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You have always been all of praises for me and this has encouraged me to watch the match and post the views here. Thanks chweety for those lovely words, I am blessed 2 have a friend like you.

Kolkata Knight Riders v/s Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 20^th May 2008

KKR had a must win situation and RR were at rest as they have already qualified for the semi-finals.

KKR again knotched up 147 for 8 in 20 overs. Butt scored 24 off 20 with 4 fours, Hafeez managed 4 off 8 balls with a single four, Ganguly hit 32 off 34 balls with 2 fours and 1 six, D.Hussey 11 off 15 balls with 2 fours, Das did shine with 31 off 20 with 1 four and 2 sixes, Saha not out hitting 11 off 6 balls with a single 6, Agarkar’s devastating run out 5 runs off 2 balls with single four, Gul scores 7 and Ishant not out at 2.

Sohail Tanvir has been the most competitive bowler of RR. He has again stood as an contender for the purple cap with a spell of 4-0-26-3, Watson was short of luck today with 4-0-36, S.Warne 3-0-21, Yusuf Pathan 2-0-14-1, Munaf Patel 4-1-22-2, Trivedi 3-26-1.

Hafeez was the first to walk back to his pad when the score was 7, followed by Butt at 40, David Hussey at 71, Ganguly at 95, Das at 118, Shukla at 123, Agarkar at 129, Gul at 142.

Royal Challengers are cool on the field, as they have no threat for their berth in the semis. G.Smith rolled out 24 for 24 balls with 4 fours. Asnodkar hit 5 runs off 3 balls with 1 four. Tanvir 13 for 8 balls a four and a six. S.Watson 19 off 15 balls with2 fours and 1 six. Kaif knocks a massive innings and remains not out with 34 off 31 balls with 4 fours and the unstoppable Y.Pathan wipes out the bowling effort of KKR with a unbeatable 48 off 14 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes. Rajasthan Royals once again galloped their way towards victory and stood tall on the points board. They won the match by 6 wickets by putting up a score of 150 for 4 in 16.3 overs. The bowlers had little to do with the batting prowess of the RR’s. Agarkar 3-0-30-0, Gul 3.3-1-30-2, A.Dinda 4-0-32-0, I.Sharma 3-0-23-1, S.Ganguly 2-0-24-1, L.Shukla 1-0-8-0

The fall of wickets was 1 at 16 (Asnodkar), 2 at 42 (Tanvir), 3-42 (G.Smith) and 4-69 (S.Watson).


Yusuf Pathan was declared the Man of the Match.
Yusuf Pathan grabbed DLF Maximum Sixes Award too.

Mumbai Indians v/s Kings XI Punjab on 21^st May 2008 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

The most palpitating match of the league, worth the moolah, good cricket from both sides, nerve jerking, nail biting finish was the result of this match. Right from the word GO spectators were waiting for showers of runs from the mighty batsmen from both the sides. They got the show and spectators roared with cheer to watch great strokes from talented batsmen.

Kings XI put up a score of 189 for 4 in 20 overs. Marsh hit big shots of 7 fours and 4 sixes in his 81 stock of runs, Hopes got out early, giving a small blow to the batting line up, Pomersbach was the master blaster with 79 off 50 with 10 fours and 3 sixes, Singh put up 7, Jayawardane 1 and Pathan 9. Pomersbach and Shaun Marsh stepped up and put up a brilliant partnership to pull them out of the loss of an early wicket.

The bowlers’ spell was Pollock 3-14-1, S.Chitnis 4-40-2, Nehra 3-0-34, Yeligati 4-0-43, Dilhara 4-36-1, Smith 2-19-0

The fall of wickets was 1-1 (Hopes), 2-134 (Marsh), 3-148 (Yuvraj), 4-150 (Jayawardane).

Jayasuriya fell early at 36 followed by Smith at 81, Nayar at 127, Tendulkar and Pollock at 159, Uthappa at 163, Shah at 170, Chitnis at 183, Nehra for 186 and Yeligati at 188.

Jayasuriya knocks 20 off 12 balls with a four and two 6’s, Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar hit a massive knock of 65 off 46 balls with 12 fours, Smith pulls 20 off 16 with 2 fours and 1 six, Nayar 27 off 18 balls with 1 four and 2 6’s, Uthappa knocks 9 off 13 balls, Pollock goes for a duck, Shah had a crucial strike with 5 off 5 balls, Chitnis played a kings innings with the master batsmen back in the pad. He scored 15 off 6 balls with a four and a six, Dilhara not out with 2 runs off 1 ball, Nehra walks back with a duck and Yeligati hits 2 for 2 runs.

When Tendulkar turned around after losing his wicket and asked Uthappa to stay and hit to a finish with signs, the crowd danced with joy. Pollocks duck was the second shock the Mumbai Indians had to live with. The tail enders did try their best and put up a good fight.

Kings XI Punjab celebrated a victory, that they were not expecting when the master batsman rolled the score-board with runs.

A win by 1 run explains the excitement and tension rolling on the ground and the spectators. Being home ground of Mumbai Indians, Mumbai’s cheer did dip when their team lost to the King’s Captain Yuvraj Singh. A temperament which we all should adopt, cool, calm, composed and to the mark was the captaincy of Yuvi. The target of last 2 runs for 1 ball, the field setting, the bowling everything was so crucial. The winning pendulum was swinging from Kings XI to Mumbai and vice versa. The cheer and dip in the roar of the spectators was the witness of the edge of the seat situation. Mumbai hit 188 for 10 in 20 overs and lost by one run.

The bowling spell of Sreesanth 4-35-2, I.Pathan 4-37-0, V.Singh 4-53-1, Chawla 4-22-1, Hopes 2-13-0 and Yuvraj 2-12-2 destroyed the Mumbai Indians.

Kings XI Punjab won the match by 1 run.

Shaun Marsh was declared the Man of the Match.
Shaun Marsh grabbed DLF Maximum Sixes Award too.
Sreesanth takes the Purple Cap

Chennai Super Kings v/s Bangalore Royal Challengers on 21^st May 2008 at M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

The mighty CSK clashed with RC. The match has taken everyone by surprise as RC put up a good show today compared to the poor dismal in all the previous matches. RC elected to bat first and lost wickets of Kallis at 1-7; Goswami at 2-22; Kohli at 3-33; Misbah at 4-41; Boucher at 5-76; Rahul Dravid at 6-97; Praveen Kumar at 7-124 and V.Kumar at 8-124. The quick fall of wickets did not let the RC put up a good total for the CSK to chase. They put up 126 for 8 in 20 overs with a run rate of 6.3. The only person to hit the ball to the stadium for a six was Praveen Kumar!!. Dravid hit five 4’s and it was the highest from their team.

Morkel proved to be the best with a spell of 4-32-4; Gony clinched a maiden and his spell was 4-1-11-2; Balaji’s spell was 4-34-1, Ntini 4-27-0, Muthiah 4-19-1 was very economical. Morkel got hurt on his head and luckily it did not hamper his spell in the innings.

CSK’s wickets collapsed like pack of cards. The fall of wickets was Patel at 60, Dhoni at 65, Fleming at 85, Badrinath at 87, Morkel at 93, Sivaramakrishnan at 93, Gony at 108 and finally Balaji at 110.

Fleming was the highest scorer of the side with 45-39-3(4’s)-2(6’s), Patel was the second highest with 24-29-4(4’s), the third highest was Raina with 21-21-2(4’s), Captain Dhoni and Gony were the fourth highest with 4-8-0 and 4-4-1(4). Sivaramakrishnan and Balaji walked with a duck, Badrinath and Morkel walked with one run each.

The only batsman to hit sixes was Fleming!!

Steyn 4-28-2, P.Kumar 4-26-1, Kumble 4-14-3, Kallis 4-15-0, V.Kumar 3-23-1, Akhil 1-4-0 was the bowling figures of the Royal Challengers.

CSK finally collapsed at 112 for 8 in 20 overs.

RC pulled off a magnificent win.

Anil Kumble was declared the Man of the Match.

Kings XI Punjab won the match by 1 run.
congrats to Punjab team. match was very excitment.mumbai teams also plays well.Mumbai team captain sachin also plays well.

Thanks Saikripa for stepping in.

Delhi Dare Devils v/s Kolkata Knight Riders on 22^nd May 2008 at Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi

The match was abandoned due to rains. KKR has no berth in Semis. DD now have to give a good fight as their competitors CSK and MI are in a better position of taking the berth.

Kings XI Punjab v/s Deccan Chargers on 23^rd May at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium Chandigarh

Deccan Chargers opened the innings by batting first. This time they put up a substantial total of 175 for 4 in 20 overs for the Kings XI to chase. The partnership knock between Gibbs and Gilchrist was outstanding. Gilchirst punched 50 with six 4’s and one 6. Gibbs hit 44 off 34 balls with three 4’s and three 6’s. Sharma gave his full support knocking 50 with three 4’s and four 6’s. Rao made a quick exit with 2, Silva hit 23 with two 4’s and one 6 and Styris 1 off 2 balls. DC who always huddled back to the pad, played a good innings today. Kings XI have already gained a berth in the Semis and it is not easy to win a match against them. It is Cricket and the pendulum can swing in any direction, isn’t it?

Sreesanth’s spell was 4-29-1, V.Singh 4-40-1, Powar 4-20-1, Chawla 4-31-0, G.Singh 3-33-1, Y.Singh 1-18-0.

The fall of wickets was 1-79 (Gibbs), 2-111 (Gilchrist), 3-149 (R.Sharma) and 4-163 (V.Rao)

Sangakkara was the first one to go with 51 off 25 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Yuvraj played a slow innings hitting 17 off 15 balls with 2 fours.
Marsh always delivers and plays a massive innings. Today again he played some matured shots and hit 60 off 46 balls with three 4’s and three 6’s, Pomersbach struggled with 13 runs, Jayawardane (not out) played good strokes to lead his team to victory with a knock of 14 off 10 balls with a six which eased the tension of last chase of runs and Chawla (not out) 16 off 9 balls with a boundary. P. Chawla the young lad is proving to be a good sportsman under pressure. He bats for runs when required and bowls for wickets always. Kings XI finished the match with 178 for 4 in 19.3 overs.

DC’s fielding was sloppy and they also missed some catches.

The bowlers’ spell was as follows: R.Singh 3.3-37-0, Umar 2-24, Rao 2-23, Styris 4-36-1, Sharma 4-25-1 and Ojha 4-30-2

The fall of wickets was 1-84, 2-117, 3-137 and 4-149

KINGS XI PUNJAB WIN BY 6 WICKETS


Shaun Marsh was declared the Man of the Match.
Rohit Sharma grabbed DLF Maximum Sixes Award too.

BOWLERS WITH MOST WICKETS

Sreesanth 11 matches 15 wickts
R P Singh 11 matches 15 wickets
Sohail Tanvir 7 matches 14 wickets
S.Warne 11 matches 14 wickets

BATSMEN WITH MOST RUNS

Gautam Gambhir (DD) 12 matches 504 runs
Virendra Sehwag (DD) 12 mathces 385 runs
Shaun Marsh 7 (KINGS XI) matches 378 runs
Sannath Jayasuriya (MI) 11 matches 356 runs
S.Watson (RR) 11 matches 352 runs