Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians, IPL, Hyderabad

Bravo seals Mumbai's sixth straight win





Mumbai Indians 178 for 7 (Nayar 38, Jayasuriya 36, Bravo 30, RP Singh 3-35) beat Deccan Chargers 153 for 7 (Rao 57, Bravo 3-24) by 25 runs


Mumbai Indians' last meeting with the Deccan Chargers ended in a fourth straight defeat but the return game provided plenty of cheer, producing their sixth successive win, the best run in the tournament so far. Dwayne Bravo signed off from the IPL with a fine all-round effort, giving Mumbai a great chance of making the semi-finals.

Mumbai relied on a combined performance rather than individual brilliance: Sanath Jayasuriya's early blast set the tone before a counterattacking 54-run stand between Bravo and Abhishek Nayar boosted the total.

Deccan didn't have much of a chance at 20 for 3 and even Venugopal Rao's valiant 57 couldn't make much of a difference. With their ninth defeat [including all five at home], Deccan's chances of making the semi-finals are over - even remote mathematical chances won't be spoken of anymore.

Like many of their earlier defeats, Deccan weren't completely outclassed. Unlike the Bangalore Royal Challengers, they haven't appeared listless but they haven't managed to seize the big moments.

Deccan's decision to field appeared to have backfired when Jayasuriya thundered a 15-ball 36, including laying into his fellow countryman Nuwan Zoysa for 19 off his first over, but Shahid Afridi, full of energy and verve, gave them a chance.

He's had a relatively quiet tournament so far but was full of energy here: snapping up Sachin Tendulkar and Dominic Thornely and clinging on to a sensational catch, to dismiss Robin Uthappa, inches within the boundary line. But, with Mumbai wobbling at 96 for 4, the Deccan bowlers couldn't put the foot down on the pedal.

Lot of the credit must go to Nayar and Bravo, who showed the value of good footwork: Nayar regularly sashayed down the track to loft the spinners through the on side while Bravo simply shuffled across smartly before lifting the ball with quicksilver wrists. They finally broke the shackles against Afridi - whose first three overs cost just nine - spanking him for 14 in the 16th over, surging the run-rate to eight an over. Nayar took on Zoysa soon after and Mumbai were on their way to a competitive score.

Mumbai's bowling was characterised by canny medium-pace and outstanding catching. In Shaun Pollock's absence, Bravo led the way with the ball too. Afridi's fine day didn't continue with the bat, though: he attempted to thump the first ball he faced over the covers for six but could only marvel at Thornely running back from point to snaffle a sharp catch.

Adam Gilchrist struggled against a probing Ashish Nehra, who varied both his length and pace wonderfully, while getting the ball to move away off the track. He ended wicketless but played a big part in piling on the pressure. Dilhara Fernando was to reap the rewards soon: he surprised Gilchrist with a short one that was sliced to third man before Rohit Sharma missed a well-disguised slower one that rapped him plumb in front. With two wickets in two balls, he had pretty much sealed the match.

Venugopal, who surprisingly picked up two wickets with his part-time offspin, continued his habit of coming up with a fighting knock in a lost cause. Like he's done in the two previous games, he was like a boy on a burning deck, smashing three sixes and four fours against a mounting asking-rate. Ravi Teja partnered him in a 74-run stand but it would have required something miraculous for the duo to pull it off. Bravo dismissed both within three balls and rounded off a memorable game - four days before facing Australia in the first Test in Kingston.

Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings, IPL, Kolkata

Chennai clinch rain-reduced game



Chennai Super Kings 55 for 0 in eight overs (Fleming 32*) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 149 for 5 (Butt 73, Ntini 4-21) by three runs (D/L method)
For the second successive day, the weather played spoilsport and forced Duckworth-Lewis to decide what was shaping into a fascinating contest. This time, Chennai Super Kings were on the right end of the result, as their total of 55 without loss after eight overs, chasing 150, was three runs ahead of the par score when a severe dust storm descended upon the Eden Gardens, and the rains that followed ensured there was no chance for the match to resume. The two points to Chennai moves them up to 14, while Kolkata Knight Riders are stuck on ten points from 11 games.

The weather marred the contest, but through 28 overs the crowd witnessed a couple of fine performances. At the same ground where he had announced his arrival in international cricket, Salman Butt played another gem, scoring a classy 73 off 54 balls, to lift an otherwise subdued performance from Kolkata. Chennai had their own man for the moment, as Makhaya Ntini took the third hat-trick of the IPL, dismissing Sourav Ganguly in his third over, and then returning 11 overs later to bowl Debabrata Das - who had been involved in an 86-run stand with Butt - and David Hussey off successive balls.

That stand gave Kolkata's bowlers something to defend, but the most crucial moment of the match came three deliveries before the interruption. Their defence of the total had got off to a poor start as Shoaib Akhtar struggled with what seemed an injured ankle. Stephen Fleming, at last showing the form and fluency of old, and Parthiv Patel had eased to a half-century stand when Parthiv top-edged a pull, but Ashok Dinda put down the skier, and in the process allowed a single. Had that chance been taken, Chennai would have ended level with the par score, and with no further play possible, Kolkata would have gone away with one point.

The only positive for Kolkata was that their batting put together a reasonable performance after their abysmal display against Mumbai Indians, when they had been bundled out for 67. Butt's knock wasn't the fastest by Twenty20 standards, but considering the context - a pitch lacking in pace, and a batting line-up lacking in confidence - it was just what Kolkata would have wanted.

Their start was poor yet again, as Ntini struck twice in his first three overs - Mohammad Hafeez flicked to fine leg and Sourav Ganguly attempted an ungainly heave and found his middle stump knocked back.

At 28 for 2 after five overs, Chennai had taken the early honours, before Butt found a partner who was ready to play the support act. Das, drafted into the side in place of Aakash Chopra, creamed a couple of audacious straight sixes off Muttiah Muralitharan - who had a day to forget - but for the most part he was content to play second fiddle to the classy Butt, who played an outstanding knock.

As is his wont, Butt was all silken grace through the off side, either making room to cream drives through the covers, or getting behind the line to pepper the point and cover boundaries off the back foot. Manpreet Gony was crisply hit through the covers in his first over, while Ntini, who otherwise gave little away, leaked successive fours off two exceptional shots, as Butt moved away and lofted one through the covers, and then square-drove the next ball through point. Muralitharan was not spared either, as Butt slog-swept a six over midwicket, and then carved three successive fours through midwicket and third man in his last over, as Muralitharan finished with unflattering figures of none for 41.

Apart from that partnership, there wasn't much cheer for Kolkata. Ntini, bowling a full length and attacking the stumps, bowled both Das and Hussey to complete his hat-trick and ended with excellent figures of 4 for 21. Gony's control was exceptional as well, landing the ball on a length and allowing the batsmen no room. The fielding wasn't as impressive - S Vidyut was guilty of sloppy misfielding and a missed catch off Butt, while Gony dropped one late in the innings - as Kolkata managed to reach a competitive target. With Shoaib in the attack, there was plenty of hope for the home crowd, but his limp performance, followed by the rain, means Kolkata have plenty of catching up to do to win a semi-final berth.

Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Mumbai

Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Mumbai



Match facts

Friday, May 16, 2008
Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT)



The Big Picture

If the marquee names play to form this could be an intense contest. The key battle will be between the Kolkata Knight Riders' new-ball pair of Shoaib Akhtar and Ishant Sharma and the Mumbai Indians' opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya - sheer pace and movement against mammoth experience.

Shoaib remains the key after making a resounding Indian Premier League (IPL) debut. Bowling at optimum pace, he demolished the Delhi Daredevils, though he was helped by a couple of Delhi batsmen who decided to match him with aggression rather than remain patient. But Tendulkar and Jayasuriya have faced him often enough in others forms of the game, and at times tamed him with their repertoire of shots.

Mumbai are likely to zero in on Kolkata's weakness - batting. Sourav Ganguly and David Hussey are the only Kolkata batsmen to come to grips with building and finishing an innings. The absence of a quality opener like Brad Hodge is a further headache for Ganguly, who prefers opening to coming down the order. But he has had to adjust and adopt a safety-first policy.

If Mumbai win, it will be their fifth in a row, giving them further confidence in their bid for a semi-final spot. Their streak started at Eden Gardens and Kolkata, on a winning run themselves, will be looking for revenge after being humbled by Shaun Pollock and Jayasuriya with the ball in that match. As both captains agreed, it will be a "close contest".


Tournament position

Mumbai Indians: P8, W4, L4, NRR -0.056
Kolkata Knight Riders: P9, W5, L4, NRR +0.619


Form (last five matches, most recent first)

Mumbai Indians: WWWWL
Kolkata Knight Riders: WWWLL


Watch out for ...

Shoaib and Ishant against Jayasuriya and Tendulkar. If a pumped-up Shoaib presses on the accelerator to gain maximum speed, the wiry Ishant will test the batsmen with his bounce and movement. Tendulkar said he never "entertained" the argument that Twenty20 is a young man's game but it will be a true test of reflexes for Mumbai's experienced duo.


Sourav Ganguly. Despite a partisan Mumbai crowd, 'dada' (as Ganguly is widely known) still has his own bunch of die-hards everywhere he goes. He might have been slow off the Twenty20 blocks but he has caught up in recent games, scoring a 57-ball 91 in the away game against the Deccan Chargers.


Shahrukh Khan, owner of the Kolkata franchise. Eden Gardens might have become his second home but Mumbai will always remain first love for the Bollywood superstar, who will be out once again egging on Kolkata.




Team news

Mumbai would hate to disrupt their winning rhythm so they might stick to the same XI that beat the Chennai Super Kings.

Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Sachin Tendulkar (capt), 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Dominic Thornely, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Shaun Pollock, 7 Abhishek Nayar, 8 Yogesh Takawale (wk), 9 Dhawal Kulkarni, 10 Rohan Raje, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Despite opener Aakash Chopra's trouble adapting to the Twenty20 format, Ganguly said it was not a matter of concern as the team had won three matches in a row. Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez might get the nod for his all-round skills ahead of Tatenda Taibu and Mumbai local Iqbal Abdulla might make way for fellow left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who has some fond memories of the Wankhede, including his match-winning 6 for 27 in the final game of the ODI series against Australia last year.

Kolkata Knight Riders (probable): 1 Salman Butt, 2 Aakash Chopra, 3 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 David Hussey, 5 Mohammad Hafeez, 6 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 Shoaib Akhtar, 9 Ishant Sharma 10 Murali Kartik 11 Ashok Dinda.


Stats and trivia

Kolkata have conceded the most number of extras in the tournament - 120 from nine matches.


Shaun Pollock is the only Mumbai bowler with an economy-rate under 7.25.


Shoaib bowled just nine balls in the nets on the eve of his IPL debut, against Delhi. On Thursday he bowled four.


Quotes

"Both Shoaib and Ishant are quality bowlers. That doesn't mean we don't have quality batsmen. It's just not one mini-contest. It's the 40 overs we need to be on top of. I know it will be a close match."
Sachin Tendulkar states the importance of the clash against Kolkata.

"Get Sachin, get Jayasuriya, get Robin [Uthappa] and finish with a five-for."
Sourav Ganguly's message to his premier bowler.

Magical Mishra bowls Delhi to victory

Magical Mishra bowls Delhi to victory



A dramatic final-over hat-trick by Amit Mishra, when Deccan Chargers needed a gettable 15, helped Delhi Daredevils over the finish line and halt a four-match losing streak with a tense 12-run win against Deccan Chargers. Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan set it up with attacking half-centuries to post 194 before Mishra came up with timely wicket bursts in two phases of the chase to halt Deccan’s charge first and then seal the win.

Delhi’s early victories were fashioned by the combined efforts of their miserly new-ball pair and an in-form top order. Today, it didn’t matter that the bowlers didn’t have the best day at the office. Gambhir and Dhawan hunted as a pair, made the best out of what the benign pitch had to offer, and the score of 194 was just sufficient to guarantee a victory, despite a spirited effort by Venugopal Rao at the end.

Desperate for a win to keep their chance of staying alive in the tournament, Deccan changed their strategy to counter the threat of Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif by promoting Shahid Afridi. Suddenly, both bowlers, used to bowling miserly spells, were suddenly in unfamiliar territory as Deccan rocketed to 44 in the first four overs. In the midst of the blaze, Delhi pulled back with the wicket of Gilchrist, caught brilliantly by Dilshan at mid-off, but it didn’t stop Afridi from going over the top.

With Gibbs for company, the pair wrecked Asif and McGrath for 34 off two successive overs, which included scoops over extra cover and pulls over deep backward square leg. Both generated tremendous bat speed and a result, shots cleared the boundary ropes by huge margins, some landing several rows back.

At the end of the Powerplay, Deccan progressed at nearly 12 an over but from then on, fortunes turned. Sehwag tossed the ball to the legspinner Mishra he struck first ball, as Afridi mis-hit one that really stopped on him. He cleaned up Gibbs’ middle stump in his next over to temporarily halt Deccan’s assault.

Rohit Sharma then redressed the balance for Deccan, dominating a stand of 39 for the fourth wicket with Styris. Rajat Bhatia, the medium pacer, came in for some harsh treatment as Rohit bludgeoned him for 19 off a single over, sending a low full toss over long-on before pulling a short ball over deep square leg.

However, a timely bowling change swung the tide in Delhi’s favour. Maharoof returned in the 13th over and cleaned up Rohit’s offstump as he attempted a paddle sweep and as a result of that, the momentum slipped and the asking rate started to climb. Scott Styris couldn’t quite push on, managing only two boundaries in his 29. That increased the pressure on Rao, and for the second time in as many matches, fought a lone battle. The home side felt the pinch when Rao carted Maharoof for two sixes in an over, backing away and picking up the slower deliveries.

He perished in the penultimate over, when Deccan needed 25 at the start of it, skying one to AB de Villiers at long-on. A sliced six over backward point by Ravi Teja suddenly turned the script and Deccan needed 15 off the last over. Sehwag turned to his best bowler of the evening, Mishra, for the final over. Teja, Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh all failed in their attempt to clear the ropes and Mishra picked up the second hat-trick of the tournament.

The high-scoring contest contradicted early predictions about the grassy pitch assisting the seamers. After losing Sehwag to a wild slash, the Delhi innings gained momentum in the fourth over when Gambhir took on RP. He adjusted brilliantly to a short delivery aimed at his face and slapped him over backward square leg, then stepped down and pulled the next over deep midwicket and followed it up with a slice past backward point to take 20 off the over.

Dhawan came into his own once the support seamers - Sarvesh Kumar and Styris - operated, punishing anything full on the pads and finding the gaps. The spinners were not spared either. After reverse-sweeping Rao for four, he smashed Afridi out of the attack with successive fours, smashing the first over his head and the next over extra cover to bring up his fifty.

Gambhir too carted Afridi for a huge six over deep midwicket shortly after reaching his half-century and in the process went past the 400-run mark in the tournament. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner who was kept out till the 15th over, struck with his second ball, firing one down the legside after seeing Gambhir give him the charge.

Lusty blows by the two Sri Lankans - Farveez Maharoof and Dilshan - took Delhi close to the 200-mark though Deccan played into their own hands with some ordinary displays in the field. That proved crucial in the end and Delhi can take heart from the fact that the architects of the victory were largely the local players and not the overseas recruits.