ipl 3 MATCH12 - IPL 2010 - DC vs KXIP

The match was hurtling towards a dull climax when Irfan Pathan tried to pull off the improbable with an audacious innings, but eventually Deccan Chargers prevailed and sealed their first win against Kings XI Punjab in IPL history. Set 171 to win, Punjab were dawdling along at 104 for 7 in the 17th over when Irfan exploded to create some excitement.

Irfan hit two sixes and two fours in that 17th over bowled by an errant RP Singh, and suddenly the equation read 46 from 18 balls. RP returned in the 19th over to give away 14 runs, which included a six over long-on and a cover-driven four from Irfan, and the equation came to 19 from the final over. Jaskaran Singh, who was unused until then, pleaded with Adam Gilchrist that he be given a bowl and he struck with his first ball, getting Irfan to hole out to deep midwicket. Game over.

Irfan might have succeeded in reducing the margin, but it couldn't mask an otherwise lacklustre performance from Punjab. They are yet to click together as a unit in this IPL, and nothing changed tonight. Their bowling was good in the first game, their batting better in the second, and tonight it was only the bowlers who turned up. All Deccan had to do today to register their first home win was to ensure they reached a competitive total, and they managed it courtesy a fiery cameo from Gilchrist and a responsible hand from Andrew Symonds.

When Deccan batted, it was as if there were two games out there: Deccan against pace and Deccan against spin. They looted runs against the seamers and struggled against the spinners to reach a competitive score

Whenever Deccan required some quick runs to get some momentum going, Sreesanth seemed ready to gift them some easy runs. His first largesse came in the second over when he went for 24 runs with Adam Gilchrist plundering two fours and two sixes. A stunning six hit on the up to straight boundary was the highlight.

Gilchrist's 17-minute manic knock charged Deccan to 43 in 3 overs. Although they lost VVS Laxman almost immediately - he was forced to retire hurt after being hit on his wrist by a wayward throw from Shalabh Srivastava - Gilchrist's effort allowed them to reach 84 for 1 in nine overs. This is where Sreesanth entered the picture to give his second offering to Deccan. This time around he leaked 16 runs, with Symonds hitting a typically muscled six over long-on, and two fours.

At this point things could have gone horribly wrong for Punjab, but Yuvraj Singh slipped in a tidy spell that read 4-0-21-2 to peg back Deccan. It was the typical bag of tricks from him - variation in pace and the alteration in trajectory - but it was enough to slow down proceedings on this slow track. In the 11th over, he removed Herschelle Gibbs with an arm-ball and saw a slow-off-the-blocks Rohit Sharma run himself out. Bipul Sharma and Piyush Chawla slipped in a couple of relatively quiet overs, and when Yuvraj induced Symonds to hole out to long-on, Deccan had reached 144 for 5 in 17 overs.

If Gilchrist's was an adrenalin-charged innings, Symonds', barring that explosion against Sreesanth, was more measured. He played the spinners with relative caution, often checking his drives, and making sure he didn't throw his wicket away.

Punjab didn't find either a Gilchrist or a Symonds when they chased. Only Ravi Bopara offered some fight with a 32-ball 38, but the rest succumbed meekly. The seniors were the main culprits - none of Kumar Sangakkara, Yuvraj and Mahela Jayawardene could get going. Chaminda Vaas took care of Sangakkara with a slower one and induced Yuvraj to slice an intended big drive to cover. When Symonds bowled Jayawardene, who went for a fatal paddle sweep, the game was all but over. Or so one thought. Irfan threatened to pull off an improbable heist but it proved too much for him in the end.

MATCH12 - IPL 2010 - DC vs KXIP

IPL 3 MATCH11 - IPL 2010 - DD v CSK

India, say hello to the Mongoose, the shorter, thicker bat with the longer handle. You already knew Matthew Hayden, but might have forgotten him momentarily after his ordinary start this year. On Friday, the two combined in a deadly manner. Hayden smacked 93 off 43 balls to almost singlehandedly chase down Delhi Daredevils' imposing target. Delhi's innings featured a similarly dominant effort. If Hayden scored 93 of the 142 while at crease, Virender Sehwag pummelled 74 out of 103.

That Hayden's effort was longer meant Chennai Super Kings prevailed in the battle of superb fielding. Three good catches from Chennai's stand-in captain, Suresh Raina, and a spectacular effort at the boundary from Justin Kemp, a near replica of his ICL catch , kept Delhi under 200. Tillakaratne Dilshan took a blinder charging in from long-on to deny Hayden a century, and Chennai a jitterless finish.

Delhi, and their new captain Dinesh Karthik, will wonder if they brought Dirk Nannes back too late - in the 13th over - and why the bouncer was not tried against the Mongoose. It was not as if Hayden necessarily needed the new bat to cause wreckage.

By the time he called out for the Mongoose, Hayden had already smashed four boundaries off his first nine balls. That may have given him the confidence to call for the newest beast in town. It was not as if Hayden necessarily needed the new bat to hit the five fours and seven sixes that followed in the next 34 deliveries he faced.

His hitting was so clean that it perhaps didn't need the rumoured 20% extra bat power on most of the occasions. Only the second of three sixes in Dilshan's over - the eighth of the innings - was mis-hit, but the ball managed to sail over wide long-on. That six also brought up his fifty, off 24 balls, and by the end of the over, he had reached 61, and Chennai 85.

More down-the-ground carnage followed in the next four overs, and Hayden had reached 87 off 37 with Chennai needing just 57 off 48, when Nannes was called back. A tight over later, Hayden hit Amit Mishra powerfully down the ground, and Dilshan ran in and caught it inches off the ground. Would it have carried had it been hit with a normal bat?

Albie Morkel and Justin Kemp failed to contribute much, and the onus fell on Raina after Chennai lost three wickets for 27 runs. However, he kept picking up boundaries - six of them - whenever the equation started to look tricky, and his unbeaten 49 carried Chennai home with five balls to spare.

With the way Sehwag was going, though, Raina's team was looking at a much bigger target. His 38-ball 74 came as easy as his strolled singles, but Chennai managed to create and latch on to more catching opportunities to slow down Delhi just about enough in the last eight overs.

Sehwag's innings took about as much time as it took David Warner and Dilshan to struggle and get out, managing 21 off 32 between them. Sehwag was in the scoring zone right from the first ball he faced, flicking it neatly to midwicket. He found the middle of the bat and the gaps started appearing from the second ball on. In the first eight overs, he displayed almost the whole array of effective Twenty20 shots: hits down the ground, through extra cover, over wide long-on and midwicket, and the square-cut.

The first over he faced from Muttiah Muralitharan, though, was the highlight. He came down the track first ball, Murali bowled flat, he checked his shot. Anticipated a flat delivery next up, he stayed back and opened the face to beat short third man. The standout shot came later in the over when he waited even more and took the ball from in front of stumps, guiding it to the left of short third this time. By the end of that over, eighth of the innings, Sehwag had scored 61 off 28, out of the team's total of 79.

Just in time, Kemp produced the moment of inspiration, jumping at the right time and taking a left-handed catch behind his body at the long-off boundary. Immediately before and after that, Raina produced two good catches to get rid of Dilshan and AB de Villiers.

With 7.3 overs still to go, there was time enough for either side to win or lose. Although the balance was retained, the 78 that Karthik, Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia added proved to be inadequate when compared to Hayden and his Mongoose.

MATCH11 - IPL 2010 - DD v CSK

IPL 3 MATCH10 - IPL 2010 - RCB v RR

A superlative bowling performance by Royal Challengers Bangalore, including a hat-trick by Praveen Kumar, decimated Rajasthan Royals to a paltry 92 and set up a huge win. The match lasted just 30.3 overs as Bangalore strolled home by 10 wickets to call it an early night, and also seal the second-most comprehensive victory in terms of ball to spare.

The bowlers stuck to a plan of bowling quick, short deliveries, which contributed to an abject batting performance by a weakened Rajasthan. The batsmen struggled to find a weak link to exploit. Although Praveen hogged the limelight with the first hat-trick of IPL 2010, it was the combined bowling performance that set the platform for back-to-back wins at home.

The Bangalore bowlers focused on bowling as straight as possible and tucking the batsmen up. The batsmen looked out of depth from the beginning, playing and missing and failing to find gaps. The first five overs produced only two fours and 27 runs, quite an antithesis to the Twenty20 brand of cricket.

The pressure began to tell on Rajasthan, and the urgency to push on cost them three early wickets. Jacques Kallis struck with his first delivery when he had Naman Ojha splicing to cover-point. Michael Lumb, the Hampshire left-hand batsman, had a testing IPL debut, particularly against Dale Steyn, who got the ball to skid through and fizz past the outside edge on a few occasions. He tried his luck against Anil Kumble by chipping down the track to a slow flighted delivery, but failed the read the googly and was stumped by yards.

Even the experienced Damien Martyn looked out of sorts. The rustiness of not having played too much competitive cricket since retirement began to show against some sharp bouncers from Kallis. The dismissal of Abhishek Jhunjhunwala - chopping Kallis onto the stumps - heralded the arrival of Yusuf Pathan, the best man to get them out of jail.

There wasn't to be an instant manic revival. Yusuf struggled to put bat on ball early on. Realising his weakness against the short ball, Bangalore persisted with back-of-a-length deliveries, and Yusuf kept swishing at thin air. Between the seventh and 11th over, the run-rate did not cross four and even their most attacking batsman was in inertia.

However, the bowlers were made to pay when they bowled fuller, as Yusuf demonstrated with consecutive thumps over deep midwicket off Vinay Kumar. He was dropped twice - on 19 and 24 - off thick top edges, but it didn't cost Bangalore much as he was sent packing with an athletic direct hit by Virat Kohli, diving forward.

Praveen used three different deliveries to get his hat-trick, the seventh in the tournament's history. A sluggish Martyn struggled to break free and lost his middle stump when Praveen returned for a new spell. Praveen followed the yorker with a short delivery to Sumit Narwal, who top-edged it down fine leg's throat. Paras Dogra faced the hat-trick ball, but had his middle stump pegged back to a length delivery, trying to swipe him across the line. The procession of wickets stamped Bangalore's authority on the game, which was all but sealed at that point.

Going by the way Manish Pandey and Kallis closed out the game, only a double hat-trick could have saved Rajasthan. Kallis was at his elegant best, clipping the ball off his pads, tearing into his countryman Morne Morkel for 20 in his first over. Pandey showed scant respect to his countryman, Munaf Patel, muscling the ball down the ground. He also planted one over deep midwicket off Sumit Narwal. The only time Rajasthan looked like taking a wicket was when Pandey sliced the ball to mid-off, and replays couldn't confirm if Morkel took it cleanly.

Rajasthan looked deflated and lost for ideas as Kallis and Pandey threatened to finish the game within 10 overs. Bangalore went to second place in the points table, behind Mumbai Indians.

MATCH10 - IPL 2010 - RCB v RR

IPL 3 Match Highlights - IPL 2010 MATCH 9 - MI v DD - 2010-03-17

Tournament heavyweights Delhi Daredevils crashed to a 98-run defeat against an inspired Mumbai Indians outfit that seemed determined to set the lopsided head-to-head record straight and, in the process, went to the top of the points table. Quickfire sixties from Sachin Tendulkar and Saurabh Tiwary took Mumbai to an imposing 218 but a batting line-up capable of overhauling the biggest of targets was bowled out with more than three overs to spare.

Delhi were already handicapped by the loss of Gautam Gambhir to a hamstring pull early in the match so it was up to the middle order to anchor a big chase. But the loss of a steadying hand in Gambhir showed up as the likes of Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan performed well below expectation. The backup for those heavyweights had little time in which to plot and execute a Yusuf Pathan-like counterattack.

Dilshan began the chase on an audacious note by slapping the first ball over mid-off for four. It was an emphatic way to get off the mark after two consecutive ducks, and Delhi motored along at a rate marginally faster than Mumbai after three overs. Mumbai had to dislodge at least one of the opening duo of Dilshan and Virender Sehwag, and the first breakthrough came through Lasith Malinga in the fourth over. After firing it in the blockhole to keep Dilshan under check, he bowled a slower ball and sent the off stump for a spin as the batsman swished at thin air.

The expectations on Sehwag only increased but he was the first victim of double-strike by Dwayne Bravo in the seventh over. Trying to clear long-off, he made contact off the toe-edge of the bat straight down Ambati Rayudu's throat. Four balls later, AB de Villiers dragged one onto his stumps and the momentum had firmly swung in Mumbai's favour. A flurry of boundaries by Dinesh Karthik - three in a row - raised some hope, but he too joined the exodus, courtesy a brilliant stumping down the leg side by Aditya Tare. When Manhas perished in the tenth over, Delhi had lost half their side, and with Gambhir indisposed, the match had ceased to be a contest.

The pitch was nothing like the minefield which forced the abandonment of the one-dayer between India and Sri Lanka a few months ago. Evenly paced, Tendulkar showed just how easy it was to get to the pitch and pick the gaps with deft touches and delicate clips. It was similar to the way he started his innings in Gwalior, where he scored a memorable 200, squirting the ball past the gaps effortlessly.

Farveez Maharoof's one-dimensional bowling - overusing the legcutter - made it easier for Tendulkar to plan his shots. After slicing Maharoof past backward point, he made Delhi pay for not placing a slip as he guided the next ball to third man. He then chipped down the track, got inside the line and played a glorious on drive past midwicket to give Delhi some anxious moments.

He brought up his fifty, off just 23 balls, with a paddle to fine leg. Mishra had Tendulkar caught at long-off by the substitute Yogesh Nagar, who was earlier in the news for pulling off a one-handed blinder at mid-off to get rid of Sanath Jayasuriya. Filling in for Gambhir, Nagar had to propel himself backwards a long way but managed to time his leap to perfection.

Significantly, Tiwary and Rayudu didn't allow things to drift after Tendulkar departed. The over after his dismissal went for just three but the pair ensured they picked at least one boundary in every over during their 71-run stand, in just short of seven overs. If Tendulkar was all nonchalance, Tiwary and Rayudu were all about brute power. Tiwary employed the slog sweep against the spinners, staying in the crease and muscling three sixes. Rayudu used his feet a lot more, regularly chipping down the track to clear the rope. Mishra tried firing it flatter and shorter with the hope of getting the ball to shoot through but the batsmen were alert enough to slap them away.

By the time Delhi dislodged the pair, Mumbai were already on 193 with a little more than two overs left. Promoting Tiwary and Rayudu over the two West Indians - Bravo and Pollard - had proved to be a productive move. The Caribbean duo combined to push the score to 218 - the highest in this tournament so far - which was more than enough to stamp their dominance.

Match Highlights - IPL 2010 MATCH 9 - MI v DD - 2010-03-17

IPL 3 Match Highlights 30 minutes version - CSK v KKR - IPL 2010 Match 8

MS Dhoni and S Badrinath added an unbroken 109-run stand from 65 deliveries to push Chennai Super Kings to a competitive total before their bowlers turned in an inspired performance to bowl them to a surprisingly facile win at the Eden Gardens. It was Chennai who had ended Kolkata's winning streak after the first two games in 2008 and history played out yet again.

Chennai were wobbling at 55 for 3 in the 10th over when Dhoni joined Badrinath to slowly change things around on a track with slightly variable bounce. It wasn't the traditional hit-everything-in-sight Twenty20 innings from them as they first strived to settle in with dabs and nudges before freeing their arms at the end.

It was off the final delivery of the 15th over that Dhoni managed his first big hit - a six over long-on. And it wasn't till the 18th over that he really went berserk, hitting Laxmi Ratan Shukla for two fours and another six over long-on as he started to work his bottom hand over time.
In the next over, bowled by Shane Bond, he looted three boundaries that included a scorching flatly-pulled six. Badrinath too got in the act, pulling Ishant Sharma for a six in the final over.
Until the final assault from the Chennai duo, nearly everything went according to Plan A for Kolkata. Bond got to swing it at pace, Ishant probed with his seam movement, Murali Kartik was at his canny best, Angelo Matthews was at his nagging self and Shukla kept it really tight as well. But Dhoni's knock proved the difference between a below-par total and a defendable one.
Kolkata needed a similar partnership but with wickets falling at regular intervals, the chase lacked any momentum and fizzled out very quickly. Within nine deliveries, their heroes from last game, Brad Hodge and Manoj Tiwary, were dismissed - Hodge pulled Albie Morkel to square-leg and Tiwary was bowled, going for an expansive on-the-up drive against Manpreet Gony. And when L Balaji produced the delivery of the game - it kicked up from short of length even as it straightened outside off stump - to catch the edge of Owais Shah, Kolkata were struggling at 46 for 4.
It required someone to seize the game but there weren't any inspired bursts lower down. Sourav Ganguly dawdled along for a while, unable to break free against a relentless attack of short deliveries into his rib cage, and he fell, swinging Justin Kemp to deep mid-wicket. Much depended on Matthews if Kolkata were to effect a jail break, but he was trapped in front trying to paddle sweep a straight delivery from Kemp. The tail couldn't produce any miracle and Chennai wrapped up the win with five balls to spare.

Match Highlights 30 minutes version - CSK v KKR - IPL 2010 Match 8

IPL 3 Long Match Summaries - RCB v KXIP - IPL 2010 Match 7

At the halfway mark it seemed as if Kings XI Punjab had scored enough to record their first victory of the tournament, but Royal Challengers Bangalore went after the target with such vengeance that Punjab were punished for trespassing on private property. At the forefront of the chase was the reborn Twenty20 basher Jacques Kallis, who smashed an unbeaten 89, and playing valuable and entertaining supporting roles were Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa.
One of Bangalore's adopted sons, Ross Taylor, wasn't around to send the ball soaring like he's done many times, but the power hitting from Kallis, Uthappa and Pandey more than made up for his absence. The batsmen with strong forearms thumped the ball with amazing velocity to fetch massive sixes, particularly over the on side, to deflate the bowling side and cut the target down to size.
Although Punjab were overpowered by a better batting side on the day, they could have restricted Bangalore had they bowled better lengths. The spinners in particular were guilty for dropping the ball on a length which sat up nicely for the batsmen to rock back and swing their arms. The fuller lengths didn't work and that was illustrated by one particular over from Sreesanth, which went for 25. The only way to restrict them was to either bowl yorkers or hurry them up with pace and bounce but Punjab didn't possess the bowlers to do either.
Kallis' biffing made the crowd delirious as Bangalore neared the target but the early entertainer was Pandey. The Ranji season's highest run-scorer earned a promotion and made it count by the sheer power of his strokes and using the crease. The ball was coming on nicely on to the bat and they had the freedom to hit across the line at will. A lightning quick straight drive nearly cleaned up the umpire and the bowler, Irfan Pathan, was smoked for two huge sixes over his head in his next over. Pathan was smacked for bowling it too full and when Yuvraj Singh held the length back, Pandey shoveled him over midwicket for a six.
Piyush Chawla sent him back for 38, trapping him with a quicker delivery and inducing a top edge. There was no respite for Punjab as Uthappa walked in and recorded the second-fastest fifty of the IPL. He rocked back and smacked Chawla with a powerful forehand, following it up with a delicate late cut. Abdulla was spanked over the second tier at deep midwicket but the more experienced Sreesanth suffered the worst treatment of the night. Uthappa cleared the front leg to smash three sixes and a four in five balls. Sangakkara was running out of options and at that stage he must have wondered of his team should have scored 250 instead.
Uthappa cut Bipul Sharma to bring up his fifty off 19 balls and tried to clear long-off in the same over but was safely caught by Mohammad Kaif. Bangalore still needed 61 off 36 balls at that stage but they had the safety net of Kallis. He matched Pandey and Uthappa for style and power, particularly those shots over midwicket. The ball was dumped over that region with such regular frequency that the crowd ought to have worn helmets.
Bangalore still needed 34 off the last three overs but didn't look like messing it up. Punjab were dazed and had virtually thrown in the towel. Sharma's first IPL experience was a nightmare as Kallis ripped him apart for 23 in the 18th over. It included three sixes and a feisty cut for four. Bangalore finished it with an over to spare and the Punjab dugout had nothing else to do but look on helplessly.
Such was the impact from Bangalore's batsmen that the seventies by Manvinder Bisla and Ravi Bopara were lost in memory. The fact that Bisla was an unknown quantity worked in his favour because the Bangalore bowlers didn't know what to expect. After an edgy start, Bisla quickly proved his doubters wrong. He looked far more comfortable against the slower pace of Kallis and R Vinay Kumar, regularly making room to slap the ball over backward point and third man. Following a sequence of off-side thumping, he showed his prowess on the on side, playing short-arm pulls off Kallis and a cheeky scoop over the wicketkeeper's head off Virat Kohli's gentle leg cutter.
When the pair brought up the fifty stand, Bopara's contribution was only 8. Even the experienced Kumble couldn't halt the momentum and the captain took a couple of blows to the body when he intercepted two full-blooded straight drives off Bopara. Bisla moved to 75 and looked to dump Kallis over deep midwicket but couldn't get the distance.
Bisla's innings was the best thing Bopara could have hoped for because it released the pressure off him. He survived a run-out early on 7 when Steyn's underarm flick missed the stumps while attempting a quick single. Bopara really opened up after the halfway mark of the innings, flat-batting Steyn to wide long-off and paddling Praveen to fine leg to bring up his fifty off 42 balls. The bowler went on to claim his wicket with a slower ball but by then, the total was headed towards 200. Audacious shots from Mahela Jayawardene ensured the flow wasn't disturbed. What Punjab didn't know at that stage was that it was only the curtain raiser for what was to come.

Long Match Summaries - RCB v KXIP - IPL 2010 Match 7

IPL 3 Match Highlights 30 minutes version - RR v DD - IPL 2010 Match 6

A disciplined performance by the Delhi Daredevils bowlers and a blistering innings from sehwag inflicted on Rajasthan Royals their second defeat in as many games. A battling half-century from jhunjhunwala lent Rajasthan's total some respectability but it was a woefully inadequate one to defend given Sehwag's onslaught.
Rajasthan were made to regret their poor batting in the first over of the chase, as Sehwag blazed away, swinging Dimitri Mascarehnas over square leg and mid-on for two boundaries. The seamers bowled either too full or offered him the desired width to break free - Shaun Tait was cut fiercely through point, and Munaf Patel was dispatched over long-off for a six and past mid-on for a boundary in the third over.
There were a couple of moments of hope for Rajasthan. Mascarenhas returned in the fourth over to snare Gautam Gambhir, who mistimed a slower one to mid-on, and got one to move away to produce an outside edge from Tillakaratne Dilshan the next ball. The wickets made no difference to Sehwag's approach - nor, ultimately, to Rajasthan's fortunes - as he skied Mascarenhas when on 41 only to be dropped by Tait while running back from short fine leg - another low on what's so far been a poor IPL for the Australian.
Having smote Mascarenhas for 10 runs off two deliveries, Sehwag proceeded to target Amit Uniyal's medium-pacers, walloping him for six over long-off, upper-cutting him wide of third man to reach his half-century and striking through the line of a length delivery to dispatch it over long-on. The parting shot before being caught brilliantly by Graeme Smith at mid-on was a thunderous six over the bowler's head; Delhi were 99 for 3 when he fell in the 10th over, and Dinesh Karthik, with the luxury of a set platform, saw his team through.
Rajasthan, who wore black arm-bands in memory of the victims of a bus accident in Sawai Madhopur district, had begun positively after Gambhir had put them in. But they were dented by a testing first spell from Dirk Nannes and the early introduction of Amit Mishra, leaving an inexperienced middle order to contend with a determined display from the rest of Delhi's bowlers who gave little opportunity to open up.
The conditions in Ahmedabad were hardly favourable with the dust from the parking lots surrounding the stadium kicking in, and adding to the haze from the floodlights. The surge of moths, flying across the pitch as well as the outfield, proved another irritant.
Swapnil Asnodkar and Smith, cashing in on some overpitched bowling from Farveez Maharoof, smacked two boundaries off the first three balls of the match. Nannes, like against kxip , continued to trouble the batsmen with his ability to generate bounce, even from bowling on a good length. He got rid of Asnodkar with his second delivery, which was sliced towards Dilshan who took a good low catch, and followed up with two snorters to Naman Ojha, one striking him on the shoulder.
Ojha, who had some success while opening the batting for Rajasthan in the previous IPL, resumed the attack after a momentary lull, thrashing Maharoof over mid-on and edging him over the slips. He reserved special treatment for Mishra, brought on in the fourth over, cutting and sweeping him for two boundaries and launching him into the stands over long-on. But Mishra undid him with his first variation of the over, slipping in the googly to bowl him through the gate as he tried to loft him over the covers.
With Yusuf Pathan lasting just five deliveries, failing to pick a slower delivery and holing out to long-on, and the experienced Smith following soon after to make it 50 for 4, Rajasthan were starting at a bleak prospect.
Paras Dogra, who had partnered Yusuf during his ruthless ton against mumbai , and Jhunjhunwala, returning from the ICL, saw off a quiet phase during a nagging couple of overs from Pradeep Sangwan and Sarabjit Ladda; Rajasthan, at one stage, had played out 38 deliveries without a boundary. Replacing Yo Mahesh, Ladda varied his pace well, often surprising the batsmen with the quicker delivery but had his figures disturbed when the pair had stepped up, both hammering him for two sixes in a 17-run over.
Delhi saw to it they didn't give too much away, with the run-outs of Dogra and Mascarenhas in successive overs. Jhunjhunwala, though, struck two boundaries off Nannes in the final over, reaching his fifty, to give his bowler's more than an outside chance. Sehwag, however, ensured it was washed away.

Match Highlights 30 minutes version - RR v DD - IPL 2010 Match 6

IPL 3 Match Highlights 30 minutes version - CSK v DC - IPL 2010 Match 5

Each apparently content in their post-international careers, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Chaminda Vaas still have the ability and sheer presence to turn a team's mood upside down in one evening, proving that the IPL is as much about cool heads and years of experience as it is about youthful exuberance. Gilchrist began by winning the toss and larruping 38 from 17 balls, becoming the first batsman in the IPL to reach 1000 runs, Symonds overcame a sluggish start to slam the game's only half-century, and Vaas snuffed out Chennai Super Kings' chase with three wickets in his opening burst. The result was that the defending champions Deccan Chargers smoothed over their opening-day loss to Kolkata Knight Riders with a professional win.
This win was set up by Deccan's batsmen, namely their three big overseas imports. A frenetic burst at the start, powered by Gilchrist, was followed by a sedate period when Deccan were tied down by Chennai's assortment of spinners and medium-pacers, but the decisive spell that followed went the visitors' way. Herschelle Gibbs' innings was nowhere near as manic as his captain's but it proved far more valuable, because he saw out a tough period on a surface with variable bounce and then accelerated at the end.
Symonds proved a good ally, initially playing second fiddle to Gibbs - at one stage he was 3 off 17 balls and then soared to 50. Gibbs and Symonds fell in succession, after getting Deccan past 150, and a 22-run final over, bowled by two men due to Sudeep Tyagi's full-toss barrage, left Chennai needing 191 to win. Chennai conceded 63 in the last five overs and that proved to be the decisive period of the match.
Gilchrist, who at the toss said matter-of-factly that he wasn't too concerned at his team's first loss, set the tone by smashing Sudeep Tyagi's first over for 18 runs. Albie Morkel was also tonked for fun runs and after three overs the score was 41 for 0. A double-wicket over from R Ashwin, called on to bowl the fifth over, changed the mood in the stadium and forced Deccan to consolidate. Ashwin was taken off after that big over and from 55 for 2 Deccan added just 12 runs in the next four overs.
Upon resumption after the strategic time-out, Gibbs created a few risk-free shots to keep the runs flowing. Justin Kemp, on his IPL debut, was taken for two calculated fours, wrists rolled on both occasions, and Muttiah Muralitharan was reverse-paddled to third man. Murali didn't offer the batsmen any room and that meant they had to try different scoring options to make runs. Symonds had been especially bogged down after failing to score off Murali, Ashwin and Kemp, who in 16 balls allowed him just three singles, but in L Balaji's second over he carved a six and four off consecutive deliveries to move to 14 from 20 balls.
A 95-run stand off 75 balls was ended when Morkel fielded and hit the stumps off his own bowling to send back Gibbs at the start of the 18th over, and five balls later Symonds was caught a frame short of his crease for 50 off 43 balls. Chennai had a good chance to keep Deccan down, but Tyagi's horror evening culminated with Rohit Sharma and T Suman flogging three fours and a six before a second beamer ruled him out after five deliveries. Kemp bowled the final ball and allowed just one, but Deccan went into the interval all charged up.
That drive was clearly channeled into their effort in the field. Before this tournament few outside the Deccan camp would have backed Vaas to feature heavily for the defending champions, given that he had played just seven games in the past two seasons for indifferent returns. But for the second game running, he jolted the opposition top order with a double-wicket over, and by the time he took his third wicket, that of the bulwark Matthew Hayden, Chennai were hemorrhaging at 31 for 3. It was simple stuff; pitch straight, get some cut, let the batsmen cope with the rest. As he had in Mumbai, Vaas even snuck in a maiden over. It was top stuff.
Vaas began his second over by cleaning up M Vijay with an inside edge, had Suresh Raina pull him for six, but when he pitched fuller Raina was lured into a fatal prod to Gilchrist. Much was made of Hayden's expected use of the Mongoose bat, but he came out with a normal piece of willow and fell for just 17, paddling Vaas to RP Singh at short fine leg. Pragyan Ojha struck with his third ball to get S Badrinath miscuing an attempted inside-out drive to long-off and at the end of the Powerplay, Chennai were 37 for 4.
Even a 16-run Jaskaran Singh over, during which Dhoni and Kemp plundered boundaries, didn't deter Deccan. Symonds came on to bowl some seam-up stuff and cleaned up Dhoni (42 from 29), and in the next over Rohit struck to leave Chennai at 115 for 7. Symonds capped a good evening with a second wicket and Chennai finished on 159, a total that owed much to Morkel's belligerent 42

Match Highlights 30 minutes version - CSK v DC - IPL 2010 Match 5

IPL 3 Match Highlights - IPL 2010 MATCH 4 - RCB v KKR - 2010-03-14

It wasn't as resounding a thrashing as that delivered by Brendon McCullum's ruthless innings against the same opponents in the tournament opener two years ago but it was still a massive win for Kolkata Knight Riders in front of a heaving Eden Gardens crowd. Angelo Mathews followed up his fire-fighting with the bat on Friday by starring with the ball to pin down Royal Challengers Bangalore, before fireworks from Kolkata's openers ensured their team began their campaign with victories over both of last year's finalists.

Kolkata were in control right from the start when Bangalore's young batting talent failed, and the visitors were left to thank the experienced Jacques Kallis, who made a mad dash from South Africa after playing the Pro20 final on Friday evening, for holding the innings together. However, even his battling, an unbeaten 65 on a slowish track, couldn't spare Bangalore the eventual hammering.

Their troubles began when the surprise move to open with Sreevats Goswami didn't work out. The pint-sized Goswami was hemmed in by a series of Charl Langeveldt bouncers, and his ploy of backing away to heave the ball to the leg side didn't come off. Nor could Manish Pandey replicate the wonderful form of his domestic season, looking tentative in his short stay before his attempt to flat-bat Mathews down the ground ended in a bottom-edge on to the stumps.

Next in Bangalore's youth brigade was Virat Kolhi, talked up by coach Ray Jennings as a future Indian captain, who lasted four deliveries before striking a dipping delivery from Murali Kartik to deep midwicket. With two deliveries left in the Powerplay, Bangalore were down to 20 for 3.

Kolkata's new-ball bowlers had done their job, and they were backed up by some intelligent bowling from Mathews and Kartik to put Bangalore on the mat. Mathews sent down several slower bouncers which the batsmen struggled to pick, and Kartik varied his pace and effectively used the assistance provided by the track.

It was Kartik who provided the fervent crowd their next chance to scream. Bangalore's new signing, Eoin Morgan, had started his IPL career confidently with a sensationally-timed off-drive for six off the second delivery he faced, but he was bowled by a short, slow ball, through with his reverse-sweep before the ball arrived.

All the while Kallis was starved of the strike, though he had shown glimpses of form, including a ferocious lofted cover drive. He set about rebuilding with the help of another veteran, Rahul Dravid, putting on 38 with some old-school textbook batting. Dravid was looking in fine touch before he contrived to drag a full, wide ball from Mathews on to the stumps.

There was more sedate run-gathering with Robin Uthappa after that, and it wasn't until the 15th over that Kallis opened up, clouting Rohan Gavaskar to the extra-cover boundary. Uthappa got his first boundary in the same region, before Mathews struck twice in four balls. Kallis then started to get innovative, walking across the stumps to paddle-sweep a ball for four to bring up his fifty, and repeating the stroke in the final over. There was a sweet, straight hit for six as well, and the 14 runs in the 20th over lifted Bangalore to 135.

It was an underwhelming total on a benign track, but not as tiny a target as the Kolkata batsmen made it seem. Manoj Tiwary may not have much of a reputation as a Twenty20 player, but it was his early onslaught that made the match such a one-sided encounter.

After three steady overs, Tiwary blasted Kallis for 14 in the space of four balls in the fourth, including a powerful swipe over midwicket for six. Much of Bangalore's chances now depended on how effective their spearhead Dale Steyn was, but Tiwary crashed his second delivery over long-off for six more, before a couple of driven boundaries from Brad Hodge made it 17 off the over.

The last major threat was Anil Kumble, who also failed to make an impact, with Tiwary picking him for two fours in his first three balls to take Kolkata 60 for 0 after 5.3 overs, effectively ending the contest.

Things were less frenetic after that, and though both openers fell the delivery after they reached their half-centuries, Kolkata eased to a victory that will reinforce the belief in the side and among their fans after the abysmal shows of last season.

Match Highlights - IPL 2010 MATCH 4 - RCB v KKR - 2010-03-14

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