Kings XI Punjab reign over Chennai Super Kings

Thursday, May 17, was the clash of the mighty titans on ground. It was the Kings XI Punjab playing against the Chennai Super Kings. The Super Kings have already made it to the playoffs however the points table is always going to be the reason to play out everything on the field. This was the second time that both the teams were pitted against each other, and the results came out to be the same as well.

Recalling IPL 4, both these teams faced each other to move into the semi finals and it were Dhoni’s men who took the team flying to the semis. What’s in a game if the results come out to be the same every time? The Kings XI Punjab thrashed the Super Kings this time to revive their chances in this season’s IPL.

The weather was cool and so were the men in red as they won the toss and decided to field. A decision well chose by the returning Captain Adam Gilchrist who played his first match in the IPL today. He took three catches to give his team the boost it needed: the first two off Praveen Kumar’s bowling.

He also scored exhilarating 64 runs off 46 balls which drove the team into a comfortable win; not out, till the last partnership.

But it wasn’t as if the Super Kings had set a daunting challenge for the Kings XI. With a feeble score of 130, the Kings XI made sure to play it slow and steady and they did it just as that. They did get quite a few boundaries however their singles were as smoothly taken as it was necessary for the win.

In a beautiful, scenic surroundings overlooking the ground, the early 4 o’ clock match was anything but the usual hot and sweaty. House-full at the HPCA stadium, the target was easily met and the win well deserved.

Chennai Super Kings have made it to the playoffs however their last couple games were more so decided at the last overs. The astonishing six Bravo sailed against Kolkata Knight Riders in the last ball of the last game or the lethal, sudden rain or fours and sixes in their earlier match all seem to say that the team has been quite fateful in reaching the top four. Nonetheless complaints cant be made, because after all, this is the IPL.

Kolkata Knight Riders jolt Mumbai Indians

Chasing 141 to win, Mumbai openers Herschelle Gibbs and Sachin Tendulkar got off to a very slow start before the former was sent back by Iqbal Abdulla for 13 in the sixth over with only 26 runs on the board. Karthik joined Tendulkar but the scoring rate remained a concern with both scoffing a lot of balls. Tendulkar however played a few delightful strokes during his innings of 27 off 24 balls, one upper cut in particular that sailed over the wicket keeper’s head for a six. Just when he was getting ready to cut loose, West Indian spinner Sunil Narine cleaned him up in the 11th over with an unplayable off-break. KKR’s tactic of enticing Mumbai Indians’ assembly of stroke players with spin worked beyond its wildest expectations.

Jacques Kallis turned the match absolutely in Kolkata’s favour with back-to-back wickets of the dangerous Kieron Pollard (8) and Dwayne Smith (0) in the 17th over – the visitors still needing 44 to win. Narine soon disposed of Harbhajan Singh and Rohit Sharma to put them out of the contest. Last year’s runners-up folded for 108 in the 20th over with Narine returning with figures of 4 for 15. Wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum pulled his weight with two catches and a stumping. The host handed the match to KKR on a platter with reckless batting, and was bowled out for 108 in 19.1 overs on a bowler-friendly Wankhede wicket.

Earlier, Harbhajan chose to field and his bowlers called the shots in the batting Power Play. Even Gautam Gambhir, who has been in fine form, felt the jitters and struggled to get the ball off the square. KKR started their innings on the wrong foot with Brendon McCullum (1) and Kallis (0) back in the hut inside two overs. RP Singh accounted for both batsmen on back-to-back deliveries in the second over of the innings.

The KKR batsmen appeared in a daze till the 12th over when Tiwary targeted the below-par Harbhajan and tested Malinga’s resolve in the 13th. He broke the stranglehold by stepping out against the off-spinner and clearing long-on. Manoj Tiwary and Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan then began the repair work and added 45 runs for the fourth wicket.

KKR climbed to the second spot with 19 points with this victory, ahead of Mumbai Indians (18). Delhi Daredevils remained on top with 20. It hadn’t looked to be a challenging total at the break, it turned out to be a match-winning one, and all but took Knight Riders to the playoffs.

ATP Tournament Highlights

Okay perhaps its time to let the pro go clean off his blue-antrums and focus on his playing because he still remains number 1.

Besides Djoko, Maria Sharapova also cruised through the second round. Both were in excellent forms and their games well showed it.

Djokovic beat Australian teenager Bernard Tomic with scores of 6-3 6-3. Tomic managed to get a break in the game but Djokovic broke him and sailed through. A game that lasted 68 minutes, it was a good warmer for the world champion but a job well done to the teenager. He was well aware that he had nothing to lose from this game playing against no 1, so he played it with all his dedication.

After that was the match of Andy Murray versus David Nalbandian of Argentina. Fourth seed Murray had missed the Madrid Masters due to injury swooped through the starting set of the game but Nalbandian game him quite the chase. The second set scored 6-4.

But eventually the birthday boy got his present and took home the victory. Murray has turned 25.

One the women’s side, Sharapova’s game against American Christina McHale was again a challenging one. Even though Sharapova won the game, her opponent made sure it wasn’t handed on easy to her. In a game that lasted for 2 hours and 12 minutes, the scores at the end were 7-5, 7-5.

Sharapova said that she had made too many forced errors. She also added that her opponent was playing to a great level and wasn’t making things any easier.

Along with Sharapova, Petra Kvitova also cleared the second round. She won against Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova with scores of 7-5 6-4.

Kvitova has expressed a liking to clay after she said that she has been adapting better to clay courts now. Petra Kvitova’s last title was of Wimbledon of last year. She looks forward to making a mark with more future tournaments.

Delhi Daredevils qualify for playoffs after beating Kings XI Punjab

A target of 137 was not enough to bring Daredevils under pressure. But it was not cakewalk for DD. It took a triple strike from Delhi-bred Parvinder Awana to leave the home team reeling at 37 for four in the sixth over. Suddenly, the journey to an expected victory appeared a steep climb. Awana bowled Virender Sehwag who was dropped in the previous over by David Hussey and returned to scalp Venugopala Rao and off-form Ross Taylor in the space of three deliveries of his second over. Having bowled 15 dot balls in his spell of 3-0-7-3, Awana had Delhi in serious trouble before Ojha’s cameo turned the tide.

Thereafter, the eventual five-wicket victory, with an over to spare, was obviously sweeter. Daredevils’ feared top-order failed before Mahela Jayawardene played his part to perfection with an unbeaten half-century. From the other end, Naman Ojha and Irfan Pathan moved at a higher gear to ensure that Daredevils became the first team to qualify for the four-team playoffs.

Earlier, Kings XI were progressing well and reached 50 for 2 in 6.2 overs. After David Miller was run out by a direct hit from Pawan Negi at mid-on, Azhar Mahmood, the last of Kings XI’s proper batsmen, was in as early as the 10th over. He stayed only until the 12th, when he hoisted Yadav towards long-off, where Irfan Pathan back-pedalled and caught the ball over his right shoulder on the edge of the boundary. Kings XI were eventually in danger of being dismissed and David Hussey, who had been crying out for a reliable partner in vain, had to play within himself. He even turned down singles in the final two overs and dragged his team 136 for 8.

With a place in the top four secure, Daredevils need to win only one of their last two games to secure No. 1 position. Kings XI, on the other hand, needed victory in their remaining two games to be assured of a playoff spot. They cannot afford another defeat and will have to depend on net run-rate and on a permutation of results in other matches to qualify.

IPL 2012: Spot-fixing leaves a stain

In a TV sting which included reporters acting like bookies who came into contact with 5 players playing in this season’s IPL 5, offered to pay them a boatload of money in exchange for a ‘fair’ black deal. They agreed to throw no balls, and wides in exchange for a huge sum of money, of course being unaware that the “bookies” were actually TV reporters with their hidden cameras.

The footage instantly caught fire on television a couple days ago and the matter was taken seriously by the official authorities and in a country where people cry and clap all for their cricket deities, this is far beyond fraud.

The BCCI president said that the matter would be taken seriously and any such kind of behavior would not be tolerated and thankfully he stood by his words. The players now face suspension and until that time, they will not be able to play any of the matches. The whole of the country knows that a suspension of even a year means ban for lifetime because there are lines and lines of young boys who are ready to take their place, leave aside the tedious court hearings.

The players that were involved in the case are:

1. T.P.Sudhindra
2. Amit Yadav
3. Shalabh Srivastav
4. Abhinav Bali
5. Mohnish Mishra

The whole sting operation has been repeatedly showing on television and there stands no ground for statements such as “my voice has been fabricated” or “that isn’t me”. The clear, recorded, real footage is open for the world to see and no lies, hopefully, will rescue them.

For now, inquiries have been ordered and proceedings are on their way. But it comes as a great disappointment to those people who leave their work, their leisure, their Sunday, their lives, just so they can sweat in those stands and stand up to cheer their favorite player.

It’s easy to buy fake Chinese toys or roll our eyes on unworthy politicians but cricket is one thing we just won’t compromise for.

Roger Federer, Serena Williams win Madrid Masters

Serena Williams sliced through the game smoothly beating Azarenka in the women’s side while on the men’s side, it was Roger Federer who beat Tomas Berdych. This is his third Madrid Open Title. He now equals Rafael Nadal’s record of holding 20 Masters Titles.

The men’s finals scores were: 3-6 7-5 7-5 to Federer. He has lost only a handful matches over the past couple of months, three out of whopping 48 matches to be precise. He did not get to face either of the two threats: Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic this time and the next likely time that he will do so will be the French Open which will begin at the end of this month.

Throughout the whole series, there was no grumble heard from Federer right from his first game to the last. Other top-class players made their entrances and right before their exits, adding a little flame to the blue clay fire. But leaving that aside, it was a champions Masters.

There is new ATP rankings to be released and Federer now moves up to the second position, tipping aside Nadal, after this victorious win.

For now Federer is all smiles as he exclaims that this, like every winning title, is valuable. He said that this win made it even more special because of the fact that he just came off a break. He last played in the Miami tournament and took an exit in the third round.

He also said that he was worried if he would have been able to make it through the first round or not. Ut things fell his way and he now stands holding the trophy.

“I was very realistic coming into this event. Confidence is coming back. I was away and it didn’t take much for me to get my confidence back, especially now that I’ve been playing so well for the past nine months.”

Thumbs up to Federer!

Last ball Six of Chennai Super Kings puts Kolkata Knight Riders in worries

This match reminds us of the six hit by Amir Khan on last ball of match in Lagaan. 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. The ball stayed in air for long time and when it finally descended, it was hovering over long-on area and it finally landed just over the boundary. The Super Kings ran out of the dugout, speeding to embrace Bravo, who was standing there with arms aloft, having taken Super Kings to No. 4 with only one league game remaining.

Dwayne Bravo struck a six from the final delivery as the Chennai Super Kings kept alive their play-off hopes in the Indian Premier League with a tense five-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The West Indian allrounder struck Rajat Bhatia over the long-on fence. Chasing a modest score of 159, openers got Chennai off to a flying start as Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay stitched 97-run opening stand.

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. Narine double-strike helped Kolkata reduce Chennai to 97 for 2 in 9.4 overs. Soon a terrible mix-up saw Suresh Raina perish for eight. Faf du Plessis and great finisherMS Dhoni then got down to the task of guiding Chennai to victory. Dhoni (28 off 21) set up the match nicely, taking 18 runs from the penultimate over bowled by Marchant de Lange.

Earlier, Chennai bowlers yet again put on a inspired show to restrict Kolkata for 158 for 6. Put into bat, Gautam Gambhir struck an aggressive half-century but then watched his team falter thanks to some brilliant bowling by Chennai bowlers. Gambhir blasted 62 off just 43 deliveries and put on a 99 run opening partnership with Brendon McCullum (37 off 29). From 99 for no loss in the 12th over, the KKR were reduced to 128 for 5 in the 18th over as Jacques Kallis (4), Manoj Tiwary (12) and Yusuf Pathan (11) failed to make any impact. McCullum was the first to go courtesy of a needless run out. Then in the very next over Shahdab Jakati got one to slip one through Gambhir’s defence to have his stumps castled.

Kallis (4) fell attempting to reverse-sweep to Jakati, while Pathan started explosively for a huge six over long-on but his run of woeful form continued as he mistimed a delivery in the very next over as he fell to R Ashwin. Soon Tiwary was caught in the deep off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. The hosts were struggling at 128 for 5 at that stage. In the end, late charge by Debabrata Das (19 not out off 10 balls) make sure that the hosts set a competitive target for the defending champions. Das hit a six and two fours in his late blast.

Now KKR face the danger of not qualifying for playoffs. They tried their best in this match too, but 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. KKR face MI next which will be tough match to win and PWI in their last league match which can turn against them as revenge game. CSK are yet again rising to the occasion and pulling off some tough games under their belt to take the momentum into business end of IPL.

Yet another last over victory for Mumbai Indians

Rayudu smashed an unbeaten 81 off 54 balls while Pollard remained not out on 52 off 31 as Mumbai Indians chased down the target of 172 with two balls to spare after staring down the barrel at 51 for five in the ninth over. Pollard smashed Gayle for six and two fours to seal the match for Mumbai and keep their chances of qualifying for the playoffs alive. Pollard and Rayudu hit nine runs in the penultimate over off Zaheer, leaving Mumbai to score 14 in last over.

The nightmare of not getting good starts haunted MI yet again when they lost three early wickets by the fourth over. Mumbai Indians got off to a bad start as Tendulkar was dismissed in the first over for a first ball duck. Zaheer Khan, who seems to be peaking at the right time for RCB, had the batsman caught by Virat Kohli at short cover point. There was a short cover put in place for Tendulkar and the Little Master played one shot straight into the hands of Virat Kohli. Hershelle Gibbs run out and last match hero Rohit Sharma too perished for just 5 and Mumbai slumped to 51/5 in no time.

There was a hindrance in the game in the 11th over as the one of the light towers went off. Just before this over, Pollard was back in some form as he clobbered Appanna for two consecutive sixes off the last two balls of his first over. The break however did not hamper the momentum of Pollard who stunned the home team with his big blows in the last over which also sealed the victory for Mumbai Indians.

Earlier, a good knock by Tilakaratne Dilshan after early wickets and late surge by Mayank Agarwal powered Royal Challengers Bangalore to a challenging 171/6. Mayank Agarwal produced a blistering 30-ball 64 and smashed Munaf Patel for 24 runs in the innings’ last over, which included two sixes and as many fours. In all, he hit six fours and four sixes after the hosts lost most of their big guns, including Chris Gayle and A B de Villiers cheaply. Mayank came out to bat when RCB were precariously placed, having lost four wickets with less than 100 on the board. RCB posted their 100 in the 15th over. With two overs to go, at 134 for 6, they would have settled for 150, but Agarwal closed off the innings with a sequence of 4, 6, 1 (to retain strike), 6, 4, 4, 2, 6, and 2.

It wasn’t enough, though, as Mumbai Indians completed their fourth final-over chase of the season, snapping Royal Challengers three-game winning run. With this emphatic victory, Mumbai reached to the second spot in the points table with 18 points. The Royal Challengers Bangalore moved down to the fifth spot and the loss today has reduced their chances of making to the playoffs.

Miracle in Manchester as City crowned Champions of England

It was stoppage time over there and Queens Park Rangers, fighting a relegation battle themselves, led City 2-1. A draw wouldn’t have been enough for City. They needed to score twice and they had to do that in the next five minutes. Had Manchester United stolen the title away again? One would presume so.

And then the most dramatic five minutes in the history of the Premier League happened.

After a barrage of attempts on goal, Edin Dzeko managed to head a David Silva corner into the back of the net to level the scores. Three minutes of stoppage time left. “Believe,” said the City fans.

Surely, they couldn’t score again, could they?

And there was one final attack. Aguero played a one-two with Balotelli, held off a QPR defender and blasted the ball across Paddy Kenny into the back of the net. The scores had overturned. The roof was blown off at the Etihad. Manchester City were Champions of England.

It was cruel on QPR, who played the last 36 minutes of the game with ten men after their maniacal skipper Joey Barton was sent off for elbowing Carlos Tevez. But there was something to cheer for the QPR supporters as Bolton’s 2-2 draw against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium ensured that they lived to survive another season in England’s top flight.

The match at the Etihad began as expected with City dominating possession and going for the all important goal that would give them their first English League title in 44 years. But a resolute Rangers defence ensured that wouldn’t come easily. News of a Wayne Rooney goal at the Stadium of Light poured through and City now knew that they had to win to be crowned Champions. However with Bolton leading at Stoke, QPR held on for their dear lives and it wasn’t until the 39^th minute that City could get a breakthrough.

Samir Nasri and Yaya Toure combined on the right to put Zabaleta through, whose shot from an acute angle could only be gloved away by Kenny. The ball ballooned up in the air, hit the post and barely crept over the goal line as Kenny’s desperate attempt to pull it back was in vain. City were in front and when the half time whistle blew, they knew that they were only 45 minutes away from making history.

The second half began in an utterly unexpected fashion as QPR equalized. Shaun Wright Phillips’ ball from the centre of midfield should have been met easily by Lescott but the England international failed to control his header and put the ball in the path of Djibril Cisse who thumped in a goal past Hart to level the scores.

And then things fell apart for Queens Park Rangers!

Joey Barton, a poster boy for bad behavior who enjoyed his share of problems during his playing days at City, was caught elbowing Carlos Tevez by the assistant referee and was subsequently red carded. His stomp on Aguero on the way out an epitome of disgrace as QPR now stared at the longest half hour of their lives. Their captain had thrown it away

However if the scores remained as it were, United would win the title and QPR would have survived relegation. And against all odds and against the run of play, QPR scored again!

The defence managed to clear the ball and Traore, who came in for Cisse after Barton’s dismissal, worked his way past Zabaleta and crossed it into the box where Jamie Mackie threw himself at the ball as it bounced its way into the net. Queens Park Rangers led 2-1 with 25 minutes to go and City were throwing it all away on the last day of the season.

What followed was a barrage of attacks from City. Attack after attack was thwarted by Paddy Kenny and his defence as the entire game was being played in QPRs half. Mancini threw everything he could as he introduced Dzeko and Balotelli as the game moved into extra time. United fans were celebrating at the other end of Manchester as the game at the Stadium of Light ended 1-0 and all that could be done now was wait for QPR to hold on.

However, strange things have happened in football.

Late into the 92^nd minute, Dzeko rose above everyone else to head in Silva’s corner and a minute of later, Aguero rounded off a defender and his shot into the back of the net. The blue half of Manchester exploded!

What followed was a frenzy of joyous celebrations. Rocket cannisters and blue smoke engulfed the Etihad as Vincent Kompany lifted the Barclays Premier League Trophy, the first for City since 1968 and definitely wouldn’t be the last to come in the next few years.

Meanwhile elsewhere QPR celebrated themselves as Stoke came from behind to pull of an exciting 2-2 draw against Bolton, ensuring that QPR would play in the Premier League next season. Joey Barton though, I am not so sure!

Middle Table Battle: CSK vs KKR

The Knight Riders, in contrast, are already through to the play-offs, but would be keen to log full points at the Eden Gardens to get back on the winning track, after their spectacular seven-game victory march was rudely halted by the Mumbai Indians Saturday. A victory would also carry the Knight Riders to the first slot. With 15 points from 14 games, the Mahendra Sing Dhoni-led Super Kings now occupy the fourth position in the league table and would be competing with the likes of Mumbai Indians (16 from 13 games), Royal Challengers Bangalore (15 from 13 outings), Rajasthan Royals (12 from 13 ties) and Kings XI Punjab (12 from as many matches) to progress to the next stage.

The key factor for CSK in last two wins has been the entry of Ben Hilfenhaus into side and his delivery to Virender Sehwag was an ‘unplayable delivery’ at Chepauk on Saturday. When the Chennai Super Kings take on the Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday, the Australian will once again be a key factor. The Australian seamer completed his engagements in the West Indies for the national side before joining the IPL midway through, and despite the difficulties he must have faced in getting himself used to a different format and different conditions, has hit the ground running. Hilfenhaus has so far played just four matches in this IPL but his eight wickets have helped Chennai win three of them. In fact, his consecutive Man-of-the-Match performances against Rajasthan (two for eight) and Delhi (three for 23) have helped Chennai’s campaign get back on track.

Another mini battle between R Ashwin and Sunil Narine could also prove crucial. KKR’s Caribbean mystery spinner Sunil Narine could hold the key. With 15 wickets in his kitty, and a highly economical average, Narine has troubled almost all batsmen during the tournament, and KKR would hope for a repeat performance from him. Ashwin is a proven performer in this format with one of the lowest economy rates in the history of IPL, but would want a few more wickets in the bag this edition (eight from 14 matches). Narine, on the other hand, has ticked both boxes, taking 15 wickets at an economy rate of 5.47. Chennai have Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina and Dhoni, all good players of spin bowling and will hope they can ensure Kolkata don’t do the double over them.

Known for their late pushes, the CSK would be looking at good performances from their frontline batsmen – South African top scorer Faf du Plessis, provided he is fit after missing out two matches, and home spun heroes Dhoni and Suresh Raina besides West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo. KKR has the likes of Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan, along with their captain who has been in great form, to build or chase a good score.