Bangalore RC, Rajasthan Royals earn thrilling wins in IPL

It was a royal special at Kingsmead as Bangalore Royal Challengers and Rajasthan Royals pulled off thrilling wins in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.

Bangalore beat Chennai Super Kings by two wickets to move into joint fourth position with Deccan Chargers and revive their hopes of reaching the semifinals next week.

Rajasthan cut it even closer in the second match, clipping Mumbai Indians by 2 runs when Mumbai needed four runs from the final over with three wickets in hand.

Rajasthan, the defending champion, rose to third in the eight-team table, while Mumbai slipped to sixth.

Delhi Daredevils lead the Twenty20 tournament with 16 points, followed by Chennai and Rajasthan on 13, but with Chennai enjoying a better run rate.

Mumbai looked like climbing to third with a victory when it needed four runs from the last over to over to overhaul Rajasthan's 145-7. But Mumbai, at 142-7 was all for 143 with a ball to spare.

"All credit to the guys," Rajasthan captain Shane Warne said. "It is these last games that show the spirit of your group. We just wanted to put up a good performance and not worry about winning or losing. But the guys came and showed the desperation and spirit in the side."

Warne, with 3-24 in four overs, was named man of the match, but pace bowler Munaf Patel led the attack in the last over.

He trapped Dhawal Kularni for 1 on the second ball, and Chetanya Nanda was run out for a duck on the third by a throw from Yusuf Pathan to make it 142-9. Harbhajan Singh came in and scored a single, leaving Mumbai needing three runs off the last two balls.

Lasith Malinga played on the off side and set off for a single, but Warne scooped it up and threw to Patel to run him out at the non-striker's end to end the drama.

"I felt towards the end there was a bit of panic and that cost us the game," said Mumbai captain Sachin Tendulkar, who was trapped by Warne for a 30-ball 40.

Bangalore's Vinay Kumar hit the wininng runs in their game with two balls to spare. Set a relatively easy target after bowling out Chennai for 129, Ross Taylor hit 46, sharing a 56-run fourth wicket stand with Virat Kohli (38 off 35 balls) to set up Bangalore nicely after a slow start.

Taylor fell with five runs needed off the last five balls and two wickets in hand.

Kumar then guided his team home in a nervous finish, benefiting from a misfield that allowed a boundary.

"It was a great effort," said Bangalore captain Anil Kumble, who took 2-12. "The bowlers were brilliant and the fielding was brilliant but we struggled a bit at the end. (Jacques) Kallis was brilliant up front .. .everyone contributed."

South Africa allrounder Kallis took 2-18 in four overs including a maiden. Kumar claimed 2-30 in three. The IPL's leading runscorer Matthew Hayden topscored for Chennai with 60.

Today, Kings XI Punjab plays Delhi.

[the article was originally published at http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=949564&lang=eng_news]

IPL-II has warmed up nicely

The IPL-II has now warmed up nicely. At least six of the eight teams could have a real shot at the title and this implies suspense which is essential to any good sporting event.

The laggards are Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore and unfortunately, both only have tougher days ahead.

Knight Riders would lose Chris Gayle on his national duty and that means the face of the team’s batting is gone.

Brendon McCullum hasn’t been the same free-spirited batsman since being the captain but then he is always looking over the shoulder to see how many hands are up for the challenge in his absence.
Inspirational leadership

Lightweight batting needs inspirational leadership, such as Shane Warne provides to his team regularly.

In bowling too, a lot has come to rest on Ishant Sharma who hasn’t been his normal self. There are tough days ahead for KKR.

Royal Challengers is licking its own wounds. Kevin Pietersen is criticised for its ills and that is understandable since he is the most expensive buy of the tournament.

Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis are alright but they need a Hulk Hogan of a striker in their ranks.

Of the rest, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Dardevils and Deccan Chargers inspire confidence.

All these four teams have an allround balance and that matters. Names such Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Harbahjan Singh, Suresh Raina, M.S. Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Pragyan Ojha figure in these teams and that is virtually India’s ODI line-up!

These men are worth their weight in gold.

Even their foreign buys are incredible: Sanath Jayasuriya and Lasith Malinga for Mumbai; Matthew Hayden and Muttiah Muralitharan for Chennai; A.B. de Villiers and Daniel Vettori for Delhi and Adam Gilchrist and Fidel Edwards for Hyderabad have been awesome.

All these teams have solid opening bowlers and batsmen and that tell us something about successful teams in this format.

With Andrew Symonds joining the Chargers ranks soon it will be one team to keep an eye on.
Dark horses

Punjab and Jaipur ought to be the dark horses. Punjab, for it has such incredible batting talent as well as two new ball bowlers who can take the best by surprise.

Yusuf Abdulla has no international reputation but try telling this to his domestic opponents in South Africa and they would vouch he is the best going around in T20 circuit.

Irfan Pathan doesn’t inspire fear but unfailingly picks up important wickets.

As for Jaipur, never write it off. It has this uncanny ability to throw up stars out of nowhere. Kamran Khan can be the fizz of this tournament.

The team will only look up when Graeme Smith starts flexing his muscles.

[the article was originally published at http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/26/stories/2009042651161800.htm]