IPL pass row resolved, cops give up access control at Wankhede - indianexpress news

source: indianexpress.com
A Day after the BCCI gave an ultimatum to the Mumbai Cricket Association that the twoIPL semifinals will be shifted from Wankhede Stadium to Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium unless it sorts out its ‘police pass’ issue with local authorities in three days, the Mumbai Police buckled under pressure and backed down from its tough stand on access control at the venue.
After a meeting between MCA and BCCI officials and senior Mumbai Police officers on Thursday afternoon, the police decided to relinquish access control at the stadium and handed it over to the organisers of the matches instead. The police will now only be responsible for maintaining law and order, crowd control and anti-terror arrangements outside the venue.
“At the meeting today, it is has been decided that access control will be left to the organisers, with checking and frisking and the various criteria for entry to the stadium now being their responsibility alone.Outside the stadium, however, we will provide arrangements similar to those during matches of previous IPLs in the city. These arrangements will deal with crowd regulation, maintaining law and order, andhaving Quick Response Teams ready for any terror situation,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) Rajkumar Vhatkar.
State Home Minister R R Patil said, “Security measures are needed to ensure the safety of players and spectators. Instructions have been given tothe police to ensure there is minimum hindrance to the members of the club. The issue has been resolved and matches will be held in Mumbai.”

33th Match IPL 2011: Delhi Daredevils Vs Kolkata Knight Riders {KKR beat DD by 17 runs}

Kolkata Knight Riders showed that they mean business this season as they picked up their fourth win of the campaign at the expense of the Delhi Daredevils, who have becoming the whipping boys of the IndianPremier League. Batting first, Kolkata put 148 runs on the board with Manoj Tiwary top scoring with 61. The score was just about enough to beat the Delhi Daredevils by 17 runs to race to second place in the Premier League table. Kolkata's bowlers put on a tremendous show in the evening, led by young Iqbal Abdulla, who turned the ball a mile on a green track and picked up 3 important wickets. Delhi's bowlers on the other hand did well to restrict Kolkata to148, but their batsmen disappointed once again.
some statistical highlights of the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils on Thursday.

# Kolkata Knight Riders have recorded their first win over Delhi Daredevils at Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi.

# Both the teams have won three games against each other in the IPL.

# Kolkata, for the first time, have registered two wins in succession against Delhi Daredevils in the IPL - they had won the previous game by 14 runs at Kolkata on April 7, 2010.

# Kolkata Knight Tigers (148/7) have posted their highest total at Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi in the IPL, obliterating the 137 for nine on March 29,2010.

Emotions raged high for Siddharth Mallya and Deepika Padukone for IPL matches : indianexpress.com

    The idea of announcing a Relationship Status itself is fairly new in our society. But suddenly we are surrounded by places where this is done with ample display of affection. I-am-in-a-relationship is a buzzy place to be in these days especially if you are in the cricket stadia. At least that’s what the celebs are doing. 

Deepika Padukone-Siddhartha Mallya hug-and-kiss

 

Kisses, yells and more take spotlight in IPL grounds

     Sealing cricketing wins with a kiss seems to be the done thing this IPL season. The Deepika Padukone-Siddhartha Mallya hug-and-kiss routine has been viewed on YouTube over 84,000 times in the last five days overshadowing Chris Gayle’s bludgeoning knock at the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers match. The fans are loving every bit of the action off the field as well. 

Liz Hurley and Shane Warne

   

    For pointers, watch the extra innings between Liz Hurley and Shane Warne. Hurley, currently enjoying her Indian holiday with beau Warne — who captains Rajasthan Royals — is clearly enjoying herself. Warne and the 45-year-old Hollywood actor are joined at the hip, arriving at hotels and travelling together in the team bus. In the stadium, Hurley, who recently admitted she “wasn’t into cricket before” hasn’t shied away from her very public display of affection (PDA).

   The two even went to seal The Royals win in Jaipur over Kochi Tuskers with a celebratory kiss. “She has eyes only for Warne. They surely seem to be making the most of their time together and are not at all conscious of shutterbugs or the fact that Warne’s children Jackson, Brooke and Summer along with Hurley’s nine-year-old son Damien are always around,” remarked a source from the Rajasthan Royals camp during the team’s outing in Chandigarh. Warne and Hurley were booked in Hotel Mountview in Chandigarh with their families in rooms signed in as ‘Warne family 1&2’.

   Celebrities in stands aren’t new to Indian cricket, their PDA is. “Times have changed both on and off the field. I see nothing wrong so long as the players aren’t doing it on the field,” feels veteran cricketer Kapil Dev, who says in the same breath, “Cricket and cricketers are now seen as glamourous, so women want to be associated with them. Also the media likes to highlight such opportunities, which were earlier rare.”
Referring to recent PDA news splashes, Punjab’s well-known psychologist Rajshree Sarda makes a point. “Indians are no longer as prudish. Celebrities are conscious of their acts. If somebody lesser-known was hugging a non-celebrity, there would not be much talk about it,” says Sarda, who agrees that it’s the upper crust that is more comfortable with displaying relationship intimacy. “In the pre-IPL era, cricket stadia never boasted of so much glamour. Also, the adrenaline rush seems to be making people express lot physically,” she says. We aren’t complaining.

Mumbai may lose the chance to host two play off matches of the IPL

    The Board of Control for Cricket in India has threatened to move those to matches to Bangalore instead.
BCCI's working committee criticised the Mumbai cricket Association for creating inconvenience for BCCI officials and TV production crew to get inside the venue on the match days.
Board secretary N Srinivasan, Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty and IPL CEO Sundar Raman were stopped outside the Vinoo Mankad gate and prevented from entering their office parking lot in their car on April 15 - when the Wankhede stadium hosted its first IPL match of the season, between Mumbai Indians and Kochi Tuskers Kerala - without police passes.
Blaming it on the Mumbai police taking over the charge of the entire ground, the Mumbai Cricket Association expressed helplessness in dealing with the inconvenience faced by the BCCI officials and the production crew.
The Mumbai Cricket Association has three days to revert to BCCI on the security issues.
The two play-off matches will be played between the top four finishers at the end of the league stage of the T20 tournament.
 Source : http://www.espnstar.com/cricket/indian-premier-league/news

32nd Match: Kochi Tuskers Kerala Vs Deccan Chargers {Deccan Chargersthrash Kochi Tuskers Kerala by 55 runs}

Ishant Sharma took five wickets in three overs as Deccan Chargers beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala by 55 runs in their IPL match at Nehru stadium in Kochi on Wednesday.
Chasing a victory target of 130 runs, Kochi were bundled out for 74 runs in 16.3 overs.
Ishant took five wickets in two overs to reduce Kochi to 11/6 in4 overs.
Dale Steyn gave Deccan the firstbreakthrough when he had Brendon McCullum caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara on the fourth ball of the Kochi innings.
Ishant struck thrice in his first over. The tall pacer first had Parthiv Patel caught behind by Sangakkara and then clean bowled Raiphi Gomez and Brad Hodge.
Earlier Kochi captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and chose to bowl.
Kochi have brought in Brendon McCullum and S Sreesanth in place of Muthiah Muralitharan and VVS Laxman.
The Chargers have dropped Pragyan Ojha in favour of Manpreet Gony.

31th Match IPL 2011: Chennai Super kings Vs Pune Warriors India {Chennai easy 8-wicket win over Pune}

S Badrinath walked into a tricky situation, took ownership of the chase of 142 without playing a single ugly shot, and finessed Chennai Super Kings to No. 2 in the IPL table. His effort came after Chennai's seamers made exemplary use of the extra bounce on the DY Patil strip to restrict Pune to an under-par score, despite a well-paced 62 from Yuvraj Singh.

30th Match IPL 2011: Delhi Daredevils Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore { Kohli leads RCBto 3-wkt win over Daredevils}

Stylish Indian middle order batsman Virat Kohli pulled up a match-winning half-century to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore to an emphatic victory over Delhi Daredevils by three wickets in the Indian Premier League 2011 (IPL 2011) at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium here Tuesday.
Morne Morkel captured three wickets for 25 runs and was the most successful bowler for the Delhi Daredevils while Irfan Pathan once again proved worthless as he leaked 26 runs from his three overs but Jamie Hopes (4-0-25-1) showed his worth with some probing bowling.

Virat Kohli was declared Man of the Match for his match winning half-century as Royal Challengers Bangalore have jumped to second position in the Indian Premier League 2011 points table with seven points while Mumbai Indian are still comfortably placed on top of the league with 10 points.

29th Match IPL 2011 Chennai Super Kings Vs Pune Warriors Chennai : Hussey stars in Chennai's win over Pune

Michael Hussey came up with another match-winning performance for Chennai Super Kings on Monday when his battling half-century led the home side to 25 runs victory over Pune Warriors India in an important match of the Indian Premier League 2011 (IPL 2011) at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Albie Morkel was the best bowler for Chennai Super Kings as he recorded figures of 3/29 while Doug Bollinger and R Ashwin captured two wickets apiece for 20 and 19 runs respectively.

Michael Hussey was declared Man of the Match for his gutsy batting effort in the top order for Chennai Super Kings who now have surged to fourth position in the Indian Premier League 2011 standings.

Valthaty, Rayudu frontrunners for WI tour - {cricketnext.in.com/news}

    Franchisee pressure is set to have a telling effect on India's preparation for the tour of West Indies as the top layer of World Cup success - which decided to play the Indian Premier League - seems to have made up its mind to give the West Indies tour a miss, turning the IPL into a stepping stone for fringe players to don the India blue.

     It was an impending decision following a gruelling back-to-back World Cup and IPL and will force the BCCI Selection Committee to take a serious look at domestic performers, especially in the IPL, for the limited-overs internationals starting with the only T20 at Gros Islet on June 4.

As many as five seniors - Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir - are likely to shoot request letters to the BCCI for rest, while Virender Sehwag is scheduled to go for a shoulder surgey after the IPL.

Mulling over the names that can fill those big shoes is going to be an arduous task for Kris Srikkanth and Co. with a number of players throwing up their names with consistent performances so far in the IPL.

The selectors, in all probability, will take a man-for-man approach to pick replacements in the team which is likely to be led by India's mojo man of late, Yuvraj Singh.

Sachin, Sehwag and Gambhir's absence will leave the team without any openers. That once again opens gates for the tried and tested Murali Vijay who should walk into the team on past reputation itself. But what would be difficult to replace is Sehwag's belligerence and Sachin's consistency.

Two men who fit that bill are Sehwag-like Paul Valthaty and Sachin-mentored Ambati Rayudu. While Valthaty has been a revelation at the top for Kings XI Punjab, Rayudu has thrived under Sachin for Mumbai Indians at No. 3.

On the wicketkeeping front, India played with just one (Dhoni) in the World Cup, whose overworked status makes his eligibility for resting most reasonable. But who wears Dhoni's gloves will depend on whether the selectors also want the substitute to bat as well as the Indian skipper.

In that case, Robin Uthappa, who is doing decent wicketkeeping for Pune Warriors, can be the leading contender to board the plane to the Caribbean, closely followed by Parthiv Patel. But keeping in mind Uthappa's explosiveness and flexibility to bat as a floater, the Karnataka dynamite should get the nod.

However, India's major worry could be the absence of leading wicket-taker of the World Cup, Zaheer Khan. It's not a secret now that he is the go-to man whenever the team is in strife. The nut becomes tougher to break considering Nehra too has been sidelined due to injury, which means India need not one but two bowling replacements.

So a fit-again Praveen Kumar is almost a certainty. But Nehra's place could be a toss-up between Ishant Sharma and Laxmipathy Balaji. Both have made decent starts for their new franchises Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively but how they finish the IPL holds the key to who gets the recall.

Lack of quality spin options in the domestic circuit means the selectors don't have to look too far to replace Harbhajan. With off-spinner R Ashwin expected to retain his place and none of the leg-spinners up to the scratch, Pragyan Ojha remains the only man in focus.

But one thing that this exercise is sure to do is ignite the club vs country debate, with IPL money ruling the roost and national duty going for a toss.

'KKR loss in last game will be an advantage' - news cricketnext

Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Zaheer Khan said Kolkata Knight Riders' loss in their last match would be an "advantage" for his team when two sides clash in an IPL match on Friday.

   After winning against Kochi Tuskers Kerala, the Bangalore outfit suffered three consecutive losses and lies ninth in the IPL standings.

"I feel the table is open. You have seen big teams losing to teams that we have never thought of. KKR lost their last game which is going to be an advantage for us. If we beat them tomorrow it will be really good for us to go forward," Zaheer said.

"We all know that few games have not gone our way. But we are confident, we have worked hard in the nets. Once you get the momentum, it's about capitalising on that."

"It's just few fine tuning that's needed as far as game our game is concerned. We need some wins under our belt. Gayle's inclusion will definitely add positivity to the environment."

Zaheer said Bangalore have worked hard on their fielding and the players were looking to get into the winning mode.

"In the last few practice sessions, we have done good work. Everyone is up for it. Everyone in the side wants to get into the winning run as soon as possible. That's a good sign."

Asked about the hectic schedule after the World Cup, Zaheer said: "IPL is about 20 overs. It's not hard to keep intensity up for 20 overs.

"With our World Cup success, we are all excited and it feels something special. We are now back and doing what we do best."

Zaheer said he was looking forward to giving his side a couple of early wickets.

"I've always given emphasis on early breakthrough... So it will be nice if I get not just one but a couple of early wickets.

"Personally I think on this track we have not seen big scores so that's a good sign for bowlers. As far as reverse swing is concerned, it's difficult to get it in Twenty20 with the ball being hard."

Zaheer's form is a concern: RCB coach - news cricketnext

    After a highly successful World Cup campaign, Zaheer Khan has witnessed a lean patch in the ongoing IPL but Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Ray Jennings feels the pace spearhead is just a match away from regaining his form.

     Zaheer has picked up only five wickets from as many matches in the tournament so far with best figures of three for 32. He also has been expensive with an economy rate of 9.10.

Zaheer's form is a concern: RCB coach

    "Zaheer's form is a concern but he is unpredictable. He is a kind of player who can come and pick up four-five wickets. He is a match-winner and his form is the biggest motivation for his comeback," Jennings told reporters on the eve of RCB's match against Delhi Daredevils here on Tuesday.

Jennings views were endorsed by captain Daniel Vettori, who said irrespective of his indifferent form, Zaheer remains a vital cog in RCB's scheme of things.

"On the day, you need one of your bowlers to step up. It's important that Zaheer and myself start well because we are the key bowlers," Vettori said.

Vettori feels a win on Tuesday will brighten RCB's chances in the Twenty20 tournament.

"It's pretty much the same situation for every team. The table is tight and if we can win this game, we move upto top four," he said.

The RCB skipper also warned his bowlers to be on their toes while bowling to his counterpart Virender Sehwag on Tuesday.

"I have played against Sehwag a lot in international cricket. We have made strategies against him in the past but they have not always worked. We need to be on top of our bowling," Vettori said.

He also welcomed explosive Chris Gayle's inclusion in the RCB squad but said besides the big-hitting West Indian, RCB also boast of enough firepower in their batting order.

"Gayle's inclusion is a confidence builder to the team. He bowls and fields well and gives us a lot of balance," Vettori insisted.

"(But) with the likes of (Virat) Kohli, AB (de Villiers), (Tillakaratne) Dilshan, (Cheteshwar) Pujara, Saurabh Tiwary, we have enough X-factor in the team," he added.

Jennings added, "Very happy to have Gayle in the side. He offers us balance. We have a very strong top order and Chris has only strengthened it further."

The RCB coach refused to buy the theory that of late India has started to produce green-tops.

He also said that bowlers have so far produced sub-standard performances in the event.

"First of all, you don't find green wickets in India. There isn't enough grass in India," Jennings said.|

"At the end of the day, it is a battle between bat and ball. But the standard of bowling has not been that good," he added.

Match 28th IPL 2011 : Rajasthan Royals Vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala {Rajasthan Royals beat Kochi Tusker Kerala and won by 8 Wickets}

    Rajasthan Royals' openers Rahuld Dravid and Shane Watson got off to a steady start while chasing 110 to beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala on a slow Sawai Man Singh Stadium wicket here on Sunday.

Rajasthan Royals beat Kochi Tusker Kerala by 8 Wickets

   Earlier, Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Warne's decision to bowl first was vindicated as Kochi Tuskers Kerala were skittled out for 109 in 20 overs .

Rajasthan Royals got rid of Kochi's top three batsmen - VVS Laxman, Mahela Jaywardene and Brad Hodge - to take early control of the Indian Premier League match.

Laxman was found short of his ground while attempting a cheeky single and Johan Botha bowled Jayawardene to reduce the Royals to 28/2 in the fifth over after Shane Warne elected to bowl first.

It was then up to Parthiv Patel and Brad Hodge to resurrect the innings but Warne introduce himself into the attack and straight away took out fellow Australian Brad Hodge.

But with the experience of Parthiv Patel and batting form of Ravindra Jadeja, the Kochi Tuskers were able to arrest the fall of wickets, though runs came at a snail's pace.

Before Sunday's encounter, out of the six matches Royals have played so far, the 2008 champions, after having started on a great note by winning the first two games, finished on the losing side on three occasions, while one match got abandoned due to rain.

On the other hand, Kochi Tuskers have been on a rampage. After putting behind the disappointment of the first two losses, this new IPL team has hardly looked back.

Mahela Jayawardene and Co have stunned three powerful sides in the competition - defending champions Chennai Super Kings, runners-up of last season Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders - to emerge as one of the favourites in the tournament.

27th Match IPL 2011: Deccan Chargers (DC) vs Mumbai Indians (MI): Mumbai Indians beat Deccan Chargers by 37 runs

Mumbai Indians beat Deccan Chargers by 37 runs - timesofindia

Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds scripted a fantastic recovery with a record fifth wicket partnership to lay the foundation for Mumbai Indians' comfortably 37-run victory over Deccan Chargers in an IPL match on Sunday.

    There couldn't have been a better birthday gift than a MI win for Sachin Tendulkar who turned 38 on Sunday. 

   After posting a challenging total of 172 for four, MI restricted Chargers to 135 for eight as they now lead the points tally with 10 points from six outings.

Rohit (56 not out, 34 balls, 5x4, 3x6) and Symonds (44 not out, 33 balls, 4x4, 1x6) added 102 runs off only 65 balls for the unbroken fifth wicket after MI were tottering at 70 for four at the start of the 10th over. Incidentally, the duo played together for Chargers during the first three editions.

The duo thrashed Dale Steyn and Dan Christian for 16 and 24 runs respectively to score 40 off the last two overs. Christian went for 48 runs from his four wicketless overs.


While chasing, the Chargers lost wickets at regular intervals. The MI bowlers led by Lankan slinger Lasith Malinga (4-0-9-3) kept the batsmen under wraps. The bowlers were also backed by some nice fielding that saw a couple home team batsmen being run-out.

Save skipper Kumar Sangakkara (34) who was cleaned up by a low fulltoss from Malinga, the other batsmen lacked application. Malinga also got his trademark yorker going that castled Shikhar Dhawan (25).

   Davy Jacobs (32, 20 balls, 5x4, 1x6) who was back in the squad opened with Tendulkar. It was Jacobs who started the initial onslaught as MI scored 47 runs in the first five overs before he was caught by Pragyan Ojha off Ishant Sharma's bowling.

All eyes were on birthday boy Tendulkar. Tendulkar got the 'Orange Cap' back from Paul Valthaty and is now the highest run-getter in the ongoing IPL.

Cheered by daugher Sarah and son Arjun who were seen waving MI flags from stands, the legend hit a few crisp boundaries and again looked like making a substancial contribution.

But to their utter disappointment, the maestro scored only 28(24 balls, 4x4) before he was holed out in the deep by Steyn off Amit Mishra's bowling.

Tendulkar charged out but failed to get to the pitch of a flighted delivery from Mishra as Steyn took a well judged catch at long-on.

Tendulkar's dismissal triggered a collapse as MI from 70 for one slumped to 70 for four within a space of six deliveries.

Ambati Rayudu (7) who has had a good tournament so far played an ugly sweep shot off Mishra two balls later. Shikhar Dhawan stationed at deep square leg timed his jump to perfection send Rayudu back in the hut.

Kieron Pollard who has hardly batted in the tournament was promoted up the order but he tried a delicate paddle shot off Pragyan Ojha's bowling and the ball lobbed up for skipper Sangakkara to take a simple catch.

Rohit and Symonds then started a repair job. They were cautious for a couple of overs before they started playing their strokes. Symonds' first boundary was swatted shot off Christian over mid-off. Rohit also played some classy shots as they added 50 runs off only 45 deliveries.

Symonds showed his class in the penultimate over bowled by Steyn. He started with a crashing shot over extra cover for four. He followed it up with a six effortlessly hit over long on. Then he took a couple and followed it with another drive through the cover region.

If Symonds got 16 runs off the 19th over Rohit got 24 off the last.

Not the one to be left behind, Rohit smashed six off Christian over long-on brought the team's 150. Two balls later he hit him over deep mid-wicket for another six and the next ball soared in to the deep square leg stands as Rohit completed his back-to-back fifty. He signed off with a straight drive which also brough the 100 run partnership for the duo.

Letting IPL players to stay causes media outrage in Lanka -NDTV SPORT NEWS

The Sri Lankan media criticised Sports Minister Mahindanada Aluthgamage on Saturday, demanding his resignation afterhe was forced to make an U-turn on his directive that Sri Lankan players in the IPL must put the country before cash-richleague.
Aluthgamage ordered that players must return to Colombo by May 5 to prepare for the tourof England.
However in a complete U-turn on Thursday, he let the players to stay in India until May 18 andtravel direct to England to join the squad.
"Now that the minister has not been able to deliver what he promised why doesn't he seriously consider resignation," leading Lankan daily The Island wrote.
The paper says the minister in his U-turn has blamed the cricket administration for issuing players with NOC to participate in the IPL without setting a time frame for their return to prepare for the England series.
"We feel the sports minister hascompletely lost the point here," the newspaper stressed.

Malinga chosing IPL over country 'non-sense': Sangakkara

source:www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara on Saturday rubbished talks that mercurial speedster Lasith Malinga chose IPL over national duties while announcing his retirement from Test cricket and said criticsshould not question his professional commitment.
"It gets confusing when people try and take sides. It can happen when some people criticise Malinga for picking IPL over country. That is of all nonsense to me. There is never a stage where Lasith can ever pick IPL over country. Malinga isa dedicated no-nonsense cricketer. He is the toughest no-nonsense cricketer I have ever met," Sangakkara said to anews channel.
"I don't think there was ever a question Lasith did not want toplay Test cricket. He wanted to play in all three formats of the game. Unfortunately for him, his body was not able to stand the rigours of Test cricket. He is a guy who gives everything when on the field. So you can't question his commitments. He does not think about the next match or the next series. He only thinks about doing well in that particular match," he added.
Malinga, whose sling-arm bowling action and devastatingyorkers proved to be a nightmare for batsmen the world over, yesterday announced his retirement from Test cricket because of a "long-standing degenerative" knee injury.
The surprise announcement from Malinga, regarded as the fastest bowler produced by Sri Lanka till date, was being interpreted as a move to put anend to the selection dispute with his cricket establishment which wanted him to return from the IPL for a rehabilitationprogramme.
Malinga, who had pulled out of Sri Lanka's upcoming Test tour of England citing fitness woes and is leading the wicket tally for Mumbai Indians in the ongoing IPL, clarified that the condition stops him from playing in the Test format only.
"The injury was a career-threatening injury and my orthopaedic surgeon was of theopinion that given his experience with other professional athletes in Australia I was very fortunate to play again.
"I have since been advised by the national team physiotherapist and my orthopaedic consultant that mycondition will deteriorate whenfielding or bowling for prolonged periods," the fast bowler had said in a statement.
Sangakkara, skipper of the Deccan Chargers, said the pacer had been suffering from this injury for quite some time and quitting Test cricket would helphim concentrate in other two formats of the game.
"His decision was not a surpriseto me. He had spoken about it in January this year and lookingat his long-term future for Sri Lanka, I think it's the right decision for him taken at the right time. I think this is the most sensible decision he can take at this time.
"We would love to have him playing Test cricket but he has got a condition that he is not going to get better. More Test matches for him might actually mean end of his career. It's a huge decision that he has takenand a very tough one. It's the right decision for him and for the Sri Lankan cricket because this way we can have him for a long cause playing in ODIs and T20s," the former captain added.
Sangakkara said had the Sri Lankan cricket Board ( SLC ) forced him to play Test cricket, the country would have lost him as a fast bowler many years back.
"We did want him to play against India . He was not 100 per cent sure but he came and played and did wonderfully well for us. But it really took a lot out of him. He played the third Test but was left with terrible knee pain and other problems for two months. If wehad kept asking him to play, we would have lost him as a fast bowler very quickly. It would be a shame not for just the Sri Lankan cricket but for the world cricket and Lasith's bright future.
"His playing the IPL nowhere jeopardise his chances or commitment for playing for thecountry. Lasith will go back after the IPL and selectors will speak to him," he added.

Match 26th IPL 2011: Delhi Daredevils Vs Kings XI Punjab {Sehwag, Warner script Delhi's much needed win}

Virender Sehwag (77) and David Warner (77) cracked blistering half-centuries as DelhiDaredevils revived their IPL campaign by edging past strongcontenders Kings XI Punjab by 29 runs in a high-scoring thriller here today.

The Delhi openers took the Punjab attack by the scruff of itsneck and led the hosts to a mammoth 231 for four, the highest total of the fourth edition and third-best overall, after being invited to bat at Ferozshah Kotla ground.
Chennai Super Kings's 246 for five against Rajasthan Royals last year is the highest total by any IPL team in all seasons. Chennai also has the second best total of 240 for five to its name, scored in 2008 against Kings XI Punjab.
Sehwag and Warner delivered when the team needed them the most as they produced the best first-wicket partnership of the tournament so far by scoring 146 runs in just 11.3 overs.
The hosts snapped Punjab's three-match winning streak by restricting them to 202 for six intheir 20 overs.
Chasing 232 to win, Punjab's Shaun Marsh produced a sensational innings of 95 runs off just 46 balls but it was Delhi's day out in the end. Marsh's incredible knock was studded with nine fours and six sixes.
It was Delhi's second win in fivematches and first at home. Theydesperately needed this victory as they were placed at the bottom of the points table after suffering defeats against Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers.
The 'green' wicket, which was prepared to assist the home fastbowlers, turned out to be a batting paradise as Sehwag, Warner and later on Marsh punished the bowlers severely and at will.
Kings XI Punjab put up a brave fight despite losing the new batting sensation Paul Valthaty (14) early on with Australian duo of skipper Adam Gilchrist (42) and Marsh sharing a quick-fire 72-run stand for the second wicket.
Gilchrist was in awesome touch as he hit Ajit Agarkar for four consecutive fours in his first over but Varun Aaron, dubbed as India's fastest bowler, ended the rival skipper's innings by cleaning him up in the 11th over.
Marsh continued to hammer Delhi bowlers but wickets continued to fall from the other end as Dinesh Karthik (6) and David Hussey (20) perished while trying to accelerate.
Marsh took his side close to the target but the score eventually proved too big for the visitors. Marsh missed his century when his mis-timed shot landed in thesafe hands of Sehwag in the 18th over.
Only thrice a score in excess of 200 has been chased in the IPL history and it was really a hard job for Punjab to add to that number.

Cash in with SRK - hindustantimes

   The sponsors of Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders, Matrix, are all set to launch the Matrix Forex Card that promises to facilitate travel abroad. This currency card will not levy transfer charges or any related fee on foreign exchange top-offs as is the case with travellers cheques.&nbs

p; Not surprisingly, SRK is the ‘face’ of this cash-and-carry card and on Tuesday, the superstar wrapped up his portions for the commerical at Mehboob Studio. “Shah Rukh was not keeping well but not one to break a commitment he turned up on the sets at the appointed time and left only after the last shot had been canned,” informs director Kabir Sadanand who is upbeat about the matinee idol starring in the first commercial made by his production house, Frog Unlimited. “It’s a good start and I hope we match up to the sky-high expectations.”
Kabir admits that Shah Rukh has lived up to all the fantastic stories he’d heard about him. “He was a complete professional and not once did he try to hurry us up despite being under the weather. Fortunately, we had spent a day-and-a-half at the studio and pre-set everything. So we didn’t waste a single minute of his much-in-demand time. We finished the shot within an hour.”
On April 24, Kabir flies to Kolkata to shoot with SRK’s Knight Riders, including cricketers Brett Lee, Jacques Kallis and Yousuf Pathan. “Given Matrix and SRK’s connect with the Indian Premier League we have woven in the cricket angle into these commercials. The first one has Shah Rukh and some of the KKR players and the second is with the team alone,” explains Kabir, all praise for Swapan Seth’s concept. “Shah Rukh is projected as a cool dude who is smart about his money and shows others how to handle it well.”

SRK isn’t playing a RA.One-like superhero in this ad who jumps off and blows up buildings but Kabir promises enough of the ‘thriller’ element to make this a one-of-its-kind banking ad. “You can judge it for yourself, it should be out by the month end,” he says.

Sachin not to play match and celebrate his birthday due to Sai Baba's health? ‎

    HYDERABAD: Sachin Tendulkar has reportedly put on hold his plans to lead Mumbai Indians against Deccan Chargers in the ongoing IPL-4 on Sunday, which also happens to be his birthday, in view of deteriorating health condition of Sri Satya Saibaba of Puttaparthi.
According to highly placed sources in the Hyderabad Cricket Association, Sachin who is anxiously following the condition of Baba is yet to decide whether or not to play the match to be held here.
Being an ardent follower of Baba, Sachin never missed an opportunity to visit Prashanti Nilayam whenever he was free. Recently, Hyderabadi cricketer V.V.S. Laxman and he sought the blessings of Saibaba, just before the World Cup.
That Sachin realised his dream of being a member of the World Cup winning squad is now history.
Interestingly, the HCA official reveals that the Intelligence Department has also been sounded on the possibility of Sachin pulling out of the match.
“One thing which is certain for now is that Sachin will not have any birthday bash, given the critical condition of Baba,” says the official. Sachin was earlier said to have planned a party with his teammates on April 23 in the hotel before joining his family and close friends at dinner the next day.

25th Match IPL 2011 : Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings {Mumbai beat Chennai by eight runs}

WINNER 

      A magnificent batting effort by Rohit Sharma (87) and an equally impressive bowling performance by Harbhajan Singh (5-18) helped Mumbai Indians score a comfortable eight-run win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede stadium on Friday. 
  
- Scorecard :
     Chasing a formidable target (165), Chennai could muster only 156 for nine. S Badrinath top scored with an unbeaten 71, his 48-ball knock inclusive of seven hits to the fence and two over it.
It was a sweet revenge for the hosts who had been pipped to the post by the visitors in the final last year.
    It was Mumbai's fourth win in five matches and consolidated their place atop the table. On the other hand it was the third successive reverse for Chennai, following wins in their two opening encounters. The defending champions need to do some serious rethinking ahead of their next match against Pune Warriors on Monday.
Chennai got off to a disastrous start, losing Murali Vijay (12) and Suresh Raina  (5) inside the first five overs.
Michael Hussey  (41) and S Badrinath steadied the ship, putting in a valuable 60-run partnership, in just 39 balls, for the third wicket.
However, the dismissal of Hussey and captain Dhoni  (3), both to spectacular catches by Pollard and Sharma respectively, in the space of an over put the visitors on the back foot.
Badri and S Anirudha (9) put together a run-a-ball 22 for the fifth wicket before the latter hit a Harbhajan delivery straight to Sathish at deep midwicket.
The off-spinner, who was hardly impressive in the matches before, then wrapped up the Chennai tale and completed a five-wicket haul.
The visitors needed 25 off the last over, with only a wicket left. And it proved to be a tough ask.
Earlier, a magnificent 87 by Rohit Sharma helped Mumbai Indians recover from a disastrous start, they were 13 for two in the fourth over, to post a formidable 164 for four in their stipulated quota of overs.
Rohit's 48-ball knock was inclusive of eight hits to the fence and five huge ones over it.
The 23-year-old was also involved in the two crucial partnerships, one that helped lay the foundation of the Mumbai Indians innings -- 61 for the third wicket with Ambati Rayudu (27) -- and the other that helped build on that foundation -- 87 for the fourth wicket with Andrew Symonds  (31 not out).
Doug Bollinger was the most successful bowler for Chennai super Kings with figures of two for 30, including the prized scalp of Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar  (5).

Match 24th IPL 2011 : Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore {Royal Challengers Bangalore's nine-wicket win over home fa­vourites Kolkata Knight Riders}

    WINNER

Gayle storm ::

        Gayle’s unb­eaten 55-ball 102 powered his new team Royal Challe­ngers Bangalore to an upset nine-wicket win over home fa­vourites Kolkata Knight Riders here at the Eden Gardens on Friday.
  The West Indies opener smashed 10 fours and seven si­xes to revive the sagging morale of RCB, who returned to the winning ways after th­r­ee defeats and a washout ga­me. The emphatic win he­l­ped Daniel Vettori’s RCB jump from the bottom of the table to the fifth position with five points from six ma­tches. Vettori chose to bowl first winning the toss. Chasing a stiff target of 171, the Bangalore side clinc­h­ed victory with 11 balls to sp­are. 
      

Tillakaratne Dilshan (38) and Virat Kohli (30) provided excellent support to Gayle, who walked away with the Man-of-the-Match award. Gayle and Dilshan ga­ve RCB an explosive start, stitching together 123 runs in 12.1 overs. After the latter was bowled by Lakshmipathy Balaji, Gayle added 52 runs for the unbroken seco­nd wicket stand with Kohli to hand KKR their second su­ccessive defeat at home.  KKR’s formidable spin attack came a cropper against the ruthless onslaught. Sk­ipper Gautam Gambhir’s de­cision to rest Aussie sp­eeds­ter Brett Lee proved su­icidal. The weakness in the bowling attack was compou­nded further as Jacques Kallis stayed away from bowling. Earlier, riding on splendid performance by the top ord­er batsmen, Knight Riders  compiled a healthy total of 171 for five. Kallis returned to form after two failures, ma­­king a steady 40 off 42, Gambhir cracked a 38-ball 48, Yusuf Pathan powered his way to 46 off 24, Haddin contributed an 11-ball 18. The KKR innings prospe­red thanks to two impressive partnerships. Kallis and Ha­ddin gave them a decent fo­undation, putting on 44 runs for the opening wicket, while Gambhir and Kallis stabilised the position adding 58 runs for the second wicket.Pathan’s knock was his be­st in the current editi­on of the IPL and assumed greater im­portance as he defied a kn­­ee injury and noticeable pa­in to play for the cause of the team.

Sri Lanka back down in IPL !! Players will be allowed to arrive late for tour of England

Source: Skysports- Sri Lanka have performed a u-turn and will not ask players to return home early from the Indian Premier League to prepare for their tour of England. After talks between the Sri Lankan and Indian boards, the seven members of Sri Lanka's Test squad currently participating in the IPL will now only have to make themselves available for the second warm-up match of the tour on May 19-22 against England Lions at Derby - as was the original plan. Earlier, authorities had asked the players to return home by May 5, arguing the national team takes precedence over lucrative IPL contracts. The tour opener in England begins on May 14, and the first of three Tests starts on May 26 in Cardiff. Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, experienced batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene and spinner Suraj Randiv are among those playing in the IPL. Fast bowler Lasith Malinga will not take part in the Test series in England, citing an injury, but officials questioned his claim and will ask him to return home immediately from the IPLfor a rehabilitation program.

Tendulkar drives online IPL ticket sales

source: indianexpress.com
Not just on Twitter, but master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar is driving e-commerce traffic too. Thanks to Tendulkar captaining the successful Mumbai Indians, the e-commerce site Bookmyshow.comhas broken all records, selling around Rs 80 crore worth of IPL-4 tickets in the first week itself, which is the total business it did during the entire IPL season last year. Promoted by Bigtree Entertainment, Bookmyshow.comis the officiale-commerce site for IPL tickets for four out of 10 IPL teams. It now expects at least a 25% jump in its online sales of tickets this year, crossing 12-million ticket sales-mark in 2011, thanks to IPL-4. In fact, Mumbai Indians are the only team whose tickets are sold a couple of days before the match closely followed by Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI teams. Tendulkar recently hit the one million follower-mark on Twitter within a year of joiningthe micro-blogging site.
“Tendulkar is a big factor that isdriving sales of tickets on Bookmyshow.com. The 32,000 tickets for Wankhede stadium are always sold out in advance before the Mumbai Indians match as fans just want to see Tendulkar perform,” Ashish Hemrajani, founder-CEO, BigtreeEntertainment, the holding company for Bookmyshow.comtold FE. Bigtree Entertainment, in fact, is the turnkey provider for the Mumbai Indians.
Mumbai Indians will play seven out of their 14 IPL-4 matches at Wankhede stadium. Encouraged by IPL's response, Bigtree Entertainment will now sell online tickets for India's first Formula One Grand Prix on October 30, scheduled at JaypeeSports International at their new racetrack near Greater Noida.

Match 23rd Result IPL 2011: Kings XI Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals by 48 runs

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Kings XI Punjab defeated Rajasthan Royals by 48 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here Thursday. In reply to Kings XI's 195 for seven, Rajasthan Royals made 147 for seven in their 20 overs. Riding on Shaun Marsh's 71 and Paul Valthaty's 46, Kings XI Punjab set a 196-run target for Rajasthan Royals. Marsh's 71 came off just 42 balls and contained three sixes and six fours, while Valthaty's 46 came in 31 balls as Kings XI Punjab made 195 for 7 in their 20 overs after being put in to batch. Skipper Adam Gilchrist made 28 off 16 balls. For the Royals, Shaun Tait took three wickets while Shane Watson took two.

I was left with no other choice but to join IPL : Chris Gayle

Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle on Thursday clarified his decision on giving the entire home series against Pakistan a miss for the lucrativeIPL, stating that he was left with little choice after being ignored for the ODIs and a T20 international by the national selectors. The explosive opening batsman, who on Wednesday joined the Daniel Vettori-led Royal Challengers Bangalore after DirkNannes was ruled out with an injury, said an uncertain future forced him to accept the Indian Premier League franchise's offer. West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) had on Wednesday reacted angrily to Gayle's decision, saying that the move was "unacceptable and disappointing". The 31-year-old Jamaican was critical of the remarks and said,"I was actually forced to make this decision based on what was happening around me and based on what has happened toplayers -- (Ramnaresh) Sarwan and (Shivnaraine) Chanderpaul."

BCCI asked SriLanka cricket Board not to call back IPL stars

India on Thursdayurged Sri Lanka to reconsider a decision to recall their players midway through the Indian Premier League in the latest clash with the sport's international schedule. Sri Lankan cricketers playing for various IPL franchises have beenordered to return home by May 5, more than three weeks before the end of the money-spinning Twenty20 tournament,to prepare for an upcoming tourof England. Sri Lanka's tour starts with a warm-up game on May 14 before the first Test at Cardiff on May 26. "According to us, the Sri Lankan players were to stay here till May 21 as they had promised and the franchises are also under the same impression," theIndian cricket board's vice-president Rajiv Shukla told reporters. "But now they want to go back early and it is not appropriate." Shukla said the Indian board would try to convince Sri Lanka Cricket to reverse their decision.

Match 23rd IPL 2011 : Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals {Live Scores, Live Commentry}

In 23rd Match in IPL 2011 today on 21 April Kings XI Punjab will take on Rajasthan Royals Team. Kings XI Punjab host Rajasthan Royals at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
Kings XI Punjab will be pleased with their start to the season sofar, winning two games and losing just one out of their three. They lost their first matchpoorly to Pune Warriors by 7 wickets but have now won two in a row beating Chennai Super Kings by 6 wickets and then Deccan Chargers 8 wickets. Kings XI Punjab are currently 8th in the table but have a game in hand on every team at least and 2 games in hand on some teams. They will jump into the play off positions if they win today and go on level points with the top 3. Rajasthan Royals have played five games so far this season in the IPL and they have won 2, lost 2 and had a no result in their last match. Rajasthan won their first two matches but sincethen have gone 3 without a victory losing to Kolkata Knight Riders by 9 wickets and then by 8 wickets in the return fixture against KKR. Their game againstRoyal Challengers then never got under way ending in a no result. Rajasthan currently lie in 4th in the table on 5 points, they will go top with a victory but will have been the only team to play6 matches in the season so far. Both teams will look to win to get some momentum going into the rest of the IPL 2011 season.

Teams :

Kings XI Punjab: AC Gilchrist, L Ablish, Amit Yadav, BA Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, PP Chawla, SD Chitnis, P Dogra, RJ Harris, DJ Hussey, KD Karthik, P Kumar, R McLaren, VS Malik, Mandeep Singh, SE Marsh, DA Miller, AM Nayar, NJ Rimmington, N Saini, SJ Srivastava, Sunny Singh, PC Valthaty.
Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (c), Amit Singh, Swapnil Asnodkar, Stuart Binny, Johan Botha, Deepak Chahar, Ankeet Chavan, Aakash Chopra, Aditya Dole, Nayan Doshi, Rahul Dravid,Samad Fallah, Faiz Fazal, Ashok Menaria, Sumit Narwal, Jacob Oram, Pankaj Singh, Amit Paunikar, Ajinkya Rahane, Abhishek Raut, Dinesh Salunkhe, Pinal Shah, Shaun Tait, Ross Taylor, Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson, Harendra Yagnik.

22nd Match Result IPL 2011:Kolkata Riders v Kochi Tuskers { Kochi Won in low scoring match]

Kochi Tuskers Kerala 132 for 7 (Jadeja 29, Yusuf 3-20, Shakib 3-28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 126 for 9 (M Tiwary 46, RP Singh 2-25, Jadeja 2-25) by six runs.

    Kochi Tuskers Kerala won a battle  against Kolkata Knight Riders on a slow Eden Gardens pitch that aided the spinners. The six-run win was their third on the trot and took them to third position on the points table. The wicket did not play as low as it did in Kolkata's win against Rajasthan Royals, but it was just as slow, making it difficult for batsmen, and a delight for the spinners.

   
   After Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan had taken six wickets for 48 runs between them to restrict Kochi to 132, Kolkata's powerful batting line-up would have fancied the modest chase. But Kochi's own army of spinners - Muttiah Muralitharan, Ramesh Powar and Ravindra Jadeja - stifled the runs though they did not get as many wickets, and ensured the pressure got to the Kolkata batsmen.

Ironically, in a game dominated by spin, Kolkata paid the price for losing wickets to the fast bowlers at the start, whereas Kochi did not. Kolkata's seamers conceded 26 for 0 in their first three overs, while Kochi's fast bowlers dismissed Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir and conceded only 20 runs in their first four overs.

WICB angry on Chris Gayle's decision to opt out of Pak series for IPL

    West Indies opener Chris Gayle has chosen the lucrative Indian Premier League over his country, officials said on Wednesday, prompting a damning reaction from his cricket board back home.The attacking batsman will turn out for Royal Challengers Bangalore, owned by Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya, as a replacement for the injured Dirk Nannes.
  Former captain Chris Gayle's decision to give the entire home series against Pakistan a miss for the lucrative IPL has angered the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), which described the opener's move as "unacceptable and disappointing ".

Chris Gayle to play for RCB

West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has been selected as a replacement for injured Dirk Nannes by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Gayle received the No Objection Certificate from West Indies Cricket Board to play in the Twenty20 league, according to RCB owner Vijay Mallya.

  Gayle, 31, had been under a treatment programme run by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) after a strain suffered during the World Cup, but he signed up for the Bangalore outfit on Tuesday for the remainder of the IPL event.
The former West Indies captain had earlier refused a West Indies' central contract but was still in contention for later games during Pakistan's tour of the Caribbean, which starts on Thursday.
He was not bought at the IPL player auction in January because franchises feared he would be unavailable because the IPL clashed with Pakistan's visit.
"It's official now. The explosive Chris Gayle is now a part of the RCB squad," Mallya wrote on his Twitter page.
Pakistan will play one Twenty20, five ODIs and two Tests against West Indies during their tour.
The WICB said it had reluctantly cleared Gayle to play in the IPL.
"The WICB does not accept Gayle's reason for making himself unavailable but as he has already clearly made his choice and has travelled to India, the WICB does not wish to stand in his way," it said in a press release.
Gayle played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first three editions of the IPL.
"The WICB is most disappointed in the manner in which Gayle has handled the entire situation, especially given the mature and cooperative manner in which two other players who refused contracts - Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard - made themselves available for selection and agreed to an understanding in the best interest of West Indies cricket."
The statement added: "The WICB was surprised to learn that Gayle had been making arrangements to play cricket in India, when the WICB was under the clear impression that he was recovering from injury and was undergoing rehabilitation work and about to resume training.
"It is therefore not accurate, as has been insinuated in some quarters, that Gayle was not selected for the entire Pakistan series."
Both Pollard and Bravo are currently playing in the IPL and along with Gayle and fellow veterans Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan were not considered for the Thursday's Twenty20 International against Pakistan or the first two ODIs on Saturday and Monday.

Ganguly's IPL dream may not be over yet -{News http://sports.ndtv.com}

   Sourav Ganguly's Indian Premier League (IPL) dream may not be over yet as the former India captain on Wednesday said that he is still hopeful of a comeback in the fourth edition of the ongoing Twenty20 extravaganza.

   Asked whether he could be seen playing in the ongoing IPL, Ganguly told a television channel, "...Dekhte paabe (you will see). I am keeping my fingers crossed."

There may be a latest window of opportunity for the 38-year-old, as it is believed that Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene who is the skipper of Kochi Tuskers Kerala will leave for Sri Lanka in the first week of May for the upcoming tour of England.

Ganguly is tipped to lead the debutants Kochi outfit once Jayawardene leaves for the national duty.

The Lankan cricketers have been asked to return home early to prepare for the national team's tour of England, getting underway on May 14.

This gives a fresh lease of hope to the former Knight Riders skipper, who did not find any takers during in the IPL auction in January, after his former franchise Kolkata Knight Riders did not retain him.

It is learnt that the Kochi team management had tried to rope in Ganguly in place of injured Australian recruit Steve Smith.

However, the IPL rules did not permit this as the Australian's base price (USD 200000) was higher than that of Ganguly (USD 400000).

Kochi had previously sought permission from the BCCI to recruit Dada outside the auction but IPL's Governing Council had rejected the move.

Meanwhile, asked to pick four sides to make it to the semifinals of the IPL, Ganguly said, "It's difficult. But Kolkata Knight Riders are doing well, apart from Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Kochi Tuskers.

"Knight Riders were in a similar position even last year. So it's all about maintaining the momentum," said Ganguly.

He also said that Knight Riders should include wicketkeeper-batsman Shreevats Goswami ahead of Manvinder Bisla, who has been opening the batting and keeping the wickets.

21th Match Result IPL 2011:Mumbai Indians v Pune Warriors {Mumbai Indians beat Pune Warriors on last ball}

      The Mumbai Indians batsmen nearly undid all the hard work of their bowlers earlier as they made heavy weather of a target of only 119 before winning off the last ball with seven wickets to spare in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Pune Warriors at the Wankhede stadium here today. Set a target of 119 to win, Mumbai Indians made 124 for three in their 20 overs with Rohit Sharma hitting a six off the last ball of Murali Kartik to seal the match in Mumbai Indians' favour.
Sharma (20 off 18 balls) and Andrew Symonds (16 off 15 balls) were at the crease when the winning runs were hit.

   Mumbai Indians in-form batsmen Ambatti Rayudu and Sachin Tendulkar had given them a perfect launch pad after the loss of James Franklin in the second over, putting on 74 runs in 12 overs for the second wicket before both got out in a span of six runs as the Pune Warriors exerted pressure.
However, finally the target of 119 seemed too less and Mumbai Indians came out of this match as winners.

        Mumbai Indians, who opened with James Franklin along with Tendulkar as Davy Jacobs was rested for the match, lost their first wicket in the second over itself.
Rayudu then joined Tendulkar and the two, who have been a real danger for the opposition this year so far, once again began to rebuild the innings.
With the target not a huge one, they played the waiting game, looking for the loose ball to put away as they added 74 runs for the second wicket to make the match as good as safe for the home side before Tendulkar was dismissed for the first time in this year's IPL.
A tossed up delivery by leg spinner Rahul Sharma saw Tendulkar dancing down the track and he did connect it well. However, he did not find enough power to take the ball past the boundary as Alfonso Thomas ran to his right from long-off to take the catch. Tendulkar made 35 off 39 balls with two boundaries.
Rayudu followed his captain to the pavilion in the next over when he got a length ball and tried to launch it over long-on only to find Rahul. He scored 37 which came off 40 balls with four boundaries.
Rohit and Symonds nearly let the match slip out of Mumbai Indians' hands before managing a last ball victory which saw Mumbai Indians take their points tally to six from 4 games. The two put on an unbeaten partnership of 35 runs.
Earlier, the Mumbai Indians bowlers rose to the occasion to dismiss the Pune Warriors for a paltry 118 all out in 17.2 overs.
Batting first after winning the toss, the Pune Warriors openers Jesse Ryder and Tim Paine took the score to 16 in the fourth over before the Mumbai Indians struck when Abu Nechim Ahmed got rid of the dangerous Ryder for just 12 as the left-hander tried to play a short arm pull to a short ball but managed only a top edge which was easily taken by Tendulkar at mid-wicket.
Two balls later, Abu Nechim got his second wicket when Mithun Manhas tried a cover drive and edged the ball to wicketkeeper Rayudu for a duck.
In the next over Tim Paine was castled by Munaf Patel for 2 and then the dangerous Yuvraj Singh was dismissed for a blob when the left-hander edged an angled delivery to Rayudu who made no mistake.
Robin Uthappa first with Mohnish Mishra and then with Murali Kartik put on 35 runs each for the fifth and sixth wickets.
Uthappa also fell soon after making a 37 ball 45 with six boundaries and a six, with Kieron Pollard pulling off a blinder of a catch running in from long-on and then diving to his left off the bowling of Ali Murtaza.
Earlier, both teams made two changes each. Half of those were forced through injury: Pune lost the services of Graeme Smith, and Mumbai had to do without Harbhajan Singh.
Tim Paine replaced Smith, while Abhishek Jhunjhunwala made way for Murali Kartik, while Mumbai Indians brought in Abu Nechim Ahmed for Harbhajan. Mumbai also decided to rest Davey Jacobs, bringing in James Franklin as their fourth overseas player. Rayudu kept wickets.

22nd Match IPL 2011:Kolkata Riders v Kochi Tuskers { Live Score, Live Commentary }

     IPL 2011 points table leader Kolkata Knight Riders will take new team Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the 22nd game of IPL 4, on Wednesday, 20th April, 2011 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in a night game starting from 14:30 GMT, 8:00 PM IST.

Kolkata Knight Riders after lost 1st match by just 2 runs won 3 matches in a row comfortably and leading the points table. Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir are in good form and among the leading scorer of the tournament while hitter yusuf Pathan still to get enough exposure.

Kochi Tuskers Kerala after 2 lost came back strongly by beating, bothe the finalist of last year Mumbai and Chennai and now will be high on confidence. McCullum is playing very sensibly while Mahela, and Jadeja contributing well.

 


Kolkata Knight Riders :

Gautam Gambhir (C), Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Manoj Tiwary, Shreevats Goswami (wk), Jaidev Unadkat, Brett Lee, Iqbal Abdulla, Laxmi Shukla


Kochi Tuskers Kerala :

Mahela Jayawardene (c), Brendon McCullum, VVS Laxman, Brad Hodge, Ravindra Jadeja, Raiphi Gomez, Parthiv Patel (wk), Vinay Kumar, Sreesanth, RP Singh.

21th Match IPL 2011:Mumbai Indians v Pune Warriors { Live Score, Live Commentary }

           It's now time to see rivalry between 2 cities after fights between 2 states, when Mumbai Indians will take Sahara Pune Warriors in the 21st match of 2011 Indian Premier League - IPL4, on Wednesday, 20th April, 2011 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, in a day-night game starting from 10.30 GMT, 16.00 IST.


       Mumbai Indians lost the last high scoring match against Kochi despite Tendulkar's maiden T20 century, and jinx continues if he scores century team loses. Now they have to face new and in-form neighbor city. Tendulkar and Rayudu in good touch but middle order not getting enough exposure and it will be interesting to see how Symonds perform after a year.

        Sahara Pune Warriors also lost their last game after got a perfect start of their IPL with 2 wins and now they have toughest opponent. Ryder giving good start at the top and Yuvraj and Uthappa taking the inning forward in the middle.

 


Mumbai Indians :

Sachin Tendulkar (cap), Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Andrew Symonds, Ambati Rayudu, Davy Jacobs (wk), Rajagopal Satish, Ali Murtaza, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel.

Sahara Pune Warriors :

Yuvraj Singh (cap), Robin Uthappa (wk), Jesse Ryder, Graeme Smith, Mithun Manhas, Mohnish Mishra, Ashish Nehra, Rahul Sharma, Wayne Parnell, Shrikanth Wagh, Murali Kartik, Alfonso Thomas