Thursday, December 20, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings: 2nd Qualifying Match (IPL 2012), Short Highlights, Murali Vijay century overpowers Delhi
The questions everyone was asking after the toss were: why is the virtually unknown offspinner Sunny Gupta making his IPL debut in Delhi Daredevils' biggest game of the season and why was purple cap holder Morne Morkel dropped? The questions resonated through the game and will haunt the Daredevils management for long, as one of the biggest tactical goof-ups in IPL history meant another season of dominance at the league stage ended without a win in the playoffs.
M Vijay clubbed a century and Chennai Super Kings took their toll of the weakened Daredevils attack to run up the highest score of the tournament. The decision to leave out Morkel had been based partly on wanting to strengthen an already intimidating batting line-up but the target was too much to ask even of Daredevils' superstars.
Super Kings came into the competition boasting a batting unit littered with match-winners but they rarely clicked together in the league phase. In the playoffs, though, they have been a transformed side. Two days after mauling Mumbai Indians, their batsmen fired again leaving Daredevils bowlers utterly clueless. Gupta was taken for 47 in his three overs and Varun Aaron conceded 63 in his four, the most expensive figures in IPL history.
Much of the punishment came at the hands of Vijay, who hasn't had the best of tournaments. A poor run at the start of the season left him with the unwanted distinction of being the only retained Indian player to be dropped in 2012. Super Kings backed him after leaving him out for a few games, and he repaid the faith with a big-match innings that has put them in their third final in a row.
The hammering started in the first over, as Gupta's first two deliveries were driven to the long-off boundary by Vijay. Normally a player who favours the leg-side, his lofted drives through the off side were the highlight of the innings. Even with Michael Hussey sensibly pushing the ball around and letting Vijay go for the big hits, Super Kings motored to 68 in eight overs.
Hussey fell soon after but by the time Virender Sehwag came on to bowl in the 11th, Vijay was unstoppable. That over kickstarted another phase of heavy scoring: first a six to midwicket that was brilliantly caught by Ross Taylor who stepped on the rope as he landed, then a powerful cut behind backward point for four, followed by a boundary to long-on and a six over cow corner. After that second six, Vijay was at such ease that he was sharing a joke with non-striker Suresh Raina. Two overs of mayhem later, when Vijay safely guided a ball to third man, he was gesticulating in frustration for having taken only a single off the delivery.
Daredevils didn't help matters with their shoddy catching. Sehwag was awfully leaden-footed to a miscue from Raina to cover while David Warner, possibly their best fielder, grassed MS Dhoni at long-on. The bowling from Daredevils wasn't particularly poor - there weren't too many hit-me full tosses or gifted-away deliveries down the leg side - but was merely run-of-the-mill length stuff that was no worry to Super Kings' marauders. Morne Morkel's control was sorely missed.
Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo played mini-versions of their powerhouse efforts against Mumbai Indians while Vijay went on to his century, which he celebrated with gusto pointing to the back of his shirt and showing his relief to put an indifferent run firmly behind him.
Facing with a massive target, Daredevils had another surprise in store: for the first time this season, Sehwag didn't open. Mahela Jayawardene came out at the top of the order and, though he stuck around for a characteristically elegant half-century, the game was virtually done within the fourth over of the chase as both Sehwag and David Warner were dismissed.
Super Kings' batting may grab all the headlines, but their fielding has also been top-class this season, highlighted by Vijay's sharp catch to dismiss Warner and then the running take by Hussey to send back Sehwag.
Ross Taylor slogged a couple of sixes over midwicket but his over-reliance on that stroke cost him as he miscued a wide delivery to mid-on. Jayawardene was left with too much to do, and after he was bowled after missing a reverse-sweep, there was no one to stop Daredevils from sliding to the biggest defeat of the season.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Dhoni assault knocks out Mumbai - Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians: Elimination Match (IPL 2012), Short Highlights
Chennai Super Kings seem to thrive in times of difficulty. At one point in this season, they were hanging by a thread to stay alive and now they're just two wins away from a third straight title. They didn't flinch after losing two wickets in two balls in the second over, they didn't allow a few quick wickets in the latter half of their innings to affect the tempo built by an impressive counterattack. Instead, they took the fightback to a higher level, led by their captain MS Dhoni, whose blistering assault left Mumbai Indians scarred on their way out of the competition. Super Kings' determination and tenacity proved too much for Mumbai Indians, a promising campaign ending in disappointment.
Asked to bat on one of the most productive tracks this season, Michael Hussey and S Badrinath rode on some fortune to help their team recover from trouble and Dhoni then assumed that attacking avatar that had made him a sensation when he hit the international scene. The efforts of those three, together with Dwayne Bravo's late surge boosted Super Kings just as Mumbai Indians dropped their guard with the ball. Only Dwayne Smith's early attack in the chase gave them some hope, but that didn't last long.
Some late swing played a hand in Dhawal Kulkarni's two early strikes and Harbhajan Singh was miserly with the new ball, but Hussey and Badrinath took the challenge head on. Both were initially fortunate to find boundaries off edges with the seamers still finding some movement. But they also middled a few, and found the gaps consistently despite the field being pushed back after the Powerplay. Both drove well, Badrinath cracking Kulkarni past mid-off and Hussey creaming Lasith Malinga through extra cover. When Harbhajan brought his medium-pacers on - his ploy to shuffle the bowling backfired - Super Kings ensured the flow remained unaffected. Kieron Pollard was pulled for two fours in an over, the 10th of the innings, after the first timeout - the cue, presumably, for Super Kings to step up further.
Harbhajan was himself smashed for two sixes before Hussey took RP Singh for two boundaries. The first four overs after the timeout yielded 47. Hussey, Badrinath and Ravindra Jadeja, however, fell in a space of 11 deliveries, but the last eight overs of the innings were to produce 105 runs.
The man largely responsible for that was Dhoni, who flicked his first ball for four over midwicket. Though he has come to exercise far more restraint in his batting, the approach today betrayed no signs of that recent tendency to accumulate steadily before opening up. To his advantage, Mumbai Indians doled out a spate of length balls that he wasn't willing to spare. James Franklin was dispatched over long-on for the biggest six of this tournament, Kulkarni was thrashed down the ground and past cover, and he even had time to make room and cart RP over extra cover.
The stand-out shot was his favourite whiplash, imparting tremendous force against a length ball from Malinga that found itself in the deep-midwicket stand. Bravo, in that penultimate over, launched Malinga - who bowled his most expensive spell of this season - over midwicket and extra cover before finishing off with two sixes off Kulkarni. One of them was battered flat over wide long-off, the power and disdain behind the shot summing up the domination of bat over ball in those late overs.
Some of that contempt for the bowling was also on display in Smith's early ambush of Ben Hilfenhaus - the same bowler who was taken for 14 off the last three balls by Smith in Mumbai Indians' thrilling win in an earlier meeting. He used his wrists well, pulled, flicked, swept and found the boundary with ease in a quick opening stand of 47.
But Shadab Jakati, brought in for this game in place of seamer Yo Mahesh, bowled with discipline at the other end. He bowled a tight line, and his fielders backed him up well. Some superb fielding by Jadeja at point caused a mix-up between Smith and Tendulkar, who was run out, and Smith soon followed, spooning a catch in the same region. Albie Morkel, who got some away movement, had Dinesh Karthik and Rohit Sharma nicking to the keeper, and Ambati Rayudu fell slog-sweeping against R Ashwin. When Franklin was dismissed in the 14th over with 84 still to get, the task was even beyond Pollard. Mumbai Indians' depth in batting promised a close fight, but the pressure of a big chase in a must-win game proved too big to overcome.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders: QF1 T20 (IPL 2012), Kolkata in IPL final for first time, Short Highlights Reel
After four seasons of at times embarrassing underachievement, Kolkata Knight Riders will play for the IPL trophy on Sunday. For almost two-thirds of the qualifier against Delhi Daredevils, they nearly blew it, though the odds were stacked in their favour right from the start. On a pitch where the first ball of spin turned sharply, Knight Riders had three spinners waiting; Delhi Daredevils stuck to playing three specialist fast bowlers.
Daredevils' strategy did not seem to have backfired when Knight Riders lumbered to 106 for 4 in 16 overs. In the chase, despite losing Virender Sehwag and David Warner in the first 13 balls, Daredevils were right in the hunt at 83 for 2 after 10 overs. But like they had suddenly bolted away in the last four overs of their innings, Knight Riders choked Daredevils in the latter half of the chase. Daredevils did not help their cause, sending Pawan Negi ahead of Ross Taylor, who finally came in at No. 7 when the asking-rate was more than 14 an over.
The late boost that carried Knight Riders to a challenging total on the difficult pitch came from the unlikeliest quarters. Yusuf Pathan, who had done almost nothing the entire season, and Laxmi Shukla, playing in place of an unfit Manoj Tiwary, carted the quicks for 56 off the final four overs, and 36 off the final two, as Knight Riders surged to 162.
Gautam Gambhir had once again given Knight Riders a strong start, taking the fast bowlers for several boundaries. He had sped to 32 off 16 deliveries before he failed to make his ground to a direct hit from mid-off after having backed up too far. Not for the first time after Gambhir's departure, Knight Riders lost their way. Only 58 runs came off the next ten overs as Negi, the left-arm spinner, and Irfan Pathan strangled the batsmen.
Just when it seemed Knight Riders had wasted Gambhir's efforts upfront, Yusuf and Shukla launched into the quicks, who did not let up on the pace. Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav kept bowling in the late 140s with Morne Morkel not far behind. But the faster they bowled, the ball only came on better on the slow pitch.
Yusuf began the assault in the 17th over, carting a Morkel length ball for a straight six. Shukla took the lead in the 19th, making room to loft Morkel over extra cover for four and pulling him over deep square leg for six. It was to get worse for Daredevils in the last over. David Warner dropped Yusuf as he ran across from long-on and ended up parrying it for six. Yusuf cover-drove and flicked the last two deliveries for fours.
The core of the attack that had taken Daredevils to No. 1 position after the league stage had been taken apart. Yadav and Morkel went for 37 each, Aaron for 48, including 21 in that final over.
The last thing Daredevils needed at that stage was a rough decision, and pat it came in the second over of the chase. Warner, who had just smashed Shakib Al Hasan for six over long-on, missed the next ball as he pushed forward, but was given out caught by umpire Billy Doctrove as the ball popped up to the wicketkeeper off the pad. Sehwag departed next ball, edging an attempted cut off the impressive L Balaji to the keeper.
Just when it seemed Daredevils had done themselves in even before Sunil Narine came on, Naman Ojha and Mahela Jayawardene responded with the highest stand of the match. The duo took Shakib, who had a forgettable game, for 15 runs in the fourth over. Bowling too quick to get any bite from the surface, Shakib was lofted inside-out and down the ground for two fours and a six.
Though the general lack of pace in the Knight Riders attack started to make its presence felt, Ojha and Jayawardene kept the runs coming. The duo was in control when Ojha cut a long hop from Bhatia straight to Gambhir at backward point. A few tight overs and Venugopal Rao's struggle further increased the pressure on Jayawardene. The threat of Narine, who gave just seven runs in his first two overs, forced him to attack the other bowlers, eventually leading to him being stumped off Abdulla in the 15th over.
With 55 needed off 32, Sehwag sent in Negi ahead of Taylor, who hit his third ball from Narine for six over wide long-on. But it was too late by then. Daredevils have another chance to get it right in the second qualifier on Friday.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Deccan Chargers v Royal Challengers Bangalore: 71st T20 (IPL 2012), Short Highlights Reel
Royal Challengers Bangalore imploded in their most crucial match of the season and failed to qualify for the playoffs after choking in a low-scoring chase. Their defeat in Hyderabad allowed Chennai Super Kings to hang on to fourth spot at the end of the league stage.
Deccan Chargers scratched to 132 on a slow pitch, but their bowlers and fielders lifted the gloom of their campaign with a performance that brought the tournament's most intimidating batting line-up to its knees. Chargers, who spent most of the season languishing at the bottom, left Pune Warriors holding the wooden spoon and moved to eighth spot.
The game was Royal Challengers' to lose. A target of 133 should not have been too daunting for their top heavy batting line-up. The chase had several turning points - Chris Gayle's dismissal, Dale Steyn's first three overs and Virat Kohli's rush of blood, to name a few. Steyn was unplayable with figures of 4-0-8-3, but crucially, he found support from the slower bowlers. Amit Mishra took two in an over to set Royal Challengers back and Ashish Reddy frustrated the batsmen with slower balls in the final stages.
Gayle has largely determined Royal Challengers' fortunes this season, by combining big hits with longevity at the crease. He has, on occasion, started sedately before embarking on a boundary barrage. Today Gayle batted as though he was determined to finish in ten overs, pounding 24 in Manpreet Gony's first over, the second of the innings.
In the third, Gayle had to face Steyn, bowling at serious pace. After ducking under a short ball aimed at his head, Gayle tried to make room by moving towards leg and bottom edged another fast short ball on to his stumps. Steyn then had Tillakaratne Dilshan lbw in his next over, and Royal Challengers were 40 for 2 when Saurabh Tiwary retired hurt after straining a hamstring in the sixth.
An overthrow that cost six runs was the only major blip on an unusually good day in the field for Chargers. Duminy's leaping catch at short cover to get rid of AB de Villiers was an example of their improvement. The tension was palpable in the Royal Challengers camp as de Villiers walked back, because their tail began at No.7.
Tiwary returned in the tenth over after Mishra's double-strike. He and Kohli kept Royal Challengers in the hunt during their brisk stand of 46, which came at 7.45 runs an over. The plan seemed to be to knock off as many as possible before Steyn returned for his final over. Kohli swung Ashish Reddy over long-on but a repeat of that shot the following ball found the fielder. A furious Kohli swung his bat at thin air in frustration.
Steyn returned to knock down Zaheer Khan's middle stump to round off another dream spell. The game was all but sealed for Chargers as the asking rate proved too demanding for Royal Challengers' tail. Kohli sat at the dug out with his pads on, hands on his face, wondering what could have been.
Besides Steyn, Chargers had another South African to thank - JP Duminy. The two-paced pitch produced attritional cricket and Chargers struggled to score at six an over. Duminy did his best to compensate for the failures of his other overseas colleagues with a late surge, pounding five sixes in an aggressive half-century.
Only two boundaries were scored in the Powerplay overs, which produced just 23 runs. By the end of the tenth over, the score was an underwhelming 47 for 3. Duminy, who began watchfully, hit the first of his five sixes when he heaved R Vinay Kumar over long-on in the 16th over. He hit three more in a single over from Muttiah Muralitharan, which cost 20. His knock was valuable in getting Chargers to a middling total on a slow pitch. It turned out to be enough.
Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians: 72nd T20 (IPL 2012), Short Highlights Reel
Mumbai Indians tried out their eighth different opening combination for the season and it clicked - Dwayne Smith and Sachin Tendulkar, with the help of a large dose of luck, put on the highest stand for the first wicket in the tournament to crush Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur.
At the halfway stage of this inconsequential match, the omens were good for Royals. Since Shane Watson's arrival, Royals' form has closely mirrored his batting form. Each time Watson has fired Royals have won, and every failure with the bat has led to defeat. He top scored with 45, lifting the Royals to 162. They have never lost a home game when they have scored more than 160.
All that was brushed aside, as Smith and Tendulkar set up only the fifth ten-wicket victory in IPL history. It looked like a completely one-sided encounter but the opening pair had plenty of close calls.
Smith was beaten plenty of times early on and his swipes repeatedly landed in non-man's land. There were several clear-cut chances as well - Ajit Chandila shelled a caught-and-bowled chance, Dishant Yagnik couldn't collect cleanly after Smith was beaten by a Brad Hogg wrong 'un, Siddharth Trivdedi caught him off a no-ball, and Tait couldn't even get his hands on a top-edge skier.
Tendulkar, too, wasn't at his elegant best; he was put down by Watson at midwicket, and then a paddle-sweep was top-edged over the keeper and slip, and wasn't exactly comfortable through much of the innings.
In between, there were some clean hits as well from the openers. Tendulkar got going with a front-foot cover drive off Tait, and Smith repeatedly played the short-arm pull behind square leg for boundaries. The match really began to slip away from Royals in the 11th over, when Smith clubbed Chandila for consecutive sixes to take Mumbai Indians close to their first century opening stand of the season.
A couple of overs later, Chandila let a ball through his hands to concede a boundary, leaving Rahul Dravid shaking his head. Besides the poor fielding, the bowling also gave away too many free runs - 15 wides and a no-ball sliced 10% from the target.
If it ended badly for Royals, it hadn't begun well either. Mumbai fast bowler Dhawal Kulkarni, playing his first match of the season, cut short what could be Dravid's final competitive innings. Kulkarni also added the scalp of Ajinkya Rahane, Royals' most prolific scorer this season, later in the Powerplay.
Once again it seemed Royals were looking to Watson for acceleration. He wasn't timing it as well as he would have liked, but the burden wasn't entirely on him as Stuart Binny chipped in with a free-swinging 30. The innings got a jumpstart when Binny caned Harbhajan Singh for 22 runs in the 10th over, slog-sweeping him over square leg for six, and also picking off three fours in the over. Watson joined the fun as he connected well on his third swipe at Smith, sending the ball for six over his favourite deep midwicket region.
Binny was then run-out through an athletic bit of footwork from Kieron Pollard in his follow-through, and a couple of overs later Watson miscued a heave off Pollard, leading to a loss of momentum. Owais Shah and Ashok Menaria, though, capitalised on some indisciplined bowling from Mumbai Indians to take Royals to what seemed a competitive total.
It didn't prove near enough as Mumbai Indians went into the playoffs with a extra shot of confidence. The questions for them will be about their combination after a couple of their experiments worked. Do they stick with the same openers or revert to Tendulkar-Gibbs? Also, does Kulkarni deserve another chance or should they go back to the experience of Munaf Patel.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils: 69th T20 (IPL 2012), Short Highlights
Delhi Daredevils confirmed their standing as the team to beat with a fearsome opening burst from their fast bowlers, Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav, before a typically brutal David Warner innings pretty much guaranteed top spot. Kings XI Punjab, one of the lower-profile teams in the tournament, managed to stay alive till the final weekend of the league phase but couldn't make it to the playoffs as a power-packed Daredevils line-up dismantled them with ease on a spicy pitch in Dharamsala. The result also meant that Mumbai Indians became the third team to qualify for the playoffs.
On one of the best tracks for fast bowlers in the IPL this season, Daredevils stacked their team with five quicks, four of whom could nudge the 90-mph mark. Morkel and Yadav were virtually unplayable with the new ball, and by the end of the Powerplay overs, Kings XI were reduced to 20 for 4 and their campaign was seemingly over.
Mandeep Singh has been Kings XI's most prolific batsman this season, but he fell for a golden duck as he was drawn into nibbling an away-cutter from Yadav to the keeper. Adam Gilchrist has a century and two fifties in his last three innings in Dharamsala but he was dismissed cheaply this time, top-edging a pull, in what might well be his final competitive innings.
Paul Valthaty's disastrous season continued, as he flailed about in his comeback game against some high-quality pace from Yadav and Morkel before finally holing out for a ten-ball 2. The biggest blow, though, was in the sixth over, when Yadav got Hussey to mishit a shortish ball to mid-on. Yadav finished his first spell with the figures of 3-1-4-3.
Kings XI have been written off before, only to repeatedly show they were no pushovers. They proved it again as Azhar Mahmood, who has been instrumental to Kings XI's fight this season, stabilised the innings with a 57-run stand with Siddharth Chitnis. Both struggled to time the ball early on, but some freebies from Andre Russell helped them find their feet.
There has been a clamour for Russell's inclusion this season, especially given Ross Taylor's horror run with the bat but the allrounder had a day to forget, leaking 51 runs on a day when no one else in his team went at more than 6.25. His worst over was the 17th, which was taken for 22 runs with Gurkeerat powering three boundaries, before Mahmood rounded it off with two more. That lifted the run-rate above six for the first time in the innings.
Kings XI finished with 141, which seemed enough to challenge a Daredevils side missing both Virender Sehwag and Taylor. Those hopes were dashed once Warner unleashed those familiar hits over long-on and midwicket, again highlighting the number of match-winners Daredevils have in their squad.
It wasn't a flawless innings from Warner, who was hit by a bouncer from Ryan Harris early on, edged plenty and was put down at midwicket by Mandeep. That drop came at the end of an over in which Warner had muscled three sixes and a four off Parvinder Awana. Twenty-three came off that over as Awana, who went for only 12 in his four overs last game, watched helplessly.
Warner chopped the first ball of the next over to bring up his 50 off 25 balls on a pitch where most batsmen struggled. He couldn't add to his collection of Twenty20 centuries, though, as he slapped Harris to Mandeep at point in the 13th over. There was a brief lull in the scoring after that, but with the required-rate just above four, Daredevils were never really in trouble of losing.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Shalabh Srivastava IPL 5 Match Fixing Exclusive Video (Cricket) - India TV HD
Breaking News!!! Shalabh Srivastava caught on camera.
Exclusive!!!! Match fixing/Spot fixing
Second Video of the Sting operation to reveals Black money and match\spot fixing in IPL!!!
Mohnish Mishra IPL 5 Cricket Match Fixing Exclusive Video - India TV HD
Breaking News!!! Mohnish Mishra caught on camera.
Exclusive!!!! Match fixing/Spot fixing
Second Video of the Sting operation to reveals Black money and match\spot fixing in IPL!!!
IPL 5 Cricket Match Fixing Exclusive Video - Players caught on cam - TP Sudhindra (Deccan Chargers) Caught taking Money
The IPL governing council has suspended five players named by a sting operation alleging corruption until an inquiry into the accusations is conducted. TP Sudhindra (Deccan Chargers), Mohnish Mishra (Pune Warriors), Shalabh Srivastava (Kings XI Punjab), Amit Yadav (Kings XI Punjab) and a player the IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla called "Mr Bali" were suspended.
Monday, May 14, 2012
IPL 2012: Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings, 63rd T20 - highlights
With Chennai Super Kings needing five runs to win off the final delivery, Rajat Bhatia, who had bowled MS Dhoni and conceded only four from the previous five balls, bowled a full toss. Dwayne Bravo, who had missed a heave off the fifth ball, heaved again, and this time he hit the ball high into the night sky. Kolkata Knight Riders' captain Gautam Gambhir, fielding in the circle, kept his eyes fixed on the ball as it began its descent, and grimaced as he watched it fall agonisingly out of reach of his fielder at long-on, and just over the boundary. The Super Kings were out of the dug out, craning their necks to see where the ball landed, and once they saw it was a match-winning six, there were several streaks of yellow speeding to embrace Bravo. He was standing there with arms aloft, having taken Super Kings to No. 4 with only one league game remaining.
Had the match been tied, it would have been less of a surprise, for Super Kings' chase had followed a pattern eerily similar to Knight Riders' first innings.
In pursuit of 159, Michael Hussey and M Vijay added 97 runs in 10.1 overs before Sunil Narine, who continued to confound batsmen with his variations during his spell of 4-0-14-2, dismissed both of them in the space of three balls. Hussey had demonstrated impeccable timing on a pitch that demanded application, hitting four sixes in a half-century that threatened to make short work of the chase, before he top-edged a sweep. Vijay was bowled trying to cut a straight one.
When Knight Riders had been sent in after losing the toss, Gambhir and Brendon McCullum had set off at breakneck speed, adding 99 in 11.2 overs before they were dismissed in the space of five deliveries. Gambhir scored his sixth half-century of the season and took charge of accelerating his team's innings while McCullum played second fiddle, relatively speaking. They were setting Knight Riders for a formidable total when McCullum was run-out and Gambhir was bowled after the ball came off his inside-edge and pad, gone for 62 off 43 balls.
With the Knight Riders openers gone and two new batsmen at the crease, Super Kings began to drag the run-rate back, by striking regularly. The hosts slipped from 99 for 0 to 128 for 5. Jacques Kallis was unlucky to be given caught behind while sweeping, because the ball came off the arm, and Yusuf Pathan hit his customary solitary six before holing out to Bravo on the long-on boundary. Bravo caught Manoj Tiwary there soon after and Knight Riders were eventually kept to 158.
Super Kings went down the same path. After the Hussey-Vijay stand, they were slowed down and then lost Suresh Raina to a run out in the 14th over. MS Dhoni played out four consecutive dot balls against L Balaji as the gap between runs required and balls remaining began to grow. Balaji conceded two runs off the 14th over, and Bhatia five in the next. Super Kings now needed 44 off 30 balls.
After the 17th over of the first innings, Knight Riders had been 127 for 4. After the 17th over of the chase, Super Kings were 127 for 3. They lost Faf du Plessis to the first ball of the 18th. With 27 needed off the last two overs, Dhoni changed the course of the chase. He nearly beheaded Marchant de Lange, such was the ferocity with which he clubbed the first ball to the straight boundary. The next was a full toss that disappeared through deep midwicket and the third was a towering six over long-on.
Super Kings were favourites, needing only nine to get off the final over, but Dhoni was bowled off its second ball, missing Bhatia's slower ball. Bhatia went on to bowl three more exceptional deliveries, but his last was the full toss that allowed Super Kings to move to No. 4 in the league.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
High Scoring Match Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers: 61st T20 (IPL 2012), Short Highlights -
For the second match in a day, the hero was a cricketer who was a complete unknown, playing his second game of the tournament. In the afternoon, Rajasthan Royals' offspinner Ajit Chandila took the first hat-trick of the season and the wind out of Pune Warriors' chase and in the second game, it was 21-year-old Gurkeerat Singh who handed Deccan Chargers their fifth last-over defeat of the season with an ice-cool display of hitting.
Chargers seemed to have the game in control for much of the time. First, their two most consistent batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan and Cameron White, added to their rapidly growing collection of half-centuries this season to lift Chargers to their second highest total of 2012. And soon after Azhar Mahmood was dismissed in the 13th over of the chase, the asking-rate was rocketing past 13, with David Hussey as the only recognised batsman remaining. Still, as they have so often this season, Chargers managed to make a hash of it, and end up on the losing side.
The first signs of trouble for Chargers came in the 15th over from Amit Mishra, when Hussey hammered a couple of leg-side sixes as Kings XI looted 21 off it. Madhya Pradesh seamer TP Sudhindra then seemed to have pulled things back with a yorker-filled over that went only for five in the first five deliveries, but he missed his length off the final ball and Hussey promptly dispatched it for a straight six.
Fifty needed off four overs and time for Chargers to turn to their most potent weapon, Dale Steyn. He delivered with two wickets in his comeback over, though Piyush Chawla got a couple of audacious boundaries off it. When Hussey muscled a slower one from Daniel Christian for six early in the 18th over, everyone thought the outcome of the game would depend on Hussey. Instead, there were no more boundaries from Hussey and most of the runs came from Gurkeerat.
First, Christian was drilled down the ground for four and then a fearless attempt to paddle a ball from outside off resulted in a streaky four off the thigh pad. Steyn has combusted on a couple of occasions at the death this season, and has been unhittable on others. This time he was back at his best-bowler-in-the-world mode, conceding just four singles off the first five balls, though the pressure on him was evident from the expletive-infused outburst at a fielder for shying at the stumps. The last ball of the over was a low full toss that Gurkeerat somehow squeezed behind point for a boundary, making it 16 required off the final over.
With Christian and Steyn having bowled out, Kumar Sangakkara had to choose between legspinner Mishra and quick bowler Manpreet Gony, and he picked Gony. Chargers' fielding seemed to have cost them on the first ball when a fumble allowed Hussey to return for two and retain the strike, but Hussey could only take a single off the next.
Gurkeerat was unfazed by the task at hand, clubbing the next ball over midwicket for six before placing the fourth delivery to the sweeper cover boundary. Two more were taken off the penultimate delivery, levelling the scores. Sangakkara brought in all his fielders, but Gony opted to go with the bouncer, which was probably the wrong option as Hussey could have scampered a bye even if Gurkeerat missed. Gurkeerat didn't though, getting an edge as he pulled it to the fine leg boundary to deliver victory that tightens the table - the top seven teams are only four points apart.
The late heroics were needed as Christian had taken two early wickets, including the crucial one of Shaun Marsh, to stall the chase. Mahmood then helped Kings XI gain ground with a quick 31, then the baton was taken by Hussey who speeded up the innings further before Gurkeerat provided the final burst.
Earlier - considering the three tough games remaining for them - Kings XI seemed to have blown their chances with an amateurish effort in the field. Two simple catches offered by White were put down and there were numerous fumbles as Chargers built up a big score.
Parthiv Patel featured in a brisk opening stand and Christian showed off his hitting skills at the death, but the innings revolved around a 96-run stand between Dhawan and White. The pair set a scorching pace, scoring at nearly 10 an over, and despite another underwhelming performance from Sangakkara, Chargers put up what looked like a winning score. Once again, though, repeating a familiar story from their season, they managed to go down despite controlling a big chunk of the match.
Rajasthan Royals v Pune Warriors: 60th T20 (IPL 2012), Short Highlights , Rahane, Watson
When Rahul Dravid of Rajasthan Royals was asked at the toss to name the changes to his line-up, he paused for a few seconds before giving up trying to recollect the second spinner. Ajit Chandila ensured that his captain and the rest of the world weren't going to forget his name. The little-known offspinner from Haryana responded with a hat-trick in only his second game, reducing Pune Warriors to a train wreck early in their chase of 171. Warriors extended their losing streak to eight - the worst in IPL history - while Royals stayed in the hunt for the playoffs.
It proved a masterstroke by Dravid tossing the new ball to Chandila. Warriors didn't know what to expect from the tall spinner, only two first-class matches old. With a run-up of barely a few steps, and a languid action to boot, Chandila tossed it up at such an agonisingly slow pace that it took an eternity for the ball to land. Jesse Ryder opted to hammer him out of the attack but ended up mis-hitting it to Shane Watson pedaling back at mid-on.
Sourav Ganguly tried to nudge the next delivery but the ball dribbled back towards the wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami who broke the stumps before Ganguly could ground his bat. Chandila struck with the first ball of his second over, drawing Robin Uthappa forward and beating him on the drive before Goswami whipped off the bails. Chandila's split hat-trick was all the more glossy because the victims were international batsmen. It was the seventh hat-trick in IPL history and the first of this edition.
Chandila had time to sneak in another wicket, off a simple caught and bowled to get rid of Anustup Majumdar, and finished with figures of 4 for 13. Warriors were tottering at 26 for 4, a position from which they never recovered from. Royals never allowed a partnership to get past 34, they conceded just 11 boundaries in the innings and lit up an otherwise drab phase after the hat-trick with a jaw-dropping fielding effort at the boundary by Johan Botha and Ajinkya Rahane to get rid of Rahul Sharma. Botha caught it at the edge of the rope at long-off and relayed it to an alert Rahane who claimed the catch.
Royals batted Warriors out of the match thanks to half-centuries by Watson and Rahane. Ganguly returned to lead Warriors but he and his team-mates let themselves down with a flat performance in the field that allowed the Watson-Rahane partnership to flourish.
The urgency in the running between the wickets picked up when the pair came together. Rahane in particular was impressive in his calling as he pushed the ball to the slower men in the deep, starting with Ganguly, and the few extra seconds they took to get to the ball cost Warriors extra runs.
Watson biffed boundaries through his favoured on-side region. He began with a slog over midwicket off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, before pounding consecutive sixes off Murali Kartik, one of which was a full toss clubbed over the second tier at deep midwicket. As the pitch was on the slower side, Watson's powerful bat-speed gave his shots more velocity. He punished the spinners with powerful pulls and drives, fetching two free boundaries via misfields. Steven Smith, known for his acrobatic saves at the boundary, overran the ball at deep midwicket, while Kartik too let one slip between his legs.
Watson sped to his fifty with a clipped four to deep square leg and a six over deep midwicket off Jesse Ryder. However, he played all over a yorker from Ashish Nehra, leaving his team at a healthy 123 for 2 in the 15th over. Warriors were guilty of not bowling to their field, bowling half volleys on the pads with the fine leg up. Rahane proceeded towards his fifty with wristy clips and punches through the off side. His knock ensured that Royals didn't lose their way after Watson's departure. Minutes after the chase got underway, the game was all but won by Royals.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils: 59th T20 (IPL 2012), Short Highlights
Chennai Super Kings kept their playoff hopes alive with a ruthless performance that cut the table-leaders Delhi Daredevils to size. Super Kings shook Daredevils out of their comfort zone by letting them set a target, and they came a cropper on a lively pitch, plodding to 114. Virender Sehwag failed for the second time, and the absence of a strong top-order base exposed a weakness in the same line-up that carried them to the top of the table. Super Kings coasted home courtesy an opening stand of 75, which helped them power back to No. 4.
Daredevils never recovered when Ben Hilfenhaus sent Sehwag's off stump for a tumble in the opening over. Sehwag was lost at sea with one that straightened and the rest of the top order were undone by arrogance. David Warner, who gave the Indian bowlers in Deccan Chargers a hiding in Hyderabad, was now confronted with the quality of Hilfenhaus, who had him swatting tamely to mid-off.
Naman Ojha, who partnered Warner in an explosive stand in Hyderabad, failed to match those heroics, gloving Hilfenhaus down the leg side. Daredevils were crawling at 27 for 4 after the Powerplay and the middle order was pushed into the deep end. Boundaries were like a mirage in the desert - the drought lasted 32 deliveries before Venugopal Rao charged Ravindra Jadeja and lofted him over wide long-on.
Jadeja was taken off after one over, in which he conceded 11, the most expensive in the first ten overs. Rao and Yogesh Nagar were stifled by the other two spinners - R Ashwin and Shadab Jakati. The fielding was sharp enough to stop easy singles. Rao and Yogesh Nagar had added 48 at a run-a-ball before Albie Morkel pulled off a stunner at short cover to send back Rao. Daredevils added only 36 in their last five overs and ended up with a barely defendable score.
The Daredevils bowlers couldn't extract the same kind of purchase and looked a deflated outfit, as if waiting to be struck down. The positivity shown by the Super Kings openers was reflected in the frequency of boundaries. Daredevils managed a total of seven boundaries in their innings; Super Kings knocked off the same number before the sixth over. Pace may be Daredevils' forte, but it counted for nothing today as they bowled the wrong lengths.
The batsman who had everything to gain was M Vijay. With underwhelming returns of 134 runs from nine games, the pressure was on him to reproduce his form from last season. Michael Hussey's enterprising start took the weight off Vijay's shoulders, as he played himself in initially, before opening up. He picked consecutive boundaries off Umesh Yadav, pulling and clipping past fine leg.
One of his trademark shots is the pull over midwicket and he managed that off Irfan Pathan, after having warmed up with four boundaries. A six over extra cover off Varun Aaron was his most elegant shot of the evening, merely using the pace of the ball. Wild slogs from Suresh Raina helped Super Kings knock off the runs with nearly five overs to spare.
Super Kings are known for their last-minute scrambles. With two wins on the trot, the momentum is with them again.
Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians: 58th T20 (IPL 2012), Short Highlights
Match notes
Mumbai Indians innings
Powerplay 1: Overs 0.1 - 6.0 (Mandatory - 49 runs, 1 wicket)
Mumbai Indians: 50 runs in 6.1 overs (37 balls), Extras 0
2nd Wicket: 50 runs in 36 balls (HH Gibbs 16, RG Sharma 33, Ex 1)
RG Sharma: 50 off 29 balls (5 x 4, 3 x 6)
Mumbai Indians: 100 runs in 11.5 overs (71 balls), Extras 3
2nd Wicket: 100 runs in 71 balls (HH Gibbs 35, RG Sharma 64, Ex 3)
Mumbai Indians: 150 runs in 16.4 overs (100 balls), Extras 3
RG Sharma: 100 off 52 balls (11 x 4, 5 x 6)
HH Gibbs: 50 off 48 balls (6 x 4, 1 x 6)
2nd Wicket: 150 runs in 94 balls (HH Gibbs 49, RG Sharma 101, Ex 5)
Innings Break: Mumbai Indians - 182/1 in 20.0 overs (HH Gibbs 66, RG Sharma 109)
Kolkata Knight Riders innings
Kolkata Knight Riders: 50 runs in 8.1 overs (49 balls), Extras 2
3rd Wicket: 50 runs in 47 balls (JH Kallis 28, MK Tiwary 23, Ex 2)
Kolkata Knight Riders: 100 runs in 13.4 overs (83 balls), Extras 3
JH Kallis: 50 off 45 balls (4 x 4, 2 x 6)
4th Wicket: 50 runs in 37 balls (JH Kallis 20, YK Pathan 30, Ex 2)
Kolkata Knight Riders: 150 runs in 19.4 overs (119 balls), Extras 4
Pune Warriors v Royal Challengers Bangalore: 57th T20 (IPL 2012), Short Highlights
Full Match Short Highlights Reel of IPL 2012 - 57th T20 played between Pune Warriors India and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune on 11th May, 2012.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Sourav Ganguly Official HD Trailer 'Ganguly - The Movie'
Destiny had a role to play. But with Sourav Ganguly around, it could never take the lead. With his exuberance, passion and never say die attitude, he has always come off in flying colors, despite all odds. Like a hero of any Bollywood movie, Sourav Ganguly has gone through many turmoils and has emerged as a winner in the end. He is one of India's biggest superstars. Its about time that his fans get to see a film he is in.
'Sourav Ganguly -- The Movie' is a passionate love story!
A love story starring Sourav Ganguly and YOU -- the fan!
Is this the end of the road for Ganguly?
Pune Warriors India captain Sourav Ganguly has been 'rested' for the IPL match against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
IPL 2012: Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils, 55th T20 Highlights - Warner, Ojha swat aside Deccan
Even a total as formidable as 187 wasn't enough for Deccan Chargers' inexperienced bowling attack to pull off a win against Delhi Daredevils. David Warner filled the vacuum left by Kevin Pietersen with a blistering century - his second in the IPL - in only his second game of the season. With help from Naman Ojha, Daredevils butchered their way back to No.1, overhauling the target with 20 balls to spare.
Chargers fielded a bowling unit without foreign players, the most experienced of the lot being Amit Mishra. It was a recipe for a mauling. There was no respite even at the other end, as the promising Ojha capitalised on his promotion, hitting five sixes in his 64. Warner and Ojha overshadowed a similar performance from another Indo-Australian left-right duo earlier in the evening - Shikhar Dhawan and Cameron White.
Daredevils' response was so swift and intimidating that Virender Sehwag's early departure was a distant memory. Sehwag tried to make a mockery of the decision to open the bowling with Dhawan by lofting the first ball to long-off. A similar attempt off the second ball resulted in a top edge that swirled to point, where White held a well-judged catch running backwards.
It was the only memorable bit of fielding from Chargers. The familiar misfields were characteristic of another flat performance, completely out of sync with the batting. Warner hit two forceful boundaries to take 16 off the opening over and set the tone for the rest of the chase.
Warner exposed the lack of depth and experience in the bowling, one that should serve as a lesson for the franchise before the next trading window. TP Sudhindra, back after warming the bench for over a month, gave away 13 in his first over. Ashish Reddy, one of the impressive newcomers this season for Chargers, had his confidence dented with a 20-run opening over. Two consecutive short balls were pounded by Warner over cover and deep square-leg. When Reddy pitched it full, he was hit through the off side.
Manpreet Gony was the only bowler with respectable figures. Mishra, the most experienced, went for 44 off four. Twenty-six of those runs were scored by Ojha, who used his feet to smash two sixes down the ground.
Warner, who looked below his best on the more sluggish pitches in the West Indies, was at home here with the ball coming onto the bat. He played his trademark pulls, one of which brought up his century. His stand of 189 with Ojha was the second-best in the IPL, behind Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh's 206 for Kings XI Punjab in 2011.
The 126 between Dhawan and White wasn't lacking in quality either. The pair shrugged off a relatively slow first half with power hitting in the last nine overs. The partnership featured audacious shots like the Dilscoop and the paddle sweep, interspersed with powerful straight hits and muscled sixes over deep midwicket.
Dhawan was particularly strong over the on side, hitting consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, and raced to his fifty with consecutive straight hits off Irfan Pathan.
When the slower bowlers tossed it up, Dhawan hammered over the on side; when Morne Morkel aimed at the base of the stumps, he strolled across his stumps and paddled over the helpless short fine leg fielder. A century was there for the taking against a stunned bowling attack, but a brilliant fielding effort from Nadeem, a direct hit from behind square leg, caught Dhawan a mile out of his crease.
White, who had earlier brought up the century stand with a six over deep midwicket off Nadeem, holed out to a top edge in the final over. Chargers, in the last nine overs, plundered 117 runs. Their bowlers, however, failed to defend that effort.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
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