Sehwag’s fifty guides Delhi to victory

Virender Sehwag hit a rollicking half—century as Delhi Daredevils scored a 38—run win over Kochi Tuskers Kerala to keep its play—offs hopes alive in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday. 

Sehwag blazed his way to a 47—ball 80 to lead his side to a competitive 157 for seven after electing to bat on a very difficult track, which had uneven bounce. 

Delhi were gasping 37 for three at one stage but Sehwag played sensibly as he first guarded his wicket when his teammates were vanishing from the other end and then played his usual aggressive self. 

The visitors then bowled out the hosts for 119 in 18.5 overs to record a much—needed win as they were languishing at the bottom of the points table, coming into this contest. 

It was Delhi’s third win in eight matches while Kochi now have suffered third defeat in a row. 

With this win Delhi have jumped to seventh spot from 10th while Kochi are now second from last. 

Batting was a big challenge on the Nehru stadium wicket for both the sides as some balls did not bounce above the ankles and some zoomed up to the chin level. 

The Delhi pace trio of Morne Morkel (3/18), Ajit Agarkar (2/23) and Irfan Pathan (2/27) shared seven wickets among them and played a crucial role in scripting their side’s win. 

Spinner Roelof van der Merwe (3/20) ran through the Kochi tail, taking three wickets in five balls in the 19th over, to contribute in win. 

Ravindra Jadeja (31) and Brad Hodge (27) were the only batsmen who went past the 25—run mark for Kochi. 

Kochi’s chase was disastrous as Pathan and Morkel rocked the Kochi top order by taking three quick wickets. 

It was Morkel who started the slide as he dismissed Michael Klinger (2) and then Pathan saw the backs of Brendon McCullum (7) and Parthiv Patel (1) in his successive overs. 

Runs were hard to come by on the slow track but Kochi skipper Mahela Jayawardene and Hodge both found two boundaries each from Umesh Yadav’s overs. 

The hosts reached 37 for three in six overs but the situation deteriorated when Jayawardene became a victim Ajit Agarkar in the 10th over. 

It could have been worse for the hosts had Pathan not dropped Hodge, then on 15, off van der Merwe in the next over. 

Morkel though ensured that Pathan’s mistake does not cost them dear as he had the Australian caught behind in the 14th over. Balachandra Akhil hit some lusty blows but could not last long and became the third victim of Morkel. 

Earlier, Sehwag played a true captain’s knock as it came on a very difficult track and under difficult circumstances. 

Yogesh Nagar (22) and Travis Birt (20) also supported Sehwag well as they shared 56 and 41 runs stand with their skipper for the fourth and fifth wickets respectively. 

Sehwag got out in the 18th over when he attempted a big shot off Vinay Kumar, but not before hitting eight fours and five sixes. 

Seamer S Sreesnath was most successful bowler for the hosts as he gave away just 10 runs in his four overs and scalped two top—order batsmen. 

It was a horror start for Delhi after electing to bat as Sreesanth bowled David Warner (3) and trapped Naman Ojha (0) in his first over, second of the innings. 

But both the batsmen were unlucky as both the balls kept low, specially the ball in which Ojha was declared lbw, was almost unplayable. 

The track was double paced and the uneven bounce made life tough for the batsmen. Sehwag though was in no mood to go without a fight as he quickly extracted four boundaries, three off the RP Singh’s overs. 

Delhi reached 34 for two in six but Ravindra Jadeja made it 37 for three by trapping Y Venugopal Rao (1) and Delhi’s innings was in complete disarray. 

There was no space for extravagance and Sehwag too decided to hold the one end tight as Delhi reached 46 for three after 10 overs. 

The fourth boundary of the innings came from the blade of Yogesh Nagar, who dispatched one from Vinay Kumar to the extra cover fence. 

Sehwag upped the ante by hitting Jadeja for back—to—back sixes and then raised his half—century by pulling Vinay Kumar for a six over mid—wicket in the 15th over. 

Nagar was run out in the same over but now there was no stopping Sehwag, who smashed Balachandra Akhil for a six and two fours in the next over. 

Spinner Romesh Powar was given the similar treatment but Sehwag could play till the end.

Kochi needed 59 runs off the last four overs and Jadeja kept their hopes alive by smashing van der Merwe for a six, taking 10 runs from the 17th over. 

Vinay Kumar (11) hammered Agarkar for a six in the next over and Delhi players had their hearts pumping fast. But Agarkar did a big favour to his side by getting the danger man Jadeja out in the last ball of that over. 

Kochi still needed 40 from 12 balls but van der Merwe took all three remaining wickets Ramesh Powar (0) and Sreesanth (0) and Vinay in space of five balls to seal the fate of the hosts.

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Happy to get the Orange Cap: Virat Kohli

Young Indian batsman Virat Kohli had more than one reason to be delighted after his team Royal Challengers Bangalore's triumph over Pune Warriors as the right-hander didn't just produce a match-wining knock, he also overtook Sachin Tendulkar as the leading run-scorer of the ongoing IPL.

Kohli was handed the Orange Cap for topping the batting aggregate with 291 runs, 24 ahead of batting maestro Tendulkar who plays for the Mumbai Indians.

"I had been keen to bat up the order in the last three IPLs. But I could get to bat only at five, six or seven. This time I got the chance to bat at three and I am happy that I have been able to score runs and contribute to the good showing of the team," said Kohli, who also completed 1000 IPL runs during the course of his breezy 67.

"I am happy to don the orange cap. I would like to hold on to it for a while, but the competition is very tough as there are five quality batsmen who are there in the top five among runs. Let me see how long I can hold on to it," added a beaming Kohli after RCB's 26-run win over Pune Warriors last night.

Pune captain Yuvraj Singh, on the other hand, rued that his team conceded 20 runs too many during RCB's innings.

"I think we gave 20 runs in excess and couldn't score rapidly when we batted," said Yuvraj after his team's fifth consecutive defeat in the IPL.

The beleaguered Warriors' skipper felt that the road to the play-offs would get tougher from here on.

"It is really tough from now on. We have to win six out of six to have a chance. We will give our best. I wished I should have lost the toss today. I have won the toss five times and we have lost those matches. I don't know what to say," he said.

Yuvraj also felt that batting effort wasn't good enough against RCB.

"It was a gettable target because it was a good batting wicket. In the first six overs, we didn't lose many wickets but Manish and Jesse partnership didn't yield many runs. If the runs had come at that time, me and Robin could have finished off things. We will look at ourselves on where to improve on."

Did he make a mistake in not batting up the order? "We didn't lose early wickets and the batsmen upfront have to go at the bowling. Batting at four and five is the mainstay of the team. I feel today, we should have come up the order," replied Yuvraj.

"Unfortunately, that partnership couldn't get enough runs. It wasn't that Manish was trying to hit and he couldn't hit, Jesse was trying to increase the run-rate. At that stage we needed a few good overs and they bowled really well. Unfortunately, we couldn't cash in on that."

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Rajasthan Royals eager to continue winning streak

Buoyed by back-to-back comprehensive victories, a confident Rajasthan Royals would start outright favourites when they take on the lowly Pune Warriors in an Indian Premier League match here on Sunday. 

The hosts have shown remarkable grit to bounce back after three consecutive losses away from home. 

After coming back to their own citadel, Shane Warne’s men have taken full advantage of the home conditions to upset Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Mumbai Indians with stunning performances. 

The legendary leg-spinner has been outstanding tactically and as impressive as ever with the ball. 

One of his most recent strategic masterstrokes came when he dared to open the attack with the unorthodox left-arm spin of youngster Ashok Menaria against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and flamboyant Davy Jacobs. 

Perhaps he had sensed that Menaria was rather an unknown bowler for the maestro. 

South African Johan Botha has been in tremendous both with bat and ball. He has 177 runs from five matches and has been dismissed only once. 

He also has picked four wickets including a 3 for 6 haul against Mumbai Indians. 

Shane Watson and Ross Taylor are not in best of form but have come up with useful contributions with the willow but former India captain Rahul Dravid is yet to prove his worth for the team. 

Relishing the home conditions, Rajasthan have won 11 matches at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium and lost just three. 

“We have been lucky here. We know a few things more about this ground like the angles to be blocked off and that gives us the extra confidence,” Warne said. 

The Pune Warriors, on the other hand, have lost five matches on the trot and need to play out of their skins to snap Rajasthan’s winning streak. 

They are ninth on the points table with five defeats out of seven matches and have 4 points. 

Though Skipper Yuvraj Singh and Jesse Ryder have more than 200 runs under their belt, the rest of the batting has left much to be desired. 

Robin Uthappa has made good starts but has not been not at his best. Neither Mithun Manhas nor Nathan McCullum have been able to fill the void left by the injured Graeme Smith. 

As a unit, Pune Warriors have failed to make an impression so far but they will have to put all that behind pretty quickly to bounce back. 

The presence of Yuvraj, who had a nice time here as the rest of India skipper Irani Trophy, was able to get back into the Indian side after his fine performance in last September. 

He and Robin Uthappa are capable of destroying any attack on their day and Pune would be preying the do so on Sunday against Rajasthan Royals. 

The Teams (from): 

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (C), Swapnil Asnodkar, Stuart Binny, Johan Botha, Deepak Chahar, Ankeet Chavan, Aakash Chopra, Aditya Dole, Nayan Doshi, Rahul Dravid, Samad Fallah, Faiz Fazal, Ashok Menaria, Sumit Narwal, Jacob Oram, Pankaj Singh, Amit Paunikar, Ajinkya Rahane, Abhishek Raut, Dinesh Salunkhe, Pinal Shah, Amit Singh, Shaun Tait, Ross Taylor, Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson and Dishant Harendra Yagnik. 

Pune Warriors: Yuvraj Singh (C), Robin Uthappa (wk), Murali Kartik, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Deeraj Jadhav, Eklavya Dwivedi, Ganesh Gaikwad, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Harshad Khadiwale, Kamran Khan, Mithun Manhas, Mohnish Mishra, Rahul Sharma, Sachin Rana, Shrikant Wagh, Shrikant Mundhe, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Jesse Ryder, Graeme Smith, Wayne Parnell, Alphonso Thomas, Tim Paine, Callum Ferguson, Mitchell Marsh, Jerome Taylor, James Faulkner.

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Beating Super Kings not impossible, says White

While admitting that every game from here on was important in the context of qualifying for the playoffs of the Indian Premier League, Cameron White believes that his team Deccan Chargers has a difficult -- but not impossible -- task of beating the Chennai Super Kings here Sunday.

 

"Every game is very important from now because it seems everyone is beating everyone out there. So no one is really skipping away from the top of the table. If we win tomorrow, that will be our fourth win and would be close to getting into the top-four position.

"Chennai are a good side, especially here on their home crowd. We need to put a few things in place to get the right result. It is quite hot here, but it is that they have a good side and a good captain.

"They also know the home conditions well and they know how to play well in these conditions. That's what makes them a tough team to beat," said White who himself is chaffing at the bit, having played in only three of the seven games.

"I was in good form coming into the tournament; then a couple of thirties and a run out. So hopefully, I will get more runs in tomorrow's game, and hope to get into a really good patch," said White whose ability as an all-rounder the Chargers can do with.

Giving an overview of the Chargers, White felt that the team had sufficient strength and depth in talent to roll out another win that would provide them with momentum for the final push towards the play-offs.

"We haven't won two games in a row. So tomorrow is a good opportunity. We had a good win in Kochi the other day, and start to get on a bit of roll. Then we go home and hopefully a couple of wins and we will be closer to the semifinals.

"Our bowling unit has been generally very good. If our batting and bowling can click on the same day, we can be a tough team to beat," he said while naming the likes of spinner Amit Mishra and seamer Ishant Sharma who seem to have run into form.

"He (Amit Mishra) has been outstanding and one of the best bowlers in the competition. He is right up there in the wicket column and right bottom in the economy rate column. He has been our best bowler. 

"In the last game, Ishant showed how good he is when the conditions suit him. I think our Indian bowlers have been at their best and combine that with Dale Steyn, obviously one of the best in the world, we have a balanced unit, combining both spin and pace. Overall, we have good options in all departments of the game," he said.

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We have not done badly, says Gilchrist

With three wins from five matches, Kings XI Punjab captain Adam Gilchrist on Friday said his side have not done badly in the Indian Premier League and they still have a chance to advance further in the tournament.

Gilchrist said there's no point to ponder over a loss as Twenty20 is a very unpredictable format and his side's chances to finish among top four in league stage are as good as any other team.

"You can't sit down and get too disappointed with two losses or get carried away with wins because you know it can change in an instant," Gilchrist said at the pre-match press conference.

"We are doing well and happy with the way things are going. We have chances as good as any. This tournament is so unpredictable, everyone is pinching points off each other," he said, giving example of Mumbai Indians scoring just 94/8 to lose by seven wickets to Rajasthan Royals.

"It's all very congested. We have done well in three games and not so well in one and half other games. I say half bad game because of our last game. We batted very very well to get to 202. But we gave away too many runs but that's the nature of T20," he said.

Gilchrist said his side were not scared of the Knight Riders just because they got back to winning ways in the last match against Delhi Daredevils.

"I think a lot of people get caught up in results. I don't come into this game getting petrified that they won the last game. They are good cricket team, they have shown that they can play some good cricket. We will have to play well to get the results," said the former Australia wicketkeeper batsman.

Asked how KXIP would tackle Brett Lee, Gilchrist said, "Hopefully we will not give too many run out opportunities. I think a feature of his bowling on Thursday was giving them too many run outs (laughs). They have some world class cricketers in their line-up, we will just try to be sharp against him."

Gilchrist is not complaining at the schedule according to which KXIP play nine games in 21 days starting on Saturday after having a week's break, saying planning for such a tournament is very difficult.

"It (schedule) is what is. We have to deal with what we are presented with the schedule. We are very keen to play though it's little odd to have a full week break and then have nine games in next 21 days.

"But it's very difficult for administrators to schedule everyone consistently. Everyone had a little quiet and busy periods. We had our quiet period now we can feel that the tournament really begins," said Gilchrist.

Asked what's different in IPL 4, Gilchrist quipped, "Lalit Modi not here ... That's the only difference I can say (smiles). Though, I don't think so there is anything cricketwise."

His side's top order have been the bulk of scoring so far and Gilchrist said that is a healthy sign.

"Other than our first game where we were all bowled out very quickly, it's been the top three of us getting the lion's share of runs and had the greatest opportunity. It's not a big concern. In a 14 game tournament everybody will get a chance. And it's not a bad complain to have when your top three are getting too many runs."

Gilchrist praised promising Paul Valthaty for his work ethic, saying, "He is a very level headed young man. He is very keen to continue to learn. He is not real rookie, he is not 20 or 21. He is 27 and has been around a bit. But he is still looking to learn.

"I think he is enjoying being given a little bit of belief and encouragement and that's what we try to do with any of our players."

Gilchrist said the IPL gives an opportunity to the youngsters but it's up to them to take it to the next level through hard work and dedication.

Asked about Swapnil Asnodkar and Manish Pandey who excelled in previous editions but yet to sparkle this season, Gilchrist said, "I don't know what their work ethics like in terms of training and fitness. This is an opportunity to get you a leg up but it does not lift you up to instant success. It's an opportunity and then it's up to the individuals to capitalise on it. They need to work very hard.

"There is no easy way to get to the top. It's commitment to your training. physical conditions and a lot of sacrifices need to be made."

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Gambhir gives each and every player lot of space: Manoj Tiwary

Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Manoj Tiwary feels that Gautam Gambhir's willingness to give each and every member of team a "lot of space" makes him stand out of the pack.

"Gautam is an innovative captain. He comes up with lot of ideas and makes it a point to discuss it with the players. He tries to understand each and every player's game and gives them a lot of space," Manoj said on Wednesday.

When asked that how he had benefitted from his interactions with Gambhir, the Bengal captain said, "Everyone knows how good a player of spin bowling Gambhir is. He gave some useful advice about how my footwork should be against the spinners."

About team's principal owner Shah Rukh Khan, Manoj said that the locket he presented to each and every player after coming back from Ajmer Sharif will be a "treasured possession" for him.

"He presented us with a locket after coming back from Ajmer Sharif. It was a gesture that touched our hearts. For me, it will be a treasured possession as it is gifted by someone of his stature."

He is trying to make a comeback to the Indian team, but Manoj doesn't want to pressurise himself by thinking about it.

"My first focus is to win matches for KKR. I don't want to think too far ahead. My job is to perform and that's precisely what I am trying to do. I felt bad that twice (against CSK and Kochi Tuskers Kerala) I couldn't finish off matches. But I have learnt from my mistakes and would like to rectify that in coming matches."

About the CSK game, Manoj said, "My mistake was that I didn't have a look at the number of deliveries left and went for an extra big hit. Against Kochi, I tried to reach to the pitch of the ball a bit early. It does hurt when you fail to finish off games."

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Fletcher is the best man for the job, says Akram

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels the decision of BCCI to appoint Duncan Fletcher as the chief coach of the national team is a positive one.

"After Gary Kirsten, Fletcher is the best man to be Indian team's mentor," Akram said on Friday.

"He is very experienced and has vast knowledge. Waqar (Younis), who played in Glamorgan when Fletcher was coach, praised his coaching skills a lot."

Akram feels most Indian players are experienced enough to handle situations on their own but Fletcher still had a role to play.

"This Indian team doesn't need coaching, but Fletcher's excellent man management skills will surely help," said Akram.

Former India captains Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev have spoken in favour of an Indian coach, post the Gary Kirsten era.

In his newspaper column, Gavaskar mentioned the name of Mohinder Amarnath "because most players represent the Hindi belt."

Akram says language is no barrier anymore. He feels a foreign coach is quite beneficial for the sub-continent teams simply because "he is a neutral guy."

Having worked with foreign coaches like Richard Pybus in Pakistan, Akram does understand a bit about foreign coaches and their ways.

"Our home-bred coaches have plenty of mood swings and preferences, but a foreigner will have no such things, no favorites. He just does his work, doesn't talk much with the media and remains focused on his work," explained Akram.

A former Zimbabwean international, Fletcher will take charge of Team India from the England tour which starts in July.

Akram feels Fletcher's work-experience in England will surely come in handy for Dhoni and team.

"Fletcher has done plenty of coaching in England, and he knows their players very well. Beating England at their backyard will be tough but Fletcher's presence in the Indian dressing room will be a huge advantage," feels Akram.

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Botha stars in Rajasthan's seven wicket win over Mumbai

Johan Botha produced an all-round show to enable Rajasthan Royals inflict a seven wicket defeat on table toppers Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League match on Friday. 

After spinning a web around the Mumbai batsmen with impressive figures of three for six, Botha sparkled with the bat as well, scoring vital 44 runs off 39 balls, during which he struck two fours and a six, to set the platform for Rajasthan's victory. 

Chasing a paltry 95-run target, Rajasthan batsmen played sensibly to overwhelm Mumbai's score with 11 balls to spare at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium. 

Apart from Botha, Shane Watson (26 off 32) and Ross Taylor (13 not out) made double digit scores while Munaf Patel (2/18) emerged as the best bowler for the visitors.
Earlier, Rajasthan came up with an inspiring bowling display to restrict a formidable Mumbai Indians to a paltry 94 for eight. 


Opting to field, Rajasthan bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals as the star-studded Mumbai batting line-up fumbled under pressure to slump to their lowest total in the tournament. Incidentally, it also the lowest total at this ground. 

Only four Mumbai batsmen reached double figures but none could cross the 20-run mark with Andrew Symonds being the top-scorer with 17 followed by Davy Jacobs (15). 

With figures of 3/6, Botha was the pick of Rajasthan bowlers while the duo of Maneria (2/20) and Amit Singh (2/14) scalped two wickets each. 

Rajasthan began their chase on a cautious note with Watson and Rahul Dravid putting on 17 runs for the first wicket in 4.3 overs before the latter scooped a Patel slower delivery straight to Tendulkar at midwicket. 

Watson and Botha then took Rajasthan past the 50-run mark, stitching 39 off 43 balls for the second wicket. 

But just when it seemed the duo will run away with the match, Watson edged a Lasith Malinga short ball to Jacobs behind the wicket. 

Botha, however, was unlucky to have missed out on a half century as he was bowled by Patel just five runs short of the target. 

But that was all Mumbai bowlers could manage on the day as new man Maneria and Taylor completed the formalities for the home team without any further damage. 

Earlier, Mumbai Indians witnessed a horrible start to their innings, losing both their openers Jacobs and Sachin Tendulkar inside the first five overs after being sent into bat. 

Jacobs scored a run-a-ball 15 before Singh went through his defence and castled the middle stump. 

An over later, Mumbai were dealt with a bigger jolt when departed, stumped by an agile Dishant Yagnik after being outsmarted by a witty Maneria delivery to see the visitors in a spot of bother at 22 for two. 

To make matters worse for Mumbai, two more wickets Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma were also dismissed in a span of six overs to see Mumbai in serious trouble at 50 for four at the half-way mark of their innings. 

While Rayudu gave a straight forward caught and bowl chance to Maneria in the ninth over, Sharma was holed out at long-off boundary by Johan Botha off Rajasthan skipper Shane Warne in the next. 

After the early wickets, Mumbai found runs difficult to come by and even Andrew Symonds and big-hitting Keiron Pollard struggled to break loose as Rajasthan bowlers tightened the noose around their opponents. 

Pollard's struggle finally came to an end when Botha got him out lbw with the West Indian making a miserable 4 off 15 balls, which surely was against his reputation. 

Symonds too failed to make much of an impact as Botha accounted for two wickets in the 18th over to dig the final nail in Mumbai's coffin. 

The South African off-spinner first cleaned up Symonds and then a ball later gave Yagnik his second stumping of the day as he outwitted R Sathish. 

Harbhajan Singh finished off the Mumbai innings in style with a six over deep mid-wicket of Shane Watson.

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Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar unhappy India have chosen Duncan Fletcher

Duncan Fletcher's appointment as India coach has not gone down well with two of the country's cricketing legends.

The 62-year-old former England coach was given a two-year contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Wednesday but the former India captains Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar have questioned the decision to snub homegrown candidates.

Fletcher will be the fourth foreigner to take charge of the Indian team's fortunes after John Wright, Greg Chappell and Gary Kirsten, who is leaving the role having just won the World Cup.

Asked by the Hindustan Times for his opinion on Fletcher, Dev replied: "Who is Duncan Fletcher? I would like to see Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh as coaches of the Indian team.

"Not because they are Indians but because they did a great job [as bowling and fielding coaches respectively] at the T20 World Cup [which India won in 2007]."

Foreign coaches helped India achieve their best World Cup results since 1983, with Wright's side finishing runners-up in 2003 and Kirsten leading the team to victory early this month.

However, Gavaskar joined Dev in calling for an Indian to be given the reins, opting for Mohinder Amarnath, like Dev a team-mate in the 1983 World Cup win, who was a candidate for the job when both Chappell and Kirsten applied.

"Someone like Amarnath would have been a better choice for the simple reason that the core of the Indian team today is from the Hindi-speaking belt," he told the NDTV news channel.

"He would have got on brilliantly with this group as well as the seniors. It would have been a lot easier for Amarnath to understand and interact with the players."

Fletcher is expected formally to take charge in the build-up to India's tour of England later this year, with prior commitments preventing him from accompanying the tour of the West Indies next month.

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Pune Warriors face tough task against Royal Challengers

Having lost four games on the trot in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League, Pune Warriors will have to pull up their socks and perform as a team when they take on a confident Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Friday.

The eight-wicket defeat to Chennai Super Kings at Mumbai in their previous game has put the Warriors in a tricky position.

With barely two wins from six matches and languishing at the ninth position with only four points, they can't afford to lose anymore matches.

Warriors now require to approach the next three games with a must-win attitude if they harbour hopes of qualifying for the semifinal play-offs.

Three successive wins would ensure that they have ten points from nine games before the competition turns stiffer for the top four positions.

Having a well-rounded and resourceful team with a good sprinkling of stars, makes the side look unbeatable on paper. But performance is what matters and that is something that Yuvraj Singh would have to drive into his beleaguered boys.

Back-to-back defeats to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings has undoubtedly demoralised the team that was gathering steam and confidence at the start of the cash-rich tournament.

Except for Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, the rest of the batsmen haven't really got going. The top order has been an absolute failure with Monish Mishra, Jesse Ryder and Manish Pandey have done precious little in the last two games against the Super Kings.

Scores of 122 (vs Mumbai Indians), 128 and 141 (against Chennai Super Kings) in the last three matches reflects their batting woes.

Only if they perform as a batting unit, can the Warriors hope to keep themselves in the race for the play-offs. Their bowling has come good in the last three games. They made Mumbai Indians sweat for a last ball win when they were chasing a measly 122.

Alfonso Thomas, Jerome Taylor, Murali Kartik and Rahul Sharma had done well to keep the Super Kings on tight leash. But their effort needs to complemented by their batsmen. On the other hand, Royal Challengers, who struggled at the start of the championship, have gained confidence from their victories over Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils.

With the likes of Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Saurabh Tiwary in its rank, the RCB has got a power-packed batting line up, which can raise alarm bells in any opposition camp.

But with pace spearhead Zaheer Khan looking out of sorts, the team's bowling continues to remain the weakest link. Though captain Daniel Vettori has been a standout bowler, domestic recruits Syed Mohammad and Sreenath Arvind have performed reasonably well. Yet the Bangalore team lacks a genuine wicket-taking bowler.

With seven points from seven games, Daniel Vettori's boys would be looking to score their third successive win and strengthen their chances of qualifying for the all-important play-offs.

But in a game of uncertainty, they cannot afford to take Pune Warriors lightly.

Teams (From):

Pune Warriors: Yuvraj Singh (capt.), Robin Uthappa (wk), Murali Kartik, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Deeraj Jadhav, Eklavya Dwivedi, Ganesh Gaikwad, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Harshad Khadiwale, Kamran Khan, Mithun Manhas, Mohnish Mishra, Rahul Sharma, Sachin Rana, Shrikant Wagh, Shrikant Mundhe, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Jesse Ryder, Graeme Smith, Wayne Parnell, Alphonso Thomas. Tim Paine, Callum Ferguson, Mitchell Marsh, Jerome Taylor, James Faulkner.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Daniel Vettori (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Sreenath Aravind, Arun Karthik, BN Bharath, Raju Bhatkal, AB de Villiers, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Nuwan Pradeep, Muralidharen Gautam, Chris Gayle, Mohammad Kaif, Abrar Kazi, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Charl Langeveldt, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ryan Ninan, Asad Pathan, Luke Pomersbach, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rilee Rossouw, Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad, Saurabh Tiwary, Johan van der Wath, Jonathan Vandiar.

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Incredible Ishant destroys Tuskers

A fiery spell by Ishant Sharma gave the Deccan Chargers a much-required lifeline in the IPL, almost single-handedly taking the Hyderabad side from a seemingly losing position to a highly delightful win over Kochi Tuskers Kerala at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium on Wednesday. 

Taking a cue from the way the rival bowlers had spelt gloom on his side earlier in the day, the lanky fast bowlers was simply irresistible as he ran through the Tuskers top-order from wherein the local side found no way to retrieve itself. 

Sharma finished with figures of five for 12 while Steyn returned with a three wicket haul costing him only 16 runs. 

The target of 130 was something like Mount Everest to climb for KTK all of a sudden — or precisely within the first two overs. And, undoubtedly, what pushed the local side up against the wall was the spell from the hitherto struggling Sharma who found his wonted form at the nick of time by claiming three wickets off his first over — he had Parthiv Patel caught by Sangakkara, clean bowled Raiphy Vicent Gomez the next ball and then breached Brad Hodge's defence in the fifth ball of the brilliant over. 

Brendon McCullum had been dismissed by Dale Steyn in the first over — the Kiwi was caught behind after fishing out to an outgoing delivery. 

Then, Sharma neatly removed Kedar Jadha, trapping the batsman plumb in front with a delivery which straightened, and then completed his five-wicket haul capturing the prized wicket of Mahela Jayawardene off the last ball of his second over — the Sri Lankan picking up an edge off a climbing delivery and guiding the ball to the gloves of Sangakkara behind.

At 11 for six, it was all but over, and all that KTK could get was to get a paltry 74, prolonging the inevitable to lose by a huge 55-run margin and 3.3 overs remaining.

A good day for quicks

It was the seamers who had helped KTK to restrict the Hyderabad side to 129 for seven earlier in the day. 

Jayawardene was quite specific that the wicket was going to be a competitive one as he won the toss and elected to field. And his hopes were again proved right as R.P. Singh gave KTK the much sought-after breakthrough reducing the Chargers to 10-2 within the first three overs. 

Sreesanth, returning to the side, provided admirable support to Singh by bowling a tight spell at the other end. And when Vinay Kumar, who replaced the Kerala bowler after two overs, sent back Bharat Chipli after the openers Sunny Sohal and Shikhar Dhawan had returned, KTK was really on top with its rival reeling at 20 for three. 

Sangakkara was lucky that a Sreesanth delivery that had the timber rattling proved to be a ‘no ball'. And the Sri Lankan made this bit of good luck count as he helped his side to recover from the early damage. 

Sangakkara was all grace as he waited before picking up the rival bowlers and then launched the counter-attack with Cameron White lending him superb support. The duo, with Sangakkara turning aggressive, took the fight back to the rival camp as they put on an invaluable 90-run partnership for the fourth wicket before White, who was shaping well, fell to Vinay Kumar, caught by Jayawardene for a fine knock of 31. 

Tragedy struck the Chargers again the very next ball when Sangakkara too departed, caught behind by Patel, after having made a brilliant 65 off just 47 deliveries. 

The Hyderabad side could only add 19 more runs in its last three overs, losing two more wickets in the process. 

There was cheer in the KTK camp but that in the end came too early as the local side was simply blown away by that terrific opening spell from Ishant Sharma. 

No prizes for guessing who won the Man of the Match award. 

Deccan Chargers: S. Sohal lbw R.P. Singh 1 (4b), S. Dhawan c Gomez b R.P. Singh 4 (9b), B. Chipli c Sreesanth b Vinay Kumar 4 (10b), K. Sangakkara c Parthiv Patel b Vinay Kumar 65 (47 b, 10x4), C. White c Jayawardene b Vinay Kumar 31 (34b, 1x6, 2x4), D. Christian b Perera 9 (11b), Ravi Teja (not out) 8 (5b, 1x4), Amit Mishra (run out) 0 (1b), Manpreet Gony (not out) 0 (1b), Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-3, nb-2) 7, Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs) 129. 

Fall of wickets: 1-3. 2-6, 3-20, 4-110, 5-110, 6-127, 7-127. 

Kochi Tuskers Kerala bowling: R.P. Singh 4-0-21-2, Sreesanth 4-1-22-0, Vinay Kumar 4-0-25-3, Perera 4-0-30-1, Gomez 1-0-4-0, Jadea 3-0-25-0. 

Kochi Tuskers Kerala: B. McCullum c Sangakkara b Steyn 0 (4b), M. Jayawardene c Sangakkara b Ishant 4 (8b, 1x4); P. Patel c Sangakkara b Ishant 0 (3b); R. Gomez b Ishant 0 (1b); B. Hodge b Ishant 0 (2b), K. Jadhav lbw b Ishant 0 (2b), R. Jadeja c Christian b Mishra 23 (35b, 2x4); T. Perera c White b Gony 22 (23b, 4x4); Vinay b Steyn 18 (19b, 2x4); S. Sreesanth (not out) 0 (1b); R.P. Singh b Steyn 0 (1b); Extras (lb-3, w-4): 7; Total (in 16.3 overs): 74. 

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, 4-2, 5-6, 6-11, 7-47, 8-73, 9-74. 

Deccan Chargers bowling: Steyn 3.3-1-16-3, Ishant 3-0-12-5, Christian 3-0-12-0, Gony 3-0-19-1, Mishra 4-0-12-1. 

Man of the Match: Ishant Sharma.

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Warriors go down without a fight, this time at home

After suffocating against Chennai’s spinners on a slow turner at Chepauk on Monday, the Pune Warriors were expected to have an easier time when they returned to the familiar environs of the DY Patil Stadium to take on the Super Kings once more. The rock-hard Navi Mumbai surface, however, exposed another glaring weakness in Pune’s lineup - the inability of their top order to handle the short ball. 

Miscued pulls brought about three of the first four dismissals effected by the Chennai seamers. Jesse Ryder was too late on his shot against Doug Bollinger, Mohnish Mishra didn’t shift his weight back against the same bowler, and Manish Pandey made the same mistake while trying to hoick a short one from Tim Southee. When R Ashwin tumbled forward at mid-on to latch on to the ball that popped weakly off Pandey’s bat, Pune were 41 for four.
Thanks to an unbeaten 43-ball 62 from their skipper Yuvraj Singh, the Warriors managed to post 141, but it was to prove an inadequate total. Powered on by the unceasingly consistent Subramaniam Badrinath, Chennai reached its target with three balls to go and eight wickets in hand. 


Yuvraj had his moments of discomfort too, leaping six inches to fend hastily at a lifter from Southee, and miscuing a pull off Bollinger that dropped between three converging leg side fielders. But apart from that, he showed a clear preference for the pace and bounce of Navi Mumbai over the grip and turn of Chennai, where he had laboured to a 43-ball 34 two days ago. 

Given room early in his innings, he reached out and drilled Nuwan Kulasekara between point and cover. When R Ashwin dragged one short, he skipped back and smacked him over the midwicket fence. When the seamers returned to close the innings, Yuvraj took them on, depositing Bollinger over long off and smiting Southee for two massive sixes in the final over. 

Pune’s mini fightback 

When Alfonso Thomas and Murali Kartik bowled maidens in the first and fifth overs of Chennai’s chase, the game looked to be in the balance — especially after Mike Hussey had provided Kartik with his first wicket of the tournament, swiping the left-arm spinner straight to deep midwicket. But the man who walked in at that moment dispelled any fears that Chennai was about to add to its win-less away streak. Badrinath has always looked a slightly limited batsman, in the sense that his strokes don’t exude truckloads of natural talent. When he plays the cover drive, for instance, he doesn’t lean into the stroke or caress the ball like, say, Murali Vijay, who was at the other end when he marked his guard.
But Badrinath outscored his long-time buddy with ease, and showed off a splendid range of self-taught strokes that have helped him go from doggedly grinding Ranji hundreds early in his career to becoming MS Dhoni’s trusted Twenty20 finisher. His most productive shot was the inside-out drive with the turn. He timed Kartik along the carpet, lifted Yuvraj beyond the cheerleaders’ platform, and slapped Rahul Sharma on the up, after skipping down the track each time and stepping inside the line. 

When the target neared, Badrinath widened his repertoire, driving Ryder straight back and squeezing a blockhole-length delivery, just wide of point and into the unmanned third man fence. After Vijay skied a slower delivery from Ryder to end a 61-run second-wicket stand, Badrinath was joined by Suresh Raina, and Chennai’s gallop gathered pace. Raina found the boundary whenever needed and firmly swung the momentum the visiting side’s way when he heaved Jerome Taylor for two sixes in the 18th over.

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Duncan Fletcher: Right man for the job?

Duncan Fletcher

With Gary Kirsten having taken India to the pinnacle of cricketing success, Team India's new coach Duncan Fletcher, despite his mentoring credentials, has a tough act to follow.

 

Even though the former Zimbabwe captain has a fair idea of what it feels to be in the eye of the storm having faced up to a tough English media, coaching World Champions India will be akin to taking the poison chalice.

Success here will catapult you to the public imagination of disproportionate belief, while failure will the same turn on to you.

Where Gary Kirsten excelled as the coach was the fact that the South African maintained a very low profile and was never eager to be the centre of attention, something which the Zimbabwean must strive to do if he wants to see out the two-year deal offered to him by the BCCI.

The cricketing world saw what happened to a certain Australian who had a brief stint with the Indian team as the coach and ended up getting the boot.

What Fletcher must keep in mind is that the Indian public is one which wants a six off every delivery that an Indian batsman hits and a wicket off every ball bowled by an Indian. So the expectations are such where too much is never enough!

During his time as the English coach, the English team's test record improved considerably but on the contrary the ODI's saw the Three Lions perform miserably.

This was because the English side had become a one-dimensional unit, one which was led by the Hussain-Fletcher alliance, something which Fletcher might have to repeat when it comes to decision-making with iconic skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Former English captain Nasser Hussain was one who had a mind of his own and Fletcher might find a likeness of that with Dhoni.

The Indian skipper has been known to gamble with team-selection and on-field tactics. Fletcher knows all about following impulses as it was that which led him to select Ashley Giles over Monty Panesar.

The inexperience of Kirsten was luckily never brought to question, as the Indian team kept climbing the ladder to success and with them Kirsten increased his stock as a coach. What Team India will definitely get from Fletcher being at the helm of affairs is pedigree, the experience of a seasoned coach, something which surprisingly India has not enjoyed for more than a decade.

The appointment of Duncan Fletcher might just be the dawn of a new era, but after the much-loved Gary Kirsten left on a high, its imperative that Fletcher carries on the good work and as expected should do even better. He obviously knows the amount of pressure that comes with being a part of the Indian cricket setup and with the country still basking in the glory of the World Cup, a loss under his tenure which might probably begin with the tour of West Indies, might not go down so well with the country.

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Dhoni played the innings of his life, says Yuvraj

Yuvraj Singh, on Monday, complimented India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his match-winning innings of 91 not out in the World Cup final, terming it as the latter’s best-ever knock.

 

“It was a dream come true. As MS (Dhoni) said I did not know what to do. I wanted to jump on MS and keep jumping on him. He had just played the innings of his life,” the flamboyant batsman said.

The wicketkeeper-batsman had promoted himself to No. 5, ahead of in-form Yuvraj, and simply took the game away from Sri Lanka by slamming two sixes and eight fours in his 79-ball masterpiece at the Wankhede Stadium.

“It was the highlight of my career. To win the World Cup after 28 years was very special. Can’t explain the feelings,” said Yuvraj, who scored 362 runs in nine matches and also grabbed 15 wickets. 

Dhoni, for his part, conceded he had gone blank after hitting the winning shot, a six. “I was quite blank at that point of time. I didn’t know how to celebrate the Cup win. Then I saw Yuvraj’s 6-foot, 2-inch (frame) coming towards me. I thought, he’s not going anywhere; let me get to the stumps (souvenirs) first,” said Dhoni at an event organised by Reebok to felicitate the triumphant team members.

Yuvraj said he worked hard to make a memorable comeback into the Indian squad after being dropped from both the Test and ODI teams last year.

“Last year was not a great one. I suffered a lot of injuries, but I received a lot of support from my teammates and people close to me. I kept on working hard and performed at the right time,” he said.

Dhoni also talked about the importance of fielding and fitness.

“Of course, we have to put in a 100 per cent effort (to keep fit). Fielding is an integral part. Twenty overs (games) are said to be demanding, but in 50 overs (games) you have to maintain intensity throughout,” he said.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said for him the team always came first.

“Whenever there is a time to celebrate I celebrate. That’s the way I have always been. I am there always for the team, the team comes first,” he said.

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Pune in dire need of a win against Chennai

Pune Warriors India would need to lift themselves up when they clash with Chennai Super Kings at their home venue, the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, on Wednesday, less than 48 hours after being beaten by them at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

The Warriors, led by Yuvraj Singh, began their debut season on a high with back-to-back victories over Kings XI Punjab and Kochi Tuskers Kerala earlier this month, both at the DY Patil Stadium.

But the defeat against Delhi Daredevils at home, despite scoring an imposing 187 for five started the Warriors' slide and they lost successive ties to the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, and to the Super Kings.

On a sluggish pitch, Warriors allowed the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Super Kings to score 140-plus on Monday through less-than-perfect work on the field and their batsmen failed to get going in the run- chase.

Two big defeats in the space of five days would be a dampener and the task in front of Warriors is to put the past behind and regroup as a winning combination in home conditions which suit their style of play.

In fact, their home track has so far brought out the best in them as it helps the pacers get movement and allows batsmen like Yuvraj, Jesse Ryder and Robin Uthappa to play shots more freely because the ball comes on to the bat nicely.

The return to the DY Patil Stadium could result in a call-up for Wayne Parnell at the cost of Nathan McCullum, who played in Chennai. With Jerome Taylor performing very well, the new ball bowling looks meatier, but the same cannot be said about the slow bowling as Murali Kartik has been below par.

The Super Kings, on the other hand, would be happy to get their title hunt firmly back on track.

They have won all their three matches at home but are yet to win an away game.

Michael Hussey's form at the top of the order must be a very pleasing aspect for the team's think tank and though Murali Vijay has not converted his starts to big scores, he has done his bit.

But the indifferent form of key batsman Suresh Raina, who flopped in their last two games, must be a cause for some concern as he is an impact player for the defending champions with his flamboyant batting, outstanding fielding and effective bowling in this format.

Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said his team's brilliant fielding performance made all the difference in Monday's win and the side would look to replicate the effort in the coming matches as well.

"We would look to replicate this standard of fielding in our coming matches.

Today, we were desperate to win. This kind of fielding helps the bowler to be a bit more confident and gives the skipper much more confidence to dictate the game. We need to keep improving in that area. We were embarrassed with our fielding in the last game and we were desperate to make the difference," Fleming said.

The former New Zealand captain is reportedly the leading contender to replace Gary Kirsten as India coach, but he did not want to discuss the prospect.

"I enjoy my relationship with all the Indian players and Dhoni is a special player I am involved with.

He is a captain with free space. I have been working with Suresh Raina and others as well. Just about time that I do not want to be talked about as a potential Indian coach," Fleming said. 

Yuvraj's Warriors have lost three games in a row, including a defeat to Dhoni's Super Kings in Chennai on Monday, and need to build momentum to keep their hopes alive.

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