Manish Pandey comes of age

BANGALORE: Before his pyrotechnics against Team Hyderabad on Thursday, wherein he registered the first IPL century by an Indian and the second of this edition, Manish Pandey’s claim to fame was mostly confined to his participation in the victorious U-19 World Cup campaign in Kuala Lumpur two years back.

The KL campaign got him a berth in the inaugural IPL where he wore the colours of Mumbai Indians and returned home with fond memories of fruitful interaction with his seniors, including Sachin Tendulkar. Pandey, who has made Bangalore his home in pursuit of cricketing excellence, originally hails from Nainital, Uttarakhand.

The 20-year-old has played in the city since his school days, thanks to his father GS Pandey, an Army man who wanted his son to make it big on the cricket field.

Pandey made his first class debut for Karnataka last season and his scores did not do full justice to his potential. Two half-centuries in the debut season was definitely an under-achievement.

Aggression is part and parcel of Pandey’s batting and T20 suits him well but it is his sound defensive technique and wide repertoire of strokes that has made him the next big hope from Karnataka. Add agile fielding to that and you have a complete package.

Looking for redemption after a disappointing Season One, Pandey was an automatic choice for Royal Challengers with his attacking instincts serving him well. He had to bide his time to get a look-in but now, there may be no looking back.

http://ipl.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/News/News/Manish-Pandey-comes-of-age/articleshow/4562217.cms

Mumbai Indians inch closer to semis

S JanakiramMay 19, 2008 00:14 IST

Mumbai Indians notched up their sixth win on the trot to continue to be in hunt for a semi-final place after pipping Deccan Chargers by 25 runs in their Indian Premier League encounter in Hyderabad on Sunday night.The Mumbai team first scored a competitive 178 for seven, thanks to some sensible batting by Abishek Nayar and Dwayne and then restricted hosts to 153 for seven in 20 overs.The win was a sweet revenge for the visitors as they had lost by comprehensive 10-wickets margin against Chargers at the home-tie.Bravo, who was playing his last match in the tournament, ended the tournament on a high note as he first collected 30 crucial runs and then took three wickets, playing a vital role in his team's victory.Y Venugopal Rao top scored for the Hyderabad team with a sparkling 57-run knock before walking back to the hut.It was the third half-century for Rao in the tournament and it came off just 38 balls with the help of four boundaries and three sixes.Rao also shared an 86-run stand with D Ravi Teja (37), castled by Bravo (3/24), for the fifth wicket.Mumbai Indians pacers -- Ashish Nehra and Bravo -- gave their team a good start by bowling a tight spell and also creating opportunities for their fielders.However, Rohan Raje dropped Adam Gilchrist (13) when he failed to hold on to a catch which the rival skipper had chipped high in the air. He was on four at that time.Shahid Afridi (0) tried to extract maximum runs from the very first ball he faced and swung his arms to slice an off-stump ball bowled by Barvo, resulting in going miles in the sky and eventually landing in safe hands of Dominic Thronely.Nehra and Bravo gave away just 20 runs in the first four overs, putting the rival batsmen under pressure.Sri Lankan paceman Dilhara Fernando then dealt a severe double blow to the hosts by dismissing Gilchrist and Rohit Sharma (6) on consecutive deliveries in his very first over, and fifth of the innings.This left the hosts stuttering 20 for three and leaving a big task for Y Venugopal Rao and Chamara Silva.The duo put on 36 runs, doing the repair work, but could not stretch their effort as Silva (17) was undone by a misjudgment by umpire Billy Doctrove when he raised his finger on a Nayar caught behind appeal.Earlier, Nayar-Bravo combination put up an important 53-run partnership for the fifth wicket when their team was struggling at 97 for 4 at one stage, after being sent in to bat.RP Singh (3/35), who was the most successful bowler for the hosts, dismissed both of them in the 18th over, dashing the visitors hope of setting a big target.However, the duo ensured the Mumbai team gets enough runs on the board to make a fight out of it.Nayar, the top-scorer for the Mumbai team, hit three fours and two sixes in his knock while Bravo hit two boundaries and as many sixes in his innings.Jayasuriya (36) looked unstoppable from the word go as he began the proceedings with a fine-leg boundary off P Vijaykumar and then hit him for a six on the fifth ball.The Sri Lankan then hit compatriot Nuwan Zoysa for three boundaries and one six in his first over to give a rollicking start to the visitors.This forced Adam Gilchrist to introduce Rao, who did not disappoint his skipper and sent Jayasuriya packing, bringing relief for the hosts.After hitting Rao (2/25) for a couple of boundaries, the Sri Lankan swept the spinner for a big shot but could only manage to find RP Singh in the deep.The left-handed opener took just 15 balls to score 39 and hit six fours and two sixes in his cameo.Dominic Thronely then joined his captain Sachin Tendulkar and the duo put together 33 runs for the second wicket. However the run-rate suffered as the hosts bowlers bowled well.Then Afridi (2/23) dealt a double blow to the Mumbai team dismissing Tendulkar and Thornely in his second over to put his team in the driver's seat.Tendulkar lofted an Afridi delivery, trying to accelerate the run-rate but could not execute the shot to perfection and gave away a simple catch to Chamara Silva, who ran from covers to mid-off.This brought huge relief for Gilchrist as he had missed a stumping chance off Pragyan Ojha when Tendulkar came out of the crease attempting an inside out shot by making room for him.Afridi then trapped Thornely two balls later sending shock waves in the opponent's dressing room.The Mumbai team never recovered from these shocks and struggled to maintain a high run-rate after that.

Gilchrist scripts convincing win for Hyderabad

Gilchrist scripts convincing win for Hyderabad

With a batting order to die for, Hydebarad were in a quandary as to what would take them to get a win under their belt. Neither star power, nor the rub of the green was on their side with one win out of six games.

But after losing out in many a close contest, Hyderabad posted a convincing seven-wicket win over tournament favourites Chennai at the Chidambaram stadium here on Tuesday.

In the absence of regular skipper VVS Laxman, Adam Gilchrist led his side to victory with a bludgeoning 36-ball 54, before RP Singh led a disciplined bowling effort as Chennai were restricted to 144-7.

Stuck with a nagging problem of the top order falling apart before they knew what hit them, Hyderabad finally displayed true potential of their batting. While Gilchrist flayed the Chennai bowlers, Scott Styris (36 not out), Rohit Sharma (23) and Shahid Afridi (20 not out) all made it count with the bat. Though they need much more than this, the win was a welcome start to what looked like a withering campaign.

Desperately seeking a win to keep alive their chances in the IPL, RP and Paidikalva Vijaykumar gave Hyderabad the perfect start as both struck from either end early to remove Parthiv Patel and Srikkanth Anirudh, son of former India captain Kris Srikkanth. That the departure of Australian and Kiwi players has affected teams was vindicated for Chennai. Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Jacob Oram's loss has severely dampened Chennai's batting line-up, as it happened for the second time here after their dismal showing in Jaipur on Sunday.

Two dropped chances seemed the script began to go against Hyderabad, but Rohit Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs made up for them with two outstanding catches as Stephen Fleming (14) and S Badrinath's (0) dismissals further dented Chennai's progress.

Source: http://www.cricketnext.com/news/laxman-sits-out-as-hyderabad-put-chennai-in-to-bat/31373-13.html

'We are more determined than Chennai'

'We are more determined than Chennai'

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers captain VVS Laxman insisted that his team was determined to win against Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 match on Tuesday.

"We have lost a few very close matches after being in winning situations. Super Kings have lost two games no doubt, but we have lost five. So, that makes us even more determined than them to win tomorrow," Laxman told reporters in a pre-match press conference.

On leading a side in the IPL, Laxman said "It is a great experience to lead players from different countries. They are all professionals and I do not need to tell them individually because they know their responsibilities".

Laxman denied that the loss of Andrew Symonds who left for Australia to join his National team had affected his side's batting.

"There are other big-hitters in the team like Adam Gilchrist and Scott Styris, besides Shahid Afridi. So, in that respect, I am quite happy with the combination that we have," he said.

Laxman said the batting slots were flexible would depend on the situation on a given day.

"I am doing well opening the innings, but if the situation requires, then we will certainly change the order. Perhaps, even Afridi will open the innings if necessary. It all depends on the situation on a given day," he said.

Source: http://www.cricketnext.com/news/we-are-more-determined-than-chennai-laxman/31353-13.html