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Haydone and dusted
Royals make hay as Challengers fall away
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Onions makes them weep
Barca blues for the Blues
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Haydone and dusted
King’s XI Punjab’s batsmen made a good fist of chasing down a stiff target against Chennai Super Kings in a match truncated by two sharp showers; but 187 runs in 18 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis method was a bridge too far. They lost by 12 runs. What made the difference was a brutal knock of 89 from Mathew Hayden in 58 balls, adorned by a half a dozen sixes; and his partnerships of 76 and 100 with Suresh Raina and Mahendra Dhoni respectively. Besides, KXIP’s attack at this business phase of the league was woefully uncompetitive. Simon Katich was missed by Manpreet Gony at long on off the first ball of the innings; and Sunny Sohal was bowled off the next. It was a worrying prognosis. But Katich, in a slot he’s accustomed to, was out to prove a point. He smashed three sixes to the onside in an over from Gony to grab the initiative back; and procured another maximum at the expense of left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati, who had had Goel caught at long on. But having just completed a 25-ball 50, he drilled a slightly half-hearted cut down deep point’s throat. KXIP’s skipper and master blaster Yuvraj Singh, joined by Mahela Jayawardene, persevered with the fight. He slog swept Muttiah Muralitharan for an over boundary, was then dropped by Gony, before hammering Albie Morkel for a huge six. Not to be overshadowed, the talented Jayawardene pulled Lakhmi Balaji for a maximum and then skating out to Murali to loft him into the grass bank behind extra cover. Yuvraj (58 0ff 36) and the former Sri Lankan skipper (44 off 25) remained un-separated in a 4th stand of 90. Hayden seized the ‘orange cap’ for the highest run aggregate - from Rahul Dravid in the first week of the competition and doesn’t seem to have any intentions of surrendering this. His consistency has been quite amazing; and although he should have been stumped by Kumar Sangakkara off Karan Goel when 32, he turned it on again today. Content to save his energy while Raina sizzled at the other end, he switched to a more aggressive mood soon after the Indian left hander’s exit - caught at midwicket off Piyush Chawla after he had blasted Irfan Pathan for a six. In Chawla’s next over, Hayden played and missed at the first ball, was rapped on the pad in the second; thereafter, responded with a six (to long on), four (off the back foot to extra cover) and a six (to midwicket). Earlier, he had off-driven VRV Singh, back in the side after an injury, into the stands housing his team’s yellow-shirted supporters. Later, in an over from Sreesanth, he, first, helped along a short ball to long leg for a maximum, then obtained equal bounty with a massive drive off the toes to midwicket, before mis-hitting one in the same area for another six. Such savagery ruined what was shaping to be better figures from Sreesanth as compared to his performance against Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday. The Keralite, though, had the consolation of removing Hayden in the same over - caught at long on. As for VRV, he was just cannon fodder, particularly for Dhoni. Unfurling his best display thus far in the tournament - an undefeated 56 off just 27 balls - he feasted on 24 runs in an over from this bowler, including sixes to point and into the sightscreen. Dhoni, though, was dropped by Yusuf Abdullah on 54 off Pathan. Super King’s sparklers came after S Badrinath’s dramatic departure off the very first ball of the innings. He upper cut a rising delivery from Pathan only to direct it unerringly into the hands of thirdman. Scoreboard Kings XI Punjab:
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Royals make hay as Challengers fall away
Unless you’re an ardent supporter of the winning side, there are few things more boring than a one-sided Twenty20 match. It was, in fact, a cakewalk for Rajasthan Royals - they won comfortably by seven wickets - over Bangalore Royal Challengers. In a fast unravelling competition, leadership of the league table has sometimes lasted no more than four hours. For whatever little this is worth, the victory, however temporarily, pitch-forked Royals to the summit, with 11 points from nine games. Royal Challengers, on the other hand, remained glued to 5th place (out of eight), having secured only eight points from their nine matches. But they are not out of contention for a semifinal berth yet. Chasing 106 (Challengers were bundled out for 105 in precisely 20 overs) was a formality. Nevertheless, a cheer rent the air when Jacques Kallis clean bowled an advancing teammate, Graeme Smith. Naman Ojha again impressed, batting through Royals’ innings to be not out on 52, studded as it was with three handsome sixes. The target was achieved without much sweat and with five overs to spare. The weather was just right for the return fixture between Royals and Royal Challengers, after the latter had won the first encounter. And the wizard of Oz, aka Shane Warne, surmised correctly that it would be wiser to bowl first on a fresh wicket. Indeed, Royal Challengers’ innings never quite sprouted. Wasim Jaffer failed to clear mid-off. His opening partner Kallis, after flicking a six off Munaf Patel, top-edged a pull to long leg. Rahul Dravid, yet to recover his early momentum after returning from paternity leave, unfortunately glanced into the gloves of the keeper; while Robin Uthappa was leg before wicket. At 49 for four, the crisis was self-evident. It only deepened as Mark Boucher was bowled by left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. Virat Kohli and Morne Morkel attempted a rescue, but this, too, was nipped in the bud as the former slashed low to thirdman, presenting Jadeja his trio of wickets - and he, ultimately, only conceded 15 runs. The 18,000 capacity stadium was about a third full, but not lacking in enthusiasm. And even if the batting wasn’t exciting, to those inspired by loud music, frequent such interventions probably was. But then, cartwheeling stumps is also an exhilarating sight! That, unfortunately, was Roelof van der Merwe’s circumstance as he swung too early against a slower ball, thus gifting medium pacer Amit Singh the second of his four wickets, which cost him a meagre 19 runs. He had captured three for nine in his previous outing. At 85 for seven - with only the tail to follow - the only issue was whether Challengers would reach three figures. In the event, a sumptuous six to long on from Vinay Kumar at the expense of Warne ensured they did. But not a single batsman reached 20 - a primary school standard effort, if you ask me! Scoreboard Rajasthan Royals:
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Daredevils take on win-hungry Mumbai
Daredevils
Vs
East London, May 7 But that Mumbai put up a brave fight against Deccan Chargers yesterday is indication enough that it won't be as easy as their previous match for Daredevils. Barring a few lapses, Mumbai held their cards for most part in the game of dwindling fortunes. Mumbai boast of an attacking opening pair of Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya, well supported by South African swashbuckler Jean-Paul Duminy in the middle order. Their bowling looks equally impressive studded with Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and West Indies' Dwayne Bravo. However, it remains to be seen if pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who is nursing a shoulder injury, gets fit for the match on time. Among the youngsters, Dhawal Kulkarni and Pinal Shah also impressed with both ball and bat against Deccan Chargers last night. But despite the impressive line-up, Mumbai are second from bottom with just three wins from eight matches. For Delhi, their key batsman Gautam Gambhir, who also stood-in for an injured captain Virender Sehwag, was back among the runs after an indifferent start to the tournament. Tillakaratne Dilshan also demonstrated his form in their last match against the hapless KKR. Delhi may consider fielding Glenn McGrath in place of Dutch-born Dirk Nannes with Ashish Nehra, Amit Mishra and Pradeep Sangwan already doing well for the side. — PTI
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A tale of skeptical hope
Chandigarh, May 7 “I have no issues with ICL at all. They gave us the best facilities in terms of exposure and a platform to deliver. But playing for the state and the country is of utmost importance. I have not made any decisions as yet but as a kid, when your passion for the game is pure and unrelenting, you don’t dream of earnings, but of wearing the national colours.” “Due to the unfortunate circumstances we couldn’t do that in the past two years, but now with the Board changing its stand there is renewed hope for us.” For Badani, the Tamil Nadu southpaw, hope has come in an envelope of skepticism. “I don’t know what to do at this point of time. It is an opportunity, yes, but the feasibility of this opportunity depends on a lot of factors. Going back to the Board doesn’t mean that we will be automatic choices for our respective teams. There might be a bad after-taste due to the way the ICL situation culminated. “I am still contracted with the ICL and I will firstly speak to them and their future plans. Depending on what they have to say, I will decide my course of action.” Sodhi believes that the idea of having a chance to represent his state and then maybe the country again, is enticing but he too is not jumping the gun at the moment. “I have not decided anything definitively. We have until May 15 to clear our stand with ICL and then make the decision. But a chance to be back from where I started this amazing cricket journey will definitely be something worth considering again.” Badani adds that the return may not be as simple as people think. “The situation is not black and white. But yes, if we do go back I would like to appeal to the Board to let bygones be bygones. “Judge us on our performances and give us what you would give a deserving player. I am not saying this just for myself. There are some 90-odd players, whose future and livelihood depends on how the Board opens up to us. For their sake, and ours as well, I would request the Board to start with a clean slate.”
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Onions makes them weep
London, May 7 Onions was rewarded for 9.3 overs of honest endeavour with five for 38 on his test debut but will bowl better for less reward against more determined opposition.
— Reuters Scoreboard |
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Barca blues for the Blues
London, May 7 Barcelona were down to 10 men midway through the second half after Eric Abidal was harshly sent off after pulling down Nicolas Anelka. The last-gasp goal puts Barca into the May 27 final against Manchester United on the away goals rule, since the first leg was a dull 0-0 draw in the Camp Nou last Tuesday. Iniesta's last-gasp leveller - Barca's only shot on target all match - threw a blanket of silence over West London, but provoked noisy street celebrations back in Barcelona. “It was a wonderful moment to score,” gasped a euphoric Iniesta at the end, “just when we needed a goal.” Barca playmaker Xavi - who had an uncharacteristically quiet game - conceded that “we were a bit lucky tonight”, but pointed out that “they were unlucky to get a goalless draw in the first leg”. Barca are still on course for a league, cup and Champions treble that no Spanish team has yet managed to achieve.
— DPA |
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King’s XI Punjab’s batsmen made a good fist of chasing down a stiff target against Chennai Super Kings in a match truncated by two sharp showers; but 187 runs in 18 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis method was a bridge too far.
