IPL 2011: KKR vs DC

On 11th of April, Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers faced each other at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The toss was won by KKR and they elected to bat first.

Jacques Kallis and Manvinder Bisla opened the batting innings. The start was pretty good and they scored runs very smoothly. Manvinder Bisla got out when their team total was 51. Jacques Kallis managed to put up his second half-century of the tournament. Later on, skipper Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan played some good knocks and guided the team to put up a very good total. They managed to scored a total of 163 runs with the loss of 4 wickets in 20 overs (KKR - 163/4, 20 over). This score was the highest total scored by any team in this IPL season 4.

Now the real pressure was on Deccan Chargers as they had to score 164 runs to win the match. This was pretty tough as they have to give a brilliant opening with a big partnership. But they failed to make it happen, they lost 2 quick wickets in a span of 3.2 over. They were in real trouble at this point of time. Bharat Chipli, Daniel Christian and Amit Mishra played some brilliant strokes that helped the Deccan Chargers to get closer. But DC failed to chase the target and ended up scoring a total of 146 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 8 wickets (DC - 146/8, 20 over). Iqbal Abdulla took 3 wickets.

Kolkata Knight Riders won match by 9 runs. Man of the match was Jacques Kallis for his brilliant performance with bat and in field. He scored a half-century and took 4 catches.

IPL 4 begins

On 8th of April, IPL season 4 began. The first match was played between Chenni Super Kings and Kolkota Knight Riders at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The toss went into the favor of the hosts and they elected to bat first.

Aniruda Srikkanth and Murali Vijay opened the batting innings for the Chennai Super Kings. Murali Vijay did not perform as he departed after scoring only 4 runs. Suresh Raina came in to bat and put up a partnership of 75 runs which helped CSK to add up some good runs on board. After the departure of Raina, things slowed down and the run rate fell. Finally Chennai Super Kings managed to put up a total score of 153 runs on board for the loss of 4 wickets (CSK - 153/4, 20 over). Aniruda Srikkanth was the top scorer of the team who scored a magnificent 64 runs in 55 deliveries which included 6 fours and 2 sixes. Jacques Kallis managed to pick up 2 wickets for KKR.

Kolkota Knight Riders after restricting CSK to 153, opened its batting innings with the openers Manvinder Bisla and Jacques Kallis. The start was just rocking and they were just cruising in with runs. In the 9th over, CSK were back with the removal of Manvinder Bisla's wicket. This was the first blow for KKR. After the fall of the dangerous Yusuf Pathan and Jacques Kallis, KKR were in real trouble as the required kept on increasing rapidly. Even the skipper Gautam Gambhir could not break the jinx set by CSK. Manoj Tiwary in the 19th over hit 2 sixes which drastically reduced the asking rate. At one point of time, KKR required 9 runs from just 8 balls. But Manoj Tiwary did not maintain his calm and he got out by getting stumped by MS Dhoni. Soon Laxmi Shukla followed him. Finally KKR needed 4 runs in just 1 ball, Tim Southee bowled an magnificent yorker which restricted the batsman to settle with only 1 run. KKR ended up its batting innings scoring 151 runs for the loss of 7 wickets (KKR - 151/7, 20over). Skipper MS Dhoni made 3 stump outs and one run-out.

Rajasthan Royals fight against Mumbai Indians to get into Semis, but failed

Rajasthan Royals are currently in the fourth position in the IPL ranking, this means they have to keep winning the upcoming matches to make up to semis safely. Rajasthan Royals played their home match against Mumbai Indians at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Rajasthn Royals won the toss & elected to field first.
Mumbai Indians started their innings with the 2 legends, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar & Sanath Jayasurya. Sanath Jayasurya failed to stay in the pitch for longer period & he got out in Shane Watson's delivery in the 2nd over of the innings. After the fall of 1st wicket, Mumbai Indians lost 2 more wickets in quick succession. At the end of 4th over Mumbai Indians scored 30 runs loosing 3 wickets. JP Duminy had come to bat, he gave a good partnership of 63 runs with MI skipper Sachin Tendulkar. Keiron Pollard came to bat when JP Duminy got out, he contributed 25 runs in just 13 balls. Pollard got out in the last delivery of 18th over, Mumbai Indians scored 143 at this stage. This score was not enough, but it all changed in the 20th over when Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar hit 20 runs utilizing all 6 deliveries. The flow of score in last 6 balls was 6 6 2 0 2 4 thereby Mumbai Indians made a total of 174 runs loosing 5 wickets. Teams top scorer was Sachin Tendulkar who was unbeaten scoring 89 runs from 59 deliveries which included 10 fours & 2 sixes. Rajasthan Royals economical bowler was Yusuf Pathan whose economy rate was 6 runs per over.
Rajasthan Royals started their chase of 175 runs, Zaheer Khan opened the bowling for Mumbai Indians giving a grand start. He gave only 2 runs in the first over. In the second over, Rajasthan Royals lost their first wicket, Michael Lumb. Even Naman Ojha could not make his mark as he was duck out first delivery of Zaheer Khan's 2nd over. Shane Watson was run out in the Zaheer Khan's 2nd over. Thereby loosing 3 wickets in quick succession. Rajasthan Royals started to loose wickets in regular basis, no one survived in the field. Even Yusuf Pathan failed to make it a big win when he got out in Keiron Pollard's delivery. By the end of 20 overs, Rajasthan Royals could score 138 runs losing 8 wickets. Mumbai Indians won the match by 37 runs. Man of the match was Sachin Tendulkar for his brilliant batting of unbeaten 89 runs. After this win Mumbai Indians are safe, they are into finals without any doubt. They have 3 more games left before playing semi-finals.

Delhi Daredevils won the match against Rajasthan Royals

Delhi Daredevils played their home match against the Rajasthan Royals at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. Delhi Daredevils won the toss & elected to bat first.
Opening their batting innings, Delhi Daredevils lost 4 wickets in first 9 overs. 79 runs partnership between the skipper Gautam Gambhir & Dinesh Karthik helped Delhi Daredevils to reach a total of 188 runs loosing 6 wickets completing 20 overs. Team's top scorer was Dinesh Karthik, who scored 69 runs in 38 deliveries which included 6 fours & 4 sixes.Gautam Gambhir scored 43 runs from 37 deliveries. Shane Warne was the consitent bowler with an economy of 6.5 runs per over.
Chasing the score of 188, Rajasthan Royals started their batting innings. In the first over, Rajasthan Royals lost 2 important wickets & by 5th over they lost 2 more wickets. It was Yusuf Pathan, who was at crease now, the most reliable batsman in the Rajasthan Royals side. He scored 24 runs in 14 balls which included 2 fours & 2 huge sixes & got out in the 9th over. Rajasthan Royals thereon started to struggle as they were loosing wickets in regular intervals. By 17.4 over Rajasthan Royals lost all their 10 wickets by scoring only 121 runs.
Delhi Daredevils won the match by 67 runs.

Yusuf Pathan shines for Rajasthan Royals to win their third consecutive match

Rajasthan Royals played their home match against the visitors Deccan Chargers on Friday. Deccan Chargers batted first, Right from the beginning of the innings till the end Deccan Chargers were loosing wickets regularly. It was Rohit Sharma who played well & scored 49 runs to put up a decent total of 148 loosing 9 wickets.

Rajasthan Royals started their chasing by an impressive start where the players played aggressively right from the beginning. Micheal Lumb was out when had scored 45 runs, later it was Yusuf Pathan who was the show stopper. He cruised very fast to score his half century in just 23 deliveries. He ended the game by hitting his eighth six being unbeaten scoring 73 runs from just 34 balls. There was 26 balls remaining when Rajasthan Royals reached their target. This was Rajasthan royals 3rd successive win in the tournament.