Mumbai Indians win by 8 wickets

If Twenty20s are meant to be short and sweet, this was certainly an ultra-short affair. Mumbai did nothing wrong today and it started off well for sure. Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and put the opponents to bat, his bowlers were bang on target and the pitch helped them really well. Shaun Pollock delivered the deadly punches and Kolkata just couldn't recover as they were left floored on the mat. It was just a formality for the Mumbai batsmen to knock off the required few, Sanath Jayasuriya continued from where he had left that memorable evening. The Mumbai fans would be delighted and the Kolkata supporters would walk back with gloomy faces. Certainly, this is a huge setback to the Knightriders' side and they will have to bounce back hard to stay in contention for the Semi spot.

Spotlight on Jayasuriya, Akhtar in key IPL clash

The focus will be on Shoaib Akhtar and Sanath Jayasuriya when Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians face each other in an exciting clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 match at the Wankhede Stadium here Friday.

Going by the last performances, Shoaib shone for the Knight Riders while Jayasuriya single-handedly won Mumbai Indians a match against Chennai Super Kings Wednesday night.
Both Mumbai Indians and Kolkatta Knight Riders will be hoping that the big guns continue to fire as the fight for the semi-final stage hots up.

For Mumbai Indians, the return of Sachin Tendulkar's will also boost their chance despite the captain failing on his debut outing. The opening pair of Jayasuriya and Tendulkar need to be at their best if they hope to see off the challenge posed by Shoaib who is backed by talented Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda.

Mumbai Indians are still languishing in sixth spot with eight points, while Knight Riders are two points ahead in the fourth spot and a victory Friday is crucial that will help both the teams to strengthen their claims for a berth in the knockout stage.

The toss also would be crucial as the side that wins would, in all probability, put the rival team to bat on what's expected to be another track offering copious bounce as was the case last night when there was a lot of pace and lift for the speedsters.

Both the teams are currently riding high, with Knight Riders having won their last three matches while the host team with its four-match winning streak would be looking to put their strengths to optimum use.
Mumbai Indians are unlikely to make any change in their winning combination and it should be same with the Knight Riders as well.

The teams (from):

Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Luke Ronchi (wicketkeeper), Ajinkya Rahane, Robin Uthappa, Dwayne Bravo, Shaun Pollock, Loots Bosman, Dominic Thornely, Manish Pandey, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Aniket Chavan, Siddharth Chitnis, Gaurav Dhiman, Dilhara Fernando, Musavir Khote, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rajesh Pawar, Saurabh Tiwary, Ashwell Prince, Rohan Raje, Pinal Shah (wk), Swapnil Singh, Yogesh Takawale (wicketkeeper) and Vikrant Yeligati. Coach: Lalchand Rajput.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Akash Chopra, Salman Butt, David Hussey, Tatenda Taibu, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wridhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Iqbal Abdulla, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Shoaib Akhtar, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Kartik, Mohd Hafeez, Sidharth Kaul, Umar Gul, Debabrata Das. Coach: John Buccanan

Chennai equal world Twenty20 record

A total of 16 sixes were hit by Chennai Super Kings batsmen against hosts Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL), equalling a world record for maximum sixes in a Twenty20 game. Chennai won by 33 runs.
Both teams Chennai (16) and Punjab (9) - which is the second best in Twenty20 history, next only to the 26 in the game between Central Districts (10) and Auckland (16) at New Plymouth on Jan 30, 2008.

I am excited to play with Tendulkar: Jayasuriya

Former Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya is looking forward to play with Sachin Tendulkar in the upcoming live ipl t20 match, starting here on Sunday.

"I am very happy I will play with Sachin Tendulkar. Besides I will get an opportunity to start the innings with him," said Sri Lanka's former skipper with a chuckle to the media persons here on Wednesday.
After a long pratice session at Bandra Kurla Complex facility, he said, "I got the first opportunity to play with Sachin during a charity match in England. Now IPL has given another opportunity to play with him."

When asked about how he felt playing with youngsters at the age of 38, Jayasuriya shot back," I do not think so. I am still a young player both on and off the field."

The Lankan hero said his team Mumbai Indians was all prepared for the IPL.

"We know our strengths and weaknesses. We are also preparing to counter the opponents in every match. We will try to keep Mumbai flag high,"

Kolkata pull off a sensational win

Kolkata Knight Riders rode on a sensational opening spell from Shoaib Akhtar to pull off a fine 23-run win over Delhi Daredevils.
Shoaib, much in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, showed why he is rated so highly, and shattered the much-vaunted Delhi top-order, removing skipper Virender Sehwag, tournament top-scorer Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villiers and Manoj Tiwary in a span of three overs.
Laxmi Ratan Shukla also did his bit, claiming the last three Delhi wickets in just five balls to end the proceedings.For Delhi, Tillekeratne Dilshan and Amit Mishra showed some fight but nothing else worked as they slid to their fourth straight defeat.
Earlier, Kolkata never got off the ground against a sustained Delhi bowling and finished with a very moderate 133-6 in their 20 overs.
Sourav Ganguly welcomed Shoaib Akhtar to his playing XI, and then decided to give him a breather, as the hosts batted first.In an effort towards that, Ganguly called up Shoaib to bolster his bowling, while young left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah also came in, in place of Murali Kartik.

Kolkata fined !

The Kolkata IPL team were fined for slow over-rate after the Shahrukh Khan-led squad was found two overs behind schedule in their Sunday night's tie against the Hyderabad team.
Match Referee Talat Ali of Pakistan fined Kolkata $1,000 for slow over rate in the match which they won beating their hosts at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium by 23 runs.
The IPL is being played as per the ICC Playing Conditions and Rules, and is set to follow the guidelines in letter and in spirit. Accordingly, any team found guilty of slow over rate is fined $500 per over by the Match Referee.
In their previous match too, the Kolkata outfit was fined $500 for slow over rate, while their opponents Bangalore Royal Challengers copped twice the amount.

Nanavati to submit report on Monday

The Harbhajan hearing over the slapping pacer Shreesanth, conducted by Sudhir Nanavati is over. Nanavati will be submitting a detailed report on Monday. The hearing had began at 2:30 in the afternoon at the Law Society building. During the hearing Nanavati heard both the parties in detail and took note of every detail. The session was also recorded in-house.
The incident had taken place after a match between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians on 25th April. Nanavati had stated earlier that he was shocked to see the footage of the match.
Harbhajan has already been banned for rest of the IPL series after match referee Farokh Engineer found him guilty of slapping Sreesanth. Nanavati, an Ahmadabad-based lawyer has already recorded the statements of umpire Amish Saheba and Engineer. He was appointed under the Rule 32 of the BCCI under which the Board president has the power to appoint a Commissioner to assist its disciplinary Committee.
Source:iplnewsonline

Kings XI Punjab ready to win

Having lost their home tie against Chennai Super Kings, Yuvraj Singh’s Kings XI Punjab team would be keen to perform in the revenge match at the M A Chidambaram stadium today.
Absence of Australian players -- Mike Hussey and Matthew Hayden -- and Kiwi Jacob Oram gives Yuvraj a perfect chance not only to take revenge for the early defeat but also strengthen their chances of making it to the semifinal stage.

Kolkata wins against Bangalore

Bangalore Royal Challengers went down to the Kolkata Knight Riders by just 5 runs on Thursday.
In a match hit by the weather which had been shortened to 16 overs, the hopes on the shoulders of Saurav Ganguly and the David Hussey. The duo was looking good and laid a foundation for the Riders. But, both got themselves run-out after at a crucial juncture.

Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Daredevils by 29 runs

Mumbai Indians had the Delhi Daredevils eyeing their fifth win in six games as the home team were restricted to 162 for 8 at the DY Patil Sports Academy stadium.
Praising his teammates for stunning the high-flying Delhi Daredevils in the DLF-IPL clash on Sunday, Mumbai Indians captain Shaun Pollock said the players have finally come to terms with the Twenty20 format.
Sehwag felt his dismissal in the 11th over when the score was 82 for three, was the turning point.
The absence of Sachin Tendulkar hit Mumbai hard again, especially against a new-ball bowling attack which had Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif.

Rajasthan beat Chennai

Rajasthan Royals rocked the match with help from Sohail Tanvir taking out 6 wickets sending Chennai Super Kings crashing to 109
The scores: Chennai Super Kings: Parthiv lbw b Tanvir 0, S. Fleming lbw b Tanvir 0, S. Vidyut c Warne b Tanvir 5, S. Raina c Tanvir b Munaf 27, S. Badrinath c & b Watson 15, M.S. Dhoni c Smith b Warne 1, A. Morkel b Tanvir 42, Joginder c Tanvir b Munaf 0, M. Gony (not out) 1, M. Muralitharan b Tanvir 0, M. Nitini b Tanvir 11; Extras: (b-4, lb-1, w-2) 7; Total: (in 19 overs) 109.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-1, 3-11, 4-38, 5-44, 6-88, 7-91, 8-96, 9-96.

Rajasthan Royals bowling: Tanvir 4-0-14-6, Watson 4-0-19-1, Munaf 4-0-16-2, Trivedi 2-0-17-0, Warne 3-0-29-1, Pathan 2-0-9-0.

Rajasthan Royals: G. Smith (not out) 35, S. Asnodkar c Ntini b Vidyut 32, Yusuf c Raina b Muralitharan 8, S. Watson (not out) 14; Extras: (lb-6, nb-1, w-14) 21; Total: (for two wkts, 14.2 overs) 110.

Fall of wickets: 1-78, 2-92.

Chennai Super Kings bowling: Ntini 3-1-17-0, Gony 3-0-25-0, Morkel 1-0-10-0, Muralitharan 4-0-20-1, Raina 1.2-0-10-0, Vidyut 2-0-22-1.

Fine time at IPL

Sourav Ganguly(Kolkata Knight Riders) and Shane Warne(Rajasthan Royals) are fined 10% of their cricket match fee following their behavior in Jaipur on Thursdays match

Warne was punished for his critism of saurav's conduct at the conference after the match,while saurav was penalised for asking the umpire to refer a catch to the third umpire.
The IPL has also suspended the umpire in question,Pratap Kumar, for a match.

Bhajji banned for the entire IPL?

The verdict just came out. Bhajji is banned from the remaining matches of the IPL. He is also fined 100% of the match fee and this is only a IPL sentence. The BCCI is conducting a seperate inquiry.
Shreesant has been given a warning that the agressive behaviour on field will not be taken lightly by the umpire or the match refree from here onwards.
Also they say it was totally unprovoked. Well how about it. As Dhoni said Zidane had to lose the golden shoe due to his head butt.
Punnishment was comming. Provoked or not provoked, you cant go around hitting or slapping or butting people. But..........
So is the punishment too much or too less. Or could he have been punished in some other manner.

Teams for IPL

Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kolkata
Mohali
Mumbai

IPL HEATS UP

IPL series heating up! First of the weekday scheduled matches saw Rajasthan Royals securing victory over Kings XI Punjab in a relatively close run chase. Chasing proved no drama for the Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday as they defeated Deccan Chargers in only 13 overs. Meanwhile the bad luck for Mumbai Indians continued as they they 7 runs short of victory against Chennai Super Kings. On Thursday Rajasthan and Deccan were back on the field for a match that went down to the wire and just saw Rajasthan extend their lead at the top of the table.

Mumbai once again failed to meet expectations as they fell well short of Punjab's total on Friday night. Kolkata's dream start to the series ended at the hands of Chennai, whilst Rajasthan chased down Bangalore's total without problem. Punjab notched up a second win on Sunday in a closely fought match against Delhi, and Deccan opened their points account with a blitzing chase against Mumbai, with Gilchrist making the fastest century of the tournament in 42 balls.

Chennai remain undefeated after three games and top the points table ahead of Rajasthan, who have played four matches but lost one. At the bottom of the table, Mumbai remain scoreless after four matches. The coming week should see a hierarchy to the points table surface with games set for each day.