Dhoni triumphs again !

We have said in our columns earlier that Dhoni is running his Rising Saturn Period. ( Pongum Sani ). This was proved yesterday when his side lifted the IPL Trophy. He had lifted the World Cup two months back. What a captain ! He has a fascination for silverware and the heavens helped him !

A 58 run triumph over the Bangaloreans and Chennai had retained the Trophy. Chennai put up a glorious total of 205 and followed it up with a superb bowling performance, restricting Bangalore to 147/8.Chennai was off to a great start, with the openers putting up 159 runs for the first wicket. M Vijay blasted 95 runs and Hussey 63, which laid the foundations for a formidable score.

Chasing 206 to win, Bangalore were dealt a great blow, when the wily Ashwin dismissed Gayle for a blob. Dhoni, genius that he is, opened with Ashwin and that move paid off, as Gayle, the wearer of the Orange Cap, was back in the pavilion when the Bangalore innings started ! Gone was the threat before Chennai and Gayle's dismissal was half the battle won.Ashwin induced Gayle to edge, which was promptly taken by Dhoni And then Ashwin clean bowled Agarwal for ten. Kohli showed promise with some great hits and Villiers was out to Jakati and Bangalore were 48/3. Pomersbach was removed by Jakati and Bangalore were in the doldrums. Kohli scored 35 off 32 balls but then Raina got him out lbw and the match was almost over.

Earlier Hussey and Vijay mixed caution with aggression, taking singles and keeping the score board moving, while hitting fours and sixes occasionally. They started solidly initially, but accelerated later. Chennai's 50 came up in 5.1 overs, as Hussey and Vijay went on the rampage. Their 100 was raised in just 10.3 overs and Vijay reached in 50 off just 29 balls ! Fours and sixes flowed off his bat and Hussey was glad to give the strike to Vijay. Hussey reached his fifty in 40 balls, but tried to loft Syed over long on, but only succeeding in holing out to Mithun ! This put the end to the 159 runs partnership in just 14.5 overs.

Chepauk was lit up by two sixes from the Indian captain, but Aravind removed him as well as Vijay, in consecutive balls. Vijay fell short of his hundred by five runs and in his 95 run knock, he had smacked six sixes and four fours.

While Bangalore made some sort of comeback into the game, Bravo hit a six off the the last ball to take the score past the magical 200. And such a giant score proved to be too much for the Bangaloreans !

Gayle lofts Bangalore to final

A great innings of 89 runs off 47 balls was bewildering and that forced Mumbai out of IPL !

Gayle smashed the hapless Mumbai bowlers in his inimitable style. A mammoth score of 185/4 was posted, despite a quiver at the last stage of the innings, after inserted into bat by Sachin. Chasing, Mumbai were 83/5 but then recovered to 142/8, but that was not enough !

Sachin promised much, but perished at 40 and Mumbai panicked and the lost the match after his dismissal. Sachin hit Aravind for two fours across cover and over square leg and Mumbai moved to 20/2 in two overs.

Gayle took over the bowling and the West Indian frustrated Blizzard with his subtle offbreaks. Blizzard was out to Aravind, when he tried to loft one over long on. Bajji was promoted as a pinch hitter and he smashed a six and two fours in his 13 but perished trying to hit Aravind over mid wicket.

Sachin hit Aravind for fours and then hit Vettori to long on four but the spinner Syed had him stumped gloriously. Rohit Sharma (13) disappointed by holing out to Pomersbach. Rayudu was out for a blob, trapped lbw on his first ball. Keiron Pollard was caught by Mithun and Mumbai were in the doldrums at 89/6. Franklin ( 16) and Malinga (7) couldnt do much as the match went the way of Bangalore. Sachin's tactic to open the bowling with Nechim backfired, as Gayle smashed 27 runs of the rookie. This over became the costliest first over in IPL history. In just 3.2 overs, Bangalore crossed 50, thanks mainly to Gayle. Agarwal, Gayle's partner, also played his shots and Mumbai was left gasping. Sachin had to take the strategic timeout after six overs, when Bangalore were 68 without loss.

Gayle's fifty came up in 27 balls and Bangalore brought their hundred in just ten overs. Pollard broke the opening partnership, which had fetched 113 runs for mighty Bangalore.

Agarwal was taken by Pollard when the score was 113. No respite for Mumbai continued as Gayle blasted three sixes in the space of four balls in the 13th and 14th over. Gayle smashed his colleague Pollard over long on in the last ball of the 13th over and then hammered Bajji over deep midwicket in consecutive balls, as Bangalore reached 145/1. At 89, Gayle tried to loft Munaf and was caught at the fence by Franklin. Nechim dismissed Kohli in the 16th over and Villiers ( 21) and Tiwari ( 8) took Bangalore to near the double hundred mark.

Bajji lofts Mumbai to victory !

Bajji lofted Shakib for a six in the last over of the match as Mumbai beat Kolkotta in a thrilling finish.

Now Mumbai meet Bangalore on Qualifier II and the winners will go on to face defending champions Chennai.

Kolkotta was reduced to 147/7, as the Mumbai bowlers exploited the slow Wankhede track well. And Mumbai was going on to an easy victory, but then loss of some quick wickets put Kolkotta back in the game.

Pollard and Rayudu were dismissed cheaply and Mumbai were in the doldrums, but Bajji and Franklin (29 off 25 ) steered Mumbai home.

Mumbai raced to a glorious speedy start as Aidon Blizzard ( 51 ) and Tendulkar ( 36 ) blasted the Kolkottans to all parts of the field, leaving Gambhir gasping. Lee removed Blizzard and then R Sharma was unnecessarily run out. Sachin followed suit and Kolkotta was well back into the game.

Tendo partnered Y Pathan in a 60 run partnership for the fifth wicket to redeem Kolkotta, who were in too deep in the Mulligatawny soup, after losing four wickets. With Shakib, Tendo put on 41 runs for the sixth wicket to take Kolkotta to a good total.

Kolkotta lost Gambhir (4) and Kallis ( 7 ) and slumped to 13/2. Kallis hit Patel for four but his uppish drive was held by Sachin. Gambhir started well with a four, but was bowled by Bajji. Goswami was snapped up behind the stumps and Kolkotta were soon 20/4 ! Manoj Tiwari was trapped leg before by Kulkarni and Mumbai were right on top. Tendo lofted Franklin for six in the 8th over. Pollard was hit for 15 runs in one over, one six by Tendo and another four by him. Yousuf smashed Tendo for four in the same over. Yousuf hammered Bajji straight and top edged Munaf for fours in consecutive overs. Shakib hit Kulkarni for three fours before he was bowled by Slinga Malinga. Tendo went on adding precious runs, lofting Pollard for a six and a four, to give the innings some semblance of respectability.

Raina and Morkel loft Chennai to victory !

Raina's incredible knock, 73 off 50 balls, pulled Chennai to the final and he was ably supported by Albie Morkel.

Six sixes and four boundaries flowed off the bat of the Indian No 7. An unconquered 46 run partnership with Albie brought home the bacon for Chennai.

Albie Morkel blasted 28 off 10 balls. In the last over, Chennai needed 23 runs. Raina hit two towering sixes and took a single. Albie lofted one into the stands and Chennai won the match !

Chennai chased 176 for victory and they lost M Vijay and Hussey for cheap and were with their backs to the wall.

At 7/2, the visitors were in the doldrums and were way behind in the midway of the match, but Bangalore lost the game in the last five overs. However Bangalore will have another chance, as they meet the winners of the Mumbai-Kolkotta clash.

Earlier Kohli blasted an unconquered 70 off 44 balls to steer Bangalore to a score respectable (175/4). The Bangalore skipper started sedately, but accelerated at the end and blasted three sixes and five fours. Gayle was taken by Dhoni's men cheap and this failure never daunted the Bangaloreans, who put up a formidable target for Chennai to chase.

Agarwal, the opener scored 34 in 33 balls and Luke Pomersbach made a quick fire 29 in 18 balls. Bollinger bowled magnificently, reigning in Gayle and took one for 20 and R Aswin took one for 33.

Gayle hit Ashwin for a six and then Ashwin came back strongly to trap the left hander lbw. Albie Morket was hit for 40 runs in four wicketless overs and Jakati picked up one for 37.

Bollinger bowled superbly, not permitting Gayle to drive and also rattled the West Indian with a superb bouncer. Gayle could not free his arm and it was clear that Dhoni's men had stifled him.

De Villiers holed out to Jakati and Pomersbach was sent in before Kaif. He lofted Jakati for a six and 17 runs were scored off Bravo, as he hit Bravo for two fours and a flat six and Bangalore were 122/3 with five overs to go. Kohli lofted Aswin for six Bollinger could not hold onto a catch off his own bowling and Pomersbach was lucky to survive !

Ashwin could not hold a catch off his own bowling off Kohli and lost four runs in the process. Saurabh Tiwari hit another four. Kohli went on the rampage blasting Morkel for two mighty sixes and a four. Bollinger conceded eight runs and Bangalore put on 53 runs in the last five overs, losing only Pomersbach's wicket.

Gayle lofts Bangalore again to victory

Gayle's fantastic form with the bat continued and he pulled Bangalore to victory with a glorious innings of 75 not out off 50 balls.

His knock lifted Bangalore to the top of the table with 19 points.

The Bangalore bowlers restricted the formidable Chennai to 128/8 and then won the match with ease, thanks to the great West Indian. This time the WIian was not swinging at every ball, but waiting for the loose ball to be punished. Gayle smashed Bollinger and Raina and his incredible innings proved to be the bane for Chennai.

Six sixes and four fours flowed off the bat of Gayle and he now has 511 runs in nine innings and he has taken the Orange Cap. He is followed Shaun Marsh with 504 runs. Kohli also played well, despatching the short balls to the fence.As Bangalore had lost Villers early, Kohli saw to that no furthur damage was done. Kohli made 31, before clipping Morkel into the hands of Ashwin.

Inserted into bat, CSK lost regular wickets, reaching a paltry 128/8. Dhoni top scored with 70 not out, smashing six sixes and three fours in his unbeaten knock of 70.

Dhoni smashed Mithun for 17 runs in one over. Mithun conceded 35 runs in his four overs, but then the rest of the Bangalore attack was penetrative. Zaheer bowled well for his 2/19, Vettori took 2/14 and Aravind 2/20 and Chennai was restricted to a meagre total. Zaheer initiated the slide in the third over, clean bowling Hussey and Chennai were 23/4 Then Saha ( 22 off 30 ) and Dhoni added 42 off 47 deliveries. Bravo and Morkel failed and the responsibilty of getting a good score was thrust on the shoulders of Dhoni.

The Indian captain blasted Gayle for two sixes and preserved his best for Mithun !

Mumbai pull off sensational win

Four runs required off the last ball and Rayudu hit it for six and Mumbai won off the last ball. What a game !

Franklin blasted 45 runs off 23 balls and Balaji was the villain for Kolkotta as he conceded four boundaries and a six, when Mumbai wanted just 21 off the last over.

Franklin hit Balaji for four consecutive fours and then took a single and young Rayudu was left to face the last ball of Balaji, which he promptly hit for six. Mumbai reached fourth position with 18 points from 14 matches ahead of Kolkotta ( who have 16 points ). Bangalore is placed first with 19 points.

For Kolkotta, Kallis smashed 59 off 42 balls, after they were reeling at 22/2.

Kallis was supported by M Tiwari and Y Pathan who scored 35 and 36 balls. Three sixes and four fours flowed off the bat of the burly Springbok. Bhatia and Tendo took Kolkotta past the 170 mark and everybody thought that it was a match winning score.

For Mumbai, Abu Nechim and Franklin took two wickets each, giving away 32 and 35 runs respectively.

Rajat Bhatia took three wickets for 22 runs to help the Kolkottans back into the game, after Sachin ( 38 off 27 ) and Bajji ( 30 off 29 ) looked like taking the game away from them with a 57 run partnership.

Bhatia removed Bajji in the ninth over and later Tendulkar and R Sharma to change the in the favour of the Knight Riders.

Bajji, coming in as a pinch hitter, did his job well and blasted the Knights to all parts of the field. Sachin on the other hand played solidly, waiting for the odd boundary and rotating the strike.

Dhawan & Mishra lift Deccans to victory !

Punjab were beaten badly by Deccans and the play off maths was simplified yesterday. A superb innings of 95 not out by Dhawan and superb leg spin bowling by Amit Mishra ( 4 for 9 ) brought home the bacon for Deccans.

Now Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkotta and Bangalore are into the play offs. Mumbai were delighted, as their match against Kolkotta is less tense as now it is only a match for them to finish at the top two.

Now the question is who will finish at the top, as grabbing the top two slots will give the teams a lifeline as an extra match to enter the final.

On Sunday there are two great matches, as Bangalore take on Chennai and Mumbai face Kolkotta. and these matches will decide the play offs.

If Mumbai wins and Bangalore loses, they will reach the second spot.

If Mumbai lose, they will finish fourth

For Chennai and Bangalore, a win will see to that they finish at the top and a loss could see them at the fourth or third place.

Delhi finished at the bottom of the IPL Points Table,as their last league match against Pune was washed out. Both have nine points and Delhities with four wins and nine defeats, finished tenth due to their poor run rate. Pune finished ninth.

DDD were 56/3 in 10.1 overs when rain stopped play at the Delhi stadium.

The match was actually insignificant, but people turned out in large numbers to watch two mediocre teams vie for supremacy.

Shane Watson lofts Rajastan to victory

134 was not a non gettable target and RR won with ease. Shane Watson and Dravid scored those runs easily. Watson's blitzkreig 89 off 47 balls effectuated the greatest send off to retiring captain Shane Warne !

RR bowlers restricted Mumbai to 133/5 in the allotted 20 and then RR openers blasted the Mumbai bowlers to all parts of the field and achieved the target in just 13.1 overs.

Now both Mumbai and Kolkotta have 16 points and they will take on each other on May 22. Punjab have 14 points and one match to go and Rajastan finished their engagement with 13 points.

Chennai and Bangalore, with 18 and 17 points respectively, have already qualified for the playoffs.

Watson took three wickets for 19 runs and then blasted the Mumbai bowlers in an incredible all round display.

Dravid played the submissive role as opener, slamming six fours in his 42 off 32 balls.

Watson's fury hit Malinga and the Slinga had to give 42 runs off his four overs.

MI won the toss and batted and R Sharma cracked his third half century of the season to redeem Mumbai. He came in at 17/2 and he slammed five fours and a six in his 47 runs, scored off 58 balls. He was in two stands - one 48 with an unimpressive Sachin and with Pollard - that accelerated the scoring rate.

Though Mumbai improved over their abysmal 94/8,the total they got yesterday was less than required. Mumbai was all at sea against the RR bowlers. Ankit Chavan, the left arm spinner, bowled well, ably supported by Shane Watson.

Watson hit Munaf for four in the second ball of the innings and then it was mayhem on the hapless Mumbai bowlers. Watson then lofted Bajji for two huge sixes into the stands. The formidable Slinga Malinga was brought in to curb Watson and Watson greeted him with a superb four.

Malinga was too smart and hit Watson with a bouncer on his neck, but the lanky Australian avoided it in toto. Watson completed his maiden fifty off only 30 balls, with three sixes and six fours. He pulled Kulkarni for the fourth six.

Dravid then hit Bajji for three fours to maintain the great run rate and RR won the match easily by ten wickets.

Gambhir lofts Kolkotta to victory

The Kolkotta spinners - Pathan, Abdulla and Shakib bowled superbly to restrict Pune to 118/7 and then a glorious 54 by Gambhir pulled KKR to victory.

Another spineless batting performance by Pune and they lost another match. Yuvraj may be tired after the World Cup effort - he cannot be blamed for that - and Pune is in the doldrums, finishing at the 9th position. Kochi, another new entrant, is at No 6.

Y Pathan scored 29 off 25 balls and Gambhir 54 off 46 balls to pull Kolkotta to victory.

"Bowlers win matches" and the spin trio of Abdulla, Pathan and Shakib took five wickets to devastate the out of form Pune.

Gambhir and Pathan were involved in a 64 run partnership in just 8.1 overs and this proved to be the matchwinning for Kolkotta. Kolkotta will now meet Pune on May 22 at home. Chennai and Banglore lead the IPL Points Table with 18 and 17 points respectively. Punjab has 14 points with one game to go.

Invited to bat first, Pune tottered in a spineless display of batting. It was obvious that 118/7 is not a defendable score !

Yuvi top scored with 24 and now Pune has one more game in hand, as they have to face Punjab, who is on a victory trail.

Kolkotta lost an early wicket when Goswami who fell early in the first over. Tiwary fell in the eighth over, when the score read 53, clean bowled by B Kumar. Then Gambhir and Pathan pulled Kolkotta to victory with a 64 run partnership. They saw to that the Warriors could not make a comeback. Earlier Pune were 17/2 and never recovered after that poor start.

Pandey ( 16), Ferguson ( 16) and Ganguly ( 18) threw away their good starts. So did Uthappa ( 12 ) and Ryder was packed off for one.

Balaji got two wickets in the only over he bowled, that is the final over. Pathan and Shakib bagged two wickets each. Abdulla's arm ball trapped Manish Pandey. Ryder could not stop a sudden rush of blood to the head against Pathan and was caught at midoff !

Ganguly couldnt time the ball and Ferguson pulled Kallis for a four and was let off by the fielder, which gave him a four. Ferguson was out for 16 in the ninth over, when Shakib turned the ball away from his bat and had him stumped. Ganguly lofted Abdulla for six over long on, to raise the 50 of the innings. Uthappa reverse swept Yuvraj for four and was let off by Balaji off Bhatia.

Ganguly swept Shakib into the hands of a diving Pathan and Uthappa tried to slog sweep Pathan and holed out to Lee.

In the last over, Yuvraj was bowled by Balaji, miscuing a swing to the wicket keeper and the match was over. He could only hit two fours and Rana was yorked by Balaji !

Saha proves he is good !

Chennai's great run at home continued as they beat Kochi by 11 runs. Chennai was largely helped by wicket keeper Saha's brilliant 46. Later, the Chennai bowlers retricted Kochi to 141/5. Kochi finished their campaign with 12 points from 14 outings.

For Chennai, it was their seventh victory at home . Ashwin was their top bowler, taking 1/16 off the allotted four overs. The dangerous Brendon was kept under control by Ashwin. As Brendon was the key player who could have done it for Kochi, he was kept quiet by the wily offspinner. However, Brendon was finally out to Jakati, clean bowled. Kochi's chance went out of the window thus and despite the rear guard action by Hodge, Kochi lost to a domineering Chennai.

Saha has been out for a while and he proved himself yesterday with a 46 off 33 balls, with one four and three sixes.

R P Singh clean bowled M Vijay and Chennai were 19/1. Raina holed out to Sreeshant for 19 and the score was 40/2. Badri did not last long and was out to Hodge, when the score was 60. Chennai lost Hussey to Jadgeja for 32 at the score at 97. Then Saha played a good innings, partnered by Dhoni and Albie Morkel and Chennai reached 152/5.

When Kochi batted Patel was out to Ashwin. Gyaneshwara Rao was out to Bravo, caught and bowled. Hodge played a brilliant innings of 51 not out and ran out of partners. Jadeja was out to Bollinger and Owais Shah was run out. 50 runs were needed off 24 balls and even though Hodge hit two consecutive sixes, it was not enough to take Kochi home.

Patel missed a stumping chance of Saha and Saha capitalised on this to play a good innings of 46.. A match winning innings, one should say, as he had to prove himself, as he was selected as second wicket keeper for the WI tour !

Fierce Gilchrist takes revenge !

A great double century partnership of 206 runs, between Gilchrist and Marsh destroyed Bangalore. It surpassed the earlier record of 170, posted by G Smith and Bosman.

It was raining sixes and it was the highest partnership in T20 cricket. Bangalore were demolished by aggressive batting and lost by 111 runs.

This superb perfomance by Adam reminded one of the Gilchrist of old. With Marsh ( 79 not out ), the greatest partnership in the history of T20 was posted.

232/2 was the highest in IPL 2011. It was the very champagne of cricket all the way.

Bangalore was bundled out for 121 and thus Punjab recorded the second highest victory by 111 runs in the IPL. Bangalore's seven match winning streak was temporarily halted by a resurgent Punjab.

This is Preity's team's fourth win in a row and they will have to beat Deccans to stay in the reckoning.

Ryan Harris had Gayle caught behind for a blob and gone were the hopes of Bangalore. Kohli (11) was also dismissed by Harris and Bangalore seemed devastated.

Even though Bram Villiers put up a great front in scoring 34, none of the other Royals batsmen could partner him. Chawla, now in form, tore into the Bangalore batting line up with the
superb figures of 4/17.

Initially, Punjab had just scored 30 off six overs, when Gilchrist's power hitting changed the complexion of the game. Valthaty was out for 20 and then Shaun Marsh came to partner Gilly.

It was an avalanche of sixes from then on and in just 15 overs, 12 sixes flowed from the bat of Marsh and Gilly. It was murder in the first degree on the hapless Royals bowlers and they buckled under the terrific onslaught.

Gilly's whirlwind knock came off just 55 balls, his second IPL hundred. Marsh's 79 came off 45 balls and the great audience of the scenic Dharmasala stadium were treated by some vintage batting. The Aussie duo hit Van der Warth for 50 runs in his four overs ! Langveld was belted for 48 runs, but he took both wickets.

Gilly hit Mithun for a six and then Marsh and Gilly hit Aravind for a four and a six each. Kohli did not know what to do and brought in spinner Gayle. Gilchrist hit Gayle for two more sixes and Kohli was left gasping.

Gilly hit Langveld for three sixes. One of them was the biggest and landed out of the stadium - a distance of 122 meters.

The Punjab skipper completed his hundred - his second in the IPL - with a four off Langeveld in the third ball of the last over and was out in the penultimate ball.

Gilchrist smashes 25 ball 50 !

A great blistering innings by Gilchrist, 50 off 25 balls and Punjab are racing towards a mammoth score. Punjab are 149/1, with Gilchrist and Marsh smashing the Bangalore bowlers to all parts of the field. 12 sixes so far in 15 overs !

Marsh crosses 50 off 34 balls and Gilchrist is going strong with 75 off 35 balls ! 163/1, as Marsh smashes another four. 30 runs in this over, 3 sixes and 3 fours off the bat of Shaun Marsh and he is now the wearer of the Orange Cap !

Pune lose again !

Deccan beat Pune by six wickets. Pune could only score 136/9 and the Chargers raced to 138 in 19.2 overs.

Dhawan ( 28 off 25 ) and Sohal ( 34 off 28 ) out on 67 for the first wicket. Within eight balls they departed, but Sanga ( 25 ), Duminy (23 ) and Christian ( 14 not out ) took the Chargers home.

This ended Pune's last hopes for qualifying for the play offs. Now the Chargers have ten points with a game in hand. Pune has gone out of reckoning, following their eighth loss.

The Warriors had put up a pathetic batting display, losing three wickets in seven ball midway. Though they began promisingly, with a 31 run partnership between Pandey ( 23 ) and Ryder ( 13 ) , they collapsed. They lost five for 14, three of them at 45. Amit Mishra took two wickets in two balls in his first over, after Steyn, Ojha and Chrisitan took the first three wickets.

Yuvraj played well for his 23, but he had to depart in the 15th over. At that time, the Warriors were 92/7. Mitchell Marsh struck form, scoring 37 off 28 balls, with three sixes and a four, helped Pune add 35 runs, in the company of Parnell.

Mishra, Chrisitan and Ojha picked up two wickets and the Chargers gave a fitting response with a half century opening stand. Dhawan hit two fours off Parnell and Kumar and his partner also matched his aggression. In five overs they had put on 40. Dhawan pulled Marsh for a six and then he tried to charge Yuvraj and was stumped. In 25 balls, he had scored 28, which was embellished by four boundaries. Sohal, the pint sized opener, was trapped by Sharma, after hitting two sixes and two fours. Sanga and Duminy added 33 more runs, before Sanga fell, caught behind off Sharma. Duminy was bowled by Parnell and then Deccan wanted 11 runs for victory.

Chrisitand and Chipli saw to that no damage was done. Sharma impressed everybody with two wickets and Parnell and Yuvraj claimed one each.

Meanwhile, Ashok Menaria, who scored three centuries in Ranji Trophy, is up for top league. Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid are all praise for the youngster. "He is a class act and I hope he plays for India soon" said Warne, while

Dravid batted for the temparament of the youngster. "Menaria has bee doing very well. He has played some crucial innings for us in IPL 2011 and he has a good head on his shoulders"

The batting display of Rajastan leaves much to be desired. Only three half centuries were scored by the Royal batsmen, Dravid, Botha and Rahane being the scorers.

Twelve Indian players including Valthaty, Ashwin and Irfan have signed up for the Sri Lankan Premier League.

Paul Valthaty says that fairy tale can end soon, regarding the rise of new stars fading into oblivion. Manish Pandey scored an IPL hundred, Joginder Sharma's delivery dismissed Misbah and Jadeja's exploits with the bat -- all these had faded into nothingness. Not so Valthaty. He hopes to consolidate on the reputation in the IPL 2011. "I had prepared well for this tournament, so the kind of performance that I have managed so far is not a surprise. But the response has been overwhelming. "

"How does it change me ? When I go out now, people recognise me and ask for autographs. Gilchrist was one of my heroes when I started playng and now I play well under him. I still nurture hopes of playing in the Indian team. If not for that, I wouldnt have been here".

Kochi smash Rajastan

Superb bowling by Kochi restricted Rajastan to 97 ! Sreeshant and Puli ( Parameshwaran ) took two wickets each and Brad Hodge took four in a great display of bowling and Delhi paid the price for their inept batting.

Hodge took 4/13 and then Kochi batsmen blasted the hapless Rajastan bowlers and finished the match in 7.2 overs ! Rajastan are out of the tournament.

The dangerous McCullum and P Patel were at ease during their respective knocks of 29 and 21 not out.

After losing Mahela to Oram, McCullum blasted four sixes and a four to rattle the Raj bowlers in his 12 ball stint.

Then Patel and Hodge put in a fifty plus stand to take Kochi home.

Brendon hit Shaun Tait for a six over mid wicket and then danced down the wicket to hit Oram for another six. He hit his NZ team mate for two more sixes, knocking the stuffing out of Rajastan. Hodge hit two sixes and five fours and Patel smashed two fours and a six.

Hodge was superb with his off breaks and the combination of off spin plus the pace duo of Sreeshant and Puli wrought havoc on the hapless Rajastan batsmen.

Ashok Menaria was the pick of the Rajastan batsmen and he hit 31.

It was RP Singh who gave Kochi the first breakthrough, when he trapped Fazal lbw with a few toss. Sreeshant removed Rahul Dravid with a beauty of a delivery that moved away after pitching. Dravid went for it, only to be caught in the slips by Owais Shah. Rahane flicked Sreeshant for four, but then Sree fought back with a master delivery which trapped Rahane lbw.

Shane Watson was at his murderous best, hitting Prashant for three huge sixes. Then Parameshwaran shattered his stumps with a magnificent delivery and Rajastan were reeling ! The Hodge took over, removing Pinal Shah, Oram and Warne and the match was over ! The Aussie spinner got Shah with a faster delivery and shattered the stumps of Oram and Warne.

Even when Rajastan were in ruins, Menaria stood firm, like the rock of Gibralter, amidst the ruins of Carthage.

It was all over when Puli had last man Doshi skying an easy catch to Mahela !

Dharmasala beautiful ground : Gilchrist

"It is the most stunning part of India and one of the most beautiful grounds in the world" said Adam Gilchrist about the scenic Dharmasala, the cricket capital of Himachal Pradesh.

Situated at the face of the Dhalaudhar ranges, the snow kissed mountains arranged a magnificent view, as the 20 K stadium was full for the Sunday feast.

Punjab beat Delhi yesterday. Valthaty smashed the Delhi bowlers to all parts of the field in a blistering 62 and took the orange Cap from Gayle.

Shaun Marsh scored 46 and helped Valthaty to lay the foundation of a massive score, 170/6.

Delhi could only score 141/8 and fell short of the target. Thoug a 50 plus stand by Delhi openers, Ojha and Warner gave a false indication , none of the other batsmen impressed and Delhi lost the game.

Asked about luck, Gilchrist said "I dont believe in luck. You create opportunities or miss them. We pounced upon ours. Delhi didn't".

Punjab produced a clinical all round performance to score this 29 run victory, keeping their play off hopes alive.

Chasing 171 to win, Delhi felt the absence of Sehwag, who left the team due to a shoulder injury.

Chawla, dropped for the WI tour, grabbed the attention of the 2 billion viewes, when he put in an impressive performance, 3/16. Srivastava took 2/39 and Valthaty, P Kumar and R Harris took one wicket each.

Ojha and Warner, despite their half century stand, could only hit a four and a six in the first five overs, though the formed hit two sixes and a four off Srivastava in the sixth over, clobbering 17 runs in the process.

Warner perished in the next over, trying to accelerate the scoring rate. The Kangaroo danced down the pitch to hit Srivastava, but only succeeded in a ballooning a catch to Gilchrist.

Chawla bowled Sriram with a googly. V Rao holed out to Chawla and Irfan fell to Valthaty. Hopes was removed by Chawla. And when Hopes was out, the scoring rate had shot up to more than 17 an over. Delhi needed an impossible 43 off the last two overs and even though M Morkel hit Srivastava for 13 runs, it was not enough to facilitate a win !

Delhi back by Irfan's double strike !

Irfan struck two lethal blows and Punjab are 137/3 in 16 overs.

Valthaty smashed 62 and Shaun Marsh 47.

Punjab has lost their fourth wicket and David Hussey is gone for 3.

Punjab finished at 170/6 and now Delhi are 42/0, with Naman Ojha on 26 and David Warner on 7.

Mumbai lose again

Mumbai seems to be on a losing streak, and could not chase the 136 run targer set by DC.

The Chargers were successful in defending a score of 135/6 and restricted mighty Mumbai to 129/8.

The ultimate over bowled by Munaf changed the complexion of the match. The Chargers were struggling at 112/6 and then Munaf began the last over. Dhawan hit him for a six and then Amit Mishra hit Munaf for four consecutive fours. From 112/6, DC had gone to 135/6, a gain of 23 runs in the last over ! This led to a verbal exchange between Munaf and Mishra. The umpire had to intervene to stop the verbal duel. One word leading to others, which in their turn led to several more.

On a glorious spinning track, the MI batsmen, including Sachin, could only plod and scratch. They had to play 60 dot balls !

Duminy got Blizzard cheaply and Ishant Sharma shot out Rayudu (2) and Rohit Sharma ( 4), to make Mumbai 25/3. To their detriment, Mumbai saw that stroke making was difficult on that track.

Unknown pacer, Rajan removed Pollard, T Suman and Tendulkar and took three for 27. Bajji, 17 not out, tried his best, but it was an uphill task for Mumbai !

Earlier Sohal ( 20 in 22 balls ) and Sanga (27 in 28 bals ) added 39 runs for the second wicket, but DC lost three wickets and could not build a great score.

Dhawan and Dan Christian did play well, but it was the four fours that Mishra hit that brought home the bacon for DC.

Gayle's fury overcomes Kolkotta !

A 12 ball innings of 38 runs by Gayle saw Bangalore thrash Kolkotta !

In a rain affected match, the D/L method proved to be the villain for Kolkotta, as Bangalore won with ease by Gayle's superb effort.

Two mighty sixes and six fours flowed off the bat of Gayle, scoring 36 runs boundaries in his brief innings of 38 ! The packed house of the Bangalore Stadium simply went ecstatic at this match winning innings from Gayle.

The target of 102 was achieved with three balls to spare, as the mighty W Indian laid the base for a solid score. With the loss of six wickets in 12.3 overs, they won the match with ease.

Inserted into bat, Kolkotta scored 89/4 from their restricted 13 overs. It could have been worse, if Y Pathan ( 36 ) and M Tiwary ( 19 not out ) had not played well.

Bangalore are now at the top of the table with 17 points from 12 matche. Kolkotta is now at the fourth spot.

The 45 K crowd had sat patiently watching the match, which was interrupted by two spells of rain. Two hours of play was lost and the Duckworth Lewis method came into effect.

Virat Kohli won the toss and sent Kolkotta in to bat, a decision proved right by Gayle !

In the first over of Brett Lee, Gayle blasted 16 runs and then ravaged Unadkat for 23 glorious runs !

RCB raced to 44 runs in just 16 balls and Gambhir heaved a sigh of relief when Gayle miscued a lofted drive off Lee into the hands of Kallis.

With this magnificent effort, Gayle had now aggregated 436 runs in seven innings in IPL 2011 and has taken the Orange Cap from another marauder, Sehwag ( 424 ).

Gayle has hit 32 sixes in IPL 2011, which is now a record.

It seems Gayle will be wearing the Orange Cap for a longish time, from the way he batted yesterday.

Pomersbach ( 16 ) and Kohli ( 15 ) also contributed to Bangalore's innings, despite the hurricane innings by Gayle.

Earlier, M Tiwari and Y Pathan proved to the redeemers of Kolkotta, as their 53 run partnership saved Kolkotta from an imminent collapse.

At the end of 11 overs, KKR were 69/3 and they did well to score 20 runs off the last two overs, before the umpires decided to reduce the match to 13 overs, because of rain.

KKR were 30/3, having lost Kallis and others.

Yousuf Pathan created another recored, taking his tally of sixes to 72, overtaking Gilchrist's 71 IPL sixes.

Badrinath and Rohit in Indian squad

For the WI tour, the Indian selectors selected the following


Gautam Gambhir ( cap )
Suresh Raina
Parthiv Patel (wk)
Virat Kohli
Yuvraj
Badrinath
Rohit Sharma
H Singh
R Ashwin
Praveen Kumar
Ishant Sharma
Munaf Patel
Vinay Kumar
Yusuf Pathan
Amit Mishra
Wriddhiman Saha (wk)

Badrinath and Rohit come in because of their splendid performances in the IPL. So also Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra and Ishant Sharma. Parthiv Patel and W Saha seems to be surprise selections, as other wicket keeper batsmen like Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik etc are there for selection.

Gambhir as the captain is the right choice. The rest are all automatic selections, like Yuvraj and Kohli.

We are sorry for Sreeshant. Astrologically his Jupiter has moved to the adverse Sixth House and that explains why he missed selection.

Dinesh Karthik pulls Punjab to victory !

Karthik smashed 69 off 31 balls to loft Punjab to victory, over the hapless Kochi Tuskers.

178 was a mammoth total achieved by the Tuskers, helped largely to a great innings of 76 by skipper, Mahela. Chasing 179 was not easy and Punjab lost Valthaty ( 17 ) and Gilchrist ( 9), raising visions of a collape. But Dinehs Karthik ( 69 ) and Shaun Marsh ( 42 ) pulled Punjab to safety. Punjab were 31/2, when both put of 111 in 9.3 overs.

David Hussey completed the formalities by lofting R Jadeja for a six and Punjab won by six wickets.

Karthik smashed five sixes and seven fours, but could not get the wicket keeper's slot in the Indian team. Marsh smashed two sixes and five fours in his blistering knock.

Brilliant swing bowling by R P Singh ( 4/25) could not deter Punjab from achieving their objective. With this win, Punjab moved to the sixth spot and is optimistic about playing in the play offs.

Mahela later said that Kochi is not consistent. Kochi now finds virtually shot out of IPL 2011, with two matches remaining.

Valthaty's middle stump was sent flying by RP, after PCV ( Valthaty ) has smashed two consecutive sixes off the same bowler.

Marsh hit Sreeshant for three fours and Karthik hit V Kumar for a six and four and then the avalanche of shots took Kochi by storm.

Owais Shah played well for his 23 off 12 balls, with two sixes and a four, but Kochi could not get past their highest total so far in the IPL, 184/2 against Mumbai.

Chennai unconquered at Chepauk !

Dhoni proved how devastating he can be, with a superb 63 off 31 balls. An 18 run victory was carved by Chennai, as Delhi could not reach the target of 177.

With four sixes and five fours, Dhoni played a captain's responsible innings. With the in form Badrinath, who scored a regal 55, he guided Chennai to a mammoth 176/4 in 20 overs. A Delhi sans Sehwag could not chase the required runs !

Irfan scored an unconquered 46, but that proved to be in vain as none of the other Delhi batsmen could partner him.

With this win, Chennai has 8 wins and their unbeaten streak at home stand at six wins. Dhoni and Badri scored fifties in contrasting styles. In only 9.2 overs, they added 96 runs for the fourth wicket.

Dhoni smashed his fifty off 28 balls and finished the innings, lofting Irfan for two consecutive sixes. Suddenly the Dhoni of old was in full view and all Indians were delighted at the way they had got the old Dhoni. Dhoni had curbed himself to play solidly, actuated by the pressures of captaincy ! Badri, on the other hand, a certainty for the West Indian tour, played more or less solidly to give the much needed support to Dhoni.

The last ten overs yielded 109 runs in direct contrast to 67 runs in the first ten. Delhi committed the error of selecting five fast bowlers on a slow track and Agarkar gave away 49 runs off 4 overs and Pathan gave 40 runs off four.

Badri and Dhoni ran singles well and Dhoni pulled Agarkar for four and then McDonald for a six. He moved into the 40s with a straight drive off the genuinely fast Aaron. Dhoni's best shot was a lofted shot for six and Badri proved to be an able ally.

Chennai were in dire straits when M Hussey was removed by Irfan in the very first over. McDonald was hit by Raina for a four and a six, but he perished trying to hook Aaron. M Vijay did play some good shots, hitting Agarkar for sixes, but was out for 35, holing out to Agarkar. He was dropped twice off Aaron and Nadeem off successive deliveries, but Agarkar had his revenge.

Rajastan quiver before Gayle storm !

Gayle seems to be unstoppable. His 70 not out took Bangalore to victory for the sixth consecutive time. The 146 posted by Warne's men could not deter their triumphant march!

Gayle with his unconquered 70 paved the way for the Bangalore win. With this win, Bangalore moved over to the second spot.

Dilshan, in his last appearance in IPV 2011, scored a fierce 38, while the baby of the Indian team made skipper, Kohli, scored 39 not out.

Rajastan surrendered the initiatve, after being 72 for no wicket, with Watson and Dravid going strong. Then they lost both Watson and Dravid (37) and could only score 146/6, which was not enough to stop Gayle & Co.

Rajastan have to win the two remaining matches. Bangalore moved to the second spot, with 15 points from 11 matches.

In the absence of Vettori, Kohli led Bangalore.

Warne dropped Gayle and that proved to be costly, as the dashing West Indian hammered four sixes and ten fours off 44 balls, in his blistering, matchwinning 70 not out.

Even though all eyes were riveted on Gayle, it was Dilshan who grabbed attention, as he hit Warne for two fours and Pankaj Singh and Botha for fours. Dilshan hit Trivedi for two more fours and in just five overs, Bangalore had raced to 50 !

Suddenly, the complexion of the game changed, as Gayle hit Botha for a six, Warne for a mighty and a four to launch a blitzkreig on the hapless Rajastan bowlers !

Punjab bowl out Mumbai for 87 and win !

Valthaty hit some great shots before he holed out to Munaf. An almost six was caught at the fence by Blizzard.

Gilchrist is going strong and is now joined by Shaun Marsh. Punjab are now 45-1 off 6.3 overs.

Punjab scored 164.

Mumbai started disastrously, losing Sachin to Praveen at 19. Then Rohit was to B Sharma/27/2. Blizzard was out to Kumar. 27/3. Symonds was run out unfortuntately. 4/44.Rayudu holed out off Srivastava. 54/5. Then Suman was caught by Kumar off Harris. 55/6.

Bajji lofted the left arm spinner, Bhargav Bhat into the stands and while trying to repeat the shot, was clean bowled by Bhat. 69/7. Then Pollard, who dazzled the crowd with some good shots, was caught almost at the fence by Shaun Marsh off Bhat. 87/8.
Kulkarni was caught and bowled by Bhat. 87/9. Munaf Patel tried to sweep and was adjudged lbw to Bhat. 87 all out.

Bhargav Bhat, with his 4/22 shone like Sapphire and rightly got the Man of the Match !

Munaf 5/21 went in vain as Mumbai were shot out for 87 by Bhat & Co in 12.5 overs.

Inserted into bat, Punjab were doing well at 129/2 at one stage, but lost six wickets in just 39 runs in the last five overs, to reach only 164.

Malinga with 2/24 supported Munaf. And the game was there for Mumbai to take, when the incredible happened.

Shaun Marsh scored 43 off 34 balls, while D Karthik ( 31 ) and Gilchrist (28) played well under the circumstances. Punjab moved to the 9th position and improved their chances to play in the play offs. Mumbai is still numero uno with 16 points from 11 matches.

Aiden Blizzard got Mumbai off to a great start, hitting Praveen Kumar for three consecutive fours. He piled up 12 runs before the demon swing bowler took two crucial wickets to trigger the Mumbai collapse.

164 seemed to be a chasable target, as Munaf made the difference for Mumbai with another double blow, sending back Karthik and Ryan Harris in the 19th over.

Ganguly stars in Pune win !

Ganguly was unconquered on 32 when Pune won the match by six wickets.

Deccan's batting failed again, as they could only muster 136/8. Duminy top scored with 30. Teja also scored 30 and none of the other batsmen impressed.

For Pune, Ryder scored 35, Ganguly was 32 not out and M Pandey top scored with 49. Even though Uthappa and Yuvraj perished for 1 and 2, Pune reached the target of 137, for the loss of just 4 wickets.

Ganguly got an opportunity to silence his critics by a classic unconquered innings to guide Pune to an emphatic win by six wickets over the powerful Deccans.

He was unbeaten on 32 off 32 balls, as Pune overcame the Deccan score with ten balls to spare.

Mitchell Marsh came in the limelight with his brilliant 4/25, which restricted the Deccans to 136/8. Ryder's blistering 35 off 20 balls and Pandey's 49 paved the way for the Pune victory.

All eyes were riveted on Ganguly, as he strode to the wicket at the fall of Ryder. He did not disappoint his fans, as he batted sensibly and responsibly to take Pune home. After his return, Pune had won both the matches. It seems Pune is inspired by his knowledge and experience.

Ganguly joined Pandey, who was just two year old, when Ganguly made his debut for India. Both played responsibly - sanity is all that is needed - and brought home the bacon !

With three glorious fours and a mighty six off Mishra, Ganguly had proved that he is not over the hill !

137 was a humble score to chase, and Pune got it with Pandey's aggression, Ryder's brilliance and Ganguly's solidity !

Christian sent back Uthappa and Yuvraj, but Pandey and Ganguly held fort.

It was not a good start for Warriors as Dhawan and Teja put on fifty in six overs to set the tone for a fighting total.

Besides Marsh, Yuvraj took two wickets. Dhawan was out to Yuvraj, the first breakthrough for the team. Teja cut and drove Wagh for two consecutive fours and when B Kumar came, he blasted him for four. Dhawan lofted two into the stands. Yuvraj put a brake to the threatening partnership, sending back Dhawan.

Rahul Sharma proved his calibre , when he got rid of the dangerous Sanga. It is obvious that he is a player of the future !

Yuvraj accounted for Christian and M Marsh accounted for Duminy, who scored 30 off 30 balls !

Chennai prove regal again !

Dhoni's brutal assault on the Royals paid off. Also Vijay's classic 50. And professional bowling by the Kings proved to be curtains for the Royals. Chennai moved to the second position of the IPL Table., with seven wins from 11 matches, with 14 points.

A mammoth 196/3 was posted and bowlers led by Bollinger ( 3/22), shot out Rajastan for 133.

M Hussey scored 46 off 30, Raina 43 off 27 and Vijay with his brilliant stroke play scored 53 off 40 balls to post that formidable score.

Dhoni smashed three mighty sixes and three fours. Vijay hit three sixes and two fours. Hussey hit the fence eight times and Raina six times.

Rahane scored 52 off 36 balls. Rajastan needed a flying start badly which their openers Dravid and Watson could not give them.

Albie Morket removed the in form Ross Taylor, dealing a great blow to the Royals, who were smarting at the loss of the openers. The remaining Royals batsmen buckled under pressure, with the solitary exception of Rahane.

The Royals were 70/4 in the tenth over and Rahane tried to redeem Rajastan, even though he could not threaten the Kings.

The home crowd appreciated Rahane's effort and applauded the youngster, who scored 52. Rahane hooked, pulled and cut the Chennai bowlers, reviving hopes of a turnaround in the Royal fortunes.

Rahane hit Bravo for two consecutive fours and his cut past point, was a glorious shot worth going miles to see.

Rahane swept Ashwin for four, but the scholar-bowler ( a BTech, Ashwin has just joined MBA ) fought back to end the innings of Watson. Trying to sweep, Watson top edged Ashwin into the hands of Jakati. Then Morkel shot out Taylor with a fast widish delivery and Royals were reeling royally !

The exciting prospect, Ashok Menaria, fell to the guiles and wiles of Ashwin. Rahane's shots saw Rajastan past the 100 mark, but then he ran more or less out of partners.

The home crowd was shocked when Raina took a brilliant catch to signal the end of Rahane. Then Raut hit a six and a four , before he rah himself out and Chennai won the match by 63 runs !

Ganguly's presence affects turnaround ?

Sourav may not have played for Pune but his presence seems to have electrified the team. He is hungry for revenge and his team Pune turned around yesterday with a win, having lost seven consecutive matches.

Both desperate teams, Pune and Punjab locked horns yesterday and they beat Punjab by five wickets. Sourav appears pleased and he will go all out to prove a point ! His knowledge and experience will definitely benefit Pune Warriors !

Punjab were restricted to a mere 119/8, after the hosts opted to bat. As it was a small target, Yuvraj finished the game with a blistering knock of 35 off 15 balls. Pandey ( 28) and Ryder ( 15) raced to a good start, by adding 32 runs.

Bhatt removed Uthappa (22) and Ryder but Yuvraj consolidated with his fiery performance.

Yuvraj hit Bhatt for two fours and two sixes, 22 runs in the 15th over.

Rahul Sharma again bowled superbly and gave only 17 runs in his four overs and removed Gilchrist (3) and Valthaty ( 23). Mitchell Marsh, the younger brother of Shaun Marsh and the son of Geoff Marsh, took two wickets along with Parnell and B Kumar. Shaun Marsh ( 32) and Karthik ( 30 ) and Valthaty played well, but perished in the twenties and the thirties.

Can a batsman finish the game in one over ?

One over. 37 runs off that with four sixes and one four. The unhappy bowler was Tursker's Prashant and Gayle the perpetrator. Scoring a whirlwind 44 runs off just 16 balls, with five sixes and three fours, Gayle finished Kochi and Prashant !

Bangalore were in dire straits when Gayle arrived instead of Dirk Nannes. Gayle has turned around the fortunes of Bangalore with two great centuries and other whirlwind knocks. He has so far hit 26 sixes and 31 boundaries and he can carry Bangalore into the semi finals single handed !

Kochi fared badly and could only score 119, setting a modest target of 120 for Gayle & Co to finish it off !

The D/L method floors Chennai again !

Dhoni and others had criticised the D/L method. Here they are, at the receving end, again !

In a rain affected match in Kolkotta, Kolkotta made 114/4 and then Chennai were 61/2, when rain stopped play again.

Kallis remained cool and unbeaten on 21 off 23 balls, when Manoj Tiwari was 15 not out from 12 balls. Earlier Kolkotta had lost Eoin Morgan ( 5 ) and Gambhir ( 16 ).

In the afternoon, rain had affected play and the match was delayed by an hour.
Iqbal Abdulla ( 4-0-15-1) and Brett Lee ( 4-0-8-0) bowled superbly, using the conditions of the rain affected pitch well. Chennai were restricted to 114/1, after they opted to bat first. Badrinath smashed 54 off 41 balls before he ran himself out in the last ball of the innings. Albie Morkel hit 30 off 30 balls and partnered Badrinath in a stand of 65. Lee and Abdulla ensured that the Chennai batsmen could not score fast.

Abdulla accounted for M Viay for 5 and Lee gave only five runs in his first three overs. In overcast conditions, Lee and Abdulla bowled in the right areas and the Chennai batsmen found it difficult to score off them easily.

M Hussey, Raina and Vijay scratched and could not get going and Chennai ended up at 114/4. Yousuf Pathan accounted for Raina's scalp and Chennai couldnt race to a high total.

Mumbai overcome Delhi

Mumbai beat Delhi by 32 runs and zoomed to the first position on the leaderboard, with 16 points from 10 games. They have booked a berth in the last four stage of IPL 2011.

On the contrary, Delhi is out of the May 24-25 play off race and are down in the Points Table at the seventh position.

Inserted in to bat, Mumbai was off to a speedy start, with their opener Aiden Blizzard smashing 37 in 23 balls. And then a great partnership between Rayudu and R Sharma took them to a mammoth 178/4 ! Rayudu top scored with 59 and Sharma 49.

When Delhi chased, they were shattered initially and were 4/3 ! They lost Sehwag cheap, but then V Rao ( 37) and Hopes ( 56) took them to respectability, but to no avail, as Mumbai won by 32 runs.

The visitors were bowled out for 146 in 19.5 and went to their seventh defeat in eleven games.

A clinical and professional bowling display by the No 1 favourites ( Mumbai ) saw the Delhites tottering. They choked and sent Warner, Sehwag and Ingram within the first three overs. Bajji dismissed Warner with the fifth ball of the innings and soon Delhi slumped to seven for four !

Malinga's terrific yorker shattered the stumps of Ingram and then the unsung hero, Munaf Patel, sent back Sehwag and Ojha to find Delhi reeling at 4/3.

Hopes did the repari work with a brilliant 50. He was let off by M Patel off the formidable Slinga Malinga, when he was on 23. At last he was run out in the 17th over, after a mix up with Irfan.

Earlier Irfan clean bowled Tendulkar cheap.

Kulkarni bowled V Rao for 37 Rao had hit a six and four fours in his 27 ball knock. Irfan threatened with a 23 but then he was yorked by Slinga Malinga. That was more or less curtains for Delhi.

Pollard, Bajji, Munaf and Malinga got two wickets each

Blizzard slammed 8 fours and was severe on Morne Morkel. He hit him for five fours in one over, four of them off successive deliveris. Mumbai scored 102 in the last ten overs. Tendulkar drove Pathan and Agarkar for fours, but was bowled by Irfan when he tried a wild heave. Blizzard was sent to the paviliion by left arm spinner Nadeem, as he mistimed a pull shot. Then Rayudu and Sharma took over and Mumbai coasted to 178/4.

BCCI to get 1000 cr INR from IPL IV

BCCI will get 1000 crores from IPL 2011.

Sony will make 939 cr INR this year from IPL IV. 198 cr of that will go to BCCI.

The ad rates are 3.5 lk per ten second slots and there are 52 advertisers now. 80% of inventory is sold.

This is great from the BCCI's perspective. IPL has become very popular, challenging serials and has got excellent TRPs of more than 5.2.

Gayle smashes Punjab

A player can dominate a match. As Sehwag proved, Gayle also proved. A blistering hundred and that was curtains for Punjab.

Gilchrist hailed Gayle's knock as phenomenal.

"That was a phenomenal knock. The wicket was doing a bit and he did not get bat on ball for 10 balls. Then he took the game away from us. We were shell-shocked actually"
said Gilchrist after the match, praising Gayle's 107.

Gayle smashed nine sixes and ten fours in his 49 ball knock and Gilchrist said his side was chasing more than 230, when Gayle was going strong.

"It is a small ground, there were a few mishits from Gayle that carried over. We pulled back a little bit. It looked like they would get 230-240, but it was all too much for us" .

"He (Gayle) came back to take lazy three wickets. He has brought a good change for his team. We play again in two days, have got to try and fire up again" said the Aussie.

Vettori was delighted that his side had entertained the crowd with a brilliant batting display.

"Almost the perfect T20 game. It was amazing to score a hundred (by Gayle) in that fashion. The wicket was not an easy one to bat on" said Vettori.

"The big thing for us was our fielding. If we do that, everything falls in place. Gilchrist''s run-out first ball made it easier for us. Aravind has been a really good find for us" the NZer said.

Gayle confessed that he is unpredictable.

"Things will happen when I am out there. I am unpredictable and got to try and enjoy the IPL It was difficult wicket, the ball was doing a lot for a couple of overs. It was a good team effort, Virat (Kohli) came in and supported me.

"The key actually is to pick your areas. It is not all about slogging, you have to target particular bowlers. I wanted to bat through the end but it did not happen. AB de Villiers got us past 200" said Gayle who also shone with the ball, taking three wickets.

Punjab could only score 120/9 in reply. Gayle had finished them psychologically, being an impact player. Gilchirst was out for a blob and only Valthaty, Harris and Karthik could get double figures, in reply to the formidable KKR score of 205/6.

Sehwag demolishes Deccans

With a superb display of batting hitting 119 off 56 balls with 13 fours and six sixes, Sehwag simpley destroyed the bowling of the Deccans.

DDD were 25/3 and then Sehwag took over the responsibilty. He had taken DDD to victory with a superb innings. Sehwag proved that Fortune favours the brave. A coup
le of catches were dropped and DDD capitalised on that.

When he wsa out in the 17th over, the Deccans came up to congratulate him.

Steyn removed Finch for a duck and Ishant removed Ojha for 7 and Rao for 3 to reduce DDD to 25/3.

Viru said that the target of 176 was not impossible and if he batted 16 overs, he knew he could do it.

"I was always telling my boys that if a set batsman can bat for 15-16 overs, any target is achievable for players like myself, Sachin Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist" said the formidable blaster."

Sehwag was not at all bothered when Sharma and Steyn reduced DDD to 25/3.


"Steyn and Ishant are both world-class bowlers. I was telling myself that if I can just manage to see off their first spell, I will be in a position to attack their fifth bowler which is the weaklink. Also I knew that I would be able to handle Amit Mishra as I have practised a lot against him at the nets" said he.

He had missed a century earlier at Uppal, but then he did not want to miss one here.

"I didn't want to miss out on a century this time" said the new wearer of the Orange Cap, having scored 422 runs.

On the contrary, Sanga was remorseful that DC had floored two catches off Sehwag.

"Well, I reckon you have to take catches in order to win matches"

"Viru batted excellently but then 175 was a very good score on this track. Our fielding wasn't upto the mark and we suffered because of that" said the mighty Lankan.

Tuskers trample Riders

Great bowling performances by Raiphi, Prashant, Sreeshant and V Kumar made Kochi win.

A glorious 22 runs off the last over of Brett Lee by fellow Aussie Brad Hodge lifted Kochi to a respectable 156. Hodge hit Lee for two sixes and two fours in the last over. That over made all the difference, admitted Gambhir after the match, as Kochi triumphed by 17 runs.

Earlier Eoin Morgan's half century went in vain as the Tuskers trampled upon the Knights with a clinical bowling and fielding performance.

Y Pathan, Gambhir, Kallis all perished in the run chase. Kallis had his stumps shattered by a slow leg cutter from Raiphi and in the next ball Gambhir was out to Raiphi. Kolkotta 69/0 at one stage with Kallis and Morgan going strong were 69/2. Raiphi had brought Kochi back into the match.

Morgan slammed 8 fours and 2 sixes in a blistering display of batting, hitting the Kochi bowlers to all parts of the field. Morgan took the attack to the bowler's end, as the fall of the two wickets did not deter him. Morgan clobbered R P for a four and a six then blasted V Kumar for two fours. Morgan broke the shackles after Tiwari departed, blasting Sreshant for a six and a four to accumulate 13 runs in that over.

When 31 runs was required in the last two overs, Morgan and Y Pathan tried to accelerate the scoring, but that only ended in Morgan's run out. The Mahela took a great catch to send back Pathan and then it was more or less curtains for the Riders.

Earlier, Mahela led from the front, with a stylish 55 off 41 balls, with two fours and two sixes, while Hodge smashed 35 off 19. The other batsman to impress was Klinger, who scored 29. Mahela added 50 runs with Michael Klinger. For KKR, Unadkat finished with 2/29, Y Pathan 1/16 and Bhatia 1/22.

Brendon departed early caught at slip off Undkat. P Patel clobbered Lee for two fours in the third over and then Unadkat dismissed him with a ball which lured the w k to miscue a pull shot. Then Klinger and Mahela did the repair work with some good batting. Mahela crossed 1000 runs in the IPL yesterday. Klinger's tenure at the crease was cut short by Y Pathan and Kochi were in dire straits.

Mahela completed his half century in the 19th over with a four towards point off Kallis. But a mix up with Hodge and the Sri Lankan went back to the pavilion.

Kochi score 156

Great batting by Mahela ( 55 ) and Hodge ( 35 ) helped Kochi to score 156 againt KKR.

Kochi had a disastrous start, when McCullum was out to Unadkat for 1 and then Patel was out to Unadkat for 21, which sent Kochi reeling at 30/2. Mahela did the repair work and his 55 was studded with 2 sixes and 2 fours. Brad Hodge also hit two sixes and three fours in his 35.

Kolkotta raced off to a great start and are now 56/0, with Kallis and Morgan unconquered off 8.4 overs. Kallis is on 38 and Morgan 16.

Chennai prove to be Kings

What regal batting ! M Hussey with 79 not out and Raina 61 powered Chennai to a 8 wicket victory over hapless RR.

RR started magnificently with the openers, Dravid and Watson putting on 86 off 10 overs. Watson was out to Jakati and then a collapse started and Royals were 147/6 ! Chennai blasted 149 for the loss of just wickets. The Royal's hopes were dashed by a burst from Albie Morkel who claimed 2 wickets in one over. When Dravid and Watson were going strong, a 200 plus total seemed strong. For a change, Dravid dominated the stand and Watson had to play second fiddle. The CSK bowling wilted under pressure and then Jakati changed the game when he came on to bowl, claiming the wicket of Watson. Aswin and Ranadiv claimed wickets and then RR fell to an abysmal 147.

A scintillating 137 run partnership for the second wicket between Raina and Hussey changed the game. Botha trapped Vijay for 5 and Chennai were not off to a bright start. But the in form Raina came in to partner Hussey and their great partnership brought home the bacon for Chennai. Both compiled their third half centuries and even though Raina departed before the close, Hussey hit the winning runs and Chennai had won four consecutive matches !

Pune lose for the seventh consecutive time !

It is LLLLLLL for Pune now, their seventh successive defeat. Mumbai's bowling proved to be formidable, as they restricted Pune to 139/7.

Earlier Mumbai scored 160/7 after being inserted into bat and T Suman smashed 36 off 16 balls and Keiron Pollard hit a magnifienct 29 to post a mammoth total of 8 per over.

Malinga led the Mumbai attack with the figures of 3/25, followed by Bajji ( 1/17), M Patel ( 1/30) and Pollard ( 1/36).

When Pune chased 161. Jesse Ryder was out first ball to Bajji. Manish Pandey became the Man of the Hour with a brilliant 59 but then that could not save hapless Pune, who have now lost seven matches in a row. Pune and Kochi can be excused as they are inexperienced in IPL.

Pandey's 59 came off 47 balls and it was simply blitzkreig. Uthappa remained unbeaten with 34 off 26 and these two resisted the Mumbai attack. Yuvraj hit two sixes but then got out to a Malinga bouncer, held brilliantly by Munaf.

Earlier, Mumbai was just 65 off 10 overs but then a hero emerged, T Suman, who blasted three sixes and three fours. It was Pollard's brilliance (29 off 21 ) which saw Mumbai reach a respectable 160!

Rahul Sharma bowled superbly with figures of 4-0-7-2 but then his great work was neutrallised by Pollard and Suman. Yuvraj dismissed Sachin (24) and Rayudu (27).

Mumbai's opening partnership continued to a problematic, as Sachin's new partner, Blizzard perished in the third over, with the score at 18/1. Then Rayudu and Sachin stepped up the run rate. Rayudu hooked Taylor and then scooped him for two fours to increase the run rate. Sachin glanced and edged Wagh for fours and took Mumbai to 49/1. Uthappa failed to run out Sachin. Yuvraj then came back into the attack and removed Sachin, who was caught by J Ryder. In 35 balls, Sachin had put on 40 runs off 35 balls with Rayudu. Rayudu holed out off Yuvraj and then Suman and Pollard took over. R Sharma also holed out. Suman hit Thomas for two consecutive fours and then hit him fo six in the 16th over and Mumbai was in the driver's seat. Ultimately Suman holed out to Rahul and was caught by Manhas. Then Pollard hit two fours and a six off Thomas and Mumbai reached 160.

Yousuf lofts Kolkotta to victory !

A blistering 47 not out by Yousuf Pathan sent the Deccans to another defeat, despite Shikhar Dhawans' fighting half century.

170 was a chasable total, but the Deccans made a mess of it. When they lost four wickets for 70 runs, it was more or less curtains for them. But then Shikhar Dhawan was unconquered and he along with Teja smashed 55 runs off 31 balls to keep Deccan in the hunt.

Iqbal Adbullah took two wickets in one over, as he removed both Sohal and Sangakara. Then Rajat Bhatia removed two more to put Kolkotta on course to victory.

Earlier, Yousuf tried his chance and blasted three fours and three sixes in a magnificent 47 not out off just 26 deliveries. He was let off twice by the butterfingered Deccans !

With in form Manoj Tiwari ( 33 off 28 balls), he added 80 runs in just eight overs for the fourth wicket which laid the base of the formidable Kolkotta score.

Gambhir and Kallis also made good contributions, scoring 35 off 22 and 30 off 31 respectively.

With this win, KKR zoomed to the top of the table, with 12 points from nine matches while Deccan is at the seventh postion with six points from as many matches.

In the first five overs, Sohal and Dhawan raced to 38, before Abdullah struck twice to remove Sohal and Sanga.

Sohal was the most aggressive, blasting three fours in his 26 off 20 balls.

Boucher told Bhatia to bowl a slow leg cutter and he obliged and Cameroon White's misery ended as that leg cutter shattered his stumps.

Daniel Chrisitan was adjudged leg before three balls later. Then Dhawan and Teja got into the rescue act with a half century stand with Kallis and Lee bowling for Kolkotta, the asking rate proved to be too much for the Bulls !

Brett Lee shattered the stumps of Teja and Kallis clean bolwed Dhawan in the next over, spelling curtains for the Deccans !

Put in to bat, KKR raced to a great start, 36 off 5.4 overs before Christian sent the stumps of Eoin Morgan flying. Gambhir and Kallis played well and then Yousuf Pathan, one of the most dangerous batsmen in T20 cricket, took over !

Punjab fail to destroy Mumbai fortress !

Again Sachin and Rayudu proved they are in great form by blasting fifites and Mumbai scored a good 159/5 and then restricted Punjab to 136/8, with the help of Slinga Malinga and Musa Patel ! Both two wickets.

Valthaty scored a useful 33 and Shaun Marsh was the best of the Punjab batsmen. He scored 61 with eight fours.

Mumbai opened with Bajji and Bajji trapped Gilchrist lbw. Punjab 1/1 ! Then came the partnership that mattered for Punjab, as Marsh and Valthaty took the score to 73, when Valthaty was caught Pollard off Symonds. He hit two mighty sixes and one four. Then the procession of batsmen began, with Punjab collapsing to 136/8! Shaun Marsh, with his brilliant 61, was out when the score was 131 and it was more or less curtains for Punjab !

For Mumbai, Davy Jacobs was out ten when the score was 14 and then the in form Rayudu joined Sachin. Both took the score to 109, when Rayudu was caught by Karthik off Chawla. Sachin was eventually out when he was on 51, caught Nayar off Harris.

Keiron Pollard was out for 20 and Rohit for 18 and Mumbai ended up with 159/5 ! Sachin is now the wearer of the Orange Cap ( they better change the color as Tuskers are orange ), with 327 runs, ahead of Sehwag ( 303 ) and Valthaty ( 301) !

Prashant & Co jolt Delhi in Delhi !

Great bowling by Prashant Parameswaran and Vinay Kumar restricted Delhi to 140/6 and then attacking batting by McCullum and Patel took the game away from Delhi.

"Who is this guy?" asked Sehwag about Prashant and his team mates replied that he is a new guy who has just boarded the bus. Sehwag said that Prashant is a good find for Kochi and for India.

Prashant was hit for six by Sehwag but then he came back to take the edge of the Delhi marauder and Delhi had lost their prime batsman. Sehwag, who had scared Kochi with two fours off R P Singh, was back in the pavilion and Kochi had struck early. Naman Ojha hit Prashant for a six and a four. Warner's innings was needed by Delhi but he miscued Sreeshant and Delhi were two down. RP then took the wicket of Ojha and Delhi had lost 3 wickets for 40 odd runs.

It was left to V Rao and Nagar to retrieve the innings and 17 balls went without a single boundary. Then at 97, Nagar was out to V Kumar and Prashant came back to claim the prize wicket of Venugopal Rao, who was out for 40. The Delhi innings ended at 140.

Micheal Klinger and Brendon smashed the hapless Delhi bowlers to all parts of the ground and Kochi raced to 61/0 in quick time. Then McCullum was out to Morkel and Kochi were 61/1. Klinger was out at 71 to van der Merwe and then Parthiv Patel took over. Mahela was run out by Nagar and that was the last success which Delhi got, as Patel and Hodge took Kochi to victory. 140 was not a defendable total !

Kings prevail over Bulls !

A blistering 50 off 22 balls, with four sixes. This is the innings of Sunny Sohal and DC are 65/0.

Earlier Albie Morkel hit 3 consecutive sixes in the death, as CSK amassed 165!

In trying to reverse sweep, Sunny Sohail hits his own wicket and is out for 56 !That is inexperience, nothing else, but what a great innings !


Chennai scored 165 and Deccan chased 166. The Bulls were off to an explosive start with Sunny Sohal hitting the CSK bowlers to all parts of the field. A devastating 56 with six fours and four sixes held the stadium spellbound. Mind you, it was off just 30 balls ! The Bulls raced to 71 for no loss, off just 6.4 overs, thanks to the big hittting Sohal.

Dhoni, known for his brilliant captaincy and bowling changes, created havoc in the opposition as Albie Morke ( 3/38 ), Doug Bollinger ( 2/26 ) and Ashwin ( 0/23) bowled well in the death overs. With this win, CSK moved to the fourth place in the IPL Table.

Sohal scored the fastest fifty in IPL 2011, off just 24 deliveries, with a flat batted six off Ashwin. Unorthodox in approach, he hung his bat and got a four but fell to the ground in the process !

Short stuff deterred him not, as he made room moving towards leg stump to blast Morkel. The pace of his innings can be judged from the fact that his senior partner, Shikhar Dhawan, could not reach double figures, when Sohal had blasted 50 ! Dhawan tried to hit Jakati and holed out. Chipli was out to Morkel and Sohal also got out and then DC were in the doldrums.

Sanga could only mkae 15 He was bowled middle stump by Bollinger. It was more or less curtains for DC !

Earlier Albie Morkel hit three consecutive sixes off Ishant and starred with a brilliant all round performance. A superb half century by Raina saw Chennai at a comortable 165/5. In the last five overs, CSK smashed 69 runs, with Raina as the blaster.

CSK won the toss and batted. Vijay and Hussey made a quiet start but Prajnan Ojha ( 3/26) dismissed Vijay.Ojha angled on into Vijay, who was scratching on the slow pitch so far and this ended his misery. 'Mr Dependable' was ever dependable and was about to score another fifty when a long hop from Harmeet was hit by him into the throat of Ishant !

Dhoni lofted one into the stands and then got out at 21, trying to accelerate the rate ! Raina scored his fifty off just 31 balls and with Dhoni added 58 runs in 5.2 overs and he went the way of Dhoni, holing out in the deep !

Kings fight history and Bulls odds !

At Chepauk, it will be a regal battle between the Bulls ( DC ) and the Kings ( CSK ).

DC has beaten CSK in all the matches at Chepauk. Hence Chennai is fighting history !

The fury of the Bull has been unleashed and Sanga and his men have bounced back to resurrect their campaign in IPL 2011 ! They now look forward to beat the lion in his den.

Both are good bowling sides.Steyn and Sharma form a formidable pace duo, with Sharma in superb form, having destroyed the Tuskers with 5/12! Chennai on the other hand has a great spin trio in Ashwin, Ranadiv and Jakati.

DC has a strong bowling attack, conceded Fleming, the CSK coach. But he said they are not wary of Steyn and Ishant.

Noting that the Chepauk pitch will be on a slower side, the elegant NZer said " Though I am not comfortable with the inconsistent showing of our team, I have faith that they will get only better from this point. The last two games have been rewarding and we will be looking to continue in the same vein".

"D C are a good unit. They are a good travelling side who have gelled well under Darren Lehman's guidance. They have quite some depth in their bowling department".

Hurricane Taylor spearheads Royal win

Pune lost Ryder out to Botha and are 27/1 !

Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa are at the crease now.

Uthappa was dismissed by Warne for 35 and now Pune are 77/2, with Pandey on an unbeaten 23.

Earlier Rajastan won the toss and inserted Pune into bat !

Pandey falls for 30 off 31 balls and Yuvraj was run out by Trivedi for 7 and Pune are tottering at 103/4 off 15.1 overs!

The batsmen who came later like H Singh, N McCullum and Manhas could not impress much and Pune finished at 143/7.

Ross Taylor was 44 not out when the Royals reached 144/4. A royal win !

An unconquered 47 by Taylor saw the Royals home. He batted royally for 47 in an edge of the seat thriller !

He was helped by Lady Fortune, when he was dropped at 31. Four boundaries and two sixes flowed off his bat and with Rahane he put of 52 runs for the unseparated fifth wicket!

At one stage, it looked as if Pune will beat the LLLLL streak , with the asking rate rising to 11 by the 16th over but Rahane and Taylor showed the necessary sang froid and presence of mind with a match winning fifth wicket partnership.

Royals have gone to the top of the IPL Table with eleven points from nine matches, ahead of KKR and MI.

Rahul Sharma was the pick of the Pune bowlers, as he took 3/13.

144 runs to win and Royals started disastrously, losing Dravid and Watson with only 40 on the board. Had Manish Pandey held on to a catch in the first over, the story would have been different. Watson survived but could not stay long, as Thomas found his outside edge. Dravid struggled as usual and was dropeed by Harpreet in the sixth over. Again his miserable luck continued as he was caught and bowled by Rahul Sharma. (We have said in our columns that he is running a bad time astrologically, the period of the negative 8th and 3rd lord, Venus ) Botha was out when the score was 59/3, Maneria hit 3 sixes in his 29, but the asking rate went to more than 10 by the end of the 15th over.

Then Ross Taylor took over. He committed mayhem on the bowlers, reminiscent of the great century he smashed off the hapless Pakis in the World Cup. He survived a chance when Nathan McCullum dropped him when he was on 31. Taylor smashed Karthik in the 16th over with two fours and a six and the asking dropped to 9 per over.

In the last two overs, Rajastan needed 19 runs and Taylor hit a huge six in the last but one to take the game away from Pune. Young Rahane hit the winning run and Rajastan coasted to their third win on the trot.

Ishant exceptional : Sanga

Ishant was simply magnificent, says Sanga, about Ishant's great spell of 5/12. He mixed pace with swerve !

Other DC bowlers also deserve credit. Amit Mishra bowled his leg breaks beautifully and skillfullly, even on seamer's pitches. Our win against the Tuskers was a much needed one, as we reach the mid point of this IPL season. It was also well deserved.

At one stage we looked set for 145 but I still feel the 130 target was competitive.

The key thing for us was to get Mahela and Brendon out if the first six overs or so. We knew the damage both could do and we were desperate to strike early. Dale Steyn's brilliant first over was the perfect start.

Ishant has been bowling better and better in this tournament and his spell was exceptional. The pitch was tailor made for a bowler of his type and he fully capitalised on it, hitting the deck hard and putting the ball in the right areas. The delivery to get Mahela was a peach. It was the genius of Amit Mishra which got the in form R Jadeja out !

IPL can boost economy : CPPR study

The Center for Public Policy Researh has said that the cricket carnival IPL can be a revenue source for the ailing public transportation sector of Kochi, if all stake holders take a concerted effort.

Covering the impact of IPL on retail, hospitality and tourism, and also local economy, the study has completed the first phase and has given suggestions to improve transportation facilities to generate more revenue.

Fans from all over the state will flock to the formidable Kochi stadium, with KTK team in the fray.

Kochi had over 650 buses plying along, out of which 150 surrendered permits due to heavy losses. This scenario can be changed if the authorities launch initiative to cash in on the IPL boom. Since the Kochi stadium can house a minimum of 50 K people, city buses can be used effectively to faciliate the smooth movement of people from the stadium, says the study.

The buses can be allowed to make extra services in accordance with timings of the match. 19500 INR can be generated as extra revenue for A/C buses and 16400 INR for non A/C buses. per match day. This, if implemented, can give relief to the ailing transportation sector, averrs the study