Royal March by Rajasthan Royals to reach the Finals

Royal March by Rajasthan Royals to reach the Finals : The Rajasthan Royals became the first team to reach the finals of the inaugural IPL as they registered a thumping win over the Delhi Daredevils in the semi-finals played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

The Daredevils were outplayed in all departments of the game by the Royals and lost miserably by a margin of 105 runs.

Sehwag tonight won the toss for the Daredevils and invited the Royals to bat first. The Royals took up the challenge as their opening pair of Graeme Smith and Swapnil Asnodkar got down to the business. They both gave a flying start to the innings with Smith scoring 25 runs in 21 balls and Asnodkar making a brisk 39 before getting back to the pavilion.

It was Watson again who took the reigns in his hands in the mid overs to launch an attack on the Daredevils. He inflicted a massive six to a YoMahesh delivery to land it, along with the hopes of Delhi, on the rooftops of the stadium. While Watson kept on with his assault to score another fifty, Yusuf Pathan was the one who literally turned the screws on Delhi team. He played a stunning knock of 45 off just 41 balls to ensure a mamoth total of 191 for the Royals.

The hopes of the Delhi Daredevils now rested heavily on the shoulders of the openers in Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, as they commenced their reply. It was inevitable for them to provide a sound start to their endeavour. However, Sehwag proved to be a disappointment as he tried to pull a Watson delivery only to find Tanvir at deep fine leg.

This blow seemed to be unrepairable for the Delhi team as wickets tumbled regularly, resulting in a total batting collapse for the Daredevils. they found themselves on their knees as they managed a meagre total of 86/10. The might of the Royals eventually proved too great for the Daredevils.

Shane Watson won the Man of the Match award for his all-round performance.
The DLF sixes award went to Yusuf Pathan for his four sixes.

Rajasthan thus awaits the winner of the second semi-finals to be played between the Chennai Super Kings and the Kings XI, Punjab.

Kings XI Punjab overwhelmed by Chennai Super Kings

Kings XI Punjab overwhelmed by Chennai Super Kings : In yet another thrilling encounter, the Kings XI Punjab faced defeat against the Chennai Super Kings. It was a sterling performance by Laxmipathy Balaji which made the difference between the two rivals. Balaji, in the process, registered the first hat-trick of the IPL.

The hosts Chennai were invited to bat first on the sleeping beauty of the M A Chidambaram Stadium - Chepauk by Yuvraj Singh, the captain of the Punjab side. Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and Stephen Fleming opened the innings for Chennai. They were unable to provide the Super Kings with the desired start and it was left to Suresh Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath to consolidate the innings.

Just when it seemed that the two were settling down in an useful partnership, Raina got out caught by Marsh off the bowling of Piyush Chawla. He made 26 from 17 balls and the score for Chennai read 64/3 in 6.5 overs.

Badrinath was then joined by his captain, M S Dhoni. They both played sensibly, to ensure a decent tally for their team. In an innings of 64 off 47 deliveries faced by Badrinath, he smashed 6 fours and 3 sixes. By the time Badrinath departed, in the 18th over, the Super kings had already posted 157/4.

Dhoni, tonight, played a captain's knock to score 60 off 43 which comprised of 2 hits to the boundary and 4 sixes. In the concluding overs, however, the Kings XI bowlers made a gallant effort to restrict the Chennai tally to 181/4 in 20 overs.

In reply to the huge target posted by the Super Kings, the visitors began their chase with the in-form Shaun Marsh and James Hopes. Marsh, continued with his good run in the tournament and swiftly reached to his second half century, scoring 58 off 38 ball hitting 3 fours and 4 sixes.

Apart from him, Sarvan made 20 from 22 as the middle order lost its way to the target. A partnership between Irfan Pathan and Piyush chawla tried its bit to rectify the situation. Pathan played a scintilating knock 40 from just 18 deliveries with 3 fours and 3 towering sixes. But as it turned out the target eventully proved to be too high for the Kings XI as they could manage 163/9 in 20 overs, 18 short of the target.

Laxmipathy Balaji was adjudged Man of the Match for his effort of a 5/24 in his 4 overs which included the first hat-trick in the IPL.

Shaun Marsh and M S Dhoni shared the DLF sixes award.

The Chennai Super Kings thus marched ahead of the Kings XI in the points table.

An emphatic win for Rajasthan Royals

An emphatic win for Rajasthan Royals : The Hyderabad team today commenced their game on a thumping note, with a strong start provided by their openers after being sent into bat by the Rajasthan Royals. They however, failed to capitalise on the momentum and eventually went down by 8 wickets to the Jaipur team.

Shane Warne, the captain of the Royals, once again found luck with the coin and promptly decided to bowl first on the home track of Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Adam Gilchrist and Harschelle Gibbs opened for the Deccan Chargers to provide a flying start to the innings. The duo put in 61 runs in just 8 overs before Gibbs departed scoring 19 runs.

Gilchrist was the only batsman who could negotiate the bowling on display by the Rajasthan Royals. He blazed away with 61 runs off 49 balls hitting 9 fours and a six.

There after, it was a story of middle order collapse on the part of Chargers, until Venugopal Rao fought back with an unbeaten knock of 23 from 11 deliveries he faced. The Deccan Chargers ended their run with 140/8 in 20 overs. shane Warne returned with the figures of 2/20 from 4 overs.

In reply to the modest target set by the visitors, the batting from the Royals displayed a professional approach as they paced their innings brilliantly. In a seemingly planned reply, Yusuf Pathan played a dashing knock scoring 68 runs off 37 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes, while on the other end Smith played a responsible supporting role and kept one end going. He made 40 runs from 43 balls before he got out with the team score reading 133/2 in 15.3 overs. He had thus ensured an unbeatable situation for the Royals.

The formalities of the victory were concluded three balls later as the team tally went past the target at 141/2 in 16 overs.

Yusuf Pathan picked up the Man of the Match award for his all round performance.
The DLF sixes award too, was won by Yusuf Pathan.

The Rajasthan Royals regained their first spot in the points tally.

Mumbai Indians score an easy win over Rajasthan Royals

Mumbai Indians score an easy win over Rajasthan Royals : In a match played at the D Y Patil Stadium, the hosts Mumbai Indians registered a convincing win over the Rajasthan Royals.

Put into bat first, the Royals tonight found themselves out of touch as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals against some good display of bowling from the Mumbai Indians.

Graeme Smith and Swapnil Asnodkar opened the innings for the Rajasthan Royals. Smith left early, edging a delivery from Pollock to the wicket-keeper when he was on 5. Next to go was Yusuf Pathan, scoring a solitary run and allowing his stumps being uprooted by an unplayable delivery from Nehra.

Asnodkar on the other end lived dangerously but made a valuable contribution to the team's tally scoring 39 off 36 balls, he faced. He, incidentally, was the highest scorer for the Royals.

Shane Watson got along well with Asnodkar in a partnership, which at one moment spelled trouble for the Indians. It was a smart piece of bowling by Bravo that came to the rescue for the Indians, when Watson attempted a cross-batted shot only to find his timber shattered. Watson made 33 off 20, with the team score reading 74/3 in 8.5 overs.

It was an end to the resistance from Rajasthan as the bowling attack from the Mumbai Indians, there after, dominated the proceedings. They bundled out the Royals for 103/10 in 16.2 overs. Ashish Nehra was the hero for the Mumbai team, finishing with the figures of 3/13 in 3 overs.

The chase from the Mumbai Indians was initiated by a solid start given by their openers. Sanath Jayasuriya and Yogesh Takawale put up an opening stand of 41 in 7.1 overs, before Jayasuriya departed scoring 18 runs. Takawale made 27 off 32 deliveries and was bowled by Shane Warne.

An unbeaten partnership between Robin Utthappa, scoring 34 off 21 and Abhishekh nayar making 12 from 13 balls, saw the Mumbai Indians past the target to finish with 104/3 in 15.1 overs. The Mumbai Indians thus wrapped up their third victory by a margin of 7 wickets.

Ashish Nehra was judged Man of the Match for his spell of 3-0-13-3.

Mumbai climbed up to the fifth spot, while Rajasthan Royals slipped to the second position in the points table.

Third Straight Defeat for Chennai in the IPL

Third Straight Defeat for Chennai in the IPL : Chennai fell flat against a spirited bowling performance by the Deccan Chargers. The Chargers tonight were spereheaded by Adam Gilchrist who led from the front to register the second win by 7 wickets for the Hyderabad team.

Gilchrist won the toss for the Deccan Chargers and invited the hosts to bat first. Chennai began miserably, as Parthiv Patel left in the very first over. Anirudha Srikkantha too, failed to leave any impressions in his first game.

Stephen Fleming was the next man in. He looked to be settling down well until Rohit Sharma created an opportunity for his team, latching onto a full blooded square drive to pull out a stunning catch.

Next, it was Badrinath's turn to return with a duck to his name. The Super Kings found themselves in a dire state at 43 for the lost of four top order batsmen.

It was a 38 run partnership between M S Dhoni and Suresh Raina which rendered some stability to the innings. A flurry of sixes in the concluding overs from Albie Morkel and Manpreet Gony enabled the Super Kings to post a total of 144 in 20 overs.

Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs started the chase for the visitors. Gilchrist displayed his batting skills with a splendid knock befitting his reputation of being able to single-handedly turn the tables around, on his day. He raced to his score of 54 in just 33 balls before he got dismissed. But by then the damage had been inflicted.

A partnership between Scott Styris and Rohit sharma eliminated any further hiccups to the innings. Eventually, Shahid Afridi cocluded the victory for the Deccan Chargers in his trademark style hammering 20 runs in Joginder Sharma's over, the 18th of the innings.

Adam Gilchrist picked the Man of the Match award for his captain's knock.

The Chennai Super Kings lost for the third time in a row, while the Deccan Chargers climbed to the sixth spot in the IPL.

Punjab leaps ahead with its fifth consecutive win

Punjab leaps ahead with its fifth consecutive win : The Kings XI Punjab today registered its fifth consecutive win in the IPL, defeating the Bangalore Royal Challengers by six wickets in a match played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

In a smart move today, Yuvraj Singh invited the Royal Challengers to bat first, after winning the toss. His decision reaped in results from the very first over bowled by Sreesanth as he captured two important wickets to push the home team on the back foot. Wasim Jaffer nicked an out-swinging delivery from Sreesanth, prior to an in-swinger which shattered the stumps of White. Bangalore found itself in deep blue in the first over, itself.

Rahul Dravid was left to battle it out alone for the Bagalore team, as five of their batsmen returned back to the pavilion without opening their account. Dravid fought like a true warrior scoring a brilliant 66 off 51 balls with 9 hits to the fence and one six. He contributed more than half to the total of 126/10 posted by the Royal Challengers.

Dravid played some exquisite shots to show why he is rated amongst the best in the contemperory lot of cricketers, the world over. Apart from Dravid, it was Virat Kohli's innings that needed mention as he stroked well to make 34 from 26 balls he faced.

In reply to the modest target set by the Royal Challengers, the Punjab team displayed a disciplined approach and kept a tight control over the game through out.

Shaun Marsh, once again, set the tone for the chase and scored 39 off 34 before he got out in the 15th over with his team requiring another 21 to win. Ramnaresh Sarvan contributed with a knock of 31 from 29 deliveries, he faced.

The finishing touches to the victory were provided by Mahela Jayavardane, 17 off 21 and Irfan Pathan scoring 17 from 17. Both remained unbeaten and ensured a smooth sail past the target to end with 127/4 in 18.2 overs.

S.Sreesanth was adjudged Man of the Match for his effort of 2/16 in a spell of 4 overs.

The Bangalore team will need to sort out their short-comings to strike a right combination to succeed, before it gets too late.

A royal win for Jaipur on their home soil

A royal win for Jaipur on their home soil : The second match of the day, which promised a lot ended as an onesided affair. The Chennai Super Kings seem to have lost its path, midway in the tournament. They lost miserably, by a margin of 8 wickets at the hands of Rajasthan Royals and were outplayed in every department of the game.

M S Dhoni won the toss for the Super Kings and elected to bat first. Parthiv Patel and Stephen Fleming opened the innings for the Super Kings. For the Royals, it was Sohail Tanvir who commenced the proceedings. He begun his dream run from the very first delivery he bowled, inflicting the first blow and getting Parthiv Patel lbw.

Next on his card was Fleming, who too was plumb lbw. The warriors of the Super Kings failed to put up any resistance against the Royals as they kept fleeing the field one after another.

But for a partnership between Suresh Raina and Albie Morkel, the Super Kings would have lost its fort even before crossing the 3 figure mark. Raina made 27 off 27 balls, while Morkel played a face saving knock to score 42 from 33 deliveries he faced. They eventually, managed to post a total of 109/10 with one over to spare.

Sohail Tanvir recorded the best figures ever of the T20 format finishing with 6 wickets at the expence of just 14 runs from a spell of four overs. He alone made a difference between the two sides as the Super Kings kept fetching for ways to negotiate his attack.

The Royals gave a crushing reply to the target of 110, to be achieved in 20 overs. They wrapped up their victory by 8 wickets in just 14.2 overs with Graeme Smith remaining unbeaten on 35. Swapnil Asnodkar made 32 off 30 balls to provide with an able company to his senior partner.

Sohail Tanvir picked up the Man of the Match award.
The DLF highest sixes award went to Albie Morkel for hitting 4 sixes.

The Super Kings will be required to put in a great deal of thought for its upcoming matches. The game of cricket has once again proved to be a big leveller of sorts.