Facing Narine will be exciting: Jayawardene

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene termed mystery spinner Sunil Narine as an "exciting prospect who is going through a honeymoon period."

Jayawardene, who has seen the emergence of Ajantha Mendis as a "mystery spinner" and then turning out to be a cannon fodder for international batsman, feels that with passage of time Narine’s bowling would be analysed more and more. "The contest with Narine will be exciting tomorrow. He is going through a honeymoon period. But more and more he plays, batsmen will start analysing him and then it will be his real test. The key will be whether he is improving as a bowler from what he is right now," Jayawardene said on the eve of Delhi’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders. 

Jayawardene has got only one half-century till now but he didn't seem perturbed with his form. "I have been hitting the ball very well. It's been a bit of an up-and-down for me but I know it would get sorted out once I spend more time in the middle."

Although David Warner is all set to open with Virender Sehwag, Jayawardene kept the cards close to his chest. "I would like you guys to keep guessing till tomorrow." When asked whether Warner would find it difficult to replicate Kevin Pietersen's blazing form, Jayawardene, who is also Delhi’s vice-captain, said each player has its own skill-sets and no one can be a direct replacement for any other player.

"If Viru [Sehwag] gets injured, then can someone replacing him be called an ideal replacement? The answer is 'No'. Similarly Kevin had different strengths to what Warner has. The idea is to be flexible and change the way we play to suit the combination."

Jayawardene also called KKR "an all-round side." "Gauti [Gambhir] has led from the front. But again their top-order has scored a lot. It will be an exciting contest."

Jayawardene also maintained that they were not taking anything for granted and their aim was to maintain their top spot in the league. "Everyone is trying to improve their game everyday so there won't be any complacency," Jayawardene said, adding, "We want to be at the top when the group stage finishes and we are going to put pressure on ourselves to accomplish that."

Facing Narine will be exciting: Jayawardene

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Kolkata Knight Riders vs Pune Warriors India

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Pune Warriors India - 20-20



Read my content : Knight Riders spoil Ganguly's home coming at Eden


Match 47, Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India, 
Sat, 05 May 2012 04:00 PM IST
Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss & elected to bat


Commentary ::

Sourav Ganguly - Well, this ovation feels great and more importantly, it feels great to be playing in Kolkata. Is one of the best cricketing grounds in the world. I have played over here before and doesn't look like it has changed much. We need to get a win tonight, should have won a couple of days ago as well. Usually, in Ranji matches, there is a bit of grass on the surface but given that this is a T20, don't expect too much grass.

Gautam Gambhir - So far it has been good and hopefully we can continue with the same. Wee have been playing as a unit and hope we can get some good results today. It is always a good feeling and a good headache when you have more than four quality foreigners. Twenty20 format is one where you cannot predict.

Kolkata are placed second on the points table while Pune, thanks to 4 successive losses, are at number 8. A loss here would mean that Pune cannot make it to the play-offs. In fact, they need to treat each and every match as a knock-out from here on. This is the trio of Karthik, Mihir and Tarun to take you through the proceedings. Sit back and enjoy!

The Kolkata Knight Riders have been on a roll since the start of the IPL and it is no surprise as they are now placed second on the points table, just below the mighty Delhi Daredevils. After having thrashed the Chennai Super Kings in Chepauk, the Knight Riders would be high on cofidence going into their next encounter, where they take on the Pune Warriors India at the Eden Gardens. The Warriors would be disappointed with their performance against the Mumbai Indians, losing to the visiting side by just one run. Sitting at the bottom of the table is not a pleasant sight for Pune, though, they will be itching to get back to winning ways as Sourav Ganguly visits his home town to play against his former team. Expect a lot of cheers for the Prince of Kolkata, but equal support for the home team as well. This should be an interesting contest to witness.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS   Points :  13
Player
Manoj Tiwary
Sunil Narine
James Pattinson
Ryan ten Doeschate
Shakib Al Hasan
Jacques Kallis
Eoin Morgan
Yusuf Pathan
Brad Haddin
Brett Lee
Gautam Gambhir (C)
Brendon McCullum
Chirag Jani
Debabrata Das
Iqbal Abdulla
Iresh Saxena
Jaidev Unadkat
Lakshmipathy Balaji
Laxmi Shukla
Manvinder Bisla
Marchant de Lange
Pradeep Sangwan
Rajat Bhatia
Sanju Samson
Sarabjit Ladda
Shami Ahmed
Coach: 
Trevor Bayliss

PUNE WARRIORS INDIA Points :  8
Player
Alfonso Thomas
Ali Murtaza
Angelo Mathews
Anustup Majumdar
Ashish Nehra
Ashok Dinda
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Callum Ferguson
Dheeraj Jadhav
Eklavya Dwivedi
Harpreet Singh Bhatia
Harshad Khadiwale
Jesse Ryder
Kamran Khan
Krishnakant Upadhyay
Luke Wright
Mahesh Rawat
Manish Pandey
Marlon Samuels
Michael Clarke
Mithun Manhas
Mohnish Mishra
Murali Kartik
Rahul Sharma
Raiphi Gomez
Robin Uthappa
Sachin Rana
Shrikant Wagh
Sourav Ganguly (C)
Steven Smith
Tamim Iqbal
Wayne Parnell
Coach: 
Geoff Marsh

Match Analysis :: 


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Without Malinga-Tendulkar no magic For Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DLF IPL 5

Venue :

Team : Mumbai Indians V/s Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils bowl out Mumbai Indians for 92

Mumbai Indians

1st Innings

MI 92/10

19.2 Overs

RR:4.75

Richard Levi     b Shahbaz Nadeem     1

            3.1  OUT! Bowled! He has done it again! Poor shot from both the South African batsmen, Jacobs on the previous occasion and now Levi. Full and straight from Nadeem, 99.7 kph, Levi goes for the big slog sweep but the ball is too far from him and he only succeeds in dragging it back onto the stumps. Nadeem is up and running in celebration as Levi departs for 1, MI 5/2 in 3.1 overs!

Davy Jacobs   b Shahbaz Nadeem       0

           1.5  OUT! Bowled! Gone now. Nadeem persists with his line and length, full and straight, 92.7 kph, Jacobs, too, persists with his stroke-making, swinging wildly and misses. The ball crashes into the stumps. A 10-ball duck for Jacobs, MI 2/1 in 1.5 overs!

Rohit Sharma  c Ross Taylor b Ajit Agarkar    29

           9.3  OUT! Caught! And lady luck has finally deserted Rohit with the bat. Good length delivery on middle, 140.9 kph, Rohit looks to help it away to fine leg but is early into the shot and gets a leading edge. The ball flies in the air and Ross Taylor comes in quickly from deep mid-wicket to take the catch. Rohit Sharma departs for 29, MI 41/5 in 9.3 overs!

Ambati Rayudu  run out (Virender Sehwag)  4

         7.1  OUT! Mix-up and it results in Rayudu's run out. Poor stuff. Total miscommunication. Good length delivery outside off, 135.6 kph, Rayudu pushes it towards point and sets off for the single. Rohit says yes initially but then says no and Rayudu keeps on running. Nagar gets on to the ball and misses his shy at the striker's end. But Rayudu is so far down the track that it takes a long time to get back. The throw is backed up by Sehwag at mid-wicket who lobs it to the keeper and Ojha takes the bails off. Rayudu departs for 4, 30/3 in 7.1 overs!

  Kieron Pollard    c Ross Taylor b Umesh Yadav     1

        8.3  OUT! And Yadav gets Pollard! Poor choice of a shot, so early in the innings. Full outside off, 145.6 kph, Pollard gives himself room to the leg side and slogs wildly. Is nowhere near the pitch of the ball and gets a top edge. The ball is skied up in the air and Taylor settles under it at deep extra cover. Pollard departs for 1, MI 38/4 in 8.3 overs!

Dinesh Karthik   c Kevin Pietersen b Umesh Yadav   3

       10.2  OUT! Caught! The short ball gets the wicket again. Landed outside off, 142.3 kph, Karthik goes for the pull but the ball comes much quicker than his anticipation. Spoons a simple catch to mid on and Pietersen takes a dolly. Karthik departs for 3, MI 44/6 in 10.2 overs!

        

Harbhajan Singh   c Naman Ojha b Morne Morkel   33

        17.5  OUT! Caught behind! Morne gets the Mumbai skipper. Short outside off, 141.6 kph, Harbhajan goes for the pull but gets a top edge straight into the gloves of Ojha. Morne celebrates, Harbhajan doesn't move, the players appeal and umpire Bowden raises his finger. Harbhajan departs for a wonderful cameo of 33 from 22 balls, MI 89/9 in 17.5 overs!

Clint McKay  c Umesh Yadav b Irfan Pathan    8

       14.5  OUT! Caught! Poor shot, considering that he was playing so sensibly. Full outside off, 133.1 kph, McKay goes for the big hit down the ground but finds Yadav at long off who takes a good catch tumbling to his right. McKay hits his helmet with his bat in frustration, he departs for 8, MI 78/7 in 14.5 overs!

 RP Singh    b Morne Morkel     0

       15.5  OUT! The off stump is all over the place! RP backs away, looking to go inside out, Morkel bowls full and straight, 147.1 kph, RP misses and the off stump is dislodged. RP departs for 0, MI 80/8 in 15.5 overs!

 Pragyan Ojha   b Ajit Agarkar   3

        19.2  OUT! Full and straight, 135.3 kph, Ojha swings and misses. The ball hits the timber. MI all out for 92!

        

Munaf Patel   not out    1

    

Extras (b 0, lb 4, w 3, nb 2)       9

Can Mumbai make a match out of this? No Malinga tonight but if they manage to get a couple of quick wickets, who knows, we might have a game on our hands. Stay tuned for the run chase...

An excellent bowling display by Delhi, to restrict Mumbai to the lowest total in this year's IPL. Shahbaz Nadeem set the tone first up, with two wickets in his first two overs and Mumbai never recovered. Just two batsmen went into double figures, Rohit Sharma and Harbhajan Singh, without whom, this would have been a sorry total. Every bowler except Pathan picked up 2 wickets.  

DELHI DAREDEVILS won by 7 wickets

Kolkata takes the Charge against Royals

Rajasthan Royals (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Rajasthan Royals 

IPL 2012

TOSS: Rajasthan Royals won the toss, and elected to bat first

RESULT: Kolkata won by 5 Wickets

Date: 13th April 2012

Having found the winning touch in their last match, Kolkata Knight Riders would be hoping to maintain the momentum when they host Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League return match on Friday. The timing could not have been better for the Knights to capitalize as the Royals are coming after a battering at the hands of Mumbai Indians in their last match.

With the Knight Riders' next match (vs. Kings XI Punjab on Sunday) also scheduled at home, maintaining the winning momentum will top their agenda. Whereas Rahul Dravid's men appear a bit tired with the hectic scheduling, the Knights are fortunate to get a day's extra break after their win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday.

It took the think-tank a bit of chopping and changing to get to the winning mode after the back-to-back losses against Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in season five.

The four changes in the line-up meant that skipper Gautam Gambhir elevated himself to his usual slot, dropping out of form Kiwi opener Brendon McCullum, a move that set the tone in their much-needed maiden victory this season.

Gambhir led the way with a brisk 39-ball 64 to set up a total of 166, which eventually turned out to be a winning one. But their biggest plus point was the inclusion of veteran seamer Laxmipathy Balaji whose fired-up spell of 4-1-18-4, after Kallis took the prized-scalp of Chris Gayle, set the victory.

"Balaji is a quality bowler and has the capability to take wickets on any pitch. Hats off to him for the way he bowled. This was the best spell that I have ever seen in a Twenty20 competition," Gambhir said.  "It feels nice to finally get a win under our belt. To be honest, it was a team effort. I am pretty happy by the performance of the boys."

KKR would hope that sports psychologist Dr Rudi Webster give some mantra to the explosive Yusuf Pathan. Yusuf had scored 1011 for the Royals at an average of 26.6 and with a strike-rate of 161.2, to go with his 20 wickets, but is yet to notch up a fifty representing the Knights.

All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who was finally included in the line-up after much criticism, is yet to fire and the Bangladeshi would be keen to be in the thick of action on the slow Eden Gardens strip. It would be naive to write off the Royals who turned it around with successive wins against Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders in the first-leg.

For Dravid and Co, having experienced their first defeat in Mumbai -- their first in an away match -- it would be a challenge to conquer the odds outside home. The bowling would be the main concern ahead of their second outing away from home.

The bowlers were at the receiving end against Kieron Pollard in the team's 27-run loss to Mumbai Indians. The team would hope that the bowlers stick to the task the way they did against the same team in the first-leg while defending 164.

"We have a young bowling attack, there's a little inexperience there. But there are lessons to be learnt. We will try and keep improving," Dravid said after their loss in Mumbai. Batting is not much of a worry though with Ajinkya Rahane and Owais Shah in splendid form. The duo gave Mumbai a run for money before the Englishman was castled by Lasith Malinga.

In their last meeting, Rahane was out for a duck after a superb 98 against Kings XI in their campaign opener. The orthodox top-order batsman would look to open his account against the Knights. The weather god stole the show in the last match at the Eden before the home side lost their opener in a rain-curtailed fixture.

Both the camps will keep their fingers crossed with sudden thundershowers towards the evening being the norm these days.

Teams (from):

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Gautam Gambhir (Capt.)

Jacques Kallis

Manvinder Bisla (wk)

Yusuf Pathan

Manoj Tiwary

Ryan ten Doeschate

Shakib Al Hasan

Laxmi Ratan Shukla

Brett Lee

Rajat Bhatia

Laxmipathy Balaji

Chirag Jani

Debabrata Das

Iqbal Abdulla

Iresh Saxena

Jaidev Unadkat

Pradeep Sangwan

Sanju Samson

Sarabjit Singh Ladda

Mohammad Shami Ahmed

Brendon McCullum

Eoin Morgan

Marchant de Lange

Sunil Narine

Rajasthan Royals:

Rahul Dravid (Capt.)

Ajinkya Rahane

Shreevats Goswami (wk)

Owais Shah

Ashok Menaria

Johan Botha

Kevon Cooper

Ankeet Chavan

Brad Hogg

Amit Singh

Siddharth Trivedi

Aakash Chopra

Abhishek Raut

Aditya Dole

Ajit Chandalia

Amit Paunikar

Amit Singh

Deepak Chahar

Dishant Yagnik

Faiz Fazal

Gajendra Singh

Pankaj Singh

Sreesanth

Samad Fallah

Stuart Binny

Sumit Narwal

Brad Hodge

Dinesh Chandimal

Paul Collingwood