded with a hat-trick to seal the victory for the hosts.

Mishra finished with 5 for 17. He even took the crucial wickets of the top-order batsmen - Afridi and Gibbs while Farveez Maharoof and Glenn McGrath took two wickets each.

Afridi blasted 33 off just 14 balls while Sharma made 35 and Venugopal Rao 34. They all hit three fours and two sixes.

Earlier, Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist won the toss and invited Delhi Daredevils to bat first but the decision proved to be in favor of Delhi.

Opener Gautam Gambhir made smashing 79 runs with seven fours and three sixes and Shikhar Dhawan made 68 with eight fours. They added 133 for the second wicket and put their team in strong position to finish at 194 for four in the allotted 20 overs.

Geo Super telecast the match live from Ferozshah Kotla Ground, Delhi.

Nadeem

05-17-2008, 05:51 PM

http://geo.tv/5-16-2008/eng/5-16-2008_18196_l.gif

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Indians outclassed the Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets when they achieved the easiest target of 68 runs in only 33 balls here Friday in the 38th Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League played at the Wankhede Stadium.

The whole match lasted 20.5 overs. Kolkata were routed for 67 in 15.2 overs and Mumbai gunned down the target off only 5.3 overs, thanks to a blitz from opener Sanath Jayasuriya.

Jayasuriya, who is in terrific form these days, smashed an unbeaten 48 runs from just 17 balls with three sixes and six fours after Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed by fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar for nought.

Shoaib Akhtar and Ishant Sharma took one wicket each.

Earlier, the Kolkata Knight Riders were routed for the lowest total in the Indian Premier League after Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and put them into batting.

Kolkata’s 67 is also the fifth-lowest total in any form of Twenty20 cricket.

The pitch did assist the seam bowlers, offering bounce and lateral movement and Pollock and the others exploited it to the hilt. Kolkata's batsmen failed to gauge the conditions quickly enough and collapsed in a heap.

Their top-scorers were captain Sourav Ganguly (15), Ajit Agarkar (15) and Salman Butt (13) and no other batsman could reach the double-figures.

Veteran pace bowler Shaun Pollock claimed three wickets for 11 runs off four overs and was declared the man-of-the-match for his outstanding spell. Dwayne Bravo and Rohan Raje got two wickets each for 13 and 16, respectively.

Mumbai made one change to their winning combination as they brought in the left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar in place of Dhawal Kulkarni.

Kolkata dropped Murali Karthik, Tatenda Taibu and Iqbal Abdulla and brought in the veteran Ajit Agarkar and Mohammad Hafeez.

Mumbai now have the best net run rate of the tournament and leveled Delhi and Kolkata on ten points in the league table.http://geo.tv/images/shim.gif

Nadeem

05-18-2008, 12:51 AM

http://geo.tv/5-17-2008/eng/5-17-2008_18243_l.gif

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Royals defeated the Bangalore Royal Challengers by 65 runs here in the 39th match of the Indian Premier League on Saturday.

After setting a difficult winning target of 198 runs, Rajasthan restricted Bangalore at 132 runs for nine wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Bangalore captain Rahul Dravid fought a lone battle against Rajasthan but his fiery 75 off 36 deliveries failed to change the fortunes of his team as wickets at the other end fell at regular intervals.

Only Jacques Kallis, Craig White apart from Dravid reached double figures for Bangalore who were bamboozled by the pace of Sohail Tanvir and the wizardry of Shane Warne.

Sohail Tanveer bowled splendidly well to grab three wickets for just 10 runs from four overs while captain Shane Warne got three for 23 and Munaf Patel two for 21.

Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals made a big score of 197 runs for the loss of only one wicket in temperatures hovering around 48 degrees Celsius in Jaipur after Dravid won the toss and put them into batting.

Opener Graeme Smith scored an unbeaten 75 off 49 balls with eight fours and two sixes. He and Swapnil Asnodkar made 109 runs for the opening stand and then Smith added further 88 runs for the undeated second wicket partnership with Shane Watson.

Asnodkar made 50 off 44 balls with seven fours and one six and Watson hit an unbeaten 46 off 28 balls with six fours.

The only wicket fell in the innings was taken by Anil Kumble.

However, security concerns after the bomb blasts in Jaipur four days back overshadowed the cricket here as the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, which was largely empty for this game due to the blasts and partly due to the heat.

Both teams wore black armbands and observed a two-minute silence as a mark of respect to the people who lost their lives in the blasts.

Rajasthan brought back Swapnil Asnodkar to replace Niraj Patil. Sohail Tanvir also returned for Dimitri Mascarenhas who went back to Hampshire.

Bangalore left out Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn and Vinay Kumar, and replaced them with Jacques Kallis, Devraj Patil and Bangladesh left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who played his first match of the tournament.

Nadeem

05-18-2008, 12:57 PM

http://geo.tv/5-18-2008/eng/5-18-2008_18254_l.gif

New Delhi: Rain played killjoy at the Kotla. The total overs bowled on Saturday night were less than twenty.

In the end, Kings XI Punjab were on the favourable side of the Duckworth/Lewis rule. They were six runs ahead of Delhi Daredevils when the skies opened up for the third time on the evening.

Punjab batted just eight overs to Delhi's 11 in this match full of twists and turns, and stops and starts. They were 94-3 at the time of rain interruption, having hit a six off the last ball from Rajat Bhatia.

Had Bhatia bowled a dot to Mahela Jayawardene off that ball, the scores would have been tied at the time of interruption and it's anybody's guess what would have happened in the match then.

Punjab's target had already being revised to 123, after Delhi made 118 having chosen to bat.

When the match finally got underway after a rain-induced delay, Delhi made another thumping start, courtesy Gautam Gambhir (40 from 28) and Virender Sehwag.

Rain stopped play with Delhi 94-1 in 8.1 overs. By the time play resumed, the game was been reduced to 11-overs a side. Sehwag, batting on 47 off 19 balls, played another seven balls to add just four runs. He batted through, taking Delhi to 118-5.

Punjab were reduced to 31-3, thanks to three terrific catches in outfield by Delhi. Here, Sehwag decision to bring himself on --- perhaps in an attempt to quickly run through their overs --- cost Delhi big.

Luke Pomersbach and Jayawardene hit Sehwag for three fours and a six in the over that cost 22. Punjab pressed home there on.

With rain in the air again, Delhi needed to get Punjab down to three runs in Bhatia's over to tie the game. Bhatia bowled a tight over, giving away just three in the first five balls. But he finished the over with a long hop and Jayawardene smashed it over midwicket.

Nadeem

05-19-2008, 05:27 PM

http://geo.tv/5-18-2008/eng/5-18-2008_18288_l.gif

KOLKATA: The Chennai Super Kings defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders by three runs in D/L method in the 41st Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League, played at the Eden Gardens on Sunday..

The Chennai Super Kings had to chase a winning target of 150 runs when a heavy dust storm had the players scurrying indoors, as the weather intervened to disrupt what was turning out to be a fascinating run-chase.

Stephen Fleming, finally showing signs of coming into his own, and Parthiv Patel added 55 undefeated runs for the first wicket after eight overs.

Earlier, Kolkata captain Sourav Ganguly won the toss and decided to bat first but his team could score 149 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Opener Salman Butt was the top scorer with 73 off 54 balls. He hit 10 fours and one six and added 82 runs for the third wicket stand with Debabrata Das, who contributed 27 with two sixes and one four.

Makhaya Ntini bowled excellently to bag four wickets for 21 runs. He dismissed captain Sourav Ganguly (2), Debabrata Das (27), David Hussey (nought) and Mohammad Hafeez (6) to put the Kolkata team in trouble.

Kolkata made just the one change, bringing in Debabrata Das in place of Aakash Chopra. Mohammad Hafeez opened the innings with Salman Butt. Chennai made two changes, bringing in Parthiv Patel and Makhaya Ntini for Chamara Kapugedera and Joginder Sharma, respectively.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Salman Butt, Sourav Ganguly (captain), Debabrata Das, David Hussey, Mohammad Hafeez, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Ajit Agarkar, Shoaib Akhtar, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda

Chennai Super Kings: S Vidyut, Stephen Fleming, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain, wk), S Badrinath, Albie Morkel, Parthiv Patel (wk), Manpreet Gony, L Balaji, Muttiah Muralitharan, Makhaya Ntini.

Nadeem

05-19-2008, 05:27 PM

http://geo.tv/5-19-2008/eng/5-19-2008_18303_l.gif

HYDERABAD DECCAN: The Mumbai Indians defeated the Deccan Chargers by 25 runs in the 42nd Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League here at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday.

They have become the first team to win six matches in a row and they set this record after losing their first four matches in the IPL.

Chasing a rather difficult target of 179 runs, the Deccan Chargers could score 153 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Venugopal Rao top scored with 58 runs off 38 balls. He hit three sixes and four boundaries and Ravi Teja made 37 off 27 balls with three sixes and two fours while no other batsman could make any significant score.

Dwayne Bravo claimed three wickets for 24 runs after scoring 30 off 17 balls to win the man-of-the-match award in his last appearance as he is leaving for West Indies for the home series against Australia.

The Deccan Chargers, with their ninth defeat are looking to be out of semis.

Adam Gilchrist won the toss and put the Mumbai Indians into batting but Mumbai made a sufficient score of 178 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Opener Sanath Jayasuriya continued his blazing form and smashed 36 runs, all through fours and sixes. He faced only 15 balls and struck six fours and two sixes.

Captain Sachin Tendulkar could score 23 with the help of four boundaries while Abhishek Nayar made 38 off 24 balls with three fours and two sixes and Dwayne Bravo contributed 30 off 17 balls with two fours and two sixes.

RP Singh was the most successful bowler who took three wickets for 35 runs while Shahid Afridi and Venugopal Rao got two wickets each.

The Mumbai Indians dropped Shaun Pollock as he is not fit and Dilhara Fernando replaced him. They also dropped Rajesh Pawar and brought in the wicketkeeper batsman Pinal Shah. This is also Dwayne Bravo's last match before he leaves for the West Indies.

The Deccan Chargers made three changes to their team as they left out Herschelle Gibbs, Scott Styris and Sarvesh Kumar and brought in Haladhar Das, Nuwan Zoysa and Chamara Silva.

Nadeem

05-20-2008, 01:58 PM

http://geo.tv/5-19-2008/eng/5-19-2008_18344_l.gif

BANGALORE: Delhi Daredevils emerged victorious against Bangalore Royal Challengers in the 43rd match of Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Monday.

Delhi got a 155 run target to win the match and its batsmen made it possible in 18.2 overs for loss of 5 wickets.

Earlier, Bangalore Royal Challengers scored 154 runs for 7 wickets in 20 overs.

Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag made 47 runs and Gautam Gambhir 39 in their outstanding opening partnership, making the target chase an easy task.

Anil Kumble was the most successful bowler for Bangalore who took 2 wickets. Dale Steyn and Praveen Kumar got 1 wicket each.

Geo Super telecast the match live from Channaswami stadium Banglore.

Nadeem

05-21-2008, 07:26 PM

http://geo.tv/5-20-2008/eng/5-20-2008_18382_l.gif

KOLKATA: An unbeaten fifth wicket partnership of 81 runs between Yusuf Pathan and Mohammad Kaif helped the Rajasthan Royals to an easy six-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders here on Tuesday at the Eden Gardens.

After Rajasthan lost four wickets at 69, Yusuf came up with an unbeaten 48 off just 18 balls. He struck five fours and three sixes. He was later declared the man-of-the-match.

Kaif supported him with 34 not out and they cruised home in the end, ensuring their place in the last four.

Kolkata are still not totally out but their hopes of entering the semi-finals have slimmed considerably.

From Kolkata, Umar Gul claimed two wickets for 30 runs while Ishant Sharma and Sourav Ganguly took one wicket each.

Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals restricted the Kolkata Knight Riders at 147-8 in the allotted 20 overs after Shane Warne won the toss and put them into batting.

Captain Sourav Ganguly (32), Debabrata Das (31) and opener Salman Butt (24) were the main scorers from Kolkata while Sohail Tanvir captured three wickets for 26 runs and Munaf Patel claimed two for 22.

Rajasthan played four seamers: Shane Watson, Sohail Tanvir, Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi. They went in unchanged from the previous match.

Kolkata made only one change - Umar Gul in for the injured Shoaib Akhtar.

Teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez,, SC Ganguly, DJ Hussey, DB Das, LR Shukla, WP Saha, AB Agarkar, I Sharma, AB Dinda, Umar Gul.

Rajasthan Royals: GC Smith, SA Asnodkar, YK Pathan, SR Watson, M Kaif, RA Jadeja, SK Warne, Sohail Tanvir, M Rawat, SK Trivedi, MM Patel.

Geo Super telecast the match live from the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Nadeem

05-22-2008, 08:42 PM

http://geo.tv/5-21-2008/eng/5-21-2008_18420_l.gif MUMBAI: The Kings XI Punjab recorded a sensational one-run victory against the Mumbai Indians in an exciting finish here Wednesday at the Wankhede Stadium.

Mumbai needed 19 runs, in the final over, with three wickets left and they managed 17 runs but lost the remaining three wickets – all run outs. On the last ball, Punjab captain
Yuvraj Singh in a brilliant attempt dashed into stumps to run out the opposing batsman to get all of them out and a win for his team.

In all, Mumbai’s five batsmen were run out, including their captain master batsman Sachin Tendulkar who guided his team towards the road to victory through an splendid innings of 65 off 46 balls with 12 fours. No other batsman could make any significant contribution.

Yuvraj Singh and Sreesanth took two wickets each for 13 and 35, respectively.

Earlier, the Kings XI Punjab set the Mumbai Indians a difficult target of 190 runs after put into bat by Sachin Tendulkar, who won the toss in the 45th Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League.

Punjab made 189 runs for the loss of four wickets in the allotted 20 overs, thanks to the second wicket partnership of 133 runs between Shaun Marsh and Luke Pomersbach.

Marsh scored 81 off 56 balls with seven fours and four sixes while Pomersbach made an unbeaten 79 off 50 balls with 10 fours and three sixes.

However, the latter batsmen could not maintain the earlier tempo due to fine bowling and tight fielding by the Mumbains.

Off-spinner Siddharth Chitnis claimed two wickets for 40 runs and Shaun Pollock and Dilhara Fernando took one wicket each.

Punjab made one change, bringing in the left-handed batsman Tanmay Srivastava for Ramesh Powar while Mumbai on the other hand made four changes.

Dwayne Bravo has flown back to the West Indies and Dwayne Smith came in his place. Shaun Pollock returned from injury to replace Dominic Thornley.

Rohan Raje and Yogesh Takawale too went out and two offbreak bowlers - Vikrant Yeligati and Siddharth Chitnis – came in their place.

Nadeem

05-23-2008, 05:33 PM

http://geo.tv/5-23-2008/eng/5-23-2008_18463_l.gif

NEW DELHI: The 47th match of the Indian Premier League, between Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders has been washed out here at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground on Thursday.

The ground has seen the persistent rain from the morning and the ground-staff was busy all day trying to dry the outfield and drain the water from the covers.

However, despite all the efforts and assurances from all quarters, the match could not be played and was abandoned due to the bad outfield conditions.

This is the first match of the IPL to be called off. Both the teams got one point each.

Nadeem

05-24-2008, 02:45 PM

http://geo.tv/5-23-2008/eng/5-23-2008_18488_l.gif

MOHALI: The Kings XI Punjab easily defeated the Deccan Chargers by six wickets with three balls remaining in the 48th Twenty20 match of Indian Premeir League (IPL) here on Friday.

Chasing a rather difficult target of 176 runs, the Punjab openers – Shaun Marsh and Kumar Sangakkara – made it easy by smashing 84 runs off just 23 balls.

Marsh scored 60 off 46 balls with three fours and as many sixes while Sangakkara made 50 off 25 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

From Deccan Chargers, Pragyan Ojha claimed two wickets for 30 runs while Scott Styris and Rohit Sharma took one wicket each.

Earlier, Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh won the toss and put Deccan Chargers into batting who scored 175 runs for the loss of four wickets.

Adam Gilchrist made 50 runs off 42 balls with six fours and one six and Rohit Sharma hit a breezy 50 off just 27 balls with three fours and four sixes while Herschelle Gibbs scored 44 runs off 34 balls with three sixes and as many fours.

Sreesanth, Vikram Singh, Ramesh Pawar and Gagandeep Singh took one wicket each for Kings XI Punjab.

Punjab opener Shaun Marsh was declared man-of-the-match after the game was over.

Geo Super showed the match live from the Punjab Cricket Association ground, Mohali.

Nadeem

05-25-2008, 03:11 PM

http://geo.tv/5-24-2008/eng/5-24-2008_18517_l.gif

CHENNAI: Rajasthan Royals defeated Chennai Super Kings by ten runs in an exciting finish here on Saturday in the 49th Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The high-scoring match saw each of the two teams making over 200 runs – an IPL record aggregate of 412 runs for the loss of 12 wickets from 40 overs.

Accepting a difficult challenge of 212 runs Chennai batsmen never gave up the chase but finished at 201 for seven in the end.

Suresh Raina and Parthiv Patel set the things rolling at the start and Albie Morkel turned it around after Raina's dismissal. Dhoni's dismissal was a crucial one as Albie was tied down by fuller deliveries in the end.

Morkel remained unbeaten on 71, which he scored off 40 balls with six fours and four sixes while Patel made 54 off 40 balls with five fours and two sixes and Raina smashed 45 off just 24 balls with six fours and two sixes.

Sohail Tanvir claimed three wickets for 33, two of them from the last two balls of the match and his captain Shane Warne got two for 35.

Earlier, an outstanding 51-ball 91 from Graeme Smith, and his frenetic 127-run opening stand with Swapnil Asnodkar, powered Rajasthan Royals to an imposing 211 for five at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Both openers made 127 runs in just 11.1 overs, while Kamran Akmal kept the momentum going with a 28-ball 53 with four boundaries and three sixers.

Smith smashed nine fours and four sixes while Asnodkar hit five fours and two sixes.
On a sweltering afternoon and a pitch which was even paced and gave absolutely no assistance to seam, swing or spin, Chennai's bowlers were utterly helpless against the marauding Rajasthan openers.

Nadeem

05-25-2008, 03:12 PM

http://geo.tv/5-24-2008/eng/5-24-2008_18523_l.gif

DELHI: The Delhi Daredevils won by five wickets against the Mumbai Indians with one ball left here on Saturday in the 50th Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Chasing 177 runs, Dinesh Karthik and Farveez Maharoof steered Delhi to a comfortable victory with an unbeaten sixth wicket partnership of 49 runs.

Karthik made 56 off 32 balls with four boundaries and three sixes while Mahroof scored 20 off 13 balls with four fours.

Manoj Tiwary (36) and Shikhar Dhawan (27) were the other main scorers from Delhi.

Earlier, the Mumbai Indians scored 176 runs for eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs after they were invited to bat by the Delhi Daredevils.

In-form opener Sanath Jayasuriya smashed 66 runs off 42 balls with six fours and five sixes and together with his captain Sachin Tendulkar (18) made 70 runs for the opening stand before Mumbai began losing wickets quickly.

However, Robin Uthappa played an aggressive innings of 46 from only 23 balls and remained not out. He struck five fours and two sixes.

Teams:

Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Manoj Tiwary, Brett Geeves, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Farveez Maharoof, Amit Mishra, Vijaykumar Yomahesh, Glenn McGrath.

Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Robin Utahppa, Dwayne Smith, Abhishek Nayar, Shaun Pollock, Pinal Shah, Siddharth Chitnis, Dhaval Kulkarni, Andre Nel, Ashish Nehra.

Geo Super telecast the match live from the Feroz Shah Kotla ground, Delhi.

Nadeem

05-26-2008, 01:51 PM

http://geo.tv/5-25-2008/eng/5-25-2008_18555_l.gif

HYDERABAD: The Bangalore Royal Challengers defeated the Deccan Chargers by five wickets to get an edge over them in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal.

Their fourth IPL victory assured the Bangalore Royal Challengers the seventh place in the points table where as the Deccan Chargers, who never won a match at their home ground, remained at bottom (eighth).

Chasing a modest target of 166, Bangalore started slowly, but an explosive batting display from Misbah-ul-Haq (34), Rahul Dravid (31), Cameron White (31 not out) and Balachandra Akhil (27 not out) ensured they got home with one over to spare.

Earlier, the Deccan Chargers won the toss and batted first but were dismissed for 165 in exact 20 overs after a brisk opening stand of 101 runs in 11.2 overs set by Adam Gilchrist (46) and Herschelle Gibbs (47).

Only two other batsmen - Venugopal Rao (26) and Rohit Sharma (17) - could get into double-figures.

Vinay Kumar claimed three wickets for 27 runs while Dale Steyn and Virat Kohli got two wickets each. Kumar was later declared the man-of-the-match.

In today’s match, Chaminda Vaas and Arjun Yadav came back into the Deccan team in place of Styris and Ojha while Wasim Jaffer and Cameron White replaced Mark Boucher and Praveen Kumar for the Royal Challengers.

Teams:
Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (captain, wk), Herschelle Gibbs, Rohit Sharma, Venugopal Rao, Chamara Silva, Ravi Teja, Arjun Yadav, Chaminda Vaas, Sanjay Bangar, RP Singh, P Vijaykumar.
Bangalore Royal Challengers: Virat Kohli, Wasim Jaffer, Jacques Kallis, Misbah-ul-Haq, Rahul Dravid (captain), Shreevats Goswami (wk), Cameron White, B Akhil, Anil Kumble, R Vinay Kumar, Dale Steyn.

Geo Super has showed the match live from Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad.

Nadeem

05-26-2008, 01:51 PM

http://geo.tv/5-25-2008/eng/5-25-2008_18562_l.gif

KOLKATA: Sourav Ganguly played a captain’s knock to guide the Kolkata Knight Riders to a three-wicket victory over the Kings XI Punjab here on Sunday at Eden Gardens in the 52nd Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League.

Chasing a rather difficult target of 175 runs, Kolkata achieved it for the loss of seven wickets with two balls to spare.

Ganguly fought the battle alone, opening the innings with Pakistan’s Salman Butt and remained not out at 86 which he made from 53 balls. He smashed six huge sixes and hit as many fours during the innings.

The second highest score was 24 which was made by each of the two Pakistani players – Salman Butt and Umar Gul, who struck three sixes.

From Punjab, VRVingh, Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla claimed two wickets each.

Earlier, the Kings XI Punjab winning the toss and batting first made 174 runs for the loss of five wickets with the help of brilliant 64 by Kumar Sangakkara.

Sangakkara and Shaun Marsh (40) added 83 runs off 57 balls for the second wicket partnership. Sangakkara hit seven fours and two sixes while Marsh struck three fours and two sixes.

Among others, only captain Yuvraj Singh played a significant innings and made 27 runs off 18 balls with three fours and one six.

Pakistani fast-medium bowler Umer Gul bowled extremely well and captured four wickets for 23 runs while Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis, playing for the first time in a IPL match, took one wicket.

After the match ended, Umar Gul was declared the man-of-the-match for his all-round performance.

Geo Super is showing the match live from the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Nadeem

05-27-2008, 02:57 PM

http://geo.tv/5-27-2008/eng/5-27-2008_18604_l.gif

MUMBAI: The semi-final hopes of the Mumbai Indians suffered a jolt with the table-toppers Rajasthan Royals scoring a spectacular last ball win in their Indian Premier League match in Jaipur on Monday.

The home team, needing 15 to win in the final over, got two off the final delivery to cruise home by five wickets and also preserved their unbeaten record at home.

The win was Rajasthan 11th in 13 matches and moved their points tally to 22 while it was Mumbai's seventh defeat in 13 matches, their third straight.

Chasing 146 for a win, the Rajasthan Royals were in dire straits at 77 for five after the 12th over.

Kamran Akmal (18), Swapnil Asnodkar (17), Shane Watson (18) and Mohammad Kaif (12) all failed to convert their starts as Mumbai looked on course to score yet another win over the Rajasthan team (Mumbai had beaten Rajasthan earlier).

But Ravindra Jadeja (23 not out) and Niraj Patel (40 not out) not only put on 69 runs in an unbeaten sixth wicket partnership but ensured their perfect home record was intact in a tense finish. It was Mumbai's third straight defeat in a close match.

Earlier, Sohail Tanvir (4 for 14) and Sidddharth Trivedi (2 for 31) led a disciplined Rajasthan Royals bowling attack and shared the spoils to restrict Mumbai Indians to a modest 145 for 7.

Trivedi accounted for Sachin Tendulkar [Images] and Sanath Jayasuriya to put the brakes on Mumbai Indians while Tanvir rocked the visiting middle and lower orders to deny their opponents, who badly need a win to stay afloat, a big total.

Electing to field first, the Rajasthan bowlers tied down the Mumbai openers Tendulkar and Jayasuriya on a slow Sawai Mansingh stadium pitch which was not easy for batsmen to play shots and odd balls keeping low.

It was an unusual sight of two of the best contemporary cricketers having against their names more number of balls than runs and failing to impose themselves on the bowlers in the format considered to be batsman-friendly.

The duo scored just 28 from the first five overs bowled by Sohail Tanvir, Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan, and 60 at the end of 10th over.

However, thanks to wicketkeeper Yogesh Takawale, who came at number eight and scored an unbeaten eight-ball 24 runs, which included four 4s and a huge six, that the visitors added some more runs to the paltry total.

Jayasuriya opened up in the seventh over off Pankaj Singh by taking 13 runs from it which prompted Shane Warne [Images] to introduce himself in the 10th over to the eager anticipation of the huge crowd of a spin champion taking on his old nemesis Tendulkar.

Warne did not have much impact in his first over but the run glut forced the Mumbai opening duo to look for big shots and from one such effort in the 11th over Jayasuriya could not time properly a Siddharth Trivedi delivery to hole out to Pankaj Singh for 38 which the Sri Lankan made off 37 balls with the help of four fours.

Trivedi struck two overs later with Tendulkar offering a return catch to the young bowler and with that Mumbai were dealt a body blow.

The Mumbai captain struck only two fours in his 34-ball 30 and when he departed in the 13th over his side was scoring at a rate of just over six an over.

Two down Robin Uthappa perished for three while trying to accelerate the innings and missed completely a Warne turning ball while charging down and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal did the rest to give his captain his only wicket of the match for 30 runs.

Miserly Sohail Tanvir then added salt to Mumbai injury by taking two wickets in consecutive balls when he trapped Abhishek Nayar LBW for 25 and dismissed Shaun Pollock [Images] for a duck in the 17th over.

Manish Pandey, however, denied Tanvir success from the Pakistani pacers hat-trick ball, his second in the tournament but the damage had already been done with Mumbai reduced to 107 for 5 at the end of 17th over.

A pumped up Tanvir, who has world best Twenty20 figures of 4-0-16-6 in his name in an IPL match at the same ground, had the satisfaction of cleaning up Pandey for 3 and then sending Dwayne Smith to the hut for eight in the penultimate over to restrict the vistors to less than 150.

Nadeem

05-28-2008, 04:13 PM

http://geo.tv/5-27-2008/eng/5-27-2008_18645_l.gif

HYDERABAD: Chennai Super Kings have qualified for the semi-finals by defeating Deccan Chargers by seven wickets here on Tuesday in the 54th Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Suresh Raina and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni inspired their team to complete the chase of 148 runs with four balls remaining.

Raina remained not out on 54 runs off 43 balls with five fours and two sixes while Dhoni made 37 off 25 balls with four boundaries and one six.

Earlier, the Deccan Chargers failed again to make a big score in their last IPL match and were restricted by the Chennai Super Kings at 147 for eight after they won the toss.

Only two local players - Venugopal Rao and Ravi Teja - made significant scores as the popular stars like Adam Gilchrist (5), Herschelle Gibbs (8) and Shahid Afridi (1) failed once again.

From Chennai, all bowlers succeeded in taking wickets – Laxmipathy Balaji and Albie Morkel got two wickets each and Manpreet Gony, Muttiah Muralitharan and Makhaya Ntini took one wicket each.

Chennai did not make any changes to their eleven from the match against Rajasthan while Deccan brought back Shahid Afridi, Scott Styris, Sarvesh Kumar and Pragyan Ojha in place of Rohit Sharma, Chamara Silva, Chaminda Vaas and Sanjay Bangar.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Parthiv Patel (wk), Stephen Fleming, Suresh Raina, Albie Morkel, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), S Badrinath, Abhinav Mukund, Manpreet Gony, Laxmipathy Balaji, Muttiah Muralitharan, Makhaya Ntini.

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (captain, wk), Herschelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, Venugopal Rao, Shahid Afridi, Ravi Teja, Arjun Yadav, Pragyan Ohja, Sarvesh Kumar, RP Singh, P Vijaykumar.

Deccan have lost all seven matches at home and now out of the competition as Chennai have made the last four.

In the semi-finals, they will face the Kings XI Punjab while the Rajasthan Royals will play against the Delhi Daredevils.

Nadeem

05-31-2008, 02:44 PM

Watson helps Rajasthan march into final:

This was Shane Watson's match. Imposing himself on the first semi-final, he boosted Rajasthan Royals with an electric fifty before rattling Delhi Daredevils' top order with an outstanding opening spell. Shane Warne had complained about being deprived of home advantage but his side adjusted perfectly to the conditions at the Wankhede Stadium, putting on a show that illustrated exactly why they have been the stand-out team in the competition.

Delhi were like a side struck with stage fright. Their bowlers were rattled by a brand of unconventional strokeplay - even the peerless Glenn McGrath went wicketless for 38 runs - before their batsmen succumbed against a disciplined attack. Virender Sehwag's decision to field may come under scrutiny but Rajasthan's ruthless efficiency might have steered them to the final either way. The farcical end to the match - when Mohammad Asif took an age to get his bat into the crease - summed it up.
The scorecard may indicate a hopelessly one-sided contest but Rajasthan had their shaky moments. Losing the toss meant facing up to McGrath and Asif on a juicy pitch and three quick wickets for Farveez Maharoof pushed them from 65 for no loss to 76 for 3.

Graeme Smith, who was aided by a runner once his hamstring injury resurfaced, and Swapnil Asnodkar, who broke a window pane at fine leg with an audacious pull, provided the early impetus but the innings could have easily lost its way with Maharoof, utilising the bounce and movement on the surface, luring the top order into loose strokes.

Watson's arrival put the innings back on track. From the moment he took 21 off the 11th over, with two ferocious pulls for six, only one team bossed the contest. With the high, straight back-lift that's been the feature of his batting in the tournament, Watson swung through midwicket and square leg. He targeted specific bowlers and went through with shots even if he wasn't to the pitch of the ball, allowing the timing to take care of the rest.
Amit Mishra, the legspinner, teased with his flight and loop but Watson was intent on spoiling his rhythm - going down on one knee, he slog-swept him over midwicket, a technique that Yusuf Pathan was to pick up later.
Such a commanding total wouldn't have been possible without the final flourish. Yusuf celebrated his recall to the one-day squad with a blistering 21-ball 45, an innings where four mighty sixes dripped off his bat. Without the Watson back-lift, without too much initial movement, he showed what brute force could do, blasting over long-on and midwicket. He spotted slower balls too, smearing McGrath over midwicket for the shot of the evening.

Delhi have their fielders to thank for avoiding further embarrassment but their effort was put in the shade by some acrobatic catching by Rajasthan. Shikhar Dhawan pulled off a diving catch to dismiss Smith but it was Tauwar Kohli's peach of a dive, throwing himself to the right of cover to latch on to a Gautam Gambhir slash, that will stick in the mind.
Watson may have top scored for his side, but his job wasn't done yet. Up against one of the most formidable opening combinations in the IPL, he cranked up his pace. Sehwag was done in by the extra bounce, holing out to deep point, Gambhir was frustrated into slashing in the air and Dhawan pulled straight to square leg. Every wicket was accompanied by an ecstatic expression - one that indicated the triumph of a well-laid plan.
Tillakaratne Dilshan's furious swinging was never going to be enough against a constantly mounting asking-rate and he kept losing partners who misread the bounce in the track. Manoj Tiwary top-edged a bouncer from Munaf Patel and Yo Mahesh struggled against a short one directed at the shoulder. The rest were clueless against Warne's fizzers.

He admitted he would have bowled first if he had won the toss but would have been pleasantly surprised at the amount of turn and bounce the surface offered. He toyed with the tailenders, mixing legbreaks and sliders as if this was a Test, and he could afford to wear an impish smile through the spell, considering the match was in the kitty.

Nadeem

06-01-2008, 03:27 PM

http://geo.tv/5-31-2008/eng/5-31-2008_18772_l.gif

MUMBAI: The Chennai Super Kings stunned the favourites – Kings XI Punjab – when they easily won by nine wickets to qualify for the final here Saturday in the second semi-final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium.

Chasing an easy target of 113 runs, the Chennai achieved the victory by losing only one wicket with 31 balls remaining.

Parthiv Patil and Suresh Raina struck unbeaten fifties to take their team into the final of the IPL. They added 102 runs off 75 balls for an unbeaten second wicket partnership.

Patil made 51 with eight fours and Raina scored 55 off 34 balls with four sixes and as many fours.

Earlier, the Kings XI Punjab could not take the advantage of toss and were restricted by the Chennai Super Kings at 112 for eight in the allotted 20 overs.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, Punjab collapsed for 112 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Their main scorers were Ramesh Powar (28 not out), Wilkin Mota (25) and opener Shaun Marsh (23).

At one stage, it was looking very difficult for Punjab to reach 100 runs but an eighth wicket partnership of 35 runs between Mota and Powar made it possible.

Main wicket-takers from Chennai were Manpreet Gony (2-14), Makhaya Ntini (2-23) and Albie Morkel (2-27) while Muttiah Muralitharan claimed one for 19.

Teams:

Kings XI Punjab: Shaun Marsh, James Hopes, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Yuvraj Singh (captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Irfan Pathan, Wilkin Mota, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, VRV Singh, Sreesanth.

Chennai Super Kings: Parthiv Patel (wk), S Vidyut, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Chamara Kapugedera, S Badrinath, Albie Morkel, Manpreet Gony, Laxmipathy Balaji, Muttiah Muralitharan, Makhaya Ntini.

Nadeem

06-02-2008, 02:13 PM

http://geo.tv/6-2-2008/eng/6-2-2008_18808_l.gif

MUMBAI: India’s newest cricket star Yousuf Pathan sparkled with both the bat and ball to guide Rajasthan Royals to a tense, final-ball triumph over Chennai Super Kings in the IPL final here on Sunday night.

A galaxy of international stars might have added fizz to the IPL but it was India’s most improved domestic player who mattered most in the tense final.

Few outside India might have heard of Yousuf before this tournament but he imposed himself on the grand stage, snaffling three wickets before smashing a scintillating 56, setting the stage for Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir to pull off the last-ball thriller.

It was fitting that the most consistent side in the tournament held their nerve to clinch an enthralling victory in the grand finale played in front of a packed DY Patil Stadium.

Chennai, led by India’s ODI skipper MS Dhoni, summoned every ounce of their reserves to take the match to the last ball but a calm swat from Sohail, when one was needed off the last ball, sparked some heady celebrations in the Rajasthan dug-out.

The least expensive side in the league had completed the coup that had them winning 13 of their 16 matches.

Unlike in the two semi-finals, neither team held a clear advantage at the end of the first innings.

The Chennai Super Kings paced their innings well, not trying anything too rash, and a collective effort took them to a fighting 163. Rajasthan Royals weren’t as dominant with the ball as they’ve usually been but Yousuf Pathan’s three strikes ensured that the game never really got away.http://geo.tv/images/shim.gif