Cricket 20:20: April 2010

Friday, April 16, 2010

Modi feels the heat, BCCI President to be co-chairman

In one of the major fall-outs of the battle between IPL Commissioner and Chairman Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor, the mentor of the Kochi franchise, the BCCI has decided to clip Modi's wings and appoint the BCCI President as the co-chairman of the IPL, according to a report on NDTV.

NDTV said BCCI sources had confirmed the same after the IT Department landed up at the BCCI headquarters to inquire into the shareholding pattern of each of the IPL franchises.

The Kochi franchise has not emerged unscathed from the fiasco, with CEO Shailendra Gaikwad being replaced by Keshav T, and Dubai based businessman Harshad Mehta appointed as Chairman. Mehta is the chairman of the Dubai operations of Rosy Blue Diamonds, but his stake in IPL Kochi franchise is personal.

The semi-final requirements

Given the pedigree that both Bangalore and Delhi have on paper, it is slightly surprising that they have huffed and puffed their way to a somewhat safe position on the points table and have both got one foot in the door for the semi-finals. They haven't yet gotten through for sure (though Bangalore are through for all practical purposes), and they only have themselves to blame for that, since they will feel that if they had been a bit tighter in some games, they would have been sitting on more than 14 points and would have already booked their place in the semi-final.

It is good for the tournament that both Delhi and Bangalore have won though, since they have players that can make watching them very exciting.

What Delhi's victory means though, is that the points table is still technically open. There are six matches to go, with Mumbai on 18 points and Bangalore and Delhi on 14 points. Chennai, Rajasthan and Deccan are locked on 12 points, while Kolkata have 10 and Punjab have 8.

A look at how each team stands from the bottom upwards:

Kings XI Punjab: They are on 8 points, with 2 games in hand. This means that the maximum number of points they can get is 12. Given that Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore are already on more than 12 points, the only way for Punjab to make it to the final four is if no other team crosses 12 points, and Punjab win by such huge margins that they end up having the best net run-rate. Punjab's current net run-rate is a low -0.48, and even if all other teams get to 12 points, they would have to beat Chennai on net run-rate. Chennai have a high NRR of +0.27, and their only remaining match is against Punjab. The difference in net run-rates is such that Punjab will have to win both their remaining matches by at least 100-run margins (or equivalent if bowling first), and in all likelihood beat Chennai by a 130 runs-plus margin. Since this is highly unlikely, Punjab can be safely discounted as a potential semi-finalist.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Kolkata have the worst net run-rate amongst all the teams (-0.63) - even worse than Punjab, and thus qualifying on net run-rates is also out of the question for them. They have 10 points with 2 games in hand, which means they have to win both games, and hope nobody else reaches 14 points. This is possible if Punjab win both their remaining matches (against Deccan and Chennai) and Delhi win their remaining game against Deccan. That would ensure that Kolkata make it to the semi-finals as the fourth team since neither Chennai, Rajasthan, Deccan or Punjab would have 14 points. But of course, if Kolkata lose another match, then they are also out of the semi-finals for all practical purposes.

Deccan Chargers: They are on 12 points with two games in hand. Their net run-rate is also none too good (-0.44). However, that will be made irrelevant if they win both remaining games, since this would take them to 16 points and give them entry to the semi-finals on points alone, since no combination of wins/losses will result in more than four teams ending up on 16 points. If Deccan win only one match, they would be on 14 points. The match Deccan have to win is against the Delhi Daredevils since Delhi are above them on net run-rate, and if Deccan can inflict a heavy defeat on Delhi then they might even be able to afford to lose their match against Punjab, provided they do so narrowly. One win and one loss for Deccan will mean a whole lot of net run-rate calculations will have to be made. If Deccan lose to Punjab heavily though, then their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals will take a severe beating and even a subsequent win against Delhi might not be enough to see them through. Thus Deccan's simplest route is to win both their matches.

Rajasthan Royals: They have 12 points and only a game in hand. Their net run rate is -0.421, and if they lose their last match, then they will be out of the semi-finals for all practical purposes. Thus they need to win their match against Kolkata, and hope that Chennai lose against Punjab, since if Chennai win they will draw level on points and will qualify on account of their superior net run-rate. Even if they win, they are not guaranteed a final-four spot, since Deccan are close to them on net run-rates and have 2 matches in hand. They will need Deccan to lose at least one of the two, and win the other one very narrowly. Thus for Rajasthan to qualify, they need to beat Kolkata - preferably by a big margin - and hope that Chennai lose one match, while Deccan don't win more than one, and not very heavily at that.

Chennai Super Kings: They have 12 points with one game in hand, but their advantage is their very healthy net run rate, which is +0.27. If Chennai lose their final match (which is against Punjab) then they must hope that Kolkata beat Rajasthan, while Deccan lose to Delhi and Punjab and Mumbai beat Kolkata. This would mean Rajasthan, Kolkata, Deccan and Chennai would be tied on 12 points, and Chennai would make it through on account of their strong NRR. If Chennai win, they will be on 14 points, and are likely to make it through to the semi-finals, since they are likely to be amongst three teams fighting for two slots, and their NRR will take them through.

Delhi Daredevils: They have 14 points, with a match in hand. If they win their match against the Deccan Chargers, their entry into the semi-finals will be assured, but if they lose the match, then they must hope that Chennai also lose their match or that Deccan don't win two out of two matches. Any one of the above two will result in Delhi qualifying for the semi-finals even if they lose their last match. However, if Delhi lose and Chennai and Deccan both win their remaining matches, then Delhi will be edged out.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: They have 14 points, with a match in hand. If Bangalore win their final match (against the Mumbai Indians), then they will be through to the semi-finals, but they are still likely to make it even if they lose to Mumbai. The only way they will be edged out if they lose is if Deccan beat Delhi narrowly and Punjab very comprehensively, while Chennai also beat very comprehensively. Meanwhile, Bangalore themselves will have to lose by a mammoth margin to Mumbai (on the order of 110 runs or so) for their Net Run Rate to fall below Delhi's and so be edged out of the semi-finals. Thus for all practical purposes, Bangalore are also through to the semi-finals.

Mumbai Indians: The only thing for them to do is ensure Sachin Tendulkar continues to strike the ball the way he has all tournament long! They are not only in the semi-final, but are guaranteed to qualify as the top-ranked team from the league stage.

Gooch says Essex's Olympic plan "makes sense"

Former Essex and England captain Graham Gooch has backed the county cricket club's plan to share London's Olympic Stadium with West Ham football club and Newham Council after the 2012 Games are over.

Essex chief executive David East has held talks with the Premier League side and the local authority in a move Gooch believes will benefit all parties.

"I'm right behind the proposal," Gooch told Sky Sports.

"I'm a big Hammers supporter as well as an Essex supporter," the 56-year-old, one of the best opening batsmen of his generation and still England's leading Test match run-scorer, said.

"It absolutely makes sense that Essex, West Ham and Newham Council join forces to use the Olympic Stadium for sport to have a legacy for more than one sport on that stadium.

"I come from exactly that area. It would be good for sport in that area. It would raise the profile of cricket in east London, especially with the Asian population. It's a multi-dimensional, ethnic population there.

"We've raised a lot of players from there -- Varun Chopra, Nasser Hussain (another ex-England captain) and others on our staff.

"I was born in Leytonstone, Nasser Hussain was from Ilford and John Lever (the former Essex and England left-arm seamer) was from there (Stepney). A lot of our players come from that area.

"We're not talking about it being our headquarters for championship cricket -- that's at Chelmsford.

"We're talking about playing limited-overs, Twenty20 cricket there.

"The timescale for us -- June, July, August -- is when West Ham wouldn't be using the stadium," explained Gooch.

West Ham would like to move permanently to the Olympic Stadium from their existing ground at Upton Park, which is nearby the Games site, but Essex just want to use the venue in Stratford, east London, for Twenty20 matches.

"We are very much looking forward to exploring this with Newham and West Ham," East, who as a wicketkeeper played alongside Gooch in the successful Essex side of the 1980s, explained.

"We have a very active development programme in the east end of London, and this would give us an ideal opportunity to extend our community work even further with a centre of excellence in the borough."

"Obviously there are some reasonably substantive issues concerning the pitch and that's going to be part of the investigation we work on."

Hammers vice-chairman Karren Brady said: "It's about realising the full potential of the Olympic Park.

"If achievable it is the ideal answer for those who, rightly, demand a sustainable legacy from the 2012 Games and not a white elephant."

Under current plans, the 80,000-seater Olympic Stadium is due to be reduced after the Games to a 25,000-capacity venue complete with an athletics track.

But with the stadium costing 537 million pounds (809 million dollars), there are concerns as to whether it will remain economically viable as an athletics venue alone.

India to tour Zimbabwe in May-June

India will tour Zimbabwe in May-June for a triangular one-day series with Sri Lanka as the third team, the Indian cricket board said Friday.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men will also play two Twenty20 internationals against the home side during the tour, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a press release.

Schedule:

May 28 - India vs Zimbabwe, Bulawayo

May 30 - India vs Sri Lanka, Bulawayo

June 1 - Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, Bulawayo

June 3 - Zimbabwe vs India, Harare

June 5 - India vs Sri Lanka, Harare

June 7 - Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, Harare

June 9 - Final, Harare

June 12 - 1st Twenty20, India vs Zimbabwe, Harare

June 13 - 2nd Twenty20, India vs Zimbabwe, Harare

Amla marks Championship debut with century

South Africa batsman Hashim Amla scored a century on his County Championship debut to put Nottinghamshire in a strong position on the opening day of their First Division clash against Kent.

Amla, available for the opening four Championship matches of the season, made 129, including 19 fours, in a 202-ball innings at Trent Bridge on Thursday that ended when he was dismissed by Darren Stevens.

His innings helped Nottinghamshire, last year's runners-up, to 396 for eight which also featured 85 from Neil Edwards and captain Chris Read's 62.

Amla wasn't the only South Africa batsman in the runs on Thursday, with his Test colleague Ashwell Prince making 82 in Lancashire's total of 253 against Warwickshire at Old Trafford.

Durham, bidding to become the first side to win a third straight Championship title since Yorkshire in the 1960s, were frustrated by a maiden first-class hundred from Essex's Jaik Mickleburgh at the Riverside.

Although they were without injured former England quick Steve Harmison, Durham still reduced Essex to 102 for four before the visitors rallied thanks to 20-year-old Mickleburgh's unbeaten 103 which helped guide them to a close total of 263 for four.

Former England opener Marcus Trescothick marked the Championship start of his reign as Somerset captain with a century against Yorkshire at Headingley.

The left-hander scored 117 off 175 balls with 15 boundaries in a total of 272 after Somerset had struggled early on with England quick Tim Bresnan taking three wickets for 10 runs in 26 deliveries.

Broad happy to miss IPL

Stuart Broad capped a dream season by being named one of Wisden's cricketers of the year and said he was happy to miss out on the Indian Premier League to ensure he remains in the best shape for England.

Having lost 4kg and picked up a "few aches and niggles" during England's tour of Bangladesh the Nottinghamshire paceman took a few weeks off to recover.

"I've been in the gym, trying to put a bit of the weight back on and just generally easing the aches and pains," he said at the announcement of FTI Consulting as the new sponsor of the MVP rankings.

"As a bowler you get little niggles. Playing for England is the highlight of my career and I felt I needed a couple of weeks' rest before the Twenty20 World Cup to make sure I'm fit and firing."

With Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen previously criticised after picking up injuries in the IPL, Broad, so slim now that he would barely cover all three stumps if he stood chest-on in front of them, said he fully supported captain Andrew Strauss's decision to sit out the Bangladesh tour.

"Obviously you want to play as many games as you can for England but Straussy felt he needed a break and that's great," he said.

"You need your captain really fresh. It's pretty difficult with the fixture list, you want to play every game but you'd break down."

A couple of hundred hardy souls braved a chilly spring wind at Lord's on Thursday to watch the county match between Middlesex and Glamorgan, a far cry from the mayhem of the IPL League where most of the world's leading players are honing their short-game talents before the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies which starts in two weeks.

Broad accepted that England's players could do with sharpening their skills but said he was confident they could still be competitive despite their lack of practice.

"The IPL is something I'd like to do in the future, it's a fantastic tournament, but I just felt that this year, after the tour to Bangladesh and with a hectic year ahead I just needed a little break," he said.

"We do need to develop as a Twenty20 team and players. We've got a couple of warm-up games before the tournament and it would probably have been better to have played a few more but we've had a bit of rest and I certainly feel better for that.

"We have a good chance, if we can get a good start and pick up some momentum, it's a short tournament so we could go well.

"The selection looks exciting, we've got batsmen who can hit fours and sixes right through the order and bowlers taking wickets so I'm looking forward to being out there."

Broad is second in the MVP rankings behind spinner Graeme Swann and both men, who did so much to help England to their Ashes victory over Australia last season, were among Wisden's Cricketers of the year announced on Wednesday.

England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, swing bowler Graham Onions and Australian batsmen Michael Clarke completed the quintet honoured on Wednesday.

"It was a fantastic evening, going up and getting the award with such illustrious people and past winners in the room," Broad told Reuters.

"It was a huge honour to get the leather book with my name on, you can only win it once and nobody can take that away.

"I was also very proud to have four England players in the five. That really shows how far we've come as a team."

Modi offered USD 50 million bribe: Rendezvous

In a new twist to the controversy over the Kochi team, its owner Rendezvous Sports alleged that IPL Commisioner Lalit Modi had offered a USD 50 million bribe to them to withdraw from the race.

"We were offered USD 50 million by Modi to withdraw from the Kochi team," Shailendra Gaikwad, CEO of the franchise, alleged within hours of Modi telling reporters that there was a question mark over the fate of the new team, secured by a bid of Rs 1533 crore last month.

Terming as "rubbish" the charges, Modi told PTI: "Are they mad. Who will offer them what they say - Rs 200 crore. I will take legal recourse."

Asked when he would initiate the legal action, he said "I am awaiting the clippings (in which Gaikwad had made allegation that Modi wanted their bid to be withdrawn). Once I have that, I will serve them legal notice... possibly tomorrow."

Hours after Modi told a press conference that there was a question mark over the owners of the Kochi franchise, Gaikwad hit back at the IPL Commissioner saying that they were being deliberately made to go through a "tough time" because they refused the offer.

"We went through the process in the right manner and won the bid. But within 10 days of winning the bid, Modi offered us USD 50 million to give away the rights of the IPL franchise," Gaikwad told PTI.

Gaikwad said that the franchise was being targeted because it outbid some big business houses whom Modi wanted to rope in for the subsequent editions of IPL.

"We are being put through an unnecessary process and the reasons are obvious. If we did not have all the papers in place how could we win the bid. It is unfair now to make us go through these problems," he said.

Modi dared Gaikwad to prove the allegations, saying, "Why I will offer them the money... the bid had gone for a good sum."

"Today they are saying USD 50 million. Tomorrow they may say some different figures," he said adding that every communication and conversations, including that of Tharoor wherein the Union Minister asked him not to identify the owners, was minuted in IPL.

Allegations from Rendezvous, which has given a 18 per cent share of its 25 per cent equity in the Kochi Team to Sunanda Pushkar -- a friend of Tharoor, came within days of Modi divulging the names of stakeholders in Kochi Team, a tweet that led to a public spat between the Union Minister and IPL official.

Gaikwad said that all the details of the owners were provided in the bid document which would have, otherwise, been rejected.

"We have submitted all the details such as, PAN card, passport and other professional documents in the bid. Everything was attached as per the requirements. So how come suddenly there is a doubt about the owners? he asked.

Gaikwad suggested that the IPL Commissioner may be putting obstacles on the Kochi franchise so that he could push some other team which he favoured.

He alleged that Modi had asked a lot of personal details during the meeting with the owners in Bangalore.

"We were asked a lot of personal questions about some of our owners which we could not readily answer. He asked questions about when did you meet Sunanda (Pushkar) and other such irrelevant things.

"We said that whatever questions were unanswered we will mail all the details as soon as possible. We felt that most of the questions were planted. Before we could give all the answers he went on Twitter and said at the press conference that we did not have knowledge about all the owners," Gaikwad said.

Asked whether the Kochi franchise, which won the bid for a whopping Rs 1533 crore, was contemplating legal action against Modi for breaking the confidentiality terms, Gaikwad said, "We don't want to take legal recourse. We don't want to make this a legal issue. We are here for the passion of the game. We wanted to do something for cricket."

Earlier, Modi had said that he is in dark about the owners of the Kochi franchise and would call a meeting of the IPL Governing Council after April 25 to discuss the issue.

"As regards all earlier franchisees we know who the owners are. They come, they attend conferences and meetings but as far as Kochi IPL is concerned we had a question mark," he said at a press conference in Mumbai.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Modi using unethical efforts to thwart Kochi IPL: Tharoor

New Delhi, April 13: Minister of State for External Affairs Minister Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday denied that he called up Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi requesting him not to reveal the name of the stakeholders of the consortium that won the franchise of the Kochi team.

Tharoor, who played the role of a mentor and helped the consortium bag the deal for Rs 1,530 crore, said in a statement that he had called up Modi to ask why he was further delaying the approval of the franchise when all the legal requirements had been fulfilled.

“Modi had held up approval by the IPL of the franchisee agreement earlier in the day by insisting on the reversal of a change in the document that he himself had earlier suggested. This change was made, the consortium members flew to Bangalore and met with Modi after that night’s IPL game for what they had been told would be a routine exercise.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Dhoni, Ganguly in a crucial face-off today

Chennai, April 12: Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders will clash in a make-or-break Indian Premier League match here tomorrow, the outcome of which will decide if they can still be in race for a semifinal spot.

Both the teams need to win all the three remaining games if they are to stand any chance of qualifying for the last-four stage and the team that ends on the wrong side of the result would be out of contention.

They are on equal points having won five of their 11 matches but the hosts are at the fifth place in the points table, ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders due to their better net run-rate.

The hosts have a psychological edge as they have beaten Knight Riders in the away encounter but that defeat at home would push Kolkata even more for the win.

Both the teams are coming into the clash after defeats in their last encounters and an exasperated Sourav Ganguly even went to the extent of saying that his side played “rubbish” on Saturday against Royal Challengers Bangalore and did not deserve to be in semifinals.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Pathan takes three wickets as Punjab beat Daredevils

New Delhi, April 11: Irfan Pathan returned with a three-wicket haul as Kings XI Punjab put up clinical all-round performance to register a seven-wicket comprehensive victory over Delhi Daredevils in their Indian Premier League match here today.

Pathan’s three for 24 and Piyush Chawla (2/16) helped Punjab shot out Delhi Daredevils for a lowly 111 at the slow and turning track of Ferozshah Kotla after home team captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to bat.

The Kings XI then returned to overhaul the target with eight balls to spare, courtesy Mahela Jayawardene (38), Kumar Sangakkara (33) and Yuvraj Singh’s unbeaten 21 off 25 balls.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Down, but not out: Shoaib Akhtar

Age is catching up, fitness was never his strength and he has lost his central contract as well - but controversial pacer Shoaib Akhtar insists he is not done just yet and would make an international comeback soon.

The 34-year-old said he would be using the domestic Pentangular Cup one-day tournament as a platform to convince the selectors that he is ready to resume playing international cricket.

The fast bowler has been named in the Federal Areas team for the tournament starting April 17.

"I am thankful to the board for giving me this opportunity to prove myself again and I want to give it my best effort," Akhtar said.

He also made it clear that people who were writing him off are making a mistake.

"One of the reasons for my struggle with fitness and form in the last few series I played was because of the knee problem I had. I just never got the time to get it operated upon," he said.

"But now that the surgery has been done and the rehabilitation process has also gone well, I am back to my top fitness and the knee problem is no longer a hindrance in my giving my best on the field," he added.

Akhtar, who has taken 178 Test and 223 one-day wickets, said he was hoping to make a comeback to the team for the tour to England where Pakistan will play against Australia and the hosts.

"The England tour would be the perfect place for me to comeback as it has good conditions for bowling and the best facilities for a bowler coming back from an injury," he said.

Akhtar said he was confident of convincing the selectors about his pace and experience in the two tough Test series against Australia and England.

The fast bowler has not played for Pakistan since May 2009 when he played against Australia in Dubai. Since then injuries and disciplinary issues have kept him out of the national team.

Ganguly uncertain for next match

Captain Sourav Ganguly is a doubtful starter for Kolkata's next game against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday.

Ganguly, who was Man of the Match for his fifty, hurt his ankle during last night's game against Delhi. He underwent an MRI scan, the results of which are still awaited. Meanwhile, the Knight Riders have left for Bangalore.

Ganguly's performance last night earned him rich praise from the opposition captain Gautam Gambhir.

"He is amongst the greats of the game. Players like him (Ganguly) or Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble belong to a different class. It is certainly not about age, everything about them is all about class.

"In cricket what separates you is how quickly you can adapt to any situation. They had shown it time and again, at the highest level, that they can adapt quickly".

"In fact, the way he ran me out was the turning point of the match. We were chasing well. I got two boundaries in the same over, too. There was really no need to go for that impossible run. But Dada did it, hit the stumps," said Gambhir.

Kolkata are currently on 10 points with 5 wins and 5 losses from 10 games.

Jayasuriya stands in Sri Lanka elections

Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya, who is a candidate in Thursday's parliamentary polls, voted a day early so that he could play in a tournament in India, election officials said.

Jayasuriya, who is running for President Mahinda Rajapakse's United People's Freedom Alliance in the southern district of Matara, was granted special permission to cast his vote on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old batsman, the oldest man still playing international cricket, retired from Test matches in 2007 but has continued his career in shorter forms of the game.

He has been included in Sri Lanka's squad for the World Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean from April 30-May 16.

Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga is also a candidate in the elections, representing the opposition Democratic National Alliance. He entered politics after retiring from cricket.

Missing IPL is a blessing in disguise: Afridi

Shahid Afridi feels missing the IPL is a blessing in disguise for the Pakistan cricketers.

Missing the third season of the Indian Premier League is actually a blessing in disguise for the Pakistani cricketers since it has allowed the players to gel well as a team and prepare better for the Twenty20 World Cup, skipper Shahid Afridi said on Thursday.

The flamboyant all rounder, who was asked to lead the team in the West Indies by the PCB, insists that he has no regrets on missing the lucrative league.

"No I don't have any regrets at all. In a way it is a blessing in disguise for all our players that we are not playing in the IPL before the World Cup.

"Given the problems that have besieged Pakistan cricket in recent months it is good that we have got time to work together as a team in the World Cup training camp, it has allowed us to settle down and focus on the World Cup," Afridi said.

Afridi and several other leading Pakistani players were included in the list of cricketers who were put up for auction but none of the franchises bid for any of 11 players.

However, Afridi said that issue was now behind him and he was focused on the World Cup.

"We really are not following the IPL closely. We don't know who is playing or who is not playing because the purpose of holding this training camp has been to gel the players and allow them to prepare as a team for the World Cup," he added.

Afridi feels his side badly needed a break after the disastrous Australian tour so missing IPL has actually helped the team.

The all-rounder said defending the title in the West Indies would be a difficult task and also acknowledged his responsibility as a senior player.

"I would definitely feel that I have achieved the biggest landmark of my career, I want the team to do well in the World Cup. It is a big ambition for me and I know as a senior player I will have to show the way in every department of the game," he said.

The World Cup is scheduled to begin from April 30 with Pakistan drawn to play its opening match against Bangladesh.

Abu gets support from Mumbai Indians

By our sports Reporter

GUWAHATI, April 7: It might not be a perfect debut for Abu Nechim Ahmed in the Indian Premier League but the official website of Mumbai Indians has stood behind the young pacer from Assam. According to them, Abu demonstrated his great potential in the game by generating speed of 140 kmph consistently during his two overs spell.

Abu, a resident of Jalukbari area of the city, joined Mumbai Indian this season and from the very beginning he caught the eyes of the coaches of the team. His good performance in the net finally paid the dividend when the bowler was included in the first XI against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday night after left hander speed star Zaheer Khan failed to pass the fitness test.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Mumbai win by 63 runs against Deccan

Mumbai, April 3: Ambati Rayudu cracked an unbeaten 29-ball 55 as table-toppers Mumbai Indians put up a sterling all-round performance to virtually seal a semifinal berth beating holders Deccan Chargers by 63 runs in their Indian Premier League match here today.

Opting to bat, Mumbai Indians piled up a challenging 178 for five, thanks to Rayudu and youngster Saurabh Tiwary who made a 44 off 35 balls at the floodlit Brabourne Stadium.

The hosts then skittled out the Adam Gilchrist-led side for 115 in 18.2 overs, with left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan (2/10), Harbhajan Singh (2/16), Kieron Pollard (2/26) and Ryan McLaren (2/28) claiming two wickets apiece.

It was fourth straight defeat for the visiting team whose semifinal hopes receded further after this loss — their fifth in eight matches. The hosts, on the other hand, is almost through to the last-four with 14 points from eight games.

Friday, April 2, 2010

KP’s maiden half ton takes RCB to 6-wkt win

KP’s maiden half ton takes RCB to 6-wkt win

Mohali, April 2: Kevin Pietersen (66 not out) got three lives before notching up his maiden Indian Premier League half century and helping Royal Challengers Bangalore score a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab tonight.
Pietersen, who was dropped thrice while on 36, 47 and 50, played sheet anchor with two crucial partnerships -- 71 off 51 balls for the third wicket with Virat Kohli and 40 from just 15 balls for fourth wicket with Robin Uthappa as RCB romped home with five balls to spare in chase of 182.
Uthappa played a stunning cameo of 22 from just eight balls with two sixes and a four to take the score near finishing line at the PCA Stadium.
Pietersen, who hit seven fours and one six in his 44-ball knock in his second match for RCB, smashed the winning runs, a four off Irfan Pathan, to take his side to 184 for four.
Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara top-scored with a 27-ball 45 as Kings XI Punjab posted a challenging 181 for five after electing to bat.
With the win today, their fifth in eight matches, Royal Challengers are on second spot with 10 points and brightened their chances to qualify for the semifinals.