KKR gave a big blow to RCB....

Today, 10th match of the Champions League Twenty20 was played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. The toss went into the favor of KKR and they chose to field first.

RCB had already lost their first game and they were looking forward to win this match. The superstar Chris Gayle along with his non-strike opener Tillakaratne Dilshan came in to bat. The start looked good as Chris Gayle was and Dilshan were playing but not very aggressive though. Gayle managed to hit 3 sixes, but after this he failed to hit big and he returned to pavilion scoring only 25 runs in 16 deliveries. Things started to mess up as they started to loose wickets. At one point of time, they were 91 loosing 6 wickets. A much needed partnership between the captain Daniel Vettori and Raju Bhatkal helped RCB to bounce into the game. They both made a partnership of 61 runs. Finally RCB ended up scoring a total of 169 runs loosing 9 wickets (RCB - 169/9, 20 over).

The chase looked little challenging for KKR as the required run rate was around 8.45 runs per over. Jacques Kallis and Brad Haddin came in to bat. They both gave a perfect start and did put up a partnership of 62 runs. Brad Haddin got out after scoring 42 runs from 27 deliveries that included 5 fours and 2 sixes. Then came the skipper Gautam Gambhir and he was unbeaten along with Kallis and finished the game in style. Kallis was unbeaten scoring 64 runs and Gambhir with 55 runs in just 31 deliveries that included 3 fours and 4 sixes. KKR won the match by scoring 171 runs with loss of only a wicket (KKR 171/1, 17.3 over).

KKR won the match by 9 wickets. Man of the match was Jacques Kallis for his all-rounding performance where he scored a half century and took a wicket.

RCB are back again.... now into IPL finals

It was an joyful day for me as RCB took their revenge on MI by winning the match. In the first playoff match, CSK and RCB faced each other. CSK won the match and marked their place in the IPL4 finals.

I was not disappointed at all, because i had confidence that RCB will definitely outplay MI and so i was cool. I considered it as an opportunity for the RCB to take their revenge on MI as they had been defeated by them in the league match. Things went well today for RCB as the big man Chris Gayle alone belted all the bowlers of MI. He just played magnificently and took the pressure off for the rest of the batsmen. He scored 89 runs in just 47 deliveries that included 9 fours and 5 sixes. RCB in their first innings scored a total of 185 and lost 4 wickets. I was not sure at that time the RCB will reach finals that easily.

But things went on Royal Challengers Bangalore way, All most all the bowlers bowled well. RCB skipper Daniel Vettori was very economical and took 3 major wickets. Mumbai Indians were struggling to score runs till the end of the innings. They could only manage to score a total of 142 runs with the loss of 8 wickets. Thereby Royal Challengers Bangalore won the match by 43 runs. Mumbai Indians dream of lifting up the IPL trophy again comes to an end.

Now RCB has better chance to lift the cup as they have one more revenge pending in their account. In this IPL, CSK won against RCB in the playoff. Thank god for the playoff system, due to this my team RCB is back on track again. The best part is that it is the time for RCB to have their revenge and lift the IPL trophy for the first time.

Srilanka enters WC 2011 finals

Today first semi-finals of the World Cup 2011 was played between Srilanka and New Zealand at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka. This was the most important match for the Kiwis as they have never won a World Cup in history. The Victory over Srilanka was a best chance for them to win a World Cup 2011. Srilankan's have already geared up to lift the cup and they are looking to finish up the things easily. The toss went into the favor of New Zealand and they chose to bat first.

Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum opened the batting innings for Kiwis. They gave a slow and stable start. The run rate was not on average. Srilankan's kept the pressure on the Kiwis right from the start of the innings so that the Kiwis could not go for big hits. They managed to pick 3 wickets when the total score was 84 runs which was hit in 21.3 overs. After this fall there was a good partnership of 77 runs that helped the Kiwis to come out of the critical situation. When Ross Taylor departed, things changed and the Kiwis started to loose wickets and finally Scott Styris who played a big innings got out. In last 25 runs Kiwis lost 6 wickets which resulted in low total. In 48.5 over, New Zealand managed to put up a total score of 217 runs and lost all 10 wickets (NZ - 217/10, 48.5over). Team's highest scorer was Scott Styris who scored 57 runs. Lashith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis took 3 wickets each. 


This was not a big total at all and Srilankan's did not have much pressure as the required run rate was less than 5 runs per over. As usual Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan started off the second innings and the start was better than Kiwis. Upul tharanga was back to pavilion after scoring 30 runs. Kumar Sangakkara came in to bat and put up a very good partnership of 120 runs with Tillakaratne Dilshan. Tillakaratne Dilshan departed after scoring 73 runs and Kumar Sangakkara got out after scoring 54 runs. Srilanka after a big partnership lost 5 quick wickets which made the Kiwis to be back on track. Now the pressure was on Srilanka as they lost 5 wickets when their total was 185 runs. But Samaraweera and Mathews played beautifully and helped the team to come out of pressurized situation. Srilanka finally managed to chase the target successfully scoring a total of 220 runs with the loss of 5 wickets in 47.5 over (SL - 220/5, 47.5 over).

Srilanka won the match by 5 wickets. Man of the match was Kumar Sangakkara. Now the Srilankan's are into the finals of the World Cup 2011. They will be playing against India or Pakistan on 2nd of April in Mumbai.

On 30th March India and Pakistan will face against each other in the second semi-finals. This is the most awaited match to be watched across the globe. Who ever wins, definitely this is gonna be a thriller. I wish India to win the match. INDIA DHAK DHAK GO!!!!!!

McCullum & Vettori help NewZeland to take lead of 67 runs

New Zealand's key player Brendon McCullum scored unbeaten 94 and skipper Daniel Vettori scored 77 runs which has helped New Zealand to take a lead of 67 runs against Australia at end of fourth day play in Wellington's Basin Reserve. Due to rain the match was stopped when New Zealand were on 369 loosing 6 wickets. Only one day is left for the 1st test match to get over, New Zealand has to survive for at least 2 sessions tomorrow which will help them a lot to draw the match.

Brendon McCullum & Daniel Vettori broke the record of Stephen Fleming & Chris Cairns 6th wicket partnership of 110 runs which had been setup 10 years ago in the same stadium.