IPL 5: All-round Chennai beat Pune in tight finish

An all-round show by Chennai Super Kings helped them register a 13-run win over Pune Warriors in their IPL 5 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday.
Pune managed to score 151 for 7 chasing Chennai's total of 164 for 5. Although a 44-run partnership between Steven Smith and Angelo Mathews brought back Pune into the game. At the end of 18 overs, Pune required 25 runs from two overs and it was quite possible with Smith and Mathews batting. But Doug Bollinger bowled a crucial penultimate over and gave only four runs and the wicket of Smith (23).

Still then Pune had chance of winning with 21 runs required off the last over, but Dwayne Bravo had other plans, as he cleaned up Mathews in his very first ball. After Mathews wicket, things were all but over for Pune and Bravo hardly gave any chance to the batsmen in the remaining five balls. Mathews top-scored for Pune with 27 off 22 balls and Chennai’s Nuwan Kulasekhara returned with figures of 2 for 10 in two overs.
When Pune Warriors came out for the run-chase, their openers - Robin Uthappa and Jesse Ryder failed to give a right start. In the second over, Kulasekhara dismissed Uthappa for 8 caught by R Ashwin, who ran in to take a catch at mid-off. Two overs later in-form Ryder (9), who held key to Pune's chase fell to Kulasekhara, while going for a pull shot but found Dwayne Bravo.
Manish Pandey and Sourav Ganguly looked to repair the damage done and seemed comfortable out there in the middle when Pandey couldn't resist the temptation of a pitched up ball and ballooned it over covers where Badrinath completed an excellent catch. It was a matter of time and Chennai got a grip and continued to put pressure on the Pune batsmen. Ganguly succumbed to the pressure and got out for 24 off 26 balls, when stepping out to Shadab Jakati, but played straight into the hands of mid-off fielder.
The Pune team had some decent allrounders down the order in the form of Samuels, Mathews and Smith, who can pull off a win on their own. Samuels was expected to fire when the chips were down, but could not continue till the end to see his team through. However, Samuels played an important cameo of 26 off 24 balls that included one six and two fours.
Earlier, Pune Warriors skipper Sourav Ganguly won the toss and asked Chennai to bat. Openers Subramaniam Badrinath and Faf du Plessis got Chennai off to a rollicking start and struck a half century each. Badrinath (57) and du Plessis (58) shared this edition's highest opening stand of 116 runs.
But after the wickets of du Plessis and Badrinath in quick succession, Chennai failed to lift the ante before MS Dhoni's (28 not out) lusty hits towards the end propped up their innings. For Pune, Marlon Samuels took 3 for 39 while Ashish Nehra claimed 2 wickets for 23.
After a slow start, Chennai picked up the tempo with Badrinath and du Plessis by taking the attack to the bowlers. Du Plessis continued his good form in the tournament as he reached his half century, his second this season in the 13th over. His fifty came off 42 balls and was studded with four fours and a six.
Badrinath survived a close run-out call in the last ball of the 13th over with the third umpire taking a long time to decide on it and he was lucky to continue as Pune wicketkeeper Uthappa missed out on an easy stumping chance off Murali Kartik. The record opening stand finally ended in the 16th over with du Plessis out for 58. Two balls later, Badrinath also departed as he tried to slog-sweep Samuels only to find Mathews again.

IPL chief seeks report over Preity Zinta's incident

New Delhi: Chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Rajeev Shukla on Thursday said that he had sought a report from the match referee over the incident involving Kings XI Punjab’s owner Preity Zinta during her side's match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali on Wednesday.
Zinta was seen visibly agitated and reacting vigorously against the controversial dismissal of Punjab’s Shaun Marsh. Shukla said that he had asked the match referee Roshan Mahanama to submit a report to him at the earliest on the incident. "I have sought a report from the match referee on the entire issue. I will also take Preity Zinta's version," Shukla told PTI.

Marsh was ruled out in a controversial manner when he edged a Brett Lee delivery, with KKR’s wicketkeeper Manvinder Bisla nodding that he had taken the catch cleanly, and the on-field umpire ruling him out, even though TV replays suggested there was enough doubt.
Earlier on Thursday, Punjab’s captain Adam Gilchrist said that he did not hear any adverse comments from the umpires for Zinta. Asked if there had been any violation of rules on Zinta's part, Gilchrist said, "For that you have to ask the match referee or the umpire. I don't know if she had any word with any umpire or not. I don't know what exchanges happened there on the sidelines. But, I have not heard any negative comment from either the match referee or the umpire. I can only assume that nothing has been transgressed there."
Gilchrist said he told Zinta that he would handle the situation and she happily agreed. "I was on the sidelines and asked her if she would allow him to control the situation and she happily did. She is a passionate supporter, a team co-owner and a fan of this game. I do not know what she was going to say to me when I told her that I will handle this after which she respected that and sat down," Gilchrist said.
He said going by the replays, even he was not convinced and thought, "There was a huge element of doubt there. A lot of uncertainty about whether the ball carried, but whatever the opinion was I just wanted to make sure that Preity [Zinta], the team and the rest of the support crew were simply abiding by the umpire's decision, who had given Shaun out.”

Kevin Pietersen ton carries Delhi to victory against Deccan

New Delhi: Kevin Pietersen smashed a match-winning century as Delhi Daredevils cruised to their fourth victory after crushing Deccan Chargers by five wickets in an IPL game at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Thursday.
Pietersen (103 not out off 64) clubbed six fours and nine huge sixes as Delhi chased down a challenging 158 in 19.1 overs after Deccan’s skipper Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat. Yogesh Nagar, with his unbeaten 23 off 15, provided good support to Pietersen. Deccan were in control when they reduced Delhi to 65 for 4 in the tenth over, but Pietersen, who was dropped thrice on 6, 68 and 94, took full advantage of the lacklustre Deccan fielding as the visitors succumbed to their fourth successive loss.

Medium-pacer Veer Pratap Singh, playing his first IPL match, gave Deccan the perfect start, getting Naman Ojha (1 off 4) caught by JP Duminy in his first over itself. Dale Steyn, after beating both Virender Sehwag (7 off 5) and Pietersen a couple of times, got the wicket of the former when the Delhi skipper edged an away-swinging delivery to Daniel Christian at first slip. Sehwag’s dismissal was followed by the departure of experienced Mahela Jayawardene (6 off 5), who was caught at mid-off by Sangakkara off Christian, and the run-out of Ross Taylor (13 off 11) pegged Delhi further back.
Unperturbed by the fall of wickets though, Pietersen continued his fluent touch, launching Amit Mishra for two sixes and a four in his very first over. After getting to his fifty in 42 balls, Pietersen went into an ultra-aggressive mode, smashing Duminy for three consecutive sixes. The first two came off full tosses, while the third was off a pitched-up delivery. Deccan's fielders did not help their cause and with Yogesh Nagar's 23-run cameo, Pietersen was able to take Delhi over the line with ease. The Englishman even reached his first IPL century - the second hundred of this tournament - hitting the winning runs by clearing the straight ropes off left-arm orthodox Ankit Sharma in the final over.
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel, with their 71-run partnership for the second wicket, threatened to take the game away from Delhi after Deccan lost skipper Sangakkara (1 off 7) in the third over. Dhawan was the more aggressive of the two left-handers, scoring on both sides of the wicket. But while trying a reverse sweep off Shahbaz Nadeem, Dhawan misjudged a straight delivery and was trapped lbw for 44 off 29. Another 25 runs were scored before Patel was caught brilliantly at square leg by Jayawardene. Like Dhawan, Patel also hit five fours and a six during his knock of 45 off 27.
Getting the wickets of two set batsmen, Delhi ran through Deccan’s middle order, taking four wickets for 28 runs. Duminy (4 off 5) gave Nadeem his second wicket, Christian (19 off 21) was caught off Umesh Yadav, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (4 off 5) and Steyn (2 off 3) became the victims of Morne Morkel. A little cameo (25 off 17) by Bharat Chipli lifted Deccan at the end, however, taking them to a competitive score of 157 for 8.
With another three to his name, Morkel became the highest wicket-taker in IPL 5, with 12 wickets. Nadeem also continued his brilliant form, picking up 3 for 16 with his slow left-arm. But Indian pacers Ajit Agarkar and Yadav were taken to the cleaners by Deccan’s batsmen, going for 42 and 33 in their respective three overs.
It all ended well for Delhi though, and their win took them to the top of the table, level on points with Rajasthan Royals having played one game less. Deccan, meanwhile, were left to rue their fielding as they stayed bottom without a win in four games in the tournament so far.

IPL 5: Tendulkar practices again, may play KXIP game

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar practiced for about 90 minutes on Thursday, raising hopes of his availability for Mumbai Indians’ next match against Kings XI Punjab here on Sunday.
Tendulkar, who sustained a finger injury in season’s opener against Chennai Super Kings on April 4, played a variety of strokes and did not appear to be in any kind of difficulty while facing the regular bowlers in the Mumbai ranks during a net session at the Bandra Kurla Complex Ground. Tendulkar’s absence was a telling blow for Mumbai as it affected the team's balance at the top of the order. Tendulkar although started practicing on April 14, prior to the home game against Delhi Daredevils, he did not feel comfortable enough to take the field on April 16.

"It will be nice to have Sachin Tendulkar back. I'm sure he will be back for the next game if nothing goes wrong here. If he bats with any of the foreigners [players], it makes easier for them to score runs. He can take a lot of pressure off other partner," Harbhajan Singh, Mumbai’s captain, had said after team’s humiliating defeat against Delhi.
While things looked bright for Mumbai as far as Tendulkar's availability is concerned, uncertainty still looms over Lasith Malinga's participation. The Sri Lankan speedster missed the game against Delhi because of back pain and did not practice with other team-mates on Thursday. Meanwhile, Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson is expected to join the team in a couple of days. The 30-year-old Queenslander was bought at his base price of $300,000 by Mumbai at the players’ auction in February.

PL 5: It was a special innings, says Kevin Pietersen

New Delhi: Kevin Pietersen on Thursday described his swashbuckling unbeaten century as one of his favourite knocks, which helped his team Delhi Daredevils register a five-wicket win over Deccan Chargers in an IPL 5 match here.
"It is an amazing feeling to score a century in T20 cricket. This is my first in this format, so it has to be my favourite," Pietersen said after he smashed 103 off 64 as Delhi registered their fourth victory of the season. “It is good to get a century in T20 cricket. It was a good wicket to bat on and also good for the pacers who bent their back, not much for the spinners. In Twenty20 you need entertaining wicket," he added.

The former England skipper, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his whirlwind ton, said he tried to play according to the situation. "I played as per the situation. Once you get yourself in there, you can get the boundaries. I was in good form against Sri Lanka and it is all about backing yourself in the field," Pietersen said.
"When you lose a wicket, you slow down and Ross's [Taylor] wicket put the pressure on me. They [Deccan] played good cricket," he added. Pietersen, 31, also heaped praise on young spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, who returned with figures of 3 for 16 in his four overs. "He bowled a good spell in the last match, taking 3 for 9 against Mumbai [Indians]. He was fantastic today as well. He changes his angle and is a clever bowler. There were talks of who could be the spinner of IPL 5 and he is turning out to be a superstar," Pietersen said.
When asked about Deccan’s performance, Pietersen said, "I feel sorry for Deccan. They played good cricket. They are a good team and could have won in Mumbai, but I think it is still a long way to go and nothing is lost for them."
Deccan’s coach Darren Lehmann blamed his butterfingered fielders for the loss and said the three dropped catches of Pietersen proved costly for his team. "Our fielding is not good enough. You can't drop Kevin. It was one of the best innings that we have seen and when you drop someone like him, it costs you the game," he said. "We bowled well early on but Kevin took the game away from us. In the 12th-13th over we lost our way because of some poor decisions," he added.
Lehmann said his team was 20 runs short at the end. "We were probably 20 runs short with the bat. We are playing 90 per cent but we need to put another 10 per cent. But I am not disheartened yet. We are playing good cricket. It is a young side but we are not finishing well," he added.