Know your team: Royal Challengers Bangalore

With a combination of international stars together with exciting Indian talent, Royal Challengers Bangalore is one of the Indian teams that will take on the best of T20 clubs at this edition of the Champions League T20 in South Africa.

Having seen what it takes to play against the top clubs in the competition last year, Bangalore will like to put up a better showing than the last time. Challengers' skipper Anil Kumble is a man with unparalleled work ethic, and nothing short than bringing the trophy to India will be on his mind when he leads his team out on to the field on September 12 against Guyana. He would be aptly supported by his former Indian teammate and the 'wall' of Indian cricket Rahul Dravid.

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Australia outplay Pakistan

Gros Islet (St Lucia) May 2: Shane Watson once again reminded Pakistan the torrid time they had in the tour down-under late last year as his innings of 81 off 49 balls completely outplayed their opponents in their opening match of the Twenty-20 World Cup here on Sunday.
The Queenslander smashed seven fours and four sixes in the 34-run victory. He was well supported by David Hussey (53 off 29), who hit five massive sixes in his quick fire fifty and took the side to a monster-like total of 191 after Michael Clarke won the toss and chose to set the target for the opponents.
Al the Pakistan bowlers proved ineffective against the confident Australian side and went for plenty whenever they came to bowl. Their fielding was equally faulty, dropping both Watson and Hussey at the crucial juncture of the game.
Mohammad Sami, the hero with the ball in the game against Bangladesh yesterday, went for 54 in his four overs. Only Saeed Ajmal picked up three wickets with his crafty off spin.
The last over of Mohammad Aamer produced five wickets, including two run-outs, without conceding a single run.
It was mystifying that why Shahid Afridi allowed four overs of Mohammad Hafeez (47 in four over) inside the first 10 overs, especially when he proved expensive from the beginning.
In reply, the 47-run partnership of Shahid Afridi (33 off 24) and Misbah-ul-Haq (41 off 31)tried to take the match to the last few overs but once the skipper went no batsmen could show enough resistance against the disciplined Australian bowling, which was spearheaded by Dirk Nannes and Shaun Tait with three wickets each.
Earlier, David Warner and Shane Watson put on a fifty-run stand for the opening wicket.
Australia were quick to adopt with the slow and sluggish nature of Beausejour Stadium pitch and ran quick between the wickets from the start.
Shane Watson penalized Hafeez in his next over with two fours and a six and collected 17 runs with Warner in that over.
Sami drew the first blood for his side by taking the wicket of Warner at square-leg but Watson carried on, scoring on every bowler.
Hafeez, who was proving expensive till that point did his team a favor by sending Michael Clarke (2 off 3) back in the hut.
David Hussey joined the party with Watson and started clobbering Pakistan bowlers from ball one. His four sixes off Sami summed up the day for Pakistan in the field. The Victorian went passed his fifty in just 27 balls but holed out to Fawad Alam off Saeed Ajmal.
The off spinner then got the price wicket of Watson, who paid the price of hitting across the line and found himself in front of the wickets. Cameron White, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson came and went quickly at the end.

Watson-Hussey take Aussie past 190

Gros Islet (St Lucia) May 2: Shane Watson once again reminded Pakistan of the torrid time they had in the tour down-under late last year as the strong Aussie all-rounder clubbed 81 off 49 balls to take his side to a monster-like score of 191 in their opening match of the Twenty-20 World Cup here on Sunday.
The Queenslander smashed seven fours and four sixes in his fast-paced innings. He was well supported by David Hussey (53 off 29), who hit five massive sixes in his quick fire fifty after Michael Clarke won the toss and chose to set the target for the opponents.
Al the Pakistan bowlers proved ineffective against the confident Australian side and went for plenty whenever they came to bowl. Their fielding was equally faulty, dropping both Watson and Hussey at the crucial juncture of the game.
Mohammad Sami, the hero with the ball in the game against Bangladesh yesterday, went for 54 in his four overs. Only Saeed Ajmal picked up three with his crafty off spin.
The last over of Mohammad Aamer produced five wickets, including two run-outs, without conceding a single run.
It was mystifying that why Shahid Afridi allowed four overs of Mohammad Hafeez (47 in four overs) inside the first 10 overs, especially when he proved expensive right from the beginning.
Earlier, David Warner started Aussie innings with Shane Watson and hit the first boundary by flicking Aamer in the first over and followed it up with a big six off Hafeez in the next over.
Australia were quick to adopt with the slow and sluggish nature of Beausejour Stadium pitch and ran quick between the wickets from the start.
Shane Watson penalized Hafeez in his next over with two fours and a six and collected 17 runs with Warner in that over.
Sami drew the first blood for his side by taking the wicket of Warner at square-leg but Watson carried on, scoring on every bowler.
Hafeez, who was proving expensive till that point did his team a favor by sending Michael Clarke (2 off 3) back in the hut.
David Hussey joined the party with Watson and started clobbering Pakistan bowlers from ball one. His four sixes off Sami summed up the day for Pakistan in the field. The Victorian went passed his fifty in just 27 balls but holed out to Fawad Alam off Saeed Ajmal.
The off-spinner then got the priced wicket of Watson, who paid the price of hitting across the line and found himself in front of the wickets. Cameron White, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson came and went quickly at the end.

India outshine Afghanistan by 7 wickets

Gros Islet, St Lucia, May 1: India accomplished the target of 116 in a professional manner in their opening match in the World Twenty-20 against Afghanistan at Beausejour Stadium here on Saturday.
Murali Vijay (48 off 46) provided the solid start for his side, while Yuvraj Singh (23 off 22) tried to get back in form by remaining unbeaten till the end. M S Dhoni (15 off 6) completed the victory with two huge sixes in the 15th over.
Earlier, a fifty by Noor Ali showed the glimpse of Afghanistan’s capability at the highest level as his knock took his side to a respectable total of 115.
The right-handed batsman stood at the wicket while wickets were tumbling at the other end and hit four boundaries. He was well supported by Asghar Stanikzai with his knock of 30 off 33 balls, including three huge sixes.
Ashish Nehra was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking three wickets. Praveen Kumar too contributed with two wickets while Ravindra Jadeja and Zaheer Khan chipped in with a wicket each after M S Dhoni won the toss and asked the opposition to bat first.
In reply, Vijay got himself going with a four and a six in the first over while his opening partner Gautam Gambhir (4 off 6) perished in the third over of the innings after giving a straight chance to Mohammad Nabi at cover point off Dawlat Ahmadzai.
Suresh Raina, who replaced Gambhir, started off with two well-timed strokes in the off side.
Raina continued his good form of the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) and hit a four and six against off spinner Nabi in the fifth over. But he was completely foxed by the straight delivery of Samiullah Shenwari and the leg spinner got him out LBW.
Yuvraj Singh took his time in the beginning but did not take much time to send Sadiq into the stands off a free hit.
Vijay got a life in the 11th over as he was dropped at long-off but he made full use of that let off and hit two straight six off Nabi.He was dismissed two short of his half-century off Hamid Hassan but Dhoni completed the proceeding.

India to chase 116 against Afghanistan

Gros Islet, St Lucia, May 1: A fifty by Noor Ali showed the glimpse of Afghanistan’s capability at the highest level as his knock took his side to a respectable total of 115 against India in their World Twenty-20 game at Beausejour Stadium here on Saturday.
The right handed batsman stood at the wicket while wickets were tumbling at the other end and hit four boundaries. He was well supported by Asghar Stanikzai with his knock of 30 off 33 balls, including three huge sixes.
Ashish Nehra was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking three wickets. Praveen Kumar too contributed with two wickets while Ravindra Jadeja and Zaheer Khan chipped in with a wicket each after M S Dhoni won the toss and asked the opposition to bat first.
Earlier, Nehra provided the first breakthrough for his side by taking Karin Sadiq behind the wickets.
Afghan’s first boundary came from the bat of Noor Ali, who glanced Praveen Kumar off his pads and followed it up with a square drive in the same over.
Nehra got the wicket of Mohammad Shahzad, who got out exactly in the same manner as Sadiq, giving a simple catch to MS Dhoni on a bouncer.
Indian skipper brought Ravindra Jadeja in the fourth over and the ploy worked immediately, as the slow left-arm spinner got rid of Nowroz Mangal, Afghan captain at mid-off.
Spinners were introduced one after the other and all of them bowled with an extremely tight line and length.
Noor Ali broke the shackles by hitting Jadeja over the covers for a boundary.
Some good strikes by Noor Ali gave confidence to Stanikzai, who was batting at the other end rather tentatively till that point. He hit Yusuf Pathan for a long six over the deep mid-wicket fence and sent Harbhajan Singh out of the park in the same region.
Noor Ali got his fifty in the 17th over off 47 balls but got out immediately after that, giving Dhoni his third catch of the match.
Praveen Kumar then provided two wickets on the consecutive deliveries in the 18th over. A run-out and a wicket by Zaheer Khan in the last over folded the Afghan innings at 115.

New Zealand clinch thriller by two wickets (beat Sri Lanka in the Opening game of T-20 WC)

Guyana, Apr 30: A cameo by Nathan McCullum helped his side to overcome Sri Lanka’s challenge by two wickets in the opening encounter of the World Twenty-20 here on Friday.
The right-hander batsman finished the match with a six while chasing the target of 136.
Another 15-run cameo by Jacob Oram ignited the hope of New Zealand's comeback which was perfectly executed by McCullum at the end.
Earlier, a gutsy effort by Mahela Jayawardene helped his side set a defendable score.
The seasoned batsman from the island nation adjusted well with the slowness of the wicket and hit eight fours and two sixes in his innings of 81 off 51 after Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and decided to set a target for the opposition.
Debutant Dinesh Chandimal too contributed with 29 off 23 and shared an invaluable 58-run partnership for the third wicket with the former skipper who took their innings to 135.
In reply, slow-bowlers almost did the trick for the Lankans by sharing 4 wickets between them.
Jesse Ryder (42 off 27) was the highest run getter for the Kiwis while the other batsmen fixed in the spin tangle of their opponents.
Earlier, Shane Bond picked up two wickets in the last over of the innings for the Black Caps while Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris and Tim Southee chipped in with a wicket each.
New Zealand got the worst possible start after Brendon McCullum was caught at mid-wicket by Lasith Malinga off Angela Mathews, who bowled a maiden first over. The right-handed batsman could not open his account.
Ryder, who was making a comeback after a long injury lay-off, timed the ball well from the beginning. He hit a 91-meter six off Mathews in the third over.
Martin Guptil welcomed Malinga with a straight six after being let-off in the previous over by Dilshan in the covers off Ajantha Mendis.
Both the batsmen maintained the run-rate needed in their 62-run stand for the second wicket. Ryder was bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan after hitting him for a six earlier in the over.
Guptil was surprised by the quicker delivery of Sanath Jayasuriya and bowled after scoring 19 off 24.
He was followed by Ross Taylor (9 off 15), who was holed out by Mathews at deep mid-wicket off Muralitharan.
Styris (17 off 21) tried hard to take his side home but was bowled by Mendis in the 17th over.
Welegedara hold his nerve to knock out Oram in the penultimate over but the Man-of-the-match effort by McCullum was enough to seal the victory for the Black Caps.

Jayawardene powers Lanka to 135

Guyana, Apr 30: A gutsy effort by Mahela Jayawardene helped Sri Lanka set a defendable score of 135 in the opening encounter of the World Twenty-20 against New Zealand here on Friday.
The seasoned batsman from the island nation adjusted well with the slowness of the wicket and hit eight fours and two sixes in his innings of 81 off 51 after Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and decided to set a target for the opposition.
Debutant Dinesh Chandimal contributed with 29 off 23 and shared an invaluable 58-run partnership for the third wicket with the former skipper.
For the Kiwis Shane Bond picked up two wickets in the last over of the innings while Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris and Tim Southee chipped in with a wicket each.
Earlier, Jayawardene continued his good form he showed in the IPL by hitting a six off Bond over the square-leg boundary and followed it up with a crisp shot in the off side off Nathan McCullum.
Tillakaratne Dilshan started sensibly, giving the strike to his in-form opening partner Jayawardene, who hit two more fours off Bond.
But Kiwi bowlers got the reward for bowling in the right areas when Dilshan finally gave in after scoring 3 off 19 deliveries. He was cleaned up by Oram in the sixth over.
With score 40/1 after seven overs, the experienced pair of Sangakkara and Jayawardene seemed to have gauged the slowness of the wicket and set a target in the range of 140 for the Black Caps to chase.
Styris gave another blow to the Lankan side, hitting the stumps of Sangakkara (4 off 11).
Chandimal, the highest run-getter in Sri-Lankan domestic circuit, broke free by hitting a six off Styris over long-on but holed out to Ross Taylor while trying the same shot off McCullum. Taylor took a brilliant catch with a well-timed jump to send the 20-year-old back in the hut.
Jayawardene got out trying to clear the boundary off Southee. And with the wicket of Chamara Kapugedara (11 off 10), Lankan innings finished at 135/6.

Raina-Dhoni power Super Kings past 160 in IPL final

Mumbai, Apr 25: Power hitting by Suresh Raina and M S Dhoni at the end of their innings took Chennai Super Kings to a respectable total of 168 against the Mumbai Indians in the final of the DLF IPL at the DY Patil Stadium here tonight.
Raina, who was let off twice, made full use of the chances he got and hit three sixes in his fast-paced innings of 57 off 35 balls.
While the skipper Dhoni (22 off 15) provided the much needed impetus to the Chennai’s innings when they were once tottering at 3/67.
His 72-run partnership with Raina gave Albie Morkel (15 off 6) a perfect launch pad at the end.
Dilhara Fernando, who guised every Chennai batsmen with his split-finger slow deliveries, contributed with two wickets for the home side after Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first.
Earlier, Harbhajan Singh started well against his old nemesis Mathew Hayden by bowling quicker deliveries and trying to trap the Aussie in front of the wickets and he was almost successful if umpire Rudi Koertzen could not miss the straight chance.
The burly left-hander broke the shackles by dancing down the track, hitting the off spinner for a six over the mid-wicket. Murali Vijay followed his opening partner with a free flow swing of the bat and ball crossed the boundary for a six.
Vijay looked in terrific flow from the outset and timed the ball as good as he could but his bravado came to a premature end when he was foxed by Fernando’s slow delivery and holed out to Saurabh Tiwary at deep square leg for 26 off 19.
The change of pace again did the trick for Mumbai Indians and Kieron Pollard when Hayden (17 off 31) lobbed the ball high in the air with Ambati Rayudu taking a simple catch behind the wickets.
S Badrinath (14 off 9) after hitting two fours was caught by Malinga at fine leg off Fernando.
MS Dhoni’s started his innings with a one-handed six that travelled 98 meters and followed it up with a boundary in the same over of Pollard.
Raina, who was a silent spectator at the other end up to that point, opened his hands and collected 17 runs in the fifteenth over of the innings and accumulated 19 in the next over.
Dhoni perished in the 18th over but gave his side a perfect platform to take score over 160.

Chargers surrender against Challengers (last year's champion bowled out at 82)

Mumbai, Apr 24: Deccan Chargers’ batsmen did not seem to learn anything from their semi final loss against the Chennai Super kings and once again let their team down with an abysmal batting performance in the contest for the third place with the Bangalore Royal Challengers here at the D Y Patil Stadium.
None of the batsmen except Anirudh Singh (40 off 39 balls) stayed at the wicket for long and the last year’s champion surrendered completely at 82 in 18.3 overs against the disciplined Challengers’ bowling attack.
Venugopal Rao too contributed with 24 off 27 balls for his side.
Anil Kumble led the Challengers’s bowling attack with 4 wickets in four overs. Praveen Kumar and Jacques Kallis got two wickets each, while Dale Steyn and Nayan Doshi chipped in with a wicket each.
Earlier, Adam Gilchrist started the Chargers’ innings with a four to the covers but he was once again shown the doors by Anil Kumble, who got him out at deep square leg boundary off a slow full tose.
Monish Mishra followed his captain soon. He moved too far across the off side, getting trapped in front of the stumps off Praveen Kumar. He went to the pavilion on the first ball without troubling the scorers.
Deccan’s score became 15 for three after Rohit Sharma played an irresponsible shot and gave a simple catch to Kevin Pietersen at long-on. He too got out without scoring.
Anirudh Singh, playing his first game of the event, struggled against the pace of Steyn, whose balls zipped through the pitch to the wicket keeper Robin Uthappa.
Steyn, after dropping Andrew Symonds (2 off 8 balls) in the last over off Praeen Kumar, repented immediately by taking the burly Aussie all-rounder.
Kumble got through the defense of Dwayne Smith (5 off 10 balls) with ball skidded off the wicket and hitting the batsman’s off stumps.
Anirudh finally gave in while slashing a Kallis delivery which hit the timbers after an inside edge.
Nayan Doshi, who plays for Surrey in the county circuit, impressed one and all with his flight in his first match here and got rid of Venugopal in the last over he bowled.

Cricket finally ready to shed jinx

The best thing that the shortest form of the game can do is to make cricket more global. Though, it is played by countries representing different continents, they are still far too less than most other games followed around the world.
Though, International Cricket Council (ICC) is associated with many countries where the game is being developed, thinking of them playing the highest form of the game – Test Cricket – would be absurd.
The problem most of the nations that play the game face is the patience and the temperament required to play Test matches, and another thing that comes straight away to our mind, is the result. We all want medals, trophies or success straight away, or at least we want to be in that medal winning ‘hunt’ from the word go.
Twenty-20, seems to be the perfect format, as it requires a different set of skills, involves more money, it takes less time to play a T-20 game than the other two forms, and it is entertaining at the same time.
The traditionalists would say that this format is slowly swallowing up the other two forms, especially Test cricket. I think their worry is quite obvious and true to a certain point.
The way T-20 has grown in stature in the last few years solidifies its claim to become the most popular form of the game, if not standard.
Though, it was fist played in the county circuit in England and later followed by the other countries. India was one of the countries who started following this format as compulsion and not by choice, as all the other ones had already gone ahead. But the way it gained popularity among the masses was just amazing.
The full houses in any T-20 game – international or domestic around the world – testifies the growing fan base this version gaining.
I think in the next five years, there will be a separate window for the domestic T-20 competition that ICC has to make. It will be played in the manner soccer is played around the world. With domestic competition flourishing, a lot more players’ will be transfered between clubs of different countries.
I also see, Champions League too will take off and take a global form – it would be played at home and away basis with the final in a different country each year. For example – if Bangalore Royal Challengers and Victoria Bushrangers are the two teams among the sides playing in the competition, then once the Challengers will go to Melbourne and latter, they will host the Australian side at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
With that, undoubtedly, there will be less number of Tests as well as one day internationals played with T-20 touching the shores of different countries of all the continents and not just few.

Gambhir takes Daredevils home (scores a half-century in 6 wickets win over Superkings)

Chennai, Apr 15: Gautam Gambhir did not do what Sachin did a few games before, going out of the ground when he was completely dehydrated. He waited and played a composed innings to take his side home with the experienced Mithun Manhas in their game against Chennai Superkings here tonight.
The visiting side got some jitters earlier in their innings when three of their top three batters – David Warner, Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan – got out cheaply inside the first two overs. But the half century by the skipper and a matured innings by Manhas (25 off 32 balls) proved enough to cross the target of 113 put by the Superkings with six wickets remaining.
For the home side, Doug Bollinger bowled superbly to take two wickets while R Ashwin and Shadab Jakati contributed with a wicket each.
Earlier, the turning track of MA Chidambaram stadium could not support the home side, whose batting surrendered completely to the disciplined Delhi Daredevils’ bowling attack.
For the visiting side, Ashish Nehra provided the two important breakthroughs early in the innings while the spin bowling of Sehwag proved too much for the home side to take in the middle of their innings. He also contributed with two wickets.
None of Chennai batsmen, except S Badrinath (30 off 29 balls) could cross the 20-run mark, after their skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first.
In reply, Delhi lost their three top order batsmen under the first two overs. Ashwin, who has been bowling sensationally with the new ball, did it again for the Superkings. Warner was undone by Ashwin’s rising delivery, which was caught brilliantly by Murali Vijay at covers.
Bollinger, with his two wickets in the second over, gave the home side more than a chance to come back in the game. He first got rid of the dangerous Sehwag (4 off 4 balls), who was caught marvelously at slip by Mathew Hayden, and then the ball took slight edge of Dilshan’s (1 off 2 balls) bat on its way to hitting the stumps.
Dinesh Karthik (13 off 16 balls) could not have played a more irresponsible shot in the whole tournament that he played tonight off Jakati. He tried to play a pull shot on the rising ball that came quite quickly to his liking, and was superbly holed out at mid wicket by Badrinath.
Manhas provided the much-needed support to Gambhir, who stood at one end while the wickets were tumbling at the other.

Chennai bowled by Delhi

Chennai, Apr 15: The turning track of MA Chidambaram stadium could not support the home side tonight, whose batting surrendered completely to the disciplined Delhi Daredevils’ bowling attack and put a target of 113 for them to chase.
For the visiting side, Nehra provided the two important breakthroughs early in the innings while the spin bowling of Sehwag proved too much for the home side to take in the middle of their innings. He also contributed with two wickets.
None of Chennai batsmen, except S Badrinath (30 off 29 balls) could cross the 20-run mark, after their skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first.
Earlier, Hayden (1 off 5 balls) could not make much use of the life he got in the first over bowled by Dirk Nannes and tried a lofted shot that was neatly taken by Paul Collingwood in the next over.
Murali Vijay seemed to be in the form of his life from the outset, playing equally well in the front foot and the back.
The idea of coming up the order did not pay-off for MS Dhoni, who could not control the perfect bouncer by Nannes and got out at square leg. He was followed by in-form Vijay (17 off 11balls), who played a similar shot and got the same result behind the wicket.
Suresh Raina, who has been scoring with a staggering average of over 51 in this year’s IPL, tried to take the innings forward with Mr. Cricket, Michael Hussey, but Tillakaratne Dilshan, making a comeback after playing the first four matches, provided the precious wicket of Raina (15 off 19 balls), who missed time the stroke completely and holed out at deep cover by Umesh Yadav.
Wickets of Hussey (15 off 18 balls) and Albie Morkel (1 off 4 balls) broke the back of the home side, who were reduced to 55/6 at the half way mark.
R Ashiwin (6 off 13 balls) and L Balaji (3 off 8 balls) came and went too quickly, leaving too much for Badrinath to do at the end, who tried hard but finally gave a simple catch to David Warner at long-on on the last ball of their innings.

Challengers humble Royals (beat the 2008 champion by 5 wickets)

Jaipur, April 14: Warne expected too much from his mostly inexperienced side, which crumbled under pressure in their crucial game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore here tonight.
The Royals were completely outplayed by the visiting team, who, after restricting their opponents to 130/6, finished the job in a clinical manner, thus registering a five-wicket win and virtually booked their place in the semifinal.
Kevin Pietersen, who was making a come-back in the side, made an impressive unbeaten 62 off 29 balls, while Robin Uthappa too continued his good run in the tournament with a fast paced 26 off 21 deliveries.
For Royals, their skipper Warne, Siddharth Trivedi and Kamran Khan chipped in with a wicket each.
Earlier, a well-planned effort by Royal Challengers’ bowlers proved too much for the home side, who could only manage a target of 130/6.
For the visiting side, Pankaj Singh, who was playing against his former team, picked up two wickets for 27 runs while Dale Steyn once again bowled aggressively to share a wicket each with Jacques Kallis and Vinay Kumar.
None of the Royals’ batsmen could pass the fifty mark and got out once getting set. A 58-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Adam Voges (28 off 27 balls) and Abhishek Raut (30 off 20 balls) took them to a respectable score.
In reply, Kamran Khan gave a perfect start for Royals by taking Kallis wicket in the second over of the innings, but Pietersen who replaced him seemed to be in a terrific form from the outset, hitting boundaries all round the ground.
Manish Pandey was undone by the slow delivery by Trivedi, giving a straight forward catch to Pathan in covers.
The in-form Uthappa, after supporting Pietersen, was beaten by Warne’s flight and Ojha did a sharp stumping to send the Banglorean back.
Pietersen was involved in a silly run-out with Virat Kohli, who did not leave his crease while the English batsman ran across the other end for a single. Kohli (14 off 13 balls) followed his teammate soon, but Ross Taylor (10 off 11 balls) and Rahul Dravid (4 off 3 balls) saw their side home without any further damage.

Clinical performance by Challengers (restrict Royals at 130)

Jaipur, April 14: A well-planned effort by Royal Challengers’ bowlers proved too much for Rajasthan Royals, who crumbled under pressure and could only manage a target of 130/6 in their game here tonight.
For the visiting side, Pankaj Singh, who was playing against his former team, picked up two wickets for 27 runs while Dale Steyn once again bowled aggressively to share a wicket each with Jacques Kallis and Vinay Kumar.
None of the Royals’ batsmen could pass the fifty mark and got out once getting set. A 58-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Adam Voges (28 off 27 balls) and Abhishek Raut (30 off 20 balls) took them to a respectable score.
Earlier, Anil Kumble began the bowling for the Challengers after Shane Warne won the toss and elected to bat first.
Michael Lumb (9 off 8 balls) ran himself out second time in a row. Everyone could see the ball going straight to Kallis’ hands except him. He was followed by Amit Paunikar, making a golden duck in his debut match. The short Vidharbha batsman gave a simple catch to Robin Uthappa behind the wickets.
Naman Ojha (7 off 9 balls), after some good runs in the middle of the event was back to his inconsistent form. He was too cautious from the beginning and paid the price for it when he tried to play a lofted shot in the on-side off Pankaj Singh, but could not control it, giving a simple catch to Manish Pandey at mid-on.
Watson took time initially but started playing the attacking game once he got his eye in. But his 25-ball 22 came to a premature end after Pietersen took a good low catch at square leg off Kallis. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala’s wicket at mid-off to Anil Kumble gave a sigh of relief to everyone in the stadium. His 13-run (22 balls) innings was neither taking him nor his team anywhere.
Shane Warne was expecting a big innings from hard-hitting Yousuf Pathan, who started off well with two fours off Pankaj Singh but did not have any answer to Dale Steyn’s full length straight delivery, which rattled his stumps.
Voges and Raut played sensibly to take their score to 130.

Chargers clinch a thriller against Challengers

Nagpur, Apr 12: Some tight bowling and lethal ground fielding by Deccan Chargers earned an important victory for them over Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha here tonight.
In their 13-run win, Harmeet Singh’s two wickets – including the wicket of Robing Uthappa – in the penultimate over, won the game for the home side. Pragyan Ojha, RP Singh and Ryan Harris too contributed with two wickets each while Andrew Symonds chipped in with a wicket.
For the visiting side, Rahul Dravid (49 off 34 balls) continued from where he left in the last innings for Challengers, finding gaps at his will and scoring all round the ground together with Jacques Kallis (27 off 37) – the highest run getter in the competition. Robin Uthappa in his 34-run innings hit three sixes and kept the hope of a Challengers’ win alive till the end.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma and Mohnish Mishra did the repairing job for Chargers by scoring 51 and 41 respectively after the initial storm created by Dale Styen whose three wickets for 18 runs almost done the job for his team. Anil Kumble and Vinay Kumar shared a wicket each for Challengers.
In reply, Bangalore’s innings started on the same note as Chargers, lost Manish Pandey on the first ball by Harris. He became the third golden duck of the night – Adam Gilchrist and T Suman were the other two in Deccan’s innings.
Dravid played all his favourite shots, square cut off Harmeet Singh, lofted shot over cover off Pragyan Ojha, square drive off Ryan Harris and delicate touches off Symonds.
But once he fell, none of the other batsmen could keep the asking rate down and crumbled under pressure thus gave away a thrilling victory to the home side.

Steyn storm blows away Chargers

Nagpur, Apr 12: There are only few bowlers around who could match the lightening pace of Dale Steyn as he demolished the top order of Deccan Charger who finished at 151/6 after Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Anil Kumble won the toss and asked the host team to bat first at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha here tonight.
Steyn fours overs cost only 18 runs and produced three crucial wickets while Kumble and Vinay Kumar shared a wicket each.
Rohit Sharma and Mohnish Mishra did the repairing job for Chargers by scoring 51 and 41 respectively but their innings finished as it began, losing too many wickets. Ryan Harris (13 off 9 balls) helped them touching the 150 mark.
Earlier, Dale Steyn storm completely blew away the top order of the Chargers. He got rid of Adam Gilchrist and T Suman on consecutive deliveries of the first over as both the batsmen made golden ducks. Gilchrist gave a simple catch to Robin Uthapa behind the wickets while Suman became the victim of terrific planning and execution by Kumble and Steyn respectively. He was caught at a slightly deep short leg.
Gibbs (12 off 10 balls), who replaced Dwayne Smith for this game, punished Challengers on the next ball as he was given a life line by Ross Taylor by hitting a huge six over mid wicket off Vinay Kumar. But he was completely deceived by Steyn’s delivery which pitched on the good length area, moved slightly and shattered the stumps.
After 14/3, Rohit Sharma and Mohnish Sharma started consolidating the innings cautiously but once set, both opened their hands and punished the Challengers’ bowlers. Rohit, especially, was in sublime form and played some delectable shots all round the ground while Mishra hit some of the biggest sixes one could see off Anil Kumble, Virat Kohli and KP Appanna in consecutive overs.
But Mishra, once again threw his wicket away when he was looking good. He was involved in a terrible mix up with Sharma and got out after scoring 41 off 30 deliveries.
Symonds was stumped on 19 off 20 in Kumble’s last over.

Mumbai book place in semis (beat Rajasthan Royals by 37 runs)

Jaipur, April 11: A match winning innings of 89 off just 59 balls by Sachin Tendulkar sealed the semifinal berth for Mumbai Indians in their game against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here tonight.
Mumbai was helped by Royals in their 37-run win as three of their top order batsmen got run out chasing a target of 175.
Zaheer Khan bowled an immaculate line for the visiting side, giving away just 17 runs and picking up wickets of in-form Naman Ojha and Adam Voges. Dhawal Kulkarni, playing his first game of the competition, Harbhajan Singh and Kieron Pollard chipped in with a wicket each.
Earlier, Watson brought Royals back in the game with three quick wickets in his first two overs but Sachin, who was let-off by Aditya Dole when he was at 45, played the lone hand for the Mumbai side and brought the momentum back in the visiting team’s favour at the mid-innings break.
For Royals, Shane Watson took three wickets while Trivedi and Dole contributed with a wicket each.
In reply, three wickets within the first three overs sealed the fate of Royals. Michael Lumb (8 off 6 deliveries) could not make use of the two chances he got in the first over and got out at covers to JP Duminy, who took a good low catch towards his left off Dhawal Kulkarni.
Naman Ojha, could not continue his good form and got out in slip without scoring. But Shane Watson’s run out by Ambati Rayudu really put Royals in the shell. The Australian all-rounder could only add one run.
Faiz Fazal (10 off 15 balls) became the victim of an alert Jayasuriya who ran him out with a straight throw to Harbhajan at the bowler’s end.
Yousuf Pathan could not encore his blitzkrieg against the same side earlier in the tournament and holed out at short third man to Harbhajan. Efforts of Abhishek Raut (20 off 17 balls) and Aditya Dole (30 off 18 balls) went in vain as their team could touch 137/8 in 20 overs.

Sachins props up Mumbai again(finished at 174/5 against Royals)

Jaipur, April 11: A captain’s innings of 89 off just 59 balls by Sachin Tendulkar helped Mumbai Indians to put up a respectable total of 174/5 in their game against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here tonight.
Sachin, who was let-off by Aditya Dole when he was at 45, played the lone hand for the Mumbai side, especially at the end by scoring 20 runs in the last over by Siddharth Trivedi.
For Royals, Shane Watson took three wickets while Trivedi and Dole contributed with a wicket each.
Earlier, after two fours by Tendulkar in the first over bowled by Pathan, Watson brought Royals back in the game with two quick wickets. First he got Sanath Jayasuriya (1 off 2 balls) out in the cover then he got rid of Ambati Rayudu (o off 3 deliveries) with an aggressive bouncer.
Jayasurya, who replaced Ryan Mclaren in this game, could not pick the slow delivery by Watson and gave a simple catch to Abhishek Jhunjhunwala while Rayudu, who was intimidated by Watson in the previous delivery, was unable to control a short ball and caught behind the wicket.

Sourabh Tiwary started off well, hitting two straight boundaries off Aditya Dole but was outsmarted by Watson, who got him with a well thought of bouncer at fine leg.
Sachin tried to run neck to neck with his nemesis Warne and hit three delectable boundaries – two over covers and a square cut – off the leg spinner. But he could not get the required support from JP Duminy, who was playing his second game of the competition, got out after getting his eye in. The South African all-rounder contributed with 31 off 32 balls. Kieron Pollard (25 off 13 balls) hit some lusty blows towards the end of Mumbai’s innings.

Knight Riders put 160 for Challengers to chase

Bangalore, Apr 10: Brendon McCulllum tried to repeat what he did in the very first match of this competition here two years ago, then he played a blazing unbeaten innings of 158 off just 73 deliveries, this time his innings of 45 off 35 balls helped Kolkata Knight Riders to reach a decent but chaseable target of 160 in their game against Bangalore Royal Challengers here tonight.
The New Zealander was supported by Chris Gayle (34 off 15 balls) and Skipper Sourav Ganguly (33 off 32 balls), who shared a 52-run stand for the first wicket. Few lusty blows at the end by Cheteshwar Pujara helped the visiting team cause to reach a respectable total after Anil Kumble won the toss and asked the visiting side to bat first.
Vinay Kumar was the most effective bowler for Royal Challengers, taking three wickets in three overs, while Jacques Kallis contributed with two scalps. Skipper Kumble and Dale Steyn shared a wicket each.
Earlier, Ganguly found it really hard to cope with the pace of Steyn, who touched mid 150 kph on a consistent basis while Gayle was in full flow at the other end, clubbing the ball as hard as he could. He hit two fours off Steyn in the fourth over and repeated it with two more boundaries and a massive six in the mid wicket region off Praveen Kumar, making it the most expensive over of the innings by collecting 21 runs.
Kallis brought the instant success for Challengers in sixth over of the innings. Gayle was caught at extra cover by Rahul Dravid while making room for himself to play in the off side.
Sridharan Sriram, playing his first game of the tournament, bowled a mixture of his left arm orthodox with chinaman to confuse the batsmen. But his trick was foiled by McCulllum from the beginning of his second over, hitting him for three fours and a six.
Vinay Kumar provided the much needed breakthrough for the Challengers by getting rid of Ganguly. The visiting captain stroked the ball with 103 strike rate, just few points below his average in this year’s competition – 108 per hundred balls.
Manoj Tiwary came and went without troubling the scorers after facing just two balls. Angelo Mathews did exactly the same as Tiwary, went without scoring.
Riders could have scored lot more but lost too many wickets in the latter half of their innings.

Kolkata Kept Their Hopes Alive

Kolkata, Apr 7: Kolkata Knight Riders kept their cool in tense situations tonight to overcome the determined effort of Delhi Daredevils in their encounter at Eden Gardens here. Devils finished with 167, fourteen shy of their target of 182 runs.
Virender Sehwag was the highest run getter for the Delhi side, scoring 64 off just 40 deliveries. Skipper Gautam Gambhir too scored 47 off 29 balls. For Kolkata, Ashok Dinda and Ajantha Mendis bowled with great zeal and guile to keep their opponents at bay. Both chipped in with two wickets each.
While batting, a seventy run fourth wicket stand between Manoj Tiwary and Angelo Mathews took Riders’ score past 180.
Mathews (46 off 28 balls) hit some big hits at the end of Kolkata’s innings while Tiwary too played his part by scoring 26 off just 18 deliveries.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly too chipped in with 54 off 43 balls for Riders. He gave a solid start to the home side with Chris Gayle (40 off 21 balls), scoring 94 runs for the first wicket. For Daredevils, Daniel Vettori and Rajat Bhatia shared a wicket each.
In reply, Devils got off to a worst possible start with David Warner became the victim of Ashok Dinda’s brilliant bowling in the first over. He did not give the Aussie any leeway outside the off stump in all the five deliveries he faced before cleaning him up. Warner did not trouble the scorer.
Sehwag and Gambhir both feeling the pinch of scoring quickly, played some rash shot early in their innings but got away with them. But, finally, ball started going from the middle of their bats. Gambhir hit two fours and a six off Mathews’ fifth over and took score to 39.
After the first six overs, Daredevils scored 44 runs, six less of what Knight Riders had made in their innings. Ganguly brought himself on in the ninth over with an intention to provide a breakthrough. But Sehwag welcomed his former national team captain with a six over long-off.
Gambhir got himself out while trying a quick single. Ganguly standing at mid-off did not even blink while hitting the stump. Paul Collingwood, who played well in the last few innings, followed his skipper soon. He holed out to deep mid wicket off Mendis.
Sehwag kept going at the other end. He reached to his fifty in 34 deliveries. In form Dinesh Karthik replaced his English teammate and took the innings forward with quick singles and doubles.
Ajit Agarkar provided the golden breakthrough for Riders, shattering the stumps of Sehwag. The other batsmen followed him one by one.

Royals overcome Kings' challenge

Rajasthan Royals moved a step closer to the semifinal berth after overcoming Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday.
Some poor bowling and equally bad fielding from Punjab helped Royals cause of reaching the target of 154. With this win Rajasthan also moved to third place in the points table with twelve points in eleven games and made the contest of grabbing a semifinal spot even more interesting.
For the home side, Michael Lumb played a scintillating knock of 83 runs in just 43 deliveries while Naman Ojha complimented his opening partner, with a well crafted innings of 44 off 37 balls.
All the Punjab bowlers paid a price for bowling on both sides of the wicket. Especially, S Sreesanth, who opened the bowling for Kings, looked completely out of sort. He leaked runs on every side of the ground and also bowled three no balls.
Earlier, astute captaincy by Shane Warne helped Rajasthan Royals restrict Kings XI Punjab to 153/6 in their innings.
Warne, who asked Aditya Dole to bowl the twelfth over, took crucial wickets of Yuvraj Singh (28 off 16 balls) and Mahela Jayawardene (44 from 33 balls), and put the brakes in Kings’ innings, who were at 103/2 at the end of eleven overs.
For Royals, Siddharth Trivedi was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets for 22 runs while the other medium pacer Dole also chipped in with two wickets.
None of the batsmen, except Jayawardene and Yuvraj could make a mark for the Kings. Only Irfan Pathan hit few blows at the end of their innings and took the score above 150.
In reply, Lumb looked in tremendous touch from the outset, hitting nine fours and a six in the first 22 balls he faced, hitting Juan Theron for 20 runs in his first over. Naman Ojha too bated with ease, with some beautifully timed shots off Ramesh Powar.
Lumb reached to his fifty in 28 balls with ten fours and a six and continued punishing Kings’ bowlers. He finally holed out at deep mid wicket to Piyush Chawla off Ravi Bopara, but set the perfect platform for Yousuf Pathan(21from 13 balls) to take his side home in 15 overs.

Exciting finish on the cards in IPL

The first half of the IPL was quite exciting for two reasons. The way Mumbai kept winning - Six out of seven matches they have played so far and the fight for the second, third and the fourth spot. This challenge is just going to get tougher in the second half.
Mumbai have virtually sealed their place in the semis. Delhi, five wins from eight matches, need just three more to book their spot in the last four. Now there are three teams with four win - Bangalore, Rajasthan and Kolkata, though, the last two have played a game more than Bangalore.
Life seems to be very difficult for Deccan Chargers and more so for Chennai Super Kings. With just three wins from eight games, Dhoni’s brigade has a real challenge in its hands.
They have to win at least five of their last six matches with a good run rate while Deccan can catch up with the rest of the top teams if they start winning from here on. But it seems highly improbable, especially with the bowling options they have. None of their bowlers seem to be effective. Though, Chaminda Vass bowled really well in the first few matches. The second half would be even more exciting. Let’s hope.

Highlights of the day...

• BCCI seems to be pressing the panic button after the humiliating defeat to the team in the first Test match. They have asked the Eden Gardens' pitch curator to make a spin friendly track, which was dismissed at the first place.
  The Indian Board is trying to salvage the No 1 spot, got after the consistent performance by the team. But, it was terrifying experience for the side to face Steyn and co. in Nagpur.
  If the Indian batsmen could not play Steyn in their backyard, then how would they cope up with his pace and bounce when they travel to SA at the end of this year?


• So, who could be the possible spoilsport mentioned by Pakistan skipper, Mohammad Yousuf? Even the team management was aware of this from the New Zealand tour. And that is the reason why he was dropped from some of the matches on the tour down under. Shoaib Malik, show some results in the two upcoming T-20 games against England, otherwise, find your own exit.

Nail biter finish to Ranji Season

The Ranji Trophy final between Mumbai and Karnataka was a real nail biter. Though, Mumbai won by six runs at last but the way Karnataka fought throughout the match was laudable.
The whole match saw loads of ups and downs over three days. Few players from both the sides chipped in with important contributions. First, R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun were fantastic with the new ball for Karnataka. They were full of energy and the desire to do well.
Avishkar Salvi did it for Mumbai in the first innings. His five-for proved crucial in dismissing the opponents for a paltry total. Dhawal Kulkarni’s 87- run innings were important in getting the vital lead in the second innings.
But it was Manish Pandey’s breathtaking innings that gave Karnataka a real chance to win the title after a gap of nine years. He was brilliant on both sides of the wicket. His shots on the off-side on back foot as well as his pulls and hooks were just exemplary. And, who could forget the magical catch he took at long-on to send Abhishek Nayar back to pavilion?

Karantaka pace duo
Vinay, showed us once again that why he is rated so high in domestic cricket. Mithun, playing his first domestic season, bowled his heart out. He, together with his new ball partner Vinay, shared bulk of the wickets this season and played a pivotal role in almost clinching a victory for their side in the finale. One could see the dedication and efforts in their strides.

'AAD' shine for Mumbai
Ajit Agarkar’s bowling in the second innings, Avishkar Salvi’s in the first and Dhawal Kulkarni gritty innings with the bat proved crucial at the end. Ajit, though wayward initially, bowled with precision later on. His knack of getting the crucial breakthroughs when needed always kept Mumbai in the game.
Avishkar, whose career has been ravaged with injuries throughout, bowled in the right areas and was rewarded for his consistency. Though, the decision to send Dhawal Kulkarni ahead of Agarkar and Ramesh Powar was baffling, it worked for Mumbai. He played with composure and did not try anything outside his limitations.

A star in the making!
Manish Pandey, who impressed one and all in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year, was superb in the season. He scored 882 runs that include four 100s and an equal number of half centuries with an impressive average of 62 this season. His composure at the crease, balance and ability to score runs even on good balls make him a serious contender to knock on the Indian team door in the near future.

The only thing he has to watch out for is the pitfall along the way to stardom. Many have observed it before and he is too good a candidate to go on the same line.