Wet blanket on key IPL match

IANS Thursday, May 22, 2008 2:03:03 PM
The unseasonal rain continued Thursday, putting a big question mark on the Delhi Daredevils versus Kolkata Knight Riders IPL match scheduled in the capital Thursday evening. The match is crucial to both teams who are fighting for the last spot in the semi-finals.

A senior official of the Delhi Daredevils team said Thursday morning the match was unlikely unless the rain stopped and the sun came out 'at least for a few hours' as the outfield was wet.The teams will get a point apiece if the match is washed out, which will do neither any good. Delhi Daredevils are in the fifth spot on the eight-team league table, while Kolkata Knight Riders are sixth. Mumbai Indians, in fourth place now, will be the beneficiary of a washout.Though water logging led to the usual traffic jams in the capital, flights were on time, said an airports official.On Thursday morning, meteorologists held out little hope for a break in the weather. Their forecast warned of thunder squalls and hail storms all over north India for the rest of the week, thanks to a mini-cyclone that was sitting over the India-Pakistan border.

To add to that, 'a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect western Himalayan region and adjoining plains of northwest India from Friday', said a met official.Thunder squalls and hail storms have also been forecast over the east and northeast of the country.

Meteorologists expect a low pressure area to form over southeast Arabian Sea around Friday. They have forecast rain or thundershowers at a few places over Kerala, Lakshadweep and south coastal Karnataka.

Source: http://in.sports.yahoo.com/cricket/ipl/news/news_20080522_454.html

It's 'do or die' situation for Knight Riders and Daredevils

IANS Thursday, May 22, 2008 2:23:57 PM

Delhi Daredevils have their nose ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders in the race for a berth in the Indian Premier League (IPL) semi-finals.The two play their penultimate matches in the league phase here Thursday. However, both teams will be looking over their shoulders how the Mumbai Indians are faring in their remaining matches as they look good to join Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab in the semi-finals with Chennai Kings almost getting there. Punjab are as good as through after their exciting one-run victory against Mumbai Indians Wednesday.

Chennai Kings are better placed to make it, leaving Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata to battle it out for the fourth spot in the semis.Knight Riders, after their loss to Rajasthan Royals Tuesday night, now need a miracle to help them qualify for the semi-finals as they not only have to win their last two games by big margins, but also hope the lowly-placed and the top two teams produce unexpected results.Both Knight Riders and Daredevils have played 12 matches each. Knight Riders have won five while the Daredevils six. Daredevils have an edge over the Knight Riders after their comfortable five-wicket win over Bangalore Royal Challengers Monday.

The Knight Riders are in troubled water as they have lost three-consecutive matches and the rumours of a rift between team owner Shah Rukh Khan and captain Sourav Ganguly have not done any good to their morale before a crucial away game.In the first meeting between the two sides in Kolkata, the Knight Riders' Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar laid the Daredevils low, rattling their top-order batting. The Pakistani missed Tuesday's match as he was not match-fit, but onThursday Sourav will be pinning his hopes on Shoaib to recreate the Eden Gardens magic and keep the side in the hunt.

The Daredevils, too, will be charged up to get full points from this match, and they are depending on captain Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to continue their splendid batting upfront.Daredevils' bowling also fared better than the Knight Riders', with Australian Glenn McGrath spearheading the attack. The legendry fast bowler has also shepherded the bunch of young fast bowlers to get the best out of them.

Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Aakash Chopra, Ajit Agarkar, Ashok Dinda, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Debabrata Das, Iqbal Abdulla, Ishant Sharma, Laxmi Shukla, Mohammad Hafeez, Murali Kartik, Salman Butt, Siddarth Kaul, Shoaib Akhtar, Tatenda Taibu, Umar Gul, Wriddhiman Prasanta Saha (wicket-keeper).

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (captain), Rajat Bhatia, AB de Villiers, Shikhar Dhawan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Pradeep Sangwan, Daniel Vettori, Gautam Gambhir, Brett Geeves, Dinesh Karthik, Glenn McGrath, Farveez Maharoof, Shoaib Malik, Tejashwi Yadav, Yo Mahesh, Mithun Manhas, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Asif, Yogesh Nagar, Manoj Tiwary, Mayank Tehlan

Source: http://in.sports.yahoo.com/cricket/ipl/news/news_20080522_458.html

IPL - the new blockbuster in Kolkata

Source: http://sify.com/sports/fullstory.php?id=14677240

Monday, 19 May , 2008

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has undoubtedly become the latest and hottest blockbuster in the city - leaving the usually teeming city multiplexes and single screen cinema halls virtually empty throughout the Twenty20 series.

With Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan promising that he would give his audience the "multiplex experience" with three hours of action-packed entertainment live on the fields every match night, theatre owners are reporting an alarming drop in earnings.

"Kolkatans are getting the chance to catch Shah Rukh Khan live in action and are not at all bothered about visiting theatre halls during the IPL," Arijit Dutta, owner of Priya Cinemas and Star theatre, told IANS. "As a result, we hardly have a handful of people for our matinee and evening shows; the night shows literally run empty."

"Our collection has come down to 20 percent of the normal days. We can hardly manage six percent revenue per show," Dutta said.

Shravan Shroff of Shringer Cinemas that runs the Fame plexes echoed the complaint. "Our business is affected by about 20 percent. We hardly have audience for films like the Akshay Kumar-Kareena Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan starrer 'Tashan' and Amitabh Bachchan-starrer 'Bhootnath' that were released during the IPL."

"Thankfully there are no big Bollywood releases till June 6 (when the Amitabh-Abhishek-Aishwarya starrer 'Sarkar Raj' releases). The final of the IPL is scheduled for June 1. So we hope our business will be restored with 'Sarkar Raj'," Shroff said hopefully.

The IPL has all that it takes to keep the crowd on edge.

There is action like the hits and misses of players, Shoaib Akhtar's scintillating bowling, drama like the Eden blackout on KKR's first home match, emotion like SRK garlanding world bard Rabindranath Tagore's portrait on his birth anniversary before starting the match, music and dance by the cheerleaders and Shah Rukh Khan assuring that every KKR home match has new celebrity guests with him.

"Is there any reason to go to the plexes and waste time when we can catch all the action live and for half the cost. Besides, there is a chance to meet stars like SRK, Juhi Chawla, Arjun Rampal and Malaika Arora Khan and take their autographs," said 23-year-old Rusha Sen, a regular at all KKR matches at Eden Gardens.

The craze of the IPL has spilled among the television-watchers as well. The Television Audience Measurement (TAM) rating on April 18 - the first match of the IPL played between KKR and Bangalore Royal Challengers - was 8.21. The rating has maintained an average of seven for every KKR match since then.

Shah Rukh upset by ICC directive

May 19, 2008 10:09 IST
Bollywood superstar and Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan on Sunday expressed disappointment at the ICC Anti Corruption Unit barring him from going to the team dug out and dressing room in the remaining matches of the Indian Premier League.

"I like to hang around with the boys. I am very energetic. I am very disappointed that the ICC has stopped me. I don't know the ICC rules. I will tell only one thing. Nobody dare stop me from coming to Kolkata. I will be here whenever my team plays a match at the Eden," Khan said on Sunday night.

Earlier in the day, the Anti Corruption Unit officials had cautioned the actor about going into the dressing room and the team dug out during the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings.

Sources said later they directed the matinee idol to stay away from these areas in the remaining matches of his team.
Asked about the Knight Riders' defeat against the Chennai side, he said, "You play the game to win. We feel sad when the boys lose. But such things happen.

"I work hard. I want them to work harder. I would have liked the Kolkata Knight Riders to reach the final," he said.

On the Knight Riders's success as a brand, SRK said "With the help of colleagues we have done something for this. Still there is a long way to go before it becomes the number one sporting brand".
Khan said he is overwhelmed by the response of the Kolkata public and conceded the gate sales had fetched him twice the amount he had expected. Source: http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/may/19srk.htm

Chennai Kings down Kolkata Knights

May 18, 2008 21:44 ISTLast Updated: May 18, 2008 22:00 ISTA floodlight disruption and a norwester ruled as Chennai Super Kings inched closer to a semi-final berth with a two-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders via the Duckworth-Lewis method in an Indian Premier League match in Kolkata on Sunday.

Paceman Makhaya Ntini picked up a hat-trick as Knight Riders were reduced to a modest total of 149 for five.Chennai team were 55 without loss after eight overs, when a sudden burst of wind resulted in some of the bulbs in each of the four light towers conking off at the Eden Gardens.Play was immediately stopped and the situation turned worse as a norwester with high wind velocity raged accompanied by rains, tossing into the air the tarpaulin sheets, covering the wicket and the outfield.The Duckworth-Lewis rain rule was called into play and the authorities declared Chennai Super Kings the winner by two runs after waiting in vain for 90 minutes for the situation to improve.The Knight Riders were 46 for 2 after eight overs, but Chennai needed to make 53 without losing a wicket for a victory.In the end, a boundary by Stephen Fleming (32 not out, 20b, 6x4) with a fine leg glide on the penultimate delivery off Ajit Agarkar proved crucial for Chennai, who now have 12 points from 11 matches and look well poised to make it to the last four.
A ball earlier, Ashok Dinda had failed to latch on to a catch offered by Parthiv Patel (19 not out, 28 b, 2x4) at long off.The Knight Riders are now staring down at the wrong end of the barrel, and their hopes of making the cut for the semis look dim.
Earlier, South Africa's Ntini came up with a fine hat-trick to restrict the Kolkata.The 30-year-old got rid of Knight Riders skipper Sourav Ganguly with the last ball of his third over, before he was taken off the attack by Stephen Fleming, standing-in for MS Dhoni who retired with an injured finger.
Ntini came back in the 17th over and immediately struck a double blow, by showing the door to Debabrata Das (27) and David Hussey (0) with his first two balls, to complete the third hat-trick of the tourney after pacer L Balaji and leg spinner Amit Mishra.He finished with impressive figures of 4-0-21-4.
For the Knight Riders, Pakistani left hander Salman Butt (73; 84b, 10x4, 1x6) deftly anchored the innings after the hosts lost two early wickets and steadied the ship by putting on 86 runs for the third wicket alongside the young Debabrata Das.

Knight Riders win by 23 runs

Shoaib Akhtar made a dramatic IPL debut taking four wickets in a blistering new-ball spell to condemn the Delhi Daredevils to their fourth straight defeat. In what could be a key match in the scramble for a spot in the semi-finals, the Kolkata Knight Riders batting fizzled and posted only 133 but Shoaib and an inspired fielding effort vindicated captain Sourav Ganguly’s decision to bat first and saw them through to a 23-run win, their third successive triumph.

Unable to break the shackles put by the Delhi Daredevils’ battery of medium-pacers, the Kolkata Knight Riders’ batsmen posted only 133 on a good batting pitch. Kolkata’s batting has been their weakness through the tournament and it failed again with only Salman Butt and David Hussey making more than 13.

In what could be a key match in the scramble for a spot in the semi-finals, Kolkata opted to bat first backing their formidable bowling line-up to defend the runs. Their attack was bolstered by Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who made his IPL debut after his five-year ban was suspended for one month, coming in place of Umar Gul.

Glenn McGrath was typically miserly with the new ball and Pradeep Sangwan also didn’t offer too many loose balls as Kolkata struggled to inject momentum to their batting. Aakash Chopra’s troubles with the bat continued and he managed only 13, despite being reprieved early on by Gautam Gambhir at wide slip.

His dismissal was greeted with a roar by the Eden Gardens crowd as Kolkata’s captain Sourav Ganguly strode out. They had more to cheer as he imperiously slammed his second ball, a free hit, over the bowler’s head for six, but were silenced two deliveries later when he was bowled by Yo Mahesh after his attempted pull failed to make contact with the ball.

With Kolkata at 47 for 2 after seven, Salman Butt and David Hussey tried to rebuild and while they strung together a 40-run stand, they were unable to provide the acceleration the innings desperately needed. Besides Butt’s two powerful drives through cover off Mahesh, there weren’t too many boundaries and the runs came mainly in the form of singles. Just as they were giving Kolkata a platform from which they could take off, Butt perished for 48, slicing a Mahesh delivery to McGrath at mid-off.

Hussey then had to play his by-now-familiar role of trying to rescue Kolkata from the top order’s failings. He is the world’s leading six-hitter in Twenty20s but even he failed to provide the necessary fireworks; there were a couple of huge sixes on the leg side but he fell attempting another for a run-a-ball 31, lobbing a catch to midwicket.

Three of Delhi’s big wins have come chasing, and they will fancy their chances of getting their campaign back on track after three consecutive losses saw them slipping from first to fifth. The silver lining for Kolkata is that their total is above-par, given that the average batting first at the Eden Gardens so far is 125.

Source: http://premierleaguecricket.in/news/knight-riders-win-by-23-runs/

India welcomes controversial Sohaib Akhtar

India welcomes controversial fast bowler to participate in IPL

Appellate tribunal suspends Akhtar’s five-year ban for one monthBy Muhammad Ali LAHORE: A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appellate tribunal on Sunday suspended a five-year ban on controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar for a month so that he could participate in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). The tribunal, headed by former High Court judge Aftab Farrukh, accepted a plea from Akhtar’s lawyers that the ban should be suspended temporarily so that the pacer can play in the lucrative IPL. A PCB disciplinary committee, headed by Lt Gen (r) Munir Hafeez, banned Akhtar last month for several incidents of indiscipline.

It is pertinent to mention that last week the tribunal allowed Akhtar to play outside Pakistan but the Indian authorities refused to permit him to take part in the IPL unless the ban was lifted. Aftab announced the decision here at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). The other two members of the tribunal – former federal minister Salmaan Taseer and former Test cricketer Haseeb Ahsan – were not present on the occasion. “We have suspended the ban for one month and the next hearing will be held on June 4,” Aftab told reporters. “Since it will take time to dispose of Akhtar’s regular appeal against the ban, the tribunal felt that preventing him from playing in the league would have been an additional penalty on him,” he maintained.

He said had the tribunal not suspended the ban, the fast bowler could not have been able to play in the IPL. “I got the consent of Taseer on telephone, but Ahsan could not be contacted,” said Aftab, who was assisted by senior advocate Khawaja Sultan Ahmad. Akhtar was represented by Abid Hasan Minto while the PCB was represented by Tafazul Haider Rizvi.Earlier, the tribunal, on April 30, had decided to uphold the PCB’s ban on an interim-basis. The paceman made an unconditional apology to the tribunal on last Monday and pledged to mend his ways. The 32-year-old Akhtar was banned for comments he made after not being offered a contract by the PCB, in which he lashed out at domestic tournaments, pitches and the administration in general.

He made the comments while on a two-year probation after hitting team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat before the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last year. Akhtar, who has played 46 Tests with 178 wickets and 138 ODIs with 219 wickets, has the additional burden of dealing with a Rs 220 million defamation suit filed against him by PCB chief Nasim Ashraf. Akhtar has accused Nasim of demanding a commission from his contract for the Indian event, saying his refusal led to the five-year ban. The legal proceedings began in a civil court on Saturday, and the court has summoned Akhtar to answer the charges on May 16. Meanwhile, the PCB has granted Akhtar a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to feature in the IPL, where he will play for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Lalit Modi, the chairman and commissioner of the IPL, has also confirmed that Akhtar will play the tournament. “Akhtar’s contract still stands, I am going to call him and tell him to take the first flight to India. We look forward to Akhtar playing for us,” Modi told media on Sunday.

The Knight Riders franchise, which signed Akhtar for $425,000 in the player auctions, would welcome his arrival and hope for a turnaround in their fortunes. The team has suffered four consecutive losses after winning their first two games. Akhtar returns to one of his memorable hunting grounds, the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where the team has five remaining home games. His was a revelation in his first Test at the venue, picking up eight wickets in a match-winning effort. Source:http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C05%5C05%5Cstory_5-5-2008_pg2_1