The reigning champions secured a vital win on Thursday to halt a nightmare run of form. But they are still some way from breaking into the top four. They will take on the Chennai Super Kings in a vital IPL game in Napur on Saturday. Both sides have semi final aspirations but the Super Kings are firm favourites. Venue and Conditions: The wandering Deccan Chargers play their second game at the Vidharba Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur. This ground boasts the largest boundaries in the tournament and so offers some respite for hard-pressed spin bowlers. Trivia: Chennai have hit more sixes than any other team in the tournament, 69 in total. Deccan Chargers: The Chargers gave themselves a lifeline with an excellent win over the Royal Challengers in Bangalore on Thursday. They had struggled to close games out, particularly with the bat and their big guns had not turned in the huge scores they are capable of. But Andrew Symonds steered them home against the Royal Challengers and that will have done their confidence a lot of good. A seven wicket win after successfully chasing 185 for victory halted a run of five successive defeats and just about keeps Gilchrist’s men in the tournament. They may well need to win all four of their remaining games which include another game against Royal Challengers, then the Kings XI and finally the Daredevils. The win over Bangalore was the first time the Chargers had successfully chased a total in IPL3 with Symonds and Suman seeing them home with some great hitting. Pragyan Ojha has been the most consistent bowler for Deccan, picking up 15 wickets to lie at the top of the bowlers list in IPL III and although RP Singh has been in and out of the team, he has take nine wickets. Chennai Super Kings: After an inconsistent first half of the tournament the Super Kings have found plenty of momentum in winning their last three matches. Those wins came against Royal Challengers in Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals and the Mumbai Indians (both in Chennai). Their net run rate has improved in the process but they probably still need three … [Read more...]
IPL Game preview: Chennai Vs Mumbai
Tuesday’s game in the IPL looks like a real cracker as the Super Kings take on the Mumbai Indians in Chennai. The Mumbai Indians have lost just one game. While the Super Kings, after an up-and-down are on eight points from nine games. The Mumbai Indians will play to confirm semi-final berth with this win. Chennai Super Kings: The Super Kings are involved in a real scrap for a semi final place but back to back wins have revived their campaign. They have four wins and five defeats so far and key games coming up against Deccan Chargers and the Knight Riders who are also in the hunt. They cannot afford to lose any other games now onward though they do have a healthy net run rate which could well count in their favour. Vijay is fast becoming a star of the tournament and currently tops the Super Kings run scoring charts. With the ball it’s a different story although Doug Bollinger performed really well in his first game of the tournament against the Royals with two wickets for fifteen runs, and all this despite the visitors making an excellent fist of what would have been a record run chase. Mumbai Indians: With seven wins and one defeat, the Mumbai Indians are pretty much assured of a semi final place. They have been ruthless throughout the tournament, their only blemish being a defeat to the Royal Challengers. All departments are functioning as the coaching staff would like and they deserve to be favourites to win the tournament. Tendulkar has scored four half-centuries in eight games with a highest of 72 and a strike-rate of 140.72, besides displaying native shrewdness in team selections and strategies. Tendulkar’s performance not just as a batsman, but also as an inspirational leader who has brought out the best in his team and transformed the side from as serious cup contenders. Under his guidance, youngsters like Saurabh Tiwari, Ambatti Rayudu, Rajagopal Sathish and Shikhar Dhawan have prospered while making key contributions with the bat. Lending depth to the Mumbai Indians are the West Indian stars Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard besides South African Ryan McLaren and Sri … [Read more...]
IPL Auction 2 Live: Chennai bought Flintoff
Chennai Super kings bought England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff while Bangalore Royal Challengers captured Kevin Pietersen. JP Duminy of South Africa as expected became a surprise pack and was bought by Mumbai Indians. Both Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are now most expensive players in IPL. They have overthrown Indian Captain MS Dhoni as the most expensive players. Indian Premier League auction was held today in Goa and 8 franchisees are participating in the auction for the 17 slots. England players are getting lot of attention due to their vast experience in the Twenty20 cricket. All these contracts are valid for 2 years. South African all-rounder Tyron Henderson surprised everyone by getting Rs 3.18 crore in the auction. Rajasthan Royals won the bid facing stiff competition from Hyderabad Deccan Chargers. Bangladesh fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza is another surprise pack. Mortaza was picked by Kolkata IPL after intense bidding war with Mohali IPL for 2.9 crore. Kolkata and Mohali fought intensely during auction for this lower order hitter and strike bowler. 12 times his base price - Unbelievable! IPL auction 2 results: 1. Kevin Pietersen: Bangalore Royal Challengers for $1.55 million (Rs 7.35 crore). 2. Andrew Flintoff: Chennai Superkings for $1.55 million. 3. JP Duminy (South Africa): Mumbai Indians picked him for $9,50,000 (Rs 4.5 crore). 4. Shaun Tait: Rajasthan Royals bought him for for $3,75,000. 5. Owais Shah (England): Delhi Daredevils bought for $2,75,000. 6. Paul Collingwood (England): Delhi Daredevils bought for $2,75,000 (Rs 1.34 crore). 7. Fidel Edwards: Hyderabad IPL bought him for $1,50,000. Hyderaabd needs a strike bowler desperately. Stay tuned for more updates. 8. Tyron Henderson: South African all-rounder was bought by Rajasthan Royals for $6,50,000. Another surprise pack in the auction. Will he justify his huge price tag on Indian pitches? 9. Ravi Bopara (England): He was bought Punjab Kings Eleven for $4,50,000. 10. Thulan Thushara (Sri Lanka): Chennai Super Kings bought him for $1,40,000. … [Read more...]
Sensational Jayasuriya stunned Chennai
Sensational century from Sanath Jayasuriya lifted Mumbai to 9 wicket victory over Chennai Superkings at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. This is the best batting performance in Indian Premier League after superb knock from McCullum in the first IPL match. Jayasuriya scored this unforgettable century in just 45 balls with 10 sixers and 7 fours. He scored 26 runs in Kupugdera’s over to end the match in just 14 overs. This is the absolute assault by Jayasuriya who has an average tournament by his standards. Dhoni failed to utilise properly his in-form bowler Balaji and paid heavy price. Brilliant partnership between Badrinath and Dhoni set a reasonable target of 157 for Mumbai Indians. Sachin Tendulkar looked uncomfortable despite one superb six. He was completely eclipsed by Sanath Jayasuriya who smashed even good length balls to out of the ground. Chennai lost four quick wickets but recovered admirably thank to 95-run partnership between Badrinath and Dhoni. Toss: Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and elected to field first. IPL T20 Score:Chennai Superkings: 156/6 in 20 overs.Mumbai Indians: 158/1 in 13.5 overs. Unbelievable statistics: 1. Mumbai won the match by 9 wickets with 37 balls to spare. Do you want more statistics? Mumbai sent strong signals to the opposition with this emphatic win. 2. Sanath Jayasuriya scored second fastest century in Indian Premier League. He hit 11 sixers and 9 fours. 3. Shaun Pollock gave just 9 runs in his 4 overs. What a contrasting statistic. Man of the match: Sanath Jayasuriya. This is the fifth successive man of the match award for a cricketer whose name starts with “S”. This is the second man of the match award for Sanath Jayasuriya. Verdict: As I said in my preview, Mumbai has ideal T20 lineup with good all-rounders like Punjab Kings Eleven and Rajasthan Royals. They are the strong contenders to win IPL 2008. … [Read more...]
IPL T20 Cricket: Young stars for future
Indian Premier League made talented unknown young cricketers into overnight stars. They have not played either test cricket or one day cricket. Even cricket maniacs don’t know much about them. But today they are household names in India thanks to IPL T20 Cricket. These young cricketers played better than their famed counterparts and will command hefty fees in the next year auction if BCCI lifts upper circuit on them. Indian cricket future is safe in their hands. Young successful cricketers in IPL T20 Cricket: 1. Shikhar Dhawan (Delhi IPL): Delhi Ranji player is an ideal no.3 in both T20 and one day cricket for India. He is in the top 10 batsmen list in IPL 2008. 2. Swapnil Asnodkar (Jaipur IPL): Goa opener needs to change state to get more attention from Indian selectors. He has the potential to replace even Virender Sehwag in Indian T20 team if necessary. He scored 132 in just 3 matches but Rajasthan inexplicably didn't seelct him against Hyderabad. 3. Virat Kohli (Bangalore IPL): India under-19 world cup winning team captain is the rare batting star in poor Bangalore team. 4. Manpreet Gony (Chennai IPL): This Punjab all-rounder surpassed all expectations by taking wickets regularly. This hugely built dynamic young man is a threat to any batsman. 5. Abhishek Nayar (Mumbai IPL): Hard hitting Mumbai batsman is another T20 hopeful. 6. Ashok Dinda (Kolkata IPL): He is Glenn McGrath of Kolkata Knight Riders with his economic bowling. 7. Pradeep Sangwan (Delhi IPL): Along with Yo Mahesh, he is lucky to share dressing room with McGrath. Fast learner. 8. Yo Mahesh: Tamilnadu lad is learning tricks of fast bowling from team mates like Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif. 9. Vijay Kumar (Hyderabad IPL): Lorry cleaner from Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh) achieved fame and earned money through IPL. Bad luck, he is in Hyderabad team which has poor captains like Gilchrist and Laxman who doesn’t know how to groom these youngsters. 10. Ravindra Jadeja (Rajasthan IPL): He is a contender for late middle order. 11. Trivedi: He single handily … [Read more...]
Chennai IPL clinched a last ball thriller
Chennai Super kings clinched a last ball thriller against Delhi Daredevils at Feroz Shah Kotla cricket ground in Delhi. Badrinath scored vital single in the last ball to stun home fans. Manpreet Gony is the unlikely hero with the bat by hitting six and four in the last over for Chennai IPL who registered their first win in the last 4 matches. This is the second successive loss for Delhi IPL. Chennai top order which failed in the recent matches played exceptionally well against top quality bowlers like McGrath and Asif. Indian selectors must pick Shikhar Dhawan when they select ODI squad. He is an exceptional talent. The way he builds up innings is a lesson even for experienced cricketers. If nurtured carefully, he will become “Michael Hussey of India”. I can’t find the logic behind Manoj Tiwary selection over Rajat Bhatia. Most of the teams are losing the matches due to selection mistakes and bad captaincy. Chennai won this match just due to good selection policies. They left out ineffective Joginder Sharma and Makhaya Ntini. But Delhi picked ineffective Shoaib Malik. Albie Morkel scored 3 consecutive sixers in the bowling of Virender Sehwag to change match course. Yo Mahesh took two crucial wickets in the penultimate over to turn the match in Delhi’s way but Shoaib Malik bowled carelessly in the last over to gift Chennai crucial win. Toss: Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first. IPL T20 Scores: Delhi Daredevils: 187/5 in 20 overs. Chennai Super Kings: 188/6 in 20 overs. Result: Chennai won by 4 wickets. Man of the match: Mahendra Singh Dhoni??? This is the second Man of the Match award for Dhoni. Gautam Gambhir scored 80 runs in 49 balls. Highlight of the match: 1. 131 runs fourth wicket partnership of Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan. 2. Vidyut Shivaramakrhnan's explosive knock against Mcgrath and Asif. IPL Statistics: Verdict: Both teams played well but best team won the match. IPL is continuously producing unpredictable results. IPL needs matches like these to get more audience. Chennai at last found an ideal batting lineup at crucial … [Read more...]
IPL Cricket stars we miss in May
Indian Premier League teams will miss some match winning foreign cricketers in May. Absence of these stars will have maximum impact on teams like Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad while Teams like Rajasthan, Bangalore and Delhi will be less impacted by their absence. Dale Steyn is the bowler to watch out in May. 1. Chennai Super Kings: New Zealand all rounder Jacob Oram and Australian batsman Mathew Hayden and Michael Hussey will not play for Chennai IPL in the next month. Chennai will reach semi-finals but title hopes are almost out of question due to their absence. These three cricketers clean swept all the three man of the match awards in the Chennai matches. Chennai is the most affected team in the Indian Premier League. South African pacer Morkel may fill the void left by Jacob Oram and Stephen Fleming may partially fill the gap left by Michael Hussey. But who will replace Match winner Mathew Hayden? 2. Punjab Kings Eleven: Mohali IPL will miss its strike bowler Brett Lee, Kylie Mills and Simon Katich. It is almost impossible to fill the boots of Australian Speedster. 3. Hyderabad Deccan Chargers: They will miss their star batsman Andrew Symonds. So their hope of reaching semi-finals is almost out of question. 4. Bangalore Royal Challengers: They will miss New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor, Australian speedster Ashley Noffke and West Indies batsman Chanderpaul. But Bangalore fortunes will be boosted by arrivals of South African sensation Dale Steyn. Zaheer Khan, Praveen kumar, Anil Kumble, Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis may destroy any batting lineup in Indian Premier League. 5. Delhi daredevils: Delhi will not be affected much due to the absence of New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori. South African batsman De Villiers will join the squad. 6. Kolkata Knight Riders: They will miss New Zealand keeper Brendon McCullum, Australian captain Ricky Ponting and West Indies opener Chris Gayle. Ricky Ponting is the biggest disaster in the IPL. But Kolkata bowling will be strengthened by arrival of Umar Gul and Brad Hodge. Critics found answers for questions like why Ponting was less paid in the IPL auction than … [Read more...]
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