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CSK beat MI out of contention
Blooemfontein!
Rohit’s charge keeps Deccan hopes alive
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West Indies limp to 94 for 3
England declare at 569-6
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Port Elizabeth, May 16 Set a target of 148 by Mumbai built largely on JP Duminy's knock of 62, Chennai once again relied heavily on Hayden to romp home with five balls to spare. Hayden was not his usual explosive self to start with but soon cut loose to help Chennai recover from a rather wobbly start. The Australian opener, who is currently the leading run-scorer of the tournament, hit his fifth fifty of the event in the process. Hayden also shared a match-winning 87-run partnership with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (23). The burly left-hander hit Harbhajan Singh for a massive six in the 17th over to complete his fifty. In fact, that one Harbhajan over turned the match in Chennai's favour as the temperamental off-spinner conceded 17 runs in it. After their bowlers did a fine job to restrict Mumbai to 147 for five, Chennai's chase didn't get off to a very good start as Parthiv Patel was dismissed off the very first ball by Lasith Malinga, who trapped the Indian leg-before. Suresh Raina did not last long either and was brilliantly caught and bowled by Dwayne Bravo after a quickfire 20 off 12 balls that included two fours and an equal number of sixes. Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss, Mumbai was dealt an early blow when Dwayne Bravo's (5) stumps were knocked off by Albie Morkel in the second over. Sanath Jayasuriya then played out a blistering 30-run knock that came off just 17 balls. Sri Lanka's ageless warrior, who had been slightly off-colour with the bat, smashed three fours and a couple of sixes before top-edging a Sudeep Tyagi delivery to Suresh Raina at cover. Jayasuriya's dismissal slowed down Mumbai's scoring rate and the team went into the strategy break with 72 runs in their first 10 overs. Mumbai suffered another setback after the break when skipper Sachin Tendulkar (11) holed out to Lakshmipathy Balaji at deep midwicket off a Raina delivery. It was left to J P Duminy, yet again, to steer the innings and he lived upto the task with a 54-ball 62. The South African combined with Abhishek Nayar for a 65-run fourth-wicket stand that was ultimately crucial in Mumbai posting a respectable total on board. Of the bowlers, Muttiah Muralitharan was not among the wickets but bowled a miserly spell, giving away just 19 runs in his four overs. — PTI Scoreboard Mumbai Indians: Jayasuriya c Raina b Tyagi 30 Bravo b Morkel 5 Duminy run out 62 Tendulkar c Balaji b Raina 11 Nayar not out 33 Harbhajan run out 1 Extras (lb 3, w 1, nb 1) 5 Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 147 Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-49, 3-74, 4-139, 5-147. Bowling: Morkel 4-0-3-1, Tyagi 3-0-29-1, Muralitharan 4-0-19-0, Raina 4-0-22-1, Jakati 3-0-26-0, Balaji 2-0-17-0. Chennai Super Kings: Patel lbw b Malinga 0 Hayden not out 60 Raina c & b Bravo 20 Badrinath c Takawale b Kulkarni 22 Dhoni not out 23 Extras (lb 16, w 10) 26 Total (3 wickets; 19.1 overs) 151 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-24, 3-64 Bowling: Malinga 4-0-19-1, Kulkarni 4-0-45-1 , Bravo 3.1-0-19-1, Harbhajan 3-0-22-0, Duminy 2-0-9-0, Nanda 3-0-21-0. Player of the Match: Hayden
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Blooemfontein!
Bloemfontein, in central South Africa, is not only the capital of Free State, but one of the national capitals. This country has an unusual distribution of national institutions between three cities. While Pretoria is the seat of government, the parliament is at Cape Town and the apex judiciary in Bloemfontein.
Essentially an Afrikaner settlement, its Dutch nomenclature is variously translated as “spring of bloom,” “fountain of flowers” and “flower spring.” It was once a heartland of neo-Nazis determined not to cede any recognition, let alone power, to non-whites. It’s interesting how human impressions can differ. What occurred to Afrikaans as a place where flowers blooms and Bloemfontein has also been called the city of roses, the Sesotho or African name for the same city is Mangaung or place of cheetahs. Cricketwise, Bloemfontein is slightly off the beaten track. In the second edition of the Twenty20 Indian Premier League, where an estimated 27 percent of matches have been allocated to Durban, because of its concentration of people of Indian origin, the first game to be staged at Bloemfontein (one of eight venues) was on Friday; and it will host just one more on Sunday. Winter is fast approaching in the southern hemisphere; and Bloemfontein in the interior uplands is perhaps a bit too chilly and dewy for evening cricket. Yet, the turnout was impressive, as it has been at all the centres where IPL-2 matches have been played. The awards ceremonies after matches have become a little tiresome, partly in view of the non-entities and publicity-seekers standing at attention to give away the prizes. Sometimes not even that; just to appear on television, for most spectators at the grounds don’t bother to stay back for it. It raised eye-brows that a bearded man, dressed like a Hindu priest, reportedly one Sadhguru Vasudeva not only featured in the presentation party, but was among the prize-distributors. Vasudeva is said to be a well known India-based but internationally travelled yoga teacher. But the question a South African journalist asked (and quite rightly), what is his connection with cricket? The internet threw up no cricketing link. So, why was he given such prominence? During the match he was seen sitting beside Lalit Modi, the tournament commissioner. A senior member of the IPL governing council confided, it was Modi’s unilateral decision to invite Vasudeva. It was bad enough for cricket, an art and a science, not a theocratic platform - that Inzamam-ul-haq used to misuse live television by chanting Allah’s name before he answered any question. (Imran Khan never did it. Religion is a private matter and ought to be kept private.) It is worse that a religious-looking figure should be paraded before a trans-continental TV audience. The Indian Supreme Court, one recalls, declared the airwaves in India to be public property. And the Indian public, in case the IPL management is unaware, has just voted emphatically in favour of secularism! Kolkata Knight Riders’ head had rolled quite some time ago. The second one to topple was Mumbai Indians’. With a little over a week to go to the finishing line, the tourney has hotted up; with the race for last four places now narrowing to six. Unlike Knight Riders, though, Mumbai’s elimination is uncontroversial. And there appears to be no possibility of Mukesh Ambani being compelled to sell his side. Indeed, his wife Nita has clearly become a passionate cheer leader of the Sachin Tendulkar-led squad. One would have thought that given Shaun Pollock and Jonty Rhodes’ (their consultant/fielding coach) familiarity with South African conditions and Jean Paul Duminy among its acquisitions, Mumbai would have been at an advantage. But the fact is Tendulkar himself didn’t excel to the extent people might have expected. Is he really enjoying Twenty20. He has again opted out of playing this format for India. |
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Rohit’s charge keeps Deccan hopes alive
Knight Riders’ lack of penetration in bowling, including Ishant Sharma’s inability to pick up wickets, has been their major shortcoming. Playing Mortaza for the first time, they compounded this deficiency. The Bangladeshi haemorrhaged 58 runs in his four overs in addition to emerging wicketless. Entrusted to share the new ball, he was twice pulled over midwicket for sixes by Adam Gilchrist in his first over. The latter’s typical flamboyance produced a 31-ball 43 till Brad Hodge lured him to his downfall in the deep. The 1st wicket posted 68 runs at a healthy seven runs an over. Murali Kartik has been notably restrictive in the tournament; and again he conceded only 12 runs in his four overs. More importantly, he removed the potentially dangerous Herschelle Gibbs, albeit with a long hop the batsman drilled down midwicket’s throat. Meanwhile, Tiru Suman was going quite well. He hammered Hodge for six to midwicket. But there followed two run outs to tilt the odds slightly in favour of Kolkata. Ajit Agarkar ran out Suman; and Andrew Symonds, having blasted another over long on off Agarkar, also failed to cover his ground, as Mortaza, swivelling around on his follow through, hit a bull’s eye. As Sharma joined Venugopal Rao in the 18th over after the fall of the 4th wicket, the asking rate was 12 per over. Only one run was needed off the last ball. Sharma hit it for six! He, then, raced back to the dug out, eluding his onrushing teammates like a rugby player. KKR’s batsmen frequently played too early – indicating there wasn’t much pace off the pitch. Gilchrist’s decision to field must have, therefore, been dictated by the dew making the ball come on to the bat a bit more in the second innings. It was, particularly, heavy going for Sourav Ganguly, who opened with Brendon McCullum. Indeed, by T20 standards he fairly struggled to 33 off 41 balls, before failing to clear long off. He, though, added 58 for the 2nd wicket with Hodge. His exit heralded the advent of David Hussey, who very much succeeded in injecting greater urgency to the venture. His first maximum was over extra cover off Pragyan Ojha. Thereafter, he upped the ante with a straight six and another to long off at the expense of Harmeet Singh off successive balls in the 19th over. Finally, he lofted Andrew Symonds over cover. The next ball, he was run out by a throw from Gilchrist to the non-striker’s end for 43 – off a mere 17 balls! Hodge left in the 18th over; he, too, having relatively failed to force the pace and not recorded a single over the boundary. He had made 48 when he top-edged a pull to fine leg. Wriddiman Saha also slog swept Symonds for half a dozen, but was immediately well caught at deep cover by R P Singh. To begin with, McCullum had magnificently hooked RP into the stands behind midwicket. Kolkata’s total was quite a competitive 160 for four. Scoreboard Knight Riders: McCullum c Suman b Harris 20 Ganguly c Harris b Sharma 33 Hodge c Harmeet b Harris 48 Hussey run out 43 Saha c Singh b Symonds 7 Mortaza not out 2 Agarkar not out 0 Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 2, nb 2) 7 Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 160 Fall of wickets:1-27, 2-85, 3-117, 4-152, 5-158 Bowling : Harris 4-0-20-2, RP Singh 3.1-0-30-0, Symonds 4-0-28-1, Harmeet 3.5-0-40-0, Ojha 3-0-24-0, Sharma 2-0-15-1 Deccan Chargers: Gilchrist c sub b Hodge 43 Gibbs c Hussey b Kartik 28 Suman run out 31 Symonds run out 18 Rohit not out 32 Venugopal not out 7 Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 2, nb 2) 7 Total (4 wickets; 20 overs) 166 Fall of wickets: 1-68, 2-85, 3-116, 4-128. Bowling: Ishant 4-0-23-0, Mortaza 4-0-58-0, Kartik 4-0-12-1, Hodge 3-0-23-1, Agarkar 4-0-41-0, Hussey 1-0-6-0.
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Held at home, still Man U grab title
London, May 16 Arsenal, who will finish a distant fourth, enjoyed plenty of possession without creating many clear chances while United's feared attack only occasionally sparked into life. With one round of matches yet to play on May 24, United have 87 points while Liverpool, who visit West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, have 80.
United had already won the League Cup and FIFA's Club World Cup but were denied the chance of a remarkable five trophies when they lost to Everton in the FA Cup semi-finals. On Saturday, it was not the swashbuckling football that United's fans have been used to this season and which blew Arsenal away in their Champions League semi-final. Arsenal's Robin van Persie wasted the best chance of the first half when he headed over unmarked and the Dutchman also tested Edwin van der Sar late on with a fierce shot. United were restrained throughout, with Carlos Tevez forced to forage largely alone up front. The Argentine was substituted midway through the second period — a decision that drew boos from the crowd before he received a standing ovation in what could be his last home game for the club. Cristiano Ronaldo nearly spared United's nerves with a vicious free kick with 12 minutes remaining while the Portuguese set up Park Ji-sung for a goal that was ruled offside. However, the final minutes produced the rare sight of a United side hanging on with 10 men behind the ball as Arsenal sensed a chance to spoil the party and Fabregas almost extended the title race until the final day of the season. — Reuters
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Chester-Le-Street, May 16 The hosts declared their first innings on 569 for six before paceman James Anderson dismissed Devon Smith, Chris Gayle and Lendl Simmons as West Indies limped to 94 for three in reply. Ramnaresh Sarwan (41) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (three) were the not out batsmen at the close of play. — Reuters Scoreboard England (first innings): Strauss c Ramdin b Gayle 26 Cook c Gayle b Benn 160 Bopara b Baker 108 Anderson b Edwards 14 Pietersen c Simmons b Benn 49 Collingwood not out 60 Prior c Benn b Simmons 63 Broad not out 28 Extras: (b-20 lb-5 w-8 nb-28) 61 Total: (six wickets declared; 147 overs) 569 Fall of wickets: 1-69 2-282 3-326 4-410 5-419 6-513. Bowling: Taylor 20-2-68-0, Edwards 25-1-113-1, Baker 30-3-119-1, Gayle 14-2-31-1, Benn 43-8-146-2, Simmons 14-0-60-1, Sarwan 1-0-7-0. West Indies (first innings): Smith b Anderson 7 Gayle lbw b Anderson 19 Sarwan not out 41 Simmons c Strauss b Anderson 8 Chanderpaul not out 3 Extras: (b-2, lb-11, w-2, nb-1) 16 Total: (three wickets; 26 overs) 94 Fall of wickets: 1-18 2-38 3-68 Bowling: Anderson 11-3-36-3, Broad 6-0-28-0, Onions 7-3-15-0, Bresnan 2-1-2-0.
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England declare at 569-6
Chester-Le-Street, May 16 Scoreboard England (first innings): Strauss c Ramdin b Gayle 26 Cook c Gayle b Benn 160 Bopara b Baker 108 Anderson b Edwards 14 Pietersen c Simmons b Benn 49 Collingwood not out 60 Prior c Benn b Simmons 63 Broad not out 28 Extras: (b-20 lb-5 w-8 nb-28) 61 Total: (six wickets; 147 overs) 569 Fall of wickets: 1-69 2-282 3-326 4-410 5-419 6-513. Bowling: Taylor 20-2-68-0, Edwards 25-1-113-1, Baker 30-3-119-1, Gayle 14-2-31-1, Benn 43-8-146-2, Simmons 14-0-60-1, Sarwan 1-0-7-0.
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Riding on yet another superb innings by Matthew Hayden (60), Chennai Super Kings assured themselves of a semifinal berth while ending Mumbai Indians' hopes with a seven-wicket triumph in their Indian Premier League match here today.
Deccan Chargers, desperately needing victory over Kolkata Knight Riders to keep their chances of qualifying for the semifinals alive, pulled off a Houdini act! They required a seemingly unattainable 21 runs to win off the final over. Rohit Sharma (32 not out off 13) collected two fours and two sixes to bleed Masrafe Mortaza off 26 runs. It was astounding! Chargers won by six wickets.
Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas almost stunned Old Trafford with seven minutes remaining when he struck a shot against the outside of the post but United survived to hand manager Alex Ferguson his 11th league title in 22 years at the helm. The Scot can now rest players for next weekend's finale against Hull City in preparation for the Champions League final against Barcelona in Rome on May 27 when United can scoop up a fourth trophy of a sensational season. 
