Preview - Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers

Match facts Friday, May 9, 2008 Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT) The Big Picture The last time these teams met, Shane Warne smashed 16 off three balls in the last over to swing an unlikely victory for Rajasthan. Their fortunes have been contrasting since then; Rajasthan had a run of four straight wins before losing to Mumbai on Wednesday while star-studded Deccan have been patchy with a couple of wins among the losses. Deccan have the edge coming into this match following their win over Chennai on Tuesday and need a few more if they are to make the top four. Rajasthan, despite their strong position will no doubt be jolted after being rolled over for 103 - a tournament low - by Mumbai, inside just 17 overs, before losing by seven wickets. But this time they play at home, where they are yet to lose a game, and they will want that trend to continue and hence reclaim their position at the top of the table. Tournament position Deccan Chargers P7, W2, L5, NRR -0.011 Rajasthan Royals P7, W5, L2, NRR +0.436 IPL form (last five matches) Deccan Chargers LWLLW Rajasthan Royals WWWWL Watch out for ... Adam Gilchrist v Warne. Both retired legends have shown no signs of rust and have been the pillars of their team's victories so far. Swapnil Asnodkar. The pint-sized opener, similar in style to Sri Lanka's Romesh Kaluwitharana, has 131 runs from three games and has established himself as Rajasthan's trump at the top of the order. Yusuf Pathan and Shahid Afridi. Both are known to biff the ball around and are handy spin options as well. Team news Deccan will wait on VVS Laxman, who was unfit for the previous game with a hand injury. Otherwise, they will probably retain their winning combination. Deccan (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist (capt/wk), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Scott Styris, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Shahid Afridi, 6 Venugopal Rao, 7 Sanjay Bangar, 8 Arjun Yadav, 9 RP Singh, 10 P Vijaykumar, 11 Pragyan Ojha Rajasthan have an embarrassment of riches as far as overseas players are concerned. Younis Khan is yet to get a game, but none of their overseas recruits are in danger of losing their places to fit him in. Rajasthan Royals (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Yusuf Pathan, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Mahesh Rawat, 8 Shane Warne, 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel Stats and trivia Shane Watson is the leading run-scorer (208) and wicket-taker (9), for Rajasthan. Yusuf Pathan's strike-rate in Twenty20 is a massive 184.28, in 12 games. Shahid Afridi has aggregated a paltry 46 in six games. Out of that, 40 have come in boundaries alone. Clearly, he's not a big fan of singles.

Charged-up Kolkata win tight battle

Kolkata Knight Riders v Bangalore Royal Challengers Toss Kolkata Knight Riders, who chose to bat first Result Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 runs Player of the match SC Ganguly (Kolkata Knight Riders) Desperately seeking points after a string of losses the Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers, two of the IPL's struggling but high-profile teams, produced a fascinating, if low-scoring, contest that was decided in Kolkata's favour off the penultimate ball. Their second encounter lacked the batting heroics of the first but there was plenty of brilliance in the field and with ball in a rain-shortened match that ended way past midnight. The day began with Kolkata celebrating the birthday of its greatest son, Rabindranath Tagore, and ended with a crowd of thousands, braving a typical seasonal thundershower, delighting in the exploits of its current favourite as Sourav Ganguly led with the ball to revive his side's hopes in the tournament. Ganguly had limped to a run-a-ball 20 with the bat, but his miserly spell - 3 for 7 from three overs - choked a stumbling chase of 130 in 16 overs that, despite a flurry towards the end from Mark Boucher, was always behind the eight ball. It was Ganguly's canny bowling, after Brad Hodge produced a superb direct hit from backward point to get rid of J Arunkumar, that perhaps decided the outcome. Bangalore's top order failed to keep pace and Ganguly, clearly charged up by the occasion, struck a huge blow by bowling his opposite number Rahul Dravid. By the time Ganguly was done Bangalore needed 78 off 36 balls, a near-impossible task. Cameron White and Boucher played good hands, the latter almost pulling off a win, but Bangalore's top order had left them with a bit too much to do. White cut loose to take 15 runs off the 11th over from Laxmi Ratan Shukla, eight came off the next from the next from Ashok Dinda, and another 15 off Umar Gul kept them in line with the asking-rate. Ishant Sharma just gave five off the 14th, and when White was run out backing up too far at the non-striker's end by Murali Kartik, it seemed a done case. Boucher, whose 26 had needed 30 deliveries, then scored 24 off just 10, but Bangalore still fell five runs short. Bangalore's top-order mess needs to be addressed, but their effort in the field after Kolkata decided to bat was heartening. Aakash Chopra, the former India opener, came in to bolster a struggling top order but didn't make much of an impact, lbw to Dale Steyn, and Hodge fell pulling Zaheer Khan. If he looked smooth with the ball, Ganguly wasn't as much with the bat. Off the mark with an uppish drive for four and tangled by a short one from Praveen Kumar, he nudged around for 20 and was the first of two run-outs in Kolkata's innings, White pulling off a direct hit. The going had been slow for Kolkata, and David Hussey tried to step it up, lofting a Praveen slower delivery over long-off, before placing the following delivery through extra-cover. He launched Anil Kumble for two consecutive sixes, but a good throw from Steyn cut him off. Tatenda Taibu got his first game but went early, top-edging Steyn, who then picked up a third when Shulka chopped onto his stumps. An embarrassing goof-up delayed play ahead of Steyn's final over, the 14th of the innings, with only one bowler allowed to bowl four. The scorers and umpires mixed up the two Kumars, and had R Vinay with four overs bowled and Praveen with one, instead of three and two. Dravid, taking the walkie-talkie from one of the on-field umpires, pleaded his case and Steyn finally got to bowl. Wriddhiman Saha and Murali Kartik added 34 quick runs, the highest partnership of the innings, and Kolkata finished on 129. That proved just out of reach for Bangalore, who have now lost six of eight matches.

Chennai triumph in last-ball thriller

Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings Toss Chennai Super Kings, who chose to field first Result Chennai Super Kings won by 4 wickets (with 0 balls remaining) Player of the match MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) Partisan fans at the Feroz Shah Kotla were treated to a cracker of a match as the Chennai Super Kings pulled off a dramatic last-ball win, sneaking past Delhi Daredevils' total of 187 for 5 by four wickets. Chennai's chase veered from the authoritative to the bumbling but they kept their nerves and put an end to their three-game losing streak, thanks largely to some fearless hitting right through the order. Chennai recovered somewhat to restrict the hosts to under 200 after Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan added a record third-wicket partnership of 121 and that, in hindsight, proved critical before a thrilling chase helped them get back to their winning ways. Chennai were given a 62-run start inside seven overs with S Vidyut, promoted to open in place of Parthiv Patel, batting purposefully. Both Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif were unusually off-key in their first overs and Vidyut handled the short and full deliveries admirably, stepping out to meet the ball. Asif's first over went for 15, with Vidyut taking two fours and Stephen Fleming playing a gorgeous cover drive, and the sixth over, bowled by Yo Mahesh, cost 20 with both openers clubbing the width. Vidyut fell for 40 from 23 balls, attempting another pull but Fleming, finding rhythm after three poor innings, kept the momentum with Chennai. Initially a watchful spectator with Vidyut cashing in on some short-pitched stuff, he played some eye-catching square-drives and cuts. Shoaib Malik bowled a poor line and Fleming kept McGrath busy at square leg with powerful sweeps. With Mahendra Singh Dhoni keeping the ball along the grass, Fleming went for his shots except that a flat hard drive found AB de Villiers at cover. Suresh Raina steered a simple catch to backward point four balls later and Chennai failed to score a boundary for 16 deliveries. Albie Morkel made up with 25 off a Virender Sehwag over, swung into motion by three consecutive sixes, but the bowler had his revenge of sorts with a direct hit from mid-on sent Morkel running on his way to the pavilion. Dhoni threatened to seal the deal with a sensible hand but Yo Mahesh returned to snap up two wickets in the 19th over - one down to a stunning catch from de Villiers, running in from long-on - and that left Chennai with 15 to get off six balls. Sehwag gave the task to Malik and it proved a disaster. Manpreet Gony slogged the first ball over midwicket for six, a wide followed, easing the pressure further, and a thick edge past the wicketkeeper sent the crowd into silence. A single to mid-on set the stage for S Badrinath, who tied the scores with a chip over the covers for two, and won it with another over mid-on. The afternoon began with two of Delhi's most reliable top-order batsmen welcoming Dhoni's decision to field first - for the first time in the tournament - with a record 121-run stand in 12.4 overs after early trouble. Sehwag flickered with whips off the pads and a ramrod-straight drive before a crushing yorker from Gony breached his defence. Morkel, sharing the new ball in Makhaya Ntini's absence, produced a pearl to clean up de Villiers first ball to make it 46 for 2 in the sixth over. Gambhir bottom-edged Muttiah Muralitharan's first delivery narrowly past off stump and between Dhoni's legs for four and was offered a freaky slice of luck a couple balls later when Murali's flick back onto the stumps dislodged the bails a fraction too late. Loosening his shoulders after that last reprieve, Gambhir nudged to fine leg, flicked over midwicket, and flat-batted through the covers. A massive six over mid-on raised Gambhir's fourth IPL half-century from 35 balls and earned him back the orange cap from Sehwag, and he proceeded to drill three consecutive fours in the 15th over to jack the run rate up near nine. He fell trying to steer one past backward point, for a 49-ball 80, and Dhawan fell shortly afterwards for a 46-ball 59 in the penultimate over. Delhi's decision to bring in Manoj Tiwary over Rajat Bhatia cost them a fifth bowler, and that hurt them plenty.

Mumbai bowlers shock Rajasthan

Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals Toss Mumbai Indians, who chose to field first Result Mumbai Indians won by 7 wickets (with 29 balls remaining) Player of the match A Nehra (Mumbai Indians) Mumbai's medium-pacers bowled a clever mix of bouncers, slower balls and cutters to restrict Rajasthan to a 103, the lowest first-innings total of the IPL, on a two-paced pitch at the DY Patil Stadium before some sensible batting sealed a hat-trick of triumphs for the home team. In what was their second successive upset victory, after taming Delhi on Sunday, Mumbai prevailed over the table leaders yet again. The pitch wasn't conducive to stroke-play: balls stopped, kept low and batsmen didn't find their timing easily. The experienced trio of Shaun Pollock, Ashish Nehra and Dwayne Bravo were canny with their variations but it was impressive to see the unheralded duo of Dhaval Kulkarni and Rohan Raje break the back of Rajasthan's line-up. Sachin Tendulkar wasn't fit for today's game but he had the satisfaction of seeing a wicket fall almost every time the commentators cut to have a word with him. He was particularly thrilled with the performance of Kulkarni and Raje, young turks who utilised the conditions perfectly. Nehra finished as the most effective bowler, adding two tailenders to Yusuf Pathan's wicket early on to finish with 3 for 13; Bravo showed the power of the slower ball; and Pollock yet again proved the value of experience. The fact that the Mumbai wicketkeeper Yogesh Takawale pouched three skiers, when top-edges ballooned off the bat, showed the slow nature of the surface. Even Mumbai's batsmen weren't fluent with their strokeplay but a few lucky breaks ensured a comfortable victory. Shane Watson struck twice - taking the wicket of Sanath Jayasuriya who pulled one to deep square leg - and Shane Warne struck with his very first ball, removing Takawale with a slider. However, Robin Uthappa's 34 was enough to take Mumbai past the finish line. The match, though, was decided by the end of Rajasthan's innings. Pollock, whose decision to field first appeared to be a bold one, nipped out Graeme Smith early though even he would have been surprised at the manner of the dismissal. Smith backed away, took a stride out of his crease, missed an in-cutter from Pollock and kept walking. Had he looked back, he would have seen Takawale fumble the ball but the fact the he kept going allowed an easy stumping. It was only the 53-run stand between Swapnil Asnodkar and Watson that made some sort of recovery for Rajasthan. Both batsmen put away loose balls and Watson even showed the value of hitting straight against the spin of Sanath Jayasuriya. It took an injudicious swipe from Watson to end the stand - Bravo working him out from around the wicket - and what followed was a forgettable collapse. Raje forced Mohammad Kaif and Asnodkar to go for big shots and had them caught in the deep, while Kulkarni removed Ravindra Jadeja and Shane Warne with short balls. Jadeja top edged while going for the pull and was athletically caught by Takawale, while Warne's attempted slap through the off side ended in an easier skier for the wicketkeeper. The tail didn't have much of a chance against the slower balls - indicated aptly by a tantalising one from Bravo that ended the innings. It was Rajasthan's first defeat in six games and they slipped to second place, behind the Kings XI Punjab, in the points table.

Punjab make it five wins in a row

Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kings XI Punjab Toss Kings XI Punjab, who chose to field first Result Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets (with 10 balls remaining) Player of the match S Sreesanth (Kings XI Punjab) The Kings XI Punjab proved why they are one of the tournament's best all-round sides by extending their winning spree to five, after beating the Bangalore Royal Challengers comfortably by six wickets in a low-scoring encounter. After their bowlers used a seaming pitch to send Bangalore crashing to a paltry 126, their batsmen chased it down easily to send Punjab into second place, behind the Rajasthan Royals on net run-rate. One of the reasons for Bangalore's woeful struggle in the tournament is the batting, and today was no exception. Rahul Dravid played the lone hand with a battling 66 and his knock stood out in a sorry scorecard which had five ducks, just two batsmen crossing double figures and three run-outs. The constant reshuffling of the batting order reflected their weakness, none more so than at the top of the order, as their fifth opening combination in seven matches walked out to bat. It was a good toss to win for Yuvraj Singh, who gave his bowlers an early crack on a seaming track. Sreesanth was lethal in the first over, sending back a wobbly Wasim Jaffer with his stock delivery, the away swinger, before getting his next delivery to nip back in sharply to slice Cameron White in half and take the middle stump. The situation was tailor-made for Jacques Kallis to script Bangalore's recovery act but a reckless call by Virat Kohli led to his dismissal. At 19 for 3, Bangalore had the dubious distinction of scoring the least at the end of five overs. If Sreesanth was making life difficult at one end, breaking free at the other end wasn't easy either. Irfan Pathan's inswingers cramped the right-handers for room, while VRV Singh kept them guessing by hitting the deck outside the offstump and getting a few to rear up. Dravid and Kohli eased the nerves with a stand of 54 as the innings slowly picked up in pace. The one glaring glitch for Punjab was the fielding and the biggest culprit was VRV, who wasn't agile enough on a quick outfield. It rubbed off on his bowling as he conceded three fours in an over. Dravid pulled the first to deep square leg, creamed the next through the covers to bring up his fifty, before flicking the third past midwicket to go past the highest score by a Bangalore batsman. He then scooped the same bowler over extra cover for a flat six before mistiming the following delivery to third man. Piyush Chawla was the most penetrative among the lot, trapping Misbah-ul-Haq and running through the lower order to finish with 3 for 25. Though Bangalore had a paltry total to defend, on a seaming pitch, one would have given them a slender chance. Despite possessing lethal new-ball bowlers like Dale Steyn and Zaheer Khan, the early breakthroughs didn't come and the seamers were guilty of spraying it too wide, allowing the batsmen to drive through the line and beat the gaps with ease. Bangalore had early success, sending back the out-of-sorts James Hopes in the second over, courtesy a brilliant reflex catch by White at cover. Ramnaresh Sarwan feasted on some wayward fare by Zaheer, crunching boundaries through the offside. Two quick breakthroughs by Praveen - sending back Sarwan off a bouncer and Yuvraj Singh with an away swinger - made things interesting. However, the in-form Shaun Marsh played a steadying hand and ensured there were no further hiccups. By the time he was dismissed - bowled through the gate by Zaheer - Punjab were only 21 away from victory and they coasted home with ten balls to spare.

Tanvir bowls Rajasthan to first place

Rajasthan Royals v/s Chennai Super Kings Toss Chennai Super Kings, who chose to bat first Result Rajasthan Royals won by 8 wickets (with 34 balls remaining) Player of the match Sohail Tanvir (Rajasthan Royals) A red-hot spell from Sohail Tanvir during which he took 6 for 14 - the best figures in Twenty20 cricket - decimated the Chennai Super Kings for 109 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. That reduced what was a clash for top spot in the Indian Premier League into a one-sided rout as the Rajasthan Royals chased down the smallest target of the tournament to win their fifth consecutive game, with eight wickets in hand. Tanvir exploited the seamer-friendly conditions, there was swing and bounce, and gave Rajasthan a perfect start, nailing both openers for ducks in the first over. Parthiv Patel played across the line and missed an incutter first ball and Stephen Fleming fell in similar fashion four deliveries later. Both those wickets were to balls that came into the left-hander but Tanvir picked up his third with the one that went away and induced an outside edge from S Vidyut in his second over. Chennai were reeling at 11 for 3 and Rajasthan's dominance was emphasised by a rare sight in Twenty20 cricket - a slip cordon populated by three fielders. Fourteen runs came off the fifth over, bowled by Siddarth Trivedi, and when S Badrinath played an orthodox square-drive and a flick to get take boundaries off the sixth, Chennai seemed to be recovering. However Watson, who used the bouncer effectively, took a simple return catch after Badrinath top-edged a miscued pull. Chennai had been pushed further back just when they were taking half a step forward. With Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the two highest run-getters in Chennai's line-up, batting together a competitive total was gettable. However, Rajasthan captain Shane Warne further dented Chennai's hopes when he won the battle against his opposite number Dhoni: his first ball pitched outside leg and spun right across Dhoni's off stump and two deliveries later, a flighted leg break took the outside edge to Graeme Smith at slip. Rania and Albie Morkel staged a recovery of sorts after Chennai were reduced to 44 for 5. After played out a few economical overs, Morkel slog-swept Warne for two fours through square-leg and swatted a straight six in an over that cost 17. Yusuf Pathan even dropped a sitter at long-on to give Raina a reprieve but the batsman didn't capitalise, holing out to Tanvir at long-off soon after. Just as in his first spell, Tanvir struck with the first delivery of his second as well, this time Morkel was bowled as he slogged across the line. The tail found Tanvir's skiddy pace and immaculate line to hard to negotiate and Chennai were dismissed in the 19th over, a drastic fall in batting fortunes after the departure of Australians Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey. If Chennai were to make a match of it, they needed to take every chance coming their way. Joginder Sharma, though, spilled a simple chance at mid-off when Makhaya Ntini, after starting off with a maiden, had Smith miscuing a pull. Twenty one extras, the second highest conceded in the tournament, didn't help their cause either. Swapnil Asnodkar, full of confidence after his Man-of-the-Match performance on his IPL debut in the previous game, pummelled his first ball straight back down the ground for four and slammed Manpreet Gony for consecutive boundaries in the fourth over during a fluent 32. At the other end, Smith was skipping down the track and muscling boundaries square of the wicket, and when a wayward seventh over from Morkel cost 14 runs, Rajasthan had raced to 58 for no loss. It wasn't until this stage, after the horse had bolted, that Chennai brought on their best bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan, but the task of bringing Chennai back into the contest was beyond him. Rajasthan lost a couple of wickets but, with the help of some lusty blows from Pathan and Watson, the target was overhauled with 5.4 overs to spare. After winning their first four matches, this was Chennai's second consecutive loss and the huge margin of defeat meant that they slipped to fourth place in the space of two days.

Pollock leads Mumbai's shock win

Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils Toss Delhi Daredevils, who chose to field first Result Mumbai Indians won by 29 runs Player of the match SM Pollock (Mumbai Indians) A magnificent all-round performance by Shaun Pollock produced the biggest upset of the tournament as Mumbai Indians - languishing with just one win in five games - pipped the fancied Delhi Daredevils by 29 runs in a gripping contest at the DY Patil Sports Academy stadium. Requiring a modest 163 for the fifth win, Delhi's much-vaunted batting line-up collapsed for a paltry 133. One player influenced this result more than any other. Pollock has had a mixed tournament so far, but here he was immense in every aspect. With the bat, he came in to bat in the 15th over, when Mumbai were languishing at 112 for 5, and blasted 33 off a mere 15 balls, including 22 off the penultimate over, which changed a below-par total into a competitive one. He then returned with the ball and sent down four metronomic overs, conceding just 16 for two wickets. In his second over, he nailed Shikhar Dhawan, and then returned for a second spell to dismiss the dangerous Shoaib Malik. Add a catch to dismiss Virender Sehwag, and some inspired captaincy moves, and there was no doubt about who the Man of the Match was. Delhi's strength has been their top-order batting - their top three have been in outstanding form - but here, two of them were back in the hutch after 14 deliveries, and the rest failed to measure up. On a slow pitch, both Gautam Gambhir and Dhawan mistimed drives on the up, and after three overs, the scorecard read a sorry 6 for 2. To make matters worse, Sehwag struggled to get the strike, facing just seven deliveries in the first six overs. AB de Villiers and Sehwag mounted a mini-revival, but when de Villiers was unluckily run out backing up too far, it was the first indication that the day was going to belong to Mumbai. Sehwag, though, wasn't about to give up too easily. He continued to struggle to get to the striker's end, but when he did, he made it count: Pollock was slashed over point for a huge six, Dwayne Bravo's slower one was heaved over the bowler's head, while Sanath Jayasuriya was greeted into the attack with two brutal sixes over long-on and midwicket, the first of which gave him the orange cap for the tournament's highest scorer. The next ball he faced was his last, though, as Pollock brought off a smart catch as Sehwag miscued a low full-toss off Dominic Thornely. From there, it was a matter of holding their nerve, and Mumbai did that expertly. The bowling was spot-on, and the fielding showed an urgency which clearly demonstrated how much they wanted this win. Nothing exemplified the new-found spirit more than Ashish Nehra diving full-length at the long-on boundary to bring off an amazing save in the 16th over. Shoaib Malik and Dinesh Karthik both threatened a fightback, but Mumbai weren't to be denied today. Pollock returned for a second spell and immediately had Malik scooping one to long-on as another batsman was defeated by lack of pace, while Pollock's golden touch then brought another success, as he tossed the ball to Bravo, who trapped Karthik plumb in front with his first ball. Nehra, the other stand-out bowler in the game, then took two wickets off two balls to seal the contest. At the halfway mark, though, it seemed Mumbai's 162 would be inadequate. The absence of Sachin Tendulkar hit them hard again, especially against a new-ball bowling attack which had Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif. Yogesh Takawale, the 23-year-old wicketkeeper from Maharashtra who opened the innings, struggled to get the ball off the square, putting additional pressure on Jayasuriya. For a brief period, though, he responded magnificently. After starting off with a glorious cover-drive off McGrath, he flicked and lofted Asif for three fours. Yo Mahesh was greeted with a flicked six over square leg and a four to fine leg off successive balls. That, though, was as good as it got, as Takawale skied to third man, and Jayasuriya charged once too often and lost his off stump. Those two wickets in the space of three balls pegged back Mumbai, and they struggled to recover. The one feature that ran through the Mumbai innings was their tendency to lose wickets every time they seemed to be snatching the momentum. Robin Uthappa struck successive sixes over long-on and midwicket, only to throw it away by attempting a cheeky scoop over fine leg. Dominic Thornely, who returned to the team after recovering from the blow to the eye off Zaheer Khan a couple of weeks ago, picked off Rajat Bhatia for a straight six before falling next ball, bowled while attempting a wild slog. The reckless approach continued, as Abhishek Nayar moved to leg and missed a quick one from Sehwag, while Bravo lofted the fourth ball he faced straight to long-on. With the innings falling away alarmingly, it needed a quick blitz from Pollock to lift Mumbai to a somewhat respectable total. The 19th over - bowled by the lacklustre Asif - disappeared for 22 as Pollock smashed him straight, over extra cover, and over square leg for three sixes. A total of 162 still seemed below par, but that was before an inspired Mumbai Indian team took the field.