Match 3 : Dare Dveils vs Rajasthan Royals

The Delhi dare devils led by Virender Sehwag took a flying start in their first encounter in IPL. The match was in favour of the Dare Devils right from the beginning and they kept the home crowd at the Feroze Shah Kotla happy! Excellent bowling display spearheaded by Fervez Mahroof restricted the Rajasthan Royals to a paltry score of 129-8 at the end of 20 overs. Wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals and the Royals failed to build any worthy partnership. Mahroof has a wonderful spell and conceded just 11 runs in his alloted four overs and also picked two wickets. He was adjudged the m,an of the match.

A blitzkrieg start by the captain Sehwag failed to take off and he was the first and the only wicket from the Daredevils team to fall. Gautam Gambhir and Shikar Dhawan did the rest and remained unbeaten after scoring their fifties. The home team comfortable won the match by 9 wickets and had almost 5 overs to spare.

It was a thorough one sided affair and the Jaipur team’s captain Shane Warne has said that things will be better when the international players of their team join. For the Dare Devils tough challenges lie ahead and no doubt this was a great opener.

Check out the highlights of match:

BRIEF SCORES:

Rajasthan Royals
Ravindra Jadeja b Daniel Vettori 29 (23)
Dinesh Salunke not out 26(20)

Farveez Maharoof 2-11
Rajat Bhatia 2-17

Delhi DareDevils
Gautam Gambhir not out 58(46)
Shikhar Dhawan not out 52(41)

Shane Watson 1-31
Yusuf Pathan 1-17

RESULT : Delhi Daredevils won by 9 wickets.

Match 2: Kings XI vs Super Kings

This match was expected to be a humdinger of sorts as both the teams were well balanced. The toss was won by Super Kings captain MS Dhoni and without any hesitation, he chose to bat first. The pitch looked a belter of a wicket and the outfield was lightning fast.

The Superkings opened with Mathew Hayden and Parthiv Patel with Brett Lee sharing the new ball with Sreesanth. The openers provided a good start and the Superkings raced to 20 in just 2 overs thanks to 3 blistering off drives by P Patel. But, it was Lee who snared the first wicket when he got Parthiv out for 15. In walked Mr.Cricket Mike Hussey. He and Hayden built a good partnership before Irfan got the better of the latter. Dhoni didn’t last too long as he was given out lbw to Hopes. But there seemed to be a bit of an inside edge in it. Suresh Raina then joined hands with Hussey and both of them hammered towering 6’s and some breathtaking 4’s as they took the score to 126 in just 12 overs when Raina got out for a cameo knock of 32. Meanwhile, Hussey was at his aggressive best as he simply toyed with all bowlers sending every ball to the boundary and beyond at regular intervals. He made sure that the wickets falling at the other end didn’t cause any damage to the team score. Oram and Badrinath hit some good shots as they ably supported Mr.Cricket. In the end the Chennai Super Kings reached a massive score of 240-5 in 20 overs. Hussey proved his class by scoring the fastest hundred in IPL off just 50 balls with the help of 9 6’s and 8 4’s. He was unbeaten on 114 off 54 balls. No bowler was shown any respect proving the fact that 20-20 format is a game for the batsmen.

In reply, the Punjab Kings XI started off in a superb manner with Hopes carrying all the hopes of a Punjab victory. He along with Goel gave a great start to the runchase when the latter got out with the score on 56 of just 5 overs. Then, Hopes along with Sangakkara carried on a huge onslaught on the Super Kings’ bowlers. Hopes hammered the bowlers to all parts of the ground and en route got the fastest 50 in IPL. He was looking in destroying form when he got out for 71 of 33 balls caught by Joginder off the bowling of Amarnath. Then, Sangakkara was joined by the Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh. The duo put up a great partnership at lightning speed and by the time Yuvi got out, Punjab were ahead in the runrate. But as the game progressed, the run rate required kept climbing and Sangakkara could do nothing but to wage a lone battle because the batsmen at the other end could just rotate the strike instead of hitting 4’s and 6’s. Finally, Sangakkara succumbed to the pressure as he holed out one to long on to the waiting hands of Joginder off Murali. He scored a good half century. The Punjab fightback finally ended with the hosts scoring 207-4 in 20 overs. Chennai Super Kings won the battle of the Kings by defeating the Punjab Kings XI by 33 runs. The man of the match undoubtedly was Mr.Cricket Mike Hussey for his blistering and belligerent century!! A truly enthralling match indeed!!!
FULL SCORECARD

Chennai Super Kings innings (20 overs maximum)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
		PA Patel	c Sangakkara b Lee	15	10	3	0	150.00
		ML Hayden	b Pathan	26	17	4	1	152.94
		MEK Hussey	not out	114	54	8	9	211.11
		MS Dhoni	lbw b Hopes	2	3	0	0	66.66
		SK Raina	c Pathan b Mota	32	13	2	3	246.15
		JDP Oram	b Pathan	13	10	0	1	130.00
		S Badrinath	not out	31	14	3	2	221.42
		Extras	(lb 3, w 3, nb 1)	7
		Total	(5 wickets; 20 overs)	240	(12.00 runs per over)

Did not bat Joginder Sharma, P Amarnath, M Gony, M Muralitharan

Fall of wickets1-26 (Patel, 2.4 ov), 2-57 (Hayden, 6.2 ov), 3-62 (Dhoni, 7.1 ov), 4-126 (Raina, 12.1 ov), 5-167 (Oram, 15.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	B Lee	4	0	34	1	8.50	(1nb)
	S Sreesanth	3	0	35	0	11.66	(1w)
	JR Hopes	4	0	53	1	13.25
	IK Pathan	4	0	47	2	11.75
	K Goel	2	0	23	0	11.50
	PP Chawla	1	0	19	0	19.00
	WA Mota	2	0	26	1	13.00	(2w)

	Kings XI Punjab innings (target: 241 runs from 20 overs)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
		K Goel	c Patel b Gony	24	19	2	1	126.31
		JR Hopes	c Joginder Sharma b Amarnath	71	33	10	3	215.15
		KC Sangakkara	c Joginder Sharma b Muralitharan	54	33	5	2	163.63
		Yuvraj Singh	c Amarnath b Joginder Sharma	23	13	1	2	176.92
		SM Katich	not out	21	17	0	1	123.52
		IK Pathan	not out	3	5	0	0	60.00
		Extras	(b 2, lb 4, w 5)	11
		Total	(4 wickets; 20 overs)	207	(10.35 runs per over)

Did not bat P Dharmani, B Lee, PP Chawla, WA Mota, S Sreesanth

Fall of wickets1-56 (Goel, 5.5 ov), 2-111 (Hopes, 10.2 ov), 3-153 (Yuvraj Singh, 14.2 ov), 4-190 (Sangakkara, 17.4 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	JDP Oram	4	0	37	0	9.25
	M Gony	4	0	42	1	10.50	(2w)
	M Muralitharan	4	0	33	1	8.25	(1w)
	P Amarnath	4	0	42	1	10.50
	Joginder Sharma	4	0	47	1	11.75	(1w)

Courtesy:cricinfo

Result Chennai Super Kings won by 33 runs

Delhi Dare Devils vs Rajasthan Royals - A Preview

The 2nd match of the 2nd day of the IPL features two of the low profile teams in the Delhi Dare Devils and the Rajasthan Royals fighting it out in the Feroze Shah Kotla, Delhi. Both teams haven’t made any big purchases. But both teams have got their own bunch of talent.

For the Delhi Dare Devils, captained by the swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag, the team composition is a perfect blend of youth and experience as the batting as well as bowling department has been thoroughly concentrated on. The batting looks strong with many players from the home team drafted in, and the likes of Gambhir, Dhawan and Tiwary adds strength to the side. The side also has a worthy all rounder in Dilshan and Karthik is the wicketkeeper. The bowling is strong as well with the likes of Daniel Vettori and Mcgrath leading the attack. The latest sensation Sangwan is in the side as well adding strength to the side.

Where as, the Rajasthan Royals captained by Shane Warne are going to be the underdogs in this tournament as it looks a bit weak because of the less number of foreign players it has drafted in. Shane Watson, Darren Lehmann and Mohd Kaif are the batting main stays and the bowling department is taken care of by Munaf and a bunch of talented youngsters.

So, definitely, in today’s match, the Delhi Dare Devils start as favorites. The match is slated for a 8pm showdown and it will be telecast live on Set Max.

Punjab Kings XI vs Chennai Super Kings - A Preview

Today is the 2nd day of the IPL T-20 championship and undoubtedly, its only getting better and better. There are 2 matches that are going to be held today and both matches are expected to be highly entertaining encounters. The first match of the day is going to be held between Punjab Kings XI and the Chennai Super Kings at the PCA stadium, Mohali and this is one of the much awaited contests as both teams are equally well balanced.

To start of with the Punjab Kings XI, the team is captained by the Indian team 20-20 hero, Yuvraj Singh who proved his mettle as a destroying player in the recently concluded T-20 World Championship. This team also boasts of possessing some good foreign players in Kumar Sangakkara, James Hopes, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Brett Lee. Sangakkara has been the mainstay for the Srilankans for a long time now and he is expected to provide a good start at the top of the order. Ramnaresh Sarwan is in good form right now and is expected to cause some jitters on the opposition side with his innovative batting. James Hopes is a utility all rounder and is gonna make a big difference in this IPL tournament. Finally, the bowling is going to be spearheaded by Aussie pace machine Brett Lee who has been in terrific form with the ball in the recent past. Indian pace sensation S Sreesanth is expected to share the new ball with Lee and its definitely going to be a big treat to watch the 2 bowlers working in tandem. Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla are going to complete a decent bowling attack for the Punjab kings XI and one man to watch out for is Tanmay Srivastava who was the highest rungetter in the Under-19 World Cup. This lanky left-hander is a blend of timing and power and will surely prove to be a find for the future. So, overall, the Punjab Kings XI are definitely going to be a team to watch out for.

Coming to the Chennai Super Kings, captained by the T-20 winning Indian team skipper MS Dhoni who has already made heads turn because of the whopping amount that he was traded for. The team’s strength lies in its batting. This team has one of the best batting line ups in IPL and its going to be headed by the Aussie bad boy Mathew Hayden and Kiwi Stephen Fleming. The middle order comprises of some promising youngsters in Badrinath, Raina, Dhoni and Parthiv Patel. The biggest difference with both the teams is undoubtedly going to be the hard hitting Jacob Oram who has already earned fame for his big hitting particularly against the Aussies. He is also a tough bowler to get away. But, the main problem with this team is its bowling attack. Muthiah Muralitharan is the only experienced player in this side and apart from him, the new ball bowlers in the team lack experience. So, its upto the Punjab Kings XI batsmen to use this inexperience to their strength.

So, its definitely going to be a nerve-wrackling encounter and lets wait to see which of the two kings triumph today. The match is going to be telecasted live on Set Max and it will start from 5pm local time.

Match 1: Royal challengers vs Knight Riders

The Indian Premier league 2008 started off with a nice match in which the home team Bangalore Royal challengers were thrashed by the Kolkata Knight Riders. Earlier Rahul Dravid the captain of the Royal Challengers team won the toss and elected to field. It was a bad decision indeed, at least now it looks like that!

Brendon McCullum and Sourav Ganguly opened the innings and the first ever ball of IPL was bowled by Praveen Kumar. The first over was a nice one from Praveen and he conceded just two runs. The knight riders missed the presence of pinch hitter Chris Gayle but his absence was very well compensated by Brendon McCullum who went on to score the highest runs in a Twenty- 20 encounter. It was a visual treat for the jam packed audience at the MA Chinnaswamy stadium. None of the bowlers could stop him and he went on to score 158 runs from just 73 deliveries. His innings consisted of 10 fours and 13 sixes which is also the record for maximum number of sixes in a T20 match. The Royal Challengers ended up scoring a mammoth total of 222 for the loss of three wickets. Shah Rukh Khan by now was feeling the worth for the money which he spent!!

The home team was under great pressure and the asking rate was higher than 11. Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer opened the innings but both of them were dismissed cheaply. The Royal Challengers were under great pressure and wickets started tumbling down one after the other. Only one of the tail enders had a double digit score and finally the home team were bundled off for 82 runs during the 16th over. Ajit Agarkar picked up 3 wickets for the Knight Riders. Finally KKR defeated BRC by 140 runs. Brendon MCCullum was awarded the Man of the Match award. Check out the high lights of the first innings.

BRIEF SCORES

Kolkata Knight Riders
BB McCullum not out 158(73)
RT Ponting c Kumar b Kallis 20 (20)

Z Khan 1-38
AA Noffke 1-40

Bangalore Royal Challengers
P Kumar not out 18(18)
JH Kallis c Kartik b Agarkar 8(7)

A Agarkar 3-25
A Dinda 2-9

Result Kolkata Knight Riders won by 140 runs