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Rajasthan Royals v/s Kolkata Knight Riders played at Sawai Mansigh Stadium, Jaipur on 1^st May 2008.

Rajasthan Royals elected to bat and S.Anodkar (60 off 34), Y.Pathan (55 off 33) and R.Jadeja (33 off 19) steered their total to 196 for 7 with run rate of 9.8. S.Watson and S.Warne had a poor show here, M. Kaif also charred the ground with his runs of 21 off 18 balls with 3 fours and one 6. A.Dinda pulled two wickets giving away 30 runs in 4 overs. U.Gul bolwed fiercely and took 3 wickets giving away 31 runs in 4 overs. They set a total of 196 for 7 on thier home ground.

The expectations from Kolkata Knight Riders was very high, but something seem to be going drastically wrong and they have started stumbling to chase the total. Skipper Ganguly was impressive with 51 runs off 39 balls with four 4’s and two 6’s. Ganguly’s dismissal by S.Warne cut M.Kaif had created a difference of view on the field truly expressed by the skipper himself and later media was also involved in splurging in the issue. D. Hussey put up a neat score of 42 runs off 30 balls with one 4’s and two 6’s. The early fall of wickets of Butt, Agarkar and Hodge added pressure on the middle order batsmen. Kolkata Knight Riders succumbed to 151 for 10. Their ratings have definitely gone down the chart with CSK and Rajasthan Royals topping the list.

S Watson, S Tanvir and S Trivedi had two wickets to their credit while S.Warne managed one wicket.

S.Asnodkar was the Man of the Match

Deccan Chargers V.s Kings XI Punjab at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on 1^st May 2008.

Mohali once again emerges the winner beating Hyderabad by 7 wickets.

Deccan Chargers were shining with the performance of their star batsmen Laxman scoring 48 off 34 balls and 76 off 42 balls respectively. DC set a total of 164 for 8. P.Chawla bowled 4 Overs 28 runs for 3 wickets. Sreesanth has failed to prove his caliber on field other than his temper. He took only one wicket letting off 33 runs in 4 overs.

The mighty Marsh was enough to keep the balls rolling all over the field. His 84 not out off 62 balls with 11 fours and 1 six kept the spectators dancing on their feet with cheers. M.Jayawardane remained not out hitting 23 balls to 45 runs with six 4’s and one 6. Marsh and Jayawardane marched the team to a massive victory wiping the bowling of the opposition team to 167 for 3.

The electrifying Shaun Marsh was the Man of the Match

Dare Devils V/s Chennai Super Kings at M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on 2^nd May 2008.

Chennai Super Kings the only unbeaten team till date went down to the Delhi Dare Devils shocking the spectators. Dhoni is missing his key players. Dhoni chipped in only 32. CSK struggled and finally lost as they had put a score of 169 for 6, which was erased by Dare Devils who walked tall with a score of 172 for 2 with their skipper contributing 71 runs and the talented Gambhir with 50. Viru after playing a record-breaking innings of 319 against South Africa knotched up an 8 wicket win for his team.

V.Shehwag bagged DLF maximum sixes award. He also bagged the Man of the Match.

HOW THEY STAND!!!!!

Dare Devil, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals have 8 points each, followed by Kings XI Punjab with 6 points, Kolkata Knight Riders with 4 points and Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians with 2 points each.

FINE IMPOSED ON SHANE WARNE AND SOURAV GANGULY

Shane Warne the Captain of Rajasthan Royals and Sourav Ganguly the Captain of Kolkata Knight Riders have been fined 10% of match fee by IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi.

Ganguly was charged under ICC’s Level – I code for forcing the umpire to ask the third umpire to refer the catch once again. The catch had declared him OUT.

Warne was imposed a fine under ICC’s Level 1.7 for his outburst against the skipper.

Umpire Pratap Kumar has been imposed one match ban for listening to Sourav and referring the catch to the third umpire instead of discussing it with the second umpire.

All the teams r playing very well..
but East or west Chennai is the best itz in the leading point....

hi mals and IPL gang,

Yesterday's super kings performance was totally dismal.

Dhoni proves lack of confidence over his team.

Even Rajasthan Royal is not a balanced team it is Shane Warne who boosts the morale of the team.

Its high time for Dhoni to take better decisions after winning toss as per pitch conditons and also to change the team members.
Parthiv patel has to be removed and Balaji has to be brought in. Balaji is a balanced player. He is reknowned for bowling and also hitting.

I beleive Stephen Fleming is not playing his Debut matches.

Come on Fleming, we have lots of hope on your opening batting.

Congrats to Sohail Tanveer for bowling out Chennai team.

Any team with a good leader and an excellent coach will win and Rajasthan Royal is an example for that

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers v/s Bangalore Royal Challengers played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on 3^rd May 2008.

This was a close finish match, never jerking and very exciting. Oh!! Bangalore beats Hyderabad by three wickets. Bangalore batted first. Jaffer and Kohli put up 44 and 38 runs respectively, Captain Dravid walked with 26 and Boucher with 16. Bangalore set a target of 156 for 8 with five extras. R.Singh’s spell of 4 overs with 41 runs and three wickets brought the success for the team. Styris and Afridi had one wicket to their credit.

VVS. Laxman and R.Sharma crossed 50 and raised their bats thanking the cheering spectators. I felt they were more interested in their personal score than the score for the team. They did put an impressive partnership but what was required is quick runs and win!! I felt they were not chasing the total but were desperately trying to add credentital to their names. VVS Laxman should have played more aggressive strokes and tried to reach the total. This loss is totally an onus to these two batsmen as they wasted time on the crease. Later the quick fall of wickets added more despair and Hyderabad lost with a close margin. They chased the target and reached 153 for 6. For three runs they lost the match… Ifs and buts are many here, what is the use of crying on spilled milk?

Man of the Match was Praveen Kumar

Kings XI Punjab v/s Kolkata Knight Riders played at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh on 3^rd May 2008.

Marsh again proved to be the star opening batsmen for the team. He put up a neat score of 40 off 32 balls with 5 fours and 1 six. Sangakkara put up 28 off 21 balls again with 5 fours. I.Pathan put up 24 off 26 balls with 3 fours. P.Chawla was the star performer who elegantly put up 21 runs just off 7 balls with 3 fours and 1 six well supported by other batsmen. They marched to set a target of 178 for 6 with constant roaring and cheering from their home ground.

KKR who set a massive target in the very first match seemed to be struggling all the way. The starry hope the crowd had on them, has vanished and now it has reduced to GULLY Cricket. With wickets falling like bricks and senior batsmen not able to play under the limited pressure of overs, it was a one sided game. D.Hussey’s efforts went in vain. He stood like a rock on the crease and got 71 runs off 46 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes for his team. Prasanta put up 59 off 32 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes. With constant fall of wickets the settled batsmen also could not take risks. The extreme poor show of the skipper did affect the team. It seems Ganguly is struggling with his skills under limited overs batting. They succumbed to the Mohalis with 169 for 6. Sreesanth and Irfan had two wickets to their credit and V.Singh and G.Singh had one wicket each. Irfaan Pathan is an asset to the Mohali team and he has not let his Captain down. There was no surprise when the MAN OF THE MATCH AWARD WENT TO HIM.

Mohali beats Kolkata by 9 runs.

Mumbai Indians V/s Dare Devils was played at D.Y.Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai on 4^th May 2008.

Mumbai Indians had impressive Thornley who put up 30 runs off 24 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes. Pollock scored 33 off 15 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes. 162 for 8 was not a very good total to chase but Mumbai Indians managed to reach their with gained confidence after the win. Y.Mahesh was the successful bowler with 4 overs 33 runs and 3 wickets. Skipper Sehwag bowled one over and took a wicket to much to the cheer of the spectators who have come to watch good cricket.

Skipper Sehwag rocked with 40 runs off 20 balls. The evershining Gautam Gambhir could not go for a chase this time and to the utter disappointment of the crowd walked back to the pavilion with one run off 9 balls. S.Mallik struggled with 24 runs off 23 balls and Karthik with 28 off 23 balls. Dare Devils were two down at 4.

The fiery bowling attack of Pollock (4-16-2), Nehra (4-25-3), Bravo (3-27-1), Kulkarni (2.5-18-2), Thornley (2-15-1) tied the strokes of DD’s and knocked them off at 133 all out.

Shaun Pollock was undoubtedly the Man of the Match