Deccan steal IPL show amid the glitz

The transplanted Indian Premier League finished in front of a capacity crowd with a blaze of fireworks and an array of international entertainers headed by Guyanan rock star Eddy Grant.
The Deccan Chargers took the title with a six-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final, but throughout the 37 days of the tournament in which 59 matches were played, the cricket shared top billing with the lights, music and cheerleaders that were part of the IPL package.
Arranged at short notice in South Africa following security concerns because of elections in India, the IPL captured the imagination of South African sports followers.
The opening weekend in Cape Town, with two double-headers on successive days, was sold out. So were the semi-finals, in Centurion and Johannesburg, and the final at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
In between, near-capacity crowds attended many of the games, attracted by low prices, the glitz and glamour of the tournament, and the chance to see most of the world's best players in action.
The unpredictable nature of Twenty20 cricket was shown when Bangalore and Deccan, who filled the last two places on the log in the first IPL in 2008, reached the final.
Even on 2009 form that was a surprise, because they beat the two teams that dominated the round robin stage, the Chennai Super Kings and log-topping Delhi Daredevils respectively.
Conditions were different in South Africa from those in India last year, with bowlers having a bigger say on late-season pitches that offered assistance to both seam and spin bowlers.
Even so, it remained a batsman's game.
Matthew Hayden, the powerful Australian left-hander who retired from international cricket in January, was Chennai's mainstay as he topped the tournament run-scorers list with 572 at an average of 52.00 and an impressive strike rate of 144.81 runs per 100 balls.
Another former Australian player, Deccan captain Adam Gilchrist, played the stand-out innings of the tournament when he slammed 85 off 35 balls in the semi-finals to get his team past Delhi.
Left-arm opening bowler RP Singh of Deccan Chargers was the leading wicket-taker with 23 at an average of 18.13, but many of the most effective bowlers were spinners, led by Bangalore captain Anil Kumble, who finished with 22 wickets, including four for 18 in the final.
Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha was a consistent performer for Deccan and experienced international bowlers like Muttiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh were consistently economical.
While much of the focus was on established international stars, the tournament provided a platform for young Indian players such as Bangalore's Manish Pandey, 19, who became the first Indian to hit a century in two seasons of the IPL.
While Deccan leapt from last place in 2008 to the title in 2009, defending champions Rajasthan Royals failed to reach the semi-finals, with former Australian star Shane Warne unable to inspire his comparatively modestly-funded teams to another triumph.
Much of the early focus was on Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta, all co-owners of franchises, but none of their teams did particularly well.
Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders finished an embarrassing last, winning only three out of 14 matches and Khan returned to India early in the campaign.
Zinta's Kings XI Punjab were squeezed out of the semi-finals on run rate, while Shetty's Rajasthan were sixth.
In the end, the cricketers were able to claim centre stage.

Dravid lifts Bangalore past Chennai

Indian stalwart Rahul Dravid and two of the country's rising stars took the Royal Challengers Bangalore to victory in their Indian Premier League semi-final against the Chennai Super Kings at the Wanderers Stadium on Saturday.
Bangalore will meet the Deccan Chargers in the final at the same ground Sunday in a contest between the teams that filled the bottom two places on the log in the first IPL in 2008.
Dravid (44) and 19-year-old Manish Pandey (48) put on 72 for the third wicket to lay the foundation for Bangalore's six-wicket win, then Virat Kohli, 20, finished the match off by hitting 24 not out off 17 balls.
As in the first semi-final, when Deccan beat the Delhi Daredevils Friday, the team finishing lower on the log won the knock-out match.
Chennai made a good start after being sent in, with Matthew Hayden, the tournament's leading scorer, and Parthiv Patel putting on 61 for the first wicket.
But the innings lost momentum when Hayden lofted Vinay Kumar to deep mid-wicket off the last ball of the seventh over after making 26.
Patel followed two overs later when he was leg before to Jacques Kallis for 36.
Chennai captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the left-handed Suresh Raina added 35 for the third wicket.
Raina hit a four and six off successive balls against Vinay Kumar but the threatened acceleration was cut short in the next over when he top- edged a pull against Praveen Kumar and was caught by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher for 20.
Dhoni reached 28 without hitting a boundary before he hit Roelof van der Merwe high to long-on and fell to a well-judged catch by Vinay Kumar who managed to maintain his balance just inside the rope.
With the pitch playing slower as the innings progressed even the normally free-scoring Albie Morkel could only manage an unbeaten 20 off 17 balls.
Bangalore started their innings aggressively, with Pandey hitting Morkel through the covers for two fours in the first over, with Kallis punching Manpreet Gony past point for two more boundaries in the next over before eding a drive to be caught behind.
Van der Merwe was sent in as a pinch hitter but after being dropped by Muttiah Muralatharan back-pedalling at mid-off against Morkel in the third over he was bowled next ball.
But Pandey continued to bat fluently and found ideal support from Dravid as the pair added 72 for the third wicket before Pandey missed a sweep against left-arm spinner Shadap Jakati in the 13th over.
Dravid was leg before to Muralitharan, who bowled superbly to take one for 15 in four overs, but Kohli and New Zealander Ross Taylor both hit sixes as Bangalore won with seven balls to spare.

Taylor fashions Bangalore victory

Ross Taylor hit a crucial 46 to steer Bangalore Royal Challengers to an exciting two-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.
The New Zealander added 56 for the fourth wicket with Virat Kohli (38) as Bangalore achieved a 130-run target with two balls to spare to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Man-of-the-match Taylor fell in the final over after hitting one six in his sensible 50-ball knock, but his team needed just five to win at that stage. Vinay Kumar completed the victory when he smashed Jacob Oram for a four.
Kohli cracked two sixes in his 35-ball knock.
Delhi lead the eight-team competition with 16 points from 10 matches, followed by Chennai (13/11), Deccan (12/11), Bangalore (12/12), Mumbai (11/11), Rajasthan (11/11), Punjab (10/11) and Kolkata (3/11).
The top four sides will qualify for the semi-finals.
Veteran Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble earlier led Bangalore's fightback with two wickets for just 12 runs off four overs.
Chennai were strongly placed at 101-3 following Australian opener Matthew Hayden's brisk half-century, but lost the last seven wickets for 28 in a sensational collapse.
Kumble started the slide when he had in-form Hayden caught by Kumar at deep mid-wicket. Hayden smashed three sixes and five fours in his 38-ball 60 -- his fourth half-century of the tournament.
Hayden propped up the innings after South African seamer Jacques Kallis had bagged two early wickets, but received no support from the other end. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the second-highest scorer with 18.

Duminy, Rahane keep Mumbai afloat in IPL

Mumbai Indians rode on a record stand by Jean-Paul Duminy and Ajinkya Rahane to beat Bangalore Royal Challengers by 16 runs in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.
The duo put on 104 off 72 balls, the highest third-wicket partnership in the IPL, as Mumbai scored 157-2 in 20 overs before restricting Bangalore to 141-7 at St George's Park here.
Mumbai's fourth win in 10 matches took them to nine points and kept their hopes alive of making the semi-finals. Bangalore were stuck on eight points from 10 games.
Both teams have four more league matches to play.
Rahane and Duminy came to the crease after skipper Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed for zero in the second over and Sri Lankan veteran Sanath Jayasuriya fell for 29 in the eighth.
Rahane, a 20-year-old from Mumbai, remained unbeaten on 62 off 49 balls with four boundaries and a six.
Duminy, the left-handed South African, made 59 not out off 41 balls, a knock that was studded with three sixes and two fours.
Bangalore's challenge faded after four wickets fell for 58 by the 10th over, including those of Jacques Kallis (12) and Rahul Dravid (10).
South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher smashed an unbeaten 48 off 33 balls, but his gallant effort was not enough for Bangalore to snatch an unlikely win.
India spinner Harbhajan Singh was Mumbai's star bowler with two wickets for 15 runs in his four overs.

Rajasthan cruise to victory

There were a lot of similarities in the two teams that took to the field today, apart from the obvious one of both having 'Royal' in their team name. They had both had fitful starts to the tournament, but were coming into the match having built up great momentum, and both were led by leg-spinning legends of the game who were contemporaries.

Anil Kumble lost the toss to Warne, who decided to bowl first on a fresh pitch. Bangalore went in with an unchanged side, while Rajasthan brought in Munaf Patel and local boy Morne Morkel instead of Siddharth Trivedi and Shane Harwood.

The impressive Amit Singh again provided the breakthrough for Rajasthan when he had Wasim Jaffer caught with Lee Carseldine taking a well judged catch at short cover. Last match hero Jacques Kallis couldn't repeat his batting performance and fell to Munaf Patel in the fifth over, leaving Bangalore in a bit of a hole, with the run-rate below 5 and two wickets down. They were dealt a body blow when they lost returning hero Rahul Dravid for a duck. Dravid got a ball down the leg-side and uncharacteristically, instead of tickling it fine for a boundary, got a feather-touch through to the keeper, giving Lee Carseldine a big wicket in his debut over. Bangalore slid further, losing Robin Uthappa plumb lbw to part-time spinner Jadeja, and only a dropped chance by 'keeper Ojha off Warne kept Virat Kohli at the crease and prevented Bangalore from losing half the side before half the overs were up. As it was, they were a none-too-healthy 49 for 4 at the halfway mark, and true to form, they lost a wicket immediately after, when Boucher was bowled by Jadeja.

Jadeja continued to have a dream spell with the ball and snaffled Virat Kohli who's cut only succeeded in finding the safe hands of a tumbling Morne Morkel.

Amit Singh then bowled a beautiful slower delivery - an off-cutter who's turn would have done Murali proud - to bowl the dangerous van der Merwe.

An excellent all-round bowling display meant Rajasthan got Bangalore all out for 105 off the last ball of the innings, with Amit Singh returning figures of 4-0-19-4 and Ravindra Jadeja having 4-0-15-3.

In an innings that lay in shambles from start to finish, the most exciting moment came when No.10 Vinay Kumar attempted a switch hit - you read that right, a switch hit - off Amit Singh in the last over of the innings.

Rajasthan's chase got off to a sedate start, but with no requirement to go slam bang, Smith and Ojha could afford to take their time to settle in. Just when he looked about to explode though, Smith was castled by South African team-mate Kallis.

Rajasthan kept ticking the runs off though, and even though Lee Carseldine was run-out in a bad mix-up with Naman Ojha, the score progressed at above the required rate, reading a comfortable 62 for 2 at the strategy break, with Yusuf Pathan at the crease.

Bangalore did manage to get Yusuf out, it was too little too late, as by then Rajasthan needed just 15 runs to win and had 6 overs and 7 wickets in hand to get them.

This they duly did, with Naman Ojha scoring another fifty and remaining unbeaten on 52 not out off 37 balls, to give Rajasthan victory by 7 wickets and 5 overs to spare.

At the end of the match, another similarity had emerged between the two teams - both stayed true to the form they had displayed in IPL '08!

Turning Point of the Match: A thoroughly professional display by Rajasthan ensured that they had their second successive one-sided victory, with possibly the only turning point being the fact that the toss landed in Warne's favour rather than Kumble's!

Man of the Match: Amit Singh for his sterling bowling performance in just his second IPL match, which really set up the victory for Rajasthan by putting Bangalore on the back-foot from the start.

Kallis, Uthappa pave way for Bangalore victory

A superb unbroken stand between Jacques Kallis and Robin Uthappa led Bangalore Royal Challengers to a nine-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League clash on Sunday.
After winning the toss at the Wanderers and opting to bat, Mumbai recovered from a poor start to reach 149-4 and in reply, Bangalore made 150-1 with 11 balls to spare.
Kallis got off to a cracking start after fellow opener Wassim Jaffer had fallen early on and although he slowed, still reached his half-century off 39 balls.
Uthappa was even quicker, making his fifty off 36 deliveries.
The pair shared 126 runs for the second wicket with Kallis 69 not out from 59 balls, including five fours and two sixes.
Uthappa was unbeaten on 66, having faced 42 deliveries in an innings that included eight fours and two sixes.
Bangalore seamer Dillon du Preez, who returned with 3-32, got his IPL debut off to a dream start, bagging three wickets before conceding a run.
Coming on at first change, Du Preez removed Sachin Tendulkar and Ajinkya Rahane with successive deliveries in his first over.
And in his next, he had JP Duminy caught behind to leave Mumbai reeling at 23-3 before Sanath Jayasuriya and Dwayne Bravo compiled 60 runs for the fourth wicket to stage a recovery.
Jayasuriya smashed 52 runs from 43 balls with six fours and one six. The Sri Lankan veteran was removed by spinner Roelof van der Merwe in the 15th over, but Abhishek Nayar joined Bravo in an unbroken 66-run stand for the fifth wicket to keep Mumbai in control.
Bravo made 50 not out from 40 deliveries with one boundary and two sixes, and Nayar was unbeaten on 29 off 20 balls.

Yuvraj heroics not enough to deny Bangalore

Kings XI Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh took a hat-trick and slammed a half-century but it was not enough to secure a win for his side in their Indian Premier League match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Kingsmead on Friday.
Instead, feisty South African all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe spurred Bangalore to an eight-run win, hitting 35 off 19 balls, taking two wickets for 22 runs and pulling off a crucial run-out.
Bangalore seemed in desperate trouble at 84 for six after Yuvraj dismissed Robin Uthappa, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher with successive deliveries.
But Van der Merwe chanced his arm and hit three sixes and three fours to enable Bangalore to reach 145 for nine.
Yuvraj, playing on the ground where he hit six sixes in an over for India against England in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, opened the batting with Karan Goel and the pair seemed to have put their side well on the way to victory with an opening stand of 70.
But the game changed dramatically when Anil Kumble had Yuvraj caught in deep in the tenth over. Yuvraj made 50 off 34 balls with four sixes and three fours.
Kumble, captaining the Challengers following the return of Kevin Pietersen to England, admitted afterwards: "Another five overs of Yuvy and the game was probably over."
Van der Merwe dismissed Goel in the next over and then ran out Simon Katich with a superb diving stop and quick throw.
The Kings XI were unable to regain their momentum and their target became almost impossible when Van der Merwe had Mahela Jayawardene caught in the covers, leaving Punjab needing 30 off 17 overs.
Struggling with a wet ball, Van der Merwe's over cost 13 runs including four leg byes and a wide, but Kumble bowled Kumar Sangakarra in the next over and Praveen Kumar killed Punjab's hopes with two wickets in the final over.
"We should have won the game but Bangalore bowled well," said Yuvraj, who was named man of the match despite being on the losing side.

South Africans excel in last-over thrillers

South African seamer Yusuf Abdulla and batsman Mark Boucher held their nerve under pressure in last-over finishes in the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday.
Bangalore Royal Challengers needed 10 runs in the last over to achieve a 140-run target against Kolkata Knight Riders before Boucher smashed spinner Chris Gayle's penultimate delivery for a winning four.
Wicket-keeper Boucher was named man of the match for his unbeaten 25 off 13 balls in Bangalore's five-wicket victory.
Kings XI Punjab owed their three-run win over Mumbai Indians to Abdulla, who bowled an eight-run last over when the opposition required 12 to win. Mumbai were restricted to 116-7 in reply to Punjab's 119-8.
Abdulla ensured Punjab's win in the final over when he dismissed well-set Jean-Paul Duminy, caught in the deep after making a responsible 63-ball 59 -- the day's only half-century.
Deccan Chargers currently lead the eight-team tournament with eights points from four matches, followed by Punjab (6/5), Delhi (6/4), Mumbai (5/5), Rajasthan (5/5), Bangalore (4/6), Chennai (3/5) and Kolkata (3/6).
Mumbai were struggling at 45-4 in the 10th over before South African Duminy sustained his team's hopes with a solid knock containing four boundaries.
Punjab seized the early initiative through pacemen Irfan Pathan, Vikramjeet Malik and Abdulla, who grabbed three of the first four wickets, including those of hard-hitting openers Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya.
Jayasuriya fell for a duck in the opening over, caught by skipper Yuvraj Singh in the slips off Pathan. Skipper Tendulkar contributed just one before cutting Malik to Mahela Jayawardene at point.
Punjab earlier failed to build a partnership against a disciplined Mumbai attack, with Sri Lankan wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara alone offering stiff resistance with an unbeaten 45 off 44 balls.
Teenager Shreevats Goswami also played a big role in Bangalore's victory, top-scoring with 43. The 19-year-old opener hit six fours in his 46-ball knock.
Australian spinner Brad Hodge put pressure on Bangalore with three wickets, but Boucher batted sensibly in the crucial last over to steer his team home.
Bangalore skipper Kevin Pietersen used his spinners intelligently to restrict Kolkata to a modest total. Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble was the most successful bowler with 2-16 off four overs. South African Morne van Wyk top-scored for Kolkata with 43 not out.
Part-time off-spinner Pietersen himself bowled the opening over and struck with his first delivery, having hard-hitting New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum caught by Virat Kohli at point.
Kumble was pressed into the attack early in the innings and got a wicket in his opening over when he trapped Hodge (17) leg-before before accounting for Wriddhiman Saha (21).
Left-arm spinner Prabhu Appanna claimed a big wicket when he had West Indies skipper Gayle caught in the deep. Gayle, batting with a runner due to leg cramps in the later part of his innings, hit a 37-ball 40.

'Golden oldies' Hayden, Murali sparkle for Chennai

Matthew Hayden

Cricket 'golden oldies' Matthew Hayden and Muttiah Muralitharan powered Chennai Super Kings to a 92-run win over Bangalore Royal Challengers on Monday in the Indian Premier League.
Australian Hayden, who departed the international scene recently at the age of 37, struck a sizzling 65 at Saint George's Park in this southern coastal city before being run out by Rahul Dravid.
The departure of Hayden just one ball after fellow opener Parthiv Patel was out for 30 did slow a Chennai charge that saw them dash to 106-0 after 10 overs, but they finished on 179-5 to set Royals a challenging target.
Enter Sri Lanka wizard Muralitharan to cause havoc and snap up three wickets, including the prized one of former England captain Kevin Pietersen for a duck, and all the damage was inflicted at the expense of just 11 runs.
Bangalore were in trouble from the start, losing opener Praveen Kumar in the third ball of the innings and quickly fell behind the nine-run-an-over victory target.
South African Jacques Kallis made a quick 24 before becoming the next Chennai victim and by the 'strategy break' the Challengers needed a miracle as they languished at 56-5 with 10 overs completed.
There was no miraculous turnaround, only more Chennai wickets on the same track that produced a bucketful of runs when South Africa trumped Australia in an ODI clash last week.
Kallis finished as top scorer and opener Robin Uthappa and Dravid contributed 20 runs each as Bangalore slipped from top spot after the opening round to fifth while 2008 runners-up Chennai climbed two places to third.

Kumble sends Rajasthan Royals crashing to defeat

Veteran Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble sent the Rajasthan Royals crashing to defeat when they started the defence of their Indian Premier League crown at Newlands Saturday.
Kumble took five for five as the Bangalore Royal Challengers gained a crushing 75-run win as the champions were bowled out for a paltry 58.
"It was pretty disappointing," admitted Rajasthan captain Shane Warne. "As defending champions we expect better of ourselves. Our shot selection was poor."
Bangalore skipper Kevin Pietersen was overjoyed with the opening win.
"The boys played fantastic cricket," he said. "It was a great team effort and you can't buy Anil Kumble's experience in a shop."
Indian batting star Rahul Dravid made a fine 66 as Bangalore recovered from losing two wickets for no runs in the first three balls of their innings.
Bangalore made 133 for eight, which hardly seemed likely to be a total easily defended, but the Royals made a horror start and never recovered.
They were bowled out for 58, with no batsman making more than 11.
England all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas had New Zealand's Jesse Ryder caught behind for a duck off the second ball of the match and then bowled fellow Kiwi Ross Taylor with his next delivery.
Mascarenhas struck again when Robin Uthappa was caught behind to reduce the Challengers to 17 for three.
But Pietersen made 32 as he and Dravid started a fightback. Dravid carried it on, batting until the last over of the innings as he made 66 off 48 balls with eight fours and a six.
Mascarenhas took three for 20 and he was backed up by Munaf Patel (two for 25) and Warne, who claimed two for 18 in his four overs.
The Royals suffered early blows when opening bowler Praveen Kumar dismissed Swapnil Asnodkar and South African captain Graeme Smith in his first two overs.
Medium-pacer Ryder took two quick wickets, Mascarenhas was run out first ball and Kumble ripped through the rest of the batting.

Rajasthan Royals VS Bangalore Royal Challengers in IPL 2009

Indian Premier League T20 2009 - Watch Live2nd Match : Bangalore Royal Challengers (RCB) Vs Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Defending champion Rajasthan Royals will meet Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening day of IPL. The match is second match in this season's IPL 2009. Rajasthan Royals were the winner whereas the Bangalore royal Challengers were 7-spotted in the whole tournament. Apart from the 1st season both teams have different changes in this season.The match is scheduled as:2nd match: Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan RoyalsAt Cape TownOn Apr 18, 2009Match scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM Indian time, 16:30 local time (14:30 GMT)

Preview:

History:Rajasthan Royals have won both 2 out of 2 matches in their previous encounters. Royals have won the both matches in the 1st season of IPL against the Bangalore Royal Challenger. In the 1st meet in 2008, Rajasthan won by 7 wickets. The Shane Warne led team won the second one with comfortable margin of 65 runs. Bangalore had never shown their full potentiality in the 2008 season. Unexpectedly, Royals of Rajasthan came top in the table.

News Facts:

Royal Challenger Bangalore : Firstly the team is fully revived from captaincy to to management. Newcomer Kelvin Pieterson wwill be replacing Rahul Dravid from the captaincy. Pieterson is he most expensive player of IPL till now. Jesse Ryder of New Zealand, a hero in test and ODI series against India is too included.

Rajasthan Royals:

Sohail Tanvir who was the best bowler of IPL 2008 will not be playing along with Kamran Akmal and Younus Khan who are also Pakistani players. Tyron Henderson, the mystrious South African has been Included along with Shaun Tait. Inclusion of the three top South Africans will be a advantage for the team. Recently after being on South Africa seven Indian players were send back o India. The players include former Indian regular mrmber Mohammed Kaif also.

Live Action of Bangalore Vs Rajasthan in IPL 2009:In Computer:

There are some official broadcasting links for IPL 2009 season on Internet. Royal Challenger Bangalore VS Rajasthan Royals will shown Live streaming on TVNSPORTS.COM and WILLOW.TV. You can watch the whole Indian Premier League matches LIVE streaming just paying 20$ to 70$. The matches are legal and authorized by IPL and BCCI. The videos are high qualiy and shown world wide.

In TV:

Sony Television has the official broadcasting right of the IPL 2009 season. Rajasthan and Bangalore mach will be shown LIVE set max from 8pm in India. Direct TV and Dish Network will broadcast in USA. In SA super Sports will broadcast the matches.

Highlights of Rajasthan Royals VS Bangalore Royal Challengers in IPL 2009:

The video highlights of the match will shown on various links in internet. Official website of Indian Premier League IPLT20.com will shown the video as well as picture highlights of the match between Rajasthan Royals and Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Youtube channel : Youtube.com/IPL may also show the highlights of the match.