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Battlefield Chennai
Dhoni’s knock was game-changer, says Harbhajan
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Mumbai Indians fined for slow
over rate
Negi saves day for India
Anand fails to break ice, settles for draw
Services to battle it out with Kerala today
Sania-Mattek in summit clash
Dhoni’s knock was game-changer, says Harbhajan
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Battlefield Chennai
Chennai, May 24 But first up is the second Qualifier, in which they face off against the formidable Delhi Daredevils at the Chepauk Stadium here tomorrow. Mumbai were throughout the tournament a team out of sorts. They never really got going, and in the end a cohesive effort from the defending champions eliminated them. But Delhi will not be as easy. But then nothing has been easy for the Super Kings this time around. When they lost to Kings XI Punjab in Dharamsala, people had written them off. Yes they have been a pale shadow of the side they usually are, but their forte has been their ability to rise to the occasion. MS Dhoni did what the world knows he can do; hit the ball all over the park. His batting exploits will bring a little more zest to his captaincy, which has looked a bit under the weather. Also the likes of Badrinath and Mike Hussey coming good is an ominous sign for them. Additionally, the X-factor that they have in the form of Dwayne Bravo will be playing on everyone's mind. His ability to get quick runs and pick crucial wickets have been pivotal to Chennai's resurgence. But Delhi are a team that have played cricket on a different level this season. Their batting has eaten up all superlatives, and their bowling is not one to make them lose too many games either. But there was a worrying sign against KKR in Pune the other night. If their top order fails, Delhi play a very one-dimensional game after that. Jayawardene drops anchor and guys like Naman Ojha and Ross Taylor are expected to go for the runs. It has worked for them previously, but it has also backfired. The bowling also seemed a little off-colour as they conceded too many runs in the final four overs. Sehwag and Warner were also back in the hut in a jiffy. The entire Daredevils camp will be hoping it was just an off-day, and not a sign of things to come. They didn't look focused enough against KKR, and will now be trying to make sure that they do not fall for the same trap this season. They are known to start strong, in fact strongest, and then fade out towards the business end of the tournament. It sets us up for a fascinating second qualifier, as it will be the home team, against the team of the masses.
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Dhoni’s knock was game-changer, says Harbhajan
Bangalore, May 24 Thanks to Dhoni's blistering innings, the defending champions romped into the second qualifiers with a comfortable 38-run victory over Mumbai Indians last night. "Dhoni's knock was the turning point of the match and if we had got him out earlier, the match could have gone in Mumbai Indians' favour," Harbhajan said after his team crashed out of the IPL 5. "The crucial 50-odd runs from Dhoni's bat took the game away from us," he added. Harbhajan also said that losing four wickets between 7-12 overs also turned out to be costly for his team. "We lost Sachin Tendulkar and Dwayne Smith in two overs. In next few overs we also lost Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik. They are core of our batting lineup and losing them in quick succession had put the team under pressure," he said. Insisting that things could have been different if Rohit had batted till the 18th over, Harbhajan said, "We didn't want to be five down in 13 overs when we are chasing 180," he said. Chasing the stiff target of 188, Mumbai could muster only 149 for nine in their stipulated 20 overs with opener Dwayne Smith (38) being the top-scorer. Mumbai skipper also said that the Super Kings were a better side as far as both batting and bowling were concerned. "In first two overs we picked up two early wickets and were in the game till the ninth over. We didn't bowl as well as we should have," said Harbhajan. Chennai were 47 after nine overs but they amassed 140 runs off the last 11 overs to set Mumbai a stiff target. Mumbai Indians started their chase well, but could not capitalise on the good start provided by their openers. "We didn't play good cricket, but Chennai played much better cricket than us and they won," Harbhajan said. Stating that the Mumbai outfit were confident of chasing down the target, but things didn't go well for the team in last four overs while bowling, Harbhajan said, "As an unit we were committed to chase this target because we had chased 170-odd runs against Bangalore in the previous game here." Harbhajan also said that it was one of those days when Mumbai Indians didn't click as a team. Asked whether decision to chase was a good ploy in a pressure match like the eliminator, Harbhajan said Mumbai Indians focussed more on winning than worrying about the outcome of the toss. "I don't think I would have done something different after winning the toss. Even if I am given a chance tomorrow I would still like to chase here because it has small boundaries and it's not difficult to get ten runs in an over on the good batting track. "Even Dhoni told after the toss that he would have opted to bowl first," said Harbhajan. — PTI
Mumbai Indians fined for slow
over rate
New Delhi, May 24 At the end of the match, Mumbai Indians were assessed to be two overs behind the required rate after allowances were taken into consideration. As this was captain Harbhajan Singh's second slow over rate offence of the IPL this season, he was fined $40,000. Each of the other 10 members of the Mumbai Indians playing XI was fined $10,000 or 25% of his match fee. |
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Zaozhuang (China), May 24 It was very hard work for Negi given the team situation but the recently-crowned Asian champion kept his cool in a seemingly equal position arising out of a king pawn game. Negi eventually got a passed pawn on the queen side and pushed it with perfect backing to ensure that the team remained unbeaten so far in the championship. Negi won in 39 moves. China-1, meanwhile, almost assured itself of the gold medal with another professional performance. The 4-0 victory against Indonesia put the Chinese in command on 13 points in all with just two rounds to come in the premier Asian team event. Indian men maintained their second spot on 11 points and they are followed by China-2 and Kazakhstan on nine points apiece. As things stand, a minimal victory is what the Indians will need in the remaining two rounds to ensure the Silver medal. Gold looks distant with Chinese men in terrific form. In the women's championship being held simultaneously, the Indian eves won 3.5-0.5 against lowly placed Singapore. Dropping a half point on this occasion was an off-form Eesha Karavade while the trio of Tania Sachdev, Mary Ann Gomes and Padmini Rout scored regulation victories on lower ranked opponents. China-1 maintain pole position in this section and scored a 3-1 victory over Vietnam. For the records, this was the seventh victory in as many matches for China-1 and a stern test awaits India in the next round when the two top teams clash. As of now, India stands clear second on 12 points, two points ahead of China-2. — PTI
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Anand fails to break ice, settles for draw
Moscow, May 24 Playing his penultimate white game in the 12-games match, Anand did not get the desired advantage he was hoping for even as the position looked favourable for a long time for the Indian. The scores are now tied 5-5 with just two games to go. After a day's rest now, Anand will be back to defend his title as black in the 11th and penultimate game of the $2.55 million championship. Should the deadlock continue after game 12, tiebreak games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner. — PTI
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Services to battle it out with Kerala today
Cuttack, May 24 Services have won four times to Kerala's two in the 10 encounters between the two sides. In their last meeting, in the 2008 Santosh Trophy in Srinagar, Services rode Sochungmi Raleng's hat-trick to thump Kerala 3-0. But that's history and Services coach V Sajith Kumar is aware of that. "We will play attacking football. That has been our style and we will stick to it," commented Kumar. "We will stick to the same combination which played in our last match," he said ahead of the match at the Barabati Stadium. Interestingly, the Services squad, boasts of four players in the playing XI form Kerala. And for that matter, even coach Kumar is a Keralite. Kerala coach MN Jacob stays a bit cautious. "We are confident but not over confident. In such a match, there's no room for complacency," Jacob maintained. "The flanks stay an important proposition in our plans. It's hard to play consecutive matches but the positive it's helped us to sort out the perfect combination. We've no complaints." — PTI
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Sania-Mattek in summit clash
Brussels, May 24 The fourth seed Indo-American pair made a good start but faced stiff resistance from the Australian combo as the match progressed before winning in one hour and 21 minutes in the semifinals of the $637,400 clay court Premier event. Sania and Mattek had a comfortable 4-2 lead in the second set and they were looking like racing to the title round but the Australians pocketed four games in a row to draw parity in the match. Sania and her partner trailed 1-4 in the match tie-breaker but made a stunning comeback to win seven consecutive points and then converted first of the four match points to march ahead. Sania now has opportunity to win her second doubles title of the year and 14th overall. She had won Pattaya Open with Rodionova and had ended runners-up at Dubai and Indian Wells with regular partner Elena Vesnina of Russia, early in the season. —
PTI
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Dhoni’s knock was game-changer, says Harbhajan
Bangalore, May 24 Thanks to Dhoni's blistering innings, the defending champions romped into the second qualifiers with a comfortable 38-run victory over Mumbai Indians last night. "Dhoni's knock was the turning point of the match and if we had got him out earlier, the match could have gone in Mumbai Indians' favour," Harbhajan said after his team crashed out of the IPL 5. "The crucial 50-odd runs from Dhoni's bat took the game away from us," he added.Harbhajan also said that losing four wickets between 7-12 overs also turned out to be costly for his team. "We lost Sachin Tendulkar and Dwayne Smith in two overs. In next few overs we also lost Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik. They are core of our batting lineup and losing them in quick succession had put the team under pressure," he said. Insisting that things could have been different if Rohit had batted till the 18th over, Harbhajan said, "We didn't want to be five down in 13 overs when we are chasing 180," he said. Chasing the stiff target of 188, Mumbai could muster only 149 for nine in their stipulated 20 overs with opener Dwayne Smith (38) being the top-scorer. Mumbai skipper also said that the Super Kings were a better side as far as both batting and bowling were concerned. "In first two overs we picked up two early wickets and were in the game till the ninth over. We didn't bowl as well as we should have," said Harbhajan. Chennai were 47 after nine overs but they amassed 140 runs off the last 11 overs to set Mumbai a stiff target. Mumbai Indians started their chase well, but could not capitalise on the good start provided by their openers. "We didn't play good cricket, but Chennai played much better cricket than us and they won," Harbhajan said. Stating that the Mumbai outfit were confident of chasing down the target, but things didn't go well for the team in last four overs while bowling, Harbhajan said, "As an unit we were committed to chase this target because we had chased 170-odd runs against Bangalore in the previous game here." Harbhajan also said that it was one of those days when Mumbai Indians didn't click as a team. Asked whether decision to chase was a good ploy in a pressure match like the eliminator, Harbhajan said Mumbai Indians focussed more on winning than worrying about the outcome of the toss. "I don't think I would have done something different after winning the toss. Even if I am given a chance tomorrow I would still like to chase here because it has small boundaries and it's not difficult to get ten runs in an over on the good batting track.
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The true, and the most prevalent, sign of champions is their ability to seize the moment. They raise their game, and their ability when the moment of reckoning arrives. Two-time IPL champions and former Champions League winners Chennai Super Kings proved just that as from being almost out of the play-offs, they are now only a win away from playing their second consecutive final at home.
Mumbai Indians skipper Harbhajan Singh has admitted that it was Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's whirlwind 20-ball 51-run knock that proved to be the turning point of the IPL eliminator here.
Zaozhuang (China), May 24
