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Chennai Super Kings V/s Dare Devils

Wednesday April 23^rd 2008 was the day of the handsome Aussie Matthew Hayden who played a magnificient cricket at the M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai and took the score of his team Chennai Super Kings to a massive 208 for 5. Harbajan Singh the inexperienced Captain of Mumbai Indian team was given a chase, which was difficult for them sans the injured Sachin Tendulkar. Hayden’s 81 off 46 balls packed with twelve 4’s and two 6’s made the fielders take a deep breath every minute. Suresh Raina put up a score of 53 off 37 balls making things easier for Chennai Super Kings. Hayden and Dhoni enjoyed themselves in the middle batting to glory and the crowd said “Paisa Vasool” once again. The star M. Hussey disappointed the crowd with a mere score of 5. The pedestrian bowling of Mumbai Indians helped Chennai Super Kings to race to a big total. Robin Uthapa’s massive knock of 43, A. Nayar’s 45, Bhajji’s superb knock of 28 did not pull Mumbai Indians from the deep pit they were in.

Chennai Super Kings won the match by 6 runs


Harbhajan Singh And Suresh Raina shared DLF Maximum Sixes Award.

Without any doubt the MAN OF THE MATCH AWARD went to M. Hayden.

Deccan Chargers - Hyderabad V/s Rajasthan Royals –Jaipur
Ah!! NAIL BITING FINISH !!!

Andrew Symonds!! Andrew Symonds!! Andrew Symonds!! Was the mantra of the spectators, was the fear of the oppostion was the hopeful taste of success for Deccan Chargers - Hyderabad!!

What a delightful player!! All that I could do was whistle and roar!! It is cricket and it has to be RUNS and goind quickly upwards on the scoreboard. 20–20 dearies, cant wait and hit…

Deccan Chargers summed a total of 214 for 5 with Andrew Symonds not out on 117 – 53 balls, 11 fours and 7 sixes surviving a dropped chance at his score of 75. Thundering strokes from his bat, electrifying performance of this charging batsman could not take the DC’s to a win. Munaf Patela nd Sharne Warne gave away 55 and 47 runs in their four overs quota. R.Sharma gave good support and scored 36 off 30 balls with 3 fours and 1 six to his credit. The weak mouse of the tournament, the underdogs as they are called are proving to be the most dangerous team in the IPL. Yeah, I am talking about Rajasthan Royals, the kids of Sharne Warne, the coach and skipper who is plodding his way to victory surely and steadily. M. Kaif put up a decent score of 34, G.Smith with 71 and Yusuf Pathan with 61 and Sharne Warne with 22 not out hitting a four and the winning stroke of six taking his team to a well deserved win. Shahid Afridi proved to be the best bowler from DC as he managed three wickets and missed a hattrick. Second win my dear friends and what a match!! Good nail biting finish is what I can say.

Rajasthan Royals won the match with a score of 217 –7 with 3 wickets still in hand.

A. Symonds walked with the DLF Maximum Sixes Award and Yusuf Pathan proudly held the Man of the Match Award.

Kings XI Punjab v/s Mumbai Indians


Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh was packed houseful waiting to watch the gigantic master blaster Sachin Tendulkar from Mumbai Indians Team in action on 25^th April 2008. Sachin was again rested for his injury to the disappointment of his team-mates and the crowd too. Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field!! May be they were not confident of putting up a tall score on the board. Kings XI marched to a score of 182 in 20 overs. The crowd was delighted to watch the talented Sangakkara in action. His 94 runs was more than half of the total score put up by his team with support from Yuvraj Singh of 18 runs and Bret Lee Not Out at 16.

Mumbai Indians inched slowly to a shameful total of 116 for 9 in 20 overs. Pollock with 22, Uthappal with 21,Bravo with 23 and Ronchi with 11 could not pull the team out from the rugs. Strokes were expected from the much talented Jayasurya, Bhajji and A.Nayar. If they had concentrated and stayed for a longer time on the crease with master strokes, Mumbai Indians would have scored some points. Kings XI gave them no rooms for such dreams and were on the chase right from the word go. Mumbai has not won a single match in this IPL Session.

As soon as the match ended we could see Sreesanth sobbing bitterly!!! Bhajji aka Harbhajan Singh has hit him or knocked him or whatever… What a shame!!! Harbhajan Singh was the Captain of the Mumbai Indians and a demeaning action of hitting some one should not be taken lightly. I am looking forward to a 10-match ban on him - A lesson every player will learn.

Mumbaikars were very disappointed. Except for me, as I am all for good cricket.

Kolkata Knight Riders V/s Chennai Super Kings

The match of two giants (at the moment in IPL) was much awaited. Tickets were booked well in advance and M A Chidambaram Stadium at Chepauk in Chennai was packed to the galore on 26/04/2008 in the sweltering heat. It is cricket my friends and we have to reach there. Both the teams have played wonderful cricket and ask a Cricket fan how much of excitement he had to watch this match.

Shahrukh Khan supposedly the lucky mascot as well as owner of Kolkata Knight Riders was busy in Germany with some prior commitments. His good friend Juhi Chawla had come down to cheer the team.

Surprisingly, KKR’s batting was a poor show with the Captain himself struggling to put a poor score of 12 runs facing 19 balls with only one four hit to the boundary. M. Hussey who was the stalwart of batting on the opening day match was in a hurry to take rest as he walked away with a duck along with Ricky Ponting. Pontings dismissal had brought down the excitement in the spectators to a minimum as the score board was getting stagnant like a 5 day match. McCullum put a score of 24 and Prasanta 27. The man of action was L.Shukla who made a decent 42 runs of 33 balls with four f’s and a single 6. His run out was another blow to KKR’s.

lers did a very good job by taking wickets and arresting the batsmen from trying strokes from the blade. Jacob Oram was impressive with 4 overs 0 maiden 32 runs and 3 wickets with no wides and no balls, well supported by Gonu with 2 / 40 and P.Amarnath with 4 overs 0 maiden 29 runs and 2 wickets with no wides and no balls.

KKR crawled to a total of 147 for 9 with 8 extras and a run rate of 7.35.

Dhoni was happy, he knew he can do it. His team still has the flame on and does not need the owners presence to burn it tall.

Chennai Super Kings played a massive knock with Hayden not out at 70 for 49 balls six 4’s and three 6’s. Captain M. Dhoni cheered the crowd with a total of 43 of 27 balls, 3 sixes and 2 fours. P. Patel also gave a good start with 21 of 27 balls with 3 fours. lers of KKR team looked tired of trying all their skills to send the batsmen of CSK back to the pavilion. Agarkar was the only wickter taker with 1 for 19. CSK chased the total of KKR and reached to 152 for 1 with a run rate of 8.94 and extras 18.

Congratulations CSK it was a well-deserved win. Mahi re!! Oh! Mahi Re!! Cheers!!!

M. Hayden bagged DLF maximum sixes award.

Jacob Oram was the Man of the Match

Royal Challengers v/s Rajasthan Royals

M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was happy to see the home team all set to taste the win on 26^th April 2008. Captain Rahul Dravid is gearing up with his team to play against the slowly but steadily walking towards success team the Rajasthan Royals, Captained and coached by Sharne Warne.

RC batted first and put up a total of 135 for 8 with 6 extras and a run rate of 6.75. The devastating show of Rahul Dravid and Chandrapaul did leave the scar on the scoreboard. R.Taylor fought the opponents with 44 runs against 20 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. M.Rawat gave him the much needed support with 34 runs from 30 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes giving the crowd a reason to cheer. J.Kallis struggled with 11 runs from 12 balls and Kohli with 13 runs from 14 balls. With wickets fast falling like bricks, these good players had no choice. Sharne Watson bolwed a beautiful spell of 4 overs no maidens giving away just 20 runs and taking 2 wickets and a no ball.

Rajasthan Royals chased the total very neatly, guarding their wickets and playing magnificient shots. G.Smith put of 49 from 42 balls with 8 fours. Yusuf Pathan made 21 from 12 balls with 5 fours. The star of Rajasthan Royals was Sharne Watson who not only bowled a remarkable spell but also used his blade to knock a score of 61 of 41 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes. The run out of Rawat became insignificant with other team-mates covering up the score.

ler Zaheer Khan could manage only one wicket giving away 24 runs, S.Joshi also managed 1 wicket giving away 27 runs and the much beaten bowler was P.Kumar who did manage a wicket giving away 42 runs.

Rajasthan Royals walked to the wining galore with 138 for 3.

Man of the match was undoubtedly the ever smiling Sharne Watson

Crowd has learnt a lesson, instead of booking their seats in advance to watch the matches played by the much hyped teams like Royal Challengers owned by Vijay Mallya, Mumbai Indians by Mukesh Ambani it is better to watch Rajasthan Royals in action. I enjoyed this match, it was pulsating and the boundaries were kissed with fours and stadium was greeted with Sixes.

Kings XI Punjab (Mohali) v/s Dare Devils (Delhi)

Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh was once again back in action on 27^th April 2008.

Delhi elected to bat and their Captain V.Sehwag played a wrong shot and got out with a meager score of 6. Dhawan walked with a duck. Gautam Gambhir the promising opening batsman for Delhi and future India did stay well in the crease and knocked 18 of 14 balls with three 4’s. The quick wickets did add a bit of lethargy in the batting. Malik made 19, M.Tiwary with 39, Karthik with 24, R.Bhaita with 17 and F.Masharoof with 18 slowly dragged the total score for the team to 158 for 8 with 11 extras leaving a run rate of 7.79.

Bolwer V.Singh had 3 wickets to his credit against 29 runs; I.Pathan 2 wickets against 26 runs and the handsome Yuvi aka Yuvraj Captain of Delhi Dare Devils and Bret Lee were contended with 1 wicket each.

Mohali had Aussie, Simon Katich, the Lion, who slammed the ball with his bat to a massive 75 of 52 balls with 11 fours and 1 six. It is his highest score in T20 Sangakkara and Goel were total disappointment. Yuvi hit 40 from 29 balls with three 4’s and two 6’s much to the delight of the home crowd.

Is Katich Mohali’s Dare Devil!!!


M.Asif grabbed two wickets. Mahesh, Malik and Glen grabbed one wicket each.

Mohali won the match with a score of 162 for 6 with run rate of 8.31 in 19.3 overs.

The supposedly fire-cracker match turned out ICEY!! Dare Devils suffered their first defeat!!

Man of the Match was Simon Katich.

Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad) V/s Mumbai Indians

THIS WAS THE FIRST IPL T20 CRICKET MATCH BEING PLAYED AT D.Y.PATIL STADIUM, NAVI MUMBAI on 27^th April 2008 at 8.00 p.m. The city had geared up for the massive event with tickets sold like hot cakes. Mumbaikars were eagerly waiting for their very own Tendlya aka Tendulkar who once again disappointed the. Sachin is still resting due to his injury and there is no one to pull Mumbai Indians from the deep pit they are in. Sachin was supposed to lead the team and now that he is rested, captaincy has taken toll on Harbhajan that we got see in plenty on the screen. With Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist and VVS Laxman, A.Nayar and S.Pollock the spectators were anticipating volcanic batting.

Mumbai Indians batted first and put up a score of 154 for 7 with 8 extras and run rate of 7.7. In the absence of Harbhajan, S.Pollock was the leader of Mumbai Indians. With a very poor start of 79 for 5, Pollock with 31 runs of 31 balls with 3 fours and 1 six; A.Nayar with 34 runs of 19 balls with 1 four and 3 sixes and S.Jayasurya with 18 runs off 21 balls and two fours; Bravo with 34 runs dragged the total to 154 for 7.

In reply to this total, Adam Gilchrist of Deccan Chargers gave an unbeaten massive knock off 109 runs against 42 balls with 9 fours and 10 sixes. Mumbai Indians are still recovering this massive beat from the Aussie. VVS Laxman put up a score of 36 off 29 balls with 5 fours.

Hyderabad won the match with a total of 155 for NO LOSS. Wasn’t that a respectabale win!!

Adam Gilchrist was the man of the match.

Chennai Super Kings v/s Deccan Chargers

M.Chinnaswamy Stadium Bengaluru once again geared up with cheering and sporting spectators to watch their home team play with CSK on 28^th April 2008.

CSK seemed to tumble and wind up earlier in the initial spell. Destructive Dhoni, proved to be the Captain from whom everyone has a lesson to learn. When you have it in you, go for it, you will get it. Procastination is the mother of all troubles. Dhoni went charging behind his opponents and Deccan Chargers were mulled. Here goes the trip down the memory lane:

CSK were 3 for 83 and the match did seem to take a thrilling pace. The mighty CSK succumbed one after the other to the good bowling of RC. Then it was M.Dhoni Dhamaka all the way with a good support from Hussey who hit 47 from 38 balls with three 4’s and two 6’s. The stupendous strokes from his bat hit 9 fours and 3 sixes taking his personal total to 65 off 30 balls and also gave a decent score on the CSK board. Royal Challengers started fizzling slowly as it was DHONI AND DHONI ALL THE WAY. The enigma of Dhoni spread like fire in the stadium and the words that echoed with pride were DHONI.. DHONI. The first spell of the innings was showing lot of hopes for Royal Challengers till Dhoni and Hussey took up the charge. Zaheer Khans bowling spell was very impressive with 4 overs 38 runs 3 wickets and no extras.

Royal Challengers did play the challenge well and the match not one sided as it always turns out to be leaving no room for excitement. The early loss of wicket of Chipli was well covered by Jaffer who made 50 from 33 bals with five 4’s and two 6’s and Taylor with 53 off 34 balls with three 4’s and three 6’s. As noted Rahul Dravid seems to be a misfit for the 20-20 games as he has been struggling to even score a run. Again he walked with a duck to his credit. RC were all out at 165 and CSK WON BY 13 RUNS.

M.Gony was the most successful bowler with three wickets to his credit giving away 34 runs, then it was P.Amarnath who managed two wickets giving 38 runs closely followed by J.Sharma with 2 wickets and Morkel with 1 wicket.

Royal Challengers were quiet safe till they reached to a total of 2 for 102 and then the quick fall of wickets started adding pressure and disaster towards victory for them.

Royal Challengers were more impressive on the field than the previous games.

The Jharkhand born Captain M.Dhoni was the darling of the masses and it was PAISA VASOOL …. ONCE AGAIN…………………

Mumbai Indians v/s Kolkata Night Riders

The much beaten Mumbai Indians are all set up to take the just beaten Kolkata Night Riders today i.e. 29/04/08 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Knight Riders stumbled and crumbled giving Mumbai Indians their first taste of victory in IPL 20-20. S.Ganguly and B.McCullum were sent back to the pavilion faster than they reached the pitch. R.Ponting and D.Hussey tried their best to put up a huge total for their team but succumbed to the bowlers of MI. Jayasuriya and Pollock did the devastation by picking 3 for 14 and 2 for 27 respectively. The only ray of light was L. Shukla who once again sailed his team braving the balls of Mumbai Indian bowlers with a total of 40 off 22 balls with four 4’s and two 6’s. KKR put up a total of 137 for 8 in 20 overs. R. Uthapa’s 37 runs off 37 balls with five 4’s and D. Bravo’s 64 not out off 53 balls with eight 4’s and one 6 took their team to a win in 18.4 overs. MI’s 3 for 25 did show some hope of KKR win. But Bravo and Uthapa had set their minds to take their team to the first win of the tournament and they definitely did with grace.

Mumbai Indians won by 7 wickets.

L.Shukla bagged DLF maximum sixes award.

Dare Devils v/s Royal Challengers at Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi on 30/04/08 at 8.00 p.m.

Gautam Gambhir is promising to be the most outstanding opening batsmen for 20-20 matches. He rained the ground with strokes which cut eleven 4’s and one 6 and a score of 86 off 54 balls. Dhawan who made 50 runs off 33 balls with four 4’s and three 6’s erased the disastrous run out of Skipper Shehwag. The quick fall of wickets after Dhawan was a matter of concern and the spectators were groaning for 6’s and 4’s. Dare Devils put up a score of 191 for 5 for the Bangalore Challengers to chase. Zaheer Khan was beaten by the batsmen and he was the most expensive with a spell of 4 overs / 42 runs / 1 wicket. Kallis had two wickets to his credit.

The poor batting of Jaffer, Kumar and Kohli left a bitter taste in the total of the team. Dravid dragged himself to a total of 38 runs off 30 balls. Kallis gave a tough fight striking the bat to a total of 54 runs off 44 balls. Bouhcer also lend his support with 31 runs off 17 balls with two 4’s and two 6’s. They finally managed a score of 181 for 5 and ended up losing the match. The interesting point of this match is, Royal Challengers tried to fight back with full gust with the remaining batsmen. If they had got good support from the openers, they would have probably won this game.

The crowd Roared Glen aka Pidge who bowled a heroic spell of 4 overs 29 runs with 4 wickets. This statistics deserves a standing applause and the crowd obliged. He was well supported by D.Vettori who managed to take a wicket giving away 19 runs from 4 Overs.

Glen McGrath was declared Man of the Match and he deserved it much as he kept the batting of Royal Challgers under tremendous pressure of heat.