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IPL4 Chennai emerge victorious over gritty Challengers

Mumbai: Chennai Super Kings were through to the finals of IPL 4 to defend their crown after winning a super thriller, beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets.

Suresh Raina was the star of the day as he hammered seventy three runs off fifty balls and remained unbeaten at the crease to see the champions through in a match that swerved either ways till the duo of Raina and Morkel came up with a partnership of 46 off 18 balls.

Royal Challengers were off to a fantastic start in the defending of the total as two Chennai openers fell in consecutive overs with the scorecard reading 7/2 in the second over. Badrinath (34) could not consolidate on the hard work done.

Raina and Dhoni then worked towards a handy partnership while trying to catch up with the growing run rate and the former ensured he stayed till the end to see his team through.

Michael Hussey (0) and Murali Vijay (5) were wayward in their approach and were quickly scalped by Zaheer Khan and S Arvind respectively giving the dominance of the initial overs to the Challengers.

In the first half of the match, Virat Kohli was on fire at Wankhede as he slammed a blistering fifty to help Bangalore register 175/4 against Chennai.

Bollinger was particularly lethal with his economical and fiery spell that saw Luke Pomersbach getting clean bowled after the batsman had sent a few beyond the boundary ropes.

With three wickets gone, it was up to vice-captain Kohli to set up a big score for the Bangalore outfit and he stood up to the task.

Ashwin got the first breakthrough for Chennai as he claimed the most dangerous batsman in the RCB camp- Chris Gayle. The towering hitter was out plumb in front of the wickets at a score of eight runs, much to the delight of the Super Kings. Ashwin was later in the innings the recipient of a blinding fast shot that knocked him off his feet for the rest of the tie.

24.05.2011. 23:47

IPL 4: Franklin powers Mumbai to an improbable win

Kolkata: James Franklin struck a blistering 23-ball unbeaten 45 to help Mumbai Indians pull off a sensational five-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the final round-robin league match of the IPL on Sunday.

Pacer Laxmipathy Balaji turned as the villain for the Knight Riders, as needing 21 off the last over, he went for four boundaries and a six to concede 23 runs and hand Mumbai Indians the last ball win at the packed Eden Gardens.

It was Franklin who started the proceedings in the last over, spanking Balaji for four consecutive boundaries to reduce the equation to four of the last delivery.

Young Ambati Rayudu (17 not out off 6 balls) then drew curtains to the match in style, clobbering Balaji over the square-leg fence to silence the sellout Eden crow and bring the the Mumbai outfit back on winning track after three consecutive defeats.

The win meant Mumbai finish the round-robin league on the third position with 18 points from 14 matches ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders, who have 16 points from as many games.

By virtue of their win against Chennai Super Kings earlier in the day, Royal Challengers Bangalore topped the standings with 19 points from 14 matches.

Even though both Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have similar points, the former remained in the second spot because of a better net run rate.

Royal Challengers will now take on Chennai Super Kings in the first qualifier on Tuesday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, while the Knight Riders will be up against Mumbai Indians in the eliminator on Wednesday at the same venue.

Put into bat, the Knight Riders had an eerie start losing two quick wickets with the scoreboard reading 22 but Jacques Kallis displayed a cool head and guided the home team innings with a 42-ball 59.

Together with Manoj Tiwary (35 off 22) and Yusuf Pathan (36 off 27), Kallis shared 47 and 57 runs for the third and fourth wickets respectively to set the platform for Knight Riders` challenging score of 175 for seven.

The burly South African entertained a sell-out Eden crowd with four boundaries and three sixes.

Towards the end, Ryan ten Doeschate (18 off 12) and Rajat Bhatia (11 not out off 6) played good hands to take Knight Riders past the 170-run mark.

For Mumbai Indians, young right-arm pacer Abu Nechim Ahmed and Franklin took two wickets each, giving away 32 and 35 runs respectively.

Defending the total, Rajat Bhatia returned with fine figures of three wickets for 22 runs to help the Knight Riders pull back after Sachin Tendulkar (38 from 27 balls, 6x4) and Harbhajan Singh (30 from 29 balls, 5x4) looked dangerous with a 57-run second wicket stand that came of just 42 balls. PTI

23.05.2011. 00:47

IPL 4: Gayle storm blows away CSK

Bangalore: Chris Gayle`s blazing form in the Indian Premier League continued as he butchered the Chennai Super Kings bowlers to score an unbeaten 75 off 50 balls to guide Royal Challengers Bangalore to a comprehensive eight-wicket win on Sunday.

The win put RCB on top of the table with 19 points and more importantly gives them a match more to reach the final in case they lose the first play-offs.

Restricting CSK to a modest 128 for eight, RCB, who finished their league engagements with nine wins and a draw (no result), sauntered home with 12-balls to spare.

Gayle was in imperious form again. But unlike in the earlier matches when he swung his bat at everything that was flung at him, the towering Jamaican was watchful, smashing the ball only when the bowlers begged to be punished. He picked Dougie Bollinger and Suresh Raina for punishment, smashing them for effortless sixes at the start of the innings.

The lanky Jamaican struck six sixes and four fours during his 50-ball mayhem, taking his aggregate to 511 runs in only nine innings. He is now the proud owner of the Orange Cap surpassing Shaun Marsh who had aggregated 504 runs.

It wasn`t just Gayle all the way. Virat Kohli batted with maturity, defending whewn the bowlers demanded him to use soft hands, hitting out when they either over-pitched or bowled short.

If RCB had lost AB dew Villiers to the third ball of their innings, Kohli ensured that his side was firmly in the saddle, playing the supporting role to Gayle to a nicety.

Kohli made 31 before clipping Albie Morkel into the hands of Ravichandran Ashwin. With barely 48 needed in 60 balls with nine wicket in hand, RCB made the remainder of the target without much fuss. Saurabh Tiwary remained unbeaten with 13 while posting 49-runs for the unbroken third wicket.

Earlier, put in to bat by Daniel Vettori, CSK lost wickets at regular intervals throughout their innings, and reached 128 for eight in their 20 overs thanks entirely to Dhoni, who smashed three fours and six towering sixes in his unbeaten 40-ball knock of 70.

Dhoni was particularly severe on young paceman Abhimanyu Mithun, who conceded 17 runs in the final over of the innings and was clobbered for 35 runs in his four overs even as the rest of the RCB attack was discipline personified.

Zaheer Khan, back in the side like Vettori, finished with excellent figures of two for 19, Vettori himself took two for 14 and impressive left-arm medium-pacer Sreenath Arvind returned with two for 20 to ensure that the defending champions did not get away to a massive score.

Zaheer began the slide in the third over, eliciting a loose drive from Mike Hussey on to his stumps. It triggered a dramatic rot as the Super Kings subsided to 23 for four at the end of the Powerplay, their top-order blown away through a combination of disciplined bowling and poor shot-selection.

The first pocket of resistance was provided by Wriddhiman Saha (22, 30 balls, 1x4, 1x6) and Dhoni, who added 42 for the fifth wicket in 47 deliveries, but with Dwayne Bravo and Albie Morkel failing to contribute significantly lower down, it was entirely up to Dhoni to do the scoring.

The Indian captain began cautiously, but once he got his eye in, he treated a packed gathering to a feast of strokeplay. He first picked off Chris Gayle for two sixes, but saved his best for Mithun to give his bowlers something of a target to defend in the battle for the top slot. PTI

22.05.2011. 23:24

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