Daredevils beat Kings XI Punjab
New Delhi: A captain's knock of 72 from Gautam Gambhir helped Delhi Daredevils beat Kings XI Punjab by five wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here Saturday.
Gambhir struck a chanceless 54-ball 72 as Daredevils made 146 in five wickets with one ball to spare. Kings XI made 142 for nine in 20 overs.
Gambhir played a composed innings and helped Daredevils recover from a poor 79 for four by the 13th over. Gambhir slammed hit nine four and a six and by the time he departed in the last over Daredevils were already on the threshold of a win.
Dinesh Karthik (20) and Mithun Manhas (31 not out) also played crucial innings. Manhas hit Irfan Pathan for a four in the penultimate deliver of the innings for the winning runs.
Earlier, Ravi Bopara scored 48-ball 56 that helped Kings XI Punjab post a competitive total of 142 for nine.
Bopara struck seven fours and a six and with Pathan (21) bailed out Kings XI from a precarious 44 for four after 6.1 overs.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara (17) and Sreesanth (15) were the other two batsmen who could get to double digits.
For Dardevils, pacer Dirk Nannes and Farveez Maharoof picked up two wickets each.
Mumbai Indians win by 4 runs
Mumbai: In a really tight finish, the Mumbai Indians Saturday managed to edge out 2008 Champions the Rajasthan Royals by four runs but not before 27-year-old Yusuf Pathan (100; 37 balls, 9x4, 8x6) set the Brabourne Stadium on fire as he struck the fastest century of the IPL.
Pathan’s 100 came off just 37 deliveries and beat Deccan Chargers Captain Adam Gilchrist’s record of 100 in 42 balls against Mumbai Indians made in the inaugural season.
The Deccan Chargers were victors than but the script was different as the Mumbai Indians managed to scramble home this time. However, Pathan’s fantastic effort was in vain, as he was run out in the 18th over, thanks to a superb reflex throw by Rajagopal Satish.
Needing 11 runs for victory in the 20th over, Rajasthan Royal’s lost the plot a little as Paras Dogra (29-ball 41) was also run out and sling bowler Lasith Malinga, who bowled a great death over, castled Amit Uniyal. Thus, the Rajasthan Royals finished at 208/7 after needing 213 runs for victory, set by Mumbai Indians.
``I’m in good form. I enjoyed my batting. The ball came nicely to the bat,’’ said the man of the match Yusuf Pathan.
Chasing the 200-plus target, Rajasthan Royals were off to a bad start at 66/4 in 9.2 overs, including the wicket of the dangerous Graeme Smith, brilliantly caught and bowled by Rajagopal Sathish. But Pathan, who seemed to be in sublime form, turned the game on its head with the fastest century in IPL history.
There were six sixes and two fours in Pathan’s 50, which came off 21 balls. There was drama, excitement and entertainment as Pathan and Dogra started to tear apart the Mumbai Indians bowling.
The two added 107 runs off 79 deliveries before Pathan’s unfortunate dismissal swung the match in favour of the Mumbai Indians. Zaheer Khan and Malinga bowled splendidly at the death to stop the Rajasthan Royals.
Earlier, 24-year-old Ambati Rayudu (33-ball 55; 6x4, 2x6), who made his IPL debut, and young Saurabh Tiwary (53 off 33 balls; 4x4, 2x6) fired the Mumbai Indians to their highest ever score of 212/6, surpassing their previous best of 202/7 (against Chennai Super Kings in 2008). The wristy Rayudu, who shared 110 runs with young Saurabh Tiwary, destroyed the Rajasthan Royals attack.
Both the batsmen reached their 50 with same number of deliveries (30 balls). Rayudu fell to a catch at deep mid-wicket while Tiwary was out thanks to a sensational one-handed effort by wicketkeeper Naman Ojha, who leapt to his left to take the catch.
Mumbai Indians lost Sanath Jayasuriya (23), skipper Sachin Tendulkar (17) and debutant AP Tare (23) after the three had rattled up 70 runs in 6.3 overs before Rayudu-Tiwary led a recovery act for the home side.
An off-colour Shaun Tait, the world’s fastest bowler, was walloped for 46 runs from his four overs while left-arm medium pacer Amit Uniyal, the former ICL player, gave away 41 runs. Skipper Shane Warne went wicketless and conceded 29 runs.
Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar said it was a terrific game. ``It is good start to the season. I really enjoyed Yusuf’s batting,’’ said Tendulkar, who added Rayudu and Tiwary had a good partnership.
Rajasthan Royals Warne described it as one of the best knocks. ``It was one of the best innings I have seen in 21 years,’’ he said.
Sourav Ganguly fined for slow over rate
Mumbai: The Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday advised that Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly has been fined US$20,000 for his team maintaining a slow over rate during Friday night’s opening DLF IPL match against Deccan Chargers at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
At the end of the match, the Knight Riders were assessed to be three overs behind the required rate and under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over rate offences, match referee Andy Pycroft fined Ganguly $20,000.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who were bottom-placed last year, shocked defending champions the Deccan Chargers by 11 runs in the inaugural match of IPL 2010 on Friday.
KKR shock champion Chargers in IPL Opener
Mumbai: Kolkata Knight Riders, who were bottom-placed last year, shocked defending champions the Deccan Chargers by 11 runs in the inaugural match of IPL 2010 at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Friday.
The IPL was back in India and the Sourav Ganguly-led Kolkata Knight Riders rode away to a fantastic victory. After a shaky start in the evening when they were 31 for four, the Kolkata Knght Riders recovered through 130-run unbeaten fifth wicket stand between man of the match Angelo Mathews (65; 46 balls, 5x4, 3x6) and Owasis Shah (58; 46b, 3x4, 3x6). Defending a modest total of 162, KKR restricted the Deccan Chargers to 150/7.
Unlike the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Deccan Chargers were off to a great start as VVS Laxman put on 61 runs in 5.5 overs for the opening wicket with left-hander Adam Gilchrist. Laxman fell to a skier as he tried to clear left-arm spinner Murali Karthik. He was caught and bowled for 14-ball 22.
The busy Gilchrist, who was dropped twice, went on to make 35-ball 54. The former Aussie wicketkeeper-batsman, who slammed 47-ball 109 against Mumbai Indians in 2008, completed his seventh IPL half-century. He reached his 50 with a superb inside-out six to cover region off Brad Hodge. But Hodge had his revenge by having Gilchrist caught at deep mid wicket. Herschelle Gibbs was soon to follow his skipper as he was caught at long off in the next over. The big-hitting Andrew Symonds continued his bad form with the bat. He made five off nine balls before Ishant Sharma had him caught at mid-wicket and Deccan Chargers were suddenly wobbling at 116/4 in 14.1 overs.
The Deccan Chargers, who rode nicely in the first 10 overs, got it all wrong in the next 10 overs. Rohit Sharma was out to a stupid stroke, a forehand tennis shot, after being deceived by a slower one from Mathews, who had a great day in the office. The wickets fell rapidly and the runs dried up. Ganguly’s brilliant captaincy saw the bowlers striking at the crucial phase of the match.
Left-arm medium pacer Chaminda Vaas gave a sensational start to Deccan Chargers and a nightmare start for the Kolkata Knight Riders as he struck with the first delivery of the third edition. Kolkata Knight Riers’s opener Manoj Tiwary holed it out to mid-wicket where Rohit Sharma made no mistake. Then three balls later skipper Sourav Ganguly was snapped at first slip by Anirudh Singh, the former ICL player. A fired-up Vaas had a dream first over 1-1-0-2.
Then the gangling Cheteswar Pujara heaved RP Singh uppishly and was caught at mid-on by Pragyan Ojha. KK were 31 for 3 in 4.4 overs. Jaskaran, the tall Punjab medium pacer, got his first wicket when Hodge (13), one of the top run-getters in Australian domestic circuit, smashed straight to Gibbs, the world’s best fielder, at short point. KK were reduced to 31 for four in 5.1 overs.
The road looked full of obstacles and the Bulls were all charged up. But the England batsman Owasis Shah, who switched sides from Delhi Daredevils to Kolkata Knight Riders in exchange of Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques this season, and the Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews warded off the early danger. They batted steadily and aggressively to take the early momentum away from the Deccan Chargers. Mathews was in punishing mood while Shah preferred to play the anchor’s role with solid batting. The first 10 overs yielded 57 runs. Mathews began shakily with a top-edge six behind the wicketkeeper off Jaskaran.
But thereafter, Mathews adjusted to the conditions nicely and began to take a liking to the bowling. Shah also grew in confidence. The Englishmen, too, joined in the run-riot. The next 10 overs saw Knight Riders galloping away to score 104 runs.``I just kept going and needed to create a partnership with Shah,’’ said Mathews after the end of 20 overs. The two stitched 130 runs for the fifth wicket. Shah, who reached his 50 in the 20th over, praised Mathews. ``Full credit to Mathews. He really played well,’’ said Shah.
Vaas, who has retired from Test cricket, returned with fine figures of 2/22 off four overs. But RP Singh and Jaskaran Singh gave away 35 runs each. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha bowled splendidly, particularly in the middle overs when Mathews and Shah were going great guns. He had the best economic figures of none for 19 in four overs.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly praised Mathews and Shah. ``But we can play better. We dropped a few catches,'' he said.
Chargers captain Gilchrist said that the Kolkata Knight Riders played a smart cricket to win the match. ``It is a long way to go. We will come back,'' he said.